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Fishing/Gun Owner License as Proof of ID!?!?

Catching up on my Rachel Maddow DVRs this evening I enjoyed and reminisced my own similar experience in Vermont while listening to the MSNBC correspondent from Texas.

Supposedly in TX, a Gun License is an acceptable form of ID whereas a photo student ID OR a valid US veteran ID card are not. Shame on you Texas! I mean really?

Vermont, a state I love, progressive and formidable for me, but with it's Libertarian tinge allows Fishing Licenses as a second proof of ID in order to even get a Drivers License and hence a full, legal ID. At least back when this was all going down in my fresh outta college, skiing in Colorado, moving a lot, and landing finally in VT having...in all the moves, not gotten my "time to renew your driver's license" letter. So, me, not having to use it much didn't know and poof, I finally noticed, and it had been expired for too long for VT to allow me to renew without a driving and written test. And of course, Proof of ID.

In my particular case my birth certificate and passport were in a "keep it where you will be able to find it safe box from all the moves, both unfound of course ;)" and my social security card had been lost when a wallet was stolen.

So what were my choices? I had an expired ID from another State. I needed a second form of ID that I didn't have. I went to the DMV to see what I could do. They readily suggested I get a Fishing License, you know, from the local been-there-forever corner store (kid you not) and all I needed for that was the expired ID. Heck, I might have only needed a utility bill with a local address for all I know but I *was* asking the DMV stating all I had was the aforementioned expired License.

So off to the corner store I walked. I got my Fishing License whilst buying some locally made cheese and a few other provisions and was out of there with local dairy products, fresh bread, and a fresh new Fishing License in less than 10 minutes. I walked back to the DMV and had a valid Drivers License and ID a short time after that.

Love you Vermont. I hope you've changed your Proof of ID laws since my freshly post-college days. And, you, Texas, I hope you either start making your Gun Licenses look like Drivers Licenses with photos and raised signatures, and, ahem, require thorough background checks (other states please take note as well)!

This is a battle, and the stringent, party line, Proof of ID Voter Registration law writing states that think they will win hands down, ticking off significant margins of minority, predominantly democratic voters... I betcha NEVER saw this rush of marriage equality civil rights coming down the pike so quickly, did you? Oh the times, they are, a changin'.

So, get ready if you must, as We The People are polling in some fairly non-favorable numbers for you and your agendas, and we're climbing those polls in our favor faster than thought.

Equal votes for equal people, as all people are equal in my eyes, and the laws, Federally, and of each State, should reflect it. It is what America stands for. Equal opportunity. And it's time some of y'all States stop gettin' in the way of, y'know those pesky equal voting rights that seem to keep biting you.

As a last thought and reversal on an old standard, take heed my friends, the hand that fails to feed, will get a bite.

[ivrist-blog]

So terribly tragic.

RICHMOND HEIGHTS • Anna Brown wasn’t leaving the emergency room quietly.

She yelled from a wheelchair at St. Mary’s Health Center security personnel and Richmond Heights police officers that her legs hurt so badly she couldn’t stand.

She had already...

[ivrist-blog]

Insane photo. Thanks for reblogging, Nick.

• A Tibetan exile has today set himself on fire during a protest against the upcoming visit of Chinese president Hu Jintao to New Delhi. Dozens of similar acts of self-immolations have been taking place in the last few months.

From a recent piece written by Pankaj Mishra:

Self-immolation is a radical form of protest for Tibetan monks, a violation of Buddhism’s basic tenets of respect for all sentient lives. “Desperation” was the response from Kyabje Kirti Rinpoche, the 70-year-old exiled abbot of Kirti monastery, when I asked him last month to explain the recent spate of self-immolations. He described the repressive measures of local Chinese authorities: indiscriminate arrests; checkpoints on the roads; police camps inside monasteries; and the ideological re-education campaign in which the 2,500 monks at Kirti, confined to their cells, are forced to repeat such statements as “I oppose the Dalai clique” and “I love the Communist party”.

• Also read our piece by Ed Douglas: How China is fuelling the fires of Tibetan resistance

• More on today’s protest on India Ink, the New York Times’ blog about India

Photograph: Reuters

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In recent weeks, a pair of researchers have approached me to ask for photographs of the Wolf 7.62x39mm cartridges that sailors from the U.S.S. Kidd collected with the Somali pirates they captured in January in the Gulf of Oman. I’ve been mostly off-line lately, but here at last I found a few minutes to dig up images from a digital folder. They show the packaging and headstamps of the ammunition in question.

Wolf is a curious company, with roots in both Russia and the United States. It sells a range of Russian-made cartridges. In this case, the ammunition comes from one of Wolf’s core products — standard cartridges for the orginal AK-47 and AKM assault-rifle line. (You may recall, from the Somali Pirate Gun Locker post on the NYT At War blog, that three of the four rifles captured from the pirates were AK knockoffs.)

Tracing how Wolf ammo ended up in the pirates’ hands, to be used in a range of high-seas crimes of which the pirates are accused (including kidnapping), would be a fascinating exercise. That said, my own schedule and story-in-works list will not allow me to pursue it. (Previous research into ammunition captured from the Taliban has found Wolf ammunition in use by Afghan insurgents, though in that case it appeared likely that the ammunition had leaked from the custody of the Afghan government, which has been provided Wolf ammunition by the United States military.)

In the interest of transparency and helping other researchers, I am posting photo set here, even though the photographs were hastily made and of poor quality, with hopes they might goose a potentially interesting line of inquiry.

Good luck to you both. Please keep me posted on email of anything you turn up. We’d be happy to share your findings here.

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS

Views of the headstamps and commercial packaging of 122-grain, steel case Wolf 7.62x39mm cartridges carried at sea early this year by a (luckless) crew of Somali pirates. By the author. January, 2012. With apologies for the low quality.

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By Ian O’Neill, Discovery News, Mar 24, 2012 As an eerie reminder of the tragedy that befell the Japanese people over 12 months ago, a 150-ft (46-meter) Japanese fishing boat has been spotted on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, floating aimlessly off the coast of the Haida Gwaii islands,...

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*There are more African American adults under correctional control today — in prison or jail, on probation or parole — than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began. *As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised (due to felon disenfranchisement laws) than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race. * A black child born today is less likely to be raised by both parents than a black child born during slavery. The recent disintegration of the African American family is due in large part to the mass imprisonment of black fathers. *If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas have been labeled felons for life. (In the Chicago area, the figure is nearly 80%.) These men are part of a growing undercaste — not class, caste — permanently relegated, by law, to a second-class status. They can be denied the right to vote, automatically excluded from juries, and legally discriminated against in employment, housing, access to education, and public benefits, much as their grandparents and great-grandparents were during the Jim Crow era.

—- Michelle Alexander, “The New Jim Crow: How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent American Undercaste” (via nickturse)

[ivrist-blog]

An Aside: On the Etiquette of Reviews

I try to stay topical on politics and current US and International events. But, this shouts out, needing RULES.

Too many reviews, just waste screen space. They waste my time, sifting through.

Some people, actually, pay attention to rating numbers so here goes:

1. Don't post a review on something you haven't used: "I just got this... I'm so excited! I can't wait to try it!" FIVE STARS. I don't care.

2. Don't post a review on something you've barely used, especially if that thing requires you to know how long it lasts: "I just plugged it in, and I can say so far it's great! I know other people have said they don't last long but I can't say...I just got mine!" If the main issue is performance over time you've told me nothing, except what you've done today. FIVE STARS. I don't care.

3. Don't post a review rating something for an issue not related to the product: "This is great, but it took 2 weeks to arrive." Unless it's the manufacturer's fault, don't rate something low because perhaps even 'user error' or the vendor you bought if from caused the problem. ONE STAR. I don't care.

4. Don't use reviews to vent your personal anger or arrogance: "This is for people who don't even know how to use a TV. The (writers/manufacturers) are stupid, and talking down to everyone. Get a clue." If there are 50 great reviews and you are the only one who thinks it's stupid you are being a blowhard. How about saying, this is okay for an entry level user/reader, but for expert level I recommend x y z and rate average instead? ONE STAR. I don't care.

5. Don't write a review the length of, a doctoral thesis, unless so rarely, you actually have something to say. Even so, didn't you learn editing? If I have to scroll down more than a screen, or forbid more than one! You've gone too far. VARIED STARS. I don't care.

Since I did a little ranting of my own, I think I'll rate my own post THREE STARS. AT MOST.

I don't care. Who's counting? Obviously only 5% percent of people, writing reviews...

[ivrist-blog]

Crestfallen Between the Sea and the Sahara

A 25 yr-old Libyan freedom fighter that so moved us all said about his experience last night: “you got attacked from so many ways...from the sea, from the Sahara.” Where 2 days ago there was excitement, arms in the air, heads held high in a fast moving rebel advance. Today holds the sight of a chin falling, the crest of a helmet shining forward in defeat. I until tonight thought the crest of crestfallen was a coat of arms, a family crest lost in a battle of tribes. But mood's inspiration sent me to its etymology, the brush atop a soldier's helmet, the tuft of hair from a horses head down the back of its neck. The part shown in battle when the battle has you beat. And tired. After reading and watching tonight's news, especially the MidEast focused hour with Richard Engel; on the ground, seeing the faces of the dispirited themselves, contemplating the issues of the many options of "involvement" - I find myself dispirited among them. Gadhafi’s forces, seeing their tanks as air-targets, now drive trucks indiscernible from those holding the lost, leaderless rebels, seeking assistance and answers. Where are Gadhafi’s forces? How many are there? When are they coming? With limited to no knowledge of their weapons, no command or communications, the picture of tonight as day breaks tomorrow in Tripoli, Benghazi, and on the ever-encroaching frontline, seems as bleak as the Sahara spanning alongside it. What changed in 2 days? As the rebels reached Surt, the air attacks that helped them get there stopped. Were there no safely identifiable air targets amidst the start of an urban and civilian environment? Had the rebels exhausted their advance? Had Gadhafi already abandoned his targeted tanks for trucks? Was he hiding his forces amidst a city that supports him? We passed the torch to NATO who stopped clearing a path for the rebels. What now? We heard no news of “we can’t spot them without boots on the ground to paint targets, discern good guys from bad.” The air attacks supporting the rebels just stopped. And we sadly now see the consequences, the momentum changing sides, Gadhafi regrouping and strategizing. And taking back massive ground. We fight in the US over the $550 million spent in the first 10 days of the war, surprising indeed, but minimal in comparison to so many other less drudged over battles, and budget numbers. We now only plan to spend $40 million for the next 3 weeks which doesn’t paint a plan of change for the current course. A course which has me fearing we’re back where we started. Gadhafi’s forces an hour and a half’s drive away from Benghazi and the potential slaughter we started this to stop in the first place. We armchair generals can read our news with all its slants, and fight back and forth over what to do from a world away. Arm them! Leave them be! Train them! More air-strikes! Still crestfallen I know I don’t know enough to fully say. But I can at least hope there will be a crest tomorrow...this new one, the rise of a fortunate wave.

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tjprz:

I don’t know what’s sadder. That no one is buying it for 50% off or that they have it on the fiction table.

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[excerpt]..."When the conversation goes beyond visas, or interviews or press conferences or the latest government statement, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of self-questioning.

It largely takes the form of bewilderment. They are genuinely bewildered by what they perceive as our lack of understanding, our refusal to believe their every word, our reluctance to be told where we should go and what we should see.

To them, we are an irritating, volatile, partisan mob - paid-up members of a campaign to unseat their leader and provoke a destructive civil war in their country.

To say we don’t see eye-to-eye would be an understatement.

But I do pity some of these men - not because I’ve been duped, or have developed Stockholm syndrome, but because I am sure there are some who are genuinely wrestling with the question of what their personal future holds.

Some are without doubt deeply unpleasant, violent individuals. And there is a widespread sense of distrust, frustration and anger felt by all the journalists here towards our leather-jacket-clad minders, who keep us cooped up in our 5* house arrest, preventing us from doing our job.

But it’s also clear there are differences and variations in the attitudes of the minders. The polarised narrative of 'pro-Gaddafi vs. rebel' is a useful mode of story-telling, but we would all be fools to forget there are shades of grey and nuance on all sides of this conflict."...

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shortformblog:

thenLast Year, Politico and NBC News announced plans to host a Republican presidential debate on May 2nd of this year. It was to be the first debate of election season.

nowBecause so few candidates have declared their candidacy, NBC and Politico are postponing the debate until September. Now, Fox’s May 5th debate will be the first. source

First presidential debate postponed due to lack of candidates

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mandalay:

Monique Verdin was counting the days and hours to Saturday and her long-awaited high-school prom, while dreading the confrontation that would result when she arrived.

School officials told the 19-year-old senior that if she wears a tuxedo, as planned, rather than a dress, she would be barred admission to Ellender High’s prom. But after reviewing case law relating to such cases a decision was made to allow Verdin to wear her rented tuxedo.

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This is State Represenative Bobby Franklin. Thank you for calling to give me encouragement about my sponsorship of House Bill 1, recognizing that pre-natal murder is murder. I’m not able to take that encouragement right now, so at the tone please leave your name, number, and a message.

Best Lawmaker Voicemail Ever (via nickbaumann)

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A Safety Pin in the Eyelashes of Libya

Watching the news today I'm reminded of Charlie Wilson's War. Of Julia Roberts and a pin weaving it's way through mascara-clumped lashes, menacingly skirting an open eye. The desired air-support so needed by Libyan rebels picking through the clumped lashes of urban air-targets that are a Gadhafi fortified Surt.

To further the reminiscence, the talk of arming rebels, or as Ed Schultz so emphatically called them, freedom fighters - In his fabulous coverage this evening calling out the right-wing on the hypocrisy of how they celebrate words and actions of their own and scathe the very same from their "friends" on the other side of the isle.

Then the complexities of Libya: her neighbors, the disparate, some dangerously functioning groups within her borders, and the massive impacts of propaganda on the minds of Libyans after so many years of it. On both sides. Arming a situation as such and what may become of it is not a decision to be taken lightly.

So lashes be clumped, language be damned, rebels sort leaders, and Libya teeters on the edge for it.

An edge much larger than the lid of an open eye.

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DOCTOR WHO JAZEERA WHAT?

I have thus far interacted with only 3 people on this new Tumbr account and all 3 are lovers of Doctor Who.

Does this mean I have some animal magnetism to Doctor Who fans? Or that perhaps I should myself take a few mere moments from my maniacal news watching regiment to watch said show myself? I did just add the BBC to my line up. You know, to get another perspective on the news media so many of us sorely see from one polarized side or another. And while I was at it? I fanatically demanded Al Jazeera English, in my I-must-speak-to-a-manager, and if I'm not hearing you type up my official request whilst I officially dictate it to you, I'll ask for your manager too.

I as politely as possible moved through 3 employees before feeling my request was actually heard and documented, and nary a 1 of 'em knew what the heck I was talking about. El-Ge-What? Al-Ja-Who? I spelled it alpha tango style as if sending submarine coordinates circa 1982, Russians close behind, my every communique, an outreach to save my life.

And though they never knew what I was talking about, I hope someday that request will amongst others pile up enough so Time Warner Cable will actually add it to their line up. HECK, I'LL PAY FOR IT; AREN'T YOU PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING MONEY? Then maybe some glorious day I'll be able to watch AJE without streaming it online. Who knows.

Maybe by then I'll also have even watched, Doctor Who.

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motherjones:

We’re going to post one photo of Newt Gingrich standing next to an adorable zoo animal every day until we run out. We’re thinking Monday. Does Monday work?

Via

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Marnie Weber artist photo I love, reminded of by this recent post from Danforth France: http://danforth.tumblr.com/post/4071556605/kitty#notes