It's a strange day in PA when Rick-y Boy Santorum is avoiding the Prez, while Arlen Spector, who will join the Prez at a public event tomorrow, was the swing vote on getting the FMA out of committee!

Libby indicted! Ooooooh. Bushie's 0-for-2 this week!

Well, I thought perhaps The Gal & I would go as John Roberts and Harriet Miers this year for Halloween (you know, them being scary and all. . .), but - guess that idea's out now, seeing as Ms. Miers is out of the running for the Supreme Court.

It'll be hard to top last year's costume, when I went as Mary Cheney and actually "scared" some folks at a party who thought I really might be a Republican (I had a fake Bush/Cheney button on).

Spent the weekend in Richmond, VA at a wedding.

Well, spent most of the weekend with wedding activities.

The other half of the time the extended Boroff-Berkowitz-Denenberg families staked out spots in the hotel trying to catch a glimpse of The Boss, who was coming to town for a concert and staying in our hotel.

Mostly, we saw lots of roadies and made sure the teen cousins ('jailbait') stayed far away from them.

We did, however, get to shop a bit in Carytown (think: Manayunk without the hills and with easier parking). I was interested in going mostly because all of the tourist magazines I read listed this restaurant/bar called "Babe's of Carytown" - which I had originally seen on the GayRichmond web site. Unless you know exactly what a rainbow flag means, you might just wander in to the place to grab a nice bite to eat.

Could you just see the Philadelphia tourism folks directing unknowing tourists to Sisters?!

Ah, there's nothing like listening to an album all the way 'through, like 'XPN gave us recenlty with the final 20 or so Top Albums of all time.

I quite enjoyed the Beatles' "White Album".

In tribute, I listened to Disc I (Act I) of "Jesus Christ Superstar" today on my iPod-walk-to-the-train.

The Atlanta musicians version! Amy Ray, Emily Saliers, Michael Lorant, Kelly Hogan, Gerard McHugh, Big Fish Ensemble, etc. Ah, I'm in Heaven!

I am so loving my iPod.

Today's tunes ? An awesome download of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers singing on Allison Brown's cover of "Homeward Bound" (the Simon-and-Garfunkel tune). Lotsa banjo, violin, and free flowing harmonies.

I highly recommend it.

Now, if I could only get their version of "Mrs. Robinson"!

Bought an iPod recently and spent most of the weekend downloading tunes, leading me to ponder this important life question:

What in the world did we do before iPods?!

I think I'm in love with mine. I can now drown out annoying cell phone conversations on the train, loud high school students crowding the sidewalk outside of my office building, and heartfelt but constant solicitations by the soon-to-be-NON-homeless residents of Philadelphia (acc'd to Mr. Mayor, who plans to "end homelessness").

And, I can listen to rockin' tunes while doing so!

There is a column in the daily "commuter" paper here, The Metro, asking the following question of the day to Center City folks : "What's on your iPod?"

Today? My-Inaugural-Commuting-Day-With-Pinky-Lee (my nickname for my very cute, pink iPod)?

Why, the Indigo Girls of course!

It's been a sad week for this LGBT parent / activist. I found out about the untimely deaths of two other LGBT Parent Activists, may they rest in peace:

Marilyn Maneely of Haddonfiled, New Jersey who, along with her surviving partner Diane Marini, sued the state for the right to marry. I had the opportunity to meet her a couple of years back at a town meeting on same-sex marriage and found her and Diane to be two of the most open, honest and caring people I've met in my life. She died of Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), having been diagnosed with it just last fall. Besides her partner, she leaves behind 5 children and a host of family members, friends and admirers.

• Memorial donations to assist ALS patients and nursing mothers may be made to the Marilyn Maneely Memorial Fund in care of First Colonial Bank, Haddon Ave., Collingswood, N.J. 08108.

Jeff Grego of my hometown of Erie, PA who, along with his surviving partner Joey, sued the state to allow second parent adoptions in every county in PA. Who could have guessed that they would actually need one of the most serious "protections" which the adoptions allow? Jeff died tragically in a small airplane crash while on a sightseeing tour. Daughter Zoey, also on the plane, survived. Joey and son Clay had just had their tour on the same airplane. I understand that the viewing and funeral at St. Peter's Cathedral in Erie ("the" seat of the diocese!) were both jam-packed.

• Memorial contributions may be sent to an education fund established for Clay and Zoey Grego. Contributions may be sent to: Bock Insurance, 3915 Caughey Road, Suite 3, Erie, Pa. 16506.

Today, some tidbits from my life as a . . .

Lesbian. Looks like Ah-nold is going to veto that CA same-sex marriage bill since the populace once voted to only recognize marriage between a man and a woman (Prop 22); while over in MA, they're preparing to take the whole gay marriage thing to the populace since the courts upheld same-sex marriage last year. Enuf to make your head spin.

Parent. Ah, the pleasures of being a [LGBT?] parent. Getting to clean the smelly hamster cage each week. Shopping for new shoes for school, when your daughter only likes second-hand shoes, already worn in. A 6-hour trip in the car listening to the "Flat Stanley" books-on-tape. Priceless.

Activist. Met Marlene Santoyo at the train station this a.m. She's the Green Party candidate in the 200th district of PA; a district which, My Friend Jon points out, I am NOT a resident of! And here, I was soooo excited to vote next Tuesday. Snif. So, I took a bunch of flyers to hand out about her and spread the word. In that vein, here's a link to an interesting interview of each of the 3 candidates running for the state Representative seat.

Sports Fan. The Phils dropped another game to the Astros last night. Only the most important series of the year, as we're in a race with Houston for the NL wild card. Well, not any more, it seems. Ah, Philadelphia sports teams. We suck!

And that about sums it all up, eh?

Well, the California legislature voted to approve same-sex marriage in that state. Now the legislation goes to Gov. Ah-nold for his signature.

My fave quote from it all, courtesy Planet Out: (straight) Assemblyman Tom Umberg said he was concerned about what his three children would think of him if he didn't join those "who sought to take a leadership role in terms of tolerance, equality and fairness."

Now, that's what I call a Leader-with-a-capital-L.

As opposed to the following, who had their own interesting quotes publicized recently:

Rick Santorum, who said, "You have people who don't heed those (hurricane) warnings and then put people at risk. . .There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."

Barbara Bush, who said, "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they (the evacuees being put up in the Houston Astrodome) all want to stay in Texas. . . and so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

Ah, those Compassionate Conservatives.

One week from today - Tuesday, September 13th - is "special election day" in the 200th District in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, PA.

I write this because just about every person I've mentioned this to did not know about it! [And I tend to hang with a fairly educated crowd and my neighborhood tends to be very "up" on politics, even!]

The election is for the open State Representative seat vacated by LeAnna Washington (who is now our State Senator, folks! As our previous State Senator, Allyson Schwartz, is now our U.S. Represenative - follow?). Three candidates are running:

• Republican Robert Rossman
• Democrat Cherelle Parker
• Green Party candidate Marlene Santoyo

Now, Cherelle Parker is a very good candidate: a former aide to City Councilperson Marian Tasco, active in her church, born and raised in Mt. Airy, a Dem committeeperson, etc. I'd love to vote for her, but I have this thing about ward leaders hand-picking candidates to run for office and then putting their full weight (read: $$$) behind their candidate, expecting us Dems to vote for the candidate, just because.

And, I've been having this on-off love affair with The Green Party. I like their values. I like their democratic processes. I like their liberal stances and that they are not afraid to speak out on things like the war in Iraq (against it), universal health care (for it), and injustices against African-Americans in the U.S. (and they were speaking it beFORE "Katrina").

Certainly, things to think on.

Now that I've caught up on all the news that I've missed while on vacation (really! we rarely had the TV on nor did we read the papers!). . . I have a few things to espouse on -- imagine!

• John Roberts as Chief Justice? Is Bushie serious? JR hasn't even sat on The Court yet. Wonder what his co-justices will think, having been "passed over" for the Chief-seat? I'm sure even The Supremes can have their egos bruised.


• Philly is taking in about 1,000 "refugees" (doesn't the use of that word in relation to the displaced victims of Katrina bother anyone but me?). They will be put up in some vacant public school buildings - complete with hot showers, computer labs, and exercise rooms. Leading our "local" homeless population to wonder why they can't have a similar set-up, let alone an end to the waiting list for more permanent housing.


• Speaking of the refugees, I find it sad that no one (except a handful of service providers) seemed to care about the "poor, black folks" of New Orleans beFORE the hurricane.


• In the meantime, how many National Guard troops currently serving in Iraq wish they were home in the U.S. . . to do the work they were actually trained to do - domestic security in the event of a natural disaster! I read that the Louisiana National Guard members were especially depressed, wanting their chance to help out at home, while not knowing what's become of their friends and family members.

Sad, sad, sad.

Wow! Who knew I got so much junk mail?

Having just returned from a loverly, relaxing vacation in Vermont, The Gal & I sought out our "held mail."

The very nice mailman (not our regular guy, Tom) noted that he'd have to get it from the truck.

Two minutes later, he returns with one of those big plastic mail bins - which the post office does not like to part with easily and which, at least here in Philly, they often have to make appeals to the community to return them to their local post office - full of mail.

Most of it. . . junk mail.

On a side note, went to the Warren Falls swimming hole while vacationing in the Mad River Valley. You may have read about it in the recent NY Times travel piece on the swimming holes of Vermont.

It was awesome, even if I didn't get up my nerve to jump in some of the "holes." I did, however, venture into the water and onto the rocks. It was very cold. Brrrrr.

So, the Pat Robertson thing. At first, I didn't believe it, thinking the media mis-quoted him or something. Then, I heard it from his own mouth:

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,'' he said. "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.''

Gosh. I'm almost speechless. What can I say?

Oh, except maybe that he's a Man of The Cloth and all and isn't murder a Mortal Sin and you could burn in hell and all and maybe he shouldn't be making Terroristic Statements, blah blah blah.

I'm aghast I tell ya. . . just aghast ! Yes, yes, about that Pat Robertson thing, but more on that later.

Today, I went on a tour of Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies play. I took a moment to ask our tour guide, Mark from the Front Office, what became of the "Stargell Star" from The Vet - which marked the longest home run ever hit there (by none other than Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates).

"It got lost in the move," he said. Lost! Lost? "Hey, he didn't even play for the Phillies," said Mark, "he played for the Pirates."

Duh! And only was one of the greatest hitters in the game ever! Ah, the Lumber Company.

Well, I'm off to the local Verizon Wireless store to try to buy a new cell phone for The Gal. Why? You ask. Let's just say that . . . cell phones, 7-year olds, and a creek don't play well together.

While I'm not a big fan of the pre-season, I thought I'd catch a few moments of The Game (if you have to ask, you must not know me very well) last night.

However, 4 hours after we arrived at the lovely Mt. Airy home of our local lesbian poker party hosts, we were still quite into the big Texas Hold'Em game. While neither The Gal nor I "won," a good time was had by all.

They even had a small TV on in the kitchen - tuned to OLN (?!) - and I never thought to change the channel. See, what's a game without T.O. ? And, what the heck is T.O. up to? Has he no shame? Yo, T.O.! Get rid of Drew-boy already (who, by the way, was an "answer" in my recent Quizzo outing and, yes, my team got it right!).

I might just have to root for Duce & Co. this year!

Went to the ballgame last night. Here's what I love about Gay Day at the Phillies:

• The women are really into the game. Most of the lesbians I sat near last night were actually keeping scorecards - and here I thought that I was the only girl who grew up knowing how to score a baseball game!



• The men are really into the game. For the 2nd year in a row, I had the pleasure of sitting next to an educated and entertaining gay man (different guy each year!) who both knew about baseball and the Phils and could joke about it all. This year's guy even had the game on his portable radio! [I shoulda got his # so I could invite myself to his behind-the-3rd-base-dugout season tix seats!]



• For those who are more into socializing, smoking and people-watching, the 200 level's wide open concourse is the perfect spot! While Camden Yards will always be my fave ballpark, The Cit really got the concourse area down good! Ran into all kinds of folks, many of whom I knew, others of whom I just met that night (and recruited for my Quizzo team!).

Yet another post in the "here's how us LGBT parents are pretty much the same as every other parent in the world" category:

Today is The Banana's birthday. What do we do? Whatever she wants. She wrote it all down on one of her t-shirts (using washable markers, of course).

The List included things like going to the new cafe by our house for coffee (us) and chocolate crepes (her). Meg, the wonderful owner of the High Point Cafe - on Carpenter Street at Greene in West Mt. Airy... be there! - even sang to her, unexpectedly.

Other list items: go to the book store to buy some books - Early Reader books for her to read to us and Chapter Books for us to read to her; go to the toy store to buy Clue Jr. and a travel Sorry game; buy pet food for her hamster, Hammie (it's HIS birthday too!); go to the pool; watch a DVD; and have a friend sleep-over.

Pretty much just like any other weekend!

Finally saw "March of the Penguins".

It was, indeed, funny and sad and educational and informative and beautifully filmed; basically, everything everyone's saying about it.

What I find most interesting, though : The Buzz about the film. And how people react to The Buzz. Had this been a regular program showing on OLN or the National Geographic Channel, I doubt anyone would even know it's airing. But, put it in a movie theatre and people flock to see it!

Go figure.

So much going on in the world - legislators voting for pay raises for themselves, more casualties in Iraq, the anniversary of the A-bomb, the space shuttle returning to earth. . .

. . . and, what does my little newsrag report this morning? That Rosie O'Donnell will join Harvey Fierstein on Broadway as Goldie to his Tevye in "Fiddler On The Roof."

That is such a scary thought!

It's the little things in life, 'eh?

Sittin' on the front porch on a cool summer morning, waiting for the camp bus with The Banana, playing Go Fish using our new 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory ('got any "golden tickets" ?) playing cards.'

What could be better than this?

Intelligent Design. Just what marketing company came up with that moniker, I wonder? I may have to write to the NY Times' linguist guy.

Bushie has this to say about it : "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought."

Hmmm. And yet, regarding sex education, his administration promotes an 'abstinence-only' approach; while the CDC estimates that 19 million STD infections occur annually, almost half of them among youth ages 15 to 24.

Go figure.

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me. . .

So, my boss sez to me this a.m., for my birthday, she'll buy me 2 CDs - my choice. Hmmm, I say, where to begin. Tegan & Sara? Green Day? Team Dresch? The "Love Actually" soundtrack?

While I ponder this Very Important Question, I decide to listen to a little Amy Ray. There are some "bonus tracks" on her new web site, including a very awesome cover of Tom Petty's "Refugee". . . a song which, interestingly enough, Melissa Etheridge has also recently covered, however her version is kind of mild-mannered; while Amy's ROCKS and her vocals beat ME's any day!

While on the subject of music, I know of Melissa's version of "Refugee" because WXPN seems to have it on their Playlist these days. 'XPN - as they've taken to labeling themselves these days - seems to have taken a more mainstream approach to music programming these days.

Maybe it's just me, but I've been tracking what they play lately and, besides my hearing the same songs and/or same artists day in and day out - granted, some I wouldn't otherwise hear like String Cheese Incident or Erin McKeown - I've heard songs by, among others, Beck, REM, Maroon 5, Coldplay, White Stripes, Dave Matthews Band, Eric Clapton, and Sheryl Crow. Like I can't hear them played anywhere else on my dial ?!

And then, there's the 'oldies but goodies (?)' they've been playing -- I heard an old Tears For Fears song the other day and, I kid you not, "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)" by Timbuk3.

This is why I want XM radio!

So, Congress is barely out of session for summer break when Bushie goes and - does what ? - appoints John Bolton to be the new ambassador to the U.N. !

You know, "right-wing extremist" John Bolton - whose appointment many legislators had been fighting to block for the last 4 months !

So much for "multilateralism."

Spent the weekend with The Banana at a family reunion. The Italian side of the family. There was a lot of food.

And gambling. Which led The Banana, at one point, to ask me "Why are we playing musical chairs for money?" [Not that she was complaining. She loves winning money. And she did!]

In the meantime, I lost in the first round of the Texas Hold'em Tourney.

On a side note, the Brothers and My Niece The Sports Fan both knew the answer to a Quizzo question my team did not answer correctly the other night: "What was the longest baseball game ever played?" (Options: 21, 26, 33, or 38 innings)

My team - led by Baseball Fan/Train Buddy Bryan - guessed 21.

My Niece said, "33. That's the minor league record." (The Quizzo question, I believe, was about the pro's. For the record, the minor league record was actually 32 innings.) After clarification by moi, "Oh, 26 then."

Brother #1 said, "25. If you go by hours, it was 8 hours 6 minutes." (The Quizzo question actually asked specifically about innings, but, of course, my brother was right about time!) Then, "26 if by innings."

Brother #2 said, without hesitation, "26."

Duh. I felt kinda less-than-knowledgable at that point. The correct answer was 26.

[In my family, you're supposed to know these things!]

Last night, I gathered a group of friends and "train buddies" and we went to play Quizzo.

What fun!

Our team, "Stranded by SEPTA," (and we were, indeed, stranded by Septa - and the storms - later in the evening!) came in 4th place with 97 points. So close to the 100 Point Club. Not bad for our first effort, though.

Dissention came in the form of Johnny Depp. For some reason, I thought "consensus" would be a good decision making method. Thus, I "lost," 3-2, the vote for the Who is Sexier? type of question. Johnny Depp vs Jude Law. My team voted for Jude Law. Johnny (duh!) was the answer.

Hey, if this lesbian thinks Johnny Depp is hot, don't you think the team should have agreed with me?

Oh, that Ricky-boy. Changing his statement already.

So, today he sez' : "No, no; I didn't say I wasn't going to run in '08. I said that right now I didn't think I'd run in '08. That's 3-1/2 years away, anything could happen between now and then."

Flip, flop, flippity flop.

So, I stayed up late last night to watch the Jon Stewart show 'cuz, you know, Rick-y boy was gonna be on.

Really.

Santorum had this to say about families (you know, as in "It Takes a Family" - his new book) :

• It's in the best interest of children for families to have 2 parents = 1 man, 1 woman.
• While not every family will have that, it is the "ideal" to be worked towards.
• To that end, then, the government should support the ideal and help folks achieve it.

The Gal wanted to know where she fits in to all of this.

On a good note: yesterday Mr. Santorum decided not to run for President in 2008. He'll be too busy trying to hold onto his Senate seat in PA!

Today, an answer to that age-old question: just what do gay and lesbian parents do . . . on the weekends?

If your family is anything like mine ("over-programmed"), you do the following:

• Have your daughter's birthday party 3 weeks early so her best friend can attend.
• Help the party guests - all girls - make shrinky-dinks and - yum!- s'mores.
• Set up a tent and 2 inflatable air mattresses so they can "camp" outside.
• Let the girls in the house at 11:30 p.m. when they find a Daddy Longlegs has taken over the tent.
• Let them stay up until 1:30 a.m. giggling in their sleeping bags on the floor.
• Make them chocolate-chip pancakes for breakfast (okay, the Gal did that one).
• Accept their 'vote' that the birthday party continue until later that afternoon.
• Sit through yet another viewing of "The Parent Trap" (Lindsay Lohan version).
• Drive everyone home and go to the pool (hey, it's 95 degrees here!).
• Come home at nightfall, and start the laundry.
• Go to bed, ready to do it all (or something just as exhausting) again the next day!

Actually, the next day we went to an Indigo Girls mini-concert (a brief set in the middle of the 'xpn music festival). . . our daughter's first! Outside the womb, that is. Like any good mother, I took her right up to the front (Emily side) during the mad "rush the stage" portion of the show (in this case, as soon as they introduced The Girls).

Then we took the ferry home and made a Flat Penny for our collection. I think that was her most favorite part of the weekend.

Well, for some reason Air America ditched my favorite a.m. talk program - "Unfiltered" with Rachel, Lizz and Chuck D. And they have substituted, of all things, the Jerry Springer show!

However, they have given Rachel Maddow her own program. At 5:00 a.m.! Who do they think her listeners are? Soccer moms up early getting the mini-van ready for the day?

Thankfully, one (namely, me) can download her show daily and listen as if it were live, and it's still a pretty good experience. She had an exceptionally good one yesterday - Day One of the Battle Over John G. Roberts.

Rachel had some great "Facts About John Roberts": He's . . .

• not a woman
• not a consensus candidate = he's very much a conservative Republican
• was an attorney (for Bush) in the Bush v Gore case
• very young (only 50) = could serve, potentially, for another 50 years!
• only a judge for about 2 years thus far = not much of a 'record'
• worked for Reagan and Bush I and Ken Starr
• once filed an amicus brief supporting Operation Rescue
• in fact, Operation Rescue is endorsing him! so is Concerned Women for America!
• as a government attorney, supported the "domestic gag rule"
• wrote in a brief that "Roe v. Wade should be overturned" - he saw "no constitutional basis for a woman's right to have an abortion" (and the case wasn't even about Roe v Wade !)
• is against Affirmative Action, and the Minority Business Program in Defense Dept.
• in favor of banning flag burning
• is for religious ceremonies in public schools
• was attorney for mining companies who wanted to 'remove mountaintops' in Appalacia, so they could mine there, and prevent local residents from suing

And that's just for starters.

So, there I was, minding my own business last night, channel-hopping, hoping to find some remnants of a decent television program when I came across images of John G. Roberts, Jr., the man Bushie has tapped to be the next Supreme Court Justice.

You may have noticed I've not been writing lately. My life got a bit crazy these last couple of months. I had even stopped watching or listening to the news. Really. Train Buddy Bryan had to update me about the whole Karl Rove thing. I barely knew there was a new Shuttle on the launch pad. I've actually been listening to music at work [but, that'll be a topic for another day on this here blog!].

So, yes, I had a moment of shock and awe. I did know that Sandra Day O'Connor was stepping down; but, somehow, I imagined Bushie picking a more moderate candidate. Some "compassionate conservative" perhaps. But Mr. "white-male-Roe v. Wade-should-be- overturned"? Puh-leeeese.

So much for a "woman's seat" on the court. Goodbye Diversity. How can we, as an educated first-world country NOT have a Supreme Court that is reflective of our populace?

Hope everyone in PA voted yesterday - and also took a moment to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the Massachusettes Marriages.

Still waiting for the Red State hetero folks to explain exactly how these marriages have "harmed" their own ?!

On a side note, does anyone else think that Arlen Spector - with his chemo-induced bald head, protruding ears and triple chins - looks a bit like Yoda ?

I take it back. Apparently this is what it takes to keep your name in the news

Philadelphia Daily News -- May 17, 2005

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"Competition vs. pay-to-play "

RE: ENDING no-bid contracts: All of your ideas are good for cleaning up the city. But pay-to-play is also a huge problem in the suburban county governments. . . (blah, blah, blah)

Joseph M. Hoeffel
Abington

The writer is a former congressman and U.S. Senate candidate. [Emphasis mine]

Remember back in March when I was pondering, in the midst of the Santorum-Casey match up just where was Joe Hoeffel ?

Well, according to the Inky, he's been hanging out by The Clothespin - distributing campaign literature and rounding up voters for tomorrow's primary election.

Oh, Joe. It's come to this to keep your name out there?

So today I heard a strange rumor about the whole Casey anti-abortion thing. . . that he is actually pro-choice [but has to play the role of Good Catholic Boy] and that if he beats Santorum, he won't vote for any anti-choice legislation. Hmmm.

In the meantime, yesterday, the U.S. Senate voted 53-46 to reject an amendment that would have stopped violent protesters -- i.e. like those at abortion clinics -- from using bankruptcy law to avoid paying court-ordered fines. This also worries me on the "gay front" as the protestors at pride rallies and marches have been getting a bit vehement for moi, now that I am with child at these events.

However, PA Senator Arlen Spector voted like the Democrat he used to be and actually supported the measure, even though it failed. [Maybe it was The Cancer talkin'.] You, Go! Mr. Blue State Man!

"Happy" International Women's Day.

While the rest of the world was busy marching, protesting and organizing, here in the States, I'm pretty sure my workplace is the only one which gives us the day off.

From the United Nations web site, a brief herstory / chronology of the most important events:

1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. [Note: The Gal's birthday!] Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.

1910
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911
As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.

1913-1914
As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.

1917
With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

On the eve of International Women's Day and as the U.N. continues to meet on the status of women (Beijing + 10), I can't help but think we've taken one step forward, two steps back in many ways.

See, last week I caught a bit of a PBS documentary on the National Women's Conference of 1977. Some of the women who were present: Bella Abzug, Rosyln Carter, Betty Ford, Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott King, Barbara Jordan, Betty Friedan, Ellie Smeal, Annie Richards, Gloria Steinem.

Name one woman today who has made a difference like those women above. Ok, Hillary. Nancy Pelosi, but how many of you can "name" her? Martha Burk?! Can you even name who the current president of N.O.W. is? Or one important feminist author? (Camille Paglia? Puh-leese!)

Shirley Chisholm has passed away. Audre Lord. Susan Sontag. Who will carry their torch?

The women in the news today, role models for our youth? Brittany Spears. Martha Stewart. Janet Jackson (okay, old news). Oprah (who, by the way, has more money than god; does she give any of it away?).

First Lady Laura Bush never talks about "women's issues." The President of Harvard ponders, aloud mind you, that perhaps women aren't cut out, genetically speaking, to be scientists and mathematicians. The Master's golf tournament decides to run without ad revenue rather than force Augusta National Club to 'accept' women as members. Condi Rice took us into an unjust war.

Where can a young girl today get a good, feminist role model?

Back in PA, the Governor has decided to support Mr. anti-abortion, anti-gun control Bob Casey Jr. in the 2006 election for Ricky Boy Santorum's U.S. Senate seat, angering many pro-choice Democrats (yours truely amongst them) and alientating former State Treasurer Barbara Hafer, who was also planning to run for the seat.

In all fairness, I didn't think Hafer could beat Santorum; plus, she only became a Democrat recently ("switching over" because of she did not like where the Republican Party was headed re: "social issues"). She did have the support of EMILY's List, however; which now must possibly "sit-out" this hugely important national election.

Gov. Rendell, previous chair of the DNC, apparently pulls a lot of weight on the national level still. Hafer pretty much withdrew from the race as soon as Rendell announced his support of Casey. So much for "democracy" still being a part of the Democratic party / process / nation anymore, eh?

Meanwhile, the Gal just wants to know, "Where's Joe Hoeffel ?"

Meanwhile, back in New York, there were actual "jeers and catcalls" on the usually-staid floor of the U.N. today. For whom? you might ask. Well, for none-other than U.S. Delegate Ellen Sauerbrey, as she took a momet to "stress Washington's opposition to abortion and support for sexual abstinence and fidelity."

Ms. Sauerbrey : "We have stated clearly and on many occasions ... that we do not recognize abortion as a method of family planning, nor do we support abortion in our reproductive health assistance." [You may recall that one of Mr. Bush's first acts in office was to deny federal funds to any foreign agency which provides 'abortions or abortion counseling' services.]

She articulated U.S. policy on AIDS prevention for adolescents thusly : "We emphasize the value of the 'ABC' -- Abstinence, Be faithful, and Correct and consistent condom use where appropriate [read: when in the context of legalized, heterosexual union] -- approach in comprehensive strategies to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and the promotion of abstinence as the healthiest and most responsible choice for adolescents." [Italics mine]

Translation: So what if AIDS is a global pandemic? Kids shouldn't be having sex, we said so, and we're going to punish them and everyone else if they do so!

Oh, to have been there and been able to have heard the boo's. . . ;)

Down the road a bit from New York, there's another Feminist Battle raging between the so-called Borgata Babes and management.

Seems management wants the "right" to fire any Borgata Babes (a.k.a. the skimpily-clad cocktail waitresses in the Borgata casino in Atlantic City) who gain over 7% of their base weight when hired. The Babe's union challenged the weigh-in. Managment rejected the union grievance.

Ah, America. Land of the Free.

Personally, as long as the woman (or man) can get my drinks to me correctly and in a timely fashion while I gamble my life savings away, I don't mind a little meat on them. Prefer it, actually.

Of course, as one local (female!) reporter pointed out, A.C.'s new slogan is "Always Turned On" (no lie!) and "sex oozes from the walls" of the Borgata.

Guess someone forgot to tell HER and the Borgata management that THEY don't get to decide what's sexy, WE do. What's sexy to one person might, indeed, be large breasts, some weight around the middle, strong sturdy muscular (weighs more!) legs.

I'll take a few pounds over anorexic-stricken "babes" anytime.

Well, the U.N.'s Women's Conference began yesterday and already the U.S. has put its Big Brother Foot in its mouth.

The first proposal made was to merely reaffirm the platform adopted 10 years ago in Beijiing. But, U.S. delegates (lead by Ellen Sauerbrey - oh! how my Maryland years continue to haunt me!) expressed concern (now! of all times) that the Beijiing platform "might be interpreted as legalizing abortion as a human right".

God forbid the U.S. to allow any other nations to have free and legal abortion rights. Let's just send those women back into the closets and back-door abortions. Women who, in many developing nations, are raped, beated, tortured, mutilated in the name of "family" or "god" or "honor."

I don't see Ms. Sauerbrey or Mr. Bush or any other abortion-foes stepping forward to adopt those children -- born in poverty, dishonor, poor health, or in the middle of an unjust war -- let alone ANY children they "save" from abortion.

Remember all those "W is For Women" buttons we saw in the last election? Just Who Were those Women anyway? Apparently, they're the delegates to the U.N.'s conference!

Well, I can't believe I stayed up until 11:00 p.m. last night watching the season two premerie of The L-Word. It wasn't very good at all.

The Gal had issues with the show's "timeline" - I mean, just how pregnant is Tina supposed to be? Did Bette really stay with "the carpenter" for that long? And Dana and Alice are just getting around to discussing "the kiss" now ?

Personally, I thought the writers/producers took the whole how-did-Marina-try-to-commit-suicide-thing waaaay too far. Tasteless, nasty gossip about too series of a subject. Made me glad these gals aren't my friends!

I only read one review prior to watching the episode, and all I remember about it was that the new opening song is annoying. I agree; even though I love the group that performs it, BETTY ! (Hello! Betty!)

And what was up with that whole Tim-trying-to-mount-Jenny-one-last-time-before-he-moves-across-the-country scene? Trying to shock us queers with the heterosexual sex scenes right off the bat again?

Plus, this whole new focus on "the Look" of the women i.e. some high end fashions like Stella McCartney, new haircuts, etc. is a bit much when you have your garden variety dyke drama as the subtext.

Or, maybe that's the point: to show that, even fabulous looking L.A. Lesbians have troubles and heartache just like the rest of us. Only, they drive better cars and have the time to sit around a cool coffee joint and chat all day.

I think I'm jealous of them.

Welcome to The Day After.

The Speech, that is. You know: Bushie. State of the Union. Talking Heads. Laura on Botox (how else to explain the funny way that fake smile stays on her face the entire time her hubby is talking out of the side of his mouth?).

While I couldn't bring myself to watch it live (I just can't bear the thought of his smug 'smirk'), I caught bits and pieces of it, some commentary on PBS and CNN, and - of course - the recaps by The Girls: Unfiltered Radio's Lizz and Rachel. A few re-caps:

• Those of us under 55 = screwed on Social Security.
• There will be no making of body parts using embryos!
• Bushie will, of course, "defend the sanctity of marriage."
• Provide an additional $23M for drug testing in our schools.
• Double funding for abstinence-only programs.

Blah, blah, blah.

Hopefully, this will inspire a few of us activists to continue to Fight the Good Fight. Let's start with the next Chair of the DNC, shall we? Like, making sure whomever is selected is Pro-Choice!

A brief follow-up to yesterday's blog re: PBS 'pulling' an episode of the Arthur cartoon "Postcards From Buster" from it's schedule :

Tried to explain to The Banana just why her beloved PBS (she's even a 'Kids Club' member!) would not want to air an episode which shows kids who have 2 moms - like she has! - on it. Her well-put reply?

"That's mean!"

I apologize for not keeping up with The Blog, but sometimes I just don't want to read the newspapers or think about things, ya know? Of course, then along comes a train ride with my buds Bryan and Jon and they couldn't believe I hadn't heard the latest (ok: first! she only just started her job on Monday!) from our new Secretary of Leaving-No-Child-Behind, Margaret Spellings (I wonder if she's related to the Hollywood Spellings?) . . .

. . . she denounced PBS for spending public money ("Ready to Learn" grant funds) on a 'cartoon with lesbian characters', saying many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles! Heck, the show hasn't even aired yet!

The cartoon in question is the Arthur-spinoff Postcards from Buster and the episode, which was scheduled to air on Feb 2nd, is called "Sugartime". In it, there's these 3 kids see (!), and they live in Vermont (!) and Buster visits them ('cuz that's what he does) to learn about maple sugar (!) and, gosh, the kids have moms, you know (!), but they're in the background like most moms are on these kiddie shows, but there are 2 of them! And, apparently, if this airs, the world as we know it will end.

The thing is, the program was created in order to "build awareness and appreciation of" differences! And PBS, as we all know, prides itself on actually "educating" us mindless television viewers (as opposed to merely entertaining us after a long, hard day of work - like those wacky Queer Eye guys do).

So, anyway, PBS has folded to the pressure of the Great and Mighty Oz -- oops, I mean -- Spellings . . . and it will not distribute the episode to its 349 affiliates around the country.

On the local front, the Boston station that produces the program, the wonderful WGBH (which will always have a soft spot in my heart for creating "Zoom" back in the 70s) is going ahead and airing the episode on March 23rd and it's making the episode available to other affiliates, should individual stations choose to air it.

This means we have to spend our precious time urging our local PBS affiliates to do the right thing and not cave in to The Christian Right and The Republican Agenda / Mandate and air the episode and not make a big fuss over it, yadda yadda yadda.

Just when I was finally getting some reading-for-pleasure done on my train ride!

Fly, Eagles, Fly. . . on the road to Vic-tor-y!

Howdy sports fans! It was a good weekend for us here in PA. Steelers. Iggles. Boo-ya!

However, those of you who follow sports superstitions closely will understand how I felt when The Banana dropped our Donovan McNabb bobblehead doll - and his right arm broke off!

Gotta get out the super glue before next weekend. . .

What's wrong with this picture?

• An actress pledges $1 million dollars to the Tsunami Relief Fund.
• A race car driver : $10 million ! (who knew race car drivers made so much money?)
• The President of The Free World : $10,000.

Priceless.

Susan Sontag died over the holidays. While I was not that familiar with her work, I certainly had heard of her. The Gal has one of her books, "AIDS and it's Metaphors" which is kind of interesting in its own way.

I am, however, completely amazed and astounded that I, gossip-monger and popular culture lover that I am, did not know that she [according to some, select, obits] "is survived by" Annie Leibovitz. You know. The famous photographer. Another woman. And they had a young child.

Wouldn't know it from the so-called Liberal Media, though. While some did list Ms. Annie as her "longtime companion" and referred to a book they worked on together ("Women" in 1999), most of them focused on her heterosexual marriage which produced a son - and which she ended almost 40 years ago through divorce!

Go figure. Just another way to make us lesbians invisible!