It's 2006 . . .

Happy New Year!

Passages . . .

I just read a message from a dear friend who just lost her mother and it made me think about just how precious time is and how we shouldn't waste even a moment. It also made me reflect on the last post I made to this blog.

Why should it matter to anyone who we love? Shouldn't the most important thing be that we find and have love in our lives?

And who gives anyone the right to punish someone for liking or loving another person? And worst of all, claim it's based on a "Christian Code of Conduct." It doesn't sound at all Christian to me.

As the New Year approaches I encourage you to tell family members and dear friends that you love them. Reach out to someone you haven't spoken to in awhile.

And, care less about who someone chooses to love and more about wanting them to have someone to share their love with.

How 'Christian' is it to intimidate teenage girls?

Being a teenager is hard enough. Being singled out by the principal for intimidation based on your perceived sexual orientation, and then expelled, is crossing a line.

Gregory Bork, principal of a Lutheran high school in Riverside, Calif., recently called the teenage girls into his office to interrogate them regarding their sexual orientation. Bork later acknowledged that officials had seen no physical contact between the girls but said their friendship was "uncharacteristic of normal girl relationships and more characteristic of a lesbian one."

Bork was able to get one of the girls to say she loved the other, and then promptly expelled them both. He claimed their alleged 'relationship' violated the school's "Christian Code of Conduct."

I question how 'Christian' it is to intimidate two young girls, who may or may not be lesbians, and then to expel them when they even if they might be, they haven't done anything wrong?

Is it wrong for two teenage girls to be close friends? No. Is it wrong for two teenage girls to love each other? No.

Maybe it's time for the school to reexamine its "Christian Code of Conduct." (full story)

Go tell it on the 'Mountain'

'Brokeback' a Box Office Success So Far

By SANDY COHEN,
AP Entertainment Writer
December 29, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Who's afraid of a couple of gay cowboys? Not moviegoers, who helped "Brokeback Mountain" post the highest per-screen average over the film-flush holiday weekend.

The Ang Lee film, which follows the 20-year forbidden romance between two roughneck ranch hands, earned $13,599 per theater, compared with $9,305 for weekend winner "King Kong" and $8,225 for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." (full story)
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Go Tell It on the 'Mountain': A Q&A With Director Ang Lee

by Sandie Angulo Chen

Chinese director Ang Lee admits that a gay love story set in Wyoming couldn't be farther from the adage "film what you know," but that's what made the subject so compelling to the Oscar-nominated auteur behind 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'Sense and Sensibility.' After his brooding take on 'The Hulk' wrapped, Lee remembered Annie Proulx's short story 'Brokeback Mountain' and realized it was exactly what he wanted to tackle next. Despite the fact that homosexuality is such a divisive issue in this country, Lee, his creative partner James Schamus and best-selling screenwriter Larry McMurtry were rarin' to go. The result is a heartbreaking epic about two '60s ranch hands who discover passion one lonely summer while tending sheep. If some audiences aren't ready for cowboy-on-cowboy love (portrayed by definitively hetero sex symbols Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, no less), Lee says it doesn't bother him. Those who are ready will see why this period drama is roping in some of the best reviews of the year. (full story)

Conservative columnist 'tells it like it is'

Beyond the imperial presidency

by Steve Chapman
December 25, 2005

What we have now is not a robust executive but a reckless one. At times like this, it's apparent that Cheney and Bush want more power not because they need it to protect the nation, but because they want more power. Another paradox: In their conduct of the war on terror, they expect our trust, but they can't be bothered to earn it. (full story)

GOP Investigated Pres Clinton's Cat, 'Oversight' on Pres Bush's Admitted Illegal Spying

Compare and contrast:

1995: Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), then chair of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, investigated whether taxpayers were footing the cost of stationery and postage for the fan club dedicated to President Clinton’s cat, Socks. (They were not - and it turns out Barbara Bush’s dog Millie had a fan club too.)

2005: Two weeks ago, President Bush admitted he willfully flouted a law that requires him to get warrants before wiretapping U.S. citizens. His justification for ignoring the law appears to be nobless oblige. In reaction, Republicans in charge of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Friday that they are planning “oversight” hearings into the matter.

The president has admitted he broke the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) hundreds of times. Isn’t it a bit late for “oversight?” (full story)

a message from BAC

Happy Holidays!

Bush can't hide from truth

Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S.

By Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writer
December 23, 2005

The Bush administration requested, and Congress rejected, war-making authority "in the United States" in negotiations over the joint resolution passed days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to an opinion article by former Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) in today's Washington Post.

Daschle's disclosure challenges a central legal argument offered by the White House in defense of the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. It suggests that Congress refused explicitly to grant authority that the Bush administration now asserts is implicit in the resolution.

The Justice Department acknowledged yesterday, in a letter to Congress, that the president's October 2001 eavesdropping order did not comply with "the 'procedures' of" the law that has regulated domestic espionage since 1978. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, established a secret intelligence court and made it a criminal offense to conduct electronic surveillance without a warrant from that court, "except as authorized by statute." (full story)

Un-Patriot Act extended

What were Democrats thinking when they agreed to extend the Patriot Act for six months? Do they really want to have this debate on the eve of what should be a promising mid-term election for them? One would think that by now the Democrats would have learned just how powerful the Republican spin machine is, and that they shouldn't be handed the keys to the car.

Remember, this spin machine made Max Cleland, former U.S. Senator and American war hero (who lost both legs and his right arm when a grenade exploded during his service in Vietnam) look weak on national defense. It made the questionable military record of George Bush look superior to the ACTUAL military service of John Kerry. Imagine what it will do with any Senator who votes against the USA Patriot Act.

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Senate votes to extend Patriot Act Agreement reauthorizes law for 6 months to negotiate safeguards

The Associated Press
Updated: 12:00 a.m. ET Dec. 22, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday passed a six-month extension of the terror-fighting USA Patriot Act as a last resort after Democrats and a small group of GOP senators blocked President Bush and Republican congressional leaders’ attempt to make most of the anti-terrorism law permanent.

Approval of the six-month extension came on a voice vote, and cleared the way for a final vote in the House possibly as early as Thursday. Sixteen provisions in the current law expire Dec. 31 unless the Congress and White House acts. (full story)

Impeach Bush/Cheney Now

Contact your Representative and urge them to being impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. No one in the US should be above the law.

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Judge Resigns in Protest, Newspaper Says

The Associated Press
December 21, 2005

A federal judge has resigned from a special court set up to oversee government surveillance to protest President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program on people with suspected terrorist ties, The Washington Post reported. (full story)

In his own words . . .

"Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order . . . Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so."
George W. Bush, during a speech on the Patriot Act in Buffalo, NY, April 2004

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From Democrats.com

Support new legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers, (D-MI)

H.Res.635 would create a select committee - modeled after Sam Ervin's Watergate committee - to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, and retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.

H.Res.636 and H.Res.637 would censure, respectively, Bush and Cheney for failing to respond to requests for information concerning allegations that they and others in the Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq, misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for the war, countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of persons in Iraq, and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of the Administration, for failing to adequately account for certain misstatements they made regarding the war, and – in the case of President Bush – for failing to comply with Executive Order 12958.

These two efforts are complementary - H.Res.635 seeks accountability for the Bush administration's monumental crimes, while H.Res.636 and H.Res.637 seek accountability for their coverups.

TAKE ACTION
Ask your Congress Member to support these efforts!http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=8329176

Intelligent Design is Religion, Not Science

Judge Rules Against Pa. Biology Curriculum

By MARTHA RAFFAELE, Associated Press Writer
December 20, 2005

In one of the biggest courtroom clashes between faith and evolution since the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, a federal judge barred a Pennsylvania public school district Tuesday from teaching "intelligent design" in biology class, saying the concept is creationism in disguise.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones delivered a stinging attack on the Dover Area School Board, saying its first-in-the-nation decision in October 2004 to insert intelligent design into the science curriculum violated the constitutional separation of church and state.

The ruling was a major setback to the intelligent design movement, which is also waging battles in Georgia and Kansas. Intelligent design holds that living organisms are so complex that they must have been created by some kind of higher force.

Jones decried the "breathtaking inanity" of the Dover policy and accused several board members of lying to conceal their true motive, which he said was to promote religion. (full story)

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For additional information go to Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Bush in Big Trouble

A Time to Impeach

By Doug Ireland, Direland
December 20, 2005

President Bush may find himself in deep trouble after ordering and defending illegal wiretaps of U.S. citizens -- a crime for which Richard Nixon was nearly impeached.

When the U.S. Senate last Friday refused to renew the liberticidal Patriot Act -- with its provisions for spying on Americans' use of libraries and the Internet, among other Constitution-shredding provisions of that iniquitous law -- it was in part because that morning's New York Times had revealed how Bush and his White House had committed a major crime.

By ordering the National Security Agency -- the N.S.A, so secretive that in Washington its initials are said to stand for "No Such Agency" -- to wiretap and eavesdrop on thousands of American citizens without a court order, Bush committed actions specifically forbidden by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Passed in 1978 after the Senate's Church Committee documented in detail the Nixon administration's widespread use of U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on the anti-Vietnam war movement and other political dissidents, FISA "expressly made it a crime for government officials 'acting under color of law' to engage in electronic eavesdropping 'other than pursuant to statute.'", as the director of the Center for National Security Studies, Kate Martin, told the Washington Post this past weekend. (full story)

Good Grief

'Tis the Season to Be Wary: Christmas Wars are About Power, Not Christ

by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst

"Conservative Christian groups are boycotting stores
that fail to mention 'Christmas' in their holiday greetings
or advertising campaigns. Schools are being pressured
to refer to the December vacation as 'Christmas break.'
Even the White House came under attack this week for
sending out cards with best wishes for the 'holiday season.'
When the office of Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia sent out
a press release last Friday announcing plans for a 'holiday
tree' lighting, a half-hour later it sent out another saying,
'It is in fact a Christmas tree.'"
"When Christmas Falls on Sunday, Megachurches Take the Day off,
New York Times, 12/9/05

In the old days, cheerily saying "Happy Holidays" wouldn't get you into trouble. But today the ears of seething "Christian" warriors are cocked for that traditional greeting of goodwill, which they consider an anti-Christian affront. And they moment they hear those two little words, they're ready to go on the attack. (full story)

Who is Shopping at Wal-Mart?

Feminist groups have been protesting at Wal-Mart stores nationwide for more than three years over the corporation's discriminatory practices toward women workers.

Now we hear that conservative religious right activists are also protesting the company, upset that Wal-Mart wishes people a "Happy Holiday" instead of "Merry Christmas."

So the question to ask is: "Who is shopping at Wal-Mart?"
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Seacoast residents say Wal-Mart should change practices
NOW says retail giant violates rights of women

By HIROKO SATO
Democrat Staff Writer

NEWINGTON (NH) — A group of local residents joined thousands of women across the country on Saturday in an attempt to make the national retail giant Wal-Mart change the way it operates the business.

For its part, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman challenged many of the "facts" used by the protesters to criticize the nation’s top retailer.

"Workers rights, we defend! Sweatshop labor has to end!" chanted members of the Seacoast Chapter of the National Organization for Women on Saturday while picketing outside the local Wal-Mart store on Woodbury Avenue. (full story)

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Group Fights Wal-Mart on 'Happy Holidays'

By TOM CHORNEAU, AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Dec. 18) - A group of religious protesters demonstrated outside a Wal-Mart superstore Saturday, hoping to turn away customers by calling attention to the retailer's decision to use "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" in its seasonal advertising. (full story)

Enough said ...

o

More Evidence Why Bush Should be Impeached

Bush Lets Government Spy on Callers Without Warrants

By JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU, The New York Times

WASHINGTON (Dec. 16) - Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials. (full story)

Madam President?

It's well past time for a woman president, and 2008 could be the year! Political pundits love to talk about a Hillary v Condi match up. In this political climate, anything is possible!

For Hillary Clinton, Six Years Make a Difference

By MARC HUMBERT, AP

ALBANY, N.Y. (Dec. 15) - What a difference six years make.

In 1999, Hillary Rodham Clinton was skewered as a carpetbagger from Illinois and Arkansas who would get her comeuppance at the hands of the mayor of New York City. Today, she appears to be coasting to a 2006 Senate re-election victory that could set her up for a White House run two years later.

"It's the difference between night and day," said Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson. "It's the difference between being a sitting first lady running in a state she had never lived in, to being a successful senator representing New York."

Independent polls show Clinton with solid approval ratings and far ahead of the potential Republican competition. She also has a ton of money in the bank - about $14 million as of the end of September and still counting. On Tuesday, she and her famous husband hosted 900 people at $500 a plate in New York City. (full story)

From Yikes to Yipeeeeee!

If you've ever had renovations done on your home you will appreciate that the construction at mine is finally over!! It's been nearly five months of dust and mess ... but no more! After two days of cleaning, I can finally see my hardwood floors once again! And just in time for the holidays!

Oppose Cruel Immigration Bill

Take Action Against Cruel Anti-Immigrant Bill that Threatens Millions: Vote may occur any day!

The U.S. House of Representatives votes this week on a Republican-backed bill that would make it a felony to be an undocumented worker and gut the due process rights of legal immigrants and U.S. citizens.

On Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005, the House Judiciary Committee passed along strict party lines the measure by Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.). This GOP-sponsored bill, H.R. 4437, would among other things make the crime of being here illegally an "aggravated felony," meaning the entire undocumented population, including 1.6 million children, would be permanently barred from the U.S.

Extreme provisions buried in the bill would target legal immigrants, citizens and those applying for citizenship--taking away basic rights like a day in court and a meaningful defense.

H.R. 4437 subverts America's most deeply held values, including a day in court, checks and balances, and freedom from unjust and arbitrary detention. Instead of fixing our broken immigration system, this bill will make matters worse by turning millions of decent, hard-working people into criminals, driving them further underground and pushing more workers into the black market of smugglers and criminals.

What we need is a system allowing people already here to earn the right to stay by continuing to perform work crucial to the U.S. economy, reforms such as the bipartisan, broadly supported AgJobs bill, cosponsored by both Democrats and Republicans.

The cruel and extremist Sensenbrenner bill is headed for a vote by the entire House this week.

Your House representative needs to hear from you about why this bad bill should not pass. Instead, he or she should support comprehensive immigration reform such as the AgJobs bill (H.R. 884).

TAKE ACTION
Please call and e-mail your U.S. Representative. Ask him or her to vote against this bill.

Ann Coulter nude

Not something of interest to me, but it seems to be of interest to at least some "family values" conservatives. Read the full story on Blogenlust.

In Memoriam

Former Senator Dies at 89 in His Sleep

Presidential Candidate Opposed Vietnam, Challenged LBJ

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, AP

WASHINGTON (Dec. 10) - Former Minnesota Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy, whose insurgent campaign toppled a sitting president in 1968 and forced the Democratic Party to take seriously his message against the Vietnam War, died Saturday. He was 89. (full story)

Actor-Comedian Dies at 65 of Heart Attack
'He Did Not Suffer, He Went Quickly,' Pryor's Wife Says

By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, AP

LOS ANGELES (Dec. 10) - Richard Pryor, the groundbreaking comedian whose profanely personal insights into race relations and modern life made him one of Hollywood's biggest stars, died of a heart attack. He was 65. (full story)

Can Mommy Know Best?

by Maureen Dowd
The New York Times
December 10, 2005

Can the network nightly news anchor evolve from the Daddy chair to the Mommy chair?

Will Americans ever trust a petite, pretty woman in jewel tones to deliver the news as much as they trusted tall men with dark suits and deep voices, like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw? Can high heels match the venerable trench coat?

The network news anchor career path is laden with the same sort of gender tripwires as the one for the presidency. Who do we want to lead us through a crisis?

"Does Mommy know best?" a longtime TV industry analyst mused. "If there's a gigantically frightening news event, people want to turn on the TV and see someone guiding them through it. Will they be comfortable with Elizabeth Vargas or even Katie Couric?"

Last summer, when ABC needed a replacement for Peter Jennings, I asked a top network executive whether the 43-year-old Ms. Vargas had a shot to be the first woman to get a solo network anchor gig. Shouldn't that barrier have been broken long ago? I mean, women can read off a teleprompter as well as men. (full story)

What's Next ... Reactivating WWII Vets?

Medford single mother called back to active duty in Iraq

BY MARTIN C. EVANS
STAFF WRITER
December 8, 2005

While most of her friends and neighbors are amusing themselves with Christmas decorations and holiday gifts, Patricia Arndt is fretting over far more serious matters.

The single mother from Medford has been unexpectedly pulled from the inactive Army reserve and ordered to report for active duty by Feb. 5.

As Christmas nears, Arndt, 43, is trying to sell the Medford home she says she will not be able to keep on an Army salary of approximately $60,000 a year, and is searching for someone to care for her 13-year-old son, Shane. She expects to train for an 18-month tour of duty that could take her to Iraq or Afghanistan.

She said she never saw her return to active duty as a possibility. "Never in a million years," she said.

"This is a very hard thing for me," she said. "I absolutely love my country. I feel I owe it to the Army and my fellow soldiers, because I wouldn't be here without them.

"If I were a reservist assigned to a unit, I'd have been trained and informed of the possibility that I would be called. I'm not prepared for this."

U.S. Army officials said Arndt is not being treated unfairly. (full story)

Rummy exit could give Dems a chance to replace Liberman with a Democrat!

Rummy exit expected; Lieberman eyed for job

BY THOMAS M. DEFRANK and KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON - White House officials are telling associates they expect Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to quit early next year, once a new government is formed in Iraq, sources said yesterday.

Rumsfeld's deputy, Gordon England, is the inside contender to replace him, but there's also speculation that Sen. Joe Lieberman - a Democrat who ran against Bush-Cheney in the 2000 election - might become top guy at the Pentagon.

That's not as farfetched as it might first appear.

The Daily News has learned that the White House considered Lieberman for the UN ambassador's job last year before giving the post to John Bolton, a Bush adviser said.

"He thought about it for a week or so and finally said no," the adviser recalled. (full story)

Happy Holiday!

o

Support a Daily Kos Intelligent (Design) Fundraiser

(UPDATED!) Thugs beat up evolution supporter - We're fighting back.

by HollywoodOz
Mon Dec 05, 2005 at 09:12:05 PM PDT

As you've probably seen on the top of the recommended diary list, today a pair of 'Christians' stalked and attacked Professor Paul Mirecki, the Chair of Kansas University's Department of Religious Studies. He currently sits in hospital recovering from his savage beating. [UPDATE: He's since been released from hospital and is doing fine]

Why did they attack him? Because he's running a class about how intelligent design is scientific quackery.

I'm sure the media will downplay the attack as just being a pair of lone lunatics, but let's not fall for that - this is a terrorist act as defined by the Patriot Act, not to mention a hate crime. Quite frankly, I'm not going to stand for it. So I'm fighting back, and you can too. Here's how:

HollywoodOz's diary :: ::

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have been part of the pushback against Intelligent Design, and though I'm sure other groups are just as deserving, I'm choosing them to be the recipients of a donation drive in Paul Mirecki's name.

The goal? Let's raise $5,000 tonight in donations coming from the Daily Kos. (full story)

Judge Upholds Money Laundering Charges against DeLay

Reuters
December 5, 2005

Houston - A Texas judge dismissed part of a criminal indictment against US Rep. Tom DeLay on Monday, but upheld other charges that will put the powerful Republican lawmaker on trial for money laundering.

Texas District Judge Pat Priest dismissed conspiracy charges against DeLay and two co-defendants, saying the actions were not a crime at the time DeLay was charged with violating them.

But Priest upheld the money laundering charges against DeLay, who was forced to step down as House Majority Leader in September when he was first indicted for his role in the Texas campaign financing controversy. (full story)

Is George Bush the Worst President -- Ever?

By Richard Reeves
Dec 2, 2005

... [President James] Buchanan set the standard, a tough record to beat. But there are serious people who believe that George W. Bush will prove to do that, be worse than Buchanan. I have talked with three significant historians in the past few months who would not say it in public, but who are saying privately that Bush will be remembered as the worst of the presidents. (full story)

Is Bush Looking for Trouble?

From BuzzFlash.com: "Bush Message to Terrorists: "It's Okay to Bring Cutting Tools and Sharp Objects Aboard Planes Again. Karl Told Me Another Terrorist Hijacking is About the Only Thing That Can Bring Me Out of the Gutter in the Polls." Okay, if this sounds outrageous to you, do you feel safer flying now? And why under any logic would the Busheviks allow the same potential weapons back on planes that were used to hijack the planes on 9/11? The airline union opposes the new terrorist enabling rule, as do relatives of the 9-11 victims, and anyone flying concerned about their life should oppose them. This is a death warrant!"

__________________________________

Sharp objects okay to fly with

Air travelers can carry objects like small scissors but expect more thorough pat-downs as security officers go after bombs.

By Associated Press

December 3, 2005

WASHINGTON - Airline passengers soon will be allowed to carry small scissors and some sharp tools onto planes, but there will be a trade-off: the prospect of more thorough pat-downs and other extra security checks before they get to the gate.

The changes announced Friday by Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley go into effect Dec. 22 and are aimed at catching terrorists carrying explosives, which the agency considers a greater threat than dangerous objects smuggled into an airplane cabin.

Flight attendants and relatives of some Sept. 11 attack victims strongly oppose the change, saying it will make airliners more vulnerable to terrorist attack. (full story)

BushWorld

o

Holy War Batman ... Bush might be in trouble with Falwell

Have President Bush, First Lady And Republican National Committee Joined 'War On Christmas'?

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Americans United for Separation of Church and State Asks Jerry Falwell Why He Hasn't Objected To White House's Holiday Greetings