Focused Rambling

Same-sex marriage, and the murder of gays in Iraq

Here’s two opposite ends of the spectrum for you, both from today’s New York Times. First, there are many in this country that are celebrating recent legislation in Vermont and Iowa that allows same-sex marriage, and preparing to continue the momentum with legislation in nine other states. Hopefully the efforts of all in the gay and lesbian community are helping to educate people to the basic civil rights element of this debate, rather than the selective interpretations of specific biblical meanings and intents that has been used in the past. Regardless of what the “institution of marriage” has meant to individuals that have entered into it throughout the years, it is a recognized symbol of the love and commitment of two individuals at the end of the day, and any two individuals that wish to express that commitment should be allowed to. Of course, as soon as you read one story that gives you some hope that the world is rational and evolving, you read another from NYT on the “scorn and murder” faced by gay and lesbian Iraqi’s. This includes the recent discovery of the bodies of 25 men and boys in Sadr City that were believed to be gay. I am assuming that the religious leaders quoted in this article are not nearly as strict with other interpretations of Islamic law, unless the Iraqi’s (particularly the Shiites of Sadr City) are going the way of the Taliban and instituting Sharia law.

Kobe Dick... the great Japanese whale tale.

I actually can't believe I haven't heard about this more often... Japanese whalers attacked conservationists with a water cannon and heavy objects . There's nothing quite like the epic battle of a man trying to kill something, and a man trying to stop a man from killing something. Whalers are fighting for their livelihood, while conservationists are fighting for a fellow being. It really is a pretty amazing scenario that usually plays out far from the eyes of the world...

Bidding War...

The life of an environmental activist can get sort of depressing and boring, after countless rallies and tabling and petition drives and attending public hearings and such. Sure, there's exciting moments dangling over bridges or shouting at Cheney occassionally, but lots of procedural minutiae. So Tim DeChristopher decided to take it up a notch by attending a Bureau of Land Management auction. OK, the attending part wasn't much, but winning the bid on 13 parcels in Utah for almost $2 million was. It's an interesting strategy, but it probably would have been better if DeChristopher could have driven up the prices without actually getting stuck with the final winning bid. Maybe with some more research and knowledge of the industry, this could become a new strategy for activists everywhere...