About Me.

I am 27, I am gay, I live in New York City, and I've a sneaking fondness for dinosaurs.

About Them.

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11/06/2009

» Marriage Equality New York

Start calling, writing, or e-mailing your representatives now: the State Senate goes into special session next Tuesday, and marriage equality is one of the possible issues at stake. All the info you need is at that link.

The text of the e-mail I just sent to Majority Leader Sampson, and Senator Onorato, follows.

Honorable Senators —

As a young gay man and a proud citizen of Astoria, Queens, I urge you to please do the right thing and schedule a vote on marriage equality for gay & lesbian men & women during the upcoming special session.

Senator Onorato, I know your position on the issue, but on behalf of your thousands of gay & lesbian constituents, their families, and the children growing up in your district who will one day be your constituents, I strongly encourage you to reconsider your stance. I hope to someday raise a family in this beautiful district, but I cannot do so in good conscience if my children will grow up in a place where their family’s right to exist on equal terms is publicly denigrated by our own representative. I honestly beg you: when this issue comes up for a vote, please do not stand in the way of my chance to be treated as an equal citizen in the eyes of the law.

Across the country, with every hateful, discriminatory ballot measure that strips away the rights that the Constitution should assure, millions of young gay men and women — myself included — are giving up hope that America will ever respect them as human beings, and are becoming sadly accustomed to a life of grinding bigotry. Please, do not let a chance go by to give us a fresh shot of hope.

Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful weekend!

-Chris Conroy
Astoria, Queens

Link posted at 2:24 PM | Permalink

11/04/2009

Sickening.

Just spent an hour and a half being reminded how disastrous the US health-care system is. God bless Warner Bros. for the generous benefits they try to provide for us, but man oh man what an uphill battle it must be for them to avoid nevertheless leaving us stuck with incredible costs.

But remember: single-payer government-run health care would be THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD and IN NO WAY MORE EFFICIENT and could not POSSIBLY beat the kludged-together half-assed accountability-free system we have now. REMEMBER THAT.

Sorry, dad and brother who are both doctors, but this shit has gotta happen.

Posted at 1:28 PM | Permalink

10/11/2009

“ Obama’s major achievement - the one thing he has actually done - is invite gay families to the Easter egg-roll. „

Live-Blogging The HRC Dinner (via homosuperior)

Sullivan’s got a pretty biting, but very well supported, analysis of the President’s HRC Speech tonight.

If I may:

“He says he wants to end discrimination in employment even as he is firing more gay people solely for being gay than any other employer in the country - as commander-in-chief. And if an employer is firing gay people all the time, is it tolerable to accept as a response that he will stop doing it one day - but gives no time-line at all to hold him to?

Look: I didn’t expect these issues to be front and center given his appalling inheritance; I know he has many other things on his plate; I didn’t expect the moon; I didn’t believe he would do any of this immediately; I understand that the real job is for us to do, not him, and that most of the action is in the states. And I remain a strong supporter of him in foreign policy and in the way he is clearly trying to move this country past the ideological divides of the recent past.

But the sad truth is: he is refusing to take any responsibility for his clear refusal to fulfill clear campaign pledges on the core matter of civil rights and has given no substantive, verifiable pledges or deadlines by which he can be held accountable. What that means, I’m afraid, is that this speech was highfalutin bullshit. There were no meaningful commitments within a time certain, not even a commitment to fulfilling them in his first term; just meaningless, feel-good commitments that we have no way of holding him to. Once the dust settles, ask yourself. What did he promise to achieve in the next year? Or two years? Or four years? The answer is: nothing.

HRC, of course, is putting no pressure on him; Joe Solmonese’s disgraceful email actually took all pressure off him by saying he’d be happy to wait till 2017 for HRC to hold Obama accountable. HRC are putting pressure, as they always have, on gay people to go to the back of the line and be grateful a president attends their fundraising event. The only word for this is a racket. And if gay people do not rise up and demand change from this organization and stop funding a group whose goal has always been to sell the Democrats to gay people rather than secure civil rights, then they will continue to suffer the discrimination they live under day after day.”

(via adeandabet)

——————

Co-signed. I mean let’s be honest, here: is there a single constituency in this country that is violently opposed to repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell at this point? Is anybody really going to fight on this? Repealing DOMA, that’s a big one, I don’t expect that to happen without a lot of burnt political capital and some serious demagoguery. But Don’t Ask Don’t Tell seems like it is frankly a gimme. Perhaps I misread the situation.

Quote posted at 12:21 AM | Permalink

10/09/2009

“ This is an odd award. You’d expect it to come later in Obama’s presidency and tied to some particular event or accomplishment. But the unmistakable message of the award is one of the consequences of a period in which the most powerful country in the world, the ‘hyper-power’ as the French have it, became the focus of destabilization and in real if limited ways lawlessness. A harsh judgment, yes. But a dark period. And Obama has begun, if fitfully and very imperfectly to many of his supporters, to steer the ship of state in a different direction. If that seems like a meager accomplishment to many of the usual Washington types it’s a profound reflection of their own enablement of the Bush era and how compromised they are by it, how much they perpetuated the belief that it was ‘normal history’ rather than dark aberration. „

Unexpected Developments | Talking Points Memo

I do still think that Obama getting the Nobel is fundamentally a bit ridiculous and premature, even if the award is about a year and not a career, as some have said. But I do sympathize tremendously with this formulation, and if the Nobel committee had articulated their choice in this way, then I’d be a little less critical.

Quote posted at 11:56 AM | Permalink

09/09/2009

I know, I know, this was on Kottke or whatever, but it’s still mind-blowing: Al Franken drawing a map of all 50 states, freehand, at the Minnesota State Fair. It’s absurd to say that this qualifies him to be a Senator, but God damn, it kinda does. I’d love to see Mitch McConnell try it.

Video posted at 11:27 AM | Permalink

08/27/2009

“ Just shy of 200 years, our constitutional experiment which gave us humans the most significant enhancements the human experience has ever known has been significantly weakened by the likes of the 60’s, led by Ted Kennedy and his elk. „

Jeffrey Toobin: Kennedy and the Court: News Desk : The New Yorker — or more specifically, commenter “Adumbrate.”

If somebody could whip up a sweet airbrushed van-art painting of that last clause, immediately, that would be great.

(via dyfl)

(via takethecityandrun)

——————

YOU WIN, FOREVER AND EVER, AMEN.

Quote posted at 11:17 PM | Permalink

08/27/2009

“ Just shy of 200 years, our constitutional experiment which gave us humans the most significant enhancements the human experience has ever known has been significantly weakened by the likes of the 60’s, led by Ted Kennedy and his elk. „

Jeffrey Toobin: Kennedy and the Court: News Desk : The New Yorker — or more specifically, commenter “Adumbrate.”

If somebody could whip up a sweet airbrushed van-art painting of that last clause, immediately, that would be great.

Quote posted at 8:00 PM | Permalink

08/13/2009

Two Minutes' Hate

Every time I see opponents of health care reform sounding off, I just have to go, “REALLY?!?!” There’s not a single legitimate case I can think of for not reforming our health care system. You can argue for decades about how to do it — and details do matter — but the basic proposition of whether or not we need to do it is completely beyond dispute. I mean, think about it: All of our health care is provided by insurance companies. You don’t pay your doctor, they do. That means we have a system that is literally created to NOT spend money on health care: Its sole purpose is to take in money, and then NOT spend it on your health. The purpose is to keep that money.

That’s the most efficient way you can think of to do this? Really? If we had a grocery store where you gave them $50, they looked you over, and said “No, I think you’re really only about $30 worth of hungry,” you’d be pretty fucking pissed, wouldn’t you?

I fucking hate people, I really do.

Posted at 10:30 AM | Permalink

07/21/2009

“ 

Tellingly, his most celebrated and significant moment — Greg Mitchell says “this broadcast would help save many thousands of lives, U.S. and Vietnamese, perhaps even a million” — was when he stood up and announced that Americans shouldn’t trust the statements being made about the war by the U.S. Government and military, and that the specific claims they were making were almost certainly false. In other words, Cronkite’s best moment was when he did exactly that which the modern journalist today insists they must not ever do — directly contradict claims from government and military officials and suggest that such claims should not be believed. These days, our leading media outlets won’t even use words that are disapproved of by the Government.

Despite that, media stars will spend ample time flamboyantly commemorating Cronkite’s death as though he reflects well on what they do (though probably not nearly as much time as they spent dwelling on the death of Tim Russert, whose sycophantic servitude to Beltway power and “accommodating head waiter”-like, mindless stenography did indeed represent quite accurately what today’s media stars actually do). In fact, within Cronkite’s most important moments one finds the essence of journalism that today’s modern media stars not only fail to exhibit, but explicitly disclaim as their responsibility.

 „

Celebrating Cronkite while ignoring what he did - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

There are many quotations to love very deeply in this article.

Quote posted at 2:29 PM | Permalink

07/13/2009

“ Mr. Maloney, meanwhile, has asked the Supreme Court to take up the case, and invites any visitors to his website devoted to the case to join the National Alliance for Relief from Nunchaku Intolerance in America, or Narnia. “There are no membership fees at this time,” the site states. „ The Sotomayor Hearings: What to Watch For - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com

Quote posted at 10:26 AM | Permalink

07/06/2009

takethecityandrun: ericmortensen: asprettyasasong: dylicious: mykicks: The flag of equal marriage This is an evolving protest flag for equal marriage rights in the United States.The stars on the Jan 1, 2010 flag represent the states that actively perform same-sex marriages. Stars are arranged on the blue field in order of each state’s admission into the union. —————— Wow, that’s pretty clever.

takethecityandrun:

ericmortensen:

asprettyasasong:

dylicious: mykicks:

The flag of equal marriage

This is an evolving protest flag for equal marriage rights in the United States.
The stars on the Jan 1, 2010 flag represent the states that actively perform same-sex marriages. Stars are arranged on the blue field in order of each state’s admission into the union.

——————

Wow, that’s pretty clever.

Posted at 2:46 PM | Permalink

05/04/2009

“ The ban protects combat effectiveness, which the Pentagon defined as the product of unit cohesion and readiness. Cohesive units are built through the constant and close association of people over time, which produces a mixture of trust and confidence. Openly serving gays polarize and fragment that critical trust and confidence. „

Robert Maginnis from In the Barracks, Out of the Closet - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com

No. The attitudes of bigots polarize and fragment that critical trust and confidence. Try again.

Quote posted at 1:06 PM | Permalink

04/28/2009

» Arlen Specter Switches Parties | TPMDC

WOWEE WOW WOW WOW. When Franken is seated, the Democrats will have 60 votes in the Senate. Wow.

Link posted at 12:37 PM | Permalink

04/16/2009

barthel: I’m not saying there aren’t valid reasons for that price (America is, after all, a lot bigger than Spain or Japan). But if we want to see this actually used, it either needs to get there a lot faster, so it will be a viable alternative to flying, or it needs to keep its one-way price around about Greyhound levels. Because otherwise, I’m taking the bus. And believe me, I’ve taken the bus a lot, and I hate the bus, but $221? Come on. —————— Well, for one, paying $221 for the only high-speed rail in America is a lot like paying $600 for the first-generation iPhone: it’s the early-adopter tax, and the economy of scale that allows for cheaper tickets isn’t here yet. Think of the cost for parts, the cost of specially-trained mechanics, the infrastructure, etc. As high-speed rail production expands, the cost will drop. Also, in comparing rail to plane, you’re not considering the primary motivating factor behind instituting high-speed rail: Pollution costs. A train can be “cheaper” for the world while not necessarily being a whole lot cheaper for the consumer. And if your point is purely about consumer rejection, well, sure, they’ve got a problem there. But big-picture, it’s very important, and it’s a factor that I’d strongly consider when buying a ticket. Others might not, but that’s how I look at it. I don’t expect big things out of this plan, to be honest — this was probably just a photo op, and real progress on high-speed rail will be grindingly slow and not a central Obama priority — but thank God the President is talking about it, y’know? I’ll be ecstatic if he surprises me and actually keeps talking about it, instead of using this announcement as “well that’s one more campaign promise checked off. What next?”

barthel:

I’m not saying there aren’t valid reasons for that price (America is, after all, a lot bigger than Spain or Japan). But if we want to see this actually used, it either needs to get there a lot faster, so it will be a viable alternative to flying, or it needs to keep its one-way price around about Greyhound levels. Because otherwise, I’m taking the bus. And believe me, I’ve taken the bus a lot, and I hate the bus, but $221? Come on.

——————

Well, for one, paying $221 for the only high-speed rail in America is a lot like paying $600 for the first-generation iPhone: it’s the early-adopter tax, and the economy of scale that allows for cheaper tickets isn’t here yet. Think of the cost for parts, the cost of specially-trained mechanics, the infrastructure, etc. As high-speed rail production expands, the cost will drop.

Also, in comparing rail to plane, you’re not considering the primary motivating factor behind instituting high-speed rail: Pollution costs. A train can be “cheaper” for the world while not necessarily being a whole lot cheaper for the consumer. And if your point is purely about consumer rejection, well, sure, they’ve got a problem there. But big-picture, it’s very important, and it’s a factor that I’d strongly consider when buying a ticket. Others might not, but that’s how I look at it.

I don’t expect big things out of this plan, to be honest — this was probably just a photo op, and real progress on high-speed rail will be grindingly slow and not a central Obama priority — but thank God the President is talking about it, y’know? I’ll be ecstatic if he surprises me and actually keeps talking about it, instead of using this announcement as “well that’s one more campaign promise checked off. What next?”

Posted at 3:00 PM | Permalink

04/09/2009

» Somebody hide Tom Friedman’s ball | Grist

Read this article if you read Tom Friedman’s column about carbon taxes in the NYT this week. Or, hell, just read it anyway, because it’s got a lot of seriously important things to say. Just do it, please.

Barthel I am looking at you.

Link posted at 5:06 PM | Permalink

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