Hey All… Allow me to step up onto this soap box here for a second. Ok, there we go.

There’s an important piece of legislation that has been introduced into the House of Representatives. It’s officially called “H.R. 2981: To prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity” but most people will know it by its short title, “Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009.” It’s currently in committee, so there may or may not be much that you can do, depending on your Representative’s committee assignment. HOWEVER, please do call or write your Representative anyway and show them that you support the bill.

Now.. You’re probably wondering, what all this bill does, and asking “wait, aren’t those groups already protected under current discrimination laws?” Well to answer the second question first, it’s a simple, No, they’re not. So yes, if you do not live in one of the states that has a local ENDA, you can be fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. Stupid, no? Join The Impact has a good summary, too, as to what this bill does:

ENDA will add sexual orientation and gender identity to pre-existing employment non-discrimination laws. ENDA is such a common sense idea that most people believe it is already illegal to fire someone for being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender. While there are already 12 states and 100 localities that protect 40 percent of the population, millions are still at risk.

This is an important bill that needs to pass, and is going to require pressure from constituents to make sure that Representatives (and in the future, Senators, though nothing has been introduced there yet,) to pass it. Oh, one other important point….any version that passes needs to be INCLUSIVE to all, as it stands right now. A similar bill had been introduced to the last Congress, however, it only covered sexual orientation, and not gender identity, which is something that also needs to be on the list of protections. (And no, gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation, but that is beyond the scope of this post.)

Anyway, here’s some links for you to find out more information:

Text of the bill
Act NOW to support ENDA!
UnitedENDA
President Obama’s support for the bill

*steps off soapbox*

Technorati Tags: civil rights, ENDA, gender, gender identity, politics, sexual orientation

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Posted in Commentary, Political

Today is a day that has been lurking for many years. Ana has faithfully served us for nearly 70 years, but after many years of talking about it, and through last minute mind changing, she finally retires today. When you look back at her long career, you have to take a minute and think of all the things she’s seen. A few wars, good times for the country, bad times for the country, major historical events in the world. She has a wealth of history that will soon be just that. From her start when she only had two colors in her wardrobe, to the 50’s when she started to add to it, even though the outfits never quite looked the same each time she wore them, she’s been through a lot.

Now, I would like to introduce you to her successor, this scrappy young lad, Digi Tal. You might recognize her, because she’s been training for this day around here since the late 1990’s. While she might not be as reliable as Ana, she promises to do just as good of a job at serving the public as Ana has. So please, welcome Digi into her new, enhanced role.

So with that, I would like a big round of applause for Ana Log. And if she’ll step forward, I would like to present her with this gold watch for her many years of service.

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Posted in Commentary, Geek, Television

Part of the problem with letting the blog sit for a month or so between posts is that I amass a bunch of bookmarks of stuff that I want to make comments about.  For example, I currently have 3 articles that have been sitting around waiting for me to comment on. 

Anyway… Let’s respond to them all in one post, shall we?

#1: “NBC’s Zucker: ‘Seinfeld’ wouldn’t make it today“

CNet’s Ina Fried wrote a blog column late last month detailing NBC CEO Jeff Zucker’s appearance at the “D: All Things D” conference. Now, this is not so much a response to her (frankly, it’s not, I’m a fan of her blog and all she did was present facts here) as it is to Jeff Zucker (who I’m not a fan of.)

I completely disagree with Jeff Zucker because he is not looking at the whole picture. He’s comparing 1990 TV with 2009 TV and stating that Seinfeld couldn’t exist. Well, maybe, but 2009 TV has something that 1990 TV didn’t have: Hulu. We’ve seen this already, that Hulu, and DVR, plus to some-extent the “back-end” sales of DVDs are being weighed now in deciding to renew shows as much as their weekly Nielsen ratings. It’s why one of my favorite shows of the last television season, Dollhouse, was able to get renewed for 13 more episodes by Fox. While they didn’t do stellar on TV (hello, why do you schedule things like this on Friday night when no-one is watching?!?!) I’ve seen that the renewal was ordered because of the DVR and Hulu performance. (I however, have since lost the link to the article in which I read that, unfortunately.)

Now, he did briefly mention Hulu, and iTunes, however, he made one of the same damn stupid arguments I keep hearing: “trading analog dollars for digital pennies.” The only reason they’re digital pennies is because you’re trying to sell to old-school advertisers who have no idea how to market online. You’re trying to take the TV method of selling, where you sell to a broad demographic who is watching the shows online, rather than selling to the hyper-targeted methods that you can get from selling online. And they’re “pennies” compared to TV because, well, you’ve been overcharging for your TV ad time for some time now. Though, what they fail to see, is that given that you can hyper-target online ads, you can better serve your advertisers!

One other Hulu note:

Asked about Hulu’s efforts to keep its service off TV sets, Zucker said: “Right now we are committed to Hulu being an online experience. That’s where our vision is today. That will continue.”

Yeah…and I’m still gonna run it on a computer hooked to my TV if I want to. Though, I’ve been lately watching Hulu in a small window in the corner of my screen as I’m doing other stuff on the iMac.

#2: “Uniting American Families Act Advances“

From what I can tell, this seems to be a fairly awesome act that is working its way through the slow processes of government. The bill is the “Uniting American Families Act, a bill that would allow lesbian and gay citizens to sponsor their partners for residency in the United States.” I have a few friends who this would apply to and fully support them being able to sponsor their partner for citizenship! Let’s hope this gets to Obama’s desk soon!

#3: “Nevada Overrides Veto of Domestic Partnership Bill“

Hey look at that, Nevada took a step in the right direction. It’s not full equality for friends of mine, but it’s a victory in the overall larger war for equal rights. Go Nevada! By the way: Quote win by the blog post’s author, Ed Brayton: “Since it’s not exactly the same as gay marriage, the sanctity of all those drunken marriages performed at 3 am in Las Vegas is still preserved.”

Ok. I think I’m not caught up on all the blog posts I needed to comment on. I’m hoping to get this thing back into regular mode at some point. I’ve just not felt like writing, though.

-Adam

Technorati Tags: civil rights, Commentary, gay marriage, Television

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Posted in Commentary