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October 30, 2006

Taking a break

I don't want to scare anyone by disappearing, so here's a quick note to let you know I won't be posting for a bit. My mother was killed in a car wreck yesterday. It is shocking, inconceivable. But I've got a fantastic family (thanks, in very large part, to my dear mother), so I'll be fine. I just need a little time, and I don't want anyone to worry.

My mother is a fantastic, curious, intelligent adventurer. She fell off the side of a mountain while biking in Alaska and survived (even thrived!); was (briefly) arrested while buying opera tickets (unknowingly, innocently) from a scalper in Moscow; swam (or floated, anyway) in the Dead Sea; took me to Europe when I was a teenager; broke her hand in a train station in India and then continued on her trip while her bones started to heal. She visited every continent on earth; spent a semester at sea; loved the train, taking her grandchildren on transcontinental journeys; read voraciously; studied history; raised five children, who all went on to post-graduate studies; is a passionate fan of nature; worships my wonderful father (who adores her in return), and... oh, where to stop?

I'll be back. Give me a moment to collect myself...

Posted by alice at 11:45 PM | Comments (29)

October 29, 2006

Corker Desperately Push-Polls

Are you aware Harold Ford is in favor of raising your taxes, taking away your right to bear arms, and allowing gay adoptions?

Even I didn't think Corker would sink this low, and we're not even done yet...

Posted by alice at 11:28 AM | Comments (2)

Racist Ad Producer Gets Fired

Remember the GOP's Corker ad featuring Harold Ford, Jr.'s supposed friend from the Playboy Club?

Well, the Republican strategist who coproduced the ad (along with a Karl Rove wannabe) got fired by Wal-Mart on Friday. He claims the racism in the ad was an accident.

Whoops! Following in the footsteps of so many Republicans before him, his defense is that he's not evil, he's stupid! Wink-wink.

No word yet on whether Canada will get an apology.

UPDATE: Check out Ken's Melman's "lame" and pathetic backpedalling. This story gets sadder by the moment...

Posted by alice at 10:52 AM | Comments (2)

October 27, 2006

Creatureless Friday

Sorry for the lack of a creature today. I have my computer back, but haven't had a chance to get iphoto grooving again. You can still check out lots of other arklings, though, and while I might be creatureless again next week, once the election is over, I'll get back on a regular schedule.

In other news, I bought a house today. The closing was kinda anti-climatic, because we signed a whole bunch of papers and then... went back to work. It was a dark, very rainy day, so even if we had the time to start moving, we wouldn't have been able to. And we didn't have the time. As it is, we'll start moving things over this weekend and hopefully continue to do a bit at a time for the next week or so, then we'll make the big move starting on November 8th.

And finally, for your Friday entertainment here's a pretty funny campaign bit courtesy of Jesus' General (via TGW):

Posted by alice at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2006

Whee!!!!!

I'm posting this from my laptop, which returned to me this afternoon! Yippee!!!

Posted by alice at 05:07 PM | Comments (2)

Will GOP Benefit From Racism?

As georgia points out, they pulled the ad (and replaced it with some really blantant lies), but the damage is already done:

I wouldn't necessarily view the fact the ad is no longer airing as a victory; after all, the RNC got exactly what it wanted.  As it did with the Daisy-double "vote republican or die" ad, it shelled out a limited amount of money for a limited ad buy while relying on an all-too-willing press to provide hours and hours of free exposure for its  lies.  And so, the RNC got its racist message out to the voters of Tennessee, and unfortunately, that message will resonate with some voters.

And those voters will be, unfortunately, the all-too-numerous ignorant racists in Tennessee. Plus, there's also the even-more-numerous Republicans who support this behavior by voting for these assholes over and over again, thinking that supporting racists isn't the same as being racists themselves.

They are, of course, mistaken.

Posted by alice at 12:37 AM | Comments (4)

October 25, 2006

Bud

Between this bud and background colors that suggest springtime's forsythia, this photo doesn't look so much like fall now that I look at it. But it is from just a few days ago...

Posted by alice at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)

GOP-scandal-a-palooza

The latest scandal to come from the Party of Family Values (can you say that with a straight face?) is Rick Renzi -- who, if you'll recall, is the married Arizona Congressman who was caught canoodling with Katherine "Meltdown" Harris some time ago!

Posted by alice at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2006

Bob Corker's Struggle with the Truth

He lies.

They're boldfaced.

More: hamdems.org, Tennessee Guerilla Women, and AmericaBlog:

Well that's interesting. Bob Corker, who is a Republican running for Senator from Tennessee, says that the Republican National Committee - that would be the Republican party in Washington, DC - is refusing to stop running a racist TV ad that they're broadcasting in Tennessee. When pressed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer as to whether he has called anyone at the RNC or the White House to demand that the ad be taken down, Corker couldn't answer the question.

Bottom line, he's not trying very hard to get the racist ad off of TV. (Or, it's as he says - the Republican Party leadership is refusing to stop running a racist ad because it believes racism wins white votes, and I suppose on that account they're immoral but correct.) How hard is it to get the head of the Republican party to stop running a racist ad in your state that you, the Republican Senate candidate, feel is hurting your race? It's not difficult at all.

Corker is lying.

Josh Marshall has the racist ad, an analysis of it, and he exposes how the RNC is now lying about it simply has no power to pull down its own ad.

So much for that Republican outreach to the black community. I guess, in the end, the Republicans figured that you can get a lot more white voters with racism than you can black voters with civil rights. Disgusting.

Here is how Josh describes the ad:

The ad, in case you aren't familiar with it, is a cartoonish spot which might be subtitled, 'Harold Ford is an uppity negro who does the wild thing with white women.'

But, should we be suprised by Corker's gutter tactics? This is, after all, the party of the Southern Strategy and Macaca, and Bob Corker is eager to become their newest yapping poodle.

Posted by alice at 11:13 PM | Comments (2)

Drip.

It's been another busy day, and I've still got some work to do. But, I hate to leave a blank day up here, so here's another red leaf (sorry about the repetition). Also, check out Harold Ford, Jr. on the cover of Newsweek Magazine when you get a chance. We're loving the national coverage!

Posted by alice at 09:03 PM | Comments (2)

October 23, 2006

Red!

Here's another photo from the weekend. I just got home and haven't even looked at my mail yet today. It looks like my computer will take a week or so before I get it back, so my inbox is going to keep backing up for a while longer. If you're waiting for a response from me about something, better pick up the phone...

Posted by alice at 08:11 PM | Comments (1)

October 22, 2006

Fall Colors

I ducked out of town at the last minute this weekend -- driving down to Amicalola Falls State Park on Friday night and returning today. I think we arrived at the park just about when the colors were hitting their peak, so hopefully I'll have a few photos of fall colors to share this week. I worked a lot while I was there and didn't get to hike as much as I would have liked -- the weather was beautiful on Saturday -- but I really enjoyed the time that I did have in the woods. Here's a picture from Friday night, right around sunset.

Posted by alice at 04:16 PM | Comments (4)

October 20, 2006

Well Done!

(If you don't see anything above, go here to watch the clip.)

"The Republicans are talking about things like gay marriage and so forth, and the Democrats are talking about the things people care about, like how do I pay my bills?" -- Dick Armey, former House Republican majority leader, quoted in the NY Times

(via Tennessee Guerilla Women)

Posted by alice at 01:47 PM | Comments (0)

Friday Creature

I didn't think I was going to have a Friday Creature this week (my computer is in the shop), but then I came home last night and found this crawling up my 2" blinds. Ick. I'd much rather see a spider. After I snapped a few photos, the dog helped me chase it out of the house.

Want more critter pics? Head over to the modulator's ark, and then have a great weekend!

Posted by alice at 12:04 PM | Comments (2)

October 18, 2006

Olbermann, again...

I know a lot of you were probably watching tonight, but if you missed it, Keith Olbermann's comments this evening are very much worth reviewing. Keith definately has become Must See TV.

In other news, Harold Ford, Jr. made (another) huge splash in Chattanooga today, and once again, he out-drew Bob Corker on the Bobster's home turf. Some of my photos of the event even made the hamdems.org homepage! (My favorite is the third, of Congressman Ford and a local pastor.)

Posted by alice at 11:21 PM | Comments (1)

October 17, 2006

A quick update...

It looks like my computer problems are hardware, not software, so the solution is probably going to take a while (and some quatloos!). I'm counting my blessings, though. I know a brilliant computer geek (who helped me with diagnostics this morning), and I have a (desktop) computer that can serve me temporarily while I send my laptop off to the repair shop. Losing the portability will be hard, especially in these final days of the campaign(s), but at least I can check my email when I get home at night...

Thanks for all of your positive thoughts and kind wishes!

Posted by alice at 11:10 PM | Comments (3)

This is why I go by my first name only...

My name is pretty unique, so I blog on a first-name only basis to keep the search engines from going nuts. But there are a few of me out there...

(via beep)

Posted by alice at 10:33 PM | Comments (2)

A Localist Speaks

My mother sent me a link to a blog that's running an interview with Bill Kauffman this week. I just happen to be in the middle of reading his latest book, which has been slow going, but only because I've been so (ironically?) swamped with other things lately -- it's a great read. You might want to check out the interview as it should shape up to be an interesting exchange.

(I'm posting this on a borrowed computer and am on my way out to door to see about getting mine up and running again... keep your fingers crossed...)

UPDATE: here's the complete series: intro | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

Posted by alice at 09:10 AM | Comments (1)

October 16, 2006

Well, maybe I wasn't busy enough...

My powerbook melted down today. I'm 99% sure it's a software issue, so all I need to do is find the disc and reinstall Tiger, but... well, I have absolutely no idea where the disc might be, since most of our stuff is still in boxes waiting for the final move (which is only a few weeks away). So, I'll spend my morning tomorrow searching amongst friends for a Tiger disc -- and hope that it will be enough to set me on the road to healthy computing.

Wish me luck!

Posted by alice at 09:21 PM | Comments (2)

Stephanopoulos, Hatin' Gays, and Stem Cells

While I was on my way to Alabama on Sunday, George Stephanopoulos hooked up with our Senatorial candidates. Bubba has more.

In other news, it looks like the Republicans may have wrung about as much as they can from Gay Hating -- or maybe they've just alienated the main haters. Either way, the issue may have already jumped the shark. So, who are the Republicans going to hate next?

And then, there's this...

(If you don't see anything above, go here to watch the clip.)

Posted by alice at 12:03 AM | Comments (1)

October 15, 2006

Brunch

OK, so here's a quick update on what's been keeping me so busy (and quiet) lately.

Last week started out pretty calmly with not much more than a dentist appointment on Monday, but it was just a calm before the storm. The US Senate campaign was about to hit town, and while we were busy getting ready, things didn't get really frantic until the next day.

There were still lots of bright stars in the sky when I left the house on Tuesday morning, headed for an early prayer breakfast hosted by Harold Ford, Jr. From there I moved to working the phones, trying to turn out a good crowd for a rally over at UTC, where people gathered to greet the two candidates as they arrived for a debate later in the day.

There was plenty of good energy already flowing from a great turnout at the breakfast, but once the CNN bus rolled into town, things really got nuts, what with putting out signs, getting signs into the hands of supporters, letting people know the national news was in town, and so on. I eventually made it over to the rally (it looked like the Ford people outnumbered the Corker's supporters by about 2-to-1), and then as soon as the candidates disappeared into the UC auditorium, I went over to the Read House, where people were already gathering to watch the debate on large screens in the silver ballroom.

I didn't get to see/hear all that much of the debate. Between arriving a bit late, seeing a bunch of people I knew, and the crowd's noisy enthusiasm every time Ford seemed to win a point, I only caught bits and pieces. Ford came over after the debate to work the crowd again -- this time without being limited by the solemnity and early hour of the prayer breakfast, so he was able to whip them up into a frenzy and they left ready to rumble. And yes, by the time I worked my way back home again, the stars were once again lighting up the sky.

Wednesday also started with an early breakfast -- a fundraiser this time -- but the rest of the day was free to get ready for our next visit from the Congressman: Thursday's Kefauver Dinner. To be honest, at this point I was just looking forward to getting past all the distracting events, and back to our plans to get out the vote. The Dinner went off beautifully and on Friday and Saturday, it was nice to turn my attention back to turnout and to be able to work in larger blocks of time.

I also got to have a bit of fun this weekend -- I popped by a couple of BBQs yesterday, caught the Leslie Jordan show at the Tivoli Theatre with some wonderful friends last night, and today I zipped down to Mentone, Alabama with DD and a good friend. Our politics-free afternoon included an awesome brunch at the Wildflower Cafe (a-ha! hence the photo!) and a bit of browsing around several of Mentone's unique shops, including the wildly cool White Elephant Antiques.

I can't believe the weekend sped by so quickly, but here we are, ready to start up the insanity again in the morning! Speaking of which, if you're in Chattanooga and you're not yet working with one our local campaigns, what the heck are you waiting for!?! ;-D Feel free to contact me, and I'll hook you up with the campaign of your choice (Brown, Favors, Lusk, Moseley, Bredesen, Benedict, and/or Ford). Early voting starts this coming Wednesday, so there's no time to waste!

Have a good week!

Posted by alice at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2006

GOP Gay Purge?

Oh, my! If the GOP takes their War on Gays to center stage, will any non-breeder be safe?

The likes of Rev. Lou Sheldon at the Traditional Values Coalition and Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, are demanding a “Come to Jesus Meeting” in the GOP to discuss expelling gays from the party’s corridors of power.

“Has the social agenda of the GOP been stalled by homosexual members and/or staffers?” asks Perkins.

He has a point, the Republicans have controlled all three branches of government for six years, but abortion is still legal and gays aren’t yet routinely rounded up and sent to forced reorientation camps.

But if “nuts” like Perkins and Wildmon want to cleanse all but God-fearing breeders from the party’s top ranks, will they stop with the Congress?

I wonder if that means that Andy Sullivan have to turn in his GOP membership card? Will Mary get kicked out of the Cheney family? Will Condi have to come up with some way to prove she's het?

Once the witch burning has begun, how does one know when to stop?

Posted by alice at 06:05 PM | Comments (2)

First Time

(If you don't see anything above, go here to watch the clip.)

Posted by alice at 12:01 AM | Comments (1)

October 13, 2006

Friday Creature

Last week's Friday Creature was one of my next-door neighbor's yorkies. This is the other one, the girl. She's very shy and a little skittish at first, but eventually, she'll snuggle up against you, if you're willing to sit still for a while.

If one yorkie isn't enough to satisfy your critter fix, head over to see the modulator's ark. The creatures have been boarding all day long.

Have a great weekend! If you're in western New York, let me know how you're coping with the early snow!

Posted by alice at 07:03 PM | Comments (1)

James Dobson is making more gay people!

Just as George Bush's War on Terrorism is creating more terrorists, it would seem that the efforts of James Dobson (et al) in the War on Gays is increasing the number gay people.

Well done, boys. So, when does Opposite Day end? I need to mark my calendar...

Posted by alice at 10:10 AM | Comments (1)

October 12, 2006

Almost the weekend...

Teen girl #1:The guy with the blond hair, is he English?
Teen girl #2: No, he's Jewish.
Teen girl #1: I hate Halloween.

-- from Overheard in NY. Here's another good one:

Mother: Don't you ever do that again! [slaps child hard]
Child, calmly: Well, are you happy with yourself?

And as a special bonus, check out funny conductors here and here.

(It's been another long day and I'm too tired for original content. Sorry about that. I'll get back up to speed at some point...)

Posted by alice at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2006

Coming Out Day

It was today (sorry about the choice of categories -- I put this under "politics" today, but if the Democrats take over Congress in November, I will probably be able to move from "politics" to "random tidbits" the next time the day swings around on the calendar).

"Like my husband, I believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere." -- Coretta Scott King

Civil rights are civil rights. There are no persons who are not entitiled to their civil rights. -- Dorothy Height

(If you don't see anything above, go here to watch the clip.)

Via Tennessee Guerilla Women

Posted by alice at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2006

Good Day

I started the day at 5:30 am. I've been in perpetual motion since then. I'm going to have a beer and get some sleep, but first (or rather, while I enjoy my beverage), let me just say that Harold Ford, Jr. is a rock star.

He was in town most of the day today. There was an unbelievable amount of energy swirling around him all day long and CNN even showed up to cover the party! If you've seen any coverage, let me know how they're treating it -- I've been out in the field all day... and it's been amazing.

Congressman Ford bookended the day in Chattanooga, appearing twice to a packed crowd in the same room: the Silver Ballroom at the Read House. There was a prayer breakfast to start the day and a post-debate celebration this evening. At one point this morning, while Ford was speaking and the standing-room-only crowd was on their feet and going nuts, someone turned to me and said simply "He's going to win." It sounded like a statement of fact and was delivered with a tinge of relief as the speaker seemed to be, at that moment, coming to a realization.

And then later in the day, more Ford supporters than Corker supporters turned out to cheer on the candidates as they arrived at today's debate -- and this was in Corker's hometown.

More later. I'm going to get some sleep. I've got another overly-scheduled day tomorrow, but it's all good stuff and I'll keep you updated when I can...

Posted by alice at 10:59 PM | Comments (2)

October 09, 2006

A few good reads...

They're on major national blogs, so maybe you did catch them, but just in case...

The Coming GOP Civil War

This story is a very sad indictment of all sorts of people who claim to value life but then demonstrate that really they're just ideological and mean.

We now have an answer to this question.

Tom Reynolds, who fills the (apparently too big) shoes of my former Congresman must be feeling a bit of sympathy for George "Macaca" Allen as they both struggle with serial snafus (fortunately, they can both still feel superior to the kids working over on the Katherine Harris campaign).

And then there's the news from Korea and the most recent polling numbers that show the democrats surging while the republicans flounder, but the coverage of those two stories is too widespread for me to be able to reduce my linkage to just one href each. If you've missed out, just do a little bit of surfing -- it shouldn't take long for you to get caught up...

Posted by alice at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2006

James Dobson Sinks Even Lower

While he continues his Tour of Hate through our state, he took time out to make excuses for a sexual predator. Where are those family values again?

Are there any people of conscience left among evangelical Christians? This man is one of your self-proclaimed leaders, and he thinks 52 year old men asking 16 year old boys to measure their penises is "a joke"? Absolutely sickening.

Posted by alice at 05:57 PM | Comments (0)

The freefall begins anew?

If I had the time, I'd put a the republican leadership in little parachutes and insert them into this photo as well. The news comes from Newsweek (via Tennessee Guerilla Women and Political Wire).

For the first time since 2001, the NEWSWEEK poll shows that more Americans trust the Democrats than the GOP on moral values and the war on terror. Fully 53 percent of Americans want the Democrats to win control of Congress next month, including 10 percent of Republicans, compared to just 35 percent who want the GOP to retain power. If the election were held today, 51 percent of likely voters would vote for the Democrat in their district versus 39 percent who would vote for the Republican. [...] Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has fallen to a new all-time low for the Newsweek poll: 33 percent, down from an already anemic 36 percent in August. Only 25 percent of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, while 67 percent say they are not. [...] [F]or the first time in the NEWSWEEK poll, a majority of Americans now believe the Bush administration knowingly misled the American people in building its case for war against Saddam Hussein: 58 percent vs. 36 percent who believe it didn’t. And pessimism over Iraq is at record highs on every score: nearly two in three Americans, 64 percent, believe the United States is losing ground there; 66 percent say the war has not made America safer from terrorism (just 29 percent believe it has); and 53 percent believe it was a mistake to go to war at all, again the first time the NEWSWEEK poll has registered a majority in that camp.

If you'd like someone to explain these numbers for you, Jon Ponder offers a brief interpretation.

Posted by alice at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2006

Friday Creature

This week's Friday Creature is one of my next-door neighbor's yorkies. There are two of them, and this is the boy. He's very bold and confident and loves to chase his floppy frisbee. Other critters have been drawing a crowd over on the modulator's ark.

Things might get a little slow around here through the beginning of November. The upcoming election is keeping me busy enough, but to make life even more fun, we actually found a house this past week and will be closing by the end of the month. I'll try to keep you updated on the campaign gossip, though!

Posted by alice at 06:33 PM | Comments (1)

The hell they did.

A special comment about lying

The president of the United States — unbowed, undeterred and unconnected to reality — has continued his extraordinary trek through our country rooting out the enemies of freedom: the Democrats.

Yesterday at a fundraiser for an Arizona congressman, Mr. Bush claimed, quote, “177 of the opposition party said, ‘You know, we don’t think we ought to be listening to the conversations of terrorists.’”

The hell they did.

One hundred seventy-seven Democrats opposed the president’s seizure of another part of the Constitution.

Not even the White House press office could actually name a single Democrat who had ever said the government shouldn’t be listening to the conversations of terrorists.

President Bush hears what he wants.

Tuesday, at another fundraiser in California, he had said, “Democrats take a law enforcement approach to terrorism. That means America will wait until we’re attacked again before we respond.”

Mr. Bush fabricated that, too.

That was just an exerpt from Keith Olbermann's commentary last night. Read the transcript or watch the video.

Posted by alice at 09:00 AM | Comments (3)

October 05, 2006

Ford Shoots Back!

Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) seized on the cybersex scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) Wednesday to deflect a question about an NRSC ad which asks: "What kind of man parties with Playboy Playmates in lingerie then films a commercial in a church pew?"

"I'm not going to take a lecture on morality from a party that took hush money from a child predator," said Ford Wednesday in Memphis, TN after speaking to the downtown Kiwanis Club.

-- Political Radar (via kos)

Posted by alice at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)

Republicans' Hail Mary

Well, the Republican attempt to find some way to blame the Repbulican-enabled Foley sex scandal and subsequent coverup on the Democrats has turned out to be a huge bellyflop. Meanwhile, the circular firing squad might just take down a Speaker on Friday.

And in other news...

Is Dick Cheney's security detail morphing into a Gestapo squad?

Posted by alice at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2006

Bill O'Reilly's Hail Mary

This gave me my morning chuckle. I think Sweet Jesus, I hate Bill O'Reilly, International broke the story, but it's already spread far and wide:

Republican Child Predator Labeled 'Democrat' on O'Reilly Factor

If O'Reilly (or even Fox"News") had an credibility, this would be upsetting, but since they don't, it's just funny, and speaks loudly of their realization that their party leadership's behavior was indefensible. And since their viewers continue to bail like rats from a ship, all they have left are the willfully ignorant anyway.

UPDATE: the AP has followed suit! Is this a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (tinvrwc)!?!??

Posted by alice at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

National Observers Not Buying Corker BS

Bob Corker is in trouble and it's showing. But is anyone buying his spin besides the usual cheerleaders? Maybe not.

TN-Sen: The Corker campaign has brought in an entire new team to try and rescue it from defeat. Of course, the Chattanoogan has helpfully bought the Corker spin:

The Corker for Senate campaign today announced the opening of an additional Nashville office and "the enhancement of staff for the final stretch of the race." But when the "enhancement of staff" includes a new campaign manager, a new political director, a new finance director, a new scheduling director, a new communications director, a new policy director, and a new research director, well then, that's a bit more than an "enhancement".

UPDATE: more here.

Posted by alice at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2006

The Mayor Whiffs Another One

It's hard to imagine how our mayor could be more wrong-headed about recycling. My next-door neighbor says he won't be able to participate in the city's new recycling program because he works out of a home office, which produces quite a lot of paper waste, and doesn't have the space on his property to store a month's worth of recycling. I can't imagine how I'm going to remember to put out my recycling once a month (I've never been able to figure out when brush collection day is supposed to be), so I'll probably end up hauling my recyclables over to the the park no matter what the city does -- and they'll end up confusing my lack of participation for disinterest.

Seriously, it seems as though Littlefield is not only determined to kill recycling in Chattanooga, but he also wants to piss away as many taxpayer dollars as possible in the process. Is this any way for "the environmental city" to carry on?

How many days left in this guy's term?

Posted by alice at 09:41 PM | Comments (3)

Well, it's my birthday too--yeah!

Today's birthdays include John Ross, Emily Post, Gore Vidal, John Perry Barlow, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Ray Vaughan (on the day and year as Al Sharpton!), and none other than our own DD (dear daughter)!

In honor of such an auspicious day (and as a special gift to DD), I'm not going to share an embarrassing baby photo here in this space (and please realize what a sacrifice that is for me), nor am I going to post the lyrics to a certain Neil Young song...

Happy Day, everyone.

Posted by alice at 04:22 PM | Comments (9)

Had enough yet?

And by the way, equating a 52-year-old Congressman who preys on 16-year-olds with being gay may be one reason the GOP is accused of gay bashing.

-- Jon Stewart on last night's The Daily Show

Things you can count on the Republican leadership to screw up:

The deficit. Body armor. Medicare reform. Social Security reform. The minimum wage. Port security. The National Guard. Diplomacy. The Geneva Conventions. Fair elections. Clean elections. Intelligence. Protecting the Constitution. Protecting the Bill of Rights. Government transparency. Oversight. Separation of church and state. The middle class. The poor. Tax reform. Tax cuts. Bankruptcy law. Global warming. Disaster management. Defeating terrorists. Saying no to lobbyists. Saying yes to public opinion. Pre-war planning. Post-war planning. Competence. Civil rights. Civil liberties. Civil debate. Veterans' benefits. Hiring based on ability. Legal surveillance. Morality. Energy policy. Energy independence. End-of-life decisions among spouses. Inclusion. Learning lessons from history. Learning, period. Drug policy. Fiscal responsibility. Trusting the generals. Trusting the spooks. Trusting the experts. Basic honesty. Basic health care. Education. Creating jobs. Keeping CIA operatives' identities secret. Catching Osama. Playing nice. Playing fair. Refilling ice cube trays. Making paper airplanes. Or coffee. Tying their shoelaces. Making friends. Blowing their noses. Counting to ten five three. Sharing their toys. Telling the truth. Uniting the country. Protecting underage kids from a predatory congressman.

That House leaders knew Representative Mark Foley had been sending inappropriate e-mail to Capitol pages and did little about it is terrible. It is also the latest in a long, depressing pattern: When there is a choice between the right thing to do and the easiest route to perpetuation of power, top Republicans always pick wrong.
---The New York Times

-- Bill in Portland Maine

As expected, the integrity of conservatives with a conscience Vs opportunistic sociopaths disguised as conservatives concerning the inaction of House Republicans to protect pages entrusted to their care are lining up in stark contrast to one another. At best, Hastert's House is only guilty of screwing up horrendously and putting children at risk. But regardless, the GOP is in serious trouble when you see something like this:

Following the revelations about Florida Rep. Mark Foley's sexually suggestive e-mails to a 16-year-old congressional page, I have concluded Republicans are unworthy of retaining control of the federal government. ... Hastert's office said aides referred the matter to the proper authorities last fall but they were only told the messages were "over-friendly." In other words, they did no investigating because they didn't want to know the truth. Hear Hear! And my friends, would you believe those words were written yesterday by arch social conservative Joseph Farah, founder, editor, and CEO of the WorldNetDaily?

-- DarkSyde

Posted by alice at 10:08 AM | Comments (1)

October 02, 2006

Enabling Sexual Predators -- Who's On Board?

Fox"News"? The White House?

To say that their attempts to coverup and, even worse, to rationalize a sexual predator's behavior are disturbing is to make a dramatic understatement.

I'm very worried about some of these people -- especially the ones who claim some ownership over "family values" and then demonstrate a complete lack of insight into what that phrase might really mean away from the cynical political stage that gives them the public's ear. If these politicians and pundits and talking heads don't, for example, understand the difference between preying on children and an affair with a consenting adult, can they be trusted to behave appropriately around, or on behalf of, our kids?

Meanwhile, Brit Hume of Fox News Sunday can't fathom the difference between Bill Clinton's extramarital affair with a consenting adult and the sicko criminal behavior of a dirty old Republican Congressman who preys on kids.

Hume said that while Foley is now “in total disgrace in his party,” Clinton’s “inappropriate behavior toward a subordinate [didn’t] even cost Bill Clinton his standing in his party.”

Clearly, Mark Foley's behavior has been disgusting. But are these men who dissemble on his behalf really any better? People talk about the Republican Culture of Corruption (before Foley, we saw Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Tom DeLay and Rep. Bob Ney go down in flames), but this takes the unsavory factor to a whole new level.

UPDATE: House Speaker Dennis Hastert has pulled mention of protecting children in cyberspace off of his web site. What is the message he's trying to send?

Posted by alice at 10:47 AM | Comments (1)

October 01, 2006

Bent

DD (dear daughter) and I have been on a bit of a gay theatre binge lately.

Weekend before last we got to see the Chattanooga Theatre Centre's production of Lee Blessing's Thief River, which is about a love affair between two men that extends over several decades (it's set in rural Minnesota and starts out in the late 1940s).

Then this afternoon we went to a matinée of Martin Sherman's Bent, which deals with how homosexuals were treated during the Holocaust (and has been adapted for film).

After today's performance (the final one of the run), the company shot stills of some of the play's key scenes before striking the set. We hung around and watched as the story sped by us again -- backwards this time -- and I snapped a few photos myself. This image isn't one of the staged shots. I caught DD's boyfriend, who was part of the cast, standing off to the side and out of the spotlights, watching the proceedings while still costumed for his role. I left it as-is, uncropped and uncorrected, as I like the off-centered and slightly blurry way it turned out.

Posted by alice at 10:13 PM | Comments (1)