February 2012 Archives

Recently I came upon a collection of fliers promoting shows at the great Jockey Club in Newport, Kentucky.The Jockey Club, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, was the best punk rock club in all the midwest. It closed in 1988. There is a Jockey Club Facebook page you can join.You can read a series of Jockey Club recollections in Stories for Shorty. I have an entry in this book that was published by Cincinnati's Aurore Press.One of...

A recent article in New Scientist said that changing weather patterns have increased the chance for recurring drought in East Africa. (Above--Oxfam photo of a family gathering firewood in drought-stricken Kenya in 2011.)  From New Scientist---"Last year's drought occurred because both of the region's rainy seasons failed. We already know that the trigger for the failure of the "short rains", between October and December 2010, was La Niña - a cyclical meteorological event caused by a pulse of cool water...

Rick Santorum on Face the Nation yesterday, discussing prenatal testing, in particular amniocentesis: "And in fact, prenatal testing, particularly amniocentesis -- I'm not talking about general prenatal care...We're talking about specifically prenatal testing, and specifically amniocentesis, which is a procedure that actually creates a risk of having a miscarriage when you have it, and is done for the purposes of identifying maladies in the womb. And which in many cases -- in fact, most cases...

Rick Santorum is picking up steam these days in spite of himself and some ardent supporters. After all, I think the whole aspirin between the knees bit is a bit worn out. Santorum suggested there was a double standard in how Obama was treated following the Jeremiah Wright flap. Apparently, Obama was given a pass. I don't seem to remember it that way, but let's just take the man on his own words.He said that...

From KPRC.com:"HOUSTON - Security camera footage from a well-known gay bar has played a key role in a hit-and-run investigation of a former Houston City Councilman, who is now a conservative talk show host, Local 2 Investigates reported on Wednesday...Tuderia Bennett, of Galena Park, told Houston police that he was working as a bouncer at the front door during a popular cross-dressing 'drag show' that was going on inside the club.   He watched the crash...

Earlier this week, noted Republican columnist George Will wrote an op-ed piece entitled "Republicans Need More Than Rhetoric on Defense," which appeared in the February 9 edition of the Washington Post.  Among other topics, Mr. Will noted that - given the robust track record of President Obama's administration - it is becoming increasingly difficult to suggest that the current strategy has failed and that any of the suggestions made by Mitt Romney as to how...

Eight simple rules of the road for navigating the streets and freeways of the Greater Houston area while avoiding; (a) middle-finger salutes (b) having your parent's marital status at the time of your birth disputed, and (c) comparisons to various parts of the human anatomy.1) Put down the damn phone and drive.2) Traffic signals at intersections consist of three colors-green, red, and yellow. That's it. No need to sit and wait for more. Green means...

Update: Astrogirlkel has informed me that some teachers have allegedly looked the other way and some were accused of actually passing students along to the pedophile(s).In a story that demands a second read to be believed, a California school district has removed its entire staff because two of its members were charged with sexual abuse. Apparently, they take sexual abuse so seriously over there that they decided that 99 percent of the staff that was...

The  Washington Post has some poll numbers that sadly confirm what I've suspected for some time was the case. All the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth from Democrats when Bush and Cheney were running the Constitution and the Bill of Rights through the paper shredder had nothing to do with those rights and liberties being taken away, it was all about the party affiliation of the president who was doing the taking:"The survey...

Tonight, Keith gave a special comment about the ongoing controversy over the Susan B. Komen Foundation's decision to defund Planned Parenthood for politically expedient reasons.  Saying what we are saying, much more eloquently than us, Keith asserts that Karen Handel resigning is not enough.  Have a look:...