Friday Random Ten, Tom Delay indictment edition

Next up: will it be cat-killin Dr. Bill? or Satan's Minion Karl Rove? Vote for your favorite in the comments. Place Bets.

As always, props to Lauren for starting this, and to Norbizness for running with it.

1. Madonna of The Wasps - Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians. Soft Boys, Egyptians, or by his lonesome, Robyn always does the same idiosyncratic alt-psychedelic stew of warped Beatlesque pop about death, fish, insects, and death. This form his brief late eighties dalliance with mainstream... well, not acceptance, so much; maybe presence. Highly recommended. 8/10

2. 6 Pack Heaven - Snopek. Milwaukee maestro's late seventies prog-pop band that wrote the massive hit Hamburger Holocaust. Website here. Shrine Here. Extra track from the reissue. Features the guitar virtuoso Byron Wiemann. Not nearly as good as San Francisco Radio . 7/10

3. Cathedral - Robyn Hitchcock. Gonna be one of those days, eh iTunes? ignore all that new music there, just keep repeating someone. 13,944 songs, 967 different artists, and you drop a repeat on the third try? You come up with the same song twice, and I'm switching to Windows. Good song tho. From Robyn's early solo work, I Often Dream Of Trains. Highly recommended. 8/10.

4. The New Routine - Bob Geldof. Always been a big fan of Loudmouths, especially The Boomtown Rats. This is from his most recent stuff, a bit of electronic fiddling about added. Not his best. 5/10.

5. Two Swords - English Beat. Overcaffeinated English Second Wave ska. Hey, it was my college music. still makes me pogo; albeit slower and not as long. 7/10.

6. Primate House (1731 11th Avenue) - J Neo Marvin and the Content Providers. Very obscure alt music from the west coast; features some Mekon Rico Bell on accordion. Excellent story song about a dive rooming house. Highly recommended. 9/10.

7. Stumble - REM. It's difficult to remember how out of time and unusual this was when it was released. I remember how revelatory Murmur was when it was released. One of the only bands that I celebrated when they went major-label. IRS Records was always supportive of developing artists, and REM is the result. Nice Work, Copeland. 8/10.

8. Perfect Sense, Pt. 2. - Roger Waters. More concept prog from Waters. This is from the actually pretty good album Amused To Death. Something about the format established by vinyl LPs is especially suited to concept albums. Check it Out. 6/10.

9. Write Your Own Song - Matthew Sweet. Exuberant rebuttal to critics who complain that he's never written the perfect song that Girlfriend implied; this is from the very good disc In Reverse, which is lush and stays just this side of being overproduced. Makes me think if he teamed up with Jeff Lynne, they could own the world. Check it out. 7/10.

10. Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie and the Banshees. Post Punk inspired by the Sex Pistols, the Suicide Girls owe nearly everything to Siouxsie Sioux. 7/10.

11. Flowers - Camper Van Beethoven. Old stuff. New stuff. Camper is always worthwhile. Check it out. 8/10.

12. Cygnus X-1 - Rush. Oh, like YOU don't have anything embarrassing on your playlists. I still like it, and we were all young once, right? 4/10 tho.

13. Such Little Nonbelievers - The Loud Family. Noisy little power pop gem. Check it out. 8/10.

Outtasite (outtamind)

The title for that previous post was much funnier when the person nominated to replace DeLay was a closet homosexual heterosexual


If the Republicans aren't going to make this any fun, I'm just not going to play. hmmph.

Bobby Brown Goes Down

First one in the long trail of indictments to be coming out of Our Man Bush's whitehouse:

Hammer This!!


I know, the fix is probably in, and given Bush's shameless cronyism there's no doubt that pardons are in the offing, if not a Medal of Freedom; but the cracks in the stonewall are coming faster now.

If only we had an opposition party to take advantage of it...

Oh well. Long as I'm wishing, I'd also like a pony. And a Playstation. And a Motorcycle.

I Thought I Drank The Drink But The Drink Drank Me

Last week, I posted a brief thought about GWB's reported lapse back into drinking; As I said at the time, maybe it was just the warm fuzzies, but I wanted to see him actually get help for the problem, rather than just join in the dogpile:

“Now here's some sad information coming out of Washington.  According to reports, President Bush may be drinking again.  And I thought, `Well, why not? He's got everybody else drinking.'”
--David Letterman

Well, amnesty is over.

Here is One of the things I read last week regarding Bush's drinking, is in regards to his alleged 'recovery' and the recurrence of drinking. The Editors speculate:

(go read; I'll wait)



The Editors' ruminations have a solid feel to me. Bush has always partied; no need not to. Hey not to claim any kind of sainthood here; when I had fewer responsibilities and the constitution of a twenty year old, I could hit it pretty good myself, and still can, upon necessity (Free Hot Lunch anyone?) But the point is, that as adulthood developed, and as responsibilities increased, the partying just kind of faded away.

But for GWB, where was the need? Sinecures and cronyism provided for any professional cover he needed; in addition, the businesses he was installed into (oil; sports) are pretty open to continuing with a college lifestyle.

Because, like the Editors say, drinking is fun. If you don't have to bear the consequences, why stop?

To me, it seems awful telling that Bush's speech after Katrina contained a fond recollection of his 'youthful' excesses. Almost like his greatest regret was that he could no longer party in public view like in New Orleans any more.


Basically, three things:

1. If a potential political career was looming, what choice is there? You need to at least project the image of cleaning up, if you were a hellraiser.
2. The story is a bit neat: aging hellraiser reaches forty, wife lays down ultimatum, he finds Jebus- instant Movie of The Week. Plays great among the Christopaths, right Karl?
3. As has been pointed out, an alcoholic doesn't just need to stop drinking, becoming a dry drunk, but he needs to address the underlying issues of addiction and need. Bush has never addressed anything like this, by any account, hence his inability to even think of errors in his life.

Also along those lines, for someone professing to be a strong Born Again Christian, you never see any evidence that GWB goes to church - ever. Reagan was often shown going to church, had a regular attendance schedule. Jeez, you couldn't keep Clinton OUT of churches, especially Baptist. But GWB? Not so much. As a matter of fact, for all his heralded conversion, have we ever heard that he HAS a regular church?
Hey, it's not that I care so much; but if you're a religious person, isn't actually, you know, participating in your church kind of a requirement? Except for the church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I mean?

The Reformed Drinker persona came just as he was entering political life.

The crankiness, the fidgeting, the recurrent injuries (Falling on a coffee table?) even the urgent pee break at the UN, all these are just circumstantial evidence of not just a recurrence of drinking, but that it has actually continued all along, in a more circumspect fashion.

He has claimed to be a reformed drinker. He may be an alcoholic, but as several reformed alcoholics have commented, he will always be one, and at this point has not addressed the disease, but the symptoms.

But really, at this point, what reason has George Walker Bush given us to believe him?

Songs of No Consequence

Song of the Day:

Tell Balgeary, Balgury is Dead
by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Equal parts of Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, and The Figgs, this propulsive slice of power-pop has ingrained itself into my subconscious like a virus. So much so that even though it's only been on the iPod for five days, it was playing in one of my dreams last night.

slashing, strumming garage guitar, a totally infectious chorus (including semi-falsetto) and a fake ending. What's not to love?

Here are the lyrics, just for my Teeming Minions:

it's been a hard road, and there's no turning back.
and there's no end in sight to this darkening night,
and that's a sad fact.
but i hear you come down to the graves at inchigeela,
for to walk through the stones of the names we have known,
and there i'll meet ye.
i'm laying out the table for to welcome you back home.
i'm calling on the angels for to lighten up your load.
i'm calling on the majors to end this general despair.
in the graveyard at inchigeela, in black clothing i'll be there.
my love wears black clothes and red flowers in her hair.
and we walk, we dont run,
toward the day when it's won, and ya mo' be there.
but we're patient for now, and we're patient for tomorrow.
when the past will redeem all the toil extreme and all the sorrow.
i'm laying out the table for to welcome you back home.
i'm calling on the angels for to lighten up your load.
i'm calling on the majors to end this general despair.
in the graveyard at inchigeela, in black clothing, i'll be there.
look up from the street, look - open your eyes.
wake up to your future under a bright night sky.
i'm laying out the table for to welcome you back home.
i'm calling on the angels for to lighten up your load.
i'm calling on the majors to end this general despair.
in the graveyard at inchigeela, in black clothing, i'll be there.
i'm calling on a stranger when i've got not back up plan.
i'm disregarding danger when i'm in your foreign land.
and if you want to meet me, wear a red flower in your hair.
in the graveyard at inchigeela, in black clothing, i'll be there.

Friday Random Ten, JD can bite my hairy ass edition.

Title reference that only I get. But it's my blog, so that's the way it is.

Yes it's late. Had a punchlist this morning and a Sprecher for lunch.



1. My Man Friday- Monkey Business. Instrumental ska from a Third Wave comp. Hey! Hey! Hey! 7.5.

2. The Mekons - Road to Florida. Yes! A mekes track second out of the gate. This is from 'So Good It Hurts', where they add alt-rock and reggae to the country stew they perfected on the previous albums. 8.

3. Nine Inch Nails - Eraser. Noisy. 6/10

4. Talking Heads - Love For Sale. Leaving the funk behind, going for a straighter guitar sound. They hadn't yet finished completely being transformed into David Byrne's backing band. 4.5/10

5. Colin Hay - Looking For Jack. solo outing from Men At Work frontman. Saw him at Summerfest last year, he was pretty good, and good-humored about a brief bit of fame. 6/10.

7. Eels - Selective Memory. Being depressed never sounded so good. 8/10.

8. Neil Young - Mr. Soul. One of my favorite neil young songs. And Neil is perennially cool. 7/10

9. Luna- Astronaut. Sadly defunct band, formed after Galaxie 500 broke up. 7/10.

10. REM - Sad Professor (live). One of the things I love about iTunes music store is that they can carry all the re-releases, compilations, EPs, and oddball tracks by an artist. REM has been putting a lot of live recordings of songs as alternate tracks on their single releases, and I've been able to put together thirty or so live tracks. Later work from a uniquely American original. 6/10.

And, here's the average, just for you, my loyal throngs and the teeming Millions: an even 6.0; good, but not as cool as Norbizness or even Frankie Yankovic.

Club Mekon

Blender magazine had an article listing the 500 best songs since the eighties; no Mekons, of course, so I had to correct the record. This is what I wrote them regarding the song 'Memphis, Egypt':

The Mekons. Lester Bangs favorite band. Originally DIY punks who then virtually created Alt-Country in the early Eighties with the albums Fear and Whiskey, Honky Tonkin, and Edge of The World.

In this song, the first cut off 'The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll' , the band takes a vicious stab at the soullessness and commercial excesses of the corporate music industry - ON THEIR FIRST ALBUM FOR A MAJOR LABEL! The guitars chime in with an energy and urgency that wouldn't be out of place on London Calling; the lyrics:

“destroy your safe and happy lives
before it is too late;
the battles we fought were long and hard
just not to be consumed by Rock n Roll”

The sound of the song predated alt-rock and showed an experienced band, eager to engage with the music industry and succeed on their own terms. Bangs may never have heard this song, but I like to think the Mekons wrote it for him.

The Mekons were never consumed by rock n roll, at least. Their next album was rejected by the label and they were dropped. They've been jumping from label to label since, finally landing on Quarterstick, releasing minor masterpieces that seem to get better with each release, even if they are only heard by several thousand people.

Success? depends on what you consider musical success. If you think it is selling millions of albums, no. But if it's about the music, and it's about investigating and melding different styles of music, being ever evolving, always experimenting, then definitely.

But for a few minutes in the mid eighties, The Mekons were ready to explode into the American rock world, and had the anthem to lead the way.

Heroes (not the Microsoft Kind)

Gotta go to bed... Long day, and tomorrow gets just as crazy, but the weekend is in sight...

But, before I put this thing to sleep, gotta give the stand up salute to the pilots and crew that landed the JetBlue plane without operational landing gear.

Everyday heroes, kids an guinea pigs. It doesn't take an act of Congress, it doesn't take divine inspiration, it's just people doing what they can, in the face of danger and imminent catastrophe.

So, job well done, folks, and sleep well tonight. Hope for the best tonight and tomorrow for the people in the path of H. Rita; if FEMA isn't ready this time, I know there are several thousand ordinary Americans ready to step in...

And, maybe it's a moment of weakness, maybe it's because I'm tired, maybe it's just cuz I'm a big flamin wussy LIBRUL; but above all it's because I've had a friend come WAY TOO CLOSE to that Edge: If what the Enquirer is saying about Bush is true: C'mon, drop the big tough guy act, admit that it's a bigger problem than you can handle, we'll all be better for it. Make denial just a river in egypt.

Popskull

Meme Via Profgrrrrl: via Pharyngula

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Here it is: Drumroll optional.

there's no way to get it all done.

True then, true now.

Packers suck.

Amelia Earhart vs The Dancing Bear

Hella busy.

little posting. someone else step up and get some arguing going, hey?

Even one o them trolls.

Come on, how about a little spambot action?

100% Song

Are You Drinkin With Me Jesus?

This is a simulation of a song
are you ashamed or what?
here is cruelty so strong
cruelty without beauty

in your country
a paradise of violence
a paradise of nuffink
how come you taste so good?

a writhin and a moanin
just like money coming back again
you can't have too much money
oh no you can't have too much money

people working all day long
now they're going out
to join us all in our song
or the industry of night
la la la
Jesus walking in the garden
we'd like to thank him for this song
we'd like to thank him for these beers
we'd like to thank him for our careers
(thank you Jesus)

Shanty

Ahoy!

Eh, ya scabby rats been gabbin' like the pirates ye be?

An canna tell me who among ye been a-listnenin to yon Pussy?

Ach! A plague on ye all!

Let a captain come lead us and chart us a course

Through the icebergs, the fog, and the hail

On the dogwatch a strange fear invaded my heart

And my blood froze like rain on the sail



With a Yo and a Ho and there's one thing I know

We're not in the same boat at all

With a Yo and a Ho and the wind starts to blow

As we float off the edge of the world



A long list of saints will watch over me

As I'm casting my nets in the sea

A long list of saints just as long as your arm

A candle is burning for me



Concrete and steel and a flame in the night

Cromarty dogger and bight

A diver gets bends when he's pulled up too light

And the fish can play tune on him bone

The Good Times Are Killing Me

Republicans are better for business, for the economy, right? That's the unassailable common wisdom, right?

Well, not so much.

It turns out the Common Wisdom is wrong as Rick Santorum's dog; turns out common wisdom is dumb as a bag of hammers.

Not only has BushCo not been able to run the country like a business, they've run it into a tree, where the tree fell over, hit the house, which started on fire, then exploded, then fell into the hole created by the tree falling over.

And then it was demolished by Vogons.

When the car and house were not being actively stripped by their best friends, to be sold to chop-shops for drug money.



No. really, look closely at that graph. Not only did Bush and cronies start with a booming economy, they had an unprecedentedly efficient government, racking up surpluses and managing the country's debt, the almost instantaneously turned it around by giving anything not nailed down away to their corporate buddies. After precipitously falling since the takeover, it is now the largest and most rapidly increasing deficit in our history, and there's nothing indicating it will be changing anytime soon.

Look, this refrain about the current booming economy is bullshit, smoke and mirrors. It's an artificial metric, buoyed by Wall Street's blind optimism based on the limited paper improvements being registered by cost cutting and profit taking by corporate cronies of the Administration, and the record profits being fueled by government giveaways in certain industries, like oil and pharmaceuticals. By any reasonable standards, things are not going well, and the illusion of prosperity coupled with a blind ideological refusal to acknowledge underlying structural deficiencies is only going to make the eventual fall that much more abrupt and harmful, especially to people in the middle class.

It's only a matter of time before foreign debtors start resisting financing this foolishness, and then the costs of racking up this kind of debt will be increasing even faster. At that point, the ability to turn it around becomes nearly impossible, and disaster looms. This isn't just a matter of spending that every administration is guilty of; this is heading into totally uncharted waters here.

Friday Random Ten, I need A Potty Break edition

Some people do eleven, some do twelve; I'm going to go for FIFTEEN because I love you all so much!

1. Nena- 99 Luftballoons. Great. New version of iTunes, and right off the frickin bat it makes me pull the STFU card. Not cool at all; guess where not doing the NCSA today. Sorry Norbizness. I like it anyway, step right the fuck off.

2. Mekons - Dan Dare. Ahh! Apology accepted, iTunes! A live version of a song dedicated to the obscure British comic that gave the Mekons their name, never recorded. “Outer! Space! Is a really nice place!” The epitome of DIY.

3. ZZTop - Don't Tease Me. White-boy blues, back from before the Republicans destroyed Texas. Friday music. Makes me want to go Drink beer and Raise Hell.

4. Mojo Nixon. Put a Sex Mo-Sheen in The White House. Really. I fully agree; someone who's getting laid on a regular basis won't be as repressed and more importantly, won't have so much free time to think up ways to screw us over. Nice segue from the ZZ, it's typically subtle song from the man who wrote Jesus at McDonald's and Stuffin Martha's Muffin. Mojo For President!

5. Utopia- Monument. prog from Todd Rundgren. Some people don't care for Todd; I admit I don't understand them.

6. Dropkick Murphys - Wheel of Misfortune.

7. Rush - Tom Sawyer. Don't Judge Me! Don't Judge me!

8. Mojo Nixon and the ToadLiquors - Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus. Mojo cover of a Peter Berryman song. More drinkin' music; if I don't show up for work on Monday, It'll be iTunes fault. 'I know you can walk on water, but can you walk on this much beer?'

9. Yo La Tengo - Damage. Quiet and noise. It's like if Thurston Moore joined Low. Radiohead should be this good.

10. The Kinks - Pressure. Gallon of Gas would have been so much more appropriate. Ray Davies recently said “New Orleans is the ideal place to get shot in”
11. ZZTop - Precious and Grace Alright, this is enough. I really don't have that much ZZ on my list.

12. The Futureheads- Danger of The Water. No fucken kidding.

13. The Waterboys - The Ways of Men. No shit. I've got Waterboys on my HD?

14. Blue Oyster Cult - The Old Gods Return.

15. Chiapet - Don't You Want Me. Droning, low-fi cover of the 80's tune.


Well, that's fifteen. It's time to get back to repairing the damage to our infrastructure done by the Republicans for the last five years.

Pussy, King Of The Pirates

Pussy, King Of The Pirates


Arrr, mate!

Monday is, of course, Talk Like A Pirate Day.

I second everything regarding this by PZ over at Pharyngula. And while you're there, read some of his stuff, especially about science and Creationism. You might learn something, and let's face it, couldn't we all stand to learn something new? Especially you, Mr. Nonnamuss?

Extra Credit for the Brave and Noble among ye scurvy bilge rats: Search out the hornpipe musical that be linked above, and give ear to th' complete caterwaulin' she bears. Beware, hearties, a bilge full o' grog may be necessary.

It be the best Britisher expatriate cross-dressin' punk rock lesbian pirate musical EVER, by me sainted Mum's gold tooth!

National Health

Remember when Health Care reform was an evil plot by the Clintons to make us all communist?

Remember how people like Limbaugh, Grover Norquist, and Jim Sensenbrenner frothed at the mouth to prevent anything meaningful being done about the problem?

Well done, gentlemen. Well done.

As we watch health insurance very quickly overtake your annual earnings, is anyone feeling pinched? Does anyone start to feel a sense of urgency?

Well, Not Sensenbrenner, certainly. We pay for HIS health care. And Not ol' Rush- he's got LOTS of doctors.



Oh and by the way, fuck you very much.

The Love Cats

A brief break from the sound and the fury:

For Something Furry.

It's been said before, and will be said again: What Did These People Do Before The Internet?

Link from August.

God, what fresh horror is this?

School Won’t Stop Playing 1996 Hanson Song “MMMBop” Until Students Give Enough To Katrina Relief…

Nightmares

May Darth Cheney see this in his fevered, paranoid dreams:

dependable renegade

Friday Random Ten, Black Sheets of Rain version

No Self coolness audit. As my favorite troll, Nonnamuss, would say, I'm a loser and I need to get used to it. No Toby Keith on here.

Oh, this is also the 20th anniversary soiree and annual SummerKill Careen version. See you all tomorrow, right?


1. Muse - Falling Away With You. All the things the Darkness never quite pulled off.

2. The Loud Family - Way Too Helpful. Something that can't be said about our response to the hurricanes destruction.

3. The Bottle Rockets - Baby's Not My Baby Tonight. Here's your Southern Rock. Throw out yer Lynyrd Skynyrd!

4. They Might Be Giants. - Renew My Subscription

5. Dollar Store - Working Line. Deano, ex-Milwaukeean, co-singer of the Waco Brothers. There's your Mekon connection!

6. Dropkick Murphys - Take It Or Leave It

7. Todd Rundgren - Hit Me Like A Train

8. Talking Heads - A Clean Break (Let's Work)

9. The Alarm - Legal Matter

10. XTC - Burning With Optimism's Flames.

11. Brother - Believe Again. The best Australian anthem- oriented rock band that wears kilts and plays bagpipes.

12. Camper Van Beethoven - That's All For Everyone



That's the FRT, bonus two. A nice optimistic, forward looking set, after another not so good week.

Burning Down The House

As I said before, it's kind of refreshing to see the masks drop:

House Republican campaign chief Reynolds touts chance to market conservative social-policy solutions; Rep. Baker of Baton Rouge is overheard telling lobbyists: “We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did.”
Baker explains later he didn't intend flippancy but has long wanted to improve low-income housing.

I guess the conservative social-policy solution toward low income and public housing is that eradication = improvement. And get a mention of God in there for good measure.

I thought by now my outrage would be all burned out. But ya gotta love the Republicans; they are digging deep and finding new reserves of reprehensible sludge to ooze out of their orifices.

Us and Them

I'll never listen to this song the same way again.

link to video

I wonder if I'll ever be able to hear it again without crying?

The Violence Of Truth

One year ago today. Darth Cheney:

“...if [voters] make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again, and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating.”

The. Wrong Choice.

Pegged the irony meter.

There's a statement he wishes he could flush down a Memory Hole, ain't it?

Fight the Cuts

Proving yet again that they are no more concerned about the human cost of the Katrina Disaster than about the density of a gas on Mars, the Republicans, using procedural conniving and legislative arm-twisting, refused to allow a relief bill to modified by the Democrats to allow for bankruptcy relief or real governmental change in the face of immense and abject failure.

Using something called the Suspension rule, they denied debate. I believe the Suspension Rule must be something like filibustering; which, of course, is a Bad Thing when used by Democrats or in the interest of the general populace; But, naturally is the bees knees when wielded by Republicans to quash dissent and debate or to ram through imperial legislation. They even managed to prevent Democrats from even reading the bill.

And do you have any questions at all about the final destination of the bulk of the 52 million in aid? It's not going to be the people who lost everything.

Since the bill is guaranteed passage, My only surprise is that they didn't attach more Patridiot Act provisions to it.

In a party line vote, So-called moderate republicans caved, once again, to fear of that pasty Machiavelli, Rove. Look, guys, if you can't stand up to a tin pot power broker like Rove, it's no wonder that real politicians on the world stage have contempt for you.

I'd ask where their loyalties really lie, but their actions make it all too, too, clear. I'd call them bastards, but that assumes they were born of mothers, and not secreted from some pustulent lump found under rotten logs.

I admit that the Republicans are right about one thing: at this point, the Government is broke. The only question is, can we ever expect a fair election again, to allow Americans to elect representatives that may be able to fix it, or are we doomed to a life of servitude to Our Republican Corporate Masters?

Flight of The Fire Weasel

Will Durst narrowly got out of New Orleans.

IN his final paragraph:

May God watch over you New Orleans. And please survive, so we can come back and help drink your economy back to health.

Seconded. And I'll buy the first round.

No One Knows I'm Gone

Oh, sorry.

Apparently that last post is all out of line.

We won't be seeing any dead bodies, if the Feds have their way (Americans are way too sensitive, you know. Lessons from Vietnam and Iraq)

And, as any child who hides from the boogeyman beneath his covers knows, and as Creationist Theory proves, if we can't see it it doesn't exist.

so just ignore all you hear about the dead. As far as FEMA is concerned, they don't exist.

Is it possible that the soul of America is already gone?

[edit] Looks like that last rhetorical question has already been answered.

I hope you all enjoy living in Gilead. The military has assumed control. Now we're all safe!

The Black Rider

Incidentally, John Stewart hit a high point last night. And actually complimented the media on the job they've been doing on the gulf Coast.

When I was in high school, I remember when my hometown, a suburb of Madison, became large enough to qualify for a yellow blob on the State map , rather than a little black dot. It was a source of bleak pride at the time, but I remember that the threshold is ten thousand residents. I presume, of course, that it is somewhat larger now, but we'll use that number for reference.

What we haven't really heard in the Gulf is any estimate of the dead. I realize it's a difficult thing at this point, but that didn't stop anybody from making estimates and predictions in the Iraq War, did it? It didn't stop Colin Powell from analyzing satellite photos and seeing magical trucks and evil pixies. As far out of whack as those predictions were, they were still flying thick on the ground.

Unless, of course, the numbers are so ghastly that no one wants to be the bearer of THIS bad news, since the first one who admits it is certain to be shot, given Karl Rove's current nuclear CYA mode.

Of course, the mayor of New Orleans has blurted out that it may be up to 10,000 people. Based on little else than his knowledge of the situation in NO and how it's evolved, which is probably better than anybody else at this point.

But who may be better poised to estimate this horror than mortuary professionals?

A division of Homeland Security has mobilized mortuary professionals around the Gulf states to help with the dead, telling them to expect up to 40,000 corpses.

40,000


That is four times the amount of people in my hometown.


Words fail me. Profanity doesn't serve.

Barbarism Begins At Home

KE wanted me to say something about Bob Denver's death.

OK. Bob Denver's dead.

Sorry man, but I couldn't. I started to write a great little bit about Bush appointing someone to replace Gilligan, because of how important it was to Ammurrika, and how we needed to replace him as soon as possible and how this pointed out Bush's ability to act expeditiously when he fuckin gives a shit.

It even included a nasty and hilarious comment about his mother, the callous old hag.

Trust me. It would have been fuckin hilarious.


But every time I tried to get it out of the gate, I would run across something ghastly about the disaster in America.

Like the widespread meme that the victims deserved it because they're black.

Like the disastrous management abilities of George Bush's FEMA. And the republican complicity in gutting a Federal organization that was the model of effectiveness and efficiency under Clinton.

Like how federal aid seems to be right around the corner to repair poor deprived Trent fuckin Lott's front porch.

Like Gay Rick Santorum, a Compassionate Conservative, not only blaming people who lost everything in the disaster, but wants to fine them also.

Like Halliburton being tapped to start reconstruction. But, of course, they'll be starting with the fuckin refineries and oil shipping capabilities.

Like FEMA stranding a hospital ship offshore (which also had the capabilities to produce drinking water) off shore and keeping it idle. STILL IS.

Like GWB petulantly insisting upon his precious vacation while the emergency loomed and struck; literally playing guitar while New Orleans drowned; as well as partying down with his buddy John "Rove's Bitch" McCain and enjoying a bit of cake.

Like our Real President acting more presidential than our Dear Leader.

Like some greedy corporate shill telling us why destruction of all that terrible poor property is a good thing, and rebuilding should just avoid allowing any of those bad people in at all.

Like one of our elected officials telling us we probably shouldn't rebuild at all.

Like religious fascists claiming that the storm was God's retribution for gays, or abortion, or uppity wimmin and blacks, or farting in church, or whatever other favorite moral failing; conveniently omitting such things as greed, war, racism, bigotry, or other traits of God's Own Party.


I don't even feel like linking to most of this stuff; you've either been paying attention or you've been watching Fox and listening to Limbaugh.

In a way, it's refreshing to see the real face of the modern Republican party and what it stands for: It stands for negligence toward all unprivileged Americans; it stands for massive benefits and giveaways to bloated corporations and their favored donors, while the rest of the country suffers stagnating wages and increasing unemployment; it stands for the destruction of America's resources if there's a half buck to be made; it stands for playing on people's fears and biases to remain in power; it stands for power by any means and if you're powerless, than fuck right the fuck off.


I really am not in the mood to hear about moderate conservatives and how reasonable they are; these are the ones that enabled the Republicans twice; all of the tewwible, tewwible things that would have happened had Democrats been in power would cost less than one half the monetary cost, and one tenth the human cost, of this single massive debacle that is wholly attributable to the administration's ineptitude, shortsightedness, and greed.


So. Sorry, Bob, others have been more eloquent in their memories, but I can't do it right now; between a vicious, frothing rage at the delirious imbeciles who had it in their power to prevent much of the tragedy, and total, helpless sorrow over what's been lost so far, and what we'll find has been lost, I can't find a way to put something down about Maynard G. Krebs.

Bob Denver rests peacefully, I'm sure, surrounded by his family and their love. It would be a beginning to be able to confidently say the same about the uncounted thousands in the South.

Every Sperm Is Sacred

All kinds of grumpiness about the hurricane and FEMA and Bush to come. But first, something completely different.

A creature named Morse penned this spew over at Townhall (aside to Nick: Yes, this kind of crap DOES make my head explode. As should yours) regarding, of all things, the right to privacy and the idea of contraception. Don't really bother reading the whole thing, unless you need a good chuckle after reading about the failures of BushCo in the Gulf region. Better off reading the takedowns at Sadly No or World O Crap.

But here's a money shot:

All Americans are entitled to have the cause, namely, unlimited sexual activity, without ever experiencing the effect, namely, a live baby. To see the absurdity of this claim, try out a couple of analogies.

Wait just a minute there lady. “Unlimited Sexual Activity?” First of all, we have to eat. And go poo-poos (Don't want to lose the author in terminology). it's not unlimited if you stop.

Secondly, where was my “Unlimited Sexual activity” when I was eighteen, when I could have actually used it (and, not incidentally, also stood a chance of physically accomplishing it)? How do I go about getting my retroactive unlimited sexual activity? Am I just SOL, while today's youth are making with the un-limitations?

And besides, what are the procedures? Do we just go rub up against anyone we want, or do we make an appointment? Could I have made an eminent domain claim against any girl I fancied? And vice versa?

And I don't know about Ms. Morse, but every sexual experience I've had has been limited. By the law of gravity, if nothing else. But maybe she has a big stack of really good batteries.

Now, on to the second part of that quote up there, the part about “without experiencing the effect, a live baby.” Now, one way of reading this would be that after experiencing the effect, a baby, you would no longer experience sexual activity, unlimited or not.

In which case I've been REALLY doing it wrong.

Or else you could read that as saying that the result of every act of sex (obviously, oral and anal, as well as solitary, do not count and you should stop that immediately, sickos) should be a live baby.

In which case my wife and I have a whole butt-load of backordered babies due to be delivered (ha) by Fed Ex or UPS any day now.

Actually, when you get right down to it, contraception and abortions have been around since recorded history. As with so much else, though, modern advances have discarded the inefficient and made the alternatives healthy and safe. For example, the so-called Rhythm Method has been pretty much discredited and abandoned.

But this all reminds me of nothing so much as the Miracle of Birth section of Monty Python's Meaning of Life:

Of course, this comes right after the epochal song “Every Sperm is Sacred, which is also perfectly applicable.

Mr Blackitt: Look at them, bloody Catholics. Filling the bloody
world up with bloody people they can't afford to bloody feed.

Mrs Blackitt: What are we dear?

Mr Blackitt: Protestant, and fiercely proud of it...

Mrs Blackitt: Why do they have so many children...?

Mr Blackitt: Because every time they have sexual intercourse they
have to have a baby.

Mrs Blackitt: But it's the same with us, Harry.

Mr Blackitt: What d'you mean...?

Mrs Blackitt: Well I mean we've got two children and we've had
sexual intercourse twice.

Mr Blackitt: That's not the point... We *could* have it any time we
wanted.

Mrs Blackitt: Really?

Mr Blackitt: Oh yes. And, what's more, because we don't believe in
all that Papist claptrap we can take precautions.

Mrs Blackitt: What, you mean lock the door...?

Mr Blackitt: No no, I mean, because we are members of the
Protestant Reformed Church which successfully challenged the
autocratic power of the Papacy in the mid-sixteenth century,
we can wear little rubber devices to prevent issue.

Mrs Blackitt: What do you mean?

Mr Blackitt: I could, if I wanted, have sexual intercourse with
you...

Mrs Blackitt: Oh, yes... Harry...

Mr Blackitt: And by wearing a rubber sheath over my old feller I
could ensure that when I came off... you would not be
impregnated.

Mrs Blackitt: Ooh!

Mr Blackitt: That's what being a Protestant's all about. That's
why it's the church for me. That's why it's the church for
anyone who respects the individual and the individual's right
to decide for him or herself. When Martin Luther nailed his
protest up to the church door in 1517, he may not have
realised the full significance of what he was doing. But four
hundred years later, thanks to him, my dear, I can wear
whatever I want on my John Thomas. And Protestantism doesn't
stop at the simple condom. Oh no! I can wear French Ticklers
if I want.

Mrs Blackitt: You what?

Mr Blackitt: French Ticklers... Black Mambos... Crocodile Ribs...
Sheaths that are designed not only to protect but also to
enhance the stimulation of sexual congress...

Mrs Blackitt: Have you got one?

Mr Blackitt: Have I got one? Well no... But I can go down the road
any time I want and walk into Harry's and hold my head up
high, and say in a loud steady voice: 'Harry I want you to
sell me a *condom*. In fact today I think I'll have a French
Tickler, for I am a Protestant...'

Mrs Blackitt: Well why don't you?

Mr Blackitt: But they... [He points at the stream of children still
pouring past the house.]... they cannot. Because their church
never made the great leap out of the Middle Ages, and the
domination of alien episcopal supremacy!

A superhero named Clark

Wes Clark, that is.


Is there any doubt that a President Clark would not have tolerated this level of performance from FEMA and other governmental agencies?


Leadership isn't photo ops. Leadership isn't being able to read stirring words, written by someone else, off a teleprompter or from a script. It's not hiding at a vacation home. It's not indiscriminate violence.

It's action, and knowing when and where to direct that action; and it's sacrifice.

And at this time, it would be nice to have a leader. Not a Dear Leader.

Dancing With Tears In My Eyes

Friday Random Ten

Yesterday, TBogg posted a picture of his daughter in honor of her birthday. It showed her at a younger age, fallen asleep with a book in her arms, that child's exhaustion after a busy day, where they very nearly drop in their tracks. Utterly charming picture.

But nearly instantly, I found myself thinking of all the children in the South who are really falling down from true exhaustion, or hunger, or despair. And today, at Feministe, she linked to several photos of children finding a way to live through the disaster....

Dammit go help somebody.

1. Matthew Sweet - Push The Feelings
2. Violent Femmes - Add it Up
3. Mekons- Noisy Gertie
4. Madness - Michael Caine
5. Aimee Mann - That's How I Knew This Story Would Break My Heart
6. Dropkick Murphys - Walk Away
7. Matthew Sweet - Sunlight
8. Loud Family - Baby Hard-To-Be-Around
9. XTC - I Bought Myself a Liarbird
10. Soul Asylum - Lies of Hate.


No snark, no ranting, no rating. Not a bad set all around.


See that Big Red Link Up There? Go.

Trouble Down South...

I just received this email from MoveOn.org:

Dear MoveOn member,
Hurricane Katrina's toll on communities, homes and lives has devastated the nation. Now victims must face the daunting question of where to go next—and we can help.
Tens of thousands of newly homeless families are being bused to a stadium in Houston, where they may wait for weeks or months. At least 80,000 are competing for area shelters, and countless more are in motels, cars, or wherever they can stay out of the elements. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross are scrambling to find shelter for the displaced.
This morning, we've launched an emergency national housing drive to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm. You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) and search for available housing online at:
http://www.hurricanehousing.org
Housing is most urgently needed within reasonable driving distance (about 300 miles) of the affected areas in the Southeast, especially New Orleans.
Please forward this message to anyone you know in the region who might be able to help.
But no matter where you live, your housing could still make a world of difference to a person or family in need, so please offer what you can.
The process is simple:

You can sign up to become a host by posting a description of whatever housing you have available, along with contact information. You can change or remove your offer at any time.


Hurricane victims, local and national relief organizations, friends and relatives can search the site for housing. We'll do everything we can to get your offers where they are needed most. Many shelters actually already have Internet access, but folks without 'net access can still make use of the site through case workers and family members.


Hurricane victims or relief agencies will contact hosts and together decide if it's a good match and make the necessary travel arrangements. The host's address is not released until a particular match is agreed on.

If hosting doesn't work for you, please consider donating to the Red Cross to help with the enormous tasks of rescue and recovery. You can give online at:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=859
As progressives, we share a core belief that we are all in this together, and today is an important chance to put that idea to work. There are thousands of families who have just lost everything and need a place to stay dry. Let's do what we can to help.
http://www.hurricanehousing.org
Thanks for being there when it matters most.
—Noah Winer and the whole MoveOn.org Civic Action Team
  Thursday, September 1st, 2005


Meanwhile, Ken Mehlman and the RNC have been sending this out.


Tell me, who is living up to American Ideals? And who is exposing themselves as the money grubbing, self involved, greedy bastards that we've always said they are?

Yeah, yeah, this is no time to 'play politics'. Bite me. Political games have made the situation in the Gulf much more disastrous than it needed to be. Thousands are dead, millions without homes or any possessions at all, and the area is devolving into starvation and anarchy.

And the Republicans are worried about their fucking inheritances. Don't even come near me with bleating about political opportunism.

Oh, and go visit the Big Red Link up there on the right. do it because your Mother says its the right thing to do.