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Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Things You Don't Want To Find Behind The TV Gaaaaaah. Just... gaaaaaaah. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:28:00 PM   | Total Devastation We heard non-stop from CNN, MSNBC and other 24-hour news organizations beforehand that Hurricane Katrina would hit New Orleans with every bit of force predicted by the worst of the doom-sayers. In reality, the city was hit, and hit hard, but not as bad as predicted. Katrina was only a Category 4 hurricane by the time it hit New Orleans. That's kind of like the difference between getting run over by a Buick LeSabre as opposed to a Mack truck. You're still flattened, and you're still fucked up. Some reports state that as much as 80% of New Orleans is under water, up to 20' in some places. There are multiple breaks in the levees along the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain. The people that stayed behind are being evacuated - the 25,000+ folks in the Superdome are being evacuated to the Astrodome in Houston and hospitals are being emptied of patients. Looting is widespread - there are reports of the police actively participating in some looting, in other places they simply have to stand aside and watch, there being too few to make a difference. Some of what's being called looting isn't - it's people getting food and water from ruined stores, trying to stay alive. Some is the type of thing that we humans are depressingly prone to - the stores are smashed, the alarms are turned off and the cops are either not in sight or possibly even helping, so why not grab a little somethin' extra? I'm not condoning it, just noting that it happens everywhere. In every population, there are jackals and opportunists. This is no different. New Orleans is not the extent of the damage, though. The suburbs, Slidell, Hammond, Covington, Metarie - they've all been hit hard, too. Slidell may be completely under water at this time. Alabama was slammed by high winds and storm surge, hundreds of miles from the eye of the storm. In Mississippi, it's even worse. Gulfport has been wiped out, pictures and video I've seen show buildings gutted, debris 2-3' deep piled in the streets. Reports are coming in of dozens, maybe hundreds or people dead in coastal towns. Looking at this pic of Biloxi, I find that distressingly easy to believe. Here's a list of charities accepting donations. Don't make one donation and call it done. I'm still donating every paycheck to Tsunami relief, and I'm going to set up the same for this. Don't give money to individuals, unless you know them personally and trust them. Not all of the jackals mentioned above are going to be out looting the stores, some are going to troll the internet for suckers. The way it looks, New Orleans is going to be under water for weeks, if not months. Lake Ponchartrain is still surging and the remaining levees are straining to hold up. The entire Gulf Coast, from Houma, LA all the way to Mobile, AL and further East, is going to need to be rebuilt, from the houses and businesses to the docks and piers all the way to the interstate and bridges. As far as I know, my family's friends in New Orleans are all safely out, although I'm pretty sure their businesses are wiped out. Homes gone, incomes and livelihoods destroyed. It's a good thing the Bush Administration was so invested in preparing for something like this. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:19:00 AM | Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Quiz Time! Saw this at Making Light. One of these people is a looter, the others "found" their stuff. Guess which is which! A:  B:  Now, to get the official answer according to Yahoo News, click here and here. I'm more than a little disgusted by this. [Late Edit] It seems Yahoo couldn't take the heat, so they've removed both photos. The caption for the white couple, for the record, referred to a couple with bread and soda they had "found", while the photo of the black boy specifically identfied his stuff as having been "looted". posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:43:00 PM | Monday, August 29, 2005
Well, I Think It's An Auspicious Date Today In History:
Notable deaths:
Notable births:
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 4:23:00 AM | Sunday, August 28, 2005
Firefly Quizapalooza
Thanks for the heads up on this one, Spidra! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:13:00 AM | Saturday, August 27, 2005
Photos From Oregon Got some pictures developed from the trip out West. The Columbia River, looking south at Astoria from Washington state:  This is Franny at a dock in Astoria, grooving over the sea lions:  This last one is my brother Scott and his wife Lea. That's one happy couple there: 
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 5:21:00 PM | Friday, August 26, 2005
Every Once In A While, I Like My Fellow Humans Read this article, and note: not once, not one single time, does it state the opinion of anyone toward the war in Iraq. It's just about people being kind to each other. Respect for the men and women in our military cuts across party lines, and it has nothing to do with anyone's opinions. It's about respect, and kindness for people that make sacrifices for their fellow citizens. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 4:32:00 PM | It's Important To Fight For Your Rights, But Not To Actually, You Know, Use Them... So sayeth Thomas Cadmus, national commander of the American Legion. During the American Legion's annual meeting in Hawaii, Cadmus vomited forth: "The American Legion will stand against anyone and any group that would demoralize our troops, or worse, endanger their lives by encouraging terrorists to continue their cowardly attacks against freedom-loving peoples...So, basically, we're allowed to go blow the high holy fuck out of a bunch of innocent men, women and children in the name of free speech and the right to dissent, but if you're dumb enough to think that means you can actually engage in dissent and disagree with Our Dear Leader in public, the American Legion is gonna be all over you like ugly on an ape. And if anyone knows ugly, it's Cadmus and the rest of the senile shitlicking tinpot fascists in the American Legion. "For many of us, the visions of Jane Fonda glibly spouting anti-American messages with the North Vietnamese and protestors denouncing our own forces four decades ago is forever etched in our memories. We must never let that happen again….It's all about the sixties for these sick motherfuckers - they lost then and it still chaps their asses, so they're going to keep fighting the same goddamn pointless fight until they are mercifully shoved into their graves. It's not Abu Ghraib, it's not the bombs that have been dropped on innocents in "regrettable instances of collateral damage", it's not Guantanamo Bay, it's not the widespread corruption in Iraq that prevents broken sewage pipes from getting repaired while pushing Halliburton's profits up over 200% - no, those aren't helping Al Queda and Sadr's Madhi Army recruit new members. Absolutely not! It's those goddamn long hair hippie freaks, with their free love and their drugs that are fuckin' things up. Dudes, the Sixties are over! Jerry Garcia is dead, the Rolling Stones have sold their souls to corporate promoters and Jane Fonda is collecting her 401(k). Get your heads out of the past (and out of your asses) and get a fucking hobby! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:41:00 AM | Friday Five - Trading The Stars This week, Dan asks: The Froobians have arrived to setup an intergalactic trading post, and they can offer us access to amazing art and technologies skimmed from billions upon billions of worlds. All we have to do is offer up something from Earth that will be a unique addition to the trading inventory. It can be a particularly clever piece of engineering, an unique artform, a philosophy... essentially, an idea. The key is that it must be unique (something no other world will have thought of) and non-trivial (so skip the "Ode to my Cheese Omelette"). What five suggestions would you make?In David Brin's Uplift universe, whalesong is the most precious commodity the Earth possesses. It also saved the Earth from utter destruction in Star Trek IV, one of the less satisfying of the series. So that's been done. No, I'm looking for something that'll really knock the metaphorical socks off these aliens. Something radically different and more interesting than anything they've come up with on their own, or something that puts a new spin on ideas they consider old hat. Now, Xrtl'!prog, if you'll just step over here, I'd like you to look at these Swashbuckling novels. Sure, your forefathers thrilled to stories of the clever merchant princes that sailed the methane seas of Froob, but only having one tentacle, no matter how flexible, meant that swinging from a chandelier and weilding a sword just couldn't be done. D'Artagnan, Scaramouche, Captain Blood, Zorro, the Scarlet Pimpernel - they're all new to you, and definitely worth all of your information on safe, efficient fusion (or whatever power generation system you guys use). Yes, yes, they're quite impressive. However, there's much more to see, so if you'll step over here... excellent! Seeing as your entire torso is one big tympanic membrane, sound is a big deal for you folks, and the music of Bach is definitely for you. The complexity of the arrangements alone will keep you listening for hours. Once you're through Bach, you could try some Beethoven, some Mahler or even Phillip Glass, if you're so inclined. What say you just pass over everything you've got on interstellar travel, especially that nifty FTL system, hmmm? You know, I notice your ships are kind of drab. Must be a real bitch, polishing that steel to keep rust from forming. Tell me - have you ever thought of paint? Trust me - it makes life much, much easier. Take a look at the range of colors - and that's only in the spectrum visible to us. We can always throw in some IR or UV reflecting material to get the colors just right for you. What've you got on immortality? I'd call that a fair trade. What? This? It's a comic book. We use the combination of pictures and words to tell stories, impart information and entertain. Yeah, we could make 'em using IR-reflective paint. Not a problem. And you'll offer us what? Global warming reversal? Sounds like a deal to me! Closely related to comic books are cartoons. Dig this - Freakazoid cracks my shit right the fuck up, man. Again, it's more of an entertainment than an educational tool. Now's where we start dickering - what've you got? Matter conversion? That'll work for me. The other Friday Fivers are setting up their Intergalactic Trading Posts here. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 5:23:00 AM | Thursday, August 25, 2005
In Carcosa, Lost Carcosa Got turned on to this piece of magic by Chris, a NYC gamer with excellent taste in High Weirdness and RPGs, among other things. You've heard of Call of Cthulhu. There've been many spinoffs and supplements, but the best, bar none (well, except for the Scooby Doo/CoC crossover I played at a con one time) is Delta Green. Dennis Detwiller has written for Delta Green and Call of Cthulhu, and he's just written a new game. Insylum. You are here — in the Asylum — because of something you did. You don’t recall the specifics; not yet, but you’re here to work through your problems in a constructiveIt's tied in with The King In Yellow, a play purported to drive its readers mad. Through "therapy" with the GM, or "Facilitator", interactions with the other players and the staff of the Carlsbad County Schizophrenics Annex (also known as CarCoSA, another reference to The King in Yellow and to Ambrose Bierce), the players work to regain their memory. It's a nice, simple system chock-full of weird and creepy stuff that promises to make it a Game Not To Play In A Creaky Old House. I can't wait to find some players. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:44:00 PM | Karpinski Speaks So far, it's been almost exclusively small fish that have paid the price for Abu Ghraib. The only high-ranking officer punished, Brig. Janis Karpinski, was demoted to Colonel, effectively ending her military career. She's been mostly silent since then, but recently she spoke to Truthout.org about her experiences. She's got some very interesting things to say. Karpinski says she did not know about the torture occurring in Cellblocks 1-A and 1-B at Abu Ghraib because it took place at night. She didn't live at Abu Ghraib, and nobody was permitted to travel at night due to the dangerous road conditions. The first she heard about the torture was on January 12, 2004. She was never allowed to speak to the people who had worked on the night shift. She "was told by Colonel Warren, the JAG officer for General Sanchez, that they weren't assigned to me, that they were not under my control, and I really had no right to see them."Karpinski paints a disturbing picture - officers kept out of the loop, soldiers under the command of There are still more pictures and videos of the "frat boy pranks" that went on at Abu Ghraib, and I shudder to think what's on them. Do you wonder why Al Quaeda and the Iraqi insurgence (2 completely different entities, no matter what Bush might whine) are getting new recruits at a staggering rate, while the Army can't meet the new reduced goals just instituted? The so-called "Arab Street" knows all about this shit - they hear about it day in and day out on Al-Jazeera, while our media have somehow managed to pay more attention to Britney Spears' pregnancy than to the clear trail from Cheney and Rumsfeld straight down to Lyndie England's leash-toting, fatigue-clad dominatrix act. In Iraq, we're the bad guys. It doesn't matter at this point what we intended going in, nor does it matter how many schools we build or sewers we repair. We are, to the average Iraqi on the street, an army occupying their home, infidels that don't speak the language and kick open doors and arrest everyone they see. It doesn't matter that militias are the ones attacking power plants and shutting them down - we occupied Iraq and it's our responsibility, a responsibility we've ignored ever since Donald Rumsfeld ordered that soldiers protect the Iraqi Oil Ministry while leaving museums, power plants and munitions dumps unguarded. If you think the Iraqi people aren't aware of how badly they've been fucked over, you're smokin' some wicked crack. We've got to find a way out of Iraq. We need to set a timetable and coordinate with the UN to ensure some kind of stability. We've utterly failed in every single premise under which we went to war, both before and after. WMD? Nope, not a one. Al Queda? Not in Iraq, not until we got there. Get rid of Saddam? Well, we got that one, but there's still rape rooms and torture, except it's a few American "bad apples". Freedom? The women of Iraq would like to remind you that under the previous Iraqi Constitution, they were guaranteed the right to vote, go to school and have jobs. Under Shari'a, they can count themselves lucky to make it all the way through elementary school. Is America safer? Seeing as how we're regarded by most of the world as a thug nation, I think we're doing worse than we were right after 9/11. We're spending hundreds of billions on Iraq (a lot of which seems to be going to line the greasy pockets of war profiteers) rather than on the troops, veterans or keeping our borders safe and secure. The money that is earmarked for "Homeland Security" is enriching still more contractors and not making us one damn bit safer. So what have we accomplished? We're not safer, the Iraqi people aren't any more free, Pakistan's been selling nuclear materials and technology to all and sundry, North Korea has both nukes and missiles capable of reaching the coast of the US, Al Queda is stronger than ever and Osama Bin Laden is still taunting us. We're poorer by over 1800 men and women, hundreds of billions of dollars and the world's respect and confidence. There's a reason that googling "miserable failure" gets you the biography of George W. Bush. He's bankrupted us, killed tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children and he's blissfully unaware of it all, spending his days on vacation riding his bike and "clearing brush". The most corrupt, deceitful and criminal administration in US history (and considering the administrations of Nixon, Harding and Grant, that's saying something) is gleefully driving our nation to oblivion. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:45:00 AM | Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Graaaargh If it's not too much trouble, would you mind terribly if I ate your brains? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:17:00 PM | Who's The Real Christian? Pat Robertson's senile syphilitic rantings of the other day were, like his suggestions to nuke the State Department and pray for the death of "liberal" Supreme Court Justices, a brief blip in the news. It's funny, though, that Robertson is so blatantly wishing to violate the Sixth Commandment. I mean, he's a Real Christian, one of the Elect, a guy that God talks to every fuckin' day. This holy, Christian man lives like a king off the sweat of others' brows, shuckin' and jivin' every day on TV telling his viewers that Gawwwwd-almighty just sent him an IM to let him know some lady out there in viewer-land is having problems with her kidney, and she shouldn't worry about it because Gawwwwd-almighty is going to take care of her, and by the way, could she be so kind as to send a little donation in to help Pat buy another Rolls Royce? I'm not a religious man myself, but I strongly suspect that Jesus would go fuckin' postal on Robertson so hard that it's make the casting of the moneychangers from the Temple look like a watergun fight. I mean, you wanna talk about a fuckin' perversion of the Gospel, you're lookin' at it when you see Robertson. Let's look at the other side, shall we? Hugo Chavez was elected in 1998 with 59% of the vote in Venezuala, and immediately set about rectifying the enormous gulf between the wealthy and the poor, instituting agrarian and oil policy reforms that so angered Big Business that they staged a military coup in 2002 (this coup was enacted by the US-backed opposition). Within 48 hours, massive opposition by the poor and the rank and file of the military shut down the attempt at copying Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Guatemala (coups which were also staged by US-backed opposition parties when the governments of those nations got a little too, how shall we say it - responsive to the people?). Just over a year ago, a referendum was held on Chavez' presidency. 58% of the population approved of the job he's been doing. Chavez has also told the US that military alliances are not necessary, nor will Venezuela jump when the US says "Frog". The living standards of the poor in Venezuela have risen in the last 7 years and thanks to an agreement with Cuba, the poor have free health care and neighborhood doctors. Now, Chavez wants to sell cheap gas and heating oil directly to poor people in the United States: "We want to sell gasoline and heating fuel directly to poor communities in the United States," the populist leader told reporters at the end of a visit to Communist-run Cuba.Yes, this is something of a publicity stunt - there's no easy way to do this, and the US government is certainly not going to allow it, but compare and contrast, if you will, the things Pat Robertson and Hugo Chavez have done and said. To Pat Robertson, strong in his support for the GOP, being poor is a sin and sinners don't need help. To Hugo Chavez, being poor is a problem that requires help from the government to resolve. Chavez said Venezuela could supply gasoline to Americans at half the price they now pay if intermediaries who "speculated ... and exploited consumers" were cut out.And thence comes the Bush Administration's opposition to Chavez. Chavez, in Cuba to attend the graduation of Cuban-trained doctors from 28 countries, was seen off at the airport by Cuban President Fidel Castro. Washington has accused the two leaders of being a destabilizing influence in South America.Well, I can certainly see what a destabilizing influence those two scoundrels are, with their encouragement of poor folks to get all uppity and with their free-healthcare-lovin' ways! Can't they see that free healthcare for all citizens will ruin you? Just look at Canada, or France, or the United Kingdom! Their citizens suffer under the oppression of their governments, forced into penury by the jackbooted thugs running the government. Why, the French actually have state-sponsored health care and are forced to take 4-week vacations every year! It's a terrible state of affairs, to be sure. One can only hope that, once the poor have some food in their bellies, they'll realize that they've had important freedoms taken away from them - the freedom to starve and the freedom to shit their guts out from dystentary, the freedom to kowtow the fatcats and the freedom to work at slave wages for the landowners. Some day, the people will understand that there's a natural order to things and that while all men are equal, some men are more equal than others. Until that day, it'll be up to Real Christians like Pat Robertson to show us the way to true American freedom. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:20:00 AM | Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Bring Me The Head Of Hugo Chavez! No, it's not a sequel starring a Warren Oates lookalike. It's basically what Pat Robertson is demanding be done about Venezuela. Seems Pat Robertson, also known for his assertion that lesbians caused 9/11, thinks that the democratically elected government in Venezuela is a little too independent for his tastes. In one of his many senile rants on The 700 Club, Robertson said of Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela: There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez].Actually, it was a military coup, much like those in Brazil, Guatemala and Chile way back when. But I digress. Go on, Patty! And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken; Chavez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent.So let's see - the democratically elected president of an oil-rich South American nation a nation that is 96% Roman Catholic, doesn't want to participate in the US' ban on trade with Cuba (a ban that persists only because no one in Washington has the courage to point out to the Cuban Exile community that they're not the only people in America). Therefore, this nation will, by virtue of commerce with Fidel Castro, get infected with Commie Cooties and spread said Cooties around the area, as well as allow Muslim terrorists to use his 96% Roman Catholic nation as a staging ground for attacks on the US. No doubt, the Muslims will use those WMD that they so cleverly smuggled out of Iraq under the very noses of US weapons inspectors that were, ummm...., they were seduced! Yes! Seduced by easy Gay Sex and that's why they didn't see the WMD being carried out of Iraq. It's all so clear now! Yes, if you look at the evidence, it makes perfect sense. Pat Robertson is a deranged, sociopathic tertiary syphilis sufferer, and needs to get locked up as quickly as possible before he hurts himself. I recommend he get the safe, humane treatment we give detainees at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib - and maybe some ECT as well. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:03:00 AM | Monday, August 22, 2005
| Sunday, August 21, 2005
It Was A Wonderful Ceremony My older brother got married yesterday. Scott and Lea were a beautiful couple and the weather was perfect for an outdoor wedding. We were outside of Naselle, WA on a farm belonging to one of Scott's friends and the sky was clear - nothing between us on the ground and the bright blue above us. A light breeze kept things cool as the wedding party stood beneath a spruce tree. Franny was a very conscientious flower girl, making sure that every petal in her basket was cast just so on the pathway. My father officiated, as he did at my wedding and my younger brother Micah's wedding. As always, it was a simple and deeply moving ceremony. I hope to post his text sometime in the next week or so. After the wedding, it was time for toasts. Here's what I had to say: 38 years.I'm pleased as punch to have Lea in the family now, and I've never seen a bigger smile on Scott's face than yesterday. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:22:00 AM | Saturday, August 20, 2005
Take Off To The Great Wh-, er, Green North(west) Thursday and Friday were really one loooong travel day. We left Austin and flew to Denver, arriving 5 minutes early. Our lfight to Seattle, however, was first delayed, then became another flight that was full, then finally went back to being our original flight, with the added bonus of arriving in Seattle 2 hours later than originally planned. At 1AM (Seattle time), it was ridiculous to get a motel room so Fran and I could sleep for two hours, so we picked up our rental car and drove straight from Seattle to Astoria. This took about 5 hours, taking into account the stops at rest stations along I-5 to catch a catnap and help myself to free coffee and cookies. Coffee. There are espresso stands and coffee shops about every 5 feet here - you can't swing a cat without getting its whiskers in someone's foam. These folks have moved past jittery into some zen state of caffeine overload, I think. Still, it's beautiful. Steep hills, lush trees, tendrils of fog everywhere. And blackberries - big, sweet/tart juicy ones as big as the end of your thumb, along the road, in yards, everywhere you look. I didn't actually get sleep until last night, after my brother's wedding rehearsal. I was up about 40 hours, and I remembered why I had wanted to get a motel room, because I'm way too old to go without sleep. More later - I'm at an internet cafe, and I'm about to run out of time, so I want to check my email and then Fran and I are going to look at the sea lions on the dock. Oh, and Will? Do you know what movie they filmed in Astoria? The Goonies. You'd like it here. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:43:00 AM | Thursday, August 18, 2005
Quiz Time! I'm going to post some quotes, and I want you to guess who said them:
Answers in whitefont below: (1) Tom Delay, on US involvement in the Balkans (2) Joe Scarborough, on US involvement in the Balkans (3) Sean Hannity, on US involvement in the Balkans (4) Rick Santorum, on US involvement in the Balkans (5) Tom DeLay, on US involvement in the Balkans (6) Karen Hughes speaking for George Bush, on US involvement in the Balkans (7) Trent Lott, on US involvement in the Balkans (8) Tom DeLay, on US involvement in the Balkans (9) George Bush, on US involvement in the Balkans Who's the flip-floppers? Let's not forget that NATO involvement in the Balkans War ended a civil war. It seems Iraq veers closer and closer to outright civil war every day. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:34:00 PM | An Awfully Big Adventure In just a few hours, Franny and I hop on a plane for Denver and from there on to Seattle. My older brother is getting married, and were in the wedding. Sadly, finances made it impossible for the entire family to make it out Oregon way for this, and Melissa and the boys will be staying home. I intend to post blog updates as often as I can, but computer access for me will be limited, so I make no promises as to the regularity of said updates. Keep the faith, True Believers. Excelsior! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:44:00 PM | Hit 50K As near as I can tell, I got my 50,000th hit at about 12:27 AM this morning. Some other facts about my visitor: Pac Bell Internet Services Continent : North America Country : United States State : California City : Sunol Lat/Long : 37.5859, -121.883 Operating System : Macintosh MacOSX Browser : Safari 1.3 Monitor Resolution : 1024 x 768 Monitor Color Depth : 32 bits Thanks, mysterious Californian Mac/Safari User! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:11:00 AM | Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Tagged Dunno how this works, but Gord is Fun People, so I'll do it. 1. Where I was ten years ago We'd been in Austin a year, and I was drinking a lot. A LOT. I was seriously depressed and considering suicide. 2. Where I was five years ago Fran was just starting to walk, Drew was in preschool and I was at the job I have now. Life was a lot better. 3. Where I was one year ago Alec had just celebrated his first birthday, Fran was in preschool and Drew was starting 2nd Grade. Melissa and I were seriously short on sleep. 4. Where I was yesterday Here, in the office. 5. Where I am today Take a wild guess. 6. Where I will be tomorrow Home, packing for my trip to Oregon. 7. Five snacks I enjoy
8. Five singers (or bands) for whom I know the lyrics to most of their songs Urrr... I don't know that many songs' lyrics. Taking the quesiton literally, none. 9. Five things I would do with $100,000,000
10. Five locations I would like to run away to
11. Five bad habits I have
12. Five things I like doing
13. Five TV shows I like
14. Five famous people I'd like to meet I don't have much desire to meet famous people these days - I mean, it'd be cool to run into, say, Lance Armstrong while I'm grocery shopping, but it's not something that I stay up nights hoping for. So, the list of Famous People I Wouldn't Mind Bumping Into At The Grocery Store And What I'd Say To Them:
15. My biggest joys
16. My favorite toys
17. Five people to tag Julie Dix Hill Melissa Will Abby posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:07:00 AM | Tuesday, August 16, 2005
New Domestic Disturbance - Book People The latest of Melissa's columns: To Be Bookish posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:03:00 PM | Hoamladn Sekyuritee - Protecting America From Infants Since 2002! 'No-fly list' keeps infants off planes. Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government's "no-fly list.Oh, that's brilliant. I mean, the "no-fly" list is pretty goddamn stupid anyway, but this moves it into an entirely new realm of asinine, moronic idiocy. I suppose they're protecting us from... what? Diaper bombs? Terrorist rattles? Razor-sharp zwiebeck crackers? Come on, people! This has got to be the dumbest thing I've heard of since Tom Cruise gave us the "history of psychiatry". Still, it makes us all safer, right? Don't you feel safer, America? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:07:00 AM | If You Can't Win Fair, SMEAR! You want to know why I hate the Far Right? You want to know why I wouldn't shed many tears if they all got together and drank some Jim Jones Kool-Aid? Here's why. Tell me, how did this get out? Hmmm? How did the national media get their sweaty paws on this information? It's bad enough we've got the Freepers and their ignorant, bigoted, shit-licking ilk calling Cindy Sheehan a whore, a traitor and the like. Now her personal life is going to become the issue? That's almost a big a load of crap as the lies that got us into Iraqnam. So Cindy Sheehan and her husband are separating. BFD. The Right Wing Noise Machine knows it's getting stung bad by one little woman - her brave stand has shamed them thanks to the public display of cowardice and arrogance by their God-Emperor, and all they can do is call her names, create fake emails from "relatives" and, ultimately, go on a mining expedition into her private life. If Cindy Sheehan were on a moral crusade to stress the importance of keeping families together, a divorce might be relevant. She's not, though. She's simply out to ask George W. (maybe it ought to be "Y" for "yellow") Bush what "noble cause" her son Casey died in service of. Americans of every stripe support her, because it's what our nation is supposed to be about - the principle that any citizen can demand an accounting from his or her elected leaders, the principle that we the people rule this country, and the elected officials are the folks we hire to do a job. The voice of the people is getting louder, and it doesn't matter how hard Bush's cronies stick their fingers in their ears. It doesn't matter how hard they try to hide - the voices are still there, and Cindy Sheehan is leading the chorus. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:11:00 AM | Monday, August 15, 2005
Our Maximum Leader's Incredible Bravery In the face of desperate rhetorical attacks by a grieving mother and her anti-American backers, Our Dear Leader has taken a bold stand: he's taking care of George first. President Bush, noting that lots of people want to talk to the president and "it's also important for me to go on with my life," on Saturday defended his decision not to meet with the grieving mom of a soldier killed in Iraq.See? That's courage. Not the sissy kind of "I'm going to risk my life in service to my country", that any traitor or faker could claim, but real, non-poll-driven, balls-to-the-wall courage! The kind of courage that lets a man cut taxes for his wealthy supporters while cutting benefits for soldiers and veterans! Ladies and gentlemen, you can't get bigger balls than that, even if you cram 'em in a stuffed codpipece. El Presidente has important things to do on his vacation - including making sure he surpasses our previous Maximum Leader, the safely dead Ronald Reagan (who also had the courage to send young men to die despite lying his ass off about his military service), in number of days of vacation spent during his time in office. The Boy King has important things to do on this, his 50th vacation in 5 years. He's got to take 2 hour bike rides, have lunch with Condi, take a nap, do some fishing, read a little and then hustle off to an important fund raiser. Frankly, he's swamped! How could he then take the time to meet with one measly woman, a woman who does not have millions of dollars in soft-money donations to make to Maximum Leader and The One True Party? A woman who has made it clear she is a double-plus-ungood enemy of the state and threat to Democracy? I mean, how selfish is she, that she thinks her grief, and the loss of her son in a war "I think the people want the president to be in a position to make good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy," he said when asked about bike riding while a grieving mom wanted to speak with him. "And part of my being is to be outside exercising."Popular legend has it that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Our Dear Leader "clears brush" while Bagdad burns. And folks say there's no such thing as progress! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:34:00 AM | Sunday, August 14, 2005
Forward The Glorious Revolution! Bravely striding forward, the forces of  Our Maximum Leader has Free of the taint of decadent This march is sponsored, wholly voluntarily, by the Join me in celebrating the Glorious Martyrdom of the posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:25:00 AM | Saturday, August 13, 2005
The Joys Of Parenting - #30923 In A Series School starts on Tuesday, and it can't come soon enough. This has been Fran's summer to act out, making messes with everything she can get her hands on and in general using bad behavior to get the attention she feels she's missing since Alec came along. Today, she had been playing out front in the sprinkler with another kid from the neighborhood. Drew was quietly reading, and Alec was taking a nap. Melissa had gone shopping with her mother, and I figured that things were quiet enough that I could pop upstairs and check my email, maybe blog a little. Shortly thereafter, I heard Drew: "Daaaa-aaaad! Franny's making a mess!" I shot downstairs to find gold spray paint on the floor ar the bottom of the stairs. The back door slammed shut - Fran making an attempt at a getaway. As I rounded the corner into the living room, I saw paint on the coffee table, on the wall, on a toy Alec got for his birthday, on another of Alec's toys, on the laminate floor, on a leather-upholstered chair and on the floor in the kitchen. The wall in the kitchen had a series of golden handprints on it, right at Franny level. Christ - I didn't know we even had any gold spray paint left! We'd used all of it (I thought) when we painted Fran's bedframe gold. It seems that, with the unerring radar possessed by five-year-olds, Fran had found the can hidden in the back of the laundry area, on a shelf 7' in the air, behind a jumbo-sized box of trash bags and a super-jumbo-sized box of laundry detergent. Fran's in her room now, I've scrubbed at the paint and removed as much of it as I can, and I'm trying desperately to calm myself down. I know it's a myth that the Gypsies will buy your children - it's a vicious slander against the Roma - but do you think they'd let me run away with them? Just for a little while? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:21:00 PM | Friday, August 12, 2005
Yeah, A Prostitute's Opinion Really Fuckin' Matters Remember He's got the vapors about Cindy Sheehan. Quoth the manwhore: The antiwar relics of the 1960s have all come out to put their support behind antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan. A click over to Huffington Post will give you no less than 21 pro-Cindy columns. Not a single one of them mentions the anti-American radicals that are behind her publicity stunt. But then of course, some of the radicals are the ones writing the posts - the others are a collection of what Mona Charen would call "useful idiots."A grieving mother wants an answer to a simple question: "What was the noble cause that Casey Sheehan died for?" The Simp Chimp, enjoying his 50th vacation in 5 years, is too busy playing dress-up cowboy to meet her face to face. That's right - the most powerful man in the world is too chickenshit to talk to one little ol' woman. And can anyone point me at the "anti-American radicals"? I mean, Gold Star Families For Peace? Are they anti-American? Rep. John Conyers? John Lewis? Maxine Waters? Working class folks from all over the US are anti-American? I tell you what - the motherfuckers that think it's OK to smear a woman because she's got the courage to stand up and say the Emperor Has No Clothes, they're the anti-American ones. Honest dissent gets their knickers all in a bunch, doesn't it? It really scares them, that people are capable of thinking for themselves. Jeff, sweetie, just give it up. You're a whore that's traded getting fucked in the ass for getting fucked in the head. At least when you were an experienced top and available for weekend callouts, you were almost honest about what you did. Now you're just pathetic. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:41:00 PM | Let's Draw Some Comparisons, Shall We? Remember my piece yesterday about Maher Arar? A quick rundown: Canadian citizen, changing planes in New York, illegally detained and sent to Syria, where he was tortured, determined to have no connections to terror despite assurances of the Bushies that their "secret evidence" proves he does? Right - got it? In short, an innocent man was kidnapped and sent off to be tortured in a nation that's a state sponsor of terrorism. Now, fast forward to yesterday and the curious case of Charles Dreyling Jr.. Dreyling is accused of (and admits to) carrying a pipe bomb into an airport. In a sworn affidavit Dreyling told FBI agents the device in his carry-on bag was an explosive device that he described as ‘basically a pipe bomb’, and he admitted to agents he had been making bombs since he was 14 years old.So we've got a guy that carried an explosive device - an illegal explosive device, mind you - into an airport. What's happened to Mr. Dreyling so far? Well, he had to turn in his passport and can't go to any airports, plus pay a $10,000 fine. He's also garnered the support of the Republican former mayor of Oklahome City. I guess if you're white and Republican, you don't have to worry about getting your nutsack pulverized by a truncheon-weilding thug. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:23:00 PM | Friday Five - The Great Exodus This week from Dan: You've been sent out to scout for potential colony worlds. It turns out taht Earth-like bodies (whether full planets or moons) are surprisingly common, or at least easy to access given the Super-Ion Warpification Doodad. Plus, terraforming has become remarkably easy given the real success of our own Project Genesis. (See [Wikipedia] for Star Trek reference.) So, most or all of the practical issues of selecting a world (e.g. nitrogen oxygen atmosphere, water, etc.) have been rendered moot. All that's left is aesthetics. What five things are you looking for in your new colony worlds?What makes a world worth living on? That's an interesting question. I think I'll look at it in terms of natural features that I find stirring.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:38:00 AM | Thursday, August 11, 2005
Thomas Paine Had It Right "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself. " Which is why I'm so goddamn angy over the Bush Administration's arguments defending their illegal detention and rendition of Maher Arar. For those that don't recall the details (and that's easy to do, seeing as Mr. Arar is not white, a woman or in peril, which means his story isn't going to get covered on the nightly news), Maher Arar is a Canadian citizen. He was on his was home to Canada and his plane landed at Kennedy International Airport in New York City. All he did in the US was try to make his connecting flight. Imagine, then, his surprise when he was arrested, placed in solitary detention, denied access to a lawyer and, ultimately, shipped to Syria on a secret flight, where he was tortured. Mr. Arar must have surely committed some horrible crime to get such treatment, right? Or maybe he was Osama bin Laden's pen-pal, and knew exactly where Osama was hiding and planning his next attack upon the peace-loving people of the United States, probably with nuclear weapons stolen from Russia? Nope. Mr. Arar has been cleared by Syrian and Canadian officials of any terrorist connections. Lawyers arguing on behalf of John Ashcroft and other US officials defending against Mr. Arar's civil suit challenging his detention and rendition insist that there is "clear and unequivocal" evidence that Mr. Arar is a member of Al Queda. That evidence, sadly, can't be shown to us, because it's Top Sekrit and the American People ain't allowed to sully it with their profane eyes. Because of that, they want the case to be dismissed. Now, I'm just a foul-mouthed, college educated redneck living in Texas, but even I can see when someone's playin' bullshit games. This is like a guy that tells his wife that, sure, she caught him with his dick in the mouth of the pool boy, but there's important reasons he was gettin' a blowjob from that fine young man, and if she can't just trust him that he wouldn't fuck the help without a very good reason, well, she's gonna have to learn to deal with it. If there's evidence, show it. If Mr. Arar is a member of Al Queda, and is so important that you've got to deny him a chance to contact a lawyer, his family or the Canadian Consulate (all of which our government has allowed to other criminals), so terrible that you can't let him eat or sleep while you interrogate him, so monstrous a person that you ultimately have to send him to a country that will torture him, then this is BIG NEWS, don't you think? I mean, you've got this evidence, and you've got a guy that's kept his terrorist, freedom-hating ways secret from everyone in his life, and he's intimately connected with the organization that killed almost 3000 Americans on 9/11 - wouldn't you maybe put his ass on trial? Make it clear that he's a Bad Guy? Hell, Bush exposed a mole the Brits had in Al Queda just to hike the terror alert level before the election! Surely Mr. Arar's case, which required such extraordinary violations of due process, ranked as high as that, right? To be fair, the government's lawyers are insisting that they gave him plenty of time to defend himself before he got shipped off to get alligator clips hooked up to his scrotum and wired to a car battery. He got five whole days, and if he didn't find out he was going to Syria until they shoved his ass on a plane headed that way, well, he should've asked more questions. "The burden of proof is on the alien to demonstrate his admissibility," said one of the government's lawyers, "and he did not do that." Well, duh! He must be guilty, if he can't prove he's not guilty! That's the way things work in America, dammit! That's not all, thought - once he got to Syria, he had 30 days to appeal his rendition! Why, O, why do we coddle these terrorists so? Mr. Arar could have politely asked the Syrians working him over with a rubber hose if they could, perhaps, be so kind as to give him some paper and get him in touch with a lawyer so as to tell someone he was being held in Syria and tortured, in violation of international law. He could have, but he didn't. So what's the problem? Ominously, Dennis Barghaan, who represents former Attorney General John Ashcroft, one of the federal officials being sued for damages in the case, argued that Congress and recent judicial decisions tell federal courts "keep your nose out" of foreign affairs and national security questions, like those in this case.Translation: Judge David G. Trager better watch his motherfuckin' ass, or he might get some o' what Senator Cornyn and Rep. DeLay like to deal to "out of control" judges. Don't know 'bout you folks, but I'm so fucking proud of my country that I could just puke. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:27:00 AM | Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Say What? Wow. Every once in a while, you come across a screed so asinine, so chock-full of toilet-drinking idiocy that you have to stand back and stare at it like you do a 20-car pileup on the interstate. Like this one.. The writer, one Vox Day, tells us that women's rights are wrong. How does he know? Is it because he was "fortunate enough to possess a turbo Porsche and a record contract at 23"? Maybe. Or maybe it's because he's a novelist and Christian libertarian. Not convinced yet? How 'bout the fact that he's a member of SFWA, Mensa and the Southern Baptist church? I mean, that's certainly enough for me! Nothing proves you know what you're talking about like owning a Except, perhaps, actually making sense when you talk about something. According to Mr. Day, by speaking up and demanding they be given equal rights, women have made their condition worse, because they no longer have to get married, do without birth control or be housebound drudges. No, seriously! See, because of all the women lining up to get abortions, the number of women having children in the West has dropped, which means that their liberal feminist genes will not be passed on to their children. Oh, and feminists have caused the deaths of over 100,000,000 female children in India and China thanks to their support for the right of women to "vote, work, murder and freely fornicate". The tradition of pluralism in the West is dying out due to "feminist-friendly Islamic immigration". Why, if only we weren't so tolerant, we might be able to preserve our tolerant society! And how come I didn't meet any of those women into work, murder and free fornication when I was in college? What the hell am I doin' here in the office, working like I'm some kind of chump? Unemployment? Women's fault. Islamic militants? Women's fault. Taxes? Chicks did it. Declining wages? Yep, those damn baby-factories caused it. Global warming? He doesn't say, but I'm willing to bet I can guess. Vox Day's feelings of sexual inadequacy? Definitely the fault of women. It's all so much easier when you parse it out that way, blaming everything on feminists. Now, if only Vox could get them wimmen to understand that it's for their own good that he's trying to turn the clock back a couple hundred years... posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:21:00 AM | Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Faggots Thanx to Digby for bringing this l'il gem to my attention. Dr. James Dobson (also known in my house as "That Fucking Asswipe" and "The Goddamn Bigot From Colorado") has some tips for making sure your sons don't grow up to be faggots. Men, take note. First off, we need to understand how to tell if your son is a cock-craver. What does Dr. Dobson (who is not, actually, an MD or a psychiatrist) tell us?
The onset of most cross-gender behavior occurs during the pre-school years, between the ages of two and four. You needn't worry about occasional cross-dressing. You should become concerned, though, when your little boy continues doing so and, at the same time, begins to acquire some other alarming habits. He may start using his mother's makeup. He may avoid other boys in the neighborhood and their rough-and-tumble activities and prefer being with his sisters instead, who play with dolls and dollhouses. Later he may start speaking in a high-pitched voice. He may affect the exaggerated gestures and even the walk of a girl, or become fascinated with long hair, earrings and scarves. In one study of sixty effeminate boys aged four to eleven, 98 percent of them engaged in cross-dressing, and 83 percent said they wished they had been born a girl.Yep, 60 boys. All "effeminate" (whatever that means). That's a damn small sample on which to base your assertions that cross-dressing sissies tend to be faggots and faggots tend to be cross-dressing sissies. I mean, seriously - Long hair? Earrings? Scarves? Hell, that just means the boy wants to be a pirate! Granted, there's often sodomy involved in piracy, but it's not mandatory, for heaven's sake! Dobson, well-known as a serial abuser of animals, also writes: It is important to understand, however, that most of my homosexual clients were not explicitly feminine when they were children. More often, they displayed a "nonmasculinity" that set them painfully apart from other boys: unathletic, somewhat passive, unaggressive and uninterested in rough-and-tumble play. A number of them had traits that could be considered gifts: bright, precocious, social and relational and artistically talented. These characteristics had one common tendency: they set them apart from their male peers and contributed to a distortion in the development of their normal gender identity.Y'hear that? If'n your little sissy don't want to play sports and is friendly, intelligent and creative, there's a good chance he ain't a real man. Sorry, Dr. Dog-Beater. I'm pretty goddamn sure that I, an admitted admirer of cocks and pussies, am just as much a "real man" as you. Probably more, seeing as I'm comfortable with my sexuality. What does Dr. Dobson tell us to do about it? Meanwhile, the boy's father has to do his part. He needs to mirror and affirm his son's maleness. He can play rough-and-tumble games with his son, in ways that are decidedly different from the games he would play with a little girl. He can help his son learn to throw and catch a ball. He can teach him to pound a square wooden peg into a square hole in a pegboard. He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis, just like his, only bigger.No, that's not weird at all. "Son, I think you might be turning gay. Come take a shower with me and look at my penis, that should cure you!" Talk about stupid advice - what should a godly man do to make sure his daughter doesn't become a carpet-munching diesel dyke - fuck her? In 15 years, I have spoken with hundreds of homosexual men.In rest-stop bathrooms, glory holes, back alleys, once, when the wife and kids were out of town, in my bedroom.... I have never met one who said he had a loving, respectful relationship with his father.::raises hand:: Right here, fuckwit. Many of these fathers loved their sons and wanted the best for them, but for whatever reason (perhaps there was a mismatch between the father's and son's temperaments), the boy perceived his father as a negative or inadequate role model. Dad was "not who I am" or "not who I want to be." A boy needs to see his father as confident, self-assured and decisive. He also needs him to be supportive, sensitive and caring. Mom needs to back off a bit. What I mean is, don't smother him. Let him do more things for himself. Don't try to be both Mom and Dad for him. If he has questions, tell him to ask Dad. She should defer to her husband anything that will give him a chance to demonstrate that he is interested in his son—that he isn't rejecting him.I had my share of disagreements with my father - what child doesn't? - but I looked at him and my mother and saw two people that worked hard, cared about others, stood up for what was right and worked for justice. They're both excellent role models, and while I'm not the man my father is, I feel like I took what I needed from him and from my mother to become my own person, and that's alright. Dobson wraps up his hate-filled screed with a pitch for some It amazes me that people can listen to a nutjob like Dobson and not realize that he's a charlatan of the highest order. He speaks from on high, attempting to dictate to all of us his narrow, bigoted beliefs. The large numbers of people that apparently lap up his spewings like a dog going after a puddle of vomit are further proof to me that our nation's educational system is in dire trouble. EDIT: Thanks to a brilliant comment by Ray below, I've renamed this entry. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:08:00 AM | Tuesday, August 09, 2005
George Will Doesn't Get It In a recent column, George Will lamented the state of the American automobile industry, describing the decline of Detroit and the Big 3 automakers. In his column, he included this little nugget of information: Worldwide, Ford is still predominantly a car company -- and is gaining market share. But outside America, the company is not functioning as a welfare state, paying the high costs of medical and pension benefits for current and retired employees.Uh, yeah. Why is that, exactly? Because in other nations Ford operates in, the government pays for health insurance and pensions. So is George Will advocating a more European style of civil society? Apparently not, because instead he spews forth this nonsense: Reversing the decline of "Detroit" -- shorthand for the once-muscular domestic auto industry -- requires two things. One is the trimming of some benefits the United Auto Workers won when the Big Three -- Ford, GM and Chrysler -- were the world's three largest automobile companies. As recently as 25 years ago they had a 76 percent share of the American market and the ability to pass along to consumers the costs of the settlements made with the UAW. Last year Toyota earned $10.9 billion, more than the Big Three combined, and Detroit's market share was an all-time low, 58.7 percent.I see now! It's those darn unions again, preventing Big Business from simply herding its workers into huts on the factory grounds and paying them nothing more than the pittance serfs deserve! Damn, but it'd be funny to put George Will to work in a third-world sweatshop so he could see what it's like when those damn unions aren't fucking things up for the fatcats. I notice that George Will isn't going to turn down his weekends, his health insurance, his vacation time, his sick leave - he'll hang on to those things, but he obviously doesn't give a rat's ass about those assembly line workers. "I got mine, jack. Fuck you!" It's attitudes like this that convince me we need One Big Union. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:38:00 AM | Monday, August 08, 2005
Suuuuuuure! Man forgets wife at gas station. A Macedonian man left his wife at an Italian service station and only realized he had driven off without her six hours later, news agency Ansa said.You know, I'm just not buying it. Yeah, he might not have noticed immediately - I've been deep in trip-fugue and not noticed things like leaving the gas cap off or, one time, an open trunk. Still, I caught it within a few minutes. 6 hours? I'm thinking there's something else going on. I'm just sayin', you know? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:34:00 AM | Sunday, August 07, 2005
Thomas L. Friedman, Will You Please Go Now? It seems Thomas Friedman of the New York Times is a closet Stalinist. How so? He thinks that the government should make up a blacklist of folks that don't toe the party line. In his column of July 22, Friedman suggests the State Department make a quarterly list of "hatemongers" and "excuse-makers", in a completely non-partisan fashion, of course. Who would qualify as a "hatemonger" or "excuse-maker"? Why, people like the ones described here: We also need to spotlight the "excuse makers," the former State Department spokesman James Rubin said. After every major terrorist incident, the excuse makers come out to tell us why imperialism, Zionism, colonialism or Iraq explains why the terrorists acted. These excuse makers are just one notch less despicable than the terrorists and also deserve to be exposed. When you live in an open society like London, where anyone with a grievance can publish an article, run for office or start a political movement, the notion that blowing up a busload of innocent civilians in response to Iraq is somehow "understandable" is outrageous. "It erases the distinction between legitimate dissent and terrorism," Mr. Rubin said, "and an open society needs to maintain a clear wall between them."So those folks like Richard Clarke and those analysts at the CIA that think Iraq is serving as a training ground for terrorists are excuse makers? I call bullshit. Sure, Friedman thinks the government could compile the list in a "non-discriminatory" fashion. Anyone that buys that line of malarkey needs to get their head examined - if the Bush Administration kept a list like this, who would be on it? Joe Wilson? Paul Krugman? Michael Moore? John Conyers? Nancy Pelosi? John Kerry? Looking at it from the other side, do you folks on the right trust a hypothetical Hillary Clinton administration to have a list like this? How long would such a list not include opponents of the government? How long after that before we've got calls for the arrest, detention or just "questioning" (using, of course, only the safe, respectful interrogation methods approved for use at Gitmo or Abu Ghraib")? Honestly - think about the Right Wing Blather Machine and how they've already asked for detentions of their political opponents. It's not the job of the government to tell us who's saying the right things or the wrong things. As citizens, we've got the obligation to sort it out for ourselves. Too many citizens are sleeping on the job right now, and we don't need to encourage any more to slack off. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:51:00 AM | Saturday, August 06, 2005
Another DLC Assclown Pipes Up Evan Bayh buys the GOP party line. Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, a possible presidential candidate in 2008, said Thursday that his party lacks credibility on national security and needs to convince Americans that Democrats are willing to use force when necessary.According to Bayh, it's because Democrats have a principled objection to the war in Iraq that they're perceived as having "no backbone". Um, yeah. I know I'm not alone among Americans that initially supported the invasion of Iraq and have since seen it as a foolish, cruel and evil waste of time, resources, energy and, most importantly, human lives. I wonder if Paul Hackett has "no backbone", or John Conyers, or John Lewis, or Aidan Delgado. Granted, progressives could have taken a bold stand like Bayh, Lieberman and Biden and voted in favor of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Dropping your trousers and lubing up your ass for MBNA and other usury organizations is certainly the act of a principled representative of the people, no? Bayh is yet another of the tools that thinks the key to victory for the Democrats is aping the GOP's corporate cocksucking. Yeah, those have worked so goddamn well in the last few elections. Bill Clinton's success was based more on his consumate skill as a politician and less on his positions. Here's a radical idea - maybe the Democrats could try fighting to protect the rights and needs of the American people and stop knuckling under every time the GOP says, "Boo!" posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:46:00 AM | Friday, August 05, 2005
Friday 5 - War For Fun And Profit This week, Dan asks: It has become the norm these days to name American wars, not as wars, but as operations. We've had everything from Operation Desert Storm to Operation Just Cause and most recently Operation Iraqi Freedom. Methinks someone is paying a bit too much attention to the suits from marketing... either that, or not enough -- I mean, really... "Operation Iraqi Freedom"... who thought up that name? As such, you, Mr/Ms Marketroid have been given the authority to launch five small(ish) wars, but only if you can convince the execs that the market will buy it. So, what are your five targets, and more importantly, what will your war be called?Let's have a war! So you can go and die! Let's have a war!
The other Friday Fivers drum up support for their wars here. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:55:00 AM | Thursday, August 04, 2005
This Is Why Pirates Are Important An Open Letter To The Kansas School Board I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.I'd buy that, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster theory certainly makes a lot of sense. Here's why it's the most attractive, though: I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t.Cool! Now, when I dress like a pirate, no one can fuck with me, 'cause it's part of my religious faith! Arrrr! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:42:00 PM | Bill, I Don't Think That Word Means What You Think It Means Seems Bill "Falafel" O'Reilly has a problem with science. Given that he's an odious git with cortical activity that makes a planarian look like a fucking rocket scientist, it's understandable that he'd think Preznit Bush's call to teach so-called "intelligent design" in science classes is a good idea. According to the loofah-lurving liar, the fact that "intelligent design" is nothing more than the pig of narrowminded religious dogma dolled up with the lipstick of scientific-sounding words and the resulting insistence of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science that it therefore not be taught as science (since it's, you know, not) is "fascism". Yes, that's right. Fascism. Now, according to Wikipedia, a Fascist system would include all or most of the following criteria:
This isn't the first time the O'Liarly has thrown about the f-word. Wonkette was kind enough to do a Nexis search and made up a list of everything else the fuckmunch masquerading as a human being has called "fascist": And, thanks to ThinkProgress, the irony just keeps on coming: The United States is holding more than 500 foreign detainees at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These men have been deprived of basic legal and civil rights, and reports of abuse, torture and grotesque mistreatment are rampant. Many, if not most, of the detainees have been there nearly four years, yet in all that time, only four have been accused of any crime. And even then, military prosecutors recently charged the military trials against those four have been rigged.So I'm moved to say to Bill O'Reilly what Inigo Montoya said to Vizzini in The Princess Bride: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:12:00 AM | Wednesday, August 03, 2005
A Nice, Relaxing Day I arrived in the office to a metric assload of voicemail messages, several hundred emails and the usual assortment of clowns, tools and dolts to deal with in the office. Still, it's nice to be back at work. It's quiet, and quiet in the office does not mean, "Quick, run through the house to see who's making a huge mess in complete silence." Amazingly, my back (which started hurting Sunday) feels much, much better today. Still got to deal with the van, which is causing a few twinges at the moment, but overall, I'm much more relaxed now that I'm back in my normal routine. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:02:00 AM | Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Life. Don't Talk To Me About Life. A rather crazy day. I was awakened by the kids early, we let Melissa sleep in, it being her birthday and all. Ran some errands with the kids in tow, then drove out to her parents' with the kids to allow her some writing time at home. Well, almost to her parents. The alternator, it seems, waited until we'd crossed the 50,000 mile mark to go out, thus ensuring that we'll have to pay for it instead of getting it covered under the warranty. The van died about 1 mile from the in-laws', so the kids and I hiked to a nearby house and called them for a pickup. Tomorrow, I drive out to the in-laws' again, pick up the van and drive it home so I can figure out how to haul the alternator out of it, get it tested and repaired and reinstall it. Hell of a way to celebrate someone's birthday, lemme tell ya. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:56:00 PM | Monday, August 01, 2005
A Small Musing About The Plame Affair A friend recently pointed out to me the bizarre aspects of the Left's outrage over the treasonous exposure of Valerie Plame as a covert CIA operative as well as the destruction of a long-standing undercover operation devoted to the tracking of WMD worldwide. He was especially concerned that the Left was setting aside its historical and well-justified distrust of the CIA due to its long-standing policy of interference in governments that don't exactly mesh with the interests of the US - Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile, Nicaraugua - and that's just off the top of the list. Here's my take on it: Yes, the CIA is an organization with a history of doing very bad things in the name of democracy that more often works towards propping up thugs and goons. That's not too different from what the Bushistas are up to. The difference, though, is that we've got the CIA on a leash. Some presidents let the leash out, others keep the CIA reined in pretty tight. But the CIA is, and always will be, America's Dog. The Bushistas, on the other hand, are like a rabid, feral dog running loose in the neighborhood. There's no leash on them, and those that try to put a leash on them get bitten. So given my choice of dogs, I'll take the one we can control. The rabid one needs to be put down. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:38:00 AM | New Blog On The Roll My good friend Abby and I have been after both our fathers to bring their rants online for some time. Finally, it seems they're getting the ball rolling. Here's their blog, all clean and shiny and with some of the packaging materials still wrapped around it: 3 Old Men posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:57:00 AM | Bush Family's Sugar Daddy Bites The Big One King Fahd dead. After decades of ruling the religious police state and international terror backer of Saudi Arabia, King Fahd, whose cronyism, pandering ro religious extremists and iron-fisted style were a direct inspiration for the tinpot moron in the White House today, has finally died. For the last 10 years or so, his half-brother Abdullah has been busy ruling in his name, working almost as hard as Preznit Bush at iognoring the real terrorists. Now Abdullah can rule in his own name, and Bush can lick a new pair of boots. Flags at oil refineries and gas stations will be flown at half mast today. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:34:00 AM | |
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