Saturday, May 08, 2010

Even these guys think this Iowa legislator is an idiot

Iowa state Sen. Merlin Bartz wants to make sure that state agencies don't extend right or privileges to gay couples, even though his state legalized same sex marriage last year. One the things Bartz wants to stop is the plan to allow gay couples to use the family campground portion of state parks.
The rates or fees for camp sites are the same, whether you’re a family or a non-family, but the state allows families to put up more than one tent on a camp site. “They’re changing their language even though the state legislature has not had a debate on this particular issue,” Bartz says. Bartz is a member of the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee which meets on Monday. He’s asked D.N.R. officials to explain their proposal at that meeting. Bartz says he wants to be “vigilant” and keep state agencies from writing rules that extend new benefits to gay couples. “A lot of the advocates of gay marriage in Iowa have said, ‘It doesn’t affect anything. Nothing has changed,’” Bartz says. “The reality of it is that everything is changing.” Bartz concedes the D.N.R. might be sued if they fail to ensure “family” policies for camping apply to gay couples, although Bartz says the state may be sued by gay marriage opponents if the rule is changed.
See how far the "Right" will go to deny Gay and Lesbian families the dignities that any family in Iowa has simply because they don't conform to his idea of what a family is. What an a$$hole!!

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Jenny Craig Diet Results, Week 5

One of my all-time favorite movies is a film by the late Anne Bancroft called Fatso. It is the story of a balding middle-aged fat man played by Dom DeLuise who comes to terms with his weight issues following several misadventures. It is a charming look at our diet and weight obsessed culture and it is laced with the family dynamics of growing up in an Italian-American family. If you have the opportunity to see it you really should. See the trailer below...

Now to Jenny Craig...

This weeks was kind of a wash as far as the diet was concerned. I really didn't eat according to the schedule, I went out to dinner and ate (of all things) boneless buffalo wings (these are loaded with fat, honey or sugar, and don't forget the Ranch Dressing) and skipped a couple of meals as well. It has also been a stressful week as I have left the job I was working at (for only six weeks) due to several issues which I will leave to your imagination. At any rate I was able to pull off a 1 pound weight loss this week anyway. That's 26 pounds in 5 weeks. Not quite as good as the last few weeks but as they say at Jenny... Any day on the program is a good day.

Ah well... better luck (and hydrochlorothiazide) next time!