Damn, I missed Woodstock
In my defense, I was only 9 years old at the time. Even so, I could have seen this in person! I love Joe Cocker!
(via)
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June 27, 2008
June 26, 2008
Gay Marriage for the OC now! Oh, wait, they have it.
Let’s let them keep it:
“Our preference would be for the government not to be involved in marriage, the most fundamental of institutions in a civil society. Why two people who want to be married should be required to get a license from the state is something of a mystery. Marriage existed long before the California or U.S. governments came into being and will continue long after they have been consigned to history. Whether a marriage is valid should be up to the people involved and the churches, synagogues, mosques or other religious institutions that choose to perform them or not.
“As a practical matter, however, the government has so entwined itself into our daily lives that state recognition is important. Filing taxes as a married couple or as individuals makes a difference, as does the ability to own real estate, make end-of-life decisions or adopt children. Considering all this and the importance of equality before the law, the high court’s decision was justified.”
Editorial: Marriage shouldn’t be government’s concern, OC Register, June 22, 2008 (ht) (Also: Gay marriage backers want ban issue off ballot, Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer, Saturday, June 21, 2008 [also ht])
Oh. My. God. I’m agreeing with the OC Register. Maybe there really is hope for this crazy mixed up world.
By the way, this does not let anyone off the hook for voting in November. Just get registered to vote! And then vote! It’s easy, and if you really need help or motivation (heheheheh), you can call me on Skype at ginger.mayerson Sometimes I answer, sometimes I don’t. It’s a like life: a gamble.
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June 25, 2008
Call for Blog Essays for the Journal of Bloglandia, Issue 2
The deadline is August 1, 2008. Please send your blog essay on in on one of these templates: MS Word or Rich Text Format or Plain Text by August 1. Contact me if you have any questions or anything. I’m at editor AT j-bloglandia DOT info or editor AT wapshottpress DOT com or you can use the form below. Thanks!
June 19, 2008
Prop 13 effect
Prop. 13 property taxes in the voters’ hands, John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer, Friday, June 6, 2008 (via)
Bookmark for me. Might be interesting for you. The comments are instructive and depressing.
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June 17, 2008
Mayerson GOTV: Yeah, irony, just vote for Dems in November, please?
I loathe American irony, but I found this apt:
Voter Registration in all 50 States. Ginger doesn’t want to hear you didn’t know how to register to vote. She knows baby is muuuuuch smarter than that.
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Isn’t having to wear a tie bad enough?
Now guys have to worry about their shoulders?
In truth, men’s fashion endlessly mystifies me. How do men work out the tie/shirt thing? Or sports jacket/pants thing? Cuff links? Tie bar vs. tie clip vs. tie pin? How do you men know when to wear a white jacket or a black jacket after five? I recently watched Casablanca several times (okay, eight times, and then I quit cold turkey) and I was not enlightened. I mean, is this white jacket thing something you only wear in nightclubs? I just don’t know.
I just looked at some suit shoulders on heads of state from the mid 90s.
Oh. My. God. The Dandiest is correct!
The case against het marriage
This sounds more like Dee Patterson is making a case for divorce. I know For Better or For Worse is supposed to be some kind of paean to marriage and family but I’ve never seen it that way. Reading FBOFW has always been looking at a car accident I missed.
Full disclosure: I do know some happily married het and gay families, I am not anti-family or anti-child or anti-love, but FBOFW just takes all the joy out of it for me and I can’t imagine any kids reading this would think the trapped creepy hopeless, but financially secure blandness of the Patterson milieu is at all desirable. Foxtrot, Jump Start, Calvin and Hobbes, Zits, Kevin and Kell, and Rose is Rose do a much better job of making growing up, loving, and having a family much more fun than FBOFW. I suspect Lynn Johnson wants her readers to know that successful het society is a very exclusive club and they’ll have to earn their happiness if they want to be like her. But, hey lady, even I know there’s more joy in growing up, loving, and having a family than the Pattersons make of it. FBOFW does to relationships what Mary Worth does for growing old: they make them suck more than they really do.
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June 16, 2008
New York will honor California same-sex unions
Start spreadin’ the news:
“California is the second state to marry same-sex couples after Massachusetts, but it will be the first ready to grant licenses to couples from any state. Gay marriage is rejected by 45 states, but New York will honor new same-sex unions.”
California gets ready for first gay marriages, Reuters, June 16, 2008 (I’m boycotting AP from now until forever)
Hooray for New York!
Mayerson GOTV: And Californians, before we get too misty, we all have to vote against the gay haters anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment which will bring out all the conservative nutbars in November. If you are not registered to vote, PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE! You can do so online, fer God’s sake, at http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm. It’s all right there, lots of information there. Don’t mess around on this one, please and thank you.
June 15, 2008
Yeah, and quit saying the past is in the past, too
“There is a consistent misuse of the colorblind theory of racial reconciliation - and evidence that total colorblindness in society is far more dangerous than multiculturalism to racial reconciliation and harmony. The reasoning behind it is pretty simple: if you believe that society’s ultimate aim is the complete denial, rather than acceptance, of our differences, then the very fact that we’re different becomes an affront to societal harmony.”
It’s time to stop saying it’s time to move on, Jesse Taylor, June 15, 2008
Hey, isn’t this a great picture?
I love it!
June 14, 2008
Mayerson GOTV: Obama says he would cut taxes for middle class
“Democrat Barack Obama told voters Saturday he would push an aggressive economic agenda as president: cutting taxes for the middle class, raising taxes on the wealthy, pouring money into ‘green energy’ and requiring employers to set up retirement saving plans for their workers.
Campaigning in Pennsylvania, a key battleground in the fall campaign, Obama said he would take a much more hands-on approach than would Republican John McCain. He again criticized McCain’s proposal for a temporary halt in the federal gasoline tax. It would ‘actually do real harm,’ Obama said, by reducing revenue for road and bridge construction even as oil companies make record profits.”
Obama says he would cut taxes for middle class, By Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer, Saturday, June 14, 2008
Hey there Patriotic Middle Class Taxpayers, wouldn’t you rather pay less taxes and have those taxes pay for stuff like this than for horrific, bloody, unjust, tragic, stupid wars that further de-stabilize unstable places, but make Junior Bush feel like his penis is bigger? Fuck yeah! Me, too! Lower taxes, cooler services, and, y’know, like, a future for everyone!
The rest of you can get hip to the scene and STFU, thanks!
Vote Obama or we’re not just doomed, we’re fucking doomed.
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June 13, 2008
Mayerson GOTV: Obama wants payroll tax on incomes above $250,000
“Democrat Barack Obama said Friday he would apply the Social Security payroll tax to all annual incomes above $250,000, which would affect the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans.
“The presidential candidate told senior citizens in Ohio that it is unfair for middle-class earners to pay the Social Security tax ‘on every dime they make,’ while millionaires and billionaires pay it on only ‘a very small percentage of their income.’
“The 6.2 percent payroll tax is now applied to all income up to $102,000 a year, which covers the entire amount for most Americans. Under Obama’s plan, the tax would not apply to incomes between that amount and $250,000. But all annual income above the quarter-million-dollar amount would be taxed under his plan.
“Obama has talked before of establishing such a ‘doughnut hole’ in the amount of income subject to the Social Security tax. Friday marked the first time he named a restart level: $250,000 and above.”
Obama wants payroll tax on incomes above $250,000, By Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer, Friday, June 13, 2008
Yesss! The rich are different: they have more money!
This is fair: 15% on $50K is $7,500, which is a lot for someone earning $50K/year. It leaves this taxpayer with $42,500 to pay the rest of their taxes, shelter costs, food, gas, whatnot. 15% on $500K is $75K, which is more than the $50K/year person even grosses so STFU, thanks!
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June 11, 2008
Yes! Abolish marriage! Muwhahahaha!
Marriage equality = the end of all marriage. Outrageous! (Yessss!) What next? The 32 hour work week? Universal healthcare? Free college educations for everyone? Well, we must start small, and Kern County is just the place for it:
“One county is taking this ‘no more marriages’ thing quite literally - and it’s shameful.
“‘Kern County Clerk Ann Barnett has announced that her office will stop performing all weddings a few days before June 17, the date that same-sex couples can legally apply for marriage licenses.’
“‘Barnett’s staff processes marriage licenses for hundreds of Kern County residents each year and it will continue to do, for both straight and gay couples, beginning June 17 as required by law, she said in a written statement. But as of June 13, the staff will no longer officiate at civil ceremonies for an extra $30 fee.’
“Officials cited financial reasons for the decision. But internal memos between a high-ranking official in Barnett’s office and a conservative Christian legal defense fund, published in the Bakersfield Californian this week, indicate that Barnett may have acted on principle rather than for financial reasons.
“As long as Barnett is officiating no marriages instead of only straight ones, it’s not discriminatory. And the same goes for the state, according to the most honest reading of the relevant statutes.
“The idiots who think they’re defending marriage by trying to narrow its definition to one man and one woman are actually trying to do nothing but eliminate it.”
Marriage Equality: The end of marriage?, by David Dayen, Calitics, June 10, 2008
No marriage for anyone! Muwhahahaha! Then who will those married men cheat on? I ask you.
Feh, if one must get married, just get married in some other county. Or someone do Justice of the Peace Winnebagos, for God’s sake. Why must I think of these things?
Zapping HIV With Lasers
“Shaking a virus to death is not a new idea. Arizona State University physicist Kong-Thon Tsen, who pioneered the practice, conducted eight peer-reviewed studies in 2006 and 2007 demonstrating that vibrations can deactivate a number of viruses. But Tsen’s latest work may have found a way to destroy HIV, just by hitting the right note.
I”n much the same way that opera singers use sound waves to shatter glass, laser light has shown considerable potential for killing viruses such as the tobacco necrosis virus and M13 bacteriophages. Like a wineglass, a virus’s outer shell—known as a capsid—has an intrinsic frequency of vibration. Tsen uses a near-infrared laser to excite the target’s outer shell and spur vibrations powerful enough to rupture the capsid.
“In March 2008, preliminary testing revealed that Tsen’s lasers were able to destroy HIV in test tubes. For people with AIDS, Tsen’s antiviral attack could be more effective and safer than the current drug cocktails, which have a slew of side effects. In the next two or three years, Tsen hopes to test the technology’s effects on HIV in monkeys, zapping blood outside the body.”
Zapping HIV With Lasers. Lasers set to the right frequency may effectively knock out the virus, by Orli Van Mourik, Discover, June 10, 2008
So there IS something to look forward to!
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June 10, 2008
J McCain is a little loopy on Obama’s estate tax plan
This is what he thinks. Thanks for the fact check, Dr. Krugman.
This is what the real deal is: Make permanent estate tax with $3.5 million exemption and 45 percent rate. 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Tax Proposals (what a handy chart this is!)
The Mayerson verdict: Anyone who is heir to an estate worth more than $3,500,000.00 can afford 45% tax on the rest of it. Go out and earn back what you paid in taxes, you spoiled jerks. It’s good for you and the economy!
Is it November yet?
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June 8, 2008
A better BEA report than mine will evah be
“Arrived in L.A. around 5:30. Flying in, I got a view of all these amazing purple trees lining the streets (I forgot to take a picture, but Cynthia informs me they are jacaranda trees). After de-planing, spent the better part of an hour waiting for the shared van. Finally arrived at the Figueroa Hotel at about 6:45. It was pretty funny when the occupants of the van - all younger than me - looked at the front. ‘Why are we stopping at this dump?’ asked one young man, who’d declared himself a 2nd year law student during the ride. ‘Me,’ I said, laughing and squeezing out of the car.”
BEA in LA, Jacqueline C. Simonds, Publisher, Beagle Bay, Inc., June 8, 2008
Ms. Simonds is a lovely lady Tom Good and I visited with in the Hotel Figueroa lobby while I recovered on Sunday afternoon from Sunday morning at BEA. Tom is in much better shape than I am. I like the Hotel Figueroa very much - Tom said he was reasonably comfortable there - most hotel lobbies make me feel like I should be moving along and very quickly.
Check out JCS’ picture of the Scientology Pirates. You’ll be glad you did. I’m glad Tom and I weren’t the only ones lured in.
I was in crowd shock and not paying any attention. And then I noticed…
Mayerson: L. Ron Hubbard!?! Is he here?!
Pirate Girl: No, but we’re promoting his book.
She didn’t bat an eyelid, so she must get asked that a lot.
And then we were rescued by this giant bear who didn’t appear to be a Scientologist.
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June 4, 2008
Obama it is
But Senator Clinton gave a good speech.
(via) (ht)
“Now, 16 months ago, you and I began a journey to make history and to remake America. And from the hills of New Hampshire to the hollows of West Virginia and Kentucky, from the fields of California to the factories of Ohio, from the Alleghenies to the Ozarks to the Everglades, to right here in the great state of New York, we — we saw millions of Americans registering to vote for the first time, raising money for the first time, knocking on doors, making calls, talking to their friends and neighbors, mothers and fathers lifting their little girls and their little boys onto their shoulders and whispering, ‘See, you can be anything you want to be.’”
Text of her speech
And, to do what I said I’d do and put my money where my mouth is….I’ll never be as Irish as Mr. Dan Kelly, but I can copy him.
Mayerson GOTV: Gay Marriage on the line in November 2008
“SAN FRANCISCO - California’s highest court Wednesday refused to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, clearing the final hurdle for gay couples to start tying the knot this month.
“Conservative religious and legal groups had asked the California Supreme Court to stop its May 15 order requiring state and local officials to sanction same-sex unions from becoming effective until voters have the chance to consider the issue in November. The justices’ decisions typically become final after 30 days.
“An initiative to ban gay marriage has qualified for the Nov. 4 ballot. Its passage would overrule the court’s decision by amending the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman.”
Calif. court refuses to stay gay marriage ruling, by Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer, June 4, 2008
Seriously Californians, get registered, get with it and vote this gay hatin’ constitutional amendment down in November. Prop 22 slipped in because no one thought anyone would be crazy enough to vote for it. Hey, as Scotty said to Chekov on the bridge of the Enterprise, “Fool me once…” etc.
America was a great country
If only because the Nicholas Brothers were once in it.
“This clip features saxophonist Tex Beneke, singing group The Modernaires and the dancing Nicholas Brothers. The Nicholas Brothers called their athletic dance style “flash dancing.” They are a precursor to the 1990’s break dancers. The “no hands splits,” which they do several of in this routine, are considered physically impossible by present day dancers. Gregory Hines has said that if their biography was ever filmed, their dance numbers would have to be computer generated because no one could duplicate them.”
Glen Miller: I’ve got a gal in Kalamazoo, Clark Picks, June 1, 2008
Oh, and Groucho Marx singing “Lydia”. Eh.
June 3, 2008
Mayerson GOTV: Is California really that fucked up?
Gay haters on the march. (ht Logan)
Is CA really that much more fucked up than Vermont or Massachusetts? What the hell is wrong with these people? They want gays to be like them, so let gays marry, just like hets. It’s shockingly logical, an OC Republican could see it.
Okay, sane Californians, get registered even if you only vote against this stupid hateful thing. And while we’re at it, why don’t some sane Californians amend the Constitution to include gay marriage so we can stop this gay hating bullshit once and for all. I mean, you can’t turn your back on these psycho gay hating Californians for two seconds that they’re not trying to mess up our State. Geeze.
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