Republican Rick Renzi, incumbent member of the US House of Representatives for Arizona district 1, handily defeated democrat Paul Babbitt for the congressional seat on November 2nd. On top of the horrible smear campaign that utilized half truths and outright lies, it seems he utilized "banned" funds.

Seems that this holiday season, sales are mixed at the nation's retailers.

The other day I was flipping through Sports Illustrated (11/08/04 issue, pg 29) and noticed a recruitment advertisment for the US Army.  A few days later, I happened upon another recruitment ad for the Army on the back cover of People magazine (11/22/04 issue).  Of course the US military branches have long run recruitment ads in popular magazines for as long as I can remember.  But what seemed unique to me was the message that was being used. What is most important, is that in these ADs yhey aren't recruiting soldiers, they are recruiting parents to encourage their children to become soldiers.

More after the break....

When I woke up Wednesday morning, after not enough sleep and a bit too much alcohol the night before, I felt truly overwhelmed.  I'm sure this wasn't at all uncommon among the community here.  

I grew up in a state that passed an anti-gay initiativee on Tuesday,  and have lived a good third of my life in a progressive community in the Southwest. I have "come-out" to more people than I could possibly count over the years, from family to old high-school friends, professors to co-workers, and never in my life have I felt like I did Wednesday morning when I woke to the fact that all 11 of 11 states with anti-gay initiatives passed that legislation. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.  It felt, at that moment, very personal.