Last night belladonna93  got stuck in a massive anti-prop-8-ruling protest on her way home.  It took her more than an hour and a great deal of frustration and anxiety to work her way through blocked-off-streets, crowds of protesters, and jammed traffic.  The same thing happened to me twice in the week following the passage of Proposition 8.

I'm all for civil ( Read more... )

Same as the old boss.

I can't believe I'm about to write this, but I find myself agreeing with the Republicans on the stimulus package.  It's filled with funding which has no credible link to immediate economic stimulus.  I mean, sure, virtually any money the government spends will create jobs, but that argument is disingenuous.  Programs like alternative energy ( Read more... )

I'm quite happy that Obama won the election.  But I'm a bit perplexed by observers trying to make this out as some great national political shift.  Every presidential election of the past decade has been won by a thin margin.  Is a 49/51 split turning into a 51/49 split really a "sea change"?  It doesn't seem that way to me ( Read more... )

At work late yesterday, a group of us were discussing the election, with particular attention to the way both sides have demonized the other (even more than in previous elections, which is saying something).  I remarked "No matter who wins tomorrow, half the country will think we're going straight to hell in a handbasket ( Read more... )

Let's do a little thought experiment. Suppose you had a machine that printed $100 bills, one bill per second. In a minute you'd have $6,000; in an hour, $360,000. In less than three hours you'd be a millionaire ( Read more... )

This showed up in my inbox this morning...

Dear Mr. Berry:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion USD. If you would assist ( Read more... )

I just received yet another email from the Obama campaign.  I get around three emails like this a day, since I have occasionally donated money to one or another Democratic fund.  So I get treated to faux-personal notes from my good friends Barack, Howard, Barbara, and the like.  Gah.

Today's Obama note was about raising money.  No, wait, they saved ( Read more... )

Sometimes the distorted way people frame debates drives me nuts.  Apparently some pastors want to be able to endorse political candidates from the pulpit while retaining tax-exempt status.  Nothing wrong with that as a political position, though I oppose it.  But they are arguing that the present situation limits their right to free speech.  Um, no ( Read more... )

Okay, a question for everyone, as I can't seem to resolve it myself ( Read more... )