01/20/09 - Out w/ the Old

	MOVIE - "Were the World Mine" (not O's) ART - AIA tour of Fulton Cotton Lofts -aia- LOCAL - Sunday liquor sales!? -ajc- Gamble on Underground casino? -ajc-
	U.S. - Andrew Wyeth passed. BUSH - A letter about our ex-president WEB - Bushisms -slate- or wordle.net

Thanks to this week's model...good luck on your clothing line!

MOVIE NEWS - "Were the World Mine" (not Obama's...) - I've been looking forward to this flick...gay kid just trying to fit in at a prep school when the drama teacher puts him in the school play...as a faerie. Puberty ensues (No guest appearance by Zack Efron.)

ART NEWS - 1/24, 2:00 - 5:00 PM - AIA Atlanta tour of Fulton Cotton Lofts -aia-

1/24 - At Primal...Pamela Anderson?!? I'd kinda love to see her...in a "hey, I've met Dolly Parton's, too!" kinda way. -primal-

LOCAL NEWS - Sunday liquor sales!? -ajc- Why should Alabama get all the pro-football boozing revenue? Once again, the legislature may take up the debate on why it's okay to drive to a restaurant, drink, and drive home on Sunday, but you can't buy beer to consume in the safety of your home.

Gamble on Underground casino? -ajc- - Interesting proposal for reinvigorating the draw of Underground Atlanta - a casino. I thought this was reasonable in light of a report on the failings of the initial Underground of the 70's - in addition to increased crime in the city, liquor laws changed in counties surrounding Atlanta; fewer dry counties meant fewer people had to drive to Atlanta to get a drink. It seems Underground survives whenever it can give people something they can't get close to home - alcohol in the 70's and maybe gambling today. If that doesn't work, at least we've still Prostitution!

U.S. NEWS -

Andrew Wyeth passed away. Just this past weekend, I referred to this painting of his. Me...on a hill in Piedmont Park...lying on the grass with my legs trailing out behind me... looking up to the Midtown skyline...calling out to a (younger) friend. "Look, I'm Christina!" He said..."What? You mean that Stephen King car?"

BUSH - (An email to my brother) I do agree that W. doesn't seem to get a lot of support - even from the people that voted him into office - and that we should display a modicum of decency and tolerance when referring to or respectfully disagreeing with the man (some have) chosen to lead our country.

Your email did make me think about what I haven't liked about his presidency (besides the whole anti-gay thing) and to look back and make sure my feelings are based on facts and not just the "liberal media" (I do listen to Rush Limbaugh, occasionally).

Here's what I found out about myself:

The Kyoto Protocol - He rejected it and stated that it was unfair because it excluded some developing countries from following the same guidelines the U.S. would be forced to adopt. To be fair, it seems that Clinton recommended not approving it without first amending the wording. That may be true, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't work hard to make the planet a cleaner, safer, less-polluted place. (But there is no telling if the Senate would have approved it even if Bush did). The whole thing, while putting Bush in a tough position, does not make him come across as an environmental president - nor one willing to pursue cooperation on a global scale. (NEGATIVE)

The Environment - A Bush's Secretary of the Interior until 2006, Gale Norton advocated drilling in ANWAR, selling of federal land (as a fund-raiser), commercially developing protected land, reducing environmental protections in mining laws, and reducing protection of endangered species. "Many National Park Service employees oppose her rewrite of the service's management philosophy, a rewrite favoring recreational use over conservation." We aren't making any new land, any new species, and any new water; I strongly feel we have to do everything possible to protect what we have (NEGATIVE).

Iraq War - Even if it did seem that there was reason attack a country preemptively to protect the U.S. (because of "weapons of mass destruction"), I don't think that we started the war with any kind of understanding of the existing political/cultural/religious conditions in Iraq. It just seems that whatever concrete reasons we had for attacking, we did not really understand how we could "win". Anytime I start on a project, there has to be a definite list of deliverables to be accomplished and that is how I prove to the customer that I am done, that he should be satisfied, and that I should get paid. I don't think we had that before entering Iraq and the only way I can rationalize that is by thinking we must be really arrogant, that we are the only world's superpower, and we could just go in, kick butt, and declare "Democracy". (NEGATIVE)

Human Rights - I don't understand at all how the greatest nation on earth, and the one with the most liberties, can imprison people (or "detain them") for as long as they like, without formally charging them and without a legal process. NEGATIVE...but maybe arguably just because I have a narrow understanding of wartime" imprisonment).

Israel - It seems like no one can doing anything about that horrifying mess and W. hasn't made it worse or better. (NEUTRAL)

Africa - W does seem to have done a LOT of good there, from AIDS anti-viral treatment programs to agricultural support to debt relief. --- It has been said, in Time Magazine, that Africa is the "triumph of American foreign policy" and is the "Bush Administration's greatest achievement" (POSITIVE)

Grammar - I mean, come on. I'm just not inspired listening to him speak. I know, I know, actions, not words, but I'm sorry, English is my native language and I like to hear the leader of my county use it eloquently. (NEGATIVE)

Katrina - I don't know that anything really could have been done better there. I know (from talking to Shawn's relatives and their friends) that the attitude during an approaching hurricane is so often to "help yourself" and not evacuate, so you can't depend on someone else to take care of you after the fact. BUT, it sure does seem like W's aids didn't do a very good job of helping him understand the gravity of the situation after the fact. People spent up to 4 days at the Convention Center, yet "FEMA head Michael Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff both claimed to have no knowledge of the use of the Convention Center as a shelter until the afternoon of September 1." (SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE, but not for the common, scapegoating reasons most people have.)

China, Japan, South Korea - We seem to have improved relations with most Asian nations (GOOD), but I don't understand why human rights and business relations are okay in Communist China, but not okay in Communist Cuba, so I'm going to remain (NEUTRAL).

International Free Trade - It seems that we have signed free trade treaties with several countries, so I guess some other countries still like the U.S. (POSITIVE).

Immigration - I like what he said in his 2008 State of the Union address - "Yet we also need to acknowledge that we will never fully secure our border until we create a lawful way for foreign workers to come here and support our economy." ...mostly because he acknowledges that people only come here illegally to "support our economy"...because Americans pay them to come here (and mow their lawns or build their houses or raise their children). The next step to be to remove the incentive for illegals to come here by punishing the Americans who pay them to. (NEUTRAL).

National Debt - It's huge. $10 Trillion? I heard people during the election ay-saying Obama for being "socialist"; taking one person's money and giving to someone else. How is it not "socialist" to keep spending money (on ourselves) today that our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids will have to pay off tomorrow? (NEGATIVE).

National Budget - It's huge, too. The budget has grown from $1.9 Trillion in 2001 to $3.1 Trillion for 2009. --- "From FY 2003-2007, the national debt increased approximately $550 billion per year on average. For the first time in FY 2008, the U.S. added $1 trillion to the National Debt. In relative terms, from 2003-2007 the government spent roughly $1.20 for each $1.00 it collected in taxes." (NEGATIVE)

Tax cuts - I am totally for lower taxes, but it's pretty easy to give people back some of their tax money without reducing federal spending; just add it to the National Debt! Republicans were crying foul at Obama's "spread the wealth" comment, but what were the "stimulus checks"? I realize that the (mostly Democratic?) congress probably distorted his original plan, but I DO know that the more money you made, the smaller stimulus check you got. (POSITIVE IDEA, BUT NEGATIVELY EXECUTED and HYPOCRITICALLY PROMOTED).

Size of Government - How can you run as the candidate of the "smaller government is better" party and then oversee the expansion of the federal workforce by 2.5 million employees from 2002 to 2008? It seems that the largest growth was in "contractors", which I have to assume is "civilians" being paid to go to war zones and accomplish all the "non-fighting" work that we don't have enough soldiers to do. ---"They often performed vital work such as researching new vaccines, running federal computer systems and making body armor, weapons and meals for the military." (NEGATIVE).

Gay Rights - I won't even go into the whole "marriage" thing, because it will never be solved. I just want a president that makes it so Shawn can inherit my $$ (and/or my social security and medicare benefits) when I die without having to pay inheritance tax. Let's just call it "Picking one other human being that you want to take care of for the rest of your life". W sez "The amendment should fully protect marriage, while leaving the state legislatures free to make their own choices in defining legal arrangements other than marriage." I find that INCREDIBLY HYPOCRITICAL. Why should the president lead the charge in DENYING me rights at a federal level, then leaving me to cross my fingers and hope that my state government will pick up the slack? Why can't it be U.S. Constitutional Amendment "fully protecting legal arrangements for ALL AMERICANS at the federal level, then leaving states to make their own choices in defining marriage"?

PHEW!

So, after researching all that, I did find a president with values that I share; and he's a Republican!

He distrusted wealthy businessmen and dissolved forty monopolistic corporations as a "trust buster"...he did not disagree with trusts and capitalism in principle but was only against corrupt, illegal practices.

He was the first U.S. president to call for universal health care and national health insurance.

He promoted the conservation movement, emphasizing efficient use of natural resources.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT in '12! (Okay, so he lost to Woodrow Wilson in 1912, but it still sounds good.)

WEB NEWS -
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www.wordle.net