Classic pop from two summers ago...
"Love Is A Game" by the Magic Numbers
14 August 2007
13 August 2007
Bu-Bye Karl
The President's chief political strategist leaves the White House at the end of the month having dismantled the movement that was lead so passionately by Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. His counsel to Mr. Bush is responsible for the strong presence of radical religion in our current government, an attempt to soil the Constitution with hateful graffiti, a mismanaged and unwinnable war in Iraq, the freedom of Osama bin Laden, and a national debt that will break the backs of today's children.
And for what?
A measly 50.73% of the popular vote.
And for what?
A measly 50.73% of the popular vote.
Giuliani / Huckabee?
Andrew Sullivan seems to think that such a ticket would be formidable next year. Rudy from New York, Mike from Arkansas - possibly running against a woman who hails from both states. Quite Rovian, if you ask me.
Halloween Cancelled
Well, at least in the Castro. Following last year's gun violence (9 people were shot - none, thankfully, died) and stabbings a few years prior, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted last week to put the kabosh on the annual celebration.
I for one am pleased. If an increased police presence wasn't able to stop outsiders from coming in with guns and knives then the only choice the city had was to stop the party.
If the Board hadn't acted, then I hate to think how things could have escalated. Beatings at Pink Saturday? Murder at the Castro Street Fair?
Big thanks to my supervisor, Bevan Dufty, for pushing this through.
I for one am pleased. If an increased police presence wasn't able to stop outsiders from coming in with guns and knives then the only choice the city had was to stop the party.
If the Board hadn't acted, then I hate to think how things could have escalated. Beatings at Pink Saturday? Murder at the Castro Street Fair?
Big thanks to my supervisor, Bevan Dufty, for pushing this through.
Rove Resigns
Karl Rove, the man behind all that was hateful and destructive about the President's domestic agenda, will resign his post as Deputy White House Chief of Staff effective August 31. Still developing. More later.
The Songs of Summer
One of the classiest summer R&B tunes ever. From 1974, enjoy...
"Summer Madness" by Kool and the Gang
"Summer Madness" by Kool and the Gang
|
Little Miss Chloe...
...would like to thank Uncle Larry and Uncle Trevor for "Chloe-sitting" me this weekend while my dads were up in Bodega Bay for a wedding.You guys rock!
12 August 2007
Failure Around the Globe
Quote of the Day:
The incompetence of Mr. Bush and his minions is criminal. Imagine for a minute how a Republican congress would have acted if Al Gore had taken his eye off the ball in Afghanistan following 9/11, moved troops and vital resources into another country - one that had nothing to do with those terrorist attacks - and then proceeded to drive the whole anti-terrorism effort off a cliff with presidential incompetence. Imagine for a minute how (again, if Al Gore were president) a Republican congress would be frothing at the mouth over the fact that the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks and his group of global thugs were roaming free in the mountains of the Afghan-Pakastani boarder six years after an attack on American soil killed 3,000 innocent U.S. civilians.
A Republican congress would have impeached a "President Gore" over such deeds before he could finish his first term, and more than likely would have had him charged criminally. Yet George W. Bush, in the last years of his second term, continues to get a free pass from the new Democratic congress.
Come on, people! Get your heads out of your asses and impeach this son of a bitch and his evil vice-president before it's too late. Can American really afford 18 more months of these guys?
...it’s more the epicenter of terrorism than Iraq. If we don’t succeed in Afghanistan, you’re sending a very clear message to the terrorist organizations that the U.S., the U.N. and the 37 countries with troops on the ground can be defeated.-Gen. James L. Jones, retired NATO supreme commander, in a superbly written piece from today's New York Times, on how the Bush administration has dropped the ball in Afghanistan.
The incompetence of Mr. Bush and his minions is criminal. Imagine for a minute how a Republican congress would have acted if Al Gore had taken his eye off the ball in Afghanistan following 9/11, moved troops and vital resources into another country - one that had nothing to do with those terrorist attacks - and then proceeded to drive the whole anti-terrorism effort off a cliff with presidential incompetence. Imagine for a minute how (again, if Al Gore were president) a Republican congress would be frothing at the mouth over the fact that the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks and his group of global thugs were roaming free in the mountains of the Afghan-Pakastani boarder six years after an attack on American soil killed 3,000 innocent U.S. civilians.
A Republican congress would have impeached a "President Gore" over such deeds before he could finish his first term, and more than likely would have had him charged criminally. Yet George W. Bush, in the last years of his second term, continues to get a free pass from the new Democratic congress.
Come on, people! Get your heads out of your asses and impeach this son of a bitch and his evil vice-president before it's too late. Can American really afford 18 more months of these guys?
10 August 2007
The HRC Debate
The Human Rights Campaign sponsored a presidential discussion focusing on gay and lesbian issues last night in which all but two of the major Democratic candidates attended. Each candidate appeared by themselves, with questions coming from a panel of three. Unfortunately I only saw the last two segments with Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton (my cable guide listed the forum as airing at 9pm California time when Logo actually aired it live starting at 6pm; I just happened upon it as Richardson was being questioned).
My heart sank as I listened to the New Mexico governor. When asked by Melissa Etheridge if he thought homosexuality was biological or a choice, Richardson insisted (three times!) that it was a choice. That's the line the fascist right-wingers like to use when trying to write discrimination into the Constitution or insist that therapy will turn us straight. I like Bill Richardson and have been hoping he'd start to do better in the primary election polling. America needs someone with his foreign policy expertise (UN ambassador, energy secretary, international diplomat) in the next government to help clean up George's mess.
But, last night, when he insisted I chose to be this way...well...the only thing I could do was sink down in my seat...keep my dinner down...and mutter, "Oh, Bill."
And speaking of Bill...Hillary Clinton actually impressed me. She seems to be getting much more comfortable in her campaign style, sitting there comfortably and confidently as the panel asked her questions. Granted, she was there as the offically endorsed candidate of the Human Rights Campaign, but she answered questions intelligently without coming across as cold and calculating; and she defended her husband's record on LGBT issues during his presidency.
As Etheridge said, when Mr. Clinton campaigned for the presidency the gay community was full of hope that his administration would step up to the plate and right a long list of wrongs. By the time he was to win re-election in 1996 we had "been thrown under the bus" (as Etheridge put it). (Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act were both signed by Clinton.)
I understand that argument. Really, I do. I was just as disappointed as everyone else. But last night Hillary explained things in much the way I understood them to be at the time: Political realities prevented President Clinton from moving too far forward on the gay front.
Had Clinton signed an executive order - without any military or congressional involvement - that allowed gays to serve in the military, the 1994 Republican congressional takeover would have been much bigger than it already was. And had he vetoed the Defense of Marriage Act, the presidential election of 1996 would have gone to Bob Dole; and after a two-term Dole presidency we'd be sitting right now in the first term of either a President Kemp or President Jeb Bush. America, and the Democratic Party, couldn't afford that.
Do I wish Bill Clinton had had the cajones to do what was right? Of course. But at the time, he did what he felt he had to do for political considerations. But America's conservative bent is just as much to blame as Clinton's desire to remain in power.
My heart sank as I listened to the New Mexico governor. When asked by Melissa Etheridge if he thought homosexuality was biological or a choice, Richardson insisted (three times!) that it was a choice. That's the line the fascist right-wingers like to use when trying to write discrimination into the Constitution or insist that therapy will turn us straight. I like Bill Richardson and have been hoping he'd start to do better in the primary election polling. America needs someone with his foreign policy expertise (UN ambassador, energy secretary, international diplomat) in the next government to help clean up George's mess.
But, last night, when he insisted I chose to be this way...well...the only thing I could do was sink down in my seat...keep my dinner down...and mutter, "Oh, Bill."
And speaking of Bill...Hillary Clinton actually impressed me. She seems to be getting much more comfortable in her campaign style, sitting there comfortably and confidently as the panel asked her questions. Granted, she was there as the offically endorsed candidate of the Human Rights Campaign, but she answered questions intelligently without coming across as cold and calculating; and she defended her husband's record on LGBT issues during his presidency.
As Etheridge said, when Mr. Clinton campaigned for the presidency the gay community was full of hope that his administration would step up to the plate and right a long list of wrongs. By the time he was to win re-election in 1996 we had "been thrown under the bus" (as Etheridge put it). (Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act were both signed by Clinton.)
I understand that argument. Really, I do. I was just as disappointed as everyone else. But last night Hillary explained things in much the way I understood them to be at the time: Political realities prevented President Clinton from moving too far forward on the gay front.
Had Clinton signed an executive order - without any military or congressional involvement - that allowed gays to serve in the military, the 1994 Republican congressional takeover would have been much bigger than it already was. And had he vetoed the Defense of Marriage Act, the presidential election of 1996 would have gone to Bob Dole; and after a two-term Dole presidency we'd be sitting right now in the first term of either a President Kemp or President Jeb Bush. America, and the Democratic Party, couldn't afford that.
Do I wish Bill Clinton had had the cajones to do what was right? Of course. But at the time, he did what he felt he had to do for political considerations. But America's conservative bent is just as much to blame as Clinton's desire to remain in power.
09 August 2007
Extended Break
Things are just a bit hectic at the moment. We're off to Bodega Bay to attend a friend's wedding this weekend and I will back in full force when I return. Check back on Monday.
07 August 2007
04 August 2007
02 August 2007
Reunited
Daniel Mangini and Steven Roberts of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania have been in committed relationship for more than 20 years. They built a home together and raised Roberts' niece. But after the niece reached adulthood, the couple somehow fell to the addiction of crystal meth and started selling the drug to support their habit.
The were subsequently arrested and sentenced to a short prison term followed by a five year "supervised release" program in which they were barred from associating with other felons other than family members. Judge Marvin Katz sided with the probation department when they argued that Magini and Roberts same-sex relationship should not be treated the same as a straight relationship.
The ACLU appealed the decision to the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on the couple's behalf and on Tuesday Judge Katz reversed his decision. After a year without any contact, the men are now back together and resuming their lives.
The were subsequently arrested and sentenced to a short prison term followed by a five year "supervised release" program in which they were barred from associating with other felons other than family members. Judge Marvin Katz sided with the probation department when they argued that Magini and Roberts same-sex relationship should not be treated the same as a straight relationship.
The ACLU appealed the decision to the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on the couple's behalf and on Tuesday Judge Katz reversed his decision. After a year without any contact, the men are now back together and resuming their lives.
The Minneapolis Bridge
The death toll in yesterday's Minneapolis bridge collapse seems to be moving around quite a bit. Yesterday it started at two, moved up to nine, and this morning is back down at 4. Twenty to thirty are still missing and cars are believed to be sumberged in the Mississippi River, so that number is bound to creep back up again. But either way you look at it, considering the bridge was bumper-to-bumper traffic at the time of the disaster, any number under 50 would be amazingly lucky.
01 August 2007
The Songs of Summer
From the summer of 1990, a hard rocker from Bad Company...
"Holy Water"
"Holy Water"
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)