A few weeks ago, my son, Xavier, decided to move out west, to Colorado Springs, to search for new opportunity for himself and his family. I’m not claiming the East Tennessee isn’t a beautiful place to live, but if you are a young couple at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum without a college education, the best you have to look forward to is a labor job and a community addicted to prescription painkillers and meth labs. Having a two year and one year old child, Xavier and his wife, Megan, made some hard choices. Breaking apron strings and getting away from bad (more…)
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18
Mar
2013
We Get by with a Little Help from Our Friends
05
Mar
2011
Shhhh…Don’t Say “Gay”
It seems that many people don’t give Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield due credit for his subtle political shrewdness. Over the years, Campfield has garnered attention for some outlandish legislative bills like death certificates for aborted fetuses and the right to carry firearms on college campuses. What has raised the most ire of progressive Tennesseans is Campfield’s indefatigable attack of our gay and transgender community. The Tennessee State Department of Education establishes the curriculum that all public schools in the state must adhere to. This includes sex education. Currently, there is no authorized curriculum which introduces, discusses, promotes, or even mentions “homosexuality”. Even so, (more…)
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03
Mar
2011
Comedy in Tragedy
I’ve been reading other people’s blogs postings about the arson that destroyed Carol Ann and Laura Stutte’s home last Labor Day. The comments that following these postings are normally sympathetic with some asshat occasionally accusing the couple of burning down their own home. I ran across one comment that was unlike any other so far. The writer summed up the situation well. I was taking a drink at the time and the spontaneous laughter made me gag and choke: He’s right. If I didn’t know better I would think it was an Onion article. It’s funny how satire can really point out (more…)
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28
Feb
2011
GetEqual Flexes Their Muscle
If you’ve been following the ongoing trials of Carol Ann and Laura Stutte trying to get their insurance company, American National Property and Casualty, to pay up after their home was burned down by a homophobic arsonist, you know that I started a petition on http://gayrights.change.org last week. I did this after some of the handful of readers of my blog suggested it. In a week’s time, I had collected about 1500 signatures. What is cool about the online petition system created by http://change.org is that each time a user “signs” the petition, their petition engine fires off an email (more…)
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“Loving” and the Fight for Marriage Equality: Banned by Facebook
Facebook is blocking this moving video by Americans for Equal Rights. It is narrated by Ted Olsen and David Boeis. Facebook is blocking this video: So in defiance, I am embedding the video here and posting it on Facebook.
Read morePosted in Commentary, Facebook |