Paul Wilczynski's Observations

Vlad and friend Boris presents 'Song for Sarah' for Mrs. Palin

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 7:59 AM 0 comments

Israelis For Obama

This is beautifully done ...

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 9:05 AM 0 comments

ACLU maps "Constitution-free zone"

According to the U.S. Government, the nearly 2 out of 3 Americans who live within 100 miles of a U.S. land and coastal border can be stopped and searched without regard to the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, under which the American people are not generally subject to random and arbitrary stops and searches.

The rationale for this is that according to the government, "the border" is a 100-mile wide strip that wraps around the “external boundary” of the United States. And at "the border", authorities do not need a warrant or probable cause to conduct a “routine search.”

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 11:36 AM 0 comments

Happy Days Could Be Here Again

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 3:23 PM 0 comments

More than 2,200 ordained clergy have endorsed the Open Letter to Religious Leaders on Marriage Equality

This from the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing.

Thanks to Debra Haffner for the pointer.

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 1:35 PM 0 comments

Why Palin really agreed to be a VP candidate

Here's the real scoop:

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August. ...

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 1:05 PM 0 comments

Angie's List

If you ever need any kind of service, one site I've always liked is Angie's List. Here's how they describe themselves:

Whenever you need a plumber, roofer, electrician, auto mechanic, landscaper or any other type of service company, contact Angie's List by phone, fax, website or by visiting one of our chapters. You will receive the names and numbers of companies with which other members have had good experiences. They will also tell you what type of work they have done for other members and what they thought of their prices, whether they were punctual, polite, finished the work on time, etc. Once the work is finished, contact Angie's List and share your feedback about your service experience. Your input will become part of that company's rating on Angie's List. Of course, you do have to be a member of Angie's List to participate.

The site is supported by membership fees, and the fee depends on the area in which you live. They have discounts if you pay longer in advance. The annual fee for the Boston area, for example, is $53, but there's a 36-49% annual discount if you subscribe for 2-4 years. Charleston, SC, on the other hand, is only $10/year because Angie's List hasn't been tracking the area for as long a period of time.

They've got over 350 different categories of services listed - everything from anything to do with your home to pet sitting, accounting, medical professionals, and zipper repair.

They don't allow vendors to become members or post reviews, and they manually look at every review before posting it. I added a review for someone who wasn't listed on Angie's List previously, and they phoned him and went through a rather long checklist of questions before adding him to the list.

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 10:55 AM 0 comments

McCain doesn't stand a chance ...

When Obama has this kind of support.

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 2:32 PM 2 comments

Sinkford thinks talking to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a good idea?

An article on the Unitarian Universalist Association website is entitled Sinkford Joins Fellowship of Reconciliation for Meeting with Iranian President. Among other things, Rev. Bill Sinkford, president of the UUA, said

Our governments and our cultures are very different. Given those basic differences, I would like to hear from you how the U.S. and Iran can best work together to find non-violent resolutions to our differences.

Oh please. This is simply embarrassing to UUs. The article treats Ahmadinejad as just another good old boy whose major difference with the U.S. is that he likes marshmellow on his peanut butter sandwich when Americans prefer jelly.

Peacebang speaks more eloquently on this than I do. She ends her discussion by saying

This, however, was not a good moment, and exemplifies the kind of frustrated-with-the-big-boys showmanship to which I alluded earlier: Rev. Sinkford remarked,

I could not imagine the current U.S. president taking the time to honor questions about his actions the way Ahmadinejad did today.

Sure he would, on a foreign photo-op goodwill tour where he could evade questions and get away with it with an audience of people whose invitation to him was merely symbolic, and who don’t have to suffer under his regime. I don’t think that Ahmadinejad takes a whole lot of time to honor questions about his actions when he’s in Iran, if you know what I mean.

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 10:59 AM 0 comments

If you think our economy is bad off ...

Consider Zimbabwe (as noted in a New York Times article).

Inflation there is surpassing 40 million percent.

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 9:33 AM 0 comments