Russert Rainbow

Had to post. You have to check [this] out. Goosebumps.

http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=13eae443-0cab-4658-b61d-8edc4cc273cb

And Now it's Official...

This just in. It's official. Same-sex couples in California are legal to marry and they are. Just moments ago the first weddings got underway. For more details take a look [here].

Katie Couric Comments on Clinton

Just wanted to throw this link out to a fellow blogger's site...

http://gawker.com/tag/sexism/?i=5015622&t=katie-couric-has-something-to-say-about-hillary-clinton

Interesting page out of Katie's notebook. Can't say I really like her or her notebook, but it's worth a listen to what she says.

Gay Marriage Sparks Economy?

This is a story we've been covering all week here in California. Some interesting info for Republicans and Democrats alike. Gay marriages could rake in the big bucks...$684 million to be exact according to CNN [story].

Who would have guessed that the slow economy could actually make an upturn because of gay marriage of all things! It's less than a week here until it can be a reality...the date to watch: June 16th.

These are some interesting factoid highlights...

The gay marriage ruling could give a big, sudden boost to California's sputtering economy, with thousands of same-sex couples from across the nation expected to converge on the state when the decision takes effect June 16. Hotels, restaurants, florists and other wedding services are reporting a flurry of business.

"The good news for California is that in the face of probably the worst budget problems the state has ever faced, the LGBT wedding industry is going to be a financial shot in the arm," said Jeffrey Prang, mayor of West Hollywood, a popular destination for gay travelers in Southern California.

A study issued this week by UCLA's Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation and the Law projected that gay men and lesbians will spend $684 million on cakes, photographers and other services over the next three years unless voters reverse the high court's ruling in the fall.

The researchers found that about half of the state's more than 100,000 same-sex couples will get married during the next three years, and an additional 68,000 out-of-state couples will travel to California to exchange vows. The study estimated that over that period, gay weddings will generate $64 million in tax revenue for the state, $9 million in marriage-license fees for counties, and some 2,200 jobs.

Look at those numbers! Being as close to San Fran as we are here in Redding means people are really waiting to see what happens. Economic changes like these showing up could help the vote in November that will either keep or nix the judge's ruling to allow the marriages. Let's hope the boost gets people on both sides of the party line thinking.

Image courtesy http://www.gothamgazette.com/

Sleep: What's Too Much or Too Little?

An interesting article in Time Magazine [story]. What is too much and what is too little as far as sleep goes? Everyone hears about the recommended 8 hours, so is that really true?

Well, almost. This study suggests getting 6.5 to 7.5 hours a night. People that get this in a study involving over 1,000,000 adults live longer. Oh, and that's not all. You also get less disease and maintain a healthier weight! The miracle drug: sleep. Don't we wish?

Who knew that trying to get that 8 recommended hours was slightly on the high side. Guess I'll have to switch my routine around. Cut my sleep by half an hour. I guess that means I can stay up later watching Lost online!

Image courtesy http://www.possibilities.nu/

A Couple Tidbits!

I just had to put these two little tidbits up for you.

First, check out this site. Worthless college majors. Unfortunately 2 of mine made it...whatever, I have a job.

10. Art History
9. Philosophy
8. American Studies
7. Musical Therapy
6. Communications
5. Dance
4. English Lit
3. Latin
2. Film
1. Religion

For details and explanation, go here...
http://www.holytaco.com/2008/06/03/the-10-most-worthless-college-majors/

Also, this hilarious clip. Kept me laughing forever.

http://tapespace.com/view/Segway_Faceplant

School Paper Gets Pulled

Straight out of Redding, folks! A local high school's paper gets the ax [story]. Was it the budget cuts or the latest issue? I think it's a little of both.

Here's the scoop. The last issue came out with a photo on the front page containing a kid burning the American flag. The editor claims First Amendment. The right-wing community and school administration say it's the last straw.

I think it's a poor choice. I guess I took for granted my schools always had student run newspapers. We even had similar issues...like the suggested nude sports athletes issue that made local news [story]. But I think the paper is vital to learning about journalism from a younger age. Otherwise, people are exposed to it from birth, but don't have the opportunity to learn about it until college. It's a learning tool, it's meant to be learned from through experience. It sounds like none of the other local Redding schools have papers though...sad.

Here's what the editor Connor Kennedy had to say in response on the Record Searchlight story blog...

"I would like to address some of the inaccuracies in the recent Record Searchlight article regarding my flag burning editorial.

First, this was not sabotage, and it was not done in secret. The printing of this issue was done no differently than any other issue of the Volcano. Everything was conducted in a routine manner and there was simply no element of sabotage. I know for a fact that our advisor saw both the cover and the article connected with it, as she made final edits on both. She did not voice any objections or concerns and any claims that this was done without her consent are untrue.

Second, the photo and article were not as untimely as the Record Searchlight portrayed them to be. The Senior classes had just finished a lengthy and provocative unit on freedom of speech focusing on flag burning. In the high school community that is the intended audience for the editorial, that is relevant and timely.

Third, I would like to point out that the photo was not a stand-alone piece. I would like to include the final lines of that piece.

“The day an American cannot burn the flag, the day he cannot denounce his country, is the day America is no longer free. It is simply beautiful that we have this right, and it is what has allowed us to create the unique, diverse, and spirited culture that we so proudly boast. God Bless America, and its burning flags too.”

This is a constitutionally protected act as established by Texas v. Johnson. In a 5-4 decision, the supreme court held that “the Government may not prohibit the verbal or nonverbal expression of an idea merely because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable, even where our flag is involved… Recognizing that the right to differ is the centerpiece of our First Amendment freedoms, a government cannot mandate by fiat a feeling of unity in its citizens. Therefore that very same government cannot carve out a symbol of unity and prescribe a set of approved messages to be associated with that symbol.”

I do believe this right to dissent, in even its most controversial form is truly what makes America great. I am saddened that the exercise of a constitutional right- the very right which distinguishes the political culture of America- has resulted in the death of our beloved Volcano. I do not believe that this is the proper course of action. I am also unsure of what budgetary issues the school is referencing because the Volcano is self-sufficient. We sell ads in every issue and have a fundraiser dance annually. In fact, our staff raised record amounts of money and left the paper with a surplus of over a thousand dollars. I think the Volcano, like any paper, is an asset to the school and should not be so hastily discarded. I am deeply saddened that the paper will be lost to Shasta High and I find the decision utterly ironic."

Well supported, go Connor.

Images courtesy www.redding.com/

Dream Ticket Coming a Little Closer?

Let's hope so! That would be amazing. I don't know what kind of chance McCain would stand against that. He'd have to pick quite the running mate.

A new CNN poll claims [story] that a majority of those polled would like the dream ticket. Granted, it is a slim majority, but still. It's only 54 to 46 percent, but that's almost a 10 point difference when it comes down to it. I mean look at what that 10 point or less difference did to the democratic nomination. Obama basically won on that margin!

Let's hope these numbers are reaching the OVP (Obama Vice President) Panel's ears loud and clear. Take a long hard look at the Hill. I lot of people would be happy. And we all know we don't want those disinfranchised Hill supporters to stay home or worse, vote McCain!

Don't Need Magic to Change the World Says Rowling

Ms. Rowling gave the commencement speech at Harvard (too bad it wasn't Drake). You can find the full script [here], but some of the highlights...

"Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can’t remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the ‘gay wizard’ joke, I’ve still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals: the first step towards personal improvement."

This is true. I can't even remember Maxwell's and that was weeks ago!

But what really echoed loudly...

"Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes."

And especially...

"Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."

If you had the patience to read this, it is very true. I wish I could have heard her speak. Maybe I would have actually remembered something.

Image courtesy http://www.smh.com.au/

Stars Coming Out

An article appeared on Yahoo today. There is a "glass closet" in Hollywood (clever), and apparently it's breaking down [story]. Good to see more and more are deciding to step out. I think DeGeneres has a lot to do with it. Love that success!

Now let's see Lohan take the walk.

At least all these stars can tie the knot now, well for the time being. We'll see what happens come November when it comes back to a vote. The Christian ads are already out. Let's hope they don't sink in.

One thing to note...

"Ilene Chaiken, creator and executive producer of 'The L Word,' the popular lesbian-themed show on the cable channel Showtime, said Hollywood's attitude toward gay content has improved and that soon any gay 'stigma' will be irrelevant.

'Our kids think it's absurd gay people can't get married, and by the time they are the dominant consumer culture, most of these issues are going to be non-issues,' she said."

So true...

Image courtesy http://www.acc-tv.com/