Patrick’s Weekender

Saturday Six - Episode 179

1. What is your favorite carnival ride?
Something easy and slow. I do not to be whipped around or dropped from heights

2. What is the biggest prize you ever won at a carnival or fair?
I do not think I ever won anything at a carnival because I do not think I ever played any game. My folks always thought bad of carnival games and that they were rigged.

3. What is the most you ever spent at a single carnival game?
Probability a buck, see the above answer

4. Take the quiz: What carnival ride are you?

You Are a Haunted House

You are a deeply complicated and sometimes deeply disturbed person. You can't help but be attracted to the dark side of life - even when it's pretty gruesome. In relationships, you are honest and real. So real that it's definitely a little scary. You don't fake it or play along just to get along. And people either respect this... or deeply resent it Your life is thoughtful, deep, and even philosophical at times. You see the world as it is. You don't sugar coat anything. Facing and fighting your fears is important to you. You believe that too much of life is whitewashed. You're not too morbid... you just believe that you can't enjoy life without exorcising a few demons first! At your best, you are brave, intense, and fearless. Not only do you face the abyss head on - you challenge your friends to do the same. At your worst, you are depressed and morose. If you're not careful, your thoughts take over your mind... and they aren't pretty!

What Carnival Ride Are You?

Boy, it this so far off, the only thing that is even close is…

Your life is thoughtful, deep, and even philosophical at times.
You see the world as it is. You don't sugar coat anything.
Facing and fighting your fears is important to you. You believe that too much of life is whitewashed.

The rest of it is Bull.

5. If you went to a typical carnival and realized you weren’t in the mood to ride the rides, what would you be more likely to want to do to amuse yourself?
The local town agricultural fair is coming up in a couple of weeks and I always like to visit the crafts exhibits and the only time I entered a photograph I won First Prize.

6. What job would you least like to have at a carnival or fair?
A ride operator.

Insurance Discrimination

The big talk on the campaign circuit is about some form of a national insurance plan but I want to talk about insurance polices that affects me.

Most insurance companies do not cover anything that has to with transgenderism; they do not cover any mental health visits (even though it is required by the Standard of Care.), any office visits neither for hormone treatments nor for the hormones and they do not cover any surgery.

The treatment for Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is recognized a mental disease (Whether we in the community like to admit it or not.) that is listed in the DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) with the code 302.85 and has a recognized treatment (The Standard of Care). The AMA policy on transsexualsim states: ‘The AMA opposes the denial of health insurance on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.” Also in the state of Connecticut it is against the law to discriminate against anyone with a mental illness as defined by the DSM and also against anyone with a disability, GID has been ruled so by the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities(CHRO).

All of this I talked about before, so what is new? Well there is a report that was released from San Francisco Human Rights Commission that defines what the cost/patient were since 2001 when San Francisco initialed coverage for transsexuals.

Bay Area Reporter
Community pushes for TG health coverage
Published 06/21/2007
by Zak Szymanski

According to San Francisco Human Rights Commission investigator Marcus Arana, in the first four years after the city's transgender benefits passed, the city's own health plan (managed by United Healthcare) collected an extra $1.70 per month per insurance member for a total of $5.6 million, and paid out just $183,000 for 11 transition-related surgeries. Data from the private insurers' HMO plans is more sparse; HealthNet reported paying $3,300 for hormones and psychological care during a one-year period between 2004 and 2005, for 14 of its transgender members….
… I told them, that's not what this [health coverage for transsexuals] is about: if you were a non-trans employee of San Francisco and needed hormonal treatment, a mastectomy, or a hysterectomy, you would get that coverage, and yet a transgender employee in need of that identical medical care was being denied."…

Now is the time for change! Employers have been using the excuse that it is way too expensive to include health care coverage for transsexuals. This discrimination has got to stop because it is an out in out violation of the anti-discrimination statues.

But you say the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) list 195 companies with a perfect score of 100% but less that a handful offer full coverage for transsexuals. How can that be if so many companies have a perfect score? Well lets look at how the scores are figured, this is the HRC policy on scoring gender identity…

# Non-discrimination policy, diversity training & benefits – gender identity

3. Insurance includes access for transitioning individuals for at least one category* (5 points)
At least one: Counseling by a mental health professional; pharmacy benefits covering hormone therapy; medical visits to monitor the effects of hormone therapy and other associated lab procedures; medically necessary surgical procedures such as hysterectomy; or short-term disability leave for surgical procedures

That is right; they only have to offer only one category to get the 5 points and a perfect score. Most companies offer mental health coverage for any reason; Bingo you get 5 points.
Why does the HRC score this way? I can think of three reasons: first because the HRC likes to boast about the number of companies that have a perfect score; two, a lot of the big companies donate to the HRC and three the HRC itself would not get a perfect score. Hun? Yup, the HRC does not offer full coverage to its employees; they would only score a 95. A little embarrassing don’t you think. So as not just to single out the HRC the other national Gay and Lesbian organizations do not offer it either.

I do not think the HRC is a bad organization, they have done much good. But I think that they have to be watched closely to make sure the honor their promises and mission statement.

Create a Connection

I finally found some time to sit down and catching up on my blogging. I have been busy with homework and volunteer work (I think I have attended more meeting now that I am retired than I did while working.).

What Color Are You?

What color best expresses who you let other people see you to be?
I would have to say that my outward colors this time of year is brown, yellow, orange and red; the colors of fall. They are the warm colors of the change of seasons.

What color best suits the real you, you know is deep inside of you?
Green and I don’t mean the green with envy type of green, but I mean the earth green.

Do the colors match, or do you need to learn to be more comfortable being yourself too?
I think so, I then they tend to complement each other.

Why do you think that color expresses you well? Would your better half agree?
They are the earth colors and the fall colors are warm like my personality.

Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village

Is this anywhere near Grover’s Mills?

Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village

Mon Sep 17, 11:23 PM ET

LIMA (AFP) - Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.

"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.

Do you think this might be psychosomatic? Or is it an invasion from Mars.

The Phone Call I Didn’t Want to Hear on Sunday Morning

I was lying on the couch reading my homework assignment when the phone rang. I answered and a man said; “I am from the New Hampshire Marine Patrol, your boat sank and you have to get it out immediately. Otherwise it may cause environmental damage. You can be fined and charged for the clean up.” Yikes! By that time I was sitting up and he had my undivided attention, he went on to say that we should contact a marine salvage operation to get float it again. I told we will get right on it.”
After running around in circles for a couple of seconds, I called my brother, packed and was headed up to New Hampshire.
This is what I found…

We did raises it up off the bottom and re-float it. We did it by my brother pulling the bow down and with me pulling the stern up so that we managed to get the gunnels above water and we could bail it out.
But I did get to take these sunrise pictures this morning with the fog rising up of the lake.

Just for Fun

what if this is as good as it gets? Just for fun

RANDOM SURVEY:
1. To whom did you last give the finger?
I do not think that I ever gave anyone “The Finger”

2. If you had 1,000 dollars, what would you buy?
A DLP projector

3. What was the last beverage you spilled on yourself?
Orange juice

4. Are you different now than you were 6 months ago?
Oh, yes.

5. Have you kissed a girl in the last three days?
No

6. What was the last photograph you took?
Wednesday at Mystic Aquarium

7. Where were you last night around 9:30?
Home reading my homework assignment.

8. What do you think of guys that wear eyeliner?
It depend on whether it matches his dress

9. How many hours did you last sleep?
5 hours

10. Who was the last person to whom you spoke on the phone for over an hour and a half?
No-one, the longest I think I talked on the phone was an hour

11. 50 Cent shows up at your door, what do you do?
Give him a dollar.

12. How was the last egg you ate prepared?
French Toast

13. Where did you last wear sunglasses?
Driving to Mystic Aquarium

14. Ever worn your underwear backwards?
No

15. Who was the last person to smoke a cigarette in your presence?
Friday night

16. Does it bother you when people put && before every sentence and ;; after?:
No, I believe in “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”

17. What animal did you last pet or hold?
A dog

18. What was the last law you broke?
Speeding

19. What are you wearing?
Nightgown and rob (Well it is Sunday morning.)

20. What did you last drink?
Decaf coffee

21. What was the last newspaper you read or skimmed?
The Hartford Courant

22. What was the last word written on your hand?
Probably a part number when I was working

23. What was the last hair product you used?
Shampoo

24. What was the last text message you received?
I do not do text messaging

25. What was the last medication (Rx or OTC) you took?
A whole fist full, I rattle when I walk.

26. Who was the last person to make you really laugh?
I can’t remember

27. To what song did you last sing along?
You really don’t want to hear me sign.

28. What was the last musical instrument played in your presence?
Guitar

29. What was the last superstitious thing you did?
None, I am not superstitious.

30. How is your love life going?
What love life?

More Fashion Show Photos

On the Hartford Independent Media Center's Undercurrents blog has an article about the fashion show.
The only problem is that you can only read the blog with IE. Firefox will not work properly (Boo!)

Fashion Show Photos

Here are a couple of photos from last night that some friends (See the link on the comment from the "Fashion Show".) sent me.





This is my basic little black dress...



and the crowd went wild as I took off the Bolero jacket...

The Fashion Show

We all had a blast! You know me, I was worrying that none of the models would show up or nobody would come to it. Well, as usual I was wrong. We packed the place, I would guest that there were over 150 people there, including two professional photographers. Once someone sends me some photos of me, I will post them.
I had a great time; I wore a back sleeveless cocktail dress with a bolero jacket. We were all lined up in a hallway and when my turn came the crowd was already wound up. When I step out of the hallway all I saw was camera flashes, I walked down the isle between the tables and when I got down the end I took off my jacket. The crowd went wild. It was so cool.
I heard someone say that the owner of the bar said it was the most people he had come to any GLBT event there.

Another Busy Week

In between classes, reading and writing reports, I have been running around. Wednesday I went down to Mystic Aquarium with a couple of friends. One of my friends suggested going and that we could get library passes for 30% off, I never knew until recently that they had passes like. So I went to the town library and changed my name on my library card and got the pass.
The Beluga whales were real hams, when I was at the glass side of the tank one came up and winked at me and stopped so that I could take its picture (Or at least it looked that way.)



Next we headed over to see the seals. Boy, talk about having a lazy life, the bull seal just sunned himself on the rocks while his harem swam around.


The next exhibit was the Penguins and trying to photograph them through the glass was hard because I could not use the flash without getting a reflection from the flash and because they were zipping around underwater.





From there we went into the Sun Lit Seas exhibit which was all types and sizes of aquariums. I had the same problem there as I did take photos through the glass but even more so because of the dim lighting inside the building.





Finally we went to the Underwater Exploration building.

Yesterday I help one of the CTAC members buy an outfit for tonight’s Fashion Show and then in the afternoon I helped out at True Colors. I will be one of the models at the show besides organizing the models and making that they will have everything that they will need. Tomorrow I go to a speakers training session for the Stonewall Speakers in the morning.

Today's Class

It was funny in class today; the professor was trying to remember everyone’s name today from the class last week. She would look around the room for Sara and then ask the person she thought was Sara if she was. She had correct person about a fifty percent of the time, but she had look at everyone first before she guessed the name and there still was a question in her voice. Then when she got to my name she just looked right at me and said Diana with no hesitation.
Oh well, when you are the only six foot tranny in the class you do tend to stand out and get remembered.

I guess I better go back to reading, I procrastinated too much already.

Family

I was reading a blog that I follow, she is a cardiologist and a trans-woman, in her blog she wrote about a funeral that she attended for a friend’s father. The family never acknowledged her nor mentioned that fact that she was there, the only conversation that they had with her was to ask her to move so they could set up the tables up for covered dish after the service.

All too often when a person comes out to their family that they are either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender they are disinherited they are forced out onto the streets to fend for themselves. Many of them are still teenagers with no skills and end up working the streets, but the woman’s whose father died is one of the luckily ones and is working herself through medical school.

Connecticut’s New Voting System

I do not like the new electronic voting machines. Having an engineering background I know how easy it is to write bad software that will not work properly and I am not talk about purposely hacking the program just errors in writing the software.
I do not know how many times I have seen a program bomb out when a certain conditions are met. Maybe they made a round off error or did not allow a wide enough field and the number gets truncated or variables get swapped, and these problems only shows up randomly. I am awful apprehensive of any software based voting systems and I feel that there should be third party independent auditing of the software and the code should be public domain for all to view. That they should also increase the percentage of manually recounted the ballots to verify the machine and software.

Manic Monday

Manic Monday for September 10, 2007

If you could "un-invent" one thing in the world so that it would no longer exist, what would you choose?
Weapons of Mass Destruction – It would be a different world. Would it be more peaceful, I doubt it. But it would be safer without out worrying about one madman wiping out the world.
For a laugh visit here.

Monday morning you usually waking up thinking:
What homework assignments are due this week?

Do you find it easy to ask for help? Why or why not?
I find it easy asking for help maybe because I am always willing to give help.

Minister Transitions and Becomes a Man

A United Methodist council's decision on whether to accept him could have political implications too.
By Stephanie Simon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 9, 2007
BALTIMORE — The Rev. Ann Gordon stood in front of her United Methodist congregation last fall and announced that she was now he…..

…. But when Phoenix, 48, was reappointed to another year of ministry this spring by his bishop, it sparked a protest in the United Methodist Church.

The denomination's highest authority, the Judicial Council, will take up the case next month, deciding whether the church should accept transgender pastors. The decision will determine Phoenix's future; it could also have political implications.

Presiding over the Judicial Council is Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr., President Bush's nominee for surgeon general and a longtime lay leader of the United Methodist church. Democrats have objected to Holsinger in large part because of work he has done for his church over the years……

Read the whole story here

But you will need a email address and password:
Email: joe@bugmenot.com
Password: 123456
If that does not work you can get other passwords here Bug Me Not and use; www.latimes.com


Read about Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr., President Bush's nominee for Surgeon General.

'Homosexuality Isn't Natural or Healthy'
Bush's Choice for Top Doc Compared Human Genitalia to Pipe Fittings and Said Homosexual Practices Can Cause Injury or Death
By JAKE TAPPER
June 7, 2007

President Bush's nominee for surgeon general, Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr., wrote a paper in 1991 that purported to make the medical argument that homosexuality is unnatural and unhealthy. Doctors who reviewed the paper derided it as prioritizing political ideology over science, and Democratic aides on Capitol Hill say the paper will make his confirmation hearings problematic, if not downright bruising….

Among the highly scientific arguments against homosexuals the good doctor wrote was…

Holsinger's paper argued that male and female genitalia are complementary -- so much so "that it has entered our vocabulary in the form of naming pipe fittings either the male fitting or the female fitting depending upon which one interlocks within the other." Body parts used for gay sex are not complementary….

You can read the whole story here

Growing Up

Today I had a planning meeting for Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition in Hartford. As I was walking back to my car from the courtyard of a large national insurance company where we had the meeting; I was thinking how far I have come in the last seven years, and I am not talking about trans-issues.
All my life I was probably in only four or five places in Hartford and my circle of friends was maybe only numbered a dozen or so. Now I know my way around the Capital, the Legislative Office Building, the theaters and maybe a half a dozen restaurants in Hartford. I know the heads of non-profits organizations, legislators, a member of the GLBT Commission in Hartford and lobbyist. I lead a support group for three very successful years and I am a part of the coalition that is working to pass anti-discrimination legislation whose members include ACLU, NOW, GLAD and a dozen of other organizations. I went to Washington to lobby my Congressional delegation. I have helped out in a senatorial campaign. And lastly I am working toward a Master degree in Social Work.
As I was standing on the steps of the office building waiting for the walk light, I looked out over the Capital and Hartford and it just kind of seemed surreal this “Long Strange Trip”. If in 2000 you said I would be doing all this I would never have believed you.
I guess I have matured after long last.

Let Me Clarify What I Meant

They had the book at to university's co-op for the $80, but if I wanted to get it at Amazon or Border's for $60 they would have to order the book and there was a two week wait.
Everything at the university is done on-line, so last Wednesday I got the email telling me what book to get and what chapters to read for the first class. Because I was busy Thursday and Friday I bought the book at the co-op after class yesterday. Hence being two weeks behind in the reading assignment.
My other class also sent out an email last week with the reading assignment for today’s class, but there is no book for the class. All the reading assignments are on-line at the university’s library web-site, the reading assignment might say read chapter 3 for this book, chapter 2 from another book and this article in a journal. They would all be on-line listed under my class and they would be in pdf file (The university has a licensing agreements for the copyright royalties.).

Back to School Madness

Blogging is going to have to take second stage to my studying. I do not think I will be able to post every day; hopefully I will be able to do a couple of memes a week.
Well back to the books, I have about 120 pages to read and a two page paper on the classroom discussion by next week.

Unbelievable !!!

I had to buy a textbook for a class and it was $80.70! That is nuts for a paperback book.

Create a Connection

Faith & Hopes...Getting to know you day


1) Tell me about Faith, your different kind of faith? What it means to you?
I was born and raised as a Catholic and that gave me my sense of faith. But as I grew older I came to not believe in organized religion, each church professed to be the “True” religion. Over time I came to believe it is not where you worship but how you act to one another that was the essences of all the religions in the world.

2) Are you rather religious or mystic/spiritual? What does it bring to your life?
I consider myself religious and it bring character to me. as they say on Star Trek; it is my “Prime Directive” to treat everyone equally and fairly.

3) Do you trust and have faith in your self or do you have this tendency to abandon your self, to procrastinate and give up because of this lack of faith maybe?
Yes, I have faith in myself. However, I do not believe that procrastination is a symptom of lack of faith but rather it is avoidance to do something that you do not like.

4) Do you believe in parallell realities? How would you see them? How do they show for you?
Nope.

5) Do you believe in Past, do you sometimes feel echoes of these life?
Nope.

6) Do you believe in things that can not be proved?
Yes. Since we are talking about faith I do not believe about say, gravity. I believe in God and the reason I believe in Him is just by asking yourself the question where did all this come from? I climb a mountain and look out over the valleys or look up into the stars at night and I ask myself hw did this beauty come about.
Oh, I know about the Big Bang Theory and I believe in it, but what came before the Big Bang? No one has answer for that.

7) Love is about Faith and Hopes, tell us why you are with the person you are at the moment, what are your hopes with them for tomorrow, projects etc and how do you express and show your faith in them?
I have Hope that some day I will find someone who can look beyond that I am a transsexual and see the person inside.

8) Tell me about a time you have lost hopes? How did you react?
I haven’t, there is always hope.

9) What do you do when you see another one losing hopes and faith in them in life and everything, friends or complete stranger? How do you deal with that?
I am there for them, to listen, to help them in anyway I can.

10) If Hopes was a metaphor or poem what would it be according to you?
Here is a poem that I wrote...

* * * * *
Climbing the Mountain

I walk across the plateau to the face of the cliff,
Looking up I think that I’ll never make it.
It looks insurmountable, a formable wall in my journey.
I see others look up at the wall, shake their heads and walk away.
Deep inside me that inner voices calls.
I know that I have climbed others and have always made it,
But this looks different,
I know that I will have to summon my courage.
The plateau is comfortable, but my inner voice calls me.
I reach out and find a handhold, then another.
Slowly I pull myself up.
One handhold and one toehold after another.
Looking back from where I came, I can see the hills and valleys.
They all seemed like they were mountains and canyons then.
Now from this vantage point, I laugh at them.
Up I climb, always knowing that I may fall before I reach the top.
There will be no sage or wise man at the top,
Only the wisdom gained along the way.
I realize I have come a long ways but I still have far to go.
That inner voice calls me.
One handhold and one toehold after another I climb.
I know that at the top I will find another cliff,
And another mountain to climb after that.

Out of the Mouths of Babes….

These were sent to me by my brother, enjoy!

NOW THIS IS INFORMATION WORTH KNOWING!!!!!!!!!!

A little known fact: A 2006 study by Texas A&M University found that the average American walks about 900 miles per year.

Another study by the American Wine Institute found that Americans drink an average of 22 gallons of wine a year.

This means, on average, Americans get approximately 41 miles per gallon.

Not bad

Manic Monday

Manic Monday for August 27, 2007


What kinds of scenes in movies make you cry?
Love scenes and sad scenes like in Love Story when she is told that she has a fatal disease.

If you met your clone-- someone with your exact personality traits, likes and dislikes, etc. -- would you want to be friends with him/her? Why or why not?
Like the movie “Twins” I would probably befriend her. We would hopefully have a lot in common.

What is your biggest challenge in life right now?
My biggest challenge is getting through this fall semester, it looks like there is going to be a lot of reading and a lot of writing.
My Micro Theory class, according to the syllabus for the class there are two papers that I have to write. One paper on Parenting – now what do I know about parenting and kids? The other paper is on Behavioral analysis, we have to do a five week study on someone’s bad habits and come up with way to change them.
My other class is Research where we will have to analyze research papers and conduct a survey. So be forewarned that you will be seeing class surveys that I have to write. So please help a struggling student and fill out the survey.

I Was Up At the Cottage This Past Weekend

And it was HOT and HUMID, the air just about hung there, but there was a really great way to cool off….

Wrong Number at 2:40am

I got woken up this morning by a wrong number and I tossed and turned all night trying to get back to sleep. Then a little after seven I was woken up again by the roar of a propane burner, the unmistakable sound of a hot air balloon.
This time I brought my spare battery.

Follow Up To “Air Force Woman Could Be Convicted in Her Own Rape”

I have done a little more research into the article on Feminist.org and have taken some excerpts from the articles that I found on the incident. The links are to the complete article that I took the excerpts from.

Sexually assaulted airman is the one facing charges

11:39 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 1, 2007

By Jeff McShan / 11 New

Sexual assaults in the military are on the rise said Christine Hansen, the Executive Director of the Miles Foundation, a non-profit group that helps rape victims.

“The prevalence of sexual assaults in the military is quite extensive at this point in time,” said Hansen. “In fact there has been an increase of assaults in the military in some cases increases of 25-to-40-percent from one year to another year.”

From Congress.org web-site and open letter to Representative Stark

To:
Rep. Fortney Stark

August 8, 2007

Dear Representative Stark,

I'm writing to ask for help in the case of Cassandra Hernandez, a member of the Air Force and recent rape victim. She was raped by three other Air Force airmen at a party earlier this year. She reported the assault and went to the hospital, but after continual badgering and harassment by her superiors and peers, she decided not to testify in court.

From the “Military Times” forum….

Factual inconsistencies and the accuser’s unwillingness to testify caused Pope Air Force Base to dismiss charges in her rape case, base officials said in a statement.

The officials would not say whether the inconsistencies alone would have led to a dismissal of charges against one of the three airmen whom the woman accused of raping her in a dorm room in May 2006.

“If the victim decides not to cooperate with the prosecution and declines to testify, prosecution is extremely difficult and generally not feasible,” the officials said in the statement, released Thursday.

From the Navy Times

Woman who alleged rape faces court-martial

By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Aug 14, 2007 5:47:23 EDT

There was beer. There were many shots of liquor. And there was sex.

But that’s about all the four young airmen from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., can agree on.

Airman 1st Class Cassandra Hernandez, 20, said she got drunk at a party the night of May 12, 2006, and she admits that her memories of the evening are fuzzy at best. Airman 1st Class Jerrel Apache, Airman Russell Basile and Airman Rotez Butler also admit they had been drinking for several hours.

But fuzzy memories alone can’t explain the discrepancies between what they say and what she says happened after the party, in the early-morning hours of May 13, 2006.

Hernandez told investigators that the men gang-raped her in a dorm room. The men say Hernandez consented to have sex with each of them, and that she instigated the sex.

So what is the true story I do not know but I do know that it is very wrong for the Air Force to court martial her. That sends a chilling message to any other woman in the military who has been raped.

Air Force Woman Could Be Convicted in Her Own Rape

I found this on Helen Boyd bog (en)Gender and felt it worth passing it along….

Feminist Daily News Wire
August 10, 2007

Air Force Woman Could Be Convicted in Her Own Rape

A woman airman in the US Air Force who was allegedly raped by three of her male counterparts is being charged with indecent acts, according to an AP report. If convicted, the woman could face a year in prison, a pay cut, a bad-conduct discharge, and would even be registered as a sex offender, the woman's defense lawyers told the AP.

You can read the rest of the story here.

what if this is as good as it gets?

what if this is as good as it gets?: Grown-up questions...

1. Do you have a college degree?
Yes

2. What was the amount of your last electric bill?
$114.55

3. Do you have life insurance?
No, I will be dead so why have insurance.

4. How many hours per week do you work?
-0-

5. Have you ever attended a Toastmasters event?
Nope

6. Favorite place to attend Happy Hour??
I don’t go to happy hours any more.

7. How many miles is your commute to work each day (one way)?
When I worked it was 4 miles

8. What time do you get up every morning for work?
Work? What is that? When I did work it was 5:45

9. What is your definition of sleeping in late?
Seven or eight

10. Do you check your cholesterol on a yearly basis?
Every six months

11. How large was your first cell phone bill?
Around $15

12. Does your employer provide good health insurance?
It is average to fair

13. Did you use the internet to write a research paper?
Yes

14. Have you attended a High School reunion?
Yes and this year is my fortieth reunion

15. How many jobs have you held in your professional career?
I have had three jobs since college, one lasting twenty-eight years

16. Have you ever been fired or laid off from a job?
Yes, in June I got laid off. I will be retiring once the severance runs out.

17. What is your favorite drink?
Water or tea

18. What is the most expensive bottle of wine that you have in your refrigerator?
Around twelve dollars

19. Have you been divorced?
No

20. How old were you when you stopped getting ID-ed for Alcohol?
I did get carded until I was about twenty-five and they just had lowered the drinking age to eighteen.
Well actually I got carded about a year ago, but I don’t think it had anything to do with age.

21. Favorite casino?
Mohegan Sun which is about 45 minutes away.

22. Are you happier now than you were in high school?
Yes

23. Did you ever have Hypercolor shirts?
If you mean a tie died shirt yes.

24. Do you remember when Michael Jackson was black and was attracted to older people?
Yes

25. Do you remember when MTV actually played music videos?
Yes, b ut I never watched it.

26. Have you had a will made?
Yes

27. What music was in your cd / cassette player when you were 16?
Do you mean in the eight track? The Beatles

28. Favorite fancy / upscale restaurant?
Tuscany’s

29. How long has it been since you attended a kegger?
Last year, my cousin and his family are “big” beer drinkers.

30. Where were you when you found out about 9-11?
I was at work on morning break.

Manic Monday

Manic Monday for August 20, 2007

What is the biggest transition you've had to make in your life?
I will not state the obvious because I wrote about it many times elsewhere here on my blog, but I am going through another transition; being retired. In some ways it is the harder of the two. At work you knew what you had to do and there is also the social aspect of work, meeting and interacting with people.
Now after over thirty years there is no one tell you what to do, no deadline and that takes a lot of getting use to.

If you had to be famous for something, what would you choose?
A civil rights leader, I would like to be known for bring about change and making people lives better.

What surprises you most about your life so far?
That I made it this far.
On a serious note, the love of my family in helping me get through life.

Discrimination is Still with Us

A friend who is going to college to get her degree Masters in Psychology is have a hard time with a progressive liberal arts college located in rural Vermont. Last spring she went to her first semester there and got all “A” and not only that but her term paper that she wrote was passed along to the APA Division 44 Task Force (The group on GLB diversity, there is no “T” and that was what her paper was about, adding the “T” to the GLB). She is now going back to the college but the college will not give her her class assignments even though she has paid her tuition.
You see she is not transgendered but she has MS and the college does not want her to come back to college. They are trying every thing they can think up to keep her out including asking her doctor to fill out a seven page questionnaire about her health which is a violation of ADA and HIPPA laws.
I first met her by email, she said that she was a student going to a local college for her bachelor and she was majoring in Psychology specializing in Gender Identity problems. She asked if she could help out at our Banquet and attend a meeting. While she was helping out at our Banquet at the table out in front of the banquet room checking off attendees a man came up to her and started cursing and asking why she help those faggots and perverts. He then swept his hand across the table knocking everything off. That was her initiation into our world.
Since then she has given a picnic and a Christmas party at her house for our support group. For this now to happen to her, it just sucks!

I am a Glutton for Punishment

As if I am not doing enough to keep me busy in retirement, I just signed up for a photography class at Manchester Community College.

Advanced Seminar in Photography:
Shooting People, Places and Things
This course is designed for photographers with intermediate to advanced skill level. While studying the master photographers in each of our subjects of people, places and things, students will shoot assignments that will include landscape, night photography, people, and still life. Class time will be a combination of photographic technique, discussion of well known photographers, and critique of student work. We will work in both color and black and white. Both digital and fi lm cameras are welcome.
CRN #31628 6 Mondays (on alternate weeks; does not meet 10/8), 10/1; 10/15; 10/29; 11/5; 11/19; 12/3; 7-9 p.m. MCC Bldg. AST D229 & 2 Saturdays, 10/13 & 11/10, will meet off-campus, sites and times to be discussed in class. Fee: $140
Instructor: Mallorie Ostrowitz holds an M.F.A. from Lehman College and a B.A. in fine arts from Queens College. Her photography has been widely exhibited throughout the U.S. and can be viewed on her web site: www.mallorieostrowitz.com.

This in addition to my classes at UConn for my Masters.

Patrick’s Weekender

Patrick’s Weekender: Saturday Six - Episode 174


1. What is the most unlucky thing that has happened to you all week?
I did not have any unlucky moments this week. Mainly because a do not believe in luck.

2. Do bad things happen more often to good people or bad people?
I think more bad things happen to bad people more often because they are more careless, they take shortcuts and they do not care about others.

3. How much do you believe that you can improve your outlook in life (from a “fate” perspective) by doing good deeds and correcting past wrongs?
I think that you can improve your outlook on life by helping others. I believe in the Golden Rule: “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do to You.”

4. Take the quiz: What will happen to you in the future?

The Quiz of Luck - What Will Happen In Your Future?

Seems like you are not in big trouble. Actually, this result is actually BETTER than average. You will have a perfect job. You will make a lot of money. The job that you will have is being a kind of doctor. You will not marry. Many (wo)men will like you or did like you in your college, but you don't think anybody is good enough for you. You will live in a two-story house when you are older. Two stories all for you is good enough for you! You will have many dinners in your house. The bad news is that you will be very lonely and sad - perhaps almost depressed when you are older. Yes, you will think that money is not everything in your life. Feel good young man. You will not bald /*_*\ Your hair will be the same as it is right now. You will feel that you are one of the prettiest/handsome (wo)man there is for your age /*_*\ You will be the over average (wo)man. In your future, nothing will hurt you. Only pain on the outside. When you are 87 years old, you will die of painful cancer. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

5. Do you believe in fate, coincidence, or both?
I believe in coincidence, whe tend to notice coincidences more. I do not believe our lives are pre-ordained, I do not believe in destiny.

6. Overall, when “bad things” happen, how often do you believe the victim generally “had it coming?”
I do not believe anyone “has it coming”. I do not wish any one “ill will.”

August 18, 1920

The Nineteenth Amendment, called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, is ratified by Tennessee on August 18. It becomes law on August 26.

Timeline of Women's Suffrage in the United States

A Little Bit of Heaven

Today I was in a little bit of heaven, I went up to Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton MA to see their Ansel Adams exhibit, need I say more?
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OK, OK, for those of you who are not photographers I will tell what is so special about Ansel Adams. You probably have seen some of his works even if you didn’t know it was by him, he has a style that is immediately recognizable. I first saw his work when my parents got me a 35mm camera for my high school graduation and they also got me a subscription to Life Library of Photography which is a series of about two dozen book that teach photography using examples from the great photographer. One of the examples that they used was Ansel Adams and as soon as I saw his work in fell in love with his works. He co-developed the Zone System for taking black and white photographs and was one of the founders of the f/64 Group. What is the f/64 Group? It is a school of photograph that set the aperture to the smallest possible opening (The opening of the camera lens) as a result the depth of field is almost infinite (Depth of Field is the range of what is in focus. Like when you take a close up of a rose and the background is all blurry, that is the result of the aperture opening.). A great example this technique is the third photograph of the Smith College web-site, Mount Williamson, notice the boulders in the very front are in perfect focus and so are the mountains way off in the distance this because of the small opening of the lens.
OK, lesson is over.

A Miss Use of Special Ed Classes

Yesterday while I was helping out at an organization that helps GLBT youth they got a phone call from a parent and the parent said that the school system where their daughter is enrolled was putting her into a Special Ed class. Not because she is disabled, not because she is a disturbance in class, not for any other reason except that she is transgenderd. She is a straight A student in Junior High School, takes part in after school activities and wants to come to school as a girl. The child has seen a psychologist and has been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder. The school system where they lived last year had no problem with her coming to school as a girl, but the new school system wants her to be in a Special Ed class.

Wrong! That is a violation of the state Anti-Discrimination statues. Other schools systems in the state have developed policies for transgender student that follow the CT Department of Education guidelines and this school system should also develop a policy for students with GID and not push them off into a class where they do not belong. Besides it is a lot more expense for the school system to have someone in a Special Ed than in regular classes and it is a miss use of tax payer’s monies.

Maine Trip Part 2

I just came back from dog sitting my brother’s dog in Kennebunk and this weekend while I was there I took a trip to see some of the lighthouses in the area. I went up to Portland to photograph Portland Light, the most photographed lighthouse in Maine. The lighthouse is located in Fort Williams Park. The fort was a complete surprise; I didn’t realize that the lighthouse was located around a fort that was built in 1899 and used up until 1962. The fort played a major role in the harbor defense during WW II and I found it interested because my father was stationed in such a fort during part of WW II at Fort Wright in New York’s Fisher Island.

Here are the three lighthouses that I visited this past weekend: Portland Head Lighthouse, Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse and Cape Porpoise Lighthouse.




This time when I visited Cape Porpoise I brought my camera and I took some pictures of the town pier; the dinghies, lobster traps and pots. But the photographs cannot capture the wind blowing in your hair, the smell of the salt air, the cry of the seagulls and the sound of the surf. You need to experience all the sights and sounds of a fishing village in order to really appreciate it.



Speaking of sounds…. When I was at Cape Elizabeth, I was out on the rocky shore taking pictures with a number of other tourists and a light drizzle started. I was standing next to this thing…

A fog horn when it went off. Boy was that LOUD!!! Painfully loud, can you imagine what it was like standing next to the fog horn when it is designed to be heard miles out at sea? OHOO… Ohoo.

To see all my photo of the trip click here.

Manic Monday

Manic Monday for August 13, 2007

What would you like to accomplish this month?
Not much, maybe to get a nice even tan. But on a serious side, I plan on helping out at a non-profit organization, also at CTAC for the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th and also with the Fashion Show September 14th.

How would people who knew you in high school describe you?
Probability weird. This year is my fortieths reunion, if I decide to go I would probability win the award of “Most Changed”.

What's your favorite meal of the day, and why?
Breakfast because I like to see what I can make with an egg, there are just so many ways to cook an egg. But no, now that I think about it I like lunch especially making a Dagwood sandwich. On the other hand I think I really like dinner, a good meal with a nice glass a wine that I can take my time enjoying.
Heck, I think I just like good food, no matter what meal it is.

Patrick’s Weekender

Patrick’s Weekender: Saturday Six - Episode 173


1. What is your favorite flavor of chicken wings? How many do you generally order at a time?
BBQ, second best is teriyaki and I usually have less than a dozen.

2. How often do you check out a restaurant’s nutrition information before going there to have dinner?
- 0 - That was an easy question to answer.


3. If you have ever done so, what was your biggest surprise in reading the calorie or fat counts?
I think it was the calories and fat of one of those value meals. You can have two days worth of calories and fat in one meal.

4. Take the quiz: What does your pizza say about you?

What Your Pizza Reveals

Your appetite is pretty average. You don't go overboard - but you don't deprive yourself either. You aren't particularly picky about pizza. It's so good... how could you be? You fit in best in the Western part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are generous, outgoing, and considerate with your choices. You are a flavorful and bold person. You should consider traveling to Spain. The stereotype that best fits you is guy or girl next door. Hey, there's nothing wrong with being average.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

5. What style of food do you think is generally served at what you’d consider the most romantic of restaurants?
American cuisine; I tend to think of a country inn as a romantic setting for dinning. Maybe an old converted mill along side a river down a country lane.

6. What type of food would you be likely to sample first: food that is hot and spicy or food that is more mellow but has a richer taste?
A food that is more mellow with a rich taste, hot and spicy, I think, tend to burn out your taste buds.

The Presidential Debate on the LOGO Channel

First let me say that I do not get the LOGO Channel but I have read the comments and looked at the video clips at the Human Rights Campaign web-site along with comments on trans blogs. I think it was great that the candidates sat down and talked about gay issues; I think that was a first. However; I have some issues with one of the organizers of the forum, the HRC.
We were (The Trans-community) told that there was going to be one question for each of the candidates that cover trans-issues. There was only one question asked about trans-issues and they were asked if the would fire an employee who transitioned on the job. Now that was a real thought provoking in-depth question (Sic), of course they answered no. They did ask good questions that affect the trans-community but they were phrased to cover just Gays and Lesbians. An example is that they asked about health care for same sex-couples but not about coverage for trans-individuals, there are very few companies that cover transsexuals most policies have explicit exclusion for transsexuals. Mine does have an explicit exclusion for transsexuals and that is forcing me to buy my hormones overseas due the extremely high prices for hormones if you try to buy them at a pharmacy without insurance.
Some of the important question affecting the trans-community that they could have asked are:
The Real ID Act – It will require the gender to match what is one your birth certificate. As a result when you try and get a job your name will be female but your driver’s license will say male. How many jobs do you think you would get if you looked like a woman but had a “M” on the driver’s license? Since the standard of medical care requires you to live for at least one full year in your true gender you will be virtually unemployable.
Social Security – The same issue. If you fill out your employment application as female the Social Security Administration will actually send a letter to your employer telling them of the discrepancy; in other words outing you to your employer.
Passports – Ditto
Birth Certificate – Some states do not allow them to be changed at all, some states draw a line through the old gender and write in the new gender and some like Connecticut will issue a new birth certificate and seal the old one.
I would have liked to hear their thoughts on these questions, but realistically I do not think any of the candidates would have a clue what these questions are about. I think ore than the one question should have been asked; it was a joke to call the forum a GLBT forum. Once again the “T” at the end was a “_t".

A Night Out on the Town

I got bored yesterday so I called some friends down in the New London area to go out and have a night on the town. We went to the Bulkeley House for dinner, we have been there before and the food was very good. I had Stuffed Sole with crabmeat stuffing and it was very good. The restaurant is an old 18th century tavern but it does not have any air conditioning so we sat out on the outdoor deck with a view of the New London harbor, but I was very humid sitting out on the deck.
Afterward we went to the Brass Rail Café for a drink, they have a nice deck overlooking the harbor and I was watching the ferries coming in and leaving the harbor for, Block Island, Long Island and Fisher Island. The Bock Island ferry is a high speed catamaran and the other boats are all car ferries. While we were there we meet a woman and her friend, one was a art teacher and her friend teaches music. It turned out of the women was originally for town and we knew several people in common.
Today I have to drive up to Maine again to dog sit my brother’s dog. Hopefully the weather will be good so that I can get out and take some photos.

A Trip to the New Britain Museum of American Art

It only took over thirty years to finally get to the museum. Way back in college in my Art Appreciation class we cover the Hudson River School of art and I fell in love with its beauty and the detail that went into each painting. The professor mentioned that one of the best collections the Hudson River School was at the New Britain Museum of American Art which is about five miles away. After all this time I finally went there yesterday and it was well worth the trip. I went with a friend who got passes from his local library and we wandered around there for about three hours. I spent most of my time in the Hudson River School gallery, the vibrant colors, the lighting and the attending to detail. Some of the paintings that I liked are: Bierstadt’s Seal Rock, Church’s West Rock, New Haven CT, Cole’s The Clove, Catskills and Fisher’s Stage Coach.
Another artist that the professor talked about was Thomas Hart Benton, his style is so unique that if you see one of his paintings you would know it was his and the museum had a gallery just for his murals.
To see a tour of some of their collections, click on the link to collections and then Highlights and then click on the image.

Create A Connection

Getting to Know You: Soul searching: Horizons & boundaries

1) Do you think you really know yourself pretty well?
I think I know myself as well as a person can know herself.

1a) Tell us more.
Well I think that we can fool ourselves. I think we can talk ourselves into believing that what we are doing is what we really want to do. And there in lies the dilemma, how do we really know ourselves?

2) Do you think you are a tolerant person?
Yes.

2a) How far?
I believe a person should have a wide range of freedoms as long a it does not affect another persons safety or rights.

3) What about your strong opinions?
I try not to force my opinions on others, I try not to voice my opinion when there is a danger of tempers going too far.

3a) Is it easy to talk about them or can it hurt others opinion?
I am willing to discuss my opinions when I see that I can maybe change their opinions, but I will not argue.

3b) Can it create distance between you and your family?
It has a very strong possibility, but it can also bring family members closer together. I got into a heated discussion with my brother over the Boy Scouts, I respect their right as a private organization to discriminate, but I feel that they are bigots. I feel that way because they discriminate against gays, atheists and agnostics.
My brother argued that that was out weighted by the good that they do and I said that that does not justify bigotry.
He said, “Well they know not to try and join.” and I replied, “Unless you dreamed all your life of being a scout and you are turned away because of who you are.”
My brother that said something like, “Big deal” and I replied “Unless you are the one being turned away… do you know what it is like to be discriminated against? Well I do!” ( by this time I was in tears.)
He stopped talking looked at me and walked away.
He later came to me and apologized and said I was making him examine his beliefs, and then he hugged me.

3c) You and your friends?
I weight my friendships on their beliefs; I will not make friends or stay friends with people whose beliefs are at odds with mine.

4)What is judgmental?
Forming an opinion about a person before you get to know them.

4a) Do you judge yourself, do you give limits to yourself, as you are like this so you can not do that?
Of course, doesn’t everyone judge themselves? I will not judge others. How does that saying go, something about wearing their shoes.

4b) Do you have this feeling that people who sort of know you sometimes can limit you, because you feel you are what they see and know of you and you can't be more wondering/worrying if they will still love you the same and accept you if you think or act this way?
See my answer to 3c.

5) How do you push your limits and open your self to new horizons?
By doing things that for some reason you do not like. For me it’s calling on the phone, I much rather see them in person or email them.

5a) What did you learn or discovery lately about yourself that surprised you?
I think I surprise myself every day. I think learning that I like doing “Outreach” (Speaking to college classes or groups about transgender issues.).

6) Have you ever done something that was very unusual for you?
I never thought I would be sitting up on stage in front of over two hundred people.

6a) Do you sometimes research and try new things to get closer to your real self, to grow, to go on building your personality, to always develop it and evolve?
Going back to college for my Master degree.

7) What are the limits you won't ever cross? I mean in changing, evolving, saying who you are, being your true self?
Changing one’s gender in order to be your true self is pretty hard to beat.

7a) What are the limits you keep, to have a full balance being you, sharing your truths and being accepted?
I will not be pressured into going farther in my transition than I am comfortable in going.

Manic Monday

Manic Monday: Monday, August 06, 2007

What is one thing you would really regret not doing at some point in your life?
Well I think those who visit my blog regularly know my regret, not transitioning sooner.

If you had to, how would you describe yourself in a personal ad?
Oh, that is a hard question to answer… I guess: Looking for a woman to share good times and bad. Like museums, plays, good food and walks on country lanes. Likes the music of the sixties and seventies. But most of all a non-smoker.

What is one thing that you "know for sure"?
That I have to loose forty pounds!

Maine Trip Part 1

I was planning on going up to my cousins this week but we had a death in the family and I had to abort my vacation. However I did make it as far as my brother’s and sister-in-law’s condo in Kennebunk ME. While there we took a walk on one of the beaches and I took these pictures along the beach.

This last photo of the drift wood looks like gargoyles gone wild as they climb up the trunk.

On Sunday we went out to dinner at Cape Pier Chowder House in Cape Porpoise , judging by their web-site the restaurant sounds like a nice place. But their menu is mostly fried seafood (My brother and sister-in-law have been there before so we knew what type of food that they severed.) and their outside dining area are picnic tables with umbrellas. But their seafood is fresh! They were offloading the boats while we were there.
I didn’t know that that was the place where I took the photos of the Cape Porpoise Lighthouse last year; otherwise I would have brought my camera. Yesterday it was high tide when we went and the harbor was much more picturesque than at low tide. Oh well, I will be up there again this weekend to dog sit.

Vacation

I was up at the cottage for the last three days and tomorrow it’s off for nine days in Maine. The first couple of days I will be up at my cousin’s cottage in the Blue Hill area of Maine; see me blog entry from last fall when I was there. Then I will be down in Kennebunk dog sitting my brother’s dog Mattie while they are in Nantucket, they bribed me with the beach pass.
So I will be away from the internet for about five days; hopefully my withdraw symptoms will not be too severe.