That's sooooo hetero...

To learn how to act on this issue click here

Update: This blog has the original anti-games flyer that was circulated around Crystal Lake.
Pretty typical stereotyping and bigotry. If you get a minute, definitely read the Mchenry County Blog for more information on the issue.

Crystal Lake Park District steps us for all of us heterosexual Chicagoans who hate the idea of people who don't share our sexual orientation playing sports.

I wonder what they mean on their homepage when they say We need your help to keep our parks and facilities safe!

According to the Trib, there were several arguments that were leveled against the games:
1) Commissioner David Phelps, who joined Scott Breeden in opposition, said he believes that the Gay Games are more about politics than athletics.

"I do not believe the Crystal Lake Park District should be a vehicle for the promotion of an agenda," he said.

Basically, Phelps is using the old, "Why are the people whose rights we are pissing on making such a big deal about it?" But let's hear him out, he's saying that political causes have no place in sports.

This is a fallacial argument for two reasons:
A) It's anti-democratic. As we've discussed before, being a contributing citizen is not an occasional foray into a voting booth.

B) It's completely and utterly impossible. Have these people ever actually been on a park district sports team? Shouldn't they know that it is one of the most vocally, politically opposed venues against people of minority sexual orientation? The group that is introducing politics into sports are the majority who throughout history have excluded or bullied skilled athletes because of their race, sexual orientation and gender. Sure, the explicit barriers have come down, but read the stories of any of the post-career out-of-the-closet pro athletes and it should be abundantly clear the homophobic forces they faced.

2) Crystal Lake resident Scott Spencer told the Park Board that homosexuality is "contrary and detrimental" to traditional family values. Saying that view doesn't make him a bigot, he added: "Let me point out what my prejudice is toward: my wife, my children, my grandchildren and the sanctity of the home."

This is another tired, old argument. It's the idea that somehow the sanctity of a family is buried firmly in the sexual equipment of its members. It's the idea that some people's families are worthless and worthy of less rights because of the absence of a penis or a vagina in the relationship. People have different definitions of bigotry. Would Scott Spencer think this statement was bigoted?

"White privilege is contrary and detrimental to traditional family values. This doesn't make me a bigot. My prejudice is toward my wife, my children, my grandchildren and the sanctity of the home. That's why I think we should kill all of these crackers who have been oppressing my wife, my children, my grandchildren and violating the sanctity of our home for so long."

I'm sorry, being a prejudiced prick violates the sanctity of my home a lot more than some gay people rowing boats.

So we get no new logical insights to justify this blatent prejudice, just more of the same excuses for hate.

We should note that there were courageous folks in Crystal Lake who spoke in favor of the Gay Games. According to the Trib, Reverend Dan Larson of the Unitarian Church was vocal in that, "Everyone has a right to row their boat." Two of the four present commisioners voted in favor of allowing the games, and Park District Director Kirk Reimer described the majority of the feedback regarding the event to be positive.

He called some of the correspondence "ugly." And that made him wonder if there would be problems at the rowing competition caused by people opposed to the Gay Games. "Based on some of the e-mails and phone calls I've gotten, it could get ugly," he said.

So in the end, the "ugly", bigoted crowd has carried the day.


What should we do about this?
Well, the two commissioners who voted against the proposal can be contacted here:

Scott Breeden, commissioner
Phone: (815) 455-3471
Dave Phelps, commissioner
Phone: (815) 455-6389

If you want to support the other member's decision, you can reach them here:

Candy Reedy, commissioner
Phone: (815) 455-2531
Michael Zellmann, commissioner
Phone: (815) 788-0887

And the absent member was:
Jerry Sullivan, president
Phone: (815) 459-7649

Or email them here: cdunham@crystallakeparks.org

Remember, be civil. We want to make people empathize with our cause, not make them think we are jackasses. Sadly, when we are talking about stereotyping, people tend to remember the worst of the lot.

Yep, he just let people die because he didn't give a shit...

I'm not a modern day prophet. I don't even want the chance to be able to say "I told you so!" I'd rather be wrong.

I'm just someone who doesn't see, hear and believe an idealic dream world because it's easier. After Katrina, I wrote this: "Your Laziness has Killed Hundreds, Maybe Thousands of People!"

Now it appears that this was exactly the case:
Video of Pre-Katrina Briefing

Basically, Bush and friends were warned exactly what would happen and couldn't be troubled to cancel a few visits and birthday parties to save the lives of more than a thousand U.S. citizens.

Even if this had been simple incompetence, I would question his ability to do his job. This wasn't. This was pure and simple negligence possibly compounded by the opportunity for personal gain through the eradication of poor folks of color.

At the very best it's "not giving a shit about the country or its inhabitants", at worse it's genocide.

I don't want impeachment. They'll just send another killer into office. I was an example made so people remember that you can't just treasonously kill off fellow Americans.

If I believed in a vengeful justice system, maybe I would want him executed--that would be logical.

If I believed in the value of hateful, maybe I would wish him misfortune in prison or want him to be tortured.

Certainly he and his political platform would wish that upon me should our positions be reversed.

I just want him sentenced to several decades in prison where he can be rehabilitated and given an opportunity to reflect on his actions. No brutality, well-fed, ample access to his family and reading materials.

Are we a country where we gladly, apathetically watch as folks die and ignore all chances to avert such disaster?

We are today. Hopefully we can do something so that we won't be tomorrow. Spread the word, speak out, and talk to your local politicans. I'll have more as more concrete, strategic responses are crafted.

peace.

How much do you spend on groceries?

Liz and I split our shopping between the corner market (Milk and produce) and Jewel (everything else). I suppose we owe at least that to Jewel, considering we met when I came through her checkout line at Jewel.

When I started taking my Grandfather, Shew-Lim shopping on the weekends, I was surprised to find that he shopped the exact same way I do. Or I guess I should say the opposite--I had learned to shop the exact same way he does though we had never been to the market together.

Since I was a little kid, grocery shopping has been a kind of comfort activity for me. I sat in the basket of the cart as my mom would push me around until I got too big and then was sent around with half of the shopping list. From four or five, she taught me to calculate price/unit (ounce, cup, etc.) and how to discriminate between good and meaningless sales.

I never knew that she had learned it from watching her folks. We all do the same thing--we get a list of essentials that we need for the week, and then buy whatever is healthy and extremely on sale.

When Liz and I first started dating seriously, it was a bit of a culture shock for both of us. She's rather thrifty herself, but I had never really bought anything "I like" that was full-price. She wasn't used to coming home with bags full of unfamiliar items.

After six years, it appears that I have won. It really has more to do with who does the food preparation than anything else. Here's this week's receipt:

What do you buy at the store? What is your strategy?

Jewel:
Savings %: 53%
Final Cost: $63.14
Total Savings: $72.39
Preferred Savings: $23.02
MFG Coupons: $8.25
Store Coupons: $5.00
Buy 1 Get 1 FREE: $36.12
Juicy Juice
Breyers IC 56OZ $5.99
Breyers IC 56OZ FREE
Pepperidge Farm Bread $2.95
Preferred Card -.45
Nissin Ramen X 4 .80
PC -.40
GM Cinnamon Toast 19.62
PC -7.62
GM Cheerios 11.55
PC -5.55
Vienna Beef Franks X 2 9.98
Vienna BF X 2 Rain checkFREE
P/F Geneva Cookies 2.95
PC -.45
P/F Raspberry Cookies 2.95
PC -.45
JWL Rotini 1.00
JWL Rotini FREE
RAC Tri Rotini 1.29
RAC Bow Tie FREE
CHX Mix Hot X 2 4.90
PC -2.90
Frontera Grill Pizza 6.29
Frontera Grill Pizza FREE
LAYS Wavy 11.5 oz 2.95
PC -.95
Perdue Turkey 16oz 3.79
Perdue Turkey 16oz FREE
DGB OR LVND CH2Z 2.75
PC -.25
ROK Tumb Candle X 5 2.25
PC -1.25
Jewel Medium NDL 1.40
PC -.40
Cabot Garlic Cheddar 4.99
Cabot Garlic Cheddar FREE
Frigo Ricotta Cheese 2.95
PC -.95
Stella Shredded Parm. 3.79
Stella Shredded Parm. FREE
COUPON $5 off $50 -5.00
Scanned Coupon -.55
Scanned Coupon -1.00
Scanned Coupon -1.00
Scanned Coupon -1.00
Scanned Coupon -.75
Scanned Coupon -1.00
Scanned Coupon -1.00
Scanned Coupon -.40
Scanned Coupon -.55
Scanned Coupon -1.00

1/3 Asian Miss Universe Speaks

This is an interesting article about a former Miss Universe that brings up interesting points:
1) Her stories of the culture shock as she faced the realities of Hollywood ethnicity, suggest that differences of ethnicity that revolve around "ethnic majority or minority" status and are not natural facts.
2) Us folks of color are not "looking for racism"--quite the contrary, we'd like to ignore it and often try to pretend it's nonexistent, but almost inevitably, if we chose to excel in society, come face-to-face with it again.

Finally, I just wanted to point out this is not the first time I'm heard of someone claiming to be "1/3 something". Usually it's white people trying to sound "diverse".

You might find that snarky, but stop for a second and think about it:
How in the fuck would you end up with a 1/3 child? I mean, I'm into some kinky shit, but how do you have three parents contribute to an egg?

Well, I can't complain, after all, I'm 1/17th Cherokee.

"Good" crime?

(props to AngryAsianMan and Gar for the link)

Imagine how kick ass the world would be if all the people who commit crimes were a little more thoughtful about their targets?

What if all the graffiti writers bombed for justice instead of to get their name out?

What if all the drug dealers, gangbangers and thugs wouldn't do their business in their own neighborhoods?

What if all the thieves and filchers wouldn't touch family owned stores or people's houses and instead only hit big-ass corporations and wealthy folks?

I'm not saying, "Rich folks deserve to have bad shit happen to them..." so please don't get all "You love the terrorists!" on me.

I'm just saying, "Can you bring yourself to imagine how different things might be?"

After a massive campaign to write the advertisers for Corolla's show, he ended up giving up an apology the other day:

A quick item of business to take care of. An apology to the Asian community. We did a bit a few weeks back that offended many people. It was unintended to offend these people. We do a show here that is a little irreverent and sometimes we cross the line and we definitely crossed it this time. And it was not meant to offend. It did. And for that we sincerely apologize to the good people of the Asian community. So we apologize and we thank you for your support.

This ranks up there on the "pathetically bad but still better than expected" ranking. At least he attempts to admit some fault and backtrack a bit. Of course, the ultra-typical whitey "It was not to offend language" is still in there. Oh, so mocking the English language ability of native English speakers because of the color of their skin while shitting on a show to recognized an oppressed and underrepresented group in media with one of the most passe, sophomoric attempt at humor ever was not meant to offend? What was it meant to do? Surely not be funny--there was no danger of that.

I would have rather he just say, "We sure as hell meant to offend, but we underestimated the ability of Asian Americans to kick the shit out of through our sponsors. Oops! Sorry about that!"

But hey, I'm not a white journalist talking about Shani Davis, so I'm not allowed to demand that the target of my criticism do exactly what I wanted him to do.

Privilege is never having to sincerely say, "I'm sorry"...

Random fun fact: Spell Check wants to replace "Corolla's" with "gorilla's".