I remember being at a conference, long ago, when a speaker was talking about the idea that two consistent but contradictory worldviews can, under certain circumstances, just be irreconcilable and have to coexist.What began as a troubling year for Bush, facing a new, energetic Democratic Congress, ended in triumph for the president as frustrated Democrats nursed their losses. Democrats failed in their No. 1 objective to stop the war in Iraq and bowed to Bush and his veto threats on tax policies, energy legislation, children's health insurance and general spending.This was not Lord Bush's victory, or at least, this was not a victory made by Lord Bush. This was a self-defeat for the Democratic "leadership". If there has ever been a bigger bunch of pussies in the hallowed halls of congress, it has not been during my lifetime*.
Bush tried to position himself as an advocate for working families by taking aim at his favorite target: the Democratic Congress.
"The Congress cannot take economic vitality for granted," Bush said.
"The most negative thing Congress can do in the face of economic uncertainty is to raise taxes on the American people," Bush said.
The audience of roughly 80 people listened to Bush with respectful silence. Yet a line that normally gets him applause — "I'll veto any tax increase" — drew no reaction at all.
Holy crap! No reaction to tax vetoes? Let's remember something very important here about the audience (hell, any audience) when Commander Chimp was speaking: they are a bunch of ringers. Dissent is not allowed in a Bush audience, which is generally stacked with members of the Still-Delusional Third (or whatever the number is these days). Even this audience failed to applaud his "no taxes" mantra, which may just be a clear indication that America is finally waking up to the enormous hole into which it has dug itself. Or maybe not. But you have to be pretty blind not to see at least some of our economic woes.
Two months ago, President Bush made a strong argument for updating a law which oversees the government's ability to engage in surveillance of Americans and non-citizens, which requires warrants from a secret court. He spoke of the importance to our nation's security to have a bill ready for him to sign, so as to not "limit" his administration's anti-terrorism activities.There's more, of course, but we all know how the script goes these days, dont we? There'll be lots of hand-wringing from "Democratic" leaders, a few "incendiary" comments from real liberals, some near accusations of treason from Republicans, some actual accusations of treason from a "conservative" pundit or two, and then, once more, King George will get his way, and America will slide a little bit farther down into that ditch we used to call fascism, but now have rebranded as Patriotism™.
"Congress and the President have no higher responsibility than protecting the American people from enemies who attacked our country," he said.
But underneath this urgency was a threat: Even if Congress sent him an updated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) bill with the provisions he said were required to pursue wiretaps of individuals with a minimum of judicial oversight, Mr. Bush said he would veto it if it did not also include an extraneous provision: immunity to telecommunications companies from liability for their past participation in the administration's wiretaps.
DALLAS (Reuters Life!) - More Americans believe in a literal hell and the devil than Darwin's theory of evolution, according to a new Harris poll released on Thursday.If you've ever wondered what will cause America to loose our world leadership position (I mean, aside from neo-con foriegn policy), look no further than our increasingly stupid attitude about science. What is the world's future (economically, anyway) going to be based on, science or philosphy?
Read on...
Well, it's the end of the year, and apparently I made the correct choice, because I'm in, baby!
This comic is from the book Killed Cartoons: Casualties From The War On Free Expression, edited by David Wallis. It's a pretty interesting book, but I'll deal with it later, using a different cartoon. I just wanted to show this one now, since it seemed "appropriate" for the holidays.
Really, that sounds like some sort of government contract for Halliburton, but I'm serious. For $400, you can get yourself one of these snazzy laptops, and while that may seem pretty steep for a computer with no hard drive , bear in mind that what you are actually buying is two laptops. It's just that you only get to keep one. The other goes to a child somewhere in Africa, or Asia, or maybe South America. Someplace, at any rate, where having a computer would be a really big deal, even if it is bright green and incapable of playing Halo.Without a draft or a revitalized Reserve and National Guard that ties the military closer to civilian society, in the decades ahead American troops may become less soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen, and more purple warriors—in essence a guild in which the profession of combat-arms is passed down from father to son. It is striking how many troops I know whose parents and other relatives had also been in the service, especially among the units whose members face the highest level of personal risk. Contrast this with the fact that, at the 2006 Stanford commencement ceremony, Maj. General Lehnert, whose son was the lone graduating student from a military family, was struck by how many of the other parents had never even met a member of the military before he introduced himself.Now, one of the things that's always made me think that America was fairly immune to the kind of military coups that go down in other countries is that it seemed inconceivable that the military here would rebel against it's own people. However, if the above statement is accurate, how much longer before the disconnect between military personel and the general citizenry becomes so great that it becomes, not a case of turning on our own, but rather turning on those who "just dont understand"? David Brin has made the arguement (backed up here and there by articles within the MSN) that the military is becoming more evangelical, which further pushes them into an us-vs-them mentality.
Maybe I'm mis-remembering, since I was pretty young back then, but it seemed to me that once upon a time, when choosing a President, you got to chose which candidate you liked the best. Then came the Reagan years, and from then on it seemed like you just got to pick the candidate that you disliked the least. 
This is an old one from the Des Moines Register, cut out way back when I was a kid, Ford era. Still applies, though, just add "torture" and "domestic wiretapping".
The Auto-Wrench.
My blog is worth $9,597.18.
How much is your blog worth?
I love a good TV show, but they rarely love me. Frank's Place, Wonderfalls, and, after the fact, Dead Like Me and Firefly. Or maybe it's not me, maybe it's the networks.
Anyway, this is the first* part of the pilot of "Cupid", a briefly aired show which showcased the manic charms of Jeremy Piven. It's fun, it's clever, and it disappeared leaving a lot of loose ends. Watch them all (the episodes, not the loose ends) on YouTube.
Here's the story: Jeremy Piven is a man being held on a psych charge because he believes himself to be Cupid, the god of Love. He is released in to the care of a psychologist, Paula Marshall, who also happens to write a well-know Chicago advice column to the love-lorn and run a singles therapy group. How's that for a set up? Cupid claims that he wont be allowed back to Olympus until he unites 100 couple in "true love" without the aid of his magic darts, which he then proceeds to attempt (with varying success) for the course of the show.
Is he really Cupid? I dont know, and if it's contained in the first 9 minutes of the pilot, we may never know, because it's missing. I'm not going to say that it's a great show, but it is highly entertaining.
* part 2, actually, part 1 is here, but part 2 is better
Props to Bill, by the way, for pointing me to it.
Imagine this: Suppose, at the begining of the war, instead of invading, we had announced that we would pay every man, woman and child in Iraq $10,000 dollars (American); all they had to do was depose Saddam Hussein, and install a (nominally) democratic government. Can you imagine the outcry here in the U.S.? What?! Give away almost a quarter trillion dollars???
Hell, here in America we gave away millions to our own rich for a mere 600 pieces of silver, and that was more of a payday loan than anything.
Here's what I can imagine: Suppose, instead of destroying an oil-producing country (or two) in what will probably be a futile effort to ensure a steady supply of (environment destroying) oil and gasoline, we had built an infrastructure for recharging electric cars? Set up a sytem so that every restaurant and every park and every mall, hell, every parking lot had a recharge station. No, they wouldnt be free, you'd swipe a card through, or feed quarters or something like that, but you could do it everywhere.
Unfortunately, that hasnt happened. But hey! Dont dispair. One of the advantage of America having spent decades building crap cars is that there's plenty of rolling stock out there just waiting to be converted to electric. Sure it's a pain in the ass, but it'll be your gasoline avoiding, non-carbon emitting, I'm-greener-than-you-so-suck-it-neighbor pain in the ass.
"This old Indian encourages our domesticated Sisters and Brothers to stay calm, let go of the chains of fear binding them to the foundering pyramid-scheme, take care of one another, and start travelling Light. There is a wonderful Story unfolding in these “interesting times,” and they are all in it."Let's hope so. Let's hope for the spirit shown by the people of New York after 9-11, and hope that government "leadership" doesnt create another fiasco like that which followed Hurricane Katrina. I especially love the idea of "travelling light", because if there's any root cause for all this mess we're in right now, it's our obsessive need for more stuff.
I believe that the function of art is to show people the world around them that they are generally too wrapped up in the business of survival (or, at least, the business of life) to notice. Why do you think that artist are among the first to feel the hand of repression? (hint: it's not because a lot of them are gay.)
Yes, I know. They are bad for me. Bad for my heart, bad for my gut, bad for my prostate. Beef doesnt digest well, meat and cheese shouldnt be mixed, yada yada yada. Well, I'll tell you, you can have my cheeseburger when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands. Over the years, I've eaten burgers a lot of different ways, and enjoyed almost all of them... no, not "almost all of them", I have enjoyed all of them. And like nuts in my candy bars, it's just not a proper burger unless it has cheese, whether it's swiss, blue, cheddar or a good old American single. 
For the major labels, it's over. It's fucking over. You're going to burn to the fucking ground, and we're all going to dance around the fire. And it's your own fault. Surely, somewhere deep inside, you had to know this day was coming, right? Your very industry is founded on an unfair business model of owning art you didn't create in exchange for the services you provide. It's rigged so that you win every time - even if the artist does well, you do ten times better. It was able to exist because you controlled the distribution, but now that's back in the hands of the people, and you let the ball drop when you could have evolved.I'd heard somewhere just recently that only 75% (or maybe it was 95%) of musicians never see more than an advance check from their record labels, and that most of the profits recording artists make comes from touring and merchandise. So tell me again why anyone needs the Reocord labels? Read the whole thing, it's terrific, and it makes me hope for the future of music.
La Cucaracha used to run in the Dallas Whoring News, until they decided to make their hispanic comic quota using Baldo instead. I now have to read it via the Houston Chronicle website ("comix" on the sidebar under "media").
Caption says: "I'm just not sure the general public is ready for this, Foster."
Troll \Troll\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trolled; p. pr. & vb. n. Trolling.] [OE. trollen to roll, F. tr[^o]ler, Of. troller to drag about, to ramble; probably of Teutonic origin; cf. G. trollen to roll, ramble, sich trollen to be gone; or perhaps for trotler, fr. F. trotter to trot (cf. Trot.). Cf. Trawl.]To dress and troll the tongue, and roll the eye.2. To send about; to circulate, as a vessel in drinking.
- Milton.
Then doth she troll to the bowl. - Gammer Gurton's Needle.4. To angle for with a trolling line, or with a book drawn along the surface of the water; hence, to allure.
Troll the brown bowl. - Sir W. Scott.
With patient angle trolls the finny deep.
--Goldsmith.
So, the other day I was following things around on Sitemeter, and I read one of my old posts, which had a comment from my bud Sh3rry, who asked... I wonder if perhaps you could spend one day dedicated to what makes you laugh rather than being angry at the obvious decay of our nation?I've thought about this (she's not the first to ask, either) and decided to try and be a bit more positive. And let's substitute "happy" for "laugh".
Senator Chuck Schumer
or
Senator Betray-us
After this whole Mukasey thing, I find myself wondering, what did Schumer get for his part in this nomination? I believe he was the one who brought Mukasey to everyone's attention, "suggested" him to the Administration. What form did his 40 pieces of silver take? Surely, especially the way Washington runs today, he didnt play the part of Dubya's rent-boy unwittingly or for free. So what does he get out of it? Keep an eye on Schumer, 'cause it'll be something.
Seriously, after one year of the Democrats being in power, I'm really starting to wonder what the point of having elections in 2006 was. Some people worry about Lord Bush staging some sort of coup to remain in power, but it seems to me that all he'll need to do is go to Congress, regardless of who runs it, and say, "Hey Guys! I really like being the Big Chief, so I want you to make me President-For-Life."
Democrats will make a fuss, a Republican or two will express misgivings, and then they'll make him our Emperor.
And what the hell, why not. I've seen it said that the Military Industrial Complex that runs our nation now wont loose its grip until we have a major crisis of society. Unpleasant as that sounds, how much worse can it be than this slow death by civil strangulation we're slipping into now? So bring it on! Let's descend into third-world barbarism and dispair. Let's become the downtrodden masses that our Republican masters have been working us towards for decades.
And while you're at it, why dont you check out some Buddhist literature? It might come in handy later on.
Back in my college days when I lived in Austin, Texas, I was browsing a used bookstore when I came across a copy of the second "Academia Waltz" book. Before "Opus", before "Bloom County", there was "Academia Waltz", Berke Breathed's college cartoon. Now, it seems, this thing is a "collectable", which means I took it out of the box in the garage, and put it on the shelf in the living room. I only wish I had found the first book back in those days, because I sure as hell cannot afford one now.
"History teaches us that underestimating the words of evil, ambitious men is a terrible mistake..."
George W. Bush
I find myself wondering, as oil prices hit yet another record high, what position America might be in had it invested a half a trillion dollars (or more) in alternative energy sources, rather than throwing it away on a largely futile attempt to maintain the status quo?
There's more of the cartoon if you click on the image. There's more Big Fat Whale if you click here.
Okay, so, sometime during the Dutch Renaissance, they had a huge fad for tulips, and I'm talking huge. They were totally ga-ga over tulips, to the point that a single bulb (of the right variety) could bring the price of a house. Then one day, the fad collapsed, as most fads do. The story of the collapse I heard was this: One day, a merchant (himself a tulip collector) was looking out the window at the marketplace. Alang came a sailor, looking for whatever sailors look for. He stopped at a tulip merchant and, thinking that the tulip bulbs were onions, picked one up and took a bite. Supposedly, seeing this, the collector said to himself, "Oh my God! They're just flowers!" He dumped his stock, and probably said the same thing to friends, panic ensued, and lots of people lost their shirts, etc.
This one's from a folder full of cartoons that I've cut out of papers in the past. I'm not sure how old it is, maybe from a few years ago, maybe from 30 years ago. It's most likely from the late 80's sometime, during the Reagan years. It still holds true, though, more true than ever.At a campaign stop (in New Hampshire), Hillary Clinton sparred verbally for several minutes with a man who pressed her on her recent vote to call Iran's army a terrorist organization.Okay, maybe this is so obvious that Clinton cannot see it for the trees, but maybe the reason that she's been asked the same question in three different places is because it's a question that voters really care about!
Randall Rolph, from nearby Nashua, asked why he should support Clinton's candidacy when she did not appear to have learned any lessons from having voted to authorize force in Iraq.
Clinton thanked him for the question and explained her Iran vote would lay the groundwork for using diplomacy and sanctions to pressure that government.
Clinton accused the man of being a plant who had been sent to ask the question, to which he took exception, saying the question was a result of his own research.
"I apologize," Clinton said, explaining that she had been asked the very same question in three other places.
Last November, almost a year ago, people all over the nation who were fed up with the erosion of the Constitution by the Republican party led by George Bush, rubbed their hands with glee as election returns showed a clear victory by Democrats. Finally, we said, we can roll back the fascist powerplays by Lord Bush and his Cabal. Alas, it was not to be, and it continues not to be. Again and again, the Democrats have continued the betrayal of the American people begun by the Republicans. Now they stand ready to continue that betrayal further, by extending the clearly unconstitutional warrentless wiretapping program. Does anyone in Washington listen to anyone outside of Washington anymore?
Long ago, there was this strip in the paper called "Dave". I read it daily, mostly because it seemed to channel my life. Nowadays, it's no where to be found, except really, really cheaply on Amazon.
