Obama's Budget - the Work of a President Savant

"It has a strong flavor of the Obama philosophy, which is tilting the playing field away from upper income and toward the rest of America,"
Alice M. Rivlin, Brookings Institution Economist

Take a look at President Obama's new budget for 2010. It reflects many of the President's campaign promises and issues that he has always maintained were important to him. In it are funds for education (particularly higher education) and energy, and, lo an behold, science is BACK.

"The blueprint, meanwhile, would overhaul programs across the federal bureaucracy to strengthen assistance for millions of people who have borne the consequences of what Obama called "an era of profound irresponsibility," helping them pay for college, train for better jobs and save for retirement while taking less of their earnings in taxes.

The ambitious agenda for the fiscal year that begins in October would not come cheap. This year's budget deficit, swollen by spending to combat a severe recession, would hit a record $1.75 trillion, or 12.3 percent of the overall economy, under the president's plan, the highest since 1945. While Obama inherited the bulk of that gap, his budget would make room for a fresh round of spending that could hit $750 billion to prop up troubled financial institutions.

Next year's deficit would approach $1.2 trillion. But Obama proposes to cut that figure roughly in half by the end of his first term, in large part by levying nearly $1 trillion in new taxes over the next decade on the nation's highest earners, defined as families with gross income of more than $250,000 a year."
NYTimes, February 27, 2009

Here are a few highlights taken directly from the budget 2010:
Dept of Education - Funding Highlights:
• Creates incentives and supports for States to build comprehensive, coordinated, high-quality early childhood “Zero to Five” systems, building on the early childhood investments in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
• Strengthens and reforms public schools to meet the needs of all students, by helping States to develop high quality, rigorous standards and assessments, vigorously supporting and rewarding effective teaching, and investing in and widely disseminating effective approaches to improving student achievement to help all students make progress toward high standards.
• Expands opportunities for students to go to college and graduate by expanding student aid, shifting resources from banks and middlemen toward students, creating new incentives for colleges to focus on student completion, and expanding access to low-cost Federal student loans.
Dept of Energy - Funding Highlights:
• Begins to build a new economy that is powered by clean and secure energy through funding provided in the 2010 Budget and the $39 billion provided for energy programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
• Provides significant increases in funding for basic research and world-leading scientific user facilities to support transformational discoveries and accelerate solutions to our Nation’s most pressing problems – including the development of clean energy.
• Supports economic investment and positions the United States as the world leader in climate change technology.
• Accelerates the transition to a low-carbon economy through increased support of the development and deployment of clean energy technologies such as solar, biomass, geothermal, wind, and low-carbon emission coal power.
• Builds on the $11 billion provided in the Recovery Act for smart grid technologies, transmission system expansion and upgrades, and other investments to modernize and enhance the electric transmission infrastructure to improve energy efficiency and reliability.
• Supports and encourages the early commercial deployment of innovative, clean energy technologies through loan guarantees.
• Reduces security risks through the detection, elimination, and securing of nuclear material and radiological sources worldwide while maintaining the safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile.
• Continues the Nation’s efforts to reduce environmental risks and safely manage nuclear materials.
Investment in the Sciences:
As part of the President’s plan to double Federal investment in the basic sciences, the 2010 Budget, along with the $1.6 billion provided in the recovery Act for the Department of Energy’s basic science programs, provides substantially increased support for the Office of Science. The Budget increases funding for improving our understanding of climate science and continues the United States’ commitment to international science and energy experiments. The Budget also expands graduate fellowship programs that will train students in critical energy-related fields. Encourages the Early Commercial use of New, innovative Energy Technologies that will Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

And now for an explanation of the headline for this post namely the phrase "president savant," (Savant - from the French savant "knowing", English since the 18th century - may refer to an expert or wise person) it seems to me that never before in the history of this country have we had a person who was more uniquely qualified and more uniquely in tune with what this country is hungry for. This fact stands in stark contrast to the past eight years as we were led (sic) by a true idiot (nothing wise about dubya), in a direction that a grim majority of the U.S. population finally saw as wrong (only 17% of the country approved of Bush's handling of the economy during the final year of his presidency). Now we have a true leader, a human being, a man of color who believes with his heart and his head that the gap between the ultra-rich and the very poor is something of which this nation should be ashamed and which this country needs to address post haste. He has proposed a budget that does just that, a budget that begins to even out the playing field, a budget that begins to address some of the glaring inequalities that have marked the policy of Washington D.C. insiders since the era of Ronald Reagan.

"Our problems are rooted in past mistakes, not our capacity for future greatness. We should never forget that our workers are more innovative and industrious than any on earth. Our universities are still the envy of the world. We are still home to the most brilliant minds, the most creative entrepreneurs, and the most advanced technology and innovation that history has ever known. And we are still the Nation that has overcome great fears and improbable odds. It will take time, but we can bring change to America. We can rebuild that lost trust and confidence. We can restore opportunity and prosperity. And we can bring about a new sense of responsibility among Americans from every walk of life and from every corner of the country."

Barack Obama, The White House, February 26, 2009

Office Pool Season (NOT in OK!)

Pssst, Grampy McSame: You Lost!

It is Sunday morning and I have braced myself in front of the TeeVee and am set to watch Grampy McSame as he tries, insanely in my humble opinion, to tear down Obama's Jobs Bill (AKA, Stimulus Package). He begins by claiming again to represent the people of Arizona (if you are being represented by John McCain, you must be either his wife or a member of her Country Club). He begins by criticizing the TARP - the scheme that he suspended his campaign to return to Washington D.C. to vote for. And the very same scheme that Bush/Cheney told Americans MUST be passed immediately or we would face very dire consequences. But now "[t]he current G.O.P. acts as if it -- and we -- have all the time in the world....If anything, the Republican Congressional leadership seems to be emulating John McCain's September stunt of ''suspending'' his campaign to ''fix'' the Wall Street meltdown. For all his bluster, McCain in the end had no fixes to offer and sat like a pet rock at the White House meeting on the crisis before capitulating to the bailout. His imitators likewise posture in public about their determination to take action, then do nothing while more and more Americans cry for help." (Frank Rich, NYTimes, February 1, 2009). Grampy knows that America is hurting and that we need jobs. McSame apparently objects to spending money when Democrats suggest that we spend money, NOT when Republicans suggest (it is their only suggestion) "tax cuts." Bob Schieffer mentions the timing issue - we need to do something, even if it's wrong. To this McSame falls back on the "this is not bi-partisan - it is just picking off a couple republicans." Schieffer asks the time-honored question "what is it you guys want?" McSame keeps harping on the fact that republicans have not been included in the drafting of the legislation, he never answered the question about what it would take to get him and other rethugs to vote for the damn bill.

Here's a breakdown of the damage that the losers have wrought thus far: (CNN)
Italicized comments added by this blogger.
Partially cut:
• $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill $7 billion)
• $75 million from Smithsonian (original bill $150 million)
• $200 million from Environmental Protection Agency Superfund (original bill $800 million)
• $100 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (original bill $427 million)
• $100 million from law enforcement wireless (original bill $200 million)
• $300 million from federal fleet of hybrid vehicles (original bill $600 million)
• $100 million from FBI construction (original bill $400 million)
Fully eliminated:
• $55 million for historic preservation
• $122 million for Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters
• $100 million for Farm Service Agency modernization
• $50 million for Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service
• $65 million for watershed rehabilitation (Who needs clean water???)
• $100 million for distance learning
• $98 million for school nutrition(Our kids are fat, okay, this is a time-bomb waiting to blow!)
• $50 million for aquaculture
• $2 billion for broadband (We don't really want to join the 21st century, do we?)
• $100 million for National Institute of Standards and Technology
• $50 million for detention trustee
• $25 million for Marshalls Construction
• $300 million for federal prisons (The United States incarcerates more people per cap than any other country in the world, so why we would want to spend money on prisons?)
• $300 million for BYRNE Formula grant program (I had to google it. Here's a link.)
• $140 million for BYRNE Competitive grant program
• $10 million state and local law enforcement (Did you want safer neighborhoods? Nah, I didn't think so.)
• $50 million for NASA
• $50 million for aeronautics
• $50 million for exploration
• $50 million for Cross Agency Support (Ever heard anybody say that 9/11 was the failure of communication between agencies?)
• $200 million for National Science Foundation
• $100 million for science (I thought science was back in the new administration, what gives?)
• $1 billion for Energy Loan Guarantees (Energy, remember that? It's a security issue now.)
• $4.5 billion for General Services Administration
• $89 million General Services Administration operations
• $50 million from Department of Homeland Security (Here's proof: the GOP doesn't want to keep America safe!)
• $200 million Transportation Security Administration
• $122 million for Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use
• $25 million for Fish and Wildlife
• $55 million for historic preservation
• $20 million for working capital fund
• $165 million for Forest Service capital improvement
• $90 million for State and Private Wildlife Fire Management
• $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start (What is this? Giving low-income, minority kids a fighting chance? Not for the GOP!)
• $5.8 billion for Health Prevention Activity (Health Prevention? May want to reconsider this title, eh?)
• $2 billion for Health Information Technology Grants
• $600 million for Title I (No Child Left Behind) (The mandate of over-testing and under-funding - what? Fund it, what are they thinking?)
• $16 billion for school construction (Crumbling schools, they were good enough for Grampy, they should be good enough for your kids, too.)
• $3.5 billion for higher education construction (Construction equals JOBS.)
• $1.25 billion for project based rental
• $2.25 billion for Neighborhood Stabilization
• $1.2 billion for retrofitting Project 8 housing (Wanna stop homelessness, anybody?)
• $40 billion for state fiscal stabilization (includes $7.5 billion of state incentive grants)(Here's a modest proposal: Any state whose senators vote against the Jobs Bill, gets zero money for their state, watch 'em line up to support this bill.)

Don't Divorce Us (Love Will Prevail)

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

What Obama Needs To Do... (Or No More Mr. Niceguy)

Okay, okay, I understand that my role in the Obama Administration amounts to nothing more than a random, midnight blogger who is engaged in sending suggestions to Obama and his Cabinet Members, Congress people and other assorted colleagues. Just a few ideas of topics that I think that Obama should be paying attention to on the news front: 1) JOBS; 2) Afghanistan (I think that your hunch is correct - this will be the next place to blow); 3) Health Care; 4) Did I mention that people need JOBS? [As Thom Hartman says, "Why aren't we calling the Stimulus Bill, the Jobs Creation Bill or more simply, 'THE JOBS BILL'?"] I say, strip the bill down to the essential INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS that will put people to work ASAP: building bridges, upgrading schools, fixing roads, DOING THINGS that will not only put unemployed people to work, but will also result in good, tangible things that will benefit us all. Is it any wonder that the Republicans are reluctant to get behind this package? All the right-wing side of the aisle can seem to do is say an emphatic, "No!" Obama and his Democratic friends can always go back and float a "Tax-cut bill" sometime in the future - I don't think that those of us who voted for Obama expect him to fulfill all of his campaign promises in one sweeping piece of legislation.

If people don't have jobs (i.e. a paycheck coming in on a regular basis), then they can't pay their mortgage or their bills, or buy food and gasoline, let alone Plasma TVs or even rent DVDs. So all the talk from the right-wing blowholes about addressing the home foreclosure situation is putting the cart before the horse - in other words, people need to WORK, so that they can pay their mortgages, or save enough to put a reasonable down payment on a house, and have income to make those payments each month once they qualify for a home loan.

Here a few ideas for making the "Jobs Bill" more effective and ready to go (from an e-mail that I received from CREDO):
--Get rid of a $2 billion provision for "clean coal" plants. Instead, invest this money in green infrastructure and alternative energy development.
--Invest in infrastructure, not tax cuts. Don't reward businesses that got us into this mess with tax cuts that won't create new jobs in the future.
--Reinstate the Medicaid Family Planning State Option. Funding state health care programs for women will protect jobs of health care workers and make sure women living in or on the edge of poverty get the care they need.
--Include meaningful bankruptcy reform. Bankruptcy judges should regain the ability to restructure mortgages (that is, lower the amount owed and the interest rate, reflecting the lower value of the house) so that borrowers can stay in their homes. Don't give Verizon $1.6 billion in tax cuts without generating a single new job. Money originally earmarked to encourage companies to bring high speed Internet to under served low-income and rural communities has turned into a billion dollar giveaway to big telecoms.

Here's the full text of the "Stimulus Bill" as passed by the House of Representatives (without a single Republican vote): HR 1 (111st Cong., 1st Sess. 2009).

!!! Viva Evo !!!

"Brothers and sisters, the colonial state ends here. Now Bolivia is being re-founded. Here we begin to reach true equality for all Bolivians."
Evo Morales, January 27, 2009, on the passage of a referendum on a new Constitution for Bolivia.

After two unexpected days off due to the slice (combination of sleet and ice, AKA freezing rain) that fell all day yesterday and is still on the ground today in Tulsa (and closed the University where I work), I decided it would be okay if I posted a second entry to my blog this week. It gave me a chance to listen to Stephanie Miller without interruption, and also gave me an opportunity to peruse the newly retooled web site of the Stephanie Miller Show, and set up my StephSpace page.

This unexpected break also provided me with a chance to blog about something that was reported on Monday that I would like to point out and on which I would like to congratulate the people of Bolivia: the successful installment of their new Constitution. The new Constitution of Bolivia seeks to de-colonize a country that has been occupied by people of European ancestry and whose Constitution served those European descendants (a minority of the population) for over four hundred years.

Key elements of proposed new Bolivian constitution
By the Associated Press – Sun Jan 25, 10:47 am ET

Key elements of the new constitution proposed by Bolivian President Evo Morales:

RE-ELECTION — Presidents can serve two consecutive five-year terms. Current constitution permits two terms, but not consecutive. Morales could thus remain in office through 2014.

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS — Recognizes self-determination of 36 distinct Indian "nations." Sets aside seats in Congress for minority indigenous groups but not for the Aymara and Quechua, who together represent the majority in Bolivia's western highlands.

LAND — Voters decide in the referendum whether future land ownership should be capped at 12,000 or 24,000 acres (5,000 or 10,000 hectares). Current holdings are grandfathered in. The state can seize land that doesn't perform a "social function" or was fraudulently obtained.

JUSTICE — Judges on Bolivia's highest court are elected rather than appointed by the president as current law provides. The state recognizes indigenous groups' practice of "community justice" based on traditional customs.

LOCAL AUTONOMY — Eastern lowland provinces are allowed to create state assemblies that control local issues, but not land reform or natural gas revenues. Indigenous groups are granted self-rule on traditional lands inside existing states. All autonomies have "equal rank."

NATURAL RESOURCES — The state controls all mineral and oil and gas reserves. Indigenous groups get control of all renewable resources on their land. Water is a fundamental human right that may not be controlled by private companies.

RELIGION — Both the Christian God and Pachamama, the Andean earth deity, are honored. Church and state are separate. Freedom of religion is guaranteed, and no mention is made of The Roman Catholic Church, a departure from the current constitution.

PRESS FREEDOM — Is guaranteed, though news media must "respect the principles of truth and responsibility."

HOMOSEXUALITY — Prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation but refers to marriage as "between a man and a woman."

Here it the full-text of the Constitucion Nueva del Estado Bolivia.

President Obama to GOP: "I won."

With the simple declarative sentence, "I won," President Barack Obama left no doubt who is now in charge of the show in Washington D.C. Elections have consequences was a remark made by John McCain during a debate in October of 2008. In a recent search on Westlaw the earliest record of this remark was in 1987 by Rep. Dick Gephart who said at a campaign stop at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa "In America, elections have consequences. If you voted for Ronald Reagan, you voted against your student loans. When you vote, you are not just voting for a candidate or a smile or a television commercial. You are voting for policies that affect your life. I'm not important. What is important is that you get involved. Get out and fight for somebody. Get involved in this election."

"Elections have consequences" is phrase that has been batted back and forth - used by Phil Gramm in 1995 in response to a question about then-President Clinton's nominee for the Supreme Court. It was most famously uttered in recent memory by Senator Barbara Boxer who schooled Jim Inhofe on the ways of the Senate at a hearing with former Vice President Al Gore. No matter who says these unremarkable words - they are no doubt true enough. A win is a win, to the winner go the spoils - my only problem with President Obama's comment is the insertion of the pronoun "I" rather then sticking with his heretofore used "we."

One of the hallmarks of Obama's unprecedentedly successful campaign was his sense of inclusion, his continuous use of the pronoun "we" in place of the omnipresent use of the pronoun "I" by the Republicans. How much more powerful would it have been to hear once again the refrain that marked Obama's campaign as the highly successful campaign it was: "We won" rather than using the pronouns "I' or the equally self-centered "me?"

Didn't "we" win? Wasn't it a collective effort, this monumental race that made history, that broke all previous molds? President Obama, please don't abandon "us" in your role as the first president of color that this country has ever elected. Remember that, in the memorable line brought to us by the late great Molly Ivins, "ya gotta dance with them that brung ya." And you didn't get to where you are on your own - "we" had a lot to do with where you are.

Obama's inaugural speech - CNN.com

Obama's inaugural speech - CNN.com

The inauguration came at a difficult time in my life. The trajectory of my life had taken a downward turn, the nadir of which I hoped had been reached a few days before the BIG DAY. The woman I had been dating, though I saw the end coming, brought that end about via an out of the blue e-mail I received in which she essentially and effectively ended our short-lived relationship (one that turns out might not have been a relationship at all). So that was over and with it went my plans to attend an Inaugural Ball at the Greenwood Cultural Center and to have somebody to lie on the futon with while watching the entire coverage of the whole amazing day.

So I spent the day alone with the boyz (Dylan was especially needy and obnoxious today – I know, I know Lynnie, “Just today?”) About sometime mid-morning I discovered that my new digital camera would capture the TV screen and depending on how steadily I held the camera or how quickly the subject was moving, the shots were respectable. So I started shooting like a shutter bug, knowing that I could later delete the images that came out a big blur. I need to find some music to accompany the slide show that I put together of shots that I took myself and need not give any credit for. Here is my favorite line from the political punditry, actually is it from one of Frangela’s (which ever one is married) husband’s comment that he only hopes America is less crappy – leading to the klassic (with a “K”) slogan – “American – Now with less Crap.” Another favorite line came from Reverend Lowery and it was one of the few mentions all day of the plight of Natives across this country: "When the Red Man can get ahead man."

Michelle Obama looked regal today in her golden dress - she is so statuesque and lovely, and her daughters are both adorable and sweet. So young and innocent, knowing that they will come of age in the White House and hoping beyond hope that they can skirt the happenings of the times – the drugs, the drama, depression, or other illnesses – if they can both just stay healthy and grounded they will drive the country into the future as two headlights on the front of the Cadillac in which their Daddy rides around town.

That is another less talked about advantage of being an American: a person can begin his/her own dynasty, build through generations an empire of people who are very good, and smart and well-connected, who can get things done. Joseph Kennedy didn’t come from royalty, neither did George H. Walker [or Prescott] Bush, neither did the Rockefellers for that matter. So what I hope we are seeing here is the beginning of a dynasty, one that will out pace the Clintons’ fame and fortune and will ultimately replace the Kennedys and the Clintons in the Democratic pantheon. And someday even the Obamas will be replaced by the Gomez familia or the Crow Dog tiospaye or the Wong family. And so time will roll on and few of us will have more than a quick ride on that slide toward the meeting with the creator who no doubt will hold most all of us close and whisper in our ears "it will be okay." and voila - it is indeed okay or at least not more than we can handle. Now when we say, "Bring it on..." we are not talking about taunting a foreign sovereign nation; we are talking about the collective nature of our future, we as a nation daring the fates to throw what they have at us and we will stand ready to take on all comers, but if you show us a way forward we will indeed explore it with you... we are willing to talk to the other side now - what a concept.

Then Joe Biden goes and quotes Seamus Heaney.

How Liberal Media Can Go From Whining To Winning : NPR

How Liberal Media Can Go From Whining To Winning : NPR - Steph does NPR!!!!

Making the Perfect the Enemy of the Good

Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien. (The best is the enemy of the good.)
Voltaire (1772)

I, along with millions of other Americans, am captivated by the historic moment that we have before us. The inauguration of the first president of color will take place in just two days. The expectations are incredibly high and these expectations have the hint of a set up, not just from the usual suspects - the right wing zealots who are waiting in the wings to knock this annointed man off his pedestal, but from more unexpected corners - namely those old Hillary supporters who have decided that since their candidate is not taking the oath of office, they are digging in their flats (sensible shoes ;), and choosing not to celebrate this astounding moment in our nation's history. It is such a shame that those who call themselves yellow dog Democrats will not be there to enjoy the fruits of the labor of millions of heretofore like-minded people. I wonder if those Democrats who have little positive to say about Obama, are not guilty of applying the phrase that Voltaire coined over 200 years ago. Are they making the perfect the enemy of the good? And by that I am NOT suggesting that Hillary Clinton was or is a perfect candidate. In fact, she was far from perfect. She mismanaged her money, her campaign staff and her entire campaign. You may wonder why I am fixated on Hillary Clinton, because she has obviously moved on. Then why, oh why, haven't her fans/groupies moved on, too? I don't know how many of you are out there, but I know that some of you who live within a Metro ride of the Mall in DC, are choosing not to bother to go down to see the historic occasion of the swearing in of the 44th president of the U.S.

Change does not happen overnight, nor does it usually happen in one's lifetime, but rather change is an incremental thing, that happens over time. If we are very fortunate, we can sometimes see change materialize out of the ground work that has been laid by an earlier generation. I feel very lucky to witness this historic election of the first person of color to the highest office in the land. This change was brought about on the backs of those fighters, marchers and true patriots who did appeal to the better angels of our nature, those who knew that this country that had enslaved African-Americans and slaughtered Natives and had held women and children as property was better than those atrocious acts. Those fighters knew that one day this country would not continue to deny the right to vote to women and to all people of color. That this country could and would have to change to be the country that it was founded to be - a nation where all people are created equal and are endowed by their creator with the right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

We are still not there, yet. As Proposition 8 demonstrated to not just California, but to the entire country, gay and lesbian citizens do not have full rights to their happiness, nor has the federal government lived up to its obligations to the Native people of this country who continue to reside in the poorest counties and reservations in this land that was once theirs. We all have a lot of work to do, we must not rest on our laurels, we must continue to work for change, to achieve true equality and justice for all citizens of not just this country, but of this world. Let us go forward and work to make this world the best place it can be for the creatures who inhabit this planet.

Viva Obama! Viva Democracy! Viva la vida!

I Pity You....PUMAs and Rethugs Alike

I sit here on a sunny Saturday morning in Tulsa, OK, knowing that out in the blogosphere there are those who will not join me in celebrating the first president of color to be duly elected in the entire history of our country. Those who will not be celebrating fall into three basic camps: 1) unrepentant Republicans who will likely go to their grave with their McCain/Palin stickers proudly adhered on the back of their gas-guzzling SUVs; 2) ignorant racists and religious zealots who will never accept that an African-American should lead a "Christian" nation; and 3) and this is the group that troubles me the most, those women (and they are mostly, though not entirely, women) who have not let go of the fact that Hillary Clinton was beaten fair and square, and though we will never know for sure, but I maintain that there is a much greater chance that we would be swearing in a President McCain had Hillary gotten the nomination. As I said, we will never know because fortunately that scenario was never tested, but we do know that Barack Obama could and did in fact carry the day on November 4, 2008 and will be sworn in as our 44th President of the United States. That fact seems to be very difficult for those Hillary supporters to accept. Harder still for them to celebrate, I wish that they would have to endure some consequence for their lack of support, their lack of faith in an articulate, intellectual African-American, but that is both a beauty and a disappointment of Democracy. We sink or swim together. We all bore the brunt of the horrible Bush/Cheney years and we all will benefit from the Obama/Biden administration regardless of our vote, our work on behalf of a candidate, or our lack of enthusiasm for the ultimate victor.

Just as a large portion of all of our taxes went to support a war in Iraq that many of us never supported, so too will a portion of all of our taxes go to support the positive programs that President Obama will put into place. It seems fundamentally unfair that I must support with my tax dollars the horrible military-industrial complex that ravaged Iraq and the Gaza strip, and likewise it seems unjust that those who did not support Barack Obama's candidacy will benefit from his programs, but as I said, such is the nature of Democracy.

2009: The Year of Science

Science is BACK - YES!

2009 marks 150 years since the publication of Darwin's On The Origin of Species, and the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of a telescope to study the skies. M. Lee Allison, the state geologist of Arizona and director of the Arizona Geological Survey, is an organizer of a "Year of Science 2009," a celebration of scientific methods and discoveries.
From NPR's Talk of the Nation, January 2, 2009

As we bid a very fond adieu to the Bush/Cheney Head-Under-a-Bucket Club, and as we welcome in the Obama/Biden Science Club, we receive the added benefit of a renewed emphasis on real science, not the faux science of "abstinence only" sex education or "intelligent design" taught in lieu of evolution. We also welcome the roll-back of such ridiculous rules and regulations as 45 CFR Part 88 Ensuring That Department of Health and Human Services Funds Do Not Support Coercive or Discriminatory Policies or Practices in Violation of Federal Law; Final Rule [AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS. ACTION: Final rule]. In summary, this rule allows every employee, from the receptionist who makes appointments to the physician overseeing an entire clinic to the pharmacist who fills prescriptions, to refuse to provide health care to a patient (9 times out of 10, a woman) to which they may have moral or religious objections. This includes many methods of birth control, including IUDs or the RU486 (the morning after pill) or any form of birth control if the patient cannot prove that she is married, never mind abortion which is the ultimate target of this onerous rule. Thankfully the Obama team has been keeping an eye on many of these last minute rules enacted by the Bush/Cheney administration and has plans to reverse them as soon as possible.

From global warming to reproductive rights to actual science being taught in schools, we can all look forward to a resurgence of real science returning to our lives. And I propose that it is not a moment too soon as states across the nation seek to inject "intelligent design" and "religious freedom" into school curriculum. For example, the "Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act" a dangerous bill that was reintroduced by the now Republican-controlled legislature in Oklahoma is a case in point. All sound-minded Oklahomans are hoping that the replay of this horrible bill will meet the same fate as its first incarnation, that being a veto by Governor Henry. Lest you shrug off this as an anomaly unique to the reddest of the red states, please keep in mind that similar legislation has already passed in Texas. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky are all considering similar legislation. Furthering the assault on the separation of church and state is the ongoing "intelligent design controversy" a controversy only because some lame-brained zealots have confused science with religion. "Intelligent design" is nothing more than repackaged "creationism" and the insistence by the religious right that it be taught alongside evolution (a scientific tenet) makes a mockery of science education.


The above-mentioned examples are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to the assault on science by the Bush/Cheney crime family. The blatant disregard for science can be found in the administration of the CDC (Center for Disease Control), OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). See An Assault on Public Protections: Regulatory Policy News in 2008 over at OMB Watch. I have barely touched on the foot-dragging for which the Bush administration has been responsible in the area of Global Warming. See US climate scientists pressured on climate change, 31 January 2007 by New Scientist Environment and Reuters

"We've developed this politicization of science. Public affairs offices should be staffed by professionals, not political appointees, or they become offices of propaganda. I shouldn't be required to parrot some company line. I should give the best information I have."
Dr. James Hansen, Head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Part of The Earth Institute at Columbia University as quoted in House Panel Investigates Bush's Climate Science Manipulations

See: Politics and the Erosion of Federal Scientific Capacity: Restoring Scientific Integrity to Public Health Science This Article published in November 2007, Vol 97, No. 11 of the American Journal of Public Health 1939-1944 © 2007 American Public Health Association
COMMENTARY by Kathleen M. Rest, PhD, MPA and Michael H. Halpern, BA who are with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, Mass.

See the review of the book The Republican War on Science By Chris Mooney.

For more evidence that the manipulation of scientific information in a variety of agencies has hampered our progress as a nation, see: Bush’s Agencies Of Mass Politicization.

Check out the National Center for Science Education: NCSE, a not-for-profit, membership organization providing information and resources for schools, parents and concerned citizens working to keep evolution in public school science education.

Post Script: If the president feels that it is incumbent on his administration to relieve those who object to normal portions of their job because of religious or moral concerns, then I have a serious question for him: I object to war and the senseless killing of innocent civilians on both moral and religious grounds, so following the logic of the Bush/Cheney administration, why should I have to pay for those actions that run so counter so to every fiber of my moral being? I don't expect an answer to this question, but I believe it is a legitimate question and one that I wish the current administration had considered when they came up with this ridiculous and dangerous rule.

Just for Fun

A Few New Year's Resolutions Suggested for the Stephanie Miller Show Crew:

-- Jim "Voice Diety" Ward decides sobriety is overrated, Jim resolves to resume drinking with both hands.

-- Rebekah Baker resolves to add an Admiral Stockdale impression to her repertoire.

-- Steph resolves to pursue a serious relationship with Jesus (her yard man NOT THE SON of GOD).

-- The entire crew of the SMS resolves to take every Friday off - giving a whole new meaning to "Fridays with Frangela."

-- Stephanie resolves to stop going to the Abby for Happy Hour (Steph hates that she is often mistaken for Liz Taylor).

-- The number one resolution of the Stephanie Miller Show - more fart jokes, less political analysis!

Happy New Year Steph & Company - keep the laughs coming. We're gonna need 'em :-)

Happee New Year Everybodee!

Well, you should all have recovered from your hang-overs by now and just about had your fill of college football (not yet? really, you need to get out more, imho :). My number one resolution this year is to blog less and live more. I am cutting way back on my cable TV subscription (No more MSNBC - buh-bye Rachel, and no more "Intervention"). So this is a fair warning to those of you who read this blog, there will be fewer postings in 2009, fewer rants and less raving about the political scene. This has little to do with the fact that this blogger expects to have much less to rant and rave on about under the Obama administration, although I fully expect that to be the case. Rather it is based on a determination that I am spending too much time in front of my computer. I have virtually quit reading books, except for the excruciatingly long waits in my doctors' offices.

Between FaceCrack and MySpace and my other e-mail account (I decided at some point during late 2007 that I needed a separate account for non-work related e-mails - a very wise decision), I spend hours everyday logged on. So if you are checking this blog daily, first I want to say, "thank you very much." I truly appreciate your loyalty to my blog, and your interest in the opinions, verbiage, photos, collages and quotes that I post on my blog, but please don't expect more than a single post each week. That's all I can manage. I don't know what day of the week it will be when I'll be posting a new entry, so for the time being you'll just have to keep checking in and seeing if there is anything new. I know, I know, I am sure to lose a few loyal readers by making this move, but in my new year's list of priorities my blog has dropped down (way down) on the list of how I want to spend my time. In fact, I have come to believe that most bloggers are little more than self-absorbed, narcissists who check their stat counter a few too many times a day to see who has read their most recent post. There are exceptions to this rule, namely blogs that serve a purpose - like The Huffington Post which serves as a news aggregator, or FourFreedoms which represents an entire community and serves as an online meeting place for those who choose to visit and join in on that site. I am talking more about the solo bloggers out there who imagine the entire online world to be hanging on their every word. I have been there, but no longer want to live there, so I am moving, on...

It is time to put a little distance between myself and all those navel gazers out there who will no doubt continue to post and post ad nauseam... Carry on, and please don't take offense at my opinion of so many bloggers out there. Writers write, and bloggers blog. Me, I'm gonna try a different way of living for awhile...

The Year According to Stephanie

Well, as we prepare to say good-bye to 2008, I, along with the brilliant Velveeta Jones who blogs at FourFreedomsBlog.com, feel compelled to sum up the year that we all just lived through, in spite of the fact that we all just experienced the last year and unless we are struck by a nasty case of early onset Alzheimer's we all have the ability to recall the year that just passed.

But unless you are an obsessive fan of the Stephanie Miller Show as is your loyal radical militant librarian/blogger then there may have been a few moments in the last year of the Stephanie Miller Show that you may have missed. Fear not, your radical militant librarian has missed nary a minute of the SMS over the course of 2008. As you may recall, Ms. Miller was not at all happy with the previous year (2007) and took her friend and herself to Telluride, Colorado to shake off the awfulness that was 2007. It was in Telluride where Ms. Miller was rumored to have wed Dan Abrams, but that rumor, in spite of Ms. Miller's every desire, proved to be unfounded. Nevertheless, the year progressed with many TeeVee appearances by Ms. Miller, namely on "The Larr" (Larry King Live) with the occasional appearance on Howard Kurtz's Reliable Sources. However, Steph has yet to secure an invitation to her dream man's show Countdown with Keith Olbermann. All the while Steph had to sit on the sidelines, watching as her radio compadre, Rachel Maddow, was awarded her own show in the coveted time slot following Countdown on MSNBC.

Ms. Miller and CC Goldwater ended their run for the White House - we are not sure exactly when the campaign ended (and we assume neither do they). But there is still time to order your Goldwater/Miller gear from the Steph Store - hurry there is no telling how long it will be available. In spite of Ms. Miller's obvious TV appeal, she has yet to be mentioned - outside her own show - as a replacement for Alan Colmes on the now defunct "Hannity and Colmes." Nevertheless, Stephanie continues to pursue her perverse and curious obsession with Sean "Insanity" Hannity, taking text messages from him at all hours of the day and night, thereby underscoring her pathetic social life. Stephanie has been reduced to holding house parties in order to get people into her life - she hosted numerous debate parties, an election night party and even had "friends" over to endure her homemade sauerkraut for Thanksgiving. She is reportedly trying to keep up with her 85 year old Republican mother over the Christmas holiday. She was overheard yelling "fore" at the local WeHo Country Club, and then saw delivered to her tee four boxes of chardonnay by one of the princesses who works the bar at the WeHo CC.


Speaking of WeHo, one of the highlights of Steph's year had to be the fact that she was named the Grand Marshall of the LA Gay Pride Parade in which she was mistaken for a Cher-look-alike drag queen and summarily dragged off the float where she was mugged by the crowd who dissed her make-up and positively laughed at her attempt at fashion (I mean, really, fishnets?).

Anyway, throughout the year Momma remained a loyal supporter of President-Elect Barack Obama and for that we thank you, Stephanie. You were a "Momma for Obama" from the get-go and your loyal support will no doubt NOT go unnoticed by the incoming administration. We will miss you when you move to Washington DC to become the new Wine Czar, but we thank you for all the laughs and wish you well in your new position. Who are we kidding? There are very few positions you haven't tried - am I right? Take care and have a fabulous 2009!!!

Is This Freedom?

"There is still more work to be done. The war is not over," Bush said, with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki next to him. "But with the conclusion of this agreement . . . it [the war] is decidedly on its way to being won."

By now we've all seen and heard ad nauseam the video clip of the Iraqi reporter throwing both of his shoes at Bush during Bush's "magical victory tour" of Iraq and Afghanistan. The week before his clandestine trip to Iraq, before the shoes were flung, Bush said:
"When Saddam's regime fell, we refused to take the easy option and install a friendly strongman in his place. Even though it required enormous sacrifice, we stood by the Iraqi people as they elected their own leaders and built a young democracy."

Bush has repeatedly touted the new-found freedom of the Iraqi people and even referred to this "freedom" in his post-shoe-throwing interview. He described it as a bizarre attention grabbing act - an act that would not have been possible in Saddam's Iraq. Perhaps, that is so, but once again Bush obtusely missed the point. The point is that the Iraqi people do not perceive themselves as freer, less oppressed, and any closer to a democracy than they did in 2003 before the United States invaded and subsequently occupied (read destroyed) their country.

One of the most glaring examples of this lack of freedom is the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in a country that was once happily secular. The action of the group of thugs reminds us that there is less and less freedom for women who once had nearly equal rights in Iraq.
Gunmen broke into the house of a women's rights activist in the volatile northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Thursday and beheaded her, police said. The victim was identified as Nahla Hussain, the leader of the women's league of the Kurdish Communist Party. She was alone in the house at the time of her death. It is not known what the circumstances were that led to the attack. Violence against women has been an ongoing problem in Iraq.

The killing comes ahead of next month's provincial elections, a post-Saddam era watershed event that's generating an uptick in civil unrest and political infighting....

...As for the Interior Ministry, a September 2007 report assessing the status of Iraq's security forces slammed it and the National Police, which it operates. The report by the Independent Commission on Security Forces in Iraq, called Interior "a ministry in name only" and said it was "widely regarded as being dysfunctional and sectarian, and suffers from ineffective leadership." It said the National Police force has been "operationally ineffective" and "sectarianism in its units undermines its ability to provide security; the force is not viable in its current form. The National Police should be disbanded and reorganized." The Defense Ministry oversees the military. The 2007 report had promising words for the Iraqi army, special forces, navy and air force, describing them as "increasingly effective" and "capable of assuming greater responsibility for the internal security of Iraq."
From Women's Rights Activist Beheaded in Iraq, CNN, December 18, 2008

Nahla Hussain was profiled in a CNN Report (May 15, 2008): "On Deadly Ground: Woman of Iraq."
Rest in Peace Nahla - we will never forget you or your work on behalf of your sisters in Iraq!

Why Rick Warren May Keep Me Home on January 20, 2009

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I sit here reading, admittedly mesmerized by Obama's words that he spoke today in defense of his choice (and by the very nature of his defensive comments acknowledged that it was indeed his decision) to invite Rev. Rick Warren to give a prayer at his inauguration, and I begin shaking my head in agreement, murmuring to myself that he's right, we need to start behaving like grown-ups. After all, in just a few days I will be heading to Indiana where I will spend at least five days with my family - half of whom are Republicans.
Here is Barack Obama defending his invitation:
“I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans....[but] that dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign’s been all about; that we’re not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable.”
But then I jumped back into my initial thought. While reading through the comments, I came across these words: "If he's going to invite the religious bigots, where are the racists? Aren't we supposed to include everyone?"

My initial thoughts on the invitation of Rick Warren to the 44th President's Inauguration were not at all excited or even willing to accept Warren's presence at the event. The inauguration, up to the point of this announcement, had been billed as a celebration of change for all Americans. It was in that hopeful spirit that a friend and I decided to drive to Washington D.C. to witness the historic occasion of the swearing in of the first president of color. I contacted a friend who lives near DuPont Circle and works as an attorney for the Native American Rights Fund and made early arrangements to borrow her sofa and floor space for several days. After checking into air fares, we decided to drive to D.C. - taking two days and enjoying the road trip. But lately I have begun to reconsider the trip. I have missed almost five days of work spread out over the last two weeks, trying to shake a case of bronchitis. The cost of the holidays, the issues that my friend and I are working through, and now the inclusion of a hate-filled pastor to give the invocation at Obama's inauguration, turns my stomach, and just may keep me home in January. I don't want to walk blocks and blocks in cold, windy, winter weather amid millions of other people with a friend who admittedly doesn't like crowds (I am not that crazy about being trapped amidst throngs of people, myself), only to listen to the words of a man who would deny my friend and me basic human rights.

Why wouldn't Barack Obama realize what an insult it would be to a group that, for the most part, eagerly supported him and his campaign? The GLBT community voted in overwhelming numbers for the Obama/Biden ticket. So to select a person who so hatefully denounced a basic right for an entire group of people (California's Prop 8) is a punch in the gut for those of us who worked so hard for Obama's election. So I haven't decided whether I will or won't drive to the nation's capital to witness history in the making, or whether I will stay at home and watch history being made with or without me....

Does anybody out there want two tickets to the American Indian Inaugural Ball? I guess I've made up my mind...

So That More May Have a Happy Holiday...

'Tis the season and all that jazz... 'Tis better to give than receive... With the latter sentiment in mind I offer up a small collection of organizations that I have supported over the years, and I have faith that they do the most with whatever donations that they receive to improve life for the planet and all creatures who reside here. Here's my list of suggested organizations that could very much use any extra money you may have at the end of this year:

INDN's List is the organization that is nearest and dearest to my heart. Kalyn Free is a real-life hero to me and thousands of others who want to see Natives have a stronger political voice in this country. Why not support a progressive cause that is truly making a real difference in this nation? Visit the link and see the results that INDN's List has gained in just four years of existence.

Futures for Children is an organization that sponsors Native children in the American Southwest (primarily Navajo and Pueblo), but even if you don't have enough money to mentor a child (about $450.00/year), you can still help in many other ways. One excellent way that you can support the important work of the FFC is by shopping at the FFC online store. They have beautiful handcrafted items such as fetishes, pottery, jewelry, and kachinas. Most of the items are donated by the artists so most of the profit goes directly to helping support the programs that FFC sponsors on reservations and in pueblos across New Mexico and Arizona.

The Native American Rights Fund is a non-profit 501c(3) organization that provides legal representation and technical assistance to Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide - a constituency that often lacks access to the justice system. NARF focuses on applying existing laws and treaties to guarantee that national and state governments live up to their legal obligations.

Because I am a dog lover, I encourage donations to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Even if you can't afford to make an outright donation to your local SPCA, at least please remember when you are ready to add a pet to your family, that the SPCA is filled with great potential pets that desperately need a good home.

I was reared in the Quaker faith and although I am loathe to list a religious charity, I can with good conscience recommend the American Friends Service Committee and their sister organization the Friends Committee on National Legislation. I know that both of these organizations will use your donation to promote peace, justice and equality in this country (FCNL) and around the world (AFSC).

That about sums up my message for the holidays. If you are fortunate enough to have a job, a home and people around you who care about you, then count your blessings, and please consider making a donation to one of the above listed organizations or another organization of your choice. There are so many groups who are doing such important work and in these dire times, donations are down, so please give whatever you can. Give until it hurts, just a little bit. I guarantee that it will hurt so good :-)

Sizing up Obama's Team (thus far...)

Here is the run-down of the Obama Team thus far (Updated: Sunday, December 21st, 2008):

Chief of Staff - Rahm Emanuel.
Attorney General - Eric Holder.
White House National Economic Council - Lawrence Summers (Congressional confirmation not needed)
Secretary of Treasury - Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
National Security Advisor - Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones.
Secratary of State - Hillary Rodham Clinton (Senate seat filled by NY Gov. David Paterson - Dem. - is Caroline Kennedy a real possibility?).
Secretary of Defense - Bob Gates (since November 2006).
Secretary of Commerce - Bill Richardson (Seat filled by Dem. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish).
Head of Homeland Security (God I hate the name of that department) - Janet Napolitano (Seat filled by AZ Sec. of State Janice K. "Jan" Brewer - Rep. - a right wing nut job. As the Arizona State Constitution does not make provision for the position of Lieutenant Governor, Brewer is first in line to succeed Gov. Janet Napolitano - Dem.).
Office of Management & Budget Director - Peter Orszag, director of Congressional Budget Office.
United Nations Ambassador - Susan Rice, former assistant secretary of state.
Secretary of Veterans' Affairs - General Eric Shinseki.
Secretary of Energy - Steven Chu.
Secretary of Health and Human Services - Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader.
White House Council on Environmental Quality - Nancy Sutley, the deputy mayor for energy and environment in Los Angeles and the mayor's representative on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, is the first prominent gay to earn a senior role in Obama's new administration.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Shaun Donovam, housing commissioner for New York City.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator - Lisa Jackson.
White House Coordinator of Energy and Climate Policy - Carol Browner, former EPA Administrator in the Clinton administration.
White House Press Secretary - Robert Gibbs.
Secretary of Education - Arne Duncan, chief executive of the Chicago Public Schools.
Secretary of Agriculture - Tom Vilsack, former Democratic Governor of Iowa.
Secretary of the Interior - Ken Salazar, Senator (D - CO), Salazar's replacement to be named by Colorado Democratic Governor, Bill Ritter.
Secretary of Labor - Rep. Hilda Solis (D - CA).
Secretary of Transportation - Rep. Ray LaHood (R - IL).
U.S. Trade Representative - Ron Kirk, former mayor of Dallas, TX.

Prop 8 - The Musical

You've heard all about it on the Stephanie Miller Show. You've probably watched it over at Joe. My. God., But in case you have not yet viewed this hilarious video, I bring you "Prop 8 - The Musical":

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... from Jack Black

Bush's True Legacy Vis-a-Vis Iraq

BUSH'S TRUE LEGACY VIS-A-VIS IRAQ
Bush on His Legacy: I 'Liberated' Iraq!

Bush on His Legacy: I 'Liberated' Iraqis
President Says He Wants to Be Remembered for Liberating Iraqis and HIV/AIDS Work in Africa
(See JENNIFER PARKER)

Nov. 28, 2008

If by "liberating" George W. Bush means any of the following horrors inflicted on the Iraqi people or consequences experienced by the American people;

1. If by "liberating" Bush meant killing hundreds of thousand Iraqi citizens in a country that had virtually no Al Qaeda cells within its boundaries is "liberating," then yeah, we did that.

2. If by "liberating" Bush meant running hundreds of thousand Iraqi citizens out of their neighborhoods and homes and creating an excess of 2 million refugees then yeah, we did that.

3. If the term "liberating" denotes in any sense turning a secular society (not anti-religion, just tolerant of many different beliefs without one particular strain of one religious belief being forced onto the people by their government) into a hellish mix of dueling beliefs that have car bombs and suicide bombers as one of their fundamental practices (i.e. letting a theocracy take root that demands strict adherence to a very rigid and narrow view of humans in the world and does not allow for any deviation from a prescribed pattern of belief and behavior - the hallmark of most religions if taken to the extreme view...), then yeah Bush is responsible for that.
4. If by "liberating" Bush/Cheney are suggesting a scenario that includes bilking American taxpayers out of billions and billions of dollars to pay for a war that was not provoked and in the final analysis was unnecessary, then yeah we "liberated" millions of Americans from their money to pay for a disaster that would not be happening if it weren't for the asinine decision to invade Iraq in the first place, then yeah, hang the blame for that on Bush/Cheney.

5. If by the word "liberating" Bush is referring to handing out slews of no-bid contracts to war profiteers Halliburton, Kellogg Brown and Root, and Blackwater who have not only cheated Americans but have also murdered Iraqis in cold blood, then yeah our tax dollars supported that.

6. If by "liberating" Bush means running all the doctors, nurses and other professionals out of the country and turning previously functioning infrastructure into non-working, no-longer-available services like water, sewer and electric, then yeah, that is a legacy that the U.S. presence has left in Iraq.

7. If by "liberating" Bush means liberating over 4000 families from the presence of a loved one due to losing life, limb or mind in Iraq, then yeah, we did that.

8. If by "liberating" Bush is referring to the financial crisis that we are experiencing here in the United States that could have been alleviated by moneys that were sent to "fight the war" in Iraq, then yeah Bush did that.

9. If by "liberating" Iraq, Bush is referring to operating a gulag in Guantanamo, torturing prisoners under our control, and operating hidden prisons throughout the dangerous world via the practice of secret rendition (all contrary to the Geneva Convention), then yeah, the Bush administration is responsible for violating a wide variety of international laws.

10. If by "liberating" Iraq, Bush/Cheney intend to suggest that building a case for war that was based on lies and deception and manipulation of information, and if the public had known the truth, then they never would have supported the invasion of Iraq, then yeah we fell for that.

Those are all questionable if not outright illogical definitions of the term "liberating" or "liberation." Interesting that Bush has chosen to hang his legacy on perhaps the most destructive decision of his presidency, a legacy that highlights the many short comings of his greedy, impetuous, stubborn, fear-mongering, incompetent, anti-intellectual administration. It only makes sense that this is the one action that Bush would point to as a way to define his administration - it is a shameful choice for a shameful administration.

What I Am Truly Thankful For....

HAPPEE THANKSGIVING EVERYBODEE!!!

Here is the list of what I am truly giving thanks for at this moment in my life:
1. The blog that saved my life FourFreedoms.com - Thank you Raine, BobR, Livin, Mondo, Star, Velveeta, Tri, Mala and all others 4Fers - I am so glad that you came along when you did, you truly saved my life :-).
2. My job, my house, my boyz (Tulsey & Dylan) - they are all in Tulsa, Oklahoma (the only state that went totally and completely red in this latest election - :-( ) Never-the-less, OK is where I live and I have chosen to stay and fight (for the time being).
3. The Collins Fitness Center at TU (and their recently added three, count 'em, three rowing machines). I have been working out like a fiend, and I do feel much better for it. I, however, have not stopped drinking so the weight is coming off slowly, but it is coming off - and I don't drink as much as I used to :-).
4. The Stephanie Miller Show still starts each and every morning in my world and continues to rock my world - thank you mucho Steph, Jim, Chris, & Rebekah!!!
5. Mi familia - I am lucky that both of my parents are alive, healthy and are enjoying their retirement years, mi hermanas y mi hermano, mi sobrinas y my sobrino (not sure why I felt compelled to report my family in Espanol - perhaps a nod to Sanchez from Montebello, CA).
6. The reality that I have come out of a very dark, dismal place and have hope along with a new president (Barack Obama), and I am so thrilled that I can stay in my house, my job, and keep my boys.
7. My sister and her family driving all the way from North Liberty, Indiana to spend Thanksgiving with her older and single sister - Thanks mucho Neankie and crew :-).
8. I am thankful that Tulsa, OK - the town in which I live - now has a Bark Park - a place where I can take my boyz (Tulsey & Dylan) to try to wear them out so that they won't wake me up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning. Way to go Tulsa - you've got the right idea !!!
9. I am more than grateful for the friends who inhabit my life, my workplace and my world. I won't embarrass any of them by mentioning them by name here, but I am sure that they know who they are and I hope that they all know how important they are to me and what a huge difference they all make in my world.

10. I am thankful to be alive in this the winter of 2008, after our country elected the first president of color in the history of this nation. Viva Obama, Obamanos, si se puede, Yes we can and yes we did :-)
11. And finally, I am thrilled to say a big good riddance to George W. Bush and the shadow president, Dick Cheney, who have visited more harm on this country and the rest of the world that we heretofore ever thought possible. Congratulations you two - it will likely take us decades to try to clean up the huge mess that you have left us - thanks, thanks for nothing, you insipid jerks.

That's about it, that's almost all I can think of that I am thankful for this year, I would be remiss if I didn't thank my therapist (HHK), my shrink (KWH) , and the facilitator (IW) of the support group that I attend twice a month. I am grateful that I've lived, or survived, this life. I will go on.... Thank you so mucho. Thanks again. Have a very relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving, everyone!
Cheers,
mfaye

For an alternative take on Thanksgiving, please see Robert Jensen's No Thanks to Thanksgiving. Remember that the history that you learned in school, bears little resemblance to what actually happened, especially when the history involves Indigenous people.

Oh the Damage W. Can Do in Just 57 Days...

"If you thought the first 100 days of the Bush administration were bad, just wait and see what the last 100 could bring,” Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming

Oh, can January 20, 2009 come soon enough? Those of us who have tried valiantly to chronicle the disasters that have been perpetrated on the American citizenry by the Bush/Cheney fiasco since that infamous day in December of 2000 when the Supreme Court handed the presidency to George W. Bush, are holding our collective breath and hoping against hope that W. doesn't succeed in implementing any more disastrous policies before the door hits his ass (not to be confused with his face :) ) on his way back to Crawford, Texas. But if wishes were stocks we'd all be retiring tomorrow. Alas, Bush has plans to give seriously dangerous breaks to his base (the haves and the have-mores) in the form of altering laws that impact not just our already strained environment, but also families, workers, and energy resources. All are among targets of Bush's scheme of deregulating the bejesus out of any law that protects our National Parks, Workers' Safety, and the highly successful and popular Family and Medical Leave Act.

"With barely 60 days to go until Bush hands over to Barack Obama, his White House is working methodically to weaken or reverse an array of regulations that protect America's wilderness from logging or mining operations, and compel factory farms to clean up dangerous waste."
President for 60 more days, Bush tearing apart protection for America's wilderness

Imagine visiting the Grand Canyon in Arizona or Arches National Park in Utah and instead of seeing the natural grandeur of these awesome places, your eyes would meet the visage of open mining pits or your nose might notice the stench of coal-fired power plants spewing more particulate matter into the skies above our planet, thanks to the gutting of environmental regulations by Bush/Cheney in their last act of giving the old middle finger to the tree-huggers and others who appreciate clean air and water and an unspoiled view of nature and all of its inhabitants.

Fortunately, Congress is well-aware of Bush's diabolical plans and may employ a rarely utilized act, The Congressional Review Act of 1996. The act has been exercised just once in the past 12 years, but it could become a sweeping tool for Democrats to nullify the late regulatory changes made by the Bush presidency. Environmental activists are compiling lists of regulations they believe Congress should target, including ones covering water pollution at huge farms, pollution control equipment at older power plants, and hazardous waste restrictions.

See “Past is Prologue: For Energy and the Environment, the Bush Administration’s Last 100 Days Could Rival the First 100”

Check out this great animated cartoon by Ann Telnaes (WashPo, Nov. 24, 2008).

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrive!!!

Beaujolais Nouveau began as a local phenomenon in the local bars, cafes, and bistros of Beaujolais and Lyons. Each fall the new Beaujolais would arrive with much fanfare. In pitchers filled from the growers barrels, wine was drunk by an eager population. It was wine made fast to drink while the better Beaujolais was taking a more leisurely course. Eventually, the government stepped into regulate the sale of all this quickly transported, free-flowing wine.

In 1938 regulations and restrictions were put in place to restrict the where, when, and how of all this carrying on. After the war years, in 1951, these regulations were revoked by the region's governing body, the Union Interprofessional des Vins de Beaujolais (UIVB), and the Beaujolais Nouveau was officially recognized. The official release date was set for November 15th. Beaujolais Nouveau was officially born. By this time, what was just a local tradition had gained so much popularity that the news of it reached Paris. The race was born. It wasn't long thereafter that the word spilled out of France and around the world. In 1985, the date was again changed, this time to the third Thursday of November tying it to a weekend and making the celebration complete. But wherever the new Beaujolais went, importers had to agree not to sell it before midnight on the third Thursday of November.

On a more technical note, the wine is strictly speaking, more properly termed Beaujolais Primeur. By French and European rules, a wine released during the period between its harvest and a date in the following spring, is termed primeur. A wine released during the period between its own and the following years harvest, is termed nouveau. Well, enough of that!

It is a triumph of marketing and promotion, mostly due to the efforts of Georges Dubeuf. The largest negociant in the region, he is a tireless promoter of Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau. More than a fifth of his annual production, about 4 million bottles, is Beaujolais Nouveau. All in all, in the last 45 years, sales have risen from around a million bottles to more than 70 million bottles.

Apart from the fanfare, what makes Beaujolais Nouveau so popular? And especially in the U.S. where consumption of red wine is less than 30%? Simply put, Beaujolais Nouveau is as about as close to white wine as a red wine can get. Due to the way it is made -the must is pressed early after only three days- the phenolic compounds, in particular the astringent tannins, normally found in red wines, isn't there, leaving an easy to drink, fruity wine. This, coupled with the fact that it tastes best when chilled, makes for a festive wine to be gulped rather than sipped, enjoyed in high spirits rather than critiqued. As a side note, it makes a great transitional wine for anyone wanting to move from white to red wines.

Finally, the race from grape to glass may be silly, but half the fun is knowing that on the same night, in homes, cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and bistros around the world, the same celebration is taking place. It hasn't the pedigree to be a classic wine, but it is always good. Any other opinion you may regard as boorish and uninformed.

For more about Beaujolais Nouveau go to Georges Duboeuf's website.

Sat NO to H8!!!

Today I am heading to downtown Tulsa, OK, specifically the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, where I will make a sign (not exactly sure yet what it will say, but it will definitely convey the sentiment that LOVE is NOT WRONG and should never be constrained by laws, regulations, or the tyranny of the majority who may not approve of who you love). Then I will march with my head held high down the sidewalks of Tulsa, OK (the reddest of the red states - ugh!) and express my ideas about love and marriage to all who care to pay attention. To further inspire me and those of you who have not yet decided how you will spend your Saturday, here is a video that captures the words of Harvey Milk (LGBT Activist and Politician 1930 - 1978).
Watch it and if you don't have other plans for today, think about joining me and many, many others who support equal rights for all citizens of this country:

The Dennis R. Neill Equality Center is located at the corner of East 4th Street (621 E. 4th St.) and South Kenosha Avenue. We will be meeting there to make signs and banners in just about an hour, then we will be marching down to City Hall where we will make our voices heard! Please come join us!!! Thank you and have a great day!

Some Thoughts from Insidethe Reddest of the Red States

By now I am sure that all you listeners of the Stephanie Miller Show and other political geeks who have surveyed the aftermath of this most historical election have not failed to note that not one county in the state of Oklahoma voted for President-Elect Barack Obama. I was not completely surprised, after all my address has been here in Tulsa, Oklahoma for more than seven years, but I was disappointed. I was sad to hear that Stephanie Miller will never come to Oklahoma and hear Chris Lavort agreed that there is simply no reason for Oklahoma to exist. But alas, Oklahoma does exist, and has come to stand for the home of the most-backward, most-conservative, most-regressive, less-evolved people in this country. Oklahoma sends two of the most conservative, narrow-minded, even bigoted Senators to Washington, D.C. (Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe). Oklahoma is also home to one of the most homophobic, hate-filled state representatives anywhere in America, Sally Kern. But unlike the impression the all-red map may give, Oklahoma is also home to many who run against the stream of hate and fear and homophobia and bigotry. Oklahoma has a Democratic Governor (Brad Henry) and also boasts the headquarters of INDN's List - an Indian organization founded by an amazing Democratic, ultra-progessive woman named Kalyn Free who is a member of the Choctaw Nation and was born and reared in the state of Oklahoma. INDN's List recruits, trains, and supports PROGRESSIVE Native candidates for local, state and national office. Tulsa, Oklahoma also recently openned the sixth largest LGBT Center, the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, in the country, and has an active, vibrant Gay Community in Tulsa and OKC. Oklahoma City was recently represented by the first gay, Native (Choctaw) man (Al McAffrey) to ever serve in the Oklahoma State House.

I have been admonished by friends who live in Madison, Wisconsin and Albuquerque, NM, and even Los Angeles, California - all true blue parts of the country, that I should leave Oklahoma and escape the oppresive atomosphere that surely hangs over each day I spend in this backwater state. But as Margaret Cho wrote after Bush was elected for the second time by the very same mentality that has kept Oklahoma so very red, "I have chosen to stay and fight."

I have a great job in which I work with fellow progressives who all cast thier votes (I am sure) for Barack Obama. I live in a part of the country that has a rich Native heritage (there are 38 Federally-Recognized Tribal Nations in Oklahoma). I live in a city that has two superb art museums (the Philbrook and the Gilcrease Museums) and a very cool movie theater (Circle Cinema) that brings plenty of independent and foreign films to town. Within a five mile radius of my house I can have any kind of food (Indian, Greek, Mexican, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai) I desire and most of it is close to authentic if not the real McCoy.

On one hand, I am ashamed that my fellow Oklahomans went into the voting booth last Tuesday and by an overwhelming majority (65.4% to 34.6%) cast their votes for McPalin, but I also know that if the 34.6% of us up and left the state, then Oklahoma would be forever lost to the dark forces that promote hate, fear and intolerance. And the land of Oklahoma, that began its life in this country as the Indian Territory, and boasts the last patch of natural tall grass prairie in the country, is better than the redneck image the rest of the nation has of it. Plus never forget that Oklahoma is also home to the Radical Militant Librarian of the Stephanie Miller Show and that's gotta count for something - Rock on Steph, Chris, Jim and Rebekah - please don't forget that you have a fan and a friend in Oklahoma (and I'm not talking about the ghost of Will Rogers or the very much alive Mary Kay Place). So please don't write us off completely...Oklahoma may one day be okay.