Impolite Company

No More Amazon Around Here

For about a month I had an advertisement from Amazon up on the blog, a book related one that not many people found interesting.  I've chosen to take it down because of Amazon's decision to excise certain gay and lesbian fiction from some of their best seller lists.  They did so, not on the basis of graphic sexual content or inappropriate salacious details but because of the sexual orientation of the protagonists and themes of the books.  The method used, the ethics of doing so and the online reaction to Amazon's decision are discussed in Why Amazon Didn't Just Have a Glitch:

This weekend it was discovered that Amazon had filtered out some books as "adult" even though those books had minor sexual or erotic themes (fiction) or were non-fiction discussion classes of people associated with particular sexual orientations. Apparently, these filters began to pop up two months ago and while Amazon was notified at the time, many ¿ including me ¿ weren't aware of the problem until Mark Probst, author of ?The Filly,? realized his book was missing it's "sales rank" from Amazon. He questioned them, and they replied:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.Best regards, Ashlyn D Member Services Amazon.com Advantage

Amazon won't miss us--I think all told maybe one person clicked on the ad once.  But as our ability to manipulate information becomes more sophisticated we have to watch out for this kind of thing, which is far more targeted and difficult to uncover that rather straightforward forms of discrimination, such as redlining or Jim Crow laws.  And, unlike racial or religious discrimination, "sexual orientation" is not a protected class receiving the highest level of protection against discrimination under the Equal Protection clause and so it's up to us to speak up when our friends and neighbors are discriminated against.

Mad Funny v. Mad Money

Editorially Insert:  I'm only now watching it and this is an incredibly good, earnest interview.  You can see Cramer's shame for some of the things he's done and Stewart's populist anger.  Please watch this.

Jim Cramer and Jon Stewart go head to head after lots of build up, lots of sniping.  The Chicago Tribune hyped it this way, Cramer vs. Stewart:  Rock 'Em Sock 'Em:

In one corner, Jim Cramer, CNBC’s“Mad Money” host, known for his wild swings and apparent failure to take Ritalin. In the other, Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, whose favorite punch is the undercut. The two have been feuding over just how bullish Cramer was on the Bear Stearns firm, right before it collapsed last year.

You can see the whole show here or you can just jump to about the six minute mark to get to the Cramer portion of the show:

Three Years for Misdemeanor Assault (It's Gotta Be the Shoes, Money)

The guy who threw his shoes at former President Bush got three years in prison for his efforts.  I've been trying for the last half hour to get some context for this by looking up incidents involving throwing pies, tomatoes and other things at politicians and I'm not coming up with a whole lot.  The press revels in the actual throwing and you can find good video of such "attacks" but there's not much to be said on the sentencing side.  Mainly because it looks like such protesters have gotten suspended sentences or community service rather than any sort of newsworthy penalty.  Speaking of video of such incidents:

 

War on Jimmy Fallon

I've tried to restrain myself so that I don't embed every single Sarah Haskins "Target Women" video but I feel compelled to get embedded with her today because Jimmy Fallon stole her bit the other night.  Which is to say, Tuesday night.  Haskins noticed the theft and the war is on--more on this aspect of it from Feministing at Sarah Haskins Declares Twitter War on Jimmy Fallon (why is it that a "Twitter War" doesn't sound that ominous?).  You can follow the link to Fallon from the Feministing post (but don't bother, it's not funny). 

Question:  Did we call Brad and Jen "Pittifer" when they were together?

Fighting for Justice Speaker Series: Sera Bonds

Event press release on the other side of the fold.

 

In Case You Missed it Last Night

...but that does not mean we can afford to ignore our long-term challenges.  I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves; that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity.

Here's the full video of Pres. Obama's Address to the Joint Session of Congress last night.  As someone who tried to make sure he watched every one of Pres. Bush's major addresses for the last eight years, I'd encourage all of you to watch your president speak, even if you disagree with his policies (courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov, about 61 minutes):

Texas Execution Ethics

Quick update:  Here's a link to a Texas Kaos post on this subject, including a copy of the announcement of the charges filed against Judge Keller to the author:  Formal Proceedings Against Sharon Keller.

I recently wrote about the impeachment resolution filed to start an investigation into Presiding Judge Keller of the Criminal Courts of Appeal in Texas Courts:  Good News and Bad News.   In addition to the possibility of an impeachment proceeding, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct has filed ethics charges against her for failing to follow the procedural rules of the CCA.  The CCA operates on a system of rotating duty judges, whereby the on duty judge is responsible to consider any last minute appeals, such as in the execution of Michael Richard, the case at the center of the Keller controversy (Richard was appealing based on Supreme Court review of lethal injection, which froze executions nationwide for several months until they ruled on the case).  Rather than referring the decision to the duty judge, Judge Cheryl Johnson, Judge Keller made the decision herself.  You can get more detail on the story at the Austin American Statesman's Judge's Ethics Case May Hinge on Phone Calls:

Keller's unilateral refusal ignored Court of Criminal Appeals rules on death row appeals and, according to charges filed Thursday by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, violated ethics rules by:

• Failing to ensure proper access to the legal system.

• Eroding public confidence in the fairness of judges.

Beyond revealing dysfunction within the normally secretive nine-member court, the charges contained previously unknown information about events leading to Richard's execution on Sept. 25, 2007 — including details of the two key phone conversations involving Keller.

Cornyn Responds to Public Pressure

It looks like Sen. Cornyn is changing his tune on donations from Allen Stanford, announcing yesterday that he would be donating $4000 to Big Brothers and Big Sisters to balance out the money he got from Stanford himself.  There appears to be a little bit of inconsistency when it comes to the $19,700 in total he got from Stanford Group, with NPR indicating he was donating the full total and the Houston Chronicle saying he was just donating the $4000 (The White House is announcing the Obama campaign is doing the same thing).  Neither article indicates that he'll be donating an equivalent amount to the $7000-plus spent on a "fact-finding" trip to the Carribbean.  There are so many facts down there in those warm, beautiful waters and maybe on the greens of their golf courses.

Stanford Donations Now Sticky for Lawmakers:

Two Texas Republicans also are shedding Stanford dollars. Rep. Pete Sessions and Sen. John Cornyn are giving charities amounts equal to what they got from Stanford himself.

Sessions received a total of $41,375 from donors at Stanford Financial, while Cornyn got $19,700. The company also paid for a trip to Antigua that Cornyn and his wife took in 2004. He was one of several lawmakers to travel to the Caribbean on Stanford's dime.

Cornyn's office says it was a fact-finding trip to examine the business operations of a constituent whose empire included two big offices in Houston.

Cornyn to Make Up for Contributions from Stanford

Cornyn spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said Texas' junior senator will give $4,000 to Big Brothers and Big Sisters. The 2004 trip to Antigua cost $7,441 and was paid for by Houston-based Stanford Financial Group. McLaughlin said Cornyn won't give an amount equivalent to what was spent on the trip to charity.

McLaughlin said the trip was a fact-finding mission on how the company recruits investors and works in Latin America.

Sen. Cornyn Keeping Stanford Money

I've got Sen. Cornyn's blog on my RSS reader and so I always know when he makes an announcement that he's voting against this or that, or that he's taking credit for something or other he probably didn't have much to do with.  Oddly enough, he hasn't had a press release on this--according to The Austin Chronicle, Cornyn has gotten almost $20,000 in donations from R. Allen Stanford, the investment guy from Houston who's been shut down by the SEC, Cornyn Keeping Tainted Money:

Many politicians are now saying they'll donate that money to charity, but according to WFAA-TV in Dallas (tip of the hat to Talking Points Memo for the link), Cornyn says he's keeping the $20,000 he got from Stanford because he "believes in the presumption of innocence," according to his office. He's not the only Texan doing so: Congressman Pete Sessions is keeping his Stanford cash as well, WFAA reports. Senior Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will donate her money to charity.

Speaking of Dominoes--5-0, 5-0!

For those who don't know:  Slang for police officers and/or a warning that police are approaching. Derived from the television show Hawaii 5-0.

Last night was dominoes night, my one night of the week where I regularly get together with friends, drink some beers, play some Texas 42 and don't teach karate.  Though now with our new kids classes, I did have to teach a class in the afternoon and then someone was sick and I had to teach the girls class after that (for some reason I think of the poor hen from the cartoons that tries to hook up with Foghorn Leghorn saying with much chicken drama in her voice, "A Maa-aahhn.")--that was a lot of fun.  I'd never taught that group before and there were some girls I'd never met and it was cool seeing the different skill levels and personalities in there.    So, last night wasn't quite karate free and it certainly wasn't drama-free.

The Stanford Name is as Good as Gold

I listened to the Sean Hannity radio show for a few minutes yesterday and heard, smack dab in the middle of the show, an ad with Hannity's voice pitching investments in gold through the Stanford Group.  He said you knew you could trust them because the Standford name is as good as gold, or something to this effect.  Which made me laugh.  Because earlier in the day, the feds raided Stanford's offices in Houston and the SEC appears to be shutting them down.  Woops, time to find a new advertiser. 

Why Sen. (for now) Burris Didn't Mention that Phone Call

If it slipped past you over the holiday weekend, former Illinois governor Blagojevich's appointee to the senate Roland Burris has been doing a little historical revision.  As in, he's beginning to remember some phone calls he had that he failed to mention when various folks were trying to figure out if his appointment was tainted or not.  Here's what Burris said over the weekend, Burris Offers Defense of Evolving Account:

“I did not donate one single dollar, nor did I raise any money or promise any favors of any kind for the governor,” Mr. Burris, a Democrat who was sworn in as a senator a month ago, said at a contentious news conference.

Mr. Burris tried to explain why he did not mention three phone conversations with Mr. Blagojevich’s brother — in which he now says he was asked for fund-raising help — during testimony last month before a committee of state lawmakers weighing whether to impeach Mr. Blagojevich.

“Anyone who suggests otherwise,” Mr. Burris added, “or would insinuate that my testimony in person or in writing is anything other than fully compliant with the committee and consistent with the truth is simply playing at partisan politics.”

One other possible reason he may have withheld the information initially was because he really, really, really, really, really wanted to be senator.

My Tenuous Link to Sasha and Malia Obama

I'm not kidding when I say tenuous.  One of my bosses at the Eastside Cafe when I waited tables was Dorsey Barger, the owner of the restaurant along with Elaine Martin.  It was always fun to pick up the phone and hear someone asking for "Dorothy" or "Doris" or any other name but Dorsey.  Oh, but wait, you didn't want to hear about the good times at Eastside, you wanted to know about Sasha and Malia.  Okay, so I knew that Dorsey was an East Coast girl and that she'd gone to UVA in college, but I didn't realize she was a DC girl.  Not only that, she was a Sidwell Friends girl and Sidwell Friends School is where Sasha and Malia are now going to school.  And her family has been deeply involved in the school for around 40-years, so she's got strong connections there and since I have a rather weak connection to her, that makes for a tenuous connection to Sasha and Malia, right? 

Here's Dorsey's story from the Statesman, Sasha and Malia Obama's Eastside Connection:

From kindergarten through second grade, Dorsey was a student at Malia and Sasha Obama’s new school in Washington D.C., but it was her father and grandfather who spent the most time there.

“My family was connected to the school for 40 years,” Dorsey said a few weeks ago, just after Obama was sworn in as president. Her grandfather and father were both principals and teachers at the school; her grandfather started working at the school in 1941 and her dad left in 1981. Dorsey’s brother is now in charge of the boys’ summer camp that her grandfather started.

SNL: Kellogg's Drops Michael Phelps

This is the type of announcement that really makes the most sense in a fake news cast:  Kellogg's has dropped Michael Phelps as an endorser and United States Swimming has suspended him for three months.  Really? (1:51)

Parental Moments with Dick Vitale

I had a very funny parental moment yesterday involving a phone call in which I spoke with Dick Vitale, the uber-enthusiastic basketball analyst for ESPN and my folks used him to try to lobby me to return to NC.  Ah, the tangled webs we weave...wait a minute, there was no deception here.  Forget I said that.  Anyway, they were at a Sarasota restaurant where Mr. Vitale sometimes eats and he was there signing some books and doing a phone interview with ESPN.  Sometime after the interview, they waylaid him and stuck the phone into his hand.  The conversation went something like this:

Me:  Who's this?
Dick:  muffled garbled background noise
Me:  Well hi, nice to talk to you.
Dick:  something, garbles...about your North Carolina team this year?
Me:  Yessir, they look pretty good.  (though I failed to mention that since I don't have The Cable I haven't really been able to see what they look like more than once or twice)
Dick:  muffled garbled blahbage...
Parental Voice (offstage):  Ask him when he's coming back to North Carolina.

At which point the line went dead.

I'm kidding about the line going dead.  

I love my parents.  They do know how to crack me up sometimes.  And what a kind person Mr. Vitale is to gracefully put up with such shenanigans.

Here's a picture of what Mr. Vitale might have looked like while talking to me on the phone (I think he was actually talking to ESPN at the time):

Phelps Under Investigation

Some two-bit sheriff in South Carolina has grabbed his own personal golden moment and has ordered his department to investigate Michael Phelps and whether and where he took a bong hit, Phelps Could Face Criminal Charges.  Apparently under South Carolina law, possession of two ounces or less of pot is a misdemeanor, punishable by a $200 fine and 30-days in jail.  As Sheriff Barney Fife said in a CNN report:

"The Richland County Sheriff's Department is making an effort to determine if Mr. Phelps broke the law. If he did, he will be charged in the same manner as anyone else. The sheriff has a responsibility to be fair, to enforce the law and to not turn a blind eye because someone is a celebrity."

Is that really what he's doing?  Would he really launch an investigation into someone smoking pot when he's not entirely sure where the alleged crime took place?  Maybe what he's really aiming to do is get to the perp who supplied Phelps with the drugs, maybe he's hoping to squeeze Phelps for information.  It's funny that the city police and the campus police have declined the opportunity to investigate.

Thanks and a big ol' hat tip to the Ex-Angry Citizen.

Christian Bale Out

If you don't mind a song that's about 95% "fuck" RevoLucian has a mash-up of Christian Bale's freaked out tirade over at Myspace.  It's pretty snappy in a techno kinda way.  It reminds me of one or two O'Reilly mash-ups made from one of his frothing at the mouth episodes, but I think this one's easier to dance to.  Check it out over at RevoLucian on Myspace.

I originally ran across this over at the Chronicle, The Dick Knight Returns.

It's Gotta Be the Ears

I pulled this photo from the White House web site (which makes it public domain, right??)--if you didn't know that salient fact, could you recognize who this was simply from his ears?

Coolest. Front Pages. Ever.

From the extremely sweet images department, Ben Wikler has put together a page of world newspaper front pages announcing Obama's inauguration.  He got the pictures from The Newseum and the screenshot looks like this (and I almost forgot, I owe a nice, big, fat hat tip to The Edge of the American West for the heads-up on this!):

The Peaceful Transfer of Power

A peaceful transition is something we take for granted, even after the uncertainty that surrounded the 2000 election.  That was iffy and a little bit ugly at times, but I don't think I ever really worried that it would devolve into something other than a proper transfer of power from Pres. Clinton to Pres. Bush.  Even though the Bush Administration has left (Almost!!) President Obama a big ol' bag full of problems, by all accounts the transition team has been competent, cooperative and helpful to the incoming administration.  Obama mentioned this in a speech yesterday, praising Pres. Bush and his people for their efforts:  Obama Praises Bush for Smooth Transition:

“Throughout the current transition, President Bush and his administration have extended the hand of cooperation, and provided invaluable assistance to my team as we prepare to hit the ground running on January 20th,” Obama stated.

The incoming president said that the peaceful transfer of power “goes to the heart of the greatness of our nation” and that it proves “that what we hold in common as Americans far outweighs our political differences.”

"Ready on day one" was a phrase that both the Clinton and McCain campaigns tried to use against Obama in the primary and the general election.  I've been pretty much dazzled by how well Obama has handled the transition--there have been some hiccups along the way, but for a man with "no executive experience" this has been a dreamy transition considering all the serious issues the new president will be facing.

For an extended discussion of the Bush-to-Obama transfer of power, visit White House Transfer of Power, and download the mp3 ("Listen Now" didn't appear to work--it's about a nine minute segment) from The Tavis Smiley Show.