Congrats, Julie and Tomkin!

Hooray for Julie and Tomkin! Their wedding ceremony yesterday was beautiful, touching, heartfelt, perfect. I was honored to be a part of it.

Much to my dismay, my camera battery died early on. But here are a couple of shots from the day.

The happy couple. More brides should wear red.


Me and Julie.


Kerri and Emma -- Emma's first wedding!

And in closing, let me just say, "Ella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh."

Leaving on a jet plane, as long as my flight isn't canceled

I'm off to St. Paul for Julie's wedding! Think good travel thoughts for me.

Update: Monique Davis Apologizes to Sherman

Rob Sherman reports on his website that Monique Davis called him to apologize.

That took courage, but it was the right thing to do. Thank you, Representative Davis.

My Letter to Illinois State Representative Monique Davis

Representative Monique D. Davis
1234 West 95th Street
Chicago, IL 60643
773-445-9700
773-445-5755 (fax)

Dear Representative Davis,

I was shocked, saddened, and disgusted by your recent comments to Illinois citizen and activist Rob Sherman as he testified before the House State Government Administration Committee. You stated, among other things, that because Mr. Sherman is an atheist, he believes in destroying what this state is built on.

Representative Davis, I'm writing to you as a mother, an Illinois citizen, and an atheist. I love my family, I love my community, I love Illinois, and I love America. I believe in building a better future for all of our children. And I believe in teaching my children to accept that everyone in this great nation gets to choose for themselves what they believe when it comes to God. I am appalled to discover that members of my own state legislature view me as a second-class citizen.

You're right, Representative Davis: This is the Land of Lincoln, where all citizens, even our greatest historical figures, are free to reject religion. Would you have spewed the same vitriol at Abraham Lincoln?

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma." -- Abraham Lincoln

The United States was founded by people who valued religious freedom. Have we as a nation strayed so far from those values that even our elected officials think it's appropriate and just to attack those who hold a different set of beliefs?

Representative Davis, you need to recognize your intolerant hate speech for what it is and apologize to Mr. Sherman and all American atheists. Your statements prove that religious discrimination is alive and well in the Illinois legislature. Please take another look at your words, see the error of your ways, and work with us to end religious discrimination.

Sincerely,

Kelly J. Wright

Friends, if you believe in freedom of religion and reject religious discrimination, and especially if you're an Illinois citizen, please send your own letter to Representative Davis. She needs to hear this message loud and clear.

Illinois State Legislator Attacks Atheists

Friends, this makes me angry.

Metalheads

Oh, dear.

Dick Dawkins In the House

I don't know whether any of you have been following the madness surrounding the wacko Expelled movie. If not, you're probably better off. Still, I thought this video was downright hilarious.

Penn was robbed.

That is all.

Vote for Penn!

Vote for Penn! Vote for Penn! Vote for Penn!

Why I won't vote for John McCain

A selection of some of the reasons why I won't vote for John McCain, in no particular order:

1. That loan:

At issue is the fine print in the loan agreement between McCain and Fidelity Bank & Trust. McCain secured the loan using his list of contributors, his promise to use that list to raise money to pay off the loan and by taking out a life insurance policy.

But the agreement also said that if McCain were to withdraw from the public financing system before the end of 2007 and then were to lose the New Hampshire primary by more than 10 percentage points, he would have had to reapply to the FEC for public matching funds and provide the bank additional collateral for the loan.

Let me see if I get this straight: John McCain promised his lenders that he'd stay in the race so he could qualify for federal matching funds, which he could then use to pay off his loan, even if it became clear that he couldn't win the nomination. And this was before he surprised the nation with a string of primary wins.

So John McCain, desperate to revitalize his ailing campaign, was willing to pledge to use your taxes and mine to pay off his debts. This from a man who championed campaign finance reform? This from the man who supposedly saw the error of his ways after being caught up in the Keating Five scandal?

2. Waterboarding flip-flop:

So much for Sen. John McCain being a man of principle who stood up to the Bush Administration and fellow Republicans. Turns out, he too is just another politician hungry for votes.

. . . McCain voted against a Senate bill that would ban waterboarding and all forms of physical interrogation methods used by the CIA against terror suspects. The Senate passed the bill 51 to 45.

But McCain was singing a different tune only a few months ago.

I don't even know what to say about this. That a man who was a prisoner of war, who was tortured by his captors, can change his stance on waterboarding after years of calling it torture and saying it shouldn't be allowed -- what does this say about him? That he's willing to say anything to woo the base and win an election?

3. Karl Rove: Aside from the fact that Karl Rove is pure evil, I'm stunned that John McCain would be willing to work with the man who used vicious lies to destroy his bid for the presidency in the 2000 primaries.

4. John Hagee: John McCain actively sought and received an endorsement from the man who said this: "Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews."

And this: "I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that."

And this: "As millions of people anticipate the release of the latest Harry Potter book and film, we're reminded once again of Satan's ongoing attempt to deceive and destroy. The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult."

Uh, what??

I have plenty of other problems with John McCain, but those are a few of the biggies. Friends, John McCain is George W. Bush 2.0, and we all know where the last seven years of that kind of leadership has landed us. More of the same? No, thanks.