Van Taylor wants you to know
Van is mad at Murtha for something he didn’t actually say. The Miami Sun-Sentinel misquoted him and no one checked the quote (sounds like bloggers have taken over, doesn’t it?) before running with it.

Van Taylor, the Republican candidate for the District 17 House seet, and the only R candidate who is an Iraq vet, is joining the swiftboating of John Murtha for his position on the war.

Of course the whole campaign is politically motivated and fueled by lies and distortion — else it wouldn’t be “swiftboating” but of course we can’t count on the media to clarify things for voters.

Fortunately, there’s a local blogger who takes on this task for the district. Nate Nance publishes the blog Common Sense, and tirelessly covers this race. If you live in this area, you should bookmark Common Sense and check it regularly. If you have local news that Nate might be interested in writing about, he’s got his email posted. And of course, use his comments to get a local dialog started — a civil, respectful one, of course, regardless of your political persuasion..

This area has been going through a period of reflection and reassessment in the past few years about its rather dark racist history — well some folks in these parts are frantically resisting any reflection and reassessment, but they are the usual suspects who are always on the wrong side of history.

This interview with, Patricia Bernstein, the author of one of the two recent books that looked at this issue was interviewed by the Waco Trib and, though much too brief a discussion, it does reveal quite a lot about local attitudes and in/action on the matter.

From Q and A with Patrica Bernstein: Of Waco, lynchings and the need for community healing

[...] it’s pretty amazing it took this long to get the whole story told and somebody didn’t do it sooner. One of the sources I used was a master’s thesis written at Baylor University in the 1970s by a gentleman whose aunt actually witnessed the Jesse Washington lynching. He had been interested in it ever since he heard her story, and his professors tried to discourage him from writing the thesis because they thought it was too negative and too inflammatory and they just didn’t see the point. But I think this is a story that long needed to be told, not just because it is an atrocity but also because of the heroism involved.

We also learn that a screenplay is being written from the book, which I would love to see be produced into a film. It would be a great vehicle for an actress to portray a relatively unknown heroine, suffragist Elisabeth Freeman and bring more attention to her life of activism. Freeman’s anti-lynching organizing with the NAACP is described here.

Dmoz is just the greatest thing on the web; if you like Wikipedia, you will love the Open Directory Project!

Now it has expanded and includes Chef Moz, a open-directory dining guide. Very cool.

But, again, the Waco area is sorely in need of some content. McGregor blogger Nate needs to add a review of Texas Coffee and Tea, since he loves the place. But, this is precious, Crawford is listed with its one real restaurant, which has 10 reviews.

From the Trib:

Scnes from movie about ’70s drug smuggling operation to be shot in McGregor

This is kinda cool: A town a few miles from Crawford will be in a movie starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duval. The story is about the biggest marijuana smuggling operation in US history. One of the pilots, who was unaware of what he was involved in, wrote and self-published a book on the story, which made it to the NYT bestseller list (I love to see that happen).

I think I’ll try to contact Jones and Duval about doing a fundraiser for the Peace House. Jones, I’m pretty sure is liberal; he was Al Gore’s college roommate and they’ve remained friends — or so I read back during the 2000 campaign. Worth a shot.

I started getting the Waco Trib this week (well, the weekend editions anyway) and will try to write about more local issues on this blog. There are not too many lefty blogs in the Heart of Texas, so it’s a necessary public service.

Today there’s an article about the local MCC church, a gay/lesbian friendly denomination that, in conservative towns like Waco, are usually the core of the GLBT community.

I’m not Christian, or even religious, but I appreciate what MCC does for gays and lesbians, giving them a place where they can express their spirituality without shame or guilt, and of course it also provides social activities, resources for community service and even on occasion a political nudge. It’s a black eye on the rest of the Christians that this ghettoization was necessary in the first place, but overall it’s been a good thing for gays and lesbians by changing the focus of the community’s attention, to some extent, from the bar scene (and other even less productive venues).

The Waco church is having a celebratory reception for MCC founder Troy Perry — whom I met in Florida a few years back — even as I type this, and a dinner tonight which I will try to get to.

I do have one small criticism of CenTex MCC, though. They should have named themselves HOT (Heart of Texas, as the greater area around Waco is known) MCC, because that would be a lot more fun than CenTex, which sounds like a type of stretchy fabric or a condom brand. Seriously, it sounds very corporate, not religious. I’m betting the boys in the church have a much better, affectionate, nickname for their church. If I go tonight, maybe I will find out what it is!

Grabbed a late lunch today at an established chinese buffet, Chinese Kitchen, on Valley Mills, and after doing some shopping (including food and supplies for my new canine companion) had a quick dessert and coffee at a new coffeehouse, the Coffee Grinder, at 824 Hewitt Dr.

Chinese Kitchen has a cozier atmosphere than the Summer Palace, which I have also been to a couple of times now. Both have a good variety of entrees, including non-chinese items. Chinese Kitchen had warm, fresh servings, even in the middle of the afternoon, unlike Summer Palace.

During my first visit to Chinese Kitchen, I liked the fried oysters, but today, they were made special for our party, perhaps in a rush, and I actually didn’t enjoy them due to the oysters being a bit slimy. But their Lo Mein Noodles are really fantastic — I could really just have that each time and be happy. The rice noodles are also excellent. I also had Pepper Beef (?) and while it was a tad spicier than I prefer, it was tasty. The Sesame Ball was an odd thing, and I took one bite and left the rest. Not bad, but not for me (what’s in there anyway?)

I had Vanilla Cake for dessert — not really a cake, more like a firm pudding — which I really recommend. It’s a light, not too sweet confection that is appropriate when you’ve really already eaten too much.

At Coffee Grinder I had to ask what a gelatoria was and the young, friendly staff answered my question without making me feel like an idiot; I appreciate that since I guess I’m the last to know about this particular food treat. It’s Italian ice cream. But they didn’t have any, as the place is new and the freezer isn’t working. Probably better for a warm day, anyway. So, today, I had a slice of key lime pie, which was really perfect, very smooth, not too tart, not too sweet. I got a cup of Moka Java (yes, that’s how they spell it), one of the daily featured blends, but wasn’t impressed with it. Could have been smoother and mokier.

The prices for the coffee drinks here are quite reasonable, so I’ll definitely be back by there, as the Hewitt area is where I do most of my Waco shopping.

By the way, these reports of my food experiences should not be interpreted as anything but personal accounts of where I’ve eaten and how I felt about it. I’m not by any stretch of the imagination a food critic, or even especially adventuresome.

I’m new to Waco, and can barely find my way from one end of town to the other, but I will remember the way to Mama Baris, an Italian restaurant that opened in Hewitt on Jan. 10.

This is my first restaurant review, and it won’t be anything fancy. But I’m working now, and able to go out to eat occasionally, so will be on the prowl for good, but inexpensive, food.

I had the Eggplant Parmigiana the fist time I went to Mama Baris. It was fantastic, with the eggplant cooked just right, and a perfect balance of eggplant, pasta, cheese and sauce.

Last night I had eaten dinner, so after catching a movie, my companion and I stopped by. He had a meal, Fetticini Alfredo with chicken, which he got with a side of sauce. Apparently he really likes sauce; it really had enough to start with. At any rate, he said it was excellent.

I saved myself for a sinful dessert, but couldn’t resist the Garlic Bread with Cheese and Tomatoes. This was good, but some of the tomatoes were quite green and I had to remove them. I was sorry that there was no bread sticks to have with some of the Baris family secret sauce.

I also enjoyed the Tiramisu (sp?), although it did not come up to the dessert I remember from The Garden Restaurant in St. Petersburg. It was basically ice cream.

The staff is very friendly and helpful at Mama Baris, though all I saw were quite young. I did have to get a little over the top to get my coffee cup refilled the first time by an employee talking on a cell phone, but after that, had no complaints.

The bill was under $20 for the two of us. I also like that the place was open until 10 pm (on Friday, at least), making it a good place to go after an early evening movie, without being rushed.

I have no qualms about recommending Mama Baris to anyone who loves Italian.

The Waco Trib Review: Mama Baris brings sizzle of Italy to Central Texas

I moved to the Waco area from the Oklahoma City Metro, home of “the worst newspaper in America“(CJR).

The Waco Trib is slightly better, which instead of a failing grade of 20 on the journalism test, it gets a failing grade of 40.

The star student in the class who skews the curve is editorial columnist John Young, and of course, the local no-nothings rail at every turn against him and his even having a job at the Trib.

Here’s an example of why Young drives the Bush ite fanatics over the edge: A million little evasions

Go, Miss Molly!

“Members, this bill is about hate and fear and discrimination… When I was a small girl, white folks used to talk about ‘protecting the institution of marriage’ as well. What they meant was if people of my color tried to marry people of Mr. Chisum’s color, you’d often find the people of my color hanging from a tree… Fifty years ago, white folks thought interracial marriages were ‘a threat to the institution of marriage.’