Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

elections

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Being either morally or financially opposed to the ownership of a television, i have been following the Presidential debates through a variety of online resources. For the first i resorted to digesting every article i could find. For the second i read a verbatim transcript. For the third debate, i started my decision-making process with following the absolutely hilarious blow-by-blow by MSNBC blogger Keith Olbermann.

I like the idea of evaluating candidates based on the text of their performance, rather than the accompanying image; after all, i’ll feel our next president weigh in on my life more than i’ll watch him. However, my friends pointed out that by simply reading a transcript i was missing velocity – how quickly and surely the candidates reacted.

It’s all rather moot, i suppose, because we already know who i plan to vote for, but the entire process churns my stomach. At least i’m relatively insulated through my ignorance of all television, print, and radio media, but i still feel as though every brush i have with the election is making me dumber just by proximity.

https://www.crushingkrisis.com/2004/10/109772289183258323/

Red Fish, Blue Fish.

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Electoral College Tracker, via Josh Woodward. Aggregates poll data to predict the winner of each state, and uses that to predict the electoral total. Interesting if you put any faith into political polls when the race is this close; i find the most useful element of the site to be the graphs of individual state polls complete with trend-lines.

Do Something

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This MetaFilter post is today’s required reading. I like to think of myself as having become desensitized to almost all international news about death and suffering, but i find this story to be very disturbing – maybe because it not only involves innocent bystanders, but also journalists.

I’m too tired to go into full-on-rant mode, but there is obviously something very wrong with the American Military system. I don’t think it can be blamed on a single official or administration. A systematic change needs to occur, and i don’t think it’s coming our way anytime soon.

On a note that would only seem related if you were me, i have never been happier to not own a television than during yesterday’s Eagle’s game. Having been close to 100% teeveefree for over two months, for every second of my viewing i was aghast at the utter nonsense and stupidity communicated by almost every aspect of the televised medium. Aside from a handful of cerebral commercials, i felt every aspect of my viewing experience prodding me to lower my perceptions to that of the lowest common denominator of the viewing public.

I am vaguely aware of a “turn off your televisions” week that’s sponsored by some organization at some point of the year. I always found that to be somewhat misguided, both in design and purpose. Does anyone even do it? Do those that do even get the point, or notice the difference? Try turning it off for a month. Try throwing it out.

Television is the ultimate indulgence of utter passivity, the apex of wasted time. Stop watching MTV and write a song. Stop watching soap operas, and dream your own life. I fully recognize that some television can be art (Angels In America), and that apropos wittiness can sometimes make an indulgence worthwhile (Buffy), but most of the time it’s just an excuse not to be doing something else.

Finally, a reminder via my good friend Lindsay. October 3 is the deadline for voter registration for the November Election. If you aren’t registered, have recently moved, or need an absentee ballot, you still have a few weeks to straighten out the details. Specifically, for registration concerns, try Vote For Change, and for issues with locating a polling place try Election Impact.

Most importantly, just vote, goddamnit. Vote for an independent. Write in your mom. I don’t care. The point is not just about choosing but about being a part of the process. I understand that you can’t make it to the polls for every primary or local election; neither can i. This one, however, is a must. If you can’t find the time to vote, or to use the internet to register for an absentee ballot so you don’t have to find the time, I don’t think you need to bother to find the time to read this page. Or speak to me ever again.

Please take today as your opportunity to do something. About anything. Be tangible; effect change.

Webbing the Log

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Good lord i accumulated a lot of links while i was doing homework last night. Old-me would hoard them like the squirrel that fell through Lindsay’s bedroom ceiling, but new-me just wants to get them out there so that i can find more! Cause i am a WEB LOGGER. I LOG the WEB.

(Sorry, i had to explain that to a stupified class of Communications majors yesterday. At least my professor actively mocked them.)

You can watch Walmart from almost any angle these days, but this economist article is great sum-up if you’re doing an academic project. Link from daily favorite Largehearted Boy.

How real is American Idol? An excellent report on The Motown Episode remarks on the (sometimes huge) difference in sound between seeing a live taping and watching the show on television. I wish there was a reliable source that provided this kind of analysis every week.

Hockey player takes out a hit on his [male] lover? Or, a study in failed anger management combined with mediafucker agent? Or, trying to kill mediafucker agent? You be the judge.

Why am i not still reading more miserable crap every day? Oh, wait, i am. Lisa, oh Lisa, when will our weekly lunches resume? Probably in July. By-the-by, When i add you to the sidebar again, you will be listed as Libertine Seahag.

I generally don’t know what the fuck is going on on my Primary Ballot after i get past the bit about Senators, which is why The Committee of Seventy is a good thing — a century-old Philadelphia political watchdog group that tracks and explains the ballot. This came to light as i found out that, apparently, a fellow high school thespian of mine is running to be the Representative for Center City, abetted by fellow fellow thespian Ariel. The man is Andrew Hohns, and i’m linking him because i think it’s sad that an article about how his opponent has the gayborhood locked up currently tops his domain in google rank.

Also in the political arena: Shocking no one thought of this before. God knows my blood boils…

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If you didn’t already know that election time was drawing near, you would have been tipped off by President Bush attempting to surf his way into office on a coffin of a 9/11 victim (probably not for the last time) in one of his campaign’s first national adds. Story here. I don’t know that you can deny the man the ability to refer to 9/11 in the list of his political accomplishments, but let’s not forget that he said he’d avoid it. From the article: Added Rita Lasar, who lost a brother on 9/11, “President Bush promised in a speech he gave in 2002 that he would not use the site for political reasons. We believed him; we trusted him. He has broken his promise to us.”

This is the same guy who said of gay marriage “The state can do what they want to do” while on the 2000 campaign trail, so if you had any illusions about him not being a liar feel free to dispel them.

I personally support gay marriage because it is in keeping with the way i interpret the Constitution, the way i feel about State rights, and my religious beliefs. I feel very strongly that the federal government should not impose a standard for or against gay marriage on the entire nation. This doesn’t mean we should have a national amendment stating “Queers can get hitched!,” but it also means i find a national marriage amendment or initiative to be an alarming overreach of Federal power.

I realize that at a time like this it is everyone’s responsibility to voice their opinions in a logical way that can be appreciated by both sympathizers and opponents. Also, i think all of my friends deserve to marry the people that they love as much as i do. Expect to be hit on the head by my big liberal hammer repeatedly in the coming months.

https://www.crushingkrisis.com/2004/03/107853080587457072/