Coco makes the International News!

International Herald Tribune:

Hawaii elects highest-ranking openly transgender official in nation

HONOLULU: A Hawaii woman won a seat on the state Board of Education and, according to national advocacy groups, a place in history as the nation's highest-ranking transgender elected official.

Kim Coco Iwamoto, a 38-year-old attorney, did not tout her gender status in the campaign but has advocated for transgender youth and related issues. She came in third Tuesday in the competition for three seats on the 14-member board, which governs the islands' 285 public schools.

Iwamoto would be the highest-ranking openly transgender person elected in the United States, said Denis Dison, a spokesman for the Victory Fund, a Washington-based group that tracks lesbian, gay and transgender candidates and helps fund their campaigns.

Iwamoto, who was born on the island of Kauai and attended a Catholic boys school in Honolulu, did not immediately respond to requests for an interview.

Previously elected transgender candidates in the United States were primarily limited to local seats such as city alderman or council members, Dison said.

Iwamoto has a law degree from the University of New Mexico. She was featured in a handbook on transgender policy for her advocacy of special restroom facilities on the school's campus after she was harassed for using the women's bathroom.

And he still doesn't get it

OK, Rumsfeld is gone. Yippee - but the new bugger Bush is naming doesn't sound an ounce better. Here's a little history lesson for you all.

from the Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters

Chapter 16: Robert M. Gates

In the end, although Gates's actions suggested an officer who was more interested in shielding his institution from criticism and in shifting the blame to the NSC than in finding out the truth, there was insufficient evidence to charge Gates with a criminal endeavor to obstruct congressional investigations into the Hasenfus shootdown.

Gates and Casey's November 1986 Testimony

The events leading up to the preparation of false testimony by Director Casey in November 1986 -- preparations that Gates nominally oversaw -- are set forth in a separate chapter of this Report. There was insufficient evidence that Gates committed a crime as he participated in the preparation of Casey's testimony, or that he was aware of critical facts indicating that some of the statements by Casey and others were false.

Conclusion

Independent Counsel found insufficient evidence to warrant charging Robert Gates with a crime for his role in the Iran/contra affair. Like those of many other Iran/contra figures, the statements of Gates often seemed scripted and less than candid. Nevertheless, given the complex nature of the activities and Gates's apparent lack of direct participation, a jury could find the evidence left a reasonable doubt that Gates either obstructed official inquiries or that his two demonstrably incorrect statements were deliberate lies.

We don't need another politician more interested in shielding his institution from criticism and in shifting the blame ... than in finding out the truth .

So far there's radio silence in the mainstream media on this.

Let's help it get out there & into the mainstream consciousness.

And let's hope that Senator Pelosi rips them all a new one.

Libertarias

Well, I'm feeling better about things now.

Spent the night doing laundry, following the election, and watching Libertarias - a great movie about female anarchists during the Spanish Revolution. It fits my mood pretty well right now.

Santorum out, Democrats take House, and ...

I'm feeling a little bit better about America at the moment. I had to turn to the BBC for good coverage - the top US News on Google was Kirstie Alley's Bikini Bod Heading from Oprah to Ads.

I said a little bit better about America. Un poco. More states have passed gay-hating amendments to their constitutions. And I know that part of the Democrat's success comes from the Republican heartland being so shocked and disheartened to learn that they have queers in their ranks too. I shared a beer with Jeff M last night, who shot down every single reason I had for not packing up and heading to Europe. And I mean every last one.

I'll be glued to the news for the rest of the night. We don't need election day off. We need the day-after off so that certain addicts can catch up their sleep.

Countdown

It's 6:30 pm. I haven't watched the tv, listened to the radio, or read news online since yesterday. I'm not ready to face the results of this election. There won't be any local surprises, and I'm resigned to living with Lingle, Akaka, and Hirono - but nationally ... I feel almost physically ill sometimes when I listen to the U.S. right wing. It's beyond disgust now. At this point in time the national Republican party has become morally reprehensible. I almost wish I believed in a Judgement Day, just so that I could watch them all burn.

Anyways, I'm about to log in and find out what's happening this election day. I have no faith, and I am scared about what the results will show. Either way, I think I'll need a drink. Innocence is going to end right after this next shot of bourbon ...

Cyber Eye: The Bromeliad Rescue Society

gary said...

great job bucko!

it all looks good and no biggie about the donkey tail...you can either leave it as is or there's plan B...

Plan B: instead of trying to work the hina hina in to plug the hole, try laying some really long strands on top of the whole thing and drape it over the donkey tail...see how the hina hina's hanging down/growing over the other side of the basket? not too thick...you want the donkey tail underneath to still get the light.

Hey buddy! For now ... I think I better leave these guys alone. They might not survive a Plan B from me.

the lauwa'i around the pond looks great. if they escape onto the ground, that's fine. at least it doesn't look like an above ground pool in san bernardino anymore...lol.

And you know, I had to look up San Bernardino on Wikipedia to understand the connotations here.

the wreaths as they are? sorry, there is no way to work those into a tropical garden.

you know what we do? gently take all of the bromeliads off of the wreaths and put them to the side in groups...all the similar

ones together. take a picture of them for me.

Check. and ... those poor bromeliads. G, they did not look good. Only the ones that looked like mini-silverswords had any root structure at all. Most were dry and brittle and bravely hanging on. I even found a few carcasses mingled among the survivors.

I don't know if this is because they weren't watered [although the hina looked healthy and it came from the same yard] or because the twigs don't provide a healthy growing environment.

we'll try this: make one cut on each wreath, then see if you can twist the wreaths into two much smaller ones...sort of like twisting a two stranded circular braid...try to get em each about 12" to 15" across...i think if you got some wire or something you could tie the ends together somehow...tie em in the back so you won't see the wire.

The twigs are tough but not very pliant. I think I'd have to soak it awhile, or completely reweave them, to get one down to 12".

if you do that, we could probably fill each wreath full with the bromeliads that look sparce on them now and then i think they'd both fit onto the storage closet gate next to the orchid ladder, one over the other.

once you get em smaller, take a picture with them hanging on the storage gate so i can see if the scale is right, k?

then we'll tackle how to arrange the bromeliads on the wreaths. i guess you're gonna get your year round christmas decorations after all!

g

I haven't tried to reweave the wreaths yet, 'cause I'm not sure this is a nice thing to do to helpless little bromie-keiki. I'll reweave the wreaths if you still think there's a use, but I'm thinking the bromeliads will either need help surviving on the wreath, or a new home.

I've had this piece of driftwood out in the yard for awhile [let's see if they have these in San Bernardino] .. think it'll work as a home for the orphans?

Eye 3 - Garden Work

Some people can put a rock in their yard & it looks perfect, as if that is exactly where that rock was meant to be. I put a rock in the garden, and people say hey dude, why is there a rock in your yard?

I spent Sunday afternoon, playing in the mud. It's mostly good. Here's the results:

Gary: the orchids on the ladder... scrounge around for clay pots around the yard to put the plastic ones in...it'll look more uniform.

Check. That was easy!

you need to put some stuff around the edge of your koi pond that's not under the tree so the edge "disappears"...see what we did with the pond under the tree...most of the edge is camouflaged by plants?

i want you to get some of those one gallon black plastic pots (smallest size of the pots the anthuriums are in)...maybe about 7 or 8 of them... and maybe 3 that are the size of the anthurium pots... dig up lauwa'i in the yard by that big rock and put em in those pots.

This is where it got tricky. The lauwai send of leaves from shallow runners, and I broke a lot of them trying to get them into pots. I did place them around the pond, and then tried to hide the pots with rocks. My first attempt lacked a certain grace.

Translation: it didn't look like a rock garden, it looked like earthquake damage. My instinct was to say, it'll grow in and move on, but I kept playing with it until it looked casually natural.

Although there is no way these boys are going to stay in their pots! I can already see them plotting their escape. I'm cool with that.

we forgot to plant something in that little duck next to the water plant...look for something in your yard that'll stay really small..

The ducky got a variegated sage that had been suffering underneath the rosemary.

the hina hina that's on the branch next to the donkey tail? push the left side of it only (over toward the right side about 8 inches...squish it). you want that to be more asymmetrical between the staghorn, donkey tail and hina hina...right now the hina hina looks like laundry on a clothes line...not so natural...

Ooh. This is where my skills failed me. I was trying to drape the hina hina, but was destroying the pony tail in the process. I managed to get a few strands of hina to stick, but they fell off when I watered. Aye. I did push the clump around to make it look assymetrical. Pushing I can do, and assymetry comes easy.

And David just brought these by, the last refugees from Tom's place: two wreaths with bromeliad keiki woven in. Any suggestions?