Jul 17 2010
The selection this week departs somewhat from all others that have appeared before in this series. This classic song has been more frequently covered by far than any other song this writer has encountered to date. This song, which seems to lend itself to multiple arrangements, has been a personal favorite of this writer, who has attempted various keyboard arrangements of it since his teenage years. Each time, new possibilities seem to present themselves.
Jul 17 2010
I was jerked awake (off my cloud!) today by recent developments with the military commissions scenario with Guantanamo prisoner, Canadian Omar Khadr. Here’s a brief analysis from Michelle Sheppard, the Canadian journalist who literally wrote the book on Omar Khadr.
Khadr told his lawyers he has lost hope and doesn’t believe in the system.
“How can I ask for justice from a process that does not have it,” he told the court this week, reading from a statement he wrote.
Kinda nails it right there, doesn’t he?
Jul 17 2010
I`m back with more underwater images in support of the gulf coast, it`s inhabitants above & below the surface, & to all who`ve worked so hard to keep the daily developments on the front pages.
I would like to also mention a big “Thank You” to all the workers out on all the skimming boats, the oil retrieval crews on the beaches, & the crews out working on the rigs, tankers & the ROV operators who have worked nonstop to end this gusher.
I cannot blame them for the bad decisions of their managers.
Now that the gusher is stopped albeit temporarily, I think we can have a little breather.
Then we`ll have to get back to keeping this catastrophe at the top of the news, since we all know how the style of news cycles here can rapidly shift away the important issues to iPhones & Lohans.
PURPLE CONTORTIONIST
(An Anemone)
Jul 17 2010
BP buys up Gulf scientists for legal defense, roiling academic community
Ben Raines, Press-Register — July 16, 2010
More than one scientist interviewed by the Press-Register described being offered $250 an hour through BP lawyers. At eight hours a week, that amounts to $104,000 a year.
[…]
The contract makes it clear that BP is seeking to add scientists to the legal team that will fight the Natural Resources Damage Assessment lawsuit that the federal government will bring as a result of the Gulf oil spill.
Is it their Scientific Expertise, that they want —
Or their Scientific Silence?
Jul 17 2010
Usually I have a longer break between summaries of news of interest to the trans community and perhaps to our allies. But I have only had a couple of days since I returned from the desert to gather my wits together and try to develop a topic and an essay…and one of those was consumed by a medical test.
Additionally, there have been several items of interest that have transpired while I was gone. I doubt many of them were covered by anyone else. A few of them were touched on in previous trans news diaries…so consider this to be a set of updates, if you wish.
Without further ado, here is the introduction to the first story:
Vandy Beth Glenn was a legislative editor in Georgia who came out to her boss about beginning to transition at her workplace. She was fired by Legislative Counsel Sewell Brumby because he believed her transition would make her colleagues feel uncomfortable and be viewed as immoral by Georgia legislators.