mjh's blog

WT-Swift-F?!

Revived Anti-Gun Arguments
        All the tired old anti-gun rhetoric is floating to the surface again ("Obama Must Shoot Down the Gun Lobby" column by E.J. Dionne Jr.).
        How about a new perspective? How about a calm, objective reassessment of the First Amendment? After all, First Amendment freedoms have (damaged the) fabric of our democracy (more) than guns ever could.
        For example, so many journalists have been discovered fabricating news that it is entirely reasonable to require that all journalists be officially licensed. Licenses could then be denied or revoked — en masse if necessary — in order to ensure the integrity of the media. …
        And who could be opposed to the registration of computers? … And clearly, a system of background checks needs to be in place for anyone desiring to gain access to the Internet. Cyber-stalking, child pornography, malicious blogging — all could be reduced if some reasonable bureaucratic controls were introduced.
        Nobody had a "need" for more than one television set. Period.
        Let’s take a rational, common-sense approach to regulating the out-of-control beast we euphemize as "free speech." Surely the founding fathers had no inkling of the destructive power of the modern media.
        All honest, decent people would have to agree that the gain in emotional security would be well worth giving up a few archaic rights. After all, the Constitution is a "living" document, isn’t it?
        BOB CHRISTENSEN
        Belen

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Substitute First Amendment in Revived Anti-Gun Arguments

Satire is hard. Christensen is a frequent contributor to Letters to the Editor. This is one of his longer works. I would read his blog.

However, I believe he just suggested that there is no difference between speaking and shooting. I’m glad we don’t hang out together. After all, saying what I think is no different than taking a shot at him. And, as a gunnut, he’s got a god-given right to shoot in self-defense. Don’t mention my name if you tell him about this. peace, mjh

So, This is What it Feels Like to be with the Majority

An ABC News poll released this morning shows that a vast majority — 69 percent — of Americans approve of President Obama and 72 percent view him favorably, "the best job approval rating at this point in 20 years, [and] the broadest personal popularity since Ronald Reagan." Fifty percent now say the United States is headed in the right direction, up 31 points since the end of the Bush administration, when only 19 percent thought the country was on the right track. Other figures from the poll:

– "Fifty-eight percent approve of Obama’s work on the economy."

– "Obama leads the Republicans in Congress in trust to handle the economy by a garish 61-24 percent."

– "A remarkable 90 percent say Obama is ‘willing to listen to different points of view’; fewer than half said that about George W. Bush."

– Seventy-seven "percent call Obama a strong leader, nearly matching Bush’s best a few months after 9/11."

A majority supported Obama’s decision to release the torture memos, but only 49 percent support his blanket ban on torture. That said, a majority still favors holding investigations into the Bush administration’s use of torture.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/26/obama-100-days-poll/

47 Unknown Letters by, and to, Benjamin Franklin

New Letters? Franklin Still Electrifies, By Joel Achenbach Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, April 24, 2009

A professor with his nose deep in a library archive in London has stumbled upon 47 previously unknown letters from, to and about Benjamin Franklin. …

… he requested of the library staff a certain Volume 4478b …

Professor Finds Unknown Letters by, and to, Benjamin Franklin – washingtonpost.com

[hattip to FredRFred]

Twitter Twaddle

I’ve been curious about Twitter for quite a while. Mind you, I am naturally averse to the mob and its fickle fancies. I don’t march to any drummer, not even my own. However, I am a computerist and technologist and curious.

I started to explore Twitter by looking at the "tweets" I might actually follow. If you follow these links,  you see what tweets look like, albeit outside of the normal flow of Twitter.

• Name jfleck
• Web http://www.inksta…
• Bio New Mexico print journalist, desert water geek

168 Following
259 Followers

jfleck (jfleck) on Twitter

* Name Ed Bott * Location Santa Fe, NM * Web http://edbott.com… * Bio award-winning author, tech journalist, Windows geek 193 Following 976 Followers

• Name Ed Bott
• Location Santa Fe, NM
• Web http://edbott.com…
• Bio award-winning author, tech journalist, Windows geek

193 Following
976 Followers

Ed Bott (edbott) on Twitter

• Name Netflix
• Location Los Gatos, CA
• Web http://netflix.com
• Bio Official Netflix twitter channel.World’s largest online movie rental service.For customer service on twitter:Netflix Helps. We want to hear from you.

17 Following
4,651 Followers

Netflix (netflix) on Twitter

Twitter / KOB.com Albuquerque: #ABQ – City looking into a …

My impression of this is that if you enjoy listening to the conversations going on around you in a crowded restaurant, you will love Twitter. I prefer context and quiet. peace, mjh

Edgar

This is a long article on Poe, who remains complex the more he is explained.

What Poe most wanted was never again to answer to an editor.

The Humbug: A Critic at Large: The New Yorker

Bad, Bad Neighbors

Our neighbors rented their house at 1419 Quincy NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87110, to a group of college students last September. The first week these punks moved in, people were sleeping in cars on our street. Every Thurs-Fri-Sat, these folks party. This means visitors coming and going at 2am, 3am, 4am, with car doors slamming, alarms set and unset, booming radios, loud cursing, and bunches of cars along the street the next morning, along with trash. Awful people.

Today, there are two busted windows on the front of the house. So, it really can get worse. peace, mjh

PS: The home owners, Shannon LeTourneau and Mark letourneau, have very little Internet presence, so, I hope this blog entry comes up in every search for them or this property.

Quote of the Day

Anne Kass, former judge:

Language is vague and subject to different meanings and interpretations, but these Originalists, and WWJD people, insist that they have an inside track on what the Founding Fathers (who didn’t even agree with each other, back then) would do, or on what Jesus would do, if he/they had been faced with today’s problems. The Founding Fathers are not available to be questioned or to speak for themselves so people like Scalia just make shit up and project it onto them.

Democracy for New Mexico: Anne Kass Guest Blog: Scalia in Albuquerque

The Lunatic Fringe

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) was one of the dozens of Republican lawmakers who are addressing the anti-Obama tea parties today. He told the crowd he didn’t believe they were all “right-wing extremists,” as others had sought to portray them. “But if you are, I’m with you!” he shouted. After, he told reporters that Texas might have to secede from the union ….

Think Progress » Gov. Rick Perry: Texas might have to secede.

Tea party organizers and participants have repeatedly insisted that their nationwide protests today are completely non-partisan and not meant to be anti-Obama. However, there didn’t seem to be any anti-Republican or anti-Bush signs at the protests. Instead, not only were there signs/clothing protest Obama’s policies, but some had violent or racist rhetoric. One participant even asked Joe the Plumber about waterboarding Obama ….

Think Progress » Tea baggers joke about Obama being waterboarded, shining the shoes of the Saudi king.

This Week’s WTF?!

I’ve noticed the nutty Naegele’s writing before. Every loon is free to trumpet, but, of course, a view like Naegele’s inspires violence. peace, mjh

Strong U.S. Military Will Be Next To Go

NOW THAT President Obama has moved to place the U.S. banking and judicial systems under the thumb of international authority, his next undertaking will be the radical downsizing of the U.S. military.

       While, in theory, foreign economic and court systems now could exercise control over their U.S. counterparts, one roadblock remains — the overwhelming power of the U.S. military. The next president, for instance, simply could renege on Obama’s transnational commitments because he or she would be backed by the U.S. military.

       Therefore, Obama must see that the U.S. military is reduced to the glorified national police force so favored by the Europeans — a force that poses no substantial offensive threat. The first thing that must go, of course, is the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

WM F. NAEGELE Albuquerque

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Talk of the Town

Think Progress: DHS Report

The extreme right — those who are “hate-oriented,” “mainly antigovernment,” or those dedicated to a “single issue” — is a legitimate threat that law enforcement must deal with, according to a new assessment from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security. The report, which was coordinated with the FBI and is being given to federal, state, and local law enforcement, warns:

[R]ightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.

Remember: The largest act of terrorism on US soil by US citizens was perpetrated by the Radical Right. Further, the majority of the violence against individuals for cultural or political reasons originates with the Radical Right. Respect their right to speak, write, and assemble, but they can be — have been — dangerously violent time and time again.