Poor Florida can’t stay out of the spotlight. They have persistent voting troubles, they got slammed by a vicious hurricane, and apparently they have a frightening number of sexual predators.
A new state law prohibits school bus stops from being within 1,000 yards of a pedophile on probation. That means that about 400 stops in Broward County may have to move to avoid the 1,100 registered sexual predators in the county! Move bus stops? I think I’d move my kids to another county. (Thanks, Fark)
When I attended the United for Peace and Justice anti-war rally in Pittsburgh at the beginning of ’03, I was annoyed and frustrated by the horrendous mission creep there. I was there to stop what I felt was an unjust war (we can argue that point later) and intrusive laws that threatened liberty in the name of patriotism and national security, not support abortion on demand. One minute I was cheering an anti-war speaker and the next I was listening to a feminazi rail on about a woman’s right to end a life choose.
It seems that Catholic Peace Fellowship has had similar experiences with UFPJ and wants no more. They’ve severed ties over UFPJ’s participation in the "March for Women’s Lives" and I can’t blame them.
"United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 800 local and national groups throughout the United States who have joined together to oppose our government’s policy of permanent warfare and empire-building."
And that has what to do with abortion?!? I like what CPF said about this.
"No one has the right to choose life or death for another; to assume such power has always been recognized as the ultimate form of oppression"
….
"Nowhere in [UFPJ’s statement of purpose, the Unity Statement] is there mention of ‘reproductive rights’ or the ‘freedom’ to choose to kill."
By the way, these are the same yahoos who demand no barriers/pens, free water, free transportation, and monetary compensation for their march at the GOP convention.
The authors of this
article posit that creeping federalism turned American politics into the two-headed
monster it is today. If states had more power, they say, more parties might flourish,
as once they did. (Thanks, Dappled
Things)
[T]he United States has not always been so dominated by two parties. Third parties (sometimes even fourth, fifth and sixth parties) once competed successfully in congressional elections, winning significant portions of the popular vote and often gaining seats in Congress. This was true for most of the 19th century and even the early part of the 20th.
To all my readers who live in Allegheny County:
The Department for Economic Development in Allegheny County has a survey on their website. Please take it. It’s short and will let the county authorities know how you want your tax dollars spent.
On a related note, here are some Pittsburgh blogs. It’s not a comprehensive list by any means.
True Pittsburgh
Pittsblog
Photosuperstar
The Conversation
The Daily Dish
The Science of Non Compos Menticism
Jilly!
Dave Copeland
Genocide in Darfur sparks outrage, but little action
[T]he handwringing isn’t translating into action. In progress instead is a fresh mockery of that 1948 convention. A repeat of well-intentioned, feeble actions that failed to save 800,000 Rwandans a decade ago.
I’ve been all talk and no action, just as this op/ed piece says. Well, I want to start actually doing something to stop the horrors
in Sudan. I’ve sent letters through the ACLU, TrueMajority, and other groups, but
I suspect politicians largely ignore such campaigns.
I’m planning on writing a generic letter that can be sent to representatives, senators,
the president, and foreign leaders. My hope is that a real grassroots effort – that
isn’t lead by a major lobbying group – will get more positive attention. I have
no experience writing letters of petition, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Update 11/06/06: I still haven’t done anything constructive. Then again, neither has the UN.