Google News used to be a great source of news. It returned sources and stories from all over the world, encompassing a wide variety of points of view. I liked getting different angles to the story, even if I didn't agree with all the angles I was getting. But ever since they changed their aggregation algorithms, little other than the standard mainstream sources and their derivatives show up. There doesn't seem much a point to using it as my primary news page anymore. Does anyone have another news aggregation service that would be more in line with the old Google News?

Today is the last day of Bush's presidency. Tomorrow, Barack Obama takes the oath and becomes the 44^th President of the United States. There is a palpable excitement in the country surrounding Obama. There are of course many reasons for this, but I believe there is one that dominates the others. Americans have thirsted for an inspiring leader. The last couple decades have brought many leaders, some better than others, but none in the league of Kennedy or Roosevelt or Lincoln. No larger-than-life leaders that almost seem ascended from us mere mortals. Such inspired reverence is dangerous in that it can move the masses and sweep society in dark and dangerous directions, but it can also move the masses away from apathy and towards a brighter and better future.

The new law, in effect since Friday, replaces criminal penalties with a $100 fine for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. The text of the law also forbids any repercussions whatsoever, from denial of student loans to inclusion in a criminal record to consideration during applications for status as an adoptive parent.

But in what is likely a clever sleight of hand by legalization advocates, the law, by pulling arrest off the table as an option, deprives police officers of any means to compel people caught with marijuana to show identification. Anybody willing to say "Donald Duck" to a cop who nabs him with a joint and asks for a name can escape even the $100 fine.

full story

I wish I actually had some pot. I don't smoke much nowadays, but now that marijuana is not just decriminalized but as legal as you can get without actually being legal... well I may just want a toke to celebrate! Go Massachusetts!!

Obama's victory is historic, it is huge, and it is joyful. However, something else happened yesterday that brings me a bit down to earth: proposition 8 passed in california. The passing of proposition 8 demonstrates that homophobia still holds sway with the majority of people in the United States. It shows that the majority view queer people and our relationships as less than straight people and their relationships. It shows that the majority of people in California are still hateful enough to throw thousands of marriages into a legal limbo without a care what that will do to those families. Yesterdays elections may have renewed my hope for the future, but the present still needs a lot of work.

Poll #1291887
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 84

Did you vote for Barack Obama?

Did Barack Obama's victory speech move you to the point of tears.

I walked up to Chestnut Manor and tried to vote. I had thought that when I changed the address on my driver's licence that my address on the voter rolls was changed as well. I found out that that was not the case. The staff said that I needed to vote at my old address and that this year precinct 6 was voting at the Thompson School. I walked to the Thompson School and found out that was not where precinct 6 was voting. I needed to walk to the Hardy School. Finally at the Hardy School, i voted. At least I got my exercise in for the day. An hour of walking isn't bad.

I was considering voting third party. However, I decided to vote for Obama. I did this because Obama is a rare major party candidate that I don't consider the lesser of two evils. I would only be voting third party to assist with the ballet access issues third parties face. However, I feel it more important that Obama win the popular vote by a large margin. If he wins the election, a wide margin will give him a more powerful mandate for change. If McCain steals the election, Obama winning the popular vote will make it harder for McCain to claim a mandate.

Sheriff Tom Dart is a hero. The banks haven't been performing their due diligence, therefore they have not been following the laws in obtaining the eviction orders. They have been hoodwinking the judges while denying the renters affected by the orders the chance to defend themselves in court. The bankers are the ones that need to be held accountable.

What's the reaction of the bankers? The same thing they've done every step of the way in this crisis: extortion. Give up $700,000,000,000 with no oversight or the capital markets will freeze and they'll be another great depression. Don't put a cap on executive salaries or we won't accept the bailout. Don't regulate us or we'll just shut down.

Now the banks threaten they won't give loans in Chicago. And that changes things how exactly? Last I heard, they weren't giving any loans anyway.

The oversight board is a joke. From the text of the bailout bill passed by the senate:

(b) Membership- The Financial Stability Oversight Board shall be comprised of--

(1) the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;

(2) the Secretary;

(3) the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency;

(4) the Chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission; and

(5) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

That is essentially a list of the Bush appointees that got us into this mess: Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson (apparently going to help oversee himself), James Lockhart, Christopher Cox, and Steve Preston. Does this sound like a group you can put your faith in overseeing the handout of $700,000,000,000?

The corruption charges against Ted Stevens are likely to be dismissed later this afternoon because of an "oops" by the federal prosecutor. With all the corruption and political-based hirings and firings at the Department of Justice lately, it isn't much of a stretch to wonder if this wasn't a "gift" to a longtime loyal Bush ally. "Sorry, your honor, I 'accidentally' forgot to disclose the material to the defence. I guess you'll have to dismiss the charges now. Shucks." Does anyone actually trust the Department of Justice enough at this point to think that this isn't a real possibility? If this wasn't deliberate, what does that say about the quality of our federal prosecutors?

What will the $700,000,000,000 bailout to Wall Street accomplish? Not much. We'll have the same companies and the same people running them in the same ways. Perhaps this crisis will blow over, but the seeds will be sown for the next one. Another day of reckoning will come. Then what? Another $700,000,000,000 from the money fairy in the sky?

Let these corporations fail. Take that $700 billion and use it to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. With $700 billion we could afford to finally rebuild the lost housing in New Orleans, guarantee right of return to refugees (an obligation under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and construct an effective levee system. We could repair our bridges and roadways across the country and build the public transit system this country sorely needs. We could develop the alternative sources of energy that the world will need in the 21^st century and beyond.

The over 7 million new jobs that could be sustained with that money over 4 years would counteract the damage done to the economy by the failures on Wall Street and we'd actually have something tangible to show for it: a revitalized American ready to move forward.

What compels me to look at the MWMF boards? It must be some sort of masochistic tendency — and not the fun kind.

Reading that forum makes it crystal clear the bullshit about "intention" and "shared experience" is just that: bullshit. The anti-trans policy is about hatred of transsexuals. That is the sum total of it. The only thing I don't understand is why a transsexual want to be included in a gathering with such venomous hatred at its core. It is akin to complaining that the Westboro Baptist Church won't allow queerfolk to join.

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century."
    -George W. Bush on the Russia - Georgia conflict

Bullying and intimidation are only ways Bush has conducted foreign policy in the 21st century. I'm not saying what Putin is doing is right or justified, I'm just saying that Bush criticizing Russia over the Georgian conflict is farcical.

Many Americans are now buying greener cars, carpooling, and finding ways to save energy (and by doing so help the environment). There is renewed interest in expanding public transportation and utilizing gas free modes of transport such as walking or biking. Going green is no longer just for left wing crunchies. A quote generally attributed to Winston Churchill sums up the situation perfectly.

The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative.

The user-elected advisory board is a joke, but I'm glad it's a joke. I'm glad it will have no real decision-making ability. I might support direct voting on some key issues, but LiveJournal is not and should not be made into a republic. I wouldn't want any user-elected anyone having real power on LiveJournal for the simple reason that I don't believe any large scale election on LiveJournal would ever be anything more than a popularity contest. I have a permanent account and therefore have a continued interest in the future of LiveJournal. I do not believe that interest would be best served if LiveJournal's future course was set by winners of popularity contests.

Whenever there is a Republican sex scandal, every media mention of it will be sure to specify "Republican Senator Blah Blah". However, the majority of the coverage of the Spitzer scandal neglects to label him as a Democrat. It might be tempting to point to the hypocrisy bias of sex scandal impact, but with his pride in his prostitution prosecutions as Attorney General of New York, his hypocrisy level in this is as high as any Republican that has been involved in a sex scandal. Republicans have been implicated in more sex scandals lately, so one could hardly argue that Democrats were the default. So, why obscure his party membership?

By now, most have heard about the video of U.S. marine throwing puppy off a cliff in Iraq. This sort of behaviour isn't new to war. There was a Vietnam veteran in Cahill 3 with me. He told me a story that seems now eerily similar to this.

The guys in his unit called the orangutans "rock apes", because they would catch rocks you threw at them and then throw the rocks back. They had fun playing catch with the orangutans until one day one of the guys in the unit decided to pull a pin out of a grenade and throw it at an orangutan . Of course the orangutan caught the grenade and was blown to pieces. That ended the fun they had with the orangutans. The difference is that they didn't have camera phones then.

Should we be surprised by this sort of behaviour? These soldiers have been sent to kill people. Most humans view other animals as less than human. If they're killing people left and right, what's the odd puppy or orangutan ? Who is more evil then: the marine that killed the puppy or the politicians sent him over there to kill?

For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 adults in America is in jail or prison, according to a new report released Thursday. The report by the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project said 2,319,258 adults were held in American prisons or jails at the beginning of 2008, which is one out of every 99.1 adults. That's more than any other country in the world. ... One in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, according to recent U.S. Department of Justice data, which also shows that men are about 13 times more likely to be incarcerated than females. However, the data shows, the female population is expanding at a faster pace. ... The report said the United States leads the world in incarcerations, far ahead of more populous China with 1.5 million people behind bars. full story

That last part is the most telling. The United States has more people behind bars than China. Not just more people per capita, more people period. It's beyond shameful how many people in the "Land of the Free" aren't free.

via sheerchaos:



How times have changed. The Bush Administration has tainted this country's soul.