The Republic of T.

• Bob Cesca: The Republican Swindle About 'Obamacare and Stimulus'
• Why Ginni Thomas made that weird phone call to Anita Hill.
• Ginny Thomas reminds women we should be thanking Anita Hill
• It’s about brown people, not securing the border
• What populism isn't
• Michael Moore | Michigan Blues
• The Thomas Clown Affair
• The New Dark Financial Ages
• The Pulpit of Bullies
• The courage of “Conviction”
• The Southern Strategy lives
• Wendell Potter: Thank You, UnitedHealth Group. Your Jaw-Dropping Profit Announcement May Be Just What the Doctor Ordered.
• A Robin Hood Tax to Pay for the Wars
• Americans hate feeding poor children at school

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As my carpal tunnel issues — which go way, way, way back — continue, so does my search for the perfect mouse.

I think I may have found, if not the perfect mouse, then a close contender.

Sometimes last week I went, when I found myself reaching for another wrist brace, I went on another virtual search for the “perfect mouse.” How can there be a “perfect mouse”? Aren’t they all pretty much the same? Well, yes. Most of them haven’t changed significantly since the first computer mouse was invented. In the long history of the mouse, the essential design hasn’t changed much at all. Look at the mouse that came with your computer, and you’ve pretty much got it.

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• Even More On The Origins of the Deficit
• Robert Reich | The Perfect Storm
• Preeti Vissa: We Don't Have to Throw Homeowners Overboard
• Don’t Believe The Bank Lobby: Foreclosure Fraud Is Bad For Homeowners And The Economy

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• Will the Tea Party Crack Up?
• Robert Kuttner: Recovery, Please
• Survival of the richest
• Wall Street Defrauds the Middle Class Again: Why We Need Real Regulation
• Op-Ed Columnist: The Rage Won’t End on Election Day
• Ignorance as Authenticity
• Mike Lux: Worse Than Watergate?
• This Inspiring Chilean Miner Rescue Was Brought To You In Part By Black People
• Why It’s So Hard to Slash the Bloated Pentagon Budgets
• Tea Partiers and Their Ethnocentric Views.
• It’s Time For Jail Terms
• E.J. Dionne, Jr. | “Crazy Carl” and the Limits of Anger
• On Loving Queer Kids
• No True Fiscal Conservatives In The U.S.

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It occurred to me last night that parenting turns the mundane into milestones, causing strange emotional reactions. I had one of those while we were folding the laundry during “Desperate Housewives” (as we do every other Sunday night.) I had folded a tiny pair of Dylan’s underwear, and was putting them on his underwear pile when the hubby noted, “Awwww. Dylan has an underwear pile now.”

We’ve been in the throes of “potty training”/”potty learning” for the past week now, and Dylan has transitioned from diapers to underwear most of the time. Needless to say, it’s been a week of outfit changes, and a bit more laundry on Dylan’s part, but he’s getting it. For the last few days, he’s kept his diaper dry when he had one one, and kept himself dry when he had his underwear. Last night, the big deal was that he did No. 2 in the potty, something he’d only done at school to date, which earned him a Thomas the Train sticker.

I found myself getting misty-eyed that Dylan has an underwear pile. It’s just another sign that he’s growing up, and isn’t really a baby any more, even though I still think of him as one sometimes. (And in many ways he’ll always be our baby, to me.)

Of course we realized that it means the day we change our last diaper is on the horizon, and the diaper genie will be a thing of the past. But I still had a slight lump in my throat over the new underwear pile in our lives. It signifies the beginning of something, yes. But it signifies the end of something too. Something precious I’m sure I’ll miss just a little bit.

But I won’t miss diapers. Period.

You talk about the president
Won’t stop the air pollution
Just put ya hand on ya mouth
That’ll help the solution

“Respect Yourself” – The Staples Singers

I’ve been fighting a chest cold for the few days, after finally going to the doctor about the nagging cough, that was the result of chest congestion, which was the result of sinus congestion that crept downard despite my best efforts at treating it with over-the-counter mediciations and prescribed allergy medicine.

Two prescriptions, one inhaler, and two day later I’m back in the land of the living. I decided to take my lunch break as an opportunity to get a much needed haircut, and have a working lunch at my desk afterwards. I was just about to get up from the chair when the strangest thing happened.

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You talk about the president
Won’t stop the air pollution
Just put ya hand on ya mouth
That’ll help the solution

I’ve been fighting a chest cold for the few days, after finally going to the doctor about the nagging cough, that was the result of chest congestion, which was the result of sinus congestion that crept downard despite my best efforts at treating it with over-the-counter mediciations and prescribed allergy medicine.

Two prescriptions, one inhaler, and two day later I’m back in the land of the living. I decided to take my lunch break as an opportunity to get a much needed haircut, and have a working lunch at my desk afterwards. I was just about to get up from the chair when the strangest thing happened.

(more…)

You talk about the president
Won’t stop the air pollution
Just put ya hand on ya mouth
That’ll help the solution

I’ve been fighting a chest cold for the few days, after finally going to the doctor about the nagging cough, that was the result of chest congestion, which was the result of sinus congestion that crept downard despite my best efforts at treating it with over-the-counter mediciations and prescribed allergy medicine.

Two prescriptions, one inhaler, and two day later I’m back in the land of the living. I decided to take my lunch break as an opportunity to get a much needed haircut, and have a working lunch at my desk afterwards. I was just about to get up from the chair when the strangest thing happened.

(more…)

You talk about the president
Won’t stop the air pollution
Just put ya hand on ya mouth
That’ll help the solution

I’ve been fighting a chest cold for the few days, after finally going to the doctor about the nagging cough, that was the result of chest congestion, which was the result of sinus congestion that crept downard despite my best efforts at treating it with over-the-counter mediciations and prescribed allergy medicine.

Two prescriptions, one inhaler, and two day later I’m back in the land of the living. I decided to take my lunch break as an opportunity to get a much needed haircut, and have a working lunch at my desk afterwards. I was just about to get up from the chair when the strangest thing happened.

(more…)

Here’s another reason to vote in the mid-term elections this November: Conservatives think you need a pay cut. As I’ve said once or twice before, conservatives’ bottom line message is simple: America has economic problems because too many people have had it good for too long; and when they’re worse off again, the nation and its economy will be better off. The people they think had it too good for too long are you and me, and almost anyone who punches a clock to pull a paycheck.

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• Ergo Touchpad $29.95 USB Touchpad Mouse, Laptop & Desktop Touchpad, Tablet Touchpad – Free Yourself from the Routine – The Latest in Economy in Motion
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• jelfin gel covered mouse – Google Search
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• Truly Ergonomic Mouse, HandShoe Mouse, Hippus – Home
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• OrthoMouse Ergonomic Mouse
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• Rolee Polee XT – Handheld Wireless Trackball
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• Cyber Snipa Orbita Wireless Optical Mouse White – Mouse
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• Sky Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse – WorldStart.com
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• Gay and Lesbian Books and eBooks from your favorite authors and publishers
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How on earth anyone with the very public history of Carl Paladino becomes a serious candidate for governor of any state — let alone New York — is a mystery to me beyond all understanding. But, these are strange political times, when former right-wing fringe becomes the mainstream of the Republican party.

For the most part, I tend to ignore what Paladino has to say about anything, except for when he starts saying what he’d do if elected; like reviving the workhouses of the Victorian Era. But when he goes off and says something so blatantly ignorant about gay people, I can’t help but respond.

Paladino says:

The Republican candidate for governor, Carl P. Paladino, told a gathering in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Sunday that children should not be “brainwashed” into thinking that homosexuality was acceptable, and criticized his opponent, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, for marching in a gay pride parade earlier this year.

Addressing Orthodox Jewish leaders, Mr. Paladino described his opposition to same-sex marriage.

“I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option — it isn’t,” he said, reading from a prepared address, according to a video of the event.

Getting married? Raising a family?

Need I say it?

That’s. So. Gay.

It’s almost a shame that Americans are paying very little attention to the GOP’s "Pledge To America." But maybe that’s because most of it has nothing to do with them. What is not mentioned in the document makes it clear that it doesn’t speak to the urgent  challenges Americans are facing. It doesn’t "pledge" to address the mass suffering inflicted on millions of America by the current crisis, or what failing to do so will mean for generations of Americans, because it’s not a pledge to most Americans. It’s a pledge to 1 percent (or even less) of America.

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• The Republican House of Horrors
• The American Nightmare — Bankers breaking down the doors
• Don't folks usually like 'underdogs'?
• “A Country of Invaders” — Christian Right leaders take up immigrant bashing and join the Tea Party
• Debtors prisons: They’re back!
• Robert Pollin | Austerity Is Not a Solution: Why the Deficit Hawks Are Wrong (Video)
• Let’s Rethink Masculinity
• Cenk Uygur: The Big Republican Lie on Tax Cuts
• Don’t Blame Obama for the Enthusiasm Gap
• The Truth About Lies
• The Trauma of Long Term Unemployment
• Xenophobia And Racism in Pursuit of Social Security Cuts
• Fred Karger: Maggie Gallagher, Stop the Bullying!
• Reflecting on Gay Suicides
• Burning Down The House

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• RetroRead – Free Google epubs for your Kindle
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Believe it or not, sometimes I censor myself. I write nearly complete blog posts and then decide for one reason or another not to publish them. Sometimes I censor them because even I’m convinced that I might have gone a little overboard. But yesterday, I read about something I wanted to write a post about, only to realize that I already had written a post about it — about a month before it happened.

Back in August, I wrote this in response to a post by Glenn Greenwald, about trend of cities and counties unpaving roads, turning out streetlights, stopping public bus service, shortening the school year, and even talking about eliminating the 12^th grade.

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A dear departed friend of mine, Alex, was know for saying “We all have choices.” It was usually in the form of advice and/or a warning to a friend who was about to make disastrous choice, with serious implications for his/her future. The not-so-thinly veiled implication was that our choices have consequences, and that we consider our choices carefully to avoid the worst consequences.

Sometimes, if someone particularly daft still wasn’t getting the message, Alex would add a note of severity by saying, “But sometimes those choices get taken away.” I thought about Alex’s warning today at the America’s Fiscal Choices conference. Well into a economic crisis, America still has fiscal choices, but if we don’t make the right choices — and make them soon — those choices will almost certainly be taken away.

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Classic Predator

Statements to the media and details of in the lawsuits filed by the four men paint the picture a man who qualifies not only as an “emotional predator” (a term I wasn’t aware of until just now), but show several characteristics of a classic sexual predator.

Intimacy

As documented in a study done in an Irish prison, many sexual predators are frightened or extremely uncomfortable with adult intimacy. For some, this stems from being abused as a child, which leads to a distorted view of sexual intimacy. That is not to say that intimacy in this case is purely sexual in nature; rather, it includes emotional intimacy such as meaningful relationships. Sexual predators often report having few close friends or confidantes and coming from strained families where nurturing support was rare or completely absent.

Control and Power

The Irish study also dealt with the predators feelings concerning control. Many reported feeling a lack of control in their own lives due to socioeconomic or emotional factors. For sexual predators, sexual crimes are seen as a way of exerting control, resulting in pleasurable feelings of power that are less concerned with sexual gratification, and more with emotional validation. By forcing their advances on other people, they experience one area of their lives where they were the controlling factor.

Knowing Victims

A study conducted by the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety in West Virginia reported that 88.5 percent of all studied sex offenders knew their victims prior to violating them. 48.7 percent of these victims were simple acquaintances that the sexual predators admitted to having built relationships with for the purpose of assaulting them. Typically, predators seek out women or children who are vulnerable and lacking a strong support network of family or friends. Oftentimes, they build some levels of trust or familiarities with the people before victimizing them.

Responsibility

The West Virginia study reported that over 36 percent of victims blamed their actions at least partially upon drugs while over half did the same with alcohol. This is evidence of an overall trend that points to the fact that sexual predators often do not take full, if any, responsibility for their actions. Often, they blame outside forces or the victim themselves. This tendency of blaming others frequently extends to other areas of their lives where failures at work, school and personal lives are viewed as the fault of other people and not their own.

While I haven’t found much published about his childhood, the court filings, the public statements of the four men, and some of Long’s own statements provide details that fill in the picture painted in broad broad strokes by the quote above.

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Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for September 30th through October 22nd:

• 5 Likely New Members of the Senate's "Bear Your Rapist's Baby" Caucus –
• How to Replace the War System –
• Populist Cred or Diversionary Tactic? –
• Op-Ed Columnist: The Very Useful Idiocy of Christine O’Donnell –
• Earl Ofari Hutchinson: One Nation Working Together Rally Magnificent, Now What? –
• ‘Are You America?’ Progressives Join One Nation March –
• Tyler Clementi suicide: Reaction is swift and widespread –
• Eric Boehlert: Wow, Beck sold less than 10% of tickets for NJ event –
• Deficit Fraud Rand Paul On Extending Bush’s Tax Cuts: ‘I’m Not Seeing It As A Cost’ –
• 30 DAYS OUT: GOP HASN’T CLOSED DEAL ON HOUSE; NATION’S MOOD STILL FOUL – IL Sen., CA gov. are toss-ups — Mr. Lizza’s opus: McCain jealous of Graham as new maverick – How Gibbs-DNC idea surfaced –
• Idiot wind –
• Spying on PETA? –
• Tea Party may snuff out a chance to shrink government –
• One Nation: Working together, looking forward, –
• The stimulus worked … as far as it went –
• ‘America Is One Nation and We Signify that Nation’ –
• As gay youth suicides increase, Focus on the Family attacks anti-bullying report –
• The Case for Mockery –
• One Reason to Talk About Interracial Dating. –
• R.I.P, TANF Emergency Fund –
• Tea Party Meets Middle Class –

The sex scandal swirling around Eddie Long is the kind of story that the media and consumers of media (in other words, nearly everybody) tend to find irresistible. As Joshua Alston wrote in Newsweek, it’s got everything: secrets, money, sex, and religion. Plus it hits to “hot button” topic — homosexuality and race — and adds a heaping dose of politics to top it off.

But all of the above can blind us to what’s really in front of us, beyond the lights and cameras, the ink spilled and bandwidth burned covering the story. The allegations against Long — that he coerced young men over whom he had authority into sexual relationships — leaves raises more questions than answers; both concerning the specifics of the case against long, and the much larger phenomena the allegations represent.

In the case of the former, the courts will determine what truth there is in the accusations against Long. But the rest of us have to grapple with the latter.

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