Hatred Is Not Tolerable

-Thursday it is … Good morning everyone and welcome to our blog.

-Outside this morning in our back yard, it is 36 degrees. Just a few degrees cooler than yesterday … with clear conditions.

Color weather radar show a little area of rain in south western Minnesota this morning … with some “snow” in north eastern Nebraska at this hour. Yuck … snow is coming.

Today’s weather forecast for the Duluth – North Shore area is: Partly sunny. Highs 43 to 48. East winds 10 to 15 mph.

Looks like it will be a half ways decent day all in all.

-We talked about her last week … Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. The national fundraising committee for GOP congressional candidates has canceled its Twin Cities TV advertising for Rep. Michele Bachmann, who is using the flap over her comments about Barack Obama to raise money on her own.

The National Republican Congressional Committee pulled ads scheduled to begin running Monday through Election Day. At just KSTP television, the canceled ads would have cost $50,000 from Oct. 27 through Nov. 4.

A Republican source confirmed Wednesday that the NRCC is pulling its funding out of the Sixth District race.

Notiice how the Republican party sticks by their own people … actually their like rats on a sinking ship – trying to distance themselves from Bachmann.

According to the Minneapolis Tribune, the ads were canceled Tuesday afternoon, after several days in which Bachmann was the subject of criticism for her televised remark on Friday that Obama “may have anti-American views.” Her DFL opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, reports receiving $1.3 million in donations since Bachmann made the comment in response to a question from Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

In addition, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has pledged $1 million to help Tinklenberg.

The Bachmann campaign held a $1 million advantage in cash over Tinklenberg at the end of September, and she moved quickly this week to use her “Hardball” appearance and its aftermath as a fundraising tool.

Her demonstration of “hatred” is not tolerable!

-Steve’s company cut back on one employee yesterday – by mutual agreement.  In an effort, apparently to make the company “lean” and “productive” — Steve’s boss (and owner) trimmed the office back by one employment position.

Businesses all over America are suffering – due to the economic times in which we live.  As Steve said at home last evening … I hope my position is secure.  So do I.

-October is GLBT history month, and each day this month we have included some bit of history from the month.  On this 23rd day of October … here is what historically happened:

October  23

October 23, 1766 – Christoffel Bosch van Leeuwarden, a seventy year old porter in the Netherlands, was convicted of seduction to sodomy and sentenced to three years of prison labour.

October 23, 1907 – The Molte v. Harden trial began in Germany. Journalist Maximillian Harden accused General Kuno Count von Moltke of being in a homosexual relationship. Moltke filed a civil suit, and though Harden was acquitted the verdict was later overturned and he was found guilty.

October 23, 1937 – Mattachine Society founder Harry Hay’s former lover Stanley Haggart wrote to him after marrying a woman in an attempt to change his sexuality, “To think it had to take a marriage with its wedding night experiences to show me where my real affinity lies. Every cell in me screamed out in protest at my desecration of my body. At that time I knew that I belonged to you and you to me.”

October 23, 1977 – Two thousand people demonstrate in downtown Montreal to protest October 22 bar raids. Police attack the demonstrators with motorcycles and billy-clubs and made further arrests.

October 23, 1979 – Former Winnipeg Free Press publisher Richard Malone pleads guilty to charges of buggery and obstructing justice. He is given a one-year sentence, following “juvenile sex ring” investigation in February 1979.

October 23, 1993 – In Helena Montana the state supreme court ruled that transvestitism is not a sufficient reason to deny a father joint custody of his 3-year old child.

October 23, 1998 – The Los Angeles City council condemned the “Making Sense of Homosexuality” conference, organized by the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, saying that claims of “curing” homosexuals create an atmosphere that can lead to anti-gay violence.

October 23, 1999 – Religious right leader Rev. Jerry Falwell and evangelical Christian supporters met with Rev. Mel White and gay Christians for an anti-violence forum.

October 23, 2002 – Pioneering gay activist Harry Hay dies. A founder and architect of the modern gay rights movement in 1950, Hay and four others formed one of the nation’s first gay rights organizations, the Mattachine Society.

-Yesterday was another sad day on Wall Street … as the DOW dropped 514.45 points.  Not much can be said about our economy – except it is in very sad condition.

This one fellow I know, who is a computer engineer told me in an email two weeks ago – that he had lost over $5,000 in his 401 K … and I’m sure it is more than that today.

Jobs are being lost all over, companies are cutting back – belts are tightening – I keep hoping the “rough ride” is over – but in all honesty I think the “rought ride” is just beginning.

Maybe the way to look at our situation – is to simply have a positive mind and to keep our chins up … and not giving in to despair.

-Things we’ve read…

• Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they can’t find any food.
• People in nudist colonies play volleyball more than any other sport. ( I wonder why?)
• A watermelon is a vegetable not a fruit.
• By 3,000 B.C. there were at least six different types of beer in Egypt.
• There are more nutrients in the cornflake package itself than there are in the actual cornflakes.

-Will it be cash or money for our infrastructure?  The $600 rebate checks provided by the federal stimulus package earlier this year may have been popular among taxpayers, but many economists think any future effort should focus on infrastructure spending and other targeted measures.

Spending on new roads, bridges and other public works projects would create jobs and provide more of a lasting boost to the economy than another round of rebate checks, several economists said. They contend a common concern about infrastructure spending — that it takes time to gear up and may not kick in until after the recession is over — is less compelling now because the U.S. economy likely will experience an extended downturn.

“We’re going to be in a longer period of weak growth and high unemployment” than was expected earlier this year, said Laurence Meyer, vice chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers and a former Federal Reserve governor. Any new stimulus needs to “have more legs” than the rebate checks, he said.

-Steve and I did not go for our usual hike last night … Steve came down with a cold yesterday, and was not feeling to good.  I had been out to the grocery store – and decided after being out – I didn’t want to walk.  The darn winds off Lake Superior yesterday were “cold” at best.

As it turned out…Steve felt better staying in the house when he got home – then going out for a cold miserable walk.

This Saturday, assuming Steve is feeling good enough – we are going to drive up to Grand Marais … the last city on the “north shore” before you get to Canada.  We are just going up for the day .. to bum around, shop, site see and just enjoy ourselves.

Hopefully the weather will hold out and it won’t snow by that time.

-Lastly this morning, Indianapolis police say they have few clues in the slayings of an elderly gay couple found in their home earlier this week.

Police have not divulged how Milton Lindgren, 70, and Eric Hendricks, 73, were murdered, or how long their bodies had been inside the house. A police spokesperson would say only that the men died by “violent means.”

Officers were sent to the home after friends notified police that the men had not been seen for some time.

What is happening to our nation?  Are we becoming so hate filled, that we have to go around killing elderly people – including this gay couple?  How sad … life is so precious, no matter who we are.

Can’t we stop the hatred?

-Gosh, I got a late start on the blog – because of a picture issue this morning and now I’m running about 15 minutes behind schedule – so I’d better get my butt moving and head on out of here.  Steve will be up in about five minutes to shower and get ready for the day – and after he is done – it’s my turn to clean up for the day.

Steve and I wish you a great Thursday…remember to be good and to smile. Life is good, it really is. We will both see you back here again tomorrow morning.  Have a wonderful day!

-Until next time…