“Foreign suspects held in Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention”

Finally.

Brushing aside the government’s arguments that the detainees were enemy combatants being held at a time of war outside the US, the court said they had “the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus”.

Justice Anthony Kennedy said: “The laws and constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law.”

Is he out of office yet?

Pork Tenderloin, Wine, and Admissions

“Being told you have cancer is horrible news. Being homosexual isn’t.” He never ceases to surprise me. And if poor health isn’t an issue, they would both come to a ceremony/celebration.

Circular Whys and Linear Hows

I remember one of my professors saying that he does not ask his clients why but how. Why can be a useless question — in so many cases, quite unanswerable. I don’t entirely agree with the practice of leaving why outside of the therapy room, but I do know how unhelpful that word can be.

For example, why can’t I just be normal? is not a particularly beneficial question. More effective is: I am not normal. How do I feel about that? In light of that, what do I want to do about it (or who do I want to be?), and how will I accomplish that and move on from here?

But really, why? I don’t like being the eternal outlier. Anyone who tells you that they absolutely love being two or more standard deviations away from the mean is a complete liar. It is lonely. One standard deviation is a long distance… but two or more? That’s statistically significant; that’s far enough away for that distance to have meaning. For creatures that seem to be inherently social, that distance can hurt. Outliers and statistically significant differences don’t belong. It seems that researchers only study the mean in order to better understand that which is different. The question then becomes, why are these results different? The hypothesis is always null (well, not exactly…but we feign objectivity because that’s the scientific method). So why don’t you operate according to our predictions? I don’t want to be thrown out because I don’t belong; I don’t want to be exemplified for my difference(s).

I wonder sometimes that I don’t create a God to blame in order to avoid the existential question of my existence and what the fuck I’m going to do with it. But some days I don’t want to be responsible. Some days I don’t want to wrestle with tough questions. Some days I just want to be average. Some days I just want to belong.

***

Really, I just wish my mother didn’t want to change me. We should not have to expect the worst. If I never had my dad, does that mean I’m not in danger of losing him?

Ms Dimmesdale & Ms Amada

That was the first time that I’ve ever seen an envelope addressed to both of us as a couple. Something inside of me lit up. It still makes me smile inside. Thank you, my friend. It means more than you will know.

Domestic Partnership and Credit Unions

So a few weeks ago, I brought up the idea that with the housing downturn, we might be able to purchase a house for the current price of rent. The best mortgage lending option we found is from a certain credit union to which only two members of our household belong. Only my girlfriend qualifies for the best lending option. She makes a decent wage, but in order to have a moderate level of buying power, we need to add some more gross income. It appears that Sawks, the only other eligible individual, may not be able to co-sign on the loan. Unless I have a family member who belongs to this credit union or I am employed in a particular field, I cannot become a member, and therefore I cannot co-sign.

Which is when I got the brilliant idea to suggest what I thought was (is) a great business transaction. Spouses can become members of the credit union; if we got a domestic partnership, then, as a member, my income would officially count toward the mortgage amount. Of course, I don’t want to rush commitment just so we can get a better line of credit… And, dissolution of domestic partnerships costs nothing. My thought was to get the domestic partnership in order to get me on the loan, but with no implied commitment: this would be purely for business purposes (at least for now).

You can imagine how well that went over.

No, it wasn’t me who sent this, but it should have been

there may be more than one correct answer. choose the best answer and completely fill in the bubble.

Fewer than 20 days will mark our one-year anniversary. Fewer still are the people who know. I imagine that the joy from reaching this sort of milestone (and, for me, a one-year commitment is indeed a milestone) is normally shared with others, if not the evening’s festivities. But the prospect of this day does not garner much joy from the one friend-from-my-former-life who knows. Her response wasn’t hostility but reservation. If she knew of the woman whom I love as only my friend, she would be happy that she is in my life. Nothing else about this woman has changed but our relationship. Most of my other friends-from-my-former-life don’t know because we’ve simply lost touch, and I’m not sure there’s much to go back for. There are a few, like i.c., with whom I desire to share my life. It’s just the pain that will cloud their eyes upon learning the truth…

I remember being in their collective position when I was younger.

“force them by God’s grace”

I wish i made this shit up.

It’s nine minutes of WTF: http://theresurgence.com/md_blog_2007-04-28_banned_church_planting_video.