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Dolphin’s Dock

There are Times I Like Getting Hot & Sweaty

April 29, 2009

Filed under General

But simply sitting in my house watching television is not such a time. If you live in Virginia, you now that summer has struck with a vengeance. No subtle creeping up of the temperature, just 66 one day, 96 the next. And the NEXT was Saturday. We do our best to not use the AC through the spring temperatures, and even in the summer we leave the thermostat set at 78. But once it’s in the 90s we obviously gotta have the AC to even maintain that temperature and that temperature is a little hard to handle when you’ve had no time to adjust (for example, an over night 30 degree increase!!). So we finally gave in Saturday evening and switched on the AC

Then we went out to dinner, expecting that by the time we got back the house would be nice and comfy. We were wrong. While the fan was blowing air out of our vents, the AC compressor never cut on, so the air coming out of our vents was the same temperature as the air already in the house (which at that point in the evening was slightly warmer than the air outside).

The nice part: we rent, so we can get it fixed no cost to us. The not-so-nice part: It’s Saturday night and the rental office isn’t open til Monday. Call went in first thing Monday morning, but I was told I may have to wait until Tuesday as they’d gotten 18 calls already about broken ACs. Yet Tuesday came and went, no visit from a repair person. This morning I get a call “to make sure [my] AC got fixed.” “Um, not unless it’s been done since I left for work this morning.” They are going to check into it to see why it wasn’t done yet. So yeah, we may have AC by tomorrow, once the temperature has cooled back down to where we don’t need it anymore.

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Happy Earth Day

April 22, 2009

Filed under Green, Holidays, Splashes

Happy Earth Day. I’ve had so much going on that I haven’t been keeping up with my Green Tip Tuesdays, but hopefully you can celebrate Earth Day by find just ONE thing in your life that you can do “greener” and make that change today!

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Future of the GOP. One Can Hope.

April 17, 2009

Filed under Gay Rights, Politics

A few prominent members from John McCain’s family and campaign are stepping forward to try and persuade the Republican Party that hating gays is no longer a winning strategy.

Few would disagree that the GOP is in disarray right now. One faction will eventually rise and take control (or the whole party could go under, but I somehow doubt that). I think there’s good reason to think that more socially moderate voices such as the McCains and Schmidt will win out over the Rush Limbaughs and Sarah Palins. Don’t get me wrong, the GOP will remain socially conservative, but the more extreme examples of social conservatism stand a good chance of falling by the wayside.

Younger conservatives really just aren’t that concerned with social issues; even among the religious right. Abortion is still a biggie, but not so much as it was for the parents of this new generation. Opposition to gay rights is relatively small and dispassionate among the younger GOP. If the GOP wants to re-achieve a majority, it will court these younger conservatives by easing off on it’s focus on social issues. If it doesn’t, then it will continue to lose until such time as it DOES listen to the Meghan McCain’s and Steve Schmidts of the party.

2 Responses to “Future of the GOP. One Can Hope.”

  1. Well first off rights do not belong to groups, they belong to individuals; only individuals have rights.

    And secondly, if the government can define “marriage” then what else about our families can they control? Will the bureaucrats, and politicians eventually try to define “love”? I should hope not.

    Marriage is a contract between consenting individuals. The government should have nothing to do with it and the very idea that one must ask permission to marry is a direct insult to our freedom. In fact the implication of having to attain a license to marry is that marriage is a privilege granted by the government. A privilege is the opposite of a right because rights are inherent and do not require permission. Even the Constitution recognizes our unlimited right to contract.

    The best plan?
    Leave the government out of it. And you’re right that the Republican Party and my fellow conservatives should adopt this philosophy. Besides, one cannot call themselves a “conservative” if they advocate big government intrusion into the personal lives of consenting adults. If the government is powerful enough to force one group of morals upon another group, then it is powerful enough to trample the rights of all individuals.

    ______________
    DISCLAIMER:
    Nothing I communicate is to be considered an official statement representative of any organization I belong to or am an officer of, including the Campaign for Liberty, Republican Liberty Caucus, WTN, Liberty on the Rocks, America’s Future Foundation, The Tennessee Liberty Alliance, or the Davidson County (Nashville) Republican Party. My opinions are my own.
    Edit/Delete Message

  2. I’m glad that Meghan McCain is as vocal as she is about LGBT issues. Sure, she enjoys the attention because it helps cement her role as a freshly minted pundit, but she’s sincere, and it’s encouraging to see that her opinions are making news. Besides, anybody named McCain seems to naturally enrage the religious right, so any time she’s in the news I enjoy knowing that she’s sending fundie blood pressure readings through the roof.

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April 16, 2009

Filed under Splashes

VT Ribbon

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ILVTOFU

April 9, 2009

Filed under Humor, Splashes

I feel for the woman not getting the license plate she wants, but dear god, it’s hysterical.

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Bigot Quote of the Day

April 8, 2009

Filed under Gay Rights

Conservative BeliefNet.com writer Rod Dreher spills the bean on same-sex marriage:

And that being the case [that gay marriage will eventually recieve federal recognition], it might be better for my side if it gets done sooner rather than later. If done sooner, there might still be enough backlash left in the American people to get a constitutional amendment passed erecting a high barrier or protection around religious institutions,

That seems like a pretty clear admission to me that the bigot brigade knows good and well that they are on the wrong side of history. All the apocalyptic talk is hogwash and they know it. Their success is tied completely to a rapidly dying prejudice. They know only a generation from now they will be looked the same way we today looked at those who instituted the Jim Crow laws (indeed it was not much more than a generation ago when they were in effect), so if they want to have anything enacted, the absolutely must move now. Frankly, I think they’ve had their heyday and have accomplished pretty much all they are going to. If they wanted to get anything stronger implemented, they’ve missed their chance.

13 Responses to “Bigot Quote of the Day”

  1. What an ignoramous you are! Comparing the Jim Crow laws with same sex marriages….you liberal piece of trash. This also has nothing to do with Civil Rights you liberal moron…I am so sick of you panty weraing liberals saying it goes against our civil rights! Since when does the institution of marriage…which is based from Religious context become a civil rights issue if same sex couples are afforded the rights and privilages from a state and federal level under a civil union? So stop crying it s a civil rights issue…you look like fools. This has never been about a “civil rights” issue…its always been about the destruction of a Religious institution and nothing more. I hope for the sake of Religion in general, when this does go to the Supreme Court they rule to uphold marriage between one man and one woman or we well be opening Pandoras box if it isn’t already open. Next thing we know someone from Utah will want to legally marry his 5 girlfiends…You can’t say no anymore or you would also be the bigots you claim everyone else to be. What about if a man wants to marry his dog? Can’t say no to that either. The same sex marriage issue has been and will always be bogus.

  2. WOW. Number 1, what rock did your crawl from, or rather what trailer did you climb out of? The hate in your voice, the ignorance and lack of knowledge coming from your mind. Comparing gay marriage to bestiality ..haahaa.. Your response speaks volumes of your character. I really hope you don’t have kids. If you do, I really feel sorry for them.. To have a parent like you is an embarrassment.

  3. To Shane:
    Obviously you need to brush up or at least attempt to research the history of marriage in society. Taking a wife was part and parcel of trade in land and stock. Nice!

  4. Shane I have to wonder what exactly you’re responding to there as this particular post wasn’t even an argument for marriage equality (you could easily find one of those on here if you looked around though) but rather an observation of the bigoted right’s own acknowledgment of them being on the wrong side of history.

    If you must have the same old tired arguments you present debunked however, feel free to visit this post.

  5. Look everyone,

    Shane has a point- a legal one at that- whether u like the comparison or not. Fact is, whatever sick pervert thing another person is denied can be considered a violation of that one person civil rights. Moral laws and Moral fortitude or Moral conviction within our peers and puble citizens ditates the application of what gets morally accepted and what doesn’t. So, he is pointing to the other side of a very valid argument. There are many scenario’s to this, but he has a very good point, if people on here can wrap their heads or mind around this from more than just one prospective. Many things that are considered immoral and un-natural are subjected to the restraints and denial of Moral laws. He described one topic, but there are many others. Will people who want to participate in Polygamy continue to be denied this right? Will people who want to practice pediphilia, incest, child pornography get a chance to call their immoral and un-natural desires violations of their civil liberties? So, whether you like Mr. Shane argument and point or not- he is thinking outside the box in the context of some things can’t be summed up as a civil liberties and rights. His point is that if some sick immoral and un-natural perversions is allowed for some then they must be allowed for all. I would guess he doesn’t support any of the deviated stuff but is making the legal argument to what can be deemed a constitutional right. Hope everyone can used their intellectual minds and brains here and see that. Moral laws for natural and traditional copulation. sexual relations and sexual practice should not be blurred with a demand to participate in deviant desires, behavior, and immoral behavior in a society. Laws and Moral laws must be inclusive and uniformed. It is and would be unjust, unconstitutional to continue allow an immoral un-traditional, and un-natural practice of homosexuality to go on and not place restraint or denial on other unethical, immoral(public sex), and perverted desires. Now, this is thinking and looking at the big picture as I believe Shane is trying to express here. G’bye.

  6. Mick,
    I’m tempted to just direct you to the same link I directed Shane to, but since it’s already there and you found yourself unable to click and read, I’ll assume you wouldn’t if I pointed it out again.

    Shane does not have a point- legal or otherwise- at all, nor do you. Polygamy and bestiality (along with your additions of pedophilia, incest, child pornography) are not illegal on the basis of being “immoral and un-natural.” They are illegal because either marriage, as a legal institution, is inapplicable to them (as in the case of polygamy), or because they cause demonstrable harm to others (as is the case with all the other examples you cite).

    You may think that homosexuality is “un-natural,” “un-traditional,” “unethical,” “immoral,” “perverted,” “sick” and whatever other mean-spirited terms you’d like to come up with, but NONE of those alone are a valid reason for making it ILLEGAL or subject to discrimination under the law.

  7. Dolphin,

    Thanks for the intelligent rebuttal. On the point of reading and checking out your link. Most referrals to links is in different font, text color, or underlined after the reference. This was not the case with your link. Sorry I missed it; but based on your rebuttal, it would not have change Shane point and my agreement with it.

    [dolphin responds: The link above is in fact a different color than the rest of the text. But given the fact that once it was explicitly pointed out to you, you still acknowledge that you refuse to read it, it makes your assertion that you "missed it" seem less credible.]

    In a proportionate number of cases, polls, and surveys among many people, the practice of polygamy is considered immoral and un-natural because it is knowly sharing sexual parterships and marriage with a more than one or two women. Even thought this happens in dating, it’s frown on morally as a knowledgeable agreement. It’s passes the gender test, but doesn’t passes the morality test for acceptance. Therefore, moral convictions and conscience generates moral law against it. As for the conclusion of your argument, please understand that there are direct and indirect, seen and unseen consequences, effects, and circumstances of alternative un-natural or abnormal social behaviors and conduct. You can only see them and read about them if people were to study all avenues of them and report or write on it honestly.

    But Dolphin, in your rebuttal, it seems as though you are backtracking or making excuses on the very premises you are arguing for and that is that the other un-natural, immoral, sick, preverted, and unethical examples mentioned earlier are un-natural and abnormal personal desires just like homosexuality. And if these other examples are deemed immoral personal desires and governed by moral laws; then homosexuality should be governed by moral laws also.

    The key words here are “Personal Desires”. If personal desires are concluded to be a civil right for either one person; then other people can argue that their deviated un-natural or immoral personal desire is a civil and constitutional right. We don’t allow these because we set moral laws to prevent the un-natural acts- key words, “un-natural acts”. So why should homosexuality or LGBT behaviors be treated any differently. They are by all means un-natural, un-traditional, and abnormal(different)perferences for sex that you might not see any damage or hurt first-hand or upfront- but it’s happening. You just got to know what to research.

    So, whether you agree with Shane or my point; we are basically saying that you can’t allow deviated, un-natural, personal desires, and immoral acts for one person or group of people and not apply it to homosexuals and gay people personal desires. Kinda long-winded, but I hope you and most of the readers get what I am saying or what point Shane was trying to make. Peace.

  8. Hi Mick, I’m not sure if you understood my response. you see, I’m not interested in engaging you in your whole “being gay is immoral/unnatural (ok, I’ll admit that one made me laugh a bit)/perverted/etc” thing. I’m not gonna take that bait so give it up.

    My point is that whatever you or me or anybody else considers “immoral” (or any of the other mean-spirited words you’ve used), THAT is not how we decide our laws. We don’t, or shouldn’t, create laws to prohibit immoral behavior. We should create laws to prohibit behavior that harms other citizens (and even there there’s a degree of wiggle room).

    I understand Shane and yours supposed “point” which is, stated succinctly, if we can’t legislate (my) morality here, how can we legislate it elsewhere. But that’s presupposing that the government ought to be in the business of legislating a given group or person’s morality. I reject that notion outright. The government should not be legislating morality (neither yours, mine, or anyone else’s) under any circumstances. If legislation does not have an objective, secular reasoning behind it, it should not be passed.

    One last note. Civil marriage is not a “personal desire.” If it were there’d be no problem, as the government cannot prohibit people from desiring something. Marriage is a very specific legal status.

  9. Dolphin,

    O.K. No problem if you don’t want to debate that homosexuality is un-natural and immoral. I wasn’t trying to engage in any indepth discussion on that subject with you either. I actually hate trying to educate and employ logical reasoning and thought to people about it anyway. So not having a debate about that area of the subject was and is welcome.

    However, your points and statements are continuing to make me laugh also. As in when u said, “Civil marriage is not a PERSONAL DESIRE”. what are you thinking when you say this? If people don’t desire to marry, then why would they seek, pursue, or get marry then? Are they being forced to seek same-sex or traditional style marriages?

    Your thinking and counter-argument is not set in social reality or the application of law to social behaviors; so I will digress on this topic. I have expended enuff energy, time, and thought to it. So, I will finish with this statement:

    People don’t understand that moral laws are already in place and used to manage social behavior so that it will not slide into choas. We don’t like the government deciding social norms or acceptable social behaviors; but just think what society or government would be if we did not have these checks and balances on what is a moral or immoral behavior in place.

    People don’t see or know the social downfall of homosexuality or same-sex marriage now, mainly because it is cloaked behind sexual pleasure, but it will surface if the government continues to relax the principles of morality for its citizens and society.

    So, you are entitled to you point and position and I am entitled to mine; but I hope their a greater show of moral conscienousness in the USA for more traditional things that have worked thus far in society and traditional sexual relationship and traditional marriage.

    There is no better success rate in homosexual relationships or marriage than traditional marriages. I guess most these are lustful and pleasure seeking ventures that are held together by the isolation and shame for having the abnormal perference.

    So you all are chasing emotional ghosts that exists because gays and homosexuals refuse to cope with the challenges of traditional relationships and the pursuit of pleasures from traditional marriages and relationships. So LGBT people cop out to homosexuality and gay identity groups. And now they,(LGBT people), want America to give their sick desires a stamp of approval. As long as I get a vote, it will always be NO !! to same-sex relationships(homosexuality)and same-sex marriage. Peace.

  10. Well Mick, seeing as your starting to tip into the beginnings of insults and are still talking past my point instead of to it. I think it’s best if we simply agree to disagree. We disagree on the very purpose of government and legislation so arguing about what laws fulfill that purpose is rather silly, no?

  11. Yes, We are in agreement on those points? Au revoir !!

  12. The person you quoted was right about religious protections. As noted here – http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2009/04/coming-collision-religious-liberty-and-samesex-marriage.html – the main religious issue is how legalized “same sex marriage” will infringe upon religious freedoms. Despite the lies of the Left, this is a real threat and we’ve seen examples around the world and in the U.S. already.

    [T]he widely respected UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, who favors same-sex marriage, took time out to acknowledge that the religious liberty implications of same-sex marriage are not “scaremongering.”

    Too many liberals (Christian and non-Christian) have been suckered into the exploits of homosexual agenda.

    What supporters of traditional marriage typically argue is as follows:

    - “Same-sex marriage” is as logical as a square circle (“the same sex union of a man and a woman”).
    - These unions do not by nature or design produce the next generation.
    - These unions can never provide a mother and a father to a child. Never.
    - The same rationale used for “same-sex marriage” would also justify marriages involving polygamy, incest or bestiality. And don’t say, “That could never happen.” Did you predict twenty years ago that the Left would want to teach kindergarteners about “same-sex marriage?”

    Therefore, while the relationships are legal and gays are free to love as they see fit, there is no reason for the government to endorse or affirm these relationships. Shrill claims about bigotry and logical fallacies about sexual preferences being “civil rights” are just part of the marketing campaign.

  13. *sigh* OK, come back when you’ve developed some new material. From now on I’m not wasting time on the same old tired debunked arguments against marriage equality. EVERY SINGLE ONE you posted is debunked thoroughly here. If you are unable or or willing to take the time to click a link, then I am unwilling to waste my time reproducing it here for you.

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Marriage Equality in Vermont

April 7, 2009

Filed under Gay Rights

The Vermont Legislature has voted to grant marriage equality to all of it’s citizen’s making it the fourth (or fifth pending the California Supreme Court’s ruling on Prop 8 ) state to do so, and the first to do so through the legislature alone.

The legislation blew past 2/3s margin to override the governor’s veto in the state Senate (with a vote of 23-5), but just squeaked by in the House (with a vote of 100-49). Still, the anti-marriage bigots have argued that they only oppose same-sex marriage because it’s not the “will of the people” and the courts shouldn’t decide it. Well now marriage equality has been established undeniably through the legislative process (and in fact by veto-overriding margin). I wonder if those goalposts will now change; let me guess, not the measuring stick will be popular vote referendum alone? Sorta like when former-President Bush said the issue should be left to the states until the states started deciding the opposite way he would have, THEN he decided to push for a federal law (“it should be left to the states so long as they all agree with ME”).

But the biggest story here, in my opinion, isn’t the fact that there are now four states that offer marriage equality, and it isn’t the fact that one state has legislatively done so (though both of those are big deals). It’s the fact that CNN (among others I checked) didn’t even bother to put it on their home page and those that did, it wasn’t a leading story. That tells me that people are beginning to realize that in the years gay marriage has been legal in other states, the dire predictions of bigots haven’t come true. At worst, people are just deciding that, in this economy, there are bigger things for them to worry about than other people’s relationships. Fear is the only tool the bigots have. If that’s no longer working, then the war is already won.

Update: DC has voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Update 2: Read the interview at the end of the link in the first update. Sure enough the bigot brigade is already declaring that the legislative victory wasn’t “the will of the people” because it wasn’t a direct vote. Hmmm… who could have predicted that? Oh yeah, I did..

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Marriage Equality in Iowa?

April 3, 2009

Filed under Gay Rights, Splashes

No real information in on this yet, but Iowa may well be the next state to embrace marriage equality. Iowa has no anti-marriage constitutional amendment and and the Iowa Supreme Court has just shot down the existing marriage ban.

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Snoozing

April 2, 2009

Filed under General, Splashes

Apparently, my alarm clock no longer sounds after the initial wake up (when I hit snooze, it snoozes but never resounds). I was late yesterday; made it on time today, but this is still going to be a problem.

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April Fool’s

April 1, 2009

Filed under Splashes, tech

Is anybody else thinking that the dreaded “Conflicker worm” may actually be a really big and bold April Fool’s Day prank?

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