This week, we saw some Democrats rise to the occasion....
...and some Democrats, well....
But now it's the weekend! So grab your coziest blankets, sit back with a warm cup of cider, and enjoy the following ITEMS!
ITEM! The No On 1 campaign really, really, really needs your help. Like, right freaking now. If the polls are right and this thing is tied, then it's all going to come down to GOTV, and that means that money and volunteer labor are absolutely crucial in that fight. Unfortunately, right now they're being outspent by 2.5 to 1; and as Spud1 reports, they have gotten a lot of last-minute cash. Your time and money, right now, will help make the difference between equality and injustice in Maine.
Please, go donate and/or volunteer here.
ITEM! Why is Olympia Snowe so goddamn important, anyway? Nate Silver has his take here. Keep in mind, however, that the fact that Harry Reid is proceeding without trying to appease Snowe makes me wonder whether Nate's math is wrong, or whether the math is right and Reid is making an outward show of spine to garner progressive support for his re-election bid.
ITEM! So, are we going to escalate the war in Afghanistan with more troops, or are we going to escalate the war in Pakistan with more air strikes? Jeff Huber has his take, of course, but there's another informative perspective on this this roaring debate here.
ITEM! Free speech is essentially the freedom to tell the world that another group, no matter how powerful or sacrosanct, is full of shit. Unfortunately, it looks like the the Obama administration threw this under the bus in the name of better relations with the Muslim world.
I mean, okay, Islam's gotten a bad rap in the West -- kinda. But does this same principle that free speech shouldn't be used to "defame" religion also apply when that religion is Scientology? Or the Westboro Baptist Church?
By the way, why is it that it's the John Birchers fighting this nonsense, and not the Left?
ITEM! Iran's hard-liners are attacking the UN's nuclear proposal. More here. My take? Iran is doing what any reasonable nation would do with their nuclear plan, and negotiating a deal. The US seems to recognize this; Israel, of course, is officially freaking out, but that's the Likudniks for you.
ITEM! The Obama administration is using OPIC to funnel about $25-$150 million in research dollars to Muslim nations. More here. The purpose of this, of course, is to help their economies grow, but you can count on this to get wingnut heads exploding any moment now.
ITEM! Did anyone else catch this report on racist idiot Hal Turner getting out on bail, after his arrest for threatening two NJ legislators and a Chicago judge? The money quote:
Turner worked as an FBI informant and spied on right-wing organizations from 2002 to 2007.
Whoops! How'd that get in there?
MICE!
ITEM! Speaking of wingnut heads exploding:
A Danish movie about a gay love affair between two members of a neo-Nazi group won top honors Friday at the Rome Film Festival, while Helen Mirren won the best actress award.
The winning movie, "Brotherhood," takes a hard look at the neo-Nazi group that the leading character, Lars, joins after leaving the army. The group carries out raids on homosexuals, but Lars and his mentor in the group, Jimmy, begin a love affair that they try to keep secret. - Breitbart
It's another version of Neo-Nazis Coming To Jesus Means Bling (see previous incarnations here and here.) Nonetheless, watch the nutty wing turn this into a movie about the homosexuals and their Nazi agenda. Seriously. Watch 'em.
ITEM! You did know that Cassandra Complex have been active again recently, right?
I have a persistent daydream of driving from Portland to Moscow, Idaho with Rodney Orpheus, just to see the town for ourselves. Just to keep it real, we will not play any Cassandra Complex on the way. Fats Domino, David Bowie, No Means No, The Arcade Fire, The Grey Album, sure. But no Cassandra Complex. That would just be a little too self-referential.
ITEM! And now for the Geeky comment of the day.
Rumors are flying that VMWare is working on their own Linux distribution. This comes from no less an authority than Miguel de Icaza, the manager of the GNOME and Mono projects, so it Must Be True.
Personally, I think they're hiring people to help them work with another distribution, such as SuSE or Ubuntu, to make that distribution work better in a VMWare virtual environment. Such a partnership could be incredibly profitable to both groups now that cloud computing is really heating up.
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