Friday Orchid Blogging (well, in lieu thereof)

Yes, I have more orchids in bloom to share, but thought today I'd share a photo I took on the plane heading to Chicago for Christmas. I didn't need to touch the photo up one bit. The sunset was THIS glorious as we flew over the city.

Read More......

ALERT: GOP congress to eviscerate congressional ethics laws on Tuesday

READ THIS AND TAKE ACTION

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reading this article on the front page of today's Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37521-2004Dec30.html?sub=AR

In a nutshell, Republican leaders in the House are planning on GUTTING the ethics rules governing their own members, for the most part because one of their own, Rep. Tom Delay, got caught doing a lot of nasty stuff. So in retaliation, they're changing the rules to make it next to impossible to file an ethics complaint in the future. Any complaint will be dropped, period, unless a majority of members on the committee in favor of it. Like that will ever happen.

But oh, it gets better. They also plan to change the rules so family members of congressmen can more easily accept gifts from lobbyists trying to influence the congressman in question. AND, they even want to permit congressmen to BRING A PARENT ON A CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION. Yes, now we're giving them perks for mom and dad. Wouldn't it be nice if all of our companies let us bring the folks on business trips to Europe, at the taxpayers' expense, no less.

This is absolutely outrageously disgusting what they are planning on doing. All the more so because this is the "values" party, and they're now trying to railroad new rules that will permit them to be less ethical. What a way to cast your first vote of the new Congress, and in the case of new members of Congress their first vote ever.

There are a few clear action steps that are needed:

1. I hear from good sources that the Dems in the House are terrified of taking on this issue full-blast as they don't want Tom Delay to get mad at them. Well, I'm through with playing nice, hoping the Republicans will throw us a few scraps while they lead us to the slaughterhouse.

Call Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, both Democratic leaders who need to grow a set of balls (or vaginas) and finally throw down the gauntlet on this outrageous behavior by the Republicans. What more do the Democrats need handed to them than this proposed vote on Tuesday? If this were the Dems planning this kind of vote, what do you think Newt Gingrich would do? He certainly wouldn't be sitting back issuing press releases and having the occasional press conference. He'd be plotting all out war to embarrass the hell out of the Democrats. It's time the Dems did the same. Call Pelosi and Hoyer and tell them it's about time the democrats started fighting back - demand that they go nuclear over this proposed change to the ethics rules this coming Tuesday. And it is irrelevant if you're from their state or not - they are the leaders of the Democratic party, tell them you're one angry Democrat and demand that your voice be heard, or we should throw them all out.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Phone (415) 556-4862, (202) 225-4965
Email: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov

Rep. Steny Hoyer(D-MD)
Phone (202) 225-4131 - Fax(202) 225-4300
Phone (301) 474-0119 - Fax (301) 474-4697
Phone (301) 843-1577 - Fax (301) 843-1331
Web form for email: http://www.hoyer.house.gov/feedback.cfm?campaign=hoyers&type;=Let%27s%20Talk

2. Then contact your own House member, Democrat or Republican, and let them have it. I'm serious, the only thing these people understand is pissed off constituents - I worked there, trust me, it gets their attention.

Use this zip-code locator to find your member of Congress. Call and email them today through Tuesday - fill their voice mail with messages over the weekend. Blast them over this issue. http://www.house.gov/htbin/zipfind

3. Call and email your local newspapers IMMEDIATELY over this issue, especially if you have a new member of Congress elected from your district. Will your congressman's first vote of the new congress, and possibly their career, be in favor of lowering their ethical standards? Make sure your local papers cover this issue - call the paper and ask for a reporter or editor covering the US Congress and talk to them about this issue. Trust me, if they get 20 or so calls from people, they'll write about the issue. Find some friends and have them call too (just look your papers up online for email and phone contact info, letters to the editor, etc.)

You can read more on this issue here:
http://www.citizensforethics.org/activities/20041216/

Feel free to copy this post and put it on your site, or to email this message to your friends. It's high time the Democrats fought back and stopped this outright theft of our government. Read More......

Reuters: Tsunami Adds to Belief in Animals' 'Sixth Sense'

This story from Reuters is amazing. The only living things that survived the tsunami were the wild animals. It's kinda eerie.

Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said Thursday.

Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.

"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department, said Wednesday.

Read More......

Can You Say "2008?"

Bush is belatedly sending a high-level delegation to southeast Asia to deal with the impending post-tsunamai disaster. Who is leading the team? According to the Today Show, it's Colin Powell and...Jeb Bush. JEB BUSH??!! What the hell is the governor of Florida doing heading out to southeast Asia to deal with an international disaster? My God, they're actually laying the groundwork for 2008. Not only was Bush's initial response deeply unChristian, his later response is deeply cynical and political.
Read More......

Late night open thread

Well, I even now have my email back online. Back to normal full-blogging strength tomorrow. JOHN Read More......

Evening open thread

All is well. My computers are both back online (even networked them myself this time). Man, I hate technology. How do people with no technical clue (i.e., mom) deal with this stuff? Read More......

The Unique Opportunity

This disaster in South East Asia is on such a massive scale that it should be a wake up call for all of the world. We have all been bogged down psychologically in terrorism; it has taken over the world psyche. We're fighting wars in the name of terrorism. We see pictures on our television screens of bombs and bodies, children with limbs blown off, grieving mothers on both sides of conflict. Humanity ripping at itself. It has taken over how we see each other as people and created even further distance.

This crisis presents an opportunity for the world to stand up and say that this moment - this disaster of such immense proportions - it is time for us all to join and work together to show our humanity and help. Really help. It's an opportunity for leadership both from nations, but also for grassroots on an international level.

It's not all that hard to imagine actually. It's a question of what kind of view of the world we want to have.

What the UN can do -- and repair it's tarnished reputation at the same time -- is to take a true leadership role. It can get its administrative act together and ensure that all nations in the world contribute. To bring the nations of the world together to do good even in the face of all of our disagreements, would be a step in a positive direction for all of us.

The media can end the salacious coverage of bodies and corpses and start talking about what can be done. If ever there were a time for activist journalism, now is the time. The media can show us how good we can be as a people when we try. They can tell the story of the America that is kind and generous. They can show the story of the UN working effectively to solve problems, bringing warring and distant peoples together in what binds us all as humans.

What can America do? It can step up both on the federal level, with an appropriate level of financial aid, and it can step up on a grassroots level, as we've done in the past. We can send our rescue teams abroad, raise money of travel and send our police and fire units that train in rescue abroad.

The long-term benefit of this is massive. Our nation has faced our own internal disasters and the lesson is already there. In the aftermath of hurricane Andrew in 1992, it was the nation coming together that sowed this response, ten years later, in a town like Homestead Florida - a celebration of thank you:

City officials plan to observe the 10th anniversary of Andrew's rampage with a "Celebrate Our Second Wind Music and Arts Festival," with bands, a motorcycle show and the flying of 100 kites. ...

"It's not really a celebration of the hurricane, but a celebration of our progress," said city spokesman Charles LaPradd. "One of the main things is to say thank you to everybody who helped us: the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, the little fire departments from the middle of nowhere that helped us rebuild."

Imagine what the peoples of South East Asia would think of the US if it brought to bear the riches of our nation in this time of such crisis? Sent our "little fire departments" from around the country to help these nations rebuild? Not just the federal government's response, but our grassroots response as well. Show this region of the world, a hotbed and breeding ground of terrorism, the America we all know is here.

What can you do? You can turn your New Year's Celebrations into fundraisers for relief and rebuilding efforts. There are over five million people who have been left homeless by this disaster. Take this time to do something on your own level other thn just sitting by the TV and watching it all unfold.

-- Rob in Baltimore

Read More......

Bush is not a good Christian

If President Bush wants to flaunt his Christianity, invoke it to defend his policies and use it to promote legislation like the anti-gay constitutional amendment, then it's fair game for us to consider just how good a Christian President Bush really is.

The devastating Tsunami this past weekend, and Bush's reaction to it, prove beyond a doubt that this man is hardly a good Christian.

Bush's first reaction on hearing of the devastation, as leader of the free world, should have been to immediately annonce that the US was taking the lead in coordinating disaster relief. When we've already spent over $200 billion on Iraq, we shouldn't have said we were committing $15m to the relief effort, we should have announced the creation of a billion dollar global fund and called on all the nations and private citizens of the earth to come together and help finance it. He should have called on all the liberal and conservative donors to both presidential campaigns, red state and blue state, to put aside their differences and donate to this worthy cause.

But he didn't.

Bush stayed on vacation and had a deputy press secretary, not even his real press secretary, answer questions on the disaster. Not until 5 days after the disaster struck, and after news reports indicated the death toll was approaching 100,000, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, not until after the Washington Post ran a story saying that Bush was being criticized for ignoring the humanitarian crisis did Bush finally speak publicly on this matter.

I return to the issue of Bush's Christianity. A good Christian would be mortified by the death and destruction in the East. Occuring just a day, ONE DAY, after Christmas, his heart would go out to the millions of lives affected by this tragedy. He'd demand his aides come up with an immediate Marshall Plan for helping Asia. He'd go on TV immediately to convey his condolences - not simply because it's the right thing to do, but also because we're dealing with a region of the world where such ceremony and attention to such public statements are given great weight. He'd do it not only because it's the right thing to do, but because the disaster has struck a region of the world with the largest Muslim population on the planet. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the WORLD. They have been the worst hit by this disaster.

Imagine the political and public relations impact of the United States coming to the rescue of the world's Muslims during our own high holiday.

Alas, it never happened.

It never happened because it's something a good Christian would do. It's something a good church, a good faith, would do. It's something that any decent human being, let alone a decent person of faith, would do. But it's not something that George Bush did, and it's not something that the religious right in America did. You didn't hear Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell organizing any telethons to help the dead and dying. You didn't hear the religious right demanding the White House get more involved to help the devastated. No. Hurricane Gay is a call to arms for the religious right and this president, but Tsunamis in Asia killing over 100,000 people? Not so much.

George Bush is a bad Christian and a bad president. And the religious right and their pseudo faith in God is right there along side him. One wonders if the reaction would have been different had the victims been European and Christian.

And white. Read More......

Late morning thread

Still working on the 'puter - post any interesting article you think I should link to. Read More......

Now the republicans want a "revote" in Washington state governor's race

Yeah, well, if "revotes" were the order of the day Al Gore would be president. So go Cheney yourself. Read More......

Late night open thread

Feel free to chat away, while I whine about my latest computer migraine.

Oh the joy of being me. Both my computers self-destructed tonight (yes, including the new VAIO), and I've just spent the past 6 hours trying to get them up and running. In the meantime, I lost tons of files - woo woo - and bent the ear of Kyle who runs AmIPatriotic.com (Kyle is one of the smartest, and nicest, computer wizes I know). Now my VAOI is stable, still not clear what went wrong (it just went into reboot overdrive, over and over again). And my W2k laptop is back, but now the screen resolution which should be around 1048 x 800 or so, is stuck at 600 x 480 (and when I go into the properties and try to change the resolution, it only offers 800 x 600 as the highest res, and even then it won't stick to that res). Trying to figure why my once great resolution screen is stuck at nil. Then we move on to figuring out why my wireless card won't work.

Oh, technology is a joy. Read More......

Sore Loserman in Washington state

Whiny Republican loser in state governor's race won't concede. Read More......

May their children be the first to be drafted

The letters the founder of USA Today got when he suggested that it would be good to get our troops home sooner rather than later:

George Wyman: “Mr. Neuharth is simply UnAmerican.”

Jeffrey A. Norris: “Cowards and traitors like Al Neuharth want all the comforts they know and enjoy, without a sacrifice to buy it.”

Frank Butash, West Hartford, CT.: “Apparently it's easier to run with jackals than to stand up for your country when it needs support.”

Kenneth Genest: “They had two of these in World War 2. One was called Tokyo Rose and the other Axis Sally. Their job was to discourage the American soldiers. I see they have one now at USA Today.”

Walter Scott. Jr.: “You simply suck! Merry Christmas.”

Jerry Martin, San Francisco, CA.: “Yet another self-defeating fool with a large bank account shoots himself in the foot. Their dissent equals treason. The terrorists got him just like all the other rich liberals who side against our victory. They forget that wars end, and then the country takes stock of who was where. I encourage the fool to keep mouthing against our victory over the Muslim jihad, he'll pay the social price in the end.”

T. Conway: “Mr. Neuharth has made a serious business mistake. Watch the circulation drop over the next year. The Los Angeles Times experienced the same drop after they attacked Gov. Schwarzenegger...some never learn. P.S. What side did Mr. Neuharth fight for in WW II?”

Peter Kessler: “And as for the good war, WW II, the lefties were four-square for that one. Yes sir, they were saving the USSR, Stalin and Communism. It's sad we didn't join Hitler until he wiped out the USSR. Alger Hiss and the Uptown Daily Worker (The New York Times) be damned. I see you've joined the club. Well, you're probably a founding member.”

Joe McBride, Fort Dodge, Iowa: “Mr. Neuharth, thanks to you and your ignorance the terrorists are probably booking their flights to the U.S. now! If we pull out of Iraq with the job unfinished the terrorists will be bombing McDonalds, and blowing up malls and schools here, killing our innocent men, women and children.”

Craig Wood, Waianae, Hawaii: “Today's press undermines our troops and supports our enemies. They convince parents that supporting your President is dangerous. They concentrate their ire on any fight that involves the United States and ignore all others. Like the sex scandal in the Congo with United Nations forces…. But, let some Army private put panties on an Iraqi's head and all hell brakes loose….I hope that the people of the United States will ignore or, at least, recognize the agenda of those that choose our enemies over our fine military.”

Duggan Flanakin, Austin, Texas: “Neuharth should be tried for treason along with a lot of other blowhards who should be spending their energies condemning the barbarism of our enemies, the same people who destroyed the Twin Towers. Evidence is pouring in that Saddam financed Al Qaeda with Oil for Food money, and that puts Kofe Annan into the line of fire as well for blame for September 11th. “

Boots Harvey, Brentwood, CA: “One must recall that Churchill had to put up with the likes of Lord Haw-Haw, William Joyce, and his propaganda during WWII. In the end William Joyce was executed for giving aid and comfort to the enemy during war time. Would that the same fate befall Al Neuharth!”

Mel Gibbs: “The Patriot Act will put both of you (Al Neuharth and Greg Mitchell) on trial for treason and convict and execute both of you as traitors for running these stories in a time of war and it should be done on TV for other communist traitors like you two to know we mean business. This is war and you should be put in prison NOW for talking like this. Who the hell do you people think you are? You give aid and comfort to our enemies and aid them in murdering our proud soldiers. You people are a disgrace to America. Your families should be put in prison with you, then be made to leave and move to the Middle East ...You two guys are evil bastards…This is a great Christian nation and god wants us to lead the world out of darkness with great leaders like President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Communists like Al and Greg will soon be in prison and on death row for your ugly papers. We won the election and now you are mad. We own America and all the rights, you people are trash, go back to Russia and Africa and take your friends with before we put you on death row after a fair trial.”

Ah, red state voters. Somehow calling them fascists doesn't sound so extreme anymore. (Courtesy of Atrios) Read More......

Asian Disaster Toll Could Top 100,000

Reuters. Read More......

US officials screw Americans caught in Tsunami - Ah, those Bush family values

US officials screw Americans caught in Tsunami.

That was not the case with the U.S. government, Wachs told her mother. It took the couple three hours, she said, to find the officials from the American consulate, who were in the VIP lounge.

Because they had lost all their possessions, including their documentation, they had to have new passports issued.

But the U.S. officials demanded payment to take the passport pictures, Helen Wachs said.

The couple had managed to hold on to their ATM card, so they paid for the photos and helped other Americans who did not have any money get their pictures taken and buy food, Helen Wachs said.

"She was really very surprised" that the government did so little to ease their ordeal, she said.

In an e-mailed response from the State Department, the chief of American Citizen Services said the embassy usually meets and greets every flight personally, but acknowledged there had been confusion the first night in setting up the operation.

Read More......

Death toll nears 77,000

I've run out of superlatives. Read More......

Wednesday open thread

Blah. Read More......

SF Judge gets all anti-gay on us

This is really bizarre. The judge in SF deciding the marriage lawsuit has allowed the bad guys to put evidence in the record that gays have a "mental disorder" and that gays can be "cured." But he now won't allow the good guys to put evidence in the record challenging those outright lies. (The mental disorder thing was debunked over 30 years ago, and the "cure" thing, well, lot of evidence out there - not.) The danger, according to the article, is that the appellate court CAN USE this evidence in the record to decide the case against us. So it's rather important to challenge these lies.

And another thing, where the hell do the anti-gay bigots get off accusing us of being mentally disordered? Do they think blacks and Jews are mentally disordered as well? Oh no, there'd be a public outcry if they said that, but when they attack gays, it's ho hum time in media land. And apparently in judge-land as well. Read More......

Bush Holds Press Conference on Disaster - Still Clueless

DEATH TOLL RISES TO 80,000
Bush Administration Response? Equivalent of Five Hours Spending in Iraq

After pressure, George Bush both increased aid and went on national television to talk about the human crisis in South East Asia. It took him three days to even start talking about it.

At a time when our nation has an opportunity to take a leadership role in the world, George Bush continues to be dragged kicking and screaming into engaging on this issue. Three days to respond seems reasonable to you? Three days was how long it took the bodies of the dead to decay so badly officials are now burying thousands in anonymous mass graves.

To continue putting Bush's monetary response in perspective, $35 million is what George Bush spends in Iraq in FIVE HOURS. As they say, money talks, bullshit walks. The rest of the world is watching, and George Bush has told everyone in the world how little a priority he puts on this human disaster. Read More......

New video of the Tsunami

Again, Jesus. Read More......

Death toll now at 63,114

Jesus Christ. Read More......

Bush continues vacation while over 50,000 die

Now that's the true meaning of Christmas. Watch 50,000 people die and don't lift a finger to help because you're too busy enjoying Christmas at your ranch to get involved. My favorite line in the whole story is Bush's aides CRITICIZING CLINTON in an effort to defend Bush being AWOL throughout this monumental disaster. Yes, the world has suffered one of its biggest disasters EVER and Bush is more worried about Bill Clinton. Read More......

Tuesday night open thread

Back in DC. Sigh. Read More......

Beautiful essay about Martin Luther King and what he'd have to say about gay civil rights

A really beautiful essay. With some history I had no idea about, or at least had only heard inklings of. One of MLK's top advisers was "a known homosexual." And in spite of pressure from just about everyone to drop the "homosexual," King stood by him, and kept him as a top adviser. Read this article. (Thanks to Larry Yates for bringing this to my attention in the comments to another post.)

The sight of the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., standing at the gravesite of her father with thousands of demonstrators to denounce gay marriage was painful and insulting. The Rev. Bernice King and the march organizers deliberately chose King's gravesite to imply that King might well have stood with her and them in their protest. Given her father's relentless and uncompromising battle against discrimination during his life, it defies belief that he would back an anti-gay campaign....

King risked much to work with and defend Rustin during the tumultuous battles of the civil rights era. He valued him as an ally and a major player in the struggle. He also believed that deeply embodied in the civil rights fight was a person's right to be whom and what he was. While King may have praised his daughter for having the courage and conviction to march for her beliefs, bigotry is still bigotry, whether it's racial or sexual preference. He would not have marched by her side.

Read More......

Born-Agains not so holy after all

Barna research's findings on "born agains":

Born again adults who have been married are just as likely as non-born-again adults who have been married to eventually become divorced. Because the vast majority of born again marriages occurred after the partners had accepted Christ as their savior, it appears that their connection to Christ makes less difference in the durability of people’s marriages than many people might expect.

Evangelical Christians are just 7% of the national population and less than 10% of those who consider themselves to be Christian.

Born again Christians and adults who attend Christian churches are more likely than atheists, agnostics, and adherents of non-Christian faiths to buy lottery tickets.

So they aren't nearly as many as they claim (7% puts them at around the same number as gays, in my book). They don't even defend THEIR OWN marriages. And they're more likely to gamble with the lotto, which ironically, THEY above any other Christians (I believe) consider a grave sin. That means they're hypocrites, or at the very least, they don't adhere to Jerry Falwell's version of being an evangelical Christian. Read More......

Kerry sucked

It's about time someone said it. While the Democratic party is only SLOWLY beginning to discuss "what went wrong," there has yet to be a realization that there was a party-wide breakdown this past year. It wasn't just "the gays," but the anti-gun folks, the women's group, the enviros and everybody else dropped the ball. At least in those communities, the recriminations are slowly starting to begin (in the gay community, they've begun big time).

But what hasn't begun to any appreciable level is the discussion of what share of the blame Kerry has for our loss in November? Yes, some folks have discussed it in this forum, etc., but as far as national politics goes, articles in the paper, etc., there is a definite dearth of discussion about Kerry's role in our downfall. And I want to know why.

As for my part, here's what I see as the symptoms of the problem:
- Over the past year - hell, over the past 3 years since Sept 11 - progressives, liberals, Democrats, whatever, have been afraid to fight back hard. The anti-gun folks, the women's groups, the enviros, the Democratic party, and John Kerry did not play hardball with the GOP.

Anyone remember how Daschle responded to Bush's preposterous plan for a $1.6 trillion tax cut (pre-Sept 11) by counter-offering a $1.3 trillion tax cut? Ooh, how brave of him - and this when Bush was falling in popularity and the public was overwhelming opposed to additional tax cuts. That's called a lack of balls and a lack of vision as to who we really are as a party.

As for Kerry, he seems like a nice man, but he didn't fight back. He kept trying to win this election based on the facts, based on the issues. If he only got his "plan" out to the American public they'd realize he was the better man and vote for him. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. You have to present your plan, and then fight like a bastard to destroy your opponent. Bush understood this, Kerry did not.

Now let's talk about Kerry's waffling. Yes, Virginia, Kerry was a waffler. From gay issues to abortion to the war in Iraq, John Kerry had no idea who he wanted to be. And it showed. Everyone I knew was able to present a more coherent explanation of Kerry's position on Iraq than John Kerry himself. Whether the man was a waffler in life, or simply became a waffler in trying to appease the American people, he didn't sound like he had any real opinions at all about any of these topics, and that troubled me, and it CLEARLY troubled the American people.

Face it. He was a shitty candidate. My question is why it's ok to talk about everyone else who screwed up but not Kerry? Read More......

No honeymoon for Georgie

Boo hoo. Apparently the American pubic isn't very enchanted with King George. Yeah, well too bad. You voted for him. Can't wait to see him crash and burn for the next four years. If the Dems play their cards right - and they won't - Bush could blacken the name of Republicanism (and Reaganism) for years to come. But like I said, the Dems - the current crop of Dems - won't have a clue how to take advantage of this. Read More......

Tuesday open thread

Wow. 44,000. Puts things in perspective. As someone mentioned in the comments to another post, how long do we think it will take before Falwell notes that the Tsunami "chose" to kill mostly Muslims at Christmas? Read More......

Pathetic Bush Administration Response to Tsunami Disaster

DEATH TOLL RISES TO 44,000
Bush Administration Response? $15 million

How Christian is George W. Bush? Evidently not very. In one of the largest natural disasters in recent years, the Bush administration response of $15 million is the equivalent of what George Bush spends in Iraq in TWO HOURS. That's right, at $177 million a day in Iraq, $15 million is a pittance. Those are great Red State Values.

What would Jesus do? I expect that he would have spent more time and money trying to help people in a natural disaster than the pathetic response the Bush administration has provided.

Democrats should be on television right now calling on the Bush administration to do right in this human disaster. That's what I call Blue State Values. Read More......

Expected GOP party leader Ken "I'm afraid to say I'm hetero" Mehlman congratulates new openly-gay head of DC GOP

(Did you think I'd forget Mehlman Mondays?)

Apparently Ken has known the openly-gay new head of the GOP in DC for "several years." From the stories I've heard, Ken seems very comfortable with gay men, and seems very welcoming of gay people at the highest levels of the GOP. Funny that with such a high comfort level around openly-gay Republican politicos Ken still refuses to publicly comment on his own sexual orientation, going so far as to refuse to say on-the-record if he's even straight.

Wonder how the radical right feels about Ken's ongoing outreach to the homer-sexuals? Read More......

One of these things is not like the others

Republicans like free and fair elections...and like counting all the votes...in other countries:

Powell Calls Re-Run Election an 'Historic Moment' for Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says Sunday's re-run presidential election in Ukraine appears to have been free and fair, and that it is an "historic moment" for that country....But Mr. Powell said Sunday's re-run election, ordered by the Ukrainian Supreme Court after the initial November 21 vote marred by fraud charges, had been conducted more transparently, with fewer reports of pressure on voters and with more balanced media coverage.

He said Ukrainians can "truly be proud of this achievement" and urged them to set aside the divisions of the campaign and work together.

"We congratulate Ukrainians for the courage they displayed in standing up for their democratic rights," he said.

Gregoire Wins Hand Recount, Rossi Won't Concede

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Democrat Christine Gregoire says the race is over and she's ready to get down to work as Washington's next governor.

Republican Dino Rossi says Washington has neither a clean election nor a legitimate governor. He refuses to concede. Republicans are asking counties to take one last look at ballots that the GOP says should be included now in light of court decisions.

Blackwell Doesn't Want To Be Interviewed In Vote Challenge

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has requested a protective order to prevent him from being interviewed as part of an unusual court challenge of the presidential vote.

Blackwell, in a court filing, says he's not required to be interviewed by lawyers as a high-ranking public official, and accused the voters challenging the results of "frivolous conduct" and abusive and unnecessary requests of elections officials around the state.

About 40 people who voted for president Nov. 2 have challenged the election results with the Ohio Supreme Court. The voters cite irregularities including long lines, a shortage of voting machines in minority precincts and problems with computer equipment.

Read More......

Late afternoon open thread

Anything interesting happen while I was out? Read More......

Yushchenko Wins in Ukraine

So, this is what happens in developing democracies when elections are stolen. The people rise up, and justice eventually prevails. Bloomberg is reporting that Yushchenko won by a pretty good margin....a mandate margin even.

Viktor Yushchenko claimed victory today in the rerun of Ukraine's presidential election, pledging to end ``criminal power'' in the former Soviet state. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych vowed to appeal the vote count.

Yushchenko took 52 percent to Yanukovych's 44 percent, the Central Election Committee said, with 99.9 percent of votes counted. Yanukovych said he would ``never recognize'' the results, while European observers said the election was fair.

Read More......

Saint Reggie screws over low-income elementary school

Gosh, and he seemed like such a nice religious right bigot guy.

From ESPN:

A low-income elementary school is still waiting for a $50,000 donation promised five years ago by NFL star Reggie White to create a college tuition fund for 85 students.

"I'm really disappointed," Harrington Elementary Principal Sally Edwards said this week. "I think it's sad that we promised something and we didn't deliver."

White made the pledge in 1998 when his team, the Green Bay Packers, was in Denver for a preseason game against the Broncos. He gave a large cardboard mock-up of check, made out to Harrington Elementary, to the Rev. Leon Kelly, an anti-gang activist who steered White to the school.

Read More......

Did Rummy say Flight 93 was shot down over Pennsylvania?

Weird. Read More......

22,000 Dead v. Reggie White: What's News?

Staying in watching too much t.v. because the temp. outside is 14.

I'm having a hard time seeing how the death and deification of Reggie White merits as much air time as the tsunami that killed 22,000 people. And, is CNN ever going to mention White's hate-filled past?

And, I know traveling this Christmas was rough for a lot of people. Getting stuck in an airport really blows. But, I still have to think that a tsunami wiping out your village makes for a rougher holiday. Read More......

When trolls attack...

First off, happy holidays to all. I've been up in Boston on dial-up for the last few days, so not so much by way of posts for me. We got nearly a foot of snow last night and I'm going out to play. :)

Before I do, I wanted to note an observation I had reading some of the comments this morning. We've had plenty of debates back and forth whether to ban trolls, ignore trolls, encourage people not to feed the trolls, etc. Personally, I find trolls useful. They are a good meter of how good my argument is based on how many trolls post to the thread.

If you haven't noticed, there is a scale of troll agitation:

1) Snarky - A red state themed nickname when they post
2) Scared - You're going to lose every election if you talk that way, you're doing yourself more harm than good, etc.
3) Terrified - So many typos I can tell the troll realizes that when enough people hear this, their world is coming to an end

Number one, snarky. Sometimes these trolls are even funny. Number three, terrified, I get such a laugh out of these I enjoy it all the more.

Number two is a bit more of a debatable case. Like I'm going to take advice from a troll? Are you kidding me? Like you're even giving me advice out of the goodness of your blackened, frosty heart? Of course I'm not, nor does the troll expect me to. The purpose of the "scared" post is simply to attempt to demoralize the opposition. It's plain as day psych ops.

Personally, I get quite a kick out of the "scared" posts. However, I find that they bring out the worst in otherwise great posters on our side. So, open discussion, what to do with the trolls in the New Year? Keep them around? Ban them back to the hell from whence they came? What do you think? Read More......

Over 14,000 killed in giant tsunami

Jesus. Read More......

Evening open thread

Man, I just saw a mouse. I don't think I've ever seen a mouse in a house before. It freaked me out. Cute. But freaky. It's 1 AM. I really don't need to see strange things moving in the bathroom at this hour. Ok, going to bed now. Mwaaaaaaaaa...

Chat. Read More......

What's Wrong with the Democrats?

I had Christmas dinner with the family of two of my very best friends, Emily and Judy, yesterday. Joining us were two great women, Catherine and Cecilia, who are sisters. Catherine is 90, Cecilia is 86. The two of them knew more about politics than most people. They never miss The New York Times and were fascinated by the Internet.

During dinner, Catherine looked at us and asked with some frustration, "What's wrong with the Democrats?" It's a very good question a lot of people are trying to answer. Catherine said she needed some answers. At 90, she wasn't sure how many more years she could wait for to find out.

So while you're hopefully enjoying the holidays -- give Catherine an answer.

What's wrong with the Democrats and how can they win again?

Read More......

Why does the NFL Commissioner think bigotry against Asians, Latinos and gays is good for kids?

UPDATE: I wouldn't mind a few links from your various blogs, etc., to these Reggie White quotes. They'll help these posts rise higher in Google and hopefully some people will read the WHOLE story of Reggie White when searching on him in the next few days.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. "Equally as impressive as [Reggie White's] achievements on the field was the positive impact he made off the field and the way he served as a positive influence on so many young people." - ABC News/AP

Isn't that sweet, now we're whitewashing bigots. I like how the story makes a brief mention of the controversy, then says White apologized, when in fact, he stuck by his words. Read More......

Here's what Reggie had to say about Latinos and Asians

More Aryan theories from Reggie White, now-deceased religious right spokesman (they used White in their "ex-gay" ads):

When I look at the history of America, and particularly the history of slavery, one of the main reasons that Africans were enslaved was because of economics and skin color.

Now, let me explain what I'm talking about. During the time that the New World was to be built, the Europeans had to make a decision whether they were going to enslave their own. They couldn't enslave their own because their own could assimilate. They couldn't enslave the Indians because the Indians knew the territory, and the Indians knew how to sneak up on people. But the only people they could enslave was the Africans because of their skin color. We couldn't assimilate, and because of our skin color if we escaped, we were sent back to our plantations pretty much....

Why did God create us differently? Why did God make me black and you white? Why did God make the next guy Korean and the next guy Asian and the other guy Hispanic? Why did God create the Indians?

Well, it's interesting to me to know why now. When you look at the black race, black people are very gifted in what we call worship and celebration. A lot of us like to dance, and if you go to black churches, you see people jumping up and down, because they really get into it.

White people were blessed with the gift of structure and organization. You guys do a good job of building businesses and things of that nature and you know how to tap into money pretty much better than a lot of people do around the world.

Hispanics are gifted in family structure. You can see a Hispanic person and they can put 20 or 30 people in one home. They were gifted in the family structure.

When you look at the Asians, the Asian is very gifted in creation, creativity and inventions. If you go to Japan or any Asian country, they can turn a television into a watch. They're very creative. And you look at the Indians, they have been very gifted in the spirituality.

When you put all of that together, guess what it makes. It forms a complete image of God.

No, Reggie, when you put it all together it forms a complete picture of a bigot.

PS Any of you out there Asian? Cuz I'd love one of them watch TVs. Read More......

Raging homophobe and bigot Reggie White dead at 43

Good riddance. The man was a raging anti-gay, anti-Asian and anti-Latino bigot. And of course the religious right embraced him immediately as one of their own.

Let me share a little of what this intolerance, prejudiced ass had to say:

Gays are like liars and cheaters

" 'Homosexuality is a decision, it's not a race,' White said. 'People from all different ethnic backgrounds live in this lifestyle. But people from all different ethnic backgrounds also are liars and cheaters and malicious and back-stabbing.' " - Reggie White, Associated Press, March 25, 1998.

Gays hurt children, kill our people

"White said he stands by his remarks regarding gays. `I am going to speak the truth and I am going to speak out against things that's hurting our children, that's killing off our people,' White said. `If people think that's a contradiction and that's hate, they need to take them up with God, not with Reggie White.'" Associated Press, April 26, 1998, quoting White's 20/20 interview.

Gays are like backstabbers and malicious people

PEGGY WEHMEYER of ABC's 20/20: "Just last week, Reggie White and his wife, Sara, met us for an exclusive interview. White told us he was sorry if he offended anyone, but he wasn’t backing down one inch. (on camera) Are you saying there that homosexuals are like liars, cheaters, backstabbers and malicious people?"
REGGIE WHITE "Yes." - ABC's 20/20, April 27, 1998.

"Sodomite community"

"Reggie White's wife said CBS was `'too scared'' to hire her husband as a football commentator because of his controversial speech before the Wisconsin State Assembly. White, the Green Bay Packers defensive lineman who retired and unretired last week, used ethnic stereotypes and called homosexuality `'one of the biggest sins'' in the Bible in his remarks last month. 'They were too scared of the Sodomite community is what they said,' Sara White told ABC's '20/20'." - ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 26, 1998

Gays responsible for STDs

"America is not big enough to shake her fist in the face of a holy God and get away with it, and as I read this I want to explain something. I'm going to read this and then I want to explain something. As America has permitted homosexuality to establish itself as an alternate lifestyle, it is also reeling from the frightening spread of sexually transmitted disease. Sin begets its own consequence, both on individuals and nations."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Homosexuality one of the biggest sins

"Let me explain something when I'm talking about sin, and I'm talking about all sin. One of the biggest ones that has been talked about that has really become a debate in America is homosexuality."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Gays have problems

"Now, I believe that one of the reasons that Jesus was accused of being a homosexual is because he spent time with homosexuals. I've often had people ask me, would you allow a homosexual to be your friend. Yes, I will. And the reason I will is because I know that that person has problems, and if I can minister to those problems, I will."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Being gay compared to lying, gays hurt nation

"But the Bible strictly speaks against it, and because the Bible speaks against it, we allow rampant sin including homosexuality and lying, and to me lying is just as bad as homosexuality, we've allowed this sin to run rampant in our nation, and because it has run rampant in our nation, our nation is in the condition it is today."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Offended that gays say deserve rights

"Sometimes when people talk about this sin they've been accused of being racist. I'm offended that homosexuals will say that homosexuals deserve rights. Any man in America deserves rights, but homosexuals are trying to compare their plight with the plight of black men or black people. In the process of history, homosexuals have never been castrated, millions of them never died. Homosexuality is a decision. It's not a race."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Read More......

Powell advised Bush to add more troops to Iraq

Blah blah blah. The policy is a disaster, Bush keeps lying about it, and now he's got four years to figure out how he's going to get us out before he's forced to reinstate the draft. One of those rare moments - though increasingly common moments - where I'm glad Bush won. This is his disaster. Let's see if he's Time's Man of the Year after he kills ten thousand Americans. Read More......

Gay marriage bans may be planned in 15 more states

Take the mo-fos on, now. If our groups can't do it right and beat the bejeesus out of them, then let's find someone who can. Read More......

Christmas hangover open thread

Not a real hangover (though perhaps for you, it is). We had perhaps the archetypal blue-state American Christmas yesterday. The nephews were playing their PlayStation 2, some new WWE wrestling game, and the match was appropriately between Joe Snuka and Jesus. Unfortunately, Jesus was getting his ass whooped (he was a lot skinnier than Joe, though he had an awesome kick-punch).

The funny thing is, I bet red-state kids play kick-box Jesus as well. Read More......

Apparently the only good Muslim isn't even a dead Muslim in Tennessee

Oops, forgot the link - please, don't blog and drive.

Yes, forget building a Mosque, and even a cemetery goes too far. Haven't we turned into a lovely country? Read More......

Hardrock and Coco and Joe

If you grew up in the Chicago area in the 60s (and perhaps even 50s), these are the Christmas cartoons you grew up with. Hardrock and Coco and Joe, and then Suzy Snowflake. Thanks to UrbanLenny for posting the link to these. Wow. This was IT when we were kids - we scoured the morning shows just WAITING for them to show these. Couldn't get enough of 'em. Enjoy.

Oh my, I just saw they have Frosty the Snowman too - check out how these kids are dancing! Read More......

I haven't read any news all day

And it's been a good thing. Great Christmas with the family, just played Scrabble, and now it's snowing (actually we woke up with about a quarter of an inch of snow on the ground, just enough to cover everything nicely). It's enough to make you forget all the bad stuff out there, at least for a day.

Back to the bad stuff manana. Read More......

Merry Christmas open thread :-)

Obviously, don't expect a lot of blogging today :-)

And yes, I was baking Christmas cookies today with the nieces and nephews. It's a tradition mom started with us nearly 50 years ago (I have older siblings), and I've continued with the kids (though mom's still around). We bake cookies using the old recipe, cut them out in shapes of Christmas trees, Santas, stars, bells, and gingerbread men (using the nearly 50 year old cookie cutters), we decorate the cookies with colored sugar, sprinkles, and chocolate chips, then we hang the cookies on the tree. I know, sounds weird hanging them on the tree and all, but the recipe works - the cookies don't go bad, and they're really quite adorable on the tree. You can eat 'em a few weeks later and they're still great.

Any holiday traditions in your families? Feel free to chime in about other non-Christian goings on. Read More......