Anarchy in the UK

I know everybody and their fucking mother is posting links to YouTube, but hey...I was just thinking about one of the greatest metal videos of all time: Megadeth's cover of Anarchy in the UK.

My favorite part: The bullet ripping the kitten in half. And the fact that "Anti-Christ" gets bleeped.

Gary Hart and the Constitutional Crisis

Senator Hart tells it like it is.

via Huffington Post

Our Lie

I seem to remember Michael Moore saying something about "immorality breeding immorality" towards the end of Fahrenheit 9/11...

When Abu Ghraib broke, I was kinda perturbed with the false analogy that it was somehow like My Lai: It wasn't, despicable as it was.

However, since King George found a way into this immorality under his guise of morality, Generation Y has a quagmire of its very own, and apparently, its first warcrime.

Naturally, the blame will stay down at the bottom, though the responsibility goes all the way up-Rummy, you hearin' this.

The NeoCons, if there are any left claiming that, should start hemming and hawing about right now. If they continue to defend this, then the world should witness their heartlessness and take pity, because they just did more for recruitment of terrorists than a 1000 Bin Ladens.

Courtesy of Crooks and Liars, O'Reilly calls Iraq an "optional war". Nice going, Cronkite.
Wes Clark then puts him in his place.

Ha!

Canadians healthier than Americans, study finds

"These findings raise serious questions about what we're getting for the $2.1 trillion we're spending on health care this year," said Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard.

"We pay almost twice what Canada does for care, more than $6,000 for every American, yet Canadians are healthier, and live two to three years longer," Himmelstein added in a statement.

What we're getting is a bloated bureaucracy, American-style, where the bureaucrats are in the board room rather than in government and their incentives are often not geared toward the effective delivery of good health care.

"Heroes"

It's been a crazy weekend. It's been a crazy month (more on this later). It'll be a crazy week (to my collegues in comp and lit departments, you know what I mean). Lots been happenin'.

Anyway, like alot of people, I partied my ass off this weekend. However, its important to consider, yesterday or today, those who gave up their right to party, so that we can:

"CLINTON, N.J.--If we are willing to commit our best and brightest young people to fight wars on foreign soil, whether against radical Islamist terrorists or enemies not yet known, then we most certainly should prepare to honor these warriors on their return. That honor means more than parades and platitudes--it means quality health care, job training if needed, and monitoring their difficult transition back to ordinary civilian life.

On this Memorial Day weekend, we must not forget its purpose: to pay tribute to our fallen soldiers, from the frozen fields of Valley Forge to the hot fires of Fallujah."

Folks, this means more than ribbon decals. More than flags. More than saying "I support the troops."

Supporting the troops means not forgetting them after the parade ends. Lives are lost or ruined in wars, yet the Bush Administration cuts V.A. benefits. Vets can't even get a tombstone plaque or a real bugler. Is this anyway to treat our "heroes".

Maybe the problem is with the idea, the label "heroes". Such a term has alot of metaphysical weight, and it is easy to objectify, and thus, make unreal, like super-people or something.

The best thing you can do, in my estimation, is to chuck the idea of heroes. These men and women are HUMAN BEINGS, who sacrificed, and want nothing more than to try and get on with life if they can, or if they can't, they would want their loved ones taken care of.

We treat our Vets shamefully, disgracefully. They are the most exploited persons in this country, and yet, we throw 'em a parade, tell 'em we love 'em, and then allow their benefits to be cut, all because some asshole in a suit, in front of a flag, says that they are "heroes", but does everything to insure that they aren't treated like human beings.

As the Human Being Lawnmower keeps chopping at the youth, keep this in mind.

This should be interesting...

"The Bush administration has asked federal judges in New York and Michigan to dismiss a pair of lawsuits filed over the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program, saying litigating them would jeopardize state secrets."

It seems to me that engaging in illegal wiretapping jeopardizes the state. But hey, what do I know?

Desmond Dekker R.I.P

If you don't know, then give 007 (Shanty Town) a spin.

Life Is Life

So..."Conservatives" have their own little playlist, presumably for the enjoyment of Michelle Malkin's latest squawking, and fondling the bump in their stain resistant Dockers.

Predictably, they cherry pick and de-contextualize certain passages which jibe with their ideological leanings-I hardly think Chrissy Hynde or Joe Strummer would be thrilled with inclusion in this rarest of rare. But hey, I'll bet it kicks ass when washed down with a couple of Mich Ultra's, during the commercial breaks of Cavuto.

(Speaking of Joe: There's a line in the movie Rude Boy, where the protagonist Ray asks Strummer about his red "Brigade Rosse" T-shirt. Strummer replies "It's the name of a Pizza Restaurant", apropos, of course, of the above list)

(Aside number two: Somebody care to explain how Iron Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", and by extension, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, embody conservative principles?)

Since these folk (google bamapachyderm if you don't believe me) lack the basic interpretive skills to understand when lyrics, or reality, for that matter, are calling them out, I would recommend Laibach's "Lieben Heistt Lieben"...you'll like the drums...you'll like the uniforms...its in German...you don't get it, do you?

As for me, since I am a music geek, I would ask the readers out there for an angry leftist top 50...we'll compile a list. List as many (up to fifty) as you'd like.

Guilty!

Jeffrey K. Skilling
Count 1 (Conspiracy) GUILTY
Count 2 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 14 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 16 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 17 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 18 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 19 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 20 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 22 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 23 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 24 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 25 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 26 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 31 (False Statements to Auditors) GUILTY Count 32 (False Statements to Auditors) GUILTY Count 34 (False Statements to Auditors) GUILTY Count 35 (False Statements to Auditors) GUILTY Count 36 (False Statements to Auditors) GUILTY Count 42 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 43 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 44 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 45 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 46 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 47 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 48 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 49 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 50 (Insider Trading) NOT GUILTY Count 51 (Insider Trading) GUILTY

Kenneth L. Lay
Count 1 (Conspiracy) GUILTY
Count 12 (Wire Fraud) GUILTY
Count 13 (Wire Fraud) GUILTY
Count 27 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 28 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 29 (Securities Fraud) GUILTY
Count 38 (Bank Fraud) GUILTY
Count 39 (False statements to banks) GUILTY
Count 40 (False statements to banks) GUILTY
Count 41 (False statements to banks) GUILTY

World Cup Countdown

Amazing Football Skills and Tricks

"Don't Spy on Me"

Sign the Petition!

Just a Good Old Fashioned Revival Meeting

Yeah, the kind they held in Germany in the 30's.

Read an account of the tactics used to recruit the future elite "warriors" in the coming battle against the separation of church and state at BattleCry Philadelphia. And when you read that President Bush endorsed the message, feel free to freak out.

Story, "Holy Hell", at Digbysblog

Mundial 2006

Soccer appreciation, Lesson I

Questioning the Answers

May 19th Book Release Party at WineStyles in Mason, OH

"Cincinnati author Kyle S. Doan is celebrating the release of his poetry collection titled Questioning the Answers with a poetry reading at WineStyles in Mason, OH. The event will begin with a wine tasting at 5:00, and the reading will begin at 6:30. Copies of the book will be available to purchase at the reading, and as always, Kyle will be available for book signings and discussion afterward.

WineStyles7884 Mason-Montgomery Road Mason, OH 45040

Wine tasting starts at 5:00 PM, reading starts at 6:30 PM.$5 for all the wine and poetry you can stand."

Come on up and support one of Cincy's best poets.

It's Pat

Robertson: "[I]f I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms"

At first, I thought he must be an oracle or something and, if so, what's he smoking and where can I get some? Then I saw the punch line:

He added, "[W]hen you contribute $20 a month to The 700 Club, you are saying, 'I care about people. I care about my neighbors, I care about my friends, I care about those who are suffering.' "

English

Darksyde has more on the English only vote.

It figures that in an election year, the GOP, quickly sliding into the abyss, would resort to this kind of race baiting.

Yes, I said race baiting. Language is inextricably tied to identity, and to taxonimize one language, especially a language like Spanish, which so many speak, as wrong, and English as right, is contrary to our national mission and, moreover, is historically disingenuous. Spanish was spoken here before English, after all.

But beyond these appeals to tradition, there exists a greater problem with an official standardization of English: Whose English is to be the standard? Who sets the standard?

Of course, we already have a kind of de facto standard english, the kind propagated in schools and on television. You know, the the mysterious, from parts unknown but more or less midwestern "dialect neutral" variety. The effect of this de facto standardization is an othering of the rich dialects present throughout the country. This othering allows for judgements to be made about those who speak in these others, in effect privileging the speakers of one as right and true and everybody else as stupid, illiterate and possibly corrupt. The ebonics "controversey" is a good example of this othering (A good primer on the standardization debate can be found in the excellent Authority in Language, which discusses the standarization of English in the UK, as well as the historical context of the movement to standardize all the way back to the Venerable Bede. A good overview can be found here).

So what will constitute this official form of English, and will this official form further entrench the dialiect biases already present, further alienating the speakers of a non standard variety, as well as making this country inhospitable to non speakers of English? Most of the world has multilingual signs on roads and businesses, accomodating English speakers, yet, in this country, any mention of bilingualism is treated by many as something akin to flag burning, and now, the Senate is just cementing the spoiled brain lazy brat attitude of Americans who think everything needs to cater to them.

Apparently so.

Dan Ross R.I.P

Eleven, count 'em, Eleven receptions in Super Bowl XVI. One of the best football games I have ever seen in my life.

One of the greats.

Speaking of Dr. Zaius

Can there be any doubt?

I'm sure there will not be a display at the Creationist Museum of this fact, but, at the risk of being the bearer of bad news:

The Human Being's closest biological relative is the Chimpanzee. Look into the the eyes of a Chimpanzee, and tell me: Do you not see a kind of light that can only be described as "human".

Or perhaps, when we look into each others eyes, we should say there is a light that can only be described as "chimpanzee".

Just ask Dr. Zaius. He knows the truth behind the 13th scroll.

The Lighter Side of Communism

A man dies and goes to hell. There he discovers that he has a choice: he can go to capitalist hell or to communist hell. Naturally, he wants to compare the two, so he goes over to capitalist hell. There outside the door is the devil, who looks a bit like Ronald Reagan. "What's it like in there?" asks the visitor. "Well," the devil replies, "in capitalist hell, they flay you alive, then they boil you in oil and then they cut you up into small pieces with sharp knives."
"That's terrible!" he gasps. "I'm going to check out communist hell!" He goes over to communist hell, where he discovers a huge queue of people waiting to get in. He waits in line. Eventually he gets to the front and there at the door to communist hell is a little old man who looks a bit like Karl Marx. "I'm still in the free world, Karl," he says, "and before I come in, I want to know what it's like in there."
"In communist hell," says Marx impatiently, "they flay you alive, then they boil you in oil, and then they cut you up into small pieces with sharp knives."
"But… but that's the same as capitalist hell!" protests the visitor, "Why such a long queue?"
"Well," sighs Marx, "Sometimes we're out of oil, sometimes we don't have knives, sometimes no hot water…"

I hope I get to see Hammer & Tickle, a film examining the role humor played in survival behind the Iron Curtain.

Good Prospect Magazine article here.

I could use a good Bush joke now. Heard any lately?

Pancho Villa

Gee...its been awhile, hasn't it? That is a long story, for another time...

Anyway...Bush is tanking, so send in the National Guard, of course.

Problem is that our forces are stretched thin enough to be transparent, and business is still exploiting this cheap labor.

I fear now that we are at a point in which easy fixes are a fond memory, and this may end up extremely ugly.

I knew FOX News was out there, but this is ridiculous

Gibson: "Make more babies" because in "[t]wenty-five years ... the majority of the population is Hispanic"

Since I don't have cable, I never see the FOX News Channel, but I'm always amazed at the kind of crap they churn out. Is John Gibson's Archie Bunker act in this segment typical? He's like a right-wing Teddy Ruxpin, regurgitating simple-minded jabs at a wide range of minorities, Arabs, Europeans, and DINKs (meaning "liberals"). Who writes his material anyway, Karl Rove?

This Is Great

SNL: If Al Gore were President

Gutless Wuss of the Week

Ben Ferguson, right wing frat boy/warmonger/chickenhawk, and host of The Ben Ferguson Show got slammed by Randi Rhodes on Larry King for not putting his money where his mouth is while his so-called friends are getting wasted in Iraq.

Here's Hoping This Starts the Avalanche

Cheney Note Cited in CIA Leak Probe
By VOA News 14 May 2006

A U.S. prosecutor investigating the leak of a CIA agent's name has presented a handwritten note from Vice President Dick Cheney referring to the agent before the leak took place.

This seems like good supporting evidence for Scooter Libby's assertion that Cheney asked him to out Plame.

Right On Joe!

Scarborough: Be Afraid, be very afraid

Scarborough: Now, whatever you consider yourself, friends, you should be afraid. You should be very afraid. With over 200 million Americans targeted, this domestic spying program is so widespread, it is so random, it is so far removed from focusing on al Qaeda suspects that the president was talking about today, that it's hard to imagine any intelligence program in U.S. history being so susceptible to abuse...

I'm actually starting to like this guy.

I'd also like to point out the above reference to possible abuse of the information that's gathered. The indefensibility of this program becomes pretty apparent when its supporters throw out the old red herring that phone companies and other businesses already keep this kind of data so why should anybody be bothered that the government is doing it? That's ludicrous on it's face. If the phone company decides to abuse that data maybe I get annoying solicitations during dinner or more junk mail. The government has significantly more power to make my life unbearable.

Bush Approval Rating Hits the 20s for First Time

NEW YORK President Bush’s job approval rating has fallen to 29%, its lowest mark of his presidency, and down 6% in one month, according to a new Harris poll. And this was before Thursday's revelations about NSA phone surveillance.
Graphics courtesy of Voice of America

Editor & Publisher story

Hmm

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
-- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

More at Snopes

WTF 2

Bush says his administration is "fiercely" protecting the privacy rights of Americans by collecting records of every phone call they make and to whom they make them.

Am I missing something? Does this make any sense to you?

The USA Today article that broke the story is here.

Porter Goss' Sordid Past

Photo courtesy of www.axisoflogic.com Believed to be in this photo taken at a night club in Mexico City, Jan. 22, 1963, are members of Operation 40. Closest to the camera on the left is Felix Rodriguez. Next to him is Porter Goss and Barry Seal. Frank Sturgis is attempting to hide his face with his coat. Others in the picture are Alberto “Loco” Blanco (third on right) and Jorgo Robreno (fourth on right). (Identification courtesy of www.theantechamber.net)

But it is Goss’s earlier history that is intriguing and more interesting than his current performance. According to Florida-based investigative reporter Daniel Hopsicker, Goss once was a member of the CIA’s top-secret Operation 40, a reputed assassination squad operating in North and Central America in the 1960s. Hopsicker alleges it was suspected of complicity in the 1963 assassination of President John Kennedy.

Article from the Rock River Times here.

Better yet, did you hear about this cretin?

He was South Africa's top official for AIDS awareness and education for fucks sake.

Did you hear about the German Cannibal?

Read the gory details. They’re worth it.

I particularly like the following line for it’s bleak Germanic quality: Bernd-Juergen Brandes, a top IT manager with German firm Siemens ... posted an advert for someone to "obliterate his life and leave no trace."

When I read that line I hear Mike Myers' character, Dieter, from Sprokets.

Bush Approval Rating

Drops to Record Low 31% in USA Today Poll

The USA Today/Gallup survey of 1,013 adults shows that Bush is beginning to lose the backing of some of his core supporters: Fifty-two percent of those who identified themselves as conservatives approve of Bush's job performance, and 68 percent of all Republicans do, record lows among those groups, according to USA Today.

WTF?

This folks, is stupid...and possibly very dangerous, given the statutes Biden shoved along which go by the name the Rave Act, which makes property owners (landlords and club owners included) liable for illegal activity on their premises. Is this a virtul version?

"Jeffrey Toback seems to be caught in a time warp. The Democratic representative in New York's Nassau County Legislature has filed a lawsuit charging that Google in collecting billions of dollars by allowing child pornography sites to advertise on the company's sponsored links."

'The CIA is in a free fall'

Porter Goss resigns. Remember him?

He's the crony that Bush appointed while attempting to secure the home front.

What he did instead is run off the some the most experienced intelligence operatives in the world in favor of Bush Company men.

"He had particularly poor relations with segments of the agency's powerful clandestine service. In a bleak assessment, California Rep. Jane Harman, the Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, recently said, 'The CIA is in a free fall,' noting that employees with a combined 300 years of experience have left or been pushed out" (LA Times).

Well, we still have Negroponte. Feel safer?

Hee hee hee hee Haw haw haw haw

I'm the Decider (Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo)
Audio Enhanced!
via Huffington Post

The Bush Meltdown

Courtesy of the Reaction.

It's pretty hard to add anything.

"Americans may fight evil, [...] but that does not make us inherently good. "

New York Times has an amazing article on post WWII liberals. Must read.



Thanks to Radio Free Newport for hipping me to it.

Naturally

You didn't really think BushCo. was going to let this happen, did you?

"Heeding an outcry of criticism, President Vicente Fox retreated Wednesday from supporting a proposed law that would have allowed small amounts of drug use in Mexico without criminal penalties."

God help us if some in this hemisphere took a rational approach.

Truthiness, part Deux: The Weight of Colbert's Cojones

Ooooh...Somebody's mad!

Real Mad.


And for some more comedy, via Crooks and Liars,

"Frist blames Clinton for gas prices"

Update: It may seem as though I am harping on this, but I cannot say this enough: It is about time somebody went into the belly of beast and called bullshit on this whole culture. The politicians, the President, and his PR firm, the institution formerly know as the Free Press, which used to tell it like it was.

The reactions keep getting better...Here's a couple.

The SF Gate:

"It is a beautiful public scolding couched in a satiric wink, and it simply could not have been much better".

By the by: I think they owe me a residual.

Editor and Publisher:

"Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's comedy is at the expense of demeaning our administration. With a liberal audience, that goes over well. Watching him the other night, there were very few laughs; thus, the audience found his humor somewhat off base. However, I doubt he got the message. Does anyone ever remember Jack Benny and Bob Hope?

Willa Miller Huntington Beach, Calif."

This is a great Salon article on the fracas.

"It was Colbert's crowning moment. His imitation of the quintessential GOP talking head -- Bill O'Reilly meets Scott McClellan -- uncovered the inner workings of the ever-cheapening discourse that passes for political debate. He reversed and flattened the meaning of the words he spoke. It's a tactic that cultural critic Greil Marcus once called the 'critical negation that would make it self-evident to everyone that the world is not as it seems'. Colbert's jokes attacked not just Bush's policies, but the whole drama and language of American politics, the phony demonstration of strength, unity and vision. 'The greatest thing about this man is he's steady', Colbert continued, in a nod to George W. Bush.'You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday' [...]

"In the late 1960s, the Situationists in France called such ironic mockery 'détournement', a word that roughly translates to 'abduction' or 'embezzlement'. It was considered a revolutionary act, helping to channel the frustration of the Paris student riots of 1968. They co-opted and altered famous paintings, newspapers, books and documentary films, seeking subversive ideas in the found objects of popular culture. 'Plagiarism is necessary', wrote Guy Debord, the famed Situationist, referring to his strategy of mockery and semiotic inversion. 'Progress demands it. Staying close to an author's phrasing, plagiarism exploits his expressions, erases false ideas, replaces them with correct ideas'."

Anatomy of a Greed-Head

Prosecutor John Hueston elicited testimony on Monday about Ken Lay's lavish lifestyle, lying to employees and shareholders, and his bogus "margin calls" defense.

"You saw to it you were taken care of before the Enron employees," Hueston said. He showed the jury that Lay took a last $1 million in cash from his revolving credit line just days before he told employees that after the impending bankruptcy filing that they'd be paid a maximum $4,650 per person.
...

Lay said he had to sell the stock back to the company to be able to pay margin calls on his personal loans. But Hueston showed the jury paperwork on several margin calls and they were a fraction of the amount Lay withdrew at the time.
...

"We had realized the American Dream and were living a very expensive lifestyle," Lay admitted to the 12 jurors and four alternates, who watched with their usual attentive demeanor. "It's the type of lifestyle that's difficult to turn on and off like a spigot."
...

During May 1-7, 2006 thousands of activities will take place across the United States to tell Congress that health coverage for Americans must be their top priority. This is important for a lot of reasons, but the tv spot pretty much sums it up.


Check the website for local events. If you are a business owner wrestling with the problem of insuring your employees or yourself, consider going to the Small Business Seminar.

Poor, poor Ken Lay

According to his testimony, Ken Lay was forced to sell millions of dollars of Enron stock. Apparently he was in debt and HAD to sell off his Enron stock to keep the creditors at bay and to keep food on the table.

Now I understand Ken. Why didn't you say so earlier? Here I've been feeling bad for those other people who owned Enron stock. Bt I never stopped to think about you and yours. Goddamn liberals and their “documentaries.” They made me think this way.