1. Mormons make up less than 2% of the population of California . There are approximately 800,000 LDS out of a total population of approximately 34 million.
2. Mormon voters were less than 5% of the yes vote. If one estimates that 250,000 LDS are registered voters (the rest being children), then LDS voters made up 4.6% of the Yes vote and 2.4% of the total Proposition 8 vote.
3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) donated no money to the Yes on 8 campaign. Individual members of the Church were encouraged to support the Yes on 8 efforts and, exercising their constitutional right to free speech, donated whatever they felt like donating.
4. The No on 8 campaign raised more money than the Yes on 8 campaign. Unofficial estimates put No on 8 at $38 million and Yes on 8 at $32 million, making it the most expensive non-presidential election in the country.
5. Advertising messages for the Yes on 8 campaign are based on case law and real-life situations. The No on 8 supporters have insisted that the Yes on 8 messaging is based on lies. Every Yes on 8 claim is supported
6. The majority of our friends and neighbors voted Yes on Los Angeles County voted in favor of Yes on 8. Ventura County voted in favor of Yes on 8.
7. African Americans overwhelmingly supported Yes on 8. Exit polls show that 70% of Black voters chose Yes on 8. This was interesting because the majority of these voters voted for President-elect Obama. No on 8 supporters had assumed that Obama voters would vote No on 8.
8. The majority of Latino voters voted Yes on 8. Exit polls show that the majority of Latinos supported Yes on 8 and cited religious beliefs (assumed to be primarily Catholic).
9. The Yes on 8 coalition was a broad spectrum of religious organizations. Catholics, Evangelicals, Protestants, Orthodox Jews, Muslims – all supported Yes on 8. It is estimated that there are 10 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants in California . Mormons were a tiny fraction of the population represented by Yes on 8 coalition members.
10. Not all Mormons voted in favor of Proposition 8. Our faith accords that each person be allowed to choose for him or her self. Church leaders have asked members to treat other members with "civility, respect and love," despite their differing views.
11. The Church did not violate the principal of separation of church and state. This principle is derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . .." The phrase "separation of church and state", which does not appear in the Constitution itself, is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson, although it has since been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court in recent years. The LDS Church is under no obligation to refrain from participating in the political process, to the extent permitted by law. U.S. election law is very clear that Churches may not endorse candidates, but may support issues. The Church has always been very careful on this matter and occasionally (not often) chooses to support causes that it feels to be of a moral nature.
12.
Supporters of Proposition 8 did exactly what the Constitution provides
for all citizens: they exercised their First Amendment rights to speak
out on an issue that concerned them, make contributions to a cause that
they support, and then vote in the regular electoral process. For the
most part, this seems to have been done in an open, fair, and civil
way. Opponents of 8 have accused supporters of being bigots, liars, and
worse.
Awkward is finding out halfway through your planning date for the ladies' choice dance, that your choice has an ex-girlfriend with which he broke up yesterday. Who is sitting at the next table, within his sightlines.
Awkward is having a hanger-on at the dance which followed the planning date, who is a nice guy but whose conversation has no pause button, even after (semi-jokingly?) being told that you're on a date with someone else.
Awkward is excusing yourself from the conversation with the hanger-on (after spending a reasonable amount of time indulging his desire to converse) and returning to your date, only to have him turn his back on you.
To dance with the ex-girlfriend.
Yeah. I'm not so good at this dating thing.
I nuked my old LiveJournal today and started fresh.
A good few years of posts, hidden behind a white screen and gone completely in 30 days.
Why? Primarily because I was sick to death of the dramafest it had become. I'm pretty sure that I'm surrounded by toddlers disguised as adults, and for some reason nobody seems to get that when I plaster a post with completely silly terminology and smiley faces, I'm bloody well JOKING.
So I decided, forget it. It's time for serious writing time, and that's it.
Most of my writing will be here from here on in. I'm not entirely sure who will read it - the nice thing about LJ is that it's all conglomerated in a pretty little RSS feed so they don't have to leave the comfort of their LJ environment. Or blogspot, as relates to family. But I restarted an LJ which will be friends-only, for the purpose of reconnecting with the slight few who act their age as well as for connecting with some of the communities that can only be found there.
I will likely copy entries from here over there, actually. Who knows, maybe I'll be spotlighted someday.
I also want to take more pictures and showcase them. I want to make my journal(s) an actual piece worthy of viewing by the intelligent public, as if it/they were being submitted for grading in a Comm/English/Design/etc. class. I've decided what time I spent in front of the comp should be quality time.
I'll be minimizing the info from others that I read; I'll look at some photo comms and some "journals with a purpose" (like recipe communities) but it became so easy to make LJ a giant time-waster that I wasn't getting nearly enough sleep.
Speaking of... it's 1:15 in the morning. I have a photo contest to shoot for in the morning. Night, loveys :)
If you had to give up one of your favorite foods, which one would it be?
Oh, man. Honestly, I should be giving up a lot of my favorite foods. I am NOT a healthy eater. I'm working on it though.
My guilty pleasure at the moment isn't a food; it's a drink. Coke, to be specific. Seeing as it's completely vile from a health point of view, and contrary to the health code of my faith, it's something I would be very wise to ditch.
However, said ditching causes grumpiness, caffeine headaches (or lack-thereof headaches) and the desire to sneak away and drown myself in a litre bottle. Sigh.
Little by little, a day at a time.
What first attracted you to the person you're currently dating?
Can I get an L O L??!!
How about his sheer invisibility. His non-responsiveness when I call his (nonexistent) name. His ability to just.. not be detected. :P
Now that I'm done being a smart... :P What attracts me to the people I'd LIKE to date?
One makes me feel amazing about myself. He calls me "pretty girl" or variations thereon. He's unobtrusive, but very kind. He's clearly intelligent and has a variety of life experience, and he seems to be an all around good guy. Now, whether he's equally as kind with all of the women in the room, I'm not sure. I certainly haven't seen it yet. (but yes, that'd make a difference.).
The other is just an absolute spiritual ROCK. He changed my life and now he's changing the lives of others. He was gentle and unassuming, but there when you needed him, and he'd kick your tushie if you deserved it - either verbally to put you in line, or physically using martial arts. I think that even if he and I don't end up dating, he will be a standard against which I test my intended suitors.
You may all "awwwwwwwwwwwwwww" now.
So I just finished my first major project related to my promotion at work. It was a gong show, but I think it went really well.
I was assisting the supervisor in charge of Customer Service Week, which is an industry wide excuse to balloon-and-streamer the heck out of your office (not so much with the streamers, for us) and wear funny clothes (no really - we had Crazy Hat, Tacky Tourist, Safari, Beach and Jersey Days) and play games and give out prizes and eat copious amounts of food.
It's actually kinda humorous that the colors of Customer Service Week really resemble those of one of the Big Three political parties - the smallest of those three. But the CS Week organizers are in the States, so I'm mostly sure it's just a big coincidence.
I really saw polarizations between the personalities of some of my coworkers. I was really enthusiastic and got into the idea of boosting morale, piggin' out and competing for prizes. One coworker complained that the office shouldn't become a "romper room", another insinuated that suspicion would arise if the judges for a particular contest were only from this-department and not from that-department. (Truth be known, we had comments from one guy from that-department and a lady from unknown-unrelated-department that were also taken into consideration. So no, no bias.). Sadly none of the sources of the negativity surprised me, be they due to individual personality quirks or tendencies on particular circadian rhythm (and therefore a certain shift).
I definitely learned to pick my battles. If a certain person doesn't like you personally, they won't be willing to help you in even the tiniest of capacities. Some people apparently care more about nitpicking about your wording in an email rather than ANSWERING IT with the requested information. Some people care more about the prizes than the participation.
On the flipside, you wouldn't believe the INCREDIBLE spread we had for the potluck - we have big long islands in our kitchen spaces and in this one the island was full, as were a few small tables and a ton of counter space. We invited 3 or 4 other departments to come nosh and STILL had a ton of extra left over.
The only real shortcoming I saw was a shortage of food from our ordered Chinese on the first day, but I wasn't involved in the ordering so I wash my hands of it. ;)
All in all, I'd say it was mostly a success, and I'm looking forward to next year's shenanigans. I just hope some of my cohorts get into it a little more. And I think that none of the spoilsports should be allowed to come to the Christmas party.
:P
I'll try to write more again soon. Every couple of days at least.
[sorry kids, it's been a little bit. The last week or so has contained a bit of upheaval. I'm trying to post more regularly.]
Do any of you watch America's Next Top Model? What's your take on the eligibility of Isis, who was born a man and is transitioning? Let it first be said that my thinking on this has NOTHING to do with her choice of lifestyle and its potential collision with the beliefs of my religion. I'm more put off by the artificiality of her beauty. Was she born with that hair? Probably not. Was she born with lips that big? Um, don't think so. I would love to see a male model on ANTM... but theoretically Isis has eliminated someone who was BORN with female qualities (speaking STRICTLY of physicality - please don't misunderstand me here!) and the question has to come to mind whether that is fair to the other person. It seems that Isis has the most potential in that she moves very well with the camera. But I'm very curious to know what your take is.
Interestingly enough, Isis wasn't the first not-100%-female contestant to enter the show, and she was disqualified. HMMM.
Ratings ploy much?
In spirit of Labor Day, what are some things you love about your job?
Chill corporate culture. The fact that skills and abilities are recognized beyond simple numbers and statistics. The fact that management goes to great lengths to recognize and appreciate the employees. Flexibility of hours, good pay.
Really, everything you need for a great job.
What's your favorite thing about Sunday?
Church!
If you're inclined to make an atheist or non-"cult" or anti-ritual or WHATEVER comment, button it now. Some of the atheists I have the pleasure of calling new friends are far more intense "zealots" than I have ever been as a member of a faith that IS more die-hard.
You can't deny that coming into the company of good-hearted friends, solemn and sacred music, learning about the amazing possibilities and rewards that come of a life of faithful service and shutting out the noisome influences of the world for a few hours a week IS a source of serenity and a rejuvenation for the week to come.
Even as someone plagued by a serious episode of social anxiety this week, I was rewarded for dragging myself out of bed and getting dressed and getting out to church by an amazing service, a personal revelation that will likely cause me a lot of upheaval (more on that later) and a general sense of bien-être that might even last me till tomorrow ;) hehe.
So there you have it. Church.
O, well, thank`s for the article that you wrote your article. A lot of time I was trying to find... read more
on argh! fall is upon us, and this new routine is a beast.