Gay Marriage, Civil Union, Domestic Partnership, Marriage and Civil Rights

What you’re about to read is NOT about religion.

For a brief moment – if you can – set aside a religious mindset (if you have one) about homosexuality.

As an ‘institution,’ marriage confers legal benefits to each spouse which are enforceable in courts of law in all 50 states.

For example, the following is a partial list of legal benefits

Reasoned Debate: Our Second Amendment Rights & Preventing Firearm Violence

Alabama State House GOP “Dare Defend Our Rights” gun logo, from the FaceBook page of Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn

Recently in another Social Media forum, a long-time friend had posted a link to a site operated for the Alabama State House GOP faction, which is a so-called “supermajority” in that state’s elected legislative body. That site may be found here: http://ALHouseGOP.com/WeDareDefend/.

Perceiving that that those political ideologues were very likely drumming up support for their positions based upon pure emotion and fear, rather than reasoned, rational and informed debate, I initially responded by quickly writing a somewhat sarcastic response, precisely worded to give pause for thought. My initial response elicited a query, to which I delightfully replied more eruditely.

The exchange as it exists presently, now follows.

• Me: Yeah. Alabama was wrong on their right to segregation and their right to deny civil rights, too.

• My friend: So, do you support the

Ronald Reagan: “I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for defense of a home.”

History’s a funny thing, ain’t it?

FaceBook is full of bullshit “quotes” attributed to such luminous historical figures as Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other Founding Fathers, along with fallacious – even mean-spirited and evil – attempted parallels to Hitler and the sitting President Barack Obama.

It’s just pure hatred. That, ignorance and selfishness.

But when it comes to one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century, a two-term Republican President held in high esteem by Democrats and Republicans alike, no one really likes to recall the things he said.

And so, here for your perusal and consideration, is an historical redux.

Enjoy.

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Reagan’s 78th Birthday Includes Posh Party, Campus Speech, Courtesy Call

JEFF WILSON , Associated Press
AP News Archive Feb. 7, 1989 5:54 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Ronald Reagan celebrated his 78th birthday by saying he’s had enough of retirement and was ”saddled up and ready to ride again” for a balanced federal budget and repeal of the two-term presidency.

The 40th President’s birthday celebration Monday included an office chat with Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, a black-tie party and a speech to students at the University of Southern California, where he was serenaded by the USC Marching Band.

”One of my biggest disappointments as president was I wasn’t able to balance the budget,” Reagan told the college audience.

Reagan received extended applause when answering a question about over-the- counter military weapons, such as the AK-47 assault rifle used to gun down five Stockton schoolchildren last month.

”I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth, or for home defense,” he said. ”But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for defense of a home.”

The speech was Reagan’s first public event since a spirited welcome home airport rally Jan. 20, the day he relinquished the presidency to George Bush. The former president said

What do you do just to get over the hump?

This is my 1000th post.

Yaay!

Now, on

An International Dialogue on the Recent Tragedy of an English Nurse’s Suicide

Over the past year, I have established friendship with a young man whom is an Irish resident. We share several common interests, among them our religious faith – we are both Catholic – and the creative arts – he is an active musician, while my musical talents & skills have taken a respite.

Recently, on his FaceBook page, he had shared a news story, which was in response to the news of the tragedy of the suicide of the English Nurse who had been involved in an international prank, and later found to have committed suicide.

While the volume of dialogue was principally between he and I, there were other respondents, some of whom were situated on the opposite side of the globe, in the Southern hemisphere, in Australia, where the prank originated.

As I returned to the post to read the other responses, it occurred to me that they were civil in tenor, and it was that aspect of the dialogue which was perhaps the most enjoyable, and which – as I perceive it – has remained sorely absent in many so-called online “forums.” The lack of civility has also taken a toll in politics, even on a worldwide basis. And that loss of civility is wholly and entirely regrettable.

So, it is because of the presence of civility – which is an acknowledgement of respect for another person, even though there may be vastly differing perspectives – that I wish to share the dialogue. For respect of others’ privacy, and because their identities are not germane to the topic, their names are redacted.

Young Irish Male: ‎Female 1, we were just talking about pranksters last week and how pranks really can destroy a persons life. This is just one example. Very sad story.

Nurse who took Kate prank call at hospital found dead
www.independent.ie
KATE Middleton said she was deeply saddened yesterday by the apparent suicide of a nurse who fell victim to a hoax during her stay in hospital.

Female 1: Oh i know..isn’t that just terrible! I put a video on just last week…i don’t know if it was real or not but it showed

Toughen Up, Son… it’ll do you some good.

I happen to enjoy friendship with a young family whose matriarch was at first, overjoyed at the prospects of their firstborn obtaining gainful employment in this tough economy.

Their son, who in this post is identified as Young Man, is a recent high school graduate, and demonstrates musical talent.

Recently she posted the following on her FaceBook page:

“Did you know if you work at McDonalds you are pretty much forced to *eat* McDonalds? The breakroom has only a table & chairs. No fridge to keep your food cool or microwave to heat it up. So, unless you are able to drive yourself to work & carry your food in a cooler in your car, then you have to eat there. Plus, you only get 30 minutes. This makes me upset! I’m trying to convince -*- to apply elsewhere…”

I found the numerous responses fascinating, which are as follows – my response is last, italicized and emboldened.

Is Virtual busy-ness genuinely beneficial?

It’s the human condition.

Even the Christ withdrew for a period of time.

Everything old is new again.

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Refugee from Facebook questions the social media life

By Craig Timberg, Published: August 3

MARFA, Tex. — Not long after Katherine Losse left her Silicon Valley career and moved to this West Texas town for its artsy vibe and crisp desert air, she decided to make friends the old-fashioned way, in person. So she went to her Facebook page and, with a series of keystrokes, shut it off.

Katherine Losse, former Facebook employee, and author of new book. Photo by Erin Trieb.

The move carried extra import because Losse had been the social network’s 51st employee and rose to become founder Mark Zuckerberg’s personal ghostwriter. But Losse gradually soured on the revolution in human relations she witnessed from within.

The explosion of social media, she believed, left hundreds of millions of users with connections that were more plentiful but also narrower and less satisfying, with intimacy losing out to efficiency. It was time, Losse thought, for people to renegotiate their relationships with technology.

“It’s okay to feel weird about this because I feel weird about this, and I was in the center of it,” said Losse, 36, who has long, dark hair and sky-blue eyes. “We all know there is an anxiety, there’s an unease, there’s a worry that our lives are changing.”

Her response was to quit her job — something made easier by the vested stock she cashed in — and to embrace the ancient toil of writing something in her own words, at book length, about her experiences and the philosophical questions they inspired.

That brought her to

Yahoo! Marissa Mayer, employee #20 at Google, to be new Yahoo! CEO

Congratulations to both!

Now, perhaps Yahoo! can move ahead.

Here’s hoping!

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July 16, 2012, 4:00 pm

Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and EVELYN M. RUSLI

Marissa Mayer, New CEO of Yahoo!

Marissa Mayer, one of the top executives at Google, will be the next C.E.O. of Yahoo, making her one of the most prominent women in Silicon Valley and corporate America.

The appointment of Ms. Mayer, who was employee No. 20 at Google and was one of the few public faces of the company, is considered a surprising coup for Yahoo, which has struggled in recent years to attract top flight talent in its battle with competitors like Google and Facebook.

Ms. Mayer, 37, had for years been responsible for the look and feel of Google’s most popular products: the famously unadorned white search homepage, Gmail, Google News and Google Images. More recently, Ms. Mayer, an engineer by training whose first job at Google included computer programming, was put in charge of the company’s location and local services, including Google Maps, overseeing more than 1,000 product managers. She also sat on Google’s operating committee, part of a small circle of senior executives who had the ear of Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

With her appointment as the president and chief executive of Yahoo, Ms. Mayer joins a short list of women in Silicon Valley to hold the top spot. The elite club includes

Record Breaking Heat Wave throughout United States

Y’know all that “Global Warming” stuff?

It’s all in your head.

Problem is, your head is on Earth.

Is anyone still in denial about the real effects of Global Warming?

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How Hot Is It? All You Need To See Are These Two Maps

July 6, 2012, 11:30 am

by Mark Memmott

The heat wave across much of the nation continues.

We could hit 105 degrees on Saturday here in the nation’s capital, the National Weather Service says. Washington, D.C., has already tied its record for most consecutive days (eight) with temperatures of 95 degrees or more.

And as Wunderground.com writes, “more record-breaking triple-digit heat is expected Friday and Saturday across much of the Midwest and Tennessee Valley.”

The good news is that things could start to cool in just a few days. “Early next week and even this weekend we’ll see rain in Kansas and Nebraska and parts of Texas,” forecaster Bruce Sullivan of the National Weather Service, tells USA Today.

But what we want to focus on are some incredible statistics and maps from the National Climatic Data Center.

First, look at this image showing the number of places where daily maximum temperature records have been broken so far this month. According to the data center,

Ask a silly question, get a silly answer. Yes, there’s such thing as a STUPID question.

The title says it all.

But the title doesn’t explain why.

Read on for more understanding.

On the FaceBook page of Loyola University New Orleans, a photograph was posted of a… well, here it is.