Panel OK's torture in detention of enemies

Well, this is just horrible...

Panel OK's torture in detention of enemies: "US military panels reviewing the detention of foreigners as enemy combatants are allowed to use evidence gained by torture in deciding whether to keep them imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the government conceded in court yesterday."

Why don't people who are concerned about "moral values" raise objections to real issues like this! I think this speaks more to the moral fabric of our country than what people choose to do in their private lives.

(From Boston Globe) Kerry campaign joins suit seeking recount of Ohio vote

Hm. Interesting. I don't usually follow along with conspiracy theories (even if they do support my left-wing bent). But now that Kerry's campaign is actually taking an interest in recount efforts in Ohio, I'm beginning to wonder if Bush won by underhanded tactics as he did in the 2000 election.

Kerry campaign joins suit seeking recount of Ohio vote: "John F. Kerry's campaign has joined a lawsuit by third-party presidential candidates seeking a recount in Ohio, and a lawyer for the campaign said yesterday the Democrat's camp does not question his loss but wants any counting to take place statewide."

American Coastopia Bumper Stickers.

Someone has designed American Coastopia Bumper Stickers! Just in time for the holiday season. I think they'd make great stocking stuffers, don't you.

The site owner says, "I'm soliciting interest. Pick one and send me a note below with how many you want. They will probably cost about $1 each. Until ACD are issued, we'll need to use USD."

No court ruling on same-sex marriage

Hurrah! Another defeat for opponents of gay marriage -- who in my book are bigots, plain and simple. They are no different than the supporters of segregation in the 50s. Ever heard of equal rights, folks?

I don't know how long this will last with the Supreme Court likely to take a turn toward the more conservative soon, but at least for now one attack has been deflated.

No court ruling on same-sex marriage: "'There are lots of reasons the Supreme Court could refuse to hear a case,' said Volokh, who specializes in constitutional law. 'However, in this case, it's pretty clear: The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided that the Massachusetts Constitution mandates recognition of same-sex marriage, and the Massachusetts Constitution is the business of the Massachusetts courts. The US Supreme Court will not intervene on matters that have only to do with state law.'"

Let them sing it for you

For once something not political....

Enjoy this fun little site that sings (almost) everything you type!

Let them sing it for you

Canadians urge disaffected left to elect a move north

Well, this is an alternative to Coastopia.... I think some people are taking the "love or leave it" phrase seriously! Here's an article from the Boston Globe (actually I think it is an AP story).

This isn't actually that surprising to me.... I have dreamed about this possibility.

Canadians urge disaffected left to elect a move north:

"'We started last year getting a lot of calls from Americans dissatisfied with the way the country is going,' Kischer [an imigration lawyer in Vancouver] said. 'Then after the election, it's been crazy up here. The Canadian immigration website had 115,000 hits the day after the election, from the US alone. We usually only get 20,000 hits.'

There was so much interest that a Vancouver-based Internet company, Communicopia, set up a new website this month -- www.canadianalternative.com-- to suggest Canada as a viable option for its American clients, including anyone concerned about constitutional bans on gay marriage passed in 11 states this month."

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I just checked out the Canadian Alternative site. Definitely worth a look!

International group monitoring election

I find this kind of amusing and humbling, and I'm not sure many Americans are even aware of this.

Boston.com International group monitoring election gets mixed reception

For the first time, The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe decided that they needed to send in observers to oversee our elections. And after the 2000 election fiasco, who can blame them. We spend so much time sitting in the high seat looking at other nations' election processes; I think we need a little humbling every once in a while.

Wish we hadn't given the observers such a hard time. Makes Americans looks really snotty and conceited. Maybe we are...

Unilateralism

The U.S. to Recognize Ex-Yugoslav Republic as Macedonia

I think I'm glad that the former Yugoslav Republic is getting some recognition. But this was handled really poorly. As far as I can tell, this is another example of the Bush administration continuing to blunder around the world making unilateral decisions. When are we going to start trying to work with other countries and stop acting like a nasty empire.

xtcian: American Coastopia!

Ah Ha! I knew that the original email had to come from the blogosphere. It didn't show up yesterday on Google, but it did today. Here's the original post by Ian Williams on his xtcian blog.

xtcian: American Coastopia!

The Coastopia Movement Continues!

There are now tee shirts available! Get them while they are hot!

Tee Shirts on CafePress

So much for Bush's "Coalition"

Seems like hardly any of the country's in Bush's so-called "coalition" want to stay in Iraq -- including Poland (who Bush made a big deal about in the debates). Apart from Britain's 12,000 troups and Italy's 3,100 troups, we are pretty much alone over there. Is this really the position we want to be in? I guess the midwestern and southern voters think so.

The Allies: Hungary Joins Others in Pulling Troops From Iraq

Supreme Court Appointments

Ugh... For anyone who thoughtlessly threw away their vote on Bush, here's a taste of what the next four years are going to be like. It ain't pretty.

Here's a quote from a recent NPR report on who Bush might appoint to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist:

"SIEGEL: And what do we know about what sort of person President Bush would likely choose to replace him?

TOTENBERG: Well, first, we know because the president has told us. He has said that he wants to appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of the current two most conservative members of the court, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Second, the president owes a lot to the right wing of his party, particularly social conservatives who really delivered for him last night, and those folks care mightily about Supreme Court appointments. In addition, the president has a strengthened majority in the Senate on the Republican side, and, as one Democrat put it to me today, he doesn't have the restraint of an election facing him. Indeed, even when he was in a much weaker position in 2000, when he had not gotten a majority of the vote and before 9/11, he made very conservative, one might even say in some circumstances provocative, nominations to the lower courts, and he never flinched or accepted offers of compromise from the Democrats."

One Quick thing...

Dick, W... umm... lemee tell you something.

A 51% to 49% victory is not a mandate from the voters. Sorry. It's just not.

American Coastopia

I don't usually forward email messages -- I think of most forwards as a nussance. But I did like this one that just came into my inbox. So, I thought I would post it on my blog. Great to see someone else had the same idea as me. Do we have a movement here? Let's secede now! ;-)

American Coastopia!
11/2/04
Ladies and gentlemen, you needn't fret anymore. We have decided that we can't live in the United States anymore, because so many of you in the "heartland" are so full of shit. We were all going to move to various other countries, but then we thought - why should WE move?

We are tired of rednecks in Oklahoma picking the leader who will determine if it is safe for us to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. We are sick of homophobic knuckle-draggers in Wyoming contributing to the national debate on our gay marriages. So we have done the only thing we could.

We seceded.

May I present to you: AMERICAN COASTOPIA.

That's right, American Coastopia. The states of Washington, Oregon and California are joining us on one coast, and we will provide all of New England. In the middle of the country, we have taken Iowa and Illinois, mostly because we need the fine produce of Iowa's soil, and the museums in Chicago are fabulous.

What's with the other dots? Oh yes, we're taking Chapel Hill and Durham, North Carolina too. I'm not going to live in a country without the Tar Heels. (And Duke? You're being moved to Greensboro, just like Wake Forest was. Sorry! Assholes.)

The other dot is New Orleans, which you don't deserve. American Coastopia needs a place to gamble, and the locals want nothing to do with you. Sure, you can visit, but it isn't part of your country anymore.

I can sense your worry. Who will get all the banks? You can fucking have most of them, because we're taking downtown and midtown Manhattan back, turning the whole thing into a giant artist colony replete with movie studios and progressive think tanks. Wall Street and other financial institutions will be relocated to Charlotte, which we believe will suit your needs better. Frankly, the good folks in Manhattan are sick of being a terrorist target for your benefit.

A word about our politics. Abortions will be safe and legal in American Coastopia, and homosexual men and women will be free to marry at their discretion. We will have our own currency, and trade with any countries we want. Everyone will have health care. Everyone will have an identity card. Homelessness and unemployment will be virtually unknown. We believe in a meritocracy and a huge chasm between church and state. 100% of our cars will be hybrid by 2006.

Yes, we're taking all the people that ever created everything beautiful. Yes, we're taking all the funny people too. All the sculptors, architects, surgeons, philosophers, violinists and fishermen. You should have treated them better when you had them.

We have no pledge of allegiance, but I can say this: I am no longer from your United States of America. I belong to American Coastopia, the United States of My Friends, the Nation of Two: my wife and I. We hold our noses as we fly over you. We are sickened by the way you treat people that are different from you. The rest of the world despises America, and we don't want to be lumped in with you anymore.

Please, all of you who went to bed last night sick with worry, come to us. In American Coastopia, the light is always on, the hazelnut lattés are always hot, and we have a trundle bed for each and every one of you.

Boing Boing's take on the elections

I have to agree with Xeni Jardin's take on this one. A nice assessment of where this country is going under Bush here too.

Boing Boing: Kerry concedes.

Hillary Clinton in 2008

I'm really trying to see the silver lining. Really really...

Maybe now Hillary has a chance in 2008. That's the buzz from this Boston Globe article anyway.

Result may be key for Hillary Clinton

Though I really do want this to happen, it's still really hard to find any silver lining today. Sigh.

William Shatner and Ben Folds?

OK, so I'm going to try to be cheerier now... though it's really hard!

Anyway, here's an interesting article from the Globe. As a closet-trekky and and an open Ben Fold's fan, I find this bizarre musical collaboration between the songwriter and William Shatner both intriguing and baffling.

There are links to three of the songs from the CD. Unfortunately, I am at work now, so I can't listen.

Shatner boldly goes back into the studio

Who are these people?

The election map tells us a lot about this country and who chooses the President. Personally, I am furious that in a year where everyone's concerned about security, the parts of the nation that are most likely to be attacked seem to have little voice in this election.

Who has a real understanding about what it means to be under threat of attack in this country? Texas? Kentucky? Kansas? Utah? No -- Washington DC, New York, Boston, LA.... these are the real targets. These cities and the states they belong to voted for Kerry, but their opinions mean little to the rest of the country. Instead, this country's leadership has been high-jacked by the most provincial parts of this country, by voters who are nowhere near a city or port that has ties to the international community. Why should they have so much power to make decisions about national security? They clearly don't understand what needs to be done in this country.

So where do we go from here? We will continue to see Americans killed in Iraq and that country will be further plunged into chaos and turmoil. Korea will develop nuclear weapons unchecked. The United States will become more isolated in the international community -- which will lead toward more violence against our country. At home, we will see health care costs continue to sky rocket. The working class and the middle class will suffer further under Bush's economic policies. (Who are his tax cuts really aimed at, after all.) The federal deficit will grow. More conservative judges will be appointed to the supreme court and make decisions that are one-sided and not right for this country.

I ask you, what were these voters thinking? Who are these people? If the middle of this nation really wants this cretin, I wish the Northeast and West Coast could just say, "Fine, you can have him.... you all be your own country.... we secede."

"It's just not that simple."

I was struck by a comment Kerry made last night during the debates: "Well, again, the president just said, categorically, my opponent is against this, my opponent is against that. You know, it's just not that simple." That comment, right there, marks a fundamental difference in the way these two candidates look at the world.

Bush does not seem capable of formulating truly complex thoughts. I will admit that he is very good at repeating what he considers truisms -- and each "truism" is spoken with such force and conviction that many mistake them for actual truth. But lets' face it, Bush is only capable of dogmatic assertions, not of nuanced thought about any of the complicated issues he faces as president. He cannot fathom (for example) that someone can see Saddam Hussein as a potential threat and yet think that there may have been many ways to deal with such a threat. He doesn't understand how anyone can feel conflicted about the grusome nature of partial-birth abortions and yet also see that there may be a time and a place for them. There are very few possibilities and no shades of gray in Bush's world view.

Kerry, on the other hand, has shown himself in these debates to be someone who can be thoughtful about the world around him. He does not think there's a simple solution to any problem. We can improve this country's economy without giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy. Health care costs are not just about an excessive number of lawsuits. We don't have to go it alone in our attempts to stabilize the situation in Iraq. Iraq is not the only threat to our nation's security -- not by a longshot! Kerry understands that these issues deserve a more thoughful approach.

I was heartened by the first Bush/Kerry debate. Brains actually won out over simple-mindedness!, I thought. Yes, it's true that "style" had a lot to do with it. Afterall, who wants a sulky looking child for a president! But Kerry truly won that debate because he actually talked about ideas and didn't simply repeat slogans. That's what I thought...

Now, after last night's debate, I'm not so sure. Bush did a much better job with his outward performance this time and the polls show that they "tied". So, maybe Americans don't want a president capable of complex thought. Maybe they prefer someone who is dogmatic.

Or maybe we're not sure... They did tie, right? So, maybe as a nation we are conflicted. We want the answers to be simple, but know deep down that they aren't. The only question is, will we admit to ourselves that we know that we can no longer take a simple approach to the war on terror, to the economy, to the rising cost of healthcare... and vote for Kerry? Or will we take the easy way out and re-elect Bush? I hope that we see the world for what it is -- mutlifacited, complicated, gray -- and not for what we want it to be -- simple, easy, black and white.

Hamsters For Kerry

Another site worth visiting. I think those furry little critters are on to something!

Hamsters For Kerry

Film Strip International

Ah... now this is nice. Just in time for the election season.

Enjoy!

Film Strip International

Will we gorge ourselves on sweets, or will we pick what's good for us?

Every morning as I ride into work, I hear the voices of the two candidates through the radio stumping for this or that. I also hear the polls gradually turning more in favor of Bush, and I am slowly coming to realize that we will probably end up with four more years of this guy. I wish I could say that I don't understand it... but I think I do.

It should be clear to people that Kerry is so much more intelligent than Bush on almost every issue. I mean, come on... Can't we all see that Bush has severely damaged our relationship with the international community? Isn't it obvious that he lied about the need to go to war in Iraq? Are we really blind to the fact that he favors big business's interests over everything else: small businesses, environmental issues, education reform, middle class tax payers, and the rights of low income workers? Do we not understand that (contrary to Cheney's assertion) we have never really been safe under Bush? (Under who's watch did the September 11 attacks happen? What has he really done since then to make the country safer? Do you feel safer? I don't.) Are we not aware of the health care crisis happening in this country? Do we not feel the pinch of this economy? (Look at the housing market! Look at the price of gas! How much are you being paid for your job in comparison to the cost of living?)

I think many Americans -- perhaps even the majority of Americans -- think that Bush has done a really poor job as president. And I am betting that if many people just looked at Kerry's ideas, they would see that he has some smart plans for cleaning up the mess that Bush has made of things.

But do people really look at the ideas? Can they?

For the most part, we can't get past how the two candidates present themselves. When I hear them stumping over the radio each morning, even I have to admit that Bush is a much more engaging speaker than Kerry. Bush may be steering the country in the wrong direction, but his Texas twang and short, simple sentences are like candy to the ears. (Bush: "We have led, many have joined, and America and the world are safer.")He does have charisma.

Kerry, on the other hand, may have the answers to our problems, but listening to them is like... um.... (Kerry: "Instead of listening to the uniformed military, his own State Department, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, and outside experts about how to win the peace in Iraq the President hitched his wagon to the ideologues who told him our troops would be welcomed as liberators.")... well, let's face it: it's the aural equivalent of eating a bowl of grapenuts.... without milk.

And that's really what voters are choosing between... not the ideas, not what's good for this country, not even what's good for them... they're voting for who can feed us the best sound bytes. And if we are given a choice between a chocolate bar -- full of luscious fat, caffeine, and sugar -- and a bowl of grape nuts -- full of vitamins and nutrients that taste like dirt -- what do you think the typical American will choose?

Unfortunately, many of us are gorging ourselves on Bush's cheese fry speeches and his chocolate bar good-old-boy attitude. And why not? It tastes better, right? Who cares that it's making us a bloated nation that other countries look at in disgust? Who cares that it is making our schools, economy, and environment sick? There may be nothing behind Bush's empty phrases and fake Texas twang. But hell, we'll enjoy it now and ignore the consequences... because that's the kind of nation we are. Right?

I dream sometimes that a health craze has swept through our nation... that we are all craving tofu and grape nuts. We might be bored by the tastelessness of it all, but we know deep down that it's good for us. Kerry has a chance in my dream, because taste doesn't matter. What matters is that we choose what's right for us so we can heal all of the harm that has been done to our country.

Will it come true? Will we truly do what's right for us? I guess we'll find out in November. I fear, though, that we are truly a junk food nation.