Your tax dollars at work: Army transport vehicle puts troops at risk

Soldiers emerge from a Stryker during a battle with insurgents in Mosul, Iraq, in February. An Army study criticizes the vehicle's performance. (Jim Macmillan/AP)

It's unfortunate that when you sign up to serve your country, the military sends you out with resources like this. Troops are at risk from rocket-propelled grenades because the Army's new troop transport vehicle, the General Dynamics-built Stryker, is riddled with defects -- and the taxpayers' wallet is $11 billion lighter. The Washington Post (reg req'd, excerpts at Raw Story) has a obtained a copy of the classified Army study that spills the beans.

...the Army's Dec. 21 report, drawn from confidential interviews with operators of the vehicle in Iraq in the last quarter of 2004, lists a catalogue of complaints about the vehicle, including design flaws, inoperable gear and maintenance problems that are "getting worse not better." Although many soldiers in the field say they like the vehicle, the Army document, titled "Initial Impressions Report -- Operations in Mosul, Iraq," makes clear that the vehicle's military performance has fallen short.

The internal criticism of the vehicle appears likely to fuel new controversy over the Pentagon's decision in 2003 to deploy the Stryker brigade in Iraq just a few months after the end of major combat operations, before the vehicle had been rigorously tested for use across a full spectrum of combat.

It should be noted that Army has no data in this report that confirms the number of soldiers that have been wounded while riding in the Stryker deathtrap. Some of the facts revealed in the report are almost beyond comprehension; how can the Army explain this laundry list of negligent manufacturing and testing issues to taxpayers, let alone military families:

* an armoring shield installed on Stryker vehicles to protect against unanticipated attacks by Iraqi insurgents using low-tech weapons works against half the grenades used to assault it.

* The shield is so heavy that tire pressure must be checked three times daily. Nine tires a day are changed after failing, and the current figure is "11 tire and wheel assemblies daily."

* The main weapon system, a $157,000 grenade launcher, fails to hit targets when the vehicle is moving, contrary to its design.

* Its laser designator, zoom, sensors, stabilizer and rotating speed all need redesign - it does not work at night. Some crews removed part of the launchers because they can swivel dangerously toward the squad leader's position.

* The vehicle's seat belts cannot be readily latched when troops are in their armored gear, a circumstance that contributed to the deaths of three soldiers in rollover accidents.

* On the vehicle's outside, some crews have put sand-filled tin cans around a gunner's hatch that the report says is ill-protected.

It sounds like there was about as much attention paid by General Dynamics to the vehicle's design and engineering as a five-year-old's to a Lego creation. But the river of denial runs deep in the Army, even as its most precious resource, its soldiers, are placed in all-American harm's way.

Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes, the Army's director of force development, said that when he rode in the Stryker for the first time, he "marveled at how much nicer it was" than riding in a Bradley vehicle or an older troop transport, the M113, which he likened to being inside an aluminum trash can being beaten by a hammer. He said the Stryker was "amazingly smooth" and quiet by comparison.

I think troops would trade off a smooth ride for a rough one if it raised the chances of getting back to base alive.

It's over.

A van allegedly carrying the body of Terri Schiavo, is escorted by police as it leaves the Woodside Hospice on Thursday, March 31, 2005, in Pinellas Park, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

This excruciating story had become such a morbid sideshow, from her parents pimping out supporters' addresses and emails for profit, to yesterday's ghoulish release of 2002 videos showing brain-damaged Terri Schiavo, involuntarily groaning and moving in her bed that her passing this AM couldn't have come soon enough. This family's torment was a private affair the public battle became obscene. Sadly, the political mess this case has wrought won't be cleaned up for a long while.

Guest blogging at Facing South today

Chris Kromm of the blog Facing South, invited me to guest blog while he's on vacation. It's an effort of the progressive Institute for Southern Studies. ISS publishes the award-winning investigative journal, Southern Exposure. I told Chris that I promise to be good and not wreck the place -- no four-letter words! Here's a snippet of my first entry, Old and New South, Red and Blue. [Can %&$#@ Blogger not crap out for just one day?]...

I have Red State/Blue State "dual citizenship," since I have native New Yorkers on one side of the family and I lived in NYC during its unforgettable heydey of urban decline of the 70s and 80s. When I returned to my hometown in 1989, it was clear that Durham, and its southern identity, had changed dramatically.

The best of Southern Culture has been retained here -- brewed ice tea, good barbecue, a slower pace of doing things, a greeting of "Honey" or "Sugar" to you by people you don't even know -- it can be disconcerting to folks from other parts of the country that move here. Only last week I was at a business meeting with arrivals to these parts from Western and Northern states, and they freely admitted to being freaked out because they were addressed "Ma'am," and that people weren't in a hurry to get in line at the grocery store. Yes, the South is a different place, a lovely place to call home.

The South, even as the culture embraces bagels, scones, trendy coffee shops and NY-style pizza, still has some serious work to do as it adjusts to lives of its residents in the 21st century. For instance, NC has its first openly gay state senator, Julia Boseman, but the bible still beats hard over "values" issues here and elsewhere in the region.

You can read more of my post (and a lot of other, most-excellent writing) at Facing South

Ann Coulter, intellectual heavyweight, flaps her gums for another $25K

Ann Coulter spews wingnut stupidity at the Lied Center as part of the J.A. Vickers Sr. Memorial Lecture Series. Kay Wright, Lawrence, carries a copy of Ann Coulter's book "How to Talk to a Liberal." Wright hoped to get it signed for her son, Lt. Col. Kevin Wright, of Fort Knox, Ky. (Richard Gwin/Journal World-Photos)

(via Raw Story). Bony ass, bed-worn b*tch of the Reich, Ann Coulter fills her pockets on one of her regular road trips to campuses where she faces fans and hecklers. I hope Kansas University felt it got its money's worth with sterling commentary like this (The Lawrence Journal-World):

Coulter fired off one zinger after another about liberalism while promising to answer questions from left-wing members in the audience who could "thrash their way to a coherent thought."

"I've come to find I like liberals a lot more," Coulter said early in her speech. "They're kind of cute when they're cold, shivering and afraid."

Coulter spoke as the 37th J.A. Vickers Sr. Memorial Lecture Series lecturer to a crowd estimated by KU officials at about 1,800 people. The lectures, which began in 1971, were established through a gift to the Kansas University Endowment Association by the Vickers family of Wichita. Coulter received several standing ovations during her speech, but she also found herself interrupted several times by a small, scattered group of hecklers.

"I think there are some people in the audience who meant to be at the sexual reorientation class down the hall," Coulter said, in response to the heckling....Later, when heckling broke out again, a couple of uniformed KU Public Safety Department officers appeared and escorted about six people out of the auditorium.

Coulter resumed her critical remarks, calling Sen. Ted Kennedy a "human dirigible" and the Democrats' "spiritual leader." She also made fun of the Democrats' dalliance with filmmaker Michael Moore and former presidential candidate John Kerry, who she said got away with telling "big, fat, enormous lies." Despite Kerry's loss, Democrats think their political stances and ideas just "need new labels for their bottles," Coulter said.

She also blasted the nation's judicial system for its handling of the Terri Schiavo case. "We no longer have a single check on the judiciary," she said.

My favorite quote from the article comes from John Altevogt, a wingnut Repug activist -- "Ann Coulter is logical, rational and an independent thinker," he said. "In essence, everything the left hates in their womenfolk."

Leaders of the three faiths unite in support of homo-hating

Religious leaders met on Wednesday in Jerusalem in a united protest against a gay pride festival planned there in August. From left: Sheik Abed es- Salem Menasra, deputy mufti of Jerusalem; the Rev. Michel Sabbagh, the Latin patriarch; the Rev. Aris Shirvanian, the Armenian patriarch; Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic chief rabbi; and Rabbi Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi. The man at right was not identified. (European Pressphoto Agency)

This is a sad landmark event -- faiths at the center of wars and countless deaths over the millennia because of conflicts with one another unite to bash gays. Jerusalem WorldPride 2005 (the theme: "Love Without Borders,") is under attack by major leaders of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in a way that suggests some kind of fall of civilization will occur if the event takes place. (NYT):

"They are creating a deep and terrible sorrow that is unbearable. It hurts all of the religions. We are all against it."

-- Shlomo Amar, Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi

"We can't permit anybody to come and make the Holy City dirty. This is very ugly and very nasty to have these people come to Jerusalem."

-- Abdel Aziz Bukhari, a Sufi sheik

[It's] "the spiritual rape of the Holy City. This is not the homo land, this is the Holy Land."

-- Rev. Leo Giovinetti, an evangelical pastor from San Diego's Mission Valley Christian Fellowship, author of the petition against the festival, "Homosexuals to Desecrate Jerusalem"

[It's an] "offense to the Christian values of a city that is so dear to the hearts of Catholics across the world."

-- Pope John Paul II, in reference to the first WorldPride festival, held in Rome five years ago.

WIth all the ills and suffering in the world today, this is what leaders of diverse faiths can come together over in the spirit of brotherhood. Perhaps they should focus and speak out on these kinds of problems with equal vigor:

* Chief Rabbi accused of sexually harassing 4 males
* Rise of Extremism, Islamic Law Threaten Iraqi Women
* Priest faces 29 child sex charges

Aside from the supporters of this bigotry, why is there little response by American religious leaders to this sad statement of unity overseas? At some in the thick of things are speaking out.

"That is something new I've never witnessed before, such an attempt to globalize bigotry," said Hagai El-Ad, the executive director of Jerusalem Open House, a gay and lesbian group that is the host for the festival. "It's quite sad and ironic that these religious figures are coming together around such a negative message."

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, co-chairwoman of the festival and the rabbi of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, a gay synagogue in New York City, said the controversy was another sign that each religion had become polarized between its liberal and conservative wings.

..."I reject that they have the right to define religion in such a narrow way," Rabbi Kleinbaum said of religious leaders who denounce homosexuality. "Gay and lesbian people are saying we are equal partners in religious communities, and we believe in a religious world in which all are created in God's image."

Thanks to House Blend reader (and Julien's List contributor) Holly for the pointer.

A hoot from Heretik

Nice.


(The Heretik via Shakespeare's Sister)

Gender politics, take 2 3 4?

I've lost track since the tussle began. Kevin Drum has taken another crack at discussing gender issues. This time he deserves credit for largely hitting the mark. He correctly points out that the most passionately debated topics are sex/gender related -- sex ed, reproductive rights, pornography, gay rights and low-wealth/welfare issues -- all passionately and successfully framed by the Right in the last election cycle.

Social conservatives have sought and gained power in the name of maintaining (or returning to, depending on your perspective) traditional sex and gender roles. Michigan's "Conscientious Objector Policy Act," which would "allow doctors to refuse to treat gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender patients based on moral, ethical or religious beliefs" is is a logical result when theocrats take control of the social agenda. It explains the trends such as pharmacists across the country refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills (again, based on personal beliefs). Drum:

This is why gender equality per se should get more attention from the liberal community: because it's the underlying core of so many emotional, election-deciding issues. I know, I know: this kind of talk is just so 70s. And it's true that the tone of feminist rhetoric - especially academic feminism - probably puts off a lot of liberal men, including me from time to time. But it's hard to make headway on all these disparate issues without understanding the core sensibility that drives so many of them. We shouldn't allow pique to get in the way of that.

All that forward social momentum from the 70s is threatening. Eventually a line in the sand had to be drawn, a comfort level had been breached. Men of all political persuasions found themselves uncomfortable and unsettled by the rapid social changes over the last three decades. As Rox notes:

In the early 80s, it all came to a grinding halt. Why? Was it backlash? The Reagan Revolution? AIDS? Whatever it was, we haven't recouped.

I tend to believe that those who had power didn't want to relinquish any more of it. They gave some of us a few crumbs to keep us sated. It was the "steam control" Tom Wolfe describes in his 80s classic, The Bonfire of the Vanities.

For social conservatives, the cultural road map was already there to address their world-gone-to-hell-in-a-handbasket: a return to the idealized Eisenhower-era society (actually, for some whackjobs, it appears the social ideal occurred several hundred years ago). The disaffected could unite around a common vision for social order that was like mac-and-cheese comfort food.

However, men committed to progressive social change have a different problem. How do you recognize, embrace and express discomfort with the changing roles of gender/sexual politics constructively without appearing like a cave man? The politically correct social framework that has evolved over the last few decades doesn't make it easy to be honest about the complex emotions surrounding gender politics, does it? It doesn't make those feelings go away, safely unexpressed.

The fact that the testosterone clubbiness of op-ed pages, blogs, and opinion magazines exists speaks volumes -- the club generally steers away from those sex/gender issues because it's just not comfortable. It's not because those topics are unimportant, but they involve opening honest conversations that might make liberal men queasy as they struggle to understand the emotional impact of shifts in our culture and the balance of power in the national social mosaic. Drum touches on this.

And it's true that the tone of feminist rhetoric - especially academic feminism - probably puts off a lot of liberal men, including me from time to time. But it's hard to make headway on all these disparate issues without understanding the core sensibility that drives so many of them. We shouldn't allow pique to get in the way of that.

Conservatives have no such dilemma. The agenda is not about change, but conformity, tradition, and clear gender roles/sexual identities.

At least now the door to discuss this is cracked open; I hope Drum and his peers decide to loosen up a bit -- it's no time to hold back when you have the AmTaliban nipping at the country's heels, ready to move up and bite us all in the ass.

Props to Shakespeare's Sister, whose commentary and correspondence with Drum helped moved this conversation to the next level. It needs to continue. It's clear that the other side never sleeps.

It's official: Pope's on a "rope"

Pope John Paul II attempts to talk from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 30, 2005. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Yeah, the headline is in bad taste, but since I'm apparently going to "hell" anyway, I've got nothing to lose. As the Pope John Paul II Deathwatch continues, word is out from the Vatican that he is officially on a feeding tube (through his nose). (AP):

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said John Paul was fitted with a nasogastric tube to "improve the calorie intake" and help him recover his strength.

The statement was issued shortly after the pope tried unsuccessfully to speak to the crowds in St. Peter's Square for the second time in a week. After managing just a rasp of his voice, he blessed well-wishers by making the sign of the cross with his hand and withdrew from his window.

Pope Politics

Since we're in between election cycles here, why not play horse race with papal candidates? Speculation about possible successors has been going on for a while, even though JPII hasn't kicked it yet.

There is a piece in the London Observer that gives thumbnail sketches of possible successors. Because 97% of the 120 cardinals were appointed by the Pope, there's not a chance in good old hell that a more moderate Pope is on the horizon. The "traditionalists" are closing ranks to ensure any movement on female priest, celibacy, homosexuality and reproductive rights will be quashed.

The fact that nearly 65 percent of Catholics live in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the article notes, may influence the pick, since the northern hemisphere has seen a loss in followers. The contrary view is that they need another white guy in place to stop the hemorrhage. I will be surprised if they go with a Pope of color; it would generate an interesting response in this country, to be sure.

* German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger: The 78-year-old is a hardline conservative and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the church's chief think tank, which has dominated discussions on sexual morality and birth control, and prevented liberals from gaining ground. Even though he is in the inner circle, he is considered a long shot.


* Cardinal Francis Arinze, 72, of Nigeria. He would be the first black African pontiff since Gelasius I (492-496). Arinze is said to take a hardline position on abortion and contraception and denounces homosexuality.


* Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez, 62, from Honduras, who teamed up with Bono to campaign against third-world debt


* Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Brussels, 71 is seen as too liberal.


* Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, 58, is a favorite of the European traditionalists but is seen as too young (!).


Also, it looks like there was some sort of Pope Derby going on in Ireland even back in 2002, on the BBC News site. Someone nominated Father Dougal McGuire of Craggy Island, a scatterbrained priest character in a popular sitcom, Father Ted. His odds with the bookmakers are set at 1000-1.

The art of journalism...coming to the National Press Club

Who is the whiz-bang journalist described below? He's scheduled to appear in the Holeman Lounge at the NPC on April 8. AMERICABlog knows.



Now there's a reporter that likes to be "out in the field" getting the Big Story.

Cry-Baby AmTaliban feels like it's "in the closet"

A flaming cowpile of crap -- Peter LaBarbera of the Illinois Family Institute: "It is time for Christians like Pinney to "get out of the closet" and get involved in politics and government." Have I missed something -- who's in charge these days?

Are we supposed to feel sorry for the AmTaliban when they drop a 300-foot-high pile of flaming crap like this? The Illinois Family Institute feels the Anti-Defamation League is intimidating a Christian school board candidate for her homo-hating beliefs, which she says is grounded in her religion. Lesley Pinney is crying that she is being told in a letter to "refrain from political appeals based on religious faith."

Let me ask you -- when was the last time any of these fundamentalists held back on expressing their "Christian values" (or acting upon them, for that matter)? If religious zealots had any more control over our government and culture I'd be walking around in a burqa. After reading this nonsense from the right-wing propaganda organ AgapePress, you'd think pagans, atheists and homos were in charge of everything and that the fundies are being persecuted. :

Pinney, a candidate for the District 214 school board in Arlington Heights, had informed local pastors her decision-making while on the board would be based on her Christian beliefs. In a letter to the pastors, she asked for support as a "Christian engaging the culture."

Peter LaBarbera with the Illinois Family Institute says it is apparent that homosexuals have come out of the closet -- but that they want to push Christians into the closet. "It seems that liberals are afraid of Christians who will run for office as Christians," LaBarbera says. "It's ironic that a group that fights discrimination is willing to basically foment discrimination against people of faith. I just found it shocking."

But LaBarbera sees the ADL's reaction as consistent with a tactic typically employed by liberal groups. "The liberal strategy these days on social issues is to create sort of 'front church groups,' which are basically religious organizations that, in my view, support immoral causes," he explains. "For example, there's Catholics for a Free Choice, which is [a] pro-abortion [group] -- and they're not really Catholic of course; they're promoting abortion. Then there's the Interfaith Alliance, which supports homosexual special rights."

Wingnuts Fear RFID Chips Could Herald 'Mark of the Beast'

While I'm a firm advocate of privacy rights, leave it to the religious wingnuts to take "caution" to the next level. Satan is around the corner, and you better be ready for The Rapture. This is another "I'm not sh*tting you" post. (AgapePress):

A Christian group is calling for a nationwide boycott against the use of radio frequency identification devices, or RFID, to track students in schools.

AgapePress recently reported on a California school that not long ago used RFID technology in a test of an experimental attendance monitoring system (see related story). While the company that introduced the system is continuing to develop and market the technology, one religious group is denouncing RFID as a dangerous herald of the advance of a demonic "new world order."

...John Conner is a spokesman for "The Resistance for Christ," a group that opposes the formation of the so-called new world order. He believes one day every student in the world as well as the population at large will be forced to wear tracking devices under the premise of security.

"What these devices are going to do is just, ultimately, turn over ever last bit of privacy that we have to this global system," Conner says. Potentially, he warns, RFID will become a form of technological oppression that "dehumanizes every student and every person who is forced -- mind you, forced -- to take these beastly tracking devices, and this opens the door for limitless abuse."

..."This is the precursor to the 'mark of the beast' -- the 666 Satanic mark that the Bible talked about," Conner says, "and [the proponents of the RFID technology are] implementing this system under the guise of security and [saying] it's going to keep your children safe." But, ultimately, the San Diego activist warns, "what it's going to do is it's going to turn every single one of us into a piece of inventory -- not a human being -- a piece of inventory, a number."

Conner says even though born-again Christians will be "raptured" from the Earth before the tribulation reign of the anti-Christ, they should resist the use of RFIDs and other Orwellian influences in society.

Check out the Resistance Manifesto for a good laugh.

Woman Sues Over Tar Heel Anti-Cohabitation Law

Debora Hobbs was "living in sin," and her boss forced her to pick her boyfriend or her job as a 911 dispatcher; Sheriff Carson Smith says it was a moral issue as well as a legal question.

Ass-backwards, redneck laws...It's A-OK for Kate and I to live together here in the Tar Heel state (guess they didn't have queer people in mind 200 years ago), but if you're straight and living with your opposite-sex partner, you're breaking the law. Even more insane, since many laws like this go unenforced, is that an employer actually had the Taliban cojones to pull it -- he gave a worker an ultimatum to marry her boyfriend, move, or give up her job. What the f*ck does it matter who you are living with when it comes to your freaking job? (AP/Herald-Sun):

A former sheriff's dispatcher who quit her job after her boss found out she lived with her boyfriend is challenging North Carolina's law against cohabitation. Debora Hobbs said she was told to get married, move out, or find another job after her boss found out about her living situation. The legal arm of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina filed the lawsuit Monday on her behalf.

The lawsuit seeks to abolish the nearly 200-year-old -- and rarely enforced -- law that prohibits unmarried, unrelated adults of the opposite sex from living together. North Carolina is one of seven states with such a law.

Convicted offenders face a fine and up to 60 days in jail. "The government has no business meddling in the private relationships of consenting adults," said Jennifer Rudinger, executive director of the ACLU-NC Legal Foundation.

Hobbs had been living with her boyfriend for about three years when she was hired as a Pender County 911 dispatcher in February 2004. The couple decided they didn't want to marry; Hobbs quit last May rather than be fired.

Sheriff Carson Smith said last year that Hobbs' employment was a moral issue as well as a legal question. He said he tries to avoid hiring people who openly live together, but that he doesn't send out deputies to enforce the law.

Thanks to House Blender Medaka for the pointer.

Johnnie Cochran kicks it

"If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."

Yep, the one that got away. Too bad Johnnie didn't live long enough to see O.J. catch "the real killer." Right.

Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., died today of a brain tumor, at 67. Rather than spending time on the above travesty of justice (there's plenty of that to be found on the Web), there are other cases he handled that are worthy of praise. (MSNBC):

He also represented former Black Panther Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. When Cochran helped Pratt win his freedom in 1997, he called the moment "the happiest day of my life practicing law."

He won a $760,000 award in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Ron Settles, a black college football star who died in police custody in 1981. Cochran challenged police claims that Settles hanged himself in jail after a speeding arrest. The player's body was exhumed, an autopsy performed and it revealed Settles had been choked.



His clients also included Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, who was tortured by New York police, and Tyisha Miller, a 19-year-old black woman shot to death by Riverside police who said she reached for a gun on her lap when they broke her car window in an effort to disarm her.

The Louima case, which occurred in 1997, was a particularly brutal affair, it reinforced the opinion in many of the NY minority community that a segment of the NYPD took pleasure in brutalizing people of color when taken into custody.

Abner Louima was arrested outside a nightclub in 1997, was cuffed and taken Brooklyn's 70th Precinct. It was there that Officer Justin Volpe sodomized Louima with a broken broomstick; other officers continued "shoving a wooden stick into his rectum and mouth while his hands were handcuffed behind his back." Louima suffered a torn bladder and intestine and required several surgeries. Officer Justin Volpe pleaded guilty and is serving 30 years. Another officer, Charles Schwarz, guilty of pinning Louima down during the brutality, and four other officers were convicted of lying to authorities.

Abner Louima received $8.75 million settlement from the city due to Cochran's efforts. (CNN):

"I hope that in the future that it puts police brutality to rest and there will be no more victims," said Abner Louima. The agreement was the largest police brutality settlement in New York City history. Louima attorney Johnnie Cochran said his client's lawsuit was not about money.

"It was about trying to bring about some change. It was about the future. It was about a society in which Abner Louima feels his children will be safe, safer then he was." Cochran said. "I hope that will be the legacy."

Jesus = Tom DeLay:The Hammer thinks so

I totally missed this Easter Egg over at Perrspectives. It was a real howler.

In recent days, criticism has unfairly rained down on House majority leader Tom Delay for supposedly comparing himself to Jesus. As Delay put it in his own defense, "people hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ."

On this Easter Sunday, it is worth noting that the similarities between Jesus and Tom Delay are striking:

Head over there for more (Jon Perr has a PDF version of the above). And check out the list of the American Taliban, complete with thumbnail sketches.

Falwell on respirator, Pope needs feeding tube, Terri's dad cashes in

The Rev is on a respirator, and we are on a Pope deathwatch, Terri Schiavo's dad has contracted with a direct marketing firm that's selling lists of donors for $150 a month for 6,000 names and $500 a month for 4,000 e-mail addresses collected during this insanity. Tom DeLay was definitely "The Hammer" with his dad.

What a freakshow. Is today the day for complete irony re: Rev. Tinkywinky and John Paul II, and the compassionate pro-lifers for Terri? It's really a kicker that her parents are cashing in, authorizing a wingnut direct-mailing firm to sell a list of their financial supporters. And the body isn't cold yet, folks.

On to the sick/deathbed watch...If I were Falwell, I'd watch out for The Hammer's support, since he pulled the plug on his dad without a second thought. (Roanoke News):

Falwell, 71, was admitted to Lynchburg General Hospital shortly before midnight suffering from "respiratory arrest," the hospital said in a statement. He was put on a ventilator and stablized but remained in critical condition, the statement said.

"He is on a respirator and he's resting comfortably and in stable condition," said Ron Godwin, Falwell's executive assistant. "It's a reoccurence of the viral pneumonia."

(Houston Chronicle):

Pope John Paul II may have to return to the hospital to have a feeding tube inserted, an Italian news agency reported today. It stressed that no decision had been made.

The APcom news agency, citing an unidentified source, said the 84-year-old pope might have to have the tube inserted to improve his nutrition since he is having difficulty swallowing with the breathing tube that was inserted Feb. 24.

Check out Shakespeare's Sister for an excellent rant on the latest Schiavo media whore Jesse Jackson, and his entry into the insanity.

Boy Scout director: child porn creep

Douglas S. Smith Jr., who is expected to plead guilty, is still active in troop activity in Texas.

(via Raw Story Q). Upstanding gay scouts are tossed from this organization, yet among Boy Scout leadership is this creep, a soon-to-be-convicted-felon. It's about character, not orientation, but they just don't get it. They put the man on paid leave when this broke; at least he had the sense to step down. (MSNBC):

The national director of programs for the Boy Scouts of America has been charged with receiving and distributing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's office here told NBC News on Tuesday.

Douglas S. Smith Jr. was charged with one felony count of having photos that show "minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct." Sources in the U.S. Attorney's office told NBC that Smith was expected to plead guilty. The images were of young boys and the investigation started in Germany, the sources added.

In a statement Tuesday, the Boy Scouts of America said it had no indication of prior criminal activity. "We are dismayed and shocked to learn of the charge," it said. "Smith was employed by the organization for 39 years, with no indication of prior criminal activity. He was not in a leadership position which involved working directly with youth."

...Smith, 61, would not comment when reached by phone at his home. He was expected to appear in federal court Wednesday morning. If tried and found guilty, he faces prison time ranging from five to 20 years. A resident of Colleyville, Texas, Smith is still active in troop activity and is himself an Eagle Scout.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary

Mary Matalin sucks up to the Cheneys by landing Gay Hypocrite™ Mary a book deal. Wonder if Cheney's partner Heather Poe will get swept under the rug in Mary's account of Campaign 2004?

The Sludge Report has info on what is destined to be one of the great white-wash books of all time -- Mary Cheney is going to do her tell-all about working for her dad Darth in last year's campaign. She's certainly got a lot of explaining, er, spinning to do.

The curious and bold first acquisition of former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin in her new position at publisher SIMON & SCHUSTER is valued in the mid-six figures, top sources reveal. A top executive at VIACOM, parent of SIMON & SCHUSTER, who asked not to be named, was initally alarmed the deal would be seen as a "Thank You" from Matalin to the Cheneys.

"It's so not the case," said a SIMON & SCHUSTER insider. "This was a great opportunity to secure a great political story. Period."

Mary Cheney, who during the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns served as a top aide to her father, will write from her unique perspective as both a campaign senior staffer and as a daughter. Her book will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the high intensity world of political campaigns. It will also offer her account of what it was like to become an issue in the 2004 presidential election.

...Matalin, editor in chief, said about her inaugural acquisition: "Mary Cheney was smack-dab in the middle of every major event at the highest level on the last two national campaigns."

Perhaps she will give us the back story about what happened at the GOP convention, when Dick concluded his speech and was joined on stage by his wife Lynne, his straight daughter, Elizabeth (along with her husband, and their children) -- and Mary and Heather were hidden away on another side of the arena far away from the action, as if they had the plague. Oh, that's right, the GAY plague.

I'd like to see her comment on her mom's unhinged and breathless "cheap and tawdry political trick" remark after John Kerry mentioned Mary in one of the presidential debates. She can address the notion that the "GOP outrage" following Kerry's comment was orchestrated by Gay Hypocrite™ Mary herself.

Or maybe she'll fill us in on what it felt like to be called "a selfish hedonist" by fellow Republican Alan Keyes.

It would be interesting for Mary to give her perspective on it's like to be "out" as a professional queer for Coors, traveling the country, trying to persuade owners of gay bars to sell the company's beer, and then later having to re-closet herself for her bigoted party. What was it like, Mary, to sell your soul to the American Taliban?

For extra fun, check out Mary Cheney's formerly invisible partner Heather Poe in a series of AP/Reuters photos with captions at the blog The Pryhills.

Repug government jumps selectively for "culture of life" issues

It's a world turned upside down when you have lawmakers meeting in the dead of night to legislatively soothe fundamentalists screaming over Terri Schiavo, yet these same elected officials move like snails on medical issues before them that could help thousands each year facing life-threatening situations. Apparently aneurysms and drug-resistant TB (the latter is on a bioterror-threat list) aren't important enough for government attention. (AP, via Durham Herald-Sun):

It often comes down to the willingness of the government and lawmakers to spend money, say those who must make the pitch to Congress and federal agencies.

The National Aneurysm Alliance has been pressing Congress for months to approve federal funding to screen Medicare patients for deadly abdominal aortic aneurysms, but so far has come up empty on money for the roughly $80 to $100 tests. Contrasting that fight with congressional leaders' weekend rush earlier this month to try to get Terri Schiavo's feeding tube restored, the alliance's leader can't hide his frustration.

'Our best estimate is that about 15,000 Americans die each year from ruptured aneurysms, and I grew up in a town in central Connecticut where the entire population was about 30,000, so that's about half my town keeling over,' said Dr. Robert Zwolak, chairman of the alliance and a surgery professor at Dartmouth Medical School.

'Those lives would all be saved if we could find them by screening,' Zwolak added. 'Yes, the Schiavo case is tragic, but the reality is on average about 40 people a day are going to be dying of ruptured aneurysms.'

After 12 years of research that led to a possible cure for a worldwide health menace called multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, Dr. Albert Owens, who formerly headed the Johns Hopkins University Hospital, is finding that getting final funding for the drug is almost as challenging as his lab work.

Owens, now president of FASgen, a drug development company founded by Johns Hopkins faculty members, has hired lobbyists and made at least a half-dozen trips to Washington in recent months asking Congress and federal agencies for the roughly $5 million to $8 million needed for human testing. "We're looking for help. Now, we're not trying to take shortcuts," Owens said. "On the other hand, we don't want to waste any time either. We want to move forward as quickly as the science will let us move."

Even though the deadly and painful disease is starting to appear in the United States, is on a government bioterror-threat list and federal money helped finance the research to this point, Owens and his team are still searching for the last bit of money they need to get the drug to patients.

Caption this boob...

Chimpy grabs one of the paws of Barney the presidential pooch. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)

Which blogger is slated to appear at the National Press Club?

Let's see...John Aravosis of AmericaBlog, or Jeff "White House Rent Boy" Gannon?

What a pathetic state of things. Does it take a rocket scientist to figure out which of the above men is an actual blogger, able to speak to the issue of blogging and journalism?

The National Press Club has come to the conclusion that the most qualified people are cub reporter/prostitute Jeff Gannon/James Guckert and Wonkette. No slam on Wonkette, but that is a humor column, not blogging-as-journalism. This outrage is confirmed by Editor and Publisher. I need a barf bag. NOW.

Yes, the same day that the prestigious Washington, D.C., journalism organization plans to present a lunch talk by former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee, it will also allow the former White House reporter/sex site operator to be on a panel discussing bloggers and online journalism.

Gannon, whose real name is James Guckert, resigned his job with the conservative Talon News last month after it was revealed he had used a pseudonym, had little journalism background, and had ties to male escort Web sites.

Still, Press Club leaders will include Gannon on the panel April 8 that includes Wonkette.com editor Ana Marie Cox, National Journal's John Stanton, and others.

Gannon told E&P today that he always considered himself a legitimate journalist, and "perhaps their invitation is recognition of that."

Perhaps JG/JG had a little help from his friends in the White House to get this gig...



As John says over at AB:

Not a single actual journalist-blogger is even on the panel that will be discussing blogging-journalism, and most certainly not anyone representing the "other" side of the GannonGuckert credential issue.

Look who's on the panel:

1. Gannon, who thinks he's an acceptable journalist.
2. Wonkette, who thinks we should err on the side of accepting him as a real journalist, per her own quotes to Howard Kurtz in the Wash Post, and
3. Then there's Congress Daily, whose sister publication, the Hotline, wrote a scathing editorial against our role in the GannonGuckert story.

So, the august National Press Club is holding a panel on the issues surrounding the GannonGuckert story and the only person they invite who was actually involved in the story is GannonGuckert himself.

You can contact the National Press Club and offer your opinion about this sham. They can do better than this -- and invite John A. to actually represent the blogosphere, which he has ably done many times during Propagannon.

National Press Club Front Desk
202-662-7500

Tale of the tape - who's making what

Interesting stats, but it's not sliced enough -- it would be useful to see a breakdown of the types of jobs held, and in what industries in order to comment effectively. But here you go... (NYT):

Black and Asian women with bachelor's degrees earn slightly more than similarly educated white women, and white men with four-year degrees make more than anyone else.

A white woman with a bachelor's degree typically earned $37,800 in 2003, compared with $43,700 for a college-educated Asian woman and $41,100 for a black woman, according to data to be released Monday by the Census Bureau. Hispanic women took home $37,600 a year.

...A white male with a college diploma earns far more than any similarly educated man or woman - $66,000 a year, the Census Bureau said. Among men with bachelor's degrees, Asians earned $52,000 a year, Hispanics $49,000 and blacks $45,000.

Workplace discrimination and the continuing difficulties of minorities to get into higher-paying management positions could help explain the disparities among men, experts say. The figures come from the Census Bureau's annual look at educational achievement in America, culled from a survey in March 2004.

Did the BK folks see "Super Size Me"?

First came the Hardee's Monster Thickburger (1,420 calories), now you can start loading the arteries in the AM, thanks to BK's Enormous Omelet Sandwich.

Wake up to a mouthful of breakfast with the Enormous Omelet Sandwich. Two slices of melted, American cheese, two fluffy eggs stuffed with three crispy strips of bacon, and a sizzling sausage patty, piled high on a toasted bun. The Enormous Omelet Sandwich from BURGER KING®. So big, breakfast will never be the same.
--from the Burger King web site

I caught Super Size Me on cable and it was enough to give me agita. I do not know how the filmmaker could stomach McDs for that many days in a row. Apparently the good folks at Burger King don't think you have have too many heart attacks on a bun if they are unleashing this beast. Whatever happened to a good bowl of Kashi in the morning? (AP):

Burger King began offering two new breakfast sandwiches Monday, including one that packs more calories and fat than a Whopper.

The Enormous Omelet Sandwich carries 730 calories and 47 grams of fat and comes with two eggs, sausage, three strips of bacon and two slices of melted American cheese on a bun. It's heftier than a Whopper hamburger, which weighs in at 700 calories and 42 grams of fat.

Officials at Miami-based Burger King Corp. said that healthier choices are also available, but surveys showed customers wanted bigger sandwiches.

"By expanding our indulgent breakfast sandwich menu, Burger King restaurants now offer even more alternatives for our guests who want a convenient and filling breakfast," said Russ Klein, Burger King's chief global marketing officer.

100,000 House Blenders have visited

At some point over the weekend, my 100,000th visitor stopped by for a cup of House Blend. Thanks to everyone for reading, lurking, commenting -- and apparently deciding to return. [It's actually up to 100,591 as of this post; the Site Meter's been up since October 2004, but the blog itself has been brewing fresh java since July of the same year.]

I'd give number 100K a free cup, but I missed you. :)

Prices, then and now...

This Walkman cost about $200 in 1980 dollars.

As we watch gas prices soar, it's interesting to think about what the price of other things are, relative to the "good old days." For some items, specifically related to technology, prices have fallen significantly.

I remember waaaay back when the first Sony Walkman came out. I was in high school (Stuyvesant, in Manhattan), and a kid came in with one. Of course everyone's mouths dropped open, because we knew his dad spent a mint on that thing. How cool was this to have a personal stereo that small (now you can get a knockoff of the little guy for $10 in your local drug store).



This, of course, was the era in NYC history where a "personal stereo" was a boom box that weighed 20 lbs or more, and it was carried by b-boys that subjected you to their tastes in urban music on buses and subways -- and you better like it, lol.

From the Houston Chronicle...

OUT OF POCKET, THEN AND NOW
Do you pay more today for essential household items than you did in 1980? Surprisingly, no. The basics such as butter, milk and beef have actually dropped in price when adjusted for inflation. But the price for big ticket items such as automobiles has soared.


Click to enlarge.

Mortgage companies illegally strong-arming military families

Guess Wells Fargo thinks its patriotic duty is to run the wagon train over servicemen and women, then claim ignorance of a 65-year-old law.

Nothing like your friendly neighborhood bank and mortgage company, breaking the law, trying to strong-arm military families to pay up or begin foreclosures. You know the system is broken when a person has to get on the horn to elected reps and call the media dogs on a company like Wells Fargo before they finally let up.

The question is, how many families don't take charge and assert their rights in time to stop these greedy maneuvers? You cannot tell me that mortgage companies are unaware we are at war or even a corporate drone cannot look up the law -- this is yet another end-run to preserve their bottom lines. They should, at the very least, be publicly shamed so that business is not driven their way. (WashTimes):

When Army Reservist Steve Welter was called up for active duty in Iraq last August, his wife never thought she would face her own fight to save the family's home from foreclosure. A 65-year-old federal law, which Congress expanded last year, provides protections for activated reservists and for Guard members called up by the Pentagon.

Those protections include a 6 percent cap, under certain circumstances, on consumer and mortgage interest rate debt incurred before activation; protection from eviction or foreclosure; payment deferral for federal taxes; and a stay on civil proceedings, including divorce and bankruptcy.

Keira Welter knew the law was supposed to protect a soldier's property from creditors during active military service. But for months, she said, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Co. did not seem to care about the law, no matter how many times she explained her case. "We had worked so hard to own our own home, and while my husband was over there serving our country it was going to be taken away," said Mrs. Welter, 31, of Osawatomie, Kan.

After Wells Fargo started foreclosure proceedings in February, Mrs. Welter contacted the state attorney general's office and members of Congress. It was not until a local television station aired her story and Sen. Pat Roberts, Kansas Republican, intervened that the company finally backed off.

The Welters are not the only ones who faced hurdles seeking protection under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Lt. Col. Bruce Woolpert, a legal adviser to the Kansas National Guard in Topeka, said he fields desperate calls every week from soldiers and their families trying to understand their rights. "We had a foreclosure that was actually going to occur the next day," Col. Woolpert said. "It was going to happen until we could generate the letters and get them to the company and say, 'Please stop this, it's not a valid foreclosure.' Wisdom prevailed and it was stopped."

Kevin Waetke, a spokesman for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Co. in Des Moines, Iowa, said the company has apologized to Mrs. Welter and dismissed the foreclosure action. Mr. Roberts, outraged by Mrs. Welter's story, took the issue to the Senate. "I remain concerned that those responsible for complying with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act are not fully educated about their obligations and that the problem is nationwide," he said.

Religious wingnuts working to control Ohio politics

Rod Parsley: "We're calling people to act, not just wring their hands in the pews." Colin Hanna (r) of Let Freedom Ring trains pastors in conservative political activism; Secretary of State Ken Blackwell plans to profit from the support of the fundamentalists in his race for governor of Ohio. NC embarrassment Rep. Walter Jones is pushing H.R. 235, which would allow pastors to endorse candidates without jeopardizing church tax exemption. (Blackwell photo: Greg Sailor for The New York Times).

This is a clear example of why the Democrats cannot be complacent about the religious black vote. The Right is mobilizing, organizing and training its religious leaders to help get conservatives elected at all levels of government by politicking over the sheeple. I've been posting on this for quite some time (here, here, here, and here for starters), primarily watching the trickle and later the flood of black pastors to Bush's faith-based trough. It's like the Dems are in caught in quicksand over the party's relationship to the faith community, as the sink even deeper into intransigence over whether to deal with it. Keep waiting and watching, because the GOP has no fear of the issue.

Even more outrageous is the effort by NC Representative Walter Jones, who has submitted H.R. 235, which would allow political endorsements from the pulpit. After they obliterate this line, the goal is to get a federal marriage amendment "through the back door" by electing a flood of zealots into Congress, as well as a full adoption of the AmTaliban agenda. Jones has been courting black ministers -- because many believe they should be allowed to discuss political matters without jeopardizing the tax-exempt status of their churches -- as a cover for this effort. The folks in Ohio clearly have support at all levels of the government. (NYT):

In a manifesto circulated among church leaders and on the Internet, the group, called the Ohio Restoration Project, is planning to mobilize 2,000 evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic leaders to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year.

The initial goal is to elect Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, a conservative Republican, as governor in 2006. The group hopes to build grass-roots organizations in Ohio's 88 counties and take control of local Republican organizations.

"The establishment of the Ohio Republican Party is out of touch with its base," said Russell Johnson, the pastor of the Fairfield Christian Church and the principal organizer of the project. "It acts as if it lives in Boston." Johnson's challenge to the party establishment could have far-reaching consequences in a state dominated by Republican elected officials but still considered a bellwether in presidential politics. Conservatives in other swing states are watching closely.

"In Ohio, the church is awakening to its historic role as the moral voice in the community," said Colin A. Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, a conservative group based in Pennsylvania that trains ministers in political activism. "Ohio is in the vanguard of that nationally. I very much want Pennsylvania to be with them."

The church leaders say they will try to harness the energy of religious conservatives who were vital not only to President Bush's narrow victory in Ohio but also to the passage of an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. The amendment, known as Issue 1, was credited with drawing large numbers of rural and suburban conservatives to the polls and increasing Bush's support among urban blacks.

White supremist/homo-hater runs for Montana school board

[Welcome Buzzflash readers...be sure to check out BigBrassBlog for more of "what liberal politics has been missing," including:
* The 21st Century: Opus One on the neo-cons' plan for its vision of the world
* Mortgage companies illegally strong-arming military families
* The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same on the Pentagon's decision to take 'no action' on the ongoing problem of sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy.]

***

These white supremacist morons make me sick. Most of the time, you can't take their quasi-Nazi sh*t seriously, but every once in a while, one of them slips through and does something newsworthy that makes you think "what were they thinking." In this case I'm referring to the 39 residents of Bozeman, Montana, since Kevin McGuire is now one of four candidates who will vie for three open seats on the Bozeman school board in the May 3 elections. They signed his petition to allow him on the ballot, so he will garner at least that many votes in May.

Hopefully people will come to their senses, since he has proudly spewed his enlightened views to the local paper: "Our children are taught about the histories and cultures of Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Jews and Native Americans but any sense of White racial solidarity or White racial pride is condemned as White racism; and that is not right."

He belongs to some group called the National Alliance, which made its presence known in Bozeman last summer after fliers were dropped anonymously in several neighborhoods at night warning that the future of the white race was in peril -- McGuire is the group's spokesman. The local paper, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, says McGuire is peeved that he is called a Nazi or white supremacist. If the shoe fits...go to the National Alliance's Web site and you will read the following:

* the goals of education are to teach ideas, useful skills and "those traits of character valued by a healthy Aryan society."

* it calls for a new educational system, like one that "enjoyed an all-too-brief revival earlier this century in National Socialist Germany, before being outlawed by the advocates of permissiveness."

* By ensuring that each child born to our race grows into the strongest, most capable, most responsible, and most conscious future citizen that his genes make possible, we will gain an enormous advantage over any race without such an educational system.

* In spiritually healthier times our ancestors took as theirs those parts of the world suited by climate and terrain to our race: in particular, all of Europe and the temperate zones of the Americas, not to mention Australia and the southern tip of Africa. This was our living area and our breeding area, and it must be so again.

* We must have White schools, White residential neighborhoods and recreation areas, White workplaces, White farms and countryside. We must have no non-Whites in our living space, and we must have open space around us for expansion.

* (from its handbook): Feminism is a threat to our race for two principal reasosns: it divides the race against itself (which is the principal reason for its practically unanimous support by Jews), robbing us of solidarity and weakening us in the struggle for racial survival; and it reduces the White birthrate, especially among educated women, and undermines the family by taking women out of the home and leaving the raising of children to television and day-care centers.

Well, that's pretty clear. I didn't see anything about white supremacy, did you?

I came across a Montana blogger who has been following this joker. Wulfgar, whose blog is called a Chicken Is Not Pillage, has something to say on this.

I think it's gonna' be a hoot! It seems that Kevin McGuire, our local outspoken white supremacist, is going to run for the Bozeman schoolboard. The article refers to Kevin as a "white separatist", but I personally reject that terminology. A Giraffe is not a horse, private sector accounts controlled by government mandates are not personal accounts, and someone who believes that the white race is superior to others is not a "separatist". Yes, I would dearly love to argue that out with Kevin some time ... and blog about it afterwards. But, I digress.

You can read more about Kevin McGuire here, here and here.  It seems that Kevin, emboldened by his recent celebrity, has decided to take firm political action against the mudification of our fine white minds, by making sure that Bozeman school children will receive a proper white education.

...Personally, I don't think this is going to play that well with Mr. and Mrs. Bozeman Parent, but you never know. The National Analliance is on the move, you know.

Before folks start feeling superior, that perhaps it's just a "fly-over" country thing -- that the National Alliance is a tiny organization, there's a page with a list of phone numbers for their branch organizations, and it isn't short. Here are the ones in NC:

Benson, NC (919) 207-2047
Charlotte, NC (704) 559-6402
Laurinburg, NC (910) 384-4226
Raleigh, NC (919) 785-0600
Siler City, NC (919) 742-2438
Wilmington, NC (910) 509-2312

You can also find contacts in Baltimore, Tampa, Seattle, New York City, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit.

Tar Heel company markets log homes to gays

Does this make them Log Cabin Republicans? Just kidding. Businesses should take note; Log Homes for Us realizes pink dollars = green dough in the bank. All those homophobes that don't want our money, fine. We'll give our disposable income to companies that acknowledge us. This NC-based company won't have trouble finding queer buyers in this area, I assure you. The other company in this story, Carefree Cove, has already sold out all the lots in its developed phase in the mountains near Asheville. That tolerant city is also known as A-SHE-ville because of its sizeable lesbian population. :) (Advocate):

A month-old company based in Rocky Mount, N.C., hopes to find success in the very niche market of gay and lesbian buyers of log homes. Justin Porter, founder of Log Homes for Us, said he noticed a market to sell the homes to gays and lesbians while working for a larger company, of which his firm is now a division. At log home exhibitions, "I realized one out of every 10 to 15 couples was a gay or lesbian couple," Porter said Friday. "And I realized there was no company catering to that demographic."

He guessed--correctly, he says now--that the salespeople in the log home business, which he describes as "a very good ol' boy industry," lost interest when they learned they were dealing with gay couples.

Porter, who is gay, describes the response to the limited advertising placed by Log Homes for Us as "unbelievable." "We're just getting call after call," he said.

Log Homes for Us is a division of the Original Log Cabin Homes Ltd., which began in 1973 and moved its headquarters to Interstate 95 in Rocky Mount in 1987. President Tom Vesce says he envisions Log Homes for Us selling 300 to 400 homes in its first year and accounting for as much as one sixth of overall sales. "We've had over the years many, many gay and lesbian customers," Vesce said. "This is an opportunity to acknowledge them publicly and salute that segment in the marketplace."


Carefree Cove's partners, Gina A. Razete, president, and Cathy L. Groene, vice-president, are working with Log Cabins for Us to build a gay community in the N.C. mountains, near Boone; one of the completed cabins.

Log Homes for Us has contracts for more than 75 homes, he said. And the company is working with the developers of Carefree Cove, a private community for gays being built in Zionville. All the homes in the community, located north of Boone, must have log or cedar siding. Developer Gina Razete said CJR, the company she owns with her partner, Cathy Groene, is building spec homes from Log Homes for Us kits. In addition, the developers will recommend Log Homes for Us to property owners. So far, CJR has sold 54 lots and plans to sell the last 30 or so lots this summer.

...Log Homes for Us markets itself with ads that are sleeker and more contemporary than those the parent company uses, said Porter, adding that gay and lesbian couples tend to buy larger homes than straight couples. Its Web site makes oblique references to why log homes should appeal to gays and lesbians, saying the Americans who settled the West "owned their own land and were free, both politically and economically."

Air Force: sexual assaults are A-OK

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) considers the Air Force's ruling an abomination.

“The Acting Secretary of the Air Force has reviewed the Department of Defense Inspector General’s (DoD/IG’s) report and the Fowler report on sexual assault problems at the AF Academy...After considering all the facts and weighing all the interests at stake, the Acting Secretary found that no administrative action is warranted against those officers identified in those reports as bearing some responsibility for Academy’s sexual assault problems.”


Total and utter bullsh*t. Serve your country, get raped by a co-worker and just suck it up -- we aren't going to help you. (Raw Story):

“The Acting Secretary gave significant weight to their uniformly excellent and lengthy service and to the fact they were not intentionally or willfully derelict in their duties,” Teets added. “He also found that any mistakes or misjudgments some of them may have made are mitigated by the complexity of the issues faced, the necessity of policy tradeoffs and compromises, and the difficulty of measuring program effectiveness.”

Rep. Slaughter blasted the Pentagon for what she considered “sidelining” victims of sexual assault.

“It is reprehensible that the rights of sexual assault victims are so easily sidelined by the Pentagon as ‘too complex’ to address,” Slaughter remarked in a statement to RAW STORY. “This is the kind of ‘head in the sand’ approach we would have expected from the military in the 1950’s; in 2005 it is an abomination. Where is the accountability?”

“What the Pentagon clearly doesn’t want to discuss, and what all Americans should know, is that women are being sexually assaulted on an ongoing basis in the military and at our nation’s military academies by their colleagues,” Slaughter continued. “Is this the best we can do for young Americans who put their lives on the line to protect our freedom?”

Leniency towards sexual assault in the military has long been viewed as standard practice.

A November 2003 article in The Denver Post noted that twice as many accused Army sex offenders were doled out administrative punishment as were court-martialed.

“In the civilian world, four of every five people arrested for rape are prosecuted,” the Post noted. “Nearly 5,000 accused sex offenders in the military, including rapists, have avoided prosecution, and the possibility of prison time, since 1992, according to Army records.”

I cannot speak to the issue of what it feels like ot be a victim of such an assault, but I sure as hell can empathize enough to know that someone needs to be prosecuted for this behavior. There is NO justification for sending a message to young women in the military that they must offer up their bodies at will to any colleague that has a hard-on. What else does " the necessity of policy tradeoffs and compromises" mean except this? There are reasons -- they know better than you do, after all -- why non-consensual sex is something you just have to live with if you want to serve your country.

Please read Shakespeare's Sister's post over at Big Brass Blog.

Former Alabama judge Roy Moore is a crackpot on evolution and so much more

Rense.com

(via Media Matters). This is the man that wants to run Alabama. He's not officially announced his run for governor yet (he's praying on it), but ousted Judge Roy "Ten Commandments" Moore is now pontificating on evolution:

From the March 22 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MOORE: There's no scientific evidence of evolution. Evolution is a theory and has been recognized so by many. You have always heard of the missing link, haven't you?

MATTHEWS: Right.

MOORE: It is still missing. In other words, they can't explain how male and female came and every species from one atom or one amoeba.

The amateur scientist and biblical scholar has been in the news lately, since the monument of the Ten Commandments that cost Roy his job wrapped up its nationwide tour as of yesterday. The tour included rallies at state capitols, churches and courthouses; Moore gave permission to a group called American Veterans in Domestic Defense and named the project American Veterans Standing for God and Country "because he felt that veterans had a stake in the preservation of our godly heritage and the protection of our religious symbols."

He's also got a new book out, I suppose to bolster him on the campaign trail, outlining his opinion that the separation of church and state may be a credible and legitimate tenet, it has been largely misconstrued and abused during the last forty years -- and it's up to him to restore order. He'll be hawking this AmTaliban manifesto for quite some time to come.

He may sound like a crackpot, but he has significant support in Alabama. Remember, however, that an Alabama law mandating racially separate classrooms is still on the books -- a state amendment to repeal the Jim Crow-era law was defeated last November. Roy Moore was leading the fight. As he said at the time regarding the amendment: "This is the most deceptive piece of legislation I have ever seen and it is simply a fraud on the people of Alabama." Supporters of the measure said it was not about taxes — but about erasing the last vestiges of Jim Crow provisions from Alabama law.

To get a flavor of the level of intolerance and backward thinking in this state, read my post: Is Alabama really the worst place to be a gay person in Bush's America?"

***

In a diary on DKos about this, there was an excellent post by Corncam, that I want to repeat here...

I remember Wallace (4.00 / 2)

I am an Alabama native, and I can remember when George Wallace was governor of our fair state. I hope that y'all will forgive me for such a negative posting, but I am virtually certain that Roy Moore will win, and I'm afraid that he will bring back the reign of terror that characterised our state for nearly 100 years, up until 1964.
When I moved out of state twenty years ago, I thought that racism was a dying way of life, and that Alabama would soon rejoin the rest of the modern world, but I have begun to doubt that conclusion. The rejection of Amendment 2 in November was especially alarming, because I know how sensitive Alabamians are to any suggestion that they are intolerant rednecks.

Roy Moore's hatred of gays, and extreme religious intolerance are, unfortunately, right in tune with Alabama's mainstream. If he is elected, I expect to see police raids on known same-sex families, and increased profiling & harassment of religious minorities, especially Muslims. I wouldn't even be surprised if lynchings started up again.

The idea that a Democrat might win is just a forlorn hope, and anyway, no one to the left of Zell Miller could possibly be elected. Gov. Riley has been the best man to hold that office in 20 years, and he is a far better man than Alabama deserves right now.

The fact is that most Southern conservatives don't believe in the US Constitution, and once they are confident that Washington won't step in to enforce its provisions, then they will begin to flagrantly violate the basic rights of their fellow citizens, just like they did during the Jim Crow era.

"The past isn't dead, it isn't even past." - Faulkner

Ridge pics of Tonka

As requested by House Blend reader Medaka, here are pics of Tonka's ridge.



Day two is going well so far. Kate and I will be going out on short trips to get him used to being left in the house. This will make it easier when we go back to work on Monday.

He sits very nicely when you offer him a treat, and this AM we noticed Tonka and Bailey already sitting on the couch together snoozing. It was sweet. Sorry no picture of that; we'll have to catch that another time. Here is more information on Ridgebacks.

Breed Characteristics (from the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States):

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a native of South Africa. The breed's long history dates back to early in the 16th century when the first European men explored the interior on the Cape of Good Hope and found with the Hottentot tribes a domesticated dog with the hair on his spine being turned forward. This is the condition which we now refer to as the "ridge."

...The Rhodesian Ridgeback has the advantage of having keen sight, and a good nose for scent. Due to the wide-open terrain of the southern African veldt, coupled with the habits of the game to be hunted and the techniques required to hunt such game in that terrain, the Ridgeback was developed as a silent trailer, characteristic of its sighthound ancestry. When the terrain becomes more varied, where baying is desirable to keep track of the hunting pack (such as in areas of the United States where these dogs have been used), supplementation with baying hounds (more typical of scent hounds) has been done.

Possessing many of the characteristics generally associated with hounds, the Ridgeback has a quiet, gentle temperament, rarely barking. While able to enjoy lazing around in a patch of sun, or in front of a winter fireplace, a Ridgeback can be instantly alert if a stranger should appear or he is in pursuit of legitimate prey. Where he gave the impression of a big, lazy, slow-moving animal, the Ridgeback can be a threatening presence as a watchdog. Developed not only to hunt, but also as a family protector, his affectionate disposition makes him a trustworthy companion for a small child. He is easily trained, being, more than many hounds, of above-average tractability.

The breed standard calls for males to be around 85 lbs/27' high at the shoulder; Tonka is 125 lbs, and over 30"; the foster dad said Tonka is from a California breeder, and that out there, they are breeding them larger than standard. This, of course, is probably an attempt to make the dog even more imposing-looking. This is ludicrous and wrong-headed of breeders to cultivate this. The dog's temperament is not to be vicious, and it's dangerous to do that to this breed, given its strength.

I've yet to have a Ridgeback that's been an alpha dog; though the foster mom has two females and she said they are definitely counter-surfers and more assertive (a prey-drive, more prone to want to escape) than the males. My first dog Addison, I had when my backyard had no fence. He never ran off when I left him out there. Red was even more reserved; he didn't want to be outside if it was cold, hot, or wet if he didn't have to. He loved the comforts of A/C and the couch more than getting mussed, lol.

Tonka's home with us!

Today we went to the foster home in Apex, NC ("the PEAK of living" is their motto, lololol) and picked up Tonka, the Rhodesian Ridgeback rescue dog we've adopted. We brought him home around 3:30 and have been getting him acquainted with the other dogs. The foster mom said he's a definite couch dog, so he'll fit in here with the rest! He seems to know sit, come and stay, and takes treats very politely from your hand.



He is a BIG boy, 125 lbs, and no flab (Red, who passed away in February, was about 107). Tonka's extremely gentle and passive, which is great considering his size -- he could do a lot of damage. Bailey, our Alpha Lab/Weimeraner mix, took to him right away, since he let her be the boss. Tonka hasn't quite figured out what exactly the fluff-ball Bichon we call Chloe is.

Knight: Activist Judges Out to Destroy Marriage at All Costs

Seriously, the Right is completely blind of the irony of its attempts to "protect" marriage from gays, even as they ask for judges to make "activist" decisions to negate the power of Terri Schiavo's marital bond? The PR machine churns on unabated. (AgapePress):

A pro-family advocate with the Culture and Family Institute (CFI) says activist judges consistently turn their backs on the lessons of history in making their decisions. A recent case in point, says Bob Knight, is when two activist judges on opposite coasts negated their respective state's laws banning same-sex "marriage." In doing so, he says, those judges ignored tradition and statistical studies.

Knight says that is typical of activist judges. "Liberals have always had anti-family policies, from abortion to promoting pornography and homosexuality," he says. "It all fits one scheme, which is to say that God's plan for sex within marriage is no longer applicable -- in fact, wherever it is applicable, it produces families that get in the way of our great agenda."

The CFI director contends that in pushing their own agenda, liberal judges sacrifice everything else. "I'm not surprised to see liberal judges throw out the law, throw out precedence, throw out history, and throw out common sense in trying to put destructive laws on the books or take good laws off in order to destroy marriage," he states.

Knight says ignoring the vast amount of data available in order to decide an issue leads to "lunatic" decisions. And such judicial decisions, according to many pro-family groups, is the reason why traditional marriage needs to be protected by law.

Thin skin of the Technorati Testosteroni

[Cross-posted at Big Brass Blog.]


Perhaps Atrios is using the "Chief Brody technique" of writing -- throwing chum at his readers in an attempt to keep them hungry and coming back -- while he takes a creative breather.

Sometimes being polite (and astute) doesn't get you anything but grief. Talk to Jesse of In Search of Telford, who made the ungainly mistake of noticing that Atrios is coasting on his Big Blogger reputation with some pretty thin commentary on Eschaton. I don't know Jesse, and have never been to Telford before today, but a whole mess of folks have been over to visit now because of a little electronic dust-up.

As I said, Jesse wasn't exactly flogging Duncan Black for being a dimwit or gum-flapping fool on Eschaton; he has a lot of respect for the blog and the man:

Atrios is a heavy-hitter in the blog landscape. He deserves respect for simply being so successful. I read Eschaton daily and have now for a couple of years. He is a true pioneer in this medium and, for that, I praise him.

The fun begins when Jesse tells it like it is...call it what you may...lethargy setting in, the smell of death, reaching the point of "jumping the shark", you know what we're talking about...

One "open thread" after a cryptic, one line link, followed by another "open thread" smooshed in between a post about "Bobo's World" or "Big Media Matt". The total amount of thought put into the blog appears to be next to zero.

...He didn't become a full time blogger who lives off ad revenue by doing what he's doing now. He did it by fostering a community on his blog and supporting Democratic causes. He did it by developing a knack for getting right to the heart of a matter. He did it by not resting on his laurels.

My point is, he seems to have lost a step on his blog.

The response of Atrios to this mild criticism was to get his panties wadded up in a bit of snark:

Open Thread

Just to annoy the people who don't think I'm keeping it real anymore.
-Atrios 8:34 PM

That's a pretty lame, flip-the-bird response, but it's truly disturbing and petty of Atrios to take it to the next level and point his band of "progressive Freepi" regulars over to Jesse's blog to cut loose instead of giving a thoughtful response to the question of whether Eschaton is in creative hibernation.

Maybe Atrios is waiting for the next election cycle while he recharges, but damn, he could at least pass the baton to those with a tad more energy to take on the cause of political commentary, for crying out loud. The plight is simple -- there are plenty of issues out there that people would like to see Atrios's commentary on, but if he doesn't have the time or inclination to do so, there are plenty of bloggers out there, as Jesse points out, toiling at their blogs for zip, trying to get their voices recognized. [And, no I'm not whining for an addition to a blogroll, a link or anything of the sort -- as if writing a post like this is going to garner it!]

Eschaton has the feel of a blog that's "done," is all Jesse is saying, and I have heard this from many others around the blogosphere -- they just aren't posting about it. The fork is in it, people. No one is saying Eschaton can't be meaningful again, but there isn't a whole lot of cutting-edge politics/activism going on there right now. It's coasting time. The saddest aspect of all is that the Atrios minions really did sink to Freeper mode, unleashing juvenile comments worthy of Freeperland...

Actual Atrios Creatures Quotes™
"WaWaWa....dickhead"

"We're all deeply sorry that Atrios has ignored you. Reminds me of my only lonely