brucetude's blog

I think it's time for a cross post boy & girls.

In the wake of the murder of George Tiller and some of the subsequent reactions from the anti-abortion crowd, one has to seriously question just how pro-life those people who oppose abortion really are.

After reading and listening to all the people who actually celebrated the murder of a man, and who somehow saw fit to justify that murder while he worked as an usher in his own church, I now understand that the entire idea of their self identification as Pro-Life is the cheapest, most opportunistic and selfish denial of one's true nature that could be imagined, and worst of all, they steal the love of life from all others, because they can't identify with the living, so they have to claim to protect only a cowardly concept of humanity because the actual living might talk back.

I truly wish everyone a Happy New Year.

What a strange little year 2008 turned out to be.

As emotional roller coasters for all of humanity go, 2008 has been quite the ride. I'm not sure how much effort I want to go into depth on this, but the moment we are living and the moment we will live for some time to come is the direct result of leadership decisions that have been made in the last eight years.

Even a change in government can't make up for the mistakes of the short-sighted idealistic notions of men who were so convinced they could translate their greed into a better way to run the world.

I have said this time and time again: To be politically conservative, or republican, or whatever right of center mind-frame you want to call it, it always means never, ever thinking about the consequences of the actions you choose to take in the face of the fact that that it was never done before for good reason.

The really brilliant thing about the Gay Agenda is that not a single openly gay person has ever had to so much as lift a finger to promote it. As an out homosexual, I have often expressed great regret over never having received my copy, as if I'm somehow out of the fabulous gay loop. My only consolation is that to date, I have never met another openly gay person who has received their copy either, it's been a mystery to all of us for years.

There has been no small amount of animosity expressed among Liberal supporters and others in the days following the election, as if any of them thought it could be won anyway. The opinions expressed have ranged from total distain for Stephane Dion and his lack of leadership, to respect for a Dion who was saddled with one of the worst jobs a politician could ever hope for, that of herding cats in a demoralized and virtually penniless political party.

The fact that the Liberal party after all this time hasn't been able to seem cohesive isn't so much a testament to Dion's lack of leadership skills, as it is to others in the party who refuse to accept that they have to get over their own desires for power and allow the leader they have to do his job.

I'm conflicted.

I watched it on TV, admittedly while I was napping on the couch, and I saw the genuine emotions expressed by the people involved. It was really quite beautiful and well put together and the hopes of everyone involved were well expressed. As media events go, we haven't been treated to a spectacle like this in quite a while.

I suppose in some ways it doesn't make much difference what party in power makes the apology as long as it comes from the Government of Canada. Of course it would be nice to know that the government making the apology was actually the choice of the people and not an alternative to a bad situation in this time in history.

An apology is an apology and its strength and value lie in the sincerity with which it is given. Unfortunately with our current government I find myself questioning the value of words offered over the chance for political opportunism. They need good news in a bad way these days and however unfortunate it may be, this could turn out to be a way to get it.

All of those bible thumping people who can't imagine how a man like me could possibly get any enjoyment out of life without faith should read this:

That's the message that is being conveyed through reactions to Tom Lukiwski's comments about homosexuals. It's not a big deal, everybody does it and you can be forgiven.

I know perfectly well it 17 was years ago, I'm also perfectly aware it was a 40 year old man with a career in politics looking not unlike a bad portrayal of Johnny Depp's Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – minus the smarts. Jaysus, how tacky can you get? Even in 1991 that look was horribly outdated.

I know he offered what sounded like a pretty good apology but I also know as a gay man that words come pretty cheap among conservative politicians, particularly when it comes to homosexuality. Considering his voting record on gay rights issues, the only difference I've seen in the man in recent years is that he shut up about it and that literally tells me nothing. As far as I can tell, he's a pretty good speaker who is only sorry for being caught in such an embarrassing situation, not to mention that outfit.

This Jesus and Mo cartoon reminds me of JJ's post last week about a questionnaire that asks when "personhood" begins in pregnancy, one of the options was "Before Conception".

This is where people start splitting hairs in areas nobody is qualified to comment on. Science can’t answer it and religion presents so many differing points of view – or none at all – that any debate is just a matter of opinion.

I woke up from a dream this morning that made me feel terrific, I had a bounce in my step and hope for the world. Such is the power of dreams, except for one teensy little thing. It isn’t usually like me but I dreamed that I had somehow eradicated the world of the notion of god. I had presented some kind of irrefutable case that made everyone realize that the world would be better off if we only deal with what we know how to prove and forget self justifying notions of mythological religions.

All of the heads of all the major religions came on board and endorsed the idea that religious self-justification was a redundant notion when all people have to share the same world regardless of notions of faith.

It sounds like such a simple thing, but we are not simple people. There was a vision associated with the thought; it was like a hurricane or tornado of ideology that represented human growth. I suppose it was a bit like a spiritual metaphor for nature’s cleansing of the mind. I had no idea I could dream so big.

Crosspost from:

In recent weeks stories have been emerging about an outbreak of MRSA falsely attributed to the gay community in San Francisco. For background I'm referring you to Montreal Simon because he's done a good job of covering it here and here.

Naturally the anti-gay right wing has been treating this like something heaven sent just for them. In spite of a flood of articles denouncing any sort of explicit gay connection, Concerned Women for America have decided to do the "Christian" thing and propose that we can all work together to battle this terrible problem.

Oh fer gawds sake, it seems my post is too short for this site, I need at least 200 words to make it work. I don't have 200 bloody words so I'll just to bitch and ramble until I do. Let's hope the html from my other site works on this one. Oh what the hell, I'm using placeholder copy below.

Here is one of my favourite performers of all time -- Annie Lennox doing what she does best.

Annie Lennox: SING: World AIDS Day 2007

The statistics in the video are remarkable when you consider how easily preventable the disease is if it weren't for ignorance, apathy and so-called religious morality.

[Filler, if you can read this, you need to get out more]

Crossposted from Canuck Attitude


It's not without a certain amount of personal glee that the Phelps clan has been has been slapped with almost 11 million dollars in damages after one brave man decided to sue them. My hat goes off to Albert Snyder for taking the courage to bring legal proceedings against Westborough United "Church" in light of his son's untimely death.