The Power Strangers Have On The Right To Marry

I haven't been quite sure how to put my thoughts on California's Proposition 8 mess into words. Until now. Actor David Hyde Pierce pretty much summed it up as best as anyone really could.

Angered by the ruling, Hyde Pierce said Thursday: "It's like, `Oh great, we made the cut.'"
He called it a "very odd thing" that strangers have a vote on his private decision to marry.

The power that complete strangers have given themselves over this particular individual choice is disgusting. They have the power to dictate who gay people can be united with in the eyes of the law. They have the power to dictate which people get the automatic right to hospital visitation, end-of-life decision making, and family leave for their companions.

Very odd indeed.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIORzimXc-VxxD5V2GIpjieNk0SgD98G06VO0

Focus On The Family Is Ok With Gay Judges?

In a big "huh?" moment, supposedly a spokesperson for the Focus On The Family organization says its ok for a justice to be gay. He says it has no impact on the ability to judge (duh!). But - what would happen if we ever did get a gay justice nominated to the Supreme Court? If you think this group would speak out against the nomination, please raise your right hand..

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/05/focus_on_the_family_gay_justic.php

To Define or To Protect..

Someone help me out here, did Julaine Appling just suggest that the 2006 amendment contained two questions?

Supporters of the ban feel it's about only one topic. The first part was about the definition of marriage.

"The second part of it was whether or not we're going to protect the institution of marriage," said Julaine Appling of Wisconsin Family Council. "Really, if we didn't have the second part of that, the first part is of very little value because then you can have marriage by another name, call it domestic partner, call it a civil union, call it whatever you want. But it is marriage by another name."

Judging from this statement, the amendment which bans civil unions and marriage for same-sex couples appeared to pose two questions to the voter.

1: Shall we define marriage?
2: Shall we protect marriage?

Oh, I get it. The single question posed to the voter was "shall we further regulate (religious) marriage?"

http://www.wkowtv.com/global/story.asp?s=10366389

Star Trek Review

As a queer mexican trekkie, it is my duty to post a review on the latest Star Trek movie. And yes, I've posted comments on various websites. Wouldn't have things any other way.. no? :-)

So, my review is a compilation of what I've posted online with additional content and editing. Be warned, I'm not a movie critic so don't expect an opinion on plot. Do expect comments which bring out my inner trekkie, which believe it or not doesn't happen very often. All I ever want, anyway, is a good entertaining story which makes me think. Star Trek is full of many good stories, many great messages, and beautiful character moments all being among the many reasons why I am proud to be a Trekkie. This movie is certainly among the best Trek stories ever told.

Here goes!

Star Trek is a good movie and I will definitely go see it again.. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I did enjoy it very much. The anticipation was most worth it. This will be a day long remembered.. (oops.. wrong franchise) ;-)

I don't think anything will top Star Trek: The Wrath Of Kahn, though. That said: this new reincarnation of Trek is written for everyone and not just for the fans. So unless you have very strong feelings about time travel, are extremely nitpicky about all things Trek, and will only accept Shatner as Kirk - go see the movie already!

One scene left me really upset. Another was a huge WTF. I have had mixed feelings about the time travel. I did like how it was explained through a mind-meld from Spock. Regardless, I actually appreciated that there was no magic reset button at the end of this movie.

It essentially establishes a third universe ready for new adventures. We now have Prime (original), Mirror, and Reimagined (yet unnamed as far as I know). Nothing from what has come before is wiped clean. Nothing is lost. To paraphrase the good ol' Guardian of Forever, time hasn't lost its shape (if you prescribe to quantum mechanics and the idea of a multiverse) and "all is as it was before." My only question is, which universe does the very first scene take place in: prime, or reimagined?

Lots of nods to all that has come before, I actually lost track. And dammit, I missed the tribble! Maybe it was hiding behind that baseball cap sitting in front of me at the movie theater..

Anyway, it was great to see the Big E in action once again. I do confess, her reveal left me asking.. no, begging.. to be showcased a little more as in The Motion Picture. The TMP Enterprise will always be my favorite ship, by the way. The E is a character unto itself, to be honest! Regardless it was a highlight in this emotional roller coaster of a film. The music for that scene was just right.

About the scene which left me utterly upset: I was unable to get that moment out of my head until many hours later. While typing this up, quite suddenly thoughts of TNG’s “Sarek” episode put everything back into a certain perspective, given what happens later near the end of the film.

In that episode Sarek reveals through a mind meld with Captain Picard how much he loved his former wife, Lady Amanda Grayson. Amanda's character is established as a teacher and is a fan favorite. You can infer from later events in The Next Generation series that he never truly reveals his suppressed feelings to anyone, not even to his son, Spock. The point is - in this reimagined universe Spock hears directly from Sarek how much he loves his wife.

You don't even need to know this from the previous series to get the point. Within these two hours, we get to witness why Sarek's union with Amanda was more that just the logical thing to do. Not so in any other incarnation of Trek. This is a prime example (no pun intended) of the care that the writers put into this movie. The movie is chock full of moments like these.

One thing I was watching for, which I got. In Next Generation's "Yesterday's Enterprise" we are taken to an altered timeline and it seems only Guinan is aware that something is not quite right. So, knowing that this episode was among several which were inspirational to the writers, I hoped to find such a moment. And yes, I got it! At one moment Spock says to Kirk: "what? you're not the captain?" with a very quizzical look on his face. Awesome!

Final thought.. Spock & Uhura? Really? That was a bit over the top..

So: will I see Star Trek again in the movie theater? Hmm. Is the Pope Catholic? ;-)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes..

So, recently I was muckin' around with ping.fm. It is a neat little service which allows you to update your status on many social network websites such as MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Bebo, Yahoo360, and many others. It can also update your status on IM clients such as AIM, GoogleTalk, YahooIM, etc.

It also has a feature for doing microblogs. Mini versions of full-blown ramblings will now appear on my little corner of the web. I'm debating if I'm going to keep posting them here. I love technology!

So, for now you'll see full-blown blogs as well as status updates, microblogs, etc. You'll be able to see answers to the questions, "what are you doing" and "what are you thinking" as I post to my MySpace and Facebook. Let me know what you think!