May 16
So, I need to write this. Partly because I need to express my frustration, anger and sadness about this Primary Process and partly because I need to go back to some simple facts that will help keep my spirit and support alive and well. I am doing this for purely selfish reasons – truth be told I need to vent. Yet I am not going to include Senator Obama in this; he is not worthy of my keystrokes. Call it divisive, call it ignorant. This has never been about the other candidate for me, it has been about the one candidate who I believe, now more than ever, has the tenacity, strength, vision and compassion to be the 44th President of the United States. Take what you want from this – solace, strength, energy, determination, motivation, or maybe a tinge of sadness or despair that it hasn’t exactly worked out how we thought it would.
Yet bear this in mind – good things come to those who wait. If that means 2012, lets go there. Stronger, feistier and more steadfast in our convictions. As supporters, we know we are right in backing the best candidate running for President. It is simply that the hype has taken over the fundamental facts, which we never foresaw and we did not comprehend.
I have loved her since the tender age of 15 when I first started to become interested in politics, and was mesmerized by her ability to be a forthright and active First Lady and then an astounding Senator for New York. In “Living History” she wrote “My faith has always been a crucial, though deeply personal, part of my life and part of my family’s life. When I was confirmed into the Methodist Church, I took to heart John Wesley’s words” “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can..as long as you ever can.” I sat on a beach, with my diet Coke in one hand and Living History, slightly sandy, in the other. I gazed at the sunset and dreamt of what the promise of a second Clinton Presidency could hold and bring to America and to the world at large. This wasn’t just a woman, this was a leader. In 2007, she spoke the words the world had been waiting to hear. “I am putting together a Presidential exploratory committee.” My heart skipped a beat that day, and all the joyous feelings I had experienced at 15, my beach day, came gushing back to me. It was time for a woman President. It was time.
So in West Virginia after a 41 point victory on Tuesday evening, she once more infused my heart, mind and soul with hope and spoke confidently, passionately and courageously. She brought to the table the kind of hope that isn’t empty, that isn’t cheap and that comes at a great price. Her supporters poised once more, rose to the challenge she posed to them – to stay with her until the lady in the pantsuit says that its over. We have all prayed, in the face of a biased media and a reluctant democratic party, that the nation would listen to our calls and push her further towards the nomination. West Virginia, amongst the other crucial primary states, did not let us down. We’ll stand, we’ll fight, we’ll defend and we’ll continue.
“As long as we remember that there is no challenge we cannot meet, no barrier we cannot break, no dream we cannot realize. So, let’s finish the job we started. America is worth fighting for.”
This next part cannot be written without alluding to Senator Obama -sorry I am breaking my promise but it is essential to place my feelings into some kind of context.
At the White House’s Two-Hundredth Anniversary Dinner, Gerald Ford stated “Once again, the world’s oldest Republic has demonstrated the youthful vitality of its institutions and the ability and necessity to come together..the clash of partisan political idea’s does remain just that – to be quickly followed by a transfer of authority.” In response to this she wrote that this was proof that America’s foundations were stronger than individuals and politics. So what baffles me about Senator Obama’s ‘change in Washington’ politics is that it really is empty rhetoric. For a system that has worked for hundreds of years, albeit abused by the Bush Administration and in great need of re-establishing accountability and governance of the American people, not simply alluding to the ideals and preferences of those in power, it seems an awful lot of individuals are blindly buying into the ‘change we can believe in’ mantra. This is without really thinking through the fundamentals of what this entails, it being quite simply, unworkable and unnecessary in a system that serves American citizens each day, and with accountable political leaders having their best interests at heart, well.
The overwhelming advantage she has, has been her ability to really tackle head on, without reservation, the special interests that seek to curb positive change for the American people. Whether they be the drug companies, the insurance companies or the lobbyists. That resounding ability to rise to the challenge is what will lay the foundations for a remarkable Clinton Administration. She is unafraid, she is capable, she is ready and she is more than willing to be the fearless agent of change. That is why my thoughts are entangled within a web of uncertainty and moreover, frustration, at why this woman is not already the nominee, and why the Democratic party are so forceful in their rejection of continuing the race and keeping her Presidential bid alive. It is baffling to me, when here for the first time in a long while, America has been presented with the opportunity to elect an extremely able candidate, who also has a personality that oozes compassion and concern for ‘real problem’s. A candidate who not merely works for the people, but listens to their needs and acts upon their fears, dreams and desires towards a better future for all involved.
What is not to like about Universal Health care? A renewable energy plan that will pave the way towards tackling global warming on a worldwide scale? An Economic plan that will seek to end the home foreclosure crisis and allow America to once again have a balanced budget and a surplus, with employment opportunities? A plan that will make college affordable and early learning more accessible and widespread, allowing children to reach their god given potential? What is not to like about that John Edward’s, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd? Answer me that.
My conclusion is that they are not rejecting the policy ideas that have come with the prospect of a second Clinton Administration: they are perfectly visionary and exciting. They are rejecting the woman who would be the champion of such ideal’s.
But let me tell you about that woman: you know the one who said ‘Women’s rights are human rights”, the one who started the Cookie-Scandal holding a sign saying “put Broccoli back in the White House,” the first First Lady to ever have her own office in the White House, and testify in front of a Grand Jury. The Senator who stood with New Yorkers consistently, seven years after 9/11 fighting for health care, supporting their grief and holding their loved ones as they worked through their pain and anguish. Who stood by and not only fought politically as an elected official, but fought as a wife, as a mother, as a person. She is a beautifully warm woman by all accounts, but she is more than that. She found the strength within herself to forgive her husband, publicly and without shame of an extra-marital affair, managing to run a successful White House despite Michelle Obama’s contentions that she did not. She got re-elected into the United States Senate for a second term with a massive majority vote. Some despise her, some like her, some love her. New Yorkers fall into the latter category as do half of the United States it seems if one glances at the ‘popular vote’ statistics and the fall electoral college map. She is intelligent beyond comprehension. She is kind when kindness matters. She is tough when only toughness will do. She is inspirational.
It is not a case of loving her however. Its a case of recognizing she has the leadership credentials far beyond those of her opponent, and in love and in hate, acknowledging that she has what it takes to be the agent of change America so desperately needs after a destructive Bush Administration.
I just happen to love her. In case you were wondering, she is Hillary Rodham Clinton.
And she is still running for President. Madame President, that is.
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This is a special guest column written by Lauren Hammond. She may be reached via her Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1171064270.
Jan 10
Let’s have a brief discussion about bigotry and unacceptable behavior in a civilized nation.
At almost every Hillary Clinton rally in recent weeks there have been at least one or two idiots chanting or holding up signs that say, “Iron My Shirt!”
As the New York Times reported Monday:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was about to deliver a line that has become a centerpiece of her campaign since her loss in Iowa.
“Everybody in this race is talking about change. But what does that mean?”
“Iron my shirt!” yelled a man, who stood up in the middle of a jammed and stuffy auditorium at a high school in Salem, N.H., and held up a yellow sign with the same text. He repeated it over and over.
Mrs. Clinton asked for the lights to be turned on, and the shirt man was removed along with another man who had stood up too.
“Oh, the remnants of sexism are alive and well,” Mrs. Clinton said.
When everyone had settled down a bit, she said, “As I think has just been abundantly demonstrated, I am also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling.”
Her words were drowned out by a cheering, now-standing crowd.
How degrading. I admire the composure that Mrs. Clinton showed at the time. But, then again, she has been fighting for real change in women’s lives for decades and, sadly, is probably used to this brand if idiocy.
What amazes me more: the Times treated the story as a funny aside – just a few paragraphs. A humor piece.
It’s more shameful than one idiot’s words that no media outlet is treating this as the scandal it should be.
As Steph Mineart showed rightful outrage in her excellent blog on this topic:
We have people in this country who are actually not afraid to go to a public event and act this way – tell me sexism isn’t alive and well in America. That should be shocking to anyone and everyone who sees it, but I see it getting almost no coverage at all.
Could you imagine the national uproar if just one person at a single Obama rally held up a sign that said “Shine My Shoes!”
No one would dare. This is America and that would be just plain un-American to do.
It’s about time we all stood up to this and said once and for all that bigotry is bigotry and it is unacceptable today no matter if its hateful message is tinted in the shade of black or pink.
As a nation, we need to say very loudly and clearly: There is no reason that it is ever OK to degrade women in public. None!
This is not the Stone Age and that form of mocking hatred is neither funny nor acceptable.
It also is un-American.
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Jan 09
I’ve told this story a few times to a few people, but usually in passing and not with as much detail as I’m about to go into now.
I met Hillary Clinton briefly – very briefly – back in 1992 when she was just the wife of then-candidate Bill Clinton. I think it was at a rally in the Detroit area — but it could have been in Illinois. There were so many last-minute events I attended that year that they are starting to blur together into one big happy memory of when things were going right for the United States.
Anyway… back to the point.
Along with being active for LGBT rights in Indiana and at Ball State, I was one of the leaders of the University Democrats at Ball State and as a result spent many weekends (and some week days) traveling to cities all around the Midwest working for and meeting candidates.
When I met the Clintons, at one such event, Bill was dutifully schmoozing with the big shots. Somehow in my hovering at the periphery, I ended up in a group of people that included Hillary.
If I remember correctly, I was wearing some random “practice Safe Sex” shirt that day. She read my shirt, and looked me in the eye like I was an old friend and introduced herself, as she did everyone else in the group. Then she started talking about issues to the group of people I was in – real substantive issues. This was a shock to me. As a semi-veteran of political events, even in my early 20s, I was quite familiar with candidate’s expected “wifey” behavior roles.
The candidate wives were and probably still are a Stepford-type of semi-robot who smile and nod and compliment the city/state/region you are in. That’s it. Nothing else that mattered came out of their faces, like marshmallow fluff – sweet and leaving you with a slight icky feeling once they left.
B
ut not so with Hillary. She listened to us intently and took particular interest in hearing the ideas of even the people who normally didn’t speak up. And when the topic of gay and lesbian rights came up, Hillary didn’t shy away or try to change the subject to AIDS prevention. She dove right in with a message that has stayed consistent to this day.
To her, women’s rights are basic human rights. Gay rights are basic human rights. She said in so many words, we need to fight for what we believe in in a systematic an logical fashion to eventually whittle the bigots down in order to claim victory.
I was surprised by her depth of understanding on the topics people brought up and her realistic approach to how to get incremental, permanent change in an all-too-conservative world.
I left that brief meeting impressed with the Clintons – and more than slightly disappointed that quite possibly the wrong Clinton was running for president in 1992.
I know there is no way Hillary could remember me, I was but one of a group of people. But she still took the time to make each of us feel important enough to have an opinion that deserved to be heard. So, I will never forget her.
Ever since then, I have been a big fan of hers and the glee in my household with her come-from-behind win in New Hampshire Tuesday was palpable.
And that’s why, when I got my absentee primary ballot earlier this week, within 5 minutes, I skipped past Obama, Edwards and the rest and voted for Hillary with a fond smile.
PHOTO CREDITS: HillaryClinton.com
Feb 27
Tight is right
Journal Gazette
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Women are dropping the sloppy look in clothing
By DAVID SPEAKMAN special to next
From the health club to the nightclub, figure-flattering workout-style clothing is quickly replacing the baggy grunge look on Fort Wayne area women.
Tighter-fitting clothes started as a trend on the West Coast in 1994, yet Fort Wayne clothiers didn’t start stocking workout wear as fashion until late last summer. The local surge in figure-hugging clothes began with a boom in sales of belly-baring crop tops, according to Jessica Jones, a sales clerk in Hudson’s New Attitudes juniors’ section.
Jones said the average customers who buy these clothes range from late teens to late 20s. Popularity of the style has been gaining since Christmas, she said.
Joining with the crop top, now form-fitting silk blouses, skirts and pants have been big sellers in the post-Christmas shopping season.
“Workout fashions haven’t changed a lot,” according to Maxine Brown, ladies manager at the North Clinton American Health Fitness Center. “Women in good shape are wearing leotards and thong.”
Seria Nelson, assistant manager of Merry-Go – Round in Glenbrook Square, agreed that the loose-fitting look is on the way out for women.
“Women’s clothes fitting more toward the figure are selling better,” Nelson said. The store’s biggest seller are Y-legs, which are like leggings and are a typical accompaniment with the crop top.
These clothes are available at most specialty clothing stores and department stores in sections that cater to young women. Prices range from $15 to $60, but may be less because of current sales. Most are made of silk, cotton, rayon, polyester and blends.
“Women are more fashion-conscious,” said William Tyler, fitness consultant at the Fitness Connection. “Men just throw things together. Sometimes they match, sometimes they don’t.”
Feb 08
From the Hip
Journal Gazette
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It takes a certain type of person to wear hip-hugger – mainly, someone with a perfect body.
By DAVID SPEAKMAN special to next
Like many new clothing trends in Fort Wayne, they first appeared on fashion mavens at trendy nightclub dance floors.
Hip-huggers – slinky body-hugging, gravity-defying pants which barely cover the backside – are the newest addition to the retro fashion scene. A 1970s-era fashion world response to the feminist “She Decade,” hip-huggers “celebrated” the female form – albeit an ultra-toned, thin and anorexic female form.
Although originally designed for women, men too can be found donning the occasional pair of hip-huggers in the unisex ’90s.
These pants, jeans, shorts or skirts, often made of cotton or polyester, are not for the meek. Usually worn with a body-conscious ribbed or waffle-knit top, ’90s hip- huggers can dip way below the navel in front.
Hip-huggers range in price from $20 to $80, and can be found at stores such as Merry-Go-Round, Rave and L.S. Ayers. Or you could go the cheaper – and more authentic – route by finding a pair at a local thrift store.
The rising popularity of navel piercing may help explain their modern-day appearance. With their natural dip, hip-huggers won’t rub the freshly pierced the wrong way – and won’t do anything to hide the proudly pierced.
Because of its body-revealing qualities, however, the hip-hugger won’t be embraced in every wardrobe. In fact, it probably will be a “fashion don’t” for most.
“If you’ve got a bad body, you might as well just forget about wearing these,” said 22-year-old Cherie Damos, a Fort Wayne resident we found wearing a pair of hip-huggers at Glenbrook Square. “You know there’s people out there who still wear them and shouldn’t, but I wouldn’t dare wear them if I wasn’t looking good. Anyway, that’s the point of fashion.”
How do you know whether you can pull off this hot trend in pants? A good body is key. If the average person looks at your thin waist or toned figure with envy, hip huggers might be for you.
According to fashion magazines, such as February’s issue of Self, hip-huggers actually have a slimming effect. If your tummy is less than toned, they recommend tucking in a shirt and adding a blazer.
Otherwise, hippy chicks and those whose abs of steel are more like abs of flab should probably just say no to this low-slung design.
Depending on your fashion taste, some styles are cut lower in back than others. But even if the refrigerator-repairman look is what you’re going for, remember that others have to look at you too.
Like thong swimwear, few men or women can successfully wear hip-huggers – the right way. But if you can, indulge yourself.
Jan 09
A hair-razing experience
Journal Gazette, LGBT
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(Fort Wayne Journal Gazette – Page 8D – January 9, 1996)
Some like hair on their backs. Others remove it.
By DAVID SPEAKMAN special to next
Something frightening is happening to many men in their 20s. Through no fault of their own, hey are victims of a cruel twist of fate – an unlucky spin at genetic roulette.
The signs may be noticed by a chance glance in the mirror after a show or by more embarrassing means.
Imagine waking up one morning to the gentle kiss of a loved one while hearing the appraising words, “Hmm, I never noticed your back was getting hairy.”
A hairy back?
Chewbacca is hairy. Sasquatch is hairy. Robin Williams is hairy. But guys in their 20s don’t get hairy backs, right?
Wrong. From a light dusting of darkened down to full-blown wall-to-wall shag, many guys younger than 30 are dealing with the onslaught of hair in that hard-to-reach spot.
“Eww,” was the first reaction Molly Norton had a few years ago when she first saw a guy with a hairy back.
“Honestly, when women picture the perfect male, you don;t expect back hair,” Norton said. “Young girls think its mainly when guys get facial hair, but you don’t think of hairy backs.”
Unwanted hair does not necessarily mean the end of a social life, For some people it may even be a bonus.
Norton, a resident of Berne, has dated hairy-backed men – and gotten used to it.
She talked of an ex-boyfriend with overactive back-hair follicles.
“He was always talking about how to get rid of it, but there was no easy way,” Norton said. after the initial removal, “he didn’t like the idea he had to keep it up.”
Women have been removing unwanted body hair for generations.
“Women have to do this,” Norton said. “We know hairy armpits and legs would be a definite turnoff to 99 percent of the population.”
Why should guys with unsightly back hair be different? That other percent of hair aficionados does exist.
“Why would you want to do that?” Asked Keven Howard, laughing at the thought of removing back hair.
Like some gay men and straight women, Howard is attracted to the Grizzly Adams-style of hairy men. A body type he and others call “bear.”
He has lived with his “husbear” for more than two years in a house east of Defiance.
“It’s a turn-on,” Howard says of hairy-backed men.
Howard first noticed his attraction about three or four years ago.
“They look better to me,” he said. “It’s like the preference some people have for blonds or brunettes.”
Howard talked of groups on the Internet and clubs like the Tri-State Bears, which cater cater to gay men with an appreciation for the ursine.
Howard admits his bear-loving friends are a minority. Most gay men and heterosexual women don’t like furry backs.
“Everyone has their own little hangups,” he said.
So, what’s a guy to do if he finds himself in this, well, hairy situation?
Shaving, waxing, electrolysis, tweezers, depilatory creams or the electric-spring action of the Epilady pro dives hair removal options with benefits – and drawbacks.
Norton talked about a male friend who bought a bottle of depilatory cream to cure his back-hair nightmare.
After the hair fell out, he put lotion on the newly denuded area to sooth the skin irritation, she said.
In place of the unsightly patch of fur, the guy sprouted an equally eye-pleasing crop of black pimples.
This apparently was not the effect he wanted. According to Norton, her friend gave up and now lives with the hair back there.
WATCH YOUR BACK, MAN
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Shaving
Pain factor: Razor burn, cuts
Cost: Less than $1 a time
Upkeep: Every few days
Comments: If you can scratch your own back, you can shave your own back -
Waxing
Pain factor: Hair is ripped out after hot wax is poured onto the area
Cost: At least $15 each visit
Upkeep: Every couple of weeks
Comments: Good for borderline masochists -
Depilatory cream
Pain factor: Skin irritation from caustic substance
Cost: $2 to $6
Upkeep: Bottle claim three to four weeks. Life says one week.
Comments: Possible drips may cause additional unwanted hair loss. -
Electrolysis
Pain factor: An electric shock kills hair root
Cost: $20 or more each session (multiple sessions required)
Comment: Way too expensive – deal with it. -
Epilady
Pain factor: A metal spring whirs ant high speed while tearing hair out.
Cost: $20 to $30
Upkeep: Every few weeks.
Comments: Could be tragically confused with other bedroom toys.
Dec 02
A Verdi Christmas
WBST
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By DAVID SPEAKMAN
For The Muncie Star (Page T-15)
The second half-century of Texaco-Metropolitan Opera live Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts will begin with Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 8 on WBST-FM 92.1.
The broadcast marks the 5th birthday of the Texaco-Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, which constitute the longest continuous national sponsorship of a radio program in broadcast history. It was on Dec. 6, 1940, that the very first Texaco-Metropolitan Opera broadcast was presented, and the opera that historic afternoon was Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
The cast for Saturday’s broadcast of La Traviata will feature three American singers in the major roles: Diana Sovierro as Violetta, Jerry Hadley as Alfredo Germont and Brian Schexnayder as his father, Giorgio Garmont. American conductor Rico Saccani will make his Met broadcast debut leading the performance. The announcer is Peter Allen.
To mark this 50th anniversary, WBST is offering a special 1990-1991 Metropolitan Opera broadcast schedule to the readers of The Muncie Star who read this column. All you need to do is write: WBST, Ball State University, Muncie IN 47306-0550 and ask for your free schedule.
Special Stuff
Last week I mentioned that WBST plans on airing about 40 special programs for the December holiday season. Get ready, because next week they will be listed in an easy-reference format.
Today, however, you’ll get a special preview of our holiday music specials that will air Dec. 11 to 25. During these weeks, WBST offers a variety of special programming.
Western Wind: A Celebration of Light, A Jazz Piano Christmas, Handel’s Messiah at St. Thomas Church, the 1990 St. Olaf Christmas Special and An Acoustic Christmas: Steve Wariner and Friends will evoke reveries and reminiscences, from traditional and contemporary to regional and international.
The history and legend of contemporary religious celebrations are woven together with music in the Dec. 18 hour-long special, Western Wind: A Celebration of Light. The acclaimed Western Wind Vocal Ensemble’s unique repertoire includes music and songs representative of the spirituality and significance of the winter solstice, renaissance and Hanukkah.
America’s original art form is the focus of A Jazz Piano Christmas, a 1-hour Dec. 22 special featuring keyboard specialists Billy Taylor, George Shearing, Marian McPartland and other notables from the jazz world. A Jazz Piano Christmas will use the “let’s-take-it-easy” philosophy of its genre for high-energy celebration.
Two musical events that mark the season’s sacred mood are the production of Handel’s Messiah at St. Thomas Church, hosted by Dudley Moore, and the 1990 St. Olaf Christmas Special: Arise ans Set the Captive Free. These specials will be broadcast Dec. 22 and 24, respectively.
Messiah presents original instruments and a men’s and boy’s choir as specified by the 18th-century composer. The ensemble of soloists and instruments, exquisitely blended by Handel, is under the artistic direction of James Richman.
The St. Olaf Choir joins the St. Olaf Orchestra in the all-new musical event – the 1990 St. Olaf Christmas Special. The 90-minute concert features the world famous 400-voice massed choir and 100-member orchestra conducted by Anton Armstrong.
Dec. 23’s An Acoustic Christmas reaffirms the true American spirit with 2 hours of outstanding performances by some of Nashville’s finest musicians and greatest storytellers. Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris, Maura O’Connell and othres get together in the city where country and western sound began.
The Woman of Japan
At 5:30 tonight on Horizons, host Vertamae Grosvenor explores the world of the modern Japanese woman. While Japan advances as a world power, women in Japan are still struggling to break free from traditional roles, as seen in tonight’s features, “Women in Japan Speak Out.”
During the past 10 years, many Japanese women have been making changes in the office and at home. This program features women from many walks of life – all reflecting on Japan’s complex society from a feminine point of view.
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