So much to do! One week to go rant.

So before my browser crashed, I had this spectacular literate rant, and now "poof!" its gone and that means I have to rake the crags and crevices of my brain and for those of you who actually know me, well, that's gonna take a bit. I think the gist of it was: HOW THE HELL CAN ANYONE THINK OF VOTING FOR MCCAIN???? WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE TRYING TO MAKE ME A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AND PROHIBIT ME AND MY KIND FROM THE RIGHT TO MARRIAGE? WHY DO THEY WANT TO FORCE GIRLS INTO A WORSE SITUATION THEN THEY ALREADY ARE, ON PROP 2? Ok enough with the caps. I know... this is the reason: THEY ARE MEAN, STINGY, VENGEFUL, MISERABLE PEOPLE. Why else do they want to enforce their world view on everyone else? They, especially the straight men on the right wing, HATE gay men, because they actually get sex. They, of course hate women, even the women. And HATE HATE HATE poor people who apparently don't have the intelligence to get out of their situation, so why the hell should anyone help them? Let's not talk about people who happen to not have a perfect body-well they are just, lazy, yeah that's it lazy paraplegic, Downs, or whatever.
I sure hope that these people pray to their deity that they never end up poor, disabled, disenfranchised in one way or another, cuz it's gonna be hard for me to have compassion for them. But, because I am a progressive liberal and do care, I will. Damn it.

VOTE*DONATE*ACT

Be Scared, Be Very Scared

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't): (thanks to MoveOn.org)

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."2
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."4

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.6

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."7

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."9

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10

Denim Day LA

So you are looking in your closet and you pick out a pair of jeans to wear. Apply some lip gloss and head out. Some time later that day or maybe on your way home, you are attacked and raped. The rapist is caught and it is brought to trial. He is found not guilty because you were wearing denim jeans. Obviously, wearing jeans means it is ok to rape a woman. Is this in Dubai, Afghanistan, cult community of fundamentalist anywhere in the world? No, it is Italy.

Denim Day started when an 18 year old girl was raped by her 45 year old driving instructor in Italy. At first he was convicted of rape, but he appealed to the Italian supreme court where he was released. The judge said that her jeans were too tight and that she must have helped him take them off, so the sex must have been consensual. This caused an uproar from people across the globe and now Peace Over Violence hosts Denim Day in LA every year. Please join and raise awareness. Read the whole story at www.denimdayinla.org/about/history.
Denim Day in LA is on APRIL 25 and is the biggest and most powerful sexual assault prevention education and awareness campaign. Visit www.denimdayinla.org to register and learn more about how you can get involved or call 213.955.9090 and ask for Kibi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7W6egjdChc

First Amendment Saturday!

What a day of extraordinary documentaries! The Betrayal, Larry Flynt:The Right To Be Left Alone, and Strange Culture made this Saturday in the grand Michigan Theater a visual, emotional, thoughtful, anger producing day of film. Ellen Kuras spoke about her 23 year saga of making her first directorial feature about the life of a Laotian/American family. Larry Flynt, still flanked by body guards (and frankly who wouldn't be after being shot in the spine) spoke of his continued fight to uphold the most precious document of the American people-the Constitution. And Steve Kurtz told us about his Kafkain nightmare, that still goes on, with the FBI i.e. The Bush government.
Bottom line: stay involved, donate to the ACLU or the Center for the Constitutional Rights, check out Steve Kurtz. Do Something!

Queer Realities: Fact and Fiction!

Thursday night has come and gone, but not forgotten! My hope in doing this program is to show the diversity of our stories, connected by our otherness and our humanity, which is what it ultimately all about. So you ask, Debra, how did it go?
The OUT Night at Ann Arbor Film Festival was a complete success! Thanks to an earlier time slot this year, we oversold the house. We laughed, we sighed, we cried, and we laughed again! Thanks to all the filmmakers who generously allowed their films in this program. Thanks to the local AUT Bar, owners and festival supporters Keith and Martin, for their continued emotional and financial support. Thanks to my host dyke family, Astrid, Gila, Fred and Gerta (the last two are dogs...) for their putting up with my 2 am arrivals after a night of unbridled film going and after-partying... And of course, thanks to the fantastic Ann Arbor Film Festival and their community for welcoming me and the gay community into theirs. It is a rare thing indeed to have a LGBT component of a general interest festival, and not one that I take for granted.

Multiplying Eyes Panel

This panel rocked, even if I do say so for myself! I was the moderator to a group of intelligent, knowledgeable and good looking people! The room was filled with attentive, smart and good looking people eager to learn and participate!
from Right to Left (!) Bob Alexander of Indie Pix(indiepixfilms.com), Chris Holland of B-Side (bside.com, Brooke Keesling animation filmmaker-Boobie Girl/instructor at College of Creative Studies, Mitch Levine of The Film Festival Group(filmfestivalgroup.com).
Thanks to Christen McArdle for putting this stellar panel together!

Ann Arbor Opening Night FABU

What a lovely evening! The Art Installation, the movies, the wine, the women!
Ann Arbor Film Festival is off and running. This is a poor foto of the ever lovely, ever articulate director of the festival, Christen McArdle. Her cogent opening address was a thank you and a call to action, all without raising a dew of moisture.
The evening of shorts ranged from the creatively humorous to the weighty. All were top notch including I Met The Walrus, which actually was nominated for an Oscar!
I am running out to moderate the first panel, with some heavy hitters...more on that later....(see filmfestivalsecrets.blogspot.com/) for more on this subject.

The Blog Against Theocracy

It seems that this country is incapable of following its own rules. We have this fantastic document (The Constitution...) that lays out the basic rights and responsibilities of its citizens,and still people want to forget it except when it is convenient (2nd A. and gun owners-love it, but Freedom of Speech? Only Ok if is my speech --but we don't want to talk about sex or show its many manifestations...especially "the perverted". Separation of Church and State? Only when its YOUR church; not the christian church, of course....)

So if you want to rail against the theocracy support the arts, support NGO's, make noise, be a thorn in the side, fight for impeachment of Bush and Cheney, get rid of non-profit status for churches to weed out the fakes, be yourself.

I have a head cold and this is probably looks like words to me but may not be. My apologies to the 3 people that might read it.

Back!

Here we go: films! The 46th Ann Arbor Film Festival! All attendees will be able to blog to their hearts content, and now you can hear my special POV. It will be exciting and perverse, of course. You would expect no less. All 3 of you! Here is a picture of the Michigan Theater where all the fun will happen. Of course there will be lots of parties too.