Posts Tagged ‘broken clock’

Hey the ACLU acting like…

Posted: February 26, 2009 by datechguy in internet/free speech
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…an actual civil liberties organization:

To help spruce up the building’s image, they hired artist Matt Evanson and gave him free rein to paint a giant mural of marine life, thus far depicting images of six local game fish: snook, redfish, tarpon, dolphin, grouper and sailfish. But Evanson has not been able to complete the artwork – which contains no words except for his signature – because the city on Florida’s Gulf Coast claims it violates the sign code.

He had an interesting counter:

His response? Proudly hang a giant banner with text of the First Amendment promoting free speech in front of the mural. Not amused, the city of Clearwater is now threatening to hook Quintero with fines of $500 a day for displaying the large version of America’s founding document.

Well they weren’t the only ones not amused:

The American Civil Liberties Union has been reeled in and is representing Quintero in court.

“Only in Florida could a business owner be targeted and fined for displaying artwork; and then in protest of the fine, display the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – and then be ticketed for that,” said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. “Unfortunately, public officials disregard constitutional freedoms all the time, but punishing citizens for displaying the Constitution may be a first.”

Stop the ACLU is impressed:

This is a fight for a certain amount of free speech. All liberty minded Americans should hope for the ACLU to be victorious over this corrosive power of the city to impose itself on its citizens. Anyone interested in the rights of property owners should support Mr. Quintero in this fight. More of these thuggish city rules should be challenged throughout the country to put a check on the nanny state in which we increasingly live.

Hey lets see if this keeps up.

This is how Civilized people think

Posted: February 20, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Via Glenn this Kos diary on the cartoon nonsense is pretty good but the best part of it is at the end:

A while back, I wrote a diary about Warren, who I met while canvassing for Obama in southern Fairfax County. Warren was well into his 70’s and white. He began our conversation by informing me, quite bluntly, that he was voting for McCain because of “the lazy coloreds on welfare”. In spite of his comment, I engaged him. We talked for an hour. He eventually said, “That Obama is smart as a whip”, asked me for a pamphlet outlining Obama’s positions on the issues, and told me he had some thinking to do. You know what several people here on DailyKos said? That I was wrong for talking to the guy after he used the word colored. That I should have given him a lecture on how negative and hurtful the term is. Some people were.. yes… outraged.. that I didn’t tell Warren then and there that he was out of line. And this would have helped then candidate Obama… how? This would have helped me… how? This would have helped my country… how?

This doesn’t make Obama a better candidate but if the other side can persuade people in legitimate discussion then it is fine. It is similar to my conversation with a Quaker protesting at a Palin rally. This is exactly the way political speech should work.

Right to the point

Posted: February 20, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: , , ,

I teased the Reculsive leftist a little because she didn’t notice the outrage of the right and Christians over the beheading in Buffalo and lack of coverage thereof. She however hits it out of the park with this one:

For many commenters on the web, it is apparently impossible to condemn this nightmare without hastening to add that American culture has plenty of its own home-grown brand of misogyny, and it’s therefore “intolerant” to notice the particular lethalness of the honor-shame paradigm in some non-Western cultures. You know the argument: America is full of sexism and the commodification of women and our own gendered violence, so we have no business even talking about women’s rights.

If you’re a habitué of the progressive blogosphere, this line of thought is probably so familiar that you take it in without blinking.

She sees it as woman’s rights vs human rights and argues that they are same thing:

But for me, as a feminist, women’s rights are human rights. I am not an apostle for American culture, which is certainly far from perfect; I am an advocate for women. When I criticize honor killings or sharia law or any of the other non-Western abuses of women, I’m not speaking from a standpoint of cultural chauvinism. The ground I occupy is one of fundamental human rights for all women: freedom of action, of self-determination, of bodily integrity; freedom from violence and oppression and subjugation; freedom to be educated, to work, to love, to have children (or not); freedom to participate fully in life as first-class citizens. I view and judge every society on earth through that lens, including my own.

But by the same token, it doesn’t work to simply advocate for a universal ideal of women’s rights without inquiring too closely into the specific cultural obstacles to achieving that ideal. The devil, as ever, is in the details. We cannot unpack the situation of an abused wife in a conservative Christian community, for example, unless we understand the particular social and religious codes at work. We can’t stop honor killings unless we know why they happen — and I mean exactly why they happen. What are the social and religious codes at work there? What is the psychology of the people who do this? What drives them, what sustains them, what potential punishments and rewards are in the offing? I wrote on Tuesday that “we must be like doctors fighting disease, seeking to identify precisely the pathogens involved.” If we’re serious about ending the oppression of women, nothing less will do.

She does ignore the real possibility that people writing are afraid of getting ones head cut off but other than that omission this is about as solid as it gets.

Morning Joe Mika strikes back!

Posted: February 9, 2009 by datechguy in baseball, opinion/news
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Mika seems to think that the republicans are in trouble and seems to glow.

6:01 a.m. Joe corrects Mr. Summers record, it would be nice if they mentioned the daily calls between George S at ABC and the white house guys.

6:03 a.m. I think the prime the pump with wars is an unfair statement, I wouldn’t actually be surprised if President Bush actually gave that spending to buy votes on the war. If so it was a good investment.

6:12 a.m. I won isn’t an argument but I disagree, nobody is making the point that they could pass this without republicans, let us vote against it if you think the public will object.

6:16 a.m. Can Mika explain to me why a bill with at most three republicans in both houses for it is “bi-partisan” but 10 nations with troops in Iraq is the US being unilateral?

6:20 a.m. I actually think the Rodriguez business is a tad unfair, I’ll discuss this in a different post. Doesn’t make the headline wrong. I’m really surprised that Barnicle didn’t jump all over it.

6:22 a.m. I don’t know what these guys make but if MIka buys uses then she has even more brains then i give her credit for.

6:35 a.m. Maybe they ought to think of it like a child in high school don’t give them the $100 dollars at once, dole it out.

6:41 a.m. Broken Clock Alert! Even Andrea Mitchell agrees that waiting a few days or a week isn’t a bad idea.

6:47 a.m. The SNL clip reminds us that these guys will never get over President Bush.

6:51 a.m. Level of transparency my a–, people have been putting the stuff on the net, Todd is full of it. Those differences are due to the times.

6:53 a.m. I had a stomach ache this morning, much more Andrea Mitchell isn’t helping.

7:09 a.m. Everyone is going to have an asterisk since there is an asterisk in the fan’s mind.

7:11 a.m. As far as the cynical stuff, remember the sign Lowell stuff after the world series? I agree with the Ken Griffey stuff too.

Doing my unemployment claim brb

7:42 a.m. Joe gives the: We are all … fill in the blank line.

7:44 a.m. Meachem: “The closest thing to eternal life on earth is a government program.”

7:46 a.m. I would not pay for Time or Newsweek or the New York Times. I can find out much more from one week with Glenn Reynolds then with all of those magazines put together. These guys in my opinion actually know that there product isn’t popular with at least half of the country. They can’t sell their product when they are giving when we know it is 90% spin.

7:51 a.m. This idea that it is all relative is a bunch of bull, there is a difference between cheating and moral issues.

7:54 a.m. Pete Rose should NOT be in the hall. Every day he passed a sign that gave the penalties for betting on baseball and every day he ignored it.

7:56 a.m. Anyone who starts a book “A people’s history of”…naturally brings suspicion to me, I can see it is earned.

7:58 a.m. Why am I not surprised to constantly seeing ads for W on MSNBC?

8:05 a.m. Great exchange: Joe: “I want to go back to the Bush years for the moment…” Schumer: “I don’t.”

8:07 a.m. So much for the rehabilitation of John McCain.

8:09 a.m. If the payroll tax is so regressive why not cut that instead of giving income tax refunds to people who don’t pay it? Why doesn’t anyone ask this?

8:15 a.m. Do nothing or pump in money, I vote A.

8:24 a.m. Maloney D-NY”: If there is not bi-partisan support we will just pass it.” Good do so lets see if you can win back any of those 11 dems who voted no first.

8:29 a.m. Money party wants disclosure. She says no earmarks, pork by any other name would still be tasty. Mmmm tasty.

8:29 a.m. Maloney: “We need you back in congress Joe”

8:31 a.m. It’s how you direct it , tax cuts for the rich.. blah blah blah.

8:37 a.m. Private money is waiting to buy assets. What they want is a floor to then bid and what is the split on the take for the taxpayer and the investor.

8:39 a.m. 93% of people ARE paying the mortgages. You would never know what would you?

8:42 a.m. This is the A-Rod show. “This will make it ok” says Mika?

8:49 a.m. The Jonas brothers and Stevie Wonder = the day the music died.

8:50 a.m. Paul McCartney is always worth watching. I’d pay to see him but not much.

8:52 a.m. Are these the only people in America who actually watched this show?

8:57 a.m. I missed Susan Collins saying she wouldn’t vote for the bill if she doesn’t like it. I suspect she will find a reason to do so, but mark my words the media lionizing her has given her power and if she is smart she will use it.

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