High Court hears challenge to flawed Bush analysis

Tomorrow morning the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation. Many of us will be outside the court at a rally.

The case being argued is not just about whether the White House can spend money to promote religion through its ‘faith-based’ initiatives. The question before the Court is actually whether or not we will continue to be able to make sure that the government respects our Constitutional rights.

Separation of church and state is the first freedom outlined in the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is meant to ensure that all Americans, regardless of their race, religion or gender, are afforded certain “inalienable rights”. In other words, the Bill of Rights is a promise of protection for you and me against governmental abuse.

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written to protect us … NOT the administration. Therefore, we MUST have the power to make sure they are upheld.

Who better understands when a right is being violated than the people directly affected? Who is most likely to sound the alarm? The answer is obvious.

In Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Bush administration is urging the Supreme Court to overrule the 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals and other federal courts that have upheld taxpayer challenges to government expenditures on religion.

This wouldn't be the first time the Bush administration’s analysis is flawed … it's definitely an attempt to block us from fighting for our constitutional rights.

We not only have a right, we have a duty to insure that our Constitutional rights are protected

The Justices simply must uphold precedent that allows taxpayers to sue when the government uses tax dollars for religious purposes -- if there is any justice at all. Government funding of religion is not only improper, but unconstitutional.

The courthouse door must never be slammed in the face of Americans who are merely trying to maintain their … OUR … constitutional rights.

It's Oscar time!!

NOMINATIONS - 79TH AWARDS - WHO WILL WIN


Best motion picture of the year
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN


Achievement in directing
Alejandro González Iñárritu - BABEL
Martin Scorsese - THE DEPARTED
Clint Eastwood - LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
Stephen Frears - THE QUEEN
Paul Greengrass - UNITED 93


Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz - VOLVER
Judi Dench - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet - LITTLE CHILDREN


Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza - BABEL
Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL


Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio - BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling - HALF NELSON
Peter O'Toole - VENUS
Will Smith - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND


Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley - LITTLE CHILDREN Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg - THE DEPARTED


Best animated feature film of the year
CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE


Best documentary feature
DELIVER US FROM EVIL
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"I Need to Wake Up" - AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
"Listen" - DREAMGIRLS
"Love You I Do" - DREAMGIRLS
"Our Town" - CARS
"Patience" - DREAMGIRLS


Adapted screenplay
BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR
MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL


Original screenplay
BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

Sunday Funnies

Friends and First Freedom First

How delightful it is to be able to mix work and play ... something I've had the pleasure of doing since 1990, when I became a full time activist.

One of the best things about being an activist is thinking that you might, in some small way, leave this world a little better than it was when you came into it. It's also a great way to channel your energy when you think our leaders are taking this country in the wrong direction.

My mantra has always been: Don't agonize, organize!

The BEST part about being an activist, however, is the people you meet along the way and the friendships you make. Two new friends are Blue Gal and Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors, and I'd like to give a shout out about the support they have given to the work I do for my day job.

Blue Gal is a great mentor and advocate for separation of church and state. Her posts promoting our First Freedom First project to safeguard separation of church and state have sent close to 25,000 people to the First Freedom First web site.

It was through Blue Gal that I found Mock, Paper, Scissors. I had the pleasure of meeting Tengrain on Friday, and anyone listening to our conversations might have thought we'd known each other for years ... it was that comfortable. Tengrain covered an event First Freedom First held in San Jose.

If you haven't yet visited the First Freedom First web site and signed the petition, please do. And if you are posting about the project, please let me know!

Driving around Sinking Creek

A friend, Amy, took me home the other day, and she took a road I wasn't familiar with--Sinking Creek Road. What a great place! Here are some photos from there, though I was disappointed that I didn't get any shots of birds. Those little buggers out there in the field are much faster than the guys at the feeders--not weighed down with seed and suet, I guess!

And look at this:

That must be where the water has lapped, frozen, then lapped again, frozen again, etc. I'd never seen that. Remember that in Texas, there aren't a lot of rivers or streams. Or water.

I saw a cardinal who was already beginning to molt; his head was beet-red, but the rest of him was varying shades of red and brownish-red. Is he getting ready to dazzle the ladies? Is he about to enter his first breeding/mature season? That would be my guess. At any rate, he posed just long enough for me to raise my camera, then he hid in a bramble of multiflora rose, and I couldn't get a shot of him.

As I drove down the road slowly, looking for interesting stuff (and places where I could safely pull off), I saw a chain of three or four male cardinals, flying fast! Staking out territory already? Oh, I hope this means spring is right around the corner!

I saw only a few birds: some chickadees, some starlings, the cardinals. I heard some other calls, but nothing I recognized. I need to listen to my Lang Elliot songbird CD (and the cats go wild!) and figure out what I heard.

Look at this crazy tree:


The wrinkles reminded me of Ann Richards' face, that great lady of Texas and national politics; may she rest in peace. She was as tough as this tree, you know--no matter what obstacles she faced, she just overcame them. Texas was still a great state (and in the black) when she was governor. Then, HE came along.... Whoa! look at the tiny "orb" in that second picture, over to the right. Is that Ann?!

It was too beautiful a day to worry about idiots in D.C. so we'll move on:

You know how I love those daytime moon shots. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut sooooo badly; then I learned that you had to be really good in math. There went that dream.


Here, I was trying to do one of those shots where the water looks all blurry, but I couldn't do it. I don't know if it was my camera's inabilities (all I could change was the modes) or the fact that the water just wasn't moving enough.

There was a little snow-covered island, with lots of little footprints on it:

Little duck prints? While getting this photo, by the way, I did something really dumb: I grabbed onto a nearby branch for support in the shifting snow on which I was standing. Bad move:

Tip: NEVER grab onto a branch before you look at it. Ouch.

I tried to capture the beautiful depth of the trees here; this is the best I got:


Nearer to town (Spring Mills), I found some mallards. I tried to capture some "irridescence" for SusanGetsNative's daughter to see:



"Honey, will you please straighten those feathers?" "I'm trying, dear!"

Thanks to Amy for showing me this neat road and Sinking Creek.

Going it alone

Niblet's appointment, Feederwatch notes

This morning I took Niblet in for a checkup before I would schedule his neutering. He didn't enjoy it all; I didn't take pictures because I spent the whole time holding him, petting him, or feeling bad for him. He checked out perfectly fine, though, so I went ahead and scheduled his procedure. Little does he know.... I'm worried about the whole thing, but Dr. Jones assured me it would be all right, and it might stem some of his more territorial behaviors, i.e. leaving poos everywhere. His new spot is right in front of the cat's downstairs litty; they're not thrilled with having to step over him on their way to the loo during one of his "sessions."

On our way home, I spotted a huge hawk in a field, eating. I decided to turn around and try to photograph him, but he'd already taken off. I then slowly followed him to a tree:


Then he flew to another tree, farther from the road. He was beautiful in flight, all white with tiny brown streaks underneath--chest and wings. I'm guessing Cooper's hawk, because of the long tail, but he was not very streaky-breasted. He looked more red-tail in that sense, but that tail is too long. Raptor experts, please help. I wish I could've photographed him in flight, but honestly, I knew I would miss him--no way I'd be able to get him in view of the lens, focus, and snap. I'd end up missing the joy of just watching him.

I tried to remember my good birding ethics, and I was probably at least 200 yards from him the whole time, but I imagine that while he's used to cars flying by at 65, he's not used to them stopping anywhere near him--maybe? So he went back to a treeline perch, where I hit the max digi-zoom:



I really need to get a good tripod and start taking my spotting scope with me. My attempts to bino-scope were fruitless. After a few more blurry photos, I figured I'd bothered him enough, so we came home. Niblet brooded a little bit, to show me his displeasure at being "handled," but he's too good-natured to stay broody for long. I gave him a big old carrot piece, so he's a very happy boy now. He goes in for "the snip" about three weeks from now; I'll probably take the morning off to go with him. Poor sweet boy.

All this happened before 11 o'clock, so after a good breakfast, I went back to start my FeederWatch count for this weekend, and as usual it was almost all sparrows, all the time. Got some good photos, though, which I thought I'd share.

When I lived in town (State College), I had a lot of juncos coming to my feeder. Out here, however, they're a rarity. Only once since I started my feederwatch counts have I ever seen more than 1 at a time. I love them, though:



I've always found it difficult to photograph black-capped chickadees and tufted titmice because they flit in, grab a seed, and fly off, all in just a second or two. Today, though, I got pretty lucky. Here's the titmouse money shot (not a lot of money, mind you--this is my photography we're talking about here):

Not too terrible.

I got him perching, and then I got him flying away! Look how his tail is kind-of tucked forward--why is that?



So--to the other sparrows. Tree sparrows have such garishly russet heads that I really like them:



I got another "flappy" photo as well:

Maybe I should try putting the camera on "burst," so it takes a bunch of photos in rapid succession, and I might get more of these rather interesting photos. I like to see wings spread out.

The birds are loving the brushpiles I've built, especially now that the snow has mostly melted and the branches are exposed again:



The day is so beautiful, clear and cold, with a brilliant sun and a butane-blue sky:


I have to attribute "butane-blue" sky to an old friend, Kris Patterson, who wrote those words in a song almost twenty years ago. Wow--it's been a long time since I lived in Austin (1988-1990).

I leave you with this photo of the titmouse after he's just left the suet feeder:

Thanks to LauraHinNJ’s extensive list of fascinating and beautiful blogs, I’ve discovered Mary’s View, and last week she posted a game of tag. The “rules” are to list at least five things that most people don’t know about you. You’re supposed to then tag another six people, but I’m not doing that part. Here goes with the stuff most people don’t know.

I just typed a neat little 1. and then just sat here for like five minutes. What don’t most people know? Looking at some other people’s lists, I saw a lot of food and housework related stuff. I think everyone knows I hate housework, so there’s no mystery there. Oh wait! I just thought of one:

1. Even though I’m vegetarian and have been almost five years, I still (gulp) sometimes crave a steak or hot wings or barbecue. There! I said it! Honestly, I do sometimes crave the ease of throwing a chicken breast into the oven with a few spices on it, but I think that if I were faced with a plate of meat of any sort, I would probably push it away. I became a vegetarian both because of Kat and to protest the large-scale agriculture operations that run feedlots and steal away animals’ lives. Plus I love their sweet little faces! Still—it was easier being a meat-eater.

Okay—number 2. Hmm…. This is kinda hard!

2. I hate zoos. I realize that many animals are saved from poaching, etc., by zoos, but I just don’t like going to zoos. If I were an animal, I would not enjoy being stared at all day, so I just don’t go.

3. Sometimes I think about going back to teaching. This is something I really don’t share with anyone, because then there would be pressure to DO IT. And on the whole, I don’t want to go back. I sometimes miss the joys of having a student “get it” and I definitely miss my old teaching colleagues, but the grind of disinterested students, “13th graders” (the kind who still gossip, write notes to their classmates, do their makeup, etc. in class, even though they’re now in college and supposed to be adults), grading 150 papers a week—I definitely will NEVER miss that! Still, it wasn’t a bad job, and it had its good points.

4. I wish I could become a movie director. I love watching those extra features on DVDs now, all about the making of a film, the director’s trials and travails, and all that. It’s interesting to me, and I think it would be fun to hang out in cool locations and make an interesting film about something that matters.

5. I am terrified of getting older. I see a few gray hairs on my head, and I’m freaked out. Should I dye it? Should I just let my head go salt-and-pepper, then silver? I don’t know! How fast will happen? I don’t really have any wrinkles yet (I’m 42), but will I suddenly start getting them? Will I finally start to look my age?

So--there's some information that most people don't know about me.

Justice ... better late than never

Update on the Jessica Hall story. The 25 year old mother of three, convicted of a felony for tossing a McDonald's cup at a car that cut her off in traffic, has just had her sentence reduced. Instead of facing the next two years in prison, Hall was sentenced to time served and will be placed on probation.

Hall, who has spent the past two months in jail, is finally going free! I don't know if there is any way to get the decision removed from her record, but I hope someone in the state will ask the Governor about it.

Who decides what is offensive?

Controversy is brewing again in the blogosphere. It seems that one of the BBB is defending sporting teams having (usually) white guys dressed in traditional Native American clothing as team mascots. The blogger, John Aravosis, is defending his college mascot, saying the image "honors" Native Americans. Some Native Americans don't think so ... which begs the question, who decides?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I know John and like him. Over the years he's done some great work on behalf of the LGBT and feminist communities. On this issue, however, I have to disagree with him.

IMHO the people who get to decide whether or not to be offended are the Native Americans -- not John.

I'm not outing him to reveal that John is gay. I doubt seriously that John would think a straight person has more authority over what images of gays are, or aren't, offensive to him than he does. It's too bad he can't extend this same courtesy to Native Americans.

(image from Wampum)

This is too funny ...

'McMissile' leads to major injustice

Imagine you are sitting in a hot car in July, driving on a major interstate highway, you have three squirming kids in the back seat, a sister in the front who is six months pregnant and having early contractions, some wacky driver keeps weaving in and out of your lane as traffic slows down and then creeps almost to a halt. Do you think you might be tempted to want to throw something?

Jessica Hall, 25, of Jacksonville, N.C., was -- and now she is a convicted felon facing two years in prison.

Hall, clearly stressed, decided to veer onto the shoulder of the road and speed up next to the car that had been cutting her off in traffic. And then wham! She tossed a large McDonald's cup filled with ice into the other car. To the locals, it's the "McMissile" case.

No one was injured, but the cup launcher, Jessica Hall, [who] was charged and convicted by a Stafford County jury of maliciously throwing a missile into an occupied vehicle, a felony in Virginia. The instructions given to the jury said that "any physical object can be considered a missile. A missile can be propelled by any force, including throwing."

Hall, a mother of three young children whose husband is serving his third tour in Iraq, has spent more than a month in jail.

The jury sentenced her to two years in prison, the minimum, and a judge will formally impose a sentence Wednesday. Under state law, the judge can only
decrease the jury's sentence.

Even the couple who filed charges think the sentence was wrong.

"I think that this is way too much of a punishment for her actions. This is just to me absolutely ridiculous," Fowle said.

According to court documents Hall is unemployed and with her husband's salary, the couple takes in $30,384 a year. She receives $388 a month in food stamps. (Keep in mind he is on his third tour of duty in Iraq!)

What is going to happen to their three children? What fate is in store for this family? Hall was supposed to start nursing school the day after she was sent to jail. Anyone want to guess what her chances will be to find employment now?

Yes, she made a mistake ... yes, she knows she made a mistake ... but this is simply ridiculous.

"Now people are going to see me as an angry, road rage, convicted felon. And it really upsets me," Hall said. "I must have been wrong . . . but seriously, God. Lesson learned. Lesson learned is one hour in this place."

For more on this, check out Howling Latina.

Trickle down economics

The war in Iraq is cost taxpayers billions and billions of dollars -- so much, in fact, that no-bid contractors have managed to lose more than $12 billion. Imagine having so much money that you could just lose a cool $12 billion.

So what does this have to do with trickle down economics?

Well, the more money spent on a war that should never have been started is that much less money the federal government can provide for state mandates. One of the mandates is the Bush administrations' 'All kids left behind' nonsense.

The Washington Post reported today that Prince William County (Northern VA) teachers won't be getting a cost-of-living increase many had expected. It also means their facilities are not going to be upgraded. The children will just need to get comfortable with overcrowded classrooms.

Maybe the VA teachers should ask Halliburton, or whoever misplaced the $12 billion, to make up the $38 million shortfall in the county's education budget.

And all the people across the country who demonize public school teachers take note that Prince William County teachers have worked hard to narrow some achievement gaps in recent years. Usually when people do a good job they are rewarded.

Where are our priorities as a nation when a failing CEO can get a multi-million dollar exit package, yet teachers who can show measurable improvement of their students can't even get a lousy cost-of-living increase.

Late night music break ...

Describe Bush in One Word (or less)

Thanks to a little morning blog surfing I found this fun bit of information. For the past few years the Pew Research Center has included the following question in one of their surveys: “Please tell me what one word best describes your impression of George W. Bush. Tell me just the one best word that describes him.” The question didn't include a list of choices, it was completely open-ended.

A review of the responses indicates the president approval is continuing to slide. If you were asked to describe Bush using just one word -- what would that word be?

Check out the list from Pew Research Center for the People & the Press (pdf). And thanks to Mock, Paper, Scissors for the tip!

I am Spartacus

A number of bloggers are all following Drifty's lead, in standing up for Shakespeare’s Sister who announced that she is bowing out of the Edwards campaign. It is a sad development for a number of reasons, some of which can be found on Mock, Paper Scissors. If you have a blog, join in. Blue Gal posted an update that: RedQueen's got "I'm Spartacus" shirts for sale now at Cafepress. All profits are going to Shakes and family.

Snowed in, called out

I got up Wednesday morning, the morning of the big snowstorm, fully intending to go to work. I looked outside and yeah, it looked bad. The road was white with packed-down ice from the few drivers who'd ventured out, and the car--well, we park right next to the road rather than on our steep driveway when it snows--the car was buried under about two feet of powder and plowed snow from the road. Still, I got in the shower and made Kat's coffee, thinking that she might still want to go to school.

I got out of the shower and woke Kat, who said the university, which NEVER closes due to snow, was closed, so why was I waking her up? At this point, I realized that we probably weren't going to get the car out of its icy tomb, and I wasn't going to work. It was just as well, because I took the day to read, from cover to cover, my Audubon guide to backyard birdwatching and feeding. What a great book! I took little notes (like the English major I am), planned some bird-friendly spring plantings (I'll blog on that closer to spring), and kept the feeders out back filled. Exhausting day! Somehow, I managed to cram a viewing of Return of the King and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in there too! I know, I know--I'm a dynamo.

Boy, did those birds eat yesterday. I read in my Audubon book that more mourning doves will come to feeders during hard snows and colder weather; I saw proof of that yesterday. As it's gotten colder this winter, I've noticed that each week, I get a couple more doves, and since the big snowfall they decided that my al fresco grill was the place to be. I had twelve birds at one time, setting a MODO record.

I also had white-throated, song, and tree sparrows; dark-eyed juncos; two female (never seen more than one a time) and one male cardinal; bluejays; black-capped chickadees; the downy and the red-bellied woodpecker; white-breasted nuthatches; tufted titmice; and one female house finch. They eat continually throughout the constant snowfall, and I filled the one hanging feeder nearest the house three times and scattered seed underneath each time. Of course, they had to dig for it only a few minutes after each time, and I tried to help them with that by digging with my boot down to the buried stuff.

I took some photos but they're not too great. Some are through the porch window, and even the ones taken outside suffer from not enough light:



Isn't he handsome? I love me some Mr. Cardinal.


This next picture reminds me of a great song:

"I'm not waiting on a lady,
I'm just waiting on a friend."

I also read in my book that unlike brown creepers or woodpeckers, nuthatches can go up or down a tree thanks to their toe structure and the fact that they don't need to prop themselves up with their tail feathers. Neat.


The marsh and backyard:



I wonder what he's thinking. Probably something like, "It's sure gonna suck to dig that car out tomorrow." My sore back, shoulders, and neck can attest to that, little sparrow.

Top Female Cops Back ... on DVD

It seems impossible that it's been 25 years since Cagney & Lacey first hit the airwaves. Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly played tough New York City cops who never set out to be role models, but that is exactly what they became.

The series will mark its 25th anniversary on May 8 with the DVD release of its first season. The first set also contains a two-part documentary and commentary from Gloria Steinem, who championed the show for featuring women in roles that typically went to men.

The program was initially cancelled after it's first season, but a letter writing campaign to the network -- led by the National Organization for Women -- convinced CBS to bring back the program. The shows producer, Barney Rosenzweig, credits NOW with saving the series.

Cagney & Lacey was a solid hit with the critics and viewers, winning virtually every important industry award possible, including 14 Emmys, a Golden Globe and Directors and Writers Guild awards.

"It changed the history of television for women," Gless told the AP Tuesday. "Absolutely changed it."

Gless, 63, said she has "never seen a better female character" than Cagney, who struggled with alcoholism and man troubles.

"She was ambitious, very strong," she said. "She was very complicated. She was kind of screwed up. Had a lousy attitude, hated authority. She was not what one would ever consider a hero, and that's why I love her. But she was. She was just very, very real."

Daly, who has stared in numerous Broadway productions, was last seen on television in the series Judging Amy, and Gless played the P-Flag mom everyone loved on Queer As Folk.

"I haven't seen it for 17 years or whatever it's been," Daly, who played Mary Beth Lacey, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Eighteen years? 25 years? ... So, you know, I haven't seen them in a very, very long time, but walking down the street in New York City I still get 'Cagney and Lacey' instead of, you know, other stuff I've done."

"I'll be really interested to see if anybody wants to see them again," said Daly, 60.

I met the two in 1995, first at a premier NOW hosted for the "return" of Cagney & Lacey, and later when the two top cops agreed to emcee a rally NOW held on the issue of ending violence against women. Our paths cross again in 2004 at the March for Women's Lives in DC, and Tyne was a keynote speaker last year at NOW's 40th anniversary conference.

The wonderful thing about being an activist is that every decade or so you get to catch up with friends ... some who have inspired you for 25 years or more!

Happy Valentines Day

The women are out, but Edwards is the loser

Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan have both resigned from the John Edwards campaign. The women may be out, but Edwards is the big loser.

The pressure placed on Edwards by Bill Donahue and other conservatives is NOTHING compared to the pressure that he would face as president. If he can't stand up to these domestic terrorists, how would he fair against international terrorists?

Sure, you might say that Edwards didn't cave, he didn't fire them -- but that would be untrue. He DID cave, by waiting DAYS to announce that he would not fire the two women. By waiting he sent a message that he was CONSIDERING letting these two women go. He let them twist in the wind far too long before finally saying something.

Edwards was already on shaky ground with me over his position on marriage equality. I'm not sure if it's possible for him to dig his way out of this hole.

It must be that time of the month

House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner gets emotional around debate of a non-binding resolution on troop escalation . MSNBC reports:

Boehner appeared at a stake out of House GOP leaders that featured an appearance by Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, who recounted his experience as a POW for seven years in North Vietnam, and how it was 34 years ago today that he was released from prison and had his first full day of freedom. Johnson talked about how his captors would play audio of antiwar protesters back in the United States over the loudspeakers at the prison. He drew a comparison with the message that he believes Congress is sending with this debate.

Boehner, standing by off Johnson’s right shoulder, began to shed tears. A moment later he took the microphone and — referring to Johnson’s remarks while speaking about the “solemn” nature of the debate this week — got misty all over again.

Boehner's actions are a bit confusing, given that he left the "solemn" event to deliver a tirade from the House floor.

Thank you to Think Progress for the photos.