Review: Girl Sleuth, Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

I don't know that I read every single last Nancy Drew published in my day -- but I know I tried to! The mystery books were available at the Acme store, so family grocery night was an opportune time to spend allowance money on a new Nancy Drew.

Nancy lived a thrilling life and I was one of those girls who wanted what Nancy had: freedom, confidence, intelligence, multiple talents and skills, loyal friends, a nifty blue roadster and a supportive yet never controlling boyfriend.

Nancy's mom died long ago and was out of the picture. Her dad, an attorney, provides her with an endless source of mysteries and with a house-keeper who could whip up a great picnic basket for Nancy and her friends Bess and George. Bess and George are on opposite ends of the femininity index, with Nancy firmly placed in the middle, a self-contained balance of yin and yang qualities.

I found myself reflecting upon Nancy and her influences on my life when I picked up a fairly recent (2005) biography of the women who wrote the Nancy Drew series, developing an idea originated by Edward Stratemeyer, of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, producers of numerous series books for boys and girls. His initial notes state:

"These suggestions are for a new series for girls verging on novels. 224 pages, to retail at fifty cents. I have called this line the "Stella Strong Stories," but they might also be called "Diana Drew Stories," "Diana Dare Stories," "Nan Nelson Stories," "Nan Drew Stories" or "Helen Hale Stories" . . .

Stella Strong, a girl of sixteen, is the daughter of a District Attorney of many years standing. He is a widower and often talks over his affairs with Stella and the girl was present during many interviews her father had with noted detectives and at the solving of many intricate mysteries. Then, quite unexpectedly, Stella plunged into some mysteries of her own and found herself wound up in a series of exciting situations. An up-to-date American girl at her best, bright, clever, resourceful and full of energy."

Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak (a poet and critic published in The New Yorker, The Nation and more -- interview with the writer here) gives us the two intertwining stories behind the pen-name Carolyn Keene. From the east coast: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams a Wellesley graduate, inherited her father's syndicate when he died at an early age. The syndicate made its money from a stable of ghost writers who worked at piece rates writing to formulas created by Edward Stratemeyer. The Nancy Drew Series was only in its infancy at the time of Stratemeyer's death.

Meanwhile in the Midwest, Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson was busily establishing herself as a writer in Iowa. A graduate of Iowa State University, Mildred was athletic with an independent streak and a love for writing and language expressed at an early age. Longing for her own copy of Peter Rabbit, at age five she hand-copied the story so she could hold it in her hands.

Rehak compares and contrasts the backgrounds of these two fascinating women within the context of the character of Nancy Drew -- what is her appeal and how did these two women further her development? I find it interesting that although both Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Maude Wirt Benson married and raised children of their own, Nancy's own romantic life always steered clear from anything involving commitment, let alone any kissing or other mushy stuff. Nancy Drew's appeal has always been that of the independent female, able to take action without paternal or any other male interference.

Rehak's Girl Sleuth is a gripping tale that not only gives us the inside information on how Nancy's traits and story points were developed over the decades, but also gives us a panoramic view of expanding vistas for young girls growing up in the 20th century. Writing was one career in which women could find both a vehicle for self expression and a means of earning some money. Mildred's writing became her family's sole support after her husband suffered a series of strokes:

"I had to write all the time....I had no choice on writing, it wasn't a leisurely thing at all. It was a hard deadline and I was usually three for four books behind on orders. I put my typewriter up beside my husband's bed and I'd take care of him at night and typewrite right by the bedside...I just wrote as long as I could write each day and night."

Toiling for fees of between $100 - $250 per book, Mildred never shared in any royalties from her work, although upon occasion, a syndicate bonus check might boost her spirits.

One of Mildred's last books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate was The Mystery of the Tolling Bell. By good fortune, I happened upon a copy of this book in an antique stall in Berlin, OH. Having just finished Girl Sleuth, I wanted to revisit the experience of reading a Nancy Drew story. Published in 1946, it features a mysterious cave, an apparent ghostly appearance, secret passages and a gypsy woman selling fake cosmetics. As I galloped through the story (just like in younger days), I thrilled again to Nancy's ability to develop clues and leap into action. Her independence is intoxicating, the mystery is intriguing, and she never backs away from facing danger.

In the introduction to Girl Sleuth, Rehak identifies this book as one of her particular favorites, and includes the final lines of the story as they underscore Nancy's ability to solve mysteries without interference from her boyfriend Ned Nickerson:

"Mysteries!" he exclaimed, turning out the lantern. Haven't you had enough of them?"
Nancy was sure she never would have. Already the girl was longing for another, and it was to come in the form of "The Clue in the Old Album."
"Anyway, " said Ned, "there's one mystery I know never will be solved."
"What is it, Ned?"
"Why you always change the subject when I try to talk to you about something that isn't a bit mysterious!"
Nancy merely smiled sweetly, and walked out into the sunshine.

So both thumbs up for Melanie Rehak's Girl Sleuth. I picked it up in paperback at Borders awhile back, in one of their buy 2 get one free deals. It should be available at your local library.

For some excellent Nancy Drew information online, visit NancyDrewSleuth.com. Here I found handy information as to whether one is reading an original story or a later "revised" edition. Quick hint -- if your Nancy Drew is sporting 25 chapters, it's an original. The revisions are chopped down in page numbers and shortened to 20 chapters.

Digging Out

The snow stopped at noon today, as forecast.
We've dug out a path for the US postal carrier.




















And a path to the compost bin in the backyard. Oberon is making his own paths round the garden and under the pine tree.



Our short but steep side street has yet to see a plow. My drive still needs digging out, so I've put out a call for the young lad living next door to give me a hand. I'm taking a reading break for awhile. Akron Reads on Snow Days!

Another Snow Day in NE Ohio

I woke today as usual to the sound of 1350 AM's Bill Press show, staying warm under the quilts until the local news and weather break. Not a peep about school closings, and the weather report was not delivered in tones of Major Winter Storm Ahead. So I got up, dressed, let the dog out and in, poured the coffee and headed out to my vehicle.

The roads were drivable, but when I got to Margaret Park Elementary school, there was not a child, car or crossing guard to be seen. Uh oh. I drove on past toward my school, just in case Margaret Park was having a heating breakdown or something. Nobody was there either, so I turned around and headed home, much to the delight of the resident dog and cat.

I did fire off an email to Radio Free Ohio, urging them to at least report that schools in the area were closing and for listeners to check with their local district for further information. I don't want to set my radio alarm to WAKR, fer cyin' out loud!

I am not happy to be home today, as the more time off from school, the harder it is to get the kids back on track. However, I'll make the best of it. Switching on the TV to C-span and I see that the House is starting to debate their resolution to oppose the troop build up in Iraq. I wonder how many snow-bound citizens will stumble upon this on-going reality show? Everybody gets their five minutes to speak to the problem at hand. The people's house of government is not going to run away from this disaster that is Bush's war in Iraq.

Happy Darwin Day!

Charles Darwin is 198 years old today! In celebration, be sure to check out eSkeptic, the email newsletter of the Skeptics Society. This is what is on offer:

"... a short excerpt from Michael Shermer's Why Darwin Matters on “What Evolution Is,” and a review by Tim Callahan of a wonderful new book written by Edward Humes on the Dover Intelligent Design trial, entitled Monkey Girl. Enjoy as we celebrate one of the greatest thinkers in history.

Tim Callahan is Skeptic magazine’s religion editor and author of the books Bible Prophecy and The Secret Origins of the Bible."

You can access it online here.

Planning a trip to NYC? Be sue to visit the Natural History Mueseum's brand new Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins. They have a very nice online presence, with lots of support for researchers, visitors and educators.

It's a good idea to review the evidence every now and then -- because the un-evolved among us continue to try to hobble science and cast out Darwinism as the work of the devil. The following illustration was found on a bible-code web site that attempts to link the death of Saddam Hussein with various "prophecies."

I've never understood the anger that some people feel about descending from apes. They act like it is so insulting, when really it is quite an honor. Apes are amazing creatures and we would do well on this Darwin Day to pay tribute in some way. Put on Apeman by the Kinks, and do an apeman dance around the room in tribute to your distant ancestors!

I think I'm sophisticated
'Cos I'm living my life like a good homosapien
But all around me everybody's multiplying
Till they're walking round like flies man
So I'm no better than the animals sitting in their cages
in the zoo man
'Cos compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees
I am an ape man
I think I'm so educated and I'm so civilized
'Cos I'm a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians...

Review: Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire by Rafe Esquith

The No Child Left Behind act proposes a system of regulations that are supposed to ensure an effective and equitable education for all children. Coming from the top down, it has achieved at least one useful outcome -- it has forced us to look at education in our society. But at the same time it has diminished the joy in learning and teaching for many students and their classroom instructors.

As funding inequities continue, charter schools compete with unfair advantages, state boards of education call for stiffer standards and assessments, and districts turn to pacing guides -- the tangled weave of educational process (student - teacher - parents - administration - politicians) can depress the hell out of me. That's when I reach for a dose of Rafe Esquith, the teacher extraordinaire from one of the poorest public schools in LA, the man who created the Hobart Shakespeareans, and who shows us what it really takes to provide a high quality education for all.

Rafe's classroom operates on two basic principles -- work hard and be nice:

1. "There are no shortcuts." This applies to everything the students do in his classroom and for the rest of their lives. To learn is not to rush through something. It is to be mindful of the work at hand, to focus and to observe one's own progress.

2. "Be kind." Two short words that in conjunction exhort the best from each of us. For many, it is very difficult to carry this out consistently. It is a command for teachers as well as for students. Our emotions often take control of our rational minds and we find ourselves shouting from frustration or losing patience. We fling unkind words at our students, and yet expect them to act civilly at all times. Our growing cynicism may be revealed in the tone of our voices or the sharp glance from our eyes.

Some students' home lives consist of nothing but chaos and screaming. The classroom may be the only safe haven in their lives. Rafe has taken the concept of haven and turned it into an eclectic laboratory for the advancement of student learning through Shakespeare, rock and roll and a whole lot of innovative teaching.

If you've never come across Rafe and his work, the first thing to look at is the PBS Point of View documentary, The Hobart Shakespeareans. Once you see the children in action, and are thrilled and amazed by their accomplishments, you will want to know more about Rafe's teaching theories and techniques.

Rafe's first book was called There Are No Shortcuts. It's a gripping tale of an extraordinary teacher and the students who have flourished in his classroom. It is still available and highly recommended.

The title of his latest book, Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire, is a metaphor that sprang from an unforgettable science lesson. The book focuses on the work and travel of his class (Room 56) in far more detail than his first book. It provides tried and tested creative ideas for teaching reading, writing, science, social studies, math and the arts. Although Rafe teaches a self-contained 5th grade class (all are students who speak English as a second language, which makes their work on Shakespeare even more staggeringly amazing), the ideas and concepts presented in this book can be adapted for middle school and high school and even college.

Rafe gives us a clearer picture of how he approaches his unabridged Shakespeare play productions and lists the rock songs the students learn to play and sing to underscore and highlight their live production. Naturally I was thrilled to see a number of Kinks songs used, including:

The Taming of the Shrew:
"I'm Not Like Everybody Else" performed during the first meeting of Kate and Petruchio. "Tired of Waiting for You" when Kate is left standing at the altar

Love's Labour's Lost:
"The Village Green Preservation Society" as the Queen of France and her court arrive in Navarre to encounter the new rules. The students present the lyrics in sign language. Wow -- I'd love to see that!
"Days" -- a perfect wrap up and curtain call tune.

The productions are three hours long and are performed for two weeks at the end of the school year. Half of the classroom becomes a stage. They have professional stage lights mounted and great sound equipment. Rafe's hard work for the past 24 years has paid off. There are many sponsors of Room 56, which has become a non-profit corporation. Noted thespians such as Ian McKellan, Michael York, Hal Holbrook, Patrick Stewart, and Peter Hall visit and support his program. Ian McKellan comments that unlike many performers, the Holbart Shakespeareans always understand exactly what they are saying when they perform their parts. The documentary includes much great footage of a terrific young Hamlet and an utterly moving Ophelia.

Rafe's use of rock and roll is not limited to the classroom (which is equipped with electric and acoustic guitars as well as drum sets and microphone), it also can be found in chapter titles to Teach Like Your Hair is On Fire, including these Kinksian chapter headings:

"Celluloid Heroes" (how to inspire through use of classic films)
"Art Lover" (infusing arts into the curriculum)
"Add It Up" (learning math without tedium)

Rafe Esquith works his wonders from the ground up -- despite the never-ending dictates from politicians and boards of education. He succeeds because he has dedicated his life to his work and because he has learned that in order to teach well, he must model the kind of human being he wants his students to be. No matter what you teach, you will leave Rafe's books and video with a new hunger to do better and teach harder than ever before.

The hard truth of the matter is that the government can pass as many NCLB bills and amendments as it likes, but the real break-throughs in teaching take a great deal of time and commitment at the classroom level. Rafe is at school teaching from 6:30 AM until 6 PM and often longer than that. He holds Saturday sessions for his former students who are working toward success in middle school, high school and college. Every year he takes his former students on a college tour around the country. These kids who began as immigrant children, living in a crime-infested and destitute area of urban decay, are graduating from the best colleges into a wide variety of successful careers that all got their beginning in room 56.

I watch the Hobart Shakespearean video every year before school starts as a rev up exercise, and for a buck up whenever I feel myself getting frustrated and my patience evaporating. I think of Rafe and his students and their commitment to learning and realize I have a long way to go, but at least there is a light ahead of me revealing many wonderful possibilities if I just continue to work hard and be nice. As Rafe puts it in the introduction to his new book:

"There are so many charlatans in the world of education. They teach for a couple of years, come up with a few clever slogans, build their Web sites and hit the lecture circuit. In this fast-food society, simple solutions to complex problems are embraced far too often. We can do better. I hope that people who read this book realize that true excellence takes sacrifice, mistakes, and enormous amounts of effort. After all there are no shortcuts."

Thanks Rafe!

Blog-keeping chores

I deleted a couple of comments posted last night that were graffiti rather than any sort of rational debate or comment. The Village Green reserves the right to remove vulgar scrawls and offensive smears.

Carry on!

No Hillary Dissing Here

It's all the rage -- diss Hillary and force her into public humiliation. She must confess her sin of voting for the Iraq War before a large segment of the blogosphere will consider her a worthy candidate, let alone vote for her. Kos attempts to put her in her place here. He compares her to Dick Cheney!

The problem is that Hillary refuses to grovel. In politics, groveling is a display of weakness. As a woman fighting to be the first of her gender to win the presidency, she is damned either way, but much more so if perceived to be "weak."

I am not happy that she voted to allow Bush to have his Iraq adventure (now disaster). It was a pragmatic political decision and it rubs my idealistic self the wrong way. However, she has responded to the changing situation and says she will end the war when elected. I rather like it that she's found a way of stating her case that doesn't involve a load of wallowing in humiliation. She put it this way in an AP interview:

"I have said clearly and consistently for quite some time that I regret the way the president misused the authority," said Clinton. "He misled Congress and the country on what he was seeking and what he intended to do."

The responsibility Clinton said she accepts was helping clear the way for Bush's path in Iraq. "I take responsibility for having voted to give him that authority," she said. "My focus is on what we do now. That is the proper debate."

This is not good enough for Kos and many other liberal pundits and bloggers. They want to bring this woman down. How many times am I going to hear from male voters, "I"m voting for the best candidate -- and gender will have nothing to do with it."

Gender has everything to do with it when it comes to Hillary. In order to compete in a male-dominated profession (politics), she has found it expedient to show toughness. She has also played up her centrist persona and tried to avoid the dreaded "lefty" label. Would she be in this strong position so early in the pre-primary race if she had taken the far left, anti-war stance?

She voted against making flag burning a constitutional amendment, but joined with a Republican to offer a bill to make it a federal crime. This absolutely outraged me when it went down. Now I'm seeing it as yet another one of Hillary's very clever moves to avoid the left-wing label. She is critiqued for too much nuancing, as opposed to George W Bush who wouldn't know a nuance if it hit him in the face:

"That careful, deliberate style impresses some Democrats but irritates and deflates many others: She tends to tweak her views and her rhetorical nuances to position herself in the center of most issues, leaving an uninspired impression for some."

Edwards, the darling of the netroots, is fading fast as Obama climbs the charts. Hillary is on top, much to the dismay of many. She's the top runner here in Ohio, according to this Quinnipiac poll. And here, in a collection of many polls, Hillary is seen to be running away from the pack.

We know the Right is going to send the attack dogs full force. I rather think Hillary will do better against them than Kerry did. She sticks to the issues and to proposed policies, which is going over very well with the voters.

Let me be clear here -- I could live happily with an Obama presidency, or Edwards, Gore, Kucinich and so on down the line. Anybody the Dems send up is better than the Bush mistake we've been living with for 6 years. However, I'm going to admit upfront to a secret thrill that Hillary is leading the pack. She's smart and she's determined, and I have no doubt she will actively run things, and run them well once elected president.

I just hope she takes one big risk and picks Obama for her running mate. I think it would be a heckuva ticket and would steamroll over any Republican opponent.

Friday Night Kick Back: Todd Rundgren

How do we love YouTube, let us count the ways! Here's some vintage Todd performing the tune "Bread" with the Hello People, a rock and roll mime band. I saw Todd and the Hello People at Carnegie Hall in 1972.

Enjoy!

The Mayor's Proposed Akron Income Tax Increase

It's Friday night and I really want to rock out, but instead I've got taxes on my mind. The mayor of Akron is calling for an increase in income tax. It would be about $33/per 10k in income.

The mayor wants more cops -- that was the leading point of his tax plea as reported in today's ABJ. Then a list of other items, all very non-specific:

"The proposed 0.33 percentage point increase, expected to generate an additional $17 million annually, also would help replace aging vehicles, fund after-school uses of new school buildings, boost the capital budget and fuel more economic development."

My first thought was reflexive -- ouch! I can't afford it. My second reaction was "No, not more cops." Americans always want more cops and more jails, rather than finding what -- over time -- turns an innocent baby into a criminal who needs policing and jailing.

Then I began to read all the citizens postings on the ABJ article comments section. This topic garnered copious amounts of word-slinging today. There are the Love It or Leave It people vs the Hated It and Left people. The usual Won't Pay Any New Taxes Ever people are smashing heads with The What's In It For Me people. It got way too emotional in the Comments section, so I went back to the original article and read it more carefully.

Plusquellic certainly made good logical points in his arguments. He is also one gutsy politician --he and his entire Democratic city council are all running for re-election on the same ballot! The mayor makes it clear that federal tax breaks will compensate for some of the increase in local taxes. (Bush's tax cuts in essence mean that state and local governments will be paying more for services. It's the old shell game.) According to the Beacon, Plusquellic

"...argued that the city has cut costs and reduced the city's payroll in the last 10 years by 400 full-time jobs from 2,673 full time employees to 2,242.

``We have not raised taxes for the operation of city government in 26 years, a record that I think we can all be proud of,'' Plusquellic said.

``But today I stand before you and tell you we cannot be the city we want to be, we cannot be the city that we need to be, we cannot continue to compete without asking each of you to help reinvest in our future by giving back locally just a small portion of what you used to send to the IRS in Washington.''

Damn, I really wanted to go with my initial response -- No new taxes. But how can I say no to improving living conditions in the city that I freely choose to live in? I can feel myself being persuaded, but--

There's still the annoyance factor of the push for more cops and the nebulous list of new needs. What does it mean to "fuel more economic development" and what specific programming is going into our new after-hour community learning centers?

I'd like more specifics before I say OK to this new tax. In the same article, the ABJ points out that our sewer rates are going to increase by 7% just as soon as our City Council stops dithering about it.

"The city asked for the surcharge to fund a specific project: stopping the overflow of sewage during heavy rains into the Ohio & Erie Canal in downtown Akron."

Yes, I think we need to stop the overflow of sewage into our canal system that we have been spending lots of money to fix up into a recreational attraction (see photo above). Cleaning up the messes from the 19th and 20th centuries are going to increase our tax burdens over the coming years, whether we like it or not. It's either fix the sewers or wallow in the disease-bearing muck.

To conclude my meditation on the proposed new tax increase, I'd like to see some of it go to the higher things in life, something to take our minds away from the gutters and sewers. Mr Mayor, if you want my vote for sure, put some of the revenue into a fund for developing and maintaining the arts in Akron. Remember, the arts are what make life worth living!

Downtown Akron to lose the Farmer's Market?

Akron's downtown farmer's market is moving to Stan Hywet as reported on Feb 1st in the Akron Beacon Journal. According to the report, they want to move where people live. People don't live downtown. Well some do, but not the kind that can afford heirloom vegetables and organic cheese.

The city is vowing to put together some kind of farmer's market downtown. The original idea was to provide fresh produce for downtown workers to purchase on their way home from work. The market used to be at Cascade plaza from mid morning to mid afternoon -- two days a week, as I remember. The farmers who showed up were definitely not the trendy type. But the corn was fresh and the tomatoes juicy, and there's nothing like a big pile of freshly picked green beans.

The city moved it to Lock 3 on Saturday mornings for one summer. That was a very inconvenient time for me and I only made it down there once. I liked it best when it was across from the Beacon Journal on the east side along the old loading docks. It was easy to park and get into it there, and I enjoyed the stroll up and back along all the stalls.

Urban dwellers deserve the opportunity to shop for locally farmed produce. There really are people who live downtown, many of them live diminished lives in the old Mayflower Hotel and the odd rooming houses that still rent rooms by the month. All of these neglected citizens would surely benefit from having fresh food rather than the over-processed and excessively-packaged food stuffs they obtain from the Aldi Store long blocks away on South Main St.

There are no grocery stores within walking distance from downtown Akron. The elderly residents and the mentally and physically handicapped must take a bus ride to get to their food sources. Let us hope the farmer's market down town can continue in some form. And again I say, it is too bad we can't have something that goes all year long, like Cleveland's West Side Market.

I took the above photo at the West Side Market last December.

Oh hard is the fortune of all womankind

That sad old folk tune came into my head tonight while reading the story of Lisa Nowak, the astronaut who came unglued when a rival appeared for the love of another astronaut. It's the story few can resist reading. So I clicked on the latest AP update tonight, which included interviews with people involved with the astronaut program.

I had to stop and take a breath after reading some comments from Dr. Jon Clark, a former NASA flight surgeon who lost his wife, astronaut Laurel Clark, in the 2003 Columbia disaster,

"Clark...said there can be extra pressure on NASA's female astronauts - and the men, like himself, who marry them.

"They made more sacrifices than the 'Right Stuff' guys," he said, comparing women astronauts to the original all-male astronaut corps. "They have to balance two careers - to be a mom and wife and an astronaut. ... You don't come home at night, like most of the male astronauts, and have everything ready for you."

It is somewhat astonishing to me that women remain oppressed in this 21st century. After all the consciousness raising we did, and all the glass ceilings that continue to shatter -- at the end of the working day, a woman goes home and runs the household while hubby seldom contributes the same sweat equity as the wife in the day to dat details of child-rearing and sorting out the laundry.

This woman was married with three children and competing and training in one of the most intense career tracks imaginable. The story to me is both ancient and futuristic. It has the overtones of Greek tragedy, with a plot right out of a science fiction romance novel. The need to "have it all" seems to run deep in many women. Lisa wanted the moon and someone else's man. While I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for her, I am saddened by the impulse that drove her to this result.

Oh hard is the fortune of all womankind
She's always controlled, she's always confined
Controlled by her parents until she's a wife
Then a slave to her husband the rest of her life.

All young girls, take warning, take warning from me,
Never place your affections on a young man so free,
They will hug you and kiss you and tell you more lies,
Than the cross-ties on the railroad or the stars in the sky.

Spay Day - Feb 27

Here's a worthy thing -- Spay Day is February 27th. It is a national campaign to promote spay/neuter programs to help control animal populations and to cut down on the tragic endings of too many cats and dogs in this country.

The web site offers many ideas for people to contribute to this event including:

Organizing awareness events.
Sponsoring spaying and neutering at local clinics.
Raising money for local spay/neuter rescue groups.

You can get further information about Spay Day from The Humane Society.

There are no events listed for the greater Akron area yet. But there's nothing to prevent any of us from donating to worthy local animal groups like the NE Ohio Public Animal Welfare Society.

49 yeas to 47 nays -- the debate is buried

And now on to other more important debates like tax relief for small businesses. Grrrrr!

Iraq resolution debate

No school today or tomorrow, so I've got C-Span on, watching the debate on the Warner-Nelson non-binding resolution on Iraq. The political maneuverings are up front and on display. Sherrod Brown, our new senator, was presiding as acting senate president pro tem today for awhile. According to Wikipedia, new senators from the majority party are assigned this task to get them up to speed in parliamentary procedures.

Lieberman just got smacked down by John Warner, who noted that he was discussing the McCain -Lieberman proposal while the subject at hand was the Warner bill. In fact, the McCain-Lieberman bill has not even been filed yet and isn't on the record, so shut up Joe!

A NYT editorial today has a bleak assessment on Iraq, noting that the one province which has been given control over its security failed to deal with an uprising and had to call in American forces to assist. News over the past few days has been exceptionally bloody. Anyone who keeps insisting Bush deserves yet another chance at botching things in Iraq is either delusional or willing to stand in line for Kool-aid.

Now it is looking like a group of Republicans are working to block an up and down vote on any of the Iraq ammendments. Guess they need more time to study the Iraq Study Group report. May they all rot in loser hell at the next election cycle and may the lives of both US soldiers and Iraqi citizens weigh heavy on their consciences.

They are voting as I type to decide whether to proceed with debate -- 60 votes needed. You can't see a running tally of votes -- you'd think in this day and age, something could be rigged up for visual display.

I guess the Republicans voting against this don't want to debate on the record, but by voting against debate -- they have put themselves on the record -- as being obstuctionists who choose to go against the will of the people.

Can we go solar now, please?

On a nose-bitingly frigid day like today, we might well warm ourselves a bit by thinking about solar energy. The front of my house faces due south. I would love to have a solar-powered solarium attached at that end. Unfortunately, my roof tilts east and west. Surely somebody has invented some kind of solar collector that can fit over top of a roof like mine. That sounds less fanciful than the idea of erecting solar deflectors up in space to counter global warming.

Maybe I can find out at this event happening in Cleveland, July 7-13, 2007:

WELCOME TO SOLAR 2007

The National Solar Energy Conference is the largest and most inclusive solar and renewable energy conference in the U.S. each year. SOLAR 2007, taking place in Cleveland, Ohio, will explore the theme “Sustainable Energy Puts America to Work .” The National Solar Energy Conference combines a premiere technical conference, plenary and forum sessions exploring both the conference theme and the most timely topics of the day, a Renewable Energy Products and Services exhibit that showcases manufacturers, dealers, distributors, installers and other related businesses and services, and workshops, tours and special events of interest to professionals and consumers.

SOLAR 2007 will feature the following:

36th Annual ASES Annual Conference
32nd Annual National Passive Solar Conference
2nd Annual Policy, Advocacy and Marketing Conference
Green Energy Ohio Annual Meeting
Renewable Products and Services Exhibition

Register on-line starting March 15!

For further information, click on the image above.

The sponsor of the above conference, The American Solar Energy Society, has just published a nuts and bolts "How To" report on achieving energy efficiency using renewable energy sources. Amazing! Some people are actually working on the problem at hand as if their might be some urgency to the problem. The greatest unspoken truth of all the inconvenient ones we are facing in the 21st century is that there are 6.7 billion plus human beings on the planet sucking up all the petroleum, coal and gas and burning it and taking down the climate at the same time.

Notice that the conference is for all possible sustainable and renewable energy sources -- not just solar. Their report examines each possibility in detail as well as looking it within context of operating with the other sources. For example, plug in vehicles charging during the night hours when the electric grid is not used so heavily. They are looking at viable, practical roads toward reducing dependency on carbon-producing fuels.

Here's a list of chapter titles and authors:

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

OVERALL ENERGY EFFICIENCY
by Joel N. Swisher, Ph.D., P.E.

BUILDINGS
by Marilyn A. Brown, Ph.D., Therese K. Stovall, and Patrick J. Hughes, P.E.

PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES
by Peter Lilienthal, Ph.D., and Howard Brown


RENEWABLE ENERGY

CONCENTRATING SOLAR POWER (CSP)
by Mark S. Mehos and David W. Kearney, Ph.D.

PHOTOVOLTAICS (PV)
by Paul Denholm, Ph.D., Robert M. Margolis, Ph.D., and Ken Zweibel

WIND POWER
by Michael Milligan, Ph.D.

BIOMASS
by Ralph P. Overend, Ph.D. and Anelia Milbrandt

BIOFUELS
by John J. Sheehan

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
by Martin Vorum, P.E. and Jefferson W. Tester, Ph.D.

APPENDIX
The Science and Challenge of Global Warming
by Charles F. Kutscher, Ph.D., P.E.

You can download the entire report here.

Connie Schultz -- back and better than ever!

If you didn't have a reason to read the Cleveland Plain Dealer online, click here and bookmark for regular reading. Connie Schultz has returned from her self-imposed hiatus, after working on her husband Sherrod Brown's amazing campaign for US Senate. While we are waiting for the book she is writing about her adventures on the campaign trail, we can now enjoy her twice-a-week columns once more.

The most recent column speaks to the hypocrisy of Cleveland attempting to attract tourist dollars from the GLBT community:

"...when I heard that the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland wants to target gays and lesbians -- this time "target" being a good thing -- I was skeptical. What's the motto going to be: "It's a Nice Place to Visit But You Wouldn't Want to Live Here"?

You could fill a medium-size town with the number of gays and lesbians who left Ohio after 2004. I've met at least half of them in Manhattan alone, and I don't think we can count on them anytime soon to spread the good cheer."

You can read the rest of this column here.

With the untimely death of Molly Ivans this week, it is reassuring to know that another woman of vision and purpose is back on the scene to point to the injustices in our world and ask us why we continue to allow them to tarnish our society.

Friday Night Kick Back: Ray Davies and David Bowie perform Waterloo Sunset

Time to kick off the shoes, pour a glass of wine and enjoy what is left of Friday night here at the Village Green.

And what a treat tonight, thanks to good old Youtube and a tip of the old British music hall hat to Frank Lima of the Kinks Preservation Society Email Digest for pointing it out. The actual video is provided by Nick:

"David Bowie and Ray Davies perform Waterloo Sunset live at the Tibet House Benefit, Carnegie Hall, New York, 26/02/2003.

This video comes from his David Bowie DVD collection which is listed on this page:


Speaking of the Tibet House Annual Benefit -- it is coming up very soon. If it weren't on a Monday I would be sorely tempted to see this year's concert. Details ahead, followed by an amazing duet from the Benefit four years ago.

17th Annual Carnegie Hall Benefit Concert
Monday, February 26, 2007

Performers to date
(updated 1/28/07):

Laurie Anderson
Ray Davies
Philip Glass
Deborah Harry
Lou Reed
Sigur Ros
Patti Smith
Michael Stipe

Concert tickets are $35-$108 and can be purchased by calling Carnegie Charge at 212.247.7800 or in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office (57th Street and Seventh Avenue).

For more info, check here

On not giving up

I've had a petunia blooming in my indoor garden all winter long. It's a "wave" petunia variety that has been sharing a large pot with a geranium. I generally bring in one geranium for the winter, but this time I wanted to see how long the petunia would go before giving up. It hasn't given up at all.

That seems to have been the theme of the week -- not giving up. On the local level, the Highland Square community has been rallying around an old theatre to save it for the community. The local theatre critic, reassigned by the Akron Beacon Journal to the Business beat last summer, isn't giving up either and is blogging and freelancing theatre reviews. The arts will not give up in Summit County either.

At the state level, a grassroots group in Stark county did not give up on paying attention to Countywide Landfill. An expert has been called in to test with infrared photography to determine if the landfill is indeed on fire underneath the top layers. The toxic brew underneath could threaten aquifiers, and if it explodes into the air, could release some deadly fumes. We continue to pollute and to reproduce at rates that will have us choking on our own deadly chemical wastes. None of us can afford to give up on this one.

On the national front, Patrick Fitzgerald has doggedly pursued the truth behind the twisted lies of Cheney/Rove/Libby regarding the Valerie Plame Affair (it sounds like a Perry Mason mystery title). I've been following the story every night when I get home from work -- watching the parade of famous journalists enter the court.

Planet-wide global warming is on the minds of most people, if not the Republican White House. A huge collection of experts and countries set out a declaration today. From local to global, we simply cannot give in to defeat.

Kerry's Back!

The review of Carousel's Beehive in today's Akron Beacon Journal featured the byline of Kerry Clawson. Welcome back, Kerry and here's to more theatre coverage from our only local paper. We are so fortunate to live in a community that supports so many arts groups. What a terrible shame that the Akron Beacon Journal chose to make us look like do-nothings living in a cultural vacuum.

If you are pleased to see Kerry writing theatre reviews, please send a letter or email to the features editor and say so. The editors need to know that folks around here care just as much for drama and symphonies as they do for sporting events. And until the ABJ relents and lets Kerry cover all the theatre that she used to, you can check out her blog from Stage to Page here. Kerry's been writing about the new NBC reality show in which the leads to a new B'way production of Grease are being selected over the course of a long auditions process.

Save the Highland Theatre campaign kicks off

A good size crowd of citizens met in the basement of Grace United Church this evening to make plans to save the venerable old movie house.

The meeting got off to a stellar start with the first ever public showing of 8 mm film shot by the wife of construction firm owner that built the Highland Theatre in 1937. The camera follows the building crew as they slither up and down beams and ropes. No hard hats and safety ropes to be seen. There were guys heating up rivets in big cans on the ground, slinging the hot rivets up to the guys on the beams. In the distance, tantazling shots of Highland Square homes and streets, a window back through time.

Three grandsons of the firm's founder were at the meeting: Nelson, Dick and Blaine Wallace. They gave very stirring speeches about how much the theatre meant to them. They told us their family had always lived in Highland Square since moving to Akron.

Members of the Highland Square Neighborhood Association facilitated the meeting. They are proposing a community arts center. They are looking for a private purchaser who would lease it to a non-profit organzation with a board made up of community members. Grants and targeted reliable programming: films, concerts, theatre productions (that would work on a basic platform stage), town hall meetings, charity events, private parties, seminars, and lecture hall. Local visual art could be on constant display in the lobby -- an artist co-op.

They've talked to the Cedar Lee in Cleveland and to arts organizations all over the city -- looking for ideas to make it a success. And have located two individuals interested in investing in the building.

Ron Higgins, Media Consultant gave us a run down on all the challenges ahead, from parking to rennovation. Parking is a huge issue and will need to be addressed, in my opinion. Long time residents seem to think that parking on streets within the immediate neighborhood of the theatre is good enough. It would be ideal if all the local businesses that close at 5 PM would go for double use. I'm not sure what double use entails? Does that mean evening parking might be paid parking in those lots? That might be a good idea, especially if the lots had attendants -- could help deter crime.

Speaking of which, an Akron detective was at the meeting to announce that a thief who's been breaking into cars in parking decks had been caught and they think this guy is one who has done a number of these smash and grabs up and down W Market St.

It was also intersting to hear the open acknowledgement of the differences in class and culture in the divide between north and south of W Market St in the square. Kids who live north of Market go to King Elementary while those living on the south side go to Portage Path Elementary.

Portage Path is another issue that impinges on all the theatre planning. It is supposed to be rebuilt on the same site. A number of people at the meeting asked if the school had to be rebuilt on that corner. Turns out the school is sitting on the very edge of its boundary line. Since the whole building has to be torn down, it would be just as easy to build on another piece of land, one more centrally located within the neighborhood it serves.

By great coincidence and amazing good fortune, a public planning session on the building of a new Portage Path Elementary School is to take place tomorrow (Wednesday) night at Portage Path School starting at 7 PM.

After all the information was shared, plenty of other Highland Squae residents spoke in support of the theatre. It was quite an electric grass roots kind of energy as many people stopped to chat in small groups and share their reactions after the meeting officially ended. An official email list was begun and if you want to join in the action to save the theatre, go to the HSNA web site to make contact and keep up with plans.

Theatre reviews to return to the ABJ?

The buzz around the Village Green is that Kerry Clawson's byline might be appearing on some theatre reviews in the Akron Beacon Journal very soon. This is great news for local theatre people who have been ill treated since the purchase of the former Knight-Ridder newspaper by a Canadian by the name of Black. Black indeed has been the mood hanging over our local theatres who contribute far more than mere entertainment to our community. The theatre is, as Shakespeare said, a little world -- society in a microcosm. A place for us to gather in the dark and contemplate tragedy, comedy, or absurdity as well as lots of acting, singing and dancing.

The Beacon's cost-cutting action was a blatant slap in the face to the arts community of Akron, which is large and has become increasingly vocal. So keep writing the letters in support of Kerry Clawson's return and for regular reviews for all the local theatre companies, because the ABJ will only be allowing a few reviews here and there.

The arts are integral to our lives -- and the Beacon needs to hear about it in order to believe it.

McCain Vs. McCain

Brave New Films (The same folks that brought us Out-Foxed and Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price) has a wonderful short clip of McCain auditioning for the role of Two-Face. Check out their The Real McCain website for all the John McCain duplicity revealed.

Town Meeting to Save the Highland Theatre

I had my doubts, but after attending a movie showing there this weekend, I'm leaning toward saving the theatre if possible. There's been some work put into the place over the years. It has a nice big platform stage down front and a night club/cabaret ambience at the back. It would be a nice concert venue if somebody made an effort to book some acts.

Why is it so difficult to create a sense of community? A community performing arts center is an idea that could help develop that sense of working toward and celebrating the common good. Providing a space where various community groups can meet and interact could only benefit the community. It might be the perfect place to try some Augusto Boal Forum Theatre.

I'm wondering about the financials. Will someone be writing grants? Will it go non-profit status? All communities should have something like this. Kenmore had one for a few months in an old church formerly called Benedictions, now for sale. Summit Art Space is growing into something substantial for the visual arts and theatre communities. It would be great to seee something permanent and community-positive grow out of the Highland Theatre.

If they can make a performing arts center happen, more power to them. Here is the info from the Highland Square Neighborhood Association web site:

Join the Highland Square Neighborhood Association for a

Town Hall Meeting about Saving the Highland Theater
& the possibility of a Community Performing Arts Center

Tuesday January 30 at 7 p.m.
at First Grace United Church of Christ
350 S. Portage Path

For more info, call 330-865-8422.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Says Michael Pollan in an excellent in-depth article entitled "Happy Meals" in the New York Times Magazine. Pollan is the author of "The Omnivore's Delight," (reviewed in a series of Village Green entries here here, here and here) who is making a lot of people rethink what human diet is really best for us. When he says "eat food," he is telling us to eat unprocessed plants for the most part, with some animal products on the side, but never as a main course.

Pollan presents an overview on how food was transformed into "nutrients" and how that has led us into obesity and "nutritionism." Along the way, we learn how the beef industry proved to be the death of Senator George McGovern's political career as well as how our reliance on chemical fertilizing has decreased the nutritional value of everything we eat, among many of the fascinating points Pollan continues to make about 21st century food chains.

"The Decider" or "The Dictator" -- What's the big difference?

Lots of great protesting went on yesterday and continues today. My friend in San Diego just called to tell me that he attended an Out of Iraq rally at Horton Plaza yesterday along with some 2,000 others to hear Daniel Ellsburg speak. Later Saturday night, Ellsberg spoke on "Truth-Telling In A Time of War: A Call to Civic Courage." From the Activist San Diego page:

"Daniel Ellsberg will speak on the need for a “Pentagon Papers” of the Middle East, a new ethic of patriotic whistle blowing, a resolution to the constitutional crisis due to the president’s abuses of power, and an enlightened and effective policy to prevent nuclear proliferation and further U.S. aggression.

Background Information

Daniel Ellsberg was former official in the Defense and State Departments, he released the Pentagon Papers to the press in 1971. These top-secret documents revealed that official accounts of U.S. decision-making in Vietnam were deliberate deceptions. His courageous act helped bring about the resignation of President Nixon and the end of the Vietnam War.

For the last 35 years Daniel has continued to be a leading voice of moral conscience and warning. "

Yes, we certainly could use some speaking truth to the lies that are destroying life and limb in Iraq. What do you do when the top official of the country you live in refuses to listen to the people's will? How many carriers must arrive in the Gulf region with missiles trained on Iran does it take before The Decider is carried off in a strait jacket? What does it take to get the congress and senate, our duly elected officials to understand that WE the People, want the war to end now. That's now, not later.

There are plans afoot to mass once again in Washington DC on Saturday, March 17. If that is the case, everybody who can get there ought to start making arrangements now.

Here's a portion of a stirring manifesto for the proposed March 17 march (tragically, the 4th anniversary of the Iraq War) from the New Hampshire Independent Media Center:

IN MARCH – WE MUST BE READY TO STAY IN WASHINGTON

We will be in Washington on January 27 and we will come back on March 17. And when we come back in March, this time we must be prepared to stay there in the thousands to force Congress to vote NO on more war funding. If Congress tries to rush a vote on war funding before March 17, this time we must be prepared to come to Washington in mass to make sure that the war funding is voted down.

PAY THE PEOPLES’ BILLS - NOT FOR WAR & OCCUPATION; BRING YOUR BILLS WITH YOU TO WASHINGTON

We are asking people to bring their medical, rent, heating and utility bills; student loan bills; credit card bills, and food bills that they can’t afford to pay as well as shut-off notices, mortgage foreclosures, eviction notices to the march on Washington. It must be made clear to Congress that feeding more money to the war while more and more people cannot pay for their basic living expenses is a crime. The cost of the war is not the only reason why we oppose the war. We oppose the war because it is an imperialist war for colonial conquest and plunder. Yet the cost of the war is important because it’s paid for by money stolen from providing social needs. The money that has paid for death and destruction in Iraq could have gone towards reconstruction in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

In his famous speech declaring his opposition to the Vietnam war almost 40 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “It is disgraceful that a Congress that can vote upwards of $35 billion a year for a senseless immoral war in Vietnam cannot vote a weak $2 billion dollars to carry on our all too feeble efforts to bind up the wound of our nation’s 35 million poor. This is nothing short of a Congress engaging in political guerilla warfare against the defenseless poor of our nation…”

Everybody knows it -- Bush is gunning for Iran next and will not listen to reason. He is either trapped by his own irrational brain or else is protecting the huge profits for those Big Business interests that backed and bought his presidency. Perhaps both forces are intertwined in a stranglehold of Bush's brain. Perhaps if he sees masses of citizens screaming oaths outside his White House barricades, he or his handlers might step back from the brink of outright nuclear war.

Or the elected officials might grow a spine. One of the Daily Kos diarists RenaRF has some great pictures of the giant spine paraded in front of the Capitol yesterday. Let's hope a bunch of our elected officials start growing them immediately.

Walmart to Elimate Fabric Department, Part 2

When last I went fabric shopping, I found out that Walmart is in the process of closing up most of their in-store fabric departments. So today I decided to stop at another local Walmart to see what was on sale. I talked to two women who work in that department.

Although the fabric wasn't marked down in this particular store, the women confirmed that their full-service fabric department would soon be gone and will be replaced by a few piles of pre-cut fabrics. Notions would remain, but would be combined with party goods in a new department to be called "Life Creations." Ugh.

The Corporate Bottom Liners want to get rid of the women who cut the fabric and trims. Those women have worked in the fabric department for many years. They'll still be employed with Walmart but will have to take whatever job is offered. It's such a brutal blow to the women who cut -- and to the women who sew. There is a bond between the sewer and the cutter. The cut must be true and on the generous side, yet not so generous that the business is cheated. The sewer and the cutter gaze upon the fabric as it is cut, imagining the flat expanse formed piece by piece into an attractive garment. They both look at the pattern and murmur how nice it will look when it is made up.

The ritual visit to the fabric store takes time. There are many steps, each involving making creative decisions about design, color, texture, washability, form and function. The fabric shopper begins by looking at the patterns, selecting one, then searching for the fabric and the accompanying "notions" such as color-matched thread, zipper, bias tape, buttons, snaps, and/or hooks and eyes. The women who work in fabric departments and stores invariably know and love their stock. If you need something in a damask or a wide-ribbed cordoroy -- they can tell you right away if they have it and where it is.

There's an online petition going on to stop Walmart from removing fabric departments. Interestingly enough, Walmart tried this once before in 2001 but was forced to bring the tables and friendly cutting crews back by customer rebellion! Read about it here.
So why are they going for it one more time? What didn't they understand about the mind of the fabric shopper? We hate waste and want to buy our 3 3/8 yard as per the pattern requirement. We do not want to have to piece a garment together using 2 yard sections of pre-cut panels.

So what is a local fabric shopper to do? There is always Price of Right Fabrics, 638 W. Tuscarawus in Barberton, which might have what you need -- but not always. The price there is indeed quite right. A good place to buy thread, velcro, and other essentials at a very reasonable price. Lots of great oddities can be found here.

Obtaining the best variety and price involves a long drive into Amish country, to Berlin, OH on state route 62 West in Holmes county. In town you'll find Zinck's Store (4799 E. Main St.) and the Outlet Store (4568 St Rt 39), the latter having the real deals, such as fill a very large bag full of remnants for $2. And bolts and bolts of stuff at 99 cents a yard. The outlet store has moved since I last visited -- it is closer to town and in a nice new warehouse type building. As usual, there are plenty of sturdy wagons for customers to haul their bolts of fabric around with as they shop. The shop in town has their nice goods, and lots of gorgeous quilting fabrics. There is an attic room full of bargain fabric that should always be checked for great deals.

Jon Stewart and Dick Cheney

I found this via Huffpost. First time I've tried using Comedy Central's video embed code. This clip shows the master political satirist at work on the always creepy vice president.

Demon Alcohol

Here's your late night Thursday Kinks-related video. It's an oddity -- a 70's animated cartoon set to a version of "Demon Alcohol." The wonderful Kinks song was always a huge cabaret performance hit in concert, with Ray balancing the beer bottle on top of his head. The tragic musical theatre tones are still in this version, but for some reason the animators came up with a happy ending. For more info, check this post at YouTube.

Enjoy!

Landfill heating up -- does the OEPA have a plan?

I couldn't find a public domain image of a landfill burning underground, so we will have to use the accompanying photo as metaphor. Plastic is not just everywhere you look, it also lies buried under ground in huge toxic and potentially disasterous quantities.

According to an article in Wednesday's ABJ, infrared photographs show a landfill just south of here heating up underground. Bob Downing does a great job laying it all out.

What are the dangers from the fire? How about

"An underground fire would create a dangerous mixture of gases threatening landfill workers and neighbors. Burning plastics could create dioxins -- a known cancer-causing agent and the key ingredient in Agent Orange -- and furans, a possible human carcinogen. Burning auto fluff -- from shredded dashboards and seats -- could produce deadly chlorine gas.

High levels of benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, have been found in the landfill's gas-collection system."

Just think about all the stuff you throw away in your trash. Did you ever toss in a few double A batteries, thinking -- oh they are small, can't be too toxic. When those new energy-saving fluorescent bulbs finally burn out after 7 years, don't throw them in your trash either. Batteries and fluorescents are hazardous waste and need to go to places other than a landfill. Are human beings capable of mindful consumption or are we doomed because convenience will always win over sustainable living?

How do we get humans to live simply and create less waste? Will it take one or more exploding landfill fires contaminating air and water to make us all wake up?

Live blogging the state of the union...

...from my living room couch. Watching MSNBC with Olbermann and Mathews hosting. Hillary Clinton put herself out there upstaging the president. Her campaign tactics so far are brilliant.

Everybody's commenting about how extraordinary it is that Bush must actually face a room full of opposition. Why did it take them 6 long years to see through him and his gang of looters?

Some one leaned over to say to Bush on his grand entrance, "I'm saying a prayer for your success." If we have to resort to prayer for success we are in deep trouble.

Bush sucks up to Nancy at the beginning. Now the speech begins with the camera shot at first showing more of Cheney's face in the back. The camera quickly shifts over and tries to seek an exact balance of Cheney on the left and Pelosi on the right.

Who writes the president's speeches, I'm wondering? The rhythm is growing obnoxious. Make a promise -- pause for applause. The surreality of the dark robed supreme court members down front giving off an air of some dark church ritual as they sit silently without clapping.

Meanwhile Cheney in the back looks like he is concentrating on whatever is passing along his digestive track. Meanwhile Pelosi's tongue and jaw seem to trace patterns of word trains that will be let out loud once the speech is finished. She does a good job of containing obvious emotional facial responses.

Bush has gone through a litany of fat-ass capitalist pig jargon. I'm struck by the idea that rampant capitalism is the ideology that has brought us to the brink of global disasters. To make more money, new markets must always open up. Opposition to birth control and abortion is all about shoving more and more hungry consumers on to more expensive plots of real estate, struggling in factories to produce cheap goods to sell sell sell.

Now the bogey men are trotted out and Bush the Commander in Chief tries to convince the unconvinceable. Who wrote this crap? Oh clever insert -- "I ask you to support our troops in the field and those on the way." His writers knew he needed an ego boost right about then.

Condi's hawkish scan from side to side to see who is cheering loudest for her boss and who is sitting on her/his hands. Meanwhile, all the upping and downing of the audience must be taking a toll on the elder statespersons in attendance.

Well thank dog for the NBA for providing us with a genuine celebrity to tower over Laura Bush and relieve the tedium. It's been on an hour now and I'd rather be doing other things. Sorry to not stick it out until the end, but it all seems such a waste. The speech, the war, the last 6 years of runaway republican greed.