Gay Rights Stack

There have been a couple of stories over the weekend that fall into my Gay Rights file, and I feel that as a believer in equal rights for everybody, I have to comment.

First up: Dad Wants $20K, Says Lesbian Book Disturbed Teens

A Bentonville, Ark., man is seeking $20,000 from the city after his two teenage sons found a book on lesbian sex on a public library bookshelf.

He also wants the library director fired.

Earl Adams said his 14- and 16-year-old sons were "greatly disturbed" after finding the book, titled "The Whole Lesbian Sex Book." Adams said the book caused "many sleepless nights in our house."

Adams said the book is "patently offensive and lacks any artistic, literary or scientific value," according to a letter he faxed to Mayor Bob McCaslin. He said the teenagers found it while browsing for material on military academies.

Adams wants the city to pay $10,000 to each of his sons. That's the maximum allowed under the Arkansas obscenity law. However, the city's attorney dismissed Adams' claim as baseless. She said the book is not pornographic.

"There is not a valid legal concern here," Camille Thompson said. "In fact, (the request for money) made me question his motivation."

Yeah, I'm sure that two teenage boys were "disturbed" by finding the book. As a former teenage boy and current heterosexual, I believe, nay, I know that there is not a hot-blooded heterosexual male out there that would find two women together "disturbing," unless the "disturbance" was in their pants. Yeah yeah, all you Alec Baldwins out there can call me a pig; I just remember how I was when I was 16. I agree with Camille Thompson in that I think that this is a money-making ploy, and I think that the "many sleepless nights" at that house were for completely different reasons.

Adams further said "[a]ny effort to reinstate the book will be met with legal action and protests from the Christian community." So Bentonville is now under threat of theocracy. Seriously, when is America going to wake up to the real threat to our country: Christian extremist ideologues? If you are a Christian extremist, and you feel like the public library is offensive, then don't go there. Not everyone in this wonderful country of ours believes in the same things you do, and not everyone agrees with your version of morality. I hope that if legal action does come of it, they lose and have to reimburse the taxpayers for wasting the city's time.

Onto the other story: 'Transgender' Candidate on Prom King Ballot

FRESNO, California (AP) -- When school officials announce the name of the Fresno High School prom king on Saturday, Cinthia Covarrubias will be wearing a tuxedo just like the six boys vying for the honor.

Administrators agreed to reverse a district protocol this week that limited males to compete for the title after Covarrubias was nominated by her classmates.

"I would never have run for anything if I had to wear a dress," said Covarrubias, who considers herself transgender, an umbrella term that covers people whose outward appearance and internal identity don't match their gender at birth.

Gay youth advocates called it a landmark victory for campus gender expression and said they believe it's the first time in the United States that an openly transgender student has run for prom royalty.

"We are growing as a society to accept much more diversity in gender expression, and that's a positive thing," said Carolyn Laub, director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network.

Covarrubias, who wears black-and-white Vans, baggy shorts and close-cropped brown hair, sometimes identifies herself as Tony. Her date, a close female friend, plans to wear a black dress and red corsage to the prom at an outdoor reception hall surrounded by artificial waterfalls.

On Wednesday, officials at the school of 2,700 students shifted course, saying the district's lawyers had recommended adding Covarrubias' name to the ballot to comply with a 2000 state law protecting students' ability to express their gender identity on campus.

"We always want to do the right thing by our students," Vice Principal Sheila Uriarte said. "This is why we came to this decision."

I'm glad that California is leading the way for gay and transgender rights in this country. It also seems as though most people in her age group also approve of Cinthia running for prom king. CNN, being a true fair and balanced news channel, also had opposing views, or rather, an opposing view:

"I like lesbians, but they shouldn't be allowed to run for king," said senior Erich Logan, 18, as he stood outside the stately high school building.

Once again, public schools have to cater to all points of view (or they should), not just those that are confined to traditional heterosexual Christian values. Studies have shown that each generation that passes has a more favorable view of homosexuality, making this current young generation the most liberal with respect to those values. As I am a part of that generation, I couldn't be prouder.

The Declaration of Independence uses the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" this includes homosexuals living just like the rest of us, including getting married (yes, married), having children, and receiving medical benefits and inheritance rights. Why is equal rights (not so-called "special" rights) for gays so hard for right-wingers to understand? I guess they believe in the credo from Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Quite frankly, that viewpoint is out-of-touch with reality and pathetic.

~ Deep Blue

Update (9:44 AM PDT): As it turns out, story #2 in the Gay Rights stack is scheduled to be covered by Bill Manders today, according to the KKOH website (see the right panel). I can't wait to hear his take, although I can take a stab at what it is. I just hope that he doesn't regurgitate that whole "the Bible says..." argument, or worse, links it to Seung-Hui Cho somehow.

Update (3:20 PM PDT): False alarm on the Manders Watch. Today is a "best-of" episode of Bill Manders from April 4th, 2007 because he is sick. Maybe tomorrow.

Carnage in Blacksburg

CNN: Officials: Gunman Dead After Bloody Campus Rampage
MSNBC: At Least 33 Dead in Rampage on Virginia Campus
Fox News: Virginia Tech Campus Reels from Shooting that Leaves at Least 33 Dead

It was a horrible tragedy. A lone gunman walked into a dormitory and shot some people, then he shot up a bunch more people in a classroom. Thirty-three people were confirmed dead with dozens more injured.

Fox News calls it the "worst mass shooting in U.S. history," then it asks, in big bold letters:

WHY?

The answer came when I turned on right-wing radio. I knew that as soon as the tragedy started unfolding that I'd have the pleasure of hearing all the gun nuts call up their sanctuaries, the right-wing pundits, and say "I gots ta keep mah gun!"

Some of them were just, I dunno, sickening. One person on the Bill Manders show called up and had the audacity to say that this tragedy didn't happen, that it was all a conspiracy by the left-wing anti-gun people to show the danger of guns. I'm sure that the families of the students who perished would love to know that people actually think that it was a conspiracy.

A majority of callers expressed the desire for people to carry their guns on campus. One caller even related this to the story of a country that allowed people to conceal their guns. His paraphrased call:

Let me tell you the story of a country that had so much gun violence that it allowed people to carry concealed weapons. That country was Israel. Before all the bombings started happening, the Palestinians were shooting Israelis with their guns. When the Israelis could carry guns with them at all times, everything got a lot better there.

Now, let me get that straight, people were allowed to carry guns everywhere...before there were bombings by the Palestinians. I'll say it again, people were allowed to carry guns before there were bombings. So, in other words, we should all carry guns around this country so that the wacky gunmen can resort to bombings? It's just like the arms race of the 1950's that brought about nuclear warheads and the constant threat of nuclear anihilation.

Another person pulled the Blame Society card, saying that kids today have those crazy video games where people can just "get up" after getting shot. Apparently kids are stupid, so they would think that they can shoot their friends with real guns just because they could in Halo 2.

Wow. How dumb can you get?

I grew up with FPS games. 007 Goldeneye is still one of my favorite games, but I never for a moment thought that I could take a Walther PPK and shoot someone, who would then respawn (or "get up"), completely okay, in another part of the city. I doubt that kids are that dumb.

Now, it may sound like I have a beef against all guns. Not true. I support hunters rights to carry weapons, but that's because they have tons of permits and protection behind them. What sort of purpose does a handgun serve? Killing a person. You don't take your handgun to shoot deer.

The solution to this problem is not easy. Pandora's Box has already been opened, and it's damn near impossible to cram it back in. As opposed to gun control, I actually subscribe to the Chris Rock "bullet control" theory.

You don't need no gun control. You know what you need? We need some bullet control. Man, we need to control the bullets, that's right. I think all bullets should cost $5,000. $5,000 for a bullet. You know why? 'Cause if a bullet costs $5000 there'd be no more innocent bystanders. That'd be it. Every time someone gets shot, people will be like... "Sh*t, they put $50,000 worth of bullets in his ass." People would think before they killed somebody, if a bullet cost $5,000. "Man, I would blow your f*cking head off, if l could afford it." ... "You better hope I can't get no bullets on layaway."

Makes sense to me.

~ Deep Blue

One Racist Shock-Jock to Go...

(For those of you born after 1986, the title is based on the title of one of Imus' comedy albums from the 1970's, One Sacred Chicken to Go)

Today would've been the last day that Don Imus would've been on the air before his 2 week suspension. Of course this is before he got fired from CBS radio on Thursday, so his wife Dierdre filled in for him on his radio telethon. Imus was fired just before he met with the Rutgers basketball team. He still kept the appointment, which I feel shows genuine concern and remorse for his actions.

Now this does not mean that his comment should be excused. I for one blame him for not having enough self-control and awareness that this is, in fact, the 21st century, and people tend to be a bit touchy when you call them "nappy-headed hos." His shock-jock schtick got old in the 1970's.

That being said, you know how some people when they're not paying attention repeat the last thing that was heard, then hurriedly continue with another train of thought? I think that's what Imus did. It was his executive producer, Bernard McGuirk, that said that the team was full of "hardcore hos," which initiated Imus' comments. McGuirk further commented that they were "jiggaboos and wannabes," referencing a Spike Lee film. These comments were very racially charged, as McGuirk has had other run-ins with racist comments in the past. Therefore, McGuirk deserves some of the blame.

Then there's MSNBC and CBS Radio. They knew what they were getting into when they signed up to broadcast and simulcast Imus in the 1990's. He's a shock-jock, for Christ's sake. It would be as if ABC Family signed up to simulcast Howard Stern and then became shocked — shocked! — when he talked about sex acts. They knew his style, which is why they wanted him, but they couldn't take the heat when their (fading) star said something offensive. They both deserve some of the blame.

The advertisers should have known too. Once again, he's a shock-jock. What part of "shock" don't they understand? If you don't want the shock, don't advertise the jock. Period.

The problem that Imus' firing brings about, however appropriate it may be, is the free-speech chilling effect that it could have. While it may result in more heads rolling (Rush Limbaugh for mocking Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's Disease, Michael Savage for his endless tirades against gays and lesbians, Glenn Beck for his Muslimophobia, etc.), it could reach into other arenas. For example, the Stephanie Miller Show, a liberal political talk/entertainment/comedy show on KJFK, bills itself as "too liberal for conservatives, too politically incorrect for liberals," which is kind of like this blog sometimes. One of their features is Stand-Up News, where "voice-deity" Jim Ward imitates public figures based on news stories. What if Jim Ward's imitation of Kim Jong-Il rubs Koreans the wrong way? Stephanie Miller's name is on the show, so she'll get canned, which cans her other two mooks.

In other words, the Don Imus comment situation could be the Nipplegate of talk radio.

I am a big advocate of positive race relations, but I am also a big advocate of free speech. I can disagree with the KKK and their vile hate speech, but I have to support their right to say it. I have to, so that I can have the same freedom of speech to call KKK members names such as bigots and white-hooded hicks.

Uh oh, I called klansmen "white-hooded hicks." I guess I gotta go meet them now and apologize.

~ Deep Blue

Update (3:22 PM PDT): Oh man, Bill Manders is playing into the talking point that Imus is a liberal Democrat. No liberal Democrat would support McCain, Manders, and he said that he is the only Republican in Manhattan. He may be a RINO, but then again, a RINO may not vote for McCain either. Manders is once again living in Right-Wing Fantasy World where everyone in talk radio is liberal and he is the great crusader.

I also like his comments about blogs, saying that other bloggers are calling for his head and that there are 3 blog readers and 50 blogs in Northern Nevada. Well, apparently he's one of those readers, because he wouldn't know about what us bloggers are doing if he weren't.

I am not calling for his head at this point in time because his rhetoric and talking points are tired and flaccid. They've already been talked about on Rush and Hannity before him, so he sounds like an angry grandfather telling "those damn kids" to get off his lawn and support the war. And yet I'm drawn to him, drawn to commenting about his every move. I guess I'm his watchdog. Well, one of them anyway. And even if no one reads my blog, I'll still do it. Every talk show needs to be held accountable for those kinds of things, even the almighty Bill Manders.

Deep Blue on Thom Hartmann

Just wanted to let you all know that I got on the Thom Hartmann program today, towards the tail-end of the second hour of his show, to talk about the Manders incident. He thought that it was great, saying "Good on ya, Deep Blue!" after I quickly recapped my experience to him. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to mention that I stopped him short of his expected path: Bashing Al Gore (probably also jabbing him about global warning) and illegal immigration in conjunction with Democratic policies. Nor was I able to mention that I wrote about it in my blog.

It was great talking with him, and I hope that I get on again in the future for another reason.

Maybe I should start pestering Manders and Michael Lafferty of the RN&R and any other right-winger who peddles in lies.

~ Deep Blue

Manders on Social Security = Wrong!

Sorry for the lack of posts...my job's been a killer lately.

So I got a little bit of a pleasant surprise as I was wending my way home yesterday. I was listening to Bill Manders on KOH rant about God knows what (probably something to do with illegal immegration or Nancy Pelosi's Syria trip, two of his favorite topic as of late), and all of a sudden he switches gears. He says that he is about to read something that will either "light up the phone boards" or make the lines go silent, as in something that either everyone or no one knows. So I perked up my ears and took a listen.

Then he began reading something I heard before. On liberal talk. Where they debunked everything line by line thanks to a well-researched Snopes article (link).

What did he read? Social Security talking points.

He asked for people to give the answer to a program that originally:

1. Was completely voluntary
2. Participants would only pay 1% of the first $1400 of income
3. Monies invested would be tax-deductible, and
4. Annuity payments would not be taxed as income.

I had to call. To be fair, I didn't hear those last two (or know if those last two were even spoken) because I was dialing and talking to the call screener about my answer. I didn't want to give out my real name (though I toyed with "Blue"), so I gave the first name I could think of: Roy, after Roy Rogers. I was put on hold.

Whilst on hold, I heard that Manders pick up another person's line, a guy by the name of Steve. Steve correctly stated that it was Social Security that Manders was talking about. Since the Social Security list came out of a spam e-mail, I have a feeling that's where he heard it. The whole e-mail is full of anti-Democrat lies that have been well documented and debunked, so I was confident that I could set them straight if I got on the air.

I have to tell you before I continue: It's easier to scream at a radio host when you're not on the phone with him. Also, some of the wording may not be the same as how it actually happened, but the spirit is the same. I didn't tape it (I wish I had) and don't have a transcript. If you do, my e-mail's to the right.

Anyway, I was listening to Steve's exchange with Manders, who asked the caller about which president took Social Security from the independent fund and put it in the General fund. He didn't know, so Manders said "Let's see if Roy knows."

Showtime.

He asked me the same question, and I said that I too did not know. (The correct answer is no president, because the money has not been moved since the program's inception in 1939, but I honestly didn't know off-hand.) He asked me what I wanted to talk about, and I responded that I was going to answer "Social Security" as my answer but that he talked to Steve first. He then had both of us stay on, as sort of a competition to see who knew the talking points more. The killer for me: He called us "smart guys." Oh Manders, if you only knew...

He then moved down the line and asked us a question that I did know the answer to: I don't remember at this point in time, but I know it began with "Which political party..." Steve answered "The Democrats." Manders then asked me, and I said, "Well, I would say the Democrats, but the problem is that it would be a lie that was debunked on Snopes.com."

Manders was taken aback for a quick second but kept going. "It's all a lie, huh." I said something to the effect of "Yeah, it originated from a spam e-mail going around." He said that in fact he had compiled all of these "facts" (my air quotes). Not knowing how to react, I said, "Oh, I though you got those from an e-mail because the $1400 thing tipped me off."

That was it. I was done. He said "Nice talkin' to you," and I said, "No problem."

There were many things that I should have said. I should've told him that I heard the same talking points two days ago on the Thom Hartmann show on Air America. I should've told the listeners that the truth is out there. I should have said my blog name, or at least something more intelligent than "no problem," but that was that. I turned off my cell and continued listening.

Not surprisingly, Steve "won" the debate. However, I believe that this debate ended prematurely. Manders was going to go on down the line, spouting falsehoods all the way. I bet he would've gone down to Al Gore causing the taxation of Social Security annuities in 1993 (they were taxed at 50% in 1983, a joint effort from President Reagan and the Democratically-controlled Congress; the 1993 effort made that 85%). He then would've mentioned his personal favorite, given his propensity to talking about immigrants every other show: Jimmy Carter and the Democrats started giving annuity payments to immigrants who never would've paid a dime into the system. Which would've segued into a tirade about the Democrats and immigration, sliding into the topic of illegal immigrants and the Millennium Scholarship, his topic on today's show.

But he didn't get that far. I cut him short, and he wasn't interested in having someone steal his thunder. He just said, "Yeah, Social Security is not what it was intended to be," without a second thought to "Roy". I just wish I had a print-out of the Snopes page in front of me, where I could've quoted part of the Social Security Act.

Oh well, too many coulda-woulda-shoulda's. Time to focus on the future. I'm going to call Thom Hartmann on AAR tomorrow to tell him about my experience. To the rest of you, keep on the lookout for right-wingers spouting the same lies about Social Security. I provided the debunking link above, but here it is again: http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/sschanges.asp.

~ Deep Blue a.k.a. "Roy"

Inaugural Post

Welcome to the inaugural post of Silver State Blues, your one-stop shop for Northern Nevada politics from a liberal point of view. I've only lived in the fine city of Reno for the past 9 months or so, and I love it here. However, I've been following national politics for the better part of a decade, and I feel that there is not enough of the progressive voice in a town that I feel has a very strong, yet underrepresented, liberal undercurrent.

For example, compare the amount of time dedicated to local political talk on two radio stations: KOH 780 AM, and KJFK 1230 AM. KOH is a 50,000 watt right-wing station (source) with a local talk show hosted by Bill Manders that lasts from 3 to 6 pm daily. Being a high-profile station, they have major media presence in the area, from contests and on-location broadcasts to connections to local TV stations and online radio streaming. KJFK, on the other hand, is an 820 watt small-time station (source) carrying the Air America family of programming (along with Jones Radio Network staples Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz) with a local talk show that lasts only from 3 to 4pm, 2 hours less than Manders' rant-fest. In addition, KJFK's website has been under construction for almost two years, meaning that there is no chance for people outside of the tiny broadcast radius to listen to this station on-line.

But despite what Bill Manders may say about "Airhead America," KJFK happens to be doing quite well considering its small size. It has a 2.1 share in the ratings for this past fall, and though it is down from the 2.3 share in Spring 2006, it is an overall increase from a year ago. This makes it second among all Reno talk stations behind KOH's 11.7 share, a 557% difference (source). For those of you not in the radio business, a share represents the percentage of radios tuned to that station in a market. On the aforementioned "source" site, Reno's 12+ population is 384,900. So, assuming that the share is proportional to the population, KOH has 45,033 listeners and KJFK has 8,083 listeners, once again, a 557% difference. But KJFK has a higher listener-to-wattage ratio; KJFK has 9.86 listeners per watt, while KOH has 0.9 listeners per watt. This means, that for the wattage that they have, KJFK is better utilizing its signal, and if it were the size of KOH, it would have 10 times as many listeners.

Clearly the right-wingers would dismiss this as fuzzy math and not proving anything. But this shows that if KJFK had the market presence and wattage that KOH has, it would be the dominant radio station in town. But the station (rather, Americom Broadcasting, its parent company) isn't doing anything to promote the station. As I have mentioned, they don't have a website, they don't have streaming audio, and they have only an hour-long local political show. There are also no events promoting the station, or promotional materials, for that matter. I called up Reno Radio Representatives (Americom's Reno presence) asking for a bumper sticker to put on my car, and to my surprise, they don't make them! They also had no plans to create a website. I should've offered to build it for them. It shows that RRR has no plans to vault the station higher than it is now, despite clearly having the audience and the potential for growth.

That's where I come in.

I want to increase the liberal media presence because the actual liberal media won't do it. They won't add wattage, they won't promote the station, they just won't do anything. It is my goal, nay, my mission, to educate people and give them the facts on local and national issues that affect all of us.

I have enabled commenting for anyone on this site; you don't even have to be a Blogger member. You also don't have to be a liberal. At this point in time, your comments will go largely unfiltered, unless you make things like hate speech, reveal personal information that is not your own, or make threats of violence against myself or any American political leaders. So that means that you conservatives have a chance to respond to my ramblings. And to show I'm not a faceless machine, my e-mail address is silverstateblues@gmail.com. The same rules for commenting apply.

Also, if you've stumbled upon this blog and agree with the views, please tell your friends about it. Reader comments make me happy.

Finally, I am offering an open invitation for Northern Nevada bloggers that have a better grasp on local politics than I do to post on this blog as a contributor. If you're a liberal and feel that you have what it takes to join Team Reno, send me one of your lefty rants to the e-mail above. Amateurs and fellow bloggers only at this point in time; I like fresh faces and want to get people in on the action.

So that's it for my really long inaugural post. More will be coming soon, and remember, dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

~ Deep Blue

Edit: I added sources on the wattage information for each station. Also, compare the coverage maps for KOH and KJFK. KOH's coverage envelops the central California valley, while KJFK's local coverage area stops short of Carson.