news you can use. or not.

Where I am

2010-01-05T10:37:00.003-06:00

So I can still update this blog? Even though it's been inactive forever?

Years later, I am on Tumblr. Find me here: I'll tumble 4 ya. Or I'm also on Twitter, but I'm private. So that's my 2010 update, just in case anyone happens on to this very old blog o'mine.

new blog, new address, etc.

2005-05-03T15:55:00.000-05:00

As of today, I'm going to be mainly posting at my new blog: all about E. It's my own domain and everything.

This interview is awesome.

2005-04-29T16:17:00.000-05:00

SPIEGEL Interview with Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. My favorite part:

Cruise: I'm a helper. For instance, I myself have helped hundreds of people get off drugs. In Scientology, we have the only successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. It's called Narconon.

SPIEGEL: That's not correct. Yours is never mentioned among the recognized detox programs. Independent experts warn against it because it is rooted in pseudo science.

Cruise: You don't understand what I am saying. It's a statistically proven fact that there is only one successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. Period.

SPIEGEL: With all due respect, we doubt that. Mr. Cruise, you made studio executives, for example from Paramount, tour Scientology's "Celebrity Center" in Hollywood. Are you trying to extend Scientology's influence in Hollywood?

Cruise: I just want to help people. I want everyone to do well.

Spielberg: I often get asked similar questions about my Shoa Foundation. I get asked why I am trying to disseminate my deep belief in creating more tolerance through my foundation's teaching the history of the Holocaust in public schools. I believe that you shouldn't be allowed to attend college without having taken a course in tolerance education. That should be an important part of the social studies curriculum.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Spielberg, are you comparing the educational work of the Shoa Foundation with what Scientology does?

Spielberg: No, I'm not. Tom told you what he believes in, and after that I told you what I believe in. This is not a comparison between the Church of Scientology, the Shoa Foundation and the Holocaust.

Sweet. Am I the only one who finds Tom Cruise's Scientology fanaticism scary? Of course, I find fanaticism for any religion creepy. . . but Scientology - that stuff is whack!

Norman Mailer, I'm pregnant!

2005-04-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

From Bookslut, I learn that Norman Mailer will announce on Thursday that he has sold his archive materials to the Ransom Center at UT.

The title of this post is a quote from an ep of Gilmore Girls, one of his few television guest appearances.

Am I a nerd?

2005-04-21T15:43:00.000-05:00

I got his in my email today from FAIR: Time Covers Coulter: Magazine's Cover Story a Sloppy, Inaccurate Tribute to Far-Right Pundit. So instead of following the action alert, I google "John Cloud" (the article's author) and find this interview as the top result. I then join the Columbia Journalism Review's forum on the topic so I can post about the interview and the action alert. Does this make me a nerd? You don't have to answer. It's a hypothetical question.

Coalition for Darfur: While We Were Distracted

2005-04-20T09:48:00.000-05:00

Coalition for Darfur: While We Were Distracted - a reflection on what the media has focused on this year so far and in 1994. Not Rwanda or Sudan, that's for sure.

And if you haven't seen Hotel Rwanda yet, PLEASE rent it. It is well worth your time and money. Great acting, amazing story, and it will make you feel ashamed and angry all at the same time.

Genevieve

2005-04-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

Genevieve is walking 60 miles in 3 days for the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Those damn Christ-hating liberals

2005-04-15T13:16:00.000-05:00

This pisses me off so much - The New York Times > Washington > Frist Set to Use Religious Stage on Judicial Issue. Because Democrats want to filibuster "activist" judges, we are viewed as being against religion and Christianity. As an active Presbyterian and Democrat, I can't find the humor in it. Liberal Christians are out there, and we don't like being told what to think by Fundys.

a very touching post

2005-04-15T09:24:00.000-05:00

Rep. Aaron Pena from the Texas legislature has his own blog and he wrote a very powerful post I wanted to pass on. He writes about the impact his son's death continues to have on him and the legislation he was able to pass out of the House this week regarding crime victims. Even if you aren't from Texas, it's worth reading.

A CAPITOL BLOG: A FATHER'S PROMISE

Gmail adds feed reading, unless you're me.

2005-04-14T16:07:00.000-05:00

Evhead has a post (evhead: Gmail adds feed reading) on G-mail adding feed reading. I went through my Gmail, searching in every nook and cranny for this added ability. It's nowhere to be found! So it's only an option to a select few as of yet, I guess. The rest of us will just have to wait.

I expected more from Apple

2005-04-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

Apple has taken three bloggers to court to find out who divulged their product plans.

A decision by a local California judge poses grave threats to First Amendment protections for journalists, said a group of major media organizations in response to the latest actions in Apple Computer Inc.'s suit involving some bloggers who let a few of Apple's product plans out of the bag.

The decision, made by Judge James Kleinberg of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, said that journalists are not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or by California's shield law, when they publish trade secrets. The decision stemmed from Apple's attempts to force the bloggers involved to reveal their confidential sources. In addition, Apple is also attempting to subpoena e-mail content from the bloggers' Internet service providers.

This really disappoints me. I still like Apple better than Mircosoft!

Apple Decision a Threat to Journalists, Claims EFF

Peabody time

2005-04-07T16:03:00.000-05:00

I love the Peabody awards. When Homicide: LOTS was around it won at least one. Man, I was obsessed with that show. I'll admit the only one of these winners I made a point to watch was the American Experience: Tupperware! show. And if you missed that, you really missed out. It was an extremely interesting look at the history of an American company built on women and their networking.

I'm very tempted to buy the Leonard Bernstein radio series, since I somehow missed the WHOLE series when it played here in Austin. Luckily, it is available for sale, and the price isn't too bad. And I am a huge fan of the composer/conductor. I figure I can buy it and if I don't like it, I can donate it to my college's music library. Or something.

Complete list of 64th annual Peabody Award winners with citations

Darfur vs. Martha Stewart

2005-04-06T10:46:00.000-05:00

Coalition for Darfur: Darfur vs. Martha Stewart:

The bottom line is that nearly 400,000 people have died of disease, starvation and violence at the hands of the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias, yet the crisis has receives barely a fraction of the coverage garnered by the legal problems faced by Michael Jackson or Martha Stewart.

an interview with Jane Fonda

2005-04-04T11:10:00.000-05:00

The Guardian interviews Jane Fonda. It's quite insightful. I may have to check out her upcoming autobiography. Her relationship with her father fascinates me:

This made the scenes they played together in On Golden Pond poignant and peculiar. It was the biggest-grossing film of 1981, in which Fonda and Fonda played out a weird proxy of their own relationship on screen, with Katharine Hepburn as the mother. Didn't her dad find it bizarre that there they were speaking lines about the failure of a father/daughter relationship when they couldn't do it in real life? "I don't know!" says Fonda, throwing up her arms. "Because he would never talk to me about it. I could never get him to tell me! I mean, he was a smart and sensitive man, so he must have known. But I think if he had really allowed himself to talk about it he would have become emotional and cried and he couldn't stand emotions. This is what patriarchy has done to our men. They think the only thing their sons and daughters want are their balls; but what we really want are their hearts."

Guardian Unlimited Books | Extracts | 'I give off sparks'

Happy April Fools Day

2005-04-01T08:56:00.000-06:00

Sorry I flaked out on my Women's History Month project. I have just overextended myself with other projects. *sigh*

This has become ony of my favorite April Fools Day traditions: SojoMail: April Fool's Day edition. It's definitely a must-read.

Favorites: Action alert: Erica, why won't you go out with me?
Eco News: Hummer Hybrid

Go read it, now.

30 slogans for Karen Hughes to use

2005-03-17T14:45:00.000-06:00

# When Democracy Reigns, It Pours.
# America: Just a Big Red White and Blue Teddy Bear With a Whole Lot of Guns.
# Snap. Crackle. Pow. Thud.
# Be All We Think You Should Be.
# Tastes Great. Less Torture.
# They Don't Call Us The GREAT Satan For Nothing.
# America 2.0. Now With Improved Press Suppression.
# What's So Bad About Bread And Circuses Anyway?
# John Wayne: Not Just an Actor. A Way Of Life.
# Don't Like Us? Get In Line.
# I'd Walk A Mile For A Camel.
# The US: The Ultimate Lying Machine.
# Wouldn't You Really Rather Have A Republic?
# Badges, We Don't Need No Stinking Badges.
# Friendly Fire 'R Us.
# Democracy: Just Do It.
# You're In Good Hands With Our State.
# You Keep the Sand, We'll Take the Oil.
# Sometimes You Feel Like a Crazed Tyrannical Despot, Sometimes You Don't.
# Freedom: Breakfast of Champions.
# We're Everywhere You Want To Be. Deal With It.
# The New Improved Low-Carb, Atkins-Friendly America.
# Got Grenades?
# Don't Leave Home Without It. No, Really. Stay in Your Homes.
# I Can't Believe I Invaded The Whole Peninsula.
# Autonomy: It's the Real Thing.
# The Best Part Of Waking Up Is No Dead Bodies On Your Doorstep.
# Aren't You Glad You Use a Free Market Economy? Don't You Wish Everybody Did?
# Better Living Through Sovereignty.
# Nobody Doesn't Like Britney Spears.

Sweet.

WorkingForChange-Slogans 'r' us

Coalition for Darfur: Unknown death toll

2005-03-16T10:58:00.000-06:00

Many seemed surprised when UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland recently updated the estimated death toll in Darfur upwards from 70,000 to 180,000. Egeland estimates that 10,000 people have died, and continue to die, per month since the start of the genocide 18 months ago. He also admitted that the new death toll might be even higher (more than 200,000) and stressed that this new figure does not include those who have died violently at the hands of the Sudanese government or their proxy militia, the Janjaweed.

The original figure of 70,000 was an estimate, or rather an underestimate, as it covered only the mortality in camps accessible to the World Health Organization between April and early September 2004. As such, it did not include mortality rates prior to April 2004, nor did it include mortality rates among the more than 200,000 refugees in Chad, nor the mortality rates in regions inaccessible to humanitarian
organizations.

It is in these inaccessible regions where most of the violence is
taking place. According to Sudan expert Eric Reeves, whose ongoing analysis of the situation in Darfur has been vital to understanding the widening scope of the crisis, an estimated 240,000 others have died as a direct result of government and/or Janjaweed violence.

If these numbers are correct, and we really have no cause to doubt them, it is safe to assume that some 400,000 Sudanese civilians have died in the last year and a half from direct violence, disease, or starvation.

That is more than 22,200 per month.

That is more than 740 per day.

That is more than 30 per hour.

That is one death every 2 minutes ... for 18 months.

Despite the seemingly hopeless nature of the crisis, we at the Coalition for Darfur believe that together we can raise awareness of the situation and, at the same time, raise money for the vital work that Save the Children is doing by providing food, water, shelter, and protection to over 200,000 children and families in Darfur each month.

Together, and with your support, we hope to make a small but meaningful contribution to alleviating the massive suffering that continues to plague the region.

Women's History Month: Tori Amos

2005-03-10T15:42:00.000-06:00

While not my favorite artist, I do love the only Tori Amos CD I own, Scarlet's Walk. I like the theme of it, and have more than a few songs I enjoy listening to over and over ("Wednesday", "Strange", "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas", "Taxi Ride", etc.). Even if you don't like her sound, you have to appreciate the impact that she has had on current popular music.

Toriamos.com
Wikipedia: Tori Amos

I've joined the Coalition for Darfur

2005-03-09T08:52:00.000-06:00

In May 2004, Roger Winter, the Assistant Administrator for the U.S.
Agency for International Development's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict
and Humanitarian Assistance told a House committee that it was inevitable that "more than 100,000 people will die no matter what" in Darfur, Sudan by the end of the year. Winter went on to warn that, in a worst-case scenario, the number could reach as high as 350,000.

One year later, the estimated death toll stands at more than 300,000. The actual number of deaths is nearly impossible to determine given that the government of Sudan, fearing the truth, refuses to grant access to the World Health Organization so that it can conduct a mortality survey. Nonetheless, knowledgeable observers agree that thousands have died at the hands of the Sudanese government and their proxy militia, the Janjaweed (a term meaning "Devils on Horseback") and tens of thousands more have died of disease and starvation after having their villages destroyed in government-led attacks. More than 2 million Darfurians have been internally
displaced, the agricultural economy has been decimated and an estimated 3-4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Nearly two years ago, the Muslim government in Khartoum was in the
process of finalizing a peace accord that would end a twenty year
civil war between the government in the North and the Sudan People's
Liberation Army in the South that had taken some 2 million lives.
Fearful that the Western region of Darfur was going to continue to be
ignored in the new coalition government that was being formed, African
rebels launched a series of raids against government facilities.
Rather than negotiate with the rebel forces in the West, the
government of Sudan enlisted Arab militias in a campaign to wipe out
the rebels and anyone suspected of supporting them. In the process,
hundreds of villages have been destroyed, tens of thousands have been
raped and killed, and millions have been displaced.

The international community has responded in a haphazard fashion. The
African Union secured the deployment of some 4,000 troops to the
region, though its mandate was limited to monitoring a cease-fire that
neither side honored. Less than 2,000 AU soldiers have arrived and
they have limited logistical capabilities for covering this area
roughly the size of Texas, nor do they have a mandate that allows them
to protect civilians. The United Nations has been plagued by
inaction, with China and Russia using their veto power to water down
Security Council resolutions seeking sanctions or demanding accountability. A recent UN investigation detailed (pdf!) massive war crimes and crimes against humanity but stopped short of calling the campaign a genocide, a declaration the United States made last September. For now, much of the debate is focused on where any cases arising from this situation will be tried: the International Criminal Court or some Africa-based tribunal.

Angered by the lackluster response to what is widely acknowledged as
the "world's worst humanitarian crisis," a group of bloggers have
formed a Coalition for Darfur to do what little they can. We seek to raise awareness of the crisis in Darfur, but also to raise money for the vital work that Save the Children is doing by providing food, water, shelter, and protection to over 200,000 children and families in Darfur each month.

Together, and with your support, we hope to make a small but meaningful contribution to alleviating the massive suffering that continues to plague the region. Please consider making a donation via our Coalition for Darfur blog.

Women's History Month: Sarah McLachlan

2005-03-09T08:30:00.000-06:00

I've been listening to Sarah McLachlan since I was in high school. In fact, I think she is one of the few artists that I still like from my high school days. "Into the Fire" is still one of my favorite songs by her. I also love her cover of XTC's "Dear God".

Not only is she a consummate artist, but she is a great activist for human rights. She started up Lilith Fair (remember those days?), the first all-female music festival. The money for her video "World on Fire" was donated to various world-relief agencies.

Sarah McLachlan: official site
Wikipedia: Sarah McLachlan

Women's History Month: Ella Fitzgerald

2005-03-08T11:54:00.000-06:00

I love Ella. I love her sound, her attitude, and the way she makes a song her own. For my senior recital, I even sang her version of a standard. And yeah, I sang all those verses with my grandma in the audience. I doubt I did it justice, but I tried. I even named a blog after a song I remember hearing her sing on the When Harry Met Sally soundtrack. So I'm obviously a big fan.

Read more about her, and for Pete's sake, check out one of her albums. My first Ella CD was a Verve mix - The Best of the Songbooks, and I'm surprised my CD isn't all scratched up with all the times I've listened to it.

Ella Fitzgerald Official Website
Wikipedia: Ella Fitzgerald

Women's History Month: Astrud Gilberto

2005-03-07T09:14:00.000-06:00

This week I focus on some of my favorite women in music. I didn't really get into Astrud Gilberto, or bossa nova as a genre, until I bought the (terrific) soundtrack to Next Stop Wonderland in college. It's a wonderful little movie and the music is definitely one of the reasons I like it so much.

Asturd Gilberto is a Brazilian singer best known for her performance of "The Girl from Ipanema". She has built up a rather large repertoire over the years, but my favorites are "Corcovado" and her take on "Fly Me to the Moon".

Guilty admission: I also like the version of "Desafinado" she did with George Michael.

Astrud Gilberto's homepage (includes a statement for International Women's Day)

terrible news

2005-03-04T14:35:00.000-06:00

As if our relationship with the rest of the world wasn't bad enough:

A freed Italian hostage was injured and an Italian intelligence officer killed Friday after a U.S. armored vehicle fired on a car in which they were riding in Iraq, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.

Berlusconi, an ally of the United States who has kept troops in Iraq despite public opposition at home, said he has asked the U.S. ambassador for an explanation.

Good night! How do we explain this one?

Freed Journalist Fired on by U.S. Troops

Women's History Month: Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova

2005-03-04T11:17:00.000-06:00

L. recommended that I write about Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, but I decided to focus on the first woman in space, period. I never learned about her in elementary school, that's for sure.

A cosmonaut through the Soviet space program, she became the first civilian (and woman) in space on June 16, 1963. From Women in Aviation and Space: Colonel-Engineer Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, the most in-depth bio I could find in English:

Although it was Korolev's idea just after Gagarin's flight to put a woman into space as yet another novelty, Khrushchev himself made the final crew selection. On June 14, 1963, Vostok 5 was launched with cosmonaut Valeri Bykovsky aboard. Two days later, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6. Korolev was unhappy with Tereshkova's performance in orbit and she was not permitted to take manual control of the spacecraft as had been planned. Mishin later claimed she was `on the edge of psychological instability'. Whatever the case, Valentina completed three days in space, more than the flight time of all the American astronauts put together.

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova: The First Woman in Space
Wikipedia: Valentina Tereshkova

Women's History Month: Anna May Wong

2005-03-03T14:33:00.000-06:00

I will admit that I have never seen a film (that I know of) that Anna May Wong made. I haven't seen a large amount of silent films, so there you go. Be that as it may - Anna May Wong was the first Asian-American actress to become an international star. Born in 1905 in Los Angeles, she was unfortunately stuck with stereotypical Asian roles. At the point in time that she came onto the scene, white actors would still be acting "Asian" (see Myrna Loy's early film career, or The Good Earth). She was quite deterred and disappointed in the roles she was offered in America, so went to Europe and made a big splash.

Here's an excerpt from Asia Pacific Arts: Profile of Anna May Wong: Remembering The Silent Star:

In 1936, after being asked by MGM executives to screen test for the only villainous role in the adaptation to Pearl Buck’s novel about Chinese peasant life in "The Good Earth," Wong decried "you’re asking me - with my Chinese blood – to do the only unsympathetic role in the picture, featuring an all-American cast portraying Chinese characters." Distraught and disillusioned, she once again set out abroad - but this time to a place she had never been before, east of China. When she arrived, she was mobbed, feted and received as a major celebrity; she was even given an honorary state dinner in Nanjing. But she received quite a shock when her hosts unexpectedly denounced her choice in film roles. They publicly condemned Wong for her degrading and insulting portrayals of the Chinese race; many of her films were even banned for what was perceived to be anti-Chinese sentiments. Nonetheless, Wong would eventually stay for ten months in China traveling and learning about the culture that was as foreign to her as to any Westerner.

After finding out about this actress, I am determined to see one of her performances.

Ann May Wong: Frosted Yellow Willows - a documentary on her life
Wikipedia: Anna May Wong

Land mines and PSAs

2005-03-02T14:38:00.000-06:00

I just read that a Land Mine Action advocacy group associated with the UN can't get their PSA played on any network. You can read more about it here and see more about the campaign on StopLandmines.org.

This is a vital (and workable) issue. How come we as Americans refuse to come to terms with that? Our leaders won't sign a landmine treaty, we stick to the belief that landmines are needed (who knows why?!?), and even house companies that produce landmine components.

How many innocent children have to die or lose limbs until Americans give up and sign?

Women's History Month: Antoinette Brown Blackwell

2005-03-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

I wanted this week to be a week of firsts. It took me a little while, but I was finally able to find the first female ordained as a preacher in the U. S.

Antoinette Brown graduated from Oberlin College, and went on to become a popular speaker on women's rights and abolition. In 1853, she became the first female ordained by a recognized denomination (the Congregationalists) in the USA. Unfortunately, she only stayed with that church for a year, and left her denomination to join the Unitarian church.

She was very close friends with Lucy Stone (famous feminist) and sister-in-law to Elizabeth Blackwell.

While her name isn't well-recognized, I believe her role in America's religious history to be vital. She helped to set the stage for the United Methodists, the Presbyterians (PCUSA), the Episcopalians, the Lutherans (ELCA, NOT Missouri Synod), the United Church of Christ, and some Baptist churches (NOT Southern Baptist) to ordain women as preachers. There is still a long way to go, but at least we are on the right path.

Western New York Suffragists: Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell
Wikipedia: Antoinette Brown
Religioustolerance.org: When churches started to ordain women

Women's History Month: Toni Morrison

2005-03-01T10:45:00.000-06:00

Happy Women's History Month! My first post of the month will be on Toni Morrison.

Toni Morrison, author of Beloved, which I was required to read once for high school and then again in college, was the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

I haven't gone back and read Beloved again, but I really feel I ought to. There are a couple of small sections in the book that are difficult to interpret. One girl and I spent hours trying to figure them out when we were studying for our class final. And of course the professor had told us that wouldn't be on the final, but we were really getting somewhere with it. Of course, now I only vaguely remember how far we came with it.

I'm not a huge Morrison fan, but I definitely feel it is important to include her works in the canon of American greats.

Wikipedia: Toni Morrison
Anniina's Toni Morrison Page

Confirming what we already knew. . .

2005-02-28T12:39:00.000-06:00

From Lasso entry, Texas Hispanics, rural America still disproportionately represented among soldiers killed in Iraq:

This raises a larger moral question, of course: Is it right that America depends on an armed forces where a large number of the troops are forced into the service by unequal opportunities in civilian life? The country sends these young men and women to fight for equality in the Middle East, but that equality is missing here at home.

OH MY GOD!

2005-02-24T16:35:00.000-06:00

I find this very scary: The New York Times: Kansas Attorney General Seeks Records of Late-Term Abortions

Kline spoke to reporters after details of the investigation, which began in October, surfaced in a legal brief filed by attorneys for two medical clinics. The clinics argued that unless the high court intervenes, women who obtained abortions could find government agents knocking at their door.

The clinics said Kline demanded their complete, unedited medical records for women who sought abortions at least 22 weeks into their pregnancies in 2003, as well as those for girls 15 and younger who sought abortions. Court papers did not identify the clinics.

Where has all the privacy gone? Long time passing. . .

Men only

2005-02-24T11:10:00.000-06:00

I came across this in my Bloglines. MSNBC - Is blogging a male game?

I like Kevin Drum's blog - indeed, I used to link to it here. I would definitely disagree with him about men being better suited for blogging. In fact, I believe I read somewhere that more women are blogging nowadays than ever. Now whether the women blog on politics or their personal lives, that's another story.

It's almost that time again. . .

2005-02-23T12:15:00.000-06:00

Women's history month is coming up, and I'm planning my second annual celebration with posts on popular and lesser-known figures of women's history. My plan:

1st week - firsts
2nd week - music
3rd week - politics
4th week - my faves

If you have someone you'd like me to focus on along these lines, shoot me an e-mail. I'm trying to actually go with a plan this year. We'll see!

And I do tend to stick to what I know, which is unfortunately limited to Western-European and American figures. I am definitely open to suggestions if you've got 'em.

Lily Tuck actually goes to Paraguay

2005-02-17T08:43:00.000-06:00

I read The News from Paraguay and didn't care much for it. Regardless, I was astonished when I read that the author said she had no desire to ever go to Paraguay. She changed her mind, though, and recently visited the country. This article from the NY Times discusses the welcome, and controversy, that met her during her visit.

Why Women Will Lose

2005-02-15T15:08:00.000-06:00

I found this insightful article from Alternet, Why Women Will Lose. It discusses how Bush's so-called social security "reform" plan will be of detriment to women, since they will bear the brunt of it.

If we move to a privatized system and it fails, it will be women who will have to pay the price. Not only do women depend disproportionately on Social Security, we are more likely than men to care for an aging parent. So without the insurance of inflation-adjusted lifetime income, more retirees could wind up relying on the time and generosity of their children. And that means more women would take on the added burden of elder care.

I'm not the only one who thinks you should see "Hotel Rwanda"

2005-02-10T08:57:00.000-06:00

Revisiting the Passion of the Christ:

For whatever reason, when I walked out of the 2005 film Hotel Rwanda this thought wouldn't leave me: If we really had the mind and heart of Christ, this is the movie we would be urging people in our churches to see. In fact, I can't think of a more worthwhile experience for Christian leaders than to watch Hotel Rwanda and then ask themselves questions like these:

Which film would Jesus most want us to see, and why?

Why did so many churches urge people to see Gibson's film, and why did so few (if any?) promote Terry George's film? What do our answers to that question say about us?

What were the practical outcomes of millions of people seeing Gibson's film? And what outcomes might occur if equal numbers saw Hotel Rwanda - as an act of Christian faithfulness?

In what sense could Hotel Rwanda actually be titled The Passion of the Christ?

What do we make of the fact that a high percentage of Rwandans who participated in the 1994 genocides were churchgoers?

What do we make of the fact that a high percentage of the Americans who ignored the 1994 genocides (then and now) were and are churchgoers?

What kind of repentance does each film evoke in Western Christians? Why might the kind of repentance evoked by Hotel Rwanda be especially needed during these important days in history?

It's been well over a week since I saw the film, and I still feel a churning inside me, a disquiet, a rumble in my heart that feels to me like "the burden" that the old prophets used to speak of, maybe even a simmering heat reminiscent of Jeremiah's "fire in my bones."

----------------------------
And then I realize that's why Hotel Rwanda seemed to me an even more Christian film (forgive me if this sounds crazy to you - but try to understand) than The Passion of the Christ. It evoked in me a wave of compassion for my neighbors around the world, whatever their color or tribe, whatever their religion or politics. And I hear our Lord saying, "As you have done it to the least of these...you have done it to me."

God and gambling

2005-02-10T08:33:00.000-06:00

In the Pink Texas has a really funny post on a Texas legislator who claims that his preacher suggested he make a bill endorsing video gambling. Too, too funny. As she writes, "I wasn’t aware that Bill Bennett was preaching these days."

Hotel Rwanda

2005-02-08T14:01:00.000-06:00

I was able to catch Hotel Rwanda Saturday night and I cannot recommend it enough. It was so moving and left me feeling emotionally raw. The acting is amazing, the writing is pretty good, and the story is very intense. I got choked up in at least three spots, and clutched my jacketed chest in sadness.

I was also struck by how the western world let all this happen. I feel like we didn't do anything to help this situation. If Rwanda had oil, though, we woulda been there lickity-split. You betcha. I was only in high school when all this was going on in Rwanda, but now, something similar is occurring in the Sudan. How much is our government doing to stop it?

I had to have some alcohol after the movie, it brought me so low. And I rarely drink! After a margarita at Kerbey Lane, I felt slightly better. Somewhat materialistic, but better.

Ossie Davis

2005-02-04T14:03:00.000-06:00

Elizabeth at It Hurts to Breathe has put up a fine post on Ossie Davis upon his very recent passing.

It Hurts to Breathe: mourning celebrity

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were an amazing couple. Inspiring actors, loving people, and strong activists. This is definitely a sad loss for the film world and the stage, but also, I think, for America in general. I don't say it to be sappy, I say it because it's the truth.

Jim Wallis last night

2005-02-03T16:28:00.000-06:00

I was able to catch Jim Wallis last night at BookPeople. He was just as amazing as I remembered from meeting him in college. He got the crowd excited and took some questions from the audience. My mom and I were able to get chairs since we went there straight after work. A large crowd had slowly formed by the time Jim started speaking. He remarked on his visit to "The Daily Show" and on the importance of REAL moral values in society and politics today. As he says, "Jesus was not pro-rich, pro-war, or pro-America-only" (I've paraphrased). He also commented that although Bush is a pious man, his theology is completely wrong. For all of my loyal readers in other areas of the nation, I urge you to catch this man in person. Read more about the tour, the author, and order the book already!

dedication and immigration

2005-02-03T14:48:00.000-06:00

The Daily Texican has an excellent post today on some very dedicated youths trying to stay in America.

pinkdome

2005-02-02T11:54:00.000-06:00

For a while I was linking to wonkette on my sidebar, but I tired of it after the election. Well, it was also quite unsafe for work, which is where I do my main blog-reading from.

Thanks to the Burnt Orange Report, I discover that there is a sort-of local version here for us in Texas, Pinkdome. Hopefully it will be a little more work-safe. It looks just as snarky though. Yay!

this is horrible

2005-01-27T16:26:00.000-06:00

What can I say? We suck.

Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear and in one case smearing a Saudi man's face with fake menstrual blood, according to an insider's written account.

AP: Gitmo Soldier Details Sexual Tactics

Rev. Peter Gomes coming to Austin

2005-01-27T11:56:00.000-06:00

On February 7, Rev. Peter Gomes will be presenting the Harvey Lectures at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest. I can't make the 4pm speech, but I'm going to try the 6:30pm one.

Here's the clip from the ETSS page:

The Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes, widely regarded as one of America's most distinguished preachers and Christian thinkers, will present the 2005 Harvey Lectures at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest on February 7.

The overall title of his Harvey Lectures is "The Bible -- America's Iconic Book." His 4 p.m. lecture will explore "How Did It Get That Way?" while the concluding 6:30 p.m. talk will focus on "Which Way the Future?" Professor Gomes will also preach at the Monday noon service in Christ Chapel.

Both lectures in Knapp Auditorium are open to the public without charge but persons coming from off the seminary campus are requested to make a free reservation at 512.439.0330.

Gomes notes that Americans have taken the Bible seriously since the landing of the Pilgrims. It is as iconic an American book as Huckleberry Finn or Uncle Tom's Cabin. How did a book written in Hebrew and Greek become "our" book in English, and what happens when we disagree as to what it means and says? Is there such a thing as "Biblical values?" If so, is that good or bad?

I'm definitely interested in what he has to say. On that note - Jim Wallis will be at Bookpeople next Wednesday to speak about his new book - More information.

PBS and censorship

2005-01-27T08:54:00.000-06:00

Very disappointing. I really like Buster. I didn't even know he had his own show on PBS. Apparently lesbian couples don't qualify as families he can visit, however.

. . . [O]n Tuesday PBS decided not to distribute to its roughly 350 PBS stations an episode of "Postcards From Buster," which was scheduled for Feb. 2 and included lesbian mothers, even though a few days earlier PBS officials, among them PBS's president, Pat Mitchell, viewed the episode and called it appropriate. That was before Education Secretary Margaret Spellings denounced the program, starring Buster Baxter, a cute animated rabbit who until now has been known primarily as a close friend of Arthur, the world's most famous aardvark. Ms. Spellings said many parents would not want children exposed to a lesbian life style.

Buster joined another cartoon character, SpongeBob SquarePants, as a focus of the nation's culture wars. SpongeBob was recently attacked by Christian groups for being pro-homosexual, though SpongeBob's creator said it was all a misinterpretation. Buster's offense was appearing in "Sugartime!," the undistributed "Postcards From Buster" show, in which he visits children living in Vermont whose parents are a lesbian couple. Civil unions are allowed in Vermont.

The New York Times > Arts > Television > Culture Wars Pull Buster Into the Fray

the Salvador option

2005-01-20T13:36:00.000-06:00

I'm posting David Batston's complete editorial from this week's SojoMail (with my bolded emphasis):

The "Democracy Option" disappears in Iraq
by David Batstone

The Pentagon is clearly worried about a deepening quagmire in Iraq. Nearly two years after the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, the presence of U.S. forces does not appear to be moving Iraq toward a stable, civic society. A frustrated Pentagon is exploring new strategies.

Newsweek magazine reported last week that Pentagon insiders are touting a plan code-named the "Salvador Option." The plan refers to the secret support of the Reagan administration in the 1980s for hit squads in El Salvador that targeted rebel militia and their civilian sympathizers. Many Pentagon conservatives credit these so-called "death squads" with turning the tide against a strong revolutionary movement in El Salvador.

I worked in human rights in Central America for nearly 12 years. My tenure began in the early 1980s when I launched and then ran a non-governmental group concerned with economic and community development.

Death squads roamed freely in El Salvador and Guatemala at the time. In these two countries alone, they assassinated or "disappeared" more than 150,000 civilians. They targeted anyone - church pastors, literacy teachers, community development workers - who appeared to support social reform.

My organization arranged for volunteers from the United States to live with civilians threatened by the death squads. Our effort was successful because the death squads were made up largely of members of the military or police working clandestinely. They realized that brazenly killing civilians through official channels would threaten U.S. aid. More risky still would be the murder of U.S. citizens - the temporary cessation of U.S. military aid to El Salvador after the rape and murder of four U.S. religious women in 1980 proved that point.

All the same, I witnessed countless cases of military abuse. The security units regularly justified the murder of civilian suspects as a necessary defense in the fight against "terrorists." The military acted as judge, jury, and executioner. The police worked hand in hand with the military. The police investigated community leaders working for social change during the day, and would turn that information over to the army hit squads who made the civilians "disappear" in the middle of the night.

How chilling that the Pentagon is seriously considering a plan to take us back to those dark days. According to Newsweek, "the Pentagon proposal would send Special Forces teams to advise, support, and possibly train Iraqi squads, most likely hand-picked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers, even across the border into Syria...."

The Pentagon's affinity for a "Salvadoran Option" in Iraq appears consistent with its broader shift to promote a strong state security apparatus internationally in the fight against terrorism. In a summit of Latin American defense ministers held in Quito, Ecuador, in late 2004, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld unveiled his campaign to reverse nearly two decades of military reform in Latin America. Though the summit went largely unreported in the U.S. media, we may look back at it in years to come as a significant watershed for American foreign policy.

Central to Rumsfeld's Quito doctrine is the re-integration of the military and police, reversing a major reform objective in the hemisphere during the last two decades. Both U.S. and Latin American human rights agencies deem that separation of powers necessary to bring military activity under civilian accountability.

During the drafting of the final summit statement, the Canadian delegation tried to salvage the gains for civilian freedoms once absent in the region's former security states. Backed by Brazil and Chile, the Canadian defense ministry introduced language that would reaffirm a commitment to international human rights and civil protections. The Pentagon team, however, successfully blocked this corrective from being added to the summit's final documents.

The nostalgia for the military strongmen of Latin America appears to be growing in Washington. Is it merely coincidence that President Bush appointed Elliot Abrams in mid-2003 to be his senior advisor on the Middle East? Abrams was a key player in the crafting of Reagan's "Salvador Option" in Central America. When confronted in the mid-'80s with a United Nations report that the vast majority of "atrocities in El Salvador's civil war were committed by Reagan-assisted death squads," Abrams energetically defended U.S. foreign policy: "The administration's record on El Salvador is one of fabulous achievements." Abrams soon thereafter was convicted of lying to Congress about the Iran-Contra affair, only to be pardoned five years later by President George H.W. Bush.

The invasion of Iraq was sold to the American public as a necessary means to arrest the spread of terrorism. We were told that Saddam Hussein could no longer be allowed to deploy security forces to terrorize the Iraqi people and eliminate movements for democratic reform. Yet here we are today, two years later, and the United States is on the verge of initiating its own death squads. I wonder at what point over the past two years we gave up on the "Democracy Option" in Iraq?

I can't believe we are considering this option. To let your elected officials know you disagree with this proposed plan, go here.

Jim Wallis on Fresh Air today

2005-01-20T09:17:00.000-06:00

Jim Wallis (of Sojourners) will be on Fresh Air today to talk about his new book God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It. I read he will also be doing Inauguration coverage with Tim Russert for NBC. I'm not watching it, but if I chose to, I'd watch it for him. I was able to catch him on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Tuesday night. I think he did a pretty decent job, given that Jon Stewart seemed not to have much of a clue what his work is about.

I got into Jim Wallis after hearing him speak at my small college my freshman year. There weren't too many people there to listen, but he is such a great speaker. He's about as charismatic as Millard Fuller (of Habitat for Humanity). I took notes voluntarily at his speech, and was able to go to a dinner discussion with him afterwards. It was awesome. I am always eager to see him or catch him in the media whenever possible.

He was in the Frontline special about Bush and Jesus. Very good.

NPR : Fresh Air from WHYY for Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005 - link to yesterday's program. I usually don't care for Fresh Air, but I'll listen to it for Jim Wallis!

update: It seems I was wrong about Jon Stewart. On Jim's book tour blog, he states, "Before the show, Jon came back to the "green room" to say hello. I soon realized he had read God's Politics from cover to cover (as his producer told me he had) which, I can tell you, is not always the case with show hosts. Stewart asked some very smart questions about the global poverty issues, the up-coming G8 Summit in the UK, the roles of British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Prime Minister Tony Blair (both of whom are discussed in the book). I felt Jon's warmth and receptiveness right away to both the issues of justice and the spiritual/faith dimension to it all."(Notes from the Road: Thoughts on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)

This is the main reason I can't pay attention to the inauguration

2005-01-19T13:59:00.000-06:00

by Ann Telnaes

Bahd news fah Hahvahd

2005-01-19T11:26:00.000-06:00

The president of Harvard is defending himself against comments he made the other day, claiming they were misconstrued.

At Friday's conference, Mr. Summers discussed possible reasons so few women were on the science and engineering faculties at research universities, and he said he would be provocative.

Among his hypotheses were that faculty positions at elite universities required more time and energy than married women with children were willing to accept, that innate sex differences might leave women less capable of succeeding at the most advanced mathematics and that discrimination may also play a role, participants said. There was no transcript of his remarks.

That's a pretty big faux pas, eh? I wish there was a transcript available, damn it. I can't believe an assumedly well-educated man would make such a comment.

The New York Times > Education > No Break in the Storm Over Harvard President's Words

Goodbye, Virginia Mayo

2005-01-18T16:04:00.000-06:00

Virginia Mayo is mostly why I love Danny Kaye movies. She's always the cheerful, beautiful blonde to his zany, red-headed antics (see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty). She appeared in many of Goldwyn's sillier movies, but also was able to show her stuff in The Best Years of Our Lives as a wife who can't get used to her husband being out of uniform (or the fact that he wants her to stay at home and not pick up men at nightclubs). It is disappointing that she wasn't given too many chances to show her chops, but I know we all appreciate her just the same. I think Virginia Mayo and Myrna Loy are more deserving of awards (neither received any acting Oscar noms in their lifetime) than some of the actresses we have around currently. Perhaps I'm a little biased.

1940s Film Star Virginia Mayo Dies at 84
Virginia Mayo on IMDB

well, I'm sure it was worth it.

2005-01-13T16:56:00.000-06:00

You've probably already heard or read this by now, but the U. S. has officially given up on finding any WMD in Iraq. What more can I say that you don't already know? Bush is a liar, our soldiers are over there for no reason (and don't say Saddam was evil, b/c although I agree, there are worse people in power that we do nothing about), and we have invested way too much money in this quagmire.

Insurgents are on the rise, the rest of the world can't stand us (and will surely laugh at this), and for what?

I'm just getting too upset, sitting here in my cold office. I need to go to the gym and work this anger out.

Be sure to read the quotes from Hans Blix at the end. That's basically what he mentioned in the speech I heard at UT (almost a year ago).

BBC NEWS | Americas | US gives up search for Iraq WMD

God is watching us. . . from a distance

2004-12-29T17:01:00.000-06:00

I wasn't going to do an entry on the tsunami. What can I say? It is so terribly sad. I have been stirred into blogging action by three of my regular reads today.

First, this morning I read Keith Olbermann's thoughts on the tsunami and the fact that there were warnings that could have been made, but weren't because of the tourists.

Then later on in the day I read Scott Bateman's comic on Bush's hypocrisy in this situation. The part that gets me is the line, "Meanwhile, the administration is spending two- to three-times that amount on Bush's inauguration."

Finally, I read Cap'n Pete's wise entry on the irony of America not being hit by such a large disaster.

I am going to donate money, and I hope you will, too, to some of the fine organizations working to help the victims. Just a few of them are:

World Vision
American Friends Service Committee
Doctors without Borders

You can see a much larger list of helping agencies at Network for Good.

I just got a rebate for contacts in the mail yesterday, and am going to donate that money to World Vision. It seems only right.

(edited, because I can)

missions, church and state

2004-12-27T15:58:00.000-06:00

my pic of St. Francisco de Asis chapel, Ranchos de Taos, NM.

I heard a story on "Morning Edition" last week and was very intrigued. I know that missions are some of my favorite historic buildings to visit. There are a whole lot of them in San Antonio, and all over New Mexico. I never thought of it being a problem/conflict for the state to keep this buildings operable and open to the public. I am amazed that people still attend these aged churches, but I mainly appreciate them for their historic/artistic/architectural value. Sometimes I will be quite moved by some art in an old chapel, but I was also quite disturbed by a stone at the mission we visited near Chimayo. Right by the preacher's office and small chapel, it reads something like "in memory of the aborted babies". It was probably phrased more gently than that, but I was very disturbed by it.

Anyway, the conflict they are having in California is over the division of church and state. Should the state fund restoration for historically relevant missions still operating as churches? Is it the state's responsibility? I am normally an advocate for the separation of church and state, but am on the fence on this issue. These missions cannot survive without the state's help. And yet, I wouldn't want my taxes benefitting an ultra-conservative church. I also would hate to have to visit the T-Mobile Santa Rita mission. Not that one would ever exist, but you get my drift.

Listen to the story and see what you think.

NPR : Church and State Debate Threatens Calif. Mission Repair

Happy Chrismahanukwanzukah to youooo!

2004-12-23T13:34:00.000-06:00

This toon by Mikhaela is grrrrrrrreat.

Mikhaela's "Queer Holiday Moment #412"

and yes, I am trying to do more than post great comix here, but I haven't really been struck by any big news item lately. I've been keeping posted on the Ohio situation by Bloggermann (Keith Olbermann's blog). I try to keep up with Iraq, but we are so f*cked over there. It just pisses me off. I'll be celebrating Christmas with my family at home, while my cousin, who was with us last Christmas, is over in Iraq. It just doesn't feel right to me. At all.

So yeah, I'll try to keep posting here, but if you want regular reads from me, try my other blog. I post there pretty much every day.

Merry Chrithmath!

Too bad Santa's budget can't cover it

2004-12-20T10:59:00.000-06:00

Today's La cucaracha cartoon

my ruminations on U. S. history, sparked by the Alien and Sedition Act

2004-12-16T10:58:00.000-06:00

Geof Stone is guest-blogging on Lessig's blog this week. I was just able to read his latest entry on The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. It is quite enlightening.

I vaguely remember covering this in my AP U. S. History class junior year, but I should admit I have a very selective memory as far as early U. S. History goes. I'm very vague on details until after the Civil War. I could tell you about Molly Bucket and Abigail Adams, but the men? Eh. I know Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”, and that is mainly because I wrote a report on him in grade school. I wrote a report on Thomas Jefferson in high school, so I remember that he brought ice cream back to the States, spent a lot of time in France, and had illegitimate children with a slave. What is typically considered “American history” just doesn't interest me. Now, the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, Margaret Sanger, Sacagawea, and other people and events on the fringe of U. S. History - they interest me.

Anyway, I was glad to read more about the Alien and Sedition Acts and the way the politicians used it, attempting to silence dissent from other political parties. Very interesting.

another reason to stay far from Fox News

2004-12-15T16:33:00.000-06:00

Some people will do anything for money.

Retiring U.S. Sen. Zell Miller joining Fox News

Mother Jones on UNICEF's latest report

2004-12-15T09:59:00.000-06:00

This is so disturbing:

India -- with roughly 20 percent of the world’s children -- has more than half of all children without access to adequate sanitation (roughly 273 million out of an estimated 500 million), as well as 147 million without adequate shelter, 77 million without access to safe water, 85 million who can’t access health care and 33 million who have never attended school.

MoJo Blog: The Kids Aren't Alright

are we what we hate?

2004-12-13T16:50:00.000-06:00

I think I understand this article, or at least what it is attempting to say. It makes the statement that for all our anti-consumerism rhetoric, we are still a highly consumer culture. The main thesis of the article:

In fact, the critique of mass society has been one of the most powerful forces driving consumerism for more than 40 years.

I have yet to see Fight Club, so can't comment much on the analysis, but I have seen American Beauty. I look back on that film with a bad taste in my mouth. What do I remember fondly about it? Annette Bening's acting. That's about it. I do like the statement:

What american beauty illustrates, with extraordinary clarity, is that rebelling against mass society is not the same thing as rebelling against consumer society.

Yeah. Go read more.

This Magazine: The Rebel Sell

a reporter was behind the Rumsfeld stumper

2004-12-09T16:51:00.000-06:00

I have become an avid reader of Keith Olbermann's blog. I watched "Countdown" for the first time on Monday and the busy graphics just about drove me crazy, but I like his style and dedication to stories. I just found this post where he reports that a reporter came up with the question on armed vehicles (and their lack of protection):

In an e-mail to an unidentified colleague at the newspaper, Edward Lee Pitts — traveling with a Tennessee National Guard Unit — said that when a scheduling delay permitted him to attend Rumsfeld’s visit with 2,300 troops, he learned that only soldiers could quiz the Secretary. “So,” Pitts writes, “I brought two of them along with me as my escorts. Before hand we worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armor their vehicles going into combat have.”

The rest of the entry is recommended reading.

Reporter behind Rumsfeld grilling (Keith Olbermann)

I have a new favorite quote

2004-12-09T11:36:00.000-06:00

from A.Word.A.Day:

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" -Eleanor Roosevelt, diplomat and writer (1884-1962)

Retratos

2004-12-03T14:45:00.000-06:00

I have to wait until 2006 to catch this exhibit, but you might not have to. "Retratos" is a show of Latin-American portraits, most of which have not been available for viewing in the states before now. The exhibit started at El Museo Del Barrio and will be going to other spots in the nation before ending at the San Antonio Museum of Art in the spring of 2006.

Go here to see the future stops on the tour and read more about it.

NY Times - The Lesson for Today Is in Spanish

How things work in Texas

2004-12-02T13:42:00.000-06:00

See if you can follow this article by Molly Ivins. It's all about money and lack of justice, the Texas way.

WorkingForChange-How things work in Texas

Only on the internet . . .

2004-12-01T10:21:00.000-06:00

. . . would you be able to find the complete out-of-print work of "Sisters" by Lynne Cheney. I can't read past the first few paragraphs (because the writing is so terribly bad) but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

Lynne Cheney's "Sisters"

Ack! Ack! Ack!

2004-11-23T09:20:00.000-06:00

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!

2004-11-23T09:12:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-19T13:38:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-19T09:59:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-18T08:58:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-16T16:13:00.000-06:00

“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

2004-11-16T14:32:00.000-06:00

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"

2004-11-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

See the toon here.

Also worth viewing - Ann Telnaes' Daily cartoon today.

PC(USA) and Israel, vol. 3

2004-11-15T16:40:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-11T17:00:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-11T09:54:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-11T09:48:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-10T16:05:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-05T15:27:00.000-06:00

Books OK'd After Marriage Wording Changed

yeah, I'm being facetious.

reflections by Ben Sargent

2004-11-05T09:58:00.000-06:00

There's your moral values for ya.

some good news?

2004-11-04T15:09:00.000-06:00

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?

2004-11-04T15:06:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-04T13:09:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-04T08:31:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-03T13:59:00.000-06:00

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

2004-11-02T10:23:00.000-06:00

The New York Times - The Campaign in Pictures

These pictures made me somehow more hopeful.

election night celebrations

2004-11-02T09:01:00.000-06:00

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.

vote, vote, vote

2004-10-29T16:52:00.000-05:00

I really feel like there's nothing else I can say here until Nov. 3. I'm wary of the election, and afraid that something will go wrong. Also - work will keep me busy until then.

Remember, su vota es su voz! Save democracy: vote! and all those other pithy sayings. Whatever gets you to the polls. This election is so vital. I can't stress it enough. Whoever you want to vote for, go do it.

I'm gonna link to my Susan B. Anthony post.

As P. Diddy says, "Vote or die!"

Just remember, the election is November 2, no matter what anyone else tells you.

those quirky Brits.

2004-10-28T14:18:00.000-05:00

According to a poll by a British film magazine, George W. Bush is the year's top villain. I'm not making this up! He beat Doc Ock and Gollum.

CNN.com - Top film villain: Bush?

if you haven't seen it already. . .

2004-10-28T13:11:00.000-05:00

you really should. It got me all riled up, and I already voted! It is somewhat work-safe. I could watch it over and over again, but I should get back to work now.

Eminem - Mosh

"He was rarther a presumshious man"

2004-10-26T15:34:00.000-05:00

I was just bumbling about on the internet this afternoon when I found this story on how Jim Broadbent brought The Young Visiters to the small screen. Never having heard of this work, I went here and started reading it. I can't believe I missed out on this great work when I was growing up! It's deliciously awful. Well, not really awful. But it was written by a 9-year-old and is lacking in punctuation and correct spelling. You can read the entire opus online. It's about an "elderly man of 42" and his ward trying to make it in Victorian-era society.

The Young Visiters will be making its stateside appearance in early November, and stars Jim Broadbent and Hugh Laurie (among others).

Remembering Wellstone

2004-10-25T17:53:00.000-05:00

Today marks the second anniversary of Paul Wellstone's death. I get choked up just thinking about the tragic loss. I spent one year in Minnesota, and was lucky enough to hear Wellstone speak twice. Our nation had so much to learn from him and his work.

Wellstone Action - We remember them.

Statesman endorses Bush

2004-10-24T19:32:00.000-05:00

I got about six emails this morning (from Austin for Change) about the Statesman endorsing Bush and the answering protest. Unfortunately I'm still getting over an allergy attack, so I couldn't join in the protest on Congress bridge.

I am a little surprised about the endorsement, as I think a lot of Austinites are. I assumed since it is an Austin paper, it would reflect the thoughts of the community. I have little doubt that Kerry will win Austin (there's no way he can win Texas, however). Austin is an extremely liberal community and a lot of us are very upset with this administration.

I'm going with the optimistic thought that the editors wanted to endorse Kerry, and the publishers made them endorse Bush. Call me naive, but it helps me feel a little better.

a quick look at conservatives and sexuality

2004-10-21T09:07:00.000-05:00

The hypocrisy of all the hubbub being made over Mary Cheney's obvious sexuality has not been lost on me. Frank Rich compares the coverage of the conservative reaction to the lack of coverage on the Bill O'Reilly harassment story.

The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich: The O'Reilly Factor for Lesbians

Is this an affirmation or what?

2004-10-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

Pat Robertson alleges that Sojourners is a "semi-socialist" organization:

ZAHN: If you're not a Republican, can you be a Christian?

ROBERTSON: Well, I was a Democrat for about 55 years, so I guess so. You know, the party left us. The Democratic Party went far to the left, I think, and left some of us stranded on the beach, so we went to the Republican Party.

ZAHN: But there are a lot of Christians out there who take umbrage at what you're saying. There is this magazine called "Sojourners" magazine.

ROBERTSON: Oh, yes.

ZAHN: Which, by its admission, is a liberal Christian magazine.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTSON: Semi-socialist.

CNN.com - Paula Zahn's interview with Pat Robertson

If Pat Robertson, who has always been a little out of touch with reality, makes this claim, then certainly Sojourners is doing something right. After all, this is the man who stated that "(f)eminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

Sojourners Executive Editor David Batstone responds

well, this is a good sign.

2004-10-20T12:07:00.000-05:00

Kid power! Democrat John Kerry is the winner, and the rest of the country should pay attention because the vote on Nickelodeon's Web site has correctly chosen the president of the United States in the past four elections.

Nearly 400,000 children and teens voted, and the results were released Wednesday. Kerry received 57 percent of the vote; President Bush got 43 percent.

with my emphasis. Not that I believe we've got it in the bag, but if the kids think Kerry should be prez, maybe theire parents do also.

Kids Pick Kerry to Be the Next President

I won't vote for Nader, but . . .

2004-10-19T13:17:00.000-05:00

I am very tempted to vote for the Green Party candidate for President. Part of me thinks that I might as well, because all of Texas' electoral votes will go to Bush anyway. But then the other part of me knows that I have to vote for Kerry.

I saw Cobb on NOW and was extremely impressed. The Green Party's platform is far more progressive and peaceful than the Democrats, so I definitely agree with them more. But I know that we are stuck in a two party system. They say social change has always come from a third party. . .

It isn't getting any better

2004-10-19T10:35:00.000-05:00

I don't know how 9/11 could be politicized any more.

Relatives of people who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks vouch for President Bush or Democrat John Kerry in new TV ads that try to persuade voters that just one of the two would best lead the country in a time or terrorism.

9/11 Kin Vouch for Bush, Kerry in TV Ads

On my Netflix list: 11'09"01. It will be released on DVD 10/26. I missed it in the theatres, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Has anyone else seen it?

MUST READ: Without a Doubt

2004-10-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

If you are a registered voter, you must read this article from the NY Times Magazine. It is a very detailed and disturbing look at the character of the Bush administration. Here's a taste:

Each administration, over the course of a term, is steadily shaped by its president, by his character, personality and priorities. It is a process that unfolds on many levels. There are, of course, a chief executive's policies, which are executed by a staff and attending bureaucracies. But a few months along, officials, top to bottom, will also start to adopt the boss's phraseology, his presumptions, his rhythms. If a president fishes, people buy poles; if he expresses displeasure, aides get busy finding evidence to support the judgment. A staff channels the leader.

A cluster of particularly vivid qualities was shaping George W. Bush's White House through the summer of 2001: a disdain for contemplation or deliberation, an embrace of decisiveness, a retreat from empiricism, a sometimes bullying impatience with doubters and even friendly questioners. Already Bush was saying, Have faith in me and my decisions, and you'll be rewarded. All through the White House, people were channeling the boss. He didn't second-guess himself; why should they?

I'm going to forward this article to everyone I know. It is a long read, but extremely relevant.

The New York Times > Magazine > Without a Doubt

If you are in Texas, you have eleven more days to vote early (before Nov. 2)!

Supreme Court says review it.

2004-10-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

The Supreme Court has urged further consideration of the Texas redistricting, setting aside the federal panel ruling that upheld it.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered on Monday further consideration of a challenge by Democrats and minority groups to a controversial Republican-backed congressional redistricting plan in Texas.

The justices in a brief order granted an appeal by those challenging the plan and set aside a ruling by a federal three-judge panel in January that upheld the bitterly contested map.

The justices ordered further consideration by the federal panel in view of their ruling in April that upheld a Pennsylvania redistricting case. They did not elaborate further.

This seems a tad wishy-washy to me, but at least they are urging another federal review of the plan. Too bad the "wrong" districts are already being voted on as we speak. What will happen if the redistricting is not upheld (which, Lord willing, it won't be)?

Supreme Court Orders Texas Redistricting Review

cell phones, polls, and other election questions

2004-10-15T14:01:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Electoral vote predictor for linking to this great discussion on the Washington Post site with Charles Cook.

Quotable quote:

Berwyn, Ill.: With unprecedented numbers of newly registered voters all across the country, aren't ALL polls essentially irrelevant?

Charles Cook: Virtually all the polls you are seeing are using random digit dialing, not voter registeration rolls, so theoretically even newly registered voters are being polled. A far bigger problem is that as many as 18 percent of telephone subscribers today have no land lines, and since pollsters are not calling cell phones, almost one in five voters are not being included in poll samples.

Election 2004: State of the Races (washingtonpost.com)

Milwaukee may be turning voters away.

2004-10-14T16:39:00.000-05:00

In Wisconsin, it's not necessarily one person, one vote (or even one ballot) from MoJo Blog. Very disturbing.