More on Massachusetts' weakened GOP

After noting the lack of a credible opponent to John Kerry we find a followup in today's Globe noting their across-the-board inability to field candidates:

The result: 2,500 delegates will gather at today's party convention in Lowell to endorse a ticket that, aside from Healey, is little-known and underfinanced.

The GOP has no candidate for secretary of state. The party is fielding two obscure political figures -- Lawrence Frisoli, a Cambridge lawyer and one-term city councilor, for attorney general, and business consultant Earle Stroll of Harvard for state auditor. Frisoli had $1,000 of his own money in his campaign bank account as of several weeks ago, campaign finance records show. Stroll reported having $200 in his account at the beginning of April.

The Globe article chalks it up to Kerry Healy, but I think it's impossible to underestimate the role played by our absentee governor, Mitt Romney.

As much as I dislike so much of what the GOP stands for, the lack of any back and forth in an election is bad for everyone. And with New England's history of cultivating some less-reactionary Republicans, it's unfortunate to think that a moderating influence on the party at a national level is being lost.

Don't run, John Kerry

Ellen Goodman in today's Globe:

This time he'd get it right? What the Democrats need this time out is not a messenger honed to squeak on the margin of undecideds, but a vision of what's gone wrong and how to right it. As Michael Tomasky writes in The American Prospect, they need a liberal message of the common good that trumps the conservative message -- a view that we are in this globalized, post-industrial, post-9/11 world together and must ''pull together, make some sacrifices, and, just sometimes, look beyond our own interests to solve our problems and create the future."

A heart-warming bit of local interest

To follow up on my Ben Franklin post from earlier this week, it turns out I'm not the only Bay Stater* who has been reading about Franklin lately:

Three hundred years after his birth in Boston, two classes of local third-graders are hoping to persuade Massachusetts state lawmakers to reclaim the legacy of one of the nation's founding fathers -- despite the fact Franklin fled Boston for Philadelphia at age 17.

"You might say he helped invent America," said John Dyer, a third-grader at the Winthrop Elementary School in Hamilton, testifying at a Statehouse hearing Thursday before the State Administration Committee.

Ahh, the wide-eyed youth of today, earnestly participating in government, oblivious to the evil machinations occurring behind the scenes.

I remember my own visit to the State House at that age, seeing the sacred cod hanging above the chambers of the legislature, and learning of its mystical power over our body politic. I also learned that students such as myself had actually introduced legislation to make the state something other be what it was.

If the students' bill is passed, as State Inventor, Franklin will join (among many other things) the State Muffin (corn), State Shell (neptune), State Cat (tabby), State Folk Dance (square dancing), State Game Bird (wild turkey), State Bean (navy), State Dessert (Boston cream pie, of course), State Polka Song ("Say Hello to Someone From Massachusetts"), State Donut (Boston cream, again), State Blues Artist (Taj Mahal), and, of course, the unforgettable State Mineral (Babingtonite).

So hooray for our new State-Inventor-to-be. I, for one, urge our Legislators to adopt the measure post-haste.

* official State Citizenry designation, adopted 1990

So many links, so little time

mydeathspace.com: profiles of dead myspace users. Probably one of the most morbid things I've seen in ages. They're all so young. On second thought, don't click it. (via digg and others)

Offensive jesus cartoons: "Oregon student newspaper entitled The Insurgent has printed 12 anti-Christian cartoons, apparently as a response to the Danish publication of 12 cartoons deemed offensive to Muslims earlier this year" (thanks, 5PO)

Cynical and depressing right-wing advice for Tony Snow: "By favoring the center-right media, the president will enhance their prestige while the anti-Bush establishment media play catch-up." (via Josh Marshall)

An unhealthy obsession with sex

I'm not sure why Lexington, of all the wealthy, progressive, suburban towns around Boston, has become such a flashpoint in the culture war over gay families.

In Newton, a few miles south of Lexington, an activist named Brian Camenker has been fighting a losing war against any mention of homosexuality or gay families in the school system since the early '90s. For Camenker, the battle has resulted in public humiliation and bankruptcy, and no progress for his cause in the ultra-progressive Newton schools. Other anti-gay groups have distanced themselves from Camenker's organization due to its "rude" and aggressive tactics, solidly placing him on the fringe of the movement.

But Camenker seems to have found an ally in Lexington's David Parker, who was arrested last year after refusing to leave a Lexington elementary school following a meeting with its principal. Parker wanted the school to guarantee not only that no teacher-led discussions about gay families occur, but that they would further have "an automatic opt out for our child when such discussions arise spontaneously to be enforced by those in authoritative control"

Parker's meeting, conveniently, was photographed: splashed across Camenker's site are pictures of Parker in handcuffs, Parker being led into the police station, Parker through the window of the principal's office.

Prior to the meeting which led to the arrest, Parker had addressed the Lexington school board, and tried to explain the deep root of his objection to Lexington's in-school discussions of same-sex families:

Let's not be naive about the implied human sexuality aspect of same-sex unions. Let's be honest with ourselves. When we accept same-sex union, we accept its implied. . .sexual intimacy. These concepts are indeed inextricably linked.

Today, the one year anniversary of Parker's arrest, he joins another set of parents in filing a lawsuit against Lexington schools. The suit alleges that discussions of gay families violate the Massachusetts law which allows parents to opt their children out of sex-ed class.

In my memory, life in elementary school didn't include much thought about sex. Maybe it's different for kids these days, but somehow, I have a hard time imagining a five year old figuring out the "implied... sexual intimacy" of a pair of gay moms unless an unhealthily obsessed parent explained it in detail.

To people like Camenker and Parker, I'd pose one question: does every mention of heterosexual families imply sexual intimacy as well?

What's really going on with Iran?

Fascinating piece on the spin gap with Iran:

Yesterday morning I was watching a streaming English-language news broadcast from Russia. [snip] The lead story was the press conference of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the main points hit by the Russia Today correspondent were Ahmadinejad's renouncing nuclear weapons as contrary to Islam and his reiteration of Iran's 30-year commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, though Iran reserved the right to revisit its commitment if adherence to the treaty imperiled its sovereignty.

It was an unexpectedly optimistic piece. Ahmadinejad was allowed to speak at length and appeared relaxed and informed while fielding questions. If the excerpts were representative and the translation accurate, he appeared to be credibly attempting to defuse the crisis.

Three links for your reading pleasure

Matt Groenig: "I would prefer to listen to a French classical composer like Olivier Messiaen than to the pop hits of the day."

We heard some Messiaen performed last week, and it was pretty atrocious.
(OnionAV via robotwisdom)

It's the 50th anniversary of the shipping container
(via boingboing)

BT launches 102 Octane fuel in the UK. Zoom!
(via digg)

The new home sales zombie

It sounds like prices are dropping overall, and people are trying to get in before interest rates rise. I probably would have bought something around here already if all the houses weren't so damn ugly. What I'd like to find out is what counts as a 'new home' -- my impression would be that there's relatively little new construction here in eastern Massachusetts compared to the rest of the US.

"New homes sales sprang back to life like a zombie in a cheap horror flick," Brusca said. "And like that zombie, housing really is dead. Don't let all that twitching fool you."

[...]

Meanwhile, average prices fell 7.1 percent from February to $279,100, after topping $300,000 for the first time in the February revised figures. The median price, which reflects the point at which half the homes sell for more and half sell for less, also fell 6.5 percent to $224,200.

And while month-to-month declines in home prices are not unusual, more significantly, prices also fell from a year earlier: a 2.2 percent decline in median prices and a 3.6 percent fall in average prices over that time.

Link

Franklin: our ingenious, sometimes-vegetarian, whore-lovin' forefather

Could America have dreamed up a better patron saint than Ben Franklin? A journalist, an inventor, a politician, a moralist, a diplomat. A dabbler in vegetarianism and atheism. A champion of ingenuity, industriousness, sobriety and the dispersion of knowledge.

And yet truly decent-seeming and modest. He valued niceness, good conversation, and a non-confrontational approach to all dealings in life.

How much of what we value as an American character comes straight from this man?

He quotes Pope in his autobiography, and tried to follow his advice throughout his life:

Men should be taught as if you taught them not
And things unknown proposed as things forgot

Writing about himself, he comes across as honest, admitting his vanity, his difficulty living up to his own (and oft-quoted) list of virtues, and his visits with whores in the days before his marriage.

"I was almost ready to give up the attempt," he says of trying to follow his own precept for order.

One idea in particular jumped out at me while reading Franklin: the idea that his virtues could form a kind of extra-religious common ground -- something that everyone could agree on. Now, as much as ever, I think we're in need of things to agree on, and Franklin offers a fascinating starting point.

Kentucky lawsuit over anti-gay college funding

Interesting update to a previous post about the University of the Cumberlands, a stop on the Soulforce Equality Ride. They receive state funding, in spite of their discriminatory policies. Sounds like the governor takes a pretty narrow view of their laws about discrimination:

Kentucky's constitution prohibits the state from using tax money in support of religious institutions or entities that discriminate against citizens, according to the suit. "We're asking that the governor uphold the constitution and not allow the funding of the University of the Cumberlands," Gilgor said in a telephone interview.

Fletcher declined to veto funding for the college because, he said, the money came from coal severance taxes paid by coal companies, not by individual taxpayers in the state. Jim Deckard, Fletcher's general counsel, said Monday evening he believes the constitution's prohibition on funding private schools is limited to elementary and high schools, not colleges and universities.

When I first read about the state funding for a Christian school, I thought, hey, if that's how you want to roll down in KY, that's your business. But it looks like there's a bit more nuance to the story.

See you in court!

In case you forget what we're dealing with

It would be great to see groups like the Article 8 Alliance and the Massachusetts Family Institute disavow any violence leading into the vote on the ballot initiative next month:

Law enforcement investigators are looking into a letter received by Minnesota state senator Satveer Chaudhary that criticized his vote against placing a same-sex marriage ban on the November ballot; the letter featured a picture of Chaudhary with a bullet hole drawn on it.

Link

How long until instant-on consoles come back?

Spouse: You know what I miss about Atari?

Me: What?

Spouse: Turning it on and just playing.

When we get back to zero-boot-time computers and game machines, things will really start feeling futuristic again. PS2 wasn't even close to loading GT3 in the duration of that conversation. Macs are improving, but still not great, and I don't even want to talk about the travesty of my employer-issued Dell Inspiron 1700's glacial wake-from-sleep times.

Instant-on, if we ever get back to it, will give me that Jetsons feeling I don't get enough of these days.

"Gasoline prices are like a hidden tax on the working people"

The title is a quote from our president, speaking today at a renewable energy conference.

Look, it's not a tax, and it's not hidden. People who buy their own gas see it every time they fill up. By that definition, everything would be a hidden tax. Bread, milk, beer, water.

When you do the math, some people are spending a whole lot of their money on gas, and you can bet they don't think it's "hidden":

It turns out that the average household uses about 1100 gallons of gasoline per year and has an average income of about $44,000. Take out 20% for taxes and that's a disposable income of $35,000.

So at two bucks a gallon that means the average household spends 6% of its disposable income on gasoline. At three bucks a gallon it's more like 10%. And that's only the average.

So it's great to see our president suddenly interested in keeping down gas prices, I just wonder if if he's seen this chart that ties his popularity rating to the price at the pump?

(chart link via robotwisdom)

Chavez's discount oil plan to expand

What I find interesting about Chavez is the role he plays on the foreign policy stage. The reactions he's able to provoke are endlessly entertaining -- he plays the neocons like a fiddle:

That program set off sharp criticism from some Republicans who said Delahunt was playing into the hands of Chavez and undermining US foreign policy by dealing with an anti-American populist with a questionable human rights record.

Yeah. We never deal with anti-Americans with questionable human rights records when it suits us.

''We want to get more [discounted Venezuelan oil], particularly when we're looking at $3 a gallon at the pump and $70 a barrel" for oil, Delahunt said. ''We want to extend the deal because we don't have confidence in the administration and the Republican Congress to deliver adequate dollars for the LIHEAP program." Congress has repeatedly failed to come through with the full amount of money it has promised for LIHEAP.

Let's face it: we should be embarrassed to have what Republicans would call a third-world dictator showing us up when it comes to caring for the needy.

The striking thing is how neocons let themselves get played in foreign policy situations like this. A smalltime figure sets up a little trap for them to walk into, and they walk right in. Isn't the answer to say "Well, if Mr. Chavez wants to short-change his own people by giving away all of his oil, that's quite unfortunate"?

The angry harrumphing and fist-shaking while little old ladies gladly take the free oil makes us look like fools.

Peggy Longueil of Brattleboro, Vt., said the discounted oil is critical to covering her household budget. ''It gives us a chance to not have to worry about whether we're going to pay for food or oil, or medicine or oil," said the 64-year-old, who was at a dinner Sunday night for the heating oil beneficiaries.

Criticizing Chavez for this or playing up the ridiculous uranium thing just legitimizes his attacks and fans the flames.

How does this square with Lawrence v. Texas?

A federal judge threw out a "don't ask, don't tell" case. I can see how the speech bit is weak, but any lawyers out there care to explain how the equal protection parts of SLDN's argument work?

In his ruling, O'Toole cited the authority given to Congress in establishing the country's military policies.

"Deference to Congressional judgment is of even greater importance in a case such as this one where the legislation challenged was enacted pursuant to Congress' authority over the national military forces," O'Toole wrote.

"In Congress, there were hearings by committees of both Houses at which the arguments for and against the policy were aired and debated. The resulting legislation was the end product of a focused process of debate and deliberation."

BlyssPluss has arrived: a viagra that works on women and goes up your nose

In Margaret Atwood's recent postapocalyptic novel Oryx and Crake, an evil genius engineers a destructive virus into a wildly popular new combination aphrodisiac-and-contraceptive called BlyssPluss.

In what sounds like another case of life imitating scifi, the aphrodisiac part of it seems to be in the works. Coverage in the Guardian is full of rich quotes like this one:

Every time the penis of a subject rat emerged, observers marked down the event in a notebook. The subjects, all 'naive' adults whose last contact with a female was on the day their mothers weaned them, seemed to have had, if anything, slightly less curiosity about their spontaneously generated erections than the researchers. The typical reaction: 'He notices it's there, and he grooms it to detumescence,' says Annette Shadiack, Palatin's executive director of pre-clinical development. 'And then it happens again.'

Grooming it to detumescence? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

The Guardian does a surprisingly good job of covering the science, as well as getting to heart of the matter: this new drug, called PT-141, doesn't just cause arousal, it makes you really, really horny as well. And everyone's going to love it.

Women, according to one set of results, feel 'genital warmth, tingling and throbbing', not to mention 'a strong desire to have sex'.

[...]

Fast-acting and long-lasting, packaged in an easily concealed, single-use nasal inhaler, unaffected by food or alcohol consumption, PT-141 seems bound to take its place alongside cocaine, poppers and alcohol in the pantheon of club drugs.

Exactly. If it's that good, everyone's going to want to try it. How long before some enterprising basement chemist is able to cook up a batch?

I say cut to the chase and just sell it OTC.

An impotent local GOP: no one to face Kennedy?

Does Mitt Romney's new healthcare plan cover Viagra? Because the state GOP can't seem to get it up enough to put someone on the ballot against Kennedy:

Kevin Scott, a former selectman from Wakefield, and Kenneth G. Chase of Belmont, the co-owner of the French and Spanish Saturday School Inc. (and a French-trained chef, according to his website), are vying for the chance to unseat US Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

Both men have spent months scrambling to get the 10,000 signatures they need, in addition to the support of 15 percent of convention delegates, to qualify for the ballot

That's a pretty sad state of affairs. A former town selectman and a part-time French teacher?

In 2000, the GOP fielded businessman Jack E. Robinson against Kennedy, who pulled in a respectable 13%, neck and neck with Libertarian Carla Howell.

In 1994, it was Romney himself. That's quite a downward spiral from '94 to now.

There's a big symbolic importance to running against Kennedy. On one hand, you've got to concentrate your resources on more meaningful races, but on the other, it's an opportunity to take pot shots at the national GOP's number one most wanted villain.

And frankly, even as progressive voter, I like to see even our most senior elected officials kept on their toes. This is no time to get lazy.

Is this a leading indicator of GOP prowess across the nation? Are they too weak? Is they field of candidates tapped-out? If they can't field a spirited contender here, what's going on everywhere else?

More support for gay rights from the business community

It's interesting to see support for gay rights coming from the business community, such as the testimony during last week's gay marriage hearing here in the bay state.

Similarly, an Adovcate article today covers an editorial in a Kentucky business journal which condemns Kentucky's recent shift to allow employers to fire people for being gay:

"Governor Fletcher may or may not be pandering to the most extreme social and religious conservatives among his voter-base. That's a political matter," Martin wrote. "Our concern is for the well being of our business community. And in any case, either way, this policy sends Kentucky stumbling backward, even as the nation and the world have moved on."

He added: "With the stroke of a pen, Governor Fletcher has undermined the efforts of our urban centers, which have local antidiscrimination statutes shielding gays and lesbians, to present themselves to prospective new businesses and residents as progressive and fair-minded."

I'm sure this editor isn't fully representative of Kentucky's business world, and I wouldn't count business as a devoted, core defender of gay rights. Still, I don't think we would have seen this kind of support twenty or thirty years ago, and it's an interesting shift.

Yes, but what about pot brownies?

You have to wonder if they're splitting hairs with the 'smoked' bit:

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that "no sound scientific studies" supported the medical use of marijuana, contradicting a 1999 review by a panel of highly regarded scientists.

[...]

Susan Bro, an agency spokeswoman, said that the statement resulted from a past combined review by federal drug enforcement, regulatory and research agencies that concluded that "smoked marijuana has no currently accepted or proven medical use in the United States and is not an approved medical treatment."

Certainly, smoking grass isn't the only way to consume it, and it seems like a substantial number of people using marijuana for medical puposes will eat it rather than smoking.

But that's just one too-narrow distinction they seem to be drawing: what's a 'sound scientific study' in their book, when the goverment blocks scientists from studying its effect?

The FDA statement said that state initiatives that legalize marijuana use "are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process."

But scientists studying marijuana said in interviews that the federal government has actively discouraged research into marijuana's benefits. Dr. Lyle Craker, a professor in the division of plant and soil sciences at the University of Massachusetts, said that he submitted an application in 2001 to the DEA to grow a small patch of marijuana to be used for research because the government-approved marijuana, grown in Mississippi, is of poor quality.

In 2004, the drug enforcement agency turned Craker down. He appealed and is awaiting a judge's ruling. "The reason there's no good evidence is that they don't want an honest trial," Craker said.

Voters approve decriminalization and medical use over and over, but they're trying to move a mountain. It's going take a long, long time, I think.

Links hither and yon

Giant tires in demand, supply low (nyt, login required)

A touching article about some lesbian moms and their Catholic school (nyt via aaron, login required)

747 wing provides 2500 sqft roof; that and other misc 747 parts cost $100k in multi-million dollar california home project. (bbc, via drudge)

10% of MMR vaccine recipients still succeptible to mumps, minor outbreak underway

Soulforce, the Equality Ride, and fundamentalist institutions

Reaction to my coverage of the Soulforce Equality Ride (here and here) I think largely misses the point.

The problem, in my mind, isn't whether these institutions have the right to their policies -- they do -- but whether they're somehow immune to people pointing out what a horrible idea they are.

We can all agree that private institutions in this country are just that -- private. They're free to make decisions about who is a trespasser and who isn't, who can belong and who cannot, what people can do there and what they can't. The ability to make those decisions is fundamental to the freedoms enumerated in the Constitution, for both individuals and groups. And even public educational institutions, which one can argue are held to a higher standard, are free to be selective about who can and cannot join.

But let's face it: policies which expel students for being gay are horribly cruel to people who don't realize or are unable to admit they're gay when admitted.

Here's BYU's policy quoted in a campus paper article:

Advocacy of a homosexual lifestyle (whether implied or explicit) or any behaviors that indicate homosexual conduct, including those not sexual in nature, are inappropriate and violate the Honor Code. Violations of the Honor Code may result in actions up to and including separation from the University

What's implied advocacy of a homosexual lifestyle? Or a behavior indicating homosexual conduct that's not sexual in nature?

Imagine a freshman coming to BYU, a woman who knows she's gay, but is unable to admit it to her family, and unable to articulate to them why BYU is a horrible place for her to go. When she arrives, she's faced with a campus where even open discussion -- implied advocacy -- of being gay could result in expulsion.

What should someone in this situation do? Talking to anyone about it could violate the Honor Code. Searching on the internet could violate the Honor Code. Where are you left? Alone, repressed, fearful. What happens if you're discovered, outed and expelled? Are you left ostracized from your friends and family, peniless on the streets of Provo?

It's worth pointing out the distinction between the policy and how it's carried out. I've never been to BYU, and don't know how it's enforced. Maybe it's never used. But the option exists, and that alone can create a climate of fear and distrust.

People who face dilemmas like this are real. The impact -- suicide, isolation, depression -- is real. Is this how we want people in America to be treated?

Places like Brigham Young University and University of the Cumberlands have choices. They have the option to enact compassionate policies which don't compromise their professed beliefs. They do not choose to do so, and deserve vigorous condemnation.

A real belief in freedom of speech involves supporting the rights of people and groups to take positions you disagree with. So I support BYU's right to its policies. But I also condemn the policy itself, and applaud Soulforce for bringing attention where there otherwise would be none.

McClellan resigns

He always seemed like a deer in the headlights. Maybe the next one will be more entertaining.

Update: NYT says "Also, Karl Rove will no longer direct policy development, an official said."

A link or two

I no longer need to worry about cosmic radiation completely ionizing the surface of the earth. Or at least not as much. (via robotwisdom)

Switzerland turns on the beefcake to attract German soccer widows.

The universe as a giant quantum computer (via digg)

The state taxman puts iTunes in the crosshairs by defining a music file as 'software'. (via aaron)

Springtime in the desert

We spent last week in Tucson, Arizona, hiking, taking part in the protests and generally enjoying being in the southwest.

Pictured is our haul from the fruitful and well-irrigated desert: local produce and meat from a farmer's market, with juicy lemons from our host's backyard. The rancher who sold us the meat was quite a character. We asked him what was freshest, and he felt around in his cooler then pulled out that lamb chop.

"People in Iowa think they feed the country," he told us. "All they put out is feed corn and some scrawny cattle that get fattened in feed lots. California is the real food producer."

We went on to discuss the merits of grass-fed over grain-fed meat -- he had some spiel about omega-this vs. omega-that, but all I can tell you is that was a damn tasty piece of lamb.

The desert around Tucson is full of fascinating stuff: parks, museums, saguaros, cholla, the soon-to-be-demolished biosphere 2, nuclear missile silos, a world-class go kart track, and airplane boneyards. Quite a haul for your average postmodern tourist.

Twenty minutes by car and a short hike out of town, you can be surrounded by desert or deep in a cayon: all teeming with life, and (in April, at least) in full bloom. We found hares, snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs, coyotes, and little gopher-like things -- a tremendous amount of life by any measure.

I'm constantly amazed by the variety of landscapes in this country, and having visited only 33 of the 50 states, I really look forward to experiencing the rest.

Links

Fascinating maps of religious adherents broken down by county and sect (via boingboing)

Myspace profile of student expelled from Christian University for being gay (via queerty)

Josh Marshall on journalists failing to make the republican/corruption connection

Paying my gay tax

I'm married here in Massachusetts, and last year after a little fight with my new mean-spirited benefits provider ADP TotalSource about documentation*, was able to enroll my spouse under my healthcare plan. This isn't really much of a change -- I enrolled him during in our living-in-sin days as a domestic partner.

Another thing which hasn't changed is that I owe federal taxes on the money my employer pays to insure my spouse. We're not talking about my healthcare contribution. My employer's part of the insurance bill for my spouse (but not the part for me) counts as additional taxible income for me.

I think that sucks, and people are constantly shocked to hear about it. Here's a reminder for any of my 3.75 regular readers who don't know this is the case. Of course, I can also take the opportunity to thank Bill Clinton for signing DOMA into law.

*in which I solidly kicked their ass

Boston in springtime

Near the marathon finish line this morning.

Ted Rall on Hugo Chavez

Damn those commies.

When the hated despots of nations like Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan loot their countries' treasuries, transfer their oil wealth to personal Swiss bank accounts and use the rest to finance (in the House of Saud's case) terrorist extremists, American politicians praise them as trusted friends and allies. But when a democratically elected populist president uses Venezuela's oil profits to lift poor people out of poverty, they accuse him of pandering.

more...

(via robotwisdom)

Republican America redux: no free expression for you

A group named Soulforce is sponsoring a bus tour of anti-gay colleges and universities. What they're revealing about places like BYU is pretty shocking:

Kulisch's unauthorized act of "public expression" was a violation of the university's conduct code, said university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins.

"We do not allow campus to be used as a public forum," Jenkins said.

Gay marriage ballot debate begins

The Massachusetts legislature began debate on a ballot initiative to reverse the SJC decision legalizing gay marriage. It's interesting to hear support from the business community:

'I believe that if the Legislature does not vote the amendment down, our state will be subjected to an ugly, protracted fight that will adversely affect the civic and business environment," Robert L. Beal, director of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, told the committee.

More on the immigration protest

Aaron's coverage at c75. We went together, but Aaron's the one with the DSLR.

Republican America: fear keeps you quiet

Christian college expels gay student, others afraid to discuss:

Johnson, a sophomore majoring in theater arts, was expelled from the university Thursday because he declared online that he is gay. In a statement released last week, the university's president, Jim Taylor said students are held to a "higher standard" and that "students know the rules before they come to this institution."

[...]

Renee Kuder, a University of the Cumberlands senior and a friend of Johnson, says many students worry they'll be punished if they discuss the case online or in the media. Some students declined to comment for this story, or did not return messages.

(via drudge)

Three convictions, no hint of White House involvement

The GOP is shocked, just shocked that Jim Tobin & co crossed the line with their 2002 phone jamming in New Hampshire. But in spite of his lawbreaking, they bankrolled his losing defense to the tune of a few mil.

Somehow prosecutors didn't think it was worth looking for any higher-up connections. Maybe we'l find out more with the civil case Democrats are pursuing:

The Justice Department has secured three convictions in the case but hasn't accused any White House or national Republican officials of wrongdoing, nor made any allegations suggesting party officials outside of New Hampshire were involved.

Democrats plan to ask a New Hampshire judge Tuesday to order GOP and White House officials to answer questions about the phone jamming in a civil lawsuit alleging voter fraud.

What shocks me is how brazen they can be in their rhetoric: disavowing all knowledge, yet supporting this guy right into the slammer. This is another in the long list of reasons that New Hampshire turned from red to blue in '04.

Tucson protest footage

Coverage below

Immigrants' rights protest report: live from Tucson AZ

Just returned from the immigrants' rights protest here in Tucson. Stay tuned for footage.

This movement is a force to be reckoned with: it delivered a crowd of 10,000 well-organized, upbeat, and disciplined marchers here, in a small city on a workday. Legislators should be paying careful attention.

We joined the protest at its origin in South Tucson, and marched north. The crowd was almost entirely Hispanic and represented a large cross-section of the community -- families, college students, professionals, older people.

People chanted "Si se puede" and "A people united will never be divided", while waving American flags and signs against HR 4437. Other signs read "Humane immigration reform", "Humanitarian aid is never a crime", "We are part of the solution" and "Liberty and justice for all". My favorite read "Where you came from?"

Police were out in force, and helicopters circled the crowd. We didn't see even the slightest hints of rowdiness, only a well-organized and media-savvy group. Most signs were in English, and large numbers of marchers wore white shirts, presenting a unified look.

My take: this makes the anti-war movement look like a joke. This movement occupies a moral high ground: they represent people trying to better thsemselves through hard work, and rhetorically evoke the American Dream.

Their opponents advocate the assasination of people attempting risky desert crossings, or paint immigrants as people who don't want to learn English. That's a tired old warhorse that's been dragged out for every immigrant group to come to these shores, and advocates of murder usually have trouble finding allies.

To someone from the East, this looks like it came out of nowhere. Right-wing politicians who thought they had the Hispanic vote in the bag probably feel the same way.

These people vote, and they're feeling the power.

[Update: some reports of police using pepper spray on protesters scuffling with counter-protesters at the far end of the march]

Linkorama: 'dis' edition

Dear Abby smackdown

Dissing the local 'classical' radio station

Telling off bush to his face

Realtime dublin rail map mashup. Not so much a dis, unless you count it as dissing Boston's ineptitude when it comes to managing it's public transit. Click on a train to follow it. And btw, doesn't that map make Dublin and Boston look alike? (via starts & stops)

Libby sings, implicates Bush

Huge.

"Defendant's participation in a critical conversation with Judith Miller on July 8... occurred only after the Vice President advised defendant that the President specifically had authorized defendant to disclose certain information in the NIE"

The smoking gun has it.

Winning the middle ground: abortion, gun control, gay marriage and the death penalty

The discussion surrounding Klam's anti-death penalty argument reminds me of an anecdote about the American Revolution. Leading up to the revolution, a history teacher explained once, opinion seemed split with about a third of the population pro-revolution, a third Tories, and an an uncommitted middle.

Revolutionaries won the rhetorical battle for that middle group, and went on to military victory. It was an earth-shattering step forward for freedom and rational thought -- a complete rejection of the European tradition of monarchies and religious domination of politics.

Ignoring accuracy for a moment, there's a grain of truth in that pre-Revolutionary opinion split. It applies to nearly every "wedge" issue in play now: a passionate, unswayable group of people on one side, a second group on the other, and a swayable middle.

The rough numbers are the same today as well: 1/4 to 1/3 of the population on one side, same on the other, the rest in the middle. Each side is battling for that middle, the folks who might change their minds.

That battle is complex and nuanced, sometimes unconscious, and the actual mechanics are probably beyond our understanding. But as Klam articulates so well, one critical weapon is presenting vivid arguments to the people in the middle, the ones who can be convinced.

During the revolution, pamphleteers and thinkers like Paine or Jefferson persuaded that middle ground. They were vivid, compelling, and still readable today. They used passion and reason together, playing to the heart and the mind.

Today, reactionaries have an edge in the war of vivid arguments, and progressives are just starting to build momentum. People "identify" as conservative more often in polls. But really, that just means half the middle ground leans in that direction.

As progressives, we need to speak to that middle. When we weigh the merits of one progressive argument against another (as thousands of blog comments do every day), we don't have to worry about persuading the committed right wing. We can only speak to people who are open to changing their minds.

That's all we need in order to win.

Positioning himself left of what, again?

So when Russ Feingold indicates support for gay marriage, he's "positioning himself to the left of possible 2008 rivals." When right-wingers say wacky shit, it doesn't seem like they're portrayed as positioning themselves to the right of anything.

(link via atrios)

Linkage

Things I come across while waiting for code to compile:

Apple releases bootcamp, a dual-boot loader for OS X. I smell a macbook in my future. (via /.)

When did Kerry grow a scrotum?

Bostonist on the Herald: 'In today's story, the ever-literary tabloid uses what Bostonist thinks is the coolest word ever: "man-burner."'

Jesus-based research vs the Objectivists

The Objectivists over at the Ayn Rand Institute got their panties all bunched up over the study which found that prayer doesn't help bypass patients:

Every minute these doctors spend conducting this sort of faith-based study is one minute less spent on reality-based research--research that actually has hope of leading to real medical cures.

(link)

While that's true, there's also a place in science for debunking this kind of hoo-ha, because a lot of people believe it. (ref: "But prayer saved me" letter in yesterday's Metro, Boston edition) And I'm really not sure I would want the followers of Ayn Rand to be making decisions about the directions of science. They seem a little mean-spirited at times.

Still, I hope they've got a few more letters left in them, because an FSU prof named Doron Nof is trying to explain how Jesus walked on ice, not water:

The New Testament story describes Jesus walking on water in the Sea of Galilee, but according to a study led by Florida State University Professor of Oceanography Doron Nof, it's more likely that he walked on an isolated patch of floating ice.

The study points to a rare combination of optimal water and atmospheric conditions for development of a unique, localized freezing phenomenon that Nof and his co-authors call "springs ice."

When you get down to this bit, it's actually kind of interesting:

Using paleoceanographic records of the Mediterranean Sea's surface temperatures along with analytical ice and statistical models, Nof and his colleagues focused on the dynamics of a small section of Lake Kinneret comprising about 10,000 square feet near the salty springs that empty into it. Their analysis supports the likelihood that a brief blast of frigid air descended over the lake and dropped to 25 F (-4 C) for at least two days, coinciding with the chill that had already settled in for a century or more and quite possibly encompassed the decades in which Jesus lived.

Ok, sure, interesting phenomenon. A big 'what-if', though. Sounds a bit like the movie The Day After Tomorrow.

We want scientests to have some latitude in what they study -- pursue things they're interested in, etc -- and you don't people like me or the Randies to dictate what should or shouldn't be studied. But I'm still pretty flabbergasted that among all the problems an oceanographer could be studying today, someone chose this.

Of course, we probably shouldn't be talking about science here.

links via boingboing

A craigslist for concerts...

Bostonians, my friend Chris has a cool tool for you: it's called tourfilter, and it's a website which keeps track of bands you like and emails you when they come to town.

http://tourfilter.com

It's non-commercial, ad-free, and easy to use. Enter some bands, see what's coming up. Add your email, and it'll let you know about new shows. That's it.

Eliminate the death penalty: it's a cop-out

Over at Klamtroob, Klam articulates an anti-death penalty argument I've been interested for a long time:

...people who endorse the death penalty, most of them, anyway, seem most drawn to its retributive power, i.e., vengeance. They want the gruesome child-murdering rapist to get killed. They want Biblical justice.

If vengeance is what you want, why would you think that a controlled, sterile lethal injection is going to satisfy that desire? Why would an all-too-brief electrocution scratch that itch?

[...]

Instead of punishing capital offenders, we coddle them by euthenizing them with near-painless, evanescent executions. We spare them their guilty consciences and torturous minds. We let them off the hook.

If we really wanted to punish Moussaoui, we'd force him to rot in maximum-security prison until he's a shriveled-up, disease-ridden, arthritis-wracked old man. No hero's death for him.

Google AdSense, AdWords and a brave new approach to marketing

Google's AdWords/AdSense program represents a great leap forward in ad delivery, but they're not the real pioneers, and they're not even in the best position to deliver targeted advertising to consumers.

This CS Monitor article profiles people in India and the Phillipenes making up to $1000/month with Google's AdSense on their blogs. That's a full-time programmer's salary for one guy in India, and allowed one article subject to return to school. It's a compelling and heart-warming story, and it underscores the billions of dollars Google is raking in with their ad program.

Google has a great product with AdWords/AdSense, and they're slightly ahead of the marketing industry as a whole. They're able to deliver ads people want to see on a much more consistent level than a broadcaster. Google also delivers analytics which give a detailed breakdown of how your ads are peforming individually, and against various keywords, as well as the ability to track ad clicks from the point at which the ad is selected to the point at which users complete a transaction.

It's a killer combination: I was recently emailing a friend about a problem I was having with JBoss, a finicky open source Java application server. When I read a reply to my email in GMail, an AdWords ad appeared to the right of the message telling me about a JBoss configuration tool which might help with my problem.

I haven't bought the product yet, but for that advertiser, it's a great success: for a few dollars they were able to get the ad in front of someone who was deeply interested in what they sell, to the exclusion of others. Try that on TV. Google has opened web advertising to small players -- someone with $50/month to spend or less, a non-existant budgets by industry standards.

An old marketing saw goes something like "I'm wasting half of my budget, but I don't know which half". When you can track an ad from click to checkout, it's a brave new world of advertising, and you can know exactly which half goes to waste. You can perform statistical analysis on ads, who the ads are shown to, when, and develop an excellent idea of how many dollars it costs to acquire a paying customer. In short, it's a scientific approach.

The marketing industry as a whole has been taking a radical turn towards the scientific in the past 10 years or so, and online advertising hasn't been the sole market-driver.

CapitolOne, the credit card issuer, is frequenly cited as one of the earliest and most successful adopters of this approach. They perform A/B tests on things as detailed as envelope color for mailed solicitations, and leverage artificial intelligence in their call centers to determine not only why you're calling, but what they want to do about it: if they suspect you're about to cancel your card, computers decide whether to route you to a customer retention specialist, or an automated cancellation routine.

The ability to test envelope colors makes Google look rinkydink. Google's targeting is largely limited to keywords now: their newly-released demographic targeting is limited to a small number of categories and deployed on low-traffic sites. But other companies are about to take this much further.

During my day job I work with a cellphone carrier who is applying the same approach to people who browse the web on mobile phones. Your cell carrier knows a lot more about you than Google: birthdate, ssn, credit rating, household income, number of kilobytes downloaded per month, among other things. When they combine the data you provide when buying a cellphone with commercially available profiles, what they know becomes creepy.

Carrier X is taking all this data, and combining it with your browsing and purchase history to figure out what ads to show you. They're sensitive to the 'creepiness factor', as they call it, but at the same time it's potentially even more effective than Google's demographic targeting due to the detail and richness of the data they're able to feed into the targeting system.

In any information processing system the quality of input data correlates directly to the quality of output: the success of ad targeting so far will effectively suck in more and more detailed data, simply because it works so well. Advertisers like it, and I as a consumer like seeing ads I'm interested in.

Will people freak out about how much is known about them? Once the ads start crossing a 'creepy' threshold, some people will for sure. For those people, there's a suite of privacy tools available, and hopefully marketed through a highly-targeted ad campaign.

(link via robotwisdom)

They promised us flying cars: Windows XP wireless adapter edition

I use three major computing platforms on daily basis: Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Fedoracore/Redhat Linux. While each sucks in its own special way, Microsoft consistently shocks me in its lack of features and usability. Take my wireless connection, for example. Please.

I move between multiple wireless access points with my XP laptop. At work, I have a DHCP-enabled network with non-DHCP-supplied DNS settings. At home, my wireless router has DHCP and supplies the DNS settings. You might think it would be easy and straightforward to configure the laptop to move between locations. But you'd be wrong.

Windows XP knows only one configuration per network adapter, plus an 'alternate' configuration. The alternate configuration, however, seems to offer a subset of the main configuration: you can have dhcp-only, fully-manual, but no choices.

My laptop is supplied by my employer, so it comes set up for the office. You might think that making the alternate connection DHCP-only would allow the primary DNS settings to be overridden when I connect at home, but they don't change. My DNS server stays stuck on the hardcoded work addresses.

Now imagine I were to visit several wireless access points -- friends, cafes, airports, some of which are non-DCHP. What are my options? Third-party sofware. For a fee.

The last time I used a third-party network settings manager, it constantly fought with the windows configuration, and most of the time ended up needing manual help to find the right settings.

Let's compare this situation to that of another leading brand, Mac OS X. Apple provides multiple locations, each with its own detailed configuration, and all for the same low price. No hidden fees, no third-party software. Seemless automatic switching without the headache.

Giving up windows isn't an option right now, sadly, but if I could I would. Seeing one manufacturer do such a great job while Microsoft flails is just painful and sad. It's 2006. Bring on the flying cars already.