Plan to get into something of a StinkFest tomorrow night

[TuckandStuiesMom]

The general counsel for The Center for Arizona Policy will be speaking at a rally at the local high school tomorrow night. This is one of the local groups that got Prop 102 (so-called Defense of Marriage Amendment) on the upcoming November Ballot. My youngest son and I (hopefully some other people too) plan to go and protest. I just hope that if some wingnut takes a poke at me, it ends up on the front page of the paper.

 

[Saxton]

Good for you and your son! Is it a private school? I can't imaging allowing something like that to go on in a public school. Give 'em heck!!!

 

[jenn&nelsonrego]

Good Luck!

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Good for you and your son! Is it a private school? I can't imaging allowing something like that to go on in a public school. Give 'em heck!!!

No -- sadly it IS a public school. The separation of church and state was never a concept folks were very clear on, out here in the sticks. It's SO sad -- my former bishop called me last Sunday to encourage us to vote yes on this prop. (Please understand -- this is a good guy. Maybe not the most reflective or independent-thinking fella in the world but a still a good guy) We spoke for about 5 minutes and I told him in no uncertain terms that we are totally on the other side of this dumb-*ss divisive hateful piece of skunk-tripe and he was clearly taken aback. I know I was in his prayers that night -- but I kinda wonder if he knows he was in mine as well...

I'm up early researching today so I don't end up resorting to "Unh-HUH -- Your MAMA..." style of debate that this has the potential to devolve into. (GREAT! I just ended a sentence with a preposition... not an auspicious start.) Thanks for the thumbs-up. We need all the positive vibes we can get.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Go get em!

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Good Luck!

Thank you too! I am SO proud of my son for wanting to be there with me. He's a senior at this school and he's likely to be on the receiving end of some crap from the knuckle-draggers.

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Go get em!

Thanks

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Here is an excerpt from the YES on Dumb-*ss Skunk Tripe Website:


FAST Technology To Help County Workers Enforce Prop 102

Last year, New Scientist revealed that the US Department of Homeland Security is developing a system designed to detect "hostile thoughts" in people walking through border posts, airports and public places. The DHS says recent tests prove it works.

Project Hostile Intent as it was called aimed to help security staff choose who to pull over for a gently probing interview - or more.

Last week, the DHS science unit gave an update on the project, now dubbed the Future Attribute Screening Technologies (FAST) program. And, if DHS claims are to be believed, the research appears to be getting somewhere.

At an equestrian centre in Maryland, 140 paid volunteers walked through a pair of trailers kitted out with a battery of FAST sensors including cameras, infrared heat sensors and an eyesafe laser radar, called a Blindar, that measures pulse and breathing rate from a distance.

Some subjects were told to act shifty, be evasive, deceptive and hostile. And many were detected. "We're still very early on in this research, but it is looking very promising," says DHS science spokesman John Verrico. "We are running at about 78% accuracy on mal-intent detection, and 80% on deception."

Prop 102 FAST Technology
The FAST program uses data from a variety of sensors to warn operators of danger

Arizona's own Center For Arizona Policy hopes to deploy the technology one day to assist county offices with issuing marriage certificates. President Cathi Herrod discussed the plan with us.

"This year we are virtually assured of passing Prop 102, because we're not going to repeat the mistakes we made with Prop 107. So we've already started pilot testing the FAST program, on license from DHS, to assist county workers with homosexuality detection. The law is the law."

Prop 102 Marriage Detectors
Operators would monitor sensors from county buildings to assist in denying marriage licenses

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano was prepared to make a statement for this interview. But as soon as we mentioned the homosexuality detection technology, her staff immediately cancelled the meeting.


I feel like I now need to take a bath...

 

[Saxton]

"This year we are virtually assured of passing Prop 102, because we're not going to repeat the mistakes we made with Prop 107. So we've already started pilot testing the FAST program, on license from DHS, to assist county workers with homosexuality detection. The law is the law."

Prop 102 Marriage Detectors
Operators would monitor sensors from county buildings to assist in denying marriage licenses

So Gaydar really does exist!! This sounds too goofy to be true.

 

[PghLybrt]

OMG!!!!!

Good luck

 

[Chuck S]

Please report back on your experiences at the rally. Sounds like it might be interesting.

 

[dwheatl]

Geez, truth is stranger than fiction. It's like something out of Minority Report or something. Good luck at the rally.
I just wish people would channel their energy into living their own lives the best way they can, and leave us to do the same.

 

[jenn&nelsonrego]

OMG! WTH have these people been smokin'?

(i would say they should share ~ but I dont want to catch bigot disease)

How did it go tonight?

Oh! And your son sounds great! My little brother (18/freshman in college) recently made me very proud. He had an assigment where he had to work with a group. Each group member had to write an essay on something they felt strongly about...Then they had to read each others essays and critique them... One of the members of his group wrote about being a gay man and some of the problems he has encountered with prejudice. When I read my brothers critique of this young man's essay ~ I was so happy... he wrote that his eyes had been opened by the essay and he know thought differently about gay/lesbian people than he had previously and promised to be more open-minded in the future (as much I have tried to pound open-mindness into his brain, I think he needed to learn for himself). I don't think he had ever met a gay person (that he knew of) and that by not knowing this young man was gay and getting to know him before finding out ~ it made him realize that gay people are normal!

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

WOW! Just about the most scared I've EVER been. I sat down in front and I think the fella sitting next to me was quite possibly one of the Quorum of Seventy from whom I will now be receiving email correspondence... (an innerestin' side-note to the evening's hi-jinks)

The auditorium was just about entirely full. They started off with one of my alltime favorite LDS hymns -- Love at Home. After two speakers who were full of code words and snotty innuendo, they were fiddling around with a computer to present some comments from some grand high wazoo of the catholic church so I seized the moment. I stood up, turned around to the entire audience and said that I have been married to the same man for 35 years and could not for the life of me see how opening up the institution of marriage to others could possibly pose any danger to it. Since there were so many people there who see themselves as people of faith, I also wanted to read Niemoller's "Then they came for the Jews" poem but by that point, I was getting heckled pretty badly (although there was also a little bit of applause) and the cops showed up to escort me out.

My son's best friend just got here and said he almost cried on the way home -- it was a pretty awful slice of small town USA... Tomorrow, when I've calmed down a little bit, I'll be writing my letter to the editor of our local paper.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Good for you.. can I say how proud I am of you that you got up and spoke out like that..

I am actually shocked that people think like that...horrifying.

 

[Saxton]

You are amazing!!! I can't believe how much courage you had to stand up in front of that group. I also can't believe they were allowed to sing hymns and spout hate in a public school. And yet you were the one escorted out! Well, I'm very proud of you and your son and I'm sure you made a difference.

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Good for you.. can I say how proud I am of you that you got up and spoke out like that..

I am actually shocked that people think like that...horrifying.

Thank you very much. The amazing thing to me is that the people in the audience are not mean-spirited, hateful people. They are my friends and neighbors -- the folks who'd be first at my door with a hot-dish and a comforting hug if I had a family crisis. The most frightening thing to me is how blatantly they were being manipulated...

I wish I could understand the motivation of those speakers. Never once in the two speeches (both men from Phoenix) that I stuck around for, did anyone ever refer to those who felt differently than they do -- as anything other than sly and as having hidden agendas. The first speaker from the organization that bullied the prop through the legislature hard the nerve to say what a fine, high-minded campaign this was. Well... That's a lot of baloney; you saw the little mind-police blurb I picked off their website.

The Catholic fella kept saying how great it was that ALL people of faith were supporting this proposition. Well -- that is just not the truth either. Here is a statement from quite a collection of people of faith who oppose this amendment proposition:
“This anti-marriage amendment is extremely divisive at a time when both Arizonans and the nation see the need and echo the call to bring people together. Same sex marriage is already illegal in this state, and has been upheld by the courts. If Proposition 102 passes, that would not change. The only change would be writing this into the Arizona constitution.
“This amendment is morally, religiously, and financially divisive, and would be destructive to many Arizona families. We urge you to vote no.”
Rev. M. Douglas Bobbitt (United Methodist Church)
Sister Anita Valdez (Roman Catholic Church)
Rev. Frank Williams (United Methodist Church)
Sister Lenora Black (Roman Catholic Church)
Rev. Franklyn J. Bergen (Episcopal Church)
Rabbi Thomas A. Louchheim
Rev. Briget Nicholson (United Church of Christ)
Rabbi Helen T. Cohn
Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer (Conference Minister, Southwest Conference, United Church of Christ)

I just don't know. It is just so depressing...

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

You are amazing!!! I can't believe how much courage you had to stand up in front of that group. I also can't believe they were allowed to sing hymns and spout hate in a public school. And yet you were the one escorted out! Well, I'm very proud of you and your son and I'm sure you made a difference.

Thank you Sue -- my voice was all wavery (but still LOUD -- thank you, Jesus!) 'cause I was so scared. Actually, once the two cops saw it was just one little old lady kicking up a fuss, they were pretty embarrassed. I told them to take me away in chains ( it would have been great to get arrested) and one of'em just kept saying "Please shush, Maam. Please shush..." That part was actually pretty funny.

I want to say THANK YOU to all of you folks. I am just a little old lady after all -- and if I would not have had the honor, privilege, and fun (tons of that ) of getting to know you at the LGBT at Disney, I probably would never have had the motivation to go and say my piece even though I knew in my heart the stuff those fellas were saying is wrong.

 

[OrlandoMike]

First of all, congratulations and Thank You!

Secondly, why on earth were you escorted out? Disturbing the peace?

 

[Mackey Mouse]

"I told them to take me away in chains ( it would have been great to get arrested) and one of'em just kept saying "Please shush, Maam. Please shush..." That part was actually pretty funny."

Can you imagine the fuss if they arrested you? They did not want that fuss.. but I love your style..