While Gays and Lesbians marched on Washington and around the country in organized protest and action against the Defense of Marriage Act, President Bush was in Norfolk, Virginia giving his Dad an, "I'm going to be getting kicked out of the Executive Mansion soon" gift. 
President Bush had the US Navy name the CVN 77 in honour of his Father President George H. W. Bush in a ceremony today. The other record of note is that this is the first time a namesake of a Warship was present during the Commissioning and Launch. The ship will begin its service to our Country sometime in 2010. (Source: Fox News with additional coverage of GHWB comments here.)
The U.S. Naval Carrier Vessel 77, a Nimitz class Aircraft Carrier is has a dual Nuclear reactor that wont need to be refueled for 20 years and will serve this Country for the next 50 years. The GHWB can house up to 6,000 United States Service Members and 80 combat aircraft. Its breadth is 1092 ft long (comparable with the length of The Empire State Building), a 4.5 acre landing field, and a tower that exceeds 20 stories above the water line, it weighs in with over 47 thousand tons of steel and 1 million pounds of aluminum. The GHWB will be the tenth and final Nimitz class Carrier produced by the United States.
Talk about an impressive monument to a failed legacy. "See Dad, I even named a ship after us." In all honesty, this honour, for President Bush I, is something he truly does deserve. In 1943, he became the youngest naval aviator at that pointe our Country's history and he followed that dedicated sacrifice of 58 missions, by going to college and then serving in Congress and as the CIA Director back in the 1970s, eventually becoming Commander In Chief as our 41st President. It is just the timing and the fact that they didn't wait until he passed away, that makes it suspicious and flawed historically.
Wait! There were marches? There were protest? Where?
Well there was suppose to be a nationwide protest against the Defense of Marriage Act, but the latest dusting of the white stuff combined with a general lack of interest and organization locally, meant that once again Queers in northeast Indiana didn't participate unless they went to a larger City, or did something in smaller groups. Yet another failure to organize the local Queer Community has happened in the Summit City.
Later on this month there are two other days of action. On the 27th they are holding an Equality On Campus Rally and of course Dont Ask Dont Tell turns 16 years old two days later. Let's hope and pray that President Obama and the 11th Congress bend both DADT and DOMA across the mast of U.S.S. GHWB, CVN 77 and spank them both like the disgraced stepchildren to American law and Civil Society that they are!
Stay tuned I have two more posts to come today.....
Cite and Credit
The Top Video was done by Sean Chapin for Join The Impact.
The Second Video is an excerpt of "On The Other Hand, Death" starring Chad Allen in the lead and he is supported by, Sebastian Spence as Donald's life partner Timothy Callahan. This is the second in the series (which was originally written in 1984) of nine novels so far, written by Massachusetts journalist Richard (Lipez) Stevenson, beginning in 1981. The video clip is from the Donald Strachey Mystery Series on Here! TV Network
10 January 2009
National DOMA Protest: While the Queers march on Washington, President Bush is in Virginia naming an Aircraft Carrier after his father?
07 January 2009
F6 Command & Ops: Taking time out of your busy life to break into laughter 3x/wk by visiting a distant Outpost on 1 1/2 lane electronic gravel road!
Let's take a moment to uncover how well we did this past year.
One of the things that any web forum must do to have credibility in this day and age, is have at minimum a Site Meter. This allows other Blog Editors or Webmasters and Marketing people to see if your blog is worth linking to their web resource or if they wish to advertise or cross link to you and vice versa.
By reading this blog and others you can find out what is going on in the world or around you. If the blogger is worth their weight in Ferengi gold pressed latinum, then you will also learn how to make a difference in this world and make life better for the next generation.
Hopefully you will also find a way to laugh about it. If you must laugh at us, instead of laughing with us, that is okay too. Laughing is a good thing. Some say it is the best medicine. I would assert, it is the best way to shove the truth down someones throat while making them believe they thought the same way the whole time. Bad humour is why even the best preachers rely on a captive audience for fifteen to forty five minutes on a Wednesday and Saturday evening or Sunday morning services.
This is why I try to make you groan, either in bliss or agony at least once per post, while reading F6. This means that you will think for yourself and just take me at face value, all sarcasm, and commentary aside, even though I have been proven correct several times over.
Over the last couple of days, I have been trying to catch up on certain managerial tasks (which it should have been done already but with my computation machine taking a flying leap into a pile of flaming.....) like this end of year review for 2008. Here are the basic stats as we have computed them so far:
For the last five months we have been in the top 20 on BNN's Influence Index for Indiana consistently. Over the last year, F6 missed our goal of 14 posts per month, four times. We were ten short for the entire year. Anyone that knows me for a minimum of a year will soon find out I am numerically and homo phonically dyslexic. I can still balance a check book, sometimes; but give me complicated math or statistics, and you will soon figure out that any numbers I try to compute are going to need checked by at least three other people, to find out what eye did wrong. However based on the law of averages, and recognizing that somewhere in my brain, F6's Anniversary period from August to September were joined together in the averages count, we still maintained an average of 14.36 posts per month at eleven months of publication. It made cents to me.
So in actuality what are you saying?
The total results factor in both time and reality. We missed the mark a third of the time. We still met the mark when all circumstances were taken into account.
Wait a minute, that sounds like U. S. Government Accountability Standards at practice here.
Well F6 is a social and political commentary; if it works for them, it can work for me too, lol!....moving on....
Sometime in March, F6 finally did add Site Meter widget to the Main Site and the Links Page. Since that time until the beginning week of this year here are the stats on visitors this year, followed by an average for nine months, and Site Meter's projection by Month:
F6 MAIN:Ttl: 37,887 A/M 4209.66 Prj A/M 3,517
F6 LINK:Ttl: 3,181 A/M 353.44 Prj A/M 719
Total of both: 41,068 A/M 4563.1 Prj A/M 4,236
Now before anyone panics, I don't actually accept advertising revenue as a general rule, it would take away from my objectivity in this forum. I do however believe strongly in the barter system and fair trade forms of market economics, and capitalism.
What would be really awesome is that, if even ten percent of my monthly readers took note when I do promote something because I find it intriguing and cool, and you then decide to try it out, could you also tell the company you heard about them from F6, so maybe I could get thrown a bone or three for the experience, pretty please. Better yet, also leave a comment, so I can receive some feedback too, thank you.
I also encourage non tax deductible donations through the PayPal link somewhere on the left to further the work of equality and liberty of F6, OLRM, and three other organizations I serve with in the local area. We currently have three types of ad banners sizes and varied locations available and you can contact me via the information on the bottom of The Disclaimers & Copyrights Page for more information.
On a last note, the preliminary test of going to three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday), while not quite getting out of the Shipyard with out loosing the main support beam in the process, went better than expected. So our goal for this year is twenty posts per month.
I thank you all for enjoying this adventure and beseech to you and yours, Blessings Along The Journey this year!
02 December 2008
Trampling Wal*Mart employees while slouching towards Bethlehem
2 UPDATES: In Memoriam: His name was Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens, New York City!
I guess written words are to few to describe the horror of what took place last Friday. So much in fact, that as this was originally Saturdays second post, it has taken me this long to write out anything substantial. I will first start with Chris Thompson's response, as maybe that can begin to shed some sorrow on America's collective soul.
What have we come to?
That people have taken cell phone footage and sold it to the highest bidder (CBS) of the rescue attempt and willingly made commentary degrading the rescue officers. All the while it was their negligence and mob mentality that caused this tragedy in the first place. I still don't know the name of the man who died. But what is worse, is America doesn't even care to know his name.
They have already wrote it off as Wal*Mart's fault!
When the fact remains that within a free market capitalist society it is ours and only ours by choosing to be manipulated by corporate greed and material things, rather than recognizing the value of one human life. We still shop even after trampling a man to death and putting an expectant mother in jeopardy of loosing her child. For to continuing to celebrate a holiday that celebrates anything but what occurred to the ninth degree; I am sitting here trembling as I write this out. Five days have gone by and we still don't know his name, his family, his life.
Today ABC's Good Morning America is celebrating Brittney Spears birthday, and no one seems to hold the individuals responsible for this tragedy accountable for anything. May we all take a moment to realize what we have done to Christmas? We have turned the Birth of the God Child from a season of sacrifice and new life, into a season of greed and death, after all the love of money is the root of all evil.
Who stood up for this man, for this child, for you?
What does this say about us and our Country, the land of the free the home of the brave? Before I continue here is, a Douche Bag of the Day award from Phillip DeFranco for all involved in the tragedy.
So what should happen now? 
I realize this is going to be strict, and very Libertarian of me to suggest, but:
- People who were involved in the stampede should be arrested for involuntary manslaughter. They don't need to serve time but this man deserves justice, especially since he was denied mercy.
- They and Wal*Mart should be forced to pay for his death benefit to his family and for his children and the infant in the womb, if it survives, to go to college.
- Change the way business is done in this country by forcing through your choice of patronage of establishments and where your money is spent!
- Help for the family of the employee and the baby that was compromised.
- We need to find out the man's name and quit objectifying this tragedy.
- We should rename the Friday after Thanksgiving in his honor and memory
- Never forget the tragedy that could have been prevented if we as one take a stand that we truly are a people of honor and sacrifice for our fellow man.
Wal*Mart Worker Killed In Black Friday StampedeUPDATE 2: Damour was 270 pounds and stood 6 feet 5 inches tall and placed in the doorway by Wal*Mart solely because of his size, with no security experience what so ever. All the Security staff was inside the store rather than outside controlling the crowd and police were on scene 2 hours earlier but had left! He died of asphyxiation from the trampling; this means folks, Jdimitai Damour was literally crucified for our Country's greed. What has this country become? I dare to even begin to speculate. We have one chance to change course before we become what our founding fathers feared for sure. It is time to pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and out Sacred honour once again!
by Kathy Carvajal, Producer | Fox News NYC
Valley Stream, NY -- A Queens man who worked at the Wal*Mart in the Green Acres Mall on Long Island was killed Friday morning. Nassau police say Jdimytai Damour was knocked to the ground by a massive crowd of holiday shoppers rushing into the store around 5 a.m. Damour of Jamaica, Queens, was pronounced at Franklin Hospital Medical Center. Cops say a 28-year-old pregnant woman was also injured. She was taken to a local hospital. Three other shoppers suffered minor injuries. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.Wal*Mart issued the following statement following the deadly stampede:Police Try to ID Shoppers in Wal*Mart Trampling Death Surveillance Tape
"The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority. A tragic situation occurred this morning prior to opening at our Valley Stream, NY location. We are saddened to report that a gentleman who was working for a temporary agency on our behalf died following the incident and a few of our customers were injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families at this difficult time. At this point, facts are still being assembled and we are working closely with the Nassau County Police as they investigate what occurred. As there is still an ongoing investigation, any further comment would be best served coming from them."
FOX NEWS with The Associated Press Monday, December 01, 2008
NEW YORK - Officials are combing through surveillance tape of a post-Thanksgiving shopper stampede that killed a Wal*Mart worker in New York to identify individual shoppers who may be responsible, but they say it could be difficult to bring criminal charges. "We are reviewing film of all places from individual cell phones, from cameras that are in place in the store, trying to identify, if in fact we can identify, people that are culpable in this," Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey told FOX News. "And it is difficult because a lot of people in the front of the line were pushed forward, and it’s difficult for us to decipher who is more responsible in all of this." Mulvey conceded the case would be "very difficult ... for us to make."
The brutal death of the employee rattled shoppers even as they flocked to the Valley Stream store a day later. "It felt a little freakish," customer Ellie Berhun, 48, told the Daily News. "Some man lost his life because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words."
Police said the temporary worker (*who came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store*), Jdimytai Damour, 34, was mowed down as about 2,000 bargain-hunters surged into the store at Friday's 5 a.m. opening, leaving a metal portion of the door frame crumpled like an accordion. Other workers were knocked to the ground as they tried to rescue Damour, and customers simply stepped over him and kept shopping even as the store announced it was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said..... Bentonville, Arkansas based Wal*Mart said it added staffers and outside security workers and put up barricades to try to prepare for the crush. But police spokesman Detective Lt. Michael Fleming said Friday that security was inadequate for a scene he called "utter chaos." Criminal charges are possible, but identifying anyone in the store's videos may prove difficult, Fleming said....
(Source: FOX NEWS)
Wal*Mart Worker Trampled to Death Lacked Training, Attorney SaysAs some in the industry have already figured out, there is a solution:
FOX NEWS via THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Monday, December 01, 2008
MINEOLA, N.Y. - A worker trampled to death when customers stormed a Wal*Mart for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving had no experience in crowd control and was placed at the entrance because of his hulking frame, police and a lawyer said Monday. The details about the deadly stampede came out as police pored over video surveillance provided by the store while considering possible criminal charges. Lawyers were also preparing to sue over the episode.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey noted that the worker, Jdimytai Damour, was 6 feet 5 and 270 pounds, making the trampling all the more stunning. He was killed when a crowd estimated at 2,000 strong broke down the electronic doors in frantic pursuit of bargains on big-screen TVs, clothing and other items. "Literally anyone, those hundreds of people who did make their way into the store, literally had to step over or around him or unfortunately on him to get into the Wal*Mart store," said Mulvey. Mulvey said an autopsy found that Damour, 34, died of asphyxiation related to his trampling, and he conceded that it would be difficult to file criminal charges against any of the shoppers. "It goes beyond identifying specific people to make a case," Mulvey said. "You have to establish recklessness or intent to harm, which led to his death."
Attorney Jordan Hecht, who represents Damour's three sisters, said the family declined to make any public statements about the man's death. Funeral arrangements were pending, he said. Hecht said Damour had been working at the Wal*Mart only for about a week and was hired through an employment agency that provides temporary staffing. Damour had not been trained for any security assignments and had no background in crowd control, he said. A call seeking comment from the employment agency was not returned.... [previously covered information removed, 2ip] ....Hecht said that he was considering a lawsuit but that no decision had been made. Two other injured shoppers filed a notice of claim Monday, the first step toward proceeding with a lawsuit. At least four other people were treated at hospitals and released, including a woman who was eight months pregnant.
Mulvey said while investigators are still piecing together details, it is apparent that the Wal*Mart store lacked adequate security to handle the crowds of shoppers that converged on Friday morning. "In fact, security was inside the store and not outside organizing, arranging and planning for this anticipated opening," Mulvey said. Police officers had been called to the scene at about 3 a.m. but left after about a half-hour, he said. The crowd -then estimated at about 400- was not unruly at that time.
The National Retail Federation, the industry's largest group, was unaware of any other store workers ever dying on the job in the post-Thanksgiving rush. Shoppers around the country line up early outside stores on the day after Thanksgiving in the annual bargain-hunting ritual known as Black Friday. It got that name because it has historically been the day stores broke into profitability for the full year.LINKS: Christopher Thompson MySpace | YouTube | YouTubeMusic
Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a retail-consulting firm, said retailers quickly learned they can attract massive crowds if they promise amazing savings and limit the inventory or availability of the sale items to a few hours. A number of retailers have opted to distribute vouchers or organize the sales in other ways to "cut down on the tsunami of shoppers entering the store all at once," he said. "There are so many retailers doing it the right way, it seems senseless there wasn't strategic and operational planning here," Flickinger said.
In addition to not knowing how much inventory may be available on a sale item, shoppers often don't know the exact location where the merchandise is kept, he said. "They get in early and run the retail racetrack," Flickinger said. "It is a recipe for disaster," the police commissioner said. "And that's what happened here."
TRIBUTE: Slouching Towards Bethlehem: The title of this post makes reference with gratitude to the AD1919 poem The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) of Ireland. Certain portions of the text were highlighted directly in the video above by Bright Eyes in their 2007 Country debut Cassadaga in the song Four Winds and Joni Mitchell's 1991 album Night Ride Home in which she put the entire poem to song.
EDITED (*) FOR SPACE: Eclipticized text taken from the bottom of the article and moved up.
05 July 2008
As F6 approaches its 200th post in the next two weeks....We need to review and do some updates.
It is time to do some tidying up around here, clean up some loose ends, get the three blogs that technically make up F6 streamlined a little better. Some of that has been going on behind the scenes over the last couple of weeks and plans have been in the works since May. However as anybody who operates a venue that serves a broad segment of the population across the electronic two lane highway is aware, sometimes you just have to stop for a couple of days to a week and do a full sweep. In order to get both the full priorities of this forum in place and functioning which will assure that the next few hundred posts are less painful then the last two hundred, I will not be actively posting until next Saturday although I do have the post for Wednesday already written out, sort of.
So what is different so far?
Font and Text Colours: The Font unless GOOGLE screws something up will always be Georgia. While I have been playing with the colour scheme of the blog we are pretty much settled on a basic format. From the Sunday after Easter to the Eve of All All Saints/Samhain the blog background will be the beige that you see today. From All Saints to Easter it will be that dismal Grey that you originally saw last year.
The basic colours of the blog are Orange, Hunter Green, and Navy Blue. Orange is primarily for links, it stands out. Hunter Green is for My Direct Editorial or Commentary and Navy Blue is for articles and sub headers within the blog. Now occasionally Hunter Green and Navy Blue will interchange within a given field of text to make a particular point stand out, but that is the only time. I have tried to be consistent on that recently but even I get a little sidetracked on which colours go where, when dealing with older posts or something I am really passionate about, pardon me for that.
Comments are no longer on moderation: One of the primary reasons F6's Comments were on moderation is so that I could see them. Judging by my site meter almost all of my traffic comes well after the fact of me publishing a particular post, because I have a tendency to publish ahead of the popular culture curve. So in order to keep up with who posted what to where, it was easier to track by simply putting the comments on moderation. Under the sixth links section to the left entitled "What y'all bitch at me for? Keep doing it please!" You will find the five most recent comments on F6.
F6's Links Page and Feeds or Jump Page: Are so far cleaned up and have been streamlined... I still need to clean up the colours on the Feeds and Jump Page. The Links Page has been cleaned up with the links on the left side now having their own separate posts, though still with the pictures as links for now, until readers have time to get used to the change.
Some of the new Links include: Throwing A Party Across Three Rivers and Pedalling Your Paws Across Three Rivers and these can always be directly accessed either by going to the LINKS PAGE and clicking on the Category Fort Wayne, Indiana or by going down the left side of this main page to the tenth links section under the "Room For Dreams" banner and picking which particular set of links you want to view.
So what is going to be new?
Cleaning up of the old posts: First of all, I am going to have to go back and sift all of the last hundred and ninety eight posts. As the blog has transitioned I want to go back and make sure that there is uniformity while I still have a feasible chance to do so. Second there are at least three posts that could be deleted under the Administration of the Blog because they no longer apply to the application and operation of F6. I am still wrestling with that one though, I don't like the idea of destroying part of the blogs history and development but the post themselves will never again be applicable to the blog. However if I did remove those three posts and two others it would postpone by a week the two hundred mark that precipitated this review process initially.
What are your thoughts on that?
Please leave your comments below.
New Content; New Contributors: I have asked a local political cartoonist Christopher Bennett to step back into his once infamous role as the author of Topher Time. He has agreed to provide F6 with two (sometimes multiple panel) cartoons a month. Needless to say this will be interesting, as always I will not edit his work for space or content. Y'all are in for an adventure as he puts pencil to paper once again. I am currently in conversation with three other local authors who wish to contribute content occasionally and one international author whom is originally from the Fort Wayne area who wants to share his memories of Gay Fort Wayne with you all.
Over all I think that is pretty fucking cool that over the last eleven months that F6 version 2.0 has become an internationally reviewed source of local queer social and political perspective!
Anyway that is enough for now I have two major awesome updates:
A week ago I posted regarding FORT WAYNE PRIDE FEST; which will happen @ Head Waters Park East the last weekend of this month. Recently there was another post on the FWPC MySpace regarding the PRIDE IDOL karaoke contest for those under the legal drinking age. The under twenty one portion of the PRIDE IDOL contest will happen @ The Pint & Slice on Calhoun at the 14th of July 7p.m. sharp. The Committee is still in need of volunteers and you can fill out an application (pdf) online or contact Nikki via email nikki@fortwaynepride.org. As previously mentioned in the last post, the Mr. Pride Pageant is on the 12th of July and the adult PRIDE IDOL contest is on 9th of July. Both events start around 10 p.m. @ After Dark Night Club on South Harrison Street five blocks south of The Grand Wayne Center past Powers and under the viaduct.
I also have a three part post on Gays In The Military which I was going to break it up between Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but I decided that was just a little annoying, even for me. So I am going to take care of the one update part of that post series here and save the rest for the post two Saturdays from now, as originally scheduled.
Brazilian soldier released after arrest for coming out
22 June 2008 Gay News Watch
The Brazilian Army has released a soldier arrested on the set of a nationwide TV show just before going on-air with his military boyfriend. Sgt. Fernando de Alcantara Figueiredo spent eight days in an Army prison in Brasilia after appearing on the cover of the magazine Epoca, going public about being gay and his relationship with Laci Marino de Araujo. Army officials claimed Figueiredo was arrested for desertion after he traveled to Sao Paulo to appear on a program for Rede TV! hosted by an ex-girlfriend of Rolling Stones rocker Mick Jagger. They also said he violated Army regulations about appearing in public with an altered military uniform; the magazine cover pictured both men in uniform. Figueiredo claimed his trip was on his own time and was needed to receive medical treatment. His release followed high profile criticism of the arrest from human rights groups and gay activists inside and outside Latin America's largest country.
F6 EDITOR'S COURTESY: 3 days later this story was updated again via MADE IN BRAZIL:
Gay ex-sergeant sues Brazilian military over arrest
A Brazilian Army sergeant who came out last month on the cover of nationwide magazine filed a lawsuit yesterday against the military command in the southeast of the country. Former Sgt. Fernando Alcântara de Figueiredo wants to prove that his arrest and that of his partner by the Army were a result of homophobia, that they were physically and verbally abused, and that the Army denied proper medical health to his partner. According to Figueiredo, the lawsuit was filed in the state of São Paulo because that is where he and his partner were arrested. The Army will be tried based on law 10.948/2001, the first law against homophobia in the state which was used as a precedent back in 2003 when two gay men sued Frei Caneca Mall for discrimination after kissing in public. Figueiredo left the Army on June 27, after being arrested twice. His partner Laci Marinho de Araújo is still in jail.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The above articles are in conclusion towards two previous post covering the story about particular Gays In The Military which can be found here and here. F6 also has an extensive LINKS PAGE regarding this topic and many others for your perusal.
I will see you all next Saturday ..... Blessings Along The Journey!
22 April 2008
Here are some of the basic results from the Earth Day Project (UPDATED)
The Board of Stewards of Heartland Communities, Inc. and Abigail Frost of Save Maumee would like to issue a heart felt thanks to everyone whom invested their personal capital and time in making this City's rivers more healthy and beautiful.
- WE SCATERED 500 POUNDS OF THE NATIVE RIPARIAN GRASS SEED!
- WE LAID 3000 SQUARE FEET OF EROSION CONTROL MATS!
- WE PLANTED 100 COTTONWOOD TREES AND COUNTLESS POPLAR TREES!
- WE PICKED UP TRUCKLOAD AFTER TRUCKLOAD OF GARBAGE!
- ALONG WITH SEVEN GENTLY USED ... TIRES!
[F6's UPDATE: Fort Wayne City Utilities Needs You To Help Plant the City’s First Rain Garden!]
What is a Rain Garden?
A rain garden is a landscaped area planted with native plants and flowers that soaks up rain water. The garden fills with a few inches of rain water that runs off the roof of a building or parking lot during a storm. After the storm the water slowly soaks into the ground instead of running into a storm sewer or waterway.
ITINERARY
Saturday April 26, 2008 meet @ Water Pollution Control Maintenance 515 E. Wallace Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana 10:00 a.m. coffee, juice and donuts for volunteers followed by 11:00 a.m. with Mayor Henry’s kick-off news conference. Then grab your gloves and get planting!
22 March 2008
FAG FAQS Who knew they made a movie with the same name?
So after watching that movie just for kicks I figured I would see what gay themed movies they had... a good variety if I don't say so myself, small but good. As I was perusing their list I came across this Indie Film, for lack of a better phrase, written and directed by Everett Lewis, that uniquely perked my interest via the name of this blog forum.
FAG FAQS is a story about "India (played by Joe Lia) who after living on the tough streets of LA for a while, India hopes that every gay basher will meet his destiny. In this case Destiny is a black, 6 foot, high heel wearing, gun toting, drag queen with an attitude and a soft place in her heart for homeless gay boys."
Knowing that I have only watched half of FAG FAQS (click link or picture on side to watch movie using the second version), as I paused to write this post for Saturday. (on time, yeah!) I will warn you that there are sex scenes in the movie but they don't show the actual sex act, just everything before and after, so far. This is a really good movie and in one way vindicates the hustle of queer life but also exposes the hurt and anguish experienced by gay youth and young adults today at the hands of ignorance or bigotry whether it is social or religious or so familiar to us from our parents, siblings, and relatives.I am one of the lucky ones, my parents support and love me no matter what I do. They trust me. There are many of my kids who never get the opportunity to have a Father say they love them or are proud of them or who they are becoming. If you take anything away from either of these films let it be the need for unconditional love of our children no matter whom they choose to love or whatever their destiny might be.
At the very beginning of the movie there is a quote from the 2004 Republican Party Platform which makes our fight even more legitimized and illustrated. The deep seated discrimination against love of another person very relevant still. If I can find the exact quotes somewhere, I will post them later. They are that important to read over and again until we realize how deep seated this double standard second class status for queers really is in their eyes, and then challenge the Republican Party to the core of its feigned existence!
This movie is not for the faint of heart but it is one for the record books. For all the gay boys who bitch about drag queens being improper spokespersons for the community or transgendereds being a part of our community this movie will challenge you as well. This Lincoln Libertarian is going to shout it from the roof tops and the belfries. Watch out religious and political hatemongers, Mamma Kahlua, my inner baptist black woman, is out, on the rag, and her pumps are loaded!
31 December 2007
Year In Review: Personally Politically Yours
The Libertarian Party of Allen County
This year we saw the Party locally come out from relative inconspicuousness to challenge heartily eight of nine City Council seats and throw the mainstream political parties on their rears while crying foul. While we didn't come out victorious in any race we definitely established a presence in County and City politics and have made everyone even the Editorial Board of the Journal Gazette stand up, take account, and eat their own words several times over. On an organizational front, 2007 also saw the restart of the Campus Libertarians @ IPFW under the leadership of Kody Tinnel. And we received front page coverage on two issues of Frost Illustrated right before the general election and in the early summer with an awesome cover and article in the Fort Wayne Reader.
You can review some of the stories in F6's archive and other blogs in the area but when all is said and now done it comes to one quote from outgoing Second District Council Member Donald Schmidt (R) in an exit interview with Jeff Nuemeyer from the Indiana News Center:"There were several things that were working against us, uh, it was a bad year for Republicans at the national level, obviously. Secondly, the Mayoral situation was working against us. The smoking issue had riled a lot of people up, that was out there,and the Libertarian Party was coming after us."
Donald was a nine term incumbent who was upset not just by twelve votes to Redevelopment Commissioner Karen Goldner (D) but with a newcomer relocated from Ohio, Libertarian Jonathan Bartels (pic-far left), whom took six percent of the vote in that race also. Other races which saw impressive leads by Libertarians were in the First with Byron Peters grabbing ten percent and father of three, Robert Fuller (pic-cntr right), pulling eight percent in the Fifth, and two of our At Large candidates Douglas Horner (pic-cntr left) and William Larsen pulled over four thousand votes each.
Tomorrow starts a new life for the City as a whole since we have a new mayor and had a shift in City Council with five of nine seats being filled by newcomers. I wish them the best and ask them for one favor, fix the problems caused by the previous administrations and overzealous Council members please. The second smoking ban being on the top of the list followed by Combined Sewer Overflows, public safety pensions, and bad policies - like tax abatements for fast food restaurants. 2008 is going to be an awesome year with local school boards and county government, and general assembly positions all coming up for a vote. We also might finally see the demise of Mark "dont keep my promises" Souder from Congress. One only wonders if Dan Turkette @ Fort Wayne News was successful in his propositioning of Matt Kelty to run for Souder's seat also, it will be interesting to watch.
UPDATES FROM F6
F6 got national attention for my review of Buddy G My Two Moms And Me earlier this month. The comments left by one of the two co-creators of this d2v series was heartily appreciated and I wanted to take a moment and say thank you to Donna personally for her comments and cross linking. Back in November, F6 introduced readers to a new web 2.0 community and telecast called QUARTERLIFE. 
A storyline about mid twenty somethings just trying to figure out their difference in the world as they know it. The show airs new ten minute segments every Sunday and Thursday on their website and myspace pages. I am pleased to announce that NBC has picked up the series and will air the show with six initial hour long episodes from the late winter to early spring of 2008.
FAQs From Fr. Fozy
There has been not much new on the home front I go in for my three month review with my doctors shortly after the New Year and we will see from there as to how my kidneys and heart are doing. On a last note, I received for my birthday and Christmas a really cool crocheted beaded necklace and crocheted prayer beads from my brother Curt, the necklace has been adapted slightly to accept my pectoral cross, as was his intent. It is a little itchy, but it is cool non the less, it almost gives off the appearance of braided hemp.
[04 Jan 07 UPDATE:]
My creatine levels (what is checked for proper kidney function) have dropped from 3.7 to 3.1, which means my kidney function is improving! Now the main thing that I have to focus on for the next four months is to get back down to my correct (pre-heart failures) weight, which is going to be a bitch and a half - but a blessing beyond compare, that it is the only thing I have to worry about for the next four months. Thank you everyone for your prayers and positive thoughts.
Top Photo:
Candidates Jonathan Bartels, Douglas Horner, Robert Fuller, and Robert Enders
at Fort Wayne PRIDE Festival 28th of July 2007 @ Headwaters Park East.
Photo taken by Mrs. Jennifer Jeffrey, Party Chair.
24 December 2007
New Media New Rules: Summary Follow Up From Fr. Fozy
In an effort to show fair and balanced views since noone else has commented on this post I am going to post an cyclical update now that all the 'verdicts are in' across the greater Fort Wayne blogosphere. If I missed someone, let me know and I will throw you into the bone pile.
In the meantime taking the words directly from the mule rather than the rabbit I can refer you to Rachel Blakeman 's commentary and her direct account of events and final analysis. Nathan and Rachel did a wonderful job setting up everything and I have to give props where they are due. Now as for speaking for the rabbit, I will let Nathan chew his own carrot on this one and refer you as well to some comments over on Mitch Harper's Fort Wayne Observed.
Additionally, Kevin Leininger along with some other old and new media had their own perspectives to chime in across the electronic super highway, which were quickly resisted on several fronts for many different reasons. Of course Dan Turkette in true AWB fashion had a few comments of his own to throw into the frey on Fort Wayne News/More Than Corn. Neigh do I blame him for his perception of the events that transpired. I would encourage anyone to read the comments to all of these posts for a full perspective and the consensus of the Fort Wayne blogosphere.
I also feel that since my original post was a copy of a comment on one of these many posts, and therefore bloated by my natural sarcasm, I need to highlight the actual points I was trying to make so no one misunderstands my thought process and criticisms of the event as it happened.
+ While the initial premises that established the idea for a local Blogger Network are noble, they can also become elitist fairly quickly. Anytime you have organizations within a community try to umbrella themselves there is always going to be a shift in the atmosphere.
+ Sometimes anonymity is the best recourse to the truth because there is no perceived bias.... Certain people have to use pseudonyms in order to preserve there independence. Traditional or old media gives credit and status to anonymous or pseudonymous authors or sources.
+ Allowing comments is neighborly and shows humility in the ongoing conversation of the blogosphere. The Cross-Blog-Debate is refreshing to say the least and a vital part of getting a consensus of the blogosphere.
09 November 2007
The regular media is finally catching up the rest of the way
GOP, Democrats dismiss
Libertarians at their peril
By Kevin Leininger The News-Sentinel
“I won't say I'm content with the results. I was expecting to win. But I'm glad we were heard,” said Jeffrey, whose candidates were uniformly trounced Tuesday despite competing for nearly every city office, the first time that's ever happened. But the eight Libertarians on Tuesday's ballot were not merely heard. Their unprecedented presence and performance sent shock waves through Republican headquarters, even though none of them came close to winning.
“If not for the Libertarians, John (Crawford) and I would still be on council,” said 2nd District Republican Don Schmidt, a 36-year veteran who came up a scant 13 votes short in his race against Democrat Karen Goldner. Crawford, R-at large, best known for his forceful and unapologetic support of the city's no-smoking ordinance, finished a close fourth in a contest having room for only three. Crawford echoed Schmidt's conclusion.
Are they right? Could be. If Jeffrey is right when she said Libertarians draw two votes from Republicans for each vote they get from Democrats, the 580 votes 2nd District Libertarian Jonathan Bartels earned would have been more than enough to earn Schmidt another term.
Likewise, the more than 11,600 votes going to the three at-large Libertarians might have given Crawford the edge over incumbent Democrat John Shoaff, who won along with Republicans Marty Bender and Liz Brown.
Crawford lost to Brown by about 100 votes and to Shoaff by less than 2,000, although two-to-one support for Crawford among Libertarians cannot be assumed because most of them vehemently oppose the smoking ban as an infringement of business owners' property rights.
But if Jeffrey's crestfallen look was genuine - and it was - she wants to do far more than play the spoiler. She wants Allen County's Libertarian Party to offer legitimate alternatives to big government-loving Democrats and to Republicans whose deeds seldom match their small-government sound bites.
“My husband is with the Army in Iraq fighting for our freedom, so I really have no choice but to do the same,” the mother of four said. “Being a Libertarian means getting government out of the way and letting people live their lives. Our goal is to have candidates for all local races. If you don't build at the grass-roots level, all you have is a patchy lawn.”
Frankly, that image seems to fit right now. Even though it competed for all but mayor, clerk and council's 4th District, the party's candidates were - to be diplomatic - of uneven quality and, according to Jeffrey's own estimate, raised less than $10,000 in total campaign contributions.
Nevertheless, Jeffrey has good reason to believe her party's best days may be ahead of it.
“Voters need real choices, but the Republican and Democratic parties support the status quo, with little difference between them,” the self-described recovering Republican said. “The discontent with government has just built up over several issues, whether it was smoking, taxes, or Harrison Square and the use of eminent domain.”
But to build a political machine - and that's just what Jeffrey intends to do - it will take more than a handful of brave candidates willing to endure certain defeat for the sake of principle. It will require credible candidates and lots of money, neither of which are yet in abundance.
Ironically, that dream may have helped defeat Schmidt, the council candidate closest to Jeffrey's Libertarian ideal. But if the Republican Party does not heal the obvious and lingering resentments created by the contentious mayor's race, bigger names and fatter checkbooks may start looking for an alternative. That could be good for Jeffrey - and bad for her GOP counterpart, Steve Shine.
“(Libertarians) were emboldened” by the election, said Shine, who thinks his party will have to resist their appeal by re-embracing its core principles: limited government, low taxes and economic development.
“That would be good for (Republicans),” Shine said. “It would act as a check on us, if you will.”
It's never good when one party dominates politics - as the local GOP has done at times. But neither is it good when two parties seem to offer voters a single choice. The Libertarian Party is still the scrawny and sometimes awkward newcomer, but Democrats and especially Republicans ignore its potential at their own peril.
Libertarian Candidates Impact Election Results
By: Nicole Pence, from the Networks of Indiana News Center
Playing the role of political spoiler. Allen County's Libertarian Party made history for itself this year, posting candidates in nearly every Fort Wayne municipal race. Though none of them won, their presence clearly impacted some of the key races. As Nicole Pence reports.Libertarian Jonathan Bartels ran in the second district city council race and lost. He only got six percent of the vote, but, since election night, he's been called the 900-pound gorilla.
Jonathan Bartels(L), Lost 2nd District Race: (Do you think if you weren't in this race in the second district Don Schmidt would be the declared winner right now?) Absolutely." That race is still being contested. Schmidt, the 36-year council veteran, finished 13 votes behind democrat Karen Goldner. Schmidt argues he'll push for a recount. Bartels says since the votes were tallied, democrats have been thanking him. Jonathan Bartels(L), Lost 2nd District Race: "As close as the race was if my votes had not have been there they would have more than likely gone to Don Schmidt.”
Andy Downs with the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics says it's a stretch to say Goldner won because of the libertarian in the mix. But, agrees it didn't help Schmidt. Andy Downs, Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics: “The libertarians way of campaigning in Fort Wayne, they talked a lot about fiscal responsibility, about government not being involved in economic development projects. I think it's fairly safe to say they pulled votes away from Republicans."
Downs also says libertarians made a big splash in the at-large race, gaining almost 12-thousand votes. Incumbent, Dr. John Crawford-who didn't get re-elected, is proof.
Andy Downs, Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics: "He's (Crawford) the person vocally for smoking ordinance and vocally for Harrison Square. And those are two issues the Libertarians spend a lot of time talking about."
Doug Horner (L), Lost At-Large Race: "People need to understand that we stand on ideals and values of small government, less taxes, less government intrusion and that's not where the parties have been going.”
The Libertarians plan to have candidates in the next county and school board elections.
Jonathan Bartels(L), Lost 2nd District Race: "We are obviously not a majority but we are a significant part of the district and we do need to be listened to."
08 November 2007
The results of the municipal election sort of
It has been quite an interesting week as people from all three parties are just trying to relax and unwind after a hard fought and intense election cycle and recover from an even more intense results process and review of polling data.
So that the record and analysis is clear I am going to wait until all the numbers are in for an in depth review but here are some basic stats.
From the News-Sentinel or copied from Fort Wayne News
Without official numbers from the Allen County Election Board as of early this morning, the best indicator of turnout in Fort Wayne could be the mayor’s race. A total of 52,876 votes were cast for mayor, about 31 percent of the more than 173,000 registered voters. That would represent the lowest voter turnout in a municipal general election in Fort Wayne since at least 1947.
Fort Wayne City Council At-Large results
+Martin Bender 26719
+Elizabeth Brown 24920
-John Crawford 24813
+John H. Shoaff 26623
Thomas D. Essex Jr. 19645
A. Denise Porter-Ross 17402
Michael Brightbill 2880
Doug Horner 4516
William Larsen 4229
Now while the Libertarian vote looks dismal in the At Large races keep in mind that it is also a total of 11,625 votes compared to the almost fifty three thousand votes for mayor. Now just comparing the numbers as they stand here without having the actual stats one could guess that we had at least 2880 straight ticket libertarian votes and others who split their votes between all three parties, it will be interesting to read the final reports and spread sheets.
Within the district races it got more intense in the first district Byron Peters took ten percent of the vote and LPAC candidates averaged about five percent across the particular areas and certain races did stand out for obvious impact on the outcomes.
Jonathan Bartels pulled 6 percent from an even tie between Karen Goldner who won out over him and Don Schmidt by thirteen votes which are still in contention because of ballot discrepancies and will be decided later more than likely by a recount.
On another note, even though I had to pull my endorsement for Karen (because of the campaign flier which leveled accusations that could equally be applied to our new mayor elect Tom Henry as the tenure on City Council of both Schmidt and Henry overlap and certain other issues mirror), I also stand by my original statement of endorsement that she will be a welcome addition to the Common Council in her continued service to the community.
Robert Fuller while not defeating Timothy Pape in the fifth district still brought forth an eight percent pull of the vote lever or button in this case. Robert struck a cord with many constituents and like Karen took the time to get to know the people he lives and works with.
Hopefully this will allow both of the other Parties and the Journal Gazette to realize that the Libertarian Party is here to stay and is a force to be reckoned with in local elections. All bantering and posturing aside it was a fun ride and I am looking forward to next year.
It would also prove interesting to note how many abstained in either the mayor or city clerk race and how many others did bullet voting as the Journal Gazette suggested.
Special thanks to the News Sentinel, Frost Illustrated, and Nicole Pence, and Benjamin Lanka among many others for giving us assisstance in getting our message out to the general populous.
At-Large
Martin Bender, R – 26,719
Elizabeth Brown, R – 24,920
John Crawford, R – 24,813
Thomas D. Essex Jr,. D – 19,645
A. Denise Porter-Ross, D – 17,402
John H. Shoaff, D – 26,623
Michael Brightbill, L - 2880
Doug Horner, L - 4516
William Larsen, L - 4229
Byron Peters, L - 1166
Donald J. Schmidt, R - 4549
Karen Goldner, D - 4562
Jonathan Bartels, L - 580
Debra McBride, D - 2897
Gloria Diaz, L - 491
Timothy Pape, D - 4006
Robert Fuller, L - 504
Glynn A. Hines, D - 3609
Robert Enders, L - 248
stats copied from Mark Rutherford's News On Electing Libertarians
give medals 4 killing men but 4 loving men they wish you were dead?
thanks to the sacrifice of many the scourge of Dont Ask Dont Tell in the land of the free and home of the brave will be gone by the end of June!!!!
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