Jul 21, 2011
Aphonia commented on Al Franken Takes on the Bearers of False Witness.
@47 The debate around gay marriage isn't about whether there are significant damaging effects of parents raising children in same sex relationships. Or at least it shouldn't be. It is clearly more than that. Folks that are opposed to gay marriage often point to the potential detrimental effects of same sex parenting by parroting biased and unscientific studies.
The question I continually ruminate over is that if you were really interested in debating the ill effects of parenting on children would you also not have to lump in divorce rates, substance abuse, adoption (by single adults), etc.? Why restrict yourself just to studies that prove or disprove that single people shouldn't adopt or be foster parents? Or that it should be illegal to divorce, because it clearly messes up the kids?
Plenty of behavior disturbs the development of children. I don't think there is any need to find studies proving that divorce rates, teen pregnancy, extramarital affairs, dead beat fathers are overall damaging to the development of children. The point is that these behaviors are, in a sense, permitted because the parties involved are heterosexual partners. Now, I am not saying that gay couples are simply seeking the same rights to act as poorly as hetero couples. I am just saying that your assertion that: "the efficacy of gay 'families' I'll wait a generation or so before I accept too much on faith. Raising a child isn't an 18 year comittment, but a lifetime one." is a fallacious one because there are clearly studies, though incomplete, that suggest otherwise.
Also, are you suggesting that if studies were done to prove that gay marriages are just as healthy as straight ones, that you would begin supporting them? I am not terribly sure your mind would change given a definitive study proving the efficacy of gay families.
Lastly, there are all kinds of families, there are all types of loving and supportive relationships that aid in the development of children that often have nothing to do with the mother and father. Sometimes we have to find our families or choose our families because, as is all too often, our heterosexual parents are unlovable, drug addicted, and evil people. Granting gay and lesbian folks the right to love one another, raise children and enjoy a legal and social commitment that straight people enjoy (and, in fact, take for granted) is hardly the worst thing in the world.
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The question I continually ruminate over is that if you were really interested in debating the ill effects of parenting on children would you also not have to lump in divorce rates, substance abuse, adoption (by single adults), etc.? Why restrict yourself just to studies that prove or disprove that single people shouldn't adopt or be foster parents? Or that it should be illegal to divorce, because it clearly messes up the kids?
Plenty of behavior disturbs the development of children. I don't think there is any need to find studies proving that divorce rates, teen pregnancy, extramarital affairs, dead beat fathers are overall damaging to the development of children. The point is that these behaviors are, in a sense, permitted because the parties involved are heterosexual partners. Now, I am not saying that gay couples are simply seeking the same rights to act as poorly as hetero couples. I am just saying that your assertion that: "the efficacy of gay 'families' I'll wait a generation or so before I accept too much on faith. Raising a child isn't an 18 year comittment, but a lifetime one." is a fallacious one because there are clearly studies, though incomplete, that suggest otherwise.
Also, are you suggesting that if studies were done to prove that gay marriages are just as healthy as straight ones, that you would begin supporting them? I am not terribly sure your mind would change given a definitive study proving the efficacy of gay families.
Lastly, there are all kinds of families, there are all types of loving and supportive relationships that aid in the development of children that often have nothing to do with the mother and father. Sometimes we have to find our families or choose our families because, as is all too often, our heterosexual parents are unlovable, drug addicted, and evil people. Granting gay and lesbian folks the right to love one another, raise children and enjoy a legal and social commitment that straight people enjoy (and, in fact, take for granted) is hardly the worst thing in the world.
Jul 21, 2011
Aphonia commented on Al Franken Takes on the Bearers of False Witness.
@33 - 35 - Your vitriol seems to lend credence to the "well adjusted" language in these studies as it seems you may have been raised by heterosexual parents, or possibly be the product of a single parent.
Jul 21, 2011
Aphonia commented on Al Franken Takes on the Bearers of False Witness.
Here's another collection of studies - this was published back in 2005... 6 years ago.
Study: Same-Sex Parents Raise Well-Adjus…
Study: Same-Sex Parents Raise Well-Adjus…
Jul 21, 2011
Aphonia commented on Al Franken Takes on the Bearers of False Witness.
Pediatrics: Few Psycholigical Problems f…
Maybe this was the study they were referring to at the hearing but there you have it. A quote:
"So to assess that adjustment the researchers enrolled 154 lesbian mothers who conceived through donor insemination in the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study between 1986 and 1992.
Their 78 offspring were interviewed and completed questionnaires when they were 10 and 17 years old. Their parents were interviewed and completed checklists at the same time.
Gartrell said the study is ongoing, with a 93% retention rate to date.
She and Bos found that lesbian mothers rated their 17-year-old children significantly higher in social, academic, and total competence than typical American children, as compared with Achenbach's normative sample of American youth.
They also had significantly fewer social problems, and less rule-breaking, aggressive, and externalizing problem behavior than their age-matched counterparts, the researchers wrote."
More...
Maybe this was the study they were referring to at the hearing but there you have it. A quote:
"So to assess that adjustment the researchers enrolled 154 lesbian mothers who conceived through donor insemination in the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study between 1986 and 1992.
Their 78 offspring were interviewed and completed questionnaires when they were 10 and 17 years old. Their parents were interviewed and completed checklists at the same time.
Gartrell said the study is ongoing, with a 93% retention rate to date.
She and Bos found that lesbian mothers rated their 17-year-old children significantly higher in social, academic, and total competence than typical American children, as compared with Achenbach's normative sample of American youth.
They also had significantly fewer social problems, and less rule-breaking, aggressive, and externalizing problem behavior than their age-matched counterparts, the researchers wrote."
May 26, 2011
Aphonia commented on Folklife Gets a Life.
Don't forget local record label Aphonia Recordings alumni and K Records signee Nucular Aminals at the Indie Roots Center Square Stage, Sat May28th 8:30PM!
May 5, 2011
Aphonia commented on Ten Percent of Washington Businesses Are Tax Cheats.
@9 I did actually file with the "No business to report" box checked... the last two years in a row. That's pretty neat that they sent you a notice! All I get are the forms in the mail and then the phone calls start pouring in. I even tried to do it on time this year and filed electronically. They are still calling. They always call from numbers that appear as "Unknown" so I never answer them and then always have to listen to their voicemail getting clipped off... almost invariably right when they get to the number and extension I should call them back at. Also, I had let the business license expire in 2008, I think. I have never renewed it.
I am not knocking the work they do or how they do it. I just think that perhaps their electronic systems have yet to catch up with their office personnel. Or, rather, the two things seeming to be mutually exclusive. I swear the one guy I did talk to said, after I had filed, that he didn't have access to those records yet and that it may take weeks or something before he would be able to reference filings I had made online. I asked if the calls would stop and he said no so I mailed the fucker in as well. This was for 2008 taxes I think. Maybe they have improved since then.
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I am not knocking the work they do or how they do it. I just think that perhaps their electronic systems have yet to catch up with their office personnel. Or, rather, the two things seeming to be mutually exclusive. I swear the one guy I did talk to said, after I had filed, that he didn't have access to those records yet and that it may take weeks or something before he would be able to reference filings I had made online. I asked if the calls would stop and he said no so I mailed the fucker in as well. This was for 2008 taxes I think. Maybe they have improved since then.
May 5, 2011
Aphonia commented on Ten Percent of Washington Businesses Are Tax Cheats.
I had a sole proprietorship that has not generated any income in 2 years but I like to keep it (the name) registered just in case. The DOR calls me incessantly around this time time of year if I am only a week late with my tax return - you have to file something even if you have no income to report. I think the last profit I made from it was $2000 back in 2009, yet they call and leave messages for me to reply to - which you can only do, like, 8 to 4:30, which is when I am working at my real job. So inconvenient... anyways, the enforcement, from my perspective, is pretty aggressive. What this says to me is that businesses who aren't paying these taxes are not only negligent but purposefully avoiding paying taxes. They are probably getting multiple calls a day to pay their fucking taxes and just avoiding the call. It's called tax evasion... which I think is still illegal. How about amnesty for some other crimes? Like marijuana possession. Release low level offenders immediately and save the state bundles in prison costs. Sound good? No?
Apr 27, 2011
Aphonia commented on From Right Here to Infinity.
These two gentlemen are indeed brilliant and fine musicians. Knowing Kristian for a few years now - primarily as a member of Joules and later as a signee on our little record label - I can attest to his versatility, genius and great talent. Good going, you guys!
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Wells Fargo Faulted for Record on Failed…
"Community groups complained that Wells Fargo has long targeted minorities for subprime loans and rejected their applications for conventional mortgages, with a report from National People's Action revealing that African-American and Latino borrowers accounted for one-quarter of the lender's $47.5 billion high-cost refinancing business but just 11 percent of its lending volume."