Link catchup: Politics and amusement

[skreidle]

Politics:

fuzzyamy: VA General Assembly passed Affirmation of Marriage Act, not yet governor-approved, stating that a same-sex partnership shall have no rights whatsoever, and out-of-state partnerships are void in VA. Gov. Warner recommends striking the preclusion amending to allow for domestic partnership benefits, which is a Good Thing. Contact your representatives to voice your opinion, hopefully in opposition to the bill and/or in support of Warner's revisions!


From prester_scott: "They Hate Us Because of Our Freedom." You think you're free?

Via deusinnomen: NYTimes: Hillary Clinton on health care, and it's an interesting read. I'll admit I didn't read it all the way through, but there's some content there I'm sure some of you will find interesting.

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Amusement/Niftiness:

An amusing rant by vinz_klortho on after-hours drop boxes: "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to transfer some package or message, the receiving party may not be present..."

Remember when kids clothespinned baseball cards into the spokes of their bikes to make it sound like a dirtbike? Introducing Turbospoke!

Conversatron and clever syllabic transpositions.

Nifty words from antikate:
Colposinquanonia - Estimating a woman's beauty based on her chest
Tarantism - An urge to overcome melancholy by dancing
Sphallolalia - Flirtatious talk that leads nowhere

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Both::

Get Your War On updated! "Yeah, I watched that shit. It was like rubbernecking a highway accident made entirely of words."

Comments

Re: A case for driver registration

[six2.livejournal.com]

Right, but the comparison that we are Nazi Germany because of driver registration was far fetched, and belittled the seriousness of WWII. No, we're not free to do as we please in many ways, but you've got to pick your battles.

He builds up to...So, let’s reiterate. You need government permission to make your home, travel, earn a living, defend yourself, obtain medical treatment, and educate your children. You will never get government approval for many of those things in many places. You will never get government permission to entertain your mind and body in unapproved ways. At certain times, you cannot criticize those who decide who and what gets approved. You must sell your property to the government if they want it, and you must kill and die for them if they tell you to. And you have no choice but to pay for it all anyway, whether you like it or not.

And still, we think we are free.

And that's a good point, but if we feel that that, challenging the authority of government as a whole, is the war we must win, we stand a much higher chance of losing and being ignored entirely vs. fighting a war against the Patriot Act, DMCA, intrusive multi-national companies, war in Iraq etc. and other such specific injustices.

Re: A case for driver registration

[weeping-angel.livejournal.com]

I don't disagree - but I wonder - is it better to fight the symptoms and hope for a cure, or to strike at the root of the problem?

It's a tricky question that I find myself on both sides of. Ah well, such is life.

Re: A case for driver registration

[six2.livejournal.com]

I'm a pragmatic person by nature. If the root of governmental problems is driver registration and zoning laws, then so be it, we should strike there. But I don't really have a problem with either.

I think that the patriot act, war, deficit, poor international relations, and several other recent problems can be traced back to an agenda of authoritarians (particularly Bush and his cabinet) in government. To strike at that root, I say, vote them out of office. Vote for candidates who value liberty and encourage others to do the same.