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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Saturday, January 24, 2004 I was reminded today of that old saw: Yesterday's history Tomorrow a mystery, Today is a gift. That's why they call it the present!" Today was indeed a gift, a midwinter present of temperatures in the high 50's and bright sunshine all day long, the kind of day in which people washed their cars in the driveway in their shirtsleeves. I drove home from Roanoke tonight under the conjoined crystalline aura of a perfect crescent moon and Venus, winter's lady of the night, sparkling brightly about ten degrees to the west. The other stars struggled over the horizon above dark tongues of cloud flowing in from the south and west, presaging the weather to come. Tomorrow we pay the piper for today's balmy present with snow, sleet and freezing rain. That ghostly aura around the moon is a high altitude layer of ice crystals, an accurate predictor of bad weather long before we had satellites and smooth-talking meteorologists. Back to more mundane matters, if anything about today's political climate can be called mundane. In December, a conservative group calling itself the "American Family Association" posted an online poll with the stated intention of demonstrating American opposition to same-sex marriage. The plan was to present the results of the poll to Congress. Respondents were to choose one of the following options: I favor legalization of homosexual marriage.I favor a 'civil union' with the full benefits of marriage except for the name.I oppose legalization of homosexual marriage and 'civil unions.'Unfortunately for the AFA, 60 percent of those polled said they favored same-sex marriage. Eight percent favored civil unions. Only 32 percent were opposed to any formal recognition of same-sex couples. The AFA now claims that "homosexual activist groups around the country got a hold of the poll -- it was forwarded to them -- and they decided to have a little fun, and turn their organizations around the country (on to) the poll to try to cause it to represent something other than what we wanted it to. And so far, they succeeded with that." You know what? That's a very interesting statement. To begin with, if the poll was intended to convey American opinion, then all Americans should be able to respond, regardless of their sexual orientation. More than that, however, the wording of the statement makes it clear that the AFA had no real desire to find out what Americans thought. Their spokesman complained to Wired News that homosexual participation caused the results to represent "something other than what we wanted it to." The AFA had evidently intended the url for the poll to be circulated only among its membership and other like-minded folk. But it "escaped" quickly, and by the middle of December could be found on many socially-conscious mailing lists, blogs and news sites. Daniel Terdiman, who wrote about the poll for Wired News expressed the outcome succinctly: ". . . the AFA and organizations like it will have to get used to the idea that if they want to use the Internet as a tool, they had better understand how it works." Bottom line: the AFA has dropped its plan to present the results to Congress. posted by Liz @ 10:00 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
I was reminded today of that old saw: Yesterday's history Tomorrow a mystery, Today is a gift. That's why they call it the present!" Today was indeed a gift, a midwinter present of temperatures in the high 50's and bright sunshine all day long, the kind of day in which people washed their cars in the driveway in their shirtsleeves. I drove home from Roanoke tonight under the conjoined crystalline aura of a perfect crescent moon and Venus, winter's lady of the night, sparkling brightly about ten degrees to the west. The other stars struggled over the horizon above dark tongues of cloud flowing in from the south and west, presaging the weather to come. Tomorrow we pay the piper for today's balmy present with snow, sleet and freezing rain. That ghostly aura around the moon is a high altitude layer of ice crystals, an accurate predictor of bad weather long before we had satellites and smooth-talking meteorologists. Back to more mundane matters, if anything about today's political climate can be called mundane. In December, a conservative group calling itself the "American Family Association" posted an online poll with the stated intention of demonstrating American opposition to same-sex marriage. The plan was to present the results of the poll to Congress. Respondents were to choose one of the following options: I favor legalization of homosexual marriage.I favor a 'civil union' with the full benefits of marriage except for the name.I oppose legalization of homosexual marriage and 'civil unions.'Unfortunately for the AFA, 60 percent of those polled said they favored same-sex marriage. Eight percent favored civil unions. Only 32 percent were opposed to any formal recognition of same-sex couples. The AFA now claims that "homosexual activist groups around the country got a hold of the poll -- it was forwarded to them -- and they decided to have a little fun, and turn their organizations around the country (on to) the poll to try to cause it to represent something other than what we wanted it to. And so far, they succeeded with that." You know what? That's a very interesting statement. To begin with, if the poll was intended to convey American opinion, then all Americans should be able to respond, regardless of their sexual orientation. More than that, however, the wording of the statement makes it clear that the AFA had no real desire to find out what Americans thought. Their spokesman complained to Wired News that homosexual participation caused the results to represent "something other than what we wanted it to." The AFA had evidently intended the url for the poll to be circulated only among its membership and other like-minded folk. But it "escaped" quickly, and by the middle of December could be found on many socially-conscious mailing lists, blogs and news sites. Daniel Terdiman, who wrote about the poll for Wired News expressed the outcome succinctly: ". . . the AFA and organizations like it will have to get used to the idea that if they want to use the Internet as a tool, they had better understand how it works." Bottom line: the AFA has dropped its plan to present the results to Congress.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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