Unions and Reunions

This seems to be the year of (re)unions... starting with:

* A beautiful trip to the beach near Beaufort, SC for a casual week with the extended family

* Then, a trip to Flagstaff, AZ to meet up with the brilliant friends that I was lucky enough to fall in with during those crazy formative years known as "College"

* Then, ComicCon - while not technically a reunion... it feels like it. Getting to see some of my favorite artist/writers for a few moments and to collect the last year's worth of new material, especially the latest issue of Phil Foglio's Girl Genius.

* I've just returned SLCC09 in San Francisco, and what an excellent trip! Met way more Residents, Lindens and fans of my Particle Laboratory than I expected! And it was a chance to finally meet the 'carbon-based' versions of some of my favorite 'silicon-based' friends. And, as with all conferences, made new friends and associates who will undoubtedly inspire many SL projects yet to come!

* Next? Off to Yellowstone for geek & geyser time with an old friend from DragonMud who has been the catalyst for both my relocation to San Diego and my involvement in Second Life.

* And then? Coming up on the 20th anniversary of DragonMud... and while that reunion will undoubtedly occur online, it will certainly be 'a trip'.

And in between all this... I'm still slaving away, trying to get my Vehicle Laboratory in Second Life open to the public... and indulge in a bit of guilty non-productive gaming that I'll blog about next.

Public Option

Apparently corporate shills are staging "grass roots" protests at town hall meetings, trying to quash support for the public option bill. As someone who doesn't currently have employer paid-for healthcare... the public option is an issue I have a great deal of interest in.

If you run into any "Deathers" people who claim that the public option would ruin America, here's a few of my favorite soundbites:

"The public option gives US the freedom to choose... Are you against Freedom?"

"Competition will drive down the cost of healthcare. Cheaper healthcare would be just like giving American businesses a huge tax break... you're in favor of tax breaks right?"

"I'll take the Apathetic Bureaucratic Government instead of Blind Corporate Greed when it comes to my healthcare coverage, thanks."

I read a lot of incendiary stuff over on CrooksandLiars that makes me boil for a minute or two, a sentiment I'm confident is shared by many who visit the site. This latest, however, I find repulsive on a whole new level. If you're interested:

Christianist Group's Billboard Compares Atheism To Murder

Truth in Advertising?

I've been working on my marketing material for various products that I sell in the 3d virtual world known as Second Life®, and as my usual curious self was wondering "Does Truth in Advertising" apply to me promoting an entirely virtual product?

So I went a-googling, found a nice F.A.Q. on advertising and the Federal Trade Commission.

Which got me thinking... (oh dear) ... Isn't it time the FCC adopted some sort of "Truth in Broadcasting" statute?

Fiction, parody, etc, all are fine, free speech and all. But to knowingly assert or imply something blatantly false, as FACT in a "News" or "Social Commentary" setting? There should be *CONSEQUENCES* for reporting deceptive and unsubstantiated claims and passing them off as substantiated truthful facts. Especially if such 'stories' are likely to influence voters.

They're welcome to continue lying their asses off the government shouldn't have the right to censor them... but if a news agency and the interests it serves are benefiting from the mis-information they disseminate... there should be heavy TAXESor FINES on those activities to balance them out.

It goes without saying which "News" corporations I think would be the least interested in seeing such legislation passed.

Seperate is NOT EQUAL

"Same-sex couples retain all of the fundamental substantive components encompassed within the constitutional rights of privacy and due process, with the sole (albeit significant) exception of the right to equal access to the designation “marriage,” a term that — for purposes of the California Constitution as it now reads — the people have decreed is to be reserved for an official union between a man and a woman. Although Proposition 8 does diminish the rights of same-sex couples under article I, section 1 in this one respect, it does not have the sweeping constitutional effect suggested by the Attorney General’s argument." -- GEORGE, C.J. Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court

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Domestic Partnership is not the same as Marriage with a different name. (from wikipedia)

	Domestic Partnerships	Marriages
Can file without being required to share a residence?	NO	YES
Available to minors with parental consent?	NO	YES
Can be filed without witnesses and not included in public record?	NO	YES
Partners of state employees eligible for the CalPERS long-term care insurance plan?	NO	YES
"Putative Spouse Doctrine" ?	NO	YES

Going Postal

I've just sent a one page LETTER to the California Supreme Court Justices, who have until June 5th or so to render their opinion of Prop 8. An actual real paper letter. It feels so antiquated... and official.

A week on Harbor Island

So, despite threat of Swine Influenza... I'm on the non-left coast for the week... at the peach colored house in the middle here:

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The panorama from the back porch:The view from the front porch:


The wildlife out here is something else. "The beach is a buffet... and everyone's on the menu." We could see everything from the Osprey carrying off fish... the dolphins and sharks churning up the surf... the pelicans and ?herons? smacking into the water... pale white ghost crabs scuttling around at night... and the horseshoe crab mating season. (photo borrowed from my cousin Sam).