Archive for 11/4/2008 - 6 Heshvan, 5769

Dennis Prager is a bit upset that the new Minnesota Congressman, Keith Ellison, wants to take his oath of office on the Quran.

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.

He should not be allowed to do so — not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.

That seems pretty extreme.

America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress

I’d really like to think Praeger is being sarcastic, but he’s serious. Apparently he doesn’t realize in 1674 the Jews of Barbados were allowed to take an oath on the Torah. And in 1822 the Jews of Maryland were granted the right to take a non-Christian oath. For a long time we’ve allowed elected officials to ‘affirm’ as opposed to making an oath. So he’s a little behind the times. More recently, Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii, took her oath of office on the Torah.

But what really confuses me is why anyone would want a non-Christian to take the oath of office on a Christian bible. I mean — what is the purpose of an oath? It’s to assure that the individual is telling the truth, right? And if the individual doesn’t believe in the words contained within the Christian Bible, and they take their oath on that, then they would have no fear that they would be punished by their god for their lie. Only if they’re taking their oath on something that they believe will it have any effect — right?

I remember clearly a scene from some movie where a member of the clergy substitutes his ‘own bible’ for the bible offered him. Unbeknownst to everyone it’s a work of Dickens, so the clergy member has no problem lying.

The law should be changed so that if an elected official’s religion allows an oath to be taken, they should be forced to take their oath on their religion’s holy book. Otherwise, there’s no point.

Would they allow him to choose Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” the Nazis’ bible, for his oath? And if not, why not? On what grounds will those defending Ellison’s right to choose his favorite book deny that same right to a racist who is elected to public office?

There are people who might argue Mein Kampf is their spiritual holy book, so I won’t make the argument I’ve seen elsewhere that that isn’t a holy book so it’s an unfair comparison. If someone were elected in this country who, G-d forbid, felt that was their holy book, then they should take the oath of office on that book. Otherwise, their oath is meaningless, and they might as well be crossing their fingers behind their back.

Toad has a timeline that some TechSupport workers might find helpful.

Reminds me of my experience with MySpace. As I mentioned on October 5 I finally got an email from MySpace saying they were working on my problem.

I forgot to mention that I got another email from them on November 16

“Dear MySpace.com User,

Thank you for contacting MySpace.com Customer Support.

Unfortunately, that option is not available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

MySpace.com Customer Support Team”

The above was referencing my request to find out why they had deleted my old account. It was a reply to my original complaint from 9/15…and not my complaint when it was deleted a second time. And not their comment in October that they were working on my problem. So who knows, give them a month, and I might get another surprise email from them.

My new account is still working.

I’ve been procrastinating writing about this particular aspect of the Michael Richards story just to see if anything else turns up about it. But apparently after it was revealed that Michael Richards made anti-Semitic jokes in a routine several months ago, his PR guy announced, “Michael Richards can’t be anti-Semitic, because he’s Jewish.”

Of course, the reaction he got was, “Really? When did he convert?”

And it was, “Oh, he hasn’t converted. He has some Jewish friends though, and he likes the Jewish philosophy.” Source

Of course, I feel with great power comes great responsibility, but I’m not a Marvel Comics Superhero. I also agree with most everything Jesus said in the New Testament, but I’m not Christian. Of course, most everything Jesus said is also in the Old Testament. The Jewish philosophy, and Christian philosophy, and the Muslim philosophy are pretty much all very similar. But Richards proclaims himself Jewish, so he can’t be anti-Semitic. It’s a shame he can’t proclaim himself Black. (Unless of course you’re reading a satirical newspaper)

Of course, it’s all reminiscent of The Yada Yada — the 153rd episode of Seinfeld. Where Seinfeld’s dentist converts to Judaism, and Jerry thinks it’s only so he can tell Jewish jokes.

Note: I’m not saying I think Richards is anti-Semitic. He’s probably as anti-Semitic as he is racist. It’s just that he came up with a very stupid defense. Of course, lapsed Catholics have never been accused of being overly ‘clever’. With apologies, naturally, to my friends who fall in that category.

A lot of bloggers are talking today about the City of Chicago demanding that a Christmas Festival remove a nativity scene.

Of course, if you read the news story, it doesn’t really say that. What it says is still a bit of a head-scratcher, but there is a little exaggeration in the retelling in a lot of places.

These are the facts as I read them from the article:

1. The Christmas festival is produced by the Chicago German community, and is called Christkindlmarket
2. There will be a nativity scene on display at the festival.
3. The City of Chicago expressed a concern that New Line Cinema’s plans to display parts of a new film entitled The Nativity Story on televisions might not be appropriate.
4. The City of Chicago insists it made no demands or ultimatums.
5. The festival made the decision to drop New Line Cinema as a sponsor in response to the City’s concern

“Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts, but also it would be contrary to acceptable advertising standards suggested to the many festivals holding events on Daley Plaza,” Jim Law, executive director of the office, said in a statement.

I agree with those who say that those who go to Christkindlmarket must expect to see religious items. It seems silly. But the prominence of the advertisement could make a difference. And while the “acceptable advertising standards” aren’t specified, they could be completely unrelated to the religious nature of the advertisement.

This really can’t (or shouldn’t) be portrayed as a city trying to remove Christ from a Christmas festival. As Jesus seems to have a prominent location in the festival already, and they don’t seem to mind.

Jesse Jackson wants to ban the usage of the N word on television and in films. Which, would naturally, mean even bad characters wouldn’t be allowed to use the word. Nor would it allow a character to use the word at the beginning of the film, and change to the word ‘friend’ by the end, eliminating the performance of such classics as Huckleberry Finn.

No word on whether or not he would ban the usage of the word ‘hymietown’.

This guy is conducting an experiment to measure the speed of memes. I read about it on Toad’s blog. Get 10 people to participate, and you will have luck for 7 years. Good luck, bad luck, mediocre luck, I’m not certain. But you will have luck.

Can anyone recommend books to read on cells?
I could use it for what I am writing.
You’d think with my severe case of Francophilia I’d know more than I do.

The only book in my library on this topic is Robert Heinlein’s novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

There are some sentences in which one should never pause.

For example, at lunch today, a cousin said the following:

My girlfriend dyed her hair.

I posted this Edgar Guest poem in 2004, but I decided something light and festive should appear above that long serious essay below. I love Edgar Guest. For what he was — a king of sentimental, greeting card poetry.

Thanksgiving - by Edgar Guest

GETTIN’ together to smile an’ rejoice,
An’ eatin’ an’ laughin’ with folks of your choice;
An’ kissin’ the girls an’ declarin’ that they
Are growin more beautiful day after day;
Chattin’ an’ braggin’ a bit with the men,
Buildin’ the old family circle again;
Livin’ the wholesome an’ old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.

Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother’s a little bit grayer, that’s all.
Father’s a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an’ to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin’ our stories as women an men.

Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we’re grateful an’ glad to be there.
Home from the east land an’ home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an’ best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We’ve come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an’ be frank,
Forgettin’ position an’ station an’ rank.

Give me the end of the year an’ its fun
When most of the plannin’ an’ toilin’ is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin’ with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An I’ll put soul in my Thanksgivin’ prayers.

First, here’s a series of quotes. If you’ve been reading the entertainment news lately, you can probably figure out what inspired this post.

• “Jew me, Sue me…Kick me, Kike me” – Michael Jackson, “They Don’t Care about Us”
• “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world” – Mel Gibson
• “Shut up! Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a [expletive]
  fork up your a–.” – Michael Richards
• “[Buddhism is] auto-erotic spirituality” – then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — 1997 (often paraphrased as ’spiritual masturbation’)
• “I guess I’m part Jewish because I don’t spend a lot of money or make a lot of bets.” - Barry Bonds
• “I don’t give a hoot that [Columbus] gave some Indians a disease that they didn’t have immunity against” - Rush Limbaugh (Way Things Ought to Be - p. 45)
• “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. ” - Ann Coulter, 9/12/01
• “The Jews, I find are very, very selfish…When they have power, physical, financial or political neither Hitler nor Stalin has anything on them for cruelty or mistreatment to the underdog.” — Harry S Truman, Truman’s Diaries
• “Gay people, well, gay people are EVIL. Evil right down to their cold black hearts which pump not blood like yours or mine, but rather–a thick, vomitous oil that oozes through their rotten veins and clots in their pea-sized brains; which becomes the cause of their Nazi-esque patterns of violent behavior. Do you understand?” — South Park episode (Mr. Garrison).
• “Throw the jew down the well. So my country can be free. You must grab him by his horns. Then we have a big party.” - Borat (Sascha Baron Cohen) - “Throw the Jew Down the Well”

Note: I’ve tried to use quotes that have been well-documented.

That’s a pretty good cross-section of quotes. So how would I categorize them? Are they all equally offensive?

1. There are probably some people who would say ‘yes’
2. still more who would say that while not equal, they are all offensive.
3. Another segment who believe that at least a few of the quotes would be offensive if said by someone else, but in context, they are funny — and vice versa. The ones that are offensive, could be funny, if said by someone else in a different context.
4. And probably some people who laugh and cheer all the quotes.

I fall in group 3. It would be easier to fall in groups 1, 2 or 4. Much easier. As someone in this category, I see a responsibility to come up with consistent guidelines to apply to each situation.

1. State of mind at time of quote

After Mel Gibson’s drunken tirade, there were many who said that what you say when drunk ‘reveals your true self’. Similar statements over the past few days have been made about what one says while enraged, as Michael Richards was at the comedy club.

The argument goes: while sober, and in control of our emotions, our brain tells us when ‘not to say something’. Most individuals in the public eye know what they “shouldn’t” be caught saying if they don’t want to be crucified by the press. So while drunk or enraged, our true feelings are being revealed.

There is that, but I argue there is something else to consider. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I know that there have been times an irrational thought floated through my brain, and I’ve told myself how irrational it is, and ignored it. The irrational thoughts aren’t my ‘true’ thoughts. My brain isn’t telling me it’s ‘incorrect’ to express these throughts. It’s telling me the thoughts are incorrect in the first place. Get me drunk, and I might express some ideas I don’t really believe. I’ve never had any rage issues.

So how do we know which one it is? Well, both Mel Gibson and Michael Richards have apologized and expressed horror at what they said. I say, unless new instances occur that suggest otherwise, we believe them. And, if anyone is curious, this is pretty much what I said back in July.

In all of the other quotes above the individuals, to the best of my knowledge, were sober and in control of their emotions.

2. Context of quote

A. Written vs. Spoken

As a writer, a lot of thought goes into what I write. I have written columns for newspapers, fiction, poetry, and song lyrics. If something I have written offends you, I have much less defense than if something I say offends you. Occasionally I might be a bit sloppy and not do enough research, and I might write something I later regret.

Anyway, what Michael Jackson wrote into his song lyrics, what Rush Limbaugh wrote in his book, what Ann Coulter wrote in her newspaper column, and what Harry S Truman wrote in his diary? Those are/were their thoughts. Michael Jackson did apologize. I’ll give him that. More will be said about Truman below.

B. The identity of the speaker

Normally you’d think who says something shouldn’t make a difference in whether or not it is offensive. However, many people feel it is OK for someone to say offensive things about his/her own “people.” Many people see this as humorous.

Borat is a character played by Sacha Baron Cohen. He went to some Southern US bars and got (drunk) patrons to sing the anti-Semitic song along with him. The video of this is viewed as an expose of the anti-semitism in the South. And of course Sacha Baron Cohen can’t be anti-Semitic because he’s Jewish. The same thing is said about Jackie Mason, and other Jewish comics who make a living from this humor. There was a joke on an episode of Seinfeld where a stand-up comic converted so he could tell Jewish jokes. I both laugh at the humor, and find it uncomfortable.

The same thing happens with other minorities. Gay comics make jokes about gays. Italian comics make jokes about Italians. Black comics make jokes about blacks. (This happens in countries other than America.) And the audience, whether they are gay, Italian, or black, are expected to laugh. I guess the audience members have to ask themselves why they are laughing? Are they laughing because the comedian is getting away with saying something taboo, but which the audience member believes to be true?

Barry Bonds brings up a related issue. Here is a fuller quote: “”My agent is Jewish. They call me a black Jew. I guess I’m part Jewish because I don’t spend a lot of money or make a lot of bets.” It appears Bonds was quoting or paraphrasing his Jewish manager. Does that excuse him? Partly, in my mind; especially since he did apologize for his statement. However, not entirely, as he was still spreading the stereotypes.

C. Fictional Characters

South Park makes fun of everyone, and this is often used by fans as a reason why it’s acceptable humor. Of course, when the words are taken out of the mouths of the animated characters and put into the mouths of public figures, the public figures are pilloried. Why do we laugh at Eric Cartman and Mr. Garrison, but we don’t laugh at Mel Gibson and Michael Richards? Put what Michael Richards said into the mouth of Eric Cartman, and we’d be laughing hilariously at the TV set. Sure, accusing a fictional character of bigotry just makes you look silly, like Dan Quayle attacking Murphy Brown. But one can ask what the intent is of Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the creators of South Park). And we, the viewers, need to ask ourselves why we are laughing, and are we comfortable with our laughter.

Personally, I find the Lonely Jew song funny. I was uncomfortable with the episode that had the Catholic Priests all under the control of a horrific alien monster. But a friend who was raised Catholic found it humorous.

3. Historical considerations

Can we excuse Harry S Truman because he wrote what he wrote in 1947? Yes, I think we can, at least partially. Abraham Foxman’s op-ed column is pretty good. We need to realize that sometimes actions are more important than words, be thankful for how far this nation has come, but also cognizant that bigotry still remains, and needs to be exposed in others, and fought within ourselves.

Video of Michael Richards’ outburst on stage (lots of language NSFW)
Video of Apology on Letterman
Borat video (also NSFW)

Dozens of conservatives (perhaps more than dozens) will get their dream as Ronald Reagan will appear on a coin. Unfortunately, Ford and Carter will have to die first.

I do find it mind boggling that the government admits that one main failure of the Sacajawea dollar coin was that collectors collected them — instead of using them. And here they are again, trying to get us to use dollar coins, and what do they do? They make them collectible!

No…I’m not buying a PC. Don’t worry.
Maybe some of you will consider this worse.

I’ve resisted for some time now, but as I said back in September, there are some positive things which can be said about Wal-Mart/Sams.

And while I said back in 2004, that the boycott against Wal-Mart/Sams is more justified than some boycotts since it’s based on corporate practices as opposed to the political beliefs of the owner, it’s hard to find a corporation that is great on everything. Labor is important to me, but so is the environment. And a strong part of me wants to support any company that the American Family Association, Operation Save America, and the Missouri Baptist Convention are all boycotting.

Even IF the cynics are correct, and WalMart/Sams has made the strategic decision that it is more important to support a few Progressive Left causes and risk losing a few Religious Right consumers — Hoping their financial gains will compensate. Does it really matter that money is their goal? Shouldn’t we be trying to show them that their decision is correct, so other corporations emulate that decision?

Most Americans agree with Kant that the “ends don’t justify the means’. That philosophical statement is usually used to indicate that good intentions dont justify bad actions. But the inverse is equally true. Bad intentions don’t cancel good actions. Actions are good or bad unrelated to motivation. And shouldn’t the Progressive Left be rewarding what we consider good actions, regardless of their motivation? Or do we require 100% support for all of our causes before we reward them a little?

And of course, I am trying to rationalize this. As my employer has worked out a deal, and I can get a $10 discount off their normal membership fees. Which is $20 less than CostCo, and there aren’t any convenient CostCos to where I live anyway, and there is a Sams that is very close. And while the savings might not be great for a single person, since the biggest savings comes through bulk purchases, I’ve been inside their stores enough with friends to know I would save enough to make it worthwhile.

Maybe with the money I save I will renew my seriously lapsed membership with the ACLU or Greenpeace. That will make me feel better. The former has been calling me lately trying to get me to renew.

If you’re a St. Louisan, signed up at nanowrimo.org, and have been typing away this month, make sure you’ve selected St. Louis as your home region. (Under My NaNoWriMo, select: Regional Affiliations)

Why?

There’s a small competition between Detroit and St. Louis. We beat them at the World Series, we beat them in the Morgan Quitno rankings, and we can’t let them beat us at this! Currently they have 2,356,714 words, and St. Louis has 2,313,648. You will notice the difference is under 1 full 50,000 word NaNo novel. So a handful of people who have yet to register their ‘regional affiliation’ could shoot us over the top.

If you’re an ex-patriate, with some remaining St. Louis loyalties, consider aligning yourself with us.

Forum Thread on competition.

Currently I am at 5058 pages — which at 250 words a page, equates to 12,50014,500 words. OK, yes, I’ve switched to the ‘traditional’ formula to make my word count higher. It doesn’t appear I will make it to 50,000 with this method anyway, unless I insert a really long childish debate between two characters yelling “Yes” “No” back at each other for fifty pages. And I’m not quite ready to do that. However, there is a factual basis justifying the use of the formula, and it will help the team.

As seen on Anarkey’s Musings

The 50 most significant SF/Fantasy Books in the last 50 years - 1953-2002

I. Books I’ve read, loved, and still love

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

II. Books I loved when I read them
Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice

III. Books I’ve Read
Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut (I preferred Cat’s Cradle)
Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Time Enough for Love would be listed higher.)
Dune, Frank Herbert
Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick

IV. Books I’ve Read, but Hated
The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (Hate is a strong word. But when I read it I was willing to accuse him of outright plagiarism. I wrote an English paper comparing it to Lord of the Rings. Matching up characters, town names, events. I got an A. He’d probably try to defend himself by claiming it was an homage. OK, Sure. Fine. His Landover books were fun.)

V. Books I feel Like I Really Ought to Read
The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien (I’ve started it several times, and just got bored. The problem may be that Christopher Tolkein doesn’t have his father’s writing talent. But I’d like to get through it for the background stories of Middle Earth.)
The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett (I’ve read a lot of Pratchett. I don’t think I’ve read this one yet.)
The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester (I’ve read some excellent short stories by Bester, so I suspect I would like at least one of these)

VI. I Might Read these Books Someday
The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
Ringworld, Larry Niven
Neuromancer, William Gibson
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.

VII. Books I’ve Never Heard of. Tell me if I should read them… (Some of the authors I’ve heard of, but not the individual books)

The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
Cities in Flight, James Blish
Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
Gateway, Frederik Pohl
Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny (Why wasn’t the Princes of Amber in this list?)
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
Little, Big, John Crowley
The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
On the Beach, Nevil Shute
Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
Timescape, Gregory Benford
To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner

VIII. Books You Will Not Persuade Me To Read - Go Ahead, Try
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (Is it really worth it if you’ve been told the ending? I’ve read his Alvin Maker books, and enjoyed them. I’m also a bit turned off him now due to his politics. I’ve been debating picking up a graphic novel version of Red Prophet)

“A library implies an act of faith which generations still in darkness hid sign in their night in witness of the dawn.” — Victor Hugo

The original French:
Une bibliothèque est un acte de foi
Des générations ténébreuses encore
Qui rendent dans la nuit témoignage à l’aurore.

From: A qui la faute (Whose fault is it?).

I have been unable to find a public domain translation of the poem, or I’d provide a link to it. However, it appears in a 2003 collection of translations by Harry Guest. The narrator in the poem sees someone setting fire to a library, and angrily asks why. The narrator goes into a long passionate speech on the great value of libraries. And then the arsonist replies, “but I can’t read!”

Beyond Stupid and into the Realm of Insanity

Jedi Knights petition the UN for recognition of their religion.

Some may recall that a large amount of British citizens put down “Jedi Knight” as their religion on census forms. Approximately 390,000, making them Britain’s fourth largest religion.

There are also an estimated 70,000 Jedi knights in Australia, 53,000 in New Zealand and 20,000 in Canada

1. Ring around the Rosie Rag - Arlo Guthrie
2. Don’t Download this Song - Weird Al Yankovich
3. Not Fade Away - Grateful Dead
4. Red, Red Wine - Neil Diamond
5. Le Moribund - Jacques Brel

The news isn’t what caught my attention. Both of the below news stories are similar AP stories, attributed to the same author. The biggest difference is the headlines.

Fox News: Guilty Plea in Baltimore Coed Slaying

Baltimore Exmainer: Man pleads guilty to killing Johns Hopkins Student

When was the last time you heard someone use the term ‘coed’ to refer to a female student? I noticed a similar news story a year and a half ago. It appears Fox News still hasn’t changed their terminology.

Note: There are a few other newspapers using the headline. It’s likely it is the headline AP supplied, and only those that noticed anything wrong with it changed it.

I guess some might want an explanation. How, ironic?

From Wiki:

Exegesis involves an extensive and critical interpretation of a text, especially of a holy scripture, such as of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the Talmud, the Midrash, the Qur’an, etc. An exegete is a practitioner of this art, and the adjectival form is exegetic. The plural of the word exegesis is exegeses.

The word exegesis can mean explanation, but as a technical term it means “to draw the meaning out of” a given text. Exegesis may be contrasted with eisegesis, which means to read one’s own interpretation into a given text. In general, exegesis presumes an attempt to view the text objectively, while eisegesis implies more subjectivity.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - “Speaking of borders, I must unfortunately say that in a world that greeted the fall of the Berlin Wall with joy, new walls are being built between neighborhood and neighborhood, city and city, nation and nation,” said Martino, head of the Vatican’s Council for Justice and Peace.

Credit for idea goes to Greg. I decided to visualize his comment for everyone.

In honor of National Novel Writing Month, and National Blog Posting Month, Toad has begun a round-robin writing experiment. I am participating, and I believe anyone is allowed. It’s a science fiction piece.

Why Mommy is a Democrat (a children’s book) The sample pages look great. (And before any Republicans complain…we live in a Capitalistic society. Go write the other book yourself.)

Still the answer to the question: The only US president never to be elected (All others were at least elected as Vice-President, but Ford was appointed by Nixon after Agnew resigned, and Ford didn’t win a re-election.)

He is now the answer to the question: What US President has lived the longest? He just passed Ronald Reagan. He had this to say:

“The length of one’s days matters less than the love of one’s family and friends,”

Cow And Boy from 11/1:

Google Checkout.

One of my plans (maybe by the end of the year?) is to create a page where people can order copies of my poetry chapbooks…print copies to be mailed to them, or digital copies to be downloaded. I don’t expect a huge number of sales, but digital copies would probably be $1, and print would be about $5 + shipping. Purchases would be made through PayPal, or potentially Google Checkout. I haven’t explored it completely from a seller’s perspective, but it looks good.

Currently there is only one copy of each of my chapbooks on librarything. It would be nice to see those numbers grow.

Brad has county-by-county graphical maps of the results for the 2000 Senate (Ashcroft/Carnahan), 2004 Presidential and 2006 Senate (Talent/McCaskill).

Comparing just 2006 with 2004, it looks like there’s a huge sea-change from Republican to Democrat across the state. 2006 and 2000 are almost identical. Brad’s conclusion makes a lot of sense. Missouri isn’t as red as it looked in 2004. Rural Missouri gagged on Kerry, and those who might vote Democrat either stayed home, or voted for Bush. Carnahan (Mel or Jean), and McCaskill could speak their language, and was “one of them”.

I will note something Brad didn’t. There is a small difference in a couple counties in 2006 from 2000 that might have really helped. In the Northwestern section. If my state geography is correct, Kansas City and its surrounding region is bluer than it was 6 years ago.

I don’t listen to television news, so I don’t know if it’s been said much, and I missed it in the initial online summaries. But Minnesota elected the nation’s first Muslim congressman. Keith Ellison is also the first African-American congressman from Minnesota.
A member of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor party (the only state Democratic party to retain the word ‘labor’ in their name), Ellison sounds like someone I would have gone to the polls to vote FOR:

He is opposed to the war in Iraq and on his Web site, he has called “for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.”

“I opposed the war before it began. I was against this war once it started and I am the only candidate calling for an immediate withdrawal of troops.”

His religious message is one of inclusiveness.

Regarding his Muslim faith, he said, “people draw strength and moral courage from a variety of religious traditions.”

“Mine have come from both Catholicism and Islam. I was raised Catholic and later became a Muslim while attending Wayne State University. I am inspired by the Quran’s message of an encompassing divine love, and a deep faith guides my life every day.”

Ellison’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian issue is supportive of the two-state solution and the road map to peace process. He has been critical of the Hamas movement.

“Peace is necessary for both Israeli and Palestinian people, and I wholeheartedly support peace movements in Israel and throughout the region,” he said in a statement on his Web site.

He was endorsed by the Twin Cities newspaper, the American Jewish World, which said, “In Ellison, we have a moderate Muslim who extends his hand in friendship to the Jewish community and supports the security of the State of Israel.”

Ellison is pro-choice and pro-labor, and supports “universal single payer health care”

I have added a “Greatest Hits” page to the left. It’s a list of blog entries over the years that have received a lot of visitors/comments, plus a few others. If there is any entry you particularly enjoyed that isn’t on the list, go ahead and suggest it in a comment.

Morning of November 10th at Google News

Kristallnacht - 474 entries (a significant gain)
Berlin Wall - 2130 entries (still significantly higher)

Well…the Election sidetracked me, and then I got a cold. Went to work anyway today, since the person I share an office with is gone for the week, so I could just lock myself in my office and not infect anyone, but I haven’t felt like working on my novel. So I haven’t written a word of it since Monday night.

Burns and Allen concede

Here’s a funny comedy routine someone came up with back in August.

Last year I listed major events in history that occurred on the day of fate.

There was one I left off the list because the only place at the time I could find the exact date listed was Wikipedia, or other sites which appeared to have gotten the information from Wikipedia. But between then and now Google added their Google Books section, and I was able to confirm the date. Thematically it relates well to others in the list, so it is appropriate to consider on this date.

November 9, 694 - The Seventeenth Council of Toledo

King Ergica claimed to learn from informers that the Jewish population in Hispania had attempted a revolt, conspiring with Jews and Muslims in North Africa. Responsively, Ergica declared all Jewish-held land forfeit, all Jews to be slaves, and all Jewish children over the age of seven to be taken from their homes and raised as Christians.

The Seventeenth Council of Toledo wasn’t the last council of Toledo. There was one more, though records of what exactly was discussed have been lost.

I’ll also point out, since the synchronicity is rare, that if the Rosetta Calendar is correct, November 9th, 694 (Julian) and November 9th, 1938 (Gregorian) were both Heshvan 15 on the Hebrew calendar 4455 and 5699 respectively.

בנפל אויבך אל תשמח ובכשלו אל יגל לבך
If your enemy falls, do not exult; If he trips, let your heart not rejoice.

But, schadenfreude is fun!

Morning of November 9th, 2006:

Berlin Wall - 1910 articles
Kristallnacht - 98 articles
Holocaust - 6300 articles
Holocaust 1938 - 90 articles
Brumaire - 1 article
Kaiser Wilhelm - 82 articles
Beer Hall Putsch - 80 articles
Pogromnacht - 1 article
Novemberpogrome - 1 article
“Night of the Broken Glass” - 2 articles

Note: “Kaiser Wilhelm” and “Beer Hall Putsch” appear predominantly in syndicated “Today in History” articles. And the vast majority of those that mention the Holocaust have nothing to do with the anniversary of Kristallnacht, as the related search indicates. I threw in a couple other terms used to describe the day with few results.

The article on the 18th of Brumaire is dated Oct 27th and has nothing to do with the anniversary.

Articles of note:
Berlin Paper (in English)
A synagogue opens in Munich

This is of course a very old topic for me, but it’s not the Election. It’s about tomorrow - November 9th. As some may know, Europeans tend to switch their months and dates from the perspective of Americans. So while we consider 9/11 to be September 11th, Europeans consider 9/11 to be November 9th.

I have written so much on this date I will just direct you to my archives:
November 2003
November 2004
November 2005

Talent has conceded the race to McCaskill. I can go to sleep now.

Still 600 some-odd precincts left to count. McCaskill - 49% Talent - 47.7%

And on Amendment 2
Yes: 50.1
No: 49.9

Just getting back from my weekly writer’s group meeting and surveying the current results…

Not all precincts have reported, but it looks like my predictions were pretty good.

100% on the amendments. So far. Amendment 2 is so close that it could swing the other way by tomorrow morning easily. Which would be great. I really thought Amendment 2 would fail by a large margin. Not the 70/30 that the Gay Marriage Ban passed by in 2004, but I was expecting 60/40. I guess I should have had more faith in my state. Hopefully it will pass.

It’s the only amendment that is close, though, and all the others swung the way I predicted.

The three US House incumbents in St. Louis - all easy victories.

Nationwide, the papers are predicting a Democratic House, and a Senate too close to call. (Of course, this was what they were predicting yesterday….I didn’t go out on a limb here.)

And with 2600 out of 3746 precincts reporting
McCaskill - 46.7
Talent - 49.9

A nailbiter. A few minutes ago, Talent was just over 50, so he’s dropping.

On my way home from work I often drive through the town I grew up in. I did so this evening, and on an intersection, by an abandoned Schnucks store, which gets a lot of rush hour traffic since it’s a few blocks from an entrance ramp to 40/64, and a few blocks from a major business area, there were about a dozen high school kids jumping up and down waving Vote Yes on Amendment 2 placards, and cheering at those honking. I didn’t see any adults encouraging them. It felt great. I was proud that the kids are still being raised well there. Not that I’m surprised. I don’t know if anyone on the edge of the issue would be swayed by a bunch of excited teenagers, but I was still pleased.

An election is coming. Universal peace is declared and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry. ~T.S. Eliot

A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won’t cross the street to vote in a national election. ~Bill Vaughan

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote. ~George Jean Nathan

Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right? ~Robert Orben

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you. ~Author Unknown

People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing. ~Walter H. Judd

If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates. ~Jay Leno

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other. ~Oscar Ameringer

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I’m beginning to believe it. ~Clarence Darrow

Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent, scurrilous, wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country - and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians. ~Charles Krauthammer

Mankind will never see an end of trouble until… lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power… become lovers of wisdom. ~Plato, The Republic

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right. ~H.L. Mencken, 1956

The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal - that you can gather votes like box tops - is… the ultimate indignity to the democratic process. ~Adlai Stevenson, speech, Democratic National Convention, 18 August 1956

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them. ~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952

If a politician murders his mother, the first response of the press or of his opponents will likely be not that it was a terrible thing to do, but rather that in a statement made six years before he had gone on record as being opposed to matricide. ~Meg Greenfield

American youth attributes much more importance to arriving at driver’s-license age than at voting age. ~Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, 1964

The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them. ~Karl Marx

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate? ~Will Rogers

Better get my predictions in early so that they’re still predictions.

As followers of my blog know, I am lousy at predictions, but I’m not going to try to force my wishes by predicting the opposite. I’m going to predict what I think will happen.

National:

House - Democrats will take control
Senate - Will end up tied. (Which of course, the VP breaks the tie)

Missouri:

Senate: Claire McCaskill will win (Might as well hope for the best)
House 1st-3rd districts: Incumbents all win. (I wish the incumbent would lose in my district, but it’s not going to happen)
Amendment 2: (stem cells) Will fail. The results will mirror Amendment 2 from 2004, though perhaps it won’t be quite as gruesome, but it will still fail, and for similar reasons. And I will be equally miserable.
Amendment 3: (tobacco tax) Will fail. Once again, this is not how I voted, but I don’t see the rural areas of the state supporting this.
Amendment on Elected Official Salaries and Pensions: Will Pass. It is worded so that everyone in their right mind will cheer as they vote for it. Who would want elected officials who commit felonies to collect pensions?
Minimum Wage Increase: Will Pass
Tax Exemption for Veterans Organizations: Will Pass

Advice for Republicans.

I don’t know whether Optical Scan or Touch Screen is more error-prone, but there is something really satisfying about taking a pen and filling in round ovals. I did well on my High School SATs. May I have done as well this morning (or better!)

SAT:Election :: Correct Answer:Winning Candidate/Position

If you are a registered voter in the US, hopefully it comes as no surprise that today is election day. As Christy, half of me would prefer it if you would stay home, if you’re going to vote for someone I’m not. But another half of me dreams of 100% voter turnout. I know that’s not going to happen. Another half of me fears the results from an election with 100% turnout. (That third half of me.) My high school bus driver voted for Jesus in most elections. Mickey Mouse always gets a few write-in votes. And many people in Texas today will be voting for Kinky Friedman. Though I might vote for Kinky Friedman if given the chance. I’ve read many of his books, and own most of his music. I’m glad he put his ’stage name’ on the ballot. It just wouldn’t have been the same if he were running as Richard Friedman.

NaNoWriMo is mentioned in today’s Unshelved comic strip.

Day 5: 2336 words
Total: 7154 words (37 pages)
Daily Avg: 1431 words

All it took was two glasses of water. My muse is much easier to work with than Douglas Adams’. But you will notice water was involved. He bathed in it; I drank it.

Note: In those 7154 words, the word ‘iguana’ has appeared three times.

I think it was Douglas Adams who wrote the essay — In it he said that whenever he had written himself into a jam, he’d eat sandwiches in the bathtub. For example, the babel fish might have taken three sandwiches. I don’t remember the number. The number isn’t important. But I don’t have any bread in my kitchen, nor do I have any sandwich fixins. And I just ate dinner at my parents, so I’m not hungry. And I’m on a diet. But I might still stop by the store tomorrow and pick up some sandwich fixins. I know where my towel is. The only problem is it might not work for me, and if it doesn’t, I’m not sure what to try next…

It’s only 8:30 so I have a few hours left tonight, and I will stare at the screen a bit, and see if blood comes out of my forehead, and hits the appropriate keys. But right now I have 6477 words, which means today I’ve written 1659 words, which is my best day so far. And I have 33 pages, over 5 days, which means after 30 days at that pace I’ll have 198 pages, which is pretty close to 200. And I know NaNoWriMo doesn’t care about page numbers, but publishers consider 200 pages to be equal to 50,000 words, so I’ll take it.

But if I don’t think myself out of this jam, I’m not going to be able to write those other 167 pages.

I thought I would share a paragraph I just wrote for my NaNoWriMo novel. It introduces a character:

They selected the applicant who appeared to be the least star-struck in the interview. His name was Moose. When Leo asked, the guy explained it was neither his first nor last name, it was his only name. He had officially changed it on a bar bet for $50. It had only cost him $30 to change it, though, so he had come out ahead. He had no tattoos though, and no earrings, so they were willing to overlook the green hair. He also had a distinct British accent.

I don’t do much physical description of my characters, so that’s probably about all you will get. Hopefully it’s enough for you to visualize him. Your visualization might be a little different from mine. How characters act and behave is more important to me.