Even WIRED magazine was outraged at this bill, reporting:

Senate Wants the Military to Lock You Up Without Trial

…the detention mandate to use indefinite military detention in terrorism cases isn’t limited to foreigners. It’s confusing, because two different sections of the bill seem to contradict each other, but in the judgment of the University of Texas’ Robert Chesney — a nonpartisan authority on military detention — “U.S. citizens are included in the grant of detention authority.”

found on Bordom.net

Let’s start with the fact that he doesn’t screen his tenants. There hasn’t been a single tenant in this building who wasn’t some kind of asshole. You’d probably respond to that with, “Everyone’s got a little asshole in them.” and you’d be right. Hell, I’ve got a lot of asshole in me. I ain’t too proud to admit that. But the people who have lived here really take the cake.

Don’t believe me?

Assholes #1: These two were relatively quiet when they lived in the downstairs rear apartment, aside from the occasional kerfuffle and rare car wash days (when he cranked his POS stereo), but we’ve all got those days. Imagine our surprise when they moved into the apartment beneath ours and almost rattled the pictures off our walls by body-slamming each other around the house every three days like clockwork. Then we discovered he was a crack dealer and she was a conniving cunt who blamed all her bullshit drama on everyone else. They moved out on their own after an argument with the landlord over how our parking lot was plowed.

Asshole #2: This lady really wasn’t so bad. The only really annoying things about her were that she is a complete feminazi, a little racist and didn’t take care of her cat in what I would consider the best way an animal should be cared for. But those things can be mostly overlooked. She moved on her own when she realized the landlord was never going to do anything about the cookouts A#3 were throwing in our parking lot. Which were never anything more than a normal cookout: a bunch of people hanging out, playing cards, tossing back a few beers and talking.

Assholes #3: This couple was nice most of the time. But Jesus, would they turn on you on a dime. They got money off the rent for taking care of the grounds, but they’d complain because no one else took the garbage out to the road. And every Saturday and Sunday morning the radio would start blaring at 8am. Around noon it would go off. They moved on their own because he had to have hip surgery and couldn’t do stairs for a while. For about five minutes, this place was quiet.

Assholes #4: The Crackhead and her crew. There were drug dealers and johns (who were often the same people) running in and out of our shared hallway which was our only exit. And if it weren’t for the guy who walked around our building with a sledgehammer screaming about smashing all the windows in the place, or the one who was constantly leering at me and making disgusting comments as if I were one of The Crackhead’s other crackwhore friends, or her creepy stalker who almost got into a knife fight with A#3, I probably wouldn’t have cared. Eventually they’ll kill themselves and the world will go on a better place without them. But it became painfully obvious that having them here put us in danger when they started having knife fights in the hallway. Course, the landlord only evicted them because she was late on the rent.

Asshole #5: An older gentleman, probably in his forties or fifties, moved in with a sob story about hard times in his marriage and his wife living in Syracuse. It wasn’t long before it became obvious that the reality was he was a crackhead, fresh from some program, trying to show his wife he could stay sober. Then he met The Crackhead. He moved out on his own when he realized how far down he’d fallen. The last time I saw him, he’d been gone a month. He was back here trying to score some crack.

Assholes #6: A girl in her late teens, early twenties moved into the apartment we live in now with her boyfriend. She was pregnant, overdue and had an inducement scheduled for a couple weeks after she moved in. Two days before she went in to have the baby, she was in The Crackhead’s apartment. Naturally, when she took the mandatory drug test the state gives every mother about to give birth, she failed and lost the baby. Once the baby was gone, the party started. Then the boyfriend left, and the party went somewhere else. While a 200lb pitbull was locked in the kitchen. Sometimes for weeks at a time. Guess who cleaned up that mess? Once again, the landlord only kicked them out because they didn’t pay the rent.

Assholes #7: These folks were a couple young guys. I’m not really sure if they were lovers or friends. There’s a girl living there now with the one who’s been evicted but has yet to move out. The front window’s broken because they got into a fight and he put her head through the window. The landlord hasn’t fixed it. It’s been at least two weeks. The sheriff has yet to come to follow through on the eviction. It’s been at least a month since the landlord started the process. So he’s not getting paid, and he’s not really making any effort to get rid of the guy, either.

Assholes #8: A girl and a guy. I think. As far as I know the rest of the people who’ve been there are just visitors. But, dude, seriously? Who the fuck goes to someone’s house and helps them fuck with someone they’ve never even seen, so much as met, and can’t possibly have an issue with them?

The first time they were too loud we thought, “No big deal. It happens.” But then they got increasingly worse. Apparently, not calling them on their bullshit was an invitation to be assholes. So finally, after spending a night listening to their insane antics that swing sharply from one extreme to the next, we called the landlord and complained. Two weeks later, they got (what we thought was) out of control, only this time, they paced the house screaming “I don’t give a fuck who has a problem with my music this loud. I’m gonna listen to it how I want.” for an hour or so. Later, they were yelling about how they were going to blow the building up and kill everyone in it.

The landlord’s response? “Call the police. They’ll do something.”

Well, we called. The first night we called less than ten minutes after we made the call, they turned the music off. The second night we called, the same thing happened.

Last night, they didn’t turn their music on. Not once. Instead, they literally bounced off the walls and the floor all night long. So hard that the ceiling showered us with plaster powder and our pictures (including the sand painting M brought home from Africa when he was thirteen) rattled so hard I thought a frame cracked. Around 4:30 this morning, his company left and we thought we’d finally be able to go to sleep. But our bedroom door makes noise when you open and close it. And every time he heard the door open, he’d jump from one end of the apartment to the other for twenty minutes. He finally stopped around 6am.

There is no doubt in my mind that he is intentionally torturing us.

This morning, after hearing him talking to more company (that was here pounding on the back door so loud it was rattling our windows at around 10am) and telling them he’d intentionally kept us up all night, M called the police. Who said there is nothing they can (or will) do. They won’t even give the guy a ticket for violating the noise ordinance. They called it a “quality of life” issue and said it’s far too low a priority to send an officer to address the situation. “But file a report, and get it on file. That way if something happens we know who to look at.”

Gee. Thanks. So if the guy kills us, you’ll have a suspect, and our deaths might be avenged. That’s a huge load off my mind. I’m so glad we called you.

On Tuesday, I’m calling every housing authority I can find a number for. Tenants Rights, NYS Housing Authority, Code Enforcement … whoever I can find. If the police won’t do anything, and the landlord won’t kick him out, maybe we have some civil recourse against the landlord. We could own this building! But you best believe we’ll be selling it if the judgment does come out in our favor.

But I really wish there was something that could be done about the police’s picking and choosing of which laws to enforce. I mean, I get it. With an average of one teenager being shot a week, someone being loud really isn’t that big of a deal. But the problem is that at this point it’s not just someone being loud. In any other situation this would be considered an attack. The more we complain, the worse they get, and the more threats we hear them screaming over the music.

It’s an attack on our sanity, if not our physical well-being. Though many more sleepless nights and it’ll be an attack on our physical well-being as well.

And this is how violence in the ghetto starts. Person A harasses Person B for some perceived offense that may or may not be real. Person B tries to get law enforcement to do something about Person A but law enforcement refuses. Then finally, at his wits’ end, Person B loses control and does something to Person A. And the cops blame it on the neighborhood, or the drugs, or poverty when the reality is they refuse to step in until the situation has erupted into violence, and someone’s hurt or dead.

Last night, the New York State Senate approved Governor Andrew Cuomo’s bill, and Cuomo signed it into law just before midnight. Provided nothing gets in the way, LGBT couples will be able to get hitched starting in late July, making us the sixth state to legalize marriage equality.

Want your state to get on board too? Wear a White Knot in support of marriage equality and tell people why you’re wearing it when they ask. Explain why you believe in marriage equality if you have the time and they’re willing to listen. Tell them why it matters to us even if it doesn’t matter to them.

To quote President Obama, “I couldn’t be prouder.”

This morning, via live streaming on MSNBC, I watched our president sign the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal into law, making it legal for LGBT men and women to be open about their sexuality, and serve their country if they so choose. You can read my coverage of this momentous event, as well as a video if you missed it (Or just want to watch it again. I did. Twice.) over on SexIs Magazine’s Sex Feed. But I wanted to talk about how I feel about this a little bit here.

First, can I just say that if M and I could afford it, I’d have talked Him into taking me to stand outside and cheer as it happened. I’m so excited for all the men and women who want to reenlist, and all the men and women who wanted to enlist and couldn’t. I have no delusions about this being the end of the road. There’s still work to be done, and it will be hard. But this is absolutely a step in the right direction.

M and I have been talking about DADT a lot since all the craziness with the Senate started. And because M likes to play devil’s advocate, He always brings up a lot of good points that I’ve heard made elsewhere. Points that make you think.

For example, He keeps asking what about the people with a moral objection to homosexuality? Or those that feel showering with a homosexual of the same sex is the same thing as showering with a heterosexual of the opposite sex? Are we, by repealing DADT, saying we don’t give a fuck about them?

Marine Corps General James F. Amos brought up the issue of distraction, and I almost fell over when I read His quotes. I mean, Marines are just… Well! They’re Marines! All “Ooh-ra!” The Few. The Proud. And they’re the best! And even the Navy Seals aren’t as badass as them! And nothing can distract them from the enemy! And if one of them gets hurt or killed it was absolutely a freak accident, because Marines don’t. make. mistakes. And…

But wait… So these few and proud, who are the best, and don’t make mistakes, are going to… suddenly lose sight of all their training, and start fucking up, because they’re too worried about Johnny from back home who just came out? And what’re they worried about? That instead of being worried about the guns aimed at his head, and the bombs going off, Johnny’s gonna, also, lose sight of all of his training in the middle of the battlefield and start trying to play grab ass with all those hot, sweaty, in some cases bloody, gun toting meatheads? Cause along with his training, his sanity went, too? And he doesn’t know that sexual harassment isn’t just between a woman and a man? He probably knows better than most.

To that I say fuck ‘em. Fuck those gun toting meatheads who are obviously unprofessional, and have piss-poor training, and who will make mistakes on the battlefield because they’re more concerned with another soldier’s sexuality than they are with the people on the other side of the line who are more concerned with killing them than even their own sexuality, much less the sexuality of the guy helping them kill our Marines.

So much for brotherhood. So much for honor. So much for the code.

A friend of mine mentioned on Twitter, not too long ago, that soldiers are threatening to immediately leave, or, at the very least, if the mass exodus isn’t allowed, leave when their tour is up. And once again, I say fuck ‘em. Besides the assholes, how many people do you know who will question or make fun of someone at work for their… anything, much less sexuality? How many people do you know that will intentionally start a conversation about their sex life at work unless they’re really tight with their coworkers?

I don’t count.

Most companies, and most branches of the military frown on relationships built within platoons, departments, whatever. Accidents happen, and usually the couple transfers apart. But if there’s anywhere our troops shouldn’t be trying to forge relationships, regardless their sexual persuasion, it’s in the middle of a war zone.

The whole bathing thing? Ya know, I don’t know. I don’t even know what the bathing situation has been up to this point. And I’m always a little uncomfortable taking a shower with M, and He’s my husband. I’ve never taken a shower in an open locker room. I don’t know that even if I was a size 00 I’d be comfortable taking a shower in an open locker room. Hell, I prefer sex with the lights out. I’ll do whatever freaky shit you wanna do, just turn the fucking lights off.

There have been more than 12,500 men and women discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the past seventeen years. All of them will be able to reenlist, and many have already resolved to do so. Not to mention countless others who never enlisted because they preferred being open about who they were to hiding behind a uniform. Maybe we won’t replace the people who can’t, for whatever reason, at least accept that what goes on behind someone else’s closed doors is none of their business right away. But we will eventually. It won’t be the great loss so many of these macho officers and ex-POWs would have us believe.

I… really don’t care about their opinions. They’ve sure as fuck not given a damn about our feelings through all of this. And I know that’s a shit attitude, but it is what it is. Perhaps a better person than me can figure out a suitable option.

What I do know is that even if I weren’t openly bisexual, and I was able to choose, I’d choose the professional, openly gay soldier to defend my country over the one who would allow something like a person’s personal choices to get in the way of their focus. Because from where I sit, the latter won’t just get his (or her) coworkers killed. But once the enemy gets beyond them, they’re coming for me and my freedom. And that, my dear reader, is a problem.

I think our men and women taking up arms in our defense are better than that. I think they know they are, too.

When I saw the headline, I wanted to laugh hysterically at what I imagined would be some very embarrassed TSA workers stumbling all over themselves when confronted by a woman in lingerie making a huge deal out of transparency. And for a split second, when the TSA worker asked FurryGirl to put her coat back on, I was.

Then M said, “Is that a baby crying? What’s she doing? Trying to cause a confrontation?”

I started to think about it. And ya know… I’m really not sure this “Humiliate the TSA!” approach is the right one.

Yeah… I get it. They’re humiliating Joe Citizen, yada, yada. And revenge is sweet, and let’s see how they like it, and all that jazz. But two wrongs don’t make a right. And it’s not all TSA workers. These are just the ones we’re hearing about.

A few years ago, when M and I flew the friendly skies, things went swimmingly. The only mishap occurred when we weren’t there. Our suitcase went through the metal detector, with my steel collar inside, and they searched it to make sure it wasn’t something dangerous. I don’t blame them, and I don’t mind. I don’t travel with anything more dangerous than a flogger, or paddle, and my gut reaction, had I seen a distinct metal circle inside a suitcase going onto a plane, and no real knowledge of what it was, would have been “What the fuck?” And honestly? I think I’d search the suitcase whether I had the right to or not. Err on the side of caution. Especially considering not only was my luggage marked for a flight, but it was marked for Disney World, as well. The sheer numbers that would be at risk on any given day is obscene.

Granted, this was before they increased security again, but TSA was friendly enough, and there wasn’t a single altercation in the two hours we were in line. Things moved quickly and efficiently, and no one touched anyone beyond the occasional accidental bumping in line, or graze with the wand. I seem to remember a visible dog presence, but I could be mixing memories. What I remember distinctly is that they’re people, too. And while the vast majority of the stories you hear about TSA are bad, the fact of the matter is, they’re just a handful of agents out of how many U.S. airports? 600ish? And how many agents would you say each employs?

M said, “The people doing the searches, you can be sure, are not the policy makers. They’re just doing what they’re told.”

I made the same arguments people made in the EF debacle with the links, only with righteous anger over an injustice much greater than not getting a rating increase on the internet. “But this is so wrong! It violates our fourth amendment rights! It goes against everything so many have fought for! I would quit! No way would I be party to that!”

And all M had to do was remind me of CamNet. Schenectady’s security blanket. A network of cameras installed in known dangerous/heavy traffic areas with the hope of decreasing the steadily growing crime rate, increasing the conviction rate, and making the white collar workers, college kids, and avid theatergoers feel safe when they’re in town. If you know anything about us, it’s that we’re always broke. So when M’s boss announced that their company would be helping install CamNet, M voiced His discomfort, but even though I had a job at the time, there was no way He could quit.

Back then, the job market was much better than it is now. These days? Employment rates are in the toilet, and prices are on the rise. Families with two or more occupations are struggling, much less those with only one. And I imagine that, just like everywhere else, there are a lot of single mothers and fathers working for TSA. And they’re all just doing what they’re told to keep their jobs regardless of how they feel about it.

I’m all for promoting a sex-positive culture, and while I wouldn’t be offended by a woman going through the security checkpoint in see-through lingerie, I’m sure some people would. Especially those with children in tow.

I dunno what’s going on with these TSA workers. I, too, am sitting here wondering why we’re talking about “sensitivity training” to teach human beings how to treat other human beings. I haven’t the first clue about how they’re trained, or what they’re told to say and do. I’m willing to bet at least a couple of the ones acting out of turn are just off their rockers, and need to feel the boot on the cusps of their collective asses. And maybe one to the throat to remind them they don’t have all the power as they seem to think they do. I know a few doms who, given a second or two, could straighten them out without so much as breaking a sweat. I bet a couple would volunteer their services, too, in the name of justice.

Expose the bad seeds. Protest the unfair treatment. Step in and/or file a complaint when you see or are involved in something that shouldn’t happen. Tell everyone you can about the man they soaked in his own urine, and the sixteen year old girl with the prosthetic leg, and the seventy year old man with the artificial knee. Tell them about the fact that at least one of the bomb attempts (the underwear bomber) made it through because the man wasn’t ever screened, not because the equipment failed. Give people the information they need to understand that these invasive measures are unnecessary. And then hope for the best. That’s all you can do.

I know it’s frustrating, but don’t try to provoke a confrontation. Don’t make up fake stories about TSA walking off with your baby. (No, I’m not joking.) Don’t lodge frivolous complaints about snippy attitudes. At least half of us are on the attack right now, and TSA is our prey. It’s only natural for them to feel a little defensive. And the frivolous complaints will only detract attention from the serious cases.

Our side can’t win if we don’t approach this the right way. If it becomes about what we’ll do to get our point across, our point will be lost in the sensationalism. I mean, why should the government and TSA care about humiliating us if we’re humiliating ourselves in the checkpoint line? And I get that she wasn’t humiliated, and shouldn’t be, and blah. But I’m betting some people were. And I know quite a few who would have been had they been there.

Anyway… that’s my opinion.

Description from video page:

Lets get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn’t set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn’t complete the full pat on the young boy. The father tried several times to just hold the boys arms out for the TSA agent but i guess it didn’t end up being enough for the guy. I was about 30 ft away so i couldn’t hear their conversation if there was any. The enraged father pulled his son shirt off and gave it to the TSA agent to search, thats when this video begins.

******* THIS VIDEO OCCURRED AT SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON NOVEMBER 19TH AT AROUND THE TIME OF 12:00 PM **********

***Insertion of what happened after the video (full story)****

After I finished videotaping the incident I went through the check point myself. I collected my things and went over to talk to the father and son. Before I could get to them a man in a black suit who had been talking with the other TSA officials approached me. He asked to speak to me and I obliged, wondering what was to come. He then proceeded to interrogate me about why I was videotaping the “procedures of the TSA”. I told him that I had never seen such practices before on a young child and decided to record it. The man being frustrated at this point demanded to know my plans with the video, of which I didn’t respond. Repeatedly he asked me to delete the video, hoping his mere presence could intimidate me to obey, but I refused. By this point it became obvious that he felt TSA had done something wrong and that I caught it on tape. After the interview, I left for my gate. I called my brother who told me I should put the tape on YouTube because this had been a recent hot topic in the news.

My gate was a long way off, but about 15 minutes after arriving 2 TSA agents came and sat 15 feet or so away from me. I stood up and moved so that they were in front of me and then took a picture. A 3rd and then a 4th agent came and sat down with the others. They would occasionally glance at me and talk on their walkie-talkies. I don’t know why they were there or if it was a huge coincidence but they stayed for 30-45 minutes and left just before I boarded the plan. Interesting to say the least, intimidating? Maybe a little…

The goal of National Opt-Out Day is to send a message to our lawmakers that we demand change. We have a right to privacy and buying a plane ticket should not mean that we’re guilty until proven innocent. This day is needed because many people do not understand what they consent to when choosing to fly.

Who?

You, your family and friends traveling by air on Wednesday, November 24, 2010. Remember too, as the TSA says, “Everyday is opt-out day.” That is, you can opt out any time you fly.

What?

National Opt-Out Day. You have the right to opt-out of the naked body scanner machines (AIT, or Advance Imaging Technology, as the government calls it). All you have to do is say “I opt out” when they tell you to go through one of the machines. You will then be given an “enhanced” pat down. This is a right given to you by the TSA.

Where?

At an airport near you!

When?

Wednesday, November 24, 2010. We want families to sit around the dinner table, eating turkey, talking about their experience – what constitutes an unreasonable search, how forceful of a pat down will we allow on certain areas of our body, and that of our children, and how much privacy are we will to give up for flying? We hope the experience then propels people to write their Member of Congress and the airlines to demand change.

Why?

The government should not have the ability to virtually strip search anyone it wants without cause. The problem has been compounded in that if you do not want to go through the body scanner, the TSA has made the alternative perhaps even worse by instituting “enhanced” pat downs. There are reports from travelers across the country about how the TSA now touches the genitals and private areas of men, women and children in a much more aggressive manner. We do not believe the government has a right to see you naked or aggressively touch you just because you bought an airline ticket.

How?

By saying “I opt out” when told to go through the bodying imaging machines and submitting to a pat down. Also, be sure to have your pat down by TSA in full public – do not go to the back room when asked. Every citizen must see for themselves how the TSA treats law-abiding citizens.

If you have experienced a problem with TSA when flying, use the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s incident report to lodge your complaint: http://epic.org/bodyscanner/incident_report/

Testimonials from travelers here: http://www.thousandsstandingaround.org/

Follow National Opt-Out Day on twitter: @NationalOptOut

Contact National Opt-Out Day at admin (at) optoutday.com

CNN’s Coverage:

• Video: Man to security, Don’t “touch my junk”.
• Video: Are TSA pat downs an invasion of privacy?
• Has airport security gone too far?
• TSA: Despite objections, all passengers must be screened.
• TSA fights opt-out campaign, looks at new security “options”.

There was a post this morning where someone asked what each person has done to “awaken” those around them, to tell the public “the truth”. I responded saying that all I’m personally concerned about is my wife, and close friends. The world, itself, can crash and burn for all I care.

Other than that, running around spouting conspiracy theories isn’t going to get you any positive attention. I still find conspiracy theories fascinating, but I personally believe the majority is complete rubbish.

I try to approach each topic as a skeptic. That’s not because I’m hoping to disprove everything, but because I’m hoping to run into something that actually stands up to logical thought. Something where the proper questions are asked, and the possibility still exists even after the answers are found.

For example, do I believe in aliens? Ya, I’d have to say that I do believe in the possibility. To me, based on the scientific reading that I’ve done, it seems to me that it would be stranger if we are the only life out there. I think the truly amazing thing would be to find that we are the only life in the universe. For me, that would be much harder to swallow. I think this is a logical stance to have based on the information we have right now. Using that to suggest that reptile aliens are controlling our government? Ya, that’s pretty nutty in my mind, and it wouldn’t stand up to even the most basic logical questions, so I reject the idea as ridiculous.

A large problem I have with making people see “the truth” is that truth is somewhat subjective. People want to believe there’s mystery in life so bad that they will see conspiracy in the oddest places. I won’t fault people for wanting the mystery. In fact I think that’s one of the largest problems with the world right now; the lack of mystery. As science makes increasingly far-reaching discoveries, it chips away at some of the mystery that’s surrounded our lives as human beings. I worry what will happen when there’s no mystery left. Honestly, I think we might end up worse off than we are now.

The real way to change the world is to start local. By local I mean yourself, your family and friends. If you choose to “enlighten” someone, make sure you’ve asked those skeptical questions (after all, whoever you tell will ask them and put you on the spot, so better to have already thought about it and be able to respond). If a “truth” can’t hold up to the most basic questions, what you’re believing is probably false, or at least has to be rethought.

Also remember that you are still “sheep” if you blindly believe something regardless of where you learn it. Going along with popular conspiracy theories simply because many other people believe it, when you’ve done no research and asked no questions yourself, is still being a “sheep”.