TUESDAY POLITICS

Reality
shows have never been my cup of tea, especially ones that emphasize
physical attributes, so except for the first season’s splash I’ve paid
less than no attention to Survivor, but now they’ve gone and done
something political for sure. As far as I can make out, they got
desperate for ratings and used a Donald Trump idea rejection to split
the contestants into teams by race. This quote lifted out of a news article
gives some clues as to how controversial that decision is. I’ll be
interested to see what, if any, are the repercussions. Oh and here’s a nifty map of the scene of the crime.

“The
black tribe consists of a jazz musician (the gangsta rapper was voted
off the island long before the cameras began rolling), a salesman, an
actress, a nursing student and a makeup artist.
The white tribe
fields a crew that includes a copier salesman, a waitress who boxes, a
roller girl, a writer and a pre-med student. It’s interesting that in
their own minds, they’re already the front-runners.
The Hispanic
tribe has the most interesting lineup, by far: a heavy metal guitarist,
a cop, a technology risk consultant, a waiter and a volleyball player.
Rush Limbaugh predicts that they’ll win because “they’ll do things
other people won’t do” and because “blacks can’t swim.”
Of course, if they do win, it will freak out America and lead to calls for even stricter immigration controls at the border.
The
Asian tribe is represented by a management consultant, a nail salon
manager, a real estate agent, a fashion director and a lawyer who
graduated from Pitt law school. Are they capable of doing the ruthless
things necessary to win “Survivor” even though such tactics would
embarrass their families forever? We’ll see.”

Deep Thought:
“The first time I ever tried to milk a cow at Grandpa’s farm, I didn’t
even know which end of the cow to milk! Then I guess I got even dumber,
because the next time I couldn’t even find the barn. Then the last
time, I just went out in the woods and lived, with no clothes.”
Today I am grateful for: Paper money
Guess the Movie:
“I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you
my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still
got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want
to help you.”  Answer:  2001:  A Space Odyssey,
1968.   Winner:  RedHairedCelt.
An Environmental Disaster Emerges on Lebanon Coast
Tons of heavy fuel oil, spilled into the sea during the battle with Israel, foul Lebanon — may reach Syria, Turkey
by Christopher Allbritton (Rest of article here.)

FRIDAY FIVE

Appetizer – If you could have a free subscription to any magazine, which one would you like to have?
My two subscriptions are to Vanity Fair, which I love for its liberal politics, articles on culture, and gossip about rich celebrities. The other one I kind of got tricked into when I bought something else at the local computer store and then just resubscribed to when the time came – Entertainment Weekly.  Since film is my main drug these days, I enjoy keeping up on the latest movies, but also books, and more
celebrity gossip.  Escapism – it’s what we do while we’re trying to figure out how to find a comfy fit here in reality.
Soup – Describe your living room (furnishings, colors, etc.).
Here’s a photo from one angle.  My house is tiny and so is my living room. All the artwork in it is by someone in the family and in the
winter that fireplace gets used a lot.  Colors are mostly browns and reds.
Salad – What does the shape of a circle make you think of?
On the one hand, a circle means completion, everything fitting
together, solidarity, connection.  On the other hand, circles can mean keeping things out.  In the 60’s I went to an encounter group where one exercise was to make a circle and each person had to find out how it felt to be kept out and try to force their way in. Religions have a way of accomplishing both – keeping people in and keeping people out.
Main Course – Name 3 things in your life that you consider to be absolute necessities.
Love (receiving and giving), physical health, personal space and time for solitude.
Dessert – What was the last really funny movie you watched?
Little Miss Sunshine, which I reviewed a week or so ago.  It’s more like a dramedy though.

Deep Thought:  “Of all my imaginary friends, I don’t think there was one that I didn’t end up having to kill.”
Today I am grateful for:  The palms of my hands
Guess the Movie:
“Then it don’t matter. I’ll be all around in the dark – I’ll be everywhere. Wherever you can look – wherever there’s a fight, so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad. I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry and they know supper’s ready, and when the people are eatin’ the stuff they raise and livin’ in the houses they build – I’ll be there, too.” Answer, The Grapes of Wrath, 1940. Winner: Corbow.

TUESDAY POLITICS

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

Tonight at 9-11 p.m. on HBO, the second segment of this film by Spike Lee will air. First segment was last night. Then it will show in its entirely at 8 p.m. August 29, the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Just when it seems like we’ve all forgotten the horror of those hours and days when so much was lost and so little was done in time, it’s a chance to be reminded by watching individuals who were there tell their stories as they have lived them through this past year in their own words. Background music by trumpeter Terence Blanchard, a New Orleans native who has also been Spike Lee’s long-time score composer. Footage also hears from mayors and governors and other officials, as well as celebrities who came and went. Famous quotes like Barbara Bush saying “so many of the people in the areas here were underprivileged anyway, so this is working out quite well for them.” By the official count, more than 1,300 people lost their lives. More than 500,000 people were displaced. The reviews are saying that Spike Lee has taken a step back from the spotlight here and crafted a work of art that we all need to see. This is one time I wish I could afford HBO, so I’m envious of those of you who get to watch it and hope it comes to prime-time before this year’s hurricane season is over. Maybe it’s kind of symbolic that it’s being shown on a channel most lower-income folks don’t watch, when it should be front and center for all of us. For a little reminder here’s a Katrina timeline.

Deep Thought: “They say the mountain holds many secrets, but the biggest is this: “I am a fake mountain.”
Today I am grateful for: Orange – the color and the fruit.
Guess the Movie: “Which one of you nuts has got any guts?” Answer: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Winner: Eliminate_the_Impossible.
Trying to Make It Home: New Orleans One Year After Katrina
by Bill Quigley
Bernice Mosely is 82 and lives alone in New Orleans in a shotgun double. On August 29, 2005, as Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the levees constructed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers failed in five places and New Orleans filled with water.
One year ago Ms. Mosely was on the second floor of her neighborhood church. Days later, she was helicoptered out. She was so dehydrated she spent eight days in a hospital. Her next door neighbor, 89 years old, stayed behind to care for his dog. He drowned in the eight feet of floodwaters that covered their neighborhood.
Ms. Mosely now lives in her half-gutted house. She has no stove, no refrigerator, and no air-conditioning. The bottom half of her walls have been stripped of sheetrock and are bare wooden slats from the floor halfway up the wall. Her food is stored in a styrofoam cooler. Two small fans push the hot air around. (Rest of article here.)

SUNDAY GOOD NEWS

Right on the heels of Bill Gates Foundation funding research into microbicides women can use to protect against HIV, China announced yesterday that initial test results of its first AIDS vaccine showed it could protect people against the HIV virus. Around 650,000 people in China have the HIV virus, but the rate of infections is rising rapidly. None of the participants in the clinical trial’s first phase showed severe adverse reactions after 180 days and some showed immunity to the HIV-1 virus 15 days after receiving the vaccine, the State Food and Drug Administration said. However, testing to ensure the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness could take years. Now here’s an interesting quote from this article. “China’s research into AIDS vaccines has been going on for 15 years but the country does not have the intellectual property rights over its AIDS vaccines in trial and the research has limited global influence, the report said.” What in the heck does “intellectual property rights” mean does anybody know? The only time in my life that I have been in a hospice facility was to visit a friend dying of AIDS 20 years ago and as of 2005 more than 30 million others had died of the virus. And today we’re still talking “intellectual property rights?!! Go China is all I have to say.

Deep Thought: “One thing a computer can do that most humans can’t is be sealed up in a cardboard box and sit in a warehouse.”
Today I am grateful for: Optimism wherever I can find it
Guess the Movie: “You’re a very nosy fellow, kitty cat. Huh? You know what happens to nosy fellows? Huh? No? Wanna guess? Huh? No? Okay. They lose their noses.” Answer: Chinatown, 1974. Winner: Eliminate_the_Impossible.
This Is Not Your Parents’ Solar System
John Johnson Jr., Times Staff Writer
August 20, 2006
Question: What is a planet?
Answer: Something round that orbits a star, according to the new definition proposed last week by the International Astronomical Union. In the case of our solar system, that star is the sun. (Rest of article here.)

WEDNESDAY MOVIE

Little Miss Sunshine

Getting there was kind of like the movie. First, it was last-minute change of plans instead of seeing World Trade Center (because my friend’s son and wife had just driven all the way from Chicago instead of flying thanks to the London shebang and she was sick and tired of hearing about terrorism). Then it was downtown instead of the closer neighborhood cineplex and as I guessed there was traffic and construction and noise and chaos everywhere and only 90-minute parking meters unless you wanted to put a lien on your house to pay for a parking garage. Finally parked, we grabbed a bite at a deli where there was no seating except outside in the construction zone on a tilt so the food slid sideways. And once seated in the mini-theater I had to rush back down the escalator and run two blocks to fill the parking meter again at the last minute knowing it would still run out about 10 minutes before the movie ended. But then at last Little Miss Sunshine and escape into a world just as dysfunctional, but somehow more delicious because the actors each and every one packed such a wallop of humor and off-the-wall shenanigans into their threads of the tapestry of one deluded and despairing and hopeful and loving and triumphant family that you wished you could just move in next door to them forever for the fun of it. The pros – Alan Arkin, Greg Kinnear, Toni Collete, Steve Carell – lived up to their reps and the new kids – Abigail Breslin and Paul Dano playing Little Miss Sunshine and her older brother respectively – were a very enjoyable change from seeing Dakota Fanning and Haley Joel Osmont or their like one more time. Basic plot – get the baby of the family 700 miles to the Little Miss Sunshine contest no matter what. Entertainment – how they get there and why – and whether winning is everything.

Guess the Movie: “You know what I think? I think that we’re all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and we claw, but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it, we never budge an inch. “ Answer: Psycho, 1960. Winner: baldmike2004.

FRIDAY FIVE
(Click here for the five part that goes with the iris.)

Appetizer – Tell about a toy you remember from your childhood.
I
don’t remember playing with toys that much. I lived on a farm and was
outdoors a lot. My dad built a playhouse in the backyard with a
windowbox where my mother planted flowers. I used it for a different
purpose each summer. Once a detective office. Once a store where my
parents pretended to buy produce from our garden. Once a museum of
abandoned bird nests. Now I have a play structure in my own backyard
that my grandchildren played in for years. They’ve outgrown it now but
each summer I clean it up in honor of the good times.
Soup – If you could make one thing in the world absolutely free for everyone, what would it be?
Peace of mind.
Salad – Approximately how many times per day do you think about your significant other?
My significant other at the moment is my Higher Self, which is sustaining me through a time of great trial.
Main Course – What is something you believe in 100%?
That war is avoidable.
Dessert – Name one thing you have done this week that you would consider a “good deed.”
Packed
and brought three bags of treats for the children in a family movie
outing to Talladega Nights. Because they love the surprises inside and
because all movies must have treats and because refreshments for the
same three kids if bought at the cinema these days would cost a bloody
fortune.

“By the authority vested in me by Kaiser William II, I pronounce you man and wife. Proceed with the execution.” Answer: The African Queen, 1951. Winner: pray14me.

Robin Williams in alcohol rehab

TUESDAY POLITICS

On July 19, GWB vetoed Federally funded stem cell research that would have allowed use of new stem cell lines generated from the hundreds of thousands of embryos that are thrown away by fertilization clinics each year. Seeming not to notice the paradox of sending thousands of Americans to die on foreign soil while dashing the hopes of thousands of Americans here waiting desperately for cures to numerous illnesses and injuries, he showed how politics (by god) can trump science. Today’s fun test of this power is the Morning After Pill (or Plan B), which the FDA has been dragging its feet about over-the-counter sales on for years. (See the map for the nine states which now sell this pill without prescription but only at some pharmacies.) Plan B, by the way, is basically a high dose of contraceptive that prevents a pregnancy from getting started. An FDA expert-advisory committee recommended approval of over-the-counter sales of the contraceptive for women of any age more than two years ago. Dozens of professional societies, including the AMA, said there is no evidence that easier access to Plan B would lead to an increase in promiscuity. Now it’s suddenly looking like two female senators, Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. and Patty Murray, D-Wash., are fighting politics with politics. By holding up the confirmation of conservative acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, they are hoping to force the FDA to agree to selling Plan B to women over 18 over the counter every damn where. Politics science politics science politics science. In the meantime, don’t get pregnant and don’t get sick and you’ll be fine.
(For info re confusion between “abortion pill” and “morning after pill” read this.)

Guess the Movie: “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night!” Answer: All About Eve, 1950. Winner: Iby1014