First Draft

Gimme

WANT.

A.

The Internet Keeps Journalism Alive

People, too, in some cases:

As the streets exploded with violence, one Maputo resident (@BarataJorge) observed that few local broadcasters were relaying information. "Demonstrations in Maputo. Radio Mozambique, just music, TV pass math class. News just in RTP Africa and STV." Paul Fauvet, English service editor of Mozambique's state news agency AIM, shared in an e-mail that the unrest disrupted the operations of some print media outlets. "The riots did close down the independent faxed daily Mediafax, which has not appeared for the last two days, because key people in the distribution were unable to reach the office. The daily paper Noticias appeared in its online version, but could not be distributed on the streets," he wrote. Jornal a Verdade, a free weekly newspaper in Maputo overcame the logistical problems by using its website and Facebook fan page to post dozens of articles and videos in Portuguese. The paper's editor, Erik Charas, was one of the first journalists to disseminate news of the crisis in English, helping to turn this local event into an international news story. Charas integrated an Ushahidi crisis reporting tool on the paper's website and used his tweeter feed (@echaras) to post updates, crafting an English hashtag: #maputoriots.

Journalists who dismiss Twitter and other tools as useless to journalism just haven't found the appropriate uses to which they can be put.

A.

The Dog Days Of Summer

The Democrats have gotten their asses kicked the past two Augusts, it's partially their own fault but it's hard to deal with opponents who will say *anything* to "win" the month. The only way to do so is to come out swinging and kick some ass, which is something senior Dems other than Speaker Pelosi aren't very good at. Obama seems to be trying but it remains to be seen if he'll stay the course.

Btw, I think the President's enemies on the right are probably nicer to dogs than they are to him. If not, let's send the ASPCA after some of the more rabid Goopers. I wouldn't mind seeing Newt thrown into a cage with a couple of hungry pit bulls...

A Blogger Ethics Panel: Sun-Times Edition

I'm so sorry I killed journalism, mom:

Okay, this is ridiculous. We felt kind of gray and fuzzy on it the first time around, but now? Once again, "columnist" Michael Sneed has given up an entire column over to republishing a letter from Drew Peterson, currently awaiting his trial for the murder of his third wife Kathleen Savio and still the prime suspect in the disappearance of wife number four Stacy Peterson. In this letter, Drew makes an "an impassioned media plea on behalf of his children," specifically prosecution (and what Drew alleges is persecution) against oldest son Stephen who is currently the primary caregiver for four of Peterson's kids: two with Savio and two with Stacy. Like the first letter, this one was handed directly from Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky to Sneed and reprinted (the lead-in says it's been "edited" though there's no word if the paper edited the letter or if, like the first one, it was edited by someone else in the Peterson camp before getting to the Sun-Times).

The letter presents Peterson's case and attack on prosecutors unfiltered with no rebuttal or response from those he attacks. While Peterson is innocent until proven guilty, he's still a suspect officially charged with murder and the publishing of the letter allows him to have control over the situation and make accusations unchecked, presenting a one-way flow of information, the paper doing Brodsky's work for him.

But print has standards! They don't just uncritically put rumors and innuendo out there on the Internets!

A.

Protesters on 9/11

So much for the sacredness of Ground Zero. 

This year is especially awkward, given the controversy around President Barack Obama’s remarks in support of an Islamic cultural center and mosque planned for a neighborhood near ground zero in lower Manhattan.

The White House has not yet announced the president’s plans for next week, though a source familiar with the matter was doubtful Obama would travel to New York.

But the president’s options are otherwise limited: Last year, he marked the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks at the Pentagon, and a return appearance there seems unlikely. This year, first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush will travel together to Shanksville, Pa., to honor the 40 passengers and crew members who died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93.

That leaves the former World Trade Center site in New York, where Obama hasn’t been since the 2008 presidential campaign. But a presidential appearance at ground zero on Sept. 11 — where an activist group plans to protest the Islamic center project that day — will almost certainly reignite the political firestorm.

FIRESTORM. God, if there's a word I'd like to ban from American media, it's that one.

You know, it strikes me this would be far more awkward for the racist, ignorant fuckwads protesting the mosque if the President of the United States showed up to their little party and told them where to stick their "concerns."

A.

The Ballad Of Joe Hill

President Obama gave a fighting speech today in honor of Labor Day and the role of unions in building a more just society. I hope he sticks to his guns but have learned to be skeptical about the administration's stick-to-itiveness. I wonder if they slipped this sucker past Rahm who has had some choice words about the unions in the past.  Rahm needs to STFU and the rest of us need to contemplate the two scariest words in our political lexicon: Speaker Boner.

Now that I've scared you shitless, here's the great Paul Robeson to make you feel a bit better:

LGBT Suicides & Bullying

You know, the older I get, the more I fucking hate my fellow grown-ups:

The Anoka-Hennpin school district is Minnesota's largest, serving upwards of 40,000 students. At that size, you would think the school board would want to do anything it could to make sure that all 40K are treated with dignity, respect, and given a safe place to learn.

But there's a disturbing pattern in the Anoka-Hennepin school district of ignoring the safety concerns and threats that LGBT students face. A year ago, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights issued a blistering investigation into a case of two teachers in the district, who harassed a student because he was gay. In the wake of that incident, activists pleaded with the school district to enact an anti-bullying curriculum that dealt with issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The school board didn't listen.

Now, one year later, and with three suicides by gay students under its belt, the Anoka-Hennepin School Board is again being pressured to take a tougher stand on bullying, and to rebuff efforts like those made by Focus on the Family, which see anti-bullying programs as nothing short of indoctrinating kids with homosexuality. These anti-gay activists fight anti-bullying programs tooth and nail. And the result is a toxic climate for LGBT students, and one that leads to violence and suicide.

Justin's mother Tammy puts a somber punctuation mark on the Anoka-Hennepin School Board's ambivalence toward LGBT bullying and LGBT suicide.

"Do you think my son Justin deserved to die because there are other kids who feel superior by picking on him and no staff member will stop them?”

Yeah, probably, some of them, that's exactly what they think. The older I get, the more I realize most people  don't actually grow up. We're all just walking around faking it with varying degrees of success, and inside most of us are still in high school, basically feral, frightened all the time and figuring we can either continue the stuff we did back when we were first learning how to interact with others, or continue the stuff that was done to us.

A.

Today on Tommy T's Obsession with the Freeperati - The Completion Backwards edition

Good morning,  everyone! Here's to a quiet and non-productive Labor Day!

We're going to try something a little different today - working our way from the oldest un-riffed Free Republic threads to the newest..

Airpacks and iso suits on?  Here we go!

First up -  Sarah Palin picks another wiener in - Getting your Handel on‏!

Sarah Palin: Getting a Handel in Georgia benefits the state and, ultimately, the entire country
Facebook ^ | Monday July 12, 2010 | Sarah Palin

Posted on Monday, July 12, 2010 1:03:35 PM by Bigtigermike

I’m proud to lend my support to a great commonsense conservative woman running for Governor this year in the Peach State. My recent visit back to this beautiful area allowed me to meet more of the patriotic Americans who call Georgia home and who are ready for a reformer to help strengthen their families, businesses, state and, ultimately, our United States. Karen Handel is that reformer. Throughout her career in public office – from serving as Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to Georgia’s Secretary of State – Karen has brought the common sense fiscal discipline and positive change in government that is needed now more than ever. Though considered an underdog candidate (more power to her!), this pro-life, pro-Constitutionalist with a can-do attitude and a record of fighting for ethics in government is ready to serve in the Governor’s Office. She’ll balance budgets and help spur Georgia’s economy. Her plan will contribute to America’s roadmap which can benefit all of us.

Please join me in supporting this good conservative reformer who will work tirelessly for the Peach State. You can visit Karen Handel’s website at www.karenhandel.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

1 posted on Monday, July 12, 2010 1:03:39 PM by Bigtigermike

.

To: Bigtigermike

I like what I see from Karen. Seems to be the real deal. Looks like a good pick on Sarah’s part.

2 posted on Monday, July 12, 2010 1:10:01 PM by Maelstorm (This country was not founded with the battle cry "give me liberty or give me a govt check!")

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To: AuntB

I can’t answer that specifically except to say I received a robocall from Jan Brewer saying she endorsed Handel.

6 posted on Monday, July 12, 2010 2:38:03 PM by rightthinkingwoman

Four out of five robots endorse Jan Brewer and Karen Handel.

To: Bigtigermike

Handel is picking up a lot of support and she looks good.

Nathan Deal impresses me a whole lot though - I believe he will be aggressive on illegal immigration. He wrote a letter to Obama requesting a copy of his birth certificate.

He also served in the Army. The only hestitation was that he ALMOST resigned his seat before the healthcare vote.

So that's why Palin doesn't like him!  Imagine - threatening to quit half-way through his term - whoever heard of such a thing??

That had a lot of us a little nervous for a while, but fortunately he chose to stay in.

Brewer’s endorsement of Handel goes a long way, but she needs to get some commercials out there.

9 posted on Monday, July 12, 2010 4:07:38 PM by justsaynomore (The Hermantor - 2012 - www.hermancain.com)

So - how's that Mama Gristly thing working out for ya, Karen?

Karen Handel concedes in close Ga. governor’s race

Former Georgia secretary of state Karen Handel conceded the race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination today, telling her supporters that they should back Nathan Deal in the competitive general election.

The decision followed a bitter three-week campaign for Tuesday's runoff election and a down-to-the-wire finish. Unofficial results show Deal, a former congressman, ahead by 2,487 votes.

Handel, who had the backing of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, said she will not seek a recount, despite a state law that allows her to do so.

That's because only dead fish go with the flow.

You know - if the teabaggers elect enough birthers, truthers, cut-off-Grandma's-Social-Security nutbags,in the Primaries,  the Dems might actually pull this one out.

More after the jumptastic jumparoonie!

They've Done Nothing To You

For serious, I keep watching this video, I can't stop, it's like being at the worst party in the world, and people keep saying something's being done to them:

 

 

And NOBODY CAN SAY WHAT.  And I know that trying to understand the tea-wads is like trying to get a dog to do a math problem, and that most of the other blogs are making fun of their scooters and shit, but this is what strikes me, the persecuted feeling. The persecution married to absolute confusion about what they're being persecuted FOR, along with convictions of political impotence and an absolute bedrock sense of futility in life. I mean these people not only do not get it, they're convinced they can't get it, and they're mad they can't get it, and they think not getting it is the world's fault and not theirs.

 

They want to go back to the way the country was. Was when? They can't say. Was how? They have no clue. They're just ... grrr, basically, everything sucks. They're mad at stuff. Ask them to name one specific thing and more often than not you come up with this bullshit about how Michelle Obama banned Christmas ornaments or something. I really think at this point I would be perfectly happy if Michelle Obama set fire to the East Room while doing a goat sacrifice so long as it didn't mean I had to be somehow involved, because why borrow trouble? How does it affect me? How does it affect these tea people? Why do they feel that every breath the Obama family takes is an affront to them? Is it just they need something to do?

 

What has he ever done to them, besides try to lower their taxes (maybe not so much Glenn Beck's and Dick Armey's) and give them health insurance and bring the heroes they venerate on their T-shirts home from the war? I mean, the guy's about to go make peace in the Middle East, if we're not all too busy bitching about Alan Simpson to notice, and I'm sure something he does while trying to do that will offend Republicans in some way, but seriously, I am coming around to the idea that the dude cannot get a break and that they're just pissed off he exists. Like the way the existence of gay people bothers them. Or Muslims. Like the way they get angry when they see two or more black children standing together somewhere, cluttering up their nice white town. And I don't get why it has to matter to them what other people do at all.

 

It's not enough to see something, you have to see it as an assault on you. You have to view the world as collapsing, and yourself helpless to prevent it, and everybody around you as either complicit or fooled, in order to maintain the belief that you had no part in what you see. I know dozens of these dicks and there is nothing they cling to, not religion and not guns, so much as the myth of their own powerlessness. They flee neighborhoods rather than fight for them and they mutter darkly about people speaking Spanish in the grocery store and the indignity, the horror, of having to press 1 for English (is it me or is it much more often pressing a different key for Spanish? Fuck, why am I trying to make sense to these fuckers) is something for which we should offer Purple Hearts. Life is so hard for them. I don't mean that sarcastically. Life really is hard.

 

And so they take it out on people who have done nothing to them:

 

Can someone explain to me what the Muslim community has done since 9/11 to suddenly engender this hostility? The only thing that points in this direction is that we elected a Democratic African American president who these people all think is a closet Muslim.

But let's unpack this a little bit. Until recently these people had no problems with Muslims in their community. And there hasn't been a new terrorist attack to inspire new fear and anger. So, that means it's not about Islam at all. It's about the African American Democrat.

Now I would be the last one to say that just being a Democrat isn't enough to make any right winger go nuts. They simply don't believe that a Democrat can legitimately be president. But their need to turn Obama into a Muslim, despite the purely nonsensical nature of the charge, stems from a need to rationalize their baser motives for hating him. America's loathed enemy of 9/11 is the only group they feel free to hate openly in the way that fully expresses their feelings. Therefore, Obama became a Muslim.

When quite honestly, they could ignore Muslims and not really be too put out by it all. Seriously, how many people could chuck a rock and hit a mosque from their houses? When have they ever been assaulted by the knowledge of someone different, such that it interferes with their day? So you see someone in the store wearing a veil, just get your chicken nuggets and go home. Why does it have to be an imposition? Some guy drives down my street in a Trans Am blasting Pitbull or similar at 11 p.m., I think, yick, and then the light changes and he's gone. God Almighty, just get on with your stuff, nobody is doing anything to you just by being around.

I kind of welcome Beck's transformation into a modern spiritual leader, because if anybody needed some therapy, it's these people.

 

A.

Happy Labor Day

Unlike the rest of you lot, I have to labor on Labor Day. I'd rather be like you hippies and lounge about but, hey, at least I don't have the Cumberland Blues or wear short shorts like Bob Weir. Who the fuck does he think he is? Sookie Stackhouse?

Now where was I? Happy Labor Day, solidarity forever and all that hippie pinko commie shit:

Just Don't Fucking Get Married

God Almighty. Thus ends my lusting after all things Wilton, and buying their baking accoutrements, because fuck them.

I really, really, really loathe the cutesy little cottage industry devoted to maintaining the impression that not only does marriage suck, but it's okay and actually hilarious that it sucks, and it sucks because Teh Wiminz is always dragging the freedom-loving men into it, in this case by the tuxedo. Fuck that noise. In the first place, dude, you didn't have to get married. In the second place, your marriage doesn't have to suck. You can make it not suck, or end the marriage, and thus deal with the problem instead of making funny fucking jokes.

I don't know why this kind of thing annoys me so much, except for maybe the fact that I fucking love being married, so I sort of have the reaction people have when you say their football team sucks. Mostly, though, I just hate people letting themselves off the hook for stupid shit, pretending misery is unchangeable and inevitable, and trying to make out like it's marriage's fault their marriages suck.

I've been around people who talk like people who would laugh at this shit, and the undercurrent of desperation is just painful. If you are in a sucky relationship in which one of you is the jailer and the other one's the guard (not like that, perverts), if you feel dragged to the altar, if you think of yourself as having been coerced into something you didn't want, IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO LEAVE THE CAKE TOPPER AISLE AND GO GET SOME THERAPY. Possibly a restraining order of some kind. It's not a joking matter. We have a limited amount of time on this planet. You shouldn't spend it with someone who is angry and unhappy and punishing, and this shit comes from an angry, unhappy, punishing place.

And this is on top of your wedding cake? This is how you START the marriage? No wonder divorce rates are through the roof.

A. 

Sunday Street

Caption This: Tony Blair Edition

Sound Bite

I was on the local news commenting on the NFL's attempt to turn Jackson Square into a movie set by building a humongous stage on the riverside of Decatur Street. I'm the balding, somewhat portly guy at the end of the story. Btw, as the details have emerged it gets worse and worse. Repeat after me: it's a real city, not Disneyland.

The story aired Friday night on WWL-TV:

We were all too generous, this is going to be a clusterfuck of epic proportions.

Gimme my chicken nuggets, Goddamnit

This fits into the news of the weird category. It happened in Ohio but the story is from Britain's ITN complete with a reporter with an Oxbridge accent:

The crazed chicken nugget chick reminded me of a classic Wendy's commercial from the 80's. I bet this sucker won a Clio. Take that, Don Fucking Draper.

Weekend Question Thread

What food can you not live without?

There are always apples in my house. I can do anything, just give me enough apples and maybe some cheese.

A.

Saturday Blogwhoring Thread

Post away.

A.

Quitting Time Booster Shot: Weekend Update Edition

One of the things I hate about the news is hit-and-run journalism. We learn that X has occurred in the Day-One story, but we never get to what happened next or if there’s any kind of closure to the deal. In putzing around through my hard drive today, I ran through some of the posts I’d done over the past couple months and realized I never closed the deal on at least half of them. So, without further ado, here’s a booster with some closing-time moments:

 

- Mom headed back to school this week, sans coffee pot. The electricity Gestapo remained in full effect at her school, despite her best efforts. Turns out, failure to abide by this new rule came with no actual penalties that were listed. Mom noted that they usually hit you with “insubordination” as the offense, which is something for which they can terminate you. The funny thing is that they had a meeting to discuss this, which included the business manager, the principal and about a dozen other people. The business manager wanted to take the check, but the principal refused, saying it was too hard to police this kind of thing. Mom then volunteered to be the power cop in the building. She was rebuffed. I was a bit bummed, as usually when we put our minds to it, we outsmart idiots who are attempting to rule Idiotland. “Don’t be too upset,” she told me. “You made this whole group of people argue about this stupid thing for an hour and a half. That’s incredible.”

“Besides,” she added. “This isn’t over.”

 

- I groused about not getting a plaque I had been promised for an award I won a few weeks ago. When I got back from the conference, I sent off a few emails to the organization and told various people that I’d be happy to trade in my $100 check for the plaque the guy had mentioned I’d be receiving. Several folks wrote back, saying they’d look into it. (Side note: I sent four emails: One to the division head, one to the incoming division head, one to the head of the organization and one to the PR guy. Of all the emails, only one was terse, dismissive and rude. Take a wild guess who sent that one.) About two weeks ago, I got an email from the new division head, telling me he’d be sending me a plaque, because a deal was a deal. Turns out, when the division put out the call for papers, it specifically noted that the winners would receive a plaque. “If we promised it in the call,” the guy wrote. “You have every right to expect it.” The thing showed up in the mail today. A few friends asked if I was going to mount it to the front of Betsy and drive all over town.

 

- Speaking of Betsy, it’s been a long cold August. She had been wearing down for many years before I bought her and although she hadn’t gone completely soft, the engine was very tired. Thus, she’s sitting in a garage in Milwaukee going through a full engine rebuild. The guy promised her in a month. She was supposed to be done today, but it’ll be Tuesday before she’s ready. It’s only a couple extra days, but dammit, I wanted her back for the Labor Day weekend.

 

- Question: Am I the only person who pays his damned bills? No, I don’t mean this in the Glenn Beck, pasty-white, self-aggrandizing “I was allowed to jack off on the original copy of George Washington’s inaugural address” kind of way. I mean the physical act of bill paying. Each month, I collect my mail, go down to an antique desk I refinished that resides in my basement and write checks to cover my bills. I then put them in envelopes, add stamps and stick them in the mailbox. The reason I ask is this: everyone I owe money to each month tells me they REALLY want me to set up an automatic bill pay. For the one or two of you out there who don’t participate in this, it’s a system where I send them a form or something that tells my bank it’s OK for them to take money out of my account when my bill comes due. “It’s easy!” they brag. “It’s environmentally friendly!” they guilt. “It’s smart!” they ego-stroke. Sure, for YOU. I might be a control freak here, but there is no way in hell I’m letting people take money out of my account at their discretion under the guise of saving 44 cents on a stamp or saving the fucking planet from that extra envelope. I agreed to do this on my mortgage because I got a half a point shaved off the interest rate and it’s my BANK. The folks there can pretty much fuck me as they see fit. The Missus and I get paid on weird schedules some months and in others, we don’t get paid at all (summer teaching, not withstanding). Thus, when bills come due, I need to move money around from savings or from checking or from under my mattress to cover the costs. The last thing I need is six assholes reaching into the bank at the same time, finding only three of them get their money and then getting a nasty fucking note about being overdrawn. Thus, AT&T can fucking wait for my money. I’m more reliable than they are when it comes to meeting expectations, anyway.

 

- That kid from Ohio State who was essentially arrested for taking pictures of a runaway cow? His art is up for a Pacemaker award. Good rule of thumb: if you get in trouble for doing something legal, chances are, it’ll win you something.

 

-  Michael Koretzky is still tilting at windmills down in Florida. After 70 posts on his FAUTOCRATIC blog, he decided to take another tactic in his war against stupidity. Rather than fight for a job with people who obviously don’t want him, he went the other way: He and several former students founded the “Owl Times,” a publication that will not compete for advertising with the current paper he formerly advised. The twist? It’ll take only the ads the UP turns down and the Owl Times will only publish the positive news on the campus. In other words, he’s doing a giant PR rag about the school in an attempt to allow the UP to serve as a real journalism entity. He’s like the guy who throws himself on top of the grenade  to save the rest of the platoon. I don’t think I’d be this magnanimous.

 

- And finally, in case you were wondering, “Show season” is less than a few weeks away. Dad’s already excited.

 

Thanks for letting me share your air. Be back next week.

 

Doc

Fiona

Okay, I was boring my friend Piano Dave by talking about Earl so it's time to move on to the next tropical system. I hear it's a "one eyed Fiona," which is probably why it's crapping out:

Lyle Lovett - One Eyed Fiona - Nashville Live 1997
Uploaded by taduckly_. - Explore more music videos.

Not the only one

Yeah, yeah, posting out of turn and all but it's Friday, plus Athenae said I could do some extra RT5-related posting. Pretty sure she meant during, rather than after, the event but hey, in New Orleans, the party never really ends.

Credit/blame to racymind for the song. It was on her ipod, we did pass by Hammond, it became part of the trip soundtrack. But it does work here, too, because it's a song — a story really — about families, mostly about choice, about what and who you choose to stand for and with. About how sometimes what might seem a choice to someone else is, to you, an imperative. Crystalline, unavoidable despite the odds of success or failure. 

It works because this is actually a post about Rising Tide 5, at least a highly subjective take thereon, and all those things are part of what RT is about.  A community of like-minded citizen journalists choosing to continue to stand together, not because they can't stop looking backwards, or because they can't get over something that happened five years ago, but rather because they see the truth. In fact, they cannot help but do so: a lot of shit that started five years ago is still happening, is happening again, over and over, and more continues to start new every day.  Mac McClelland pretty much nailed it in her keynote. If you STILL haven't seen the video, just go, do it now.  

It was an awfully damn inspiring event to take part in. I'll be there next year for sure. Don't have a choice not to. 

Nice Try But It Won't Work

The Louisiana Democratic party has produced a pretty good video about Bitter Vitter's various scandals. It's very unlikely to work because, as my friend Jeffrey recently said, he's a "teflon douche." There are some nice touches: I like the bit about Vitter taking his condoms with him. Icky but effective in a CSI kinda way. I did not, however, like the way they hid the faces of the "outraged citizens" in the video. It undermined everything they had to say.

Louisiana voters have customarily ignored the zipper problems of its horndog politicians. Shortly before the 1983 Goober (Gubernatorial) election, Edwin Edwards said: "The only way I can lose this election is if they catch me in bed with a dead woman or a live boy." He was right, the prodigal Governor was returned to office with a whopping 64% of the vote against the incumbent, Dave Treen. Gret Stet voters preferred the gambling, skirt chasing populist bad boy to the conservative Eagle Scout. Treen was a helluva nice guy and remember what Leo Durocher said about them: "Nice guys finish last." (Btw, Leo the Lip was talking about the greatest ballplayer ever produced by the Gret Stet, Mel Ott.)

In the end, David Vitter will be re-elected by a cranky electorate, which dislikes him but *loathes* Barack Obama. It's a way of flipping the Prez the bird. The voters are in an ugly mood across the country and who's uglier than David Vitter? 

Cross-posted @ Adrastos.

The ones I know

I took a quixotic journey last night to a bowling alley in a small town. The purpose? To convince a kid who was already overworked with a full load of credits, a full-time job, a family issue and more to take on one more responsibility.

The paper I advise had lost not only its top editor, but also the guy who we wanted to replace him. After a dozen rotations, I’d filled every slot but one.

This one.

The one I was driving down some back-river road, nearly 40 minutes from campus, to try to fill.

I went with the idea that it was harder to say no to someone in person than it was to say no via email. Two others had given me the email brush off for this job. This kid, however, had been my first choice. The idea of asking, however, seemed cruel.

She was always there in my 8 a.m. class, despite having to drive from her parents’ house near that bowling alley.

Bowling was a family business: Mom and Dad owned the place and the kids all worked there. They planned to expand to a building next door as well. They wanted the kids to take over the business when they retired. As it was, she worked late, bowled in league and then got up at the crack of dawn to drive two-lane roads to school each day. Rain, shine, sleet or snow, she was there.

She wanted to be a writer and would take on features and opinion assignments to help out her friends who were down there on Wednesday nights, prepping the paper for publication. She, meanwhile, was tapping beer, resetting bad ball returns and keeping the grill hopping. It wasn’t a part-time job. It was her full-time life.

When The Midget and I got there, the place was pretty quiet, but soon would be laden with regulars. It was Buck Burger night and Buck Bowling night and she expected to go through about four or five dozen burgers. No one else was there to help at this point.

We ordered some food while she finished up pizzas for some other customers and set up a lane for a guy toting a double-ball bag. She flipped the burger, answered the phone and kept moving. When our food was done, she stopped over and talked for a minute.

“I’m here to offer you a job,” I told her.

“OK,” she said without wavering at all.

I explained the situation, told her what I wanted and told her simply that I thought this would be good.

“Do you want this” I asked.

“Yes,” she said without hesitation.

I just stared at her. “What about your folks? I came down here with the idea that they probably wouldn’t yell at you if I were here.”

“I’ll yell first if I have to,” she said.

As The Midget finished her hot pretzel and started bowling, I kept telling the kid I could get her some help or that if she was running into trouble, she should let me know.

“It’ll be fine,” she said. “I can manage.”

She’s one of these kids, the kids of this recently maligned generation. She lives at home with her parents, writes for the local newspaper, works like crazy and does better than most. She’s an “A for effort” kid in a world where results are all that matter. She’s the kid who gets B’s when she could get A’s if she didn’t have 93 other things going on. She’s the kid who knows what she wants, but knows that life doesn’t always give you what you want. She’s the kid who hugged my kid and then ran after us because we’d forgotten to take our corn dog nuggets home with us.

Simply put, she’s the kind of kid I want my kid to be like.

She’s one of many in this generation who deserve understanding, instead of lectures.

Friday Ferretblogging: Guest Baby Ferrets

Mr. A is on the road this weekend, while I scramble to finish up a manuscript, and he took the camera with him. Lacking stock footage of my beasties, here are the National Zoo's baby black-footed ferrets, who are very cute and have the advantage of not currently trying to get into my shoes, coffee cup, notes or anything else they can find.

A.

Friday Catblogging: Hampered

Dr. A recently combined doing laundry with that age old game of messing with the cat. Della is clearly not amused.

Gimme Shelter

Hurricane Earl continues to give me earworms. Fuck you, Earl. Hmm, I seem to be working awfully hard on that fuck quota thing lately...

When I think about shitty weather, I think of Gimme Shelter. You may not but I do. I also think of the remarkable documentary of that title about the Altamont clusterfuck, I mean festival.

Here's a Steel Wheels tour live version. It was a good tour: Dr. A and I saw the Stones at the Superdome and the huge industrial stage set made it seem intimate in a glitzy rock and roll kinda way. Know what I'm saying? If you don't the fuck quota may apply...

Revisionism

Our old friend, faux good ole boy Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is at it again:

"The people who led the change of parties in the South ... was my generation. My generation who went to integrated schools. I went to integrated college -- never thought twice about it." Segregationists in the South, in his telling, were "old Democrats," but "by my time, people realized that was the past, it was indefensible, it wasn't gonna be that way anymore. So the people who really changed the South from Democrat to Republican was a different generation from those who fought integration."

Damn, I did not know how noble the Barbour-Lott generation of Southern pols were. According to Barbour, white flight had nothing to do with the changed, uh, complexion of the GOP in Thurmond/Wallace country. I guess it was all about "conservative principles" not about code words and nostalgia for the "lost cause."

LBJ was right when he said that his advocacy of civil rights would damage the Democratic party in the South for generations. Purt near everything in Southern politics is about race, identity or class; sometimes in disguise but it's always there. 

Haley's despicable attempt to rewrite history is all about a possible run against the first African-American President. In short, he's racing to bury the race card at the bottom of the deck and knows full well that Obama is leery of raising the subject. It's past time for the White House to stop pretending that we're in a post-racial era. It's one reason why the President is being "othered" to death. It's hard to fight back when you've got one hand tied behind your back.

Fuck you sideways, Haley. 

Father, I I Cannot Tell a Lie

From Album3

To be sure, this is a pretty minor incident, political rhetoric taken to its absurd extreme, but nonetheless it fits with a pattern of, well, lying. Lying about everything from the non-trashing of the West Wing by the departing Clinton administration to the Iraq war itself, which is now full pathological bizarro, touted as a wingnut success. Pyrrhus is spinning in his grave.

If you haven't seen it, Jeffrey Scahill ripped the wingnut Iraq myth to shreds on Countdown last night; here's a link to the video, hopefully they'll post the transcript (September 1) later today. It really is a sickness with these folks.

What Would Jesus Hit?

I recently saw The Bronx Is Burning on DVD. It's an account of all the shit that was going down in Noo Yawk in 1977: the Koch-Cuomo-Beame-Abzug Mayoral race; the Son of Sam killings and the wild ride the New York Yankees had on the way to winning the World Series.

Since ESPN aired the mini-series, the Yankees are the focus of the drama; proving once again that truth is stranger than fiction. John Turturro has long specialized in playing assholes and he really brought it as baseball genius/real life idiot Billy Martin. Oliver Platt is equally awesome as George Steinbrenner in his malakatudinous prime.

That was a long introduction to this hilarious clip that features the malaprop boys aka Joe Grifasi as Yogi Berra and Leonard Robinson as Mickey Rivers:

Drowned

Hurricane Earl looks like a real mo-fuck,  a real shit storm so I hope people on the eastern seaboard batten down their hatches and all that shit. Posting this particular tune from Quadrophenia is an attempt to put some reverse English on Earl so to speak. It's a live version from the Who's so-called last tour in 1982. Never say never:

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The Billionaires Aren't Starving

Via shayera, for serious, Minnie Mouse:

The Disney brothers' first success wasn't all that lucky for the company. The cartoon's distributor wrested the rights to Oswald away from Walt and Roy almost as soon as he had become popular. This loss was a huge setback for both men, and my grandfather vowed never to let himself be taken advantage of again. He soon registered a copyright on a new character named Mickey Mouse. It was 1928, and it was neither the first nor the last time the Walt Disney Co. benefited from a federal system of protections, laws and taxes that created fertile ground for building a business empire.

In addition to the copyright protections for Mickey, the Federal Communications Commission regulated the airwaves that carried the Disneylandtelevision series and, of course, the Mickey Mouse Club. The transportation and federal highway system built in the wake of World War II took millions of visitors to Disneyland. The Marshall Plan helped rebuild devastated European markets into which Disney poured its products, turning a quaint American company into a global brand.

Taxes are on everyone's mind lately for good reason. Not only will Congress have to make some tough decisions about the Bush tax cuts soon, but if lawmakers do nothing, the estate tax will automatically be reinstated after a year's hiatus — in its 2001 form. A great deal of misinformation isflying around out there about this, but most agree that the tax is flawed and needs to be modified.

One thing I do know is this: In a far stricter tax environment, my grandfather still managed to accumulate and pass on ample funds to make three subsequent generations very comfortable indeed. And as an inheritor I am here to tell you, the estate tax is not as much of a bogeyman as you've been led to believe.

According to the teabaggers, all the system does is take your wealth. The system also helped you make it, and few and far between are the times those who benefited from it recognize that.

A.