Don’t Mess With The Gays!

I just really don’t get the overwhelming sentiment that somehow gay marriage is going to corrupt or infringe on traditional marriage whatsoever. National Organization for Marriage traffics in hate and fear to their website and cause, and does this under the guise of holding the sanctity of marriage in some held high esteem.

I guess the 52 hour marriage of Britney Spears, the divorce rate sky-rocketing to over 65% now, and the cohorts that feel straight married couples somehow are better fit to be married or have children than gay married couples.

It’s fear and discrimination like this that does nothing for the religious right, nor does it address the deeper issue of their obvious homophobia. It’s undeniable that churches preach from the bible that it is a sin and wrong to commit adultery, to have children outside of wedlock, and it specifically abhors separation and divorce.

Divorce itself was as stated by Jesus himself insisted that marriage must be indissoluble (God’s original plan). He abrogated accommodations that had compromised the sixth commandment. Therefore between a couple who is married, “a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death”, yet we don’t see the National Organization for Marriage coming down against the 65% of divorcees.

And why is that? Maybe they feel they can just pick and choose the passages to fit their own agenda? Or is it conceivable that the “will of God” exists for everyone but those who commit an abomination against the commandments. Hm, wasn’t shell fish considered an abomination? I guess married homosexuals eating shellfish is the biggest sin of all.

No where in the Bible does it state that homosexuality is a sin, nor does it state that marrying the same sex is sinful. It’s the religious sect that espouses it’s bigotry towards anyone but themselves if their interpretation of the Bible of anyone that goes against what they have ‘chosen’ believe by the interpretations that they made from the Bible.

The N.O.M says same-sex marriage will somehow demoralize the sanctity of traditional marriage, yet Canada has legalized marriage in 2005, and since then they haven’t seen in four years any construct of a deterioration of society or infringement on anyone due to the ruling of same-sex marriage.

But I guess the religious folks who don’t support gay marriage will pick and choose the passage where the Bible states “Love Thy Neighbor”, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart” or, “he who is without sin cast the first stone”. So, let them pick and choose and interpret their Bible verses. It only cast them in a negative light by espousing their own agenda of discrimination and intolerance.

Do gays really need religious fanatical tyrants like the N.O.M. telling anyone how to live their lives when clearly it doesn’t affect their lives in the slightest? And, how exactly does a gay married couple infringe on anyone else marriage, and how could marriage between two loving people ever threaten anyone if it’s bounded in love?

If the National Organization for Marriage doesn’t support gay marriage, they shouldn’t get one.

Marriage is a human right, NOT a heterosexual priviledge.

Get Gitmo-Closing Guantanamo!

Torture by law of the U.S. is illegal, and the means by which people are tortured at Guantanamo with water-boarding, humiliation, beatings, sexual exploitation and starvation does nothing to bring an accurate confession.

All too often prisoners provide false information to lessen or stop the abuse. Prisoners aren’t allowed an attorney, a trial or even the basic of rights under the laws of the United States. They’re in Cuba and those laws don’t exist.

The Geneva Convention rules don’t apply because the government doesn’t use the word ‘prisoner’ which then allows detainees to be treated without any rights whatsoever. By the U.S. military not using the word ‘prisoner’, the term ‘enemy combatants’ is used instead to skirt the Geneva Convention rules so as those rules do not apply.

Those who order torture and those who follow those orders through, are just as guilty of crimes against humanity. But who’s going to enforce those laws? Surely not our own government who created the torture tactics to begin with.

Many suggest that the Nazi’s were just following orders when they tortured and murdered millions of Jews in the Holocaust. The Nuremberg trials established the “just following orders” defense did not excuse the atrocities that an officer acted upon.

The U.S. is obligated to abide by our treaties, laws, and agreements. The Geneva Convention specifically forbids torture. We agreed to abide by the Geneva Conventions, yet seemingly those rules don’t apply to the U.S. government at Guantanamo.

Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush tried to evade the law by making up their own definition of what constitutes torture. They should pay the consequences. But sadly the powers that be can not be held accountable by the Geneva Convention because the definitions of those laws are re-worded and are not set forth to determine that those laws are being broken.

The military suggests that many detainees many times don’t cooperate and they are not successfully ‘screened’. They also suggest that what they do at Guantanamo is saving lives, because it’s “good for the American people”. This U.S. naval base has been re-purposed into a dumping ground for people who’s civil rights they’d rather not consider because it’s “necessary” for the good of our country.

If one were to condemn Guantanamo it certainly wouldn’t be an indictment of just the administration, but of the entire congress. Congresses silence can only be attributed to the consent, acquiesce or disinterest. But it’s at least safe to say they just don’t care.

The U.S. government is torturing people, giving them no trials, no lawyers. It’s so intrinsically wrong and goes against what this country is suppose to represent, it’s laughable. Maybe because we’re all not having a really good laugh is because the little ‘gitmo’ tricks have started popping up close to home.

The recent revelations of FBI abuse of the patriot act, all the bogus subpoenas manufactured evidence against American citizens. Maybe it’s just ruined the fun of ‘gitmo’ for the military and it’s government because it’s much more in the public eye and scrutinized now much more rigorously by our new administration.

Maybe we should start with the little things first though, like human rights. The executive branch has a particular expertise, in fact they’ve been brilliant at it. Calling the prisoners “enemy combatants” instead of prisoners so they don’t have to abide by the Geneva Convention so that the military can torture them, brilliant. Basing the camp in Cuba so the constitution really won’t get in their way, brilliant.

And under the pentagon’s new draft guidelines, they’ll have tribunals in Guantanamo that will have suspects to be jailed for life, or even executed on evidence that would never be admissible in any civilian or military court, brilliant.

Imagine what this country could become being able to execute someone on triple hearsay on a totally coerced confession. Absolutely Brilliant!

We condemn terrorists for, among other things, torturing hostages, while we torture our prisoners. We condemn China for holding “political prisoners” without due process, while we hold “terrorists” without absolute proof. We can not willfully claim the moral high ground while at the same time climbing down to roll in the muddy gutter of political expedience.

Get Your FREE Unclaimed Money Here

I didn’t think I’d find anything for myself or family when I did a search, but low and behold I found that there was unclaimed money for myself of $30 when I worked for Burger King when I was a kid. How bout that!!

Governments keep a record of unclaimed money it is holding that belongs to individuals. Hard to believe, but the U.S. government wants to return this money to their rightful owners. Unclaimed money could include deposits, derivatives, salaries, stocks, bonds, wills, estate monies, and any other money or property that is not claimed by the legal owner.

State law requires local governments to turn over unclaimed money to the state after a specified period of time. The state has no time limit for filing claims. It holds unclaimed money in trust for the rightful owners forever. Visit the state’s The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrator’s web site for additional information.