NEWS FLASH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Walter Ludwig, Bornstein for Congress, 202-251-0670, walter@juliebornstein.com
Campaign website: juliebornstein.com

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE JULIE BORNSTEIN
CALLS MACK MAILER "MISLEADING"
Says Republican's Ideas Won't Help Middle-Class Families

PALM DESERT, CA, August 25, 2008 — Democratic Congressional candidate Julie Bornstein called Rep. Mary Mack's (formerly Mary Bono) recent taxpayer-paid campaign mailing "mostly misleading, and full of bad ideas that will hurt the environment but won't lower gas prices for middle-class families."

"Drilling in ANWR and increasing oil shale development will provide no price relief to the families of Riverside County, will have potentially catastrophic environmental consequences and will make billions for huge oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil," Bornstein said.

Energy conglomerates have contributed over $250,000 to Rep. Mack since she has been in Congress, and her financial disclosure forms show she owns substantial stock in several of them. "When voters look at the candidates, they should ask why Mack supports these ideas, and votes to give big oil and gas companies billions in taxpayer money," Bornstein said.

Background
Earlier this month, Rep. Mack sent postcards — resembling campaign mail, but costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars — to voters throughout the 45th District. The postcards were printed and mailed using Mack's Congressional "franking privilege," originally designed to allow members of Congress to communicate actual news to constituents.

From the postcard: Mack called for opening ANWR (the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Refuge) for drilling and for increasing oil shale development.

Fact: The US Department of Energy estimates that even in full production, drilling in ANWR would lower the price of crude oil between 41 cents and $1.44 per barrel — in the year 2025. That's between a penny and three cents a gallon of gas, 17 years from now. For that small possible benefit, the real price would be permanent damage to one of the last pristine places in North America.

Fact: Oil-shale extraction also does little to decrease the price of fuel to consumers, and releases more greenhouse gas than regular oil extraction. Most processes are only in experimentation now, use huge amounts of water and cause devastating pollution.

From the postcard: Mack says: "The sooner we expand our domestic energy supply, the sooner we can realize a more secure energy future."

Fact: Oil is traded on a global market. Increasing US oil and gas production will not affect the price of gasoline in this country very much, if at all. It will, however, benefit the bottom lines and stock prices of US-based oil companies, who will sell the oil on the international market.

From the postcard: The postcard features a photo montage of windmills and solar panel arrays. In the text, Mack says: "Our region is home to abundant sources of renewable energy — from wind to solar to geothermal." She also writes about the importance of tax subsidies for conservation.

Fact: Rep. Mack voted NO on HR 3221, the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 (roll call no. 832, 110th Congress, 1st session). This bill, which passed the House, promoted alternative energy purchases by electric utilities, increased development loans for conservation, created grants for small business to improve energy performance, and authorized up to $1 billion in loan guarantees for bio-fuel refinery construction. She also voted NO on HR 5351 (roll call 84, 110th Congress, 2nd session), which extended tax credits for wind farms, geothermal and solar energy facilities, extended the 30% tax credit for solar property, and increased the homeowners' tax credit for solar from $2,000 to $4,000. Both bills' provisions would have promoted alternative fuel industry and created jobs in the 45th District.

Other Notable Mack Votes on Energy: 1) NO on HR 6251, requiring oil companies to to develop existing leases before applying for new off-shore drilling (roll call no. 469, 110th Congress, 2nd session); 2) YES on HR 4 (roll call 320, 107th Congress, 2nd session), which provided over $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies for oil and gas conglomerates.

Mary Mack Has Received Over a Quarter-Million Dollars in Energy Company Contributions
According to the Federal Election Commission and opensecrets.org, Rep. Mack has received $227,295 in campaign contributions from energy and natural resources company PACs and executives since she was first elected to Congress, including over $75,000 from the oil and gas business, and over $95,000 from electric utilities.

Mary Mack Owns Significant Stock in Energy Companies
According to the Sunlight Foundation, Rep. Mack's most recent personal financial disclosure form to the Clerk of the House shows direct ownership of between $22,000 and $155,000 in oil and gas industry stock. (Disclosures are made in very broad ranges). Among the companies whose stock she owns are ExxonMobil, Devon Energy, Dominion Resources, Emerson Electric, Progress Energy, and Baker Hughes. The disclosure form (and those for previous years) also shows that Rep. Mack is an active trader in energy stocks.

NOTE TO REPORTERS/EDITORS: A scanned copy of the Mack mailer is available on request. E-mail walter@juliebornstein.com.

In case you missed the latest Onion videos...

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency


Today Now!: How To Pretend You Give A Shit About The Election


Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

If I Was A Terrorist

h/t to my very good friend over at Open Letters to George W. Bush.

What do you Know About Iraq?

It takes a commitment to understand the ongoing impact of the war and occupation in Iraq. Here is a test you can take to measure how well you have kept up with events.


1) How much does the U.S. pay per day for the war in Iraq?

a) $100 million
b) $270 million
c) $525 million
d) $720 million


2) If the U.S. spent $1 per day in Iraq, how much would go to repair and humanitarian assistance?

a) 7 cents
b) 13 cents
c) fraction of one penny
d) 1 penny


3) What is the population of Iraq?

a) 53 million
b) 12 million
c) 27 million
d) 100 million

4) How many Iraqis have been displaced from their homes?

a) 8 million
b) 100,000
c) 5 million
d) 3 million

5) How many Iraqi have been killed?

a) 750,000
b) 1 million
c) 500,000
d) 17,000

6) How many Iraqis are now refugees outside the country?

a) 3.7 million
b) 750,000
c) 900,000
d) 2.4 million

7) How many Iraqi refugees has Syria accepted?

a) 75,000
b) 1.4 million
c) 500,000
d) 900,000

8) How many Iraqi refugees has the U.S. accepted?

a) 750
b) 100,000
c) 725,000
d) 1,700

9) How many U.S. troops are in Iraq? (Not including mercenaries and private contractors.)

a) 50,000
b) 325,000
c) 700,000
d) 165,000

10) What countries border Iraq?

a) Lebanon, Palestine, North Korea, Pakistan
b) Yemen, Sudan, Somalia
c) Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
d) Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan




Answers coming soon!

Pssst. Do Something.

Bad Blogger

I've been a terrible blogger these last few months. I am so sorry.

Must See TV

I can't say how proud I am of the good folks up in Montana who have organized such a tremendous response. :)

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

-Emily Dickinson

Happy Feminist Birthday

Audre Lorde 1934-1992

"I am a Black Feminist. I mean I recognize that my power as well as my primary oppressions come as a result of my blackness as well as my womaness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable."

This is Interesting.

0.0.0.0 [Label IP Address] 0 returning visit

Date Time WebPage

February 14th 2008 16:06:11 No referring link
February 14th 2008 18:19:46 No referring link
February 14th 2008 18:41:35 No referring link
February 14th 2008 18:43:14 No referring link
February 15th 2008 09:18:20 No referring link



Seems as though nobody's been looking at my blog.

Unbelievable

This comes from The Hill:

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) recently played a gag on Rep. Mike Simpson
(R-Idaho) on their Middle East congressional delegation trip last month.

Rehberg left an “Idaho Travel Package” on Simpson’s airplane
seat.

Contents included a stuffed sheep with gloves attached to it (draw your
own conclusions), a Village People CD, books on cross-dressing and sign language
and a T-shirt that reads, “My senator may not be gay, but my governor is
Butch.”

Rehberg is proud of the gift bag. “I spent a bit of time putting the
things together,” he boasted.

Simpson was amused but not surprised that Rehberg was the bearer of
such presents. “You can always find those materials in Montana,” he said,
laughing.

Mr. Rehberg, you disgust me. You are an embarrassment to your elected office and to your constituients, and you disgrace the public trust with your blatent disregard for the dignity and worth of all Montana's citizens.

(H/T Matt Singer at Left in the West)

Tears

Salty expressions

of emotion

shake the stability

of my world.

Wet confetti

with which I celebrate

the wonders

and the tragedies

of living.

Why do I vote pro-choice?

Because this is not a medical instrument.

Alka Seltzer Solution

The new word of the week is "economic stimulus package."

Everyone is for it.

The President wants it if only because he knows a worsening economic crisis will leave his Administration in deep doo-doo, the way it did his dads' back in '92. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is all for it if only because all of his rate cuts and "injections" of money into the financial system have not turned the US economy around.

He told Congress Thursday: "put money into the hands of households and firms that would spend it in the near term." This is likely to take the form of tax rebates and direct assistance.

And all the candidates-well most of them---want it too. Or at least they want something upbeat that will stimulate voters. John McCain lost Michigan, it is said, because he was too negative. Mitt Romney won because he promised to wave a magic wand, repeal Globalization and make Detroit what it one was.

Dream on.

The stimulus idea is simple-give people some money to spend and, presto, our problems will disappear. This is the "Alka Seltzer solution." Take one tablet and when it fizzes, you're better in the morning.

The only problem is that the real world isn't so simple and simplistic solutions will not work.

We didn't get into this mess because one thing went wrong. Many things went wrong -and over a long time.

This crisis may seem brand new. It isn't. And please dump that word "recession" because it doesn't do justice to what we are talking about here. The highest inflation rate in 17 years and the biggest housing crisis in a quarter of a century didn't just happen. Major banks writing down billions of dollars practically every week is not normal. Wall Street going from boom to gloom almost overnight was not caused by somebody making a mistake.

The political causes of this are deep and long standing. Writer Robert Kuttner calls this "the most serious downturn since the Great Depression." He blames the rise of right-wing ideology, and "the domination of our politics by a financial elite, and the lack of a true opposition party."

You can't fix that with pathetic stimulus packages and minor tinkering.
This is a structural crisis that's been spawned by decades of shifting our economy from making things to buying things, from production to consumption. It has spawned "financialization' a well heeled credit and loan complex powered by legal and illegal shenanigans in an unregulated market-driven environment. Both parties have benefited from it and are complicit in its consequences. All of our biggest banks were part of the subprime/subcrime-led credit collapse which enriched so many before bringing so many down.

This crisis is still unfolding, rippling, and infecting more sectors of the economy. It is a "contagion" that has yet to be contained.

Writes the Mclatchey Newspapers: "The unwinding of debt is all-encompassing. It's from the little homeowner out there to the big corporation," said Larry Moss, senior vice president for the Raymond James investment firm in Birmingham, Mich.
The credit crunch overlaps with other negative trends, most noticeably the poor housing market and weakening consumer spending. The fear is that tighter credit and weaker spending will reinforce and amplify each other, creating a downward spiral leading to a recession.

"Once you get in that cycle, then it becomes really, really scary," said Amiyatosh Purnanandam, a professor of finance at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan who has studied tight-credit periods."

For starters we need some stimulus from a study of history to understand how greed and corruption of any and all ethical principles stimulates this type of frightening business cycle. We need to stimulate a deeper debate.

Writes Satyajit Das, author of Traders, Guns & Money, explains: "Recent history has been a period of 'too much' and 'too little' - too much liquidity, too much leverage, too much complex financial engineering, too little return for risk, too little understanding of the risk."

He told one of India's leading newspapers, The Hindu, "This will reduce economic growth (the US looks likely to slow down sharply) and asset prices (houses and shares) around the world. It is perhaps the most serious crisis that we have faced in a very long time."

Let's break this down: Lets say we give every household $1000 bucks ($800 is the number under discussion). What happens? What do will recipients do first? What will they/we stimulate?

Will they rush out to the mall and buy the latest and the greatest? Unlikely. Why? Because so many of us are already in hock beyond our ears. Millions are drowning in debt and barely hanging on to homes, cars or even student loans. We are groaning under the burden of higher interest, higher prices and higher fees, as a recent study by United for A Fair Economy explained:

"Increases in the cost of housing, education, and health care, paired with an increase in payroll taxes of 25%, and massively decreased government investment in affordable housing, employment, and job training, have left most of America cash poor. Americans found the liquidity needed to pay daily bills through debt: credit cards, refinancing, subprime loans. The American middle and working classes are maintaining their lifestyle on a foundation of quicksand (debt they cannot afford).

If current indicators are correct it is quite possible that the entire US economy will sink into the debt that the middle and working class have developed over the last twenty years."

This is not a very 'stimulating' environment. No wonder most Americans think the country is going in the wrong direction and have lost confidence in the economy. No wonder, crime is rising along with foreclosures. Let's not forget the wars that are also draining the economy, growing the deficit and pouring billions of dollars and so many lives into a rat hole without end.

So, please candidates, loose the cheery rhetoric of economic stimulus. Do nothing about the debt burden and you do nothing. We don't need stimulus; we need economic change, and economic justice. We need white-collar predators in jail. We need restructuring, not repossessions. We need mechanisms for the redistribution of wealth from the greedy to the needy. And just like the folks in Africa living under a crushing burden of debt we need genuine debt relief. We need to buck this system, not get a few bucks in the mail.

If we have any hope of getting out from under, we also need a media to tell the truth about how this crisis happened, and investigate those that profited on the destruction of our economy, the bankers and brokers that stole our treasure and future. We need movements to fight back and politicians that will stand up for economic fairness, especially on the day we honor Dr. Martin Luther King and the movements he led.

News Dissector Danny Schechter directed the film IN DEBT WE TRUST (http://www.indebtwetrust.com/) which forecast this crisis. He explores the roots of the problem in a new e-book SQUEEZED (Downloadable from Coldtype.net)

A Reversal of Questions

Homophobia: A Self-Assessment

1. What do you think caused your heterosexuality?


2. When and how did you first decide you were a heterosexual?


3. Is it possible your heterosexuality is just a phase you may grow out of?


4. Is it possible your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of people of the same sex?


5. Isn't it possible that all you need is a good, gay lover?


6. Heterosexuals have histories of failures in gay relationships. Do you think you may have turned to heterosexuality out of fear of rejection?


7. If you've never slept with a person of the same sex, how do you know you wouldn't prefer it?


8. If heterosexuality is normal, why are a disproportionate number of mental health consumers heterosexuals?


9. To whom have you disclosed your heterosexual tendencies?


10. Your heterosexuality doesn't offend me as long as you don't try to force it on me. Why do you feel compelled to seduce others into your sexual orientation?


11. If you choose to nurture children, would you want them to be heterosexual, knowing the problems they would face?


12. The great majority of child molesters are heterosexuals. Do you really consider it safe to expose your children to heterosexual teachers?


13. Why do you insist on being so obvious and making a public spectacle of your heterosexuality? Can't you just be what you are and keep it quiet?


14. How can you ever hope to become a whole person if you limit yourself to a compulsive, exclusive heterosexual object choice and remain unwilling to explore and develop your normal, God-given homosexual potential?

Google Has a Sense of Humor

Per my stat counter, today someone in Cape Coral, Florida, typed:

Love Poems for when ur in a Fight

into their Google search engine.

Not only did they find MY site...they found THIS post.

Wonder if it helped. :)

Happy Hero Birthday

January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968

I have struggled for days to try and think of something, anything, to say that might somehow express how I feel about this man. Part of this reflection has involved rereading some of my favorite speeches, letters, and writings of Dr. King and placing them in their historical context. For me, this means exploring the sights, sounds, and smells of the moment or moments in which the words that inspire me were recorded. In this journey, I have also spent a great deal of time in a time warp...applying Dr. King's words to the sights, sounds, and smells of today.

I do not pretend that I am first or the only to suggest that half a century has done little to impact the relevancy of Dr. King's message. Other, more qualified authors have waxed eloquent on the truths of love, peace activism, non-violence resistance, and the promise of a more socially and economically just world.

So instead, in honor of one of my heroes, I publish three quotes, all on silence, that speak to me. They are what fuels my passion and inspire me to speak my mind, even if my voice shakes.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Find a way.

For what, you ask? Here's your answer. (h/t Quaker Agitator.)

Daily Dose of E-Activism

From the Human Rights Campaign:

Matthew Shepard Act in Serious Jeopardy

Right now, the fate of the Matthew Shepard Act depends on you.

House and Senate leaders could decide in the coming days to detach the bill from a larger Department of Defense bill, where it currently resides. The move would almost certainly eliminate its chances of becoming law, setting back our progress by months or years. We likely have less than a week to convince them.

We've spent a decade fighting tooth and nail for a Federal hate crimes bill – we cannot let last-minute political challenges defeat us now. It's time to make a ruckus. Write your lawmakers today, then spread the word.

Then, sign this petition. It doesn't matter if you don't live in Montana. Representative Rehberg needs to hear from people all over the country. Let's send him a clear message: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." So far, he's been silent on this very important matter, and we need his support to finally pass comprehensive, inclusive, hate crimes legislation in Montana.

Today is...

Adbusters has all kinds of great stuff up.

Participate by not participating.

Give Thanks

Aahhh, isn't this perfect?

Look at how those nice English colonists are
taking good care of those hungry, heathen, brown people.

Kara posted the real story over at her place last year.

She also has a wonderful post up THIS year.

(Buy the book here.)

I've always had a hard time with this holiday...mostly because I feel like if I participate in any celebrations then I am somehow also complicit in the mythology of the history of Thanksgiving. Pottersville provides us with brilliant, articulate commentary on Cowboys and Iranians. (h/t Undeniable Liberalism), and Here's a great list of things to be thankful for this year, courtesy of Think Progress.

Happy, peaceful day, everyone.

The Strike...A summary

Pencils Down means Pencils Down

United Hollywood

In Memoriam

Day Of Remembrance -S. Bear Bergman

I’m scrolling and scrolling,

names on my screen keep rolling,

more than I expected to see, hundreds,

too many to count quickly,

too many to die so early,

one day before they would have is

too early,

outrageous,

sentenced to death for being courageous,

living out loud in an age such as this,

where every border’s guarded and marked with gendered piss,

this here is only for us,

only for you,

what is it mommy?

not now honey, that’s rude — why is it rude?

that’s a bad attitude, that’s what you’ll do?

Parents, that’s unworthy of you,

if something’s unusual,

let children know what’s different,

buy him a tutu - let that be the end of it,

let them grow unencumbered by expectation,

there’s all kinds of situations,

gender, race, ethnic variations,

none of them cut or dried, no lie,

cause otherwise,

we get “boys don’t cry”,

we tell our boys not to cry,

they swallow the tears, the fears,

they erode every other feeling until it explodes,

looking like Gwen in a shallow grave by the road,

like Marsha being fished out whole,

looking like Brandon full of anger’s holes.

We won’t accept this, the idea is ludicrous,

you want to kill a kid because he wants to wear a dress?

Ridiculous.

We will not go gently, not into any night or memory,

we’re here today remember our family, taken too early,

I hope they come back to haunt their killers fully,

inhabit their uncertainty,

give them their own inescapable enemy,

and for those of us still alive,

stand up!

stand up and shout,

stand up and be what it’s about,

be the change you want to see in the world,

live like a flag unfurled,

be heard,

today we are here to remember,

today we are peaceful in honor,

today we are heard together,

but tomorrow this event’s a lesson to miscreants,

anyone with ill intent, our spirit unbreakable,

a lot at stake, our numbers unmistakable,

proclaiming, I’m here with my tribe,

this family’s my wealth, and

I would die with them before I would live by myself.

Today is the ninth anniversary of the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgendered — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgendered people.

We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgendered people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgendered people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.

From http://www.gender.org/.

Thank You...

...to all our veterans, but especially to this one, my little brother:

Today's observance was intended not to glorify war, but as a solemn way to recognize its end. In that spirit, today I continue my commitment to advocate for a peaceful resolution to end the war in Iraq, and prevent war with Iran. We do not need more veterans. Instead, we need to honor those we have by fully funding services designed to meet the challenging and diverse needs of the men and women who have served in our military.

We can say 'thank you' with the immediate elimination of waiting lists for care and benefits.

We can say 'thank you' by ensuring that the mental health needs of returning soldiers are considered a medical priority and providing the adequately trained staff in sufficient numbers so as to guarantee that every solider receives the best standard of care possible.

We can say 'thank you' by the immediate elimination of pay and benefit inequities between U.S. military personnel and private paramilitary contractors who often perform the same work, in the same situations, for a fraction of the compensation. Those who wear our uniform deserve more pay, not less.

We can say 'thank you' by keeping our recruiting promises to help pay for college in a realistic and meaningful way that accurately compensates veterans for the true costs of higher education.

We can say 'thank you' by encouraging a real national conversation about the toll of war on the future of this country, not just in dollars and cents, but in the loss of production and innovation that will come as a direct result of the permanent disabilities of our wounded.

We can say 'thank you' by redefining what support means. Forget the rhetoric. It isn't about showing respect to the flag and it isn't about whether you wear a lapel pin. It isn't about a 99 cent magnet flung on the back of some car. This is what true support would look like: not one homeless veteran. Not one.

We can say 'thank you' by working as a nation to eliminate the stigma associated with PTSD, depression, and other identifiable and treatable mental health issues so as to eliminate this debilitating barrier to service provision.

We can say 'thank you' by finally ending the flawed 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. We must bring honor to all our veterans by allowing them the respect and dignity they deserve. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with patriotism or the ability to do one's job. Existing benefits and supportive services must be extended to the families of LGBT military personnel and they must be permitted to serve openly without fear of discrimination or harassment.

We can say 'thank you' by praying for peace.

Update: The web is full of wonderful, powerful Veteran's Day posts like this one, this one, and this one.

Justice IS Blind

Happy Pride!

Today was our annual Palm Springs Pride Parade. The weather was wonderful, the crowd was amazing, and the atmosphere, well, see for yourself:

Audre Lorde said, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." Today my community celebrated the rich diversity it contains and I was so proud.

(More pictures coming soon!)

Boo!

Here's a collection of cartoons in honor of Halloween...

I don't know how you're feeling, but I am having trouble imagining anything scarier than the current condition of our foreign policy and Bu$hCo's drumbeat for war with Iran. It's our very own reality show nightmare.

Personally, I'm neck-deep in my thesis draft, so I won't be attending any festivities this year. Though, the kid in me has reserved a prime-time hour to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It's an annual tradition.

Here's wishing everyone has as much fun as a World War I Flying Ace. (And of course, by this, I am referencing Snoopy's imagination and am not, in any way, meaning to imply that any of our military service persons are having fun...Yes, someone did send me a comment about this.)

Update: Here's a link to someone who really knows how to carve a pumpkin, though none of them are nearly as good as this one:

Killing Me Softly

Sports fans may think that this is old news, but I saw it for the first time this afternoon, and this really makes me mad.

In 1999, Jean Kilbourne published her now famous book Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think And Feel. In it, she outlines her observations of advertising's images of women. If you haven't read it, please take the time to watch this 34-minute lecture during which the author outlines her central thesis:

This beer commercial is an example of what Kilbourne would call "advertising and violence" since sex in advertising is more about disconnection and distance than connection and closeness. The ad dehumanizes and objectifies women and it fetishizes its product.

This commercial reduces women to mindless robotic subjects of men's fantasy and transforms our wombs into refrigerators.

And, if anyone STILL doesn't think that this stuff as a real, measurable effect on the way we think and feel, think again.

Dumbledore is WHAT?!?!?!?

So, there's a woman in my school program who posted this up on her MySpace blog. She has a better sense of humor than I do, and her tongue-in-cheek writing left me in stitches. I loved it and hope you will too.

My friends, JK Rowling has outed Dumbledore as a flaming homosexual.
:)
In front of a full house of hardcore Potter fans at Carnegie Hall in
New York, Rowling, sitting on the stage on a red velvet and carved wood throne,
read from her seventh and final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," then took questions. One fan asked whether Albus Dumbledore, the head of the famed Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, had ever loved anyone. Rowling smiled. "Dumbledore is gay, actually," replied Rowling as the audience erupted in surprise. She added that, in her mind, Dumbledore had an unrequited love affair with Gellert Grindelwald, Voldemort's predecessor who appears in the seventh book. After several minutes of prolonged shouting and clapping from astonished fans, Rowling added. "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy."

But, really, who didn't know that? The oh-so-mahvelous robes? The weird relationship with Grindewald that no one really understood? Okay, so most people probably didn't pick up on those hints at the time. What is hilarious are the reader's comments on all of these article that always begin with the words (in one form or another) "I'm not homophobic, but..." and then go into detail proving exactly how homophobic they are:

"why did there have to be a gay character at all?"

For that matter, why do we have to have BLACK people in our movies and
books??? Why can't the whole world just be rich, white, republican
assholes who look and think and act EXACTLY like me? OR you can stop being
so terrified of everyone who isn't exactly like you and become an actual, decent
human being! Whichever.

"why did Dumbledore have to be gay, why not some other
[background] character? Now I can never look at him the
same!"

So what you're saying is that you don't mind if people are gay, as
long as you have no interaction or emotional attachment to them? WOW,
that's so progressive and compassionate of you!

"homosexual characters have no place in a children's
book."

In that case, we should ban every story ever written about a prince
rescuing a "helpless" princess and marrying her. Since you seem to have
such a problem with your children knowing anything about families that don't
look like yours, maybe you should just keep them from reading (or watching t.v.)
altogether, we wouldn't want them to, you know, think critically about how
jacked up your morals are.

"this ruins the whole series for me."

Good you bigot. I don't want to think that we have the same
taste in literature. I mean, Seriously? the fact the you found out a
character is gay (after the series was over and said series never made a single
reference to the character's orientation), ruins it for you? remind me
never to come out to your judgemental ass.

Oh, and I especially love this comment:

"umm...i guess i now understand why dumbledore spent so much time
with harry alone in his office.... :/ "

Cuz, you know.... gay = pedophile.

I couldn't resist looking at the comment pages and I found some of my own that are real winners:

"First of all, Dumbledore is a really old guy, and there's no romantic storyline anywhere in the series that involves him. If there were, there probably shouldn't be anyway."

Homophobia AND ageism all rolled into one little package, because, as we all know, old people aren't sexual, or they shouldn't be.

"She doesn't sell enough books without having to include a homosexual? Give us a break!!"

Yeah. You guessed it. She felt obligated to script a gay character for her personal financial gain. Never mind that the revelation came well after she's already made like a gazillion dollars on royalties. Why don't you give ME a break?

"Many Harry Potter readers, not all, but a good many, are too young to grasp the concept of a gay character in a children's series."

I'd love to ask this guy at what age he thinks individuals CAN "grasp the concept of a gay character," or how old he thinks one should be before they are exposed to ignorance. Obviously he knows nothing about emotional, cognitive, or moral development. I could go on, but I won't bother.

"So, what's next? Heidi was molested by her grandfather and Dorothy was doing no-no activity with her dog Toto?"

Yes. Obviously. Because gay men prey on children and lesbians prefer sex with animals.

For People of Difference

Brothers, sisters
of difference,
people of color,
people of poverty,
gay and straight,
black, white, Asian, Hispanic,
jew, Christian, Muslim,
or whoever you are,
hitherto invisible ones,
stand together and
affirm yourselves,
in your difference,
and in your unity.
Do not accept for
one more minute
the insidious forces
that hold you back
by act, word, or tone.
Forge a chain and
break the chains,
you do not stand alone.
And to you beyond the walls,
in mental hospitals,
in prison stalls,
in chairs of steel,
in hospice beds,
in boxes made of cardboard,
or numbered by substances that
eat away at brain and heart,
for you who bear the stigma
of difference
and the judments of all,
join together, make it start!
Do not go silently;
do not withdraw;
do not say "yes sir"
even once more.
Trust what you think
and what you know and feel.
Cry, shout, scream,
find your anger,
dare to dream,
find your strength locked
arm in arm.
Do not go gently or in shame.
You have a legacy of hope,
of courage more than pain.

- Judith A. Lee

Equal Opportunity - Unless You're GLBT

This comes from Human Rights Campaign:

In most states, you can be fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, regardless of your performance or qualifications. HRC has been fighting since 2004 to pass a federal law to end this injustice.

Congressional leaders have decided to push a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that includes sexual orientation, but not gender identity. Tell Congress to support the Baldwin Amendment to ENDA, which would place gender identity back into the bill - and ensure all GLBT people have full employment equality.

This is a historic vote. For the first time ever, the House of Representatives is poised to vote on employment protections for the GLBT community. Help us make sure every member of the GLBT community is included in those protections.

Make sure the Baldwin Amendment passes! Call Congress today at (202) 224-3121, and tell your representative to support the Baldwin Amendment to ENDA.

Then, be sure to send an email to reinforce your call.

We must do this. It is long overdue.

Happy Birthday to MY Dad

I'll bet that when this picture was taken...

You never anticipated we'd take one like this:

I love you, Dad, and I'm so full of thanks for another year.

And the Winner Is...