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| From gamera |
I am such a pushover.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
baby is here
I am such a pushover.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Now that the voting is over
The voting is well over and it seems that not everyone is happy with the outcomes. Who would have thought an election would not solve all of your problems? It has taken me a while to put my thoughts together on this and write them down. I am still not sure I have it all the way I like it, but if i wait any longer it will not be timely and relevant so here goes.
Prop 8
If the State Supreme Court has any balls they will rule that Prop8 is legal and amend the state constitution. Religious conservatives will be able to rejoice in their victory over the forces of homosexuality.
Until...
The State Supreme Court should follow this decision with the abolishment of State Marriage. You heard me. All state issued marriage certificates would be reworked to only allow for civil unions between two consenting adults. Polygamists will have to wait. This will get the state out of the marrying business, force the acceptance of Civil Union as the legal equivalent of a marriage, and let the religious types keep Marriage for churches and heteros. No it is not perfect, but it would be a mighty endrun around the constitutional amendment.
I have never thought that the state should be involved in either the relationship between people and their gods nor those between consenting adults.
The Presidential Election
As has been said over and over again this was a historic election. This is said every four years as partisans do their best to paint this election as vital to the survival of the nation.
But history was made with the election of the first non-white man the office of President. It is a big step for this nation and will, I hope, go a long way towards combating racism. My kids will never know an America that didn't have a black man in the highest office and that makes me proud. I sincerely hope that President-Elect Obama will succeed big enough to shame his criticsm, but he inherits an aweful mess. It is going to be a big job and I hope he is up to the task.
His critics have gone to great lengths to diminish his success. They claim that he slandered Hillary and Palin with sexist and unfair attacks. They claim that he has a shady past and that the Liberal Media have been covering up for him buy not reporting on his dirty dealings. The tired refrain that they were "in the tank" for him throughout the election. That he stole the election through ACORN or other nefarious means. It is my belief that he won because optimism was more appealing than fear. Near the end fear seemed to be all the McCain had to offer. I only rarely heard him speak of himself, instead using his air time to try and cast fear, uncertainty and doubt upon his opponent. I found this tactic unsavory to say the least. I once held Senator McCain in high regard, but his conduct in this election actually made me sad. It was beneath him (and his campaign) to question Obama's patriotism and associations. To add insult to injury, it didn't work.
If indeed there is evidence of a shady past or dirty dealings, then report them. Stop complaining that the Liberal Media are not doing their job and do it yourself. The internet makes it possible for anyone to report their findings and send them to Right leaning news organizations, they do exist. To be taken seriously you need more than rumor and supposition. Simply saying that we still don't know all about Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers does not make it so. If he is being truthful then there is nothing left for him to say about it, if he is not being truthful, find the pictures of them on ski holiday together or copies of their correspondence. Anything less is conjecture. I truly am incredulous that people could be so deluded as to honestly believe that no news organization would run the story because of their bias. Apparently the video of Rev Wright, the Flag Pin controversy and the National Anthem brouhaha have all been forgotten.
You will still find the conspiracy theories swirling at any right wing website just as they have continued on the left for the past 8 years. To my eye there is no real difference between the two extremes. They are both populated by cranks who are compelled to loudly voice their ill informed opinions and are believed by their extremist opposition to represent the mainstream instead of the fringe. No amount of reason will pry such people from their position because they did not reason themselves into it. It is an unfortunate truth that reasoned discourse does not sell papers which is why people who should be shouting their rant on some street corner are given time on TV or in print. This lends much more weight to their arguments than they deserve.
I will likely have to devote and entire rant to this in the future as it is a giant issue that deserves some attention.
Post election drinking game:
1) Go to Daily Kos or a similar site and retrieve a vanity post from 2004 whining about Bush stealing the election
2) Replace Bush with Obama, and post to FreeRepublic or Pajamas Media
3) Drink a shot every time someone replies positively
4) Die of alcohol poisoning
Prop 8
If the State Supreme Court has any balls they will rule that Prop8 is legal and amend the state constitution. Religious conservatives will be able to rejoice in their victory over the forces of homosexuality.
Until...
The State Supreme Court should follow this decision with the abolishment of State Marriage. You heard me. All state issued marriage certificates would be reworked to only allow for civil unions between two consenting adults. Polygamists will have to wait. This will get the state out of the marrying business, force the acceptance of Civil Union as the legal equivalent of a marriage, and let the religious types keep Marriage for churches and heteros. No it is not perfect, but it would be a mighty endrun around the constitutional amendment.
I have never thought that the state should be involved in either the relationship between people and their gods nor those between consenting adults.
The Presidential Election
As has been said over and over again this was a historic election. This is said every four years as partisans do their best to paint this election as vital to the survival of the nation.
"If $CANDIDATE is elected the country will become a $IDEOLOGY state and be doomed. The founding fathers would roll over in their graves."
And yet this never happens.But history was made with the election of the first non-white man the office of President. It is a big step for this nation and will, I hope, go a long way towards combating racism. My kids will never know an America that didn't have a black man in the highest office and that makes me proud. I sincerely hope that President-Elect Obama will succeed big enough to shame his criticsm, but he inherits an aweful mess. It is going to be a big job and I hope he is up to the task.
His critics have gone to great lengths to diminish his success. They claim that he slandered Hillary and Palin with sexist and unfair attacks. They claim that he has a shady past and that the Liberal Media have been covering up for him buy not reporting on his dirty dealings. The tired refrain that they were "in the tank" for him throughout the election. That he stole the election through ACORN or other nefarious means. It is my belief that he won because optimism was more appealing than fear. Near the end fear seemed to be all the McCain had to offer. I only rarely heard him speak of himself, instead using his air time to try and cast fear, uncertainty and doubt upon his opponent. I found this tactic unsavory to say the least. I once held Senator McCain in high regard, but his conduct in this election actually made me sad. It was beneath him (and his campaign) to question Obama's patriotism and associations. To add insult to injury, it didn't work.
If indeed there is evidence of a shady past or dirty dealings, then report them. Stop complaining that the Liberal Media are not doing their job and do it yourself. The internet makes it possible for anyone to report their findings and send them to Right leaning news organizations, they do exist. To be taken seriously you need more than rumor and supposition. Simply saying that we still don't know all about Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers does not make it so. If he is being truthful then there is nothing left for him to say about it, if he is not being truthful, find the pictures of them on ski holiday together or copies of their correspondence. Anything less is conjecture. I truly am incredulous that people could be so deluded as to honestly believe that no news organization would run the story because of their bias. Apparently the video of Rev Wright, the Flag Pin controversy and the National Anthem brouhaha have all been forgotten.
You will still find the conspiracy theories swirling at any right wing website just as they have continued on the left for the past 8 years. To my eye there is no real difference between the two extremes. They are both populated by cranks who are compelled to loudly voice their ill informed opinions and are believed by their extremist opposition to represent the mainstream instead of the fringe. No amount of reason will pry such people from their position because they did not reason themselves into it. It is an unfortunate truth that reasoned discourse does not sell papers which is why people who should be shouting their rant on some street corner are given time on TV or in print. This lends much more weight to their arguments than they deserve.
I will likely have to devote and entire rant to this in the future as it is a giant issue that deserves some attention.
Post election drinking game:
1) Go to Daily Kos or a similar site and retrieve a vanity post from 2004 whining about Bush stealing the election
2) Replace Bush with Obama, and post to FreeRepublic or Pajamas Media
3) Drink a shot every time someone replies positively
4) Die of alcohol poisoning
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Wash Me
This is the kind of thing one expects to have put on the rear window of their car when a good wash has been a long time coming. A few mornings ago I got up to find that someone had scrawled an indecipherable "tag" on my poor Subaru. Such is life in the ghetto.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Economic Mumbo Jumbo
I have been trying very hard to make some sense of the Economic Bail Out that is currently working its way through the bowls of the Congress and I think that I may finally have it. It is crazily simple in its complexity and I hesitate to say that I understand it because, if I am right, it makes almost no sense. It is so nutty that it just might work.
All of this debt that banks and mortgage firms built up over the last few years is crippling them and in some cases, driving them clear out of business. What the Feds are proposing is that they (we, the taxpayer/citizens) will buy up all of these mortgages and mortgage based securities on the premise that they will indeed be valuable again one day. It seems even the banks that are being crushed by this dept believe that. The problem is, none of them have enough money to absorb the losses and remain in business long enough for the value to return. That's where we come in, with the dump truck full of money.
The Federal Reserve buys up all of mortgages and debts at rock bottom prices, and for good measure, loans themselves the money to do it. Thus they become both debtor and creditor and can allow themselves to slide on the payments. In the meantime, they collect money from all the good mortgages and any payouts from the securities. After some time passes, those mortgages and securities will become somewhat valuable again as the bad loans are weeded out. At that point the Fed begins selling them off to the banks again, but at a profit.
That is the plan as best I can piece together. My big fear here is that if enough people see the mirrors through the smoke they will realize that the whole system is built on deception. If that happens, all bets are off and everyone begins investing in beads and shells.
All of this debt that banks and mortgage firms built up over the last few years is crippling them and in some cases, driving them clear out of business. What the Feds are proposing is that they (we, the taxpayer/citizens) will buy up all of these mortgages and mortgage based securities on the premise that they will indeed be valuable again one day. It seems even the banks that are being crushed by this dept believe that. The problem is, none of them have enough money to absorb the losses and remain in business long enough for the value to return. That's where we come in, with the dump truck full of money.
The Federal Reserve buys up all of mortgages and debts at rock bottom prices, and for good measure, loans themselves the money to do it. Thus they become both debtor and creditor and can allow themselves to slide on the payments. In the meantime, they collect money from all the good mortgages and any payouts from the securities. After some time passes, those mortgages and securities will become somewhat valuable again as the bad loans are weeded out. At that point the Fed begins selling them off to the banks again, but at a profit.
That is the plan as best I can piece together. My big fear here is that if enough people see the mirrors through the smoke they will realize that the whole system is built on deception. If that happens, all bets are off and everyone begins investing in beads and shells.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
sadness
A friend of mine died the other day in a motorcycle crash near Yosemite. Pat and I were not super close, but I call him a friend because he was a person who I enjoyed drinking beer with and would have backed up in a fight. I did not see him often and had not known him for a long time, but I very much enjoyed when he was around. I will miss him.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Politics of Insomnia
I have officially given up on sleeping this night.
I don't know why, but i just cant seem to shut down. It may be related to the sad state of political affairs in this country that has be revved up.
Politics has been a rancorous and ugly process since ancient times, but it looks worse up close. I guess I expect better of our enlightened modern selves than I do of the men of old, though apparently I should not. Well, there is far less murdering in the streets now so we have that going for us.
I find that the subject of election year politics is so polarizing that it is nearly impossible to have a civil discussion with someone unless they are already in agreement with you. Even then it is difficult to have an intelligent conversation. I find that most people make visceral rather than reasoned decisions about who to support. Few people can give you their reasons for supporting Candidate Alpha over Candidate Beta, they just don't like the other guy. As long as they can vilify Beta, Alpha's policies are policies are not relevant nor open for discussion. Any defense of Beta is seen as an attack on Alpha even if you are correcting some bit of verifiably false information. In all likelihood your new info will be dismissed as media bias and you will be dismissed as a patsy.
It is a sad state of affairs and I wish I were better and more eloquent writer so that I could make an impassioned plea for change that would move the hearts of my countrymen to do better. Move them to ask the tough questions and demand good answers of candidates instead of platitudes and ad hominem attacks. I feel we are half way there, but that second half is much bigger than the first. Citizens do demand answers, but only from the Other Guy. And no answer can be good enough.
I don't know why, but i just cant seem to shut down. It may be related to the sad state of political affairs in this country that has be revved up.
Politics has been a rancorous and ugly process since ancient times, but it looks worse up close. I guess I expect better of our enlightened modern selves than I do of the men of old, though apparently I should not. Well, there is far less murdering in the streets now so we have that going for us.
I find that the subject of election year politics is so polarizing that it is nearly impossible to have a civil discussion with someone unless they are already in agreement with you. Even then it is difficult to have an intelligent conversation. I find that most people make visceral rather than reasoned decisions about who to support. Few people can give you their reasons for supporting Candidate Alpha over Candidate Beta, they just don't like the other guy. As long as they can vilify Beta, Alpha's policies are policies are not relevant nor open for discussion. Any defense of Beta is seen as an attack on Alpha even if you are correcting some bit of verifiably false information. In all likelihood your new info will be dismissed as media bias and you will be dismissed as a patsy.
It is a sad state of affairs and I wish I were better and more eloquent writer so that I could make an impassioned plea for change that would move the hearts of my countrymen to do better. Move them to ask the tough questions and demand good answers of candidates instead of platitudes and ad hominem attacks. I feel we are half way there, but that second half is much bigger than the first. Citizens do demand answers, but only from the Other Guy. And no answer can be good enough.
Friday, September 5, 2008
games
There are 2 new games in my life, though i have very little time to play them.
Wii Fit - it is not exactly a game as others are but it sure can be fun like one. It can also be frustrating to have a machine call you a disgusting fat body, though in the most polite way possible.
Fantastic Contraption - This is the greatest web game I have come across in a long time. It is awesome fun and has great replayabilty. I highly recommend it to any of you mechanically minded readers out there. That last bit was an attempt at humor, I know I have no readers.
Wii Fit - it is not exactly a game as others are but it sure can be fun like one. It can also be frustrating to have a machine call you a disgusting fat body, though in the most polite way possible.
Fantastic Contraption - This is the greatest web game I have come across in a long time. It is awesome fun and has great replayabilty. I highly recommend it to any of you mechanically minded readers out there. That last bit was an attempt at humor, I know I have no readers.
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