Okay, maybe not so much commentary as linky goodness. If you know me at all, you won’t be surprised to know that I’m supporting Obama/Biden this year and am adamantly against “The Ticket That Shall Not Be Named.” So with that, enjoy!
Kate Clinton suggests the election be run the same way as Project Runway. Brilliant!
This week your assignment is to design a plan to reduce the US dependency on foreign oil by 50% in the next five years. You will be penalized for wearing fake hard hats and shrieking “Drill, Baby, Drill.”
The Republican VP nominee? Scary person.
- Censor! Censor! Seriously, of all the things about her that I find problematic, this one makes me the spittingest mad. Most everything else scares me to death, but this one simply infuriates me.
Palin, originally uploaded by Dave & Bry
- If you need any more reasons to be freaked out by this person, check out CA NOW’s blog entry.
- And finally, please don’t miss Becca Freed’s open letter to women of the national Democratic Party:
She is anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-gun control, anti-environmental protection, and anti-science. In addition her ethics are dubious, despite her self-characterization as a reformer. Those positions aren’t part of any feminism I recognize. Feminist values are inclusive, egalitarian, serious about social welfare and environmental stewardship, rational, fair, and never demeaning of others. [She] is a brilliant political weapon: She wraps discriminatory, regressive policies in a palatable, mediagenic package, and she has demonstrated that she can get off a zinger with the best of them. …. Don’t let them redefine feminism!
And that’s about it for now. Don’t forget to register to vote in this fall’s election (if you can)!
Wow. Mainstream media really must have their heads stuck up their behinds be snoozing on this one!
Dennis Kucinich will be bringing a bill to the House floor tomorrow to impeach Cheney. Read more at Open Congress: blog post and bill page.
This should be interesting.
[tags]impeachment[/tags]
Over a year ago, Amy and I got legally married in Massachusetts. We decided to change our last names - something that normally costs $165 to do without a marriage certificate. In the interim, we’ve changed our names on driver’s licenses, social security cards, and all sorts of other legal documentation without any fuss whatsoever. Imagine my surprise, then, when I find out that the US Passport Agency won’t accept our marriage license as legal proof of name change.
Yeah, you read that right. We got our social security cards changed with no problems whatsoever, but the US Passport Agency won’t recognize a legal document from the state of Massachusetts (question 2). Instead, they insist upon a court order - of course only for same-sex couples. So once again, the queers have to pay f%&#ing more money than non-queers to do something as simple as change our name.
Lesbian name change on passport:
- $65 marriage license fee (issued over a year ago)
- $58 fee for certified, expedited birth certificate (4-6 weeks)
- $165 fee for probate court hearing to give me a legal document that says the same thing as my marriage license (8 week process)
- $127 fee for expedited passport service (3 weeks)
- Total: $415 and 15-17 weeks
Straight person name change on passport:
- $65 marriage license fee (paid whenever)
- $67 fee for passport service (10-12 weeks)
- Total: $132 and 10-12 weeks
The difference:
- $283 and 3-7 weeks, depending
Now tell me that this will all be done by the time I go out of the country in mid-February. That’s 27 weeks from now. And then realize that there are 2 of us who need to do this process. Just lovely.
Why the hell do (some) people hate us so much? I just don’t get it.
I just received the following email from my state representative, David Linksy. He’s awesome!
Dear Ms. Brooks,
Thank you for your recent correspondence relative to gay marriage and the Constitutional Convention.
As you may know, the Constitutional Convention has been postponed until June 14th. My record on this issue has been consistent and remains unchanged, and I am happy to be able to express my agreement with you on this matter. For reasons that I have made clear on my over twenty votes and two political campaigns, I believe that civil marriage is a right that should be available to all citizens, and I plan to vote accordingly. In the three years that same-sex marriage has been legal in Massachusetts, over 8500 couples have enjoyed the rights of marriage who could not do so previously. Their families and their lives have been improved as a result of that marriage. No one else’s marriage has been affected in a negative way. I am grateful for your support for my position on this issue. I am very hopeful that this matter will soon be laid aside, allowing us all to turn our focus to the important issues that truly impact all Commonwealth residents: Health care, education, and public safety.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future if I can be of assistance to you. It is a pleasure to serve you in the state Legislature.
Sincerely,
David P. Linsky
State Representative
Fifth Middlesex District
Thank you, Rep. Linsky. Your continued support in this means so very much to me.
The constitutional convention is in two days! If you live in MA and haven’t done so yet, contact your state representatives and state senators and remind them that voting on civil rights isn’t a good idea. Remind them that if this gets put onto the general ballot, for the next 2 years nothing will get done in this state because it will be a media circus (because - you know - the presidential election isn’t crazy enough!) Remind them that they represent over 8500 couples whose lives have been made better because we can enjoy the benefits of civil marriage, and if they vote to put this on the ballot, that’s a minimum of 17,000 adults (and untold numbers of children) whose lives will all of a sudden be made a whole lot worse.
activism | Megan 9/14/2008 | 
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