de minimis minutiae

oscar party

sashayin' the shoreline on superbowl sunday

Dr. King on violence

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it...

Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate....

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King

Problems for Florida Voters - Again?

New York Times editorial, 9/7/04:

"There is no excuse for turning away eligible voters at the polls, but that is what apparently happened in Florida's primary elections....Under Florida law, registered voters can vote without showing identification. But election officials at some polling places misstated the law and tried to keep eligible voters from voting. In one county, the official sample ballot got the law wrong. Officials in Florida, and nationwide, must improve their poll workers' training and written materials to ensure that this does not happen in the November election. Florida's voter-identification law is inartfully written. It says photo identification is required at the polls, but it goes on to give voters without such identification an alternative: signing affidavits swearing to their identities. By that reasoning, Florida voters who show up without identification should be told that they can vote as long as they fill out affidavits. But that did not always happen. In Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, poll watchers from People for the American Way saw voters being turned away after being told about half the law - the photo-identification requirement - but not the other half, the affidavit option."

Pro-Polluter Legislation

From the Baltimore Sun, 9/9/04:

"Beware of Congress always, but particularly at this time of year. Lawmakers are in a hurry to get done whatever they need to get done and go home. Sometimes really bad laws get made. One such measure awaiting a final push is the wildly misguided energy bill - a $19 billion package of subsidies for the energy industry to which supporters want to add one last insult: a taxpayer
bailout for manufacturers of the cancer-causing fuel additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).
In other words, they want to shift legal liability for damage caused by MTBE contamination away from oil companies that make a profit from selling the stuff and foist it instead on everyone who pays the gasoline tax because they think that proposition has a better chance of winning enactment."

photoblog: northward ho!

photoblog:  northward ho!

sf conservatory

 

vistas from twin peaks

and from sbc

though ever-faithful:

barry goes yard

*ahem*          twice

punk...

day is done at ocean beach

cormorants in monterey

cypress in solitude

under a dying cypress

pacific coast highway ~ where we'd been

where we were headed

---

we did, inter alia:  sfmoma, sf conservatory, museum cafe, chicken saltimbocca, sbc park, zucchini pineapple bread, eric's, luna park, mitchell's ice cream (twice!  cold be damned!), safeway in lower haight, dim sum in richmond, safeway in ocean beach, i, robot in daly city, avenue q on hi-fi, celebrity poker re-runs 

---

on my sf trip

we drive.  in an effort to reacquaint, s & i,  after bar exam prep.  in comfort, in my new ride. 

we dash.  six hours and we arrive at our old friend's place. 

and it was easy.

so amped from being in the middle of everything.  a primal, sustaining charge, far from the oc effect; harkening to days of walking from art class in barnsdall park to the little apartment in los feliz, at dusk. 

my sister, making her way. in the city.  distant, but not far from familial comfort.  and happy. 

and i'm happy.

we drive with sis back the looooong way. to make up for time saved on the first leg.  and it's easy.  for me, at least.

another stop at santa barbara to pick up the youngest in the family.

we laugh and sing all the way home.

and s & i again make our acquaintance.

---

next on the post-bar itinerary: virginia, maryland, and d.c.

opening day 2004. dodger stadium.

"Hard work never killed anyone, but why take the chance?" 
~Edgar Bergen

greeting me at the gate:  dave roberts - i shook his hand!




and i told him:  "go bruins!"


picturesque in chavez ravine: fireworks smoke and doves.


today's starter:  hideo nomo


who got tagged for 7 earned runs...


in lala land, even the peanut vendor is a celebrity. 
his shtick is to run down the aisles and yell like a madman: 
"nuts!  nuts!  nuts!  nuts!  nuts!  nuts!  nuts!  nuts!  nuts!"


the stretch.  dig that lady's flaming visor.


so ends my day.  a view of the l.a. skyline from the stadium parking lot.

april fools at the school board

so i attended the westminster school board meeting last night, fittingly, on april fool's day.  observations and rants follow, with apologies for my lack of clarity and cohesiveness. 

substantively, nothing happened, as the motion to adopt the revised complaint procedure SO AS TO NOT DISCRIMINATE was "laid on the table" by esteemed trustee Judy Ahrens.  the district has until april 12 to adopt complaint procedures that conform with state requirements, or face the loss of $40 million in funding from state and federal resources, nearly half the district's budget.

basically , the district is free to discriminate against gays and transgendered persons until the state takes over managment of the district.

---

at times, the board meeting resembled a jerry springer show, replete with boos, cheers, jeers, and sneers.

a recurring sentiment was the embarassment of being associated with the westminster school district,  be it teacher, parent, community member, former student, former board member. 

to which one fundie wingnut replied, "so leave."  *lusty boos*

ummm, is this 2004 in america?  did i just hear that?

my goodness, we've got some ignorant, fear-peddling people down here.  yeah, i know i'm behind the orange curtain, but it still boggles my mind.  i heard no single intelligent remark in support of the board majority's vote.

a teacher in the district rebuked the board majority in the lyrical, sing-songy, way she would with her pupils:  "it's soooo sad when you make baaad choices."   *jeering laughs and cheers*

the poignant part of the public comments were the passionate and heartfelt statements from transgendered persons, gays and lesbians, and parents of gays and lesbians.  each account resulted in thunderous applause and cheers.

a trangendered woman spoke of growing up on a farm as a little boy knowing she was different.  she spoke of her service in the army.  in response to a comment made by Trustee Blossie Marquez-Woodcock, she said, "I am not trash."

one woman, the parent of a gay high school student, related the accounts of almost-daily physical abuse her son faced because of his sexual orientation.  when she complained to the administration, their suggestion was that her son should get a GED.  he had to finish high school through independent study. 

---

had columbine h.s. adopted such a procedure, maybe we wouldn't be here talking about this - those two kids weren't gay, but they obviously needed an outlet for their mounting frustration and helplessness when faced with physical abuse from other students. 

but we are talking about this, and we need to protect all the children.

the board majority cite their christian values as their sole authority for refusing to adopt the revised complaint procedures.  but Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor.

i've observed not one iota of the board majority's love for the children of westminster.  in their smug, belligerent manner, all i hear are resounding gongs and clanging cymbals. 

no. 13, i hardly knew ya

i sit here biting down on gauze.  numbness radiates throughout my left upper jaw and lip.  with my anesthetized and nonresponsive lip, i resemble a right old coot from appalachia. 

you see, i had surgical extraction of an old friend, tooth no. 13.  she could not be saved and thus, suffered an untimely death. 

fear not, says the good dentist, for we can replace it with a titanium implant. 

methinks that's aiiight, as i may now join the ranks of the hip-hop glitterati, with their fantastic oral displays of the latest in cosmetic metallurgy.  gold, titanium, what's the difference?

whither i goest whence i travel the airways?  i worry about the airport inspectors and flight attendants.  will they think i'm carrying a tooth bomb?  will the electronic signal emanating from my mouth disrupt the operation of the plane's delicate flight instruments?

mmm. amoxycillin, vicodin, and the 24-hour liquid diet.  this should be a grand evening. 

podunk redux

add: 

the la times comes off the bench late in the game.

and times' columnist dana parsons' view, taking my 'heroic' theme further.

and sneakeasy joint joins the fracas.