damn the muse

Law firms are allegedly discriminating against homosexuals in New York. At least that's what one gay attorney at a high-end firm is claiming, and he wants to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.

Charney claims that one of the firm's partners, Eric Krautheimer, threw a document at his feet and told him to "bend over and pick it up — I'm sure you like that" and that partner Alexandra Korry falsely accused him of "carrying on an 'unnatural' homosexual relationship with another male S&C associate," according to court documents.

The actual article seems quite suspicious of Mr. Chaney, and his alleged abuse at the hands of these "Partners." After all, in order to make Partner at a firm it's been well documented that one must sell one's soul to the devil. We are the legal profession, are we not? What's different here?

Then I remembered (as I'm writing this because I'm brilliant) that a certain David Lat aka the former Underneath Their Robes always has the inside goods on the legal profession. Always. Sure enough his blawg has all the breaking news on this lovely gem, Charney v. S&C. So far the advice is sound. Judge not until all is known.

Posted by yasmín at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here is the latest world news. Mexico City just passed a law allowing civil unions. Yes, that very same Mexico. Home of the stereotypical macho man who drinks tequila till dawn and expects the wife to have dinner ready every night when he comes home from work. He is the bread winner.

It's a Mexico that is more Americanized than I'd like. There are KFC's, Domino's, and Subway's in the smaller town now. When the taco stands begin to disappear, there will be an uproar. Picture an Irapuato without a Pingüino's or a Furber's. It's too scary to picture. My tongue is welling up with saliva just thinking of that fire roasted meat on real corn tortilla's...

Now it's a Mexico with a capital city that recognizes civil unions. The vote was 43 - 17, and all the members of incoming President Calderon's party disapproved.

La Sociedad en Convivencia la podrán establecer dos personas de diferente o del mismo sexo, que sean mayores de edad, aunque no se podrán apegar a esta figura los parientes consanguíneos en línea recta sin límite de grado o colaterales hasta en cuarto grado.

The law basically states that a civil union can occur between to people of either the opposite or same sex as long as they are of legal age (18 I assume). However, one can't enter into a civil union if it's a parent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt,or a cousin. Fifth cousins are allowed.

Posted by yasmín at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

And so it begins again, or perhaps it never ended. With the recent plane conspiracy that now makes liquids oh so threatening, the Brits are absolutely paranoid, and thanks to Bush I think we tie them in the melodrama department. This return to hysterics has led to the banning of all Middle Easterners and their look-alikes.

British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny - refusing to allow their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were forcibly removed...

The trouble in Malaga flared last Wednesday as two British citizens in their 20s waited in the departure lounge to board the pre-dawn flight and were heard talking what passengers took to be Arabic...

Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches...

The Monarch pilot - a highly experienced captain - accompanied by armed Civil Guard police and airport security staff, approached the two men and took their passports.

Half an hour later, police returned and escorted the two Asian passengers off the jet.

In Great Britain.

Here the official word would be something like, "It's all a matter of national security."

Then a few days later on the last page of the city's local newspaper there would be an apology for the blatant racial profiling. But who can blame Americans? Arabs tried to kill us. The next innocent looking one might be "it." Which is why they have all these security measures in place to prevent it, and if they fail, "oops".

No liquids. After all, water can kill, especially if you drink too much of it.

Via Boing Boing

Posted by yasmín at 9:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Welcome to MATT.org or Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together. It's a website that attempts to layout the facts and perceptions, and try to come to a comprise to the illegal immigration issue. At least that's what it's trying to do.

I became intrigued by MATT thanks to the commercials. In one they used a fair-skinned Hispanic male speaking in a perfect Spanish accent, and I felt a connection. Finally, there was someone like me, which may seem ridiculous to say, but it's rare. Except in my family of course.

After a few more commercials I visited the website yesterday, but I'm not sure if the website will succeed in the kind of discussion it wants to foster. The website was created by a Mexican American businessman with ties to the Republican party. However, the illegal immigration agenda is more of a bipartisan issue, and the website seems to at least try to include articles that take neither side. The minute men are not disparaged, and there is an honest effort to find a way to include the illegals without having to kick out all 12 million. The problem lies with the discussion forums.

As the site becomes more popular members of both sides of the immigration debate will go to the MATT forums, and there is no guarantee that any kind of discussion will occur. The forums are already becoming infested with members who are soley interested in causing conflict on both sides of the issue. If this is what MATT wanted, then it's not very constructive. As an interested member I'm looking for intelligent discussion, not someone who is going to sit there and insult my heritage and make presumptions (as an example).

I guess only time will tell.

Posted by yasmín at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"The Road to Guantanamo" just won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival. The film itself tells the tale of three innocent men who find themselves at G Town and their eventual release. Needless to say, the film probably doesn't say kind things about the good ole US of A. To make things a bit more interesting the actors playing these men were detained at the Luten airport and harassed under the Terrorism Act. All for the sake of international security I think.

Posted by yasmín at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's election day in Texas, and while there aren't any races today, there are tons of amendments. Some of them are just puzzling. Others make me cringe. The one that will make national news tomorrow will be Proposition 2, which defines marriage as strictly between a male and a female.

What is marriage anyway? Is it the union of two loving individuals who promise to be loyal to each other in sickness and in health till death do them part? Are husband and wife the only ones capable of acheiving this? Does God command it as such? If so then something must have happened somewhere because statistics show that people really don't respect the sanctity of marriage anymore. Till death do us part? It's more like, "till you bore me to death."

Sanctity of marriage.

Is this a fundamental right? Furthermore, these are unions made in churches blessed by priests. Surprisingly, it's a more religious movement that seems appalled to the whole idea that a male might be attracted to a male, a female attracted to a female. These same religious people can't even keep their own marriages in check. For whatever reason, adultery, disatisfaction, an arranged marriage, the point is that this so called union between a man and a woman really isn't as sacred as it used to be. And if it is, then the religious component should be kept out of it.

Marriages work and marriages fail, the gender shouldn't make a difference.

Posted by yasmín at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If Walmart's memos were laws, they'd be struck down for being overly broad. In the most recent one, the board has a series of suggestions geared at curtailing healthcare spending:

Among the recommendations are hiring more part-time workers and discouraging unhealthy people from working at Wal-Mart. In the memorandum, M. Susan Chambers, Wal-Mart's executive vice president for benefits, also recommends reducing 401(k) contributions and wooing younger, and presumably healthier, workers by offering education benefits. The memo voices concern that workers with seven years' seniority earn more than workers with one year's seniority, but are no more productive.

To discourage unhealthy job applicants, Ms. Chambers suggests that Wal-Mart arrange for "all jobs to include some physical activity (e.g., all cashiers do some cart-gathering)."

I wonder where this leaves the disABLED since by "healthier" it can be presumed that many of us might be excluded. We don't look healthy even though we are. It's the wheelchair you see. Sometimes those legs don't work, and well, the rest is history.

I see trouble for Walmart.

Posted by yasmín at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Apparently during my battle with Photoshop and css, I missed this thrilling bit of news. The California Senate passed a bill to allow same-sex marriage by a margin of 21 to 15. This would make it the second state in the nation to allow same-sex individuals to marry next to Massachusetts. Here, here.

Posted by yasmín at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Thirty Muslims were fired from Dell for praying at sunset. It was a hazard, an inconvenience, and frankly, it just wasn't right. Who would cover them at 7:20 today, 7:18 tomorrow, 6:55 the next day, or 7:05 later? Apparently accomodations for sunset prayer just aren't possible for the computer giant.

Via Wizbang

Posted by yasmín at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

When Vicente Fox was voted into office he promised change. Some of it has been bad, but some of it has been very good for Mexico. The last time I was there I saw more ramps and elevators. The disABLED were important, not just an afterthought, and so were the dozens of indigenous people who lived in the country. Now there's a new campaign that focuses on tolerence.

The campaign is part of a new law, signed by President Vicente Fox in June 2003, that outlaws several types of discrimination, including bias based on sexual preference. The law also requires federal agencies to launch campaigns to promote tolerance.

While gays and lesbians have experienced a growing acceptance within Mexican society, they still have a long way to go before obtaining full equal rights. And there are still occasional reports of attacks against transvestites and people suspected of being gay...

In one of the radio spots, a mother prepares dinner before her son brings his date home for the first time. She asks her son several questions about how long the two have been dating and the date's likes and dislikes.

Then, she asks, ``What's your date's name?''

``Oscar,'' her son replies, revealing to the audience that he is gay.

A narrator then says equality begins with acceptance of those who are different.

If anyone thinks, well they could do more. Frankly, this is a huge step for Mexico. It's a mostly male dominated society that is slowly changing, and stuff like this doesn't happen overnight. Does it even happen here? We're taught to be tolerant, yet you can't find it here either. There's more of an understanding, more of an acceptance. Homosexuality exists, but our government doesn't do enough to stop the discrimination.

Posted by yasmín at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)