Ralf Nader -An Unreasonable Man

I went to see the movie An Unreasonable Man at Real Art Ways which was to be followed by a talk by Ralf Nader last night but the movie was sold out. So Ralf Nader gave an additional talk to the overflow crowd while the movie was showing.
I basically agree with what he had to say about government being taking over by big business. What he said kind of mirrors some of the Mid-Range Social Theories that we discussed in one of my classes. J. K. Galbraith and his theory of Countervailing Powers where government works best when – government, business and labor are all balanced and working together. We are right now in a period of business dominating government and labor with government being subservient business and labor being non-existent because of the effects of the Globalization (See I really did learn something in class.). One thing I didn’t know was because of World Trade Organization that anything that blocks “free” trade the offended country can bring legal action against the country in a secret court. Right now New York is being sued by Brazil because the state of New York passed a law blocking the importation of Teak. The case is being heard in secret and New York cannot not defend themselves because the case is being heard only by the WTO officials. I agree with Ralf Nader that this is not right, that instead of bringing our standard of living down the laws should be to bring their standard of living up.
He was asked if he thought that his Presidential campaign gave Bush the Presidency by drawing votes away from Gore, he gave several examples of why he felt that it didn’t, but I think that it did. I think that he has a right to run for office, but I also have I right not to vote for him. Even though I like what he says, I do not think that he had the preverbal “Chance of a snowball in hell.” If he thinks he didn’t give the election to Bush, then why were Republicans donation to his campaign?

Friday 5 for March 30

Advice, Please!

1. What specific advice would you give to someone moving into your neighborhood?
I don’t think there is any specific advice that I would offer, we are just your typical suburbs.

2. What specific advice would you give to someone beginning a job at your workplace (or attending school where you study, or, if you’re neither a student nor employed, doing whatever it is you do with your days)?
Don’t! They are closing the factory where I work this year and there is no future in manufacturing. Get a job as a plumber or an electrician, they cannot export your job to another state or country.

3. What specific advice would you give to someone who wants to begin an online journal or blog?
Don’t be too serious all the time, lighten up.

4. What specific advice would you give to someone who wants to take up a hobby you’re really into?
Get yourself a medium price camera and some good software, then go out and take lots of photographs. The best way learn is to learn the technical aspects first, take photographs that emphasis texture, then take photographs that emphasis light and dark, then color, etc.

5. What specific advice would you give to someone who wants to marry your closest, unmarried friend?
Wow, that’s great! Not too many people would marry a transsexual, go for it.

Still Plugging Away on My Term Paper

I took today off from work to finish my term paper for class tomorrow and I came to the conclusion that writing term papers is bad for my health. As I sit here working on the paper, I am surrounded by empty soda cans and empty bags of potato chips.

Lobbying Week May 14th - 18th

For Immediate Release: March 25, 2007
From: The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC)
Contact: Media Director, Vanessa Edwards Foster; Houston, Texas
Contact Email: ntacmedia@aol.com
Contact Phone: 832-483-9901
NTAC Chair, Ethan St. Pierre
Contact Email: transfriendly@comcast.com
Contact Phone: 978-373-8898
Website: http://www.ntac.org

Transgender Week on Capitol Hill Complete: NTAC to Lobby May 16-17

Transgender activists will again converge on Capitol Hill in May for another attempt at passing federal transgender-inclusive legislation. The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) has announced its Washington DC dates for direct advocacy with Congress on what’s turning out to be Transgender Lobby Week.

The transgender community is hopeful this year for legislation with explicit protections for the trans community. With conservatives out of power in both houses of Congress, this appears to be the best chance at any type of equal rights enactment for anyone in the GLBT Community.

Building upon the inclusive Hate Crimes legislation that passed the House of Representatives in the last Congress, there may well be the first inclusive legislation on employment non-discrimination as well this session.

This year’s visit by NTAC will be May 16 - 17, with a plenary training session on Tuesday, May 15, 2007. However, NTAC will not be the only group lobbying that week.

“Mara Keisling’s group will be conducting a transgender lobby day on the Hill on Monday and Tuesday,” said recently-elected NTAC Chair Ethan St. Pierre. Meanwhile, “the non-trans members of the community will be lobbying with Riki Wilchins’ group at the end of the same week,” St. Pierre added. “Along with NTAC in the middle of the week,” St. Pierre noted, “the transgender and other-gendered community will be lobbying Congress … the entire week.”

“Members of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition are looking forward to lobbying for trans-inclusive legislation in the areas of Hate Crimes and Employment non-discrimination,” added NTAC Board Member Marisa Richmond.

Richmond, who chairs NTAC’s Lobbying Committee admitted that both the Hate Crimes and Employment Non-Discrimination legislation “have been major concerns of transgender persons, and NTAC, for a number of years,” adding that “we are optimistic that we will see passage of both [pieces of legislation] in 2007.”

NTAC participants from New England to California will make the trip to the nation’s capital, likely including victims of anti-transgender hate crimes and those with personal experience of employment and other types of transgender discrimination. Since the late ‘90s, NTAC members have been making grassroots forays to the nation’s capital to gain these long sought-after protections.

Now it appears the many years of efforts may be providing a glimmer of opportunity.

NTAC will assist attendees by arranging meetings with their senators, representatives and staff members. Those making the trip will need to make arrangements for travel and lodging, however NTAC will have a hotel in mind and attempt to block out a number of rooms for participants on a first-come, first-served basis.

NTAC has actively advocated at the grassroots level for the rights of transgender Americans at federal, state, and local levels. As always, participants will have the opportunity to meet with many like-minded trans and trans-supportive activists from organizations across the country, working toward fully inclusive federal civil rights laws.

Registration and hotel information for the effort will be linked to the NTAC website (http://www.ntac.org) when details become available. In the meantime, those with questions about joining this grassroots lobbying effort can write to richmondmj@aol.com, or call 615-293-6199 after 6PM CDT.

- 30 -

Founded in 1999, NTAC - the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition - is a civil rights organization working to establish and maintain the right of all transgendered, intersexed, and gender-variant people to live and work without fear of violence or discrimination.

I Have Been Tagged...

I have been tagged by Peterson Toscano on his blog, A Musing, for five quotes. I listed them in what I think are there order of importance.

"Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds."
Albert Einstein

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."
Albert Pine

"You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices come from a deep sense of who you are."
Fred Rogers

"The point is that there are always obstacles, whether they seem insurmountable or merely bothersome. The question is not how difficult the path, but whether in your heart, you wish to undertake the journey."
Zandru's Forge

"The only person you are destine to become, is the person you decide to be."
Pam Finger

And of course there is also the quote that I open my Blog with...

I just remembered a quote from the CTAC Board meeting on Thursday, I don't remember who said it or where it came from but I had to chuckle when I heard it. But when you think about it, it is so very true and should always be kept in mind when making decisions.... "We should always remember the people we forgot."

Working on My Term Paper

I am going to be busy researching and writing my term paper that is due Wednesday. So I don’t know how much time I will have with my Blog.

Oh, so much fun! Now I remember why I was never found of school, all that last minute cramming ;-)

Sunday Seven - Episode 81

Patrick’s Weekender

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name the last seven specific items that you purchased at the grocery store.

1. From the Salad Bar – a salad
2. Also from the Salad Bar – a fruit salad
3. A lobster (To celebrate getting a B on my mid-term)
4. Tea
5. A jar of spaghetti sauce
6. Cold cuts
7. Butter

The True Colors Conference

The annual True Colors Conference is coming up this Friday and Saturday in New Britain, CT at Central Connecticut State University. On the True Colors’ web-site they say they…

Had more than 2,700 participants

Represented people from 16 states, including attendees from 70 cities and towns in Connecticut

Was an authorized field trip for 76 schools - including two middle school groups for the first time!

Had the assistance of 175 volunteers

Presented a total of 143 workshops and five entertainment venues

Offered our first ever, and very successful, best practices track which attracted professionals from all over the country

The list of their accomplishments is pretty amazing, but that is only a small part of the story. The look on the kids faces over shadows all those impressive accomplishments. For the first time in some of these kids’ lives they are free to be themselves, they don’t have to worry what other kids in school think or say or do. No one will hassles them because they are gay, they will be in a safe space and among friends and allies.

I know because about five years ago that is how I felt, I felt a strong sense of community, I felt safe and my internal walls collapsed at least for a while. I could be me. That is why I will be volunteering again this year, so that more kids can have a safe space for them to let down their walls and be able to laugh and be able to smile.

By the Way Sunday

~Blessings~

By the way...
Count your blessings up to 10, and name them one by one.

1. My brother
2. My family
3. My health
4. My friends
5. My country
6. My freedom to be me
7. My intelligence
8. My job
9. My freedom from want
10. Last, but not least: My ability to see the beauty around me

Saturday Six - Episode 153

Patrick Weekender

1. What was your favorite animated cartoon series when you were little?
Donald Duck

2. What was your favorite "live action" children's series when you were little?
The Howdy Doody Show:
"Say kids, What time is it?"
"It's Howdy Doody time!"

3. Who is your favorite Muppet character?
Kermit

4. Take the quiz: What is your Sesame Street personality?

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

5. Have you ever appeared on a locally-produced children's show, or would you have ever wanted to?
Yes, boy does this take me back in time to the late fifties: The Ranger Andy Show. Produced on a local CBS affiliate, I wish they would bring back shows for kids locally produced and not syndicated. I remember the thrill of going to the show and being on TV, even now I still remember awl of walking through the studio and sitting on stage.

6. Cartoons like "The Flintstones," though animated, were really intended for adults. What's your favorite adult (non-porn) cartoon?
It would be easier if I list the type of cartoons that I don’t like; South Park and shows that use crud humor.

I guess you can tell easily what generation I am from.

Friday 5 for March 16

Manners

1. What’s something that’s generally considered bad manners that you don’t think is a big deal?
Putting your elbows on the table.

2. What’s something you think should be considered good manners that you don’t think most people pay any attention to?
Saying “Thank You” and “Please”

3. In what way are you especially well-mannered?
I try to be courteous to everyone.

4. In what way are you especially ill-mannered?
I put my elbows up on the table.

5. If you owned a beautiful, enormous house high upon a hill, what would you name your manor?
“The Mansion” I know, that is not very original.

All My Children

On the TV Soap All My Children they have added a transgendered character, Zoe (Played by an actor), who is going through transition on the show. Last Friday they showed a scene from a support group that they did for the show and they used actual transgendered people, not actors for the segment. Two of the people that were part of the support group I have met; Betty Crowl and Jennifer Boylan. Betty’s wife is Helen Boyd the author of “My Husband Betty” and “She is not the Man I Married”. Jennifer Boylan is the author of “She is not There: a Life in Two Genders” and she has been on the Oprah Show twice and her book was one of Oprah’s picks. The TV film clip is a fairly good presentation of what goes on in a support group, it was unscripted and I think the clip is worth watching.

Zoe’s comment at the end of the clip was how I felt after my first support group meeting, that I was not alone. What Betty said about her wife “Getting it.” is true.

---

Updated 9/14/24 with a new link to the video.

GOOD NEWS!

HB1044 A Bill Concerning Anti-Discrimination has made it out of the Judicial Committee and the final vote was count 29-4!

And more good news I got my grades for my mid-term exam, 81. I miss read one of the essay questions and lost points for that, but the professor did write “Interesting answer, to bad that wasn’t the question.” :-( I thing I did OK, considering that this is the first exam I have taken in thirty-three years and that my major back then was Electrical Engineering not Sociology as all the other students in the class.

Once Again My Worrying was for Nothing.

Everything went well at my nephew’s son first birthday party; I was a little nervous at first but that was expected. Everyone was nice and I talked to his in-laws and some of my nephew’s friends. I made Cream Cheese Tortilla Rollups appetizers and a number of guests told me that they were very good and asked what was in them.
A number of guests said that they admired my courage and I must be happy to finally be able to be myself. When they say that it always gets to me because it is not courage, it is the lesser of two evils. I have said before being trans really sucks, but hiding in the closet sucks a lot more. I stayed home, never did anything, never went out and I was always worrying (not that I don’t worry now ;-) ) that someone would find out my terrible secret. So now I have a life, but the price I pay is always having to be out.
So anyhow, another milestone has been passed.

By the Way Sunday

~Birthstones~

By the way...
What is your birthstone?
There are two birthstones for October, Opal and Tourmaline.

Do you like the color, does your birthstone mean anything to you?
I like the rose color of Tourmaline but I don’t really care for Opal

Do you have any jewelry or special items that contain your birthstone?
No, however I think I might be interested in Tourmaline if it is not too expenses.

If you know anything else about your birthstone's physical attributes or where it’s found, fill us in.
When I was looking up what were my birthstones, I found out that Opal should be kept in water to keep its sparkle.

A Look Back

I wrote this for the Connecticut Outreach Society's Newsletter.

A Look Back

By Diana

It seems like a long time ago that I came out and went to my first COS meeting but it was only seven years ago. I have come a long ways since then, I remember gathering up my courage to walk up the steps of the meeting. It was a big step for me and everyone else who has made it up those steps. Little did I know where it was going to lead.

I remember K, D and T sitting and talking to me, calming my nerves and making me feel welcome, making me feel a part of COS and part of an extended family. I had emailed K back and forth asking her questions about COS and the meeting, what should I wear, how many members show up for a meeting, what is the age of the members and she patiently answered all of them. Finally I gathered my courage and came to a meeting only to have it the wrong night; I had to gather up my courage again to go again.

I remember the first time they had an offsite meeting at the French Butterfly Boutique and I sat out in the car crying because I was afraid to go inside, but the next time they had a meeting there I did go inside. I had over come my fear. I remember the first time I went out to eat at Goldroc, in K’s directions she said to go into the restaurant, turn left, go all the way to the end and they would be on the right. Well I marched in looking just at the floor to avoiding eye contact and followed her directions. When I looked up, no one was in sight so I quickly sat down in the booth and stared at the table wonder what to do. Then the waiter came over and I didn’t know what to do, but he said, “I think the group that you want are over there”. I looked where he was pointing and there they all were grinning because I had marched right passed them.

There have been a lot of other firsts, friends have always been there to help and go with me shopping as I built up courage. T, D and G they have gone with me shopping and to malls. Do I still have fears, yes but I am working to overcome them. I still dread the first time I have to go to a Home Depot or a car dealer; however I know I can overcome the fear.

###

I wrote this article for the newsletter because I see new members who look at us old timers and they never realize that we were just like they are now. That we all had our "First Time Out" and it is something we should always remember and cherish.

Friday 5 for March 9

Condiments

Here are this week’s 5! From "Friday 5"

What do you like on a hot dog?

Cheese, relish, mustard and ketchup.

What do you like on a hamburger?

Cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion and mayonnaise

What do you like on a baked potato?
Butter, sour cream bacon bits and chives

What do you like on a slice of toast?

Cream cheese, cinnamon and sugar

What do you like in a cup of coffee or tea?

Coffee – milk and sugar
Tea – lemon juice and sugar

A Good Week

You know when I am quite here on my Blog; I am either studying or busy. This week I was busy, I had two Outreaches (Speaking engagements) at University of Connecticut (Uconn) School of Medicine for second and third year medical students. The panel consisted of eight LGBT people and included a mother of an FtM (Female to Male) transsexual; there were 38 students on Tuesday and 42 students on Thursday plus some doctors and facility. This year they asked a number of good questions, a lot more than last year’s class and I think they also had more doctors in the audience. One of the doctors put me on the spot about the hormones I am taking; he wanted to know why I was taking the risk of blood clots, stroke, high blood pressure and breast cancer. He did like my answer and pressed further for an answer, the doctors teaching the class stepped in to help me out. Other than that the panel discussion went well. Afterward they broke the panel up and we went with smaller groups of students to classrooms to have a more one on more type of discussion.

After the Outreach yesterday I went to meet a friend, at a local diner, who helped my with one of my classes. She helped me organize my thoughts on a term paper that I have to write on the book Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich for my Macro Theories class.

Also, on Wednesday, I came out to my broker, why did I tell my broker? Because I will have to have my name changed once I transitioned and I wanted to make sure he was OK with me being a transsexual, which he was OK and he told me he has several non-traditional clients. So that worked out alright and another was hurdle passed.

Of course this Sunday I am going to my nephew’s son 1st birthday party and met his in-laws and friends for the first time.

Manic Monday

16 days until spring and counting!

What is your favorite part of spring? Your least favorite?
All the flowers in bloom and the smell of the Lilac outside my bedroom window. The least favorite thing about spring is mud, the yard gets all mushy and you can walk around on it.

It’s Severe Weather Preparedness Week this week. What’s the most severe weather event you’ve experienced?
Hurricanes, I’ve been through a couple of them; ’55, ’57, Gloria in ’85 and a few other minor one since then. Also snowstorms can get pretty severe, I remember the storm of ’78 we got over two feet of snow and was without power for several days.

Daylight Savings Time begins next Sunday, three weeks earlier than in previous years. How do you feel about DST? Love it, hate it or couldn’t care less? I couldn’t care less; it takes me a long time for my body to get use to it, usually until September. What I don’t like is that they moved it up three weeks, all my electronics that automatically change; I will have to do it manually twice. Once this weekend and once three weeks from now when I will have to move it back again

Discrimination – It’s Real!

A Case of Gender Blues
A city manager planning a sex-change operation may lose his job, reviving a debate about basic rights.

By Lynn Waddell and Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek
March 12, 2007 issue - After a lifetime of agonizing over his gender identity, Steven Stanton decided to become a woman about two years ago. "It wasn't something I wanted to do," says Stanton, 48, the city manager of Largo, Fla. …

…At a tumultuous meeting last Tuesday, city commissioners voted 5-2 to begin the process of firing Stanton, who has received mostly solid reviews in 14 years as city manager. "I do not feel he has the integrity, nor the trust, nor the respect, nor the confidence to continue," said Commissioner Mary Gray Black. Now on paid administrative leave, Stanton has until Tuesday to decide whether to appeal. Civil rights and transgender groups have rushed to his defense. "It's been a long time since I've seen that degree of just flagrant discrimination," says Karen Doering, senior counsel for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and now Stanton's lawyer.

…In 2003, while city leaders were debating a human-rights ordinance that would protect transsexuals, the then Commissioner Pat Burke criticized Stanton for not lobbying hard enough for the measure (it didn't end up passing, but the town did adopt an internal policy barring discrimination on the basis of gender identity). Stanton, who was possibly wary of accusations of favoritism, responded by confiding his secret to Burke. When he showed her photos of himself in drag, she laughed affectionately and offered him fashion tips. "It was a light dress, and it didn't work," she says.

What can you do about this? The National Center for Transgender Equality is sponsoring Lobbying Day in Washington DC on May 14th and 15th. Go and take part in it or if not contact your Senators and Representative and ask them to support the transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

Save the Date! May 14-15

This is it. This year we have a very real chance to pass a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). NCTE is calling on transgender people and allies to come to Washington, DC, on May 14 -15, 2007, for what is shaping up to be the largest lobby day in trans history. Will you be there? Will your friends?

For decades advocates have fought hard to write federal anti-discrimination and hate crime legislation that includes transgender people. Now is our shot. Please try to be here. Your voice is vital.

Protections for transgender people—for all LGBT people—are within reach and could become the law of the land this year. But it won’t happen without your voice. So save your pennies. Bank your gas money. Schedule your vacation days. Book your flight. This is the mother of all Transgender Lobby Days.

Save the date:

WHAT: NCTE LOBBY DAY
WHEN: May 14 - 15, 2007
WHERE: Washington, DC

Real ID Act

Why I do not like the Real ID Act is because it takes away control of Driver Licenses from the states and it also makes it almost impossible for the homeless, elderly and disabled to get ID’s
Right now in the state of Connecticut I can get the gender on my driver license changed to female with a letter from my psychologist stating that I am a transsexual, but if this goes through I would no long be able to do that. They would actually have to change the gender marker back to male. Why is this important? Because under the medical standards of care for someone with Gender Identity Dysphoria (Transsexualism) you must live for at least one year in your new gender before you can have surgery. Can you imagine how hard that will be when you are looking for employment, it will make getting a job so much harder, if not impossible.
For the homeless, elderly and disabled the requirement of have your birth certificate would place almost in surmountable barriers for them. Most locations require that you come in person to get a copy of your birth certificate and for the homeless, elderly and disabled it might make it impossible to get a copy.

Wired News

By Ryan Singel| Also by this reporter
14:00 PM Mar, 01, 2007

Homeland Security officials released long-delayed guidelines that turn state-issued identification cards into de facto internal passports Thursday, estimating the changes will cost states and individuals $23 billion over 10 years.

The move prompted a new round of protest from civil libertarians and security experts, who called on Congress to repeal the 2005 law known as the Real ID Act that mandates the changes.

Critics, such as American Civil Liberties Union attorney Tim Sparapani, charge that the bill increases government access to data on Americans and amplifies the risk of identity theft, without providing significant security benefits.

"Real ID creates the largest single database about U.S. people that has ever been created," Sparapani said. "This is the people who brought you long lines at the DMV marrying the people at DHS who brought us Katrina. It's a marriage we need to break up."

Homeland Security officials point to the 9/11 hijackers' ability to get driver's licenses in Virginia using false information as justification for the sweeping changes.

"Raising the security standards on driver's licenses establishes another layer of protection to prevent terrorists from obtaining and using fake documents to plan or carry out an attack," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a press release.

The 162 pages of proposed rules require:

Applicants must present a valid passport, certified birth certificate, green card or other valid visa documents to get a license and states must check all other states' databases to ensure the person doesn't have a license from another state.
States must use a card stock that glows under ultraviolet light, and check digits, hologramlike images and secret markers.
Identity documents must expire before eight years and must include legal name, date of birth, gender, digital photo, home address and a signature. States can propose ways to let judges, police officers and victims of domestic violence keep their addresses off the cards. There are no religious exemptions for veils or scarves for photos.
States must keep copies of all documents, such as birth certificates, Social Security cards and utility bills, for seven to 10 years.
However, many difficult questions, such as how state databases will be linked or how homeless people can get identity documents, were left unanswered by the proposed rules. Citizens of states that don't abide by the guidelines will not be able to enter federal courthouses or use their identity cards to board a commercial flight.

Sophia Cope, a staff attorney at the centrist Center for Democracy and Technology, says the rules only mention privacy once.

"The Real ID Act does not include language that lets DHS prescribe privacy requirements, so there are no privacy regulations related to exchange of personal information between the states, none about skimming of the data on the magnetic stripe, and no limits on use of information by the feds," Cope said.

The Real ID Act, slipped into an emergency federal funding bill without hearings, originally required states to begin issuing the ID documents by May 2008. The proposed rules allow states to ask for an extension until Jan. 1, 2010.

Cope wants Congress to step in and rewrite the rules. The ACLU and Jim Harper, a libertarian policy analyst at the Cato Institute who specializes in identity and homeland security issues, agree.

"With five-plus years behind us, now is the time to be looking at what works and what doesn't work," Harper said. "Students of identification know that a national ID does not help with security."

Maine has already declared it will not follow the rules, and other states are close to joining that rebellion. In Congress, a bipartisan coalition is forming around bills that would repeal portions of the Real ID Act, but it is unclear if today's rules will slow or accelerate these efforts.

This is just a bad law that never should have been passed.

By the Way Sunday

~A Few Favorites~

By the way...

What is your favorite...

Morning drink?
Tea

Lunchtime treat?
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Afternoon snack?
A granola bar

Comfort food supper?
Pizza

Saturday Six - Episode 151

Patrick’s Weekender

1. How often do you clip coupons from the newspaper or mail inserts?
The only coupon that I clip from the paper is for the car wash.

2. You buy something that contains a mail-in rebate: how likely are you to take the time to fill out and mail the application (with appropriate receipts) to actually get the rebate mailed to you?

Most of the time I do send them in, but somehow it seems that I never get any of the refunds. I usually forget about them and when I remember I cannot find any information to where you contact them to find out your rebates.

3. How many credit cards do you have right now that have a zero balance?
All of mine have a zero balance

4. Take the quiz: Are you good with money?

You Are Great With Money

You know the value of a dollar - and you save and spend wisely. By living below your means, you've set yourself up for a rich future. And while it may hurt to sacrifice now, you'll probably have plenty of money later on. You're on your way to riches - just keep it up.

Are You Good With Money?

5. What is the most expensive thing you purchased in the last week?
A $3.99 battery for my watch.
But since the first of the year I bought a laptop, wireless modem and an iPod

6. On a scale of one to ten, with ten meaning that it was something you needed badly and urgently, how much did you really need this particular item?
The battery a 10
The laptop 5, I got it for school
The iPod 2, I wanted it.

Another Coming Out

Next Sunday (March 11^th) I am going to my nephew’s son 1^st birthday party, it will be the first time for his in-law and friends. He briefly saw me as Diana last fall, but this is going to be twenty or thirty people, many I haven’t met before.
Oh, it is so much fun being trans…. Life is one big coming out. :-(

I’m Back!

I had my Mid-Term Exam on Wednesday and now I just have to sweat it out until I get my grade for the exam. This I the first test I have taken in over thirty years and to say I was a little nervous is to put it mildly, I crammed over the weekend and took Wednesday off from work to study. I just hope that I get at least an 80 because I will need that to get into Grad School
Last night I went up to the main campus in Storrs to listen to a concert by Namoli Brennett at the Rainbow Center. I had heard her up in Provincetown last October and I enjoyed her music, so I went up there with a friend. It was just what I needed a night to relax with good folk music.
Now back to Blogging….. One news item and one meme

Gender Bender

This week's Hartford Advocate has an article the Anti-Discrimination Bill that I testified for.

Transgender Activists Work To Change State's Discrimination Laws


Hartford Advocate
By Adam Bulger

March 1 2007

Brenda Louise, a transwoman, said her gender transition cost her job as a machinery repair mechanic in a woodworking company.

“As soon as I had my sexual reassignment surgery, they terminated me,” Louise said. “An employer really puts up a smokescreen, and uses anything they possibly can.”

Louise sued her old boss. The case was settled out of court.

“Basically the laws didn’t have the teeth behind them. The pressure was taken off of them,” Louise said of her old employers.

What Louise and others were arguing for in the legislature last week is for a modest change in the the state’s anti-discrimination laws so that transgendered people would be protected. If bill SB-1044, An Act Concerning Discrimination, is enacted, supporters say the bill would dramatically improve the lives of the state’s transgendered.

“The bill adds to the nondiscrimination clauses in Connecticut the words ‘gender identity or expression.’ What that does is it prohibits discrimination on housing, employment and credit,” said Jerimarie Liesegang, the director of transgender rights group Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition said.

The hearing was the beginning of the bill’s second life; it passed the Judiciary Committee last year near the end of the legislative session, and then was lost in the shuffle.

“It basically ran out of time, like a lot of bills do,” Liesegang said. But there is optimistism about the bill’s chances this session. After Liesegang testified, state Senator John Kissel said he would support the bill.

Other states, including New Jersey, California and Maine, have adopted similar laws. Connecticut has two legal precedents for the bill. In 2003, the state’s hate crime legislation was changed to include protection for transgendered people. Additionally, in 2000, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities ruled in its declaration on behalf of John/Jane Doe that transgendered people are protected under the state’s discrimination laws. However that measure has far less legal power than a legislative bill.

Employment among the transgendered community is a problem, the severity of which is difficult to assess.

“I would venture to say that 60 percent of the transpeople in Connecticut are unemployed — there are no specific hard-core statistics because we’re a highly oppressed, marginalized community,” Liesegang said.

Executive director of Connecticut Outreach Society, male-to-female transgendered person Diana said discrimination against the transgendered is commonplace.

“In support groups, I’ve seen people lose their jobs and lose housing,” Diana said.

When a transgendered person loses their job, they’re given a lot of different reasons by their boss, Diana said.

“They say it’ll ruin business or drive off a customer — there’s always an excuse,” Diana said.●

Yes, that’s me in the article, I was interviewed by the reporter for the article and I was interviewed yesterday for an article in the New Haven Advocate coming out next week.

FOUR FOR FRIDAY

Q1 - Your Paycheck: If you could receive your entire paycheck in the form of a gift card, which retail store or restaurant's gift card would you choose?
I would have to say some type of department store like Target that carries food and clothing.

Q2 - 911 Tapes : We have all heard them on the radio or television: 911 recordings between emergency dispatch and citizens in harm's way. Do you think 911 recordings should be made available to the public?

No, they should now be made public. Let them have their dignity in death.

Q3 – What Would it Take: How much money would it take for you to eat nothing but McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's for 30 consecutive days?

Oh… about $100,000. I might eat a fast food restaurant if I am in a hurry or traveling and I never get anything “super sized.” To do that for thirty days; yuck.

Q4 - Scandal: Yesterday, federal officials in the U.S. broke up one of the largest Wall Street insider trading rings since the 1980s. Thirteen people, including executives and brokers at Morgan Stanley, UBS Securities, Bear Stearns, and Bank of America Securities, have been indicted for schemes that netted high worth individuals millions of dollars. Earlier in the week, an allegedly illicit steroid distribution network, which authorities are saying is responsible for Internet sales of performance-enhancing drugs nationwide, was broken up by the Albany County (NY) District Attorney’s office. Customers reportedly included Los Angeles Angels baseball player Gary Matthews Jr., numerous high school and collage athletes, a former Mr. Universe bodybuilding champion, and former heavyweight-boxing champion Evander Holyfield. Which concerns you more: Insider trading on Wall Street or the illegal use of performance enhancing drugs by amateur and professional athletes alike?

Insider trading, it can affect millions of people. Look at Enron and how that affected everyone in the world. Here in Connecticut some state agencies lost hundreds of millions of dollars that the taxpayers got stuck with making up the lost. And now millions of Americans have their IRA’s and 401k’s in the stock market, now’s the time for strict enforcement of the SEC rules.