In 28 years of celebrating Pride in Sacramento there has never been an official Pride Gala. 2012 changed everything. This year the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center(SGLC) premiered Courage to Stand, the official kick-off gala for Sacramento’s Gay Pride Weekend. The setting was the Citizen Hotel in Downtown Sacramento on a night that was probably one of the warmest of the year. Downtown Sacramento was abuzz with activity with Friday Concert in the Park happening, Pride set up going on along the Capital Mall and people just ready to get summer started after an unseasonably cool spring. Recreating the Plaza Park Ballroom of the Citizen Hotel was no easy fete. Taking the hotel setting and chan

          Have you ever instinctively known not to get involved with someone because of the way they make you feel? It’s not that they look unusual, or say anything particularly out of the ordinary, but nevertheless, there is a deep feeling of apprehension that can arise from being in someone’s presence. It is the same feeling that warns us not to walk down an alley at a certain moment even though we may have done so the evening before with no hesitation. I would describe this experience as an intuitive hunch or gut instinct. Apparently, cops get them all the time, and even rely on them quite heavily in certain situations. But how do we know it’s our intuitive instinct talking rather than

Approximately 100 Protesters chanting "Free Free Palestine" and holding large Palestinian, American, and UN flags assembled outside the Robert Matsui courthouse on the corner of 5th and I Streets yesterday, in the latest of a series of gatherings to protest the ongoing Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip. Protesters said they were there to raise awareness of the aggressive actions of Israel, and the US policy of support for Israel in the form of arms shipments. Naseer Abboushi, of the Palestinian - American Congress, said "We want a diplomatic solution to end the fighting and get a long- term solution. We believe that this can be achieved diplomatically." Not all protesters were Palest

       There are those who believe that taking an interest in fashion is essentially unethical. They feel it leads to such vices as vanity and materialism, and that it breaks society into classes, the fashionable and the unfashionable. Although I do agree that if the fashionable are not careful such undesirable effects might occur, it does not seem accurate to suggest that they must. Indeed, if it is used wisely, I believe fashion can bring many positive things to our lives as well. The question is, how do we use fashion wisely?        People tend to look up to those with a sense of style. The fashionable are often perceived as successful, popular, and even intelligent, placing them in a p

        The history of philosophy is teeming with unsuccessful attempts to argue for or against the existence of the human spirit. This is because if such a thing does exist, it dwells outside the realm of pure reason, in a place where the rules of logic no longer take hold. As a result I’ve never taken much of an interest in intellectualizing this matter personally, and although I certainly do not intend to prove anything here, a thought came to mind recently that may be of interest to some.         Have you ever felt a moment of perfect clarity about what to do in a difficult situation? Not based on logic or reason, or soaring emotion, but a simple feeling of certitude beyond all sense o