The Ramblings of Rev. Karl

Richard Weldon, the Maryland state delegate from Brunswick, is leaving the Republicans and going independent.

http://wbal.com/apps/news/templates/news.aspx?articleid=13605&zoneid=3
http://www.gazette.net/stories/10022008/brunnew163316_32472.shtml

As evidenced by Katie Couric, Sarah Palin is unable to name any Supreme Court Case other than Roe v. Wade.

The Rules: Post info about ONE Supreme Court decision, modern or historic to your lj. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.) For those who see this on your f-list, take the meme to your OWN lj to spread the fun.

I'm going to go with one I haven't seen posted yet:

Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill (1978)

In 1973 an idealistic Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, probably the broadest and most powerful piece of environmental legislation ever passed in this country. This was the first serious challenge to the law and the court stated that Congress meant what it said, that some tiny fish really was more important than building a dam. In the words of the Supreme Court:

"Congress has spoken in the plainest words, making it clear that endangered species are to be accorded the highest priorities. Since that legislative power has been exercised, it is up to the Executive Branch to administer the law, and for the Judiciary to enforce it when, as here, enforcement has been sought."

Edit: I can't go with just one - Worcester_v._Georgia (1832) was the case in which the Supreme Court established that Native American tribes and their sovereignty are protected under U.S. law.

As the election nears I just want to remind folks of the existence of http://www.factcheck.org/ - both campaigns play pretty loosely with the truth and this is a great site for checking them.

It's official, we have two Paradigm Systems GIS job openings in Ft. Worth, Texas:

GIS Systems / Software Architect

GIS Systems / Software Developer

Today is the final day to register for Mythical Journeys, October 10-13, in Maryland.

I've talked about it before, but this is really a unique Pagan event. Rather than your standard festival the weekend features several tracks of programming that each focus on one path or issue. The format allows for much more intensive work than you can do in a festival setting and it has been an amazing experience for most of our past attendees.

This year I'm assisting divalion in presenting the Romancy track for those that want to nurture their inner romantic and learn to love the world. We could use some more people, go sign up now.

Edit: Registration extended to Sunday for you procrastinators!

madamruppy made a comment about wanting competence from my politicians. Now I won't go that far, if they were at all competent they'd know better than to become politicians in the first place, but I do hope that they will surround themselves with competent people.

I think Obama does that. Sure I'd like someone with more experience, but he at least strikes me as the kind of guy that when he encounters something he doesn't know he'll find someone that does and listen to them. He likes being informed. He'll accept advice. If he makes a mistake he'll admit it and apologize. I see that as a good thing.

Bush is notorious for prizing loyalty over any semblance of competence, and as in many things McCain appears to be following in his footsteps. His staff seems to be made up of complete idiots that regularly make blunders on his behalf. McCain seems to take a certain pride in being ill-informed and his staff will defend anything he says even when he contradicts himself or makes obvious mistakes. I don’t know why people think he’ll be an effective president when he can’t effectively run a political campaign.

I’ll add that part of my faith in Obama is his association with David Axelrod. I got to meet Axelrod while I was in high school and he came to lecture for our political science class, he struck then as a remarkably intelligent, competent, and trustworthy person. That he thinks Obama is the real deal was a big part of what convinced me.

Just for the record - I'd like our next president to be someone that knows what continent Spain is located on. Bonus points if you also know that Spain is a member of NATO and is currently one of our allies in the war in Afghanistan.

Thanks to boztopia for the link, his take on it here.

Sarah Palin says witch hunting pastor is "awesome".

A reminder that I will be off-line this weekend because I'll be at Lullaby of Broadway LARPing - we do still have a couple of spots open if you want to join us.

This chart will hopefully help combat the McCain camps lies about Obama wanting to raise taxes on the middle class. Original from the Washington Post, I resized it.

It has become clearer why McCain choose Palin - it's because she's a Dominionist, that sect of fundamentalist Christianity that openly advocates turning the U.S. into a theocratic state. McCain isn't hoping to woo Clinton voters so much as to activate the Dominionist political machine which had been wary of him, into supporting him. A flurry of recent posts to dark_christian document Palin's Dominionist ties if you want to read up on it - pretty scary stuff. Definitely not someone I want a heartbeat away from the presidency, her inexperience is the least of it.

While on the topic of gaming cons - my next gaming con will be Essen - allow me to squee for a moment (SQUEE!) The next local one I'm planning on attending is Euroquest, which is lots of fun and everyone should go. I will be missing Congress of Gamers because it conflicts with the Lullaby of Broadway LARP which I'm going to be helping out with. Lullaby does still have openings, and it is highly recommend for anyone looking for an incredible LARP experience - go sign up now. After that the next con I'm considering is Darkover about which I'm still undecided, also vaguely on the radar is Philcon.

Also - The date of the next Brunswick Games Day is set for January 3rd, 2009 - save the date now. Our regular GCOM-Brunswick sessions will resume in October (I know I told a bunch of you Novemeber, but I checked the calendar and I will have one in October if anyone is interested).

Back home from TCEP. Much fun was had, many games were played. It was nice to share one of my favorite events with auror and radiant_one. Also good to see a lot of faces I don't get to see very often.

Not very many new games for me this time - probably the only one of note was Die Macher. Die Macher is a game of German politics which has a somewhat infamous reputation in gaming circles as being a monster game - after playing it I'm not really sure why. It's certainly longer than most Eurogames, but it's nothing compared to some older American games like Civilization or Titan. Anyway I enjoyed it despite being crushed (blackpaladin won, with auror getting a close 2nd) and would play again, I probably won't buy it though - if I'm going to play a long game there are a lot of others I'd prefer more.

Other games played include Anno 1503, Apples to Apples, Drunter & Druber, Kahuna, Louis XIV, Pandemic, Qwirkle, Ra, Race for the Galaxy, Red Dragon Inn, St. Petersburg, Shear Panic, Ticket to Ride, and Transamerica.

Next weekend, probably faire.

Ok, a preliminary list of board games for sale can be found at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/kmusser?trade=1&ff=1
For the curious my full collection is now updated at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/kmusser?own=1&ff=1 (except for 3 games that weren't in the database, they'll be added soon).

Obviously I haven't set any prices yet, and the condition of the games varies widely from still in original shrinkwrap to bad, potentially incomplete games. If there's something you're interested in let me know and I can give you the low down on the condition of that game.

For those of you going to TCEP let me know if there is anything specific you want me to bring (either to potentially buy or just for playing while there).

Also not in the list are RPGs, I'll have to make a separate list of those.

GIP

As a P.S.

I am planning on being at the Great Big Sea show tomorrow and at faire on Saturday. Will see many of you there.

So part one, getting stuff from Chicago to Maryland is done. Now begins decided what to do with all this stuff I've inherited.

( this got really long )

The trip to Chicago was quite successful. A huge thank you to zammis and radiant_one for all their work.

( Full details under the cut )

Ted Stevens indicted

Excuse me while I do a little happy dance.

Also time to plug Maryland's next gaming convention:

Announcing TCEP 15 - The Elder Party

Vote Cthulhu in '08

August 29 - Sept. 1 (Labor Day weekend)

Laurel, Maryland

This is a gaming relaxicon which I highly recommend.

We'll have the usual assortment of both American and German board games with an extra helping of political games to go with this years theme.

Cost is $40 for the weekend.

Hotel info:
Holiday Inn Laurel West
15101 Sweitzer Lane, Laurel, MD 20707
(301) 776–5300
hotel group rate of $105 is available until 8/11/08
group name: Barking Mad

More details at tcep