And you know that Ampersand could have filled up multiple comics just like it.
White Lies
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Jul 312007
Elizabeth May, now the executive director of Sierra Club of Canada, has written a short and highly entertaining book called How to Save the World in Your Spare Time. It’s hard to find the happy medium between dippy, counterproductive overoptimism and defeatist cynicism, but May does it. The book is somewhat slanted towards environmentalism, because that’s what May does; but the principles apply to any grassroots movement. (Even the bad ones, I would assume.) It’s also full of entertaining anecdotes and cautionary tales, beginning with the story of how May’s mother saved the planet.
More on the Federal budget
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Jul 252007
Athenian Abroad reads the Federal budget so you don’t have to, but should. The series:
- Estimating the true fiscal gap
- Eliminating tax loopholes, especially for the wealthy
- Deconstructing the fantasy of spending cuts without tax increases
And a series of links for further reading.
WAY more prejudicial than probative
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Jul 202007
When even the corporate defense lawyers are against you, it’s time to pack it in.
In the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a gentleman named Harold Lischner filed a lawsuit for false arrest against Upper Darby Township. Apparently the President was visiting Upper Darby, and a catering facility allowed people to come onto its property to watch the motorcade go by–but forbidding protest or the displaying of signs. When Mr. Lischner nonetheless showed up with an anti-Bush sign, refusing to put down the sign or leave, he was arrested, and therefore sued the township for its police department’s illegal actions.
The defense lawyers made a motion to prevent the plaintiff from mentioning President Bush’s name during the trial, arguing that the mere mention of this unpopular fellow “”is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to defendant”. They wanted the court to agree that “it will be sufficient for plaintiff to testify that he displayed a sign in opposition of a ‘presidential candidate.’”
The Court, unsurprisingly, denied the motion. Can’t blame them for trying, I suppose.
Jul 192007
Athenian Abroad explains “the deficit”, what it means, and how deep the hole we’ve dug really is.
Jul 152007
In response to Sanya’s post over at Eating Bees about the whole “lady gamer” thing, you’d expect the usual whiny “waaaa not all men are evil!!!!” it’s-all-about-me denial comments. Less common, but also expected, are the comments that pretend we live in a 1940s movie.
You know, the type of movie that people who declare “Vive le difference!” love to watch, where the battle of the sexes is conducted in witty repartee, and where a man who gets too far out of line earns himself a ringing, yet feminine, slap in the face, after which all caddery ceases.
How else to explain the mindset that if you point out a problem, you can’t possibly be doing anything at all about the problem, and the best response to sexist assholes in gaming is “STFU or GTFO”? That if enough women silently pick up their dice/character sheets/epic armor and go elsewhere, the fools will see the error of their ways?
I’m all for action as a result of, rather than a substitute for, a complaint, but I’m also rather cynical. Which means I’m also aware that people who bleat about “STFU or GTFO” really mean one thing: STFU. They don’t want to hear about it, they certainly don’t want to hear that they might be part of the problem, and they don’t want the ladies casting any aspersions on their beloved hobby, which is both a downer and might lead to armor models that actually cover female avatars’ entire bodies, if you can believe it.
As daskindt pointed out, some people get extremely petulant when it’s pointed out that their hobby is not as wonderful for everyone as it is for them. Especially if “making it better for others” means an ounce of consideration from their own sorry selves.
Jul 092007
Having lost my first solo trial, I decided to mark the occasion by getting a tattoo. It’s about 1/2″ long, so if (when) I lose trials in the future, I can get another, identical tattoo right above it. And so on.
Rocio at Black and Blue did the work, which didn’t hurt at all, unlike losing.
This will only encourage him
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Jul 072007
The Michigan Supreme Court agreed, in a split decision, that Geoffrey Figer does not have the right to smack talk judges.
This is one of those cases where you kind of wish that both sides could lose.
Jul 012007
Michael Bérubé writes about raising a disabled child without being sappy, but still manages to be cheerful, and make some damn good points along the way.
Also, in his own polite way he trashes that stupid fucking “Welcome to Holland” story.
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