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Sunday, October 31, 2004
Cool Stuff By My Dad Looking at more of the Sovereignty Commission stuff that's online, and I found an article my father wrote in March of 1967 for The New South Student. My mother was 4 months pregnant with me at this time. It's interesting to go through this information. I grew up hearing stories about this, that or the other event or person from the Civil Rights Movement. Several times for school projects, I interviewed my father. When we toured the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, he had backstory for almost every major event. I never read anything he wrote during this period, though. He just hasn't shown it to me, and I've never asked. It's like looking into his head when he was my age (or a little younger, actually). Here's the link: The Southern Church and Radical Students Enjoy. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:21:00 AM   | Saturday, October 30, 2004
My Parents Are So Goddamn COOL Got this email from my father today: Subject: A bit of history, in the archives This was forwarded to us on a List Serve we are on. It is a list of SSOC Fall Conference 1965 Attendees My parents are on page 5. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:05:00 AM | Friday, October 29, 2004
Just A Reminder If you read this blog and live in the US, GET YOUR ASS OUT AND VOTE. I don't care if you're a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or a Green. The American Nazi Party and the Prohibitionists can stay home, I won't miss them, but everyone else needs to frickin' vote. It's a cliche, but I'll say it anyway: You don't vote, don't bitch to me. You dig? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:12:00 PM | Friday Five - Exit Interview This week, Dan preps for Día de los muertos and asks: At the moment of death, when you realize that there's no way out, you worry about those being left behind -- at least, we think we will. But this isn't about who we would worry about. Instead, it's about those who have already died. If you could go back and do a five minute "exit interview" with them, you could tell them the good (or bad) news about what happened in the years that followed. Which five people would you do this for? What would you be sure to tell them in those few minutes? (1) My father's parents. I was about 6 or 7 when Granny died, and she'd had cancer before that, so I never really got a chance to get to know her. Grandpa died when I was in high school, and he and I used to do crosswords together when the family visited their home in Pensacola. I'd just like to give them an update on Pop and his brothers, plus let them see pictures of their great-grandchildren. If there's time, I'd bring a couple of copies of the New York Times Sunday edition so Grandpa and I could do a crossword together. (2) Mrs. Ray. At my elementary school, she was the teacher of the gifted & talented class. She told me I'd never amount to anything, and in general helped make my life a living hell at school. I just want to show her that, despite her attempts to crush my spirit, I'm living well. (3) Richard Nixon. I want to let him know that, while he's not forgiven for his crimes, he is getting topped by our current leader. (4) Frederick A. Wright. Taught English at my high school. A good man, one of those teachers that makes a positive difference in the lives of every student he teaches. I ran into him once after I graduated, and he died of prostate cancer a few years later. It would be a "thank you" chat more than anything. (5) Emperor Norton. I want to talk to His Majesty and let him know that there are still folks in America that honor his name. If I could get him to adopt me as his heir, that'd be even better, but I won't hold my breath. The other Friday Fivers have their own interviews scheduled and their reports on them are lsited, as always, on the left. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:38:00 AM | Thursday, October 28, 2004
A Halloween Story Found a nifty new online resource: Strange Horizons, a free online magazine dedicated to Speculative Fiction. It's got art and nonfiction as well, and it's some good stuff. This week, there's a fantastic Lovecraftian tale that's worth seeking out: The Great Old Pumpkin by John Aegard. I'll tease you with a paragraph: As you are no doubt aware, I am the issue of solid Dutch stock—the prosperous Van Pelt family of St. Paul. Mine was a comfortable and happy childhood, and I spent much of it in the devoted service of the Great Old Pumpkin. For him, I cultivated an annual pumpkin patch—mostly Autumn Gold and Big Max, as I thought he would find the Atlantic Giants tacky. I also evangelized him in the community, relating the tale of how, every year on Hallowmas Eve, the day when the spiritual most strongly encroaches on the substantial, this mightiest of gourds would rise to revel across the world with the most sincere of his adorers. My neighbors were understandably skeptical; after all, not once had this superbeing ever chosen to grace my pumpkin patch or any other place in our town. I vowed that I would coax him into my backyard, and I set out in the manner of a learned man to discover how I might do this. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:02:00 AM | Wednesday, October 27, 2004
| Okay, So You're Still Pissed Off About The 2000 Election You're still acting like a jackass, dude. Sarasota man accused of trying to drive car into Katherine Harris. Completely apart from the damage you'd have done to your car, running over an opposing candidate is Just Not Done here in the United States. Please, enjoy your ass-punch time in prison while you reflect upon the importance of settling disputes through peaceful, legal means. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:30:00 PM | What Was Lost Has Now Been Found Not like it took me a lot of work or anything, but it sounded like a good title. A while back, I found this link. (flash, requires sound) When I went back to check it out a few days ago, the original link was dead. I promptly forgot about it, until I remembered it today at work, and googled it. So enjoy your Peanut Butter Jelly Time, folks. I almost worked to find it for you. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:04:00 PM | I'm Not A Big Fan Of The Hip-Hop My musical tastes run more folkish, y'know? Eminem always struck me as shallow, an occasionally entertaining but regrettably homophobic product of the MTV emphasis on style over substance. While his previous homophobic comments shouldn't be forgotten, I'm willing to give him a longer listen, based upon Mosh, his furious anthem urging voting as a mode of protest. It's simplistic, yes, but much less so than, say, Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue". Will I buy a copy of his album? Probably not, but "Mosh" is going to be purchased from iTunes and added to my next mix CD. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:28:00 AM | Tuesday, October 26, 2004
And These Guys Think They're Entitled To Run The Country? Ganked from democraticunderground.org. OCTOBER, 2004: Recently, we at GeorgeWBush.org happened to notice that our mail server had a default "catch-all" mailbox, which for the past several months had been quietly gathering any and all e-mails addressed to [INSERT-ANYTHING-HERE]@georgewbush.org. We felt the need to share. Georgewbush.org Dead Letter Office. Here's a few samples: -----Original Message----- And: > >-----Original Message----- There's documents explaining what Newt Gingrich thinks the campaign strategy ought to be, lists of churches visited by campaign reps, photos of young GOP staffers cutting up in NYC - the mind boggles. It seems that Dick Cheney isn't the only Republican that can't tell the difference between .com and .org... posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:51:00 AM | Monday, October 25, 2004
They Had No Plan For Iraq But we knew that already. Now we're seeing the cost - over 1000 Americans dead, thousands more wounded. There's no accurate tally of Iraqi dead and wounded, but conservative estimates place it in the low 5 digits. While inviting jihadis to "Bring it on!" might have kept 'em out of the US, I'm not entirely sure that the Iraqi people appreciate being the unwilling hosts for both the US military and bomb-throwing lunatics from around the Arab world. And the latest proof of the idiocy of the Neo-Clowns that planned this fiasco is the announcement that 380 tons of high explosive are missing in Iraq. Stolen from the site that was the centerpiece of Saddam's efforts in the late 80s/early 90s to build a nuclear bomb, which was left unguarded in the months following the invasion while US troops secured the Oil Ministry. It wasn't until this month that anyone bothered to check on this site. Now, I'm no military strageryist or nuthin', but I think that at some point, I would consider the possibility that, just maybe, keeping stockpiles of explosives (and other weapons) out of the hands of looters and potential insurgents was more important than protecting the filing cabinets of the Oil Ministry. I'm just sayin'. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:18:00 AM | Marvin's Taking A Break He's probably wiser than I am - I keep telling myself I'll stop diving into the news so much, but I can't stop. The Electric Smack Shack will be a haven from "news and spin and news about spin" until after the election. So hit Marvin for the real "no-spin zone" in the next couple weeks. I, on the other hand, shall continue poop-flinging and shrill screeching until someone knocks me out and gets me those sedatives. Or a Million Dollars, if anyone's got that much sitting around. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:16:00 AM | Sunday, October 24, 2004
To Sleep, Perchance To Dream That would be a nice thing. Parenting is hard! Let's go posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:45:00 AM | Saturday, October 23, 2004
| What A Difference A Couple Of Years Makes October 19, 2004: Q Good morning, Mr. Vice President. It's a great honor. I appreciate the opportunity. John Kerry has stated on several occasions that the United States had Osama bin Laden cornered at Tora Bora in Afghanistan, and then in his characterization that we diverted our resources and troops to Iraq and outsourced that particular mission or job to the warlords of Afghanistan. I personally doubt the veracity of his statement and I would just like you to respond to that, please. That's really funny, because the Bushistas said something quite different on April 17, 2002: The Bush administration has concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the battle for Tora Bora late last year and that failure to commit U.S. ground troops to hunt him was its gravest error in the war against al Qaeda, according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge. What a bunch of fucking liars. Damn, my 4 year old can lie better than that. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:13:00 PM | Bleah Rather tired today, what with Alec waking up at 2:30 and not falling back asleep until 4-ish. Got to sleep in a little, but not enough. New comics today, which I'll write more about later. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:54:00 PM | Friday, October 22, 2004
Friday Five - R.U.R. Edition Gord, working for our Future Machine Overlords, asks today: A friday five question: Imagine that you had a robot custom-built for your home, but one of limited abilities. It is, after all, one of the first domestic bots ever built. Which five tasks, chores, or jobs would you have it confugured for, if it were limited to five specific tasks? Task 0: The robot shall actively seek out dirty laundry and wash it, giving special attention to stain and odor removal. The laundry shall be folded and returned to its proper storage. Task 1: The robot shall at all times endeavor to clean up any and all animal residue, including but not limited to hair, feces and urine. In pursuing said cleaning duties, it will bathe/comb/clean the animals as required and also refill their food and water containers. Task 10: The robot shall clean up any and all residue from children living in or visiting the house. This will include - but is not limited to - feces, urine and spills both accidental and malicious. Task 11: The robot shall mow the lawn, taking care to trim hedges, edge the grass and remove dead tree branches from the yard, as well as any deposits from the subjects of Tasks 1 and 10. Task 100: The robot shall wash dishes, including but not limited to loading and emptying the dishwasher, hand-washing cookware, storing and labeling leftovers and placing items designated as garbage in proper receptacles and emptying the same into the garbage can in front of the house. The other Fivers are currently being replaced with cybernetic homonculi by our Future Machine Overlords. Their blogs are listed to the left. [EDIT] Dan was kind enough to point out, in the politest terms possible, that I appear to know fuck-all about binary number systems. It's a fair cop. The proper sequencing has been instituted. Thanks for the tip, Dan! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:39:00 AM | Kewl! Today In Alternate History An' it's goin' on the Blogroll, too. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:24:00 AM | Thursday, October 21, 2004
This Cheers Me Right The Fuck Up Dr. Gonzo on the election. BULLETIN And this: Bush is a natural-born loser with a filthy-rich daddy who pimped his son out to rich oil-mongers. He hates music, football and sex, in no particular order, and he is no fun at all. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:29:00 PM | There's A Dam In My Head Fixing To Break Not literally, mind you - I'm using metaphor - but I can feel a deep, bleak depression coming on. Those of you who've lived without ever being seriously depressed (and I'm not talking "didn't get that promotion" or "my girlfriend broke up with me" depression - I'm talking about the hardcore shit, a sea of despair and you kicking like hell to keep your mouth above the waves) probably think I'm being melodramatic, but I'm not. In a lot of ways, it's the death of a thousand cuts - every thing you do produces a little less joy and a little more self-doubt, you feel a lot of the time like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's a feeling of nameless dread that overshadows everything, combined with a sense of hopelessness and a lack of will to do anything about it. Providing a viscious cycle of feedback is the thought, "I shouldn't feel this way." You know you're depressed, and you can't claw your way out of it. The hell is the feeling that there should be some external cause - like you ought to be experiencing some heavy shit in your life to cause this feeling, that you're somehow not entitled to feel depressed without a reason. Knowing that it's your body dumping a bad mix of chemicals into your head doesn't really help. I'll probably make my way to my doctor and get another prescription for Welbutrin in the next week or so, but in the meantime, I'll just try to bull my way out of it. It's worked in the past, might work this time. I'd stay on the Welbutrin, but it takes too much of the edge off my upswings, and I like the upswings. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:12:00 AM | Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Heh. Satire PLUS Geekiness! Ganked from Zarq. The Truth About The Kirk/Spock Ticket At first glance, the Democratic nomination of James T. Kirk for the Presidential ticket seems like the sort of political no-brainer that nobody could argue with. After all, Kirk is a decorated war veteran - wounded three times in the line of duty, awarded not only the Medal of Honor but the Silver Palm with cluster - and an outspoken leader in the Klingon war. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:55:00 PM | Paging Rev. Dumbass! Rev. Dumbass, Please Pick Up The White Courtesy Phone Things not to say or do at a security checkpoint. Already the Nashville International Airport security screeners had found a laptop that the Orlando-bound Delta passenger Jose L. Gonzalez said at first he didn't have. Dumbass is lucky he didn't get his ass plugged by a trigger-happy security guard. Evolutionarily speaking, that might have done the most good. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:06:00 PM | Some Cool Images Escher for Real These guys have made 3D models of some of Escher's drawings. See the images, and see how they translated them to 3D. Pretty cool. Like this one of an Escher Cube. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:12:00 PM | Bleah Suffering a little from Outrage Fatigue Syndrome today, so I'm casting about for a non-political topic today. Just hang loose, Dear Readers. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:50:00 AM | Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Shaken and Stirred Adrienne's got a good column this month. That's what I like about Austinmama.com - they publish stuff by folks like Adrienne and, of course, my lovely and talented bride. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:13:00 PM | I've Always Loved Reading Solzhenitzen This passage from The Gulag Archipelago speaks to a fundamental truth of the human condition to me: Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts. This line shifts... Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and in the best of hearts, there remains one small corner of evil. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:00:00 AM | Monday, October 18, 2004
Wann haben sie Ohio's Kristallnacht? Ohio scares me. Not just for their "Cincinatti Chili". Not just because they get snow, a substance that fills a true southerner such as myself with atavistic dread. No, it's shit like "Initiative 1": "This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage." This means, in short, that gay couples will have no rights. None. Zip. Nada. Home ownership, adoption, health insurance, wills - all of those, and much, much more, will be against the law in Ohio if the religious whackaloons have their way. Leading the charge in Ohio is a scary, Taliban-like motherfucker name of Patrick Johnston. He's got a "Ministry", and he's got a website. On this website, he tells us helpful things like: Gays are going to Hell because they have buttsex! There's more, but you get my drift. It seems that, for the right, blacks and Jews have in large part been replaced by homosexuals as a target of hatred. Sure, there's still the old-school Aryan Nations and Kluxers, but religious and ethnic hatred is a lot harder to push on the large scale. Faggots and dykes, on the other hand, are a perfect target. They tend to look just like everyone else, so it's easy to whip up paranoia about them. Their difference is about sex and sexual preference, which makes hardcore religious types all squicky-feeling. There's even a couple of ambiguous bible verses that can be quoted out of context to justify killing homosexuals. I might be guilty of waxing towards the hysterical myself on this issue, but when I see and hear folks like Johnston calmly state that, if their political goals are met, people like me would likely be executed, I tend to get a little worked up. You should, too. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:21:00 AM | More Stategerical Wisdumb Found this on Brad DeLong's Journal, but I'll go straight to the source, Intel Dump. Army's desert OPFOR on the way to Iraq This foolish effort to shoehorn ideology into practical results known as Gulf War II will go down in history as a strategic mistake along the lines of Napoleon's march on Moscow and Varus' attempt to conquer the Teutoburg Forest. Our military - regular, reserves and national guard - is being used up faster than they can meet enlistment goals. "Stop-loss" policies are in effect, basically forcing soldiers that have completed their enlistments to stay in. Units are being given a choice between reenlistment and assignment to combat duty in Iraq. The focus of the War on Terror has shifted from the isolation and elimination of the actual groups behind 9/11 and other acts of terrorism to a popular uprising against an occupying force in a nation with no discernable connection to organized terror support or funding. Two of our biggest allies in this "War on Terror" are Pakistan (home of a nuclear scientist that has admitted to selling nuclear technology and know-how to Libya and Iran, among others) and Saudi Arabia (home of 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 and home-base for the Wahaabi sect of Islam, ideological base for the Taliban and Osama bin Laden). I don't see an easy way out of this, and I fear that my children will still be paying for the idiocy of Bush and the Neo-Clowns when they're my age. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:45:00 AM | Sunday, October 17, 2004
I Feel Like A Pinball Today Partially because of the low-grade hangover I got from the good wine at a friend's birthday party last night (at which I had some fuckin' fantastic lamb, as well) and partially because it's one of those days with lots of stuff going on. Franny and I are about to head to a Princess-themed birthday party, which should be... interesting, to say the least. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:32:00 PM | Saturday, October 16, 2004
Jon Stewart, I Love You By now, I hope you've had a chance to see the clip or read a transcript of Jon Stewart's smackdown of bitchy little priss Tucker Carlson on "Crossfire". It's good comedy and better commentary on the sorry state of what passes for journalism in the US. My favorite moment? Not when Jon Stewart called Little Miss Tucker a "dick", though that certainly made me smile. BEGALA: We're 30 minutes in a 24-hour day where we have each side on, as best we can get them, and have them fight it out. Here's the deal, see? These puffed shirts, the vapid talking heads, have somehow confused the medium with the message. They're on TV - that means they're IMPORTANT. They're not, unless they do something important. Parroting the Talking Point of the Day, be it "John Kerry is a flip-flopper", "George Bush is a dummy" or "Calling a lesbian a lesbian is hurtful", is theater. It's not news. That's why I get my news from NPR, not CNN. That's why I read the BBC online, not MSNBC. CNN, which used to be a decent news network, has turned into the same thing as FOX, differing only in degree. It's Pretty People spouting off whatever they're fed via TelePrompter with a mixture of hacks mouthing platitudes and soundbites. Set the VCR to tape The Daily Show. It's the most honest news you're gonna get on TV. That's the scary truth. [EDIT] It seems TCF found the same link I did. Check out his commentary. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:30:00 AM | Friday, October 15, 2004
Block the Vote! That's the motto, apparently, of the RNC this year. They're going out of their way to keep likely democrats away from the polls by hook or by crook. I've already written about the possible destruction of Democratic registrations in Nevada by Voters Outreach of America. This company is largely, if not entirely, funded by the RNC. In addition, Daily Kos lists activity by this company and by Nathan Sproul, the former head of the Arizona Republican Party, in Orgeon, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and Arizona. In each case, there are definite traces of deliberate fraud. In some cases, democratic ballots are destroyed while in others, there is pressure placed upon both those collecting registrations and new voters to get only Republican registrations. Paul Krugman, one of the few sane voices left at the once-great New York Times, discusses this activity and other nefarious doings in his column today. The important point to realize is that these abuses aren't aberrations. They're the inevitable result of a Republican Party culture in which dirty tricks that distort the vote are rewarded, not punished. It's a culture that will persist until voters - whose will still does count, if expressed strongly enough - hold that party accountable. I'm a big fan of democratic ideals, and to my mind, the more Americans we get to participate, the better off we'll all be in the long run. If this Administration cares about free elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, they sweet-ass better give a shit about 'em here at home. So far, I'm not seeing that. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:42:00 AM | More Proof the Republicans are a Bunch of Whiny Little Titty-Babies Cheneys still mad about daughter mention. Waaaaah! Cry me a fuckin' river. Mary "Auntie Tom" Cheney is a fuckin' paid official in your campaign, she's an open lesbian, and you've mentioned her on more than one occasion. Way I see it, you're ashamed of her, and worried that she's gonna hurt Dick's chances of getting reelected so he can spend another four years raping the treasury for his buddies at Halliburton. Deal with it - what John Kerry said was polite, respectful and true. That's a hell of a lot more than you ratbastards have managed to do. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:38:00 AM | Friday Five - Erinnern Sie sich an dieses? This week, Laura, the Finnish Fury, asks: "There was a light and then someone hit me..." What are your five earliest memories? Memory is a tricky thing - we can convince ourselves that we remember something that's been described to us or that we think we ought to remember. So I'll make an effort to be skeptical of my own recollections here and list the ones I'm reasonably certain I haven't confabulated (and that's difficult for me, because I relentlessly edit my own memories to suit my mood). (1) Sometime before age 2, Nashville, TN. My father was working for Will Campbell doing Civil Rights stuff, this was before he got a job with the Civil Rights Administration and we moved to Atlanta. At the time, we had a white german shepherd dog named "Buddy" - there are pictures of me and my older brother Scott sitting on his back dressed as cowboys (any parent with a small child and a large dog has been at the very least tempted to take this photo). I have a memory of my father yelling and my mother shouting as a white dog scrambled over a fence and ran away - not much, just a few seconds of memory, and I don't even recall sounds, just the images. My parents have confirmed that Buddy got out of the backyard on a couple of occasions, but that's not a story they told. (2) Same period as (1). This is an even more fragmentary memory - I remember being held, and seeing some funny-looking things hopping around and jumping really high. As near as I can determine, this was the Apollo Moon landing. Another story my parents never told me, but that they confirmed when asked. (3) A year or so later, Atlanta, GA. New house, new furniture. My parents had ordered a bunk bed to put in Scott's and my room. The truck from Sears had arrived, and it was a rainy day. I ran out into the garage to dance around and screech excitedly, and slipped and fell, gashing my chin. I got my first stitches that day. (4) Same time as (3). New house in Atlanta, Scott and I were in the playroom in the basement. The ground floor was a couple of feet above street level, so there were windows in the top 2' of the walls of the playroom, which I remember as having white walls and a linoleum floor. I picked up a large wooden block (I believe the offending block still resides at my parents house to this day) and heaved it at Scott (this kind of behavior being a large part of our interaction until we moved to different areas of the country). Thankfully, it missed Scott and instead soared through one of the windows into the back yard, where my parents were chatting with friends. I remember hearing my father roar "God-DAMMIT!" and I remember the spanking I got. Probably why this memory has stuck with me in such detail. (5) Age 6, first day of school. First Grade, C.W. Hill Elementary in Atlanta, GA. I had a new haircut, a groovy purple turtleneck, some bell-bottom jeans and a pair of orange Keds. Stylin'! I sat next to Chrissie Richards, and she became my first love. We had both brought our lunches - she had a bologna sandwich, an apple and a thermos of lemonade brought in a Wonder Woman lunchbox. I had peanut butter and jelly, a tangerine and some milk, and Chrissie was impressed with my Rown and Martin's Laugh-In "SOCK IT TO ME!" lunchbox. Sadly, in 6th grade, the bitch broke my heart. Story of my life, pre-Melissa. Honorable mention goes to my most powerful memories, which include the day my Grandmother suffered her fatal stroke, the day my father found out that his father had died, the births of all 3 of my kids and to my strongest memory, the day I met Melissa. (For that last, I can recite every single detail of that single moment, when I saw her and fell in love. Not even our wedding is as rock-solid a memory as that moment.) The other Friday Fivers, when not immersed in sensory-deprivation tanks to hypnotically regress through their genetic memories, occasionally write in the blogs listed to the left. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:48:00 AM | Thursday, October 14, 2004
Googlepalooza! Yeah, I know the "-palooza" thingy isn't near as clever as it was a few years ago, but I still like it. It's been a while, so I figured I'd list some of the Google searches that have led folks to my blog in recent days: "charleston" "christmas 1989" I've been in Charleston, but the Restraining Order says I'm not allowed to discuss what I did there. Let's just say that the citizens of that town will never look at a pulled-pork BBQ sammich the same way again. "photos"="nazi workers" Sorry, I don't cater to the deviant fetishes of folks like you. Jerry Clower Case Knife I keep picturing a big-ass folding knife with an enameled handle with an airbrushed Jerry Clower and a sound chip that emits Clower punchlines every time the knife is opened. My image is probably more interesting than the actual item. Dick Cheney calls a congresswoman a bitch Hey! Go fuck yourself! "how to build a crossbow"online Still with the crossbow nuts. Hope you have fun at the Renn Faire and get a good deal on a turkey leg and a leather mug! executed executed was executed (google.il) executed (google.it) Two Americans, an Italian and an Israeli can't get info on executions anywhere else than my blog? Dudes, Al Jazeera has much better info. moeller skycar Sadly, this was not Mr. Moeller getting in touch with me to give me a skycar. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:43:00 AM | Another Quiz You are <img> Oooooh, pretty! You like things to look nice, don't you? Well, there's nothing wrong with that, just don't go overboard with it. Remember, some people are still using dial-up! You can blame Gord for this one posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:18:00 AM | Wednesday, October 13, 2004
| No (Republican) Voter Left Behind In Las Vegas, NV, a Republican-hired voter registration firm is accused of destroying thousands of Democratic registration cards. The focus of the story is a private registration company called Voters Outreach of America, AKA America Votes. I suppose this is the Bush Doctrine at work, eh? Make a pre-emptive strike against the voters before they can even vote, because they're just Democrats, and their votes don't matter as much as Reg'lur Amurrikins. Personally, I think bullshit like this deserves a couple of decades in a Pound-You-In-The-Ass Federal Penitentiary. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:07:00 AM | Tuesday, October 12, 2004
When Do We Get To Revoke The Tax-Exempt Status of The RCC? Group of Bishops Using Influence to Oppose Kerry (NYT, groovezog/letmein to enter) For Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, the highest-ranking Roman Catholic prelate in Colorado, there is only one way for a faithful Catholic to vote in this presidential election, for President Bush and against Senator John Kerry. So, a high-ranking member of a cult that has engaged in organized, multinational and cross-state sheltering of criminal pedophiles, wants to tell us it's a sin to vote for John Kerry? The mind boggles at Mr. Chaput's gall. In an interview in his residence here, Archbishop Chaput said a vote for a candidate like Mr. Kerry who supports abortion rights or embryonic stem cell research would be a sin that must be confessed before receiving Communion. Of course, voting for pResident Bush, with his support of war in Iraq and the thousands of men, women and children killed or maimed because of the lies he told to justify the war, that's OK, because he protects fetuses. When can we get some RICO indictments against the Catholic Church? That oughtta shut the bastards up. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:10:00 PM | Because It's Just More Fun When Crazy People Run For Office It's shaping up to be a fun election year. Besides our first two debates, at which we saw President Bush first as a stammering, smirking, inarticulate boob and at the second debate as "Furious George", the two-fisted stammering, smirking inarticulate boob, we've had the pleasure of seeing Alan Keyes go full-bore on the hypocrisy, carpetbagging himself into Illinois to run a destined-to-lose campaign against Barack Obama. Latest figures show Obama with a more-than-comfortable 45-point lead over Keyes, who has risen to new heights of strident, hysterical blather. In Oklahoma, now, we've got Republican Tom Coburn warning about rampant lesbianism in public schools. To wit: "lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go to the bathroom. Now think about it. Think about that issue. How is it that that's happened to us?" Local school officials, however, beg to differ: Joe McCulley, school superintendent in Coalgate, chuckled when asked about Coburn's remark. Now, I don't have a problem with rampant homosexual activity in our high schools, so long as the kids all make it to class on time and make passing grades, so I'm not really seeing a downside to Coburn's idee fixe, but I really think he's perhaps been watching Teenage High School Lesbo Sluts a little too often. Cutting from there to Kentucky, where Republican Jim Bunning's increasingly bizarre behavior has been fueling suspicions that he's suffering from some form of dementia. Bunning has demanded a full complement of bodyguards from the Kentucky State Police, claiming that Al Quaeda is out to get him. Bunning has also shifted to reading brief statements at campaign rallies, laboriously making his way through his speech in a monotone and leaving the actual campaigning to others. A recent debate between Bunning and his opponent, Daniel Mongiardo, was subject to a series of bizarre rules, followed by Bunning fleeing to Washington, DC where he gave his portion of the debate from the basement of RNC Headquarters via satellite. Add in little nuggets like the Bugfucker gettin' some smacks from the House Ethics Committee and perhaps, if the Gods smile upon Texas, an indictment from Ronnie Earle in Austin for violating the ONE campaign finance law in Texas politics, and you've got what's shaping up to be a good time. It'll be even sweeter in January, when President Kerry takes his oath of office. Any bets on whether Bill Clinton will be offered the post of UN Ambassador? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:21:00 AM | Monday, October 11, 2004
Miscellaneous Bits 'N Pieces They'd take away my blogger account if I didn't jump on the bandwagon and mention the death of Christopher Reeve. I will decline to use the words "Superman" and "dead" adjacent to each other. This caught my eye, especially as I've been reading Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle": Cromwell's moonshot: how one Jacobean scientist tried to kick off the space race More than 300 years before the Soviet Union launched its Sputnik satellites and American astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped on to the Moon, England had its own ambitious space programme. Those that know me are also aware of my interest in the "Noah's Flood" theory - that sometime around 10,000 years ago (plus or minus - what's a couple thousand years among friends, right?), a natural dam across the Bosporus broke, allowing the salty Mediterranean to flood the plain and freshwater lake that is the Black Sea. Here's an update on the latest research there. I first got interested in this theory because it sounded like such a lovely, crackpottish idea. The science appears to be sound, though, and the groups investigating are going about it in the right way: cautious theories, with every bit of information being analyzed and dissected, then added to the big picture. I'm enjoying learning more about it, and it's also given me all kinds of stuff I will eventually mine for use in one RPG or another. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:41:00 AM | Indymedia.org Raided! Last Thursday, the FBI seized servers belonging to Indymedia.org. From Indymedia.org, we learn the following: Today, October 8, 2004, Indymedia has learned that the request to seize Indymedia servers hosted by a US company in the UK originated from government agencies in Italy and Switzerland. More than 20 Indymedia sites, several internet radio streams and other projects were hosted on the servers. They were taken offline on October 7th after an order was issued to Rackspace, Inc., one of Indymedia's web hosting providers. The FBI has a history of attempting to crack down on Indymedia.org, and it appears they're still going after them hot and heavy. More info on this as I find out more. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:41:00 AM | Sunday, October 10, 2004
The More Things Change... Drew seems to be getting over his weird whatever it was, but last night, Franny spent the night dry-heaving. Today, she seems fine - she kept down water, then a pedialyte pop, and now she's acting like she feels better. If we have another night like that tonight, we'll be taking her to the doctor tomorrow. Parenting: it's not just a job, it's an adventure. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:46:00 AM | Saturday, October 09, 2004
Worst. President. Evah. James K. Galbraith, no slouch at these things, thinks George W. Bush is full of shit on the economy. Employment numbers continue to fall short of the levels needed to keep up with population growth, we're at least a million jobs down from the beginning of the Bush misAdministration, and while corporate incomes rise, it's because fewer employees are doing more work while the fat cat executives rake in the profits. Oil prices are over $50 a barrel. Interest rates are climbing for no tangible reason. According to Bush, things are looking up, and the economy's ticking along Just Fine. How 'bout you? Are you better off now than you were four years ago? I'm not. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:32:00 AM | Friday, October 08, 2004
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain! Some of you may, by now, have heard the foofraw over John Kerry pulling a pen from his pocket before his first debate with the pResident last week. It seems, however, that there might have been some serious skullduggery from the other side that also raises serious concerns about the actual capabilities of pResident Bush. In the picture below, I've circled a suspicious bulge on Bush's back from the debate. Among the rules demanded by the Bush team was one that no shots of the candidates be taken from the rear. This rule, like the other insisting that the candidates not be shown in split screen, was ignored by Fox News. 
So what's the deal? It wasn't a microphone - those were hardwired into the podiums. Is Bush so stumpwater stupid that he can't be trusted to speak off the cuff? This isn't the first time that someone's suspected Bush of being "wire-guided". Isbushwired.com is a clearinghouse for evidence that George Bush is being told what to say at almost every public appearance. When Bush spoke at D-Day ceremonies in France last June, for example, viewers watching on CNN, Fox and MSNBC, including mediachannel.org's Danny Schechter, were startled to hear another voice speaking Bush's words as if to prompt him. Some said this continued into a q & a. And on the night of 9/11, when Bush appeared on television to address the nation, viewers of one television station in Quincy, Massachusetts heard another voice speaking, slowly and carefully, a few words at a time -- words which were then recited by the president. The voice was nondescript, male, definitely not the president's voice, says Quincy resident Robyn Miller. This went on for at least four sentences, she says, and then the "extra" feed was cut off. The Great and Powerful Oz has spoken! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:47:00 PM | Where In The World Are The Friday Fivers? This week, Chronally Displaced Viking Chieftan Dan wonders: In all your life's travels, what are your five favorite spots that you'd most like to visit again to be able to share the spot with friends/family? Was it the place itself or the experiences you had there? (1) The Brecon Beacons in Wales. Last March, my family went with our friends the Garcias and spent a fantastic week in the village of Pengenffordd. We drove all over the area, going to Hay-on-Wye (a town almost entirely composed of bookstores - drool), Tintern Abbey and seeing some drop-dead gorgeous views. I'd like to go back with my parents so they could see it too. (2) Lexington, VA. I spent the summer after I graduated college working at The Lime Kiln, an outdoor theater. Their centerpiece show is "Stonewall Country", a musical about Stonewall Jackson with music by Robin and Linda Williams, who savvy readers will recognize as half of Garrison Keillor's "Hopeful Gospel Quartet". It was a good summer - hard work, but good beer, great music and good times. There's a spot overlooking the Maury River there that is bathed in the light of the sunset, turning the river into a ribbon of golden/red light - I would like to go sit there with Melissa and just watch the sun set over the valley. The Shenandoah Valley is one of the places I wouldn't mind living if I had to leave Austin. (3) Santa Rosa National Seashore, Pensacola, FL. My father grew up in Pensacola, and as a child, we went every summer to visit his parents. Usually, we camped at the National Park, which, in addition to the beautiful white sand beaches that area of the Gulf Coast is famed for, has Fort Pickens and several coastal batteries dating back to WWII. I spent hours every summer climbing all over the batteries, pretending I was sinking German submarines, wearing a steel pot helmet I'd bought with hard-earned allowance at a military surplus store in town. My folks would get up early in the morning and catch crabs, which my father would turn into a spicy, tasty gumbo by evening. We've been down there once since the kids were born, and I'd like to go again so the kids can maybe have some of the fun that I did. (4) The Flint River, Georgia. My family loves to canoe, and living 30 minutes from the Flint River, we got to go out a lot. One of the areas we loved to do was a section called Yellow Jacket Shoals, the largest Class III rapids in the state of Georgia. It's a rough ride when the river's up, but worth it for the thrill. Further downstream from the shoals, the river opens up and becomes more placid, making for a quiet trip the rest of the way to the pick-up point. Usually, after finishing a day on the river, we'd head to the Riverbend Restaurant for some of the best all-you-can-eat fried catfish on the planet. Having raised a bunch of type-A thrillseeking children, I think some whitewater would do them just fine, and the catfish would likely be a hit as well. My buddy Will needs to get out on the Flint, too, seein' as he likes the canoe as well. (5) Montreal, Canada. I got to go there for training 3 times on my employer's dollar, and loved it. The old town, right on the St. Lawrence Waterway, is pretty interesting, and there's some good museums. I think the kids would dig it, and there's plenty of terrific cuisine for me and the Mrs. The other Friday Fivers are scattered across the cosmos, fighting the Boskonian Menace, but their blogs are, as always, listed to the left. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:32:00 AM | Thursday, October 07, 2004
You know what I hate? Migraine headaches. Like the one I've got right now, while I wait for the next shift to arrive so I can go home, vomit and fall asleep for far too short a nap. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:07:00 PM | Oh, Yeah. There's No Possible Way This Could Go Wrong US Scientists recreate 1918 Killer Influenza in lab. Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions. In all seriousness, the scientists performed the experiment to determine how minor a mutation in a Flu virus could be to result in an epidemic like the one in 1918. The answer? Very minor. "Hey, I get the Flu every year, Adam! How bad could it be?" This bad: The 1918 "Spanish" flu pandemic is estimated to have infected up to one billion people - half the world's population at the time. And hey! Look! No flu vaccine this year for you! Sleep tight, kids. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:33:00 AM | Wednesday, October 06, 2004
US Government to Iraqi Women: Bend Over, Here It Comes Again A $10 Million grant was just awarded as part of the State Department's Iraqi Women’s Democracy Initiative. Who got this grant? The Independent Women's Forum. What is the IWF? Let's hear what they have to say: The Independent Women's Forum was established to combat the women-as-victim, pro-big-government ideology of radical feminism. We seek to restore, strengthen, and extend that which promotes women's well being by advancing the principles of self-reliance, political freedom, economic liberty, and personal responsibility. Oooo-kaaaaay. What else? Through programs, such as our legal, campus, and work/family projects, the IWF will continue to: Weeeeel, I dunno, but maybe their hearts are in the right place... Wonder who's running this group? They say they're "Independent" - that must mean something, right? People For the American Way tells a different story: # Board Member Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor, Bush Administration Not exactly independent, now, are they? The IWF opposes the following programs: Title IX funding, affirmative action, the Violence Against Women Act, full integration of women in the military, and those who oppose President Bush’s controversial judicial nominees. They stand against the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. Publicly funded daycare, equal pay and sex education are all targets of their ire. Looking over all the facts I've picked up in just a few minutes of googling, I wonder if this is an honest grant, or a payoff to more cronys of the Bush Administration for favors rendered. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:29:00 AM | Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Letters From the Front Lines New book coming out: Will They Ever Trust Us Again? Letters from the Warzone to Michael Moore The Guardian has some extracts: From: Specialist Willy posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 5:54:00 PM | But What Do Professional Diplomats Think of Bush? Found this link on The Electric Smack Shack: The State Department's extreme makeover (Salon.com, see a commercial & read the article) Some excerpts: [Colin] Powell has served both as the reasoned voice of career diplomats and the experienced voice of career U.S. military in the Bush administration. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ignored military advice and excluded Department of State career professionals from Iraq planning. Power was concentrated in the hands of a clique of neocon ideologues he placed in key policy positions, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. In the first term of George W. Bush, protégés of now disgraced former Defense Policy Board member and neocon godfather Richard Perle achieved control or subordination of every executive branch foreign-policymaking body -- except the Department of State. And... The whole time [David] Wurmser was at State, career professionals around him saw someone acting more like an agent of influence than as a subordinate of the secretary of state. He was in constant contact with his Pentagon intelligence cell. Questions were asked -- but never answered -- as to how Wurmser got a full security clearance when he never registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act for his 1996 policy work for Israel's incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (including advice on how to lobby the U.S. Congress) and as someone who was married to an Israeli citizen with close ties to Israel's Likud Party -- in theory, a party to U.S.-brokered Middle East peace negotiations. But wait! There's more! Working with direct input from Israeli intelligence, Feith's Pentagon office coordinated with Libby and Wurmser in the vice president's office to spread the story that the missing WMD are to be found hidden in Syria. Israeli agents have worked overtime to neutralize and undo Syrian cooperation with the CIA against al-Qaida. This comes on the heels of a similar highly successful destruction of CIA inroads with the Palestinian Authority. We are now light-years beyond the two-state solution focus of Middle East policy. Instead of chasing Laden, the neocons plan to put the U.S. on the road to Damascus -- and Tehran. The groundwork is laid. I'm depressed that we let these morons get so far. We need to smoke these guys out in every nook and cranny they've occupied and clean house. We need to stop the NeoColonialists now, before they hurt our nation any more. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:49:00 PM | Lawsuitapalooza! We hear a lot from the f'right dingers about those eeeeevil "Trial Lawyers" - those words are often juxtaposed with images of sharks, just to drive the point home. The Right-wing Wurlitzer cranks out its vague, ominous warnings of lost jobs, businesses ruined day in and day out. We hear about a lawsuit resulting in $700,000 awarded as compensation for a cup of coffee spilled in a woman's lap, and don't hear about the skin grafts or the repeated warnings to the coffee vendor that their coffee was kept too hot - just shy of boiling - or the internal memos that ordered the coffee to be kept at that temperature to keep old people from sitting in the restaurant and nursing their coffee. Frivolous lawsuits, we're told, will wreck our Republic, will turn us all into nervous, gun-shy rabbits afraid to make any decisions or interact with our fellow citizens for fear of being sued into oblivion. "Trust Big Business," we're told. The Invisible Hand of Adam Smith's Spirit will weed out the corporations that are unethical, the ones that poison the land, sell shoddy merchandise, endanger our health and fleece the people blind. "Trust us," they say, reaching out with one hand, the other hidden behind their backs holding a big club. Makes you wonder - why are they so afraid of lawsuits? Could it be that they want to remove from the American people a form of redress? I suspect so. In light of that, I did a little googling, and found the following: Public Citizen did a study, and determined that U.S.Businesses File Four Times More Lawsuits Than Private Citizens And Are Sanctioned Much More Often for Frivolous Suits. Well, well, well. Who's abusing the system? It ain't guys like John Edwards. It ain't folks like Stella Liebeck. It ain't people like the little girl that got her intestines sucked out by a swimming pool drain. It's corporations. It's groups like the beef industry in Texas, that tried to sue Oprah Winfrey for defaming the holy name of beef during the Mad Cow scare. It's folks like Tom DeLay, giving corporations blank slates so they can write legislation to suit them, then shutting down debate and arm-twisting lobbyists to donate money to his PAC. It's Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush, giving no-bid contracts to their cronys and former employers, who then proceed to rip off the government that belongs to the American people. Are there frivolous lawsuits? Yes, but not even a half-assed lawyer would take one, because Plaintiff's Lawyers earn their living on contingency. If a case goes through, they can recover their costs from the settlement (typically about 1/3 of the total award). If their suit fails, they're stuck with the bill - their firm's fees, the defendant's fees and court costs. Some might say that 33% is a high price for them to command, but you're paying them for their knowledge and experience. We're not unwilling to pay large sums to cancer specialists, plumbers or architects. A lawyer is the same thing - a skilled tradesman that's spent many years and gobs of money being trained to do something that the average citizen cannot do. Plaintiff's Lawyers perform a vital public service, and deserve our esteem. Like 'em or not, they're willing to stand up for you and fight the good fight. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:43:00 AM | Monday, October 04, 2004
Is a Dildo a WMD? In Australia, it might be. An adult sex toy shut down a major regional airport for almost an hour on Monday when it was mistaken for a bomb, police said. You certainly can't. If the people are able to achieve a satisfactory orgasm with mechanical aids, the terrorists have already won. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:02:00 AM | Reform at the CIA? Setting aside the blatant political nature of Porter Goss, let's take a look at one of the Republican congressional staffers Goss brought on board at the CIA to take over the #3 spot: Michael Kostiw. Kostiw, slated to become Executive Director of the CIA. Kostiw served for ten years as a CIA officer, then went on to lobby for Chevron/Texaco and finally served as a staffer on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. Turns out, though, that Kostiw's departure from the CIA was, shall we say, rather petty. As in petty theft. Kostiw was caught shoplifting at CIA headquarters in Langley, VA in 1981, placed on administrative leave for failing polygraph tests and finally resigned in a deal that expunged the police record of the incident. I dunno. It doesn't inspire confidence, that's for sure. Let's see what else comes out, shall we? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:51:00 AM | Sunday, October 03, 2004
I Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry Highlights from the Republican National Convention We're led by psychopathic nutjobs. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:59:00 PM | | Drew's Reading Is a delightful thing to behold. He has discovered "Bloom County" and is currently regaling Franny and our friends Merlin and Gavin with a book of strips. Bedtime for him is complicated by his habit of quietly closing his bedroom door so he can continue to read without being detected. Franny, meanwhile, is starting to read a word here and there, and enjoys helping us read to her at bedtime. Now if I could just find more undisturbed time in which to read. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:55:00 PM | Saturday, October 02, 2004
Nice Haul While out and about with the kids today, I stopped by my new favorite bookstore, Black Bart's Used Books. The pirate theme aside, it's a nice little used book store with good prices and a very sweet selection of SF and Fantasy paperbacks for those interested in rounding out their collection. Today, I got my hands on several of L. Sprague DeCamp's "Viagens Interplanatarias" novels, some rousing swashbuckling fiction that's been on my "gotta get me some'o that" list for a while. New books always make me happy. Now if I can just pace myself with them and make 'em last more than a day or two... posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:47:00 PM | Friday, October 01, 2004
Friday 5, With Lyrics This week, I asked everyone: What are your 5 favorite lines from any song? Not the song itself, but specific lyrics that you dig, and find yourself repeating in your head. While I often get earwigged by entire songs, it's much more likely that I'll latch on to fragments of songs. It can make for an interesting medley in my head (and, sometimes, an internal soundtrack that makes me want to bash my head against a wall). Currently stuck in my head: (1) It Ain't Me, Babe by Bob Dylan: Go melt back into the night, babe, That's just cold, man. I've had some bad breakups, but I've never been that cold. (2) Traighli Bay by Tanglefoot: And with tar on our pigtails and blood on our rapiers Anyone surprised that I like pirate music, please stay after school to write 1000 times, "I should know Adam's tastes better." (3) Spare in the Trunk by The Clumsy Lovers: “Undone, undone”, I cried through clenched teeth It's just a catchy tune, what can I say? (4) Life by the Drop by Stevie Ray Vaughn: Up and down the road in our worn down shoes Who doesn't like having some rock-solid Texas Blues in their head? Say what you like, Stevie Ray Vaughn knew about the blues. (5) Pardon by Robert Cray: So if you're out on that lonely street Having had my heart taken to school before, Cray's lyrics really hit where it's good. The other Friday Fivers are currently in an undisclosed location, but their blogs can be found listed to the left. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:10:00 AM | |
