tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62232982009-04-04T02:10:32.419-07:00I'm an activist. I'm a progressive. I'm probably a conservative's worst nightmare.Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-68851118445518262642008-10-06T07:17:00.000-07:002008-10-06T07:20:51.604-07:00

You know that claim from the fundamentalist crowd that if same-sex couples are allowed to marry, if Proposition 8 doesn't pass, it will violate their religious freedoms?Well, if Proposition 8 passes and encodes discrimination into my state constitution, it will violate my religious freedoms, and the religious freedoms of every Unitarian, liberal Christian, liberal Jew, liberal Muslim, and any

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-87336787921119486842008-08-22T08:01:00.000-07:002008-08-22T12:50:44.504-07:00

Three weeks ago, I wrote this piece on hate, and on how hating back does nothing to ease the situation when we find ourselves on the receiving end of it. I talked about self-defense, without escalation, being the best way to bring hate under control.Events in my life since that time have raised the question: is self-defense through humor an escalation? Does making fun of the foibles of a group

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-239129070694667782007-08-10T01:41:00.000-07:002007-08-10T01:41:31.776-07:00

I've just finished watching Michael Moore's "Sicko." And I have some thoughts on the matter. Here's the thing about medical care: We all need it. Most liberals that I know agree that we should, as a society, cover people's needs. This is addressed largely to the people out there who hate that idea - the ones who think the current American system is the best in the world. The ones who live in a

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-66665762423558159362007-08-02T09:17:00.001-07:002007-08-02T09:18:52.666-07:00

Last night, I got the opportunity to show my partner Danny this video, which I found through a friend on LiveJournal. There's also a great essay by Anna Quindlen about it here. Additionally, in her own essay about it, my LiveJournal friend talks about how these people have a real problem understanding the difference between morality and legality: specifically, that never the twain shall meet, and

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-5359898149023839522007-05-28T11:17:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:26:12.564-07:00

Before the 2006 midterm elections, there was a lot of talk about how kicking the Republicans out of a Congressional majority wouldn't do anything to improve the situation in America - that there was really no difference between Democrats and Republicans. They're all one party anyway, right? I'm pleased to report that House Democrats have taken the bit in their teeth and massed a bipartisan

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-38071719687323182602007-04-18T14:49:00.000-07:002007-04-18T14:53:58.772-07:00

I wanted to wait a few days to write about this, partly because I've been swamped with my own work and partly because I needed to give it all time to sink in, so I could work out my thoughts about it. As I see it, the lessons we can learn from Virginia Tech fall into two broad categories: One, due largely to media patterns of sensationalization and hype, we have unrealistic expectations about how

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1175884641310308052007-04-06T11:32:00.000-07:002007-04-06T11:37:21.326-07:00

(Originally written in October, 2006. Reposted here in response to a post in the LiveJournal Asperger community.)You may have seen an article flying around the blog- and media-space online lately, about some idiotsresearchers at Cornell University who claim to have found a link between early childhood TV-watching and rates of autism. The media's assertion, based on the Cornell report, is that

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1168664968362721202007-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:002007-01-13T02:17:46.350-08:00

Last week, on one of my autism mailing lists, someone posted a link to this article written by a mother of three small children with autism. (Warning, the toilet practices of two autistic children are described in lovingly graphic detail in this post, so if you're eating you might want to stop.) The author of the article slams the neurodiversity community several times, complaining that we (adult

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1161246375198654722006-10-19T01:26:00.000-07:002006-10-19T01:26:15.330-07:00

This November 7, vote EVERY Republican out of office.Anti-Republican soundbites.Remember and remind, constantly:National Security:- Torture of prisoners in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.- Government-sponsored refusal to abide by the Geneva Conventions - creating dangers for our servicemen and -women overseas.- Withdrawal of federal funds for terrorism preparation and defense of New York City.- Osama

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1159757818257831362006-10-01T19:56:00.000-07:002006-10-01T22:39:42.060-07:00

(Crossposted to My Left Wing and - tomorrow - to Daily Kos.)One of the recurring themes I find throughout the liberal blogosphere is the ongoing difficulty concerning attempts to reason with the common or garden neoconservative. Things that seem so clear-cut and obvious to those of us on the left are met with reactions ranging from curt dismissal, to snide mockery, to impassioned yet circular

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1159724474582294922006-10-01T10:41:00.000-07:002006-10-01T10:41:14.666-07:00

GOP in 1950: "Fear! There are Communists in the US and they will Wreck Our Way Of Life!"GOP in 1960: "Fear! Blacks want equal rights and they will Wreck Our Way Of Life!"GOP in 1970: "Fear! Hippies want to stop the war and they will Wreck Our Way Of Life!"GOP in 1982: "Fear! Gay People are coming out of the closet and have disease and they will Wreck Our Way Of Life!"GOP in 1990: "Fear! Democrats

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1159554070551622732006-09-29T11:21:00.000-07:002006-09-29T11:21:10.620-07:00

A chronology of experiments:Conformity (1951): In experiments done by Solomon Asch, 33% of people exposed to the peer pressure of others conformed to the peers' belief in an obviously incorrect answer to a simple question.Obedience (1963): In experiments done by Stanley Milgram, between 61% and 66% of subjects obeyed an authority figure when told to continue shocking an innocent victim who had

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1156828436237510522006-08-28T22:13:00.000-07:002006-08-28T22:13:56.236-07:00

So, in today's CNN news posts, Ms. Harris - you remember her, the one who was responsible for the theft of the 2000 election - claimed that not electing Christians to public office is "legislating sin." Oh, and apparently separating religion from politics is wrong. Why? Because "God chooses our rulers." Well, Ms. Harris, I hate to break it to you, but we live in a democracy. The President et. al.

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1156828105586288722006-08-28T22:07:00.000-07:002006-08-28T22:09:12.543-07:00

Hey California folks,There was a letter to the editor today in the "Desert Dispatch" newspaper - which serves Barstow and the surrounding areas. The letter was a homophobic diatribe against Mark Leno's bill, SB1437, which would provide for equal time and instruction in public school classrooms to acknowledge the positive contributions of GLBT people to California history, science, and other

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1141492468417398622006-03-04T09:14:00.000-08:002006-03-04T09:14:28.586-08:00

The Patriot Act is about to become permanent. Nice knowing you, Constitutional rights. Don't be strangers. Apparently, if we have rights, the terrorists win.Freedom of information? What's that? Want birth and death information? Sorry, no can do. If we let you research your family's genealogy, the terrorists win.Freedom of religion? What's that? This past week, the House passed a bill that would

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1141366305697167082006-03-02T22:11:00.000-08:002006-03-04T09:22:49.993-08:00

*annoyed look* So, if you believe the news reports, Alito sent a thank-you note to James Dobson of Focus on the Family. And if you believe Dobson, Alito singled him out personally for a thank-you.Sure he did. I believe that like I believe the moon is made of green cheese.Note these three points from the article on CBS News, which an angry mind might overlook:1. Focus on the Family founder James

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1131553003149252512005-11-09T08:16:00.000-08:002005-11-09T08:16:43.183-08:00

The new Texas anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment, passed by voters yesterday, is worded badly. How badly? Folks, it prohibits recognition of any status "identical to [...] marriage." A marriage is identical to a marriage. Doesn't this mean that it eliminates recognition of all marriages in Texas? Let's take a good look at the text of this amendment, shall we? SECTION 1. Article I,

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1120346815924525562005-07-02T16:26:00.000-07:002005-07-02T16:26:55.950-07:00

I can't say I'm happy, because quite frankly, it's sad that people at the top levels of our government will stoop to this. However, it seems to be a cycle that runs about every twenty to twenty-five years or so. In the 1950s, there was McCarthy and his witch hunts. The 1970s saw Watergate and Vietnam. The late 1980s saw IranContra. And now, in the first decade of the new millenium, we have the

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1118996582814156462005-06-17T01:23:00.000-07:002005-06-17T01:23:02.860-07:00

The U.S. Department of Justice is quietly shopping around the explosive idea of requiring Internet service providers to retain records of their customers' online activities. Data retention rules could permit police to obtain records of e-mail chatter, Web browsing or chat-room activity months after Internet providers ordinarily would have deleted the logs--that is, if logs were ever kept in the

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1118895824671396222005-06-15T21:21:00.000-07:002005-06-15T21:23:44.676-07:00

Heads up, folks in and around Memphis, TN! This appeared in my inbox this evening:WE HAVE A VERY IMPORTANT REQUEST FOR ALL OF MEMPHIS. Tomorrow morning,Thursday June 16th, please spread the word and attend the protest infront of Love In Action, 4780 Yale Rd. Memphis, TN at 8:30 Am.Love In Action has called a press conference for 11:00am, and we need to be out there all morning showing our biggest

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1118600760031480982005-06-12T11:14:00.000-07:002005-06-12T14:53:07.943-07:00

This is Zach.So is this.This is Zach's blog.These are links to people's stories about Zach.The Republic of T.Ex-Gay WatchJanus OnlineCherry Blossom SpecialTalkLeftCrooks and Liars (with local news coverage)Matt ThomasThe Queer Action CoalitionUPDATE! Andrew SullivanThis is how you can help Zach:Go. Read. Post about it. Email about it. Make a stink about it. Spread the word, folks.

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1118512168211157792005-06-11T10:41:00.000-07:002005-06-12T15:07:53.800-07:00

There is a young man named Zach. He's sixteen. He's from a small town in Tennessee.Currently he's been imprisoned against his will, with the consent of his parents, by Love in Action, an infamous ex-gay group.To give you an idea of what he's being put through, here's their rules, as sent in an email to his parents and published by Zach on his MySpace blog. I warn you: it's sickening and appalling

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1116783227908174072005-05-22T10:32:00.000-07:002005-05-22T10:33:47.913-07:00

From MoveOn PAC:On Tuesday May 24th, the Senate will vote on a motion to end debate on judicial nominations, and when that motion fails Senator Bill Frist will launch the "nuclear option" - an unprecedented parliamentary maneuver to break the rules of the Senate and seize absolute control over lifetime appointments to the highest courts in the land. The vote is going to be incredibly close, and

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1114533484340768052005-04-26T09:36:00.000-07:002005-04-26T09:38:04.340-07:00

Just so we're completely clear on where you stand.A tradition that you approve of (like opposite-sex-two-person-only marriage) is to be cherished and protected and defended at all costs.But a tradition that you dislike because it stands in your way politically (such as the time-honored political tradition of the Senate filibuster) - that, we can get rid of.Is that how this works, Mr. Frist?

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223298.post-1108080962849517142005-02-10T16:15:00.000-08:002005-02-10T16:16:02.850-08:00

That bill I mentioned? Here's article 102 of it: SEC. 102. WAIVER OF LAWS NECESSARY FOR IMPROVEMENT OF BARRIERS AT BORDERS. Section 102(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) is amended to read as follows: `(c) Waiver- `(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the

Griffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419887858462670131noreply@blogger.com0