Pictures from the Methow Valley

During my eight days at home in Washington State my two brothers, my dad, and I spent three days at my dad's new cabin in Eastern Washington. It was so beautiful out there. We spent a full day on the cross-country ski trails of Sun Mountain. Here are some pics.

The cabin.

A bend in the Methow River.

Your's truly, on the trail.

My dad.

A shrub waiting winter out.

Younger brother Spence on his skis.

A small ball of ice at the tip of each needle in the foreground, with large balls of snow at the end of each branch in the background.

Just finished Al Franken's new book

The Truth (with jokes), amazon link here. Now, I loved Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them, (link here); it was laugh out loud funny every few pages and he attacked the right-wing punditocracy of Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and FoxNews in general. He showed them to be the, well, lying liars who they are. But The Truth, was deeper, because it confronted Bush, Rove, Cheney, Frist, and the rest. These are the people with power, and unfortunately you just can't make the same jokes. These people have f*cked up our country, and our world.

Franken does do a good job of both investigative and persuasive argument. And as the title states, there are jokes. He also leaves you with a feeling of optimism at the end, and again illustrates liberalism at its best.

Bottom line, however, I recommend Lies for the kind of book Al Franken can write so well. And The Truth if you are loooking for yet another expose of the cronyism and disgusting actions of the current Republican establishment.

Click the cover below to go to Al Franken's website.

Bush knows how to read??

It isn't usual that I repost an entire blog entry from another blog, but this one was too good to pass up. By georgia10 over at DailyKos, she says:

I couldn't get beyond the first sentences of this story without chuckling:

Dec 27, 2005 -- CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is spending part of his Christmas holiday reading about the post-presidential years of Theodore Roosevelt and the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Bush was reading "When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House," by Patricia O'Toole, and "Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground," by Robert Kaplan while on holiday at his Texas ranch, said White House spokesman Trent Duffy.[...]

Asked whether there was any significance that Bush, who has three years left in office, was reading a book about the post-White House years of a former president, Duffy replied that Bush is a "history buff" and "avid reader."

So Bush, who can't focus on a single issue for more than one polling cycle at a time, has enough focus to read a 512 page book? We can think of more pressing items that need the President's study, can't we? My suggestions for his winter break reading: the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Geneva Conventions.

I might also recommend any book on Nixon's last year in office. I am sure Bush can relate.

Nastiness in 2006

Never to early to talk about what is ahead in American Politics 2006. Newsweek's Howard Fineman sees the following bullets as probable developments in this election year:

• The president says that his highest duty is to protect the American people and our homeland. And it is true that, as commander-in-chief, he has sweeping powers to, as his oath says, “faithfully execute the office” of president. But the entity he swore to “preserve, protect and defend” isn’t the homeland per se — but the Constitution itself.
• The Patriot Act will be extended, but it’s just the beginning, not the end, of the never-ending argument between the Bill of Rights and national security. The act primarily covers the activities of the FBI; the sheer volume of intelligence-gathering across the government has yet to become apparent, and voters will blanch when they see it all laid before them. The department most likely to get in trouble on this: the Pentagon, which doesn’t have a tradition of limiting inquiries, and which, in the name of protecting domestic military installations, will want to look at everyone.
• If you thought the Samuel Alito hearings were going to be contentious, wait till you see them now. Sen. Arlen Specter, the prickly but brilliant chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said that the issue of warrant-less spying by the NSA — and the larger question of the reach of the president’s wartime powers — is now fair game for the Alito hearings. Alito is going to try to beg off but won’t be allowed to. And members who might have been afraid to vote against Alito on the abortion issue might now have another, politically less risky, reason to do so.
• Arguably the most interesting — and influential — Republicans in the Senate right now are the libertarians. They’re suspicious of the Patriot Act and, I am guessing, pivotal in any discussion of the NSA and others' spy efforts. Most are Westerners (Craig, Hagel, Murkowski) and the other is Sen. John Sununu. He is from New Hampshire, which, as anyone who has spent time there understands, is the Wild West of the East Coast. All you have to do is look at its license plate slogan: “Live Free or Die.” It’ll be interesting to see how other nominal small-government conservatives — Sen. George Allen of Virginia comes to mind — handle the issue.
• For months now, I have been getting e-mails demanding that my various employers (Newsweek, NBC News and MSNBC.com) include in their poll questionnaires the issue of whether Bush should be impeached. They used to demand this on the strength of the WMD issue, on the theory that the president had “lied us into war.” Now the Bush foes will base their case on his having signed off on the NSA’s warrant-less wiretaps. He and Cheney will argue his inherent powers and will cite Supreme Court cases and the resolution that authorized him to make war on the Taliban and al-Qaida. They will respond by calling him Nixon 2.0 and have already hauled forth no less an authority than John Dean to testify to the president’s dictatorial perfidy. The “I-word” is out there, and, I predict, you are going to hear more of it next year — much more.

Amen to impeachment talk. And we'll see what happens with the Alito confirmation hearings (which I believe have gotten far more complex and difficult for him, the White House, and their supporters).

Mom and step-mom update

Two little tidbits...

I was talking to my step-mom last night about gay Seattle, and she said that she loves to go to this "bar on Capitol Hill" with her girlfriends. I figured something like Broadway Grill, which caters to the community but wouldn't actually be considered a "gay bar." She said no, not that one, so i just started listing them. When I got to Neighbors, she said, that's the one! Neighbors is one of the two biggest gay clubs -- not bars -- in Seattle, and where I finished off my Friday night this weekend. It's a small world after all. I was officially impressed.

My mom story is not as interesting, and actually isn't even a story. Just that for Christmas dinner, she put my brother in charge of setting the table, and me in charge of the wine (and my soy chicken, of course). But the wine... she knows me too well.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannakuh

Today is only the fourth time in the past century where the first night of Hannakuh also falls on Christmas Day.

I am off to my dad's for lunch and presents. I hope you are having a good day.

Seattle Seahawks unstoppable

Yesterday, my Seahawks hit a 13-2 record with its victory over the Indianapolis Colts:

Seahawks’ NFL rushing leader Shaun Alexander ran for 139 yards and three touchdowns — including a rare TD receiving — to tie Priest Holmes’ NFL record of 27 touchdowns in a season. That helped the Seahawks clinch NFC home-field advantage Saturday with a 28-13 victory over the injured, resting and reflective Indianapolis Colts.

And in my other Washington, the Redskins are still alive:

Peaking at the right time, the Redskins (9-6) won their fourth straight and will clinch at least a wild card berth if they win at Philadelphia in next week’s regular-season finale. They will win the NFC East with a win and a Giants loss at Oakland next week.

Seahawks and the Redskins in the playoffs?? Here's for hoping.

Impeachment talk

More on this later, but if we had a Democratic Congress this would receive real attention, as it should. Of course I am talking about the unconstitutional domestic spying program, which we learn each day is more and more widespread than understood the day before.

For now, let me leave you with this exchange between John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin). Feingold may be my Howard Dean of 2008.

Sen. John Cornyn: "None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead."

Sen. Russ Feingold: "Give me liberty or give me death."

Senator Cantwell takes down Senator Douchebag (Stevens) on ANWR

In 2000 Maria Cantwell barely beat out Republican Slade Gorton to become my state's junior Senator. That was the first election in which I voted, and I have not been more proud of that vote than last week. She was the Democats' point person and defensive line against the ridiculous Republican goal of opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling exploration. Through intense lobbying of fellow Senators, and the following facts, Cantwell got just enough votes to maintain her filibuster:

• Estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey find that there is only a six-month supply of economically recoverable oil.
• Opening the refuge will have no effect on oil prices because the supply is too small and Persian Gulf oil too cheap.
• because the US has only three percent of the world’s oil reserves, opening all of our coasts, forests and wild places to drilling would barely nudge world oil prices.
• Any oil discovered in the refuge would not be available for at least a decade.
• Getting this oil down to the lower 48 [would] require environmentally destructive pipelines, pumping stations and sprawling industrial infrastructure.

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has been leading the fight to open the refuge (whose oil would help fund Alaska's already pork barrelled state budget), and was so bold, or cowardly, as to place drilling into a defense spending bill. Not only is this not a reasonable provision, he did it for the exact reason that to stop this bill would not allow proper funding of our troops in Iraq in Afghanistan. It's sickening that Stevens, and the 55 Senators who supported him, would support this tactic. But Cantwell prevailed, and ANWR is safe.

Of course, the fight is far from over. But we will fight on to protect this refuge from the greed destructive plans of the oil industry and Republican Party.

Thank you Senator Cantwell. You can give your thanks here.

Back blogging

So much to blog about, so little time. Seriously though, I've been bad and am now very behind. That will change today. But first a Seattle break update:

• Eastern Washington was perfect. First, it was absolutely beautiful with the snow, trees, and freshest of air. I'll have plenty of pictures to post when I'm back in D.C. Being in such close quarters for so long with my [great] brothers was a little much, but to be expected.
• I am officially a fan of gay Seattle. People are so nice, so chill, and the bars are friendly and fun. Cute boys out here too. And what's even better, and odd coming from D.C. where gays and lesbians do not hang out, is that here everything is integrated.
• I have not yet seen Mt. Rainer at all. Why? Because it has been raining pretty much non-stop. Except for right now. But it's still threatening.
• Christmas today and tomorrow should be good. More family time, but with good food, presents, and the like.

Okay, now time for blogging.

In Seattle!

Arrived last night for eight days here at home. My cats are glad to see me (at least I tell myself that), went on a run at Laurelhurst Park in the Seattle rain, and now heading off to go christmas shopping with my mom and little bro.

I hope to post on some politics soon, and of course my review and experience seeing Brokeback Mountain on Friday. It was so good. But, that's the word for now.

Brokeback Watch

I did a google news search for Brokeback Mountain today and got 4,170 links. The media is talking about this movie. I love it. Some select stories:

Brokeback Mountain explores sexuality, machismo (Earth Times)

In "Brokeback Mountain," Ang Lee creates new kind of western (Mercury News)

Is Oscar ready for Brokeback Mountain? (The Advocate)

PS: See this movie.

Andrew Sullivan on Brokeback

One of the few conservatives (and he is a conservative) who I actually respect, Andrwe Sullivan is an eloquent gay blogger. This is his take on the Vatican and Brokeback Mountain. I am inspired.

You can see why this movie may pose a threat to Benedict's anti-gay crusade. I haven't seen it yet, alas, but just read the gut-wrenching and beautiful short story on which it's based. It's an astonishingly beautiful piece of writing. The story is about love: human love. Not homosexual love; or heterosexual love. Just love. And the immense psychic pain and cruelty inflicted on countless human beings for so many centuries because of whom they fell in love with. I haven't seen the movie yet, because it hasn't reached DC yet. But the story's message is, to my mind, one of the more eloquent rebukes to the current Vatican. You know, the Vatican that speaks, at its most compassionate, of the "affliction" of "deep-seated homosexual tendencies." Change one word and you see the truth the Church hierarchy refuses to see. How about "deep-seated homosexual love?" In Annie Proulx's inspired story, that becomes something deeper and grander: "deep-seated human love." That's what the Pope is so afraid of. And why, in the end, he will lose this argument. Love and truth are on the other side of the debate. And our Catholic faith assures us that love and truth win in the end. Popes come and go; but the truth remains. And slowly, painfully, the truth is coming out.

International marriage equality movement

The other day I posted on South Africa and Great Britain allowing for gay marriage and civil unions, respectively. This week's Blade has some stories of this spreading to East Asia:

Korean judge calls for gay couple recognition

A South Korean district judge is arguing the country should permit the legal union of gay couples, Chosun.com, an English-language Korean news service, reported Dec. 13. Judge Chung Jae-oh of Jeju District Court argued in a recently published paper that excluding gay couples from legal recognition is a form of official state discrimination. The Seoul High Court recently ruled against a woman who sought the court's assistance in dividing property and receiving alimony from her female partner, Chosun reported. The court decided that even gay couples who have lived together for years cannot claim common-law marriage status. News reports were contradictory about whether Judge Chung backed full marriage rights, but his focus was on laws governing dissolution of property when couples breakup.

Third public gay wedding takes place in Taipei

TAIPEI — Two men were married in a public ceremony in Taipei on Saturday, becoming the third gay couple to publicly wed in the Taiwanese capital, the China Post reported. The pair picked World Human Rights Day for their union to promote public awareness about gay rights. Chen Chin-hsueh, 33, an activist for gay rights, married a man who used the pseudonym of Ah Wei, and said the pair called the event an "engagement ceremony," since the Republic of China government still has no laws to recognize gay unions. Chin-hsueh said he hopes the government will offer legal rights to gay couples via a registry similar to San Francisco's "spouse registration system."

Ford and gays are back in business

Sorry for not posting on this until today, as the good news was announced on Wednesday, but this is a huge victory for us:

Ford said last week it planned to stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands in gay publications to reduce its marketing costs. But after gay rights groups complained and held meetings with the automaker, Ford reversed course and said Wednesday it would continue to advertise all of its eight brands in gay publications. There was a Jaguar ad Thursday afternoon on the Web site of The Advocate, a biweekly gay magazine.

As AMERICAblog notes, this was well played on all fronts--the grass roots and netroots, gay national leaders, and politicians. So, good for us, and we keep fighting for equality and tolerance.

Go here to thank Ford.

On torture: McCain 1, Bush 0

George W. Bush today finally caved in to the demands of John McCain, Lindsey Graham, common sense, and human morality by agreeing to all of McCain's demands to outlaw torture in the War on Terror:

After months of resistance, the White House has agreed to accept Sen. John McCain’s call for a law banning cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign suspects in the war on terror, several congressional officials said Thursday.

Under the emerging deal, the CIA and other civilian interrogators would be given the same legal rights as currently guaranteed members of the military who are accused of breaking interrogation guidelines, these officials added. Those rules say the accused can defend themselves by arguing it was reasonable for them to believe they were obeying a legal order.

Jane Harman, later in the article, had this reaction:

“The fog of law is finally lifting. America’s moral black eye is finally healing,” Rep. Jane Harman of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.

The Daily Show: Gaywatch

New clip, which Jon Stewart refers to as the Daily Show's "occasional experimentation with homosexuality." Crooks and Liars has the clip here.

My favorite line, on South Africa's Supreme Court recent order to allow gay marriage nationwide: "Now we're talking real gay marriage here, not your mamby pamby 'civil unions that we hope Jesus doesn't notice.'"

Still more Brokeback buzz

Brokeback Mountain was released in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco last weekend and will be released nationwide this Friday the 16th. btw, i simply can't wait. Reviews, award nominations, and awards themselves are already flowing. In fact, I searched "Brokeback Mountain" on google news, and got 3,080 results. Some highlights:

• Brokeback Mountain Leads Globe Nods: The movie received seven Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture, Actor, and Director.
• New York Film Critics Circle named Brokeback best film of 2005.
• In addition, the film critics guilds of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston all named Brokeback best picture.

I - can't - wait.

Watch this CNN clip -- it is hilarious

Have you heard about this "debate" over the "War on Christmas"? Basically the fringe of the religious right (now *that* is saying something) is up in arms over the godless political correctness gods who are imposing their atheism on the weak, underrepresented Christian majority. Sorry for all the hyperbole and sarcasm, but this really is ridiculous.

Anyway, Sam Seder of AirAmerica was on CNN debating this new war with arch-bigot Robert Knight of Concerned Women for America (wait, but Robert is a man... oh well). Crooks and Liars has the video, which you must check out. Sam Seder nails the issue squarley on its head.

Watch it here.

Belated birthday pics

Unfortunately only two turned out, out of the four that I took. I had a big plan to take a bunch of pictures because so many of my friends were there (oh yeah, we had a party the night of my 24th birthday, Saturday the 3rd.) Anyway, here are a couple of pics.

Cary and Sean baked me a carrot cake from scratch, and even put 24 candles on it. What great roommates.

Chuck and me, with Mike lurking in the background.

Saw Rent today -- I recommend

After seeing Rent on Broadway two years ago and hearing they were making it into a movie with most of the original cast, I was pretty excited. I saw it today and was impressed. Along with the singing/choreography/etc, it really portrayed the key themes to the musical; love, loss, and redemption generally speaking, and AIDS, Bohemian lifestyle, and your young adulthood.

Point being, I strongly recommend. And I have a crush on Adam Pascal now.

Lyrics from Another Day

The heart may freeze or it can burn
The pain will ease if I can learn
There is no future
There is no past
I live this moment as my last
There's only us
There's only this
Forget regret
Or life is yours to miss
No other road
No other way
No day but today

Take your powder; take your candle
Take your brown eyes, your pretty smile, your silhouette
Another time, another place
Another rhyme, a warm embrace
Another dance, another way
Another chance, another day

Pics from a while ago

From DAI's intern Pierre-Louis' first DAI happy hour. These are after the happy hour.

PS: Soon I'll post a couple of pics from my birthday. Cute pics.
PPS: I'm officially in my mid-20s. I'm 24.

Jonathan, my buddy Pierre-Louis, and Florence. With me trying to look pensive...

Florence and I dancing. And I mean *dancing.*

Pierre-Louis and me

Ford betrays gays and embraces right-wing

If you have not yet heard, Ford Motor Company (up until now a foremost gay rights in the workplace advocate--see page 6 here) has signed a previously secret deal with the literally fanatic American Family Association. More about them in a moment. But now Ford, the owner of HRC Platinum corporate sponsor Volvo, has decided to drop all gay-targeted advertising and all advertising in European gay publications:

Ford Motor Co. said it will stop running ads for its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in the gay press, helping to avoid a confrontation with conservative Christians but setting up a fight with gays and lesbians. The American Family Association, a conservative religious group, launched a boycott of Ford this year for extending marriage benefits to same-sex couples and giving "thousands of dollars to support homosexual groups and their agenda," the group said in written statement. The group criticized Ford for supporting gay commitment ceremonies and gay pride parades.

Damn right you'll get a fight. But first, a bit more about the American Family Association (hat tip AMERICAblog):

Does Ford agree that gays are after our children? A direct mail letter from Don Wildmon of the American Family Association included this emotional appeal. "For the sake of our children and society, we must OPPOSE the spread of homosexual activity! Just as we must oppose murder, stealing, and adultery! Since homosexuals cannot reproduce, the only way for them to 'breed' is to RECRUIT! And who are their targets for recruitment? Children!" - Source: People for the American Way

Does Ford agree that homosexuality is the result of the fall of the human race? "homosexuality is the result of the moral fall of the human race." - http://www.afa.net, Homosexuality in America: Exposing the Myths.

Does Ford agree that gays eat feces, have sex with animals? Among homosexual lifestyle and sexual practices are included: "sex with boys... eating and/or rubbing themselves with the feces of their partners... urinating on or in their partners... sadomasochism... bondage... sex with animals."- http://www.afa.net, Homosexuality in America: Exposing the Myths.

Does Ford agree that gays are pro pedophilia? "homosexuals seem to favor leniency regarding pedophilia" - http://www.afa.net, Homosexuality in America: Exposing the Myths.

Clear take away: The AFA is a fringe right-wing anti-gay hate group. So, back to Ford. They have made a very bad decision, and so now it is time to act:

1) Go to the HRC action center to sign the official petition citing our shock at Ford's decision, and that they must recant. Go here now.

2) Monitor developments at one of the best blogs in the business: AMERICAblog

3) Call or email top Ford executives (again, hat tip AMERICAblog)

Ford marketing and public relations targets:

Steve Lyons: slyons@ford.com

Mae Smith: msmith26@ford.com

Terri Cavanaugh: tcavanaugh@ford.com

Contact: Rosemary Mariniello, Jaguar Land Rover North America, (201) 818-8010
Contact: Jim Cain, Ford Division, (313) 248-6288
Contact: Sara Tatchio, Lincoln and Mercury, (313) 594-3744
Contact: Roger Ormisher, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc., (800) 970-0888
Contact: George Pipas, Ford Motor Company, (313) 323-9216
Contact: Dan Bedore, Ford Division, (313) 323-7045

Republican governor attacks Republican congress over unkept promises

Sucks when you are the guy in need...

Congressional failures to approve emergency funding for roads, schools and housing construction have stalled Mississippi's efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, the state's Republican governor testified Wednesday.

Without such help, Mississippi businesses are unable to decide where to relocate and rebuild -- potentially costing the state jobs and chilling its economy, Gov. Haley Barbour told a House panel investigating the government's Katrina preparations and response.

While I support both Barbour and House Democrats in believing there is a major, justified role for federal support to the Hurricane Katrina-hit states, I find it hard to feel for Barbour. This guy is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, and therefore supported and stood for Republican policies that say if you can't handle it yourself, too bad. In pretty much every economic arena out there (except for corporate welfare, but that is a different topic). So, Haley, c'mon man, just pick yourself up by the bootstraps!

Oh wait, the world is more complex than that. Will Barbour extend this experience to his other policy positions? I doubt it, but here's for hoping.

Joe Lieberman is a real douchebag

I've never been a fan of him, and he really went downhill with me when he ran as a far-right Democrat in 2004. But now he has really crossed the line. He is basically a talking point - by - talking point mouthpeace for his daddy W. Bush (via kos):

"It's time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge he'll be commander-in-chief for three more years. We undermine the president's credibility at our nation's peril."

So basically Lieberman is toting the Bush party line that dissent against our ineffective president will come at "our nation's peril."

The good news, former Republican (and now Independent) Connecticut Governor Lowell Weiker is considering running against Lieberman, with this critique to begin the buzz:

"When you've become the president's best friend on the war in Iraq, you should not be in office, especially if you're in the opposing party. I'm going to do everything I can to see that Joe Lieberman does not get a free pass."

Amen. I'm for Weiker in a heartbeat.

Bathroom at work etiquette...

So I was stayed at work after hours to finish up some things and had to use the bathroom. I go into the [mens] bathroom and there is a female janitor cleaning the sinks. Can I go in and use the urinal? If I do, should see step out? Do I just hold it?

If anyone comments I'll tell you what happened.

Marriage equality update

A lot has been going on over the past month on this front--most of it promising, other just interesting. Let's go down the list:

South Africa: JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 1 -- South Africa's highest court on Thursday recognized the marriage of two Pretoria women and gave Parliament a year to extend legal marital rights to all same-sex couples. This is big, impressive, and I must say a bit surprising. Andrew Sullivan's eloquence sums this up: NOW, SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa's post-apartheid Constitution explicitly granted gays and lesbians full rights as citizens. There is no valid citizenship without the right to marry the person you love; and so the global movement toward equality in marriage advances again. Who would have guessed twenty years ago that the land of apartheid would now be ahead of the United States in its support for civil rights and equal protection of laws?

Great Britain: BELFAST (Reuters) - Hundreds of gay couples are preparing to make it official on Monday when they can apply for legal status under a new law allowing same-sex civil partnerships. The law will give homosexual couples the same property and inheritance rights as married heterosexual couples and entitles them to the same pension, immigration and tax benefits. After a two-week waiting period they will be able to legally register their partnerships for the first time. Civil unions are marriages in all but a name--and certainly only a stop-gap before full marriage equality in Britain comes in a few years.

In the States: Courts considering challenges in 6 states; ruling imminent in Washington --As 2005 draws to a close, decisions are eagerly anticipated in some of the states where same-sex couples are fighting for equal marriage rights.
Some gay rights advocates expect a decision before Christmas in the Maryland case of Deane and Polyak vs. Conaway. In August, nine gay couples and a man whose partner died argued in Baltimore Circuit Court that the state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman is unconstitutional.... Also at the trial court level, in Connecticut, where civil unions became law in October, seven same-sex couples represented by the group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders are awaiting a date for oral arguments in the New Haven Superior Court... In Washington state, which adopted a law limiting marriage to a man and a woman in 1998, a similar case has already reached the highest state court.... In New Jersey, Lambda Legal and seven same-sex couples that seek marriage rights are waiting for an oral argument date from the Supreme Court. The New Jersey case is known as Lewis vs. Harris... Wolfson said that of the six states with important cases likely to be decided soon, he expects Washington to come first, followed by New Jersey, and then New York where a decision is expected from an appellate court and California where the state’s highest court will consider whether the state law banning same-sex marriage is constitutional.

Elton John: Elton John and David Furnish to marry on December 21 -- British pop star Elton John plans to marry his longtime partner, David Furnish, on December 21, the first day civil partnerships between gay couples will be possible in England.

Sweet birthday presents

Got a some from my lovely parents. Good stuff:

• "Truth, With Jokes" by Al Franken (sequel to "Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them," which I loved)
• The Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Writing (I love writing and I love to travel, seemed to make sense)
• Season 4 of Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Best in Show
• Oh, and $100 each at Nordstroms (step-mom) and J-Crew (dad)--what can I say, my step-mom has good taste

HRC releases its holiday 2005 guide

Every year, the Human Rights Campaign publishes a holiday gift guide that tells you which companies deserve our business--those companies who publicly support gay rights and put money where their mouthes are, those companies who are neurtal, those that are stridently anti-gay, etc.
While the battles for equality continue in our legislatures, the Congress, the courts, and public opinion, I firmly believe that money talks--and businesses listen. The more acceptance gays enjoy in the workplace (anti-discrimination, domestic partner benefits, etc.) the more our side gains. So, if you have the time, check out the guide. And if you have the choice, shop for equality. Thank you.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, here are some stores that hit the 100% pro-equality score:

Best Buy
Sears
GAP (including Banana Republic and Old Navy)
Microsoft
Apple
Dell
Borders (Barnes and Noble only scored a 71)