Racism and the Election

My friend Anna sent this to me and I find it wholly brilliant.


From Letters to the Editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 9.17.08


How Racism Works

What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said 'I do' to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard? What if Obama were a member of the 'Keating 5'? What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

-Kelvin LaFond, Fort Worth

Adaptable Shelves, Design by Errazuriz

Most of this blog has been about politics, as is the predominant drama of the day, but here's a brief break.

"Repisa N5," foldable shelves designed by witty Chilean/British artist & designer, Sebastian Errazuriz. The shelves fold up and down to save space. I find them beautiful and elegantly thought out. Errazuriz designed this work for Cristina Grajales Inc.

I highly recommend looking at Errazuriz's personal website, the rest of his oeuvre is incredible. Most especially, I find the whole "Out" series, under the Unclassifiable Limited Editions, to be brilliant. I would include images here but his site is all Flash.

Sarah Palin the Hunter

Right now, I have more compassion for the animals Palin has hunted and killed, than sincere compassion for her. I'd like to work on this. I would like to be able to ally with Sarah Palin as a human being, while also acknowledging the militant myopia of her views and actions. I want to be able to appreciate Palin as a being, so that I can allow her to change. She too can be illuminated. She too could wise up and recognize her politics exclude and harm many. My compassion for her adds more compassion to the equation. Palin, take this love we send your way and learn to extend it back at us.

In the meantime, as I work to evolve, I watch this video. I watch it with gratitude that there are people who I have never even met, who reside in all aspects of our society, who add art and cogent, emotive dialogue to the fray.

Harbinger House at West Coast Green

This video shows and explains a really interesting eco-house, Harbinger House, that is made out of re-used shipping containers. It was on display at West Coast Green in San Jose, CA, this weekend. Of particular interest to me is the house's ability to report back remotely to its owner on its electricity, gas and water use. Efficiency! Technology!

Gay-Friendly College Towns

Austin is the #1 Gay-Friendly College Town in the U.S., and Eli and I are in the fall issue of Out Traveller!
I'll scan in the image sometime soon; it's not available online.

Out Traveller did a feature on the top 10 most gay-friendly college towns.
Eli & I were over at UT for the Sustainable Business Summit when we first moved to Austin. We walked by a crowd of kids getting their photo taken on the steps in front of the UT Tower. First we noticed there were some lezzies in the back of the group and then suddenly realized the whole crowd was a group of homos. The students saw us and all turned to wave to us simultaneously. Then the photographer, Michael Thad Carter, told us to get in the photo in the front. I love homos recognizing each other. Thusly, we became gelebrities. Thank you, thank you.

Yes!

God Bless Dan Savage

Sarah Palin has deflected criticism of her anti-gay politics by saying she has gay friends. Who hasn't heard a bigot say "It's alright, I can say that, I have a {Gay/Black/Latino/Latina/Asian} friend." Unfortunately though, there's no evidence that Mz. Pale Lies indeed possesses any such homos in her friend repertoire. For more discussion on this, see The Right Hook from The Advocate online.

I mean, Sarah Pale Eyes is kind of glam, but I think it just might be her deep-rooted Creationism that keeps the party from ever getting fun enough to attract the gay love.

Fortunately, there are plenty of gays auditioning right now (yes right now!) to become Bible Spice's token gay friend. Monsieur Dan Savage, witty and talented sex columnist of Savage Love fame, started this video lineage; his video is below.

(You may also remember Dan Savage's 2003, reader invoked, contest to name a sex act "the Santorum" after Rick Santorum's famous comments equating gay sex to "man on dog" after the Texas Sodomy Laws were revoked. Dan's apparent intention with the contest was to, "...memorialize the Santorum scandal...by attaching his name to a sex act that would make his big, white teeth fall out of his big, empty head.")

McSame, Business as Usual

Artists for Obama

There is so much good-looking art being made for Obama. Dang.

I was curious as to why nothing comparable has emerged from the McCain campaign until I remembered there's not much inspiring about fear-based, anti-gay, Creationist, anti-choice the-dinosaurs-chilled-in-the-Garden-of-Eden, politics.

The second image is from urbanaddiction.com, the first from Silenced Majority Portal.

I Met the Walrus

My friend Anna Sian sent this to me. The flow of the animation matches the feeling of John Lennon's words in a really beautiful way. I think it's important to be continuing to act for, talk about, work for, peace. Lennon's words are keenly potent right now.

Closets, Bathrooms & Gay Republicans

In case you missed it earlier this month, The Daily Show's brilliant take on why the Republicans chose Minneapolis/St. Paul for their convention this year:



Seeing the Daily Show correspondent in the mini-Babylon made my day.
A clip from the end of Queer as Folk, a dance scene set at Babylon, below:

McCain at the Debates

Did anyone else feel like McCain was lobbing a pity softball at us by mentioning Senator Kennedy's hospitalization during his first response to Jim Lehrer last night at the debates? I think it's important and very kind to send good thoughts out to an ailing person and their loved ones but there was something manipulative about the mention that cheapened it. It was as if McCain was saying, "I know people. People in Washington. I am connected; I rub elbows with Kennedys." Then he muttered "Lion of the Senate" and moved on.

Similarly, the McCain camp's spin on postponing the Presidential Debates (and putting McCain's campaign on pause) was transparent in its manipulation. The McCain campaign clearly wanted props for McCain's purported earnest pragmatism and ability to serve his country in its time of need. He was "needed in Washington" to do important things. It is intriguing that a decade ago McCain heavily supported deregulation of the insurance and banking industries, deregulations that have caused much of the contemporary turmoil.

I am ready for the spin to cease. There's a lack of integrity to it all. Much lipstick, on many pigs.