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Obama gets good advice at Manhattan LGBT event.

Kudos to Corey Johnson, who was on NY's Dem Primary ballot back on Super Tuesday as an Obama delegate, for some prudent advice to Sen. Obama during a recent LGBT fund-raiser (cost to attend: $2,300) in New York.

From the article:

As Sen. Obama made his way to the door, Johnson said he asked the senator directly to do more interviews with the gay press, citing the fact that he has conducted only one interview with an LGBT outlet during his presidential campaign. 'I said, "Your speech tonight was so moving to all of us, the way you spoke about our community. You need to do more [interviews]," recalled Johnson. "And he said, 'You're right, absolutely. We do need to do more with the LGBT press.'

Corey's spot on. He's also right to ask for something specific and doable. But, I'll ask anyway, for something a bit more vague and more ambitious: Why can't Obama speak on LGBT issues, especially if he does so so movingly, even beyond the LGBT press to non-LGBT audiences? Maybe when and if he becomes President he will, which is arguably when such statements to larger audiences would have the most effect anyway. Of course, for similar reasons, Sen. Clinton's campaign probably has the same strategy relative to speaking about LGBT issues to wider audiences.

And an LGBT event in NYC is nice, but . . . Okay, I'll ask: What about LGBT events in, say, Austin or Columbus, which could probably provide more inspiration and motivate more LGBT voters than a high-priced, Manhattan, elbow-rubbing gig? Maybe there's the issue of how much such LGBT events--which is to say, coverage of them in the media--might hurt Obama's chances in the state as a whole. I think they would not hurt his changes, actually, given that gay marriage isn't an issue likely to motivate much of the GOP base in 2008. (There's even good evidence that it didn't motivate voters in 2004 nearly as much as is often assumed. And how would it motivate GOP voters now anyway when it's been outlawed pretty everywhere at this point?) Of course, by similar reasoning, Sen. Clinton's campaign probably has the same strategy relative to keeping the lid on, or avoiding altogether, LGBT events in states that aren't sure wins. In the case of Obama's campaign, maybe they just assume that in urban places with big gay populations, but in less "blue" states than New York, they have the LGBT vote locked up by virtue of the fact that such places tend to be college towns, and Obama's big on campuses already. Also, for all I know, Obama and Clinton have both done great LGBT events--but successfully "kept them quiet"--in states where the stakes are higher for local LGBT communities. (The fundraiser that dare not speak its name? Jeez.)

So, if it's to be a New York LGBT event ... Okay, I'll ask: How about an LGBT event that doesn't feel clandestine? Again, time for some realism, I guess: New York is a state any Democratic candidate would easily win in the General Election and isn't a contest state in the Democratic Primary season anymore. So the Obama campaign is unlikely to prioritize NY events in general--be they in NYC or anywhere in the state--and unlikely to spend time and energy on big events especially. They'll hit up The Money; that's about it. Of course, by similar reasoning, Sen. Clinton's campaign probably has the same strategy relative to NY events. (In Obama's case, maybe there is also a consideration right now that small high-end events avoid antagonizing the many NY pols who support Sen. Clinton, including nearly all of the LGBT ones. I don't know. That's a guess.)

One thing isn't a guess though: Democratic presidential campaigns, because New York is so "blue," don't spend much time here; they generally treat New York as only New York City and New York City as only its high income earning population, which they then use not unlike an ATM. Whether or not the candidates themselves wish it were otherwise, it's hard to truly know.

IT'S SCOTLAND WEEK! March 30th to April 6th.

It's that time of year again in NYC, D.C., Toronto, Boston, and other cities around the US and Canada -- It's Scotland Week!

From March 30th to April 6th.

You gotta love opportunities like free haggis at Broadway and West 52nd Street in Manhattan! (April 5) I mean, forget the other events like the Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert and whiskey tastings. We're talkin' an opportunity for haggis!

Oh, and let the count down to St. Andrew's Day begin!

If you're heading to Scotland for holiday, I recommend Potteryhouse B&B near Inverness. This recommendation has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I know the owners, honest. (Congrats, guys, on the first daffodil of spring.)

The religious right's attacks on mainline Protestantism

Over at dkos, Troutfishing wisely calls our attention to the American rightwing's attacks against mainline Protestantism. These attacks began decades ago, but continue right up until today, including the racist and hypocritical talking points about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, which the mainstream media mindlessly parrots.

(For some sense of the hypocrisy involved, read this and this about how religious right pastors routinely attack the United States of America and damn it for this or that, and they're called patriots. What is more, Rev. Wright's comments were an echo in biblical language the opinions of the former US ambassador to Iraq.)

Troutfishing highlights the new video Renewal or Ruin? about the perversely named Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD), a component of American radical conservatism's war against mainline Protestant churches. Learn more about the IRD at www.ird-info.com.

From the post:

Attacks on the National Council Of Churches, smearing that body and liberal Christianity in general, as socialist or crypto-marxist, began as early as the 1950's (and possibly even before then) but the  full-blown right wing war on the historically liberal mainline Christian denominations did not begin until the 1980's...

The new left, the progressive left, needs all its components, all its allies and all its possible strength if the nascent movement is to change America and help lead the world away from reactive politics,  away from endless war and towards hope....

Bird flu

Bird flu has really dropped from the headlines. Sort of like news about Iraq. But, it's still around (AP article), and scientists are still tracking it with some anxiety. Heaven forbid it mutates in some way that makes it much easier for humans to contract. This has happened with who knows how many over diseases in the history of homo sapiens. Many infectious diseases, from AIDS to SARS, almost certainly had animal origins. In some cases a disease actually goes from affecting only a non-human species to affecting only our species. I've no idea if it's ever happened the other way 'round. I'll ask my cat tonight what he knows.

From a article:

Chickens used to roam every dusty street in every village across Egypt, and many of its city alleys too.

But bird flu is changing that. Chickens have nearly all vanished from sight, slaughtered, abandoned or locked away by a population increasingly aware of, and frightened by, the disease's stubborn grip.

Tonite: Frontline reveals and makes history

Tonight the investigative news program Frontline features the first of the two-part examination, "Bush's War." It draws on the more than 40 reports that Frontline has done on the "war on terror."

Frontline is also making history with online technology related to their programs. From the website:

Across the entire four-hour Bush's War series that will be streamed online, FRONTLINE will integrate and embed in its video player an array of related interviews, background material and video that can be viewed with just a click. In addition, more than 100 video clips of key moments and events in the Iraq war will be the centerpiece of an annotated master chronology which FRONTLINE will publish on the Bush's War site.

Frontline also continues to offer "Watch Online," a fantastic service providing past programs viewable online. I highly recommend "Secret History of the Credit Card," "The Dark Side," and "News Wars."

Blog Against Theocracy

The March 21-23 weekend "blogswarm" known as Blog Against Theocracy brought a wealth of posts on subjects like the separation of Church and State, freedom of religion, Christian Reconstructionism, Christian Nationalism, the religious right, Creationism, and more.

Also visit First Freedom First, an unofficial partner of the Blog Against Theocracy project and a partnership of the Interfaith Alliance and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU).

Appeal For Redress

A segment on 60 Minutes in February concerned the "Appeal For Redress" movement among US active duty and reserve soldiers.

I think it is important to stress that when a citizen signs on to be in the military, he or she is signing on to go where they are told, to do what they are told to do for as long as they are told they need to do it.

On the other hand, at many points throughout history, feedback from the rank and file has been ignored or misunderstood by general officers and politicians alike, to the detriment of everyone involved, even to the detriment of achieving stated military goals. To a point, complaint can be helpful. And soldiers demanding change can be far less demoralizing than having many soldiers being convinced that profound mistakes are being made by their superiors both civilian and military. It will be interesting to see if the movement reflects a widespread sentiment or is limited.

Satyagraha coming to The Met

A new production of Philip Glass's opera about Gandhi, Satyagraha, opens at The Metropolitan Opera on April 11. The story concerns Gandhi's crucial years in South Africa that helped prepare him for his influential international leadership role as a non-violent anti-colonial activist later in his life. The opera draws on the ancient Sanskrit text, the Bhagavad Gita. (Click photo to enlarge.)

The 5th anniversary of murderously arrogant inanity in Babylon

Five years ago today the Bush Administration, a lazy US media titillated by the prospect of violence, and most of Congress took an ill-informed, myopic, and bellicose America into an unnecessary preemptive invasion of Iraq against all the commonsense of advisors of former Presidential administrations (including GHW Bu$h) and savvy diplomats among our allies.

The UN weapons inspectors were making clear progress during the run-up to the invasion, and the inspectors' expert leader, Hans Blix, had said completing the task of searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) would take only months more. Such a search would have been:
1. conclusive,
2. extremely cheap (The war's cost us $3,000,000,000,000--that's $3 trillion),
3. supported by the international community,
4. able to allow the internationally-supported and US-led forces in Afghanistan to continue to hunt down Bin Laden.

If I go to Yearly Kos, it'll be to meet Bill In Portland Maine.

Days since the Mission Accomplished banner was hung from the bridge of the Aircraft carrier: 1,785
Expected monthly cost to fund the Iraq quagmire in 2008: $12 billion
Projected interest payments on money borrowed to fund the quagmire: $816 billion
(Source: The book The Three trillion Dollar War via AP)
Maine's contribution to the war so far: $1.35 billion
[U.S. Casualties since the Iraq War began: 40,229]
U.S. [fatalities] since the Iraq War began: 3,990
(Source: icasualties.org)
Average per year since the war began: 798
What that amounts to if we stay in Iraq, as John McCain insists, for 100 years: 79,800
Estimated Iraqi civilians killed: 150,000 to 1.2 million
(Source: Meteor Blades)

And from John McCain came these gems:

"I believe that the success will be fairly easy." (9/24/02)
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"We’re not going to have a bloodletting of trading American bodies for Iraqi bodies." (9/29/02)
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"We will win this conflict. We will win it easily." (1/22/03)
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"[T]here’s no doubt in my mind, once these people are gone, that we will be welcomed as liberators." (3/24/03)

Arthur C. Clarke: Space elevators, geostationary orbits and more

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, CBE died at the age of 90 yesterday in Sri Lanka, where he'd lived for more than 50 years. I got a text message last night from a friend with the news. I was a big fan of Clarke's. He provided the first in-depth description of using geostationary orbits for communication satellites, popularized the idea of the space elevator, and wrote a lot of good science fiction, including his early short stories "Rescue Party" and "Encounter in the Dawn," on which in part was based, 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film he and Stanley Kubrick wrote and created. Clarke worked on the novelization of 2001 concurrently with the film project. The film is widely considered by historians and film professionals and buffs alike to be one of the most significant movies of all time. NASA's Mars Odyssey mission was named after Clarke's tale. Clarke also has an asteroid and a dinosaur species named after him. The Clarke Orbit is named after him; it's the orbital area into which most man-made satellites are placed. Clarke also helped cover the American moon landing for the BBC.

Some of the things imagined in the film have come to pass, including:

*Flat-screen computer monitors (simulated by rear projection in the film)
*Small, portable, flat-screen television sets
*Glass cockpits in spacecraft
*The proliferation of TV stations (the BBC's channels numbering at least 12)
*Telephone numbers with more digits than in the 1960s (to permit direct national and international dialing)
*The endurance of corporations like IBM, Aeroflot, Howard Johnson's, and Hilton Hotels
*The use of credit cards with data stripes (the card Heywood Floyd inserts into the telephone is American Express; a close-up photo of the prop shows that it has a barcode rather than a magnetic strip, as some present-day ID cards have PDF417 barcodes)
*Biometric identification (voice-print identification on arrival at the space station)
*The shape of the Pan Am Orbital Clipper was echoed in the X-34, a prototype craft that underwent towed flight tests from 1999 to 2001
*Electronic darkening of a normally transparent surface (Bowman uses a helmet control to darken his visor during an EVA)
*A computer that can defeat a human being at chess
*Personal in-flight entertainment displays on the backs of seats in commercial aircraft
*Voice recognition / voice controlled computing (although not as powerful as HAL) are seen today in things as simple as telephone systems and video games.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

"I have great faith in optimism as a guiding principle, if only because it offers us the opportunity of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy." - Arthur C. Clarke

"Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories." - Arthur C. Clarke