Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Annotation #8

Title: Senate advances benefits bill for same-sex couples; The issue prompted critics to caution against efforts to legalize same-sex marriage.

This is another article from Minnesota. This article deals with a bill that would pass to give same-sex couples more benefits from the workplace and other things like heterosexual married couples enjoy. Those for it think that it is only fair that these couples could share the same benefits that straight people have the opportunity to have. Those against it say it costs to much or it is just building a cornerstone for gay marriage in Minnesota. The bill actually won't cost that much though, which leaves the other argument. Those opposed to it believe that this isn't about insurance... it's about making the relationship more like a marriage, which isn't right. Those for it believe that is alright since they don't have the ability to have a marriage or benefits. They want to help all families in Minnesota, not just the straight ones.

Annotation #7

Title: In the Debate Over Gay Marriage, Many Occupy a Middle Ground.

This article is from St. Paul and deals with a family of six... but it is a very unordinary family. This family has 2 mothers, 2 fathers, and two children. The lesbian couple are the primary focus of the article. They explain their situation and how they have been registered as partners and had a "civil union" celebration, but how Minnesota does not recognize their joining. They bring up the fact that even if other people don't allow them to marry, they are still going to be together and there is nothing the government can do about it. Besides the view points of this couple, it asks a mother of four(maybe) children what she thinks about the marriage. She says her faith is against it and therefore she is too. The only arguments against the lesbian and gay couples in this article are based on what God thinks. One preacher claims that he is no better than the same-sex couples, but that God didn't intend for them to get married, so they shouldn't. The other woman also says that she feels sorry for the gay people because she doesn't understand why God would allow them to be "sinful" if he did not like that. Another man, for gay rights, exclaimed that the constitution and government should stay out of a families business. He was from Holland, where it is legal.

Annotation #6

Title: The Gay Glove
(Laws against homosexuality around the world)

America, while not the best with homosexuality, is definetly not the worst. South Carolina recently banned gay marriage. In Detroit, an elderly gay man was killed and this led to increased protection of gay people through anti-hate crime laws. It also mentioned the military general's comment about gay marriage being immoral and how an archbishop supported his idea.

In countries like Latvia, discrimination is not banned at work. In Jamaica, around 200 people tried to lynch four gay men. In South America, one man (maybe more) couldn't give blood because of his orientation and a transgender person was stabbed when entering a store. Many places in Africa jail gay rights activists and people accused of possible "gay activities". They can be stoned if charged with maximum offenses. Women are kicked out of schools if they could be lesbians. In Iran, guys over 15 and girls over 9 can be sentenced to the death penalty for being gay or having any same-sex relations.

Europe is relatively accepting of gay marriage, with Denmark as the first country to allow same-sex couples to register for some sort of marriage.

Annotation #5

Title: Making Vows for Equality

This article is about straight couples who are for the equality of gay couples. It talks about a specific couple who think that this battle is comparable to the one of different races being unable to get married. They talked about how the gay and lesbian people needed support since no battle for civil rights has been won by just the ones being discriminated against. Many people join to support the lesbian and gay people while Bush and other politicians pass laws against gay marriage. It explains the unfairness involved because of the basic rights that are being taken away. It also addresses the issue that says gay people are immoral when a lot of heterosexual people are often into some "hanky panky" themselves. The religious debate comes up a little bit. It says that the government is trying to bring in Christian morals that should not be used.

Annotation #4

Title: Procreation Center of Gay Marriage Debate

This article questions the argument that procreation is what marriage is about. It points out that with newer technologies, artificial insemination can be used. It also points out that no matter what, gay people will not make more children if they don't want to. Why would lack of gay marriage promote procreation when it is not adding to the amount of children? It also shows Minnesota's point of view. According to Minnesota, procreating and rearing a child in a family is what marriage is about. It however is denying couples the rights to children in many cases... which makes one wonder how, if they can’t control whether they have children or not, it can be banned. In all the states that the question of if gay marriage should be allowed was on the ballot, it was banned.

Annotation #3

Title: The Judicial assault on the Family

This article looks at a ton of different things that "ruined" marriage as it "should have been". Some were unbelievable (and even offensive) such as interracial marriages, which are accepted. According to this article, it has gone too far. It criticizes heterosexual couples who don't have children. It criticizes divorce, polygammy, same-sex marriage, interracial marriages, single mothers, and much more. Relating to my topic is the issue of gay marriage. This article says it weakens the constitution of marriage. It basically says that since they cannot have children, they should not be allowed to be married. It seems to disagree with the statement that marriage is a basic right of man, which was said in the article. It says it gave marriage a minimalist view. It disagrees with marriage to even be a friendship as it denied that marriage was an expression of emotional support and commitment. Many of these arguments were meant to be against gay people, but also applied to many heterosexual couples.

Annotation #2

Title: Q: Would the Legalization of Gay Marriage Benefit to Heterosexuals?

This article describes both sides of this argument. For the argument of yes, it claims that homosexuals would become more socially accepted if there were a law legalizing gay marriage. It would help prevent gay people from marrying a person of the opposite gender due to pressure to fit in. The largest part is that fraudulent marriages result from homosexual people discriminated against and the wanting of a child and marriage, but the inability to receive that with a member of the same-sex. Gay couples, if allowed to marry, might also be allowed to adopt children who need homes from orphanages. They also argue that many gay people also have heterosexual people related to them or around them who are affected by this discrimination.

The article also states the reasons gays should not get married. It argues that sex is not private because there is life (babies) and death (like AIDS) involved. He also states that marriage is used to bring children into the world. It claims homosexual behaviors are typically brief and sometime in public. It relates gay people to sex, multiple partners, drugs, and molesting children. It accuses homosexuals of requiring too much medical care.

I know this isn't part of my annotation, but it's a little bit about my stand point on this issue. I think the last argument has some fairly... well, dumb arguments. When it says that marriage is for children, how come people who don't want children are allowed to be married? Should their rights be taken away? Or those who are physically incapable to procreate? Should they be forced to separate? If marriage is for children, then in theory, the gay couples could bring up children by artificial insemination or by adoption. Biological mothers and fathers are better for children, so what about the orphaned children? They won't have their biological parents no matter what... so why does it matter if it is heterosexual or straight? And then they'll say "They are 12x more likely to be gay" or some crap like that... well how to people with straight parents turn out to be gay? Then the argument about it being brief... well, tell that to those couples who have been together for 50 years, waiting for some form of acknowledgement that they even exist as a pair. Is that too brief when some heterosexuals marry after months of knowing each other? 'Gay relationships can be short." I know plenty of couples at school who fail after a week or less. I know a lot of you will argue with that... but it's just how I feel. I think everyone is equal and these attempts to say otherwise do nothing to change my mind. I don't really know what to say about the drugs and multiple partners... I guess they are just making it harder on themselves and for those innocent people who don't do those sorts of things. I just don't think it should mean injustice and inequality for all because of those unfortunate people.

Annotation #1

Title of Article: Banning Same-Sex Marriage Would Protect No One.

This article describes how same-sex marriage would not harm heterosexuals in any way and how it would better support and protect couples who do not have equal rights at the moment. Many opponents of gay marriage want to protect the institution of marriage... but what exactly are they protecting? This article questions why equality is a problem. The author points out other key issues that had also been changed with arguments much like in the gay marriage case. The ban on gay marriage is just affecting gay and lesbian citizens since they cannot have benefits such as seeing their partner in the emergency room and other marital protections newly-wed straight couples enjoy. It also harms the children of many gay and lesbian couples. People also said the since Massachusetts passed a law allowing gay marriage, there would be problems… but there haven’t been any yet. This article relates to my paper by asking what the real reason is that people oppose gay marriage.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

My favorite place in the whole world.

R - travel agent or real estate agent
A - possible consumers (travellers or buyers)
F - advertisement brochure
T - My favorite place in the whole world.

My favorite place in the whole world is quiet and relaxing, but at the same time exploding with life. There are no busy trucks laying on their horns or those annoying people who believe revving their engine will gain them respect. The people around seem to understand this is the same way I do and are fairly quiet. There is noise, but it is all natural; crickets chirping, horses galloping, and many other critters skittering about. I love to stop and admire a certain type of bug I see (or at least sense) since it takes on an array of different hues to better match its environment. I still don't know the bug, but it first took me by surprise when I was making a beautiful bouquet of wild flowers and the flower moved! The leaf just up and left, so I screamed and threw the arrangement of flowers into the air and ran, only to find one on my arm. By then it was turning yellow, attempting to blend in with my skin I think, and I just watched it as it watched me. Besides these creatures, I like donkies. Apparently they like me too (maybe just my carrots and celery) because everytime I visit at least one will chase me. Once I had to run backwards, chucking carrots at its head as it stampeded towards my full bag of vegetables. When I was just about out of energy, I decided to share with my brother and tossed him the bag. The saying stubborn as a mule fit this guy, since he chased my brother instead. After our fun with our two favorite mules, "Bartholomule" and "Bradley", there were still many things to do.

When I'm in the right mood, I like to write poems or draw. The trees looming over our old wooden cabin with a worn dirt path down the hill to a clearing of flowers put me in one of those moods. As the light filters through the trees and little boys run around lofting the badmitten back and forth, I love to sketch the scenery. If I travel down the worn path, past the clearing of flowers, the wise old horses, and the river with stepping stones, I can find a hidden lake that is just amazing. Two little boys and my brother lead my there are begged to go fishing. I agreed, but we lacked a fishing pole. We scavanged for sticks and found some old fishing line and made a makeshift pole, tying it all up with tall grass. Our bait was some large bug one of the boys stabbed and our hook was a curved piece of glass. To our disappointment, none of the fish liked out bait. I couldn't let down those three hopeful boys, so I stood on a log that washed up on shore and scanned the water carefully. I then spent around three hours attempting to catch a crawfish. I was so fed up that I made a net with my sock and nabbed a monstrous thing. We carried it up the path and took a souvenir photo before letting it back home. I drew the crawfish, the log, a frog, and some flowers that day. It was so inspiring.

My favorite place in the world is somewhere I wish I could go more often. It is close to many amazing places to hike and rock climb, both of which I love. There are small towns with nifty coffee shops and restaurants where they know everyone's first and last name. Someday I would like to go there for a long time instead of only a week, but the effect of relaxation can last so long even with that short amount of time. It's just a great get-away.

Monday, March 19, 2007

~Spring Break~

(Role) - You
(Audience) - Mr. Hatten, the class and the World Wide Web
(Format) - Blog
(Topic) - Your Spring Break and comments about third trimester

Spring Break was too short. I usually don't care for breaks because I like being at school with all my friends, but this was nice. On Thursday after school I babysat a monster-child and made $12 for two and a half hours. Friday was a nice day to relax and sit around playing video games. Saturday and Sunday I went for a walk around Como with my dog. Saturday he was shaggy (he never lets us groom him) and Sunday he looked brand new because we shaved him (against is will). He's super cute now. We received a lot of compliments. Monday afternoon I ran around Target with my mom and brother. Tuesday I actually went out of the house! I went to Caribou with Sarah and Rebecca and we stayed until they closed, then went over to Bruegger's (a bagel place where my mom works) and sat around with their closing crew. I didn't anything but sit on the computer and play my guitar Wednesday. Oh yeah... I went to the mall and got more Caribou and some new earrings. Thursday Sarah came over and we rented 5 movies (Flushed Away, Borat, The Prestige, The Da Vinci Code, and Flags of Our Fathers) and watched all of them until Friday afternoon. That night I had a birthday party for my friend Ashley and we stayed up all night playing charades, some Family Feud Super Nintendo game from the 80's, eating sugar, and dancing like the Boohbas(there were even five of us). I woke up, ate more sugar, played duck, duck, grey duck in my swimsuit outside in the cold, and went swimming at the Shoreview Community Center. We ate cake and stuff until 12:30 am Sunday when I left and got home. Even though I had no sleep, I had to wake up early and paint my room... which I didn't know I was going to be doing because my parents asked me in my sleep and picked a color out for me. It turned out all right though. I just cleaned Sunday and played my guitar.

Although I missed Spring Break, I was looking forward to school and finding out who was in my new classes. I think I liked last trimester better, but I'll just have to get used to it.