the CT supreme court just ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry. w00t! along with MA and CA, that makes three.

according to the ncsl, there are only five states without laws prohibiting same-sex marriage: MA, NJ, NM, NY and RI (you go, ocean state).

earlier this year, the governor of new york directed the state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed in jurisdictions where it is legal.

just my attempt to find some end-of-week cheer in a world where the economy is in free fall, and in a country where a presidential candidate has stooped to disgusting lows and stokes a climate of rage and violence.

hey, look! kittens!

back when i was in second grade, there was a particularly washington variation on this joke. it went like this:

q: why did the chicken cross the road?
a: to get the washington times.

after a predictable two-beat blank stare from the other person (these were second graders, after all), there’d be the followup:

“get it?”
to which the other person would reply, “no.”

then you’d deliver the zinger:

“neither do i - i get the Post.”

ah, yes. second grade commentary on journalism in the nation’s capital. and yet, it seems the times still has local distribution issues, because they’ve just started running new bus shelter ads to drum up business.

and what is it with ties, anyway? as i noted below, fuld was wearing a very expensive one when he testified before congress - something about it just shouted out “money,” even through teh interwebs. and this ad - old white dude, black and white photo, colorized tie. what’s it really saying?

yesterday morning, i did a whole passel of ‘em. i may even have done a slew of ‘em.

today, i fear to cough. or laugh.

so it goes.

but i made arroz chaufa for dinner last night, and that was good.

i just realized why lehman brothers CEO richard fuld looks strangely familiar: he’s a vulcan in disguise.

how much do you think that tie he’s wearing costs? according to henry waxman, fuld pulled down around $480 million in total compensation in the last seven years. regardless where you’re shopping, that’s a lot of ties.

and then there’s this exchange, from a 2005 interview fuld gave to euromoney:

Mortgages is one of the businesses that has served you well in recent years. You were already a large underwriter of mortgage-backed securities, but in the last couple of years you’ve bought mortgage origination platforms and now 55% of your MBS deals come from your own mortgage platform. What’s the thinking behind that?

Adding mortgage origination capabilities creates a fully vertically integrated business for us. It gives us a captive source for generating mortgage loans, and allows us to capture additional fees. It also puts in our own hands the quality control of ensuring that loans are underwritten to the appropriate standards.

hmmm. “appropriate standards”?

grab & go!

biden:

palin:

via wordle.

In response to judges who say they see too many people in their courtrooms because of undiagnosed mental disorders, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty cut the ribbon to an urgent-care clinic at the D.C. Superior Court building yesterday.

mental health and legal issues often go hand in hand, as any forensic psychiatrist - or defense attorney - will tell you. there’s an american academy of psychiatry and the law, founded by psychiatrists, as well as a number of law and psychiatry programs in law schools around the country. but as far as i know, this is the first mental health clinic in a courthouse. according to the chief clinical officer at the dc department of mental health,

“there seems to be a lot of mentally ill people who were being arrested for quality-of-life crimes like open containers, aggressive panhandling and trespassing.

“They can either go to jail or go to treatment,” he said, adding that of the 146 people who have been treated, 110 were homeless, 60 people were given a community mental health provider and eight were referred to an emergency psychiatric facility.

30 years on, we’re still dealing with reagan’s legacy.

wired’s gallery of retired drugs reminds me why the (attempted creation of a) doctrine of FDA preemption of state law failure-to-warn cases is a bad thing, even if wyeth v. levine is lousy test case.

and if that doesn’t get your irish up, here’s some news that just walked across my transom that should:

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Global Health, Kent Hill¹, issued a new USAID instruction that requires its staff to force governments in several African countries to discontinue the provision of U.S.-funded contraceptive commodities to Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the world’s leading family planning organizations.

Marie Stopes International is a london-based NGO that works on sexual and reproductive health, and operates its own clinics around the world, including in africa, bangladesh, and pakistan. more information on the ban is available on their website; according to their director,

the USAID instruction will “seriously disrupt” MSI’s family planning programmes in at least six African countries – Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe - including one where the organisation delivers 25% of all family planning services nationally. Women in these countries will be left with few options other than abortion, the majority of which will be unsafe and will likely result in their death or disability.

more abortions. and here i thought the neochristiancons were all about fewer abortions. silly me.

_____________________________________
¹ the USAID directory says hill’s work number is 202-712-0970. yahoo even has a home phone number for him, if you search in his town of residence. not that i’m saying anyone should call him and give him what-for. i’m just saying.

while i admit to some anticipation of this thursday’s biden-palin debate (will biden go medieval on palin’s ass? will palin come up with a single supreme court decision that isn’t roe v. wade? who will wear the lipstick at the end of the evening - the pit bull, or the bitch?), by and large i’m over this whole thing. i know who i’m voting for, nothing’s going to change my mind - or keep me away from the polls - and i can’t believe that most americans aren’t in the same boat.

but my neighborhood is slowly sprouting political lawn signs. across the street and next door are the mccain supporters. up the street and down the street a smattering of homes show their enthusiasm for obama. me, i’ve been thinking of getting a lawn sign or two to inform the idiots around me that military families support obama/biden. the logical sign would be, of course, “military families for obama/biden” or some straightforward variation thereof.

however, each day adds to my irritation at this whole charade, and the farce that is the american political system grates on me a tiny bit more. at the rate things are going, i’m going to put up a sign or three on my lawn the day before the election with the simple message:

Obama: Because Fuck You, That’s Why.

batala performing at farragut square when i got off the bus this morning. as i stopped to listen, one of the performers came up and told me i should join. i laughed and told her i had no sense of rhythm. she told me i’d learn.