And now, time for some plugs....
My current favorite website is DailyKos. It's political commentary, with a mix of irreverence, humor, and thoughtful analysis that has me comin' back.
My favorite band remains They Might Be Giants. They kick the crap out of your favorite band.
My favorite current TV show is... well, I don't have one. They all suck, except Seinfeld reruns. I didn't see this one coming, but I just realized I don't care if I ever see a Friends episode ever again. Yes, I used to watch it and laugh at it, but now it's thoroughly played. Kind of like when you were in fourth grade and thought My Little Ponies were Totally Cool and you bought one every time you could scrape enough money together, but then in fifth grade you realized plastic Smurf figurines were so much better and you rued all that money you blew on those stupid ponies. 

I got this forward today. I wonder who leaked this "memo"? Ha.

Leave One Child Behind

Dear Mr. and Mrs. G.H.W. Bush,

Once again, it is that time of year when we update the parents of our students on their child's progress, and we regret to inform you that your son, Georgie, is not doing as well as we'd hoped and expected when he embarked on his four-year program at our school.

As you are well aware, Georgie was installed as class president at the start of the school year, despite the fact that the majority of his fellow students did not vote for him. We foresaw problems immediately, but were assured by several school board members (who, as we understand it, are friends of your family) that this would not result in any real difficulty. Unfortunately, they have been proven wrong.

In the area of scholastic achievement, despite our best efforts, Georgie is still reading and speaking at a grade level far below our usual standards. At this point, we are not sure if his failure to learn is due to laziness and a lack of ability to apply himself to his studies, or if he simply lacks the intellectual capacity to improve in these areas.

His oral presentations to the class are particularly troubling; it is apparent that Georgie has not read the necessary materials, and he often simply fabricates facts to hide this shortcoming. In oral exams, he tends to repeat the same answers over and over, e.g. "The economy is good; jobs are on their way," indicating a profound failure to keep up with the Current Events portion of the curriculum.

Georgie also tends to fabricate elaborate stories about himself - which, admittedly, can sometimes be very amusing. During a school celebration last May, he delighted his fellow students by coming to class in a little "flight suit" (just like the grown-ups wear!), and had everyone in stitches with his story about the family dog having eaten his report card from military pre-school!

On the whole, however, Georgie does not play well with other children. His "leadership" in the classroom continues to divide many students, one against the other. Other study groups, such as our French and German-language classes, are no longer willing to cooperate with Georgie's group, even though they have traditionally done so in the past.

Your son also displays a lack of taking responsibility for his failings, and seems unable to appreciate the consequences of his actions. Although he was provided with the best textbooks on the subjects of the Economy, Job Creation, The Environment, et cetera, these books were damaged or completely destroyed within a matter of months. Georgie insists that he "inherited" these books in poor condition, despite all evidence to the contrary. (In fact, these same textbooks were previously used by one of our very best students, who actually returned them in better condition than he found them!)

During his first few weeks with us, Georgie quickly became part of a group of other "problem students." Despite warnings, he has consistently befriended children whom we consider to be "bad elements," such as Little Kenny Lay and a foreign-exchange student named Chalabi. Both of these youngsters have been expelled from other schools due to their involvement in cheating other students out of their lunch money. We feel that these kinds of relationships can only lead to no good, and hope that you will advise your child accordingly.

Georgie often displays aggressive behaviour in the schoolyard, and recently assaulted a student in another school district, completely unprovoked. When asked about this incident, Georgie insisted that the other child was armed and dangerous. When investigation into the matter proved otherwise, Georgie changed his story several times: he was just trying "democratize" the other child, the other child's school was harboring gang members, and so on. Quite frankly, his story on this topic has so changed from week to week, we simply can't trust his word at all anymore.

Georgie's friends, while not great in number, are very loyal, but tend to be over-protective. If any of the other students point out Georgie's failing grades, these friends simply shout them down and tell them not to speak at all. When Georgie was summoned to the principal's office several weeks ago, he insisted that his "best friend" come with him. We feel that it is in Georgie's best interest to learn to stand up for himself; failure to do so could seriously damage his ability to handle a leadership role in his adult years.

As you are aware, final exams will be held in November, and Georgie's past performance leads us to conclude that he will not be able to achieve the grades necessary to continue on with another four-year term at our institution.

Yours Truly, Ms. J.Q. Public, Assistant Principal

Drudge bias story ... is biased.

So some right-wing friend sends me this link -- of course, from Drudge Report -- that claims to "prove" that the media is biased toward the left. Drudge's headline is UCLA/Stanford Study: Drudge Report is significantly closer to the center than all other media outlets.

Here's the link to the HTML version of the doc:

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:tCEKSNVW-OYJ:mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/MediaBias.doc+drudge%3F&hl=en

and the Word doc:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/MediaBias.doc

Except the problem is, the study is faulty. Here for your reading pleasure is what I wrote my friend....

Cute, but the study compares the news outlet "bias" to the opinions expressed by the average member of Congress. That's an extremely important factor to note.

"Our results show a very significant liberal bias. All of the news outlets except Fox News' Special Report received a score to the left of the average member of Congress."

Congress is NOT a statistical nor a representative sampling of the United States population. Members of the House and Senate are predominantly male, white, middle-aged, Protestant lawyers. That is not a mere observation; it's a statistical fact. It is also a statistical fact that most Americans are not middle-aged, white, Protestant male lawyers. In point of fact, there are approximately 37 lawyers per 1000 people in America.

Moreover, less than half of Americans vote, meaning Congressional representatives are chosen by and large by less than 1/3 of their constituents -- and that's if they win by about a 60% majority of those who bother to vote. They've got the money, the education, and the clout to conduct and win a campaign, which sets them apart from most of the people who elect them.

So the study proves nothing except that much of the media may be reporting news that seems left-wing to the average Congress member. Considering some of the religious blowhard nutcases that have made it to Washington, that is GOOD NEWS.

And now, for something completely girly.

I have this fabulous medium navy-colored nail polish I got several years ago in London. I have gotten several compliments on it, and recently I discovered that when I paint deep bordeaux polish OVER it, it turns a very attractive brown-black color. Black enough to wear with black sandals, and brown enough to wear with brown ones. How odd.

I find it likely that no one will care a whit about this web post, but even I get tired of just thinking about politics and the fate of the world all the time and sometimes, I am just a girly girly girl.

"Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean." Today I'm missing Howard Dean's campaign, really badly. Last night I collected all of my Dean stuff in a box, and this morning I realized what I miss most: the positivity.

Seriously. I made so many friends, and I still have the friends, and we're still working on politics. But it doesn't match the fire we had before. It's more negative -- as in, we honestly hate Bush and we hate what he's doing to the country. We aren't excited, we're just determined. Big shift.

Dean represented some things that we believe in -- a new direction. Healthcare for everyone. Fiscal moderation. Planning, for god's sake. "Something good," not just "not something bad." It just sucks that the other Democrats went after him with such a vengeance.

During the critical days right before the primary, rumors surfaced that "someone" was robo-calling Iowa voters, some pretending to be from the Dean campaign in the middle of the night, some suggesting Dean wasn't Christian because his wife is Jewish. All that somehow just went away, like no one cared, like it's OK. Everyone suspected it was Kerry's camp. And now that's the guy we've got to work with. Skull and bones, indeed.

A photo posted on, I think it was Daily Kos, showed two giant campaign signs nestled next to each other. One said something like - DEAN: The politics of hope. The other said - Doubts about Dean? Vote for KERRY. To me, that just sums up the whole damn primary.

Even the military hates Bush these days

I swear, Bush just has something to goad everyone, even the Republicans. For the fiscal conservatives, there's that ballooning budget and deficit. For Christian conservatives, Bush isn't right-wing enough because abortion is still legal. And now, he's ticking off the military by depleting their resources on this misguided war in Iraq. (Not to mention cutting veteran benefits.)

Some are formally criticizing him:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-diplo13jun13,1,1142936.story

And ... another bullet in the gun the military's loading for Bush:

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_8659.shtml

There's a pointed quote from a Republican defense industry bigwig about why he won't vote for Bush again in this one. In a word: Nine-Eleven.

With his base of support thus eroding, Bush might as well just go back to losing money in the oil business. At least he was GOOD at that.

I can only quote my friend Blake on this one:

http://www.emogame.com/bushgame.html

"Best. Game. Ever."

Warning, not for children or grownups who don't understand grownup stuff.

Eric Idle

A sweet paean to the FCC, Bush, et al. by the inimitable Eric Idle.

http://www.pythonline.com/plugs/idle/index.shtml

12 x 12

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/DeanDozen/

Howard Dean's group "Democracy for America" is promoting 12 candidates at a time for political office. I am behind this movement 100%.

Here, in case you missed them, are the first Dean Dozen.

Mary Ann Andreas for State Assembly in California. The 80th Assembly District has some of the highest unemployment rates in California, so it's all about jobs for Mary Ann in her race against the Republican incumbent.
www.andreasforassembly.com

Ken Campbell for South Carolina State House. A Dean inspired candidate! Oconee County has a chance to put a real community activist and small business owner to work with Ken Campbell. www.takebackoconee.com

Maria Chappelle-Nadal for Missouri State House. Maria has won the support of the grassroots in this race. Democracy for America is behind her in her campaign to take back the State House for Democrats. www.maria2004.com

Scott Clark, Mark Manoil & Nina Trasoff for the Arizona Corporation Commission. The Corporation Commission is a watchdog agency protecting consumers from fraud and corporate abuse. Clark, Manoil & Trasoff became politically active on the Dean campaign and are running as a ticket for the commission.

Kim Hynes for State Representative in Connecticut. 28 Republican state representatives in Connecticut ran unopposed in the last election. We won't take our country back if we don't compete. Kim is doing her part. You too can get involved. http://kimhynes.smartcampaigns.com

Richard Morrison for United States House of Representatives from Texas. Want to get rid of Tom DeLay? Here's your chance. Morrison is hitting back at "The Hammer" by competing against him in the Texas 22nd. Join Howard Dean and get involved in the fight today. www.richardmorrisonfordistrict22.com

Barack Obama for United States Senate from Illinois. In the race to regain control of the U.S. Senate, Democrats have few better chances to pick up a seat than in Illinois. DFA volunteers all over Illinois helped Obama win his primary, now it's time to help him win the general. Stay tuned: Governor Dean will be on the trail with Barack soon. www.obamaforillinois.com

Rob MacKenna for Hillsborough County (Florida) Supervisor of Elections. Rob is a computer programmer and is fighting to add a voter-verifiable paper trail to the touch-screen voting machines in largest swing county in the all-important state of Florida! www.rob2004.com

Monica Palacios-Boyce for Massachusetts State Representative. Inspired by Governor Dean's race for the White House, Monica launched her campaign for state representative when she learned that the Republican incumbent had faced no opposition in his last two elections. www.monicaforstaterep.com

Lori Saldaña for State Assembly in California. After an upset victory in the primary, grassroots activists want Lori to win in her race for the environment, education, economy and community of San Diego. www.lorisaldaña.com

Jeff Smith for United States House of Representatives from Missouri.
Campaigning in a 10-way primary for the opportunity to fill retiring Representative Richard Gephardt's seat in Congress, Jeff is an articulate young progressive running an energetic grassroots field campaign that - with your help - could surprise the pundits. www.jeffsmith2004.com

Donna Red Wing for Colorado House District #25. After serving as the GLBT Field Advisor for the Dean for America campaign, Donna has returned to the mountains of Colorado to mobilize progressive activists in communities across her district. www.donnaredwing.com

Now that our five-year anniversary is coming up (yeah, in November) I've decided to finally attempt to assemble a proper wedding album. Not some lacy behemoth nor something too trendy for its own good. I also don't want to struggle with paper corners, mucilage and scraps of pastel paper and end up with something looking like an 11th grade cheerleader created it to commemorate Homecoming.

Gotta find an album that fits me, that fits us. OK, that fits me. No lace, white leather or gold engraving will do -- it's got to be special. Handmade?

First step, I suppose, would be to go ahead and get prints of some of the fabulous black-and-white photos that Chris took. He only printed out a few of them in 8x10. The rest exist as negatives and 2x3 proof prints. I also have a set of color ones that Devin took, but I think it will look weird to mix the two sets -- I'll have to see. Maybe I'll end up creating TWO albums. Hm. Good thing I'm starting early.

You've heard of Dr. Dobson, right? Writer of Christian books on how to raise family, teaching kids healthy sexuality and all that? My mom actually used one of his sex education series to teach me (and some neighbor kids, with their parents' permission) about menstruation, sex, etc. AndrewSullivan.com has an excerpt from Dobson's latest newsletter:

"Barring a miracle, the family as it has been known for more than five millennia will crumble, presaging the fall of Western civilization itself. This is a time for concerted prayer, divine wisdom and greater courage than we have ever been called upon to exercise. For more than 40 years, the homosexual activist movement has sought to implement a master plan that has had as its centerpiece the utter destruction of the family. The institution of marriage, along with an often weakened and impotent Church, is all that stands in the way of its achievement of every coveted aspiration. Those goals include universal acceptance of the gay lifestyle, discrediting of Scriptures that condemn homosexuality, muzzling of the clergy and Christian media, granting of special privileges and rights in the law, overturning laws prohibiting pedophilia, indoctrinating children and future generations through public education, and securing all the legal benefits of marriage for any two or more people who claim to have homosexual tendencies." - James Dobson.

I don't remember Dobson's books being this nuts. All I really remember from our home sex ed course was Mom dropping a tampon into a bowl of water to demonstrate its absorbent properties, and all of us girls gasping in horror at the thought of having something the size of a Ho-Ho stuck up in there.

The idea that the clergy and Christian media are "muzzled" -- well, that just beats all. Everyone knows that the media nowadays is pay for play, and Christian dollars are as green as anyone else's.

Tax Day was just last week. It wasn't Tax Day for me, since we had already filed and gotten back our federal return by the time April 15 rolled up. I spent a little time learning about My Federal Tax Dollars, so that I might be a better-informed citizen.

Here's what I discovered: 2 cents of every federal tax dollar I pay goes toward protecting nature and the environment. 4 cents goes toward education (unfunded mandates, anyone?). And currently, 29 CENTS goes toward the military, with another 9 cents following for military debt.

Um.... 38 cents toward the military, and 4 cents toward education. Somebody's head is on backwards up there in Washington -- actually, a lot of somebodies. And all these Americans screaming for their taxes to get lowered because they think they pay so damn much... you all SHOULD start screaming for our military spending to get reined in, because we can't cut another penny off education or nature, or that'll be it. It'll all be in the states' hands. (Good luck, Louisiana and Mississippi, because we here in South Carolina are gonna race you to the bottom!)

But oh, who really gives a rip about trees and kids? They can take care of themselves.

I didn't think I would be all that interested in Air America Radio, but I was wrong. I couldn't believe it -- there is actually ONE liberal talk radio station amid the sea of bombastic conservative crap now. And it's funny, and it's fun and informative.

http://www.airamericaradio.com/

It also is a welcome contrast to NPR -- I mean all these people who say that NPR is "liberal talk radio" can now see what a real liberal talk radio station is like. NPR is more objective than most of the news sources out there. It just looked liberal because the right-wing sources were so slanted right.

Yuck. My conservative uncle sent me Zell "Zig Zag" Miller's statement about the 9/11 commission ...

http://miller.senate.gov/floor/03-30-04sept11com.html

At the risk of poisoning some future family gatherings, I responded to this crapola and CC'd my aunt. You see, my uncle will forward Newsmax and Drudge-type stories all day long, but he doesn't actually WRITE anything, so I guess he thinks it's OK. I on the other hand don't lean on fwd:s to share my own thoughts, so I probably come across to him as some liberal nut, whereas he is a good, conscientious patriot.

p.s. Miller DID NOT raise good points. I said that so he might read further.

My response:
Miller raises some good points. Every administration for a couple of decades shares some blame, and our troops do deserve respect and support. However, he's wrong on a couple of things.

He says "we did nothing" when the World Trade Center was attacked in 1993. That just isn't true. A month after the blast, four people were in custody, went on trial nine months later and all were sent to prison permanently. That's not nothing; that's pretty darn swift. The WTC was attacked not by a country but by individuals, and those individuals were all rounded up and tried.

He says we did "nothing" about the Khobar Towers. Wrong again: 13 Saudis and a Lebanese were indicted for murder and conspiracy. Those suspects were directed by Iranian government. Just because we didn't invade IRAN or SAUDI ARABIA doesn't mean we didn't do something about it.

See also: http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/khobar/ . The tragedy was reviewed carefully, problems were identified and targeted for fixing, and persons were held accountable. That's exactly what the 9/11 commission is doing.

Miller's statement about America being full of only "wimps" and "warriors" is simple namecalling. Just because you don't think a war is justified, or don't think your president is telling you the truth about that war, does not make you a wimp. If we're going to namecall, I would classify it not as "wimps" and "warriors," but "smart kids" and "bullies."

Also, this stuff about "our enemies are laughing because we are divided, so we should all stop arguing" is ridiculous. We are divided because of the we have divisive leadership that does just what it wants and ordinary people be damned, and because we are embroiled in a war with no sign of planning or forethought or exit strategy.

We spent 6 million dollars and hundreds of hours and impeachment proceedings investigating a blowjob. Talk about fingerpointing. Talk about bickering. Talk about partisan. The events since 9/11 have been far more grave and EVEN IF they weren't preventable, we need to at least examine them to find out how to better protect ourselves. That's the point of the commission. Just because the Bush Administration isn't coming out looking so heroic is no reason to quash the investigation.

The people who died in September 11 deserve at the very least apologies and answers about who was responsible, because they sure ain't gonna get justice the way that it's being handled. If one of my sisters had died in NYC, I would be in Washington demanding answers and apologies from our government too, not a crusade in Iraq. That's my take on the commission, anyway.
-- end of my diatribe --