Boxen
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Erg" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
|
12:45 am
[Link] |
Daily Kaos
So Yeah.
"But that's not all. In addition to the ten who voted against final passage, and additional four voted for the Stupak-Pitts coathanger amendment: Snyder, Hill, Driehaus, and Space.
So of that list of the 18 most endangered Democrats, the only ones who didn't cast a shitty vote Saturday night were Grayson, Kilroy, Shea-Porter, and Periello.
And that's just the 18 most endangered, expand out to other competitive races, and it gets uglier. This is where the bulk of the DCCC's money is going to go -- supporting Democrats who didn't just vote against the party's most important piece of legislation in decades, but also threatened to vote against it if the legislation didn't get in the way of a patient and her doctor (along with obviously hypocritical Republicans) on a LEGAL procedure.
From Kos:
..."So here's the bottom line -- skip any donations to the DCCC. Their first priority is incumbent retention, and they're (necessarily) issue agnostic. They'll be dumping millions into defending these seats. Instead, give to those elected officials who best reflect your values."
Admittedly, the guy who runs the dailykos has an agenda, that is a democratic party of Democrats, and he swears too much for my taste, and he's ex-MIL and he lives in Berkeley or thereabouts, so you could say...
but don't bother. The guy gets it right most of the time and he's worked too hard to not beat all the worst of those labels down; he does something I've never seen before and was entirely needed, and he's done it incredibly well. He's one of the best things I've ever seen on the 'net, consistantly.
So, let me put it this way: If you have this thing for a democracy, and you want to get involved, there's a website for you, and it's DailyKos & its sister site, CongressMatters.
What? You're a Republican? Yes, so? Lots of work to do.
|
|
09:36 am
[Link] |
In an effort to rebrand, CitiApartments is now First Apartments
And likely the L in Last Apartments, is Laramar, as the lender UBS, is giving most of their CitiApartment buildings to Laramar as they go into foreclosure. The good news being that Laramar isn't an owner, so they've no vested interest that we know of, to kick tenants out, unlike CitiApartments thug tactics.
But Secondly, and most importantly, if someone you know, someone you don't know, anyone is looking for a place to live "First Apartments" isn't a safe company for them to go with.
Tell your strangers, they need to know, and you know, they're your neighbors.
|
|
12:00 am
[Link] |
-rm -ls
Radical Militant Librarians
!!!
I love that a Federal agent felt the need to use three exclamation points.
So, no, there's no real Guild, as yet:
What I'm going on about: Librarians fought back
Yes, they're still fighting, because unfortunately, the renewal of the Patriot Act, included the gag orders.
Front lines, the kindly person who is your research librarian.
I spent a huge amount of time in my local libraries as a kid, they raised me to believe in an America that chooses not to do these things, because they can figure out what's right, or wrong and how to stay on the side of right. I know that sounds nuts, but let's use this as an example.
UK Judges understand democracy
""The suppression of reports of wrongdoing by officials in circumstances which cannot in any way affect national security is inimical to the rule of law," Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones ruled. "Championing the rule of law, not subordinating it, is the cornerstone of democracy." "In our view, as a court in the United Kingdom, a vital public interest requires, for reasons of democratic accountability and the rule of law in the United Kingdom, that a summary of the most important evidence relating to the involvement of the British security services in wrongdoing be placed in the public domain in the United Kingdom."
I see this as an indictment of the U.S.A. We're the ones who should be championing this, not because we're spossed to be champions, but because this is the basis for everyman, not the superman, but the Clark Kent, we're not to be pulling people off the street into dungeons.
Current Music: Tori Amos: The Beekeeper
|
|
11:34 pm
[Link] |
Nothing going on here
( Just makin' do )
|
|
02:42 pm
[Link] |
New Feature
I'm not trolling you anonymously, but I've got the settings set so you can troll this account anonymously.
|
10:13 am
[Link] |
Migraine Doc?
Know a good doc for Migraines? I have a friend who needs to have her files transferred over and get prescriptions refilled, locally.
|
|
11:43 am
[Link] |
Where the children of tomorrow will live
The Hydrogen society is coming.
The Nuclear society is coming, now that we've figured out away to clean up some of the wastes.
The Magnesium society is coming.
The Agrarian society is coming one way, or another, and it'll mean cleaner waters.
You could say the solar society is coming, but I think of it more as a way pick up a little extra on the side. You could say that the trash economy is coming, the way we're learning to turn most anything into light oil & reclaim the heavy metal wastes.
I don't like wind power, it could change the shape of weather in ways we can't predict and it kills all manner of flying creatures. We could talk about Algae, or Fungi and say that they're part of the agrarian society.
Nuclear, I think of, only as corner stones, not as what is throughout areas with lots of humans.
|
|
10:22 am
[Link] |
Yo. Eddie Izzard is running marathons.
A lot of them. Consecutively. Right now.
|
|
11:44 am
[Link] |
Where in the world is Thorby? San Diego?
Citizen of the Galaxy; Citizen's of the world.
|
11:25 am
[Link] |
Bento Man!
Excuse the sexism, it's a comic book reference.
I'm wondering how hard it would be to create a slight rubberised seal and a wet-proof "old metal lunchbox". Maybe a plastic one that looks like a toolbox? Something under 6 lbs.
|
11:18 am
[Link] |
The Ninnja's are hording all the gold. Darn dragoons!
China considers the barrel method in high seas, high technology: Just don't import it.
They pretty much have us over a barrel, especially if we keep sending our E-waste to them, rather than recycling, reclaiming the rare earth elements therein.
I guess we could go with finding some island and using geothermal to power the lab, scrape the cooling lava, see if it has any rare earth elements therein.
Figure if we're using geothermal to power the lab, then we don't have to worry about the inefficient use of resources if we're making rare earth elements less rare. If we really get into trouble, we could always try making them on the moon, where getting/ making energy (power) isn't a problem.
Or subs, we could always hook up a submarine lab to a crevice in the ocean floor that's releasing all kinds of gases and geothermal power. Heck, we could use the crushing depths to create energy.
So, you know, we'll be okay. Personally? I'm hoping diplomacy wins the day.
|
11:05 am
[Link] |
Pie and Pi rats
Kids look up to pirates.
So, the Nigerians pirates have to raise the next generation to code, is all.
Simple pie crust
Why Pirates? They accept the disabled, the mulatto, regardless of caste, the cyborg.
Ninja's have to wade around in rice and algae paddies, eating frog legs, and their only sharing of mixed cultures is the Vietnamese ninja who've lived with the French.
I want snark, to be the name of a food, a "Let all of them eat Pie" sort of thing. I know, you'll tell me that's not snark, it's tart. But hey, maybe if we made minced pies...
|
|
09:24 pm
[Link] |
President Obama said when campaigning to keep congress' feet to the fire
One of the first things he did was give the unions the nod, that they would be treated better during his administration.
Now the Unions are heeding the call of eternal vigilance, by pledging to sit this one out.
We'll look at every one of their votes," Richard Trumka secretary-treasurer and likely next president of the AFL-CIO, said after his speech at the Netroots Nation convention.
"We are going to continue to mobilize and counter the lies and the myths that they're trying to create to defeat this," he told the Huffington Post. "The special interests, the pharmaceutical industry, the health care industry are so vested in the current system they'll so anything to keep it this way and we have a job to do there.
"We're also going to keep politicians strong so that they don't listen to the moneymen and continue to erode away or negotiate away a program [so much that it] ultimately becomes useless. Right now, without a public option [reform] becomes useless. It won't change the current system." ...
I won't speak to the "public option" because I don't know the technical details, just the vague generalities I've seen lately in the online press but reform, some kind of transparency, going after graft, that's become the thing.
Whether that's politicians, industry or unions, one of the things we can have in these enlightened days, is droves of volunteer number crunchers. The F.B.I. gets most of their big cases by using folks who might as well be employed by the I.R.S. If this is is the day and age of investigative bean counters, then sure, let's go about following the money.
Just as the "media circus" has always done best with investigative journalism, I think the "modern hero; every man model" is going to be the those who can actually crunch the numbers, finding the phantoms in the machine. The good news with something like this, is that like astronomy, the amateurs, once given the tools and a criteria can go about making the scouring process plausible.
The nice thing about large corruption, going after it, scales nicely.
|
|
01:52 pm
[Link] |
Glasses in bars shouldn't be glass
There's all kinds of recylable products which do not fall into sharp bits when they fall over.
Glass in a place where they serve alcohol seems like a no brainer to trade up for anything else.
|
11:21 am
[Link] |
Britain bars Poets: We better hope this doesn't happen here...
Culture Wars: If they love accountants so much, they better get ready for the audits...
|
|
12:54 am
[Link] |
Chia is good for you?
or similar herb seeds, such as basil, timothy, alfalfa, marjoram or thyme.
- Chia pet instructions
I have half a dozen of these things, easily. I also have some awful white plastic planters, modular and singles, that I have to figure out what to cover them with, so they can be around the house without looking ugly. I'm thinking to grow kitty grasses.
Most of these clearly can't be grown on a Chia Pet. More. Et more.
Poisonous plants for cats
Next up, trying to figure out how math helps reinforce origami and vice versa, 'cause the kidlet loves origami and to find other materials he can work with so they're stronger-bigger-longer lasting than the simple paper he's been working with.
Note that where the lists conflict, it's safer not to risk your cat on what you've read on the interdawebs.
|
|
02:22 pm
[Link] |
Why PowerPC users will jump ship in droves: Because 10.6 is...
Hi,
Can a linux programmer please add some of these features to the next Ubuntu? Why yes, yes they could. Most of these feature improvements are such that the usual group of Macintosh third party programmers are probably going to make a bunch of small programs and charge for each one.
Seriously, this is what they're giving us? I'm about to jump OS'.
www.apple.com/macosx/refinements/enhancements-refinements.html
|
|
08:43 pm
[Link] |
The President significantly misses the point
Civil Unions: Getting to visit one another in hospitals.
The California State Supreme Court says that by taking away the designation Marriage, and having in place Domestic Partnerships, they have done a significant thing.
Let's be clear here: Saying the Federal Gov't isn't getting involved, means that the Federal protections and rights allowed for those who are married, are not there for those who have Domestic Partnerships. That is an omission, that is things we cannot do, that is harms we cannot protect each other from, that "Married" people can do for one another.
Let me ask you a question, by way of clarifying a point. Did you choose to be straight? Ever tried to choose not to be? How about chose to be not just bisexual in that you're into it with a person of the same gender (The stats show more than 50% of the straight population does this) but that you've fallen in love with this person of the same gender, that you want to commit to them, that what they're about for you, to you, about for themselves, is deeply, let's say significantly important to you? What if they felt the same way about you, but you could do nothing about it? That's right, what if the gov't said that your marriage wasn't really a marriage, and that you couldn't do for each other what you could do for each other yesterday?
( When the LGBT community says )
|
|
02:22 pm
[Link] |
The first act is to organize your ignorance
Knowing what you don't know is a good step, however...
The GOP has no position on Health Care for America
|
|
10:58 am
[Link] |
Prop 8; Why I think we won this round
..."Instead, the measure carves out a narrow and limited exception to these state constitutional rights, reserving the official designation of the term “marriage” for the union of opposite-sex couples as a matter of state constitutional law, but leaving undisturbed all of the other extremely significant substantive aspects of a same-sex couple’s state constitutional right to establish an officially recognized and protected family relationship and the guarantee of equal protection of the laws. "
-From the decision.
They basically said that the language of the measure was legally valid under the CA Constitution, so they let it stand. But wait, what did they let stand?
The marriages already in place.
The reaffirmation that they did not use their personal beliefs or values.
That in no way was this decision to infringe on the rights and protections for same gender couples, their relationships and their families.
All that was "won" was that designating word "Marriage" is reserved for opposite gender couples. A hollow victory.
The dissenting Judge says "Go back to the ballot box, that's how to win this one last thing."
I particularly liked that the entire court said that this didn't reflect their core values and beliefs; this is a slap in the face of the churches which espouse a "Family Values Judiciary", the churches which funded the initiative, funded an opinion against their strategy.
So, can a same gender couple run right out and get married? In all but the term, for all that CA can grant as a state (since it's not recognised Federally) well, yes. Opposite gendered couples can't get Domestic Partnered any longer in CA. This is reserved for same gendered couples. Will the children be protected as part of this license? Yes.
Is it right? Well, since the opinion is going to be used to fight the good fight at the Federal level at some point, yes, this is very, very good for us. It's right, right now. Is it enough? It's not nearly equality.
Am I happy with the decision? Er, I really dislike that we're having to fight for our rights at all. Do I think this was a "Win" for our side, if we're smart enough to see it that way? Yes. Better put, if we're going to have some losses, this is exactly the kind of losses I want to be taking. All the protections but in name only? Oh, and instructions on how to fill out the form to get the name, too? That's called "one step at a time", and so, I think the people who wanted to invalidate the marriages which were performed were told in no uncertain terms that this would actually have a substantive effect on individuals and families, so; no way.
What we have, is huge, I am totally pleased that instead of getting the term, only to find out that it's not half of what they other side gets, (Again, I'm only referring to CA state; we have a much longer way to go at the Federal level), that we get legal protection and acknowledgement of our rights as a half way point? Well, let me see, it will keep me warm at night and yes, I think it's shabby.
In terms of what the proponents wanted? I'd say their proposition got gutted and what they're striving for was turned back by so many more steps, that I believe they were told "Here's your name tag, and those families over there? You can have no more effect on them with this, whatsoever." If this were a game, they got to the point they wanted, but then were set so far back on the board. Their struggles have been multiplied at great expense to themselves, and our path has been cleared by much of their own efforts.
"The majority opinion "avoids the daunting task of reconciling with our constitutional tradition a voter initiative clearly motivated at least in part by group bias."
Prop. 8 is a valid amendment because, "excepting the name, same-sex couples are entitled to enjoy all the rights of marriage, leaving the state with a continuing duty to "eliminate the remaining important differences between marriage and domestic partnership, both in substance and perception."
- From the concurrence by Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar.
The State needs to get right on this, then.
So, who got told?
Current Mood: Better after having read the decision
|
[<< Previous 20 entries] |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
erg's journal