Topher Time: two for the price of one

How Not To Save The US Economy

Lesbian Republicans Need Love Too




Christopher finally had time to sit down and draw over the last week and sent me four in a row here are the first two. I hope you enjoy and feel free to comment, he likes it when you comment his work. As always too see a clearer image of each cartoon right click and open into a new tab pretty please.

Liberty And Justice got together and bore forth Freedom!?!

Connecticut Ruling Brings Us One Step Closer To Supreme Court Showdown

If you have not heard, in a 4-3 split, the same sex marriage ban in Connecticut has been overturned based on their State Constitution's Equal Protection Clause, stating, "As a quasi-suspect class, gay persons, no less than women, are entitled to a more searching judicial review of that statutory prohibition, as well as any other classification that singles them out for discriminatory treatment" They didn't rule on the validity of Civil Unions which have existed by Legislative Action in Connecticut since 2005. You can read more via TowleRoad, Human Rights Campaign. Eventually, as all of these cases are going to a head and will need to be reviewed to the Federal Courts. We are going to have two issues at play:

Full Faith And Credit Clause

Full Faith and Credit Clause (Article 4 Section 1) of the Constitution of The United States of America explicitly states that: "Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof." Right now with the Defense of Marriage Act in placed limits on States and the Federal Government from recognizing Same Sex Marriage performed in other States or Countries. DOMA also limits GLBT partners from being able to both have those protections of marriage if lets say one of the partners or a child ends up in the hospital while traveling outside of their home state or even dissolve their unions at a future date if the situation warrants after they have moved to another State.

Judicial Review and the Role of Scrutiny

The issue at hand is not whether the Court has the jurisdiction but do they have the right to interpret scrutiny from one precedent to another case, in other words was the scrutiny intended by the Court to be universal or case specific. An interpretation the Supreme Court, as cited in several lower Court rulings, has been used to both maintain gay discrimination and overturn anti discrimination ordinances, laws, and workplace issues alike.

Scrutiny has also been a deciding factor in the final outcome of a case in that while the merits of the case are compelling the Courts to further consider civil protection of a class,or group, or social association, and overrule government action or legislation; but then determine, based on the level of judicial scrutiny applied by a particular Courts discretion, the bad law or action is allowed to continue because "their level of scrutiny didn't elevate to "heightened or intermediate versus a suspect classification, a stricter standard of review, namely, "that sexual orientation is liable for substantive due process violations is a suspect classification". Or as the Connecticut ruling stipulates, "infringes on a fundamental right in violation of due process and discriminates on the basis of sex in violation of equal protection"

Trying to figure out what it all means for us

Why do the Courts keep insisting on issuing small booklet rulings? I have a migraine now. I realize that there is a certain commentary that is necessary based on precedent citation in order to achieve a factual basis for a new finding of facts or stipulation or towards interpretation; however some of this is ridiculously lengthy and could be attached into appendixes rather than the actual opinion. Or maybe they could issue a summary page in order to communicate better with the common citizen. We complain about the laws not being more simple and understandable and yet we have judges who write out opinions that are more lengthy than some of the Bail Out Bills and Pork Barrel Spending floating through Congress. Now dont get me wrong, I appreciate the Courts decision in more ways than I can count my fingers and toes, but the ruling is not decisive enough to withstand Federal Court scrutiny against the Defense Of Marriage Act which is the real struggle facing GLBTIQAS partners.

Why the Libertarian Philosophy is better than the two party status quota

The Libertarian Philosophy "government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships" is pretty simple and leads directly to the pointe. The Libertarian Philosophy restores the freedom to associate oneself with whomever and however many people the individual chooses to by basic legal contract, as long as all parties are equal in the relationship.

Our Candidate for President Bob Barr of Georgia, who originally authored DOMA stated emphatically "Standing before you, looking you in the eye, the Defense of Marriage Act, insofar as it provided the federal government a club to club down the rights of law-abiding, American citizens, has been abused, misused and should be repealed," (Source: SOUTHERN VOICE), as he accepted the Libertarian Party's nomination. He also expalined, in a Wall Street Journal Opinion Editorial back in June, that he will do away with Dont Ask Dont Tell and begin to proceed with inclusion of gay and lesbian members into the Military ranks completely. You dont get either John McCain or Barack Obama to take a stand, and in fact they try to run far away, on either one of these important issues of equality for all Americans. Isnt it time to make a real choice? The choice for your liberty and your childrens freedom.

Is there another answer to the arguments against Gay Marriage?

Now there are currently four states that allow same sex marriage; with this recent decision, we are well on the way to seeing justice in action and liberty giving birth again in this country to freedom and that speaks directly to my heart. I am an avid supporter of Multiple Partner Relationships. I believe Group Marriage is stabilizing because it increases the mutual support of the children and is conducive to each individual parent to better provide for the children and each other. To read more about Group Marriage (right click the link) or consider picking up a copy of The West Bank Group by Henry Sackerman (1970)

GLSEN: 2007 NSCS & New "Think Before You Speak" Advert Campaign

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), today released the most comprehensive report ever on the experiences of LGBT students, the 2007 National School Climate Survey of 6,209 middle and high school students between the ages of 13 and 21 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report is being released in conjunction with the news that GLSEN will partner with the Ad Council on a multiyear (3 videos so far) nationwide education campaign "ThinkB4YouSpeak" that includes public service announcements starring Hilary Duff and Wanda Sykes challenging the common misnomer of "That So Gay or Your So Gay" which was even popularized by a summer hit by Katy Perry (video below). The spots will debut later this month targeting anti-LGBT language among teenagers.



Key Findings of the 2007 National School Climate Survey include:

• Nearly 9 of 10 LGBT students (86.2%) experienced harassment at school in the past year,
• three-fifths (60.8%) felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation
  
• a third (32.7%) skipped a day of school in the past month because of feeling unsafe.

A Hostile School Climate and the Effects on Academic Achievement:

• 86.2% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed,
  
• 44.1% reported being physically harassed
  
• 22.1% being physically assaulted in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
• 73.6% heard derogatory remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently or often at school.
• 60.8% of students reported that they felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation,
  
• 38.4% felt unsafe because of their gender expression.
• 31.7% of LGBT students missed a class
  
• 32.7% a day of school in the past month because of feeling unsafe
• The reported grade point average of students who were more frequently harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender expression was almost half a grade lower than for students who were less often harassed (2.8 versus 2.4).

Positive Interventions and Support:

• Students in schools with a Gay-Straight Alliance reported hearing fewer homophobic remarks, experienced less harassment and assault because of their sexual orientation and gender expression, were more likely to report incidents of harassment and assault to school staff, were less likely to feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation or gender expression, were less likely to miss school because of safety concerns and reported a greater sense of belonging to their school community.
• The presence of supportive staff contributed to a range of positive indicators including fewer reports of missing school, greater academic achievement, higher educational aspirations and a greater sense of belonging to their school community.
• Students from a school with a safe school policy that included protections based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression heard fewer homophobic remarks, experienced lower levels of victimization related to their sexual orientation, were more likely to report that staff intervened when hearing homophobic remarks and were more likely to report incidents of harassment and assault to school staff.

Despite the positive benefits of these interventions,

• 36.3% reported a Gay-Straight Alliance.
  
• 36.3% identified 6 plus supportive educators
  
• 18.7% attended a school that had a comprehensive safe school policy.

The percentage of states with comprehensive safe school laws is also low. Only 11 states and the District of Columbia protect students from bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation, and only seven states and DC protect students on the basis of gender identity/expression. The report found that having a generic law that did not include specific categories was essentially as effective for LGBT students as having no law at all.

The survey can be downloaded (pdf 1mb) here. GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, established nationally in 1995, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. For more information, visit GLSEN.

Where did I put my wooden spoon to bang on my pot with or knock out my chicken?

You know I was skeptical. What name would they come up with, for a team that surrounds an entire community and our lore and our history? I even had my own favorite "Summit City Sandbaggers". They actually managed to pull this one off; I have to admit, "I am impressed!"

Fort Wayne, IN - When Parkview Field (Harrison Square) opens next season, Fort Wayne... will be cheering on the .... “Tin Caps” which is a moniker referencing towards the beloved pioneer Johnny Appleseed, who was known for wearing his tin cooking pot upon his head. The primary logo will be an apple wearing Johnny’s trademark "Tin Caps.” Two alternate logos will incorporate the City’s initials, “FW” with each a "Tin Cap" and an apple stem and leaf.

The team’s primary color scheme will consist of organic colors green, red and brown. This color scheme is consistent with both the Johnny Appleseed theme and the project goal of creating Parkview Field as a true park and gathering place within the center of downtown Fort Wayne.

General Manager, Mike Nutter, stated, “Johnny Appleseed, while known nationally, is a regional pioneer and folk hero. His story, and the history of this area, gives us an identity that is distinctively Fort Wayne. Johnny was a pioneer of the Midwest frontier in a time with seemingly endless opportunity...."

The Tin Caps will begin playing at Parkview Field on Thursday, the 16th of April @ 7:00pm when they take on the Dayton Dragons on Opening Day of the new ballpark. For more information on Tin Caps season tickets, group outings or corporate partnerships for the 2009 season @ Parkview Field contact the team at (260) 482-6400.

To visit the new team website or view the full press release right click on the appropriate links. It should also be mentioned candidly, because it explains his lifestyle and appearance, that Johnny Chapman was also a missionary for the Church of the New Jerusalem, or Swedenborgian Church, so named because it teaches the theological doctrines contained in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. There is a Swedenborgian Church in LaPorte Indiana. Fourth District Common Council Member Mitch Harper has a generational family connection to the man behind the lore of Johnny Appleseed and explains such over @ Fort Wayne Observed.

Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman in 1774, was a nurseryman who moved westward from Massachusetts, planting apple seeds and selling the seedlings to the settlers. He had nurseries in Pennsylvania and Ohio before coming to Indiana in 1830. Apple trees were a welcome addition to the area, providing fruit that could be stored for year-round use by pioneers. After he died in Fort Wayne in 1845, his estate papers revealed that he owned about 270 acres of land in the area, along rivers, canals and roadways. Some of the nurseries were along the Maumee River, at a point 10 miles downriver from Fort Wayne and also near the Indiana-Ohio line.

Wizards rename selves Tin Caps
Compiled by Tom Pellegrene Jr.
The Journal Gazette

The Fort Wayne Tin Caps it is!!

You do have to admit that the slight diminutive references to Pot Heads is funny as hell given to the fact that our college town is in the 420 phone prefix too! Of course, this wouldn't be Fort Wayne without the residents getting their bikinis, briefs, boxers, and jock straps or thongs in an uproar. We did back in 1992 when the Wizards were originally named. So even when a private businesses makes the decision to change their name, with a more historic (and with significant cultural) respect to our area, we still bitch, always have always will. Likewise, the age old Libertarian philosophy is applicable, if you don't like it don't go and don't promote it. The consumer citizen has the ability to control things simply by closing their wallet and going home.

Even though I am supportive of the name change, and have wanted such for a long time, I am still opposed to the way Harrison Square was carried out by both Hardball, Barry, and the City Administration, in very secretive and explosively protective mannerisms. Now I will also hold Hardball Capital accountable for releasing the new name, close enough in time, to overshadow the fact that the rest of the project has hit the gutter in half a heart beat yet again, even with the recent three million dollar (over 10 years) investiture by Parkview Memorial Hospital for exchange of naming rights and exclusive services as well as community outreach and education.

Team owners, city officials and Parkview executives Thursday announced that the non-profit health corporation bought the naming rights for Harrison Square's baseball stadium. The deal is for $3 million over 10 years. The $300,000 annual contribution will be split between the baseball team's owner, Hardball Capital, and the city. The city's portion will be put into a fund to accumulate money for future capital projects at the stadium. City officials have said this is necessary to keep taxpayers from having to finance future improvements at the ballpark.

(Parkview) will have a large presence in the stadium. It could provide blood pressure and other health screenings at the stadium, and would staff the first-aid station and provide a nursing room. Packnett said his nutritionists and dieticians would also be working with ballpark concessionaires to help provide healthy choices for food and drink. Packnett said he understood that he might get some criticism for spending money on a downtown ballpark. But he said the investment fits the corporation's goals of being a good health provider and of being a good corporate partner. He said he hoped the project would spur other investment in the area, which is important for health care.

At least now we know that there is going to be some oversight in this whole boondoggled project, as Ben Lanka continues to explain below:

As part of the deal with Parkview, the corporation will get an appointment to the advisory board that oversees the stadium's operations and appropriates money from the maintenance fund. The other five members are a Hardball representative, an appointee from the Grand Wayne Center, an appointee from the Downtown Improvement District, the City Controller and an appointment from the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Downtown stadium to be Parkview Field
by Benjamin Lanka
The Journal Gazette

Notice there are no citizen advocates on this Advisory Board. And if Fort Wayne Common Council is the one that has to approve all of this why don't they have to appoint someone to be on the Advisory Board?

Please don't expect the Citizens of Fort Wayne to take everything that Hardball, Barry Real Estate, or for that matter the City's own employees and Commission members say at face value. We are tired of being bent over the table, and asked to take it up the ass with out the benefit of lube or the common decency of a reach around, and have it all sealed away from our review. We have already been lied to on many accounts and circumstances.

This entire process needs opened up and the public should have a true understanding of the entire cost and process. On many accounts Citizens have been disregarded by both the City Administration and private industry when voicing our concerns over the intertwining of public funds into private business, all while being promised it would all work out.

Now due to the mortgage crunch and the credit crisis nationally, they are having to rewrite the playbook, for the fourth time around, as far as the condominiums are concerned to avoid an absolute disaster. We are being told yet again that everything is under control and it will all work out in the end. We don't even have the new (unnecessary) hotel being built and all the while the Citizen is the one footing the bill and holding all the receipts to this disaster when it finally decides to blow out our grandchildren bank accounts and college funds in 2034 when all the bonds come due and we have to demolish the thing because of sanitary concerns.

Jason Freier, Hardball Capital chief executive officer, said Thursday his development group remains “totally committed” to The Harrison project but that changes might be needed for it to happen. The developers are looking at redesigning the building to have larger, but fewer, condominiums.

Construction has been stalled for months at The Harrison as the developers have failed to sell enough condominiums to persuade banks to lend the necessary money for the project. Freier said the current credit crunch dominating news coverage has been affecting real estate developers for almost a year. “The issue is financing and timing,” he said.

“There are some banks, their doors are closed, quite frankly.” Freier said the market is so tough that he would be willing to consider taking a loan if a bank asked that the developer scale back The Harrison. He said if a bank gave the OK on a smaller project, he would discuss the possibility with city officials. While it would be less investment, he said it would allow the developers to get started on construction.

(Source: Fort Wayne Politics)

Not to forget to mention another couple queries that I have asked previously: How much did Hardball and Barry get in total tax abatement? Because of all the delays are they going to ask for an extension or inclusion of the Harrison Square complex into a restricted TIF and a PSDZ like the Memorial Coliseum and other "sports facilities" already are? This entire process also garners the concern of whether or not the Coliseum should hold a year around Professional Sports Development Zone since one of their primary functions has now moved Downtown. Should they be able to do so that would mean that any tax revenue generated from the location would circle back to the location rather than assisting the complete tax base and revenues of the entire Community.

There is also the issue of the Food and Beverage Tax which was technically held in trust for specifically the Memorial Coliseum and some of those funds were supposedly used for capital for the Harrison Square project which, in my opinion if that is the case, is a commingling at best if not outright fraud but even more of a reason why the FBT needs to be sunset from law. This entire process, in my opinion, needs reviewed by City and County Councils and people, corporations, and certain City employees need their asses handed to them firmly and fast, before it is too late.


LINKS RECAP: New Team Website | What's Going Down, Town? | Fort Wayne Politics |
Fort Wayne News | Fort Wayne Observed | Baseball In Fort Wayne | Johnny Appleseed Wiki |

EDITOR'S UPDATE: Stephen L. Parker @ Around Fort Wayne has additional coverage and (4 segments) video footage of the press conference by Jason Freier, Owner of the Wizards and the following question and answer session Q&A1 | Q&A2 | Q&A3 | regarding the name change to Fort Wayne Tin Caps.

I would be negligent to not give Dan Turkette @ Fort Wayne News full credit for scooping the story (original post 15th of September) about the new name at least three weeks ahead of the general media and other inside bloggers.

Because I thought it was funny: (HT Fort Wayne News) Former Fort Wayne resident T. R. Slyder had this to say on his blog Where Awesome Happens, "I just hope their motto is:
"Hide the Women and Children: We're Coming to Your Town to Spread our Seed.""

RESOURCES:
Post on F6: Harrison Square |
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Bois With Sticks In Jocks Chasing Balls

POLICY STATEMENT: Although it is nice to know that we can still think about swinging your six to nine inch piece of wood around in our hands, through showing support of the local amateur and professional sports and athletic associations, as part of the continuing editorial service of F6 to promote healthy life choices in all gay bois and gyrlz, F6 intends to prove it is possible to concentrate on more than just tight ends, wide receivers, pitchers and catchers, etc.

OCTOBER IS GLBTIQAS HISTORY MONTH

Day One: Del Martin

A public celebration of the life of Del Martin open to the public packed San Francisco's City Hall rotunda yesterday afternoon as speakers and performers remembered the gay rights pioneer who in 1955 helped found the Daughters of Bilitis, which would become one of the nation's first gay rights organizations. Her longtime partner, Phyllis Lyon sat next to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom during the ceremony.

The SF Chronicle reports: "Martin, 87, died in San Francisco on Aug. 27 - less than three months after she and her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, were among the first same-sex couples to legally wed in California, putting a public face on a social and political battle being waged in statehouses, courtrooms, voting booths and at the pulpit.(source: TowleRoad)

The rest of Equality Forums' list of honorees can be followed daily.

F6 is only going to highlight particular queer heroes especially those whom have have passed on from this life. They truly know equality and freedom within the Divine, and share with us that glimmer of hope by the successful legacy of their own sacrifices while here with us. May their merits and prayers bring us to a true understanding of whom truly is our brother and that we are his keeper. May their souls be at peace and may we one day be free to love anyone we choose!

BUST A MOVE FOR BREAST CANCER TOMORROW

Bust A Move for Breast Cancer, which will raise funds for Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana. Join us on Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 6pm at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art for food, live music by Marnee, readings from Cancer survivors and a silent and live auction. What are we auctioning? For “Bust a Move,” local artists and women have volunteered their talents and their bodies to create unique, inspiring cast representations of the female bust and the emotions associated with breast cancer. You can view a sneak peak here, but you have to come to the event to see them all. Check out our event website for more details and read statements by cancer survivors and artists who participated in this project.