Gay + Republican; Possible?

I ran across an interesting article in Outlook: Columbus today while on the bus home. It was discussing the new changes to the Log Cabin Republicans, and the apparent “New Face” Meghan McCain brought starting back in April.

In case you didn’t know, back in April Meghan McCain (daughter of presidential nominee John McCain) was the keynote speaker at the annual Log Cabin Republican Convention and Liberty Education Symposium. This was quite a shock to me, as, like most people, I find it very hard for someone who is homosexual to also be a Republican. Let alone the fact a McCain supported them.

This got me to thinking, first, is it possible to be gay and republican? And second, with the log cabin republicans being around for 30+ years, why is the GOP still the “anti-gay” party?

Well, the article brought something else to my attention that I was not aware of. The Log Cabin Republicans split in the same month that McCain gave her landmark speech. Yes, as Outlook put it “it’s the split of a super minority, or a minority within a minority…” which is true when you think about it. Not only are homosexuals in the great minority (less than 10% of the U.S population according to some studies), gay republicans are in an even greater minority. And for that to split? Doesn’t make much sense does it?

Well actually it does. In the 30+ years of the LCP’s existence, the view and action taken by the Republican party has yet to be swayed. Their initial function was to educate, and help change the anti- gay polices established, which they view as “not a political problem, but a humanitarian issue; discrimination against gays in marriage, work, and the military is a hindrance on their liberty and pursuit of happiness.” Okay, that makes sense to me. But like I stated before, and as we’ve seen with the resent passing of Prop. 8, and other polices just as “Don’t ask, don’t tell” (The main reason I still to this day refuse to fulfill my childhood dream of being in the Air Force) just further show that focusing on changing the ideas of the GOP has not worked. In light of this, the new “Log Cabin’s” or GOProud, as the group is called, aims to go straight to Washington, focusing on changing the polices and laws put in place right at their source.

Again this makes sense, if you can’t change the ideas, change the laws right? Well, this might not go over well either. Again look at California, home of arguably the gay capital of the world, passing Prop 8. So if you can’t change the laws and you can’t change the beliefs, what can you do?

One word. Democrat.

Actually, even that’s not true. There are many democrats I’m very close friends with who actually don’t agree with being gay at all. However, the respect them as they are and don’t help further the issue.

So is it possible to be gay and be republican? Well yes, it is, but don’t expect the progressive ideas that Meghan McCain has expressed to be in the overwhelming majority. In an interview after her speech in April, she was quoted as saying:

“If anyone is still confused, let me spell it out for you. I believe life begins at conception and I believe that people who fall in love should have the option to get married.”

Now if the LCP and GOProud can get the majority of the GOP to echo these words, maybe, just maybe, it will become easier on Log Cabin Republicans, GOProud Republicans, and homosexuals alike.

Facebook Slowly Becoming Twitbook

Facebook has recently unveiled entirely new privacy options, allowing users to post their status updates in a similar fashion to twitter. This actually has come as no suprise, considering Facebook has already been making “tweet like” changes since back when the home page became a status update stream.

However, now they’ve moved beyond just looking like twitter, they’ve become almost exactly like twitter. Announced yesterday, Facebook users now have three different options when posting status updates. You may:

1.Share you status updates to everyone on facebook, allowing them to be indexed by search engines (Similar to the open system used by twitter)

2.Share you status updates only with friends, and keep them private from everyone else, including search engines (Similar to protected updates on twitter)

3.Share you status updates with only select groups, which would be like @reply someone on twitter (As only other following that person shall see the tweet)

In addtion, users will be able to become a “fan” of someone’s profile page, allowing them to see their status updates and such, without that person having to reciprocate the action. I’m not even going to comment on that.

Here’s my problem with the new features, it’s EXACTLY LIKE TWITTER! There is a purposeful reason why I use Facebook, to connect with friends, collegues, and to keep them updated on different events I encounter, like Facebook says on their homepage. I like Facebook because it allows me what Myspace couldn’t, an online platform to share and talk with only my friends and not have to worry about eveyone on the interent having access to my drunken party photos. In fact, this is how Facebook built itself as a service, the privacy options that it offered over it compaterior Myspace. It saddens me to see Facebook slowly turning into something it’s not.

Fourtanlty, these new features have yet to be released, as Facebook is still testing it with some 60,000 users. However, they should rollout soon, much to the dismay of alot of people.

Blog Revamp

If you’ve noticed, I haven’t been giving as much attention to my blog as I should. This is due in part to the fact I use twitter as my main outlet to “blog” if you will and due to other projects I’m doing. However, I’ve made the decision to return to my main blogging platform, so expect to see big changes. The first of which, and most obviously, is the blog layout. I feel this is a more accurate display of what I’d like to accomplish with my blog, simple, elegant, and a solid platform in order to share interesting and useful content. In addition, there will be changes to the content I will cover, no longer solely technology and finance, but also other subject related to social media, the Internet, and other next generation subjects. Stay tuned as VirginIncVuture grows and expands.

AIG Execs Leave a Less Than Golden Parachute

Today, after the problems surrounding the 165 Million (Yes, that’s million) spent on bonuses for executives for the insurance agency, AIG, eleven of the execs under suspicion have stepped down. The news is new and details are scarce but it’s safe to say the reason for them leaving is closely related to the recent congress action to tax the bonuses given out. Democrats in the Senate and House were outraged when last week, AIG gave out over 165 million dollars in bonuses to their top execs. “Recipients of these bonuses will not be able to keep all of their money,” declared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the beginning motions to tax every dollar. “If you don’t return it on your own we will do it for you,” said Chuck Schumerof New York. This is only the beginning in what may become a string of resignations by company execs who are still trying to live it up, while their companies fail. This will only stop once these men (and women) realize that you can’t profit when you’re company is suffering. Basic economics teaches that, maybe these people need to go back to school, as they seem to have forgotten.

Stock Maret Soars After Citigroup News

Tuesday Citigroup, one of the top banks in America, reported finally turning a profit in January and February. Now usually, I’d say this is great news. Obama plan is working and the banks are recovering. But in reality what I see is banks starting to hit rock bottom. Citigroup has continuously showed losses for almost a year. Excuse me if two months of earnings does not make me want to jump up and buy. As of 2:12pm today, the Nasdaq has risen 75.60 points or 5.94%. The Dow has risen 4.5% and the S&P 500 has risen 5.23%. Again, this is a double edged sword. Is Citigroup going to continue this upwards trend? I doubt it. In the next couple months they will show a loss and the stock market will fall even worse than it has lately. Our financial market is in serious trouble and it’s going to take much more than two months of earnings to turn this around. We need at least a year of steady profits to confidently say “We’ve beaten it.” Expect more coverage in the future.