The Runaway Bride

Over the past few days, we've all found out how Jennifer Wilbanks got a serious case of Cold Feet and faked a kidnapping so that she wouldn't have to get married this past Saturday.

The wedding was to be a massive to-do--600 guest, 14 bridesmades and groomsmen, and, considering her fiance's father is a fomer mayor of Duluth, GA, alot of social pressure and responsibility.

I understand how she could have got cold feet. Marriage is hard. The odds aren't good. And when there is alot at stake at the social level along with the personal, it could make a girl freak.

Many people don't seem to understand how marriage is not just about love and living happily ever after. It is a social contract between families as well as individuals. It is also a social contract with one's secular community and one's community of faith (if one is involved in one).

With marriage, two people are not only promising to "love" one another but also to build a stable home where the individuals involved will care about and for one another into old age. And if there are children, they will raise those children to be productive members of society.

And if y'all don't believe how marriage can be about the social contract between two individuals and an entire community, look at the way the community of Duluth GA, not just Wilbanks' fiance, his family, her family and friends, are saying about her now. The community is feeling "betrayed" by the kidnapping hoax, and some are now calling for Wilbanks to be thrown in jail, or to at least pay for the overtime in the police investigation.

There isn't much sympathy from the community at large. And very little understanding over how a young woman from such high circumstances, whose marriage appeared to be a three-ring circus of joy, could run away from it.

Isn't the type and kind of wedding Jennifer Wilbanks, her finance, and all that extended family and friends planned every little girl's dream?

Perhaps not.

Perhaps Jennifer Wilbanks realized that there would be far more people involved in her marriage than she may have wanted.

Perhaps the thought of that much hoopla and the doors it would close after it was all over became far too much for Jennifer Wilbanks to bear. Perhaps what she really wanted was freedom, not all that personal, family, and social responsibility. Perhaps she wasn't ready for it, but didn't know or understand that she had the option to call it all off--that, sure, everybody would be seriously pissed off, but that faking a kidnapping might piss off more than just her immediate and massive group of family and friends.


Maybe all she wanted, after all, was her privacy and her freedom.

I don't think the community's anger is at the amount of overtime she owes the police force. I think it has more to do with her cold feet--and that the betrayal of the situation is more about how she denied them the fairy tale vision that her wedding was scripted to be...and the beautiful children and the perfect example of a loving couple that her life was supposed to be.

And I wonder how many of us can identify or sympathize with Jennifer, or if we are, like the community, self-righteously angry at her because she threw away such such a grand send-off and the projection of so much perfection.

Personally, I think she should have packed a bag, emptied the bank accounts, and left an "adios buddy, catch you later" letter. Do the good chicken-livered thing and end the relationship from a few states away. But I don't believe that crminal penalties are in order for a case of bad judgement predicated on the feeling of being stuck like a mouse in a humaine trap.

I'd be curious to hear how other Blogsisters feel about what Jennifer Wilbanks did.

Tish G.

The Blogher.org Weblog and Conference

One thing I've noticed as the blogHERcon or blogher event weblog takes shape is that it's developing its own great voice -- a combined voice of the participants there and the organizers. I'm really really really going to try to get to this event.

Believe me, I'm no world traveler. I'm no conference hopper. Hell, I've never been further west than Dallas, and that was for a client meeting, so this would be a big deal--becaus of the 'west coast' thing and because of the 'I work from home; going to the grocery store is a big deal' thing. Okay, going to the mail box is a big thing too.

So a trans-continental flight would be something else, complete with, I don't know, what do they give you these days on long flights--a movie maybe? A snack? A strip search?

AND I may have to bring our daughter with me if I go for lack of someone to watch her during July. Part of that excites me. Part of that exhausts me. Like the mailbox thing.

Anyway, if you live near the bay area, try to get to the event. They are even offering some scholarships for live-blogger participants. And the price isn't bad as far as conferences go.

If you live on the east coast, like me, feel free to perseverate with me!

If you live in one of the many wonderful countries not run by a big stupid goober, you should also check out blogher.org--the conference organizers are really trying to help women outside of the U.S. find ways to attend.

So, that's my roundup on blogher.org.

Maybe we can have our first annual blogsisters meetup there...

The War on Echinacea

Here in Hawaii the alternative health culture is strong. For the last month it has seemed that everywhere I turn I overhear someone talking about their fear of a new bill being voted on in Congress that would outlaw herbal supplements, such as echinacea. My natural response to alarmist dialog is to ignore it. I believe in the creative power of what we give our attention to and I'm not particularly interested in living a fear based life. Finally last night in a phone conversation a friend of mine started talking about her fear of the dreaded bill, so today I decided to do a little research.

I am not about to present myself as an expert in this area, but my initial take is to compare the threat of such regulation to our experiences with the "war on drugs" (and decades before with Prohibition). If it is a legitimate possibility that health supplements might be outlawed without an MD's prescription, I think that would make a huge inconvenience in getting these products, and would shut down the big companies that specialize in providing them to the many alternative health consumers who don't have health insurance. However, people would still get the supplements. They would have to find small local suppliers and the exchange would take place outside the tax system, but the laws of supply and demand supercede all government imposed laws.

Read the full article at www.indigo-ocean.com

What would you want high school kids to know about blogging.

I've been invited to be the "blogger" on a panel at a youth leadership conference. I don't have all the details yet, but I'm pretty sure that the whole panel will not be about blogging. Blogging will be one area represented. And I'm doing the representing. And so I'm wondering what would you want young bloggers and/or young potential bloggers to be aware of if they want to use their blogs to "make a difference" in the larger world. The audience will be kids who want to be leaders in the future.

Do you have your own "ethics" for determining what you blog and what you don't? Do you think there should be some regulations that determine what people blog? Have you ever gotten in trouble for something you blogged?

What I'd like to do is encourage the kids to try blogging, but to do so aware of the risks and pitfalls as well as the fun and benefits. What advice would you give them.

I will keep checking back here, so if you're so inclined, leave a comment or post something on our own weblog and put the link in a comment. I'd like to be able to reflect more than my own personal opinions when I open my big mouth on the panel.

In advance, thanks.

Free: 3 DVDs of The Corporation

April 23rd update:

Well, sharing this here turned out to be sort of a bust, no Sisters were interested, but if you're curious as to where the DVDs distributed through my own blog ended up, check out this link! :)

---

Original post:

Curious about the massive power that the multinational corporations yield and how they affect you (and everyone else) directly? Just email me a mailing address and watch this DVD which I will be happy to send you* free of charge, no tricks, no strings attached (then pass it on to friends, family, strangers... spark conversations, explore the numerous resources listed on the DVD or reflect on all this privately, it's up to you!). I want to help disseminate this information, this is my little "constructive action".

Education is crucial, it is only by learning to think for ourselves that we will begin to understand the consequences of our individual and collective actions, and choose to build a future that is fair and sustainable for all.

Synopsis (click here for more details)

The film is based on the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan.

*I have 3 copies left (see more on who I am/why I am doing this here), I'll wait until Friday evening (9pm EDT) then pick requests randomly if more than 3 people are interested. I'll update this post with the blogger names of the 3 recipients, or the States/countries where they are from, for more anonymity (don't worry, I won't post your real ID).

Duck and Cover--Catholic Style

I was a bit stunned today when I heard that Cardinal Ratzinger was made Pope.

When I heard commentary on BBC World News from a theologian at Georgetown that Ratzinger's main concern as Pope is the state of European Catholicism, I had to agree with this observation. There are many things that we in American do not understand about what is going on in Europe--a rising secularism that is nothing like what we have here, coupled with what was referred to as an "Islamicization."

I don't know if y'all will get what's meant by "Islamicization" and what all the hubub might be about, but, here's my take on it: there is a growing movement of Islam in Europe--and not just from more Muslims moving in. It is Europeans that are converting. This isn't all that good. These are mostly Europeans who are what would be called "unchurched"--meaning they have no understanding of religion or of faith at all.

While many of us here would say, "what's the problem with that?"...think about it a bit. The problem is that many who are unchurched suffer from a malaise of spirit which then leads them to accept belief systems that are counter to any progress that has been made.(yeah, go ahead, bitch at me about the language, but this is what it is)

People will accept a radical, reactionary form of Islam because it seems to hold the answers and promise them certainty on moral issues.

Kind of what born-again Christianity does in this country.

So, I understand where the "Islamicization" of Europe could be troubling--it's not that Muslim immigrants are the problem, but that troubled, unchurched Europeans are. And this becomes the answer to why Europe might need Ratzinger now.

But, Ratzinger is also a "fundamentalist" Catholic. Which could lead to problems for us over here.

Fundamentalist Catholisim is NOT (and I cannot stress this enough) anything like or even near Fundamentalist Protestant Christianity. We tend to think the two are the same--that's a result of the rising "protestantization" of Catholicims in this country.

Catholics here have allowed a level of "protestantization" so that we might be accepted by mainstream protestants...so that we might not be considered "demons" or "living under sufferage" here (as F.D.R once said) and be considered fully American. And, because of this, Catholics have been able to make strange bedfellows with some Fundies.

Oh, very bad move there.

Fundamentalist Christians don't necessarily like Mainstream Protestants (who the American Catholics have been trying to ape all these years)...And Mainstream Protestants don't necessarily like Ratzinger because of his support of
Opus Dei, an ultra-right Catholic lay movement (that Mel Gibson happens to be very much a part of).

Given that the main religious persuasion of this country is Protestant (with a down and dirty Fundie headding it) and since Fundamentalist Catholism is nothing like Fundamentalist Christianity, and the Fundies really don't like the Mainstreamers, and since the Mainstreamser hate Opus Dei (which Ratzinger has a fond apprecation of) I can only conculde that we Catholics could be seriously screwed in the near future (if things in this country keep moving towards the Fundie side).

The worst-case scenario: be prepared for some cross burnings on the lawns of the local Catholic church and a rise in pre-Kennedy discrimination.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and saying a few good prayers.

--Tish G.
(and before some of y'all bitch at me further and start kvetching about the whole separation-of-church-and-state thing, read my blog entry on Ten Little Known Points About American Religious History)

Why Charles Barkley is My Soulmate

The other night, when I had way too much coffee and was up until around 2am surfing blogs, I also caught The Tonight Show...with Charles Barkley.

There was big old Charles, goofing it up with Jay....and then he started to make sense. Charles made a very cogent point that Liberals and Conservatives, esp. those who are hosts and commentators on the various television news programs, are nothing more than rich people serving their own interests. Basically, Charles was saying that these Liberals and Conservatives were only putting on shows and not really debating the issues, because, as rich people, the true isssues of this country don't effect them.

He hates both Fox and CNN--saying, truthfully, that they are both one in the same and are there just to further the agendas of rich people, not to forward a true liberal or conservative viewpoint. (hmmm...kind of like alot of "blogs" out there that like to purport they are run by "amateurs"...but that's another issue)

Charles went on to say that race is not the big issue in this country....it's social class.

OMG! Charles, I love you!

He went on to say (if I might distill his comments) that poor whites, blacks, and hispanics have more in common than they think--and that commonality is terrible public school educations and a system that works to keep all of them down.

This, coming from a black man who has been highly successful in the system and has a great deal of money.

He's also very right.

Both Liberals and Conservatives, in their own ways, play the race card as a way of stirring up the poor against one another. It was a tactic used during the Civil War to get poor whites in the South to fight for the Plantation owners when even they were bought and traded by their own kin...and in an insidious, covert way that was just as demeaning as open slave trade.

So, let's face it, I'm right and Charles is right--the rich trade on the fears and ignorance of the poor. They pit one group against the other with polemics and rhetoric guaranteed to stir up emotion against reason. They feed them a "street culture" that glorifies their ignornace and encourages violence against themselves. They keep the race issue alive because it serves their purpose--to keep them on top. The Liberal rich love affirmative action because it keeps poor whites from advancing by saying that poor whites, because of their skin color have the exact same opportunities as rich whites (even if their family structures and educations are vastly different). The Conservatives are against affirmative action because they know that, if you have enough money, your color doesn't really matter--you are better as an ally working to keep the rabble down and maintaining the status quo than you are in helping to advance others of your "race."

(Note: it's fascinating how, when someone in a minority family gains status, all generations of a family become huge paragons of virtue--it's the old Protestant idea that states you are blessed and among the saints if you gain money and success in the temporal world, and that this is predetermined by God. What a crock of shit. But a crock of shit that works for both Liberals and Conservatives. go figure)

If a guy like Charles Barkley can see this, and has the courage to get out there and say it, there is definitley something to it. Guess Charles either has enough power to not fear any retribution, or "they" just let him get away with saying that because he's perceived as a clown.

I'm not positive of either perception...I'm not sure of the current popular opinion on Charles.

Still I find him a fascinating man. Charles is, in many ways, a warrior who has not only learned the power of brain over brawn, but also has been able to turn nasty mouthyness into playful yet socially astute banter.

Too bad Jay has such a big stake in the status quo.

Tish G.

Feminist, Philosopher, Anti-Porn Activist Andrea Dworkin Dies

Just in case y'all haven't found out yet, Andrea Dworkin died over the weekend at hew Washington D.C. home which she shared with partner John Stoltenberg. She was 59.

An official obit appears here in The Guardian, and there is an interesting essay about her at Susie Bright's Journal(this is interesting as much for the comments as for Bright's essay).

I have never been a true fan of Dworkin's philosophy--felt the writing far too polemic and high strung to be of any use in a solid intellectual debate (although alot would disagree with me.)

I also felt that, deep down, there were many things plaguing Dworkin that should have been dealt with in ways other than the public forum.

Perhaps, though, someone needed to raise the negative-aspect issues of sex the way Dworkin did. Up to that point, the voices who had raised some doubts were pooh-pooed by the higher minds cloistered in the Ivory Tower. Dworkin's polemics were often like someone yelling "fire" in a crowded movie theater--and while you can have an idea what the consequences of that act will be, you can never fully realize its full effect or if there was that much of a fire in the first place.

Yet one of her more egrigious claims--that all heterosexual sex is rape--has had a far reaching and, I believe, stultifying effect on how we perceive female sexual freedom and sexual expression. By claiming this, Dworkin not only philosophically doomed most of us straight women to the gaols of victimhood and made our mates and lovers into criminals, but also, insidiously, set up a backlash that has worked hand-in-hand with the sex industry in convincing women that they are both feminist and empowered when they are selling sex (see my own polemic on the sex industryhere).

If the type and kind of sex you prefer to participate in is considered a crime (as in Dworkin) or when "sexual expression" is reduced to a commodity, where your power to refuse it is eventually taken away (as it often ends up in sex work) do you then have *any* true sexual expression or freedom?

Andrea Dworkin took her personal suffering and turned it into philosphy and politics When I heard of her death, I was glad to hear that she did not suffer. Death, knowing no philosophy nor politics, is often far kinder than life ever could be.

--Tish G.

Available Now At Newsstands... IN HELL

Culture Commandos

Republican He-Man magazine

Patriot or Terrorist?

Federal Dick

Cross-posted at Tild~

For My Reading Pleasure Only ..................

Many women from the Third World cite many reaons for loving their existence in the US of A.
Freedom from oppression, social and religious, an oppurtunity to forge an identity of their own etc.

I have a simple reason. I love the fact that I can check out books from the Public Libraries for free. In India I would have to be a member of some book equivalent of Blockbuster. And like the video rental store they would have plenty of copies of "popular" titles and very few if any of the writers who did not make it to best-sellers list in India. So no Andrea Lee/Sandra Cisneros but many, many copies of say the latest Danielle Steele. If I have to buy every book I read I would be broke - considering that I get through books really fast + I would probably never have a big enough home to accomodate all my paper possessions.

I am a member of the Minuteman Library in Cambridge. Even if I moved away I think I will be a member there. They treat me like a book-lover should be treated with trust and kindness. I don't know if I will have many acheivements to my name when I am through working but I will be happy if it read on my epitaph:

She never mutilated or lost a library book through all the years of her reading.

Of course I won't have an epitaph, I am Hindu but enjoy the public library everyone. It is a wonderful resource.

Happy Library Week

Guide For The Opera Impaired

I took a brief break from political humor -- just long enough to post my
Guide For The Opera Impaired,
which even includes "The Uniform Opera Plot Act" a/k/a "Leave No Opera Hater Behind."

Wrapping up Estrogen Month

As in, "in a neat tidy box so all you have to do is click on one post to find the archives." I've cross-posted this from my blog, and hope it will serve as a handy link for those asking the question "Where are all the women bloggers?" as well as those considering Estrogen Month for a Koufax 2005 nomination as Best Series. I'll also stick this link onto my blog's sidebar, pretty much where you'd expect to find it. Below is a handy-dandy table containing the links to almost all my Estrogen Month posts (sorry about all the blank space preceding it, it's my first-ever attempt at a table so I'm not sure how to get rid of the space):

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
Day 7	Day 8	Day 9	Day 10	Day 11	Day 12
Day 13	Day 14	Day 15	Day 16	Day 17	Day 18
Day 19	Day 20	Day 21	Day 22	Day 23	Day 24
Day 25	Day 26	Day 27	Day 28	Day 29	Day 30

And here's Day 31, 'cause March is like that with 31 days and all. I'm also going to repro the Photoshop I did on Day 19 just 'cause I got a kick out of doing it:

And of course don't forget the three permanent "Where the Women Bloggers Are" sections in my public Bloglines bookmarks, situated right beneath my "News+Views Gals" and "Kultcha Gals" sections.

Israel/Occupied Territories: Women carry the burden of conflict, occupation and patriarchy - Amnesty International

Israel/Occupied Territories: Women carry the burden of conflict, occupation and patriarchy - Amnesty International
Please follow that link to Amnesty International and take the actions they have set up there.

Peace

Ode To Tom DeLay -- Song Parody

I've finally finished writing my Tom DeLay song parody, Ode To DeLay, which you can sing to "To All The Girls I've Loved Before." Here's how it begins:

A Rep whose name is Tom DeLay,
He breaks the rules most ev'ry day.
He don't respect the law,
Thinks ethics are a bore.
'Tis time to show him crime don't pay.

Tom practices dishonesty.
Ignores the law with joy and glee.
Misused the FBI,
Golf junkets on the sly...

The rest of my Ode To Tom DeLay is here.

When is a Blogger *Not* a Blogger?

With all the debate in various MSM these days on blogging, two very interesting pieces came to my attention this morning:

Greg Lindsay of Business 2.0 writes about Tina Brown blogging on a group blog started by Arianna Huffington (here).

Are we all supposed to feel good about this? I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this any more than I feel about a bunch of techno-geeks sitting around and deciding what is or is not a read-worthy blog.

In another article, for Editor and Publisher, Joe Strupp reports that Jeff Gannon has been invited to the National Press Club to speak at a luncheon on (you guessed it) blogging (here.)

Seems that Gannon is now a spokesperson for blogging because he's been a blogger for 3 whole weeks! Talk about your Teflon-coated con artists!

My sense of things, though, is that all the recent debates about blogging have tickled the MSM to the point where those involved in the MSM are finding new and interesting ways to co-opt blogging for themselves. It's like an older sibling coming along and taking all the fun out of a simple game of jump rope just becasue she can.

Makes me want to punch Tina Brown right in the nose...not to mention what I'd love to do to Jeff Gannon....it would involve some clothespins and rope...and would bring new meaning to the term "hung out to dry."


Tish G.

Little Bitty Mother Goose Woman with Black Bag and Bible

It's been awhile since I've posted a crone story on my blog. I just don't run across them too often. But today I came across not just a crone story, but ...

the funniest. thing. I. have. ever. come. across. on. the. Internet.

Well, perhaps the two funniest things. Estrogen Month and Sweet Savage She-Blogger rock, Tild. But listen to this story and image your old age outings with friends.

If laughter is the best medicine, get ready for a cure. It's an audio file and it may take a while, but be patient. it's worth the wait:

http://www.goddessmystic.com/blog/voicemail.mp3

This takes place in or near Dallas, and our narrator sounds so much like my brother it takes me back to the East Texas of my youth.

Backstory (courtesy of ham & cheese on wry):

An operations manager for Jack in the Box called his boss to tell him he was running late for a meeting. As he was leaving the voice mail message, he witnessed an accident and went on to provide "play by play" of the incident. This is the actual voice mail message. It was forwarded so many times within Jack in the Box, it crashed their voice mail server.

Sweet Savage She-Blogger

People do different things that enable them to unwind; to de-pressurize from whatever it is that's pressuring them in their daily lives, be it job, relationship, home situation, health worries, whatever.

Some people knit. Some people jump on a treadmill. Some people make fudge. Some people play Quake. Some people masturbate to the Victoria's Secret catalog. Some people drink a quart of scotch and pass out. Some people eat fudge, drink a quart of scotch and masturbate to the Victoria's Secret catalog while running on the treadmill, then get sick and pass out after they bonk their head on the rim of the toilet. Hey, whatever works for you.

At one very stressful job I had several years ago, we had a table and chairs set up in a quiet corner of the department, and on the table were a big stack of coloring books and several boxes of crayons. Whenever you needed to take a break from a screaming client or an impossible deadline you could retreat to the coloring table for a while and just... color. Stay inside the lines if you wanted to, or scribble all over the page from edge to edge. Hey, whatever works for you.

For various reasons, my life happens to be a pressure cooker at the moment, and I often find myself in need of a de-stressing activity. My activity of choice is doctoring up old magazine ads and pulp magazine and paperback covers. Paintshop Pro and MS Paint are my coloring books and crayons.

I must have been under extreme pressure lately, because my output of 'Tildified' pictures has increased dramatically. I decided to share some of them with you here.

Just think of this post as a virtual refrigerator door where my mom has put my latest creations on display; (all held in place by magnets shaped like ladybugs and green peppers.)

My subject for all of March, in honor of Estrogen Month, has been women bloggers. Who are they? Where are they? What are they doing? What do they want? (Besides Kevin Drum's head on a pike, that is. ...Right next to Matt Yglesias'.)

Elayne, Rox, Lauren, and Trish -- this one's for you:

Sheena-Blogger

The most excellent SB of Watermark and Blogging Blog informs that there is soon to be a conference on blogging and bloggers in her district of Blogistan out Montana way. She has put out a call for a cowgirl She-Blogger image to mark the occasion. I hear and obey, sister!

Calamity She-Blogger

Yikes. Bloodthirsty old bat, ain't I. Must finish with something a little milder; a little gentler. Lull 'em into complacency, I say....

No Cooties On Me

This post also appears over here.

Feminism, Visibility, and Peace

As Dave Letterman used to say, I am tired, but it is a good kind of tired...

Just finished up today's activities at the Center for New Words' 2005 Women and Media conference. And what a day! I served as a presenter fof two panel discussions, attended an extremely well-done seminar, and met a number of women who read AF&O-- thank you so much for coming!!! -- or whose own blogs are faves of mine. This was one superb day.

First up was my first session -- fiddling around with a crashed computer and an ultimately useless (for now) Powerpoint presentation forced me to miss the morning keynote. But the panel more than made up for it: In "Women Seizing the Online Space," the focus of the discussion was expanding and amplifying the voices of women in cyberspace. As Elayne Riggs anticipated in one of her terrific Estrogen Month posts, we did indeed talk a bit about supposedly invisible women bloggers (and Kevin Drum probably felt his ears grow a bit warm this morning). Joining me on the panel were AlterNet senior editor Lakshmi Chaudry, Women's ENews founder and editor-in-chief Rita Hensley Jensen (my hotel roomie), and Rosalyn Lemieux, who is an online organizer for MoveOn.org; the moderator was Tara Tidwell Cullen, who is managing editor of Cultural Survival Quarterly. All of these women had thoughtful things to say about increasing the presence and power of women online. Ultimately, it comes down to one thing: Getting women on the 'Net, giving them the confidence to express themselves openly -- among other women and in mainstream settings -- and using the power of the Internet to organize and find community.

When this session ended, I headed to "Start Your Own Blog in 90 Minutes," in which Christine Cupiaolo of Ms. Musings led a group of women through starting their own weblogs. In 90 minutes. I love truth in advertising. Now, I've been at this website/blogging thing for nearly a decade, so I didn't need to start one -- I just wanted the opportunity to meet my cybercolleague Christine face to face. The mission was accomplished most satisfactorily: Not did I get to connect with Christine, who did an awesome job, but I also learned about podcasting. And the goddess behind Echidne of the Snakes was there too -- what an honor that she came up and introduced herself to me. I am such a huge fan of her work.

The next session was simply inspirational. The topic was "Out of Vogue: The Future of Feminist Publishing." Sitting on the panel with me were Jean Casella, former publisher and director of the legendary Feminist Press; Carol Anne Douglas, part of the editorial collective of the equally legendary radical-feminist newsjournal off our backs, Deepa Fernandes of Pacifica Radio (this young woman is so impressive, as is her commitment to the cause), and Amy Hoffman, an author and editor of the recently-closed Women's Review of Books. (We may see WRB return, goddess willing...) The discussion, moderated by Bitch magazine's Andi Zeisler, centered on how to revitalize publishing for, by, and about women (which, for our purposes, includes books, newspapers and magazines, the Web, and broadcasting). It was fascinating, running the gamut from debating the wisdom of collective vs. capitalist business models, to pondering the ways to meld old-school and third-wave girlie-feminist philosophies, to considering the voices of women in other parts of the world, and to other compelling topics -- including what future the "F" word may or may not have. More questions were raised than answers were found, but one thing is clear: As the decline in women's bookstores and publishing houses continues, the need for feminist publishing rises. Our assignment is obvious -- we must do whatever we must to keep women's words and issues in the public eye. And given the enthusiasm of the women in the room and the empowerment that came from the gathering, I have no doubt we will succeed.

After some lovely chats with Jaclyn and Gilda from the godsend that is the Center for New Words, writer EJ Graff offered a brief and moving tribute to Wanda Alston, the brilliant Washington, DC, activist and GLBT community liaison brutally slain earlier this week -- oh, how she will be missed. Fatigue then hit me like a falling anvil: Back to the hotel and to an awaiting computer.

Which brings me to now. I am soooo tired: My recent bout with pneumonia has left me absolutely depleted. But, as I said, this is a good kind of tired. I may be exhausted, but I feel energized as well. After a good nap, I feel as if I should be able to change the world for the better through the power of the pen. I pray a whole lot of women feel that way too.

Tomorrow, WAM will present a caucus on turning our newfound inspiration into action (which means next week I will have lots of information for you, gentle reader, and much work for you to do). Afterward, I will hit Boston Common to take part in the Global Day of Action. Lots of folks took to the streets today to mark the second anniversary of the US's foul invasion of Iraq, but Beantown is among the cities taking action tomorrow. I feel privileged to be able to take part in the worldwide call for peace; marching in Boston rather than in my usual stomping grounds (NYC, DC, Baltimore) will be so cool. The peaceniks are coming! The peaceniks are coming!

Are you in the Boston area? Come out for peace. Are you elsewhere? Be sure to retaliate with world peace in your city of town. Whatever you do, DO SOMETHING.

Estrogen Month in Full Swing

Frustrated at male bloggers who say we don't exist or aren't popular or worth linking to? Looking to add to your blogroll of political pundits but tired of seeing the same topic discussed to death by the male political blogosphere? Come on over to Estrogen/Women in Blogging Month, being celebrated all March at my blog, where we're discussing and celebrating hundreds of worthy women bloggers! End of plug...

Why We Read Blogs--A Theory

I spent a better part of the past two days pouring over more information about the wonderful world of the Blogosphere, making special note of Dave Sifry's charts, graphs, and convoluted verbiage.

What's fascinated me most is why people read blogs in the first place.

What I've been able to determine, thru all the charts, graphs, and technospeak, is that men who are in the 6 figure plus income bracket, who appear to be the ones who surf blogs the most, are looking for news. Perhaps they are still peeved that, years ago, conservative uber-nerd Matt Drudge beat them to the political commentary punch. So, they spend many, many hours searching for the Savior of the Media--a liberal uber-geek to counter Matt Drudge.

It seems too that their reasons for being so consumed with blogs is that they have a major distrust of the MSM--as if they will not get "the scoop" or "the truth" from anywhere other than a site where the journalistic credibility is questionable. In psychobabble causality, this could be an indication of a problem with their fathers...or another manifestation of a political paranoia that has been steadily evolving since the days of the Kennedy assassination.

(The official stats on men who read blogs, strangely, did not note how many men search blogs for free porn...I found some info on that from my own little poking around on Technorati--pretty funny but not a surprise!)

Yet what I've also determined from a rather informal consensus of women I know who read blogs, is that women may read blogs not only for liberal newsworthiness, but also for insight into the human condition. Women want to find out how others think about love, sex, raising children, coping with careers, taking care of elderly parents, etc., etc. I don't believe we are as occupied with finding validation for our political perspectives in the blogs of others as men might be. Some of us may be looking for "the scoop," but we have time for other things, too.

We seem to enjoy sharing the experience of our lives with others in the Blogosphere--maybe in an effort to feel less alone on our life journeys. Perhaps we are hoping to find others who can relate to us when we are struggling with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; or we want to make others laugh; or we want to be appreciated for our hard-earned perspectives on life. (Given the boom in memoir publishing since the 1990's, it's no surprise that there would be many diary/memoir blogs. These blogs are just as, if not more, well-written than those mighty whiny tomes bulking out various isles at the local Barnes and Noble.)

So, in all the charts and figures presented about the State of the Blogosphere, one important thing has been completely left out--the human condition endemic to blogging. But Sifry's a smart guy. Maybe, if given the challenge, he'll figure out a way to chart that too.

Tish G.
(whose Lucky Bastard narratives are far more intriguing than her political commentary--but you know what They say about opinions...)

We're Not Worthy! We're Not Worthy!

Been doing a bit more surfing this a.m. on women in the blogosphere....and found some interesting stuff:

...I discovered that there are several women bloggers who are weighing in on the merits of other women bloggers. To name two: our own Halley Suitt (whose observation on the impact of "white men" on the blogosphere I agree with--and whose tech knowledge I respect) has weighed in on this, as well as conservative pundit Michelle Malkin (whose opinion on Maureen Dowd I agree with, but little else).

It seems, to me anyway, that if women bloggers want to be taken seriously, even by other women bloggers, we must, at some point or another, blog on politics. I'm not sure if it matters whether or not our blogs are well-written or if the overall content is engaging and insightful, just as long as we stick in the occasional political or technological or business commentary. Even if that comment is something to the effect of "Alan Greenspan's a big old meanie--and he sucks too," it might get us a perusal from some dude (or chick) and up our blog's respectability quotient in the malestrom of the blogosphere.

This recent blog debate further highlights the problematic nature of blogs--as well as the need for various groups to identify what exactly a blog is and which of all the blogs are worthy of various ideological group's consideration. As we women engage in this debate and pass judgement on each other's blogs, perhaps we need to look at our own cliqueish nature/sorority mentality, how it, in its own strange way, mimicks the judgement values of the good-old-geek-boy network, and could end up being the cudgle that beats us back into voiceless obscurity.

Tish G.

I have a slightly longer comment regarding women on op-ed pages and women bloggers at my blog....

Tish G.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!

Occasionally I get a raging case of the Geeks and go poking around on various techie pages....and I find interesting things relating to the wonderful world of the Blogosphere. Check out what Technorati's Dave Sifry has to say about the State of the Blogosphere.

And, while you're at it, you might want to check out this little bit titled All the colors of the rainblog and the links to recent discussions on women and blogging which have come up since the recent heated debates about the derth of women on op-ed pages of high-profile newspapers.

I've been reading alot about these debates, and frankly I don't think Susan Estrich did us any good by attacking Michael Kinsley's health. That was a low blow that would make even a man look bad. When you're trying to make a point, and you've alread got a couple of strikes against you on what the good old boys might call 'general principle' you have to be very careful where you step, and Estrich stepped right in it (from what I can see).

But, overall, I think that using the blogosphere as a barometer for the women/op-ed pages argument is a little goofy. People blog for different reasons--some political, others not, and not all the others are on Livejournal either. There are many in the blogosphere who consider themselves ersatz journalists, while others just consider themselves political activists, and others neither of the above (myself in the third category). Women who should be on op-ed pages are, like the men, individuals who have established themselves not only as journalists but also overall as thinkers. Susan Sontag, for example, was much more than a journalist (although I don't think of Maureen Dowd as either a deep thinker or a journalist, but that's just one woman's opinion--and she's always blabbering in The NY Times).

So, maybe the question is where are the women thinkers? I wouldn't necessarily consider Estrich much of a thinker any more than I would Bill O'Reilly (and if he thinks with anything other than The Little Head, I'd be very surprised)--so I wonder, where are all the women thinkers?

or are we still just too damned busy picking up after the men and the kids and simply don't have the requisite time to fuss over our political navels like the guys do?

Tish G. (linked on
her blog)

Trish Wilson Celebrates Her Birthday With Style

Trish Wilson has found a delightful way to celebrate her birthday -- with a post she calls "Subvert The Dominant Link Paradigm" women bloggers edition.

Trish's birthday post is packed with links to terrific posts by women bloggers on feminist issues and other matters near and dear to them. It's well worth checking out, and I'd say that even if Trish hadn't included my Wonderbra song parody and my political song parody called "Nothin's More Revoltin' Than Dub's Nominee John Bolton."

So be sure to stop by and wish Trish a happy birthday, and check out all those links.

Burning the Double Standard at Both Ends

Jamie Lee Curtis “came out” and exposed the kinds of trickery that the entertainment industry uses to make women look more beautiful in film and print. Why? Because at age 40+, she was through being poked, prodded, and starved to maintain a media friendly image. Kirstie Alley is stepping up to the plate to speak out against the same kinds of standards. What do these women have in common? They only chose to complain about these images and standards after they no longer met them. How can we blithely applaud them for their efforts against unrealistic expectations of beauty when they and other highly visible women achieved (and continue to achieve) wealth and success perpetuating them?

The same can be said for every over-forty actress heard voicing her disgust at the lack of juicy roles in Hollywood for women their age. How much effort was made by these women to thwart sexist ageism in Hollywood when people were lining up to take their picture? How many of them turned down roles because they had to play a much younger wife to a sixty year-old, Viagra chugging geezer? Does it occur to either Curtis or Alley that their efforts today would not be necessary if they and other women had not sanctified those potentially dangerous stereotypes to begin with? Those women are not standing up and saying "no" to someone else's stupid expectations. They're trying to sell empowerment because they can no longer sell their young, beautiful asses. Now, they're on our side? Give me a break. I'll let them play in my sandbox when I think it means something, not because it's their only other option.

When we bask in the reflected glory of false bravado, we can easily forget that unrealistic beauty standards are not only reinforced but celebrated because other women agree to meet them. As long as not-so-visible women and former media darlings are the only ones in the vanguard against an entirely unhealthy image of beauty, we're screwed. The world is saturated with images of young women who are so thin that they have to buy breasts. And it's only getting worse.

Fostering the illusion of eternal youth and beauty is worth it for famous actresses because at the end of the day, they know it is bullshit and they're getting paid a lot of money to pretend that it's not. I will stop doubting the sincerity and intentions of these babes when there are fewer shows like “Fat Actress” and more shows like “Thin Gorgeous Actress Eats a Ham Sandwich and Refuses to Pretend She’d Actually Sleep with an Old Skanky Bastard”.

Schizophelia Jones

Dubya's Democracy Occupation; and Friday Hometown Blogging

I often wonder how Bush says most of what he says with a straight face. For instance, here's Bush doing his stern act regarding Syria's occupation of Lebanon:

We want democracy in Lebanon to succeed. And we know it cannot succeed so long as she is occupied by a foreign power.

Such hypocrisy calls for a poem:

Dubya's Democracy Occupation
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Democracy cannot succeed,
Said Dubya with a glower.
In countries that are occupied
By mean old foreign powers...

The rest of Dubya's Democracy Occupation is here.

And in another post, I suggest Friday hometown blogging for bloggers who lack a blog-worthy cat. My first hometown blogging effort is A Baysider's Ode To Queens, which begins:

Both a county and a borough,
Part of New York City too.
On Long Island, yet not of it.
I'm confused as hell. Are you? ...

The rest of my Baysider's Ode To Queens is here.

Are bloggers journalists?

My fellow Blog Sisters, you should be aware of a case now being litigated in California which addresses whether bloggers are entitled to the same legal protections as traditional journalists. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has stepped in to represent the bloggers, has collected the briefs here. (Hat tip to How Appealing for the pointer.) The case has gotten a lot of news coverage lately, with recent articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times, among other papers.

Putting the "Aaaaaaaaa!" in Anti-Choice

The oft-stated fear over the future of Roe v. Wade and reproductive rights in the US is not mere paranoia. The Bush Administration's renewed effort to stack the judicial deck with far-right, anti-choice judges appears to be under way -- and the plan the Shrubbies propose is nothing less than terrifying. Read the following, check out NARAL Pro-Choice America's new web film, and take a stand for women, for justice, and for freedom.

It's easy - and funny - to imagine Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as rights-stomping Judgezilla, but the reality of what
[Dubya] Bush and his far-right, anti-choice friends are planning for the Supreme Court is all too serious, and even scarier than a monster movie.

See the movie "Creatures from the Far Right: Supreme Court Under Attack" to see what I mean.

Seriously... in their zeal to pack the courts with anti-choice extremists, Bush and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) are manipulating Senate rules to take away the Senate's constitutional right to review and oppose judicial nominees. This so-called "nuclear option" would take away our most powerful line of defense against extremist judges: the filibuster.

If you value balance and moderation on our courts, and believe the Senate should carefully review judges who will be confirmed to lifetime appointments, Frist's plan is even scarier than our movie monsters -- and takes even more courage to oppose.

Please ask your senators to support important procedures that ensure that the Senate independently review the record and merits of each judicial candidate.

Take action to save the filibuster, which, right now, may be the only friend progressives have.

Meanwhile, MoveOn.org needs justice-minded folks to sign a petition urging lawmakers to stand against Bush's re-nomination of 20 highly partisan, pro-corporate candidates who were already rejected for the US Courts of Appeals. As the organization notes, they were stopped before, they should be stopped again. Please give the petition a look and, if you are so inclined, sign it.

from all facts and opinions

The Real Reason Condi Gave Canada The Boot

In my latest post over at Mad Kane's Notables I explain the real reason Condi gave Canada the boot. I also do some fun-poking at Condi-for-Prez fans, including those who are panting in anticipation of a Condi v. Hillary presidential race.

And while you're there, I hope you'll check out my Those Classy Right-wingers Are At It Again, in which I reveal which loony site named my Dubya's Dayly Diary its "retarded lib site of the day." Now that's what I call an honor!

Friday night at the movies

Since we all felt better by the end of the week and can now spend several hours in public without having to stop and cough up a lung every 15 minutes, we spent Friday evening in Minneapolis. All four of us. SETU drove, which meant that Leland "Buzz" and I sat in the backseat shrieking and hollering directions and repeatedly stomping our right feet on imaginary brake pedals.

No, I exaggerate. SETU is actually a very good driver. Very steady; very confident; very careful. And I'm sure SYTU will be equally good when he gets his driver's license next year. I have much to be thankful for. Later this weekend I will sacrifice a Gold n Plump three legged fryer from Cub on the altar grill to propitiate the gods.

I really should stop calling them the Surly Elder and Younger Teenaged Units, because they are really not surly very often, if at all anymore. So, what adjective to use instead? They are both taller than their parents, and have been for quite a while now. Their current heights are hovering around the 6'4" mark, more or less, depending on hair length and what degree of teenage slacker slouch they are affecting this week. I think I'll refer to them as the Towering Elder and Younger Teenaged Units -- The Two Towers -- until something better comes along.

They each have their own crowd of peeps, buds, friends, what have you, and their own social lives, so we hardly ever go out to the movies like this anymore - - not all together, and not on a Friday night, but Leland "Buzz" made the admirable suggestion that we go into town and see "National Treasure" at the Riverview, and that sounded like a great idea to all four of us, so that's what we did.

Leland "Buzz" and I saw "The Incredibles" there last month, and I've been raving about the Riverview ever since. It is now officially my Most Favorite Movie Theater of All Time. Click on the link and take the Quicktime virtual tour of the lobby and the auditorium. This is Movie Heaven, imho. The movie-going experience could not possibly get any better than this.

My favorite movie house for many years was the Uptown, because I lived in the neighborhood for a decade, and had so many memorable times there...

In '77 I introduced my sister and brother in law [the ones who are now Limbaugh-tomized and worship at the Church of Dear Leader] to the joys of Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Uptown. They hadn't drunk the rethuglican koolaid back then, altho in restrospect I can see why, when it was offered to them, they gulped it down with gusto. My brother-in-law: a straight-arrow, Navy ROTC-bred, decorated Vietnam vet nursing a simmering hatred for all those lazy, undeserving, liberal-coddled welfare cheats and dope-peddling hippie freaks he saw everywhere when he returned home from his tour of duty. And My sister: the classic obedient wife, taking all her cues for social interaction and all her talking points verbatim from her husband.

Oy. I suppose I should be concerned that they're going to read this post, but I know they never will. After all, these are the people who bought a desktop PC a couple years ago and hardly ever turn the thing on, much less read email or surf.

I had been going to RHPS about once a month, with a different friend or group of friends each time, and finally I decided it was time I coaxed my sis and her hub out of their suburban sanctuary and got them to take a little 'walk on the wild side' in funky boho Uptown. Ooooooooh. Jebus. Remember, kids, this was nearly thirty years ago. Anyway, so sis and hub agreed to meet me at the Uptown, and showed up looking exceedingly tense and uncomfortable; sneaking peeks at the black bustier and fishnet stockings- clad Frank N Furters in line; sis clutching hub's arm in the viselike Honey Get Me Outta Here death-grip.

I remember commenting to my boyfriend at the time "Look! Brad and Janet have arrived!" *snigger snigger*.

During the movie I had no idea how sis and hub were faring. They sat stock still and in silence all through the brazenly naughty behavior on display onscreen and in the aisles. Throwing toast in the air!? Zounds, what debauchery! Afterwards, as we walked to the car, brother in law chuckled and then started singing "What a guy. Makes you cry. Unt I did!" and sis asked me, with a tiny hint of lust-tinged tremolo in her voice "So, who is this Tim Curry anyway? Has he been in anything else?" ...And I knew that everything would be OK.

Fast forward several years to New Year's Eve 1981. I had just broken up with a bf whose style was to waltz into my life and remain there intensely for several months, then disappear for the next six months, then re-appear. I got sick of it eventually, and the next time he appeared on my doorstep I sent him packing, never to return. It was the right thing to do, and I kept telling myself how mature and wise I was being, and how my unwillingness to tolerate being jerked around in such a manner demonstrated an admirably high level of self-esteem on my part... But, damn! I was hurting, and feeling very lonely in my bed, and it was New Year's Fucking Eve, and I didn't know what to do with the honking great shitload of pain, and then I got a phone call from another former bf.

[... this being the first big Relationship of my life ... the person I'd lost my virginity to... the guy I'd lived with for 4 years ... the guy who, after 3 years of living together sat down with me and carefully informed me that, altho he loved me, he had another side that he needed to explore and learn about and try to understand, and suddenly I realized why he had started going for walks around nearby Lake Calhoun at three in the AM.]

So. Former bf, to whom I referred always by his initials DAPJ, or just "D", had just been dumped by his lover, the guy he'd been living with for the past two years. He was, like me, feeling lost and hurt and alone. D and I were friends before we were lovers, and when we split up we re-affirmed our eternal friendship and love, and vowed to always be there for each other whenever the need should arise. Now, here it was New Year's Eve 1981, and the need had arisen.

We decided to go eat chicken almond ding and mooshu pork at Port Arthur and then go see the double feature at the Uptown: the 1939 "Lost Horizon" and "It's A Wonderful Life". This was at the time when the craze for "It's a Wonderful Life" was just starting; I remembered reading a New Yorker article about people who were having "It's a Wonderful Life"- viewing parties and I'd never heard of the movie before.

So, first came "Lost Horizon", which was swell. Still eerie after all these years; and still a thrilling moment when Ronald Colman finally makes it back to the pass high in the Himalayas and crosses over to blissfully disappear forever back to Shangri-La. You could hear a collective, satisfied sigh from the Uptown audience. It was a full house, with a palpable feeling of shared joy and camaraderie. It felt like the whole place was filled with like-minded kindred souls, society's orphans on New Year's Eve, banding together for warmth on a cold winter's night.

Then came "It's a Wonderful Life" and it was a revelation; we'd never seen it before. Everybody laughed during Uncle Billy's "I'm all right, I'm AL-L-L RIGHT" and then recognized with delight that Bert the cop and Ernie the cabdriver were, of course, BERT and ERNIE! Many of us wept as Jimmy Stewart stood on the bridge crying "I want to live again! I want to live!"
Afterwards we emerged from the theater to find that a beautiful light snow was falling. As everybody in the audience lived in the neighborhood, there were a couple hundred of us walking home together, on the quiet, snowy sidewalks in the moonlight at 2 AM on New Year's Day. As we walked D and I linked arms with three other people and we all sang:

"Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight,
Won't you come out tonight,
Won't you come out tonight.
Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight
A-a-a-a-n-d
Dance by the light of the moon"

We felt whole; we felt healed; we felt bathed in warmth and fellowship and love.
And that's why I'll always love the Uptown. But, here in the year 2005, I'm telling you: if you're in the Twin Cities and you want to go to a movie -- go to the Riverview.

The cost of a ticket at the Riverview is $2 for shows before 6 PM. After 6 the price soars to an astronomical $3. Still, throwing all economy and prudence to the winds, a full house showed up Friday evening for "National Treasure". A lot of diversity: families; little kids; couples on dates; old folks; goths; bikers; people of all gender preferences and orientations and a multitude of ethnicities. Everybody friendly and out for a good time, and that's exactly what was had by all.
Big comfy seats, lots of legroom, state of the art sound system, carefully preserved original 1948 decor -- to quote the immortal Wavy Gravy: "We must be in Heaven, man!"

When the credits started rolling at the end of the movie, the entire audience applauded, and the applause was for having had a couple hours of pretty good entertainment at a great old movie house on a Friday night. When was the last time you experienced that at the local cineplex?



--Tild Dallelie

Will the Real James Guckert Please Drop Trou....

So, Jeff Gannon gave an interview on the Today Show this morning.

It was quite an interesting little spectacle. And it was little. Quite short. Very edited.

I give Campbell Brown some props for having the wearwithall to sit in front of such a pompous fool and press him on the issue of his naked self on the Internet.

And for not cracking up when he insisted that the reason he used the name "Gannon" was because "Guckert" is, according to JG "difficult to pronounce."

JG was pretty uncomfortable being in CB's "hot seat," but that may have had to do with the fact that his shirt collar was so tight on that thick ole neck of his...I was surprised he could breathe.

Funny thing is, though, most people who work in the adult entertainment industry--whether as escorts, dancers, S/m dominants, or porn stars--usually work under pseudonymns. Supposedly "Gannon" is a pseudonymn and "Guckert" is his real last name....

All I can think of is: what a dope.

Perhaps, though, he didn't realize that adult entertainment isn't supposed to be reality. It is entertainment: a performance for someone else's benefit. The entertainer is contracted to act a role--usually a role he/she has personally chosen because he/she believes the role will be easy or because the role specifically does not project his/her true sexual orientation or proclivities.

Yet most people believe that if a sex perfomer chooses a role, than that is who the performer is. Most people cannot imagine performing sex, or something like sex, for money, if there is no interest in the types and kinds of acts one is engaging in.

That, though, is the strange quirk of sex industry work. And the people who are best at it are the people who keep their personal procliviteis to themselves. How may of us may have, at one time or another, met a female dancer who was a lesbian, or a male dancer who was straight.

Why might someone work a role opposed to one's sexuality? Some of that has to do with the very fine line between adult entertainment, lewd acts, and prostitution (the explanation of which is very complicated, and I won't get into here)....and some of it has to do with power. Some women enjoy being a "tease"....and some men enjoy being a "tease" as well.

Gucker's sites claim that he was a "dominant top"...and some men and women who play the role of "dominant top" are not that in real life...

Who really knows if JG is gay, submissive, Republican, or just a really big tease????

Be that as it may, I think there is one true way that we might be able to know whether or not Jeff Gannon is James Guckert...it requires a measuring tape and just a little bit of cooperation from the young man in question...;-)

--Tish G.

Attacking the Arctic and the Aged

They're winding up for that powerful right cross -- that maiming Right Double Cross.

SNEAK ATTACK #1.
Right now, the oil industry’s allies in Congress are plotting a sneak attack on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In the next two weeks, oil industry allies in the House and Senate will try a backdoor trick to pass the controversial proposal to drill for oil in the Arctic Refuge by inserting it into the federal budget bill.

See the website of the Defenders of Wildlife to get a succinct explanation of why drilling for oil in the arctic is not as benign an effort as the oil industry and its flunkies would have you think.

Lend your voice to the those who are trying to stop this sneaky maneuver and save the Arctic Refuge! Click here send a free message to your members of Congress urging them to do everything they can to stop drilling in the Arctic!

And, while you have the Arctic on your mind, check out my Alaskan blogger friend's blog -- Klondike Kate's Aurora

SNEAK ATTACK #2
The lobbying group that orchestrated the Swift Boat guys' misinformation-filled attack on John Kerry is now after the AARP, using the same kind of sleazy tactics and a war chest of $10 million. It's all part of the political ultra-Right's plan to support Bush's intention to privatize Social Security -- an effort that erroneously claims that there is a crisis. But there is no crisis.

(Just like there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction.)

The American Spectator website is running a sleazy and untruthful ad about the AARP in order to discredit its support of maintaining an strengthening the current Social Security system.

Now, I don't always agree with how the AARP sets its positions on issues -- just like I didn't agree with all of Kerry's approaches.

BUT in both cases, I looked at the bigger picture and how close they were to my positions on issues AND I totally resent the evil methods that thr Right uses to launch their attacks on those issues.

Such is the case with AARP and Social Security.

Watch out for that Right Double Cross.

Uncle Duke's Legacy

If you think about it, Hunter S. Thompson, who shot himself to death over the weekend, could be considered Uncle Duke of all us bloggers.

Many of us who keep blogs aren't just journalling for posterity. We write commentary beyond the mundaine and trivial events of our boring lives--commentary that encompasses politics, social issues, media and entertainment--and are, in effect, doing some minor form of Hunter's "gonzo journalism." In our own ways, we report on the world with our personalities rather than with the cold objectivity that was considered the hallmark of journalism (although, today, with the advent of infotainment, objectivity in journalism and in MSM may be debatable).

So, here's to Uncle Duke....whereever he now may be....

--Tish G.

President's Day Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in the County of the Kings there was a pretty maiden of Irish and English descent. Sally was the daughter of a widowed mariner, fair of hair with eyes of blue. During the reign of Eisenhower she fell in love with a Hellenic American young man who had recently returned from the Korean War. His name was John, and he was the son of a widowed merchant. Not a Greek god, but a Greek grocer. He was dark and handsome, but not tall at all.




Their families were pleased with the match, and they soon married.

Two years later, their first child was born. It was a girl. When Sally laid eyes on the child, she was certain that a mistake had been made. Sally was accustomed to pale Celtic babies, not this squalling red faced Mediterranean infant with pitch black hair. Eventually she was convinced that, yes, this was their daughter. The young parents had planned to name the child Karen if it was a girl. However, Sally was in a room with a woman who had just named her baby Laura. The potions given to new mothers in those days were potent - and Sally decided that maybe they should call their girl Laura, too. Fortunately, John was able to remind her that Karen was to be the name. And so it was... and so it is.

Happy Birthday to me on Monday. To those of you fortunate enough to have a day off - enjoy it!

And this is why the people in the US are celebrating with a three day weekend. Well, not really - but it's better than Presidents Day to me. I can celebrate the meeting of my parents, their love, their marriage and my birth.



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