A sailor -- from Houston -- is found dead at his California Navy base. He was out to his friends. Rawstory asks: Did DADT get him killed? Obama says he wants Congress to change the DADT law rather than doing it by (readily reversible?) executive fiat. But Barney Frank says the Dems don't have enough votes. WTF?

Democrats in Congress — including openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) — say their party doesn’t currently have enough votes to overturn the law. Public opinion polls show that a vast majority of Americans believe gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military.

(PS My kid's up on crutches & doing fine. The other kid and his new kitten -- the one who hid in the fan shroud of his truck and broke a leg and got her head gashed being flung out by the fan -- is here for a visit. Read more…

given health care coverage?

Easy fix. Fire 'em all.

You watch. It'll happen.

and today's consensus is that the inauguration made no difference to the country?
Spirits were raised so high on 20-Jan-09. Where are they now? What has been done?
So many broken promises, so many stalled results, so much disillusion. Is the Obama Presidency salvageable? Should it be?

Soup kitchen, Kitchen stadium, backpacker's kit?


Breakroom sink with microwave and coffeemaker?

At its most elemental a kitchen is, what?

For me, a clean flat surface and a heat source; I can bring everything else (water, knife, ingredients, instructions, vessels, cleaning supplies, speciality items). But I am come to believe that I am Read more…

I know that's James Garner, third from the right, but who are the rest of these TV Western stars (and was this a still from a TV show or a movie)? Is that Gene Barry standing beside Garner to the left? Who *are* those mustachioed men at the right?

P.S.
Eat your hearts out, Depp and Marsters.
UPDATE: See additional (better) photos below, and my thanks to dblhelix. Read more…

can be found in a most excellent diary at Daily Kos. The writer is a currently-serving, active-duty physician (ob/gyn, as a matter of fact). Please do read it.

Rest In Peace 1980s Icons:
Farrah Fawcett has died today, aged 62.

Michael Jackson died in Los Angeles today. He was 50.

 Read more…

In lieu of the long and vitriolic post I had prepared about the coward who hit my truck yesterday (taking out headlight assembly and front bumper) and ran away, ladies and gentlemen, I give you IDENTIFIABLE cowards: GOP women masquerading as caring human beings.

Cynthia Davis, Missouri:
Davis, who serves as the chairwoman of the Missouri House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families, questioned whether the program is “warranted,” and extolled the hidden benefits of child hunger:

Who’s buying dinner? Who is getting paid to serve the meal? Churches and other non-profits can do this at no cost to the taxpayer if it is warranted. [...] Bigger governmental programs take away our connectedness to the human family, our brotherhood and our need for one another. [...] Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals? Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break. [...] It really is all about increasing government spending, which means an increase in taxes for us to buy more free lunches and breakfasts.

A report by Feeding America found that one in five Missouri children currently lives with hunger. Taking apart Davis’ other arguments, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial noted that most of the summer feeding program sites are actually hosted by churches and that the program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, fed 3.7 million meals at a total cost of less than $9.5 million last summer — “a pretty good use of federal money.”
See that thing 'round her neck? I've no idea what it stands for, since no true Christian would advocate leaving hungry children without food. Jesus warned of such behavior's consequences firsthand (See the Gospel of Matthew, 18:6).

Debbie Riddle, Texas:

In a March 6, 2003 interview with the El Paso Times, Riddle was quoted as saying:

"Where did this idea come from that everybody deserves free education, free medical care, free whatever? It comes from Moscow, from Russia. It comes straight out of the pit of hell. And it's cleverly disguised as having a tender heart. It's not a tender heart. It's ripping the heart out of this country." [1]

The quote came after a Border and International Affairs Committee meeting during Read more…

I'm going to invite you all to read a book, and then let's talk about it here next Sunday. It's called "The Public Health Nurse." It's a journey back to what our future may be if we don't get single-payer now.

• The 100 Essential Folk Songs
• 1. "This Land Is Your Land" - Woody Guthrie
• 2. "Blowin' in the Wind" - Bob Dylan
• 3. "City of New Orleans" - Steve Goodman
• 4. "If I Had a Hammer" - Pete Seeger
• 5. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" - The Kingston Trio
• 6. "Early Morning Rain" - Gordon Lightfoot
• 7. "Suzanne" - Leonard Cohen
• 8. "We Shall Overcome" - Pete Seeger
• 9. "Four Strong Winds" - Ian and Sylvia
• 10. "Last Thing on My Mind" - Tom Paxton
• 11. "The Circle Game" - Joni Mitchell
• 12. "Tom Dooley" - The Kingston Trio (Trad)

In Texarkana's environs a youngster slipped into an abandoned well, and a cowboy from a neighboring ranch stepped up to provide a rescue with his lasso. (hat tip: bringiton)

Here in Lubbock a Boy Scout has created 70 backpacks with basic necessities for disbursement to local homeless people.
Happy Father's Day weekend, everybody.

The United States Supreme Court has denied the right of an inmate to pay for a DNA test that could prove he's innocent. He's been in jail for 14 years for a crime he says he did not commit. As Matthew Yglesias posts: Read more…

_{(First Lady Michelle Obama hosts the Bancroft Elementary School for the garden harvest of the White House in
Washington, Tuesday, June 16, 2009. Offical White House Photographer Samantha Appleton)}
According to the White House website:
More than 90 pounds of produce has been harvested so far. Some of it has been used for meals at the White House, but much of it has gone to area soup kitchens. While fresh fruits and vegetables are delicious, unfortunately they are not easily accessible to everyone, especially those in low-income areas. As the First Lady explained, for those Americans who live in areas where healthy food is out of reach, a healthy future is also out of reach. This is why community gardens are so exciting. They provide the opportunity to make healthy, affordable food readily available while bringing communities together. People are learning the benefits of community gardening -- over 1 million community gardens are flourishing right now, many in underserved urban communities. These gardens are bringing neighbors together to create a healthier community and a healthier future for the kids.

Yesterday, Ms. Obama welcomed Bancroft Elementary students back to enjoy the fruits of their labors -- you'll recall that in March they were instrumental in helping plant the White House garden.

But I want to just welcome everybody here in the First Lady's Garden at the White House, and I just wanted to say a few words to make sure that we all really understand why we're here and what we've accomplished, because today is really the culmination of a lot of hard work. I mean, we -- I'm really proud of you all, you kids, all the Bancroft kids, for sticking with this process and for joining us here today at the harvest party. This is our reward for all that hard work, and we -- and I want the media here to give these kids a round of applause. Put your pens down! (Applause.) We're really proud of you guys for sticking with us.

The end of the DC school year and (another) gathering of organic produce coincided yesterday. Among other duties, the First Lady shelled peas. Read more…

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and  Read more…

Yahoo has a video, but I prefer the BBC version of the story (even over Reuters) as it gives more detail. Mrs. Clinton was injured in a fall Wednesday.

She is expected to resume her regular schedule shortly, but must undergo surgery. (Ms. Sotomayor's ankle, Ms. Clinton's elbow ... what is going on???) Read more…

Dick Cheney says torture works. Dick Cheney says torture saved American lives. Dick Cheney says torture was only used on hardened terrorists.

Dick Cheney is a LIAR.

Investigate. Indict. Prosecute. Convict. Imprison. Read more…

And Obama Should Shoot For That.  Read more…

Yeah, things are tough all over. But go read this devastating account of what it's like not to have been middle or upper middle class to start with when w's recession hit. We all know somebody who's been hurt -- if we haven't ourselves -- by the crash that started, really, hitting the public radar 15-18 months ago, when Shearson/Lehman and Bear/Sterns failed.
But what's it like if you never had a 401k to lose, and you got by on minimum wage? Read more…

Way better news from Cape Canaveral than we might have had, this morning.

Endeavour didn't launch as scheduled -- and yes, that's a good thing.

Challenger launched in bad weather.

Columbia never arrived home.

Another shuttle mission ending as those two did would give the people who hate the space program all the incentive they need to shut it down, finally and fatally. Read more…

A young man joined the Army and completed basic military training.

His family loved him. Nothing unusual in that; these are tough times, jobs are hard to come by, and the Ozarks are not a bustling industrial center. A family tradition of military service was part of William Long's life and experience -- his father is a retired Marine.

What was unusual was what happened when he came home for a brief leave between the end of basic training and his first deployment. An angry religious zealot drove past the recruiter's office where he was working, and murdered him. The same man also shot another recruit at the office. On the day Pvt. Long was supposed to deploy to South Korea, he was buried in Arkansas. The funeral drew a crowd.
A moment's remembrance, please, for 23-year-old William Long, United States Army, and a moment's consideration for the other soldier wounded in the attack: Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula, 18.
.
There is another similarity Read more…

Actually, three moments of remembrance for men shot and killed in the name of hate, as the siege on American values and progress continues apace.

Let us stop and remember a moment for each of these Americans, whose murders were not, despite the spew of cable "news" and the calumny repeated by GOP leaders and the national media's "pundits," perpetrated by the dangerous Socialist left taking over the country.

.

_{(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)} Read more…

This is just ... unfathomable. Liberty Counsel's still selling this stuff online? I mean, I know the GOP and the righwing cannot deal with the truth of the Bush-ordered DHS assessment of threats from right-wing terrorists here in the US, but ... damn.