Prop. 8 Aftermath

This is not an article on Prop. 8, but an article against people who are punishing others for expressing their personal or religious beliefs as enshrined in the Constitution.


I can understand Prop. 8 opponents are outraged by Prop. 8’s passage. I can understand the public protests. I agree with investigating the Mormon Church to see if they illegally crossed the line separating church and state by donating to the passage of Prop. 8.

What I cannot understand is destroying people’s livelihoods and careers because they voiced their opinion. But John, you say, these supporters of Prop. 8 destroyed their right to the pursuit of happiness.


True. But everyone can’t do everything they want. There are laws. Whether just or unjust, everyone has laws curtailing certain activities. Smoking, public drunkenness, sodomy, etc. And yes, lots of these laws are based on the religious beliefs of our founding fathers.

Voters have blocked them from being "married", but their lifestyle – way of life - that they’ve been accustomed to for decades, except for the past year, has not changed when they were given the opportunity to get married in California.


Yes, it’s horrible for homosexuals that the majority of Californians voted twice that marriage is only allowed between a man and a woman.

But by targeting the majority of Californians, with financial and economic ruin will only have this majority make sure marriage is never allowed between same sex couples.


But John, they’re not doing that? Oh yes, they are. Look at the firing of Scott Eckern because of his support for Prop. 8. And I wonder, can’t he sue the California Musical Theatre for discrimination? I thought firing someone over their political or religious beliefs counts as discrimination. (Talk about hypocritical. Aren’t Prop. 8 opponents fighting against discrimination?)

When someone is bullied, they either cave-in, full of resentment, wondering how to get back, or they dig in deeper and swear they will never change their opinion. (Yes, I can see how Prop. 8 opponents could feel the same way – being bullied by the majority of Californians by preventing them from getting married.)


But do you think those businesses and people who lost their jobs or business at Christmas time will ever forgive them? Umm, no.

Just remember that people reap what they sow.

(And of course, not all Prop. 8 opponents are advocating fiscal punishments, just a few, and those few piss me off.)

Job

I got a new job! Today was my second day. The people are nice. I'm in a bookstore, so at my breaks and lunch I can check out the books. And at some point I'll get a pay check!

The main draw back is that since I now have a steady job, it's hard to find the time to write. But one has to eat.

Hey the promised rain has finally arrived. All day long, people in my office kept going outside looking for it, and at 8:45 pm, it finally arrived. I'm sure my friends in the fire areas are grateful.

(Don't mind the date at the top of the post, the 24th. That's when I started this post, I actually finished it on the 25th.)

Overheard Quote of the Day

"If she wants to earn her respect around here, she'd better give some."

A conversation between two women in a grocery store parking lot soliciting donations for a homeless shelter. What a great quote. Thinking about it now, it almost has a biblical quality to it: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."

What can I say, it's been a long day.

So I took a walk today...

My last post said how I was stuck in a fiction world of writing, so I took a walk today to see what I could find outside my head. This is what I found:

It was hot today.
A blazing blue sky.
Perhaps a remnant of the fires.
A white sliver of ash floated by.
Someone had owned it once:
A chair, a roof, or wall perhaps,
Or perhaps it'd been a tree or leaf.
Did it come from Sylmar, Chino or Anaheim?
Where would it land before it was kicked up again:
Pasadena, El Sereno, Downtown?
Would it make it to the sea?

Change of scenery.

Cooks in white.
Servers in black.
Tables brown.
Booths red.
Kitchen steel.
A pink pig lit up outside.
...
Spanish being sung in the kitchen.
Texting between burger flips.
The Big Three begging for money overhead.
Reality.
Basketball analysis up there as well.
Escapism.

An interesting world when one gets a chance to open their eyes and ears and think about it for awhile.

Star Wars Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5iEK-IEzw

Okay, I know a blog is a supposed to be literary, but the first video in my Video Bar to the left is hilarious. I also posted the link above.

After working on resumes and cover letters for the past three weeks, all my free-writing time has been devoted to fiction/escapism - futuristic skin heads running from the law, a thirty-foot-tall giant taking on a band of knights, a pale femme-fatale lurking in a corner, and so on and so forth.

I'll find something soon that will be real and interesting to write about.

Until then, enjoy the video.

Imperium

I just finished the historical novel, Imperium, by Robert Harris. It is the story of Cicero's rise to his first consulship, also known as Imperium, in 63 B.C. as told by his secretary Tiro. The novel is a fascinating read about Cicero's rise to power in the political hotbed that was Rome.

I normally need to see swords drawn and armies clashing to find a historical novel engaging, but through Harris' descriptive powers and being able to bring characters to life on the page, he was able to show just how exciting and lethal words and oratory could be.

One only has to look at our recent elections to see how effective an extremely good speaker can be in mobilizing the populace.

I highly recommend this book.

My only lament is that I wanted to see how the next twenty years of Cicero's life played out.

Needless to say I read about it on Wikipedia before I wrote this blog.

I really hope Harris will write a sequel to the rest of Cicero's amazing life.

Elections - What the...!!!!!

When I walked in to my polling place this morning, I noticed two men standing outside the door to the polling stations. One wearing a McCain/Palin t-shirt was talking loudly and negatively about Obama and his supporters. I went inside voted and came out. The two men were still standing by the door and the one McCain guy was still talking loudly about Obama. Here is the law on electioneering at polling stations from justicia.com (http://law.justia.com/california/codes/elec/18370-18371.html):
******18370. No person, on election day, or at any time that a voter may be casting a ballot, shall, within 100 feet of a polling place or an elections official's office: (a) Circulate an initiative, referendum, recall, or nomination petition or any other petition. (b) Solicit a vote or speak to a voter on the subject of marking his or her ballot. (c) Place a sign relating to voters' qualifications or speak to a voter on the subject of his or her qualifications except as provided in Section 14240. (d) Do any electioneering. As used in this section, "100 feet of a polling place or an elections official's office" means a distance 100 feet from the room or rooms in which voters are signing the roster and casting ballots. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. *****
So I asked the McCain supporter if he was a poll worker because I remembered as a former poll worker that poll workers could not wearing political clothing and something prohibiting electioneering near a polling station. The McCain supporter said he wasn't a poll worker and asked me why? I explained because poll workers can't wear political clothing. At which point the other man identified himself as a poll worker and that he had asked the McCain supporter to leave the polling station. At which point the McCain supporter started yelling that I had no right to tell him his beliefs and what he could and could not wear and that if I didn't like it we could take it outside. I said I didn't want to take it outside, only that a poll worker couldn't wear political clothing. He continued to vent at which point I asked him if he was trying to intimidate me. He paused, then continued his rant, urging me to take it outside. Fortunately, I remembered seeing a cop half way down the block. As I exited city hall, the McCain supporter followed me, so I made a beeline for the cop. I started to explain to the cop that this individual had threatened me, when the McCain supporter jumped in and said that I was intimidating him, telling him who to vote for, that he was a fire fighter and he knew his rights. (Me intimidating him? The dude was 6'2" and I'm a whopping 5'8".) I said that's a lie and that I had witnesses at the polling station that could verify that he was threatening me. At that point the McCain supporter finally shut up--for a moment. But then he went back into how I was attacking his beliefs and freedom of expression. The cop said he didn't know the law but if we've both voted the McCain supporter should go to his truck and I should go in the opposite direction. We did so. As the McCain supporter passed the polling station he said something to the poll worker he had been speaking with earlier, then moved on. It turns out the poll worker had been watching the exchange with the cop.
Damn, dude, I thought this kind of stuff only happened to other people and in other states. California isn't even a battleground state. I can't imagine what's happening in other places.
Truly insane.

The Raiders of Halloween

The pumpkins were lit and the trick or treaters assembled:

Demon Ninja, Peter Pan, Obi Wan Kenobi, Darth Reaven, Spiderman, Catholic Witch, Little Witch, Supergirl, and a Baby Bumblebee.

And off went the pack of costumed children. Merging with the massive freaky horde that was already combing the streets, descending upon the neighbors houses.

Warnings of graveyards, skeletons and spiders did nothing to deter the hungry masses. In fact, the fifteen-foot-long spider and walking, grumbling twelve-foot-tall skeleton drew the biggest crowds.

Homeowners were helpless against the onslaught. Within an hour, the least prepared had turned off their lights, defeated, their plunder taken.

And as the little army's jack-o-lanterns overflowed and arms grew heavy, the creatures, soldiers and heroes of the night returned to their brightly-lit lairs to enjoy their plunder.

All except for two, who said there's no mercy for the weak. They dumped their plunder onto the backs of the weary and set forth again to continue their assault. And continue they did, the Demon Ninja in the lead, roaming the darkening streets for more tempting victims. The one with the orange mists, the one with the web spreading across the entire yard, the one with the hellish screams, and on and on. For an hour more they continued their march, whipping up the weary to continue on.

And just when the neighborhood felt a bit safer, that two more had ended their assault, a rumour was heard. About a house with so much plunder and such scary sights, that they couldn't return just yet. They placed on their armor, grabbed their jack-o-lanterns and climbed into their black chariot. And searched for this place of horror. From two blocks away they saw it. The one with the fiery smokestacks. But the black and red facade of towers and walls, unholy lit by an eerie red light with witches writing spread across the lawn warning all to stay away, did not deter Demon Ninja or his father. They walked inside, witches and ghouls grabbing at their clothes and legs, trying to prevent them from getting their just rewards. But just when they thought all was lost, they met familiar faces within, and together, the group of six made it through the black lit rooms and out into the cloudy, muggy Halloween Night.

And then they were done. The best house found and pillaged. They climbed into their chariot, returned to their lair and dreamed the sweet dreams of victory.