Couldn't be happier!

This someecards makes me so giggly and happy.

Google Times

A visitor to this blog did a Google search for "liberal politicians and their beliefs."

The first result on the first page, as of 7:00pm CST?

My post.

Made me smile.

Help Keep Minneapolis Queer/Lesbian Bar Alive!

From cinna.mn:

This is a personal note from the owner of Pi Bar, Tara Yule:

I have been overwhelmed by the response from our community to the news that Pi is closing. People have expressed their desire to come together to raise money toward the effort to retain this space for the community which it has served. Only weeks ago, the financial challenge seemed insurmountable. However, a significant amount of money has already been raised in an effort to save Pi’s building. In addition, other parties have emerged with potential, alternative, creative financing ideas that could bridge the shortfall if enough money is raised. Joni Thome is a good friend of mine and definitely Pi family. She’s a mom, a lawyer, a long time activist, and a great, caring person. She is one of the many people that have come forward to organize this endeavor. What she has to say sums up the sentiment of many that have come to me. Our ultimate goal is to preserve this space for the service of the community that it has worked to bring together and come to love. I invite you to read her words and consider the offer.

Here’s Joni’s letter:

Friends,

Most of you have probably heard by now that the Pi Bar will have to close its doors effective November 15th. This is to let you know that this does not need to happen and that I believe, it should not happen. Here is what is going on:

The Pi Bar and Restaurant:
I like to go to Pi and here is why.
This is the only place I have ever been where the sign “everyone welcome” speaks the truth about the establishment. Many in our communities have worked long and hard to bring different communities of color, culture, age, class, sexual orientation and gender identity together in one place - in 30 years in this community I have only witnessed two venues achieve that goal - Twin Cities Pride and Pi. And, Pi has done it in under two years! This is more than a bar, it’s a place that is rich in potential and one that is destined to become a community landmark. Last night I watched and celebrated the election results with my Seward and Longfellow neighbors, several punks, a group of children, postal workers, teachers, stay at home parents, students, lawyers, bankers, city and county workers, people who just lost their jobs and houses and so on - I was at Pi and the true community spirit could not have been more intense. Then again, this night was not all that different from other evenings at Pi - whether for Dildo Dingo, a Kid Dance Party, a neighborhood wine tasting or for a fundraiser, the community spirit is present at this place. We cannot let this unique and necessary space get away.

The Problem: Pi Bar owners, like any small business owners, had to take risks in their efforts to get the business started. One was to take the building on a contract for deed. That deed ballooned in September. Throughout the summer and in to the fall, Pi owners worked tirelessly in their efforts to obtain financing for the building. Obviously, this balloon came at a bad time in the life of US economy, we are not at our best. The building itself is valued over $600,000.00 and the current owner wants $600,000.00. If Pi cannot finance or raise that money by mid-month, it will take the necessary steps to ready the building to be retaken by the title owners. BUT, in the last week since Pi made it known that it would have to close, over $100,000.00 have been donated to the business.

The Solution: Make the building a community owned space - sort of like the Green Bay Packers. That is, private donors contribute dollars to bring the amount to be financed down to a manageable level or provide enough funds to purchase the building outright. Current Pi owner Tara Yule would then become the steward for the building. The Pi Bar and Restaurant would continue to operate consistent with its current philosophy and environment and, it would continue to be the space for fundraising and other events in our communities. The benefit to our communities and to each donor is not something that can be defined at this time. Management has tossed around ideas of VIP status and public recognition for contributions - contributions of $500.00 and more. I know that I will donate because I go to Pi because of what it has become and what it will continue to be in our community. We won’t have a chance like this again perhaps for a long, long time. You can become a proud “owner” of the Pi Bar and Community Center by sending all you can to:

Pi Bar
2532 25th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55406

In the unlikely event that not enough funds are raised to purchase the building, your check will not be cashed. If you want your check returned to you in this event, please send a note indicating the same along with the check.

Pass it on …

Joni M. Thome

Although I don't currently live in the Twin Cities, I know my friends treasure Pi and the space it provides. We need to keep places like this alive and well. We need to support this endeavor to symbolically counteract the devastating results of Prop 8 in California, to build community and tell the world that regardless of sexual orientation, gender, race, class, religion or whatever else we imagine separates us, we are in this together and we support each other.

Save Pi. Save the World.

Right now they just have the mail-in donations, but I've asked about online contributions. I'll keep you up-to-date on any places where you can contribute.

Crush(es) of the Day

These guys, from the National Youth Poetry Slam (Chico Speaks Out Team 2005), made my day on Tuesday when a friend pointed out this video. Not work/school appropriate, but definitely something that should be checked out.

Sometimes, Words Fail

The following is a short column I wrote to be included in my college's newspaper about the historic election last night. It was written quickly, after class today, but it came from the heart:

I know many people are thinking and feeling the same things I am, and words cannot adequately express many of those things. Last night was a night to be an American. Hope and a million possibilities seemed to hang in the air, there for the taking if only we were willing to grasp them. We did grasp them when we elected Barack Obama to become the 44th President of the United States of America. Not only was the election itself an amazing event with the first African American to be elected President in this country, but the events that took place after the winner was declared were illustrative of the kind of leader Barack Obama already is and the brilliant future that is a real possibility for this country.

Many of us on this campus heard the cheering last night when the results were announced. Many of us were part of the jubilation that spilled into the streets of Galesburg before returning to Knox where people came together for music and dance in order to express the joy that seemed all-encompassing not only on our campus, but around the world.

Barack Obama has done something amazing: He has invigorated people and motivated them to become involved in the political process, to be excited, and to really care. That is how real change is going to come about in this country, and Obama has already started the process, even before moving into the White House. All I can say is that I am so grateful to have been a part of this historic moment, and I look forward to the next four years.

Me, pointing at my "I Voted" sticker, right after voting

for Barack Obama in my first presidential election yesterday.

11/4/08

Last night was, of course, historic.
It was also inspiring, beautiful, personal, affecting, communal, and changing.

Last night, CNN called the election at 10pm.
McCain made his concession at 10:30pm.
Obama addressed the nation at 11pm.
At 11:45pm, we took to the streets.

Amelia and I live on a small college campus of about 1300 students in the middle of a working class town.We were in our room with some friends eating, cheering, studying, and watching CNN. We had our windows open and kept hearing people screaming, so we decided to explore. We walked towards the center of campus to see a line of several hundred students walking. Joining in, we found ourselves walking towards Old Main, the most prestigious building on campus, the last remaining site of a Lincoln-Douglas debate and the place where Abe Lincoln first publicly denounced slavery on moral grounds.
We stood on the steps of that historic building celebrating another historic moment, the election of our first black president. Surrounded by most of the campus, chanting, screaming, crying, laughing, I felt proud. Something deep inside me, something I've never known before, something I've never expected to feel, came to the surface.

I loved my country in that moment.

I loved that I could stand there, on those steps where Abe Lincoln stood before me and be surrounded by chaotic young people of all colors. That we could yell together. That we could cry together. That we could march together, later, through the streets, running and skipping, hugging and smiling, holding hands and cheering. We were, we are unified. We are American, and under the leadership of Barack Obama, I am proud of that fact.

Voter 745

I was voter number 745 this afternoon at my polling station. After voting, I went outside and passed out information on Question 1 for the rest of the afternoon. Here's what I'll remember about today:

• Walking into vote, a young boy asking me if I was going to vote for Obama.
• The older gentleman who shook all of the poll stander's hands as he walked out of the polling station, saying he was going to tell his children and grandchildren about that day.
• The two men and older woman trying to convince voters to vote for their candidate for state representative, shouting names after them as they walk to vote
• The boys and young men playing basketball next to the school, watching their community come together to make their voice heard
• When I said, "Vote no on Question 1," the man saying, "Oh, the question that wants to gut my rights?"
• The 13 year old daughter of a local campaign manager arguing local politics with the two men trying to get people to vote for a write-in candidate
• The 5 year old granddaughter of another poll stander who couldn't read everything she was handing out, but could read the word "vote"
• The group of youth doing a recording for a local radio program, one who said while walking away, "I wish I was old enough to vote..."

Quick Read on election day anxiety

Debra Haffner at the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing has ten tips for easing election-related anxiety:

1. Don't check the polls on the web today. People are voting tomorrow. Those little up and down arrows won't tell you much. Just skip them. Don't click on them.

2. Call your local office of your party and ask how you can make a difference today or on election day. Offer to spend an hour or two.

3. Email all your friends in swing states and remind them how important it is to vote.

4. Check out your polling place on line, its hours, and what kind of ID you are going to need tomorrow. Plan to vote early. Talk to your boss about taking an hour off if the lines turn out to be long. Call a friend to go with you.

5. If you have done steps 2, 3, and 4 -- thank yourself for participating in our great democratic process. If you are anxious and you haven't done what you can do to participate, think of your own.

6. Remember to breathe. Use this simple mantra, "Breathing in, I calm my body; breathing out I smile."

7. Do not watch any more TV about the election today. You can watch tomorrow. Oh, Saturday Night Live's special election count down and the Daily Show don't count as TV. Laughter is good stress relief.

8. Exercise. Go to the gym; take a walk; take the clothes off the treadmill or the exercise bike, and do something for 20 minutes.

9. Plan who you will spend election night with. You don't want to be eating a can of peanuts or a bag of pretzels on your own. Buy a bottle of inexpensive champagne or sparkling cider and put it in your refrigerator to celebrate if your candidate wins.

10. Pray. Pray for both of the candidates and their families. Pray for your's. Pray for America. Pray for the world. It couldn't hurt.

Same-sex marriages start November 12 in Connecticut

Word's out: Same-sex couples can marry in Connecticut beginning November 12 at 9:15 AM!

Here's GLAD's information guide on getting married in Connecticut.

So much wedding cake... mmm.

Quick read: Veterns for equality and against Don't Ask, Don't Tell

If you've been following some of the election races in Minnesota, you know there's tight competition for several seats, including Norm Coleman's Senate re-election bid against Al Franken (with recent allegations of money funneled to Coleman's wife by an associate), Michele Bachmann's House seat (complicated by her comments on rooting out "anti-American" members of Congress, generating an unexpected fund-raising boost by her competitor), and the open House seat in the 3rd District between Ashwin Madia (D) and Erik Paulsen (R) (who allegedly darkened/desaturated Madia's skin in a tv ad).

However, the Minnesota Independant has a great article out today about Madia's equal rights stance and how he arrived at that opinion during his time as a U.S. Marine:

Madia’s turn-about happened while he was a U.S. Marine. As a member of the judge advocate general’s corps in the Marines, Madia was assigned to defend the case of a servicemember who was being discharged because he is gay. Madia was one of the first attorneys in history to successfully defend a fellow Marine against the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

“Real patriotism sometimes means taking on the system if you know what you’re doing is the right thing,” he said of taking the case.

In 2005, Madia took on a client who had downloaded gay pornography on a government computer and was caught. The same day, another Marine had gotten caught doing the same thing, only the pornography was heterosexual in nature.

“The gay Marine was given a demotion in rank; loss of pay; restricted in his movements on base; and, most severe of all, an administrative separation from the Marine Corps with an Other-Than-Honorable (OTH) discharge, just one step below a court martial,” Madia said. “The straight Marine received a verbal reprimand by the commanding officer.”

Madia successfully argued to a panel of Marines that the disparity in punishment was unjust. They agreed.

His client was able to continue his career with the Marines, but Madia was concerned about the man’s well-being now that he had been outed as gay. Madia checked up on him. “When PFC Smith got on the phone, he was calm and his voice level toned. He said, ‘Sir, nobody cares about that stuff,’” Madia recalled.

“If the Marines, some of the most conservative members of our society, can look beyond sexual preference, maybe the rest of America can do so too,” says Madia. “If someone is willing to wear the uniform, fight, and possibly die for this country, it shouldn’t matter who they are and who they love.”

Check it out.

Thanks.

I can't wait until Tuesday.

I can't wait to vote.

I met Barack Obama two years ago in D.C. He called me young lady and took a picture with me.

I canvassed for him in Iowa before the primaries, knocking on doors for an afternoon.

Amelia and I have a little shrine to him in our room with lots of pictures of Michelle and him.

I read the newspaper everyday, and the New York Times website is my homepage.

I blog.

I am engaged in the political process.

Thanks Alice Paul.

Eighty-eight years ago women got the right to vote and the right to be actively engaged in the political process. Alice Paul led the National Woman's Party in picketing, hunger strikes, and civil disobedience during suffrage. Her hunger strike campaign and the subsequent public outrage had a deep influence on the Nineteenth Amendment. She was a revolutionary, and she is still not well-known. She is a large part of the reason I can cast my vote on Tuesday, and I want to thank her.

"Mr. President, how long must women wait for their liberty? Let us have the rights we deserve?"

Ill Doctrine: A Poem for The Young Voter

Tuesday is the day. Make sure you get out and vote.

To John McCain and his campaign: I am sick of you

Being 19 years old, next Tuesday will be the first presidential election that I will be old enough to participate in. And quite frankly, I can’t wait for the election to be decided. I have a feeling that we will be sitting, anxiously biting our nails, as this and that is contested, perhaps repeatedly, but I am really looking forward to the end, which I hope hope hope comes with a victory for Obama/Biden.

This election cycle has brought the ever-infuriating John McCain and his campaign to a frightening point. Frightening, because he might very well become President if we aren’t careful.

I recently had a friend send me a link to a CNN article about Campbell Brown’s response to a story that an adviser to John McCain called Sarah Palin a “diva” because she has gone "rogue" and has been trying to “bust free” mismanagement that her candidacy has faced.

I admit, I am not a fan of Sarah Palin as a politician. But when I heard about this story, I was not happy at all. I agree with Brown in her assessment of the word “diva.” Here, it is used to shame Palin who dared to try to straighten things out for herself when she perceived that they were not going well. A woman trying to take control of a situation that she does not see as beneficial? How dare her! The diva!

And then, on Shakesville today I ran across this article that claims that the McCain camp is using Palin as their scapegoat for their problems, and possible loss of the election. Um, hello? Did McCain and his advisers forget that McCain chose Palin as his running mate, despite her lack of qualifications? And now that he’s realizing that she might not have been a good choice, McCain’s advisers are attacking her? Great. Why not let the woman take the fall for the man’s mistakes. Shame on you, John McCain, for allowing this to happen. I hope you do not make it to the White House. If you can’t even stand by your team, the team YOU helped pick, I can’t even begin to imagine what kinds of trouble you could get this country into. So many things about John McCain make me quiver, both out of fear and anger.

John McCain is a “tar baby” with a lovely temperament who would give you an IED as a gift and then tell you a joke about domestic violence after refusing to come forward and state that rape isn't funny. John McCain knows how to "beat the bitch" as long as the trollop/cunt doesn't receive equal pay or get more “education and training.” John McCain is full of ideas, especially when it comes to appropriate times to use the term "gook," bombing Iran, and killing those suckers with cigarettes! Nevermind the fact that he once threatened suicide over the thought of a Democrat majority in the Senate and the fact that he has no idea what it's like to be a normal American!

Perfect picture of an American President, if I ever saw one. And to think, I left out so many of his other "qualifications"...

Dear, I want this election to be over. I want Obama to win. Because, if not, well, there isn't much for anyone who isn't a misogynist, racist, super-privileged American to look forward to, is there?

*Thanks to Melissa at Shakesville for many of the links*

CT Voters: Vote NO on Question 1

Even though Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled that banning gay marriage is unconstitutional and gay couples will start to get married some time during the week of November 10, there's still a possibility that might allow for the possibility of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

On Connecticut's ballot next week, people have a chance to vote on Question 1 which reads, "Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the constitution of the state?"

Every 20 years, the state of Connecticut requires a vote on whether or not to change the state's constitution, and the convention would be used as an arena to establish laws without being promoted, approved, or checked by taxpayers. Although a constitutional convention sounds like a good example of democracy, the convention delegates would be picked by state legislators, not citizens. The constitution would potentially be altered by lobbyists and special interest groups. Many anti-gay marriage and anti-choice proponents would see the convention as an opportunity to push for rights reducing changes, such as banning gay marriage and taking away a woman's right to choose.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has stated that a convention would be unnecessary, adding, "The convention proposal is a risky and costly process. The State Constitution is not a document to be rewritten carelessly."

So, anyone out there in Connecticut, vote NO on Question 1. There's more info here at CT Vote No and Love Makes a Family. If you're interested in standing at the polls, distributing information on Question 1, either group would love to have you volunteer.

Female Impersonators Radio Hour

Female Impersonators Radio Hour
1:20pm Today!


As long as we don't have anymore technical problems, we will be featuring the music of:
Belle and Sebastian
Emily Haines
Sleater-Kinney
Gogol Bordello
...and more!

We'll also be discussing:
Sexist Halloween costumes
Sarah Palin's "feminism"
"Birth Control Free" Pharmacies
...and more!

And, Amelia's family is coming! Yay!
Listen!

Feminist Halloween Costumes?

My sister just cut off all her hair to donate it for Locks for Love, and she's got cute short hair. We were trying to come up with Halloween costumes that could work for her new hair, and I suggested Rachel Maddow, which would be way awesome.


One year my roommates and I dressed up as Rockford Peach players from a League of Their Own and I've gone as Rosie the Riveter in the past, which I thoroughly enjoyed.


So, are there any more brilliant feminist Halloween costumes that you've done in the past/planning to do this year?