About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow sister because they didn’t have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.
Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow members of Saint Mary’s Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.
The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn’t get one but came to the precinct anyway…
Indiana’s photo ID law is the strictest in the country. The Republican-led effort was designed to combat ballot fraud, said supporters, who also have acknowledged that no case involving someone impersonating a voter at the polls has ever been prosecuted in Indiana.
Category: Current Events
Writer Arthur C. Clarke Dies at 90
Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90.
There was a time when I didn’t like to read. I don’t think I had the patience for it, or possibly the imagination. I was accustomed to being spoon fed fiction by the television, and mostly I didn’t bother. I’d slog through the occasional school assignment (I’m talking to you Victor Hugo), then head back to the TV (or the basketball hoop).
My freshman year of college I became a regular reader, largely because of Asimov, Niven, and Clark. In those early days I read a lot more Asmiov than Clark, but there was one book that stood out at the time: Clark’s “The Songs of a Distant Earth.” I’m almost certain it doesn’t appear on anyone’s all-time greats list, but for me it was just the thing I needed at the time.
I have no idea what kind of man he was, but he wrote a good book that helped me escape (for a little while) from a bad year.
Viva La Reforma!
Pope offers indulgences to Lourdes shrine visitors:
Catholics who visit the miracle shrine at Lourdes over the next year will receive “indulgences” which the Church teaches can reduce time spent in purgatory.
At least they’re not charging for it.
Swan song in the sunshine state
Even with the move of our primary date (to today), I wouldn’t have guessed it would still be relevant. I know Florida is a big state with a lot of delegates. I know it’s been pivotal in recent elections. Still, I thought most nominations were sown up by the time South Carolina had its say. I hear some of my fellow Floridians with “listed” phone numbers are inundated by push polls, and our airwaves are littered with political ads, as the candidates wage a pitched battle to remain relevant.
And to think I’ve wasted this opportunity by ditching my land-line and avoiding television during these dark days of the writer’s strike.
Somebody quick! Please manipulate me!
I showed up at the polls this afternoon and had the place to myself. You would have never guessed both nominations were up for grabs; or for that matter, that there was an important state constitution amendment on the ballot. Oh yeah, there was also a local tax related item on the ballot related to school funding.
You know, little stuff… the kinds of things that will have a direct and immediate effect on our lives.
My wife went in a little later and had the place to herself too.
“Has it been like this all day?” She asked one of the poll workers.
“Yeah, and there have been almost no Democrats.”
DOAH! On behalf of my fellow Florida liberals, I feel ashamed.
On the upside, it looks like we may finally bid adieu to Rudy. He’s been like a guy you invite over to watch the game on Sunday and he ends up living above your garage for the next six months. It seems like he’s been here long enough to satisfy the residency requirements to run for governor.
(Shiver) Jeez, I think I may have peed my pants. That’s a scary thought.
You shouldn’t be sorry
Canada FM regrets ‘torture list’ – BBC News:
The Canadian foreign minister has apologised for including the US and Israel on a list of states where prisoners are at risk of torture.
Maxime Bernier said the list, which formed part of a manual on torture awareness given to diplomats, “wrongly includes some of our closest allies”.
You know, friends can disagree about things. It’s o.k. to disagree with the Prez and his merry band of hoods. Hell, I disagree with him on many issues, and you won’t catch a whiff of regret on me.
Besides, hasn’t it been pretty well established that (some) prisoners in U.S. custody have been tortured? If you’re making a list of states that torture, and the U.S. tortures some of the folks it takes into custody, is it really a mistake to include us on the list? It’s certainly not a mistake of fact anyway. It may be a political mistake, of sorts, but read what I said above about friends again.
He thought, I thought
We had a young person in court a while back that didn’t treat the judge with much deference. In itself, that’s not saying much, but what really irked the judge was this: the person in front of him didn’t meet his expectations. The Judge expected more from a person in the military.
As far as the judge was concerned, he earned the right to be judgmental, and not just because he’s a judge… he’s a retired military man himself (30 years in the Marines).
I didn’t bother me much (the behavior), but not just because most folks are operating at less than 100 percent in court. The first thing that came to my mind was: “I wonder if this person has earned the right to be belligerent.” I know, there are probably lots of folks who are sent overseas and don’t come back assholes. But, if we look for them, we see articles like this a little too often: (Newsvine/AP)
While many Vietnam veterans began showing manifestations of stress disorders roughly 10 years after returning from the front, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have shown the signs much earlier.
That could also be because stress disorders are much better understood now than they were a generation ago, advocates say.
“There’s something about going back, and a third and a fourth time, that really aggravates that level of stress,” said Michael Blecker, executive director of Swords to Plowshares,” a San Francisco homeless-vet outreach program.
“And being in a situation where you have these IEDs, everywhere’s a combat zone. There’s no really safe zone there. I think that all is just a stew for post-traumatic stress disorder.”
A part of me wonders if this person could detect something like pity in me, and it made the situation worse.
A failed attempt at Jobsian reality distortion
With all the attention focused on the start of primary season, George has had a chance to lay low for a while. It was kind of nice to forget about him for a while. Well, maybe repress is a better word.
Then I read one sentence in an article about his Middle East trip, and years of political angst dropped right back in my lap.
Reality bites Bush’s Mideast peace plan – McClatchy :
Bush wrapped up his eight-day Middle East mission on Wednesday with a stop in Egypt, where he told President Hosni Mubarak that he’d invest serious political capital in trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year.
I’m sorry, have I been in a coma the last few years? I thought the ledger on George’s political capital bore a striking resemblance to the Federal budget (the one where spending exceeds revenue). Tell me the foreign policy disasters of the aughts never happened. Tell me people don’t snicker whenever Bush starts to say the word “political” (thinking he might go ahead and say the “c” word too).
By the way, it’s awfully nice of George to stop by in year eight. (Well, within a week of year eight anyway). Does anyone else think this was anything but a fishing trip, hoping to land a legacy? You know, a good one.
Recession’s silver lining?
There’s an interesting article in Slate today. It tries to explain why (the author thinks) Americans need to learn to think and compete globally.
Well, I thought it was interesting, but you may know where my interests and biases lie.
Now that I’ve listened
I could have waited to post this tomorrow. I should have waited to post this tomorrow. I can’t believe how much I’ve done today, and still posted several entries along the way. The amazing thing has been it all seemed relatively effortless (and for that line, my wife is going to smother me in my sleep). My energy level is really improving.
Anyway, on with the post…
I felt an obligation to admit to you I thought Dana Perino was being a pretty good sport on NPR this weekend. Well, maybe I don’t have to admit it, but I will anyway. I listened to the podcast during the mind numbing task I call “going through the mail” (at work). What, you call it that too?
After listening to her appearance myself (I know – I’m breaking new ground for this site – commenting on stuff I’ve actually experienced first hand) I decided it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought. Plus, with a little bit of time I’ve discovered a little bit of perspective. When you consider the other news lately: banging the drum for war in Persia (despite a few setbacks with little things I like to call “facts”) and the suspicious destruction of video torture evidence by the CIA; the issue of wether a White House Press Secretary can answer a multiple choice question about the Cold War seems a little insignificant.
Yeah, you didn’t think I was really going to leave it at that did you?
It seems insignificant unless you consider these are the people we must rely on to handle those larger issues. January 2009 seems like a long time from now. What’s really depressing is it seems immigration is shaping up to be the 2008 successor to gay marriage, the GOP contrived boogeyman to rally the worst impulses of the electorate in the next election cycle. I cringe inside every time I hear the word “immigration” on the news. It’s like a little piece of my optimism dies every time.
Good God, is it really that bad?
Either Monday or Tuesday I usually get to the “Wait, Wait…” podcast on my iPod. Well, it’s late Monday evening and I still haven’t listened… which is probably a good thing. I’m not sure I could have trusted myself to have heard this correctly:
(White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino on NPR)
Salon.com Politics | “Oh, Dana”:
Appearing on NPR’s “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me” over the weekend, Perino said she “panicked” when she got the Cuban missile crisis question because she wasn’t exactly sure what the Cuban missile crisis was. “I really know nothing about the Cuban missile crisis,” Perino said. “It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I’m pretty sure.”
I think I’d have blown a gasket if I’d heard it live. It’s bad enough reading about it.
Please, throw me a bone. Tell me the Cold War wasn’t that long ago… that smart people still know what the Cuban Missle Crisis was, and there are a few of them left in government.
Along with the Berlin Wall being put up/torn down, I thought the Cuban Missile Crisis was a defining moment of the Cold War. You know, that little thing that shaped international politics in the western hemisphere for, like, the second half of the last century. I guess I would have thought a college educated person (with a minor in Political Science) would have known a little about it.
I’ve read two articles on the NPR appearance (the Salon link, and a blog post on the NYT), and I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around it. Maybe it’s just shock. I’ve only had twenty minutes to digest this. Maybe I’ll feel better in the morning.