Wednesday, November 19, 2008
News While We Were Obsessing About...
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 9:21 PM
...the goat blowing community, dentists, old ladies eating cat food, cats and robots getting together, the coming war between the skaters and the BMXers, and Magic Underpants Inc., apparently the stock market took a tumble.
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3
Yeah, seems to be happening everywhere, too. Prices are starting to fall (the first sign of deflation) and so far stimuli haven't worked all that well. People just aren't spending money other than what's necessary. Even the demand for gasoline remains down in spite of it being cheaper. It's a big adjustment after years of living beyond our means. The bills finally have come due and the credit limit has been reached.
Deflation's a huge drag because if it starts in earnest, people will be thrown out of work and that is never fun. Sadly, it's the people who can least afford it who will feel it first and the hardest (note that the automobile CEOs aren't giving up their cushy-assed jets). Something is definitely rotten in the economy when people have to struggle just to buy the barest necessities and housing is taking 50-70 percent of income. Houses are now expressed in terms of fractions of a million dollars. We're accustomed to hearing those prices now so it doesn't seem odd or astounding, but it's way out of whack historically in terms of home prices as percentage of annual income.
It's going to be a very rough ride for many, but unfortunately, something had to give.
Deflation's a huge drag because if it starts in earnest, people will be thrown out of work and that is never fun. Sadly, it's the people who can least afford it who will feel it first and the hardest (note that the automobile CEOs aren't giving up their cushy-assed jets). Something is definitely rotten in the economy when people have to struggle just to buy the barest necessities and housing is taking 50-70 percent of income. Houses are now expressed in terms of fractions of a million dollars. We're accustomed to hearing those prices now so it doesn't seem odd or astounding, but it's way out of whack historically in terms of home prices as percentage of annual income.
It's going to be a very rough ride for many, but unfortunately, something had to give.
6
Tonight I was held hostage by Ukrainian Missionaries!
Tonight, while I was in bed at the nursing home I am recovering at, minding my own business, watching TV, naked, but undercover, a couple of female Ukrainian missionaries walked right into my room, uninvited, and asked my roommate if he wanted to hear about Jesus Christ. My roommate is a nice 55 year old man recovering from cancer and a stroke. He politely said “No!” but as he is weak, they proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes telling him how, unless he took Jesus as his savior, he would burn in Hell. Then they proceeded to pray over him for another ten minutes and left (I had made it quite clear that I didn’t want anything to do with them by my heavy sighs, and as I was watching The Daily Show, increasing the volume incrementally as each minute they were there passed.)
After they left, while I was having a bandage changed, I politely complained to the nurse on duty that I was a bit offended that people were able to just walk into my room and start praying uninvited. I wasn't going to take the issue any further, I was just annoyed, but when the nurse said, "Well, I like their message. It makes me feel good to know Jesus is watching over me. You should too!," her dismissive, somewhat contemptuous attitude pissed me off so much that I immediately wrote an email to the state Ombudsman who oversees the nursing homes in King County (though I didn't say which nursing home I'm in). I also BCC'd Jonah, at the Stranger, whom I'm on a fantasy football league with.
I didn't feel I could to complain to the manager of the facility, the head of nursing, or my social worker, as they are all devout Christians, and I can't complain to the owners of the facility, as they are Mormon.
I hope my writing the Ombudsman wasn't a rash mistake, it would not be good if I got kicked out of this place without a place to go (besides the street) but I felt my first amendment rights were violated. I accept there are religious people here and I don't have a problem with their several weekly religious get-togethers in the public areas. I respect their beliefs, as I do the Muslims who work here, or the many other religions who aren’t catered to like the Christians, but I don't share those beliefs.
My point is, shouldn't I have a right to peace and privacy in my room? My room? My HALF a room that costs me $1700 a month to stay in while I try to heal? And my roommate, who is recovering from a stroke, shouldn't he be able to say "No thank you," without a 30 minute lecture on how his soul will be damned without accepting Jesus, even if it is said in a soothing Ukrainian voice by a pretty girl"
The facility gets money from both the state and federal government. Shouldn’t my first amendment right to be “free from religion” be protected?
Anyway. Sorry to vent. I haven't slept in days, and the food here really sucks, so I haven’t ate much either, but am I wrong to be pissed off? Should I have just let it go?
Peace.
More...
Tonight, while I was in bed at the nursing home I am recovering at, minding my own business, watching TV, naked, but undercover, a couple of female Ukrainian missionaries walked right into my room, uninvited, and asked my roommate if he wanted to hear about Jesus Christ. My roommate is a nice 55 year old man recovering from cancer and a stroke. He politely said “No!” but as he is weak, they proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes telling him how, unless he took Jesus as his savior, he would burn in Hell. Then they proceeded to pray over him for another ten minutes and left (I had made it quite clear that I didn’t want anything to do with them by my heavy sighs, and as I was watching The Daily Show, increasing the volume incrementally as each minute they were there passed.)
After they left, while I was having a bandage changed, I politely complained to the nurse on duty that I was a bit offended that people were able to just walk into my room and start praying uninvited. I wasn't going to take the issue any further, I was just annoyed, but when the nurse said, "Well, I like their message. It makes me feel good to know Jesus is watching over me. You should too!," her dismissive, somewhat contemptuous attitude pissed me off so much that I immediately wrote an email to the state Ombudsman who oversees the nursing homes in King County (though I didn't say which nursing home I'm in). I also BCC'd Jonah, at the Stranger, whom I'm on a fantasy football league with.
I didn't feel I could to complain to the manager of the facility, the head of nursing, or my social worker, as they are all devout Christians, and I can't complain to the owners of the facility, as they are Mormon.
I hope my writing the Ombudsman wasn't a rash mistake, it would not be good if I got kicked out of this place without a place to go (besides the street) but I felt my first amendment rights were violated. I accept there are religious people here and I don't have a problem with their several weekly religious get-togethers in the public areas. I respect their beliefs, as I do the Muslims who work here, or the many other religions who aren’t catered to like the Christians, but I don't share those beliefs.
My point is, shouldn't I have a right to peace and privacy in my room? My room? My HALF a room that costs me $1700 a month to stay in while I try to heal? And my roommate, who is recovering from a stroke, shouldn't he be able to say "No thank you," without a 30 minute lecture on how his soul will be damned without accepting Jesus, even if it is said in a soothing Ukrainian voice by a pretty girl"
The facility gets money from both the state and federal government. Shouldn’t my first amendment right to be “free from religion” be protected?
Anyway. Sorry to vent. I haven't slept in days, and the food here really sucks, so I haven’t ate much either, but am I wrong to be pissed off? Should I have just let it go?
Peace.
9
#8: Here you go:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supre…
And here's the choice quote from In re Marriage Cases (the May ruling that marriage is a fundamental right for same-sex and opposite-sex couples alike):
"[W]e conclude that, under this state's Constitution, the constitutionally based right to marry properly must be understood to encompass the core set of basic substantive legal rights and attributes traditionally associated with marriage that are so integral to an individual's liberty and personal autonomy that they may not be eliminated or abrogated by the Legislature or by the electorate through the statutory initiative process."
Spokesgay: How'd this bit of news elude Slog?
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supre…
And here's the choice quote from In re Marriage Cases (the May ruling that marriage is a fundamental right for same-sex and opposite-sex couples alike):
"[W]e conclude that, under this state's Constitution, the constitutionally based right to marry properly must be understood to encompass the core set of basic substantive legal rights and attributes traditionally associated with marriage that are so integral to an individual's liberty and personal autonomy that they may not be eliminated or abrogated by the Legislature or by the electorate through the statutory initiative process."
Spokesgay: How'd this bit of news elude Slog?
10
@6
that's good, here i was thinking.... well, all i'll say is 'my head was in the gutter.'
Props to the elswinger. Who does Green Bay play this week?
that's good, here i was thinking.... well, all i'll say is 'my head was in the gutter.'
Props to the elswinger. Who does Green Bay play this week?
11
California @9 -
* Spokesgay: How'd this bit of news elude Slog? *
I read the information at the link and didn't draw any wonderful conclusions. (My non-legal mind may have missed something...)
If the quote is right - how the hell did Prop 8 get on the ballot to begin with??
* Spokesgay: How'd this bit of news elude Slog? *
I read the information at the link and didn't draw any wonderful conclusions. (My non-legal mind may have missed something...)
If the quote is right - how the hell did Prop 8 get on the ballot to begin with??
12
Regarding the stock market, glad I took Krugman's advice and switched from mutual funds to money-markets.
13
#11: The court has to decide to review Prop 8 in order to strike it down. But it did not have to grant review. So, it's a critical step forward that the court granted review.
Regarding your second question, I'm not sure. My guess is there was no legal challenge to review. The three consolidated cases challenging Prop 8 that the court will now review could not have been filed before Prop 8's passage--only after 8 passed were these couples denied their right to marry.
Regarding your second question, I'm not sure. My guess is there was no legal challenge to review. The three consolidated cases challenging Prop 8 that the court will now review could not have been filed before Prop 8's passage--only after 8 passed were these couples denied their right to marry.
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