Why 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is so stupid

Is 'community theater' some kind of code?

from The Carpetbagger Report

Just to update an item from last week, the AP reported that the Army interrogated Bleu Copas, a decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist, about being gay before ultimately forcing him out of the military. As part of the questioning, Army officials asked Copas if he understood the military's policy on homosexuals, if he had any close acquaintances who were gay, and if he was "involved in community theater."

Some commenters understandably paused on the last one. Did the Army really ask that? Does the Army really consider involvement in community theater to be reserved for gays? Justin Rood contacted Copas directly and got the whole story. Apparently, officials really did ask the question, but there may have been a reason.

"The informant, whoever he was, had a conversation with me on an internet chat room, and I mentioned involvement in community theater — I had rehearsal, or something," Copas explained.

So did the investigator ask the question in order to identify you as the person with whom this anonymous informant had chatted? Or because community theater involvement was evidence of homosexual tendencies?

"I think a little of both," said Copas, "but I would just be guessing."

For what it's worth, now that Copas' military career has been cut short, he's joined a new community theater project, in which he'll play the lead in "Bye Bye Birdie." He could be translating sensitive Arabic communiqués right now, but the Army apparently believes this is a better use of Copas' time.

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Donate to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

Bush base eroding?

Evangelicals Disowning Conservative Politics?

Today's New York Times has a story about an evanglical pastor who has disowned conservative politics.

There are a lot more evangelical pastors doing this than most people realize.

from Mainstream Baptist

Sunday Funnies

Republican Says We Need a Dem Congress

from SeeingTheForest.com
July 27, 2006

The following is a letter from former Republican Congressman

and Presidential candidate Pete McCloskey.

The Need for a Democrat majority in the US House of Representatives in 2007

I have found it difficult in the past several weeks to reach a conclusion as to what a citizen should do with respect to this fall's forthcoming congressional elections. I am a Republican, intend to remain a Republican, and am descended from three generations of California Republicans, active in Merced and San Bernardino Counties as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have just engaged in an unsuccessful effort to defeat the Republican Chairman of the House Resources Committee, Richard Pombo, in the 11th Congressional District Republican primary, obtaining just over 32% of the Republican vote against Pombo's 62%.

The observation of Mr. Pombo's political consultant, Wayne Johnson, that I have been mired in the obsolete values of the 1970s, honesty, good ethics and balanced budgets, all rejected by today's modern Republicans, is only too accurate.

It has been difficult, nevertheless, to conclude as I have, that the Republican House leadership has been so unalterably corrupted by power and money that reasonable Republicans should support Democrats against DeLay-type Republican incumbents in 2006. Let me try to explain why. (full story)

It's time ...

0

PHOTOS!!!!

I finally got a hold of a digital camera. I have to thank my great friend Niki and her husband Ian for the loan. They're the best!

My first post has to be this picture of Niblet doing his best Cinnamon imitation, with extreme disapproval.

Well . . . he doesn't quite have it down, sad to say. Try as he might, he's just not that good at disapproving, especially when there's a carrot to be eaten.

Perhaps I should've snapped him while I'm brushing him or trying to pick him up--he hates that!



I also have a pic of my backyard--the view of the marsh from my driveway. You can see my garden to the left, and the adirondack chairs where we sit and watch birds and stuff. And yes, that's a still-working two-seater outhouse back there--what a perk that was when we were first looking at this property! Geniune curb appeal.

No bird pics yet, unfortunately--still waiting for some new lenses. But the eyepiece mount is pretty much ready to go; I just need that 8mm eyepiece set. Then I'll mount everything into my homemade scope and get busy! I'll be sure to post even my clumsiest first efforts here, to capture the magic.

This weekend we're going to New York City--my first real trip there. We drove through Times Square once on the way to Boston to see Fred Francis, and all I could think was, "there are people walking around, talking on cellphones at 3 a.m.? Who the heck are they talking to? If they called me, I'd hang up on them!"

Fred's bird story

Be sure to check out my friend Fred Francis's new short story, Birds: http://pancakesdunst.blogspot.com/2006/07/birds.html

He's a great photographer of cityscapes and city people, and he's been my friend for a long time, back since I was in publishing. I was once the managing editor and sometime-gardening editor at a small non-fiction trade publishing company, Taylor Trade Publishing in Dallas. But they were sold to Rowman & Littlefield, and the staff was not retained, to use a euphemistic phrase.

Otherwise, I'd still be in Dallas right now. It boggles the mind.

Bass finally N Sync

Coming out is a very personal decision, or at least it should be. That doesn't always seem to be the case for the rich and famous. The good news for Lance Bass is that he can finally be his authentic self. Go Lance!
---------------------------------------------

Lance Bass of `N Sync Reveals He's Gay

By Associated Press
July 26, 2006

NEW YORK - Lance Bass, band member of 'N Sync, says he's gay and in a "very stable" relationship with a reality show star. Bass, who formed 'N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn't earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn't want to affect the group's popularity.

"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," he tells the magazine. (full story)

A no-brainier

This should have been a no-brainier for the first jury. Andrea Yates is clearly mentally unstable. She may never be well enough to rejoin society, but she should not be in prison. Yates has been in her own private prison, now it's time she received the help she so desperately needed years ago.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Jury Finds Yates Not Guilty in Drownings

By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer
July 26, 2006

HOUSTON - Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday in her second murder trial for the bathtub drownings of her young children.

Yates, 42, will now be committed to a state mental hospital, with periodic hearings before a judge to determine whether she should be released. An earlier jury had found her guilty of murder, but the verdict was overturned on appeal.

The defense never disputed that Yates drowned her five children one by one in the bathtub of their Houston-area home. But they said she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and, in a delusional state, believed Satan was inside her and was trying to save them from hell.

Yates stared wide-eyed in court Wednesday as the verdict was read. She then bowed her head and wept quietly.

The children's father said the jury had reached the right conclusion. (full story)

It's a hard-knock life for us, it's a hard-knock life for us! --Annie

First off, the good news: I'm getting my grubby little paws on a friend's digital camera tomorrow. Prepare for some rather amateurish photos of flowers, trees, my garden, the marsh, and the bunny and the kitties!

Now—to the hard knocks.

It seems one can learn a lot by trial and error. In my case, mostly by error. I finally began corresponding with "astronomy boy" Jeff DeTray, and he cleared up some important little details for me regarding such things as focal length (FL), scope tube length, and optics. As a result, I'm having to rethink this whole scope project.

But don't despair! With just a few adjustments, a couple of purchases, and some tape and stuff, I should be on my way!

Let's go through the illusions shattered:

1. If I use my 26mm FL eyepiece and the 800mm FL objective lens, my scope will have be almost 32 inches long. Not exactly what I had in mind for a portable, user-friendly scope. Granted, the power would be 30X, but it's just not practical.

2. If I use the 26mm FL eyepiece with the 200mm FL objective, my scope will only have about 7X power. That's barely enough to read the spines of the books on my bookshelf from my couch. BUT the scope would only be about 8 inches long! Hey—bright side, people, bright side.

Jeff went on to tell me that spotting scopes work with short-FL eyepieces and objectives with FL of 350 to 500mm, hence, their shorter tube length as well.

Thus, my new plan:

1. Order a new eyepiece—there's a two-element RKE eyepiece set with a FL of 8mm. Back to the Surplus Shed web site. Only $3.50.

2. Pair the 8mm FL eyepiece with the 200mm FL objective lens, in a tube that will be about 8 inches long. (200mm = 7.87 inches) Portability with 25X magnification. Not too bad.

3. Buy a 45-degree image-erecting diagonal. I was going to just look at things upside-down and backwards, but when I made a low-power experimental prototype last night, I discovered it's much harder to use than I thought it would be. I figured I could just adjust my brain like you do when you're brushing your hair in the mirror, but it just makes it really hard to sight things through the scope. I have enough problems just by accident without inventing more of them for myself.

For the prism, I have a couple of options.

a. The semi-expensive option: I could buy a 45-degree diagonal from Orion for $40. It would be easy to mount on the end of the tube then just attach my eyepiece and I'm good to go.

b. The cheaper option: Buy a prism, make a mounting for it, and then attach it somehow to the tube. I'm tempted by my desire to keep things as low-priced as possible; however, will it end up being a big mess like the rest of this project has been? Should I just bite the bullet and spend the $40 and get the pre-mounted thing? Or should I retain my pioneer spirit, my can-do attitude, and buy the prism and make a mounting out of god-knows-what—puka shells? How would I know? What do I know about mounting prisms?

What to do, what to do. I suppose I should just buy the mounted diagonal. It would make putting the scope together easier.

. . . what would Galileo do?

Bush No-Free-Speech Zone

Arrested Bush dissenters eye courts

By TODD DVORAK, Associated Press Writer
July 22, 2006

When school was canceled to accommodate a campaign visit by President Bush, the two 55-year-old teachers reckoned the time was ripe to voice their simmering discontent with the administration's policies.

Christine Nelson showed up at the Cedar Rapids rally with a Kerry-Edwards button pinned on her T-shirt; Alice McCabe clutched a small, paper sign stating "No More War." What could be more American, they thought, than mixing a little dissent with the bunting and buzz of a get-out-the-vote rally headlined by the president?

Their reward: a pair of handcuffs and a strip search at the county jail.

Authorities say they were arrested because they refused to obey reasonable security restrictions, but the women disagree: "Because I had a dissenting opinion, they did what they needed to do to get me out of the way," said Nelson, who teaches history and government at one of this city's middle schools.

"I tell my students all the time about how people came to this country for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, that those rights and others are sacred. And all along I've been thinking to myself, 'not at least during this administration.'"

Their experience is hardly unique. (full story)

-----------------------------------
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:

The Carpetbagger Report
The Bubble Lives

Bush Violates Constitution . . . Is Anyone Surprised?

Lawyers Decry Bush's Legal Interpretations

By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
July 24, 2006

WASHINGTON - President Bush's penchant for writing exceptions to laws he has just signed violates the Constitution, an American Bar Association task force says in a report highly critical of the practice.

The ABA group, which includes a one-time FBI director and former federal appeals court judge, said the president has overstepped his authority in attaching challenges to hundreds of new laws.

The attachments, known as bill-signing statements, say Bush reserves a right to revise, interpret or disregard measures on national security and constitutional grounds.

"This report raises serious concerns crucial to the survival of our democracy," said the ABA's president, Michael Greco. "If left unchecked, the president's practice does grave harm to the separation of powers doctrine, and the system of checks and balances that have sustained our democracy for more than two centuries." (full story)

When Animals Attack!

While tending to my tomatoes in my garden yesterday, I suddenly felt a rather insistent and somewhat painful poking on my lower back (right where my left kidney is). Mind you, no one – neither Kat nor Em – was home, so I pretty much jumped out of my skin and wheeled around, only to find a gray catbird had just flown up onto the fence beside me. The little guy pecked me! He then sat on the fence, not a foot from my face, staring at me! Then he flew into the tamarack next to the garden and kept on staring. This whole time, I was still pretty freaked out at the sudden scare, and I just kept saying, "He pecked me! He pecked me!" like the little girl in the movie version of Jurassic Park saying, "He left us! He left us!"

He really scared the livin' doo-doo out me. I've seen mockingbirds taunting and pecking at cats before, but I must say I've never been pecked by a bird. Why did he peck me? What did it mean? I've been gardening in that same spot for two years now. I was just wearing a white t-shirt and shorts – did the color attract him? Help! I'm a little traumatized.

Is Politics Making Us Sick?

Survey Finds FDA Scientists Asked to Lie about Results to Promote Agendas. Maybe Stem Cell Funding Wouldn't Have Helped Anyway

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
July 21,2006

A report issued yesterday by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) found that many FDA scientists are asked to lie about their work and to inappropriately alter their research. Pressure often comes from political appointees or commercial interests.The study was based on 997 survey responses from workers, most of whom are in senior positions.

In addition to integrity concerns, several scientists also complained about the agency's inability to meet its responsibilities and about worker conditions in general. "The focus should truly be on protecting public health instead of catering to the interest of industry… FDA leadership should let FDA scientists do the jobs they were hired to do," one scientist wrote.

"Science must be the driving force for decisions made at the FDA. These disturbing survey results make it clear that inappropriate interference is putting people in harm's way," said Dr. Francesca Grifo, Senior Scientist and Director of UCS's Scientific Integrity Program. "FDA leaders should act now to improve transparency and accountability and renew respect for independent science at the agency."

In response to the study, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote a letter today to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt urging action to address the problem. "Steps must be taken to halt inappropriate political intrusion into FDA decision making and reverse the decline in FDA's morale and effectiveness," Waxman said.

Highlights from the study:

• 18% were asked to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or conclusions for non-scientific reasons
  
• 61% knew of cases when political appointees inappropriately injected themselves into FDA determinations
  
• 60% knew of cases where commercial interests intervened or attempted to inappropriately intervene
  
• 20% were asked to provide misleading information to the public, media, or government officials
  
• 40% can't publicly express concerns without fear of retaliation

Click here to read a summary of the report

Bush cares more about taking lives than saving lives

Hind sight is always 20/20, and downright frightening when applied to George W. Bush. As "Governor" Bush was known as the "Texecutioner." A record number of people were executed under his watch.

As "President" Bush the number of lives lost under his watch -- from war, torture, national disaster, and now politics -- is staggering. And for what? To score political points with his conservative Religious Right base.

Bush could have saved or greatly improved the quality of life for millions of people by simply signing the Castle-DeGette Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. For political reasons he chose not to.

There is something terribly wrong when a President exercises his veto power for the first time to block a measure that could improve or save millions of American lives.

There is something terribly wrong when a President will pander to the wishes of a radical fringe group instead of looking out for the best interests of ALL Americans.

There is something terribly wrong when a bill passes the U.S. House and Senate with broad bi-partisan support; is supported by more than 70 percent of the population; has the potential to unlock the doors to treatments and cures to numerous diseases -- including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and spinal cord injuries -- but is vetoed because President Bush considers his right-wing political beliefs to be more important than the health and well-being of our nation's citizens and future generations.

To quote Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL):

"Bush's extremism has destroyed the hopes of millions of Americans."

It's time for a change, and the mid-term elections can't happen too soon!

Life without birds

When I was a kid growing up on the Gulf Coast, I remember what the atmosphere and the weather would be like as a hurricane approached. Cloud cover would envelop the sky, and a strange quiet would settle on us. I supposed the birds and beasts all knew what was coming, and they'd already made their way to shelter in the face of the approaching storm. I never got to experience a direct hit, complete with eye of calm, that I can recall, but those hours just before the storm hit were as calm and quiet as a tomb--and it was like being in a weird dream. The sky was a weird color, and everything glowed in this surreal way, and there were no birds singing. Freaky.

I guess that's what a life without birds would be--like a tomb. I can't imagine going outside in the backyard now and not hearing my birdy friends calling and singing to one another. Sometimes the noise of all the birds is almost deafening; you can feel your eardrums vibrating with the overwhelming high-pitched sounds.

Life without birds would, in a word, suck. Let's hope we never have to live such a life.

Commander in Sleaze Bush Gropes German Chancellor

from Tennessee Guerilla Women

Bush Takes Liberties with Chancellor Merkel





















"George W. Bush comes into the hall ... Merkel converses with her desk neighbour, not noticing Bush approaching from the rear ... The US president suddenly puts both hands on Merkel's shoulders ... begins his Texan Massage..."

What is wrong with this fucking retard? Why is the beast boy laying his hands on Chancellor Merkel?

And you thought male privilege was oppressive. Try Presidential Privilege.

So much for Chancellor Merkel. Turns out she's just a girl like the rest of us.

She's not really a world leader, she's his girl, she's his mommy.

She's a sexual being. She serves at The President's Pleasure.

He's the Boy King. He's the Male Intrusion. So what if his invasive paws aren't invited? He's fucking entitled.

Already I can hear the rightwingers. She likes it. She's asking for it. They have a special relationship. He gazed into her eyes. He didn't mean anything by it. He's entitled.

What fucking bubble was this fucking retard raised in?

DocStrangeLove has more, bigger, and creepier photos. Look at the discomfort on the men's faces. Americablog and Daily Kos have discussions. Here's a video, German captions, and German headlines with exclamation marks!

On a related note, see: Video: Boy King Wipes Glasses on Woman's Shaw.

James Gerstenzang, staff writer at the L.A. Times disagrees:

"It's safe to say the former chancellor never got the treatment Merkel received from the president.

Entering the meeting room, as relayed by a Russian television camera, Bush headed directly behind the chancellor, reached out and, placing both hands on the collar of her gold jacket, gave her a short massage just below the neck.

She smiled."

Cuz she fucking likes it!

What They're Saying:
She likes it.
Bush and Merkel are famously friendly with each other.
Bush - a hands-on guy!
Bush Gives Merkel Affectionate Squeeze
Well, They Wanted Another Clinton...

Both Joe and I were touched inappropriately by President Bush.
WTF is wrong with him?
What women want
The Idealistic Pragmatist quotes an editorial in the Märkische Allgemeine: While his fellow leaders were sitting at the table at the opening meeting, he came and caressed Angie's shoulders. She reacted as if it had been a natural disaster.
Wandering Hands
Roving Hands
Bush gropes Chancellor Merkel
Bush Gropes Germany's Merkel
Bush attempts to assert quasi-sexualized dominance over an international leader.

Back to the Birds--and Why

All this talk about lenses and such--I realized I haven't entered much bird-focused info lately. Honestly, it's been so freakin' hot up here that I haven't spent too much time outside. I did see a group of goldfinches playing around the yard night before last. They were chasing each other, singing and flying; it was sweet. It's amazing how just watching a bird--any bird--can lift my heart out of whatever doldrums it's in, or put the finishing touches on a magic moment. That's why I bird.

I blog because it keeps my mind focused on the task at hand; seems like the last few years, I've let too many days slip by me without my giving them their proper attention. If the unexamined life is indeed not worth living, then the examined and blogged-about life must be worth something. Blogging certainly fulfills a need I have to record my crazy little thoughts and share my observations. Even when my family is too busy to listen, the blog always has its ear open.

I blog about birds because it gives me joy. The first thing I do in the morning when I get to work is check out all my favorite bird blogs--Sharon Stiteler's Birdchick blog, Julie Zickefoose, Bill of the Birds, the Stokeses, and more. It makes my day start off on a good note. When I add to my humble little bird blog, I feel like I'm a part of a great community of great birders. And that's a good feeling to have first thing in the morning.

Hail to Astronomy Boy!

After some googling and fiddling around, I found a site http://www.astronomyboy.com/ that absolutely rocks. With instructions from his site, I was able to put together the three elements of my eyepiece, and I've started work on a wooden housing for it using his detailed instructions. Lucky for me, my other obsession is woodworking, so I figure I'll be able to do a bang-up job on the housing!

In the course of my research, I also discovered that my 50mm, 200mm fl objective lens will only give me about 8x magnification when paired with my 26mm fl eyepiece. I've decided to return the objective and purchase a slightly more expensive, compound objective lens that comes pre-mounted. The power on this baby is awesome. Here's the descrip from Surplus Shed: "Coated air spaced glass doublet objective lens, 70mm clear diameter by 800mm focal length. Plastic mount with threaded end. Mount is 74mm diameter. Threaded end is 70mm diameter."

Yeah, baby. I'll get a magnification of over 30x with this, PLUS a bigger field of view, which equals more light, which equals a better monocular! (at least, that's what my research so far indicates). As I've always been a "more is better" kind of person ("if two teaspoons of cough syrup will help me, then two TABLESPOONS will REALLY help!"), I figure this lens is definitely better. A little more pricey--$19--but I've also decided that maybe the PVC pipe idea is a little too complicated for me. I've discovered a source for FREE thick, hard cardboard cylinder of various sizes, and I'm going that route, at least for now. That keeps my total cost under $30, which was my original goal.

So--I'm returning the single 50mm lens today and ordering the big-daddy lens! Woo-hoo! Digiscoping, here I come!

Good News in Georgia - Ralph Reed Out

Ralph Reed concedes defeat

By Jim Galloway Tuesday, July 18, 2006, 10:02 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed conceded defeat about 9:50 p.m. in Georgia’s Republican primary for lieutenant governor.

“Tonight my candidacy for lieutenant governor comes to an end,” he said.

He promised to work for the GOP ticket, including Sen. Casey Cagle (R-Gainesville), his rival in the lieutenant governor’s race.

Reed conceded at 9:48 p.m., speaking to a crowd that cheered for the first time all night.

With him was his wife, Jo Anne, and their four children.

“Today, Jo Anne and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. It was an important reminder of what’s really important.

“Stay in the fight, don’t retreat, and our values will win in November,” he said.

Reed left quickly but stopped to say he was proud of the race he ran.

“I’m not focused on being a candidate in the future, but I’m glad I ran,” he said.

With 43 percent of precincts reporting, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office showed Cagle with 55.2 percent of the vote, compared with 44.8 percent for Reed.

Why MI Gov. Jennifer Granholm Needs Our Help

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm appears to be struggling under the weight of a failed Bush economic policy, and the wealth of religious right extremist Amway heir Dick DeVos.
The latest Detroit Free Press poll shows Granholm (D) trailing DeVos (R), 47% to 42%.

They blame President George W. Bush far more for the state's lagging economy than Gov. Jennifer Granholm, but Michigan voters aren't ready to re-elect her to a second term, a Free Press-Local 4 Michigan Poll shows.

Michiganders blame Bush at almost twice the rate of Granholm for Michigan's economic problems, but their harsh feelings toward Bush, a Republican, don't transfer to fellow Republican DeVos.

There is one possible explanation for Granholm's troubles ... the $7 million DeVos has spent on a TV and radio ad campaign, in what the Free Press calls "... an unprecedented blitz that began in February."

Granholm has not aired any media ads of her own, and the Michigan Democratic Party has aired only about $1.5 million in TV ads on her behalf.

It's time for progressives to dig deep into their pockets and help: Contribute to Granholm for Governor

Bush, Brownback and why blogs are so valuable

One of my favorite blogs is TheCarpetbaggerReport.com. It's a good source for real news analysis, and it happens to be run by a friend. There are two posts on the site tonight that I would like to encourage everyone to read.

The first is The Carpetbagger Report's take on the coverage by mainstream media of George W. Bush's use of the "s-word." As The Carpetbagger Report suggests, the mainstream media has completely missed the point.

Right now, the lead political AP item is, "Bush utters expletive on Hezbollah attacks." The top headline on CNN is, "Open mic catches Bush expletive on Mideast." The Washington Post's story mentions in its second sentence that a live microphone caught Bush "talking in tough, occasionally profane terms."

I can appreciate that it's interesting -- or at a minimum, unusual -- to hear the president use the "s-word" during a private chat with Tony Blair, but like Ezra, I think the media's preoccupation with Bush's potty mouth is rather silly.

As Carpetbagger points out, what we should be hearing from mainstream media is:

Bush's unplugged moment today included some of the most surprisingly newsworthy remarks from the president in a very long time. We got a glimpse into how the British Prime Minister is pressing Bush on the Middle East. We heard a little about how the president would like to see the crisis resolved. We learned that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might be traveling to the region, presumably to apply diplomatic pressure and invest the U.S. in the crisis.

And for fun Carpetbagger included:

And for those interested in Bush's persona, we learned that Bush is perhaps even more unsophisticated and clumsy in private than his fiercest critics had feared.

The media entry is followed by a report about how Sen. Sam Brownback has stooped to a new low in trying to frighten people into believing embryonic stem cells "form tumors."

I can appreciate the fact that the science behind stem-cell research is extremely complicated for those of us without a scientific background. But I feel pretty confident in saying that one need not be a medical researcher to know the difference between a legitimate argument and a blatant scare tactic.

Carpetbagger closes by saying:

Now, I'm not a scientist and Brownback isn't a scientist. And if Brownback wants to argue that an embryo is a full-fledged human with the same rights as you and I, and that in-vitro fertilization is a moral wrong that should be banned, he's free to make that case. There's a certain logical consistency to it, even if I believe it's completely wrong.

But to believe Brownback is to believe that the world's finest scientists and medical researchers want to give people tumors. If this is the best Brownback can come up with, it's no wonder the far-right is losing this debate

The strange tie that binds these two stories together is word that should the Senate vote to allow embryonic stem cell research, Bush has threatened a presidential veto of the bill. What a sad commentary it will be if Bush uses his first veto to prevent scientific research that could vastly improve or save lives.

Lenses--check (part two)! Confusion: Double check!

I finally got my lenses from Surplus Shed. Some surprises, lots of confusion. I thought the eyepiece set would be all in a little metal thingie, but it's just three pieces of glass all loose! So I have no freaking clue what to do with that. Plus the three lenses are labeled "eyepiece" (okay), "middle" (uh--middle of what?), and "field" (uh---huh?). So I'm confused--are these three pieces supposed to go together? So I read the little letter that came with them, and it has some "tips" for mounting--one of which says to place the three pieces "as close together as possible" and then wrap masking tape around them. ?? The lenses are convex--how can you put them together in any stable way? Very confused here. They attached some copies of different lens set-ups, but they were no help either.

The other lens I got, the objective lens, is what I expected (just the lens, not mounted).

The other problem is that they are a diameter that doesn't fit into any standard PVC pipe size, so I'm not sure how to get around that.

I need a book or something. Maybe I'll go to the library and find a book about scope-making. If only I hadn't been scared away from my original dream profession (astronomer/astronaut) by all the math and Mr. Steussey in 5th grade. Big jerk. I liked math until I met him.

Sigh. I'm a little disappointed with my own lack of knowledge here. I guess it will take some more research and some creativity. Better start reading. . . .

Sunday Funnies

A double dose of Jon Stewart ... enjoy!

Novak + Cheney + Rove = Armageddon

Will Bush Incompetence Lead to WWIII

July 15, 2006
from BuzzFlash.com

We wish we had more good news to report, but we feel like we are tied to the back of a garbage truck and the cans full of slop keep coming our way.

After years of bankrupt policies in the Middle East, including Iraqmire (which deteriorates further every day), it is manifestly clear that the Bush ship of fools continue to fail because they don't have even the remotest idea of how to succeed, except at destroying democracy and the Constitution at home. (Oh, and at making the rich, richer.)

The Middle East is almost a complete loss as far as Bush efforts. The Republicans keep talking about achieving "victory." No one in the White House has any idea how to do that -- or who exactly we would be achieving "victory" against -- but if you are a white Christian male, we guess you assume "victory" belongs to you, whatever that might mean. At the very least, the word belongs to you.

But words are cheap and so, apparently, are lives in the Middle East.

Given the current flare up of warfare between Hamas and Israel, on the one hand, and Hezbollah and Israel, on the other, it is hard to see the Middle East as anything but a complete disaster as far as Bushevik foreign policy.

BuzzFlash has always supported the right of Israel to exist within secure boundaries -- and a similar right for a Palestinian nation. But the bedeviling issue has been how to arrive there. It is clear that the various Palestinian factions -- as well as the Israelis -- have made many strategic errors -- and both sides have conflicting camps vying to make peace on the one hand or warfare on the other.

If you start from the premise that Israel and Palestinian states should exist side by side -- as we do -- you are left with the issue of how to strategically achieve this goal. Minority camps within the incipient Palestinian nation and within Israel don't want the other to exist. But, we suspect, that the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians just want peace.

However, the majority of both sides are, in a way, held hostage by extremists who keep stoking the coals.

If there were ever a prolonged period in the halt of terrorist attacks and the disengagement of Israeli troops, we suspect that a viable two-state solution could be implemented.

But there are too many parties that have an interest in fanning the flames of conflict.

Meanwhile, Bush is once again showing no leadership whatsoever in keeping the current warfare relating to Israel from blowing up into World War III.

Clinton left office with the possibility of the next stage in the Middle East "Peace Process" tantalizingly close.

Six years later, we are on the verge of catastrophic conflict throughout the region.

The GOP promises vainglorious and illusionary "victory," when most of the people of the world just want peace, not the empty shell of rhetoric.

My mom the birder

THIS POST WAS UPDATED.

My mother, whom you'll remember lives in Harlingen right by the big Arroyo Colorado birding area, has quite the avian following. She regularly feeds several different kinds of birds with her backyard feeders. She gets regular visitors and the occasional newbie, and her hummingbird feeder is always hopping.

Yesterday she underwent a "minor" surgical procedure, and I'm thankful to the entire universe that it went all right. If anything happened to her, I just don't know what I'd do. It's funny how, even as I've watched myself grow older, I'm still always surprised when I realize my parents have grown older as well. She's 70 now, but she's in great shape thanks to her daily exercise routine and gardening. She's the inspiration for many of the things I now call my hobbies—birding, playing board games and cards, watching old movies and remembering all the actors' names, crossword puzzles. She's just the best.

I hope she gets a chance to go to some of the RGV Birding Festival activities this fall; I know she'd enjoy it.

Learning to sing

I've decided that I will probably always hear more birds than I'll see, so my new little scheme is to learn birdsongs and ID them that way. I've heard tales of people who can watch movies or TV shows and tell you whether that bird you just heard should really be wherever the movie is set, etc. Pretty impressive. My ears are good (years of musical training), so I figure this should just be a memory challenge for me.

I have a Stokes' audiocassette set, plus there are many web sites that feature bird songs. Among these are http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/index.php, which is pretty decent for the more common birds. That's a good place to start, I think.

Lens update: still haven't received my lenses from Surplus Shack. I guess the post is a little slow. I'm getting pretty antsy, though.

Why hasn't Karl Rove been Fired?

As more truth comes to light it's now confirmed that Karl Rove was indeed involved in the leak of Valerie Plame's name to the press. So the question all Americans should be asking President Bush is: "Why hasn't Karl Rove been fired?"

Bush pledge to "fire anybody" in his administration shown to have leaked Valerie Plame's name. So what is he waiting for? Was this statement just another in a long list of lies?

And the Plame leak isn't the first for Rove. In an August 6, 2005 report on Plamegate, The New York Times reported:

In 1992 in an incident well known in Texas, Mr. Rove was fired from the state campaign to re-elect the first President Bush on suspicions that Mr. Rove had leaked damaging information to Mr. Novak about Robert Mosbacher Jr., the campaign manager and the son of a former commerce secretary.

Since then, Mr. Rove and Mr. Novak have denied that Mr. Rove was the source, even as Mr. Mosbacher, who no longer talks on the record about the incident, has never changed his original assertion that Mr. Rove was the culprit.

All of this reinforces just how corrupt this administration really is -- and how unsafe the American people are under its leadership.

Golden Moon

Night before last, we were lucky enough to glance out the kitchen window and catch the full moon in glorious orange-gold. I called Kat (my partner) and Em (our daughter) to come see, and we sat outside on the adirondack chairs, watching the golden moon rise over the marsh. The addition of the fireflies' nightly display (which we call "Hollywood") really made it a night to remember.

I happened to be on the Woodsong blog (http://danceswithmoths.com/blog/) and I saw this:

CHEROKEE MOON

July - Month of the Ripe Corn Moon

I guess that's what we saw. Unfortunately, my corn is not yet ripe, but I did notice yesterday that some baby corn is definitely being born on my plants (I planted 'Bandit' and 'Honeycream'). I can't wait to sink my teeth into that stuff. My tomatoes ('Early Girl', 'Sweet Million', 'Better Boy') are coming along, and soon I'll have more tomatoes than even I can eat. What a great problem to have.

Still no ID on that bird from the other night. Also, Roana Fuller forwarded me an email from another birder wondering if something is up with the cedar waxwings around here. No one is seeing very many, and certainly not in their usual big groups. Weird. I finally saw one waxwing the other night on Rte. 45, but again he waited to show up until it was too dark for me to see his full coloring, and he was alone and stuck around for a couple of minutes.

A Woman Ahead of Her Time

What have we learned in 300 years? There is nothing wrong with being a witch, and not every strong woman is a witch.
______________________________

Va. Governor Exonerates Convicted Witch

By SONJA BARISIC, Associated Press Writer
July 10, 2006

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Witch of Pungo is no longer a witch. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Monday exonerated Grace Sherwood, who 300 years ago became Virginia's only woman convicted as a witch tried by water.

"I am pleased to officially restore the good name of Grace Sherwood," Kaine wrote in a letter Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf read aloud before a re-enactment of Sherwood's being dropped into the river.

"With 300 years of hindsight, we all certainly can agree that trial by water is an injustice," Kaine wrote. "We also can celebrate the fact that a woman's equality is constitutionally protected today, and women have the freedom to pursue their hopes and dreams."

Sherwood, a midwife who at times wore men's clothes, lived in what today is the rural Pungo neighborhood, and later became known as "The Witch of Pungo." Her neighbors thought she was a witch who ruined crops, killed livestock and conjured storms, and she went to court a dozen times, either to fight witchcraft charges or to sue her accusers for slander.

She was 46 when she was accused in her final case of using her powers to cause a neighbor to miscarry.

On July 10, 1706, Sherwood was dropped into the Lynnhaven River and floated _ proof she was guilty because the pure water cast out her evil spirit, according to the belief system of the time. The theory behind the test was that if she sank, she was innocent, although she would also drown.

Sherwood may have been jailed until 1714, when records show she paid back taxes and with the help of then-Gov. Alexander Spotswood she was able to reclaim her property. She then lived quietly until her death at 80.

Belinda Nash, 59, has been researching Sherwood for years and asked for the governor to exonerate the woman. A group annually remembers Sherwood with a re-enactment in the river.

For Monday's ceremony attended by about 60 people, the re-enactment took place on land _ in front of the Ferry Plantation House, a historic home where Nash volunteers as director and, dressed in costume, tells visitors about Sherwood. The courthouse where part of Sherwood's trial took place was located on the old plantation property.

Nash's daughter, Danielle Sheets, was tied cross-bound, her thumbs to her toes, and placed in a small boat, just as Sherwood would have been.

"I be not a witch. I be a healer," Sheets shouted, in character. "Before this day be through, ye will all get a worse ducking than I."

The Good Old Days

In memoriam - June Allyson

June Allyson is being remembered today as "the perfect wife," the girl next door, the image that comes to mind for some people when they long for the "good old days." But while her screen image was that of mom, apple pie and fresh-faced optimism, her real life wasn't always as sunny.

Her on-screen image is one politicians like Rick Santorum, Bill Frist, and Sam Brownback -- and their cohorts on the religious right like James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell -- long for when talking about the good old days. They seem to forget it was just a movie. They want us to return to a time that didn't really exist at that time!

June Allyson is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

She was the daughter of an alcoholic father who left when she was six. Her mother worked as a telephone operator and restaurant cashier trying to make ends meet. When June was eight a dead tree branch fell on her as she was riding her bicycle, breaking several bones. The doctors said she would never walk again. Months of physical therapy helped her to defy that prognosis, but at a cost.

"After the accident and the extensive therapy, we were desperate," Allyson wrote in her autobiography. "Sometimes mother would not eat dinner, and I'd ask her why. She would say she wasn't hungry, but later I realized there was only enough food for one."

Allyson not only walked again, but went on to dance on Broadway and in films. In 1945, Allyson married Dick Powell, the crooner who turned serious actor and then producer-director and television tycoon. The marriage seemed like one of Hollywood's happiest, but it wasn't.

She began earning big money after leaving MGM, "but it had little meaning to me because I never saw the money, and I didn't even ask Richard how much it was . . . It went into a common pot with Richard's money" . . . The couple separated in 1961, but reconciled and remained together until his death in 1963 . . . A few months after Powell's death, Allyson married his barber, Glenn Maxwell. They separated 10 months later, and she sued for divorce, charging he hit her and abused her in front of the children and passed bad checks for gambling debts.

She fought depression and alcoholism, but June Allyson's personal story did have a happy ending. She did ultimately find peace, love and the happiness she brought to others -- but only after surviving what some men in positions of power in this country today refer to as "the good old days."

A big brown bird

I saw a bird last night that was big--say, robin-sized--and pretty much light dusty grayish-tan all over. No marks on chest, no visible wing bars, no visible marks of any kind. Breast was slightly lighter than wings and back, but certainly not white or even cream. I have a feeling it was a female, due to the drab coloring, but I don't know what it's a female of.

Maybe a female brown thrasher? No--they have striping on their breasts.

Maybe a female kingbird? Don't think so, but I can't find a decent photo of a female, so I can't be sure.

Any guesses? I realize my description isn't too great, but I'd like to know. The whatbird.com site only offered 197 guesses after punching in "perching-like" and tan, brown, and buff for color. I began to get a little overwhelmed. Wrentit? Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler Fall? (uh, it's summer)

Perhaps some sort of thrush.

On the same day, I saw what I presume to be a male, a female, and a young Baltimore Oriole in the trees/thicket next to the house--the trees that separate the marsh from the road. This is prime birding area, but I have to move my Adirondack chair out into the middle of the yard to see everyone who flies around there. Still it was worth it.

Sunday Funnies

o
o

Birdchick's going to Harlingen!

http://www.birdchick.com/2006/07/my-week-is-so-off-kilter.html

So the Birdchick will be in my hometown of Harlingen for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Fest. Sure do wish I could go. Then I could see my parents and see what my little hometown is doing to encourage birding. Note: Still feeling ripped off by Harlingen for not having this event when I was a kid.

Sometimes I miss Texas so much. I absolutely love living in Pennsylvania, but Texas is my home, and every once in a while, I hear it calling to me. I'll probably never move back (for various reasons) but my heart will always burst with Texas pride.

They're holding a big expo in the Municipal Auditorium at Fair Park. I still remember going to that auditorium for school talent shows and plays. It had a neat smell (it was new back then in the 70s) that I really liked. (ah, the wonderful smell of harmful VOCs!) Good old Harlingen. Good old Texas.

Do they build trucks that are "Rhode Island tough"? Nope. Do they name steakhouses "Beehive State Roadhouse"? Nope. Did Pee Wee Herman need to go to an old mission in Oregon to find his bike in the basement? Nope. Where is "America's Team" from--New York? NEVER! The Lone Star State will always hold a certain mystique in the minds of people all over the world, and I kinda like that. Yup, it's nice to be a Native Texan, even if I'll never live there again.

- - - -
Saw a big brown thrasher this morning, flying with a worm in its mouth, probably going to feed its brood. Nice. It's a cool summer morning in beautiful Central Pennsylvania, and I wish I were birding.

State Courts Rule Against Family Values, and In Favor of Discrimination

Almost 30 years ago I came out of the closet and decided to live my life honestly. Since then hundreds of thousands of lesbians and gay men have done the same nationwide, so that today our 'family' resides in every major city in the US, and many small towns as well.

The community has changed over the years, so much so that today nearly everyone I know has, or is planning to have, children! There has been a virtual "gay baby boom" within the lesbian and gay community.

That is why the decisions in New York and Georgia banning marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples is so troubling. The New York decision said:

... lawmakers have a legitimate interest in protecting children by limiting marriage to heterosexual couples and that the law does not deny homosexual couples any "fundamental right" since same-sex marriages are not "deeply rooted in the nation's history and tradition."

Where is the protection for our children? Where is the safety net for our families? And of course there is no deeply rooted history or tradition, but only because the law has denied lesbian and gay couples that legal right!

I've met couples that have been together 20, 30 even 50 years or more, who would have legally married and raised their children within that framework had it been an option.

We have mortgages, pay taxes, drive our kids to school and to soccer practice ... we care for our children, and our partners, when they are sick ... we work right along side everyone else in jobs ranging from a local factory to a fortune 500 company. We literally are 'everywhere.'

In a dissent, Chief Judge Judith Kaye said the court failed to uphold its responsibility to correct inequalities when it decided to simply leave the issue to lawmakers.

"It is uniquely the function of the Judicial Branch to safeguard individual liberties guaranteed by the New York State Constitution, and to order redress for their violation," she wrote. "The court's duty to protect constitutional rights is an imperative of the separation of powers, not its enemy. I am confident that future generations will look back on today's decision as an unfortunate misstep."

It is well past time for our families to have the same legal protection as everyone else.

Convicted Enron Founder Kenneth Lay Dead at 64

It's the flip side of the "American Dream." One day you are on top of the world, and the next you are the disgraced founder of a former corporate giant on your way to jail.

Before commenting on the death of Kenneth Lay, I decide to give myself the night to let what happened sink in. My first thought when reading of Lay's death was "some guys will do anything to avoid going to jail." And then I kept hearing the song "... it's getting hot in here ...."

By morning I had decided there certainly must be a God, and she's more forgiving than I am. Dying from a heart attack while on vacation in Aspen, surrounded by family and friends is certainly preferable to dying in a cold prison cell with "Bubba" staring down at you.

Lay, and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, was scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 23. Skilling faces a long prison term.

The Associated Press reports:

Prosecutors in Lay's trial declined comment Wednesday, both on his death and what may become of their effort to seek $43.5 million from Lay that they say he pocketed as part of the conspiracy. The government is seeking $139.3 million from Skilling.

Hopefully prosecutors will be able to recover the money. Their loss is unfortunate, but Lay's family should not profit from his criminal actions.

Lenses? CHECK

My objective and eyepiece lenses are on the way! Surplus Shack (www.surplusshack.com) rocks! With postage, I'll get the lenses for $15. I'm very excited!

Gay Marriage and Flag Burning more important to Bush than catching Osama bin Laden

The President and Congress have spent a great deal of time lately discussing same-sex marriage and flag burning. A New York Times report would suggest these issues are of greater importance to the Bush administration, and the Republican-led Congress, than capturing Osama bin Laden. For more on the story read this:

C.I.A. Closes Unit Focused on Capture of bin Laden

By MARK MAZZETTI
Published: July 4, 2006

WASHINGTON, July 3 — The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday.

The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.

The decision is a milestone for the agency, which formed the unit before Osama bin Laden became a household name and bolstered its ranks after the Sept. 11 attacks, when President Bush pledged to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice "dead or alive." (full story)

On a completely-unrelated-to-birds note . . .

Annika Sorenstam, the best woman golfer in history, has just won another U.S. Open. Way to go, Annika!

Consistency is the aim of every athlete, and Annika is the most consistently fantastic golfer in the world.

Digiscoping update--lenses forthcoming!

My effort to duplicate the spotting scope of Roy Goh (http://www.pbase.com/roygoh/homemade_digiscope) has begun with a bang. I've just found the same Plossl eyepiece he bought ($6.50 on surplusshack.com) and I'm trying to decide between an OBJECTIVE LENS, 38MM X 297MM FOCAL LENGTH ($7.50) and a Double convex lens with 50mm diameter and 200mm focal length ($3.50). Goh used a 200mm fl objective, but wouldn't the 297mm fl be better? However, the 200 is 50mm in diameter, whereas the 297 is only 38mm in diameter. I would think a bigger objective would be better---wider field of view. So I'll probably go with the 50mm/200mm fl lens.

Any advice from someone in the know? I'm just totally impressed that I'm getting two lenses for like ten bucks. Woo-hoo!

A new life bird!

This weekend, I saw a bobolink--during the Penn's Cave wildlife tour. Nice bird. I didn't get to hear its little call or anything, as we were far away.

While on the tour, I also saw some (captive) wolves, deer, elk, bears, and bobcats. I don't like zoos at all, but this was slightly better than that, as most of the animals get to roam around a big enclosure of habitat land. However, the bears and the bobcats weren't so lucky--they were in cages with just these little private rooms they could retreat into. Didn't much like that. People always tell me that zoos are better than just leaving some animals out there to die at the hands of poachers, etc. But I know that if I were an animal, I sure wouldn't like people staring at me all day, and being in a cage to boot.

Still, it was nice to see a life bird.

Sunday Funnies

Lewis Black - Back in Black

Saturday night blog surfing

John at AMERICAblog.com asks:

While the Republicans debate gay marriage and flag burning, guess who is still alive and kicking?


Tell me again what the Republicans are doing to try to catch the man who murdered 3,000 Americans?
______________________________
The Carpetbagger Report offers this:

Not again

Posted 10:43 am Printer Friendly

After the incidents at Haditha, Ishaqi, Hamandiya, and Samarra, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki lashed out at the American military, denouncing what he characterized as habitual attacks by troops against Iraqi civilians. That was before this.

The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that American soldiers raped and killed a woman and killed three of her family members in a town south of Baghdad, then reported the incident as an insurgent attack, a military official said Friday.

The alleged crimes occurred in March in the insurgent hotbed of Mahmudiyah. The four soldiers involved, from the 502nd Infantry Regiment, attempted to burn the family's home to the ground and blamed insurgents for the carnage, according to a military official familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was providing details not released publicly.

No charges have yet been filed in the case, which the official said was "in the very early stages."

According to the WaPo report, the unit in Mahmudiyah had attributed the deaths of the four civilians to "insurgent activity, which is common in the area," until two soldiers from the 502nd came forward June 23 to say U.S. troops were responsible.

The NYT added that the alleged rape and killings came to light after a soldier felt compelled to talk about it in a "counseling-type session," after the discovery of the bodies of his kidnapped colleagues, and one soldier has admitted his role and has been arrested.

As Garance Franke-Ruta noted, "Every incident like this is more powerful than the millions of dollars spent by the State Department on public diplomacy." Given that this incident involves an alleged sex crime against a Muslim woman, I think that's an understatement.
______________________________
From Crooks and Liars:

Beware, the NY Times Travel Section!

By: John Amato on Saturday, July 1st, 2006 at 4:13 PM - PDT

So sayeth the right wing blogs.

Greenwald:

I learned today from Michelle Malkin, Powerline’s John Hinderaker, and David Horowitz, among others, that The New York Times not only wants to help Al Qaeda launch terrorist attacks on the United States, but that newspaper also want to do everything possible to enable The Terrorists to assassinate Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld. That is the conclusion which these sober leaders of "conservative" punditry drew after reading this article in the Times‘ Travel section, which features the tiny, charming village of St. Michaels on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where both Cheney and Rumsfeld have vacation homes…read on

These people are insane. One idiot published the writer’s personal information online. Someone is going to get hurt.

Religious Right's skewed priorities

Church Erects Christian Statue of Liberty – What Will the French Say?

Posted on Tennessee Guerilla Women
July 1, 2006

A Memphis Church appears to have more money than it knows what to do with. So, natch, it built a giant copy of the Statue of Liberty, Christian style. Is it just me, or does the cross in her hand resemble a club? And how about that stone tablet with the Ten Commandments? Is she going to drop it on my head if I don't sign up?

And the crown on her head marked with the word Jeovah? It looks like a weapon to me.

Can we please get some French lawyers in this state? General?

"Church members said the mixture of the statue and Christian symbols represent 'America belonging to God through Jesus Christ.'"

A Memphis resident who lives in the neighborhood said she "now takes the long way home to avoid 'the big green thing.'"

The World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church plans to disrobe the Giant Green Church Lady on the 4th of July.

The Church forked over $260,000 for the seven-story Church Lady.

Cause Churches are for flaunting an excess of wealth and who gives a fuck if Tennessee is so poor that it loses more babies in the first year of life than do 46 other states? Big deal if the Governor cuts sick people off the state healthcare program in order to save money! So what if Memphis schools have a graduation rate of 48.5 percent?

What's any of that got to do with Christianity, anyway?

But the Overcomers don't just spend their money on transforming icons of democracy into symbols of theocracy, they also work on petitions in support of the Federal Hate Amendment.

Cuz the Church Lady's cross is actually a WMD for stamping out the civil liberties of gays and other nonconforming troublemakers.

Or, as Pesky Fly suggests, maybe they just have a lot of vampires in Memphis.

A look back . . .

“They say it is better to be poor and happy
than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise
like moderately rich and just moody?”

-- Diana, Princess of Wales
Born on this day in 1961

from My Left Wing