I've been thinking a lot today about the vitriol spewing from the McCain/Palin true believers, and specifically, how we can counter it (if at all).

My first impulse, when I receive a smear email from an acquaintance, is usually to tear them a new one. The way I see it, these are people who'd probably never vote for a Democrat anyway. We're not going to "convert" them, nor do we necessarily need to. But we do, as a country, need to deescalate the rhetoric, because quite frankly, there's a very real chance of violence if we don't. So my gut reaction—to respond to this crap out of anger—is not a helpful approach.

Oftentimes people forward these things thinking that a) the information is true, and b) the recipient (me) is open to the message. Replying with a link to Fight The Smears isn't the best option, because it identifies me as an Obama supporter (and therefore "in the tank"), and because people aren't going to be as receptive to "facts" published by the Obama campaign itself.

So here's my solution: an email that is ambiguous about my party affiliation (therefore allowing the smear-er to believe I'm on their side) that offers links to some non-partisan fact checking sites. Keep on reading …

In previous versions of OS X, it was dead-easy to create a desktop printer: In your list of printers, you simply selected "Make Desktop Printer" from the contextual (right-click) menu.

I wanted to create a desktop printer this morning in Leopard, though, and for once I was stumped. No menu items were to be found, and Google just turned up pre-Leopard tips. It turns out Apple has simplified the process to the point of being so obvious I missed it. If it were a snake, and all that.

Having figured it out, I thought I'd share for the benefit of future googlers. Read the rest of the article …

I'd no more than pressed "Publish" on my last post than I came across the following video of supporters waiting to enter a McCain/Palin rally. This is what we're up against, folks: pure, unadulterated ignorance and bigotry.

Many things enrage me about Sarah Palin, but one of the biggest offenders is the degree to which she represents and seems to embrace anti-intellectualism. In puzzling over this troubling trend, a came across a number of insightful articles:

• The Renaissance of Anti-Intellectualism
• Year Zero
• The Dumbing Of America - washingtonpost.com

But one short essay, by a Christian pastor, no less, made an explicit link between religious fundamentalism and anti-intellectualism: Civic Passivity, Anti-Intellectualism Permit Poor Leadership. What this reverend has to say is important enough to bear repeating in full: Read more …

I've only been using WordPress a short time now, but I do love it. In the process of tweaking my templates, I came across an issue that really needed a custom function to resolve, and I've decided to package my solution up as a plugin for anyone else who might have use of it. Read the rest of the article …

Just came across a month old article in the Irish Times by Mary Mullen, an Alaskan expat who has a Downs daughter and will not be voting for Sarah Palin. Continue reading …

While John McCain is busy turning the page on the financial crisis with the help of Bill Ayers, Barack Obama is diving deeper into the economic issues that affect Americans the most.

Here in Florida, the Obama team is running a new ad on McCain's healthcare plan. It's clear from the sheer volume of the ad buy that this is going to be a central theme over the remaining weeks of the campaign (the spot is on almost as often as those FreeCreditReport.com guys). Watch it below, then read PolitiFact's fact check.

Keep on reading …

O mysterious Artist, who uses my life to paint new color for the world, give me the courage to receive your unique gifts in my life. Be my sanctuary when I become afraid of becoming that full being that is uniquely your presence within me. Sustain me and help me walk gracefully in the true beauty you call forth from me. Give me the heroic humility to be as you would have me be. Amen.

I came across this poem in one of my old journals. I have it attributed to Thomas Merton, but I'm not sure if that's accurate, or which work it's from. Regardless, it's beautiful and speaks to my place in life right now.

(Note: Cross-posted at Open Salon)

I consider myself to be a pretty well-informed, well-educated person. And I've read a lot in these past few weeks about the congressional bailout plan for the financial sector. But even still, I haven't really understood how and why such a measure is needed, and certainly not why it has to be done, like, yesterday.

Our leaders, including Barack Obama, have not done much in the way of explaining the situation except to tell us it's serious, and I don't blame people for not blindly believing what the Bush Administration says, particularly in crises (it shows we can learn!). So we're left to figure it out on our own.

I just had a conversation about all of this with my mom (who is the office manager/billing department/payroll person/all around money-handler at a local law firm). She broke this "credit crunch" down for me, explaining how already it is having an impact on even very successful companies like hers. And what I learned scared the heck out of me. Keep on reading …

My Palin Bingo card (I won with Alaska - Special Needs - Air Space - Hockey Mom - Terrorists):

Best. Campaign Sign. Ever. (over Andrea Mitchell's left shoulder):