Happy Friday, fellow feminists. Bush-appointed assistant secretary of the Health and Human Services Department and wellknown woman-hatin’ nutbar Eric Keroack has resigned.

Eric Keroack, who was appointed assistant secretary of the Health and Human Services Department by President Bush last November, announced yesterday that he will resign from his position. Keroack, who previously worked as the medical director for a group of anti-abortion, anti-contraceptive “crisis pregnancy centers” and who is a strong advocate of abstinence-only sex education, was the advisor to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on reproductive health and adolescent pregnancy and administered Title X funding, which funds family planning services for low-income women. After being targeted by women’s health groups that highly disapproved of Keroack, he has resigned due to legal actions taken against his Massachusetts private medical practice by state Medicaid officials, according to the Washington Post.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards celebrated Keroack’s resignation, saying, “It’s a good day for women’s health. Keroack was unqualified to run the nation’s family planning program.” According to Richards, more than 17 million women in the US need access to affordable birth control. Women’s health and rights organizations argue that it is imperative that Bush’s new choice must be a supporter of women’s health and safety.

The Feminist Majority Foundation conducted an online campaign after Bush appointed Keroack, despite his record that suggested he would work against healthy reproductive choices for women. Thousands of FMF online activists sent emails to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, expressing their disappointment and outrage that such an unqualified person be appointed to serve women’s reproductive and sexual health.

Buh-bye, Eric. Good luck with that keeping your tape sticky thing.

And now we dance! (If this news doesn’t call for a little bit of the Happy Dance, I don’t know what does.)

~~~

~

Posted: March 30th, 2007 under Eric Keroack, General, Reproductive Rights.
Comments: 1

Sheesh, I’m not even all that much of a Seinfeld fan, but dammit, every time I see this photo of Kyle Sampson that’s what I want to say.

Does that mean that the DoJ could also be referred to as Vandelay Industries?  

~~~

Posted: March 30th, 2007 under General, George Costanza, Prosecutor purge scandal.
Comments: 2

It’s camels that have traditionally been called “ships of the desert” , but yesterday Digby spotted a boat of a different variety in the dry expanses of New Mexico…

~~~

Posted: March 29th, 2007 under General, Prosecutor purge scandal.
Comments: none

Heroic Secret Service Agent Takes Question Intended For Bush

WASHINGTON, DC—Agent Anthony Panucci dives in between the president and a hostile reporter.

~~~

Posted: March 28th, 2007 under General, George W Bush, Onion.
Comments: none

~~~

A Time for Anger, a Call to Action

Via truthout and Common Dreams, here’s a transcript of a speech Bill Moyers gave at Occidental College in Los Angeles , California on February 7th, 2007:

I am grateful to you for this opportunity and to President Prager for the hospitality of this evening, to Diana Akiyama, Director of the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life, whose idea it was to invite me and with whom you can have an accounting after I’ve left. And to the Lilly Endowment for funding the Values and Vocations project to encourage students at Occidental to explore how their beliefs and values shape their choices in life, how to make choices for meaningful work and how to make a contribution to the common good. It’s a recognition of a unique venture: to demonstrate that the life of the mind and the longing of the spirit are mirror images of the human organism. I’m grateful to be here under their auspices.

I have come across the continent to talk to you about two subjects close to my heart. I care about them as a journalist, a citizen and a grandfather who looks at the pictures next to my computer of my five young grandchildren who do not have a vote, a lobbyist in Washington, or the means to contribute to a presidential candidate. If I don’t act in their behalf, who will?

One of my obsessions is democracy, and there is no campus in the country more attuned than Occidental to what it will take to save democracy. Because of your record of activism for social justice, I know we agree that democracy is more than what we were taught in high school civics - more than the two-party system, the checks-and-balances, the debate over whether the Electoral College is a good idea. Those are important matters that warrant our attention, but democracy involves something more fundamental. I want to talk about what democracy bestows on us?the revolutionary idea that democracy is not just about the means of governance but the means of dignifying people so they become fully free to claim their moral and political agency. “I believe in democracy because it releases the energies of every human being” - those are the words of our 28th president, Woodrow Wilson.

I’ve been spending time with Woodrow Wilson and others of his era because my colleagues and I are producing a documentary series on the momentous struggles that gripped America a century or so years ago at the birth of modern politics. Woodrow Wilson clearly understood the nature of power. In his now-forgotten political testament called The New Freedom, Wilson described his reformism in plain English no one could fail to understand: “The laws of this country do not prevent the strong from crushing the week.” He wrote: “Don’t deceive yourselves for a moment as to the power of great interests which now dominate our development… There are men in this country big enough to own the government of the United States. They are going to own it if they can.” And he warned: “There is no salvation in the pitiful condescensions of industrial masters… prosperity guaranteed by trustees has no prospect of endurance.”

Now Wilson took his stand at the center of power - the presidency itself - and from his stand came progressive income taxation, the federal estate tax, tariff reform, the challenge to great monopolies and trusts, and, most important, a resolute spirit “to deal with the new and subtle tyrannies according to their deserts.”

How we need that spirit today! When Woodrow Wilson spoke of democracy releasing the energies of every human being, he was declaring that we cannot leave our destiny to politicians, elites, and experts; either we take democracy into our own hands, or others will take democracy from us.

We do not have much time. Our political system is melting down, right here where you live.

A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that only 20% of voters last November believe your state will be a better place to live in the year 2025; 51% say it will be worse. Another poll by the New American Foundation - summed up in an article by Steven Hill in the January 28th San Francisco Chronicle - found that for the first time in modern California history, a majority of adults are not registered with either of the two major parties. Furthermore, writes Hill, “There is a widening breach between most of the 39 million people residing in California and the fewer than 9 million who actually vote.” Here we are getting to the heart of the crisis today - the great divide that has opened in American life.

According to that New American Foundation study, frequent voters [in California] tend to be 45 and older, have household incomes of $60,000 or more, are homeowners, and have college degrees. In contrast, the 12 million nonvoters (7 million of whom are eligible to vote but are not registered) tend to be younger than 45, rent instead of own, have not been to College, and have incomes less than $60,000.

In other words, “Considering that California often has one of the lowest voter participation rates in the nation - in some elections only a little more that 1/3 of eligible voters participate - a small group of frequent voters, who are richer, whiter, and older than their nonvoting neighbors, form the majority that decides which candidates win and which ballot measures pass.” The author of that report (Mark Baldassare) concludes: “Only about 15% of adult people make the decisions and that 15% doesn’t look much life California overall.”

We should not be surprised by the consequences: “Two Californias have emerged. One that votes and one that does not. Both sides inhabit the same state and must share the same resources, but only one side is electing the political leaders who divide up the pie.”

You’ve got a big problem here. But don’t feel alone. Across the country our 18th political system is failing to deal with basic realities. Despite Thomas Jefferson’s counsel that we would need a revolution every 25 years to enable our governance to serve new generations, our structure - practically deified for 225 years - has essentially stayed the same while science and technology have raced ahead. A young writer I know, named Jan Frel, one of the most thoughtful practitioners of the emerging world of Web journalism, wrote me the other day to say: “We’ve gone way past ourselves. I see the unfathomable numbers in the national debt and deficit, and the way that the Federal government was physically unable to respond to Hurricane Katrina. I look at Iraq; where 50% of the question is how to get out, and the other 50% is how did so few people have the power to start the invasion in the first place. If the Republic were functioning, they would have never had that power.”

[Read the rest]

Posted: March 25th, 2007 under Bill Moyers, General.
Comments: 1

UPDATE 03/23/2007:  My sources tell me that $200 was raised last night for Marine Air Control Squadron 2.  Good on you, DLers!

~~~   

At the 331 Club this week, Drinking Liberally joins with the Hastings VFW Post 1210 Auxiliary to raise funds for Marine Air Control Squadron 2 in Iraq. That’s TONIGHT from 6 to 9PM!

~~~

Posted: March 22nd, 2007 under General, I only drink Liberally, Iraq, Military.
Comments: 3

Do you have difficulty understanding the news? Are you anxious and confused because you don’t know the correct way to interpret current events? Is that what’s troubling you, chum? Well, throw those pesky uncertainties out the window!
Now you can run those hard to understand news items through the Conservo-meter!

Thanks to our most excellent friend DAV of Evil Bobby, (no, that’s not him in the picture!) I just laughed more in the past minute than I have in the entire previous week.

~~~

Posted: March 20th, 2007 under General.
Comments: 3

Best. Onion. Story. Ever.

  

I Don’t Want Health Care If Just Anyone Can Have It

As a concerned citizen, I must voice my adamant disapproval of the “universal health care” proposals we’ve been hearing so much about. I don’t…

Posted: March 12th, 2007 under General.
Comments: 1

(via PZ) Here’s a list of The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years.

When I first looked it over I couldn’t believe how many of these books I have NOT read. Shocking. For example: I have not read Sword of Shannara. Tsk, and I call myself an SF&F fan!

Here’s the list marked up to show what I’ve read and what I haven’t. I’m sticking with tikistitch’s markup method, which cannot be improved upon:

Bold = I’ve read ‘em

Italic = I read the first three chapters and now they’re in a box somewhere

Times font = author is douchebag

 

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov

Dune, Frank Herbert

Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

Neuromancer, William Gibson

Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick

The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe

A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.

The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov

Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras

Cities in Flight, James Blish

The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett

Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison

Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison

The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester

Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany

Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson

The Forever War, Joe Haldeman

Gateway, Frederik Pohl

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

I Am Legend, Richard Matheson

Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin

Little, Big, John Crowley

Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny

The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick

Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement

More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon

The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith

On the Beach, Nevil Shute

Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

Ringworld, Larry Niven

Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys

The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut

Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner

The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester

Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein

Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock

The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks

Timescape, Gregory Benford

To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

 

Posted: March 12th, 2007 under Books, General, Science Fiction, the Reading Room.
Comments: 11

Or:

For Scandie Girls Who Have Considered The 33 Oz Jar From Costco When The 12 Oz Jar From Rainbow Is Enuf

(May Ntozake Shange forgive me)

~~~~~

1) Make strawberry bread.

STRAWBERRY BREAD

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon juice or 1/4 tsp. lemon extract
4 eggs
1 tsp. soda, dissolved in 1/2 cup sour cream
3 cups flour
1 cup organic strrawberry spreadable fruit

Blend butter, sugar, vanilla, salt and lemon juice. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Stir in soda mixture. Fold in flour and organic strawberry spreadable fruit.
Pour batter into 2 large or 4 small greased loaf pans. Bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes or until done.

–recipe from the 1979 edition cookbook of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church of Beldenville, WI

~~~~~

2) Make strawberry bars.

STRAWBERRY BARS

1 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. firm butter
1/4 c. milk
Powdered sugar
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oatmeal
1 egg
2/3 c. organic strawberry spreadable fruit

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and granulated sugar; mix in oatmeal. Cut in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Beat egg and milk. Gradually add egg mixture to flour mixture, mixing until well blended. Spread about half of the dough in a greased, paper lined or non stick 8″ square baking pan. Spread evenly with organic strawberry spreadable fruit. Drop remaining dough evenly by spoonfuls over organic strawberry spreadable fruit. Bake at 375F degrees until well browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Cut into bars while still warm. Sift lightly with powdered sugar.

–I’ve had this recipe for years. It’s handwritten on a 3×5 index card. I dunno where it came from. Kismet!

~~~~~

3) Stir 2/3 cup organic strawberry spreadable fruit into 4 cups of plain yogurt.

~~~~~

4) Make french toast; top with organic strawberry spreadable fruit and a little powdered sugar.

~~~~~

5) Take any leftover organic strawberry spreadable fruit and put it in a disposable gladware-type container. Put the container in a plain brown paper bag. Place the bag on the front steps of the house of the neighbors who left 15 zucchini on your front steps last August. Ring doorbell. Run.

~~~~~

[UPDATE]

In the comments, my excellent friend Idyllopus makes the following excellent point:

Idyllopus Says:
March 12th, 2007 at 12:41 am
I don’t believe for one second that back in 1979 Our Savior’s Lutheran Church of Beldenville, Wisconsin was promoting the joys of organic strawberry spreadable fruit.

Of course you’re right, Idy.  What I should have said right off the bat was that these recipes originally stipulated the use of strawberry jam or preserves.  Wherever that ingredient appears in the recipes I have substituted “organic strawberry spreadable fruit”.  

Sorry for the omission! 

[/UPDATE]

 

 

 

 

 

Posted: March 11th, 2007 under General, the Tild Test Kitchen.
Comments: 7