I sent this today and wish I had done so earlier.
Senator Portman:
First, I want to thank you for your service to our state and especially for your recent courageous statements in support of marriage equality. I know it can be difficult to go against the grain, especially on this issue. And especially for a Republican in Ohio, a state that in 2004 passed a marriage amendment specifically making same-sex unions unconstitutional.
But thankfully, and as I bet you’ve encountered, times do change! Progress does happen, thankfully for young people, thankfully for those of us who have generational disagreements over this sort of thing.
This has been a difficult week for all of America, and it’s unfortunate that the vote on the Toomey-Manchin bill came at a time when so much of the country was distracted by recent tragic events in Boston and elsewhere. However, one might also hope that the coincident timing might have encouraged our legislators to have such tragedies in mind when voting on this bill.
I am 34 years old. I have never owned a gun. I cannot recall ever having shot one. But many of my friends are gun owners, and I believe they absolutely should be able to own their guns and use them in a lawful manner.
I am not a weirdo lefty who wants to eradicate guns. I am a humanist. I believe in supporting the right of individuals to live safe, happy, healthy lives. In hopeful moments, I believe that our elected officials agree with this and are mindful of this when taking action. I am hopeful that individuals in government keep in mind not only the rights of members of powerful lobbies, but also the rights and freedoms of those of us who have no lobbyists.
As one of those millions of Americans represented not by lobbyists but by those who represent me in government, I want to express my disappointment with your vote on this bill. In light of recent events that have brought to the fore the humanity and fragility of American lives, I wish you had voted to support universal background checks.
The freedom of children to play and learn without being concerned for their safety is certainly worth more than the inconvenience of those who have to wait for a background check before purchasing a weapon. The right of children to know that their government is working to protect them is worth more than your vote allots to it.
I am proud to have a senator able to speak up for what is right in the marriage equality debate. I will be even prouder when you speak up for what our citizens deserve - a commonsense, practical move toward making our country even a little bit safer. I believe your vote today on this bill will seem in time as outmoded as our state’s 2004 vote on Issue 1.
Please reconsider your position on this issue and represent what 90% of Americans believe is just and necessary in this situation. This is the most vital issue facing our country. Please do the right thing, Senator Portman.
Thank you.
The folk musicians are the real poets, the real popular poets of America. The poets that are printed in books, how many people read them compared to the vast audience of the folksinger? A lot of the folksingers’ poems are greater than the printed poems! Dylan’s early songs were long surrealist poems. They were wonderful poems on their own.
quote by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
THE DEEP
A reflection blinds a gardening correspondent. Shade requires a
starting point. The elementary particle makes to leave and its
extremities fill.Aliens write in puns we now know are curly fries. Drive-up
windows make this clear.War with its lights out eschews imagination. All our buds lost
their heads in the flower of their youth.So we got this apartment on Jockey Street. They used to race
houses there.But we’re not going to jaw about Ovid or the rosy steps of mother,
her microscopic brand of honey. We expect you to understand.See you over the next hill. (11)
How surfaces can be tweaked and spun | Jacket2
poem by Michael Gizzi
Fatboy Slim - Weapon Of Choice [Official video] (by SkintRecords)
Need a pick-me-up after that Google Reader news?
Kelly got her foot stuck in a rest room drain and opted to inflict a serious injury on herself rather than risk ‘eating the toilet’ in the germ-filled public convenience. She tweeted at the time: ‘Got my shoe stuck in a bathroom drain. I was faced w/ spraining my ankle or eating the toilet! Guess what I picked?’ She added: ‘Just could not bare the thought of my face landing in a public toilet! However I’m now questioning my decision due to the pain!!!!! (sic)’ Kelly was also recently given an expensive bottle of champagne after rocks fell on her head at a hotel.Kelly Osbourne is ‘rushed to hospital after suffering seizure on set of Fashion Police’ | Mail Online
PLASTIC BAG | FUTURESTATES | ITVS (by IndiesLab)
via kate marhoefer
TIPS FOR PERFORMERS: Playing cards have the top half upside-down to help cheaters. There are a finite number of jokes in the universe. Singing is a trick to get people to listen to music for longer than they wold ordinarily. There is no music in space. People will pay to watch people make sounds. Everything on stage should be larger than in real life.
LIVING WITH OTHER PEOPLE: Violence on television only affects children whose parents act like television personalities. Table manners are for people who have nothing better to do. Civilization is a religion. Civilized people walk funny. There is always a party going on somewhere. People will remember you better if you always wear the same outfit.
LIFE ON EARTH: Men like pastries, women like custards. Scientists have invented a love drug, but it only works on bugs. Animals like earthquakes, tornadoes and volcanic activity. Nuclear weapons can wipe out life on Earth, if used properly. Cats like houses better than people. Dolphins find people amusing, but they don’t want to talk to them. People look ridiculous when they’re in ecstasy. Schools are for training people how to listen to other people. Body odor is the window to the soul. Sound is worth money.
IN THE HOME: There have been cases where people’s shoes got stuck on their feet and could never be removed. The best way to get rid of unwanted flying insects is to have strong body odor. There hasn’t been a good-looking American car in 20 years. There is always something on television. The best length for television programs is either 30 seconds or 8 hours.
THE SPACE PEOPLE: Space People read our mail. The Space People think that TV news programs are comedies, and that soap operas are news. The Space People will contact us when they can make money by doing so. The Space People think factories are musical instruments. They sing along with them. Each song lasts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. No music on weekends.
MONEY: People will do odd things if you give them money. When everything is worth money, the money is worth nothing. If you keep your money in your shoe, then people will know which bills are yours. If you crumple your money into little balls, it will never stick together. The best way to touch money is by the edges. U.S. money is the worst looking money in the world.
WORLD TRAVEL: Passport pictures are what people really look like. Rich people will travel great distances to look at poor people. Toast is the national dish of Australia. People never travel to look at flat landscapes. People would rather watch things than eat. Looking at postcards is better than looking at the real thing. Looking up is as scary as looking down.
IN THE FUTURE: In the future, women will have breasts all over. In the future, it will be a relief to find a place without culture. In the future, plates of food will have names and titles. In the future, we will all drive standing up. In the future, love will be taught on television and by listening to pop songs.
WORK: Crime is a job. Sex is a job. Growing up is a job. School is a job. Going to parties is a job. Religion is a job. Being creative is a job.
Muhammad Ali: Been chopping trees. I done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator. That’s right. I have wrestled with an alligator. I done tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail. That’s bad! Only last week I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick! I’m so mean I make medicine sick!from When We Were Kings
Don King: Bad dude!
Muhammad Ali: Bad, fast! Fast! Fast! Last night I cut the light off in my bedroom, hit the switch and was in the bed before the room was dark.
The name Pez was derived from the letters at the start, the middle and the end of the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminz, the first Pez flavor.Pez - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
