First of all, I want to point you to Jim Keller’s proposition guide which has some good commentary, as do Nick Mamatas’s and Scott Martin’s posts on the initiatives. We agree on about half of the propositions, but have different reasons for agreeing or disagreeing on the rest. Proposition 30: Voting Yes Summary: Funds education […]
You Might Think Mitt Planned To Lose
One Freakin’ SNP: Today’s Change
I have a bad SNP. It’s not my fault. Genetic analysis has determined that I got this wayward gene from my father. However, knowing that celiac disease could be very bad, and having only a big major medical coverage at the time (in 1996, with a $5,000 deductible), I didn’t want to be “officially” diagnosed […]
Great Article on Bullying from Elton John
Article’s here. “And failing to address the still everyday use of the word “gay” as a playground insult is also inexcusable. Those who do eventually realise that they’re gay find that the word which describes them has been used – unchallenged – as a proxy for anything that’s useless or rubbish for half their childhoods. […]
Bank Transfer Day
November 5 (as in Guy Fawkes Day) is Bank Transfer Day, a movement to take funds out of banks that received bailouts and move it to either independent local banks or credit unions (I favor the latter as credit unions are non-profit organizations). Sadly, though I’ve known about it for a week or two, I […]
Don’t Feed the Pretty Hate Machine
The WBC is a unique organization in that it feeds most directly on people who hate their work. Most businesses feed on people who love (or at least like) their work. But no, the WBC pre-announces their events to foment hatred. Enraged people do stupid things, such as interfering with the free speech rights of […]
Miscellanea
First, I’ve been starting to send out rejection letters for BayCon’s flash fiction submissions. I’ve sent out about a quarter of them so far. Sorry for the delay, I wanted to re-read pieces because I wasn’t reading them in my best frame of mind with shooting shoulder pains for several weeks. I expect to get […]
My Thoughts on Abortion
I need to speak up about this. 1. Rights between mothers and their unborn are a zero-sum game. Every right you give to the unborn you take away from all women of childbearing age and all girls who will be of childbearing age. Thus, all limitations on abortions, yes all, are inherently anti-woman. 2. If […]
My Second Day at Kepler’s
9/11 was my second day working at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park. Kepler’s was founded on peace activism, so all day people would come in looking for answers. Not just that day, either. I found myself hugging someone who was sobbing and clearly came in to look for — something comforting. Ira Sandperl sat on […]
How I Got Married and Donated a Liver
Once upon a time, I was Libertarian enough that I didn’t really care about getting married, and I didn’t particularly want a state license for a relationship. However, I wound up in a relationship where a marriage license was important to the other person, and so we got married in June, 1996. I didn’t really […]