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Lakeshore
An author of no particular popularity

Jay Lake
Date: 2010-04-01 05:54
Subject: [links] Link salad wakes up in April, wonders what happened
Security: Public
Tags:books, cancer, culture, health, healthcare, links, personal, pinion, politics, science
I am reading and signing Pinion at Powell's Cedar Hills tonight

Monitoring Cancer ProgressionBy automating the tracking of tumor cells that circulate in the blood, doctors can see if a cancer treatment is working. A topic of obvious interest to me.

Lifesaving, safe vaccines — Antivaxers are murderous loons. Period. If they're right, their profound selfishness raises protects their own children at the expense of the deaths of others. If they're wrong, theyir profound selfishness endangers their own children as well as others. (Via Bad Astronomy.)

Area 51 vets break silence: Sorry, but no space aliens or UFOs — The coverup continues!!!

The Texas School Book Repository — Roger Ebert is eloquent on conservative lunacy and the textbook mess in Texas. Does it make me a liberal if I believe Jefferson has been more central to American history than Calvin? That Lincoln was our greatest president, and Davis not our President at all? That the Theory of Evolution towers with majesty above those who, in some cases, believe the earth may be 10,000 years old, and that men walked the earth with dinosaurs? No, it doesn't make me a liberal. It makes me an educated, rational being. Unfortunately, in some precincts of Texas that may appear to be nearly as bad. I know my apolitical, centrist and conservative friends become frustrated with me when I dismiss conservatism as foolish idiocy, but read this article about duly elected conservative leaders carrying out a conservative agenda, and tell me where I'm wrong. Condfidential to GOP in America: It's hard to take your politics and principles seriously when they come with this baggage.

Militia Draws Distinctions Between Groups — Right. It's so critical to maintain the distinction between one group of heavily-armed anti-government paranoids and another. I forget sometimes.

Independence and Dependence — Conservative commentator Daniel Larison on opposition to HCR. ...an example of how short Republican memories are and how stupid mainstream conservative pundits must think their audience is. (Of course, you could say that about almost any GOP political assertion these days.)

?otD: What was your best April Fool's prank ever?



4/1/2010
Writing time yesterday: n/a (chemo/streess)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 8.0 (interrupted)
This morning's weigh-in: 231.2
Yesterday's chemo stress index: 7/10 (extreme fatigue)
Currently reading: [between books]

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jordan179
User: jordan179
Date: 2010-04-01 13:51 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
Militia Draws Distinctions Between Groups — Right. It's so critical to maintain the distinction between one group of heavily-armed anti-government paranoids and another. I forget sometimes

Well, if one group is willing to restrain itself from actual violence and the other isn't, I do think it's critical to maintain the distinction. Would it be ok to deal with a rash of muggings by black guys who liked to dress and act "gangsta" by simply arresting everyone who affected the style?
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Jay Lake
User: jaylake
Date: 2010-04-01 13:53 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
I dunno. Gun toting anti-government types aren't exactly an urban style.
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jordan179
User: jordan179
Date: 2010-04-01 14:01 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
They're a subculture, just like hip-hop. It is perfectly legal to "tote a gun," and it is also perfectly legal to be anti-government. In fact, both rights are enshrined in our Constitution, as the Second and First Amendments, respectively.

What is not perfectly legal, and is in fact highly illegal, is to use one's guns in pursuit of one's anti-government (or any other) philosophy, to commit acts of violence not in defense of oneself or endangered others against violent crimes. That is why the distinction is important -- it is the distinction between being non-conformist but also non-criminal, and being a non-conformist criminal

I think that the distinction between criminal and non-criminal is pretty important -- don't you?
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Jay Lake
User: jaylake
Date: 2010-04-01 14:18 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
I think that the distinction between criminal and non-criminal is pretty important -- don't you?

Yep. Carrying weapons and plotting to overthrow the government is pretty much evidence of criminal intent insofar as I know, unlike wearing thigh-length shorts, for example.
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jordan179
User: jordan179
Date: 2010-04-01 14:26 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
The "carrying weapons" part is not illegal in those jurisdictions. The very point being made by the article is that lots of the "militias" are essentially just gunowning clubs, who are not actually "plotting to overthrow the government." They are no more illegal than is the American Communist Party.

Really conspiring to commit violent crimes, such as would be required to overthrow a government by force, is of course illegal. And is treated as such, when it can be proven.
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jordan179
User: jordan179
Date: 2010-04-01 14:29 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
One more point -- why should an "urban" style be more respectable than a "rural" one? The gangsta subculture is linked to some fairly serious violent types, most notably the big urban gangs, who were in turn inspired by some really bad actors (such as the Black Panthers of the 1960's-70's), even though most of those who affect the style are close to harmless. By the same token, the survivalist subculture has seriously-violent elements. There's no obvious reason why one should be more worthy of condemnation than the others.
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Jay Lake
User: jaylake
Date: 2010-04-01 15:16 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
You're kind of missing my point. They're "militias" not "gun clubs". Or country and western groups. Or whatever.

Anybody who calls themselves a militia is taking on the political baggage I was referring to in the first place. It's not a neutral label, and it quite intentionally doesn't stand for some happy group of harmless citizens lawfully pursuing their hobbies.
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scarlettina: UFO: Believe
User: scarlettina
Date: 2010-04-01 15:19 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
Keyword:UFO: Believe
The coverup continues!!!

You can't believe this guy. He was paid insane amounts of money. Why shouldn't he take to his grave his classified relationships with tall, gray, alien women?

As for my best April Fool's prank, it's this one, committed the spring after my return from Africa.
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