Writing more...

Okay, I'm going to promise to all of you, right now, that I am going to try writing more original stuff for this blog...sometime soon, that is...not today. I really want to get in the habit of writing more. Of course, I'll still link to the cool stuff that I stumble across, like, oh, I don't know....bands that know how to coordinate a style.

Also, you've all probably been noticing that I haven't been posting much about politics lately. It's not that I don't care, but you can only post X amount about the depressing mess that we call "politics" before I start to go bonkers. So I'm only going to post good news, even though it makes me a bit queasy that this passes for good news:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Advocates of rewriting the USA Patriot Act are claiming momentum after the House, despite a White House veto threat, voted to restrict investigators from using the anti-terrorism law to peek at library records and bookstore sales slips.

Alright, so this certainly sounds like good news - a government that can't monitor everything you read - certainly a victory, right?

The vote reversed a narrow loss last year by lawmakers concerned about the potential invasion of privacy of innocent library users. They narrowed the proposal this year to permit the government to continue to seek out records of Internet use at libraries.

Oooh, but just be sure not to use those computers at the library, which coincidentally is the only place that someone who can't afford one has to go...but this last piece of news is heartening (I think?):

Last year, a similar provision was derailed by a 210-210 tie after several Republicans were pressured to switch votes. In the meantime, a number of libraries have begun disposing of patrons' records quickly so they won't be available if sought under the law.

Go librarians!! The smiling ladies who loan to you, for free, all those hardcover books you could never afford are actually quite subversive. I mean, if you spent your entire day around books, I'd imagine you'd learn a thing or two, right?

Aside: I don't remember the exact percentage of Congressmen who are lawyers (I believe it's around 60 percent), but if we could replace all those lawyers with librarians, the world would be a much better place. The end.