The Gaytheist Agenda

A Site that calls itself iProtectMarriage.com has everything to appeal to the bigots and people who might be leaning toward their side. Persuasive language, a video “quiz” to help you discover how wrong you are to even consider voting NO on Proposition 8, and plenty of pictures of young adults and children. Won’t somebody please think of the children? What they don’t have are facts, though they claim to. Their “facts” are opinions and propaganda masquerading as facts, which is typical of these sites. So here we go with the nonsense.

Prop. 8 isn’t out to remove rights. In America, we all have the “right” to have a relationship. But what about the legal right to marry?

* For centuries, civil marriage protected society and children by making marriage a legal institution between a man and a woman.
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The question is, why stop there? If gays have a right to get married, then how can they say a man doesn’t have the right to marry his daughter, or a minor, or three women?

Actually Proposition 8 is out to remove rights. Currently same-sex couples in California have the legal right to marry. If Proposition 8 passes they will lose that right.

For centuries marriage was “protected” by prohibiting interracial unions. Nobody other than lunatic fringe bigots currently suggests we resurrect those laws. But many still think it’s fine to deny equal marriage to same-sex couples.

Notice the standard slippery-slope argument. Allowing same-sex couples marriage equality means we must allow unions between any number of spouses, adults and their children, humans and animals, etc. They never can understand the difference between two consenting, non-related adults and what they’re describing. Then again, logic and rationality aren’t their strong suits.

Q: Isn’t banning gay marriage just like banning interracial marriage?
A: It’s completely unrelated. Blacks who endured prejudice can’t wake up in the morning and not be black. None of us can be counseled out of our race or ethnicity. But homosexual behavior is a choice, and countless gays and lesbians have left the homosexual lifestyle.

Complete and utter lie. The only people who claim and believe being gay is a choice are the homophobic bigots. The American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association both have stated that homosexuality is a natural and normal orientation that is unchangeable. They’ve also stated that efforts to change it, so-called “reparative therapy”, are ineffective and harmful to gay people. Nobody has ever “left the homosexual lifestyle”, whatever that is. They have only been bullied, shamed and harassed into pretending they’re not gay in order to please others.

Marriage between a man and a woman goes far beyond procreation.

While death, divorce, and other circumstances may prevent it in many cases, the best environment for raising children is traditional marriage. More than ten thousand studies document significant advantages kids experience when raised by committed and loving moms and dads.

Benefits include:

* Lower poverty rates: On average kids from never married homes spend 51% of their childhood in poverty compared to only 7% for kids in married homes
* Lower crime rate: Kids from married homes are less than half as likely to end up in jail as children of broken homes
* Lower suicide rate: Kids from married homes are six times less likely to commit suicide than those from divorced homes
* Better health: Kids from married homes are generally physically and emotionally healthier when they reach adulthood than kids from unmarried homes

None of that has anything to do with same-sex couples, but instead addresses children affected by divorce or single parenting. If the real issue is protecting the children and their futures from the horrors of homes broken by not having two parents, how about we outlaw divorce and single parenthood for heterosexual couples instead of banning same-sex marriage?

Q: Isn’t it better for a kid to have parents who are the same sex, rather than no parents, or abusive ones?
A: No one wants kids to grow up without parents. But children raised by a married mom and dad do better in school, are healthier emotionally and physically, and are less likely to commit crimes, use drugs, and have children out of wedlock. Sure there are exceptions. But exceptions should not be the rule.

Another lie. Studies have shown that children raised by same-sex couples are as happy and healthy as those raised by opposite-sex couples. What the RRRW likes to do is take studies that show children fare better when they have two parent households (as opposed to single parent households) and use that to falsely claim that they need “both a mother and a father”. Yet another way they misrepresent legitimate studies to advance their anti-gay agenda.

If Prop. 8 loses, children as young as kindergartners must be taught same-sex marriage.

Public schools are required to teach the role of marriage in society. If Prop. 8 passes, that won’t change.

If Prop. 8 does not pass, children as young as kindergartners must be taught about same-sex marriage.

My lovely wife has already addressed that particular lie.

Q: Isn’t all the latest science saying that gays are born that way?
A: If there is a scientifically proven gay gene it hasn’t been discovered. But even if there is a genetic cause of desire, that doesn’t mean society should redefine marriage because of it.

That statement, above all others, proves that their entire campaign is based upon hatred and intolerance. They don’t care one iota about truth. They only care about maintaining their alleged superiority over us.

Simply put, traditional marriage is better for us, mentally, physically and psychologically. We’re not making it up; public health statistics confirm this. That’s just another reason why Prop. 8 needs to be passed.

Take just one example: Men in traditional marriages are way better off than unmarried men.

* They live longer: Unmarried men have a 250% higher mortality rate.
* They’re happier: The latest data show that 40% of married people say they are very happy with their life in general, compared with less than 25% of single or cohabitating individuals.
* They’re richer: Married men earn more too… 10-40% more than single or cohabitating men.

What this means is that fewer of your tax dollars go to pay for social programs caused by unhealthy and unwise living.

No sources are cited for these statistics, which is typical for RRRW sites. But let’s presume they’re remotely accurate for the sake of argument. What we have here is not an argument for “traditional marriage” at all. It’s an argument for marriage, period. If marriage is so beneficial to society, and apparently to men specifically, how is it that banning millions from taking part in it is a good thing? Voting NO on Proposition 8 would allow more people to experience the obvious benefits of marriage, and lead to a healthier, happier society.

Q: Heterosexuals and homosexuals both can form healthy married relationships–why shouldn’t they?
A: No one is telling gays and lesbians who they can fall in love with, and civil unions give them the same rights as marriage.

Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships are the “Colored Only” drinking fountains of the 21st century. No matter how well crafted and intentioned they do not provide the same rights, privileges and protections that marriage does. This has been discovered in Vermont, New Jersey, California and countless other states where such unions have been implemented. Separate but Equal simply isn’t. Only marriage is equal to marriage.

Churches, synagogues, mosques and other centers of worship have beliefs, practices, and traditions they use to determine what heterosexual couples must meet prior to marriage. That isn’t bias; that’s freedom of religion.
The government doesn’t (as of yet) tell faith-based groups who they can…

* baptize
* confirm
* accept for a bar mitzvah
* qualify for any other religious function.

If same-sex marriage remains legal, what will happen if a church or religious institution refuses to perform a marriage ceremony for individuals that runs contrary to its belief system? If it refuses, it may be accused of discrimination and be subject to a lawsuit. That is not freedom of religion.

More hysteria. No church will ever be forced to perform a wedding for a same-sex couple, or sued because they refuse. Likewise no church has ever been forced to marry an atheist couple, a Muslim couple, a Satanist couple, etc.–or ever been sued because they refused.

Those who offer their services to the public, however, and arbitrarily refuse to serve same-sex couples, may experience problems. The Ocean Grove Pavilion is a prime example of this. The RRRW loves to cite this as an example of a “church” being sued for not marrying a gay couple, but in reality it was about a church-owned boardwalk pavilion that was rented to the public–until two lesbians wanted to rent it for their wedding. The “deeply held religious beliefs” excuse is quite flimsy when it’s only used against one particular group. But I recall a saying about consistency and small minds, and that is what we’re dealing with here after all.

Q: Isn’t this belief stuff just a cover for gay bashing?
A: Protecting marriage between one man and one woman isn’t being against gays and lesbians. Instead, it’s in favor of safe and happy children, a healthy society, and the freedom to express your religious beliefs.

Once again, children are just as safe and happy with same-sex parents as they are with opposite-sex parents. Homosexuality is a natural part of life and not a scourge on society. And you can express your “religious beliefs” all you want, but that doesn’t mean you can use them to keep others from having equal rights. The Civil Rights Act hasn’t prevented groups like the KKK from expressing their beliefs, and voting no on Proposition 8 wouldn’t do a thing to stop homophobes from expressing their “deeply held religious beliefs”. It would only provide equal marriage rights to same-sex couples. So ultimately their entire argument is all a cover for gay bashing.

Okay, listen to this and don’t let your eyes glaze over. The legal and civil definition of marriage as between a man and a woman has gone unchallenged for centuries, providing a foundation for the growth of Western civilization. That means your way of life.

If we allow any other sexual relationship to have the same social and financial status as marriage - be it man-man, woman-woman, man-daughter, etc. we will degrade marriage, get less of it and further weaken society and civilization.

My, they love revisionist history and slippery slopes.

Marriage has not always been defined as between a man and a woman. Over the course of history and around the world same-sex marriages have been recognized, as have polygamous unions. We also can’t forget the Biblical concept of marriage with one or more wives and multiple concubines.

Marriage has evolved continuously over the course of history. Why do some people think that it should stop doing so on their say-so?

Q: How does gays getting married affect others? Live and let live!
A: Rejecting the traditional definition of marriage (as between a man and woman) means it’s open to whatever anyone thinks it is, and that includes extreme stuff like polygamy, man-boy love, and multiple partners. Where does it end?

Will they ever reach the bottom of this slope? BTW, people predicted allowing interracial marriage would spell doom. In fact, the arguments against interracial marriage were eerily similar to those currently used against same-sex marriage. Makes you think, eh?

So that’s what the pro-8 people have to offer. Propaganda, hysteria, hand-wringing and lies. Really, they should just come right out and say, “We hate gay people and want to keep them permanent second-class citizens”. It would be easier and faster than the convoluted mess they’ve presented at iProtectMarriage.com . But then honesty has never been one of the virtues of the RRRW.

 

I don’t say that lightly. I’ve seen and heard plenty of outrageous claims made about same-sex marriage, how it will allegedly destroy the very fabric of society and why people must “protect traditional marriage”. But this one, from a so-called libertarian, takes the cake. It makes many of the RRRW claims seem almost rational.

1. It is a power grab by the government. Now only the government has the right to say what a marriage is…. and courts at that. Previously, a marriage was a marriage no matter what a government said.

Really? You mean previously you could get a legal marriage without any assistance from the government? No marriage license or other government issued paperwork of any kind? And just now the government stepped in and decided how to define what marriage would be and who would be eligible for it? I’d love to hear about that.

2. It contracts the definition of marriage. It doesn’t’ expand it. Gay couples are not “married.” The court has simply denied marriage to all. We can now only become “Party A” and “Party B.”

Oy vey, not another person so obsessed with semantics that they think the substitution of Party A and Party B for Husband and Wife invalidates a Marriage License. Newsflash: People are still married in California, but while some of them are Husband and Wife, some of them are Wife and Wife, and some are Husband and Husband. I am married. Deny it all you want but it changes nothing.

3. The court has ordered everyone to deceive his neighbor by using the word “marriage” in a manner consistent of the joining of a man and a woman when now it doesn’t mean even that.

My marriage license and the law say otherwise.

4. The California laws violate basic civil liberties. These civil liberties (the right to marry for instance) should be precious to all Americans, but certainly to true Republicans.

Actually it just recently stopped violating basic civil liberties. Marriage equality is a civil liberty. Voting yes on Proposition 8 will allow it to do so once again.

5. The California law is so bad it puts the issue into the hands of federal courts.

I haven’t heard any threats from the federal government to step in and take action. Given that they’ve done nothing to Massachusetts over the course of the past four years I don’t imagine they’ll be taking any action here.

 
What’s truly sick is that this individual is attempting, with this bizarre argument, to convince Log Cabin Republicans to vote for Proposition 8. Fortunately it appears nobody is buying it.

 

The Hayward, CA, City Council was debating whether or not to take a stance on Proposition 8. Most of them were very much opposed to the ballot measure, but didn’t feel it was an appropriate item for the city agenda. Then Marvin Burroughs took the floor and spoke briefly and eloquently.

Marvin Burroughs, 72, said his partner of 51 years died of a heart attack in 2005.

“Without marriage, I lost his pension, the right to dispose of his body, and my home even with domestic partnership,” he said. “I urge the council to support a no on 8 so that what happened to me won’t happen to anybody else.”

The Hayward City Council has officially voiced it’s opposition to Proposition 8, and is urging residents to vote against it in November.

 
No matter how much opponents may claim the Colored-Only drinking fountains of the 21st Century known as Domestic Partnerships (or Civil Unions) are adequate, they simply aren’t. They make same-sex couples a permanent second class with fewer rights and protections, and deny us what others take for granted. They are inherently morally and ethically wrong. Only fully equal marriage will do.

Do the right thing. Protect marriage by voting NO on Proposition 8.

 

Arizona’s Proposition 102 could enshrine anti-gay bigotry in their constitution by making same-sex marriage illegal. Of course the voters already turned down such an amendment before, but the bigots (the “let the voters decide” types) decided they didn’t like what the voters had decided. So it’s back on the ballot so they have another chance to show gay people just how not-equal they are. I highly suspect we’ll be facing the same nonsense here in CA if Proposition 8 is defeated. The bigots will insist on “letting the voters” decide every two years because they just didn’t get the answer they wanted.

My lovely wife has the story on how the Mormons are pouring hoards of cash into the Yes on 102 campaign (much like they’re spending vast amounts of money to support Proposition 8).

We need to fight bigotry everywhere. Furthermore it would be hypocritical for us to make pleas for support in our fight against Proposition 8 and do nothing for others. Accordingly we each just donated $102 to the Vote No on Prop 102 campaign. It’s not the tens of thousands the rich and powerful Mormons are donating in support of it, but we hope it will help.

 

The Angie Zapata case is moving to trial. The judge refused the defense attorney’s plea to reduce the charges (yes, he actually tried that tired and deceptive gay panic defense). Good on the judge! This case screams hate crime from the rooftops.

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The defense was asking for a lessening of charges, specifically that the bias portion be dropped because this was a crime of passion and that Andrade’s reaction was provoked and caused understandable aggression.
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If anyone doubts that this is a hate crime, just listen to Andrade’s words and actions:

A man accused of beating a transgendered woman to death told his girlfriend in a phone call that he “snapped” and that “gay things need to die.”

The phone calls made by Allen Andrade, charged in the murder of the transgender woman Angie Zapata, while in jail to his girlfriend detailed that something bad had happened and that Andrade had made a mistake.

…The phone calls were also laden with derogatory remarks towards homosexuals, and he stated that people in jail are scared of him because of his reputation for wielding a fire extinguisher, which is the suspected murder weapon.

When Andrade’s girlfriend said her cell phone was dying during a call, he said that was gay and that gay things need to die.

How anybody could claim those actions were understandable and provoked is beyond me. No reasonable human being behaves like that. But then homophobes aren’t reasonable. And that’s what some people fail to grasp. Thankfully more people are finally beginning to grasp the truth, however.

There will come a day when nobody will consider it reasonable to batter another person to a pulp because they don’t approve of who they sleep with or what their gender presentation is. I don’t know if I’ll live to see that day–in fact I doubt it given the current climate. But I can always hope.

And Angie, rest in peace. It looks like Andrade is going to be put away for a very, very long time.

 

As you might have been aware, Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out went to Anchorage, AK to counteract the lies being foisted on the city by Love Won Out, Focus on the Family’s traveling “ex-gay” roadshow. His visit got a good deal of attention including a large feature story in the Anchorage Press

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Except that outside of these ex-gay ministries, virtually no one agrees that homosexuals can be turned straight, or that the “reparative therapy” these ministries offer is anything but damaging.

“There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of reparative therapy as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientation,” states a report by the American Psychiatric Association.

The American Psychological Association agrees, and has stated that conversion therapy can “do more harm than good.” And an American Medical Association report stated, “aversion therapy… is no longer recommended for gay men and lesbians.”
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But there’s something more basic at work here at the Love Won Out conference. Few, if any, of the attendees offering their “amen’s” seem to be people struggling with same-sex attraction. These churchgoing folks are having their belief that overcoming homosexuality is a choice one can make successfully reinforced. And statistics show that if people believe homosexuality is a choice, they’re more likely to support anti-gay legislation.
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Read that last sentence again. Regardless of all the prattle about love, change and desire to “help” gay people that groups like Love Won Out peddle they have only one true desire. To convince people that being gay is a choice so they’ll support anti-gay legislation, and to actually support anti-gay legislation. That’s all it’s ever been about. Why do you think that Focus on the Family (the people who run Love Won Out) turns around and donates hundreds of thousands of the dollars they get from things like Love Won Out to anti-gay causes like Proposition 8? That’s pretty sick, using money obtained from harming gays to further harm gays. But I’m not the least bit surprised.

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“By and large, these so-called ex-gay ministries are really on many levels a propaganda operation aimed at convincing the public that homosexuality is a choice,” says Mark Potok, executive director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, an organization that tracks extremism and monitors civil rights violations.

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Potok says that he believes that at first, a number of these ex-gay ministries were genuinely concerned with the welfare of the people they were treating. But now, he says, “I think that is less true every day. Every single one of these programs is based on a fundamental lie, which is that homosexuality is a mental disease. This kind of propaganda from the Christian Right has the effect of demonizing individuals and damaging them in serious psychological ways.” He describes Love Won Out particularly as “really noxious.”
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Besen, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, has flown to Anchorage specifically to help organize opposition to Love Won Out. A non-practicing Jew, he tells the congregation the story of when he got a job as a television reporter in Bangor, Maine covering politics—until his co-workers discovered him at a gay bar, upon which he was taken off the political beat and later fired.

“This is what we face,” Besen says, noting that if he holds his boyfriend’s hand on a New York subway he has to look around at the people near him to see he’ll end up in a fight because of it.

“This industry is out there to keep discrimination strong,” he says of Focus on the Family and Love Won Out. “They do everything in their power to make us miserable. They ask you to lie to God, and have lust in your heart forever, while you bury your head in the sand. They need to open their eyes to the damage they’re doing, destroying families in the name of family values.”
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Sadly the RRRW doesn’t seem to care how much psychological, spiritual and even physical damage they inflict on LGBT people and their loved ones, so long as they get their way. It appears, though, that the tide is turning, though it seems to be doing so slowly, and these hateful bigots are a dying breed.

Now that you’ve read the article, watch the video.

This summer same-sex couples in California won the right to marry. In a few short weeks it may be lost thanks to homophobia, much of it from people outside our state. Millions of dollars have been pouring into the state to support Proposition 8, which eradicates the right of same-sex couples to marry. Sixteen million dollars has come in thus far, five million of that since September first. They intend to flood the airwaves with propaganda ads and misleading claims in their attempt to influence voters to vote yes on Proposition 8.

This is how much they hate us and want to eradicate marriage equality.

We need all of the extra help we can get. My wife just donated $500 to Equality for All. I previously donated $300 but have just made an additional $500 donation. It’s going to hurt but it’s worth it. What we are fighting for–marriage equality for same-sex couples in CA–is that crucial.

Please help if you can. Click on the link below and donate any amount you are willing or able to. It’s for an end to bigotry. It’s for justice. It’s for equality for all.

Really, I’m not making this up.

Sabina Guzzanti, a popular actress and comic, had joked at an anti-politics rally that Pope Benedict XVI, known for his hardline views on homosexuality, would “go to hell and be pursued by two big, gay and very active devils”.

Rome’s prosecutor Giovanni Ferrara said he wants to start proceedings against her for “vilification” of the Pope under article of 313 of the penal code. Ferrara said that the offence caused by her comments went beyond satire.
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So why is it that these religious people can say all manner of hateful things about others, including condemning them to hell every little thing imaginable, but if someone does the same to them it’s grounds for legal action? Oh, that’s right. Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech only go one way with some people. Granted this is Italy and not the US, so our Constitution doesn’t apply, but apparently the unilateral nature of the principles still does.

And that “do as I say, not as I do” principle is universal, it seems.

 

If you’ve been reading the Newswire or Truth Wins Out you’re no doubt aware that Wayne Besen is traveling to Alaska today. He’ll be fighting the lies spread by Focus on the Family at their Love Won Out conference in Anchorage.

Of course Peter LaBarbera, of Americans for (the distortion of) Truth had to put his spin on the matter.

Homosexual gadfly Wayne Besen is begging for money to fly to Alaska to embarrass Gov. Sarah Palin and promote the lie that homosexuals cannot change. And Associated Press is happy to parrot Besen’s line ridiculing healthy change for homosexuals.

The lie that homosexuals cannot change? Who exactly is lying here? Let’s see. According to all reputable professional organizations and members of such:

“The most important fact about ‘reparative therapy,’ also sometimes known as ‘conversion’ therapy, is that it is based on an understanding of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health professions. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers, together representing more than 477,000 health and mental health professionals, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus there is no need for a ‘cure.’

“…health and mental health professional organizations do not support efforts to change young people’s sexual orientation through ‘reparative therapy’ and have raised serious concerns about its potential to do harm.” 11

The primer includes a number of quotations from major professional organizations about reparative therapy and other methods of attempting to change individual’s sexual orientation. One example is the American Academy of Pediatrics, which stated: “Therapy directed specifically at changing sexual orientation is contraindicated, since it can provoke guilt and anxiety while having little or no potential for achieving changes in orientation.” 11

There is no such thing as “healthy change for homosexuals”. It involves methods that cause psychological, spiritual and even physical harm. Furthermore in the majority of cases no actual change occurs, particularly in the long term, despite the claims of the organizations that tout the “reparative therapy”.

AP also quotes New York City-based homosexual gadfly Wayne Besen: “’I think gay Republicans are going to run away’ if Palin supports efforts like the prayers to convert gays.” Oh well, there go 379 homosexual activist Republican votes for McCain – while millions of pro-family, Sarah-Palin-loving Republicans applaud ministries that offer godly, healthy change to homosexual strugglers.

I’m sure many of them do. Some of them are deluded into thinking the “ministries” are truly helpful to gay people, and some of them can’t see past their hatred of gay people to care how much they harm them. As long as gay people stop acting gay and pretend they’re straight to please God and the Christians that’s all that matters to these people. And do any of theses people, including Peter LaBarbera, ever consider how few “Homosexual Strugglers” there would be if it weren’t for the hideous amounts of bigotry some Christians heap upon them in our society? Then again, I think they like it that way, and rather wish there were more.

But Professional Anti-Christian Activist Besen is not deterred. Oblivious to the thousands of former homosexuals worldwide who live happy lives shorn of their false “gay “identity, he is now begging his followers for money so he can fly to Anchorage to protest a “Love Won Out” conference promoted by Wasilla Bible Church and sponsored by Focus on the Family. LWO conferences – a favorite target of homosexual militants and anti-“Christianists” everywhere — feature “born again” former homosexuals sharing their hopeful testimonies.

I’m sure Peter already knows it–though he’ll never admit it–but most of those “born again former homosexuals” are nothing more than repressed gays who go right back to being gay shortly after the conference. If they actually ever stopped in the first place. Just because you pretend you aren’t gay to please bigots and their god doesn’t make you straight. It makes you a repressed gay person living a lie.

Special message to Peter: If Wayne doesn’t have enough to get back from Alaska I’ll gladly advance him the money. It’s well worth charging up my credit card for that. And I don’t buy that blurb at the bottom of your article where you claim it’s a spoof.

Yes, I know I promised wedding photos but they haven’t come in yet so I’m doing things a bit out of order here. Suffice it to say Sapphocrat and I are happily married and we had a fabulous honeymoon. We started off at Holly’s Place, a beautiful retreat at South Lake Tahoe.

We had a cozy cabin with a private patio. Most nights we grilled on our personal BBQ grill (roasted veggies are the best) and watched DVDs we borrowed from the community room on the premises. A couple of times we paid late-night visits to the lovely hot tub, which remains open 24-hours-a-day. There’s nothing like soaking under the stars while surrounded by gigantic pine trees.

Both of us devoured Rosemary’s Baby, I for the first time and my wife for a repeat read. I then moved on to And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th-Anniversary Edition while she began The Burnt House.

Amidst all of this we did manage to make it down to the lake. It’s positively stunning. Word to the wise; avoid Reagan Beach as it’s dirty and smelly. Stick to the main beach though it’s more crowded and touristy.

We spent our last two nights in Reno at the Peppermill casino and hotel. I did some shopping and reading while my wife gambled, and we enjoyed some delicious food and coffee at the Peppermill’s various restaurants.

On the way home we stopped by Donner Memorial State Park to tour the museum and park. Read a bit about the Donner party here. Below is a photo of me in front of the Donner monument. The stone base indicates the depth of the snow that winter in 1846, just to give you some perspective.

Needless to say we both wish we could have had a longer honeymoon but of course we had to return to reality. One thing we did determine was that we’re going to spend less time attached to our computers and more time doing other things. Our time spent “unplugged” was very precious indeed.