The Mad Prophet Blog

2004-06-20T21:36:00.000-05:00

Away And No Remorse.

I've decided to put this blog on permanent hiatus. Sorry. I haven't been able to give it my full attention this last couple of months and it looks like I won't be able to for some time to come. Maybe I'll be back in the future. You may still see me in other bloggers' comments though. Farewell.

2004-06-10T01:14:00.000-05:00

The Torture Memo.

For anyone who is interested, the full text of the Torture Memo is online here (PDF, via Talk Left.) It's quite disgusting.

2004-06-09T23:07:00.000-05:00

Terrorism In 2003.

From the LA Times:

The State Department is scrambling to revise its annual report on global terrorism to acknowledge that it understated the number of deadly attacks in 2003, amid charges that the document is inaccurate and was politically manipulated by the Bush administration.

When the most recent "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report was issued April 29, senior Bush administration officials immediately hailed it as objective proof that they were winning the war on terrorism. The report is considered the authoritative yardstick of the prevalence of terrorist activity around the world.

"Indeed, you will find in these pages clear evidence that we are prevailing in the fight" against global terrorism, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage said during a celebratory rollout of the report.

But on Tuesday, State Department officials said they underreported the number of terrorist attacks in the tally for 2003, and added that they expected to release an updated version soon.

Several U.S. officials and terrorism experts familiar with that revision effort said the new report will show that the number of significant terrorist incidents increased last year, perhaps to its highest level in 20 years.

Buuuurn. There's more for anyone who's curious.

Here's the bogus report.

2004-06-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

Coming Soon To A Theater Near You....

GOP pictures presents...

A film by Karl Rove...

Starring George W. Bush as....

Richard Nixon!

Okay, in all seriousness, this is just anecdotal evidence from several anonymous sources in the White House, but it doesn't sound far fetched considering Shrub-a-Dub's public statements. Here's an excerpt:

In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as "enemies of the state."

--snip--

"We're at war, there's no doubt about it. What I don't know anymore is just who the enemy might be," says one troubled White House aide. "We seem to spend more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies list just keeps growing and growing."

--snip--

But the President who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them "fucking assholes" in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labeling anyone who disagrees with him "unpatriotic" or "anti-American."

Nice.

Link via morons.org.

2004-06-06T05:24:00.000-05:00

"The Americans Have Let Me Join Their Fraternity!
Or: A [near] complete summary of the Prisoner Abuse Scandal

I am sick and tired of this shit. First it was The Vile Pill-Popping Pigboy comparing the Abu Ghraib (Grrr-eeb -- and a nice throaty "G" sound) pictures to a frat hazing. Nevermind that frat rushers volunteer for their treatment and prisoners have human rights garaunteed by international laws that prohibit such abuse. Nevermind that sexual abuse is a very serious matter, regardless of how harmless the pictures taken of a man with a hood on being forced to masturbate while a female guard stands by laughing seems at first.

Fuck all that. I can forgive that sort of ignorant fuckery. The Taguba Report hadn't been released when that shit started. The severity of it wasn't yet fully known. The jingoistic fuckheads in the Media and their chorus of ditto-monkeys in the blogdom of conservo-asshatvia had every reason to try to downplay the whole thing. I understand how politics work.

But it is still -- STILL -- fucking happening!

Like this dumb bitch who mere days ago summed up the whole thing by saying soldiers "[put] panties on a prisoner's head."

What?

I read the Taguba Report and I seem to remember some other stuff happening. Lets see:

6. (S) I find that the intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included the following acts:

a. (S) Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet;

b. (S) Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees;

c. (S) Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing;

d. (S) Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time;

e. (S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women's underwear;

f. (S) Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped;

g. (S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;

h. (S) Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture;

i. (S) Writing "I am a Rapest" (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;

j. (S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee's neck and having a female Soldier pose for a picture;

k. (S) A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee;

l. (S) Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee;

m. (S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

And then there's this:

8. (U) In addition, several detainees also described the following acts of abuse, which under the circumstances, I find credible based on the clarity of their statements and supporting evidence provided by other witnesses (ANNEX 26):

a. (U) Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees;

b. (U) Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol;

c. (U) Pouring cold water on naked detainees;

d. (U) Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair;

e. (U) Threatening male detainees with rape;

f. (U) Allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell;

g. (U) Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick.

h. (U) Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.

And that's just at Abu Ghraib.

And lest a dumber than average ditto-monkey think this is still all just some guys having some harmless fun, 37 detainees have died. The deaths include one Afghan who was stripped naked, doused with water and left chained to a wall where he ultimately froze to death. Another who was shot in the chest for throwing rocks at a guard tower and another who was shot in an escape attempt prison authorities knew he was going to make the previous day. And several have died of "blunt force trauma" while being interrogated. They were interrogated to death, as I like to say. [Link]

And then there's the two guys who just pled guilty to using electricity to punish prisoners for throwing trash.

Have I forgotten anything? There's the growing accounts of rape, but I haven't found the source link. Oh, and there's the arbitrary detention of family members of suspects to use as hostages, but maybe that doesn't apply to this subject. I'm not even gonna go into how high up the chain of command this goes, (although the evidence suggests that it goes pretty high.)

The bottom line is that, when this all started with the Abu Ghraib sex abuse pictures, a stupid person could have simply written it off as harmless crap perpetrated by a few soldiers, but it has grown far beyond naked guys being forced to beat off and form human pyramids. It's grown beyond Abu Ghraib. It's grown beyond detainees. And it's grown beyond Iraq.

So could we please stop referring to this as "pranks" and "hazing" and "harmless sex-type abuse"?

Endnote -- It seems we're even exporting this "hazing" shite to Japan. Poor bastards.

2004-06-04T18:28:00.000-05:00

More Anti-Terrorism Madness.

From Infoshop:

Four artists have been served subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury that will consider bioterrorism charges against a university professor whose art involves the use of simple biology equipment.

The subpoenas are the latest installment in a bizarre investigation in which members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force have mistaken an art project for a biological weapons laboratory (see background below). While most observers have assumed that the Task Force would realize the absurd error of its initial investigation of Steve Kurtz, the subpoenas indicate that the feds have instead chosen to press their "case" against the baffled professor.

--snip--

The artists involved are at a loss to explain the increasingly bizarre case. "I have no idea why they're continuing (to investigate)," said Beatriz da Costa, one of those subpoenaed. "It was shocking that this investigation was ever launched. That it is continuing is positively frightening, and shows how vulnerable the PATRIOT Act has made freedom of speech in this country." Da Costa is an art professor at the University of California at Irvine.

More Info.

Meanwhile, via Cursor, experts say it is only a matter of time before terrorists use a dirty bomb. Excerpt:

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) records point to "a dramatic rise" in the smuggling of radiological substances, the raw material for this bomb, the British science weekly says in next Saturday's issue.

"In 1996, there were just eight of these incidents, but last year there were 51," the report says. "Most cases are believed to have occurred in Russia and elsewhere in Europe. Smugglers target the radioactive materials used in factories, hospitals and research laboratories, which are not guarded as securely as those used by the nuclear industry."

It only gets scarier. Thanks to pResident McRetard and Co there "are still 1,000 radioactive sources that are unaccounted for in Iraq." Perhaps 9-11 wasn't their fault, but the next one sure the hell will be. (And the Dems aren't helping either. Spineless fucking sock monkeys.)

2004-06-02T18:08:00.000-05:00

Bringing Troops Into Iraq Under The Table.

The Iraqi Colonial Government (err, sorry, "Coalition Provisional Authority,") has earmarked an additional $500 million of Iraq's oil revenue for private mercenaries in Iraq. Let's see, at a thousand bucks a month each, that's about 40,000 soldiers-of-fortune that will be kicking around Iraq for the next year. No, of course you don't get that many, you have to divide by two in order to account for Halliburton's price-gouging. Duh.

And, of course, private mercenaries don't get added to the Coalition War Dead Site. If it weren't for all the "civilian contractors" we'd have already topped 1,000 dead in Iraq. Why aren't they being counted anyway? They are the second biggest member of the "Coalition of the Willing" (20,000+ troops.) They are performing military jobs (security, distribution, etc.) They have taken more casualties than all the other coalition members combined (200+ dead.)

And in related news, the military announced today that the stop-loss program will be extended again, affecting anyone 90 days or less from gone. I guess that extra 20,000 troops last month wasn't enough. Nor, I assume, was the 4,000 troops taken outta S. Korea. Anyone else want to tell me about how military recruitment is just peachy lately? Not enough positions for all the volunteers, so I've heard again and again.

They just gotta limp by until they can bring back the draft next year though.

2004-06-01T00:07:00.000-05:00

A Perfect Example Of Why Voting Is Meaningless.

This is fucking criminal:

"Florida's 2000 felon purge program resulted in over 50,000 legal voters being disenfranchised," said Leon County elections supervisor Ion Sancho in a written statement. "When asked for assurances that the [2004 felon list] was 90 percent accurate -- the minimum level local supervisors of elections requested for such a list -- we were told that it was better than the 2000 list, with no data to support its accuracy." [Link]

90-fucking-percent!?!?! I'm pretty sure that it's illegal to deny any eligible voter their right to vote. It's not my preferred form of governance though, so maybe I could be wrong. Anyone want to set me straight on this? It's your bloody "Democracy."

Ha. What fucking good is your precious Constitution anyway? Not worth the government it empowers, is it? I'm tellin' ya: Ya can't trust anybody with power. Can't. Proven every day. Why won't you listen? Do you think any of your "elections" are legitimate? Ha.

2004-05-28T22:26:00.000-05:00

Todays "What The Fuck?!?" Moment.

By an unlucky chance I wandered into Steve DenBeste's place a couple of minutes ago and was immediately struck in the face by this jagged piece of stupidity:

One of [the DVD's] was "The Battle of Britain", one of the better war movies ever made. It was released in 1969, which was far enough from the war so that they didn't feel the need to make all the German characters seem like evil, sadistic animals, but still early enough so that the film makers were not infected with post-modernist multiculturalist mindset and didn't need to try to portray Hitler and the other top Nazis semi-sympathetically. (Or to try to figure out some reason why it was actually America's fault.)

What the Fuck? That's all I can say.

2004-05-27T10:46:00.000-05:00

The Draft Is Coming.

For those who haven't heard and ditto-monkeys who are too stupid to believe it, Congress has taken the initial step to bring back the Draft with House Bill H.R.163 and Senate Bill S.89. The Selective Services System is gearing up for 2005, with an extra $28 million in it's 2004 budget to prepare (which I think actually doubles the agencies budget, but don't quote me on that.)

Infoshop has some ideas for resistance, which just amounts to ways of avoiding the draft. Nobody else has thought of my chosen path yet though: Refuse to serve and go to jail.

Think about it: It costs money to lock people up. Incarcerating 100,000 people would be an enormous drain on resources. The prison system in this country is already at the breaking point and the deficit is already in the stratosphere. They won't be able to cope, I'm tellin' ya.

Use the greatest weapon you have to resist -- your own body. It's so damn simple. Draft dodging will save your own ass, but it's not resistance because it doesn't hurt the machine. We have to strike at the machine!

2004-05-25T17:56:00.000-05:00

The Word Is "Habitual."

Hammerdown points out that this administration even lies about biking accidents.

At this point you have to seriously consider that maybe the genetic predisposition of politicians to fib has hit a whole new level with these people. Evolution in action. Survival of the most duplicitous.

2004-05-24T17:22:00.000-05:00

Priorities.

Haha. The Don has solved the problem of torture by US troops in Iraq. Yes, folks, he's banned cameras from all US installations in the country! Brilliant. I mean, us real Amurkans know that real problem wasn't the torture, but the damn pictures that got leaked to the damn libral media. Right?

Well, anyway, it does give you an idea of where this administrations priorities are. Rather than making sure it stops happening they just want to make sure there aren't any more pictures.

Link via Blah3.

2004-05-24T15:33:00.000-05:00

What The Pentagon Isn't Telling Us.

Former UN Weapon Inspector Scott Ritter writes about the Sarin-filled artillery shell found in Iraq in the Christian Science Monitor:

Given what's known about sarin shells, the US could be expected to offer a careful recital of the data with news of the shell. But facts that should have accompanied the story - the type of shell, its condition, whether it had been fired previously, and the age and viability of the sarin and precursor chemicals - were absent. And that's opened the door to irresponsible speculation that the shell was part of a live WMD stockpile. The data - available to the ISG - would put this development in proper perspective - allowing responsible discussion of the event and its possible ramifications.

Yeeeeees. And why might they withhold that information? I wonder....

2004-05-19T17:54:00.000-05:00

And Yet No One Will Use The Word "Terrorism."

From the Associated Press:

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israeli forces fired a missile and a barrage of tank shells to hold back a crowd of Palestinians protesting military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 10, including children and teens. Overwhelmed doctors treated some of the dozens of wounded on blood-drenched hospital floors.

White smoke rose into the air as Palestinians carried the wounded -- including children with bloodied faces -- from the scene. Some were evacuated to the hospital in donkey carts, witnesses said.

"I could see the tank, first it fired a tank shell, it landed next to an electricity pole," said Hisham Ashour, 45, who was near the front of the crowd. "We immediately started picking up the wounded who had collapsed to the ground. Many of them were kids."

50 people were also wounded, 36 critically.

Israel says they were warning shots. They also claim that only one tank shell (out of four) hit the crowd and that nobody was hurt by the missile. (What exactly did the missile hit then? What were they firing it at?)

The whole thing is complete bullshit. This isn't the first time Israeli soldiers have murdered civilians intentionally, nor the tenth. It's fucking disgusting, it is. The words "war crime," "terrorism," "senseless brutality," and "willful murder of civilian non-combatants" all come to mind, but I think "terrorism" describes it best.

2004-05-19T03:15:00.000-05:00

On Torture.

Bart didn't have the balls to publish my letter (which you can read here.) What a pussy. I bet he pissed himself when he read it.

I don't have the energy to expose all the bullshit in that torture "debate." Needless to say, Bart is being as dumb as a ditto monkey on this subject. I think he's seen way too many action movies where the "good guy" beats up the "bad guy" in order to get information to stop the "bad guy plot." That's not how things work in the real world Bartypoo.

2004-05-18T11:36:00.000-05:00

Two Good Articles From Press Action.

The John-John Campaign -- Holding your nose isn't gonna be enough if McCain becomes Kerry's running mate, you're gonna need a gas mask and three gallons of Lysol. Me? I'll definitely be eating my ballot this year if this happens.

And...

The New Anti-Semitism -- Even if critism of Israeli policies is "factually correct" it's still anti-semitism, because the crimes of "the only Democracy in the Middle East" and "the only Country founded by an Oppressed people" should be given exactly as much attention as those of brutal Dictatorships in the rest of the world. Yeah. Sure.

2004-05-18T10:39:00.000-05:00

Did Someone Say 'Flip-Flop'?

Haha. The 2000 Republican Platform. Fucking priceless. Definitely something to send to any conservative friends one may have.

2004-05-18T06:48:00.000-05:00

Administration Caught In Another Lie.

From the Associated Press, emphesis mine:

Text of e-mails from Beth A. Payne, a U.S. consular officer in Baghdad, to members of the family of Nicholas Berg. Copies of the e-mails were provided to The Associated Press by the Berg family.

March 31, 2004, 3:16 p.m.

I've been trying to return your wife's call, but the line is busy. I attempted to locate your son without success. If I can locate him, I will ask him to call so you know his situation.

April 1, 1:26 a.m. (To Michael Berg, Berg's father)

I have confirmed that your son, Nick, is being detained by the U.S. military in Mosul. He is safe. He was picked up approximately one week ago. We will try to obtain additional information regarding his detention and a contact person you can communicate with directly.

April 1, 5:23 a.m. (To Suzanne Berg, Berg's mother)

I have been able to confirm that your son is being detained by the U.S. military. I am attempting to identify a person with the U.S. military or FBI here in Iraq who you can contact directly with your questions.

April 2, 1:25 p.m.

I have been trying to identify a local contact here, but given the security situation in Iraq it is not easy. I will continue to try.

[Link]

And just in case you've forgotten the official line from the CLICs (Compulsive Liars In Charge):

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A coalition spokesman said Friday that U.S. military police may have been at the Iraqi facility where Nicholas Berg was held before he was killed, but he insisted that Berg was never in U.S. custody, despite reports to the contrary.

"To our knowledge, he was detained by the Iraqi police in Mosul," coalition spokesman Dan Senor told CNN. "He was in Iraqi police custody. He was met by U.S. officials, he was visited three times by the FBI, but at all times, he was in Iraqi custody."

--snip--

Attorney General John Ashcroft said Friday that Berg was in the custody of Iraqi police when he was questioned by the FBI.

Iraqi authorities, of course, confirm that Berg was handed over to US troops after only a brief time in their custody.

[Link]

2004-05-15T02:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, One More.

I'm going to change the title of this blog to "The Bart Is Stupid Blog," cause this is getting ridiculous. What's he done this time? Well, he's completely changed his position without giving so much as a hint that he ever held a different one. He's becoming the liberal Rush.

In regards to the Pat Tillman Special Edition of Bartcop, a reader wrote in with the same point I made about German soldiers dying for their country being heroes too -- under Bart's logic anyway. Here's the exchange:

Reader -- Tillman was stupid and so are you Bart.
He is no more a hero than any German that was stupid
enough to run down and join the SS to kill Jews after
Poland supposedly and falsely attacked Germany.

Bartcop -- Dude, spell it out.
Are you saying anyone who fights for their land is a sap?
If your answer is yes, send your address right away

It's irrelevant here what the reader meant; what matters is what Bart said just a few days ago, echoed several times through the Tillman Edition:

When a man dies for his country he is a hero

See what Bart's done? He stated explicitly that anyone who dies for their country is a hero -- and made it clear over and over again that this is why Tillman was a hero -- but when someone called him on it he acted like he never said it and simply asked the reader if he was saying all people who die for their country are saps!

He's using the fact that Tillman "died for his country" to justify calling him a hero and then he refutes his own position by saying later that not every person who dies for his country is a hero. What a fucking moron.

Bartcop sucks. I mean, it's really fucking sad when someone like me whups your ass three times in one day. I'm just a little nobody out here in blogistan. How can anyone take him seriously?

2004-05-15T01:37:00.000-05:00

Bart's Being Stupid Again.

I'm not going to send a letter about it to Bart, but this:

When [the Taliban] refused to give up bin Laden after 9-11, they invited war, which, is different than declaring war, but after those towers fell there was no doubt. When the Taliban said, "We won't give him up," they invited war...

is just fucking ignorant. It's not just stupid, it's rewriting history. The Taliban didn't refuse point blank to give up Bin Laden, they refused to give him up without proof of his culpability. Now, whether or not they would have still refused if we had offered proof we'll never know because we started bombing a mere weeks later! We didn't wait for any kind of negotiation. We didn't persue any kind of diplomatic route. We didn't even try to press charges in the international legal system. Cause we're the Yoo-Ess-Ay!!!

The bottom line is that Bin Laden was only a suspect at the time. And you're a goddamn fascist imperialist fuckhead just like Bush if you think every other nation on earth has to bow to the will of the United States for no other reason than "we're the Yoo-Ess-Ay!!!"

Now, whether or not you think the Taliban would have given him up upon recieving proof (I myself don't think they would have) doesn't matter -- it is our duty as a supossedly moral and civilized people to TRY. By not even trying to avoid war we are showing ourselves to be the exact opposite of what we purport to be. We are not Just & Righteous -- we are barbarous. We are murderous. We are spiteful and vengeful and uncivilized. We are bullies rather than heroes.

I wouldn't expect the US to give away anyone in it's borders on the mere say-so of another country either, and I feel sure Bart wouldn't either. But these things have to go both ways or the only thing that matters is who has the biggest guns -- and that's not the way the world should work.

And "when those towers fell..." is a cheap fucking ploy used by the BFEE fascists and Right-Wing propogandists to justify EVERYTHING they do; Afghanistan, the Patriot Act, the War in Iraq, Torture, Camp X-Ray. Bart should be ashamed of himself for using these kinds of tactics (which I've noticed he's been doing a lot lately.)

2004-05-15T00:34:00.000-05:00

Another Open Letter To Bartcop.

In response to these ridiculous statements by Bart:

I think torture is rarely justified, but if we had apprehended Mohammed Atta on September 10th, and we knew something BIG was scheduled for the next day, you'd stick with your "torture is wrong - period" principles and let 9-11 happen?

I assume you're anti-murder, most people are, but if you found yourself in Germany in 1937 and had a chance to blow up Hitler's car - would you become a murderer to save 6 to 12 million Jews and tens of thousands of Americans?

It's a sticky point that I've avoided because I see both sides. I haven't put a lot of thought into it, but "imminent" is probably the crux.

If something is going to happen "someday," that's different than something that's going to happen tomorrow. Even the Catholics let you kill for self-defense.

I wrote:

Bart,

By justifying torture at all you are justifying ALL torture. What if Maher Arar's torture had produced usable information? It didn't, but maybe next time. What about at Abu Ghraid? Might some important information have been extracted from a small number of those men -- with the end result being the lives of US soldiers or contractors being saved?

Remember, we are not prescient: if Atta had been in custody prior to 9-11, there is no way anyone could know that he was planning something big or not, just as there was no way of knowing whether Arar was planning anything or not. If you use torture you have to use it in both cases because you just don't know which will be the right case. In the end, innocent people have to be tortured too.

For every case of torture that yields information there will be countless cases like Arar's and the 70-90% of detainees at Abu Ghraib. It's because you can be wrong in your initial assumptions that torture MUST BE RULED OUT BY A MORAL PEOPLE. Being right one time in a hundred or even 99 times out of a hundred cannot justify it, because you can always be wrong about the person from the start. What you want is for the torturers to never make a mistake, which is impossible because they are merely human.

And as for Hitler: you are assuming that if you killed Hitler prior to WW2 that none of it would have happened and that's just ridiculous. Hitler was not the only person involved in the rise of Nazi Germany! Duh. The rise of Nazi Germany was an extremely complex situation with many and diverse causes.

To make my point, imagine that Dubya had been taken out prior to the Iraq war, would that have stopped the war or would Cheney and Rummy and Co. have stepped up and kept going with their plans?

Peace and Good Health,
C Bryan Lavigne

And I remembered to spellcheck this time!

I should've added to the end of that last paragraph: "Hell, they probably would have used it as an excuse to declare war!"

And I didn't go into the "killing Hitler (or Bush) as a baby" scenerio, which likewise would not have changed anything. I might explain why if you ask real, real nice like.

UPDATE! -- Not to toot my own horn here, but I just reread that and I must say: I really stomped some fucking ass with this one. I'm quite proud of meself.

And I should note that opposition to capital punishment follows the same logic as opposition to torture, in that you can't be right every time and that the times when you're wrong completely rule out it's use by a just and moral people.

UPDATE 2! -- And by the way, it wasn't 6-12 million Jews. It was around 6 million Jews and about as many from other groups including: communists, gypsies, intellectuals, gays, liberals, anarchists and other such enemies of the state. Get it right damnit.

2004-05-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

Stupid Bigots.

Dave Gibson is mad. He's mad because gay and pro-gay students are allowed to express themselves while the poor christian minority is persecuted. And he's mad because the ACLU hasn't stepped in to help these teen martyrs. He's obviously under the impression that the ACLU is an omnipresent, omnipotent entity and the only reason they aren't involved is their loathing of good christian people.

What he fails to inform his dumb readers of, though, is that the American Family Association is already involved in the five students' case, making any involvement by an organization like the ACLU unnecessary. Maybe he was unaware of this little factoid, but I doubt it.

Mr. Gibson also thinks that christian students are the only ones who have ever had their rights violated by the American school system. The poor persecuted minority. It's all due to the "religious bigotry" of the "leftist-run public school system," see.

"As usual," he explains "the sodomites enjoy more rights than the rest of us!" Nevermind that gay students are constantly being harassed by other students and have to fight for their rights just like the rest of us. Never let facts stand in the way of good old-fashioned American hate-speech!

Personally, I agree with Mr. Dave, these little christian bigots should be able to express themselves, but that doesn't excuse making stupid arguments, exaggerating claims, omitting facts and generally acting like a retarded monkey.

2004-05-14T00:34:00.000-05:00

I Wonder...

How are they going to blame the results of the Indian election on Al-Queda? In the Washington Post, Salman Rushdie draws a parallel between this election and the Indian election of '77:

Then as now, just about the entire commentariat was convinced that the incumbent would win; then as now, the opposition was widely written off; then as now, India's voters left the politicians and media with egg on their faces.

But doesn't that sound a lot like the Spanish election to you? It sure does to me. And the fact that Leftist, populist parties won in both cases adds to the comparison as well.

Yeah, the reasons for the political shift appear to be somewhat different, with the Indian election coming down to economics while most people seem to think the Spanish election was all and only about terrorism and Iraq (which I personally doubt very seriously.) You can't overlook the similarities though.

P.S. -- The Satanic Verses fucking rocked! Read that book.

2004-05-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

Prosecutorial Misconduct.

If you're a Portland cop and you shoot an unarmed man for driving-while-black, don't worry, the District Attorney will get you off. Police union overjoyed, hopeful for a continuation of this policy to other areas.

The rank-and-file also expressed their optimism: "Open season on Niggers!" screamed one elated city enforcer outside the courthouse. "We're gonna have ourselves some fun now," smirked another officer.

The Klan, the Aryan Nations and the National Alliance all offered their congratulations to Portland law enforcement. The groups also gave thanks to prosecutors John Bradley and Mike Schrunk for their commitment to the cause.

[End note: I know I'm making comedy out of a serious issue here, and I apologize, but I don't think I could type one sentence about this otherwise. This makes me angrier than the Virginia hate-legislation earlier. My hands are literally shaking -- I'm having to correct typos every few words here.

Anyway, go over to Alas, a Blog to get the whole story.]

2004-05-13T23:46:00.000-05:00

Now That I'm Back.

I should remind you to read Confined Space. You won't regret it.

2004-05-13T21:00:00.000-05:00

Phantom Job Growth.

John Crudele writes in the NY Post -- not exactly the most liberal of institutions -- that most of the jobs the Labor Department says were created in April actually weren't. Given the source, I'm willing to give this the benefit of the doubt, but I'd like to hear what a real economist has to say about it. Angry Bear, Kash? Max? Anyone else? If you please.

2004-05-13T20:42:00.000-05:00

Legislating Hate.

The state of Virginia takes a step back in time to ban contact between same-sex individuals. Human Rights Campaign calls it "one of the most discriminatory and restrictive bills in the country."

I say that public demonstrations should be held, where people of the same gender -- gay or straight, doesn't matter -- kiss in public. The greatest weapon you have is your own body; it takes a lot of resources to lock up large numbers of people.

UPDATE! -- Hahahahaha. I misread that story. It's contract, not contact -- there's a goddamn 'R' in the fucking word! Makes more sense now, dunnit? Thanks to Michael of Musing's Musings for pointing out my glaring stupidity.

2004-05-12T20:49:00.000-05:00

I've Got Nothing To Say At The Moment.

Nick Berg's beheading is sad.

Prisoner torture is to be expected -- that's what happens when you have a propoganda machine that makes people believe that anyone who opposes America is a terrorist animal who understands nothing but violence. How did you think they would be treated?

Ann Coulter is still a lying moron. Today she tried to say that there was an Al-Queda/Iraq link and that we did find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. It makes me want to shout "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" over and over again.

And that's about it... Not really anything to post about.

And I've got a cold. I feel like shit.

2004-05-08T23:17:00.000-05:00

Open Letter To BartCop.

Yeah, umm, I went crazy on Ole Bart. Umm, some of it might not be all that clear because I went with a fisking letter rather than solid prose. Anyway, here it is:

BC -- but the Taliban had to be beheaded.

Yes, we just had to get rid of the Taliban and replace them with brutal warlords because they were letting Al-Queda train in their country. Never mind that Al-Queda also trains in Pakistan right next door.

BC -- Only the craziest of doves would think we should have just taken 9-11 and done nothing.

And only the stupidest asshat would think that opposition to the collective punishment of Afghanistan is equal to doing nothing. As was pointed out numerous times prior to the bombing of that country and the endangerment of millions of civillians: There were other ways to deal with the situation using proper international channels. Bush started bombing a mere 3 weeks after 9-11 -- never even pausing to consider other alternatives -- and 5,000 innocent people were slaughtered (not to mention the tens of thousands of people who took up arms to defend the country.)

BC -- I think Bono, Lennon and Martin Luther King would've supported taking down the Taliban.

You should not assume what others would do, especially if they are not here to speak for themselves. The above sentence is exactly the same as Rall putting motives to Pat Tillman's actions.

BC-- I understand people hating "the war," but there are two wars. One had to be fought, the other war was all about oil and greed and revenge. Bush pulled troops off of bin Laden so he could invade Iraq, the bastard.

And the Unocal Gas Pipeline (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2608713.stm) had nothing to do with anything? You don't think they thought about what they could get out of it when they were picking a country to bomb? Why didn't they go after Saudi Arabia & Pakistan then?

"Fighting terrorism" is not synonomous with "destroying Afghanistan" any more than it is with "Occupying Iraq.

BC -- Notice how you had to stetch and exxaggerate "hero" into "superhero" for effect? That tells me "hero" wouldn't work for you because that sounds logical. When a man dies for his country he is a hero - what's wrong with you?

And there have been many hundreds of people who have died for this country over the last few years. Since the Media isn't constantly going on about their sacrifice and they are all heroes as you say, then there must be something special about Tillman. Hence: Superhero.

BC -- If you have proof Tillman was in for a cut from the BFEE - let's see it. What you just said there was stupid.

Just because he's doing the bidding of the BFEE doesn't mean he's getting a cut of the profits. As has been pointed out, he was conned into it by slik propogandists in thousand dollar suites.

BC -- Now you're saying Tillman's death was noble, but it was wasted.

You're not reading very well lately. The writer said "noble gesture."

BC -- Does that mean you're pro-Taliban, and we shouldn't have invaded those nice guys?

"You're against the war in Iraq, so you're obviously pro-Saddam." Sound familiar? Fucking hell man, you are becoming your enemy!

BC -- What does opium have to do with Tillman's death?

Well, his death helped make Afghanistan the Opium capital of the world, so....

BC -- I think men who die for their country shouldn't be called "saps" and "idiots."

So, by that logic, Nazi footsoldiers were "heroes" as well. Obviously, they couldn't be saps and idiots who were manipulated by the propoganda of fear and hate because they died for their country.

Dying in military service is not dying for your country. Learn the fucking diferrence.

BC -- I still haven't found one e-mail that recognizes the fact that Tillman gave up a life of luxury to die for his country.

Yes, because he knew he was gonna die! He was psychic! He obviously didn't think he'd be able to serve his three years and come back to start his career. Never!!!

BC -- Well, my first clue was that he offered his life to defend his country. Generally, those people can be taken at their word.

No, he didn't. There is no defense in either of Bush's wars. Destroying Afghanistan has not stopped terrorists, it has emboldened them. What do you call someone who fights a war that endangers his country?

Ugh. I'm tired of this. I like you, man, but you got a few problems in your thinking sometimes.

Peace and Good Health.

C Bryan Lavigne

Uh, yeah. I think I made a lot of good points. Bart's as retarded on this subject as he is on the subject of the Greens in 2000.

And pardon spelling errors, I forgot to spellcheck before I sent it.

2004-05-08T01:07:00.000-05:00

WND Columnist Refutes His Own Facts.

World Net Daily has gotten even more stupid in my absence. Right-Wing talk radio asshat Dennis Prager wrote an anti-gay marriage column for them a couple of days ago and I didn't even have to look up any sources to refute it in my letter to the editor -- he did the work for me!

It's basically your standard gay-bashing bullshit. He argues that it's a solid fact that children are better off when raised by heterosexual parents. And apparently, gay marriage would legally deprive children who are already being raised by same sex couples of their right to this better environment. Pretty stupid, eh?

This is where it gets funny though, later on in his own column he refutes his very own assertion that hetero couples are better for children. I quote:

As Professor Don Browning of the University of Chicago recently wrote in the New York Times, "We know next to nothing" about the effects of same-sex parenting on children."

"The body of sociological knowledge about same-sex parenting," he and his co-author wrote, "is scant at best. ... There are no rigorous, large-scale studies on the effect of same-sex marriage on the couples' children."

"Steven Nock, a leading scholar of marriage at the University of Virginia, wrote in March 2001 after a thorough review that every study on this question 'contained at least one fatal flaw' and 'not a single one was conducted according to generally accepted standards of scientific research.'"

So, an intelligent reader will ask, how can he claim that "a child does best with a good mother and good father" if there are no reliable studies on the effects of same-sex marriage on children? Well, the answer to that is easy, he writes for WND. Duh!

Dennis Prager really is a moron of the highest order -- any dumber and he'd drown trying to drink a glass of water. I can't believe he gets paid for this dribble. Fuck. Why don't I get paid for my dribble?

2004-03-12T17:08:00.000-05:00

I'm Gone, I'm Gone, I'm Gone.

There's been a death in the family, so I'll be gone for several days.

Peace and Good Health.

2004-03-10T22:39:00.000-05:00

A Song For You.

"The Preacher and the Slave" -- by Joe Hill, executed here many years ago for his political beliefs; but he ain't dead, no, he ain't dead. Sung to the tune of "Sweet Bye and Bye."

Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer with voices so sweet:
CHORUS:
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

The starvation army they play,
They sing and they clap and they pray
'Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they'll tell you when you're on the bum:

Holy Rollers and jumpers come out,
They holler, they jump and they shout.
Give your money to Jesus they say,
He will cure all diseases today.

If you fight hard for children and wife --
Try to get something good in this life --
You're a sinner and bad man, they tell,
When you die you will sure go to hell.

Workingmen of all countries, unite,
Side by side we for freedom will fight;
When the world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters we'll sing this refrain:

FINAL CHORUS:
You will eat, bye and bye,
When you've learned how to cook and to fry.
Chop some wood, 'twill do you good,
And you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye.

I love that fuckin' song.

Click Here for a little history about the song and where it came from.

2004-03-10T22:19:00.000-05:00

Karen Kwiatkowski's Story.

Check it out.

Lengthy, but important.

2004-03-09T17:34:00.000-05:00

Resident Preserves.

From Factivism:

"This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve." -- George W Bush speaking during PERSEVERANCE Month at Fairgrounds Elementary School in Nashua, N.H.

Hahahahahahahaha.

2004-03-09T17:20:00.000-05:00

Stupid Teachers.

I'm sure Fundies will see no problem with this, which highlights their total disregard for the health and well-being of "the children." An elementary school teacher showed his students a bootleg copy of Passion of the Christ -- a movie which has already led to the death of at least one movie-goer (which adds some credence to the claims that it is one of the most violent movies ever.) Asshole. Suspension is too good for him.

UPDATE! -- More info here.

2004-03-09T17:03:00.000-05:00

Even A Ph.D. Can Be A Moron.

Matt at Morons.org demonstrates.

2004-03-09T16:04:00.000-05:00

An Update On Anarchy Class At Fort Lewis College.

From Infoshop:

"If ten people walk beyond civilization and build a new sort of life for themselves, then those ten are already living in the next paradigm from the first day. They don't need to belong to a party or a movement. They don't need laws to be passed. They don't need permits. They don't need a constitution. They don't need tax exempt status. For those ten, the revolution will already have succeeded."

--snip--

It was the first day of Professor Mark Seis' "Deconstructing Systems in the Pursuit of Anarchy," class at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. A class about anarchy which was taught by an "authority" on the subject... how ironic to explore the idea of a world without a state in a class funded by the state. Seis met the hypocrisy with open arms and dug right in. He had started off the semester with visionary novelist Daniel Quinn's quote, not realizing how strongly this juxtaposition of anarchy and authority would carry through to the end of the semester.

Read The Rest.

UPDATE! -- Oops, no, I think that's the same article as before. No new info there. That's what I get for posting before I've finished reading. It's a good article though; worth the time to read it.

And ya know, I didn't realize this before: It's fucking hilarious that conservatives want an "Academic Bill of Rights" that would require more conservative teachers to be hired. Sounds a bit like Affirmative Action to me (except it's stupid.) It just shows-ta-go-ya that Right-Wingers don't really mind "quotas" at all -- just as long as they're the ones who benefit from them. Ha. Hilarious. Fuciking brilliant.

2004-03-09T15:28:00.000-05:00

Yet Another Reason To Save Hubble.

Hubble has just taken the deepest picture of the Universe ever, a mere month after the dumb fucks at NASA (under orders from the White House, I'm sure, but time will tell,) gave a final "no" to keeping the telescope going. Fucking bureaucrats and whores.

Hubble is not lost yet though, Representative Mark Udall has introduced a bill in the House to save our greatest scientific resource. Don't expect those fucks to do anything about it though -- unless we show them how important it is. Write your Rep in the House and tell them to support the Save Hubble Bill and then write your Senators and tell them to take some damn initiative on this matter. And maybe then you might try writing the Resident Shrub, but I doubt that ignorant little shit will listen. You can find all the contact info for your elected officials at Act For Change.

UPDATE! -- Oh, yeah, check out the cool pictures at the Hubble Website.

2004-03-09T14:40:00.000-05:00

Okay, Here We Go....

First my phone got cut off, but I got that taken care of in a couple days. Then I played paintball for two days. Then I was too sore to move for a day. And now my computer has crashed and I haven't been able to figure out what the problem is.

The hard drive is fine and I got most of my data backed up, but it doesn't power on anymore. I don't know. Fuck it, I've set up my old 233MHz piece-o-shit-o-matic for the time being. I'll try to get posting again tomorrow; right now I've got to install all the programs I need on this computer and try to find the user manual for my other motherboard so I can figure out what's wrong with the damn thing.

Until later: Peace and good health.

UPDATE! -- Okay, maybe I will post today.

2004-03-02T18:27:00.000-05:00

Taking A Break.

I've been feeling a bit off the last few days, but it's much worse today. I'm having to write every post four or five times before I publish, and if you'll look at my last two posts you'll realize how extremely bad that is. I think I'm gonna have to take the rest of the day off from writing. I'll probably be manic again by tomorrow -- it's just how my mental disease works I'm afraid.

2004-03-02T18:10:00.000-05:00

Saving Iraq.

124 Iraqi and Iranian Shi'ites were killed in apparent mortar attacks as they gathered on one of their holy days.

Didn't anyone expect something like this to happen? Fucking incompetent bastards.

UPDATE! -- Knight Ridder says the blasts were suicide attacks and places the death toll at 143.

2004-03-02T17:53:00.000-05:00

Haiti -- The Coup Goes On.

Rebel declares himself head of Haitian Army. It's only a matter of time before one of the murdering fucks "declares" himself President.

Looks like the US's plan to save Haiti from Democracy is almost complete.

2004-03-02T17:33:00.000-05:00

Israeli Settlements Becoming Bigger Problem.

Construction in the illegal Israeli Settlements increased by 35% last year, proof of the Israeli government's blatant disregard for any "peace process" they happen to be involved in. Growth in the settlements far outpaced growth in Israel proper.

At the same time the US, showing it's spinelessness and cronyism, deducted a whopping $290 million dollars from the $9 billion in loan guarantees to their favorite client state. Ariel Sharon is currently laughing his ass off as he plans for the future expulsion of all Arabs between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River (okay, I'm being melodramatic, but if you think ethnic cleansing isn't even a possibility you need to wake the fuck up and take a good look at history.)

2004-03-01T15:41:00.000-05:00

Some Good News For A Change.

Only ["only", like any is acceptable at all really -- ed.] 23 "Coalition" troops killed in February -- down considerably from previous months.

And one of my friends who's been pullin' duty in the Sunni Triangle for the last year came home the other day (we're all wondering if he'll get sent back though.)

Coalition is in parentheses, by the way, because 20 of those deaths were American. That's some fuckin' coalition, eh?

UPDATE! -- Elvis56 from the Lunaville Blog (which I keep forgetting to add to the blogroll damnit,) reminds me that the lag in "Coaliton" casualties is due in part to the fact that Iraqi security forces are bearing a larger amount of casualties now. 267 dead and 309 wounded in February by his estimation. I knew that -- really, I did. I just forgot to mention it.

2004-03-01T12:56:00.000-05:00

Collective Punishment.

The Bush Junta hits back at San Francisco:

The Bush administration has taken its first bureaucratic poke at same-sex marriages in San Francisco, ordering administrators nationwide to reject requests for name changes on Social Security accounts based on any marriage licenses -- same-sex or opposite-sex -- recently issued by the city.

--snip--

"What the president did today is both political and retaliatory,'' [SF Mayor Gavin] Newsom said. "He is now discriminating against San Franciscans gay and straight. We are consulting with the city attorney and will take immediate steps to get this directive overturned.''

Link (via Morons.org again.)

2004-03-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

Destroying Your Precious Constitution Piece By Piece.

This time it's the "balance of power" aspect as the House of Representatives attempts to limit the power of the Supreme Court:

"Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an element of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official personal capacity), by reason of that element's or officer's acknowledgement of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government."

Nice. Might want to write your Rep. in the House on this. You can do so easily from Working For Change.

2004-03-01T11:59:00.000-05:00

The Anti-Rant: Being Offensive And Disgusting On Purpose.

My life will be complete if I ever get charged with obscenity. All it takes is one stray pig-fucker dropping in. Just ask Mike Diana. How can people even pretend that we have freedom of speech in this country when you can be fined, jailed, banned from being near children, barred from making art and/or numerous other punishments for "obsenity," which doesn't even have a concrete definition. The FCC are a bunch of book burning fucks. If you think I'm fucked up or outta my fucking mind now, wait another twenty or thirty years and see how I bust shit out. A couple decades of absorption is going to put a razor's edge on my fifty-pound phallic bludgeon of a mind. You better hope I die of some kind of drug overdose (not fucking likely,) or am murdered by those CIA dog-fuckers (a bit more likely) or take a dive out of a NY penthouse into a crowd of unsuspecting pedestrians (quite possible, if I ever get to NY.) Reagan bombed Nicaragua. Clinton bombed Yugoslavia. What's the difference? Star Trek is superior to Star Wars -- and we didn't have to wait twenty years for the goddamn first half just to have our expectations dashed by Jar-Jar "Fucking" Binks. No munchkins in furry suits either. TOS kinda blew though. Natch. People tell me I'm not allowed to say faggot because I'm not gay. Fuck you. I'm fighting for your fucking rights here; the least you could do is tolerate my last -- dear -- male chauvinist habits. I grew up in West Virginia for fuck's sake, where they label you as gay if you have more than one pair of shoes (two if you've got work boots.) It's a fucking miracle I'm not a god-damn Nazi Christian Fundamentalist. If it'll make you feel better you can suck my cock and then I'll be in your club. But no brown, I only ride the choco train with beautiful women when they ask nicely. Strippers usually beg. Of course, lots of them will do just about anything for a few pills and some speed anyway. John Kerry is Bill Clinton minus the charisma. Those two whores would fuck their grandmothers' bones if they thought there was a vote in it. Or even their grandfathers' bones. Probably even your grandparents' bones. I really could use that blowjob right now. I can't believe you people want Kerry as the man to take on Bush. If there is an anti-christ, Bush is it; he is, after all, trying to dominate the world through war and trickery. Rush Limbaugh is a fucking moron -- really. I fucked Ann Coulter in the ass back when she was stripping three nights a week to put herself through law school. Alan Greenspan needs to be assassinated. The Left needs to be more militant. You're gonna wish you were armed when they break in your door to drag you off to the Gulag for being "unpatriotic." I'm starting a militia. An anarchist militia. I don't wash my hands after I masturbate.

Ah, I feel better now.

2004-03-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

Wow, I Haven't Gotten Straight A's Since Grade School.

Thanks to The Lefty Review for the great review. My ego can always use a good pumping. Now if I could only get someone to take care of the other thing I need pumped a little more often. Haha.

2004-02-29T09:35:00.000-05:00

Haiti.

Head over to Body and Soul for lots of reading on the situation in Haiti.

It amazes me that the human rights abuse that is our policy towards the refugees is not getting any play in the US. Let me make it clear for you: sending people back to Haiti is a blatant violation of international law and human rights. Why isn't this big news? Fucking media whores.

2004-02-29T09:02:00.000-05:00

The Hate Amendment Dying Quickly.

OxBlog's tally of support and opposition finds that there are now 44 Senators (including 5 Republicans) against The Hate Amendment and still only 29 for it. I'm starting to breath a little easier.

2004-02-29T08:35:00.000-05:00

Tom, Dick, Harry And Whoever Else Wants In.

They're at it again. One more Right-Wing Fundy asshat argues against gay marriage on the basis that it will lead to polygamy (and beastiality, cause ya know, a dog is a consenting adult capable of making it's own decision on the matter.) The only arguement he gives against polygamy -- besides that it's a "sin" and polygamists are all "sick," just like the faggots -- is that multiple spouse families would be complicated for insurerers. That's it? Because there are questions raised about benefits that will have to be answered we should deny people's right to make their own decisions? Haha, that's weak dude.

Also, there's a bit about how even if gays made up a majority of society it'd still be alright to deny them their rights... Cause they're still "sinners." Yup, these fuckers just love Democracy and shit.

2004-02-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

More On Nader.

I've got another lengthy post on Nader and Democrats bouncing around in my head, but I'm not yet sure if it'll ever come out. In the meantime, Chuck0 (the busiest little anarchist) at Monumental Mistake points out a good article from Mickey Z. over at Press Action:

This reality doesn't stop "alternative" writers like Loeb from self-defeating rhetoric like this: "Assuming the admittedly flawed John Kerry becomes the Democratic nominee, progressives do not have to support him blindly. We can work to unite historically separated progressive movements and keep raising core issues no matter who's elected in November."

Yeah, just like all the "progressives" lined up to fight Clinton's assaults on international law and social programs. Where were the liberals when Clinton bombed Yugoslavia? Where were the Nazi analogies, Hitler mustaches, and MoveOn.orgs then? Who was "raising core issues" when Clinton abandoned his pledge to consider offering asylum to Haitian refugees, reneged on his promise to "take a firm stand" against the armed forces' ban on gays and lesbians, and backed away from his most high-profile campaign issue: health care? (Kerry has already warned us: "The same people who helped me formulate my health care plan are the people who helped formulate the Clinton budget in the 1990s.") What about when Bill signed NAFTA, increased the Pentagon budget by $25 billion, fired Jocelyn Elders, dumped Lani Guinier, and passed a crime bill that gave us more cops, more prisons, and 58 more offenses punishable by death. Where was Loeb's historical unity as Clinton was delivering a telecommunications bill further narrowing the already laughable parameters of public debate and as he was signing the welfare repeal bill and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act?

Did we see an Anyone-But-Bill movement when Clinton perpetrated environmental crimes like the passage of the salvage logging rider, the signing of the Panama Declaration, the continuation of the use of methyl bromide, the weakening of the Endangered Species Act, the lowering of grazing fees on land, subsidizing Florida's sugar industry, weakening the Safe Drinking Water Act, reversing the ban on the production and importation of PCBs, and allowing the export of Alaskan oil?

Which is what I've been trying to say. Most "liberals" always do the same thing: fight tooth and nail when a Repug is in the White House and then roll over and play dead when a Dem is in. They care nothing about what is right and what is wrong -- they simply want their bastard running things. It doesn't matter how many times they get fucked, they still prefer their "lesser of two evils." Kickin' Hitler outta the bed to make room for Stalin.

2004-02-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

Right-Wing Pussies.

Why is it that Right-Wingers never offer their contact information when they write? (Although I'd say you can hardly call it "writing." It's more like throwing shit at a wall.) For instance, I would soooo like to give this asshole a piece of my mind.

Among other things he says that no matter what anyone says "homosexuality is something you can choose." Evidence? No, he gives no evidence for this, although there is mounds of evidence to the contrary. It really doesn't matter anyway, since even choices should be given equal protections. Speech, after all, is a choice.

He also argues that marriage rights aren't about equal benefits because [emphasis mine] "civil unions provide most of those." Most? Ain't that the fucking point? "Most" isn't good enough. Separate is not equal.

He lambastes the movement for comparisons to the 60's civil right's struggles. He asserts -- wrongly -- that marriage is "traditionally" a religious institution. (FYI, the church didn't get involved in marriage until 1215 A.D. Prior to that it was purely a secular legal contract between two people.) He's clueless about what the Massachusetts Supreme Court actually did. And to top it all off he has no idea what the word "anarchy" means.

But I can't give him a verbal ass-whoopin' cuz the pansy fuck is too chickenshit to provide an e-mail address with his column. I had the same problem the other day. And the day before that. What is it with these people?

2004-02-27T08:13:00.000-05:00

Propaganda At The Hague.

Here's a good Op-Ed by Yoel Marcus in Ha'aretz:

It's been a long time since I've felt so small, uncomfortable and red-faced as during the show of whining and whimpering organized by Israel at The Hague. Colorful posters displaying photographs of 935 terror victims; Zaka rescue team workers led by Yehuda Meshi Zahav wearing their "work clothes"; memorial candles; parents talking about the pain of bereavement; doctors describing the savage nature of the suicide bombers; the wreckage of a burnt-out bus with a bereaved mother standing next to it, distributing "one-way tickets" - these are just some of the sights.

At the Foreign Ministry, these demonstrations are seen as an appropriate "J'accuse" against those who dare to put us in the guilty seat. In practice, it is a display of wretchedness and woe designed to tug at the heartstrings of international public opinion - like beggars who show off the stump of an arm or leg to make the world feel sorry for them.

--snip--

At their demonstrations, the Palestinians could pull out photographs of more than 3,000 victims. As for playing on the emotions, they could easily flaunt their suffering. They could dwell on their destroyed homes and the torment they endure at army checkpoints. But instead of harping on their misfortunes, they have focused on Israel's occupation policies and the security fence. They have appealed to the world's sense of justice, while we seek the world's pity.

Tru-dat.

2004-02-27T07:47:00.000-05:00

The Illegal Wall.

Infoshop has posted links to numerous news articles and contact information for government officials in the US, Israel and Britain. Read up and Take Action.

2004-02-27T07:42:00.000-05:00

That's Fucked Up.

From The Guardian:

China had evicted 300,000 people from their homes in Beijing to prepare for the 2008 summer Olympics, the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (Cohre) said yesterday.

The group said the evictions were part of a global crisis which saw an average of six million people illegally thrown out of their homes every year.

The mayor of Beijing, Wang Qishan, admitted on Saturday that in some cases the demolition of homes and evictions had been conducted illegally.

[Link]

2004-02-26T16:36:00.000-05:00

Strong Words Are Needed This Day!

Strong words like these:

Excuse me, kind reader, but now that President Bush has officially sought to codify discrimination against millions of American citizens in a way that denies their very worth and dignity as human beings, rejects their love for one another as something other than Love, withholds the 1,049 rights & protections afforded heterosexual married couples, robs their children of the rights & privileges enjoyed by children of heterosexual parents (married or unmarried), and condemns the families they already nurture to indefinite social limbo, I can no longer refrain from saying: George Bush, I will not be your post-modern nigger.

There's more. Read it. Now. This I command.

And then, if you haven't already, sign the Million For Marriage Petition -- because sanctity is a religious term, but words like love and freedom and equality transcend all human boundaries.

Thanks to Damn Foreigner.

2004-02-26T14:01:00.000-05:00

Egad! I Got Money From The Music Industry!

Thirteen dollars and eighty-six cents to be exact, as a part of the settlement reached by the Music Industry and Attorney Generals of 43 states, commonwealths and territories. It came in the mail this morning attached to a nice letter form the state AG. Nifty. I didn't think anything would come of it when I signed up.

Go to CD Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation Settlement (and ain't that a mouthful,) if you have absolutely no clue what I am talking about.

2004-02-26T12:44:00.000-05:00

Obligatory Confined Space Link Of The Day.

There is a reason why Confined Space is my favorite blog and why I link to it constantly. Maybe it's how angry I get reading it (not angry at Jordan, mind you, but about the issues.) Maybe I just like to know how employers -- with the aid of "our" government -- fuck us time and time again. And maybe it's just a really fucking good blog that everyone should be reading on a daily basis.

2004-02-26T10:42:00.000-05:00

How You Pick A Democratic Candidate.

Via Dohiyi Mir comes this article from Slate:

Princeton social psychologist Solomon Asch showed a room of participants a series of slides displaying sets of vertical lines. Two of these lines were clearly the same length, while the others were obviously very different. The subjects were then given the seemingly trivial task of identifying which pair of lines were the same. But there was a trick: Everyone in the room except for one person had been instructed beforehand to give the same incorrect answer. The real subject of the experiment was the lone unwitting participant, and the real test was of an individual's ability to disagree with his or her peers.

Asch demonstrated a stunning effect: Faced with a decision that, in isolation, no one would ever get wrong, the unwitting subjects went against the evidence of their own eyes about one-third of the time.

And thus you end up with John Kerry as President. Or John Edwards. Or Howard Dean. Or George Bush. But Not Dennis Kucinich.

Interesting stuff. Read the rest if you want. NTodd has some good comments too.

What do I think? My view can be summed up with a single sound: "Duh!" It's called pack mentality people -- it's nothing new. You see it a lot when you're younger. I guess, like so many things, you forget when you get older. Or maybe you think it goes away. It doesn't.

And people don't necessarily have to disbelieve what they've seen to follow the crowd. [Slight edit.] You can say "it's A" when it's actually B and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is B. There doesn't have to be any "hindsight bias" involved. It's simply a choice. Dissent or normality?

2004-02-26T08:49:00.000-05:00

Today's Laugh-Fest.

Pacific Views has a funny ass transcript from the Daily Show. Ah, [sigh], I miss the Daily Show (I'm currently without cable channels above number 55.)

2004-02-26T07:55:00.000-05:00

Hypocrisy On The Treatment Of POW's.

Repeat after me: It's bad when they do it, but fine when we do it.

Again: It's bad when they do it, but fine when we do it.

One more time!

Oh, sorry. Anyway, here's the FAIR article analyzing this particular hypocrisy.

2004-02-26T07:10:00.000-05:00

Haha. Greenspan Is Such A Dumb Fuck.

So, which would you rather have: higher taxes for the richest 1% or a higher retirement age and less social security benefits? I seem to remember about a hundred thousand people bringing this up every time there was another ~~jobs and growth plan~~ ~~economic growth plan~~ tax cut for the rich. Just because the government prints the money doesn't mean they can just pull it outta their collective ass. It's gotta come from somewhere.

UPDATE! -- Dumbass quote of the week from rushlimbaugh.com:

"[CNN] reported that Greenspan said: We Must Raise Taxes, or We'll Have to Cut Social Security. Greenspan isn't saying that. He's saying that Social Security benefits are going to have to be reduced for future recipients otherwise tax increases will be necessary to pay for them."

Yes, Rush really did say that. I'm not even going to bother explaining the absurdity of this statement. If you don't understand... Well... You're retarded. Sorry.

2004-02-26T06:52:00.000-05:00

Gay Marriage And Civil Unions.

Some gay rights activists -- such as myself -- might be disheartened by polls which show that while people oppose the marriage amendment (48-41) they also overwhelmingly oppose legalized gay marriage (64-30.)

You shouldn't let this get to you though. These same polls show that support for so-called "civil unions" is about equal to support for "full marriage rights." Add them both together and you've got a majority. (It's a supa-majority in places like California where support for legal recognition is a combined 70%.)

We really should be focusing more of our energy on converting these "civil union" people, in my opinion. These people are libertarian thinkers, but they still hold certain christian prejudices due to the environment they were raised in. It really shouldn't be all that hard to convince them as to why civil unions just aren't enough. They aren't hardcore religious fanatics or bigots or anything; they're just misinformed and misguided.

I think all we really need to do is put more emphasis on "separate but equal." Instead of referring to them simply as "civil unions" we need to label them as what they are: "separate-but-equal civil unions."

It's really as simple as that. People already know that "separate but equal" isn't actually equal in any sense, they just haven't connected the dots between that and civil unions. All you have to do is make the connection and something inside goes "ding" and voila, you have a full marriage rights proponent. That's how it worked with me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

So I propose that from now on when you bring up civil unions on your blog or in conversation with friends you tack on "separate but equal" as an adjective. Try it now:

"Separate-but-equal civil unions." Make it a habit. Hammer it in.

2004-02-26T05:27:00.000-05:00

Fact Vs. Fiction -- Bush More Divergent From Reality Than Ever.

American Progress dissects $hrub's speech to the Republican Governors Association. Short Version: Lie, lie, another lie, one more lie and yet more lies.

2004-02-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

I'm Feeling Very Hostile Today.

I feel weird leaving comments at other people's blogs. Especially when I think I may offend someone. Not with my views, mind you, but with my general use of language. As regular readers are fully aware, I like to say "fuck" a lot. And "cocksucker." And "whore." And "shit." And "faggot." And myriad other such foul and obscene words and phrases. Though I only use the N-word when I think it's incredibly relevant; and I apologize profusely for it.

I was going to comment on this post at The Right Christians -- a nice Progressive Christian blog, by the way -- but after typing it out I felt safer bringing my comments over to my own home where I don't have to feel strange about saying "fuck" half a dozen times. I refuse to censor myself is the problem (though I have in the past, which I regret.) If there were other words I could use to express how I feel I would use them. There aren't.

On to the subject.

This quote from a Fundy mayor in butt-fuck Iowa is what set me off in the first place:

"My beliefs come from my faith. .... We can debate whether this lifestyle is hereditary or a choice or whatever. If I pass this ordinance and in 10 years we see here what's happening now in San Francisco, I'd throw up my guts," Ferris stated. "I don't condone this lifestyle."

These fucking people piss me off. There are no words for the level of loathing I have for them. It's a very simple goddamn principle they're failing to grasp here: Tolerance and freedom do not mean that you have to condone anyone else's choices. It does, however, mean that you have to honor everybody's right to make their own choices. I don't happen to condone Nazi fuckheads like this asshole, but I honor their unalienable right to be who they are and believe what they want.

What the hell is so fucking hard to understand about that simple... mother... fucking... concept? I think I learned it somewhere between kindergarten and middle school. Were these fuckers out to lunch when their class was learning about freedom and democracy from the Constitution and other such old and not incredibly abhorrible documents? (Not that I put much faith in old, yellow pieces of paper myself -- especially ones that a government is built on -- but there are some worthy principles hidden away in there.)

My head is going to explode with anger. Nah, I'm too stoned for that. I think I'm gonna take a midday nap before I have to work.

2004-02-24T07:44:00.000-05:00

About Nader.

I've said in a few comments around the blogosphere that I might vote for Nader this year. I've said here that I might not vote at all. I don't know. I'm feeling increasingly alienated by mainstream democrats as time goes on (I have at least tried to get along with them since 2000 though.) And Kerry sucks. You can't deny that. Kerry does suck. His record bares this out.

Anyway, I don't want to defend Nader. Lots of the things people are saying about him are true. Except that whole "spoiler" thing -- that's just bullshit and if you believe it you need to read a fucking book. Nader didn't disenfranchise 90,000 people in Florida, you dumbasses, the Repugs did that. (By the way, for a good criticism of Nader go read Max's post.)

About the ego thing though, come on! What Presidential candidate isn't an ego-fucking-maniac? Do you really think any of these other fucks are running for the office out of some sense of civic duty? Puh-lease. And people call me naive and idealistic. Pull your head outta your ass for a minute and take a good look at reality.

These people want power and they want their names in the history books and they want to control the fate of the country for 4-8 years. They think they'd do a better job than anyone else. And whether you believe them or not -- or even whether it's true or not -- it takes one hell of a giant ego to think like that about oneself. Ego isn't irrelevant just because a candidate happens to be sanctioned by one of the two parties.

As Dwight Eisenhower once said "Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy."

Or maybe Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Broder put it best when he said "Anyone that wants the presidency so much that he'll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office."

The bottom line is that anyone who wants the office is not worthy of it, so stop it with all the false indignation. Your candidate is no more noble or righteous or selfless than any other. He might do a better job, but that's debatable. It's also a whole nudder post.

[Slightly edited for clarity.]

2004-02-24T04:30:00.000-05:00

War Crimes.

Another iraqi civilian has died in British custody. The Brits say "heart attack." The family of the victim says "bullshit -- he was beaten to death."

2004-02-24T04:17:00.000-05:00

The Sky Is Falling!

The Guardian and Fortune report that the Pentagon is predicting some serious ecological problems in the next few decades. It's pretty scary stuff. I'm not going to quote anything -- you should really go read the entire thing.

And then try and tell me that the Democrats are going to save us from it. I really don't think I'm gonna vote this year. Maybe never again. I've tried to be open-minded about voting and not take the extreme anarchist position on the matter, but you people make it really hard.

2004-02-24T03:42:00.000-05:00

Understatements 'R' Us.

Conal Urquhart in Newsday:

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians protested the Israeli security wall that dips into their territories Monday, as the International Court of Justice in the Hague began considering the barrier's legality.

"Dips into their territories"? "Dips"? This is far more than "dipping into the territories" you stupid bastard. (Here's a more detailed map if you're interested.)

2004-02-23T09:55:00.000-05:00

Calling All Anarchists.

By the way, if you happen to be an Anarchist, you should sign up for the Anarchy Meet Up in your area (takes place on the fourth monday of every month.) It's especially important if you don't have any local organization or Infoshop or whatnot. At the moment I'm the only anarchist in the Charleston area who's signed up (for all I know I'm the only one here at the moment) -- and only one of four in all of West Virginia. I really gotta move to a bigger city.

2004-02-23T09:17:00.000-05:00

The Illegal Wall.

A Wall As A Weapon -- by Noam Chomsky. I can't believe the NY Whore Times actually had the balls to publish an Op-Ed like this.

Palestinians Ready For Hearing Of The ICJ -- (Xinhuanet.)

Wall Will Render Two-State Solution "Practically Impossible" -- ICJ Ruling Could Lead Way For Sanctions Against Israel -- by Tali Nir, Ha'aretz Correspondent

2004-02-23T08:59:00.000-05:00

The Canadian Health Care System.

If you believe what Right-Wingers say, you might be under the impression that the Canadian Health Care System is an unmitigated disaster. To bad that that assertion just isn't true.

An impressive array of data shows that Canadians live longer, healthier lives than we do. What's more, they pay roughly half as much per capita as we do ($2,163 versus $4,887 in 2001) for the privilege.

Exactly why Canadians fare better is the subject of considerable academic debate. Some policy experts say it's Canada's single-payer, universal health coverage system. Some think it's because our neighbors to the north use fewer illegal drugs and shoot each other less often with guns (though they smoke and drink with gusto, albeit somewhat less than Americans).

Still others think Canadians are healthier because their medical system is tilted more toward primary care doctors and less toward specialists. And some believe it's something more fundamental: a smaller gap between rich and poor.

Perhaps it's all of the above. But there's no arguing the basics.

"By all measures, Canadians' health is better," says Dr. Barbara Starfield, a university distinguished professor at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Canadians "do better on a whole variety of health outcomes," she says, including life expectancy at various ages.

Read the Rest

Related reading: Take It From A Patient -- Canada's System Works.

2004-02-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

Holy Cock And Balls Batman!

This is goddamn fucking funny as hell. And it's all true. Thanks to Bunny for the tip (and thanks in turn to Rob for pointing out Bunny's blog.)

And no, that headline has nothing to do with the link, I thought it up earlier and just wanted to use it. As skippy might say, maybe I need to fire the headline writer.

The other one I thought up was "Hold my cock and balls Batman," but I maintain my belief that Batman and Robin are not gay. They're all about the mutha-fuckin' clam! Although Batman is a bit swishy.

And on a completely different subject, but not wholly unrelated: I'm thinking of selling my soul to Satan in order to spend time in Hell torturing Fundies for being false prophets and unrepentant sinners and hypocrites and other such punishable offenses. Does anyone know how I can contact the dark one, Lucifer the Morning Star? I tried sacrificing a virgin goat on an alter made of cast iron and human bone, but I don't think I got the chants quite right. Any suggestions?

And -- again -- no, I haven't gone crazy; meth just does weird things to me.

2004-02-20T20:19:00.000-05:00

Produce Your Papers Citizen, Or Else It's The Gulag For You!

I'll probably forget before then, and it most likely won't make national headlines, but The Dudley Hiibel Case goes before the Supreme Court on March 22nd. Hiibel -- you may not be aware of this -- was jailed for "failure to cooperate" with a fascist pig who stopped him and demanded to see his ID after Hiibel broke absolutely no laws whatsoever. There's video of the incident at the link above if you're interested and a text account if you're not in the mood for AV.

This is not exactly the ideal Supreme Court to hear these kinds of cases, cock full of Right-Wing fucks as it is, but here's hoping for a good outcome.

Thanks to SpiderFarmer for the head's up.

2004-02-20T18:31:00.000-05:00

Action Alert! -- Equal Rights Under The Law!

Via that damn foreign guy, sign the Million For Marriage Petition.

Also, check out Manish's post on his trip down to San francisco. Excerpt:

Basically, there was a crowd of about 50 people outside City Hall. The City had decided to hand out numbers to people so there was no lineup of people to get in when I got there. The crowd was simply cheering every time someone walked out of the building after getting married. People were throwing rice, some blowing bubbles, handing out wedding cake and donuts. It was a festive occasion. [...]

Read the rest, it's heart-warming.

UPDATE! -- And here's another wonderful first-hand account. I'm getting all teary-eyed. I really am. Grinning from ear to ear I am.

2004-02-20T17:21:00.000-05:00

What The Fuck Is Wrong With People!?!?

This debate over Gay Marriage is fucking ridiculous. I'm going bonkers watching Crossfire on CNN.

Jerry Falwell can't justify his position without turning to religion. He seems oblivious to fact that the rest of us are supposed to be free from his religion as much as he is free to follow it. "Homosexuality is sin. It's unnatural. Blah Blah Blah. I'm a big fat bigot." The guy's an asshole. Giant fucking asshole. With warts.

Willie Brown -- the ex-mayor of San Fran -- sounds great until he condemns polygamy. Hey dumbass, the number of spouses is as much anyone else's business as the sexuality of said spouses. As in, none. As long as all parties are consenting adults it doesn't matter one goddamn fig how many people marry each other and how many kids they have. I, personally, hope one day to have a loving, long-term relationship with two bi-sexual women -- who the fuck are you to tell me I can't? Who are you to tell us our relationship is wrong? You're the same as Falwell.

Both sides of this debate are pissing me off.

And everywhere I turn fundies are screaming about the legality of the San Francisco marriages. Do I have to remind people again that no person has the obligation to uphold, live by or allow to exist any unjust law. In fact, I'd say we have a moral obligation to fight such laws without concern for our own life and limb if necessary. Countless struggles throughout the years rested on just this belief. Civil Rights. Abolition. Suffrage. The Labor Struggles. Our own Revolutionary War. These struggles would have been lost if people hadn't taken it upon themselves to break laws -- often at the expense of their own life, liberty or health. We owe it to them as well as ourselves to do the same if necessary.

Bah. I'm pissed off. This really pisses me off. Fucking assholes are always trying to get people to believe that their not bigots, but they are! You can't deny it.

Bigot n. -- One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

That describes these fuckers to a "T". They're bigots. B-I-G-O-T-S.

Oh, wait, that definition has a word some Righties might not understand.

Intolerant adj. -- Not tolerant, especially:
2. Opposed to the inclusion or participation of those different from oneself, especially those of a different racial, ethnic, or social background.

So stop trying to hide it. Admit it. You're a bigot. Go join the Klan you stupid fuck. I hate you (but I don't want to take away any of your rights -- that's what makes me a tolerant person.)

2004-02-20T08:25:00.000-05:00

My Favorite British Whistleblower.

Maybe you've heard about Katherine Gun, who was charged in Britain back in November for blowing the whistle on the US's spy operations against UN officials. Via Sandwichman over at MaxSpeak comes a report from The Gaurdian that the prosecution is planning to ask the court to drop the charges against her. Here's hoping they do. This woman should get a parade -- not jail time.

2004-02-20T00:52:00.000-05:00

Kerry/Fonda Picture Doctored.

From Newsday:

As a 20-year-old photographer documenting the country's struggle over the Vietnam War, Ken Light snapped the picture of John Kerry at a peace rally in Mineola. It captured the future senator alone at a podium, squinting into the sun.

Light did not photograph Jane Fonda on that warm June Sunday in 1971. The actress, who is reviled by many Vietnam veterans for her vocal stance against the war, did not even attend.

But when opponents of the Democratic presidential hopeful began e-mailing Light's picture to one another four days ago, it depicted Fonda standing by Kerry's side. The photo had been doctored.

[Link]

You've been busted Mr. Rove!

2004-02-20T00:28:00.000-05:00

Voting Is Not Democracy.

Just ask Bill who he voted for:

Bill gets angry at people (like me) who do not vote. Bill does not like these people. Bill does not understand how I can take my 'freedom' for granted, and not vote. Bill was right set on putting me in my place.

Bill votes by checking the coolest sounding name on the ballot.

Bill does not see anything wrong with this. Bill cannot appreciate the irony of his own hypocritical, psuedo-patriotic, malinformed politics. Let's discuss why Bill's politics should be shot in the head:

Read the Rest, it's quite a good post.

2004-02-20T00:17:00.000-05:00

Go Read Confined Space!

Union busting by the federal government.

Cause what else is a cheap-labor conservative good for.

Bush distorts Science.

I heard on CNN today that Bush met with some economists and told them that his tax cuts were working. Hey, Smirky, the economists are supposed to tell you whether you're tax cuts are working or not. I wonder if this is how meetings with intelligence professionals went.

Insurance Companies, Republicans and tort "reform."

Passing on the costs of bad business to the victims and the consumers.

And....

A uniter, not a divider.

Shrub has brought labor and environmentalists together in opposition to his policies. Talk about a uniting force!

2004-02-19T23:02:00.000-05:00

A Close Call On This One.

Fellow Anarchist and blogger David Grenier reported earlier today that a bill (PDF) proposed by Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri would make it illegal to "teach or advocate anarchy" or associate with an organization that does. Violators would be subject to 10 years in prison.

Support for government overthrow would also be outlawed. I'm sure the founding fathers are rolling in their fucking graves on that one -- they were, after all, a bunch of guys advocating the overthrow of the established government. ("...That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..." Ever hear that one Don Fuckhead?)

So. Free Speech: Gone. Free Association: Gone. Free Press: Gone. Free Assembly: Gone. Free Thought: Gone. Welcome to America.

Well, you can breath a sigh of relief: The Good Fascist Gov Carcieri has withdrawn the plan after just about everyone except the fucking retards at the Free Republic began shouting. (Which just proves once again that FReepers really are a bunch of goddamn Fascist pricks.)

This one was born dead, but it just shows to go ya that we are hovering too goddamn close to the precipice of authoritarianism and repression. It might not be so easy to stop next time. Next time it might go to the streets and the schools and the fucking prisons. Next time there may be blood. Next time people may die.

[Endnote: In case you didn't know -- Don Carcieri is a Republican.]

2004-02-18T21:04:00.000-05:00

Conan And Triumph The Insult Dog.

You canadians need to learn how to take a joke. There are people who beg to be made fun of by Triumph. It's a joke. IT'S FUNNY. It's light-hearted. Hell, you're lucky you're not a pop star. Lighten up. Insult us back.

2004-02-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

And One More On Gay Marriage.

Nick at Morons.org thinks Mayor Newsom is quite a clever guy. After reading Nick's thoughts, I'd have to agree. It's either that or he's a very fortuitous fellow.

2004-02-18T20:43:00.000-05:00

Some Quotes On Gay Marriage In San Fran.

Like I haven't talked about this enough, but I'm much more excited about this than the court decision in Mass. It just has much more potential to ignite the populace to Direct Action.

Anyway, here's some quotes from San Fran. Funniest one:

"These homosexuals think that they can waltz into the courthouse here and get a marriage license when it is illegal. We consider homosexuality in this country terrorism and the reason we consider it terrorism is it is a destruction of our future."

Church leader? Nope. Republican politician? Nah. KKK Grand Dragon. Haha.

How about this one:

"This isn't civil disobedience on the mayor's part; it's sheer, unfettered anarchy and complete disdain for the rule of law. No mayor, not even the mayor of San Francisco, has the authority to defy the laws of the state in which they reside." -- Benjamin Bull, chief counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which is suing San Francisco for issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

First off, this isn't anarchy because there is someone with authority involved -- a leader. (An = "contrary to" and archos = "authority" -- contrary to authority, or anti-authoritarian.)

Second, and most important, no man has the obligation to uphold or live by an unjust law. Think about people dumping tea into a harbor when you accuse someone of "disdain for the rule of law." Think about a woman refusing to give up her seat on a bus when you say someone -- anyone -- does not have the right to defy the laws of any state, county, city, or country in which they reside.

2004-02-18T19:24:00.000-05:00

Let's Get Rid Of Interracial Marriage.

Seriously, all you fucking bastard anti-gay bigots, if you really want to "save the family" like you keep saying in your single sentence attempts at propaganda then you have to start condemning interracial marriages too.

[Note to Righties: I'm going to be using what are commonly known as "facts." These may be hard for you to grasp -- but please, try. Put down the beer can and pull your head out of your ass for a few moments. Read slowly.]

Check it:

16 state bans on interracial marriage were deemed unconstitutional in 1967 by those damn liberal, nigger-loving Supreme Court Justices of the time. From 1970 to 1998 family households declined from 81 percent of US households to 69 percent. Households with children under 18 years of age fell to 49 from 56 percent. [Source]

Births to unmarried mothers went from 11 percent of births in 1970 to 25 percent in 1998. Single parent households grew from 5 to 9 percent of households (but that number doesn't take into account factors such as single parents living with family or friends.) [Source]

And so on and so forth.

Interracial Marriage obviously hurts families and reproduction. It is incontrovertible. I want to see this reflected in your articles, websites, "debates" and protest signs from this point onwards.

Giving women property rights and the vote probably has had the same sort of depressing effect on American families, so you'll have to start advocating a rollback of those advancements too. Sorry. You might want to think about bringing slavery back as well, that'll be great news for the American family.

[Endnote: Apologies to anyone who was offended by my use of the N-word. I think it was pertinent seeing as how I'm branded a "faggot" or a "fag-lover" or "[someone's] butt buddy" every time I get into an argument with one of these hateful little shits. Do you understand? If you don't -- you're probably a Republican.]

2004-02-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

Link Of The Day.

Lot's of good content over at Alas, A Blog today. Gay marriage, feminism, abortion, anti-gay hypocrisy.

2004-02-18T18:12:00.000-05:00

Hate Mail.

See, I'm not the only one who likes to get Hate Mail.

2004-02-18T17:44:00.000-05:00

Fucking Bigots.

Kee-riced. Could they be a little less blatant about their hate?

I love the fact that their own bad grammar is hurting the bigots.

Something like 2,500 gay couples have married. Good for them.

I urge any other elected official with the power to do the same thing that Mayor Newsom is doing. Fight on every front! Civil Disobedience, yo.

This makes me proud to be American:

Though City Hall was scheduled to open at 10 a.m. PT Monday, City Assessor Mabel Teng said she would try to open her office earlier because of the demand.

Teng said many of the city workers who helped process the marriage licenses throughout the holiday weekend were volunteering their time.

"I am just very honored to be involved in this significant and history-making event," Teng said Monday morning. "I'm so proud to be part of it."

2004-02-18T07:53:00.000-05:00

The Truth About Haiti.

Head on over to ZMag for an excellent article detailing Haiti's current troubles.

2004-02-15T00:08:00.000-05:00

Special Announcement.


Marriage is love.

2004-02-14T20:40:00.000-05:00

Update On Bush's Military Record.

I was mistaken in my earlier post. As Jeff of SpeedKill pointed out in the comments to that post, the documents the reporters were given only 20 minutes to browse through were the medical records. The rest of the documents can be found here. Thanks Jeff.

2004-02-14T20:26:00.000-05:00

Marriage In San Francisco.

665 gay couples have been married in San Fran. as of Friday night. 500 more couples lined up today to get licenses. Alright, now we're getting somewhere.

I have a feeling the semi-new "defense of marriage" law in California -- passed by voters four years ago -- is going to be ruled unconsitutional by the end of this thing. And possibly all "defense of marriage" laws.

2004-02-14T20:14:00.000-05:00

We Interrupt Your Regular Scheduled Programming.

Fuck Valentines Day!

You heard me. Fuck it. Fuck it in it's tight rosy asshole. I hate valentines day. You should all hate valentines day. It's another bullshit consumer holiday. If it ain't toys made in China at Christmas it's Roses grown in South America by workers employed by fuckers who don't give a shit about their workers' health and safety.

Just say "no" to Roses. Cook her or him a nice romantic dinner. Give them a massage or something. (Maybe I should have given this advice a few days ago, eh?) Roses are so passe anyway.

I hate valentines day for other reasons, mostly because I'm always alone on valentines day. Nothing to do but get drunk and feel depressed. Maybe I should get myself a hooker.

2004-02-14T19:29:00.000-05:00

Monkey Mail!

I forgot to post this the other day:

You are a damn dirty commie faggot shit-eater tersest. You should be a shamed of your self. Your grandfather is a hero among American people. If it was not for people like hem you would not be able to speak all the SHIT!! You talk all the time. I personally think you are a closet red blooded American that is why you spit off at the mouth like you do, you love American and all it stands for so much you have to yell at the top of your lungs LOOK AT ME!, I'M DEFERINT AND THAT'S OK GOD BLESS America!!!! That is what I hear when you start your shit.

Lee [last name withheld]

In all honesty, this is from my brother-in-law. And he's mostly kidding. I think.

Equality, Justice, Freedom... I'm not American, I actually believe in these things.

Clarifying note: My grandfather served two tours in Korea and two tours in Vietnam.

2004-02-14T19:18:00.000-05:00

Who Supports The Marriage Amendment?

Not that polls are all that accurate, but they do give us an idea:

More support than opposition for an amendment was also registered by Republicans (64 percent in favor to 32 percent opposed), people who attended church more than once a week (58 to 38 percent), conservatives (54 to 40 percent), and people 30 to 44 years old (48 to 42 percent).

The strongest opposition to an amendment came from liberals (65 opposed and 24 percent in favor), Democrats (62 to 28 percent), young people 18 to 29 years old (58 to 35), respondents with a college degree or more (58 to 36 percent), and those who attend church a few times a year or never (56 to 32 percent).

[Link]

2004-02-14T17:42:00.000-05:00

Imagine My Surprise.

So, while I was washing dishes last night I heard on the news that George Bush "released" all of his military records. I was immediately skeptical. They must have been stalling in order to erase any embarrassing information I thought to myself.

Imagine my chagrin when I learned the rub: reporters where given only 20 minutes to look through a two-inch thick stack of paper. That's fucking bullshit. That's not "releasing" anything at all. "Releasing" entails that anyone can look through the documents without any time-limit. This is giving the public a quick flash of the documents in order to stave off criticism and embarrassment. It's bullshit.

So,anyway, anything new? No. At least, not according to the NY Times article linked above -- which says the only documents placing Bush in Alabama are a dental exam -- and the AP white house correspondent -- which says there are no knew documents placing Bush in Alabama. It's hard to go through a two inch thick stack of paper in twenty minutes. It's even harder to find out the truth from the 2,500 articles written by people who only got twenty minutes each to look through a two inch stack of paper. Here, try it yourself, I dare ya.

UPDATE! -- Nothing new from the Washington Post and CNN.

2004-02-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm Takin' The Rest Of The Day Off.

I got house cleaning that I really need to do today. And then I think I'm gonna get high and try to get some recording done. Back tomorrow. Peace and Good Health.

2004-02-13T15:49:00.000-05:00

Gay Marriage In San Francisco.

Always fight on more than one front. Here's an AP story, reprinted at Infoshop, on the situation in San Fran. 100 marriage certificates have been issued. The bigots are in court today to stop it all and take away these individuals' rights.

2004-02-13T00:24:00.000-05:00

Mommy, Why Can't We Go To Walmart?

Jeanne D'Arc has a more personal look at the California strike, as she recounts a trip to the grocery store with her daughter. A nice article from a consumer's perspective.