APR 30 :: [not soon enough] May can't come soon enough. I am hopeful that my birthday month (yay!) will be less drama (yea, right) than this month. The prison abuse thing in Iraq and the Sinclair-Nightline censorship fiasco are just a few more signs why this country is headed in the wrong direction. I haven't been writing much coz the daily barrage of news is just too depressing to contemplate. Plus I've been fighting a persistent dry cough that (hopefully) is caused by allergies. That should subside soon.
On the upbeat side, the EU adds 10 new members at midnight! 15 to 25. Czech Republic, Cyprus (Greek), Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia will soon be part of the European family. With the absorption of formerly-Communist Eastern European countries into the EU, the Iron Curtain has not only been demolished, it has now disintegrated into history. This marks the end to all future divisions of the European continent. Yes, I am hopeful. Yes, I am optimistic. Think that's too much sugar-coating for you? Sue me. I'll take peace over war anyday and if I have to be idealistic about it, so be it.
Last night's Friends was fun. Will & Grace was funnier. Both were predictable but hey, we need all the comfort zone we can get. John Stevens is finally out of American Idol, thank God!! I actually voted 4 times on Tuesday; 3 texts (Latoya, Fantasia and Diana) and 1 phone call (Latoya). Yea, yea... I'm an AI3 junkie.
Mortgage rates and refinancing worries are lingering. I shall go take care of that. Tom/G's Housewarming Part Deux is tomorrow (can't wait) followed by Brad/David's dinner party. Sunday, we're hosting Bruce/Molly for brunch. Not to mention all the prep work and shopping we have to do for the birthday bash in 3 weeks! Fun, fun, and more fun!
APR 27 :: [enough is enough] Paul Krugman in "A Vision of Power", NYT 4/27/04 - "...we learn from Bob Woodward that the administration diverted funds earmarked for Afghanistan to preparations for an invasion of Iraq without asking or even notifying Congress. What Mr. Cheney is defending, in other words, is a doctrine that makes the United States a sort of elected dictatorship: a system in which the president, once in office, can do whatever he likes, and isn't obliged to consult or inform either Congress or the public. Not long ago I would have thought it inconceivable that the Supreme Court would endorse that doctrine. But I would also have thought it inconceivable that a president would propound such a vision in the first place."
When people ask questions, you usually give a straightforward answer. Honesty and truth are the foundations of our market economy and are one of the pillars of our democracy. Evasiveness is usually a sign of cover-up. Bill Clinton learned that the hard way. No matter how many times you repeat something that's false, it will never be true.
How anyone can possibly trust this Administration at this point is beyond me. This Administration has misled us from before the Iraq War started, through the entire war itself and are continuing to mislead us today during the post-war reconstruction. Even worse, this nation put its trust on our elected leaders to defend the country and protect its citizens and while we're in the midst of finding the perpetrators of 9/11, this Administration not only starts to plan for war against a country that has nothing to do with 9/11, it has the gall to divert precious resources away from our hunt for the murderers of 3,000 American lives! Have we now become a citizenry that tolerates purposeful deception and lies from the same public officials we entrusted our nation upon? How many more schemes and cover-ups can we bear before we say enough is enough?
APR 26 :: [stand up and fight] CHOICE, JUSTICE, ACCESS, HEALTH, ABORTION, GLOBAL and FAMILY PLANNING - I marched yesterday with the million plus women, men and children at the March for Women's Lives in DC. I was gonna go regardless and was totally happy that some of my friends joined me. This was not just a pro-abortion rights rally. This was a march for reproductive freedom of choice through access to safe abortions, contraception, health care and sex education. I will be the first one to admit that women's issues are not particularly high on my list of election-year issues but at the end of the day, as Gen put so eloquently, we are fighting for CHOICE. The choice to decide for ourselves what we want to do with our bodies, the choice to love who we want to, and the choice to say "till death do us part" vows to the person we choose. Free from government interference, free from religious-intolerant beliefs, and free from fear. Who decides? We do. Choice = Freedom.
"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute." - JFK 9/12/60
"If the government takes safe, legal clean abortions away from women -- knowing that if a woman needs an abortion, she may have one anyway -- then they are encouraging women to kill themselves. That's why I'm marching." - Whoopi Goldberg at the March for Women's Lives 4/25/04
"There is a religious and moral superiority and arrogance that so many, not all, Republicans have. It is the ultimate intrusion by government to tell a woman when she can have children, if she has them at all." - Lynda Carter at the March.
"We cannot allow the women of the world, and especially the poor women, to be held hostage by the radical policies of the GOP." - Nancy Pelosi at the March.
My allergies are still severe but controllable. Being outside all day Fri, Sat and Sun didn't help :) Had lunch with Nic and Linda Friday before a fun shopping outing to Target followed by champagne with Rob, Thyra and MG at Iron Gate (great place... lovely Wisteria canopy). Then we moved on to my deck where we had Cosmos before having more drinks at Barry/Jimmy's. The 9 of us went for dinner at San Marco and retired to Rob/Mikko's. And all that's just Friday!! Saturday was more subdued - picked Tony up from the airport and walked around Dupont in the glorious weather. Walked by John/Jon's and invited them over for drinks on our deck. Oh btw, the identical house (even renovated the same way) down the street from ours is on the market for $899k! That's amazing.
The march itself was amazing. The staggering size of the crowd meant that it was very very slow at the start but once it got going, the march was full of energy and excitement! Not to mention it lasted almost five hours due to the size of the crowd. There were some counter-demonstrators when we approached Freedom Plaza but the disappointing thing is that instead of a message of hope, these so-called pro-lifers hauled out their pictures of fetuses and angry signs which do nothing to try to reach out to the pro-choice crowd. In fact, there was nothing pro-life about these group of angry white men (and who are they to tell a woman what to do with her body?). Women's bodies, women's choice!
It was heartening to see so many people standing up for what they believe in and coming from all over the country (and the world). These people believe in it so strongly that I am humbled by the strength of their convictions. These people were there because they were told if they believe in something, they need to go all out for it. Because they owe it to the next generation, and to past generations and because they didn't have a choice when they were young. There was no way I wasn't gonna stand up and fight for their rights just as they will for mine. It's been a long time since I bore witness to something I believe in (the last time was the Millennium March on Washington 4 years ago). And I wanted to put my words where my heart is. This is what democracy is all about.
APR 22 :: [america is deaf] I absolutely cannot believe America voted Latoya, Fantasia and Jennifer to be the worst three last night. Are y'all deaf?? Out of the three, I'm glad to see Latoya and Fantasia stay but Jennifer certainly did not deserve to be booted. This is awful. Just yesterday I was posting about how addicted I am to AI3. Now, I can officially say the love affair is over.
I did have a fun night though until Rob and I decided to call Kevin to find out the results of AI3. Went over to Chris' for a drink, then off to 17th ST to hang out outside for a drink with Rob, Tom/Gen, and Chris and then the five-some headed over to Dupont Grille for a great dinner under the stars joined by Mikko and Thyra. It was quite the riot. We were outside all day yesterday and consequently, my allergies have kicked into high gear. I went to see my eye doctor this morning (routine) and my eyes were red and puffy and I'm at home today. The pollen count is peaking in the next few days and I am SO not looking forward to it. I love being outside. I love driving around in my convertible. I love springtime. I love the great outdoors... Why is nature so cruel?
APR 21 :: [hooked] Yes, I am officially hooked on American Idol. I guess the third time's the charm :-) Last night was pretty good although I am not a fan of Barry Manilow. Fantasia, whom everybody loves (sneering at Rob and Nicole), did OK last night. Kinda unfair since her performance of Summertime last week blew everyone away. Latoya was in fine form last night. She's my favorite. The perfect mix of classy elegance and powerful stage/voice presence. All she needs is attitude to reach diva status. George sucked last night. Diana turned it around and sang well as did Jasmine (surprise! She actually looked mature last night). I have to give some credit to John Stevens but the night really went to Jennifer Hudson. She brought the house down! It still doesn't beat Latoya's performance of "All By Myself" or Tamyra Gray's "Over The Rainbow" but it was really good. Rob and I watched it at JR's last night and it was a blast! The queens do love their Idols :)
Pollen count is high but I'm coping (I'm still coughing out balls of yellow dust though, eww!). I'm driving my convertible with the top down fearlessly unlike the past years during high pollen season. Gave my IKEA computer desk to Andy on Monday night and dined at The Diner (open 24 hours!) for the first time (had a mojito - yum). Drank a little bit too much last night at JR's but oh well, it was all for fun. This week is shaping up to be a party week (again!). Tony comes home on Saturday. Can't wait.
I'm gonna leave you with Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) on Larry King Live 4/20/04: "[This Administration is] a very close-knit, quite insular team that basically talks to itself and has very strong convictions -- which is admirable -- that are not shaken by evidence or any factual differences in what they intend to do... I think it's important to have a president who asks a lot of questions, who is intellectually curious, who seeks out contrary points of view, who doesn't just surround himself with people who see the world the same way. You have to have a decision-making process that pushes a lot of information up and asks a lot of hard questions. You don't get that sense from this White House."
Amen, sister.
APR 19 :: [weekend fun] Monday blues are definitely kicking in coz the weekend was so fun! It doesn't help that it's NINETY degrees today and I'm stuck in the office! Fri night was a string of parties starting with drinks on our deck under the new gazebo, moving on to Dupont Grille and then to JR's where Chris and I got so trashed we could hardly get home. Giggle. Saturday started off with manis and pedis with Nic in Germantown followed by strippers at Secrets and drag queens at Ziegfeld's. The weather was so nice all weekend (84 degrees on Saturday and 87 on Sunday!). My convertible was heavenly. It actually got pretty hot on Sunday when we walked for hours from brunch at Lauriol Plaza to shopping at Universal Gear and then drinks at Trio's and JR's (which was jam-packed last night coz all the boys were out!). Rob's sis-in-law, Thyra, is in town so there is always a reason to celebrate! But, sigh, no Tony all weekend coz he's in Alabama visiting Dad and then Nashville. Poor him :)
Quotes, quotes, quotes. I wanted to include these here coz they resonate as far as the matter of the FMA, the war on terror and the 2004 elections are concerned. Andrew Sullivan from "Perry on Politics":
"...the manner in which the president spoke (in support of the FMA) was contemptuous of gay citizens. He couldn't even name the group of people he was attempting to write out of the federal constitution. That was cowardly and cruel. He deserved to be called on it."
"What has distressed me is the weakness of so many of the opposing arguments, and yet the passion with which they have been made. It is hard not to believe that some of the opponents, many of whom I have long respected, really do not consider gay people equal human beings or citizens. And if you read some of the pure hate that comes into my mailbox, you'd see why that's not a paranoid conclusion."
"...But that is the blinding power of fear and prejudice."
"...I am worried by the lack of international legitimacy our noble effort in Iraq lacks. Not because international legitimacy is in itself indispensable or a good thing; but because it helps us achieve our goal. That's why I favored the UN approach to begin with. In general I trust Bush more than Kerry in this war - far more. But I'm open to persuasion and don't think of myself as blindly in support of a person. If another person can better achieve our goals, the beauty of a democracy, unlike a dictatorship, is that we can change leaders quite easily."
"...Certainly, I think [Kerry's] positions on social issues are more congenial than Bush; and his fiscal policy is one I prefer to Bush's. I really am a deficit hawk and find Bush's complete insouciance on the matter deeply worrying. I also worry about the kind of judges Bush might nominate. He's a captive of the far right in these matters. We were told otherwise in 2000; but now we know where he stands. He really is indistinguishable from John Ashcroft on social policy."
APR 16 :: [chance for peace] So Ariel Sharon (let me preface by saying that I think he is a war criminal) has now decided to pull out from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Bravo, I say. This is the first step towards lasting peace. Why it wasn't implemented before, I have no idea. There can be no peace when a nation of people is under the occupation of another. It's very simple and it took this long to figure it out. In our society, land seems to be a very precious and sacred possession.
On the other hand, I am repulsed by the fact that Sharon is insisting on keeping a few parcels of land in the West Bank for himself. And even more disgusted that Bush is supporting this. This annexation is just as illegal as the occupation is. Even if the 1949/67 borders will never be implemented outright, it is up to the Israelis and the Palestinians to negotiate an aacceptable settlement. Who is Sharon to decide for himself what should and shouldn't belong to the Palestinians? It smacks grandly of imperialism and colonialism that was shameful then and it's even more shameful now. I strongly feel that Israel's illegal occupation should not be rewarded by a land-grab simply because there are precious (illegal) settlements already in place. And the United States throwing her weight on this "rewards" for occupation is not going to help any. But ultimately, it is also up to the Palestinians to decide how much land they want to cede to Israel in exchange for peace and the formation of their own state. I do, however, support the return of expelled Palestinians to their own state and not the Israeli state. The latter just doesn't make sense.
But such is the state of American politics. Both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates support Israel to the exlusion of any respect or rights for the Palestinians. It's so one-sided it's disgusting. So there really isn't much point in me pulling my hair out over this. No one in American politics has the courage to stand up to Israel and say "wait a minute..."
The solution seems so simple: end the occupation and peace will be given a chance. Yet, getting there is so difficult. And the US is just making things harder by appearing to be partial. Why won't we give peace a chance?
[brilliant] *sigh* Some days I think he's a quack, others I just think he's brilliant. The perfect mix of conservatism and sensibility. Take a look.
APR 15 :: [the price of incuriousity] "Americans knew George W. Bush was an incurious man when they elected him, but the hearings of the 9/11 investigating commission, which turned yesterday from the F.B.I.'s fecklessness to the C.I.A.'s blurred vision, have brought that fact home in a startling way. The president is trying hard to present himself as a hands-on manager who talked terrorism incessantly with the director of central intelligence, George Tenet. ("I wanted Tenet in the Oval Office all the time.") But Mr. Tenet had to concede yesterday that he was not in Crawford, Tex., for the Aug. 6, 2001, briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." Mr. Tenet told the panel he didn't meet with Bush all that month, but the C.I.A. later said there had been two meetings. No one has been able to say whether Mr. Bush followed up in any way after he asked his intelligence agencies whether there was a domestic threat from Al Qaeda, and got a loud "yes" in response." - NY Times Editorial
[no deal] Osama bin Laden is a sick, sick man. And he thought he could "negotiate" his way to a truce with the European continent? Oh puh-leeeeeez. The continent has seen two world wars rage across her land partly as a result of negotiating with mass murderers of innocent civilians. That won't happen again, thank God.
That said: the occupation of sovereign states in the Middle East needs to stop. The support the Western world gives to the abovementioned occupation needs to end. We wouldn't like it if it happened to us so what gives us the right to impose it on others? An occupation of another people is contrary to our founding ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As long as another race or nation of people feels enslaved, there will be no end to the beginnings of all wars. Peace!
[will the opposition lead?] "The Democrats ought to thank and congratulate the countries that have sent troops, and ought to remind the economically powerful Switzerlands of this world that they, too, have responsibilities. The Democrats ought to assure everyone that support for a successful outcome in Iraq does not have to mean support for George W. Bush. And how should the Democrats make these several arguments? They should speak about something more than the United Nations and stability in Iraq. They should talk about fascism. About death cults. About the experiences of the 20th century. About the need for democratic solidarity."
"This is not a project for after the election this is a project for right now. America needs allies. Today, and not just tomorrow. And America needs leaders. If the Bush administration cannot rally support around the world, let other people give it a try." - Paul Berman, NY Times Op-Ed Contributor
APR 11 :: [inconclusive] The Aug 6 memo has been declassified. The media is going crazy about the headline of the memo (remarkably titled "Bin Laden determined to attack inside the United States") and why the Administration was "vacationing" during the entire month of August while they had knowledge of this memo.
In all honesty, the evidence in the memo was inconclusive at best. But it was FAR from a "historical" document. "There will be attacks in the near future. But they don't tell us when. They don't tell us where, they don't tell us who, and they don't tell us how".
Wow... Ms. Rice, you're an idiot.
I can't help but wonder - Inconclusive intelligence did not seem to bother the Administration from waging a full-scale, costly and (now) unjustified war against Iraq. But now they're pleading that they couldn't do anything pre-9/11 because of inconclusive intelligence? Bush's narrow-minded fixation on Iraq is absolutely abhorrent. And what a tragedy it became for our nation.
Oh and the caviar/champagne party was an amazing evening. Here's a copy of the menu :-). And Nik's birthday party was fun. Easter brunch later. More when I'm in a jollier mood.
APR 9 :: [where is the love] Stayed home today to prepare for the caviar party tonight! Can't wait. Mike/Gary, Tom/G, Rob/Mikko and Chuck are coming. We have $270 worth of caviar ready to serve (plus a gazillion bottles of champagne to go with). Took Chris to Dulles last night for his flight to London. He'll be back next Tuesday. Verizon Ladies First Tour 2004 concert last night @ MCI Center was apparently a super-performance by Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys and Beyonce, baby. Tried to get tickets for Sunday but they were all gone already. Oh well, I guess I have Madonna to look forward to! Not much going on except for the same old twisted war cover-up stories in Washington. *sigh* At least they are now talking about declassifying the Aug 6, 2001 memo.
It's bizarre how the world hungers for peace and love and yet all we can come up with is more bombs leading to more death and destruction. Are we the moral equivalent of a bad cop who wields too much power? Why are we fighting the Iraqis? It's their country, isn't it? Why do we justify war the way we do? Where is the love?
So, on that note, I leave you with lyrics from Black Eyed Peas' pro-peace song - "Where Is The Love":
But if you only have love for your own race,
Then you only leave space to discriminate,
And to discriminate only generates hate,
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate...
If love and peace is so strong,
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong,
Nations droppin' bombs,
Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones,
With the ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young...
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover,
The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug,
If you never know truth then you never know love....
Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity,
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality,
Instead in spreading love we're spreading animosity,
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity...
APR 8 :: [the truth] It can't be. There was a MEMO?? One month before the attacks? And allegedly it contained time-frame, methods to be used and specific cities with skyscrapers mentioned?! This can't possibly be true. No Administration will put American lives in jeopardy like this. Stretching the truth is one thing but deception about a tragedy that killed close to 3,000 lives? Whether it was preventable or not, we still need to know the truth.
What does the memo say? Historical, you say? Not a warning, you insist? But with a title like "Bin Laden determined to attack inside the United States", there is only one thing we should all agree upon: Declassify it. Please, for the sake of our country and its people. We need to know the truth.
APR 5 :: [fall backward?] So I woke up this morning to (our cleaning ladies pounding on the door but that's another story altogether) sub-freezing temperatures! Did we spring forward or did we just fall backward to December? Anyway, daylight saving time is annoying. I wish it was DST all year round. Why even bother rolling the clock back? Mo' daylight is mo' better. Don'cha hate it when alluvasudden in October, it gets dark at 5 instead of 6? Anyway, whichever way you put it, loss of sleep is not fun. Plus the pollen is doing a number on me. Ugh!
So the other big news that I so casually omitted is I scored 6 floor tickets to Madonna's concert in DC on 6/14!! Yea, she added a second date and tickets were plenty available. Must've sold out by now but who cares. I have Row 36 seats! On the floor!! Yea, baby. I need to be Re-Invented. Can't wait.
[roth ira] It's done! I finally have my very own Roth IRA account. Tax-free withdrawls (when I'm 59 1/2) are awesome. I already have a 401(k) with my company but this is more fun. Plus, Tony - the guy at Citibank who hand-held me through the entire process - is awesome. And he recommended dumping the money into three of Franklin Templeton's mutual funds and I did! I'm the proud daddy of three new FT mutual fund babies :) Happiness.
APR 4 :: [winding down] The weekend is winding down. Café MoZu at MO|DC was fantastic. It helped that I'm a huge fan of Asian fusion to begin with. Service was good but needs to be polished up. All in all, a good experience. The lobby seemed a little spartan and the location is awful but I can imagine that some of the rooms have great views of the monuments. The walk to the hotel from Smithsonian Metro was desolate. But I'm guessing the walking population isn't part of this hotel's target audience :) Still, I'm a local and my repeat business will be just as valuable as someone shelling out $300+/night for a room here. Nonetheless, I can't wait for the Spa to open! (May 1st, apparently) Also, the Signature Restaurant (opening Aug 31st) will feature Eric Ziebold who is the chef de cuisine to Thomas Keller at the French Laundry! Now that's something to look forward to.
Chris and I topped off Friday night at Apex's video bar (yes, we paid $8 just to see music videos). It was great but that bar is way too smoky. My jacket still reeks of cigarette smoke 2 days later. Dinner last night at Roger/David's was fun. Didn't go out after that coz we were all toasty drunk. Got my haircut. The cherry blossoms are definitely winding down as well. The weather was fine this weekend which was a relief after last week's 5-full-days of rain (Nicole and I are gonna start building an Ark!). It's gonna turn nasty again tonight into Tuesday. Crazy winds and frost!! In April! Crazy.
Anywho, just wanted to finish off the weekend by pointing this out: 12 Reasons why Same-Sex Marriage will Ruin Society (humor). It's awesome and it'll make you laugh and think which is better than screaming and shouting virulent epithets in Congress or Statehouses nationwide. Enjoy!
APR 2 :: [silver lining] I had a miserable start to my day today. My job interview was canceled and the day was just too dreary to get out of bed for. Well, things have perked up! There's always a silver lining. You just have to have a good attitude and hope for the best. I have recruiters calling me about interesting job opportunities and I had a fabu sushi lunch with Nicole. G called with stories about getting pre-sale Madonna tickets and we had a Madonna session over the phone. Life is good. I'm so looking forward to dining at the MO tonight and then hopefully a Cosmo session with the boys after. There's nothing like picking yourself up when you've been hit in the gut, y'know? I'm ready for the weekend so get your party started!
[contributing to hope] Oh and one more thing. Today I started a $100 monthly-recurring contribution to the John Kerry for President campaign. I urge you all to do the same. There is no bigger threat to our democracy than George W. Bush.
30 :: not soon enough
27 :: enough is enough
26 :: stand up and fight
22 :: america is deaf
21 :: hooked
19 :: weekend fun
16 :: chance for peace
16 :: brilliant
15 :: the price of incuriousity
15 :: no deal
15 :: will the opposition lead?
11 :: inconclusive
09 :: where is the love
08 :: the truth
05 :: fall backward?
05 :: roth ira
04 :: winding down
02 :: silver lining
02 :: contributing to hope