AC360 - Dr. Phil Rips Clint McCance & His Apology!

A NON-APOLOGY APOLOGY!
I feel sorry for his kids.

AC360 - Clint McCance - School Official Posting Hate

He likes when gay kids die and he is a Arkansas School Board Member! WOW!  He is a SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER!!

Texas NBC Station Asks Viewers: Will Acceptance Of Gays Destroy America?

The ignorance is stupefying!  It is numbing to the senses!  The question posed to the listeners itself is so incredibly, utterly preposterous.  

Amsterdam Marathon - Sunday, October 17, 2010

New Orleans Half Marathon - February 28, 2010

Rome Marathon - March 21, 2010

Krakow Marathon - April 25, 2010

NYC Olympic Triathlon - July 18, 2010

Budapest Half Marathon - September 5, 2010

Toughman Ironman 70.3 - September 12, 2010

Berlin Marathon - September 26, 2010

Staten Island Half Marathon - October 10, 2010

.... and yesterday, October 17, 2010, the Amsterdam Marathon, my last race for 2010.

While it is a huge relief that my 2010 races are over and behind me now and I don’t have to constantly train for the next race, it does sadden me in a way that for sometime to come I have nothing to look forward to - athletically.  

My body needs rest and recovery.  I forced myself to realize this yesterday while running the Amsterdam Marathon.  The first 20 kilometers were pretty good but something snapped midway and  I felt shooting pain in the corner of my right knee alongside a similar pain in my left ankle.  Shooting pain is never good, dull pain is usually harmless.  I was limping the rest of the race and finished it in 4 hours and 52 minutes, 7 minutes slower than Berlin.  Pain killers have helped thus far.  Long live Advil!  

It was a very cold and windy day here in Amsterdam.  I am told Amsterdam can be cold and windy at this time of the year.  Certainly way too frigid for me.  I was reminded of winter in New York which, by the way, I am dreading since the first day of spring 2010.  It is never too hot for me and I run much better on a warm (even hot) day rather than a cold, frigid day.  The cold zaps my breath and exerts pressure on my chest which is what I felt during the race today.  

I arrived here on Saturday and ran the marathon yesterday (Sunday).  It is my first visit to Amsterdam and the city is certainly charming.  I saw 42.125 kilometers of the city and its outskirts on foot.  The city possesses an engaging charm and arresting visual beauty.  The various canals, the little bridges than run over the canals, the narrow cobblestoned streets of the old Amsterdam, the old buildings dating back to the 18th century, the vast expanses of green Dutch grass, the quaint hamlets bordering the city of Amsterdam, and of course, the very (in)famous, charming red light district where ladies of all shapes, sizes and age, display their wares in open windows lit in red, where red curtains are drawn when the ladies have company.   A city known for its liberal mindset and “live and let live” motto, I found Amsterdam to be a naked city, with nothing to hide and no pretensions and inhibitions.  My kinda city, it is.  I found the Dutch to be warm, friendly  and welcoming but very pragmatic.  

Approximately 25,000 runners participated in yesterday’s race.  It was a frigid morning with a stiff wind blowing but, as a consolation, the sun was out and the skies were clear.   Not much crowd support, except in certain parts of the city.  There were large sections that were somewhat dull and uninspiring.  What I missed the most was music on the course.   There was music playing in certain parts only, but it was not the kind that would boost a tired athlete’s spirits and provide that much-needed kick.  

After the race yesterday, my friend Borut arrived from Rotterdam (an hour away from Amsterdam by train) to spend a few hours with me and have dinner.  We dined at a delightful vegan restaurant here in Amsterdam - http://www.vegguide.org/entry/1036.  We had the special of the day with dishes from Senegal and Ghana.  Really good stuff!  I was wiped out by the end of dinner and we walked to Centraal Station (the main hub for trains connecting Amsterdam with other parts of Europe and The Netherlands) where I bid goodbye to Borut and returned to the warm confines of my hotel.  

This is Monday morning (October 18th).  Weather here today is similar to Sunday - cold, blustery but sunny.  Had a few drinks last night which knocked me out by 1am.  After a nice restful sleep, I am now ready to head out and explore this quaint City of Amsterdam.  I return back home to New York on Tuesday.  

Doei! (Goodbye in Dutch)

Why the "It Gets Better" campaign is needed.

A friend of mine sent this to me and I loved it.Dan could not have said it better.I am sharing this with you.......

Why the It Gets Better campaign is needed.

By Dan Savage on October 15, 2010

 

Listener comments to Savage:

 I was listening to the radio yesterday morning, and I heard an interview with you about your It Gets Better campaign. I was saddened and frustrated with your comments regarding people of faith and their perpetuation of bullying. As someone who loves the Lord and does not support gay marriage, I can honestly say I was heartbroken to hear about the young man who took his own life.

If your message is that we should not judge people based on their sexual preference, how do you justify judging entire groups of people for any other reason (including their faith)? There is no part of me that took any pleasure in what happened to that young man, and I know for a fact that is true of many other people who disagree with your viewpoint.

To that end, to imply that I would somehow encourage my children to mock, hurt, or intimidate another person for any reason is completely unfounded and offensive. Being a follower of Christ is, above all things, a recognition that we are all imperfect, fallible, and in desperate need of a savior. We cannot believe that we are better or more worthy than other people.

Please consider your viewpoint, and please be more careful with your words in the future. —L.R 

SAVAGE Commentary:

I’m sorry your feelings were hurt by my comments.

No, wait. I’m not. Gay kids are dying. So let’s try to keep things in perspective: F___ your feelings.

A question: Do you “support” atheist marriage? Interfaith marriage? Divorce and remarriage? All are legal, all go against Christian and/or traditional ideas about marriage, and yet there’s no “Christian” movement to deny marriage rights to atheists or people marrying outside their respective faiths or people divorcing and remarrying.

Why the hell not?

 

Sorry, L.R., but so long as you support the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples, it’s clear that you do believe that some people—straight people—are “better or more worthy” than others.

And—sorry—but you are partly responsible for the bullying and physical violence being visited on vulnerable LGBT children. The kids of people who see gay people as sinful or damaged or disordered and unworthy of full civil equality—even if those people strive to express their bigotry in the politest possible way (at least when they happen to be addressing a gay person)—learn to see gay people as sinful, damaged, disordered, and unworthy. And while there may not be any gay adults or couples where you live, or at your church, or in your workplace, I promise you that there are gay and lesbian children in your schools. And while you can only attack gays and lesbians at the ballot box, nice and impersonally, your children have the option of attacking actual gays and lesbians, in person, in real time.  Real gay and lesbian children. Not political abstractions, not “sinners.” Gay and lesbian children.

Try to keep up: The dehumanizing bigotries that fall from the lips of “faithful Christians,” and the lies about us that vomit out from the pulpits of churches that “faithful Christians” drag their kids to on Sundays, give your children license to verbally abuse, humiliate, and condemn the gay children they encounter at school. And many of your children—having listened to Mom and Dad talk about how gay marriage is a threat to family and how gay sex makes their magic sky friend Jesus cry—feel justified in physically abusing the LGBT children they encounter in their schools. You don’t have to explicitly “encourage [your] children to mock, hurt, or intimidate” queer kids. Your encouragement—along with your hatred and fear—is implicit. It’s here, it’s clear, and we’re seeing the fruits of it: dead children.

Oh, and those same dehumanizing bigotries that fill your straight children with hate? They fill your gay children with suicidal despair. And you have the nerve to ask me to be more careful with my words?

Did that hurt to hear? Good. But it couldn’t have hurt nearly as much as what was said and done to Asher Brown and Justin Aaberg and Billy Lucas and Cody Barker and Seth Walsh—day-in, day-out for years—at schools filled with bigoted little monsters created not in the image of a loving God, but in the image of the hateful and false “followers of Christ” they call Mom and Dad. —Dan

Hate, be my friend, begs Logic

This.....

http://abcnews.go.com/US/gay-teen-suicide-sparks-debate/story?id=11788128

Then this....

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-05/justice/new.york.gay.bar.assault_1_gay-man-gay-rights-movement-police-officers?_s=PM:CRIME

And now this....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/09/nyregion/09bias.html?_r=2&hp&pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10bias.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fnyregion%2Findex.jsonp

And of course, we have the 24-hour cartoon network with cartoons such as.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/02/demint-gays-unmarried-pregnant-women-teachers_n_748131.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/27/ann-coulter-to-gay-conser_n_740066.html


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/nyregion/11paladino.html


Gays must not be allowed to get married.

Gays must not be allowed to adopt children.

Gays must not be allowed to teach in schools.

Gays must not be allowed to love.

Gays are evil!

Kill the gays!

Homosexuality is an abomination!

Such hate.

Why?

What did we do to deserve this?

Why are people threatened by us?

Religion has, to a large extent, fired this condemnation of homosexuals and homosexuality but are these “guardians of morality” leading their lives strictly by the scriptures themselves?  Besides, is this a really savvy way to uphold their religious beliefs through... hate and anger?  Really poor marketing, guys!  I bet your God up there is wincing and squirming over it too.  I thought religion was all about love and peace but the actions of its ambassadors speak to the contrary.  

They want to “protect” marriage.  Protect?

And it begins with depriving us?  Really?  Seriously?

The institution of marriage has been reduced to a joke and it is not our handiwork.  Look around.  It is reduced to a caricature.  

Marriage is between a man and a woman who divorce and marry again and again and again and again.  And if you are lucky enough to be Brittany Spears, you can get married for a few hours just for kicks.  Went out, got drunk, got married and the nuptials were annulled the next morning.  

Is the right to get married truly sacred to those who enjoy it?

(Hey, the esteemed Tiger Woods and Company, feel free to chime in here anytime.) 

Do they even cherish it?  

According to the recent census, 3.8 million “married” couples live apart and lead separate lives and even date separately, thereby enjoying “open relationships”.  (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21369007/).  

Is that okay according to the scriptures?  What does the Bible say about these 3.8 million Americans whose “legal marriage” is recognized by the Church, State and Federal governments?

Given the right, the gays might bring some meaning and substance to it, quite like we gentrify abandoned and rough neighborhoods, clean them up, turn them into hip places to be and then....the “others” move in hordes.

I am an atheist.  I don’t believe in any organized religion.

But the Christian beliefs heavily influence the state laws here.

Why are those laws applied to me, someone who does not believe in those laws, in this “land of all-encompassing freedom, equal rights and opportunity”?  Equal rights?  Do I have the same rights as a heterosexual does? Is this the America of modern times?  Or, have we taken a U-turn for the dark ages?

The last few days have been challenging for the gay community in America.

They brought with them a passionate awakening.  

The teen suicides and the brutal assaults right here in New York City drew attention.

Bogged down by the strife and challenges of daily lives, we had turned our backs to the dark shadow of hate that follows us everywhere.

People make remarks, we ignore it and move on with our lives.

Some of my closest friends have, unbeknownst to them, slipped and revealed their innermost revulsion for the gay lifestyle.  I ignored it.  Why make a scene, I would wonder.  Looking at the bigger picture, I would value their friendship more than the hurtful remark they made.  It is okay, don’t over-react, I would console myself and move on.

But is it really okay?  A friend’s daughter informs us that it is very common in schools for kids to react with disdain and revulsion when anything “gay” is a topic of discussion.  She attends one of the premier institutions of education in New York City.  How are these kids embracing this message of hate at that young age?  Who is handing down this flaming torch of hatred to their kids?  What a disservice it is to the next generation to give the gift of hate.  

The ugly face of hate-and-kill-the-gays is rising again it seems, but I wonder if it ever did go away?  Political correctness may have pushed it, and many other social ills targeted at others who are faulted for being different, under water, however, it continues to breathe, it lurks just below the surface, ready to leap out and lunge.  

I am gay.  

I was born with a preference for a man, not a woman.

So I must be spat at, burned, beaten, bullied, sodomized and killed?

The logic is stunning.

Is it because I am gay or,....something deeper that lurks in the conscience of these haters?  I wonder if by beating me to a pulp, they are truly beating their own demons that haunt them.  If that is true, would these demons even exist if our society was more accepting and embracing of who we are?  

Ever wondered why someone chooses to be in the proverbial closet?  Why would anyone hide their true identity if it was socially acceptable?  

Homosexuality is as old as the human race.

You can be white, black, jewish, arab, asian, christian, muslim, hindu, woman, man, child, adult, a parrot, a mouse or a pooch....

You can be any race, any color, any type, any species...and, you could still ALSO be gay.  

Seriously, it is not a choice.  We don’t choose this.  We are born this way.

Quite like heterosexuality is not a choice, neither is homosexuality.

Heterosexuality is as normal or abnormal as homosexuality.

The only difference is, homosexuality has been the target of bad press from the beginning of time. 

Acts of violence, brutality and killings will not erase homosexuality.  

But then again, hate, fearing its own demise, has never been a friend of logic....