Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
Michael Hanscom Thanks to the joy and convenience of voting by mail, I’ve just filled out my ballot, and will be dropping it in the mail momentarily.
For the record, my votes on two of the most important issues that I’ve been watching over the past few months: Kerry/Edwards for President and No on I-83.
“Not in My Name (Pledge of Resisitance) (Coldcut)” by Williams, Saul from the album Not In Our Name (2003, 5:37).
Want to vote on Tuesday, but don’t think you’ll have the time? Think again — thirty states have laws giving workers the right to take time off to vote.
According to the Census Bureau, the number one reason why registered voters did not vote in the last two presidential elections was because they could not get time off from work. That s nearly 4 million registered voters who did not have time to vote in the 2000 election where the presidential race was decided by 537 votes. The time crunch especially keeps women, minority and low wage workers who have the most rigid work schedules and the least amount of control over their time from voting.
The good news is that while there are many things that could go wrong that is out of our control this Election Day, this is a problem that ordinary citizens can fix. Thirty states have laws giving workers the right to take time off to vote. For example, Illinois voters are entitled to two hours leave, Minnesota voters can take election morning off to vote, and Ohio voters cannot be fired or penalized for taking a reasonable amount of time off to vote.
Here’s a summary of voter leave laws for those states that have them:
The following states have laws giving employees the right to take time off from work to vote. Many states require employees to give employers notice about taking leave before Election Day and some states require employees to provide employers with proof of voting. In addition, while employers cannot prevent employees from voting, most states give employers the right to specify the time during the day that leave can be taken.
NOTE: This information is for background purposes only. Readers should seek legal advice before taking any specific action.
You know, back in 2000 a Republican friend of mine warned me that if I voted for Al Gore and he won, the stock market would tank, we’d lose millions of jobs, and our military would be totally overstretched. You know what? I did vote for Al Gore, he did win, and I’ll be damned if all those things didn’t come true.
— James Carville
(via Generik)
On my way back to work from lunch I passed one of The Stranger‘s distribution boxes, paused a moment to check out this week’s cover — and probably startled a couple of the people around me when I burst out laughing at the cover photo.
This week’s issue has a feature on 2004’s Scariest Halloween Costumes, and it is so not ‘politically correct’. It’s also really damn funny (if you’ve got a sick enough sense of humor, I suppose, a category that I easily fall into).
This was the costume they used for their cover. It’s so wrong, and so perfect — I love the combination of one of the most widely-seen of the horrific images from Abu Ghraib and the smiling, innocent face of a child.
Your child will be the hit of the neighborhood costume parade in this recreation of the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal’s most indelible image. As an added bonus this easy-to-make costume will remind everyone on your child’s trick-or-treat route of our national shame! Simply roll a cone from a sheet of 24″x38″ black cardstock, making sure to cut out a hole for the face. Drape with two yards of black felt, and add leftover wires from your last lamp-rewiring project. Voilá! So easy, so quick, and so terrifying!
I’m quite sure that Dan Savage, David Schmader, and John Hollingsworth are going to be going straight to hell (do not pass go, do not collect \$200) for this piece of work.
But I’m going right along with them for laughing.
Just something that popped into my head.
I want a daily update from my bank via authenticated RSS feed.
Something like:
Account holder: Michael Hanscom
Account: XXXXXXXToday’s transactions:
| Party | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Broadway QFC | ($5.78) | $385.73 |
| Pike & Broadway ATM | ($20.00) | $365.73 |
| Direct Deposit | $783.56 | $1149.29 |
Thank you for banking with Your Local Bank! Promotional copy, yadda yadda, whatever.
Are there any banks (especially in the Seattle area) that offer this as part of their online banking? If not, any idea how this could be suggested or promoted? Alternatively, are there any reasons why this couldn’t be managed securely?
One year ago today, I lost my job because of a photo I took, and began my fifteen minutes of fame.
My, how time flies.
After finding out about tonight’s eclipse earlier today, I started wondering if I could get any halfway decent shots of it. Since the camera I’m using allows longer exposures (up to eight seconds), I figured it’d be worth a shot.
First priority, though, was a tripod, as there was no way I was going to be able to hold my hands perfectly steady through an eight second exposure. I swung through the Kit’s Camera after work, picked up a cheap-but-functional tripod (the Quantaray QXS 2001, for \$19.99), and declared myself ready to go.
Once the eclipse started and the moon rose enough that I could see it over the buildings, I climbed up the fire escape to the roof of my building and started experimenting. It took some fiddling around before I got something useable — it’s been far too many years since I took a photography class, and I really haven’t got a clue about f-stops, apertures, or any of the rest of that professional mumbo-jumbo — but eventually, I managed to get a few that were decent. Not great — but decent (hey, a 3X zoom lens can only get you so close…).
Still, I’m rather happy with them — and I’ve got until 2007 to practice for the next lunar eclipse, anyway. ;)
“Ain’t Necessarily So” by Bronski Beat from the album Singles Collection 1984-1990, The (1990, 4:08).
John reminded me that there’s a lunar eclipse tonight. If the skies stay as clear as they are right now, I may climb up to the roof of my apartment building and see if I can get any decent pictures.
In the meantime, I present this handy-dandy guide to eclipse terminology.
(Images from Tom Weller‘s seminal 1985 technical opus, Science Made Stupid)
“Fascination Street (Extended)” by Cure, The from the album Mixed Up (1990, 8:48).
I’ve never been a fan of Eminem. I tend to find his music boring, and his lyrics violent, misogynistic, homophobic, and offensive.
That said…
Hot damn this video is a powerful piece of work.
From Salon’s writeup:
With his history of homophobia and his long-running beef with MoveOn supporter Moby, Eminem is an even less likely lefty hero than Howard Stern. But the just-released video for his new anti-Bush song “Mosh,” makes “Fahrenheit 9/11” look like a GOP campaign spot, and it will almost certainly reach an audience that wouldn’t think of shelling out for a documentary.
The beautifully animated video, which is directed by Ian Inaba, opens with a classroom. At the front is a man in a blue suit, his face buried in an upside down children’s book that says “My Pet,” with a picture of a bush. Just as the man is revealed to be Eminem, the scene changes, and we see the singer taping up newspaper stories to a wall — “Sick Wounded Troops Held in Squalor,” says one. “Civil Liberties at Stake,” says another. “Bush Knew,” says a third.
In five minutes, Eminem manages a furious indictment of the administration that will likely resonate among many troops in Iraq as well as disaffected kids here at home.
After watching the video, I’m still no fan of the music. But wow.
This is good.
Pity it didn’t come out a few months ago.
“Closer (Further Away)” by Nine Inch Nails from the album Closer to God (1994, 5:45).