The Republic of T.

Saturday Night Radio

It's Saturday night. Dance a little.

I Got the Music In Me!

Mad thanks to my blog buddy e.j. for hooking me up with the space to do a radio blog! As soon as I can get it set up, I'll put up a test post, and see how it goes.

I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson!

OK, OK. Maybe not. Mike could probably toss me around the ring like a rag doll, without breaking a sweat, despite the fact that he recently got whupped in the ring.

So this is how it all ends for Mike Tyson. Broke and bloodied, fighting in the same arena where Muhammad Ali made his pro debut 44 years ago, Tyson is knocked silly by the kind of British heavyweight he used to frighten into near paralysis merely by stepping into the ring.

The entourage already left when the money ran out. Now, the fans will leave because the mystique is finally gone, too.

It disappeared in the fourth round when the baddest man on the planet was knocked down with a savage flurry. It disappeared when Tyson looked around, blood streaming down his face, and decided he didn't want to get up.

This was the baddest man on the planet? On Friday night he wasn't even the baddest man in Louisville.

Tyson was planning to fight his way out of $38 million in debt, but the comeback lasted only 11 minutes and 51 seconds. It's hard to imagine anyone paying much to see him fight again, and even harder to imagine Tyson wanting to take this kind of punishment again.

Now, I don't follow sport at all, let alone boxing, so I had to hear about this from my friend Kelley. I think of all sport, boxing probably interests me the least. What's the entertainment in watching two men pummel each other bloody? Maybe it's just me, but I can think of plenty things I'd find more entertaining. Still, I suppose it does take some talent, ability, and discipline to be a successful boxer. I just dont' understand wanting to do it.

As for Tyson, the man has been out of contol in and out of the ring—from rape to road rage. It's hard for me to feel too bad for him. On the other hand, maybe hitting rock bottom will help him turn his life around in some way, if not his career. I have my doubts, but for his own sake, I hope so.

70s Radio

Since I didn't do a music post yesterday, I thought I'd do one today.

Growing up in the 70s, the radio was always on, either in the house or in the car. I learned to sing by singing along with the radio (and I discovered a natural gift for improvising harmony). For some reason lately, maybe because of my own son, I've been thinking about my childhood, and started wanting to hear some of those songs. So several downloads later, here my "70s Radio" playlist, the non-disco version.

1. Peaceful Easy Feeling - The Eagles
   
2. Run for the Roses - Dan Fogelberg
   
3. Born to Be Wild - Steppenwolf
   
4. Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra
   
5. Moonshadow - Cat Stevens
   
6. Grandma's Hands - Bill Withers
   
7. Muscrat Love - Captain & Tenille
   
8. Operator - Jim Croce
   
9. You're in My Heart - Rod Stewart
   
10. Jungle Fever - Chakachas
    

But what would the 70s have been without disco?

1. Disco Nights - GQ
   
2. Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
   
3. You're the First, the Last, My Everything - Barry White
   
4. Disco Inferno - The Trammps
   
5. Got to be Real - Cheryl Lynn
   
6. I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More - Barry White
   
7. Never Knew Love Like This - Stephanie Mills
   
8. Dance (Disco Heat) - Sylvester
   
9. Car Wash - Rose Royce
   
10. Good Times - Chic
    

He Did It

I have to admit, I wasn't entirely sure he could or would. When John Kerry stepped up to the podium last night, after the long build-up which included an intro by former Senator Max Cleland, I stepped away from the computer and stationed myself in front of the television. I'm such a geek that I even took notes, in case there were specific points I wanted to blog about later. But nevermind my notes. I not going to go through each and every single point. Read the full text of his speech for yourself.

Last night, John Kerry did exactly what he needed to do, and he did it well. He didn't come off as trying to imitate Clinton, or to be anybody else besides John Kerry. He managed to convey strength, warmth, and passion. From the faces in the convention hall, it was clear he touched and moved a lot of people. (My husband, who was sitting beside me, noted how many people of color there seemed to be in the audience. I reminded him which party's convention we were watching.)

He reached out to the middle class, workers, military servicemembers, women, and at one point obliquely reached out to gays & lesbians (something I'll get to in a bit). He reclaimed the flag for his party, and for all Americans who support it and his candidacy. He used strong words, at times. There were a few that would have gotten me on my feet had I been in the convention hall. There was this line:

I want an America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation – not the Saudi royal family.

And others:

I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have a Vice President who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a Secretary of Defense who will listen to the best advice of our military leaders. And I will appoint an Attorney General who actually upholds the Constitution of the United States.

…As President, I will ask hard questions and demand hard evidence. I will immediately reform the intelligence system – so policy is guided by facts, and facts are never distorted by politics. And as President, I will bring back this nation's time-honored tradition: the United States of America never goes to war because we want to, we only go to war because we have to.

…And on my first day in office, I will send a message to every man and woman in our armed forces: You will never be asked to fight a war without a plan to win the peace.

…In these dangerous days there is a right way and a wrong way to be strong. Strength is more than tough words.

…You don't value families by kicking kids out of after school programs and taking cops off our streets, so that Enron can get another tax break.

And in another line, addressed to the current resident of the oval office, he seemed to reach out to gay and lesbian Americans, without specifically seeming to do so, by opposing (without naming) the Federal Marriage Amendment to ban same sex marriage in the constitution.

I want to address these next words directly to President George W. Bush: In the weeks ahead, let's be optimists, not just opponents. Let's build unity in the American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity; let's respect one another; and let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States. [emphasis mine]

(It's worth noting that even gay & lesbian Republicans, and other Republicans who don't support the FMA, seem to think that the current president doesn't really hate gays and lesbians, that he's supporting the amendment for political reasons, and that his heart isn't really in it. They say he's doing it solely for political purposes, to stay in office. More astoundingly, they're OK with that.)

My hope, in the months to come between now and November, is that Kerry will stick by the strong words he used last night when they are (inevitably) challenged. If he does, I think he will go a long way towards convincing more Americans that he is the right person to lead this country in the coming four years.

Just Ridin' Scared?

Via cut to the chase

It's stuff like this that makes me wonder if some sort of mass hysteria isn't lurking a few millimeters beneath America's collective skin, just waiting to burst forth in all its paranoid glory.

I just got my new rail card for August. Look at it.

Isn't that nice?

Typically they have nice scenes of Marta bus stops, station officers in uniform, or maybe a shot of a train or a bus.

I'm glad to see that Marta wants to join in the hype & make sure we're all nice & paranoid prepared.

Go to Chase's blog to see what Marta did: they printed the terror alert level warning on the dang Marta cards. Sometimes I wonder what has come over my (former) home state.

This Quagmire is Breaking Up That Old Coalition of Mine

Another one bites the dust. The Ukraine is withdrawing its troops from Iraq.

Speaking a day after Saudi Arabian officials proposed creation of an Islamic military force in Iraq — a plan that was welcomed by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell — Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Bolotniuk said his country had decided to pull its troops from Iraq, but gave no timeline for a draw-down or withdrawal.

Ukrainian troops already have begun turning over guard duties of several key facilities to Iraqi soldiers, the Defense Ministry said in a statement, and Iraqi border guards took over patrols on a section of the Iraqi-Iranian border from a Ukrainian contingent.

...Ukraine opposed the U.S.-led war, but sent troops in part to improve relations with the United States amid accusations that President Leonid Kuchma approved the sale of radar systems to Saddam Hussein.

Ukraine has 1,650 Ukrainian troops serving in the Polish-led force patrolling southern Iraq, making up the fourth-largest, non-U.S. contingent. The soldiers’ mandate was up for renewal in August, and Kuchma had previously suggested that they would remain.

However, the country’s government is under increasing pressure at home to withdraw the troops, especially as Ukraine’s Oct. 31 presidential election heats up. The top candidates are Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who has Kuchma’s backing, and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

How many coalition members does that make that have pulled troops out of Iraq? Honestly, I lost count after Spain and the Philippines.

The article also contains a list of coalition members and the number of troops each has in Iraq at present.

Unbound

I'm almost ashamed to admit this, as I fancy myself an "early adopter" and pretty technologically savvy, but my silent envy of those folks sitting in coffee houses while surfing on their laptops finally got the best of me; that and two days of working from home. (Who knew I needed a modicum of human contact now and again?) I finally went out and got a wireless card for my laptop, which is a slightly older model than the fancy ones I see out and about. But who cares about that? I'm free! In a city where wireless hotspots abound, I can blog from just about anywhere.

Watch out D.C.!!!

Psyching Out Discrimination

I don't normally read USA Today, but this came to my attention via the gay news blog the American Psychological Association has endorsed same sex marriage.

Gay couples should be able to marry in civil ceremonies and, if they are parents, they deserve all the legal rights of straight parents, says a policy the American Psychological Association adopted Wednesday at its meeting here.

"We're going out on a limb," says Diane Halpern, president of APA, the nation's largest group of psychologists. "But we're doing what we should be doing." The group already has a policy opposing discrimination against gays, and many members are concerned about political actions to stop gay marriages, she says.

Keeping gays from marrying "puts a particular stress on them just because of their sexual orientation. It's a health issue and a mental health issue," Halpern says.

Stress? Hmm. As a black gay man in America, what do I know about stress? Let's just say I'm familiar with it, and yes, it is stressful—even when things are going well—to wonder whether one's family will have all the same rights and protections as any other family, should the worst happen. Should anything happen to either of us, we have eached spelled out what measures we do and do not want taken. We've each appointed the other to make health decisions should one of us be unable to make our wishes known. We've spelled out what should happen to our property, and even who should get custody of our son should something happen to both of us.

My husband and I have had wills, advance directives, and medical powers of attorney prepared by the lawyer who helped finalize our son's adoption. But states like Oklahoma and Virginia are passing laws that would attempt to negate even those contracts we've made with one another. Short of staying out of those states (no problem with Oklahoma, a little harder with Virgina), We don't have any real assurance that the legal documents we've had created just to give us two or three of the rights and protections that married heterosexual couples enjoy from the moment they say "I do."

So, yes, I'd have to say it's stressful not to know that one's family will not face discrimination should something tragic happen.

Braff Blogs

I get the strangest celebrity crushes at times, and for a while now I've had one on Zach Braff—currently starring in the new movie Garden State and on NBC's comedy Scrubs, but who first caught my eye in The Broken Hearts Club. Whenver Scrubs is on I usually find myself in front of the television. I'm not sure what it is about him, or his type (whatever that is) that appeals to me. I guess it's a sort of quirky vulnerability that's conveyed.

Anyway, Braff is blogging. Now, a movie star blogging is not exactly new. But Braff's blog seemed to exist mainly for the purpose of promoting his new movie. I don't get the impression that it will be updated much beyond the initial rollout of the film. (Though were I working for the studio, I'd want it at least revived when the DVD release rolls around.)

Film makers are now using blogs (actor blogs, more specifically) to promote movies. It's just something I found worth nothing at a time when bloggers are now getting press credentials at political conventions and people are wondering about the effect and significance of blogging and bloggers in general.