Low-hanging fruit

So, it looks like Not-My-President has made his pick for O'Connor's replacement on the Supreme Court. John Roberts, already with the reputation as an "advocate for Republican judges."

According to Salon.com:

While the right is already praising Roberts as a solid conservative pick, progressive groups like the Alliance for Justice have argued in the past that Roberts has shown a "record of hostility to the rights of women and minorities." Arguing on behalf of the government for a roll back of abortion rights, Roberts has stated that there is "no support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution" for Roe v. Wade. Roberts wrote the government's brief in Rust v. Sullivan, the 1991 case in which the Supreme Court held that government could prohibit doctors and clinics who receive federal funds from discussing abortion with their patients. In his brief, Roberts said: "We continue to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overruled."

As a woman, obviously I am frightened. As a progressive Democrat, I am at once enraged, pessimistic, and deflated. The Neocon virus has spread further, and it's only a matter of time before this country is inexorably - and irreparably - torn apart.

Karl Rove, the butt of all jokes

Check out this article from Charles Pierce of The American Prospect. It's hilarious.

With inspiration from Daily Kos.

Doing my part to help change the course

So today was the SF AIDS Walk, and my cousin and I finished the six miles in just under three hours. I know, you're probably thinking, was she crawling, or what?

Aside from my feet feeling like they've been pounded down to bloody stumps, I managed to get through the walk just fine. Plus, I got to listen to some really cool reggae from my favorite local band, Native Elements. But overall, I feel great to know that I was able to raise a nice sum to go benefit local AIDS organizations.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who sponsored me. Your support really means a lot.

All Rock, No Action

Jean-Claude Shanda Tonme, a columnist for Cameroonian daily Le Messager, writes this heartfelt appeal for what Africa really needs. Kudos to all the musicians that participated in Live 8, for they all did so with the best of intentions. What Tonme is saying though, is that we are so far away from truly understanding the plight of Africans.

In Africa, our leaders have led us into misery, and we need to rid ourselves of these cancers. We would have preferred for the musicians in Philadelphia and London to have marched and sung for political revolution. Instead, they mourned a corpse while forgetting to denounce the murderer.

What is at issue is an Africa where dictators kill, steal and usurp power yet are treated like heroes at meetings of the African Union. What is at issue is rulers like François Bozizé, the coup leader running the Central Africa Republic, and Faure Gnassingbé, who just succeeded his father as president of Togo, free to trample universal suffrage and muzzle their people with no danger that they'll lose their seats at the United Nations. Who here wants a concert against poverty when an African is born, lives and dies without ever being able to vote freely?

But the truth is that it was not for us, for Africa, that the musicians at Live 8 were singing; it was to amuse the crowds and to clear their own consciences, and whether they realized it or not, to reinforce dictatorships. They still believe us to be like children that they must save, as if we don't realize ourselves what the source of our problems is.

This piece really spoke to me, and I hope it does the same for you. I guess when most people think of "helping Africa," they think of the emaciated children with swollen bellies and flies on their eyelids. Obviously, we need to look past Africa a la Sally Struthers and get down to the real nitty gritty. That is, if we Americans are truly serious about spreading democracy around the world.

Read the article in its entirety here. For some extra reading, my friend Mike at Jones of the Nile has written a few posts on Africa as well - check out here and here and here.

Thanks to BYO for the link.

The backdoor? God won't mind!

Hey girls! Saving yourself for marriage but find it increasingly hard to resist your boyfriend's advances? Well these folks at Sex in Christ (pun intended?) offer the ol' tried n' true: Sodomy! Check it out:

Are you saving yourself for your wedding night? The Devil wants you to fail, that’s why he puts stumbling blocks in your way. But God wants you to succeed, and that’s why he has given us an alternative to intercourse before marriage: anal sex. Through anal sex, you can satisfy your body’s needs, while you avoid the risk of unwanted pregnancy and still keep yourself pure for marriage.

You may be shocked at first by this idea. Isn’t anal sex (sodomy) forbidden by the Bible? Isn’t anal sex dirty? What’s the difference between having anal sex before marriage and having regular intercourse? Let’s address these issues by debunking some myths about anal sex and God's will.

Scared of letting your man up the poopchute? Well, masturbation's okay too:

The subject of masturbation is the cause of much concern and confusion among Christians. Most of us are taught that masturbation is sinful or wrong, and many believe that the Bible actually forbids masturbation. The latter is simply untrue; masturbation is not even mentioned in the Bible. And when we consider the facts, it becomes clear that masturbation is not a sin, but rather a blessing from God that enables us to fully enjoy our bodies and can help us lead a more healthy spiritual life.

Feel free to read on for God's views on threesomes and oral sex. I don't think this website is legitimate, but I just had to share. The biblical quotes cited to prove their points are just SUCH a stretch.

Thanks to Ang, who blogged about this earlier. Have a great weekend, everybody --- God-sanctioned sodomy or no.

Corporate psychopaths

Fast Company magazine came out with this article recently that discusses how many big-name business executives would score against the Hare PsychopathyChecklist. It's quite an interesting article. Now, I'm no psychologist, but this confirms my own personal theory that psychopathy (Fastow) and narcissism (Trump) go hand-in-hand.

Reading this article reminded me of a story of a former CEO at a company I used to work for that quickly became legend. Hugh McColl, former CEO of Bank of America Corporation (post-NationsBank merger, that is) was rumored to have placed a hand grenade on the boardroom table. The idea was to check to see who flinched. Those that didn't got a gold star or something.

I wonder what he'd score on the checklist? Hmm.

Read more of the Fast Company article here. But don't let your boss see.

Get out your red pens!

So The Raw Story has a copy of the GOP talking points surrounding Doughboy's time in the hot seat.

As a former copyeditor, this just makes me want to cringe. Why Does Everything Have To Be In Initial Caps? Is Everything A Proper Noun When Republicans Speak And Write?

I GuEsS iTs bEtTeR tHaN tYpInG LiKe tHiS.

Or something.

Everything you wanted to know about the Doughboy Debacle ...

... but were afraid to ask.

I love Salon because they do stuff like this. You know, for people like me, who sometimes need things spelled out for them.

Semantics, schmemantics.

Smug little ol' Doughboy is feeling all warm and cozy over there on Capitol Hill because he didn't actually refer to Valerie Plame by name. He just referred to her as "Wilson's wife. Does Doughboy have a point? That depends on how you look at it.

From a purely semantic point of view, yeah. The words "Valerie Plame" didn't exactly roll off his tongue. But that's a very simple argument for such a complicated issue.

Now, for the sake of argument, let's take a step back and look at what the law says for libel and defamation of character. Yes, I know, separate laws, and that there is already a law that says it's illegal for people to out a CIA undercover agent. Just work with me here. And yes, I know I'm not a lawyer.

For a plaintiff to win damages in a libel suit, most plaintiffs must prove:

• Defamation (presence of defamatory language)
• Identification (defamation was about the plaintiff)
• Publication (defamation was disseminated)
• Fault (defamation published as a result of negligence/recklessness)
• Falsity (this burden only for person suing for defamation related to matters of public concern)
• Personal harm (loss to reputation, emotional distress, loss of business revenues, etc.)

Plame is able to meet the burden of proof on every single one of these items.

If this were a simple libel case, Rove's lawyer's angle would focus on the "identification" portion of it - that's all he has to go on. Because he said "Wilson's wife," and not "Valerie Plame," he hopes that this will get his client off the hook. But I don't think any court would rule in favor of Doughboy based on this.

Because, if one were to do a Google search on "Joseph C. Wilson IV," you'd find a corporate bio on him written for Corporate & Public Strategy Advisory Group, in which it says he is married to "the former Valerie Plame." Anyone reading that Novak column would be able to make the identification if they tried hard enough.

Thanks to this article for the heads up.

"Scott, this is ridiculous."

Scott McLellan took a pounding today during this morning's White House press briefing. Here's an excerpt:

Q: Scott, can I ask you this; did Karl Rove commit a crime?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, David, this is a question relating to an ongoing investigation, and you have my response related to the investigation. And I don't think you should read anything into it other than we're going to continue not to comment on it while it's ongoing.

Q: Do you stand by your statement from the fall of 2003 when you were asked specifically about Karl and Elliott Abrams and Scooter Libby, and you said, "I've gone to each of those gentlemen, and they have told me they are not involved in this" -- do you stand by that statement?

MR. McCLELLAN: And if you will recall, I said that as part of helping the investigators move forward on the investigation we're not going to get into commenting on it. That was something I stated back near that time, as well.

Q: Scott, I mean, just -- I mean, this is ridiculous. The notion that you're going to stand before us after having commented with that level of detail and tell people watching this that somehow you decided not to talk. You've got a public record out there. Do you stand by your remarks from that podium, or not?

MR. McCLELLAN: And again, David, I'm well aware, like you, of what was previously said, and I will be glad to talk about it at the appropriate time. The appropriate time is when the investigation --

Q: Why are you choosing when it's appropriate and when it's inappropriate?

MR. McCLELLAN: If you'll let me finish --

Q: No, you're not finishing -- you're not saying anything. You stood at that podium and said that Karl Rove was not involved. And now we find out that he spoke out about Joseph Wilson's wife. So don't you owe the American public a fuller explanation? Was he involved, or was he not? Because, contrary to what you told the American people, he did, indeed, talk about his wife, didn't he?

MR. McCLELLAN: David, there will be a time to talk about this, but now is not the time to talk about it.

Q: Do you think people will accept that, what you're saying today?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I've responded to the question.

I think this is the first time I've ever seen a press secretary badgered with questions like this. And I gotta say, it brought a tear to my eye. This is the type of questioning that should have been happening all along.

And of course - in this administration's most maddening fashion, it's quite obvious McClellan tried very hard to stick to the talking points:

• Nobody wants to get to the bottom of this more than the POTUS
• We've been asked not to comment on an ongoing investigation (even though we did before the Doughboy story broke)

Yawn. If it's one thing this administration is good at, it's staying on message. Even though it makes you look like an idiot and that you're obviously evading the question. I'd like to think that this is the beginning of the end of Doughboy and the rest of these miscreants. I'd like to think that mainstream America is opening its eyes to see what a horrible breach of ethics this is. We'll see, I guess.

Let me repeat the mantra again:

Karl Rove and others in the White House exposed an undercover CIA agent in order to cover up their lies about Iraq.

I hope journalists from all over rise up and get in touch with their inner Woodward and Bernstein. Let's make this administration crumble, dismantling its corrupt foundation brick by brick. And when it does, I want "The Architect" right there to witness the fruit of his dishonest, unethical, sleazy, and just plain evil labors come crashing down in front of his pasty, no chin-having face.

2005 AIDS Walk

It's coming up this Sunday. Would you like to sponsor me? Click here. Many thanks to those who gave very generous donations. Together, we can change the course of this epidemic.

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

While reading King of Zembla's blog today, I came across this sickening fact.

Doughboy and I share the same birthday.

Aside from the fact that the both of us both need air to survive, I'd like to think I have nothing in common with this man: His actions do not reflect my wants or needs as an American, and basically, he's just plain evil.

Okay, sorry. I know. I said I wouldn't post anything else today. But I just had to get this out of my system.

United We Stand

I heard about the London bombings this morning as I was getting ready for work. My first thought was about my friend Cecilia, who has been on assignment there for the past year. Thankfully, she's alright, and was just returning to London today via Copenhagen.

I wish I can say the same for the more than 30 Londoners killed in the explosions. My heart goes out to their families. I hope the perpetrators are found and are brought to justice. And I hope that this never happens again.

I also wish I could say more about this, but it would be in poor taste. I'll save it for another day.

What a dork.

I think Dubya gets the award for the Most Clumsy President of All Time. As BYO - the brilliant mind that brought this article to my attention - says:

Lance Armstrong, he is not.

What I wanna know is, did Doughboy get to kiss his boo-boo?

Om.

My new mantra, courtesy of Brother Kenya:

Karl Rove and others in the White House exposed an undercover CIA agent in order to cover up their lies about Iraq.

You're going down, Doughboy.

That is all.

Could this be the answer to my prayers?

Karl "The Architect" Rove is playing dumb.

Lawrence O'Donnell mentioned a few days ago on the Huffington Post that Doughboy was Time Magazine Reporter Matt Cooper's source rgarding the whole Valerie Plame thing. O'Donnell goes into the issue at length in his July 4 posting. In it, he says:

The next day, Luskin was forced to open the first hole in the Rove two-year wall of silence about the case. In a huge admission to Newsweek and the Los Angeles Times, Luskin confessed that, well, yes, Rove did talk to Cooper. It is a huge admission in a case where Rove and Luskin have never, before Friday, felt compelled to say a word about Rove's contact with Cooper or anyone else involved in the case.

In what is being quickly known as the "But I didn't inhale" defense, Doughboy's in the clear because, well, he didn't KNOWINGLY reveal any confidential information. Doughboy Lawyer Robert Luskin emphatically asserts that his round-faced client didn't reveal any secrets, but basically - as stated in the LA Times article:

Newsweek magazine reported on its website Saturday that Rove was one of Cooper's sources identified in notes that Time turned over to Fitzgerald. And separately, MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell said in a taped TV program that he had information indicating Rove was one of Cooper's sources. O'Donnell's comments were made in a segment of "The McLaughlin Group" that was set to air in Los Angeles on PBS Saturday night.

Either way, Doughboy is involved. In what capacity, remains to be seen.

My question is, even though Robert Novak was the first to break the story on Valerie Plame, why is the federal investigation focusing on reporters Cooper and Miller? Is anyone going after Novak? If not, why not? Or have they, and I just totally missed the memo? Someone school me.

In any case, if Cooper and Miller go to jail for refusing to reveal their sources, more power to them. They're doing their part to maintain whatever dignity journalists have left.

Props to Tamara over at T and A for the heads up.

Doggie Raper Turned Doggie Murderer?

I don't think I even need to comment on this. Do I?

SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA (FOX Carolina News) - A Campobello teen is accused of raping one neighbor's dog and another neighbor's two little girls. Now the dog has died and charges against the teen have been upgraded.
[...]

Princess's little dog house is empty now. Sylvia Jones says she died of internal bleeding this past Sunday because of the rape. "The vet told me she had a little blood in her urine and that she was bleeding inside."

Sylvia says she and her husband would not have believed Cory Williamson raped Princess exactly two weeks to the day she died had they not seen it with their own eyes.

"When I got here we were laying on the deck looking at him and he had his pants down and he was doing sexual activity with the dog like a man would do to a woman."

The Jones family says Princess wouldn't eat or play anymore after the attack. "She (Princess) couldn't even sit down, her bottom was swollen sore."

Read more here.

Thanks (I think) to Lily for the heads up. I'm going to go barf now.

Out in the streets, they call it murder

I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm a huge reggae/dancehall fan. I first heard this Damian "Junior Gong" Marley song on the way to work one morning, and almost got into a wreck because I was feeling the music a little too much.

Anyway, here's a link to the video, courtesy of That Good Good, who made me as happy as a little girl - mystery solved, now all I have to do is figure out how to get a copy of this song for my very own.

Sidebar: Checked out the reggae night at the Shattuck Down Low. All in all, very mellow vibe, great music, $2.50 Red Stripes, and two - count 'em, two! - female selectors!

Hypocrisy abounds

So I'm at this bar with some new friends last night, having a few drinks and listening to some live blues band, when one of us asks everyone at the table if they've ever been married. My answer was that no, I've never been married, and the older I get - and at the failure rate of my relationships - the more I become resigned to the fact that I probably won't, and even if I did, I'd be afraid of the deep emotional fuckover it would be if the marriage failed.

So I guess the jury's out on whether or not I'd ever want to. At least, nobody has inspired me to want to. Yet.

So this morning, I'm reading yesterday's Morford op-ed piece about Spain, the latest enlightened country to make gay marriage legal, and he had a link to this other SF Chronicle columnist, Steven Winn, who said the following (emphasis mine):

One in two marriages, according to steel-plated conventional wisdom, ends in divorce. Recent numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics suggest the risk is even greater in red states, where the divorce rate is 29 percent higher than it is in blue states.

Oh, that sound? Don't worry. That's just my cognitive dissonance alarm going off again.

So let me get this straight: These people - these morally sound, Bible-lovin', no alcohol in the house havin', gay/black/latino/non-white hatin', George Dubya followin' , Defense of Marriage Act believin' people - get divorces at a much higher rate than people who live in blue states.

I see it now. I understand. The institute of marriage does need protecting - from them.

Friday Napoleon Dynamite Blogging

FINALLY. An online quiz I can agree with. Have a great weekend everybody.



I'm LaFawnduh. Why are you so sweaty?


Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
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