The online journal, notebook and playground of HFM

Texas Democrats protest redistricting

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Here’s the skinny on what happened in Texas. Every ten years, new voting districts are redrawn in conjunction with the census. Districts were redrawn two years ago, and they didn’t come out the way the Republicans wanted (giving them more votes). So the Republicans tried to introduce a bill to redistrict again this year, to screw over the Democrats. And to kill the bill, the Democrats had to make sure there wasn’t a quorum. So they left town and went to Oklahoma. So the Republicans called in the National Department of Homeland Security (the agency to prevent terrorism) to track down where the Democrats were.

Are you happy with this? Is it okay that they used a National Agency in a way it was never intended to increase their advantage in the Texas statehouse? That’s your money they used.

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Ban Trans Fats Site

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A really interesting web site on Trans Fats and how unhealthy they are. Update: site has gone away, but read more here.

I had previously read a lot about them in Dr. Atkin’s New Diet Revolution and also in The Okinawa Program. Both of them say essentially the same thing; that trans fats lower good cholesterol and raise bad cholesterol, and that they are not required to be listed on the the nutrition labels, so people have no idea how much of this stuff they’re consuming. Here’s a study from Harvard that explains pretty well what Trans Fats are and how they affect you.

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Calling all Ball State Gay Alumni

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The current Ball State Gay and Lesbian Student Association [called “Spectrum”] is seeking GLBT alumni to contact them. They would like to get 200 alums to send in contact information (name, address, phone, etc.) to be listed with the University Alumni Association, so they can be and official part of the Alumni Association, which means they would then get some phat cash.
Even if they can’t round up that many, they’d definitely like to have an informal Alumni Association and have some event during Homecoming/Proud Week, which both happen to conveniently occur at the same time. (Hmm, wonder who planned that years ago?) You all know you want to go to homecoming and party on campus as a well-adjusted openly gay person, instead of as the closeted geek you were then.
E-mail the kids at spectrum@bsu.edu and tell them you want to be included, and send all your info. Shit, I probably know 100 alumni myself. Y’all better write them.

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Smart Op/Ed piece by Monica Lewinsky

From Talk Left: ‘Tell Mama’ by Monica Lewinsky

Interesting discussion on a recent, intelligently written Op/Ed piece in the LA Times, written by Monica Lewinsky on the need for parent/child privilege in courtrooms.

Few people are aware that, in our country, parents can be forced to testify against their children and vice versa; there is no parent-child privilege under the aegis of the federal government. We have a husband-wife privilege, a doctor-patient privilege, an attorney-client privilege and even a privilege between priest and penitent. But no comparable confidential boundary is recognized for parent and child.

Continue ReadingSmart Op/Ed piece by Monica Lewinsky