“Change” We Can Believe In
Thanks to Joe for the image. Somewhere in America, Hillary is laughing.
July 16, 2008
June 13, 2008
Justice 5, Tyranny 4
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled in 5-4 decision that the “The detainees in these cases are entitled to a prompt habeas corpus hearing….The costs of delay can no longer be borne by those who are held in custody.”, in essence declaring the Military Commissions Act of 2006 unconstitutional.
I’ve written before about the MCA. You can view previous posts here, here, here and here. In addition, I previewed several cases on the Court’s 2007-2008 docket here.
For those of you who don’t know about the MCA, the Act was a legislative response to Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006). The Act strips the right of habeas corpus from the detainees at Guantanamo Bay and provides legal precedent should the executive branch wish to implement a similar action on the general population of the United States should a situation arise that warrants its use. Read that again by the way.
The American legal system is built upon the principle of habeas corpus, that the rights of the individual trump those of society except in cases where the greater good of society is threatened by a danger so profound as to necessitate its temporary suspension. As a central pillar in our system of government, habeas corpus is so important that it merits its own clause in the Constitution.
Article One, Section Nine states:
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.
It’s amazing how none of these events have registered any sort of public outcry that would give our government pause. Giant collective yawn across the nation. The government’s position is that we’ve instituted these laws “for your protection”. Habeas is an outdated notion anyway.
The reality is without habeas corpus, a lot of other rights lose their meaning. But if you look at the actual Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments of that pesky Constitution, you’ll see just how many remain for your protection.
OK, No. 1 is gone. I mean, if you’re detained without trial, you lose your freedom of religion and speech, press, assembly, all the rest of that. So, you don’t need that any more.
And you know, you can’t petition the government for anything.
No. 2, While you are in prison, your right to keep and bear arms just might be infringed upon even if you’re in the NRA, so that’s gone.
Three, well OK, no forced sleepovers at your house by soldiers.
Three’s all right.
Four, you’re definitely not secure against searches and seizures, as it says here, with or without probable cause. And, in prison that’s not limited to just the guards, so forget the fourth.
Five, grand juries and due process, obviously out, so forget five and the little trailer up here.
Six, well trials are gone too, let alone the right to counsel. Speedy trials? You want it when?
Seven, well this is about—I thought we just covered trials and juries earlier so forget the seventh.
Eight, well, bail’s kind of a moot point isn’t it?
And nine, other rights retained by the people. Well, you know, if you can name them during your water boarding, we’ll consider them.
Ten, powers not delegated to the United States federal government. Well, they seem to have ended up there anyway. So as you can see, even without habeas corpus, at least one tenth of the Bill of Rights, I guess that’s the Bill of Right, now—remains virtually intact. No. 3 is still safe.
We can rest easy knowing that we will never, ever have to quarter soldiers in our homes as long as the Third Amendment still stands strong.
The president can just take care of that with a signing statement.
May 20, 2008
By The Numbers
My best day ever since starting this here website thingy was Sunday, 3 February 2008 wherein I had 846 page views for some inexplicable reason.
My second best day was yesterday — 302 views of which 143 were from JMG with this entry receiving 178 page views alone. Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 3. You know you want to. 
Not bad for a blog that rarely features any skin.
May 19, 2008
Menu Planner: 19 May to 25 May 2008
Some people collect comic books like this blogger I happened to meet at HK Lounge. Some people collect porn DVDs. I collect cookbooks but only when the mood strikes me. I already know what my next two acquisitions will be when I can afford them — Chez Panisse Fruits by Alice Waters and Jewish Cooking in America by Joan Nathan. I can probably get both at The Strand for pretty cheap come to think of it.
My newest acquisition is a copy of Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone“. Now, I’m not about to become a vegetarian (looks at Eric and Homer); it’s just that I love vegetable cookery. I also need inspiration besides hanging out on eGullet and Google.
Menu is subject to change of course…
Monday — Leftovers
Tuesday — Potato and turnip green soup, sucrine salad with a poached egg and herbs
Wednesday — Spring vegetable ragout, sourdough baguette
Thursday — Leftovers
Friday — Black bean soup; coconut rice with lime and Indian spices
Saturday — Roast chicken, sides TBD
Sunday — Leftovers
GBNYC5: A Dénouement of Sorts
Linguine primavera
Tonight’s dinner is dedicated to this year’s GBNYC. Linguine with asparagus and ramps sauteed in unsalted butter and garnished with chive blossoms and shaved Parmesan. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend.
May 18, 2008
GBNYC5: Day 2
A lovely day in Central Park atop Bear Hill….
Scott and Little David look on while Eric demonstrates the fine art of getting your hands tied up. =P
RJ Keefe is in the background
Eddie, Aaron and Homer in rapt fascination
The famous JMG
Eric REALLY is a bondage master in disguise, isn’t he?
Father Tony holds court along with a deep-fried oreo cookie
Cheese empanada
Angel food cake, caramel icing, slivered almonds
Tony and your host, Spamwise
May 17, 2008
GBNYC5: Day 1
Mark from Oregon
Left to right: RG, Roger (Mark’s partner) and EG
No entry at Chez Spamwise is complete without the requisite food porn.
Clockwise from top: lambchops with sweet peas and mint; stewed tripe with chickpeas; sweetbreads with fennel
Duck with cardoons and capers
Sugar snap peas with marconas
El Padrecito of the Farmboyz
Cheese plate with quince jelly
Crema catalana with bunelos (deep fried bay leaves)
Click here to view a writeup on Casa Mono from September 2007.
Unfortunately, tonight’s pix at HK Lounge didn’t turn out so well, due in part to excessive use of flash and the poor lighting conditions. Once people upload pix to their blogs, I’ll include links to their posts. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Little David has some neat pix of Friday evening’s shindig. Go here to view them.
May 13, 2008
Mother’s Day
Another Mother’s Day come and gone.
No flowers this time around. Instead, I called Mom up and spent some time talking on the phone. I tried to tell her that she did a wonderful job raising me. I tried to say that she shouldn’t think she failed as a parent because her son is gay and HIV+. I’m not sure if I was successful in that regard.
I tried to impress upon her that life is not a competition. It shouldn’t matter what you end up doing or where you’re going so long as you’re happy, so long as you’re a good person or at least try to live a good life. And since my mother is one of nine children on Antonia’s side of the family, I have a million cousins. I have so many cousins, it’s not funny. I bet even the dust bunnies in my apartment have cousins. Most of my cousins are married and most have or plan on having kids.
My mom once lamented to me that she was looking forward to being a grandmother. Well, that’s not going to happen. I seriously doubt I’ll adopt, or that I’ll meet a partner who will want the same thing.
She should cease comparing my life with everyone else. It really doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. I can only focus on now and what might come after. I can’t spend all of my life worrying about the past. Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve. That path doesn’t lead anywhere. Life happens; you move on. I may think of the choices I’ve made and the things I’ve done, and perhaps as I grow older I’ll be more contemplative. I have so much to live for and so much more that I’d like to do. I know which direction my eyes face. I choose to live.
My mother refuses to accept the notion that a man can love another man and still have a loving relationship. She says it’s not natural. She uses the word “homosexual” without thinking that the word causes pain. She says I can say ‘gay’ but she’ll continue to use ‘homosexual’. Sometimes I wonder if I’m speaking to my mother and not a homophobe.
Another Mother’s Day come and gone. I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on most things. We have a complicated relationship. We’re still talking, and perhaps that’s what counts.
May 3, 2008
April 25, 2008
Meet and Greet
GBNYC5 will be held in less than three weeks.
Last year I went to the meet-and-greet at Therapy. I had a nice time, or as nice as can be in a place that didn’t lend itself well to conversation. I’m generally not a fan of venues where the only way you can make yourself heard is by raising your voice. The things we do to be social.
I don’t recall what happened the rest of that weekend, except that I missed out on Bear Hill. Bad. Very bad. And what a hot gathering of bears and hobbits that was.
So I plan on attending some of the events this year. Not sure if I can muster enough courage to go to the Eagle or the Dugout. I’m not butch enough for the former and too skinny for the latter. Though I wonder what the hot leather Daddies at the Eagle would say if they knew that I was involved in a bondage demo at a GMSMA-related event a couple years ago.
This time, things are going to be slightly different. It appears I’ve met someone…and we’ve been talking for a few months now. And in less than three weeks I’ll have met him in the flesh for the first time. He’s given me a few signals that I’m not sure what to do with. I don’t have any expectations other than seeing how everything plays out. After all, the destination isn’t as important as much as the journey.
