For the first time in almost a year, I am now completely current in all of my bills. I have nothing outstanding, and still enough in my checking account for lunch. (Payday is Wednesday, so that’s not a worry.) Let’s see if I can go for two months in March!

One would think when a car is stuck in the snow in a parking lot, and a number of people have gathered to be an audience of sorts, that at least one person would offer the person help. One would think.

Illinois state Rep. Greg Harris of Chicago proposed a measure Thursday to make his state the second in the U.S. to recognize same-gender marriage.

Not civil union. Full civil marriage.

Openly-gay himself, Harris recognized from the start that it is an uphill battle to pass the bill, but he said he felt Illinois’ progressive track record in the Midwest poises it well for passing:

Illinois is a heartland state but has always been a leader in civil rights and social justice issues.

I’d almost buy that, if it wasn’t less than two years ago when the state finally passed a civil rights law protecting GLBT individuals from discrimination and hate crimes. I’d almost buy that if, rather than placing a moratorium on capital punishment, the state had banned the measure entirely.

Illinois doesn’t have a leadership track record, it has a record of maintaining the status quo. (Vote early and vote often comments aside.) The focus is on the state for now, as we wait to see how Obama does in the presidential race. Riding on the legacy of Lincoln has worn out. It’s time for some actual leadership to emerge. Is this Illinois’ time to shine?

Last week, Mayor Tom Barrett outlined a strategic, comprehensive transit plan for Milwaukee. In it, he proposed the following:

• A central hub, at the current Amtrak station, to transfer between city bus, circulator, commuter rail and Amtrak systems.
• COMET, a bus rapid transit (BRT) system with two lines serving places such as the Milwaukee Research Park, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Bayview, and Mitchell Airport. (See Kansas City MAX for an example of this type of system. It wasn’t bad when we used it to get around in 2005.)
• Light rail in the downtown CBD, on a circulator system connecting the Summerfest grounds, Midwest Airlines Center, Milwaukee Public Market and Third Ward, the Bradley Center and the lakefront.

The intermodal hub at the Amtrak station will also connect to KRM commuter rail to Kenosha and Racine, as well as Amtrak’s popular Hiawatha Line with frequent service to Chicago and also their Empire Builder with daily service between Chicago and Seattle.

Definitely Mayor Barrett’s proposal is new for Milwaukee, but many years overdue. The burdened Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is abysmal at best, making it difficult to attract and retain people in the inner-city area. In addition, more than 20% of Milwaukeeans do not own vehicles, and the current system is dependent upon park-n-ride lots and, according to an agent I called for assistance once, assumes riders have access to “other” transportation.

I am excited about this new transit initiative for the city; it will finish the development of a truly intermodal system (with the completion of the Marquette Interchange forthcoming) and spur more development and industry in the city.

The prestigious Newbery medallion went to “The Power of Lucky,” a book about a 10-year-old girl who is piecing together her scattered family. But this report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune paints a picture of a country gone mad:

Objections were first raised early this month on LM_NET, a listserv for media specialists nationwide, and reported in Publishers Weekly and the New York Times. Some elementary-school librarians, from Colorado to Kentucky, said the word made them uncomfortable, especially for reading aloud, and found the book (for ages 9-12) inappropriate for their readers.

What will they do once they get to eighth grade health class?

I wondered if we were ever going to see winter again. This is Minnesota, after all. For a snow-lover like me, this simply wouldn’t do. Where were the snowfalls from childhood where I would spend hours outside carving forts out of the front lawn? I had a little snow brick mold I would use to make walled igloos. One couldn’t even fill up the mold with all of the snow in the yard now.

Dammit, whore cut me off. We’ll see about that. Ooh, do you think you’re so strong? So cool? You drive a truck, and I’m smokin’ you in a little four-banger. Bitch.

On the night of Feb. 20, 2003, my friend Nate committed suicide. He said in his note he couldn’t go on living a lie about who he was, that it was easier being dead than being gay. I never talked to my parents about this. My high school refused to put a memorial in the yearbook or newspaper, because it wasn’t “appropriate.” Gay and lesbian youth are more than four times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual counterparts. Do something. Visit the Trevor Project for ways to get involved. Talk with the youth in your life. Be a person of affirmation. If you have/are expecting children, raise them in a house of love and acceptance. Persecution at school is one thing, and society is another. Don’t let it continue personally.

Yesterday in New Jersey, same-gender couples lined up to apply for civil unions in the most recent state to take a step toward full marriage equality. The best summary is from one of the newly-unioned himself:

“It’s a bittersweet moment because it is not a marriage ceremony, but it is a step forward,” said Mr. Goldstein, the chairman of Garden State Equality, a gay rights group.

I argue constantly that marriage is a religious issue, not a state issue. The term is a religious term, the act is a religious act. And you know if we allow the gays and lesbians to have marriages, everyone will want them: including the polygamists. So what? How does that affect you? And you say people will marry their dog? I didn’t recall the motion to give animals contractual rights.

Everyone should have a civil union — gay and straight alike. If they choose to have a religious ceremony, allow them to enjoy their marriage. The state recognition should be a separate act.

It is, you say? The marriage license has to be applied for separately? Oh, well then. It looks like it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

But think of the children. Yes, let’s. Think of the children of same-gender couples who grow up knowing the love of their parents and their family. Think of the children who grow up in this household where, in some states, they can be ripped apart at any minute, where if one of their parents is in the hospital and they’re the legal child of the other partner they may or may not be able to visit. Think of the children who have this awesome understanding of love and equality in an environment that doesn’t respect them.

Today, this week, maybe even this month we celebrate. But there is a long way to go. And I seem to remember hearing these arguments before: against inter-racial marriage, against inter-national marriage. But hey, in some states, feel free to get married to your cousin, married younger than 16, provided it’s an opposite-gender couple.

In a state whose electorate encouraged lawmakers to consider reinstating the ultimate sentence last November, it gives me hope reading about the Hard Line State’s progress toward ending this cruel and unusual punishment.

It’s just simply sad that it takes a botched execution in Florida to prompt a rethinking of a punishment which has been outdated since medieval times. It’s not just — in fact, the death penalty is the polar opposite of real justice, it is retribution. The proponents argue it deters crime: show me evidence of this claim. I don’t understand how a killer’s mind works, but I’m pretty sure they aren’t worried about the possibility of dying since chances are they’re at a higher risk of dying committing the actual act.

From a religious standpoint, it should be abhorrent to all Christians. Those who argue eye for an eye had better pick up their New Testament and reevaluate the passages from Christ where he commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to save judgment for God the Creator, and be in constant service to the poor and oppressed.

Capital punishment is wrong. Period. End of discussion. For those who would argue, “Well what if someone killed your family,” I respond you don’t know me very well. (And you might be interested in reading this column by my colleague and office neighbor.)

The world is looking with a more skeptical eye at the death penalty following the botched executions in Iraq. We can’t do anything about anyone but ourselves, and it’s time to finally be a true leader and shore up our domestic policy against senseless, state-sanctioned violence at home.

Today was the Greater Milwaukee Synod’s 2007 Winter Symposium at Our Savior’s in Racine. Keynoting was Bishop Peter Rogness of St. Paul, but Marcus White from the Interfaith Network of Greater Milwaukee and a number of synod leaders were also heavily involved. Throughout the day, as we discussed action plans to overcome poverty in Metro Milwaukee, we were constantly challenged with the question “So what?” So what if there’s poverty? So what that we want to do something about it? So what Christ lived in this example? So what if poverty primarily affects racial minorities? So what if poverty is concentrated in the central city? So what? So what?

I couldn’t let this opportunity pass to create an action plan of my own, but I’ve been mulling over what I can do. Since I’m restructuring my financial life already and trying to simplify things, I’m challenging myself to return to shopping only at local stores instead of the national and regional chains. By shopping local, I’ll be supporting business which is invested in the community; small business which creates real jobs for people and in turn buys its products from local, small businesses as well.

This is going to be a challenge for me, as during college I became very addicted to the convenience of shopping. I’d go to Old Navy, Target, Ikea, Jewel, so on and so on, so much I was on first-name operation with the staff almost. I justified my gross consumerism with even more consumerism, and have fed myself with the very structures which I fight against.

It’s a return to a more simple lifestyle, and if successful will be better for everyone involved. I’ll be attached to my friends, not my stuff. I’ll appreciate what I have, rather than want for the latest and the greatest sales I walked past. I’ll maintain balance in my life, instead of being a slave to materialism.

I’ll update you all on my progress. I’m starting tomorrow with my shopping list and going to Outpost, a local grocery co-op in Milwaukee and Tosa.