Eventually she returned to their hiding place and found Anne’s diary, its pages scattered over the floor.

She intended to return it to its author, knowing how important the diary had been to her, and locked it away without reading a word. Nearly a year later, Anne’s father Otto returned from Auschwitz. He knew his wife and friends had not survived, but still hoped that his two daughters, Margot, 18, and Anne, 15, had been spared.

Two months later he received a letter that confirmed that both girls had died in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945, less than a month before the camp was liberated by British soldiers.

Miep Gies was with him when he received the news and could not find the words to comfort him. Then she remembered Anne’s diary. She took it out of the desk and gave it to him, saying: “Here is your daughter Anne’s legacy to you.”

Eventually published in 1947, The Diary of Anne Frank became, after the Bible, the best-selling non-fiction book in the world.

via Miep Gies – Telegraph.

I actually was linked to the Telegraph site from the site below, which had a quote that I think speaks more of Gies than anything else you could say about her.

Gies never accepted the label of hero she was given, stating “I don’t want to be considered a hero. Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary.”

via Shakesville: RIP Miep Gies.

Daily Rotten: Weird News
Dec 25 272First official public celebration of Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, a pagan Roman holiday that was later co-opted by Christians to celebrate the birth of their favorite Jew. Turning the holiday into “Christmas” in 336 AD was part of a pattern of the church stealing various pagan festivals and feast days.

vs:

- Sen. Diaz Sr. – Marriage equality vote is “treason.”

via New York Marriage Equality Bill Defeated 38-24: Updated with Full Roll Call Vote – Towleroad, More than gay news. More gay men.

I had some hope about this, I really hoped that Diaz’s “argument” against equality wasn’t going to be enough to sway the minds of the senate.

These names will go down on the history books as people who were on the wrong side of history, may they pay for their sins:
Joseph Addabbo (D) — NO
James Alesi (R) — NO
Darrel Aubertine (D) — NO
John Bonacic (R) — NO
John DeFrancisco (R) — NO
Ruben Diaz (D) — NO
Hugh Farley (R) — NO
John Flanagan (R) — NO
Charles Fuschillo, Jr. (R) — NO
Martin Golden (R) — NO
Joseph Griffo (R) — NO
Kemp Hannon (R) — NO
Shirley Huntley (D) — NO
Owen Johnson (R) — NO
Carl Kruger (D) — NO
Andrew Lanza (R) — NO
Bill Larkin (R) — NO
Kenneth LaValle (R) — NO
Vincent Leibell (R) — NO
Tom Libous (R) — NO
Elizabeth Little (R) — NO
Carl Marcellino (R) — NO
George Maziarz (R) — NO
Roy McDonald (R) — NO
Hiram Monserrate (D) — NO
Thomas Morahan (R) — NO
Michael Nozzolio (R) — NO
George Onorato (D) — NO
Frank Padavan (R) — NO
Michael Ranzenhofer (R) — NO
Joseph Robach (R) — NO
Stephen Saland (R) — NO
James Seward (R) — NO
Dean Skelos (R) — NO
William Stachowski (D) — NO
Dale Volker (R) — NO
George Winner (R) — NO
Catherine Young (R) — NO

24 Democrats voted in favor of equality, and for that I am grateful.

Eric Adams (D) — YES
Neil Breslin (D) — YES
Martin Malave Dilan (D) — YES
Tom Duane (D) — YES
Pedro Espada (D) — YES
Brian Foley (D) — YES
Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D) — YES
Craig Johnson (D) — YES
Jeffrey Klein (D) — YES
Liz Krueger (D) — YES
Velmanette Montgomery (D) — YES
Suzi Oppenheimer (D) — YES
Kevin Parker (D) — YES
Bill Perkins (D) — YES
John Sampson (D) — YES
Diane Savino (D) — YES
Eric Schneiderman (D) — YES
Jose Serrano (D) — YES
Malcolm Smith (D) — YES
Daniel Squadron (D) — YES
Toby Ann Stavisky (D) — YES
Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) — YES
Antoine Thompson (D) — YES
David Valesky (D) — YES

This is how an American soldier is made.

For 27 months, Ian Fisher, his parents and friends, and the U.S. Army allowed Denver Post reporters and a photographer to watch and chronicle his recruitment, induction, training, deployment, and, finally, his return from combat. A selection of photos from Ian’s journey are posted below.

via Captured Photo Collection » Ian Fisher : American Soldier Photos.

Read this.  Look at the pictures.

The Senate today passed a historic expansion of federal hate crimes statutes to include sexual orientation. The chamber voted to approve the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act also known as the Matthew Shepard Act by a vote of 68-29, sending the first civil rights legislation protecting gays and lesbians to President Obama for his signature.

via Senate Approves Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act 68-29 – Towleroad

11 years after Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, beaten and left to die because he was gay the US Senate passed a bill that will add gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disabilities to the existing hate crime protections for race, color, religion, and national origin.

Hopefully Obama will sign the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 and therefore the Matthew Shepard Act within a few days.

See also Hate crimes bill goes to Obama for signature – CNN.com

Farrah Fawcett, who soared to fame as a national sex symbol in the late 1970s on television’s campy “Charlie’s Angels” and in a swimsuit poster that showcased her feathery mane and made her a generation’s favorite pinup, died Thursday. She was 62.

via Pop culture icon Farrah Fawcett dies at 62 – Los Angeles Times.

I don’t know that I ever saw that many episodes of the original Charlie’s Angels (nor would she really be a sex symbol for me…) butI do remember her being on The Six Million Dollar Man

June 25th, 2009

A second private autopsy on Jackson’s body was completed Saturday at the family’s request so they could have a second opinion on the cause of death. The first autopsy conducted Friday was inconclusive, but foul play was ruled out and the coroner’s office said it could take up to six weeks to get the full results.

via Michael Jackson’s Doctor Not A Suspect, Family Ordered Second Autopsy – ABC News.

Apparently Michael Jackson brought down the internets when he died.

June 28th, 2009

Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday.

via ‘Infomercial King’ Billy Mays Found Dead in Home – Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment – FOXNews.com.

OxyClean and OrangeGlow will never be the same.

via JMG and Towleroad.

The only way to win this fight is through education (and also, waiting for all the bigots to die, but that takes longer) and Empire State Pride Agenda has a new video calling for equal treatment for all families featuring more real live gay people who are currently viewed as less than equal by the law.

Bring it up when no one is talking about it, tell people the truth and make sure they don’t believe the “marriage myths” (just a nice word for lies) that bigots have fabricated to try to bolster their argument.

Currently At 9:20AM: 52°F

RealFeel®: 44°F

Winds: WNW at 9mph

Rain

Humidity: 100%

Dew Point: 52° F

Pressure: 29.76 in

Visibility: 1 Miles

via AccuWeather.com – Rochester, NY – Weather Forecast – Local Weather Forecasts.

It’s not really raining outside, but it is misting.  I didn’t watch the news this morning (paying attention to the weather is more of Kevin’s thing) so I didn’t know if it was going to be raining when I leave work today.  So I brought my car umbrella in with me from the parking lot.  I have an “office umbrella” as well for suprise rain as a backup but its smaller.  Anyway…

I hate carrying an umbrella if it is even remotely raining, I feel silly carrying a closed umbrella when it is raining, but I also look weird if I put my umbrella up when it is barely raining.  The conclusion that I usually come to is fuck everyone else, I would rather be dry and look silly than be wet and feel silly.

The Vermont Senate and House voted today to override a veto by Governor Jim Douglas of the state’s same-sex marriage bill.

The Senate voted 23-5, overriding the veto by a wide margin, while the House squeaked through with a 2/3 majority with a 100-49 vote.

via Same-Sex Marriage Approved in Vermont as Legislature Overrides Veto – Towleroad, More than gay news. More gay men.

What a week for civil rights!

A guy @ work said “that governator looks like a douchebag now” and I agree wholeheartedly.  I don’t know what he thought he was accomplishing since we pretty much knew it would be overruled.

His reasons for vetoing were lame and inexcusable:

• His personal beliefs say one man one woman
• couples would be denied Federal benefits anyway

Has he not heard of separation of church and state? I don’t want to get married in a church that doesn’t want me there, I don’t even care if they call it civil union as long as they change EVERY reference to marriage to civil union and require that all couples get civil unioned and have the option for marriage at a church, but as long as marriage has legal ramifications then gays need to be able to marry as well.

“The Iowa Supreme Court this morning struck down a 1998 state law that limits marriage to one man and one woman. The ruling is viewed as a victory for the gay rights movement in Iowa and elsewhere, and a setback for social conservatives who wanted to protect traditional families. The decision makes Iowa the first Midwestern state, and the fourth nationwide, to allow same-sex marriages. Lawyers for Lambda Legal, a gay rights group that financed the court battle and represented the couples, had hoped to use a court victory to demonstrate acceptance of same-sex marriage in heartland America. Richard Socarides, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton on gay civil rights, said today’s decision could set the stage for other states. Socarides was was a senior political assistant for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin in the early 1990s. ‘I think it’s significant because Iowa is considered a Midwest sate in the mainstream of American thought,’ Socarides said. ‘Unlike states on the coasts, there’s nothing more American than Iowa. As they say during the presidential caucuses, ‘As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.’’”

via Iowa Supreme Court Unanimous in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage – Towleroad, More than gay news. More gay men.

Definitely check out Towleroad for more/all information, but one tidbit that I think is a sign of the age we are in:

A surge of interest in the ruling crashed the Supreme Court’s web servers at about 8:20 this morning, ten minutes before the ruling was set to go online.

I always think of politician’s with websites as being kinda funny because most of them have no idea how the Internet works.  Something like a Supreme Court seems even more likely to be Luddite like, but at least they have webservers.