Paul's Journal

11/07/2008 10:36 #46585

Broken iPhone - obamas fault

(E:matthew) got so excited at the democratic headquarters when he found
out Obama won, that his iPhone flew out of his hand. The glass screen
shattered. I think getting a new one costs the same as fixing it ;(.
He's kind of freaking without it which is funny considering how he
would always tease me about using my smartphones till he got one.

fing - 11/07/08 15:12
See if you would have voted for McCain you would be all set. Under his plan everyone that makes under $250 K gets a free iPhone.

hodown - 11/07/08 11:20
So so so sad :(

mrmike - 11/07/08 11:00
Got to admit, they are intriguing. I'm fighting off the temptation to take Sprint's version on to see how I like it. Same types of features, etc.

11/05/2008 09:57 #46546

Nasty Christian Hate Mongers
Category: hate

I woke up happy about the vote and then I saw this: (e:zobar,46545)

Its so confusing, because first I saw

and then this

I know its not all the christians, especially when most christians consider mormons to not be christian, but its hard to overlook their effect in the yes on prop 8 in California.

I also think the wording was confusing. I mean people probably understand, but the "vote yes on prop8 to protect marriage" would be confusing if you thought you were protecting gay marriage.

California voting yes on prop 8 pretty much makes me lose faith in just about everything related to gay rights and kind of a little bit in America. It actually makes me nervous about one day having to flee the country before I end up in some type of camp.

Why do the christians care if gay people are married in the state. No one is asking for religious recognition of their marriages, just the state rights of a married couple.

I guess we will see how the country changes with the new president but frankly - I am totally over America and really don't believe the democrats will bring anything new to the table on gay rights. I almost would have rather had a McCain president and no on prop 8.

In the mean time I hope all the people that voted yes on prop 8 die of a nasty plague. If I was not an athiest I would pray to satan about this. It really reinforces my hatred of the mormons. I think they are the scaries cult on earth and wish that the days when it was legal to shoot them woud come back.

johnallen - 11/05/08 23:35
The whole thing sucks Paul, and please be paitent. There are many churches that welcome the GBLT community, and many of us are finding that because we have opened our doors to all of God's creations, we are growing.(Like Ascension) I don't ever remember Jesus excluding this or that brand of people and it annoys the shit out of me. When the Mormons, the mega-churches and the like use the Word to spead division, hate, and flat out evil. If these churches would use their size and "pull" to defeat some of the world's worst peoblems, ie, poverty, disease, etc, perhaps then there would be some peace.

paul - 11/05/08 22:42
I still think if you eliminated all the christian, anti-gay voters, there would not be enough anti-gay support to have passed it. I mean it was not a landslide.

tinypliny - 11/05/08 19:44
Just like we had a church-state dissection quite a while back, we need a church-education dissection. We need equal educational standards for all ethnicities.

joshua - 11/05/08 19:22
Ugh, to supplement the entry I just wrote, which disappeared and hopefully (e:paul) will fix -

After the bad news, some good news. I think in the end justice will prevail. I absolutely hate saying "be patient" but gay marriage will be supported in our country in our lifetimes. Our generation is multi-racial, multi-cultural and doesn't give a damn about sexual preference. Our generation is more sensitive to each other's problems and are generally unwilling to watch one group of people be cast aside. I promise you, your day will come and I'll be there to support you, and so will so many of the people our age. Please mark my words - it. will. happen! Our generation is different from that of our fathers. In the meantime, I think within a very short time we'll see people on this very site finally enjoy the right to marry in NYS. That is a huge deal and a blow to bigoted people all over the nation, not just in NYS.

joshua - 11/05/08 19:03
A majority of Americans, and indeed a majority of Californians, do not support gay marriage and this was known prior to Prop 8. 70% of black people voted for Prop 8, which I am shocked that people are shocked about. Generally speaking, African-Americans have never been big fans of the gay agenda, and encouraging African-Americans to get out and vote was only going to increase the number of people voting against Prop 8. Over half of California latinos voted for Prop 8 as well. White people were split more than the minority groups. Certainly there is religious motivation for a lot of people (2/3 of blacks in favor of Prop 8 self-identify as Christians) but blaming it all on religion would be inaccurate. There is much more at play culturally. Scores of people who are not religious also do not support gay marriage.

:::link:::

It wasn't just rural voters that affected the outcome of the vote. 52% of Californian voters voted down the measure... c'mon. Actually, if you take a look at the interactive map the story is more interesting. Southern Cali generally supported Prop 8, and the further down I-5 you drive the more unpopular gay marriage is. Among areas with more than 25% Latino population representation, only two counties voted no on Prop 8. Same for those areas that are more than 75% white. The most stark contrast was among educational lines - the area with the highest concentration of bachelor degrees in Cali is the Bay Area, and thus it was those areas with a higher number of degreed citizens that voted against the measure.

(e:james) - since you brought up the GOP in the NYS Senate. About a week and a half ago the New York Blade had an article about this issue. According to Pride Agenda's own count, 6 of the 30 Democratic Senators oppose marriage equality. :::link::: Penny for your thoughts?

metalpeter - 11/05/08 17:32
I do agree with you that the wording was not the best and or bad. I also think that it is important to not blame the Christians yes some of them did vote for the ban but some didn't and I'm sure they are not the only ones who voted for the ban. In terms of why they don't want gays to be married is because it is wrong in there eyes. In there eyes Homosexuality is unnatural, and a sin and wrong, and on top of that they don't want to hear about it. On top of that if the state says it is ok then the state is saying it is ok to sin. They also think that marriage is between a man and women. I don't agree with them but I do see why they don't agree with gay marriage.

libertad - 11/05/08 13:38
Paul this really does take away from Obama's victory but don't lose heart. These ballot initiatives are ridiculous. I'll say it again, we should not allow these issues to be decided by the people. We are supposed to be a democracy by representation. If we allow a vote for this issue why not other issues? Why don't we put it to vote whether whites and blacks should marry? *hypothetical* This is really not acceptable and neither is anti-gay marriage referendums. By the way, Florida just like I predicted, voted for their own constitutional ban on gay marriages. It is very disheartening but think about how much more devastating this blow would be if there were a McCain/Palin victory. I know Obama hasn't stood up for us yet but it is my hope that he was holding himself back because the issue is so decisive. His victory is an indication that there is still hope for us. It is an indication that extreme right religious values will not always determine the policies and politics of this country. The election of a black man also shows that this country is capable of growing and that social change takes time.

iriesara - 11/05/08 11:37
I voted against Prop 8. That's the only defense I have for California, myself. It is interesting though the by-county map that you linked to, you can see that it's mostly the agricultural interior that supported. Hicks are hicks no matter where they are, Alabama, Olean or even the county right next to San Francisco.

jason - 11/05/08 11:24
James, if I were gay and knew Biden's votes I certainly wouldn't consider him a friend to the cause, or assume his long standing beliefs will go away, although certainly he is friendlier to the cause than Palin ever would be, as the Democratic ticket said the right things over and over that when it comes to basic rights and legal protections.

And, I actually never accused NYS of having the same approach as California. I doubt we will ever get the chance to vote on it. Their court system has done the right thing, ours has not. They have it up to a public vote, we have it up to elected officials. Our law seems to be more vague than theirs. If they recognize out of state gay marriages but won't allow them to be performed in California, then yeah I think you have a moral and legal dilemma too.

Obama has been consistent in that he is against an outright ban, although he doesn't seem to support marriage himself (said as much during the debates). He has insinuated before he is a defer to the state rights kind of guy, although this contradicts his recent statements. I think he was smart in not going one way or the other with it during the election. He is absolutely right that legal protections and benefits shouldn't be subject to discrimination.

This being said, I don't think he is someone that won't come around, although words are cheap. The cynical part of me thinks it is the desire to get elected that made him not outright support marriage, but he will come around once in office. His most recent statement sort of leads in that direction. We'll see.

drew - 11/05/08 11:16
my parents are against gay rights. While I disagree with them, and do not want them to get a plague, nor get shot at.

I think Mormons are absolutely wacky, but hurting them does not help anything. If we applied your actions towards anti-gay marriage folks towards other people who were wrong about important issues, the world would be full of violence.

I know (hope?) that you were using hyperbole, but this kind of exaggeration just isn't helpful.

james - 11/05/08 10:46
Paul, if you watched Obama's victory speech he specifically mentioned gay people. As in, and I am paraphrasing, 'this victory has to do with people, Democrat and Republican, Black and White, Male and Female, Gay and Straight". That is pretty fucking sweet. Right out of the gate he is making us apart of rhetoric in a positive way. Contrast that with Bush who spoke of us in a maligned way. Croaking on about protecting marriage and families and shit.

We are apart of his agenda and I hope the climate in the senate will allow for a major step forward for gay rights.

Jason, do you really think people had a problem voting for Biden for a vote he made in the mid 90's? Cause, damn, McCain/Palin has given us plenty of shit to hate in just the last weeks, not just last decade.
And I am not sure how you can accuse NYS for having this lame approach. Gay marriage legislation passes the assembly, the governor wants to sign it, but it is the GOP controlled senate that ruins it every time.

dragonlady7 - 11/05/08 10:38
Did you know, however, that the Yes on 8 people sent out a mailer featuring Obama's photo targeted to undecided African-American voters, and Obama personally responded by coming out strongly and in no uncertain terms against 8? Four days before the election?
It was the first time his campaign had taken a stand either way on gay rights.
So at least, at least, at least there's that.
Let me find the link, and I'll post it.

jason - 11/05/08 10:16
Oh, cmon, I thought you felt Scientologists were the biggest scariest cult. By the way, California wasn't the only state to do this in this election cycle.

I wonder how bitter it tastes for a gay person to vote for a ticket where the VP choice voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. I mean I guess you have to choose someone.

From what I've seen the donors to the wrong side of the issue come from not just the LDS. You have Catholics and evangelicals to blame as well.

It wasn't that long ago that Cali passed Prop 22 so it shouldn't be so shocking as it is that if left up to a democratic choice Californians were going to do the wrong thing. One interesting poll I heard on TV last night was that when it comes to values, McCain was favored over Obama.

Change of course doesn't come instantly, and an Obama victory doesn't mean that the country is going to have a kumbaya moment. He'll never be able to wiggle his fingers and fix deep social divides. After all, hate goes two ways.

What bothers me also is that NYS takes this mealy mouthed approach where we will accept a gay marriage from out of state, but disallow them from being performed here. That to me is a moral and legal dilemma.

11/04/2008 21:37 #46530

Illegal Onondaga Chiefs
Category: indians

I got this message today on the site. Not sure what its about. Did someone write a journal about it that I missed?

The real Onondagas'no longer want these illegal chiefs recognized by any government and many other of these people they have violated the Great Law of Peace now it is time for their punishment! they have all been reported to the Dept.of Justice for all their violations!

tinypliny - 11/04/08 21:55
You get the most outlandish messages ever!

11/04/2008 21:01 #46527

Crazy Voting Experience
Category: voting

I went to Lafayette High School with (e:terry) and (e:matthew) where I normally vote and I wasn't on the books. They both were, none of us had updated our location, despite the fact that our house is directly across from a polling station.

So they told me to check the one near my house and see if I ended up on there. I ran down and they refused to let me vote there. Then it was like 8:30. So I went home and looked online where it shows I am set for Lafayette. Then I called the Erie County Board of Elections who insisted that I vote across from my house. I went down there, with the woman on the phone and she told them to let me vote there. All of a sudden everyone changed their tune and was super nice.

I got to fill out a provisional ballot. I hope they bother counting that. I felt so dumb because I raised my hand to complain that Sam Hoyt wasn't on the paper ballott but he was on the poster on the wall. They laughed and said, you don't live in the village anymore - its a different district. So I voted for Crystal Peoples. She was the only choice. I had no choice.

I wish I could be strong like (e:vincent,46508) and vote for nader but I really don't want to risk McCain winning and honestly I am a little over nader. He seems kind of washed up now.

For some reason I show up inactive on the voter registration site. What does that even mean?

metalpeter - 11/05/08 17:36
What I'm guessing is that inactive happens after you haven't voted for so long. For example there are some races that if you didn't vote in the primaries for them you can't vote in them, not sure if that is still the case though, again just a guess.

vincent - 11/04/08 22:05
Maybe they thought you were a Republican & tried to disenfranchise your vote j/k ;-)

As for Nader being washed up, I don't care. What I am doing is an attempt to build a foundation for future years. Helping a 3rd party move up on the ballot so at some point in the future they can actually field competitive candidates. If more people did what I did, we may have more options instead of Fascist Party "A" and Fascist Party "B"

jenks - 11/04/08 21:57
yeah the lady behind me was all screwed up too... she wasn't on the list, so they looked up her address and said she was at the right place, but to just check the other machine across the hall, and she was on that list, even though she shouldn't be...

I'm not sure why this is so difficult.

And really, if it's done by location, why on earth would you NOT be assigned to the polling station across the street from your house?!

tinypliny - 11/04/08 21:54
Ugh. That is so frustating!!!

11/03/2008 23:39 #46504

Worst Work Day Ever
Category: work

Well, not ever, but close. I worked so hard all day from the moment I got there at 10:30 till I left 5 minutes ago at 11:30 - a fun 13 hours laters. My brain actually hurts. To make it even more fun I have to be at work at 9:00am to give a presentation I already gave to the same group of people that didn't pay attention the first time. I barely had any time to prepare new material for it because I had lots of other real work to do. I find I have to explain everything like 16 times at work. Even when I use flow charts, graphs, power point presentations, send email, add wiki pages, etc - no one ever goes over it. It is so frustrating.

I also spent a whole bunch more time on IE6 problems again. I hope the programmers of that application die.

The fun sound of my macbook pro santa rosa fan dying. This is really great because I have a ton of work and no way to get to the apple store till friday when I am sure they will be too busy.

::DOWNLOAD SOUND::

Apparently, I am not the only one

jenks - 11/05/08 09:08
you can book genius bar appointments online too, and see when the openings are. but yeah they fill up fast and when they're crowded, will NOT squeeze you in.

imk2 - 11/05/08 08:32
call today and make an appointment for the apple store. they wont see you on a walk in basis on friday.

paul - 11/04/08 00:26
TO make it way more fun, my computer is dying loudly. Something went seriousy wrong with my macbook pro. It sounds like a lawn mower right now and I have no way to get to the apple store till friday. I am sure it is going to die. Its so loud I can't even use it for the presentation tomorrow, damn it.