Ack! Ack! Ack!

I found this out from TPM:

On Friday, nine female Senators, including Olympia Snowe (R-ME), sent a letter to chair of the Appropriations Committee Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), requesting that the language of the clause be changed and protesting the fact that the Federal Refusal Clause had not been discussed in committee, nor had it been put to a vote on the Senate floor. According to the women Senators, the clause, sponsored by Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL), would “allow a broad range of health-care companies refuse to comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations pertaining to abortion services. Should this provision become law, federal, state, or local governments may no longer require any institutional or individual health-care provider to provide, pay for, or refer abortion services. This will mean that medical providers in hospitals and clinics across the country will likely be victims of demonstrations and intimidation as this provisions allows that they be forbidden from providing abortion care to women who need it, and also to deny women referrals to another provider.”

Moreover, according to the women Senators, the provision “will interfere with the authority of Attorneys General to reject, approve, or impose terms on the sale or transfer of asset by nonprofit health entities as under current law. For example, an attorney General could no longer reject a merger proposal on the grounds that the result would be diminished community access to full reproductive health services.”

Congress Passes "Back-Door" Abortion Gag Rule

Ohio recount - it's on, sucka!

can't say too much for fear power will go out - but here:

Howard Fineman, chief political correspondent of Newsweek and since the days of our old The Big Show an MSNBC analyst, summed up the exact inexactitude of Kerry and the Democrats about Ohio, on the Monday Countdown. “They keep saying these little things designed to make clear, at least to their supporters and the whole blogosphere out there, that they take the possibility (of a Kerry victory) and the need for a recount seriously.”

Fineman put it in terms that the mainstream can’t ignore. He told me he’d talked to Ohio’s Mr. Blackwell earlier in the evening. “There in fact will be a recount,” Howard said with a sigh that encapsulated all of the Florida 2000 Experience. “We will be talking about chads once again.”

with my emphasis

Hanging Chads and Hanging Participles (Keith Olbermann)

Thoughts somewhat related to Clinton

A while ago, on our way back to Texas from Minnesota, we drove through Missouri and Arkansas. We ate dinner at The Kettle in Hope, AR and my parents took a picture (although we can't find it) of my sister and I standing alongside the sign at the Kettle which read: "Welcome to Hope, Brithplace(sic) of Bill Clinton". This was back in 94? I think. Part of the reason we went through Missouri was to check out Westminster College, because I thought it might be the school for me (it wasn't).

Another random semi-related-to-Clinton memory for me was when the college choir I was in visited Little Rock. It seemed that every home-stay we had was related to Clinton somehow. The home-stay I had was with a woman whose sister was working with Clinton in DC. Her daughter had a letter from Barbra Streisand with an autographed picture framed up on the wall, because apparently her sister told Barbra how much she loved Yentl. I kid you not.

I remember being surprised at how pretty Little Rock was. It was not at all what I expected. But I have a feeling Austin isn't like a lot of people expect, either.

Hugo's Thoughts on Clinton

voting update

Isn't this over already? Well, no. Keith Olbermann is the only big-media-type person I know of who is keeping an eye on vote-counting and the electronic voting conundrums. His take on yesterday's press conference:

And they say that when you calculate all that, you are forced to conclude that compared to the Florida counties that used paper ballots, the ones that used electronic voting machines were much more likely to show “excessive votes” for Mr. Bush, and that the statistical odds of this happening organically are less than one in 1,000.

They also say that these “excessives” occurred most prominently in counties where Senator Kerry beat the President most handily. In the Democratic bastion of Broward, where Kerry won by roughly 105,000, they suggest the touch-screens “gave” the President 72,000 more votes than statistical consistency should have allowed. In Miami-Dade (Kerry by 55,000) they saw 19,300 more votes for Bush than expected. In Palm Beach (Kerry by 115,000) they claim Bush got 50,000 more votes than possible.

Hout and his research team consistently insisted they were not alleging that voting was rigged, nor even that what they’ve found actually affected the direction of Florida’s 27 Electoral Votes. They point out that in a worst-case scenario, they see 260,000 “excessives” - and Bush took the state by 350,000 votes. But they insist that based on Florida’s voting patterns in 1996 and 2000, the margin cannot be explained by successful get-out-the-vote campaigns, or income variables, or anything but something rotten in the touch screens.

All I know is what I don't read in the papers (Keith Olbermann) (with my emphasis)

This Year's National Book Awards

The only fiction nominee I was able to read this year was Ideas of Heaven, which I didn't care much for. I might have to check out the winner this year (The News From Paraguay).

Last night, Judy Blume was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. I didn't realize that she was "Named this year by the American Library Association as one of the most censored writer[sic] of the last 15 years". I know that she is often on the challenged books list for such works as Are you There, God? It's Me, Margaret. I was raised on her books. My mom even gave me a Judy Blume diary when I was much younger. I wonder whatever happened to it - I certainly didn't fill it up.

The New York Times > Books > South America Epic Wins the National Book Award

I-69 is too risque

“Every time I have been out in the public with an ‘I-69’ button on my lapel, teenagers point and snicker at it. I have had many ask me if they can have my button. I believe it is time to change the name of the highway. It is the moral thing to do.”

You can't make this stuff up, people. Apparently I fell for a hoax (my first one!) - Hostettler: I-69 Name Change a Hoax

Burnt Orange Report: More Jesusland Prudishness

Wal-freakin-Mart

Yesterday I read this article from the NYTimes Magazine about how DVD sales impact the movie industry, and WalMart's name came up.

Over the past few years, a handful of big chains have assumed a near-cartel on retail DVD sales; last year, Best Buy, Target, Costco, Sam's Club, Circuit City and Blockbuster together sold about 42 percent of the discs in the United States. And then there's Wal-Mart. One axiom of the DVD business seems to be that no one discusses Wal-Mart's influence or its negotiating tactics. One Hollywood studio agreed to talk with me as long as we wouldn't broach the subject of Wal-Mart; two other studios stopped speaking with me altogether once the subject of retail relations came up. Wal-Mart itself, which has recently touted its willingness to talk to the press in an effort to repair its image, avoided phone contact and communicated through a series of e-mail messages, its spokesmen claiming that they would like to talk, but that my deadline prevented them from doing so. I offered to extend my deadline. My public-relations contact soon wrote to make it clear that cooperating with me about DVD's would be impossible.

Wal-Mart's huge market share and desire for privacy almost certainly go together. At the moment, according to Tom Adams, the Arkansas-based chain alone controls about 22 percent of the overall DVD market in the United States and up to 40 percent on any one hit title. "They have enormous power," Adams said. "They've got the locations, the traffic, the customers. Therefore, how a title does depends on them." Mike Dunn at Fox agreed in large part with this assessment. I asked him whether a film could succeed if it didn't hit big at Wal-Mart. "Not a big film, no," he said. Yet he does believe that a smaller title, for instance one done by Fox's Searchlight division (its most recent release was "I Huckabees"), could succeed through Amazon.

Today I went to Radmila's site and she has blogged about WalMart also. I think this is a sign I need to post my links about WalMart (and why not to shop there):

I guess my WalMart boycott will never come to an end. . . - April 04
The WalMart You Don't Know
and my favorite WalMart blog, Always Low Prices, Always: The Best and Worst about WalMart

Please don't shop there, okay? Thanks.

update: Last night's ep of Frontline was about WalMart. I recorded it b/c I had to watch the Amazing Race. If I can remember to, I'll post on it after I watch it.

Frontline: Is WalMart good for America?

Tom Tomorrow's "Out of touch"

See the toon here.

Also worth viewing - Ann Telnaes' Daily cartoon today.

PC(USA) and Israel, vol. 3

This is my third post on the topic. My dad e-mailed me a link to this article about the Presbyterian Church (USA) headquarters in Louisville receiving a threatening letter.

The handwritten letter, received Wednesday at the church's Louisville headquarters, threatened to set churches on fire while people were inside in retaliation for "anti-Israel and anti-Jewish attitudes," Jerry L. Van Marter, director of the Presbyterian news service, said Saturday.

Links to my previous posts:

B'nai B'rith and Presbyterians - Oct. 2004
Presbyterian Church USA and Israel - Aug. 2004

The official PCUSA news release has more information. I find this all very disturbing - not only as a Presbyterian, but as a concerned citizen. All because the church is looking into removing financial backing from "select companies that profit from sales of products or services that cause harm to Palestinians or Israelis or both." Sheesh.

opinion column on my desk currently

My boss cut this column out of yesterday's paper and it has stayed on my desk. I'm going to post about it here so I can put it in the recycle bin now.

Political reality rudely interrupted my dreams for America

Veteran's Day

I consider the veterans in my life today. My grandfather who served in the Navy during World War II, my other grandfather who served as an MP in San Francisco during WWII, and my cousin currently serving in Iraq.

The last time I talked to my father's father, he was very reminiscent with me. Before this, I didn't really know a whole lot about him. He told me that he joined the Navy for the GI Bill and worked with ammunition storage. He lost a good deal of his hearing because of it. After his service was up, he was able to go to university and become an engineer.

My mother's father has been dead for over ten years now. I don't really know much about his service. I know he served in San Francisco as an MP because there is a certificate regarding his service in the smallest room of my grandmother's house. He eventually came back to North Texas to work at General Cable and raise cattle on the side.

My cousin is my age. He is my father's oldest sister's son. He lived in Florida for most of his life, so I am not as close to him as my other cousins. He joined the military after high school and went to the language school in San Diego. He studied Arabic. He got married my sophomore year in college, his wife had a baby my junior year, and he was sent to Iraq for a period that same year, I believe. He came back and served at Ft. Hood for a while. His service was almost up when he was sent to Iraq early this year. As far as I know, he is still around, but I wonder every time I hear of military deaths over there. The reason I have the "Books for Soldiers" button on the side of my page is because I know he enjoys reading, so I plug it for everyone.

I appreciate the service of the men and women overseas, but wish that there was a better justification for their sacrifice in Iraq.

Frank Rich's analysis of colors and morals

I'm not sure I agree with his view of our situation, but Frank Rich's analysis of our country's pop-culture values is enthralling as usual. He seems to think that the country is evolving to blue from red as we speak.

When Robert Novak writes after the election that "the anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, socially conservative agenda is ascendant, and the G.O.P. will not abandon it anytime soon," you have to wonder what drug he is on. The abandonment began at the convention. Sam Brownback, the Kansas senator who champions the religious right, was locked away in an off-camera rally across town from Madison Square Garden. Prime time was bestowed upon the three biggest stars in post-Bush Republican politics: Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger. All are supporters of gay rights and opponents of the same-sex marriage constitutional amendment. Only Mr. McCain calls himself pro-life, and he's never made abortion a cause. None of the three support the Bush administration position on stem-cell research. When the No. 1 "moral values" movie star, Mel Gibson, condemned the Schwarzenegger-endorsed California ballot initiative expanding and financing stem-cell research, the governor and voters crushed him like a girlie-man. The measure carried by 59 percent, which is consistent with national polling on the issue.

Read it and see what you think.

busy, busy, terribly busy

I know there is stuff going on in the world that I could post on, but I've actually been kept pretty busy at work. And when I'm not at work, I prefer to waste my brain cells either watching TV or reading.

I've been reading this (from Keith Olbermann) of late. He is really the only newsman covering the electronic vote story. Keeping my hopes up!

If I come across anything else, I'll let you know.

another reason I'm proud to be a Texan

Books OK'd After Marriage Wording Changed

yeah, I'm being facetious.

reflections by Ben Sargent

There's your moral values for ya.

some good news?

I heard a clip of Arlen Specter on NPR this morning, and I did feel reassured.

The Republican expected to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee next year bluntly warned newly re-elected President Bush today against putting forth Supreme Court nominees who would seek to overturn abortion rights or are otherwise too conservative to win confirmation.

Sen. Arlen Specter, fresh from winning a fifth term in Pennsylvania, also said the current Supreme Court now lacks legal "giants" on the bench.

Houston Chronicle: Specter warns Bush on high court nominations

Be sure and read the choice quote in the article from John Cornyn. I love that a junior Senator from Texas is threatening a senior Senator. Well, I don't necessarily love it, but it strikes me as funny. I've heard tales of the days when John Cornyn was before the Supreme Court himself as a lawyer. I was told he appeared rather idiotic. All I can say is, don't blame me! I voted for Ron Kirk (who went to college with my parents)!

John Ashcroft leaving?

Attorney General John Ashcroft is likely to leave his post before the start of President Bush's second term, senior aides said Thursday.

Ashcroft, 62, is described as exhausted from leading the Justice Department in fighting the domestic war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Stress was a factor in Ashcroft's health problems earlier this year that resulted in removal of his gall bladder.

Ashcroft is expected to resign before Bush's Jan. 20 inauguration, said aides who spoke only on condition of anonymity. They said there is a small chance he would stay on, at least for a short time, if Bush asked him.

Does this make me feel better? Ah - I don't know.

Aides: Ashcroft Likely to Leave AG Post

Elizabeth Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The Edwards family has been through so much already. I am amazed at their continued strength. I wish them the best!

Elizabeth Edwards Has Breast Cancer

inspiration from Albert Schweitzer

I got this quote from a "post-election" message sent me by FCNL.

Writing in 1958, another dangerous time, about "Peace or Atomic War?" Schweitzer may provide some advice for us today:

"We cannot continue in this paralyzing mistrust. If we want to work our way out of the desperate situation in which we find ourselves another spirit must enter into the people….The awareness that we are all human beings together has become lost in war and through politics. We have reached the point of regarding each other only as members of a people either allied with us or against us. Now we must rediscover the fact that we – all together – are human beings, and we must strive to concede to each other what moral capacity we have. Only in this way can we begin to believe that in other peoples as well as in ourselves there will arise the need for a new spirit…."

morose me

I am very dismayed by the election results.

Here's the first thing I posted this morning when Blogger wouldn't let me post here. I read this post at TPM after I heard that Kerry conceded, and I felt slightly better.

I've read blog entries blaming the young people for not turning out. I don't think this is right. The young people showed up, but unfortunately, so did the older people.

People are looking for someone to blame for this outcome. It's not going to be easy. I think we need to focus on the Party and figure out what is up.

It really disturbs me that Bush won the popular vote. How??!!?? And don't even get me started on that "moral issues" sh*t!

"We have met the enemy and he is us."

a nice slide show

The New York Times - The Campaign in Pictures

These pictures made me somehow more hopeful.

election night celebrations

I've said it already -

VOTE!!!!

Tonight I'm helping set up for the Democrats party at the Driskill Hotel. I'm gonna leave before it gets too late. . . unless I get caught up in the exhiliration. This is quite doubtful. I have a feeling we won't know anything until early Wednesday morning.

God willing, our country will be headed in a positive direction in January.