Boys and BlogHer

Kevin Drum blogs today about being invited to attend BlogHer, and Chris Nolan encourages him to attend. So far so good. But then Chris veers off the deep end and I have to ask, what was she thinking?

If you are a man who like code and software and things that plug in, and is perhaps having trouble finding a girl who likes Java (and knows it’s not just a coffee) and undersands your inner Geek, this might be the PERFECT place for you to spend a summer afternoon.

The ratio at most tech conferences is hugely biased toward men that will assuredly not be the case here.

I’m not planning on going to BlogHer (my reasons why are here), but I find that approach rather demeaning. Not “come to BlogHer to learn more about technology, politics, developing a niche blog, blogging for business and woman’s issues, among other things, and have fun too!” Nope, it’s flat out, “Come to BlogHer to try and get a date.” And then the official BlogHer weblog posted her comments, in an approving manner.

You’d think after all this time that we could do better.

All that said, knowing that Kevin is going does tempt me somewhat to go despite my previous post. I’d like to meet him. And looking over the evolving agenda, I see they’ve toned the mommy focus down somewhat (a plus for those of us who are childfree). And as a student, I can get in for a nice low price. So call me on the fence, but still inclined towards “no”.

Friday iTunes Blogging

Haven’t done this in a while!

Sweet Potato Pie – James Taylor
Only A Dream – Mary Chapin Carpenter
Inside – Sting
Blow Wind Blow – Alison Moyet
Shepherd Moons – Enya
Lohengrin, Prelude – Richard Wagner
Burn Down The Mission – Elton John
Jump (For My Love) – Pointer Sisters
Self Control – Laura Branigan
The Wild Frontier – Bruce Hornsby and the Range

Here’s the rules: Open iTunes, randomize your playlist, and write down the first 10 songs that come up.

About London

Scott apparently was up late & heard about the bombings shortly after they happened, but unlike 9/11 chose not to wake me up for this one. So now it’s about 6 hours after the fact and I’m playing catch-up. I even turned the TV on to MSNBC but was soon treated to some utter stupidity: A nameless newscaster suggesting that commuters in major cities bear some responsibility for preventing these kinds of atacks, and since Londoners have lived with this sort of bombing attempt for a long time, it’s partially their own fault for not noticing the bombs.

Jerk. No wonder I don’t watch TV news anymore.

If this is another al-Quaeda attack, it’s a concern. But it’s also noteworthy that the attacks they have made have steadily declined in severity since 9/11. That attack killed just under 3,000. Madrid killed about 200. This one, so far, has killed less than 50. Whether that is due to AQ’s decreased capability or increased security measures taken after 9/11, I don’t know. Maybe both. At any rate, continued attacks = bad thing, but decreased casualties = good thing.

I expect the war drums will beat louder now. If anything good can come out of this bombing, it will perhaps call more attention to the fact that our misbegotten invasion of Iraq is not helping fight the “war on terror”. Although whether BushCo will see it that way, I seriously doubt.

Valeria


Down in Palo Alto, visiting friends for the 4th, I managed to snag a shot of their pet cat Valeria, who started life as a feral kitten and is now one of the cats that make up their household. She’s still pretty skittish of strangers, so getting her to sit still for a photo took some time and patience.

Happy July 4th

On this Independence Day, I give you the words of Nameless Soldier, currently on location somewhere in Iraq:

America doesn’t maintain itself. It’s corny, but Freedom isn’t Free. I’m not talking about the military or anything like that. This isn’t an effort to recruit anyone, it’s just an acknowledgement that if we wan’t to keep democracy fresh and real we have to keep working on it, otherwise we are bound to lose it. Unless we are active in our comunities, those in charge will think that they can treat us like door matts. Our freedoms are “use or lose” items. If you don’t use your right to speak out, you may wake up one day to find out that you’re not allowed to. The same goes for all of our other rights. Already, some of those have felt feet trying to trample on them.

One of the great things about America is that it represents something different to each person. I guarantee that George Bush sees America differently than a new immigrant, but that’s only the beginning of the differences. Each of us uses a differnet mix of our liberties, each of us values certain things more than others. And by taking advantage of the unique experiences and knowledge that each of us has developed, we are a force to be reckoned with. In roughly 250 years our nation has risen to greatnes beyond anything that might have been imagined by the founding fathers, and we have done it because of our freedoms. Without the rule of law and civil liberties we would have nothing.

But some of those liberties are under attack. There are those in America who value corporations above individuals and profits over freedoms. And it is time for us as a nation to rise up and say that we will not except that option. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is time to stand up and demand that those rights stop being chipped away at. It is time to remind those in power what America was founded on.

Since 9/11, there has been a lot of talk about what it means to be a “patriot.” Is it someone who is willing to go to war? Maybe a patriot is someone who is willing to make hard decisions. I don’t think so. To me, true patriotism lies in a willingness to remember what your nation is supposed to be about, and then acting on it. Patriotism is not about blind loyalty to your nations leaders or founders, it is about a willingness to always look for the truth. Patriotism is about making your nation better than it’s ever been before, and making it better for everyone, not just the rich. I say that there is no better tribute to the last couple of centuries of progress than to continue to progress.