WEBolutionary blogs

Kos slams Diebold

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:51:38 -0400

I can't believe people trust elections to a machine which uses the Windows operating system.

Jackbooted Bullies

Sun, 27 Aug 2006 15:35:59 -0400

Whytwolf's diary on DailyKost, Piss a Liberal Off: Right-Wing Bullies, hit fairly close to home.

I don't think "Pissing off a liberal" is really about my views, or even the clinic cowboy's views. I think it goes deeper than that. Those who have grown up believing that aggression and/or violence is the best way to solve a problem have ultimately found themselves cut off from the empathetic side of their social dealings. This breeds contempt for those who have more empathy, and can interact in a calm manner with others--those of us who have embraced the ideologies of the left.

Fascinating Drupal Implementation

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 17:52:04 -0500

For those who don't know, this web site runs CivicSpace, an open source content management system (CMS) based on Drupal.

This is some seriously cool stuff - a web site for the Ann Arbor public library built on Drupal:

http://www.blyberg.net/2005/12/04/lessons-learned-aadlorg-30/

These are also interesting but more specific:
http://www.blyberg.net/2005/12/01/aadl-rss-feeds-extended-to-all-catalog-searches/

Kansas school suspends student for speaking Spanish!

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 13:32:47 -0500

Habla espanol? Not in one Kansas school, you don't. This will look awfully familiar to anyone who is knowledgable about Native American history. Native American students were forced to speak English in school and often punished very harshly any time they reverted to their native languages (how ironic that we were saved by those languages in World War II).

Zach Rubio is the son of a Mexican American immigrant who is now a naturalized United States Citizen. Both father and son are fluent in both English and Spanish.

"It was, like, totally not in the classroom," the high school junior said, recalling the infraction. "We were in the, like, hall or whatever, on restroom break. This kid I know, he's like, 'Me prestas un dolar?' ['Will you lend me a dollar?'] Well, he asked in Spanish; it just seemed natural to answer that way. So I'm like, 'No problema.'"

The Second Coming of the infamous Daisy Ad

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 21:15:56 -0400

I hope. ;-) While sitting at a bar last night drinking a martini (whose flavor I'd be helpless to describe but which was superb!), I had a sudden flash of inspiration:

Camera shows wide view of Iraqi desert, with evidence of destruction in various places.

Camera zooms in to show a pipeline, keeps zooming until we see that it's leaking.

Zoom in on the steady dripping leak, we see that the liquid is blood, not oil.

Screen fades out, text fades in, flickering a bit (preferably in some kind of grunge font) "No more blood for oil." Narrator says "Do you part to reduce America's dependence on oil. Visit [website] today."

Why the Great Experiment is Failing

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 20:12:57 -0400

I just finished reading a book yesterday by David Gerrold called Leaping to the Stars. It's mostly just a great action-adventure story, but like nearly all science fiction, it does hit upon some rather weighty issues including the relationship betwen man and technology and the nature of good and evil. In the context of a political science class, he described how the United States had collapsed after three hundred years. It was almost as if he was channeling both Howard Dean and Barack Obama when this book was written in 2001/2002 (first edition was printed in 2002, well before Dean exploded onto the national scene).

Gay Marriage Rights

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 20:23:48 -0400

I am, above all else, a firm believer in the rights of individuals. I believe such rights are sacred and must be protected at all costs, even when it means decreased security. The right to believe as you wish and act on your beliefs in a way not harmful to others is as sacred a right as any other. What you do not have a right to do, however, is impose your beliefs on others. That is what the Federal Marriage Amendment is. It is a gross imposition on the beliefs and rights of at least thirty million Americans, and likely a lot closer to one hundred fifty million, when you take into account all of the straight people who approve of gay marriage. One of the core principles of our system of government is to prevent the will of the majority from trampling on the rights of the minority. That is at least one of the reasons for the seperation of church and state. The FMA flies in the face of every principle this country was founded on.

Is there hope?

Wed, 02 Jun 2004 21:06:47 -0400

I think we're on the verge of a very interesting and revealing point in our history. One of the reasons I got interested in the internet in the first place was that I believed it had the power to change things for the better by providing nearly immediate access to information - I wrote in a high school English paper eight years ago that the internet had the potential to be the greatest tool for freedom that we've ever known.

The Dean campaign showed that I was only half right - I had never even considered the interconnectedness and the organizing ability it would bring until I started hearing about how they were using the web to build inter-linked local organizations. When the Dean campaign took off, I thought we were finally at a point of critical mass, so to speak - where there were enough people online and interested that the first person to take advantage of it would be all but unstoppable. Unfortunately we're obviously not there yet, even though I think we should be from a purely statistical standpoint (with fully half of the country online now). The worst part, though, is that I'm now not even sure it is possible, not because of the limitations of the tools but because of the limitations of the people we're trying to sway with them.

The Massachusetts Test

Tue, 25 May 2004 21:07:49 -0400

Finally, thanks to 'activist' judges, America will have the opportunity to learn the true nature of gay marriage, and perhaps learn a little about heterosexual marriage along the way. The honest truth, it will likely be revealed, is that same-sex marriage simply isn't relevant to all those protesting it. Perhaps then, some of our esteemed leaders in Richmond will finally get a clue and do what is right instead of trying to compete for Pat Robertson's blessings.

First, it is worth looking at the basis for the argument that gay marriage would somehow impinge upon the sanctity of the institution of marriage. Frankly, we would do well to look at whether there's any sanctity of the sort so often alluded to in church left in the first place. Given the divorce rate, the constant news of self-righteous individuals caught in compromising positions, and the steady stream of married guests airing all kinds of filthy laundry on talk shows, it is arguable that heterosexuals have done a dandy job eroding away at the institution on their own without any help from us.

Whither freedom in the name of God?

Fri, 02 Apr 2004 20:08:36 -0500

Our constitutionaly gauranteed rights exist for just this reason. The whole purpose of the Bill of Rights is to pretect the minority from the whims of the majority. Just because a group is greater in numbers does not mean it is right, or has the right to push a belief on others. Those who would tell atheists to sit down and shut up are no more right than the majority of Romans or the money changers in the jewish temples who thought Jesus should sit down and shut up. This nation does not exist under one true God. Millions of Americans are pagans, hindus, buddhists, shintos, atheists, or any of hundreds of other belief systems. No one of those systems is any more right than any other - all religions are equally valid and to argue anything to the contrary de,onstrates the kind of incredible arrogance that has started far too many wars and left to the xrucifiction, stonging, drowning, and burning at the stake of far too many innocent victimes. I suggest people consider the consequences and history of such absolute beliefs before forcing them on others.

Unconstitutional Abuse

Thu, 12 Feb 2004 20:09:20 -0500

Regardless of your position on the issue of gay marriage itself, there is something more important at stake in the current debate over the proposal to amend the Constitution to ban it. This greater question is whether we are willing to tolerate our leaders in the White House and both houses of congress using the Constitution purely for the purpose of antagonizing a political minority and furthering their own political ambitions.

According to a poll conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post in late January, 55% of Americans oppose gay marriage. However, only 38% favor amending the Constitution to outlaw gay marriage. For perspective, a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of congress and must be ratified by three fourths of the states in order to become the law of the land. Since this amendment doesn't even have enough support to pass congress, let alone be ratified, it is clear that the far right is proposing this purely to further divide the nation and reinvigorate their base. The question of our position on the specific issue, therefore, is far less important than whether we are willing to tolerate the abuse of the Constitution for the sole purpose of winning elections.

Are you safer now than you were three years ago?

Tue, 14 Oct 2003 20:33:12 -0400

When he took office, Bush stopped Clinton's anti-terrorism plan dead in it's tracks and cut funding to counterterrorism programs. Now, two years after the atacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Bush administration has actively hindered the panel set up by the administration itself to investigate the security failings that led to the attacks. I don't feel safe knowing that our president placed tax cuts and personal politics in a higher priority than defending this country.

Bush has failed to find either Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. These two cretins are still running around inciting followers to inict harm on us and our allies. They may be on the run, but I fear Osama is far from being incapable of reaching us again. I don't feel safe knowing that they're still out there plotting their revenge.

Igniting a Cyberrevoluton

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 19:34:58 -0500

I think that how a campaign is run is indicative of how the administration would be run if the candidate is elected. Bush's new blog is a prime example of that - top down and pure propaganda with no way for voters to participate, just like his presidency which is more or less an oligarchy (or a monarchy with Rove as king). The people have no say whatsoever.

Clark at least made a respectable pass at getting some public involvement, though it's still top down (much to the shagrin of Fowler). Clark seems like the sort of candidate who would make comments about young people being the "foot soldiers of the campaign" - rather befitting an ex-general, too, I think. Clark has an opportunity to turn has campaign around by accepting this revolution and becoming a part of the future, or by continuing the top-down campaign style and being passed up. I certainly hope he chooses the former, because even with all his faults, I still see him as being a great leader in the Democratic party, at least in the future if not now.

A Response to Hyperpatriotism

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 19:26:09 -0500

This essay is in response to the following email:

"You're wrong. The time for opinions is past. We are at war. Our brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers are there facing the possibility of death. It is their job and their patriotic duty. It is hypocritical to say you do not support the war, but you support our troops. I believe those 300,000 troops that are risking their lives to perform their jobs would be disheartened to know that although the rest of the world is opposed to what they are doing, there are also certain 'patriotic' Americans that do not support the risks they take in doing their jobs. It is those very actions that you do not support. So how exactly are you supporting them? I support President Bush and our brave fighting men and women!! God Bless America!!!!!!!"

First, I remind you, the whole reason these men and women are fighting for this country is to protect and defend the freedoms that make us American. I think that telling Americans that they should not exercise those sacred freedoms is more disrespectful to the men and women fighting for them than any form of peaceful dissent.

This dream must not die!

Sun, 02 Feb 2003 19:44:01 -0500

As a young child, I dreamed of one day leaving this world and gazing back upon it from space. I dreamed of floating among the heavens, weightless. Someone once said that Heaven is the place where all your dreams come true. I once said that to live among the heavens is to truly be in Heaven. I used to read every book I could get my hands on about space and space exploration. I once successfully named every single manned rocket NASA has launched at a county fair, and I still have in my apartment now a two and a half foot tall model of Columbia that my dad and I built when I was seven or eight years old. That dream, though deferred, still lives on in me. I still gaze in wonder toward the stars and watch in awe as other men and women live my dream. I long ago decided that dream was beyond my grasp, and turned it towards an intense interest in science fiction and space art, but I still marvel at those people who make more and more of that dream a reality every day. In an age seeming devoid of true heroes, these people are my heroes.