TampaYankee

I'm really against people being outed against their will unless they are flaming hypoocrits like some of our politicians or pious types. The more so when someone does it for profit.

Not me.

The 19 Senators Who Voted To Censor The Internet from the free-speech-isn't-free dept This is hardly a surprise but, this morning (as previously announced), the lame duck Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to move forward with censoring the internet via the COICA bill -- despite a bunch of law professors explaining to them how this law is a clear violation of the First Amendment. What's really amazing is that many of the same Senators have been speaking out against internet censorship in other countries, yet they happily vote to approve it here because it's seen as a way to make many of their largest campaign contributors happy. There's very little chance that the bill will actually get passed by the end of the term but, in the meantime, we figured it might be useful to highlight the 19 Senators who voted to censor the internet this morning: •Patrick J. Leahy -- Vermont •Herb Kohl -- Wisconsin •Jeff Sessions -- Alabama •Dianne Feinstein -- California •Orrin G. Hatch -- Utah •Russ Feingold -- Wisconsin •Chuck Grassley -- Iowa •Arlen Specter -- Pennsylvania •Jon Kyl -- Arizona •Chuck Schumer -- New York •Lindsey Graham -- South Carolina •Dick Durbin -- Illinois •John Cornyn -- Texas •Benjamin L. Cardin -- Maryland •Tom Coburn -- Oklahoma •Sheldon Whitehouse -- Rhode Island •Amy Klobuchar -- Minnesota •Al Franken -- Minnesota •Chris Coons -- Delaware This should be a list of shame. You would think that our own elected officials would understand the First Amendment but, apparently, they have no problem turning the US into one of the small list of authoritarian countries that censors internet content it does not like (in this case, content some of its largest campaign contributors do not like). We already have laws in place to deal with infringing content, so don't buy the excuse that this law is about stopping infringement. This law takes down entire websites based on the government's say-so. First Amendment protections make clear that if you are going to stop any specific speech, it has to be extremely specific speech. This law has no such restrictions. It's really quite unfortunate that these 19 US Senators are the first American politicians to publicly vote in favor of censoring speech in America. See oringial article at: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101118/10291211924/the-19-senators-who-voted-to-censor-the-internet.shtml

Only a small fraction of site visitors post in the forums -- mostly Americans. However, many more members and visitors view our profiles and reviews. Hopefully, those residing in or travelling to Sweden will see your profile with very hot photos. From comments it is clear if some of us were travelling your way we would look forward to a date.

HooBoy swore by the GSM/Sim Card technology. He would buy SIM Cards in different countries, in effect establishing local service most places he travelled by switching out cards. He brought me my last cell phone from Hong Kong. I had a fancy phone with separate SIM for Canada as my alternate Verizon account did not support Canada in my U.S. plan. Had I travelled more it would have been very beneficial as it was for Canada.

America's Dirtiest Cities California's got seven of them. Will voters finally help clean the Golden State's brown air? Provided by: By Christopher Helman, Forbes.com Nov 16, 2010 At the ballot box this November California voters showed that they are determined to clean up their state's deplorable air quality. They quashed Proposition 23, which would have temporarily suspended key emissions-reduction tenets in the Golden State's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. How temporarily? Until pigs fly, or rather until the state unemployment level dropped to 5.5%--from the 12.4% it's at now. Having survived the challenge (62% of voters rejected Prop 23) the emissions cuts are now set to begin in 2012. A carbon cap-and-trade program will be launched later. The goal is that, in eight years, California will have greenhouse gas emissions 15% lower than they are now. That's good news for the lungs of Californians. The American Lung Association, in its report State Of The Air 2010, finds seven California metropolitan areas with air quality bad enough that they make it onto the list of the Top 10 Dirtiest Cities in America. The 20 million people in these cities are at higher risk of asthma and chronic bronchitis. Most of those souls (17.8 million) inhabit the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Riverside area, which ranked second-worst overall and worst in ozone pollution. Aside from millions of cars on the roads, the area also suffers the effects of the nation's busiest port. Researchers at the University of Calgary found in 2008 that salty coastal air mixed with sunshine and pollutants helps create unexpectedly high levels of ground-level ozone. The biggest problem spot in the country is California's San Joaquin Valley, where farming, industry, car culture and topography collide to trap smog. Wildfires contribute to the problem. Severe particle pollution in valley burgs like Bakersfield (the center of California's oil industry and the metropolitan area with the worst air in the nation), Fresno (third place), Visalia (fourth) and Modesto (eighth) can damage the lungs in the same way cigarettes do. Sacramento (ninth) incentivizes residents to trade in gasoline lawn mowers for electric ones, diesel-powered trucks for hybrid ones and old wood stoves for new ones. The only non-California cities in the top 10: Pittsburgh, Pa; Birmingham, Ala.; and metropolitan Phoenix, Ariz. Top 5 Dirtiest Cities in America No. 1: Bakersfield, Calif. Population: 800,000 Short-term particle pollution rank: 1 Year-round particle pollution rank: 2 Ozone pollution rank: 2 Hot, dusty and surrounded by California's San Joaquin Valley oil fields, Bakersfield has all the ingredients for the worst air in the nation No. 2: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif. Population: 17.8 million Short-term particle pollution rank: 4 Year-round particle pollution rank: 3 Ozone pollution rank: 1 University of Calgary researchers found in 2008 that salty coastal air mixed with sunshine and pollutants helps create unexpectedly high levels of ground-level ozone. No. 3: Fresno-Madera, Calif. Population: 1.1 million Short-term particle pollution rank: 2 Year-round particle pollution rank: 6 Ozone pollution rank: 4 Cars, agriculture, petroleum and mega-dairies all contribute to the brown haze that hangs over the San Joaquin Valley. No. 4: Visalia-Porterville, Calif. Population: 430,000 Short-term particle pollution rank: 8 Year-round particle pollution rank: 3 Ozone pollution rank: 3 Proximity to the giant trees of Sequoia National Park isn't enough to clean Visalia's smoggy San Joaquin Valley air. No. 5: Hanford-Corcoran, Calif. Population: 150,000 Short-term particle pollution rank: 10 Year-round particle pollution rank: 8 Ozone pollution rank: 6 Hundreds of aircraft based at the giant Naval Air Station in nearby Lemoore doesn't help Hanford's air quality. For the full article and rest of the Top Ten see: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-dirtiest-cities.html

It must be that colder climate.

I have just the feature in mind for him.

Thanks Drey for elaborating on the venues. They sound absolutley delicious although I suspect zoning reguations would keep me off the nude beach.

Another big thanks for sharing your experience with us. This is the first report I recall for Vientienne or Laos in general. I hope others will add. This is a great start. If you have any information on hotels, transportation, etc. I suspect it would be of great interest also.

Now if we can teach them to knit doilies and shit sulphur-free gasoline.

I bet it is quite a spectacle. One that I would love to see. I wonder if there is a great influx of tourists or if it is just the locals -- all 25 milliion or so. But that this everybody, so if we only count the 10% blessed to be gay, that is still 2.5 million. The reason to inquire is rates and availability of hotels. I'm already in the party mood.

I think you are generalizing a one-off instance of a nutty couple to the whole hetero culture. It seems to reveal a streak of heterophobia which I think is no more justified than homophobia -- or to put it another way, just a justifed. On the topic title, heterosexual assholes look pretty much the same when down on all fours, ass in the air. I cannot really tell the difference. And truth be known, for a short term encounter it makes no difference to me.

First, it just a TV show. The prime directive is to sell the sponsors soap. It seems to succeed at that. In the beginning the show was much more rigorous about the judging and scoring. I suspect the home audience was disapproving of that if one judges by the studio disapproval of the strict standards. Those standards were relaxed in favor of counting 'entertainment value' more -- recognizing a good performance not just a good dance. Second, it is an audience participation show. Anytime you give the audience a say over who wins there is going to be a popularity contest aspect. It is not suprising that this has happened. Also, it is not the first time either although it is the most egregious example. It is disappointing to the contestants no doubt. But it is also a great boon to some of the contestants too, however it comes out. It has revived or energized more than than a few careers. Take it for what it is an don't shoot your TV over it as one man in Wisconsin or Minnesota did.

How much longer are people going to put up with theft by deception from the insurance companies? The promise to pay for health services for a monthly premium. That is until they decide the don't want to pay for it and trump up some irratonional, illogical reason to deny meeting their obligation. If you are luck and work for big business with a group plan then you are safe because the Insurance Company doesn't want to lose the big contract. If you are a small business or an individual then you are screwed if the compnay decides to take you on. I am on record time and again willing to pay a fair price for a fair service. I am not willing to pay to get screwed. These companies undertake a contractual obligation when the take someone's money to provide a service. Instead, when it suits their bottom line puposes, they look for loopholes to get out of their contractual responsbility, withhold services and keep the money paid for those services. They get away with it because they bribe Congress and others. It is nothing less than business corruption supported by institutional corruption in Congress supported by corrupt political parties. How long will people continue to put up with this?

... well not shit can private health but restrict it to add-on only coverage for those who want extra coverage beyond basic. Consider the latest effort of Big Insurance to duck their obligations and repsonibilities to their pollicyholders. Tom Brady, Paul Pierce Borderline Obese? Some Question Value of BMI Calculation Due to copyright restrictions please read article at: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/25800226/detail.html

I just figured you were 'layed' up with a new BF. In the past I have noticed a strong correlation between the two.

I believe you are right on with this perspective. I also believe that we are nowhere close to a meeting of the minds regarding what kind of society we want at this point in time. In addition, my views align very much with yours regarding what kind of society we seek. The problem is that we have two countries in the U.S.. Not suprisingly it breaks along the red state/blue state lines. Not perfectly but very strongly nevertheless. All one needs to do is look at the political map. If were a more homogenous country, then the states would be purple with the conservative and liberal voters spread about. As it stands, the Coasts are blue, the Heartland is red and national elections are determined by 4 or 5 swing states where the electorate is more homgenous than the country at large. A smallish group of independents swing back and forth depending on the times and the national issues. The coasts are more cosmopolitan, more amenable to and effected by cultural change inpart because they are the primary geographic source of cultural change, more of a melting pot, more varied business interests. Most travellers and imigrants settle along the coasts. The population is denser along the coasts. More travel exists within coasts and between coasts than between the coasts and the heartland. The Heartland is more connected to the America of fifty and hundred years ago. It is more insulated from foreign influence, remains rooted more closely to the agricultural past even though the family farms are mostly replaced by corporate farms. It certainly has less of a cosmopolitan bent. I suspect that the population generally is less mobile with respect to changing residence than that along the coasts, although I have no proof of that. The problem is that there was more equality and effective compassion in the America of 50-100 years ago and much more 225 years ago than there is today. There may be more in the Heartland today than on the Coasts in some respects, maybe, and definitely less in other resepcts. Compassionate care was built into the structure of society way back then. It has been, if not lost then greatly diminshed, by modern technology and economy. The rich and the poor were in closer proximity to each other in the past and depended on each other much more. The connection has been lost to the detriment of the poor. Government and charities have to breach that modern day divide if compassion is to remain a hallmark of the American Character. I expect that many will reject this thesis but I will have more to say soon why I believe it has some merit.

Remember too that the August Challenge was fresh off a lock-out at daddys. That caused significant spillover here. However, as ususal many of the foul-weather-friends that roosted here a for a while returned to Capistrano after the storm clouds receded. Some remain, and some straddle.

Well isn't that a stand up board. Obviously more politicians than school district leaders. When confronted with an issue that will draw fire from both sides, they punt.

Drey, Would you elaborate on these venues for those of us who have no knowledge of them? Thanks.

Ditto. I wish the video had shown how the board members responded. That would be very telling about the tone of the community.

Thanks for sharing your experience and the link to the other posts. I have been interested in information on Cambodia but have seen very little about it up to now. I had both Cambodian and Laotian friends in Montreal and found them great company with nice personalities. Made me desire to see their countries. Maybe on of these days.

No, actually I'm trying to get past the ususal right-wing/left-wing dialogue to make a deeper point that too much ill-trageted nice-but-not-essential spending actually makes things worse for some groups in bad times than maybe they had to experience.

Half of my responses are in the way of saything thanks for sharing your thoughts or photos and prompting me to think about it. I think that the impersonal aspect of the internet is detrimental the practice of courtesy.