Thursday, December 30, 2010

My first book. Kinda.

I just found out that an anthology idea of mine has finally been released by Skinner House Books. Paula did a great job on this.

The idea was a book of poems on the idea of race. Not the strident stuff, or those that paint another race as merely "other," but an anthology of people who are really just trying to figure it out. We can't (and shouldn't) hide our race, gender, or other things that make us what we are, but how does racial differences affect, good and bad, how we interact with other people? The poems aren't answers to these questions, but are genuine grapplings with them.

I was very pleased when both Skinner House jumped on my idea right away, and recruited a book editor who was right on board with what I was getting at. They've done an awfully nice job on this--a great mix of new and old, known and unknown writers.

[BTW, the idea came out of a reading of Lucille Clifton's "my dream about being white" at a particularly receptive time].

Saturday, December 25, 2010

London 360

One of those cool links I meant to post earlier. 360 degrees of London, with magnification. Very cool.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Some Christmas piano music

Christmas is about choirs and bells and Noddy Holder shouting at you. But if you look hard enough, the [piano] music exists. What is there?

Filibuster reform

The issue of filibuster reform (that is, a change in the Senate's rules regarding the ability of invoke cloture on a bill) has been bubbling for some time. Mostly this is pushed by younger senators (typically, of either party) who find the rules cumbersome, needless, and giving far too much power to the minority party.

Obama recently pointed out that there were more cloture votes last year than in the 1950's and 1960's combined. Since many of the GOP House members from the 80s and 90s started moving to the Senate and continuing the back row bomb throwing strategies they perfected in the lower house, this is an issue with a long track record.

That said, Senate Dems are unanimous in backing filibuster reform. This is an interesting new development that might finally push through reforms that will ensure the long-term health of that body.

First step, IMO, would be to take up Sen Merkley's suggestion about filibuster requirements. There is, at present, no work involved in calling for a filibuster. Making the minority party actually work for the filibuster seems to be the minimum we can do.

Thoughts?

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

End of year lists

A place to park 'em.

12 insane news stories of 2010

Words of the Year

2010 Viral Video Retrospective

A meta-list: Top 20 Top 10's.

Knocking down one meme, anyway...

Obama really isn't going to give away the country to the Indians.

If reactions of this sort to the crap-makers on the Right were more common in the last election, we might have had people voting with actual facts on their minds. It is no surprise to me that we had such a high percentage of people wrong on the facts who helped put into office Republicans across the board.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Answer: The 2010 Mid Term elections

Question: What will ginning-up voters fed a steady diet of lies and distortions get you? (pdf)

Was your Gawker information hacked?

Gawker has a number of different websites, and if you have been following the tech news lately then you know their database was hacked and over a million email addresses and passwords were taken.

This simple tool lets you know if your email address was included in the stolen information. If you utilize the same password, it might be prudent to change it on other sites if your email address comes up as being hacked.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Best damn marriage proposal ever.

I should probably start a web site about these.

How about: Muppet style?

The trailer is really pretty sweet.

Monday, December 06, 2010

Thursday, December 02, 2010

More "Christian" ministery

MN Christian minister accuses Rep Ellison of recruiting among the gay community to institute Sharia in the United States.

As noted in the comments, "It is called hitting the trifecta of bigotry."

If there is one thing Muslim sharia law is known for, it is the incredible compassion and tolerance for the members of the LGBT community...