The scourge of meth, and the Bush Admin is MIA

Shakes Sis has a excellent post up about this Administration's complete waste of millions DEA funds chasing marijuana production while methamphetamine is an all-American, home-cooked scourge that is devastating lives coast to coast.

Meth babies are the new crack babies, as 40% of child-welfare officials surveyed by the National Association of Counties reported an increase in out-of-home placements last year due to meth. Social services, law enforcement agencies, and drug rehabilitation programs struggle mightily against a lack of resources to combat the exploding problem of methamphetamine use, related crime, and meth manufacture, the latter of which is also of grave concern for the environment, with five pounds of toxic waste resulting for every pound of meth produced.

While these problems exponentially multiply in every region of the country, from rural areas to urban centers, the Bush administration drags its feet.

As I commented over at her pad, a friend of mine was living in a middle-class apartment complex and there was a meth lab bust in the apartment across the way. She was able to walk into the apartment before it was "rehabbed" for re-leasing, and the walls were completely black, the cabinets in the kitchen (where the meth was cooked) showed burns, and the whole place smelled awful. Think of how many people might have been killed if these meth dealers had inadvertently blown themselves up.

Here in NC, our House passed a bill to restrict access to pseudoephedrine, but I wonder if it will curtail meth production at all. For instance:

1) drug companies could get an exemption if they proved that their product isn't likely to be used to make meth.

2) To buy cold medicines with pseudoephedrine, you'd have to show a photo identification and be at least 18. You could buy two packs at a time, or three in a month -- up to 300 pills.

3) You would also have to sign your name and address on a form showing what and how much you bought. And you would be videotaped.

4) It allows the sale of all forms of pseudoephedrine in groceries and convenience stores.

Does this make any sense?

Skin and the color of money

"Can black people tan?"

-- a white college student at Fordham, back in 1983, asking me whether I could turn browner in the sun, as we sat outside in the late spring.

My answer to that question, by the way (after I picked my jaw up off of the floor) was to calmly say "yes," and I took off my watch so she could see the contrast between my tan and what was underneath my timepiece. I then held my arm up next to her olive-skinned Italian forearm to show her that my non-tan color was lighter than her skin tone.

Gina was quite friendly and earnest when she asked the question. The fact that she felt comfortable enough with me to ask it, made me feel that she deserved a response that would not humiliate or embarrass her by pointing out her ignorance. I was, however, quite perplexed by the blunt question for several reasons. It made me curious about what she exactly thought "black" meant in physical terms (educating her on the fact that race is a social construct probably would have been too much for her to handle). In her world, though, were we that different? Did she have no concept that all humans just have varying amounts of the same chemical, melanin, that affects the complexion they have? Was she just racist? That last word is loaded. Gina was not outwardly hostile toward someone of another race. To narrowly define that word here -- she is a victim of growing up in a world of cultural, institutionalized racism and lack of exposure to people of another color.

That lack of exposure perpetuates the problem on both sides. It must be hard if you're white, asking a question about skin tone, hair texture or any physical characteristics commonly associated with being "black." You've got to take the leap of faith that the person you're asking isn't going to react badly. If you're black, the insult of the question can cut psychologically deep. Are they judging my whole value by my color? Are they saying I'm subhuman? Am I, yet again, the inferior "other"? The fear of negative reaction on both sides in this politically correct world often ensures much-needed conversations on race will never occur. It doesn't stop the ignorance, the stereotypes, or promote healing on either side when you remove the ability to ask and answer simple questions about difference.

Shakespeare's Sister and I often have open conversations (on and offline) about race and difference. I cherish these conversations because they are free of defensiveness. [An early exchange between us is in the comments of my post, Notorious unsolved civil rights murder case resurfaces.] We have confidence that asking and answering questions about difference leads to more understanding, and ultimately a more coherent view of the politics of division on all sides (and the country's political parties) when it comes to race. When we post items on these topics on either of our blogs they usually garner few comments. We both find this amusing and frustrating -- the PC wall is hard to break down even in the progressive blogosphere.

The Melanin Thing, and the Brown Paper Bag Test

"They said, if you was white, you'd be alright, If you was brown, stick around, But as you is black, oh brother, Get back, get back, get back."

-- A 1947 blues song, "Black, Brown, and White," written by Big Bill Broonzy.

By the way, Broonzy couldn't get the song recorded in America (labels turned him down); he had to do it in Europe.

This whole melanin thing is quite complicated, and cultures around the world are obsessed with it, as human beings follow natural inclinations to categorize and organize things, including people. The assignment of other humans into easy visual cubbyholes by those in dominant cultures makes it infinitely easier to give political and economic power to (or withhold from) whole classes of people. It all spirals down into a pitiful morass of bigotry and insane systems of repression that are also accepted and perpetuated within those populations deemed racially "inferior."

Here at home it's still a taboo in much of the black community to talk about the internecine wars that can be started up over skin tone. It's called Colorism. As Bill Maxwell in a 2003 article in the St. Petersburg Times noted quite nicely...

Colorism has a long and ugly history among American blacks, dating back to slavery, when light-skinned blacks were automatically given preferential treatment by plantation owners and their henchmen.

Colorism's history is fascinating: Fair-skinned slaves automatically enjoyed plum jobs in the master's house, if they had to work at all. Many traveled throughout the nation and abroad with their masters and their families. They were exposed to the finer things, and many became educated as a result. Their darker-tone peers toiled in the fields. They were the ones who were beaten, burned and hanged, the ones permanently condemned to be the lowest of the low in U.S. society. For them, even learning - reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic - was illegal.

When slavery ended, light-skinned blacks established social organizations that barred darker ex-slaves. Elite blacks of the early 20th century were fair-skinned almost to the person. Even today, most blacks in high positions have fair skin tones, and most blacks who do menial jobs or are in prison are dark.

Maxwell describes a phenomenon that I am well-aware of because my mom, who was fair, experienced it and shared the tale with me -- the brown paper bag test. [She was of American black, West Indian and Native American descent, among many other "spices."] Her exposure to the "test" occurred in the 1950s, while living in Brooklyn, NY, she was dating a young gentleman, who was brown-skinned. She was invited to a party in the neighborhood and brought her friend to the dance. At the door, the host leaned in to my mother and said that he could not be admitted with her. She was upset and asked to step inside to discuss the matter. The host was uncomfortable that my mom didn't get the "secret signal", but brought her in (while he waited outside), and was told point blank "He doesn't pass the brown paper bag test." He was too dark, and there was to be none of that going on at this party.

Needless to say, my mom -- and her date -- left that party, embarrassed and hurt.

Maxwell shares Henry Louis Gates's experience with the "test."

In his 1996 book The Future of the Race, Henry Louis Gates Jr., chairman of the Afro-American studies department at Harvard, described his encounter with the brown paper bag when he came to Yale in the late 1960s, when skin-tone bias was brazenly practiced: "Some of the brothers who came from New Orleans held a "bag party.' As a classmate explained it to me, a bag party was a New Orleans custom wherein a brown paper bag was stuck on the door.

"Anyone darker than the bag was denied entrance. That was one cultural legacy that would be put to rest in a hurry - we all made sure of that. But in a manner of speaking, it was replaced by an opposite test whereby those who were deemed "not black enough' ideologically were to be shunned. I was not sure this was an improvement."...We separate ourselves by skin tone almost as much as we ever did. If, say, you check out the "desired" female beauties in rap videos, you will find redbones galore.

To further confuse the issue, you have the fairly recent phenomenon (within the last century) of white people desiring darker, tanned skin. It was once perceived that a white person with a tan was a outdoor, lower-class laborer, and that pale beauty was prized. Later the luxurious, coveted, golden tan came into favor as a symbol of health and indicated affluence and the ability to take leisure at the beach (and later the tanning bed).

Acheiving a tan, however, was definitely not desired because whites wanted to be mistaken as "black", of course, given the negative social status that came with that racial identification. Besides, with European features and non-kinky hair, there was still a level of "protection" from that misidentification. In the present day, the pendulum in enlightened circles has swung back to the other side regarding tanning, again for health reasons, because too much sun is linked to skin cancer. Brown is now bad again.

Given this mixed-up cultural mess, is it any wonder why there is a multi-million-dollar industry that profits from the sale of skin-lightening products?

Not comfortable in your own skin? Lighten up.

If you can't beat the system, try to join it. It's a worldwide phenomenon, affecting Asians, Africans, Indians, and other non-European peoples. Women, of course bear the brunt of the pain in this racist syndrome, as the cultures attach light skin tone to the highest standards of feminine beauty. Amina Mire, a university professor in Toronto publishing part of a doctoral dissertation in a special report for Counterpunch, Pigmentation and Empire: The Emerging Skin-Whitening Industry, does an excellent exposé of the health risks posed by products created and distributed by multinational corporations that profit handsomely from this sickness.

At least in the United States, racially white eastern and southern European women have used skin-whitening in order to appear as 'white' as their 'Anglo-Saxon' "native" white sisters. In the United States, women of colour also have practiced skin-whitening. Many of the early skin-bleaching commodities such as Nodinalina skin bleaching cream, a product which has been in the US market since 1889, contained 10 per cent ammoniated mercury. Mercury is a highly toxic agent with serious health implications. According to Kathy Peiss, in 1930, a single survey found advertising for 232 different brand names of skin-bleaching creams promoted in mainstream magazines to mainly white women consumers in the United States.

...For example, almost all the medical literature published by western medical and dermatology journals offer us women of colour as victims of the dubious desire for unattainable corporeal whiteness. This same unattainable desire is often reinforced with horrifying images of the damaged faces and bodies of women of color after using cheap skin-whitening creams containing toxic chemical agents such as ammoniated mercury, corticosteroids, and hydroquinone.


The faces of Black South Africans permanently damaged by long-term use of Over-the-Counter (OTC) 2 per cent hydroquinone based skin-whitening cream.

The emphasis on such 'health risks'has facilitated the production, and marketing around the world, of new and, conceivably, 'safer' but highly expensive skin-whitening commodities and combatant technologies. The emerging 'high-end' skin-whitening commodities are marketed mainly to affluent Asian women to modify skin tone, also to white women as anti-aging therapy.

The multinational "beauty machine"

Mire notes that these large companies operate in a covert manner when marketing their product, always trying to steer clear of the political (and thus financial) impact of marketing campaigns in third world countries of color, where the message is "white is right." With the ability to market and sell in the decentralized, amorphous world of the Internet, these companies remain stealthy, while profiting from fostering Colorism.

Currently, transnational biotechnology, pharmaceutical and cosmetics corporations are engaged in the research and development and the mass marketing of a plethora of new forms of skin-whitening products which can "bleach-out" the "dark skin tones" of women of colour and can remove corporeal evidence of the aging processes, 'unhealthy life-style' and overall pollution from the skin of white women. In North America and Europe, the emerging high-end skin-whitening products have been promoted as new 'therapeutic' regimes which can 'cleanse,' 'purify' and 'regenerate' aging skin. Consequently, in North America and Europe, skin-whitening commodities aimed at white women are often sold under the banner of 'anti-aging skincare.' In other parts of the world skin-whitening commodities are promoted to 'whiten' and 'brighten' the 'dark skin tones' of women of colour.

This growing industry is a lucrative one whose reach is greatly facilitated by systematic use of the internet as the main medium for the dissemination of advertising messages for skin-whitening products and related technologies. Some of the leading transnational corporations engaged in the 'trafficking' of skin-whitening products have extensive e-business domains. Often these companies set up internet domains and e-shops in specific countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, just to name a few. In addition to such e-business sales drives, extensive use of the internet allows these corporations to avoid both the negative political implications and legal regulatory restrictions they could face if they were to openly promote skin-whitening commodities in North America and European markets.

"BI-White: The skin Pigmentation ID." (Source: http://www.vichy.com/gb/biwhite).

You've heard of L'Oreal, right? It is the world's largest cosmetics company, with sales in 2003 topping $14 billion. But did you know that it is a leading promoter of skin-whitening cosmetics? This is shameless, and brilliant as a business plan, since the market for such products, while distasteful, is booming.

The influence of the pharmaceutical industry is evidenced by much of L'Oreal's promotional rhetoric for skin-whitening cosmetics and related technologies. L'Oreal's ads for skin-whitening cosmetics increasingly blur the line between cosmetic and pharmaceutical claims. Such close integration between the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries has serious social, medical, and political implications. In fact, L'Oreal has already designated some of its subsidiaries, such as Vichy Laboratories and LA Roche-Posay Laboratoire Pharmaceutique, as quasi-pharmaceutical outlets through which the company can successfully promote skin-whitening and other cosmetics under the rubric of skincare biomedicine.

The Asian markets are targeted just as hard as African ones; in fact L'Oreal tailors its message so expertly and craft its ads so well, you'd think the product should a must-have in your beauty arsenal.

L'Oreal calls this marketing strategy 'Geocosmetics:

More than half of Korean women experience brown spots and 30 per cent of them have a dull complexion. Over-production of melanin deep in the skin that triggers brown spots and accumulation of melanin loaded dead cells at the skin's surface create a dull and uneven complexion. Vichy Laboratories has been able to associate the complementary effectiveness of Kojic Acid and pure Vitamin C in an everyday face care: BI-White.

Another L'Oreal advertisement for skin-whitening brand is called "White Perfect." This particular skin-whitening brand is sold in L'Oreal's Asian markets and online e-shops. In that way, those who live outside Asia can purchase this and other L'Oreal skin-whitening brands over the internet.

...L'Oreal's advertising for skin-whitening commodities reinforces and consolidates the globalized ideology of white supremacy and the sexist practice of the biomedicialization of women's bodies. It is in this specific context of the continuum of the western practice of global racism and the economic practice of commodity racism that the social, political and cultural implications of skin-whitening must be located and resisted. Consequently, feminist/antiracist and anti-colonial responses must confront this social phenomenon as part and parcel of our old enemy, the "civilising mission" ; the violent moral prerogative to cleanse and purify the mind and bodies of the "dark/dirt/savage".

Amina Mire also notes that L'Oreal has 12 major subsidiaries: Lancôme Paris, Vichy Laboratories, La Roche-Posay Laboratoire Pharmacaceutique, Biotherm, L'Oreal Paris, Garnier, L'Oreal professional Paris, Giorgio Armani Perfumes, Maybelline New York, Ralph Lauren, Helena Rubinstein skincare, Shu Uemura, Maxtrix, Redken, SoftSheen-Carlson™. Not all of the above listed L'Oreal subsidiaries deal with the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of skin-whitening products, but it illustrates the reach of the company.

Mire's lengthy, thought-provoking article at Counterpunch is certainly worth the click and your time. It might also be useful to ask a few questions of L'Oreal; after all, these executives, scientists and marketing people do quite well (and I'm sure sleep like babies at night) fostering institutionalized racism, colorism and sexism for a buck.


Lindsay Owen-Jones,
Chairman & CEO of L'Oréal
Web contact form

***


Email the article's author, Amina Mire: amina.mire at utoronto dot ca.

***



For a look at the issue of effects of racism through the prism of hair texture, read these earlier Blend posts:

* The effects of slavery permeate our society to this day
* The politics of hair (again): school bans white girl with braids
* Good hair day


Thanks to House Blender Impeach Bush for the pointer.

Rick Santorum Unhinged on 'This Week'

I was trying to find a couple of choice excerpts from the transcript of Little Ricky's appearance today on This Week with George Stephanopoulos to share with Blenders. It's maddening because, for crying out loud, the whole thing is such an excruciatingly bad train wreck of wingnuttery that you have to read it all yourself to get the whole picture of the man. He's completely filled to the brim with AmTaliban Kool-Aid -- on an IV of it. And he comes off like a real boob. As I said, I cannot do it justice, go read the whole thing, but here are a few of the topics covered.

On rolling back Roe v. Wade, Santorum's would like a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, even though he has never co-sponsored any that have been submitted.

SANTORUM: And the [Supreme] court is really supposed to be an umpire between the legislative branch and the executive branch. Instead, they’re trying to play the game.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But you say you don’t want the courts to decide, you want the people to decide. And of course, if Roe v. Wade were overturned, each state would have the choice. But I wonder if that’s good enough, given what you believe. If you believe that that would essentially give the states a license to kill, don’t you have to be for a constitutional amendment that would ban abortions in every state?
SANTORUM: Well, OK, let’s just say, let’s say that we did that, that would be the democratic process. Again, it…
STEPHANOPOULOS: But do you support that?
SANTORUM: I would support a constitutional amendment, sure.
STEPHANOPOULOS: How come you’ve never co-sponsored one or introduced one in the Senate?
SANTORUM: Well, because we’re so far away from any potential of doing a constitutional amendment. The bottom line is, what we want is the people to speak on this issue. And I think the most logical way, given the state of play in the American mores, if you will, is having each state legislature, and the Congress potentially, although I would really try to reserve it to the state legislature, have them decide what the collective morality is.

Then it's OK that Massachusetts allows gays to marry, Ricky? Next, Santorum takes on the Radical Feminist Movement^TM, which is destroying the family. He can't seem to name any of these wild-eyed, ball-breaking hussies, except Hillary and Gloria Steinem. Georgie S. breaks Ricky's pretty well here...

Graphic: Mike Tidmus.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s talk about something else in the book, radical feminists. A second quote from the book, you say, Respect for stay-at-home mothers has been poisoned by a toxic combination of the village elders’ war on the traditional family and radical feminism’s mysogynistic crusade to make working outside the home the only marker of social value and self-respect. Let’s get specific here. Name one or two of these radical feminists who are on this crusade.
SANTORUM: Well, I mean, you know, you have — you go back to, what’s her name, well, Gloria Steinem, but I’m trying to remember — I can’t remember the woman’s name. It’s terrible. Anyway…
STEPHANOPOULOS: But it’s kind of an important point. Because you paint this broad brush: radical feminists, village elders. Name one.
SANTORUM: There’s lots of — no, there’s lot’s of — well, Gloria Steinem. There’s one. I mean, there’s lots of writings out there…
STEPHANOPOULOS: She’s been on a crusade against stay-at-home moms?
SANTORUM: There’s lots of writings out there, and there is an opinion by the elite in this country across academia, across the media, that stay-at-home motherhood is not adequately affirmed and respected by our society.
...STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, I’m asking you. Where are these radical feminists?
SANTORUM: It comes from an elite culture, dictated, again, from academia, dictated, again, from the Hollywood culture and the news media, that says, the only thing that’s affirming, the only thing that really counts is what you do at work.

Pathetic. It doesn't get any better when he goes after Hillary. All the bluster, and he can't back it up with jack.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hillary Clinton wrote much the same in her book, It Takes a Village. Do you believe she’s a radical feminist?
SANTORUM: Yes, I do. I mean, read her work and what she’s done on children’s rights. I mean, that’s radical. I mean, you’re talking about giving children the same — that children have rights equal to adults. I mean, that is not a nurturing atmosphere of mothers and fathers taking responsibility for shaping the moral vision of their children. She doesn’t agree with that, at least if you look at her earlier writings.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Have you talked to her about your book?
SANTORUM: We’ve had conversations in passing about it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Tell us about them.
SANTORUM: Oh, just, you know, pass in the hallway, you know, she made a comment to me about that it takes a village, and I responded, no, it really does take a family.

You really have to go read the transcript to see his defense of his statement that "Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm" of the Catholic priest pedophile scandal. George kicks Little Ricky's *ss all over the room on that one. If this is the best he can do, it's no wonder Santorum announced that he's not running in 2008.

Does God hate the Boy Scouts?

Just asking. After all, if this sort of series of awful tragedies befell random participants at various Pride celebrations around the country, I'd expect Dobson, Falwell, Phelps and company to be broadcasting widely that the disasters were God's punishment against the homos.

Co-founder of 'ex-gay' movement says conversions are bogus, dangerous

(via Americablog). Wayne Besen, author of the Anything But Straight, an expose of the ex-gay movement, has a statement up on his site from one of the co-founders of Love In Action, former "ex-gay" John Evans.

Love in Action, you'll recall, is running the Refuge conversion camp where teen blogger Zach was placed by his parents when he came out to them. Evans says that gay conversion groups "shattered lives."

"In the past 30 years since leaving the 'ex-gay' ministry I have seen nothing but shattered lives, depression and even suicide among those connected with the 'ex-gay' movement," Evans writes in his letter to John Smid, Love In Action's current director. "I challenge Christians to investigate all sides of the issue of being gay and Christian. The Church has been wrong in the past regarding moral issues and I'm sure there will be more before Christ returns."

Evans, a gay man, founded what may be the first modern ex-gay group in San Raphael, Calif. in 1973, along with a heterosexual preacher Kent Philpott. Evans left his life partner of ten years to start the gay conversion group. He later dropped out after he realized it didn't work and his best friend committed suicide because he could not turn heterosexual.

"Having the founder of Love In Action step forward to admonish the ministry he started speaks to the utter hopelessness and futility of these groups, not to mention the danger they represent," said Wayne Besen, Author of Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth (Haworth, 2003). "Most disturbing are the compulsory gay boot camps for teens which are tantamount to child abuse. They should immediately be shut down."

Go to Wayne's site for Evans's entire letter.

Other Blend posts on Zach's story:
* Zach's parents 'come out' about the attempt to 'de-gay' their son

* Why 'ex-gay' programs like Love in Action are immoral

* Zach's story makes the NYT

* Follow-up to Love in Action's 'ex-gay' re-education camp

* Six more weeks in 'ex-gay' camp for TN teen

* Zach to be released from "ex-gay" Love in Action prison

The all-white 'Sundown' in America

House Blender Holly sent me a link to a book that is definitely going to be on my wish list. Jim Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, has a new work coming out (in October), Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of Segregation in America. "Sundown Towns" were municipalities that purposely ran whatever blacks that had the misfortune to settle there out of town by physical intimidation, arson, restrictive ordinances -- and for those stubborn darkies that had the gall not to get the hint -- the gun. From the book description:

Highland Park, Texas, home to both George W. Bush and Richard Cheney, did not have a home-owning black family until 2003. Vienna, Illinois, expelled its black community in 1954, burning their homes and sending them fleeing. Eleven Presidents and recent presidential candidates come from sundown towns, including McKinley, Truman, Dewey, JFK, and George W. Bush Signature American edibles that originated in sundown towns include Spam, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and Heath bars.

Publishers Weekly, which has reviewed the book, adds more detail to the ground covered in Loewen's work.

Located mostly outside the traditional South, these towns employed legal formalities, race riots, policemen, bricks, fires and guns to produce homogeneously Caucasian communities—and some of them continue such unsavory practices to this day. Loewen's eye-opening history traces the sundown town's development and delineates the extent to which state governments and the federal government, "openly favor[ed] white supremacy" from the 1930s through the 1960s, "helped to create and maintain all-white communities" through their lending and insuring policies.

"While African Americans never lost the right to vote in the North... they did lose the right to live in town after town, county after county," Loewen points out. The expulsion forced African-Americans into urban ghettoes and continues to have ramifications on the lives of whites, blacks and the social system at large. Admirably thorough and extensively footnoted, Loewen's investigation may put off some general readers with its density and statistical detail, but the stories he recounts form a compelling corrective to the "textbook archetype of interrupted progress." As the first comprehensive history of sundown towns ever written, this book is sure to become a landmark in several fields and a sure bet among Loewen's many fans.

Kate told me that she knew that there was a sign in Cullman, AL (no longer there) that said "Welcome to Cullman", and as a subhead it said: "N*gger, don't let the sun set behind your back," so we know at least that is one Southern state that is probably in Loewen's book.

DC Rev 'apologizes' for outrageous sermon attacking gays

"But … women falling down on another woman, strapping yourself up with something, it ain’t real. That thing ain’t got no feeling in it. It ain’t natural. Anytime somebody got to slap some grease on your behind and stick something in you, it’s something wrong with that. Your butt ain’t made for that."

“No wonder your behind is bleeding. You can’t make no connection with a screw and another screw. The Bible says God made them male and female.”
--The Rev. Willie Wilson, pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast D.C. (and a former mayoral candidate)

I posted on this dude's unbelievable statements a week or so ago. He got so much heat for these comments that he finally had to apologize, though as with most of the idiots that get caught and have to publicly extract their feet from their mouths, the statement doesn't reek of sincerity when right behind it you reinforce perception of your initial opinion. We report, you decide. (WaPo):

"Some people in the community were offended by the language I used in my message, which I will admit was intemperate," Wilson said in a telephone interview. "I apologize to anyone who was hurt by the language that I used."

He added: "I do not apologize for raising a very serious issue concerning our young girls, some as young as 10 and 11 years of age, who are engaging in same-sex relations."

This is a ridiculous "mistakes were made" kind of cop-out, but then further down in the article, it all unravels in Reverend Wilson's loon-tastic comments.

Wilson said the sermon, which was recorded, was not intended for a wider audience. "As a preacher and teacher, I have a responsibility to address social issues in our community and to make some type of biblical and moral response," he said. [Oh, ok. So it was alright to spew that inappropriate sh*t about strap-ons and hateful language in front of parishioners, including children?]

...He also apologized last night for comments he made about black women. Those remarks prompted meetings this week between Wilson and women on the steering committee of the planned march. In his sermon, Wilson asserted that one reason women become lesbians is because a "lot of sisters [are] making more money than brothers." He also said his son told him that he couldn't get a date to the prom because "all the girls in my class are gay. Ain't but two of 'em straight, and both them ugly."

Wilson said irate calls about the sermon flooded his telephone line and prompted him to change his number. [Hmmmm. I wonder why?]

"I have learned that people can take your message out of context," he said. "I have a right and responsibility to preach to my congregation. They took my message and spread it all over the world."

Please, god how on earth could you take what this idiot said out of context?

Thanks to House Blender and Julien's List contributor Holly for the pointer.

Another blogger on the arson in Florida and supporting community in GA

House Blender Joe Tresh, a blogger and freelance photojournalist, also comments on the gay couple in Florida that had their home torched by bigots who left the spray-painted handiwork "Die Fag" on the steps. Joe, as Blender Mike Tidmus also did today, adds to the list of unfortunate anti-gay goings on. It touches on what I said in my original post on the Florida incident that gay folks and especially straight allies have to be willing to publicly defend their gay friends and acquaintances in less-tolerant environs for change to occur. Here's an action item regarding a situation in Georgia from Joe:

As gay people, we need to reach out more to our neighbors. Mr. Day - sharing no blame for this, just trying to live a quiet life - may find there are neighbors who understand him and don't hate him. He may find someone who thinks gay people are icky, who is beginning to become convinced of our alleged "immorality" because his church told him so. But by meeting Mr. Day and having a chance to see just another person who wants to live a peaceful life, perhaps the neighbor will question the blindness their church leaders are teaching them and accept their gay neighbors for who they are.

Meanwhile, in southern Georgia, somebody's gay neighbors are trying to reach out, but Lamar Advertising Company won't let them. Georgia Equality wants to buy billboards with pictures of gay doctors and firefighters that say "I protect you. And ... I am gay. We Are Your Neighbors." According to Lamar Advertising's James Locke, this doesn't meet community standards.



The fact that we exist does not meet community standards!

Call Lamar Advertising and tell them that they have gay neighbors who are part of the community standard. SHAME on them! Tell them how disgusted you are by their decision to deny our very existence!

Lamar Advertising Company
Corporate Phone Number: (225) 926-1000

Call the main number, use the company directory and leave a message for President Kevin P. Reilly Jr.

General Information: Theresa Doran
Contact their local offices and ask them what their community standards are.


We must be allowed to be seen for who we are. If we can't, the hatred and violence will only escalate, and actions by companies like Lamar will be what fuels the fire.

Blogwhoring, movie pick and open thread

Kate and I are going to see Murderball today. We didn't get to see it at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival a couple of months ago, because it conflicted with another flick we went to, but a friend highly recommends it. It's now out in general release. From the film's web site:

Featuring fierce rivalry, stopwatch suspense, and larger-than-life personalities, MURDERBALL, Winner of the Documentary Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize for Editing at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, is a film about tough, highly competitive rugby players. Quadriplegic rugby players. Whether by car wreck, fist fight, gun shot, or rogue bacteria, these men were forced to live life sitting down. In their own version of the full-contact sport, they smash the hell out of each other in custom-made gladiator-like wheelchairs. And no, they don't wear helmets.

From the gyms of middle America to the Olympic arena in Athens, Greece, MURDERBALL tells the story of a group of world-class athletes unlike any ever shown on screen. In addition to smashing chairs, it will smash every stereotype you ever had about the disabled. It is a film about family, revenge, honor, sex (yes, they can) and the triumph of love over loss. But most of all, it is a film about standing up, even after your spirit - and your spine - has been crushed.

Seen anything good lately?

Frist fried by Cardinal over stem cell research funding

Oooh. The Senate Majority Leader is getting scorched by Cardinal William H. Keeler, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee for Pro-life Activities, a buddy of Bill Frist's during the Terri Schiavo fiasco. Heh heh heh. Bye, bye 2008. Listen to this flamebait:

"Today Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced he will support using federal funds to encourage the destruction of living human embryos for their stem cells. Despite the Senator's disclaimers to the contrary, this position is not 'pro-life.'

"Especially disturbing is the Senator's insistence that human embryos unwanted by their own parents are owed 'the same dignity and respect' as children and adults, but may nevertheless be killed for research material. "Such destruction of innocent human life, even out of a desire to help others, rests on a utilitarian view that undermines human dignity and human respect, as Senator Sam Brownback ably pointed out today in his response.

"Senator Frist's effort to make an analogy with organ transplants also fails, because it would be gravely immoral as well as illegal to harvest any patient's vital organs when he or she is still alive. "Despite his warning against offering 'false hope' to patients, Senator Frist also repeated claims that are untrue or misleading about the unique 'promise' of embryonic stem cells. No one has identified any disease that can be treated only with these cells; no one even knows whether they will ever provide a safe and reliable treatment for the conditions already being successfully treated using adult stem cells.

"These factual issues will no doubt be explored by others. My own central concern is that neither sound ethics nor good government can rest on the principle that 'the end justifies the means.' I commend President Bush for his laudable pledge to veto such legislation."

Like father, like son: George Wallace, Jr. courts the CCC

"There is nothing hateful about those people I've seen."

-- George C. Wallace Jr., welcoming the delegates of the "uptown Klan", the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) to its convention.

Sadly, that bad apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The former Alabama governor George Wallace stood in a school's doorway to try to prevent integration. Once it was clear that Jim Crow didn't fly anymore, he eventually courted the black vote to win re-election to his final fourth term in 1982. You'd think the son, Alabama Public Service Commissioner George C. Wallace Jr., might have learned from the social change that he witnessed while growing up and taken something postive away from those experiences. Apparently he didn't. (SPLC):

The younger Wallace, whose official resumé boasts of an NAACP Freedom Award, opened up the first day of the annual national convention of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a group whose Web site has referred to blacks as "a retrograde species of humanity." More than 100 delegates heard his speech, which went without any immediate coverage in the Alabama print or broadcast media.

There is little debate that the CCC is a racist group. In fact, the head of the Republican National Committee in 1999 warned party members to avoid the group after the Southern Poverty Law Center published an exposé detailing its racism. The CCC was created from the mailing lists of the old White Citizens Councils, which were set up in the 1950s and 1960s to resist efforts to desegregate Southern schools, and which Thurgood Marshall once described as "the uptown Klan." Recently, it has embraced Holocaust deniers and published anti-Semitic articles on its Web site.

In the audience listening to Wallace were a number of leading white supremacists. They included Don Black, proprietor of Stormfront.org, the most influential hate site on the Internet, and former Alabama grand dragon of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan; Jamie Kelso, right-hand man and Louisiana roommate of former Klan leader David Duke; Jared Taylor, editor of the neo-eugenicist American Renaissance magazine; Ed Fields, an aging white supremacist leader from Georgia; Alabama CCC leader Leonard "Flagpole" Wilson, who got his nickname shouting "Keep Bama white!" from atop a flagpole during University of Alabama race riots in 1956; and the CCC's national leader, St. Louis personal injury lawyer Gordon Lee Baum...He said he welcomed the delegates and spoke about his family and conservative values.


Proud faces of the CCC's racist Right: Don Black, David Duke and "assistant" Jamie Kelso, Jared Taylor, Gordon Lee Baum.

This was not Wallace's first flirtation with the CCC, a group that has grown more openly radical and racist in recent years. Wallace, who was Alabama state treasurer between 1986 and 1994 and was elected to the Public Service Commission in 1998, gave speeches to the CCC once in 1998 and twice during 1999.

Mike Tidmus on the arson in Florida

I shared my thoughts last night on the arson that burned down the home of a gay couple in Lakeland, FL. Surf over to Mike Tidmus's blog. He posts news about additional arsons in Arkansas and Texas, and shares graphic that symbolizes the significance of fire as a weapon of hate and intimidation of the Right:

Has the religious-right, through its continual ratcheting up of anti-gay rhetoric, created a climate in which we can expect to see an ongoing escalation of hate crimes against gay people?

Obviously, the answer is yes.

Are good “Christians” capable of a crime like arson? The divine Miss Polly, at Adult Christianity, points to a couple of incidents of fundamentalist, “Christian” pastors torching their own church’s for profit here and here.

Have Dobson, Sheldon, Perkins, Knight, Wildmon, Falwell and the rest of the religious-right gang declared open season on gay people?

Well, yes they have and no they haven’t. None of them, to my knowledge, have publicly encouraged their flocks to grab a book of matches and a can of gasoline — at least not in so many words.

And, as Mike notes, because these high-profile bible-beaters don't direct the bigoted sheeple to perpetrate these crimes, they can continue to deny any responsibility for fomenting acts like arsons, beatings and killings of gays and lesbians, and still sleep like babies at night.

We have to tie these leaders of the Right to their flock of violent extremists. These arsonists, after all, are their people, their base, their alleged followers of the Holy Word.

Jimi Hendrix, faux queer

The swaggering ultra-het ax-man Hendrix got out of serving in Vietnam by declaring that he was gay, according to a new bio. That's all it took, and he was outta there. As desperate as the Army is now, would a simple homo declaration pass muster or would he have to prove he was a fag in some more concrete way? (Irish Examiner):

Rock legend Jimi Hendrix pretended he was gay to get out of the US Army, a new biography reveals. Hendrix was discharged from the 101st Airborne division in 1962, launching a musical career that would redefine the guitar, leave other rock heroes of the day speechless and culminate with his headlining performance of The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock in 1969.

Hendrix’s subterfuge, contained in his military medical records, is revealed for the first time in Charles Cross’s biography, Room Full Of Mirrors. Publicly, Hendrix always claimed he was discharged after breaking his ankle on a parachute jump, but his medical records do not mention such an injury.

In regular visits to the base psychiatrist at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in spring 1962, Hendrix complained that he was in love with one of his squad mates, Cross writes. Finally, Capt John Halbert recommended him for discharge, citing his “homosexual tendencies” – four years before Arlo Guthrie suggested that path for avoiding military service in the protest song, Alice’s Restaurant.

The Sunshine State: gay couple's mobile home set on fire

Chris Roberton (left) and Paul Day on Thursday inspect damage to their mobile home from a fire and look over the epithet painted on their steps. (John Raoux/Sentinel)

"Between Tampa and Orlando, it's just a void. It's a different world. Very behind the times."

-- Paul Day, 25, a gay man torched out of his home by cowardly bigots, in Lakeland, FL.

"For the past six months, I've been saying, 'I want to move; I want to move.' I don't want to be here anymore. It's stressing me out."

-- Christopher Robertson, 23, Day's partner

Love thy neighbor.

[UPDATE: I added some thoughts at the end, rather than posting a really long response in the comments.]

These young men had just completed three months of renovations on their home, at a cost of $15,000, and it all goes up in flames because of some hateful bigots. In this Orlando Sun-Sentinel article, it's noted that hate crimes based on sexual orientation are on the rise in Florida, a higher percentage than ever before.

Paul Day and Christopher Robertson knew life as gay men in Polk County could be rough. They had been called names and taunted by neighborhood teens before. Day, 25, said he even had a mailbox riddled with shotgun pellets once when living near the Green Swamp in the north part of the county.

The couple never thought it would get so bad as Monday, when they returned home from errands to find their house in Kings Manor Mobile Home Park in Lakeland torched and the words "Die Fag" spray-painted on the front steps.

...Monday's case is an arson with burglary, Lakeland Fire Department spokeswoman Cheryl Edwards said. But officials remain tight-lipped about the investigation.

The fire had "multiple points of origin," Edwards said. Day said someone apparently poured a flammable substance all over the carpet and torched it. The home, which just had three months of renovations completed, is in ruins, Day said. The damage is estimated at $15,000. Many belongings, including electronics, were stolen.

Day and Robertson have called Polk County home for most of their lives. As early as high school, Day said he knew he was gay and identified himself openly. Problems with other people, though, have plagued him. He said he called the authorities three times for such incidents as rocks thrown at his home and a shot-riddled mailbox when living in north Polk County.

When Day moved to the mobile-home park a couple of years ago, he said it didn't take long for trouble to begin. He said a group of teens and young adults sometimes taunted him as he checked his mail. "I tried to not associate with people here," said Day, who works at an auto-parts store in Auburndale. "We've just tried to stay to ourselves."

***

It is maddening. In the bigger scheme of things, gay people have the right to live anywhere in the freaking U.S. without having to worry about sh*t like this, just like anyone else. It's sad we have to fight for this right. Of course it's a different thing altogether to ask people to sacrifice their safety and "pursuit of happiness" to homestead in places gays are not wanted. This gay couple didn't have the support of their neighbors; there was no one willing to stop the insults and rock-throwing from escalating.

Coming out is the most powerful thing gays can do, but it cannot be done in isolation; straight allies have to be willing to publicly defend their gay friends and acquaintances. The fear is that people are coming out in such numbers that are scaring these bigots. This is the kind of reaction gays receive when the homo-haters' discomfort has reached a level where they have to make "statements" like this to send a message to recloset or get out.

The homophobes would love nothing more than to reclaim "God's country", and shuttle gays, brown people of any sort, and probably anyone of a religion other than fundamentalist Christianity off to distant areas of Blue. [At some point, they would probably admit to wanting to keep some of those immigrant browns available to perform services for them -- but they should live in ethnic ghettos within convenient driving distance of gated Jesusland.]

At this point in gay rights history, the bigots are now content to cede the deep Blue enclaves to ethnic, religious and gay populations as "lost causes." The real battlegrounds are the suburbs, rural areas and states that have not had to deal with large populations of diversity. I guess the small victory is that they don't want the Blue back; the battle is over the Purple areas from tilting more Blue, and to stop any attempts to "corrupt" the deeply Red areas in any way.

One must also note that in prospective Jesusland, the bible-beaters would not only toss out openly gay folks, but the closeted ones, AND anyone that has engaged in same-sex acts -- throw in those drunken frat boy "explorations", prison homo-sex, all of it.

These folks want to cast a wide net, right? Their whole premise is that the conduct itself is evil and wrong, correct?

Let's say, magically, every person that had participated in what they deem homosexual acts suddenly had a rainbow flag symbol appear on their foreheads, identifying them -- I wonder what the actual remaining population of Jesusland would be if all those people had to get out -- 20% of the original group?

An aside: you can see the Red State desperation in its full flower on the illegal immigration front. All the Red border states are rebelling against Chimpy on this (the Freepers are going apesh*t), and the GOP knows that this is the conflict within its party that threatens to destroy it, not the homo culture war.

The Repugs know that they cannot resolve the gulf between the capitalist pig faction of the GOP and the come-to-Jeebus/working class faction of the party. The Dems have failed to reclaim any of latter faction, and it's the population that stands to lose the most as Bush's "greed is good" base gets its legislative way.

Rove masterfully tied Dem hands by tossing gays out there as the demon to appeal to the God-fearing aspect of this population with great success. The lack of a coherent Dem response sealed the deal, and gays are still the whipping boy instead of the fat cats that are picking Joe-Six-Pack's pocket and taking his job away.

Pelvic thrusts are the devil's work

"...This kind of body motion is a private thing. On stage, performed by a crowd of people we don't know, it degrades the very essence of what makes human beings special."

-- Jane Jimenez, columnist at AgapePress, on how her soul is hot and bothered by pelvic thrusts she sees while in the gym.

People, I cannot possibly make this sh*t up. I am, once again, nearly speechless...

Have you been thinking about pelvic thrusts lately? I haven't, but the more godly among us may be better equipped ponder over what what your hips and mine might be doing in the gym, on the TV, you know -- right in the AmTaliban's sensitive line of vision.

Jane Jimenez, a former elementary school teacher and self-described "freelance writer dedicated to issues of importance to women and the family" will show us the way from head to crotch.

I sit in the MegaGym lobby, waiting for my husband. A big screen television entertains us. Or should I say ... Sean and The Babes entertain us. Sean struts and bobs across the television screen, pointing and rapping. Behind him the Babes gyrate. Rap and gyrate, bodies in motion, bobbing and pointing and thrusting.

Honestly, I sit in a MegaWorld of body parts thrusting, and not one of them is a pelvis. Except for Sean and his Babes.

A mother walks over with her young son, and they each settle into a brown leather chair. Clearly, like me, they are just passing time. For lack of something to do, their eyes turn to Sean. He gyrates with a Babe. He gyrates with another Babe. Two babes at once. And then they do a round of pelvic thrusts. I want to cover her son's eyes. Sean bumps and grinds while his ten Babes get in a tight chorus line. In time with the music, in unison they do pelvic thrusts. A mother and her two toddlers walk behind me heading for the family locker room. I am embarrassed for them.

I want to go to the Customer Service desk and ask why we are not watching a basketball game. Or what about ballet, Nureyev or Baryshnikov doing power leaps across the stage? Or swing dance? Or ice skating? Of all the wonderful things we humans can do with our bodies, in a MegaWorld that exercises every muscle known to man without needing one pelvic thrust ... why are we subjected to big screen Sean and his Babes?

They lick their lips and shoot us sultry glances. [Do you get the sense that she's getting turned on and having "dirty thoughts" by this description yet?] She against him, him against her ... and her ... and her. A chorus line of pelvic thrusts, and I suddenly want this song to end.

Was it only half a life ago that Elvis provoked national outrage with one twitch of a nervous leg? Yet, with a career built on body motions, I never remember Elvis doing one pelvic thrust with a babe onstage.

Pelvic thrusts are common fare in America these days. Most people would consider them no big deal. MTV and Internet porn have given us bigger things to worry about. But, if little things don't matter, I wouldn't be here in the MegaGym trying to undo the damage of an extra ten calories. Big things are grown from little things.

Perhaps the only thing that tops this piece was my post on the Stepford Wives organization of the AmTaliban, Homemakers for America, whose head Kim Fletcher's desire to return to the 1950s ("We are the homemakers. Men build the house. We make the home.") was completely bizarre.

Gay.com billboard in MA comes down

Left: The "offensive" billboard. Right: Brian Camenker, director of Article 8 Alliance: ''You have two men embracing, wrapped in the American flag, advertising a porno website. How can you get more offensive than that?"

An update on yesterday's "Wingnuttery in Massachusetts" post, documenting a Gay.com billboard that, according to local AmTaliban group Article 8 Alliance, was "pretty disgusting" and "desecrated the American flag." Brian Camenker had his sheeple call in to complain to ClearChannel Communications to take the billboard down, which it agreed to do under pressure yesterday. They caved over FIVE phone calls. The official word from CC, at Boston.com:

The image, an ad for the San Francisco-based dating and news website Gay.com, was scheduled to come down tomorrow, but the complaints motivated the company to remove it one day early, said Drew Hoffman, president of Clear Channel Outdoor, a Phoenix-based media company. ''We're very sensitive to the community concerns," he said in a telephone interview from his office in Stoneham. Spencer Moore, a spokesman for Gay.com, said the company was not upset the ad is coming down a day early. Clear Channel received about five complaint calls yesterday, Hoffman said.

...Moore, of Gay.com, said the website is not a pornographic site. It offers online dating services, along with editorial and commercial content, he said. Moore said he had not spoken with Clear Channel representatives yesterday. ''As far as we know, the contract expired," he said. Gay.com is planning a new fall ad campaign, which will most likely include Boston, and it plans to work with Clear Channel again, he said.

Gay.com could, however, pursue legal action against Clear Channel, if it chose to, said Sarah Wunsch, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. The media company may have violated its contract with the advertiser and interfered with its state civil rights, she said. ''It's pathetic that Clear Channel caved in with a complaint from the Article 8 Alliance. I consider them quite a fringe, on-the-edge kind of group."

Article 8 Alliance is also working to overturn same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. Here's what replaced the Gay.com billboard:



Thanks to House Blender Todd for the pointer.

The energy bill, by numbers

Yesterday the House approved a massive energy bill, which, as the AP reported, would send billions of dollars in tax subsidies to energy companies. Here is a good roundup, by the numbers from the good folks at Facing South:

INSTITUTE INDEX - Negative Energy

Cost of the "Energy Bill" Congress plans to pass this week: $80 billion



Amount inserted by Speaker Tom DeLay, after conference discussion had closed, for an oil project in his district: $1.5 billion

Amount included in bill for "risk insurance" for nuclear power plants: $2 billion

Amount included for a study of "irradiated fuel": $250,000

Number of Congress members who admitted to knowing what this was after they approved the bill in committee: 0

Total subsidies to industry in the bill, mostly to oil, gas, coal and ethanol interests: $11.6 billion

Amount given by energy industry to political campaigns since 2000: $85.5 million

Frist backing stem cell study funding

"I give huge moral significance to the human embryo, it is nascent human life, what that means is as we advance science, we treat that embryo with dignity, with respect."

-- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (I'm sure, with a straight face)

Hurl alert. It's convenient hypocrisy as usual in DC, when pro-life, cat-killing Bill Frist flips and supports embryonic stem cell research funding. It almost takes your breath away that the telepathic Schiavo video diagnostician can utter anything about the "dignity of human life" at this point. (WaPo):

Breaking with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Friday he now supports legislation to remove some of the administration's limitations on embryonic stem cell research.

Frist, an abortion opponent who just last month said he did not support expanding federal financing of research on embryos, said his decision was consistent with both his experience as a physician and his anti-abortion stance.

"Now is the time to expand the president's policy because it's promising research, but it must be done in a way that is ethically considerate, that respects the dignity of human life," said Frist, who also is a heart and lung transplant surgeon.

The Tennessee Republican, who has been said to be eyeing a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, said only stem cells from embryos that "would otherwise be discarded," not implanted in a woman or frozen indefinitely, should be considered for research.

Bush has threatened to veto legislation for expanded financial support for stem cell research. A bill to finance more stem cell research has passed the House, but has been stalled in the Senate. Frist's support could push it closer to passage and set up a confrontation with Bush.

The Freepi have quickly turned on Frist, his behind is toast for a prez run, if you believe these folks...

Actual Freeper Quotes™

"Just another one with no backbone who will not stand by the president."

"Who needs Democrats when the GOP does just fine promoting the culture of death all by itself?"

"Further, I suspect he knows he's not going to be president so he might as well betray his every professed belief for financial gain."

"Rotten traitorous b*stard! And this is the GOP leadership???? Forget it! I am DONE with them. First they ginore the borders. Then they coddle the religion of murder. Now, what the heck? Let's cannibalize the unborn! The GOP is no better than the Democrats."

"I will never vote for him. How dare he use the force of government to make all of us fund this atrocity. It can now be done privately by willing participants. Now I must violate my conscience every time I pay my taxes. SHAME ON FRIST FOR BEING ANTI FREEDOM AND ANTI LIFE!"

"I suspect that Frist's hospitals will reap huge financial gain from this type of research."

"What irks me the most is that he tries to redefine what it is. I no longer respect this man. We are all going to die. We may kill enough babies to find a cure for one disease only to die of something else. Ahhh...but in the meantime there is a lot of money to be made. All the state governments are drooling over the potential windfall, so no surprise a Presidential candidate is doing the same. BUT HE WILL NEVER GET MY VOTE!!!!!!!!"

"Frist is doing such a good job of trying to parse words and split hairs during his performance on C-Span this morning! I cringe every time I hear him say that federal funds are only to be used for "embryonic stem cells, or blastocytes that will, with certainty, be thrown away anyway". I don't need to be presented with medical terms and percentages to know all I need to know about this...killing innocent human life is wrong. Period. I don't think that we were ever supposed to go down the road of invitro-fertilization. I don't think that God ever meant for us to have extra human beings lying around, only to be destroyed and thrown away later on! We've passed the point of no return. We live in a society where the ends justifies the means. Sad."

"Thanks a lot spineless, consciousless Frist for moving to advance human life and babies as a mere comodity for useable body parts like a junkyard."

"Tradeing for Specter-points."

"I don't think that we were ever supposed to go down the road of invitro-fertilization"

"Exactly. We are just creating a market for them, so that they can say "look, it WILL cure this or that, so now we need to CREATE life so we can DESTROY life so that we can "save" life (they will just die of something else). I will never trust Frist again."

"I'm sorry that you do not understand. That's the way it is anyway. It's called conscience. I will not vote for a baby killer if the position will give him power in these moral areas. The result, then, is up to God. I must do what is right with whatever power I have. That means I must vote for a moral person and not just a "lesser of two evils" person. Any time I have compromised on that I have lived to regret it. So I am learning from past mistakes."

"IF Frist is running against a liberal with a similar perspective conscience overrides the opportunity to employ all attributes offered by said party?"

"said only stem cells from embryos that "would otherwise be discarded," not implanted in a woman or frozen indefinitely, should be considered for research."

"This whole statement bothers me. Why are we creating embryos that "would otherwise be discarded" anyway? Also, why are Republicans simply taking this situation as a given? Why are we not challenging it?"

"That's where it all starts. I used to fall for that, but no more. As it is now, the "better than the Democrat" Republicans are destroying everything we want. We have the WH and both houses of Congress and we can't even stop funding NPR and PBS. It's a big fat JOKE -- and the joke is on us. So no, I will vote only for candidates who are moral on the issues they will have power over. I could vote for Frist for dog catcher, but not President. I only have control over one decision: my vote. If someone wants my vote, let him offer moral leadership. PERIOD! Earn my vote or you won't get it."

"This "big tent" Republican Party isn't worth crap! They want to be "all inclusive", and now we are seeing the results of that mentality. They have tried to represent so many different lines of thinking that they have no core values anymore. I've seen it coming for a long time, and I do believe that the Republican Party has seen its last vote from me until they find their conscience and principles again."

"All my RNC mail, and mail from Frist's senatorial office, etc gets tossed with all my other junk mail these days. If I have no voice with those clowns, then they may as well do without my $."

"Frist has girlie-man mannerisms. On that basis alone, he couldn't be elected President."

Congress wants to cut airport security

A "report" on airport security improvements, courtesy of the Bush White House spin machine.

We'll be in long lines come holiday time if Congress has its way. Why do they hate America? (USA Today):

Airline passengers will face longer airport security lines starting this fall if Congress goes through with plans to cut up to 13% of the nation's checkpoint screeners, a top Transportation Security Administration official said Thursday. Thomas Blank, TSA's acting deputy administrator, said the Homeland Security Department is fighting a Senate spending measure that would cut 6,000 of the agency's 45,000 screeners.

The House voted to cut 2,000 screeners in the budget that takes effect Oct. 1, Blank told a Capitol Hill hearing. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees Homeland Security funding, disputed Blank's figures and said the House is not cutting any screeners but is cutting unnecessary management costs. [I'd like to see what that refers to.]

Airport directors predicted enormous lines if 6,000 screeners are cut as air travel hits record levels.

There's a chart on the USA Today page that outlines proposed cuts at particular airports. New York's Kennedy airport stands to lose 162 screeners. Not that the TSA screeners were doing much anyway. Way too many of the ones I encountered over the last year were barely bothering to compare my photo ID to my boarding pass; in one case another didn't even bother with that formality when Kate was going through.

I went back to my personal web site, where I remember posting a rant about airline insecurity back in October of 2001, when everyone was jittery about air travel. I went to NY to attend my 20th HS reunion at Stuyvesant. I'm posting an excerpt here; read and see how not much has changed...

Friday, October 12.

Pre-9/11, I could get into RDU and onto a flight to LGA within 45 minutes. On 10/12, when the new, "increased" security measures were in place, including the national guard presence, I flew again from RDU to LGA for a 7 a.m. flight. I arrived 3 hours ahead, anticipating long processing at the ticket counter and security (and every minute was needed).

The distressing thing was, after waiting on the long security line to get to the x-ray machines with the low-paid, undertrained screeners on the job, my small shoulder satchel sailed through, barely spending 7-10 seconds tops on the belt through the machine and out to the other side.

No one asked me to empty my bag or asked about anything. I expected, actually wanted them to do so because it was stuffed to gills, and contained the following:

* wallet
* cell phone and charger
* pda (palm pilot)
* palm pilot keyboard
* mp3 player
* 35 mm camera
* digital camera
* batteries
* pills/medicines not in the original containers
* insulin pen preloaded
* syringes

That the last two items weren't scrutinized is frightening. I could have gotten aboard my flight and used the syringe to disable the flight attendant, a pilot, etc. It could have been filled with a poison or something. I thought patients with such devices had to provide confirmation or prescriptions or something. even show a medicalert ID. _anything, something_.

Never mind the jumble of electronic devices that could have had dubious uses. the security person "scanning" the bag had no time to really identify what what in there.

I got the feeling they just wanted to herd as many people onto the planes as quickly as possible and "security" was just the presence of the national guard brandishing weapons and barking for folks to put their coats, jackets and laptops on the belt.

I'd like to blame this on RDU's lack of security, but on my return flight from LGA on the 14th, the same bag sailed through unquestioned on the screener's xray belt again.

The bottom line is I don't mind the extra time, if it's actually representing extra security. It currently isn't and they aren't screening what's going into the belly of the plane (and haven't done background checks on workers with access to the plane), so god knows what could be put on board.

Bolton the Walrus: Liar

Oops. He probably just forgot to mention that he was interviewed by the State Department inspector general a couple of years ago about the bogus intelligence that Saddam was seeking nuclear materials in Africa. Oh, no, in Washington, it's just called an "omission."

Bolton was interviewed by the State Department inspector general in 2003 as part of a joint investigation with the CIA into prewar Iraqi attempts to buy nuclear materials from Niger, State Department spokesman Noel Clay said Thursday.

...His statement came hours after another State Department official said Bolton had correctly answered a Senate questionnaire when he wrote that he had not testified to a grand jury or been interviewed by investigators in any inquiry over the past five years. Clay said Bolton "didn't recall being interviewed by the State Department's inspector general" when he filled out the form. "Therefore, his form, as submitted, was inaccurate," Clay said. "He will correct it." Bolton, former undersecretary for arms control and international security, had no role in a separate criminal investigation into the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity, Clay said.

The reversal followed persistent Democratic attempts, led by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., to question Bolton's veracity just days before Bush could make Bolton's a recess appointment, meaning he could occupy the U.N. post until the end of next year when the current Congress ends.

"It seems unusual that Mr. Bolton would not remember his involvement in such a serious matter," said Biden, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "In my mind, this raises more questions that need to be answered. I hope President Bush will not make the mistake of recess appointing Mr. Bolton."

Don't worry, Joe, he will.

Facing South on CAFTA

Facing South gives a tally of the Dems that went over to the dark side to vote for this completely destructive mess that is CAFTA. Chris Kromm is absolutely right when he says that the Dems that voted for this really stuck a hot poker in the eye of blue collar Southerners. If the party ever hopes to regain the South, it's not going to do it with this kind of vote -- which will destroy what is left of any credibility that the party is for the working family. These Dems cozied up to the corporate interests and the voters will have a long memory.

Bush and the GOP leadership may have had to fight hard to win over half of the Southern Republican delegation in the textile belt, but they didn't have to lift a finger for the other Southerners central to this drama: Southern Democrats.

Eight out of the 15 Dems who cast their lot with this dubious corporate-written trade pact were from the South. Here's the list of CAFTA supporters in the House from the "party of opposition":

Melissa Bean (IL)
Jim Cooper (TN)
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Norm Dicks (WA)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX)
William Jefferson (LA)
Jim Matheson (UT)
Greg Meeks (NY)
Dennis Moore (KS)
Jim Moran (VA)
Solomon Ortiz (TX)
Ike Skelton (MO)
Vic Snyder (AR)
John Tanner (TN)
Ed Towns (NY)

There was no political reason for these votes. None were in danger of losing their seats from an anti-CAFTA vote.

In fact, given that all of the Southern states they represent have been ones that have suffered greatly from past "free trade" deals, this could have been a great way to appeal to blue-collar and middle-class voters. Here's how many jobs have been lost to NAFTA in their states --and these are just numbers up until April 2001, before the Bush recession displaced thousands more workers made vulnerable by NAFTA and other pacts:

Arkansas: 9,829 jobs lost from NAFTA, 1993-2000
Louisiana: 6,613 jobs lost
Tennessee: 25,000 jobs lost
Texas: 41,067 jobs lost
Virginia: 16,758

Also, none of these Democrats are exactly fighting for their political lives. Inspired by David Sirota, an analysis of their 2004 election margins reveals that all of the Southern Democrats who voted for CAFTA got into office with over 55% of the vote -- a virtual landslide.

So these Democrats voted unnecessarily voted for an undemocratic, corporate-written global investment deal guaranteed to alienate hundreds of thousands of working families in the South -- just the people Democrats need to win over if they hope to have any future in the region.

More on the CAFTA aftermath here.

A real vote of confidence

Another piece of foam came off, and it hit the shuttle. May these astronauts get home safely, no thanks to NASA's really detailed approach to quality assurance. Emphasis mine --

Space shuttle Discovery escaped damage from the potentially deadly chunk of foam that broke off from the fuel tank during liftoff, but may have been struck in the wing by a much smaller piece, NASA said Thursday.

Even if the small foam fragment did hit, engineers believe the impact caused no damage of concern, said deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale. "This is the closest to a potential hit that we have out of all the data we've got," Hale said at an evening press conference. That's why it generated "a great deal of interest," he added.

Despite the latest development, officials said Discovery still looks safe to fly home in a week, but stressed it will be another few days before the space agency can conclusively give the shuttle a clean bill of health.

Aw shucks, I missed Hannity in Raleigh

Turd.

I'm sure I'll lose sleep over missing out on this one (NC Rumors):

Sean Hannity, in town to work on a story about Jesse Helms, will broadcast his radio show live today from WPTF studios, said program director and morning host Kevin Miller. He will broadcast from 3 to 6 p.m., the time much of the country hears "The Sean Hannity Show." In Raleigh, the program airs starting at 6-7 p.m. on 680 WPTF-AM.

In addition to his other duties, Hannity is the author of the best sellers "Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism," and "Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty Over Liberalism."

BTW, there is actually a Raleigh-Durham Sean Hannity Meetup Group. Gads.

Alabama Civil Air Patrol is crawling with homos

So says AgapePress. The winger web rag is two for two today. You get the feeling that the guy in this piece believes there was a sudden homo invasion, ha ha ha ha.

In 2003, the Civil Air Patrol's Redstone Composite Squadron in Huntsville was named the Alabama Air Force Association Unit of the Year. Arnold Staton served as a senior member with that squadron from 1995 until 2003. He says in 2002 he learned that the unit had appointed a "trans-gendered" individual to work as an orientation pilot directly with the young people, unsupervised. Upon further investigation, Staton says he discovered that homosexuals have been appointed to CAP leadership positions without letting anyone know about their sexual orientation.

"I started looking and found out there's other instances in other states where openly homosexual individuals not only serve, they're given one-on-one access in leadership situations with young people," he says. "None of the parents [of the CAP youth cadets] were made aware of [the Huntsville situation]," he says, "so they'll let them serve -- and they don't really want anybody else to know what's going on."

Staton believes CAP leaders have an ulterior motive for ignoring the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military. "You almost would think that Civil Air Patrol's allowance of homosexuals and other deviants in these programs is almost a back-door way to root away at Don't Ask, Don't Tell," he suggests -- adding that such undermining of the policy "could possibly lead to openly homosexual individuals serving in the armed forces."

Wingnuttery in Massachusetts

Oh, please. The latest from AgapePress.

A Massachusetts pro-family group is urging Clear Channel Communications to take down a billboard in the Boston area that advertises a pornographic homosexual website. The large sign that stands along Massachusetts avenue near the M.I.T. campus in Cambridge features two nude men embracing while wrapped in an American flag. The slogan on the sign reads, "Come together. Gay.com."

Brian Camenker of the conservative group Article 8 Alliance points out that the billboard is situated so anyone driving or riding through town could see it. He says the sign's suggestive imagery is "pretty disgusting," but beyond that, "Gay.com is -- I don't think you want to go and see what it is."

What Gay.com is, Camenker explains, is "a pornographic homosexual website [where members] pay to learn how you can 'hook up' with other guys --and it talks about all kinds of pretty disgusting products and homosexual pornography." He is urging pro-family activists to call or write Clear Channel and express their disapproval of the billboard, with its promotion of the homosexual porn site and its desecration of the American flag.

Bush is f*cking low-class pig

[There are arguments over whether this is a "thumbs up" sign on AB, but you go see for yourself and decide.]

Flipping the bird to reporters. What was that about restoring honor and dignity to the White House? Bush is a low-life piece of pseudo-Christian trash that demeans the office in so many ways it's unimaginable. What a g*d-damn, lying, sh*t-can, *sshole, motherf*cker we have as President. He's a f*cking worldwide embarrassment.

Ah, deep breath...had to let the anger out.



I'm sure the Freepers think this is a real class act.

Video is at OneGoodMove.org, hat tip AmericaBlog.

Perv caught videotaping boy released, rearrested

This beast, Donald C. Mason, 34, is charged Tuesday with voyeurism. He told police he was "just screwing around" and denied doing anything wrong.

Sickness in Washington State. It's hard to believe that voyeurism is not considered a crime in either local court rules or in Washington state's sentencing laws, but that is the case, the article says, according to the prosecutor's office.

A man accused of secretly videotaping a 13-year-old boy in a bathroom stall at a Tumwater apartment complex was out on bail in a few hours, which has the boy's parents plenty angry.

The suspect, Donald C. Mason, 34, was rearrested and charged Tuesday with three counts of voyeurism and booked into the Thurston County Jail. It was the second time in 24 hours he had been arrested.

The first time, he paid $2,500 in bail and was released. He temporarily returned to the Alpine Village apartments at 301 T St., where he lives and where the victim was visiting his father, who also lives in the apartments.

The boy's parents wondered how someone accused of a sex crime involving children could be released so soon and with no oversight, especially to an apartment complex where children live. They notified Thurston County prosecutors, who responded by filing charges and asking the judge for an arrest warrant.

"I want to see this taken care of. I want to see this reach a conclusion," said the victim's mother, who is not being named to protect her son's identity. "I was shocked to hear that he was released."

...Police were called after the 13-year-old victim's father confronted Mason outside the apartment complex's clubhouse, where the pool and saunas are located. The boy was in a bathroom stall when he noticed a video camera pointed at him from under the door, police reports say. When the boy opened the door, he found the suspect, who asked: "Did I scare you?" police reports say.

When the boy told his father, the father approached the suspect, who was standing outside the clubhouse with a bag. The father tried to force the suspect to empty his bag and when he wouldn't do it completely, the father ripped the bag away and found the camera, police reports say.

Police reviewed footage from the camera and found shots of the boy, along with film of two young girls also in a bathroom. The camera battery died before police could watch any further, Tumwater police Detective Jon Weiks said.

Shameless self-promotion and open thread

Exactly how I feel today (OK, every day). From My Left Wing's Maryscott O'Connor.

MLW a great community blog, and -- full disclosure -- I've been named a front-page diarists by MSOC. I get to cross-post some of my Blend insanity over at MLW, even getting a little flame action, lol. Check it out.

Also, don't forget to visit my other community haunt, Big Brass Blog, home of way more talented bloggers. :)

The GOP Top 10

Completely ripped from Jon Perr's Perrspectives; you should surf over to there pronto for some serious, side-splitting anti-Chimperor content.

With the Karl Rove PlameGate scandal now in high gear, the Bush White House and the GOP leadership as usual have everyone singing the same tune. Over the last three weeks, their latest smash sound bite hit, "Don't Prejudge An Ongoing Investigation", has jumped to the top of the charts:



Click here for performances of "Ongoing Investigation" by President Bush, Scott McClellan, and RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman.

These women do not deserve to be mothers, part 4

Channoah Alece Green was charged with hit and run and felony child neglect. (Photo: Virginia State Police - Virginia State Police). The greeting on her answering machine with her son: "Praise the Lord," and ending with mother and son urging callers to "have a blessed day."

A couple of Blenders passed this one on to me. Really, it's time to study what is going on in these cases where mothers are deliberately placing their children in harm's way (hot cars, riding them in trunks of cars, or serving them up to be raped). These women do not need to have custody of their children, or for that matter, need to be giving birth to any.

Now, THIS, in Falls Church, VA, we have a lunatic that just dumped her child off on the side of the interstate, driving away, and hitting the child with the vehicle as he tried to get back into the car!

A Newport News woman, who police said abandoned her 4-year-old son on the shoulder of the Capital Beltway and then bumped him with her car as she drove off Tuesday night, was charged with felony child neglect and hit and run, Virginia State Police said.

Channoah Alece Green, 22, was arrested later that night about 90 miles away after she was involved in a two-car crash on Interstate 95 in Hanover County just north of Richmond, said Corinne Geller, a state police spokeswoman. Green, who was charged with reckless driving in that incident, is scheduled to appear in Fairfax County court today on the charges involving her son, Geller said.

"He was trying to get back in the vehicle when she struck him, and then she drove off," Geller said. Police are still investigating, but Sgt. C.F. Kincaid said the child explained that his mother was "upset with him." "He wasn't sitting down [in the car] like he was supposed to," he said.

Kincaid said the boy, who was abandoned near Lee Highway in Fairfax County, appeared in "very good spirits" when he arrived at Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he was treated for bruises and cuts to his face that appeared to be scrapes from the gravel shoulder.

The preschooler was placed with Fairfax County Child Protective Services, police said. Geller said police were withholding his name, citing an ongoing investigation...The child was very polite, Kincaid said.

It makes you wonder what other abuse this poor boy suffered in the home. Sorry, folks, tie those tubes now, and get this woman some counseling.

***

Lest you think I'm being overly harsh on this woman, it's just that I'm sick of these stories. So many children, many who end up in foster care, are f*cked up by drug-addled mothers and fathers, then they get a double-dose of anguish because they are shuttled around from foster home to foster home, prisoners of the system.

Two women that I know here in NC are foster parents (a lesbian couple that independently had fostered children before getting together). They are appalled by the inattention the state pays to foster situations. And they have nothing good to say about the birth parents either, who cycle in and out of rehab, counseling and numerous attempts to get them on the straight and narrow. They are now attempting to adopt some of the kids in their care, because it's clear the mother isn't going to be in a place to take them back.

In that case, the mother goes through cycles of rehab and counseling, then gets knocked up (safe sex, what's that?), and starts the whole abuse problem over again. She's working on shooting out the fifth baby -- and each has a different father that then skips out. The next baby will end up in the foster care system in short order.

The state will not pay for Norplant to stop this irresponsible woman from getting pregnant again. She's clearly not disciplined enough to take the pill, which the state does offer, and of course permanent sterilization is against the law. But what is the answer? Who will care for these kids?

This couple has asked, in frustration with the situation (both of them are black), why can't these the tubes be tied in cases like this? Everyone knows this situation is going from bad to worse, and the state is powerless to stop this societal train wreck from occurring. So many children, particularly those of color, are the victims of a system that choosed not be healed (you think a proposal to raise taxes to tackle the scope of this problem will ever pass?).

To get anywhere near solving this problem means frank talk across the political spectrum about the socioeconomic situations and problems that are the cause of abusive behavior AND the personal responsibility of adult citizens who have children that end up in the social services system.

***

UPDATE.

And, yet another, this one sent in by Blender Jim.



Angry mom abandons son, 7, on roadside.

Fed up with arguing, mom pulled over to the side of the road. "Get lost," authorities said she told her son Tuesday. He got out. She drove off. One problem: Her son is 7. Now Lori Heine, 46, is in the Pasco County jail, charged with child neglect. The reason for the dispute: McDonald's Happy Meals.

The boy wanted a Cheeseburger Happy Meal and a Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal, the mother told police. He told officers his mother said he couldn't have any of the burgers she bought. According to police, the mother doesn't deny abandoning the boy.

"She told him to get out of the car and go away for a while," Zephyrhills Police Capt. David Shears said. Police say the mother kicked the boy out of the vehicle outside the closed Hercules Aquatics Center at 38110 State Road 54 and drove off, leaving him alone.

He wandered next door to Zephyrhills High School's baseball diamond, John F. Clements Field. The Zephyrhills Snappers were playing the Orlando Shockers in a Florida Collegiate Summer League game. The boy walked up to a spectator and asked for help, saying he couldn't find his mother.

"He advised the (spectator) that his mother was angry at him and told him she was never going to come back and pick him up," Shears said, "and she drove away." The spectator called police at 8:23 p.m. But officers don't know what time the boy, whose name they did not release, was left alone, or for how long. The aquatics center closes at 7 p.m. Officers took the boy to police headquarters and contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Soon after, they got a call from the boy's sister, 23-year-old Kymberly Simms, reporting her brother missing. Police told her they had the boy at the station and to bring the mother for DCF to question.

... When Heine arrived at the police station, officers reported that she appeared intoxicated. "Ms. Heine advised that she sat in the car drinking beer and that when it was getting dark she could not locate her son," Shears said.

The mother told police she tried to look for him.

Other Blend posts:

These women do not deserve to be mothers
These women do not deserve to be mothers, part 2
These women do not deserve to be mothers, part 3.

Flying the friendly space of NASA

No Flights Until Foam Issue Fixed.

The shuttle Discovery, like Columbia, lost a large chunk of foam debris during liftoff that could have threatened the return of the seven astronauts, NASA said Wednesday. While there are no signs the piece of insulation damaged the spacecraft, NASA is grounding future shuttle flights until the hazard can be fixed.

"Call it luck or whatever, it didn't harm the orbiter," said shuttle program manager Bill Parsons. If the foam had broken away earlier in flight — when the atmosphere is thicker, increasing the acceleration and likelihood of impact — it could have caused catastrophic damage to Discovery. "We think that would have been really bad, so it's not acceptable," said Parsons' deputy, Wayne Hale. He said every indication so far is that Discovery is safe for its return home.

Uhhhh...really bad? That instills mucho confidence. One can only hope they don't have CNN in the shuttle so that the astronauts up there don't break into a sweat.

If NASA was an airline, it would be permanently grounded. All those hundreds of engineers just can't fix this damn thing to make it passenger-worthy, I was over at The Alternate Brain today, where The Fixer posted the following about the launch before this grounding news came out:

Head guy: Wow, we got it up there.

Other guy: Yeah, now we have to check for damage from the shit falling off. Is it because I fix things for a living, or does anybody else have a problem with this?

[. . .]

A 1 1/2-inch-wide bit of tile captured on camera appeared to fly off the shuttless belly, on the edge of a door that encloses the nose landing gear. It was not clear if the tile had been struck by anything. Pieces of tile, which protect the shuttle from searing heat on return to Earth, have been lost on past flights without preventing a safe homecoming. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

If an inch and a half piece of tile can critically damage the fucking thing, why the fuck is it flying? Especially since little shit falls off the thing constantly on takeoff.

As I said at over at The Brain, Is there no QA with this thing? Besides the fact that the same problem occurred this time with the foam breaking off, they still didn't fix the fuel indicator problem that grounded it last week -- NASA couldn't find the source of the anomoly. So they launch anyway, since it was a redundant system. Is that like kicking the tires or just rebooting the computer? What are our tax dollars paying for?

Tucker Carlson gets it in the 'nads

Jane over at Firedoglake just gave a swift kick to the bow-tied boy brute of the MSNBC airwaves, and you can feel it all the way over here.

Why Nobody Watches Tucker Carlson: Reason #9,675 - Because he's a world-class beatoff.

Tonight Tucker advanced the argument that Islamic clerics should be protesting against terrorists by booting them from the faith.

Before going any further with his career as a shill for the religious right, he might want to familiarize himself with exactly what it is that Christian fundamentalism believes in. Specifically he should take a look at John 3:16, which in addition to being the sandwich board of choice for street corner nutjobs everywhere is also the heart of the Christian gospels:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Dig it, Tucker: it doesn't matter what kind of heinous ass-raping, fratricidal racist thug you are, if you profess faith in Jesus Christ your name is already on the guest list at the pearly gates, and there it will stay, no matter what you do in this life. That is why Preznit Never Responsible can do enough blow to deviate the septum of a rhinoceros and still be beloved by Christo Fascists everywhere.

Whew.

Please god yes - Ted Nugent for MI gov in '06

A newsflash from That Colored Fella that certainly deserves sharing here -- the possibility that Motor City Madman Ted Nugent will run for governor of Michigan in 2006, reported in the Detroit Free Press.

As TCF notes below, the potential for political mayhem a la Alan Keyes makes one salivate anticipating sound bites and debates; TCF also muses about the GOP's other up-and-coming "stars." The bench is w-e-a-k.

Anyone familiar with the extremist, loony ideology of this perennial Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame reject, knows he has the embarrassing potential of an Alan Keyes for the Republican Party – but, just enough perceived appeal of a potential winner (think Schwarzenegger) for the GOP to overlook it all. Yet, for all his supposed popularity as a Rock legend, there’s a political analogy to be gleaned from the fact that his Chicago area fan base can be held in no larger a concert venue than the House Of Blues.

While the Democrats are fielding impressive state and national candidates for the 2006 Midterms like Kweisi Mfume in Maryland, Harold Ford Jr. in Tennessee, and Elliot Spitzer for New York Governor, ‘retired’, former Congressman J.C. Watts Jr. looks like the best the GOP will ever do, considering the prospective members of the quorum-challenged Black Republican Caucus such as Lynn Swann, Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, and the joke that is Ohio Sec. Of State, Kenneth Blackwell.

See related: What Florida Repugs think about 2008

Is this why Rush got hooked on Oxy?

AmTaliban web newsrag AgapePress, as always, provides a stimulating item of the day - this time it's advice and analysis of the burgeoning prescription drug abuse problem, courtesy of the Christian Medical & Dental Association.

[Psychiatrist Dr. Robert Rogan] observes, prescription drugs are extremely accessible to kids, whether they get them from their friends, from a neighbor down the street, or from their parents' own medicine cabinet. And as alarming as the rise in abuse of these prescribed medications can be, he adds, the illegitimate ways some people acquire them can be even more shocking.

"We had one situation in one of the places where I worked," the doctor recollects, "where a neighbor of this patient called in and said, 'Hey, look -- do you know that [likely Good Christian and Republican voter] Mrs. So-and-so is selling Xanax for five dollars a pill?' Of course, we're thinking Mrs. So-and-so just got her prescription filled here last week because she has all these panic attacks. And we realized we'd been deceived."

But the higher rates of prescription drug abuse could also be related to a spiritual root cause, Rogan points out -- namely, a lack of trust in God. "If you look at it from a spiritual point of view, people are trying to replace faith and God's character-building experiences with a pill," he says.

"I mean, one of the things in our lives that God uses to build character is trials and tribulations," the Christian physician continues. "But if you can get hold of a pill to take away the anxiety-producing effect of trials and tribulations, you can get out of experiences that build character."

Somehow, belief in God didn't stop El Rushbo from doctor-shopping, internet surfing and sending his maid to do back alley deals for the 20,000 pills to satisfy his hillbilly heroin habit. He's got plenty of self-induced legal trials and tribulations that he'll need some extra special help with. I don't think Rogan will be writing a prescription for him.

You have to wonder what kind of counseling patients get from doctors like Rogan? Does he tell people with depression to pray it away? What about panic attacks -- should some just drop to their knees and trust it will all go away? The idea that a pill cannot solve everything is valid -- alternative therapies should never be dismissed wholesale, but this article raises more questions about the kind of medical practice this guy is running, and what the Christian Medical & Dental Association does. Here is part of its statement on Sharing Faith in Practice:

As Christians we should share the good news of Jesus Christ. Christ has explicitly called us to make disciples.

As Christian physicians and dentists we seek the well-being of our patients in our covenantal relationship with them. Clinical studies have demonstrated the importance of spiritual health in physical well being. It is concern for the well-being of our patients that leads us to take a spiritual history from and share our faith with our patients.

As Christians we acknowledge the central role of the Holy Spirit in the process of evangelism. We rely on the discernment provided by the Holy Spirit to know when and how it is appropriate to share our faith. We recognize conversion is the Spirit's work, not ours.

Our faith should be implicit in our actions. We should be prepared to share our faith with patients and colleagues when our actions and the Holy Spirit prompt them to ask us questions. We should readily accept invitations from our patients to pray with them. We should offer to pray with our patients when they have indicated a belief in God and a practice of prayer. Some physicians and dentists choose to make their faith manifest through their statements, attire, or their office environment. Such indicators are not inherently disrespectful of patients and have the beneficial effect of making them aware of their doctor's faith perspective.

Well, there you go.

I want my money back

I feel like I was just pickpocketed. Turd Blossom, Scooter and the 12-hour Card received raises. Oh wait, I was robbed -- Hail to the Thief.

The top pay for senior White House aides, including Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and Legislative Affairs Director Candida Wolff, mushroomed to $161,000 at the beginning of July, according to a list sent to Congress and obtained by National Journal, RAW STORY can reveal.

Democrats raised the issue on the Democratic Congressional Campaign website Wednesday morning. "Long live the era of personal responsibility!" they wrote. Rove and Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Scooter Libby both got raises; each has been questioned by a grand jury about their role in the outing of a covert CIA operative.

The complete waste of our tax dollars on these lying bastards is exacerbated by the billions wasted in Iraq, and now news in today's USA Today that Chimpy's runaway Medicare prescription program will drown us in an even worse sea of red ink (surprise!), courtesy of the liar in the White House.

If seniors with chronic medical conditions sign up in droves but healthy people stay away, insurers won't be able to sustain the program. If the costs keep rising — the original $400 billion estimate for 2004-13 already has been adjusted to about $720 billion for 2006-15 — the program will greatly increase the federal budget deficit. And if any problems cause Congress to re-examine the issue, lawmakers could include the type of government price controls on drugs that the Bush administration and the pharmaceutical industry have opposed.

Brit watchdogs: sexy guys make women drink too much

If you're in Great Britain, you'll see more bodies like the one on the left shilling booze, and no more hardbodies like Pitt.

This is a preposterous story. It smells like BriTaliban wingnuttery, intended to help stem binge drinking. What science is behind this? Hmmm. I don't think most of the students around campuses here are paying attention to commercials when the kegs arrive, but maybe the Brits are just different.

Lambrini, the popular sparkling drink, is the first to suffer. Its manufacturers have complained after watchdogs rejected its latest campaign because it depicted women flirting with a man who was deemed too attractive. The offending poster featured three women “hooking” a slim, young man in a parody of a fairground game scene. Harmless fun to lead its summer campaign, Lambrini argued.

But the Committee of Advertising Practice declared: “We would advise that the man in the picture should be unattractive — overweight, middle-aged, balding etc.” The ruling continued: “We consider that the advert is in danger of implying that the drink may bring sexual/social success, because the man in question looks quite attractive and desirable to the girls. If the man was clearly unattractive, we think that this implication would be removed.”

The ruling comes after ministers’ warnings to the drinks industry to take measures to tackle binge-drinking or face legislation. The new CAP code instructs that “links must not be made between alcohol and seduction, sexual activity or sexual success”. Romance and flirtation are not forbidden but adverts must not be aimed at the under-18s or use celebrities in a “sexy” or “cool” manner.

On your knees in Michigan

(via Raw Story).

Hop over to Shakes Sis

For some interactive Rovian fun: Hastert La Bevis, Baby.

CAFTA on the edge because of the South

Republican Sue Myrick of Charlotte will vote for CAFTA, but she's worried about fallout on her possible gubernatorial aspirations. Boo-hoo; The Hammer is cocky that it will pass.

Whoever advised Bush that the Central American Free Trade Agreement would be an easy sell in Red Southern states is a politically tone-deaf dolt. Support for CAFTA, despite the Bush roadshow (including a pathetic trip to the Tar Heel State), is flagging, but as Chris Kromm at Facing South notes, Tom DeLay is pumping up the troops, and southern votes will make the difference.

As Congress gears up for a vote tonight on the Central American Free Trade Agreement -- and Texas Rep. Tom DeLay promising a win -- the heart of the fight is in the U.S. South. As the Raleigh News & Observer reported on Monday, the region just isn't going for it:

The lack of support [for CAFTA] in the GOP-leaning textile belt, the industrial area that stretches across the Piedmont from Virginia to Alabama, is a major reason the administration is having difficulty collecting enough votes in the House for CAFTA to pass.

For example, listen to the words of Rep. Walter "Freedom Fries" Jones (R-NC), who despite Bush's pro-CAFTA photo op in NC this month is standing strong in his anti-corporate trade deal stance:

In a press conference yesterday on Capitol Hill, Third District Representative Walter B. Jones joined Republican Members of Congress to speak out against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

"CAFTA is not going to help the people of Central America, and it certainly won’t help those American workers who will lose their jobs," Jones said. "If CAFTA becomes the law of the land, this country is setting itself up to become a second-rate manufacturing country."

"The American people are looking to us—Republicans and Democrats—to draw the line in the sand and save American jobs," Jones said.

The rest of North Carolina's Congressional bipartisan delegation is similarly skeptical. As the N&O reported, "Bush can count on the vote of only one of North Carolina's 13 members of Congress -- Republican Sue Myrick of Charlotte -- to ratify the trade agreement" -- and there's even talk that she's sweating the political fallout.

Ha ha ha ha. Sue Myrick!? If she's thinking of running for governor (something the Repugs here are floating), a yes vote on CAFTA will tank that. Hoo-boy, is she a moron.

John Dean: Bush has to run for cover behind private attorney over Plame leak

This is explosive. No wonder Dumbya's giving legalese answers. It's not a matter of what does he know, it's why does he need to hide behind a private attorney if he doesn't know? John Dean, writing on FindLaw:

Recently, the White House acknowledged that President Bush is talking with, and considering hiring, a non-government attorney, James E. Sharp. Sharp is being consulted, and may be retained, regarding the current grand jury investigation of the leak revealing the identity of Valerie Plame as a CIA covert operative.

(Plame is the wife of Bush critic and former ambassador Joe Wilson; I discussed the leak itself in a prior column, and then discussed further developments in the investigation in a follow-up column.)

This action by Bush is a rather stunning and extraordinary development. The President of the United States is potentially hiring a private criminal defense lawyer. Unsurprisingly, the White House is doing all it can to bury the story, providing precious little detail or context for the President's action.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Bush explained his action by saying, "This is a criminal matter. It's a serious matter," but he gave no further specifics. White House officials, too, would not say exactly what prompted Bush to seek the outside advice, or whether he had been asked to appear before the grand jury.

Dean's conclusion is that Bush has no choice to hire outside counsel in order to ensure attorney-client privilege, ironically because of Ken Starr, who contended in two cases, that there is no such privilege if goverment lawyers are involved in criminal cases. Based on that precedent, Chimpy has to know way more than what he's publicly stated about the Plame leak -- and that any White House flunkies that are aware of what he knows (and when he learned it) will be flipped by prosecutor Fitzgerald.

Burn him.

[As commented oddjob noted, Bush may also be worried about covering up the tracks on the leak, even if he doesn't know it all, which in itself, still lands him in hot water.]

Also: Raw Story reported that Sharp had shady dealings in the past, and that he's such a shadowy figure, that when he was retained, our boy Scotty "press punching bag" McClellan was very coy in the announcement:

White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters June 3 that the lawyer’s name was Jim Sharp, but refused even to confirm whether he is James E. Sharp, a Washington attorney.

But the smokescreen around Sharp goes far deeper than that, and perhaps for good reason. The only other president to hire a private attorney for acts committed while president, Richard Nixon, eventually resigned from office.

Sharp long has cloaked himself in secrecy, even taking the unusual move of paying to have his address and telephone number removed from the major Martindale legal directory. He was an assistant district attorney before he came to Washington and has a history of taking on cases with political implications.

Hat tip to DKos diarist AlyoshaKaramazov

Jesus' General on Karl Rove's concubine

Karl's porking lobbyist Karen Johnson? Right: Karl measures up. Oh it's heinous, but as Gen. JC Christian, patriot says: "it would put an end to all the talk about Mr. Rove and that harlot, Jeff Gannon."

Hysterical letter to Ms. Johnson. I'm not the only one trying to erase Jeffy Lube/Turd Blossom imagery from my mind. (Link added)

Every time I think about it, I get this mental picture of Mr. Rove on all fours like Ned Beatty in Deliverance, his flabby flesh rippling and his belly and man-breasts bouncing in a rhythm dictated by Gannon's furious pounding and punctuated by Karl's calf-like bellows. I'd rather not have to picture that anymore.

Falwell: kids identifying as gay = horseplay on the interstate

Not surprisingly, Rev. Tinkywinky publicly endorses the forced induction of teens into "ex-gay" camps. He did so at the "ex-gay" Exodus International conference in Asheville, NC over the weekend (I posted about it here), and he opened his portly piehole to share this wisdom.

Speaking at the annual conference of Exodus International, the nation’s largest religious group promoting the idea that gays can change their sexual orientation, the Rev. Jerry Falwell endorsed forcing gay kids into counseling designed to change their sexual orientation.

Jerry Falwell compared allowing a child to identify as gay with allowing children to play on the interstate. Falwell went on to dismiss psychologists’ claims that consent is fundamental to a healthy counseling relationship and that parents should not force their gay kids into therapy.

Check out the editorial on Morons.org, Falwell Endorses Child Abuse for Gay Kids.

What is Rummy doing?

Official caption: U.S. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld says goodbye to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari after a meeting Wednesday July 27, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq. Rumsfeld was visiting Iraq to meet with U.S. troops and the senior U.S. and Iraqi military personnel and local governmental officials. Iraq's transitional prime minister called Wednesday for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops and the top U.S. commander said he believed a 'fairly substantial' pullout could begin next spring and summer. (AP Photo/ Joe Raedle, pool).

This inspires confidence:

The effort to build a reliable Iraq security force has been slowed by a number of problems. One that can be traced to the earliest days of the U.S. military occupation was the virtual disintegration of the Iraqi army that existed when American troops invaded in March 2003. Some say this was made worse by the decision of L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator of Iraq starting in May 2003, to formally disband the Iraqi security forces.

Another problem has been infiltration of the security forces by insurgents. In its report to Congress last week, the Pentagon acknowledged that this remains a problem and it still is unable to say just how much infiltration there is, despite efforts to improve vetting of recruits.

It's all under control...





Then we have the U.S. take on it, via Reuters.

The United States hopes to sharply reduce its forces in Iraq by the middle of next year, its top commander on the ground said on Wednesday. The remarks by General George Casey appear to have been the first time since the insurgency worsened sharply in April that top Pentagon officials have suggested a timeline for withdrawal.

Casey's comments came as al Qaeda in Iraq said it had killed two Algerian envoys kidnapped last week, according to an Internet statement, and coincided with a new poll showing most Americans now think the United States will lose the war in Iraq. At a briefing with visiting Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Casey said he expected troop cuts after elections due in coming months -- a referendum on a new constitution in October and an election for a new leader in December.

"I do believe that if the political process continues to go positively, if the developments with the (Iraqi) security forces continue to go as it is going, I do believe we will still be able to make fairly substantial reductions after these elections -- in the spring and summer of next year," he said. Early this year Casey made a similar prediction, but U.S. officials have avoided suggesting a timetable since violence worsened sharply after the new government took power in April.

The Chimperor has no clothes, and the polls show it -- thus the timing for these announcements of a drawdown, as if the insurgents are going to comply and stop bombing the hell out of the country. A USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll cited in the article shows:

* 32 percent of respondents believed the United States could not win the war in Iraq.
* Another 21 percent said it was possible the United States could win but they did not believe it would.
* Just 43 percent said they were confident of victory.
* 51 percent of Americans believe the government deliberately misled the public about the presence of banned weapons in Iraq.

Also, Michael at AmericaBlog rightfully points out that along with this bluster from Rummy and the Iraqi minister, there still aren't enough appropriately trained Iraqis to secure the country, and the Pentagon knows this -- yet the MSM keeps shoveling out the bullsh*t:

But what about this paragraph in the New York Times:

Mr. Rumsfeld also called on the Iraqi government to assume greater responsibility over time for the 15,000 detainees now in American custody in Iraq; to allocate enough money in future Iraqi budgets to field security forces that are capable of replacing many of the 22,000 foreign allied forces that plan to leave Iraq by year's end; and to improve cooperation between the Iraqi defense and interior ministries to enhance the combat readiness of Iraq's 170,000 military and paramilitary police forces.

Iraq does NOT have 170,000 forces. How can the NYT blithely repeat the figures of the Bush administration when we KNOW they are a lie? Iraq does not have 170,000 military and paramilitary police forces by any reasonable standard of measurement. As of a few weeks ago, this figure included about 2000 Iraqi troops capable of fighting on their own and some 9000 troops who can fight with US assistance.

That leaves about 160,000 troops THAT CAN'T FIGHT AT ALL. Scattered reports by the MSM also indicate that properly equipping them is proving nigh on impossible -- can you really pretend to have 170,000 troops when even if they could fight they don't have the weapons to do it with? How can the NYT justify repeating this lie without breaking it down? Even Bush felt compelled to make clear in his national address that not all were combat ready. "Not all" combat ready as in "virtually none." Uh, not even close. Iraq is barely halfway to replacing the measly 22,000 troops fro other countries that will be leaving in five months. And at this rate it is years away from being able to replace our troops --unless we pull out and don't worry about Iraq sinking into chaos.

Choose: your Audi's window or your kid burning up inside it?

I posted a couple of weeks ago about the insane stories of a child-locked-in-the-hot-car (here and here), and as this summer is one of the hottest on record, we were certain to see more tragic cases. This one is completely over the top, not only because this Connecticut woman locked her child in the steaming car, but she didn't want the emergency workers to break the glass of her precious Audi to save the kid.

A Stamford woman was arrested yesterday after she accidentally locked her 23-month-old son in her steaming hot Audi, then refused to let emergency workers break the window to free him. Susan Guita Silverstein, 42, of 124 Fieldstone Road, was charged with reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor.

Her son, who police said was "nonresponsive" when he was removed, spent more than 20 minutes in the car before the window was smashed open. "As soon as they told me the air conditioning was not on, that's when I told them to break the window," said Capt. Susan Bretthauer, who ordered the command over the radio.

Silverstein went to the HomeGoods store on High Ridge Road to shop and inadvertently locked her keys in the car with the child in the back seat, Sgt. Robert Shawinsky said. Silverstein called 911 at 1:03 p.m. and the dispatcher advised her to break the window because it was so hot, Shawinsky said. Silverstein refused and requested assistance, he said.

Police and firefighters arrived to find the toddler locked in the back seat of her silver Audi A4, which was parked near the side of the building. Silverstein asked firefighters not to break the window of the Audi, so they tried to use a lock kit, but it didn't work, Shawinsky said. Silverstein continued telling firefighters she did not want them to break the window, according to police reports. She then told them to stop and that she would go home to get a spare set of keys, police said.

...While Silverstein was gone, Bretthauer said she learned that the child had been in the car more than 15 minutes, so she ordered emergency workers to break the window. Firefighters broke open the front driver's-side window and removed the boy....When she returned to the parking lot with the keys, Silverstein was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser.

Hoosier gals arrested for drunk driving an inoperable car

Another for the books. Not eligible for a Darwin Award, but we may see them take a crack at it down the road.

Two women who took turns steering a broken-down vehicle face drunken driving charges after their slow-moving car crashed into a parked car.

Kaylyn Kezy, 34, of Gary, was pushing the disabled car, while Melissa Fredenburg, 32, of Chesterton, steered from the passenger seat, police said. The two were moving the car into a parking lot at a nearby motel early Friday in the city about 10 miles east of Gary. Police said both women had a blood-alcohol levels of 0.17 percent, more than twice the state's legal limit to drive.

Authorities said the women were operating the vehicle while intoxicated -- even though the car's engine wasn't working. A prosecutor acknowledged the charges could be difficult to prosecute in court.

The ratings slide of the sheeple mind control machine

WMAL radio wingnut mouthpiece Graham's ratings are in the toilet.

House Blender Paul in SF emailed me some observations (and a few good links) last night. The right-wing steamroller is running out of gas -- finally. Note: Michael Graham, the talk show host he refers to pictured above, is another Rush-lite bimbo ("Now broadcasting from the Ronald Reagan Studio").

Hi Pam,

I started reading this article about yet another conservative talk show host spreading hate, and while Michael Graham seems pretty typical of the breed I came across some figures which makes me wonder, when put alongside the plummeting poll numbers for trust in our great leader and our ability to win the war , if maybe, just maybe, the Republicans are waking up.

This is what caught my eye (the emphasis is mine):

Graham, who broadcasts locally, is one of several conservative hosts heard on WMAL (630). The station's daily lineup includes the syndicated Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity programs.

After rising slightly during the months preceding the presidential election last year, WMAL's audience ratings have fallen precipitously. Exact ratings for Graham's 9-11:45 a.m. time slot are unavailable, but WMAL's morning programming, which includes part of Graham's program, are off 25 percent since last year. The station overall has lost 41 percent of its core 25-to-54-year-old audience in the past 12 months, dropping from 158,200 individual listeners per week to 116,600.

I've just been googling to see if WMAL's loss of listeners is an aberration or if it is part of a trend.  In an article about Air America I read that "virtually all political talk in New York (and indeed the whole country) showed a decline in the first quarter of 2005" and "AA's Randi Rhodes on in the crucial afternoon drive-time, went UP 33%, while the conservative talk shows in same time slot on WABC and WOR each went DOWN 33%."

The Washington Post weighed in on the subject at the end of April with an article headlined " Local Listeners Tune Out Talk Radio" .

Fox News ratings also seem to be tanking:

April '05 marks "the sixth consecutive month where FNC declined versus prior month in M-F, primetime P25-54 (every month since Nov '04)," CNN's press release says. The 25-54 demo is coveted by advertisers. One insider called it a "downward spiral."

Gee, the sheeple are tuning out the mind control beams, the press has finally grown a pair and are actually reporting real news.  Things are starting to look a little better.

Let's hope that this is a trend.

Radio station managers are out to make a buck, so if ratings drop for hate/bigot radio -- and advertisers flee -- these losers will find their shows axed. I have a feeling, however, that the ratings for those that survive will rise again as elections draw near and the Right needs to work up the masses.

The question is, will the sheeple buy the bullsh*t then?

Good clicks from Blenders

Here are some items to check out...

* From Holly -- Some Papers Pull, Edit 'Doonesbury' Strip. Guess Bush's pet name for Rove, Turd Blossom, was somehow offensive to the sensitive editors of papers? Click to enlarge.

Lee Salem, editor at Kansas City-based Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes the strip to 1,400 papers, said the complaints from 10 to 12 newspapers weren't unexpected. As opposed to other times when editors have objected to Doonesbury content, the syndicate did not send out replacement strips.

"Given the coverage of Karl Rove, we thought it was appropriate, especially given the history of the strip," Salem said.

* Ms. Julien is impressed by some enlightened Hoosiers writing in to the Indianapolis Star. One who "gets" that Rove is a criminal; another calling for the Toad's resignation; and another that cries "Don't protect Karl Rove with a shield law." Folks in that Red State are getting restless, Chimpy...

* Blender Patrick passed on one of Santorum's ass-hat remarks and a link to a study that completely dismisses the insanity. The comment is from Ricky's new book, It Takes A Family:

"The notion that college education is a cost-effective way to help poor, low-skill, unmarried mothers with high school diplomas or GEDs move up the economic ladder is just wrong."

Steven P. Martin, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at The University of Maryland-College Park who just released a monumental study of divorce, the divorce rate is directly correlated to a lack of education, especially among women.

"However, contrary to the arguments put forward by Mr. Dobson and others, the divorce rate is not increasing due to the demand by gays for marital rights. The culprit appears to be far less sinister, and much more pervasive. According to Steven P. Martin, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at The University of Maryland-College Park who just released a monumental study of divorce, the divorce rate is directly correlated to a lack of education, especially among women."

Patrick notes, "Well guess someone should send him Dr. Martin's research. Oh forget they use real methods of research.

* Richard at All Spin Zone is on a campaign to get Headline News' Nancy Grace to cover missing persons other than Natalee Holloway (Missing Pregnant 25 YO Mother Alert [Non-White Division]). A fundraising drive is here.

Latoyia Figueroa is still missing after 8 days. And as tragic as the Natalee Holloway case might be, Natalee doesn't have a seven year old child wondering where she is, nor was Natalee (to the best of our knowledge) 5 months pregnant.

* Paul points to this horror: Members of a California battalion in Iraq are under investigation for alleged abuse of detainees and extortion of merchants.

"Members of the battalion caused a stir last year when several were quoted in a Times story expressing concerns that their training was poor and inadequate. Some soldiers in the battalion blame its current woes on their allegedly poor training."

"This is a battalion that is just rotting," one (battalion member) said. "There is no trust in each other. There is no confidence in leadership."

* Bonus points to Paul for finding this unhinged story: Bin Laden Cocaine Plot Fell Through. The breathless Fox coverage is as amusing as the thought of this plot:

Usama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, spike it with poison and sell it in the United States, hoping to kill thousands of Americans one year after the Sept. 11 attacks, The Post has learned.

The evil plot failed when the Colombian drug lords bin Laden approached decided it would be bad for their business — and, possibly, for their own health, according to law-enforcement sources familiar with the Drug Enforcement Administration's probe of the aborted transaction. Sources said the feds were told that bin Laden personally met with leaders of a Colombian drug cartel to in 2002 to negotiate the purchase of tons of cocaine, saying that he was willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to finance the deal.

Bin Laden hoped that large numbers of Americans dying from poisoned coke would lead to widespread terror.

Going below Rove's belt

The imagery is grotesque, but this is where it's going -- Karl's possibly wandering wiener and Bush Pioneer and President of Infrastructure Solutions, Karen Johnson. From Radar Mag:

For years, political insiders in the Lone Star State have whispered about Rove’s close friendship with lobbyist Karen Johnson, a never-married, forty-something GOP loyalist from Austin, Texas. The two first became close when Johnson sat on the board of then-Governor George W. Bush’s Business Council over a decade ago. Their friendship reportedly deepened after Bush appointed Johnson—a little-known spokesperson for the Texas Good Roads Association—to a seat on his Transportation Department transition team in 2000. The plum appointment enabled Johnson’s lobbying firm, Infrastructure Solutions, to snare such high-paying clients as Aetna and the City of Laredo. Sources say Johnson now frequently travels between Washington D.C. and Austin, where she frequently appears at Rove’s side at parties and unofficial functions.

Although there is no evidence that their relationship is anything but professional, the close association between the married White House aide and the comely lobbyist has long raised eyebrows in conservative Texas circles. Asked about the pair, a prominent political journalist who has written extensively about Rove says, “I’ve heard the stories, but I would never write about Karl and Karen. If you want to keep your job as a reporter in Texas, you make believe you don’t see them together.”

...Asked to comment on Rove’s relationship with Johnson, a White House spokesman firmly declined to discuss the matter, saying that their relationship was “the business of these two individuals who have personal lives…I don’t think that’s something that the White House should comment on.” A new air of civility in Washington? Don’t count on it.

Ms. Johnson, if this is true, you can certainly do better than this gargoyle.

More on Karl Rove's concubine here.

Freak in the Big Brass Blog mailbag

OK, this one came to the email account Shakes Sis and I share for Big Brass Blog. I thought that the emailer that sent his homo-tirade to me last Saturday was untethered from reality, but this person takes the cake.

Subject: In you'r World
From: "joe"
Date: Tue, July 26, 2005 3:36 pm
To: mail at bigbrassblog
It sure seems to me You're World has to much Prozac,Pot ,and Crack.I my self cannot understand how anyone with a half of a brain,could believe some shmuck,who just sits reed's and regurgitates,what he read,after milling it around in a drug,clouded half of a mind,why do you think an anyone would believe you. At least the News Media has a structure,they do not print obvious lies,think it's called integrity??.They have others who monitor their news,for truth,and will call them on it,like Dan Rather,who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted

Maybe this will lead to another phenomenon like:

Zach to be released from "ex-gay" Love in Action prison

Refuge is an 'ex-gay' brainwashing program led by "former homosexual" John Smid. This is where the fundamentalist parents sent their son Zach, young blogger, sent him after he came out to them.

A PFLAG release updates us that Zach is being released from the "ex-gay" camp this week, and puts the word out about the dangers of the "reparative therapy" movement, of which James Dobson is a major proponent.

As Zach Stark, the Tennessee teen who recently gained national attention after blogging his fears of being sent to Love in Action, is released from the program this week, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) calls for an ongoing and substantive discussion about the effects of "reparative therapy" on young people and their families.

"As families who have faced these very issues in our own lives, we must give Zach and his family the space and privacy they need to deal with this situation," said Jody Huckaby, PFLAG's executive director. "We also must insist, as allies and advocates for our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) loved ones, that 'reparative therapy' programs are not allowed to prosper unchallenged at the expense of our family members and friends.

The "reparative therapy" industry uses disproved medical theories to "cure" GLBT persons and preys upon those in pain and confusion about matters of sexual orientation. Their claims and methods have been roundly denounced by the American Medical Association (AMA), American Psychiatric Association (APA) and other medical professionals.

PFLAG applauds greater scrutiny of "reparative therapy", "conversion therapy" or "ex-gay" programs. Because of the attention surrounding Zach's story, the Tennessee Department of Health began an investigation and notified the unlicensed Love in Action that it was functioning illegally by claiming to offer therapy and could face prosecution by the district attorney.

Immediately before entering the program, Zach wrote, "I've been through hell. I've been emotionally torn apart for three days" and "Honestly how could you support a program like this? If I do come out straight I'll be so mentally unstable and depressed it won't matter."

Zach's fears were well-founded. According to the AMA and APA, "reparative therapy" does not work. But the dangers of these programs are real. At a minimum, those in "reparative therapy" must cope with the emotional damage of being relentlessly badgered with fear tactics and being told to change who they are. At worse they are at risk for self-destructive behavior including suicide.


Sanctimonious, influential and homophobic head of Focus on the Family, James Dobson. (Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

Mary Lou Wallner and her husband Bob know the damage of "reparative therapy" all too well. Speaking at a recent PFLAG conference in Bothell, Washington, Mary Lou told the audience that her reaction when her daughter came out was based on the teachings of Dr. James Dobson, a leading "reparative therapy" proponent. "I raised my kids on Dobson. I read his books and listened to his radio broadcasts for years. In December of 1988, when she was about 21 years old, my daughter wrote us a letter and told us that she was a lesbian. I flipped out and…the next nine years were pretty stormy. Then in February of 1997, at age 29, she committed suicide."

"Looking back, I think a lot of it had to do with the way I taught her about homosexuality. I have since come to understand that almost anybody gets depressed if they can't be who they really are."

Other Blend entries on this story:
* Zach's parents 'come out' about the attempt to 'de-gay' their son

* Why 'ex-gay' programs like Love in Action are immoral

* Zach's story makes the NYT

* Follow-up to Love in Action's 'ex-gay' re-education camp

* Six more weeks in 'ex-gay' camp for TN teen

Thanks to House Blender Misty for the pointer.

Hell in the air b*tch session

NYT columnist David Brooks is usually a turd, but I agree with him on this one - Pain, Agony, Despair: Flying With Children. Read, come back and comment.

On some recent flights, we've experienced: 1) parents desperately (and unsuccessfully) trying to corral their children by yelling; 2) parents completely ignoring their kids who are acting out (guess they gave up long ago); 3) parents getting pissed at other passengers for even mildly mentioning that they need to monitor their kids in flight (I wouldn't even dare do that one). Even if Kate and I had "noise-cancelling" headphones, it wouldn't have mattered in some of these cases.

I received an email a couple of months ago about an entry on my wedding page (about kids on one of our flights) from a mom that berated me for saying this:

We got in around 1:30 PM PST, after a long heinous first flight with squealing, screaming, out of control kids torturing us the whole flight. I thought Kate was going to explode, lol. It was one of those cases where the parents were obviously children too.

I was accused of not being sensitive to the fact that it's a long flight and that kids get bored (this was a two-hour leg). I had to write back and explain that this child kept getting unbuckled and running down the aisle, standing and jumping on seats and was completely wild.

The poor flight attendant, who couldn't seem to get the mother to do anything to control or monitor her daughter (the mom was sitting a row in front of the kid, talking animatedly to a friend, blissfully "unaware"), asked nicely, then asked tersely, and then blasted over the PA: "'Tiffany' please sit down now and buckle your seat belt!" Even then, the mother didn't get up to do it, the daughter did it herself.

Trust me, this isn't about dislike or intolerance of kids (my cousin just had a baby last week that I can't wait to see) -- I just don't get it. My mother never allowed us to fly/travel and behave that way, and that included multiple 10-hour Amtrak trips from NC to NYC when we were small. Then again, both of us were more easily amused than children traveling today - they seem to have an extremely low threshold for boredom. We could handle coloring books, reading or other "primitive" forms of entertainment that existed back in the day. We had no iPods, portable DVDs, GameBoys, etc. -- a good portion of today's kids have all of those things and it still isn't enough to keep some of them still, even for a couple of hours.

What on earth is the solution? "Family-friendly" flights or sections on the plane?

And if they allow cell phone use while in flight, that will put me over the edge. What is so important that it cannot wait until the plane lands?

(Hat tip, The Green Knight).

What Florida Repugs think about 2008

For every voter in Florida that thinks of the image at left, the holy rollers will obsess over the images on the right.

Some outfit called Angus Reid Global Scan, polled a bunch of GOP folks in Florida to see who they favored for prez in 2008. It came back with Rudy Giuliani on top. This is a little surprising, but Rudy's got no shot with the AmTaliban vote. What do you think of this list? Santorum's out, but heaven help us if we have to deal with Mitt "F*cking" Romney. Bill Owens looks like he needs work on a little name rec, eh?

In the 2004 election, Republican George W. Bush won Florida’s 27 electoral votes with 52 per cent of all cast ballots. In 2000, weeks of recounts and court injunctions concluded in a 537-vote victory for Bush over Democrat Al Gore. Since 1972, the only Democrats to carry Florida in a presidential election are Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1996.


Source: Strategic Vision
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,200 registered Florida voters, conducted from Jul. 16 to Jul. 20, 2005. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Culture shock: TV Guide changing format

A prototype of the new TV Guide format, left, is seen alongside the current issue. The Clay Aiken issue actually has two different covers, this one and a head shot. I cannot decide which one is more screamingly queer, but the headlines on both Clay covers are hysterical (this one has the phallic mic to boot). (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

TV Guide Relaunching As Larger Magazine. This will be the end of an era, though this move is not surprising, given the saturation of cable in the country, which as on-air guides, and the internet, which has online listings. There's no need for a hard copy of program schedules anymore. Research by TV Guide indicated people wanted to see fewer listings and more stories about TV shows and stars.

Well, isn't that what InTouch and USWeekly are for?

German police have secret 'gay database'

Someone in Bavaria (and other German states) is smoking crack. Tracking gays in a secret database is not only bad PR, but it's ominous, despite whatever doubtful benign motivations there might be (uh, pink triangles, anyone?). And tagging them by subcategories, such as by sex practices (!?). This is out of control.

German LGBT groups are expressing outrage over reports that police in three German states are keeping secret computer files on gays. Der Spiegel reports that the names of gays who have been in any way involved in the legal system - either as suspects, victims or witesses - are being gathered on the database.

The three states are identified as Bavaria, Thuringia, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Both Bavaria and Thuringia are ruled by conservative governments. North Rhine-Westphalia is governed by a center-left coalition of Social Democrats and Greens. By entering "omosex" German for homosexual, police can call up all data files on cases in which gays have been involved. The database also reportedly allows for subcategories to be entered - such as groups, meeting places, or types of sex such as S&M.

Gay groups have denounced the database is intrusive. A member of the federal parliament goes further. Volker Beck, who often speaks out on subjects of concern to the LGBT community says it conjures up memories of the country's Nazi past. "[It] brings up unpleasant memories of old police practices such as the keeping of 'pink lists,'" Volker said in a letter to the interior ministers of the three states.

The "pink lists" were kept by the Nazis of all suspected gays and used to persecute them. The Nazis required "sexual deviants" to wear the pink triangle.

...It is not known how long the police departments in the three states have been collecting information on gays. The association of German gay and lesbian police officers, VelsPol, says it suspects that the practice of collecting names and information gays is more widespread than in just the three states named by Der Spiegel. Bettina Skol, in charge of the protection of personal data in North Rhine-Westphalia describes the practice as "highly dubious".

No Ricky in 2008

Sigh, no Santorum on the prez campaign trail, no glee of watching his self-loathing gay homeboy and communications director Robert Traynham. I wonder who will pick up the mantle of spewing stupid homophobic comments for the media?

The Pennsylvania homo-hunter is running for re-election to the Senate in '06, so we'll still get to beat up on him for a while yet. If he loses that race, he's bound to turn up writing columns for AgapePress or some other wingnut rag or lobbying on The Hill.

Sitemeter tanked my stats

Man that sucks. The Blend's visitor average was screwed up because the Sitemeter server SM2 blew up on Sunday/Monday. It was over 1200 visits a day, and now it's down to 900. Damn them. It would keep saying that the "report wasn't available", yep, and it wasn't counting either. Bleh. At least the Blend has good Webalyzer stats for July. The average visitor count is 2473 with a high of 4637.

Anyway, here are the top search strings that bring folks to the Blend. Strange, but true:
1 365 2.33% the l word
2 308 1.97% gay sex
3 306 1.95% ann coulter
4 290 1.85% lesbians
5 223 1.42% jeff gannon
6 181 1.15% david lee roth
7 168 1.07% the L word
8 165 1.05% porky pig
9 161 1.03% redneck
10 143 0.91% piss on ford
11 136 0.87% slut
12 128 0.82% l word
13 128 0.82% nuclear bomb
14 127 0.81% rednecks
15 107 0.68% Joseph Edward Duncan III
16 100 0.64% chia pet
17 94 0.60% The L Word
18 93 0.59% ass sex
19 83 0.53% Ann Coulter
20 83 0.53% laura ingraham

Toss TX Gov Rick Perry: gay-friendly candidate Chris Bell in the wings

Chris Bell is close to a decision on whether to make a run to toss the current, homophobic governor out on his *ss.

Good luck to Chris Bell in Texas. If he decides to run against homo-bigot Governor Rick Perry (see "Rick Perry, eat my dog's waste product"), it's likely to get extremely ugly. (Dallas Voice):

Texas Gubernatorial hopeful Chris Bell stopped just short of announcing he would try to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry in the 2006 election during an appearance at a Stonewall Democrats of Dallas meeting on Tuesday night. I’m leaning heavily toward making a go of it,” said Bell, a former U.S. congressman and Houston City Council member who grew up in Highland Park in the Dallas area.

Michael Moon, president of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, said that Bell charmed the audience of about 100. “A lot of folks came up to me after the meeting,” Moon said. “They were extremely impressed with him.” Bell has crisscrossed the state since January in an exploratory campaign to determine if he will run. Part of the research involved a meeting with former Gov. Ann Richards last week, he said.

“My friends, this is our time,” Bell said. “We are the ones, we’ve been waiting for and it’s time we get in this fight.” If he runs for the governor’s office, Bell said that he would link his campaign to the anti-gay-marriage amendment that will be on the ballot in November 2005 by opposing it. Obviously, it is unnecessary,” Bell said. “It is nonsense.” State law already prohibits marriage between same-sex couples, and no court in Texas would be likely to ever challenge the law, he said.

Bell, who filed an ethics complaint against Tom DeLay, majority leader in the House of Representatives, when he was a congressman, said that Governor Perry’s and other conservatives’ support of the amendment is a transparent effort to drive wedges between the state’s voters. He said that the measure goes against everything he envisions for a “new mainstream” in Texas. Bell said that Governor Perry leads a government that no longer reflects the ethics and values of the majority of Texans. The current government’s office panders to the wealthy, the politically well connected along strict partisan lines.

“In the mainstream I’m talking about there are no big people and no little people,” Bell said. “We recognize that we are all in this together. We can’t afford to leave anyone behind.” Much of Bell’s speech was dedicated to lambasting Governor Perry, whom he described as being incapable of leading a silent prayer. Bell told about the gay Democrats and their visitors at the meeting that he would offer the state’s GLBT community the same representation and benefits that he planned for the state’s other communities.
“I find that my friends from the GLBT community don’t want anything specifically designed for themselves,” Bell said. “They care about the same things that everyone else does. I think the biggest mistake that people in politics make is assuming that folks from the GLBT community are so very different from themselves.”

Bell, who is married and the father of two, said that heterosexual people often ask him about the gay and lesbian community. “I explain that they put their pants on the same way you do,” Bell said. “They just might be a little tighter sometimes.”

Bell said that he would announce his decision about running at the end of July.

* Chris Bell web site
* Endorsement site
* Chris Bell swag

AmTaliban Tony Perkins: AFL-CIO schism is caused by the homos

Did you get the memo? Our homosexual agenda is the real reason the AFL-CIO is roiling, says Family Research Council's Tony Perkins.

Four major unions, The Teamsters, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and Unite Here, walked out of the AFL-CIO's convention in Chicago. It is anticipated the four disaffected unions, consisting of a total 5 million members, made the move in anticipation of leaving the union federation completely. The move follows years of AFL-CIO involvement in issues that closely tied union members, normally seen as socially conservative, to very liberal causes such as gay marriage and abortion.

Last year, the AFL-CIO came out against the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. Just this last March the union passed a resolution titled "Support for the Full Inclusion & Equal Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender People in the Workplace," which advocated for full marriage rights for homosexuals. Former Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa once said, "I have many faults but being wrong isn't one of them." Until the AFL-CIO realizes its mistakes and turns away from a liberal agenda and back to issues that actually affect workers, they can expect to stagnate and to alienate many Americans.

This is complete bullsh*t and 'Radical' Russ calls it out -- with information on the union's stance on gay rights that even Tony could understand -- if he wasn't so blinded by bigotry and the need to manipulate the flock of sheeple.

Oh, yes, of course! How in the hell could union members support their leaders in a push for equality and support of all workers, even the ones who might screw differently at home? No wonder the SEIU, UFCW, Teamsters, and Unite Here broke away!

Uh, well, except for this:

"This contention affirms SEIU's commitment to equal rights for all our members regardless of sexual orientation.

SEIU will make it a collective bargaining and legislative goal to ensure that all members enjoy equal rights and benefits.

SEIU will support the right of same sex couples to access the full and equal rights responsibilities and commitments of civil marriage and oppose laws in constitutional amendments that deny that right.

SEIU will resist any attempt by anti-worker forces to use this issue in elections this year or beyond to divide working people in order to elect candidates with proven track records of favoring corporate special interests at the expense of working families."

And this:

The Teamsters Human Rights Commission is proud of the strength that is drawn from the diversity within the union's ranks.

Further, we recognize the need to educate, and to learn that different physical and cultural qualities such as "race, age, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disabilities, or national origin" make individuals unique and deserving of respect.

The Commission will actively work to involve all members, crossing the barriers of division; increasing opportunities for participation; fighting the discrimination that weakens, and uniting our great union. The Commission will build a network of communication, creating a powerful voice to advocate dignity and justice on the job, in the community, member-to-member, neighbor-to-neighbor, throughout our nations and around the world. The Commission will use its energies to strengthen our great union, preserving its foundation for future generations of Teamsters.

Check out Russ's pad for more; I'm going to check out my pocket version of the homo agenda to plan out the rest of the week.

Hmmm...she looks vaguely famliar

Visit The Heretik, featuring Anne Coldsore's "Die, Liberals, Die."

The purpose-driven man

Man Heading To Church Hits 130 MPH. This high-speed chase went from Wyoming into Colorado.

Church of England: ministers can marry, but no sex

I had to read this twice to be sure I wasn't missing something. The gyrations these churches are going through to figure out how to handle the homos in their midst are just crazy-making.

The Church of England will today give its blessing to gay clergy who want to enter into civil partnerships. But the Church is refusing to accord civil partnerships the status of marital relationships and gay clergy will be told that they must remain chaste.



The “sexless marriage” code for gays, to be published today, has been prepared by a working group headed by the Bishop of Norwich, the Right Reverend Graham James. The established Church’s complex manoeuvrings are the result of having to remain on the right side of the law while abiding by Church doctrine.

Forget GTA: San Andreas - get 'Left Behind'

All this hubbub about porno scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Please. Good Christians everywhere will soon have a plethora of faith-based video games to enjoy!

That emerging market segment will be in focus at the fourth annual Christian Game Developers Conference (July 28-30, Portland, Ore.), which hands out awards for the best Christian games of the year and looks to "equip game developers to glorify God." Sector insiders suggest that like the Christian music market, the religious gaming market has strong potential.

N'Lightning Software CEO Ralph Bagley believes half of the video game crowd is Christian. His company was the first of about 100 Christian game developers to invest in the creation of PC games. Its first title, "Catechumen," cost $830,000 to develop and has sold about 80,000 copies worldwide since its 2001 release, according to the company. The second game, "Ominous Horizons," cost $1 million to create and has sold more than 50,000 copies, it said.

...Go Play Research video game analyst Billy Pidgeon said "socially conservative Christians may not want their children to play games at all. . . . On the other hand, when kids are asking to play video games, Christian parents may find these games an acceptable way to promote their values, while keeping their children entertained."

...Another major factor is the unveiling of the first PC release from Left Behind Games, which will translate content from a 13-volume book series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins that has sold more than 63 million copies.

"Left Behind: Eternal Forces" is a real-time strategy game set in New York during the End of Days, which will allow gamers to choose between the angelic Tribulation Forces and the demonic Global Community Peacekeepers in a multiplayer online mode. The game is set to ship before Easter.

Anti-winger talking points

I'm passing along some great reverse-the-participant talking points to toss at GOP Kool-Aid-drinking A-holes that you encounter, courtesy of IndyScott. Most of them probably will strain their brains trying to visualize these, then go into overload and ultimately denial (or start quoting scripture), but hey, it's fun to try. I added some photos for a dash of flavor.

* If Bill Clinton had been in charge of the national security of this country on September 11, 2001 and terrorists murdered 3,000 Americans, what would you be saying about him?

* If Bill Clinton had invaded Iraq based on WMD that didn't exist, what would you be saying about him?



* If Bill Clinton had dressed up in a flight suit and landed on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln five weeks after the war began and told us it was over, what would you be saying about him?

* If Bill Clinton had said "Bring 'em on" and encouraged Iraqi insurgents to kill American troops, what would you be saying about him?



* If Bill Clinton had made us the face of torture in the world, what would you be saying about him?



* If James Carville and other members of a Clinton White House outed an undercover CIA officer during a time of war, what would you be saying about them?



* If Bill Clinton had sent troops to Iraq without adequate body armor and other equipment, what would you be saying about him?

* If Bill Clinton's hatchet-men claimed that John McCain and Chuck Hagel never served honorably in Vietnam and didn't deserve their medals, what would you be saying about him?



* If participants at the Democratic National Convention handed out Purple Heart band-aids to mock McCain and Hagel, what would you be saying about them?



* If a male prostitute posing as a White House "reporter" for a left-wing media organization was throwing softball questions to Bill Clinton, what would you be saying about him?



* If the Clinton White House had paid off Molly Ivins and Paul Krugman to endorse administration policy in friendly opinion pieces, what would you be saying about him?

* If Bill Clinton's administration had inherited a budget surplus and turned it into a $400 billion deficit, what would you be saying about him?

* If Bill Clinton had been elected without winning the popular vote, what would you be saying about him?



* If Bill Clinton's electoral victory was decided by roughly 500 votes in a state where Bill Clinton's brother was the Governor and his state campaign co-chair was the vote-counting Secretary of State, what would you be saying about the integrity of that election?



* If Al Franken (not Rush Limbaugh) had three failed marriages and a drug habit, what would you be saying about him?

* If Michael Moore (not Bill Bennett) had a gambling addiction, what would you be saying about him?



* If Keith Olbermann (not Bill O'Reilly) had a phone sex addiction, what would you be saying about him?



* If Bill Clinton (not George W. Bush) was born into political and financial royalty with a grandfather in the Senate and a father who would later be President of the United States, would you still consider him to be "one of us" or "authentic" or "a guy you'd want to have a beer with"?

Fourth Amendment - what's that?

New York City police officers stand over men who were detained briefly after a bomb scare on a double-decker tourist bus in New York City. No explosives were found and the men were released. (AP)

The leash of the sheeple is being jerked again, conveniently when citizens should keeping its collective eyes on the den of thieves and liars in Washington.

CBS has a story posted on the jitters of average folks on mass transit systems around the country. These people are willingly tossing their privacy rights out the window for safety's sake, and to trust the Bush Administration (daddy) that it will all be just fine. Is this a replay of last year? Good night, the sheeple fall asleep as if they were on the continuous Ambien drip.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Monday the events in London and Egypt are reminders of the kinds of threats "that continue to plague the civilized world."

Chertoff said the general state of preparedness in the U.S. has risen and "code yellow (elevated threat) is now a more robust color than it was perhaps a year ago."

The nation's transit systems remain on code orange (high threat level) following the latest overseas attacks.

Pointing to the need for a balanced approach to homeland security, Chertoff said while the government must remain flexible, "we will lose this war if we turn ourselves into a fortress."

New York City police and bomb-sniffing dogs search the belongings of tourists evacuated from a sightseeing bus in Manhattan Sunday afternoon. Nothing dangerous was found. (AP)

There's a good diary up on DKos on this subject, and one apt observation is that you'll be just fine as long as:

* You're white
* Don't have an accent.
* Don't wear any ethnic clothing.
* Don't wear pants with pockets.
* Don't laugh
* Don't smile
* Don't sweat
* Don't have any expression whatsoever.
* Don't be Middle Eastern
* Be blonde haired and blue eyed

I would qualify this list by saying at this point, just being a tad too swarthy or brown-skinned is enough of a tip-off for law enforcement to search you down to the skivvies, since the man accidentally shot in London was Brazilian. In other words, we're really talking about is that folks with an Ann Coulter melanin level are off the hook.

My poor brother is over in London now, heaven knows he fits the physical profile. I am sure he'll have a fun time getting home.

As more than one person has noted to me, Osama scored a TD with his 9/11 plan. A Kossack hit it squarely on the head.

All it took was a few airplanes, a fraction of deaths compared to those who die in American car accidents, and our whole daily living has been turned upside down. Civil liberties have been flushed down the toilet, racial, ethnic and religious tensions have risen, and many people walk around in fear. Increased costs for the so-called security at places like airports.

Our country is coming undone by its own fear, and the sheeple are willing to let an already power-mad, rights-abusing government to continue its assault on our civil liberties for its own purposes.

The AFL-CIO upheaval

Surf over to Facing South. Chris Kromm has an excellent post on the ongoing fallout at the AFL-CIO and its impact on the region, as the union braces for a split in its ranks. The Service Employees International Union, with 1.8 million members, and the Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers International unions, which have roughly 1.4 million members each will boycott the national convention.

Yesterday, the Change To Win coalition of insurgents, led by Andy Stern of the Service Employees International Union, announced they were boycotting the gathering, which marks the beginning of the final chapter of the AFL-CIO as we know it.

Make no mistake -- the implications of these events, especially for labor in the South, are potentially huge. Perhaps more than any region, there's a desperate need for a new vision for labor in the South, one that grapples with a host of difficult challenges: the decimation of textiles and other staples of the old manufacturing economy, a hostile anti-union climate, the rise of new immigrant populations, persistent poverty and underdevelopment in the African-American "black belt," and so on.



A labor movement which takes the call to "Organize the South" seriously would be an historic and welcome development -- over the last 50 years, there have only been two concerted, broad-scale efforts to organize in the region: Operation Dixie, the CIO's massive post-WWII drive, and the late-60s/early-70s insurgencies by the United Mine Workers (think "Harlan County, USA") and textile workers ("Norma Rae"), both of which the Institute was intimately involved in. Any attempt to revitalize labor in the South will have to use innovative approaches and find new points of leverage in the union-hostile region, which requires resources and a willingness to take risks not in abundant supply in the movement today.

Go read the rest. This upheaval, while a good thing for stagnant unions overall (membership has dropped like a rock), is probably causing some serious Dem leadership headaches, as the AFL-CIO has been a foundation for fundraising and providing get-out-the-vote person power in election cycles. Anything that threatens to up-end that will be an interesting problem for the party to address.

It's a safe bet that many blue collar, union and non-union workers at this point vote GOP, even if they don't like "The Man". It's because the wingnuts and the Rove machine have convinced them that the "family" is undersiege by the godless, homo-loving Dems, and that W is a guy you'd like to have a beer with.

Same thing with black pastors being bought off and homophobia being cultivated by the Right in the black community. Dems are just letting it happen because they think these groups have no other party to turn to. Wrong. They will leave or just stay home.

Shakes Sis also weighs in.

Follow up to my little Saturday email

A good lunch laugh...Jon over at Pensito Review gives his take on House Blend visitor Mr. Lundey's Saturday love letter to me -- and to "carpet munchers, pole smokers, fudge-packers and patty cakers" [whatever that is] everywhere.

One thing I have learned in my 49.999999 years on the planet is that when it comes to sexuality there are two kinds of people: those who are comfortable with the way God (and by that I mean Nature) created them - and those whose sexual desires are so repressed that they are expressed in twisted, tortured and hateful ways.

As a gay person, I do not think about - much less dwell on, day after day after day - the particular sex practices that straight people enjoy. I mean, it’s fine - yall do whatever floats your boat. To each his own. Whatever, whatever.



So I wonder why ostensibly straight people like this Mr. Lundey - or opinion-makers whose views he has regurgitated here like Pat Robertson, Donald Wildmon, Jerry Falwell and especially Jesse Helms - spend so much time obsessing about queer erotic practices?

Take a look at those faces of "leadership" - what are the odds that they have a "normal" life in the sack?

Bushies more like the Nixon WH every day

Secretary Rosemary Woods demonstrating how she may have erased tape recordings in the good old days of Tricky Dick; Gonzales gave the Rove and Co. plenty of time -- 12 hours -- to burn out the motor on the shredder.

"The real question now is, who did the chief of staff speak to? Did the chief of staff pick up the phone and call (Bush political adviser) Karl Rove? Did the chief of staff pick up the phone and call anybody else?"
-- Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware

Did Gonzales have a shredding party? Like the story of Nixon's secretary Rosemary Woods accidentally creating a "gap" in the infamous tapes, did Alberto give not only Andy Card, but also bad penny Karl Rove advance warning to destroy evidence? This "12-hour gap" (of time and credibility) is getting the attention of the press. Here's Reuters:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Sunday that he immediately told White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card -- but delayed telling others -- when the Justice Department launched an investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative.

Gonzales, who at the time was White House counsel, told CBS's "Face the Nation" that he waited until the next morning to discuss the issue with President Bush and to formally notify the rest of the White House staff, requiring them to preserve any materials connected to the investigation.

...A New York Times columnist reported on Sunday that Gonzales was notified about the investigation on the night of Sept. 29, 2003, but waited 12 hours before telling the White House staff about the inquiry.



Asked about the report on CBS, Gonzales said his office was notified about the investigation at about 8:00 p.m. and that he had his staff "go back to the Department of Justice lawyers and ask them, 'Do you want us to notify the staff now, immediately, or would it be OK to notify the staff early in the morning?"'

"And we were advised, go ahead and notify the staff early in the morning, that would be OK," Gonzales said. "Most of the staff had gone home. No one knew about the investigation."

But Gonzales said he did tell one person at the White House -- Card.

Gonzales said he told the president first thing the next morning, "and shortly thereafter, there was notification sent out to all the members of the White House staff."

Did Roberts favor a ban on interracial dating at Bob Jones?

Judge Roberts also kept a file on at least one other contentious civil rights issue, the conflict over the government's right to strip the tax exemption of Bob Jones University because of its ban on interracial dating. That file is not among those presently available for review, according to the library's listing.

--New York Sun article, on Roberts papers held in the Reagan library that will not be released without permission from the Bush Admin

These papers must be made available.

Chimpy's nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge John Roberts Jr., obviously has information on his positions on civil rights that are relevant to his confirmation, but the Reagan library archivist says they will be released only upon request of the Bush Admin. Roberts served as associate counsel in the Reagan White House, and while there are 4000+ documents publicly available, most of his work hasn't been processed.

Aside from the fact that we may learn Robert is a legal friend of Bob Jones University's right to discriminate (the school eventually lifted its policy), the article focuses on a case where Roberts made an intellectual case to limit our country's federal anti-discrimination laws. He advised the administration not to follow his counsel for political reasons.

The memo obtained by the Sun deals with legislation proposed in the wake of a 1984 Supreme Court ruling that interpreted the federal law against sex discrimination in education, known as Title IX, to apply only to the "specific program" at a particular school that benefited from federal assistance.

Civil rights advocates decried the ruling in Grove City College v. Bell because it threatened to leave the academic and athletic programs at some schools outside the scope of federal gender-equity mandates. Some warned that the court's rationale could undercut anti-discrimination laws across the board. Some conservatives also criticized the decision. They argued that only schools taking direct aid from the government should be subject to federal civil rights laws. Grove City College had deliberately rejected federal help, but some students had accepted financial aid.

Judge Roberts sided with the conservative critics, at least in theory. "There is a good deal of intuitive appeal to the argument," he wrote. "Triggering coverage of an institution on the basis of its accepting students who receive federal aid is not too onerous if only the admissions office is covered. If the entire institution is to be covered, it should be on the basis of something more solid than federal aid to the students."

Eminent domain and Souter's family home

House Blender Paul points to this article on some really pissed NH residents that want to punish SCOTUS Justice Souter for the recent ruling on eminent domain. They want to tear his house down and put up a hotel and condos.

People from across the country are getting behind a campaign to seize Supreme Court Justice David Souter's farmhouse to build a luxury hotel, according to the man who came up with the idea following a Supreme Court decision favoring government seizure of private property.

"We would act just as these cities have been acting in seizing properties. We would give Souter the same sort of deal," said Logan Darrow Clements, of Los Angeles. Town Clerk Evelyn Connor has had to return checks from people wishing to donate to a hotel construction fund. A rival proposal from townspeople would turn Souter's land into a park commemorating the U.S. Constitution.

...Souter was one of five justices who sided with the city of New London, Conn., last month in a decision favoring government power to seize private property by eminent domain. The city plans to build a private hotel and convention center, office space and condominiums.

The 65-year-old justice has lived for decades in his family's home in this central New Hampshire town, about 15 miles from Concord. His 8-acre property is undisturbed by neighbors whose yards are strewn with rusting farm equipment and old pickup trucks. The house, more than 200 years old, is one of the few remnants of the original East Weare village, which was seized 45 years ago to make way for a dam.

How can we beat the Right at their game?

Mubarak Dahir, of Express Gay News has an editorial online, Put up or shut up, about the disparity in fundraising success between the gay community and the Religious Right. While corporate and private philanthropies give about $30 million annually to support gay and lesbian-related concerns, a study notes that individual giving lags. The Right knows how to bring in the buxxx by using the scare tactics of the encroaching gay bogeyman on the family.

A recent study by the New York-based organization Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues unveiled an unfortunate problem with gay and lesbian groups across the country, whether they were local or national institutions: Our organizations are woefully underfunded.

The study, released in April of this year, looked at the charitable giving patterns of the country’s top 1000 corporate and private foundations through the fiscal year of 2002. It found that only one-tenth of one percent of all the money given to charitable causes went to organizations working for gay and lesbian causes. Furthermore, the overall percentage of money going to gay and lesbian causes from such foundations remained flat for 13 years, from 1989 to 2002, the last year that was included in the study.

...This becomes more troublesome when viewed against the backdrop of just how much money anti-gay fundamentalist groups are successful in raising to promote their anti-gay agendas. The organized religious right raises an estimated $400 million annually to push their agenda, of which defeating gay rights is a cornerstone. In 2004 alone, conservative forces raised an estimated $125 million to fight same-sex marriage at the ballot box in numerous states.

Dahir goes on to note that it takes a good deal of cash to raise visibility about gay rights issues - media buys, lobbyists, educational outreach at both national and state levels, and that we need to pony up.

I agree that grassroots support should be heartily encouraged. I will say that I was extremely disappointed by Human Rights Campaign in the 2004 campaign. HRC's effectiveness was pretty much summed up by the decision to roll a billboard truck around NYC during the GOP convention with "George W. Bush: ‘You’re Fired" emblazoned on it. Highly visible, highly ineffective as a tool. HRC could have been pouring more funds into state-level activities, especially where marriage amendments were on the line. Then there's the matter of the organization playing it safe with a sad, gawdawful position on outing gay hypocrites working to pass anti-gay legislation ("HRC continues to maintain a policy that politicians who maintain gay private lives should not forced out of the closet based on their public positions on gay issues") . The word "outing" when referring to the these hypocrites needs to be in quotes. These losers are people that are otherwise publicly out among friends and co-workers -- cruising and socializing as a homo at night. By day, they re-closet themselves to right-wing constituents and organizations that you know would hate their guts (or your Repug candidate that you work for) -- it's bullsh*t.

Folks, gay lobbying groups playing nice at this point hasn't garnered much success. Organizations of HRC's size cannot expect to get a dime out of me again unless they have a better plan for the next election cycle.

***


Also, there has to be better coordination with progressive straight allies for gay rights to get anywhere.

There's a great article on MSNBC's site, A Straight Perspective, that addresses this issue head on. It contains an interview with husband and wife Ian Ayres and Jennifer Gerarda Brown, law professors, who have written a new book, “Straightforward: How to Mobilize Heterosexual Support for Gay Rights,” that gives tips on how straight allies can support gay civil rights.

NEWSWEEK: How would you characterize the current political climate toward gay men and lesbians in the United States?
Jennifer Gerarda Brown: We certainly, in the fall of 2004, saw the expression of some pretty strong anti-gay sentiment in the form of those 11 state amendments [outlawing gay marriage]. On the other hand, polling shows very high levels of support for equal employment rights for gay people and some discrimination protections for them.
Ian Ayres: We think that particularly the time is right to push forward for employment equality. We got employment equality on the books with regard to African-Americans before we got marriage equality.

What lessons can gay-rights activists take from the movement for racial equality?
Ayres: There are a lot of people who wouldn’t consider joining an all-white county club or drinking from an all-whites water fountain, but they are willing to marry when their gay and lesbian friends cannot marry, or to join a club that does not accept gay members, such as the Boy Scouts. Just making the analogy sometimes changes their behavior.
Brown: Non-gay people need to become more active, just as white people were active in the civil-rights movement and men were active in the women’s movement of the 1970s.

...You discuss “heterosexual holdouts,” straight couples who boycott marriage. Can this be done on a scale that would pressure politicians?
Ayres: When you ask somebody would you drink from a whites-only water fountain, people say “No!” Well, your not drinking isn’t going to cause the legislature to change a water fountain. “Well, I don’t care if it changes it or not, I’m just not willing to do that,” [they might respond] … But I’m standing here right now with a wedding ring on my hand! It is reasonable for people to go ahead and take the benefits of discrimination, but it then calls upon you to do something to share some of those benefits, to make amends for taking these ill-gotten goods.
Brown: Rather than boycotting marriage, heterosexual couples can say, “OK, we will marry, but let us do something to help this movement. Let us ask our guests to donate money to one of the gay-rights advocacy organizations in lieu of gifts, or let us say a prayer at our service that we hope one day for greater equality for couples who want to commit in this loving way.” There are so many things that people can be doing that are affirmative.

Thanks to House Blender Patrick for the pointer.

Throw away the f*cking key

Investigators Say Accused Child Molester Was Writing Memoir About Alleged Prolific Abuse. This is so sick; the only saving grace is this lower-life form left a paper and digital trail of his perversions that should result in a conviction. With his rap sheet, why was this man freed time after time to roam the streets to perpetrate crimes against children?

A man who authorities say could be the nation's most prolific child molester was crafting a lengthy memoir about his sexual exploits with boys when he was arrested, police said.

Authorities also said they have cracked "99 percent" of the detailed code that Dean Schwartzmiller used in notebooks he kept, apparently to chronicle crimes both real and imagined. Schwartzmiller was arrested earlier this month after investigators said they discovered notebooks with 36,700 handwritten entries of boys' names, descriptions of their anatomy and codes for suspected sex acts. The notebook entries, apparently coded for each boy's anatomy and personality, are being entered into a spreadsheet, but police said they have not determined how many victims there were because many items are duplications and some may describe Schwartzmiller's fantasies.

San Jose Police Lt. Scott Cornfield said investigators seized a typed memoir that Schwartzmiller had been writing about his exploits with boys. The manuscript is about an inch-and-a-half thick. In Schwartzmiller's words, "every boy was beautiful and every one wanted him," Cornfield said.

Schwartzmiller is being held without bail on one count of aggravated sexual assault on a child under 14 and six counts of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 14 involving two 12-year-old cousins. He faces two life sentences if convicted.

...Police also said they confiscated CDs, DVDs and videotapes, including child pornography, as well as computer servers and hard drives, which are being evaluated by specialists at the FBI's Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory in Menlo Park.

Investigators say Schwartzmiller, who went by a variety of aliases and earned a living doing stucco work, repeatedly avoided trials and got out of jail or prison early. Despite his lengthy criminal record, he was not required to register as a sex offender. It was a minor traffic accident on May 17 that brought Schwartzmiller to the attention of San Jose police. According to police, Schwartzmiller appeared ready to exchange information until the other driver suggested contacting the police.

That's when Schwartzmiller fled. Police tracked down his address and went to his home but he was not there. However, they spoke to his roommate and former prison buddy, Fred Everts, 34. Suspicious, they checked Everts' background and found that he had two previous molestation convictions and arrested him on an outstanding warrant for a parole violation in Oregon.

Meanwhile, Schwartzmiller heard about Everts' arrest and quickly fled to Washington state. From there, he called one of the boys he is accused of molesting and asked him to go to his house to "remove and destroy paperwork, CDs, computer drives and other items," a police report shows. The boy and his siblings decided to tell their mother, who went to police with evidence, including a CD containing photos of her semi-naked son. Schwartzmiller was arrested two days later.

What's the matter with Kansas -- on gay adoptions?

“We need to have a policy to have a mother and father as adoptive parents. We have a policy that allows more than that. I think that adoption should be limited to homes with a mother and father.”

-- KS State Rep. Steve Huebert (R-Valley Center)

This politician and his like-minded citizens are what's wrong. In April, Kansas became the 18th state to rewrite its constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman and so now a movement to deny gays the ability to adopt foster children is next on the wingnut menu. According to an article on 365gay.com, the current law is silent on whether gays or lesbians can adopt foster children and unmarried couples can’t adopt foster children jointly. An unmarried individual can adopt and live with another person, but only the individual who adopted would gain legal custody.

A joint legislative committee will review “adoption criteria” for foster children this year. It could recommend changes that the Legislature may — or may not — deal with next year...Despite Huebert’s interest and his success in getting a review, it’s not a front burner issue with every legislator.


“In the great scheme of issues that need to be resolved by the Legislature, this isn’t at the top of the list,” said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence. “I haven’t spent a lot of time worrying about it.”

...Huebert said he isn’t crusading against gays and lesbians. “I have been getting different calls and people who say I am trying to attack the homosexual community, and that is not my goal,” Huebert said. “Some say it’s a political issue, and that’s not my goal either.”

Note: Florida and Mississippi prohibit gay and lesbian couples from adopting. Legislation to prohibit or limit gays and lesbians from adopting or becoming foster parents failed this year in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

'The greatest health care system in the world'

How many times have you heard that? It's usually in the context of our current system being placed in jeopardy if we were to move to a single-payer system. Our great care would suffer under socialized medicine, and choice would be eliminated, blah, blah, blah. Well our current 'great' system failed this woman in Whittier, CA...

A woman and her husband said they delivered their baby boy in the toilet at their home after hospital staff told the mother she was not ready to give birth. The couple, Leah and Richard Robles Jr., said they spent five hours at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital on July 9 but went home after they were told she was not ready to deliver. Fifty minutes after arriving home, Leah had the baby in the toilet after feeling the urge to use the restroom.

The baby, Richard Robles III, is healthy. The hospital's spokeswoman, Wendy Flores, said she could not comment because of federal patient privacy laws.

Leah, who also has a 5-year-old daughter, said she and her husband went to the hospital because she was past her due date, bleeding and having contractions less than two minutes apart. When the couple returned home, Leah used the toilet, and suddenly realized she was having the baby.

She yelled out to her husband, "I think I'm having the baby." Her husband yelled back, "No you're not, honey. Come back to bed." A few seconds later, Richard Robles III emerged face up in the toilet.

Mike Tidmus: Christ in, er, on the White House

Another gem from Mike:

The religious right’s proposed addition to the White House. The above artist’s deception was based on architectural working drawings smuggled out of the Focus on the Family compound.

I’ve received a tip from my not-so-ex gay mole within Focus on the Family that at the upcoming Just Us Sunday II, Tony (KKK) Perkins, James Dobson, Phylis Schoofly, and Albert Mohler intend to unveil their plans for a massive addition to the White House in Washington, DC. The addition (pictured above) should be completed by late 2007, just in time for Just Us Sunday VI.

Styled in the manner of German sculptor Arno Breker (Adolf Hitler’s favorite artist), the colossal statue of Christ the Redeemer will soar to a height of approximately 120 feet (that’s 36.576 meters for you godless Europeans and Canadians) above the existing White House roofline. With the planned nighttime illumination, it should be visible from as far away as millionaire televangelist Pat Robertson’s Virginia Beach estate and private airstrip.

White House plans to squirrel away Roberts documents

In yet another "hide the papers" folly, the Bush team is going to claim attorney-client privilege to keep a paper trail of SCOTUS nominee John Roberts's past work in the White House under wraps.

The Bush administration does not intend to release all memos and others documents written by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts during his tenure with two Republican administrations, a White House representative said Sunday.

Fred D. Thompson, the former Tennessee senator who is guiding Roberts through the nomination process on behalf of the White House, said material that would come under attorney-client privilege would be withheld. He said previous administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have followed that principle. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said requests for documents would be considered on a case-by-case basis from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will consider the nomination.

"There is often an accommodation that is reached with respect to requests for information, and I suspect that's going to happen in this case," Gonzales said on "Fox News Sunday."

The committee has yet to make a request. But some Democrats, including Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, have urged the White House to release such documents "in their entirety." Roberts worked in the Reagan White House counsel's office from 1982-1986. Roberts also was principal deputy solicitor general in the administration of the first President Bush. "We hope we don't get into a situation where documents are asked for that folks know will not be forthcoming and we get all hung up on that," Thompson told NBC's "Meet the Press."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said other nominees, including Chief Justice William Rehnquist, have provided material they wrote in confidence while working in the Justice Department. "There's so much precedence for that," said Leahy, the senior Democrat on the committee. "It's a total red herring to say, 'Oh, we can't show this.' And of course there is no lawyer-client privilege. Those working in the solicitor general's office are not working for the president. They're working for you and me and all the American people," he told ABC's "This Week."

Denny Hastert wants to serve again

In a move that will make Shakes Sis nauseous, ham-fisted knobend, Denny Hastert will run again.

House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert (R-Ill.) who has been vague about whether he would give up the reins at the end of this Congress, told a group of supporters that he planned to run again and serve as speaker for the rest of President Bush's second term. Ron Bonjean, Hastert's communications director, said the speaker told an audience of about 80 at a fundraiser last week at the Chicago Club that he would run again "at the urging of his constituents and the president."

'Raging Grannies' ready to go to Iraq, but not the Yellow Elephants

So, when are the young, gifted, able-bodied Republicans going to enlist? The grannies are ready.

A group of anti-war senior citizens calling themselves the "Tucson Raging Grannies" say they want to enlist in the U.S. Army and go to Iraq so that their children and grandchildren can come home.

Five members of the group -- which is associated with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom -- are due in court Monday to face trespassing charges after trying to enlist at a military recruitment center last week. The group has protested every week for the last three years outside the recruitment center.

"We went in asking to be sent to Iraq so our kids and grandchildren can be sent home, but rather than listening to us, they called the police," said 74-year-old Betty Schroeder. "It was their place to tell us the qualifications, but they wouldn't even speak to us. They should've said, `You're too old."'

Schroeder said her group may approach the Pentagon to see if they could be sent to Iraq. Nancy Hutchinson, spokeswoman at the Army recruiting headquarters in Phoenix which oversees Tucson's recruiters, said people who disagree with the war should be contacting their legislators instead of bothering recruiters.

Visit Operation Yellow Elephant for the latest on the 101st Fighting Keyboarders of the Right.

From the Blend homo-hating mailbag

Here's a satisfied customer at the Blend. I haven't responded to Mr. "Robert Lundey" yet, but maybe this is just as good as replying. I'll just share it with you all, my friends (unedited).

Subject: Amazing Website
From: "Robert Lundey"
Date: Sat, July 23, 2005 10:23 pm

Why is it that anytime someone disagrees with the homosexual lifestyle, they are a "homophobe?" You stupid ignorant homos who made up that word are so DUMB that the logic of the word as it relates to those who are accused of being one makes no sense. "Phobe" signifies fear, who is afraid of you warped people? Why dont you carry your nasty carpet munching and pole smoking selves to a secluded island and do all the nasty fudge-packing and patty caking you want to. Stay to yourselves so your nasty lifestyle will die out. The reason faggots and lesbos get such a bad name is because of dyke bitches like you who are always pointing fingers and looking for handouts. You call a guy, who happens to be a pator a homophobe because he is against homosexuality? I am no Bible scholar, but I do know there are various places in the Bible that teach against that perverted lifestyle. If this guy did not follow his Bible, then he would be going against God. Lets see support the rump rangers and butches or support God...no contest! and dont give me your crap about God being a loving and accepting God. He loves everyone, just not there lifestyle. I know this stuff and I am not even a Christian! Get a life you nasty muff diving dyke whore!

This kind of dumb*ss is exactly why I blog. It's great motivation. Not that I think I'll have any impact on this dude -- he's too far gone -- but if I can rile someone up by merely stating my observations about the world I live in, then it's great to have a venue to expose such wingnuttery and ignorance.

I get pleasure out of the fact that, Mr. Lundey had to have wasted at least a half hour last night (given the intelligence level exhibited) wiping the drool from his chin and the keyboard while he thought about "muff diving" and "pole smoking" as he typed his vitriol.

He obviously had nothing better to do on a Saturday night, including stroking his own inadequate pole.

Karl Rove, Chimpy, Dobson and Falwell -- this is your base. You scam it, you own it.

Green Knight book review: Bernie Goldberg's 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America

I had a good laugh at this one. A snippet:

And it really doesn't take much time to read through Goldberg's book. It's pretty standard culture war stuff, and it's not designed to tell anybody anything they haven't already heard. For example, his one-sentence entry on Michael Jackson basically says that Jacko's inclusion is self-explanatory. Goldberg has no need to explain why he's there. Similarly, his one-word entry on Courtney Love (the word is "Ho") simply assumes that the reader already agrees with Goldberg. Most wretched of all, the entry for Michael Moore, who is at number one, consists of nothing more than a picture and a single, short, out-of-context quotation (Why the picture? Well, uh, Michael Moore is fat! Ha ha ha ha ha!).

I love The Green Knight's observation that the only bloggers who managed to rate entries in Bernie's book are Kos and James Wolcott. ["If I were Atrios, I'd be kind of offended at being left out!"]

The Amazon entry for the book is here. My post on the book's release is here.

Bush Admin hides Abu Ghraib images of child rape

“Basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys/children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. The worst about all of them is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror it's going to come out.”

-- Journalist Sy Hersh, in a 2004 speech, on rapes of minors by U.S. soldiers caught on camera at Abu Ghraib

The lack of U.S. response to the request by the Human Rights Campaign to condemn Iran for the hanging of two gay teenagers is understandable now, because our government has no moral authority to do so. It really doesn't look good when we have soldiers on tape raping boys held at Abu Ghraib -- and Bush's Pentagon is hiding the evidence.

An article in Editor and Publisher, Pentagon Blocks Release of Abu Ghraib Images: Here's Why, Greg Mitchell reports that the Pentagon refused to cooperate yesterday with federal order to release tapes of the rapes and other abuses to the public for political reasons. Guess who filed the FOIA lawsuit to get this released -- the ACLU, one of the organizations with a nice thick file (1200+pages) being monitored by Bush's FBI as a possible terrorist threat (covered here on the Blend last week).

The puzzle pieces are all fitting together nicely aren't they?

A Republican Senator suggested the same day they contained scenes of “rape and murder.” No wonder Rumsfeld commented then, "If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse."

...Just a few that were released to the press sparked the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal last year, and the video images are said to be even more shocking.

The Pentagon lawyers said in a letter sent to the federal court in Manhattan that they would file a sealed brief explaining their reasons for not turning over the material. They had been ordered to do so by a federal judge in response to a FOIA lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU accused the government Friday of putting another legal roadblock in the way of its bid to allow the public to see the images of the prisoner abuse scandal.

One Pentagon lawyer has argued that they should not be released because they would only add to the humiliation of the prisoners. But the ACLU has said the faces of the victims can easily be "redacted."

The first stories about these images and video surfaced back in May 2004 in Sy Hersh's The New Yorker, article "Chain of Command".

In his news conference last Tuesday, Rumsfeld, when asked whether he thought the photographs and stories from Abu Ghraib were a setback for American policy in Iraq, still seemed to be in denial. “Oh, I’m not one for instant history,” he responded. By Friday, however, with some members of Congress and with editorials calling for his resignation, Rumsfeld testified at length before House and Senate committees and apologized for what he said was “fundamentally un-American” wrongdoing at Abu Ghraib. He also warned that more, and even uglier, disclosures were to come. Rumsfeld said that he had not actually looked at any of the Abu Ghraib photographs until some of them appeared in press accounts, and hadn’t reviewed the Army’s copies until the day before. When he did, they were “hard to believe,” he said. “There are other photos that depict . . . acts that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel, and inhuman.” Later, he said, “It’s going to get still more terrible, I’m afraid.” Rumsfeld added, “I failed to recognize how important it was.”

NBC News later quoted U.S. military officials as saying that the unreleased photographs showed American soldiers “severely beating an Iraqi prisoner nearly to death, having sex with a female Iraqi prisoner, and ‘acting inappropriately with a dead body.’ The officials said there also was a videotape, apparently shot by U.S. personnel, showing Iraqi guards raping young boys.”

In all those months that have transpired since Hersh's report it's clear that the Pentagon was keenly aware of the PR disaster on its hands -- this fragile illusion of competence and compassion (and putting the few soldier patsies away [Graner, England], of course) has kept this illegitimate war afloat. It's no surprise why the push to renew the Patriot Act and all of its capabilities to attack our civil liberties was needed. The War on Terror has conveniently justified its need to monitor "enemies" that would threaten to expose its lies, like the ACLU. Our country is under attack from within. Bush and his cronies are a cancer on the presidency and a threat to our freedom and it's happening without a shot being fired.

Thousands dead, thousands maimed. No democracy as we know it in sight as Iraq continues to descend into chaos. Troops honorably serving whose families are on food stamps, and are being pressured to re-up for an additional tour. These same troops are also returning to find that they don't have adequate access to health care. Their reputations cannot and should not be swept in with the criminal behavior of some of their colleagues. A cover-up hurts everyone -- the Pentagon has let everyone in this situation down, and become part of this Administration's seemingly unendless list of amoral criminal activities.

The President and his chickenhawk, amoral, criminal servants have counted on the sheeple to be pacified, manipulated and completely out of touch with the harsh reality that they are being lied to and played. This has to end.

***

The Freepi are conflicted about this...we've got calls to burn/destroy the videos by some, actual concern that it will hurt the Chimperor by others, and less creatively, finding yet another way to "blame the homos"for the atrocities.

Actual Freeper Quotes™

"Dems are at it again."

"This won't hurt a bit."

"Burn 'em."

"I believe there are some lines we should not cross. What the whole story behind some of these incidents is, we'll probably never know. The ACLU and the democrats have throughly destroyed their ability to be viewed as objective critiques. When we're talking about terrorism and bombings that may kill anywhere from tens to millions, the gloves are considered off by me and most civilized humans. The terrorists have written the rules for these times. They want to kill indiscriminately, yet be treated by Geneva convention rules. LOL, fat chance. Live like a rabid dog, get treated like a rabid dog. ACLU, democrats... neither of you are fit to judge anyone."

"If they have video footage of our soldiers committing (or setting up) child rape...I'm gonna be one pissed off American."
s, gentlemen. We should not turn our eyes from that."

"So what is shown on the 87 photographs and four videos from Abu Ghraib prison that the Pentagon, in an eleventh hour move, blocked from release this weekend?"

"Karl Rove talking to a report from the Ladies Home Journal and revealing a recipe from the CIA cafeteria."

"I agree that the ACLU and Dems have no credibility....but if Rumsfeld is disgusted by the photos/video and they are legitimate (not faked in anyway), then can we not admit this is a problem...deal with it and fix it?"

"Lets not forget that our own media desperately avoided showing an American getting his head slowly sawed off at the hands of islamderthal scum."

"Actually, what this article points to is the absolute and total failure of "don't ask, don't tell" to properly serve military purposes in a war."

"If these stories are true, these men and women have done far more than just disgrace their country and their uniform. They should be prosecuted no less vigorously than the likes of John Couey or that POS Duncan."

"This was Seymour Hersch speaking before the ACLU so he can't be held responsible for his words (he thinks). Let's hope it's not true. Otherwise the Army is allowing homosexual predators into its ranks. Let's hope the recruiters aren't that desperate."

"I can laugh about the panties on the head...but this sounds way more than that....if it's true. With that said, I don't know that they are going to do about the photos/videos. I believe in an open society, but releasing these photos would put our soldiers and US citizens in grave danger. I have no answer. Where's Solomon?"

"Even alleged rape? If these prisoners had anything important or informative to add, they wouldn't be sitting in Abu Ghraib. I personally think this emphasizes a breakdown in command, not orders on high. War does not give carte blanche to depraved behavior."

"As far as I'm concerned, this may be one where the President should go to the mat and order them not to be released. This could be harmful to national security right at a critical time in Iraq."

"It is being dealt with and fixed. This is old news. The quotes are from over a year ago. The only thing this piece is about is whether more pictures go out to the public. Nothing has been shielded from the prosecution of the Abu Ghraib goons. Take a breath, people."

"This may very well make some of us rethink our stance on what exactly is acceptable in such an environment. If the truth is the truth, we should discuss it as Americans. This is how you avoid being blindsided. Transperancy is the best policy, gentlemen (and ladies)."

"It would only attract more attention. Kind of a Catch-22 if you ask me."

"Where indeed. Though if it were in my power, these videos and photos would have been used in a closed military tribunal and then destroyed. If the Rumsfield and Graham quotes are accurate, this can't be shrugged off. But I'm suspicious about Hersh. How could he have seen the videos?"

"The only reason I'm giving this story any consideration is because of Rumsfeld's comments about the nature of the photos/videos. I may be a fish taking the bait, but is it any worse than an ostrich hiding his head in the sand over bad news?"

"If the images truly are that bad, I think they'd attract a lot more attention than if we simply refused to turn them over. They'd be used as propaganda by the islamo-fascists for years. Abu Ghraib wouldn't have had nearly the shelf life as a story without those pictures."

"We can't put everything under the umbrella of "we are at war." I may not be the most Gung-Ho of cons out there, but I belive that blind devotion is akin to ignorance and homeland (in)security."

Hat tip, AmericaBlog

When will they stop trying the 'gay panic' defense?

Someone tried it again in New Zealand. It didn't work. Perhaps the defendant didn't realize that his history of paying to boink a man wouldn't be compatible with such a defense. Oh, and he stole from the guy he that killed.

A New Zealand jury convicted a college student of murdering a gay stamp collector after deliberating overnight. The defendant, Dick Faisauvale, 19, claimed that Robert Hunt sexually attacked him after inviting him home for a meal.

Faisauvale told the Auckland court he feared he was going to be raped, so he cut and stabbed Hunt 42 times. Faisauvale's attorney, Panama Le'au'anae, told the jury that Faisauvale was not a cruel, cold, conniving, calculated killer, but a young man who feared for his safety.

But the prosecutor, Philip Hamlin, told the court that Faisauvale was not as innocent as he claimed. Faisauvale even admitted he had previously been paid for sex by another man. Hamlin added that Faisauvale told a friend he took a knife to steal Hunt's TV, DVD and car. The court agreed with the prosecution, convicting Faisauvale of murder.

Queer-bashing at Latvia Pride parade

Bigot: Latvia's Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis

Anti-gay violence erupts, and again, officials, by publicly stating intolerance, fan the flames of bigotry.

Latvian police have arrested protesters after they shouted insults and threw eggs at people taking part in the Baltic state's first gay pride march. The few dozen marchers were outnumbered by hundreds of protesters who blocked the narrow streets of the capital.

Police were forced to alter the march route and to form a chain around the parade participants to protect them. The march had sparked outrage in Latvia and only went ahead after a court overturned a council ban on the event. Officials said that six of the protesters had been detained for their part in disrupting the march.

Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis had opposed the event, saying Riga should "not promote things like that". "For sexual minorities to parade in the very heart of Riga, next to the Doma church, is unacceptable," he told LNT television on Wednesday.

Closeted gay Alberta avoids the altar even after gay marriage is official

Partners Keith Purdy and Rick Kennedy (right) arrange to sign their marriage license. Chronicle photo by Kim Komenich

I knew, based on news reports and exchanges with Canadian Blenders that Alberta was extremely conservative. Alberta Premier Ralph Klein finally relented on his opposition to gay marriage once it was practically a done deal. But the truth of the matter is, the closet is still keeping gay residents from getting hitched. I thought this story was particularly interesting because of the juxtaposition between our Red state rednecks and the Canuck ones.

On the first day that gays and lesbians in this conservative Canadian province could get a license to marry, just five same-sex couples did so.

But this province is known as the Bible Belt of Canada and is the only one in the famously liberal nation that celebrates family values with an official holiday.

Canada on Wednesday became just the fourth country in the world to allow same-sex marriages, but many in Alberta simply aren't ready to accept so radical a notion. Eight of the nation's 10 provinces and one of its three territories have in recent years allowed gays and lesbians to marry, but most people in Calgary, which culturally is closer to the red states of the American heartland than the progressive cities of Toronto and Vancouver, are only grudgingly following suit.

"You could transplant here from Dallas and there's no difference, other than the accent and the weather," said Darcy Schack, the spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Association in Calgary, who also runs a firm that builds oil drilling equipment. "It's very much an oil-driven town, very redneck and very conservative."

Calgary, a thriving city of about 1 million people roughly 450 miles northwest of Spokane, Wash., is the province's largest city, and it guards its image as a frontier town of rugged individualists. Even its gay community defines itself differently than most. Here, the most popular event of the year is not Gay Pride, but the Gay Rodeo, where serious cowboys ride bulls and serious drag queens wrestle steers.

The city's gays and lesbians say they are more cautious about protecting their sexual orientation in a province considered Canada's stronghold of resistance to same-sex marriage. And though they've won a right that would have gays and lesbians in many parts of the United States lining up to be married -- as was the case last year in San Francisco -- many here chose to stay home instead.

"It's a very closeted gay community," Schack said after learning the small turnout for marriage licenses Thursday. "One couple was planning to marry but ended up just going on holiday. A couple of people were looking at it but just backed off. It's a little shocking."

When the change came, it came quickly. Overnight, marriage licenses throughout Alberta went from denoting "Bride" and "Groom" to "Partner 1" and "Partner 2."

"Growing up, you knew that you would be unable to marry or, if you did, you would be unhappy," said Woody George, 31, who has been with his partner, Scott Middleton, for five years. The couple participated in a mock Newly Wed game Wednesday night at a Calgary bar, though neither they nor any of the participants were newly married. "Now that we can, it defines what Canada -- and I would think the United States -- is all about: Everybody is equal."

I added a few Freepi comments as a bookend.

Actual Freeper Quotes™

"It's because their relationships are based on dysfunctional sex practices, and they require multiple partners to satisfy their unnatural lusts. Their strange unions have nothing to do with love or a life time commitment like a real heterosexual marriage."

"Calgary is THE best city in all of North America, in my humble opinion. And yet most of Alberta is so "redneck and conservative" that it makes Calgary look like a den of Communist homosexuals in comparison."



"So why doesn't the province secede from the sewer that is modern Canada?"

"This is not a shock. I seem to recall reading a recent article somewhere that stated that the "marriage" rate for homosexuals in one of the European countries where it has been legal for a while was far far below heterosexual married couples."

"There is a stronger secessionist sentiment in Alberta than in Quebec, but you don't hear about it very much because Alberta is so far west and doesn't get a lot of media attention. Ironically, the North American Free Trade Agreement has done more to keep Alberta in Canada than anything else. This is because NAFTA specifically prevents the Canadian government in Ottawa from implementing the kind of excessive control of the Alberta oil and gas markets that devastated the province back in the 1980s under Trudeau's National Energy Plan. The secessionist movement in Alberta will probably get stronger over time, but the reality is that Canada is such a large and sparsely-populated country that the Federal government in Ottawa isn't even capable of enforcing most of the laws it passes (hence the large-scale violation of the mandatory gun registry laws that goes on in Canada's rural areas)."

"I grew up in Ottawa, but have lived in the west since 1973 (Calgary since '86). I'd love Alberta to secede, especially to become the 51st State. If I knew of a credible separatist movement I'd join in a minute."

***

Also, see this related story: Prince Edward Island dragging its heels in implementing Canada's new same-sex marriage law.

This is when I don't like being right - man shot in London wasn't a bomber

I called it yesterday about the London bomber.

Was he or wasn't he a terrorist? An earlier report referred to this man as "a would-be suicide bomber ." This AP report below seems to blunt any sort of description. If he wasn't a bomber, then you know the threshold has been crossed when you have to start worrying about public safety on both sides -- the terrorists and the nervous, trigger-happy police -- an urban nightmare.

From the BBC:

A man shot dead by police hunting the bombers behind Thursday's London attacks was unconnected to the incidents, police have confirmed.

A Scotland Yard statement said the shooting was a "tragedy" which was regretted by the Metropolitan Police. The man was shot dead after police followed him from a south London flat to Stockwell Tube station on Friday. Two other men have been arrested and are being questioned after bombers targeted three Tube trains and a bus.

The statement read: "We believe we now know the identity of the man shot at Stockwell Underground station by police on Friday 22nd July 2005, although he is still subject to formal identification. "We are now satisfied that he was not connected with the incidents of Thursday 21st July 2005.

"For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets." The statement confirmed the man was followed by police from a block of flats that was under surveillance. The man's death is being investigated by officers from the MPS Directorate of Professional Standards, and will be referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Now if this happened in the U.S, officials wouldn't have so quickly admitted that the killed person wasn't a target. At least Scotland Yard ponied up right away.

Oh, and the Freepi obviously got wind of this story and began posting crap, but I got there too late because the thread, "Scared UK Cops Murder Man In Cold Blood on Subway (Liberal Barf Alert)" was already pulled.

A BBC update identifies the man as Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, 27.

Thanks to House Blender and Julien's List contributor Holly for the pointer.

Agape Press unhinged wingnuttery nuggets - and open thread

Today's "news" roundup over at Agape Press has so many tasty tidbits that I decided to share some with you. Consider this an open thread and blogwhoring opportunity in the comments!

* ...Alan Chambers says leaving behind his life as a homosexual man was the equivalent of the Hebrews' biblical exodus from slavery in Egypt. Chambers, who is president of Exodus International, addressed hundreds of Christians at the 30th annual Exodus Freedom Conference, which bills itself as the largest annual gathering of former homosexuals. [I posted on this here.] He said homosexuality is "a bondage issue," but "there's an alternative." This week's gathering at a Southern Baptist conference center outside Asheville, North Carolina, brings together leaders of Exodus-affiliated ministries, people who identify themselves as formerly homosexual, and others linked to the movement for six days of speeches, workshops and fellowship. Rev. Jerry Falwell is to address the conference today.


* More crap from discredited homo-bigot "scientist" Paul Cameron [last post on this cretin, about homos and DUI levels, is here]: ..A Family Research Institute spokesman says a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals some interesting facts about what homosexuals and smokers cost the American taxpayer in terms of health-care expenses. The Institute's Dr. Paul Cameron has taken the CDC numbers and broken them down to an individual level. By his calculations, smokers cost U.S. taxpayers $156 billion a year. "For direct medical costs, days at work lost, all the indirect cost of fires and whatever, it figures out to a little over $3,000 per smoker, per year," he says. But on the other hand, Cameron notes, homosexuals cost American taxpayers $102 billion a year. And since there are so few homosexuals as compared to smokers, he says the individual cost is more than $25,000 per homosexual per year. This calculation is based on the AIDS factor alone, without taking other unhealthy aspects of the homosexual lifestyle into consideration, such as transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases or the high incidence of depression and attempted suicide among homosexuals.


* ...Not all conservatives are happy with President Bush's nomination of John Roberts to be the next U.S. Supreme Court justice. Some prominent right-wing voices are raising questions as to whether enough is known about the nominee. One who has voiced that sentiment is columnist and best-selling author Ann Coulter. And another syndicated columnist, Harvard Law School student Ben Shapiro [Pam: and author of Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism is Corrupting our Future], shares Coulter's concerns about Roberts. "He's a stealth candidate," Shapiro asserts, "just like [David] Souter was. We don't know where he stands on Roe v. Wade. His only statement on Roe v. Wade came as a brief that he signed back in 1992 ... that cannot be guaranteed to reflect his actual views." The 21-year-old conservative [ATTENTION: Operation Yellow Elephant!] feels Bush should have chosen a judge more definitively to the Right and perhaps even controversial. Shapiro says Bush should have nominated someone like Judge Michael Luttig and forced the Left to filibuster a highly qualified candidate.


* What is the Center for Moral Clarity, and why is this boob running it?...A Christian minister and author who was a key voice among Evangelicals voicing biblical viewpoints during the presidential race last year indicates he is pleased with George W. Bush's choice of Judge John Roberts as a Supreme Court nominee. World Harvest Church's Pastor Rod Parsley is the author of the book Silent No More, which tackles American cultural issues from a biblical viewpoint. He also founded the Center for Moral Clarity during the 2004 election year. Since the announcement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement plans, Parsley says he has encouraged people of faith to be just that -- people who believe, by faith, that the President would keep his campaign promise to choose strict constructionist nominees, which Parsley feels Bush has done in Judge Roberts' case. "The President went through the list of all those candidates and put forth what he believes in his heart is the best nominee to the Supreme Court," the pastor says, "and I think everyone is just amazed at what a brilliant pick this was by our president." Parsley says Bush showed not only his brilliance but that "he's a principled man, a man of prayer," [Was Chimpy on his knees again?!] by nominating Roberts, a judge who was appointed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals only two years ago and confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a vote of 16-3, then unanimously confirmed again by the entire Senate.

Third birthday of DSM : will it get three more?

As Shakes Sis noted, the DSM milestone is an unhappy anniversary.

It's been three years since President Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair began to construct a case for a war in Iraq.

IIt's been three years since they fooled (many of) the people they ostensibly represent into believing that the war was a necessary evil, in spite of its being an unnecessary but inevitable consequence of a collective foregone conclusion, at best.

It's been three years since the governments of two of the most powerful nations in the world conspired to provoke Saddam Hussein into a war, used the UN to deliver an ultimatum that had no out clause, and fixed the facts and intelligence around an unprecedented policy of preemption.

...It's been three years of fearmongering, divisive politicking, mistreatment of prisoners, encroachments on civil liberties, hiding the realities of the war, manipulating and controlling the media, marginalizing dissenters, seeking revenge on critics, and lies.

Yep, and we could be looking at three more years unless we can take this administration down.

Congressman John Conyers, the kick-ass rep from Michigan, has been all over the Downing Street Minutes and the Rove scandal. He has a DKos diary up, and it's a fitting item to post, as it is the third birthday of the original Downing Street Minutes. You can thank Conyers for all his hard work in the diary.

Today, I released my current version of the time-line both leading up to and subsequent to the Iraq war, entitled "Last Throes of Credibility: Five Years of Lies and Deception." Both the full 36-page time line and the summary and conclusions can be found at afterdowningstreet.org. I owe many thanks to the Kos community for helping me develop this interim chronology. We reviewed every single comment made at this cite several weeks ago, and were able to use a great deal of them. Those not used are still being retained in our files.

However, I am not done yet. It is just a draft, and obviously, the story of DSM, Rovegate, and the ongoing deception in Iraq is still evolving. If you get a chance, review the chronology, and let me know of any gaps or omissions that you see. I hope to update and finalize and continue the investigation based on these important facts. Thanks again for your help in this important endeavour.

You can read all of Rep. Conyers' DKos diaries here.

Also, The Raw Story has an ace, easy-on-the-eyes timeline that makes it smooth sledding for folks that dare not wade into the reams of memos, stories and news articles on how we got into the mess we're in over in Iraq. Check out The Path of War Timeline.



Don't forget to stop by the Big Brass Alliance and see what our group of 746 bloggers strong is saying. You can join the Alliance, submit pointers to your posts about DSM and Rovegate, and use our message board/forum.

BBA was formed in May as a collective of progressive bloggers who support After Downing Street, a coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups formed to urge that the U.S. Congress launch a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. The campaign focuses on evidence that recently emerged in a British memo containing minutes of a secret July 2002 meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security officials.

***

And what's cooking on Rove? Well it's getting even worse for the dude, if you can believe it. From the LATimes, CIA Probe Moves from Leak Source to Perjury, Obstruction (hat tip, AmericaBlog):

The special prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation has shifted his focus from whether White House officials violated a law against exposing undercover agents to determining whether evidence exists to bring perjury or obstruction of justice charges, according to people briefed in recent days on the inquiry's status.Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, and his team have made no decision on whether to seek indictments, and there could be benign explanations for differences that have arisen in witnesses' statements to federal agents and a grand jury about how the name of Valerie Plame, a CIA agent who had worked undercover, was leaked to the media two years ago.

Bob Knight: ACLU's part of the homo agenda

"The ACLU is probably best described as the 'Anti-Christian Legal Unit,' because Christians kids in these public schools are being told that their beliefs amount to a form of bigotry."

-- Robert Knight, Culture and Family Institute

I almost can't believe it -- it is two in one week on the Blend for the penis-possessing head of Concerned Women for America, Robert Knight. Gentle readers, you had your last chuckle this week over Knight's repeated obsessing about homos.

He's flapping his lips again today, aiming at both homos and the ACLU in one shot over at Agape Press, "ACLU's Pro-Homosexual 'Bullying' Tactics Reminiscent of Chairman Mao."

In California and Kentucky, the American Civil Liberties Union has gone to court to force reluctant school systems to take part in pro-homosexual promotions. Settlement of an ACLU court case in California includes a mandatory daylong faculty training on what the legal groups calls "diversity, discrimination and harassment, focused primarily on issues pertaining to actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity." And earlier this month in the Bluegrass State, the ACLU accused the Boyd County Board of Education of failing to hold up its end of an agreement to provide mandatory training focused on "sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination."

Bob Knight is director of the Culture and Family Institute (CFI), affiliated with Concerned Women for America in Washington, DC. Knight contends the ACLU is trying to undermine parents' values. "The ACLU is probably best described as the 'Anti-Christian Legal Unit,' because Christians kids in these public schools are being told that their beliefs amount to a form of bigotry," he says.

The CFI leader believes the ACLU is employing Chairman Mao's technique of re-indoctrination. "The ACLU is telling these school officials and parents 'We're going to educate your children about homosexuality, whether you like it or not -- and we're going to do it armed with court orders. That's why we're taking this to court,'" Knight shares. "This is bullying of a major sort."

In the Kentucky situation, parents have resisted pro-homosexual promotions, holding their children out of school on a designated "sensitivity training" day. According to the ACLU, only 502 of the 965 high school students and 462 of the 730 middle school students attended the training. That infuriated the ACLU, Knight says.

"The ACLU has come back to court saying parents can't do that. [Essentially they are saying] 'You must force your children to sit through our sessions that we have dictated to be the truth,'" he explains. "I mean, these people are totalitarian-minded bullies."

Santorum's state considers same-sex benefits

I hope someone asks Ricky what he thinks about this. After all, the idea of same-sex benefits must have crossed his mind, since he has his own personal homo on staff in DC? You think Santorum and his boy wonder communications director, Robert Traynham II, an out, black, gay man, ever had any heart-to-heart conversations about whether he's worthy of benefits if he has a partner? Nah, Traynham's such a self-loather that it's mind blowing.

Thank goodness a decision on PA state benefits isn't in Ricky's hands, this is Ed Rendell's fight.

The Pennsylvania Employees Benefit Trust Fund board voted unanimously yesterday to study the cost of extending health benefits to the same-sex and heterosexual "domestic partners" of state employees.

Determining the price tag would be the first step toward making a politically controversial move -- actually providing state benefits to workers' domestic partners. It's a move that Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell supports but many socially and religiously conservative Republican legislators oppose.

Rendell supports the move "as a matter of fairness," said Kate Philips, his press secretary. Philadelphia city employees had domestic partner benefits when Rendell was mayor in the 1990s, she said.

Two top House Republicans, Majority Leader Sam Smith and Appropriations Committee Chairman Brett Feese, are upset about the Benefit Trust Fund board's action. "It is not the place of political appointees and union representatives to unilaterally create state policy," they said. "To consider acknowledging legally unrecognized relationships ... the PEBTF would be usurping the powers of the General Assembly."

But trust fund board Chairman David Fillman said the decision on extending benefits rested with state unions and the executive branch of state government, headed by Rendell. The board represents about 84,000 workers.

Will Condi listen? Asked to condemn Iran for executing gay teens

HRC calls for Condi to actually do her job in a letter. Let's see if the result is crickets chirping as the administration ignores this heinous act in Iran; maybe she'll consult her husband her boss about this. The official reaction from the State Department so far: "The State Department said that it had not seen the letter and would not comment on it until it had been studied."

The nation's largest LGBT civil rights organization Friday urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to condemn the execution of two gay teens in Iran.



Thursday news emerged that the Iranian government had executed the two teens after a religious court found them them guilty of homosexuality. One of the teens was 18, the other, according to the Iranian Students News Agency, is believed to have been 16 or 17. The English language Iran In Focus also reported the executions saying the teens were hanged in public in the city square in the northeastern city of Mashhad on July 19.

"This crime warrants an immediate and strong condemnation from the Department of State," said the Human Rights Campaign in a letter Friday to Rice. "Atrocities committed by foreign governments against all people must be condemned swiftly and forcefully by the world’s greatest democracy. We urge you to do so.

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was signed by the UN General Assembly in 1948, declares that every human should be guaranteed the fundamental right to life, liberty, and security of person and every human should be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Tragically, this guarantee of basic human rights does not exist for GLBT individuals in certain regions of the globe."

Microsoft releasing new Windows OS in August

I can safely say that at my workplace,we will not be an early adopter of any new Microsoft OS. No end of f*cking bugs, patches and security holes (we're a mixed platform environment of Macs and Win-OS workstations). Some other shop can be Bill Gates's beta tester.

Microsoft Corp. dropped the code name Longhorn on Friday, announcing the next version of its flagship Windows operating system will be called Windows Vista. The world's largest software maker also said it will release the first of two test versions to developers and information technology professionals by Aug. 3.

The company did not say when it expects to release a second test version to a broader audience, but said it remains on target to ship the oft-delayed update to Windows XP sometime in the second half of next year.

[And the punchline...]

...The operating system will also be designed to better protect computers against viruses and spyware.

Kansas City: Lesbian couple beaten by woman with bat

Let's see...hangings of gay teenagers in Iran, gay bashings of lesbians at home. We're only a stone's away throw from what happened abroad. (365gay.com)

Kansas City police are search for a woman who attacked a lesbian couple as they walked hand-in-hand near their home. The names of the victims have not been released by police for their own protection.

Police said the couple told them that they were walking in the area of 39th and Holly streets when a female passenger in a passing pickup truck yelled slurs about their sexuality at them. After the pickup rounded the corner the woman got out of the truck and began swinging at the couple with a baseball bat.

One of the victims, a 23-year-old, suffered a concussion in the attack. The attacker then calmly walked back to the truck, got in, and drove off. She is still at large. Neither victim was able to give a description of the pickup's driver.

This was not the first physical attack based on sexual orientation this year, according to Doug Riley, who runs an anti-violence program for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims in Kansas City. “But it is one of the most violent,” he told the Kansas City Star.

House Blender Russ shared pearls of wisdom by Eric Rudolph yesterday in the comments of the Iran gay teen execution post.

Homosexuality is an aberrant sexual behavior, and as such I have complete sympathy and understanding for those who are suffering from this condition. Practiced by consenting adults within the confines of their own private lives, homosexuality is not a threat to society. Those consenting adults practicing this behavior in privacy should not be hassled by a society which respects the sanctity of private sexual life. But when the attempt is made to drag this practice out of the closet and into the public square in an "in your face" attempt to force society to accept and recognize this behavior as being just as legitimate and normal as the natural man/woman relationship, every effort should be made, including force if necessary, to halt this effort.

--Convicted domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph

and how about this...


"Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage...it will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth."

-- James Dobson

"The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularise America, I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.' "

-- Jerry Falwell, on who was really responsible for September 11

People, we must hold the American Taliban (the Falwells, the Dobsons) responsible for stirring passions of bigotry in people like Rudolph. Even if the Right attempts to dismiss him and distance themselves from him -- he is part of their flock. He considers himself a committed Christian in a holy war.

I'm sick of all of this sh*t.

Gay and Christian Tar Heels documentary this evening

Kate and I plan to go to what looks to be an interesting documentary/chat session down at the Durham Arts Council this evening. It's Coming Out--Coming In: Faith, Identity and Belonging.

Two screenings of 32-minute documentary. The interview subjects are gay and lesbian N.C. Christians of all ages and walks of life who are reconciling faith with sexual orientation, and who take us beyond the debate to reveal the everyday lives of faithful people who are also gay and lesbian. The Rev. Laurie Hays Coffman will lead a discussion after both showings. PSI Theatre, Durham Arts Council, 120 Morris St. 560-ARTS. www.coming-out-coming-in.net.

Rove and Libby are in deep sh*t

Rove, Libby Accounts in CIA Case Differ With Those of Reporters. Someone is lying and the reporters don't have a reason to. Boy this is getting weirder and more dangerous for the Bushies by the minute.

Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of Central Intelligence Agency operative Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, one person said. Russert has testified before a federal grand jury that he didn't tell Libby of Plame's identity, the person said.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told Fitzgerald that he first learned the identity of the CIA agent from syndicated columnist Robert Novak, according a person familiar with the matter. Novak, who was first to report Plame's name and connection to Wilson, has given a somewhat different version to the special prosecutor, the person said.

These discrepancies may be important because Fitzgerald is investigating whether Libby, Rove or other administration officials made false statements during the course of the investigation. The Plame case has its genesis in whether any administration officials violated a 1982 law making it illegal to knowingly reveal the name of a covert intelligence agent.

It gets even better in today's NYT. More evidence comes out that these two jokers were also knee-deep in conspiracy plans to protect the Chimperor after his dissembling during his State of the Union address.

At the same time in July 2003 that a C.I.A. operative's identity was exposed, two key White House officials who talked to journalists about the officer were also working closely together on a related underlying issue: whether President Bush was correct in suggesting earlier that year that Iraq had been trying to acquire nuclear materials from Africa.

The two issues had become inextricably linked because Joseph C. Wilson IV, the husband of the unmasked C.I.A. officer, had questioned Mr. Bush's assertion, prompting a damage-control effort by the White House that included challenging Mr. Wilson's standing and his credentials. A federal grand jury investigation is under way by a special counsel to determine whether someone illegally leaked the officer's identity and possibly into whether perjury or obstruction of justice occurred during the inquiry.

People who have been briefed on the case said the White House officials, Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby, were helping prepare what became the administration's primary response to criticism that a flawed phrase about the nuclear materials in Africa had been in Mr. Bush's State of the Union address six months earlier.

They had exchanged e-mail correspondence and drafts of a proposed statement by George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, to explain how the disputed wording had gotten into the address. Mr. Rove, the president's political strategist, and Mr. Libby, the chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, coordinated their efforts with Stephen J. Hadley, then the deputy national security adviser, who was in turn consulting with Mr. Tenet.

... It is not clear what information Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby might have collected about Ms. Wilson as they worked on the Tenet statement. Mr. Rove has said he learned her name from Mr. Novak. Mr. Libby has declined to discuss the matter.

The effort was striking because to an unusual degree, the circle of officials involved included those from the White House's political and national security operations, which are often separately run. Both arms were drawn into the effort to defend the administration during the period.

More urban chaos - London police kill man at the Underground

Was he or wasn't he a terrorist? An earlier report referred to this man as "a would-be suicide bomber ." This AP report below seems to blunt any sort of description.

If he wasn't a bomber, then you know the threshold has been crossed when you have to start worrying about public safety on both sides -- the terrorists and the nervous, trigger-happy police -- an urban nightmare.

Police shot and killed a man wearing a thick coat at a London subway station Friday, a day after the city was hit by its second wave of terrorist attacks in two weeks. The man died after being shot by officers at the Stockwell subway station in south London, police said.

Passengers said a man, described as South Asian, ran onto a train at Stockwell station in south London. Witnesses said police chased him, he tripped, and police then shot him. "They pushed him onto the floor and unloaded five shots into him. He's dead," witness Mark Whitby told the British Broadcasting Corp. "He looked like a cornered fox. He looked petrified."

Whitby said the man didn't appear to have been carrying anything but said he was wearing a thick coat that looked padded. Alistair Drummond, of the London Ambulance Service, said paramedics had been called to the station at 10:10 a.m.

Service on the Northern and Victoria Tube lines, which pass through Stockwell, was suspended because of the shooting, British Transport Police said. Stockwell is one station away from the Oval station, which was affected by Thursday's attacks.

Meanwhile, NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg rolls out the new bag search policy on the Big Apple's subway system. As I pointed out yesterday, this is a feel-good measure. The searches are going to be "random". You know what that means, even despite the "no racial profiling" statement. Like they are going to admit to it? Even more ridiculous is the claim that it will be a check of every certain number of passengers. How is that going to be effective if you check person #5's bag and person #7 has the bomb? Come on, what a f*cking mess.

"We just live in a world where, sadly, these kinds of security measures are necessary," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in announcing the new police searches of subway passengers' backpacks and packages.

"Are they intrusive? Yes, a little bit. But we are trying to find that right balance," he said.

Similar random searches will be conducted by Metropolitan Transportation Authority police on suburban commuter trains.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said passengers would ideally be searched before they pass through the subway turnstiles, although they could also be checked once inside the system. "It might slow individuals down, but we will do it in a reasonable way," said Kelly, vowing that police would search "every certain number of people" and not engage in racial profiling.

The commissioner said the new policy, effective immediately, would last "as long as necessary" and asked the public to help by avoiding bringing backpacks or bulky packages onto subway trains.

Faith and fraud on DVD - and in the White House

Was out with the missus at the local Target this evening, just milling about, as we usually do each week, hoping that products don't leap into our cart, lol. We cruised over to the DVD section, which seemed to have been ransacked during the week (a lot of them were $7.50 or $9.99, so that's not surprising). I picked up a copy of Deliverance (1972, yes, youngsters, the flick with the Ned Beatty-raped-by-the-hillbilly-crackers scene). I know, I'm a freak, but it's otherwise a really beautifully shot and moody film. It's also notable because of a good performance by the pre-rug, pre-crazy Burt Reynolds.

Anyway, over in the documentary section, I see this DVD, George W. Bush - Faith in the White House, pick it up and burst out laughing and handed it to Kate. This was obviously released before the election, but I had forgotten about it. All I can say is that it is the most ridiculous and pathetic piece of propaganda I've seen in a long while, especially in light the escalation of the ethics-free administration's activities...



I turn it over and read the description, I nearly come unglued right there in the store. This is a full-blown Rove production.

No sitting president since Abraham Lincoln has talked as much about God as George W. Bush, and none has so boldly, publicly, and genuinely lived out his faith on the job. As the leader of the free world, Bush bears an enormous responsibility, and its weight drives him to his knees…in prayer and supplication.

[OK. There are so many ripe jokes in next paragraph; please feel free to have at it. ]

Says BBC correspondent Justin Webb, "Nobody spends more time on his knees than George W. Bush. The Bush administration hums to the sound of prayer. Prayer meetings take place day and night. It's not uncommon to see White House functionaries hurrying down corridors carrying Bibles."

This powerful program is a unique insider's look at how one man's dedication to prayer and the daily application of God's word transformed his life and leadership. His dependence upon God gave him the clarity of vision and quiet confidence needed to lead us through the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

My question -- was Karl one of those "functionaries" running down the hallway with The Good Book while leaking on his cell to The Prince of Darkness?

Anyway, I wasn't going to spend a dime on that sh*t, but Kate got all excited to see what kind of reviews this DVD received on Amazon. So, here's a few excerpts for your entertainment.

George W. Bush, the greatest president of all time, June 8, 2005

I heard about this DVD from my church group. I love that he's so religious. Who says you have to separate church and state; that's a horrible rule. That's how Bush won the election, because good [smart] christians like myself voted him in. Satan would have risen from the underground if Kerry took over. If it weren't for us hard working Christians, America would be in a nucular holocaust by now.

Fake in the White House, April 11, 2005

...Bush's conception of faith is so flawed it's remarkable more thoughtful Christians haven't called him on it publicly. No matter how ardent your beliefs, if they're factually incorrect then that's that. I can believe in my heart of heart that two plus two does not equal four. Doesn't make it so. But because Bush looked into his heart and "prayed on" whether invading Iraq was the right thing to do, we're now supposed to forget that the invasion was not only morally reprehensible but based on at least incomplete and very likely purposely skewed intelligence analysis? Think I'll pass on that Kool-Aid.

Bush is the worst president ever. That's pretty clear by now to anyone (a) older than 8, (b) not a member of the Bush family, or (c) who can and does read. How much more evidence do we need? Like when he said he looked into Vladimir Putin's eyes and "saw his soul." This, despite Putin's increasingly autocratic and racist policies, including the continued oppression and murder of his own countrymen? Or like when he said the jury is still out on evolution?

...This DVD just adds ammo to the inescapable conclusion that Bush is a pious fraud. From his fake Texanisms (your blue-blood Connecticut family spent tens of thousands of dollars to put you through Harvard AND Yale and you STILL can't pronounce "nuclear"?) to his cynical and exploitative (see e.g. Terri Schiavo) religiosity, George W. Bush stops being sincere the second he wakes up. He's a bigoted, myopic little child of privilege who should be given a gun and sent to fight alongside the soldiers he's thrown into the meat grinder. I know he chickened out the last time such an opportunity dropped into his lap, but it's never too late. Proceeds from this DVD could be used to buy him a one-way ticket to Fallujah so he can put that spiffy flight suit to use. But since Bush has clearly played the Jedi Mind Trick on the filmmakers, that's not likely to happen.

So...why the two stars? Because the "Left Behind" crowd will spend two more hours in front of their DVD players and two less hours picketing Planned Parenthood clinics. Anything that sedates the farthest right fringes of American religion is good by me. Plus, there's something kind of appealing about watching a puff piece on someone you just know is ultimately going to be shown for the charlatan they are.

Bush Haters Beware!, March 11, 2005

This is an amazing documentary told through the eyes of people who have known President George W. Bush. The documentary makes it clear that when the President brought up Jesus Christ it wasn't to get votes by some hungry politician it was because his Christian faith really means a lot to him.

We hear about the things that the public would never know about if it weren't for people like some of the ones interviewed. God seems to truly have turned a reckless youth into a humble and devotional man. Like President Reagan and his fight against communism, President Bush also seems to feel that God is using him to better the world.

President Bush comes off as humble, prayerful, and touched by God in this documentary, in fact, someone who kisses the bandages of a wounded soldiers arm and breaks into tears and prays he sounds more like a future saint than a president of the United States.

The true character and image of George W. Bush comes out in this well made documentary on the faith of this President. Highly recommend!

A sick world - two gay Iranian teenagers executed

[UPDATE (7/23): a followup post - Will Condi listen? Asked to condemn Iran for executing gay teens

[UPDATE (9:26 PM): House Blender Warren captured the now-pulled Freeper thread (guess it got too out-of control for them). I have the first page here.]

Journalist Doug Ireland has the details on a story that will make your blood boil. I don't even know what to say.

Two gay Iranian teenagers -- one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed this week for the "crime" of homosexuality, the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported on July 19. (The ISNA report is in Farsi, and was translated into English by the British gay rights group OutRage!, which released its report today--ISNA also provided the terrifying photos of the teens' last moments you see on this page.) The two youths -- identified only by their initials as M.A. and A.M., were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, on the orders of Court No. 19. The hanging of the teens was also reported by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

Consensual gay sex in any form is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the website Age of Consent, which monitors such laws around the world, in Iran "Homosexuality is illegal, those charged with love-making are given a choice of four deathstyles: being hanged, stoned, halved by a sword, or dropped from the highest perch. According to Article 152, if two men not related by blood are discovered naked under one cover without good reason, both will be punished at a judge's discretion. Gay teens (Article 144) are also punished at a judge's discretion.

Rubbing one's penis between the thighs without penetration (tafheed) shall be punished by 100 lashes for each offender. This act, known to the English-speaking world as frottage,' is punishable by death if the 'offender' is a non-Muslim.   If frottage is thrice repeated and penalty-lashes have failed to stop such repetitions, upon the fourth 'offense' both men will be put to death.

...And Outrage, in its release about the gay teens' execution, noted that, "according to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979. Last August, a 16-year-old girl was hanged for 'acts incompatible with chastity.'"

In the case of the two teens hanged in Mashhad, "They admitted having gay sex (probably under torture) but claimed in their defense that most young boys had sex with each other and that they were not aware that homosexuality was punishable by death," according to the ISNA report as translated by Outrage. "Prior to their execution, the gay teenagers were held in prison for 14 months and severely beaten with 228 lashes."

Who is monitoring sexual behavior? Are there community spies that can report a second or third instance of an infraction? I feel sick that human beings can do this sort of thing to one another.

They were just getting started when I posted, so there's probably even more foulitude up there now.

Actual Freeper Quotes

"And a big fat yawn from the Homofascist lobby. Somehow, this was Bush's fault, he shuoldn't have provoked them."

The religion of compassion and peace. All facsist regimes seem to attract the worst elements of it's society to deliver punishment."

And yet the Left reverse Islam and sees the US as evil...so let I suggest we put through a bill that would allow immigration to anyone in the Democrat party to move to Iran at US government expense...we'll pay the ticket if they agree to stay there."

Someone with a kamikaze DUmmie account (mine isn't) needs to post this over there and see what happens."

Quite a double standard these islamists have, after hearing about the rampant buggery in afghanistan. Maybe they were too close in age."

But the gay activists are more concerned with outting Gannon and Santorum's staffer. Funny how they never lift a finger against TRUE anti-homosexual folks. But then, those eeeeeevil republicans don't actually kill gays in retaliation, as the gay lobby would like you to believe, whereas these folks do. Keep at it, gay lobby. Keep whining about Matthew Shepard (how many years ago? and how long has his killer been jailed?) and pretending Americans who simply don't want your lifestyle foisted on them are the devil, while real evil is in front of you, but might actually require some risk on your part to confront."

Or the proponents of the anti-homosexual marriage amendments. Their "hatred" stirs up "hate crimes" against Homosexuals."

The executioners wore masks fearing reprisals and anti-riot forces put the entire area under their control to prevent outbreak of public protests. The Iranian public isn't 100% unified behind their Islamo-fascist leaders??"

Maybe one made the fatal mistake of "squealing like a pig.""

Maybe they were too close in age."

No, it's because they weren't sheep or camels."

Wow, this will have the gay libs supporting Bush's war on terror, seeing how the islamofascists really have it in for gays, right? (trying to stifle laughter)"

gads! When are they going to learn & give up/change/ keep quiet about their lifestyle?"

They shirts sure are clean and pressed while the rope is being around their necks for them to have been flogged 228 times. . ."

Thanks to House Blenders Wayne and Paul for the pointers.

Pope: 'gay marriage distorts God's plan'

We already have a Canadian cardinal refusing to baptize the child of gay parents; and Ratz is ready to purge the gay priests. Now here's more Vatican homo-fixation, blasting Canada, through its house organ...

The Vatican newspaper on Thursday attacked Canada's legalization of gay marriage, calling it a distortion of God's plan for the family.

Canada became the fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples when the Supreme Court's chief justice signed legislation Wednesday.

"The distortion of God's plan for the family continues," said L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily. "In Canada, homosexual unions have become equal to marriage."

This is more important than the abuse of thousands of children by the church's men of the cloth? The lying, the payoffs, the cover-up? This man has no moral authority whatsoever.

Police to Check Bags on NYC Subways

How long is this going to last? Please, people, that's not going to stop a determined terrorist, and the delays will probably make more than a few New Yorkers homicidal. Stop playing mind games.

You must see 'Double Super-Secret Background'

A great Flash cartoon by Mark Fiore at SFGate.com.

Danger, danger: plastered homos on the road

Paul Cameron (L), the bogus scientist behind the homophobic insert that ran in the Washington Post last year is at it again. Right: It should be noted that Cameron was booted from the American Psychological Association "for a violation of the Preamble to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists."

Good god. Discredited wingnut homophobe scientist Paul Cameron just cannot contain himself, this is completely unhinged. Gays Twice as Apt to Drive Under the Influence. Here's this howler from the Family "Research" Institute:

Have you ever wondered why so many gays and lesbians are involved in auto accidents? Perhaps its because they are twice as apt to drive under the influence. 25% of homosexuals as compared to 14% of straights said that they drove under the influence of drugs or alcohol last year. Gays were more apt to drive impaired than straight men - 32% to 19%, and lesbians than straight women - 17% to 8%.

"Driving is a serious responsibility," said Dr. Paul Cameron, Chairman of the Colorado-based Family Research Institute, who just published the report in the peer-reviewed journal Psychological Reports. "Everybody on the road, not just the driver, is endangered by this self-centered and caviler behavior. This is further evidence that gays' devil-may-care attitude toward sex spills into other areas as well. As Shakespeare's Pericles warned, one sin 'another doth provoke.' In light of the many social harms of homosexuality, many documented in our analysis of this Centers for Disease Control study, the coming U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Lawrence v Texas, which gave constitutional protection to homosexual conduct. "

Men were twice as apt to drive under the influence as women. But blacks were less apt than whites to do so - only 7% did so in the past year. Black men were less apt than white men (11% v. 19%) and black women less apt than white women (3% v. 8%).

"This blows a hole in the 'we endanger others because society doesn't fully accept us' argument," said Dr. Cameron who headed the three man team that published the study. "Disturbed people endanger others. This indifference to the wellbeing of others isn't due to discrimination. Blacks have been discriminated against for hundreds of years, and they behaved more responsibly than whites in this area."

"This is one of the many findings that clue the public as to why the U. S. Centers for Disease Control has not broadcast the sex information from its 1996 study," said Dr. Cameron. If blacks, shunned by some segments of society, are less apt to drive under the influence, you can't sensibly excuse homosexuals on the grounds that they drink because they feel alienated. Homosexuality, drunken driving - both are dangerous choices for the actor and the society in which he performs."

How soon will we see this appearing in the "mainstream" wingnut press? People, this is what they are after. Recriminalization, re-closeting, and "re-heterosexualizing" fags and dykes out of society, using bogus science and "facts" generated by self-loathing quacks.

Also, I hate to disappoint the "scientist," but alcoholism is sadly abundant in the urban black communities, thanks to the practice of locating a liquor store on nearly every block in predominantly minority neighborhoods in NYC, for instance. The fact that most don't need a car to get liquored up probably skewed his "findings."

UPDATE: this winner's activities have also been covered by the Southern Poverty Law Center:

After losing his job teaching psychology at the University of Nebraska, Cameron set himself up as an independent sex researcher in the late 1970s, churning out scores of anti-gay pamphlets that were largely distributed in fundamentalist churches.

Cameron's "studies" falsely concluded that gay people were disproportionately responsible for child molestation, for the majority of serial killings, and for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Gay people, according to Cameron's research, were obsessed with consuming human excrement, allowing them to spread deadly diseases simply by shaking hands with unsuspecting strangers or using public restrooms.

"Of all the vices," Cameron concluded in a pamphlet called Medical Aspects of Homosexuality, "only homosexuality constitutes a conspiracy against society."

Thanks to House Blender LBfun4me for the pointer.

Explosions reported on London Underground, bus

Not again...(CNN):

At least one person has been injured following reports of three small explosions on London's transport system, police say.

The incidents came two weeks to the day since bombs on three Underground trains in London and a double-decker bus killed 56 people including four bombers.

CNN's Matthew Chance said police told him a device exploded in or around Warren Street Tube station in the center of the British capital.



The area around the station has been sealed off and the Bomb Squad is on the scene to check for other explosive devices.

Transport Police told ITN there was an injury at Warren Street. There are no other reports of casualties.

Scotland Yard is also reporting an incident on a bus at Hackney Road and Columbia Road in east London. A witness said the bus is still intact and a bomb-sniffing dog was on the scene.

An explosion blew out the windows of a bus in the Hackney area of London on Thursday but there were no reports of injuries, bus operator Stagecoach said.

"The driver heard a bang he believed came from the upper desk of the bus. The windows were blown out. There are no reports of any injuries," a Stagecoach spokesman said.

Police said initially they were not treating the evacuations as a "major incident."

More headlines:

Explosions reported on London tube, bus -police

White House Watching London Evacuations

Karl Rove, Scooter, and the missing press briefing transcript

David Corn sees more evidence. Karl and Scooter need some remedial reading lessons, but cause they somehow cannot understand that "S" stands for Secret.

In Thursday's Washington Post, Walter Pincus puts another nail in what ought to be a coffin. He confirms that the already-reported State Department memo that mentioned Valerie Wilson< and that has caught the interest of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald (because a copy was on Air Force One days before the Plame leak occurred) was stamped "(S)" for secret. Pincus writes, "Anyone reading that paragraph should have been aware that it contained secret information." The paragraph did not ID Valerie Wilson as an undercover officer. But if Rove or any other White House aide was shown a copy of this memo and then leaked the info, he or she violated very specific rules about the handling of classified information--rules that the government usually takes quite seriously. But does Bush?

In other, unsurprising news, AmericaBlog reports that a press briefing is mysteriously missing from the White House web site. Sort of like the Coalition of the Willing page that kept shrinking and then suddenly disappeared.

In this caser it's one from July 9, 2003, and has Ari Fleischer answering questions about Joe Wilson and his trip to Niger, and this was an exchange. [You can find it at the Australian embassy's web page (boy, this crew of Bush government drones are dumbasses, aren't they?).]

Q: What's the final language, Ari, your final position on the State of the Union speech and the uranium -- I know they were working on stuff last night, but I never got a chance to read it.

Q: Is this on the record?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, we're back on the record. After the speech, information was learned about the forged documents. With the advantage of hindsight, it's known now what was not known by the White House prior to the speech. This information should not have risen to the level of a presidential speech. There was reporting, although it wasn't very specific, about Iraq's seeking to obtain uranium from Africa. It's a classic issue of how hindsight is 20-20. The process was followed that led to the information going into the State of the Union; information about the yellow cake was only brought to the White House's attention later.

But there's a bigger picture here, and this is what's fundamental -- the case for war against Iraq was based on the threat that Saddam Hussein posed because of his possession of weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological, and his efforts to reconstitute a nuclear program. In 1991, everybody in the world underestimated how close he was to getting a nuclear weapon. The case for going to war against Saddam is as just today as it was the day the President gave that speech.

Q: Ambassador Wilson said he made a case months before that there was no basis to the belief --

MR. FLEISCHER: No, he reported that Niger denied the allegation. That's what Ambassador Wilson reported.

Q: Was that report weighed against other --

MR. FLEISCHER: And of course they would deny the allegation. That doesn't make it untrue. It was only later -- you can ask Ambassador Wilson if he reported that the yellow cake documents were forged. He did not. His report did not address whether the documents were forged or not. His report stated that Niger denied the accusation. He spent eight days in Niger and concluded that Niger denied the allegation. Well, typically, nations don't admit to going around nuclear nonproliferation.

They are fisking the whole press gaggle in the comments at AB.

Sex and the Single Christian

A gripping "Part 1 of a Two-Part Series on Singles, Sexuality, and the Church" is locked and loaded at AgapePress. This mind-numbing article at least acknowledges there's a whole lot of single Christians f*cking outside of marriage. Of course, the lack of ability to control their urges and remain 'sexually pure' is the media and society's fault.

Sadly, the mindset of America's sex-saturated culture is far removed from a biblical depiction of the God-given gift of sex within marriage, sending a plethora of lies to the nation's approximate 82 million singles, as calculated by The Barna Group. Such lies are deceiving all types of singles.

For example, "Christian communities aren't immune to the sexual revolution," Winner writes in Christianity Today. "Three surveys of single Christians conducted in the 1990s turned up a lot of premarital sex: Approximately one-third of the respondents were virgins -- that means, of course, that two-thirds were not."

Without conducting formal research on the notion that sexual activity is increasing among singles who claim to be Christians, Dr. Henry Cloud, clinical psychologist and author, is aware of the problem. "It does appear in today's society that the cultural influences of more sexual expression outside of marriage has had its influence in the church."

...[Jason] Illian was on the third season of ABC's The Bachelorette, a reality series where a single woman searches for her soul mate among a group of 25 eligible bachelors as America watches from their living rooms. Although AFA Journal finds little redeeming value in reality shows like The Bachelorette, Illian viewed his participation in the show as an opportunity to share a godly approach to relationships using a secular platform. His efforts proved worthwhile by increasing his visibility, opening doors for him to share a biblical message in a sex-saturated world and bringing a renewed sense of hope to those seeking purity.

Condi defends the press in Sudan

Condi and Andrea Mitchell probably don't think much of Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail.

You know something is wrong if Condi's coming to the rescue of the news media. What the heck is the problem with these Sudanese officials? It's safe to say that local journalists in Sudan probably take their lives into their hands if they have to talk to government stooges. Freedom of the press need not apply.

US officials and press accompanying US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a trip to Sudan said they were "manhandled" by security staff at President Omar al-Beshir's residence.

US officials said the security men tried to prevent them and the press from entering the meeting, and tried to confiscate tapes from a National Public Radio reporter, before Rice's spokesman Sean McKormack and others intervened.

Jim Wilkinson, senior adviser to Rice, said he was grabbed and thrown against the wall at the entrance to the residence before he bulled his way through with Rice's personal assistant in tow behind him.

"Freedom of the press is a wonderful thing and we don't appreciate being manhandled at the front door," a fuming Wilkinson told reporters. "Diplomacy 101 says you don't rough your guests up, especially the press." The Sudanese finally relented and let the American press in in two waves.

The US officials were still furious, however, and Wilkinson was seen waving a angry finger at Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail. A Sudanese official quickly came out to the anteroom, where the second group of journalists had been stopped, and apologised repeatedly.

"It is not our intention in any way to bar the press from doing its job," said Khidir Haroun Ahmed, chief of the Sudanese mission to the United States. When the second press group finally entered for a photo op with Rice and Beshir, NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell tried to ask a question about why Khartoum should be believed in its promises to crack down on militias in its western Darfur region, but she was cut off and pushed away by the Sudanese. Wilkinson again angrily intervened, and said "don't ever touch our journalists again".

An enraged Rice came to talk to the press on the plane before taking off for the restive region of Darfur and apologised to Mitchell, saying she was demanding an immediate apology from the Sudanese. "They had no right to manhandle my staff and the press," Rice said. "It makes me very angry to be sitting there with their president and have this happen."

Bye Scotty...leave the warp speed running

James Doohan and the future T.J. Hooker.

Of course most of you by now know that James Doohan, "Scotty," has passed on. His ashes will be sent into space, and rightfully so. I used to watch TOS (The Original Series for you non-Trekkers) when I was a kid and was a big fan of TNG (The Next Generation). Sorry to say, I just couldn't get into DS9 or Enterprise.

BBC News has a nice story about the history of TOS:

The death of James Doohan - Scotty the engineer - has aroused fresh outpourings of affection for Star Trek. Unmistakeably a child of the 1960s, the show was a flop which rose again to become the most famous space series.

The original show tried to look into the future - and eventually changed television on both sides of the camera.

At its quiet start on NBC in September 1966, it seemed that the only thing that would change was the channel - as viewers and critics found Bewitched much more interesting.

...Star Trek had the USS Enterprise which was always commanded by William Shatner (Captain Kirk), was always held together by James Doohan as Scotty, and which presented generally consistent characters that you would come to know and follow.

It was crude: Mr Spock's cold logic and Doctor McCoy's warm humanity were the two sides of Kirk's personality brought out and given voices. But they were funny and they were smart where most space characters were not. The stories were optimistic about exploration instead of fatalistic about invasion. The Enterprise crew became a family and that humanised space opera.

Father of the TV dinner dies

To live to 83, he must not have consumed very many samples of his invention. And what exactly was that cobbler-like fruit foulitude in the center compartment?

Gerry Thomas, who changed the way Americans eat - for better or worse - with his invention of the TV Dinner during the baby boom years, has died at 83.

Thomas, who died in Paradise Valley on Monday after a bout with cancer, was a salesman for Omaha, Neb.-based C.A. Swanson and Sons in 1954 when he got the idea of packaging frozen meals in a disposable aluminum-foil tray, divided into compartments to keep the foods from mixing. He also gave the product its singular name.

The first Swanson TV Dinner - turkey with cornbread dressing and gravy, sweet potatoes and buttered peas - sold for about $1 and could be cooked in 25 minutes at 425 degrees. Ten million sold in the first year of national distribution. It was fast and convenient, and fit nicely on a TV tray in the living room, so that you didn't have to drag yourself away from your favorite television show.

Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, said the TV Dinner "started a change in American eating habits bigger than any change in culinary history since the discovery of fire and cooked foods."

...The TV Dinner drew "hate mail from men who wanted their wives to cook from scratch like their mothers did," Thomas said, but it got him a bump in pay to $300 a month and a $1,000 bonus.

Robert Knight is obsessing about homos again

It seems that about once a month, Bob Knight must have a hot dream about getting boned by a guy. Then he wakes up in a cold sweat, takes a cold shower, prays, then runs to the keyboard, and writes up some unhinged quote that I can make fun of here on the Blend. Here are some earlier gems, which always seem to revolve observations on how powerful gays are, suggesting he's clearly a bottom looking for a daddy, right Bob?

1. "Because there are so many homosexuals in Washington, it's a very aggressive community...You have national homosexual organizations headquartered here -- like the Human Rights Campaign -- that ... wield tremendous influence on Congress."

2. "The homosexual lifestyle is about pleasing oneself, not planning for the future, not setting aside money for kids, not trying to create a situation where the generations come together. It's about having fun. It's about indulging in whatever desire you want at any given time."

3. "Millions of families shop at Wal-Mart, and I think they're counting on them not knowing that Wal-Mart is openly promoting homosexuality. When it gets out that they're [doing that] by actually subsidizing homosexual relationships ... this will tarnish their image."

4. "If the homosexual agenda is enacted, we will see the criminalization of Christianity in a few short years. It is already happening in Canada and Sweden."

5. "Homosexuals dominant the hospitality industry in Washington and are in position to keep tabs on the sexual liaisons of many members of Congress."

The latest entry, posted at wingnut web rag Agape Press, is another screed warning tender hearts about the powerful homosexual agenda.

Pro-family forces across the U.S. are warning about the dangers of a bill introduced in Congress that would grant special rights to homosexuals. Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute says the effort is being spearheaded by members of Congress who want the support of the homosexual community and its big money. "Liberal congressmen have now introduced a bill adding 'sexual orientation' specifically to federal workplace protection," the pro-family spokesman says. "This would be the first time, if it passes, that Congress has created a special civil-rights category for sexual orientation." This is a dangerous bill, Knight contends, and he feels its prospects for passage are difficult to evaluate. "Right now, with the ongoing war on terror and the publicity surrounding the president's judicial nominations," he notes, "I don't see a lot of legislation like this advancing -- although sometimes it's under cover of big events that homosexuals and their media and legislative allies tend to push their agenda through." Knight says pro-family advocates are going to keep "a very close eye on this bill." If the legislation passes, he adds, it could set America on a downward spiral into depravity and, meanwhile, open the floodgates to all sorts of special rights groups.

Ann Coulter, plagiarist

How satisfying. The bony ass, bed-worn b*tch of the Reich, Ann Coulter, has been caught cribbing from other conservative writers, according to The Raw Story.

A column penned by the doyenne of right-wing rhetoric Ann Coulter has come under fire for alleged plagiarism, RAW STORY has learned. Much of Coulter's Jun. 29, 2005 column, “Thou Shall Not Commit Religion,” bears a striking resemblance to pieces in magazines dating as far back as 1985—and a column written for the Boston Globe in 1995.

A RAW STORY examination found Coulter's work to be at worst plagiarism and at best a cut-and-paste repetition of points authored by conservative religious groups in the early 1990s. These groups sought to de-fund the National Endowment for the Arts, detailing projects paid for by the NEA they dubbed “obscene.”

...The piece was first questioned by The Rude Pundit on Jul. 1. His post noted that Coulter appeared to have cribbed from a defunct 1993 magazine called The Flummery Digest.

Coulter : "A photo of a newborn infant with its mouth open titled to suggest the infant was available for oral sex."

The Flummery Digest: "The title of a photo of a newborn infant with its mouth open suggested that the infant was available for oral sex."

Coulter: "A photo of a woman breastfeeding an infant, titled ' Jesus Sucks.'"

The Flummery Digest: "… photograph of a woman breastfeeding an infant was titled 'Jesus Sucks.'"

Coulter: "A show titled 'DEGENERATE WITH A CAPITAL D' featuring a display of the remains of the artist's own aborted baby."

The Flummery Digest: "'Degenerate with a Capital D'...included 'Alchemy Cabinet' by Shawn Eichman, featuring the remains of the artist's own aborted baby."

Actually, you can't blame her, because her writing sucks. It's hard work for our favorite racist, homo-bigot and man-vessel of the right wing elite (after all, her hero Chimpy knows all about hard work). She's so busy speaking to horny Yellow Elephant College Repug types and pimping her nasty self to the Boy Scouts for $30K, that it's hard for her tiny brain to actually compose a regular column on the fly. What's wrong with getting a little bony leg up on that workload?

You can read more about Ann's klepto work (there are many more examples) over at Ron Brynaert's pad: Ann Coulter Writes Like Jeff Gannon

Read 'Radical' Russ's take on Eric Robert Rudolph

I don't want to spin it for you, but Russ has plenty to say on the convicted pro-life, "Christian", domestic terrorist. And the Radical one knows how to slice and dice quite well. Just go read it.

Click over to The UnCapitalist Journal

A new group blog has launched that you should check out: The UnCapitalist Journal. It's a new online community that focuses on issues that the progressive blogosphere sorely needs to cover: global social justice, workers rights, economic globalization, and human rights.

Some of the kick-*ss bloggers involved are ones you may be reading already:

* Charles Norman Todd
* Big Brass Blog's own The Dark Wraith
* The Green Lantern - Gretchen Ross
* Majikthise - Lindsay Beyerstein
* All Spin Zone's's Richard Blair
* Agitprop

I plan to surf over there frequently. See you there!

Best buds - the caption says it all

In this photograph taken in June 2003, Karl Rove, senior advisor to President Bush and Robert Novak are pictured together at a party marking the 40th anniversary of Novak's newspaper column at the Army Navy Club in Washington DC. At the event a number of people wore buttons reading, 'I'm a source, not a target.' Rove is at the center of a controversy about the leaking of a CIA operative's identity which originally appeared in Novak's newspaper column. (AP Photo/Lauren Shay)

Betting on Karl's survival (literally)

Anyone taking bets on the Toad? According to a betting site, Karl's fate is a popular wage.

Sportsbook.com has entered the fray in the latest political storm to rock the White House by offering odds on the future of its Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove. The opening line is that Rove will not be dismissed or resign in the wake of an ongoing criminal investigation, with odds at 1-6.

...The betting line is a reflection of President Bush's seeming flip-flop on the issue based on comments he has offered since the scandal broke in 2003. Initially, Bush said he would fire anyone from the administration found to have been the source of the leak. After Rove was revealed to be the source, however, Bush said he would only dismiss an administration official who had engaged in criminal activity.

Observers are also keenly aware of the President's dependence on Rove as his long-time political strategist and election campaign saviour. Since odds were posted yesterday, bettors have been wagering heavily that Rove will not be dismissed or resign. But with Democrats increasingly calling for Rove's dismissal from cabinet, the President may have no choice but to sack his most indispensable aid.

Save time, use the Rove-bot

I see another blogger out there is looking for an easier way to keep up with the sh*tstorm that is the lying POS Karl Rove. It's a 24/7 effort to keep up with it, right? Worry no more, because Night Light's RJ Eskow has created the brilliant Rove-bot.

I've developed an autonomous Internet program - what is sometimes called a "bot" - to write all future posts on the topic. (These programs are also called "agents," but I don't want to call it that for fear that a Republican will reveal its identity.) Here's how it works:

INPUT:

Today it was discovered that Karl Rove

a) lied to FBI agents
b) lied to reporters
c) revealed nuclear secrets to help a Republican get elected alderman in Swanscote, KY
d) ate a baby

(check all that apply)

President Bush and Scott McClellan both refused to comment, except to say that

a) there is no proof a crime was committed
b) there is no proof a crime was committed that hurt Republicans
c) there is no proof crime is bad

(search news articles for all that apply)

-- Hypocrisy Subroutine --

Rove-bot will now search for contradictory statements made by the President and other Republicans in the past. Please check all statement categories you would like to see included:

( ) My Dad said people who expose CIA agents are scum
( ) We want to hold the White House to a higher standard of behavior
( ) Blow jobs
( ) What the definition of "is" is
( ) We won't tolerate even the appearance of impropriety

-- Press Ineptitude Subroutine --

IF Judy Miller still in jail,
THEN statement re irony of protecting people who are trying to crush whistleblowers, cozy relationship between reporters and the powerful.

IF Judy Miller NE jail (out of jail),
THEN statement about she was not the moral equivalent of

a) Nelson Mandela
b) Martin Luther King in Birmingham jail
c) Duke Cunningham after they get through with him

IF Judy Miller has helped start another war, initiate ***escape sequence***.

In order to distract from the growing Rove scandal, the President today

a) declared war on
- North Korea
- Iran
- the new pro-Iranian leadership of Iraq
- Sweden

b) nominated another Supreme Court judge
c) declared a tax holiday for billionaires
d) ate a baby
--------------------------------------------------------

Preparing to run program. Set levels:

* Snarkiness (1-10)
* Irony (1-10)
* Bitter resignation (1-10)

END INPUT. GENERATING POST.

*******************************

'Ebonics' rises from the dead

My bloggrrrl Shakes Sis is stirring the pot about Ebonics, which is back in the news as a result of this article, Ebonics suggested for district. San Bernadino (CA) is going to incorporate Ebonics into its new school policy to try and target black students, the lowest-achieving group the city district. From the San Bernadino County Sun:

The goal of the district's policy is to improve black students' academic performance by keeping them interested in school. Compared with other racial groups in the district, black students go to college the least and have the most dropouts and suspensions.

Blacks make up the second largest racial group in the district, trailing Latinos.

A pilot of the policy, known as the Students Accumulating New Knowledge Optimizing Future Accomplishment Initiative, has been implemented at two city schools. Mary Texeira, a sociology professor at Cal State San Bernardino, commended the San Bernardino Board of Education for approving the policy in June.

Texeira suggested that including Ebonics in the program would be beneficial for students. Ebonics, a dialect of American English that is spoken by many blacks throughout the country, was recognized as a separate language in 1996 by the Oakland school board.

"Ebonics is a different language, it's not slang as many believe,' Texeira said. "For many of these students Ebonics is their language, and it should be considered a foreign language. These students should be taught like other students who speak a foreign language.'

Texeira said research has shown that students learn better when they fully comprehend the language they are being taught in.

Shakes Sis took the time to thoughtfully view this through the prism of the Democrats' lack of ability to understand black voters, and makes a case that taking this constituency for granted has resulted in myriad socioeconomic problems that have not been effectively addressed, education being one of them. This move to recognize Ebonics, she feels, is a response to the vacuum of solutions.

Linguistics can be a tricky thing, and a subjective thing; there’s not a definitive consensus on when a dialect stops being just a dialect and becomes its own language. There are areas within the United States—a small island off the east coast (the name of which escapes me at the moment) where the inhabitants speak a strange mix of German and English, certain remote enclaves in Appalachia, as examples—where the form of English spoken is so unique as to have spawned endless debate about whether it’s truly a rare American dialect or a language all its own. When one reads about these idiosyncratic tongues, in America or elsewhere, the thing that their native speakers have in common is geographical isolation.

Ebonics speakers are not geographically isolated—not in the same way residents of a small coastal island are, anyway. This dialect, or language, depending on the linguist or sociologist to whom you are speaking, is instead the result of cultural isolation. Whether Ebonics started and/or developed strictly due to immersion in a community of like speakers, or as a result of a search for unique cultural identity, or a combination of both, or different factors altogether, really doesn’t matter in terms of this discussion. The point is that a wholly distinct dialect, which has developed divergently from all other dominant regional dialects to the point of being recognized in some quarters as its own language, happened within a community that has not been given full equality in our society.

I agree blacks have not been given full equality, but I disagree that recognition of Ebonics is a solution. I think it is damaging. I also think this topic is even more inflammatory than the GOP peeling off votes by exploiting black homophobia, something that I've written about extensively. I realize that on this topic, I'm clearly not in step with many progressives. Oliver Willis, notably, is also with me on this position.

Personally, I know that my mom, who was of West Indian descent, is rolling in her grave at the thought of Ebonics as a concept rising again. She died in 1997, so we did have conversations about that 1996 Oakland school board decision to recognize Ebonics. She was appalled. Ebonics doesn't pass the test of say, the Gullah language, a Creole blend of Elizabethan English and African languages, would fall into the category of on that is in geographical isolation (the coastal South), as you mentioned.

It's hard enough to get by if you're black in this country (I don't use African-American either); Ebonics is not the acceptable language of education, commerce or any standard of success in this country. "Shizzle to the nizzle" isn't going to fly in an interview.

Black people know this; they are exposed to the dominant culture and language from day one. Slang or Ebonics is a method of communicating within a social group/community. To elevate it to the status of a dialect that must be "overcome" in order to assimilate into the dominant culture takes the burden of responsibility off of the individual to do so.

The black community needs no more help in this area.

Our culture (and in this case I mean American culture), has made it too easy to blame someone else - the State, the President, your neighbor, "the Man") for why they cannot read and write. Acquiescing to the lowest common denominator of achievement has been an enabling device, sadly, I believe it is part of the reason we have the Acting White phenomenon and the glorification of anti-intellectualism in the black community spurred on by a segment of the hip-hop culture (that also debases women).

I get flamed for this all the time, but no one has made a convincing argument that would change my position on this.

I'll fight for inclusion on every front, but taking this Ebonics path is ultimately destructive for the black community.

What kids need are schools of equivalent quality, smaller classroom size and qualified teachers that are paid what they are worth -- and that's not going to happen when resources are allocated based on property taxes.

***

To frame the subject of accommodating "difference" outside of race (for those of you uncomfortable talking about it), a colleague of mine and I had a long conversation yesterday about how "equal access" in the area of education has gone over the margin of common sense into insanity. She notices this first-hand with some of the kids she deals with in the school system that are using their disability to manipulate both the parents and the school system into not holding them accountable for performing academically.

Since the rightful goal is mainstreaming, what does this mean for academic standards, classroom size, the obligations of teachers, administrators and the State to accommodate these situations? She sees kids that aren't compliant in using the state-provided resources for them to be able to function well in the classroom -- and the parents and kid wonder why they are doing poorly.

The parents, in turn, don't like seeing their child slipping academically and want the State to "do something", provide additional services, or diagnose their child in a way to establish the need for those additional services, when it's sometimes a behavioral problem. It can be frustrating when actual kids with real, aching needs have to move down on the list because of the kids/parents that are working the system. Everyone loses.

The number of kids with ADD, ADHD is exploding, and this cannot be discounted in the woes of the school system. One has to come to the conclusion that either: 1) kids are coming out of the womb f*cked up; 2) child-rearing errors are part of the problem; or 3) something is adversely affecting kids developmentally. Number three is particularly important. There have been recent studies that the act of watching TV (not the content) has a profound effect on actual physiological development of the brain. It affects learning because vicarious viewing replaces real sensory involvement with the real world. [You can substitute "TV" with video games, iPods, GameBoys and the like -- same issue.] This is also where #2 comes into play. If parents have been told to believe that TV can be a good babysitter, an educational tool, they may be inadvertently creating/exacerbating the problem.

Bottom line: too many kids aren't reading as they should, partially because it doesn't provide the brain stimulation those other forms of entertainment do, and add on top of that, they need to be able to sit still in a classroom and LISTEN. This might explain why you've got so many kids that are "incorrigible" and need to be on medication to function in school.

The question that scientists need to answer is whether behavioral modification can eliminate the need for medication, or whether the neural network cannot be re-wired. Is this a family problem or a problem for the state? Is it a personal responsibility issue, or a true ADA-accommodated disability, or is it something in-between? I have no earthly idea. I'm just tossing this out there.

School systems are wrestling with these issues and once you add race/dialect and other socioeconomic issues with a cherry on top, you can see where we find ourselves in a massive quandry. This is almost an overwhelming issue for our educational system to handle. How do you begin to fix this? No one wants to pay to get the job done (raising taxes is never popular), but no one wants to toss good money after bad, either.

Killer Eric Rudolph - unrepentant

This low-life pleaded guilty in April to the Birmingham bombing and three bombings in Atlanta, was sentenced to two life sentences without parole for the Birmingham bombing.

"Those who attempt to save the lives of unborn children and who wish to promote a culture that respects life are now treated as fanatics, threats to American freedom."

"As I go to a prison cell for a lifetime, I know that 'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith,' "
-- wisdom from the lips of Eric Robert Rudolph during his sentencing.

Victims Have Say as Birmingham Bomber Is Sentenced. The bigot entertained himself by bombing an abortion clinic, a gay bar and the Olympic Park at the Atlanta Games, and considered violence against abortion providers "a moral duty." That pretty much covers the bases as an agent of the right-wing fringe movement. I think that would qualify him as a fanatic.

Thank goodness the some of the victims got to their chance to unload on him.

It was Emily Lyons's first chance to address Eric R. Rudolph, the bomber whose attack on an abortion clinic here in 1998 left her half-blind and maimed. And she had plenty to say.

Ms. Lyons, who had been the director of nursing at the New Woman All Women Health Care clinic, called Mr. Rudolph a coward for making a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, and said, pointedly, that the clinics he bombed were still in operation today and that his attack had transformed her into a public figure who had raised thousands of dollars for abortion services.

And she told Mr. Rudolph at his sentencing Monday morning in Federal District Court, "I have more guts in my broken little finger than you have in your whole body."

Mr. Rudolph, who pleaded guilty in April to the Birmingham bombing and three bombings in Atlanta, was sentenced to two life sentences without parole for the Birmingham bombing. Judge C. Lynwood Smith ordered him to pay $1.2 million restitution to the victims, though he acknowledged that Mr. Rudolph had no financial resources. In August, Mr. Rudolph will be sentenced to two more life terms in Atlanta for attacks on another abortion clinic and a gay club and at the 1996 Olympics...The four bombings injured 150 people and killed 2, Alice Hawthorne at Olympic Centennial Park in Atlanta and Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer, in Birmingham. Monday was the first time victims or their family members could confront Mr. Rudolph directly.

Ms. Lyons, who has been vocal in her disappointment that Mr. Rudolph would not face capital punishment, read a seven-page statement recounting the many ways in which he had worked against himself: he saved the receipt for bombing components bought at Wal-Mart; he left explosive residue all over his trailer; he failed to notice that his intended target in Birmingham, the doctor providing abortions, did not use the clinic's front door; he left the bomb in plain sight instead of hiding it in the bushes; he wrote the word "bomb" in the margin of his Bible; and, ultimately, he failed to stop women from obtaining abortions.

She said she believed that Mr. Rudolph had used abortion as an excuse to kill. "What makes you think you have been appointed to rule every woman in the United States?" she asked.

She also said that he owed his life to his victims' families, most of whom agreed to the plea deal. "You murdered their loved ones, yet they kept the needle out of your arm," she said. "Your efforts did not save you; your victims' families did."

"You have been and will be a parasite on society, costing us millions," she added.

There are more Eric Rudolphs out there, willing to commit atrocious acts in the name of their beliefs. The vocal, strident, unbending rhetoric of the American Taliban inspires violence in their unhinged followers. While they have the right to advocate for their ant-choice stance, they need to accept responsibility, take ownership of the kind of people they associate with and cultivate in their movement. The blood is also on their hands.

Montgomery, AL: Red State Pride

Howard Bayless welcomes attendees to the Montgomery Gay and Lesbian Association's gay pride festival Saturday at Equality Alabama's headquarters on Perry Street in Montgomery.

It's one thing to hold Pride festivals in gay meccas like New York, San Francisco, Atlanta or even smaller friendly enclaves like my town, Durham. It's quite another to hold a Pride festival in a belly-of-the-beast state of Alabama, where being out and proud can get you hurt, or worse.

That's why the gathering last Saturday in Montgomery, Alabama should show people that coming out is the biggest statement anyone can make -- gays and lesbians live everywhere. These people want and need community, and they are, even in what would be considered a tiny gathering in most cities, doing it while facing bigotry and disdain from the likes of the Christian Coalition. It's a triumph and I'm glad to post something so positive -- a significant thing to note is that there were no protestors at this event, even in this deep-South bible-belt city.

The Montgomery Gay and Lesbian Association held the city's first gay pride festival in seven years Saturday.

The event included speakers, live music and a drag show -- with activism as an undercurrent for much of the day's activities.

About 150 people attended the festival at Equality Alabama's headquarters on Perry Street, according to Montgomery Gay and Lesbian Association president Norma Mitchell. Equality Alabama and Soulforce Alabama are two groups that advocate expanding the civil rights of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.


Howard Bayless welcomes attendees to the Montgomery Gay and Lesbian Association's gay pride festival Saturday at Equality Alabama's headquarters on Perry Street in Montgomery. (Photos by Mickey Welsh/Advertiser)

Angie Milam, 48, said that while Montgomery has gay bars for the younger generation, there is often no social outlet for gays and lesbians of her age group. Milam said Saturday's festival was the first social activity of its kind for all ages.

"Because of their professional lives, (some gays) may not be so open," Milam said. "They came from the time that you don't discuss being gay, and there's nowhere for the older lesbian or gay couples to get together."

Milam and her friends said gays and lesbians from the younger generations are more open about their sexuality, but some in their 20s who were at the festival said being openly gay in Alabama still is not easy. Jonathan Conner, 23, grew up in Prattville. "It's very, very closeted," he said. "It was definitely not something you talked about."

Also see my earlier Blend post, Fight of Flight: queer edition, on the debate about strategies for gays living in Red and Purple states.

Thanks to House Blender Kathy for the update.

Roberts and Rove - political hacks

If it's one thing that Bush has taught us, it's to surround yourself with yes men and party hacks. The Supreme Court nomination of John G. Roberts is no exception. The man worked for Ken Starr, for crying out loud, and participated in the Bush vs. Gore case that ended the recount of the 2000 election - handing the presidency to Bush. Take a look at this and connect the dots -- Roberts career has been full of political hackery and associations -- he's an inside-the-Beltway guy (NYT graphic):



Does this mean he's the worst nominee that Chimpy could have put forward. No. There's not enough of a paper trail to know, and that's probably why Bush picked him. I'm sure more will will come to light about his positions over the coming weeks, but look for those hearings to be awash in non-committal statements that will tell us nothing.

Surf over to Shakespeare's Sister, who also notes that John G. Roberts and Karl Rove are "Two Peas in the Same Political Pod."

It might not seem on its face like Karl Rove and SCOTUS nominee John Roberts have much in common, but there’s one very important attribute they both share—they’re both political hacks. They’ve served their GOP master in different ways, but in the end, neither of them is any more than a political operative who fulfills a certain ideological role within the party. I could tell you all about Roberts’ history with the Republicans, but what difference do specifics make? He’s been a judge for two years, and the rest of his career has been spent in the pockets of GOP power players. This is, in the end, just more of the same from Bush & Co.

And could we really have expected any different? Of course not.

***

Karl's a lying SOB

While I'm at it, last night I read up on this gem by investigative journalist at The American Prospect:

White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove did not disclose that he had ever discussed CIA officer Valerie Plame with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper during Rove’s first interview with the FBI, according to legal sources with firsthand knowledge of the matter.

The omission by Rove created doubt for federal investigators, almost from the inception of their criminal probe into who leaked Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak, as to whether Rove was withholding crucial information from them, and perhaps even misleading or lying to them, the sources said.

Also leading to the early skepticism of Rove's accounts was the claim that although he first heard that Plame worked for the CIA from a journalist, he said could not recall the name of the journalist. Later, the sources said, Rove wavered even further, saying he was not sure at all where he first heard the information.

Are they going to get a cell ready for the bastard?

Rove is the story that the admin doesn't want anyone thinking, writing or talking about. Unless Turd Blossom is destroyed, even after the Chimperor leaves office, Rove will still be a player for the GOP. He's too good an operator.

I'm just waiting for Bush to pull Osama out of a hat if this SCOTUS pick diversion doesn't do the trick for him.

Canada legalizes gay civil marriage

Alberta's Ralph Klein and Stephen Harper have to suck it up.

Oh what a glorious day. Barring any last issues, Canada will be the fourth country to make it legal, following the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.

The last four hold-outs, according to CTV.ca -- Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories -- will then strike down their traditional marriage laws to accommodate same-sex civil marriage. One of the adament holdouts, Canuck wingnut Alberta Premier Ralph Klein backed down on this last week, accepting the inevitable. Conservative Stephen Harper is still railing about bringing it to a public vote if he ever comes to power.

Canada's same-sex marriage bill could be signed into law as early as today after it receives royal assent.

The bill was passed by the Senate, 47-21, in a late-night vote Tuesday, a couple of days ahead of schedule. Three of the 95 sitting senators abstained. Parliament passed Bill C-38 in late June ending years of heated debate.

As the debate on the legislation dragged on, Liberal senators threatened to invoke closure and call a snap vote. But the debate ran its course with the last word coming from Liberal senator Ione Christensen who read an e-mail from a Yukon constituent.

"You have no idea what a difference it makes to the human spirit to know that you are treated equally under the law," Christensen said.

There was fierce opposition to the bill from the Conservative Party, religious groups, and even members of the government's own ranks.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has promised he won't let the issue rest. He says he'll bring back the same-sex marriage law for another vote if he becomes prime minister. "There will be a chance to revisit this in a future Parliament," Harper said last month. "Our intention is to have a free vote."

Thanks to Canadian House Blender Cat for the pointer (and for following this whole ordeal so closely).

AmTaliban rallies behind Roberts pick

The bible-thumpers are already online with praise for the SCOTUS nom. Haven't seen Dobson or Falwell weigh in yet:

"The president is a man of his word. He promised to nominate someone along the lines of a Scalia or a Thomas, and that is exactly what he has done."

-- Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council

"a refreshing nominee who possesses an outstanding record of judicial accomplishment as well as a commitment to judicial restraint long missing from so many activist courts."

-- Little Gary Bauer, president of American Values

MoveOn.org has "Fire Rove" TV ad racked up and ready

MoveOn.org plans to launch a TV ad campaign tomorrow calling for lying sack of sh*t Rove to be canned.

A new TV ad calls on the President to keep his word and fire his top political advisor Karl Rove for disclosing the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, a covert CIA agent. The ad features White House spokesman Scott McClellan contradicting his 2003 statements when asked last week if the President plans to fire Karl Rove.

The ad begins airing tomorrow, within 48 hours of the President's flip-flop on an earlier commitment to fire anyone involved in blowing her cover. In June 2004, when asked whether he would fire anyone involved in the Plame outing, President Bush replied, "Yes" to a group of reporters. On Monday, however, the President flip-flopped and added the qualifier that it would have to be shown that a crime was committed.

Two senior White House officials, Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, have been implicated in the scandal for outing the agent.

"The President should stand by his pledge to the American people and fire Karl Rove," said Tom Matzzie, Washington Director of MoveOn.org Political Action. "Karl Rove recklessly and maliciously revealed the identity of a covert CIA operative to discredit critics of the Iraq war. Rove either broke the law or was grossly negligent. In either case, he damaged our national security and shouldn't be working in the White House," said Matzzie.

Here is the description of the ad; you can watch it here:

MoveOn.org Political Action

TV :30

"Fire Rove"

MOP-05-801

VIDEO -- OPEN ON TV IMAGE OF SCOTT MCCLELLAN AT A WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING. ON-SCREEN TITLES REVEAL THE DATE TO BE SEPT. 16, 2003. BELOW THE TV IMAGE, THE WORD 'THEN' IS SUPERED ON THE SCREEN. FROM OFF CAMERA, A REPORTER IS ASKING MCCLELLAND A QUESTION.

AUDIO -- REPORTER 1: Wilson now believes that the person who did this was Karl Rove...

MCCLELLAN: I haven't heard that. That's just totally ridiculous.

VIDEO -- CUT TO FOOTAGE FROM A LATER PRESS BRIEFING - SEPT 29, 2003. MCCLELLAN IS RESPONDING TO A SIMILAR QUESTION.

MCCLELLAN: If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration.

VIDEO -- FADE TO BLACK. FADE UP ON A TV IMAGE OF MCCLELLAND AT ANOTHER WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING, NOW JULY 11, 2005. BELOW THE TV IMAGE, THE WORD 'NOW' IS SUPERED ON THE SCREEN. FROM OFF CAMERA, A REPORTER IS ASKING MCCLELLAN A QUESTION.

REPORTER 1: Don't you owe the American people a fuller explanation?

MCCLELLAN: David, there will be a time to talk about this, but now is not the time.

VIDEO -- A MONTAGE OF MCCLELLAN'S EVASIVE RESPONSES TO QUESTIONING FROM THE SAME JULY 11, 2005 PRESS BRIEFING.

MCCLELLAN: The White House is not going to comment on it.

MCCLELLAN: We're not going to get into commenting.

MCCLELLAN: You have my response.

MCCLELLAN: We're not going to get into commenting on it.

MCCLELLAN: Again, I've responded to the question.

VIDEO -- CUT TO END CARD READING: "STOP THE COVER-UP. FIRE KARL ROVE." AT SCREEN BOTTOM SUPER "PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, WWW.MOVEONPAC.ORG. NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF THIS ADVERTISEMENT".

AUDIO -- ANNOUNCER (VO): MoveOn.org Political Action is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

State Dept memo had the Plame details

Karl had access to the information about Valerie Plame and he didn't get it from another journalist. It was right there on Air Force One.

More details are surfacing about a State Department memo that's been the focus of a federal investigation into the release of a CIA officer's name.

The classified memo outlines how Valerie Plame arranged to have her husband -- former Ambassador Joseph Wilson -- sent to Nigeria to look into alleged Iraqi attempts to purchase uranium. The memo also disputes Bush administration claims that Iraq was shopping for the so-called "yellow cake."

A retired State Department official said Tuesday that the memo was sent to Air Force One just one day after Wilson went public with his allegations. The official said it was not a "Wilson-Wilson wife memo" but rather a reflection of the department's "disagreement" with the White House over the Iraq-Niger uranium case.

The memo has become a key piece of evidence because it could have been the way someone in the White House learned -- and then leaked -- the information.

Bringing democracy and freedom to Iraq - but not for women

A banner saying "Stop the violence against Iraqi women" was carried at a Baghdad rally over constitutional issues as they affect women's rights. (Adam Nadel/Polaris, for The New York Times)

Maybe it was a sign that Roberts has been nominated for SCOTUS. Since this guy would like to overturn Roe v. Wade, rolling back the clock with women here, why not emulate the draft Iraqi Constitution, which gives equal rights to women only IF they follow Sharia law. This is unbelievable. Billions of dollars, thousands of bombs, who knows how many deaths, and this is what it come to for to the women of Iraq. Have they not suffered enough?

How can Chimpy, Rove and Rumsfeld declare victory if women have fewer civil rights than they had under Saddam.

A working draft of Iraq's new constitution would cede a strong role to Islamic law and could sharply curb women's rights, particularly in personal matters like divorce and family inheritance. The document's writers are also debating whether to drop or phase out a measure enshrined in the interim constitution, co-written last year by the Americans, requiring that women make up at least a quarter of the parliament.

The draft of a chapter of the new constitution obtained by The New York Times on Tuesday guarantees equal rights for women as long as those rights do not "violate Shariah," or Koranic law. The Americans and secular Iraqis banished such explicit references to religious law from the interim constitution adopted early last year.

The draft chapter, circulated discreetly in recent days, has ignited outrage among women's groups, which held a protest on Tuesday morning in downtown Baghdad at the square where a statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down by American marines in April 2003.

One of the critical passages is in Article 14 of the chapter, a sweeping measure that would require court cases dealing with matters like marriage, divorce and inheritance to be judged according to the law practiced by the family's sect or religion. Under that measure, Shiite women in Iraq, no matter what their age, generally could not marry without their families' permission. Under some interpretations of Shariah, men could attain a divorce simply by stating their intention three times in their wives' presence.

Article 14 would replace a body of Iraqi law that has for decades been considered one of the most progressive in the Middle East in protecting the rights of women, giving them the freedom to choose a husband and requiring divorce cases to be decided by a judge. If adopted, the shift away from the more secular and egalitarian provisions of the interim constitution would be a major victory for Shiite clerics and religious politicians, who chafed at the Americans' insistence that Islam be designated in the interim constitution as just "a source" of legislation. Several writers of the new constitution say they intend, at the very least, to designate Islam as "a main source" of legislation.

...women's groups are incensed by Article 14, which would repeal a relatively liberal personal status law enacted in 1959 after the British-backed monarchy was overthrown by secular military officers. That law remained in effect through the decades of Mr. Hussein's rule.

The law used Shariah to adjudicate personal and family matters, but did it in as secular a manner as possible, pulling together the most liberal interpretations of Koranic law from the main Shiite and Sunni sects and stitching them together into one code.

Critics of the draft proposal say that in addition to restricting women's rights, it could also deepen the sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shiites. The draft also does not make clear what would happen in cases where the husband is from one sect and the wife from another.

Keep the focus on Rove...he's a guilty SOB

Now that I've put a couple of posts up on Roberts, it's back to the bastard-in-chief's puppetmaster. This is a bit of humor completely ripped from buddy "Radical" Russ:

I caught this line on Mike Malloy's show last night and have been laughing about it all day. The topic was whether Bush would now be firing Karl Rove and Malloy was pointing out how ridiculous it was to think that Bush would fire Rove:

Bush won't fire Karl Rove for the same reason Kermit the Frog wouldn't fire Jim Henson's hand.

Quotes about John G. Roberts

From the AP :

"He's brilliant. ... He's someone who is I think obviously well respected on both sides of the aisle. At a time when circuit court nominees were being filibustered left and right, he just really sailed through his confirmation. Given that, I think the president did what he promised during the campaign. He looked for the best and the brightest and he chose someone who would meet the test, the high test, that Supreme Court justices would be required to meet." — Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.

"The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry. The Senate must review Judge Roberts' record to determine if he has a demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality and fairness." — Senate minority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. [Is he rolling over?]

"Judge Roberts is the kind of outstanding nominee that will make America proud. He embodies the qualities America expects in a justice on its highest court: someone who is fair, intelligent, impartial and committed to faithfully interpreting the Constitution and the law." — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

"We are extremely disappointed that President Bush has chosen such a divisive nominee for the highest court in the nation, rather than a consensus nominee who would protect individual liberty and uphold Roe v. Wade." — NARAL Pro-Choice America.

"He's the kind of judge that all of us want — someone committed to applying the law impartially rather than legislating from the bench." — Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.


"Who knows about this guy?" — Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

Well, it's Roberts

Heinous. The usual DC fake-out. I guess they wanted to have folks waste time over Clement and then drop this bomb.

From the Alliance for Justice's brief opposing the confirmation of John G. Roberts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.:

John G. Roberts, nominated by President Bush to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, has a record of hostility to the rights of women and minorities. He has also taken controversial positions in favor of weakening the separation of church and state and limiting the role of federal courts in protecting the environment.

While working under Presidents Reagan and Bush, Mr. Roberts supported a hard-line, anti-civil rights policy that opposed affirmative action, would have made it nearly impossible for minorities to prove a violation of the Voting Rights Act and would have "resegregated" America's public schools. He also took strongly anti-choice positions in two Supreme Court cases, one that severely restricted the ability of poor women to gain information about abortion services, and another that took away a key means for women and clinics to combat anti-abortion zealots.

GOP Stooge

...Mr. Roberts has a longstanding connection to the Republican Party and to right-wing legal organizations. After clerking for Justice Rehnquist, he held significant positions in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and the elder President Bush, where he became Deputy Solicitor General. In 1992, Bush nominated Roberts for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, but his nomination lapsed before it could be considered.

Reproductive Freedom

...In two cases, Roberts took positions hostile to women's reproductive rights. He was a co-author of the government's brief in Rust v. Sullivan,10 the case in which the Supreme Court upheld newly revised Title X regulations that prohibited U.S. family planning programs receiving federal aid from giving any abortion-related counseling or other services. The provision barred such clinics not only from providing abortions, but also from "counseling clients about abortion" or even "referring them to facilities that provide abortions."

In a second abortion-related case, Roberts co-authored the government's amicus brief in a private suit brought against Operation Rescue by an abortion clinic it had targeted.14 The brief argued that Operation Rescue was not engaged in a conspiracy to deprive women of equal protection. Roberts took this position in spite of Operation Rescue's admission that its goal was to prevent women from obtaining abortions and to shut down the clinic during its protests. Although the government's brief acknowledged that only women could become pregnant, it argued that conspiring to prevent people from seeking constitutionally-protected abortions did not constitute gender discrimination. It asserted that, at worst, Operation Rescue was discriminating against pregnant people, not women.

Religion

Roberts co-authored two briefs arguing for an expanded role for religion in public schools. In one case, he co-authored a government amicus curiae brief before the Supreme Court, in which he argued that public high schools should be allowed to conduct religious ceremonies as part of a graduation program, a position rejected by the Supreme Court.

In the other, the government argued that barring a religious group from meeting on school grounds violates the Equal Access Act, while granting access does not violate the Establishment Clause.27 The Supreme Court agreed with the government's position.

Aside from those horrific facts, the document also reveals that Roberts was never properly vetted because of Arlen Specter's scheduling of three nominee hearings in one day. Very sly.

Finally, Mr. Roberts is being considered for lifetime tenure on a court that is only one step below the U.S. Supreme Court and is acknowledged to be the second most important court in the country. His nomination must be considered in light of the special significance of that court. Moreover, Judiciary Committee Chairman Hatch's insistence on scheduling three controversial Circuit Court nominees, including Mr. Roberts, for confirmation hearings on a single day ensured that senators had no meaningful opportunity to question Mr. Roberts about his views on a number of critical issues. The Alliance for Justice urges the Senate to reject his confirmation

There's plenty more in the report, on his private practice work for corporations, and environmental business interests. I've saved it as a Word file here.

Ditto on Rove: keep it simple, stupid

Rove #2, courtesy of The Heretik; #3: Morgaine; #4: Mike Tidmus.

Karl Rove outed a covert CIA operative as political payback.

Shakes Sis is right. That line above is the whole story. It is essential that we not get caught up in the intellectual ins and outs of the Rove story when we tell it. It's a bottom line issue about pettiness and lying. When Rove's gyrations are conveyed simply, it pays dividends, as we see with polls taking for the Chimperor. Anybody that spends ten minutes watching human punching-bag Scotty at the briefings can see how bad this is. (Keep standing up there, doughboy.)

Rove and Co. handed this one to us on a silver platter and we better not blow it with navel-gazing commentary.

Get the message into sound bites and 30-second commercials. Sadly the sheeple don't think, they react, so let's play ball. If the sheeple have to wade through tons of analysis to figure out what we are trying to convey, they will switch the channel.

Iraq: ready to cut the cord...

I don't think so, Chimpy. Gunmen shot and killed three Sunni Arab members of the committee drafting Iraq's new constitution as they left a Baghdad restaurant on July 19, police sources said. Drawing Sunni Arabs onto the committee, due to deliver a new constitution by Aug. 15, was the cornerstone of a U.S.-backed strategy of persuading members of the restive minority to resolve problems through peaceful politics. Amid Iraq's continuing violence, there had been some hope the constitutional committee could quickly yield a document the authorities could begin pitching to the public.(Namir Noor-Eldeen/Reuters)

The Condi 2008 drumbeat continues

Why is this fantasy on the Right continuing? It's pathetic. If only Santorum had this much support...

The 2008 presidential race is still a long way off, and Rice, a Republican, is only seven months into her job at the State Department. Still, there are signs that she could take a shot at two historic precedents — the first woman president and the first black.

"She is a fascinating candidate," said Iowa State political science professor Steffen Schmidt, jumping the gun a bit. "She's a woman, she's conservative, she's got a foreign policy background and she's extremely smart."

...On Rice2008.com a $20 donation gets you a choice of bumper stickers, including this one: "Hillary '08? Not if Condi's running." At americansforrice.com, a site promoting a "draft Condi" movement, you can join an online discussion group called Team Condi.

"Condi has it all. An impeccable and impressive resume, brains, looks, artistic talent and accomplishment," gushed a fan named Paul, writing last month on another Web log. "She cannot help but add to the ranks of black and female Republican voters, and would likely be a highly effective and popular president," he wrote.

Unauthorized Condi hats, T-shirts, even bobblehead dolls abound on the Internet, and there is a lively discussion of a forthcoming book by Dick Morris, former political adviser to President Clinton, titled "Condi v. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race."

The high-profile job and subsequent chatter about being the administration's superstar give her name recognition that other possible GOP candidates — a few governors, several senators — crave.

Don't you think this little bit of 9/11 testimony will turn up in ads that air over and over?

RICE: I remember very well that the president was aware that there were issues inside the United States. He talked to people about this. But I don't remember the al Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about.

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6 PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?

RICE: I believe the title was, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States."

Now, the...

BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.

Homo-bigot DC pastor gets skewered by rights groups

“Lesbianism is about to take over our community. I'm talking about young girls. My son in high school last year tried to go to the prom. He said, 'Dad, I ain't got nobody to take to the prom because all the girls in my class are gay. Ain't but two of 'em straight, and both of them ugly.’”
-- Rev. Willie Wilson, pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast Washington DC, sharing more words of wisdom about lesbians "taking over" the community.

I posted about this knob-end on the Blend yesterday with some outrageous quotes that some of you suggested that the good reverend must have one helluva porno collection. I mean really would you want children to hear this in a SERMON?

"But … women falling down on another woman, strapping yourself up with something, it ain’t real. That thing ain’t got no feeling in it. It ain’t natural. Anytime somebody got to slap some grease on your behind and stick something in you, it’s something wrong with that. Your butt ain’t made for that."

This pastor of peace is getting his ass handed to him on a platter by the community, and it's well deserved. (365gay.com):

The National Black Justice Coalition Tuesday issued a statement calling Wilson's sermon hurtful and divisive to the African American family. Dr. Sylvia Rhue, Director of Religious Affairs and Constituency Development for NBJC demanded a meeting with Wilson to expalain the remarks.

"Rev. Wilson's church has a history of community work and honorable activities, which makes the Reverend's latest foray into pulpit bullying, name-calling and the outrageous bearing of false witness against lesbians and gay men all the more troubling,” said Rhue. "Rev. Wilson's about face from community conciliator to sexually-illiterate, provocateur has tarnished his legacy, brought public shame to his name and the cause decency in discourse,” Rhue added.

"Incendiary statements such as Rev. Wilson’s are doing nothing to promote community equality. They instead try to ostracize and alienate some members of his congregation,” said H. Alexander Robinson, NBJC’s Executive Director and CEO.

The Washington-based Human Rights Campaign also wants answers from Wilson. "Reverend Wilson has abandoned his truth," said HRC Senior Diversity Organizer Donna Payne. "Just five years ago, the Reverend held a service to bring the black community together over gay issues. He called for the church not to be 'religious haters but people who know how to extend love.' Now he's using the pulpit to rip apart a divided community. It's shameful."

Keep our eyes on the prize - Rove in the clink

Courtesy of The Heretik.

Don't let Chimpy distract you with his SCOTUS games...surf over to The Heretik's pad for an Exclusive Ongoing Criminal Interview with the Toad.

Caption this.

President Bush remains tight-lipped about prospects for filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court, during a news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

UPDATE: He's going to make the pick at 9PM tonight. (AP):

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the Bush administration was asking television outlets to broadcast the speech live. Bush's spokesman would not identify the president's choice. But there was intense speculation that it would be Judge Edith Clement of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The televised speech was scheduled for 9 p.m. EDT.

Freepers react to possibility of the pick of Judge Edith Brown Clement for SCOTUS...

Actual Freeper Quotes™

"The Christian conservatives brought these people to the dance. They had better get with the program. Let me state this for the record. I see no difference between Hillary or ANY GOP member as president."

"We'll see. But if Arlen Specter and Senate Democrats are OK with the nominee, I fully expect freedom and the American people to get screwed over once again. I expected it though, it's par for the course."

"President Bush promised a nominee like Justices Scalia and Thomas. At this point in time, it looks like there's no way to know whether this nominee matches that promise. So, unless those promised characteristics come out clearly in the confirmation, I'm going to fulfill my promise to back away from Republicans. This might mean I just won't vote, or it might mean I'll join the Constitution Party. I'll withhold judgement, though, until I see what the confirmation hearing tells us."

"I'm voting for Mickey Mouse next time..."

"And Dubya, lame duck that he is, could hardly care less."

"I've got a real bad feeling about this; has Dubya fvcked us? "

"Appointing someone Freepers aren't sure about is doing exactly that, to my eyes. An appointee that is a question mark is a Souter-to-be. With the Rats and Specter are on board already, you know there are question marks, too. Clement has said Roe is 'settled.' She is terse to the point of extreme brevity in her opinions. She comes across as an administrator on the Circuit Court, not an agitator. But we NEED an agitator. We NEED someone who will not be determining things are 'settled,' but willing to set things aright again. And this feeling iffy about a nominee because there's no there there, that's just not what the GOP's base deserves for its past hard work."

"Souter sailed through the confirmation hearings. So did Kennedy and O'Connor. She has no track record for us to verify anything about her is conservative, it's all Souter and this 'she's got good references' bullshit. We deserve more than this hide-the-ball appointment. If she gets on the Court, only then do we see if there's the payoff the GOP's base has worked for. And then it's too late if there isn't. God, I hope these reports are b.s."

"Pretty foxy looking lady. Wonder what she looks like without the robes. Is she a strict constructionist?"

If it's Edith C., the wingnuts will be mad

Judge Edith Brown Clement, left, is seen with President Bush as he introduces his federal judicial appointments on May 9, 2001, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

[UPDATE: more bio info on Clement below.]

Real Values is still holding firm that the SCOTUS pick will be Edith Brown Clement, and speculates that the Right won't be happy with her...

If, as I have been reporting since last night, the President's nominee to the SCOTUS is 5th Circuit Judge Edith Brown Clement, how will the far right react? They have been bashing Gonzales as too moderate, but check out this Q&A from Clement's confirmation hearing to the 5th Circuit:

Question (by Senator Kennedy (D-MA): Do you believe the constitutional right to privacy encompasses a woman's right to have an abortion?

Answer (Clement): The Supreme Court has clearly held that the right to privacy guaranteed by the Constitution includes the right to have an abortion. The cases handed down by the Supreme Court on the right to abortion have reaffirmed and redefined this right, and the law is settled in that regard. If confirmed, I will faithfully apply Supreme Court precedent.

UPDATE: Reuters has more, including confirmation that the timing has been moved up to take the spotlight off of the Toad. They are openly admitting it, folks. Now we have to see if the press will take the bait. Keep on message.

A leading candidate is Judge Edith Clement of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, the Republican said.

...Republicans believe that nominating a woman -- or someone who is Hispanic -- might help Bush avoid a bitter partisan battle over his choice for the court, which rules on many social issues like abortion and civil rights.

Sources said the timing of an announcement had been moved up in part to deflect attention away from a CIA leak controversy that has engulfed Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove.

A Republican strategist with close to the White House described Clement as the leading candidate. "She's pretty untouchable," he said. "Plus, it helps take Rove off the front pages for a week."

Oh, and yes, the wingers are mad about any choice that might be perceived as mainstream, and they growing even more strident. If I were Arlen Specter, I'd watch my back.

Pro-life and pro-family groups are outraged over suggestions from some GOP officials that sanctity-of-life advocates should restrict their comments in the debate over judicial nominees. Pro-choice Republican Arlen Specter has called pro-life groups counterproductive and insulting for their outspoken pressure on George W. Bush to keep his election campaign promises by nominating pro-life judges to the federal bench. Meanwhile, even the president is urging pro-life supporters to tone down their rhetoric. But at a recent rally at the White House, Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition issued a vehement response to that suggestion. "Mr. President," he shouted, "you cannot tell us to hand out literature during campaigns, make phone calls in phone banks, canvass neighborhoods and then, on the most critical decision you will make, [tell us] to be still." While the rally took place, eight people -- including six teenagers -- were arrested as they knelt and prayed on a public sidewalk outside the White House.

I've got Freeper commentary on the Clement speculation.

Fight or flight, queer edition

JamesB3 over at The Next Hurrah, has a thoughtful post up about the gay marriage "smokescreen" by the Right. They AmTaliban wants us converted, re-closeted or, well dead. That said, what should gays do? Escape to gay enclaves in big cities?

His position is that there's nowhere to run. He notes that Clinton, while ultimately no friend of gays because of DADT and DOMA, at least wasn't fomenting open disdain for gays and lesbians, which is what we are seeing now.

Bush has repeatedly singled us out as being different. As being a threat to tradition, to the family. He has ostracized us and stigmatized us and he has supported and enabled politicians and evangelists who have used extreme, divisive, and sometimes dangerous language against us (Tom Coburn, Rick Santorum, James Dobson, Lou Sheldon, and so on). The Republican Party seized on same-sex marriage to help shield the mess they have made of this country, and while I will never believe that Bush won the election because of equal marriage rights (he won because of 'the war on terror'), it was successfully used as a tool to distract the media and to disorient and fire up the public.

Many people do not understand that these attacks are not about marriage. Marriage is a smokescreen for various zealots to rally against tolerance of the very existence of a gay person. We are supposed to hide away, deeply ashamed, or to "go straight" before we go to hell.

So does an escape plan make sense? The strategy that gay folks should escape from the Red and Purple states (Red states with Blue enclaves) to safety of Blue states is an illusion, according to James. He feels that our interests in the long run are better served if those in Purple states reclaim them by coming out, getting politically active and protecting their interests. In a deep Red state, I attend to also agree with him -- there's only so much open hostility you can take, never mind outright danger.

The idea that all you have to do to live a happy life is move to a liberal city or supportive state is increasingly naive. Aside from fear for your life, your basic civil rights can easily be stripped away. In "liberal" California, there is a very likely chance that domestic partnerships and co-parent adoption will be banned through the ballot box. You think that can't happen in California? Just think to yourself how many people will get in that booth and believe that all they are doing is "protecting marriage." They will have no idea what they are truly destroying, and the media will only encourage their ignorance.

My point is not to attack these cities or states, or to claim that their tolerance is a facade. And if you are living in a situation where you are constantly harrassed, taunted, or beaten, then you should get the hell out as soon as you can. My point is that I think it is time for gays and lesbians to stop buying into the fantasy that we should all move to gay ghettoes and everything will always be alright. I think that kind of delusion is one of the major reasons so many GLBT citizens don't bother to vote. They assume that as long as they have their friends, or their local clubs, or supportive local laws, nothing that happens outside of their circle jerk will seriously affect them. I think that more gay Americans should consider staying in purple and red states, consider moving back to purple or red cities and states, and fighting at the local level to repeal restrictive laws and elect supportive people. You may not be able to come out to everyone, but you can probably find people you can trust and slowly break down the barriers of prejudice.

You do have to win people over one at a time, on a personal level. That is the only way to counter what these people hear in bigoted churches, and in local watering holes, and in the right-wing media. It's a constant political battle though, working to keep allies in office and the balance of wingnuts in check. Inattention to voting and the issues by gay folks and their allies can mean the difference between a marriage amendment/adoption rights bill/domestic partners legislation (name your civil rights issue) passing or not.

Must read: Salon's series on the horrible "reparative therapy" movement

Salon (subscription req'd, or watch a commercial to receive a day pass) is running a four-part investigation into the Christian "reparative therapy" fraud, which is designed to "de-gay" homos, some even professing to fully convert gays into heterosexuals. The first installment of the series, Turning off gays, ran yesterday.

Last month, the Montgomery County Board of Education in suburban Maryland settled a lawsuit over sex education in the county's public schools, brought in part by PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays). The group is a branch of a national network of "ministries" that claim homosexuality is a chosen and dangerous lifestyle, and that through "reparative therapy" a gay person can be turned straight -- into an "ex-gay."

PFOX won a restraining order in May and successfully halted the county's new sex ed curriculum, intended, among other things, to promote tolerance toward gays by treating homosexuality as natural and benign. A judge concluded the school curriculum did exclude other views on homosexuality -- namely, those of PFOX. Under the settlement last month, the county agreed to pay $36,000 of PFOX's legal expenses. The group also gets a seat at the table in drafting a new sex ed curriculum for county schools.

These groups are making inroads, and the danger, of course, is the result that misinformation will getting out to vulnerable gay teens, struggling with their sexual identity and self-esteem.

The second part, My gay therapy session, is up now, and author Mark Benjamin goes undercover and actually submits himself for "therapy." Just reading the first paragraph tells you what kind of deranged thinking we're up against.

Barry Levy, a Christian counselor and licensed clinical social worker, is explaining to me what causes homosexuality. "Take the young boy who is more sensitive, more delicate, who doesn't like rough-and-tumble, who is artistic," he says. "He can't hit the ball, fire the gun or shoot an arrow. There is a high correlation between poor eye-hand coordination and same-sex attraction."

Thanks to House Blenders Paul and 'Bean for the pointers.

Can of