Tony Echavarry It’s all good, I’m just so sick of these Muslims and the crap they spread around the world. Sad to say, but the world would be better off without them, because they do nothing but preach hatred & death, & destroy anything that is considered good or fun to normal people.

Mr. Echavarry doesn’t seem to realize that he espouses the same hate he supposedly opposes.

Scary.

It’s much easier to not have to worry about keeping up with the monthly payments for hosting and yearly payments for domain registration. At least that’s the case for me.

So if you’re thinking of taking your free blog to a paid, self-hosted, using-your-own-URL version, make sure you are really, really committed to paying for the blog now and forever.

Don’t be like me and create cool, self-hosted blogs that you end up abandoning because you need to save money! You lose all that great content (I know, I could have saved it but oh, what a hassle!).

~ Mark

Collaborative brainstorming and revolutionary heartstorming towards conscious community. Race, gender, sexuality & masculinity politics, news, events, resources, personal perspectives & good conversations too.

I thank the blog’s owner, Richard, for posting his report, “Perspective from str8 Black Male Protest Organizer in Oakland” on the Join the Impact discussion forum because that is how I learned about his wonderful blog.

See that post on the Join the Impact discussion forum for a great discussion on the importance of white queers recognizing the fact that we have absorbed racial (and other) stereotypes and prejudices, many of which lurk in the subconscious realm of our psyche yet nonetheless influence our perception, judgment, and behavior.

Here is a comment I just left for Richard on his blog:

Richard,

Wow. What an inspiring, heartfelt, and informative blog. I started weeping reading your post, including the powerful Parable you shared.

Why am I crying? I’m not completely sure. What comes up immediately is the love I feel coming through from you. And perhaps the knowledge that the actions you are taking bring great healing and hope to so many, including myself.

Love & Respect,

Mark

There are several problems with this call for a boycott. Overall, it’s a knee-jerk, dumb, and lazy way to fight for our civil rights. It will hurt more than help.

It takes more time and energy to take truly effective action, such as coming out (if you haven’t already) and openly expressing your support–regardless of your sexual orientation–for marriage equality and rights for LGBTQ citizens with friends, family, and associates.

I admit my bias up front: I live in Park City and Sundance helps our local economy. Although I should point out that, in general, a boycott of Utah will end up hurting the two most liberal areas of the state–Salt Lake City and Park City–and leave the vast Mormon masses unscathed.

As a matter of fact, the rest of the state, where much of the political power resides, would find it amusing to see the Salt Lake and Park City economies hurt by a gay boycott. I can see them laughing and singing praise for months to come.

But setting aside the economic effect on SLC and PC for a moment, I still have trouble understanding how boycotting Sundance will help our cause.

A boycott will cause economic harm to some of our strongest allies. Independent film makers as a group are some of the most thoughtful, conscientious, progressive, and potentially influential people in the world. And we’re going to boycott their festival?

The film industry also has one of the highest percentages of LGBTQ people. We will be “hurting our own” with such a boycott. In fact, it would be hard to come up with a better “cut off your nose to spite your face” maneuver than this proposed boycott.

Well, maybe boycotting As The World Turns–yes, even the Luke and Noah episodes–because a second assistant director gave $25 to Yes on 8 would be worse.

I do support Sundance not using the Holiday Village Cinema for viewings since Cinemark CEO Alan Stock donated to Yes on 8 (and here is an even better way to protest Cinemark/Stock’s anti-gay activities). So far Sundance has said they can’t find another place but I suspect “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

But to boycott the entire festival, simply because it’s an easier target than, for example, taking the time to learn about and boycott all the specific business interests which contributed to “Yes on 8,” is lazy and misguided.

~ Mark Worthen

Boys Holding Hands During Gay Rights March

It saddens me to think that soon these boys will be told that they shouldn’t hold hands or show affection with each other because it might “make them gay” or, simply because according to the tradition of narrowly-defined masculinity and homophobia, “boys don’t do that!”

Fortunately they have parents who know otherwise.

~ Mark Worthen

In their most recent AAdvantage Miles newsletter/brochure, the company advertises:

“Give AAdvantage miles this holiday!”

In that section of the brochure they state:

“Have miles and want to share?
Our shareAAmiles program allows you to transfer up to 100,000 miles to another member’s account or receive miles into your account. (*These offers are good for a limited time through December 31, 2008).”

The brochure directs the member to the American Airlines website (www.aa.com/giftAAmiles).

There are three programs on the website:

1) buyAAmiles, in which one can buy miles for oneself;

2) giftAAmiles, in which one purchase miles and give them to another AAdvantage member; and

3) shareAAmiles, in which one give miles in one’s frequent flier (AAdvantage) account to another AAdvantage member.

It was the shareAAmiles program in which our family was interested. We went to the website to transfer 25,000 miles from one family member’s account to another family member’s AAdvantage account.

It was only at that time that we discovered that not only is there a $30 “processing fee” (which would have been fine by itself) but there is also a $250 “transaction fee” for a total of $280!

Now, we understand that a company can charge outrageous prices if it so chooses. What concerns us is that American Airlines tricks AAdvantage members into thinking that they will be able to simply give some of their miles to a friend or family member. Remember that the printed brochure states that the “… program allows you to transfer up to 100,000 miles to another member’s account ….” without any mention of any fees.

That is deceptive advertising.

I request that American Airlines note *on the brochure page* that they require a substantial fee, ranging from $50 to $250–in addition to a $30 processing fee–in order to transfer miles under their shareAAmiles program.

Specifically, I request that on the same brochure page as the offer that American Airlines print something like this:

“Requires a $30 processing fee and a transaction fee of $50 to $250, depending on the number of miles transferred.”

Thank you,

Mark Worthen

I hope that American Airlines will recognize the importance of providing information about substantial fees in their promotional materials.

I’m unfortunately not very optimistic given that American Airlines currently has an Unsatisfactory rating with the Fort Worth, TX Better Business Bureau.

~ Mark D Worthen PsyD

By the way, if you find yourself wanting to merge two WordPress.com blogs, see this WordPress.com FAQs article and this WordPress.com Forum thread: Merge two blogs (same account).

~ Mark Worthen

If you patronize any of these businesses you are no better than people who supported racist laws, policies, and businesses prior to the civil rights movement.

Best Western Coral Hills, St. George, Utah ==> Wittwer Management, LLC, the corporation that owns and runs the Best Western Coral Hills, donated $10,000 to “Yes on 8″

Wilkinson Electric, Inc., St. George & Springville, Utah ==> donated $10,000 to “Yes on 8″

A complete list is located at:

http://qsaltlake.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=840&Itemid=35

And here is a list of individual contributors to the anti-gay “Yes on 8″ campaign, ordered by date of contribution:

http://www.sfgate.com/webdb/prop8/?appSession=68549264450379

or ordered by amount of contribution:

http://www.sfgate.com/webdb/prop8/?appSession=18449264711637&RecordID=&PageID=2&PrevPageID=2&cpipage=1&CPIsortType=asc&CPIorderby=Amount

Click to learn where the closest rally and march is in your area.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

1:30 p.m. EST * 12:30 p.m. CST * 11:30 a.m. MST * 10:30 a.m. PST

Join the Impact! Support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Rights in the United States of America. Protest the Proposition 8 vote in California, which was bought and paid for largely by anti-gay churches (Mormon, Roman Catholic, Evengelical), which enjoy tax-free status.

Click here to find out where the closest rally is in your state on Saturday, January 15, 2008