Friday, November 12, 2004
On The Road
Greetings from a Kinko's in Seattle, Washington.
I Heart Seattle.
There is an energy and excitement here that I cannot adequately describe.
I'm bringing some ideas back.
More possibly tomorrow or Sunday, but don't bet on it. :)
WF
// posted by Wes @ 7:45 PM |||Comment (1) | Trackback (0)
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Leavin' on a jet plane...
I'm going to the annual conference* of the Society for Music Theory in Seattle today. I'll be back sometime Monday.
If I can get to a cyber café or something, I'll post. Otherwise, see you when I get back.
WF
*"conference," of course, comes from the Latin word "conferentia," meaning "drinking in a different state."
// posted by Wes @ 4:51 PM |||Comments (2) | Trackback (0)
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Dear God...
...please oh please oh please oh please do NOT let Barb Trauth get appointed to City Council.
When I heard her speak on urban issues, including rebuilding the center city, all she seemed to say was "We gotta fight crime!" Yes, we need to fight crime, but there's so much more involved here. Getting people to live/work/play downtown and in OTR will do more to fight crime than Trauth's police-state proposals.
Plus, I just don't think she has a lot of intellectual heft. I think she's also being floated by the far-right social conservatives (watch them carefully - they'll try to put Article XII back on the ballot, and soon).
UPDATE: Commenter FunnelCake tells me that Barb Trauth's husband, Joseph Trauth, is on the board of directors for Citizens for Community Values. If nothing else, that's enough reason to make sure she never gets anywhere NEAR the levers of power. It's bad enough that Sam Malone has to carry water for these moral fascists - let's not add another fundamentalist whack-job to Council.
WF
// posted by Wes @ 9:55 AM |||Comments (9) | Trackback (0)
Someone Else Gets It
Ms. Natalie Wolf of Amberley Village, to be exact (fourth letter):
I disagree with the writers of the letters "Conservatives are preserving the nation" and "'Silent majority' voices being heard" (Nov. 8). Is the America these gentlemen refer to so fondly the America where black people were enslaved? Where women could not vote? Or where sweatshops and child labor were a practical means of cheap labor?
I believe the founders envisioned a progressive and changing America where people would be free to practice any religion or no religion. I will proudly wear the label "liberal" if it means that I care for my neighbors' welfare no less than my portfolio, and that the government should be saving money instead of giving it away as tax breaks.
One of the things we seem to have lost in the rightward shift is the sense of community. Right now, it seems like the only communities the right wing cares about are churches and stock exchanges.
WF
// posted by Wes @ 9:51 AM |||Comment (1) | Trackback (0)
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Sorry Everybody
Elizabeth sends me the following:
Sorry Everybody
ONE HUNDRED FORTY-THREE PAGES of people apologizing to the world for the [CENSORED] in-[CENSORED]-credible [CENSORED] of over 59,000,000 of our friends and neighbors.
It's good for a laugh.
WF
// posted by Wes @ 10:10 PM |||Comments (2) | Trackback (0)
More stuff
I've added a feed to this little popsicle stand.
Also, note well the changes to the sidebar.
WF
// posted by Wes @ 1:13 PM |||Comment (1) | Trackback (0)
Monday, November 08, 2004
Ch-ch-changes
I've added the Cincinnati Rambler, Nick Spencer, and Axinar's Universe to the local blogroll. Even when I don't agree with them, they're good reads.
I've also added Pandagon to the national blogs, even though Jesse is based in Columbus.
Happy reading!
WF
// posted by Wes @ 11:39 AM |||Comments (3) | Trackback (0)
Cleti On Parade In Perpetuity
In today's letters, we have Gerry Albers of Amberley Village (second letter) who says "If anyone wants to experience total, liberal freedom, visit the back streets of a Third World country where anything can be bought, sold, or done. Or, more practically, read up on why the Roman Empire fell - it decayed from within."
Hmm...the first example is actually a depiction of what hardcore Capitalism Über Alles conservatism would look like, so that's strike one. The second example...well, let's just say that the acceleration of the fall of Rome happened AFTER the conversion of Constantine, so do the math. Where do these people come from, and why hasn't George W. Bush bombed IT into glass? Sounds to me like this mindset is a greater threat to OUR freedom than Saddam Hussein.
Then we have Glenn McAndrews of Lebanon (fifth letter), who apparently doesn't believe that the coasts are as American as the "Heartland." This is a common mindset among the Cleti (whose numbers now apparently include my own mother, as she refused to state that Massachusetts was a member of the United States on equal footing with Indiana or Texas - there are very few things in this world as sad as one's mother becoming solidified on something so unbelievably wrong, especially when she taught you your first civics lessons in the first place. The passage of time, I guess).
Well, Mr. McAndrews, you Cleti had your chance to form your own nation. You based it on enslavement and making money above all else. And we roundly and soundly showed you the error of your ways. So might I suggest that you abandon this Neo-Confederate mindset?
Neo-Confederate. I like that. Once again, we're beholden to the South. Maybe we shoulda let 'em go when we had the chance, then offered safe passage to any and all slaves. Better yet, fight the Civil War, free the slaves, and THEN cut them off.
WF
// posted by Wes @ 11:18 AM |||Comments (4) | Trackback (0)
Green Acres
In today's Enquirer, Ms. Peg Conway of Amberley Village opines about the dangers of losing farmland.
As both my loyal readers know, I grew up on a farm, and while I have some serious differences of opinion with my family on everything, I too am concerned with the loss of good, workable farmland. Not only does the concentration of farming into the hands of a few large corporations (ADM, I'm looking in your direction) spell trouble for our food supply (since he who controls the food controls the populace), the lost of the small farmer is a tragedy for our Republic. Jefferson envisioned a nation of yeoman farmers - he did not envision a nation of sprawlburbs and multinational corporations. Every time a solid plot of land is turned into another cookie-cutter cul-de-sac'ed subdivision or office park, I weep a little.
I believe in using tax credits and fiscal policy to encourage people to buy and restore older homes in the cities and first-ring suburbs. I believe in encouraging and allowing farmers to grow a wider range of crops (and yes, that includes hemp, even though I do not and will not smoke marijuana). I believe in covenants and zoning that prevent predatory developers from riding roughshod over our finest natural resource.
WF
// posted by Wes @ 11:10 AM |||Comments (5) | Trackback (0)
Sunday, November 07, 2004
For the last time...
FIFTY-ONE PERCENT is NOT a "mandate." 51% is a "Thank you, Lord, we barely scraped by!" 51% is a comet passing within 150,000 miles of Earth. 51% is a "Ok, we have just over half the country. We've got some healing to do."
Criminy, will the Cleti never learn? I can't be too surprised - he didn't even WIN last time and he governed as if he had a mandate.
And leave it to the Status-Quo Defender - this opposing op-ed was labeled as being from a "labor-left Washington think tank," while the one linked to above was merely a "Capitol Hill think tank" - no mention of its rightward tilt.
Gonna be a long four years, folks. We have an uphill battle to put the idiots down. I think we can do it - heck, I KNOW we can do it - but it's gonna be rough. Don't give up.
WF
// posted by Wes @ 10:40 AM |||Comments (3) | Trackback (0)
Amen and amen
Mr. Greg Hladky of Westwood gets it (last letter):
People can shoot themselves in the foot only so many times before they're left without a foot to stand on. My hope is that after another four years of President Bush, Republicans will finally accept responsibility for the consequences of their own policies and stop blaming former Presidents Clinton and Carter. Perhaps then the pendulum will swing back to the center, if not to the left. It's easier to dance when you have two feet.
I love that last line.
WF
// posted by Wes @ 10:38 AM |||Comment (1) | Trackback (0)
An ACTUAL member of the Cleti
Mr. Cletus J. Holtgrefe of Mason proposes an interesting voting idea.
I'm still not 100% convinced, though - there are simply too many security issues with Internet voting. I do like being able to vote in any polling place, though.
