Quote of the Day

There were just too many amusing things in my comics today to stick to just one:

"No two humans are created equal. They're like snowflakes with a 250 C combustion temperature."

- The consistently amusing Freefall.

"Pope Pius XI: well known for his vicious attack rottweilers."

- from the notes to Irregular Webcomic!

Considering my first rally

I managed to get through five years of undergraduate education without once joining a march, rally, or demonstration. Engineers can be like that - it's the homework load.

Through my church, I heard about a Lobby Day happening at the state legislature on Monday. I knew that the church was organizing to go for LBGT rights, but I wasn't sure if that was the only cause being lobbied for on Lobby Day. And that made me somewhat hesitant to sign up for it.

See, in addition to being a supporter of LBGT rights and same-sex marriage (or the entire dissolution of all civil marriages and the implementation of civil unions for all¹), I'm also a registered Republican who frequently votes Libertarian. I am not in a mood to go freeze my buns off on Monday in the name of a good cause just to hear speakers rail against the Iraq War or Hurricane Katrina response. I am not going to support their opinions on those causes.

(Not that I don't have my own issues with the Iraq War or the Hurricane Katrina response. But I think they're complicated and messy situations, and that the Administration did some things as best as it could, and screwed up some others. I don't particularly want to hear either "Bush is Teh Satan-Nazi!11!" or "All hail Bush!")

So, I emailed the folks organizing the event with my concerns and they promptly emailed me back. Their speakers are told to stay on-topic, but they (honestly) admit that they cannot control the speakers once they get going. But I was reassured that this is only a Lobby Day for LBGT issues and nothing else. Also, the entire thing takes place in the late afternoon/evening, which gives them points in my book - this seems to be more about getting older (read: working) voters to Annapolis than it is about mustering a huge crowd of university students for the cameras.

So... yeah, I may go. I'm a little leery of committing, still, mostly because I'm afraid of the cold/snow forecast and am being somewhat overprotective of the Spud. I would hate to sign up, get scheduled to meet with my reps, and then be a no-show. (On the other hand, I'm sure that happens to at least 10% of the people who sign up - they get sick, have an emergency, forget, etc. - so there must be a mechanism in place for dealing with it.)

1 - I really dislike the "marriage is sacred!" argument against allowing same-sex marriages. But yes, for many many people, marriage is a bona fide sacrament. But know what? Religious organizations dispense sacraments, not the state. If the real hang-up is the word "marriage" and its sacramental connotations (which are ancient, I grant), then divorce the word for the sacrament from the word for "the recognition of a committed household of two adults granted tax, medical, and legal benefits before the state." I personally have no problem with getting my "civil union" license from Maryland and having my marriage solemnized in my preferred house of religion. (And then colloquially, everyone would just call it "being married" anyway.)

Oh, burned...

Leslie Morgan Steiner decided to blog about Anna Nicole Smith's life and passing today in her work-family column On Balance.

Her comments sections was promptly hijacked by her readers to discuss the economical purchase of children's clothing. Don't know if it'll stay that way, but ow... Power to the people, or something.