“Crassostrea virginica” while otherwise drab (and delicious) gets a little nuts when it makes a shell. This is a quiet beast, hiding under sediments so as to avoid the attention of carpenters and their tusked pinniped companions. It has the same dreary daily schedule filtering the water as the tide rises and falls. But while most other mollusks follow a set of blueprints very carefully when they grow their shells, the eastern oyster does some freestylin’ and expresses some personality. This bivalve tells you, “I would have been the belle of the ball, given the chance.” or “I am indeed a quiet sort.” or “I can’t possible have enough ruffles” or even “I don’t give a fuck all for your aesthetics, for your symmetry because I am a wild and crazy guy if only, only, only I had legs or fins or wings, damn it all!”
Ben from TheSweatervest blog invited me to write about why I’m voting no to the Minnesota Marriage Amendment this November for his 42 Days of No project, which is highlighting “Why I’m Voting No” stories by Minnesotans (he started it 42 days prior to this November’s vote). This piece was submitted for that project.
I am voting NO on the Minnesota Marriage Amendment because a yes vote is a vote for discrimination. I don’t want to hear one more story about gay families being denied hospital visitation, bereavement rights or control of their possessions or children because they were not afforded the same legal protection that straight couples receive. The Minnesota Marriage Amendment is a Hail Mary pass supported by bigots that is intended to delay the inevitable; gay marriage WILL be legal in my lifetime.
I am voting NO because the Minnesota Marriage Amendment is a ploy by Republicans who are trying to win support from religiously-motivated voters. It is a cheap trick and dirty politics, and I don’t support it.
Vote No Jeep parked outside of the YWCA in Uptown, Minneapolis.
I have a coworker who told me that she’s voting yes because the bible implies that gay marriage is wrong. She says she respects gay people, and that voting yes doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love her gay friends and family.
Bullshit.
If you love your gay friends and family, help protect them against inequitable representation in the legal system. If you are voting yes in November, you are spitting in the faces of people who need your help. You are telling them that you think they are wrong, that you know who they should love and marry better than they do.
Vote No Car stopped in front of the Uptown Theater in Minneapolis
I have an acquaintance who doesn’t believe the government should be involved in marriage at all. He says he’s going to vote yes because he thinks this will send a message that government shouldn’t have any say over marriage at all.
That is an incredibly fucked up viewpoint.
The Minnesota Marriage Amendment would exert more government control over marriage, not less. It would be so bold as to define who can and can’t get married. What right does government have to make that call? For right or wrong, the government does have some say in marriage and in the rights of married people. If it is going to exert that control, it should at least do so without preference to one set of people over others.
It is my honor and duty to vote, and I am voting NO on the Minnesota Marriage Amendment because I will not stand quietly aside as discrimination is codified into our constitution. Neither god nor politics has a place in the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, and I will not let arguments to either of these blind me to the fact that voting yes to this heinous, sorry excuse of a proposed amendment would harm my fellow Minnesotans.
Ben from TheSweatervest blog invited me to write about why I’m voting no to the Minnesota Marriage Amendment this November for his 42 Days of No project, which is highlighting “Why I’m Voting No” stories by Minnesotans (he started it 42 days prior to this November’s vote). This piece was submitted for that project.
I am voting NO on the Minnesota Marriage Amendment because a yes vote is a vote for discrimination. I don’t want to hear one more story about gay families being denied hospital visitation, bereavement rights or control of their possessions or children because they were not afforded the same legal protection that straight couples receive. The Minnesota Marriage Amendment is a Hail Mary pass supported by bigots that is intended to delay the inevitable; gay marriage WILL be legal in my lifetime.
I am voting NO because the Minnesota Marriage Amendment is a ploy by Republicans who are trying to win support from religiously-motivated voters. It is a cheap trick and dirty politics, and I don’t support it.
Vote No Jeep parked outside of the YWCA in Uptown, Minneapolis.
I have a coworker who told me that she’s voting yes because the bible implies that gay marriage is wrong. She says she respects gay people, and that voting yes doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love her gay friends and family.
Bullshit.
If you love your gay friends and family, help protect them against inequitable representation in the legal system. If you are voting yes in November, you are spitting in the faces of people who need your help. You are telling them that you think they are wrong, that you know who they should love and marry better than they do.
Vote No Car stopped in front of the Uptown Theater in Minneapolis
I have an acquaintance who doesn’t believe the government should be involved in marriage at all. He says he’s going to vote yes because he thinks this will send a message that government shouldn’t have any say over marriage at all.
That is an incredibly fucked up viewpoint.
The Minnesota Marriage Amendment would exert more government control over marriage, not less. It would be so bold as to define who can and can’t get married. What right does government have to make that call? For right or wrong, the government does have some say in marriage and in the rights of married people. If it is going to exert that control, it should at least do so without preference to one set of people over others.
It is my honor and duty to vote, and I am voting NO on the Minnesota Marriage Amendment because I will not stand quietly aside as discrimination is codified into our constitution. Neither god nor politics has a place in the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, and I will not let arguments to either of these blind me to the fact that voting yes to this heinous, sorry excuse of a proposed amendment would harm my fellow Minnesotans.
Woo-hoo! Halloween is just around the corner! What are you dressing up as? A witch? A pirate? A clown? A nun? An inappropriately sexy fairy tale character?
There are a lot of options for playing dress up during Halloween. While you’re thinking about your costume, the Ohio STARS – Students Teaching About Racism in Society – asks you to think before you settle on a costume. For the past two years they have launched a poster campaign aimed at bringing awareness to racially and culturally insensitive and offensive costumes.
I’d also say have a second thought about woman- and gay-bashing costumes. Maybe leave the ditzy blonde, the dirty hooker and flaming queer costumes at home this year?
These are three of the posters from the “We’re a culture, not a costume” campaign. This year’s theme is “You wear the costume for one night. I wear the stigma for life.” You can click on any of the images to be redirected to the STARS webpage, which includes all six of this year’s posters as well as those from the 2011 campaign, “This is not who I am, and this is not okay.”
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I think this campaign is targeted to people who may be unaware of the implicit racism that is prevalent in so many Halloween costumes. Hell, the costume companies do a great job at perpetuating racial and cultural stereotypes in their manufactured, packaged ensembles, and if they say it’s okay… Last weekend I stopped in to one of the temporary Halloween stores that pop up at this time of year and saw getups for a drunk Mexican, a ghetto pimp, and a hillbilly hick. Srsly?
Have fun, dress up as whatever you like. Only you know the company and context in which you and your costume will be seen, and this does play a role in appropriateness. Or maybe you’re going for inappropriate. *shrugs*
No one’s telling you what to wear, just asking you to be aware of what message you and your costume will be sending. Are you cool with it? Cool. Does it make you uncomfortable? Go change.
I gotta be honest – I cackled with glee before groaning and cursing. This was just too fabulous of an example of a Missionaries Gone Wild spotting. We thought about calling the number and chatting with the guy, but we were on a mission of our own at the time (ba da dum!). We saw the truck in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and the truck plate is from Oklahoma.
Mormonism recognizes four holy books, the KJ Bible and The Book of Mormon being two of those four. Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price are the others.
Giant banner on the back of a cube truck reads “FREE FREE FREE – King James Bible/Book of Mormon. CB Channel 19. Ambos Disponible en Español. Cell: 480-586-5323. Free Bible Man. I carry the Books With Me in This Truck. Ask Now Not Later!”
This statue is of Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, by Clark Mills in Lafayette Square, directly to the north of the White House. The pigeons are quite outnumbered by the native squirrel population in the park, and so are keeping safe atop poor President Jackson.
From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois:
From a recent trip to visit Erin in Washington D.C. – The Washington Monument at night.
From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Uptown: Minneapolis Lakes District – Abdallah’s then and now. The plaque reads:
Albert Abdallah Immigrated to the United States as a teenager from Lebanon, arriving in Minneapolis at the turn of the last century. He entered the confectionary business at a soda fountain in downtown Minneapolis, where he met Helen Trovall, the daughter of Swedish immigrants. Albert and Helen married, and together they opened the Calhoun Candy Depot at 2924 Hennepin Avenue, in the then new Rainbow Building. They prospered along with the community. In 1916, the store was renamed Abdallah Candy Company, and by 1924 a restaurant was added. It emerged from the Depression, but at a new location nearer to Lake Calhoun, which allowed the store to introduce take-away ice cream to beachgoers. Candy was the core of Albert’s offerings and in 2009 Abdallah Candies celebrated 100 years as a family business.
Yep, it’s just netting in a vineyard. It’s supposed to keep the birds from eating the grapes.
Emu San: That’s the spirit! I like the fear & blackmail angle. I like the murky depths. These things work best when they generate nightmares for small children. Works for the Jesuits, eh? I shouldn’t mess with a sound plan, but I wonder if there’s a possible tie in with Cthulu? Hmmm. The only substantial improvement I can think of is to throw in some guilt. But nice, nicely done!
Nepenthe: I like it. It’s simple and elegant. But will it sell? Elegant low-key religion just doesn’t have the marketing/profit potential of ridiculous, awkward, intrusive ones such as Catholicism, Mormonism & Scientology. It’s a grand foundation, but for maximum returns, weird it up. Maybe throw in some sexual guilt, that always works.
peicurmudgeon: Points for both making me laugh and reminding me of my No-prize. It was awarded by Stan Lee at Marvel Comics back in the day if you noticed a mistake in their comic books. They didn’t have the budget to send you anything real, so they gave you a No-prize. I have one. How’s that for old-school nerd cred?
My no-prize was not for Swamp Thing, but for Man-Thing. Man-Thing was not sentient, just a shambling quasi-vegetative amphibianish biped who oozed acid when occasion demanded such. The tag line was something like “Those who know fear, burn at the Man-Thing’s touch!” He was like that a twitchy uncle at the family reunion, the one your mother hisses at you and says, “Whatever you do, DON’T start talking about the election!” If you were in the swamp and up to no good and got very emotional in a negative way, it would disturb the creature from it’s daily schedule of photosynthetic communion and mycorrhizal meditation. Then it would come and put a hurt on you. Best to walk on eggshells around Man-Thing.
He/it wasn’t so much a character as a plot device. Swamp Thing, which came almost immediately afterwards, was arguably (If anyone cared enough to argue, which I doubt.) more successful for a certain kind of standard comic book narrative. Swamp-Thing was weirder. I always opt for weirder, given the choice.
In the first issue, there was a biography of the ill-fated main character and how he became Man Thing. He’d had bad luck from birth, we were told. The doctor had dropped him on his head right after he was born. The illustration showed the doc holding the infant by his ankles and winding up to give him that old-school slap that was supposedly administered to get sluggish babies breathing. However, the baby was drawn facing the viewer with the doctor’s hand in the foreground, a fig leaf for modesty’s sake. Perhaps, being dropped was good luck. Perhaps, if the doctor’s slap had connected, it would have been a harsher beginning than being dropped. It’s the backside that traditionally receives the blow, not the family jewels. For pointing this out, I was awarded a no-prize. Now I have taken it off the shelf of my memory and I would like to pass it along from Stan Lee to me to YOU. Take good care of it.
Susannah: I took the shot at a research station. I’m sure the scientists there could cook up some fancy herbicide that would defoliate triffids in a trice. What it would do to the grapes, however, is the worrisome part. Perhaps we should lay in a stock of flamethrowers. Anything that works for Ripley…
Yellow Thursday: Oh yes! I can see it. Gah, I was walking those rows! I don’t usually have a problem with snakes. I kind of like snakes, to a point. I think you’ve found that point! Allow me to award you an Oh-No! Prize.
This lovely household in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis has taken the Minnesota Vote No to Marriage Inequality campaign down a wonderfully thematic path:
Photo shows a front yard with Halloween decorations: spray-painted foam/cardboard/wood gravestones, plastic pumpkin trick-or-treat buckets. The centerpiece is two life-size skeleton ghouls dressed in white under a “wedding” trellis, with two ghouls as attendants. In front of them is the Minnesotans United for All Families orange “Vote No: Don’t Limit The Freedom To Marry” yard sign. In the background is a huge hand-made sign that says “VOTE NO” in string lighting on a wood frame.
Don’t limit the freedom of ghouls to marry!
Photo shows the entire front yard in all of it’s Halloweened glory.
The idea that this amendment might pass makes for a very scary story, indeed.
