For Aims: In which a Camel is merely ordinary.

LOVE!!!

Andrew Sullivan on one of the differences between conservatism in the US and the UK: The Tory "Conference Pride" Event

This truly is a tale of two conservatisms. In America, a core plank of the Republican party is fear and loathing of homosexuals, banning any civil rights for gay couples, persecuting gay servicemembers, and reiterating claims that children need to be protected from the gay menace. Republican intellectuals are intent on Biblical proscriptions of the alleged gay threat to the family, resurrecting the idea that psychotherapy can "cure" gays, and reviving natural law to ensure that gay couples are rendered second class citizens in their own constitution. In Britain this week, at the Conservative Party Conference, there will be a big event to celebrate gay inclusion:

The official Conservative event will be hosted by high-profile LGBT Conservatives Iain Dale, political blogger and shortlisted Parliamentary candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Bracknell and openly-Lesbian Vice Chair of the Party Margot James. It will include a live performance by singer Angie Brown and addresses by senior shadow cabinet members, Nick Herbert and Theresa May, as well as Stonewall’s Ben Summerskill.

There's a protest - by the left. Labour is terrified that the Tories have left previous bigotry behind and can now appeal to gay voters on the basis of their core ideas and arguments. And look at who's scheduled: Two openly gay future cabinet members and the openly gay vice-chair of the party. That's better than the Democrats.

Why the inclusion? Because conservatism should be about what it stands for, not the people it excludes. But not in America. Here, the base hatred only deepens; and the cowardice at the top endures.

Does your building have laundry? There's a dearth of laundromats in the area, alas.

Um, yeah, I think so? Honestly, I didn't really pay enough attention -- it was the 10th apartment I had seen that day, and I liked the next two better.

There's good eats in the Prudential Center as well!

I'm a block away from the Pru!

Finally caught up! I was over 700 posts behind.

Yay, Gracie!

One of the downsides of getting a job is that I won't be babysitting my great-niece on Mondays anymore. There is nothing like a toddler to make me smile. She is very funny and she had me trained pretty well. I will miss that.

IOnewJob news, I have to commute from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City for the job, 35 miles of rural Interstate...in the Winter!, so my car is in the shop today. It will be at least $800 for regular maintenance and that is not including a possible new muffler. Oy!

35 miles of rural Interstate...in the Winter!

Yeah, I'm thinking of visiting Michigan's Upper Peninsula in March, and that's one of my main worries.

I'm a block away from the Pru!

Go to Legal! Have the crab cake!

I made myself a lunch to bring in, but then promptly forgot it at home...then this morning while getting my coffee cold in the freezer, I saw my name written on a frozen pot pie box in there. SCORE! I am really trying to bring in lunch to save some cash and start a home fix-it fund to fix some small stuff.

Awesome. I don't know anything about anything in Boston, so it will all be an adventure.

I'll recommend trying Little Steve's Pizzeria on Boylston next to Hennepin. It's been a cheap and tasty mainstay for me on all my visits to the youth hostel around the corner.

Yay for new job, quester!!

Go to Legal! Have the crab cake!

Why would I have a crab cake in New England? I go to Maryland for that!

I'll recommend trying Little Steve's Pizzeria on Boylston next to Hennepin.

I will check it out!

!!!

Yay quester!

And yay Jesse for all your news!

I'm feeling mostly human again. God bless codeine and antibiotics.