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Tuesday, August 31, 2004
How's My Day Going? Got out the door to work OK, and at the bottom of a large, steep hill I heard the "whapwhapwhapwhapwhap" that signifies a flat tire. I pulled over and got ready to change it, during which process I learned two things: (1) When you're 4 feet away from traffic zooming past at 60 MpH, you can move pretty damn fast while changing a tire. (2) Thanks to the kind efforts of a gentleman in a white Cadillac SUV laden with Bush/Cheney stickers and a working horn, I know that I suffer no blockage in my bowels. I did get the asshole's plate number, so sooner or later, I'll see his Penis-Compensator in a parking lot, and we'll see who gets the last laugh. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:38:00 AM   | Monday, August 30, 2004
The Long Knives Are O-U-T OUT!! Ed Schrock, Pat Robertson's congressman, with a 92% voting score from the KKKhristian Koalition, has withdrawn from his reelection bid following allegations that he's been picking up men for sex on an interactive phone dating service. On Thursday, August 19th, BlogACTIVE.com began a campaign to out hypocrites in Congress and the Bush Administration - closeted Gays and Lesbians that support the bigoted, homophobic, un-American policies of the Religious Right. While I normally think a person's sexuality is their business, the Bush Administration and the Right Wing have declared war on people like me and many of my friends. If one of us is a Quisling, I want 'em taken down. And not in a good way. Today, the first victory in BlogACTIVE's campaign. Ed Schrock announced today he's dropping out of the race. "In recent weeks, allegations have surfaced that have called into question my ability to represent the citizens of Virginia's Second Congressional Distict," Shrock said in a press release. Sic semper tyrannis, baby. Who's next? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:28:00 PM | Another nice present for my birthday Was the large, peaceful march in NYC yesterday. United for Peace sponsored a march through central Manhattan that drew hundreds of thousands of participants. The New York Times reported that police representatives unofficially estimated the crowd at around a half-million(!), while CNN, that bastion of the So-Called Liberal Media, only reported "tens of thousands", which, while certainly not a lie, doesn't really tell the whole story now, does it? James at Angryfinger.org was there, and posted some pictures from the march. Here's hoping the rest of the week goes smoothly for the protestors and rough for the Repukelicans. And, for the record, if Zell Miller happens to fall down an open manhole on his way to vomit lies for the Rethugs, then get eaten by a Sewer Alligator, I won't shed a single tear. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:06:00 AM | Sunday, August 29, 2004
Dorkapalooza '04 Was a success, from my point of view. Good attendance, got some nifty presents (no Amulet Of Ass-Kicking, though - somehow, it's off my Amazon Wish List), and I've got a hangover now. Someone there had a camera, hopefully a shot of me in my Pirate Regalia will be available. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:06:00 AM | Saturday, August 28, 2004
Bob Dole - Liar From Slate: For Shame No one has done more to lend establishment respectability to the falsehoods being peddled against Kerry than Dole. The former Senate majority leader and 1996 presidential nominee of the Republican Party made several demonstrably false statements about John Kerry's war record this past Sunday on CNN's Late Edition before saying that "not every one of these people can be Republican liars. There's got to be some truth to the charges." Thing is, Dole said that when he thought the mikes were off. When the mikes and cameras were on, he was fully supportive of Karl Rove and the Swift Liar's bullshit. Where is the outrage? Hmmmmm, Mr. Hypocrite, Liar and Scumbag? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:26:00 AM | Birthdaypalooza Actually, tomorrow's my birthday, but today, I get a full afternoon and evening of Gaming Goodness at Will's house. Tomorrow, I'm taking the kids away so Melissa can have some writing time. While I'm on the subject of my birthday, I'd like to remind you guys that I still haven't seen the Moeller Skycar I asked for, nor have I received any Ancient Tibetan Amulets That Grant Mystical Powers Of Ass-Kicking, bites from radioactive badgers or baths in the empowering radiation of a strange green meteorite. Get with the program, people! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:37:00 AM | Friday, August 27, 2004
Chickenshit Politics Max Herbert of the New York Times tears into Bush and the Swift Liars. Here's what pissed me off, though. Max Cleland went to Crawford to deliver a letter to President Bush requesting that he renounce and condemn the Swift Boat Liars. The Simp Chimp, of course, was, as he's been for a large percentage of his pResidency, on vacation and couldn't be bothered. He had his "I tried to accept that letter and he would not give it to me," said Patterson. "He would not face me. He kept rolling away from me. He's quite mobile." Yeah, you asshat, that's a damn polite thing to say about a guy that lost 3 limbs in Vietnam. I'm not surprised that the Simp Chimp hid on his dude ranch - this is a guy that's built his entire life on cowardice, lies, cronyism and cruelty. Having to face a real man like Max Cleland could be pretty intimidating for a spoiled, whiny, illiterate little Poppy's boy. What a fuckin' chickenshit. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:05:00 AM | Friday 5 One of mine - You've been given the choice of having 5 memories removed from the world's collective memories. If you forget them, it will be as if they never happened. Which 5 do you choose? This one promises to force me to lay bare a bad experience or two. What made me think it was a good idea, exactly? I've come more and more to the belief that, as what I am now is the sum of all my past experiences, there's some question as to whether or not "deleting" those experiences would necessarily be a good thing. This, then, will be a list of those that rankle - the ones that are like the itch that moves around on your back the more you scratch, never quite getting relieved. (1) September, 1981. Manchester, GA. I was the New Kid at the school, fresh from the Big City of Atlanta and living in rural Georgia. I didn't know anyone at the school, and to make matters worse, I'd broken my ankle the week before school started. I was taking "PE/Health", taught by the barely-literate Coach Juby Shiver. The "health" portion of the class consisted of the class silently reading a chapter of the textbook followed by answering the multiple-choice questions at the end of the chapter. It was the second day of class and I breezed through the chapter at my normal reading speed, answered the questions and handed my work in, all within the first 30 minutes of the period. Turning my answers in to the coach, I got a blank stare, followed by, "What's this?" "My classwork, sir." "You didn't do it." "Yes, sir, I did. I read Chapter 1, I answered all 10 questions, and here they are, sir." "You didn't read that." "Yes, sir, I did." "Your lips didn't move. I watched you." "I read the chapter, sir." "You're a liar." "I am not a liar. I read the chapter." "It didn't take long enough." "I'm a fast reader, sir." "Fine, boy. I want you to read the chapter again." "Yes, sir." I laboriously turned on my crutches to head back to my seat. "NO! Up here, in front of everyone. Out loud." So I stood in front of the class, balanced on crutches, reading aloud from the book fighting back tears of rage and humiliation. The more I read, the more pronounced my lisp got, and the bigger the laughs this got from the class. Finally, I finished, my face crimson, slammed the book down on his desk and made my way back to my desk. "You hear that, boys? He reads so fast you can barely understand him." To this day, I have possessed an irrational hatred of the sport of football, as well as a purely rational hatred of Juby Shiver. Several years after I graduated, I heard that he'd had a heart attack and been forced to retire. I sent him a postcard that simply said, "Heard you had a heart attack. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy." On second thought, that's one of the memories that helps fuel my rage. It's a keeper. Moving on, then... (2) Age 12, taking the bus to the library. I got on the bus and, as I walked down the aisle, I noticed the people sitting down were staring at me. Feeling self-conscious, I made my way to the back of the bus and sat down, when I noticed that I'd somehow managed to walk out of the house with my fly open, exposing my pinkish underwear (the result of a mistake I made in sorting my own laundry a couple of weeks before) for the world to see. I zipped up my pants and rung the bell for the next bus stop, then walked the next half-mile to the library. I could lose this memory easy, unless it's the one that helps me remember to check my fly. Better keep it, just in case. (3) This next one's still painful. In Melissa's second year of graduate school, a birth control failure resulted, as these things often do, in her getting pregnant. I was still, at this time, working a crappy retail job and substitute teaching, plus taking teaching classes on nights and weekends. The first year of grad school was absolutely horrid for our marriage, and we came the closest we've ever come to splitting up. While we certainly hadn't planned for a pregnancy, it brought us closer together and we felt like things were looking up. Our money situation meant that Melissa had to go on Medicaid, but we found a doctor that seemed good and began planning a new chapter in our lives. One day, I got called to the office from a classroom I was subbing in. It was Melissa, sobbing. At about 12 weeks, the doctor had been unable to find a heartbeat. The baby was dead, gone. I could feel the darkness that had been pushed to the fringes of my mind over the last months swirling back in, and I honestly don't remember the drive to Seton Hospital, and I recollect only scattered flashes of my run through the hospital trying to find the detached building housing the offices of the sonogram-equipped specialists that she'd called me from. Her church was of great benefit to us as we went through the process of greiving and her D&C to remove the lump of tissue from her womb. I was numb and felt helpless, but Melissa and I worked through it. Actually, as painful as it is, I think I'll keep this one, too. The bitter taste of that loss is, in some way, something that makes life with our other children that much sweeter. (4) OK, this one's easy: 1984, Chemistry I. I accidentally dropped some dilute sulphuric acid on my hand. I can lose this memory without hesitation. (5) 1991, Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander. I was working at UAB at the time, and had been cast in a production of the aforementioned play by Bob Funk in the role of Skip Hampton - a pretty meaty role, requiring that I age almost 20 years between acts. Act I was pretty easy for me - I played a loud, drunk redneck, a character type with which I was pretty intimately familiar. Act III, however, was a real strain. Losing my posture, aging my face and hair and playing the late stages of alcoholism took a lot of effort, and on the second night of the show's run, I shuffled my way out on stage and went blank. I simply stood there, trying desperately to remember my lines, and finally, after a seeming eternity, I remembered them. The woman I played opposite in that scene said after the show that it was only about three or four seconds, but for me, it was torture. Actually, come to think of it, Bob said that night was the best performance I gave during the run, so I'll keep it, too. So out of 5, I could actually lose one. Eh. Hopefully the other Fivers can find more memories they want to get rid of. They're listed to the left, in case you're wondering. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:34:00 AM | Thursday, August 26, 2004
84 Years Ago Today On August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby formally adopted the 19th Amendment into the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote. This followed 70 years of struggle by suffragists, including assaults by police, imprisonment and legal and illegal harassment of the activists fighting for their right to have a say in the running of their nation. Elsewhen in history, the following events occured: 1346: The Welsh longbow makes its Continental debut as the French are slaughtered at the Battle of Crýcy. 1838: The parents of John Wilkes Booth celebrate the birth of their son. Their high hopes for him are dashed when he goes into the theater. His father's statement, "Well, at least he's not a historically reviled assassin" proves prophetic, as well as embarassing at later family reunions. 1968: The Democratic National Convention in Chicago, IL is the site of massive anti-war protests which erupt into violence as the Chicago Police go wild, assaulting protestors, journalists and convention delegates. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:15:00 AM | Wednesday, August 25, 2004
John Ashcroft - Liberty Raper Ashcroft treats the Constitution like an abusive drunk treats his wife and children - he'll talk up how wonderful it is, but the minute he's got it out of everyone's sight, it's Katie-bar-the-door and the beatings commence. Gary Indiana of the Village Voice feels the same way I do. Ashcroft is, not to mince words, a lunatic. This would have been universally recognized at almost any other moment in American history. In the looking-glass world of "the war on terror," however, Ashcroft's religious manias haven't excited even mild censure from anyone in government. By all reports, Ashcroft runs the Department of Justice like a Pentecostal revival meeting, enjoining his staff to raise their voices in righteous hymns of his own composition. Ashcroft's justice department has made a policy of making splashy, headline-grabbing declarations of "terrorist cell" captures, holding the suspects for months with ominous mentions of "secret evidence" and in most cases, coercing plea bargains to lesser charges. In the rare cases that have resulted in compulsion from the courts to produce the "secret evidence", the evidence is so flimsy that charges are dropped. Of all the Bushistas, Ashcroft is the one that scares me the most - he's made his homophobic, rascist, misogynistic agenda pretty plain, and he's out to grab every bit of power that he can to achieve those ends. Fighting terror, sadly, comes in a distant second to furthering his whackaloon agenda. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:18:00 AM | Tuesday, August 24, 2004
| Bob Dole Casts Aside His Already Dubious Respectability After the 1996 election, Bob Dole tried desperately to retain some credibility after getting his ass spanked raw by Bill Clinton in the general election. For some bizarre reason, he decided to veer into grabbing after the gold ring and become a pitchman for Viagra and Pepsi (in which ads we were treated to the uncomfortable sight of a creepy old guy drooling over a piece of jailbait). Following this, he seemed to settle into making occasional appearances on Larry King or some other cable news/talk show blathering about some thing or another. Now the old slime-spewing attack dog is back. Bob Dole, the Republican presidential candidate in 1996 and a World War II veteran, called on Mr. Kerry to apologize to Vietnam veterans in a television interview on CNN. He appeared to get behind some of the accusations raised by the group, when its most serious contentions have been undermined by official records and conflicting accounts. I'm not terribly surprised by this, as Dole was always a pretty sleazy guy, even before he developed his Britney Spears fixation. I'm disappointed, of course, that there are still journalists who seem to think that being "objective" means presenting all the information without filters, analysis or question. While the print media, notably the New York Times, have begun a cautious effort of looking over and bebunking the lies of the Swifties, the broadcasters have almost unanimously given those liars a free ride. Dole, of course, doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about, and seems to be repeating verbatim the bullshit of the SwiftLiars. I'd like to suggest that senile turds like Dole shut the fuck up and get their asses to their rest homes so we can dope 'em up and file 'em away like the relics they are. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:34:00 PM | Monday, August 23, 2004
What's Dumber Than Laura Bush Lecturing Us About Stem Cell Research? Try the Pope telling us that cloning is wrong. That's right, the guy that's done the most to gloss over Pius XII's tacit support for the Nazis, the senile old tool that's cheerfully rewarded bishops and cardinals that covered up child sexual abuse, the misogynistic virgin that seems to think women deserve to be nothing more than sperm receptacles and baby factories, says that human cloning is an attempt to improve on God's creation. Yeah, whatever. Once again, I wonder that anyone thinks the Papacy has a shred of moral legitimacy left. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:04:00 AM | Looking For That One Of A Kind Gift? Might I recommend Pete & Dave's Dodo Emporium? They offer only the finest reengineered species, from the whimsical Dodo through Pygmy Mastodons all the way to Smilodon Fatalis Resurgam. They accept Babbage, Goliath, Newton, Pascal, Breakfast Club, Personal and Company Cheques posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:46:00 AM | Sunday, August 22, 2004
Pondering the Corporate Environment By and large, I'm happy with my job. It's good pay, the work's not too difficult, and I'm darn good at navigating office politics (and rather enjoy it on some occasions). Still, the last round of layoffs got me thinking. It's nothing profound - the term "rat race" has been around for decades at the least - but I started wondering about layoffs in particular. Has anyone ever seen a breakdown of the criteria used to determine who gets laid off? No! It's not written down, and when you question someone in management, they always say the decision was made "higher up". You ever heard of a Skinner Box? You get a bunch of rats and set up systems to monitor everything you can about them, then you set up other equipment to monitor whether or not they perform the required function to get a food treat. In some experiments, Skinner set up the box to give pellets at random intervals. The result was that the pigeons in the boxes developed weird rituals that seemed to get results - there was never a direct cause/effect relationship, but the pigeons acted as if there were. They would spin in circles before pressing the lever, bob their heads rythmically, do all kinds of weird stuff because it had worked before. Even when the reward didn't come, they'd keep on doing it. Who's running the Skinner Box in my workplace? Inquiring minds want to know. I'll be off in the corner polishing my tinfoil hat. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:02:00 PM | Feh Stepped outside to talk on the phone and grab a cigarette, and a fuckin' wasp stung me. Goddamn wasps. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:36:00 PM | John Kerry - Enemy Of Terror Found this interesting piece in the Washington Monthly: "Follow the Money" by David Sirota and Jonathan Baskin. Block quotes from the article, bold emphasis mine. Two decades ago, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a highly respected financial titan. In 1987, when its subsidiary helped finance a deal involving Texas oilman George W. Bush, the bank appeared to be a reputable institution, with attractive branch offices, a traveler's check business, and a solid reputation for financing international trade. It had high-powered allies in Washington and boasted relationships with respected figures around the world. So, while Dumbya was still busy running businesses into the ground, John Kerry was working against the wishes of Dumbya's daddy and other vested interests to shut down a major terrorist and criminal finance engine. Despite having helmed the initial probe which led to the Iran-Contra investigation, Kerry was left off the elite Iran-Contra committee in 1987. As a consolation prize, the Democratic leadership in Congress made Kerry the chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations and told him to dig into the Contra-drug connection. Kerry turned to BCCI early in the second year of the probe when his investigators learned that Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega was laundering drug profits through the bank on behalf of the Medellin cartel. Despite constant pressure from the leadership of both parties, Senator Kerry fought to see the BCCI shut down. At the same time, George W. Bush was, while busy trashing Harken energy, doing regular business with BCCI-controlled companies, including getting a $25 million dollar loan. So, who's been more dedicated to fighting terror? Kerry has foresight, tact, wisdom and honor. Bush, on the other hand, brings us decades of sleazy, suspicious backroom deals and an Imperial mindset. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:39:00 AM | The Joys Of Health Drew came down with a rotovirus last Thursday night, kind of as a "back to school gift". He spent all day Friday puking his guts out, but was better by Saturday. Which was just in time for Alec, Franny and me to come down with it. Everyone's better now (more or less), but we've pretty much lost our weekend. Ain't life grand? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:13:00 AM | Saturday, August 21, 2004
A Tale Of Buggery On The High Seas From British Colombia Sorry, no stories of sexually deviant buccaneers here. Just a Killer Whale with a deep and abiding fondness for sailboats. The provincial fisheries department was warning boaters to stay away from the river after the orphaned animal nearly sank a sailboat earlier this week. The most important question remains unanswered, though. Did the whale buy the boats drinks first, or was it just all over them? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:02:00 AM | Friday, August 20, 2004
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. And he's obviously waiting for his damn birthday cake. Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday, H. P. Lovecraft Happy birthday to yoooouuuuuuu! I made it myself! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:38:00 PM | | Friday Five - Death Is Not An Option Gord wants to know: Describe five of your most interesting near-death-experiences. Now, by NDE I don't mean when you temporarily die and you see a white light, get visited by your grandmother's second cousin's dog's previous owner, hear choirs of angels singing pastiches of the Carpenters and Handel, or anything like that. (Though of course such (purported) experiences would certainly fall well within the range of possible answers to this question.) Rather, I mean situations in which you or someone you were with nearly died. Actual (permanent) death does not count. Rather, the near escape or near avoidance of death is what we are all curious about. (Or, at least, I am!) I've always made it a point to avoid even coming into the same neighborhood as Death, but the Bony Motherfucker has on a few occasions almost caught up with me. (1) 5th Grade - Gasoline and matches. My best friend Paul and I were using a dirt pile to reenact Iwo Jima with some green army men, fireworks and a gallon of gasoline. We had just doused a section of the "Japanese" forces with gasoline and were approaching the area with a lit sparkler to simulate a massive airstrike when we received an object lesson in the ignition points of petroleum vapors. The fireball was pretty impressive, as was the lack of hair on our arms for the next couple of weeks. We somehow avoided catching on fire, but once we'd got the fire out and collected out army men, we made our way home and kept a low profile for a couple of days. (2) 6th Grade - 1977 Buick. I was on my way to school, and rather than wait to cross the street at a crosswalk, I stepped to the curb, looked both ways and shot out into the street. I somehow missed in my glance to the left the large pale-green Buick Regal that was tooling along. A blast from the horn caught my attention, and the sight of the radiator grille made sure my attention was held. The driver managed to slow down to about 20 mph, which helped save me from being pulped. End result: a face-down skid along the pavement, which got me a broken jaw, stitches in my chin, a hole under my lower lip and permanent hearing damage. The six weeks of eating food run through a blender wasn't so bad, although I did develop a temporary dislike for milkshakes. (3) Age 16 - Careless driving. My best friend Raymond and I were en route to another friend's house to play D&D, and I was driving with one hand on the wheel and the other waving around as I went into detail about some thing or another. As I elaborated upon my point, Raymond started making nonsensical statements, babbling "Sign, Adam. SIGN, Adam! SIGN SIGN SIGN SIGN SIGN!!!!!!" I looked ahead and realized that we had drifted off the road and were making a beeline for a YIELD sign on a 4x4 wooden post. Brakes were slammed, steering wheels yanked, signposts shattered and a front bumper was ruined. The worst part was seeing the sign careen across the hood, wondering if it was going to come through the windshield and decapitate one of us. (4) Age 20 - Electricity. I spent a summer working at Cross and Sword, an outdoor historical play in St. Augustine, FL. When we arrived at the start of the season, we discovered the previous year's staff had left most of their lighting instruments in place over the winter. 9 months of salt air had done a number on the lighting units, and we spent 5 12-hour days removing, stripping, cleaning and re-installing the lights. On either side of the stage, there were 70-foot tall lighting towers. While reinstalling a light on one of the towers, I discovered that (a) we hadn't fully refurbished one of the lights, (b) the flaw was somewhere in the wiring and (c) said flaw had made the steel pipe I was holding a conduit for quite a bit more electricity than I really wanted to deal with. The tech operating the control board heard my yelp and shut the power down, which likely saved my life, as did the fact that when I fell down, I fell away from the open hatch in the floor above the ladder. This served to reinforce my intense personal dislike of heights. (5) Age 26 - General Crappiness. Melissa's and my move to Austin was a bad time for me, initially. My employment options in Texas were not good, the marriage was under stress and I sank pretty quickly into a deep depression. While I was under no external threats to my life or well-being at that time, I spent far too much time that first couple of years we lived here pondering suicide. It took another 3-4 years for me to fully claw my way out of the pit, and I still spend more time near the edge than I ought to, but I'm workin' on it. The other Fivers are, as always, listed to the left. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:16:00 AM | Thursday, August 19, 2004
Fear My Beard And Stogie!
Ganked from the lovely and talented Maggie! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:34:00 PM | Drunker Than Your Average Bear Hey, BooBoo! Let's go juice some cold ones while Ranger Smith's not around! A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday. Bear got him some good taste, too: It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge. I might need to add the beer-ganking bears to the list of threats I'm compiling (they're not as dangerous as the monkeys, but if they're after our beer, it's war to the fuckin' knife, baby). posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:17:00 AM | Wednesday, August 18, 2004
My Precious I have had a new lust awakened within me. I want one of these. A custom-built gaming table, with individual stations, a gravity-driven messaging system, lights, space for a computer, storage space... It's beautiful, and we wants it. Filthy, triksy lawses won't keep me from my PRECIOUS! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:39:00 PM | What Is Conservatism? This question is addressed in Phil Agre's thought-provoking piece "What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?" Q: What is conservatism? The man starts with a bang - a straightforward indictment of the principles behind Conservatism. He doesn't veer off into whacknoodle land with conspiracy theories - he points out that there will always be elements in society that wish to preserve and enhance their relative power at the expense of others. Their ideals will be cloaked in terms that reflect their milieu - Romans spoke of preserving the ideals of Rome's founders, the Soviets stressed the importance of the success of the Worker's Revolution, and modern American conservatives make a lot of noise about "freedom" and "individual responsibility". Conservatism promotes (and so does liberalism, misguidedly) the idea that liberalism is about activist government where conservatism is not. This is absurd. It is unrelated to the history of conservative government. Conservatism promotes activist government that acts in the interests of the aristocracy. This has been true for thousands of years. What is distinctive about liberalism is not that it promotes activist government but that it promotes government that acts in the interests of the majority. Democratic government, however, is not simply majoritarian. It is, rather, one institutional expression of a democratic type of culture that is still very much in the process of being invented. Agre goes into especially interesting detail in his section on the means conservatives have, in recent years, projected almost all of their faults onto those they perceive as "liberals". "Race-baiting", once used to describe the activities of folks like Strom Thurmond and George Wallace, is now used as an indictment of the NAACP. "Entitlement", originally applied to aristocrats to describe their insistence upon certain "natural" priveleges, has been twisted to be applied to welfare recipients. This perverting of the language has more or less gone unchallenged by the Left. There's much, much more than I can properly cover here. Go read the piece, think it over. I don't agree with all of Agre's conclusions, but it's good material to ponder and mine for practical use. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:37:00 AM | Tuesday, August 17, 2004
BOO-Yah! Two medals for US Fencers in Women's Sabre - Mariel Zagunis got a gold and Sada Jacobson got a Bronze. The first gold medal for American fencers in 100 years, and the first medal since 1984. Once the rest of the fencing is done (on Thursday, I believe), I'll be done with the Olympics again. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:34:00 PM | Looks like I might see some Olympic fencing this year I'm still pissed off that in 1996, my parents were unable to get fencing tickets when the Olympics were held in Atlanta, GA. As it turned out, my life and schedule didn't permit my going to their house that summer, but I might have been more insistent had the fencing tickets not all been bought up by tour companies. Television coverage of fencing is about as rare as unbiased news coverage on Fox, and when it's shown, it's usually poor-quality tape shot from far enough away that you can't actually see what the fencers are doing. This year, though, the US has a good shot at winning a Gold Medal in Women's Saber, and some degree of coverage will be shown on channels I get, and we've got a DVR now, so I can tape it! Here's the info on what days/times we'll be able to see Sada Jacobsen fence. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:24:00 AM | Monday, August 16, 2004
Call Me Neo 9 times. 9 layoffs. I have dodged every bullet fired at me at work in the last 7 years. I am also unique in the list of former managers/supervisors of the team I'm on at work: Every other person that has had direct supervision of this group has been fired or laid off. I got demoted to save me from being laid off. So I'm experiencing a curious mix of feelings - sympathy for the latest manager to go, relief that I have survived yet again, worry that the other shoe might drop on me and cautious optimism for the future. It is, of course, further proof that I Have A Destiny And Shall Not Be Stopped. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:39:00 PM | A Victory For Democracy In Venezuela Hugo Chavez survives recall with 58% of vote. Back in 2002, elements in the Venezuelan military staged a coup, which (to my shame), the White House supported. This reversed a policy since the late 1980s in American foereign affairs of placing emphasis on supporting the traditional channels of free and democratic protest and regime change, and managed to completely undo the small shreds of trust Latin America had redeveloped for the US. We're seen now as supporting governments we like and suspected of working behind the scenes again (as we did in Guatemala and Chile) to overthrow governments we don't like by hook or by crook. As a result of Bush's support for the coup, Chavez has moved closer to Fidel Castro and many of his supporters believe the US was behind the recall effort. Venezuela provides about 1/3 of the oil we import, and until the coup attempt, seemed relatively stable (especially compared to the tumultuous history of the region). Yet another foreign policy flop for this misAdministration - add it to our loss of prestige in the UN, failures in the Middle East, North Korea and China, the palpable distrust that many in the world have as to the motives of the United States in the "War on Terror". Can I hear a "Mission Accomplished!" from the choir? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:33:00 AM | Sunday, August 15, 2004
And back home again Some good gaming at ArmadilloCon yesterday and today. Still very tired, what with the con and then coming home to wrangle the kids and all. Gotta catch up on the news, now. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:49:00 PM | Saturday, August 14, 2004
Off to the Con Gonna be at ArmadilloCon 26 today and most of tomorrow. Mmmmmmm, two days of sweet, sweet gaming goodness. Granted, this means I owe Melissa big time. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:47:00 AM | Friday, August 13, 2004
Well, Damn. Julia Child, dead at 91. I adored and respected her - a cook's cook, she communicated a pure and simple joy for cooking and good food. And as much as I like Iron Chef Morimoto, I know she would've smoked his ass HARD in Kitchen Stadium. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:16:00 PM | Friday Five, Now With The Sneaky Adrienne wants to know: What are the five Friday Five questions that you hope no one ever asks? A clever question - one that promises to expose my hopes, fears and secret self to the amusement and ridicule of the world at large. If I decided to tell the truth, that is. I kid, I kid. I'll be honest. Mostly. (1) What are the top 5 things you hate about your marriage? - That one's just a messy fight waiting to happen, and as I always lose fights to Melissa, I'm praying it never comes up. Not that there is anything I hate about my marriage, not even the delightful way Melissa nibbles on dry crackers in bed. (2) What five people you know would you kill to achieve immortality? - Boy, howdy. I'd hate to have to tell folks they're not worth passing up a chance to live forever. That would definitely cause Hurt Feelings and, possibly, preemptive strikes against me. (3) What are the top 5 illegal things you've done? - Since the statute of limitations isn't up on about 85% of them, I couldn't answer that. Rumors that I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die, however, are untrue. (4) Name the top 5 things you do when no one else is watching and that you hope no one ever finds out about. - Yeah, right, like anyone wants to know about my sick habits. I mean, besides the ones that aren't so sick I have to hide them. (5) Name your 5 least favorite friends. - Another messy fight provocation disguised as a question. Everyone knows I adore all of my friends equally. Except for Will - he's my strictly hetero life partner. The other Friday Fivers are listed somewhere on this page. If you find it, you get a No-Prize. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:54:00 AM | Thursday, August 12, 2004
Fucking Fuckers! The California Supreme Court has nullified the marriages of nearly 4000 happy couples. They contend that Gavin Newsome and the City of San Francisco overstepped their authority when they issued the marriage license to Gay and Lesbian couples. Left unadressed for the moment is whether or not restricting marriage solely to heterosexual couples is legal. The forces of hate and bigotry, of course, are claiming victory, but the war's not over. They started it, but we'll finish it. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:41:00 PM | I Might Get A Disaster Trifecta Here Yesterday, I posted a link to an article warning of the risk of megatsunamis if part of the Canary Islands falls into the ocean, which would devastate the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, among other places. Today, I take aim at the folks in the Midwest and Northwest with too little to worry about. Is the Yellowstone Supervolcano Ready to Erupt? Signs of increased volcanic activity have recently been observed in and around Yellowstone National Park. The north part of Yellowstone Lake has bulged by nearly 170 feet over the past 50 years. The lake has spread into forest on one side of the lake as the surface beneath the water has inflated. So, anyone seen any new warnings about the San Andreas Fault lately? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:35:00 AM | I Respect This Man's Style... ... but not his judgement. German burglar uses sword in attempt to escape police. Police called to a restaurant in the western city of Worms in the early hours, surrounded the surprised burglar. In the frantic effort to escape the thief tore a meter-long sword from the wall of the restaurant, slashed his way through the police cordon and beat off attempts to subdue him with pepper spray. Ain't that just like a German? Bringin' a knife to a gunfight... posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:52:00 AM | Wednesday, August 11, 2004
I'll just cancel any planned trips to the East Coast for a while... It has everything you could wish for in a cliche-ridden disaster movie. A beautiful volcanic island in the Atlantic is on the brink of catastrophic collapse, threatening to unleash giant waves that will wreak havoc around the globe within hours. And while scientists try in vain to make their concerns heard, the world's governments look the other way. It makes me wonder, though. How should we prepare for major catastrophes? We often enough caught flat-footed with the run-of-the-mill ones like hurricanes and tornadoes. How do we adequately prepare for something that might or might not happen some time in the next couple of thousand years, but will cause untold devastation when it does? Obviously, sending Bruce Willis and a crew of roughnecks to fix it is not an option. At some point, though, we need to start seriously thinking about things like, "How could we divert an asteroid that's going to hit the Earth?" "Is there some way we could stabilize the Canary Islands and/or the Azores to delay, minimize or prevent huge sections of them from sliding into the ocean?" "What can be done to prevent Pauly Shore from making another movie?" What would you do, were you King of the World? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:38:00 AM | One Year Ago Today 
Alexander Norman Lipscomb entered the world. He's a year old today, and I think he's just darlin'. I've had a song running through my head, "Dancing Boy" by Harry Chapin. Yes, I'm so proud when you are with me, Happy Birthday, Baby Boy. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:46:00 AM | Tuesday, August 10, 2004
| GOP Hires Temps to Collect Nader Signatures Spidra and Maggie, just don't bother to read this. You have been warned. Ralph the Nadir is, whether he wants to or not, helping the Simp Chimp in his reelection campaign. I can't decide if he's really drunk the Kool-Aid and thinks he's got a chance, or if he is pursuing a cynical course aimed at making things a whole lot worse so he can make them better (which, come to think of it, still requires that he drink the Kool-Aid). We can add New Hampshire to the list of states in which Nader has been assisted by the GOP in his efforts to get on the ballot. When the temp agency that hired her told her she would be collecting signatures for independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Emily Sawka became a little concerned. But she had been unemployed for two months and needed the $12-an-hour the job would pay. I do have to wonder at anyone deluded enough to believe Nader either (a) has a chance or (b) has the best interests of the country at heart. Like it or not, we've got a 2-party system in this nation.(*) So-called "Third Parties" have been relegated to roles as vanity platforms, spoilers or asterisked items in election night coverage - usually, some combination of those 3. This is not to say that I think minority parties should not exist - one of their useful roles is using their ability to focus intensely on one particular objective, bring it to the forefront of the public's consciousness and enable to major parties to move to coopt it. Some might complain that this weakens the message, but it also serves to make it more palatable to the "mainstream" voters, who wield the real power. The other useful role of minority parties is to dilute the influence of their focus on the electorate. The Dixiecrats served as the last major political spasm of the bigoted plantation mentality. Nixon's "Southern Strategy" was a moderation of the Dixiecrats' blatant message of white supremacy, and is showing less and less effectiveness as our society becomes more and more cosmopolitan. The Socialists' message of empowerment for the workers was toned down into the Democrats' traditional support for Unions and union-backed reforms. It's a mixed bag, but we're also spared the constant reshuffling of administrations of nations like Italy and Israel (and yes, I am glossing over the differences in our respective political systems - deal.). Long digression there, but you've all come to expect that from me. Nader's candidacy in 2000 made the GOP's efforts to disqualify minority voters pay off, and the removal of either of those from the equation in 2000 would have produced vastly different results. I intend to continue to point out Nader's work on behalf of the Bush/Cheney ticket, and I will without reservation mercilessly mock anyone that tries to speak up in Nader's defense. (*) - Those that wish to debate the two party system are encouraged to take it up on their own web space. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:11:00 AM | Monday, August 09, 2004
Whatever happend to Fay Wray? Whatever happened to Fay Wray? That delicate satin draped frame... Fay Wray, dead at 96. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:28:00 PM | Spiffy! Don't Panic! Download the teaser for "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy". Very short, but very funny. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:50:00 AM | Cheerful news! Unless you're, say, queer or simply a decent human being. Three men and a teenage boy have been charged with sexual assault in Austin in connection to the brutal assault on a gay man last month. According to some reports I've seen, the scumbags claimed affiliation with neo-Nazi groups. Here's hoping that all four enjoy the next several years getting forcibly sodomized. The police have been pretty good in going after Hate Crimes against the GLBT community since an off duty police officer was assaulted last October by about 10 men because he had a rainbow decal on his bumper. The knowledge that we're second-class citizens, though, is never far from us. How could it be, when the GOP wants to make gay marriage a felony and African-American church leaders appear to be actively participating in the political effort to enshrine hatred in the Constitution. So you'll forgive me if I seem a little strident or agitated about issues affecting the GLBT community. I just don't really trust the right wing to have my or my friends' best interests at heart. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:50:00 AM | Sunday, August 08, 2004
Blog Humor Ganked from Joel A: Question: How many bloggers does it take to change a light bulb? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:14:00 PM | My Son, The Houdini Alec has learned how to climb. He has observed his older siblings, and they have been kind enough to teach him how to pull down the safety gate on the stairwell. Last week, he climbed out of his crib and fell to the floor, which was a nice little bit of panic for us, but he got a clean bill of health from the doctor. Alec has a toddler bed now, which compensates for the ease of exit for Alec by being much lower to the ground. We're in the process of converting the office into a bedroom for Alec, which means a lot of the stuff in the office must be completely disposed of, and the rest has to be moved into our bedroom. Alec, meanwhile, is practicing his "slip out of the straps in the high chair and make my way to the floor by way of the tray" escape, and almost dove into the basket at the grocery store today. If he manages not to kill himself, I bet he's gonna love bungee-jumping. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:31:00 PM | Saturday, August 07, 2004
Well, this guy sure made an ass of himself Oklahoma man shoots self in rear end. Drew Patterson wanted to protect himself after hearing reports of an fugitive in this northeastern Oklahoma community. He's gonna be the butt of jokes for some time. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:13:00 AM | Friday, August 06, 2004
We're knights of the round table, we dance whene'er we're able Melissa and I went to see "King Arthur" last night. I don't know if I have words for how gut-wrenchingly awful it is. It's a plot hole with tiny scraps of actual movie stretched around the edges. We'll start with the premise: Artorios is the commander of a Roman calvary auxilary in Brittania in the 4th or 5th Century AD (this roughly gibes with Geoffrey Ashe's findings). His "knights" (I'll forgive this innacuracy because I'm generous) are conscripts from Sarmatia, and the last 6 of them to survive their 15-year term of service are due to be granted their freedom. (The idea that the Romans would recruit their auxilaries only once every 15 years, without bothering to, I don't know, REPLACE THE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN KILLED is rather annoying) These knights, who have traditional Sarmatian names like Bors, Lancelot, Gawain and Galahad ('th FUCK?!) are eager to leave, tired of fighting the Woads to keep Britain safe. The Romans use stirrups to ride horses - amazing, since the Huns didn't invent the stirrup for another hundred years or so - and use an impressive variety of weapons that didn't exist then. A bishop is sent from Rome to give them their passages of safe conduct back to Sarmatia. (Apparently, the Pope now controls the Roman Empire - news to me, and to even the most casual student of that little thing called history) The bishop, who conveniently has an Italian accent (to help us remember he's from Rome) gives the knights One Last Mission: Rescue the family of a Roman noble that lives NORTH OF HADRIAN'S WALL from an oncoming Saxon army, as the Romans are pulling out of Britain and leaving it to the Saxons. Trouble, as they say, ensues. The Saxons, who are led by a guy that sounds like Kris Kristofferson (I'm not kidding - he says everything in this gravelly Texas drawl that's simply hilarious to hear) and his skinhead retard of a son (who alone of the entire Saxon army has shaved his head, probably to make sure we know that the Saxons are Bad People) are out to kill everything that moves, because they're Bad People. There's a ride through a forest (in Scotland), a blizzard that seems to stop just north of Hadrian's Wall, Artorios showing us how he's really a Nice Guy when he saves all the serfs (his word, not mine - it's interesting that an Anglo-Saxon word was already in use in Roman Britain) at the Bad Roman's villa, an interesting fight on a frozen lake (but not interesting enough to make the rest of the movie worth watching), the rescue of the Enemy Babe (Keira Knightley taking the money and running) who turns out to be the daughter of "Merlin", leader of the "woads" and finally an utterly confusing and asinine battle between the Woads and the Saxons, with the assistance of Artorios and his "knights" in which a couple of them are killed for No Apparent Plot-based Reason. At the end, there's a wedding between Arthur and Gwenevere and all 600 of the Woads that are left acclaim him their king, because what's 15 years of killing you after he's married the daughter of your leader? And don't bitch at me about spoilers - I just saved you eight fucking dollars. You can thank me later. Through the entire movie, I kept asking myself, "Do I care about these characters?" The answer every time was, "Only so far as I want them all to die an agonizing death." Fer chrissakes, like "Gladiator", it's nice to think people want to make historical epics, but there's enough of a good story in the REAL FUCKING HISTORY to beat the pants of any crap a hack of a screenwriter (and the same guy is responsible for inflicting both of these movies on us) can spew up after a month-long crack and cheap whiskey bender. This movie had very little to do with the history of Roman Britain and even less to do with the legends and myths of King Arthur. Boorman's shitfest "Excalibur" came closer to Arthurian legend than this. You'd do better, though, renting "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". At least then, you get lots of good laughs. Late edit: Go to PEPPER OF THE EARTH for a hilarious parody of "King Arthur". Damn, it's funny. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:56:00 AM | Well, Somebody Cares I haven't been having the best week - primarily due to the fallout from some Bad Choices I made. My spirits picked up when I got a card in the mail yesterday. I opened it up, and saw the words, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" on the front. "Cool! It's a couple of weeks early, but someone cares enough about me to send me a birthday card!" I opened the card to see who it was from, and discovered that it was from the office of Doctor Richard Chopp. If no one else cares, the guy that rendered my testicles inoperative does. That's comforting, in some twisted way. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:43:00 AM | Thursday, August 05, 2004
Friday Five - Now With Wishes! Laura poses the following question: I think the greatest tragedy of the world is that dragons don't exist. What are the five things you really wish were true - and do you believe in them? (1) Super powers - I want razor-sharp adamantium claws, a mutant healing factor, super-speed, bulletproof skin, frickin' laser beams coming out of my eyes and atomic solar blasts that incinerate bad guys. 'Cause that would be cool as hell, especially when I used my powers to turn Uri Geller into a pile of smoking goo. (2) Good luck charms - I've got a couple of, Idunno, touchstones - things that I know don't actually bring luck, but they provide a degree of psychological comfort that I'm better able to relax and go with the flow. I don't believe my luck changes when I have them, I'm just in a mental place that allows me to take advantage of opportunities. (3) Dragons - Unless we're talking a "Reign of Fire" type scenario, which would seriously suck ass. Unless I had super powers, which would be cool. (4) Being able to eat paper and shit money - My father often accused me of believing he could do this when I was younger (usually after I broke something in the house, or got a speeding ticket, or something like that). While it'd no doubt be unfomfortable, and the term "money laundering" would take on a whole new (and even less savory) meaning, it would solve a lot of my problems. (5) Evil Geniuses - And I'm not talking about Karl Rove or Dick Cheney. I mean the classic ones - the guys that cackle maniacally as they threaten to wipe out Tokyo because their plan is "UNSTOPPABLE!!!!" right before the hero crashes through the door and beats them up, hauling them off to some prison with a revolving door so they can escape and menace the world next week. The rest of the Friday Fivers are listed to the left, but if you don't know that by now, I don't know why I even bother telling you. If you're new to this blog, I'm not talking to you - you're fine, welcome aboard, mazeltov, cheers, vilkommen, blah blah woof woof - I'm talking to that guy over to the left that's SOUND ASLEEP AND SNORING. Do me a favor someone, kick his chair and wake him up. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:35:00 PM | IL GOP "just happens" to find the perfect candidate to run against Obama! Alan Keyes, a resident of Maryland, will be the GOP candidate. According to the Republicans, Keyes was chosen for his "strengths", not his color. Pardon me while I get this gut-wrenching laugh out of my system. The main name floated prior to Keyes was that of Mike Ditka. Mike Ditka, former football coach and spokestwit for Levitra. When Ditka had the common sense to run like hell away from the impending train wreck that was the Illinois senate race, the GOP searched high and low for the best candidate to defeat Barack Obama. The best candidate they could find was Alan Keyes? A guy that lost big-time in the GOP presidential primary in 2000? A guy that's lost multiple races for senate in his home state of Maryland? A guy that couldn't even be bothered to come to Illinois to meet with the folks looking to draft him? I'm sure that his color had nothing to do with his selection. The GOP is notoriously bad at affirmative action, as evidenced by the fact that the most qualified judicial nominee to fill Thurgood Marshall's seat on the Supreme Court was the man that is, perhaps, the least qualified of any Supreme Court justice in recent memory. I can just hear the discussion in state GOP HQ: "Who are we gonna run against Obama? The voters aren't scared by his blackness - he's like Tiger Woods. The voters love him!" "Well, Ditka won't do it, and Ted Nugent wouldn't return our calls." "Hey, I know - who was that black guy that ran for president?" "Jesse Jackson?" "No! The Republican - Keene, or something?" "Here he is - found him in Google. Alan Keyes. Says here he's 'well-spoken' and 'articulate'!" "I don't see any other options. Let's do it." Isn't it the GOP that's always railing against "quotas" and "tokenism"? Medice, cura te ipsum! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:38:00 AM | Wednesday, August 04, 2004
More About Them Damn Libruls This came from the Mike Malloy Show on Air America, via a chain of LiveJournals to numerous to mention: Day in the Life of Joe Republican posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:52:00 AM | Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Running Against A Straw Man If you listen to the Preznit and Vice Preznit, you'd think that Neville Chamberlain had secured the Democratic nomination for President. Speaking yesterday in the Rose Garden, the Resident said: See, evidently some must think that you can negotiate with them, you can talk sense to them, you can hope that they change. That's not what I know. I know in order to deal with these people we must bring them to justice before they hurt us again. And so we're on the offense. We will stay -- the best way to protect the American homeland is to stay on the offense. It is a ridiculous notion to assert that because the United States is on the offense, more people want to hurt us. We are on the offense because people do want to hurt us. While he doesn't name Kerry, the Simp Chimp makes it clear that's who he means - something immediately apparent when I heard Rush Limbaugh parroting the same thing in the afternoon. (Yes, I occasionally listen to those Fascist Goons on talk radio - helps to know what the Enemy's saying, right?) Meanwhile, Captain Heart Attack was spreading the same meme speaking at an Air Force base in Colorado: "this is not a foe we can reason with, or negotiate with, or appease." John Kerry, of course, has given no indication of plans to negotiate with terrorists. From his campaign website: The threat of terrorism demands alliances on a global scale - to utilize every available resource to get the terrorists before they can strike at us. As president, John Kerry will lead a coalition of the able - because no force on earth is more able than the United States and its allies. Because I'm pedantic, I'll remind you all of the last president to negotiate with terrorists: Ronald W. Reagan. Hell, he sold 'em weapons. These lies by Bush aren't surprising, and are very telling in light of This doesn't mean, of course, that there is no threat - like the villagers who suffered every time the Boy Cried Wolf, we've got to take threats seriously and investigate, prepare and defend. No matter how many times the Bush misAdministration bumps up the threat level to boost their sagging poll numbers, we're going to have to deal with the possibility of an attack the next time. With US military resources stretched thin and bogged down in Iraq (to the point that we're pulling troops out of South Korea, giving the North Koreans a clear indication of our priorities), we're having to rely on Pakistan to track down Al Quaeda, which is rather like hiring the Mafia to crack down on prostitution and gambling. Meanwhile, Bush is busy implementing the "feel good" portions of the 9/11 Commission's report - creating a "Director of Intelligence" to exercise Iraqi-style "sovereignty" over the CIA, FBI, NSA and DIA, and not a thing is being done to improve screening processes at airports or improve airplane security. What concerns me is that sooner or later, there will be another attack on US soil, and the gang of thieves, goons, fanatics and liars in the White House haven't given us the slightest hint that they are either prepared for this or even acting with our best interests in mind. It seems they've been doing their best to make the risk greater, the way I see it. So sleep tight, kids. Mission Accomplished! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:15:00 AM | Monday, August 02, 2004
Another pointless quiz
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:51:00 PM | Fuck You, Missouri Missouri to vote on gay marriage ban. Polls suggest about 60% of Missouri's voters support bigotry and hate in their constitution, but Equal Rights supporters are fighting the good fight. Here's a few of the other states that are considering Hate Amendments: Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Michigan, North Dakota and Ohio. Yeah, I know - living in Texas, there's not much hope here, either, but I'm gonna fight like hell against it. Goddamn intolerant religious nutjob boobs. Some day, they might find the shoe's on the other foot. I hope I'm there to see it. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:55:00 PM | It's Melissa's Birthday! Money issues made getting her the gift I was hoping to purchase difficult, but Drew and Franny have gifts for her, and we're going out to eat tonight with her folks and tomorrow night, we're having a kid-free dinner out. I'm still searching for ways to get what she really wants (that is, besides $5 million, an island in the Caribbean and no need to ever work again - that'll take a little more doing). So Happy Birthday to my Favorite Person Ever. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:30:00 AM | Sunday, August 01, 2004
Didja miss me? (You're supposed to say yes) Long drive - 10 hours (thanks to the Louisiana Highway commission for all the 1-lane construction!) to Slidell, then a night in a Motel 6, then a 9 hour (with, thankfully, less traffic) drive back. I'm tired, and cranky. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:20:00 PM | |
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