Conform/Consume

[featherynscale]

This post is all about the linking. And the buying. And the thinking.
First off, politics:
Via next_bold_move, I found a clever little widget that matches your stand on political issues with stands avowed by various candidates for the presidency in 2008. My top match was, surprisingly, a guy I didn't know was running, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel. That link goes to his bio and position statements, which are in a .pdf (be advised). Oddly enough, when I used the widget this morning, this fellow was at the top of the list for 'most often top matched' by users of the site. He's pretty progressive, so I wonder if that means that the widget link was circulated mostly in progressive forums, or if there really is a much larger percentage of progressives in the population than I usually suspect.

Second, capitalism.
- Dover Books has a bargain books section that is extremely compelling to me. I'm trying to hold off from buying 10-15 books at the moment. We're only talking about $40-50 worth of books, but bookshelf space is at a premium at EHQ...
- A friend in Oregon is going through some tough times (sudden departure on the part of her partner) and facing some financial woes. She is a consultant for one of those sex-toy party companies, and earns commission on purchases from parties and over the interwebs. My course of action is clear in this matter, I think. ;) (And if you were thinking, "Oh crap, I'm out of lube" or something on that order, please consider buying from this lovely lady, okay?)
- The Red Jak energy drink that is amber is not the same as the Red Jak energy drink that is red. They are made by different companies, just... have the same name, and taste very similar. Who knew?
- In other energy drink news, Bawls Sugar-Free tastes like Nerds candy dipped in caffeine. Mr. Yuck-face applies. lexpendragon is welcome to the entire world's supply of the stuff.

Comments

[karinablack.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the mention :)
The link is wonky, it has LJ link in front of it and won't link properly.
Mine did that too :)

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Comes of leaving off the http:// at the beginning. :)
Should be fixed now.

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

On the widget - Spearweasel had posted a more realistic scatter diagram that shows even Clinton and Obama are relatively deep into the "Republican" quadrant because of conservative fiscal or societal policies... (The Repubs were just much deeper in that quad). of the 6-8 dems, only two hit the "democratic/liberal" quad, Kucinich and someone else.

The point being that if you actually have a liberal view, and don't just follow liberal 'stuff', then the Democratic candidates tend to be a bit too conservative for most. Now it COULD just be that Mike Gravel just hasn't taken a stand on anything. Or he might be a really "live ands let live" kind of guy.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Actually, he has a lot of 'talking points' up on the site - he's got some pretty interesting stands on a number of things, most of which are the sort of stands I'd vote for.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Hit 'post' too fast :)
You're right about the Dems being too conservative for some -- there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between Reps and Dems at the moment, except that the Dems are pro-choice and the Reps are anti-choice with regard to abortion. Everything else seems... pretty similar.

Which is to say that I'd like to see someone come out strong with a liberal/progressive viewpoint. You know, just to see what would happen.

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

There are a few points that each party has taken sides on... although ALL politicians tip-toe around taking definative stands on most things.

Note that while all three houses (Senate, Congress, White) were in Republican control, the "Conservative agenda" was not suddenly advanced by leaps and bounds. Likewise, if all three houses go to the Dems we won't see fetuses being farmed for stem cells. Although that COULD get a lot of moms off welfare - instead of selling drugs or sex to survive in poverty, they could just hump like bunnies and sell the occasional 1st trimester product to the pharmas.

Hey, why is there lightning bolts in my cube? AHHHH!!

I'll vote to help expose the flaws in the system.

[lexpendragon.livejournal.com]

I've never tried the sugar free Bawls, so I don't know how bad that is. I still want to get me a case of the regular kind.

Sadly, I'm on a self-imposed decaf/detox this week. The daily pot of coffee was starting to be notifiable.

[dramaticaddict.livejournal.com]

that sex toy party website, is that specifiaclly your friend? how would one get ahold of her directly?? (i am, in fact, almost out of lube...) i bet this falls in the TMI comments category..

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Stuff bought through that link should go into her order set, yeah. You can poke karinablack for more info, I think.

Huh....widget results

[matchgirl42.livejournal.com]

Mine gave me Dennis Kucinich (http://www.dennis4president.com). Never even heard of him before this. But on first blush, I like him. On first blush, I like Gravel, too, but I'm unsure, on first blush, of his stance on drilling in the ANWR, which I've long been opposed to.....?