Category Archives: In the News

Why would anyone object?

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Some residents don’t appreciate being mooned by new artwork

By AMY HAMILTON/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

The town of Silt has become the butt of jokes in recent weeks all because a new sculpture at the town’s entrance depicts a rock climber’s bare bum.

After the sculpture’s unveiling in late August – a rendition of large rock decked with wildlife, a fly fisherman, a coal car and a cougar perched atop – it’s the backside of a nondescript human figure climbing its west flank that’s been in the national media spotlight.

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Residents in the small town of about 2,500 are divided on whether the sculpture, commissioned by the city, in the town’s roundabout is too cheeky.

“I have friends in San Diego and Nevada, and they said they saw a story about Silt,” said Poke Stiers, who owns the shop Tim’s Tools, near the sculpture. “I said, ‘Was it about our roundabutt?’ “

Most drivers in the roundabout do not pay any attention to the bare-bottomed climber, but some exit 1-70 just to see the sculpture.

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Bisexual and not in favor of same sex marriage

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Regarding one of the most controversial subjects in America society, same sex marriage, I found this piece to be eloquent, concise and thought-provoking.  Whether you agree with the author or not, this is exactly how each side of the issue should be presented in order to maintain a constructive dialogue.

From AfterEllen.com

By KarenR

I know there have been a lot of topics set up on bisexuality and what bisexuals are into and all that but I believe this point of view has not been represented here before. I believe same sex couples should get the same legal and financial rights as heterosexual couples but I don’t believe LGBT are entitlted to the word “marriage.” I would prefer it if marriage was kept out of state issues and left to the Church, however, till that happens LGBT should be able to accept that compromise of civil unions which offer the same benefits. Maybe it’s because of my religious and cultural upbringing but I don’t see why gay people want the word marriage. As an out bisexual in a opposite sex relationship with a bi guy, but who has been in numerous same sex relationships I think the difference between opposite and same sex relationships couldn’t be greater. A same sex relationship can’t offer all that an opposite sex relationship can and vice versa. So why not have different words? Why the fixation on SSM when there are other issues of greater importance? Personally, I like fitting in, being the majority, and not being an outlier too much to make my primary relationship a same sex one. But that doesn’t mean i don’t like to engage in same sex play on the weekends by hanging out at gay bars. I like having a taste of both worlds but still I think it’s important to differentiate between both relationships.

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To all the biphobic gay people out there your concerns are justified because i don’t know about other bisexuals but I tend to value heterosexual privilege and opposite sex relationships more than same sex ones, especially due to the biphobia in the gay community, and also because apart from personal satisfaction and enjoyment same sex relationships don’t have the same amount of societal value as opposite sex ones. Procreation is an important element of marriage and if two people cannot procreate they cannot offer the same amount back to society that they receive and they should not receive the title of “marriage.” To raise a child deliberately without a father and mother is unfair for a child. Sunday is father’s day in many countries and children without any story involving a father are prone to feel left out. Same with gay male couples having children and mother’s day. I don’t oppose LGBT couples having children but both a mother and father should be identified for the child, rather than replaced with parent 1 and parent 2. A lot of people who would otherwise be supportive of gay rights are not because of the belligerent nature of the gay rights movement that demands but does not compromise and because of changes they believe may affect them. I used to be really into the gay rights movement of same sex marriage but all the bi and hetero bashing made me re-evaluate things.

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I respect LGBT relationships but I believe if same sex couples want the same benefits as opposite sex couples you should seek civil unions and not try to take over an institution because you want “respect and dignity.” I don’t see LGBT in the Eastern world or in developing countries attempting that and with the population growth in Western countries the way it is you’ll be overtaken by those who respect traditional marriage in no time. I think it is a fundamental mistake for us, or t he wider gay community, to take on religious institutions and ask them to change because that will never happen.

LGBT here should follow the steps of those in the UK who are happy with civil unions and not want marriage. Gay superstar Elton John also echoed similar words.

A rational approach towards Same-Sex Unions

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Looking over headlines around the world, I ran across this beacon of light the other day.  It may take another few generations, but I believe the day may come that our diverse human sexuality is no longer news-worthy.

From ummid.com

September 03, 2009, M. Burhanuddin Qasmi

Following the footsteps of a few Western countries, the Delhi high court has decriminalized the consensual sex between adults of the same gender on July 2, 2009.

All the major media houses – electronic and print, were agog with flashing headlines the next day- “Homosexuality in India decriminalized” and “India ultimately democratized”. The judgment of the Delhi high court said that committing homosexual acts that is having gay or lesbian sex or having unnatural sex, which in turn means same-sex marital relationship or sex among bi-sexuals and transgenders, is no longer illegal in India.

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The high court verdict came blatantly and argued that it is against the fundamental right of liberty and life to punish the adult and consensual practitioner of unnatural sex. The on record judgment thus reads:

“Moral indignation, howsoever strong, is not a valid basis for overriding individuals’ fundamental rights of dignity and privacy. In our scheme of things Constitutional morality must outweigh the argument of public morality, even if it be the majoritarian view.”

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A New American Trend?

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Apparently going topless is a revelation.  It shouldn’t be.  Why we’re so freaky about the human body in America is a puzzle to me.  Maybe it’s because so many of us have given our bodies over to Twinkies and donuts.  People like being naked because it feels good.  They like the sense of freedom, the feel of sunlight and fresh air on their skin.  They like the joy and magic of being human.  There should be more breaches, walking trails and swimming holes, etc. for adults who understand this sensual sense of freedom.  The following article about women who are bold enough to protest our archaic nudity laws reflects a step in this direction.

From The Daily News, New York

By Joe Jackson

Some were shocked. Others disgusted. But for some, it was the breast day ever!

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Dozens of semi-nude women gave the city a Double-D eyeful Sunday when they bared their boobs in Central Park and then marched through the streets.

The daring display was part of “National Go-Topless Day” – indeed, there is such a thing – and stunned jaded New Yorkers and wide-eyed tourists alike.

“This is unbelievable – and super,” said Dalvin Jan, 21, who rents bicycles for a living on Central Park South. “I’m going to tell my wife to join in.”

With Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” blaring from speakers and chants of “free your breasts, free your mind,” the troupe of bare-breasted women – and their enthusiastic male supporters – paraded their way along Central Park South.

“We’re all here for the same reason – to allow women to be free in the park like men,” organizer Sylvie Chabot, 54, of Montreal, told the crowd at a midday rally at Columbus Circle.

Motorists honked their horns in support while bemused tourists took photos from passing tour buses.

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Quick Draw Gates

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Henry Gates can draw the race card quicker than Matt Dillon can draw a Colt six-shooter; tiresome as this kind of story is and still all too common.  Of course the news media couldn’t get on it fast enough.

It’s disturbing in this day and time, when such accomplished men still rely on the color of their skin as a dependable old standby.  I suppose, when Gates applied to Yale University to earn his undergraduate degree and wrote “As always, whitey now sits in judgment of me, preparing to cast my fate. It is your decision either to let me blow with the wind as a nonentity or to encourage the development of self. Allow me to prove myself”, the hand writing was on the wall.  Makes one wonder if his success was acquired by sucking the benevolent tit of affirmative action, or by the good graces of quotas.  Makes one cringe when you consider all the black men and women who struggle through their successes and failures like everyone else.

Even more disturbing is the fact that Barack Obama sanctioned it.  Like so many others, I thought, once elected, he would lead the United States down a new path of more enlightened understanding; show us that blacks, like so many already believe, have the capacity for individual success without relying on all the old crutches.  Looks like we may have to continue to depend on some future generation to end this kind of thinking.  In the mean time, seems a significant percentage of our black population is going to hang on to their prejudices and hatreds.

Just food for thought:  Not not ago, while driving down a New Mexico highway late at night, I was pulled over by two over-zealous patrol officers for making what they called an improper lane change.  They had roared up out of nowhere and drove along side my rear bumper for several irritating miles .  I thought it was teenagers giving me a hard time.  I eventually sped up and pulled in front of them to pass a slow moving car in my lane (improper lane change).  When they pulled me over, I told them it looked like they were goading me by tailing so close in the next lane, which led to an angry exchange.  They told me to get out of the car, searched me, decided I needed to be cited for three additional violations and threatened to haul me to jail.  I thought of this incident when I first heard this story involving Henry Gates.  Had it happened to him, it would have been because he’s black.  In my case, the whole affair ended with my apology, a handshake, and a warning to use my signal when changing lanes.

What did Mr. Gates achieve?  If the police ever spot someone breaking into his house, will they dare profile the burglar if he’s black?

More Gloom and Doom for Iran

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Watching the news coverage of the Iranian election, as the cameras panned the throngs lined up to vote, I saw what appeared to be a population of rational, logical, forward thinking people.  Except for the lack of women (a sign their rational appearance could be deceptive), the scene could have been in any democratic western country in the world.

I find it difficult to believe, especially since so many younger voters were active in this election, that the population chose to endorse inflation, unemployment and being ostracized by the west by voting for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad two to one.  How can an entire people of a large country be so entirely different from the rationale of the entire free world?  Can a religion actually be that powerful?

Photo by Ben Curtis, Associated Press
Photo by Ben Curtis, Associated Press

Not everyone in Iran fits the mold, attested to by the massive and immediate protests.  Perhaps these people want to join the brotherhood of man.  Perhaps they understand and want to exercise the human spirit.  Perhaps they want to identify with what the rest of the free world largely defines as normal.  They might even recognize the need for a rational dialogue with Israel.  Perhaps there’s hope.

Wives Who Watch or Participate

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Thinking about a husband having sex with another man is anathema to most women.  Actually seeing it is unthinkable.

For others it’s an integral part of their marriage.  Some wives are not only present, they participate.  They not only witness their husbands give and receive sexual pleasure with another man, they explore and receive sexual attention from two men at the same time.   Not that they were necessarily predisposed to intimacy with someone other than their husband, they were, however, able to contemplate being married to a bisexual man with an open mind, weigh the consequences, accept the circumstances, and then decide to be connected to this part of her husband’s nature.  For many, coupled mutually agreed upon and acceptable parameters, the experience turns out to be liberating and personally rewarding.

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These women have decided they do not want their husband’s bisexuality to divide their marriage, or be denied, or see him live out his life in quiet desperation.  They don’t want to worry about him meeting other men secretly.  Even when they have decided he should have a special friend, they don’t want him living a separate life one or two nights a week at some vague rendezvous away from home.  They have prepared themselves spiritually. morally and psychologically to be part of her husband’s relationship with another man.

For wives searching for common ground with their bisexual husbands, this scenario can seem complicated and daunting.  On many levels, depending on the wife’s long held beliefs, it is.  However, based on the accounts I have read, bringing a new dimension into the marriage can also be stimulating, rewarding, and even exciting.  Often a man and wife become closer, based on the fact that this is a newly discovered way to be part of each others soul.  A new understanding has revealed itself, a new closeness, revealed by way of compromise found in very few of today’s marriages.

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A Marriage Manifesto…Of Sorts

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A gay man experiments with language, love and law.

By Tom Ackerman

http://www.religiondispatches.org/blog/sexandgender/755/
November 17, 2008

I no longer recognize marriage. It’s a new thing I’m trying.

Turns out it’s fun.

Yesterday I called a woman’s spouse her boyfriend.

She says, correcting me, “He’s my husband,”

“Oh,” I say, “I no longer recognize marriage.”

The impact is obvious. I tried it on a man who has been in a relationship for years, “How’s your longtime companion, Jill?”
“She’s my wife!”

“Yeah, well, my beliefs don’t recognize marriage.”

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Fun. And instant, eyebrow-raising recognition. Suddenly the majority gets to feel what the minority feels. In a moment they feel what it’s like to have their relationship downgraded, and to have a much taken-for-granted right called into question because of another’s beliefs.

Just replace the words husband, wife, spouse, or fiancé with boyfriend, girlfriend, special friend, or longtime companion. There is a reason we needed stronger words for more serious relationships. We know it; now they can see it.

A marriage is a lot of things. Culturally, it’s a declaration to the community that two people are now a unit, and that unity should be respected. Legally, it’s a set of rights and responsibilities. And spiritually, it’s whatever your beliefs think it is.

That’s what’s so great about America. As a Constitutionally secular nation, or at least in reality a vaguely pluralistic nation, we can all have our own spiritual take on what marriage is. What’s troublesome is when one group’s spiritual beliefs deny the cultural and legal rights of another.

But, back to the point. They say their beliefs don’t recognize my marriage, I say my beliefs don’t recognize theirs. Simple. It may seem petty, and obviously the legal part of the cultural/legal/spiritual trilogy is flip-floppy, but it may be the cultural part that really matters.

People get married to be recognized as a permanent couple. To be acknowledged by friends, family, and strangers as being off the market, in a relationship, totally hooked up, yikes… it’s impossible to say without saying ‘married.’ We wear rings to declare this!

So, we can take this away. We can refuse to recognize marriage in the cultural sense. It is totally within our rights, as Americans, to follow our beliefs and recognize or not recognize what we like.

I guess this is a call out to all Americans with beliefs similar to mine.

If you believe that all people should have equal rights, and if you believe that marriage is one of the greatest destinations of a relationship, then perhaps you believe that nobody should have marriage until everybody does.

That’s what I believe.

Guardsmen Film Nude Female Soldiers in Shower

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WASHINGTON – A criminal investigation is underway for at least seven National Guard male soldiers who allegedly photographed and filmed female officers in the barrack’s showers at Fort Dix, NJ.

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Today’s statement from the Pentagon claims that the guardsmen filmed female soldiers from the 266th Military Police Company in the fall 2008 before they where deployed to Iraq. Commanders in that country where told about the incidents on May 21 and began the investigation within 24 hours.

The website Stars and Stripes reported that Army spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said that “as many as 21 female soldiers may have been victimized by the men.”

“We’re taking this very seriously, as we would any allegation of misconduct,” Garver told Stars and Stripes. “We’re trying to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

God help me, in today’s world I know this is utterly unacceptable behavior.  Female soldiers should be treated with sincere and absolute respect . . . but . . . on the other hand . . . MASH is still alive and well in the US Army!  Reading this brought up images of Lt. Houlihan, Hawkeye, Klinger and Trapper.  I know, I know . . . perhaps we could laugh hardier had it been the women filming the men.  Picture a world, if instead of criminal charges, the Army conficated the pictures and the female “victims” simply set out to get even.  Wouldn’t it be a more fun place to live?

Sex-ting

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My God!  So it’s come down to even this.  We Americans are so uptight about nudity, we are willing to criminalize our children.  How did this kind of thinking ever survive the Sixties?

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No one in their right mind would condone child abuse committed by an adult … they are child abusers plain and simple; they need to be locked up.  But this issue is entirely different.  It’s like comparing a common cold with cancer.  A thirteen year old girl sends her friend a nude picture of herself: she’s not a wayward young girl–she’s a purveyor of child pornography.  A seventeen year old boy has sex with his fifteen year old girlfriend: he’s not a misguided kid in love–he’s a child abuser and so labeled for the rest of his life.

So this modern day phenomena called sex-ting has gotten the self-righteous moralists in our society up in arms.  Once again, the sky is falling, never mind the natural curiosities in all normal children.  Instead of teaching them self-respect, that the human body is a beautiful thing, not something young people should be e-mailing to their friends, but something to be shared with someone special when they grow up … instead they’re being kicked out of school, arrested, labeled as sex offenders,  their lives ruined and their self-body images contaminated.  Is this what we want going on in our society?

Why not try some good parenting, preserve their innocence, and help them understand self-respect?