Gays in the News

I don't want to get into the whole Main Street gay kiss arrest and subsequent protest. My friend Curtis broke the story on his blog and it is being covered pretty extensively elsewhere. I will say that the LDS church has cameras everywhere and they still have not released any footage of the incident to the public. I wonder why?

Instead, my post is going to be about gays in the military, again. There is an AP article here. It seems crazy to me that there is still a debate going on 15+ years after Clinton caved and adopted don't ask don't tell. Now there is evidence that in other liberal western democracies gays serving in the military has had litle or no negative impact. The opposition's response? Jingoism!

Is the fear and the hatred of gays so rampant in the upper ranks and in Congress that they are willing to overlook not just the two wars we are fighting with poor recruitment numbers while we need more soldiers but are actually willing to fire good soldiers over what kind of sex they have with other consenting adults while off duty? It is really asinine.

As I have said before, the leadership is out of touch with the common soldier. The vast majority of 18-25 year olds don't care if someone is gay. They all know someone from their extended family or from High School that is gay. It just isn't that big of a deal.

President Barack Obama says he favors lifting the ban but he wants to win over skeptics in Congress and the Pentagon. That just isn't going to happen. It will require an executive order, like Truman used to integrate the military. When that does eventually happen, I predict it will be met with an apathetic wall of silence from the military and an apoplectic fit by a bunch of white haired good ol' boy Republicans in Congress.

Nothing Much. An Update

There isn't a lot to write about. I am really tired of it raining. I think a rain god, like the one mentioned in Neil Gaiman's American Gods, must have moved to Salt Lake City. I am still looking for a job. Still not even hearing back from the jobs I apply for. This means I am having to borrow money to pay my bills.

The Department of State chose to not even interview me after I passed the foreign service exam again. If they are choosing to pass on me with my qualifications and credentials, I can't imagine what they are looking for.

I finally have commitments from five professors to serve on my committee for the PhD.

I haven't really seen any movies lately. I do recommend Star Trek to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. Wolverine is skipable. I will be seeing Terminator Salvation and Up soon.

The new Dave Mathews Band CD is one of their best. I also really like that the posted an entire concert live on Hulu as part of their promotion for the new album.

I am currently reading Last Watch, a Russian novel by Segei Lukyanenko and I have the first two Sookie Stackhouse vampire novels by Charlane Harris from the library. True Blood on HBO is based on these books. I look forward to reading them.

The only other thing I can think of mentioning is Sonic Youth is going to be playing at the Twilight Concert Series this year. I used to have quite a few Sonic Youth tapes back in Junior High mixed in with the Nirvana, Pixies and Dinosaur jr. I think Pearl Jam is the only group from that scene that is still going strong. It should be fun to see them again. Also, they are touring behind a new album that is getting good reviews from Rolling Stone rather than just performing old hits. That is always a good sign.

Update

First, Star Trek was great! Go see it.

The semester is over. I am tired of school. I don't know why I am still there. I also accidentally took an undergraduate class so my fellowship didn't pay for it. So, I owe the U. $350 I don't have.

I am still job searching. Its been more than six months now. 3 BAs an MA and most of a PhD apparently doesn't go as far as they used to.

I checked one of my news aggregater tonight and got really depressed. A major news outlet had in their top ten stories an article about whether or not an American Idol contestant is gay, an article about American Idol's current rankings and Miley Cyrus's virginity pledge. Because those are apparently the important things happening in the world today.

Some days I really can't wait for the coming zombie apocalypse to overrun the world. Really, most Americans are already there and wouldn't notice the difference.

The Oppressive Weight of Human Knowledge

Read this article.

I find stories like this exciting. As a race, a species, we are on the verge of moving off our lone planet and traveling to others. However, it also depresses me. For the first time in human history our knowledge actually exceeds our grasp. We have an understanding of the size and scope of the universe and the physical laws that govern it. Yet we are not even close to the technology to exploit that knowledge. What I mean is this: if we find an earthlike planet 20.5 light years from here, how many generations would it take us to reach it with today's technology? We can't even explore our solar system very well.

Our imagination has been sparked by the dream of interstellar travel. Yet, when I was born the space shuttle was the new thing. Now I am in my thirties and the space shuttle is still the obsolete vehicle we are stuck with. Our space program has stalled and I fear that I am going to be in a generation that is aware of the universe and imagines our potential but dies long before we get our shit together and realize it.

But hey, we get a Star Trek reboot with a younger cast and more action and explosions! That should satisfy us geeks! Right?

Life on Mars Series Finale (American Version) spoilers, of course

What The Fuck!

Most people have not seen this show since it was canceled after its first season. Its based on a great BBC show but it never quite matched up to its predecessor. It is about a 2008 detective who gets injured and wakes up in 1973. The American show was full of anachronisms and was obviously written by people with only a passing knowledge of the early 70's, probably sculpted by growing up watching The Wonder Years in the 80's. Still, the show had its charm and was canceled too soon.

The BBc show dealt with existential issues and the American version flirted with them. They explored issues like Who am I? or What makes me, me?. The British version ended n a very bleak but also beautiful way where the main character wakes from a coma and returns to the present only to find it sucks. So, he leaps from top of a tall building and kills himself. He goes back to 1973, either in the afterlife or... whatever.

The American version stops flirting with sci-fi and sloppily embraces it all of a sudden by making the whole thing a fantasy reality meant to occupy the brains of the first astronauts to land on Mars while they were in stasis. But there was a glitch effecting the main character so he remembers his with his crew mates as characters in his fantasy. It was pretty dumb. I think the American writers were oblivious to the fact that David Bowie was using poetic license with the lyrics of his song or they thought that an unsophisticated American audience needed to see Mars at the end of a show title Life On Mars.

Whatever the explanation, the American version is going to remain a promising but failed remake of an excellent British show.

Thor Casting Rumors

See the article here.

I have been saying for months,ever since I saw him on True Blood, that Alexander Skarsgard is the best actor I can think of to play the Norse god of thunder. However, I don't really see Josh Hartnet as Loki. I see someone more like John Leguizamo only younger.

Big Love "Controversy "

Read the Tribune article here.

I have three thoughts on this.

First, the comments are now approaching nearly 800 since the article was posted last night. A Trib article rarely gets more than 100 comments, even on incendiary topics when the article stays up for several days. I find it sad that the newspaper reading community in Utah would pick an HBO television show to fixate upon with all the other stuff going on in Utah, the United States and the world.

Second, I don't understand how this is offensive. Sacred ceremonies for other religions are regularly displayed in entertainment. Just take Catholicism as an example. In The Godfather a baptism is performed against the backdrop of several murders. How many times has Last Rights or confession appeared on screen? Or how about the entire film The Exorcist. How many of us gentiles know what a bris or a bar mitzva is due solely to depictions in entertainment? Do Mormons expect the rest of society to treat their religion like every other religion or do they want special treatment because others don't treat their sacred ceremonies with the same level of solemnity as a faithful Mormon does?

Third, one cannot desecrate what another holds sacred(this also applies to opponents of gay marriage). If the words or actions of another can effect or diminish what you believe to be sacred then your faith isn't very strong and that shouldn't be any one's problem but your own. Many Jews and Catholics have made entire careers out of mocking their own faith. They do it out of a strong sense of faith or dysfunctional love. I think that the LDS faithful need to develop a similar sense because when the knee-jerk reaction is to get offended, it only demonstrates a deeper insecurity about their religion.

Take a queue from Mormons living outside of Utah. They sometimes get some light ribbing from friends and colleagues for their garments or for not drinking but they get along and fit in with mainstream society fine. Only in Utah, where the church dominates, do we ever hear Mormon outcries of religious intolerance and encounter this weird persecution complex.