The posts of pictures and names is all very supportive but what victims need is help. There are tons of websites springing up with information on how to help disaster victims. Please donate money, beds, time - anything that you can do. Every tiny little bit helps.
http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.hurricanehousing.org/
http://katrinadisasteraid.com
http://www.feedthechildren.org/
http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/donations/index.asp
http://www.ob.org/
This is a partial list. More can be found here [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050829/ap_on_re_us/katrina_on_the_web] and here [http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm]
Please help the victims of this disaster by passing this along and by giving aid to any of these charities. Even a little goes a long way.
Thank you and please repost this. You can just copy and paste the code in the text box to ensure the HTML will work so others can pass it on!
- E
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Medics may start picking who will live and die
A nurse told him that medical teams may, at some point, have to "black tag" patients -- decide which ones have a better chance of survival so the medical team's limited resources aren't consumed on lost causes.
- From CNN
That is disgusting. It has been FIVE DAYS. Where is our government? Medics should not be forced to black tag anyone!
- From CNN
That is disgusting. It has been FIVE DAYS. Where is our government? Medics should not be forced to black tag anyone!
The generosity of Average Americans - you should be ashamed, politicans!
Football-crazy towns embrace evacuees
From CNN
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (AP) -- In football-crazy towns like this one, the confrontation has loomed all week: Would Katrina evacuees be sent packing again, this time by college football fans in town for opening weekend?
The answer has been a resounding no.
Football fans around the Southeast are giving up their prepaid rooms and even tickets to storm victims -- opting to stay home and watch the game on TV.
"We were very concerned," said Jerry Hymel, who took refuge with his wife in Tuscaloosa after leaving New Orleans a week ago. His hotel warned evacuees that they might have to make way for football fans who had made reservations months ago.
"Now, we can't say enough about the hospitality here."
In Mississippi the Attorney General's office told hotel managers that under emergency conditions, they could not force out hurricane evacuees.
In Tallahassee, Florida, where the biggest game of the weekend -- Miami-Florida State -- is scheduled for Monday, rooms opened up as fans canceled plans to attend the game, primarily because of the gas shortage.
In Tuscaloosa, where "Roll Tide" signs dot area businesses, the conflict surfaced early in the week. The Tuscaloosa News reported that New Orleans resident Camp Morrison was steaming, as he moved out of a hotel Wednesday.
"I think it's abysmal that evacuees are flushed out because of a football game," he said.
At both Alabama and Mississippi State, the schools urged fans to give up their hotel rooms, and local leaders worked with hotels to make sure there would be enough space.
Many fans not only gave up rooms but offered to pay for the evacuees to use them, said Robert Ratliff, executive director of the local convention and visitors bureau.
"This is far more important than football. I think everybody here knows that," said Ratliff, adding that he donated his four tickets to Saturday's game to evacuees.
Florence resident Billy Ray Moore, an Alabama booster, has been coming here on football weekends for decades. But he didn't hesitate to give up his room and stay home for the game.
"We had people who lost everything they had," he said. "What I did was minor."
Some 1,100 evacuees are in Tuscaloosa hotels, Ratliff said, and another 500 are being housed on campus, with others in shelters or taken in by local churches. More are expected as the evacuation continues.
"We're going to do this every football weekend all season if we have to," said Brian Hass, general manager of the Jameson Inn, where local officials and radio station representatives dropped off donated food, water, clothes and other items to evacuees Friday.
Mississippi State offered free tickets to evacuees for Saturday's home opener with Murray State.
"Everyone understands that these people have nothing and that they have nowhere else to go," said Arma delaCruz Salazar, vice president of tourism for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership. "So we want to help them and let this be their home for as long as it takes."
From CNN
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (AP) -- In football-crazy towns like this one, the confrontation has loomed all week: Would Katrina evacuees be sent packing again, this time by college football fans in town for opening weekend?
The answer has been a resounding no.
Football fans around the Southeast are giving up their prepaid rooms and even tickets to storm victims -- opting to stay home and watch the game on TV.
"We were very concerned," said Jerry Hymel, who took refuge with his wife in Tuscaloosa after leaving New Orleans a week ago. His hotel warned evacuees that they might have to make way for football fans who had made reservations months ago.
"Now, we can't say enough about the hospitality here."
In Mississippi the Attorney General's office told hotel managers that under emergency conditions, they could not force out hurricane evacuees.
In Tallahassee, Florida, where the biggest game of the weekend -- Miami-Florida State -- is scheduled for Monday, rooms opened up as fans canceled plans to attend the game, primarily because of the gas shortage.
In Tuscaloosa, where "Roll Tide" signs dot area businesses, the conflict surfaced early in the week. The Tuscaloosa News reported that New Orleans resident Camp Morrison was steaming, as he moved out of a hotel Wednesday.
"I think it's abysmal that evacuees are flushed out because of a football game," he said.
At both Alabama and Mississippi State, the schools urged fans to give up their hotel rooms, and local leaders worked with hotels to make sure there would be enough space.
Many fans not only gave up rooms but offered to pay for the evacuees to use them, said Robert Ratliff, executive director of the local convention and visitors bureau.
"This is far more important than football. I think everybody here knows that," said Ratliff, adding that he donated his four tickets to Saturday's game to evacuees.
Florence resident Billy Ray Moore, an Alabama booster, has been coming here on football weekends for decades. But he didn't hesitate to give up his room and stay home for the game.
"We had people who lost everything they had," he said. "What I did was minor."
Some 1,100 evacuees are in Tuscaloosa hotels, Ratliff said, and another 500 are being housed on campus, with others in shelters or taken in by local churches. More are expected as the evacuation continues.
"We're going to do this every football weekend all season if we have to," said Brian Hass, general manager of the Jameson Inn, where local officials and radio station representatives dropped off donated food, water, clothes and other items to evacuees Friday.
Mississippi State offered free tickets to evacuees for Saturday's home opener with Murray State.
"Everyone understands that these people have nothing and that they have nowhere else to go," said Arma delaCruz Salazar, vice president of tourism for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership. "So we want to help them and let this be their home for as long as it takes."
Kayne's Controversial Comments
I'm not going to give an opinion - just pass on the link: http://www.pixelmd.com/kanye.html
Halliburton gets contract to repair damage from Hurricane
02 Sep 2005
Halliburton gets contract to repair damage from Hurricane Katrina (HalliburtonWatch.org)
The US Navy asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million CONCAP contract awarded to KBR in 2001 and renewed in 2004. The repairs will take place in Louisiana and Mississippi. In March, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is tasked with responding to hurricane disasters, became a lobbyist for KBR.
Halliburton gets contract to repair damage from Hurricane Katrina (HalliburtonWatch.org)
The US Navy asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million CONCAP contract awarded to KBR in 2001 and renewed in 2004. The repairs will take place in Louisiana and Mississippi. In March, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is tasked with responding to hurricane disasters, became a lobbyist for KBR.
The big disconnect about New Orleans
from CNN.com
The big disconnect on New Orleans
The official version; then there's the in-the-trenches version
Friday, September 2, 2005; Posted: 5:17 p.m. EDT (21:17 GMT)
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday, with statements by some federal officials in contradiction with grittier, more desperate views from the streets. By late Friday response to those stranded in the city was more visible.
But the conflicting views on Thursday came within hours, sometimes minutes of each of each other, as reflected in CNN's transcripts. The speakers include Michael Brown, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, evacuee Raymond Cooper, CNN correspondents and others. Here's what they had to say:
Conditions in the Convention Center
Uncollected corpses
Hospital evacuations
Violence and civil unrest
The federal response:
Security
The big disconnect on New Orleans
The official version; then there's the in-the-trenches version
Friday, September 2, 2005; Posted: 5:17 p.m. EDT (21:17 GMT)
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday, with statements by some federal officials in contradiction with grittier, more desperate views from the streets. By late Friday response to those stranded in the city was more visible.
But the conflicting views on Thursday came within hours, sometimes minutes of each of each other, as reflected in CNN's transcripts. The speakers include Michael Brown, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, evacuee Raymond Cooper, CNN correspondents and others. Here's what they had to say:
Conditions in the Convention Center
- FEMA chief Brown: We learned about that (Thursday), so I have directed that we have all available resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water and medical care that they need.
- Mayor Nagin: The convention center is unsanitary and unsafe, and we are running out of supplies for the 15,000 to 20,000 people.
- CNN Producer Kim Segal: It was chaos. There was nobody there, nobody in charge. And there was nobody giving even water. The children, you should see them, they're all just in tears. There are sick people. We saw... people who are dying in front of you.
- Evacuee Raymond Cooper: Sir, you've got about 3,000 people here in this -- in the Convention Center right now. They're hungry. Don't have any food. We were told two-and-a-half days ago to make our way to the Superdome or the Convention Center by our mayor. And which when we got here, was no one to tell us what to do, no one to direct us, no authority figure.
Uncollected corpses
- Brown: That's not been reported to me, so I'm not going to comment. Until I actually get a report from my teams that say, "We have bodies located here or there," I'm just not going to speculate.
- Segal: We saw one body. A person is in a wheelchair and someone had pushed (her) off to the side and draped just like a blanket over this person in the wheelchair. And then there is another body next to that. There were others they were willing to show us.
- Evacuee Cooper: They had a couple of policemen out here, sir, about six or seven policemen told me directly, when I went to tell them, hey, man, you got bodies in there. You got two old ladies that just passed, just had died, people dragging the bodies into little corners. One guy -- that's how I found out. The guy had actually, hey, man, anybody sleeping over here? I'm like, no. He dragged two bodies in there. Now you just -- I just found out there was a lady and an old man, the lady went to nudge him. He's dead.
Hospital evacuations
- Brown: I've just learned today that we ... are in the process of completing the evacuations of the hospitals, that those are going very well.
- CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta: It's gruesome. I guess that is the best word for it. If you think about a hospital, for example, the morgue is in the basement, and the basement is completely flooded. So you can just imagine the scene down there. But when patients die in the hospital, there is no place to put them, so they're in the stairwells. It is one of the most unbelievable situations I've seen as a doctor, certainly as a journalist as well. There is no electricity. There is no water. There's over 200 patients still here remaining. ...We found our way in through a chopper and had to land at a landing strip and then take a boat. And it is exactly ... where the boat was traveling where the snipers opened fire yesterday, halting all the evacuations.
- Dr. Matthew Bellew, Charity Hospital: We still have 200 patients in this hospital, many of them needing care that they just can't get. The conditions are such that it's very dangerous for the patients. Just about all the patients in our services had fevers. Our toilets are overflowing. They are filled with stool and urine. And the smell, if you can imagine, is so bad, you know, many of us had gagging and some people even threw up. It's pretty rough.
Violence and civil unrest
- Brown: I've had no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that people are beginning to riot, or you know, they're banging on walls and screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I've had no reports of that.
- CNN's Chris Lawrence: From here and from talking to the police officers, they're losing control of the city. We're now standing on the roof of one of the police stations. The police officers came by and told us in very, very strong terms it wasn't safe to be out on the street.
The federal response:
- Brown: Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well.
- Homeland Security Director Chertoff: Now, of course, a critical element of what we're doing is the process of evacuation and securing New Orleans and other areas that are afflicted. And here the Department of Defense has performed magnificently, as has the National Guard, in bringing enormous resources and capabilities to bear in the areas that are suffering.
- Crowd chanting outside the Convention Center: We want help.
- Nagin: They don't have a clue what's going on down there.
- Phyllis Petrich, a tourist stranded at the Ritz-Carlton: They are invisible. We have no idea where they are. We hear bits and pieces that the National Guard is around, but where? We have not seen them. We have not seen FEMA officials. We have seen no one.
Security
- Brown: I actually think the security is pretty darn good. There's some really bad people out there that are causing some problems, and it seems to me that every time a bad person wants to scream of cause a problem, there's somebody there with a camera to stick it in their face.
- Chertoff: In addition to local law enforcement, we have 2,800 National Guard in New Orleans as we speak today. One thousand four hundred additional National Guard military police trained soldiers will be arriving every day: 1,400 today, 1,400 tomorrow and 1,400 the next day.
- Nagin: I continue to hear that troops are on the way, but we are still protecting the city with only 1,500 New Orleans police officers, an additional 300 law enforcement personnel, 250 National Guard troops, and other military personnel who are primarily focused on evacuation.
- Lawrence: The police are very, very tense right now. They're literally riding around, full assault weapons, full tactical gear, in pickup trucks. Five, six, seven, eight officers. It is a very tense situation here.
Their own damn fault
Their Own Damn Fault
by Bradford Plumer
Jim Henley discovers that FEMA "wargamed" a hurricane strike in southern Louisiana this past July. Among the findings was that a hurricane would "leave 300,000 people trapped in New Orleans, many of whom would not have private transportation for evacuation." By now it's been discussed ad nauseum why many people couldn't just up and leave the city when the evacuation order came round: not everyone has private transportation, it was the end of the month and many poor people were out of savings, where would they go in any case, what if the hurricane changed course and they were docked for missing work, etc., etc. Nevertheless, Michael Brown, the head of FEMA, still insists on blaming those who "chose not to evacuate" New Orleans. Despite the fact that his own agency knew full well this would happen. Unbelievable. Meanwhile, former Sen. John Edwards looks at the possible bright side and thinks that, at the very least, the New Orleans disaster may actually get people to realize that the poor aren't just like everyone else, only lazy and irresponsible.
*****************************
And since I know quite a few of you might misunderstand that... Sen. Edwards is saying the people think the poor are just lazy and irresponsible and should have the means to alter their situation. Maybe this disaster will cause Americans to realize the poverty crisis in this nation and that the poor, in fact, have little way of changing their station in life and need asistance and education to do so.
So where has our president been?
"Hurricane party" takes on new meaning
Let's not forget that Bush was whooping it up at a San Diego resort while Katrina turned the Gulf States into a living hell.
By Diane E. Dees
Though we are experiencing one of the worst hurricanes in the nation's history, this waterfront scene looks peaceful, elegant, and intact. That is because the Hotel del Coronado is in San Diego, far away from Katrina's devastating winds. It is also where George W. Bush spent last night, while thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama fled in snail-like traffic, searched for loved ones, swam through the streets, or hung out of attic windows, yelling for help.
While levees burst, a major New Orleans bridge came apart, buildings were swallowed by floodwaters, and looters took over the city, the National Guard was nowhere to be seen. To patch one of the levees, 3,000 sandbags were to have been dropped by Blackhawk helicopters, but they never arrived.
Though reading The Pet Goat while the country was under attack may have made Bush look inept, partying at an oceanside resort while Americans are losing their homes, their sources of income, and their lives is, at the very least, an example of shockingly poor taste, not to mention an abandonment of leadership. New Orleans is in a state of absolute chaos, despite the presence of a competent mayor and a competent governor. Hurricane Katrina has created a national disaster. Bush has done everything in his power to prevent the restoration of Louisiana's coast, and he has severely cut funding for hurricane protection. It is no surprise that he doesn't want to look Governor Blanco in the eye. But whooping it up at a resort while Gulf Coast states endure a living hell is a new low.
Our President's totally assholish reponse to the disaster
"The good news is—and it's hard for some to see it now—that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house—he's lost his entire house—there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." (Laughter.)
—President George W. Bush, September 2, 2005
Read the full transcript here
Once again - there are people DYING OF DEHYDRATION all over the Gulf Coast! Yes, it's a little hard to see right now because we're still FOCUSED ON THE CRISIS. Maybe, just maybe, you could climb your ass on some rubble outside the Astrodome and tell the people that we'll rebuild their housing projects in oh... five years or so but not to worry because they'll be just as nice as before... see what sort of response you get to that, Georgie Porgie.
—President George W. Bush, September 2, 2005
Read the full transcript here
Once again - there are people DYING OF DEHYDRATION all over the Gulf Coast! Yes, it's a little hard to see right now because we're still FOCUSED ON THE CRISIS. Maybe, just maybe, you could climb your ass on some rubble outside the Astrodome and tell the people that we'll rebuild their housing projects in oh... five years or so but not to worry because they'll be just as nice as before... see what sort of response you get to that, Georgie Porgie.
House Speaker Hastert said we shouldn't rebuild New Orleans
It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said of federal assistance for hurricane-devastated New Orleans. "It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," the Illinois Republican said in an interview Wednesday with the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Illinois. - from here.
Once again, fuck you, dude. Now is NOT the time to say such things. Its insensitive and inflammitory. The focus should be on saving the people who are there. Charlotte and Chicago burned, San Fran and LA shook to dust and we rebuilt. New York had fcking planes smashed into it. Yes, the devastation in New Orleans is worse but now is NOT the time to make any sort of remarks or even be assessing it as an option. Figure out ho to get the living out of there! Then count the dead, the figure out how or if to rebuild!
Can you imagine someone saying we shouldn't rebuild the Twin Towers after 9/11? New Orleans is the same sort of figurehead for this disaster. You don't take potshots at it in the midst of it. Get your lazy ass back to congress and help these people.
I really, really hope people remember what our government is doing in response to this distaster. (An overwhelming nothing.) On all sides of the political spectrum, there is no support of these people, only reproach and condemnation. I think the lot of them - repulican and democrat, liberal and conservative, should be put in jail. Where is FEMA? Where is the National Guard? Police officers have stopped showing up to work, losing over 20% of the force in some parishes! What is the 10.5 billion dollar aid pakage going to do? Nothing until we help get people out of the city! It's going into Friday, for fuck's sake! Where is our government?
I cannot believe this.
Once again, fuck you, dude. Now is NOT the time to say such things. Its insensitive and inflammitory. The focus should be on saving the people who are there. Charlotte and Chicago burned, San Fran and LA shook to dust and we rebuilt. New York had fcking planes smashed into it. Yes, the devastation in New Orleans is worse but now is NOT the time to make any sort of remarks or even be assessing it as an option. Figure out ho to get the living out of there! Then count the dead, the figure out how or if to rebuild!
Can you imagine someone saying we shouldn't rebuild the Twin Towers after 9/11? New Orleans is the same sort of figurehead for this disaster. You don't take potshots at it in the midst of it. Get your lazy ass back to congress and help these people.
I really, really hope people remember what our government is doing in response to this distaster. (An overwhelming nothing.) On all sides of the political spectrum, there is no support of these people, only reproach and condemnation. I think the lot of them - repulican and democrat, liberal and conservative, should be put in jail. Where is FEMA? Where is the National Guard? Police officers have stopped showing up to work, losing over 20% of the force in some parishes! What is the 10.5 billion dollar aid pakage going to do? Nothing until we help get people out of the city! It's going into Friday, for fuck's sake! Where is our government?
I cannot believe this.
Fuck you, Michael Brown
The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina bear some responsibility for their fates. "I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans," he said.
From CNN.
Fuck you, dude. You want to know why they didn't leave? Because they were too poor to get out. Most of these people didn't have cars, didn't have money to put themselves up in a hotel. They didn't leave because you promised them shelter in the Dome. They didn't leave because your goddamn agency issues critical warnings every other week. Cry wolf isn't just a shitty movie coming out.
So fuck you, dude. Maybe people should have dealt with the poverty issues in New Orleans and America's other cities so people had a means to get out. Maybe instead of condemning the people who are there in press conferences, you should be directing your UTTERLY INEFFECTUAL group to hep the people who are trapped there, for whatever reason. Don't get on TV and tell them it is their fault. It is YOUR fault that they situation has detoriated to this extent. So go do your goddamn job and leave the comdemnations to the pundits.
Fascist.
From CNN.
Fuck you, dude. You want to know why they didn't leave? Because they were too poor to get out. Most of these people didn't have cars, didn't have money to put themselves up in a hotel. They didn't leave because you promised them shelter in the Dome. They didn't leave because your goddamn agency issues critical warnings every other week. Cry wolf isn't just a shitty movie coming out.
So fuck you, dude. Maybe people should have dealt with the poverty issues in New Orleans and America's other cities so people had a means to get out. Maybe instead of condemning the people who are there in press conferences, you should be directing your UTTERLY INEFFECTUAL group to hep the people who are trapped there, for whatever reason. Don't get on TV and tell them it is their fault. It is YOUR fault that they situation has detoriated to this extent. So go do your goddamn job and leave the comdemnations to the pundits.
Fascist.
Fuck you, capitalist pig dogs!
In this article about Katrina's effect on our nation, I was shocked to read this senance: "Yet, the most affected states -- Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama -- account for less that 3 percent of overall U.S. gross domestic product."
Yeah, they don't contribute. Fuck 'em!
Hurry up and launch that rocket at Mars, NASA, I'm ready to leave.
Yeah, they don't contribute. Fuck 'em!
Hurry up and launch that rocket at Mars, NASA, I'm ready to leave.
I am sick to death of useless knowledge.
“I’d be more apathetic if I wasn’t so lethargic.”
I’ve felt so… lost today. Powerless. Hopeless. My New Orleans is drowning along with all my idealism… which sounds so tritely poetic that it says nothing at all.
I’ve decided that being intelligent and informed blows. The more I read, the more I watch the news, the more hopeless I feel. I am in the middle of a book called What’s the Matter with Kansas? [How the Conversatives won the Heart of America]. And it’s a great book, it really is, but it makes me feel more utterly at a loss to deal with the problems of the world than ever.
How do I combat the “backlash myth”? This very myth takes people under incredible economic strain and deceives them into voting for the very people and policies that create such circumstances. These demagogues peddle their “culture war” bullshit to Middle America and sell them this sense of self-righteous victimization. “You too can have all the outspoken indignation of racial minorities [i.e. Black People or The-Word-You-Can’t-Say]! Just tune into FOX News and we’ll tell you how!” This lie of oppression and coercion and liberal media is all-consuming. And for me to even fight against it just feeds in to exactly what they already believe. So I sit here vituperating against it and the “great beating heart of America” gets infuriated because I just used a word they don’t know, thus solidifying their opinions that I am just trying to look down my nose at them. Reading books is no a crime – something you do at those “fancy east coast liberal homosexual training camps” that were formerly known as colleges.
Yes, I am a blue-blood, blue-stater, born and fucking raised. But I don’t take my Volvo-driving, latte-drinking hippie commie bullshit and try to legislate it. (And for your fucking information, David Brooks and all you anti-American bastards at the Atlantic, I drive a fucking Toyota and I hate coffee.) I don’t remember when this was a free country, G.Gordon Liddy [you murderous felon], and neither do you. Being able to chop down trees and cart about a gun isn’t freedom. Freedom is not having a government that ignores the interests of its own people and sells them down the river to corporations. Freedom is being able to not say “under god” in school. And let me make it fucking clear, Rush Limbaugh, that so long as there are pop quizzes there will always be prayer in schools. But it should not be legislated. Pray all you want – just don’t force me to.
But every word I am saying is just making this backlash bullshit worse. This myth that “liberals lie because they are liberals”, that “liberals are out to destroy the country… because they are liberals”… this faceless, pointless, directionless double-think ideology that just pollutes our society never mind the facts. The Republicans control EVERY FACET of our government yet things are getting worse every day on all sides. They don’t WANT gay rights to be abolished; they don’t WANT abortion to become illegal. The money is not in the cure, it’s in the prevention – so to speak. These fascist bastards pick issues of great sociological import that they and their followers admit are issues that will never be changed…
But the Neo-cons weren’t even prepared for their own success, oh no. Now we’re installing an anti-abortion con man onto the Supreme Court. What will you do when your millstone of cultural dissent and electoral passion becomes… oh fuck it, we all know that they will still keep voting for you bastards. And there is nothing any of our intellectual class can do. We’re not the ruling class – if that particular backlash myth were true all you useless pundit bastards would be fanning me on a beach somewhere and feeding me grapes. Technically, I am in the same class as most of the people who are voting right-right-righteous-right. Class is an ECONOMIC DISTINCTION! George W is not in your ‘class’ because Karl Rove advised him to wear flannel and drink beers. He is from one of America’s wealthiest, most-landed, most-politically and financially well-to-do families.
But I’ve strayed from what I was getting at – I can’t just march on down to Kansas or wherever and strike up a conversation in a bar about how laissez-faire economic policies and a ridiculous and unfounded faith in the inherent goodness and godliness of the Free Market have devastated the “Red” states. I can’t discuss the rise of the Neo-cons as a faction disillusioned Ex-Stalinist Commies who became Capitalist cheerleaders and pig-dogs, running rampant through the Republican party. I can’t explain how the Right has systematically campaigned on a platform of “for the little guy” while they systematically fucked them over and sold them out to the corporate machine over and over and over and over and…
It’s not that I can’t. I can. I can expound on this subject ad naseum.
But you won’t let me because I use sentences like “I can expound on this subject ad naseum.”
So back to my original bitch, which was my feeling of utter despair and powerlessness. How do I (and we) bring our nation back together? Despite rumors to the contrary, I am not un-American or anti-Red State. I love this nation with all my heart (part of which is bleeding for the Gulf Coast right now and the rest is bleeding for us all). I love every bit of it, down to the trailer parks and ghettos. My love of my country has caused me to study the words of our forefathers, to volunteer at charitable events… ah, fuck it, I could self-aggrandize here, but I won’t. I’m not better than anyone and that is not at all what I am trying to say.
What I am trying to say is the rampant xenophobia and hatred that we show not only the world but our fellow countrymen outright scares me. Yes, people have a right to protect their children from ‘subversive’ influences – be it music, television, or what-have-you. But that is your role as a parent. I have a right to demand my MTV and watch my movies about boys kissing just as you have your right to prevent your kids from seeing it. No one is holding a gun to their head, please don’t hold one to mine.
I look around and I see a war we can’t win, gas prices soaring ever higher, a housing bubble that is going to burst, a national disaster, an ideological civil-war, growing intolerance and ignorance… and I don’t know what to do to help my country anymore. I just don’t know what to do.
This is what keeps me up at night – not fears about terrorism or my job or monsters in my closet. What keeps me up at night is this desperate, heart-wrenching pain… this focusless longing for peace and unity within my country. I never wanted to live through a war. I never wanted people I didn’t know to die for me. I never wanted people to feel like I was trying to force any way of life on them. I just want my freedom to live my life my way and you to live yours. The only time the government should interfere is when those ideas are harmful to one-another. (Hear the anarchist in me coming out, yes? I should join the neo-cons… they are trying to abolish government altogether. You think I’m kidding. Check out the Project for the New American Centuries website sometime.)
All this knowledge hurts because it is impotent. I can know every single detail about the culture wars and the history of the Middle Eastern Crisis and the 9/11 commission reports and it doesn’t change a goddamn thing about the misery that is palpable in my country to this very day. It just make me feel like it is getting worse, that this worsening is inevitable. And I know that is the seeping, creeping whoredom of the backlash culture but I CAN’T HELP IT!
I don’t know what to do anymore, I just don’t and I can’t take it. I can’t watch CNN, I can’t read books, I can’t rant out my thoughts and get anything coherent anymore. It just all hurts.
Every second of every day. And it is every one of us.
What the fuck can we do?
This was not the rant I intended but it is the rant that I got.
I’ve felt so… lost today. Powerless. Hopeless. My New Orleans is drowning along with all my idealism… which sounds so tritely poetic that it says nothing at all.
I’ve decided that being intelligent and informed blows. The more I read, the more I watch the news, the more hopeless I feel. I am in the middle of a book called What’s the Matter with Kansas? [How the Conversatives won the Heart of America]. And it’s a great book, it really is, but it makes me feel more utterly at a loss to deal with the problems of the world than ever.
How do I combat the “backlash myth”? This very myth takes people under incredible economic strain and deceives them into voting for the very people and policies that create such circumstances. These demagogues peddle their “culture war” bullshit to Middle America and sell them this sense of self-righteous victimization. “You too can have all the outspoken indignation of racial minorities [i.e. Black People or The-Word-You-Can’t-Say]! Just tune into FOX News and we’ll tell you how!” This lie of oppression and coercion and liberal media is all-consuming. And for me to even fight against it just feeds in to exactly what they already believe. So I sit here vituperating against it and the “great beating heart of America” gets infuriated because I just used a word they don’t know, thus solidifying their opinions that I am just trying to look down my nose at them. Reading books is no a crime – something you do at those “fancy east coast liberal homosexual training camps” that were formerly known as colleges.
Yes, I am a blue-blood, blue-stater, born and fucking raised. But I don’t take my Volvo-driving, latte-drinking hippie commie bullshit and try to legislate it. (And for your fucking information, David Brooks and all you anti-American bastards at the Atlantic, I drive a fucking Toyota and I hate coffee.) I don’t remember when this was a free country, G.Gordon Liddy [you murderous felon], and neither do you. Being able to chop down trees and cart about a gun isn’t freedom. Freedom is not having a government that ignores the interests of its own people and sells them down the river to corporations. Freedom is being able to not say “under god” in school. And let me make it fucking clear, Rush Limbaugh, that so long as there are pop quizzes there will always be prayer in schools. But it should not be legislated. Pray all you want – just don’t force me to.
But every word I am saying is just making this backlash bullshit worse. This myth that “liberals lie because they are liberals”, that “liberals are out to destroy the country… because they are liberals”… this faceless, pointless, directionless double-think ideology that just pollutes our society never mind the facts. The Republicans control EVERY FACET of our government yet things are getting worse every day on all sides. They don’t WANT gay rights to be abolished; they don’t WANT abortion to become illegal. The money is not in the cure, it’s in the prevention – so to speak. These fascist bastards pick issues of great sociological import that they and their followers admit are issues that will never be changed…
But the Neo-cons weren’t even prepared for their own success, oh no. Now we’re installing an anti-abortion con man onto the Supreme Court. What will you do when your millstone of cultural dissent and electoral passion becomes… oh fuck it, we all know that they will still keep voting for you bastards. And there is nothing any of our intellectual class can do. We’re not the ruling class – if that particular backlash myth were true all you useless pundit bastards would be fanning me on a beach somewhere and feeding me grapes. Technically, I am in the same class as most of the people who are voting right-right-righteous-right. Class is an ECONOMIC DISTINCTION! George W is not in your ‘class’ because Karl Rove advised him to wear flannel and drink beers. He is from one of America’s wealthiest, most-landed, most-politically and financially well-to-do families.
But I’ve strayed from what I was getting at – I can’t just march on down to Kansas or wherever and strike up a conversation in a bar about how laissez-faire economic policies and a ridiculous and unfounded faith in the inherent goodness and godliness of the Free Market have devastated the “Red” states. I can’t discuss the rise of the Neo-cons as a faction disillusioned Ex-Stalinist Commies who became Capitalist cheerleaders and pig-dogs, running rampant through the Republican party. I can’t explain how the Right has systematically campaigned on a platform of “for the little guy” while they systematically fucked them over and sold them out to the corporate machine over and over and over and over and…
It’s not that I can’t. I can. I can expound on this subject ad naseum.
But you won’t let me because I use sentences like “I can expound on this subject ad naseum.”
So back to my original bitch, which was my feeling of utter despair and powerlessness. How do I (and we) bring our nation back together? Despite rumors to the contrary, I am not un-American or anti-Red State. I love this nation with all my heart (part of which is bleeding for the Gulf Coast right now and the rest is bleeding for us all). I love every bit of it, down to the trailer parks and ghettos. My love of my country has caused me to study the words of our forefathers, to volunteer at charitable events… ah, fuck it, I could self-aggrandize here, but I won’t. I’m not better than anyone and that is not at all what I am trying to say.
What I am trying to say is the rampant xenophobia and hatred that we show not only the world but our fellow countrymen outright scares me. Yes, people have a right to protect their children from ‘subversive’ influences – be it music, television, or what-have-you. But that is your role as a parent. I have a right to demand my MTV and watch my movies about boys kissing just as you have your right to prevent your kids from seeing it. No one is holding a gun to their head, please don’t hold one to mine.
I look around and I see a war we can’t win, gas prices soaring ever higher, a housing bubble that is going to burst, a national disaster, an ideological civil-war, growing intolerance and ignorance… and I don’t know what to do to help my country anymore. I just don’t know what to do.
This is what keeps me up at night – not fears about terrorism or my job or monsters in my closet. What keeps me up at night is this desperate, heart-wrenching pain… this focusless longing for peace and unity within my country. I never wanted to live through a war. I never wanted people I didn’t know to die for me. I never wanted people to feel like I was trying to force any way of life on them. I just want my freedom to live my life my way and you to live yours. The only time the government should interfere is when those ideas are harmful to one-another. (Hear the anarchist in me coming out, yes? I should join the neo-cons… they are trying to abolish government altogether. You think I’m kidding. Check out the Project for the New American Centuries website sometime.)
All this knowledge hurts because it is impotent. I can know every single detail about the culture wars and the history of the Middle Eastern Crisis and the 9/11 commission reports and it doesn’t change a goddamn thing about the misery that is palpable in my country to this very day. It just make me feel like it is getting worse, that this worsening is inevitable. And I know that is the seeping, creeping whoredom of the backlash culture but I CAN’T HELP IT!
I don’t know what to do anymore, I just don’t and I can’t take it. I can’t watch CNN, I can’t read books, I can’t rant out my thoughts and get anything coherent anymore. It just all hurts.
Every second of every day. And it is every one of us.
What the fuck can we do?
This was not the rant I intended but it is the rant that I got.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Evil Schmeevil
I have decided that being a Super Villain is acceptable. Evil Overlord is, of course, the over-arching goal. But I'll be pleased with just Super Villain status for at least a decade or so.
And just so I don't get any of the stupid "do that mean ur a terr-rist?" comments, let me clarify - a Super Villain has elaborate and implausible plans to take over the world (like my plan to put prozac in the nation’s milk supply and make everyone docile and also possibly lactose intolerant) that get close to succeeding then fail spectacularly without any damage aside from some dead minions and some minor explosions. These elaborate plan-to-failure sequences must be carried out on at least a bi-monthly if not weekly basis. That is a Super Villain. (A regular villain gets a less demanding schedule but fewer minions and a smaller budget for important things like fortresses inside hollowed out volcanoes and such. They usually have to become a subsidiary of said Super Villain just to make ends meet. Can you imagine the A/C bill for a hollowed out volcano?)
An Evil Overlord is a Super Villain whose plot for world domination was actually possible. An Evil Overlord is concerned with keeping their iron rule over humanity comfortably crushing while occasionally taking time out to entertain one's self with amusing displays such as making the Hero and his Best Friend fight to the death or having elaborate Olympic-like games in which a lot of people fight to the death or playing a chess match to the death but making sure you cheat so you always win or having a large feast in the middle of a famine and maybe making some serf’s fight to the death while you eat your meringue. Additionally, an Evil Overlord must always obey the rules of the Evil Overlord List, whereas a Super Villain must always break the rules and monolog, monolog, monolog.
And while I am on the subject, when I create my slow-moving and easily-escapable death machine for any wayward heroes, I will work on a new design. Instead of one of the slowly shrinking rooms with the big metal spikes, I'll create a slowly shrinking room with big clear plexi-glass spikes (on one side, at least) so I can sit and watch. Because there is nothing more aggravating to heroes when you watch their impending doom from a lay-z-boy whilst stuffing your face with popcorn.
I wonder if I took out an ad in the classifieds for minions, would I get a response? I need to work on that nefarious lair bit so I have a place to put all my minions... that would be neat
And just so I don't get any of the stupid "do that mean ur a terr-rist?" comments, let me clarify - a Super Villain has elaborate and implausible plans to take over the world (like my plan to put prozac in the nation’s milk supply and make everyone docile and also possibly lactose intolerant) that get close to succeeding then fail spectacularly without any damage aside from some dead minions and some minor explosions. These elaborate plan-to-failure sequences must be carried out on at least a bi-monthly if not weekly basis. That is a Super Villain. (A regular villain gets a less demanding schedule but fewer minions and a smaller budget for important things like fortresses inside hollowed out volcanoes and such. They usually have to become a subsidiary of said Super Villain just to make ends meet. Can you imagine the A/C bill for a hollowed out volcano?)
An Evil Overlord is a Super Villain whose plot for world domination was actually possible. An Evil Overlord is concerned with keeping their iron rule over humanity comfortably crushing while occasionally taking time out to entertain one's self with amusing displays such as making the Hero and his Best Friend fight to the death or having elaborate Olympic-like games in which a lot of people fight to the death or playing a chess match to the death but making sure you cheat so you always win or having a large feast in the middle of a famine and maybe making some serf’s fight to the death while you eat your meringue. Additionally, an Evil Overlord must always obey the rules of the Evil Overlord List, whereas a Super Villain must always break the rules and monolog, monolog, monolog.
And while I am on the subject, when I create my slow-moving and easily-escapable death machine for any wayward heroes, I will work on a new design. Instead of one of the slowly shrinking rooms with the big metal spikes, I'll create a slowly shrinking room with big clear plexi-glass spikes (on one side, at least) so I can sit and watch. Because there is nothing more aggravating to heroes when you watch their impending doom from a lay-z-boy whilst stuffing your face with popcorn.
I wonder if I took out an ad in the classifieds for minions, would I get a response? I need to work on that nefarious lair bit so I have a place to put all my minions... that would be neat
Friday, June 03, 2005
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Friday, May 13, 2005
Friday, May 06, 2005
Believe it or not...
... I remembered my book and movies of the month post... although I can't remember what I all I read again. C'est la vie...
Yay, I sort of remembered... but I don't really remember what all I read though...
Books
- Sandman: A Game of You by Neil 'God Among Men' Gaiman: Once again, just get them all. Do it. Now.
- Watchmen by Alan Moore: Darth Ninja gave this to me and I was astounded. It's amazingly written and very clever... very human. I was really impressed, almost to the level of Neil himself. Another solid "just buy it."
I swear I read more, but as half of everything I own is out on loan, I can't check my shelves for reference.
Movies:
I did go on a movie and tv show kick this month. Gotta take advantage of Netflix...
Equillibrium: Just finished it. Someone has obviously read up on their dystopian fiction... decent plot, great action sequences... not as profound as I had hoped it to be but still a really good flick.
Kung Fu Hustle: If you're one of those American's who doesn't get Kung Fu movies, don't bother. It has a lot of elements that some people would think were cheesy (like the blind musicians who create weapons with music) but if you're into the Kung Fu genre and one of those people who can accept some of the absurdities that come with it, it's fucking brilliant. The imagry, the mixing of classic Eastern and Western film imagry... I loved it. It's not funny, per say, just really good.
America's Next Top Model (Cycle One): Eat me, the girls are super hot and don't wear a lot of clothing. Fuck off.
How to get ahead in Advertising: One of the best movies ever made. Buy it. It's hillarious.
The Incredibles: Pixar does it again!!!!
Shrek 2): AS we know, I hated Shrek 1... but 2 was hillarious. I want da kitty... rent it, it's worth it. YOu don't really need to see 1 to get it.
The People vs. Larry Flynt: If you haven't seen this already, you must leave the house now and get it. Even Courtney Love is good in it and that is saying something.
sex, lies, and videotape: Fucking totally overrated. It was good and everything... decent, really, but not "one of the greatest indie films of all time!" If it's on cable and you have nothing better to do, it's worth the watch, but don't bother renting it... there are other, way more interesting movies out there.
Comic book villians: Horrible, just horrible. Don't watch it. You'll get your hopes up because it has a good cast and it's about comic books but it's just inspid and contrived.
Da Ali G Show (Season One): I think the show is hillarious, just by virtue of who he gets on. It's not for everyone but I think everyone should try at least one episode.
Chicago: I finally sat down and watched it.... yup, its great.
Yay, I sort of remembered... but I don't really remember what all I read though...
Books
- Sandman: A Game of You by Neil 'God Among Men' Gaiman: Once again, just get them all. Do it. Now.
- Watchmen by Alan Moore: Darth Ninja gave this to me and I was astounded. It's amazingly written and very clever... very human. I was really impressed, almost to the level of Neil himself. Another solid "just buy it."
I swear I read more, but as half of everything I own is out on loan, I can't check my shelves for reference.
Movies:
I did go on a movie and tv show kick this month. Gotta take advantage of Netflix...
Equillibrium: Just finished it. Someone has obviously read up on their dystopian fiction... decent plot, great action sequences... not as profound as I had hoped it to be but still a really good flick.
Kung Fu Hustle: If you're one of those American's who doesn't get Kung Fu movies, don't bother. It has a lot of elements that some people would think were cheesy (like the blind musicians who create weapons with music) but if you're into the Kung Fu genre and one of those people who can accept some of the absurdities that come with it, it's fucking brilliant. The imagry, the mixing of classic Eastern and Western film imagry... I loved it. It's not funny, per say, just really good.
America's Next Top Model (Cycle One): Eat me, the girls are super hot and don't wear a lot of clothing. Fuck off.
How to get ahead in Advertising: One of the best movies ever made. Buy it. It's hillarious.
The Incredibles: Pixar does it again!!!!
Shrek 2): AS we know, I hated Shrek 1... but 2 was hillarious. I want da kitty... rent it, it's worth it. YOu don't really need to see 1 to get it.
The People vs. Larry Flynt: If you haven't seen this already, you must leave the house now and get it. Even Courtney Love is good in it and that is saying something.
sex, lies, and videotape: Fucking totally overrated. It was good and everything... decent, really, but not "one of the greatest indie films of all time!" If it's on cable and you have nothing better to do, it's worth the watch, but don't bother renting it... there are other, way more interesting movies out there.
Comic book villians: Horrible, just horrible. Don't watch it. You'll get your hopes up because it has a good cast and it's about comic books but it's just inspid and contrived.
Da Ali G Show (Season One): I think the show is hillarious, just by virtue of who he gets on. It's not for everyone but I think everyone should try at least one episode.
Chicago: I finally sat down and watched it.... yup, its great.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Drunk People and Nut Gobblers
You know what pisses me off? You know, when you're having a conversation with someone, and for some reason, you get on a particular topic. In this case, let's say... the topic is... nuts. Don't you hate how the other person usually has to make some dumbass sexual comment creating some kind of lame-ass pun based on your legitimate topic of conversation? Let's say you say something like "I'm not sure I like those nuts, they leave a weird taste in my mouth." Then the other person, in usual dumb ass fashion, just has to say something like "Uhh, you don't like the nuts in your mouth? Hehehe." And then he or she giggles like an idiot for a half hour because they think they made a clever joke out of your topic of conversation. These people need to be killed! I'm sick and tired of people warping simple topics into something perverted. And God forbid if you're a woman who gets caught up in some kind of twisted wordplay like this. Before you know it, everyone at school or work is getting on your back because you made a comment about a large ball. It's unnecessary, it's stupid, and it just shows that you're thinking with your sexual organs rather than your brain. This being the case, someone should glue your mouth to your butt, so they may illustrate the fact that you truly, indeed, suck ass.
Next topic; drunk people! You know, the type of asshole who always has to get shitfaced on the weekend and go staggering around, patting you on the back like you're his best friend, when all you really want him to do is get in his car and drive home recklessly. I'm sick and tired of some incoherent asshole who smells like a case of malt liquor all of a sudden talking about the philosophy of life while trying to pick up some woman at a bar. Nice. And what's worse, those fucking dolts who go around and actually tell you how fucked up they got the night before; like they deserve some type of award for falling face first into a patch of tomatoes in your backyard at four AM in the morning. And don't forget, (in mocking voice) "friends don't let friends drive drunk." Screw that! As far as I'm concerned, give 'em the keys rev up the engine, and let 'em go sailing home with a bottle of taquila in their lap. One of three things will happen. 1: The cops will pull them over and end up having to beat the shit out of them, just because this fucker is in a drunken rage and refuses to turn off Neil Diamond's "They're Coming to America". Number 2: They'll wrap themselves around a telephone pole and either be killed or paralyzed. Cruel, you say? Well, so is inflicting your drunken stupidity on the rest of the world, so be ready to pay the consequences. Asshole. Scenario number 3, my least favorite: They make it home okay and pass out on the lawn with their motor running, while the radio is blasting some dumbass metal song from the mid-80's that no one wants to hear anymore. But at least it gives 'em a chance to try again next week.
So if you're a drunken moron or an idiot who has to manipulate legitimate conversations to get a cheap thrill for your libido, please feel free to get together with one another on the weekends, drive around drunk, make all the twisted sexual comments you like. And I'll just watch from the local diner window as they scrape your body off the pavement with a fucking spatula. Get out of our fucking lives, your moronic assholes. Your existence is useless, and you're dragging down the collective intelligence of humanity. (mocking voice) Don't like what I have to say? (/mocking voice) Here's the keys and a bottle of Jack Daniels. I'll see you tomorrow. But hopefully not.
Next topic; drunk people! You know, the type of asshole who always has to get shitfaced on the weekend and go staggering around, patting you on the back like you're his best friend, when all you really want him to do is get in his car and drive home recklessly. I'm sick and tired of some incoherent asshole who smells like a case of malt liquor all of a sudden talking about the philosophy of life while trying to pick up some woman at a bar. Nice. And what's worse, those fucking dolts who go around and actually tell you how fucked up they got the night before; like they deserve some type of award for falling face first into a patch of tomatoes in your backyard at four AM in the morning. And don't forget, (in mocking voice) "friends don't let friends drive drunk." Screw that! As far as I'm concerned, give 'em the keys rev up the engine, and let 'em go sailing home with a bottle of taquila in their lap. One of three things will happen. 1: The cops will pull them over and end up having to beat the shit out of them, just because this fucker is in a drunken rage and refuses to turn off Neil Diamond's "They're Coming to America". Number 2: They'll wrap themselves around a telephone pole and either be killed or paralyzed. Cruel, you say? Well, so is inflicting your drunken stupidity on the rest of the world, so be ready to pay the consequences. Asshole. Scenario number 3, my least favorite: They make it home okay and pass out on the lawn with their motor running, while the radio is blasting some dumbass metal song from the mid-80's that no one wants to hear anymore. But at least it gives 'em a chance to try again next week.
So if you're a drunken moron or an idiot who has to manipulate legitimate conversations to get a cheap thrill for your libido, please feel free to get together with one another on the weekends, drive around drunk, make all the twisted sexual comments you like. And I'll just watch from the local diner window as they scrape your body off the pavement with a fucking spatula. Get out of our fucking lives, your moronic assholes. Your existence is useless, and you're dragging down the collective intelligence of humanity. (mocking voice) Don't like what I have to say? (/mocking voice) Here's the keys and a bottle of Jack Daniels. I'll see you tomorrow. But hopefully not.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Vaccine that will prevent cancer? Fuck that, we don't want it!
DEATHS from cervical cancer could jump fourfold to a million a year by 2050, mainly in developing countries. This could be prevented by soon-to-be-approved vaccines against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer - but there are signs that opposition to the vaccines might lead to many preventable deaths.
The trouble is that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is sexually transmitted. So to prevent infection, girls will have to be vaccinated before they become sexually active, which could be a problem in many countries.
In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.
"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex," Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.
Meanwhile in developing countries, where 80 per cent of deaths from cervical cancer occur, social taboos may be even more powerful. The head of the Indian Council of Medical Research, N. K. Ganguly, says it will take a big educational effort to convince parents. Vaccinating men could be the best way to prevent the spread of HPV among women.
HPV is extremely common. Half of all sexually active women between 18 and 22 in the US are infected. Most cases clear up, but sometimes infection persists and can cause cancer decades later.
Deaths in the west have plummeted thanks to widespread screening to detect cancers early. But such screening is not widely available in developing countries. In many, populations are ageing: in India the number of women over 60 is projected to rise from 40 million now to 168 million in 2050. The International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, calculates that by then deaths from cervical cancer will reach a million a year in poor countries if rates of infection, and of cancer detection and treatment, do not improve.
While vaccination could slash infection rates, its cancer-preventing benefits will not be evident for decades, as it will take that long for vaccinated girls to reach an age when they might otherwise have developed cancer. Meanwhile, millions of women who are already infected must be screened and treated. If there is widespread resistance to vaccination, it will take even longer for its benefits to become clear.
Vaccines are producing good results in clinical trials, and the first could be licensed as early as next year. GlaxoSmithKline announced in November 2004 that its vaccine, which contains two strains of HPV thought to cause 70 per cent of cervical cancers, had prevented 90 per cent of new infections and all persistent infections. The US-based firm Merck announced similar results last week with its vaccine, which contains the same two cancer-causing HPV strains plus two strains that cause genital warts.
Merck's official reason for including the warts strains is that they can confuse screening tests, leading to unnecessary scares. But another reason, says Anne Szarewski of the charity Cancer Research UK, who is helping to organise one of the vaccine trials, is that men who get vaccinated to prevent disfiguring warts will no longer transmit the cancer-causing strains to women. That might be the key to getting vaccines accepted in cultures where trying to prevent sexually transmitted infections is equated with promiscuity.
"We found that some Asian women in Britain are afraid even to get tested for HPV infection, because they say if it is positive they will be killed, never mind that their husbands probably gave it to them," says Szarewski. She feels that such attitudes may mean that HPV vaccination may be a non-starter in such communities.
Greg Zimet of Indiana University in Indianapolis is more optimistic. His surveys in the US show parents overwhelmingly favour getting their daughters vaccinated. "Doctors tend to fear the worst," he says.
But some problems have already surfaced. India is planning to do its own clinical trials, but will not test the vaccine in young girls. "This is not possible until around the age of marriage in India," Ganguly says.
Once licensed, the vaccine should be given to younger girls, he says. "But people will say 'My girl is very virtuous, why vaccinate?' It will be a real challenge, not like other vaccines."
Last but not least is the cost. Ganguly is trying to arrange for an HPV vaccine to be produced cheaply in India. But there are fears India's new patent laws will make licensing deals difficult.
From New Scientist News
The trouble is that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is sexually transmitted. So to prevent infection, girls will have to be vaccinated before they become sexually active, which could be a problem in many countries.
In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.
"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex," Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.
Meanwhile in developing countries, where 80 per cent of deaths from cervical cancer occur, social taboos may be even more powerful. The head of the Indian Council of Medical Research, N. K. Ganguly, says it will take a big educational effort to convince parents. Vaccinating men could be the best way to prevent the spread of HPV among women.
HPV is extremely common. Half of all sexually active women between 18 and 22 in the US are infected. Most cases clear up, but sometimes infection persists and can cause cancer decades later.
Deaths in the west have plummeted thanks to widespread screening to detect cancers early. But such screening is not widely available in developing countries. In many, populations are ageing: in India the number of women over 60 is projected to rise from 40 million now to 168 million in 2050. The International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, calculates that by then deaths from cervical cancer will reach a million a year in poor countries if rates of infection, and of cancer detection and treatment, do not improve.
While vaccination could slash infection rates, its cancer-preventing benefits will not be evident for decades, as it will take that long for vaccinated girls to reach an age when they might otherwise have developed cancer. Meanwhile, millions of women who are already infected must be screened and treated. If there is widespread resistance to vaccination, it will take even longer for its benefits to become clear.
Vaccines are producing good results in clinical trials, and the first could be licensed as early as next year. GlaxoSmithKline announced in November 2004 that its vaccine, which contains two strains of HPV thought to cause 70 per cent of cervical cancers, had prevented 90 per cent of new infections and all persistent infections. The US-based firm Merck announced similar results last week with its vaccine, which contains the same two cancer-causing HPV strains plus two strains that cause genital warts.
Merck's official reason for including the warts strains is that they can confuse screening tests, leading to unnecessary scares. But another reason, says Anne Szarewski of the charity Cancer Research UK, who is helping to organise one of the vaccine trials, is that men who get vaccinated to prevent disfiguring warts will no longer transmit the cancer-causing strains to women. That might be the key to getting vaccines accepted in cultures where trying to prevent sexually transmitted infections is equated with promiscuity.
"We found that some Asian women in Britain are afraid even to get tested for HPV infection, because they say if it is positive they will be killed, never mind that their husbands probably gave it to them," says Szarewski. She feels that such attitudes may mean that HPV vaccination may be a non-starter in such communities.
Greg Zimet of Indiana University in Indianapolis is more optimistic. His surveys in the US show parents overwhelmingly favour getting their daughters vaccinated. "Doctors tend to fear the worst," he says.
But some problems have already surfaced. India is planning to do its own clinical trials, but will not test the vaccine in young girls. "This is not possible until around the age of marriage in India," Ganguly says.
Once licensed, the vaccine should be given to younger girls, he says. "But people will say 'My girl is very virtuous, why vaccinate?' It will be a real challenge, not like other vaccines."
Last but not least is the cost. Ganguly is trying to arrange for an HPV vaccine to be produced cheaply in India. But there are fears India's new patent laws will make licensing deals difficult.
From New Scientist News
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Pope Nazi the Second
For those who haven't heard, the Roman Catholic church elected my favorite hardline ratfink Cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, to be the new Pope. Zieg Hail, Pope Benedict XVI!
The national news media seems to be aware of the irony of replacing a Polish Pope who sought to restablish ties with the Jewish world with a Germal Cardinal-cum-Pope with Nazi training but no one will make the joke outright. His Nazi ties are small, conspiracy theorists, so don't fret... about that anyway.
I would like to point out, however, that membership was compulsory and if you were a young man in Germany at that time, chances are you bought the line and joined up willingly. If he figured out later that killing... oh.... everyone else was a bad and morally wrong thing to do, admit it. But don't say you didn't inhale, bro.
He is, however, a Catholic who is a doctrinal hard-liner (unlike the Benedict before him who sought a reunion with his Christian bretheren. Probably why he took the name, to soften his image.) He was the scripting intellect behind much of John Paul II's moves so he will likely continue in that direction but likely it will be a much more dictitatorial and traditionalist bent. Ratzinger is famous for resisting liberal reforms and punishing dissidents as the head of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (That's the new name for the Holy Inquisition for all of you who aren't up on your Roman Catholic officies and officials.) "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching, looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards." - from his Monday speech.
So expect a pontificate that is more reserved and not seeking the same harmony with the world that John Paul did. The likelihood that he will seek real congress with the Muslim world is slim. He will definetly continue the stricter doctrines of John Paul's reign and will halt the progressive reforms that made JPII famous.
At least they didn't elect Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez or any of the other crazy South American cardinals because they are all psychotically evil. Don't get me wrong, I want a minority pope like I want a Grammy... but their histories make Ratzingers brush with Nazism look like a waltz with Claire Danes.
The national news media seems to be aware of the irony of replacing a Polish Pope who sought to restablish ties with the Jewish world with a Germal Cardinal-cum-Pope with Nazi training but no one will make the joke outright. His Nazi ties are small, conspiracy theorists, so don't fret... about that anyway.
In his memoirs, he wrote of being enrolled in Hitler's Nazi youth movement against his will when he was 14 in 1941, when membership was compulsory. He says he was soon let out because of his studies for the priesthood.
Two years later, he was drafted into a Nazi anti-aircraft unit as a helper, a common fate for teenage boys too young to be soldiers. Enrolled as a soldier at 18, in the last months of the war, he barely finished basic training.
- From the Guardian
I would like to point out, however, that membership was compulsory and if you were a young man in Germany at that time, chances are you bought the line and joined up willingly. If he figured out later that killing... oh.... everyone else was a bad and morally wrong thing to do, admit it. But don't say you didn't inhale, bro.
He is, however, a Catholic who is a doctrinal hard-liner (unlike the Benedict before him who sought a reunion with his Christian bretheren. Probably why he took the name, to soften his image.) He was the scripting intellect behind much of John Paul II's moves so he will likely continue in that direction but likely it will be a much more dictitatorial and traditionalist bent. Ratzinger is famous for resisting liberal reforms and punishing dissidents as the head of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (That's the new name for the Holy Inquisition for all of you who aren't up on your Roman Catholic officies and officials.) "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching, looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards." - from his Monday speech.
So expect a pontificate that is more reserved and not seeking the same harmony with the world that John Paul did. The likelihood that he will seek real congress with the Muslim world is slim. He will definetly continue the stricter doctrines of John Paul's reign and will halt the progressive reforms that made JPII famous.
At least they didn't elect Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez or any of the other crazy South American cardinals because they are all psychotically evil. Don't get me wrong, I want a minority pope like I want a Grammy... but their histories make Ratzingers brush with Nazism look like a waltz with Claire Danes.
Whine on!
Reposted from dalykos.
Tue Apr 19th, 2005 at 14:15:32 PDT
DeLay sent a rambling, 2,500-word screed to his constituents explaining away his troubles. The blame, of course, was on Democrats and the evil media.
Also nothing in the letter about "personal responsibility".
Tue Apr 19th, 2005 at 14:15:32 PDT
DeLay sent a rambling, 2,500-word screed to his constituents explaining away his troubles. The blame, of course, was on Democrats and the evil media.
CAP breaks down the email, by the numbers:
0: References to DeLay ally and corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff
25: Number of times the email portrays DeLay opponents as "partisan" or politically-motivated
0: References to high-profile criticisms from the Wall Street Journal, David Brooks, Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Reps. Christopher Shays and Tom Tancredo, and at least ten conservative ex-congressmen
4: Number of times the email claims that the media is treating him unfairly.
4: Number of times the same email quotes major media sources to purportedly bolster DeLay's case.
4: References to Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle as "partisan"
12: Number of Democrats prosecuted by Earle during his 27 year career
3: Number of Republicans prosecuted by Earle
6: References to the fact that former Rep. Chris Bell (D-TX) was found to have violated procedural rules when he included inflammatory language in his formal complaint against DeLay
0: References to the fact that the Ethics Committee accepted Bell's complaint because "it also contained allegations that warranted Committee consideration."
2538: Total number of words
1273: Words devoted to complaining about other people's conduct
Also nothing in the letter about "personal responsibility".
And for those of you that haven't yet seen it
I'm now a blonde. I feel stupider already. If I hadn't left in some black, I might have started believing in god. At least I'm not getting that lobotomy so I can be a Bush supporter. Higher Brain Functions = gone. Xenophobic patrotism = revving into the 5,000 RPMs!!!!
Maybe I'll get off my ass and write my rant about the fall of the American Empire. Bombs... probably not. The Euro taking out our economic stranglehold on the globe? I think so!
While I'm doing that just remember, Miss E died for your sins.
Maybe I'll get off my ass and write my rant about the fall of the American Empire. Bombs... probably not. The Euro taking out our economic stranglehold on the globe? I think so!
While I'm doing that just remember, Miss E died for your sins.
Fuck the Boston Fuck Fest
So, Real Sex is just about the greatest show ever, as far as I'm concerned. I often watch it at the studio when I'm closing down. And this past week they had an episode about the Boston Amateur Porn Film Awards thing. And it had all these just... ridiculous porns. And it's not like "Mary Jane Takes It Up The Poop Shoot From Her Jack Russell Terrier" or "Misty Boobykins Gets Banged 'Tween The Boobs By Her Boss, Brutus Cockleman" or even "Slutty McWhoredom Goes Down On The Titstanic... And Then The Ship Sinks" ridiculous.
No, it's over-thought, over-intellectualized, bullshit Boston porn. Like some Harvard bint who did a musical porn with these flowers and this strawberry betting spanked and going into a fantasy world where it was okay and blah blah blah. IT IS MOTHERFUCKING PORNOGRAPHY, PEOPLE! WALK YOUR ASS OUT OF KILLIAN HALL AND JUMP INTO THE CHARLES RIVER! GET A LIFE! AND A GIRLFRIEND!
Now don't get me wrong. I think porn can be art and there is some erotic art that is museum worthy in the extreme. But my problem with Boston people is they take their goddamn intellectual pretension too fucking far. My problem with this shit is the same one I had with the entirety of the Emerson Film department. This whole fest is filled with kids who think the very definition of a smart and poignant film is a clown flipping a pancake in slow-motion while weeping over some slow song sung by a sultry French songstress from the 1940s shot on grainy black and white 8mm in a rotting New York apartment. "It speaks to the plight of the common man!" No, it fucking doesn't. It's fucking over-thought, under-whelming, uninspired bullshit art school pretension.
Yes, I live in the porn capital of the world. Yes, I am surrounded by people who couldn't even spell subtlety, let alone practice it. But god in fucking heaven, it is a nice change from the utterly infuriating intellectual chicanery practiced by my home state. I really, seriously can't take the "what would Dosteyvsky do" crowd anymore. Because for all of LA's flash and glitter and plastic surgery, it's way more real than Boston. At least here people are only pretending to be something more in the wallet than they really are. I hate people who lie about their intellect and force feed their unfounded opinions down your throat without taking a second to look around and realize the world is not like it says it is in AltMedia or on FOX News (this rant and all my others nonwithstanding, of course). It is somewhere in between.
Maybe the psychotic right did have something with their "liberal elite" line of shit. Maybe, just maybe, we should reevaluate ourselves as intellectuals and people before we get up on our high horse and start tearing into the South and the Midwest for being a bunch of knuckle-dragging, cousin-fucking, moonshine-swilling, wife-beating, NASCAR-loving, xenophobic, monosyllabic, racist, brain-dead motherfuckers who wouldn't know a valid political issue from an issue of playboy if it danced naked in front of them to David Allen Coe. I mean, they are, but they have some valid points about us, if you can get them to spit out the chewing tobacco long enough to enunciate clearly.
And on a separate note, is everyone in Massachusetts polyamorus (or at least was at one time)? It's the extreme cold. We need orgies to stay warm.
Man, fuck Massachusetts. Give me brain dead LA any fucking day of the week.
No, it's over-thought, over-intellectualized, bullshit Boston porn. Like some Harvard bint who did a musical porn with these flowers and this strawberry betting spanked and going into a fantasy world where it was okay and blah blah blah. IT IS MOTHERFUCKING PORNOGRAPHY, PEOPLE! WALK YOUR ASS OUT OF KILLIAN HALL AND JUMP INTO THE CHARLES RIVER! GET A LIFE! AND A GIRLFRIEND!
Now don't get me wrong. I think porn can be art and there is some erotic art that is museum worthy in the extreme. But my problem with Boston people is they take their goddamn intellectual pretension too fucking far. My problem with this shit is the same one I had with the entirety of the Emerson Film department. This whole fest is filled with kids who think the very definition of a smart and poignant film is a clown flipping a pancake in slow-motion while weeping over some slow song sung by a sultry French songstress from the 1940s shot on grainy black and white 8mm in a rotting New York apartment. "It speaks to the plight of the common man!" No, it fucking doesn't. It's fucking over-thought, under-whelming, uninspired bullshit art school pretension.
Yes, I live in the porn capital of the world. Yes, I am surrounded by people who couldn't even spell subtlety, let alone practice it. But god in fucking heaven, it is a nice change from the utterly infuriating intellectual chicanery practiced by my home state. I really, seriously can't take the "what would Dosteyvsky do" crowd anymore. Because for all of LA's flash and glitter and plastic surgery, it's way more real than Boston. At least here people are only pretending to be something more in the wallet than they really are. I hate people who lie about their intellect and force feed their unfounded opinions down your throat without taking a second to look around and realize the world is not like it says it is in AltMedia or on FOX News (this rant and all my others nonwithstanding, of course). It is somewhere in between.
Maybe the psychotic right did have something with their "liberal elite" line of shit. Maybe, just maybe, we should reevaluate ourselves as intellectuals and people before we get up on our high horse and start tearing into the South and the Midwest for being a bunch of knuckle-dragging, cousin-fucking, moonshine-swilling, wife-beating, NASCAR-loving, xenophobic, monosyllabic, racist, brain-dead motherfuckers who wouldn't know a valid political issue from an issue of playboy if it danced naked in front of them to David Allen Coe. I mean, they are, but they have some valid points about us, if you can get them to spit out the chewing tobacco long enough to enunciate clearly.
And on a separate note, is everyone in Massachusetts polyamorus (or at least was at one time)? It's the extreme cold. We need orgies to stay warm.
Man, fuck Massachusetts. Give me brain dead LA any fucking day of the week.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Monday, April 04, 2005
Booksies
Yay, I sort of remembered... but I don't really remember what all I read though...
Books
- Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee, I feel Sick, Filler Bunny, Revenege of Filler Bunny by Johnen Vaquez: I went on a comic book rampage this month. All of Jhonens stuff is good, even the Bad Art Collection. Buy it all, you know you wanna.
- Sandman: Preludes and Noctures, The Doll's House, Dream Country, Seasons of Mists, the Dream Hunters: As we all (should) know, Neil Gaiman is god and Sandman is by FAR his best work. Another shut up and buy it.
- Harry Potter 1-5 by Jk Rowling: I love the Potterverse more than life in and of itself. Read them already, you fags. It is addictive. I know. I hated them passionately until I actually read them.
- Cagebird by Karen Lowachee: Because Eponine would have my head if I didn't read it... It was good. I hated Warchild and liked Burndive. I can't decide if I like this one more or less than that. I love Yuri and I love how she writes him. I just wish it was a longer book. It felt rushed. And it's annoyed the piss out of me that for three books straight we've gotten like 15 seconds farther into what the fuck happened when the first book let up. (Read it and you'll see what I mean.) Still, I enjoyed it and there is copious gay boiage which makes any book great in my... um... book.
Movies:
Some Kind of Monster: If you love and or hate Metallica... god, its just so hard for me to watch. I love that band and they are so LAME now! Its definetly an interesting documentary, especially as an ex-die-hard fan and music industry lackey. Don't pay money to see it. Borrow it from your friends. It's worth the watch but it'll leave you depressed for the state of rock and roll after. AGGRO, YOU FUCKS! YOU'VE LOST IT!
Ahem...
Collateral: I wasn't expecting a lot from this, as the trailers looked really lame. But I forgot that Michael Mann is god and is incapable of doing a bad movie. It's excellent, it'll keep you glued to your seat even if you can figure out where it's going from the first five minutes. The acting is quite good and like all Mike films, it's lovely. Watch it. You'll be surprised.
My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding: I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and was truly dissapointed. It was cliche, it was trite, and it was homely much like the lead character. Half of the characters (including NSYNC boy) were bad Italian stereotypes (Greek my Greek ass) and it was just... boring, trite, and cliche. It's watchable but don't bother unless it's on tv and there is nothing else on.
I've been too busy to rercreate. Off to code.
Books
- Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee, I feel Sick, Filler Bunny, Revenege of Filler Bunny by Johnen Vaquez: I went on a comic book rampage this month. All of Jhonens stuff is good, even the Bad Art Collection. Buy it all, you know you wanna.
- Sandman: Preludes and Noctures, The Doll's House, Dream Country, Seasons of Mists, the Dream Hunters: As we all (should) know, Neil Gaiman is god and Sandman is by FAR his best work. Another shut up and buy it.
- Harry Potter 1-5 by Jk Rowling: I love the Potterverse more than life in and of itself. Read them already, you fags. It is addictive. I know. I hated them passionately until I actually read them.
- Cagebird by Karen Lowachee: Because Eponine would have my head if I didn't read it... It was good. I hated Warchild and liked Burndive. I can't decide if I like this one more or less than that. I love Yuri and I love how she writes him. I just wish it was a longer book. It felt rushed. And it's annoyed the piss out of me that for three books straight we've gotten like 15 seconds farther into what the fuck happened when the first book let up. (Read it and you'll see what I mean.) Still, I enjoyed it and there is copious gay boiage which makes any book great in my... um... book.
Movies:
Some Kind of Monster: If you love and or hate Metallica... god, its just so hard for me to watch. I love that band and they are so LAME now! Its definetly an interesting documentary, especially as an ex-die-hard fan and music industry lackey. Don't pay money to see it. Borrow it from your friends. It's worth the watch but it'll leave you depressed for the state of rock and roll after. AGGRO, YOU FUCKS! YOU'VE LOST IT!
Ahem...
Collateral: I wasn't expecting a lot from this, as the trailers looked really lame. But I forgot that Michael Mann is god and is incapable of doing a bad movie. It's excellent, it'll keep you glued to your seat even if you can figure out where it's going from the first five minutes. The acting is quite good and like all Mike films, it's lovely. Watch it. You'll be surprised.
My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding: I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and was truly dissapointed. It was cliche, it was trite, and it was homely much like the lead character. Half of the characters (including NSYNC boy) were bad Italian stereotypes (Greek my Greek ass) and it was just... boring, trite, and cliche. It's watchable but don't bother unless it's on tv and there is nothing else on.
I've been too busy to rercreate. Off to code.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Esoteric for esoteric's sake and in other news, I caved.
Why bother being esoteric for esoteric's sake? I like my mainstream underground bullshit. I like My Chemical Romance, I like AFI, and I'm eagerly anticipating the Taste of Chaos dates in LA. I like my Express Jeans, I like the stickers that I bought at Hot Topic, and I'm going absolutely up the wall waiting for the new Harry Potter book and movie (more on this later in this rant). I think black nail polish and fishnets are always cool and I think platform shoes and/or stompy boots go perfectly with any outfit. The only accessory better than good shoes is a boi in makeup.
I even like Atreyu's new album.
So what?
What's the big fucking deal? What's the point in being so goddamn anti-everything that you're really just another hive mind? You're so anti the rock thing that you wear t-shirts faded to pastel, too tight jeans, and you spend your day talking about Elliot Smith's suicide or Daren Aranofsky's new movie (which has Hugh Jackman of X-Men and Van Helsing fame in it. Indie film cred… out the door.) Or worse yet, they kids who feel they have to deny and bag on all the "trendy" shit that they are afraid to admit they like. Yes, you do like AFI. And you like HIM and Bam Margera and you think the clothes at Hot Topic are cool. Shut up, accept it, and move on with your life.
I'm seriously starting to feel my age because every time I see some whiney post or hear some little shit bitching at Taco Bell about how they hate how everyone is all into Siouxsie and the Banshees and Blondie now I want to grab them by their perfectly sliced haircut and smash their face into the nasty orange tiles while screaming "YOU WERE BORN IN 1992 YOU SHIT! SHUT THE FUCK UP” Fuck, *I* wasn't even alive when the Banshee's were big. But I also don't pretend to like them. (They had four good songs and are almost as overrated as the Bauhaus. Blow me.)
I can't imagine how bitter I'm going to be in another ten years. My mother has me, on tape, saying "what's with kids these days?" at age six. If I've been bitter since I was a toddler, I'm going to wind up the old lady mowing down middle schoolers in my Little Rascal (a public service if I ever heard of one).
In other news, I totally caved to the Harry Potter Gods. My books have been out on loan since last summer and I can't take it anymore... so I bought all five. Again. This now marks the 7th time I have bought these fucking books for myself, never mind for other people. J.K., you bitch, you fucking owe me...
I even like Atreyu's new album.
So what?
What's the big fucking deal? What's the point in being so goddamn anti-everything that you're really just another hive mind? You're so anti the rock thing that you wear t-shirts faded to pastel, too tight jeans, and you spend your day talking about Elliot Smith's suicide or Daren Aranofsky's new movie (which has Hugh Jackman of X-Men and Van Helsing fame in it. Indie film cred… out the door.) Or worse yet, they kids who feel they have to deny and bag on all the "trendy" shit that they are afraid to admit they like. Yes, you do like AFI. And you like HIM and Bam Margera and you think the clothes at Hot Topic are cool. Shut up, accept it, and move on with your life.
I'm seriously starting to feel my age because every time I see some whiney post or hear some little shit bitching at Taco Bell about how they hate how everyone is all into Siouxsie and the Banshees and Blondie now I want to grab them by their perfectly sliced haircut and smash their face into the nasty orange tiles while screaming "YOU WERE BORN IN 1992 YOU SHIT! SHUT THE FUCK UP” Fuck, *I* wasn't even alive when the Banshee's were big. But I also don't pretend to like them. (They had four good songs and are almost as overrated as the Bauhaus. Blow me.)
I can't imagine how bitter I'm going to be in another ten years. My mother has me, on tape, saying "what's with kids these days?" at age six. If I've been bitter since I was a toddler, I'm going to wind up the old lady mowing down middle schoolers in my Little Rascal (a public service if I ever heard of one).
In other news, I totally caved to the Harry Potter Gods. My books have been out on loan since last summer and I can't take it anymore... so I bought all five. Again. This now marks the 7th time I have bought these fucking books for myself, never mind for other people. J.K., you bitch, you fucking owe me...
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Finally, Fullscale!
FULLSCALE DROPS TODAY!
Ok, well, its techincally the 9th now but Fullscale's record is now in stores. You want the hear the band I have been ranting about (what, me rant?) for the better part of a year and half? GO BUY IT!
Ok, well, its techincally the 9th now but Fullscale's record is now in stores. You want the hear the band I have been ranting about (what, me rant?) for the better part of a year and half? GO BUY IT!
Monday, March 07, 2005
Knowledge is Absurd
Holy mother, I remembered to do a book breakdown for the remainder of February! Don't get your hopes up about March, though. That's a month of time passing in which I must remember to keep track of what the fuck I read.
Books
- Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk: Another just shut up and read it. I read it even knowing there was a plane crash in it. Can you believe it?
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: Can't decide if it was better or worse than the movie. It certainly had some memorable parts the film left out. But you can't help hearing Edward Norton's voice while you're reading - especially if you're like me and your safety net during a really bad 30 hour acid trip was watching Fight Club over and over and over and over ad nauseum. I rate it at a Get the movie and the book.
- Waiting for Gertrude: A Graveyard Gothic by Bill Richardson: A lovely novel in which the famous corpses interred at Piere-Lachiase come back... as cats. Cats who are postmasters, cooks, and yoga instructors as well as dancers and actresses. It's an incredibly unusual tale that will be utterly lost on anyone not familliar with the works of Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Chopin and more... not to mention the late, great Jim Morrison. I give it a Buy it if you're bright and well-cultured.
It's a short list this time but that was all for the last week and a half so eff off.
Movies:
The only flick I've seen recently (I've been on a Queer as Folk kick) is Constantine. All I have to say is this: I hate Keanu Reeves with a passion unrivialed (I even hate the Matrix) and I loved the movie. That's all that needs to be said.
This has been a public service provided by your wonderful Miss E.
Books
- Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk: Another just shut up and read it. I read it even knowing there was a plane crash in it. Can you believe it?
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: Can't decide if it was better or worse than the movie. It certainly had some memorable parts the film left out. But you can't help hearing Edward Norton's voice while you're reading - especially if you're like me and your safety net during a really bad 30 hour acid trip was watching Fight Club over and over and over and over ad nauseum. I rate it at a Get the movie and the book.
- Waiting for Gertrude: A Graveyard Gothic by Bill Richardson: A lovely novel in which the famous corpses interred at Piere-Lachiase come back... as cats. Cats who are postmasters, cooks, and yoga instructors as well as dancers and actresses. It's an incredibly unusual tale that will be utterly lost on anyone not familliar with the works of Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Chopin and more... not to mention the late, great Jim Morrison. I give it a Buy it if you're bright and well-cultured.
It's a short list this time but that was all for the last week and a half so eff off.
Movies:
The only flick I've seen recently (I've been on a Queer as Folk kick) is Constantine. All I have to say is this: I hate Keanu Reeves with a passion unrivialed (I even hate the Matrix) and I loved the movie. That's all that needs to be said.
This has been a public service provided by your wonderful Miss E.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
We rip off everyone
I'm sure some of you have encountered these lovely tunes, but for those of you who have not... these are some little gems you need to take a listen to.
First up is ColdFourtySum. "Double You Tee Eff?" I hear you inquire. Well, what the fuck indeed. Listen to "the Scientist" by Coldplay lightly blended with Sum 41's new single "Pieces". Coldplay is in the left channel, Sum in the right. Can you hear the difference? I can't and neither can may lawyers.
Next up is a lovely band of Canuks known as Nickleback who can't play their instruments well enough to rip off another band so they are forced to rip off themselves. This is a nice li'l applet that allows you to adjust the blend. No changes to either track are necessary to make them sync up. Sad, huh?
Proof that enough Grammy Award winners are a bunch of talentless rip-off artists, none other than Pop Punk Pioneers Green Day VS. Perennial Patricide Parolees Oasis and then some.
You can sell 14 mil worldwide and still rip off yourself. Not convinced? Try listening to this Linkin Park ditty.
My new favorite band is Beatallica. If you like the Beatles or Metallica or both, go ahead. Listen. Love. Learn.
First up is ColdFourtySum. "Double You Tee Eff?" I hear you inquire. Well, what the fuck indeed. Listen to "the Scientist" by Coldplay lightly blended with Sum 41's new single "Pieces". Coldplay is in the left channel, Sum in the right. Can you hear the difference? I can't and neither can may lawyers.
Next up is a lovely band of Canuks known as Nickleback who can't play their instruments well enough to rip off another band so they are forced to rip off themselves. This is a nice li'l applet that allows you to adjust the blend. No changes to either track are necessary to make them sync up. Sad, huh?
Proof that enough Grammy Award winners are a bunch of talentless rip-off artists, none other than Pop Punk Pioneers Green Day VS. Perennial Patricide Parolees Oasis and then some.
You can sell 14 mil worldwide and still rip off yourself. Not convinced? Try listening to this Linkin Park ditty.
My new favorite band is Beatallica. If you like the Beatles or Metallica or both, go ahead. Listen. Love. Learn.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Poll Time: we love to hate him but still we love him
From a NYTimes Poll in tomorrow's paper:
How does the nation feel about Mister Bush and foreign policy?
Which leads to this mind-boggler:
How is this possible? How can we all agree that Gee Dubya is a hot-headed mental midget who is too focused on contemplating the positioning of his posterior to keep his mind on a speech never mind a nation but still give him our resounding approval? I do not understand this nation.
And furthermore, let me harp once more on my favorite topic; the cultural poison that is infotainment. To whit, FOX News and the syndrome that has swept that nation - if you yell, you are right. And if anyone contradicts you, you tell them they are fucking stupid douche suckers who bend over like a Frenchman.
This is not debating! This is school yard buffoonery befitting only brainless bullies who have neither the mind nor the tongue for political discourse. When did some of our most eloquent politicians fall prey to this beast? Much as I may despise them, there are many Heralds of the Right who make mockery of our most charming poets. And even they, in recent interviews, have given in to this Bill O'Reily style of "shut the fuck uppery."
Karl Rove, Karl Rove, I love you so, you most devious of men... does it keep you up at night, the damage you have wrought on the human mind and, if we have one, soul? Or do you sleep soundlessly, content that the world as you make it is your Oyster? All my respect you have, Machiavelli, but I still find your manner and methods reprehensible.
Bah, I have read too much Oscar Wilde tonight and I am retiring to read more.
Four months after Mr. Bush won a solid re-election over Senator John Kerry, 63 percent of respondents say the president has different priorities on domestic issues than most Americans. Asked to choose among five domestic issues facing the country, respondents rated Social Security third, behind jobs and health care. And nearly 50 percent said Democrats were more likely to make the right decisions about Social Security, compared with 31 percent who said the same thing about Republicans.
How does the nation feel about Mister Bush and foreign policy?
And Mr. Bush does not appear to be much more in step with the nation on what the White House has long viewed as his strong suit: 58 percent of respondents said the White House did not share the foreign affairs priorities of most Americans.
Which leads to this mind-boggler:
For all that, Mr. Bush's approval rating remains unchanged, at 49 percent, from a month ago, suggesting that the disagreement with Mr. Bush's ideas has yet to take a toll on America's view of him.
How is this possible? How can we all agree that Gee Dubya is a hot-headed mental midget who is too focused on contemplating the positioning of his posterior to keep his mind on a speech never mind a nation but still give him our resounding approval? I do not understand this nation.
And furthermore, let me harp once more on my favorite topic; the cultural poison that is infotainment. To whit, FOX News and the syndrome that has swept that nation - if you yell, you are right. And if anyone contradicts you, you tell them they are fucking stupid douche suckers who bend over like a Frenchman.
This is not debating! This is school yard buffoonery befitting only brainless bullies who have neither the mind nor the tongue for political discourse. When did some of our most eloquent politicians fall prey to this beast? Much as I may despise them, there are many Heralds of the Right who make mockery of our most charming poets. And even they, in recent interviews, have given in to this Bill O'Reily style of "shut the fuck uppery."
Karl Rove, Karl Rove, I love you so, you most devious of men... does it keep you up at night, the damage you have wrought on the human mind and, if we have one, soul? Or do you sleep soundlessly, content that the world as you make it is your Oyster? All my respect you have, Machiavelli, but I still find your manner and methods reprehensible.
Bah, I have read too much Oscar Wilde tonight and I am retiring to read more.
False alarms, lawsuits, and nuke-nuke-nukes
First of all, MoJo's DIDDLY Awards are happening again. Go take a gander (or would that be a Hawk?) at all the overzealous terror-junkies who have raised us to Code Plaid for no good reason in 2004.
Mojo also has a very good article about the American move towards invading Iran; if they have nukes, why they have nukes, and why we want to take them away. This same article ran on ZNet, which also has a great article about Europe's stance on invading Iran. And that is? Hands off!. Sorry to let the President know, but there is a global test of US policies that effect the rest of the world... and there should be. Let me step up on my soap box for a moment: if any country takes action that effects another country (or countries) than there absolutely is a global test of national policy. If Spain invades Portugal, then it is absolutely the business of Portugal, the EU, the UN, and the world. If Iran puts plans into motion to attack us, I damn well want the rest of the world to disrupt their ability to do such a thing. But such thing is a two way street. We do not own the world (much as we try) and we cannot force American will and way into each and every country. They will resist us and eventually we will spread ourselves thin enough that someone will get through our defenses. Do the math; we don't have enough troops to occupy and hold Iraq and Iran, never mind the rest of the world.
No one does.
That's why diplomacy was invented.
And then there is the Kissinger effect; I bet the neo-Cons thank their lucky stars that Americans are too ignorant of their own history to remember who won last seasons American Idol, never mind a scandal like the Iran-Contra affair. Maybe this explains why no one in the media is bothering to remind them.
And the best news of the week: the ACLU is suing Donald Rumsfeld. Now if only Bush would join that pesky World Court...
Mojo also has a very good article about the American move towards invading Iran; if they have nukes, why they have nukes, and why we want to take them away. This same article ran on ZNet, which also has a great article about Europe's stance on invading Iran. And that is? Hands off!. Sorry to let the President know, but there is a global test of US policies that effect the rest of the world... and there should be. Let me step up on my soap box for a moment: if any country takes action that effects another country (or countries) than there absolutely is a global test of national policy. If Spain invades Portugal, then it is absolutely the business of Portugal, the EU, the UN, and the world. If Iran puts plans into motion to attack us, I damn well want the rest of the world to disrupt their ability to do such a thing. But such thing is a two way street. We do not own the world (much as we try) and we cannot force American will and way into each and every country. They will resist us and eventually we will spread ourselves thin enough that someone will get through our defenses. Do the math; we don't have enough troops to occupy and hold Iraq and Iran, never mind the rest of the world.
No one does.
That's why diplomacy was invented.
And then there is the Kissinger effect; I bet the neo-Cons thank their lucky stars that Americans are too ignorant of their own history to remember who won last seasons American Idol, never mind a scandal like the Iran-Contra affair. Maybe this explains why no one in the media is bothering to remind them.
And the best news of the week: the ACLU is suing Donald Rumsfeld. Now if only Bush would join that pesky World Court...
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
O v. G: fuck you, film kids
It's time for my comparison between this year's 47th Annual Grammy Awards and the 77th Annual Academy Awards.
Why oh why oh WHY must we, as an industry, always get upstaged with those camera-wielding buffoons? A bunch of neurotic, coke-snorting narcissists (I mean the film kids, not us) always get the lion's share of fucking everything in Hollywood. Why? Why?
I'll tell you. Because we, as an industry, have lost sight of what makes us great, what makes music art and not just commerce. Film lost sight of their art for a while (hello 1980s!) but they have recovered. They have recognized that not all pictures must be Sideways just as not all films must be White Chicks. There has to be a balance of art and profit, of star-driven money-makers and summer block busters with art house films funded by the Sundance Institute and FOX Searchlight.
Where is the artistry in 'American Idiot' or the all-Usher, all-the-time show? With all the majors coming off of or still on signing freezes, we're forced to put out the same shitty music over and over and over again and then blame declining profits on downloading. But this is a different rant, the long and short of which boils down to fuck you, major labels.
My original and intended rant, which I have strayed from, was a comparison between this years "please god, someone tell us we're finally hip" Oscars and the excruciatingly boring Grammy Awards. The Oscars went out of their way to revamp their image this year, with off-the-wall host Chris Rock and the multi-pronged attack format of presenting awards. But they still kept their integrity (such-as-it-is for a glorified fashion show) by nominating movies that lent the requisite mystique to the word 'Oscar.' All the movies may have been pictures that no straight black man would ever watch (Thanks Mister Rock!) but they were undeniably some of the most poignant, well-written, and flawlessly produced pieces of cinema made by the Americans this year. (And I do mean the Incredibles as part of that statement.) And if Johnny had to lose, at least he lost to the man who should have won for best actor instead of to the filmic eqivilant of Simple Plan.
In contrast, the Grammys once again let MTV dictate what 'good' music is supposed to be. When Usher ( I keep harping on him, sorry baby boo) is up for 3 out of 5 Grammys for R&B, there is a goddamn problem. Some of it is the shit we put out as an industry and some of it is NARAS. They have never understood what it is to be "an innovator in music." The Grammy in each category is supposed to go to the artist who expanded the bounds of said category. Once upon a time, only the most obscure acts who had no impact on the genre were rewarded. (Give the Beatles some more Grammys for fuck's sake! Led Zepplin! And never mind giving Jethro Tull the Heavy Metal Grammy above Metallica and giving Metallica the Grammy last year, you brainless twats!) Now the opposite holds true. If you’ve been at number one on TRL for more than five weeks, you're probably going to get nominated. If you have a reality tv show on a Viacom subsidary, you're probably going home with at least one golden champagne flute... sorry, gramaphone horn.
And the categories! Incubus should have won Best Rock... but Best Heavy Metal? Against Metallica, Motorhead, Slipknot, and Cradle of Filth? Who the fuck is doing the nominations? (Okay, I know who is but allow me to be rhetorical.) And U2? They are legends, they are amazing, Joshua Tree is a landmark record... but not How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Dookie changed the face of American punk, not American Idiot.
And then there was the telecasts themselves. Neither was particularly outstanding but the Grammys were just horrendous. If I didn't want to see my friends who were there, I wouldn't have watched. Fuck, I chose to go to work over go to the actual event! You know when you're turning down the "hottest seat in town" that it's a boring ass spectacular spectacular. The multi-band opening was painful, the Kayne West number was so preachy I wanted to scream, and everything else blurs together like MTV Hits after a few hits of acid. The speeches were dull, the fashions were boring, and all of Queen Latifa's spunk must have been liposuctioned out of her.
At least Chris Rock made the Oscars somewhat interesting.
How do the rate with everyone else who isn't little ol' over-opinionated industry kid me? With 18.8 Million viewers (a 28 per cent drop from the 2004 Grammys and the lowest rated Grammy broadcast since 1995, the Grammys lack luster. But even the Oscar's fell below their 43.5 mil last year. But when will the Grammys reach the 41.5 million the Oscars got to this year?
All I ask, people, is that my industry just stop sucking for just a little while.
And with that, I am retiring to watch FUSE and bug the artists.
Why oh why oh WHY must we, as an industry, always get upstaged with those camera-wielding buffoons? A bunch of neurotic, coke-snorting narcissists (I mean the film kids, not us) always get the lion's share of fucking everything in Hollywood. Why? Why?
I'll tell you. Because we, as an industry, have lost sight of what makes us great, what makes music art and not just commerce. Film lost sight of their art for a while (hello 1980s!) but they have recovered. They have recognized that not all pictures must be Sideways just as not all films must be White Chicks. There has to be a balance of art and profit, of star-driven money-makers and summer block busters with art house films funded by the Sundance Institute and FOX Searchlight.
Where is the artistry in 'American Idiot' or the all-Usher, all-the-time show? With all the majors coming off of or still on signing freezes, we're forced to put out the same shitty music over and over and over again and then blame declining profits on downloading. But this is a different rant, the long and short of which boils down to fuck you, major labels.
My original and intended rant, which I have strayed from, was a comparison between this years "please god, someone tell us we're finally hip" Oscars and the excruciatingly boring Grammy Awards. The Oscars went out of their way to revamp their image this year, with off-the-wall host Chris Rock and the multi-pronged attack format of presenting awards. But they still kept their integrity (such-as-it-is for a glorified fashion show) by nominating movies that lent the requisite mystique to the word 'Oscar.' All the movies may have been pictures that no straight black man would ever watch (Thanks Mister Rock!) but they were undeniably some of the most poignant, well-written, and flawlessly produced pieces of cinema made by the Americans this year. (And I do mean the Incredibles as part of that statement.) And if Johnny had to lose, at least he lost to the man who should have won for best actor instead of to the filmic eqivilant of Simple Plan.
In contrast, the Grammys once again let MTV dictate what 'good' music is supposed to be. When Usher ( I keep harping on him, sorry baby boo) is up for 3 out of 5 Grammys for R&B, there is a goddamn problem. Some of it is the shit we put out as an industry and some of it is NARAS. They have never understood what it is to be "an innovator in music." The Grammy in each category is supposed to go to the artist who expanded the bounds of said category. Once upon a time, only the most obscure acts who had no impact on the genre were rewarded. (Give the Beatles some more Grammys for fuck's sake! Led Zepplin! And never mind giving Jethro Tull the Heavy Metal Grammy above Metallica and giving Metallica the Grammy last year, you brainless twats!) Now the opposite holds true. If you’ve been at number one on TRL for more than five weeks, you're probably going to get nominated. If you have a reality tv show on a Viacom subsidary, you're probably going home with at least one golden champagne flute... sorry, gramaphone horn.
And the categories! Incubus should have won Best Rock... but Best Heavy Metal? Against Metallica, Motorhead, Slipknot, and Cradle of Filth? Who the fuck is doing the nominations? (Okay, I know who is but allow me to be rhetorical.) And U2? They are legends, they are amazing, Joshua Tree is a landmark record... but not How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Dookie changed the face of American punk, not American Idiot.
And then there was the telecasts themselves. Neither was particularly outstanding but the Grammys were just horrendous. If I didn't want to see my friends who were there, I wouldn't have watched. Fuck, I chose to go to work over go to the actual event! You know when you're turning down the "hottest seat in town" that it's a boring ass spectacular spectacular. The multi-band opening was painful, the Kayne West number was so preachy I wanted to scream, and everything else blurs together like MTV Hits after a few hits of acid. The speeches were dull, the fashions were boring, and all of Queen Latifa's spunk must have been liposuctioned out of her.
At least Chris Rock made the Oscars somewhat interesting.
How do the rate with everyone else who isn't little ol' over-opinionated industry kid me? With 18.8 Million viewers (a 28 per cent drop from the 2004 Grammys and the lowest rated Grammy broadcast since 1995, the Grammys lack luster. But even the Oscar's fell below their 43.5 mil last year. But when will the Grammys reach the 41.5 million the Oscars got to this year?
All I ask, people, is that my industry just stop sucking for just a little while.
And with that, I am retiring to watch FUSE and bug the artists.
Tsunami Relief Song Out Today!
"Forever In Our Hearts" A Song For Tsunami Relief is available on the
iTunes Music Store TODAY.
Please take the time to download "Forever In Our Hearts," featuring Mya, Brian McKnight, Sonny Sandoval (P.O.D.), Nate Dogg, Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach), Pete Loeffler (Chevelle), Fefe Dobson, Ben Jelen and Rosalyn Sanchez on vocals, with members of 311, Trapt, Evanescence, Godhead, A Perfect Circle, Papa Roach & Jane's Addiction backing them up.
It's 99 cents and all proceeds go to Music For Relief. (http://www.musicforrelief.org)
Don't have iTunes? It's FREE for Mac & PC! http://www.apple.com/itunes
The song is also available for download at the official site - http://www.tsunamireliefsong.org
iTunes Music Store TODAY.
Please take the time to download "Forever In Our Hearts," featuring Mya, Brian McKnight, Sonny Sandoval (P.O.D.), Nate Dogg, Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach), Pete Loeffler (Chevelle), Fefe Dobson, Ben Jelen and Rosalyn Sanchez on vocals, with members of 311, Trapt, Evanescence, Godhead, A Perfect Circle, Papa Roach & Jane's Addiction backing them up.
It's 99 cents and all proceeds go to Music For Relief. (http://www.musicforrelief.org)
Don't have iTunes? It's FREE for Mac & PC! http://www.apple.com/itunes
The song is also available for download at the official site - http://www.tsunamireliefsong.org
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Phone hacks: the future of bad publicity stunts.
For those of you that haven't heard or have been too busy masturbating to pictures of their own mother, the self-described T-Mobile Terrorist has struck again. This time his targets were none other than drunken Bush twin Jenna and famous-for-being-a-talentless-loser Fred Durst. Now, the pictures off Jenna's phone look like they have been badly photoshopped, leading me to think that one (at least) was a fake. I can vouch for the veracity of the numbers in Paris's phone book, as I double-checked them against our database here. Since the Secret Service isn't going to bankroll my next album, I can't check out the numbers for Jenna... if I could find them. Apparently the FBI and the SS have shit a collective brick and are bouncing about the interweb shutting down sites showcasing the material like it's Fahrenheit 9/11.
In other news, the FCC is going to be responsible for a lot of up-standing radio jocks going out and committing murder. After all, it's cheaper than saying fuck on the radio. And while I'm perusing Rolling Stone, they have good articles on Sinclaire's Bias and Moveon.Org's ineffectual bid to save the Democrats.
Let's get one thing straight, kids; you cannot expect extremists to win the middle-of-the-road vote. The Neo-Con push is already damaging the Republican morale and they won by a landslide this year! You really think blue collar workers in Scranton are going to 'get out the vote' because of privatizing social security? They are trying to make ends meet now. They aren't focusing on later. For better or worse, those are the people that decide the fate of this country.
If the Democrats want to make a come-back bid, they need a luminary. And pushing Hillary or god-forbid Obama (if you run a first term senator, you will fear my angry emails!) into the '08 slot is just going to make things worse. Although if it really is a Rice vs. Clinton battle, that will be the greatest election in history. I'll quit my job to watch CNN 24-hours a day. Can't you just see someone who has been in a coma for 10 years waking up in =08 and being all "who is president?" "A black woman... who is a republican." Their brain would explode!
In other news, the FCC is going to be responsible for a lot of up-standing radio jocks going out and committing murder. After all, it's cheaper than saying fuck on the radio. And while I'm perusing Rolling Stone, they have good articles on Sinclaire's Bias and Moveon.Org's ineffectual bid to save the Democrats.
Let's get one thing straight, kids; you cannot expect extremists to win the middle-of-the-road vote. The Neo-Con push is already damaging the Republican morale and they won by a landslide this year! You really think blue collar workers in Scranton are going to 'get out the vote' because of privatizing social security? They are trying to make ends meet now. They aren't focusing on later. For better or worse, those are the people that decide the fate of this country.
If the Democrats want to make a come-back bid, they need a luminary. And pushing Hillary or god-forbid Obama (if you run a first term senator, you will fear my angry emails!) into the '08 slot is just going to make things worse. Although if it really is a Rice vs. Clinton battle, that will be the greatest election in history. I'll quit my job to watch CNN 24-hours a day. Can't you just see someone who has been in a coma for 10 years waking up in =08 and being all "who is president?" "A black woman... who is a republican." Their brain would explode!
Friday, February 25, 2005
Right Wing Ralphie
This cartoon requires Macromedia's Flash Player. If you don't see the cartoon above, download the player here.
Mark Fiore is an editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a web site featuring his work.
Further proof that all fascists are anarchists at heart...
and vice versa. From the LA Times: "On the final leg of his European trip, the president presses his Russian counterpart. Liberty 'is not anarchy,' Putin responds."
I am looking forward to being the fascist dictator of my own anarchy.
I am looking forward to being the fascist dictator of my own anarchy.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
This made my day!
Just when I thought I was going to go outside and take a tire iron to the rain, I got this in the mail.
Ben Moody is to be considered unstable and extremely dangerous to pets and children under 12 lbs. The authorities have been notified, and recommend that he be destroyed ON SIGHT!!!!
This is best done with a huge black dildo.
thank you,
- the management
Ben Moody is to be considered unstable and extremely dangerous to pets and children under 12 lbs. The authorities have been notified, and recommend that he be destroyed ON SIGHT!!!!
This is best done with a huge black dildo.
thank you,
- the management
Who the fuck are you people?
Honestly, I've had this blog forever and a day with a few little blips here and there from Kamilla and myself just babbling back and forth. Now all of a sudden I'm getting comments left, right, and center. That'd be all well and good if a good half of them weren't the most ignorant and hateful misappropriations of the English language (for god sake, use punctuation!) I've seen in quite some time. So my question is... how the holy fuck did you people find my blog? Honestly, if I keep getting these ridiculous comments, I'm restricting posting access to members only.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Do not go gentle into that good night
RIP Hunter S. Thompson.
It's been a long time since something I've read on the net has made me gasp in shock and sadness. You lived and died by your own hand.
It's been a long time since something I've read on the net has made me gasp in shock and sadness. You lived and died by your own hand.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Tsunami Relief
First and foremost, 'Forever in our Hearts' goes to radio at the end of the month and will be available on iTunes starting March 1st. Billboard.com just ran an article on it.
In the news of Miss E, I am about to go postal. I just had one of the worst couple of days of my life and what happens? I hit a fucking pothole after some asshole cut me off and I tore a two inch gash in my tire. I was the 17th car to pull into the liquor store (just the liquor store, m ind you not the gas station or just over to the side of the road) with a flat tire from the pot hole... just today! 17 fucking cars! So I am replacing the tire and billing the city for it.
But the shit thing is, the car fell off the jack twice and scratched the rim and I'm worried it fucked up the axle. And even goddamn better is the fact that I was working while it happened. I'm going to have to take a cab home from work.
I want to kick someone in the face. Any volunteers?
In the news of Miss E, I am about to go postal. I just had one of the worst couple of days of my life and what happens? I hit a fucking pothole after some asshole cut me off and I tore a two inch gash in my tire. I was the 17th car to pull into the liquor store (just the liquor store, m ind you not the gas station or just over to the side of the road) with a flat tire from the pot hole... just today! 17 fucking cars! So I am replacing the tire and billing the city for it.
But the shit thing is, the car fell off the jack twice and scratched the rim and I'm worried it fucked up the axle. And even goddamn better is the fact that I was working while it happened. I'm going to have to take a cab home from work.
I want to kick someone in the face. Any volunteers?
Friday, February 18, 2005
Call me a cunt
Being called names by people on the net makes me wet. Seriously. It get s a little puddle going on down in the panties.
I got this comment today. It makes me wonder just how it is that we can get so worked up at someone else's opinions via such a faceless medium that we react by childish measures? Why is it so common on the internet to be both utterly superiour (My IQ is 1339) and childish (bitch) in a single post? Is it the facelessness of the medium?
Here is my analogy: Image we are all sitting in a restaurant. As I'mm sipping my diet coke and nibbling on my garlic bread, I'm discussing an article I read about the average IQ of a Bush voter. I'm not whispering, just conversing at a normal level. Obviously, people who happen to be seated around us can overhear our conversation. And out of nowhere, another diner walks up and sys "well, you self-hating goth freak child, my IQ is 139 and I voted for Bush. Bitch." WOuld that ever happen? No. Because we'd laugh in his face about how ridiculous and pathetic of a comment it was on somethinat that didn't concern him.
But on the Net, such things are typical. Man, the Net cracks me up.
And now I'm off to dinner to test my theory.
I got this comment today. It makes me wonder just how it is that we can get so worked up at someone else's opinions via such a faceless medium that we react by childish measures? Why is it so common on the internet to be both utterly superiour (My IQ is 1339) and childish (bitch) in a single post? Is it the facelessness of the medium?
Here is my analogy: Image we are all sitting in a restaurant. As I'mm sipping my diet coke and nibbling on my garlic bread, I'm discussing an article I read about the average IQ of a Bush voter. I'm not whispering, just conversing at a normal level. Obviously, people who happen to be seated around us can overhear our conversation. And out of nowhere, another diner walks up and sys "well, you self-hating goth freak child, my IQ is 139 and I voted for Bush. Bitch." WOuld that ever happen? No. Because we'd laugh in his face about how ridiculous and pathetic of a comment it was on somethinat that didn't concern him.
But on the Net, such things are typical. Man, the Net cracks me up.
And now I'm off to dinner to test my theory.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
The Money Trench
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - attributed to Hunter S. Thompson
I find the The Daily Adventures of MixerMan to be some of funniest shit on the interweb. But it's humor that is sort of industry specific. Music kids, enjoy. Everyone else, don't email me asking what the big deal about chocolate muffins is...
I find the The Daily Adventures of MixerMan to be some of funniest shit on the interweb. But it's humor that is sort of industry specific. Music kids, enjoy. Everyone else, don't email me asking what the big deal about chocolate muffins is...
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