Blog or Not?



A statistically improbable polymath's views on politics and culture.

Monday, November 22, 2004
You can pry away my VCR...
 
from my cold, dead hands!

Apparently our Congresscritters have thrown a provision into the proposed Intellectual Property Protection Act (don't you just love Newspeak?) that would prohibit private parties from skipping over commercials when they record a TV program.

Yes, that's right. They're coming for your TiVo. Then what's next--your VCR? Your CD burner? That microcassette recorder you use for classes?

It gets worse: They're also trying to ban the "share" feature on iTunes.

Please contact your representative here, and your senators here.

First in the Pandagon.net series of Republican outrages of the week.


Sunday, November 14, 2004
Filibuster Time!
 
Oooh, lookie. Apparently Senate Majority Leader Bill "I Heart Cats" Frist wants to get rid of the ancient and revered Senate tradition of the filibuster.

We will not take this sitting down. I urge all of you to call your Senators and ask them to filibuster such a proposed change in the rules. In addition, I have been pondering the creation of Filibuster Kits for Democratic senators. These kits would include a Norton's Complete Works of Shakespeare, a bottle of No-Doz, and throat lozenges.


Friday, November 12, 2004
Suck on it, U.S. News!
 
The University of Chicago is number 13on The Times' (of London) peer-reviewed list of the greatest universities of the world. Mangez de merde, Ecole Normale Superiéure!


Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Interesting...
 
that Ken Mahlman, Bush campaign manager and candidate for the RNC chairmanship, has never answered direct questions from reporters regarding his sexuality. I don't know about where y'all are from, but in Tennessee, if a straight man's asked about his sexual orientation, he'll answer; in Illinois, he'll probably sandwich his answer between a "I don't think that's really relevant" and a pledge of support for the gay community. But I'm not sure if there are any places in America where it's considered inappropriate or shocking to admit one's heterosexuality if asked. Mr. Mahlman's above the draft age, so it's not like he needs a backup plan in case of the draft. Really, it's all very peculiar--queer, one might say.


It's all too real
 
Via Dorothy at The Chaff, the story I've been wanting to write since seeing Alan Keyes in person.


Saturday, November 06, 2004
We're Number Six! We're Number Six!
 
Popular Science magazine rates being a demolition worker at Oak Ridge's K-25 the sixth worst science job in the world. I grew up several miles from the plant--here's hoping asbestos and uranium didn't reach that far.


Friday, November 05, 2004
"The Vision Thing"
 
Inspired by TAPped, I've decided to take a stab at creating some sort of simple phrase which can serve as the "Compassionate Conservatism" of the Democratic Party:

--"We are committed to giving Americans back control over their lives"
--"Culture of Respect"
--"You have the power!"--stolen from Howard Dean.

Please comment.