Republican Opposition Backfires: The Stimulus and Family Planning Aid

The conventional wisdom was that the Republicans made a smart move by opposing Obama’s efforts to reach out to them over the stimulus:
Voting against the bill was good politics because it shows that the GOP can’t be persuaded by charm alone, presidential or otherwise. Sure, Republicans risk coming off as stubborn in the face of [...]

New Bank Bailout to Cost 793 Trillion

The new bank bailout will cost a lot.  That’s ok.  I don’t mind paying for the failures of Gree Market* policy and blind financial prognosticating by still-employed economic opinon-makers.  At this point the stimulus is so costly as to effectively be in imaginary dollars anyway.
The banks have gone from keeping how they spent our tax-money [...]

California Religious Schools Civil Rights Free

Apparently religious schools in California aren’t subject to civil rights laws.  I wonder what else they can get away with, thanks to this ruling?
The funny thing is that the kids were expelled based on the perception of their sexuality.  Wonder if this would fly is the school was run by a Christian Identity Church and [...]

Israel vs Palestine: Trust

A huge problem I have negotiating the very rough waters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is trust.
Both sides have such a problem seeing and understanding the other that the views pouring out of that miasma are convoluted and stained with assumption.  The pro-Palestine side seems to think a rain of rockets is a mild annoyance, and [...]

Inauguration 2009: We Have a New President!

The inauguration was incredible.  I left with a feeling of real optimism, not the kind you fake to yourself to keep your spirits up in the face of false promises.  There is a lot of work to be done, and Obama is far from perfect, but we made a great choice.  This country feels united.
Below [...]

The Hard Work of Change

Thank You, President Obama, for your commitment to represent young voters.
We are the future of this country, and together, we are ready to do the hard work to make this country stronger, safer, and more just for everyone.

Inauguration Photos and Videos

I’ll have  a writeup later tonight (and more videos!).
In the meantime, please enjoy my new flickr account and youtube channel!

The We Are One Concert Was AWESOME

Despite the crowds, the metro ride in (and out) was a breeze.  Major props to the DC police, military folks, and organizers for pulling something like this off.  I can’t believe we made it in and out so quickly!
The energy was amazing.  Every time Obama came on the sceen, the crowd went wild.  Everyone broke [...]

Palin is a Zen Master

Palin is a master of not doing by doing:

But Palin said she had adopted a philosophical attitude on the downside of the spotlight. “You have to let it go,” she said. “Even hard news sources, credible news sources — the comment about, you can see Russia from Alaska. You can! You can see Russia from [...]

Choosing A Content Management System

I’ve shied away from tech blogging.  Even though its how I make ends meet, it isn’t really my passion in life.  Nor is it something I’ve considered terribly relevant to the purpose of this blog.  This post by Pam Spaulding finally convinced me to post this.
I think that an understanding of how corporations work (and [...]

Why Atheist Buses Rock

A comment (by this fellow) on the atheist bus advertising campaign caught my eye:
My question to Hanne Stinson would be “What has this appeal acheived?”
For an atheist like Dawkins, the statement seems a little weak to me. “There probably is no God” does not carry the tone as when Christians declare there definately is one. [...]

Movie Idea! A Proposal

Movie idea!  A man is about to be deported to Canada, and to keep his high powered job, orders his assistant to marry him, or he’ll fire her.  Afraid of losing her job, she complies, and through a series of endearing mishaps falls in love with her boss.
Switch the roles and its an instant romantic [...]

Anti Israel Protests and Staying Safe

There are two kinds of protests going on right now.  Anti-Israel and Anti-War.  The media is conflating the two.  See if you can spot the subtle difference that has Reuters confused.
Protest 1 (emphasis mine):
demonstrators at the Israeli embassy in Dublin threw shoes and carried a mock coffin, covered with pictures of wounded or dead Palestinian [...]

Thousands of Israelis Protest War in Gaza

Via my friend Helene (Israel Social TV):

A contrast to the misconception in the media that all Israeli leftists support the war on Gaza.

Police in San Francisco Commit Murder

This is horrifying (Holly at Feministe, emphasis mine):
On New Year’s morning, the San Francisco BART police–yes, transit cops–dragged a bunch of young men off a train, including Oscar Grant. An officer then proceeded to execute Grant of them with a gunshot through the back, while he was restrained and lying face-down on the ground.
I think [...]