And you thought Philly sports fans were bad!

World Cup pee is killing the trees in Berlin. Clearly this is proof positive that European sports fans are no more civilized that their American counterparts. Guardian UK:

The only thing the organisers of the World Cup appear to have got wrong is the number of toilets provided. Biologists have warned that trees in Berlin are in danger of dying because of male fans urinating in the bushes. The huge, leafy 'fan mile' in the centre of the city has regularly been attracting crowds of up to 700,000 who have gathered to drink beer, eat sausages and watch games on giant screens - but it only has 280 portable loos.

Now I'd be lying if I said I've never wee'd on a tree before, but I try to rotate my targets as much as possible. For all other outside pissers, I recommend doing the same. So does Tilman Lamparter, a biologist at Berlin's Free University who cautions, "The urea sinks into the ground as ammonia. In small quantities this is a good fertiliser, but too much acidity is bad for the soil and could damage or even kill the trees."

Not to mention the smell!

Hippy Chickenhawk

I wonder how differently Dick Cheney would feel about war-waging, were it not for his draft-dodging prowess in the Viet Nam era.

The mind reels....
(Image courtesy Mike Lane)

Tidbits....

Looks like Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has signed a law banning the death penalty in her country. Aparently, Arroyo was under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church to end capital punishment. To their credit, the Catholics have long advocated to ban the death penalty. So the new law means that the 1,2oo prisoners on death row in the Philippines will serve life-terms.

I made up my mind once and for all about the death penalty when I interviewed Kirk Bloodsworth, the first American exonerated from deathrow by DNA evidence. Check out that interview here.
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*On a much lighter note, Wimbledon starts tomorrow. The ladies in the tournament are pissed that the men get paid more prize money, even though the gal's game gets bigger TV ratings. All the other Grand Slam-tier tournaments offer equal pay, so Wimbledon's unwillingness to treat women fairly really is difficult to defend. (On the bright side, blacks are still allowed on the courts.)

In the pic, Maria Sharapova (r) and Venus Williams (r) illustrated the total prize money difference awarded by Wimbledon (£6,132,770) to male and female players in the past decade. Ahhh, life in the pink collar ghetto........
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Also on the Wimbledon front, lesbian goddess Martina Navratilova is entered in the doubles draw. She and her partner are seeded 7th. Astonishing to know that she'll be 50 this year. She won her first Wimbledon (with Chris Evert) back in 1976 which blows my mind.
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Ya'll remember the BBQ I had for Congressional Candidate Rich Sexton a few weeks ago? It was a big success and at the party we raised $1,515 for Rich's campaign to unseat a nasty republican and send a great guy to Congress. Well, thanks to the generosity of Lassiter Space readers and some contributors who didn't show, the total is now well over $2,ooo!! I am not worthy.
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Finally, did you hear the one about the chicken and the egg? Well, the chicken and egg are lying in bed. Ok, the chicken is laying there, smoking a cigarette looking totally satisfied. The egg is laying next to the chicken looking totally dejected and says to the chicken, "well, I guess we answered that question!"

Lassiter and the Transexuals take over Trenton

I knocked on over 10,000 doors (while stumping in the 14th district) and not one of the people I spoke with said to me, 'when you're elected you should ammend the constitution to discriminate against the gay community.' Not one." -Republican Assemblyman Bill Baroni Trenton was gayer than ever yesterday and Jim McGreevy was nowhere to be found!! And even though we definitely had a gay old time, there was a serious message to Equality Day at the state house. Namely, marriage and gender equality. The day was put on by Garden State Equality and Gender Rights Advocacy Association NJ. Our plan was to lobby the powers-that-be to remain sympathetic to our cause, which is equality for all citizens of New Jersey. Plain and simple.

jay lassiter :: Equality Day at the State House (updated with pics!)

We first met with the chiefs of staff for the Governor, Senate President Codey and Assembly Speaker Roberts. It was pretty obvious by the dialogue with these folks with that we (gays and transsexuals) have genuine allies in Gov. Corzine, Codey, and Roberts. We next met with some members of the GOP caucus, who impressed me with their enlightened views on gay- and trans issues. John Bramnick (R-Union), Bill Baroni (R-Mercer) and Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) all showed up as did NJ GOP state Chairman Tom Wilson. I must confess, this meeting with the republican caucus was the most spirited of the day in my opinion. In addition to assurances we received that the GOP caucus would not write discrimination into the NJ coustitution, ("Never gonna happen" says Bramnick) they really held their own in a lively discussion on equality and diversity in the state. My lasting impression was these GOP memebers were really good guys. It was nice to engage with the other side without the fear that my "lifestyle" might be used against me on election day. Would you believe me if I suggested that these guys hold themselves to a completely different standard than Karl Rove and his brand of republicanism? (enlarge pic to see a captivated GOP caucus) Next up was a meeting with NJ's brand spankin' new Public Advocate, Ron Chen. What's a public advocate you ask? Something akin to an ombubsmnan between NJ citizens and the government. An interloctor between "us" and "them" with regards to civil rights and other issues of advocacy. Mr. Chen's background as a law professor at Rutgers and with the ACLU inspired confidence. Not only does this guy have an intimate knowledge of NJ constitutional law, he also earned some stripes at the ACLU, as well. Blue Jersey invited Mr. Chen to write an op-ed piece here on the site, basically explaining in more detail the roll he hopes to play in the Corzine cabinet. So stay tuned for that. After lunch it was back to the lobbying. We met with NJ State Senate majority leader Bernard Kenny (D Hudson) who said the right things to us, albeit it in a non-committal way. (Note to Sen. Kenny: simple questions require simple answers.) Next we were treated to a mini-nervous breakdown courtesy of Sen. Bill Gormley (R- Atlantic) who is generally open to GLTBI-issues but seemed horrified at our contingent. "You've ambushed me!" and "I have nothing to say!" and further "i don't want to listen to you either." Sen. Gormley's lack of hospitality was bitterly ironic. The gang was there to present him with a placque, basically thanking him for being a friend to the gays. EEEEKK!! Shortly thereafter Sen. John Adler paid us a visit. His assurances that the bill protecting transexuals from discrimination would be "one of the first" pieces of legislation we take up in the next section. There was a woman in our juggernaut named Jacqui who presented the legislators with three years worth of rejected resumes which she suffered while trying to find a job after her (stunningly gorgeous) transformation. Basically, Jacqui couldn't find a job in NJ and had no legal recourse to fight the obvious discrimination she faced while seeking employment. "New Jersey failed me. Please don't make anyone else have to endure my fate." I should add that Jacqui is no longer living in NJ. So we lost a tax payer, and a life long Jersey homegirl. Our loss. By the end of the day, we had also met with Assemblyman Joe Cryan, Chair of the Democrat State Committee who is clearly a friend and ally of the gays. In fact, of all the legislators, he seemed genuinely the warmest of the lot. Honestly, you learn a lot about a person watching them react to a transsexual. Joe Cryan seemed to exude an aura which said "I don't care where you fall on the gender continuum, you're still a knucklehead. Now come gimme a hug!!" (In this pic, I attempt to get the scoop from Cryan staffer Bob Bresenhan, but i was clearly distracted by the faaaaaabulous decor of the statehouse rotunda. click to enlarge) In conclusion, our message could be boiled down to this: "We're still here, we're still queer. But we are also a powerful lobbying body and we vote and we matter and we're watching you." (after a long day lobbyin' NJ NOW president Suzannah Porter leans in to congratulate Garden State Equality prez Steven Goldstein on a job well done. click to enlarge)

Local Airman Carl Ware laid to rest amid suspicions of foul play in Iraq

As Glassboro Airman Carl Ware Jr. was laid to rest yesterday, questions began swiriling about the exact nature of his death.

Airman Ware's parents have suggested the shot to the chest that killed their son in Iraq wasn't fired by the enemy, rather by someone on his base, possibly a fellow soldier or security contractor.

Military officers in Hawaii (were Airman Ware was stationed) told the family they were investigating the shooting to try to determine if it was accidental or deliberate.

Air Force Times:

Officials at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu did not confirm or deny the family’s account other than to say his death did not happen in combat, and that it was being investigated.

Calls by Blue Jersey to the 15th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office at Hickman were pretty much fruitless.

When asked "Do you have anything to tell me beyond what what stated in the Department of Defense's original press release" they were unwilling to divulge any substantiative details regarding the death of NJ's 44th casualty of the Iraq conflict.

According to a military spokesman at Hickman AFB, the DOD has thirty days to conduct an investigation into Airman Ware's death. At that point it's the Pentagon's prerogative to rule that the investigation is simply "Inconclusive."

In other words his family may never know what really happened in Airman Ware's final moments.

How did Airman Ware die?

Why did Airman Ware die?

Did Airman Ware have to die?

Will we ever know?

Kim Jung Il is a bad mamma jamma

Image courtesy Bill Mitchell

Your Tax Dollars at Work

(Pam at the House Blend reports)--Headline over at Raw Story: Federal contracts up 86% under Bush; Halliburton rises 600%.

Bonus points to Lockheed, which nailed contracts larger than the budget of Congress and the Department of the Interior.

Does your wallet feel curiously light?

Another Bush Pantywaste!!!

North Korea is planning a missle test-launch any day now. Presumably the rocket has the range to reach the US mainland. And yet President Bush refuses to even comment on it other than to say "North Korea has imposed a moratorium on launching missiles. We hope it will continue that moratorium and we hope it also will abide by commitments it made." So while Iran is on the verge of having nukes, North Korea has missle technology to hit the US, we're up to our tits with the Iraq distraction!! Does Bush even care enough to make a substantative comment?

This latest threat from North Korean crackpot Kim Jong Il comes the very same day the deputy Secretary of State, Robert Zoellick resigned his post as America's number 2 diplomat. Curious timing you might say, especially since Zoellick was said to have a good bit of expertise in Asian affairs. So the day North Korea aims a rocket towards the United States we lose one of our top foreign policy makers, who quit for a better paying job at Goldman Sachs. He said as much. Well, that and sour grapes.

It was no secret that Robert Zoellick was pissed that he did't get the job as Treasury Secretary. Aparently the #2 job at the State Department was not enough for him and his ego. So he quit. Presumably when we needed him most. Sounds a lot like wussy to me. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about the values of the Bush cabinet, but clearly this Zoellick guy lacks character, leadership and balls. Kinda like the President.

Maybe it's better that Zoellick is gone. If you look around the world you see that the US is tied up in a clutch of diplomatic crises ( Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, et al. ) so clearly this guy was a hack diplomat.

Instead of leadership Bush has given us (yet) another pantywaste.

Are you scared yet?
(Image courtesy Clay Bennett)

Bush in Iraq for a white-hot minute

Image courtesy Steve Sack

Ambassador Lassiter?

Peter Lein is one of the best known photographers in Philly and I have worked part-time at his studio for years. When Peter's not shooting supermodels and stuff, he's in places like Rwanda (documenting genocide) or Uganda or Haiti (archiving the AIDS crisis.)

He's also been known to jet off to Rio for carnival footage. In short, when he's not being a famous photographer, he's off being an activist with a camera. Let's face it, AIDS and genocide are grim topics and going to these exotic locales to document this kinda stuff epitomizes "fightin' the good fight." Believe it or not, Peter's even been to Antarctica once documenting the effects of global warming.

But there is one place he's never been and that's China. I've never been either and China is way up on my list of choice destinations! In fact, except for last sememster while my Achilles healed, I've been studying Mandarin at NYU for the past few years. (and yeah, it's hard.)

Anyway, when a delegation of Chinese Photographers came to Philly this week to meet with their American counterparts at the American Society of Media Photographers, it was a chance to really put my linguistic and diplomacy skills to the test.

Ambassador Lassiter? Kinda has a nice ring to it don't ya think?

Now it's hard to remember sometimes that China is still a communist country. The notion that you can be a freelance photographer but still draw your salary from the state really blew my mind. So whether you're shooting communist propoganda pics, or doing a a shoot for Nike in Bejing, you're still obstensibly an apparatchik of the state.

So we hung out, traded tips, had some green tea, took some photos and played host to the Chinese delegation for a few hours. And in spite of the fact that my Mandarin's still a litttle basic, the opportunity to speak Chinese when it mattered was thoroughly satisfying. I should add that Peter's studio looks a lot like an art gallery, so our guests were pretty blown away by the whole package.

Between Peter's many professional credentials and my command of their mothertongue, we somehow secured an invitation to come to China as official guests of the Chinese Photographers Association. Of course me showing up for work with a Chairman Mao t-shirt (a gift from my boyfriend, Greg) and shamelessly waving their flag (see pic) didn't hurt our cause. I should add that their offer came as a complete surprise to us. It felt a little like winning a gameshow or something.

The moral of the story is this: what goes around comes around. If you treat other people (and cultures) kindly, if you engage them with respect and genuine curiosity then good things will happen to you. Goodwill goes a really long way. In this case, it goes all the way to China.
This time next year, I will have a China stamp in the old passport. And I am positively giddy with anticipation!!