Amazing video of San Francsico

(hat tip to the Huffington Post)
Seriously cool video taken from a remote control model helicopter.   I'm not homesick.. really...  (sigh...)


Weekend in SF from robert mcintosh on Vimeo.

Remembering Steve Walker

(hat tip to Xtra)
Canadian-born painter Steve Walker died at his home in Costa Rica on Jan 4, 2012. He was 50.  Walker was a self-taught artist who began painting after an inspirational trip to Europe when he was 25.   For his subjects, he chose to paint gay men, depicting the struggles and joys the gay community lived through in his lifetime, from the ongoing struggle for sexual liberation to the devastation wrought by HIV and AIDS. But he believed his subjects were universal, touching on themes of love, hate, pain, joy, beauty, loneliness, attraction, hope, despair, life and death.

"As a homosexual, I have been moved, educated and inspired by works that deal with a heterosexual context. Why would I assume that a heterosexual would be incapable of appreciating work that speaks to common themes in life, as seen through my eyes as a gay man? If the heterosexual population is unable to do this, then the loss is theirs, not mine,” Walker once said.

Walker was always grateful for the support he received from the gay community for his work. In recent years, his work has been exhibited in galleries in Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Key West and Provincetown.   "Any minority wants and needs to find artistic voices that reflect their own personal situations, and, in doing so, validate and record their lives and cultures for themselves and for the larger world," he said.
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I can't say I knew Steve. But I am very proud to say we were acquaintances.  I had the great good fortune to have met him three times. Always in Chicago. He would come and sign prints of his work at the North Halsted Market Days street festival on Chicago's Northside. I have one of those signed prints. It is his work entitled "Telling Him."

Like many people, during my own coming out process as a young Gay man, I found inspiration in Steve's work. In a way his work was the first "It Gets Better" message  I ever saw.  His depictions of Gay men just living their lives. Lives depicted with all the ups, downs and events that every life has. It was the first time I ever saw artwork that depicted that for people like... well... for people like me.

For Steve, like for so many Gays and Lesbians, coming to terms with his sexuality was an evolutionary process as opposed to a revelation—a not uncommon occurrence.

“I remember feeling a strange sense of elation upon having survived childhood, a rural environment, education, and the knowledge that my sexual orientation, (which was never a mystery or problem to me personally), would forever cause some people who never met me and would never know me, to hate me and others like me.” 

When I became involved in the San Francisco Pride Celebration I started using images of Steve's work in the promo videos we would show at volunteer trainings. When Eric and I were doing our long distance relationship, between San Francisco and  London, I created a video for a face book group of  bi-national same sex couples who were in the same situation. 

I posted a few of them on YouTube and was delighted to find out Steve saw them. This led to an exchange of emails over the next three years where he would share stories about the history of a particular painting that I had used in the videos.

With his passing, I am very grateful to have had the chance to tell him about the tremendous impact  his artwork had  on me.  Not just because it showed the commonalities of life and love that all people hope for. But because his work does so from an unapologetically Gay perspective.

Something that in a world overwhelmed with images of "Boy meets Girl", gave a young gay man growing up in South Central Wisconsin, hope that the world had room in it for me too.  Where the story could be one where "Boy meets Boy".

A funeral will be held at Our Lady of the Visitation Parish (5338 Bank St) in Ottawa on Feb 25 at 11am. It is anticipated that a memorial celebrating the life of Walker will be held in Toronto at a date still to be determined.

25 Years Ago...

Back in June of 1987, I visited Berlin for the first time.  Standing in  front of the Wall  at  Brandenburg Gate, I  listened to President Ronald Reagan say "Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"  

I remember at the time  thinking,  that was a nice sentiment, but never in my lifetime would I know what it was like to walk through Brandenburg Gate.   I have travelled to Berlin a couple of times since then, most recently in 1989, when the wall fell.  But I had yet to visit Berlin as a truly unified city.

Today... nearly twenty five years after that first visit,  I returned to Berlin, and  walked through that gate.

Proof, if there ever was,  that nothing is impossible.

More Seriously Cool Footage from the ISS

Recent solar flare activity has resulted in spectacular  Northern Lights  this year.  Now thanks to  NASA  we all get to see what it looks like from above.  Amazing video from the International Space Station  (ISS)

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and more...

Today's 9th Circuit Court Decision on CA Prop 8.

Here is the full court decision upholding the original decision that ruled  California's  Proposition 8, (the ban of same sex marriage) to be unconstitutional

Ninth Circuit Prop. 8 decision

So what does this mean exactly?  Is same sex marriage now legal (again...) in  California?   Well, no.  Or more accurately , not yet.   There is still a Stay of the ruling in place  pending an appeal by  the proponents of Prop 8.  That means same sex marriages  cannot yet  resume in California.   This decision also, only applies to  Proposition 8 in California, and has no effect on laws in any other state or on any federal laws  (i.e. the Defense of Marriage Act).

So yes,  today's court ruling is  good news. But  nothing has actually changed  yet as a result of it.

There is a lot to take in when you read the actual text of the  2-1 court ruling but  here is  a passage that stands out:

"Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted."

So just  to be clear,   the 9th Circuit Appeals Court today ruled that Prop 8 served no other purpose than to discriminate against Gays and Lesbians. This is significant,  in so much that it highlights the weakness of the one dissenting opinion in the 2-1 ruling.   The voice of dissent belongs to Judge N. Randy Smith.  Smith is a former head of the Idaho Republican Party, and was the lone vote in favor to uphold Prop 8.

Smith,  in his dissenting opinion could only raise the completely unrelated issue of parenting. Suggesting that if Gays and Lesbians can get married,  it somehow would mean fewer children would have Parents.. uh... huh?   How does that work exactly? (Smith didn't offer any explanation.)   It is also interesting to note that  Smith is also a Mormon.

Why is that relevant?  The opponents of Marriage Equality claimed that  the original 2009 ruling by   Judge Vaughn R. Walker  was invalid because Walker was Gay.   It is interesting to note  the plaintiffs in this case made no such similar  accusations against Smith, even though  The  Mormon Church was the single largest backer of Proposition 8.

So what happens next? That's a good question. The proponents of Prop 8 will undoubtedly appeal, so  they could go one of two ways. They could make a motion for rehearing in front of the broader Ninth Circuit (11 judges). If a majority of the circuit judges agree to rehear the case, the case would stay at this appellate level and go through  same process all over again in front of a larger panel. Or the Proponents could skip that step and decide to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the meantime we can all enjoy the reaction on the  WingNut Bigoted Right as the American Taliban has pretty much lost their minds over today's ruling.  Shrieking hysterically about  "Activist Judges".  Everyone's favorite white supremacist nutcase,  Tony Perkins.  Head of the ridiculously  mis-named hate group  the "Family Research Council" pretty much soiled his adult diaper riding the  Waaaa-mbulance with rage after today's decision.

"This ruling substitutes judicial tyranny for the will of the people, who in the majority of states have amended their constitutions, as California did, to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman. However, we remain confident that in the end, the Supreme Court will reject the absurd argument that the authors of our Constitution created or even implied a 'right' to homosexual 'marriage,' and will instead uphold the right of the people to govern themselves.   


Yeah, because we have always allowed people to vote on the civil rights of other Americans.... right?




If the United States Supreme Court were to uphold the original Walker ruling, then like in the case of  Lawrence v. Texas,  suddenly ALL bans on same sex marriage across the United States would be unconstitutional.   This would also overturn the Defence of Marriage Act. (DOMA).  The  federal law banning recognition of same sex marriages.

That my friends,  is the endgame.    So while today's ruling is nice,  it is still only one more step on a very long road.  Albeit, a step in the right direction.

Best Super Bowl Commercial EVER....

Welcome to Anoka MN....Now go Kill Yourself.

I will confess to  living, to a certain extent in a bubble.   London is a wonderfully diverse, cosmopolitan and progressive  city.    Before moving here I of course,  lived  in San Francisco.  Which is  largely its own planet, much to the pride and delight of residents there.   Prior to SF I lived on the North Side  of Chicago, the liberal bastion  of  Lakeview  (aka 'Boystown').   On top of that  I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin.  Hardly  a conservative enclave by any means.

So it's easy to forget  how  insane  some places are.  Places like  Anoka, Minnesota.

I have blogged in the past  about the epidemic of  teen deaths in  Anoka. How  in a space of less than two years nine young people  at  Anoka middle and high school were  bullied to death.  All because they were either Gay or Lesbian, or  were perceived to be Lesbian or Gay.    And the good  Christian conservatives response to  this epidemic of suicides?   Blame the victims, and  do everything they can to prevent  ANY effort to  address the real cause or issues that  drove nine young people in their town to end their own lives. MSNBC  profiled the issue, back last Fall



The current  issue of  Rolling Stone Magazine  takes a clear,  brutally honest look at  Anoka, and how the intolerance of  one town is killing their own kids.   The article is very hard to read, but I encourage everyone to try to get through it. 

The Anoka-Hennepin County  School District,  is  in the Congressional district of none other than GOP/Tebagger bigoted whackjob  Michelle Bachmann.  When she was a Minnesota State Senator, Bachmann vigorously  opposed  anti-bullying programs.  Citing her concerns that telling kids they shouldn't terrorize and torment classmates who they think might be Gay or Lesbian, telling them they should just go kill themselves,  is somehow a violation of the right to free speech.  (Hat tip to  the Huffington Post)   

Bachmann said, "I think for all us our experience in public schools is there have always been bullies, always have been always will be," according to a recording posted by the Dump Bachmann blog.  

"Will it get to the point where we are completely stifling free speech and expression? Will it mean that what form of behavior will there be, will we be expecting boys to be girls?" She asks. "I just don't know how we can realistically expect a zero tolerance of bullying behavior."

Yeah,  because  to expect educators to make school a safe space for all  kids,  is just so irrational right?    On his program "The Last Word" , Lawrence O'Donnell highlighted  the issue.



The article in Rolling Stone explores how hate groups like the  insanely mis-named "Minnesota Family Council" have mobilized  full force to defend what they believe is their right to  bully LGBT kids to death.

It is people like the Minnesota Family Council, who have smiled approvingly as the climate they created resulted in the bullying of   nine young people to death, and then  claim any effort to stop them from killing even more, is somehow a violation of their rights,  who truly make me hope that  atheists are wrong,  and there really is a Hell.   Because,  I dearly want  the bigots and bullies of Anoka,  Minnesota  to spend eternity there.

My Country Tis of ..... Who?

I just returned  to London from a two week business trip back to the  United States.  I was in  New York,  Los Angeles  and then  took a couple days off and went up to San Francisco  to see  friends and family.  It was  an interesting trip.

New York was great,  my company's offices are  in Lower Manhattan, right near Wall Street.    Also  the trip was even more special because it was Eric's and my first wedding anniversary.  His present was I got him a ticket to fly over and spend the week with me .   So  when I wasn't working we got to explore New York, and  hangout with our  dear friends Daniel and Gerardo.

It was during our week in NYC  President Obama gave his State of the Union Address.   Many people applauded  progressive vim and verve in the speech.  I found myself thinking... "okay, sounds great but where have you been for the past  3 years?".    I obviously will vote for  President Obama come November, but  I am still not  excited about it.  After watching  the seemingly endless string of  GOP Presidential debates. it is now even more clear that  the 2012 Presidential election will essentially be  a choice between an marginally effective democratic President, and whichever bat sh*t crazy  Republican survives the circular firing squad that is this years' primary process.

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So we have a GOP contest essentially between Mitt Romney  and Newt Gingrich?  Seriously??  It's like the  Republican Party has  decided to double down on  their quest for total irrelevance.   The good news is,  either one is a losing proposition for the  GOP.  The  wingnutty base will never support Mitt "the Mormon", who  once boasted he was more pro-LGBT rights than Ted Kennedy.



As far as Newt "Swingrich" goes, (his three wives,  affinity for adultery and open marriages aside..)  it is safe to say that Newt  is just wayyyyy too crazy  for  vast majority of  Americans.    So  I think President Obama can safely  keep  the moving boxes stored away for another four years.  Yet the question is not who will be President  come January 20th, 2013, but rather who will control Congress.

After NYC  it was on to  Los Angeles for  more meetings for work, and some warmer California  weather.  I will admit it was nice to be back in the U.S. for a while  It's always nice  to  be able to drive on the  right side of the road in a car with the steering wheel on the left side of the driver's seat.   I will confess that I have never really cared for L.A., but   this time  I actually found myself  not minding the gridlock on the  405.

I guess it is a result of just missing  California.  This was even more evident when last weekend I took a couple days off, and  flew up to San Francisco.

It's  always  odd  the first time you return to  a city you used to live in , after moving away.   You feel like you live  there, but don't live there.   It's kind of  weird.   I wandered  down  past my old apartment building  in the SOMA (South of Market)  neighbourhood. of  San Francisco.  Standing outside, it  felt like  I had just forgotten my keys and was locked out of my own flat.

Then you see somebody else's name on  your mailbox and it all kicks in... Oh yeah, I don't live here any more.

While in SF I had the great good fortune to get to see my friend  Rudy in his current run with  the Word For Word Theatre Company.   He is in  the play  "Food Stories", and as always,  was amazing in it.   I also was able to spend some time with my Sister, her husband and my   glorious, brilliant, and perfect (can you tell I'm a  proud uncle?), nieces and nephew.  For the most part it was nice just to spend time revisiting my old stomping grounds.  I even was able to poke my head in at my old offices at  Kaiser Permanente  in San Bruno, and in Oakland,  and catch up with some of  my former co-workers.

All of which,  I will confess had a bitter-sweet  feel to it.    Friends and co-workers here in London often ask me if I  "miss"  San Francisco.  That is a complicated question.  Obviously there are  lots of things  and people I miss.  My friends, my family, and  the weather. (It is a balmy 28 degrees Fahrenheit here in  London today.)  But the question implies  that if I say  "yes"  I  miss SF, it means I  somehow regret moving here,  and if I say "no"  then  it feels like I am trivializing the people and things I left behind.  

Obviously  I don't for one minute  regret the decisions  that  resulted in my moving here, and  if  time were turned back,  I would  make the exact same decisions again, without a moments hesitation.  What  I do regret is the fact that  Eric and I  didn't  really have a choice..  Moving to London was the only way we could be together.  Living together in the United States was not even an option for us.    Not because of money, or distance. But simply because of bigotry and stupidity.  

The United States Government, which I support with my taxes,  forced me to move,   and yes,  that fact still makes me angry.

Well meaning friends,  for whom the reality of  DOMA ( the ridiculously mis-named "Defense of  Marriage Act"),  doesn't apply;  will often  say;   "Nobody forced you move Dave.  You could always have just stayed here."    The  sheer idiocy of  that statement  is  mind-boggling.   Of course I could have stayed in the U.S., but  without the person I am married to.   It is hard for these people to imagine  having to  choose between your Spouse and your Country.   Yet  that is exactly the choice thousands of bi-national same sex couples are forced to make every day.



How would you feel if, in  order to even be with, let alone marry the person you love, you had to move overseas.  All for no other reason, than the basic legal protections other married couples enjoy, we are denied, because the Republican Party needs to keep Gay and Lesbian Americans as the one group they can still legally hate, and discriminate against.

London is a fantastic city, and  I am  fortunate to have a great job,  and  Eric and I have wonderful friends and family here.  So what is the problem?   The fact  we didn't have a choice.  The basic rights given to other tax-paying Americans  to have the option to live together and build a life in the United States  we were denied, for no other reason than  bigotry and discrimination codified into law by DOMA.

The American Taliban Picks Their "Anti-Romney"

The  wingnuts of the  America Taliban.  (the ultra religious conservatives who form the power brokerage of the base of the  Republican Party.  The folks who want to take their religious beliefs and  turn them into civil law and inflict them on the rest of us.).  Apparently these people can't bear the idea that  a Mormon who once supported mild, timid steps towards  equal rights for  Gays and Lesbians might end up as  the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee .

So  the nuttiest of the nutty  all gathered in Texas this past week  to  anoint their preferred uber-evangelical  alternative to  former  Massachusetts  Governor Mitt Romney.


So  more than 150 ultra religious conservatives met at a Texas ranch this past Friday and Saturday. Among the bigger names: Tony Perkins of Family Research Council; Gary Bauer, a former presidential candidate; James Dobson, who used to head Focus on the Family; and Don Wildmon, who once ran American Family Association.

The mission of this "emergency meeting" was to unite behind someone who  they feel is a  true-blue religious conservative for the Republican nomination. This group is  desperate to defeat President Obama, but  they distrust Romney on key issues such as their desire  to ban reproductive rights and  marriage equality.  In addition,  many of them feel Mormonism is not a true Christian religion, and  as a result, Romney isn't  "one of them".

Add to this  the problem that despite his  best efforts to  run from  his  pro-gay rights past,  Romney's  past statements  in favor of basic civil equality  for  Gays and Lesbians,  are regularly coming back to haunt him as he has sought to  woo social  conservatives.

One of the problems of living in a digital age, if you happen to be Mitt Romney, is that  his  pro-gay rights past  keeps cropping up in archived footage and  flyers.   Which makes it  kinda awkward when you are trying to show the American Taliban base of the GOP   that you  hate Gay Americans, and love Jeebus  as much as they do.  (Cue Rachel Maddow with the details...)

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Tony Perkins,  the  head of  the ridiculously misnamed  Family Research Council.  (A group the  Southern Poverty Law Center  has certified as a Hate Group),  tried to lower expectations  going in to the meeting down in Texas this past week.  Perkins  claimed that  the meeting was not "anti-Romney" but rather  pro-issues that mattered to social conservatives.

Yet earlier today  Perkins triumphantly  tweeted the  Texas  bigotfest  has crowned  former Pennsylvania Senator and gay sex obsessed nut job Rick Santorum as their preferred  choice  for replacing President Obama and thus bring their brand of  Sharia law to the country starting on January 20,  2013.

Which is actually  pretty funny given  what  Rick Santorum's  name is a euphemism  for.

For those of you who are not aware of the definition of word "Santorum", you can google it. It stems from the former Senators personal obsession, (and yes that is the right word,) with gay sex. Rick Santorum is consumed by thoughts about gay sex. It is what he talks most about. 

Jobs? National Security? The environment? Nope, none of those issues even come close to being what turns Rick Santorum's crank the fastest. Seattle advice columnist and activist Dan Savage is responsible for  the former Senator's name taking on a new meaning...

So now we have Senator Frothy Mix  as the  official "not Romney"  candidate of the  American Taliban.   What is  most interesting about all of this,  is not  the crazy stuff  Santorum regularly  says, or even the entertaining spectacle of  Mitt Romney  desperately trying to run from every  position he ever held prior to 2004.

The real story here is  how at least on the front end of the GOP primary process,  the 2012  Presidential race is largely a bizarre  repeat of what happened  at this point in 2008.  (cue Rachel).

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The Republican Party faces a tough choice.  Go with  Romney  and  face a  campaign that from an electoral standpoint would be a replay of  2008, and  risk alienating  the only  real core  constituency they have left.  Or,  go with  Santorum and  be saddled with a candidate and a campaign that  is  completely  removed  from  the issues  the vast majority  of  Americans  actually do care about.  Namely, jobs and the economy, which would  take a far back seat to  Santorum's preferred  crusade to ban birth control and  forcibly  divorce  thousands  of American couples currently  married under state laws in places like New York, Iowa and  Connecticut.

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I say the GOP should follow their hearts, embrace the bigotry and start uh.... spreading the Santorum message!

 I have made no secret of my disappointment with President Obama. I have found him to be an ineffective centrist corporate apologist, rather than a bold progressive leader. But what is now crystal clear, is that while President Obama may be largely ineffectual, he is not, like ALL of his potential Republican challengers, completely insane.

Happy Holidays from the U.S.

Well we  made it  to  the U.S. Just fine.  I am sitting in my parents kitchen  in Waunakee, Wisconsin  as I type this  blog entry.

Big  thanks to our good friend  Jeff Koren who  gave us  great advice on how to handle the pitfalls of  US  Customs and Immigration . He said I should  go through the  "visitor " line at passport control with Eric  and  that way  we  went through passport  control together.  Sure enough,  we breezed right through!

Got in  last Friday and  had a wonderful  Christmas  with  my Parents  and  my Sister and her family , who  also flew out from  California.   There even was a light dusting of snow still on the ground here , so we ended up having  a  White Christmas  after all.

We then had a fantastic  celebration for my Parents  50th  Wedding  Anniversary on December 27th.  There was a special church service  where they reaffirmed their  wedding vows, which was followed by a dinner and party  with  over  60 friends and  family .

We are here  through  New Year's  and will fly back to London  on Monday.   It is always surprising  how  fast  the time goes by.  There is never enough time to see  all the people you want to see, and who want to see you.  So  to  folks  who  we were unable to  connect with  this trip,  our apologies, but there  was just too much going on  and too little time.    

It is always great to get back to Madison.   I grew up   here  so  it is always  "coming home": for me.   Showing  Eric  around  the UW Madison campus  you find  yourself  awash in  memories.   

Yet as is always the case, you tend to notice the changes   more  than the things  that have  stayed the  same .    Which  is  interesting,   because it tends to be  little things that  change.  

One of my favorite stores on State Street; (The Puzzlebox) is no longer there, yet  State Street Brats remains  as a constant.  A firewall against  a tide of  changes  that might wipe away  all  Madison  traditions. 

Lots of  people have asked us,  if  living in London is   "all that  different"  compared to  here.  And  the answer is obviously,  yes.  It is  very different.  Yet  at the same time it is not so different.   It is the paradox of  how do you define  "home".     Where you  grew up will always be  home, in the sense it is  where you  come from.   Yet  home is far more a matter of where  your life is.   This  will always be where  I am  "from", but  it is  no longer  where  my life is.   

There  have been   some  wonderful moments  this trip.   One of the  most amazing  has been  introducing  Eric  to  one of my oldest  friends.

Some long time readers of this blog may recall one of my first entries was about my dilemma over  reconnecting with  my friend  after  being  out of touch for many years.    As has been so often the case in my life,  I am very lucky to have  friends  who are far  braver and much wiser than I am.

No politics in this posting, sorry. But have no fear, I will have much to say about the nuttiness of the Iowa GOP Caucus next week. The near collapse of the Euro, the Mayans predicting 2012 as the end of the world, and of course random thoughts on Doctor Who....

Happy New Year Everyone. Thanks for reading along!

Finally!! ... And it looks BRILLIANT!

Who's ready to go back to Middle Earth?  :)

Thoughts on the Death of Kim Jong Il

There has been  various  reactions to the  news  that  North Korean  dictator Kim Jong-il  has  shuffled off his mortal coil.   The North Korean Central News Agency  announced the news with one of  their customary over the top performances.



The issues that  arise from  the transition of power in North Korea  are clearly very serious, given  the spectre of political instability in an insular, paranoid  nation that  possesses an atomic  weapon.   The issue of instability in the North is always  a troubling one for  South Korea.   The idea  that  the Korean  Peninsula will someday reunify, is one South Koreans  hope for,  yet in practice  the idea of the  border between North and South coming down,  is a problematic one for South Korea.

 North Korea is for all intents and purposes  a sealed bubble.  The image of the Korean Peninsula taken from the International Space Station  tells the story.  You see the  vast web of lights  that  outline  South Korea, and  the pitch dark outline of the North with one pinprick of light being  the  Capital  Pyongyang.  North Korea exists with  the vast majority of  its  population knowing only what  they have been told  by the Government.

Now imagine for a moment,  waking up one day and finding out  that  everything you have ever been told, taught or  believed about the world was in fact,  completely wrong.    Now times that  by  twelve million people, and you see  the dilemma reunification  poses for the South.   Unlike with Germany,  Korean reunification would create a refugee crisis on a biblical scale,  almost over night.

I remember my first visit to the border area between the two Koreas  (the "DMZ") .  It was in 1997.  It was , as you might imagine, a unique experience.  It remains essentially  the last remaining  front of the Cold War. It will be fascinating  to watch  the transition  of Power there.   Kim's appointed successor is his third son Kim Jon Eun, who is in his twenties, but  was recently made a four star General in the North Korean military.

It is in everyone's interest that  the  two Koreas  reconcile  peacefully.   The late Kim Jong il  was nothing if not unique.  His  flamboyant personal style and odd personality traits made him an easy target for comedy.  The  greatest example of course, being "South Park"  creators  Trey Parker and Matt Stone,  who used  Kim as  central villian  for their  movie  "Team America - World Police".  Giving the  "dear leader" his own moment in cinematic  history, and a song to go with it.

So we bid farewell to the  "dear leader"  with a look back at his moment of movie musical glory.

A Christmas Mystery....

We have a little bit of Christmas mystery on our hands. 

Today we received a package addressed to both Eric and I that contained this wonderful ceramic Doctor Who collectors TARDIS Cookie Jar.

There was no card, and no name on the package, just a return address near Manchester. 

We are thrilled with the amazing gift, we just would really like to know who it is from so we can say thanks!!!

Right Wing Theo-fascist Nut Jobs are REALLY REALLY Mad...

It has not been a good week  if you are a  bigoted  Gay-hating  evangalooney-toon member of the American Taliban.   First,  U.S.  Secretary of State  Hillary Clinton gave a remarkable speech at a United Nations conference commemorating  the  anniversary of the  UN Universal  Declaration of Human Rights.

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That same day, the Obama Administration took steps similar to those already taken by the British Government in making how nations treat their LGBT citizens, a factor in considering future foreign aid.   (via the huffington post.)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is announcing a wide-ranging effort to use U.S. foreign aid to promote rights for gays and lesbians abroad, including combating attempts by foreign governments to criminalize homosexuality.   In a memorandum issued Tuesday, President Barack Obama directed U.S. agencies working abroad, including the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, to use foreign aid to assist gays and lesbians who are facing human rights violations.

The President also  ordered U.S. agencies to protect vulnerable gay and lesbian refugees and asylum seekers. "The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States' commitment to promoting human rights," Obama said in a statement.

Add to that, the fact the most rabidly gay sex obsessed homophobe running for the GOP nomination just can't seem to get any love from GOP voters. Rick Santorum, may as well be Ron Paul for all the attention he is getting these days.

So channelling that frustration, Santorum beats his "gays are destroying our nation" drum louder, harder and faster in hopes that the Tea-baggers of Iowa will finally notice him. (hat tip to thinkprogress.org)  Rick Santorum told a crowd in Spencer, Iowa this afternoon that equal rights for gays and lesbians would “destabilize the family” and “accomodate a different values structure.” “It’s about what America’s basic moral values should be that would be reflected in the law,”

If that wasn't enough, just last week  Marine Gen. James F. Amos, the man who was for a time, the face of opposition in the military to lifting the ban on gays serving openly, acknowledged his concerns were unfounded. In fact, he says, Marines have embraced the change.  He said that at the annual ball in Washington this month celebrating the birth of the Marine Corps, a female Marine approached Amos' wife, Bonnie, and introduced herself and her lesbian partner.    "Bonnie just looked at them and said, `Happy birthday ball. This is great. Nice to meet you,'" Amos said. "That is happening throughout the Marine Corps."  In an Associated Press interview, Amos called the repeal in September "a non-event."

Having all this in the space of less than a week was just too much for the American Taliban, and their collective heads pretty much exploded.   Matt Barber, the oh-so butch,  spokes-bigot for the Right Wing hate group the "Liberty Council"  attacked Clinton and President Obama for having an “obsession with the radical homosexual activist agenda.” 

Over at the Family Research Council, (another group certified by  the Southern Poverty Law Center as a Hate Group, just like the Klu Klux Klan)  they didn't even wait for  Hillary Clinton to finish her speech before they started sputtering with incoherent  rage.  FRC "Senior Fellow" Peter Sprigg (aka "Porno Pete" due to the extensive  'research' he likes to do in sex clubs and at fetish events, about the dangers of  Gay Porn,) spewed:  "It is startling that President Obama is prepared to throw the full weight and reputation of the United States behind the promotion overseas of the radical ideology of the sexual revolution."

Sprigg's boss and  everybody's  favourite white supremacist and faux Christian , Tony Perkins couldn't contain  himself, and had to had his oddly effeminate  voice to the  chorus of rage on the wing nut right, saying that Obama is hostile and disdainful toward Christianity, and that Christians who voted for Obama should repent, saying; “Any Christian that voted for Obama in 2008 should be repenting [and voting differently] in the next election," Perkins told the Christian Post. "This administration has been the most hostile toward religious freedom.”    Apparently, according to Perkins, if you say torturing and killing gay people is a bad thing, you are infringing on his religious freedom.

 Not one to be left out of a good hate fest, Texas Governor and political rodeo clown, Rick Perry chimed in saying, "Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn't get any more out of touch with America's values. ... This administration's war on traditional American values must stop."

 SO just to be clear, Rick Perry feels  upholding the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a  war on American Values.  You know, it worked out so well  the last time The Republicans nominated a  Texas Governor with a 4th grade vocabulary and a penchant for confusing the voices in his head, with God, I can see why the  GOP might be considering giving it another go.



Wow!  I  am so glad  Rick Perry cleared THAT up for all of us!  It's not unemployment, climate change, a broken financial sector that bilked the country out of  trillions. No!  The real problem facing America is  that Gay Soldiers hate Christmas!!   Why didn't  I see it before!

And of course...  last  but  certainly never least.   We have  everybody's  favorite  hate mongering dementia patient  soiling his  adult diaper  over  all things  Gay.  Predicting that  his personal  angry God will SMITE  Barack Obama and  the rest of us  godless liberals  for  daring to , actually  follow the  example of Christ,  and do that whole  work for justice  stuff.  According to Pat,  God really  hates that!



What the past couple days have made clear is what the American right wing nutters  plan to do in 2012.  The GOP  can't run on their economic plan, because that is what  drove the economy off the cliff in the first place.   They can't run as the Party that "fights the war on terror"  since they completely failed  in more than seven years, to get Osama Bin Laden, but  the Obama Administration got him in three. They cant run against Obamacare, because there is no such thing,  and  they cant run against Nancy Pelosi because she isn't Speaker of the House any more.  So  what's  left to motivate their small minded, fearful, angry base to get out and vote?

Oh yeah...   The Gays!!



All kidding aside,  these people are insane.  But  the  great  irony here is  still the  baffling  twister-esque  contortions on  the issue of  Marriage Equality  by President Obama.  He has his Secretary of State stand up before the world  and say loudly and clearly  that "Gay rights are Human Rights".  He issues executive orders saying  loudly and clearly that nations that  persecute their LGBT citizens  will lose out on  American aid.

He says DOMA is unconstitutional , won't defend it in court,  even  refrains for enforcing it in a select few cases. YET when asked to support the right of all Americans to marry he  cowers behind  nonsensical babble of supporting equal rights, but marriage is only between a man and woman.  Then says  his position is still "evolving".    Does the President actually think that by refusing to support marriage equality, there are people who will vote for him who otherwise wouldn't?  

When the best  the  other side can come up with is  Newt Gingrich  or Mitt Romney,  it's not like the guy has that much to lose by standing  up for a core Democratic  constituency.

No Place Like Home for the Holidays?

The old song goes; “There’s no place like home for the holidays...” For many Americans living overseas, that means getting on planes and trekking across the globe to spend the holidays back in the good ‘old U.S. of A. Nothing could be finer, right?

Well in theory, yes. This year, Eric and I will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to spend Christmas, New Years, and my Parents 50th wedding anniversary with my family. THAT part of the trip, actually “being home” for the holidays is fine. We both are really looking forward to time with family and friends back in the United States. That’s not the problem.

It’s the “going “ there that is the issue.  Not the travel itself.  British Airways will get us from London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare non-stop with their usual decent service, moderately edible food, and passable in-flight movie options. 

Then after a 2 hour layover, American Eagle airlines will  take us the final 40 minute or so hop from Chicago to Madison with little effort. No, the problem is what happens during the lay over between these two flights.

As a married couple, one would think the process of entering the United States would be simple. Right? After all, for the vast majority of bi-national married couples, (couples where one spouse is an American citizen and the other is not...) entering the United States is a pretty straight forward exercise. As long as you have all the right spousal visas etc. The non-citizen spouse should have little or no delay joining you on the other side of the little booths over at baggage claim.    Guess again.

For bi-national married couples who happen to be of the same gender, Immigration and Passport control at any major American airport, is for lack of a better metaphor, something of a crap shoot, all depending on the mood of the homeland security passport control agent you encounter.

For both Eric and I this is the most stressful part of the entire trip. To such a extent, that were it not also my parent’s golden wedding anniversary, we probably would have opted not to come at all.

Because of the ridiculously mis-named “Defence of Marriage Act” (or DOMA) , the Federal Government is barred from recognizing Eric as my Spouse, despite the fact that we are legally married in the United Kingdom. So the Department of Homeland Security must  treat Eric not as part of my family, but instead as just some non-American guy who is travelling with me. 

 So after an 8 hour transatlantic flight, we will stagger into the international arrivals hall and then (thanks to DOMA) have to split up into different lines to get through passport control. Eric who has a valid multiple entry tourist visa, will go the non-US Citizen line, while I go through the line for Americans and US Permanent Residents .

Eric will get to the little booth and hand his landing card and passport to the Agent. Now, let me explain why both of us tend to get very stressed  at this point.    Eric is  a Malaysian Citizen permanently living in the UK. He isn’t British, but is travelling from Britain,  his passport is Malaysian (an Islamic country) but he isn't Malay or Muslim.  He is Chinese, and  Buddhist. His landing card says he is visiting the United States to see his in-laws in Wisconsin.  But he isn’t in the US Citizen / Permanent Resident line with his “spouse”.   All of this, often  will  mystify and confuse the  US border agent.

Eric will then be subjected to a barrage of  more than slightly  aggressive  questions.  Such as  "So who is it  you are  travelling with, what is your relationship with this person,  and where are they now?"  All in spite of having a VALID multiple entry  tourist visa.  He will patiently answer  all the questions  (usually  three or more times).  At this point, the  TSA Border agent's brain completely fails to  grasp the concept of two men travelling together as married couple.  As a result , Eric is  “pulled aside” for additional screening that has at times, lasted more than four hours, where he is asked  the exact  same questions all over again.  

All because the U.S. Federal Government (which happily taxes me to support the Dept. of Homeland Security,) can’t treat us the way the British Government, treats us, as a married couple. Thanks to DOMA

In the past it has gotten so ridiculous that once I stood outside the international arrivals gate at the San Francisco Airport, loudly threatening to call all my members of congress and every single media outlet in Northern California if they didn’t let Eric through NOW!  (Thankfully at that point, they did...)  Mind you that was in San Francisco, a city where the concept of a same-sex couple travelling together was hardly unusual. This trip it will be Chicago O’Hare that will once more, put our faith in the Department of Homeland Security to the test.

How would you feel if; 1) In order to even be with, let alone marry the person you love, you had to move overseas. Then; 2) every time you wanted to visit your family,  it was entirely possible that  based on nothing more than a border agent’s mood, (not for any logical reason, evidence or probable cause), your husband or wife could be detained for hours, or even barred from entering the country.

All for no other reason, than the basic legal protections other married couples enjoy, we are denied, because the Republican Party needs to keep Gay and Lesbian Americans as the one group they can still legally hate, and discriminate against.

Welcome to our world, Happy Holidays. To our friends and family back in the States, we are looking forward to (hopefully) seeing you soon.

Dave & Eric

Why Barack Obama will be Re-elected. Continued....

Writing this week in The Washington Post,  conservative heavyweight George Will, examines  the  now two-horse race for the GOP  Presidential  nomination  between former  Massachusetts  Governor, Willard, "Mitt" Romney, and former  House Speaker, and Georgia Congressman  Newt Gingrich.

In the piece,  Will characterizes  the reversal in  political fortunes of the two as a move from  "bad to worse".   In fairness,   George Will  is not what you could call  an unbiased  observer.  His own wife is an advisor to  rival  GOP Presidential candidate,  Texas Governor Rick Perry.  

When  the topic of  Newt Gingrich comes up  with  his fellow talking heads, on ABC's,  "This Week",  George Will  tends to  make it clear, he doesn't  take  Gingrich even remotely seriously.



As far as Mitt Romney goes, in his piece in the Washington Post, Will compares an Obama-Romney match up to Harry Truman going up against Thomas Dewey. Hardly a metaphor for Republican success. So who does George Will think the GOP should pick to go up against President Obama next November? Former U.S. Ambassador to China, and Utah Governor Jon Huntsman.

Huntsman's positions of being in favor of civil unions for same sex couples, believing in climate change and evolution, mean he is the one candidate in the current GOP field who is not either, woefully opportunistic in their policy track record, or completely insane.

Thankfully for  Democrats  it also means  he is  the one man who  the Republican Party will never, ever, not in a million years,  pick as their nominee.  For the simple reason, the  nutjob  theocrats who now control the GOP would never allow it.

Why not?  Simple.  It's the same reason they are now  willing to  overlook Newt Gingrich's three marriages and track record of serial  adultery.   Huntsman, like Romney is a Mormon and that just gives  the Evangelical nutjobs  of the GOP the willies.



The fact that the opinion of George Will,  one of the  American Conservative Movement's most  prominent minds is being completely  ignored,  is a fascinating  glimpse into  the  Republican Party of  2011.  Their lockstep allegiance to  an American Taliban-esqe conservative social agenda at all costs,  will all but hand  a second term to  Barack Obama on silver platter.

It will be interesting to see  what  will happen  when the  Republican Party, which went completely insane when they lost to Barack Obama the first time,  faces the reality that  his  re-election  was far more their own doing,  than a result of anything the Democrats did.