Weekend in NYC--Literary free association

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Thursday July 19, 2007 · 8:56 PM PDT

2007/07/19 · 20:56

I’m getting on one of those Chinatown express buses in about an hour, so now I am trying to stay awake long enough to catch it and then settle down and sleep (I hope) until I wake up in NYC and try not to look too awkwardly like a tourist as I negotiate the subway and the bus that will take me to my friend’s place. So here I am...

Ever since I read this diary about the Statue of Liberty getting jeered when the New 7 Wonders of the World were announced,

kathy in virginia

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Wednesday July 18, 2007 · 7:36 AM PDT

2007/07/18 · 07:36

Maybe I’m just cranky today, but I find myself exasperated with everything, EVERYTHING, I see on the news. I didn’t seek out MSNBC’s headlines this morning—they were thrust on me as I logged out of my hotmail account ( but they are so typical of all headlines everywhere I don’t know if it is fair to pick on MSNBC)-- And it’s like a car wreck; I can’t look away. This is a long diary, and I have no great pearls of wisdom to wrap it up at the end; I am just ranting as I read.

kathy in virginia

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Friday June 29, 2007 · 10:26 PM PDT

2007/06/29 · 22:26

We saw Sicko tonight. I had heard that it is Michael Moore’s best film ever and I totally, emphatically have to agree. While I appreciate his usual techniques, with his stunts and gotcha moments and feigned shock, I also think from a political viewpoint that sometimes his humor gets in the way of his points. This time, however, he stands back and allows the humor and pathos and irony to arise from the situations themselves, not from any stunts he pulls.

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UMass Card Protests--eyewitness account from a graduate

kathy in virginia

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Wednesday May 30, 2007 · 8:11 AM PDT

2007/05/30 · 08:11

I was a UMass grad student, slogging along trying to finish my dissertation, from the Fall of 1996 until last Friday. Since most Kossacks have been so supportive about the whole Andrew Card fiasco, now that I am back home I wanted to share my eyewitness account of the protest at graduation.

kathy in virginia

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Thursday May 03, 2007 · 1:15 PM PDT

2007/05/03 · 13:15

I don't have much to add to this announcement, but it seems like the grassroots, especially the election officials and academics on this site, should know about these grants.

From PEW Center on the States:

The Pew Center on the States and the JEHT Foundation Announce $2 Million in Grants Available to Study and Improve U.S. Elections
The Pew Center on the States, in partnership with the JEHT Foundation, has announced $2 million in grants available to help diagnose how well U.S. elections are run and to plan pilot projects to be conducted in 2007 and 2008.

This is just the first of several grants cycles. The site says they are looking for proposals on both diagnostics and solutions.

kathy in virginia

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Tuesday April 10, 2007 · 6:36 AM PDT

2007/04/10 · 06:36

I just can’t take it anymore.
This is the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress off grievances.

Congress shall make no law. Get it?

No matter what you think about Imus and his racist comments, firing him is not a violation of his right to free speech. Now if (in some sci-fi version of reality) Congress or Bush and some representative of the state came down and silenced him for his remarks, his 1st Amendment rights would be violated.

But the right to Free Speech does not mean that everyone has a right to their own radio show, on which they can say what they damn well please, without market forces such as listener boredom or listener outrage influencing their future employment.

If Imus were fired because of the public outcry, his firing might or might not break stipulations of his employment contract, but the First Amendment would not be at play at all.

Teaching a pig to sing

kathy in virginia

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Thursday March 10, 2005 · 5:58 PM PST

2005/03/10 · 17:58

I was attempting to discuss religion and abortion with this anti-abortion person over at Commonwealth Commonsense but it was typical of all such discussions: pointless. It was hard to say whether his religious understanding or his logic was more unsound. And I was thinking of the old saying about not teaching a pig to sing-- it wastes your time and annoys the pig. So maybe, I sez to myself, I should give up.

But then I thought "Screw that. The pig's going to sing if I have anything to do with it." Read More

RSS

Weekend in NYC--Literary free association

Inanity of MSNBC: Me having a spasm

Another review of Sicko (now with poll!)

UMass Card Protests--eyewitness account from a graduate

PEW Grants to study and improve elections

Multiple Imus diaries and comments distorting 1st Amendment

Teaching a pig to sing