REMEMBERING THE GAYS IN THE MILITARY

Last night the congress voted to repeal the DADT. Congratulations to the democrats and a couple of republicans. As for the rest of the republicans, I want to ask you a question. Are you voting your own personal opinion, what your voters want or are you just sheep being herded by John McCain? I'm not trying to be smart here but you are acting in a very STUPID manner and it is being seen, every day on the news.

President Obama was elected as our president and whether you voted for him or not, he is our president and that alone commands a certain amount of respect. I believe that he is trying EVERY thing he knows how to do to bring this country together and improve life for ALL Americans and that we as Americans need to stand behind him and try to understand what he inherited from the previous administration along with disasters such as the spilling of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, again a gift from the previous administration, those DRILL BABY DRILL people. So think about what republicans are doing to the quality of your life, or what they aren't doing to improve it and vote with your conscience. Republicans let this be your warning to shape up or be ready to ship out.

DEAR CITIZENS OF THE WORLD, UNITE

The web can be our connecting point and we, the citizens of the world have the opportunity to change the world for the better. We the people think differently than some of our leaders and it is time to band together and find the solutions to save our planet. There is no reason for us to live in fear of one another when we can all live on this earth of ours and take care of her. The need for going green is something that all of us have to work on and if those elected to power or those who have taken power don't want to work with us then it is time to change them. A difference may not be seen in our lifetime depending on your age but know that you can help change the face of Mother Earth for generations. How? First we stop the wars and find new ways to live in peace, take care of all of the people; feed them, cloth them and give them a decent home to live in. Stop nuclear stockpiles and end the dependency of fossil fuels around the globe. Sun and wind will not only supply us with energy but it will also create possibly millions of new jobs and re stable our economies globally. But it has to start now and it has to start with us. We, the citizens of the world have to find a way to communicate with each other and get started on a plan. Please, email a friend and send them this site address to read and ask them to do the same until we have the attention of the world. Only then can we move forward. Please forward any other ideas to this author and lets get a dialog started now while we still have time. Mike

THANK YOU ANITA BRYANT, REST WELL

Yes, I am a gay man and yes I do thank Anita Bryant. Why you ask? She did more to unite the gay community and create activism for our cause than anyone else I know. Recently HBO started airing the movie "MILK" and I have watched it several times. I was under the impression that Sean Penn was homophobic and that may be true but he played the part of Harvey Milk well. It brought back memories of that time and yes I too would have loved to place a dagger in her heart at the time. But hindsight is a powerful thing and I can see that it would have taken a lot longer for us to come to the point that we are today without her. It was because of the hatred that she spewed in the name of her religion that brought us together and caused us to fight back and fight harder. Harvey Milk was not a saint by any means but he had the courage to follow his heart and mind and make first steps toward the future.
Now we have the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill and that is a start. It doesn't insure peace yet but it is a start. Lawsuits will soon begin to follow so that the real strength of this bill will be seen. Perhaps the day will come when parents will learn to accept their gay children and not throw them out to the streets and real families can then thrive. Churches may come to understand that being Christian and gay is a possibility as many of us already know. No longer will bosses be able to fire people based on their sexual orientation. And soldiers will be able to serve no matter what their sexual identity is. I was one of those soldiers caught up in a witch hunt back in 1966. Not because I couldn't do my job and do it well, but because I was caught making love with my commanding officer.
So today I say, Thank You, Anita Bryant for all that you did to help up out.
Mike

HEY AMERICANS, GET IT TOGETHER

We elected President Obama by a large majority and now is the time to get behind him and listen and learn. Sarah Palin and others are trying to muddle up the message and intent of his health care program to cover any American who needs it. I spent the last two years with my mother as she went thru 7 cancer surgeries that finally took half of her left leg. She was 78 when they began and she died on her 80 th birthday. During that time, the hospital asked her if she was interested in filling out a living will and she and I talked about it. It was her wish that she not have any more surgery and that she didn't want to be kept alive by artificial methods. She requested that she be given pain medications and be kept comfortable and be allowed to die in peace. Also, she named me as her surrogate knowing that I would respect her wishes and see to things after she was dead. She paid for her own cremation years before and told me who to contact and they would take care of everything. I elected to keep her ashes but she was not concerned about them as she would not be there.

When a person is considered to be brain dead (and in my humble opinion Sarah Palin is almost there) then it is time to pull the plugs and prepare the body for burial or cremation and for the living to move on. The body may still be there but the spirit or soul if you will, has already left and there is no need to keep paying hospital bills or keeping vigil, and I believe that if asked the deceased would have said as much. That is what living wills are all about, pure and simple. Also I strongly believe in organ donations as well if and when it is possible. Because I have AIDS that isn't possible but if it were I would do so.

Disrupting town meetings where people can actually get GOOD information or just altering the truth and scaring the living shit out of people is uncalled for. PLEASE, GET THE FACTS AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF. A living will is NOT a death sentence but it will let your family and friends know what YOU want and when you want it.
Mike

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THE ELECTIONS?

No matter which candidate you are voting for this election, it seems to me that the news shows are just going way too far in their commentary. If you don't vote for Obama you are a racist and if you don't vote for Hillary you are sexist. They feel that they have the power to tell you not only this but also that if you are a hillbilly you are a racist while city folk know better and want to keep a man in the Oval Office, black or white. I don't know about you but it is sicking to me and a lot of people that I talk to. One minute after the closing time for the ballots they are ready to predict the winner of the race because of their exit polls. I love to lie to people who take polls because I don't think that they accomplish a lot. And if they are doing one at the mall I make sure that I go to two or three of them and give each one different answers.

Is it not possible that each of us is voting for the person that we think will do the best job of running the country without bringing all of the baggage of race or gender into the picture? Maybe some would like to have a woman or a black person in the top position. I would love to see a gay person male or female, black white or Hispanic in the Oval Office, BUT ONLY IF THAT PERSON IS THE MOST qualified person to do the job. Isn't that what it is supposed to be about? And not just person for the party but the best person for the job. JMHO, what is yours?
Mike

GAY MARRIAGE IN CALIFORNIA

A few days ago the California Supreme Court, by a close vote of 3-2, decided that Gays and Lesbians had the right to marry and then the Christians got their asses on their collective backs again and decided to try for a referendum on the November ballot. When does this stop?

I was brought up in the Catholic religion and spent some time in the Baptist church but I’m still not able to quote chapter and verse like some others can. But I do know one thing that Jesus is quoted as saying, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.” Maybe it is just an oversight on the part of those who would oppose what the state has approved or maybe it is just once again a small portion of the Christian community who reads thru their bibles with blinders on. There is plenty that I have read that some of my best Christian friends have overlooked or chose to ignore about what the bible tells them to do or not to do and while I note in in my mind, I say nothing. It isn’t my place to judge them. Again, I don’t know chapter or verse but I do seem to remember something about, “Judge not or yea shall be judged.”

It seems that the only thing that they have to worry about is gay marriage. Would it be okay if we got married but by a Justice of the Peace? And if we use non-religious vows would that be alright you? How many people have been married with the phrase,”...till death do us part” as part of their vow and then divorce later when something different comes along or things don‘t work out? And the bible does tell us that if you break up your marriage that you are not to have sex so long as the other one is still alive. Ask your pastor about that one. I am not here to judge anyone I just want you to remember some of the other things that are in the bible and hope for the sake of your soul that you are not casting that stone unless you are without sin. And if this is the case, please get in touch with me an let me know because it has been more than 2000 years since the last one who is without sin walked this earth.

WHO'S ELECTION IS THIS ANYWAY?

I'm getting sick and tired of all of these people saying that Hillary Clinton should step down and let Obama have a clear shot at ruining my home. Each and every candidate has the right to decide if and when they will throw in the towel, not other elected officials or the press. This is America and we have the right to free speech but who says that it is okay to trample on the lives of others?

Yes, I am a Hillary Clinton person and my reasons are as vast as the freckles on my body. But mostly because as a mother, wife and daughter, she knows how to keep a house in order, balance the budget, ensure that the family has enough food and the proper medical attention. Also as a wife and mother, she would make war a last resort, enough body bags have come home from a senseless war. A wife and mother knows how to entertain guests, stop quarrels and make friends with her neighbors. She has been the First Lady for the state of Arkansas as well as for the nation. And when her husband made mistakes she didn't cut and run, she forgave him and pulled the family closer than ever. Now she is a second term Senator from the state of New York winning her second race by a landslide.

Has she made mistakes? Hell yes, we all have and she will admit them and go on. That shows courage and wisdom to me. How many of us would prefer not to even acknowledge out mistakes? I see that when she is on the campaign trail that she doesn't just court the college kids who will be voting for the first time ever, but instead talks to ALL of the people. Already she has begun laying out plans for what she wants to do for us and the way that she wants to lead this great nation of ours. I'm not hearing that from Obama. If he holds off and learns more and then runs, I'm sure I would like to see him as a president. But as a gay person I can tell you right now that it would take more than admitted sexuality for me to vote for a gay person. I want the most experienced person on all of the issues to lead this country so that I can sleep better at night. That's my opinion, what's yours?

Mikey

LET'S TALK ABOUT GOD

There are a lot of people out there who call themselves Christians but I'm not sure that we're reading from the same book. Where in the bible does it say that God hates anyone? Not in the book that I read. And where in your bibles does it tell you to push your opinions of what your God said to people who wrote the book for Him. No where. You are to spread the word of the lord and it is up to those individuals to make their decision themselves. It could be scary for you and me alike if we die and find out that God was Jewish or Islamic. It's time for everyone to start to letting individuals make up their own minds and stop dictating what you think everyone should do, feel, think or act. I would challenge anyone who call themselves a Christian and yet would deny marriages between any two people who love each other, treating others who believe differently then we do and would protest at a funeral because a person is somehow connected to gays, to open up your books and minds. WWJD, indeed. Would he be the type of person who would force his word upon others who believed differently as did their parents and their parents before them? Jesus preached love not hate and if you follow him, perhaps you should too.

HOW MANY THINGS CAN GO WRONG WITH THE HUMAN BODY?

The latest news from my doctor is now I am having gall bladder problems. I swear sometimes I just want to lay down, pull the covers over my head and say to hell with everything. I have had the HIV virus for about 20 years and full blown AIDS for about 15. I always said that AIDS would not take me out and in acutallity it will not, but all of the complications that you encounter with this disease either they take you out or you do it yourself when you can no longer deal with life.

I would love to see a cure but I don't expect to see it in my life time and much of the damage that has been done to my body can not be reversed. And age is another factor. Longevity runs in my family and my best hope is that it will skip over me and I can go quietly into the night. I am sure that there are plenty of others out there sharing that same prayer. The best that I can try to do is make a difference while I am here and that is my aim.
Mike

Condoms for prisoners

Because prisoners are not supposed to be having sex, States don't want to give them condoms. If I have ever heard anything so stupid, it has been a very long while. AIDS is on the rise everywhere and the jailers would rather have more prisoners coming down with it then to give them condoms. If your son had to go to jail, guilty or not, for a minor offense or even a greater one, should he have to die for that. Rape goes on in these places as well as consentual sex, I personally, would rather that they did not promote AIDS and other STDs because the jailers (the States) don't want to appear to be approving of inmate sex or sex between inmates and the guards. Someone needs to kick some ass and get the condoms to the prisoners before they get out, infected and then infect more people. This disease will never be contained so long as narrow minded people are in government. Truly it is time to give the government back to the people, those who have the most to lose.

Mike