Notes

  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : Function ereg() is deprecated in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/file.inc on line 646.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.
  • : preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home2/melancon/public_html/includes/unicode.inc on line 311.

Equal rights to marry lost (for now) in California and kept in Massachusetts, the why, how, and what now

With the caveat of not trusting any polls too much, especially as the demographic slices get smaller...

Why Prop 8 Won, by Richard Kim

Vegan dog food

(need to update this with what I actually ordered. Whatever it is, I don't think much of the canned food, but the dry food's pretty good. And I think Zelda pretty much refuses to touch anything mixed with the nutritional powder.)

vegan dog food

http://www.vegan.org/going_vegan/veggie_dogs/index.html
http://www.vegforlife.org/dogscats.htm

Wingfoot tire and service, the answer to our prayers!

Wingfoot Commercial Tire Systems gets a big thanks from the Natkin and Melançon families for being the place, out of a dozen called, to answer the phone on Christmas day and have a way to get us a real tire to make it the 500 miles back to Massachusetts.

Draft of e-mail to send announcing the alpha launch of PWGD

Why join PWGD when every group wants you to join it already?

PWGD gives control to the people in the network. It ensures that should the group you join go awry, the connections and resources and knowledge and relationships are not lost.

Every

e-mail, phone banking, fliers

creating a volunteer information distribution system where

The site will function like the real PWGD, but in lieu of the functionality to propose any project, we'll just be able to organize our support for PWGD.

See http://mlncn.com/node/1004 for technical notes.

Hang on

To the demotivational "Insanity" parachutes calendar page, which reads "Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can have mine.", add a sticky note:

"But if we hang on to each other, we just might make it."

Vegan Latkes for Chanukah with the Family

Riffing this recipe for vegan latkes (AKA Potato Pancakes) which said it "makes about 3 dozen" with the idea that oatmeal replaces egg.

I got a base of the latkes Eva was making, right before she added the eggs, enough for four latkes. This was potatoes, onions, flour, salt and pepper. I added four carrots (about ten times, to scale, as the recipe called for), one small red-purple potato, a crumpled matzah, 2/3 cup quick-cooking oats (oatmeal) and 1 1/3 cup boiling water, and more salt and pepper.

Regular person preserves federal land by bidding millions he doesn't have on oil drilling rights

Effective activism. Now he needs back-up.

Impostor disrupts lands bid

Non-unanimous juries: bad for justice, bad for society

The research suggests that even more important than the chance for one, two, or three voters to block a conviction or acquittal is the ability for one, two, or three jurors to force a more complete discussion of more aspects of the case.

That is, it seems that letting the "lone juror" (or jurors) have veto power on the whole proceeding doesn't usually end in an 11-1 vote with a unanimous requirement, but instead often leads other jurors to question their earlier conclusions.

http://w3.uchastings.edu/plri/spr96tex/juryuna.html

Another credit card application pushed off the fast track... this time with Amazon

Plus, my c with cedilla (ç) was summarily dropped...

Name: BENJAMIN MELANON

Thank you for applying for the Amazon.com Visa® Card.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with an immediate decision about your application, as it requires further review. This process can take from a few days to two weeks, occasionally longer during peak periods. However, we will notify you in writing about the status of your application within 30 days. If you have any questions about your application, please call Chase at 1-888-247-4080.

If your application is approved:

Office manager job description

My goal is to help build a world where we all people have the most power possible over our own lives.

The impetus for working with someone comes from my lack of progress on that which is most important to me.

Hiring help is obviously more about time than money, but in the interests of calculating sustainability some items are marked with return on investment...

If I can

Cutting the word gyp from my vocabulary

Manda mentioned the use of that word as bigoted just the other day, and then I used it (in front of her) yesterday! I had never thought about it's etymology before, but hadn't thought it was a word I used much. It is a short, useful word, but...

gyp 1 |jip| informal
verb ( gypped, gypping) [ trans. ]
cheat or swindle (someone) : that's salesmanship, you have to gyp people into buying stuff they don't like.
noun (also gip)
an act of cheating; a swindle.
ORIGIN late 19th cent.: of unknown origin.

are Scandinavian and Indian languages related?

Yes, in both being part of the Indo-European family
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/language.html

but apparently no more recent or closer connections within this group.

Comcast Crosses the Threshold from Merely Terrible to Evil

Normally, bad service isn't enough to throw a company into the evil category, but when it is in an oligopoly, natural monopoly type of business, and the bad service is from treating different customers and different content differently... yes, Comcast, for their blatant violations of net neutrality, is evil.

Recipe site that can exclude ingredients and sort by nutrition info

There should be a recipe site exclude ingredients sort by nutrition

And there sort of is:

http://www.mealsforyou.com

Thanksgiving beans and rice

Recipe based on having beans (pinto and dark red kidney beans) and rice all made already on Thanksgiving.

the interesting ingredients stolen from other recipes:

# 1 cup tomatoes, diced
# 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
# 1/2 teaspoon thyme

In large skillet heat olive oil. Cook onion and green pepper until crisp tender; stir in tomatoes, beans, thyme and garlic salt, cook 3 minutes. Add vinegar, pepper sauce, and reserved juices and continue to cook 5 minutes.

Told I really needed a credit card to establish credit, I applied for one that I found online

https://wwwa.applyonlinenow.com/USCCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=FAB9WZ&mc=A000002P8...

DETAILS OF RATE, FEE, AND OTHER COST INFORMATION

As required by law, rates, fees, and other costs of this credit card offer are disclosed here. All account terms are governed by the Credit Card Agreement. Account and Agreement terms are not guaranteed for any period of time; all terms, including the APRs and fees, may change in accordance with the Agreement and applicable law. We may change them based on information in your credit report, market conditions, business strategies, or for any reason.

Grand plan for meal not followed

To be fair it, wasn't written, either.

The grand plan for the meal, pre-meal, was noted as follows:

Lots of falafel

Salsa, which can go on the falafel
http://www.recipezaar.com/Sun-Dried-Tomato-Salsa-Raw-Recipe-337528

Vegan sushi plus crab meat

How it actually turned out: falafel, which involved throwing unmeasured and uncut chickpeas, chive, baking powder, salt, cumin, and olive oil in a blender.

Dan and Shannon helped make it slightly more like real falafel (I created something of a mush).

Thoughts on a shareable ridesharing dataset (to RideBuzz)

Sent to Jeff Brown, Executive Director, RideBuzz (non-profit), Amherst, Massachusetts, in response to an introductory e-mail that included this description:

Thomas Friedman, ultrawealthy mouthpiece for other ultrawealthy people, much less wealthy now, so maybe he is talking sense

Friedman has never struck me as anything more than a dolt. So it has frightened me that progressive-minded people have been so excited that he has said some things that aren't stupid, like that we need to find non-fossil sources of energy. (Saying that in 2008, rather than 1958, is not what I consider opinion leading.) But maybe he is freed from advocating the narrow, near-sighted, and dangerous world-view of the ultra-rich elite because perhaps he isn't one of them anymore:

http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/002698.html

Thomas, welcome to the masses!