October 2, 2007 archive

Oct 02 2007

Midnight Cowboying – 1953

Okay, show of hands, who remembers 1953? Don’t be shy, I know there are few here who fondly remember that year. It was just yesterday to some, all those years ago. America was in its post-war prime.

Ah yes, 1953. Quite a year! The movie Peter Pan premiered at the Roxy Theatre, New York City. The first transsexual Christine Jorgenson returns to New York after successful sexual reassignment surgery in Denmark. The first 3D film, Bwana Devil opens, sparking the 3D glasses craze. James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce that they have discovered the structure of the DNA molecule.

Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay perform the first successful ascent to the summit of Mount Everest. The first Chevrolet Corvette is built at Flint, Michigan. The Korea War ends. And of course, the first color television sets go on sale for about $1,175.

In the theaters, Here to Eternity is a big smash, as is the western Shane. And who can forget War of the Worlds, or the Wild One.

Oct 02 2007

For the Love and Rememberance of…..

COOKBOOKS.

This weekend was chock o’block full of mind altering talks. First a panel, held during the Santa Barbara Book & Author’s Festival, discussing the future of newspapers. Followed by a talk given by Naomi Klein on her new book The Shock Doctrine and later a discussion with friends over coffee and dessert about the lecture.

Then, there was the Annual Planned Parenthood Booksale and it’s myriad of donated selections…including cookbooks. So, what’s all the fuss and a diary about cookbooks? I’ll try to explain below the fold.

Oct 02 2007

Looking For Allies

At Talk Left, Miss Devore wrote in response to a comment pooh poohing not funding the Iraq Debacle:

great idea

let’s just accept we have to continue a criminal pre-emptive war, whereby we are visiting unimaginable suffering upon people. let’s just say it’s an out-of-control frat party. ok, mebbe a million dead, another 2M displaced, an entire country trashed.

and you worry about Pelosi being fragged?

You don’t seem to get the arrogance.

the Senate supported partitioning Iraq.

you go and sit on some other country telling you what your bidness should be.

At pff, sabrina wrote:

. . . If ending the war is, as he claims, his primary reason for being involved, he could have joined forces with all the other blogs who really were working for the same thing, and saying the same things he was. . . . I would join forces with anyone (with the exception of a very few) and set aside all  former feelings about them temporarily, if together we could force this govenrment to stop this war. . . .

(Emphasis supplied.) So would I. I ask both of them what they suggest we can do. I am prepared to work with anyone to try and end the Iraq Debacle. I’ll be reading both of them where they write for suggestions.

I hope they see this diary and respond with their best ideas.

Oct 02 2007

We Have a Dream

Each year approximately 2.8 million students graduate from US High Schools. Some will go on to college, join the military, or take other paths in life, hopefully all becoming productive members of society. But for approximately 65,000 of them, these opportunities will never be available. Not because they lack motivation, or achievement, but because of the undocumented status passed on to them by their parents.

Lacking legal status and social security numbers, these students, raised and schooled in the US, cannot apply to college, get jobs other than those at the bottom of the economic ladder, or otherwise follow their dreams. They grew up on American soil, worked hard and succeeded in spite of all odds, and want nothing more than to be recognized as individuals and not just the holders of a status they had no part in acquiring.

In Washington, politicians have debated the fate of these kids for more than seven years, holding lives and futures in their hands while vying for political advantage. But lost in the debate are the voices of the children – voices that should be heard. 

Oct 02 2007

Welcome to Canuckistan

noblesse oblige pachter

A lot of progressives mention a desire to come to Canada.

Doing this can take a bit of time and effort, but it is pretty simple.  

Oct 02 2007

No Beast So Dumb As Man

a Docudharma exclusive

I woke up this morning recovering from the flu, still weak and vaguely feverish.  I haven’t written much lately and feel the need to do so.  Where to begin, the cold-blooded murder of peace-loving monks in Myanmar, the outrageous crimes of our own outlaw government, the shameful bastards in our do-nothing congress, the back-stabbing republican-lite democrats, the hot air from our ‘leaders’ on global warming, war profiteering as the new national pastime, the black-hearted evil of the military-industrial-congressional-media complex, the armies of lying blowhards on the TeeVee, the Halliburton detention centers being constructed across the country for the detention of ‘potential terrorists’ (such as bloggers, demonstrators, peace activists, and real democrats), national indignation at silly newspaper ads while the killing and dying goes on unimpeded – so much horror and madness, so little time.

Weakened and overwhelmed by the harsh realities of the day, I am reduced to communicating via art and poetry.

Oct 02 2007

Stop Blaming Democrats in Congress!

(This was originally posted earlier on DKOS and slightly altered)

It’s not that I’m sick of hearing how the Dems are selling out and all that–it’s always good to vent, to express yourself and so on. But here’s my beef: enough already! We know the score or should by now–nothing wrong with a little ranting but at this point let’s rant creatively and in an entertaining way rather than constantly expressing the obvious.

People in Congress are there to respond to realpolitikal conditions they see–that’s their expertise. They are not in their position because they are philosophers, mystics, men and women of letters, common ordinary folks–don’t expect them to “do the right thing” that’s not how the world has ever worked except on rare occasions. In a few instances men (usually) of extraordinary abilities got together and made sine little miracles that change history. Our own country was founded by these extraordinary characters. The last three political leaders that had that kind of stature were John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King; true, they all had flaws but they were extraordinary human beings that would have set the groundwork for a very different society than the Bush family and others have created.

Oct 02 2007

2008 is too late.

Over the weekend, I was watching some footage, presumably shot from the tailgate window of a Blackwater humvee, wherein some highly-paid mercenary sitting in the back of the vehicle occasionally, repeatedly, and randomly opens fire with an automatic rifle on the traffic that follows them.  The passenger vehicles taking the fire, for no apparent reason other than the mercenary’s sadistic boredom-the vehicles were seldom close enough to even see the passengers slump over in death, or writhe in their wounds–would come to a stop, veer off the road, or crash into other vehicles.  Repeated, random, senseless death from the bored machine-gun of a mercenary.  That is Iraq, in a nutshell.  Let’s end this war.

Oct 02 2007

The Locker Room

MLB Playoffs:

American League play begins Wednesday, October 3, with the Angels @ the Red Sox;  the Yankees are @ the Indians the following day (times not yet announced).

National League play continues today with a ‘play-in’ game for the wildcard spot, as Colorado and San Diego each finished the season at 89-73.  The winner of that series will play Philadelphia. Chicago (Cubs) @ Arizona starts on Wednesday.(still no times announced).


UPDATE:  Colorado bested San Diego 9-8 in 13 innings, with a questionable call at the plate (i never saw him touch home…just sayin’…), and will play Philadelphia (Thursdsay??  i cant seem to verify that yet)

Rugby:
The 40-game ‘pool phase’ of the Rugby World Cup in France is complete.  Eight teams (Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa) will progress to the knockout round which begins October 6th.

NHL:

The Ducks and Kings travelled to London to open the season, splitting the 2 games they played there.  (NHL.com has video highlights which imbed beautifully, but nothing ‘behind’ the video will load.  I tend to be stubborn about these kind of things…so if you happen upon a horribly “broken” Locker Room one day, rest assured that I did it…and with a hockey video)

Oct 02 2007

Who’s reading the fine print? Apparently, NOT Congress…

I become more and more convinced every day: there are only three issues at stake in the upcoming elections. Everything else? Everything else is just camping out…

…oh, right, there IS this: the complete and UTTER failure of any of the branches of our government (including Democrats therein) to uphold their oath of office to protect this covenant:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

—————–
originally posted at dKos Aug 2007

Oct 02 2007

Is This A Blog to Take Back the Dem Party?

From the Docudharma mission statement:

Passion, politics, poetry, prose and ponies. Silliness, snark and a serious effort to frame the future. A river of words, thought, philosophy and action that nourishes and transforms the political cultural and social landscape through which it passes. That is the spirit behind this “place”.

So I see we have politics as part of the mission statement.  Yet I see nothing about the Democratic Party, even as the party is certainly PART of politics.

Please bear with me while I try to formulate what I’ve been feeling lately into words.

I’m a Democrat, always have been.  I am extremely disgusted with my party — but beyond the emotions I am feeling a crystal clear knowledge that entering into discussion about what the Democrats are doing is no longer the way I want to go.  Because it’s already been said.  We all know it’s not working, don’t we?

Oct 02 2007

Senate Approves $150 Billion in War Funding

Extra, extra, read all about it. In an incredible show of spinelessness, this bill was approved in a 92-3 vote today. More hurl-worthy news below…

Load more