tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34427736571858906732024-03-19T15:08:24.888-04:00Rainbow ReflectionsA blog to discuss my political leanings, Human Rights, Civil Liberties, and LGBT Movement.Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-12018595462102916702018-08-27T11:01:00.003-04:002018-08-27T11:01:47.383-04:00A Change Of AddressHello everyone,<br />
This is just a quick note to let you know I've developed a book review blog over at Wordpress, still under the Rainbow Reflections name. I encourage you to keep an eye on things at that address since I am far more active there than here. Here's the link to take you there without searching,<br />
<a href="https://rainbowreflections.home.blog/" target="_blank">Rainbow Reflections</a><br />
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I hope you'll come visit me there and leave your thoughts on my reviews, and even suggest books you'd like to see me review.<br />
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Thanks for stopping by!<br />
BlondiBlondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-65166597501706115532018-08-05T19:33:00.001-04:002018-08-05T19:33:44.400-04:00Mabel Of the Anzacs - A Review<br />
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It was nice to see our favorite characters, Eva and Zoe from the Intertwined Souls series, as well as minor characters and to catch up with Eva and Zoe after their immigration to Australia three years after the war. I love reading historical fiction, and this one really interested me because a lot of the historical facts in this story involved nursing during WW 1. Mary D did a great job integrating fictional characters and their story into a fascinating period in history. This was personal for me because my mother was a nurse and my aunt was a nurse in WW 2, achieving the rank of lieutenant. My aunt probably did many things in her service as Mabel did as a nurse in WW 1.<br />
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I am giving this book four stars instead of five, not because of the content of this story but during the first half of the novel, I found several grammatical errors that took me out of the reading zone I was in. The story itself though is worth overlooking the errors. <br />
If you are a historical fiction fan, especially of WW 1, you will enjoy this book. If you have read the other books with Zoe and Eva, you will love this book. This is considered a standalone book but I urge you to read not only this one but also the other books in the Intertwined Souls series.Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-75287689667998432792018-08-03T12:51:00.000-04:002018-08-03T12:51:31.201-04:00Greengage Plots - A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Emma Sterner-Radley has created a gem (or should I say a plum) of a story in Greengage Plots. The main character Kit has moved to the Island of Greengage off the coast of England to work in the library on this island of about six thousand people. What she finds here is friendship, laughter, craziness, and most importantly love. The author is a genius at creating memorable places and people. I generally don't enjoy British humor, but I laughed and giggled my way through most of this book. I urge everyone to grab a copy of this book. You will not be disappointed.<br />
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****</div>
Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-62478972790076991072018-07-16T22:13:00.001-04:002018-07-16T22:15:03.345-04:00Forbidden Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">This is another wonderful romance by Cheyenne Blue. I love the way her characters become real to the readers, and Viva and Gabriela became very real to me as I read this book. The author obviously did a great deal of research on the inner workings of pro tennis. She artfully infuses a beautiful romance inside the inner workings of pro tennis with a very unlikely pair of lovers. One brief moment changed everything, but none of it can be allowed to go any further because of who they are within the world of tennis.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">If you love tennis, you will enjoy this book. If you know nothing about tennis, you will still enjoy this story.</span>Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-74789393793301590692018-07-16T21:28:00.001-04:002018-07-16T21:29:48.095-04:00Fun, Captivating and Memorable!<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">This is the perfect sequel to The Red Files. In this book we get to revisit all of our beloved characters, from our favorite Ice Queen, Catherine, to her loving partner, Lauren and some of the most memorable secondary characters I’ve read this year. I loved MeeMaw! I’ve met MeeMaw in real life, so I know there are MeeMaws out there just like Lee wrote. Ms. Winter is brilliant at creating and fleshing out her characters. They become real people that I’d love to sit and eat with. Lee has created a story that is intriguing, captivating, enjoyable and fun to read. You could read this book as a stand-alone, but you’d get more enjoyment out of it if you read The Red Files first — and I encourage you to get both.</span>Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-8171981983383256202018-05-27T13:09:00.002-04:002018-05-27T13:09:51.508-04:00Review of Love Bites<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I loved this book, it was so funny. Humorous but serious. You not only saw things from the human perspective but also from the dog's viewpoint. There were sections that almost had me in tears both from laughter and from the angst that happens between the two main characters. This is an excellent author, who has written a very memorable story.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If this sounds like your cup of tea, you should absolutely pick up a copy!</span>Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-30727294187413099392014-08-15T10:27:00.000-04:002014-08-15T10:39:21.392-04:00Thoughts on Michael Brown and Ferguson, MissouriI have been stunned by the reaction of the police in Ferguson, Missouri to the protests of the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager who was walking with a friend down a street. The local police forces have done just about everything wrong since the start of this whole mess. They are acting more like thugs than anything else.<br />
I have watched the news feeds about this with the phrase What the Hell constantly coming from my lips, and I generally don't swear. This is the middle of The United States of America for God's sake! You don't bring out all your warrior toys to squash a citizen's right to protest in America! You don't issue a no fly zone over the city so news media can't use aircraft to see what you are doing from the sky. You don't deliberately throw tear gas canisters at an area set aside for journalists so they have to flee leaving their equipment behind which you then disable so it can't see what you are doing. You don't walk inside a McDonalds and take journalists into custody who were just sitting there taking notes on what they had seen only to release them the next day without charges or information about why they were detained or who was in charge of that decision. You don't dress up like Star Wars soldiers and drive to the protest in armored vehicles and tanks with snipers on top and bristling with weapons. You don't shoot blocks and rubber bullets at your fellow citizens for no good reason. You don't blanket the area in tear gas. You don't toss stun grenades, tear gas and flash bombs at your fellow citizens who are trying to peacefully protest. You don't try to hide your actions from the public by harassing and arresting reporters just doing their jobs. If these police are trying to say their fellow officer was justified in shooting and killing Michael Brown, their actions are surely NOT helping their cause.<br />
This is the United States of America, not Baghdad! We are a free nation, not a Police State! What the Hell were they thinking? And for those of you who don't know, I come from a policeman's family. My father served as a policeman in a city in the deep South for 30+ years and retired a lieutenant in a Sheriff's Department. I know from experience how the police should be handling this situation, and the way it has been handled is absolutely Wrong!Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-70859813421260440672014-02-25T12:05:00.001-05:002014-02-25T16:24:26.405-05:00Thoughts on Arizona's Anti-Gay, Pro-Discrimination Bill<span class="echo-streamserver-controls-stream-item-text echo-item-type-comment">As I wait to find out if Arizona Governor Jan Brewer will veto the very controversial bill </span><span class="echo-streamserver-controls-stream-item-text echo-item-type-comment"><span class="st">SB 1062 that would make it legal to discriminate against LGBT's by allowing businesses to refuse service because of their personal religious convictions, I have tried to read as much as I could online about the bill. Having read as much as I could find on this bill, I have come to realize just exactly how wrong these religious conservatives are. All of the conservatives who voted for this bill claim to be Christians. They try and spin the intent of the law to say that it would protect all religions from discrimination from the 'radical left and the powerful LGBT lobby'. Conservatives claim that they should be allowed to refuse to serve people that they disagree with on religious grounds when they are at work, even if the work they do does not involve a church or religious organization. So cake makers can refuse to make wedding cakes for a gay or lesbian couple. Photographers can refuse to take wedding pictures for gays and lesbians. Print companies can refuse to print invitations to gay and lesbian weddings. You get the idea.</span></span><br />
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<span class="echo-streamserver-controls-stream-item-text echo-item-type-comment"><span class="st">The problem with the law is not only does it make LGBT discrimination legal, it is so broad that it goes way beyond the LGBT discrimination it so obviously and unconstitutionally is intended to allow. Under this law a Muslin cab driver can refuse the fare of a single woman because he would be alone in the car with a woman he is not related to, a no no in some Muslim sects. The manager of a hotel could refuse to let an unmarried couple who live together rent a room. A waitress could legally refuse to serve a pregnant woman that she knows is not married. The list goes on and on. </span></span><br />
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<span class="echo-streamserver-controls-stream-item-text echo-item-type-comment"><span class="st">Now remember, the people who created and voted for this bill's passage all consider themselves to be Christians. This means they are supposed to try and behave as Jesus taught in the Bible. Jesus, the middle aged man with Socialist ideas, who condemned the rich, told people to pay their taxes, spent much of his life helping the poor, told his followers to love one another just as he loved them (unconditionally), and healed people for free. Are these 'Christians' acting as Christ would want them to act with this law? I don't think so.</span></span><br />
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<span class="echo-streamserver-controls-stream-item-text echo-item-type-comment"><span class="st"><span class="echo-streamserver-controls-stream-item-text echo-item-type-comment"><span class="st">This
is a horrible, discriminatory, and unconstitutional bill. Even if it eventually is made a law of the state of Arizona it would most
definitely be appealed and eventually struck down by higher courts. </span></span>In the past few days people, organizations, and businesses have voiced their opposition to this bill including many congressmen both state and federal, businesses already in Arizona as well as some considering moving to the state, and even three of the GOP congressmen who voted for the bill and have come to regret their vote afterward. </span>Let us hope that Gov. Brewer listens to all the voices of reason that have been urging her to veto this bill. Let us also hope that the other states considering similar bills come to their senses before it gets this far.</span><br />
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<span class="echo-streamserver-controls-stream-item-text echo-item-type-comment">Please veto bill </span><span class="echo-streamserver-controls-stream-item-text echo-item-type-comment"><span class="st">SB 1062 Governor Brewer!</span></span>Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-56781687875567420632014-02-14T13:41:00.000-05:002014-02-14T13:58:28.216-05:00More Loving in Virginia<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">We made a commitment to each other in our love and lives,
and now had the legal commitment, called marriage, to match. Isn’t that
what marriage is? … I have lived long enough now to see big changes.
The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s
young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to
marry. Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren,
not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right
to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the
person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of
person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race,
no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have
that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some
people’s religious beliefs over others. … I support the freedom to marry
for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">– Mildred Loving, “Loving for All”</span></span></div>
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This quote appears on the cover page of Federal District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen's decision handed down yesterday in the court case brought by <span style="font-size: small;">Tim Bostic & Tony London and Carol Schall & Mary Townley against the state of Virginia involving the state's marriage ban for their LGBT citizens. This is a huge and sweeping decision for marriage equality in Virginia. Judge Wright Allen declared not only Virginia's marriage ban to be unconstitutional, she also nullified some of the state's civil code as well as </span>“any other Virginia law that bars same-sex marriage or prohibits
Virginia’s recognition of lawful same-sex marriages from other
jurisdictions,” as she writes in her decision.<br />
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Of course the decision was immediately stayed to give marriage equality foes the chance to appeal her decision which they most definitely will, so marriage equality in Virginia will not be a reality just yet. However, this is still a big day for equality and another nail in the coffin of state sponsored discrimination toward LGBTQ's. Congratulations Virginians! Happy Valentine's Day!Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-35083912265886467872014-02-07T10:51:00.000-05:002014-02-07T10:51:23.328-05:00Thank you Google!<br />
Thank you to the folks at <a href="https://www.google.ca/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=7P_0UpbmIIyN8Qf884DIBg" target="_blank">Google</a> for showing how a corporation should act when faced with countries that legalize discrimination, inequality, brutality, and homophobia! Below are a couple of screenshots that I took this morning of the search pages Google is currently using for searches worldwide including places like Uganda, the Middle East and yes, Sochi, Russia. Are you paying attention Coca Cola, Dow, McDonalds, Atos, GE, Omega, Visa, Panasonic, P&G, and Samsung<span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>?</u></span> At least Google is showing a backbone. How about you?<br />
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<br />Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-26477289442119077592014-02-05T14:55:00.000-05:002014-02-05T19:24:55.780-05:00A Bit of HousecleaningI've been doing a bit of housecleaning to both of my blogs. With Rainbow Reflections, I actually deleted quite a few posts from the past years that dealt with political elections and posts that I felt were no longer relevant. They were just cluttering up the blog and making it harder to find blog posts that might be more informative, so this blog has a much shorter list of posts now.<br />
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I've also changed the look of the blog and added a few new gadgets that weren't here before. Look for a few new things that might be added in the coming days also.<br />
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Life has changed a lot since the last time I posted my thoughts here. In the past year and a half, my partner and I moved the family to a small community in Northern Ontario for several different reasons. One was to be closer to my partner's parents. Another was to get away from the noise and pollution of the city. We now live out in the bush (Canadian for living in the country). We regularly see rabbits hopping through our yard and eagles. ravens, and hawks flying overhead looking for a good rabbit meal. On clear nights we see a million stars shining brightly in the sky because there are no city lights to dim their brightness. We can go for walks and see fox, wolf and lynx tracks in the snow and sometimes we can stand outside and listen to the coyotes howl in the distance. I do miss being able to walk to the nearest Tim Horton's for a cup of coffee. We can't do that since the nearest town is almost fifty miles away and we only go there once or twice a month for groceries and other needed items. I also really miss the friends we made down south, but the fresh air, clear skies, and country living are really wonderful.<br />
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We have also found many new and some old friends here, and we have been made to feel a part of the community by many. I think we made the right decision for our family to move here, even with the over four feet of snow we have in the yard now. ;) Just look at our front yard below.<br />
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I'll be posting more about our lives here in Northern Ontario in the next few weeks and months, so check back often to see how a blended family survives in the bush of Northern Ontario.<br />
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<br />Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-2608084182447959142012-01-11T18:43:00.000-05:002012-01-11T20:39:34.770-05:00Those "Repost This" Postings on FacebookIf you have a Facebook page, you know what I'm talking about. Everyone gets them...you know the "If you ever had someone you love die of Cancer, you must repost this as your status, etc." Some are cute, some are funny, some tug at the heartstrings and some just make you wince. I usually try to ignore them, but one recently crossed my Facebook page that I just could not ignore, and I most certainly don't agree with. I received it for the first time yesterday and again from a completely different person today. Before I go into any more detail, here is the posting:<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">Here... let me piss some people off... Did you get drug tested today? Thank you Florida, Kentucky, and Missouri, which are the first states that will require drug testing when applying for welfare. Some people are crying and calling this unconstitutional. How is this unconstitutional? It's ok to drug test people who work for their money, but not those who don't?... Re-post this if you'd like to see this done in all 50 states. I just did.</span></span></h6>
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This was today's version. The only difference of this one from yesterday's version is that yesterday had the added comment of wishing this could happen in Canada too.<br />
Both people who posted this are my friends (otherwise they would not be on my Facebook list of friends) and I don't want to hurt their feelings with this post, but I have some major problems with the sentiment and the meaning behind this posting. The post is supposed to make the reader mad about all the people who abuse the welfare system (in Ontario the equivalent is the Ontario Works Program) and tells the reader they should want to add another hurdle that welfare applicants must go through to receive help from the government. The post also mentions that three states in the U.S. have added laws that would require this drug test be added to the rules for applying for welfare, and at least one of the states actually was enforcing the rule until a Federal judge issued a<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/24/2470519/florida-welfare-drug-testing-halted.html"> ruling </a>on Oct. 24, 2011 stopping its enforcement until the courts rule on its constitutionality. Judge Mary Scriven had this to say in her ruling:<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">If invoking an interest in preventing public funds from potentially being used to fund drug use were the only requirement to establish a special need, the state could impose drug testing as an eligibility requirement for every beneficiary of every government program. Such blanket intrusions cannot be countenanced under the Fourth Amendment. </span></b></div>
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Michigan tried to enact a similar law requiring random drug tests for welfare recipients in 1999 which was also litigated and resulted in the law being declared unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment, the same amendment that will probably be used to declare these laws unconstitutional. Kentucky actually has not passed or tried to enforce a drug law yet. A bill similar to Florida's drug law was introduced in one house of the state legislature, but it has not been brought to a vote yet. They may try again this year but most observers think the Kentucky bill has some high hurdles to jump over before it has a chance of becoming law or enforced.<br />
Missouri's law was also signed and put into effect in July of 2011. The main difference in this law is that drug tests are done only when officials have reasonable cause to believe that an applicant or recipient is using illegal drugs. That means, unlike the other laws, this is Not a blanket "you must take a drug test to receive benefits" law like Florida.<br />
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These are Tea Party endorsed laws. They are laws that several Tea Party/Conservative Republican politicians used as wedge issues to help get themselves elected. Florida's governor Rick Scott used this law among others to get himself elected as governor of Florida. Then he rammed the bill through the statehouse with the promise that it would save Florida taxpayers millions each year and get the "lowlife drug users" off the welfare rolls. It was signed into law in June, 2011 and enforced starting July 1, 2011 until Oct. 24, 2011 when Judge Scriven halted the enforcement of the law.<br />
Now remember, Rick Scott said that this law would find all the many drug users and abusers of welfare, get them off the welfare lists and save millions of Florida taxpayer money. However, using the information of what actually occurred from July 1 to Oct. 24, one Tampa newspaper did some simple math and came up with some startling numbers. It seems that 96% of the welfare applicants who were tested passed the drug test and went on to collect welfare. Of the remaining 4%, two percent simply didn't finish the application for reasons unspecified. The remaining 2% did fail the test. All of those who passed the test had to be reimbursed for the cost of the testing by the state. The newspaper figured that would cost taxpayers around $178,000,000 a year. That is 178 MILLION DOLLARS folks! The savings the taxpayers will receive for the estimated 2% of drug failures will amount to between $40,000 to $60,000 a year in taxpayer savings. Let me repeat this one more time. <b><span style="color: red;">The taxpayers of Florida will spend 178 million dollars a year to save 60 thousand a year.</span></b> Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me either.<br />
Meanwhile every welfare applicant will be treated by the state with suspicion; they will be treated as guilty of drug abuse until they can prove to the state that they are innocent. The laid off factory worker who has used up his unemployment insurance but still can't find steady work with a family and mortgage to pay will be treated like that. The mother whose abusive husband left her with an empty food cupboard and a pile of overdue bills will be treated like that. The grandmother who is having to raise her grandkids because of family troubles or a death in the family will be treated like that. They will all be treated as guilty until they can prove they are innocent. Does that sound right to you? It does NOT to me.<br />
No citizen of the United States, or Canada, or any other country should be treated like that, and I will always speak up for them if I can. That is why I will answer the repost statement above whenever I see it posted to my Facebook. That is why I will admit to all that, yes, you did piss me off, and here are the reasons why. I love you all, but before you repost statements like the one above, think for a moment and ask yourself if you truly wish to be treated like that...if you truly wish to lose your right to privacy, your right not to have to endure an unreasonable search of your body without cause. Don't let gut feelings that such posts try to elicit blind you to the freedoms you might lose. Once lost, our freedoms and rights are extremely hard to regain, and we have lost too many freedoms in the last few years. Enough is enough!<br />
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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/24/2470519/florida-welfare-drug-testing-halted.html#storylink=cpy</div>
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<br /></blockquote>Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-2862006125499809992008-01-20T12:18:00.000-05:002008-12-11T15:53:04.025-05:00The Rainbow Flag<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx54Sncr68QvT0QLNRMljutrNRteg8VbOEj80eL3p6Qf_qUTA9jeHDv84vUUY0RB3II-WOMUxnPTr1tIvRDVQmFB6ys5iX50T3ewkZ3X6hyphenhyphenvIsANU66hBNlQiBEDRiWF9utDh6N-Ete7xF/s1600-h/newanim1.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157620480698935074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx54Sncr68QvT0QLNRMljutrNRteg8VbOEj80eL3p6Qf_qUTA9jeHDv84vUUY0RB3II-WOMUxnPTr1tIvRDVQmFB6ys5iX50T3ewkZ3X6hyphenhyphenvIsANU66hBNlQiBEDRiWF9utDh6N-Ete7xF/s200/newanim1.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>We have a Rainbow flag hanging outside our home that we are very proud of. It is right next to our Canadian flag. I also have a smaller version of the Rainbow, Canadian and American flags on my desk. My partner and I are out in our neighborhood, and we are lucky that we rarely have any problems with our relationship and our community so we weren't afraid of flying the flag from our porch. We got the rainbow flag at the last Toronto Pride Week. We volunteered at the Dyke March and had a wonderful time.<br /><br /></div><div>I often wondered how the flag came to be and what the colors represent, so I went hunting for the history to the Rainbow Flag. At 365Gay I found an article giving some of the history. I'll post a link to the article at the bottom of this post. 365Gay has a section for LGBT history so I probably will be linking to it often as I search for more of my history.<br /><br /></div></div><div>Briefly, here is what the article talks about. The Rainbow flag was first designed by a San Francisco artist named Gilbert Baker in 1978. He had been asked to create something that could be a symbol of our community by fellow activists. The flag he originally designed had eight stripes: pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. According to the article the colors are supposed to represent "sexuality, life, healing, sun, nature, art, harmony, and spirit." Baker actually dyed the cloth and sewed the first flag himself. We have our own Betsy Ross!</div><div><br /></div><div>The pink stripe had to be taken out when Baker went to have the flag massed produced. There was no commercial "hot pink" material. The indigo stripe was taken out in November of 1978. When Harvey Milk, San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">assassinated</span>, the LGBT community had a march to show "the gay community's strength and solidarity in the aftermath of the tragedy," and the Pride committee wanted to use the flag in the march. They wanted to divide the colors evenly along the route so they took out the indigo stripe. This left six colors that were used; three on one side of the route and three on the other side. The six remaining colors were incorporated into what we use today to symbolize our strength and solidarity and sense of community across the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>The article goes on to talk about what some of the colors in the flag as well as other colors mean to the LGBT community historically. They also go into detail about how our flag is a symbol of our pride, hope, and diversity. It is an interesting read.</div><div align="center"><br /><a href="http://365gay.com/InTime/People/rainbowflag.htm">The Rainbow Flag</a><br /></div><div align="center"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442773657185890673.post-24547460530591849312007-10-27T13:42:00.000-04:002007-10-27T16:22:50.510-04:00Hello World!This is my personal blog for all things LGBT. I've come to the conclusion of the past few months that I really don't know a lot about my history, the history of the LGBT movement. I've been starting to change this sad state of affairs and thought that I might share some of the things I learn with you. Therefore check back every now and then to see some of my thoughts on politics (both USA, Canadian, and LGBT) and history as it relates to human rights, civil liberties, and LGBT history, rights, and issues.Blondihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354576661350425058noreply@blogger.com1