The Republic of T.

By now, you know the drill.

• Why the new wiretapping law is a lot worse than you think. - Patrick Rad, Slate
• Yep, There’s Slave In Me - Renee, Feministe
• Lock Her Damn Ass Up - Renee, Feministe
• The Feminist Sibling - Natalia Anatova, Feministe
• On Facing the Extinction of My Kind - Jason Kuznicki, Positive Liberty
• The Fate of Poor Women in America - Steven D, Booman Tribune
• No One Takes Progessives Seriously - Booman, Booman Tribune

That’s all I got time for right now.

With my morning pretty much sewn up with work and meetings (and since I’m no longer taking my laptop to meetings) at work, it’s hard to say whether I’ll get around to writing or posting much at all today. I’ve got something almost written, and a couple of things I’ve been wanting to write for weeks now. But they will have to come after everything else.

In the meantime, I might as well do here what I spend most of my time doing anyway: promoting the writing of others who have time to write, whereas I don’t. Granted, it’s not so much writing, on my part, as just copying-and-pasting, but it fills this space. And if you came here looking for something to read, the least I can do is help you find it.

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Via Ex-Gay Watch. This doesn’t surprise me at all.

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) sent out a mailing today titled “NAACP Rocks,” referencing a 2006 letter of appreciation from the organization to PFOX. According to the attached copy, PFOX held an exhibit at the NAACP annual convention that year. It is not yet known if they participated in 2007 or if they will be there this year, but the email suggests they plan on participating in 2009.

The PFOX exhibit displayed useful information on unwanted same-sex attractions and tolerance for the ex-gay community. We distributed many brochures, flyers, stickers, and buttons. The attendees were enthusiastic about our booth and our ex-gay volunteers staffing the booth were well received. Many people remarked at how glad they were to see us and took extra handouts to distribute at their church back home. Gay groups like the Human Rights Campaign have exhibited at the NAACP for many years, but PFOX was the first and only ex-gay booth there.

We would like to exhibit there next year. Please make a love offering at http://www.pfox.org/donate.htm or send a gift to the address below so we can pay the exhibit booth fee.

Thanks and see you at the NAACP convention next year!

Here are examples of the brochures PFOX might have circulated.

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Want to protect marriage.

Two United States Senators implicated in extramarital sexual activity have named themselves as co-sponsors of S. J. RES. 43, dubbed the Marriage Protection Amendment. If ratified, the bill would amend the United States Constitution to state that marriage “shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.”

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), who was arrested June 11, 2007 on charges of lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport terminal, is co-sponsoring the amendment along with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).

Craig, who entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, was detained and charged for attempting to engage in sexual activity with a male undercover police officer. His arrest and plea became public two months later. At that time, Craig attempted to withdraw his plea and enter a new plea of not guilty. To date, his efforts have been denied by the courts.

In July of 2007, Vitter was identified as a client of a prostitution firm owned by the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, commonly known as The DC Madam.

With a Democratic controlled Congress it is unlikely the bill will be brought up for a vote in either the Senate or House of Representatives.

Of course it wouldn’t occur to them to start with own.

Well, all they need now is Ted Haggard to do the T.V. spots.

I’ve got some stuff in mind to post, but first I have to get lunch and do any number of things. And I might not get around to posting anyway.

Since a big portion of my day job is promoting other people’s writing, I might as well do the same here. Besides, I come across more worthwhile content than I have space to promote at work. And if I’m not creating any content myself….

Anyway. Here’s some of what I’ve been reading this morning.

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I really should have paid more attention in English class. Or, rather, I should have paid more attention to my grammar lessons. (Probably any hard-core grammarian who’s read the blog would concur.) But I spent the better part of my time as an English Lit. major in creating writing classes, and post-war literature. (My advisor finally told me I had to take the requisite pre-1800 literature classes. I realized then that I’d have been better off as a comparative lit. major.)

Had I spent more time diagraming sentences, then maybe I could make sense of the recent Supreme Court ruling on D.C.’s gun ban.

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Is it possible to go on strike over something that isn’t even your job? I’ve been thinking about staging my own writer’s strike. But what would I be striking for, or against?

I’m not really sure. I think it’s mostly out of frustration. I mean, I’ve found something I enjoy doing, and that I think I’m reasonably good at. (Enough that at least people have been wanting to read what I’ve been writing for the last few years.) But here’s the thing. I don’t make a living at it.

It’s given me opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise, and taken me to places I certainly wouldn’t have gone. But I don’t make a living at it. It doesn’t pay a single bill. I’m not a writer at work. I don’t get paid to write. So am I really a writer at all?

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I think Chris Rock has had the right idea all along.

I’m getting tired of wanting to write, and needing to write, but not writing because writing is not my job. Anybody know anyone looking to hire a writer?

Image details: DC Mayor Reacts To Supreme Court Ruling On DC Gun Ban served by picapp.com

Well, the finally did it. I first mentioned it years ago, when this blog was in its infancy. So I guess now I should say, thank you Kay Bailey Hutchison. Thank you. By the time you take your ass back to Texas, there will undoubtedly be more guns on the streets of Washington, D.C.

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• Three Myths About the Internet That Refuse to Die | AlterNet
  (tags: internet web)

It’s time for what we call where I come from a “Come To Jesus Meeting.” Except that now we can have a bit more variety. We can have a “Come to Jesus/Allah/Buddha/Krisha/Oshun/Zeus/Xenu Meeting.”

OK. Maybe I’m getting carried away, but a conversation I had with my coworkers got me thinking this morning.

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