Battle for Pennsylvania

I'm co-hosting a fundraiser for PA State Rep Candidate Kevin Lee tonight! Kevin is the tall bald bear in the photo.


Kevin Lee
Candidate for State Representative
163rd District, Pennsylvania

Looked upon as a rising star in Pennsylvania Democratic politics, Kevin Lee was appointed to the Lansdowne Borough Council in 2004 and was reelected in 2005. He was immediately approached to run for the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. Lee would be the first openly LGBT person to serve in the PA State Legislature, and with rampant anti-gay legislators fighting to advance an agenda, Lee’s voice would serve as an effective equalizer.
During his tenure on the Lansdowne Borough Council, Lee passed one of Pennsylvania’s first domestic partnership benefit programs for borough employees. He is also a Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute Harvard Fellow, where he impressed several colleagues at the John F. Kennedy School of Government Program.
While the current incumbent has been a member of the State House since 1978, his antiquated ideas and leadership no longer reflect the best interests of his district. As a health care worker, Lee recognizes the hardships that working families face to make ends meet and still obtain affordable health care for their children. There have been rumors that the current legislator will retire but we must make sure that Kevin has substantial funds heading into this election cycle and ensure he is able to get his message out proving he is the best person to represent PA’s 163rd Legislative District.
Contribute today to a well developed campaign plan that is a rare opportunity to elect PA’s first openly LGBT legislator.

Vietnam Imprisons Human Rights Activists

This holiday season, Lê Thị Công Nhân and many other Vietnamese human rights activists are in prison. The people of Vietnam still need the international communities to speak up for those who have been silenced.



Vietnam Imprisons Human Rights Activists
May 11, 2007
By Matt Steinglass
Hanoi
11 May 2007
Voice of America

Two lawyers who ran a center for human rights law and supported alternative political parties in Vietnam were sentenced to prison Friday in Hanoi. Their trial came a day after three other democracy activists were convicted of similar charges in Ho Chi Minh City. Matt Steinglass reports from Hanoi that the convictions are the latest in a crackdown on democracy activists.Lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan are members of the Vietnamese democracy and human rights group “Bloc 8406,” and had organized seminars for students on international human rights law.

On Friday, a court in Hanoi sentenced Dai to five years in prison and Nhan to four years. Head judge Nguyen Huu Chinh pronounced them guilty under Article 88 of Vietnam’s criminal code, for spreading propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Chinh says that the seminars Dai opened in December 2006 spread propaganda against the state, and defamed former Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh.

Dai and his lawyer denied the charges.

Dai says the seminars simply discussed the social and political situation of Vietnam.

Nhan complained that she was not allowed to defend herself properly.

Nhan says the court’s procedure violated Vietnamese regulations, and that she was not allowed to speak during the part of the trial where the accused and their lawyers mount their defense.

Nhan was convicted in part for being the spokeswoman of the Vietnam Progression Party, which was founded last year. Vietnam’s Communist Party is the only legal political party in the country.

The prosecution is part of a broad crackdown against Vietnam’s small democracy movement, which gained strength through 2006. Since the beginning of this year, the government has detained more than a dozen democracy activists.

On Thursday in Ho Chi Minh City, Le Nguyen Sang, Nguyen Bac Truyen and Huynh Nguyen Dao were sentenced to three to five years in prison. They were convicted of collaborating with Thanh Cong Do, a Vietnamese-American active in a US-based Vietnamese political party. Do was expelled from Vietnam last September.

Philadelphia AIDS Fund 10k Run

Gender Nonconformity scares people, and I experienced that first hand last weekend at the Philadelphia AIDS Fund 10k. I decided to make this 10k run a fun one by running in a pink bikini top and a purple mini-skirt.
I started out doing a conservative pace, at around 8 minute pace. Not too many people went ahead of me. At the turnaround point, I realized that I could place well if I tried. I kicked it up a notch, holding a 7 minute pace and passing three people on my way to the finish line. I placed 10th overall.
After watching some runners coming in, I took my bike out to find the rest of the Fins swimmers who were doing the AIDS Walk. A majority of the walk participants were high school kids. These kids obviously felt uncomfortable seeing me in a woman's outfit. They called me faggot. They called me freak. They hissed and they jeered. They couldn't shut up. I kept smiling and moving on.

---
Official results

A I D S 1 0 K R U N
W. River Dr. Philadelphia, PA * Sun. Oct. 21, 2007
ORDER OF FINISH


o'all sex|#fin
place # NAME City/St TIME pace plc|by sex
===== === ===================== =============== ==
1 25 MICHAEL DAIGEAUN NO BRUNSWICK NJ 34:11 5:29 1/50 M
2 140 KAI SYVERTSON PHILADELPHIA PA 39:11 6:17 2/50 M
3 123 DAVID WITHAM PHILADELPHIA PA 39:18 6:18 3/50 M
4 130 SEAN CAPKIN WYNNEWOOD PA 40:25 6:29 4/50 M
5 188 RAY BORDOGNA WYNNEWOOD PA 40:55 6:33 5/50 M

6 182 MICHAEL DONUELLA ST DAVIDS PA 44:33 7:08 6/50 M
7 185 JIM BULIZZI PHILADELPHIA PA 44:42 7:10 7/50 M
8 34 ANDREW DUONG EAGLEVILLE PA 45:33 7:18 8/50 M
9 87 NATALIE MCLAUGHLIN PHOENIXVILLE PA 45:36 7:18 1/51 F
10 180 ANH M DANG PHILADELPHIA PA 45:37 7:19 9/50 M

Columnist Rick Santorum

Former Sen. Rick Santorum to write column for Philadelphia paper

DEBORAH YAO
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican known for his conservative positions, will begin writing a column for The Philadelphia Inquirer starting in early November.

Called the "The Elephant in the Room," the column will be featured in the Inquirer's opinion pages on alternating Thursdays.

Santorum, who lost to Democrat Bob Casey in last year's election, will write about a variety of topics ranging from America's culture wars to its struggles around the globe. Only occasionally will Santorum write about politics.

Not too surprisingly, Rick Santorum is crawling his way back into the public eye. I think it's a coup for the Inquirere to land such a prominent columnist. I disagree with Santorum 90 percent of the time, but I'm looking forward to reading his columns.

S-CHIP

The battle over the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program will come down to a veto overriding vote this Thursday. Public health policy pays my bills, so I've struggled quite a bit with this political battle. The bottom line is that this is a federal / state joint program to provide health coverage for poor children. The Democrats and some Republicans want to expand the program to cover more children whose parents may not be able to afford private insurance.

The political battle has to do with the definition of what constitutes poor, working class, and middle class. For a family of two parents and two children, if the father works full-time at a small business making $60,000 a year and the mother works part-time at Wal-Mart making $20,000 a year, are they poor? No. Can the parents afford to buy health insurance for their two children? Probably not. We all known Wal-Mart offers shitty insurance, and what if the father's small business doesn't offer insurance either? The Democrats want to offer goverment health insurance to the children in this case study. President Bush says, "No."

While I understand some of Bush's points, I side with the children. As a wealthy nation, we have a responsibility to take care of our children. We cannot depend on private employers. No matter how you define the poor, working, or middle class, we cannot risk the lives of the chidren.

Health care, not war!

I Remember Matthew Shepard

Nine years after her son Matthew Shepard's death, Judy Shepard is still a tireless crusader for hate crime legislations. I had a chance to hear her story last week, and had a small group lunch with her after her talk. I was quite familiar with Matthew's murder, but to hear it from the mother's perspective was overwhelming. I was in tears. I didn't say much to Judy during the group lunch. I didn't really know what to say. I just sat there admiring a woman whose work I hope will be worthwhile someday.

I think about Matthew Shepard during my long runs. I wonder if Matthew were alive, would he run marathons? Would he transform from a tiny little twink to a muscular gym bunny? I run because Matthew can't. I volunteer with many GLBT groups because Matthew can't. I am political because I can't bear to see another young gay life interrupted.

Health Care, Not War

American Health Choices Plan

Sept. 17: Hillary Clinton offers a sweeping health care reform plan to ensure coverage for all Americans. (MSNBC)

Hats off to Hillary for confronting her past failure. It is time for Americans to embrace universal health coverage, and when I refer to health coverage, I include both hospital/doctor visit and prescription drug purchase. As better drugs become available we don't need to visit hospitals as often. Thus, no universal health coverage should deny people access to drugs at affordable prices.

Gays v. Marines

All across America, Marines set up recruiting stations were teenagers are likely to visit. These stations often involve a pull up bar and incentives such as key chains or t-shirts for guys who can do a few pull-ups, or hold up a few minutes for females.
Well, yesterday the Martine boys were out to recruit at Kelly Drive near the start of the Frontrunners Philadelphia, a gay and lesbian running group. I don't know whether it was the irony that the Marines weren't recruiting gays or gays couldn't resist getting free Marines t-shirts, Frontrunners members started to line up for the pull-up challenge.
One by one, each of us did at least 10 pull-ups to win a t-shirt. One by one, we refused to add our names to their contact list by saying "Sorry, boys. I'm gay!"

China cracks down on AIDS groups ahead of Olympics

Dear NBC,

I've enjoyed watching your Olympics coverage ever since I was a kid. I was excited when China was announced as the host of the 2008 Olympics. However, recent news events such as the one above are forcing me to reconsider whether I wanted to be a part of the event. To me, the Olympics is a celebration of the human spirits, which certainly include human rights.

Anh

Obama, Clinton exchange fresh blows

Hilary Clinton is an uptight bitch who gets off on power. Obama is Hilary in a different gender and race. Seeing them running all over themselves is one of the best entertainment I've had this summer. I'm going to vote for the biggest bitch who can outwit, outplay, and outlast other bitches.

Jerry Farwell and Adolf Hilter

Toilet Humor
Originally uploaded by reflexblue.

Jerry Farwell and Adolf Hilter practiced politics of division. They used religion to incite violence. Gone!

Run Against Bush

I joined the national movement Run Against Bush this weekend in a 50-mile Relay in State College, PA. The drive was long, but it I'm glad I did it. I had so much fun in the company of many passionate Democrats and other Bush bashers. Our team t-shirts got so much attention. I hope we inspired a few more people to vote.