PATS BROTHER

Saw this on Rosie O'Donnell's blog. Remember when she was nice and uncontroversial? I like her a lot better now.

It is Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the military.

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started. Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated. Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated. Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated. Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated. Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe. Somehow torture is tolerated. Somehow lying is tolerated. Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense. Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world. Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated. Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.

Brother and Friend of Pat Tillman,

Kevin Tillman

Halloween Joke

A man was walking home alone late one foggy night,

when behind him he hears:

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him

FASTER...

FASTER...

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.

However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

on his heels, the terrified man runs.

Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.

With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.

Bumping and clapping toward him.

The man screams and reaches for something, anything,
but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...

and,

(hopefully you're ready for this!!!)

The coffin stops

Joke - not for the easily offended

The wife came home early and found her husband in their bedroom making love to a very attractive young woman. And was somewhat upset.

"You are a disrespectful pig!" she cried. "How dare you do this to me -- a faithful wife, the mother of your children! I'm leaving you. I want a divorce straight away!"

And the husband replied "Hang on just a minute love, so at least I can tell you what happened."

"Fine, go ahead," she sobbed, " but they'll be the last words you'll say to me!"

And the husband began --

"Well, I was getting into the car to drive home and this young lady here asked me for a lift. She looked so down and out and defenseless that I took pity on her and let her into the car. I noticed that she was very thin, not well-dressed and somewhat dirty. She told me that she hadn't eaten for three days! So, in my compassion, I brought her home and warmed up the enchiladas I made for you last night, the ones you wouldn't eat because you're afraid you'll put on weight. The poor thing devoured them in moments.

Since she needed a good clean up I suggested a shower, and while she was doing that I noticed her clothes were dirty and full of holes so I threw them away. Then, as she needed clothes, I gave her the designer jeans that you have had for a few years, but don't use because you say they are too tight. I also gave her the underwear that was your anniversary present, which you don't use because I don't have good taste. I found the sexy blouse my sister gave you for Christmas that you don't use just to annoy her, and I also donated those shoes you bought at the expensive boutique and don't use because someone at work has a pair the same."

The husband took a quick breath and continued! - "She was so grateful for my understanding and help and as I walked her to the door she turned to me with tears in her eyes and said,

Please ... do you have anything else that your wife doesn't use?"

How would Jesus vote?

Tennessee Democrat Harold Ford Jr. goes after the GOP's faithful base in the state with the most white evangelicals in the nation. Polls show his campaign is resonating in the pews.
By Michael Scherer
Oct. 26, 2006 Pastor Chris Stephens runs his church services like a rock show. Colored strobes dance across the stage, electric guitar solos punctuate the hymns, and his sermons are filled with exhortations like, "We need a God explosion." The roughly 2,000 worshipers who belong to Faith Promise Church know to expect a blunt-talking believer when they come to Sunday services, a man unafraid to take a stand for Jesus.
So it was no surprise two years ago when Stephens devoted a sermon before the presidential election to a discussion of God's hopes for the ballot box. "If you are a Democrat or a Republican before you are a Christ-ocrat, you are an idol worshiper," he told his congregation. As he explained it, God cared most about just a few core issues in 2004: ending abortion, opposing gay marriage, appointing conservative judges and ensuring the freedom to pray in the public square. Christian voters, he told his congregation, ignore these issues at their own peril. "If you reject Christ, if you have never been born again, you are not going to heaven," he said at the end of the sermon.
Pastor Stephens' message did not endorse any candidate or party, but it clearly pushed a platform more closely associated with Republicans than with Democrats. And versions of that message were repeated at born-again churches across the Bible Belt state of Tennessee, along with Sunday morning voter registration pleas. The effect was spectacular. Among the 51 percent of registered voters who identified as white evangelical Christians in exit polls, the highest percentage of any state in the nation, President Bush won by a margin of 3-to-1, allowing him to carry Tennessee by 14 points.

But visit Stephens this year, and he will freely admit that many of Tennessee's evangelical voters are more ambivalent about voting for Republicans in this election. The biggest reason, he believes, is the deteriorating situation in Iraq. "So many people are angry at the president," he said last Sunday, after inviting this reporter into his office after services. Polls nationwide have shown that evangelical support for Republicans is slipping. But in Tennessee a second big reason is the public message of Rep. Harold Ford Jr., the Democratic candidate for Senate, who hopes to become the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction by appealing to religious voters. "The church advertising has been brilliant," Stephens said. "He presents himself very well."
Stephens was referring to a 30-second television spot that shows Ford strolling through the pews of his childhood church. "Here, I learned the difference between right and wrong," Ford tells the camera, explaining that he is glad his family forced him to worship as a child. "If advertising didn't work, Madison Avenue wouldn't be spending billions of dollars," Stephens said of the ad. "And those folks sitting there listening to Harold Ford sit in the pew and talk about his grandmother taking him to church and all that, I think it can be effective for him."
The church spot is just one part of a campaign by Ford to make his faith a central issue in the campaign, breaking with recent Democratic tradition in the hopes of helping to tip the balance of power in the Senate. On the campaign trail, Ford portrays himself as a moderate, saying he opposes the politics of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, endorses the House Republican immigration plan, and supports a state ban on gay marriage. To prove his point, Ford's get-out-the-vote rallies often double as prayer meetings. During a recent debate with his Republican opponent, former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker, Ford repeatedly asked state residents to give him their prayers along with their votes. On his Web site, under the banner "My Faith Is My Guide," Ford writes that he is running for Senate "to put my faith and beliefs into action."
There are signs that Ford's decision to wear his religion on his sleeve is having an effect. At the end of September, a statewide poll showed that just 47 percent of white evangelicals supported Bob Corker, Ford's Republican opponent, while 28 percent supported Ford and 25 percent were undecided. The poll results broke a long-standing maxim of state politics: Churchgoing whites reflexively side with the Republicans by overwhelming margins. "In the Senate race that pattern is completely gone," said Ken Blake, who oversaw the poll for Middle Tennessee State University. According to Blake, Ford's use of faith has "muddied the waters" for white evangelicals. "It makes them not quite so sure that he is the bad guy and Corker is the good guy." Among all of the state's likely voters, numerous recent polls show that the race remains a statistical dead heat.
Outside the University of Tennessee football game on Saturday, Ford had no problem explaining the inroads he appears to be making among evangelical voters compared to 2004, when he worked on the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who lost the state by double digits. "Kerry and I are very different people," Ford said, as he hurried toward the gates of Neyland Stadium, having arrived at the game against the University of Alabama deep into the second quarter. "I serve a big God, he gives me strength every day, and I go to work. I am not that smart. I don't try to outsmart him. I just go to work every day."
Just hours earlier, Ford's opponent, Corker, had taken direct aim at those bona fides as he worked the crowd of thousands who had gathered in orange T-shirts and parkas to tailgate the game. In the mountainous eastern end of Tennessee, football games at Neyland Stadium have an importance that rivals Sunday church, and come with just as many unique rituals. Grown men dressed in incandescent orange will wait for hours in the hopes of bumping chests with University of Tennessee players as they make their way into the stadium, which has enough seats for 104,000 spectators, or about 60 percent of Knoxville's population. For statewide political candidates, it is not an occasion that can be missed. Both Corker and Ford camps came equipped with signs and stickers. Ford's supporters gave out free chili. Corker's offered bottles of water and candy.
"I am more fully representative of Tennessean values," Corker claimed, as he made his way through the orange-clad masses, with Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator and television actor. "I mean, we are so different on those issues. I mean, it is like worlds apart." A short man with a frenetic need to shake hands, Corker came to politics after making millions in construction and real estate, and has earned the support of many in the business elite and the state party establishment. But along the way he has struggled to shore up the support of the Republican evangelical base, having burned many bridges over his past support for abortion. He is uniquely vulnerable to Ford's attempts to peel off religious voters. "You come across folks who are disenchanted, who feel like they have lost their voice because their candidate wasn't elected," explained Jennifer Little, the first vice chairman of the Hamblen County Republican Party, who is working for Corker's victory. She was referring to the bad blood that remains from Corker's hotly contested Republican primary, in which he beat out two other candidates with superior credentials among the pro-life community, Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary.
In fact, there are clear signs of strife within the state's evangelical base. Tennessee Right to Life, the state's largest pro-life lobby, has declined to endorse Corker because in 1994 he refused to say life begins at conception and in 1995 he opposed a state budget amendment that would have limited state funding for abortions. "That energy certainly is not there for Mr. Corker," said Brian Harris, the organization's president. "I think there is a broad sense that Republicans have squandered the opportunity." But Harris does not stop there. When asked if he is concerned about a Democratic Senate possibly blocking pro-life Supreme Court justices, he said there are risks that the state group will take to stand up for its principles. "I think there could be something gained for the pro-life movement, even if the Republicans have to lose a majority in the House or the Senate," Harris continued. "I think there is going to have to be a lot of work after the election to see if the Reagan coalition can be put back together in Tennessee."
Corker blames his lag in the polls among churchgoers less on his own record than on pressures from outside the state. "The national climate, no doubt, is affecting a lot of things," Corker said, as he walked the crowd. "I would be remiss not to acknowledge that." There is some evidence to back him up. A Newsweek poll last week found that the GOP's religious base is badly eroding outside of Tennessee as well, amid concerns about Iraq and the recent Republican page scandal. Only 60 percent of white evangelicals said they planned to support Republican candidates, down from 74 percent nationwide who supported Bush in 2004. Other national polls by the Pew Research Center have tracked steep declines in evangelical support for Republicans ever since Hurricane Katrina.
The GOP seems to believe that Ford's appeal to its most reliable voters is working. In recent days, the Republican National Committee has attempted to reverse the troubling polls in Tennessee with a television ad that both attacks Ford's religious credentials and invokes that old standby of American politics, racial fear. The ad attempts to tie Ford to pornographers and Playboy playmates based on rather thin circumstantial evidence. The ad also plays on racial prejudices by showing a fictional white woman asking Ford, a bachelor, to call her for a date. The tactic has earned the condemnation of both the NAACP and Corker himself, who claimed he was unable to convince the party to take it down. (An earlier ad by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called "What Kind," attacks Ford over a soundtrack of funk music for a number of votes in Congress.)
The RNC has now announced it will no longer air the Playboy spot, but the message has already sunk in. Ford has been forced to admit attending a 2005 Super Bowl party sponsored by Playboy. At Neyland Stadium, as they waited for their candidate to arrive at the Tennessee game, Ford supporters were taunted by apparently inebriated fans in orange who shouted, "Hugh Hefner and Harold Ford," and "Ford for senator? How about Ford for Playboy?"
For his part, pastor Stephens says he is still skeptical of Ford's message, even as he admires his style. As a policy, Stephens does not endorse any particular candidate, or turn away those parishioners who support Democrats. But he says he has heard from churchgoers about concerns over Ford's record on abortion, which includes several votes against banning so-called partial-birth abortion, a position Ford says he has since abandoned. He also worries that even a conservative Democrat would find himself unable to buck his party on crucial issues in such a polarized political climate. "A senator can't vote his conscience. He's got to vote party line," Stephens said. "That's what is going to hurt Harold Ford Jr."
But those concerns have not stopped Stephens and others from paying attention to Ford's religious message. Blake, the Tennessee pollster, points to recent surveys that describe the large value evangelical voters place on politicians who simply speak about their faith. "What evangelicals really want out of a political leader, in addition to policy, is a leader who will be bold about their faith," he said. In February of 2005, a statewide poll of white evangelicals found that 54 percent believed Bush could increase belief in God around the country, compared to just 37 percent who thought he could end prayer in public schools or 31 percent who believed he could outlaw abortion.
Even if Ford does not win a majority of Tennessee's white evangelical vote in two weeks, he will at least have proved that churchgoing voters are willing to look again at Democratic candidates who are proud of their Christian values, a tidal-wave shift from 2004. "Jesus, he doesn't ride a donkey, nor does he ride an elephant," Stephens explained, adding that he will probably not devote an entire sermon this year to the election. "He just doesn't." For the moment, that may be all Harold Ford Jr. needs to hear.

Cute and Clever Song from Australia

From a dear friend:

This is worth a watch
This clever piece originated in Australia. It's also very informative.

A good pick-me-up:

http://dingo.care-mail.com/cards/flash/5409/galaxy.swf

Rare Gorilla Problem

A small zoo in Oklahoma had a very rare species of gorilla. Within a few weeks the gorilla, a female, became very difficult to handle. Upon examination, the veterinarian determined the problem. The gorilla was in season. To make matters worse, there was no male gorilla available. Thinking about their problem, the Zoo Keeper thought of Bobby Lee Walton, a redneck part-time worker responsible for cleaning the animal cages. Bobby Lee, like most rednecks, had little sense but possessed ample ability to satisfy a female of any species. The Zoo Keeper thought they might have a solution.

Bobby Lee was approached with a proposition. Would he be willing to mate with the gorilla for $500.00? Bobby Lee showed some interest, but said he would have to think the matter over carefully. The following day, he announced that he would accept their offer, but only under four conditions:

1. "First", Bobby Lee said, "I ain't gonna kiss her on the lips." The Keeper quickly agreed to this condition.

2. "Second", he said, "You can't never tell no one about this." The Keeper again readily agreed to this condition.

3. "Third", Bobby Lee said, "I want all the chil'drun raised as Baptist." Once again it was agreed.

4. "And last of all", Bobby Lee stated, "You gotta give me another week to come up with the $500.00

Brain Study Sheds Light on Autism - Forbes.com

More about autism. So much research, there is always hope.
Brain Study Sheds Light on Autism - Forbes.com: "MONDAY, Oct. 16 (HealthDay News) -- In adults with autism, various brain regions do not communicate as efficiently with one another as they do in normal people, U.S. researchers report.

Researchers used high-resolution electroencephalography (EEG) to examine the brains of 36 adults, ages 19 to 38. Half the study volunteers had autism. The researchers focused on connections in the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that deals with higher cognitive processes.

The study found that the volunteers with autism had abnormalities, including both over- and under-connectivity between neurons in different parts of the cortex.

'Our findings indicate adults with autism show differences in coordinated neural activity, which implies poor internal communication between the parts of the brain,' study leader and postdoctoral researcher Michael Murias said in a prepared statement.

These abnormal brain patterns are a potential biomarker of autism and may help define the major characteristics of the disorder, Murias said. It may also be possible to use EEG to detect autism in young children, the researchers said. Early detection is crucial in providing interventions for the disorder.

The findings were presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, in Atlanta.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about autism."

Progress

Barbara got a phone call from a family friend from church who is a real champion for John. She is also a pediatrician so she has been professionally very handy also. She knows about John's new treatment, she came by a few days ago and checked out his new medications.

Apparently they have made John a part of their regular family prayer. The youngest child asked after prayer one night how long they were going to be praying for John. She didn't know how long it would be before we saw results so she called to ask. I was really touched that they would include him in their prayers. Very considerate people.

I guess I have become so used to not getting any support from my ward that this kind of took me by surprise. Very grateful.

Many years ago when John first went through auditory training we asked the bishopric if we could be included in the ward's monthly fast and we were turned down. I guess it is stupid to nurse a grudge that long. For whatever reason the bishop at the time left it up to one of his strange counselors.

Sunday

A couple of things. First I have been on a steroid dose pack for the last few days and my sciatic nerve isn't bothering me quite so much, but I have been eating like there is no tomorrow.

Second, I have been listening to what John says much more attentively and have noticed that he is putting words together a little differently. Today at Frys he said "Baby is crying" instead of his usual "Baby cries."


This the stuff that drives me nuts. I don't know if things are changing for John or if I am just trying to see things that aren't there. I have to keep remembering "One day at a time" to get through this.

In years past I would have probably asked people to pray that this work or would suggest he get a priesthood blessing from his general authority uncle. I guess with experience we have lowered expectations. It is either going to work or it isn't.

Truthdig - Reports - Molly Ivins: Dear Leaders

I have been reading Molly for more years than I care to remember. She had GW figured out years ago.

Truthdig - Reports - Molly Ivins: Dear Leaders: "Always a top diplomat. But I warn you, when Bush makes reference of this, as in “my gut tells me,” we are in big trouble. By any measure, North Korea continued to be more dangerous than Iraq.
I don’t see how this mess can be blamed on anyone but Bush, but I notice that a few Republicans have dragged out the shade of Bill Clinton because he tried to deal with North Korea. I would have thought there wasn’t much water left in that bogeyman, but I guess he is the straw man for all seasons among Republicans. Why doesn’t someone on Fox News ask him about it?
Meanwhile, our fiendishly clever president has dragged his daddy’s old family consigliore, James Baker, out of retirement to think of something to do about Iraq. A three-part partition is mentioned. History Professor Juan Cole on his blog explains why that’s a disaster, but I suspect that’s where the poor Iraqis end up anyway, followed by war with Turkey and Saudi Arabia. "

War Room - Salon.com

I guess I should be surprised but I am not. Church for fun and profit. And votes apparently.
War Room - Salon.com: "If the Republicans were losing the religious right already, this certainly isn't going to help: David Kuo, who worked as second in command in George W. Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, is out with a new book in which he says that Bush administration officials shined on the faithful for political gain.

As 'Countdown' producer Jonathan Larsen reports, Kuo says that top evangelical leaders were known as 'nuts' in Karl Rove's office. 'National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as 'ridiculous,' 'out of control,' and just plain 'goofy,'' Kuo writes.

Goofy, but useful. Kuo says that RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, who was then Bush's political director, used the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives to sponsor 'nonpartisan' events that were, in fact, designed to motivate religious voters in close congressional races. 'Ken loved the idea and gave us our marching orders,' Kuo writes."

The all-time worst president | Salon.com

The all-time worst president | Salon.com:

Look around today and you will find the Viking descendants, a calm and stoical and somewhat formal people, by and large, not given to extremes of fashion or chanting "We're Number One" or writing memoirs that hang out the family underwear. Walter Mondale is pretty much the prototype. He lost the presidency by one of the biggest landslides in history to an aging actor whose grip on reality, never firm to begin with, was becoming hallucinatory. Mr. Reagan was sort of the Columbus of our time, a better P.R. man than sailor, but so be it. Mr. Mondale is a buoyant man with a sense of humor who enjoys his life in Minnesota, where people are happy to see him, and when you do, you see that losing is far from the worst thing that can happen to a man. Far from it.

What's worse is the likely fate of the Current Occupant, who is contending with Pierce, Buchanan and Warren G. Harding for the title of All-Time Worst President. He's got a good shot at the title if only because he's had so much more to be worst with. (Any young persons who have been inspired by Mr. Bush to take up public service should be watched very closely.)

I propose that we change Columbus Day to Bush Day, a cautionary holiday, like Halloween, a day to meditate on the hazards of ambition. We could observe it by going through the basement and garage and throwing out stuff we don't want or need. Also by not mortgaging the house to pay for a vacation, and not yelling at the neighbors, and not assuming that the law is for other people. A day to honor kindness, industriousness and modesty

CDC Plans Largest-Ever Study on Autism

Associated Press
October 7, 2006 12:13 a.m.

ATLANTA -- The largest federal study to date into the causes of autism was
announced Friday -- a multi-state investigation that will involve 2,700
young children.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and five other research
centers will study the youngsters over five years. The research is designed
to ferret out any genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to
autism.



"The CDC hasn't funded a study like this [before]," said Diana Schendel, the
CDC lead health scientist who is overseeing the Georgia research.

But some parents of autistic children say the CDC -- which promotes
childhood vaccinations -- is not interested in fully exploring vaccinations
as a potential cause.

"We don't want the CDC to do anything. We don't trust them," said Wendy
Fournier, president of the National Autism Association.

Autism is a complex disorder usually not diagnosed in children until after
age 3. Symptoms can include repetitive behaviors such as head-banging,
avoiding physical or eye contact with others, and communicating with
gestures rather than words.

In 2000, Congress directed federal health officials to increase research
into autism. The law prompted a series of CDC studies, including prevalence
research released in May that found 300,000 U.S. children have been
diagnosed with autism.

The new study will recruit 900 children diagnosed with autism, 900 with
undefined or other developmental problems, and 900 randomly selected
youngsters.

Those studied will be ages 2 to 5, in part because health records and
memories will be more complete, Dr. Schendel said.

That decision will limit the study's ability to assess the past impact of
vaccinations that contain the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, she
acknowledged. Since 2001, thimerosal has been removed from shots recommended
for young children.

Ms. Fournier's group suspects that ingredient is a leading cause of the
disorder, although past research suggests it is not.

Researchers will examine the medical records of the children and their
parents, and will take cheek swabs and blood and hair samples, Dr. Schendel
said.

The CDC awarded the other participating institutions $5.9 million for the
study. They are the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute in California, the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Johns Hopkins
University in Maryland, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
the University of Pennsylvania.

Until Friday's announcement, the largest federal study to focus specifically
on autism's causes was research sponsored by the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, looking at 1,000 California children ages 2
to 5. That study is still in progress.

Sciatic nerve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sciatic nerve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The sciatic nerve is a large nerve that runs down the lower limb. It is the longest single nerve in the body. Pain caused by a compressed or damaged sciatic nerve is called sciatica."

I went to visit my orthopod today and had x-rays taken. When I was recovering from my broken pelvis some 32 years ago they told me that I might have some residual pain when I got older. Since I didn't really expect to age back when I was in my 20s I didn't pay much attention. Now that I am half way through my 50s I realize that time marches on for all of us.

Anyhow, I have been in pretty severe pain the last several weeks. My doctor thinks I may being having problem with my Sciatic nerve. Who knew?

Me and Baby Harris

Nice surprise to see this pic, haven't seen it before. Such a gorgeous grandson even then. Even then he had more hair than his grandpa.

This picture was taken a couple of months after Harris was born. My first visit with my first grandchild. I do wish I could see my grandsons more often though.

Can't win for losing

Click the link to visit Tom Tomorrow's blog.

I relate - bald moments

Funniest Video Ever

Every parent (my dad will be quick to point out I was the kid in that video also) has been there.

Is the Bush administration manipulating oil prices to win elections? By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine

I am not much on conspiracy theories but I thought this was interesting. I was in the break room at work and overheard something on Fox News saying that there was absolutely no relationship between gas prices and the upcoming election. So, there might be something to the theory after all.

Is the Bush administration manipulating oil prices to win elections? By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine: "The 2006 theories are more subtle. The administration has taken steps recently to remove a marginal, but important, buyer from the marketplace. After having delayed the summer's deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the fall, the Wall Street Journal Monday reported that, 'The Energy Department will hold off purchases of oil for the government's emergency reserve through the upcoming winter.'

And then there's the strange case of how Goldman Sachs, the investment firm formerly run by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, this summer shifted the weighting of gasoline in the Goldman Sachs Commodities Index in such a way that forced investors to dump speculative positions in gasoline, hence pushing down prices. It's a convoluted story, but this article from last Friday's New York Times lays it out pretty well. (Blogger Tim Iacono makes the case here, and University of California, San Diego, economist James Hamilton provides his own description and debunking here.)"

Miracle drug of anger | Salon.com

Thank you Garrison.

Miracle drug of anger | Salon.com: "Five vexations. There are others. Pick up a newspaper and read about Congress and you will find yourself yelling at walls and terrifying the cat. Last week, Congress moved to suspend habeas corpus, one thing that distinguishes a civil society from a police state. Reaction was muted.

Then the Party of Family Values was revealed to have protected a sexual predator in its midst until finally a reporter asked some pointed questions and the honorable gentleman resigned and ran off to recovery camp: This level of hypocrisy takes a person's breath away. You thought that Abramoff, Norquist, Reed & DeLay had established new lows, but the elevator is still descending.

The power of righteous vexation is what keeps so many old Democrats hanging on in nursing homes long past the time they should have kicked off. Ancient crones from FDR's time are still walking the halls, kept alive by anger at what has been done to our country. Old conservationists, feminists, grizzled veterans of the civil rights era fight off melanoma, emphysema, Montezuma, thanks to the miracle drug of anger. Slackers and cynics abound, not to mention nihilists in golf pants and utter idiots. Time to clean some clocks. As Frost might have written, 'The woods are lovely, dark and thick. But I have many butts to kick and some to poke and just one stick.'"

This Mom Wants Tony Snow Fired

As Spock from Star Trek would say, fascinating. I am sure the demos will manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory once again, but it is nice on the warm October evening to at least hope for a big change next month.

By my mother calculations...Foley's investigation, prosecution, etc. should cost this country at least triple. I mean...we're talking about kids here. We're talking about protecting our kids, right? If you spent millions on the Lewinsky/Clinton affair, surely you'll spend millions MORE on something involving participants that are UNDER age. Because I know, in my heart, you moral Republicans will take care of my family, right? You'll make sure that MY family and this country's children are taken care of...at least more than some consenting tryst between adults, right? You've certainly been protecting my family and me like crazy against that gay marriage thing. Lord knows if the gays marry, my family will fall apart. So certainly, you'll protect my wee little offspring from predator Congressmen with a knack for inappropriate behavior around pages, right?

Murdocks And Sons: General Conference

Murdocks And Sons: General Conference: "You will often hear people talking about how they play for God or implying that God wanted their team to win or something along those lines and Elder Eyring played off of that in his talk. He said that in 20 years you won't remember the score of a Teacher's quorum game but if you include someone who wouldn't otherwise have been they will remember that and you will all remember whose team it was."

I wrote a comment but it didn't take so I will post it here.

And no one will care about this but me, but one of the reasons I took a vacation from church when I was a teenager was because of church basketball. Back in my day a good youth team could make it to all church playoffs. Basketball was taken very seriously, so me and my less athletic friends would spend the evening watching Star Trek.

I still think that Eyring missed the point. Not every kid aspires to play on the teacher's quorum basketball team, whether or not they play well. For a lot of men of my aquaintance, that was the first clue that they did not fit and there was no place in the church for them. Apparently to make it to the celestial kingdom one needs to have a love and talent for basketball. Otherwise, why would all of the chapels come equiped with basketball courts.

Feel free to delete this comment if you like James.

Me and John

Barbara is off to Salt Lake City for a long weekend of General Conference and family. On Saturday she and her sisters are throwing a baby shower for one her nieces between sessions of conference. Should be a busy day at the Walkers.

John and I are on our regular routine during her absence. We have already been to the mall today and made purchases at the regular stores. I like shopping with John, we go into the store, he finds what he likes, and is ready to go. For instance, at the GAP today he found two new shirts that were on sale. We were in and out in less than five minutes.



I doubt if anyone actually reads my blog, and if they do if they click on the read more link.

I think a lot of people feel sorry for me when I am alone with John, but I actually enjoy the experience. For some reason he is much easier to handle when the two of us are alone. No head banging, crying fits or public displays. We had dinner last night at IHOP and had an enjoyable dinner. It helps that our favorite server has switched over to evenings on the weekend, we might end up there again tonight.

We are totally accepting of each other, faults and all. Plus we never have to worry about keeping our end of a conversation, so we both are alone in our thoughts a lot.

It hasn't always been this way. I don't if it was because of the times I was raised, or the influence of the church where you always had to look good and in control, but the first several years with John were a real challenge. I still have nightmares of trying to keep John quiet at church. I would take him out during services and walk him up and down the hall. Invariably someone from another ward would come out and tell us to be quiet. I would then end up taking him for rides until church was over. As time went on, it was just easier to stay home from church.

One year Christmas fell on a Sunday and I thought it would be nice for the entire family to go to church. I figured that we could keep John under control for an hour service. We sat down, and John started getting noisy. A man a few rows in front of us turned around and gave us the evil eye. Barbara took John out and they tried to get the nursery open so he could play during church. Being Christmas, the classroom doors were locked, so I ended up driving John around in the van looking for something that was open while he screamed. We went back to church when services were supposed to be over. We ended up waiting in the van in the cold for another 30 minutes because the speaker decided that the best way to spend Christmas for was for him to talk. It didn't occur to anyone in my family to leave even though we were waiting outside.

I guess I sound bitter. The last straw was when Barbara was called to be the Relief Society president in our ward. The bishopric called me in to get permission. I told them that they could call her but that meant I would not longer be able to attend church. They said they could live with that.

The bishop was later excommunicated and one of the counsels a few years later shot himself in the head when he had been stopped by police. It turns out that he was a collector of child porn.

I belonged to a men's therapy group, and among other issues I worked on dealing with being the parent of a child with autism. One week I brought John in, thinking that one session with John present would be worth many hours of explanation. It was a turning point for me. First, the group told me how much they liked John. Second, they told me that they thought I was doing a great job with him.  That was a very big contradiction from what I had been hearing from people at church, and from family members. To be fair, it was what I was hearing, not necessarily what was being said.

Another turning point was when I started taking John to church at University Baptist Church here in Austin. For decades they have had a mission of reaching out to everyone. I had mentioned to the associate pastor that John and I were not comfortable attending services in our own church, and she insisted that we bring him to services there. Over the next couple of weeks, countless members of the congregation and all of the ministers made a point of welcoming us to the services. The funny thing is that for the most part John was, for lack of a better phrase, very reverent in the services.

If anyone is actually reading this, especially members of the church, I hope I haven't offended you.  But these are my experiences.  I suppose a better person would have found a way to stay active in the church.

According to LDS thelogy, when we are all gone John will be among those in the celestial kingdom.  I guess my mission in life is to take care of him while I can and hope that he visits me in one of the lesser kingdoms from time to time.

With the Party of Dobson

Another example of the wit and wisdom of Dr. James Dobson.

With the Party of Dobson: "But as Allen sought to dampen the public controversy over his mishandling of his Jewish heritage, his association with these 'Four Horsemen' simply called attention to Dobson's and Perkins's problematic utterances. Dobson's Focus on the Family, for example, published an article in its Citizen magazine last February attacking the parents of federal judge Stephen Reinhardt (whose step-grandfather was a Holocaust survivor) for telling their son 'tales of horrific violence' about the Holocaust 'that lacked the redemptive power of Christ's atonement.' The Anti-Defamation League has repeatedly condemned Wildmon for his conspiratorial diatribes against 'secular Jews.' And Perkins, for his part, paid $82,500 to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke for his phone-bank list and then spoke at a 2001 fundraiser for the Council of Conservative Citizens, America's largest white supremacist organization. (When I asked Perkins about his links to Duke and the CCC, he replied tersely, 'There are no links.')"

Picture show | Salon.com

Picture show | Salon.com:

Another great column from Garrison Keeler.

But the camera can be fearfully truthful. Look at the picture of the Current Occupant, reading a speech to the troops at Camp Pendleton, wearing a zip-up jacket with little epaulets on the shoulders, a presidential seal sewn on the right breast, and on the left breast the words "George W. Bush, Commander in Chief." Is this for his benefit or that of the troops? No president ever needed to wear a name tag before. He is the first. Insecurity is written all over him. Look at Dick Cheney. No need for a name tag there.

Clinton vs. Bush: A foolish fight for the GOP to pick

There is a disturbingly strong willingness on the part of many Bush supporters to refuse to recognize even indisputable facts if those facts undermine their desire to believe that something is true. That is how, to cite just a few examples, they continue to believe that things are going well in Iraq, that Saddam Hussein really did have WMD, and that their unpopular views on war and terrorism are shared by a majority of Americans. But it is difficult to recall anything that more vividly illustrates this fact-denying dynamic than the reaction of Bush supporters to Bill Clinton's now-famous interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace.

One right-w festivals, Snowdown in the ...


Dodge - Durango
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The terrorists have won

This American Life - Autism story

A difficult segment for me to listen to. See act two below.

Stories of unconditional love between parents and children, and how hard love can be sometimes in daily practice.
Prologue. Hard as it is to believe, during the early twentieth century, a whole school of mental health professionals decided that unconditional love was a terrible thing to give a child. The government printed pamphlets warning mothers against the dangers of holding their kids. The head of the American Psychological Association and even a mothers' organization endorsed the position that mothers were dangerous – until psychologist Harry Harlow set out to prove them wrong, with a series of experiments with monkeys. Ira talks with Deborah Blum, author of Love at Goon Park, a biography of Harlow. (10 minutes)

Act One. Love is a Battlefield. Alix Spiegel tells the story of a couple, Heidi and Rick Solomon, who adopt a son who was raised in terrible circumstances in a Romanian orphanage, unable to feel attachments to anyone, and what they do about it. (27 minutes)
Song: "Loveless Town," Sarah Blust

Act Two. Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Dave Royko talks about the decision he and his wife faced recently about his autistic son's future, and whether he should continue to live with the family. (19 minutes)

Five years later, Richards' reflections ring true

Interesting article from today's Austin American Statesman.

"It's the first thing I thought of. The very first thing," Richards told "Eklektikos" host John Aielli that day. "This thing, (this attack), is so awful, so anxious-making, it's going to be used to (do) some things people would have liked to have gotten done a long time ago. That is: to be able to do wiretaps at will, to be able to interfere with immigration. They're going to be questioning a lot of people because of the color of their skin, or their national origin.

"Yeah, that worries me to death. I think we need to be super vigilant that we do not destroy the very tenants that this country was created for."

Just eight weeks after the attacks, Richards was thinking about what many Americans are discussing today — a governmental wiretap policy, the longterm effects of the Patriot Act, the right of Americans to speak freely in dissent.

Ann Richards and guns

One of the points in the earlier post didn't ring true so I did some research and found the following article. I clearly remember seeing pictures of Ann Richards going dove hunting.

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/siva/archives/003539.html

I learned something new about the late Gov Richards...

Then came the anti-gun stuff. Of course, the smear machine contended, what else would this drug-addicted, feminist do, if elected, but take away Bubba's guns. So, on Labor Day 1990, capital press corps in tow, Ann Richards trekked into East Texas to a lease rented by a state senator to put everyone's mind at ease by killing some birds.

It was a charade, and everyone including Ann knew it. But she never complained. She was in the race to win, and she embraced it every day, one day at a time. Whatever came her way, she did what she had to do.

I wasn't along on that trip, but it has been recounted hundreds of times. Celia Morris gives a great recap of it in her book, "Storming the Statehouse: Running for Governor with Ann Richards and Dianne Feinstein."

The hunt was successful, meaning Ann actually fired the gun and didn't shoot anyone; she wore the appropriate clothes and refrained from doing anything too feminine like giggling. The Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston television stations showed film of the trip, and the statewide papers wrote it up dutifully.

Later in the day, something much more important happened. Something that told many of us much more about how tough Ann Richards was than whether she could fire a gun. A woman who later became a judge in Dallas County told me about this much later in casual conversation.

The last stop Richards made that day was at a mega flea market near the tiny town of Canton. Ann and the group were drawing a crowd that kept growing as they walked though the cars and tables shaking hands with voters.

As always, young girls flocked to see her. At one point she stopped to talk to them. Ann told the girls – about a dozen of them, all grade school age - that she had been Dove hunting; and that afterward, she had cleaned a few birds. One of the girls asked, "Cleaned the birds?"

Ann said something like, "Yeah, after you kill the birds, you have to pluck out all the feathers. Then, you cut them under their rib cage and stick your hand in there and pull out all the guts, so you can cook them."

The girls let out a near simultaneous cry of "EWWWWWWWWWWWWW. EWWWWW. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW."

Then came the Richards magic, as always at the most unexpected moment. Dropping to one knee, looking them in the eye, Ann responded. "EWWWWWWWW???!?! EWWWWWW?????!?"

She paused. Then, the silver-haired, bee-hived grandmother in hunting fatigues told these girls something she wanted them to remember all their lives. Ann wasn't sure if she was going to win that race, so she wanted every moment to count.

"Well," she said slowly, lovingly, "if you can't put your hand in the EWWWWWW, you can't be governor."

And she stood up, put her arms behind two of the girls and kept walking. Right into the history books.

Ann Richards on How to Be a Good Republican:

From Rosie O'Donnell's blog. Remember when she used to be nice? I like her better this way.
No telling if Ann Richards actually ever said this though. I do remember that she was someone who would go hunting for instance.

1. You have to believe that the nation's current 8-year prosperity was due to the work of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but yesterday's gasoline prices are all Clinton's fault.

2. You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own.

3. You have to be against all government programs, but expect Social Security checks on time.

4. You have to believe that AIDS victims deserve their disease, but smokers with lung cancer and overweight individuals with heart disease don't deserve theirs.

5. You have to appreciate the power rush that comes with sporting a gun.

6. You have to believe…everything Rush Limbaugh says.

7. You have to believe that the agricultural, restaurant, housing and hotel industries can survive without immigrant labor.

8. You have to believe God hates homosexuality, but loves the death penalty.

9. You have to believe society is color-blind and growing up black in America doesn't diminish your opportunities, but you still won't vote for Alan Keyes.

10. You have to believe that pollution is OK as long as it makes a profit.

11. You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to Allah or Buddha.

12. You have to believe Newt Gingrich and Henry Hyde were really faithful husbands.

13. You have to believe speaking a few Spanish phrases makes you instantly popular in the barrio.

14. You have to believe that only your own teenagers are still virgins.

15. You have to be against government interference in business, until your oil company, corporation or Savings and Loan is about to go broke and you beg for a government bail out.

16. You love Jesus and Jesus loves you and, by the way, Jesus shares your hatred for AIDS victims, homosexuals, and President Clinton.

17. You have to believe government has nothing to do with providing police protection, national defense, and building roads.

18. You have to believe a poor, minority student with a disciplinary history and failing grades will be admitted into an elite private school with a $1,000 voucher.

Great expectations | Salon.com

Great expectations | Salon.com: "But the deeper truth is that Clinton's tireless worldwide outreach to the business, nonprofit and government sectors -- many of whose most important players showed up for the second CGI gathering this week -- represents a profound rebuke to the policies and priorities of the Bush administration. That became obvious on the morning after the first lady's appearance, when Clinton introduced Richard Branson to make an extraordinary promise. Over the next 10 years, Virgin Airlines and Virgin Rail will devote all corporate profits, estimated at $3 billion, to research and investment in technologies that have the potential to mitigate global warming"

War Room - Salon.com

War Room - Salon.com: "Clinton on Clinton, the war and Karl Rove

David Remnick profiles Bill Clinton in this week's New Yorker. You'll have to kill a tree or two to read the entire 23-page production, but a press release from the magazine offers up some of the choicest bits from the former president:

On his role in his wife's presidential campaign: 'If she decides that's what she wants to do, I'll be for it, and I'll work for it, and I know what the deal is.'

On whether he'll be a negative factor: 'Only if people thought she wouldn't be her own person, and I don't think that will be a problem.'

On upstaging Hillary at the funeral of Coretta Scott King: 'I read about that, and I said, 'Hillary, if we both spoke at the Wellesley reunion, you'd probably get a better reception.' I said, 'You can't pay any attention to this.' I said, 'This is my life. I grew up in these churches ... You don't have to be better at this than me. You got to be better than whoever.''

On Democrats, like Hillary, who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq: 'This deal with Iraq makes me want to throw up. I'm sick and tired of being told that if you voted for authorization you voted for the war. It was a mistake, and I would have made it, too.'

On the Bush administration's plan for 'postwar' Iraq: 'The sort of thing two students of international relations could have thrown together in forty-five minutes. They were arrogant. They thought it would be easy, and they thought there would be no terrorism, that everyone would be on their side.'

On Democratic losses in 2000 and 2004: 'I'm sick of Karl Rove's bullshit.'"

Fine dining at IHOP

Had a milestone of sorts tonight. I had dinner with a friend and took advantage of the senior citizen early bird special tonight, I got my entree for free. I felt funny about it so I tipped the server the difference.

I saw the son of one of the servers I have know for years. The kid is cute, around 3, and is a failure to thrive kid. The server told his wife that I am an inspiration because of the way I handle John. Nice to be an inspiration to someone. For me it is the opposite, I am not a waiter making minimum wage and tips so it is much easier to provide for John and the rest of my family than it is for him.

I guess we all have our own challenges, some of which are self inflicted.

No Spinach

I eat a lot of fresh spinach so I am having trouble with the current embargo. Don't want to get sick of course.

AlterNet: Remembering Ann Richards

I am really going to miss Ann Richards. I saw her in person twice, once flying in coach a few rows ahead of me on a flight from Phoniex to Austin (you could not miss her white hair), and another time standing behind her at the concession stand at a local movie theater.
AlterNet: Remembering Ann Richards:

At a long-ago political do at Scholz Garten in Austin, everybody who was anybody was there meetin' and greetin' at a furious pace. A group of us got the tired feet and went to lean our butts against a table at the back wall of the bar. Perched like birds in a row were Bob Bullock, then state comptroller, moi, Charles Miles, the head of Bullock's personnel department, and Ms. Ann Richards. Bullock, 20 years in Texas politics, knew every sorry, no good sumbitch in the entire state. Some old racist judge from East Texas came up to him, "Bob, my boy, how are you?"

Bullock said, "Judge, I'd like you to meet my friends: This is Molly Ivins with the Texas Observer."

The judge peered up at me and said, "How yew, little lady?"

Bullock, "And this is Charles Miles, the head of my personnel department." Miles, who is black, stuck out his hand, and the judge got an expression on his face as though he had just stepped into a fresh cowpie. He reached out and touched Charlie's palm with one finger, while turning eagerly to the pretty, blonde, blue-eyed Ann Richards. "And who is this lovely lady?"

Ann beamed and replied, "I am Mrs. Miles."

One of the most moving memories I have of Ann is her sitting in a circle with a group of prisoners. Ann and Bullock had started a rehab program in prisons, the single most effective thing that can be done to cut recidivism (George W. Bush later destroyed the program). The governor of Texas looked at the cons and said, "My name is Ann, and I am an alcoholic."

From my dad

Montana Cowboy

Montana Cowboy A Montana cowboy was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy,

"If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany . Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored.

He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the cowboy.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give my back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government", says the cowboy.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a herd of sheep.

Now give me back my dog

Murdocks Blog Across America: John's school picture

Murdocks Blog Across America: John's school picture

Ten reasons we already miss Ann Richards

Was sad to hear this morning that Gov Richards had passed away.

Ann Richards, the famously silver-tongued and silver-haired former governor of Texas, died Wednesday from complications of esophageal cancer. She was 73. Here's just some of what we'll remember and miss about her:

1. Richards used her wit not only to disarm her political opponents but to encourage other women to get into politics: "Let me tell you, sisters, seeing dried egg on a plate in the morning is a lot dirtier than anything I've had to deal with in politics," she said.

2. As a homemaker raising four kids, Richards became politically involved by volunteering on campaigns, including helping elect Sarah Weddington, the 25-year-old lawyer who had successfully argued Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court, to the Texas House. Richards called Weddington the first "out-and-out feminist activist" she'd ever met, according to the Washington Post.

3. Two years after undergoing rehab for alcoholism in 1982, Richards was elected state treasurer, making her the first woman elected to a statewide post in Texas in 50 years. Of her return from addiction, she said: "I believe in recovery, and I believe that as a role model I have the responsibility to let young people know that you can make a mistake and come back from it."

4. When Richards gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1988 -- where she zinged the elder George Bush -- "Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth" -- she also reminded the audience that she was only the second woman to give the keynote address at the convention in 160 years. The first was Barbara Jordan.

5. Richards may have lost her reelection bid to George W. Bush in 1994, but she beat another rich Texas oilman in her first governor's race: Clayton "Claytie" Williams, who during the campaign compared rape to the weather: "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it." That race was dubbed a match between "Claytie and the Lady," in which "the Lady" prevailed by a narrow margin. Sixty-one percent of women voters supported her, and she became the second woman ever to be governor of Texas.

6. As a feminist, Richards championed ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in Texas. She led workshops for women campaign managers and political candidates before being elected to office herself. When she became the first woman in half a century to serve as governor, she celebrated by holding up a T-shirt that showed the State Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome."

7. As governor, Richards made it a priority to appoint more women, African-Americans and Hispanics to state boards than any previous Texas governor. Before she left office in 1995, she said: "I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone.'" According to KWTX-TV she appointed "the first black University of Texas regent; the first crime victim to join the state Criminal Justice Board; the first disabled person to serve on the human services board; and the first teacher to lead the State Board of Education."

8. For her 60th birthday, Richards got a license to ride a motorcycle.

9. Late in life, Richards continued her advocacy for reproductive freedom. Appearing at a pro-choice rally in Austin in 2003, she denounced the influence of "a small group of religious right-wingers" on the Bush administration's policies and on Texas' abstinence-only sex education programs. One of her daughters, Cecile Richards, is now president of Planned Parenthood.

10. In her later years, Richards established the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, which will open in 2007. Her family requests that memorial gifts be made to the school, through the Austin Community Foundation.

There'll never be another Ann Richards, but here's hoping her school graduates generations of her successors.

-- Katharine Mieszkowski

Quote of the day

I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.
- Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

Salon: Allen: My heart is pure (and sorry about that Confederate flag thing)

Gee, how could anyone take offense about the Confederate flag? This guy wants to be president, and hey, if GWB can do it, why not Allen?

Fresh off his "Ethnic Rally," Virginia Sen. George Allen told an audience of educators from historically black colleges Tuesday that he's sorry for his "macaca" moment and that he understands now -- he didn't before -- why his embrace of the Confederate flag might be a problem in the minds of African-Americans and others.

Allen used to keep Confederate flags in his home and in his office. He sported one on his lapel in college, and he included one in his first TV campaign ad. But as the Virginian-Pilot reports, Allen says now that he should have realized long ago that his embrace of the flag sent a message -- even if he didn't mean it to. "The point is, symbols matter, they should matter, and this is something that I wish I learned a lot earlier," Allen said. "Even if your heart is pure, the things you say and do and the symbols you use do matter because of the way others may take them."

Among the things that Allen has said and done? Aside from hanging a noose in this office and buddying up with the modern-day equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan, he opposed both the 1991 Civil Rights Act and the idea of a holiday commemorating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. It seems that Allen didn't mention any of that in his speech Tuesday. What he did say: Calling S.R. Sidarth "macaca" came in a "careless moment" when "I fell short of my own standards, of my own positive way of living and what I strive and aspire to be."

Coming soon for the senator: "George Allen's 11th Annual Hoe Down," where $5,000 will make you a "Ranch Boss" and get you and your guests into a private reception with Allen and talk-show host Laura Ingraham, who plugs the event in an interview with Allen over what sounds like the first few notes of "Dueling Banjos."

Guns on a plane | Salon.com

Another gem from Garrison Keillor.

Guns on a plane | Salon.com: "The way to stop terrorists on planes is to encourage passengers to bring loaded firearms aboard: guys in orange vests sitting in exit rows with deer rifles on their laps, ladies with Mr. Colt in their purses, kids with peashooters. Somebody wake up the NRA. Does the Second Amendment say 'The right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed except on commercial airliners'? Where is the right wing when you really need them?"

How bad is he? | Salon News

How bad is he? | Salon News: "Bush ran as a moderate, tacked right and governed ineffectually -- before 9/11. Since then he's become the most radical American president in history -- and arguably the worst."

Widow's Pique

Sometimes I wonder if she makes this stuff up. With friends like this, who need enemies?

Widow's Pique: "Dear Miss Manners:

A woman I thought was my friend lost her husband about two months ago. They had tickets to an event I was dying to see, but we just didn't have the connections she did, I guess.

Then after Tony died I figured she wouldn't be going. I called her and told her I knew it wouldn't be the same going by herself so, rather than waste the tickets, my George has a tuxedo. She seemed to appreciate my offer and said, 'And you are volunteering George?'

I went to a lot of trouble to get ready. I had my hair, nails and everything done. George rented a tux. When we went by her place to pick up the tickets, there she was in an evening dress. She thought I was going to let her date my husband!

Instead of saying she was sorry for the mix-up, she said that since she was going to be putting the extra ticket at the box office in case somebody needed it, she'd better leave. Then she put us out the door.

George says the polite thing would have been to let him just escort her. HA! I know how widows are. Inasmuch as she didn't have the good grace to let us use the tickets after we went to so much trouble, don't you think she owes us for all the preparations we made? I was so disappointed that I didn't get to attend this event.

Somebody here should be saying, 'And I thought she was my friend!' Miss Manners is only surprised to hear that it is you.

Ah, but you say that you know how widows are. They are reclusive, so that you can safely assume that they want to be left out of things, and so befuddled that it should be easy to pluck what you want from them. At the same time, they are so predatory that husbands cannot be trusted in their company.

Even words do not deter you. Any sensible person would interpret what you said as a kind offer to have your husband escort your friend to the event and your answer to her question as a confirmation. But then you also stated that your husband owns evening clothewhen he does not.

Now your idea is to dun the lady for money to assuage your suffering. Miss Manners would not advise this. Not all widows are helpless."

The Ethicist - New York Times

Interesting. This is one of the columns I read every week.

The Ethicist - New York Times: "Once a week I pick up donated bakery items and deliver them to the food bank to be distributed to needy families. One morning I helped myself to a box of doughnuts. The following week I took some cookies for my grandson; then it was a pecan pie, etc. Is this wrong? There seems to be plenty of food for the needy. Marjorie S. Desimone, Lansdowne, VA.

I see where this is going: first you swipe a few doughnuts, then it’s a whole pie and before you know it you’re shooting it out with the cops at a Sara Lee factory. It’s an old, old story. Here’s one way to think about it. Suppose you were collecting cash for this same charity: would you help yourself to a few bucks if there were still “plenty” for the needy? If it’s wrong to take a wad of $10 bills, why is it right to take a wad of doughnuts? (Do they come by the wad?) I admire your work for the food bank, but you should stop skimming pastry.

Here’s another way to think about it: If you didn’t know the answer, you wouldn’t have asked the question. It is often said that if you feel uneasy about your conduct, you’re probably doing wrong. But is that so? The proddings of the conscience are unreliable. Some people have a hypersensitive conscience and feel guilty about nearly everything. (Hence all those jokes that, in different versions, Jews and Catholics tell about themselves.) Other people do appalling things and sleep through the night untroubled. There’s no consistent calibration of the conscience; feelings are not a reliable substitute for thought. That’s why therapists flourish. And columnists proffering ethical advice."

Some facts about hybrid automobiles

Saw this in the local paper today. I didn't know the second item, about the airconditioning being different.

• The gas engines shut down when the vehicle stops to conserve fuel and restart when the driver's foot leaves the brake.
• They use electric instead of gas engine-driven air conditioning compressors to save fuel and maintain cooling when the engine shuts off at traffic lights.
• The feel of the brakes is like driving into a deep puddle of water. That's because activating the brakes also engages an electric generator in which magnets provide resistance when the brake pedal is depressed or the vehicle coasts.
• The nickel-metal hydride battery packs and their cooling systems steal space from the trunks of hybrid cars. The Camry Hybrid has a 30 percent smaller trunk than the conventional Camry, and the Civic has a 33 percent smaller trunk.

War Room - Salon.com: This just in: No evidence of Saddam-al-Qaida ties

War Room - Salon.com: "This just in: No evidence of Saddam-al-Qaida ties

It's old news to those who've been paying attention, and it will probably never sink in for those who haven't: The Senate Intelligence Committee announced today that there's no evidence that Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaida or to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before the United States invaded Iraq.

The revelation, such as it is, comes in a nearly 400-page report on a portion of the Intelligence Committee's investigation into prewar intelligence and the manipulation thereof. As the length of the report suggests, there is a good deal of new detail here. Among other things, the report reveals for the first time that a CIA assessment in October 2005 concluded that Saddam 'did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi and his associates.'"

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Rumor once was spread by word of mouth. Now, it's done on the Internet, much faster and more damaging. It's a shame that we have come to the point that before we can believe the best or the worst of anyone we have to go to Google or Yahoo to see if there's a grain of truth in the report. Too many people don't go to the trouble to separate lies from legends before passing them on." -- A.C. Snow, columnist

Salon quote of the day

Quote of the Day

"Did you tell her I intend to kick his sorry mother fucking ass all over the Mideast?" -- George W. Bush, when told in May 2002 that Helen Thomas was questioning the need to overthrow Saddam Hussein. The quote comes from "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War," whose authors note that it reveals Bush's plan for Iraq nearly a year before he invaded and even as he was saying publicly that he hoped to avoid war.

-- Tim Grieve

Dancing Grandma on YouTube

Good for her!

Our magnificent isolation | Salon.com

Smart man that Garrison Keillor.

Our magnificent isolation | Salon.com: "I don't get much hope from Democrats these days, a timid and skittish bunch, slow to learn, unable to sing the hymns and express the steady optimism that is at the heart of the heart of the country. I get no hope at all from Republicans, whose policies seem predicated on the Second Coming occurring in the very near future. If Jesus does not descend through the clouds to take them directly to paradise, and do it now, they are going to have to answer to the rest of us."

From my dad: *Raise Refusal*

For many years I worked as a receptionist and switchboard operator at
a busy company. After a good annual review, my supervisor told me I
was up for a raise, pending approval of the vice president.

A month later, my supervisor called me into his office and told me
the VP had refused to approve the raise. His reason? I clearly wasn't
doing my job.

Every time he saw me, I was either chatting with someone in the lobby
or talking on the phone.

This will make you smile

Are you too wired?

Loved this. I think I flunked the test?

Are you too wired? Eight sure signs you need to disconnect! by ZDNet's Donna Bogatin -- I recently noted that being always-on is not always a good thing, especially when it comes to your sex life! Take my quick test to see if it is time for you to turn-off the always-on button, just in time for a holiday weekend!

Podcast of the Week - Daily Giz Wiz

This is my number one don't miss podcast of the day. Dick DeBartolo is one of the long lived writers from MAD magazine. He is also a gadget freak, so what is there not to like?

---

Mad's maddest writer and The Giz Wiz, Dick DeBartolo, digs into his massive gadget collection for the gadget of the day. Released every weekday. This program is co-hosted by Leo Laporte.

DailyTech - RadioShack Employees Get the Boot Via Email

Cold man, this is very cold. Think I will take my business elsewhere.

DailyTech - RadioShack Employees Get the Boot Via Email: "It's bad enough getting fired from a job, but to get your pink slip in an email? That seems to be business as usual at RadioShack these days. The Boston Globe is reporting that 400 RadioShack employees were fired via email on Tuesday morning. The message was short and to the point:

The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated."

America eats its young | Salon.com

A different Garrison Keillor than you hear on"A Prairie Home Companion."

America eats its young | Salon.com: "Cutting out healthcare for one-third of the population -- the folks with Bush-Cheney bumper stickers, who still believe the man is doing a heckuva job -- will save enough money to pay off the national debt, not a bad legacy for Republicans. As Scrooge said, let them die and reduce the surplus population. In return, we can offer them a reduction in the estate tax. All in favor, blow your nose."

Bush to widow: "No point" in talking about the war

On his way to vacation at his parents' compound in Kennebunkport, George W. Bush stopped at a local elementary school Thursday to meet with family members of U.S. troops who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. After the meetings ended, Hildi Halley, whose husband died in Afghanistan in June, said she told the president that it's "time to stop the bleeding" and "swallow our pride and find a solution."
Bush's response? Halley said the president told her that "there was no point in us having a philosophical discussion about the pros and cons of the war."

Quote for the day

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
- Dr. Seuss

True Majority: Enough JonBenet!

Last week, guess which story topped the national evening news on ABC, CBS, and NBC? JonBenet Ramsey1. Who was the big guest on Nightline and the Today Show? JonBenet Ramsey’s father. What story made front-pages of America’s newspapers, including the New York Times? You got it.

It wasn’t the war in Iraq or the tenuous truce in Lebanon, or even 10 million kids here at home who lack health insurance. It was JonBenet.

Sure, it’s an interesting mystery and a terrible murder, but under what criteria of professional journalism could it possibly merit being the top story in America last week? We’re so disgusted with “journalism” in America that we’re suggesting an action today that we’ve never suggested before.

Contact the News Anchors at ABC, CBS, and NBC, and tell them we’ve had enough JonBenet.

To sign the petition Click here.

Bush on Global Warming - Kind of

Will Ferrell - Bush on Global Warming on Transbuddha

Katherine Harris in heaven? It's more likely than the U.S. Senate

Truly crazy people in the U.S. right now.

"But the real issue is why should Baptists care, why should people care? If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin. They can legislate sin. They can say that abortion is all right. They can vote to sustain gay marriage. And that will take Western civilization, indeed other nations because people look to our country as one nation as under God, and whenever we legislate sin and we say abortion is permissible and we say gay unions are permissible, then average citizens who are not Christians, because they don’t know better, we are leading them astray and it's wrong."

Harris' standing in the polls would suggest that the world is in a whole heap o' trouble: She trails Nelson by 35 points. But Harris? She's covered no matter what happens. She says there's "no question" but that she'll be spending eternity in heaven. If God ever asks her why she deserves the trip up, Harris says she'd say: "Because I loved your son and because I know he died for my sins. I know he was resurrected at your right hand and I served him. You know, we're covered with, our sins are covered with his blood and so we are blameless before him. We are as white as snow."

The Blog | Bill Maher: Why Not Impeachment? | The Huffington Post

The Blog | Bill Maher: Why Not Impeachment? | The Huffington Post: "So a judge has ruled that not only is Bush's warrantless wiretapping program illegal, it's also unconstitutional. And not just unconstitutional, but doubly unconstitutional; it violates both the 1st and 4th amendments. We're talking a smackdown of Judge Judy-esque proportions."

Videora iPod Converter - iPod Video Converter

Videora iPod Converter - iPod Video Converter

Videora iPod Converter is a free video conversion application developed by the creators of Videora. It allows you to convert your regular PC video files (avi, mpeg, etc) into the proper video format that your iPod understands.

AMERICAblog: Because a great nation deserves the truth

AMERICAblog: Because a great nation deserves the truth: "Someone give George Bush a God damn civics lesson "

Fat Factors

Intereseting article in the NY TImes on Sunday. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/magazine/13obesity.html?ex=1313121600&en=f843a5b06faa63f8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

One thing that popped out at me, and I know it from all too personal experience, is that once you lose weight you can't go back to eating like a regular person.

This is typical of people who have lost weight — not only a lot of weight, as Janet has, but even a little weight. According to Rudolph Leibel, an obesity researcher at Columbia University who was involved in the discovery of the first human gene implicated in obesity, if you take two nonobese people of the same weight, they will require different amounts of food depending on whether or not they were once obese. It goes in precisely the maddening direction you might expect: formerly fat people need to eat less than never-fat people to maintain exactly the same weight. In other words, a 150-pound woman who has always weighed 150 might be able to get away with eating, say, 2,500 calories a day, but a 150-pound woman who once weighed more — 20 pounds more, 200 pounds more, the exact amount doesn’t matter — would have to consume about 15 percent fewer calories to keep from regaining the weight. The change occurs as soon as the person starts reducing, Leibel said, and it “is not proportional to amount of weight lost, and persists over time.”

ABC News: Film Documents Families Coping With Autism

ABC News: Film Documents Families Coping With Autism: "Aug. 8, 2006 — Autism can isolate a child from loved ones and friends.

It takes a toll on not just the child who suffers from it, but also his or her family.

Although the condition is extremely prevalent — according to Autismspeaks.org, one in 166 children is diagnosed with autism and more children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined — many people do not understand what it is.

'Autism Every Day' is a new documentary about the everyday life of families with an autistic child, focusing on Alison Singer, whose daughter Jodie suffers from autism."

Faith Promoting Story

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from college. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air

The elephant seemed distressed so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large thorn deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the thorn out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For several tense moments Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.

Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later he was walking through a zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe and lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of the man's legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him...



Probably wasn't the same elephant.