The Monsters Have Come To Maple Street … Or Creekside Park”

"Look at that street. It's nothing but candles. It's like going back into the Dark Ages or something." — the character Charlie from 'The Monsters Have Come To Maple Street' by Rod Serling

Well, since my original blog post yesterday got hijacked (read wiped out) by the 21-hour power outage due to yesterday's run-of-the-mill thunderstorm, I'm doing a different one instead.

Yesterday and especially last night was right out of Rod Serling for me, save for the meteor vs. space ship controversy, resulting paranoia and eventual, chaotic turning against ourselves. We had nothing but a typical thunderstorm with heavy rain and not even a notable amount of lightning strikes, but we couldn't explain nor determine why it required us a full day in the dark. The Monsters had come to Creekside Park Drive.

As night fell, it became obvious that our block was the only one left without power! Literally I could walk down to the main road, or over to the next street and see light, but then turn the corner onto our street and it was pitch dark! Literally there was one house with light and another with no power right next door!

It was kinda creepy being the only ones left in the dark for the night. Even though we were civil amongst ourselves, there was edgy frustration. No one was happy, and we were either sitting on porches or truck tailgates in driveways or restlessly wandering the streets.

It was as if the rest of the world was going on with their regular lives and we were left out and forgotten. Our street was singled out for the Dark Ages. Oddly it's how I felt: I had so much I needed to get done along with the blog and I was simply stuck in neutral with a fully wasted day!

So I began today inherently agitated. It also occurred to me the date: today is April 19th. This is the wack jobs nut-out and commit mass mayhem day. It's also a red-letter day for liberal-hating right-wing types as it's the anniversary of the siege at the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco. While his sect was deemed extremely controversial and referred to as a cult, the FBI raid and resulting violent immolation by David Koresh and his followers struck a nerve in neo-conservatives of the religiopolitical variety.

Extremist conservatives saw it as a catalytic date to strike back at the government. At the two-year anniversary, it was Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols who used the day to bomb the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Hopefully the day ends up with no incident, however the significance shouldn't be put out of mind with the current anti-government fervor by even more mainstream conservatives. To wit: the recent Teabaggers revolt. While the Teabag parties went on without incident on April 15, there was one incident in front of the White House where protesters tossed over a box of tea. In the post 9/11 world with America at war, it's no surprise that the Secret Service immediately seized upon the item and broke up the protest post-haste.

"Let me tell you: you're starting something here that ... that's what you should be frightened of! And as God is my witness, you're letting something begin here that's a nightmare!" — character Les Goodman from 'The Monsters Have Come To Maple Street' by Rod Serling


A number of articles looked at the tax day, teabag protests and seemed to note a lack of real message. It seems these are just protests of folks being angry just for the sake of being angry. And of course conservative politicians are taking every opportunity to be front and center, riding the wave of anger.

Brian Smith, a marketer from Greenville, S.C., in Washington on business who came by the rally stated his reasons for attending: "I love my country and I don't like what's going on. Government – to be honest with you, and this will probably be misquoted, but on 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building. They should have gone into the Capitol building, hit out, knocked out both sides of the aisle, we'd start from scratch, we'd be better off today." When the reporter from Salon pointed out that "they" did try to hit the Capitol, Smith replied "Yeah, I know, they missed. The wrong sequence. If someone had to go, it should have been the Capitol building. On that day I felt differently, but today that's the way I feel." http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/04/16/tea_party/index1.html

Neo-patriotism: Love your country, but cheer on any terrorist that takes out the U.S. Government! And this is post 9/11, coming openly at a rally that nationally featured a who's who of conservative Republican America! I recall Pres. George W. Bush stating before his initial joint-session speech after the attacks that "either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." So now in 2009 you can be with both?

The Washington protest crowd cheered loudly when neo-con radio pundit Laura Ingraham said they were all "right-wing extremists," referring to a Homeland Security report warning of danger from disgruntled conservatives. Actually I don't think that's so far-fetched to be scoffed. These types of protests, full of older, 'rock-ribbed Republicans,' would be perfect cover for agents provocateur. Toss in a Posse Comitatus or a WTO anarchist type with an incendiary device and this could get ugly very quickly.

And the jammed messaging in heavy rotation is that "this is the tip of the iceberg!"

"I know who it is! I know who the monster is! I know who it is that doesn't belong among us!" — the character Charlie from 'The Monsters Have Come To Maple Street' by Rod Serling


Even Texas' own Gov. Perry's comments are being both picked apart and strongly defended by many of his conservative colleagues! Fox's Geraldo Rivera called him "grossly irresponsible" and ripe for impeachment, but good conservatives like the unimpeachable Tom DeLay called Perry a "righteous governor" who was "standing up for the sovereignty of his state." To that end, Texas House is pushing through HCR 50, a resolution establishing Texas' sovereignty from Federal Government mandates. The Guv is also still pushing forth that he will reject at least unemployment funding (though his rhetoric indicates he's rejecting stimulus money en toto).

To that end, with little debate, the House on a voice vote approved erasing 96 percent of the nearly $24 million that budget writers had recommended for Perry's office operation over the next two years. "That's the headline: 'Two days after governor says we ought to secede, House zeroes out the governor's budget,'" said Appropriations Committee vice chairman Richard Raymond, (D-Laredo) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041909dntexhousebudget.e4ed7a0a.html

Impact the state's budget and the state will impact yours!

"Here's something you can do, Charlie. You can keep your mouth shut! You can quit sitting there like a self-appointed hanging judge and climb into bed and forget it!" — character Steve Brand from 'The Monsters Have Come To Maple Street' by Rod Serling

Now some are trying to pull back a bit and explain Gov. Perry's secession commentary on Teabag day. Rep. John Culberson (R-Houston) explained that Gov. Perry just got "excited. Texans are the most patriotic of Americans. Gov. Perry's a patriot, he just got revved up."

After all of the created controversy during last year's presidential campaign about whether or not Barack Obama had refused to pledge allegiance to the flag, it's ironic that Gov. Perry, presumably a "patriotic" pledger would make such statements even in excitement, considering the pledge declares: "one nation, under God, *indivisible* ...." side note to Gov. Rick Perry: Pledging "indivisible" means not dividing states away from the union ... just in case the term wasn't understood. One wonders how "excited" one must get to allow and excuse unpatriotic commentary, Rep. Culberson?


All of this revolutionary hubbub is over, what exactly? They've called them, and people are showing up with blood in their eyes. But what exactly is their point? There's not a tax-hike as yet and taxes are as low as they've been since the 20's, so the paying "too much taxes" doesn't pan out as a sudden problem. Some note the government spending, but this has been going willy-nilly for eight years under a heavy GOP-laden government and no one uttered a peep. Bank bailouts? Those began under George W. Bush, and would've been worse if the House had just buckled under to Bush & Paulson's initial request of $700 billion with no strings attached, nor any accountability!

All we've got is the anger, and as so many of the gleeful anti-Obama pundits have continued the mantra: this is just the tip of the iceberg. With everyone scared and in the dark, and the frenzy the media pundits have inspired now, the monsters have come to America now. The only question is truly who are the monsters?

"Throw them into darkness for a few hours, then sit back and watch the pattern.... They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find; and it's themselves. All we need do is sit back and watch.... Their world is full of "Maple Streets." And we'll go from one to the other and let them destroy themselves." — the lead observer Alien from 'The Monsters Have Come To Maple Street' by Rod Serling

"We have met the enemy, and he is us." — Walt Kelly from the comic strip 'Pogo'

Man Fashion: Beach Styles

It has been so long since we have sunny weather I thought that myself might have forgotten how to dress in the summer sun, how about you? So try these tips in preparation for this coming bank holiday and hopefully sunny weather!

Bathers always look their best on a tanned body, so at the start of summer, apply a fake tan so you don't spend your first few days of summer with your pale skin glowing on the beach.


Find out more on How To Apply Fake Tan

Speedos vs. Board Shorts
There are no hard and fast rules here as to which you should wear. Speedos suit a man with an athletic figure who is not shy. Board shorts suit a greater variety of figures and hide a multitude of sins! You know what I mean! :p

Burning is not handsome
In today's climate, sunbaking can be detrimental to both your skin and health if not done wisely. If you are going to be spending time in the sun, always wear sunscreen. Have a tan pre-applied if you want to appear tanned instantly without the threat of skin cancer.

Sunglasses
You can't go to a beach without a pair of cool sunglasses. Check out shade station for the coolest surfer shades. Try styles like A Wire and Square Wire as they suit different face shapes.


Beach Towel
Impress others with a game of Twister, on a towel! (I'm impressed!) You can easily find out some interesting towel online where you can also customise your own!

Flip Flops No surfer dude look is complete without a pair of flip-flops. All the cool celebs are wearing them! Reef have custom designed flip flops for the gadget lovers out there.

Swimwear As far as men’s swimwear goes, swim trunks are the most basic sort of swimwear. This does not mean that swim trunks are not great men’s swimwear. Men of any age can wear swim trunks, from young boys to old men. Swim trunks are great because they usually have a lining so that they are very comfortable and less revealing.

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Technorati Tags: Man Fashion, Men Beachwear Fashion, Man Beach Styles

Texas Talks About Splitting From The United States

"If Texas did secede from the union, we could then invade them for the oil!" — Jay Leno on the Tonight Show

"Texas is moving in circles he doesn't much care for.
Learned a lot of things he knows he ain't got no use for.
Texas is swimmin' in water way over his head.
Even a poor boy knows when he's better off dead." — Texas, Topaz

Yes, Texas is a state of mind. It's bad enough we've had to deal with our own internecine GLBT political controversy, but we're ever aware that even worse horse crap gets lobbed at us from our arch-conservative politicians. Yes, folks all think there was a moderating, progressive revolution in this country last November. Even in Texas we've seen some of that to a lesser level.

But make no mistake: Texas is chock full of nuts when it comes to its arch-conservativism. To that point, Texas' own Gov. Rick Perry dove into the nut bowl head first. He attended a number of Texas cities' Tea Party protests (oddly enough, named after a transgender convention – now defunct – that used to take place in Houston and San Antonio!) While there, he got carried away during his speaking gig and inferred that Texas could secede from the union to protest the government's heavy-handed policies!

We've had other groups, very, very conservative ones (read, right-wing extremists that even the conservative Republicans in Texas considered nutbags) who've developed even splinter political parties to address the need for Texas to once again become a republic. It's a notion popularized in school, where in our Texas history classes we learned that Texas (among other considerations upon ceding into the U.S.) could leave the U.S. without the approval needed by Congress to sanction it.

It turns out that's urban legend (damn inaccurate textbooks!). We can still divide into five states, but we can no longer secede whenever we feel like.

That said, nobody ever wanted to push this ... until now! We've got great Americans like Rush Limbaugh ("I want to see America fail!"), and Glenn Beck with all the stability of Jim Jones pushing everyone to far extremes for the recent measures by Obama on the bank bailouts!

"Texas is runnin' with people he don't like to look at." — Texas, Topaz

Now that over-extreme reaction is in vogue, even mainstream Republicans are finding the swimming fine in the nut bowl.

So besides Voter Photo ID, the next most vital bill the Texas Legislature has to address being fast-tracked at the moment is HCR 50, establishing Texas' right to its sovereignty. Basically it declares that anything the government mandates does not have to be followed by the state of Texas.

At first blush, this seems really bad. But then again, it means we can ignore a number of really bad, very intrustive legislation and orders passed by the Bush Administration!

Think of it: once passed into law, we can say "Hasta La Vista" to No Child Left Behind! It was an unfunded mandate, put hardships on the state in order to follow an arbitrary set of rules put forth by Washington, and did nothing but cause havoc. No Child Left Behind should be immediately terminated, and good riddance to bad Bush-baked bills of similar stripe as well!

The PATRIOT Act? Forget that too! It violates the Constitution on a number of fronts and has long been leaving Texas and numerous American citizens in fear. No to wiretaps, no to warrantless searches, no to illegal detainment and arrests without constitutional arraignment periods. It's time to end this immediately, if not sooner!

We can demand our money back from the banks immediately as well! Nothing in the Constitution says that we have to bail out over-large, revenue-drunken and arrogant businesses with taxpayer money! Whatever happened to that "free market principle" the Republicans used to repeat like a mantra? There's nothing free market about that!

Another bit of good news for folks along Texas' southern border: we should put an immediate halt to the Bush Wall along the Rio Grande! The government has been illegally seizing people's land, dividing and creating hardships for many of these landowners and spending money on a completely impotent boondoggle that's only success is the money it's bringing in for Bush-baby's no-bid contractor constructing it!

"Habits and debts, they don't wither away, they just grow." — Texas, Topaz

If Gov. Closet-Case Perry is serious about this sovereignty biz, then there's not going to be this hypocritical half-assed cherry-picking variety of only certain things. Nope. Pandora's box is flying open widely. Either overturn all the bad stuff, including Perry's buddy the Bush-baby's bills, or he faces backlash as nothing but a double-standard bearing, two-faced piece of garbage – and just in time for election season for 2010!

One more thought: America may just decide Texas has been more trouble than it's worth and give us our walking papers. We did spawn the likes of Enron, Dick Armey, Tom DeLay, Bush-Baby & Daddy, and Karl Rove. Even Dick Cheney kept residence here for a time while heading Halliburton/KBR (whose headquarters is in Houston). And if we're not building the wall between Mexico and Texas any more ... maybe the Obama Administration will decide they need to put up a wall along the Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico border.

To keep the Texans out, ya know?

"I'm just not real sure you're a bunch of right-wing extremists. But if you are, we're with you!" — Texas Gov. Rick Perry

"So pack up your bags, man, collect all your gear.
You'll never quite make it, not hangin' around here." — Texas, Topaz

"Let me tell you people that I found a new way
And I'm tired of all this talk about love,
And the same old story with a new set of words
About the good and the bad and the poor." — Space Cowboy, Steve Miller Band

Testimony Time In Texas Legislature, Take Two

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent." — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Yes, this was supposed to come out on Sunday or Monday at the latest. Best laid plans ... my back spasms and not one but two teeth with an absess kept me a bit less-than-active. They're still nagging as I write (and it's all I can do to keep my mood on even keel).

Fitting, following last week. I'd described what happened on my testimony to Elections Committee, but there was still the issue of another committee testimony in Texas' House Criminal Jurisprudence subcommittee for extending the Hate Crimes statute to include "gender identity or expression" two days later.

Randall Terrell from Equality Texas (EQ TX) dropped in to watch proceedings, and I spoke with him afterwards about the Hate Crimes bill. Lo and behold, the bill that they weren't promoting and wasn't even submitted come Lobby Day, the one I'd been written to by my friend in legislature noting that there was fear our bill would "get Republicans thinking about stripping sexaul orientation from the bill instead," the very bill I was told wasn't going anywhere during the Lobby Day was moving through committee.

Suddenly Randall's telling me he'll be there to testify! On a bill with "no chance," no less! Not only that, but he's bringing in Lisa Scheps on their behalf to testify along with him! The irony wasn't lost on me (nor the sudden opportunism).

That news gave me extra concern to mull over. I have my own personal issue on why I'm antsy about telling my story on this before people other than the legislators themselves: they are the keepers of the keys! They have ability to pass law to protect us. Others don't.

However, a legislator I'd visited with earlier that day told me this committee was a good one: majority Democrat, the subcommittee we were assigned was all Democrat, and the chair, Rep. Pete Gallego (D) is tenured and efficient, meaning we'd have possibly a one-week turnaround from subcommittee to committee instead of the typical two weeks. So I had my work cut out: all day Wednesday was going to be hitting the halls and roping in co-authors and sponsors for the bill! Plus I still had to herd Rep. Chisum (R) to Rep. Thompson (D) in order that she could give him the info needed to make a decision on what language he'd be fine with to sponsor. No time to worry now.

After checking Facebook on my cell, apparently EQ TX didn't get the info out widely – their other trans board member, Katy Stewart, wrote in response to my previous night's status about my testimony saying she was unaware of the bill in committee or that anyone was even requesting testimony! Nice, eh?

As I'd already have to pay the $6 for 24 hr. parking, and it was off the street and at least a bit more secure than sleeping on the street, I just stayed put and slept there. It was cold, but having the extra clothes helped: I just piled them on top of me, homeless-style, for warmth. And having the Capitol just a block and a half off meant I had easy access to a restroom in the morning for make up, brushing teeth, etc. I'd stumbled on a great spot to stay while in Austin when you're on the penny!


Wednesday was a mad dash all over the Capitol. I got started at about 9AM with a visit to Chisum's aide, noting I'd have to continue monitoring that, and began nearly eleven hours of hitting offices to pull in co-sponsors for the bill. Having only my one sheet with the bill text, it was a little slower than simply a handout and walking. A few of the offices needed some background explanation as well, particularly the handful of Republican offices I visited.

In about ten and a half hours hoofing the marble in the Capitol, I'd hit about 80 offices in all. I'd also pulled in quite a number of supporters ready to sign, and others leaning towards it (something Randall would comment on the next day as he'd apparently called after I'd done my drop-ins looking for support, only to find they'd already had visits from me.)


After that, I retreated to the car and changed into a pair of jeans and my Nikes, grabbed my Walkman and began my power-walk to work off some of the edginess on the next day's testimony. After a quick stop at 8:30 to ask if Rep. Chisum had visited with Thompson's office (he hadn't!), I really needed to walk off the stress. So off I walked down Congress to Sixth Street!

It was a great night for it: balmy, light breeze and a nearly-full moon. I must've walked a couple miles on my circuitous meander downtown, before finally settling in at a little hole-in-the-wall on 6th with dollar Lone Stars and a really decent, Stevie Ray Vaughan-inspired band playing for tips – the Jamie Krueger Band. They were great (and the lead-man was a cutie too!) For a grand total of $5, I had three beers and a great way to get my mind off of my troubles!

At midnight, it was just a little six block walk up the hill to my car in the parking garage, where I ate some Cheese-Its for dinner (ha!) and had a nice sleep. The night turned out pretty good!

Once I woke up, I was afraid I'd overslept a little. It was nearly 8AM and I had to change pretty quickly, then run to the Capitol to put my face on in the Women's restroom during the morning rush! There, I met Julie DeGrace from San Antonio who also came up for testimony, and my nerves start stressing. Our committee room was more full than I'd expected, with even more of us in for testimony: Susan Pollock-French (mom of a trans man), Katy Koonce (one of TGAIN's helping professional lobbyists, and self-identified gender expressing lesbian as well), plus another friend, Randall Ellis (former E. D. for LGRL in their good period).

My nerves were wracking now! No, it's not because of testimony of a general basis. I could do that in my sleep. Randall had specifcally asked for someone who'd been a recipient of hate violence.

It meant I was going to have to out myself and talk about the fact I'd been through that myself. It's one thing discussing things third person, and even then (having two people I know being on the Remembering Our Dead website -- two friends) it's still not without its impact. But discussing things that happen first-person, where the memories are easily refreshed and the shock rushes back in almost automatically, makes for a more difficult task. I really didn't want to break down while talking about it. It's embarrassing.

About 45 minutes into the committee testimony (our bill was the third of four to be addressed), we were notified the House was called into session. Committee would have to delay until that afternoon after lunch! More time ... but also more time to think!

The previous night as I walked, I was going over testifying about what happened to me with TransFM's Ethan St. Pierre on the phone and threatening to back out of talking about it. He urged me to do it anyway, against my better judgement. For the next few hours, I had a mental tug-of-war over how I would testify. And I also began thinking that if the James Byrd Hate Crimes bill had included us, how different my situation might have been (considering it happened over two years after the bill became law). Then depression began to set in on top of it all!

"I felt a duty to testify." — former Atty. Gen, Ramsey Clark

Soon enough, those four hours flew by and committee reconvened. As I walked up to testify and stood before the committee, I could already feel the tightening of the throat. It was tough, especially with an "audience," but I managed to get through it without a breakdown. However, my testimony sucked overall as I was too focused on "not breaking down" and truncated my own allotted time in order to do it, leaving a number of other points uncovered. Thankfully, the points I'd have typically touched upon were covered by both Lisa Scheps and Julie DeGrace.

Maybe it's good being outed on that as it'll give me reason to focus on self-desensitizing the incident, which I do need to tackle. Yet I still fear the potential ramifications of it.

Once finished, Randall Terrell from Equality Texas called us outside the committee room to brief us on the next steps. He'd found out earlier in the day and did a victory dance over getting HB 1323 (an anti-bullying bill) out of committee and to the floor – good news! Then he again dropped the bomb on us all: this bill was virtually certified dead because we'd "reached our quota" on GLBT bills with the Anti-bullying and his desired bill commissioning a study on why the James Byrd Hate Crimes bill was not being utilized.

As soon as that bit of news popped out, and seeing my reaction to this, Lisa Scheps (a board member of EQ TX, mind you) made herself scarce.

"Playin' hard. Talkin' fast. Makin' sure that he won't be the last." — Mistra Know-It-All, Stevie Wonder

Terrell tried to play it off as not going anywhere (no thanks to them!) and how the study bill was much more important (obviously for him). His reasoning was that it would be good to understand why we are all not being covered, even trans! Gee, I could answer him that one all by myself after asking Harris County's Dist. Atty: trans folks aren't explicitly covered in the bill and they won't "create law" – only follow the letter of it as its written! It never ceases to amaze me how stupid they continue playing me off to be! Would they do likewise if it was someone gay or lesbian instead? Is it a habit of his to make disparate people feel like fools?

This is coming from a guy who admittedly can't even get Rep. Warren Chisum to support any of his bills, although I have no problem getting him to support mine! And I'm the dunce ... well! One thing that strikes me out of this is how he's taking ownership of a bill that has no GLB in it! If we left it up to him, we'd have virtually nothing. I didn't wait around expecting them to do for us – I knew better! The bill requests blasted out there came from me a month before Lobby Day, the notes to the committee folks, following up on the status, pushing Chisum to support, and all the footwork in the House side – that came from my side, not theirs!

And suddenly he walks in on a bill he declared dead a month earlier, wants control of it, only to control the agenda and ensure it goes nowhere? All because it counts as part of the GLBT quota, even though they (the GLB portion) already got theirs years ago? How selfish is that?

News flash: this is a Trans bill! If Equality Texas can't help, they damn sure should not hurt! If this is the way it's going to be, then next session's Trans bills, such as the name & gender change bill (something that doesn't affect sexual minorities) and the hate crimes bill expansion (they're covered already, we are not) will be taken back by TGAIN. It's not GLBT, it's T alone. We have different circumstances we have to address, such as Voter Photo ID legislation, which again does not touch the overwhelming majority of the gay and lesbian community, but it quite important to transitioning trans people!

We cannot depend on disaffected people to understand our issues completely, no matter how long we educate them (and I get the impression that that hasn't even been fully addressed either). All they seek is opportunistic glory, PR and a little bit of money. We see nothing like that. We only know our people continue being attacked and killed in Texas for being who they are, we have no protections and we have self-appointed advocates that are giving us short shrift!

Well, I'm over being depressed about it. Now I'm thoroughly pissed! It's time, Texas! It's time to take control of our own destiny for a change!

"Justice delayed is justice denied." — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Green Evolution Car: Toyota Prius in Detroit Show

Another green evolution effort by automakers. TOYOTA launched its new Prius at the Detroit show, just as sale of the hybrid have been hit in the US in the face of falling petrol prices.

The new model will have to rekindle interest in Toyota's iconic hybrid, sales of which dropped by 48% in November 2008 compared to November '07. Lighter, more powerful and more economical than the current model, it also face competition from the cheaper Honda Insight.


This Prius's design is a sharper version of the current model, with a sleeker, more integrated look; it retains the high rear boot line for optimum airflow over the car. The new Prius has a drag coefficient of 0.25, making it one of only two cars (along with the new Mercedes E-Class) to manage such a low figure. It is slightly longer than the current car.

Underneath is an all-new platform that will be used by Lexus as the basis for its new HS250 hybrid. The 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine has grown in size to 1.8 litres, but Toyota claiming "significant reduction in weight".

The new Hybrid Synergy Drive system, Toyota's name for the electric motor setup, is smaller and lighter than in the current Prius, while the car incorporates aluminum and more high-tensile steel in its construction.

Inside, the car keeps the current Prius's layout, with the main instruments contained within a narrow, centrally mounted digital display. A button on the centre console, which is an Auris-style 'floating' unit allows the car to run on electric power only, allowing the driver to isolate the engine from the powertrain.

Head room is improved and the Prius gains boot space, thanks to the smaller battery pack, which is mounted under the boot floor.

When the car goes on sale in the UK this summer, expect prices to be similar to today's EURO17.777.

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Technorati Tags: Car Review, Toyota Hybrid , Toyota Prius 2010

Testimony Time In Texas Legislature

"I need you, my witness,
To dress this up so bloodless;
To numb me and purge me now
Of thoughts of blaming you." — Testify, Rage Against The Machine

It's been quite a wild week. Sleeping in my car a couple nights near the State Capitol, staying up late into the night at one House committee testimony and waiting around for a second bill's testimony 36 hrs. later, and finally driving home, collapsing in exhaust only to wake up the next day to find my dad's hometown took a direct hit by a tornado and we don't know what happened to all our relatives there (to say nothing of the family drama here at home with my sister and brother-in-law).

Weeks like this make it hard to figure out where to begin. After getting news Friday morning from the TLIS (Texas Legislation site) that the Voter Photo ID bill which passed in the Senate was coming to the House Elections Committee on Tuesday, I braced myself for another long drive and possible long night (the Senate version of it had me waiting nearly 20 hrs. to testify). Before I left, I saw a note on the same bill from Meghan Stabler, one of HRC's two trans folks. so I dropped her a note and a phone call to let her know what was needed and what to expect.

Then after discovering on Sunday the Hate Crimes bill I'd been pushing since returning from DC in early February was hitting subcommittee about 44 hrs. later. Initially I considered leaving the Voter ID bill testimony to Meghan and just driving in Thursday for the Hate Crimes testimony, but I thought better of it. Again I dropped a note to her with the update that I'd come in Tuesday and stay over until Thursday, thinking she might hit the second one as well.


It turns out Meghan's job kept her over, she did her class presentation at University of Texas that evening, afterwards went to dinner with her mate, Erin, got tired and went home. So I never saw Meghan. Even though I didn't feel like it, I'm now glad I went for both the Voter ID and the Hate Crimes bills (which I was unaware anyone else was attending by the time I left). Now we've got the crucial last piece: testimony on the bill in both Houses of the legislature and before both authors, alerting them that their proposed legislation will be stripping the right to vote from one law-abiding, taxpaying segment of the population whose photo ID's will not match: transitioning transsexuals.

Any attempt to push through Voter ID legislation in Texas that requires matching identification without dealing with name and gender changes in the state statute will result in direct and knowing violation of our civil right to vote.

And as fate would have it, I palled around with the executive director of the ACLU Texas while sitting in testimony. She saw the whole thing as well. So a little good came with the frustration!

First thing I noted when walking into the House hearing was that color-coding was in effect again, and the committee room was a sea of red! Pro Voter Photo ID folks dominated the meeting room; many of them from a name quite familiar to the trans community: Concerned Women For America!


This version of testimony was a bit more entertaining that the Senate. We had some real lulus testifying. One elderly woman from Corpus Christi who said her husband was Ben Garza who'd died a year ago (presumably Jr. as the LULAC founder died many years ago), started a disjointed rant about a number of groups such as LULAC (corruption), the Teacher's Union (founded by communists), La Raza [Unida] (socialists) and impugning other groups and organizations on what seemed like a ten minute ramble that never really made a point, other than to slam the Democrats (fascist and corrupt).

At one point, we had counsel from the Texas Attorney General's Office admonish both the committee legislators and the audience not to discuss two ongoing investigations of fraud in Progreso TX and in Harris County! Later a group from the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of mostly elderly women called the OWLS (Objective Watchers of the Legal System) testified individually to support the Voter ID bill due to some of the aforementioned fraud in Progreso being actively investigated by the Attorney General's Office.

Later, when one of the OWLS women were testifying, State Rep. Betty Brown (R-Kaufman) began inexplicably reading affidavits with details about Progreso during the committee, becoming part of the record of proceedings in defiance of Attorney General's instruction! It's ironic that someone supporting this legislation before us, intent of which is to end voter fraud, would then defy the Attorney General's counsel and potentially jeopardize their case on ... voter fraud! Yeah, she seriously wants to end voter fraud, hmm?


But the hits kept coming from Rep. Brown! At one point while questioning Ramey Ko, testifying on behalf of Asian-American Texas voters was questioned by the affable Ms. Brown: "well, rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese, I understand it's a difficult language, do you think it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could more readily deal with here?" "Can't you see that this is something that...this is something that would make it easier for you and...the pollworkers if there were some means by which you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that was easier for Americans to deal with?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9hdVUzMeDw

Dig it. We're an enlightened state here in Texas. And this comes from the same conservative party that won't do anything to make transitioning trans people identities easier for pollworkers to "readily deal with"! I wanted to scream.

Later in the testimony, I saw Randall Terrell from Equality Texas walk in and chat with folks up near the podium. It was a bit surprising as it's not a bill that effects gay and lesbian (thus not really on their radar – it wasn't on the Senate side.)


Finally I got my chance to speak well after 11PM. The first thing I noted odd was the clerk, who usually sat at his desk next to the testimony lectern with the three minute timer physically got up and sat beside the committee chair at the committee table. He returned again to his desk after I finished. The next thing was the reaction of the committee members – almost immediately stand-offish. I was the only person testifying up to that point that was not asked follow-up questions, and instead was cut off by the committee chair ensuring me that transitioning transsexuals are "part of the bill" or if not, they'll ensure that we're "covered" in it.

Yet there was no awareness of Committee Chair Todd Smith (R-Bedford) of the bill's language (nor desire to discover), and he appeared all about ensuring me we're covered and having me leave the podium as soon as possible. All in all it was a bit curious behavior on their part.

Eventually though, I actually made it out of the hearing a little before midnight! Much earlier than I was fearing initially, but too late to go anywhere. After a discussion with Randall from EQ TX after completing my testimony, I learned others would be coming in to testify on the Hate Crimes bill expanding coverage for trans Texas (which I'll save for the next blog post.)

Afterward I walked back across the campus, reflecting in the fully lit glow of the limestone Capitol Building, and back across to the parking garage where I parked. On my way back I notic0.ed two other cars parked just outside the Capital Grounds fence with people in it, apparently camping out themselves. I take it they were living in their cars, simply looking for safe places to park for the night. Fitting imagery.

Once back in the garage, I pulled my suitcase out of the trunk to bring up front and camped out in my car for the night. Not a bad spot to sleep for the night, really. The next couple days were gonna be busy, and I needed some sleep.

(To Be Continued)

"On the corner
The jury's sleepless.
We found your weakness,
And it's right outside your door!
Now testify!" — Testify, Rage Against The Machine

Man Fashion: Waist Bags for 2009 Spring & Summer

I have not discussed much about waist bags so far. It does not really mean I'm not a fan of waist bag. Just I don't find one that suit me. Having said that, Jil Sander has released their latest waist bags featured in 2009 Spring/Summer Collection really caught my attention, not only for style and design, but also functionality.

Really, I would think this one is not exactly a waist pouch, but a belt with three spacious pockets. Available in two colors – blue and white, it is a perfect, utility accessory for a picnic, a safari or even a night out, what do you think?

You can find out more from Jil Sander.

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