Prop 8: Tipping The Scale

Prop 8: Tipping The Scale

Finally, the evil Prop 8 has been overturned. It's been the talk of the nation for days now. Celebrities are rejoicing and the LGBT public is finally getting what it deserve. It's a great time in our history. We are finally reaching a point in evolution where we are beginning to respect and accept those that are different than ourselves. 

Ellen DeGeneres discussed the victory on her show saying that she was very "happy" for the decision. Ellen married her wife Portia de Rossi in 2008. Her fame has definitely contributed to the rise of LGBT consciousness.   It's because of great women and men like Ellen that we have come this far.

Eat That

The scale is finally starting to tip in favor of "gay marriage". The time has come for our homosexual friends to experience the same joys and sorrows associated with marriage as the "breeders". Thank god, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully we can say so-long to oppression of all types withing the coming years. It takes time and evolution to change, but I believe people are generally good and are capable of giving up their prejudices. 

The best question is "now what". Well, hopefully we will see the full institutionalization of gay marriages. There is still a lot of legal bullshit and papers to be signed, but with the way things are trending I'm hopeful this will occur within the next few weeks or months. Even anti-gay politicians can't be that dense not to see that equal rights apply to everyone!

In other news - Glitter Bombs are the best!

Related articles

• Prop 8 Ruled Unconstitutional (news.icanhascheezburger.com)
• Ellen DeGeneres Addresses Prop 8 and JCPenney Protest (hollywood.com)
• Prop 8 is Unconstitutional - Now What? (collegecandy.com)

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Inspirations For Peace : Martin Luther King Jr.

Inspirations For Peace : Martin Luther King Jr.

Image via WikipediaThe holiday of Martin Luther King Day, is a time for remembrance and self analysis. Remembering our ancestors of all races, nationalities, gender, and orientations. Remembering the hunger in the fighters, that would protest for freedom and liberty. Remembering those enslaved by ignorance and persecuted by hate. Through our history, there have been many great leaders, truth seekers and teachers of inspiration. Martin Luther King, was all of those.

On this day and throughout the rest of the year (and the rest of your life), reflect on the passion of our great heroes. We should all strive to be more like them. We should inform ourselves and seek enlightenment. To be at peace with the world around us. To accept each other for our differences and learn what there is to be taught. As a nation, as individuals and as one world, we should tare down the walls of bigotry and self worship. We should put up a foundation for peace and prosperity. And look towards the future, where all people are equal and peace is the only currency.

Related articles

• Martin Luther King Day: The Quest for Peace and Justice (burdzeyeview.wordpress.com)
• Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (driveheartpassion.wordpress.com)
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ~ An Inspirational Leader (candacereese.wordpress.com)

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The Button Man

The Button Man

I love the stories of Burning Man. The week long, annual, desert gathering. The original "Occupy" movement. The whole aura of the event is centered around peace and unity. While I was delving into some Burning Man photo galleries, I ran across a man. A man called "The Button Man".

All that I know about "The Button Man" is that he gives out buttons. "The Button Man gifts hundreds of buttons from Center Camp." I need to find out more about this guy. I have a small but growing collection of buttons. At this point I consider it a hobby. Now, I want to go to Burning Man just to get a button from this guy. One more thing to add to my "bucket list".

source

If you know anything about this man please email me at lariotgirl@gmail.com

You can also reach me on Facebook and Sometimes Twitter :)

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Babys First Christmas Gifts

Babys First Christmas Gifts

This will be our son's first Christmas, and like any excited new parents, we've been doing our shopping with zill and excitement. Like many shopping parents, we wanted to find the best deal for the right products. In our search for the most amazing toys for the 1 and under crowd, we have found many great gems. Here is a list of the toys we got, to hopefully give other parents some good ideas.

*these toys are for my son who is 10 months*

1. Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Fun to Fix Gift Set

I bought these thinking that he would love these colorful tools. The "gift set" includes (technically) 3 toys, although the clamp has two pliers on them, I don't think they come off. Both the saw and the hammer have beads inside of them. All three have straps on them so you could have them hanging from other various toys.

2. Fisher-Price Shank n' Go Racecar

I thought this car was so awesome. Even though it says it is for children 3+ I chose to get it for my 10 month old (use your own discretion). I like the fact that it doesn't take much to get it to work. Just a little bump makes it start going. I assume this will be great for kids that don't know how to "work buttons" yet but still enjoy playing with moving toys... especially cars!

3. Fisher-Price Smart Screen Laptop

Ahhh... baby's first laptop! I'm so addicted to mine, and the boy loves to bang on the keyboard, hopefully this will keep him off of mine some. This laptop is really neat. It's bright and colorful and easy to use. Baby will love the bright buttons and want to bang on them a lot. The only thing I don't like about this one, is the screen. It's called "Smart Screen" but personally I think they could have done a little better. It's very basic... think highschool score board, with the lights making shapes. But I'm sure your little one won't notice!

4. Playschool Poppin Park Elefun Busy Ball Popper

The Elefun Busy Ball Popper is one of my favorites of the season. I had my eye on this toy since a few months ago and bought it first thing. Basically, you put the balls into the elephants "arms" and baby squeels in delight as they pop out. Am I sure it's a great buy, not a chance. I'm worried he'll just look at the balls like "yea, well, that's a let down". So... maybe I'll do a follow up review on this product after Christmas!

5. Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Friendly Flip Phone

I picked up this great toy cell phone in hopes to deter my little one from stealing my phone. The Friendly Flip Phone is also helpful for teaching basic playing skills as well as much, friends and numbers. It may also help with baby's speech a few months down the line.

I hope these few items give you some inspiration and insight into buying for your little one. I suggest ordering these items online from Toys R' Us or simply from WalMart. We only have 22 days left till the big day. And with Baby's First Christmas right around the corner, we need to make it as special for them as we can. Happy Holidays!

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From Turkey to Trees

From Turkey to Trees

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well here in America. I also hope that the rest of the world had a great weekend, whatever you were able to do that was special to you! The holiday seasons can get pretty hectic and I have been so busy this weekend. From turkey to trees I've been running around in a holiday fever.

Last night we put up  the family Christmas tree. I wanted to share some pictures with you guys. Maybe you can get some inspiration for your tree.

We have an artificial tree. It's white and I put a ton of red, pink and white decorations on it. In the pictures you can see some of my ornaments. I choose to use some feathers on the tree as well as multiple strings of plastic garland. Candy canes, snowflakes and of course traditional glass balls.

My Son this Morning

Peace and Love

5 inch butterfly

Feathers

She's an angel with a flashlight?

Candy Garland String

More feathers

Skating snowman (I'm in the ball)

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What To Be Thankful For At A Time Like This

What To Be Thankful For At A Time Like This

What is there to really be thankful for at a time like this? Something that isn't purely cliche or over done. Times are hard... nobody has a job. Money is hard to come by. People are becoming addicted to drugs, diagnosed with AIDS, cancer. Teens are killing themselves and blowing up schools. What is there to be thankful for? The list of shitty things is pretty long. It's hard to make heads or tales of what's going on out there in the world. Everyone is lieing and nobody can keep a secret. There seems to be no end to this downward spiral of bad luck facing the planet today. Shit, even the polar bears are getting the short end of the stick.

What's this whole blog post about? Being thankful. Well... thanks comes in many forms. Thanks is usually given to a person, but this Thanksgiving, maybe we should slow down and thank ourselves for the accomplishments we have made in our own lives. Holidays can be so stressful. Putting on the "holiday hat" to show your family that you are happy... and are comfortable spending a lot of money on useless consumerist products. But Thanksgiving can be a time of inner thanks and acceptance.



We've all done impressive things in our lives. Lost weight, given to charity, redecorated our kitchen, painted a picture or raised a child. Think about the times in your life when you have been proud of yourself. When you've pushed through when you thought you would fail. Celebrating our accomplishments, especially personal ones, is a great way to show gratitude on such a great day.
When you turn on the news after eating the turkey and watching the game and you see all the hateful things happening across America, feel sad, but remember all of the great things that you have done to better your life and the lives of those around you. We are not all superheros, and we are not expected to change the world... but putting a little faith in your own accomplishments will definitely give you something to be thankful for your entire life!

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KathTeaChin GP: The Dragon Age Calendar Project

KathTeaChin GP: The Dragon Age Calendar Project

The Dragon Age Calendar Project: Save a Life

You may or may not have heard about this, depending on how active you are in the Dragon Age fanart community on DeviantArt buta young artist needs at least 2000 USD to ease her hefty hospital bills. Yes, many of us have never seen so much money in our lifetime but a life depends on it as she is to undergo a heart-valve operation.

So what can you do to help?

You could order the Heroes & Champions 2012 Calendar which features the player characters belonging to the many of the talented deviantART fanartists.

A digital copy of the calendar will be sold for 15 USD. There are some pretty awesome gifts which will be raffled amongst the participants.  For those who donate more than the price of the calendar, each 15 USD donated will give you an extra chance to win the raffle.

The price will include a digital copy of the complete calendar and the sketch book with any other characters that did not get a spot on the calendar. Calendar images will come in 3 formats: Pdf ready to print wall calendar, computer wall paper calendar single images, and clean wallpaper images in case you don't want to have them in your computer with all the numbers and weekdays.

Pre-orders will be taken from November the 7th until the release date of the calendar, which will be due on December the 15th. 

The raffle gifts are as follow:

·         If we reach USD 1000:  A printed copy of the calendar

·         If we reach USD 1250:  A T-shirt with the calendar image of your choice

·         If we reach USD 1500:  Promo A4 image of Fenris , signed by his voiceover actor Gideon Emery at MCM Expo in London, 28 October 2011

·         If we reach USD 1750:  Promo A4 image of Anders, signed by his voiceover actor Adam Howden at MCM Expo in London, 28 October 2011

·         If we reach USD 2000:  Art by Sonia Carreras, featuring Anders and Fenris, signed by Adam Howden and Gideon Emery at MCM Expo in London, 28 October 2011

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Dragon Age videogame series from Bioware, you could always just donate. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of the game or not, all donations from all parties are highly welcomed.

For the complete details about the Calendar Project and how to order:

http://soniacarreras.deviantart.com/journal/CALENDAR-UPDATE-PRE-ORDERS-AND-CONDITIONS-267504515

Lastly, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD, be it Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, blogs, word of mouth, anything. We need to raise this money so please contribute as this can be the difference between life and death for her.

This is a guest post by writer Kathy Chin.

KathTeaChin s a fitness freak (and freak in general) who is still in Form 6 and has a blog,Woes of a Bipolar Material Girl. She's crazy about Bioware games such as Dragon Age & Mass Effect 2 and considers herself a Dual-wielding Rogue & Infiltrator. She may only have one piercing and one tattoo now but plans for additional piercings and more ink in the future, besides multi-coloured hair. She is fascinated by the world of alternative modeling and would like to have careers in journalism, theatre and even voiceover acting. Add her on Facebook at facebook.com/KathTea.

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Mt. Dew Vs. Doritos : What's The Gamer's Choice?

Mt. Dew Vs. Doritos : What's The Gamer's Choice?

Well, according to the COD MWF3 Double XP Rank Up Game and Facebook, Mt. Dew is way more popular than Doritos. With the launch of the new Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 3, Mt. Dew and Doritos has launched a new game which offers double XP (experience points) for MWF players that collect product codes and turn them in online. This is a very common promotional technique designed to draw attention to the products. The companies organize together and help each other advertise.

In this case, Mt. Dew is clearly the ring leader of the MWF3 show! I was on the Rank Up XP site when I noticed that all 3 of the advertising brands were linked to their Facebook Fan Page. Under the brand's picture is a "like" button that also shows the amount of likes each page has recieved. COD MWF3 has 1.5 million likes, you would think that compared to Doritos which has 234k likes, MWF3 would be a much better seller. But that's not the case. Mt. Dew has 6.2 million fans. That's almost 6 times the amount of MWF3 fans.

This makes me think that one key reason that MWF3 is gaining momentum is due to the Mt. Dew craze. Gamers know Mt. Dew as a drink of choice, and the choice of champions. Mt. Dew has been a huge sponsor for all Xbox games, including some Playstation games and possibly others. The COD franchise has huge numbers (Black Ops, has 10.6 million Facebook fans) and MWF3 will gain many fans as more gamers get their own copies. I'm betting that plenty of Dew drinkers will buy the game because of the huge connection between the drink and the game.

Given time, I believe that MFW3 will be able to gain many more fans on Facebook. As we know, Facebook is a main leader in resources for research work. And I believe that this Mt Dew vs Doritos vs MWF3 model, clearly shows how easy it is to gather information from the social giant. It also shows how joining forces with like minded peers can give yourself a boost.

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Zombie Prejudice : MookyChick

Zombie Prejudice : MookyChick

by Amanda Kirby

Zombies don't have prejudice. They're egalitarian fellows who'll eat anyone's brains. But we do. Let's join forces with the Zombie Rights Movement to work on our prejudice and media-fed stereotyping... together.

Zombie history - better to know thine enemy than to fear it

We fear zombies for their brain-eating ways. Since the Middle Ages, people have believed that people will come back from the dead to finish their business. In 8th century Ireland, for instance, outsiders were buried with stones in their mouths to prevent them from becoming revenants, or the walking dead, returned to avenge crimes committed againsst them. The Draugr of medieval Norse mythology were warrior corpses returned from the dead to attack the living - though they probably used weapons not teeth, and weren't too bothered about the whole brains thing, either. Zombies are even mentioned in the oldest work of literature known to man, the Epic of Gilgamesh (although it doesn't mention the Z-word - we've got Vodoun, or the spirituality and practice of Voodoo, to thank for that).

They've been around forever. We've feared them forever. But why must we condemn these poor creatures just because of the way they were made? Just like you and I, zombies have feelings. Zombies were people too.

The media have always focused on zombies' negative lifestyle traits. They've picked them apart and, just as they've done with every other minority, stereotyped them to death. And now we spend our whole time preparing manifestos on how to survive the Zombie Apocalypse instead of leaning back and saying "cheer up lads, it might never happen".

Fortunately, there are organizations designed to help spread zombie awareness and educate the living on the real lifestyle traits of the deceased.

The pop culture stereotype is that zombies are always evil and must be stopped. Not fair! The truth is, zombies are just doing what they do. Just because they are flesh eaters, doesn't mean they are doing anything wrong, no more than a lion is doing something wrong, or Necrotizing Fasciitis is doing something wrong. Let's not bring morality into it! Zombies are only acting on their survival instincts. And we can't blame them for that.

The Zombie Rights Movement - Death by blunt objects never, Activism now

The Zombie Rights Movement is an organization that promotes a positive (un)living experience for all people, dead or alive. Dedicated to fighting prejudice against zombies, the movement's members and supporters include both the quick and the dead.

Their goal? To promote all the Zombie Walks that are going on. Education is key! If you've got time to add yet another event to your activism schedule, you should definitely go and check them out. Support zombies and fly the grey flag! But wash the bloodstains out first.

Our local governments need to consider ways to better support our zombie friends, neighbours, families and even foes. If the UK Government is so vocal about the Big Society, they can't possibly deny that zombies deserve respect and protection of their equal rights. Pointing out that zombies are ficitional is really just evading the issue.

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Top 10 Controversial Costumes For Kids

Top 10 Controversial Costumes For Kids

Halloween is for fun and chaos. I've been thinking about what great, cute little outfit I can get for my son for his first Halloween. But I realized, there are some great, twisted costume ideas to get people stirred up. I mean, who wouldn't want to dress their kid up as a bloody hobo?

10. A Child Beauty Pageant Contestant
We've all seen Toddlers and Tiaras and we all know how weird those kids are. The parents are even more fucked up as we can tell. So, for Halloween this year, dress your kid up as one of the scary beauty contestants. Their eyes are so empty!

9. A Pack of Cigarettes or a Bottle of Booze
Get crafty with this one. Of course you will want to remember to add the necessary warning labels.

8. An OBGYN
This is great for boys! And dad can get in on the game with this one as well.

7. An Oompa Loompa
They are so scary. I hate their little orange faces and green, fucked up hair. Putting a kid in a Oompa Loompa costume is just wrong. This category can also overlap with the "midget" category. If you're feeling a little judgmental!

6. A Hobo
Use any raggady old baby clothes or pieces of cloth you can find. Give you kid an empty Pork N. Bean can and put a dollar in it. Tell them to run up to people and claim the government is after them, and ask for money for an attorney.

5. A Midget
Dress your kid in their regular, adult style clothes. Give them a sign that says "little person". You can make them look more adult by adding a wig or a neck tie... or an empty bottle of scotch.

4. Birth Control
We all know that one kid, often scares people into not having another one for a while. Have fun with this idea. There are many options of birth control that you can dress you child up as. I prefer, the condom. These are easy to design into a costume with just some saran wrap. Use your imagination.

3. Play The Race Card

Cover your white kid in black face paint or put your black kid in a Klan outfit. Feel free to test the water with other racial stereotypes.


2. A Transgender
Boys wear girl clothes and girls wear boy clothes. Easy.

1. Lady/Baby GooGoo
This works for girls or boys I guess. If you want to dress your son up as Gaga's male, alter ego. Use your child as a canvas. Any household items will work for this. Pieces of bacon, toilet brush, trash bag. Throw a bunch of crap on your kid a presto, Baby GooGoo

some images from here

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Locks of Pink

Locks of Pink

Looking to add a little flair to your style while supporting a great cause? October, as we know, is BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. There are a number of hair salons nation wide that are taking donations for local breast cancer organizations while putting in pink extensions. This is a great way to show your support and donate to one of the best causes available for women. "About 1 in 8 women in the United States (12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime." Breast cancer, next to lung cancer, is the second most deadly killer of women. 
Let me take the time to encourage all women to keep a check on their breast health with frequent self exams as well as doctor exams. 


Here is the info for one local salon here in Easley, SC (along with their FB page).

For the month of October we will raise money for the Susan G Comen Foundation by placing a lock of pink hair in your hair(much like the feather extensions). We will be doing this by donations only and all money raised will go to the foundation. It will be awesome to have a great turn out for this so share it with your friends and let everyone know. I hope to see everyone there!

Shear Hospitality Salon and Spa

508 S. B st

Easley, South Carolina

Saturday, October 1 at 10:00am - October 29 at 3:00pm


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143918389034030

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ZOMBIES!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

ZOMBIES!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Zombies Guide To Better Grooming

click the link above

And... Zombie Peacock for the hell of it! XOXO

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