Rick Perry has fired the first shot in what I can only imagine to be a rapidly escalating cultural war in Texas.  Sitting at a Christian school, a sign that the separation between church and state is all but gone, he made it quite clear that certain people are no longer welcome here.

"Texans have made a decision about marriage.  If there's some other state that has a more lenient view than Texas, maybe that's a better place for them to live (emphasis added by the editor)."

Those were Rick Perry's words as he signed the bill that would send the gay-marriage banning constitutional amendment to the voters.

Correct me if I'm wrong — and I'm not wrong — but is the governor of Texas telling people who are being discriminated against that they can leave the state if they don't like being discriminated against?  Yes, that's exactly what he's saying.

Them?  What the hell is that about?

And when did Texans make a decision on this issue?  It's not even been put on a ballot yet.

The fact is that politicians spoke in the state legislature, not Texans as a whole.  There's a significant difference between politicians saying something and their respective constituencies saying something.  When politicians speak, it rarely has anything to do with what the people want.

In the meantime, Perry is telling every non-heterosexual in the state to get out.

"If there's some other state… maybe that's a better place for them to live."

It strikes me as near unimaginable that anyone would say we're going to discriminate against you and you can leave if you don't like it — and that's exactly what the asshole said.

The conservative Christian effort to firmly take the reigns of this country appears to be moving along successfully.  More and more Americans are being subjugated by governments at all levels as Jesus' cult elbows its way into power (remember that cult is the term large congregations use to describe small congregations, but they're all cults by definition).

The idea that religious fanatics could so easily take power in this country is frightening.  Even more disturbing is the premise that they can so easily practice discrimination, bigotry and hatred, clear indications of their own hypocrisy, while still claiming to be followers of Biblical teachings.  Those teachings, by the way, clearly prohibit such activities and make clear that those who practice them are evil men doomed to spend eternity in Texas… er… uh… I mean hell (now apparently the same place).

The legacy of Jasper Texas is alive and well in our country, except it's moved from the back roads to the state and federal capitals.  Hate crimes are still hate crimes, even when they're hidden in the law books.  Discrimination is discrimination regardless of how you explain it away.  And to hear Perry say the people of Texas have spoken when in fact they've not even voted on the amendment yet is disgusting.

When is enough really enough?

It wasn't OK to discriminate against blacks but it's more than OK to discriminate against gays?  Laws banning marriage between blacks and whites were unacceptable, but we don't mind if they ban marriages between same-gender couples?

Who do I hurt by being gay?  If I have a relationship with a man, does it cause financial hardship on someone?  Does it diminish their heterosexual marriage rights?  Does it in some way damage marriage between men and women?

Of course not!

This state, this country, the Republicans and especially Christians are bigots and evil hypocrites.  The funny thing is, although they'd never admit it, my life fulfills more of the Biblical guidelines than 99% of the Christians on the planet.  I don't hate.  I don't discriminate.  I sure as hell don't think any class of people deserves fewer rights than I do.  I believe all people should be treated equally, justly and fairly, and everyone should enjoy the same rights as everyone else.  I'm not a hypocrite.  I'm not a bigot.  I don't claim to believe and practice something while publicly and happily demonstrating the exact opposite.

There will be a backlash in this country.  Churches will burn.  Religions will be seen as the rabid cults they are.  Fanatics will be recognized and dealt with severely.  Governments will be toppled by popular demand.  Revolution will sweep across the states.  And that's if we're lucky enough to make it that far.

Sadly, the hypocrites in charge and those pushing from behind the curtains will never understand how it happened, they'll be blind to their own hypocrisy and hatred and bigotry, and they won't understand how their actions brought about the downfall of the United States.  10 years, give or take, and this country will be a shell of its former self.  I assure you it will happen.  You can only subjugate people with hate and fear and loathing for so long before the people have enough and decide not to take it anymore.

It is a social and class war being waged by governments who are being driven by religious zealots and radicals.  We as a people have become everything we said we were against when this country was founded and when all past wars were raged.  We torture, we hate, we discriminate, we abuse the rights of others, we show disregard for international law, we show disdain for the very same human rights we claim to uphold and cherish, and we readily violate our own Constitution.  We as a country, as a people, have become the Nazis of the new age.  Hitler would be proud of America.

If anyone truly studied what the Nazis did with the Jews during World War II, it all started just like this.  Take their rights away a little at a time.  Next, move them into the ghettos so you can keep them all together and get them out of regular society (sound familiar, Dick Perry?).  After that, begin helping them relocate "for their own safety."  Concentration camps are the final step — genocide based on sexual orientation.

Mark my words: that's what it's coming to.  Americans are just too blind and too stupid to see it coming unless, like me, you're on the receiving end.

How the great have fallen.  How the once magnificent America has become the enemy it claims to pursue.

If the American people do not take the country back from the radical fanatics who now control it, especially the religious zealots and extremists who are trying to re-implement the puritanical reign of fire (watch for "burning at the stake" to return as a legitimate punishment…), this country will die.  Our principles have already been violated and watered down.  Our freedoms have been eroded.  Our non-religious government has been replaced with a purely Christian régime which readily spits on other religions and those who do not believe as they do (just ask the Muslims).

Yes, we as a society are doomed if we don't act soon.  Actually, it may already be too late.

The results from a recent study of particulate matter in the atmosphere demonstrated that up to 25% of air pollution is actually naturally occurring.  This pollution includes bacteria and viruses, pollen, hair and fur, and skin cells.

The study was conducted by sampling air from around the globe during different times of the year.  Ruprecht Jaenicke of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Mainz, Germany, found that a variety of biological contaminants, including dandruff, algae, bacteria, fur and viruses, were injected directly into the air through natural processes.

Despite the readily assumed premise that the overall volume of this particulate matter would vary with the seasons, the study found that the total concentration doesn’t change from season to season.  It was documented, however, that the different biological compounds do indeed demonstrate variability with the seasons.

For instance, the pollen concentration is highest in the spring (no surprises there, right?) while other particulate matter fell slightly.  The amount of decaying cellular matter, on the other hand, appears to peak during winter months when pollen concentrations are at their lowest.  The end result is that the total concentration of biological contaminants stays relatively steady — accounting for up to 25% of the total air pollution at any one time.

The study concluded that biological processes are a major source of primary aerosol particles.  These particles, like all air contaminants, can influence cloud formation and trigger precipitation (this is a known fact of atmospheric physics).  Jaenicke made clear the importance of understanding how these biological contaminants are distributed across the globe.

All of this leads me to wonder if we’re going to pass laws to limit the amount of hair and skin cells people can slough off at any given time in an attempt to control air pollution.  We should also consider laws to control those biological contaminants which are not injected into the atmosphere by humans, such as fur, pollen, and a significant portion of the identified bacteria and viruses.  Air quality is important to all of us, as I’m sure you agree, and we shouldn’t allow anyone to claim “natural process” as an excuse not to clean up their act.

I’m being sarcastic, of course, in an attempt to point out that we still do not clearly understand our own ecosystem or how the planet works.  This is yet another example of why the claims of man-made global warming are alarmist and premature at best.  The mere fact that normal biological activities cause pollution means that it’s a blatant lie to state that man is wholly responsible for any real or perceived changes in global weather patters, not to mention health problems related to contaminants in the air, localized environmental changes due to air pollution, and so on.

I’m not letting people off the hook.  We need to get our act together and start focusing on ways to significantly decrease (and eventually stop altogether) the damage we do to the environment.  What I am pointing out is that our industrialized activities are not the only perpetrators of pollution and that natural phenomena are just as likely to cause changes in our environment and to our weather.

looking for a way back home
or at least a place where I am loved

many people pass me by
without stopping to ask me why
there are tears running from my eyes

[circa 1990]

As some of you may have read, my nephew Michael (aka Redkloud) recently decided to give up his life in Los Angeles and move to New York City.  He’s hoping he’ll be able to start fresh and build a new life for himself.

It’s a big decision.  As you can see from his posting, it’s also fraught with emotional turmoil.  He’s leaving so much behind — his friends, the life be built for himself, school…

But I understand the decision.  He so aptly spelled out his reasoning, much of which revolves around self-realization.  Is he happy where he is?  Has his life, in the last year since he returned to LA, fallen into place as he was hoping it would?  Has being in LA made him happy?

Although central to his particular situation, these are questions I believe we should all ask ourselves on a regular basis.  Even when we don’t like the answers, it empowers us to take action.

As I’ve always made clear to those around me, there is one central truth to life as a human: no one can make anyone happy and no one will ever keep our best interests at heart, so it’s up to us to look out for our own self interests and to ensure our own happiness.

No, I’m not advocating the selfish and uncaring attitude that so many Americans seem to be plagued with.  I am pointing out a universal truth however, and that is that we are responsible for our own happiness, our own fulfillment.  If we do not take action to ensure our happiness and to address our needs in life, we can’t expect anyone else to do it for us — at least not with the honest concern for our well-being that we would demonstrate.

I’m glad to see that Michael has evaluated his life and has given serious thought to what he’s striving to achieve with it.  The pursuit of happiness isn’t just a constitutional phrase.  It is in fact an endeavor with which each of us is charged from birth.

Michael’s already called to let me know he made it to NYC safely and is getting settled in.  There will be much work ahead for him — home, job, school, friends, etc.  This is no small undertaking.

I wish him all the luck in the world.  I sincerely hope things fall into place for him, that what he’s looking for can be found in the city that never sleeps.

I love you Michael, and I wish you well.

I don't generally have excessively gay moments, as you have undoubtedly noticed.  That is to say, I'm usually not a flamer and don't normally make a commotion about what I think of men unless I'm talking to very close friends.  In fact, other than Rick and a brief mention of xocobra's "soccer boy butt," when have I discussed any man in a sexual context?  Never.

Many people think, because I'm gay, that this site must be full of gay porn and discussions about this hot guy and the next.  Sorry to disappoint you.  That's just never been my overriding style.

I am, however, a sexual person like everyone else.  To claim otherwise is to be dishonest.  We are all sexual beings; we all think about the object that piques our interest, that makes us stop and take notice, that gives us that special feeling in all the right places.

You know what I'm talking about.  Don't play coy with me.

This happens to be one of those times when I slide out of my normal façade and demonstrate, for all the world to see, just precisely how gay I am when it counts.  Concomitant with my normal self — that part of me that you've seen here for the last few years — is the part of me that thinks in sexual contexts.

Hey, I'm not inhuman.  I feel things like every other person on the planet.  I'd love to be able to talk to all of my friends about how I feel when I feel it.  I generally haven't in this venue, although I do talk about such things with those I'm comfortable with.  This is America after all, and we don't do that kind of thing here.  As a homosexual man I'm not allowed to have those kinds of feelings.

That being the case…

Fuck America!

My feelings are as important as the next person, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.  For that reason I'm kicking off this new category — Men — to address that part of me.

As a gay man in America, I'm not really allowed to feel much of anything.  American society tolerates me more easily if I don't actually act or feel in ways that would demonstrate my homosexuality.  I generally keep these kinds of feelings to myself.  Here in the land of the free it's better to act like you're no different from everyone else.  That's just how it is.  Pathetic, I know, and terribly sad.  Welcome to America, poppets.

Still, get over it.  I grow so weary of the games and the pretensions and the need to be like everyone else in order to be accepted.  I'm not normally obsequious, especially in social matters, so why should this be any different?

My friends — my true friends — accept me the way I am.  More importantly, I accept me the way I am.  And as Teresa of Avila said, "Self-knowledge is of such importance, that even if you were to be raised to the highest heavens, I should not want to stop your cultivation of it…"

My sexual id — that primitive part of me that functions on a purely physical level — as well as that part of me which thinks in terms of my own gender are both important pieces of my self-knowledge, but more to the point, important pieces of me.

There are also times when, as a man, I want to talk about men in a general context — about how dumb they can be, how blinded they can be by very simple things, how they — especially American men — suffer from such extreme and various societal hang-ups, and a myriad of other topics about — wait, here it comes — men.

Don't expect grand elucidations.  You should have learned not to expect that from me by now.  You can expect, however, general considerations and insight regarding the male gender from someone who knows a bit about them (being one helps, of course).  I'll also use this to discuss men in sexual contexts.  Don't expect luridly pornographic writings or pictures as that is not the intent.

Editor's note: As an example of what this new topic will be used for, I've already moved the Relativity series into this category.  That's the kind of content you can expect to be included here.