/dev/random

Great letter in the Hampshire Gazette:

Last Friday I was listening to the radio when I heard someone complaining that the court had overstepped its bounds , making social policy against the better judgement of the citizenry and subverting the legislature. I assumed at first that this was the now familiar lament of those who disagree with the SJC ruling on civil marriage for gay citizens. However, it turned out to be a voice from 1953 reacting against the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, a major milestone in the still ongoing fight for civil rights for African American people.

Martin Luther King wrote ‘’ it is an historical fact that privileged groups rarely give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture, but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals'’ For this reason civil rights have historically been ensured first by the courts, and only later accepted by society at large. The courts’ mission, to make sure that constitutions are upheld, is different from that of the Legislature, which must, as an elected body, reflect the popular view.

Just as Brown v. Board of Education has come to seem like an obvious truth, so shall the SJC decision granting gay and lesbian people equality in the realm of civil marriage. We can only hope this happens sooner rather than later.

From Express Gay News, normally known for sleazy, sensationalist, minimally-researched and non-proofread journalism, finally something worth reading.

HALL OF FAME

• Commissioner Dean Trantalis Co-author of Broward County’s domestic partnership law, Trantalis was elected Fort Lauderdale’s first openly gay city commissioner in March.
• The Florida Marlins In August, the Marlins became the first professional sports franchise to sign and long-term advertising contract with a gay newspaper, The Express.
• Justice Anthony Kennedy A Reagan appointee, Kennedy surprised many high court observers with the progressiveness of his opinion in Lawrence v. Texas.
• Bill Rettinger and Derrick Hankerson For their persistent efforts in fighting to save the Medicaid Medically Needy Share of Cost program from the budget ax.
• Connie Hines For her courage in speaking out against anti-gay hate crimes after being named Teacher of the Year.
• Jeffrey Woodard The Jupiter Christian School student who was expelled after a teacher found out he was gay. Woodard and his family have shown courage by showing up at the Gay and Lesbian Foundation of South Florida’s Recognition Dinner and by suing the school.
• Vicky Keller For fighting with Rettinger and Hankerson to save the Medically Needy program.
• Nadine Smith For her tireless efforts in leading Equality Florida in the fight for dignity and respect for GLBT students throughout the state. The Dignity for All Students Act has still not been passed, but it received a reading this year in the Republican-controlled state Senate, a first for such a bill.
• Sen. Mandy Dawson For fighting in the state legislature to save the Medicaid Medically Needy program.
• Wilton Manors Mayor Jim Stork for his high-profile leadership and for making sure gay businesses are included in the Main Street Program.

HALL OF SHAME

• Sen. Anna Cowin For her snide and mean-spirited efforts to kill the Dignity for All Students Act. Cowin introduced amendments referring to bestiality, necrophilia and phone sex as part of a devious strategy to block debate the bill.
• Sen. Rick Santorum “Man on dog.” Need we say more?
• Michael Savage Fired from his job at MSNBC after telling a caller to “get AIDS and die,” Savage is the most extremist person to ever be given his own show on a major U.S. network. Shame on MSNBC.
• Judge Roy Moore The mainstream media ignored Moore’s virulent homophobia when reporting on his Ten Commandments crusade, but The Express did not. In a court opinion denying a lesbian mother custody of her children in February 2002, Moore went as far as to suggest that gays and lesbians should be confined and executed to protect children. Thou shalt not use the judicial bench as a political pulpit. Good riddance.
• Gov. Jeb Bush For his lack of compassion in eliminating funding for the Medicaid Medically Needy program in his state budget proposal without even warning anyone that he was going to do it.
• President George W. Bush The most anti-gay and right-wing president in history, he jumped into bed with the radical right with his support for the anti-gay “Marriage Protection Week.”
• Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) Not only for not having the courage to disclose his sexual orientation during his campaign for the U.S. Senate but for posting a statement on his Web site praising rabidly anti-gay Judge Roy Moore. Shame on you Congressman.
• James Dobson the “co-host” of Larry King Live has declared the hurricanes are caused by sin and gay marriage will destroy Western Civilization.
• The Rev. James Kennedy For inviting some of the most extremist, anti-American, anti-democratic ideologues to his “Reclaiming America for Christ” conference in Coral Ridge.
• Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) For being the chief sponsor of a proposed constitutional amendment declaring that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman.

$50m in the bank, but no escape from smacked-up harlot mum [The Register]

Dear Sir/Madam

How are you?

I am Tony Fred Willaims i am 14 years old i live in London (Uk) before my father died, now i live with my mother in Scottland. my father is from London (Uk) and my mother is from Scottland. my late father Mr. Fred Willaims was an engineer in London (Uk) before he died in a car acedent this year july 9th 2003. he left $50M (Fifty Million Dollars) in his account before he died. The $50M is in the ( first union naional bank-na london Uk) i have been trying to collect the money from ( first union naional bank-na london Uk) but the Md Ceo Mr James Orriss told me to go and look for some body that is old enough to help me collect the money. I could have told my mother to assist me to collect the $50M for me but my mother and father has divorce before my father died and my father told me to not have anything to do with my mother i dont even want her to know because what my father told me before he died was not a lie, now that i stay with my mother in Scottland she dont even have time for me all she do is to take hard drugs and to bring men to the house to sleep with and she also hate me all the time. i dont want to have anything to do with her. i just want some body that is old enough and honest to help me collect the $50m from the bank as i am to young to take care of $50M. Please i need your help if you can assist me to collect the $50M from the bank i will give you 35% and take 65%. I have the affidavite of claims that makes me the indeed bonified next of kin to my late father Mr. Fred Williams which i have show it to the bank Md Ceo Mr James Orriss. he told me to look for some body that is old enough so that he can send the $50m to the person in 24 hours. if you can help me i will contact Mr. James Orriss and told him that i have find someone who want to help me collect the $50M . and i will give you is contact so that you can contact him to enable him send the $50M to your provided account in 24 hours. if you are intrested to help me get back to me on this my email (tony_fred@tiscali.co.uk ) so that i can forward to you the contact of the bank. I will be waiting for your urgent reply.

Best Regards

Mr Tony Fred Williams.

I just got the following email from AFA:

Participation in America’s Poll on Homosexual Marriage at marriagepoll.com continues at a steady pace. As of noon Saturday, December 28, the results were as follows:

• I oppose legalization of homosexual marriage and “civil unions” total votes: 201914
• I favor legalization of homosexual marriage total votes: 378691
• I favor a “civil union” with the full benefits of marriage except for the name: 52238

Only votes that have a valid email address associated with them will be counted. We will be purging those with invalid email addresses, which may cause poll results to change somewhat. (my emphasis added)

I’m sure they’ll come up with some excuse because the results didn’t go the way they want.