On the recommendation of Terry I recently finished reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  I thought it was a wonderful read, part way through the first chapter I realized that I had just read about corn for the last hour or so and was completely enthralled.  It takes some skill to take something as mundane as the history and evolution of corn and make it into an enthralling experience.  Beware, however, that this book will likely change the way you think about you meal not necessarily in the typical to eat meat or not to eat meat.  This books goes much further than that, and regardless of you’re dietary beliefs, this book will appeal to everyone’s sense of taste.  I found the logic very realistic in it’s expectations and at the same time critical of every detail that goes into the creation of a meal.  I highly recommend this for anyone who cares about what they put in there body.

The doors on the muni wouldn’t open today, so we where all trapped inside.  Whenever something like this happens there always has to be one person that just doesn’t understand and will continually shout: “I need to get off, I need to get off, open the doors, open the doors….”, even though it’s quite clear this isn’t going to happen right away and everyone is well aware of this very obvious situation.  Note to self: if there’s ever a *real* disaster, make sure you kill off these people first as they’ll just end up getting sane people hurt.

Once the doors opened I opted to wait out the muni fallout due to backed up trains, and went to Reverie for a cup of tea.  Here I found the plethera of wifi spots that is san francisco, my two favorites:

The first is a movie reference, I’ve included the youtube clip to give it the right context.

and this one just makes you want to waste all day trying to hack in:

A previous post of mine regarding setting up git diffs in vim got some traction so now an official repository for the derived code has been setup by Greg on GitHub.  This should provide a central home for various people to make contributions etc.
http://github.com/ghewgill/vim-scmdiff/

Make changes via the GitHub interfaces (fork/pull etc), or email us bugs/patches etc!

Here’s a latest screenshot of it’s new incarnation:

Browsing through the referral list of my web logs I discovered that I’m on the wrong side of the Gummy Bear Rights movement. I have some moments in my past where I probably wasn’t the kindest or best friend to our little gummy friends, and now I’ve been listed as examples of gummy bear torture on the “Save the Gummy Bears” page.  I’d like to publicily applogoize for my actions, and hope that the world will someday forgive me.

A recent article in the Morman Times by Orson Scott Card, the popular author of science fiction novels such as “Ender’s Game“, wrote about the continuing battle for state recognition of gay marriages. He states that same-sex marriages have been non-existent through all of human history:

“…it is absurd to claim that these constitutions require marriage to be defined in ways that were unthinkable through all of human history until the past 15 years. And it is offensive to expect us to believe this obvious fiction.”  - Orson Scott Card  [2]

This particular statement had a ring of familiarity because it’s something that I’ve heard before from others, in particular from the organization known as Focus on the Family:

“But there has never been a culture or society that made homosexual marriage part of its family model.”  - Glenn T. Stanton [3]

Yet it’s difficult to accept such remarks when there’s evidence that Native Americans have had just such relationships.  Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca was a Spanish explorer who recorded this during his time in present day Florida.

“During the time that I was thus among these people I saw a devilish thing, and it is that I saw one man married to another, …” - Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca, 1528-1536, among the Indians of Florida. [1]

Many of the records we have from Europeans make it clear that they felt the eradication of this accepted social behavior was necessary.  The imposition of their unique religious beliefs on other people was seen as a necessary objective, something their religion required of them.

“Among the women I saw some men dressed like women, with whom they go about regularly, never joining the men…there will be much to do when the Holy Faith and the Christian religion are established among them.” - Pedro Font, 1775-1776, regarding California natives. [1]

“The couple was caught in the act of committing the nefarious sin.  They were duly punished for this crime, but not with the severity it properly deserved… the layman answered that the Joya was his Wife!…almost every village has two or three.  But we place our trust in God and expect that these accursed people will disappear with the growth of the missions.  The abominable vice will be eliminated to the extent that the Catholic faith and all other virtues are firmly implanted there, for the glory of God and the benefit of those poor ignorants.” - Francisco Palou, 1777, St. Antonio, California. [1]

When I read Orson Scott Card’s declaration that he “will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage”[2], I feel rightfully afraid.  Since the establishment of European culture on this continent homosexuals have felt the sting of extermination.  If the historical brutality by the pious is any indication, I should have everything to fear for my acts of loving other men.

“This imagination so kindled the zeal of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the Spanish captain who first discovered the South Sea, that he put a large number of them to death by setting wild dogs upon them, which those of his nation had used to destroy a large part of the Indians.” - Joseph Francois Lafitau, 1711-1717, America. [1]

Vasco Núñez de Balboa executing Native Americans for same-sex love. Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Balboamurder.jpg

A most disturbing aspect of these statements is the continuing attempts by followers of religions to impose their beliefs on societies and people, an apparent inability for these  followers to live peacefully with others around them that do not share their religious derived disgust of same-sex love.  This is such a significant long-term battle that they are quite willing to attempt to rewrite history in their own vision.  This is a successful attempt to pull a curtain of ignorance over the public’s eyes, to make them believe a new “truth” fabricated so that religion may become the master over the innate desires of others.

“At present there is but one surviving berdache, … According to several informants, former agents have repeatedly tried to make him don male clothes, but the other Indians themselves protested against this, saying that it was against his nature.” - Robert Henry Lowie, 1907-1912 Social Life of the Crow Indians. [1]

“The union of a man and woman is the most eduring human institution, honoring — honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith.”  - President George W. Bush, 2004.  [4]

Sources:

[1]: “Gay American History: Lesbians and gay Men in the U.S.A” by Jonathan Katz, copyright 1976

[2]: State job is not to redefine Marriage by Orson Scott Card.

[3]: Defending Marriage: Debate-Tested Sound Bites by Glenn T. Stanton, Focus on the Family.

[4]: President Calls for Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage, Remarks by the President.