Man about Murfreesboro

Spent part of my lunch break at the Vanderbilt Childrens' Hospital. Dollie's sister had back surgery yesterday and is looking at a weeklong stay. There is a DVD player in her room, but the only DVDs available have the words "Care" and "Bear" in the title. So, Dolls asked me to drop off some DVDs from our library.

The hospital is a whimsical place. Everywhere you look there are butterflies, children's art, bright colors, friendly textures and gentle curves. The entire place is designed to be non-threatening and reassuring. I almost wanted to hang out there and people watch. But despite all the comforting color schemes and art, a hospital is not a place to loiter.

I wrote an angry email to BellSouth regarding their sharing of my phone records with the NSA without a warrant. Today I read where BellSouth denies they actually did it. My cell phone provider, T-Mobile, has also denied giving the NSA any of their records.

Now I know that some of you out there [*cough*, Dan, *cough*] are going to say "If you haven't got anything to hide, then what's the problem?" The problem isn't whether I've got anything to hide. The problem is we have a president who has an administration that is essentially lawless. They have no regard for our rights as citizens. To just stand by and think that's okay is madness, people. Wake up.

If you think the NSA is doing this just to make us "safe" then answer me this: How? How is keeping tabs on who everyone in the country is calling going to protect us from anything? And why, if the NSA is only looking for terrorists, are the phones of reporters being targeted by Federal investigators? This is Orwellian and it's only going to get worse.

Can you imagine what they're really doing that we don't know anything about? New reports are coming in that say the NSA is collecting information on gun owners.

Woo Hoo! Here's some CGI test footage of Optimus Prime transforming in the new film.

I didn't listen to the president last night. I find I'm happier when I tune him out. But I knew the day would be abuzz with talk about immigration reform. Take a look at this screen capture from CNN:

Look closely. That's CNN's roundtable discussion on immigration reform: five white guys. I'm sure we're going to get a world of perspective there.

I live in a very diverse neighborhood. My neighbors are Hispanic and Laotian. There is an Asian market and a Lao Poolhall around the corner. The ice cream truck is driven by this really hot woman with a Balkan accent. I don't fear the minoritization of America.

As Eddie Izzard says, as soon as we all intermingle and become one lovely shade of brown, all this racism stuff will go away.

Speaking of the hot ice cream vendor. She's back for the summer and the men on my street couldn't be happier. We're probably the only neighborhood in the area where, when the ice cream truck starts playing music and rolling down the street, the dads outrace the kids to buy ice cream. I know I do.

A couple of days ago, I went to my buddy Badger's house to help him move a dishwasher. When he brought me home, we saw that two older guys had stopped the ice cream van. Badger knew them and, when she left, stopped them to give a neighborly "hello."

"Was that her?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about" said one guy, grinning around an ice cream sandwich.

One thing I've discovered since shaving my head is that the ladies really seem to dig it. Who knew there was this whole cross section of the female population into bald guys. It started out subtly, a coworker who wanted to touch my scalp, a young girl at a children's birthday party who mumbled that I was "handsome" as she ran by.

The receptionist at my office who could rarely be bothered to look up from her computer solitare to say hello, stopped me, touched my arm and asked me my name.

Just today, a vendor who we've used for years and hasn't said two words to me stopped by my office on her way out to say "I love the do. Love it. Love it. Love it. It's so cool."

And while I am a happily married man, it does the old ego good to receive so much unsolicited female attention. I'm beginning to think I should have done this years ago.

On that note, I should thank my buddy Chuck for sending me a headblade. It's a really cool little gadget designed to make shaving your head easier.

Oh, and Tracey came by for a visit on Friday night and came up with her own nickname that hasn't made the list yet.

"Hey, Mr. Baldy," she said. "I decided not to be clever and just call you Mr. Baldy."

Mission accomplished.

I hope Dollie had a good mother's day weekend. I tried my best to give her one. I also did what I could for the mother figures in my life. I sent my own mother a card and gave her a call. I visited my grandmother at the nursing home, though she was sleeping and didn't know it.

I bought cards for the kids to sign and we spent the weekend bending to Dollie's will "with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts." That's the rule.

Well it's starting. The backlash from the newest illegal domestic spying program has begun. A class action lawsuit has been filed against the telecom companies that supplied their records to the NSA. The Justice Department is currently seeking to quash the lawsuit under the State Secrets Act, saying that trying the suit will damage national security. That didn't stop Verizon stock from taking a hit.

We've received numerous assurances from Bush and other administration officials saying that any spying by the NSA was legal and only used to track down terrorists. But ABC news says they've got a federal source who says the White House is using the NSA database to figure out their reporters' confidential sources.

Now think about that for a second. Bush first said that they only monitor calls that either started or ended in another country. Once we discovered this huge database of domestic calls, he said they weren't datamining or trolling, they only use that database to track those with known ties to al Queda.

Now we're learning that they're tracking calls made by reporters at ABC news. If a reporter has a confidential source, a government whistleblower, a corporate insider or even a federal official, neither side has a tie to al Queda. But they're being tracked, without a warrant and without judicial oversight.

Bush says that's okay because Congress has been briefed, but they haven't. Specter said yesterday that the law says every member of the intelligence committees of both houses should be briefed and that hasn't happened.

I suggested, when I first learned about the domestic spying program, that Bush would use it to spy on his political enemies and the press. Now we see he is.

Dollie has been calling the liberal talkshows lately. She got on with Bill Press not long ago to talk about That stupid blonde teacher who slept with her student and received probation only to break the probation by sending the student messages and suggestive video. Dolls made the point that if she weren't an attractive blonde, she would have been in jail for being a sexual predator (which she is).

Yesterday, she called in to Ed Schultz who was interviewing the president of the NEA to voice her opinion on the newly released study that said half of all teachers quit in their first five years. She made the point that the Bushs, with their prep school education, have no idea what it's like in public school.

"You got that right," said Big Eddie. Heh. She also pointed out that the conservative line on public education is that you can't solve the problem by throwing money at it.

"Well, let's try that," she said. "Look at how well we're doing with the pittance we're given. Why not try throwing some money at education and see how that works."

Alphonso Johnson has issued a statement apologizing for telling an audience in Dallas that he canceled a HUD contract because the contractor was not a Bush supporter. He says he made it up. It didn't actually happen. See, it's better to call yourself a liar than admit to a felony.

I deeply regret the anecdotal remarks I made at a recent Texas small business forum and would like to reassure the public that all HUD contracts are awarded solely on a stringent merit-based process. During my tenure, no contract has ever been awarded, rejected, or rescinded due to the personal or political beliefs of the recipient.

The reason I'm skeptical is that this is exactly the opposite of what he said at the forum. He said if you're not a Bush supporter, you don't get the contract. "That's the way I believe." His apology says that's not the way HUD does business, but his speech said that's the way he believes business should be done. He's put his foot in it and this lame attempt at a mea culpa is going to get him nowhere.

Oh and the spokesperson who had been offering conflicting excuses after the fact? She's on "scheduled leave."

Now the GOP congressman who chairs the House Appropriations Committee is under investigation in the same bribery and corruption probe that took down Duke Cunningham. Rep. Jerry Lewis is under scrutiny over his relationship with Bill Lowery, a former congressman turned lobbyist. Lewis has earmarked millions of dollars in appropriations for Lowery's clients.

I'm impressed. It only too the GOP 12 years to become more corrupt than the Dems during their 40 years as the majority party.

When the illegal domestic spying case broke, I argued with my relatives about what this meant for our country. Their main argument followed the excuses by President Bush -- that we need to know when someone in this country is calling al Queda.

My response to that was always -- there are legal ways to do it and Bush didn't follow them. Plus, if there is no judicial oversight, then there are no limits to who's privacy is going to be invaded.

Today we learn from USA Today that the NSA has created the largest database ever and has collected the phone records of every call made by every customer of BellSouth, AT&T and Verizon.

The NSA's domestic program, as described by sources, is far more expansive than what the White House has acknowledged. Last year, Bush said he had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop — without warrants — on international calls and international e-mails of people suspected of having links to terrorists when one party to the communication is in the USA. Warrants have also not been used in the NSA's efforts to create a national call database.

In defending the previously disclosed program, Bush insisted that the NSA was focused exclusively on international calls. "In other words," Bush explained, "one end of the communication must be outside the United States."

As a result, domestic call records — those of calls that originate and terminate within U.S. borders — were believed to be private.

Sources, however, say that is not the case. With access to records of billions of domestic calls, the NSA has gained a secret window into the communications habits of millions of Americans. Customers' names, street addresses and other personal information are not being handed over as part of NSA's domestic program, the sources said. But the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information.

Sometimes, I hate being right. We should no longer have any expectation of privacy when we send an email or make a phone call. Bush has turned our government into the very type of oppressive regime he claims to be fighting against. And while conservatives can argue all day that "if you're innocent you have nothing to hide and shouldn't worry," I believe America is supposed to be better than that. Bush must go.

Speaking of teachers leaving the profession. A first-year West Boca teacher is leaving to become a real estate agent. That is, of course, she isn't fired before the end of the year for having her picture on the National Bikini Team web site.

This is an attractive teacher who works in a costal city in Florida being punished for wearing a bikini. People seriously need to get a life.

Strange things are afoot in the GOP. Take, for example, the plight of Stuart Bowen, special inspector general in charge of finding out what's going on with reconstruction in Iraq. His last report stated that we've lost billion of dollars due to corruption, sabotage and mismanagement during the reconstruction process.

Naturally, the Republicans in congress have sprung into action to resolve the situtation. They've blocked Stuart Bowen from monitoring this latest round of reconstruction funds headed for Iraq. That'll certainly clean up the mess.

“He had made every effort to get a contract with HUD for 10 years,” Jackson said of the prospective contractor. “He made a heck of a proposal and was on the (General Services Administration) list, so we selected him. He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something … he said, ‘I have a problem with your president.’

“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I don’t like President Bush.’ I thought to myself, ‘Brother, you have a disconnect — the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn’t be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don’t tell the secretary.’

“He didn’t get the contract,” Jackson continued. “Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”

Granted, telling the guy who's awarding you a contract that you don't like his boss isn't the smartest business move. But neither is telling the media that you award government contracts based on the political opinion of the contractor. In fact, awarding government contracts based on political bias violates federal law.

Look at what he said: “Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president?" That presumes that whomever is awarded the contract will use some of those government funds for a political purpose. Under that presumption, you can only award contracts to poliltical allies. That's not the way government is supposed to do business.

HUD has been the subject of many scandals and there is no way the Bush administration wants an investigation into how HUD contracts are doled out. Want proof? Look at the response from Jackson once this story hit:

A HUD spokesperson issued a second response which said in effect, Jackson is a liar and made the whole thing up:

Dustee Tucker, a spokeswoman for Jackson, told the Dallas Business Journal Tuesday that Jackson’s comments at his April 28 speech were purely “anecdotal.”

“He was merely trying to explain to the audience how people in D.C., will say critical things about the secretary, will unfairly characterize the president and then turn around and ask you for money,” Tucker said. “He did not actually meet with someone and turn down a contract. He’s not part of the contracting process.”

This is hillarious because if we're to believe it, Jackson made up a whole incident including dialogue between himself and a ficticious contractor to make a point that was only tangentially related to the actual point he made. It also doesn't pass the smell test because bidding on a government contract is not the same as asking HUD for money. It's asking HUD for work. No. Something isn't right at HUD. Again.

But what makes this whole thing remarkable is that after the original story broke, the Dallas Busines Journal called HUD to find out the value of the contract Jackson supposedly canceled. Dustee Tucker said "Because it was not awarded per what the secretary said, we don't have any record of it. It was probably all verbal at that point."

That doesn't sound like a made-up contract does it? What needs to happen now is someone has to dig up the contractor and verify that it actually happened.

A new study shows that half of all teachers quit within the first five years due to lousy pay and working conditions. That's just sad. I don't understand why they aren't treated like the professionals they are. Teachers have to go through the wringer to get certified. They are disrespected by students, parents and administrators. But they're expected to do their jobs because they love the kids and are dedicated to education.

There's this dumb guy in Pennsylvania who robbed a bank. He got the money and made his getaway, no problem. Then he decided what he really wanted was pancakes. So he stopped at a nearby diner and ordered up a stack. That's where the cops found him.

Spent most of yesterday in Pulaski, taking photos for a client. It has one of the nicest town squares I've seen. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting an historic building and the town seems to take some pride in its history. Well, part of it's history.

The original KKK was founded in Pulaski. Up until a few years ago, there was a marker on one of the buildings just off the square that let people know that. Currently, that building is home to a local law firm and the marker has been removed. Good.

Still, it's a charming town with some interesting architectural features. Not a bad way to spend a sunny Monday.

Upon returning home, I stopped by Shelbyville to pay a visit to my grandmother. She was recently placed in a nursing home and I should have made a point to get over there before now. The truth be told, those places are a little difficult for me because I spent so much of my childhood wandering around the halls of one in Birmingham.

My mom worked as a nurse in a series of nursing homes and from what I could tell, was pretty good at it. I didn't really have any trouble at any of these places. I wandered the halls and was occasionly accosted by someone who thought I was their son (or daughter). I had a few people ask me to take them home.

Once, when I was in high school, my mom asked me to come by her current facility and bring her something (I forget what). She told me she had someone she wanted me to meet.

This was pretty standard. Mom was always introducing me to some patient. Usually, it was a nice exchange. This time, not so much. She brought me to a room and pulled back a curtain. There was a dead woman in the bed.

But visiting my grandmother is different. This is someone I've known and loved my whole life. Seeing her like this isn't easy, but it isn't as hard as I imagined it would be. When I showed up, she was sitting in her wheelchair. She wasn't wearing her glasses, so I don't think she could see me very well.

I talked with her for a while and she only mumbled and pointed at things that weren't there. Beside her bed was a log where family members and friends could write down messages and let others know they'd been by. I saw where my dad had been by the day before. Scott tells me that he thinks my grandfather is a little put out by the lack of visitors. I hope not. I need to get out to the house and see him, too.

Badger helped me bury my cat. We dug a hole in the back yard under a redbud and said our goodbyes. It was fitting that he was there, seeing as how he was responsible for us taking Katrina in. Dollie has decided to let our remaining cats back into the house.

Katrina was Max's favorite and now that she's gone, he's glommed onto Maggie. The problem is that Maggie is about 70 in cat years and Max tends to treat her like a kitten. We've talked about this, but he's 8. He only remembers things for so long.

Saturday night we took the kids to Manchester to the Circle J Dance Barn to hear Grandpa Bear's band. It's a nice little club for a family outing: no drinking, no smoking, no cussing. They played Merle and Tammy and George and some newer stuff.

What's shocked me was how much Rozzy liked it. She was out on the dance floor for every song, making up dances and showing off. She danced with Dollie, me, Max, Granny Franny. She danced by herself. She danced and danced and danced. She'd still be dancing if we hadn't dragged her out of there.

Also on the cavalcade of family freaking fun was a trip to Tullahoma to see Grandma Phyllis in a community theatre production of "Fairy Tale Theatre." As far as community theatre productions go, this one wasn't bad. It started late, the director had a curtain speech she could have cut in half and the show itself could have been trimmed from the 3-hour running time, but there were some nice performances. The theatre is a great facility and I'm glad the city is supporting the performing arts.

Friday night we took the kids to see "Hoot." Max and I had just finished reading the novel and he was very excited about seeing the movie. This was to be his first experience in the world of "but the book was better." Heh.

He sat there between me and his mother and spoiled each plot points or pointed out differences.

You get the picture. I picked out Carl Hiassen's cameo as assistant to Chuck Muckle (who I think was miscast).

The one spoiler he didn't give, which Dollie would have appreciated was when Roy dumped out a bag of cottonmouth moccasins around his feet. Max and I both knew it was coming, but he didn't warn her.

The film was okay. Not a blockbuster, but films based on Hiassen books never are. We had a good time.

The White House wants to bring Stephen Kappes back to be No. 2 at the CIA. Kappes resigned from the agency in 2004 right after Porter Goss was appointed director. According to the Washington Post, Kappes, who was deputy director of operations, resigned when Goss's chief of staff, Patrick Murray, told Kappes to fire his own deputy Michael Sulick.

It seems Sulick was on the outs for confronting Murray over a threat Murray made to another agency official. Again, according to the Washington Post, Murry told the unnamed official that if any part of the personnel file of the newly appointed executive director made it to the media, the unnamed official would be held personally responsible.

So, unnamed official told Sulick, Sulick confronted Murray, Murray told Kappes to fire Sulick and Kappes resigned. Kappes and Sulick and presumably the unnamed official are all career intelligence professionals. Goss and Murray were political appointees. Now that Goss is out, the White House is bringing Kappes back. This is as close to an admission of a mistake as we're likely to ever get from this administration.

Oh, and the "newly appointed executive director" that was supposed to be hidden from the media? Dusty Foggo who resigned yesterday in connection with a corruption probe.

Slate is running an interesting story about the upcoming Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National STD Prevention Conference. This is the annual meeting of scientists and health care workers designed to broaden the knowlege of scientific research on the subject of STDs.

Presenting at this conference is a major achievment because your research is reviewed by a panel of your peers who deterimine if your evidence is based on sound science. This ensures that the presentations are of the highest quality and based on scientific principles. You know, facts.

Now granted, not having sex is a sure way to keep from getting STDs. But the evidence on abstinence-only education programs is clear: they don't work. A recently published study in the Journal of Adolescent Health (2005. Brückner, Hannah and Peter S. Bearman. Journal of Adolescent Health. No. 36: 271-278) Shows that teens who take a virginity pledge in high school wait longer to have sex, but when they do (and 88 percent of them did before marriage) they are significanly less likely to use a condom. The result is that STD rates for these teens is the same as they are for those who didn't take the pledge.

The symposium in question was originally titled "Are Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs a Threat to Public Health?" Presenters were to include John Santelli of Columbia's School of Public Health and William Smith of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Their presentations were vetted by CDC scientists to ensure accuracy and scientific merit.

But Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., put pressure on the CDC to change the symposium. Now, it will be called "Public Health Strategies of Abstinence Programs for Youth," and include two pro-abstinence advocates, Eric Walsh and Patricia Sulak. Sulak is founder of "Worth the Wait" an abstinence-only education program noted for its "negative messages about condoms and stereotypical statements about girls and boys."

I'm not trying to argue that the CDC shouldn't include some pro-abstinence voices to their symposia. But there is a process by which inclusion at this conference occurs. In this case, the congress has overreached it's authority and are forcing these two people into a scientific forum without making them go through the peer-review process.

The most vexing thing about this episode is not that STD researchers will apparently have to duke it out with two pro-abstinence ideologues. It's that the event's peer-review process has been undermined. "This conference has always been run as a scientific meeting," said Jonathan Zenilman, chief of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and president of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association, one of the groups organizing the conference along with the CDC.

Politicians now appear to be setting different standards. "My sense is that the leadership in Washington just thinks this is business as usual and doesn't even realize that these kinds of things didn't happen before," Santelli said. These things didn't happen. And they shouldn't start to.