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July 31, 2009
Deep Thoughts for the Weekend
"You can never really own more than you can carry with two hands while running at full speed." -- Robert A. Heinlein
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
If you sit by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by. -- Taoist saying
"How many pessimists end up by desiring the things they fear, in order to prove that they are right?" ~ Robert Mallett (Kevin's observation: he just described Dick Cheney!)
"Reality is what doesn't go away when you stop believing in it." -- Phillip K. Dick
"On the Internet, people on the tails of the bell curve can find one another." -- Virginia Postrel
"Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected." -- Red Buttons
"If you can't eat their food, drink their liquor, fuck their whores and take their money and STILL vote AGAINST them, you don't belong in this business." -- Jess Unruh.
Posted by Kevin at 03:53 PM |
BBQ Potato Salad - No Mayo! Updated recipe
I just made this this morning for a picnic I'm going to this afternoon. It occured to me a week or two ago that BBQ sauce might be good in potato salad (it is!!). So I started looking for recipes and found a small handful of them, two of which I liked and the following draws inspiration from those two but also diverges significantly enough that I'm going to pass it off as my own.
Updated, much improved recipe is added after the original.
Ingredients
5 lb bag of Red Potatoes, diced
12 slices crispy Bacon (preferably applewood-smoked), chopped
6 hard-boiled Eggs, finely chopped
1 small Walla Walla Sweet Onion, finely diced
1 cup BBQ sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Ray's original)
1 lb container of Sour Cream (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons spicy (brown) Mustard
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Smoked Paprika (optional but I used it)
Directions
I have yet to find the perfect way to boil potatoes for potato salad. I've seen descriptions of a number of fundamentally different ways that are supposed to work flawlessly. Either they don't or I'm not doing it right - probably the later. In any case, I use red-skinned potatoes because they hold their shape much better than other varieties, and I also like to chill them in the fridge before cubing them and making the potato salad because being chilled also helps them hold their shape... especially if you've slightly overcooked them and are worried about ending up with lumpy mashed potatoes.
Boil and cube the potatoes as you see fit. Other than that, just combine the ingredients in a large bowl. It's not rocket surgery. However I do find it easier to mix everything BUT the potatoes together first and then mix the cubed potatoes into it.
That said, this is also the first time that I've ever substituted sour cream for the more typical mayonaise in a potato salad. I like it! And I also like the fact that there isn't a drop of oil in this salad. Mayo, as you know, is mostly oil & egg whites with some flavoring. Future potato salad experiments will likely involve substituting only part of the mayo with sour cream - just to see what that's like. Supposedly the sour cream makes the salad creamier in texture.
Updated Recipe:
I've tweaked some of the proportions and added a new ingredient... and I LOVE this new taste!
Double the BBQ sauce to 2 cups
Increase Brown (hot) Mustard to 3 Tablespoons
Add 3 Tablespoons of Cider Vinegar
Add sauted Garlic Sprouts.
Now these garlic sprouts are an Asian (and reportedly also an Italian) delicacy although I've only ever had them at a Japanese restaurant - in a stir-fry with strips of beef in some savory sauce that made for an incredibly scrumptious dish!! They're a little hard to find but I did find them in the frozen food section of Uwajimaya. Apparently it's simply the snipped new sprouts from regular garlic so I imagine you could do your own if you grow garlic. These came in a 16 oz bag and I put the entire amount into the Potato Salad. Besides adding a very mild garlic taste it also adds a splash of green that I think is visually interesting. The texture and consistency is not unlike sauted or roasted asparagus except that these are not nearly as fat.
The increased BBQ sauce and Brown Mustard, along with the addition of the Cider Vinegar adds a zippy tang that seems to me to be just about perfect. It's not even remotely hot or spicy in that sense. It just has a... zip!
Posted by Kevin at 01:16 PM |
The Inimitible Bill Maher on "Birthers"
And there's nothing anyone can do to convince these folks. You could hand them, in person, the original birth certificate and have a video of Obama emerging from the womb with Don Ho singing in the background ... and they still wouldn't believe it.Which raises the question: Why, in this country, is it always the religious right that won't take anything on faith?
So far, the reaction from Democrats is to laugh this off, and I understand why. If you seriously believe that President Obama is an African sleeper spy, get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead.
But we live in America, and in America, if you don't immediately kill arrant nonsense, no matter how ridiculous, it can grow and thrive and eventually take over, like crab grass or reality shows about fat people.
Posted by Kevin at 10:30 AM |
July 29, 2009
A Particularly Ugly Oregon Export
Gay hatred.
Not satisfied that he's doing enough to make gay people's life miserable here in Oregon, a certain resident of Clackamas County is crapping in Washington as well. Pam's House Blend:
Tuesday evening Oregon voter Gary Randall announced his attack on Washington state law. He is trying to block the Secretary of State from making public the public documents known as Referendum 71 petitions.Let us remember what Gary Randall is trying to do with Referendum 71. He is trying to prevent The Domestic Partnership Expansion Law of 2009 (SB 5688) from going into effect, thus denying vital protections to elderly heterosexual domestic partners and same-sex domestic partners.
The reason Lurleen makes such staccato of Randall's status as an Oregon voter and resident is because he was, himself, rather reluctant to admit this. The Stranger:
When I asked Randall on Monday where he lived, he dodged the question. Today, Assistant Secretary of State Steve Excel told me, "No records were found in Washington state of a Gary Randall born" in 1941. However, records show a Gary Randall born on February 15, 1941 living in Clackamas County, Oregon and married to a Marjorie Randall. That would jibe with Randall's statement that he owns a home in Oregon, that Faith and Freedom Network lists one of its addresses in Lake Oswego (which is in Clackamas County), and that his bio says he's married to Marjorie Randall.
His reluctance is understandable. Releasing the names of the petitioners for Referendum 71 is not something he relishes.
Also, ya has to be a Washington resident, living in Washington to file dem referenda there. Just a small point of order.
I'd like to apologize on behalf of all sane Oregonians for this fellow. We do not approve of this crossing state lines, but due to modern moral, legal, and ethical codes, we cannot make it so that people like this can't go up to Washington and visit weal on others.
We'll still work on enlightenment south of the border. All we ask is that you don't hold Gary against us.
Posted by The Chinuk at 07:03 AM |
What The Wags Are Calling The Blue Dog Democrats Latterly
"Blue Cross Democrats".
If nothing else about the debate lodges in your bean, bunky, let that little nugget stay there.
Posted by The Chinuk at 06:45 AM |
July 28, 2009
Shatner Should Do All Of Palin's Speeches
At least they'd be funny. And they make more sense as free-form poetry than as actual coherent thought.
Posted by The Chinuk at 10:57 PM |
They'll Scare You To Death To Prevent You From Getting Health Care
When Republicans go after something, they don't go after something because it's a bad idea.
Take, for example, the recent hearings regarding future-Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Did you notice how they used the "Wise Latina" quote as a club. Did you think that maybe someone didn't comb years of writings and opinions looking for something which, sufficiently shorn of context and willfully misinterpreted, will paint her as the Devil incarnate, just waiting to sweep her and her MEChA and La Raza friends into office and put the Caucasian man under the thumb of brown domination.
It was one of the most blatant displays of bad faith I've seen in at least six or seven weeks of Republican activity. And, sadly, with the Republicans, this is the kind of gift they won't quit giving.
It should surprise nobody that Congressional Republicans – who have been in the tank for Big Pharma for so long they don't care who knows anymore – are doing every thing they possibly can to poison the water in the debate about finally fixing health care in America so that a lot of you stay uninsured or underinsured while they figure out some way to carve a few more dollars out of your back side on your way to a meagre, decrepit future (and all the while getting you to pay for their health care).
And boy, have they found a lie. If you get the kind of health care you deserve, says Rep John Boehner (R-Planet of The Burnt Orange People), you'll be expected to encourage your grands to kill themselves when they get too old and useless.
Appalling? Yes. Just as appalling as the willful misinforming of the American public that Boehner does with a straight face (and why should he worry? He'll have access to the best medical care he can, on demand for the rest of his life, unlike most of us) by claiming that Section 1233 of HR 3200 (Rep. Blumenauer's Life Sustaining Treatment Preferences Act) encourages Medicare providers to counsel recipients on end-of-life care, which is the beginning of a slippery slope toward a government-encouraged euthanasia program for all.
One person I admire once advised me that when something someone sells you isn't making sense, there's usually one big reason: it isn't true. It doesn't make sense that anyone in our government should be telling us to euthanize when we are 'no longer useful', and this is no exception.
It doesn't make sense. It isn't true. It's the "Wise Latina" comment that they searched and searched and searched for and will now be used to box all of us about the head and shoulders until we can't think straight anymore because they've been so successful at frightening us in the past.
The fact is, of course, Section 1233 of HB does no such thing. As the bill's sponsor, Rep. Blumenauer, said on HuffPo:
The bottom line: this is a smart and just thing to do for families going through a tough time. Who wouldn't want to know:* Can I stay in my home or will I need to move to a hospital or nursing home at some point?
* What are different treatment options as my health declines?
* Will I be in pain and what are the side effects of medication?
These outrageous distortions about "rationing end of life care" are not only personally infuriating, but their attempts to derail health reform endanger millions of people who live without insurance and desperately need access to affordable, high quality health care. As PolitiFact notes, these are "pants on fire" untruths.
Politifact, in fact does indeed have this pegging the Pants On Fire meter. It's a doozy.
All this section does is enable access to information anyone – young, old, concerned loved ones – anyone would want at such a cuspy time, such as (PolitiFact again):
An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to; an explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses; an explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy
Who wouldn't want that? Rep Boehner, who'd also want to keep you in the dark so that you don't realize you're being, pretty much, had. He doesn't want seniors – or anyone else – to have informed choices about how to live with quality rather than just quantity.
But then, Republicans have never trusted us with our own lives. Not when there's money to be made off our travail. And they'll try to scare you to death to get you to give up your birthright.
But really, we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Get informed. Don't let them scare you.
Just a little more suggested reading: Barbara at Compassion and Choice has a great article on how far up your cloacas Rep Boehner thinks your heads are.
Read it and prove to him that you're as smart as he fears you are.
Posted by The Chinuk at 08:00 PM |
Mike Malloy: Help Keep Fierce-Talking Sane Talk Radio On The Air
I'm going to speak here as a fan of Mike Malloy, and am speaking only on my own behalf. I was not paid to say the following; I say it because I think he deserves a spot on the air.
I am an unapologetic fan of Mike Malloy. I think he's the most important and underrated voice on liberal radio today, and the fellow has come back from several bouts of being done-to: first when Air American unceremoniously removed him from the roster, then later when Nova M Radio almost literally evaporated from under him.
Mike Malloy is many things I like in talk radio that you just don't get in very many other places: fierce, deeply intelligent, and right about just about everything. He thinks deeply and espouses courageously. And so far, he's going it alone.
When Nova M imploded earlier this year, he struck it out alone. With no network or syndicator to underwrite him, he's going along on whatever advertisers will go with him and podcast subscribers.
It's important that Mike continue to gain podcast subscribers. He's made the price of the podcast eminently reasonable; if you pay for the year you're paying about $60, which amounts to about a quarter a day. A monthly rate is also available.
Mindless conservative chatter gets plenty of sugar. But Mike only has us. And Mike always has ruled PDX during the evening hours. So consider supporting him. You'll be keeping fierce, intelligent liberal talk on the air, and you'll be keeping the ONLY independent liberal nationwide voice on the air.
If you want to contribute but don't care to have a podcast subscription yourself, consider buying one or more subscriptions and gifting them to less-fortunate liberals you know who'd enjoy hearing Mike. And you get the Uncensored Mailbag! What's not to like?
All he has is us, peoples. I believe in his talent to inform. It's time to represent and support, and you've done it before, PDX!
You can do that at https://www.mikemalloy.com/members/pricing.php
Posted by The Chinuk at 07:12 PM |
Thomas Paine on civil rights
"An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates his duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." - Thomas Paine, Dissertation on First Principles of Government, 7 July 1795
Posted by Kevin at 05:05 PM |
Sen. Merkley: The dangers of playing politics w/health care
Posted by Kevin at 03:43 PM |
July 26, 2009
It's All Everybody's Fault? Well, That's Solved, Then.
You're to blame.
Did you know that? You're to blame.
Well, actually I'm to blame too. And Pete down the block. And the President. And the President's janitor. And the guy driving down Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. And that guy taking a picture of Bonneville Dam. And the guy down at Waterfront Park at Brewfest. And everyone at PDX POP NOW! And the minimum-wage-slave behind the counter at Peterson's on Morrison.
But it's you. Don't try to weasel out of it!
How do I know? I read, Daddy-o, I read! The greatest minds of our time, in the newsy-papers, in Time magazine.
I, by the way, am not free of guilt. It's my trip, too.
Apparently.
Now, don't get my sarcasm wrong. I actually think blame-finding can sometimes be quite productive. But a tool is just a tool, and when it gets used by tools, well …
Enough circulocution, already, I know. I'll tell you what set me off. Last Sunday, I read a perfectly reasonable and smart column by The Oregonian's Susan Neilsen, about the Worthington faith-healing case. But it didn't start off on a strong note. Because, in an effort to get us all interested and thinking about it … she blamed everyone. "We".
We helped kill Ava Worthington.
Condemn Ava Worthington's parents all you want. Shake your fist at them for letting their daughter suffer and die without medical treatment.But let's not kid ourselves here.
We killed Ava, too.
Well, that's settled then. Surround everyone with everything we've got. I only hope we go along quietly.
But then I got to thinking: We've been responsible for a hell of a lot of things lately. Here's the short list I've compiled from my wide and irritated reading:
The Iraq War and the maladministration of George W Bush. Yeah, I'm a surprised as you were, but the media have decided it. We're to blame, the great mass of Americans who acquiesced with nary a peep. Did you protest in front of the courthouse? Sorry, that doesn't absolve you. The Raging Grannies, who actually got arrested in various cities for demanding to enlist in the armed forces? No, they don't get out from under it either. Even Cindy Sheehan? Yes! Her too! Who knew?
The Collapsing Economy We all are on the hookf or that one too. Strange, you say? Well, like I said, the media have decided it, so it must be so. Did you shop carefully for a home and only settled on a 30-year-fixed instead of a subprime? Well, it's your fault bucko, and don't deny it. When you bought that home, did you settle for a solid used one with just enough square-footage? Sorry, Bunkie, no dice. Did you just keep one credit card and pay it down as best you could? Too bad. To TIME magazine, you're just an impatient teenage girl in a cute jeans mini-skirt with your hand on your hip and your cellie jammed securely in your ear.
And, of course, Ava Worthington. Are you an atheist/agnostic/fideist who has spoken out against the 'hands-off' attitude on religious practice in this great land of ours and demanded that religious abuse be treated without the kid gloves that people can't help but put on? People don't pay attention to you because you're (gasp) Godless (or not God-dy enough)? Thought that would let you off the hook? HAH!
Perhaps now you, as I, see the pattern here. We, in this time in America, seem faced with the biggest problems of any generation of Americans (yeah, I know, and every generation thinks it's the first one that ever grew old and died. But they didn't have to worry about rising sea levels). Our analytical media, rightly assays the situation and assigns levels of blame to various parties.
But, in an effort to seem fair and deeply thought, most of them resort to the utmost in lazy thinking: ultimately, we all are to blame. And I find it's just not so. For every big group that went along with the herd mentality to Iraq, I can think of a few groups that screamed don't do it, and were ignored. For every well-meaning person who tried to take advantage of the boom economy, I can think of several (me and mine included) for whom the boom times of the 90s passed by and remained living on a frugal level. For every group who gets away with harming people behind a shield of religious tolerance there are blogs and groups of atheists and free-thinkers I can think of who object rather loudly.
Even now they object. If they were petty, like me, they'd stand up and shout WE TOLD YOU SO!!!
Not that it would matter. Who listens to them, when there's safety in numbers?
Because when everyone's to blame, really, nobody's to blame.
Posted by The Chinuk at 09:35 AM |
July 24, 2009
The Successor To Walter Cronkite is …
Brian Williams? No!
Charlie Gibson? Hell no!
Katie "Professional Jouralista" Couric? Let's not go there, shall we?
No. If you answered any of the above, thanks for playing, but please drive through. As reported by Bob Park, according to a recently released poll, reported on his highly-excellent must-read newletter What's New, that:
Time released the state-by-state results of a poll of 10,000 Americans across the nation, asking: who is now the "most trusted" newscaster in America? The overwhelming choice, with 44%, is Jon Stewart. Coming in a distant second was Brian Williams, with 29%. What sets Stuart (sic) apart is that he is totally fearless. He speaks the truth without equivocation -- no matter who is offended.
Professor Park is hardly the first person to notice that the fake news show is usually more serious and true than the real news show, but in as much as his bailiwick is science criticism and analysis, he's making a real statement here.
His newsletter, free for the subscribing, keeps an eye on the still-sorry state of science in this country and around the world (despite the fact we now have a President that doesn't think that scientists are Devil-spawn). If you're smart and you like science, you'll subscribe (go to the link above).
If, on the other hand, you think the words "creation science" do not give form and shape to ridiculousness, then don't bother. You'll be pissed.
Posted by The Chinuk at 08:31 PM |
Laurelhurst Village Is Full of Labor Win Today
As reported here a little while back, Laurelhurst Village retirement home in Portland went on the attack against employees who had the temerity to organize a union – a wholly legal activity – resulting in the turfing-out of an employee who had, just the month before, had been dubbed an exemplary employee
Good news as reported by SEIU 503 today:
Under terms of a settlement approved by an Administrative Law Judge of the National Labor Relations Board, Laurelhurst Village agreed to post a formal, government-approved notice promising not to unlawfully interfere with the ongoing union campaign and affirming the rights of employees to unionize without fear of reprisals. The settlement also includes a financial payment to Lehr and other mutual agreements among Laurelhurst, the Union and Lehr.
Good on Laurelhurst Village. Of course, they could solved this so much more simpler and less expensively by just dealing with the employees as people and not as enemies.
Lesson learned?
We'll see.
Posted by The Chinuk at 10:26 AM |
The Governor's Feeling All Impasse-y
Now, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Governor K a labor lawyer once?
So why is it he's continually trying to force state workers into a corner?
I was listening to SEIU Local 503 spokesperson Leslie Frane on The POJ this morning (which is a smart thing to do if you care about labor and union issues), and she said that the Governor has decided to declare an impasse in its negotiations with the SEIU – for the second time.
The first time was in January, when Frane said they were making progress, and the Gov simply tried to declare an impasse. This is a specific move that sets off a specific chain of events that have legal weight, to wit: a 7-day period to make final offers and a 30-day cooling off period. Then, as I understand it, the Gov gets to call the wage tune.
That time it was patently wrong to do so. The impasse declaration was rescinded in fairly short order.
Now, in July, Frane reported that good-faith progress was being made, and – bam – the Gov invoked the impasse again.
From what I've heard, so far the Governor is the only side in this that seems to think there is an impasse.
So, once again, someone straighten me out on this: Governor K was a labor lawyer once, wasn't he?
So why is he trying to push around union members who are willing to give up even more unpaid furlough days as also even forego cost'o'living raises?
I just don't get it.
Posted by The Chinuk at 10:17 AM |
Not So Many People Like A Quitter, Dontchaknow
Remember how Sarah Palin was supposed to the The New Next Ronald Reagan?
Not so much anymore. From 58% favorable/35% highly favorable post-convention to 40%/20% in this WaPo poll.
The dip in Palin's favorability comes as she gets ready to leave office Sunday with about 18 months remaining in her term and plans to turn her attention to national politics. Palin, 45, has said she intends to campaign for other like-minded candidates, and speculation has been rampant that she may seek the GOP nomination to oppose President Obama.
When she debuted, says the story, about six out of 10 Americans had a favorable view of her. Heh. Mebbe. I didn't. This lady gave me the creeps from the start.
Please will you run against President Obama in 2012? Pleeeeeeeeze?
Posted by The Chinuk at 10:06 AM |
July 23, 2009
The Worthington Case – Dad Might Net A Year In Jail
This is still breaking at this time, but as various local PDX news outlets are telling us, the trial in the case of Ava Worthington has been decided, the jury finally breaking its deadlock.
The Worthingtons were acquitted of manslaughter in the death of their daughter. Carl Worthington, the father, was convicted of criminal mistreatment, a misdemeanor, which might carry up to a year's sentence.
Slap on the wrist or appropriate punishment? Each one of us who care about such things must decide for ourselves.
However you decide, I think the statement by the presiding juror didn't come as a surprise, much:
This wasn't easy for any of us. They're people they're not monsters. They're not bad people they're just like anybody else and it's the whole story of their lives and how they are as people in their community that really for me made the difference.
I'll concede that they aren't "montsters" or "bad people". When you think about it, those are such incredibly relative terms that you can read them to mean anything you want.
I'd submit to the court and jury of public discourse that while you cannot necessarily brand the Worthingtons "bad people" or "monsters" because of what the did and the consequences, you certainly cannot necessarily say they are good people or did not commit monstrous conduct.
To me, a good person – a good parent – would get a doctor for their child when seriously ill, regardless of faith or creed.
The presiding juror said they felt there should be some repercussions.
Well, I suppose there were.
Some.
Enough? Like I said, you decide.
Posted by The Chinuk at 05:09 PM |
Prof. Gates broke no laws, but the arresting officer may have.
The issue of Professor Gates' arrest isn't going away. Today we find that the arresting officer is a racial profiling expert, or at least he teaches a class in racial profiling. And President Obama's brief comment on it has created a dust-up and led to the White House trying to clarify exactly who or what the President was referring to when he said that the arrest was "stupid".
John Cook, of the website Gawker provides us with comprehensive a legal analysis,
This account is based on the police report, a statement from Gates' lawyer, interviews by Gates given after the arrest, and a radio interview that the arresting officer gave this morning.
Noteworthy are several points. It doesn't appear that Dr. Gates clearly violated any laws or statutes. More interesting though, it appears that the arresting officer may have violated several. He didn't provide identification as Dr. Gates had repeatedly requested - Mass. state law clearly requires police to provide identification when it's lawfully requested and Dr. Gates appears to have had every legal right to request it. Officer Crowley may also have illegally entered Dr. Gates' home. Thirdly, Crowley appears to have entrapped Gates by suggesting that he'd comply with the request for his identification if Gates would come out on the porch... where he could then arrest Gates.
Here's the thing that's really sticking in my craw about all this: Yes, I agree that Professor Gates responded poorly. No, I don't agree with his characterization that this was about race. But so what!! If an otherwise law-abiding citizen can't act poorly in his own home then the whole "land of the free" thing is nothing more than a sick joke.
Keep in mind that Gates had just returned from China. Where at in China, I don't know. But let's assume that it was in the center of China. That happens to be almost exactly on the opposite side of the world from Cambridge Mass. So when his driver was seen using his shoulder to try to get Gates' front door open shortly after Noon, to Gates body clock that was shortly after midnight or thereabouts.
I think it's entirely reasonably to expect an elderly man to be grouchy at that time of night. Add in the bronchial infection, his preexisting disability and the frustration with his door not opening and, while I don't know that I'd have acted as poorly as he did, I do think that it is entirely reasonable to expect someone his age under those circumstances to be cranky.
From the NYT, “While I was led to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence,” Sergeant Crowley wrote in the report, “I was quite surprised and confused with the behavior he exhibited toward me.”
As you can see the police report clearly indicates that the arresting officer was convinced that Dr. Gates was in his own home (and not a suspected burglar) very early on in the confrontation. So what happened after that had nothing to do with the initial 911 call and everything to do with the egos of them two men involved. Except that it took place in Dr. Gates' own home... his castle, as it were.
It seems clear to me that the arresting officer wasn't reacting to a "black" man per se, he was reacting to a man who wasn't exhibiting the level of deference that his ego had become used to. So he appears to have entrapped Gates into stepping outside of his home so that he could assuage his own ego by arresting Gates.
Posted by Kevin at 01:23 PM |
July 22, 2009
Get That Man A Calculator
Or, you do the math.
We applaud his gumption in walking from Baker City to Portland for publicity's sake. He is serious, if nothing else.
Hopefully he'll realize he's overmisestimated the distance before he walks off into Young's Bay.
Posted by The Chinuk at 04:02 PM |
Tillamook and Clatsop Counties? Senator Merkley's Coming Your Way
Senator Jeff Merkley's office has just announced the dates and locations of his next two town halls, for Clatsop and Tillamook Counties:
Tillamook County: Saturday the 1st of August at 9:30 AM, Jeff will be at the Tillamook County Library, 1716 3rd Street, Tillamook OR,
Clatsop County: Also on the 1st of August, at 3:00 PM, Jeff will be at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, at 1792 Marine Drive.
Thanks to Sarah Pierle for this information.
Posted by The Chinuk at 03:52 PM |
July 21, 2009
Let's Make Fun Of The Fat Black Surgeon General
You keep it classy, FOX.
You too, ABC
(via)
PS:Neil Cavuto is a putz.
Posted by The Chinuk at 05:17 PM |
Prof. Gates - racial profiling or abuse of police power? Updated
I've been following the news on last Thursday's arrest of Professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. and it seems to me that too many are too ready to lump it all together as racism.
Yahoo News has apparently deleted an AP piece from yesterday (substituting this piece about the charges being dropped today) in which, ironically, the only person floating the possibility that the unfortunate events could be characterized as a case of abuse of police power was the Rev. Al Sharpton. I rarily agree with him on much but in this case I think he's put his rhetorical finger on a key issue which is unfortunately getting lost in the buzz.
The only extensive commentary from Gates thus far is at The Root, of which he is editor-in-chief. In his own description of the events which took place I see abuse of police power which happened to take place in the context of a white police sgt. and a black professor.
My lawyers later told me that that was a good move and had I walked out onto the porch he could have arrested me for breaking and entering.
The racial background of the two individuals is utterly irrelevant in that description. The only relevant dynamic, according to his own lawyers, is whether he stepped out on the porch or not.
The police report says I was engaged in loud and tumultuous behavior. That’s a joke. Because I have a severe bronchial infection which I contracted in China and for which I was treated and have a doctor’s report from the Peninsula hotel in Beijing. So I couldn’t have yelled. I can’t yell even today, I’m not fully cured.It escalated as follows: I kept saying to him, ‘What is your name, and what is your badge number?’ and he refused to respond. I asked him three times, and he refused to respond. And then I said, ‘You’re not responding because I’m a black man, and you’re a white officer.’ That’s what I said. He didn’t say anything. He turned his back to me and turned back to the porch. And I followed him. I kept saying, “I want your name, and I want your badge number.”
It looked like an ocean of police had gathered on my front porch. There were probably half a dozen police officers at this point. The mistake I made was I stepped onto the front porch and asked one of his colleagues for his name and badge number. And when I did, the same officer said, ‘Thank you for accommodating our request. You are under arrest.’ And he handcuffed me right there.
The mistake Gates made was that he stepped out onto the front porch. The cops knew damn well that once he stepped out onto the front porch they could arrest him and they did.
There is such a level of outrage that’s been expressed to me. I’ve received thousands of e-mails and Facebook messages; the blogs are going crazy; my colleagues at Harvard are outraged. Allen Counter called me from the Nobel Institute in Stockholm to express his outrage. But really it’s not about me—it’s that anybody black can be treated this way, just arbitrarily arrested out of spite. And the man who arrested me did it out of spite, because he knew I was going to file a report because of his behavior.
There you have it! Professor Gates himself understood that his being arrested was an act of spite by a police officer who knew damn well that he could get away with it.
What I find most curious and interesting about this entire case is the white woman who made the initial 911 call and reported two black men wearing backpacks trying to break into the house. If there is racial profiling involved in this case then this is the point in which it was introduced. Not only were neither of them wearing backpacks but Prof. Gates' driver (a black man) was wearing a three-piece suit. Gates himself was probably dressed more casually but he's an old man who walks with a cane and doesn't exactly shop at Wal-Mart for his clothes. Had this woman been close enough she probably would have recognized Prof. Gates. I know that I would recognize him anywhere - I'm a big fan of his PBS documentaries.
But when asked about the white woman who made the initial call Professor Gates is completely dismissive of her role.
I don’t know this person, and I’m sure that she thought she was doing the right thing. If I was on Martha’s Vineyard like I am now and someone was trying to break into my house, I would hope that someone called the police and that they would respond. But I would hope that the police wouldn’t arrest the first black man that they saw—especially after that person gives them an ID—and not rely on some trumped-up charge, which is what this man was doing.
Now think about this. Once that 911 call comes in and the dispatcher puts out the bulletin, the nearest cop has little choice but to respond and investigate. Had the woman reported two white men wearing backpacks and trying to force the front door open the response from the police would have been the same, only they would have been looking for two white guys instead of two black guys.
This is a case largely about the power of the badge and how the men and women wearing the badges do NOT like to be challenged. Indeed, another report I read mentioned that Prof. Gates failed the most basic rule of how not to get arrested - don't antagonize the cop! He antagonized the cop! And I don't blame him. He was trying to open the jammed front door of his own home. He should be able to do that without being harassed. And had the cop who showed up simply turned around and left once Gates produced his ID proving that he was in his own home (both drivers license and Harvard faculty ID, both showing the address as being his home) that would have been the end of it. But the cop was clearly used to being deferred to... he was clearly used to being treated with fear and Professor Gates wasn't playing the presumed role quite right.
So the cop... for lack of a better word, copped an attitude. From that point on this was nothing more than a glaring example of abuse of police power. Yes, Professor Gates copped an attitude too. I see no way around that fact. But that just underscores my point here. The guy with the badge got to inflict his vengence... because he was the guy with the badge! That badge doesn't - or at least SHOULDN'T - give him the right to abuse the powers entrusted to him. But he did abuse it. Just as untold numbers of cops abuse their power and authority all the time and all over this nation, whether that be beating and illegally detaining lawful protestors (think RNC convention in 2004) or the infamous Democratic Convention in Chicago 1968 or a guy dying in police custody here in Portland with a bunch of broken ribs and other serious physical injuries as the direct result of the arresting officers and the official police response is that the cops acted within their authority and that the death was unfortunate but perfectly legal. There are myriad other examples. It happens ALL THE TIME!!
And that is the story that's getting lost in the emotional buzz here, IMHO. We citizens tolerate our duly appointed public safety officers abusing their power. This example just happened to be framed in racial terms.
(Update: PK reader jrw points out that Crooked Timber has an interesting discussion covering this same basic angle.)
Posted by Kevin at 05:11 PM |
When God Doesn't Want To Heal Your Kid
I was gobstopped when I heard that the jury on the Worthingon case was, in its own description, hung.
I'd hoped we'd gotten past this sort of thing by now, this thing that forces us to somehow give anything a pass because it's "part of my religion, and you therefore have no right to call me for utter ridiculousness".
Just like many of you, I will be honest and admit that what knowledge I have is derived from the media. But just as you can smell smoke in the woods and know the expectation that a fire nearby is not an unreasonable thing to think, there are some conclusions that reasonable people can draw from what they've seen so far.
One I draw is arrogance. They insist, repeatedly, that this child was getting better, even as she was close to expiring. This defense continues to be mounted even in the face of responsible medical testimony that asserts that if they'd just let one doctor see the child she might have had a chance. This is not humility. This is pig-stubborness, and it's masquerading as pious submission. And since people don't want to criticize religious thought, they tend to buy into it.
Another point that sticks with me is what this says about the worshipper. I've gone on at length, in this and other places, about Frank Herbert's game-changing SF novel Dune, because I think it teaches a needful lesson about what happens when we allow religion and governing to collide in hopes that the product will be better. This lead me to the parody version of it: National Lampoon's DOON, which is amazingly insightful despite it's comedic tone. In it, when our main character sees his main chance at a return to power through religion, he self-makes the observation that What could be better than religion? It's the only industry in which the user blames themselves for product failure.
To wit: if a system of worship accepts faith-healing and the efficacy of such faith-healing (in my view) is in some proportion to the quality and perfection of the faith and worship of the follower – well, what does that say about the worshipper?
Doesn't it suggest that God deemed the worshipper insufficiently perfect and pious to be deserving of the health and fitness of the child? And does't that suggest that there's something desperately wrong with the brand of Christianity that they've chosen?
And doesn't the fact that early Christians in fact, had little or no argument with the practice of medicine matter? Well, to be honest, probably not to them.
If you're trying to pray your kid well, they die anyway, and you continue to assert that you saw nothing wrong, then I submit to you that you picked the wrong spiritual pony, Tex. Should you be punished for it? You should be held accountable, but I don't know how. We have a legal system that's struggling to provide an answer right now, complete with jurors – some of whom, maybe – who may think that the unnecessary death of a child is still trumped by the right of their parents to believe in any way they choose.
The practices of modern Christians have largely killed my enthusiasm for religion. Still, I don't necessarily begrudge my friends and neighbors the wish to have a religious practice.
But I personally refuse to give anyone a pass if their religion prevents them from calling in help – that God maybe provided so that your child didn't have to die.
If you choose to believe in God, then I believe that God just maybe provided us doctors as well, so we could live as long as possible with our loved ones – which God also provided.
But I'm a disillusioned Catholic. What could I possibly know?
Posted by The Chinuk at 12:48 PM |
Supporting Liberal Radio
Yesterday, I had a bit of a win.
I'm a fan of Mike Malloy (yes, I know not everyone is, his style can be an acquired taste for some, I'm going for another point here). Here, in Portland, we've always been more fortunate than most, because ever since his Air America days, when Mike was on from 8 PM-11 PM, whenever the vicissitudes of the radio business took Mike down, it wasn't too long until he was back up again, defying fate every time, and every time, The Mighty POJ (KPOJ, I mean) has put him back up for us – sadly, not live; but as I overheard Mike Dirckx (KPOJ PD) say once, the reason that was is that Mike dominated PDX in that daypart.
Thank whatever created this miss for the Intertubes, though. Thanks to internet streaming (which you can enable yourself for Mike at http://mikemalloy.com) you can listen to Mike in real-time, from 6 PM to 9 PM, weekday nights. And it was there that I got my win.
To promote his program, two days a week, Mike runs a Podcast Trivia contest. I dialed hot and quick when I heard that he opened the phone for it, and I answered the trivia question: I won! I am now the proud owner of a year's subscription to the Mike Malloy podcast.
It's not because Mike's podcasts are heinously expensive that I've not subscribed yet – they aren't. You can subscribe to them for $7.95/month or get a one year's worth for $54.95. That works out, as Mike himself is wont to say, to about twenty-five cents per show. Another righteous liberal (and funny as hell too), Stephanie Miller, has similar pricing. So the only thing holding me back from supporting Mike in this way so far is my own vicissitudes in this economy.
Especially for Mike, though, support is not something that just happens. Unlike the big conservative talkers, there's no willing pool of big money interested in letting liberal America (which is much, much bigger than you're being told) hear the opinions and ideas they hunger for.
Did you know that the Limbaugh program is given away for free? It's no wonder that radio stations across the country snapped that up. Three free hours of content and all you have to do is carry a bunch of ads for people who may or may not have a retail location within 800 miles of you (I've heard enough Pep Boys ads to last me the rest of my life).
Conservative talk radio has the weight of America's wealth behind it. All liberal talk radio has is … well, you and me. Actual people. Citizens. Some who are doing well, but most who are having all our passion and joy ground down and are thrilled just to be able to pay a bill or make the next mortgage or rent payment.
I think I can see the flaw in that business model.
Anyway, my point (and I do have one) is that if we want to hear what we want to hear, we've got to support it somehow. I know I'm just preaching to the choir here, but the reason I'm doing so is that these liberal talkers who deserve our support are making it just as cheap as they possibly can. They have to flog their own advertisers, they have to do all their promotion. The big liberal talkers – Randi and Thom, and thank God we have them – have worked out, but there are more that deserve to have a voice, or at least deserve an income. And there's no Richard Mellon Scaife money about to back them up.
So, if you can, support them. If you can afford to, donate to pay for subscriptions for those who can't (that's how Mike can afford to give away a subscription – someone donated some so that other can have, which is a very liberal thing to do). Maybe we can get Mike (or whoever you prefer) on more than twelve or thirteen stations nationwide, or have more than one progressive station in a city?
How much does truth cost? In Mike's case, about twenty-five cents a podcast.
And you get good shtuff, yo. I just took in two editions of the Malloy Uncensored Mailbag video. Not for kids – but not to be missed by adults, either.
Posted by The Chinuk at 02:17 AM |
July 20, 2009
Missing Uncle Walter
I'm wondering if any of the current blowhards and blow-dried heads on the televison-machine and raddio have given themselves credit for extending the legacy of Walter Cronkite yet?
I guarantee you that Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly and such all feel themselves the rightful legacy-holders of the power, prestige and credibility a well-known media face can hold. As usual, they're all wrong.
They aren't good enough to emit the word "Cronkite" from their cookie-encrusted pieholes.
Posted by The Chinuk at 03:28 PM |
July 19, 2009
Laughter is still the best medicine
One Sunday a small town congregation was just sitting themselves down for Church services when suddenly the door burst open and Satan strode into the Church.
People immediately jumped up, yelling and screaming, and rushed for the doors to get out, trampling over one another in the process.
Finally the room was empty except for Satan and one old man still sitting in his pew.
Satan walked up to him and the man still sat there, unflinching.
Satan: "You know who I am?"
Old man: "Yep"
Satan: "You know what I do?"
Old man: "Yep"
Satan: "You're not going to try to run away?"
Old man: "Nope"
Satan: "You're not afraid of me?"
Old man: "Nope"
Satan: "Why not?"
Old man: "Cause I've been married to your daughter for 35 years."
Posted by Mac at 03:26 PM |
July 17, 2009
Foodie update: new recipe for Blueberry Butter with roasted Hazelnuts
The recipe and directions are below the fold for those interested.
I made a huge batch and you'll have to do the math to break it down into smaller portions.
First the roasted Hazelnuts: 30-40 minutes in the oven @ 350 degrees, spread out on a cookie sheet. After they cooled and I'd gotten most of the skins off I threw them in a food processer with the regular blade attachment and pulsed them until the pieces began to ball up slightly. If you kept going you'd end up with chunky Hazelnut butter but you don't want to go that far because then the pieces will be too small and that delightful crunch would be gone.
2 1/2 cups softened butter (salted)
10oz jar of Blueberry jam/preserves.
2 teaspoons Lime juice
1 cup baker's sugar
2 1/2 cups processed (per above directions) roasted Hazelnuts
Mix it all together starting with the butter to soften it up. I used my bench mixer with the regular mixing attachment but mixing by hand would work well too.
I used salted butter this time and if I had it to do over again I'd probably use unsalted and add sea salt to taste. This recipe certainly isn't "salty" by any stretch of the imagination. But I wouldn't mind dialing back the saltiness ever so slightly.
Even though it's friggin' hot outside (and inside!) right now, I made some toasted English Muffins a bit ago and this Blueberry Butter with roasted Hazelnuts was simply AMAZING on them!
It's not anything close to sweet enough to be like a desert condiment. It's just slightly sweet and for that it should work very well as a topping for Salmon or any other fish too.
Noticably missing from this recipe, compared to the earlier and similar Huckleberry/Hazelnut Butter recipe is the black pepper and the chopped Parsley. That was not by mistake. In hindsight I loved that butter but regretted putting the Parsley in it when I tried some on an English Muffin.
Oh, and by the way I ended up roasting more Hazelnuts than I really needed, and I ran the entire batch through the food processor. So... I added some to my favorite Banana Bread recipe. YUM!!!
Posted by Kevin at 06:18 PM |
Family Values = Greed is God
The American Conservative Union offers to sell endorsement for $2M.
The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” — was contained in a private letter to FedEx , which was provided to POLITICO.
The letter exposes the practice by some political interest groups of taking stands not for reasons of pure principle, as their members and supporters might assume, but also in part because a sponsor is paying big money.
Meanwhile, Josh Marshall observes...
You remember the C Street Group, the combo Bible fellowship and group home for members of Congress up on Capitol Hill. But it's been occurring to us that the C Street Group, which is an emanation of a shadowy religious outfit called "the Family", might not be a religious fellowship at all so much as a covert 12 Step Group from Republican Hound Dogs, womanizers and sex addicts trying to get clean during their tenure in the hallowed halls of Congress.
Following on the footsteps of Sen. Ensign's affair with a top aide and Gov. Sanford's affair with a South American journalist (I thought the "MSM" was the enemy??? Apparently not if she's got all the right curves in all the right places), now we have former Congressman Chip Pickering's estranged wife sueing his mistriss with whom he seems to still be involved even as he goes through a divorce.
And it appears that Gov. Sanford enjoys living high on the hog... on the taxpayer's dime of course.
Between memories of DeLay's much-vaunted "K Street" project, Gingrich divorcing his wife as she fought cancer and of course the grumpy old guy (AKA McCain) divorcing his ex-model first wife who just happened to have suffered a disfiguring accident which forever disqualified her from "trophy wife" status... it just brings a nostalgic tear to your eye, doesn't it.
As Josh Marshall says,
I don't know about their politics. But these dudes know how to party. I don't see how you get around that.
Posted by Kevin at 07:47 AM |
July 14, 2009
White People: Afraid Of Brown Justices and Chooka Sticks
I've been keeping a eye on the newest threat to the integrity of the Republic and it's telling me quite a bit about who's in charge and helping to make a great deal of sense about how this country is trending.
To Senator Orrin Hatch, it's the nunchuks, baby. It's all about the nunchuks. Watch a wise Latina inform an incredibly white Utah Senator on the subject, which means now our governmental process is AWESOME, because it contains nunchuks now:
I'm happy to note that all our outstanding problems have been solved and this country's most serious problems is how Sonia Sotomayor voted on the subject of nunchuks under the Second Amendment.
It gets better. According to a recording I heard, the good Senator from Utah couldn't even get the name of the world-famous "martial-arts sticks" (sounds like a snack, yes?) right.
He called them "Chooka sticks".
Senator, have you stopped even trying to get ready for those hearings? Is the sum total of your views on anything faxed to you on a list of talking points from the RNC every day? On the other hand, I'm applying for a trademark on "Chooka Sticks" Martial Arts Energy Snack and am working on the formula for them. I'm going to try to get them debuted by Q4, Q1 of 2010 at the latest.
But the real overall note about the Republican approach, which makes me cry and die inside, is the worry about fairness. There is true concern here. But mostly, thanks to Jeff Sessions (thanks for reminding me why I'll never be a Republican, Senator), I think the concern stems from whether or not The Wise Latina is going to be fair to white people.
As an Actual White Person, Senator Sessions is obviously one of those Frightened White People who are dimly aware that, as time goes on, eventually those people who are not actually white (we charmingly call them "minorities") will, in the aggregate, outnumber caucasians, and this scares him.
We didn't grill John Roberts or Sam Alito about whether or not they were going to be fair to white people. We didn't have nunchuk discussions with those two. But when Sonia Sotomayor comes up, where you and I might see a qualified jurist who will make the Supreme Court look more like the actual America we live in, people like Jeff Sessions sees someone in a Che Guevara beret who, once they get on the Court will bring a staff full of members of La Raza and MEChA and use her judicial activism to replace bread with tortillas in every grocery store in America.
The government looks more like America, maybe, but the levers of power are still being pulled at by frightened white men.
We've come so far. Or have we?
Posted by The Chinuk at 03:58 PM |
July 12, 2009
More Proof FOX News Viewers Drink Own Bathwater
On the subject of the Great Obama Booty-Scan, I'm reminded of something from my own past.
My father, who I was not all that close to but I somehow managed to get his sarcastic and wry attitude from, said something to me a long time ago that caused me to take second looks.
Back in The Day™, Entertainment Tonight was the big celebrity half-hour (I'll bet Harvey Levin was still practicing law). And me, still a little squirt, mentioned something when I said I saw something on ET:
"People who watch Entertainment Tonight drink their own bathwater."
And that was all the response I could elicit.
Now, I don't necessarily mean to say that celebrity news isn't, in its own way, important or trendy or noteworthy. Within its context, I still find it dead fascinating. But there seems to be a set of people who, like Mike Meyer's mother character in the film So I Married An Axe Murderer (fantastic film, by the way, made by Meyers before he got big with Austin Powers. Really has his comedic talents and dry and surreal wit on display. Highly recommended, put this in your Netflix queues immediately!) who calls the tabloids the paper in the same tone that you or I would call the New York Times the paper. She seems to me the type who would have watched Entertainment Tonight in the day.
If she actually existed and existed today, she'd call FOX News the news just like you or I would call CBS, NBC or ABC the news (yes, I know that one's getting weaker by the day, but I'm trying to make a point about discernment here).
How else to explain the eagerness of the rightwingnutosphere and the "MSM" (an abbreviation coined by those who think typing main stream media is too much excercise) to carry forward a meme based on a single frame of video which, when actually viewed, shows nothing of the sort (note that it's ironically FOX's Greta Van Susteren making the observation. Who says irony's dead?).
Media Matters has the complete trajectory. The word "FOX" appears quite a few times. For the record, it started at Free Republic, then Drudge, then the media at large. That's right, the media at large are still sourcing Drudge and … Free Republic.
You may begin weeping now.
But nothing really puts the filip on the whole thing than this tweet from ABC's Jake Tapper, who's rarely happier than when Democrats are made to look foolish (emphais mine):
that foto of POTUS seeming to be sneaking a leer is misleading, im told -- video shows the moment was completely innocent
He's told? That's what they're teaching in J-School these days? Passive filtering?
No wonder news these days has sunk to the level of Entertainment Tonight. I could go on about what the Fox and Fiends crew and The Hannitizer said about it, but you could probably figure that out for yourself.
Thanks for pointing that out, Dad. You didn't give me much, but what you did give me was valuable.
Posted by The Chinuk at 08:16 PM |
Sarah: The Gift That Keeps On Giving. Whether You Want Her To Or Not.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she's not only staying involved in national politics, but she plans to jump back into the national scrum when she leaves office at the end of the month.I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry or do it simultaneously. That can go so very many ways: some of them embarrassing, some of them awkward, all of them bad.
No good will come of this. It will end in tears. You can mark those words.
Later on, in the same article:
"I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation," she said during an interview published Sunday in The Washington Times.
Translation:
"I will go around the country supporting archconservative sanctimonious hyperreligionists".
Yes, I know earlier in the ADP article the phrase even Democrats who share her views on limited government, national defense and energy independence occurs.
That's lip service. You know how they say: the first thing you learn to do is fake sinSARAHty. After that, everything else is a piece of cake.
Posted by The Chinuk at 06:14 PM |
July 10, 2009
Racism Swim Club PR FAIL
Today in Fear of a Black Planet: The memberships of "dozens of minority children" were cancelled at a private swim club in Huntingdon Valley PA when it was discovered when they were, in fact, probably not white people.
According to the camp who had purchased the memberships (see the AP report above) the memberships of 65 minority children were refunded a few days after a group of them appeared at The Valley Club. The children had reported hearing comments deemed probably racist.
The operant explanation currently is that the sheer numbers of children having a good time were a potential safety hazared. Earlier though, the president of the board of directors of the club mentioned that the number of children would "change the complexion" of the club.
Swinging the passive voice (a/k/a "the bomb shelter of the scoundrel")into action, the president said that his earlier statement was a "terrible choice of words".
Oh, yes, we suppose it was. Terrible choice of words. Indeed. Yes, mistakes were made, the check's in the mail … we've heard it all before.
Right now I think the real thing to do would be to not come up with a lame, passive mea-semi-culpa and sunshine about "safety concerns" and make some real amends.
Complexion problems are awful touchy.
But at least one safety concern was addressed: at least when they go to the swim club, the gentle members of The Valley Club will be absolutely safe from children who aren't white.
Well, for the meantime anyway.
Posted by The Chinuk at 07:58 PM |
Earth To Senator Wyden
I'm a huge fan of Senator Wyden. But this addiction to having a "bipartisan" solution to the health care issue is going beyond baffling.
I'm thinking an intervention is in order. Happily, his health plan probably covers it.
It's worth remembering that, in 2003, Grover "The E-ville" Norquist famously and casually quipped that "Bipartisanship equals date rape". Now, Republicans may change their but they never change their tune, so it's safe to say that, to a Republican, 'bipartisanship' still means 'having it their way'.
Republicans, it must be remembered, want Mr and Mrs Average American to fail at the expense of hugely rich people. I'm not going to sketch the proof out again; if you don't understand this, you aren't paying attention (or you think you're part of the privileged class). Even after Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, who has no shortage of liberal and Democratic criticism, has admitted that trying to garner Republican support has become waste of time.
But what do I know – I'm just one of those unwashed minor bloggers, someone of no consequence.
Let me put it to you this way; if you're being named Wanker of the Day by Atrios and being just-a-little-more-than-gently mocked by Digby, then maybe you picked the wrong pony.
Remember, Senator Wyden: in the Republican political lexicon, 'bipartisanship with Democrats' is another way of saying 'we won again, chumps'.
Seriously, Senator … this hurts me more than it hurts you to have to say this, But this addiction with bipartisanship is getting a little silly, especially when the other side wants nothing more than to drink our collective milkshake.
I mean, to a rattlesnake, a bipartisan solution with your tuchas involves puncturing it with fangs, injecting venom, and making you dieinate, right?
Posted by The Chinuk at 10:06 AM |
July 08, 2009
You Got It, Whether You Want It Or Not
The city council, on a unanimous vote, has approved renanming East Thirty-Ninth Ave in honor of Cesar Chavez
Getting something renamed for a historical figure such as this doesn't bother me at all. The process, which put the demands of a small pressure group ahead of everyone else in the city, bothers me a hell of a lot.
I know it's a convenient observation to make, but I did kind of figure it would get to this end once municipal leaders started fast-tracking every street name change that they thought made them look good – starting with Naito Parkway.
We should have learned our lesson back when the renaming of Union Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr Blvd rather divided the city and made us all look like people who badly needed our collective diapers changed instead of people who did anything for a high-toned cause.
For a while it looked like we did. We came up with great, thorough rules that went a long way toward ensuring that when a name-change was floated, everyone would be on-board. Any name change that could run that gauntlet deserved to happen.
But the actual message is loud and pretty clear: if you feel justified and can bend the right city ear, you can have whatever you want – and make someone else you don't know and don't care about put up with it. It seems to be that, in three of the four cases of street renaming over the past decade-plus, this actually mocks the basic values that the heroes now gracing our street-signs stood for – basic stuff like fairness, equanimity, good will, bullying-is-evil, those sorts of things.
I am happy that we are honoring an activist whose live was sacrificed for so much good. I am sad because the way it was done just wasn't right.
Posted by The Chinuk at 12:07 PM |
July 06, 2009
Right-wing Jews assault female journalist
Australia's ABC News has the story about one of it's reporters trying to cover a protest in Jerusalem:
Suddenly the crowd turned on me, screaming in my face. Dozens of angry men began spitting on me.I found myself herded against a brick wall as they kept on spitting - on my face, my hair, my clothes, my arms.
It was like rain, coming at me from all directions - hitting my recorder, my bag, my shoes, even my glasses.
Big gobs of spit landed on me like heavy raindrops. I could even smell it as it fell on my face.
Somewhere behind me - I didn't see him - a man on a stairway either kicked me in the head or knocked something heavy against me.
Posted by Kevin at 05:38 PM |
Gaming the G.I. Bill
AP IMPACT: New GI benefits vary widely by state:
The new GI Bill covers full in-state undergraduate tuition and fees at any public college. That's far more generous than the old GI Bill, which provides a monthly stipend that is the same from state to state.
So, full ride... any PUBLIC undergrad school... any state. Very generous indeed, and that part of it I fully support.
But Congress also wanted to help veterans attend often pricier private schools. So the new bill offers them an amount equal to the tuition at the most expensive public college in the same state.
This is where it becomes problematic because of how the law has been interpreted.
Anthony Brooks, a 26-year-old former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, will get a mere $5,000 toward the $38,570 tuition charged at the private University of Southern California — and half of that comes from USC through the government's Yellow Ribbon matching-grant program."It's depressing, actually. It's putting states up against each other," said Brooks, who plans to become a doctor. He added: "We all fought for our country. It just seems unfair."
Um, no... it does not put states up against each other. It's a full-ride deal at the PUBLIC universities of all 50 states. Mr. Brooks has spurned that offer and wants to go to a PRIVATE school. His service for his country earned him the exact same full-ride deal that it earned every other qualifying former service member.
Here's what I don't understand: Mr. Brooks could have gone with a full ride at UC-LA (Geffen), UC-San Francisco or UC-San Diego - each listed as among the top medical schools in the nation and each is a PUBLIC institution - but instead he wants to go to USC which isn't even listed as a top medical school.
Granted, the G.I. Bill pays for undergrad school, not graduate school. But an undergrad degree in biology or some variation thereof would seem to be an ideal academic path towards getting into a great graduate medical school, no?
Again, Mr. Brooks' choice of USC isn't even listed as a top biological sciences school. But in addition to the previously listed three PUBLIC universities considered tops in the nation for medicine, they along with UC-Davis and UC-Berkeley are listed as among the top biological sciences schools in the nation! And all five of them are PUBLIC institutions where he'd get the full-ride deal.
Mr. Brooks wants more public tax dollars so that he can get into an inferior school. Why is that the government's problem rather than his problem???
It just seems to me to be a case of losing sight of the entire POINT of the exercise.
Posted by Kevin at 05:03 PM |
July 05, 2009
Wyden Warming Toward The Public Option
So Saith DKos Oregon diarist bewert:
You may also be interested to know that my bill, the Healthy Americans Act, S.391, not only allows a public option in states that want one, but also requires a public option if a state doesn't have at least two health plans offering everyone benefits just like members of Congress have today. This will ensure that all Americans have high quality and affordable coverage.
Which is good, but my preference would be if my senior Senator (who I'm still a huge fan of) would ashcan the idea of taxing the health benefits I do have. Or came out for single-payer, which is the only truly fair system.
This story and the story on the way State Sen Hass changed his vote on tax-policy reform and the way the Metolius protection actually became a reality suggest that, despite taking a lot of hits lately, the idea of public pressure still carries some water with our elected legislators.
Which is why I don't entirely give up hope.
Posted by The Chinuk at 07:21 PM |
Crazy Like A Fox, If The Fox Were Insane
Ironically, Sarah Palin kind of gives us cynics a reason to hope for an afterlife. She's the gift that keeps on giving. She suggests there is indeed a God who wants us to be, if not happy, at least entertained.
It's almost a downer to realize that she isn't really resigned just yet.
And the punditry has been nothing short of amazing. No matter where you look, it's described as a risky move in anticipation of something even bigger. A debut on a national stage? Maybe! Who knows! She's positioning herself for victory in 2012! For what? We're not sure! But it's going to be huge! Maybe she'd be the next Sean Hannity (Memo: the first one was pretty jejune. We don't need another!) And it has nothing to do with some investigations that may or may not be happening! That's for sure!
In the meantime, Our Miss Palin has brought the crazee herself by not only crediting God for something somehow but also threatening to sue the intarwebs if it doesn't stop saying mean things about her.
Good luck for that.
Yeah, she's crazy as a fox.
A rabid, rabid fox.
Posted by The Chinuk at 06:56 PM |
July 03, 2009
Bailin' Palin
What, leavin' so soon?
Now we're goin' ta hafta find someone else to mock, donchaknow. No, wait, we have Mark Sanford. We'll be just fine.
No, it's apparently not a joke, what you've all heard. Just think of what we'll be missing; we won't have Sarah to kick around any more. But it just leaves you scratching your head, donnat?
The sudden announcement alone is a surprise, as well as the conflicting reasons. For someone with such ambitions, the ides of "leaving politics altogether" as well as "preparing to campaign in the lower 48" obviously don't gibe.
Josh Marshall, noting the incongruity between the conflicty versions of reality decides that something's a-comin' down the pike at the Alaskan First Fam, and I can't disagree. Because even though logic and reality are folly when assaying politics, that doesn't mean things don't happen for a reason, and that goes triple for sudden things.
Josh also guesses that she may be even more unhinged than the wags thing, but I'm not ready to join that joyous beating up – well, at least not yet, anyway.
Posted by The Chinuk at 06:11 PM |
July 02, 2009
Rep. Wexler (D-FL) is a big fat idiot!
Oh alright, one more...
Wexler: Settlement freeze would call Arab world’s ‘bluff’
Visiting Israel, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) tells Herb Keinon of the Jerusalem Post that Israel should agree to a short-term settlement freeze -- and that it's a smart move to call the Arab states' bluff:"A request for a moratorium or freeze in settlement activity that can be mutually agreed upon by the US and Israel in the next several weeks is a tiny, tiny gesture and down payment to make when you look at potentially what is on the other side of the equation," said Wexler.On other side of the equation, he said, were 22 Arab countries being urged by the US to take significant steps now towards normalization with Israel.
"I want to call their bluff," Wexler said. "I want to see, if Israel makes substantial movement toward a credible peace process, whether they are willing to do it. And if they are not, better that we should find out five or six months into the process, before Israel is actually asked to compromise any significant position."
So let me see if I've got this right... A temporary, utterly insincere token will somehow call the alleged bluff of neighboring Arab state's long-term intentions???
How blinded by bigotry does one have to be to say that in public and appear to actually think it's rational???
I am absolutely gobsmacked by the intellectual vacuity necessary to even think that a short-term token effort by one party and a long-term commitment to peace by another party are somehow on equal footing.
This is no different than the ongoing efforts to get European nations to compensate (or return) Jews for lands and properties seized during WWII while steadfastly refusing to even consider compensating (or returning) Arabs for lands and properties seized during the creation of Israel and later during the '67 War. It is a completely one-sided relationship that is being offered. And they wonder why it's not received with open arms!?!?!
Posted by Kevin at 11:02 AM |
The Inter Twine
Lastly here is some linkage to a great article explaining the newly unveiled Metro rebranding of trails and parks, rivers and streams as The Inter Twine.
I attended the kick-off event at Keen Footware's HQ in The Pearl but I was there to see Senator Merkley. And that's why I didn't bother with a summation of my own. I don't know enough about The Inter Twine and feel it's better left to those who do understand it, like BikePortland.org's Jonathan Maux, to explain.
Posted by Kevin at 10:47 AM |
Hint: it's about the water
Israel postpones ‘drought tax’
Look at a topographical map of the region and note where the bulk of the water flows and you'll begin to understand that religion and "terrorism" are merely a smokescreen for official Israeli attachment to the Occupied West Bank and the Golan Heights.
Simple demographic projections combined with fundamental geology demonstrate the unsustainable squeeze Israel is looking at in their own future. But ignore that... Just keep watching the other hand moving the empty shell around the board... that's the hand that you're supposed to be watching, not this hand hiding fundamental motivations that you're not supposed to be paying attention to.
Posted by Kevin at 10:38 AM |
Looks can be deceiving
I've been following the story of the jet crash off the Comoros and the young girl who survived. The other day I was reading an article where her father expressed amazement that she was the one to have survived because she'd always been a shy and timid girl. Which seems to me to speak to the fact that judging a person on outward appearances is often a mistake.
This 14 year old girl clearly has an inner core of steel which nobody had suspected was there. Maybe it's because I'm the father of two daughters that I just wanted to cheer when I read that. I find the whole thing very moving!
From a piece today:
"In the midst of the mourning, there is Bahia. It is a miracle, it is an absolutely extraordinary battle for survival," France's cooperation minister, Alain Joyandet, who flew back with her, said at the airport. "It's an enormous message that she sends to the world ... almost nothing is impossible."
Absolutely extraordinary indeed! There are many other similar examples but we usually hear of them in association with more conventional tragedies... Like John McCain's experiences as a POW or survivors of the Bhutan Death March or of the Cherokee "Trail of Tears" or survivors of the Nazi death camps. Certain individuals simply refuse to give up in the face of seemingly impossible odds.
Truly it is a testament to the human spirit and a reminder of the wisdom of MLK's call to judge people on the content of their character rather than on outward appearances.
Posted by Kevin at 09:58 AM |
July 01, 2009
If It Matters To Oregonians, It's Going To Cost You A Quarter More
The Oregonian, Greater Portland and Oregon's Newspaper of record, after slashing costs, eliminating the evening "bulldog" edition, furloughing staff, and merging the Metro section into the rest of section A on Mondays to save printing costs, has hit on a possible solution to its problems:
They're going to charge you a buck at the newsstand/paper box, up twenty-five cents.
Which, of course, means that when it comes to the pape in PDX, you're getting less for more.
Practically indispensable.
(h/t Oregon Media Central, which seesm to be fast becoming the media go-to site around here these days).
Posted by The Chinuk at 02:58 PM |
Michael Scheuer on Beck's show, pleading for Osama to bomb the U.S.
From Media Matters:
This is Michael Scheuer arguing that "the only chance we have as a country right now is" for bin Laden to "detonate a major weapon" in U.S.
Posted by Kevin at 09:03 AM |
The Pretender from Wasilla
Various conservative pundits are lining up to take shots at a Vanity Fair article about Sarah Palin. I'll let you read the article and draw your own conclusions. But one criticism stood out to me.
In an email to a Washington Post blogger, McCain staffer David Welch wrote: "Purdum did not include quotes from pro-Palin staffers (Mike Goldfarb, Randy Scheunemann have been outspoken in their support) — a clear sign of biased hit piece. If that doesn't convince you, the countless cheap shots and comparison of Palin to Nixon should."
That's a fair point. She doesn't possess a fraction of the intelligence, experience or sheer political savvy that Richard Nixon did, and any comparisons between the two are inherently absurd for those reasons alone.
Whereas President Nixon traveled to China at significant political risk and managed to engage the reclusive and pathologically introspective Chinese in a way that nobody from the West had ever managed before him, Sarah Palin would have visited Taiwan and declared that since she could see China from there that therefore she was henceforth some sort of an expert on China.
David Welch couldn't be more right. Sarah Palin is no Richard Nixon. It would take a great deal more than simply sharing his supremely self-righteous arrogance to fill his shoes.
Posted by Kevin at 08:02 AM |