Saturday, December 13, 2003 - Apache Junction, Arizona, USA
Actual Date: June 4, 2004. I left the other so you could see how long I was away.
To All My Wondrous Readers:
YES! Your worst nightmare has come true. My blog is coming back!! Oh, I'm still writing for Bella Online For Women, but I've cut down from four sites to two. I bit off a li'l more than I could chew - even for my big mouth! Here's the list the sites I'll still be working on for Bella:
Gay/Lesbian Relationships Site
Southwest USA Site
So that's the story. I'll be starting up again soon. You won't see me everyday of the week, but mayhaps as many as two to three days at least. I'm looking forward to getting going again. I plan to be just as troublesome as always. More news, more abuse of my right wing good buddies, more gay/lesbian stuff, but most important - more FUN! You might even see a few articles on (echh) sports now and again.
Anyway, THANKS for reading my journal and sharing in a part of my life. And most of all, thanks for being YOU!! Hope to be seeing you here again very soon!!
That Happy Chica,
©2004 Marcia Ellen "Happy" Beevre
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A TRULY HAPPY HI d HEY!!
To All My Wondrous Readers:
YES! Your worst nightmare has come true. My blog is coming back!! Oh, I'm still writing for Bella Online For Women, but I've cut down from four sites to two. I bit off a li'l more than I could chew - even for my big mouth! Here's the list the sites I'll still be working on for Bella:
So that's the story. I'll be starting up again soon. You won't see me everyday of the week, but mayhaps as many as two to three days at least. I'm looking forward to getting going again. I plan to be just as troublesome as always. More news, more abuse of my right wing good buddies, more gay/lesbian stuff, but most important - more FUN! You might even see a few articles on (echh) sports now and again.
Anyway, THANKS for reading my journal and sharing in a part of my life. And most of all, thanks for being YOU!! Hope to be seeing you here again very soon!!
That Happy Chica,
©2004 Marcia Ellen "Happy" Beevre
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Thursday, December 11, 2003 - Apache Junction, Arizona, USA
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Everyone in Arizona knows about the illegal immigrants being smuggled into our state. Many of these people pay huge amounts of money to ‘runners’ to get them into our country as they seek a better way of life.
But did you know that Arizona is also a hub for human trafficking, people kidnapped in their own country and smuggled into the US against their will and made to work in our country in massage parlors, restaurants, factories, fields, as nannies, maids, or prostitutes, for as little as $30.00 a week and forced to pay their captors never ending fees reaching thousands of dollars to earn their freedom? It seems slavery still exists.
Traffickers recruit in countries where woman and children are still considered property, or there is an unequal status for women as compared to men. Victims are either kidnapped, sold, or promised good jobs or marriage by recruiters. When they reach this country, they suffer under inhumane conditions and are forced to work in order to pay back exurbanite recruiting fees and travel fees with interest rates as high as 50%.
Because of Arizona’s proximity to the Mexican boarder, our state is used as an entrance point for traffickers. Their human cargo is then shuttled to large cities across the US.
The Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking (ALERT) has been formed by local police and volunteers with the help of a one million dollar federal grant to fight the problem of human trafficking. ALERT will try to provide a way out by publishing a phone number that victims can call to obtain help. However, this is a sizable challenge.
ALERT’s hotline number is: 1-877-76ALERT.
©2003 Marcia Ellen "Happy" Beevre
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Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - Apache Junction, Arizona, USA
BUSY BUSY BUSY
To All My Wondrous Readers:
I’ve kinda sorta took yesterday and today off. I’ve been asked to join the staff of Bella Online – The Voice of Women as Host for their Gay/Lesbian Relationships site. I’ll be tied up getting my new house in order.
Anyway, this is a kewl opportunity for me. My site will sponsor a newsletter, a chat forum and a message forum. Sounds like a lot of work, but as I’ll be getting my new monitor sometime soon, I’ll be up for it. By they by, if anyone would like to help with the chat/msg board thingie or work with me on the newsletter, I’d welcome the help. Email me at gaylesbian@bellaonline.com.
Anyway, just a quick note to let y’all know what’s going on. I'll be back tomorrow!!
That Happy Chica,
Marcia Ellen
©2003 Marcia Ellen "Happy" Beevre
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Monday, December 08, 2003 - Apache Junction, Arizona, USA
PONDERING OUR FUTURE
Arizona is getting a 2nd chance to prove it’s run by true Americans again and not by discriminating bigots.
Remember my articles about Don Standhardt and Tod Keltner, two phoenix gays that sued Arizona for the right to marry? They lost their trial but now have filed their appeal to the Arizona state Supreme Court today. Considering the conservative Repubo makeup of that court, the decision stands about as much chance to be overturned as a snowball in the Sonoran Desert.
“Why fight it?” you may ask. Aside from the obvious, they love each other, here’s why it’s unconstitutional for Arizona to keep these guys from marrying:
- In Arizona, ONLY a married couple may JOINTLY adopt a child.
- If a child of a gay parent is orphaned, the non-custodial partner would have no legal claim to the child. It would be put up for adoption or put in foster care.
- If the non-custodial partner dies, their property is NOT legally transferable to either the partner or any children.
- If the relationship ever dissolved, gay partners have no rights to community property, or child or spousal support.
- Gay couples have no right to make decisions for their partner if he or she is incapacitated, not even through a notarized affidavit.
- There are more than 1,000 federal statutes, in which marital statutes is a factor. Gays are supported by none of them.
The Arizona case is interesting as it’s the first case that raises federal constitutional issues. This means that when (not if, unfortunately) the Arizona Supreme Court rules against the plaintiffs, they will probably take the issue to the Supreme Court of the United States. There, they will get a fair shake.
I have been pleasantly surprised at how the Arizona Republic has handled this situation. Usually a conservative voice, they have been 100% behind the establishment of gay marriage as constitutional. The great majority of articles they’ve published have dealt shown the human rights issues of this fight clearly.
Thank you, Republic !
©2003 Marcie Ellen “Happy” Beevre
©2003 Marcia Ellen "Happy" Beevre
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Sunday, December 07, 2003 - Apache Junction, Arizona, USA
THE NEW CRAZE
Move over CB radios, large screen TVs and portable CD players, Americans have discovered a new MUST-HAVE toy – the cell phone camera. For joy, for joy! Why am I not excited about this new piece of technology? I like my privacy and I’m not alone.
Retailers anticipate millions of dollars in sales of these new gadgets over the upcoming Christmas holidays. Prices are dropping faster than a brick through water. What does this mean for you and I? No matter where you are, no matter who you’re with, no matter what you’re doing – someone could be taking your picture, which could immediately be uploaded to a web site for viewing. And they don’t need your permission to do it.
The law, as it stands, says that if you’re in a public place you have no expectation of privacy. Therefore you are an open target to these voyeur fanatics who enjoy making fun of other people or worse, posting indecent photographs onto porno web sites. It’s the same law that permits the paparazzi to harass Hollywood stars in public. Now the shoe is on the our own foot. There are already mumblings in city and state courts concerning banning cell phones in public bathrooms and other public areas. Corporate America is also jumping on the bandwagon. Many large corporations are prepared to ban cell phones in the workplace, fearing law suites, corporate espionage, or worse.
In the past, very few people aside from professional photographers carried a camera with them. They are bulky and a hassle to use. Cell cameras have changed that. Almost everyone carries a cell phone so cam phones make it easy to take candid pictures. It’s very difficult to tell if someone is simply yakking on a cell or snapping your photograph. Think about the ramifications of this to you and your family.
There is a flip side to this if you own one of these dandy li'l devices. You might be taking pictures of birds in the park (well, really you have your eye on that blonde who's forgetting to keep he knees together) when all of a suddon you're confronted by her boyfriend who yanks your expensive toy from your eye and smashes it to the sidewalk, threating physical harm to you in the process. But this is rare. Usually it's the innocent that get thrashed by this new technology.
So next time you lose your cool in public or do something silly, romantic, or angry, remember to smile. You could end up on someone’s web site.
©2003 Marcia Ellen "Happy" Beevre
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