The Republic of T.

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Sometimes you look up and the whole day is gone. You’ve been “doing” all day, but not what you want to do. When you look at the days ahead, you’ve got lots more to be “doing,” but what you want to do isn’t on the list. If it’s on the list at all, it comes after the things you must do, have to do, should do, need to do, are needed to do, and are expected to. It comes dead last.

You can think about it while you’re in the midst of all that “doing,” while you’re in the middle of being a “human doing” rather than a “human being.” You may wonder what you are “being” if what you’re “doing” isn’t what you want to do. Maybe you’re being what you must be, have to be, should be, need to be, are needed to be, and are expected to be. But what you want to be? It comes dead last. Too.

So it is with anything I hoped to write today, or for the next several days. I want to write. I want to be a writer. But have other things to do and be. So, I am not. Today.

It’s official. Just when I think American idiocy had finally peaked, it reaches new heights. We have officially become the most ignorant mo fos on the planet. I haven’t been to Dunkin’ Donuts in a while, but now I know I shan’t darken their door again. Any company that bows to ignorance doesn’t need my business.

And by “US” I mean the United States.

Why can’t we get behind this?

More than 100 nations meeting in Dublin, Ireland, agreed Wednesday on a treaty that would immediately ban all cluster bombs, a spokesman for the Cluster Munition Coalition told CNN.

he accord calls for a total, immediate ban of the weapons, strong standards to protect those injured by them, contaminated areas to be cleaned up as quickly as possible and for the weapons to be immediately destroyed, he said.

Thomas Nash, coordinator of the CMC campaigning organization, said: “This is a great achievement for everyone who has been working hard to see the end of 40 years of suffering from these weapons.”

Though some of the biggest makers of cluster bombs, including the United States, Russia, China and Israel, were not involved in the talks and have not signed the accord, organizers predicted that those nations would nevertheless be pressured into compliance.

“Take the United States,” Nash said. “Almost all of its allies are here. They’ve decided to ban these weapons. That’s going to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the United States to ever use these weapons again, either on its own or in joint operations.”

Before you answer, take a look at this.

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This got a laugh out of me when I spotted the title, and then a nod of recognition once I started reading the article. Apparently, ADHD can make you miss 20 days of work per year. Well, kinda.

When “Fidgety Philip” grows up, the problems of attention deficit disorder can multiply into loss of nearly a month’s work per year.

Long seen as a problem for children, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was first described in 1845 by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman, who wrote “The Story of Fidgety Philip.”

More recently, it has been recognized as continuing into adulthood for some people, and new research seeks to estimate the effect of ADHD on workers.

This lack of ability to concentrate costs the average adult sufferer 22.1 days of “role performance,” per year, including 8.7 extra days absent, according to researchers led by Dr. Ron de Graaf of the Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction.

It’s almost funny that, for folks with ADHD, those “missed days” occurred when they were actually at work. Almost.

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Not sure what to make of this. For the record, I grew up in the 80s, but I didn’t have any of these toys.

I had a Ken doll, and G.I. Joe, which I think my parents got for me because of the amount of time I spent playing with my sister’s Barbie dolls. Once I got Ken and Joe back to my room… Well, let’s just say I didn’t have much time for Barbie anymore…

Well, it looks that way. Remember that survey that came out right after the California marriage ruling, which said a majority of Californians narrowly opposed marriage equality? Well, yet another poll now says a majority supports marriage equality.

Signaling a generational shift in attitudes, a new Field Poll on Tuesday said California voters now support legal marriage between same-sex couples and oppose a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

By 51 to 42 percent, state voters believe gay couples have the right to marry, according to a May 17-26 poll of 1,052 registered voters.

However, the same poll revealed a California electorate that remains sharply divided over gay marriage – split by age, political affiliation, religion and the regions where they live.

In some ways that’s not surprising, since the legislature sent marriage equality legislation to the governor not once but twice. Sure, he vetoed the legislation not each time. But the legislature that sent him those bills was elected by the people of California. So, maybe that reflects a change in public opinion. After all, even Arnold has changed his mind since then. In fact, he says it might even be good for the economy.

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Ever since I wrote a post about adoption and African American children back in 2004, I get occasional emails from people considering adoption — considering cross-racial adoption, especially — asking for information and advice. I’m not an expert, by any stretch of the imagination, but I try to answer them. The interesting thing is that I still get those emails even though I haven’t posted much on the subject since then.

But that post came to mind recently, when I read a New York Times article about race and adoption.

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Woah. I may have to rethink my previous post about Bob Barr. According to Queerty, now Bob Barr says he’ll work to repeal DOMA.

I’m thoroughly perplexed about what to make of this. Kip’s comment on the post above does give me pause tho’.

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Maryland has taken two baby-steps towards equality.

Gov. Martin O’Malley signed two bills to bring some of the rights married couples have to unmarried couples — including gay couples — along with measures related to health and support for Maryland veterans.

O’Malley, who supports creating a civil unions law that has yet to find enough support in the Maryland General Assembly, said he believed the bills help address “inequities and unfairness” against committed couples who are not married, including gay couples.

“Without the ability to have the legal protections that say, a civil unions statute would give, then these other bills, will, I suspect, continue to come through the legislature and continue to be approved by the legislature …” O’Malley said.

One of the bills allows unmarried couples more rights to make about a dozen medical decisions for each other, if they meet certain criteria to show they are a committed couple. For example, they would have to show joint checking accounts or joint property ownership to qualify.

The other bill exempts domestic partners from paying property transfer taxes when one person dies.

California gets marriage, and we get … well, … slightly more than we had before.

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I thought the columnist I mentioned earlier took the cake in terms of the religious right’s hysterical response to the California marriage ruling. Boy was I wrong.

Ed has posted two World Nut Daily columns that leave me pretty much staring in open-mouthed wonder. It’s the kind of thing you have to read to believe, but once I did I was left with a question or two which I’ll pose at the end of this post.

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I don’t know what’s scarier. This:

According to a senior government official who served with high-level security clearances in five administrations, “There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived ‘enemies of the state’ almost instantaneously.” He and other sources tell Radar that the database is sometimes referred to by the code name Main Core. One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.

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