psyche

Really cheap web design!

2010-02-07T01:31:00.002-05:00

Bored at work? Check this out!

2010-01-16T20:35:00.003-05:00

Although you might want to check the boss isn't looking.

Head over to JuegosAr.com. With over 500+ flash games and a growing gaming community, you're gonna love going to work(or school :P) every morning.

JuegosAr Development & Design

2010-01-16T20:21:00.003-05:00

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Really Affordable
Professional & Contemporary Look & Feel
Quality Work
Experienced
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Really Affordable (Yes, I said it twice)

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Head over to JuegosAr Development & Design and get a quote today.

Health Reform: Conservatives turning to LGBT for support?

2009-10-21T16:42:00.007-04:00

- From the Equality Florida Blog -

Tom Coburn says whaaa?
by Mallory Wells

This was a story too good to pass up posting.

Tom Coburn is a Republican senator from the state of Oklahoma. He has written an opinion piece for The Advocate Online that calls on the LGBT community to oppose "government health care rationing", i.e. public option healthcare. He does this by invoking the Ryan White Act, contending that thousands of Americans have, and will die, and millions of dollars will be spent on ineffective government programs. In the end of his piece he states we can make sure "every man, woman and child in this country has access to quality, affordable health care" without "creating an inefficient and expensive government program."

Now, I'm no expert on healthcare, and surely in the LGBT community there are various opinions as to what Congress and the President should be doing. My issue here is Tom Coburn turning to the LGBT community for support. This man has no business trying to woo us. Let's take a walk down Tom Coburn memory lane, and examine his positions on our issues.

In Tom Coburn's mind, the "gay agenda" is the biggest danger facing America today.

"The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power...That agenda is the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today. Why do you think we they rationalization for abortion and multiple sexual partners? That's a gay agenda."

Coburn has opposed gay marriage and in 2006 voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have put into the US Constitution that marriage is between one man and one woman. He also opposes gay adoption and anonymous HIV testing.

Perhaps most famous of all of his anti-gay statements is this:

"Lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only
let one girl go to the bathroom. Now this about that. Think about that issue. How is it that
that's happened to us?"

So, while we may not all agree on the solution to healthcare, we can agree that Tom Coburn has no business courting a community he has vilified time and time again.

Blah

2009-09-18T11:50:00.005-04:00

I haven't posted in a while. Sometimes I wonder whether it's worth having this blog, domain and all. So yeah, these past two days have been probably the worst so far of 2009. So on Tuesday I got my license (yay) and that kinda boosted my self-esteem a bit (after 2 previously-failed attempts). However, it's not even a week yet and I already got into an accident (fml, right?). This is when the ranting begins:

I wake up on Thursday morning, looking forward to the GSA meeting after school. Everything runs smoothly at school and the meeting exceeded my expectations. It's not until I hit the road that all hell breaks loose. I had to run some errands and I was running a bit late for work.
I got there about 5 minutes late, only to find out some pretty depressing news. Christina C., a former co-worker, died earlier that day in a car crash. I also found out that one of my managers quit, so I offered to stay for a bit longer to help out. We tried our best to move on and work, but nevertheless the mood at BK was a bit solemn and depressing
So the day goes on and we try to move on. Or at least, we try to.

The night goes on, along with a few water fights, chases, sauce throwing, baking, and whatnot. So at around 10:30 I get ready to leave. When I get to the parking lot, I find out that my car is engulfed by a variety of BK sauces (from BBQ to Zesty, lol).
Long story, short, I go back inside and get my revenge. As I quickly head out to my car, Josh chases me down the parking lot. I get inside the car and pull out of the parking spot, but he somehow gets in the way and, to avoid hitting him, I'm forced to turn sharply.

I ended up crashing into another co-worker's car...Yeah, 2 days after I get my license. Blah. From then on, my weekend gets progressively worse. I'll update later.

Lis.

CNN endorsing piracy?

2009-08-20T08:57:00.006-04:00

In a recent article "Seven good reasons to switch to Windows 7" published on CNN.com, Brian Chen lists Piracy as one of those reasons because apparently, Windows 7 is "pirate-friendly."

Full Article

Piracy

Yarr! We know there are plenty of you out there downloading pirated digital booty, especially in Windows land. But it's never been convenient to be a pirate compared with being a paying customer. For example, if you're a legitimate buyer purchasing movies off iTunes, you can easily stream your media to your legitimately purchased Apple TV. If you're a pirate, you'd have to go through roundabout programs and hardware to re-create the experience.

Windows 7 is an OS practically made for pirates. Want to display your movies, photos or music on your TV? Bam! Windows Media Player will do that out of the box if you have a Wi-Fi enabled TV, or an Xbox. No extra programs to install: Windows Media Player seamlessly communicates with your Wi-Fi device to display your illegal content in all its glory on your fancy HD TV.

And sharing media is easy, too. Want to download all of your brother's music? Bam! HomeGroup, an easy networking feature included in Windows 7, will make that super easy between computers running the OS. Immediately upon plugging in to your network with Ethernet or Wi-Fi, HomeGroup will ask if you wish to join the group on the network, allowing you to set up easy file sharing in minutes.

Just thought I'd share; not to be taken too seriously =P

ENDA

2009-08-07T12:53:00.002-04:00

Are you LGBT? Do you have a job in the US?

If so, then did you know that right now you could be fired from that job just for being GLBT or associated with a GLBT person?* Yes, just for being gay.

Ridiculous, isn't it? Well, recently a bill known as the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" (ENDA) was introduced into the Senate. If the bill passes, it will prohibit employment discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Please call or meet with your Senators ASAP and urge them to co-sponsor ENDA!

Click HERE for the ENDA Lobbying Toolkit

Click HERE to find your Senators and their contact information

*In 38 of the 50 US States.

Perspectives and Conclusions

2009-07-16T18:25:00.006-04:00

What started off as a simple response to a coworker's post supporting the federal ban on Same-Sex Marriage on Facebook, evolved into one of my longest online discussions with someone about this subject and it forced me to migrate it to a note because of its extensive length.

After a while I realized that all of this girl's arguments against same-sex marriage were based on her religious views and her Bible's "teachings." This led me to believe that no one is really right or wrong about this issue.
They're just misinformed (and by 'they' I mean the religious right). She keeps on insisting that homosexuality is a choice and compares the "homosexual lifestyle" to child molestation and pedophilia. Her theory is, if we choose not to lead this "unhealthy lifestyle", we wouldn't have a problem anymore.
Taken aback by her comments, I tell her what I think about this issue:

1. Homosexuality is NOT a choice,
2. Gay people deserve the same rights as everyone else, and
3. Religion shouldn't interfere with the lawmaking process of this country.

Again, she kept launching these attacks at me without any scientific proof to back them up.

So, what does this all mean? It's a never-ending loop. Until research finds a scientific explanation to homosexuality, the religious right will continue to make these misleading statements about homosexuality, and the progressive left will continue to protest social inequality and fight for gay people's rights as human beings.

These kind of debates really make me think about why people think the way they do. And what role these religious institutions play on the way people make decisions. I guess it's all just a matter of perspective and how we view things...

[The complete discussion on Facebook.]

[Wikipedia article on Same-sex marriage with detailed explanation of both sides of the argument.]

Picture

2009-07-04T02:17:00.001-04:00

I contemplate
As I look through the new letters
Carbon copies, they seem
Of a now-aged September
Not only using that same old pretext
But also embellishing it.
“My kindred soul!”, you say.
Damn it. Why are you so naïve?

Yet, I admire you
Your allure; your beauty:
Dorian of modern times,
Your imperfections well hidden
Beneath my empty,
And probably nonexistent, canvas.

Without room for any rational thought,
I’ll move on, not looking back.
Your feat is beyond me
And maybe I just can’t afford
To contemplate of those lost feelings;
Of the same old pretext.

New Projects

2009-06-30T22:17:00.005-04:00

I've been working on some cool new projects lately! I just finished Luisa's Pawsome Pets, which is a petsitting service being offered by one of my coworkers at BK. One of the other projects I'm still working on is Broward Immobilization Division, which is an immobilization service for drivers charged with a DUI, being offered by one of my employers. I'm not finished with that one yet, but you're more welcome to check it out @ juegosar.com/immobilization.

Also, don't forget to check JuegosAr.com often. I'm constantly adding new games and it's a great way to pass time at work! haha.

Lis.

PS: Feedback is always welcome (:

Just a quick update

2009-06-20T12:40:00.003-04:00

I've been ridiculously busy lately and haven't had the time to update this. I went away to Naples and Ft. Myers for a while, came back home, then left again for the Keys, all while working on 2 websites and an online chemistry class! On the bright side, I'm home now and everything is a bit less chaotic. Unfortunately though, I'm going back to my other job at BK this upcoming week and I'm also starting working at a law firm, making 2 more websites. So yeah... just writing a quick update now that I found a few minutes of peace.

Blue

2009-06-09T21:59:00.002-04:00

I'm not completely sure why, but I've been a bit down lately...and it's reached its apex today. I feel like life could be better. I think back a year ago, 2 years ago, and realize everything was so different back then. The people I hung out with, the music I listened to, the way I dressed, and even my personality.

Everything seemed better. Even though now I have almost everything that I've always wanted, it feels like I'm missing something. Blah. I don't know what else to say.

I'll come back when I straighten out my thoughts...

The Zeitgeist Movie

2009-06-08T09:47:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I was wandering around Myspace last night and I found a link to this documentary, which is pretty fucking hardcore. "The Zeitgeist" explores the weird connections between organized religion, the government, and the 911 attacks. It's divided into 3 parts: (I) Religion, (II) 911 Attacks, and (III) The Federal Reserve. Overall, I really liked this film, but I thought that parts II and III seemed a bit biased and misleading.

Part I was most definitely my favorite. It showed the extremely obvious similarities between different religions throughout history and their links to the constellations in the sky. Really interesting stuff.

Part II completely changes the subject and jumps to the 911 attacks. It explores the many different "myths" about it, and argues that the 911 attacks were a planned government conspiracy with the goal of expanding the political parties' agenda. This part I tought it seemed a bit misleading, especially when it talked about NORAD's inability to deploy its interceptors in time. IDK.

Last, but not least, Part III explored the Federal Reserve and it's involvement in all of the major wars the US entered since it was established in 1913. It argues that the Federal Reserve was a direct cause of the Depression because it contracted the money supply. It also talks about the Income Tax and it argues that it's unconstitutional and it explains how the money we pay in taxes goes to pay the interest on the currency produced by the Federal Reserve. This part seemed like the most sketchy and biased of them all. It quotes people such as Charles Lindbergh, a Nazi sympathizer who believed in eugenics, and Congressman Louis McFadden, widely-known for his anti-semitism in the banking industry.

So yeah, overall I thought it was a good documentary, especially Parts I and II. But it seems like it gets progressively biased and misleading as it goes on.

Click on the title of this blog to watch it. It's a good 2 hours, but it's worth it. It makes you think.

Students protest in Weston over teacher’s anti-gay remarks

2009-06-07T19:26:00.002-04:00

Cypress Bay High School students learn real-life lesson in activism

By DMITRY RASHNITSOV
Jun. 04, 2009

A group of approximately 30 students took to the suburban streets of Weston in protest of GLBT rights, calling attention to anti-gay comments made public at Cypress Bay High School.

A substitute teacher with the district submitted a letter to the editor of the school newspaper, denouncing gay marriage as taking “aim at the very concepts of absolute truth, American citizenship, and the age-old institution of marriage, whose re-definition has proven inseparable from personal and social decline.”

The 5,000-student secondary school in Weston—famously known as the location for MTV’s reality show, “The Paper”—has a long history of journalism excellence, as well as a relatively welcoming atmosphere for GLBT classmates, say students and teachers. The school has an active Gay-Straight Alliance, and many openly gay students participate in school activities.

In Cypress Bay High School’s Outlet magazine, 11th grade student Marina Lopes used her position as one of magazine’s editors to publish a column titled “Marriage is a contract NOT a privilege.” In her column, Lopes stated:

“Simply put, gay marriage, or any marriage, is not a moral, ethical, or religious debate. With hundreds of established practices around the world, it is impossible for all to agree on an issue through religion, and morals and ethics are just as subjective. We as a people will never reach an amicable decision if we keep sticking ourselves into the matter – the only way to get things done is to be completely objective.”

But after publication a substitute teacher, John D. Johnson, wrote a letter to the editor published in the school’s newspaper, The Circuit. In it he attacks the student columnist by saying:

“Marriage is a sacred bond between opposite-sex partners who in principle, enjoy the unique capacity to produce new life. We should immediately acknowledge that homosexuals have no capacity to procreate and this means that by definition the possibility for marital love is impossible.”

Johnson uses facts from conservative commentator Stanley Kurtz’s article published in 2004 to make his point:

“This awful outcome is already on display in countries where same-sex marriage (or its practical equivalent) has been legal for some time—such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In each country interest in marriage is shrinking while social decay is spreading and the family is crumbling. By 2001, Denmark and Sweden reported declining rates of marriage among heterosexuals and now upwards of 60 percent of all children in these countries grow up in a home with either one parent or unmarried parents.”

Lisandro Crouzeilles, an 11th-grader at Cypress Bay and co-president of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, took exception to Johnson’s comments.

“First I was outraged, I mean I understand everyone has the right to their freedom of speech, but I think he crossed the line,” Crouzeilles said. “His letter is full of bigotry and ignorance and it doesn’t even make sense.”

Gay-Straight Alliance Co-President Ryan Terrell said he too felt outrage at Johnson’s letter.

“It was so biased and so hateful, it really enraged me,” said Terrell.

Crouzeilles and Terrell contacted Broward County School District Board Members Robin Bartlemen and Beverly A. Gallagher, who told them the school board will vote this summer on whether they should publish a statement in the next edition of the newspaper saying the district does not have the same opinion on same-sex marriage as Johnson, who is one of their contracted employees.

Gallagher also informed Terrell that all letters to the editor for the newspaper will now go through administrators first before publication.

But Cypress Bay Newspaper and Magazine advisor Rhonda Weiss said no one has informed her of the additional screening process for letters to the editor—which could impact the ability of students to learn from other similar social and political challenges, negative or otherwise.

“I hope it wouldn’t be the case,” Weiss said. “The students get to practice real journalism here. I would hate to be censored. We are given a lot of freedom here.”

The teacher of seven years said she thinks her students learned a very important lesson from the conflict created by this letter.

“Most students at this school are supportive of gay rights, but all opinions have the right to be heard, even the less popular ones,” said Weiss, who noted it is rare that an adult would write a letter to the editor, but not uncommon. “People are reading and writing in, which means they care about what we have to say, that’s a good thing.”

In response to Johnson’s comments, Crouzeilles and Terrell held the protest on May 24 at the corner of Griffin Road and Dykes Road—several blocks from Cypress Bay—in support of gay marriage and equal rights. About 30 people both gay and straight came out with flags, signs, spirit and enthusiasm, said Crouzeilles.

“Most people were really supportive, we had lots of honking, yelling and cheering for us,” Crouzeilles said. “Some people flipped us off, and one person drove by and mooned us, but the positive responses outweighed the bad remarks.”

According to the Broward County School District records office, Johnson has worked as a substitute teacher with the district since February 2005. Attempts to contact Johnson were unsuccessful. Neither Crouzeilles, Terrell nor Lopes have spoken to Johnson in person.

Lopes, who plans on going into political journalism as a career said she is not worried about Johnson disagreeing with her column.

“I understand there is always going to be critics but his response was factually incorrect with lots of assumptions,” Lopes said. “He had a sarcastic tone and kind of missed the point. It sounded immature. Everyone has an opinion, and I can’t take it all to heart.”

Lopes’ column and Johnson’s letter can be found at www.FloridaBlade.com

70

2009-06-07T00:30:00.000-04:00

As the car came to a gradual stop
We were swift to shift seats.
He dimmed the music;
I blushed.
—59.

As the lot outside fell bleak
We grew fervent.
His hand on my shoulder;
My lips on his lips.
Sixty-two

As the hours ticked away at home
We enjoyed ourselves, for minutes.
Or so it seemed.
His heartbeat racing, the mercury rising.
As I whispered softly in his ear,
"Sixty-seven"

As a car quietly drove by
We were immersed in passion and lust.
He paused;
I looked up.
70.