First Palm Pre Review

Here it is.

I'm slightly concerned about the keyboard, but I'll still get one.

Its her name, not yours bubba

The new "controversy" as only a republican could call it, is over the pronunciation of future Justice Sotomayor's name. Whether to use the Spanish pronunciation or an Anglo, is not up to us. It is up to whoever possesses that name.

As a grandchild of immigrants, to many on the right-wing, I have an "un-American" name. I'm sure they think the same thing of Jews, Asians, Indians, and no doubt, the French. When will they accept that America is a country full of different names, different faces, and different colors? Probably once they realize that their party, the GOP, is built upon a racially charged farce of the 50's.

GM on life support, plug about to be pulled

GM is closer to bankruptcy than ever before, with bondholders rejecting the best deal they would have ever gotten. This paves the way for a bankruptcy by next Monday.

At least our loans will not go to waste, the US government will effectively own GM when all is said and done, which is at least a bit interesting.

I still don't know why the bond holders refused this offer. Sure, it was offering them 37 cents on the dollar, but now they will get much less.

Besides them, those who will truly be fucked are the pensioners, who could potentially go from $50,000 a year pensions to less than $20,000 if GM's pension fund is taken over by the government, which is possible.

Sotomayor a Solid Pick

Sonia Sotomayor is a solid pick for a Supreme Court justice. Despite what the loons on the right wing will tell you, she's a very moderate pick.

First appointed to the bench by George H W Bush, it is hard to call her a "left wing radical." She has decades of experience; she's highly qualified.

No matter what republicans do, she'll get on SCOTUS, so they might as well just let it go through. This is not a battle that is worth fighting for them. With their talk against her being a woman or hispanic, they are not going to win any favors with those groups.

The New Socialism

If you've posted a video on Youtube, you're a socialist.  At least that's what Kevin Kelly says.  I agree with what he's saying, but it's not as shocking as you'd think.  Whether it is posting a video on Youtube, or sharing family photos, when you give something away to people for free, that is a form of socialism.  

However, unlike the old forms of socialism, nobody is getting fucked.  There's really no scarcity in an online world, which is what made the old form of socialism so bad.  Not everyone can get a loaf of bread, but everyone can upload a video.

Another reason to support gay marriage

True conservatives, the fiscal kind, are on the wrong side of the equation.  Gay marriage would be a cash boon to many small businesses, such as florists, photographers, reception halls, and many others.  All told, it could generate $16B a year.

Weird Ruling in CA on gay marriage

The California Supreme Court has (unfortunately) upheld the ballot initiative which banned gay marriage.  However, couples who married before the ballot measure (and that's in the tens of thousands) will be allowed to stay married.

 

This is very strange in that you will have two classes of people.  Those who are married and can stay married, and those who wish to join those ranks who are married but are unable to do so.  I can't recall anything like this happening before.  In some ways, it would seem fairer to throw them all out, but then again, taking something like this away from people would also be cruel.

 

Despite this set back, I predict that within 20 years you'll have a US Supreme Court ruling that comes down on the right side of this issue.

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prop8-decision27-2009may27,0,6677891.story

Republicans working toward one party rule - by democrats

This continues to be one of the best political stories of the year.  The Republican Party's civil war between Carl Rove / Rush Limbaugh and Colin Powell / Michael Steele / Tom Ridge.  

If the former wins, the party will be a completely regional party in the deep south, and you'll see one party rule by democrats for at least a decade.  If the more moderate contingent wins, it will be interesting to see how the religious conservatives handle it.

Either way, this is great news for the Obama administration.  

Our future soldiers are cyborgs

This is very interesting and brings up another question.  How long until all-humans become cyborgs?  To some extent we already are, its just that your smart phone is not permanently connected yet.  Within 100 years, I think that we will be full blown cyborgs, but only time will tell.