;color:#000000;},td{background:#FFFFFF;},A{color:#A0A0A0;text-decoration:none;},A:hover{color:#A0A0A0;text-decoration:overline underline;},P{font-size:11px;font-family:Verdana,Geneva,Arial,sans-serif;},DIV{font-size:11px;font-family:Verdana,Geneva,Arial,sans-serif;},FONT{font-size:11px;font-family:Verdana,Geneva,Arial,sans-serif;},TD{font-size:11px;font-family:Verdana,Geneva,Arial,sans-serif;}')){kind=link}
From Megnut: A Chicago Sun-Times article on weblogs has a new definition of blog:
[September 2, 2000]
Last year, Dineen and I went to Savannah, Georgia for the Fourth of July. While I expected the riverfront, the history, the squares, and the southern charm, I did not expect the art. Spurred at least in part by the presence of the Savannah College of Art and Design, the city is a southern beacon for the artistically-minded. There are galleries on just about every corner, including some along the picturesque waterfront, and several sidewalk exhibits during the holidays. One of the artists featuring his work also has a web presence. His primitive lines and bright colors caught my eye - perhaps because I'm so low on the evolutionary scale of art appreciation - but I think you'll also get a kick out of Tony Cacalano's work. W
[September 1, 2000]
Class warfare continues: Clinton vetoes repeal of the death tax. Elimination of this one should be a no-brainer. It contributes a minimal percent of the nation's annual budget, (the repeal would trim $105 billion over the next ten years, during which time the Congressional Budget Office projects total revenues of over $27.6 trillion, so this bill would "cost" less than one half of one percent of all federal revenues). What do we gain for this trivial revenue stream? Thousands of business and farms are impacted every year, some of which must be liquidated to pay the tax. This, of course, is on top of the grief caused by the loss of a loved one, usually a parent. All the arguments for keeping the tax reek of class warfare and envy, and are morally bankrupt. I hope the House musters the courage to override this veto and send our President a message. W
[August 31, 2000]
Poll-takers take note of the current state of the Electoral College. Gov. Bush needs to keep every state that's "leaning" his way (basically, everything in any shade of blue on the map) plus any of the following options:
All of the above states are currently considered toss-ups. W
Lame-duck Congresscritter Merrill Cook thinks politcal parties should be abolished, so he's going to run for the Chairman's seat of the Utah Republican Party.
In the real world, I may even be running for chairman of the Republican Party of Utah next year because I believe the Republican rank and file in my conservative state really understands how frivolous the party system is in the whole scheme of what our Constitution contemplated as far as how our country should be run.
With logical proposals like this, no wonder Utahns bounced him this year. W
Besides the rogue headline ("Federal agency probes Scouts over gay ban") this article raises some interesting casts significant doubt about how the Clinton Administration has handled the Boy Scouts' rejection of homosexuals. For years, the Scouts have been fighting to protect their right to reject gays. Those who condemn the practice do it mainly on moral grounds, flatly asserting that excluding gays is wrong no matter who does it and regardless of their reason for it. The actions, or more accurately lack of actions, of the Clinton-Gore Administration, plainly speak a very different message - they clearly don't have any moral disagreement with the Scouts' position on gays.
But, you cry, they're taking action! They're launching a probe! They're investigating! Well, all this is true. But when, and why? The answers to these questions reveal the truth. As I just said, the Scouts have been fighting this battle for years. During all this time, they have apparently been receiving all kinds of government support - special access to federal lands, training, funding, and other assorted goodies. All these goodies meant that the current administration had leverage. The Clinton-Gore administration could have taken a stand on the issue many years ago if it truly cared about gays' access to the Scouts. But it chose to do nothing - until this summer. Only after the Scouts won did this administration choose to take any kind of action.
The political timing was perfect - by then, the battle had reached a fever pitch and the publicity was at its maximum. The moral timing, however, was lacking - because if the Clinton-Gore administration truly believs that their current actions are just, why did they wait so long? Why did they wait at all? Perhaps the political advantage to be gained by tolerating the Scouts' policy was just too tempting. Now that the election is rolling around, be sure you'll hear a lot about how this administration supports gay rights. When they say it, ask yourself - when, and why? W
Ooops. MeFi mask created by Matt. W
[August 30, 2000]
Okay, I've been busy. I've neglected you. And you've rightfully reciprocated. But I haven't totally forgotten about you. in fact, I've been collecting links all week - today's entries are a spew of everything that's flown across my radar in the last six days or so, conveniently packaged in one day's entries. Sorry for my absence, and enjoy. W
Derek's coming book on his Community Web Lecture Series Promises to be quite interesting. I wonder if he's ever had a chance to visit Pyroto Mountain, and if so, what his thoughts would be. W
Make WOIFM look like MetaFilter, or Fairvue. Created by kottke and nikolai. W
Gore screwed up. He's already accepted invitations for over forty debates, saying he'd debate Gov. Bush anytime, anywhere. Now Bush is mulling over which ones he wants to accept, and Gore wants to back out of all but the "offical" debates by the major-party puppet Commission on Presidential Debates. I'm not sure what the correct decision is, but Bush needs to carefully weigh whether having Nader, Buchanan, and Browne there will make him look good by comaprison while everyone jumps on Gore.
But that's just Gore's first screw-up. The second is that Gore has fostered such a reputation as a fierce debater, and fanned the flames by holding the debate issue in the spotlight, that he can't win for winning them now. If Bush just shows up, enunciates clearly, and remembers that "Fox" is both a TV network and a Mexican President, he will have won. W
Now that I'm married, I find it sooooooooo much easier to flirt - I've got nothing to lose (and correspondingly, precious little to gain). So, given the occasion, I'd be jack's wing guy anytime. If nothing else, it would make a great blog entry. W
From Mullings:
Here is the Associated Press' assessment of the highly touted Gore prescription drug plan. "Those facing average drug costs might not benefit much. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the average Medicare beneficiary paid $673 for drugs in 1996. Gore's plan would pay half that bill, or about $337, but require $300 in premiums, leaving the average beneficiary that year only $36 ahead."
Here's the full article. Thirty-six bucks a year? That's Gore's big plan? Boy, that will look mighty bad in the debates. W
A wee bit of civil disobedience... Some Southern students voluntarily joined in prayer before a school football game. The ACLU is understandably concerned that anyone would dare to exercise their rights of peaceable assembly, free speech, and free worship. W
For Eco-doomsayers, first there was the Ice Age that never came. Now, Dr. James Hansen, the NASA scientist who sounded the early alarm on global warming, disavows carbon dioxide as a problem:
In his latest study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he reports that, while the burning of fossil fuels has substantially raised carbon dioxide levels, it also produces a particulate haze that reflects back much of the sun's energy, thus offsetting the global warming effect, if there even is one. [emphasis added]
Breaching the Web has also pointed to another article about gloom and doom predictions from the 70's, almost all of which were totally wrong. Carry on... W
Did Clinton's subversion of the justice system go beyond perjury? W
From Megnut: A Chicago Sun-Times article on weblogs has a new definition of blog:
Ever come across a Web page that was nothing but a list of short, time-stamped tidbits, with the newest items at the top? That's a Web log, and it's one of the few wholly new means of communication the Web has brought to us humans.
I guess that settles the "What is a weblog?" argument. W