Spike Jonze is a tree-hugger? Jesus, I never would've figured that one out.

AFTER INNOCENCE
the Sundance Film Festival award-winning film directed and produced by
Jessica Sanders (Wesleyan) '99

Starts Friday, January 13, 2006

Landmark's Nuart
111272 Santa Monica Boulevard
(just west of the 405 Freeway)
West Los Angeles, CA 90025

For more information visit, www.LandmarkTheaters.com OR
www.AfterInnocence.com

After Innocence tells the dramatic and compelling story of the exonerated,
innocent men wrongfully imprisoned for decades and then released after DNA
proved their innocence. The film focuses on the gripping story of seven men
and their emotional journeys back into society and their efforts to rebuild
their lives.

Following the screenings, Jessica Sanders, the exonerated men featured in
the film, and leaders from the Los Angeles legal community will be present
for a special Q&A.

Please tell your friends, family and colleagues to support the film during
the critical opening two weeks!

Masaganang Bayung Banua

white males are not oppressed. not even here at Wesleyan. just because all of a sudden your unexamined privilege has been challenged or even (gasp) ignored does not mean you are all of a sudden a marginalized group. sorry to burst the bubble.

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia.

The International Day Against Homophobia "will articulate action and reflection in order to struggle against all physical, moral, or symbolic violence related to sexual orientation or to gender identity. It intends to inspire, support, and coordinate all initiatives contributing to the equality among citizens in right, as well as in fact, and to achieve this in all countries where action is possible.

According to opinion widely held, homosexuality is said to be freer today than ever before. For the slightly more attentive observer, the situation is globally very different.
Despite homosexuality's apparent visibilty [in the street, in the newspapers, on television, at the movies, recent legislative advances made in many countries for the recognition of same sex couples], the more attentive observer notes that the situation is globally very different. Indeed the 20th century was the most violently homophobic period of history: deportation to concentration camps under the Nazi regime, Soviet gulags, blackmail and persecution in the United States in the McCarthy era... Homosexuality is discriminated against everywhere: in at least 80 countries, homosexual acts are forbidden by law in many countries, the punishment can exceed ten years in prison; sometimes, the law prescribes life imprisonment. And in a dozen countries, capital punishment may be actually carried out. In Africa, recently, several presidents have brutally acted on their will to combat personally this "scourge" which they consider "anti-African". Even in other countries where homosexuality is not considered a crime, persecutions have multiplied. In Brazil, for example, death squads and skin heads spread terror: 1,960 homophobic murders have been officially reported between 1980 and 2000. In these conditions, it is difficult to think that "tolerance" is gaining ground. So, homophobia appears more violent today than ever before.

Brentwood School's GSA is having a Breaking the Silence party on April 13th. There is going to be an open mic, karaoke, food and fun. Feel free to bring your instruments, thouh we will have amps and mics there! Please spread this information around to students and faculty who might be interested in attending. The rest of the information is at the bottom of the e-mail!

Thanks!
Lindsay Weber

BREAKING THE SILENCE PARTY!!
When: April 13th, 7:00
Where: Brentwood School Student Life Center
Brentwood School
100 South Barrington Place
Los Angeles, CA
What: Karaoke, Open Mic, food and fun!
Who: GSA members and advisors from surrounding schools.

RSVP to Lindsay Weber: (323)610-4928 or lindsay_weber@bwscampus.com

LOS ANGELES FORUM ON SOCIALISM - SAT, FEB 12, 1 PM
Building a Working Class Movement in the Heart of Imperialism

WHEN: Sat, Feb 12, 1 pm
WHERE: 6120 S. Vermont, LA 90044
(So Cal Library for Social Studies & Research)

FEATURING:
* BRIAN BECKER: National Coordinator of A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition,
member of newly formed Party for Socialism and Liberation.
* GLORIA LA RIVA: Coordinator of Nat'l Committee to Free the
Cuban Five, member of PSL. La Riva just returned from Cuba
where she participated in the Women's Tribunal on U.S.
Crimes Against Cuba.

TOPICS INCLUDE:
* IS A WORLDWIDE ECONOMIC CRISIS LOOMING?
* BUILDING AN ANTI-IMPERIALIST MOVEMENT IN THE U.S.
* HOW TO UNITE THE WORKING CLASS TO FIGHT THE RIGHT!
FIGHT CAPITALISM!

Bush and the U.S. corporate class are whipping up patriotism,
racism, sexism and anti-LGBT bigotry. They‘re hoping to divide
the working class so they can spend billions on war while
slashing spending on people’s needs, attacking unions, cutting
education, closing hospitals & more--all to increase their own
profits.

Join PSL activists and leaders at this forum and find out how
you can get involved in building a militant mass movement to
end capitalist exploitation & greed!

Hosted by: PARTY FOR SOCIALISM AND LIBERATION

For more info call 323-960-4345
http://SocialismAndLiberation.org
la@socialismandliberation.org

Taken from the American Progress Action Fund and yanked from champagnesheik

A look at this week's festivities by the numbers:

$40 million: Cost of Bush inaugural ball festivities, not counting security costs.

$2,000: Amount FDR spent on the inaugural in 1945…about $20,000 in today's dollars.

$20,000: Cost of yellow roses purchased for inaugural festivities by D.C.'s Ritz Carlton.

200:
Number of Humvees outfitted with top-of-the-line armor for troops in
Iraq that could have been purchased with the amount of money blown on
the inauguration.

$10,000: Price of an inaugural package
at the Fairmont Hotel, which includes a Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon
reception, a chauffeured Rolls Royce and two actors posing as "faux"
Secret Service agents, complete with black sunglasses and cufflink
walkie-talkies.

400: Pounds of lobster provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental hotel.

3,000: Number of "Laura Bush Cowboy cookies" provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the Mandarin hotel.

$1:
Amount per guest President Carter spent on snacks for guests at his
inaugural parties. To stick to a tight budget, he served pretzels,
peanuts, crackers and cheese and had cash bars.

22 million:
Number of children in regions devastated by the tsunami who could have
received vaccinations and preventive health care with the amount of
money spent on the inauguration.

1,160,000: Number of girls who could be sent to school for a year in Afghanistan with the amount of money lavished on the inauguration.

$15,000:
The down payment to rent a fur coat paid by one gala attendee who
didn't want the hassle of schlepping her own through the airport.

$200,500:
Price of a room package at D.C.'s Mandarin Oriental, including
presidential suite, chauffeured Mercedes limo and outfits from Neiman
Marcus.

2,500: Number of U.S. troops used to stand guard as President Bush takes his oath of office

26,000: Number of Kevlar vests for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be purchased for $40 million.

$290: Bonus that could go to each American solider serving in Iraq, if inauguration funds were used for that purpose.

$6.3 million: Amount contributed by the finance and investment industry, which works out to be 25 percent of all the money collected.

$17 million: Amount of money the White House is forcing the cash-strapped city of Washington, D.C., to pony up for inauguration security.

9: Percentage of D.C. residents who voted for Bush in 2004.

66: Percentage of Americans who think this over-the-top inauguration should have been scaled back.

Lest we forget.

Many of us have been astonished in recent days viewing the escalating death count from the Asian tsunami.
I urge everyone to do whatever they can to relieve the suffering from this disaster.

Interesting statistics:
$35,000,000 - US Tsunami Relief Pledge
$40,000,000 - Cost of George Bush's 2005 Inauguration
$3,170,000,000 - 2004 Florida Hurricane Relief

$0.12 - US Tsunami Relief Pledge per capita ($35,000,000/295,00,000 persons)
$1.45 - Australian Tsunami Relief Pledge per capita ($27,600,000/19,00,000 persons)

The Asian tsunami was a natural disaster. We cannot prevent these tragedies, but no doubt we could do more to protect ourselves, the people of the world, from such occurences (a warning system might have prevented many thousands of deaths). Surely we can do more to alleviate the suffering.

War, in contrast, is always chosen. Let us rededicate ourselves to nonviolent activism to replace war, violence, economic injustice, and racism with peace and justice in a sustainable world. This is not a pipe dream. This is not unrealistic idealism. This is an absolute necessity. As humanity increases its technical prowess it also increases the destructiveness of its worst instincts. We now possess the ability to render our earth uninhabitable. The time is now for we humans to evolve.

the lack of posts regarding the tsunami's in asia is frightening.

23, 000 people are dead. 1/3 of them were kids.

just because only 8 of them are American does not mean we can just ignore it. i have talked to three people so far who have had no idea this even happened, or they just didn't care all that much. i'm sorry for the generalization, but right now i'm not a huge fan of American teenagers.

So...it looks like I will be attending Wesleyan University in the fall as the incoming class of 2009.


HELL FUCKING YEAH.

Shopping Your Politics

By Alan Abramowitz

With the holidays upon us, some of us might wish to be mindful of who we patronize relative to their Election Cycle political donations, as reported by the Center for Responsive Politics.

WITH US:
* Price Club/Costco donated $225K, of which 99% went to democrats;
* Rite Aid, $517K, 60% to democrats;
* Magla Products (Stanley tools, Mr. Clean), $22K, 100% to democrats;
* Warnaco (undergarments), $55K, 73% to democrats;
* Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, $153K, 99% to democrats;
* Estee Lauder, $448K, 95% to democrats;
* Guess ? Inc., $145K, 98% to democrats;
* Calvin Klein, $78K, 100% to democrats;
* Liz Claiborne, Inc., $34K, 97% to democrats;
* Levi Straus, $26K, 97% to democrats;
* Olan Mills, $175K, 99% to democrats.
* Gallo Winery, $337K, 95% to democrats;
* Southern Wine & Spirits, $213K, 73% to democrats;
* Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons (includes beverage business, plus considerable media interests), $2M+, 67% democrats.
* Sonic Corporation, $83K, 98% democrat;
* Triarc Companies (Arby's, T.J. Cinnamon's, Pasta Connections), $112K, 96% Democrats;
* Hyatt Corporation, $187K, 80% to democrats;


AGAINST US:
*WalMart, $467K, 97% to republicans;
*K-Mart, $524K, 86% to republicans;
*Home Depot, $298K, 89% to republicans;
*Target, $226K, 70% to republicans;
*Circuit City Stores, $261K, 95% to republicans;
*3M Co., $281K, 87% to republicans;
*Hallmark Cards, $319K, 92% to republicans;
*Amway, $391K, 100% republican;
*Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures), $283K, 100% republicans;
*B.F. Goodrich (tires), $215K, 97% to republicans;
*Proctor & Gamble, $243K, 79% to republicans;
*Coors, $174K, 92% to republicans; (also Budweiser - sd)
*Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel wines - as well as Lennox China, Dansk, Gorham Silver), $644, 80% to republicans;
*Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (chicken), $366K, 100% republican;
*Outback Steakhouse, $641K, 95% republican;
*Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), $133K, 87% republican;
*Brinker International (Maggiano's, Brinker Cafe, Chili's, On the
Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel's, Corner Baker, EatZis), $242K, 83% republican;
*Waffle House, $279K, 100% republican;
*McDonald's Corp., $197K, 86% republican;
*Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze), $121K, 89% republican;
*Mariott International, $323K, 81% to republicans;
*Holiday Inns, $38K, 71% to republicans

So head on over to Costco, buy yourself some Stanley tools and some Estee Lauder cologne, stop at Arby's for lunch, and then check into a Hyatt House hotel where you can drown your sorrows over the election with a jug of Gallo wine! And don't forget to sign a petition demanding a new trial for Martha Stewart.

Mark your calendars!! The 12th Annual Models of Pride Conference will be held at Occidental College in Eagle Rock on November 13, 2004. The conference, which is free to all youth ages 14 to 23, is filled with workshops, entertainment, food, networking, a resource fair, and a dance to round out the evening. The day begins at 8 am with on-site registration and ends at 8:30 pm.

Models of Pride 12 focuses on the interests and concerns of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender youth and straight allies, ages 14-23. The conference is filled with workshops, entertainment, a resource faire, food, networking opportunities, live music, and a dance party finale.

( more info )

Come stop by and see me at the AB 537 workshop, GSA Network table and GLSEN LA table!

Gay rights, civil rights?
Critics say conservatives use same arguments against both movements
By DYANA BAGBY and RYAN LEE
Sep. 03, 2004

Editor’s note: This week, Southern Voice begins a two-part series examining similarities and differences between the African-American civil rights movement and the current gay rights movement. Next week, the paper explores the roles of the courts and public opinion in both.
( Read more... )

Things You Have To Be A Republican To Believe

• Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.



• Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.



• A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.



• Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.



• The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.



• If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.



• Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.



• HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.



• Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.



• A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.



• Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.



• The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's cocaine conviction is none of our business.



• Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness, and you need our prayers for your recovery.



• You support states' rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have the right to adopt.

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

MIAMI -- Beenie Man wants his fans to boycott the MTV Video Music Awards because he says MTV is boycotting him.

Beenie Man was supposed to play an MTV-sponsored concert on Saturday, the day before the VMAs. MTV pulled him from the roster in response to South Florida gay activists who had planned to protest because of Beenie Man lyrics.

He has one song that says, "I'm dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays," and another that says, "Queers must be killed."

MTV spokeswoman Marnie Black says MTV doesn't want anything to overshadow a great weekend of music events. Beenie Man's manager, Clyde McKenzie, said his client isn't trying to incite violence against gays and he has all kinds of fans, including gays.

Beenie Man himself told The Miami Herald he just makes music, "but at the same time I just want to teach people -- my sons and my daughters -- the right way of life." Heddy Pena of the gay-rights group SAVE Dade said, "We respectfully suggest that he use other metaphors."

Link.

In spring 2003, filmmaker James Miller and reporter Saira Shah, following the success of their Peabody-winning films "Unholy War" and "Beneath the Veil," set out to take a first-hand look at the culture of hate that permeates the Middle East. They captured the lives of three Palestinian children growing up in the bullet-riddled streets of Gaza, indoctrinated in the creed of Jihad, and had planned to show the Israeli side next. But on May 2, in the midst of filming, Miller was shot to death by an Israeli tank, falling victim to the conflict he covered. The America Undercover special DEATH IN GAZA tells this tragic, eye-opening story.

ALL SHOWINGS, HBO/MAX East

DATE/TIME CHANNEL
Tue 8/24 09:30 PM HBO - EAST
Tue 8/24 09:30 PM HBO High Definition - EAST
Tue 8/24 09:30 PM HBO LATINO - EAST
Wed 8/25 12:30 AM HBO High Definition - WEST
Wed 8/25 12:30 AM HBO - WEST
Wed 8/25 12:30 AM HBO LATINO - WEST
Thu 8/26 05:00 PM HBO2 - EAST
Thu 8/26 08:00 PM HBO2 - WEST
Sat 8/28 02:30 PM HBO - EAST
Sat 8/28 02:30 PM HBO LATINO - EAST
Sat 8/28 02:30 PM HBO High Definition - EAST
Sat 8/28 05:30 PM HBO - WEST
Sat 8/28 05:30 PM HBO High Definition - WEST
Sat 8/28 05:30 PM HBO LATINO - WEST
Tue 8/31 02:00 PM HBO SIGNATURE - EAST
Tue 8/31 05:00 PM HBO SIGNATURE - WEST
Tue 8/31 11:00 PM HBO SIGNATURE - EAST
Wed 9/1 02:00 AM HBO SIGNATURE - WEST
Sun 9/5 07:30 PM HBO SIGNATURE - EAST
Sun 9/5 10:30 PM HBO SIGNATURE - WEST
Tue 9/7 11:30 PM HBO2 - EAST
Wed 9/8 02:30 AM HBO2 - WEST
Sun 9/12 01:00 PM HBO2 - EAST
Sun 9/12 04:00 PM HBO2 - WEST
Wed 9/15 08:30 AM HBO SIGNATURE - EAST
Wed 9/15 11:30 AM HBO SIGNATURE - WEST
Mon 9/20 01:30 PM HBO2 - EAST
Mon 9/20 04:30 PM HBO2 - WEST

I saw this movie and it scared me to death. It's brilliant so I definitely reccomend watching it.

There is a long history in with the Washington Blade (not the other outlets
per their own volition) of treating transgenders and their issues dismissively
(if at all).
Clearly Crain & Window Media want to have a gay-centric paper, but they as a
company want to reap the rewards (and avoid the bad PR) of being cosmetically
GLBT. They can't and shouldn't have it both ways.

Below are both Chris Crain's incendiary editorial, and an equally incendiary
response that they don't have the guts to print. If you have issues with
Chris Crain's editorial, drop them a note (and don't expect it to get printed --
if it hits too close to home, it won't be). Pass it around ....

ccrain@washblade.com
WWaybourn@window-media.com
MKitchens@window-media.com


( anti-trans editorial from the Washington Blade )

( an unpublished response )