Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Casting votes
First the primaries went on for twenty-five years or so (or did it just feel that way?) and one kind of primary (Republicans) counted votes by state so the winner in each state got it all while the other kind of primary (Democrats) counted votes by individuals so the winner was just whoever got the most votes. Then there were other crazinesses such as some states getting convention delegates voided because held early primary voting (Michigan). But now, today, it's apparently fine and dandy to start real voting early in Ohio. Yes, voting began there today, a full five weeks before Election Day and the votes are going to count just like real votes. Which would be unlike the military ballots that were disallowed in 2004 in Florida, so that's good, but really, seriously, how can it possibly be legal to start voting for a president five weeks before Election Day? And they're even announcing who's ahead!? . . . . And to think Cole Porter thought his world was going mad.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 10:04 PM

Friday, March 14, 2008
Simply Audiobooks
Simply Audiobooks is a terrific idea. Kind of Netflix* for books but much more expensive and tons less reliable. It takes almost a week to get a book to or from them, thus taking ten days or more of a month right there. And although they list lots of books, they must have few of each title including the not-best-sellers I usually like, so you can have ten or more books in your queue and still have none available to be shipped. They're very nice when you call or write to ask questions or complain, but it just doesn't quite make the grade. Makes one appreciate Netflix all the more.

*According to Wikipedia, Netflix was founded in 1997 by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings in Los Gatos, California.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 3:18 PM

Friday, March 7, 2008
Homeschooling ruling in CA
Interesting ruling in California but troubling for all kinds of reasons. If this is legitimate, where have they been for the last fifty years? If it's just a matter of retaliation or seeking school tax moneys, why didn't they approach the ruling more publicly and with community discussions? Seems especially odd given that it's in California, the epicenter of personal freedom. I hope that perhaps one of my homeschooling blog friends will add a note of rationality and explanation.

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Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 12:50 PM