So, I’ve heard from more than one person in the last week that I need to update my blog more often, so I felt I should explain my absence. I do not have Internet at home currently, so it’s pretty difficult to update my blog. Hopefully in the next couple of months I will have it back, so see you then!
Watch the video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/13/police-brutality-cops-pun_n_203245.html
Is this happening more often or is the Internet just making us more aware of it? This police officer didn’t know he was on video, obviously. The kick in the head, then pushing the guys arm up way beyond where he needed to, then the high five…pretty disgusting.
I know the guy is a criminal and I know he’s a suspected gang member, but does this really help reform anyone? I believe this kind of behavior does nothing more than send more young kids into gangs and helps to create distrust and hate toward police officers in general.
From what I’ve read this officer hasn’t been disciplined or suspended yet, but I’ll update when I find out more.
I just happened upon this video and it’s very fitting when considering my previous post. We must work harder to create safe havens for LGBT individuals around the world, until that day when all people are loved, accepted, and safe in their home.
I’ve been haunted lately by the images of teenagers Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni as they wept and waited for their execution, pleading for their lives. There are questions about their case, and whether or not they were executed for their consensual homosexual acts or not, but regardless, hundreds of people are executed in Iran and other places for simply being who they are.
There are people and organizations working to make change around the world. Please consider joining up with Amnesty International and making a recurring donation. When atrocities like these and in many other categories appear around the globe Amnesty is always there fighting for justice, peace, and human rights. I have the utmost respect and gratitude for Amnesty International, and if I’m lucky maybe someday I will work for them.
So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here but something happened tonight that is just the kind of thing that gets me to blog. I recently met a guy named Alex and tonight when we were talking I found out his story. He’s 27, has lived in Colorado for 3 years and is from Peru. He’s gay and is out here but is not at a point where he feels he can tell his family or anyone back home. He’s living here illegally; he overstayed a work visa.
I used to be a right-wing crazy who would go nuts over this kind of stuff, then I became a very conflicted and confused “moderate” who didn’t know quite what to do about these things but still strongly felt “they” should all go back and do it legally. Now I’m a bleeding heart liberal who wants us to throw open our arms and our borders and actually live by “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
Why does Alex want to live in America so badly? He wants to fall in love and be able to live openly and without fear in a same sex relationship. As we spoke tonight he sadly told me about a close friend of his that was arrested for his immigration status almost 3 months ago. His friend is from Morocco and is desperate to stay here because he can be jailed for his sexuality if he is sent back home. He applied for amnesty based on his sexual orientation and was denied. He appealed and was in the middle of the detailed and exhaustive process when he was was picked up and taken to jail for his illegal status. He was shipped to a jail near Colorado Springs and remains there almost three months later.
I know we must have immigration laws; I understand that reality, but this is not the answer. This man is in jail and will likely be sent back to a very unfriendly country where he may be imprisoned for who he is and we don’t consider that important enough for him to stay.
This system is broken, but how do we fix it?
On this day one year ago 15 year old Lawrence “Larry” King was shot and killed as he sat in his 8th grade classroom. He was murdered for having the courage 
to openly be who he had known he was for years. Larry came out when he was just 10 years old. It took me until I was 20 years old and living 1,200 miles from my family before I would take that step. Larry had courage beyond my understanding and despite the awful, turbulent home life he was experiencing he had the conviction to be himself.
Larry’s 16th Birthday would have been 1 month ago and my heart is broken that he wasn’t here for it. Any death at that age is nearly impossible for me to understand, but for someone like Larry to have lived and survived through a very rough childhood to only then to have his life cut short simply for being something other than heterosexual, is almost too much to take.
I have read accounts of Larry’s last few weeks and from what I gather Lawrence had started to self-identify as female, going by the name Letitia King. Whether Larry was a gay boy or Letitia, self-identifying as female makes no difference. Whether Larry or Letitia, this young life should be remembered an honored for the courage that was shown by just being true to what was inside.
So Larry…Letitia, I honor and remember you today. Your death broke many hearts, but through that pain many more hearts were changed from fear and anger to reconciliation and love. Rest in peace.
Lawrence “Larry” “Letitia” King
January 13, 1993 – February 12, 2008
Rest In Peace
http://www.couragecampaign.org/divorce
Ken Starr, who led the campaign to impeach President Bill Clinton, filed a legal brief last month — on behalf of the “Yes on 8” campaign — that would forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year before the passage of Prop 8.
Watch “Fidelity” and sign our letter to the state Supreme Court. Tell the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, reject Ken Starr’s case, and let loving, committed couples marry. DEADLINE: Valentine’s Day.
76,283 people have signed the letter (as of Sunday, February 8). Will you add your name now?:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/divorce
“Fidelity” used with permission from Regina Spektor and EMI Records.
Immediately after arriving at our hosts’ home on Monday morning we all took showers (YES!) and got ready to head to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium for the National Day of Service that President-Elect Barack Obama called for. We met up with our hosts Lori & Dallas, who have been amazing and have shared their home so generously with us. The objective of the day was to create care packages for our military. With thousands of volunteers there to put the packages together, our job was to keep the items stocked and the lines flowing.
Here some photos from the day, including our first ride on the Metro. They don’t do the event justice, but there were thousands and thousands of people there putting toothpaste, sunscreen, energy drinks, pens & paper, etc. into bags for our military personnel around the world. It was a phenomenal and inspirational event.
Monday, January 19th, 8:00 AM EST – We Made It! Gaithersburg, Maryland
Well, this update is coming several days late, but we did make it to our destination! I drove the final 4 hours or so and we arrived at about 8:00 on Monday morning.
We made it!
We’ve had a lot of great experiences since arriving on Monday and I will cover those in their own posts. This post will be retired now that the drive is over.
Monday, January 19th, 4:30 AM EST – Beau Street, Pennsylvania
We’re currently in Pennsylvania after briefly traveling through West Virginia. So far, so good. The weather has calmed down and it’s clear and cold. We happened to pass a Beau St., which I was very surprised to see. We tried to get a photo, if any of them came out okay I’ll post it
I’m going to keep this post short because I’m about to get behind the wheel. We have 200 miles to go, about 3 and a half hours! We’re gonna make it!!!
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day everyone. One of my favorite days of the year, and I cannot imagine a better place and time to celebrate it than in D.C. for Barack Obama’s Inauguration!
Monday, January 19th, 1:00 AM EST – Columbus, Ohio
After lunch in St. Louis we hit the road with me behind the wheel again. Everything was going splendidly: birds were singing, the car was handling well, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie were all sleeping peacefully. Well, that didn’t last long. It started raining in freezing temperatures and the Interstate turned into an ice rink. It took me about a hundred yards to come to a stop when traffic in front of me stopped due to a car going into the ditch. Within the same half mile stretch two others also went off the road, but we fortunately kept our tires on the road.
I woke Steve up and he took over driving until a few minutes ago when Matt jumped behind the wheel. We’re currently at 389 miles remaining until our destination! Woohoo!
Sunday, January 18th, 2:00 PM EST – St. Louis, Missouri
Great news; the laptop is back in action! We finally stopped at RadioShack and found a power inverter that works, so blogging can resume and I can start loading up my pictures.
Lewis, Clark, Fido, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Beau
The arch was absolutely stunning and we all really enjoyed ourselves. The museum was great and the scale of the arch from outside is just overwhelming, much less going inside and riding to the top. Here are the photos I have from the amazing experience.
[nggallery id=4]
Sunday, January 18th, 9:36 AM EST – Danville, Missouri
Well, Matt made the right decision to relinquish his crown as driver; he was just too tired and the vehicle on the road was starting to behave eerily similar to a game of pong. We pulled into this lovely rest area in Danville to make the swap.
I’m pretty sure you forfeit your soul when you do something like this.
Missouri is a pretty state.
The tell-tale signs of the stresses of a never-ending road trip are starting to show.
I’ve been awake for 28 hours at this point but am feeling fine, so I’ll be taking over the driving from here. We’re headed to St. Louis, this should be great!
Sunday, January 18th, 8:00 AM EST – Odessa, Missouri
So much for buying all of the geekware we needed to fix everything. I bought a $100 power cord for my laptop and Steve bought a $50 power inverter. Well, the computer takes too much juice and shuts off the inverter, so until we figure something out or can get to a RadioShack I’ll be blogging by phone. I’ll add pictures in later.
We’ve finally switched drivers, now Matt Hirsch is driving and Steve is getting some much needed rest. He was getting louder and crazier the longer he stayed awake, so this is a good move. Missouri is pretty so far, I’ll update when we get to the arch!
Sunday, January 18th, 3:35 AM EST – Hayes, Kansas
Well, it wouldn’t be a road trip without a few bumps along the road. Very shortly after my first blog post my laptop battery died. I expected this, but we have a power inverter onboard so at our first pit stop (Hayes, Kansas) I took apart our delicately constructed mountain of luggage to get to my suitcase at the bottom.
Problem: I apparently didn’t pack my power cord. PAUSE for momentary freak out.
What?!? Forgot the power cord, the number one item on my “Do Not Forget” list?!? Yes, that would appear to be the case. PAUSE for second freak out.
Problem 2: Amid my anger over my rookie mistake Matthew decided to charge his mp3 player. What’s wrong with that you ask? Oh nothing except the power inverter worked for a glorious two seconds.
Apparently Steve decided that it would be a good idea to try to use it to run a vacuum cleaner earlier today. It apparently only had moments of glory that time too. PAUSE for helpful tip of the post: Don’t do that!
Good News: My irritation at myself for forgetting the power cord is softened a bit by the knowledge that even with my power cord I’d be without a power source.
We’ll be stopping in the morning to stock up on necessary geek gear. Once that happens I will being adding photos to the posts.
Unrelated Unfortunate News: Steve decided to buy and rapidly consume a foot long super, mega, ultra, platinum edition convenience store burrito. Focus on the prize Beau, just focus on the prize.
God help us.
Oblivion is bliss.
Sunday, January 18th, 12:53 AM EST – Bennett, Colorado
Well, our long journey to President Obama’s Inauguration in Washington D.C. is finally underway. I’m making the trek with my friends Matthew Farrell, Matt Hirschinger, and Steve Hulsberg! We all worked together on the campaign turning Arapahoe County, Colorado bright, bright blue!
We’re in Steve’s Hybrid Toyota Highlander and so far the trip is going well. Steve, the IT geek, set the car up to be it’s own WiFi Hotspot. I will post updates and pictures as we go!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24027845-2703,00.html
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQHFFbD_-Pg[/youtube]
UPDATE 01/16/2009: Khadr likely to leave Gitmo soon after Obama inauguration.
Below, you will find a link to a disturbing video of 22-year-old Oscar Grant being shot in the back by a police officer as he lay pinned face down on the ground. I am trying to avoid rushing to judgement out of anger, but I think these videos speak for themselves. My thoughts are with his family; I hope justice is swift and sure. I will continue to follow the case and post updates.
Watch the story and cell phone videos recorded on the scene.
UPDATE 01/16/2009: Former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle, 27, has been arrested for murder the shooting of Oscar Grant on New Years Day. Mehserle has been charged with homicide and has pled not guilty.