"It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business."  -- Air America Media

For those who aren't familiar with Air America, it began in April of 2004.  It was broadcast on over 100 radio stations, and broadcast during a time when disagreeing with policies such as America beginning a war with Iraq were considered "un-American."  It had already dealt with bankruptcy in 2006, but was sold and saved.

It wasn't an unbiased medium--it featured Democrat Al Franken (recently elected senator in Minnesota after months of debate about who won) and Rachel Maddow, who at the beginning of Air America was not well known.  It called itself "the only full-time progressive voice in the mainstream broadcast media world."

It will supply "encore programming" from 6 p.m. Eastern time today, 21 January, through 9 p.m. EST on Monday, January 25.  It will be missed.

See more info at http://airamerica.com/ and at http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9628724

Photo is from http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/974abbd0-9266-430b-a664-83df4c425299_mn.jpg No threat to its copyright is intended.

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

California's gay marriage ban is now on trial.  Beginning today, Monday, 11 January, the court is examing the ban.  Currently, five U.S. states and the District of Columbia approve gay marriage. 

California approved it after a court decision there, but it changed after Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage passed in November 2008.  It left California in the odd position of having legally approved same-sex marriages that were now against the constitution, which also didn't allow the state to force divorces on those already married.

Regardless of how this case of two same-sex couples is decided, the decision is likely to be appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court.  America's final court may then well make a decision that will greatly affect marriage through all of America.

In a fundamental question in the current case, District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker asked lawyer Ted Olson about state-controlled marriage.  Olson, who is arguing in favor of same-sex marriage, was key to getting George W. Bush elected president by, essentially, one vote in the U. S. Supreme Court after a recounting of the inaccurate Florida voting was denied.  Walker asked if the goverment could get out of the marriage business.  Olson responded, Yes, I believe it could."

Here, we largely agree with Olson.  Why can't marriage be returned to being a social and/or religious institution, and not something completely controlled by big government?  Participants could sign a contract on how their assets and child custody could be handled, and would have a choice of contracts.  Now, the government tells you who you can marry and how.  Couldn't that be a decision guided by your own conscience?

For more information, see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34801259/ns/us_news-life/.

To see all our entries on gay marriage, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=gay+marriage

Image is from http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/g-cvr-100111-marriage1-9a.hmedium.jpg. No threat to its copyright is intended.

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

Why can't you ride the subway without pants?

That's the question asked for the ninth annual No Pants Subway Ride on Sunday, 10 January. Begun by Improv Everywhere in New York, this year it was also held in various parts of the United States and the world, with participants in a reported 16 countries. A few thousand people took off their pants in New York, and others dropped them in Baltimore, Washington D.C., and, of course, San Francisco. Other places included Lisbon, Portugal, and Buenos Aires.

But it's actually related to an earlier tradition called No Pants Day celebrated by The Knighthood of BUH at the University of Texas, Austin, since 1997. And some claim it began even earlier, around 1985 or 1986. It's often celebrated on the first Friday in May.

In both No Pants Day and No Pants Subway Ride, particpants may act like nothing unusual's going on. If questioned, act as if they forgot to wear their pants, but that's no big deal. Other celebrants make a point of being pantsless, even wearing T-shirts celebrating wearing no pants. How you celebrate is up to you (but for most areas, you're safer if your nether regions are covered by underwear. "Pants" in the United Kingdom means underwear, but in America it means trousers).

See Links:

Check out the No Pants Day site at http://www.nopantsday.com/wp/

Read a report at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34799796/?GT1=43001

Watch the ZeitGeist version at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26852192/vp/34805765#34805765

The photo above is from http://improveverywhere.com/images/nopants7_17.jpg. No  threat to its copyright is intended.

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

"After eleven months in office, Barack Obama has hardly revolutionized – or even altered – the major dysfunction that confronts our system. A man of obviously good values – read his books and speeches – he has yet to show convictions. He has tinkered to keep terrible problems from getting much worse – a kind of political plumber without access to equipment that would redo the entire system."

That is from the blog of Saul Landau, an Emmy-award winning documentary producer I had the priviledge to work under as head writer of a university-produced, English-language telenovela.  Landau, a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies, is an internationally-known filmmaker, television producer and author who focuses on domestic and foreign policy.  Discordians might be interested to know he won a Golden Apple award for "The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas," a film that was a major inspiration to both myself and Reverend Loveshade.  Saul is also a man who, like many of us here, was thoroughly investigated because he knew the "wrong" people and asked the "wrong" questions.

You can read a short bio on Landau, who can be profound and entertaining at the same time, at http://progreso-weekly.com/2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=971:saul-landau&catid=42:our-columnists&Itemid=60

At that page you can click on "Show Other Articles By This Author" to read his blog entries, including the one on Obama quoted above, which is at http://progreso-weekly.com/2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1364:almost-one-year-assessment&catid=40:lastest-news&Itemid=59

- - - - -

Other links:

His homepage is at http://saullandau.com

For those who don't believe anything outside of Wikipedia, there's an article on him (which previously mentioned me but currently doesn't) at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Landau

The image of Saul Landau above is from http://progreso-weekly.com/2/images/semana0/landau1.png. No threat to its copyright is intended.

Posted by Alden Loveshade at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

It may seem difficult to believe, but until today, people who were HIV-positive could not come to the United States of America.

The blocking law was passed in 1987, back when ignorant Americans (and apparently their elected officials) thought HIV/AIDS could be passed by handshakes and hugs.  It became the late 20th century equivalent of an earlier America's "C-word" (cancer), or America's equivalent of the biblical leprosy.

But Americans, unlike the enlightened bibical writers of a few thousand years ago, were ignorant of current medical knowledge.  Even in the late 1980s, the evidence was that HIV/AIDS could not be spread by casual contact.

And even if it was justified in the panicked 1980s, how could it have taken 22 years for HIV to be moved out of the category of highly contagious diseases spread by casual contact?  The United States was one of only about 12 countries to have such a ban.  Others include Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Libya.

It's another example of how American politics are often rooted in superstition, and how many years it can take to correct a misguided law that those in the know, in this case the medical community, had long said was not helpful and was, in fact, harmful.

Finally, after 22 years, familes who have been separated have a chance to come together again.  Assuming members have not died from legally-sanctioned second-hand smoke.

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/dec/01/travel/chi-hiv-travel-ban-01-dec01

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 05:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

I know you've all been waiting for this all year, so here it is.

Here are my predictions for 2010 (actually, other members of The Loveshade Family contributed to this; they just don't want to admit it):

* The HEALTH CARE REFORM so praised by Americans (that is, those who don't have health care), will not work as planned.  Detractors will say it's a huge waste of money, and will put America in the toilet.  However, supporters will say it's at least better than it was, and it will continue to get better.  Rush Limbaugh will say at least I'm still alive.

* ELVIS PRESLEY will be spotted in a shopping mall in New Jersey.

* The AMERICAN ECONOMY will show significant improvement; Democrats will claim it's because of their fine work, while Republicans will claim it's because of improvements made while George W. Bush was still president.

* An American group will work very hard to prove that BARACK OBAMA DOESN'T QUALIFY AS PRESIDENT.  The group will be suspected of having ties to a dissident group overseas.

* The supposedly dim-witted PARIS HILTON will still maintain the facade of being dim-witted, but will none-the-less cleverly manage to get herself in the news for yet another scandal.

* A male AMERICAN ICON of purity and wholesomeness will be caught with his hand somewhere people don't think it belongs; i.e., in someone else's pocket.

* A female BRITISH ICON of purity and wholesomeness will be caught exposing a portion of her anatomy that the prudish will not think should be exposed.

* The Law that DEATHS ALWAYS HAPPEN IN FIVES will once again be proven this year.  At least of those deaths will be unexpected, a famous singer, and a famous actor.

* QUEEN ELIZABETH I will not die, but will have a significant medical problem.  (Sorry, your Majesty).

* A major figure in the MIDDLE EAST will be violently killed.

* In the United Kingdom, there will be renewed interest in an ANCIENT ACTIVITY.  It will be something that's been popular in North America for years.

* HIP HOP will still be popular with many, and still hated by many others.

* I will perform a legally-recognized DISCORDIAN WEDDING, and there will be much rejoicing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR,

THE LOVESHADE FAMILY

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 09:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

Among the factors that go against a candidate for public office in the American state of Texas are these: being a Democrat, being a woman, and being gay.  Somehow, Annise Parker managed to beat the odds and get elected mayor of Houston.  She will become the first openly gay mayor of one of the United States' biggest cities.

Her primary opponent, Gene Locke, is male, but is also a Democrat in the non-partisan race.  Also, he's black.

Admittedly, things are changing in America.  A year ago, the top president-vice president candidates were a black and white man running for office with a white man, and a white man running with a white women.  And Texas has had two woman governors, the most recent being Anne Richards, who was elected to office for 1991 to 1995 as a Democrat.

But the image of the typical conservative southern Democrat was already fading then, and she was replaced as governor by none other than relatively conservative turned ultra conservative Republican George W. Bush.

Right now, Texas is a state where it's very difficult in most areas to get elected as a Democrat, even as a judge.  Travel through a small Texas town when elections are nearing, and you'll see many campaign signs proclaiming Republican in big letters, and maybe a few whispering Democrat in much smaller letters (many Democrats don't even put their party affliation on their signs).

Woman; maybe have a chance in a small Texas town.  But gay?  Highly unlikely.

But Houston is a big city, the fourth largest in the United States.  And large cities draw people from all over the country, and even from other countries.  Large U.S. cities are almost by definition cosmopolitan, more open to accepting people who don't fit the stereotypical "proper type."  Even though it was a city, there was a lot of anti-homosexual rhetoric.

But still, this is a very significant election.  Let's hope things go well for Annise Parker, the city of Houston, and ultimately for Texas.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34399468/?GT1=43001

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)