David Simon is right

I disagree with the remark "the parasite is killing the host," as I don't believe that bloggers and other commentators relying on professional journalists are killing their work by discussing it. He proceeds, however, to the real point, which is that those journalists need funding in order to commit journalism, and that "citizen journalists" most of the time are citizen commentators, and if they want to commit journalism, they need to become professional journalists in order to achieve that goal. In which case they need funding, resources, etc. His remarks about citizen journalists are not as kind as my paraphrase, but that's OK. Where he's coming from is generally correct.

David Simon's testimony to Senate committee

If we were a different country, a public-funding approach might work. If we set it up right, even in this country a public-funding approach might work. (Setting it up right requires that funding be guaranteed, and not at the whim of Congress or an Executive. I just don't know how that could be done.)

That leaves us with non-profits taking over papers - and that's an EXTREMELY interesting idea, or for-pay subscription models to access content (or both!). I pay $70 a year (starting this year) for access to the Encyclopedia Britannica because I need to be able to trust my content source. I would be willing to pay for a subscription to something else, too.

What bothers me about much of the for-pay subscription models I've encountered thus far with newspaper websites is the per-article approach. If I'm going to have to pay, I want to pay once (a year), like I would to pay for a print newspaper subscription, or once per day, like I would for a single issue of a paper. It has to be easy to pay and then when I come to a newspaper's website, I want access to the whole damn thing (save, perhaps, some custom archive from 150 years ago that requires an additional subscription or something, that would make sense, I suppose.) The freebie articles offered as loss leaders simply annoy me. And confusing, because after my first click I don't know what I have access to and what I don't.

I would also be highly intrigued by an AP or Reuters subscription service, or a multi-paper subscription service. I like reading multiple articles on the same subject across different papers to sniff out the bias. It's useful.

Simon's remarks about loosening antitrust restrictions go in that direction, but I worry that we'd open the door to further monopolization of the industry, and we already have one or two organizations with too damn much power and influence to begin with, so I'm not sure how to achieve the one (aggregate subscription services) without the other (centralized monopolistic corporate providers that are really all one provider). Dunno.

More military tribunals for GTMO Detainees?

Obama 'to revive military trials'

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says the president may have decided that trying detainees such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - the man who allegedly planned 9/11 - in a civilian court in the US would be simply too complex and too difficult.

That is such bullshit. If it's that complex, you get a special master or something. There's ways to accommodate such a need in the system already.

Mormon Baptism after Death

I have multiple reactions to this Mormon practice of posthumous baptisms of strangers. Temple baptism rites performed for Obama's mother in Provo LDS temple

On the one hand, to try and change someone's religion after their death is an astounding act of hubris. "We know so much better than you," such an act says, "that we will change your religion after death." Moreover, God will let them? How does that work? According to Church doctrine, per the article: "The Church does not list persons as members of the Church or 'Mormons' merely because proxy baptisms have been performed. Church doctrine teaches that at some point the spirit of the deceased person will be informed that a baptism has been performed on his or her behalf and will be given the opportunity to accept or reject it." So, the damned are screaming in some pit somewhere and someone walks up and says "hi! you've received a proxy baptism!...." It's like some bizarre encyclopedia salesman skit.

On the other hand, it's cowardly. If you can't convince someone to join your religion during their lifetime, you go behind their back? How is that doing unto others, for that matter?

Finally, but most importantly...it's really meaningless. If someone proxy baptizes me after I'm dead, I haven't done anything to change religion, so as offensive as it sounds, nothings really changed, has it?

Tea report - Adagio Teas Black Tea Sampler

So, Faz gave me a gift certificate ages ago to Adagio Teas and they nudged me a few weeks ago and reminded me to use it. So, I ordered their black tea sampler so I could, you know, sample. Here's the results:

Keemun Concerto. Interesting, mild, probably not going to be a fave but good to serve someone whose tastes you don't know.

Yunnan Jig. Smooth, pretty hearty, good on a rainy day like today. I like it.

Golden Monkey. Sort of an earthy odor in the leaves, mild, smooth flavor. Gee, that sounds like a cigar ad.

Assam Melody. I like it.

Darjeeling #22. Much as I like them all so far, this one probably says "Sidra's day-to-day tea" the most.

Ceylon Sonata. Another good Sidra Daily Tea, I think, but prefer the Darjeeling #22.

Capricorn: Freebie. Some kind of flavored custom blend. Vanilla smell, but I don't taste any. Not a fave but I'll drink the rest of it and be so adventurous as to try other flavored stuff.

I came back and had another Keemun Concerto yesterday, now that I've tried them all, and I think I like it better the second time around.

Anyway, it's a goodly amount of yummy tea for $16 and the tins are cute. I love stuff like that.

Maine Gov Signs Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Maine does the right thing:

Same-sex marriage bill passes in Maine

Baldacci signs same-sex marriage into law

Soldiers for Christ

military prosletyzing in Afghanistan

The special forces guys - they hunt men basically. We do the same things as Christians, we hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down," he says.

I have to say, aside from the fact that the American military should not be proselytizing, that's in General Order Number One, that's a really creepy metaphor.

Cool Stuff, and Other Things

I am not in the mood to be a Serious Blogger (tm) today. Racism! Sexism! Torture! Law! Politics! Raining frogs!

There, enough for now. In other news:

Art student's car vanishing act

I will be participating in a toe-up sock knit-a-long on Ravelry, which I just joined (here's me on ravelry). Based on the newest Wendyknits book. I'm not a big sock-knitting fan, but I'm in love with some of the yarns I found at Etsy, and will knit as many pairs as I can stand to. Wendy's book: Socks from the Toe Up. I can't tell you why I'm not a big sock-knitting fan, as they seem to have all the characteristics of projects I would like - small, compact, portable, useful, etc. And yet.

Why have I not been able to download more Dollhouse episodes on iTunes? I was so happy (ok, with dialup, not 'happy' really, but happy to have the chance to see the show without spending $50/month on a cable subscription just for one TV show) about it.

Why doesn't Sidra have a cable TV subscription? I'm glad you asked. I go through phases where I'm not interested in television at all. I made a conscious decision to not subscribe to anything when I moved to my current apartment and began law school. My writing time is limited enough by having a demanding, challenging job, I don't need the distraction. And, if I have a TV, I'll watch it, even if it's crap. Which is stupid. So, I don't get TV reception. I don't miss it much, it just doesn't make sense to pay that money and have that much distraction for the pleasure of 2, maybe 3 TV shows.

links!

1. Cool cool thing at central station in Antwerp. Op zoek naar Maria - Dans in het Centraal Station van Antwerpen I can't tell if it's a conscious performance, perhaps of the flashmob variety, or the real thing. I will state for the record, I've been part of a different similar experience that was the real thing, spontaneous and synchronized. Stranger things have happened.

2. I was disappointed yesterday to read an article about Kiva (a microlending project, check it out) that summed up why people would become lenders as "more people are investing these days" or something idiotic like that. More people are connecting to each other as people, and aware that we really are in this together. That's why I and so many other people give money to total strangers. Because we are capable of feeling someone else's pain and their desire to lift themselves up, and wanting to help even though our own resources are limited. We are all human beings, and in this together.

3. Angry that New Orleans recovery proceeding slower than surrounding areas, but not surprised.

4. Wanted to go see Watchmen tonight with a co-worker, but it's not at the theater!

5. David Neiwert is insightful as usual. As their power spirals downward, the Right's rhetoric gets nuttier and nastier. He links to Eric Boehlert's equally interesting and insightful article, Glenn Beck and the rise of Fox News' militia media.

6. Just fucking certify Al, all right? Absentee votes extend Franken lead

7. Finally watched Susan Boyle's Britain's Got Talent performance after a week of everyone telling me to see it. Holy cow. Britain's got some AWESOME talent. Someone get this woman a recording contract and put her on tour, STAT. Yaaaay, Susan!

Glenn Beck is a douche

Who knows absolutely nothing about wind energy, obviously.

More Beck Babble: Wind power needs nukes to work

Wind, when it blows, makes energy. When it stops, you can't store it, so what's making the energy? Wind energy doesn't work without something else making energy for when the wind stops, which it does -- especially if Al Gore controls the temperature, and all the winds and everything else, so we never have blowy days!

Is this what contemporary America calls journalism or something, or is he technically a pundit and therefore granted license to be a completely ignorant blowhard? Pardon the pun.

Or, she said optimistically, is this an Andy Kaufman-esque piece of performance art?

No, probably not.

The wind is going to keep blowing, my friends, since we do not have futuristic weather-control machines. That's only in 1980s-era James Bond movies, I'm afraid.

Maybe we need "journalistish" now, to go along with "truthiness".

Karzai legalizes marital rape

Mother. Fucker.
Afghan leader accused of bid to 'legalise rape'

In a massive blow for women's rights, the new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right to leave the home...

. . .

The provisions are reminiscent of the hardline Taliban regime, which banned women from leaving their homes without a male relative. But in a sign of Afghanistan's faltering steps towards gender equality, politicians who opposed it have been threatened.

Now go support the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. http://www.rawa.org/

Just so you know

I don't talk about my day job on this blog, much, or at all, which may be why I haven't been posting (so perhaps this policy should change, I'll think about it).

This is my firm representing these two asylum seekers:

Detained immigrants in Florida say they're not getting medical care

Brazilian migrants sue ICE over mental health care

Brazilian migrants sue ICE over mental health care

"Brazilian migrants sue ICE over mental health care"

PM2.5 NAAQS remanded to EPA

It's possible this NAAQS (national ambient air quality standard) value will not change as a result, but the discussion is illuminating: EPA failed to show how the value would protect human health, which is required by mandate. This is particularly (ahem) relevant to anyone who wants to claim that compliance with EPA regulation = protective of human health, in, say, some environmental review of a polluting project.

PM2.5 is fine particulate matter.

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Remands Annual Fine Particulate Matter Standards, Upholds EPA's Decision on Coarse Particles

I've read the opinion and I think the D.C. Circuit does a bang-up job of articulating the standard of review and applying it propertly. Very well-written. The pm2.5 section would be good for those wanting a quick intro to clean air law.

election fraud arrests

Several Clay County Officials Arrested On Federal Charges

Five Clay County officials, including the circuit court judge, the county clerk, and election officers were arrested Thursday after they were indicted on federal charges accusing them of using corrupt tactics to obtain political power and personal gain.

The 10-count indictment, unsealed Thursday, accused the defendants of a conspiracy from March 2002 until November 2006 that violated the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). RICO is a federal statute that prosecutors use to combat organized crime. The defendants were also indicted for extortion, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to injure voters' rights and conspiracy to commit voter fraud.

According to the indictment, these alleged criminal actions affected the outcome of federal, local, and state primary and general elections in 2002, 2004, and 2006. The indictment accused the defendants of the following criminal actions:

It is so easy already, if you have money and want to be evil. Let's not make it even more easy using fucked up electronic voting systems. (Let me remind you all of my experience with electronic voting systems as an election inspector during the gubernatorial recall in California: Sidra Vitale, Election Official. OH, and Electronic voting systems hackable.)

Tent Cities - "Bushvilles"

I've noted these before, but of course it bears repeating.

From Boom Times to Tent City

The credit crunch tent city which has returned to haunt America

Incredible Cognitively Dissonant Conservatives

I somehow subscribed to this email news thing that's quite conservative. The level of vitriol directed at our president for spending money to stimulate the economy is impressive. And yet, today, from the same source, I get "Obama Spending Spree Could Send Stocks Soaring!" So, invest now and get in on the profits!

So, you're totally happy to profit off him if it works but tear him down for doing it in the first place? DOn't they call that biting the hand that feeds you?