Voting Rights 4 | ***Dave Does the Blog

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 21-Sep-10 1731)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

“The Money’s Flowing,” But From Where? – But that’s not really money! That’s (corporate) FREE SPEECH! Right?
Voter Suppression Plan Uncovered in Wisconsin – “Trying to win an election by getting fewer people to vote is a desperate move, and far from the spirit of democracy.” Which is why the GOP and the Right keep doing it.
A Reasoned Debate on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: Miranda
In defense of extraneous amendments – The GOP hypocritically criticizing a procedural move they’ve used eleventy-dozen times themselves? Inconceivable!
Matt Kane: When American Exceptionalism Should Be Absolute: Matt Kane
Dr. Susan Corso: Millions Pouring Into Campaigns — Who Does This Benefit?: Dr. Susan Corso
Thundarr the Barbarian: 4-DVD Release of ‘The Complete Series’ Available Next Week…But Online Only – Ookla! Ariel! RIIIIIIDE!
A Challenge To Republicans: Here’s What Reducing The Deficit Through Large Spending Cuts Looks Like – Option 4 for the (GOP) win!
Being Gay in the Military is a “Private Hell” Under DADT – Sorry, folks – tales of personal sadness and love must always be trumped by the Ick Factor in some people’s minds.
With Just 40 Votes, Republicans Block Debate Over Defense Authorization Bill – So the GOP is willing to block the defense authorization bill in the Senate for the first time since 1952, all out of base’s fear of Teh Gayz and the “moderate”s’ outrage at procedure. Nice.
On the Other Hand: Sometimes (Parental) Silence is Golden – I heartily approve, especially if the cowbells are kept home, too.
Joe. My. God.: CALIFORNIA: Beer Sellers Oppose Marijuana Legalization Bill – “Unless the beer distributors in California have suddenly developed a philosophical opposition to the use of intoxicating substances, the motivation behind this contribution is clear.”
New Google transparency tool shows gov requests, blocked traffic – Well done, Google.
Twitter To Serve Targeted Promoted Tweets Based On Who You Follow – I’m willing to put up with some ads (servers don’t pay for themselves, after all) so long as (a) they are clearly ads, (b) their noise doesn’t obstruct the signal.

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 4-May-10 1400)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Maybe Aang Was the Second-to-Last Airbender – Holy … wow. I don’t know whether to be appalled, or ecstatic. A lot depends on who the underlying creative team is.
Rest in Peas: The Unrecognized Death of Speech Recognition: Miss Cellania
Conservatives Want To Deny U.S. Citizen Faisal Shahzad Miranda Rights, Ensuring He Won’t Be Convicted – Oh, Good Lord — I actually agree with something Glenn Beck had to say? Yeesh.
LU Cancels Classes for Lynchburg City Council Election – Have to wonder what the Right would say if it were, say, a union calling a work stoppage to bus everyone to the local polls.
Quote of the Day – I realize the “law & order” types have never been fond of the Miranda ruling (rubber hoses and the third degree, anyone?), but the current harping that nobody accused of terror — or at least nobody “foreign” (even if a US citizen) — should be Mirandized because it’s more important to just beat the truth out of ’em and then shove ’em before a firing squad, rather than shilly-shally about with “rights” and “trials” seems particularly despicable (and, may I say, anti-American).
DORK TOWER, Monday, May 3, 2010 – Oh, Lord — how this describes so many games I have been in. (It’s not necessarily a bad thing, unless you’re looking to actually get gaming done ….)
AFA’s Fischer: Any Muslim Unwilling to Renounce Islam Ought to be Denied Entry to the US – I think a look at crime statistics in the US, as well as a review of Western history, will indicate that Christians are guilty of most murders. I think we should force all Christians to renounce their religion or face deportation. (Just kidding, of course, but, yeesh.)
The United and Continental Airline Mashup – What I note most about the (ugly) logo change is that it finally drops any of the “United [States]” red-white-and-blue imagery. Which may well make sense from a global standpoint, but is still sort of sad. As well as (as noted) ugly.
Captcha Advertising – I’m appalled, but I have to applaud the guy who came up with the concept.
Cuccinelli ditches censored lapel pins, blames the media for making them a ‘distraction.’: Amanda Terkel
SBOE dare not say his name: “Obama” – Yeesh.
Right on cue, McCain starts complaining – So is McCain’s standard now that folks who are likely to face capital crimes should not be Mirandized until they’ve been compelled to state everything they know. Is he actually listening to his own words? Jeez — what lessons did he really learn from the North Vietnamese?
The GOP’s emergency-room argument lives – Money graf: “Sue Lowden’s campaign and its Republican brethren oppose health care reform, but they’ve endorsed the most inefficient system of socialized medicine ever devised.”
Report: FBI Opens Criminal Probe Of Massey Energy | TPMMuckraker – Good. Nice to see some investigation into (if not, yet, accountability for) this sort of tragedy.
Wash. Nuns Investigated By Vatican – Investigated for sexual abuse? Nah. Investigated for “feminism and activism.” Glad the Vatican has its priorities straight.
US citizen from Pakistan nabbed on Dubai-bound plane in Times Square case, to appear in court – chicagotribune.com – Okay, now we’re in a relatively informed place to start talking about this case (on the presumption that the Feds have the right guy).
The American Family’s Financial Turmoil | – Scary Infographic. And, yes, I’m doing better than “average,” but it worries me a lot, as a society and an economy, that this is what the “average” is.
Is Walt Disney World feeling nervous about the arrival of Harry Potter? – I agree. While it may impact some folks going exclusively to WDW, if it draws additional visitors to Orlando it’s likely to add some attendees to WDW, too.
AT&T asks government to create national censorwall and system for disconnecting accused infringers – Oh, that pesky “civil trial” stuff — I mean, if we can bypass it for terrorists, why not bypass it for important stuff, like people who download a song they don’t actually own?

Unblogged Bits for Tuesday, 07 April 2009

Links that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries …

Whelan Watch: publius
Republicans Against Obstructing Nominees Before They Were For It: Brian Beutler
Message to Conservatives: Troops Like Obama Just Fine: Brian Beutler
Taylor Marsh: Karzai Rape Law on ‘Hold’: Taylor Marsh
Fundies gone wild: reaction to Vermont, Iowa, DC: Pam Spaulding
What a Killer Was Watching – As Doyce notes, the right wing punditry would be the first to be waving torches and pitchforks if this guy played video games, or worked for ACORN, or read comic books, or liked D&D, or was an atheist, or …
Bill Gates Facebook Page – Heh heh heh.
Sore Losers – Have a vigorous campaign. Engage in a contest of wills, charisma, command of facts. Even pander to your electorate. Whatever. Leave it in their hands. Start messing with the electoral system itself to your own slimy ends, and, GOP or Democrat, I’m ready to start locking folks up.
Ooo, Secret Mooslim Codes – Gosh, I remember the good old days when heads of state all bowed to each other and talked about respect. Then someone along the way decided that seemed weak and inappropriate for All-American Presidents. Now it’s further morphed into being cryto-treasonous. Remarkable.
Get yer Freeper Vermont reaction here… – “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,” right? Not so that you could tell by these yokels.
Segway and GM’s “car” – It looks like what I’d expect to see packing the streets of Mumbai in 2081. Very cool. And, yes, I want one.
“Camping Out 2” – Tue, 07 Apr 2009 – Ha! Yeah, that looks familiar.
What is the Fiscal Impact of Married Heterosexuals on the State Budget? – Nicely turned around.
-LIVE VIDEO in- VERMONT OVERRULES DOUGLAS VETO!!! – Excellent!
Obama administration invokes ‘state secrets’ claim to defend Bush’s wiretapping program. – Yes, deeply disappointing. I’d like to actually hear him talk about this some time.
Apparently you have Rick Warren scared. He’s lying again. – Wow. People really don’t realize how easily this stuff is fact-checked — or they figure the folks watching Larry King don’t have access to the Internet.
Early Buzz: The First Reviews of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek – Very, very promising.
What you should be afraid of instead of terrorists – Nice. “Live out whatever time we have with courage, compassion, service and joy.”
Russel T. Davies and David Tennant on leaving “Doctor Who.” – “Cool to be a fan again.” Yup.
Still bothered by the changes that were recently made to “it’s a small world” ? “Get a key and open your minds” – This is actually the most positive thing I’ve read on this change — and the pictures are rather encouraging.

Electoral college watch

A week later (and a week before The Big Day), here we are. (+ means an increase, * means unchanged, – means a decrease) Site Obama McCain Toss-Up ElectionProjection.com 375 + 163 -…

A week later (and a week before The Big Day), here we are. (+ means an increase, * means unchanged, – means a decrease)

Site	Obama	McCain	Toss-Up
ElectionProjection.com	375 +	163 –
Electoral-vote.com	364 *	157 –	17 +
FiveThirtyEight.com	351 +	187 –
Pollster.com	306 +	142 –	90 –
270ToWin.com	277 *	163 *	98 *
Hedgehog Report	364 +	174 –
FederalReview.com	338 *	166 *	34 *
3 Blue Dudes	306 –	157 –	75 +
Electoral Scoreboard	367 *	171 *

Obama maintains his significant (if electoral-magnified) lead and lock in all the polls and results. Some sites haven’t shifted much in the last week; most of the others have increased Obama’s lead, but nobody has shown McCain gaining any ground, save in increasing some undecided tallies.

The question, of course, is how accurate this is. I think there is nearly zero chance that McCain could actually win, but the above numbers could be volatile for any number of reasons — the oft-touted Bradley effect, dirty tricks and voter suppression, and lazy Democratic voter turn-out in the face of a “landslide” could all drop the Obama numbers from a few key states flipping back. On the other hand, depressed GOP turn-out and the momentum of “winning” could push Obama up higher, though not, I suspect, over 400 as some have suggested.

Over in the other races, here’s how things are looking (the top number is the current split; the +/*/- refers to the Democrat numbers):

Site	Senate (49-49)	House (233-199)	Govs (28-22)
ElectionProjection.com	57-41 *	258-177 +	28-22 –
Electoral-vote.com	59-41 +	252-182 –
FiveThirtyEight.com	57-41 *
Pollster.com	55-38 *	246-166 *	27-21 *
3 Blue Dudes	53-38
Electoral Scoreboard	53-39 *

It doesn’t seem likely that the Dems will get their filibuster-proof Senate. That may be a good thing, for folks who like a bit of friction in their government. If the GOP uses that slender hold to restrain the wildest of the Democratic majority’s wish lists, that’s all fine and good. If they use it to try and block anything significant, there may be trouble. (I wonder how the whole “going nuclear” thing will play this coming Congress — I lot different, I suspect, from when the GOP were in near-domination.)

We’ll see in a week.