Immigration -- the human cost

Ahh, only in America...

Members of one Ku Klux Klan group are staging a protest against another group for their "unchristian values."

"We are opposed to the ignorance and stupidity as displayed by the individuals that thumbed their nose at the area churches by continuing to use racial slurs, threats and avoided Christian deportment," said Ken Mier, investigator of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. They are protesting the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

I personally like my racists with good Christian values. But honestly, could this happen anywhere but America?

Members of one Klan group plan to protest another in Cullman

CULLMAN, Ala. -- Members of one Ku Klux Klan organization say they will assemble at the courthouse Nov. 10 to show their opposition to another Klan group that plans an anti-immigration rally there that day.

Ken Mier, who described himself as an investigator for the Alabama Ku Klux Klan and the national office of the Ku Klux Klan LLC, said in an e-mail to The Cullman Times that his group is against the tactics of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which held an anti-immigration protest last month in Athens.

Republicans Lose Evangelical Christianity

For a long, long time, the christian "right" has been associated with the Republican Party -- an assertion that I have long had a problem with. For one, politics and religion are separate, and more than a few patriots died so that we would not become a theocracy but a democracy. It irked me to have my church try to push politics on me; I moved from a conservative church to a liberal one, only to have the same thing done. Same deal, different candidates.

The marriage of politics to a religious group is just one more way to try to assert control. My in-laws got me the magazine "World" and I was abhorred to read that campaign finance reform was ungodly. I mean, campaign finance reform? It was just a way to convince people to vote against it, like having skinny people eat a candy bar on a commercial to show how yummy it is (oh, and it doesn't make you fat. No, really). This was nothing more than brainwash.

My worry is this: that Democrats will step in and take over the job of government morality police. Not that the Republicans ever actually did anything -- ten years in power, six with a Republican president, and they can't do anything about abortion? Prayer in schools? Flag burning? Sounds like the Republican Party was a failure for the Christian right. I could hope for a time of separation between religion and politics, but this America, and making everything political is just one of those "things that cannot be changed," after all.

You can read the entire (10 pages!) of the article here.

The backlash on the right against Bush and the war has emboldened some previously circumspect evangelical leaders to criticize the leadership of the Christian conservative political movement. “The quickness to arms, the quickness to invade, I think that caused a kind of desertion of what has been known as the Christian right,” Hybels, whose Willow Creek Association now includes 12,000 churches, told me over the summer. “People who might be called progressive evangelicals or centrist evangelicals are one stirring away from a real awakening.”

The generational and theological shifts in the evangelical world are turning the next election into a credibility test for the conservative Christian establishment. The current Republican front-runner in national polls, Rudolph W. Giuliani, could hardly be less like their kind of guy: twice divorced, thrice married, estranged from his children and church and a supporter of legalized abortion and gay rights. Alarmed at the continued strength of his candidacy, Dobson and a group of about 50 evangelical Christians leaders agreed last month to back a third party if Giuliani becomes the Republican nominee. But polls show that Giuliani is the most popular candidate among white evangelical voters. He has the support, so far, of a plurality if not a majority of conservative Christians. If Giuliani captures the nomination despite the threat of an evangelical revolt, it will be a long time before Republican strategists pay attention to the demands of conservative Christian leaders again. And if the Democrats capitalize on the current demoralization to capture a larger share of evangelical votes, the credibility damage could be just as severe.

“There was a time when evangelical churches were becoming largely and almost exclusively the Republican Party at prayer,” said Marvin Olasky, the editor of the evangelical magazine World and an informal adviser to George W. Bush when he was governor. “To some extent — we have to see how much — the Republicans have blown it. That opportunity to lock up that constituency has vanished. The ball now really is in the Democrats’ court.”

Alternatives

I am a big fan of practicality; one reason I love the Nature Conservancy is that they include humans in their conservation plans. It is common for the super-educated to look at humanity from a broad perspective and declare us "parasites." We do fit the description; we have overrun our host (the planet) and are killing it. There is even a movement to cause humanity to die out, with all members pledging to sterilize themselves and to convince others to do the same.

While I understand this reasoning, I think it is too linear. I think humanity has a place on the planet and that it is our home. We've lived here for millions of years without destroying it, and I believe that by thinking and working together we can fix the damage we've caused. Perhaps I am too optimistic, but that is my perspective.

So, I was delighted to find this plan by the New-York based Wildlife Conservation Society. Essentially, rather than punishing poachers in Zambia, they are examining why people poach endangered animals, and the answer is because they are starving and it is a quick way to get money. So, by installing a program that trains people in a skill and rewards them with good behavior along with keeping punishments for poaching, they hope to truly lower poaching incidents.

Here's hoping that it works.

A cheaper plan to stop poachers: Give them real jobs

Mfuwe, Zambia - Jimmy Mbewe spent six-and-a-half years in prison after he was caught illegally killing an elephant outside South Luangwa National Park here in eastern Zambia.

Poverty drove the father of nine to wander the bush evading wildlife scouts to shoot buffalo and elephant and sell the meat to local traders. "I'm not educated, so I chose my profession as hunting," he says.

Out of prison now, his movements are monitored by a local antipoaching team.

But Mr. Mbewe says he has no intention of going back behind bars. He's now busy learning carpentry skills with other former poachers under the Community Markets for Conservation program.

Mbewe is also learning to farm and work as a beekeeper. As long as he refrains from poaching, COMACO buys his honey at a price higher than the local market average, processes it, packages it, and sends it on to local markets.

The program goes beyond teaching former poachers new ways to earn a living; it is creating a sophisticated network of markets that makes money for locals while reducing poaching, improving land use, and supporting conservation.

"The challenge is you can't demand support for conservation if conservation is a cost," says Dale Lewis, an American conservationist who moved to Zambia 28 years ago as a college research assistant, and has spearheaded the project.

If Only I Could Vote For This Guy...

In a heated Congressional debate over expanding health insurance for America's uninsured children, a bit of truth accidentally slipped out:

Representative Pete Stark, the California Democrat who is chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, told Republicans: “You don’t have money to fund the war or children. But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

Nice! Of course, there was negative response from Republicans, but at least we know somebody in Congress is paying attention to the fact that innocent people - not terrorists, but innocent civilians - are dying each and every day we occupy Iraq. If only more would admit what is clearly the case here... (read the entire article here.)

Quote of the Week

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross”. -Sinclair Lewis, 1885-1951

Baghdad Burning

The author of the blog Baghdad Burning has finally fled Baghdad and become a refugee. May you find peace and safety, and healing from all you have endured. May we as Americans find forgiveness for the decisions of our elected leaders.

From "The Rape of Sabrine"
...She’s just one of tens, possibly hundreds, of Iraqi women who are violated in their own homes and in Iraqi prisons. She looks like cousins I have. She looks like friends. She looks like a neighbor I sometimes used to pause to gossip with in the street. Every Iraqi who looks at her will see a cousin, a friend, a sister, a mother, an aunt…

Humanitarian organizations are warning that three Iraqi women are to be executed next month. The women are Wassan Talib, Zainab Fadhil and Liqa Omar Muhammad. They are being accused of 'terrorism', i.e. having ties to the Iraqi resistance. It could mean they are relatives of people suspected of being in the resistance. Or it could mean they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of them gave birth in the prison. I wonder what kind of torture they've endured. Let no one say Iraqi women didn't get at least SOME equality under the American occupation- we are now equally as likely to get executed.

And yet, as the situation continues to deteriorate both for Iraqis inside and outside of Iraq, and for Americans inside Iraq, Americans in America are still debating on the state of the war and occupation- are they winning or losing? Is it better or worse.

Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s worse. It’s over. You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated. You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets. You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq’s first democratic government. You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment. You lost the respect and reputation you once had. You lost more than 3000 troops. That is what you lost America. I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile.

Jimmy Carter blasts VP Cheney

This article (see below) reminds me of the fact that I heard Vice President Cheney speak while we were in Washington, D.C. at the Arlington Cemetery. We were simply there for something else and suddenly everyone said, "The Vice President is here! He's going to give a speech!" I looked around and realized people had been waiting in the cold for this. How interesting. I looked up and there he was. I don't remember what he said, but I remember saying to Marti afterward, "I just got to witness pure evil." He just laughed. Apparently I'm not the only one who thought so...

Jimmy Carter calls Cheney a "disaster" for U.S
(read the entire article here)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday denounced Vice President Dick Cheney as a "disaster" for the country and a "militant" who has had an excessive influence in setting foreign policy.

Cheney has been on the wrong side of the debate on many issues, including an internal White House discussion over Syria in which the vice president is thought to be pushing a tough approach, Carter said.

"He's a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military and he has been most forceful in the last 10 years or more in fulfilling some of his more ancient commitments that the United States has a right to inject its power through military means in other parts of the world," Carter told the BBC World News America in an interview to air later on Wednesday.

"You know he's been a disaster for our country," Carter said. "I think he's been overly persuasive on President George Bush and quite often he's prevailed."

From Texas to the Amazon

Today we got some burgers at Burger King, and, because I am inherently a guilt-obsessed person, I got online to see where, exactly, Burger King got its beef.

I recently saw an article in National Geographic about the Brazilian rainforest and how its decimation hasn't really been slowed by environmental groups the past ten years. And holding a fast-food burger in my hand, I wondered if the beef came from a cow that stood where a rainforest used to be.

Well, I didn't get a satisfying answer to that question, meaning the answer probably is "yes." However, I did find this pretty amazing website about a Texas cowboy who decided to save the rainforest himself.

Can cattle ranchers and soy farmers save the Amazon?

The reasons for land-clearing in the Amazon are compelling: cheap land, low labor costs, and booming demand for commodities driven by a surging China and growing interest in biofuels. These factors have helped Brazil become an agricultural superpower – the world’s largest exporter of beef, cotton, and sugar, among other products – in less than a generation. Amazon landowners have seen their land values double every 4-5 years in areas that just a decade ago were pristine rainforests. The market is driving deforestation.

Given this landscape, John Cain Carter believes the only way to save the Amazon is through the market. Carter is a Texas rancher who moved to the heart of the Amazon 11 years ago with his Brazilian wife, Kika, and founded what is perhaps the most innovative organization working in the Amazon, Aliança da Terra. Carter says that by giving producers incentives to reduce their impact on the forest, the market can succeed where conservation efforts have failed.

While deforestation rates in the Amazon have accelerated, the problem is not a lack of laws, but rather a legal system where enforcement is so slow and so corrupt that it renders the laws effectively useless. On paper, cattle ranching in the Amazon may be the most restricted in the world, with landowners required to keep 80 percent of their land forested – a limitation no rancher in Texas faces. Carter wants to see farmers in Brazil benefit in following the law, by turning this restriction into a marketing advantage. However in order to do so, Amazon producers have to ensure that consumers ( i.e., buyers of commodities like McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and Cargill) can confidently say that agricultural products are produced legally and even more sustainably than stipulated by the law. The incentive for producers is market access: Aliança da Terra helps Brazilian farmers and ranchers get the best price for their products, but only if they follow the rules. While producers get higher prices for their goods, buyers like Burger King and Archer-Daniels Midland can say they are using legally and responsibly produced beef. Meanwhile more rainforest is left standing, ecosystem services preserved, and biodiversity conserved. Everybody wins. (Read the rest of the article here.)

Get a bumper sticker

Abortion is just about the worst political issue out there. It killed the feminist movement -- feminism is now associated with abortion issues, rather than what it should be, which is more opportunities for women to realize their dreams (whatever those dreams are). I am so, so sick of seeing abortion used as a political and religious tool, that the thought of it being on a license plate...frankly, makes me nauseous. Worried about free speech? Get a bumper sticker. Or, as one commenter on the article put it, "Freedom of church and plate." :)

Abortion foes taking license-plate battle to U.S. appellate court

By Howard Fischer

Capitol Media Services

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.17.2007

PHOENIX — A coalition of anti-abortion groups wants a federal appeals court to force the state to produce special license plates with the message "choose life."

The Arizona Life Coalition charges in legal papers that a state commission that reviews requests for special plates acted illegally in rejecting its application. The lawsuit asks the three-judge panel to order the members of the Arizona License Plate Commission to approve the plate.

But James Morrow, an assistant state attorney general, said the commission did nothing wrong in rejecting the plates because the message was controversial, and the state should not allow its license plates to be turned "into a billboard for one side of a hotly contested issue."

Finally -- someone who isn't in the lap of big oil

Kudos to Governor Napolitano for taking action on this issue. Emission standards have not been raised since the 1980s, and national legislature is too afraid of cutting off oil interests and vehicle manufacturing firms to act. Napolitano took the back door on this and did the right thing. The whole "more expensive car" business is nothing more than a tactic to anger people. A thousand dollars difference in initial price is made up in three years if the car is only 3 mpg more efficient. People don't even realize...she's saving them money now, and all of us money in the long run.

Napolitano Defends Emissions Order

PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano is defending her decision to bypass the Legislature and instead order imposition of new carbon-dioxide-emission standards for vehicles sold in Arizona.

Napolitano said Friday the changes she wants certainly could go to the Legislature. But she said state law also backs her power to simply direct Steve Owens, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality, to adopt a rule doing the same thing.

"I'm very respectful of the Legislature," she said.

"But we can also do it by rule,'' Napolitano continued. "We can do it now. We can do it more quickly."

Rep. Ray Barnes, R-Phoenix, acknowledged action by executive order and rule may be quicker than amending state law. But Barnes, who chairs the House Environment Committee, said he doubts Napolitano actually has legal authority to impose new standards absent legislative blessing.

The ADEQ says state laws let it regulate various air contaminants in motor-vehicle exhaust, including smoke, vapors, sulfuric acid mists and radioactive materials. That list also includes gases and "carbon," which the agency contends covers carbon dioxide even though that chemically distinct compound is not listed in statutes as a pollutant.

Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, said even if the law allows the governor to do what she wants, such a major change in state policy — one that will result in more expensive cars and trucks — should be debated and reviewed by the elected representatives of Arizona voters.

How is this legal?

In this article, a Hispanic trucker has to fork over his life savings to DEA officers and then prove it wasn't drug money -- when there was no evidence he was a smuggler and drug-sniffing dogs found nothing? This is hard to believe. There is nothing that would keep DEA from simply taking people's cash if this is the case, but apparently, it really is the case. I plan to forward this article to my senator at the very least. Unbelievable!

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A trucker has sued the Drug Enforcement Administration, seeking to get back nearly $24,000 seized by DEA agents earlier this month at a weigh station on U.S. 54 in New Mexico north of El Paso, Texas.

Anastasio Prieto of El Paso gave a state police officer at the weigh station permission to search the truck to see if it contained "needles or cash in excess of $10,000," according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the federal lawsuit Thursday.

Prieto told the officer he didn't have any needles but did have $23,700.

Officers took the money and turned it over to the DEA. DEA agents photographed and fingerprinted Prieto over his objections, then released him without charging him with anything.

Border Patrol agents searched his truck with drug-sniffing dogs, but found no evidence of illegal substances, the ACLU said.

The lawsuit alleges the defendants violated Prieto's right to be free of unlawful search and seizure by taking his money without probable cause and by fingerprinting and photographing him.

"Mere possession of approximately $23,700 does not establish probable cause for a search or seizure," the lawsuit said.

It said Prieto pulled into the weigh station about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 8 and was let go about 4 p.m.

DEA agents told Prieto he would receive a notice of federal proceedings to permanently forfeit the money within 30 days and that to get it back, he'd have to prove it was his and did not come from illegal drug sales.

They told him the process probably would take a year, the ACLU said.

The ACLU's New Mexico executive director, Peter Simonson, said Prieto needs his money now to pay bills and maintain his truck. The lawsuit said Prieto does not like banks and customarily carries his savings as cash.

"The government took Mr. Prieto's money as surely as if he had been robbed on a street corner at night," Simonson said. "In fact, being robbed might have been better. At least then the police would have treated him as the victim of a crime instead of as a perpetrator."

The Death of Traditional Journalism

When I started college, I had the idea in my head that I wanted to be a foreign correspondent. I loved writing and had dominated the Journalism department in my high school, even running the small town paper when times got hard, and my dream was to be the next Woodward and Bernstein, exposing corruption, educating the public...

Well, fast forward to the summer after my sophomore year. I started working for a small, local paper as a cub reporter and I had a nose for scandal. I found out that some business had come in and bought out all the buildings on Main Street and was causing each business to close, one by one, by raising rents ridiculously high (Two and three hundred percent). But...I wasn't allowed to report it.

I found out the local factory had an asbestos problem and was exposing their workers. One man had gotten in to take photos of the asbestos piled and floating in the air, and had been promptly fired. But...I wasn't allowed to report it.

Why? Advertising dollars. Relationships with owners. Big business. Money.

I quickly realized that, in most cases, reporters' hands are tied. The editor's hands are also tied. The real decisions are made in the boardroom by the owners. And becoming the owner of a media company wasn't the subject I was studying.

That was practically an innocent time. I could not have looked 12 years into the future to see how the media would consolidate...and consolidate...and consolidate. But now the content of our news is in the hands of a few extremely powerful people. Seeing yet another consolidation -- the Wall Street Journal in the hands of the man who created Fox News -- makes me glad that bloggers are out there. We are part of the last bastion of free speech available -- we and a dwindling number of small, radical local papers, a few online news' sources, podcasters. My skepticism of traditional media mounts and more and more I read the experiences of bloggers as my news (Baghdad Burning in Iraq, for example). I may have dropped Journalism in school...but I still feel wishful about the concept.

May bloggers live long and bring down more politicians!

From Murdoch Prevails by Forbes

News Corp.'s acquisition of Dow Jones will represent a coronation of sorts for Murdoch. With a prosperous TV network, a market-leading cable news channel, a soon-to-be-launched business news channel, a major film studio, big Internet assets like social-networking giant MySpace, and now The Wall Street Journal, Murdoch has arguably become the King of All Media.

This extraordinary concentration of power in the hands of one man will trouble critics of the media industry's continuing consolidation and those who disagree with Murdoch's conservative politics.

Regardless of what one thinks of his media empire, it's clear that where he leads News Corp. from here will in many ways be the story of where the media industry itself is headed. What does the future hold for newspapers, television, the film industry and the Internet? Keep an eye on News Corp. to find out.

Zero energy bill, Zero emissions

Mr. Strizki's monthly utility bill is zero – he's off the power grid – and his system creates no carbon-dioxide emissions. Neither does the fuel-cell car parked in his garage, which runs off the hydrogen his system creates.

It sounds promising, even utopian: homemade, storable energy that doesn't contribute to global warming. But does Strizki's method – converting electricity generated from renewable sources into hydrogen – make sense for widespread adoption?

I found this article while perusing my favorite personal finances blogs and although it does relate to finance, I decided to post it here for a few reasons. First, I think it's a great article and I love the fact that some guy just decided to make his home and vehicle completely free of greenhouse gas emissions. I think this embodies the true American spirit, and I find it ironic that he has gotten so much criticism for doing what nobody thinks can be done simple because...it cost him a lot of money. I mean, if the U.S. government had done the same research for half a mil, we'd be praising that lab to the stars. But some guy does it and suddenly everyone breaks out the "not practical" phrases. Whatever.

Secondly, I don't really know if anyone reads my PF blog and I don't actually care. It is more there for me to track my own finances and as a neutral place for Marti and I to communicate. So, since I want my readers to actually see the the article, I am posting it here.

Also, it's been an age since I posted, and I apologize; my world has been a bit crazy. But I should be back on track soon. Stay tuned.

A 50-cent soda

When I was in highschool, my maths teacher used to give us extra credit problems -- hard problems, problems we hadn't gone over in class -- and he would give a Coke to the person who solved the problem first (never mind that he favored the boys in the class; that's another issue altogether). He was fond of saying that whenever you wanted something to happen, you got a lot of smart guys (notice the gender) in a room and offered them a million dollars for finding a solution, and that's how a lot of the best inventions happened. I don't know if he was right, but lunch hour was right after math class and I would see my fellow classmates furtively working on the problem in corners, trying to get the answer first so they could get that fifty cent soda. It's amazing what people will do. I won't even tell you about the time he offered a six-pack of Coke for a college-level problem (okay, I'll tell you -- I solved it but he wouldn't believe me, so I got a male classmate to present it and we split the winnings).

I guess Mr. Baumann must now be in charge of the world, because I saw this headline yesterday and it piqued my interest: Scientists to Vie for $25M Climate Prize. I'm glad that we are finally facing what has been pretty obvious for a while now; the earth is getting warmer, and we are part of the problem. I'm glad, too, because I think Mr. Baumann was right. If a group of 16-year-olds would work through lunch for a 50-cent soda, what would smart guys (and gals) do for $25 million? A lot, I hope. Because we need it.

On Building Big

You know, this article really hit me. I have a 1300 square foot home that often seems huge to me (and difficult to clean) and I sometimes wish we had a smaller home. I mean, all of us generally use the one master bath. We only use 2 of the three bedrooms. And yet, I know my home is considered "modest." A friend refused to consider any home less than 1500 square feet for her family. 1500 square feet? That's 200 more square feet to clean and to worry about. I personally like small houses with big yards but that ideal seems to be going as builders realize they charge "per square foot" and that's for the home, not the lot. You can read this poignant article here.

I was driving to Boston and saw this house set above the others, all pomp and puffery, just a blink away from a city where the working poor live in flats, and it struck me -- as it hasn't in a long, long time, because I am inured, because I see what I want to see -- that we are going in the wrong direction in this country; that the gap between the rich and the poor is a great divide and it is not pretty, no matter what your political beliefs.

More Nukes

While I am not one to march outside of Davis-Monthan or anything, I have been a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) for several years now. Most of the time I think some of the members have had a tad too much sugar, or perhaps smoked a leetle too much weed in the 60s. I mean, they would love to have civil disobedience every third day of the week, and nothing pisses them off more than a living, breathing Republican. I attended the meetings for a little while and then discovered that 1. Mentioning that Marti used to be in the Marine Corps brought silence to a room, and 2. I was the youngest person there by 40 years. At least. Also? I tend to be very moderate, at least in comparison, although by some of my family members standards I am a screaming liberal. And I don't like marching around nuclear testing sites, it's very bad for my complexion (and my ovaries)

Nevertheless, I was rather shocked when I stumbled across this article in the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 — The Bush administration is expected to announce next week a major step forward in the building of the country’s first new nuclear warhead in nearly two decades. It will propose combining elements of competing designs from two weapons laboratories in an approach that some experts argue is untested and risky.

The new weapon would not add to but replace the nation’s existing arsenal of aging warheads, with a new generation meant to be sturdier, more reliable, safer from accidental detonation and more secure from theft by terrorists.

The article goes on to say that the government wants two competing labs to make a hybrid which MAY OR MAY NOT be safe, because if not one weapons lab will go out of business. I'm sorry? I thought we all agreed only to pour money into one failing business *cough - Amtrak - cough* ? What is up with this? I like to call it Republican charity, because those poor weapons laboratories, they are starving, and we wouldn't want them on the streets.

*sigh*

I suppose there is something to be said about not pissing off the guys who build the bombs. Nevertheless, am I the only one who thinks its a tiny bit hypocritical to be "renewing" our nuclear warheads at a time when we are fighting two wars and sanctioning or threatening sanctions to several other countries for... developing nuclear warheads? I know some redneck would say, "But we need to be number one, superior, keep our world power status, blah blah blah" but honestly -- developing more nuclear weapons? Will keep us safer? Come on. We already have Paris Hilton. Do we really need another weapon more deadly than that?

Some kudos to Republicans

While I generally think of conservatives as evil, power-hungry businessmen who love to use God to convince people to take money from the poor, I did appreciate this speech from new Minority House Speaker John Boehner:

And as Mr. Boehner rose to speak and to hand the gavel over to Mrs. Pelosi, he mentioned the historic nature of her rise to the speakership:

“But today marks an occasion I think the Founding Fathers would view approvingly. My fellow Americans: whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent, this is a cause for celebration.”

And in a rather humble tone, he said:

“There were some great achievements during the 12 years that followed, but there were also some profound disappointments. If there is one lesson that stands out from our party’s time in the majority, it is this: a congressional majority is simply a means to an end. The value of a majority lies not in the chance to wield great power, but in the chance to use limited power to do great things.

“We refer to the gavel I’m holding as the Speaker’s gavel. But like everything else in this chamber, it really belongs to the people. It’s on loan from the real owners. This is the people’s House. This is the people’s Congress. And most of the people don’t care which party controls it; what they want is a government that is limited, honest, accountable, and responsive to their needs. The moment a majority forgets this lesson, it begins writing itself a ticket to minority status.”

Pelosi makes history

I had hoped it would be Cheryl, but oh well...perhaps the Senate?

Nancy Pelosi, possibly one of my father's most hated politicians, made U.S. History today with her election as House Speaker. In her speech, she quoted one of my favorite saints, St. Francis of Assisi.

Quoting St. Francis of Assisi, San Francisco's patron saint, Pelosi said, "Lord, make me a channel of thy peace; where there is darkness may we bring light, where there is hatred, may we bring love, and where there is despair, may we bring hope."

Pelosi, 66, married for 43 years with five grown children and six grandchildren, thanked her family for giving her "the confidence they gave me to go from the kitchen to the Congress."

Pelosi, wearing her trademark pearls and a purple suit, was elected by a 233-to-202 vote on party lines that became a foregone conclusion after Democrats rolled to victory in last November's midterm congressional election that swept aside 12 years of Republican control in the House.

I pulled this excerpt from a news article I now cannot find but the link goes to her speech as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Although the title of this blog is "Yellow-Dog Democrat," in reality I am skeptical of politics. People's motives can change, as the old adage says - "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." If we carry the logic further, "Partial power corrupts partially," and it is for this reason I doubt politics. After all, what did the Democrat say when s/he walked into the graveyard?

"Thank you for your votes."

Nevertheless, I hope that a few things change. I hope that we can change our course in Vietnam Iraq, that we can get government spending under control, that we can start limiting presidential powers granted during the terrorist attacks, and that we can stop being so damned partisan about everything. I want some cooperation, people, and less war-mongering. I want decent schools and a stronger police force and a better America. And if I don't stop writing I'm going to sound like a politician myself.

Dave Barry Does is Again

I was delighted to see that Dave Barry decided to emerge from retirement to do another 2006 Year in Review. Here's an except from the full article:

It was a momentous year, a year of events that will echo in the annals of history the way a dropped plate of calamari echoes in an Italian restaurant with a tile floor. Decades from now, our grandchildren will come to us and say, "Tell us, Grandpa (or Grandma as the case may be), what it was like to be alive in the year that Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Britney Spears and Katie whatshername all had babies, although not necessarily in those combinations." And we will smile wisely and emit a streamer of drool, because we will be very old and unable to hear them.

And that will be a good thing, because there are many things about 2006 that we will not want to remember. This was the year in which the members of the United States Congress, who do not bother to read the actual bills they pass, spent weeks poring over instant messages sent by a pervert. This was the year in which the vice president of the United States shot a lawyer, which turned out to be totally legal in Texas.

Also there were many pesky problems left over from 2005 that refused to go away in 2006, including Iraq, immigration, high gas prices, terrorism, global warming, avian flu, Iran, North Korea and Paris Hilton. Future generations are going to look back at this era and ask us how we could have allowed Paris Hilton to happen, and we are not going to have a good answer.

Did anything good happen in 2006? Let me think. No. But before we move on to 2007, let's take a moment to reflect back on the historic events, real and imaginary, of this historic year"...

Long Live Dave Barry! Dave Barry for President, 2008!