Evacuation Time in Texas

My brother Wally, one of my favorite people, will soon flee the Houston area (the small town of La Porte) with his dog Rita (!) for further-inland San Antonio in advance of category 4 Hurricane Rita, on the advice of his employer and of Houston's mayor. Our sister Becky (for whom my daughter is named) will head out of League City to Granbury (outside the Dallas–Fort Worth area) with her husband and kids. I'm hoping for their safety—and that of all Gulf Coast residents—as Rita moves toward a predicted late-Friday/early-Saturday landfall.


Updated at 4:20 p.m., September 21, 2005: Rita is now a category 5 storm.


Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11
Part 12 Part 13


Rita hurricane

Keeping Your Child Out of theU.S. Military Recruiter Database

From MoveOn.org:

A little-known provision in the federal [No Child Left Behind Act] is forcing public high schools all across the country to disclose the personal information of 30 million teenagers and young adults to a private marketing firm and the military. The Pentagon announced just this summer it had been collecting and using the data—including such sensitive personal information as Social Security numbers, ethnicity, GPA [grade point average], personal e-mail addresses, height, weight, and even the cell phone numbers of our kids—without their parents' permission. They had been keeping this announcement secret for more than two years—a violation of federal privacy laws and the privacy of tens of millions of young Americans.

While the law compels schools to violate the privacy of ordinary Americans, it also creates a way for families to opt out, to stop the mega-database from being used on [their children]. If you know someone between the ages of 16 and 25, spread the word: you can opt out of the database by clicking on the link below:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=919

While government intrusion on our privacy is bad enough, the use of a corporate marketing firm for this work is even worse. The government has hired private marketing firm BeNOW, Inc. to manage the data, known as the Joint Advertising and Marketing Research Services (or JAMRS) database. BeNOW, Inc. has no statements on their web site regarding their own security or privacy policies. With increasing reports of identity theft and security breaches at private data collection firms, compiling such a vast collection of sensitive data without consent, particularly on minors, is irresponsible—even dangerous.

The JAMRS database is updated daily and distributed monthly to the four branches of the military for military recruiting purposes. Information is collected from a variety of sources, including DMV [Department of Motor Vehicles] records, SATs, and ASVAB [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery] test results. Use the "opt out" tool to stop JAMRS from using your data or the data of your child, or forward the tool to other parents or students you know.

See also this and this.

Updated at 6:50 a.m., September 21, 2005, with additional links.

Iraq Bush military draft

In the Zone at Last

I'm so excited! I can blast my classical music in my office and no one will complain!

My youngest (age 4) started preschool today, so that means that for 2.5 hours each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, there are no pint-size office mates here who want to negotiate for other kinds of music or noise. Oh happiness! Once my broken arm heals, my joy will be complete.

Yes, I miss my baby, but I've been looking forward to full concentration for y-e-a-r-s now! :-))

parenting broken arm editor copyeditor publishing

Delayed Reaction

Oh, shit . . . I think I'm gonna be sick. I can't look.

Today, just after lunch, a member of the orthopod's staff removed the splint from my arm. It had been in place since surgery last week, pliable enough to allow for postoperative swelling. Now it had to come off, to be replaced with the hard cast that I'll wear for another 5 weeks.

What was with me today? The removal process didn't hurt, except for one brief, bone-deep, dagger-sharp stab of pain when my arm was moved unexpectedly, so it wasn't that.

I'm not squeamish, so it wasn't that either. As a medical copyeditor, especially one who edits stacks of medical journal articles on arthroplasty (surgical repair or replacement of joints), I am always looking at photos that some might find gruesome, feeling not one bit nauseated.

Around the house, I'm Dr. Mom, diagnosing and treating everyone's aches and pain, from bodily to emotional to educational ailments, so that wasn't the problem.

I looked at my uncovered arm and had a visceral flashback, a body memory: I was back down on the uneven sidewalk in front of my bank, stupefied by pain and struggling not to whimper. Oh my God! A wrist isn't supposed to hang limply like a lifeless fish pasted onto the end of an arm. Why does it look like that?

And then I was back in the present, hearing the woman who'd removed my splint say, "Are you okay?"

This isn't my arm anymore. It doesn't do what I tell it to do. It's this alien thing that somehow wound up attached to me during a nightmare. . . . Hey, wait—nightmare? It was just a fall.

But I edit to live and live to edit. I edit, therefore I exist. And this thing betrayed me. It's not invincible. It's fragile. It stopped working. I could have lost my career because its bones snapped as easily as matchsticks, leaving the muscles unable to lift my hand.

What would I do with myself if I couldn't edit?

Oh, shit . . . I think I'm gonna be sick.

broken arm orthopedics editor copyeditor publishing

What?! You Mean We Are Our Brothers' Keepers?

"Christian" neocons are in the middle of a waking nightmare:

What?! We can't just roll merrily along in our gas-guzzling cars and trucks and ignore those ... those ... poor people? Those poor black people [or anyone of any ethnic group or economic level not our own] who have the effrontery to not wear what we wear, not drive what we drive, not be the kind of consumers we are? But it's our duty to ignore people who aren't self-satisfied, self-righteous money-making machines like we are. If we acknowledge them, help them, then how will they ever have the willpower to pull themselves up and become just like us?

Columnist Mark Morford asks:

Can you hear that? That low scraping moan, that painful scream, that compressed hissing wail like the sound of an angry alligator caught in a vice?

Why, it's the GOP, and they're screaming, "No, no it can't be, oh my God, please no, this damnable Katrina thing is just an unstoppable PR disaster for us!" ...

Who knew it would lay bare our deeply inbred agenda of social injustice and civil neglect, and our systematic abuse of the country? This storm thing is so not the thing we need right now because, oh my God look, just look! We've been so golden! We've had the run of the candy store! We have been gods among swine!

No matter who we are or what we look like or whether we're religious or not, we are all our brothers' keepers. There is no other reason to be on this planet.

Bush Katrina Christian racism

My New Hardware

Here's what my wrist looks like after having undergone ORIF (open reduction, internal fixation) for a distal radius fracture, comminuted, with joint involvement and volar subluxation:

I'll get to keep the stainless steel plate and screws for the rest of my life, even though eventually I won't need them. The orthopedist said it's safer to leave them in; repeat surgery to remove them carries the risk of infection and nerve damage. You can see, in the underside view at the left, why my husband says the plate reminds him of a golf putter.

Being a medical copyeditor, I am fascinated by this stuff, but I'd much prefer that I not be the patient. This was my first bone break; I hope it's my last.

broken arm orthopedics editor copyeditor publishing

Surgery's Done

I woke up for the day today at an astounding 12:30 p.m.! Surgery is tiring.

All went well in the OR yesterday. The orthopedist was very pleased with how well all the bones went back together during surgery. He says I shouldn't need additional surgery or an external fixator. My husband Ed describes the plate that the surgeon put inside my arm with screws as looking like a putter, with the business end in my wrist and the other end in my arm. I have excellent pain meds that don't make me groggy.

As good as I'm feeling, I expect I'll be working on Monday, editing onscreen with my nondominant left hand, although it'll be very slow, because I'll have to hunt and peck.

Thank you all so very much for you healing thoughts and prayers and support.

broken arm orthopedics editor copyeditor publishing

Editor's Helper

I've found a new use for an old tool. Not only does my pica ruler measure type and photos but it also slides easily down inside my cast so I can scratch my itchy arm.

broken arm orthopedics editor copyeditor publishing

Bad Pain—Updated

Got a nice hard cast at the orthopedist's office on 9/1. Also did preoperative blood work and got an ECG. Surgery is scheduled for 9/9; I don't know the time yet.

Almost-4-year-old Jared, my youngest, is having major separation anxiety because I was in the ER for several hours on 8/29 and then in the orthopedist's office and ambulatory surgery (preop tests) nearly all day on 8/30. Ten-year-old Neil has been a superb, cheerful helper. Twenty-two-year-old Rebecca has been practicing her novice social worker skills on me. Ed is the world's most kind, patient husband. My in-laws have been helping with child care and errands, and church friends are bringing meals for us. But all three kids are flummoxed because their mom is "broken." I'm supposed to be the caretaker—I'm never hurt. I think even Ed's been thrown for a loop. Each family member has acted out in one way or another, but they all shaped up after I threw a rather loud fit.

I'm working hard on not feeling anxious or depressed. A huge amount of supportive e-mails, prayers, and kind thoughts from everyone is helping with that.

My workload's okay; I can edit onscreen left-handed, but it's slow. My client understands. It's a 4-week project at normal speed. (We self-employed editors don't have anyone to give us sick pay, so I must keep working. And we generally can't afford disability insurance, either.) Typing left-handed and pain are tiring, so that's why I'm not e-mailing or blogging much.

On 9/9 in the ambulatory surgery unit at Stony Brook Hospital, the orthopedist will implant a metal plate in my wrist so that the many shattered pieces can be supported while they heal. If they don't heal properly that way, I'll need an external fixator for 6 weeks to hold the bones in place.

And oh yeah . . . George Bush is as thoroughly incompetent as ever. The deaths of many and the life disruption of many more in the path of hurricane Katrina are on his blind, arrogant, rich-boy, racist head.

Bush Katrina broken arm orthopedics editor copyeditor publishing

Bad Pain

Yesterday, I tripped on the uneven concrete sidewalk in front of my bank, fell, and broke my right arm and wrist. I am right-handed. It's a nasty, incredibly painful break (medical terminology: distal radius fracture, comminuted, with joint involvement and volar subluxation). I'll see an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. The emergency room orthopods said that I'll likely need surgery to implant a metal plate.

broken arm orthopedics editor copyeditor publishing

Too Much Summer Heat and Too Much Work

It's hotter than hell here on Long Island, in the nineties with what feels like 100% humidity. I'm finally finishing up a long-term freelance gig with daily deadlines. And I'm about to take a long-delayed camping vacation. That's why I've been silent here lately—I'm absolutely exhausted and my brain is fried!

Just thought you might want to know.

T'anks to Mr. Bush

Stephen Pearcy may never exhibit in the Guggenheim or the Louvre, but he sure does know how to make a point. The California lawyer created his eloquent work, T'anks to Mr. Bush," in reponse to a call for lawyers to submit paintings to be displayed at the California State Department of Justice (story here).

The state's Republican Party is insisting that Pearcy's painting should be removed. The painting, says a state party spokeswoman, is "blatantly offensive to people who think that America does not belong in the toilet."

The delicious part is that Pearcy himself is a Republican.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is refusing to remove the painting.

Bush Iraq

Proof That the U.S. Health Care System Is a Rip-Off

If you live in the United States, you know how incredibly expensive health care is here. If you're extremely healthy or lucky, you don't know that health care costs are not just high—they're obscene. Here's a cheerful snippet from a story on Medscape. (Read the rest here; I believe free registration is required.)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jul 12 – Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is nearly twice as costly in the United States as in Canada, although the clinical outcomes are no different and average length of stay is shorter in the U.S., a new study shows.

"I think that adds some fuel to the fire for a single payer system in the U.S., which would substantially reduce costs," the study's lead author, Dr. Mark J. Eisenberg of Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, told Reuters Health.

The researchers compared the cost and outcomes for 12,017 consecutive CABG patients treated at five U.S. and four Canadian hospitals. The group included 4,698 U.S. patients and 7,319 Canadian patients, and all of the hospitals were using the same cost accounting system.

Mean U.S. in-hospital costs were $20,673, compared to $10,373 for Canadian patients, Dr. Eisenberg and his team report in the July 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Length of stay was 16.8% longer for the Canadian patients. After the researchers controlled for clinical and demographic factors, they found U.S. CABG treatment was 82.5% more expensive. . . ." [emphasis mine]

Did the Canadians in the study have to wait longer than the Americans to have the surgery? (All of you USians have heard of Canadian waiting lists for expensive procedures, haven't you?)

In the original research article in Archives of Internal Medicine* on which the news story is based, the researchers do mention waiting lists. To control for the chance that having waiting lists reduces health care costs, the researchers gathered data for patients in both Canada and the United States for whom bypass was elective (had to wait) and those for whom it was an emergency. Canada still came out with much lower surgery costs. After all confounding factors were controlled for, the procedure still cost 74.8% more in the United States than in Canada. This was because, the researchers said, the costs of the procedure and all supplies are spread throughout Canada, which is not the case in the United States. Quality of patient care during the procedure and hospitalization was pretty much equivalent, they said.

So when is this conversion from our train wreck of a health care system to a single-payer system going to happen, and why doesn't it seem to be on any politician's agenda?

It will happen sometime in the nebulous future after Bush is no longer president, and it's not on politicians' agenda because (1) they're all covered by a cushy government-sponsored insurance policy (check out your senators' and representatives' premiums here) and (2) they're given high enough salaries that they experience out-of-pocket health care expenses as chump change.

If the spousal unit and I didn't have to pay just over $900 a month in health care policy premiums (family rate, whether 2 people or 9), we could

• Afford to make payments on two brand-new cars (not that we want them) or




• Stop requiring my in-laws (who live in a small apartment within our home) to pay us rent or



• Afford to do a home remodel that includes replacing the 35-plus-year-old upstairs bathroom (nothing fancy, mind you—we just need to replace what's falling apart, which is everything), build a small addition that would allow me to have my very own office (I'm working editing miracles at a tiny kitchen table, dammit!), and replace the 35-plus-year-old rough-hewn cedar shingles and asbestos (!) shingles on the outside of the entire house with vinyl siding.

I suppose I shouldn't gripe; at least we already have a home, even if it does need a lot of expensive work. But damn! I should've been a CEO of a health care plan.

Then again, maybe not. I wouldn't want to be one of America's most hated.

____________________
*Eisenberg MJ, Filion KB, Azoulay A, et al: Outcomes and cost of coronary artery bypass graft surgery in the United States and Canada. Arch Intern Med 2005;165;1506–1513. [The article was published July 11, 2005.]

health care Bush insurance

Rove-ing Toward Impeachment?

The lies and the coverups just may get George Bush impeached. And who'll bring him down? His good buddy Karl Rove.

PBU28 Rove Plame leak Bush impeach Bush Iraq impeach

Going to Hell in a Handbasket

It is maddening, frightening, shocking, and abysmally stupid what Bush is doing to America and to the world—and being allowed to do by Americans. He is heading down Hitler's path in the name of his twisted version of religion, and not enough people will allow themselves to see it. It depresses me, but as long as I'm still breathing, I'll continue to speak out. I am compelled to do so in the face of dishonesty of any kind, and what is Bush's administration but a tangled skein of dishonesty? Maybe it's an incredibly strong mothering instinct: I want to make the world safe for my children and for everyone else's.

Please . . . mother the world with me. Stop the madness. Impeach Bush now!

impeach Bush impeach Bush Iraq

A Graphic War

The deaths in the Iraq war happen right before your eyes here, day by day, fast-forwarded. You can set the presentation to show the body count by one country or multiple countries.

Stop the madness: impeach Bush now!

impeach Bush impeach Bush Iraq

London Bombings

My profound sympathies to Londoners regarding today's horrific bombings.

I am quite afraid that Bush and Blair, who wanted to invade Iraq and molded intelligence to "prove" the need to do so, will see the London bombings as "proof" that they were right and will up the ante in Iraq and take on other nations they deem part of the "axis of evil."

Before Bush stole office the first time, I predicted to my spousal unit that the man would end up starting World War III before he left the White House. I'd hate to be proven right.

9:40 p.m. update: Read Dr. Peter Fallon's excellent analysis of how the U.S. got into the mess it's in.

London terrorism Bush Iraq Blair

Freedom to Love

While U.S. lawmakers are busy spouting as much antigay bigotry as they can, Spain's lawmakers will now allow same-sex marriages, and so will Canada's. Spain's new law legalizing gay marriage took effect July 2. Canada's House of Commons passed a bill on June 29.

Meanwhile, the United Church of Christ has dared to do something that no other entity, religious or secular, in the United States has dared to do: say that all love is created equal. The General Synod, the UCC rule-making body, overwhelmingly approved a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage. The UCC knows what most other U.S. Christian denominations do not—that God does not discriminate.

As we celebrate freedom today in the United States, let us take heart that one day, that freedom will extend to every person in the country, regardless of sexual preferencesexual orientation, gender identity, race, income, or ethnic background. And all of us, working together, will make it happen.

July 8 update, 8:05 p.m.: A reader I greatly respect made this comment: "Thanks for this column. I would, however, like to see sexual orientation or even gender orientation instead of sexual preference. I don't just 'prefer' to love Janice, as in choosing to love her instead of a man. Too many folks say it's a choice and we could choose otherwise if we wanted to. I don't agree. I don't think you do either, but words are powerful."

She's right, and I thank her for cogent point. I have corrected my terminology above.

GLBT gay human rights

Legislators Actually Do Something Aboutthe Liar-in-Chief

I was greatly cheered to read this from Raw Story:

Conyers and 51 Members File FOIA Request on Downing Street Minutes; Members Formally Seek Hearings in House

Representative John Conyers, Jr., (D-MI) House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, along with 51 other Members today, submitted a broad and comprehensive FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request to the White House, the Department of Defense, and the Department of State seeking any and all documents and materials concerning the Downing Street Minutes and the lead up to the Iraq war, RAW STORY has learned.

In addition, the Members also formally requested that the House Committees on Judiciary, Armed Services, International Relations, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence commence hearings on the Downing Street Minutes.

"This is the next stage of the Downing Street investigation and brings the investigation to a new more and more aggressive stage," one Democratic Judiciary aide said.

You can see a copy of the FOIA request at Raw Story. Can I have Rep. Conyers move from Michigan to New York State? We could really use his talents here. If he were ever to run for president, I think I'd back him.

impeach Bush impeach Bush Iraq

And So It Begins . . .

How frightening to hear that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is retiring. Her leaving gives Bush his first chance to begin the theocratization of the court system. God help us all . . .

Bush Supreme Court

Impeach the Liar-in-Chief

Do I sound like I have a one-track mind? Maybe so. But if we don't get rid of our liar-in-chief soon, we'll lose our country to the hate-mongering theocratic big-business Bush cult. FactCheck.org has analyzed the lies—of commission and omission—that Bush told at his speech this week at Fort Bragg. (And what an ironic name that base has in view of Bush's insistence that the U.S. is "winning"!) Here's the analysis, which I just received in an e-mail:

The Bloodshed

Bush acknowledged the high level of violence in Iraq as he sought to reassure the public.

Bush: The work in Iraq is difficult and dangerous. Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real. Amid all this violence, I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it?

What Bush did not mention is that by most measures the violence is getting worse. Both April and May were record months in Iraq for car bombings, for example, with more than 135 of them being set off each month. And the bombings are getting more deadly. May was a record month for deaths from bombings, with 381 persons killed in "multiple casualty" bombings that took two or more lives, according to figures collected by the Brookings Institution in its "Iraq Index." The Brookings index is compiled from a variety of sources including official government statistics, where those are available, and other public sources such as news accounts and statements of Iraqi government officials.

The number of Iraqi police and military who have been killed is also rising, reaching 296 so far in June, nearly triple the 109 recorded in January and 103 in Febrary, according to a tally of public information by the website Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a private group that documents each fatality from public statements and news reports. Estimates of the total number of Iraqi civilians killed each month as a result of "acts of war" have been rising as well, according to the Brookings index.

The trend is also evident in year-to-year figures. In the past twelve months, there have been 25% more U.S. troop fatalities and nearly double the average number of insurgent attacks per day as there were in the preceeding 12 months.

Reconstruction Progress

In talking about Iraqi reconstruction, Bush highlighted the positive and omitted the negative:

Bush: We continued our efforts to help them rebuild their country. . . . Our progress has been uneven but progress is being made. We are improving roads and schools and health clinics and working to improve basic services like sanitation, electricity and water. And together with our allies, we will help the new Iraqi government deliver a better life for its citizens.

Indeed, the State Department's most recent "Iraq Weekly Status Report" shows progress is uneven. Education is a positive; official figures show 3,056 schools have been rehabilitated and millions of "student kits" have been distributed to primary and secondary schools. School enrollments are increasing. And there are also 145 new primary healthcare centers currently under construction. The official figures show 78 water treatment projects underway, nearly half of them completed, and water utility operators are regularly trained in two-week courses.

On the negative side, however, State Department figures show overall electricity production is barely above pre-war levels. Iraqis still have power only 12 hours daily on average.

Iraqis are almost universally unhappy about that. Fully 96 percent of urban Iraqis said they were dissatisfied when asked about "the availability of electricity in your neighborhood." That poll was conducted in February for the U.S. military, and results are reported in Brookings' "Iraq Index." The same poll also showed that 20 percent of Iraqi city-dwellers still report being without water to their homes.

Conclusions or Facts?

The President repeatedly stated his upbeat conclusions as though they were facts. For example, he said of "the terrorists:"

Bush: They failed to break our coalition and force a mass withdrawal by our allies. They failed to incite an Iraqi civil war.

In fact, there have been withdrawals by allies. Spain pulled out its 1,300 soldiers in April, and Honduras brought home its 370 troops at the same time. The Philippines withdrew its 51 troops last summer to save the life of a Filipino hostage held captive for eight months in Iraq. Ukraine has already begun a phased pullout of its 1,650-person contingent, which the Defense Ministry intends to complete by the end of the year. Both the Netherlands and Italy have announced plans to withdraw their troops, and the Bulgarian parliament recently granted approval to bring home its 450 soldiers. Poland,
supplying the third-largest contingent in the coalition after Italy's departure, has backed off a plan for full withdrawal of troops due to the success of Iraqi elections and talks with Condoleezza Rice, but the Polish Press Agency announced in June that the next troop rotation will have 200 fewer soldiers.

Bush is of course entitled to argue that these withdrawals don't constitute a "mass" withdrawal, but an argument isn't equivalent to a fact.

The same goes for Bush's statement there's no "civil war" going on. In fact, some believe that what's commonly called the "insurgency" already is a "civil war" or something very close to it. For example, in an April 30 piece, the Times of London quotes Colonel Salem Zajay, a police commander in Southern Baghdad, as saying, "The war is not between the Iraqis and the Americans. It is between the Shia and the Sunni." Again, Bush is entitled to state his opinion to the contrary, but stating a thing doesn't make it so.

Terrorism

Similarly, Bush equated Iraqi insurgents with terrorists who would attack the US if they could.

Bush: There is only one course of action against them: to defeat them abroad before they attack us at home. . . . Our mission in Iraq is clear. We are hunting down the terrorists.

Despite a few public claims to the contrary, however, no solid evidence has surfaced linking Iraq to attacks on the United States, and Bush offered none in his speech. The 9/11 Commission issued a staff report more than a year ago saying "so far we have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." It said Osama bin Laden made a request in 1994 to establish training camps in Iraq, but "but Iraq apparently never responded." That was before bin Laden was ejected from Sudan and moved his operation to Afghanistan.

Bush laid stress on the "foreign" or non-Iraqi elements in the insurgency as evidence that fighting in Iraq might prevent future attacks on the US:

Bush: I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it, and it is vital to the future security of our country. And tonight I will explain the reasons why. Some of the violence you see in Iraq is being carried out by ruthless killers who are converging on Iraq to fight the advance of peace and freedom. Our military reports that we have killed or captured hundreds of foreign fighters in Iraq who have come from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other nations.

But Bush didn't mention that the large majority of insurgents are Iraqis, not foreigners. The overall strength of the insurgency has been estimated at about 16,000 persons. The number of foreign fighters in Iraq is only about 1,000, according to estimates reported by the Brookings Institution. The exact number is of course impossible to know. However, over the course of one week during the major battle for Fallujah in November of 2004, a Marine official said that only about 2% of those detained were foreigners. To be sure, Brookings notes that "U.S. military believe foreign fighters are responsible for the majority of suicide bombings in Iraq," with perhaps as many as 70 percent of bombers coming from Saudi Arabia alone. It is anyone's guess how many of those Saudi suicide bombers might have attempted attacks on US soil, but a look at the map shows that a Saudi jihadist can drive across the border to Baghdad much more easily than getting nearly halfway around the world to to the US.

Osama bin Laden

Bush quoted a recent tape-recorded message by bin Laden as evidence that the Iraq conflict is "a central front in the war on terror:"

Bush: Hear the words of Osama bin Laden: "This Third World War is raging" in Iraq..."The whole world is watching this war." He says it will end in "victory and glory or misery and humiliation."

However, Bush passed over the fact that the relationship between bin Laden and the Iraqi insurgents—to the extent one existed at all before—grew much closer after the US invaded Iraq. Insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi did not announce his formal allegiance with bin Laden until October, 2004. It was only then that Zarqawi changed the name of his group from "Unification and Holy War Group" to "al Qaeda in Iraq."

impeach Bush impeach Bush

Impeach Bush: Vietnam Déjà Vu

Our incompetent president lies with every breath he takes. Reminds me of LBJ and Vietnam. Reminds Eric Alterman of Vietnam too:

Anyway, the speech, reminding me of Vietnam, also reminded me of a list we reprinted here back in March 2003, which originally appeared on something called “Mediawhoresonline Watch Watch.” I never bothered to find out what or who was behind it (or why), but it sure does look prescient today. Here it is:

VIETNAM 2 PREFLIGHT CHECK

1. Cabal of oldsters who won’t listen to outside advice? Check.
2. No understanding of ethnicities of the many locals? Check.
3. Imposing country boundaries drawn in Europe, not by the locals? Check.
4. Unshakeable faith in our superior technology? Check.
5. France secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
6. Russia secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
7. China secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
8. SecDef pushing a conflict the JCS never wanted? Check.
9. Fear we’ll look bad if we back down now? Check.
10. Corrupt Texan in the WH? Check.
11. Land war in Asia? Check.
12. Right unhappy with outcome of previous war? Check.
13. Enemy easily moves in/out of neighboring countries? Check.
14. Soldiers about to be dosed with *our own* chemicals? Check.
15. Friendly fire problem ignored instead of solved? Check.
16. Anti-Americanism up sharply in Europe? Check.
17. B-52 bombers? Check.
18. Helicopters that clog up on the local dust? Check.
19. In-fighting among the branches of the military? Check.
20. Locals that cheer us by day, hate us by night? Check.
21. Local experts ignored? Check.
22. Local politicians ignored? Check.
23. Locals used to conflicts lasting longer than the USA has been a country? Check.
24. Against advice, Prez won’t raise taxes to pay for war? Check.
25. Blue water navy ships operating in brown water? Check.
26. Use of nukes hinted at if things don’t go our way? Check.
27. Unpopular war? Check.

Vietnam 2, you are cleared to taxi.

Impeach Bush. Now. Before he kills more Iraqi civilians and American soldiers.

impeach Bush impeach Bush Iraq Vietnam

Impeach Bush

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impeach Bush impeach Bush

Breast Milk Each Day Keeps the Eyeglasses Away

Got your attention, didn't I?

Here's yet another reason to breast-feed your children:

Children who are breastfed are about fifty percent less likely to be short sighted, Singapore researchers said on Tuesday.

Docosahexaenoi acid or DHA, a substance found in breast milk, could be the main element which improves early visual development in babies, resulting in more ordered eyeball growth which then reduces the development or severity of myopia.

Unless you or your child has a physical problem that prevents breast-feeding, give back that free sample of formula that you just got on the maternity ward and whip out those breasts! You have no excuse.

breast-feeding breastfeeding breast

The Pentagon's Got Your Child's Number

The Defense Department began working yesterday with a private marketing firm to create a database of high school students ages 16 to 18 and all college students to help the military identify potential recruits in a time of dwindling enlistment in some branches.

The program is provoking a furor among privacy advocates. The new database will include personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, grade-point averages, ethnicity and what subjects the students are studying. . . .

Privacy advocates said the plan appeared to be an effort to circumvent laws that restrict the government's right to collect or hold citizen information by turning to private firms to do the work.

Read more here (free registration required) or here.

Can you say back-door draft, moms and dads?

Iraq Bush military draft

Presidential Scholar

Today was my son Neil's moving-up ceremony at school; he's finished fifth grade and will begin middle school next year. My husband Ed and I knew that Neil's grades had been excellent this year (almost straight A's), but we were floored to find out that he received a President's Award for Educational Excellence. (This is the only time you'll ever see me happily writing about our current president.) Of all the children in his entire school, Neil was the only one to receive the award, a certificate signed by You-Know-Who, the U.S. secretary of education, and the school principal.

To understand just how astounding Neil's achievement is, you'll want to read this and this.

I can't begin to say thanks enough to all of our friends and family members and the members of Neil's education team for being there in various ways for us and for Neil. They're incredibly caring, kind, and talented people who make the world a better place.

Three thousand cheers for Neil!

motherhood parenthood ADHD education AD/HD

Nostalgia

I'm an expat Texan. I spent the first 23 years of my life there. There's not much from there that I miss—especially Texas politicians like the impeachment-worthy George W. Bush—but I do miss my brother Wally and some of the southeast Texas plant life.

Here on Long Island (New York State), I miss weeping willows, mimosa trees (and see this), and gardenias (and see this). All of those grow here, but not very well at all, so most people here don't bother with them.

O fragrant gardenia! Gardenias are the basis for a cologne my sweet maternal grandmother Lillian (from lovely, historic San Antonio) used to wear: White Shoulders. Because its scent reminded me of her soft hugs, I loved that stuff when I was a teenager and used to wear it all the time, even though no other teens I knew had ever heard of it. Hmmm ... it's been forever since I was a teenager, but it just may be time to get another bottle.

And I miss the fat, wide-bladed grass that grew on many of the lawns in La Porte, the suburb of my childhood. The stuff that grows on lots of Long Island lawns is pitifully thin in comparison.

But you won't see me moving back to Texas.

Texas Bush impeach

The Best-Laid Plans . . .

Honesty is a huge thing with me. If someone's not completely honest with me, I don't want to have much to do with that person.

So in keeping with my ethics, I must report that for all our good intentions to live our beliefs, my husband Ed and I and our sons never made it to the Long Island Pride event this last weekend. It would have been our first time at the event, so we'd never been to the park where it was to be held. We were thrown off by the event map that showed a park with the same name as a locally well known New York state park in another part of the island. Who knew that there's a Heckscher State Park and a Heckscher Park?

Sigh.

Monkey See, Monkey Do: Hear No Evil

Iraq Bush impeach

Impeach the Crook-in-Chief

Heard about the Downing Street memo? It's a document, says DowningStreetMemo.com,

containing meeting minutes transcribed during the British Prime Minister's meeting on July 23, 2002—a full eight months PRIOR to the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003. The Times of London printed the text of this document on Sunday, May 1, 2005, but to date US media coverage has been limited. This site is intended to act as a resource for anyone who wants to understand the facts revealed in this document.

The contents of the memo are shocking. The minutes detail how our government did not believe Iraq was a greater threat than other nations; how intelligence was "fixed around" to sell the case for war to the American public; and how the Bush administration’s public assurances of "war as a last resort" were at odds with their privately stated intentions.

When asked, British officials "did not dispute the document's authenticity." and a senior American official has described it as "absolutely accurate." Yet the Bush administration continues to simultaneously sidestep the issue while attempting to cast doubt on the memo’s authenticity. Nobody wants to go to war. We trust our leaders to shed blood in our name only when absolutely necessary. But the facts revealed by the Downing Street Memo force us to ask ourselves: Was I misled? Did President Bush tell me the truth when he said he would not take us to war unless absolutely necessary?

It's time to stop the crook-in-chief. He's stealing our country from us. Sign the People's Petition to Impeach the Bush Administration. And sign Rep. John Conyers' letter to Bush.

Iraq Bush impeach

Straight Gay Pride

My husband and I will be taking our sons with us this weekend when we help staff a booth at the Long Island Pride Parade. We'll be at the New Century Singers booth, wearing our NCS and "Another Presbyterian for GLBT Rights" T-shirts. We're huge NCS fans, and one day when our sons are bigger and need less of our time, I'll audition to join the NCS.

But we're going so that we can do more than support the NCS. We want our sons to see that we live our beliefs. We want the world to know that straight people of all ages are in favor of gay rights—in favor of human rights for everyone.

Our oldest, Neil, who's 10, understands this. In fact, he got into a fight with some boys in our neighborhood because they were putting down his gay uncle, my brother Wally. Now, we teach our children that physical violence is wrong. But Neil couldn't stand what was going on. The neighborhood boys,* Tom, and his brother, Bill, have seen our gay rights bumper stickers and have seen Neil wearing his "Another Presbyterian for GLBT rights" T-shirt.

One afternoon, Tom, Bill, Neil, and another boy were all riding their bikes together and playing. Tom and Bill started arguing with Neil, telling them basically that they hate gay people and gay people are bad. Neil argued but didn't make a move until Bill started saying bad things about Wally. (Neil had told them, when the issue came up on another day, that his uncle Wally is gay.) That was the last straw for Neil, so he rammed his bike into Bill's. Bill got off his bike and punched Neil in the stomach, and Neil punched him back. Now, Neil never hits anybody, no matter how angry he gets—because we're always talking peacemaking in this house—but he was extremely angry that Tom and Bill were putting Wally down.

Just then, my husband Ed came home and saw what was going on. Tom had already left, and Bill disappeared quickly when he saw Ed. Ed talked to the rest of the boys about discrimination. Then he said that each person is entitled to his or her own opinion and that no one should tease another person about his or her beliefs or physically fight over them.

Then Neil and Ed came into the house and talked the situation over with me. I said that I thought Neil should go to Tom and Bill's house, with Ed, and apologize for starting the physical fight, but that I didn't mean he should apologize at all for his stance on gay rights. We told Neil that we understood his anger very well, but that hitting people isn't the way to convince people of his viewpoint.

Neil did this, and Ed told the parents what led up to the fight, saying that both Neil and Bill did things they shouldn't have. It turned out that neither Tom nor Bill had told their parents about the fight. The parents had Bill apologize for baiting Neil. Ed said that the parents looked very puzzled and said, "Do they even know what 'gay rights' means?" But yes, the boys do know about sex between gay men, which they've heard about from other children at school; they were telling Neil just how "awful" it is.

Ed and I imagined that the dinnertime conversation in that household was extremely interesting.

But we envision a time when being gay is no big deal, when all parents teach their children that gay is just another version of normal, when gay people legally marry and no one raises an eyebrow. And one way to make that time arrive sooner is for straight people to join in the fight for gay rights. We're all humans, gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender or straight or somewhere else on the spectrum. And that makes us each worthy of respect and honor.
_______________________
*The neighborhood boys' names have been changed here to protect their privacy.

GLBT gay human rights