Sen. Edward Kennedy supports Net Neutrality

Well, lo and behold! One Senator isn't being bought and is on our side.

The other day , I had to go to Wal-Mart for a printer cartridge. They're the only place in town that sells them. I followed in to women in their mid to late forties, and their daughters, in their mid to late twenties. They turned left as I made my way all the way back to the electronics department.

On my way out, I spotted the four women in Health and Beauty Aids. The moms were in the section where you get foot pads, shoe inserts and the like. The daughters were in the makeup section.

That's what it's like getting older, I decided. When you're young, it's about the looks. When you're older it's about the comfort. I used to wear tight pants and shirts. Now, if the clothes aren't tent like, I'm not interested. Sometimes, I feel like Homer did when he wore his mumu.

Ann Richards (1933-2006)

I was stunned to read about Ann Richards' death. She had all but disappeared from public life in the last few years, but I had no idea she was ill. She was a great Governor of Texas, and she will be missed.

She does have the somewhat dubious distinction of being the first Governor of the State of Texas I ever saw. In the early 90s, I was living in Austin, and my uncle was a Democratic Representative. He invited me to dinner one night and asked me to meet him at a downtown hotel. I arrived early, and was reading a book in the lobby when Ann emerged from an elevator and walked past me.

Parenthetically, I saw Dubya a few years later when he and his dad were at the V+50 celebration at the Nimitz Museum here in Fredericksburg, during a parade for WWII veterans when then Governor Bush was Grand Marshall, which also makes him and his dad the only presidents I have seen (and I met GHWB when he was running for the senate when I was a wee lad.) And once, on a cub scout trip to the state capitol, I was looking the other way when then-Governor Dolph Briscoe walked by.

I liked Ann Richards. I didn't always like her politics, but she was always fun!

Godspeed, Ann.

I am sick to death of attack politics. Just to make things clear, I am a fiscal conservative and a social libertarian. I do not believe that Global Warming is as bad as Al Gore says it is. (Hell, even Al Gore doesn't believe Global Warming is as bad as he says it is: "I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is, as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are," he said.) I believe that we should recycle at every opportunity and do whatever we can do reduce our use of natural resources. (And if you want to know what attack politics is like, post a blog entry saying you don't believe Global warming is a big threat and see how the worshippers at the Church of Global Warming react. It's a lot like saying you're for gay marriage and being blasted by the Fundies.)

I believe we should have continued the War on Terror, and brought Osama bin Laden and his thugs to justice. I do not believe we had a reason to invade Iraq, and that Bush gave "an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is, as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are," as a famous statesman once said.

I believe in Free Market Capitalism and am, at the same time, concerned that our government is bought and paid for by corporations. And they buy politicians on both sides of the aisle.

I believe that the Religious Right is perhaps the greatest threat to our civil liberties and our nation's educational standards. I believe that political correctness and diversity education are a close second. You should be able to read Mark Twain in school. And I believe that the word "niggardly" is not a racist term and is entomologically not even related to the "N-Word." Being offended by "niggardly" is like being offended by the words "cockpit" or "pussy willow" or "titmouse."

I believe that political extremism is evil. Burning cars to protest a G7 meeting is a crime. And I find a 20% voter turnout obscene, as well as indicative of the general level of dissatisfaction the voters have with the two parties in this country.

I believe that no one is offended enough by the current epidemic of teachers sleeping with students. And I believe that people are too offended by that cover of Baby Talk magazine that showed the side of a breast.

Now that I have explained what I believe, let the attacks on my intelligence, virility, and sexual orientation begin. Just don't burn my car. I have to be at work in a couple of hours.

The Case for Christian Burkas - Part 6

Columbia, South Carolina teacher Kimberley Moody Alexander was caught in a simulated sex act with a 14 year old boy over the weekend. She is a second grade teacher, and no one knows if the boy was ever her student.

I wonder what would have prevented the boy from being seduced? Hm.