Wednesday, November 12, 2003
posted by Sam at 1:08 AM| Permanent Address
Election, take 2: Recounts looming
2 seats -- and control of council -- are at stake in challenges
Ok, yet again:
Vote. Get involved.
Control of the Indianapolis City Council is up for grabs. Since its inception in 1970 the council has been controlled by Republicans with Republican Mayors. Indy's done pretty well in that time as far as business goes. Little things like education fell through the cracks, but you can't have everything.
We got a Democrat Mayor four years ago, and re-elected him in a landslide. The Council may, or may not, be Democrat for the first time ever.
One district may have been won by THREE votes and another by THIRTEEN.
Still think your vote doesn't count? Three and thirteen.
Which is well within the margin of error of the Diebold voting machines we used this year.
posted by Sam at 12:55 AM| Permanent Address
A Constitution of Convenience
From Reason Online.
Reason is the monthly print magazine of free minds and free markets. It covers politics, culture, and ideas through a provocative mix of news, analysis, commentary, and reviews. Reason provides a refreshing alternative to right-wing and left-wing opinion magazines by making a principled case for liberty and individual choice in all areas of human activity.
Does the Constitution apply or doesn't it? I'm pretty sure the government can't pick and choose.
Of course I'm also pretty sure that my definition of things like "Freedom of Speech", "Due Process", and "Unreasonable Search and Seizure" isn't the same of my current government.
Thursday, November 06, 2003
posted by Sam at 2:12 PM| Permanent Address
Leaders witness crowded prisons
I've been in one of these prisons (I was part of a team that photographed it for the architect) and I'm sure the over crowding is very real. Way too many first time, non-violent drug busts ended with 20 years without parole, for what my friends and I were told to "dump it and leave" 20 years ago. Give sentencing discretion back to the Judges.
We need the money for schools. Educate or Incarcerate.
posted by Sam at 1:38 PM| Permanent Address
Bake sale stirs debate on affirmative action
OK. I'm a white guy in the Midwest so I have very little in common with affirmative action. However, in every school I went to through 12th grade my white brothers and I were a majority in the order of 45% Caucasian to 40% black, and 5% "other". We were all poor Blue Collar however. My father, from Virginia, had every cultural reason to be racist, but one thing he always believed was that only a fool picked friends, lovers, poker tables, or employees using anything but what type of person they were and what your gut told you. Of course he grew up in a coal town miners family. Some of his family ended up in politics, he worked in the union through the 50s and 70s. But they all distrust "The Man".
I honestly don't understand discrimination. I'm sure it happens hundreds of times a second though.
I also know my education, as good as it was, would have never gotten me into Stanford. There's three or four schools in the mostly white satellite schools that did get their kids into Stanford. Some of them no doubt scored lower than I on the SATs.
Wealth has always been an advantage, and always will, just like strength, good looks, and who you know. That's why I'm trying to give my daughter as much a head start as possible.
The white folks came over as sailors and soldiers and laborers. The black folks came over as cargo. We didn't all start at the same level. In Indiana our Hispanic population is growing very quickly. All I know about this is that my wife, who was in retail management for years, would hire a black or Hispanic kid in a heart beat because they would tend to show up for their shifts, work hard, and cause no problems. The white kids tended to need the job for little more than spending money and worked accordingly.
posted by Sam at 12:03 PM| Permanent Address
Blogging for Dollars
Matt Haughey writes a very happy, or even shocked, user's take on Google's context-sensitive ads, Adsense.
It's been a while since I did a site that really needed to pay for it self, but Adsense seems to make sense. They're non-intrusive and relevant.
That's what I look for in an ad.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
posted by Sam at 6:15 PM| Permanent Address
Copyright and Right
Please make a note:
If you have ever worked in a collaborative business get permission, in WRITING, to use examples of your work online. Even if you were permitted to make print outs at cost for your physical portfolio, and you specified exactly what you did, and that someone else owns the copyright; the copyright holder can ask you to remove samples that you worked hours or days on; and they are absolutely right in the law to do so.
All they have to do is Google their name, and because you were honest enough to attribute them, you get a cease and desist.
