Forget Sarah Palin (who, rightly so, is going to be and should be “burnt toast” rather sooner than later … good take here on that today) … who’s not been in national government yet … or ever … I hope.

But, how some folks can so embrace some folks who have been in Washington — who’ve been part(y) and parcel to a big, bipartisan mess — and deny most responsibility for such — and take on greater patriotic airs, too … is beyond my simple comprehension.

Sorry, for me, it doesn’t work.

I don’t have any kind of secure position or entitlements.

Whatever I’ve scrapped and saved for, however prudent I’ve been, over the past decade … doesn’t mean shit to a tree … or pig …

… to the $66M man or to the poor old guy …

It’s going to be a “new” “Morning again in America” …

for them, anyway, either way it goes.

Party on …

… but they’ll be our piggies, one way or another.

Feeling grumpy, once again, America …

In a “news” story today entitled “MD voters ‘up the creek’ on gender identity law,” OneNewsNow reported that [emphasis added] …

Under the controversial “gender identity” law, a man would be allowed to walk into a women’s restroom or shower room claiming he believes himself to be a woman, essentially opening the door for rape or sexual molestation. In July a lower Montgomery County court agreed more than 900,000 petition signers had the right to see it on the ballot to choose whether to overturn it — but it was appealed.

Putting aside the rape/molestation/sexual predator canard, and just focusing on the math, I’d suggest OneNewsNow (and fellow wingnutter, WorldNetDaily, which has done the same thing) check some numbers …

• The total population of Montgomery County is not much more than 900,000 persons.
• The total number of petition signatures (valid or not) submitted back in July was under 27,000.

A (appropriately fuzzy) screenshot of the ONN story from their website …

… “a container, a way to harvest energy and an information carrier.”

This is the sort of news that Zoe (who, I’m happy to hear, is back in the saddle) is much more apt to post about than I am — frankly, I haven’t kept up with cellular biology and such since my undergraduate days back in the Paleolithic era.

But, no doubt, the RNC and the McCain campaign have been closely following this research …

A team of biologists and chemists is closing in on bringing non-living matter to life.

It’s not as Frankensteinian as it sounds. Instead, a lab led by Jack Szostak, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School, is building simple cell models that can almost be called life.

[...]

The rest of “Biologists on the Verge of Creating New Form of Life” can be found at Wired.

Last week I posted a word cloud of Barrack Obama’s acceptance speech. Here’s a similar word cloud of John McCain’s acceptance speech this evening …

Via Wordle

I’m sure there were more than a few folks out there who expected “Crazy Uncle Joe” Biden to come up with another “clean and articulate” type comment rather sooner than later and, commenting on the Republican VP nominee, the “gorgeous” Sen. Gaffe did not disappoint …

“She’s good looking.”

Well, whatever one may think about Gov. Palin’s apparent complete and utter lack of experience and qualifications, what was Biden thinking?

Ha ha, we don’t need those feminists anyhow, maybe? We’re gonna get the women’s vote anyway (just kidding), maybe?

A couple of reactions to Biden’s remark …

Oh, jeez, here we go already. With the canny, seemingly good-natured-but-really-a-put-down jokes about a female candidate.

The lone female is gone from the Democratic race; they can’t use the old pantsuits laugher anymore. So Joe Biden trotted out the subtly dismissive, isn’t-she-pretty line about you-know-who, the newbie on the Republican side. (Translation: There’s really nothing else to her to comment about, but I won’t say that because I’m not a sexist.)

[...]

“She’s good-looking,” he quipped.

Yeah, really, hold your sides on that one.

Let’s turn that reference around 180-degrees and imagine a female candidate in front of a large audience talking about some, oh, hypothetical male opponent for the vice presidency. “Thirty-six years in the United States Senate,” she says, “And all he’s got to show for it is a beautiful head of hairplugs.”

Real classy, right?

Democrat Joe Biden likes Republican Sarah Palin’s looks

… and …

“There’s a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent,” he said in Toledo, Ohio. Pause for the punch-line. “She’s good looking.” It’s the way he tells ‘em, folks.

[...]

Amid all the kerfuffle over Sarah Palin, it’s worth remembering that one advantage of the pick could be that Joe Biden has a habit of behaving like your slightly embarrassing uncle. Or, as Alex Massie puts it, he’s “the sort of man I’ve met many a time in Irish pubs”.

Joe Biden: Sarah Palin is “good looking”

Enough of our “future.”

Now, back to the future …

Google introduces Chrome

Geez, the last time I saw chrome was back in ’69 on my Chevy.

A sign of the times, ahhhh …

This year, however, fewer people are ordering the region’s signature dish, driving down lobster prices and making times harder for lobster fishermen already reeling from the high cost of fuel and bait.

“Lobster is a luxury item, and when things are tight, people don’t buy lobster,” said Peter Eaton, a lobsterman from Kennebunkport, Me., who is getting about $3.75 per lobster off the boat, a quarter less than three months ago and about a dollar less than last summer.

While price and demand have hit their lowest point in years, lobster fishermen are hauling in larger catches than ever. Restaurants in New England have been running lobster specials all summer, trying to pass on the lower prices and move lobsters from the tank to the table.

Demand and Price Are Falling for Lobster

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, there’s a “Rally for Liberty” (aka The Ron Paul Show) … no lobsters speaking as far as we know, but Tucker “Just because you’re castrated and have a fake set of boobs does not make you a woman” Carlson is there.

Transgender news and views for Friday …

#1 – Here’s the latest (‘Random, “Conventional” Thoughts…‘ and ‘Log Cabin Republican’s Apparently Have An Interesting Definition Of “Inclusive Republican”‘) at PHB from Autumn, who’s been a bit of a tease, and obviously in need of help.

#2 – I’m a lifelong “Yankee Yellow Dog” … but I’ll not likely be voting for the Obama-Biden ticket come election time. Time enough to share my simple thoughts about that later. Meanwhile, let’s say I can’t disagree with Serena Freewomyn today over at Bilerico …

… the Democrats are chicken shits who will pander to the least common denominator …

Of course, I’ve held the same view (but multiply it by an appropriate double-digit — at least — numerator) of the Republicans for the past 40 years … as long as I’ve been voting.

Sorry, call me a curmudgeon (or whatever you may prefer) if you wish, but no apologies, I conscientiously object to ‘em all.

#3 – Lynn Conway‘s posted a critique on her site regarding the prevalence of GID. News of this sort of apparent “undercounting” came out earlier this year. Kelly Winters has also touched on the subject recently.

#4 – Marti Abernathey, who’s been busy with the Obama campaign, among other things, I’m sure, has a post up at Transadvocate (and Bilerico) today about “St. Barney” (as Kat Rose refers to him) …

On Tuesday I attended the HRC/Victory Fund luncheon and on Wednesday I attended the LGBT caucus at the convention center in Denver. Many stories were broke in the past few days, but one event passed by without a word. In a very consistent manner, Barney Frank again signaled that when ENDA is introduced, it will not be fully inclusive.

#5 – Some trans people in the news …

• “Teacher Chooses Gender Change” [Video here]
• “The Second Most Beautiful Girl in New York“
• “Transsexual’s old online ad won’t derail parks board bid“

No, I wasn’t expecting to see “transgender” (among other things) in here …

Via Wordle

(I’ll do the same for McCain next week.)

This one (click the pic) …

… not this one.

Richard Kim concluded a good blog piece (“Gay Days at the DNC“) at The Nation with …

“Will everyone else please stop bitching about trivia!” he exclaimed–a rather inopportune verb choice that had some gay PUMAs licking their fur off. Fortunately, Barney talks like he has marbles in his mouth, so his plea came out more like this: “Veel jevvryone else reees rop wristing arout Riviera!”

I thought, for a moment, he was talking about some fabulous drag-queen delegate who had found her name on a map of France.

On a more substantive note, Kim pointed out …

… the Democratic platform this year is the most pro-gay it has ever been, calling for a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, employment non-discrimination legislation that includes trans folks, increased money to fight AIDS and opposition to the federal marriage amendment. There was some worry earlier this month by gay activists who noticed that the words “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender” appear nowhere in the platform (unlike 2004), but that reflects a move toward using the terms “sexual orientation,” “same-sex couple” and “gender identity”–expressions that have some legal teeth.

Mara Keisling of NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality) made essentially the same observation a couple of days ago in one of our Yahoo! groups (TGV_Advocacy) …

… note that neither ENDA nor any other federal legislation we support — that I can think of — mentions the words gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender either. We write laws to protect people based on characteristics not by naming types of people.

By the way, Kim met up with Arizona delegate Amanda Simpson in Denver …

And then I met Amanda Simpson, a male-to-female transgender Obama delegate from Arizona who (and I don’t think she’d mind me saying) has had about as much work done as Cindy McCain, but looks 100 times better. Simpson was introduced to me as a “rocket scientist,” and indeed, she works in the aerospace industry but can’t tell me exactly what she does without clearance. She breakfasts here in Denver with a retired one-star general and his wife, also delegates from Arizona, who according to Simpson think, like many military officers, that DADT is silly and outrageous.

pretty amazing person, Amanda.

The latest on Autumn at the Democratic National Convention, via Russ at Pam’s House Blend …

The event Autumn and I attended was the LGBT Caucus.

[...]

In between speakers, Autumn would grab me for quick interviews with the transgender activists. I’ll let her take care of the names and topics (feel free to edit here, Autumn) because I really didn’t catch them.

(I think that’s Vanessa Foster (middle) and Dana Beyer (right) pictured above.)

In the meantime, according to Russ, we’ll have to “stay tuned” for that “scoop” …

… until I can edit the video and scrub the audio we’re embargoing the story. Stay tuned – I get home Sunday and this will be the first video I edit and post. Let’s just say I captured a provocative conversation with someone on his controversial stance on a complicated civil rights issue. (And damn me for bringing a digital video tape camera with no way of capturing the digital video to my laptop!)

… I’m anticipating a “Barney.”

Some of the transgender news and views we came across on Tuesday …

#1 – Autumn spoke with Shannon Minter And Mara Keisling yesterday at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. You can hear that here. And, if it’s your cup of tea, there’s plenty more coverage of the DNC at Pam’s House Blend.

#2 – “Removing ‘some’ of the inequalities” … “still a political problem” … “has enough lobbying been done?” … so, to whom do you think Barney Frank’s referring?

…

He added that the Employment Non Discrimination Act still presented “a political problem.”

It was originally designed to make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or promote a person based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The decision to remove trans people from the scope of the legislation caused anger among the LGBT community in the US, with many demanding an “all or nothing” stance.

“The question now is whether enough lobbying has been done to include people who are transgender,” Congressman Frank said.

“We need more lobbying on that. We had a very good hearing on that issue and it helped. Previously, we were running into problems getting it out of committee, and I think the hearing we had a major impact on that. It also depends on if we get more Democrats.”

…

Congressman attacks gays who support McCain

Kat Rose over at ENDAblog had something to say about “more Democrats” …

And wait for those 15 to be ‘educated’ by those who say that they have our best interests at heart.

And then wait for him to say 15 more are needed.

#3 – Joshua Lynsen of the Washington Blade spoke with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at the DNC in Denver on Monday. Lynsen asked O’Malley about Montgomery County’s (Md.) upcoming transgender rights referendum …

Blade: Last question. There is a transgender rights measure that is going to the ballot in Montgomery County in November. Do you expect to become involved in that battle at all to help protect the rights of transgender people?

O’Malley: You know, I think we passed a similar bill in the city of Baltimore when I was mayor, if my memory serves me correctly. So, you know, there are bills at the local level. There’s bills at the state level. I typically don’t get involved with local ordinances. I try to focus my attention on statewide bills. But we did it in the city of Baltimore and dogs and cats didn’t fall from the sky. You know? It was — I think these bills — I don’t know. I think it would probably be a good thing for Montgomery County to do. I don’t have the legislation in front of me, but if it’s like what we did in Baltimore, it caused no problems whatsoever.

Blade: So it’s got your thumbs up?

O’Malley: Yes.

O’Malley reiterates call for civil unions

#4 – We haven’t heard much about Susan Stanton since early April (“Wife Seeks Amicable Divorce From Ex-Largo Manager Susan“). As a follow-up to that news, the Tampa Tribune reported yesterday …

Susan Stanton, the former Largo city manager known as Steven Stanton before a sex change, has mediated his divorce from his wife of 18 years, according to court documents.

The agreement was signed off on by a Pinellas-Pasco judge on Aug. 6.

…

Transgendered Ex-Largo Manager Gets Divorce Terms

The St. Petersburg Times noted (“Stanton’s marriage comes to an end“) that Stanton “has a good relationship with her ex-wife, but she has lost most of her friends” and “has been unable to find work.”

#5 – In the UK, the late Lynne Braithwaite was honored last Friday …

A FLY-PAST of a lone Vulcan bomber across Morecambe on Friday was a
fitting tribute to a leading transgender activist, author and RAF veteran of 40 years.

The life of Lynne Janine Braithwaite BEM, who died on August 12, was celebrated at a packed Lancaster Cremator-ium where friends and family said their farewells to a remarkable person.

They included the Deputy Chief Constable of Lancashire police force, who gave a speech outlining Lynne’s involvement as a volunteer advisor on transgender issues, who toured the country speaking at various seminars and workshops – fighting for the rights of all transgender people.

The fly-past of the Vulcan bomber was in honour of the work carried out by Lynne as an engineer on the Vulcan to the Sky project – a campaign to get the Vulcan airborne again which was only achieved months before Lynne passed away.

Lynne, of Westfield Grove in Morecambe, certainly led an inspirational life.

She was born Lawrence James Braithwaite on July 1, 1934 in one of Beatrix Potter’s houses at Near Sawrey in the Lake District.

She left school to join the RAF in September 1949, retiring as a Flight Sergeant on July 1 1989.

Lynne was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Honours List in 1976.

Her expertise was maintenance of Vulcan bombers. It was with this experience that she was called out of retirement as engineering consultant to the Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

In early 2008 the Vulcan bomber XH558 passed its airworthiness tests and flew once again. Lynne was very proud of this achievement and it was therfore entirely appropriate that the plane was present at her funeral.

After leaving the RAF Lynne ran her own business making silver model aircraft until 1992, when it went bust during the recession.

Not long after her transition to female in 1994 aged 60, she contacted Lancashire Constabulary asking what policies and procedures they had regarding transgender people.

Lynne had significant input advising on best practice for trans people as service users and employees in the police service.

Until July 2008 she remained an active member of Lancashire Northern Police Division’s Independent Advisors Group where, over the years, she was consulted on a number of policing issues and policies. At the time of her death she was also an active member of Trans Lancs group – an advisory team for the constabulary, keeping them up to date with the legal and social issues affecting trans people.

She wrote several books including ‘Diaries of a Transfemale’ and ‘From Brigands to V Bombers’.

The Press For Change website, which campaigns for respect and equality for all transgender people, paid tribute to her: “Lynne was a vibrant, indefatigable person who was always active and approach-ed life with the enthusiasm of someone decades younger. She will be greatly missed.”

Fly-past tribute to RAF veteran

Transgender news and views for Monday …

#1 – Autumn flew into Denver yesterday where she will be covering the Democratic National Convention for Pam’s House Blend. Among the other trans folks in Denver for the Convention (as delegates) are Marisa Richmond and Vanessa Foster.

#2 – Testimony concluded last Friday in Diane Schroer’s bias suit against the Library of Congress …

A federal judge yesterday concluded a four-day bench trial in a lawsuit brought by a former Special Forces commander who lost a job offer as a terrorism research analyst at the Library of Congress because he disclosed he was undergoing the medical process of becoming a woman.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson heard testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, including scientific experts, officials at the Library of Congress and Diane Schroer, the former Army colonel who brought the suit. Robertson said he would issue a ruling soon.

Schroer, who applied for the job in 2004 under the name of David and has since completed the medical transition to become a woman, testified that she was hurt when she lost the job offer after disclosing the transition to the person she thought would be her future boss. She filed the sex discrimination suit under the Civil Rights Act. The Library of Congress has argued that the Civil Rights Act does not prohibit discrimination against transsexuals or on the basis of gender identity.

Testimony Ends in Transsexual Bias Suit

#3 – JimK at Vigilance, who’s been closely following the fate of Montgomery County’s (Md.) recently-passed transgender rights law, expressed some exasperation yesterday with the wimpy, “croquet” tactics of the law’s supporters …

Look, this isn’t croquet we’re playing here, this is a fistfight. The other side has been throwing punches for months, and our side is waiting for funding so we can have a poll so we can decide what we want to tell people. “Making information available” is important and so obvious it shouldn’t need to be said. It is also not a persuasion strategy. People who want information need to be able to find it, I agree. But your average ignorant voter doesn’t care that much and isn’t going to look for it. If you want to give them information you’ve got to give it to them. In their face.

“Prohibit discrimination” is the wimpiest campaign slogan I can imagine. It’s got more syllables than impact. The people of our Blue county oppose discrimination, and would support this bill if they knew what it said. That’s why we elected the Council who passed it unanimously and the County Executive who was happy to sign it. But the anti-gay, anti-transgender bigots are making sure people don’t know what the law is about. They’re not conducting polls and adjusting their message for the “median voter,” they’re waving their arms and getting red in the face, telling lies and misrepresenting the law in any way that will get people’s attention. When one side is saying your daughter will be raped and dead girls will be turning up all over the county, “prohibit discrimination” is not an effective response.

…

Woman Fired For Wearing Pants

Over at the Maryland Politics Watch blog, Montgomery County trans woman Maryanne Arnow recounts the discrimination she has faced …

In the last year, I’ve had to face distinct increases in discrimination and denigration from the general public in the normal course of my daily life. This is occurring directly as a result of a local campaign from conservative groups that continually foster unwarranted fears, stereotypical misrepresentations, and highly negative references to transgender people, in the public eye of perception.

I have faced extreme social and workplace humiliations in the last several years since beginning my transition (change) of gender. I have applied at dozens of restaurants, retail stores, warehouses, and even major hotel chains such as Marriott, most located in Montgomery County.

…

As it now stands, it is both legal and apparently still socially acceptable to discriminate against anyone like myself in hiring, workplace, housing, public services, and public accommodations. I once again have no civil rights or legal protections at any level. Not federal, state, or county, and mainly as a direct result of the actions of these groups to force a referendum on this law.

We have been burned at the stake, in the use of guilt by association to other highly negative stereotypes such as pedophiles and sexual predators. This has nothing to do with transgender people whatsoever. This is an outright lie. It is a crass, cruel, and disgusting distortion. This is an utter fallacy to the fullest extent that it has been used by these groups.

As a fellow citizen, neighbor, wife, and daughter – as a warm and articulate person, and skilled professional Culinary Artist, I have found this intolerably painful. This is entirely unacceptable by any ethical standard that I know of. There have been direct, and deeply negative impacts on my life as a result of such discriminatory behaviors.

Enough is enough. Help restore my most basic civil rights, and overrule the falsehoods being spread by these groups, once and for all.

Living with Discrimination as a Transgender Woman

#4 – Over at Trans Universe, Angela Brightfeather would like a “simple question” answered …

That simple question is:

“Senator Obama, would you veto an exclusive version of the Employment Non Discrimination Act if it did not include employment protections for transgender people?”

It’s a tough question to ask a man who believes in not impeding any rights bill from passing, but it is an important question to ask. If the answer is anything but “Yes,” I will take my vote on November and either find someone else to vote for, or just sit this one out and encourage everyone to do the same until people come to realize that this makes common sense.

And, the big question for Senator Obama is . . . . ?

#5 – It’s raining a bit tonight in Asheville … it’s been so long I feel like streaking into the night. Night all.

Unabashedly plagiarizing Obama, John McCain announces “Let me introduce to you the next President — the next Vice President of the United States of America, Britney Spears … ”

But … they’re just the grubby, dirty (18%) pot calling the scorched, nuked kettle black.

I may be an ol’ yellow dog (from New York City), but I sure as heck don’t feel comfortable voting for them come this November.

(Though I probably will end up doing so. I’m no McCain fan … for starters, I remember this business.)

Forget single issues (trans rights, for instance, especially when folks don’t deliver) — I don’t see these ass clowns doing anything to address and fix my concerns about where my life, or likely where your life and those of most fellow citizens are going.

Obama, please, I expect we’ll see more improvement in his golf game like his buddy, Franklin Raines (shame, shame) …

He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case’s D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.

… than anything substantive. Steve Case? Dot-com bubble. Harold Raines? Housing-bubble. Barack Obama? Name that bubble.