Quick life update
Sep. 14th, 2008 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsittingstillComputer still limping along. It seems okay as long as I don't take it places. Of course, taking it places is a big part of what having a laptop is all about... but the longer I can put off shelling out X hundred dollars on it, the longer I have to save up for the expense.
Mightily unimpressed with the recent 'interview' with Palin--at least, the fragments I heard on the radio. I understand that her careful rehearsal of policy snippets didn't include teaching her what the "Bush Doctrine" was--I wouldn't necessarily have known what it is without priming either, though I would have been honest enough to say "I'm sorry--there are so many of George Bush's doctrines that I disagree with--could you tell me which specific one you have in mind?" instead of trying to bullshit my way around the problem. But once it was explained I would have liked to hear her answer the goddamn question, and she didn't. It's not like it's complicated and nuanced--a simple "yes it is okay to attack a country that hasn't attacked us even when we don't actually have proof that it's any kind of threat" or "no, attacking a country that hasn't attacked us, and that we don't have proof is going to is insane." would have bade the matter pretty clear. Using the Iraq war as an example, pro or con, would have made the matter clear also.
But apparently the only thing that Palin can say clearly is the lie that she "told Congress 'thanks but no thanks'" on the Bridge to Nowhere--which see keeps repeating as though she thinks we're too stupid to have noticed that it has been repeatedly debunked on everything short of Faux News, or too morally dead to care.
The League of Women Voters fall picnic went very well, despite the pouring rain an hour before that had some of the organizers toying with th idea of cancelling at the last minute. I pointed out that we have people from the State League coming in to talk to us, and that they were probably halfway to Jefferson City by now, and that I felt that I really ought to be there to meet them, with as many league members as were willing to come to the picnic even if most people backed out. But it worked out that most people came anyway (by then the rain had let up to a gentle drizzle and the picnic was in a covered picnic area that stayed pretty dry. The League booklets that I produced for this year seemed to go over pretty well; we found a volunteer to help update the "Know Your Government Officials" handout after the elections; and the members from the State League spoke to us persuasively about the delights of the fall conference.
The Growth Readiness Workshop Streets and Parking subgroup meeting went very well, though I still have to type up the changes we recommended to local codes and ordinances. My suggestions for making life easier for cyclists were well received, though some members of the group think we'll have great trouble persuading the county commission and city councils to adopt them. The group consists of 6 people, three of whom couldn't come for one reason or another. So there the three of us were, staring at each other across the table in between going over our recommendations and the recommendations two of the absent members had sent in by e-mail. The world gets run by those who show up--now if only showing up will count for something with the county commission!
The get-out-the-vote effort the League of Women Voters settled on this year (me writing up lists of what positions are being elected in the November election and what they mean/ what their responsibilites are for the local paper) is going to be supplemented by one of the reporters for that paper interviewing candidates for those positions (insofar as that is possible; somehow I doubt the Presidential candidates are going to have time to talk to her :-). I made some progress on that yesterday by finding out what State offices (State Senators from even numbered districts and members of the State House of Representatives from all districts--there are two that include parts of Jefferson County) are up for election this time. I need to read through the materials I sucked off the web at Carson Newman and condense them down into a quick explanation of how the Tennessee General Assembly works.
My Eve-playing has fallen by the wayside, though I've continued having my character train skills.
Mightily unimpressed with the recent 'interview' with Palin--at least, the fragments I heard on the radio. I understand that her careful rehearsal of policy snippets didn't include teaching her what the "Bush Doctrine" was--I wouldn't necessarily have known what it is without priming either, though I would have been honest enough to say "I'm sorry--there are so many of George Bush's doctrines that I disagree with--could you tell me which specific one you have in mind?" instead of trying to bullshit my way around the problem. But once it was explained I would have liked to hear her answer the goddamn question, and she didn't. It's not like it's complicated and nuanced--a simple "yes it is okay to attack a country that hasn't attacked us even when we don't actually have proof that it's any kind of threat" or "no, attacking a country that hasn't attacked us, and that we don't have proof is going to is insane." would have bade the matter pretty clear. Using the Iraq war as an example, pro or con, would have made the matter clear also.
But apparently the only thing that Palin can say clearly is the lie that she "told Congress 'thanks but no thanks'" on the Bridge to Nowhere--which see keeps repeating as though she thinks we're too stupid to have noticed that it has been repeatedly debunked on everything short of Faux News, or too morally dead to care.
The League of Women Voters fall picnic went very well, despite the pouring rain an hour before that had some of the organizers toying with th idea of cancelling at the last minute. I pointed out that we have people from the State League coming in to talk to us, and that they were probably halfway to Jefferson City by now, and that I felt that I really ought to be there to meet them, with as many league members as were willing to come to the picnic even if most people backed out. But it worked out that most people came anyway (by then the rain had let up to a gentle drizzle and the picnic was in a covered picnic area that stayed pretty dry. The League booklets that I produced for this year seemed to go over pretty well; we found a volunteer to help update the "Know Your Government Officials" handout after the elections; and the members from the State League spoke to us persuasively about the delights of the fall conference.
The Growth Readiness Workshop Streets and Parking subgroup meeting went very well, though I still have to type up the changes we recommended to local codes and ordinances. My suggestions for making life easier for cyclists were well received, though some members of the group think we'll have great trouble persuading the county commission and city councils to adopt them. The group consists of 6 people, three of whom couldn't come for one reason or another. So there the three of us were, staring at each other across the table in between going over our recommendations and the recommendations two of the absent members had sent in by e-mail. The world gets run by those who show up--now if only showing up will count for something with the county commission!
The get-out-the-vote effort the League of Women Voters settled on this year (me writing up lists of what positions are being elected in the November election and what they mean/ what their responsibilites are for the local paper) is going to be supplemented by one of the reporters for that paper interviewing candidates for those positions (insofar as that is possible; somehow I doubt the Presidential candidates are going to have time to talk to her :-). I made some progress on that yesterday by finding out what State offices (State Senators from even numbered districts and members of the State House of Representatives from all districts--there are two that include parts of Jefferson County) are up for election this time. I need to read through the materials I sucked off the web at Carson Newman and condense them down into a quick explanation of how the Tennessee General Assembly works.
My Eve-playing has fallen by the wayside, though I've continued having my character train skills.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 04:01 pm (UTC)Will we see you at OVFF?
My Eve-playing has fallen by the wayside, though I've continued having my character train skills.
Train skills are pretty challenging. For instance, a few weeks back someone posted a link to the procedures for firing up a steam locomotive, and it took five hours of a lot of touchy things that have to be done in the right order just to get the thing ready to move.
I didn't know there were role-playing games that involved railroading.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 06:43 pm (UTC)I've actually started a generic "Why Sarah Palin would be a bad President" blog entry--every now & again I add to it. Palin's a disaster; there's a lot more wrong with her than lying about the bridge. For one thing, she's a really skillful deceiver--I wonder how much of her public persona is entirely false. She does it all the time, as far as I can tell--if she said the sky was blue I would check the weather. Yet, as with Obama, a certain faction of the public sees her as a savior. There's a lot of older church-women who resent their powerlessness and wants to be the agents of the wrath of god, but are limited by little things like conscience. Palin, alas, appears to have no such limits. She's also the candidate of the "I'm not a feminist, but..." faction of women. The NRA's political wing, the ILA, just loves her. I don't know why they think she's telling them the truth when she lies to everyone else.
It's good to see news from you. I thought about signing up for Eve, but it seems I'm busy enough.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 07:07 pm (UTC)Our city is building a new library. When it came before the planning commission, I pushed for sheltered bicycle parking. It died for lack of a second, but I did make people think about it. Good luck with your bicycle stuff.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 07:58 pm (UTC)As for looking out for my corner of the world, I hope it's making a difference, but have yet to see results. We won't really know until we take the Growth Readiness Workshop recommendations to the County Commission and City Councils.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 08:04 pm (UTC)I have to admit, "Bush Doctrine" would have left me high and dry if I hadn't been prompted, though. Is that where you attack countries that haven't attacked us and weren't going to over weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist and ties to Al Quaeda that didn't exist either? Is that where you state that, because you say so, the law you're signing doesn't apply to the chief executive? Is that where you use federal prosecutors as political tools? Throw me a bone here.
On the other hand, I hadn't been studying for the interview for the past week either.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 08:05 pm (UTC)Rail*guns*, now, we've got those.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 08:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 10:48 pm (UTC)