Sex and drugs and rock and roll on the side

Yesterday, General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the key is "to encourage our young people...to come forward to help defend this nation...and to encourage the families of those young folks to let them follow their instincts."

Suddenly the Pentagon wants parents to step aside and let the kids follow their instincts.

The June garden

Canna 'Alberik'

Turk's Cap

Summit, New Jersey protects nation from terrorism by kicking homeless man out of train station

Richard Kreimer, a homeless man, has filed a suit against the city of Summit, New Jersey, for tossing him out of a train station and claiming its right to do so under the Patriot Act. But wait, there's more--Summit officials say that because of the powers given to them by the Patriot Act, the lawsuit should be barred.

Kreimer is seeking $5 million in damages against New Jersey Transit, the city of Summit, nine police officers, and several other people.

Some good news, thanks to the ACLU

There has been some progress in the Southeastern Louisiana University student teacher case. The ACLU asked for and received a restraining order that prevents the university from taking disciplinary action against student teacher Cynthia Thompson. In exchange, Thompson has turned her notebook over to a federal judge.

Anti-choice Republicans vote to expose fetuses to toxins

According to the thirty-seven Republicans who voted against banning the so-called EPA from using studies that expose people to pesticides--all "pro-lifers"--it is just fine and dandy to expose fetuses to pesticides. So a woman cannot decide if she wants to terminate a pregnancy, but Monsanto can maim or kill the fetus.

I am having a hard time understanding this "culture of life."

Shave their empty heads, wake them at dawn, kick their butts, and send them to the desert

Max Blumenthal, writing for The Nation, spoke to several of those in attendance at the College Republican National Convention in Virginia. Here is my favorite excerpt:

In interviews, more than a dozen conventiongoers explained why it is important that they stay on campus while other, less fortunate people their age wage a bloody war in Iraq. They strongly support the war, they told me, but they also want to enjoy college life and pursue interesting careers. Being a College Republican allows them to do both.

One interviewer said "I'm a fighter, but with words."

Oh, boo

Hoo.

I still spend idle time wondering how on earth it could have been legal for the Secretary of State of Florida to also be the campaign manager for a presidential candidate. Of all the things that happened in 2000, I think that one boggled my mind the most.

My fellow Americans

Are making me feel sick and ashamed. There are hardly enough words to describe what a hypocritical, dangerous, deceptive, democracy-bashing man he was.

Anyone who thinks there is "hope" right now need only look at this latest piece of shame to understand what kind of government people either want, or are too lazy and uninvolved to fight against.

Wimbledon--the second week

Sounding a bit like me, Pam Shriver asked everyone today to please stop saying "Wimbleton" and pronounce it correctly. In the next sentence, she mispronounced Elena Dementieva's name. Thank you, Pam.

NBC has triggered the anger of tennis fans beyond my capacity to describe. For the past couple of days, there has been a one-hour gap between ESPN2's morning sign-off and the time that NBC picks up coverage of the tournament. That is a disaster in itself, since some very big matches have begun (and some almost finished) in that hour. But then, when NBC coverage began its coverage, it showed reruns instead of the live matches. This is so irrational I cannot even guess what it is about, other than giving NBC yet another chance to show us Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick.

Venus Williams is too cool for the school, but she has pissed off the folks at Tennis X.

The Venus/Mary Pierce quarterfinal tiebreak was excruciating. What's going to be worse for me is when Lindsay Davenport and Amelie Mauresmo, two of my very favorite players--possibly the top two-- compete in Thursday's semifinal match. I can't bear for either of them to lose, which makes me a bit of a fragile sports fan. But it isn't just that they are two of my favorites; there is more conflict than even that: I want Lindsay to win another grand slam before she retires, and I want Amelie to win her first grand slam and get the monkey off her back.

In between watching matches this week, I read the new book, The Rivals, by Johnette Howard. The sub-title is Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova: Their Epic Duels and Extraordinary Friendship, and that covers it all. It's a wonderful book, full of WTA history and great stories of a time when the players on the tour had a strong bond because of the way they were changing the sport for women. Mostly, though, it is a tribute to two of the most talented women to ever pick up a racquet, their close and colorful professional and personal relationship, and their individual evolutions. There never was such a rivalry before, and there never will be again.

Quote of the week

"It is true that many Americans find the Commandments in accord with their personal beliefs, but we do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

Thou shalt not give a damn about the First Amendment

In justifying his decision in the Texas Ten Commandments monument case, Justice Steven Breyer wrote that the monument in front of the Texas capitol "suggests little or nothing of the sacred." His reasoning was that since the monument was not standing on its own, but was one among several non-religious monuments, the context was neutralized. I understand that reasoning, but I disagree with it, and here's why:

By having one Judeo-Christian monument stand in a collection of non-religious monuments, the message is still clear that Judeo-Christian religions are being promoted. If the monuments included something that represented non-Judeo-Christian religions practiced in America, I would be more inclined to agree with the spirit of Breyer's decision. I probably still wouldn't be comfortable, but I would at least not feel the discomfort I now feel over the court's decision.

Already in place is a nationwide campaign to install Ten Commandments monuments in one hundred cities across the nation. The Christians who support this movement are not interested in "cultural" representation; they are interested in a "Yay, Jesus!" domination of the intellectural and cultural landscape of the country. Interestingly, they are not joined by Jewish citizens, to whom the Ten Commandments actually belong.

Perhaps now would be a good time to examine those Ten Commandments:

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

I have to wonder how many of America's Christians could give me a decent recounting of the flight from Egypt and the subsequent tradition of making Passover bread and celebrating Passover.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Many Christians have used the second commandment to bludgeon Roman Catholics, who use statues and crucifixes in worship. Those same Christians, however, think nothing of sticking oversized Wal-Mart creches in their front yards in November.

3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

What is the misuse of the Lord's name? Most religions agree that curses including God's name are violations of the third commandment. But what about Jesus bumper stickers and T-shirts? Are they violations of the commandment, or are they just tacky beyond belief (pun intended)? Is a Hail Mary pass a violation of the third commandment?

4. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.

Are Christians accepting Sunday (Saturday is the actual sabbath, as established by Jewish tradition) shifts at the grocery store check-out line? Are they standing in the grocery store checkout line, doing their weekly shopping? Running their power mowers? Cleaning the house? Going to the office to catch up on paperwork? It makes no differnce to me, but it violates the fourth commandment.

5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

This is my least favorite commandment, since so many hundreds of thousands of mothers and fathers do not deserve to be honored. On the other hand, the fifth commandment was radical for its time because it called for equal respect for both parents. This is probably one of the commandments most observed by Christians, yet the observance is often fake, and occurs at the cost of the observer's mental health.

6. You shall not murder.

Ah, the Christian Culture of Life. You shall not let fetuses or brain-dead women die, no matter what. But you should support a government that sends your children off to be killed in a sham war; that kills thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens; that ensures the painful deaths of hundreds of thousands of African women and children; that encourages citizens to murder judges and gay citizens. And you can chat about how to save those fetuses over a tasty factory farm lunch, thereby supporting the torture and painful deaths of billions of helpless creatures.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

We already know that born-again Christians have a 4% higher divorce rate than those who do not share a Christian belief. Are any of those divorces due to adultery? What do you think?

8. You shall not steal.

That would include from the government, which means that tax-cheating really is a no-no, as is copyright theft, which is now a national pasttime. It also means taking items from your workplace, raiding your families' possessions to support your drug or gambling habit, evading your financial obligations, and conspiring to commit insurance fraud. And co-opting someone else's religious tradition and pretending it's yours. Oh, and stealing Kerry signs from people's yards. And taking away people's right to cast a ballot in an election. And conspiring to rob thousands of Americans of their pensions when you are a trustee of the Methodist Church.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

What? No lying? That would put America's number one born-again Christian in an embarrassing position. Except it doesn't seem to matter.

10. You shall not covet your neighor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

You're not only not supposed to get it on with your neighbor's wife (or son or daughter, or whoever); you're not even supposed to want to. It isn't supposed to bother you that your sister has a Lexus and a four-bedroom house and you're working two jobs. Or that your neighbor went to Europe and you went to the lake for the weekend. Perhaps my perspective is off, but I haven't noticed Christians abstaining from envy.

The Christians who are celebrating over the Texas capitol court decision are no more interested in the Ten Commandments than they are in the Constitution.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am

Former Senator Sam Nunn, co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, is warning the nation that we are not prepared for a nuclear terrorist attack. Here's some news: We are not prepared for any kind of terrorist attack, especially when you consider how hard we have worked to invite terrorists to attack us. But Nunn has a lot of room to talk: It was he and fellow bigot, Colin Powell, who absolutely insisted how demoralizing it would be to have gays in the military. (Powell, who has a limited sense of irony, used the exact arguments against gays that had been used against blacks.) Consequently, the few (I know, what were we doing with a mere handful of Arabic-reading people?) people who could read Arabic were discovered to be gay and got the boot, making it more difficult for us to intercept terrorists' communications.

Richard Clarke's book, Against All Enemies, makes it clear that the FBI has been totally useless in combating terrorism. When you add to that the turf wars that have ensued and throw in a ban on the only members of the military who could interpret priority communications, you realize how little anyone in charge cares about preventing terrorist attacks. Nunn, for his part, should be looking at the big picture, not at his fantasies about what happens in Army showers.

Quote of the day

From an interview with Venus Williams after her defeat of Jill Craybas in the Wimbledon round of 16:

Do you see Sharapova as the favorite to win it if it's not you?

I think that's for you to decide.

You know more about it than me.

I seriously doubt it. The way you guys write, you would think you all have played professional tennis before.

That's why we're asking you.

Let's try to move on.

What happened to Serena?

In what most people thought was a shocking upset, Jill Craybas, the 85th ranked player in the world, defeated Serena Williams in straight sets yesterday at Wimbledon. It is easy to jump to conclusions about what happened; here are the facts as we know them:

• Serena almost didn't make the trip to England because of a hairline fracture in her ankle and a subsequent lack of grass court preparation.

• Her father said she became ill on Friday night. He also said he didn't think she should have entered the tournament, what with the fracture and her lack of play (she had to withdraw from the French Open).
  

• Serena has not appeared to be in very good shape lately, and has been making more unforced errors than usual. During the match, she was struggling to get her breath.
  

• She and her sister Venus have been shooting a reality TV show, and Serena has been involved in fashion designing.

• Jill Craybas, one of the few players on the tour to come out of the college champtionships, has spent the last several months getting more fit and working on the mental part of her game. Deciding to bring her game up a level at age 30 is unusual, but that's what she did.
  

In other words, there was an accident waiting to happen. Craybas, in a stunning example of mental toughness, won a second set tiebreak against Williams and saved herself the agony of going to a third set, when she might have choked or Serena might have pulled one of the hundred rabbits she has been known to yank from her magic hat when she is down in a match. It was a wonderful win for Craybas, and a bitter loss for Williams, who was tearful throughout her post-match press conference.

Enter the public. A trip around the message boards reveals many theories circulating about why Serena lost, and most of them are not very nice. Some idiot on the BBC actually intimated the match was fixed so that Serena wouldn't have to play Venus in the round of 16. A related theory is that it was decided that Venus had a better chance against getting to the final and beating Maria Sharapova.

First of all, it is horrifying to suggest that the Williams sisters are dishonest when they have never done a thing to indicate they are anything but straight down the line in every aspect of their lives. Also, if Serena didn't want to play Venus or thought she shouldn't play Venus, she could have just not shown up at all. Surely she wasn't desperate to get the points she earned for making it to the third round.

A second theory is that Serena is on steroids and her body is finally deteriorating from use. That is also deeply insulting, and doesn't take into account the fact that every time Serena turns around, someone hands her a cup to pee in.

Theory number three is that Serena wasn't sick and her fracture wasn't that bad, but her father figured she would lose so he bought her some insurance by saying she was ill and in a lot of pain (Serena said nothing of pain in her pre-match interviews). People tend not to like Richard Williams--he can be a bit of an ass--but he has never given any indication of being dishonest. In fact, his problems arise from his unedited honesty.

A more reasonable theory is that Serena is out of shape from a combination of injuries (which, of course, can also be caused by being out of shape) and dividing her attention among too many projects. She is going to have to decide what to do about her tennis career. Many have suggested she get a coach other than her parents, and now might be a good time to listen to that suggestion.

The Williams sisters tend to attract either extremely loyal fans or people who love to trash them. They are very talented, outspoken, and sometimes appear to have inflated views of their own abilities. It should be noted that there is nothing a Williams sister has ever said that, if said by a man, would be considered anything but "cool." They do not conduct their lives in a "feminine" manner, but do and say what they please when they please, and much of it is highly entertaining. It is often assumed that Williams-hating has to do with racism, and I'm sure some it does, but I think it has just as much--if not more--to do with sexism.

The fact of the matter is, Venus and Serena are excellent role models for girls (not that it is their job to be so), and they have done a lot for women in sports, and especially for African American women and girls in sports. Tennis is like any other part of American culture; people like to kick you when you're down, and both sisters have been down lately. But their "down" is still better than most other players' best performances.

I will concede that I, too, get tired of the sisters--especially Serena--not giving credit to their opponents. Of her loss to Craybas, Serena said: "She didn't have to do anything exceptionally well today. She just pretty much had to show up." That is a typical Williams sister press conference comment. After her defeat at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, Venus said of Tatiana Golovin: "I don't think she came out there and beat me. I just kept making error after error...I just think I'm having a mental letdown from all the tennis I've been playing in the last four weeks, and I just felt pretty dead." Well, I was there, and Golovin quite clearly beat her.

So the Williams sisters aren't perfect. But they surely don't deserve the kind of verbal thrashing that they get every time one of them loses. Their games are off, yes, and that is upsetting to their fans. But they are still people, and--as far as I can tell--exceptional people.

In memory of James Whale and democracy

The Heretik has outdone himself.

Tampa plunges to homophobic depths

Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms, another conservative obsessed with matters sexual, has seen to it that her county, which includes Tampa, Florida, no longer supports gay pride events. A gay pride display at Tampa's West Gate Regional Library upset some library patrons. The exhibit, set up by a University of South Florida graduate student, was about gay authors, and it also included some pamphlets with information about counseling resources for adolescents who are confused about their sexuality. Storms was able to convince the commission to pass an ordinance prohibiting the county from promoting any gay pride event.

She says she was "troubled" by the pamphlet because --wait for it--"they referred children to youth groups outside Hillsborough County to explore their sexuality," and doing so could lead them to engage "in high-risk behavior."

Here's a high-risk behavior for you, Ronda--suicide. Gay adolescents are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than other teens. Why? Because of people like you, Ronda. When the family, the church, and the community tell children and adolescents that a fundamental part of them is sick, evil, or both, and then denies them the services they need to learn how to cope, it is an invitation to both active and passive suicidal behavior.

Shame on Hillsborough County. Deliberate ignorance is a sin, not something to flaunt in public.

Allied air forces commander confirms secret bombing raids

Lieutenant-General Michael Mosely, commander of the allied air forces during the Iraq war, has now said out loud what was arleady known via a leaked memo--that during the nine months preceding the official "beginning" of the Iraq war, allied aircraft flew 21, 736 sorties, dropping more than 600 bombs on 391 targets in Iraq.

According to Mosely, these raids took place under cover of patrols of the southern no-fly zone.

Paul O'Neill, Richard Clarke, the Downing Street minutes, and now a confirmation of the existence of the secret air strikes. These all reveal plainly that the plan to invade Iraq was on the front burner in 2001 (probably 2000) and was a done deal the next year. Can you say "war criminal"? The news media cannot.

Republicans lucky in Kentucky

Because they get the government jobs.

Only now, Governor Fletcher's administration has been busted.

The June garden

A tub of ornamental grass

Young shoots of black bamboo

Maria Sharapova's breasts marketed without Maria

Maria Sharapova said "I don't care what they're selling" when asked by a reporter if the WTA was selling sex to promote the women's tour. I hope she meant it, because now some Japanese entrepreneurs have decided to sell "Sharanpowan" breast pillows in three colors, and yes, the tennis "top" can be removed, revealing bare "breasts." The marketing even includes a man's hand handling the breast.

I do not know the legal implications of this marketing campaign. Changing the tennis star's name is obviously an attempt to avoid copyright violation, but it appears to this legal laywoman's eye that since everyone in the world knows it is meant to represent Sharapova, there ought to be some sort of legal recourse. Also at stake is the knock-off of the Nike logo.

Or maybe having her breasts strewn around pizza box-laden apartments is okay with Sharapova; I have no idea.

Radical lesbian feminists who sleep their way to the top

There are two traditional tactics used to discredit threatening female politicians: "She slept her way to the top," or "She is a lesbian." Both are about sex. Both are insulting, but for different reasons: One presumes that the woman had to "use" men to get power and that she is a "slut" (the double standard is very much alive and well); the other presumes there is something wrong with being homosexual.

Several years ago, there was a woman rising to political power in my state, and I heard both rumors about her. This was highly amusing since it implied that there were a number of very powerful lesbians in control of power in the state.

The "she slept her way to the top" argument has been used against Hillary Rodham Clinton for years, or--put another way--she was Yoko Ono'd from the get-go. The argument didn't have strong legs because she was married to the person from whom she supposedly drew power, which made the whole thing fairly wholesome, and therefore not very useful. Now, those threatened by Sen. Clinton have posited the lesbian argument, and have given it a kick by repeatedly saying "lesbian feminist." This phrase has long been used by the right wing to get across the message that: Feminists are lesbians, and are therefore even worse than they would be if they were just feminists. Equating feminism with lesbianism accomplishes two things: It labels feminists as homosexual, and--through faulty reasoning--as "man-haters."

The people who shout "lesbian!" at every powerful, somewhat liberal woman are the same people who also claim that the percentage of homosexuals in the population is much lower than those promoting the "homosexual agenda" would have us believe. Using their reasoning, the few lesbians who really do exist have a significant tendency to seek and gain political power. Obviously, they do it with mirrors.

The June garden

Chrysanthemums and the miniature rose 'Little Mermaid' bloom around the mailbox

Chrysanthemums bloom around the mailbox. They will bloom even more prolifically in the fall

What does it mean that you "do a lot" for Africa when you are killing thousands?

Both Bob Geldof and Bono, organizers of the upcoming Live 8 concert, have been busily telling the news media how much Bush has done for Africa--"more than any American president," Geldof says. Geldof is using an "empirical" approach to draw his conclusions, he says. Nonsense. He is crunching numbers, not looking at reality.

The reality is ugly. Hundreds of thousands of women and children can now get AIDS more easily because of the Bush administration's Africa policy, and thousands of African women will continue to commit suicide because of botched abortions. The White House plan was to make pharmaceutical companies rich and enforce an extreme right-wing brand of Christianity on a nation of desperate women and their children.

The news media has ignored the Bush administration's organized effort to wipe out women and children in Africa. Geldof and Bono are sickening.

Wimbledon--the tournament so far

It's been Wimbledon as usual, with long lines, strawberries, white tennis clothes, and, of course, a rain delay. There is increasing dissatisfaction with Maria Sharapova's so-called grunting, which is really more like screaming, yet no significant complaining about the men's grunting. Imagine that.

Emotional wreck Marat Safin, who thinks women are too emotional, whacked his racquet and got a warning that the next time he did it, he would be penalized. He did it again, and there was no penalty. Instead, he was defeated in the third round, which is all right with me.

Anastasia Myskina and Jelena Jankovic played the most choke-riddled match in recent history, with Myskina finally prevailing, 6-0, 5-7, 10-8. Maria Sharapova implied that she let Sesil Karatancheva win a game so she wouldn't be double-bageled, and Karatancheva was justifiably angry to hear this. Svetlana Kuznetsova said Sania Mirza played her best best against her worst, and Mirza was not happy to hear that: "Did she say it was my best against her worst? Well thats her opinion and she's entitled to it, but I must say that she seems to be playing her worst a bit too often then. She must have forgotten that she lost to me in Dubai."

And so it goes. The commentators continue to mispronounce the players' names, the commercials featuring Sharapova, Andre Agassi, and Steffi Graf have been shown so many times that fans fantasize about slamming racquets through their television screens, and the really good matches don't get shown on television because Sharapova and Serena aren't in them.

There's depression and there's depression

A study done by Bristol and Oxford University doctors has found that "postnatal depression" affects a significant number of fathers, and that this condition can have long-term effects on their children's development.

Yes, many men do suffer some depression following the birth of a child. They often feel they have been shut out of their wives' affection and that they are no longer important because their wives are preoccupied with the newborns. This is a problem that is difficult to come to terms with, even for fathers who are very active in baby care. Also, the stress of having a new baby can cause a certain amount of depression.

According to the study, paternal depression significantly affects the development and behavior of children and adolescents.

Here is a quotation from researcher Lorraine Sherr that baffled me:

Antenatal care tends to be very woman-focused, but if fathers play a role in parenthood then they should be properly prepared too.

There is also very little recourse to services for fathers who are feeling depressed.

It is true that pre-natal care tends to be woman-focused, and I agree that there should be much more of it for fathers. However, post-partum depression, per se, is a hormonal disorder, and no amount of pre-natal care can prevent it. It is a case of estrogen run amuck, and its consequences can be very serious.

As for there being little recourse for services for fathers who are depressed, I have no idea what she is talking about, unless she means that no one can get psychotherapy in the U.K. In the U.S., any depressed father can walk into a mental health clinic or practice and get all of the help that he wants. I have seen many anxious and depressed new fathers in my own practice.

Exactly who is "soft on terrorism"?

I saw this list today, posted anonymously and later augmented, also by someone anonymous, and it is like the one I have in my head but have never bothered to write down. It is, however, the best argument against the current Republican "Democrats are soft on terror" rhetoric that I have seen, and its creators do want it circulated, so I am putting it here, with a syntax and punctuation clean-up:

It was a Democratic administration that captured and convicted the terrorists who attacked the WTC in 1993.

It was a Democrat who instituted the nation's first anti-terrorism policy, and who appointed the nation's first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts.

It was a Democrat who stopped the Al-Qaeda millennium hijacking and bombing plots.

A Democrat who stopped the planned attack to kill the Pope.

A Democrat who stopped the planned attack to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously.

A Democrat who stopped the planned attack to blow up Boston airport.

A Democrat who stopped the planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge.

A Democrat who tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al-Qaeda through preemptive strikes. These efforts were denounced by the G.O.P.

A Democrat who named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on the nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism.

A Democrat who sent legislation to Congress to tighten airport security. The legislation was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the airlines.

A Democrat who sent legislation to Congress to allow for better tracking of terrorist funding. It was defeated by Republicans in the Senate because of opposition from banking interests.

But it was a Republican president who flaunted a 30-day vacation at his ranch in the month prior to September 11--a vacation coordinated by Karl Rove to convey a public image of the President as "relaxed, and taking things easy."

It was a Republican administration that drove not one but two anti-terrorism czars to resign in frustration, due to conflicts with the White House.

And it was a Republican National Security Advisor who, prior to September 11, crafted a national security presentation that included mention of the Star Wars missile defense program, Cuba's Fidel Castro, and unaccounted nuclear materials from the former Soviet Union--but no mention at all of Islamic terrorism.

It was a Republican who was put in charge of coordinating all anti terrorists activities, but who held not a single meeting until September 11, 2001.

The June garden--night-blooming cereus

A bud in its early stage

Here it is right before it opens

And then the bloom, which has a ghostly appearance and a lovely fragrance

Here are the first two blooms of the season

What do Americans really want?

What Do I Know? has a thought-provoking post today about Matt Miller, author of The Two Percent Solution, who spoke last night at the Royal Institute in London. But it is also a post about Americans' attitudes toward social progress, and about the real motives of our elected representatives. And it is worth reading.

Friday cat blogging--Wimbledon edition

Roxie checks out the fan seating for the ESPN broadcast

These matches are long--I could use a snack about now

Just call me Velmakova

We can put the rape discussion to rest

Because now we know what causes rape--bar specials.

The Marine who was convicted of raping and sodomizing another Marine in Okinawa says the ten to fifteen beers he drank at 50-cent beer night caused him to forget that he wandered into one woman's room and assaulted her for half an hour, then went to a sleeping woman's room and raped and sodomized her.

Men in drag ban gay parade

From Pam's House Blend comes news that Jerusalem has banned this year's Gay Pride parade. This group of men helped put the kabosh on it back in March, and in April, Bill Maher showed their photograph, and said:

Okay, first of all, now, they got--because they’re planning a gay pride parade in Jerusalem. So all the religious leaders got together--I love this --first of all, this looks like a gay pride parade right here. I mean, this is just one penis-popsicle short of a gay pride parade. Look, there’s everything but the construction worker.

Lesbian Big Boob Bangaroo

That's the name of one of Mary Carey's movies, but she has now made it known that she would like to do a little real-life bangaroo with these women. And what with their dad inviting the porn star to dinner, another meeting could easily be arranged. Perhaps Lynne Cheney would then be inspired to write her next novel, and then Fred Phelps could hold a God Hates Dykes protest on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Where, oh where, are the Old Testament doomsayers when you need them?

A unusually large crack, 30 feet deep, has opened in the earth in Texas.

Would someone please define "the public good"?

Once again, I have to thank the horrible three, Rhenquist, Scalia, and Thomas, as well as O'Connor, for their dissent. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the government can sometimes seize private homes and businesses on behalf of developers.

The majority opinion was based on the standard that the government can now seize private property in order to build highways and bridges, and that in some cases, private development projects may "also serve a public good."

In a stinging dissent, O'Connor wrote:

The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.

Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private property, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.

As for the victims, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.

The June garden

A pot of rosemary grows on the porch

Amaryllis on the deck--they have finished blooming but have not yet gone into dormancy

I just took the latest Zogby poll

And it seems pretty obvious that Maria Shriver is considering hosting a radio show for women. That is the repulsive idea of the day, for sure.

Dorothy, Robert, Edna, Alexander, and the gang

Like we don't already have enough throws and afghans around the house, I had to get this one, a stunning rendering of the Algonquin Round Table group. Handmade by Buffalo Creek Weavers, it is really beautiful. A few years ago, when I was in New York, I looked up several of Dorothy Parker's former residences and haunts, guided by the wealth of information at Dororthy Parker's New York. I get the Dorothy Parker Society newsletter, and wish I could attend the functions.

Roxie relaxes next to Dorothy Parker. She is more interested in the relaxation factor than the literary factor, and both she and her sister are always thrilled to have a new blanket.

Lewis Carroll on Guantanamo

"...there's the King's Messenger. He's in prison now, being punished, and the trial doesn't even begin till next Wednesday, and of course the crime comes last of all."

"Suppose he never commits the crime?" said Alice.

"That would be all the better, wouldn't it?" the Queen said...

Alice felt there was no denying that. "Of course it would be all the better," she said: "but it wouldn't be all the better his being punished."

"You're wrong there, at any rate," said the Queen. "Were you ever punished?"

"Only for faults," said Alice.

"And you were all the better for it, I know!" the Queen said triumphantly.

"Yes, but then I had done the things I was punished for," said Alice: "That makes all the difference."

"But if you hadn't done them," the Queen said, "that would have been better still; better, and better, and better!"

Important health news from Planned Parenthood

Alas, A Blog references two Planned Parenthood studies that deal with the unique health problems of lesbian and bisexual women. This is important, and somewhat surprising information, and needs to be read by all women who are in sexual relationships with women.

Oh dem golden slippers

Nike has given Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer, the 2004 Wimbledon champions, ten pairs each of these shoes, which are encrusted with 24-karat gold on the sides, and are valued between $600 and $900 a pair, depending on whom you ask. Tennis analyst Mary Carillo calls the gesture "obscene." Sharapova appears happy with the shoes, and I haven't heard Federer make a comment.

While many of us may agree with Carillo's assessment of the shoes--she pointed out that one pair was worth about all Sharapova and her father had to their name when they came to America--gold-encrusted shoes are just a symbol of the excessive incomes our culture provides to athletes, entertainers and some artists (the musical and film stars with talent). It isn't fair, just as it isn't fair to say that artists who happen to be involved in the more popular art forms are not really artists because they make a lot of money.

I would rather Federer and Sharapova had the money than Kenneth Lay and John Rigas.

Layton, Utah orders man to take sign down

Last winter, a Layton, Utah city official told Mike Norton that the sign in his front yard, which honors and tracks dead American soldiers, was legal. But now, that official says he referenced the wrong code and has discovered that the sign violates zoning laws and must go.

The illuminated sign displays tiny photos of soldiers who have died in the Iraq war. Norton's house has been vandalized and he has received harrassing phone calls.

My guess is that the sign does violate zoning laws and that there really was a mistake made the first time. My question is: Would the law have been applied if the sign said Jesus Saves?

And I don't care much for Moore's yellow headline.

The Ohio election report

Is now available.