Maybe We Aren't Ready for Gays in the Military

Here is a big problem in the US military that no one is talking about:

One third of female veterans of the US military have been raped by male soldiers within their own units, and 71% of post-traumatic stress disorder cases reported by female veterans of the US military involve sexual assault committed by male soldiers within their own units.

No one talks about this, because the government wants to encourage young women to serve in the military just as much as men, especially during this time when we need young soldiers.

If women aren't safe in the US military, and very little has been done to address this, then how are openly LGBT servicepeople going to have safety in their own unit in the military?

LibraryThing

am gathering data on LibraryThing users who have joined LibraryThing groups. According to the website, there are 900,000 LibraryThing users around the world, but based on the numbers that I am adding up right now, not everyone has chosen to join a special group to discuss books or other topics.

Counting up the number of people who could fit neatly into different categories is also a challenge, as some can be counted in more than one category. For example, if someone is a member of a Hogwarts LibraryThing group, they could be counted in the Childrens/YA category, the fantasy category, the single-author fan category, and the fiction category, so categorizing LibraryThing folks is not always an exact, obvious science. Not only that, but a member of one LibraryThing group could potentially belong to other groups; I can only count them once, though.

Martin Luther King Day

As today is Martin Luther King Day, here are a few words from the man in relation to race and humanity. I would like to believe that when King uses the word "man", he speaks for all human beings. I also am going to interpret the use of "God" here as the network of Nature, circle of life, the image of our ancestors, the strength of our DNA that has been passed down to us from the generations that have survived...we all must play our part to keep the Earth turning, to keep human civilization alive...this is what we all have in common, and why we have to work together in achieving that goal, to strengthen and improve human civilization.

Deeply rooted in our religious heritage is the conviction that every man is an heir of dignity and worth. Our Judeo-Christian tradition refers to this inherent dignity of man in the Biblical term "in the image of God". The image of God is universally shared in equal proportions by all men...Every human being has etched in his personality the indelible stamp of the Creator. Every man must be respected because God loves him. The worth of an individual does not lie in the measure of his intellect, his racial origin or social position. Human worth lies in relatedness to God. An individual has value because he has value to God. Whenever this is recognized, "whiteness" and "blackness" pass away as determinants in a relationship and "son" and "brother" are substituted.
(Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, 1967)

CALL FOR FILM REVIEWS AND ARTICLES: JURA GENTIUM CINEMA

The online journal "Jura Gentium Cinema" (www.jgcinema.org) is seeking film reviews (between 500 and 1000 words) and articles (3,000-7,000 words) for a special issue on Jewish film.

As the Jura Gentium is a center devoted to the study of international law and global politics, the films addressed in this issue should address at least one aspect of this broad field and how it relates to Jewish people, culture, history, or religion anywhere in the world. Acceptable topics would also include documentaries about or film interpretations of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, the Jew as "other", Jewish identity, culture clashes among Jews of different ethnicities/cultures/nationalities, minorities within the Jewish community, relationships between Israelis/Palestinians, the kosher food industry, Jewish geography, the Israeli movie industry, and the Israeli film fund.

Film reviews should be informative and evaluative, without being dismissive; that is, the reviewer should find some value in the work being reviewed.

For examples of previous publications, please go to our website www.jgcinema.org. For questions regarding submissions for this issue, please contact Rachel Wexelbaum at rswexelbaum@stcloudstate.edu .

Deadline for submissions is March 1, 2010.

News Becomes Entertainment

Sarah Palin signed a multiyear contract with Fox News to be a regular contributor and commentator.

Kind of funny when just yesterday I watched a 60 Minutes video clip about how the Republican presidential campaign folks kept repeating that they were very sorry that they chose Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate because, in their words, "there was so much that she did not know".

Maybe Sarah Palin will fudge 9/11 stories and the George Bush legacy as well...after all, she could not see it from her window in Alaska.

American Jewish Group Creates Fund for LGBT Rights in Uganda

The American Jewish World Service (AJWS) has created the "Urgent LGBT Uganda Fund" in response to the proposed anti-gay legislation that would broaden the criminalization of same-sex relationships in the African nation. A donation website has been set up for those wanting to make a difference.

As AJWS president, Ruth Messinger, said in the press release:

"AJWS's work is propelled by a very basic value: the essential dignity of every human being...We are especially reminded of this in supporting the work of LGBT communities around the globe."

Established in Boston in 1985, the AJWS is an international development organization committed to fighting hunger and poverty, while advocating human rights and promoting the values and responsibilities of global citizenship within the Jewish community.

BIG FAT LIARS

I will never feel guilty about telling little white lies again, because some people told BIG FAT LIES today. Like Rudy Giuliani, who actually said that there were no domestic terror attacks while George W. Bush was president. Hello, remember 9/11, that happened in YOUR CITY while you were mayor??? What the hell??? Are the Republicans having a contest to see who can tell the biggest lie, or who can be the biggest homophobe, in order to become the next president? I used to like Rudy Giuliani. NOT ANYMORE.

The American people are tired and beaten down. They are out of work or overworking, worrying about healthcare, debts, their kids, their families, while they count their pennies, pop two Ibuprofen and go back to work. They do not have enough time to focus on the news. And so the politicians are taking this opportunity to LIE AS MUCH AS THEY CAN to keep good Americans oppressed and confused, and to make them turn on each other.

Uganda Anti-Gay Bill "Not Necessary"

Ugandan minister says that the gay death penalty is "unnecessary".

Under current Ugandan law, a person can go to prison for 14 years if they are caught involved in a homosexual act, and Minister of State Investments Aston Kajara says that this punishment is "quite enough".

Some countries, like Sweden, are threatening to stop their aid to Uganda if they pass the anti-gay bill, and so this voice of dissension in the government may be financially--rather than humanistically--motivated, but it is a start. I hope that, under the current system in Uganda, no one accuses Kajara of homosexuality or tortures or murders him for his dissension. If that is the case, then Uganda is not a democracy after all.

Be Careful What You Wish For

This article was published in today's New York Times online:
US Evangelical's Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push

The best part is that some of the American gay haters who are invited to Uganda feign total ignorance regarding what their words mean to Ugandans. Don Schmierer, a board member of Exodus International who was invited to Uganda to to tell Ugandans how to convert homosexuals to heterosexuals, had the nerve to say that "He felt duped", and even goes so far as to say "That's horrible, absolutely horrible. Some of the nicest people I have ever met are gay people".

That's right, Schmierer. Once you are gay, you are always gay, and your life may now be in danger if you set foot in Uganda...unless the proposed laws do not affect mzungus. That's horrible, indeed! Wishing for the eradication of gay people, and then saying that some of them are the nicest you have ever met...

Scott Lively, Caleb Lee Brundridge, Don Schmierer, and Rick Warren who funded it with the money from his church--you all might as well be eugenicists, or Nazis. And now you all claim shame, even though your books and actions express that you want gay and lesbian people not to exist. Well, you got your wish in Africa. Now innocent lesbians are being raped by HIV-positive men, and innocent gay men are being beaten, castrated, and murdered, with full consent from the Ugandan government, church, and general public.

To all of you church goers out there--please read the fine print on where your donations might end up. If your church is supporting homophobic missions to Africa that promote the persecution and eradication of gay people, or missions that provide faulty information about HIV/AIDS, do a few hours in the soup kitchen or make sure that your donation is specifically earmarked for your local Sunday school or coffee money. Make it a resolution in 2010 not to fuel further hatred or ignorance in this world.