Category: Touchy Subjects

The things that should never be discussed much less published by non-professionals.

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Voters Need Not Hide Behind the Curtain

Knox County has decided that voter privacy is bunk. As long as you certify the information is for political reasons only, Knox County Election Commission will send you a list of active and inactive voters and their history. Cost? Free!

We have changed our policy concerning purchase of voter lists on disk. If you will print out, fill in and send us the Certification for Purchase of Voter List on CD (http://www.knoxcounty.org/election/pdfs/request_form_disk_list.pdf) we will send you a disk with all the active and inactive voters and their history. For free. [Source]

I wonder just how detailed that history is?

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Comparative Justice

To put this in perspective, a woman is billed $222,000 for making songs available breaking copyright (and if I read the judgment correctly it was “for making them available” not actually distributing anything—that’s like arresting me for possibly providing beer to children because I have a 6 pack in the fridge and people under 21 walk through my house) BUT a school bus driver gets busted for drinking on the job and is fined $482. (see also)

Glenn Reynolds sums it up “One offends a powerful interest group. The other just puts kids at risk.” while summarizing James Lileks.

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Is $1000 for someone else not worth YOUR time?

I am really enjoying participating in The Problogger Birthday Bash Darren Rowse and Lara Kulpa have put together. I do find it a little troubling that when they offered a prize of $1000 to your favorite charity it only generated 24 qualifying entries! Now turn it around. Instead of offering a decent sum of money for someone else, offer a $20 gift certificate for yourself and they got 724 comments! (not all of those would have been qualifying but I’m not going to count). Granted, there was a prize in that post which could have gotten you $500 for yourself but winning any other prize did not disqualify you from entering the charity giveaway. Every single Problogger reader should have entered the charity giveaway!

Ok. Let me get off my soap box and add in a little rationality.

  1. The money for self contest required no effort, just a comment under the post itself with as little as one word in it, so it makes sense that the number participants would be far greater.
  2. We assume that every reader of Problogger, due to its subject matter, has a blog BUT that could be a false assumption; ergo, the participation in the money for self would be higher.
  3. Not everyone is into charities. And that’s ok. So the participation in the money for self would be higher.
  4. The charity post required a little substance and effort. Unfortunately, effort and substance do knock a lot of people out of the game. Therefore, the money for self would be naturally higher.

All that said, it does make sense that some of the other contest posts would generate more comments. But only 24 valid entries for giving $1000 away to a meaningful cause?! Surely we should have done better than that! Karthik shares my sentiment.

Life is a participation sport. Get up! Participate! Be active in your community. Vote! Go to school board meetings. Pick up trash. Bring a shopping cart into the grocery with you instead of leaving it in the parking lot. Say hi to your neighbor. Hug someone daily! Volunteer your time. Leave a legacy. Make a difference!

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I want Problogger to give STAR $1000

Darren Rowse of Problogger fame and Lara Kulpa are busy giving away $54,000 for the Problogger Birthday Bash. FreeMoneyFinanace.Com has agreed to help them by giving $1000 to the favorite (US tax deductible) charity of a person who blogs about it and has their post linked by from Problogger by 9am Sunday Oct 7, 2007 (50 minutes from now).

I would like Problogger and FreeMoneyFinance.com to give $1000 to Shangri-la Therapeutic Academy of Riding (STAR). $1000 will cover more than half the cost of a class of 4 riders for 1 session.

STAR’s mission is to foster personal growth and achievement by providing educational, recreational, and physically challenging therapeutic experiences using horse related activities for persons with disabilities.

Our oldest son, Tommy, has Asperger’s Syndrome. We blog about it at Asperger Teen. Tommy has lived a life of being told "never." He did not speak until about age 3. At age 6, we were told he would never read. At age 10, we were told he will never function in society and to lock him away in a home. The nevers go on. Tommy has surprised the world today is a well-rounded, good natured, polite 17 year old. If I never announced his Asperger’s, no one would ever guess. He has succeeded were many expected him to fail. We have STAR to thank in part for that.

Tommy rode with confidence!Tommy’s success comes from the incredible support system that surrounds him. Shangri-la Therapeutic Academy of Riding is an important part of this support system. STAR has nurtured his love of animals, given Tommy confidence, and really helped his social skills. Tommy is now hoping to go to college to study in vet school!

As an independent consultant, I have broken many of the rules required for success. As such, we live with constant cash flow problems. Without STAR’s Rider Sponsorship Program we would not be able to participate. Whenever possible, I try to encourage donations to STAR because I believe in the program and by encouraging donations I feel I have giving back where they have helped me. I do not have the means to give directly. Whenever possible, I give my time to help STAR through efforts like our Blogathon blog. I have seen many more than just my son touched by their love. It is difficult to drive through Knoxville and not see a license plate with a reference to STAR or see someone wearing a STAR t-shirt. Their success and growth can only continue through the generous donations by people like Darren Rowse, Lara Kulpa, and FreeMoneyFinanace.Com.

Please consider STAR for the $1000 charity giveaway. Thank you!

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Sexual Tension on the rise in Alabama

Over the past few years I have made several references to Alabama outlawing sex toys. Here’s my response to Michael Silence’s post on Alabama sex toys today:

These laws are dangerous.

Setting all the privacy issues aside, these laws destroy opportunity to make sex toys safe. A devices intended to come in contact with a human can be required to be made of medical grade materials and FDA approved. By outlawing the sale of sex toys, these business can buy inferior products, stamp a “for novelty purposes only” sticker on it, and go right on selling them. Do we outlaw novelty items next? Every magic store, Stuckeys, Cracker Barrel and, possibly, toy store would have to close shop.

Who suffers? The consumer. Why? Because some prude who wouldn’t buy one in the first place stuck their nose in your bedroom.

“That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.” –Thomas Jefferson

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Orweillian of the Day

All those cameras and now "give us your keys."

People in the UK who encrypt their data are now obliged by law to give up the encryption keys to law enforcement officials…[Source]

Note: I have not confirmed the above against any other sources.

Per capita there are more surveillance cameras in the UK than any other country in the world…

The average city dweller can expect to be captured on film every five minutes…

Source, UK Something to watch over us, BBC News

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Free Gas!

I am big on doing the right thing. At the park Saturday night, someone left some trash on the ground. As I left, I took a moment to place their trash in the trash can. A small effort on my part. Yesterday we pulled into Weigel’s to get some gas. Cathy and I both noticed that the pump handle/hose had fallen off one of the pumps. I parked on the other side, got our gas going, then walked around to the other side and hung it up. As I turned to return to my side of the pump, it bleated out, "Please pay the cashier!"

Now I’m not typically naive but this one caught me off guard. I know people steal gas but it has never been in my face before. Frankly I never thought about the process. I stole gas once by accident. We went to Disney World in Dec 2000 and in north Georgia we stopped for gas. I thought my father-in-law paid; he thought I paid; About the Tennessee border we realize no one paid. We made a couple of phone calls and paid with a credit card over the phone. Of course, I fully expected a state trooper to pull us over before we ever hit the border! So I assume the process of stealing gas is to pump the gas, neatly put the hose away, and squeal tires as you make your escape. Apparently the real process is to pump gas, and not the lowest octane! This crook went medium grade. Only do half a tank. This crook pumped $24.95. 16 gallons right now runs about $35. And the important step! Do NOT return the hose/handle to the pump because that signals the cashier that you are done.

When I told the cashier about the drive-off. She looked up, shrugged, declared "looks like someone did drive off," then explained "it happens all day long." All day long! What kind of society is this?! I can appreciate desperation and bad luck but never could I imagine having to steal. I wonder if they steal because they are trying to get ahead, if they steal out of desperation, or if they steal for the thrill. It is amazing how many organizations exist to help people. CAC will help pay your electricity. Fish will bring you food. Churches will step up. There are many others but none really publicized. I wonder if these thieves feel out of resources and do not know where to turn, or are they just bad people? Maybe it is not enough to donate time and resources to these organizations. Perhaps we need to do a public service by informing the communities about these organizations.

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Spectators to the abolishment of freedom

I just watched the University of Florida student getting tasered and read the account of the falsification of the police report. I am appalled! The video indicates no wrong doing! The questions seemed appropriate and Kerry seemed willing to answer. The growing abusive police state in this nation must be contained! What growing abusive police state? The abusive police state that commands on of our military personnel, who put his life at risk to protect your freedoms, to stand up so the officer can shoot him. The students who sat idly by should have risen from their chairs when the officers stood threateningly behind the student. They should have made a human barricade and assured the freedom of speech that our forefathers gave their lives for during the Revolutionary War. How we dishonor them! Our government exists by the will of the people and if the government is stepping out of line then the people must step up! Besides, what’s college if you haven’t been arrested at a protest?

Easier said than done you say? I would have sat idly by also if I were there you say? You don’t know me very well then. All that said, I acknowledge that maybe there were other circumstances not conveyed in the video or the media that led to this event. Perhaps the student had an altercation with the police earlier.

As Naomi Wolf has rightfully pointed out, the tasering of Andrew Meyer will be remembered as a watershed moment in American history. That much is certain. The only thing that remains to be seen is how we, as Americans, react to it. Will we sit passively by while our Constitution and our Democracy are murdered right before our eyes?

…

The choice is clear: either we fight fascism right now with all our power, or we will be the next ones on the ground with a policeman’s knee on our throats and 50,000 volts of electricity coursing through our bodies.

[Source]

Update: Is that officer laughing?!

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Haslam Makes Me Giggle

Right! Sure. Billy you just keep fooling yourself.

"These are great jobs with bright, creative people who have created something that’s special here," Haslam said. "When you talk about the media production business, now you talk about Knoxville in the same league as New York and Chicago and L.A. And maybe this is an even better place." [Source]

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Do you have a PEACE of chalk for tomorrow?

peace post

Do you have your chalk ready for tomorrow? Writing on the sidewalks is not vandalism or graffiti, it’s art! And it washes away.

Campaign to shift the paradigm from conflict to UNITY. From a double negative "No to War" To a double positive "Yes to Peace" [Source]

“Chalk4Peace” is a very simple, fun and inexpensive peace action
that you can implement in your local community [Source]

Get out tomorrow and draw a peace sign or a heart on the sidewalk!