Chosen place, chosen
People called to live free of
others” oil: our eretz.

I’ve done some backtracking to what seems to be Post 0 for, at least, the most recent round of discussion on my iagoing. MediaGirl, in SonicWall Censorship Meme, details her own battle and offers insight to the what has gone before. Commenters at PZ Meyers’ blog provide a very-long list of mislabeled sites. Who’s paying for this trash?

Will we really be able to buy a $9.99 quart of Maker’s Mark? Not likely, taxes kind of keep liquor prices up there, but if Wal Mart gets its way, drinkers everywhere could start saving money on their adult beverage of choice. And the Bentonville Behemouth’s conservative base is not happy.

According to the Wall Street Journal’s Deborah Ball and Ann Zimmerman:

The Bentonville, Ark., company has teamed up with Diageo PLC, the world’s biggest liquor company, much as it works with Procter & Gamble Co. and Kellogg Co. Together, Wal-Mart and Diageo are developing new merchandising and products. They have come up with a new plan for a select number of Wal-Marts that triples the shelf space dedicated to spirits.

But tripling shelf space has its problems because:

…selling more alcohol raises complicated issues for a company that presents itself as a folksy all-American enterprise and an arbiter of social mores.

Groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving question whether busy supermarkets can police liquor sales as adequately as stores that sell alcohol only.

But money is money; you got to keep those stockholders happy.

My Soundtrack: Banquet by Block Party on WOXY.

I had just finshed reading a post about, among other things, Paul Hackett when I came across Ted Rall’s take on what it means to be a Democrat in the 21st century. I blame the self-esteem idiocy. We fail and that’s OK, that’s how we learn. But when lower the bar in an attempt to remake our failures into our successes, we lose.

In the last two days I’ve had two cups of espresso at two different coffee houses and they both sucked. Phoenix Coffee has spoiled me. Over the summer I’ve learned a lot about coffee and making a good espresso from the folks at Phoenix. Now when I order a shot, I watch the barista pull it and count the seconds to myself to time it.

The espresso I had Wednesday night took 17 seconds; the one I had last night, 13 seconds. A well-made shot should take 25 seconds; plus or minus five seconds. Neither espresso had anything approaching good crema (able to hold a packet of sugar on its surface) and both tasted sour.

Bean, roast, grind and tamp are all factors in getting that perfect pull. If any of them are off you get brown water. And if you only order espresso drinks, the milk, sugar and whipped cream will mask the bad espresso that should be a the heart and soul of the drink.

Simple pleasures are the best and good espresso is a moment of joy.

My Soundtrack: Philosophy by Ben Folds Five on WOXY.

Should the Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling, chaired by Congressman David Price and former Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, shorten the primary season to just the month of March? Kenneth Baer thinks so and makes very good arguments for it, but this is the one that really caught my eye:

By approximating the pace and scope of a general election campaign, a month-long sprint of primaries would be a much more effective dry run for a candidate and his staff–weeding out the candidates and consultants who lack the imagination and appeal to reach beyond core Democratic constituencies in select states.

Of course, any candidate who made it to the starting line would have already passed a high bar–the scrutiny not of the boys on the bus, but the bloggers on bandwidth. The invisible primary is hardly invisible; it is, in fact, when most campaigning takes place.

And with a 24-hour political press, along with hundreds of political bloggers, the scrutiny during this period in 2008 will be as intense as any month during the old system. A longer official primary system is unnecessary.

Are George, Bill and Tim effectively shortening our city’s campaign season?

My Soundtrack: Bad Weekend by Air Brut on WOXY.

From The Los Angeles Times this morning: Each year, thousands of Pakistani children learn from history books that Jews are tightfisted moneylenders and Christians vengeful conquerors. One textbook tells kids they should be willing to die as martyrs for Islam… from textbooks approved by the administration of President Pervez Musharraf.

From Daily Kos come this list of quotes from those opposed to committing the might of the U.S. military to the war in Bosnia (where not a single American service person died in combat). It’s too bad that these kinds of things aren’t closed captioned on the screen every time these people attack those who think the war in Iraq is wrong.

You can support the troops but not the president. –Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years. –Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life? –Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy. –Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy. –Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy. –Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area. –Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions.

A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today. –Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is. –Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

It really does matter which the way the wind blows, doesn’t it?

My Soundtrack: Lost In The Plot by The Dears on WOXY.

From Walter Kirn: Pretty much all of my life, with occasional moments of imbalance, a cup of coffee and a gallon of gas have been about the same price. A few years ago, coffee took the lead, but recently gas caught up. Yesterday, gas took the lead… Thinking of gasoline and coffee as luxuries is eye opening. I’m filling up on both today; how far will I get?

Counting higher than
Many is futile, knowing;
At the end is olam

Further proof that computers will never lead to a paperless society comes in the form of Blogbinders. The print-and-bind-on-demand company will download your blog and put it in a bound form for $0.03 per page plus a $11.95 binding free for perfect binding. Vanity press has always been squicky. Who would you give copies of your blog to?

One of my readers took offense at my list of suggested names for wines to be marketed by Wal Mart and made it a point to let me know that:

…regardless of where you come from, and the current post aside, your site regularly drips with contempt for Wal-Mart products, management, and customers, and condescends to those poor, exploited employees, who just don”t know how bad they”ve got it.

As someone who spent a number of years working in discount retail, I take exception to his charges. I would never disparage any individual doing an honest days work, regardless of whether or not their employer is moral enough to pay an honest day’s wage.

I have no doubt that Wal Mart employees have an unimpaired understanding of where they stand. But to suggest that perhaps that they should be grateful to be working at all is demeaning. Like the father in Virgil Suarez”s No Work Poem, we all do what we must do to hold it all together.

Yet, human dignity demands that we not accept our lot. To reach for something better is one of our most precious rights. And to ensure that those at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder are not so exploited that they cannot reach the next highest rung is worthy a goal.

So when 11,000 people queue for 400 jobs as Wal Mart associates at a new store in Oakland, California, we have to ask what we are doing in our nation to ensure its continued place in world affairs.

There is an old dating trick that some women use. If you want to know what kind of man your date is, pay close attention to how he treats the waitress. I think that hold for nations as well. You can tell a great deal about a nation by the way it treats the least powerful of its members.

My Soundtrack: We’re Already There by Mazarin on WOXY.

Still-now h’avaq
With transitional moments;
My intentions waver

On Thursday, 11 August I read about the company on I See Invisible People. I typed in the URL for Have Coffee Will Write and got back the image you see on the left, above. I was branded as a source of Internet violence, hate and racism.

I immediately sent off the following email to Sonic Wall:

Dear Sirs,

hess@havecoffeewillwrite.com
http://www.havecoffeewillwrite.com

In a matter of minutes I received this automated reply:

Thank you for contacting SonicWALL Sales.

SonicWALL Sales
sales@sonicwall.com
1-888-557-6642

There was no response by the end of the workday, Friday, 12 August. On Sunday, 14 August I sent this second letter:

Shalom Y’all,

hess@havecoffeewillwrite.com
http://www.havecoffeewillwrite.com

On Monday evening, 15 August, I got some good news:

Dear Customer:

Sonicwall CFS Support

I didn’t request a change to Society and Lifestyle, I just requested a change to something as benign as my website. Being in category 31: Web communications seems benign enough.

But now, here’s the thing. If I had not read the post on I See Invisible People, I might have gone weeks, months or forever without knowing that Sonic Wall had filched my good name.

Imagine now if one of my student’s parents had stumbled upon this rating. Or if another journalist, writing about hate groups on the Internet, had included Have Coffee Will Write in a story.

As I noted in my first email, I know that no human is dutifully examining websites, reporting to a committee that then make judicious decisions. No. This is being done by bots and algorithms. And who knows what criteria they’re using.

How many other companies are out there providing these kinds of ratings? How many letters am I going to have to write to get my name cleared? I can’t accept that the burden to correct this injustice rests with the individual.

It seems to me, at a minimum, that any company creating these ratings is obligated to notify everyone it tags with the label it is applying. If such action is not forthcoming, perhaps it would be a good idea to look into a class-action lawsuit?

Any attorneys out there interested?

Check YOUR website

My Soundtrack: Chicago Seemed Tired by The Hold Steady on WOXY.

From WKSU: A day after burying their son, the parents of a Cleveland marine killed in Iraq held a news conference to criticize President Bush’s handling of the war. Polls show American support is waning and the parents of Lance Corporal Edward Schroeder the Second believe they are part of a growing trend of people speaking out against the war.

My Soundtrack: Ready, Willing, Cain and Able by The Paper Chase on WOXY.

Garrison Keillor offers some fine examples today of how the Republicans in Washington are fighting the good fight when it comes to out-of-control government spending. Republicans are for smaller government, lower taxes and balanced budgets. There’s not going to be any of that taxin’ and spendin’ among them. No siree. Uh, never mind.

I have never had a bad moment with police. To me they’ve always been firm, in charge but courteous. A friend who has lived there tells me that that is not the case in England. The New York Times, reporting on Jean Charles de Menezes’ shooting, give credence to my friend’s observation. Also this from Ireland, where they should know.

Sherry Chandler ruminates over the Writer’s Almanac/WUKY story. She writes: …the United States poets are not silenced by opposition and suppression. Rather they are given all freedom and trivialized. Certainly all the dangerous rock anthems of the sixties have been co-opted by nostalgia and commerce. Poets come considerably cheaper. Read the rest.

Jeff Jarvis has written a great deal about his travails with Dell. Today he posts what may be his final word: a letter to Michael Dell. He begins: Gentlemen, Your customer satisfaction is plummeting, your marketshare is shrinking, and your stock price is deflating. Let me give you some indication of why, from one consumer”s perspective. Keep reading.