Month: October 2010

Uganda’s treatment of gays is reprehensible

Uganda’s treatment of gays is reprehensible

I once again find that I am commenting on the laws of another nation where I am not a citizen. I recently read a story that Uganda has publicly “outed” 100 gays. Not only did the paper publicize the names of the homosexuals but placed a banner on the newspaper saying “Hang Them”. At the time of the article in The Washington Post, at least 4 men on the list have been attacked.

This is reprehensible conduct. What is worse is our support of a society that allows this. The US will give approximately $400M to Uganda in aid in 2010. We need to put strings on this money. It doesn’t come free. The recipients of this aid must not have laws that will cause more hardship to some of its citizens. We can enhance the benefit of that aid to more than just children that need medicine by requiring these countries to adopt standards that approximate the realities of human rights in the 21st century.

I understand that withholding aid to countries with low human rights ratings will hurt the most disadvantaged in that country. But, by providing aid to those that are disadvantaged we are also propping up and supporting the government of the country. We should not be friends with countries that have a low level of human rights standards.

What is even more disgusting is that it appears that some of this hatred was seeded by people from the US that say that they are Christians. This is not Christian behavior! I would write about these groups that instigated this behavior if I could find their names but the article only mentions them in one paragraph and then doesn’t delve into them in more detail.

A few paragraphs from the Washington Post:

The front-page newspaper story featured a list of Uganda’s 100 “top” homosexuals, with a bright yellow banner across it that read: “Hang Them.” Alongside their photos were the men’s names and addresses.

In the days since it was published, at least four gay Ugandans on the list have been attacked and many others are in hiding, according to rights activist Julian Onziema. One person named in the story had stones thrown at his house by neighbors.

A lawmaker in this conservative African country introduced a bill a year ago that would have imposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts and life in prison for others. An international uproar ensued, and the bill was quietly shelved.

But gays in Uganda say they have faced a year of harassment and attacks since the bill’s introduction.

The legislation was drawn up following a visit by leaders of U.S. conservative Christian ministries that promote therapy they say allows gays to become heterosexual.

She wouldn’t have my vote

She wouldn’t have my vote

I earlier wrote that I didn’t have an opinion regarding the Senatorial race in Delaware.

After seeing Ms. O’Donnell screw up the conversation regarding the separation of church and state in the debate with her opponent, I must conclude that she does not currently have the required skills to be a US Senator.

I encourage you to view this video from CNN if you are a citizen of Delaware. If the video doesn’t play below (CNN’s embed technique is not up to par), you can jump over to CNN and watch it directly: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/10/20/ac.odonnell.constitution.gaffe.cnn?hpt=C2

Delaware Senate race

Delaware Senate race

I don’t live in Delaware so I don’t have a dog in this hunt. I think it is amusing the amazing heat that Christine O’Donnell is taking from everyone outside of the state of Delaware.

Maybe it is the fact that I really don’t like Bill Maher. I think he is not funny and an idiot. Whenever I watch his show, I am absolutely amazed at the stupid things that he says. When he is trying to be funny, I rarely crack a smile. When the audience laughs at his monologue I keep wondering if there is some big, mean-looking guy standing beside the “LAUGH” sign with a baseball bat ready to bash anyone that can think an intellectual thought.

So when Bill Maher, another non-resident of Delaware, goes on the rampage against Ms. O’Donnell, it makes me kind of like her. If nothing else, I feel sorry for her because Bill can get himself onto a lot of TV. Bill acts like he is smart (when what he says is often foolishness) and Bill acts like he is funny (when he couldn’t do a stand-up routine any better than I can).

I am not sure what Ms. O’Donnell stands for.  As I said, I am not from the state and therefore don’t have a dog in the hunt. I am not endorsing her here although I would never endorse her opponent. If I was a registered voter in Delaware, I would spend a lot of time getting to know Ms. O’Donnell since there is no way I would ever vote for Chris Coons, her opponent. My vote, if I were a resident, would either be a vote for O’Donnell or, if I thought she was an idiot, I would leave that contest blank and abstain.

If Ms. O’Donnell really does keep her promise, as she says in this ad, of not doing back room deals for votes, then she just might be right for the job. This promise alone, if kept, would likely make her better than most of the other 99 Senators that she will serve with in that august house. Besides, what other Senator would want to get anywhere close to her – she just might turn her foes into toads!