when you go here ->BluBlu.org you end up experiencing animation clips like this:
BigBangBooomBooman unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life ... and how it could probably end.
09 July 2010
08 July 2010
equal rights - DOMA ruled unconstitutional
Three news items today:
• Federal District Judge Joseph Tauro rules that the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" is unconstitutional. Two separate cases ruled upon the same day. Reason one [from Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Health + Human Services] is that by enacting DOMA Congress violated the Tenth Amendment and States' sovereignty by treating some couples with Massachusetts’ marriage licenses differently than others.
In the second case, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, he ruled DOMA violates the equal protection principles embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Maura Healey, chief of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, called DOMA an “animus-based national marriage law” that intrudes on core state authority and “forces the state to discriminate against its own citizens.”
• Legal analysts Celeste Lavin and Jennifer Vanasco provide an explanation of the rulings and how these decisions may affect future marriage rights cases for gay couples.
• The third item is what corporate behemoth Google is doing for it's gay employees to lessen the impact of the economic discrimination foisted by the Federal Government when they tax us for "income" that non-gay married couples do not have to pay to the IRS.
For example, because my male spouse is on my health insurance plan I am taxed by the IRS as if I make 8 to 10 thousand more per year than I
actually do. This does not happen to my non-gay co-workers who are married. They get the second person on their insurance at no extra taxation.
and that's just one example that I know of...
This is a Federal Insurance Penalty, imposed in 1996 by the "Defense of Marriage" Act. Provisions of the act single out gay and lesbian families for inequitable treatment under law. Because federal law denies any recognition of gay and lesbian families, the federal tax code denies those families cash saving breaks and imposes monetary penalties that straight marrieds do not have to shell out for.
So it is encouraging to hear that Google employees who are gay shall receive compensation for this inequity.
• Federal District Judge Joseph Tauro rules that the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" is unconstitutional. Two separate cases ruled upon the same day. Reason one [from Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Health + Human Services] is that by enacting DOMA Congress violated the Tenth Amendment and States' sovereignty by treating some couples with Massachusetts’ marriage licenses differently than others.
In the second case, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, he ruled DOMA violates the equal protection principles embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Maura Healey, chief of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, called DOMA an “animus-based national marriage law” that intrudes on core state authority and “forces the state to discriminate against its own citizens.”• Legal analysts Celeste Lavin and Jennifer Vanasco provide an explanation of the rulings and how these decisions may affect future marriage rights cases for gay couples.
• The third item is what corporate behemoth Google is doing for it's gay employees to lessen the impact of the economic discrimination foisted by the Federal Government when they tax us for "income" that non-gay married couples do not have to pay to the IRS.
For example, because my male spouse is on my health insurance plan I am taxed by the IRS as if I make 8 to 10 thousand more per year than I
actually do. This does not happen to my non-gay co-workers who are married. They get the second person on their insurance at no extra taxation.and that's just one example that I know of...
This is a Federal Insurance Penalty, imposed in 1996 by the "Defense of Marriage" Act. Provisions of the act single out gay and lesbian families for inequitable treatment under law. Because federal law denies any recognition of gay and lesbian families, the federal tax code denies those families cash saving breaks and imposes monetary penalties that straight marrieds do not have to shell out for.
So it is encouraging to hear that Google employees who are gay shall receive compensation for this inequity.
IMAGE CREDITS: 1- "Gay married couple" by Ian Grey Photography, used with permission; 2- taken by someone who was at our wedding; 3- Jackson Events
fitful wanderings from the web
• Art House Co-op, in Brooklyn, NY, welcomes art projects for review and possible display.
FROM THEIR WEBSITE: "Art House projects are a way to create a community of artists and give anyone a chance to be part of something creative. We hold an exhibition for most projects at our library in Brooklyn, NY. All of our projects are open for sign ups on a first come first serve basis.
"If you are a professional artist, consider this a unique opportunity to get your work out there and add a show or two to your resume. If you are a first time artist, think of it as a way to inspire you and give you a chance to be in a gallery and see your work on the wall!"
• More on the risks and dangers of hydro fracking
• Cancer survivor who uses physician prescribed marijuana is fired by WalMart for trying to maintain his health. Is this really about WalMart not wanting to provide adequate health care? Just wondering.
• We're in a recession because those already rich demand more and share less with society. Quote that accompanied the picture on the right:
Last September, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of United States District Court in Brooklyn found that the state had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by keeping approximately 4,300 people with mental illness isolated from the outside world in warehouse-like conditions in more than two dozen privately run adult homes. The state pays the homes for their care.
Over the vehement objection of the state and the owners of the homes, Judge Garaufis issued a remedial plan in March.
The plan would give nearly all current and future adult home residents the opportunity to move into supported housing scattered throughout the boroughs, where they would live independently while also receiving assistance like case-management services and visits from psychiatrists and nurses.
FROM THEIR WEBSITE: "Art House projects are a way to create a community of artists and give anyone a chance to be part of something creative. We hold an exhibition for most projects at our library in Brooklyn, NY. All of our projects are open for sign ups on a first come first serve basis.
"If you are a professional artist, consider this a unique opportunity to get your work out there and add a show or two to your resume. If you are a first time artist, think of it as a way to inspire you and give you a chance to be in a gallery and see your work on the wall!"
• More on the risks and dangers of hydro fracking
• Cancer survivor who uses physician prescribed marijuana is fired by WalMart for trying to maintain his health. Is this really about WalMart not wanting to provide adequate health care? Just wondering.• We're in a recession because those already rich demand more and share less with society. Quote that accompanied the picture on the right:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” ~ MATTHEW 19:23-24• A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that people with psyche disabilities should be helped to live in their own places not just large, institutional, group homes.
Last September, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of United States District Court in Brooklyn found that the state had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by keeping approximately 4,300 people with mental illness isolated from the outside world in warehouse-like conditions in more than two dozen privately run adult homes. The state pays the homes for their care.
Over the vehement objection of the state and the owners of the homes, Judge Garaufis issued a remedial plan in March.
The plan would give nearly all current and future adult home residents the opportunity to move into supported housing scattered throughout the boroughs, where they would live independently while also receiving assistance like case-management services and visits from psychiatrists and nurses.
IMAGE CREDIT: Dwelling in the Word
07 July 2010
artists - Frieda Kahlo
In 1939 Frieda Kahlo, after a modest exhibition held in Paris, was the first 20th Century Mexican artist to have a work of hers purchased by the Louvre.
Plagued by constant pain during most of her life ~ the result of a childhood bout with polio and an auto accident as a teen, Frieda channeled her suffering on to canvas. Painting in an often surrealist style, her most consistent model was herself. Kahlo's work is remembered for its "pain and passion", and its intense, vibrant colors. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.
Plagued by constant pain during most of her life ~ the result of a childhood bout with polio and an auto accident as a teen, Frieda channeled her suffering on to canvas. Painting in an often surrealist style, her most consistent model was herself. Kahlo's work is remembered for its "pain and passion", and its intense, vibrant colors. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.
She wed, divorced and re-wed the famed muralist [and notorious womanizer] Diego Rivera. The divorce may have occurred after one of the affairs. Their living quarters often were separate, although sometimes adjacent. She extracted her revenge, in part, by having affairs herself with both men and women; the most famous of her affairs with Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Frieda Kahlo would have been 100 years of age yesterday. She is one of my favorite artists. This is my belated tribute to her work.
FOR MORE INFO: Wikipedia's Frieda Kahlo; Lisa Rogers writes of the suicide of Dorothy Hale, on of Kahlo's more controversial works. Lisa also wrote of Kahlo's "Broken Column" at Prisoner in a corset. Actually, she's penned many well written items about Frieda Kahlo. Well worth the visit. | The image on the right is a sign in front of a Mexican restaurant, "Manana" in Montreal PQ, Canada. 605 Rue Ste-Denis.
05 July 2010
books - in general
My spouse and I are inveterate lovers of books' reading material on paper still has an aesthetic quality to it that I have not found in electronic format. Besides, there is something immediate and tangible about actually seeing shelves lined up with tomes and trashy novels alike. So it ought come as no surprise that I shall occasionally expound upon a number of book at once; much like I do with my random website wanderings.
I'll keep it reasonable. Shall limit the number of books I write about each time; shall try to remain within a specific subject matter; and the entries will be annotations rather than lengthy reviews.
Mind you, I'm not trying to proffer business for the big name vendors such as Barnes + Noble or Amazon, or even Half.com, for that matter.
I far prefer supporting indie booksellers like Printed Matter, NYC; Papayri, North Adams, MA; Burgundy Books, East Haddam, CT; or even Powell's in Portland, Oregon. I encourage folks to buy their books local.
From what you see in the picture, the books I gather do not have to be new. When the subject warms to me, the book I end up picking up could be some newly printed beauty ~ with that smell of printer's ink still present; or it could been some dog-eared items I found at the book swop bin at the transfer station.
My shame here is ~ that I have collected so many books that the attic rafters house many, and I even pay rent on a storage unit to house them all. I'll have a first list of books in the coming days
04 July 2010
place - Meriden, CT
A trip to Castle Craig
BillP and I went up Meriden Mountain for the first time in a number of years. The gates across the road is often locked; neither of us has the chance to show up there on a weekday and be able to get back downhill before 1640 hours.
So it was a real treat to drive up and get a panoramic view of everything from the Cheshire Correctional Center to Sleeping Giant State Park... and on a clear sunlit day as well.
holidays - 4th of July
Political conservatives have no more of a special relationship with America's national mythologies than any one of the thousands of Christian sects have on the stories of Jesus. Therefore, it would be prudent to read something different now and again about the USA's national folk tales. A case in point, the Boston Tea Party. Here's what Thom Hartmann, progressive radio essayist, and what he has to say:
"The real Boston Tea Party was a protest against huge corporate tax cuts for the British East India Company, the largest trans-national corporation then in existence. This corporate tax cut threatened to decimate small Colonial businesses by helping the BEIC pull a Wal-Mart against small entrepreneurial tea shops, and individuals began a revolt that kicked-off a series of events that ended in the creation of The United States of America.
"They covered their faces, massed in the streets, and destroyed the property of a giant global corporation. Declaring an end to global trade run by the East India Company that was destroying local economies, this small, masked minority started a revolution with an act of rebellion later called the Boston Tea Party.
"The Boston Tea Party resembled in many ways the growing modern-day protests against transnational corporations and small-town efforts to protect themselves from chain-store retailers or factory farms. The Tea Party's participants thought of themselves as protesters against the actions of the multinational East India Company."
Read the rest of Thom Hartmann's essay and what he has to say about this piece of American history after a study of the Memoir of George R.T. Hewes, a Survivor of the Little Band of Patriots Who Drowned the Tea in Boston Harbor written in 1773.
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