Back in February, Congress was deliberating about the economic stimulus package that President Obama had put together. If you remember, Republicans were questioning the amount of wasteful spending that Obama had included in the spending. The other night I read about some government funding that made me very angry.

Did you know that the government is paying millions of TAXPAYER MONEY to study PROSTITUTES??

No, really... They are!

The National Institute of Health (NIH) apparently does many studies that are prostitute-related. One such study is about surveying 60 prostitutes (36 women, 24 transgendered) in Thailand to find out why drug-abusing Thai prostitutes are at greater risk of HIV-infection.

The cost? $178,000. And the hookers aren't even in the USA!

I can answer that question for FREE! The hookers are high and they don't use condoms because they make more money without them! I would also imagine that they are sharing needles because it is cheaper. Did they really need all that money to find that out?

Another study they did was study gay men in Argentina to find out why they engage in risky sexual behavior when drunk.

Could it be because they are DRUNK? I've seen first hand what drunk people do in bars, they didn't need to go to Argentina to figure it out.

Oh, and that study cost $400,000.

The most infuriating thing I read was that the NIH spent $2.6 MILLION to teach prostitutes in CHINA to drink less while having sex on the job! I don't blame them for drinking ... I would imagine being drunk or high would make it easier to do something that you hate doing too. Apparently, they did this to slow down the spread of AIDS in China.

But why are they using OUR hard-earned taxes to pay for all this (and much more) in OTHER COUNTRIES? Many watchdog groups have published articles about stuff like this ... Why isn't it being fixed?

In what is shaping up to be the "year of the gay" - we may have another milestone for gay people everywhere.

No, Hugh Jackman is NOT coming out of the closet.

It has been announced by The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and numerous law blogs that a lesbian woman is on the list of possible replacements for retiring Justice David Souter. Stanford Law School professor Kathleen Sullivan, widely considered one of America’s top constitutional scholars, is believe to be on the "short list" of possible nominees.

Sullivan is the Founder and Director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center and was Dean of the Law School from 1999 until 2004. It is widely believed that President Obama would like to appoint a woman to the highest court seeing as there is currently only one female Justice.

Would be nice to see her get the spot!

Apparently, impeached Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich apparently loves the spotlight a little too much to give it up. I read on USA Today's website that he is supposedly going to be writing a book now that he has been kicked out on his ass. What in the world could this guy write a book about? How NOT to govern? Somehow I think it will be a pop-up book or as my friend Donna said, he will be using crayons to write it. I would love to know who would buy a book written by him in the first place.

I found this over on the Towleroad website. I think this is a hilarious piece of art. Those featured as passengers on the ark are Ellen Degeneres & Portia DeRossi, Rosie O'Donnell & wife Kelli, Bert & Ernie, Brokeback Mountain's Jack & Ennis and Elton John & David Furnish. I was surprised that the artist left out Harvey Milk! Meanwhile, anti-gay propagandists and sinners are among those drowning in the sea. You'll notice Fred Phelps and his Westboro Church signs in there as well as Larry Craig, Pat Boone's guitar (he was a supporter of Prop 8), Ann Coulter and others. The painting, by artist Paul Richmond, was created for a gallery show called “Sweet & Low: Optimism in a Pessimistic Age” at Gallery Arcane in San Francisco.

Yes, Senator Koering, the economy is a pressing issue. That does not mean gay rights should be tabled! Openly gay MN Senator Paul Koering decided this week to NOT support a marriage equality measure in Minnesota because they are more important issues and we shouldn't be wasting time on these type of "pointless issues." I agree that the economy is an issue that needs to be worked on - but there are more than ONE issue on the table.

An aide to Koering sent out a blanket email to people who had e-mailed or phoned the Senator about his decision. One thing really stuck out to me in this email. His aide says the following : "do you honestly believe that {the people in the district] would say to you, 'Yes, please, waste the time of the State Legislature with a piece of legislation that will not help, but in fact, overshadow the current situation we're living in? Please, waste their time with this piece of legislation while I tell my son and daughter that mom and dad aren't hungry tonight?"

Well, I didn't realize that him taking 2 minutes to vote on an issue of EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL PEOPLE would somehow take so much time away from working on the economy that people would starve. Also, does he know for sure that the majority of people in his district wouldn't want him to vote yes on this issue? Something tells me he hasn't ask them for their take on it. Forget him being gay. That's not the issue here. The issue is that this bill, and others like it, would help a large percentage of Americans EQUAL to the rest.

So, here are some words for Senator Koering to think on - words from the great statesman, Harvey Milk ...

"Somewhere in Des Moines or San Antonio, there is a young gay person who all of a sudden realizes that she or he is gay. Knows that if the parents find out they’ll be tossed out of the house. The classmates will taunt the child and the Anita Bryants and John Briggs are doing their bit on TV, and that child has several options: staying in the closet, suicide. . . and then one day that child might open up the paper and it says, “homosexual elected in San Francisco,” and there are two new options. One option is to go to California. . . OR stay in San Antonio and fight. You’ve got to elect gay people so that that young child and the thousands upon thousands like that child know that there’s hope for a better world. There’s hope for a better tomorrow."

Well, we have homosexuals elected to all levels of government. Where is the fight though? There are still places where gays can be denied renting apartments. They can be denied the right to adopt children in dire need of a home. We still cannot marry the people we love. If that isn't a pressing issue Mr. Koering, I don't know what is. How come when women or blacks were being denied their rights it was something that needed swift justice but now it doesn't matter if homosexuals are being denied their rights? Maybe it doesn't matter to you, but it does to a lot of us. Also, normally I would applaud you for not letting your personal feelings guide you to vote against the wishes of the people, but when it is voting on something that results in people being denied basic rights maybe it is time to get personal.

Earlier this week I posted something from Joe.My.God regarding Utah state senator Chris Buttars and his homophobic remarks. He had compared gays to radical Muslims and cited them as "the greatest threat to America" he knows. Well Mr. Buttars, you've now learned that you cannot just say whatever you want and expect no consequences!

In the aftermath of these remarks, Buttars has been removed from his chairmanship of the state senate's judiciary committee. He has also been removed from the Senate Judicial Confirmation committee. Senate President Michael Waddoups made the announcement yesterday morning.

It's nice to see such a nice guy get what's coming to him. Hopefully when he is up for re-election, he will lose as well.

"Homosexuality will always be a sexual perversion. And you say that around here now and everybody goes nuts. But I don't care. They're mean. They want to talk about being nice. They're the meanest buggers I have ever seen. It's just like the Muslims. Muslims are good people and their religion is anti-war. But it’s been taken over by the radical side. What is the morals of a gay person? You can't answer that because anything goes. They're probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of." - Utah state Sen. Chris Buttars (R), speaking in the documentary, 8 - The Mormon Proposition.

The Utah television station reporting on the documentary says that Buttars goes on to describe a particular gay sexual act he claims is taking place, "but ABC 4 does not consider that appropriate for its news content."

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Rookie says ...

Is it me, or is this guy stuck in the 1950s? Gays are the greatest threat to America? Did he forget about 9/11?? Does he know about the Taliban or Osama? Something tells me he needs get out of Mormon Utah once in a while and see what's REALLY going on in this country and throughout the world. I also didn't realize that being gay means you are mean. Funny, I don't see gays targeting straight people are beating them or committing hate crimes against them. Gays aren't the ones denying heterosexuals the basic freedoms all Americans should have. But we are the means ones?

I think it is funny that Obama promised to cut the waste in Washington. He has repeatedly stated that there is a better way to spend taxpayers money and that he would put an end to government officials wasting our hard-earned dollars. Funny enough, the woman he appointed to be the butcher has resigned over tax issues. Two other cabinet nominations hadn't paid thousands of dollar in taxes. One was confirmed after ponying up the money and "apologizing for his oversight". The other, Tim Daschle, owed more than $100,000 in taxes and smartly withdrew his name from consideration. Hey President Obama - How can you appoint people to take care of our tax money when they aren't even responsible enough to pay their OWN taxes?

That brings me to the question of waste. Before I go there, let's not forget the "honesty" Obama has promised us with his administration. Oh yeah, we've seen plenty of that already. We all know the biggest issue right now is the economy. By now you've probably read a lot about the $819 billion economic stimulus package proposed by Obama and passed by the House. Thank goodness the Republicans can block this atrocity from passing in the Senate. Take a look at this:

These are just SOME of the wasteful inclusions in Obama's stimulus package. I was under the impression that the stimulus package is supposed to stimulate the economy and create JOBS. How does giving a tax break to movie producers for film stimulate the economy? We can't see their movies if we DON'T HAVE JOBS. Money to quit smoking? That will actually cost people at tobacco companies and retail outlets their jobs because people will be smoking less (Just playing devil's advocate here - I am 100% against smoking). I am not saying that none of these are legitimate things. They just have no business being in an economic stimulus package. They are just "pork" when included here - take up these issues somewhere else! Let's add these items up ....

13.3 BILLION dollars of waste. That's just for the items I named here in this posting. There are many more examples of complete wastefulness in the stimulus package. I would love to know how many of these are supposed to stimulate the economy or create jobs for us regular folks. Sure, interior designers and scientists will be okay under this deal but how about the rest of us?

So, President Obama, where is that frugality you promised us? Where is that honesty and integrity you said was missing in Washington and that you were going to bring to the White House? I hate to see what will happen in the rest of your term if this is how it is beginning. Please realize you are NOT delivering what you promised and change your tactics. We need you to.

OK. I have personally tried to keep politics off of my blog. But after hearing nothing on the news except for the inauguration, I feel like I should say something - whether people like it or not.

I personally am not in love with Obama. I think we should wait until he actually does something before people get so enamoured with him. I have news for you - it is not Obama himself everyone loves. It is the idea of change - of some sort of utopia that is supposedly going to happen when he becomes President.

I am not saying I don't like him or that I think he won't do great things. I just think it is more responsible of the American people to wait for him to do something - anything really - before granting him sainthood.