| Monday, May 12th, 2008 |
xephyr
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9:07a |
Git yer knuckles on I first learned the words "conscientious objector" in high school. The ever present bogeyman of a looming draft was so near you could smell the ketones on his breath. I was raised on episodes of M*A*S*H and issues of Mother Earth News. There had been a very strong anti-gun sentiment in my home, so when war came near to calling up a draft, I knew that I didn't want to be too near. Obviously, I was never drafted, but it was notable that my time came to consider my personal military adventure, my social support system contrived my avoidance. Nevertheless, I have engaged in a long-standing practice of studying war games. Chess and Risk and D&D in high school; Avalon Hill and historical war gaming in college; more recently, Civilization, Lords of the Realm and Rome: Total War. Many game theory and war strategy books have been read, with always a couple more "in-queue". War games are fascinating -- bloodless, repeatable, and (usually) non-destructive. The idea of war is intoxicating: war games allow for a scientific approach to tactics and create an entirely new comprehension of strategy, without the moral quandaries of actual death and deprivation. ( meditation on the spear ) |
00goddess
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2:35a |
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| Sunday, May 11th, 2008 |
contentlove
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10:39p |
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xephyr
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9:32p |
Crows!  Japan is having a problem with crows. Big, black, noisy birds with foot-wide wingspans and sharp beaks and claws. Giant birds that scavenge garbage, snatch baby ducks from the zoo, and attack children to get at candy and lunch boxes. Populations of these critters has exploded in the last few decades as Westernization has led to a dramatic increase in Japanese garbage for them to scavenge, with some estimates showing five times as many of these birds in Tokyo in 2001 than in the late 1980's. The Japanese have been proud of their interconnection with nature, with many still viewing any attempts at culling the birds a slippery slope inevitably leading to the total eradication of the species. The gravest concern has been with the power blackouts caused by the birds. Three major blackouts last year were attributed to them. The birds cut fiber-optic lines looking for nesting material and cause shorts by including electrical wires in their utility-pole nests. One bird caused a 48-minute blackout by sticking its beak into a high-power voltage line. Utilities have launched "crow patrols" that go around twice weekly, removing nests from atop power poles. Although some 600 nests have been removed in the last three years, the number of nests -- and blackouts -- are still increasing. The crows have even begun to exhibit a new behavior as a result of the "crow patrols": building decoy nests to draw patrols away from real ones. [ source] |
contentlove
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4:15p |
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maxomai
|
11:17a |
Mother's Day Post - Happy mother's day to my friends out there who are now, shockingly enough, mothers. - Mother's day started out as an anti-war, pro-temperance holiday, and ended up as a inoffensive and pleasant holiday with Hallmark cards. Read the details here. What else can you think of that has gone from a bold statement to a toothless wonder? Anyone? - What is this dude smoking? Can we assume that it's not FDA-approved? - Ah, finally, a "civilian contractor" in Iraq is going to trial for committing a crime. Of course, the man in question has an Arabic name and dual Iraqi and Canadian citizenship. God knows we can't prosecute Blackwater for anything -- that would hurt the Republican Partythe mission. - I'm off to take my mother in law to brunch, and then get sworn in as SML's Internet Director, and then to start running some experiments for my term project. Oh yes, and to vote. - By the way, fellow Oregon Democrats: I voted for Kroger for Attorney General. |
deanocturne
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2:22p |
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christeos_pir
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11:37a |
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contentlove
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10:45a |
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christeos_pir
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9:51a |
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00goddess
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1:51a |
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| Saturday, May 10th, 2008 |
christeos_pir
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10:58p |
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contentlove
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10:54p |
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maxomai
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8:43p |
The Pill Saves, day one It's been quite a productive day on The Pill Saves. I'm quite pleasantly surprised at the number of people who are stepping up to testify, and by how compelling their stories are. One example is Amanda's story. In her case, the pill is basically the only thing that prevents another life-threatening battle with anemia. That, apparently, is a "minor benefit" according to the American Life League. Then there's Diane, for whom the pill was a savior from being permanently stuck in an unwanted life as a young mother. Not to mention an eye-opening experience. The stories keep rolling in, so I'm going to keep posting them. Thanks for everyone who's already participated, and for everyone who shall participate in the future. Current Music: Meshuggah, Obzen |
00goddess
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4:18p |
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maxomai
|
9:20a |
Good Morning Daily Kos, Weekend Edition... is up. A preview: ITEM! The anti-choice movement has gotten increasingly ridiculous, from legislating in the 1980s to bombing clinics in the 1990s to attacking the very idea of birth control in the 2000s. Specifically, they're going after Griswold vs. Connecticut. Their latest move in this direction? A snazzy website urging young people to protest the pill on June 7th: thepillkills.com. So I'm launching the Pill Saves Lives Blog to collect stories from women whose lives were saved (existentially or otherwise) by the pill. If you don't mind me using your story, please send it to me here. I'll keep your name and contact info confidential (or not, if you so please), or use whatever alias you want. I'll also use this blog as a focal point to organize counterdemonstrations, spread information, and possibly keep the heat on the American Life League and their allies in the anti-abortion movement. And of course, to have some fun as well, since every revolution must have some dancing to keep it alive. (And yeah, I know what Crowley thinks. And I don't agree with him.) |
christeos_pir
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9:53a |
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| Friday, May 9th, 2008 |
00goddess
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10:43p |
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christeos_pir
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8:36p |
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brandywilliams
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4:14p |
Medieval Womens Choir concert Friday May 16 I still have four tickets to give away to our Heloise and Abelard concert next week. (Erynn, I have two for you.) Anyone want to go? |
zayin93
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2:04p |
The semester is officially over! I'm done with finals and have already started getting grades back. In fact, here's a picture of the scores from my Programming Languages class. I'm currently in the top 3 there. |
maxomai
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12:45p |
Clinton's Chewbacca Argument to Superdelegates. ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) flavobean pointed us earlier to this MS Powerpoint presentation that the Clinton campaign is using to pitch their case to superdelegates. I have written up a detailed, if biased, analysis here. |
christeos_pir
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10:31a |
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contentlove
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9:11a |
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contentlove
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8:01a |
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