The Great Debate

All I know is what I read in the newspapers. Last night I searched around the channels for the debate in a half-hearted way, because I have seen enough and heard enough politicking during this campaign to last a lifetime. I never found it. I thought that many of the stations would be carrying it, not just ABC, and I never touched down there. No great loss to me, because I would not have lasted through the entire debate anyway.

From the Guardian:

American television network ABC was accused of bias and triviality today in the wake of the latest debate between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
....

The network was also criticised for a perceived slant against Illinois senator Barack Obama, particularly because moderator George Stephanopoulos worked in President Bill Clinton's White House as an adviser and aide.

By mid-morning today, readers had left more than 12,300 comments on the ABC News website, most of them attacking the programme.

"This debate should have been shown on E! or MTV," wrote one viewer named Dave_Gee.

Wow! Folks are catching on to how really, really low the tee vee news media have sunk. They are all E! or MTV! As I was listening to the talking heads comment after the debate, I was thinking to myself, "How many ordinary voters on the street are even aware of the trivia that the moderators are pounding with such force?" I've seen snippets of the video, and Stephanopoulos and Gibson had some truly awful moments. They should be ashamed.

Editor and Publisher said:

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the health care and mortgage crises, the overall state of the economy and dozens of other pressing issues had to wait for their few moments in the sun as Obama was pressed to explain his recent "bitter" gaffe and relationship with Rev. Wright (seemingly a dead issue) and not wearing a flag pin while Clinton had to answer again for her Bosnia trip exaggerations.

"Bitter", the Rev. Wright, and A FLAG PIN! I weep. A FLAG PIN! And they gave that woman air time!

OK. Here's what I want. Clinton and Obama stop attacking each other RIGHT NOW, RIGHT THIS MINUTE! Tell us what you will do to begin to bring the country back from the seven years of pillage and destruction wrought by the Bush maladministration. Don't promise miracles, because the way back will be long and difficult. Tell us the truth. Begin to attack the disastrous policies of John McCain, for crying out loud. I didn't think it was possible to have a president worse than Bush, but I believe McCain could be just that. Only go into attack mode when you're talking about John McCain's plans for the country. Got it?

As for the tee vee media. I give up. The news shows are so far from the best of what we had in years past, that I doubt if there is a way back for them in my lifetime.

"Cry Baby Dance!!"

Can you tease out my demographic target from these two silly Friday Thursday posts?

From the Weird Rabbit. Who else?

UPDATE: Yes, I thought today was Friday. Retirement does that to you. The days run together.

Gracefully Aging Men - Part 2

Back by popular demand.







The aging Clint Eastwood looks pretty damned good to me. The camera caught him in an unfortunate posture, but he actually has aged gracefully. No irony intended for Clint.

And last and least.



You would have had to like the way he looked when he was young.

Dogs Attack Alligator!

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the 'apex predator,' can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and 'survival of the pack mentality' bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine. Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

Not for the squeamish.

Click here to see the picture.

Thanks to Lapin.

US Diplomats Ordered To Serve In Iraq

From the Toledo Blade:

WASHINGTON - The State Department is warning U.S. diplomats they may be forced to serve in Iraq next year and says it will soon start identifying prime candidates for jobs at the Baghdad embassy and in outlying provinces, according to a cable obtained yesterday by the Associated Press.
....

"We face a growing challenge of supply and demand in the 2009 staffing cycle," the cable said, noting that more than 20 percent of the nearly 12,000 foreign service officers have already worked in the two major hardship posts, Iraq and Afghanistan, and a growing number have done tours in both countries.
....

Yesterday Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that she had been personally offended by the critical comments of some diplomats who questioned the ethics of sending people against their will to a war zone.

One diplomat, at an October meeting, called the forced assignments a "potential death sentence" to loud applause.

Ah, but the surge is working! The diplomats should have no fear.

So Condi is "personally offended" that anyone dares to question her ethics. Condi, get real. You're the one who told the CIA, “This is your baby. Go do it!” the "baby" and the "it" being torture, my friends, just in case you're wondering.

From The SC Of The Diocese of Western Louisiana

STATEMENT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE DIOCESE OF WESTERN LOUISIANA
This 14th day of April, 2008.

We, the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Western Louisiana, make this statement that we do not recognize the depositions of Bishops Schofield and Cox as having had the requisite canonical votes necessary for the deposition of a bishop. We would refer the Church to the March 27, 2008 letter from the Standing Committee and Bishop of South Carolina to the Presiding Bishop, which we believe to be correct in its recitation of the applicable canons and their history.

This is not my diocese, although there has been talk of combining the two Louisiana dioceses into one. The territory of the Diocese of Western Louisiana comprises western and northern Louisiana.

From Drell's Descants.

"Pure Fashion"

From The St. Louis Review:

Instead of strutting down the runway in pieces made by great fashion designers such as Dolce and Gabbana and Christian Dior, some young aspiring models here are preparing to showcase the work of the "great designer" at their first fashion show later this month.

Forty-six young women ages 14-18 have been taking part in Pure Fashion, a seven-month program that encourages teen women to live, act and dress according to their dignity as children of God. The international program, sponsored by Catholic lay movement Regnum Christi, was introduced in St. Louis last fall.

"Pure Fashion is working hard to advance the modesty movement by helping teenage girls see that they can be trendy, yet tasteful," said Christina Heddell, chairperson of Pure Fashion in St. Louis and director of the archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate.

That means finding fashionable clothing that meets modesty guidelines set forth by the organization — including clothing that fits well but is not too tight, a neckline that falls no lower than the width of four fingers below the collarbone, and dresses and skirts that are no shorter than four fingers above the kneecaps. Visible bra staps and underwear are definitely out of the question.

But Heddell said that "Pure Fashion also aims to teach girls that modesty is more than just clothing. It involves interior purity, authenticity, respect for oneself and others."

I'm guessing God is the "great designer"? It's quite a leap from God as Creator to fashion design. Methinks the girls are being sold a bill of hyperbole.

"Pure Fashion"? Just the name, and I don't like it. I had enough of control of my clothing in the uniforms that I was forced to wear in my Roman Catholic school. They were modest, no question about that, but they were ugly, just plain ugly. No strapless and low-cut dresses at proms and graduation. Fine. Those were school functions, but I don't believe that the nuns went so far as finger measurements. You just knew, or the nuns told you, or they gave you a scarf to cover up.

"[T]rendy, yet tasteful" and "interior purity, authenticity, respect for oneself and others"? I'm not quite sure what "interior purity" means, but the rest seem OK. Measuring with the fingers from the collarbone and the knee is moving into ridiculous territory, in my humble opinion. Call me rebellious, but, as a teenager I would have resisted this sort of attempt to impose control on my wardrobe outside of school. My friends and I would have laughed at the fashion show. We were jaded young cynics, even back then.

The program also has had an effect on her clothing decisions, Colson noted.

"Ande got invited to SLUH’s sophomore dance, and we went to Dillard’s and found this beautiful dress, but it had spaghetti straps," one of several fashion "no-nos" Pure Fashion teaches the young women.

"So we found a bolero to wear over the dress. She said, ‘There’s no way I was going to embarrass me or embarrass him.’"

At first I thought Ande was talking about embarrassing her date, but I do believe that she was talking about embarrassing God. Would God be embarrassed by spaghetti straps?

When I tried to visit the "Pure Fashion" website, I was thrown off the internet twice. I didn't try again. Maybe they screen out rebels, even old rebels.

In my experience, most teen girls have strong opinions about their choice of clothes, and it's best to let them settle on their own style, within certain limits. This is the age for exploring, for trying new things, not for herding them all into a bland sameness. I don't know. Maybe it's just me.

For Jane R - Gracefully Aging Men

With thanks to my supply man, Doug.







UPDATE: Here's a video called "I'm Too Sexy" sent by Susan S. showing pictures of many of the male movie stars from the olden days when they were young and beautiful. Well, there are a couple that I wouldn't exactly call beautiful. I named every one, which dates me a little.

Beware Of Imposters - Part 2

Doug again.

A Kiss From The Governor

Ah, you know things in my little corner of the blogosphere have gone awry, when I'm reduced to quoting myself in the comments to my own blog.

It all started with Jim (read that as, "It's all his fault") at JindalWatch, who told the story of his day of glory when he met Uncle Earl Long of Louisiana, brother of Huey and one-time governor of Louisiana. And a charming story it is. You should read it.

Then in Jim's comment section, we had this exchange:

Grandmère Mimi said...

...One day I'll tell you about the time I met Edwin Edwards.

Jim said...

I would love to hear your Edwin Edwards story. Write 'er up!

Are you still with me, folks? "Well," I thought to myself, "Why not? It's a little embarrassing, but I'll do it". To my surprise, I discovered that I had already written it up in my own comments. For your amusement, here it is brought into the light of an actual post:

Grandmère Mimi said...

Lapin, there really was a bumper sticker that said, "Vote for the Crook. It's Important", because Edwards' opponent in the race for governor of Louisiana was none other than the arch-segregationist and neo-Nazi, David Duke. And I did vote for the crook.

Although Edwards was a crook and a notorious womanizer, there was something about him that I found endearing. (God help me!) Perhaps, it was because he was seldom hypocritical - a welcome relief in a politician.

He'd campaign in black churches and tell the congregation, "I don't drink, I don't smoke. Two out of three is not bad."

In fact, on one occasion when he arrived at a gathering at the university where my husband worked, there seemed to be no officials there to greet him. I was standing there with a group who may have resembled a receiving line, and he came right up to me.

That was one occasion when words came out of my mouth seemingly without passing through my brain, because I said to him, "Does a kiss from the governor come with the greeting?" Of course, he promptly kissed me on the cheek. Grandpère was standing next to me wide-eyed and astonished.

After Edwards moved on he said to me, "What did you think you were doing?" So. There you are. I'm in the company of an enormous number of women who have kissed Edwin Edwards.
October 8, 2007 12:19 PM

There you have it. Sometimes the demons take over, and what can you do?

UPDATE: Too Good For the Comments:

Paul said...

We all have our inner trollop, Mimi.