Roger O Green

Election Day predictions

The French word for sea is MER + COW + SKI = Murkowski.

I predict that, no matter what the outcome of the election:

members of the Republican Party will claim that the vote was the rejection “by the American people” of “the failed policies of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid” cabal.
the Democrats will talk about opportunities for bipartisanship.
*some bills that should have passed between January 2009 and October 2010, will get passed in November 2010, without much, or any Republican support, which will lead the Republicans to complain that the Democrats “rammed” the bill “down the throat of the American people”

As for the vote today, I can’t make predictions. My gut says the Democrat will win the Senate race in Colorado, but lose in Illinois. Do you want predictions? Go to fivethirtyeight.com.

But I will go out on a limb to say that I think Lisa Murkowski will barely retain her Senate seat in Alaska. Three-way polling is much less reliable than that done for a two-person race. Good news: her name will appear on a list of potential write-in candidates. Bad news: there are about 100 people on the list. Good news: she has great name recognition in the state. Bad news: she’s been around a long time, and her father before her. Good news: it is established that a vote for a write-in candidate must be counted if the intent is clear. So someone drawing the three pictures on this page could be seen as voting for Murkowski, like so:

The French word for sea is MER + COW + SKI = Murkowski.

Anyway, I am voting today. I will vote for at least one non-Democrat. and by non-Democrat, I don’t mean voting for a Democrat on the Working Families line.

I will vote for my junior US Kirsten Gillibrand. I was going to anyway, but the bizarro Republican candidate for Governor Carl Paladino said some disparaging remarks about her recently, and that’s good enough for me. Nice profile of the senator in Vogue, of all places.

VOTE!! And if you choose not to, PLEASE don’t tell me about it, because THESE people are voting.

P is for Polly Ticks

So VOTE!

(With apologies to Anthony North):

Some largely nonpartisan things that have been bugging me about the electoral process in the United States recently, and not so recently.

MONEY: It has long been an issue, and there have been a series of legislative actions, Such as McCain-Feingold trying to limit the effect of money on the campaign. However, in January 2010, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court decided that corporations and unions have the same First Amendment rights as individuals, and as such may now directly and expressly advocate for the election or defeat of candidates for federal office, as long as they do not coordinate their efforts with campaigns or political parties. Without getting too wonky here, social welfare organizations may engage in some political activities, so long as that is not their primary activity. As a result, there is a lot more election spending this cycle than ever before. GOP political operative Ed Gillespie said last week on ABC News, and someone said similarly on NBC’s Meet the Press, that the American people do not care about outside spending; I care– a lot.

RANCOR: With that much money, candidates are even more willing and able to run negative, misleading, even inaccurate advertisements. One can and should debate the issues, but it’d be nice if they could get along better while doing so.

Someone’s Photoshop of 2008 Democratic candidate for President Barack Obama, and Republican candidate for Vice-President Sarah Palin

NO REAL CHOICE: A growing number of people believe a third party is needed in the US. Now, there are third-party candidates legitimately doing well this political season, but it doesn’t reflect a sustained, or sustainable national organization. My sense is that there never will be without instant runoff voting.

VOTER SUPPRESSION: Latinos for Reform is running ads on television, radio and the Internet telling Nevada’s Hispanic population not to vote on election day so as to teach Democrats a lesson for failing on the promise to deliver on immigration reform. Others have reported intimidation tactics of voters likely to vote for the opposition.

Another form of voter suppression, I believe, is the overuse of polling. When one hears that Candidate X is a “sure thing” to win or to lose, voters often lose interest and stay home, skewing the results. I’m not sure what to make of poll results anyway. I’ve read that the Republicans may win 100 seats in the House of Representatives. I’ve also noticed another poll, which includes people whose only phone is a cell phone, Democrats lead by 6 points on the generic ballot.

All that said, and in particular, in response to the voter suppression tactics, I encourage people to vote at every opportunity. Not only do I believe it is one’s civic duty, but, for me, it is a personal necessity. I’ve had ancestors who could not vote, so I would be dishonoring those who fought for the ballot not to exercise the franchise.

Did you ever notice that a large number of the Amendments in the US Constitution, after the Bill of Rights, deal with voting?

Amendment 15 states that race or previous condition of servitude (i.e., slavery) is no bar to voting (1865), passed right after the Civil War.
Amendment 17 requires that US Senators be elected by popular vote, rather than by the state legislature (1913) – someone please explain to me why some candidates this year have indicated repealing this amendment?
Amendment 19 provided for nationwide women’s suffrage (1920), though some individual states had allowed women to vote earlier.
Amendment 23 gave the Presidential Vote to Washington, DC (1961) – now if they could only get a voting member in Congress.
Amendment 24 bars the imposition of a poll tax as a requirement for voting (1964), eliminating that particular voter suppression tactic.
Amendment 26 set the voting age at 18 years (1971); unfortunately, statistically, the group least likely to use it.

So VOTE! And if you’re elsewhere in the world, VOTE when your next chance occurs.

ABC Wednesday – Round 7

The All Hallows Eve Conspiracy

The church organist played the postlude, which was Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. My absolute favorite chords, possibly in all music, appear in the last minute and a half. My wife asked if I were crying…

OK, what’s up with the change of Daylight Saving Time a couple years ago? Most countries in the Northern Hemisphere changed their clocks today, if they had not done so earlier. The former nations that were in the USSR, Europe, Lebanon, Iraq, Cuba, Mexico all change today …you can see the list HERE. And what are the countries that are holding off changing the clocks until NEXT weekend?

The United States and Canada. I blame the candy companies. By pushing the “fall back” until the following weekend, it assures more light for Halloween, thus more trick-or-treaters, and thus more candy sold. And the dentists are in on the plot, too!

In fact, here is the Halloween Duplex Planet: one song called Halloween by Duplex Planet, and six recollections of old people remembering the holiday. Note in Greed that the conspiracy theory is alive and well.

I was at church a couple of Sundays ago, and the organist, Nancy, played the postlude, which was Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. My absolute favorite chords, possibly in all music, appear in the last minute and a half. My wife asked if I were crying, and the answer was absolutely yes. Here’s an organ version and an orchestral version from the movie Fantasia (1940). And since I was in a Fantasia mood, how about Night on Bald Mountain?

From Ken Levine: The Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in Halloween. So the one night of the year when people would actually open their doors to them, they stay home.
***
Dance of Death.

Happy Halloween Day from Sesame Street.

Peanuts: BOO!

From 1910, this is the first screen version of Frankenstein. It’s less than 13 minutes long; check out this piece of history.

Freaky Frankenstein Friday.

The World’s Most Haunted Places.

Talk about laziness: Me linking to Progressive Ruin linking to OTHER people’s stuff.

Reformation Rap QUESTION

I’ve long wondered what God did think of all of the different denominations, some created more by differences of style than of doctrine. Is God pleased with the diversity of worship experiences, or is She really ticked off?

It’s Reformation Sunday tomorrow. As a long-time Methodist, I had no idea what that meant and had barely heard of it. But now, as a Presbyterian, in a church in the “Reform tradition,” it’s a bigger deal. It commemorates the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door.

Someone sent me this a couple of days ago:
We religious instruction teachers are always looking for ways to engage the students. In my class last year, I likened Martin Luther’s dilemma to: how would they (the students) feel, if they came home to find their families imprisoned and tortured, and it won’t stop until they say that Sammy Hagar was Van Halen’s better frontman? We’d all agreed, beforehand, that Van Halen’s a great band, “but you MUST renounce Diamond Dave, and embrace Sammy, or you’ll get your dad’s OTHER EAR in ANOTHER package!” They stood up at their table, and shouted & pointed in my face, and I had soooo much fun getting them all stirred up while humming “Why Can’t This Be Love?” and dissing the tune to “Panama…” It’s why I teach 🙂

There was also a link to something called the 95 Theses, a 2007 rap done to the tune of Jay-Z’s 99 Problems. I’ve provided three links; the third starts with a short commercial.

95 Theses
95 Theses
95 Theses

Found these lyrics in several places, including here:

If you havin’ Church problems then don’t blame God, son
I got ninety-five theses but the Pope ain’t one.

Listen up, all my people, it’s a story for the telling
’bout the sin and injustice and corruption I been smelling:
I met that homie, Tetzel, then I started rebelling…
One Five One Seven – that’s when it first went down.
Then the real test was when it started spreading around.
Sixty days to recant what I said? Father, please!
You’ve had, what? Goin’ on fifteen centuries?
“Oh snap, he’s messin’ with the holy communion.”
But I ain’t never dissed your precious hypostatic union!…

I was struck most by this section:

But you forgot about me and my demonstration?
Like you can just create your own denomination?
“We don’t like this part, so we’ll just add a little twist.”
Now we Anglican, Amish, and even Calvinist.
I gave you the power, you gone and abused it.
I gave you God’s truth, you just confused it.

Shout out to Johann Gutenberg … I see you baby.

October Ramblin’

Tegan and Johnny Bacardi have been blogging EIGHT years!

From a friend of a friend:

Today I don’t have to think about those who hear “terrorist” when I speak my faith.
Today I don’t have to think about men who don’t believe no means no.
Today I don’t have to think about how the world is made for people who move differently than I do.
Today I don’t have to think about whether I’m married, depending on what state I’m in.
Today I don’t have to think about how I’m going to hail a cab past midnight.
Today I don’t have to think about whether store security is tailing me.
Today I don’t have to think about the look on the face of the person about to sit next to me on a plane.
Today I don’t have to think about eyes going to my chest first.
Today I don’t have to think about what people might think if they knew the medicines I took.
Today I don’t have to think about getting kicked out of a mall when I kiss my beloved hello.
Today I don’t have to think about if it’s safe to hold my beloved’s hand.
Today I don’t have to think about whether I’m being pulled over for anything other than speeding.
Today I don’t have to think about being classified as one of “those people.”
Today I don’t have to think about making less than someone else for the same job at the same place.
Today I don’t have to think about the people who stare, or the people who pretend I don’t exist.
Today I don’t have to think about managing pain that never goes away.
Today I don’t have to think about whether a stranger’s opinion of me would change if I showed them a picture of who I love.
Today I don’t have to think about the chance a store salesmen will ignore me to help someone else.
Today I don’t have to think about the people who’d consider torching my house of prayer a patriotic act.
Today I don’t have to think about a pharmacist telling me his conscience keeps him from filling my prescription.
Today I don’t have to think about being asked if I’m bleeding when I’m just having a bad day.
Today I don’t have to think about whether the one drug that lets me live my life will be taken off the market.
Today I don’t have to think about the odds of getting jumped at the bar I like to go to.
Today I don’t have to think about “vote fraud” theater showing up at my poll station.
Today I don’t have to think about turning on the news to see people planning to burn my holy book.
Today I don’t have to think about others demanding I apologize for hateful people who have nothing to do with me.
Today I don’t have to think about my child being seen as a detriment to my career.
Today I don’t have to think about the irony of people thinking I’m lucky because I can park close to the door.
Today I don’t have to think about memories of being bullied in high school.
Today I don’t have to think about being told to relax, it was just a joke.
Today I don’t have to think about whether someone thinks I’m in this country illegally.
Today I don’t have to think about those who believe that freedom of religion ends with mine.
Today I don’t have to think about how a half-starved 23-year-old being a cultural ideal affects my life.
Today I don’t have to think about how much my life is circumscribed by my body.
Today I don’t have to think about people wanting me cured of loving who I love.
Today I don’t have to think about those who view me an unfit parent because of who I love.
Today I don’t have to think about being told my kind don’t assimilate.
Today I don’t have to think about people blind to the intolerance of their belief lecturing me about my own.
Today I don’t have to think about my body as a political football.
Today I don’t have to think about how much my own needs wear on those I love.
Today I don’t have to think about explaining to others “what happened to me.”
Today I don’t have to think about politicians saying bigoted things about me to win votes.
Today I don’t have to think about those worried that one day people like me will be the majority.
Today I don’t have to think about someone using the name of my religion as a slur.
Today I don’t have to think about so many of the words for me controlling my own life being negatives.
Today I don’t have to think about still not being equal.
Today I don’t have to think about what it takes to keep going.
Today I don’t have to think about how much I still have to hide.
Today I don’t have to think about how much prejudice keeps hold.
Today I don’t have to think about how I’m meant to be grateful that people tolerate my kind.
Today I don’t have to think about all the things I don’t have to think about.
But today I will.

What happens when you point the Hubble Space Telescope to a seemingly blank patch of sky? A view that takes you to the edge of the universe!

Salon writes about The viral genius of “Sesame Street”; With its clever riffs on popular culture, the 41-year-old children’s show has become hipper than ever. And in that vein, Renaissance Geek did five Muppet-related posts the week of October 11-15, including not one, but THREE versions of “Manha, Manha”. Curse you, Eddie!

And I love how the Sesame Street video I Love My Hair has gone viral. ABC News even did a story about Sesame Street head writer Joey Mazzarino, (pictured) who adopted a little girl from Ethiopia named Segi, who hated her hair. “She was going through this phase where she really wanted like the long, blonde hair. … She would look at Barbies and really want the hair.”

Felix culpa, which translated means “happy fault.”

Ken Levine is an Emmy-winning writer who has written/directed and or produced for shows such as MASH, CHEERS, FRASIER, THE SIMPSONS, WINGS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, BECKER, and DHARMA & GREG. He wrote a review of the new movie The Social Network, and someone asked in the comments whether he thought the movie was sexist. The writer of The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin, answered the question in Levine’s blog. Why has the great Sorkin deigned to respond to a query on someone’s Blogspot blog, the less informed in the blogosphere wondered? Levine notes the fallout.

Speakings of The Simpsons, here’s the Banksy opening. Am I the only person who has NO idea who Banksy is?

Dick van Dyke sings the theme to the Dick van Dyke Show, as well as telling us what he knows about Dicks, vans, and dikes.

The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company. All proceeds from the sale of the products go directly to support the free writing and tutoring programs at 826NYC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

Stan Lee Discusses SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK
When Captain America Throws His Mighty Shield, he’ll be played by Chris Evans, formerly The Human Torch in The Fantastic Four. That’s two Marvel superheroes and two Jack Kirby characters for one career. (Thx to JF for the comics-related stuff.)

ADD reviews Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Human Sexuality. Incidentally, I found this amazingly sensual.

BTW, ADD is having a Trouble with Comics’ Emergency Rent Sale.

10 Unluckiest Musicians In Rock History.

Stayin’ Alive In The Wall (Pink Floyd vs Bee Gees Mashup)

Singer Janice Whaley is covering every Smiths song by the end of the year, using just her voice and some digital trickery.

NASA is in the process of selecting a “wake-up” song for space exploration. The Star Trek theme has fallen to #2! Guess what’s #1.

Tegan has been blogging EIGHT years, as has Johnny Bacardi, which I find incredible.

RepubliCorp™, Buying Democracy, one race at a time.

When Eisenhower took office in 1953, a group of conservative Republicans claimed that the outgoing Democrats had been stealing gold deposits from Fort Knox. Bowing to pressure from the DAR, Ike had the gold counted. Sure enough, it came up ten bucks short: The depository contained only $30,442,415,581.70.

I’m trying to drink more water, so I really needed to know why ice cubes fuse together in water.

A palindrome reads the same backward as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backward as forward. Not only does it read the opposite, but the meaning is also the exact opposite. Make sure you read as well as listen…forward and backward. This video, less than two minutes long, was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old. The contest was titled “u @ 50” by AARP.