ANITA HILL: setting the record straight

"... I will not stand by silently and allow him, in his anger, to reinvent me."

Today's New York Times op-ed by Anita Hill is a must read!

In the portion of his book that addresses my role in the Senate hearings into his nomination, Justice Thomas offers a litany of unsubstantiated representations and outright smears that Republican senators made about me when I testified before the Judiciary Committee ... A number of independent authors have shown those attacks to be baseless. What’s more, their reports draw on the experiences of others who were familiar with Mr. Thomas’s behavior, and who came forward after the hearings. It’s no longer my word against his.

Justice Thomas’s characterization of me is also hobbled by blatant inconsistencies. He claims, for instance, that I was a mediocre employee who had a job in the federal government only because he had “given it” to me. He ignores the reality: I was fully qualified to work in the government, having graduated from Yale Law School (his alma mater, which he calls one of the finest in the country), and passed the District of Columbia Bar exam, one of the toughest in the nation.

Clearly, it is Justice Thomas who is "a mediocre employee" In his time on the Court he has contributed virtually nothing. Of the two, the country would be much better served had Anita Hill been confirmed instead!

So why is Carol Anne Gotbaum dead?

The Associated Press reports that Carol Anne Gotbaum died while in a holding cell at a Phoenix airport. As someone who travels a great deal, I am anxious to hear the full story behind this incident. Here is what we know so far:

A traveler who may have accidentally choked herself to death while handcuffed in an airport holding cell was a ”wonderful” woman and mother, according to New York City’s public advocate, who is her relative.

Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, was arrested Friday at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix after she became irate when gate crews refused to let her board a flight for which she was late, officials said.

The events that led to Gotbaum’s death began when she became irate over not being allowed on a US Airways flight, though she was rebooked on a later flight, officials said.

Officers handcuffed her and took her to the holding room, where she kept screaming, authorities said. They checked on her when she became quiet and found her unresponsive, said Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill.

It appears Gotbaum may have tried to get out of her handcuffs, which ended up around her neck, Hill said. A medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Neither a stun gun nor pepper spray was used on the woman, authorities said.

It used to be fun to fly. You could arrive at the airport a few minutes before the plane was scheduled to leave, board the plane with little fuss and be at your destination in a few hours.

Now you need to arrive at least an hour, sometimes two, before your scheduled departure. You wait in long lines to check in, go through security, and finally to board a plane.

As during one of my flights this summer, you can then wait on the runway for hours, before the airline decides to bring the plane back to the gate to start the process of boarding again.

There have certainly been times when I wanted to throw something, but at the last minute I was stopped by the knowledge that I would not look good in an orange jumpsuit.

So why is Carol Anne Gotbaum dead? I’d really like to know.

Weekend recap and a new lifer

This weekend was rather bird intensive, so I'll get right to it. On Saturday morning, I went outside and heard a very buzzy warbler-like noise amongst the usual birdsounds in the backyard. I looked around and lo and behold, I saw my first palm warbler! He was bobbing his tail up and down like crazy, and the yellow patch on his underparts was really bright. The streaking on his chest was faint but obvious. Wow! I had my camera but I was too slow (and the light was too terrible) to get a better picture than this:

Still, I was pretty certain of my ID, and I confirmed it when I went back to this Birdchick post and saw her palm warbler. My bird looked just like the one Birdchick was holding. Whoot! My first positive warbler ID in my yard, and my first fall warbler ID, and a lifer! This excitement is really contributing to my mounting level of geeked-uppedness for the Cape May Autumn Weekend and First Birding Bloggers Conference. I can hardly believe it's already October; just four short weeks and I'll be in New Jersey, birding it up with other birders and bloggers, probably freezing my tail off, and (I hope) seeing tons of warbler action!

I also caught this little song sparrow:


and this crazy downy woodpecker pecking on the front corner of our house!

Clawsie was sitting in the window underneath, quite upset at the ruckus (which really wasn't that loud) and trying to look out the window and up at the bird. These pics were taken from the porch; check out this supreme disapproval:

I also paid a visit to the duck pond near PSU and caught this little bunch of mallards benefitting from a kind man who was feeding them just before I arrived:

And I finally got a pic of this Canada goose whose wings seem to be all wrong:

I've seen this goose every time I've gone to the pond, as well as another one who's only bad on one side. I've never seen these birds fly, even a short distance. What's wrong with them? What happened to their wings? They look all chewed up, and they always stick out like that.

So happy to finally have seen a palm warbler. Now if I can just get over this head cold....