Note to US: It’s 2006.

Louisiana (via Tata):

Nine black children attending Red River Elementary School were directed last week to the back of the school bus by a white driver who designated the front seats for white children.

Utah (via The Angry Fag):

A state senator responsible for some of Utah's most anti-gay legislation is under fire for saying that the landmark court case that ended state-sanctioned segregation is wrong.

…During the radio interview host Tom Grover noted that courts historically have been used by minority groups "to ensure [their] rights are protected."

"I don't know of an example where the minority is being jeopardized by legislative action," [Chris Buttars (R)] replied.

Grover then brought up the Kansas desegregation case that resulted in the busing of black students to white schools and vice versa.

"I think Brown v. Board of Education is wrong to begin with," Buttars shot back.

When Grover attempted to press him on the reply Buttars refused to be more specific, saying only "one day call me again and we'll take a half hour on that one."

What world do these people live in? And, more imporantly, how can we permanently separate it from ours?

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Baby’s First Blog

Recently, Mama Shakes has, in cleaning out various parts of Parental Manor, unearthed some rather amusing stuff from my childhood, like, as I mentioned in comments, a first- (or second-) grade essay called “My Mom is Sexey,” featuring the memorable couplet: [Mama Shakes] is her name / And loving is her game. Apparently, I was suffering under the misapprehension that my mother was a prostitute.

She also found an old diary that had been a Christmas present from her and my dad, which I began on January 1, 1984. The last entry is March 19, and it had gotten pretty sporadic around February 5, but the solid month of sharing my thoughts at age 9 provided me with no small amount of amusement when I just re-read it at age 32. The funniest thing was seeing my adult personality already taking shape. Here are some of my favorite entries, in their entirety, with the original spelling and punctuation. See if you can find where I might reference “a case of the vapors” or the need for a fainting couch, if only my vocabulary had been a bit more sophisticated!

January 3, 1984: It's 7:15pm. Today was a good day. It was back to school day though. And I haven't done my homework! Oh boy. Gotta go. Get back to ya later. PS. My homework assignment was Math, p. 130.

January 11, 1984: Today was fun. Before bed we watched a show about monkeys. It was good.

January 15, 1984: Today was a good day. I found out Webster is really 12 years old. I can't believe it! He's only 40 inches tall! His older brother was 40 in. tall until he got in the middle of 9th grade! I also watched Knight Rider tonight. It was stupid, and about people getting killed (what else), and sex (between Michael & Lorin), and jewelry. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb! See ya tomorrow.

January 17, 1984: Today was a good day. As I—oops, I forgot to tell you, I quit Girl Scouts. Well anyway, David, he gets hurt every single day in school. I just about fainted when I heard the news today. HE DIDN’T GET HURT! I couldn’t believe it. I think I’ll talk to ya later. See ya. P.S. [My little sister Bug’s] first front tooth came out today.

January 18, 1984: Today was nice. Like yesterday, though, a miracle happened. Ha! A miracle at Central School. I never! Whoo. Well anyway, here’s the other miracle. Me, Amy, Sarah, Jennie, all of us were ready. Usually (see Jan. 5) Jennie is late or both Sarah and Jennie are late. Neither of us, Amy and I, are ever late! Well, maybe once in a blue moon! But otherwise, never! I couldn’t believe it today! After school, it was the talk of the day.

January 20, 1984: Today after school was fun trading stickers with Mrs. Martinsen. I got some good stickers and gave her some good ones. Today I also wrote a story so stupid, I threw it away. So as you can tell, a day is never quite perfect. In PE today, I went against Marci in Steal the Bacon. We were number 8. I smeared her. Our team won of course. Marci was a brat in gym to Jennifer today. When I find out where she lives, I'll smear her face in!

January 25, 1984: Today was a good day. I played “Star Wars.” It’s the darkside and the, I guess, lightside. You know, stormtroopers and Luke Skywalker’s side. I was on the Darkside. I think tomorrow I might play on the Lightside.

Total Geek.

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Progress in Baghdad?

General John Abizaid told the media that there has been "great progress on the security front" in Baghdad thanks to the new clampdown involving increased US troops. Recent numbers seem to bear him out. Though the initial two week period of the new security initiative showed an appalling Iraqi casualty count of 256 slain (combined civilian and security personnel, based on numbers compiled by the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count), the following two weeks saw that count drop to 143. That compares a little favorably to the 154 slain during the first two weeks of the previous "new" security crackdown which was later determined to be a failure.

This improvement came about because of the infusion of thousands of additional American military personnel into the capital city. Whether the apparent success or the numbers required to bring it about can be maintained is a matter of conjecture. In the meantime, the door has been opened for the call-up of thousands of retired Marines through the Individual Ready Reserve - tapping into the military's "rainy-day fund," as it were. Additionally, it remains to be seen whether the increased security in Baghdad will come at a cost of greater insurgent activity, and attendant civilian casualties, elsewhere in the country.

One thing is apparent: the president is dialing down talk of "progress" in Iraq these days.

(Cross-posted.)

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How About if We All Just Seal Ourselves in Plastic?

Would satisfy you sex hating, fetus worshipping, "I'll tell you what you can and can't do with your body" hysterical wingnuts? Because the end of this article just makes me insane.

FDA Eases Limits on Morning-After Pill

Attention wingnuts. This is GOOD news.

WASHINGTON - Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription — but only with proof they're 18 or older, federal health officials decided Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration ruling culminated a contentious three-year effort to ease access to the emergency contraceptive.

Girls 17 and younger still will need a doctor's note to buy the pills, called Plan B, the FDA told manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The compromise decision is a partial victory for women's advocacy and medical groups which say eliminating sales restrictions could cut in half the nation's 3 million annual unplanned pregnancies. Opponents have argued that wider access could increase promiscuity.

Of course, increasing promiscuity. It's always about people fucking. This should be one of those rare instances where both sides of the debate are in agreement. Is it really that difficult for these "opponents" to understand that increasing access to birth control will actually reduce the number of abortions?

But no, that's not good enough. It's never good enough. They will not be happy until sex ceases. No one, anywhere, can touch anyone ever again, unless it's for the purpose of making bebbuhs. And I'm sure they're working on that one, too.

But opponent Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said Plan B's wider availability could give women a false sense of security, since it isn't as effective as regular birth control. Wright also worries that adult men who have sex with minor girls could force the pills upon them.

What is it with these wingnuts that they always have to go to the most extreme, bizarre scenario when they are opposing something? As if, without the pill, sexual deviance doesn't exist. As if "adult men who have sex with minor girls forcing the pills upon them" is somehow worse than the man forcing himself upon them. Here's another hysterical reaction:

Drs. Galson and Woodcock both said in their own depositions and public statements that scientific considerations drove their decisions. One memorandum that has since been made public states that Dr. Woodcock told agency employees that she feared that Plan B could take on “ ‘urban legend’ status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults.”

I can't believe these lunatics are actually taken seriously when decisions are made that can affect the lives and health of others.

(Hey, how about a nice cross-post punch?)

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Allen Apologizes

And it was only a matter of mere weeks before he did it, the little charmer.

Virginia Sen. George Allen apologized directly to S.R. Sidarth yesterday, telling the 20-year-old Democratic campaign staffer that he was sorry for offending him with remarks that have generated nationwide criticism for being racially insensitive.

…Sidarth said Allen told him that the apology was "from his heart."

…Sidarth, who had been assigned by the Webb campaign to follow Allen on a swing through Southwest Virginia, said he asked Allen why it took him so long to apologize personally.

Allen said he had expected to see Sidarth on the campaign trail again and had wanted to apologize in person, Sidarth and Wadhams said.

"I still have some questions about why it took so long, but, yes, he did the right thing," Sidarth said. Asked whether he thought the apology was sincere, Sidarth declined to comment.

Because they won’t print “Are you fucking kidding me with that shit?! Fuck no, it wasn’t sincere.” in the Washington Post.

You know, Allen might have an easier time convincing people his apology is “from his heart” if his campaign manager wasn’t issuing memos blaming the media, pundits, Democrats, liberal groups, and Moveon.org for his boss’ racist outburst, and if his campaign wasn’t “pursuing a two-pronged strategy aimed at convincing some voters that Allen is sorry while motivating his base with attacks against liberals and the media.” When you denigrate someone with a racist slur and then claim persecution, any apology for the slur is, uh, undermined rather significantly.

You do, however, definitively prove you’re made of strong conservative stuff.

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There’s whale vomit in them thar hills!

Mmm…whale vomit rush:

North Wales is facing a gold rush after 'whale vomit' was found washed up on its beaches.

Valuable ambergris - known as floating gold - has recently been found at Rhos on Sea and Shell Island, reports the Daily Post. Finds of ambergris can be worth around £2,000 - and they could lead to a gold rush among would-be beachcombers. Ambergris is used to produce perfume and can fetch more than £10 a gram.

It is produced when the whale has been eating squid and their parrot-like beaks have irritated the walls of its innards.

Isn’t humankind amazing? Give them lemons, they make lemonade. Give them whale vomit, and they make perfume.

(Yes, btw, that cartoon whale is actually hurling chunks of ambergris. I may be vulgar, but I’m factually accurate with my Photoshopping.)

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Stupid Science Types and their Degrees...

Screw you guys. I didn't wanna be a stupid planet anyway.

Pluto demoted

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is — and isn't — a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.

[...]

Much-maligned Pluto doesn't make the grade under the new rules for a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's.

What, just 'cause the guy runs a little crooked? Pluto always was the Little Planet that Could, and now they're forcing him off the kickball field. Sounds to me like they just changed the rules to force out the little guy. Buncha bullies.

(EDIT: D'oh. Tart and I had a psychic mind meld. See below for her much prettier picture.)

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Boo-Hoo: Feminists are mean.

Forbes took down the story we discussed yesterday after this mean feminist and other mean feminists posted about it, but they have reposted it with a counter-point by a mean feminist.

Slate’s Jack Shafer issues an apologia on Forbes’ behalf, but warns against his mean feminist “female readers break[ing] their nails pounding out angry e-mails to me” if they don’t like what he has to say. Still, if you must, he says, they can “Bore [him] with your fury.”

Mean feminist Jill has a response to Shafer here.

Meanwhile, mean feminist Jessica makes one wonder if Shafer realizes he’s arguing in defense of a writer who believes that women are commodities—and very specifically that “wives and whores are—if not exactly like Coke and Pepsi—something akin to champagne and beer. The same sort of thing.”

Mean feminist Amanda has more on the entire kafuffle here.

Mean feminist Shakes: Out.

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“He didn’t do anything but be a gung-ho Marine.”

In a culture that encourages torture, soldiers will, in the absence of other targets, torture other soldiers. Says Matt, who gets the hat tip, “[I]t is the inevitable blowback of the Bush administration’s championing of torture.” Yes. It is.

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No More “Slam Dunks”

Even Congressional Republicans are warning against uncritically marching down the same road to a war in Iran as we did to war in Iraq:

A key House committee issued a stinging critique of U.S. intelligence on Iran yesterday, charging that the CIA and other agencies lack "the ability to acquire essential information necessary to make judgments" on Tehran's nuclear program, its intentions or even its ties to terrorism.

The 29-page report, principally written by a Republican staff member on the House intelligence committee who holds a hard-line view on Iran, fully backs the White House position that the Islamic republic is moving forward with a nuclear weapons program and that it poses a significant danger to the United States. But it chides the intelligence community for not providing enough direct evidence to support that assertion.

In other words, what emanates from The Bush Gut (and, for a change, we’re not talking about farts, but its allegedly infallible intuition) is not evidence in and of itself. Actual proof of what the administration, and others, may suspect is required. What a novel concept.

"American intelligence agencies do not know nearly enough about Iran's nuclear weapons program" to help policymakers at a critical time, the report's authors say. Information "regarding potential Iranian chemical weapons and biological weapons programs is neither voluminous nor conclusive," and little evidence has been gathered to tie Iran to al-Qaeda and to the recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, they say.

That sounds so familiar… Ahh, yes. I believe it’s nearly the precise points made before the Iraq war about their weapons program and their ties to al-Qaeda and terrorism. Well, it’s nice to see Congressional Republicans doing their fucking job instead of maligning the American citizens who took up the slack last time around.

[The report] warns the intelligence community to avoid the mistakes made regarding weapons of mass destruction before the Iraq war, noting that Iran could easily be engaged in "a denial and deception campaign to exaggerate progress on its nuclear program as Saddam Hussein apparently did concerning his WMD programs."

I just suggested that very possibility to Mr. Shakes not two nights ago. How can we be sure that Ahmadinejad isn’t following the same game plan as Hussein? (Especially when he’s certainly clever enough to notice that the White House is following the same game plan.) I’m not saying I think he is, but decent intelligence is the only way to know for sure. And since “the administration has not attributed its assertions about Iran’s weapons program to US intelligence” but “pointed to years of Iranian concealment and has questioned why a country with as much oil as Iran would need a huge nuclear weapons program”—in other words, is making assumptions based on instinct rather than evidence—the report’s calls to tread cautiously are very welcome indeed.

I don’t deny there’s some logic to the questions being raised by the administration, but logical questions aren’t a substitute for sound evidence. And, you know, the administration sort of precluded my trusting they act on good faith after their misuse of intelligence last time. That they’re not relying on intelligence this time also raises some logical questions about whether they just trying to avoid getting caught manipulating intelligence again, or whether they’re hoping that repeating the same logical-sounding suspicions over and over will suffice in the absence of evidence altogether.

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Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky; stormy weather…

Crazy storm here this morning, although it’s not as crazy as last night, which left us (along with about 25,000 other people) without power last night (so no Project Runway spoilers—we haven’t seen it yet!) after two separate storms. There were reported tornados, 100mph winds, torrential rain, flash floods, hailstones, exploding power lines—it was nuts.

The first of the small but damaging storm cells swept down from Lake Michigan just before 6 p.m. An aircraft pilot reported a funnel cloud about eight miles from the shore headed in the direction of Beverly Shores.

The second storm cell followed about a half hour later, bringing more high winds and more warnings of tornadoes from the National Weather Service. This cell made its way deeper into Porter County, bringing with it marble-sized hail and covering streets with an icy gravel.

…Vehicles in the parking lot at Blue Chip Casino were also submerged in water.

Not the casino! Noooooooooo!

Mr. Shakes and I went to the closest pub to have a drink and watch the Cubs game.

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Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Laverne & Shirley

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Question of the Day

Suggested by Constant Comment: Do you ever have any recurring dreams, or recurring themes in your dreams?

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News from Shakes Manor

Last night, Mr. Shakes and I were lying in bed, and had just been talking about the president’s fondness for farting, when I heard Mr. Shakes’ gut grumbling menacingly.

“Do you have an upset tummy?” I asked.

“Aye,” Mr. Shakes replied, “and the oopset’s heading sooth, so get ready for soome Bushisms.”

And thusly was it decreed at Shakes Manor that farts will hereafter be known as Bushisms, and gassiness as “feeling presidential.”

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Christian Coalition Crumbling

What a damn shame. I’m off to cry a river of tears.

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Survey Says: The Citadel’s got a sexual assault problem.

Right on the heels of the AP report about military recruiters preying on female recruits comes the results of a survey at The Citdel revealing that 20% of its female cadets at The Citadel and 4% of its male cadets have been sexually assaulted.

The sexual assaults in the survey included unwanted touching, but 16 of the 27 incidents reported by women and 15 of the 23 reported by men involved unwanted sexual penetration or oral sex.

Most of the reported incidents involving women happened in the barracks or elsewhere on campus, and the perpetrator was another cadet, according to the survey. Some of the cadets reported being subjected to more than one sexual assault.

Credit The Citadel’s president, Rtd. Air Force Lt. Gen. John Rosa for explaining that his reason for releasing the information is “simple: In order for us to address these issues, we must discuss them openly.”

Maybe now the Pentagon will reconsider its decision to reject a proposal to establish an office to assist victims of sexual assault in the military?

Probably not.

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Mind Matters

I think that killing [a] kitten would be worse than killing [an] embryo. If you agree, dear reader, you stand beside me in the party of death.

Go read the rest from the most ethical werewolf I know.

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Cindy Sheehan Should Have Hidden in the Trunk

I knew I should have done a little more digging on Rockey Vaccarella when I read about his little meeting with Bush mentioned in my post below. Hey, whaddaya know? President Folksy McEveryman's meeting with this Katrina victim has just a little Stink O' the Rove on it. (Apologies in advance for the big blockquotes)

The good news is that CNN seems to have finally stop obsessing over John Mark Karr. Instead, they've found a new soap opera to go ga-ga over, Katrina survivor Rockey Vaccarella, who drove his FEMA trailer from his home in ravaged St. Bernard Parish to Washington with "the hope" of convincing President Bush to meet with him.

You can see why TV loves this story (the guy's named 'Rockey,' for cryin' out loud!), because to those who pay casual attention, i.e., the vast majority of viewers, the parallels to another news story are striking.

It was exactly one year ago that the headlines were all about Bush, on another lengthy vacation in Crawford, refusing to meet with an average American who was devastated by a tragedy -- Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq. It was a publicity bloodbath, and it rolled right into the horrors of Katrina and a seemingly indifferent White House, beginning the long slide in Bush's approval rating.

Now comes Rockey, a plain-talking character who lost it all in Katrina, who nearly died in the hurricane, forced to hang onto a rope for four hours (some of that was captured on film), and now wants to government to do more for Katrina victims. And what a difference a year makes -- not only did Bush, not in Crawford but hard at work in the White House, meet with this "average American," but check out the glowing praise our president received in return.

Uh, you might want to do this on an empty stomach.

CNN's RICK SANCHEZ: I don't know if you were watching a couple days ago, but you might remember that we talked to a man named Rockey Vaccarella. I got a lot of phone calls on this interview. He's a Katrina victim who was driving to the White House with a FEMA trailer. And he seemed to strike a nerve with people. He's there now. He's actually been invited inside. He wanted to go and met with the president. Well, guess what, the president has decided to meet with him. Last night he met with Donald Powell (ph), the government's point man for rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Told him just what he and his family went through during Katrina.

[...]

Here's so here's what Rockey told the nation just now on TV:

You know, it's really amazing when a small man like me from St. Bernard Parish can meet the President of the United States. The President is a people person. I knew that from the beginning. I was confident that I could meet President Bush.

And my mission was very simple. I wanted to thank President Bush for the millions of FEMA trailers that were brought down there. They gave roofs over people's head. People had the chance to have baths, air condition. We have TV, we have toiletry, we have things that are necessities that we can live upon.

But now, I wanted to remind the President that the job's not done, and he knows that. And I just don't want the government and President Bush to forget about us. And I just wish the President could have another term in Washington.

Hwarf. A direct injection of mom and apple pie. Just warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it? And there's nothing like hot cockles.

Well, if all of this sounds just a little too perfect to you, and you're suspicious that there might be just a little bit more to this story than meets the eye... well, you're not the only one.

This guy is a symbol of the misery that so many people in Louisiana and Mississippi? If we didn't know any better, this couldn't have been more of home run for Bush if the whole thing had been set up by Karl Rove.

Hmmmmm...

In fact, we had a hunch -- that maybe, just maybe, Rockey Vaccarella had a background himself in GOP politics.

And, whaddya know? Turns out that the earthy Vaccarella -- a highly successful businessman in the fast-food industry -- is indeed a Republican pol, having run unsuccessfully under the GOP banner for a seat on the St. Bernard Parish commission back in 1999. We don't have a good link, but here (via Nexis) is part of his bio that ran in the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Oct. 15, 1999:

ROCKEY VACCARELLA
PERSONAL
Republican
35. Born in New Orleans. Grew up in Arabi and Chalmette. Lived 11 years in
Meraux.
Married, two children.
Graduated from Chalmette High, 1982. Attended St. Bernard Community
College.
Director of operations, Lundy Enterprises, as manager of 31 Pizza Hut
restaurants and 450 employees. Former general restaurant manager of Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits on East Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette.

And in fact, Vaccarella seemed very confident that he would be meeting with Bush when he left home, to the point where he had a date scheduled and everything:

Dinner with the President is planned for the evening of August 22nd.

Not to minimize what this guy went through or what he lost, but this whole thing stinks to high heaven. I'm sure if a busload of angry Katrina victims had hopped on a bus and driven to Washington, they would have found themselves sitting outside in the elements like Cindy Sheehan.

Of course, not a bleat about this from the MSM. And I can pretty much guarantee there won't be. Your media: Taking everything concerning the president at face value.

(Tip 'o the Energy Dome to Steven. I could have cross-posted all night...)

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Caption This Photo

President Bush is no longer asked to throw
out the first pitch at baseball games ever
since he started demanding a preemptive strike.

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When are you going to settle down and get yourself a nice trophy wife?

Speaking of traditional gender roles, Angelos passes on this little tidbit from Gawker:

There are plenty of howlers in this Forbes piece, starting with its charmingly straightforward title: "Don't Marry Career Women." Beyond that, it's the usual host of statistics discussing how women with brains and ambition are nothing but shrieking harbingers of misery, so best steer clear of any chick who has a "university-level (or higher) education, works more than 35 hours a week outside the home and makes more than $30,000 a year." After a landslide of directly implying that statistics about mental well-being and lifelong happiness correlate directly with marrying the stupid and jobless, Forbes barely sneaks in the caveat that "it's important not to confuse correlation with causation." But even all this foolishness is eclipsed by the accompanying slideshow, "In Pictures: Nine Reasons To Steer Clear Of Career Women," which is a grab-bag of more stats illustrated with tenuously related stock photography. Why does this information require illustration? Did we need a close-up of a woman's gelatinous fake tear to know what an unhappy wife looks like? That stock-photo man at [left] sure looks sad. If only he'd had the balls to send off for that Ukrainian mail-order bride.

Sadly, their summary doesn’t begin to convey how truly appalling the article actually is, misrepresenting (for example) findings about household labor issues as a problem with women entering the workplace, as opposed to women entering the workplace and still being expected to do all the household labor, too. Were this article more honest, it might be titled instead “Don’t Marry a Career Woman if You’re a Lazy, Sexist Shithead Who Doesn’t Want to Lift a Finger to Help Around the House.” The thing is, Forbes expects (probably correctly) that it’s addressing men who fit that bill, so “Don’t Marry a Career Woman” will suffice.

And if the article were totally honest, it would be titled “Let’s Shame Women About Wanting Careers,” because at its raw core, the article is not really addressing men, but women. Passages like:

While everyone knows that marriage can be stressful, recent studies have found professional women are more likely to get divorced, more likely to cheat, less likely to have children, and, if they do have kids, they are more likely to be unhappy about it.

…read not so much as a warning to men, but a doomsday scenario for women. The underlying sentiment is You don’t really want to be an unhappy, cuckolding divorcee with a bunch of kids you don’t like, do you, honey?

Surely not, no. Better to be a happy trophy wife. Sure, it’s a fleeting happiness that will come to a crashing halt when you’ve put in 20 good years and get traded in for a newer model, but hey—it’s better than having a career. Ick.

[UPDATE here.]

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