October 22 marks my 40th birthday.  Some people celebrate with a tattoo, a new outfit, or an adventurous vacation.

I'm focused on red velvet cake and tote bags.  What?  Yes, I'm hoping my friends, readers and do-gooders of all stripes will help me collect 40 tote bags that I can pass along to the food pantry where I work.  This pantry provides people food AND pet food through partnerships with the University of Pittsburgh, Animal Friends and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. 

For our customers who don't have their own study bags, we must rely on regular plastic bags to carry some heavy items home for the month.  Throw in a bus ride or a long walk and you can see the challenge.  Tote bags have proven enormously useful in the past and I'd like to help this year for my birthday wish.

The idea came to me a few years ago when I was at a food distribution at the Food Bank itself in Duquesne.  I saw people struggling with breaking bags and oversized items.  The generosity was plentiful, but it seemed like a logistics challenge.  So I began tweeting about it and have made tote bags a personal mission ever since.

If you have any new or gently used tote bags lying around your home, please consider chipping in.  You can bring them to my offices in Oakland (not too far from Magee), drop them at K..S. Kennedy Floral on Western Avenue on the Northside, or send them in the mail to:

40 Tote Bags

CHS- c/o Sue Kerr

368 Lawn Street

Pgh, PA 15213

Put on your cool clothes and plan to be at the Andy Warhol Museum on Saturday, November 30, 2010.  Lots of exciting sneak peeks ahead ....

The honorary event chair is gay ally F. Dok Harris. 

It is an anniversary milestone for an important piece of Pittsburgh's LGBT cultural heritage - the annual film festival brought to us by the Lesbian & Gay Film Society.  This marks the 25th anniversary of this important institution. 

There are some lovely films for your viewing pleasure.  I've found the Southside Works to be a good venue and has a lovely old fashioned feel to it. 

There's a movie the night of my 40th birthday about DADT.  I'm thinking we should catch it ... called A Marine Story.

The Film Society is an important community resource.  Expect big things in the coming year as the group works to become even more relevant to the ever emerging queer community.  Show your support by attending at least one film and perhaps getting involved in the organization. 

This is our chance for a few weeks of quality LGBTQ entertainment so be sure to head down to the Southside, pick up your popcorn and enjoy a great movie. Or two. 

What a great autumn date night!

BTW, thanks to the Film Society for donating two passes to the Political Blogging Panel at Pittsburgh Podcamp.  Our winner was the lovely and talented Jen England who asked some great questions about anonymous commenters.  Congrats to Jennifer and hurrah to the Film Society for supporting free speech!

From the Washington Post courtesy of the Post-Gazette.

A federal judge on Friday ordered the reinstatement of an Air Force nurse discharged from the military under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that forbids openly gay service members.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton told a packed Tacoma, Wash., courtroom that evidence at a six-day trial showed that former Air Force Reserve Maj. Margaret Witt was an "exemplary officer" who should be "reinstated at the earliest possible moment."

"Good flight nurses are hard to find," he said in a 15-page opinion.

In a statement, Ms. Witt said she was proud of her career. "Wounded people never asked me about my sexual orientation. They were just glad to see me there," she said.

Ms. Witt was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which said the ruling was the first time that a judge had ordered a reinstatement of a service member discharged under "don't ask, don't tell."

Judge Leighton had dismissed Ms. Witt's first challenge to her 2006 dismissal. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals told him to reconsider under a standard of review that put the burden on the military to show why Ms. Witt's discharge was necessary to the government's interest. In effect, the appeals court ruling said judges should be examining the military's decision to discharge individual service members -- not whether the law itself was justified.

"The evidence produced at trial overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that the suspension and discharge of Margaret Witt did not significantly further the important government interest in advancing unit morale and cohesion," Judge Leighton concluded.

The erosion of DADT may come case by case as discharged military seek redress through the Courts and the military is unable to meet this criteria of "furthering government interest".

The same government which refused to debate this on the Senate Floor can't make a substantial court case to show why this policy is necessary.  The Republicans use rhetoric of fear, hatred and intolerance to rally their base and the Democrats expect their progressive base aka "us" to be content with the drip drip drip approach. 

Do we really expect the ACLU to take up every discharge case?  Does that mean our campaign contributions are better invested in judicial races and legal organizations than advocacy groups?  I mean that ACLU is accomplishing something.

A few more injured members of our military will receive top notch nursing care when the best and brightest are rightfully restored to "our" armed services.

sdf