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| gay marriage kills? |
| 02.28.04 (11:48 am) [edit] |
I keep seeing this quote by Governor Schwarzenegger about why Newsom's decision to allow gay marriage was wrong. http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...
[i]In San Francisco, it is license for marriage of same sex. Maybe the next thing is another city that hands out licenses for assault weapons and someone else hands out licenses for selling drugs, I mean you can't do that[/i]
So let's think about what Arnold is saying. First, he's associating San Francisco's rampant acts of loving commitment with those that kill thousands of people every year (guns and drugs). (For the record, there are millions of people who are actually looking forward to the expiration of the assault weapons ban this year, for example [url=http://www.awbansunset.com/]these fine folks here[/url]. That kind of freaks me out, but ok)
But let's move on to the drug analogy. Several years back, a majority of Californians voted to legalize medical marijuana. While the federal government has done everything it can to stop medical marijuana programs in cities, most people in California are sympathetic to the idea of providing useful medicine to people who are in pain.
Whom does gay marriage hurt? And if you're one who believes that there should be a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, do you also believe that the federal government should have a say in how heterosexual marriages are performed? Where do your limits on the separation of church and state end?
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| I never thought I'd admit this |
| 02.24.04 (9:43 pm) [edit] |
Wonders never cease. George W. Bush (or rather, his re-election website) has provided a service that I actually like. If you go to: https://www.georgewbush.com/GetActive/WriteNewspa pers.aspx, there is a form that allows you to write a letter that will be sent automatically to the editors of all of your local newspapers.
The website doesn't say that you have to be a Republican to use it. I wonder if the Bush folks read what's sent from the website. Could be fun.
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| oh, Nader! |
| 02.22.04 (4:09 pm) [edit] |
Nader's [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/0...]decision to run for president[/url] has my blood boiling, which is probably what he was shooting for. Bravo, Ralph!
Nader continues to claim that there are no candidates who care about environmental issues and the needs of ordinary Americans. But what about Kucinich and Sharpton? They're still in the ring.
Seriously, if you're looking to vote for a megalomaniac who has absolutely no self-awareness, there are plenty of candidates who fit that bill just as well as Ralph Nader does.
This time he can't even claim the moral high ground of trying to get federal funding for the Green Party. So what's the point? If you actually want to make a difference in this world, go work or volunteer for some organization you care about. Symbolic votes really don't amount to much in the long run (except possibly 4 more years of W).
Finally, and this is just my personal opinion, I believe that anyone who votes for Nader in '04 deserves to never get laid again.
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| Ted Rall on gay marriage |
| 02.21.04 (10:30 am) [edit] |
I thought this was cute.
![]() =http://www.tblog.com/user_ima...
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| Pruno nation |
| 02.20.04 (9:31 pm) [edit] |
It's great that the [url=http://nytimes.com/2004/02/21...]Supreme Court[/url] is finally agreeing to look at the subject of enemy combantants. Then again, knowing this court, things may not go so well for the future of prisoners' civil liberties.
So, if you're fearing that you too may someday be held behind bars indefinitely without a trial or access to a lawyer, perhaps you should acquaint yourself with this recipe for pruno, a nearly toxic alcoholic beverage you can make in the privacy of your own cell from fruit, sugar, and ketchup. Eric Gillin of the Black Table writes:
[i]By most accounts, pruno isn't something a normal human would want to drink, so potent that two gallons is said to be "a virtual liquor store," enough to get a dozen people mindblowingly wasted. And while it tastes so putrid that even hardened prisoners gulp it down while holding their noses, they'll go to incredible lengths to make it, whipping up batches from frosting, yams, raisins and damn near everything. [/i]
He also notes:
[i]Back in December 2002, the warden at Lancaster prison in Los Angeles County removed fresh fruit from box lunches in the maximum-security lockup, as an effort to reduce violence. Apparently, sober, scurvy-addled felons are much easier to control than drunken, violent convicts. [/i]
Read about Gillin's attempt to make his own pruno [url=http://www.blacktable.com/gil...]here[/url].
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| historical scandal |
| 02.17.04 (7:38 am) [edit] |
The [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/am...]BBC reports[/url] that presidential campaigns were much more scandal-driven in the 19th century than they are today. Actually, I already knew that, but I really like these stories:
[i]One of the most vitriolic elections was in 1828.
John Quincy Adams was nicknamed "The Pimp" by the campaign of his opponent General Andrew Jackson, based on a rumour that he had once coerced a young woman into an affair with a Russian nobleman when he had been American ambassador to Russia.
Adams' supporters hit back with a pamphlet which claimed: "General Jackson's mother was a common prostitute brought to this country by British solders! She afterwards married a mulatto man with whom she had several children of which number General Jackson is one!!" Jackson won anyway.
And just to show that this kind of thing goes right back to the start of American campaigning, we have the election of 1800 in which Thomas Jefferson was accused of favouring the teaching of "murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest". Jefferson won. He did not teach the offending subjects. [/i]
Well, it's off to murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest class!
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| Coulter and Cleland |
| 02.14.04 (10:19 am) [edit] |
Ann Coulter has recently accused Max Cleland of [url=http://www.salon.com/politics...]not being a "real" war hero[/url] because of the circumstances under which he lost three of his limbs in Vietnam.
Let's consider the circumstances under which Cleland was awarded the Silver Star, 4 days before the grenade incident that took his arm and both of his leg:
[i]"Action: For gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Captain Cleland distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous action on 4 April 1968, while serving as communications officer of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Calvary during an enemy attack near Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam.
"When the battalion command post came under a heavy enemy rocket and mortar attack, Capt. Cleland, disregarding his own safety, exposed himself to the rocket barrage as he left his covered position to administer first aid to his wounded comrades. He then assisted in moving the injured personnel to covered positions. Continuing to expose himself, Capt. Cleland organized his men into a work party to repair the battalion communications equipment which had been damaged by enemy fire. His gallant action is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
"Authority: By direction of the President, under the provisions of the Act of Congress, approved 9 July 1968." [/i]
Full link [url=http://www.gainesvilletimes.c...]here[/url]
Sounds like a hero to me.
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| For those who think the John Kerry intern story will stick... |
| 02.13.04 (9:51 pm) [edit] |
...don't be so quick to jump to conclusions.
Back when the Monica Lewinsky story broke, Clinton's approval rating experienced one of the larger one-month changes in presidential history -- his approval rating went UP 10 points.
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| More on the Barbie-Ken split |
| 02.12.04 (4:21 pm) [edit] |
Many have asked why Barbie and Ken have decided to part ways after 43 years of molded plastic matrimony. The folks at Mattel assured the public it had nothing do to with the [url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/...,2933,111234,00.html]rumors[/url] about Ken's sexual orientation.
But, surely, there are some of us who remember some of the more questionable sartorial experiments that Ken went through. Witness the most famous of the bunch, Earring Magic Ken:
![]() =http://www.tblog.com/user_ima...
Lavender vest, mesh shirt, one earring...well, it was the 80s. We're all allowed to make one mistake. But how about Ken in the 70s:
![]() =http://www.tblog.com/user_ima...
The 90s (can't stay away from that mesh, Ken):
![]() =http://www.tblog.com/user_ima...
Even his attempts to butch it up seem a little misdirected:
![]() =http://www.tblog.com/user_ima...
Poor Barbie -- in 1961 could she have ever expected her dream man would have ended up like this? Well, maybe...
![]() =http://www.tblog.com/user_ima...
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| Ready for Florida recount 2004? |
| 02.08.04 (10:15 pm) [edit] |
If you thought the 2000 election was a mess, look what we have to look forward to.
From the Miami Herald:
[i]TOUCH-SCREEN ELECTIONS - State to shun voting backup
Lawmakers say there's no need to add paper to touch-screen voting machines since they're confident the state's election reforms are satisfactory.
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD
ebolstad@herald.com
Posted on Fri, Feb. 06, 2004
Lawmakers: Paper not needed
Touch-screen voting technology, on the cutting edge of election innovation just a few years ago, now is regarded with growing unease by voters who worry their choices won't be correctly counted.
Despite mounting pressure for change, Florida lawmakers are unlikely to require the paper receipts that some experts insist are the only way to ensure voting security.
Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach county leaders agreed last week to press the Legislature to let them add printers that would create a paper record of each ballot. Voters could review the record before they press the ''vote'' button on touch-screen machines.
But Gov. Jeb Bush and lawmakers who have the authority to back such legislation say they're not interested....
Rest of the article [url=http://www.miami.com/mld/miam...]here[/url].[/i]
I mean, isn't this just asking for trouble? Of course, I guess we won't have to worry about another recount, since it won't be possible.
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| "Feds Win Right to War Protesters' Records" |
| 02.07.04 (1:14 pm) [edit] |
sorry for the cut and paste...
[i]BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered a university to turn over records about a gathering of anti-war activists.
In addition to the subpoena of Drake University, subpoenas were served this past week on four of the activists who attended a Nov. 15 forum at the school, ordering them to appear before a grand jury Tuesday, the protesters said.
Federal prosecutors refuse to comment on the subpoenas.
In addition to records about who attended the forum, the subpoena orders the university to divulge all records relating to the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, a New York-based legal activist organization that sponsored the forum.
The group, once targeted for alleged ties to communism in the 1950s, announced Friday it will ask a federal court to quash the subpoena on Monday.
"The law is clear that the use of the grand jury to investigate protected political activities or to intimidate protesters exceeds its authority," guild President Michael Ayers said in a statement.
...
Mark Smith, a lobbyist for the Washington-based American Association of University Professors, said he had not heard of any similar case of a U.S. university being subpoenaed for such records.
He said the case brings back fears of the "red squads" of the 1950s and campus clampdowns on Vietnam War protesters.
According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the Drake subpoena asks for records of the request for a meeting room, "all documents indicating the purpose and intended participants in the meeting, and all documents or recordings which would identify persons that actually attended the meeting."
It also asks for campus security records "reflecting any observations made of the Nov. 15, 2003, meeting, including any records of persons in charge or control of the meeting, and any records of attendees of the meeting."
[/i]
complete article [url=http://customwire.ap.org/dyna...]here[/url]
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| Color photography of Russia before the Revolution |
| 02.05.04 (12:14 pm) [edit] |
Any of you who are interested in Russian history or photography should check out [url=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/e...]this exhibit[/url] of the photographs of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii during the reign of Nicholas II. I just can't stop staring at them.
![]() =http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/e... height=375 width=433
And if you're wondering how anyone managed to produce color photography before 1918, you should read about the [url=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/e...]inventive method[/url] Prokudin-Gorskii used to capture the colors of the landscape (almost perfectly, in my opinion).
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