some wordplay with your gunplay
Campers may now pack heat along with their sleeping bags when they travel to national parks. The Bush administration on Friday struck down federal regulations banning loaded guns in most national forests, a move that was widely seen as a parting shot on behalf of the National Rifle Association. The ruling overturned a 25-year-old federal regulation severely restricting concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. The new rule, which would take effect in January, would apparently allow anyone who already has a concealed weapons permit in his or her state to also tote a gun in federal parks within state boundaries. Guns will be allowed in national parks: Thanks, SFGate, for “pack heat along with their sleeping bags” and “parting...
Read Morenow what
I was at work when the news came, when the world changed. I was at work and we are not supposed to show our emotions on our sleeves, our choices on our lapels, but we couldn’t help it, and we clapped our hands and laughed and said yes. My father called and said, “Thank you, California!” and I replied, “Thank you, Pennsylvania!” and for a few minutes it was like we were in the same place. I sent my mother a text that read, “Yes, we can, and yes, we did! Congratulations on a new America, mooms.” She replied that she was with me, and for a few minutes, she was. On the train home, I sneakily studied the faces of the people around me, thinking: does he know yet? Is she happy? And then I pretended as if I didn’t know yet,...
Read Moreno on prop 8
Attention California voters: Proposition 8 is about discrimination, fair and simple. Vote NO on Prop 8. Scalzi said it much better than I ever could: This is why every single potential supporter of Proposition 8 should be looked square in the eye and asked if they are truly and seriously ready to say that that they personally are prepared to destroy already existing, already legal marriages — if they are truly and seriously ready to say that they know better than the people in a marriage whether that marriage should be allowed to exist — if they are truly and seriously ready to say to two married people, “you two don’t deserve to be married, and I intend to kill your marriage...
Read Morewe can
I know what I said last November about voting or not voting, but you might want to watch this before Tuesday. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY&rel=1](via John Hodgman)
Read Morevote today
TalkLeft said it best: “We get the Government we elect.” San Franciscans, I recommend Smart Voter. Californians, I recommend the 2006 California Progressive Voter Guide. And Americans, just get off your whiny, self-aggrandizing asses and vote.
Read Morepatriot act, close to home
As you might know, I have a sign on my office door that reads: “The FBI has not been here. Watch closely for the removal of this sign.” It’s been on my door for a while now; I put it up shortly after the ALA‘s response to the Patriot Act. Sometime between 6 p.m. last night and 8:30 a.m. this morning, the sign was removed. There are two options, as I see them: it was removed accurately, or it was removed as a prank. The former is terrifying to realize, as it could mean that the meager privacy of this library’s patrons is no more. The latter is just pathetic and ignorant, not to mention unethical. Many patrons check the status of this sign, some on a daily basis, for years now. They have come to rely on its accuracy. And some...
Read Morewho’s sorry
Yesterday, Greg wrote a thought-provoking post about “Sorry, everybody.” I don’t agree with him, but it certainly made me think, particularly about apologies and why they’re important to me. The reason why I don’t agree with Greg is very simple: in my opinion, apologizing is not a sign of weakness, of weeniedom. It’s the opposite. I am a strong person, and yet I apologize for my failures. That’s not a waste of anyone’s time. If those of us who could have done more don’t take responsibility for that fact, and feel bad about the repercussions for the rest of the world, how are we going to improve in the next four years? This stage, this disappointment in our apathy and acceptance of the consequences, is just...
Read Moreextinguishing the effigy
I’m nauseated by some folks’ reactions to the election, particularly those in the Bay Area. We are so isolated here that it is quite easy for us all to say “this is not my America” or “I’m moving to Canada” or burn effigies of Bush. This last has me especially upset. Burning someone in effigy, to me, is an act of abject hatred. Is this what we want to become? Because, you know, we’re already over halfway there in the eyes of the rest of the world. Let’s not push it over the edge with thoughtless “Fuck America” signs and flag-burning. Sure, I’m angry at the bamboozlement of over half the country by the media. I work in a library; don’t you think I know how many people no longer...
Read Moreyou’ll see
According to MSNBC (television, not website), an unconfirmed AP report says Kerry has called Bush to concede. I know this election had more issues than the presidential race, but, aside from the stem-cell research in California, every one of them is disappointing me right now. I got so worked up about it all that I forgot to take my Cipro before bed last night. Yes, I’m disappointed in the election results. Yes, I wish Kerry had won resoundingly, not because I believe in who he is now but because I believe in who he could become. But what angers me more than anything else is hearing 18-29 year olds bragging about how they didn’t vote. “Voting is a choice, not a right,” they explain. “I made my statement by not saying anything at...
Read Moretoo close to call
It doesn’t look good. And as the perfectly-coifed newscaster just reminded me, a candidate’s victory is not contingent on the concession of the other. But now everybody’s going to bed and forgetting about it until 10:00 (in which time zone, I wonder), so I will too. Please let there be better news in a few hours.
Read MoreHello What
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