:: Skeptical Notion

:: Friday, February 20, 2004 ::

New Mexico County Begins Issuing Marriage Licenses to Gay Couples

The avalanche has begun. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.

Seriously, Kosh-ism aside, Sandoval County has decided not to wait, and begin issuing marriage licenses in accordance with the law. I'm sure the New Mexico Legislature will, of course, put a quick stop to this. After all, the last thing New Mexico needs are a bunch of happy gays and lesbians wandering around, spending their savings in lavish ceremonies and stimulating the local economy.

Besides, if you let gays marry, they'll use up all the good marriage certificates, and the straights will be stuck with the crummy ones where the ink runs...
:: Morat 1:34 PM :: ::

Bush using recess appointment to put nominee on court

On the bright side, it's not a permanent appointment:

Bypassing Senate Democrats who have stalled his judicial nominations, President Bush will use a recess appointment to put Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at least temporarily, government sources said Friday.

Still, the thought of that idiot on the Circuit Court is enough to ruin my whole day.

(And now I'm done with the "interesting news but I'm too busy at work to blog on it" list.)
:: Morat 12:25 PM :: ::

Fast-Food Factories?

Oh for the love of Pete:

Is cooking a hamburger patty and inserting the meat, lettuce and ketchup inside a bun a manufacturing job, like assembling automobiles?

That question is posed in the new Economic Report of the President, a thick annual compendium of observations and statistics on the health of the United States economy.

The latest edition, sent to Congress last week, questions whether fast-food restaurants should continue to be counted as part of the service sector or should be reclassified as manufacturers. No answers were offered.

Can you just imagine that planning section? Karl Rove's just sitting there, shooting the breeze with Dick Cheney. "Hey Dick! You know, we've managed to repeat pretty much all of Dubya's Dad's mistakes, except raising taxes. Now, let's face it...we're not going to raise taxes. But we're one big mistake short! Hey! Let's copy one of Reagan's mistakes...remember when he wanted to call "Ketchup" a vegetable? Maybe we can riff on that....."

My real problem here is I'm not sure how to react. Should I be angry and insulted, because the Bush Administration thinks I'm stupid enough to believe that? Or should I weep and despair, because the Bush administration is stupid enough to believe that.
:: Morat 12:22 PM :: ::

Gay Marriage Exploding!

Well, not quite, but it appears that it's not just San Francisco anymore. According to Atrios, it's now jumped to the liberal bastion of New Mexico. Apparently, New Mexico law specifies marriage between "consenting parties", and makes no reference to gender.

A county clerk in New Mexico says it has nothing to do with "politics or morals."

Sandoval County Clerk Victoria Dunlap says the county plans to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples.

She made the decision after asking for an opinion from the county attorney, who said New Mexico law isn't clear on the issue. He also says refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples could open the county to legal action.

State law defines marriage as a civil contract between contracting parties. It doesn't mention gender.

Good. The more the merrier.
:: Morat 12:09 PM :: ::

Absolutely nothing

Nothing of interest is happening today. Nothing at all. More on this situation as it develops.

:: Morat 9:33 AM :: ::

San Francisco sues state over gay-marriage prohibition

You've got to love San Francisco:

Going on the legal offensive, San Francisco announced today it will sue the state of California over its prohibition against same-sex marriage.
California, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said, violates the equal-protection clause of its own constitution in denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.

``San Francisco seeks an unequivocal declaration from the court that state provisions banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional,'' Herrera said.

:: Morat 3:43 PM :: ::

Deanies and Kerry

Normally I agree with Hesiod, but not this time. He posted:

DEANIACS: Some of your are intent on re-electing George W. Bush, for some strange reason. Calling all RATIONAL Dean supporters...wallop these morons upside the head and knock some sense into them!

It doesn't work that way. I don't owe the Democratic party anything. Certainly not my vote. I don't owe Kerry my vote. I don't owe it to Edwards, and I don't owe it to Dean.

It's my damn vote, and I'll cast it as I please. And calling me "irrational" and "a moron" because I might not vote for your nominee doesn't exactly change my mind.

If Kerry wants my vote, he can earn it. He might look to Edwards, who seems to have grasped that fact quite quickly. But the sheer quantity of Kerry supporters demanding I fall in line, preparing (already!) to lay the blame for a Kerry loss on Dean is just staggering.

Here's a big fat hint to all of you: Dean isn't running in the general election. He's pledged to support the Democratic nominee. If Kerry can't win the Deanies votes, despite Dean not running, than any loss is on his head. If Dean was running third-party, you'd have a case. This isn't the Nader situation, not even close. So don't pretend it is....and hell, if you're so worried that a few Deanies might spoil Kerry, why the hell did you vote for the man? A dead fish should be able to beat Bush. It doesn't exactly show confidence when you're already trying to blame a guy who isn't even running for a race you haven't lost yet.

But Dean isn't going to run third party. If Kerry can't bring the Deanies out to vote for him, it's his own damn fault. Not Dean's, and not mine.

I'll vote for whom I damn well please, and calling me "irrational" because I haven't fallen in line and kissed Kerry's ass isn't going to change my mind. I'll be making my decision in November. So cheer up. Kerry's got eight months to earn my vote. And it's not like I'm going to vote for Bush, as I think he's probably the worst President in history, and damaging the country with every action he takes. This should be easy. Surely Kerry's a good enough politician, an inspiring enough fellow, and a good enough man that he can convince me to vote for him, right? If not, why the hell did you vote for him?

It's not like I have high standards, not this year. If Bush wasn't President, Kerry would have to jump through some hoops to get my vote. Luckily for him, all he has to do is convince me that he's got a spine of his own, not just the loaner Dean gave him, and that he's willing to take at least a few positions without sticking his finger to the wind first.

I don't ask much, especially for a man wanting the job of President.

Update: And you know what's the most annoying? I probably will vote for Kerry if he's the nominee. But shit like that makes me rethink it. I can sympathize, a little, with the Nader voters. They still bought a line of pure BS about the "not being any difference" between Bush and Gore (on the enviroment alone, which you'd think the Greens would consider 'important', Bush and Gore were damn near polar opposites). And, after all, it's not like Dean's running third party.

But there's this smug sense of entitlement that's creeping me out. Like I "owe" Kerry, or the Democrats, my vote because Bush is so bad. I don't owe anyone my vote, and if your only plank is "I'm better than the other guy", I'm not sure I want to vote for either of you.
:: Morat 11:28 AM :: ::

Taking on Tom DeLay - Richard Morrison for District 22

I'ld like to encourage everyone who hates Tom DeLay (which, let's face it, is virtually everyone who visits this site) to head on over to Taking on Tom DeLay, a website built by Richard Morrison, the lucky Democrat running against Tom this year.

And once you've visited Richard's website, I'd like to encourage you to give until it hurts. And then give some more. Do the usual "add a cent" to designate it an internet contribution, but give.

I won't lie to you: Tom DeLay occupies the safest district in the United States. Morrison is highly unlikely to win. But, with enough money, he can really irritate the hell out of Tom DeLay, and that's worth it right there. More importantly, facing an actual challenge Tom might be forced to spend more time on his district, which means less time on screwing up the country as a whole.

So give, give, give, give! Make Tom DeLay's life a miserable hell.

Encourage your friends to give. Your relatives to give. If you're a blogger, throw up a link. Annoy Tom DeLay! Because if we don't, who will?
:: Morat 9:02 AM :: ::

Just a note:

I am ready, more than ready, to stop being broke. I hate living paycheck to paycheck, with each week an exciting mix of worry and dread as I try to figure out where I'm going to get the money to pay the bills. My wife's February paycheck was all of 157 dollars, because substitutes don't work much between December 15th and January 15th. I've got two more payments on my wife's wedding ring (one I'm sending off Friday, and one next month at this time) and then I can stop paying a 400 dollar a month bill....just in time to pay all the other bills and necessities I've been putting off for nine months now (like vet trips for both dogs, dental trips for the wife and kid, etc).

I'm getting really tired of having to bum money off my parents (although they're probably far more unhappy with it than me!), of wondering how much my wife is going to work this month, of wondering what I'm going to do if something expensive breaks.

There are bright sides, of course. My tax refund will be sufficient, once it's done (it's being worked on now) to cover the summer, when my wife won't work. My wife just picked up a long-term sub job, which starts Monday. A good long term sub job, as she'll be effectively teaching the class until the end of the semester. Which means no more worries about how often she'll work, and she'll bump up to the next pay grade before the end of the year. The downside, of course, is that we're still stuck waiting until March 15th for her first decent sized paycheck.....

I'll be glad to see April. I'll have an extra 400 a month, my wife will be making decent money for the first time since June, and maybe I can stop stressing about my finances. I've just got to make it until the end of March......
:: Morat 8:18 AM :: ::

I hate my job at times

Well, Dreamweaver managed to eat two hours of work today. We don't use any of the actual features of Dreamweaver, other than version management, so it's mainly an editing tool for the web tools we're building. Yet, somehow, it managed to eat my local copy of several critical files...containing, of course, several hours of work.

Luckily, I remembered what I did and it only took me an hour to do it again.

The entire project in general is a major hassle. Our requirements were vague, our clients aren't terribly interested in the tool in any event (their managers are, but the users are quite happy with the hodge-podge they've got) so it's impossible to get anything out of them except at demos. So we write up a version that fits the requirements we've got, and the clients complain, and we use their complaints to generate actual requirements in order to do the job.

On the bright side, it's gotten to the point now where some of them actually admit that this tool, when finished, will be a lot better and easier than what they're using (an assorted collection of web tools, paper records, and god knows what else).

Still, that was two hours worth of work down the drain. For a project I don't even like. Using tools, and a language, I'm not terribly fond of. When can I go back to C++ and real projects?
:: Morat 12:24 PM :: ::

About time..

Via Chris Mooney, we some very good news:

The Union of Concerned Scientists has assembled an immensely star-studded group of scientific luminaries and distinguished former science policymakers to sign a statement entitled 'Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policy Making.' The document charges the Bush administration with a wholesale betrayal of science of a sort that, the signatories say, greatly exceeds any abuses that occurred under previous administrations.

There are times when the Bush administration makes AIG look like paragons of scientific honesty. Which says a lot.
:: Morat 9:48 AM :: ::

Skeptical Notion Note

My "Dean For President" donate button will be replaced by a donate button for whatever PAC, 527, or other organization Dean plans to set up. I was, first and foremost, attracted to Dean's issues and message, and plan to continue to support them. In the meantime, I'll leave the Dean button up, because I'm very, very, very lazy.
:: Morat 9:29 AM :: ::

Rick Perry..

I've heard multiple rumors lately (from many sources) that Perry's political stock is about to head way downhill. Perry, for those of you who don't recognize the name, is the Governor of Texas whose bold leadership helped lead to all that redistricting fun last summer.

Burnt Orange Report is watching the rumors, and Kos has a few diaries up about it. One of the comments in that diary summed up the rumor quite succinctly, so I'm going to steal directly from him. To wit:

From most likely to least likely are the following scenarios:

1. Divorce (highly likely since the papers are reportedly filed)


2. Divorce because of infidelity (multi-source speculative)


3. Infidelity with a man (multi-source speculative)


4. Infidelity with the secretary of state (highly speculative)

The hypocrisy meter would melt on the last couple since he has come out publicly against gay rights.

We haven't had a good scandal in awhile, and after the redistricting debacle, Perry's undoubtedly got some karmic debt.

And with Dean out of the Democratic primary, I'm rather bored, so.....pass the popcorn.
:: Morat 9:10 AM :: ::

KY6: CHANDLER WINS!

Kos reports that Chandler mauled Kerr in Kentucky, winning by 11%. That's noteworthy for a lot of reasons. First, it's a big flare to George that his policies aren't playing well...even in Kentucky. I don't think Dubya, should he manage a victory, will have much in the way of coattails.

More importantly, Chandler raised a bunch of his money online. He placed a few blog ads and saw a tenfold or so return of his investment. As you can tell by the sudden influx of ads on sites like Daily Kos, a good many Democrats noticed.

Update: Josh Marshall notes that Chandler won a seat formerly held by a Republican, and that Chandler saw a fifty fold return on his Blog Ads purchase.
:: Morat 8:43 AM :: ::

Dean to End Campaign, Mobilize Supporters

Dean to End Campaign, Mobilize Supporters:

Howard Dean (news - web sites) will end his campaign for the presidential nomination and oversee a new effort to keep his issues alive and his supporters organized on behalf of Democratic causes, two party officials said Wednesday.

Dean was to announce his plans at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The sources said the shape of the new effort is still to be determined but that Dean would eventually support the Democratic Party's nominee. One official said Dean would help elect Democrats to Congress in the fall.

As a committed Dean supporter, I say "good". Let's face it: Barring a collapse of Kerry -- and probably Edwards -- Dean's not going anywhere. On the other hand, he's got money, supporters, and a message that was so powerful that the rest of the field co-opted it.

More importantly, he had a plan to use those resources down ticket, to funnel money and volunteers to critical races during the 2004 election. He doesn't need to be on the Presidential ballot to do that. I, for one, will keep supporting his efforts. And I'm hoping that those idiot who have spent 9 months bleating about how "Dean's another Nader" will finally shut the hell up.

I'm glad to see he still plans on helping the party...and by remaining active, he's got a good chance to help change the shape of the Democratic party. We're not always going to have someone as divisive and inept as Bush to run against, which means we're going to have to adapt the party towards a new generation of voters and issues.

Those 18-24 year-olds that Dean connected with the best don't show up to vote in decent percentages now. But give them a decade and they will...and they'll be the new "sought-after" demographic in race after race.

Update: Sadly, it appears this will not stop the "Will Dean Pull a Nader" theorizing. I've already seen one idiot espouse it on Kos. Look, guys, I realize you hate Dean to the point where rational thinking goes out the window. I realize that, deep down, you're already laying the excuses in case your guy loses. But let's face it: Dean's suspended his campaign. He's ruled out a third party run. He's said, on many occasions, he will endorse the nominee. He's planning on using his support and supporters to aid down-ticked races and the Democratic Party in general. If we lose to Bush in November, it's not going to be Dean's fault...no matter how much you want to blame him. It's going to be Kerry's fault (or perhaps Edward's).
:: Morat 8:38 AM :: ::

I wonder...

If one of the reasons I enjoy baiting Creationists, especially Young Earth Creationists, is because arguing with them is so easy. Virtually everything they say I've not only heard a million times before, but can quote chapter and verse (and even hold an impromptu class on the geology, biology, or physics behind it) on the issue.

The few times -- mostly with intelligent design enthusiasts and the rare old-earth Creationist -- I come across something new, I get a chance (and an excuse) to go digging into one fascinating subject or another. I rather prefer the ID people. They're sneaky, and very wrong -- and often know it -- but they're at least interesting and their arguments require a bit of thought and effort. They're still bad arguments, based on a backwards approach to science where theories are unalterable and facts can be negotiated or ignored, but they're at least complex.

I do wonder what it is about biology (and education issues, for that matter) that causes so many otherwise rational people to believe that the experts know less than the average yokel off the street.

In the end, it was the very ease of it...and the fact that it's damn depressing to see people that ignorant of basic geology, biology, physics, and a host of other disciplines...that made me drop off of talk.origins in the first place. Still, I miss it, because I did learn an awful lot. Every time I go browse the threads I keep thinking about that PhD I want....
:: Morat 11:52 AM :: ::

Protesters Who Push the Limits

Calpundit pointed out this lovely story:

Over the next 12 months, Newman and his followers will point their arrows at everyone who works for Women's Health Care Services, from the chief physician to the armed security guards.

Photos of the mangled heads of fetuses will greet the receptionist at her favorite restaurant. Protesters will point out the nurse as she walks into the mall, the office manager as she heads into church. Every clinic employee can expect pickets at home, yellow arrows pointed at their front doors.

Newman will pick through clinic workers' trash to figure out where they do business; he'll trail them at a distance to learn their routines.

His goal is not just to make their lives uncomfortable. He wants to unsettle and disgust their friends and associates, so their hairstylists and their pharmacists, even their neighbors, make it clear they're not welcome in Wichita.

Kevin notes that this behavior appears to be perfectly legal in Kansas, making it reason number 673 on my "Reasons I won't move to Kansas" list and number 965 on my "Reasons I'm no longer religious" list.
:: Morat 11:04 AM :: ::

I wanna be the highest taxpayer... please!

Every once in awhile I hang out at Christian Forums, just looking around. It's generally not quite as depressing as Baptist Board, but I still generally leave with a bad taste in my mouth. For instance, check out the Christian sympathy for the poor in this thread:

I've never quite grasped this pity for the poor people. Most poor people have made some pretty poor choices in their time to get to where they are today. Is there really any excuse for an intelligent person living in poverty in the US at least?

Perhaps I've forgotten, in my long drift away from my Lutheran roots, but I don't recall Jesus ever ragging on the poor as "lazy".

How on earth do so many Christians miss the central -- and obvious -- themes of the Bible? Moreoever, why are they the loudest, drowning out their more moderate brethen?
:: Morat 10:25 AM :: ::

Stupid taxes..

Well, I've finally sorted out my taxes. Well, pre-sorted them, anyways. I'm going to dump the whole mess off at my accountants. I think I'm going to have to sit down with the man and talk about what sort of things I can actually deduct, since I go through the trouble of a long-form anyways. He hands out a "pre-tax" form every year (basically, it shows what you deducted last year so he has a quick map to work from) and I noticed a couple of entries for things I didn't know you could deduct.

I also -- finally -- mailed off my amended return from last year. I'm still angry at CitiBank for mailing me a 1099 in late April. I didn't have the money back in September when I finally completed the amended return, and don't have it now...but I've already verified my refund will be sufficient. As best I can tell, I'll get enough back to offset my summer expenses. (My wife can't teach during the summer).

Still, comparing last year's and this year's returns did illustrate how difficult money has been. Our total income this year was 14 grand less than last year's, while our expenses were basically the same. No wonder we're living from paycheck to paycheck. On the bright side, my last payment on my wife's wedding ring is due next month. I get to retire a 350 dollar a month bill. Thank god.
:: Morat 9:37 AM :: ::

Dean may abandon White House bid, convert campaign into political group

If Dean loses, as looks very likely, this isn't a bad way to go:

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean may abandon his bid for the White House this week and convert his once high-flying presidential campaign into a grassroots political organization, according to aides.

:: Morat 10:13 AM :: ::

All you ever wanted to know about leitmotifs

But were afraid to ask. It's a good read, especially if you happen to be fond of film scores.
:: Morat 10:04 AM :: ::

Partisan Denunciations Fly Over Secret Strategy Memos

Color me shocked. I mean, really, who suspected that the GOP hacking of Democratic files was even worse than initially thought?

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have been matching each other with nasty accusations for well over two years in the debate over the treatment of Bush administration judicial candidates.

But the Democrats have now confidently gathered in a herd on the moral high ground over disclosures that some Republican staff aides had improperly obtained confidential strategy memorandums from a Senate computer. The Senate sergeant-at-arms, who is nearing the end of an investigation into the tampering, told senators last week that the Republican staff members' activities went on much longer and were far more extensive than previously believed.

They spanned more than two years and involved conscious computer hacking as some 3,000 Democratic documents were secretly downloaded, read and distributed by some number of Republican aides, said people who attended the briefings. No evidence that senators were involved has surfaced.

Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum was unrepentant, claiming the "real scandal" was the fact that Democrats were actually politicians and stuff, but most of the GOP clung to the better part of valor..and quietly slipped out of the room.
:: Morat 9:55 AM :: ::

Angel to End After 5 Seasons UPDATED

They killed Angel! You bastards! There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth here at Skeptical Notion over this. (Link via Atrios).

:: Morat 9:00 AM :: ::

Top Dean Aide Discusses Plans to Back Kerry

Now, it may just be me, but I would have fired this idiot the second I'd heard he'd opened his big, fat mouth.

The chairman of Howard Dean's presidential campaign said on Sunday that he would leave and shift his support to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts if Dr. Dean lost the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, an outcome he sees as all but inevitable.

And you can bet that, should I ever be running a campaign, I wouldn't hire this loser.

Jesus, man...you quit first then pick another horse. I've seen mollusks with more integrity.

I'm guessing he's history by the end of the day.

Update: Yep. They canned him. Well, as a volunteer, they "asked him to leave". Idiot. I don't care how badly your candidate is doing: If you have an important position in the campaign, and you want to jump horses, you resign first. Period.
:: Morat 8:52 AM :: ::

Wisconsin

I'll go out on a limb here and state that, barring footage of Kerry and the proverbial "dead girl or live boy" that Kerry wins a nice 20 point victory tomorrow, with Edwards second and Dean a very closed third.

Is it just me, or did all the fun go out of the race when everyone decided Kerry had won? It got boring surprisingly quickly, because Kerry doesn't have any real competition. I'm rather shocked at how restrained the media has been. They're usually quick to create at least the illusion of excitement (anyone remember "Shark Attack Summer"?).
:: Morat 8:48 AM :: ::