Handling Threats in Comments

I have a comment hanging around in my moderation queue.  It reads like an angry 8th grader’s racist bathroom graffiti.   It contains a threat against President Elect Obama, exhorting readers to “give him the MLK lesson”.
In keeping with the comment policy at this blog, I’ve decided to allow it.  However, I’ve also decided, given its [...]

Indentured Students

Everything old is new again at the Boston Globe.   Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow writes:
The next thing in student loans: Investors pay your bills. You give them a share of your future:
The result is an innovative way to think about paying for higher education. The idea, sometimes called human capital contracts, is that investors agree to cover the [...]

Obama Watch: The Human Rights Litmus Test

Crossposted at Revolutionary Act
Now that we’ve successfully elected Barack Obama, we need to make sure he stays honest and true to his campaign.  This article from the Wall Street Journal uses an interview with his transition team to suggest he might not be.  When running for office:
On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama criticized many of [...]

Time to Put the PUMA Out For the Night

sm77 at PUMA blog the Confluence sums up their irrelevance in a goodbye post (emphasis mine):

To think we waited 8 years PRAYING for a Democratic President.  Well now we have one and I still feel the same.   But as a true, firebrand, loud and hellacious liberal who endured the Dubya years, my job is to [...]

Prop 8: Bigotry Wins in California

Voters have approved prop 8, writing discrimination into the California state constitution.
Their jubilation comes at the expense of people they denied the right to marriage by successfully hiding behind the veil of religious freedom and appealing to people’s worst instincts.
The thing to remember is that their victory will be short lived.  There will be another [...]

Will I Am: CNN Episode 1

What the hell CNN?
At the victory party in Arlington, a bunch of us where wondering why there was a hologram talking to Anderson Cooper.  Glad to see we weren’t the only ones:

“Will I Am, I want to thank you for being with us via hologram tonight.”
How do these decisions get made? Was there really no [...]

YES WE DID!

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For Virginians, Americans, and all the citizens of the World.  This victory means the change we sought during the election is now possible.  This election is the beginning of a long road, and we are finally in the driver’s seat.

Virginia: Warner Wins!

MSNBC:

Democratic former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner breezed to victory in his bid for the Senate on Tuesday, snagging a southern seat long held by Republicans and fueling expectations that Democrats would solidify their now-thin leadership grip over the chamber.

This bodes well for Obama, and suggests Virginia is has turned blue.

Virginia November 4th

Today Virginia Feels Blue:
As I write this I can hear beeps from cars passing Obama volunteers with signs.  The response has been enormously positive, with only a stray middle finger or scowl from an old McCain/Palin supporter to suggest they even exist.  When I went to vote, I saw about 8 Obama volunteers next to [...]

VOTE!!!

Go Obama!  Don’t forget to vote, especially my fellow Virginian readers.  2008 is the year we turn this state blue!
Important Voting Tips from Emily
GoVote: Find out where to vote and what to bring.
How to Protect Your Vote:

Staying Relevant: The Struggle of the Conservative Pundit

The writing is on the wall for McCain.  Obama is going to win tomorrow, and he will win big.
Short version of the conservative pundit’s reaction: “I predict Obama will win!  Please trust me again?”.

The New Taliban

What’s keeping me up at night?  Via Majikthise, an article in Rolling Stone by the incredibly brave Nir Rosen.  I couldn’t stop reading it.
At one point, I got the distinct impression our leaders are acting like irresponsible doctors prescribing anti-biotics, sending more and more troops.  Amid the same signs of hope for negotiation Rosen picks [...]

Innovation Investments: Who is Gen We?

I got an invite from a friend to join Gen We’s group of facebook.  I decided to check them out.  Their website seems relatively new and progressive-focused.  Being a web-geek, I decided to run a whois query:
Registrant Organization:Innovation Investments
Registrant Street1:One Montgomery St. Suite 3700
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:San Francsico
Registrant State/Province:CA
Registrant Postal Code:94104
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.4156337900
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant [...]

Against Jewish Republicans

Jews who support the modern Republican party have long been a target of condemnation in my family, idiots like Lieberman at the fore.  The reason for this is quite simple.  Republican Jews have successfully replaced the notion of Jewish identity with one of Israeli identity.  For them the first question is “will this be good [...]

Palin and the Prime Minister of Quebec: Pals 4Eva

This is priceless (Transcript):
A: Some people said in the last days and I thought that was mean that you weren’t experienced enough in foreign relations and you know that’s completely false. That’s the thing that I said to my great friend, the prime minister of Canada Stef Carse.
P: Well, he’s doing fine, too, and yeah, [...]