Breakfast at Tiffany's – Because I Do Not Know

BaT Endorsements -- Governors

Once again, we focus on the Southern states.

Alabama

BaT endorses Bob Riley, Republican. (The incumbent Riley, which the exception of a failed tax increase his first year in office, has proved himself quite capable of leading the state. He has benefitted from booming tech and automotive industries, but he continues to recruit similar companies to establish a presence in the state. And his administration has been squeaky clean thus far. His Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, has shown voters no reason to vote for her ... or even against Riley. At least she's on the right side of the concealed permit issue.)

Arkansas

BaT endorses Mike Beebe, Democrat. (Beebe, the current state attorney general, is poised to lock up Arkansas for the Party of Clinton. If he defeats Republican Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas will be represented by a Democratic governor, a Democratic state legislature and two Democratic senators. Three of the state's four U.S. representatives are also Democrats. Hutchinson is best known as the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Establishing this new giant of an agency was a daunting task, and Hutchinson didn't exactly shine. Airport security, anyone? Ports? Anyone? Bueller? At least Asa is not his sleazy brother, who dumped his wife of 29 years for his Senate aide. Did we mention the brother is a former pastor?)

Florida

BaT endorses Charlie Crist, Republican. (Currently the state attorney general, Crist brings a wealth of governing experience to the contest. "Chain Gang Charlie" also has an interesting personal life, although at least he keeps his alleged affairs legal ... barely ... unlike that other Florida politician. Regardless, Crist has performed admirably as attorney general.)

Georgia

BaT endorses Sonny Perdue, Republican. (Perdue has made reform efforts, and he has given people in the Peach State little reason to "punt" him from office. He leads in the polls despite the politically unpopular Confederate battle flag decision.)

South Carolina

BaT endorses Mark Sanford, Republican. (Anyone who brings live pigs into the state House chamber to protest his own party's "pork projects" is alright with us.)

Texas

BaT endorses Kinky Friedman, Independent. (Who can resist supporting a Jewish singer best known for "A**hole from El Paso -- a parody of "Okie from Muskogee" -- for Texas governor? They've done worse. "One of his stated goals is the 'dewussification' of Texas." He also supports gay marriage: "I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us." Now this could get fun.)

0 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 7:13 PM
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Gay Halloween Quote of the Night

Overheard a recent Pooky Night gathering populated by people of the homosexual persuasion:

"I thought the trick was the treat ..."

0 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 7:09 PM
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BaT Endorsements -- U.S. Senate

If you're looking for in-depth analysis on the candidates, look elsewhere. But if we were eligible to vote in all of these states, this is who we would choose -- and possibly a brief explanation.

We're sticking with Southern states, because, well, that's what we do.

U.S. Senate -- Texas

BaT endorses Scott Lanier Jameson, Libertarian. (We do not like Kay Bailey Hutchison, even though she will win in a landslide. Her Democrat opponent wants to increase spending for many typically liberal causes -- and she doesn't answer the question on what she would do with taxes. We all know what that means: She'd vote for more of 'em. This may be nothing more than a protest vote, but the people over at Outright Libertarians will be pleased.)

U.S. Senate -- Mississippi

BaT endorses Erik Fleming, Democrat. (Fleming supports right-to-carry laws and inclusion of sexual orientation in federal discrimination laws -- and he's not a complete cut-and-runner on Iraq. Oh, who are we kidding, he's running against Trent Lott, and there's no way in hell we'd vote from him.)

U.S. Senate -- Tennessee

BaT endorses Bob Corker, Republican. (Corker, the former mayor of Chattanooga, is best described as a moderate, especially in comparison to many Southern Republicans. His Democratic opponent, Harold Ford Jr., seems to wish he could also run as a Republican. If we're going to vote for anti-gay marriage, pro-gun and iffy on abortion candidates, we might as well have one in the same party as the president. Unfortunately, neither Corker nor Ford would participate in the Project Vote Smart survey. Boo to them.)

U.S. Senate -- Virginia

BaT endorses George Allen, Republican. (We really wanted to like Jim Webb. Really. Seriously. Allen is a bit of a nut, but Webb hasn't shown us that he isn't one, too. When in doubt, go with the nut you know.)

U.S. Senate -- Connecticut

BaT endorses Joe Lieberman, Democrat. (We know Connecticut is not in the South. Save your letters. But we want Fightin' Joe to be president one day, and that will never happen if he's retired back to New Haven. So, maybe it will never happen anyway. You can't blame a BaT for trying.)

Coming tomorrow: Governor's races.

2 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 6:15 PM
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The Return, Part 72

This kind of post is becoming too frequent on BaT, but we're back for a few days -- at least through Wednesday. We're not even sure what happened in the world over the last week -- but Election Day is fast approaching, so stayed tuned for some BaT political endorsements.

Disclaimer: BaT has accepted to advertising or contributions from any candidate. Although, if someone would like to secure 70 eyeballs for the upcoming week, we're open for bribery. If it's good enough for Congress, it's good enough for us.

0 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 5:55 PM
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BaT Takes To The Air

We leave tomorrow for the Left Coast again. Blogging will no doubt take a hit once again. We didn't expect so much travel this fall, but it's happening.

Hey, will anyone be in Chicago Nov. 3? We could use a drink. (Speaking of drinks, Cocktail of the Week has been harmed by all this time on the road. We'll work on that.)

0 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 7:58 PM
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Freddy Fender, 1937-2006

BaT regrets it missed news about the death of one of our favorite old-time musicians: Freddy Fender (nee Baldemar Huerta).

Freddy Fender, the "Bebop Kid" of the Texas-Mexico border who later turned his twangy tenor into the smash country ballad "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," died Saturday. He was 69.

Fender, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 2006, died at noon at his Corpus Christi home with his family at his bedside, said Ron Rogers, a family spokesman. ...

Fender hit it big in 1975 after some regional success, years of struggling -- and a stint in prison -- when "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" climbed to No. 1 on the pop and country charts.

"Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" rose to No. 1 on the country chart and top 10 on the pop chart that same year, while "Secret Love" and "You'll Lose a Good Thing" also hit No. 1 in the country charts.

Born Baldemar Huerta, Fender was proud of his Mexican-American heritage and frequently sung verses or whole songs in Spanish. "Teardrop" had a verse in Spanish.

"Whenever I run into prejudice," he told The Washington Post in 1977, "I smile and feel sorry for them, and I say to myself, 'There's one more argument for birth control.' "

Fender was also part of the Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven, winning a Grammy with both "supergroups." He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (we saw it during our trip earlier this year), but he is not in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

He said in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press that one thing would make his musical career complete -- induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

"Hopefully I'll be the first Mexican-American going into Hillbilly Heaven," he said.

Fender was another one of those "overnight successes" that was years in the making.

He signed with Imperial Records in 1959, renaming himself "Fender" after the brand of his electric guitar, "Freddy" because it sounded good with Fender.

Fender initially recorded "Wasted Days" in 1960. But his career was put on hold shortly after that when he and his bass player ended up spending almost three years in prison in Angola, La., for marijuana possession.

After prison came a few years in New Orleans and a then an everyday life taking college classes, working as a mechanic and playing an occasional local gig. He once said he sang in bars so dingy he performed with his eyes shut "dreaming I was on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' "

"I felt there's no great American dream for this ex-Chicano migrant farm worker," he told the AP. "I'd picked too many crops and too many strings."

But his second break came when he was persuaded to record "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" on an independent label in 1974 and it was picked up by a major label. With its success, he won the Academy of Country Music's best new artist award in 1975. He re-released "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" and it climbed to the top of the charts as well. ...

"I feel very comfortable in my life," Fender told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in August. "I'm one year away from 70 and I've had a good run. I really believe I'm OK. In my mind and in my heart, I feel OK. I cannot complain that I haven't lived long enough, but I'd like to live longer."

Fender was also a Marine. Thank you, Freddy, for your service and your music. Rest in peace.

1 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 7:05 PM
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Black Men Can Run

Wesley Snipes is on the run -- or at least complete disconnected to the world -- as the Internal Revenue Service wants either $12 million or 16 years of the actor's future.

Prosecutors said Snipes fraudulently claimed refunds totaling nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 on income taxes already paid. The star of the "Blade" trilogy and other films including "Jungle Fever" and "White Men Can't Jump" was also charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.

According to the indictment, Snipes had his taxes prepared by accountants with a history of filing false returns to reap payments for their clients. The firm American Rights Litigators would receive 20 percent of refunds from clients, according to the indictment. ...

Snipes, 44, who had a home in Windermere near Orlando, has not been arrested because authorities don't know where he is, Perez said. Snipes' manager and attorney did not return phone messages from The Associated Press.

"We've spoken to his former attorneys over the weekend," Perez said. "We presume that he knows, and of course after this press conference he will definitely know."

A 12-mil refund? C'mon, Wesley, don't you think that's going to draw one of those famous IRS red flags. About the only sign of tax fraud that's more obvious is the ol' "home office" deduction. But I guess if you make your living pretending to be a murderous robber, some bad habits will run off on you.

1 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 7:52 PM
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Be Smart, Be Armed

Michael Sandy was lured via the Internet to a secluded site in New York. Once there, four punks beat and robbed him. As he tried to escape, he was hit by a car and critical injured.

He never regained consciousness, spending his 29th birthday in a coma. Today we learn, he has been removed from life support.

John Fox, 19; Ilya Shurov, 20, and Gary Timmins, 16 were initially charged with assault and robbery as a hate crime, but those charges have since been upgraded to include murder, according to news reports. The fourth suspect has yet to be charged.

According to New York City police, Fox and Shurov posed as gay on an internet chat room for gay men looking for a mark to rob. They lured Sandy to a parking lot near Sheepshead Bay, sandwiched between Plumb Beach and the Belt Parkway in New York.

Chat messages between Sandy and the men were reportedly found on his home computer and a printout from his computer showing directions to Plum Beach, a popular cruising area, were found in his car.

The alleged attackers say that they are heterosexual, and have made incriminating statements to police, even suggesting they had tried to lure and attack gay men online in the past, Newsday reports.

Michael Sandy was 5-foot-7, and he weighed 145 pounds. Alone, he was no match for four people, regardless of their size. Now, the first words of advice should be "do not meet strangers in anywhere but a public place -- and even then do so with caution."

Subsequent words of advice: One person is no match for four. How might the situation have been different if, upon being threatened, Michael Sandy had pulled out a licensed weapon -- forget for a moment that the only people in New York who can legally carry guns are bodyguards for the rich and famous -- and set a bead in between the eyes of one of these little thugs?

Would they have backed off or would they have continued their attacks? I'm telling you, my fellow queers, arm yourselves and protect you and yours. The police are no longer in the crime prevention business; they are in the crime cleanup business.

I'm sick of this sh*t, and I'm not going to take it. Lock and load.

3 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 8:24 PM
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Mom, Dad, We Have To Talk

In a new survey, seven out of 10 straight Americans say they know boys who like to kiss boys -- or girls who like to watch college football with other girls.

"If seven out of 10 heterosexuals know someone who is GLBT, then many gays and lesbians are making their identity apparent as a natural part of their lives -- just like their age, height, hair color, or personality," said Mark Shields, director of the Human Rights Campaign's National Coming Out Project.

"For most people, coming out or opening up to someone starts with a conversation. And for those interested in fostering strong, deep relationships with their friends and family, living openly often allows for closer relationships with the people they care about most."

The same survey shows that 83 percent of gay people consider themselves "out of the closet." The remaining 17 percent are either congressmen or the subject of "South Park" scorn. ("I'll sue you in England!) Ninety-two percent of gay people say they are out to close friends; 78 percent have had "the talk" with their parents.

Let's break this down ...

1. Three in 10 straight Americans say they do not know a gay person.

2. Almost two in 10 gay people say they are not out to their parents.

3. Which leads us to this conclusion: If you are a straight American and do not know a single gay person, guess what? Your child is queer. On top of that, your child trusts his/her/its best friends more than they do you. You must be so proud.

1 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 7:58 PM
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The Right ... Shall Not Be Infringed

Usually when you hear about a 14-year-old and a gun, it's another school shooting. However, this time, if this story proves to be true, a Texas teen defended himself, his mother and his home through the use of justified deadly force. (Hat tip: Instapundit)

A 14-year-old boy shot and killed a man who broke into his family's home Monday and threatened to kill him and his mother, Police Chief Bryan Smith said.

Smith said the man, confronted a woman as she was carrying groceries into her home shortly before 1 p.m. The man forced her inside and tied her and her son up. Smith said the woman was able to loosen the binding and free her son, who got his father's revolver from a security box beneath a bed.

As the man tried to break into the room where the two were and threatened to kill them both, the teen fired a shot through the door and hit the intruder in the head, Smith said.

It isn't ideal that a 14-year-old must be pushed to use deadly force. But this isn't an ideal world. I hope he receives the counseling he needs -- and, as time moves forward, takes solace in that had he not acted so bravely both he and his mother would be dead ... and not some cracked-out punk.

"An armed society is a polite society." -- Robert Heinlein

P.S. Note the gun was kept in a security box and was a revolver. I recommended both of these for personal protection in the now-infamous "Pick On Someone Your Own Caliber" post.

0 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 7:26 PM
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Another Eastwood Oscar?

The reviews are in for the new Clint Eastwood vehicle, "Flags of Our Fathers," and it looks like Dirty Harry can begin writing yet another Academy Award acceptance speech.

Today, Variety reviews "Flags" -- and drools all over it.

Ambitiously tackling his biggest canvas to date, Clint Eastwood continues to defy and triumph over the customary expectations for a film career in "Flags of Our Fathers." A pointed exploration of heroism -- in its actual and in its trumped-up, officially useful forms -- the picture welds a powerful account of the battle of Iwo Jima, the bloodiest single engagement the United States fought in World War II, with an ironic and ultimately sad look at its aftermath for three key survivors. This domestic Paramount release looks to parlay critical acclaim and its director's ever-increasing eminence into strong B.O. returns through the autumn and probably beyond. ...

The visual scheme Eastwood developed for the picture is immediately arresting. Perhaps taking a cue from the island's black sand, as well as from WWII's status as the last war shot, from a filmic p.o.v., in black-and-white, pic is nearly as monochromatic as anything shot in color can be. Dominated by blacks, grays and olive greens, cinematographer Tom Stern's images have a grave elegance, a drained quality that places the events cleanly in history without diminishing their startling immediacy.

On the fifth day of fighting, some Americans reach the summit where a great deal of the Japanese firepower is concentrated, and six Marines plant a small stars-and-stripes. Shortly after, a larger flag is sent up and, in an event only shown in the film considerably later, six different men, Bradley, Gagnon and Hayes among them, responding to a photographer's half-joking question of, "O.K., guys, who wants to be famous?," put their muscle behind pushing up the new flag held in place by a heavy length of pipe. ...

The film's themes are so thoroughly embodied in the drama as it's told that there is no need for explicit statement of them, which makes the final bit of narration about the nation's need for heroes seem unnecessary. Another minor flaw is a Hollywood backlot look to a couple of Chicago street scenes.

Otherwise, "Flags of Our Fathers" is exemplary in its physical aspects. Combination of exteriors shot on the black beaches of Iceland with CGI work conveys a vivid and comprehensive feel of the godawfulness of Iwo Jima.

We don't see a lot of motion pictures in the theater, because, well, we don't like being around that many people at once. Hell, we don't like being around any people at once.

But considering the subject matter and the director, we'll have to make an exception. How much are movie tickets nowadays? Four bucks or something? And I've heard a large popcorn costs $2! We'll manage somehow ... maybe the midnight viewing.

Polish up Oscar, here comes Clint. Again.

P.S. To read BaT's tribute to Joe Rosenthal, photographer of the famous Iwo Jima flag-raising picture, as well as the men in it, click here.

0 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 9:03 PM
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A Billion Here, A Billion There ...

And pretty soon we're talking about real money.

Internet search leader Google is snapping up YouTube for $1.65 billion, brushing aside copyright concerns to seize a starring role in the online video revolution.

The all-stock deal announced Monday unites one of the Internet's marquee companies with one of its rapidly rising stars. It came just a few hours after YouTube unveiled three separate agreements with media companies to counter the threat of copyright-infringement lawsuits.

The price makes YouTube Inc., a still-unprofitable startup, by far the most expensive purchase made by Google during its eight-year history. Last year, Google spent $130.5 million buying a total of 15 small companies.

Yes, resistance is futile ... you will be assimilated. We'll just sit here and await the outcry of monopolies like we heard when, say, oil companies begin gobbling each other up.

We have a feeling we'll be waiting awhile.

3 comments Jake McCafferty last posted at 9:06 PM
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Blame The Booze 101

Actually, we could call this PR 101 ... when in doubt, after having your tragic, pathetic shortcomings exposed (so to speak!), claim substance abuse and immediately check yourself into rehab.

Famous actor previously criticized for anti-Semetic opinions and upon your arrest spew more "the-Jews-are-to-blame" garbage "in a moment of insanity"? Check into rehab. Seldomly funny comedienne accused -- among other things -- of lewd acts upon a child? Check into rehab. Fat golfer who throws his wife into walls? Check into rehab. Congressman from America's most dysfunctional family who crashes his car while "sleep-driving"? Check into rehab.

And the list goes on and on ...

Add another one -- not surprisingly, another congressman, too.

Disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley sought treatment for alcoholism and "other behavioral problems" as Republicans on Monday picked a new candidate to salvage the seat that Foley abandoned after exchanging lurid online messages with teenage boys. ...

Foley resigned Friday after reports surfaced that he sent sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages to male teenage pages. He quickly went into seclusion and released a statement that he was seeking treatment.

"Painfully, the events that led to my resignation have crystalized recognition of my long-standing significant alcohol and emotional difficulties," he said. "I strongly believe that I am an alcoholic and have accepted the need for immediate treatment for alcoholism and other behavioral problems."

He added: "I deeply regret and accept full responsibility for the harm I have caused."

"Other behavioral problems"? Now that may be the understatement of the year -- and we've had some doozies in 2006. OK, Congressman, er, ex-Congressman Foley ... we've overlooked your denials for the past 10 years that you're gay. We understand. Those old blue-hairs in South Florida don't like the queers -- unless they're doing their Tuesday afternoon style. And at least you didn't marry twice and slip around giving afternoon delights to truckers.

But sending dirty e-mails to teenaged boys? Good Lord, man, you're over 50! You don't make anyone 16 horny unless American Express and a WeHo street corner is involved. Grow up, come out and get on with your life. At least seek comfort in knowing there's a book in your future. There always is.

P.S. Kinkyrhombus, is that enough of a rant? I could go on, but I have to pack.

P.S.S. Speaking of packing, blogging could be light to nonexistent for the rest of the week. BaT takes its show on the road. Free time will be precious, and most likely will be spent drinking the stress away.