Pat Robertson douchebag update

since I've received such burning, intense curiosity from all the commenters into the current level of Pat Robertson's personal shitheel rating...

the man ol Pat wanted to put out a hit on? That evil overlord of Venezuela? who we all should hate because, well, not because of the OIL, certainly, but I guess because he strangles kittens...

Yeah Hugo Chavez. That's him.

He has offered material and personnel support to America in the Gulf devastation; primarily water, food and fuel.

Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark, Pat.

Oh, and just because I refuse to let an arrogant, smug, self righteous bottom feeder like Robertson off the hook:

Still no word from Mr. Robertson on whether he might donate some of his proceeds from diamond, gold, or his ministry to help the suffering people of the Gulf. I would say developing, like Drudge, but we don't really expect this to change now do we?


God's consigliere Pat and the rest of the Republicans have been too accustomed for years to political opponents like the typical Democrats, who couldn't muster an opposing opinion if they were debating Freddy; who never saw a craven cowardly position they didn't like, who roll over so often they have calluses on their backs, and who are unable to comprehend, let alone manipulate the media at anything above a four year old level. Chavez, in addition to being sympathetic to the American working class and working poor, is an effective politician at the national and international level and has almost effortlessly shamed Robertson and pointedly demonstrated America's reduced image in the world.

Can't resist the music meme...

New one going around. Come ON! All The Kewl Kidz are doin it! LGM, Roxanne, Norbizness, Hey Jenny Slater and A Small Victory (with whom I share a graduation year).

Music Outfitters will give you the top 100 songs of your graduation year; you strike the nasty ones, bold the ones you like, and make snarky comments about the rest. It's a universally appropriate demonstration of radio suck (and this is the appropriate time for the patented KE shilling for XM Radio).

My graduation year is, of course, (ahem. old fart alert) 1980.

So: Songs in bold are OK; songs with strikeouts suck, and songs in italics are weapons grade suck, only suitable for reprehensible use in Abu Ghraib torture cells, or for painful infliction upon Republican gatherings.

1. Call Me, Blondie
2. Another Brick In The Wall, Pink Floyd
3. Magic, Olivia Newton-John
4. Rock With You, Michael Jackson
5. Do That To Me One More Time, Captain and Tennille
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen
7. Coming Up, Paul McCartney this guy was a BEATLE?
8. Funkytown, Lipps, Inc.
9. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me, Billy Joel It's still SUCK to me, BJ.
10. The Rose, Bette Midler
11. Escape (The Pina Colada Song), Rupert Holmes
12. Cars, Gary Numan
13. Cruisin', Smokey Robinson
14. Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl, Spinners
15. Lost In Love, Air Supply
16. Little Jeannie, Elton John
17. Ride Like The Wind, Cristopher Cross
18. Upside Down, Diana Ross
19. Please Don't Go, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
20. Babe, Styx Italics aren't enough for the level of loathing I have for this song. Suck doesn't begin to describe it. This is the sound that pederast priests hear in hell, while the claws of demons continually disembowel them through their esophagus. This is the sound Jeffrey Dahmer heard that made him rape, kill , and eat young men. This song could convince Mother Theresa that God doesn't exist. The music made Robert Moog regret inventing the synthesizer; the lyrics are adolescent tripe that would embarrass a semi sentient baboon. the sound is akin to listening to four thousand fingernails screeching across four thousand blackboards, amplified by seven thousand watts of power, through rusty Radio Shack speakers; while hyperaggressive shrews filled with caffeine claw their way out of your eye sockets. While being audited. Naked. after hearing this song, I'm surprised it took the remaining members of Styx twenty years to kick that sap Dennis DeYoung out of the band; I would have just killed him before I had to hear it again. If anything, THIS is the song that made me punk. It's just a hateful song, OK?
21. With You I'm Born Again, Billy Preston and Syreeta
22. Shining Star, Manhattans
23. Still, Commodores
24. Yes, I'm Ready, Teri De Sario With K.C.
25. Sexy Eyes, Dr. Hook
26. Steal Away, Robbie Dupree
27. Biggest Part Of Me, Ambrosia
28. This Is It, Kenny Loggins Kenny Loggins is evil.
29. Cupid-I've Loved You For A Long Time, Spinners
30. Let's Get Serious, Jermaine Jackson
31. Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer, Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes
32. Sailing, Christopher Cross
33. Longer, Dan Fogelberg
34. Coward Of The County, Kenny Rogers
35. Ladies Night, Kool and The Gang
36. Take Your Time, S.O.S. Band
37. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer one thing the freepers have right is the hatred for Barbra Streisand, although for the wrong reason
38. Too Hot, Kool and The Gang
39. More Love, Kim Carnes
40. Pop Muzik, M sometimes yes, sometimes no.
41. Brass In Pocket, Pretenders Holy shit, how did this get through the impenetrable layers of suck?
42. Special Lady, Ray, Goodman and Brown
43. Send One Your Love, Stevie Wonder
44. The Second Time Around, Shalamar
45. We Don't Talk Anymore, Cliff Richard
47. Heartache Tonight , Eagles The Eagles have a special place in my Hall of Suck. If the Eagles never existed, would we have had to tolerate Hootie? I think not!
48. Stomp, Brothers Johnson
49. Tired Of Toein' The Line, Rocky Burnette
50. Better Love Next Time, Dr. Hook
51. Him, Rupert Holmes
52. Against The Wind, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
53. On The Radio, Donna Summer
54. Emotional Rescue, Rolling Stones Too many drugs and too much time at Studio 54.
55. Rise, Herb Alpert
56. All Out Of Love, Air Supply
57. Cool Change, Little River Band
58. You're Only Lonely, J.D. Souther
59. Desire, Andy Gibb
60. Let My Love Open The Door, Pete Townshend Not a strong effort by windmill-boy, but given the competition, you had to be heartened by this song even showing up. I had a friend in these days who threatened to send a bottle of cognac to Pete; always maintained that he was better before he stopped drinking. Paul Westerberg has the same problem.
61. Daydream Believer, Anne Murray I don't even particularly care for the Beatles, and yet you managed to disgrace this song, you Canuck shitbird.
62. I Can't Tell You Why, Eagles Told you fucks to go away, damn it.
63. Don't Let Go, Isaac Hayes
64. Don't Do Me Like That, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
65. She's Out Of My Life, Michael Jackson I hated Michael Jackson before it became fashionable to hate him; I hated him for his music alone.
66. Fame, Irene Cara don't live forever.
67. Fire Lake, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
68. How Do I Make You, Linda Ronstadt
69. Into The Night, Benny Mardones
70. Let Me Love You Tonight, Pure Prairie League
71. Misunderstanding, Genesis Even if it was an over-popular song, this was a strong album, and my first foray into Genesis and prog music.
72. An American Dream, Dirt Band
73. One Fine Day, Carole King
74. Dim All The Lights, Donna Summer
75. You May Be Right, Billy Joel Better effort, Bill; but don't get your hopes up.
76. Hurt So Bad, Linda Ronstadt
77. Should've Never Let You Go, Neil Sedaka and Dara Sedaka Like you need more than one Sedaka to reach high levels of suck.
78. Pilot Of The Airwaves, Charlie Dore
79. Off The Wall, Michael Jackson
80. I Pledge My Love, Peaches and Herb
81. The Long Run, Eagles Please.
82. Stand By Me, Mickey Gilley
83. Heartbreaker, Pat Benatar
84. Deja Vu, Dionne Warwick
85. Drivin' My Life Away, Eddie Rabbitt
86. Take The Long Way Home, Supertramp well, at least it doesn't make me retch.
87. Sara, Fleetwood Mac No.
88. Wait For Me, Daryl Hall and John Oates
89. Jo Jo, Boz Scaggs
90. September Morn, Neil Diamond I don't care if he's retro-cool.
91. Give Me The Night, George Benson
92. Broken Hearted Me, Anne Murray
93. You Decorated My Life, Kenny Rogers
94. Tusk, Fleetwood Mac The best way to tolerate this song is to listen to Camper Van Beethoven cover it. They covered the whole album. It's worth it.
95. I Wanna Be Your Lover, Prince
96. In America, Charlie Daniels Band don't make me puke.
97. Breakdown Dead Ahead, Boz Scaggs
98. Ships, Barry Manilow
99. All Night Long, Joe Walsh No. You're one of the Eagles, you still die.
100. Refugee, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

Aggggh. I guess it's been a long time since radio hasn't sucked. This year still suffered a savage hangover of disco and soft-country-rock; the impact of MTV was just starting to be felt.

I can see why by 1980 I really no longer listened to much radio; even though Madison had a couple of decent stations, it just wasn't worth it.

Ack. this was an unnecessary stroll through a malodorous time; I did not enjoy it. Not one bit. Now I feel all squicky. I need to go lie down.

I Think It's Going To Rain Today

Just now, this UB40 cover of a Randy Newman song came up on iTunes, as I was filling out a donation at the Red Cross site. A bit synchronicitous.

Newman has an even more appropriate song: “Louisiana 1927”

What has happened down here is the wind have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through cleard down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

CHORUS
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away

President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, “Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has done
To this poor crackers land.”

Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away


Since the National Guard, and all the amphibian vehicles that might have been beneficial at this point have been sent to Iraq, the Red Cross is all that the residents of Louisiana have left.

Go to the Red Cross site and give 'em a little love. You got a house; you got a working toilet and fresh water. Help somebody who doesn't.

Friday Random Twelve

Norbizness has established a baseline for the Self-Audit: Nimoy: Bilbo. 0/10. And you may be forewarned that The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins, is, in fact, present on this playlist. Be afraid, be very afraid.

As usual, this is my desktop iTunes, 55 gigs of music, 37.8 days of songs.


1. Waco Brothers - Walking on Hell's roof. Another Mekons side project by Jon Langford; again, one of my favoritest live bands. Often described as Cash meets Clash, and really, what could be better? 8/10 just because they saved the bass player from Jesus Jones.

2. The Figgs - Protocol. Criminally underrated band from New York, these guys have been playing punk/pop since high school, and have most recently backed the legendary Graham Parker live and in the studio (when they tour with him they open as the Figgs, then come back out to play with gp). Another of my personal can't-miss live bands, Last time they visited Milwaukee they played a warmup set at a house party, then played two sets at the club, then played an after-bar in a basement. All told they probably played about six hours. My most distinctive memory is Mike Gent plaintively asking the fervent basement crowd “Is it OK if this is our last song? We want to party too.” 9/10.

3. Bad Religion - 21st Century Digital Boy. 6/10 because they're old school DIY-ers, and Greg Graffin is from Milwaukee.

4. ZZTop - Reverberation (Doubt) Although annoyingly omnipresent in the early days of MTV because of their instant recognizability and humorous videos, Texas's house band does blazing live shows. I saw them in Madison on the Deguello tour before they went all tech-pop, and it was 2 hours of extremely loud blues rock. Side note to Mike: Another three piece band that makes an amazing amount of noise. 5/10.

5. Gear Daddies - Goodbye Marie. Another criminally underrated band, now defunct. Veering from the apparent theme, the Daddies were not particularly notable live; but the songs, and Martin Zellar's gravelly rootsy voice, makes for some excellent alt-country. Plus they do a song about the Dells. 7/10.

6. The English Beat - Whine and Grine/Stand Down Margaret. Original english ska from the eighties. 7/10.

7. The Meat Puppets - Sexy Music. The sole practitioner of Southwestern Punk. Another great live band, they are able to take tough, sinewy, dry guitar songs and vault them into soaring, loping jams that don't get boring; on top of that are peyote laced psychedelic lyrics that defy comprehension. Kurt Cobain's favorite band, it's no wonder that they broke up due to heroin. 8/10.

8. Stan Ridgway - My Way. Former lead singer of Wall of Voodoo, he's been quietly toiling away in the West Alternative music scene; he released two very good albums, The Big Heat and Mosquitos, as well as an amazing psychedelic movie soundtrack called The Drywall Project. This is from an album of standards, and isn't particularly compelling. Sorry Stan. 3/10.

9. Game Theory - Throwing The Election. Hey, this band qualifies as BOTH Criminally Underrated AND a great live band! Scott Miller is an amazing guitarist and a fantastic songwriter; I've seen his work with Game Theory and subsequent work with The Loud Family; he's one of Aimee Mann's favorite artists, which should be all you need to go out and find all of his work. This song is apparently the Democratic Leadership Council's theme song. 9/10.

10. Fleshtones - Ride Your Pony. From Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough Series, New Wave of the Eighties. Screw You, this was my college music. 5/10.

Bonus, because I can:

11. ZZTop - Waitin for The Bus. More ZZ? Well, at least it's early stuff. The only bad thing is that the random play cuts this one off just as it smoothly segues into 'Jesus Just Left Chicago'. 5/10.

12. Dance Hall Crashers. Will Tomorrow Ever Come. Criminally Underrated? Check! New-era ska-punk. 7/10.

12 -1/2 (because it came up on the playlist) Camper Van Beethoven - Heart. Beautiful seque into one of Camper's little ska ditties. I saw them open up for REM in the Oriental Theater. Great Show. 8/10.

There you have it. Apparently iTunes felt like serving up bands that deserve wider audiences. But Hey, iTunes, where's the Mekons? Huh? Bad iTunes! No ram chip!

Pat Robertson hitlist update

Robertson has apologized for his remark.

After, of course, trying to deny that he ever said them.

None of which really affects the previous post; his apology apparently stems from the criticism he received from ABC Family and newspapers. From other evangelicals: crickets. From the White House (who DO have time to go on a little tour to badmouth Cindy Sheehan): crickets crickets.

America, you're stupid.

Check out these polling numbers.




Is it really possible that over half of Americans don't believe in a widely accepted scientific principle?


Do they also believe that the Earth is Flat and the sun and stars revolve around us? What about gravity?




As a former member of the Discovery INstitute puts it, ID is “..an elaborate, clever marketing program...” and that “It's pseudo-science... it's laughable.”


It's no wonder that America can't keep up with science advances by India, Korea, and China. If there's something on TV, it must be true.


Formerly, I felt that teaching ID wouldn't be that big a harm; after all, teachers could teach that there's no scientific basis AT ALL for the idea, and thus teach what the real scientific method is all about.


But after reading these numbers, I have to conclude that the children of these people may be too stupid to be able to make the differentiation; merely presenting the issue is admitting defeat.


As Dr. Davidson says in the above article, this isn't about science, this isn't even about evolution or truth. This is about tearing down evolution for religious reasons; for creating (even more) suspicion and doubt about scientific concerns, about creating just another inroad, another breach of the public wall for fundamentalist religion.


And America, apparently you're stupid enough to fall for it.

[Edit] It's even worse than I thought. The New York Times has fallen for it.

Is there any hope for America? apparently the only expertise we will have left is military technology, and the ability to export it by selling, as well as using it; and the ability to completely compromise human analytical capability through lies and marketing.

Damn near every time he opens his mouth...

Some time ago, I trolled into a discussion on another site where the bloggers were decrying Muslims for not condemning terrorists...enough. I tried to make the point that the West and Christians are not exactly innocent in these matters, having a long and checkered history of Crusades, Imperialism, and genocide.

But the argument devolved into 'that was then, this is now', claiming that Christians would never do such things NOW, that the issue was the inflammatory things that some Muslims were saying and doing, and that ALL members of the muslim faith needed to repudiate terrorist activity, or be... what? what would the consequences of letting it go without saying that terrorist actions are reprehensible?

My point, of course, was that there didn't seem to be a need to have every Christian sign a non-aggression oath after McVeigh bombed a Federal building. By quoting, in effect, 'let he who is without sin cast the first stone,' I was then scolded for 'moral relativism'.

Which of course, it was. The idea that differing social systems may arrive at roughly similar moral codes is not anathema, in fact is part of the idea, behind the Establishment clause; that Muslims abhor the actions of a few, just as Christians abhorred the actions of McVeigh, seems to be a reasonable proposition. What seemed to bother the head-shakers is that once you've established that roughly similar moral codes have no objective superiority, you can no longer claim primary nobility for your own. And what's the purpose of Religion if you can't feel morally superior to the next guy?

Unless , of course, the next guy is Pat Robertson. It seems a bit like piling on at this point, but hey! Would that stop Pat?

Of course, It shouldn't surprise anyone that this kind of swill oozes from Robertson's scabby orifice. (or that he immediately tries backtracking and parsing his original statement). Norbizness has an excellent tracking of Robertson's past atrocities here. So God's Buddy Pat isn't really breaking much new ground with this.

But the thing about this is that here's a perfectly atrocious example of inflammatory imperialist rhetoric being given a pass, much the same way my conservative friends above claimed that Muslims were being soft on Al-Qaeda. Oh, sure, several sources have distanced themselves, notably ABC Family which broadcasts Robertson's sweaty presentations. But by the yardstick that was being used to paint all Muslims as terrorist friendly, the lack of outrage from fundamentalist Christians indicates collusion, if not outright support, of a religious figure calling for an illegal overthrow of a democratically elected sovereign leader. And far beyond moral relativism, this is full goose bozo situational ethics.

And where the shit really sticks to the wall here, is the inability of our Friendly Christian Corporate Administration to distance themselves, censure, or even ask for an apology, from this sack of offal. Not that this is surprising, because RoveCo is aware of the debt owed to fundamentalist Christians to even get the elections close enough to steal; there's no way he's going to endanger the rickety coalition of fundies and 'me first gimme gimme's' tax shelter cronies that form their base by criticizing one of the foremost mouthpieces of the fundies.

Just add it to the pile, Ma'am...

A request to investigate an apparent political manipulation of a prosecutor, by Guam's representative.

Heavens! Political motivation in protecting one of the Republican party's best money whores? By THIS Administration? Say it isn't so!

Whatever will we tell the children?

Oh yeah, we'll tell them to QUIT PLAYING THOSE DARN VIDEO GAMES.

Sadly, and cynically, the Republicans have methodically removed all independent authority for investigating these types of crimes, and now this request will go first to...

James Sensenbrenner!!

[sarcasm] Oh, HE“LL authorize an inquiry, right away. I mean, just because he refused to allow Democratic testimony in the last investigation is no reason to believe he'll be anything but fair now, right? And I'm SURE he doesn't have any ties to Abramoff...[/sarcasm]

It's so sad that a despicable, transparent weasel like Abramoff, who has connived with the Republican majority to commercial our governing bodies, will be able to expect this kind of deference from the ruling elites. As Berke Breathed said many years ago, the great principle upon which this country operates is... Money Talks! Money Talks! Money Talks!!!

You don't see the line as you're stepping over it...

Do you think there came a point at which Russians or the Germans said "You notice, we now live in a Police State? when did that happen?"



Although British Police are making the case for cold stone unjustified murder in the name of national security, America has always been where it's at for Martial Law.

A peaceful and permitted rave was attacked without justification by Utah Police, including tear gas, attack dogs, and tasers.

A non-threatening protester was tasered without provocation. Also of note that even police officers who volunteer as demonstration subjects for these supposedly harmless methods of subjugation are now suing the manufacturer for misrepresenting the effects of this device; and several people have died.

Hired security goons arrest mother and daughters for just Discussing the idea of making a joke at Santorum's expense.

Just to make you feel warm cozy and protected, police are going to be recipients of nifty new microwave guns, which have been presented as excellent ways to control crowds, by cooking people until they leave the area.

And finally, just to make sure as much of your life is under control as possible, The President of God is taking further steps toward the mantle of divinity: not only are we not to gaze upon his saintly visage during public events, but now, the common rabble of the populace cannot be allowed to even glance out their own windows if he happens to ride by.

I'll forego the obvious 'President has no clothes' remark here to just say I remember the days when Presidents walked among us like mortals, we could go about our daily business without fear of police attack or arrest, and sometimes even make jokes.


Although I do find myself wondering just how fragile and cowardly President Middle Finger must be to not only be unable to meet for five minutes with a mother of one of his soldiers, but also can't bear to be seen by his citizens?

Unless, of course, it's just his innate hereditary elitism manifesting itself in revulsion at what Harry Dean Stanton referred to as 'Ordinary Fuckin people".

Friday Random Ten: Sympathy for The Sheehans

Cindy Sheehan has leeft her camp near Bush's Brush Farm; Not forced out by the vile things said about her in recent weeks, but by family emergency. Her mother has had a stroke, and Ms. Sheehan went to the hospital.

How much grief does she have to endure?



so anyway, out of respect, I dedicate this FRT, and heck, the whole dang weekend, to her. And as an extra token, I'm gonna Audit.


1. The Figgs - Stood Up! One of the best live bands I've ever seen. Little bit of the Who, the Kinks, Elvis Costello, and maybe a bit of the Buzzcocks. Go see em and buy some music, damn it. They deserve to be wildly successful. 9/10, you only get to argue with it after you've seen them.

2. REM- Turn You Inside-Out. From the middle period; not commercial but popular. 6/10.

3. U2- Beautiful Day. They figured pop music out. But still pretty commercial, you wankers. 4/10 because they had integrity once.

4. Rush - Red Tide. ouch. Rush was the first concert I took my wife to when we were dating. But not cool, eh? Well, at least it's not Deep Purple. 3/10

5. Blue Oyster Cult - Heavy Metal- Black and Silver. Another of my favorites from pubescence. a failed attempt at mainstream cred on the 'Heavy Metal' soundtrack. Good feedback though. 3/10.

6. Robbie Fulks- South Richmond Girl. Robbie is a Chicago Bloodshot artist who is part of the Insurgent Country movement- country music like Nashville turned its back on. He flirted with mainstream success a few years back with Let's Kill Saturday Night (an excellent song and album) but the bleak character of many of the songs, as well as one titled “God Isn't Real” apparently soured the label. I saw him a couple of weekends ago at Sprecherfest. His bass player had equipment problems, so they started without him while he went to pickup a spare. Then the fest was rained out, so he finished his set solo, with just a guitar and some guest singers. And had a tremendous time. He performs like we're his best friends. 8/10.

7. Supertramp- Babaji. Jeez. How'd that get on there? Must have been downloading music drunk again. Nearly as uncool as Deep Purple. 1/10.

8. Oingo Boingo- Burn Me Up. Another great live band, very Loud. Danny Elfman's job before he started scoring every fricking movie you see. Never got mainstream success, but the shows were 2 1/2 hours of sweaty fun. 8/10.

9. Sally Timms and Jon Langford. Blue eyes Crying IN The Rain. Two of the Mekons, doing country music on the side. Timms has one of the sweetest voices you'll ever hear, especially in a punk band. And she plays a shruti box. solid 10/10.

10. The Mekons- Sympathy for the Mekons. Score! here's my weekly Mekes. From the epochal Honky Tonkin' album, a little slab of bouncy punky country, 'Woo! Woo!' 's and all. “History/ has a stutter/ It says/ w-w-w-w-watch out!” Another topper. 10/10.

11. Robyn Hitchcock- The Speed Of Things. sweet little bit of incomprehensible folk-rock from one of the greatest latter-day practitioners of psychedelic rock. 7/10.

12. The Field Mice - September's Not So Far Away. Tragically short lived alt-pop band from England; reminiscent of the Smiths in some ways. They were starting to see some success when intramural relationships crashed the band. 10/10.

Not a bad set, all told. Let's see how much the Supertramp hurt us: 6.6.





Best thoughts to Cindy Sheehan and family.

When The Whip Comes Down

The Rolling Stones have been tapped to provide music for the NFL. Their music will be used in the promos and breaks on Monday Night Football.

The Rolling Stones have a new album coming out and will be touring behind “A Bigger Bang”. On this album is a song named “Sweet Neo Con”, featuring lyrics like:

It's liberty for all
Democracy's our style
Unless you are against us
Then it's prison without trial.

and

You call yourself a Christian
I call you a hypocrite
You call yourself a patriot
well I think you're full of sh*t




So how Long before they get the boot from the NFL?

Can't look her in the face and give a straight answer...

I've been avoiding posting anything about Cindy Sheehan until now, because, you know, what to say? I can't know how it would feel to lose a child in war, especially a war you don't believe was necessary. If anything, I just give her mad props for the sheer courage it takes to stand in front of President Middle Finger's treehouse as a prickly reminder of the savage reality of his Pretty Little War.

But earlier in the week, the neighbors took it upon themselves to try to put the 'little lady' back into her place. It wasn't particularly surprising when one tried to disrupt a prayer by discharging a shotgun. Twice. He claims it was into the air, but really, sir, wasn't that gun tilted just a wee little bit toward the protesters? (and he claimed to be testing the weapon as a test for dove hunting. Now, I'm not a dove hunter, but WTF?!!?? a SHOTGUN?!?!? to hunt DOVES??!!!!!???? what do you have left when you hit one?) But when Larry Northern, Certified Patridiot, ran over the rows of crosses alongside the road with his pickup truck , I started a lengthy post about how reprehensible, disgusting, and yes, hypocritical, the Right and their apologists have gotten, trying to demonize and discredit anybody who has the temerity to disagree with the Official Party Line. Apparently Gold Star Moms are OK as long as they don't disagree with The Preznit.

But I rebooted without saving that post (and I'll testify that while Macs can help to avoid some of the most annoying problems of computers, user stupidity isn't eliminated), and since then, many others have written so much worthwhile that it seems redundant. Like A letter at Kos, pandagon, tbogg, Mac at pesky apostrophe, driftglass, and Cindy Sheehan herself.

[Edit}Oh, and of course The Rude Pundit

{further edit} And Will Durst


But here, I'd like to make two points.

First, regardless of the Republican lip service to improving the level of discourse, these events make apparent just how far the demonization of opposition has come. For these men to feel that actions of intimidation which fall just short of threats and assault, are somehow reasonable and appropriate responses to a small crowd exercising their rights of Free Assembly and Petition For Redress of Grievances. I know, those aren't part of the Second Amendment so Texans probably aren't real familiar with 'em, but they're still in the Bill of Rights.

This is a predictable, and predicted, result of the progressively more vicious and furious rhetoric being used to label and denigrate the Right's political opponents; and being used at ever higher levels, implying increasing acceptance. These attitudes started spreading from the rightist blogs, made their way through the radio talk shows to TV and Fox News, and are now used in political speeches.

This is a process that has been repeated many times before; first, demonize your opponents, establish them as “Other”. Then, crank up the rhetoric, and wait until someone takes it upon themselves to 'take action'. That action will become increasingly violent, unless checked. Then, blame it upon your opponents. Eventually, Official Action becomes necessary, and you are able to start throwing them in jail, and even killing them. (Side not to the 'Help, Help, I'm Being Repressed!' loudmouths both from the Right and the Religious factions: That is how repression is done. If you control most sections of the government, and practice your religion on TV, you aren't repressed. Deluded, maybe).

Second, The furious, brutal bleating response from the pundits shows just how much this event has gotten under their skin; and subsequently, how lame and transparent their ad hominem, ad hominem tu guo que, false analogies, straw man, and non sequitur attacks have become. Since Bush was installed, any opponent has been vilified and discredited through these constant arguments. But now, through a combination of the subject (I can't see where most Americans are going to feel that verbally abusing a woman who lost a son in war is appropriate or, well, American) and the revealing nature of repetition, the Standard Operating Procedure is not taking hold.

Finally, an observation and a question. I saw a clip of Bush at a press conference talking about Ms. Sheehan. During the discussion, he kept reverting to a smirk momentarily, during pauses; I've noticed that he does this either as a verbal tic, or as a delaying tactic while trying to form whole word and sentences. It seems to appear more often when discussing serious subjects, especially the war (another tell, perhaps?). Now, I know that Preznit Blowhard is a pampered, privileged smug bastard and has no empathy or even fellow-feeling for other Americans, but for FUCK'S SAKE, YOU PREENING TWIT, CAN YOU AT LEAST TALK ABOUT A WOMAN WHOSE SON DIED FOR YOUR BLOODY LITTLE WAR WITHOUT LAUGHING?

same old same old

So as usual, all I managed this week is the usual FRT.

Home DSl is back active though, so maybe I'll get something up over the weekend. Don't hold your breath.


1. Talking Heads - Paper.

2. Genesis - The Musical Box

3. Genesis - Dance On A Volcano.

4. Steve Hackett - Twice Around the Sun. I see a theme here.


5. REM - Electron Blue

6. Black 47 - Brooklyn, Goodbye

7. Patti Smith - Because the Night

8. Tom Waits - Black Market Baby

9. Ruder than You - Swallow Blood

10. The Police - Bring On The Night.


So. umm..... well.

I think iTunes hates me today.


That was hard to take and made no sense. Like a rectal probe when you've got a sore throat. Like George Bush talking about the science behind evolution.

AWOL

No, not a snide remark about GWB. Back to those presently.

Busy week, and the home DSL is FUBAR. So ittle to no posting. Maybe a FRT.

Go ahead and dock my pay.



meanwhile, abuse the comments.

Friday Random Ten, Is this the only thing I post edition

Freaky busy, no time to post stuff.

I know this'll disappoint the legions of adoring readers. Refunds available at the side door. Meanwhile go read these:

Norbizness
Tbogg
Wha'd he say?
True Brilliance
Latigo Flint


better yet, go outside. It's nice. Get a beer, play some frisbee.


1. Pavement - Loretta's scars. Gotta be in the right mood for Pavement. Today's not bad. As Berke Breathed once said about America and Betty Crocker, "over-hyped but basically a good broad!"

2. Page/Plant - Heart in Your Hand. Ever hear of any Page's stuff after Zeppelin? seems like he can't do decent work with anybody except Plant.

3. Smashing Pumpkins - By Starlight. More overhyped music. But the Pumpkins were great on the first two albums, Gish and Siamese Dream. Haven't been able to tolerate this Melon Collie (ig) album in one sitting since it's release. In little bits it's OK tho.

4. Genesis - Me And Sarah Jane. One for Nick. Phil ascendant, but before he lost it entirely and turned into a MOR moppet.

5. Metallica - No Leaf Clover. If Metallica had been around when I was in high school, they would have been my favorite band. And I like the symphony backup on this - overdone and unneccesary yes, but it sounds like the hardest movie soundtrack ever. STFU.

6. Beck - Sea Change. Very different sound for our little geeky friend. sounds more like Moby, almost. But then, he's always done what he wanted, right? I even liked his blues album.

7. Marillion - The Uninvited Guest (demo). I'd always stayed away from Marillion because they were always described as sounding like 'early Genesis'. Sounded a little too close for my tastes, like Badfinger sounded like the Beatles. But a now defunct online music column that I learned to trust nearly 100% was always very positive about them, so I finally started to check them out. And they blew me away. Yes, the early stuff with Fish on vocals does sound very baroque and a little too close to Gabriel. But Steve Hogarth has helped them to develop a distinct sound, contemporary prog. I was able to see them in Chicago on the latest tour, and the live show was amazing. Oh, and this is a top shelf song too.

8. Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus. Talk about another guy who's followed his own muse. I love the new, percussion based stuff, like Bone Machine. It's all so dark. Very Dark.

9. Bill Cosby - Half Man. Bill's early comedy was soooo good.

10. Husker Du - Love is All Around. Finally,peg the NCSA meter. While Prince was filling the airwaves in Minneapolis, Husker Du, Soul Asylum, and the Replacements were filling the basements and warehouses, adding a bit of melody to punk thrash. And yes, that is the Mary Tyler Moore show theme song.

11. Rancid - Daly City Train. People have said that Rancid sounds like the Clash. That's a criticism? valid or no, this is a fine slab of ska-punk from "...and out come the wolves".

and that's it cuz I gotta eat my lunch.

We Saw The Future...

CIMG0782
Originally uploaded by temporary costello.

On Saturday, we went to Oshkosh to visit the EAA Fly-in . For those unfamiliar, it's the annual expo of the Experimental Aircraft Association, members worldwide drive, fly, hop, skip, and crawl in to particiapte in all things related to flight.

We hadn't been to it before, it falling under the local thing where you don't bother doing local things. There are always displays of many kinds of aircraft, commercial, military, and experimental. And there's the EAA museum.

This year, the Scaled Composites SpaceShip One was on display. As a bonus, Chuck Yeager, the first man to travel faster than the speed of sound, was giving a presentation. And finally, an air show.

The entire weekend was an inspirational reminder of the ability of man, and men, to go beyond. Not only to ask "why", but to ask "Why Not?" and then to make exceptional efforts to drive the boundaries of humankind farther. Nearly every display on the grounds documented a man or woman who transcended, who battled, who persevered.

Burt Rutan, the designer of Spaceship One and several other groundbreaking vehicles, has been a member of the EAA forever. As a gesture, he brought SpaceShip One to Oshkosh as its last public appearance; it is on its way to permanent display in the Smithsonian. Another of his aircraft, the GlobalFlyer (first aircraft to fly solo nonstop around the world) was there, and a full size mockup of the Voyager, the first nonstop, non-refueled global flight, was in the museum. All of these vehicles had one thing in common: the pilots quarters were remarkably cramped and difficult to work in for any length of thime, let alone the extended periods necessary for some of these flights. The people who piloted them made remarkable achievements.

The air show highlighted the day. the initial portion was a display of warplanes, roughly chronologically; starting with P-51s and working through up to modern planes; all of them made simulated bombing runs, with ground fired pyrotechnics illustrating the detonations. The final demo was a Harrier jet; when it slowed to a halt, then lowered to the ground and took off vertically again it was eerie; it seemed unreal to see a jet that hovered in mid air.

But the final display of technological prowess was not a demonstration of better fighting equipment, but individual achievement, the "Why Not?"; Spaceship One made a demo flight. In flight, the tandem plane was exquisitely graceful, and I quite literally watched in astonishment. It was an unrepeatable opportunity to see this history making aircraft fly.

Rutan was commenting over the loudspeakers while the craft was flying. He was talking about how as a child, his father and grandfather would go to watch aircraft take off at the local field, and now air flight has become passe. Even the Shuttle has become routine. His prediction is that within a very short span of years, space travelling aircraft will become common sights at regonal airports, and the descendents of SpaceShip One will be taking our children into space.

It was an inspirational thing to see. I wish I could express the optimism I felt while watching this. I felt like a child watching the lunar landings again. In lieu of pretty words or inspirational passages, here are some more photos: