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Don't Forget to VOTE!
Nov. 7th, 2005 07:42 pmI'm voting NO across the board. But whichever way you prefer voting, please do vote. (Ewwwxcept if you want to vote for Prop 73, in that case stay the heck home!)
Judge Alito
Oct. 31st, 2005 06:22 pmSamuel Alito is by all accounts a nice man. But he is firmly opposed to abortion rights for women, and does appear to believe that the man is the head of the household. He was the only one in Planned Parenthood v. Casey who wanted to uphold the husband-notification portion of that law.
I'm pretty clear my Senators will be opposing this nomination. I've also signed the emergency petition to stop Alito. I suggest you do the same, especially if you live outside California & believe in choice.
I'm pretty clear my Senators will be opposing this nomination. I've also signed the emergency petition to stop Alito. I suggest you do the same, especially if you live outside California & believe in choice.
Chief Justice Scalia?
Sep. 4th, 2005 01:58 pmRehnquist is dead. I won't miss him particularly, but I'm very frightened that his replacement may be worse. Chief Justice Scalia is almost a certainty. Thomas is too junior. Kennedy is too moderate, and of course the others are much too liberal. Unfortunately, the Chief Justice has a lot of power. He assigns the writing of the majority opinion. Scalia, while he is one of the most brilliant justices ever, has absolutely no concept of diplomacy or reasonableness. I expect a Supreme Court even more severely splintered in the future.
I worry for my country.
I worry for my country.
Which way is worse
Aug. 19th, 2005 04:50 pmThis morning at 9:15 there was an explosion in San Francisco. The explosion buckled the sidewalk, and apparently shot a gout of flame into the street.
At first I was relieved to hear that the cause was actually an explosion in an underground PG&E vault housing transformers. But then I realized that my odds of being hurt by a badly maintained transformer are significantly higher than my odds of being hurt in a terrorist attack. While I'm still glad it wasn't terrorists, I'm rather worried by the idea that, as PG&E spokescritters said "there have been vault explosions in the past." That's reassuring, I'm sure. Shouldn't they be scrambling to explain how their transformers could explode and buckle the sidewalk, shooting manhole covers through the streets?
At first I was relieved to hear that the cause was actually an explosion in an underground PG&E vault housing transformers. But then I realized that my odds of being hurt by a badly maintained transformer are significantly higher than my odds of being hurt in a terrorist attack. While I'm still glad it wasn't terrorists, I'm rather worried by the idea that, as PG&E spokescritters said "there have been vault explosions in the past." That's reassuring, I'm sure. Shouldn't they be scrambling to explain how their transformers could explode and buckle the sidewalk, shooting manhole covers through the streets?
Random stuff
Jul. 25th, 2005 02:12 amA fascinating article in the NYTimes about an Orthodox Rabbi who gets money from the evangelicals to support Jewish causes. Some choice quotes:
Discussing the WHY of supporting Israel:
"What about the Armageddon scenario?" As Bauer knows, a great many
Jews believe that evangelicals want to gather Jews in Israel to bring
on the "End of Days," a Book of Revelation big bang that includes
the return of Jesus and a Jewish mass conversion.
Bauer dismissed this as the "odd belief" of an insignificant
minority. "Most evangelicals support Israel for national-security
reasons," he said. "After 9/11 there is a strong interest in foreign
affairs, and we have a tendency to identify Israel as good guys."
Eckstein nodded. He says he is certain that evangelical Christians
want nothing more than to bless Israel."
I'm sorry, but this is the biggest load of BS in the world. I don't know why evangelicals support Israel, but stating that it's "after 9/11" and "national-security" is obviously bogus.
Towards the end, at a group meeting at the organization Eckstein runs:
Throughout this conversation, Rios [a new employee] was clearly eager to join in. And
as soon as there was a pause in the discussion, she did. "You know,"
she said, "the truth is, Christians do want to convert Jews."
Eckstein and Mamo exchanged glances. "Not by some bait-and-switch
trick," she said. "But we believe it's part of God's plan."
Eckstein winced the way he had when Pastor Munsey called him a
born-again Christian.
"Anyway," Rios said, "we love Jews, notwithstanding their rudeness
and hatred for us."
Three days later, Eckstein called me in New York. Rios had been fired,
but her gaffe, and the impression it made, was still on his mind.
"It's really my fault," he said. "Hiring staff is a problem.
Truthfully, it's extremely hard to find people who understand exactly
what we're doing here."
Gosh yes. Sometimes his staff doesn't know how to echo his statements properly, and maybe has opinions of their own that undermine Eckstein's basic premise. We can't have that, now can we.
Somehow I have a hard time having any respect for this man, despite the fact that he has literally raised millions and millions of dollars for worthy causes. Apparently, this is a fairly usual problem for him in Jewish circles.
Discussing the WHY of supporting Israel:
"What about the Armageddon scenario?" As Bauer knows, a great many
Jews believe that evangelicals want to gather Jews in Israel to bring
on the "End of Days," a Book of Revelation big bang that includes
the return of Jesus and a Jewish mass conversion.
Bauer dismissed this as the "odd belief" of an insignificant
minority. "Most evangelicals support Israel for national-security
reasons," he said. "After 9/11 there is a strong interest in foreign
affairs, and we have a tendency to identify Israel as good guys."
Eckstein nodded. He says he is certain that evangelical Christians
want nothing more than to bless Israel."
I'm sorry, but this is the biggest load of BS in the world. I don't know why evangelicals support Israel, but stating that it's "after 9/11" and "national-security" is obviously bogus.
Towards the end, at a group meeting at the organization Eckstein runs:
Throughout this conversation, Rios [a new employee] was clearly eager to join in. And
as soon as there was a pause in the discussion, she did. "You know,"
she said, "the truth is, Christians do want to convert Jews."
Eckstein and Mamo exchanged glances. "Not by some bait-and-switch
trick," she said. "But we believe it's part of God's plan."
Eckstein winced the way he had when Pastor Munsey called him a
born-again Christian.
"Anyway," Rios said, "we love Jews, notwithstanding their rudeness
and hatred for us."
Three days later, Eckstein called me in New York. Rios had been fired,
but her gaffe, and the impression it made, was still on his mind.
"It's really my fault," he said. "Hiring staff is a problem.
Truthfully, it's extremely hard to find people who understand exactly
what we're doing here."
Gosh yes. Sometimes his staff doesn't know how to echo his statements properly, and maybe has opinions of their own that undermine Eckstein's basic premise. We can't have that, now can we.
Somehow I have a hard time having any respect for this man, despite the fact that he has literally raised millions and millions of dollars for worthy causes. Apparently, this is a fairly usual problem for him in Jewish circles.
