Oh yeah, and the March for Women’s Lives!
(Click here to sign up.)
So not only will there be one of the most historically massive political protests in world history on my 33rd birthday, April 25, 2004. There will also be a bunch of other fun pro-choice activities that weekend, and two great shows at the 9:30 Club to boot (Einst�rzende Neubauten on 4/23 and Tortoise on 4/24) !!!
Are we lucky or what? See you in DC! And probably not before then given my schedule. ;}
Two smart guys, Ethan Zuckerman and Britt Blaser, have come up with this interesting idea: openRepublic
Upgrade American governance by stimulating the creation and adoption of excellent campaign and governance software and Internet resources.
“You might as well lop off the top of the (Capitol) dome and replace it with a steeple and be done with it.”
—West Virginia State House Judiciary Chair Jon Amores (D) on that state’s House of Delegates passage of a bill that criminalizes acts of violence against a fetus at any stage of development, Associated Press, March 12, 2004
Ed Cone has posted some primal campaign literature from Jesse Helms’ first senate campaign in 1972. It says simply this:
How to Get to Heaven from North CarolinaTrust in the Lord Jesus Christ
With All Your HeartAnd If You Do You Will Vote
for Jesse Helms.
Bush’s response to yesterday’s global outcry against war:
“I’m all for united action, and so are our 34 coalition partners in Iraq right now,” he said. “Yet America must never outsource America’s national security decisions to the leaders of other countries.”
He added, “but I’m all for outsourcing America’s economic decisions… to Mr. Cheney’s friends.”
I am working on writing up something about the wonderful experience of demonstrating for peace in Fayetteville yesterday. But in the meantime, watch this video of Donald Rumsfeld trying to explain his lies on Meet the Press. I posted the transcript of this a few days ago.
Tomorrow there will be a global protest going on: “The World Still Says No To War.”
People will be marching across the globe, but North Carolinians have a
special opportunity to march in Fayetteville, the home of Fort Bragg and
Pope Air Force Base.
There is still room on the busses leaving from Internationalist Books on
Franklin Street at 9am. Call 942-1740 for more info on that. I have
collected information and links about the peace march on OrangePolitics.org.
It is one year since the official start of our war against the people of
Iraq. The media will be covering this all over the place. And we have a
opportunity to demonstrate our support for the troops where they live,
both literally and figuratively. There couldn’t be a better time or place
to act for peace. (Plus the weather’s going to be nice for a change, and
we’ll be back time to eat a leisurley dinner and go see the Torch Marauder
at Cat’s Cradle.)
There will be a counter-demonstration of course, but don’t let that scare
you. I have personally been contacted by a soldier who intends to march
for peace with us – and he can’t be the only one. Let’s show our support
for these brave people by putting our own bodies on line (a little) just
for one day.
If you come and you want to march with me, ride the Internationalist bus, look for my red beaded “be
peace” sign, or call my cell phone. See you in
Fayetteville!
Via Ethan via Atrios via CBS (pdf).
SCHIEFFER: Well, let me just ask you this. If they did not have these
weapons of mass destruction, though, granted all of that is true, why
then did they pose an immediate threat to us, to this country?Sec. RUMSFELD: Well, you’re the–you and a few other critics are the
only people I’ve heard use the phrase `immediate threat.’ I didn’t. The
president didn’t. And it’s become kind of folklore that that’s–that’s
what’s happened. The president went…SCHIEFFER: You’re saying that nobody in the administration said that.
Sec. RUMSFELD: I–I can’t speak for nobody–everybody in the
administration and say nobody said that.SCHIEFFER: Vice president didn’t say that? The…
Sec. RUMSFELD: Not–if–if you have any citations, I’d like to see ’em.
Mr. FRIEDMAN: We have one here. It says `some have argued that the
nu’–this is you speaking–`that the nuclear threat from Iraq is not
imminent, that Saddam is at least five to seven years away from having
nuclear weapons. I would not be so certain.’Sec. RUMSFELD: And–and…
Mr. FRIEDMAN: It was close to imminent.
Sec. RUMSFELD: Well, I’ve–I’ve tried to be precise, and I’ve tried to
be accurate. I’m s–suppose I’ve…Mr. FRIEDMAN: `No terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate
threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world and
the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.’Sec. RUMSFELD: Mm-hmm. It–my view of–of the situation was that
he–he had–we–we believe, the best intelligence that we had and other
countries had and that–that we believed and we still do not know–we
will know.
Halley’s Comment ponders the lack of men in high-end (read: expensive) dating services, and the general stereotype that men think that women who use personals are “dogs.” Ow.
I did the online personals thing for a year or two. I found it entertaining for the first few months, but not terribly productive. The best it yielded was a guy who I dated for 3 weeks until he decided not to waste any more time since I clearly was not The One for him. That was in 2002. Last year he married a friend of mine who he met through J-date.
Halley says:
…women are much more practical and men are much more romantic. Men really think they’ll run into some babe on the street corner who can’t live without them.
And I couldn’t agree more with that statement. Men seem to be very fatalistic about relationships. They decide quickly whether you are The One or not. Me, how can I tell until I get to know you very well? I just can’t be sure. I think I doubt my own feelings since they’ve betrayed me before.
In the past, men’s quick decisions have frustrated me a lot. I was never The One. (Except once or twice when he very definitely wasn’t.) But then last year I picked a wonderful guy. (Don’t ask me how I had the courage to ask a near-stranger out. It helped that I had seen his website.) And somehow I didn’t screw it up! And now… well I think we think we’re The Ones! (But it took me more convincing than it did him.) So chalk one up for my romantic guy who perpetually has faith in me and our relationship even when I don’t.
So Halley, I agree that men are romantic. I just wish more of them would realize it.
Who hasn’t given the finger to a Hummer? Now I know I’m not alone. (Strangely, the same way I felt when I discovered the this kindred grammarian spirit.)
The H2 is a gas guzzler. Because it has a gross vehicle weight rating over 8500 lbs, the US government does not require it to meet federal fuel efficiency regulations. Hummer isn’t even required to publish its fuel economy (owners indicate that they get around 10 mpg for normal use). So while our brothers and sisters are off in the Middle East risking their lives to secure America’s fossil fuel future, H2 drivers are pissing away our “spoils of victory” during each trip to the grocery store.