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Archives for 04/18/2007 - 04/18/2007

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Nothing New

Posted by on April 18 at 9:50 PM

We’re tired of writing it and you’re tired of reading it, but the anti-war movement is just uninspired and tiresome. I hoofed it down to the student walkout/protest/non-conformist convention at Westlake Park to see what the young protesters would be up to. I was, once again, disappointed.

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Just like the “grown-up” anti-war protest I attended a month ago, the walk-out was disorganized, unfocused and totally fucking boring. 300 (and I’m probably being generous) high-school aged protesters filled out just under half of the small concrete park across from Westlake Center.

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Just as the rally started, the PA system went dead. For the next half hour, organizers used bullhorns in a futile attempt to hold the attention of a group of twitchy high schoolers. Half an hour later, the sound came back on.

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The event went through the motions, with guest appearances by speakers ripping the administration for its war on immigrants, Democrats’ weak attempts at troop withdrawal and the importance of getting “the message” out via Rupert Murdoch’s Myspace.

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My disappointment with these events isn’t just some snarky, disaffected-hipster, Stranger-y thing. These events are totally functionless, silly, traffic-snarling wastes of energy. If you really want to hold an impressive rally and take a clear stand against something, pick one, maybe two, issues.

I totally agree with your grievances. This war is fucked. Our government is fucked. The socio-economic disparity in this country is fucked, but a crowd full of kids still dipping their toes in the activist pool, yelling “George Bush can suck it,” only makes your rally look like it’s full of pranksters who just wanted to skip school. I’m sure some of you are very bright and well informed, but the least-informed seem to be the loudest—and they’re making you all look bad.

When the march took off down Pine towards City Hall, I left to get a burrito.

American Idol

Posted by on April 18 at 7:20 PM

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Spoiler Alert: Sanjaya is….

Continue reading "American Idol" »

Sonia & Amy Ruiz

Posted by on April 18 at 6:21 PM

Just got a fancy card in the mail from former Stranger reporter, Amy Jenniges. (After going from star news intern to star news reporter, Amy left The Stranger in late 2005 to head up the news shop at the Portland Mercury.)

She moved to PDX with her g.f., Sonia.

Anyway, here’s the flowery, creme-colored card I just got in the mail:

On Friday, April Thirteenth, Two Thousand And Seven

Sonia Alicia
&
Amy Joan

Married in Vancouver, British Columbia.

They Look Forward To Celebrating The Day That Their Vows

Of Love, Commitment And Unity Are Honored At Home.

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Notes From The Prayer Warrior

Posted by on April 18 at 5:07 PM

The Prayer Warrior was in New York today…

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Sent this morning:

April 18, 2007

Dear Prayer Warrior,

I just got off the train in New York, and heading to BET (Black Entertainment Television) to sit with a panel of 7 people to discuss homosexuality and the black church. Pray for wisdom, courage, and strength, and most of all, that God gets the glory!

Pastor Hutch

Sent this afternoon:

April 18, 2007

Dear Prayer Warrior,

Well, after 2 hours of taping, I am tired! It was confrontational and combatant [sic], but God was awesome. It was three against 1 1/2 (one other person who believed homosexuality is a sin). One pastor had a homosexual choir. They tried to throw everything at me, including accusations, but it didn’t work.

Thank you for praying. God was glorified.

Pastor Hutch

Follow-Up

Posted by on April 18 at 5:05 PM

As noted in this morning’s Morning News, the P-I has an impressive (and kind of shocking) scoop today: Port Commissioner Pat Davis authorized a severance package for outgoing Port CEO Mic Dinsmore extending his $340,00 salary for a year, without consulting the other commissioners.

Appropriately enough, her colleagues were stunned. The P-I got great quotes from Davis’s fellow commissioners:

“Mic Dinsmore retired of his own accord, and granting him a large severance package is entirely inappropriate,” Port Commission President John Creighton said.

[Port Commissioner Alec] Fisken said it made no sense for the commissioners to be discussing Dinsmore’s severance so far in advance of knowing his plans.

“This is outrageous, and I can’t imagine where it came from,” Fisken said. “Pat said we had approved this, but I have no recollection of it at any meeting—it would still have to come to a formal vote for payments to be made.”

And my favorite one, from Lloyd Hara:

“Pat claims it was authorized, and that she prepared it based on, well, whatever, I don’t know,” Hara said.

Here’s the potential follow-up story, people. I mean, seriously. WTF?

The Church of Scientology Emailed Me Today

Posted by on April 18 at 4:37 PM

At least it looks like they did:

From: americanbloggers@gmail.com
Subject: VIRGINIA MASSACRE - CAUSE
Date: April 17, 2007 8:42:43 PM PDT
The side effects of anti-depressant drugs are often suicidal impulses and violence—you have not covered that possibility in your stories.

Apr 18, 2007 4:17 PM

Posted by on April 18 at 4:36 PM

Sent to me a moment ago:

Subject: Happy “Independance” Day Zimbabwe!!!!
Body: As many of you dont know… today is the 27th year that Zimbabwe has been ‘independant’ of the clutches of the British colonizers..(american spelling)… however the country continues on a downward spiral towards self destruction and mayheim… now under the clutches of a new tyrant… Needless to say.. Happy Independance day to all my fellow zimbabweans out there… keep your head up and hold it high!!! You damn sure know i will!!!

Holla at your boy!!!!

The Candidates’ Reactions

Posted by on April 18 at 4:27 PM

The NYT has the ‘08 presidential candidates’ reactions to today’s Supreme Court decision. A few excerpts:

Clinton:

Today’s decision blatantly defies the Court’s recent decision in 2000 striking down a state partial-birth abortion law because of its failure to provide an exception for the health of the mother. As the Supreme Court recognized in Roe v. Wade in 1973, this issue is complex and highly personal; the rights and lives of women must be taken into account.

Edwards:

The ban upheld by the Court is an ill-considered and sweeping prohibition that does not even take account for serious threats to the health of individual women. This hard right turn is a stark reminder of why Democrats cannot afford to lose the 2008 election. Too much is at stake - starting with, as the Court made all too clear today, a woman’s right to choose.

Obama:

I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman’s right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women.

And from the Republicans:

McCain:

Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life and integrity of the judiciary. The ruling ensures that an unacceptable and unjustifiable practice will not be carried out on our innocent children. It also clearly speaks to the importance of nominating and confirming strict constructionist judges who interpret the law as it is written.

Giuliani:
The Supreme Court reached the correct conclusion in upholding the congressional ban on partial birth abortion. I agree with it.

Romney:

Today, our nation’s highest court reaffirmed the value of life in America by upholding a ban on a practice that offends basic human decency. This decision represents a step forward in protecting the weakest and most innocent among us.

Good News For Carnivores

Posted by on April 18 at 4:15 PM

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It’s OK to eat veal again!

From the NYT:


When photographs of formula-fed veal calves tethered in crates where they could not turn around appeared across the country, sales of veal plummeted. They have never recovered. In the 1950s and 1960s Americans ate four pounds of veal a year on average. Today per capita consumption is around half a pound a year.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that some farmers finally got the message and changed the way their calves were raised.

Some returned to the old-fashioned method of putting them out to pasture with their mothers. …

Others got rid of the crates but kept the calves in barn pens, letting them mingle with other calves and giving them room to walk and turn around. …

Those changes on the farm have led to corollary changes in the kitchen — a culinary serendipity that is just beginning to be recognized. Veal from calves fed sufficient grass or grain as well as milk has real character and flavor. For anyone who knows only the bland old-fashioned veal, it is as if a brand-new ingredient has been discovered. Tasting this new veal is not unlike biting into your first heirloom tomato from the garden after a lifetime of eating supermarket tomatoes bred for durability.

This is exciting news for those of us who like to eat meat but feel guilty causing undue suffering and environmental awfulness. Now if only they can figure out a way to deal with that methane problem…

Today on Line Out.

Posted by on April 18 at 3:15 PM

But It’s Not Your Fault: The Divorce Don’t Love Each Other Anymore.

New Lineup on the Block: Girl Talk, Aesop Rock to Play Capitol Hill Block Party.

Animal Musk: Trent Moorman on Trans Am, Tour.

Free Ride: Win Tickets to Trans Am.

It’s Only Diazepam: The Rolling Stones and Horse Tranquilizers.

Good Medicine: Megan Seling on Last Night’s Ted Leo Show.

Click on My Selector: Music Programs You Can Play at Work.

Steamy, Sexy, Slightly Gay Disco: Terry Miller on Theo Vaness.

An Amicable Divorce: It’s Nobody’s Fault, and The Divorce Still Love Each Other.

And now, a baby hippo and a tortoise:

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Re: It’s on TV Tonight

Posted by on April 18 at 2:48 PM

The story of Cho Seung-Hui takes another creepy turn:

The gunman responsible for the shootings at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute mailed photographs, video and writings to the NBC television news network, apparently sending them off between the two attacks on campus that killed 32 people and himself.

The network will air details of the “multi-media manifesto” tonight.

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It’s on TV Tonight!

Posted by on April 18 at 2:43 PM

• In a blatant attempt to lure the nerdlings back to the fold, starting with tonight’s episode, comic author Brian K. Vaughan (of Y: The Last Man) will be co-writing LOST (ABC 10 pm). You may now change your underpants.

• Fox is replacing tonight’s new episode of BONES (Fox, 8 pm) with a rerun, because of the plot is too reminiscent of the Virginia Tech shootings. Cue Simon Cowell to roll his eyes.

• Speaking of AMERICAN IDOL (Fox, 9 pm)… what about SANJAYA?? While Chris should get the boot for his cloying attempt at invoking sympathy from the Virginia Tech shootings, after Sanjaya’s performance last night—which was even worse than usual—TONIGHT COULD BE THE NIGHT WE FINALLY SAY BYE-BYE! (Sorry, Sanjaya, the “Aunt Jemima” will never top the “Pony-Hawk.”

Cross Purposes

Posted by on April 18 at 2:34 PM

Over at Crosscut Austin Jenkins has a post about Democratic House Speaker Frank Chopp.

The piece lays out the basic explanation for Chopp’s “One Washington” strategy: Chopp wants to protect his big majority by tacking centrist.

Josh Feit wrote about Chopp’s centrist “One Washington” in a long piece the Stranger last week—and asked a pertinent question: What’s the use of Dems having a supermajority if they’re afraid to use it?

Josh detailed how the Dem leadership in Olympia has gutted, tabled or thwarted a number of no-brainer legislative items: comprehensive family leave, a cap on payday-loan interest rates, a bill closing the gun-show loophole, a bill to keep tabs on corporate tax breaks by including those de facto expenditures in the budget, legislation preventing employers from holding “captive audience” anti-unionizing meetings, regulations requiring disclosure from pharmaceutical-industry lobbyists, an overall cap on CO2 emissions, tenant relocation assistance and a cap on condo conversions, legislation preventing strip-mining operations on Maury Island, protecting student free-speech rights, a homebuyers’ protection bill, full funding for health-care workers in nursing homes, and a cool follow-up to the infamous $3.2 billion tax break Boeing got in 2003, making the money contingent on a requirement that the company doesn’t engage in union busting.

Jenkins doesn’t enumerate these disappointments, nor, with exception of one anonymous lobbyist, does he quote progressives who are fed up. He does write…

It’s difficult to find dissenters in Democratic circles who will openly criticize the Chopp approach as too safe or too middle-of-the-road.

Huh? Josh found plenty of “dissenters in Democratic circles” willing to go on record: folks from the Sierra Club, SEIU, and the Washington Tax Fairness Coalition. Even a Democratic State Senator and a State Rep.

Here’s a sample:

“Frank Chopp never came close to acknowledging the environmental reality,” says Kevin Fullerton, chair of the Political Committee of the Seattle Sierra Club. “Instead, what he did was take this typical centrist position, which says, ‘We’ll build auto capacity first and then whatever, transit, comes second.’ And if we get anything at all we should be happy.”

Some legislators in Olympia were coming around to the Sierra Club’s view, says Fullerton. But “the fact that [Chopp] was so adamant prevented more-reasonable members from coming over. No one was going to say anything with Frank posturing the way he was.”

And another:

“In the fifth or sixth year of Democratic control now,” says David Rolf, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 775, “neither chamber has looked seriously at tax loopholes. We’re subsidizing the Realtors and the chemical fertilizer industry, for example, with millions.”

Indeed, a bill pushed by the liberal Tax Fairness Coalition that would have tracked these corporate tax breaks had 17 co-sponsors, including lead sponsor Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D-37, South Seattle). Santos’ bill was passed out of the Finance Committee to the Rules Committee, but leadership yanked it from Rules and sent it back to Finance, where it’s now wasting away.

And from Sen. Brian Weinstein (D-41, Mercer Island)…

“This is democracy at its worst,” Weinstein told me in an interview. “Here is one guy who overruled 30 Democratic senators and the Democratic House Judiciary Committee. There’s no point in doing the fact finding, holding eight hours of hearings, of doing the right thing, if a dictator can just pull the rug out from under you.”

Josh worked the phones and reported this story. Jenkins phoned his in.

Night and Day

Posted by on April 18 at 2:32 PM

The international edition:
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The national edition:

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The question: which site is closer to world consciousness? Meaning, which is closer to the truth—the truth being the total situation?

(Thanks to Aexia for bringing the international edition of CNN to attention.)

The Butterfly Problem

Posted by on April 18 at 1:59 PM

When it comes to my son, I know what to tell him: no crying no matter what, no emotional outbursts, no tantrums, no moodiness, keep your zipper up, keep your hands out your pants, and so on. But with my daughter, what am I supposed to do about the fact that she doesn’t like to wear clothes? The minute she walks into the apartment after school, she throws off her pants, her shirt, and starts running around. If it were my son, I would tell him put his things back on that very instant (“Do you live in a cave?”), but with my daughter I cant do anything. I have to let her be who she wants to be. Why? Because its like enforcing an alien standard on her freedom. It’s repressive and might stunt some female form of expression that’s never had a chance at fulfillment because of male intervention. What am I to do? How do you control a free butterfly like my little daughter?

Zoo Story

Posted by on April 18 at 1:57 PM

There’s an article about Charles Mudede’s new film Zoo in the current issue of Newsweek.

“Eerily beautiful” … “Casts a dark, disturbingly lyrical spell…” “Using techniques that scramble our notions of documentary and fiction.”

I was more buzzed when Mudede landed in the NYT a couple of Sundays ago, but Newsweek certainly brings our dear Charles and his dialectic to the attention of the masses. Congrats Mr. Mudede.

Next Year at Seattle Arts & Lectures

Posted by on April 18 at 1:56 PM

The speakers in next year’s Seattle Arts & Lectures literary lecture series are going to be announced tonight before Jonathan Lethem’s lecture. They haven’t been announced on SAL’s website yet.

The series begins with a special event with Wangari Maathai, winner of 2004’s Nobel Peace Prize, on Sept 19.

Then there’s Orhan Pamuk (who just won the Nobel Prize for Literature) on October 15; Diane Ackerman on November 19; Colson Whitehead on January 14; Mary Oliver on February 4; Richard Powers on March 5; and John Banville on April 29.

The question people always ask about SAL’s lecture series is: So, what’s the idea behind the programming, other than: Here are some people who are famous and old? I just got off the phone with Hollis Palmer, SAL’s Director of Events and Marketing, and so I put the oft-repeated question her: “Were these people chosen for next year’s series because they’re famous and old? (A quick look at birthdays: Oliver was born in the 1930s, Banville in the 1940s, and everyone else in the 1950s, except Whitehead, who was born in 1969.)

Palmer’s reply: “The line we like to take is we try to present the outstanding literary figures of our time.

Tiny Movies! Massive Prize!

Posted by on April 18 at 1:38 PM

The Seattle International Film Festival is almost upon us, and that means our annual 28 Seconds film contest is accepting submissions.

Basically, you make a really short movie (28 seconds long—at that length, you could even go animated!) that somehow incorporates The Stranger. We select our favorite, and that movie plays in front of all Stranger-sponsored films at SIFF. Plus, you get 2 full passes to the festival (that’s around a $1,600 value). Your movie can be of any genre, but it had better be clever.

Entries must be on DVD and submitted by May 11. Details here. Good luck!

Seattle’s Mud Room

Posted by on April 18 at 1:02 PM

I went to a public hearing of the Century 21 Committee to report on their vision quest for how to actually turn the Seattle Center into “Seattle’s living room.” (Now it’s more like Seattle’s mud room, a place you have to tromp through, but never linger in, on your way to the Rep, the opera, a stoner laser show at the Science Center, etc.)

There were a few different proposals (knock down Memorial Stadium, replace it with underground parking and a lawn on top). There were a few quibbles from the audience. (Most comically from a guy who thought altering Memorial Stadium would insult the veterans. Look, pal: It’s an ugly-ass stadium. Leaving it up is an insult to the veterans.)

All the proposals mentioned renovating the bejesus out of the Center House (which has one feature worth keeping—the art-deco north wall, making the Center more “porous” and “green,” leaving Key Arena as-is, and razing the fun forest.

Happily, one of the proposals featured a ferris wheel—the only part of the Fun Forest worth fixing and keeping.

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Everyone’s a Critic

Posted by on April 18 at 12:46 PM

A man found several stolen glass sculptures designed by artist Dale Chihuly in a vacant lot less than a mile from where they had been taken, authorities said Wednesday.

The red glass reeds were found Tuesday in poor condition in and around a trash pile, said Detective Peter Cuervo, a spokesman for the Coral Gables Police Department. Eight reeds had been stolen from the exhibit at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and authorities believe they recovered them all.

“It looks like they were just thrown and discarded,” Cuervo said.

Justice Ginsburg’s Dissent

Posted by on April 18 at 12:05 PM

Today, as Dan noted earlier, five men decided that even a nonviable fetus has more rights than a living woman. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the first total ban on an abortion procedure with no exceptions for a woman’s life or health. Most so-called “partial birth abortions” are performed because a fetus is terminally ill, or to save the life of the woman. The only woman on the court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, wrote the dissent:


Today’’s decision is alarming. … It tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). It blurs the line… between previability and postviability abortions. And, for the first time since Roe, the Court blesses a prohibition with no exception safeguarding a woman’s health.
[…]

“There was a time, not so long ago,” when women were “regarded as the center of home and family life, with attendant special responsibilities that precluded full and independent legal status under the Constitution.” Those views, this Court made clear in Casey, “are no longer consistent with our understanding of the family, the individual, or the Constitution. Women, it is now acknowledged, have the talent, capacity, and right “to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation.” Their ability to realize their full potential, the Court recognized, is intimately connected to “their ability to control their reproductive lives.” Thus, legal challenges to undue restrictions on abortion procedures do not seek to vindicate some generalized notion of privacy; rather, they center on a woman’’s autonomy to determine her life’’s course, and thus to enjoy equal citizenship stature.

In keeping with this comprehension of the right to reproductive choice, the Court has consistently required that laws regulating abortion, at any stage of pregnancy and in
all cases, safeguard a woman’’s health. We have thus ruled that a State must avoid subjecting women to health risks not only where the pregnancy itself creates danger, but also where state regulation forces women to resort to less safe methods of abortion.

The Court offers flimsy and transparent justifications for upholding a nationwide ban on intact D&E sans any exception to safeguard a women’’s health.
[…]
Ultimately, the Court admits that “moral concerns” are at work, concerns that could yield prohibitions on any abortion. Notably, the concerns expressed are untethered to any
ground genuinely serving the Government’’s interest in preserving life. By allowing such concerns to carry the day and case, overriding fundamental rights, the Court dishonors our precedent. (“Some of us as individuals find abortion offensive to our most basic principles of morality, but that cannot control our decision. Our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code.”)

Revealing in this regard, the Court invokes an antiabortion shibboleth for which it concededly has no reliable evidence: Women who have abortions come to regret their choices, and consequently suffer from “[s]evere depression and loss of esteem.” Because of women’’s fragile emotional state and because of the “bond of love the mother has for her child,” the Court worries, doctors may withhold information about the nature of the intact D&E procedure. The solution the Court approves, then, is not to require doctors to inform women, accurately and adequately, of the different procedures and their attendant risks. Instead, the Court deprives women of the right to make an autonomous choice, even at the expense of their safety.

This way of thinking reflects ancient notions about women’’s place in the family and under the Constitution——ideas that have long since been discredited. …

Though today’’s majority may regard women’’s feelings on the matter as “self-evident,” ante, at 29, this Court has repeatedly confirmed that “[t]he destiny of the woman
must be shaped … on her own conception of her spiritual imperatives and her place in society.”

One wonders how long a line that saves no fetus from destruction will hold in face of the Court’’s “moral concerns. ”The Court’’s hostility to the right Roe and Casey secured is not concealed. Throughout, the opinion refers to obstetrician-gynecologists and surgeons who perform abortions not by the titles of their medical specialties, but by the pejorative label “abortion doctor.” A fetus is described as an “unborn child,” and as a “baby,” previability abortions are referred to as “late-term,” and the reasoned medical judgments of highly trained doctors are dismissed as “preferences” motivated by “mere convenience.

In sum, the notion that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act furthers any legitimate governmental interest is, quite simply, irrational. The Court’s defense of the statute provides no saving explanation. In candor, the Act, and the Court’’s defense of it, cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this Court— and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women’’s lives.

American Idol Eye Roll? YOU MAKE THE CALL!

Posted by on April 18 at 11:58 AM

So last night on American Idol, that Justin Timberlake wanna-be CHRIS RICHARDSON sang a fairly awful—and extremely NASALLY—rendition of the hayseed hit “Mayburry.” After a little back and forth between him and SIMON COWELL, Chris abruptly flipped the script and gave a shout-out to his friends at Virginia Tech, and the victims of this week’s shooting. The camera then cuts to Simon WHO ROLLS HIS EYES? Producer Nigel Lythgoe claims Simon was not responding to Chris and was simply turning to talk to Paula—but I’m not so sure. Check out the tape and YOU MAKE THE CALL!

CYNICAL BONUS QUESTION: Was Chris using the shout-out as a strategy to stay in for another week?

Young People Are Opposed to the War—Right?

Posted by on April 18 at 11:44 AM

You can read this at the top of the PI’s website right now:

TRAFFIC ALERT: Expect traffic congestion around downtown Seattle this afternoon as an estimated 3,000 students hold a march and rally against the war in Iraq. The rally starts at 1 p.m. at Westlake Park, then protesters will march south to the Federal Building and Seattle City Hall downtown before heading to Seattle Public Schools headquarters in Sodo. See map of the route.

And you can read this at the New York Times website right now:

The younger generation is opposed to the war in Iraq, right? Wrong. Actually, they’re divided on the war, far more so than their grandparents, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll in March. Seems younger people are more supportive of the war and the president than any other age group.

Forty-eight percent of Americans 18 to 29 years old said the United States did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq, while 45 percent said the United States should have stayed out. That is in sharp contrast to the opinions of those 65 and older, who have lived through many other wars. Twenty eight percent of that age group said the United States did the right thing, while 67 percent said the United States should have stayed out.

Some Perspective

Posted by on April 18 at 11:37 AM

Unreal America:
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More than 170 dead in Iraq blasts.
A US troop “surge” has not stopped insurgent attacks
At least 170 people have been killed in a string of attacks in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad - the worst day of violence since a US security operation began.

In the deadliest incident, some 120 people were killed in a car bombing in a food market in Sadriya district.
A witness said the area had been turned into “a swimming pool of blood”.

My point. It’s time for the next stage of consciousness to be realized and operational. At the moment it’s all talk; we talk about the transnational circulation money, goods and services, the affordability of jet travel, the surprises of the internet, the globalization of Hello Kitty, and so on. But this is very limited if transnationalization is not actually a form of consciousness, a way of thinking, connecting, and mapping. We no longer have the luxury of seeing things that are near as more important than (and unrelated to) things that are far. The day has long passed for that value system to crumble—a value system that is the ground on which the present administration stands and lives of. We are now in a position to see all of it all at once. It’s our only hope. Actual global consciousness. (Yes, Josef Krebs, this type of consciousness has much to do with what I was going on about last night at the Rosebud.)

Did Soul Force Change BYU?

Posted by on April 18 at 11:30 AM

I was very skeptical about the value of the Soul Force Equality Ride when it rode into Seattle last week.

But over at Pam’s House Blend, one of the bloggers is floating the theory that Soul Force is directly responsible for the new Brigham Young University policy on homosexuality, which makes it much easier (relatively speaking) to be gay at the Mormon university.

The policy went from this:

Brigham Young University will respond to student behavior rather than to feelings or orientation… . Advocacy of a homosexual lifestyle (whether implied or explicit) or any behaviors that indicate homosexual conduct, including those not sexual in nature, are inappropriate and violate the Honor Code.

To this:

Brigham Young University will respond to homosexual behavior rather than to feelings or orientation and welcomes as full members of the university community all whose behavior meets university standards… . One’s stated sexual orientation is not an Honor Code issue. However, the Honor Code requires all members of the university community to manifest a strict commitment to the law of chastity.

(For an explanation of what the change means as a practical matter, click here.)

I’m still not ready to get completely behind Soul Force, and I actually find the official BYU explanation (that the change came after input from BYU students, not Soul Force) to be plausible. But if Soul Force did bring about this change at BYU, then… go Soul Force!

First Round of Capitol Hill Block Party Bands Announced!

Posted by on April 18 at 11:09 AM

What do the Silversun Pickups, Girl Talk, and Grand Archives all have in common?

They are booked on this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party! Head on over to Line Out to find out who else is going to show up!

Department of Unfortunate Timing

Posted by on April 18 at 10:07 AM

From Hot Tipper Brad:

I don’t know if you watched MadTV this past weekend but there was a skit set in a university class where one student gets incredibly agitated and freaks out when people laugh at what “comedy” shows he thinks are funny. So he says, “Fine, I’m going home to my house where I live with my mother and I’m going to go into the basement to the cot where I sleep behind the washer and dryer and I’m going to get my automatic submachine gun and come back in an hour and herd you into a classroom and blow off your heads.” And he comes back, only to find that everyone is still there, despite his warning, so he gets ready to kill them, but they’re saved by the fact that it’s time for How I Met Your Mother and the gunman goes home. This wasn’t a repeat, either. SPOOOOOOKY.

Indeed.

Today in Stranger Suggests

Posted by on April 18 at 9:41 AM

‘The Light in the Piazza’

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(RAVISHMENT) Born at Seattle’s Intiman Theatre, The Light in the Piazza—based on the classic novella by Elizabeth Spencer—returns for a two-week stint at the Paramount after taking Broadway by storm. Adam Guettel’s lush score and Bartlett Sher’s ace direction won the Tonys, but it’s Craig Lucas’s exquisitely crafted book that gives the show its magical traction. If you think there are no new love stories to be told, you must see The Light in the Piazza. (Paramount, 911 Pine St. 7:30 pm, $25—$72.) DAVID SCHMADER

Local Koreans Apologetic, Fearful

Posted by on April 18 at 8:52 AM

Wouldn’t it be nice if this PI headline read “Local Heterosexual Men Apologetic, Fearful After Virginia Tech shooting: They have mixed feelings over need to apologize.”

DAMF: Strolling in Baghdad

Posted by on April 18 at 8:39 AM

How’s the surge working out?

Last week we were told that a deadly bombing in Karbala was the result of our troops surging into Baghdad, making it so hard for insurgents to operate in the Iraqi capitol that they quit Baghdad for other cities. Then came the bombing of the Iraq parliament building inside the must-always-described-as-heavily-foritified Green Zone. And today… bombs are going off all over Baghdad. The body count ranges from 127 to 170.

We’re two months into the surge—the surge John McCain told us was working. We’re making progress, buying carpets, and Baghdad is safe for strolling. Or not. From the NYT:

U.S. officials had cited a slight decrease in sectarian killings in Baghdad since the U.S.-Iraqi crackdown was launched Feb. 14. But the past week has seen several spectacular attacks on the capital, including a suicide bombing inside parliament and a powerful blast that collapsed a landmark bridge across the Tigris River.

”We’ve seen both inspiring progress and too much evidence that we still face many grave challenges,” Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman, told reporters Wednesday. ”We’ve always said securing Baghdad would not be easy.”

It’s the Beginning of the End…

Posted by on April 18 at 7:46 AM

of abortion rights in the United States.

The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench.

The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.

The opponents of the act “have not demonstrated that the Act would be unconstitutional in a large fraction of relevant cases,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. The decision pitted the court’s conservatives against its liberals, with President Bush’s two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, siding with the majority.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion—which is going to make some heads explode on the radical right and the liberal left. Religious conservatives loathe Kennedy for authoring the courts 1996 decision invalidating a Colorado constitutional amendment that barred gays and lesbians from any anti-discrimination protections; he also wrote the majority decision in 2003 overturning all anti-sodomy laws in the United States. Religious conservatives were talking about impeaching Kennedy—a Reagan appointee—over those decisions. After today’s decision all is no doubt forgiven.

One of the liberals “pitted against” the conservative majority on the court—John Paul Stevens—turns 87 on April 20th. George W. Bush has 642 days left in office. Pray for Stevens. Another Bush appointment to the US Supreme Court would be a disaster for women, gays, minorities, prisoners, “enemy combatants,” and the environment.

In addition to praying for Stevens, anyone that cares about the rights of women, gays, minorities, etc., needs to register to vote, get behind a Democratic candidate, write checks, support the Democratic nominee whoever that person is, vote next November and make sure all your friends do the same. No pouting if your preferred candidate doesn’t get the nomination. And no squandering votes on third-party candidates.

Morning News

Posted by on April 18 at 6:00 AM

Who Was Cho Seung Hui? Chilling portrait of the Virginia Tech Killer.

Why Was There a Two-Hour Delay? Parents, Students demand answers, accountability.

Why Are Men So Fucking Creepy? UW gymnastics team targeted by cell phone stalker.

Who Gave Port Commissioner Pat Davis Permission? … to do that?!?

What Was Sen. Domenici’s Role? Senate Ethics Committee zooms in on Iglesias Firing.

Why Would Shiites Arm Sunnis? To fight the U.S., of course. U.S. says it has seized Iranian weapons bound for Taliban.

Is Global Warming an Issue of War and Peace? Citing destabilization, U.N. Security Council takes up Global Warming.

What to do About Darfur? One day after UN agreement signed, Sudan caught violating accord.

On April 18, 1775, late in the evening, on orders from British General Thomas Gage, 800 British soldiers began their march from Boston to Lexington (to arrest on-the-lam-rebel-leaders, John Hancock and Sam Adams) and to Concord (to seize a Colonist weapons cache). Aware of the British plans in advance, thanks to inside intelligence, Paul Revere and smuggler/disguise artist William Dawes set out to Lexington to warn Hancock and Adams and to warn the militia in Concord. Revere took the quicker route than Dawes, rowing across the Charles River and borrowing a horse on the North shore at Charlestown—heading through Medford and onto Lexington. Dawes took his horse the roundabout Southern land route through Roxbury and North to Cambridge and onto Lexington—both men alerting colonists to the British advance along the way. Revere arrived in Lexington first—around Midnight (thus “Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride”) where he told Hancock and Adams that the British were coming. Dawes arrived around 12:30am. (So, it’s actually April 19 now.) After eating and drinking with Hancock and Adams, the duo left for Concord at around 2am. Luckily, they were joined by a fellow TSOL, Dr. Sam Prescott, who had been visiting a “friend” in Lexington and was returning home to Concord. Why luckily? Because in the town of Lincoln, halfway between Lexington and Concord, a British patrol intercepted the galloping trio, capturing Revere and tripping up Dawes, who fell off his horse and scrambled off to hide. Only Prescott galloped away to Concord to warn the Concord Minutemen. Revere, who was released after about an hour, ended the evening trudging on foot through the dark back to Lexington. At around the same time (2am), the 800 Redcoats advancing from Boston, already having ferried across the Charles themselves around Midnight, set out on the 17 mile march toward Lexington and Concord—unaware that the rebels were waiting and ready.

On Obama on Virginia Tech

Posted by on April 18 at 1:33 AM

Zooming in on Barack Obama’s speech about the Virginia Tech massacre, Ben Smith at The Politico has a concise critique of the high-profile Presidential candidate.

Reacting to Obama’s speech— “there’s a lot of different forms of violence in our society, and so much of it is rooted in our incapacity to recognize ourselves in each other” — Smith says:

it captures what moves a lot of people about Obama, and bothers others: His instinct for abstraction and large themes, and his sense that America’s problems have at their root solutions that have as much to do with hope and process as with any specific course of action.

Kind of obvious, but it’s worth checking out. Smith says it well (“Many politicians would avoid, I think, suggesting that outsourcing and mass-murder belong in the same category,”) and there’s a lengthy-beyond-comprehension discussion in the comments.