On Water Coolers

In last night's comments I learned for the first time about the "water cooler" that was installed at BFA. Went to check it out last night and this morning, and found it somewhat less than user friendly as far as navigation and following discussions.

Anyway, while it's always been my intention to welcome guest posts here, I just realized that the information on how to submit one was no longer on the front page. Probably got misplaced during a site redesign. But it's back now, in the left sidebar.

If you would like to submit a guest post for the front page, you can e-mail it to ohiorenee(at)gmail.com.

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Open Thread

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Barack Obama gave a speech yesterday

Click here for the transcript of Barack Obama's speech in Independence, Missouri yesterday. I got the link via Booman, who said

It was another moving, excellent performance of the kind we've come to expect from Obama. Apparently, we now take it for granted that Obama will give a great speech, because we no longer give him any credit for them.

Something like that. Yeah, we all know Obama gives good speech, but damn it, he has proven utterly incapable of walking on water!

I know people are disappointed in Senator Obama over FISA and some other things. I get that. I also get that he is under and incredible amount of scrutiny from all sides. I'm sure I don't even know the half of it.

So, as usual, I really can see that both sides have valid points. I understand the frustration of many in the blogosphere, and at the same time I understand that Barack Obama, because he made the insane decision to run for president, is perpetually caught between a rock and a hard place. That might even be his new mailing address. What I'm saying is, I get it.

Well, good for me. I bet that, and $3.25, can get me a nice chocolate caramel latte. I think. I'll admit that I haven't checked lately.

Know what else I almost never check lately? Political blogs. This weekend I even sat down with my Sidekick and unbookmarked all the political sites, so I wouldn't be tempted to check them if I was bored.

I'm on Twitter more than anything else these days. There's a site called Summize where you can search what people are talking about right now. At the top of the page, it lists "trending topics", and I've discovered that can tip me off if there is any breaking news I need to know about.

By the way, for anyone who has the ability to log in and post, I have a post in draft with only a comment link. It says Remove this text and and insert your post, and I'm trying to keep it dated so that it stays on top. I won't always be around to add a comment link, so I figured it would help to have a post with the comment link already in it. Just add content.

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Comfest

We saw "Flat Barack" at Comfest yesterday.

Comfest blogging:

Comfest diary by Tiny Mantras

Comfest Day 2 by Jody Dzuranin

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BLUEBIRD THREAD

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Unity, NH

Dogma, Jessica, Aunt*In*Vermont, Son*In*Vermont and Daughter*In*Vermont arrive in Unity, NH

Son*In*Vermont and Daughter*In*Vermont after riding in the car for 3 hours and then standing in line for another 3 hours to see Obama and Clinton (in the background) in Unity, NH

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Bluejay

This was fun to watch this morning. The fledgling bluejay that has been hopping around our yard finally made it to the feeder and the bath.



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Checking in

A long-term temp project ended yesterday, so today was my first day of not having to be somewhere at 8:15 a.m. I unset my alarm last night, but my brain's autopilot woke me up anyway.

Guess that's a good thing, as I need to make a quick run to the store. Might as well do that now, while it's still not oppressively hot out, and not thunderstorming.

By the way, I've deleted some ads and things from this page in an effort to get it to load faster. But I did add my Twitter updates back--they're in the upper right hand side now.

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Wednesday Open Thread

more cat pictures

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Monday Open Thread

I got nuthin'. But we needed a new thread. So here's a baby, laughing in slow-motion.



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Open Thread

Thank you to Holly for passing along these pictures.

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From the comments:

How much is the DFA scholarship worth?

I'm all for having an HEP scholarship for Jessica.

♥
listener | Homepage | 06.19.08 - 11:33 pm

If you'd like to contribute to a scholarship for Jessica, the details can be found here.


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Michelle Obama on The View

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Tuesday Open Thread

more cat pictures

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Al Gore endorses Barack Obama

From my inbox

Dear Renee,

A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama. From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected President of the United States.

Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges -- including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis. Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.

This moment and this election are too important to let pass without taking action.

That's why I am asking you to join me in showing your support by making a contribution to this campaign today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/gore

Over the past 18 months, Barack Obama has united a movement. He knows change does not come from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or Capitol Hill. It begins when people stand up and take action.

With the help of millions of supporters like you, Barack Obama will bring the change we so desperately need in order to solve our country's most pressing problems.

If you've already contributed to this campaign, I ask that you consider making another contribution right now. If you haven't, please take the next step and own a piece of this campaign today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/gore

On the issues that matter most, Barack Obama is clearly the right choice to lead our nation.

We have a lot of work to do in the next few months to elect Barack Obama president, and it begins by making a contribution to this campaign today.

Thank you for joining me,

Al Gore

LIVE TONIGHT -- 8:30 p.m. EDT: Watch streaming video of Al Gore and Barack Obama at a rally in Detroit, Michigan:

http://www.BarackObama.com

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Happy Father's Day

At the end of our day of mini-vacation, Demetrius showing the kids how to skip stones.

That's my family there. They really do rock. :)

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Saturday Open Thread

see more dog
pictures

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Remembering Tim Russert

Tim Russert and his son Luke, on Luke's first birthday. From the Big Russ and Me Photo Album.

A touching tribute a by Linda Keenan at Huffington Post:

There are three people who gave me a passionate love of news and the only one is left, John McLaughlin. The other two were my mother, who died a decade ago, and Tim Russert, who died today. This is one of the rare moments I'm happy Mommy isn't around to switch on the news, because this would have crushed her.

Tim Russert is already being lionized for the Washington powerhouse that he was, but I wanted to express what he meant to a little-girl news junkie growing up far from the action of national politics, sitting around wonkishly watching the news with her Mommy. For me, he was the superstar who made it out, but still wasn't ashamed of where he came from.

My parents were Reagan Republicans, and I came of age in Albany New York in the 1980s. My home was fervently Irish-Catholic, obsessed with Holy Cross and Boston College, and filled with laminated, well-worn novenas. It didn't matter that Tim Russert had worked for Mario Cuomo (disliked by my parents) or Pat Moynihan (respected by my parents, not for his politics, but for his intellect and, let's face it, his ethnicity). Tim Russert was our guy, and Mommy was intensely protective of the young journalist phenom she called her "big teddy bear".

More here.

Russert remembered for his fondness for church, faithfulness

An unforgettable lesson from the sheriff of TV news

Reactions to Russert's Passing

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Catching up

Having some trouble falling asleep, which kinda sucks as I need to get up for work in the morning.

Our power finally came on after midnight, by the way. Wednesday, we were out of town all day, and Thursday I was at work during the day, and only managed one quick post before the storm blew out power for houses on our street.


We've enjoyed some pleasant family time, both Wednesday at Put-in-Bay and hanging out together in the living room with no TV or computer as the sun set Thursday evening. Will share more about the mini-vacation as time and internet connection permit, but now I'd like to share some blog headlines from the last couple days. One less thing to be turning over in my head should make it easier for me to quiet my mind and fall asleep.

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More "clear skies"?

I was just reading something to Demetrius about the group of so-called former Clinton supporters voting for McCain. When I mentioned that the group was called "Women for Fair Politics", he mentioned that the name had that ring of "healthy forests", "clear skies", or any or those other Bush initiatives that is the opposite of its name.

The Dispatch reported today that Carly Fiorina is airdropping into Ohio to fan the flames with the supposed "angry" Ex-Hillary supporters.

Apparently the group, Women for Fair Politics, invited Fiorna to speak.

I wonder how a group called "Women For Fair Politics" which basically is no more than a single web page put up as a free blogger website and is curiously registered to a man, could get Carly Fiorina, "victory chairman" for the Republican National Committee, to drop everything and fly in to Columbus.

And then it hit me. it's because Queen of the Ohio GOP and Carly's RNC Co-Chairman, Columbus' own JoAnn Davidson, told her to.

Get right down to it and Carly Fiorina and her background are about as far from the policies of Hillary Clinton as you could possibly get.

More here.


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Good Night, Galaxy

Here's a beautiful picture of a small part of our home galaxy from The Hubble Heretage Project. Read the image caption and explanation.

Comment Link

Wednesday Open Thread

more cat pictures

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Blogging in Tongues

Via Time Magazine's blog Swampland

A group of Ohio bloggers has organized an ingenious protest against a House-passed bill that would require state agencies to use only English. (A goofy and pointless piece of legislation, considering they already pretty much do.) You can read about it at Jill Miller Zimon's Writes Like She Talks.

I actually added Jill's post to my Google shared items a little earlier, but I think this is worthy of some front page love as well.

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In case I haven't said it lately....

Thank you, Howard Dean!

Dean's 50-State Strategy for the Democrats
The party chairman's decision is paying off

Obama, Dean and the 50-state strategy

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Dogma's Kickoff Party

My mom, Ellen Garneau (also known as "Dogma" here), is running for the Vermont State House!

You are all invited to her campaign kick-off party at 5:30pm on June 22nd, at the Recreation Center on Furnace Rd in Pittsford. Any friends of ours (anyone that blogs here) is welcome to stay at our house while you're here. I hope some of you can come!

For more information on Dogma's campaign, or to make an online contribution, please visit www.ellengarneau.com

Thanks!

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Most amazing day

I have to head to campus now to finish up last minute stuff before giving a final. Before I leave, I thought I'd share the link to Rev. Susan Russell's post about preaching at the civil union ceremony of Bishop Gene Robinson and his partner Mark Andrew. (She included this poem by e. e. cummings in her post.)

i thank You God for most this amazing day:
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything which is natural
which is infinite
which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any-
lifted from the no of all nothing-
human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
- e e cummings

On a sad note, while Susan was out of town, she received news that her dog Harvey had died. (As a devoted pet owner, that sort of thing is one of my fears any time I leave home in any sort of overnight/extended stay.

I knew that the Brooks-Russell family had two dogs, Harvey and Luna--with their own blog, no less. Anyway, I added this part in case anyone wanted to share your condolences.

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On "sinners and tax collectors"

In today's gospel reading, the high ranking religious muckety-mucks of Jesus' day wonder aloud how much cred Jesus can have as a holy man, given that he is seen eating with "sinners and tax-collectors".

That always makes me smile...not for any deep theological reasons, but because of the childhood memory it evokes.

The very first definition I "fast mapped" for tax collector was "one who mooches a bite of your dessert". I learned this because those were the words my father routinely uttered while engaging in that practice. "Tax collector!"

Mind you, I had no idea what taxes actually were back then. I hadn't yet heard the expression about "death and taxes" being inevitable. I did know that "Tax collector!" was inevitable. And mostly harmless, as far as I could tell.

That is, until I learned that tax collectors were singled out as unsavories in the bible. "Sure, it's a little annoying," I (probably) thought, "but it can't be that bad!"

The actual details of this story are lost to time and no doubt distorted through retelling, so I can't say with certainty how this misunderstanding was actually resolved. My sense is that I realized that there must be other kinds of tax collectors, and I made a mental note to ask my father about it at the next available opportunity.

In any event, now you know why today, when I heard, "And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples," I mused to myself, "I hope someone thought to make extra dessert!"

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All things bright and beautiful

Happy Sunday




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Saturday Night Open Thread

From one of the I Can Has Cheezburger sister sites

see more politics and fun!

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Saturday Open Thread

more cat pictures

Happy Caturday!

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Friday Open Thread

Talk amongst yourselves...

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Trivia Time

Picked up some trivia books at the library earlier, and thought I'd share one of the amusing stories I'd read. Via BBC News

In 1797, a law was passed preventing people from wearing a top hat after London haberdasher John Hetherington showed off his creation round the city.

The sight of his hat caused quite a stir and according to Mr Cawthorne "people booed, several women fainted and a small boy got his arm broken", when a crowd formed around Mr Hetherington.

The haberdasher was arrested and charged with breach of the King's peace in particular "appearing on the public highway wearing upon his head a tall structure having a shining lustre and calculated to frighten timid people".

Also picked up a DVD of the documentary Cane Toads - An Unnatural History, which I heard of last time I was on a project scoring science tests. Never remembered to actually look for it at the time, but today I happened across it in the library and checked it out.

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Hillary Clinton to endorse Obama on Saturday

Via Oliver Willis

On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party’s nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.

When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.

I made you — and everyone who supported me — a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I’m going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

Updating with an article you'll want to check out: Obama And Dean Team Up To Recast The Political Map


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"Not a bargaining chip"

Great article at Huffington Post
I Am Not a Bargaining Chip, I Am a Democrat by Hilary Rosen

It ends with this:

So, I am also so very disappointed at how she has handled this last week. I know she is exhausted and she had pledged to finish the primaries and let every state vote before any final action. But by the time she got on that podium last night, she knew it was over and that she had lost. I am sure I was not alone in privately urging the campaign over the last two weeks to use the moment to take her due, pass the torch and cement her grace. She had an opportunity to soar and unite. She had a chance to surprise her party and the nation after the day-long denials about expecting any concession and send Obama off on the campaign trail of the general election with the best possible platform. I wrote before how she had a chance for her "Al Gore moment." And if she had done so, the whole country ALL would be talking today about how great she is and give her her due.

Instead she left her supporters empty, Obama's angry and party leaders trashing her. She said she was stepping back to think about her options. She is waiting to figure out how she would "use" her 18 million voters.

But not my vote. I will enthusiastically support Barack Obama's campaign. Because I am not a bargaining chip. I am a Democrat.

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Open Thread

see more dog pictures

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Celebration thread

Obama Clinches Democratic Nomination

Update: Love this picture Oliver Willis has posted.


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Anybody remember the Bad Idea Jeans commercial parody from Saturday Night Live? (Viewable here--at least at the moment.)


Well, that's what came to mind when I read that Hillary Clinton is open to being Obama's vice president. She wants to be president so bad she can taste it. The thought of her being a "heartbeat away" from a Barack Obama presidency is unsettling, to say the least.

Endorsement update: Former President Jimmy Carter has stated that he plans to endorse Barack Obama after the polls close tonight.

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Open Thread

This is such a lovely, archetypically American photo, I wanted to share it.

Here's the AP article it graces: Clinton Seeks to Go After Obama Super Deligates, just in the interests of full disclosure.

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Monday Open Thread

more cat pictures

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BCC PSA

I just found this on Stumbleupon.

First, the golden rule of sending an email to more than, say, 15 people at one time.
Don't Do It. Seriously. Don't.

Now, if you must, here's how you can do it and still maintain the friendship and respect of the one who sent you here:

After you have selected the throngs of names to which you'll be forwarding the video of the cat playing Chopsticks, you'll probably have a very long list of names in the 'To' field of your email program. Complete the following steps:

• Using your mouse, hightlight all of the names and email addresses appearing in the 'To' field.
• Right-click (or Ctrl+click, if you're using a Mac) on the list of names and email addresses, choose 'Cut' from the menu that appears.
• Right-click (or Ctrl+click) on the empty field next to the letters 'BCC' (case may vary), choose 'Paste'.

Commence sending your message.

Click for more.

Just so you all know, I'm not posting this because I am trying to send a message to anyone. I just found it, and thought it might be a good Public Service Announcement, and a break from the lolcats. ;)

But I'll add an amusing pic to this post anyway, just for good measure.



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Thoughts from Charlie

I have been nearly silent, at least in writing, on the national election contest (which in America is unfortunately reduced to who will be president - as if Congress were an afterthought in the founding, a mere puppet for the all-mighty executive branch - needless to say this flips our Constitution on its head).

I saw you posted a reference to the "resolution" of the Florida and Michigan delegates.

But is it a resolution? Or is it more of the same of what happens in our political system: a sham, a farce, and more importantly - the explicit recognition that LAWS do not count, whenever following them is INCONVENIENT - or worse - when the Party or Parties decided that it may cause them some kind of difficulty in the next election (again "primarily" the next Presidential election).

We have elevated presidents to monarchs, at minimum, and to near absolute monarchs at worst.

This fiasco is an example of that. And the fiasco is not the controversy that "not all votes would be counted" by not seating these delegates. But the idea of seating them AT ALL and in the first place.

This is no different than the total ignoring of the rules that forced Dean OUT of the primary in 2004. But it is worse.

There should not be a SINGLE delegate from Florida or Michigan seated at the convention. Why? Because "that is the law." PERIOD. You don't just change the law to suit your desired outcomes or your concerns for bad-publicity or controversy.

This is a sign of the ultimate weakness (and lack of principles) of those heading the Democratic primary.

I predicted several months ago that THIS "deal" would eventually be the outcome - as WRONG as it is.

And the reason being - because it is PURELY symbolic and ABSOLUTELY pointless in the actual process.

Indeed to claim, as so many Democratic elites have been doing, that this ensures that "all votes are counted" only further undermines what that phrase means - and indeed LEGITIMIZES the kinds of acts that the Bush administration played in the last two president election cycles. All voters WERE NOT counted.

And NO VOTES are actually being counted in this "compromise."

Instead pandering is going on - along with "spin" - to create the false impression that the Party cares about the votes (and the voters) when it does not. It cares about the IMPRESSION that some voters might have it is is "reported" or "assumed" that the Democrats "ignored" Michigan and Florida.

Neither of those primary votes were VALID. That is according to the rules. I did not write the rules. And this whole fiasco is really a result of the convoluted rules - which were primarily convoluted in the 1980s with the creation of superdelegates (which every sort of downplays) AS A MEANS of ensuring that the PEOPLE (the rank-and-file) could not likely choose a candidate that is NOT TO THE LIKING of the party elite.

Seating a 50-50 delegation from each state accomplishes what?

Well the purpose for voting in the primaries is to "choose" (by the people) the party's nominee. (Actually this too is false - just as voting in the presidential election is portrayed as such).

Both processes are ACTUALLY a process whereby you are supposed, as a voter, to choose an INDIVIDUAL known to you and from your local area to REPRESENT you in the PROCESS of choosing a nominee (or a president in the case of the Electoral College), in a process of deliberation, which takes place at a CONVENTION (or at the Electoral College).

Indeed we publicly finance these "conventions" (with no purpose any longer) as nothing more than publicly funded campaign ads for the two major parties (and having the very real - and often very desired - effect of ensuring the hegemony of ONLY those two parties. Why does the Green or Libertarian party not have nationally televised primaries at the public expense? Because their members did not control Congress to GIVE THEMSELVES this benefit at the public expense).

A 50-50 seating delegation, which I predicted four months ago would be the outcome, is a SYMBOLIC gesture at the most.

It does not COUNT a single vote from either state. It merely "seats" PEOPLE from those states on the floor of the convention.

Indeed it is INTENDED to ensure that the Convention DOES NOT choose the candidate at all - but that it is chosen BEFORE the convention (which is the reason the convention has no purpose any longer - other than as publicly paid advertising for the two major parties).

Don't forget it was Terry McAuliff that led the pressure to REMOVE Dean from the 2004 primary early so that the decision could be made BEFORE The convention. Yet he is now Clinton's campaign advisor doing the exact opposite. These are the ultimate in hypocrites. They say whatever and do whatever in a RELATIVISTIC manner - relative to the present situation adn without regard for consistency over time.

The delegates to the primaries do little more than attend parties and have the privilege of sitting on the floor (and possibly being seen on TV).

Thus last time the DNC (led by McAullif) ensured that any delegate who did not follow the SCRIPT (made by whom?) would be BLOCKED from the television cameras with a complex system of surveillance and "troops" who would line up in front of them so they could not be seen on camera.

And of course the idea that the decision should be made BEFORE The primary is EXACTLY the rendering of votes of people of states MEANINGLESS.

Where are the other choices - now that it has been narrowed down to two? ANd by what rule was it narrowed down as such. IT is the same logic that says it SHOULD HAVE been ONE already - just like the Republicans.

This is a sham. Welcome Florida and Michigan delegates. You do not represent votes - you represent pandering to your states out of fear that some of you might "pout" over not being seated and not vote. So we will "seat" you. Will you have a vote? Not really - the decision will already have been made. Will your vote be a reflection (a representation) of the votes of the population of your state - clearly not. It is just an empty symbolic gesture meant to FOOL you.

Enjoy your stay at the Convention. There will be plenty of parties to attend. You can sit on the floor and watch as a host of speakers are lined up for days to promote the ALREADY DECIDED candidate (and thus your presence will have had nothing to do with that), and you will be expected to wave signs and sit and stand no less than in the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. The only difference is that "dissenters" will not be tolerated.

Let the primaries - all of them - actually WORK - if we are to have them at all. Let ALL states vote BEFORE there is a single candidate "forced" or "pressured" to "drop out." And let those votes determine the outcome. Remove ALL superdelegates from existence. And then - without public funds - let the delegates attend a convention.

Or have all primaries on the SAME DAY - just like the national election. (But that is not desired by the candidates and campaigns - and more importantly - the industry of campaign consultants).

Or get rid of the primaries all together and have a simple convention. WHo should attend. Well - either superdelegates (not chosen by you but by the party elite) - or one in which you vote for a person WITHOUT COMMITMENT to a candidate (indeed lets IGNORE candidates until the convention) but someone you trust and feel an affinity towards - and have them make the decision (as non-elites).

Or better yet, in my view, take the choice of president OUT of the hands of the people - as was intended - not because the people SHOULD NOT be allowed to choose presidents, but because popular votes for president DISTORT the role of the president and INFLATE him (or possibly her) into an entity of government never intended and FAR TOO CENTRAL and FAR TOO POWERFUL - and subordinating the Congress (OUR branch) to its own whims (and thus the whims of the "majority party").

Let's take back OUR control of Congress, as people, and render the Presidency what it was supposed to be - the "chief clerk" - who MERELY follows the DICTATES of a Congress, in executing the laws that THEY make, in reflecting the laws that WE INTEND to make.

I am going to write a more thoughtful piece on this and post it on my website in the next few days.

But this "compromise" or "solution" of the DNC - is an example of the very same "compromise" of our laws that lets Presidents GO TO war without Congressional declaration, etc.
It is the undermining of our system of government. And rather than ensuring every vote counts - it demonstrates that your vote is nothing, to the party and governing elite, than a way to keep you BELIEVING you have power when in actuality, so long as you play in that game, you HAVE NONE.

Also,

I cannot urge more strongly that as many of us, and those of our other friends and acquaintances, attend this year's DemFest.

Its been 8 years. We need a strong showing - and we need to really strategize for the future.

What IF a Democrat wins the presidency (a situation I would not say is ensured - but is more likely than not). Will this solve our problems?

No. Will it make us feel better. Likely.

But it will also likely sweep under the rug most of the serious and significant problems that need to be tackled - because such problems do not make for good "re-election" campaigns.

And the problems of our nation do not lie with answers that a President, any president, can provided - unless we can find a president who is willing to defy the consultants, the trends, the norms ... and often their own ignorance of our system (these are people trained in "the system" (as it is) not the government (as it is meant to be).

At the national level they lie primarily with the Congress and its subordinated role to presidential-led party politics. And the resultant complete elimination of the element of separation of powers/checks and balances meant to prevent that (even though we still play lip service to that as if it were there).

But most of all - it lies at our local level of government - where WE THE PEOPLE should be ruling far more directly and building that self-rule from the ground up, through our counties, to our states, and on up to our national government.

We have the whole thing backwards.

Charlie Grapski

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Sunday Open Thread

On this date in history, among other things, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric voting machine.

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Florida and Michigan are resolved.

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The scene at our house

Just went something like this

more cat pictures

Hey, I didn't enjoy it either. But my feelings on the subject of fleas are:

DO NOT WANT!

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Meeting of DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee

Oliver Willis has the livestream posted. Howard is speaking right now.

Update: this link is from the DNC web site.

Liveblogging by emptywheel here.

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Open Thread

Thought I should put up a new thread before leaving for the pool.



I originally found "I Will Derive" via BBSpot, but decided to go with the girl math video for this thread. You know, to show my support for women in traditionally "male" areas of study. :)

P.S. Cheryl got her Netroots Nation scholarship page up. Click here.

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Unrealistic expectations

I still have little Alex Barton on my mind--this morning I woke up thinking about something I read in an article entitled Florida kindergarten teacher defends having class vote 5-year-old out.

After students shared their view, Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo had them vote, but said the vote was only to keep Alex Barton out of class for the day, not for good.

"Portillo said she did this as she felt that if (Alex) heard from his classmates how his behavior affected them that it would make a bigger difference to him, rather than just hearing it from adults," according to a report released Thursday morning by the Port St. Lucie Police Department.

Wow. A five year old is expected to have the emotional maturity and capacity for self-reflection to be able to profit from this exercise? Forget for just a moment that we are talking about a child with Asperger's Syndrome-- (his diagnosis has now been confirmed) she was expecting a level of insight that would be exceedingly rare in any child of Alex's age. This is developmentally inappropriate practice.

It reminded me of something I read years ago, before I ever had kids. The Etiology and Treatment of Childhood

The growing acceptance of childhood as a distinct phenomenon is reflected in the proposed inclusion of the syndrome in the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, or DSM-IV, of the American Psychiatric Association (1990). Clinicians are still in disagreement about the significant clinical features of childhood, but the proposed DSM-IV will almost certainly include the following core features:

1. Congenital onset
2. Dwarfism
3. Emotional lability and immaturity
4. Knowledge deficits
5. Legume anorexia

Having posted that excerpt, I hope that it does not cause the discussion to go into the territory of "Kids are overdiagnosed and overmedicated". While that is true in some cases, people often tend to make sweeping generalizations that may be hurtful (or at least unhelpful) to people who are dealing with these issues.

Obviously the piece is satire. Behavior and characteristics common to childhood would be seen as "abnormal" if observed in an adult. But rather than seeing these things as "disordered", many adults see them as "bad", leading them to select an entirely inappropriate strategy for dealing with problems that arise.

More later--I need to leave for work now.

Haloscan comment thread

Netroots Nation Scholarships

From the comments

Hey everyone, I have a DFA Netroots Nation scholarship contest update:

Jessica is still in 1st place. I've been bumped to 3rd. More votes for both of us would help send us to Austin.

Spread the word!

I've unfortunately lost a bunch of email addresses, so I can't appeal to a whole bunch of folks personally. Thanks for the support so far! (It's deeply humbling to see people say such nice things).

Jessica:
http://democracyforamerica.com/netroots_nation_scholarships/3-jessica-falker

Me:
http://democracyforamerica.com/netroots_nation_scholarships/18-liane-allen

9 people will be sent, there are currently over 50 candidates in the running, with the number growing steadily.

Liane

Sorry for being too lazy/tired to write a real post, but hope the front page attention helps a bit.

Haloscan comment thread

Thursday Open Thread

Nonviolent Communication

Haloscan comment thread

Open Thread

Demetrius did a new design last night

Off to work, and then teaching, and then, hopefully, the gym.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Haloscan commen thread

Card campaign for Alex

Something positive to do in response to the story I posted about yesterday. From Barbara at Mommy Life:

Let's show Alex we care.

To protect Melissa Barton's privacy, and since my address is public - please send all cards to
Alex is Special
c/o Barbara Curtis
15648 Britenbush Ct.
Waterford, VA 20197

I will gather them, notify the media, then put them all in a box and send them to his mom to give to Alex.

Updates
Outraged Mom Of Special Needs Son Talks Exclusively With The Early Show
Alex Barton And The New Wave Of Autism Activism
Update on Alex Barton: Teacher Voted Out
More links here.

Also, via some of the stories I've read in the past couple days, the following resource: The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network


Haloscan comment thread

Open Thread

Image from the LOLCat Bible Translation Project

Oh, and although I would probably appreciate it a lot more had I ever read T.S. Eliot's poem, The Waste Land, I still get a kick out of the words "April is the cruellest month" being translated as "April hates you!"

Anyway, the long weekend is over, and I'm back to work. Talk amongst yourselves.

Haloscan comment thread

Bad barrels

more cat pictures

After reading more articles about the teacher who had classmates vote on whether or not 5-year-old Alex should be allowed to return to class, I've amended my thinking on the teacher's potential "worst person in the world" status. She was, of course, absolutely wrong to subject a special needs child--or any child--to this type of public humiliation. But the system failed Alex and his family in a big way. And it may even have failed his teacher by failing to provide her with the resources and training she needed. I recommend this post for some thoughts on the bigger picture.

And I think we do need to get away from scapegoating. Firing this teacher could be a quick fix that would let people believe that "justice has been served", but it wouldn't give me much confidence that Morningside Elementary School would be any better prepared to address the needs of future students on the autistic spectrum. Maybe Ms. Portillo does need to lose her job over this. I don't know. But what I do know is that exclusive focus on "bad apples" can keep us from examining the root issue of "bad barrels". From psychologist Philip Zimbardo:

When you put that set of horrendous work conditions and external factors together, it creates an evil barrel. You could put virtually anybody in it and you're going to get this kind of evil behavior. The Pentagon and the military say that the Abu Ghraib scandal is the result of a few bad apples in an otherwise good barrel. That's the dispositional analysis. The social psychologist in me, and the consensus among many of my colleagues in experimental social psychology, says that's the wrong analysis. It's not the bad apples, it's the bad barrels that corrupt good people.

No, this isn't Abu Ghraib we're talking about here. But it is another example of a case where pointing fingers without addressing underlying systemic problems would be unwise.

Haloscan comment thread

This makes me freaking furious!

St. Lucie teacher has students vote on whether 5-year-old can stay in class

5-year-old Alex Barton's teacher made him stand in front of his kindergarten class and had his fellow students say what they didn't like about him and then vote whether he should remain in the class.

Alex is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. That's what our son has.

Update: This blog has listed contact information for the school principal, superintendent, etc.

And as Demetrius just remarked, "If this doesn't qualify someone for 'Worst Person in the World', I don't know what does."

countdown@msnbc.com

Another update. Apparently the teacher is trying to pass this off as a "teachable moment" on taking tallies.

The teacher said the boy had been sent to the office earlier that day, and when the office sent him back to class, Portillo asked her students whether they were ready for him to return, Steele said. Portillo said she asked the class to vote because they are learning about taking tallies, police say.

More links


Not Special: Support Alex Barton

“We do things democratically here.”

And a New Goat (really good, insightful post, which I highly recommend)

Alex is "Cool"

Haloscan comment thread

Towel Day

Happy (or do you say "Hoopy"?) Towel Day

Update: Sorry to be maudlin, but this seems to be as good a time as any to share something I learned recently about the day Douglas Adams died...

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fans will recall that Douglas attributed to the humble towel a miraculous potential for reassurance and utility. ‘There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is,’* the Narrator observes with admiration. The role of the towel traces its lineage back to the summer of 1978 when Douglas and various pals were on holiday in Corfu. Douglas was supposed to be writing, but a certain amount of hedonism and frolicking on the beach also featured.

Douglas’s towel – he needed one the size of a marquee’s groundsheet – was forever going missing. Perhaps it had some homing instinct for the sea, like a baby turtle. Finding it became synonymous with being a really together, cool kind of guy.

You may be touched to learn that, feeling faint from the rigours of the machine, Douglas picked up his towel from Peter and clutched it to him before lying down on a bench. In these circumstances specialists advise that becoming horizontal may not be expedient, but the piercing clarity of retrospect takes no account of the reality of an enormous, sweaty man, probably feeling a little woozy, poised to topple like an
uprooted tree.

He lay down. Peter glanced away for a second. When he looked back he thought that Douglas was messing about. Still holding on to his towel, he had rolled quietly off the bench. He had fainted. Peter called an ambulance, which efficiently speeded Douglas off to hospital. He never regained consciousness.

Haloscan comment thread

Love me and despair

I know Demetrius just meant this for a comment link, but what the heck....
-Renee

Funny comment on a NYT.com article:

"And now we have Bobby-Gate. Apparently, Hillary’s heart has greatly desired the death of her rival. I’m getting images of a tempted Galadriel from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”: “in place of a dark Lord you would have a Queen; beautiful and treacherous as the sea!

Hillary Cheney is unhinged. She wants to take a blood-soaked White House.

And all of this because he beat her and won’t choose her as his running mate.

...couldn't resist an accompanying picture.





Haloscan comment thread

Saturday Open Thread

Here's a front page post from Booman Tribune with contact information for Democratic leaders and uncommitted delegates.

Update: Olbermann's special comment from last night

Clinton, you invoked a political nightmare

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Open Thread

Holman's sister had a litter of puppies. Here's one of the girls at 3 days old.


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News and links

I've added a number of new articles to my Google shared items here. This headline in particular caught my attention.

Is Clinton acting out because Obama told her no to VP?

The words "acting out" evoke a certain image in my mind. Something like this...

And a couple of not-so-new but possibly forgotten quotes...

From October 2007

"It's clear, this election they're having is not going to count for anything," Clinton said Thursday during an interview on New Hampshire Public Radio's call-in program, "The Exchange." "But I just personally did not want to set up a situation where the Republicans are going to be campaigning between now and whenever, and then after the nomination, we have to go in and repair the damage to be ready to win Michigan in 2008."

And from February 2007...

“If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or has said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from,” Mrs. Clinton told an audience in Dover, N.H., in a veiled reference to two rivals for the nomination, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

Honestly, Hil--it's like you don't think hard working Americans know how to use the internets to look this kind of stuff up.

Haloscan comment thread

Are you missing some matter?

Apparently some has been found.

How can you pass up a headline like this: Half of Universe's Missing Matter Found.

Surprisingly, it wasn't found behind the couch.

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Open Thread

see more dog pictures

Except I really do plan to go in anyway. I have to. I left that box of tissue with the lotion in it on my desk...

Haloscan comment thread

McCain campaign seeking blogger outreach

Submitted without comment...

Wishing you could be a campaign surrogate, but don't have a national platform? Do you find blogging your own opinions tedious? Wish you could have someone tell you what to think during this political season? Well look no further than John McCain's new blog outreach!

More here.

Haloscan comment thread

1627

I remember reading a couple months ago that 1627 is the real magic number, with respect to delegates...

1,627 is fifty percent plus one of the 3,253 democratically selected delegates to the Democratic nominating convention.

Barack Obama is poised to reach that milestone today.

Haloscan comment thread

Open Thread

Anything good on the telly these days?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Haloscan comment thread

Credit where due

Thank you for this, Hillary.

Largely absent from her swing through South Dakota and Oregon, two of the four states (plus Puerto Rico) that have yet to hold primaries, was any mention of her opponent. On Thursday, she mentioned Mr. Obama only when she defended him from Mr. Bush’s remarks that implicitly compared him to appeasers of Nazis.

The Clinton campaign began running three more television advertisements on Friday in Oregon and Kentucky, none of which criticized Mr. Obama directly. An aide said that in the coming days, Mrs. Clinton planned to focus on the economy and avoid directly criticizing Mr. Obama.

Also, this post at The Field is worth checking out.

Haloscan comment thread