Yes indeedy, if you need to figure circumference from diameter, diameter from circumference, area from radius, volume of a sphere from radius, or any other of a zillion useful things - this little fella is your helper.
Forget the odious Microsoft paperclip - this is a helper with Power! And he is infinite - yes, that's right, pi goes on forever and ever, amen. Just try dividing 22 by 7 - that is one of Pi's many guises - and you will see there is no end to it. Pi is an irrational number that cannot be defined as the ratio of two integers, so you do not get one of those lame repeating sequences, oh no, you get new digits all the time, into eternity.
(Update: I do not know where that 22/7 notion came from, but it is not correct. Apologies for any confusion.)
Pi is simple, humble, and useful, yet has as much mystery and awesomeness as the Fibonacci numbers, Euler's number, or any damn fractal that was ever foaled.
Today we're linking to some different blogs to encourage blogospherical diversity, in honor of Blogroll Amnesty Day. Jon Swift explains:
Anyone who is aware of all Internet traditions knows that February 3 is the day when we celebrate the blogosphere's greatest (and, so far, only) holiday, Blogroll Amnesty Day, a day when we salute all of the great smaller blogs that don't get the recognition they deserve. Blogroll Amnesty Day, or B.A.D. as it is known to the twitterati, was not always such a happy day. In fact, the first Blogroll Amnesty Day, way back in ought seven, was one of the darkest days in the blogosphere.
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and Blue Gal (great B.A.D. movie at that link) are also among the leadership of this blog revolution. Below are my picks. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
If you care about what you eat, La Vida Locavore is a must read. I don't actually know what their traffic is so we may be linking up on this one, but I like them so what the hell. Liberals are notoriously hard to control, huh?
Also in Kentucky, the Barefoot Progressive has this reflection on Groundhog Day and Republicans:
Like Murray halfway through the movie, the GOP is just now becoming aware of their displacement within the space-time continuum. For the immediate future, they'll be experimenting with the ins-and-outs of life outside of history, seeing whether or not they can survive getting hit by a truck, or a toaster in the tub, or (gasp!) engaging in acts of legitimate and original thought.
This TexasKaos post by TxSharon is worth a look for the great graphic effect, but the info on natural gas propaganda is good, too.
Local Tint is no more, but the proprietress is blogging a bit at Reasonable Words, where you can find gems like this. One of these days we'll fix the blogroll link.
And of course, our own Dale, Jr. is now blogging at the Retired Blogger -- also on my "add to the blogroll someday" list.
Dan at Daily Dixie is hanging up his keyboard. His blog stood very near the center of the political blog spectrum in Alabama looking, and commenting, in both directions. His earlier blog Between the Links featured a graphic of a section of railroad track and I sometimes think Dan was like a guy standing on the railroad track with a long view in either direction. Dan says, in part, "I think I'd rather work on some other areas of my life I've been neglecting."
Blogging wants to expand to fill all available time and it can take a serious toll on the rest of your life. Best wishes and much sucess to Dan in those other areas of life. He still owns the domain, so maybe he'll crack the door open again later.
Dan, there's no beer in the house, but I offer you a Woodchuck in salute.
Left in Alabama is on the road this week in Austin, Texas to bring you all the news that’s fit to print from the Netroots Nation convention. We arrived a bit early, hoping to see a few of the sights and enjoy that big Texas ambiance before the convention kicks off this morning. I have to congratulate everyone involved, especially the Texas netroots, on the selection of Austin for this event. It’s a beautiful city, many dining and drinking establishments are within easy walk of the convention center, and – big surprise in the heart of beef country – the restaurants are vegetarian friendly.
We had lunch at Threadgill’s – not the original building where Janis Joplin performed before anyone ever heard of her, but a slightly newer one. I’m an experienced, discriminating consumer of onion rings and I do believe theirs are the best in the world, My three vegetable plate also carried fried okra, coleslaw and cornbread. All good, and I promise I’ll go back to healthy eating next week, if my arteries survive that long.
This sticker, seen on the bumper of a fairly old, brave car, perfectly illustrates why Austin is a great place to have a liberal/progressive convention. Considering we're deep in the heart of a red state (Austin is the capitol, you know, where W got his political start) you don’t see a lot of Bush stickers on vehicles -- not nearly as many as back home in Alabama. Austin is pretty open-minded, and Texas has a thriving netroots community working to blue up the rest of the state, too.
"I feel very confident saying we're the most prominent state-level blogosphere in America," said [Vince] Leibowitz, a founding member of the bloggers' group the Texas Progressive Alliance.
They’ll be sharing some tips and techniques with the rest of us in the next few days. You can see the agenda here.
Today I'm planning to attend the ground game workshop, the Blogs United and state level blogger caucuses, Register to Win and maybe the rural caucus. Tonight's keynote features DNC Chairman Howard Dean and we've been told that General Wes Clark will also speak tonight.
Gov. Dean will be kicking off a National Voter Registration Drive today as well, with a big rally outside the convention center at noon.
The Democratic National Committee announced today that Governor Howard Dean will lead a national grassroots voterregistration effort. The cross country bus tour, "Register for Change," will build on the overwhelming enthusiasm and voter turnout seen during the primaries as Democrats mobilize and organize voters for the fall election. The bio-diesel bus, flagged in red, white and blue with the Register for Change message, is 45' long, 13'4" high and 8.5' wide and will also serve as a mobile campaign office. The bus tour also builds on the success of the DNC's 50-state strategy and Senator Obama's commitment to running a 50 state campaign, and the belief that if Democrats show up and ask for people's votes, we can win everywhere. Throughout the tour Governor Dean will engage local leaders and grassroots activists in the effort to register new voters and talk about Barack Obama's strong message of change.
Starting Thursday, you can register to vote, find more information on how to register others to vote and follow the bus tour state-by-state at registerforchange.com.
Upcoming:A Conversation with Don Siegelman will be tomorrow morning at 10:30. Look for liveblogging of that session here and you can listen live at AirAmerica.
This will be the third straight year that DNC Chairman Howard Dean has made time in his busy schedule to connect with the growing progressive online community -- the netroots -- at the premier leftwing blogger convention. Via email:
We are thrilled to announce that Gov. Howard Dean will kick off the 2008 Netroots Nation convention as Thursday's evening keynote speaker.
The chairman of the Democratic National Committee and governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 addressed the Netroots community at the 2006 and 2007 conventions. This year, we're especially proud to recognize his efforts to create an active, effective movement by organizing in every precinct and in every state.
Dean has been one of the most influential forces in the progressive movement. As chairman of the DNC, he has worked to make Democrats competitive in every race, district and state, while integrating national and state party operations and standing up for Democrats' core values.
His belief that every citizen matters, from California to Connecticut, from Alaska to Mississippi, echoes our belief that the voices of all Americans deserve to be heard.
Netroots Nation is July 17-20 in Austin, TX. So if you haven't registered, now's the time!
I'll be in Austin for Netroots Nation. Who else is planning to be there? Last year there were 6 of us from Alabama -- we ought to have at least a dozen this year.
Are you going to Netroots Nation (the convention formerly known as YearlyKos) in Austin July 17 - 20? Would you like to attend, but a little thing called money is holding you back? Democracy for America is offering Netroots Nation scholarships to at least 9 progressive activists. Here's the offer:
Bloggers and activists just like you are working every day in their own communities to change the face of progressive politics. Grassroots organizing is happening in neighborhoods across the country, in states red, blue and on the fence.
And this year's gathering at NetrootsNation will be the most energized yet. To help everyone get there, we're thrilled partner with Democracy for America to offer scholarships to bring some of those activists to Austin to network with fellow progressives just like them.
Whether you're an activist organizing locally to support a presidential campaign or a blogger mobilizing communities for a common cause, this is your chance to show off what you've done to move the progressive agenda forward.
Our scholarship program is a way to ensure that activists of every age, background, and economic bracket, representing numerous points of view and all 50 states, are able to attend NetrootsNation. Because the more diverse the audience, the richer our experience in Austin will be.
You can also contribute to theNetrootsNation Scholarship Fund and help DFA reward some of the most talented, committed activists in the progressive community.
Last, but not least, you can express your support for applicants, to help DFA decide which ones should win the scholarships -- there won't be enough for everyone. My friend John Leek, founder of Cotton Mouth blog, is one of the applicants. John is a darned fine blogger and a real progressive activist in a red state -- right next door in Mississippi. He's helping that state move from red to purple and hopefully all the way to blue. Click here to voice your support for John Leek.
Likewise, Ryan McLeod, founder of The Daily Kingfish in Louisiana, has my wholehearted support for a Netroots Nation scholarship. He's another lefty blogger doing good work in a tough state.
Doc's Political Parlor will represent Alabama as a member of the Democratic Convention's "State Blogger Corps." Although Democrats included bloggers in the press pool for the 2004 Convention, I don't think any Alabama blogs were included. Republicans haven't decided how many independent bloggers they will credential for their convention, but there is no chance they will include one from every state and territory as the DNCC did. This credentialing is a real victory for independent and citizen driven media. State bloggers will have floor and hall credentials and will be seated with their state delegations -- no wifi connection though.
The DNCC previously announced an expansion of the credentialed blogger pool from past Conventions and the addition of a state blogger credentialing program. As part of the new DemConvention State Blogger Corps, designed for bloggers covering state and local politics, bloggers will receive unparalleled access to state delegations and the floor of the Convention hall. In a truly unprecedented move, the DNCC will seat these bloggers with their respective delegations during the historic four-day event, providing even greater access for local coverage and perspective. Highlights from these blogs will also be featured on www.DemConvention.com in the lead up to and during the Convention.
Appropriately, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, architect of the 50 State Strategy, notified the blogs selected this morning by online video message.
Congratulations to Danny and his team at the Political Parlor -- they will undoubtedly provide great, insightful convention blogging for Alabama. As for those of us who didn't make the State Blogger Corps, we're still hoping for credential love from the DNCC as part of the general blogger pool.
Legal Schnauzer is being threatened with a sheriff's auction of his house, and he thinks it's a means to get him to shut down or change the tone of his blog. That sounds pretty bad, though convoluted.
The approach taken with Kathleen Seidel of Neurodiversity Weblog (H/T to Lindy) was more direct. She was told to produce:
“all documents pertaining to the setup, financing, running, research, maintaining the website http://www.neurodiversity.com“ – including but not limited to material mentioning the plaintiffs – and the names of all persons “helping, paying or facilitating in any fashion” my endeavors. The subpoena demands bank statements, cancelled checks, donation records, tax returns, Freedom of Information Act requests, LexisNexis® and PACER usage records. The subpoena demands copies of all of my communications concerning any issue which is included on my website, including communications with representatives of the federal government, the pharmaceutical industry, advocacy groups, non-governmental organizations, political action groups, profit or non-profit entities, journals, editorial boards, scientific boards, academic boards, medical licensing boards, any “religious groups (Muslim or otherwise), or individuals with religious affiliations,” and any other “concerned individuals.”
She believe this violates her first and fourth amendment rights (at least!) and has filed a motion to quash. I don't speak legalese, but I like this part:
WHEREFORE, Kathleen Seidel prays her motion to quash this unconstitutional, unreasonable, irrelevant, excessive, invasive, burdensome, frivolous, and clearly retaliatory subpoena be ALLOWED.
From the comments on that post I learned a new term, SLAPP, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. There's even an anti-SLAPP website. SLAPPs are meant to intimidate people who are exercising their right to free speech and public discussion. They cause a lot of anguish and take time to resolve. It sounds like some bloggers got SLAPPed.
Good luck to Ms. Seidel and Godspeed to her motion to quash.
Best wishes to Legal Schnauzer (and Mrs. Schnauzer) too, of course.
Update: There is even more chilling news for politicalbloggers in the state of Texas, especially those blogging pseudonymously.
At the Haze Filter, fdeaton has a John McCain video I very nearly posted here this morning. Horner's not nearly as old as McCain, but otherwise it's a darned good impersonation.
Read Kristopher, on Obama's comment about his daughters.
A stadium holding 41,000 people booed George W. Bush as he threw out the ceremonial first pitch yesterday. WriteChic has video. How much would you pay to boo Bush in a setting where he couldn't help but see and hear you and know that he is loathed?
Thomason Tracts has commentary on the Bush Booing. It's garnering lots of comments, too.
HUD Secretary Alfonso Jackson (Mr. New Orleans is "not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again." ) is finally out. He's a Texan, a longtime Bush pal and -- wait for it -- he's under investigation.
Closer to home, Captain Plaid speculates on ex-2 year college Chancellor Roy Johnson's guilty plea in federal court. Will there be widespread weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth?
It's Kathy's Anniversary. Wish them well, but don't hang around too late, if you know what I mean.
Daily Dixie says a majority of Alabamians want their legislators to vote to allow them to vote on a Constitutional Convention. My head is spinning now, but I think I'm with the majority.
Last weekend's Blogger Summit (wiki link) was a great experience -- even better than expected -- and I'm thrilled to have been invited. What do bloggers do at a summit? Although my personal notes are still unpublished, I would direct you to an excellent post by LP at New Mexico FBIHOP. In fact, this is such a comprehensive trip report, why should I even write one myself when I can link to his?
... we headed next door to another small conference room to introduce ourselves more formally and let it be known which topics we would be most interested in adding to the session schedule. We started out by standing up and saying, "I'm ___ and I blog at __ and I'm a blogging addict." OK, maybe not, but even if we had, we were among fellow blogger addicts.
We voted on what topics to add to the session schedule, and I jokingly asked whether it would be via primary or a caucus system. This immediately set off a flurry of progressive poli-blog nerdy jokes from around the room.
After the votes were counted (Florida demanded a revote), we went on to learn more about our fellow bloggers, speed-dating style. Bloggers had two minutes to talk to a fellow blogger across the table before moving on to the next. Yelling over the cacophony of voices, we learned more about each other. All went smoothly, except one blogger who shall not be named** somehow messed up the rotation. I have to admit, while I thought it was corny beforehand, afterwards I thought it was a really great idea to get to know at least some of my fellow bloggers.
...
After breakfast, the first session was near and dear to all our hearts -- Building a State/Issue Blog. You can read the notes from the session here and here from Beratunde and Kenneth Quinnell from the Florida Progressive Coalition. Also, I'm sure any of those who attended would be more than glad to tell you what they thought of any of the sessions.
Other sessions I attended included Building Coalitions and Moving an Agenda, with Adam Green from MoveOn.org and Matt Stoller from Open Left where we learned about how to use a coalition of lefties to push an issue near and dear to our hearts. Blogs alone cannot do everything, just as activist groups alone can no longer have the optimal effect. Instead, you need a coalition of all sorts of groups to most effectively push an agenda. Again, notes from Quinnell.
The media training sessions with Joel Silberman and Cliff Schecter were some of the best of the Summit. Watch the videos LP has posted to get an idea of what you need to aspire to when you face a wingnut. Basically, know what you'll be talking about, come armed with plenty of relevant facts and don't be shy. As I recall, Cliff Schecter said something like "either I'm going to get to talk or nobody is going to get to talk." Mike Rogers is a great guy (no, no, not the Congressman from Alabama) and I really hope you will watch this video where he serves up Sean Hannity's head on a platter during the Larry Craig scandal.
The conference space, accommodations and food were first class and thanks to the NOI folks, the whole meeting came off smooth as silk. It's a great time to be a progressive blogger -- the future really is so bright we'd better wear shades.
I just arrived in Baltimore on the way to Washington, D.C. and the Blogger Summit organized by the great folks at the New Organizing Institute, so my posting will be light this weekend. Hopefully I'll be learning a lot so that we can do a better job of connecting the progressive dots back home in Alabama.
NOI has teamed up with Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Independent Media and Media Matters to organize the first-of-its-kind "Blogger Summit and Training" and they've invited bloggers from across the country -- big blogs, small blogs, rich blogs, poor blogs, etc. -- to exchange ideas and information. I'm looking forward to it and very thankful to have the opportunity to attend.
Not to be confused with blogging in shorts or blogging in pajamas or even blogging in your parents' basement -- just a collection of stuff too good to pass up:
You know Hillary's "when the phone rings at 3 am" ad? Turns out the footage of the little girl sleeping is several years old. The girl will be 18 years old and eligible to vote in November -- and she was a precinct captain for Barack Obama for the Washington caucus.
Conservatives can't trust each other, part 1: John McCain's Arizona campaign co-chair "Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., allegedly defrauded dozens of pro-life organizations for hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund his first congressional bid." The groups involved are Arizona Right-to-Life, the Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center and the Wickenburg Pregnancy Resource Center.
Legal Schauzer is watching the press, or at least Eddie Curran. "Most mainstream reporters I've know in my almost 30 years in journalism would be horrified to see something they had written touted on a political party's Web site. But I've got to give Curran credit: He's given up all pretense of being an objective reporter." This post is a must read if you are following the Siegelman case.
Conservatives can't trust each other, part 2: "Authorities investigating possible fraud by a longtime GOP operative have determined that the House Republican campaign committee has lost a substantial sum of money, and several GOP lawmakers believe funds were pilfered from their campaign accounts as well, law enforcement and Capitol Hill sources said yesterday."
Oops! "Carlyle Capital Corp, an investment fund managed by the US private equity giant Carlyle Group, said yesterday it had received additional margin calls from banks that could cause it to run out of cash." As you may recall, the Carlyle Group has had controversial connections with the Bush family. Another case of Brown's disease from close association with the Bushes? Bet your bottom dollar the Bush family and James Baker III already got their assets out.
They probably can't blame this on the Bush family, but Jefferson County Alabama is technically in default.
Department of Common Sense: Split your ticket if you want to, but if you publicly support the GOP presidential nominee, don't expect to be elected to an office in any Democratic club, not just the UA College Democrats.
What kind of religion is this? McCain endorser John Hagee "preaches the Prosperity Gospel, which essentially says that God wants believers to be rich, that you-believers can call riches into existence for themselves through their faith, and that you get rich by tithing to your pastor ten percent of your income, what Hagee calls your "first fruits," meaning pay him your tithe before you pay the rent, before you make the car payment."
What is Blogroll Amnesty Day? Jon Swift can explain it fully, but it's the anniversary of the day the big bloggers (Atrios, etc.) decided to reduce their blogrolls. As I recall, there were posts about how blogrolls are irrelevant and no one gets any traffic by being on a blogroll. As with most things, perspective is all. DailyKos and Eschaton don't notice the traffic they get by virtue of being on our blogroll, but there's no doubt in my mind that Left in Alabama would notice if they put us on theirs. I say that with confidence because we notice (and appreciate) readers who arrive here via clicking on the "Alabama" of the State Blogroll at both MyDD and Openleft. Thanks a million, y'all!
Why are links important? Well, first off they bring more readers in so what we write can reach more people. It's great to write for pleasure, but readers are pretty rewarding, too. And advertisers love eyeballs. Links also enter into the calculation (which I do not understand) of something called authority which relates to how high a website appears in search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.) results. Again, the higher in the search results, the more people will read your posts and the more influential those posts are. Lastly, it just feels good to get a link from someone else.
Anyway, links are the stuff of life in the blogosphere and today we're linking to some blogs we like that happen to have less traffic than we have -- yes, there are some and they aren't less deserving, just off the beaten path. Feel free to add more links in the comments and remember to link liberally to deserving bloggers all year round as you are writing and commenting here.
Look for a new blogroll out next weekend -- if you want your blog on it, leave a comment or drop me a line (mooncat at leftinalabama dot com) and we can do something reciprocal.
Who knew we were so damned powerful? Link to Words of Power from Redeye in a comment today.
Yes, of course, the bloggers have polarized us all.
The sad fact is that if the David Gregorys of the US mainstream news media had fulfilled their special responsibilities as the "fourth estate," which are articulated in both the US Constitution and the writings of the Founders, most us who have served as citizen journalists and commentators would never have gone into blogging.
Blogging is really simply the pamphleteering of our age.
If Tom Paine were alive today, he would, of course, be a blogger.
But this time there is no need for a revolution, only for the restoration of the democratic institutions that were won in the revolution, including a press free of both governments and corporations.
Please consider this blog your own personal printing press. Each diary is a pamphlet. Make yourself a userid (upper right corner) click "New Diary" and start writing. Thomas Paine would be proud.
Have you noticed the thriving blog community in Alabama? Read some local Alabama blogs -- vote with your clicks, 'cause every blogger loves more readers.
About half a dozen Alabama bloggers and lurkers attended YearlyKos 2007 last summer. The premier gathering for America's progressive bloggers has been renamed Netroots Nation this year and scheduled for July 17 through 20 in Austin, Texas -- the blueberry in the of tomato soup. Early registration fee is $175, but that increases to $250 per person at midnight on Nov. 30th.
The face of progressive politics is changing. Regular people have taken it on as their civic duty to become activists, and citizen journalists, and even run for office. The trend toward more decentralized, people-powered politics and media is accelerating, and at Netroots Nation, we are doing our part to focus that trend on creating a more progressive America.
This convention is a great opportunity to connect with progressive bloggers, organizations, candidates and party officials from around the country. Considering the growth of the progressive netroots in Alabama, we should have a much larger group attending the Austin convention, so make your plans now.
No details have been announced yet, but expect a mix of workshops, panel discussions, forums and speakers that will give you new tools and ideas for outreach and activism and recharge your progressive batteries.
Reading around the Alabama blogosphere over the weekend:
1) Judge Rules Love Stuff Legal at Birmingham Blues: It turns out the Alabama law banning the sale of sex toys except for “bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial or law enforcement purposes” is not only dumber than dirt, it's also "too vague to pass constitutional muster" according to a judge.
4) Health Care Costs at the Haze Filter: Don't be too shy to bring up subjects like this when you're out and about. More people have opinions than don't.
For those of you who missed the Alabama Netroots meet-up in Huntsville yesterday ... well you missed a memorable evening. I really can't describe it for you. No kidding, I can't, because what's said at the meet-up stays at the meet-up. Sorry. But maybe it's ok to share some general observations and a few photos, just to make you jealous.
Note, some of the photos are fuzzy and some of the faces are fuzzy. It isn't just bad photography. Some people have jobs and are sensitive about being seen in a political setting. That's the reality we live in.
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Today we're linking to some different blogs to encourage blogospherical diversity, in honor of Blogroll Amnesty Day. 
We had lunch at 
This sticker, seen on the bumper of a fairly old, brave car, perfectly illustrates why Austin is a great place to have a liberal/progressive convention. Considering we're deep in the heart of a red state (Austin is the capitol, you know, where W got his political start) you don’t see a lot of Bush stickers on vehicles -- not nearly as many as back home in Alabama. Austin is pretty open-minded, and 
