If Indiana Discriminates, Gen Con will leave

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 24, 2015 · 4:18 PM PDT

2015/03/24 · 16:18

Long time, no diary for me, but this is something that impacts me on a number of levels. First, embarrassment and anger toward the state of my birth. Indiana is one of a number of states looking to legalize discrimination against the LGBTQ community under the guise of "religious freedom."

Actions have consequences, though, and at least one major yearly convention has urged Gov. Pence to reconsider his reported eagerness to sign the bill once it hits his desk. Follow me below the fluffy orange cloud for more about Gen Con and their letter to Indiana's governor--and why it's a big deal.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 18, 2011 · 12:24 PM PDT

2011/03/18 · 12:24

Three Mile Island. Chernobyl. The China Syndrome. And now, Fukushima Daiichi. All are bywords for nuclear disaster. That doesn't even get into the fact we don't know what to do with the waste resulting from fission power. And yet, like it or not, nuclear power is going to at least have to be in the mix if we're going to make a smooth transition into a post-petroleum age. What are we to do?

For starters, the US can start taking the lead in developing new generations of commercial reactors that are safer and produce less waste. If President Obama is serious about creating a green economy, this has to be on the table, no less than improving solar and wind tech.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 19, 2010 · 5:56 PM PDT

2010/10/19 · 17:56

Cross-posted, with pictures, at OpenSalonn

I pride myself on being slow to take offense. I go to church on a regular basis (not as regularly as I should lately, but that's another post), but irreverence doesn't bother me much, for instance. I have a pretty low sense of humor when you come right down to it. Still, I have my "buttons": cruelty, rank hypocrisy and glaring ignorance being three biggies. Joe Miller, Alaska Senate candidate extraordinaire, hit two out of three (and I'm giving the benefit of the doubt on cruelty) thanks to his brute squad and praise of East Germany so breathtakingly stupid it easily exceeds anything Christine O'Donnell has said. Including her statements on the First Amendment. Namely, Miller held up the former German Democratic Republic as a model for border security.

The first question I had was...did Joe Miller ever visit East Germany? Because I did.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 07, 2010 · 11:34 AM PDT

2010/09/07 · 11:34

(Cross-posted at Open Salon)

Let me say at the outset, I love where I work: DogBoy's Dog Ranch in Pflugerville, Texas. My employer does boarding, day care and training for dogs (and much more), so even though I sit at the desk and answer phones and emails I get to meet many great dogs and their owners. Plus, my own dogs get to come and play while I work--a great fringe benefit.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday August 28, 2010 · 11:13 AM PDT

2010/08/28 · 11:13

(Cross-posted at Open Salon)

Most of you reading this won't know who Fr. Jim Williams is, which is truly a shame. At St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, my church home in Austin, he is one of the "retired" clergy. I put retired in quotes because Jim's been a pretty busy fellow. He's also one of my heroes.

One of my most deeply-held beliefs is that if you proclaim to be a follower of the teachings of Christ, you must do your best to live those teachings. Furthermore, a commitment to social justice and helping those less fortunate is a value that transcends religion. I have known people of good will who are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and atheist; all of them honor the commandment to care for the widow and orphan. Fr. Jim is one of my heroes because not only because he is a great exemplar of these values, but because his life is a testimony to them.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday May 31, 2010 · 10:10 AM PDT

2010/05/31 · 10:10

My yearly ritual every Memorial Day weekend is to watch the Indianapolis 500, and I've done it every year since 1982--missing only the '94 race, when I was getting my college diploma. I don't follow racing the way I used to, but Indy is a part of my childhood, imprinted onto my DNA after growing up in Indiana.

It occurred to me this year, though, that the Indy Racing League missed out on a real marketing opportunity at this year's race. I'm not referring to the record four women drivers who started this year (including Sarah Fisher's record ninth start); nor am I referring to Bruton Smith's idea for an Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 double header, much as I love that idea. The missed opportunity has to do with gas. Or, rather, the utter lack of it on the Old Brickyard during the running yesterday.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday April 03, 2010 · 11:16 AM PDT

2010/04/03 · 11:16

(Cross posted at Open Salon)

As huge scandals tend to do when they're ignored/covered up, the shameful history of abusive priests in the Roman Catholic Church has finally reached the Vatican itself. When they're not doubling-down on the crazy by comparing criticism of the Pope with anti-semitism and other outrageous statements, the Holy See has countered calls for the Pope's deposition or resignation by asserting Benedict's sovereign immunity as head of state of Vatican City.

Let me state at the outset that I am not a Roman Catholic, nor have I ever suffered abuse, so I don't have a personal stake in the debate beyond a belief that these victims should receive justice and closure, and whatever comfort those things might bring them. And a belief as well that any powerful organization--secular or religious--should not be allowed to cover up its abuses.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 23, 2010 · 11:23 AM PST

2010/02/23 · 11:23

(Cross-posted at OpenSalon)

In the column currently front-paged on Salon, Joan Walsh wonders if the sole victim of Joe Stack's suicide attack on Austin's Echelon Building, Vernon Hunter, would be receiving more attention nationwide if he were white. It's a good question and discussion. However, maybe we should be looking more deeply into why the right-wing in this country makes excuses for home-grown white terrorists, even while denouncing President Obama for not referring to Abdul al-Mutallab as a terrorist quickly enough to suit them.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday February 10, 2010 · 4:31 PM PST

2010/02/10 · 16:31

(Cross-posted at Open Salon)
Sometimes, things take a little longer than usual to get up my left nostril, but when they do... Sarah Palin's keynote address to the Tea Party convention is one of those things. In fact, it has gone up my nostril, through my ethmoid bone, and burrowed into my brain. And it produced the image of a ugly brown sharp-toothed alien from a British sci-fi series.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 11, 2009 · 4:49 PM PDT

2009/09/11 · 16:49

Larry Gelbart died today. If you don't know the name, you surely know the work: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum, Tootsie, and the t.v. adaptation of M*A*S*H, just to name the top three of a long and varied career.

Less well-known, perhaps, is Gelbart's role in keeping the government from pressuring broadcasters to keep certain content off the air at certain times of the day.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 21, 2009 · 11:25 AM PDT

2009/03/21 · 11:25

And they wonder why people don't bother with newspapers anymore. For the latest exhibit, I give you this story that appeared in the Detroit Free Press a few days ago. A choice excerpt:

“The 1908 Model T -- think about this -- the 1908 Model T earned better gas mileage than the typical SUV in 2008,” Obama told the crowd. “Think about that -- a hundred years later and we're getting less gas mileage, not better, on SUVs.”

That line about the Model T, a version of which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used during her presidential bid, can be traced to a 2003 Sierra Club ad campaign that said the Model T could go 25 miles on a gallon of gasoline. Earlier references put the Model T’s mileage at 20 to 25 m.p.g.

That’s certainly better than the 18.7 m.p.g. real-world average of SUVs sold in 2008, according to federal statistics.

But according to Ford the first Model Ts built in 1908 could go 13 to 21 miles on a gallon, depending on the particular variation. The automaker and Model T clubs say typical Tin Lizzies averaged 15 m.p.g.

AustinCynic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday February 22, 2009 · 10:56 AM PST

2009/02/22 · 10:56

(cross-posted on OpenSalon)

We all have our dream cars. I'm particularly fascinated with Studebakers. Since at least my college days, I've wanted to get the 1951 Commander Fozzie Bear drives in The Muppet Movie and have it painted the same way Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem paint it later in the movie.

Of late, however, the 1957 Golden Hawk has put its hold on me. It's a car which satisfies the part of me that loves classic car design with the primitive love of the muscle car that even a non gearhead like myself can't quite resist. Its 5 liter V8 Packard engine is about twice the size of the engine in my Honda Element, in a body lighter than many of the muscle cars that would come after it. Only the Chrysler 300 had better 0-60 acceleration. Given the rarity of Golden Hawks, however, that dream is likely to remain a dream, unless I sell a novel or hit the lottery.

What does this have to do with anything? Read on...

Newer
Older

RSS

If Indiana Discriminates, Gen Con will leave

If Nuclear Is Going To Be Part Of Our Energy Mix...

Memories of East Berlin

One Person's Boondoggle...

The True Legacy of August 28

Missed Opportunities at the Indy 500

Concordats and their Relevance to the Priest Abuse Scandal

Why Do Conservatives Make Excuses for White Terrorists?

Sarah Palin, Queen of the Weevils

Larry Gelbart--Keeping the FCC Out of T.V. Scheduling

Diary #2,459 On Why the Press Sucks

Let's Add EV Conversions to the Stimulus Mix