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Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

Category: Personal Page 40 of 59

Friday Notes: One Foot Out the Door

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On March 21, 2008

In Personal, Politics, Virginia

Looking forward to the end of a most miserable week. Combine days of fever, a raw cough, and poison ivy all over for an especially good time.  Off for a weekend in Raleigh, shortly, and I am working hard to convince myself that I’ll be all better when I get back.

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I’m a big fan of Larry Lessig, and think that he can be credited with a good chuck of the progress we’ve made in imparting the importance of IP laws to the general public. He always found a way to get to the core of the issue in a plain and understandable way, without dumbing it down. So I’m at something of a loss to explain the extraordinary naiveté that he seems to be demonstrating with his new Change Congress project.  I think maybe he’s been hanging out with us techno/law dorks too long.

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Brilliant.

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Had a chance to sit down with Amit Singh earlier this week.  This fellow Arlingtonian recently announced for the Republican primary for the 8th Congressional District seat (yep, he wants to run against Rep. Jim Moran).  I’d hoped to get our interview up this week, but it looks like I’ll have to push it to next week.  It’ll be worth it, I think – he’s not the kind of Republican we’ve been hearing from over the past 8 years.

~

Among the many things I didn’t do (that I should have) this week was point you to Vivian Paige’s take on Geraldine Ferraro’s words.  Well worth reading.

Elvis, Was a Hero to Most

By

On March 20, 2008

In Personal, Politics, Society

Dedicated to the sad and fearful little man behind Laura Ingraham’s show:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuTi9UZtPbw[/youtube]

On Five Years

By

On March 19, 2008

In Personal

What’s there to say?  Our political leaders have completely failed, when it comes to Iraq (both on the mission there and ending that mission).  Our soldiers are still dying for a cause they didn’t sign up for – I am sure that not a single one of them ever had “keep the Administration from admitting its mistakes” in mind when they enlisted or re-uped.

More Like This: Obama’s Speech

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On March 18, 2008

In Personal, Politics, Society

It’s probably too late, but I’ll say this anyway: ignore all the coverage you see of the speech that Obama gave today, and go watch or read it yourself.  It’s a little slow at the beginning, but I think it’s one of the best speeches on race in America (and how it affects our political discourse) that I’ve heard from a national politician in a very very long time.   Instead of running from the issue, or smoothing it over with meaningless platitudes, Obama grabbed it head on and spoke frankly.  I think every politician could take a lesson here.  And if they actually paid attention to that lesson, they could help create a climate in which a substantive and productive discussion on race in America could take place.

I have been – and remain – an Obama skeptic.  And there are a good number of things I’d change about that speech, were I giving it.  That said, I think it represents a real step forward in political discourse.  We’d all do well to take a look at it ourselves, instead of through the filter of cable news or short online summaries.

Overnight Music: Low Country Boil

By

On March 14, 2008

In Music, Personal

The Black Crowes – She Talks to Angels
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a76FeV2-Dw[/youtube]

Fiona Apple – Criminal

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTpvjNn2BUM[/youtube]

Cassandra Wilson – Children of the Night

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1SWctJBVKw[/youtube]

The last video appears to be someone’s personal project – well worth checking out.

Friday Notes: Too Tired Edition

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On March 13, 2008

In Personal, Politics, Tech, Virginia

Eliza’s father died.  Mark Frauenfelder gives an appropriate eulogy, here.

~

Arlington works – last Monday night, I told Arlington County that there was a problem with a portion of the road that runs near my place, and is marked as a bike route.  8 days later, they’re out there and filling 24 potholes.  Color me impressed.

~

I well and truly hate poison ivy.  There is no good purpose of that scourge on this planet.

~

On Elliot Spitzer:  yes, he should resign.  But really, you GOP folk, you have exactly *zero* room to make moralizing pronouncements on it.   And really, this screwup strikes me as something as should be mostly dealt with between him and his wife.  Still, I find it somewhat appropriate that Spitzer was snagged by the financial transaction rules he himself pushed into place.

Overnight Music: RAD!

By

On March 4, 2008

In Music, Personal

One of my best friends on the planet was in town recently, and at some point the conversation meandered to the bootleg movies on VHS tape that we wore out as kids.  In honor of that, I present the following:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwBbMXYDsXw[/youtube]

That was his.  The next two are mine:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyW9864AXVk[/youtube]

and

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufrCIwNk1zc[/youtube]

Overnight Music: North Sea

By

On February 24, 2008

In EU, Music, Personal, UK

The 80s saw a lot of trips between our home in Fulda (Germany) and our family in Nottingham (England). This trip always involved an overnight ferry, often from Zeebrugge to Hull (occasionally returning Dover to Calais). We usually had a family cabin, and my parents fell asleep long before I was willing to call it a day. As a result, I often ended up in P&O’s casinos or at the edge of dancefloors I shouldn’t have been. This is (part of) the soundtrack of those nights.

Yep

By

On February 20, 2008

In Personal

The xkcd comic has a somewhat limited (albeit fiercely devoted) audience, but I think most of us can appreciate this:

Using Your Superpower For Good

By

On February 19, 2008

In Distribution, Personal

Cory Doctorow bring us this bit of goodness – librarians waiving fees in exchange for Dance Dance Revolution play. While I’ve got a conflicted relationship with librarians*, I think this is fantastic.

*No, really. Just a few years ago, I was almost forced to deal a mortal blow to a Library of Congress librarian who thought he had to defend the stacks against a dear friend of mine. Because she couldn’t immediately articulate the exact focus of her research. Sonofabitch! But then I remember the librarian who declined to turn my 2nd grade self into my (working in the same school) mother, even though he’d caught me entering terribly obscene answers into the library’s “What Is This?” photo contest.

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