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Monday, October 31, 2005
Now, Don't Think Me Mean-Spirited I mean, it is sad that a preacher in Waco was electrocuted Sunday morning while performing a baptism. I can't imagine how horrible it must've been to be a member of the congregation when that happened, and I hope there's no lasting psychological trauma. But. This serves as an example of why it's so important to stop and think about what you're doing: The Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was stepping into the baptistery as he reached out for the microphone, which produced an electric shock, said University Baptist Church community pastor Ben Dudley.Stepping into waist-high water does not, to me, seem the most opportune time to reach out to adjust any device that depends upon electricity to work. I mean, that's why they put those big-ass tags on electric appliances that say things like "DO NOT USE HAIRDRYER WHILE IN BATH" and "CD PLAYERS IN THE HOT TUB ARE NOT A GOOD IDEA, EVER". Simple extrapolation from one's understanding of the principles of "Things One Shouldn't Play With In The Bathtub" would inevitably, in my mind, lead to understanding that there exists a class of "Things That Don't Belong In Water With People, Especially Me" as well as a class of "Things I Shouldn't Mess With While I'm In The Water" (which would include, along with the obvious electrical appliances, stuff like pure metallic sodium, shark chum and Roseanne Barr). Science education - not just good, but good for you. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:29:00 AM   | Sunday, October 30, 2005
Der Ewige Homosexuell It's time for a statewide ballot, and as usual, the National Laboratory For Bad Ideas (hats off to the delightful Molly Ivins for that one) has something new and stupid for us, the long-suffering voters of Texas (And thanks to all the idiots that voted the assholes and morons in this time around. Really. Thanks, can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it, but give me 20 minutes and a baseball bat...). This time, it's Proposition 2, an effort to Yes, despite the current existence of a statewide ban on the marriage of some people that love each other, it's been decided that we must have another one, lest those goddamn faggots sneakily force more straight, god-fearing couples to get divorces, take illegal drugs, abuse each other and/or go bankrupt. Betcha didn't know we were responsible for that, didja? No, the shitty state of the economy, a fucked-up educational system that deliberately penalizes the poor, a still-disturbingly high level of spousal abuse - none of those have a fucking thing to do with the "danger" to "traditional" marriage. It's all the fault of the queers. Because, doncha know, we have the audacity to demand that we be treated... the same as everyone else. Governor Assbag said when he signed the legislation to put Proposition Hate on the ballot that maybe faggots and dykes ought to get the hell out of Texas, if they thought they deserved equal rights. Fuck that noise - why doesn't he get his expensively-coiffed self out of my goddamn state? Or at least shut the fuck up. I mean, look who he's got on his side - the KKK, Focus on the Family, Jerry Falwell, Fred Phelps - and the rhetoric of all of them is essentially the same: Homosexuals are a threat to their way of life, we exert a powerful influence on society despite being subject to blatant discrimination at almost every turn, if something isn't done to stop us now then society as a whole will suffer. Sound familiar? Yeah, it did to me, too. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:06:00 PM | Saturday, October 29, 2005
There Is A Difference You hear the Kool-Aid drinkers claiming that the indictment of Scooter Libby for perjury and obstruction of justice is different from the Clinton impeachment, and they're right. As usual, you need to look at their claims and turn them around before they match reality. The three I hear the most often are:
Let's look at them, shall we?
That's not "hardball", that's a crime.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:21:00 PM | Friday, October 28, 2005
Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses... But Don't Expect Us To Let Them Vote Yoinked this from Steve over at NewsHog, who got it from The New Standard: The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005, which passed the House of Representatives yesterday by a vote of 331-90, contains a provision that establishes a national fund for developing affordable housing, by skimming 5 percent off the profits of the government-sponsored home-finance companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.Steve comments: When the National Voter Registration Act was passed in 1993, nonprofits across the United State were required to provide voter registration services in order to receive housing and other social services money. As a direct result in 2002, nonprofits registered millions of new voters, many of whom were low-income. The amendment is therefore probably unconstitutional because it attempts to limit rights of affiliation; is in conflict with existing federal law (and State law in places like Minnesota where state law actually mandates that nonprofits receiving state support "shall provide voter registration services for employees and the public."); will increase disenfranchisement among the poor and is, in fact, an attempt to criminalize democracy.That aside, Steve looked at the numbers: -BUT, there are only 231 Republicans in Congress, out of a total of 435 Reps. That means one hundred Democrats voted for this amendment - more than all those who voted against it! WTF???I agree with Steve - this is an outrage, and is more in keeping with notions of Jim Crow "literacy tests" and "poll taxes" used to keep them darkies down than it is with any ideals of helping poor people get decent housing. See bottom of entry for an update on this Recognize any names? If you see your congresscritter on that list, drop 'em a line and let them know how you feel. If you're not sure about whether it's a good idea to scuttle funding for affordable housing, remember who was in favor of this bill: In a letter dated May 25 to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), obtained by The NewStandard, members of the Republican Study Committee warned, "[T]he money from this fund could be used to finance third-party advocacy groups that have agendas… that are antagonistic to the free-market principles we value."That says something - the right isn't into affordable housing or equal voting access, if they can so casually assume that any organization dedicated to either registering new voters or providing affordable housing is "left-wing". No shame at all, then, in being a leftie, is there? [EDIT] Did a little more research and got some more information, and there are two Democrats in particular that need to get taken to the woodshed - Farr and Taylor (MS). 191 Democrats voted against the amendment, which was approved 210 to 205. 9 Democrats did not vote on the amendment at all: Bishop (GA), Boswell, Emanuel, Meek (FL), Moran (VA), Reyes, Roybal-Allard, Towns, Wexler. We ought to be giving them what-for as well. [EDIT OF THE EDIT] Thanks to Shamanic and The Continental Op for digging up the info on the amendment. Hats off for pointing me at the info that I was too lazy to find myself. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:12:00 AM | Don't Shirk Your Duties As A Parent Melissa had to have the talk with Drew last week. I thought he was a bit young for it, but after Melissa saw Drew's journal from school, she knew she had to act. Drew seemed to understand what she was talking about, but I was shocked to see the kids today are already doing it at his age. He misused an apostrophe. Not just once, but several times. We're bearing up OK, and we're hoping that our talk will set him back on the road to rightness. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:38:00 AM | Thursday, October 27, 2005
Odds Anyone got an over/under on the total number of indictments coming out of Fitzgerald's investigation? I got some spare money and I'm lookin' to lay it on the line. I'm betting Rove, Libby and Steven Hadley - with Cheney and Bolton as unindicted co-conspirators. I could, of course, be wrong. We'll see what happens come Fitzmas Day. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:21:00 AM | Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Are You Fucking Kidding Me? Again? No, Really? This is amazing. I mean, we've already seen the "up-is-down" of George Bush's AWOL in Vietnam "proving" he's better at leading than John Kerry's distinguished service in Vietnam. Karl Rove's outing of an undercover CIA operative was really about him trying to blow the whistle on a corrupt, nepotistic boondoggle. Slashing wages for workers in the Gulf Coast helps them make more money. Giving money to the rich makes us all wealthier. The list goes on. This takes the cake, though. Meet Alex Cornell du Houx. He's a senior from Bowdoin College, and he's a Marine. When Alpha 1st Company Battalion was ordered to Iraq, he didn't shirk his duty. He's going to Iraq, just like thousands of other men and women across this great country. The kicker? He's a vocal opponent of the war. Alex is the development director for the College Democrats of America and co-president of the Maine College Democrats. He's also co-president of Community Service Council, works with Habitat for Humanity and tutors at local schools in the America Counts Tutor Program. An impressive resume, a fine young man. When asked about the seeming contradiction between his political beliefs and his obligation to the Marine Corps, he said: "Regardless of my opinions regarding the war in Iraq, it is my duty as a U.S. Marine to serve and I am ready and willing to do my job to its fullest extent," he said.Like I said, a fine young man. That's not the thing that's got me flabbergasted, though. His is not a unique story, not by a long shot. Not until you hear this: Daniel Schuberth, a leader of the College Republicans on the Bowdoin Campus and national secretary of College Republicans had this to say: "I applaud Mr. Houx for his service, just as I applaud any other soldier who is brave enough to take up arms in defense of his country. I find it troubling, however, that one of the most vocal opponents of our president, our country and our mission in Iraq has chosen to fight for a cause he claims is wrong. Mr. Houx's rhetoric against the war on terror places him in agreement with the most radical fringes of the Democratic Party, and I am left to question his logic and motivation."Mr. Schuberth is not - I repeat not - a member of the armed forces of the United States of America. I doubt he's even got a pair of camoflage pants. Suddenly, Alex Cornell du Houx's willingness to honor a sworn commitment, placing that oath above his political ideals because he by-God promised, is a bad thing? Yet another Rethuglican Chicken Goddamn coward. You're a low down sack of shit, Daniel Schuberth. I wouldn't piss down your throat if your guts were on fire. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:37:00 PM | The City - Politics, Law And People More on the campaign. These notes are still very incomplete, but they give a feel for how I'm structuring The City. I'm pretty married to using Hungarian as a basis for the Dwarvish language and Turkish for the Orcs. I'm still trying to figure out what I want the Elves to sound like, so at the moment I'm leaving them alone. Another thing I haven't figured out is where The City stands in relation to the other nations of the world. At the moment, it seems to be a combination of Switzerland and New York City, a financial and trade hub that maintains itself by actively avoiding taking sides in any dispute. Next up will be magic and its effect upon society, including the frequency of powerful mages. 12 Elven Families - 1 head of each family (approx 1000/per family, more or less), each Head has a seat on the Noble Assembly posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:01:00 PM | Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Some Might Call Me An Alarmist But, as Mick Arran has pointed out, sometimes the frogs in the stewpot need someone to point out that the water's temperature is rising. This was prompted by Marvin's post letting us know that the cross-dressing homophobic racist moron shitlickers are coming to town. Marvin also linked to a chilling piece by Chris Hedges that, curiously, was rejected by every major publication to which it was submitted. Hedges, author of the book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (which has been on my "get a copy as soon as the money's there" list for some time), details the societal and tactical parallels of the Christian Reconstructionists and their more "mainstream" followers, like Pat Robertson, James Dobson and Zell Miller, with the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. Hedges does not argue a 1-for-1 correspondence, but instead notes that an apocalyptic worldview combined with a bad economy and easy scapegoats makes for a bad combination in any Democracy, and that lessons can and should be learned from the 1930s. I'm not talking to the Progressives out there - you know the threat, and you're more intimately acquainted with the dangers of the Theocrats and their followers. No, I'm talking to the rest of you. I want to make a few things clear. If the people like Pat Robertson, James Dobson or people worse than they take over, you'll likely find yourself on their bad side. These are just a few of the groups that will find themselves in hot water sooner rather than later: Catholics, Democrats, Greens, feminists, Gays, Lesbians, Log Cabin Republicans, social Libertarians, social Liberals/fiscal Conservatives, Jews (they seem to get hammered by everyone, more's the pity), Conservative blacks, right-wing intellectuals, college professors, Latinos, immigrants, Muslims, Unitarians, Quakers, Jehovah's Witnesses, Neoconservatives, actors (really, anyone in the creative or performing arts, with the possible exception of Mel Gibson and Charlton Heston), drug users, cheerleaders, gun collectors, the French and newspaper reporters. Like I said, that's just a few - and I culled that list from public statements by the likes of Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and the right-wing commentators out there. At first, of course, the support of some or all of you will be welcomed by the Theo-Stalinists. They've realized that they need to tone their message down a little to reach a wider audience, so they won't mention the racist shit when they're getting black ministers to support a ban on Gay marriage, and they might make noise about welcoming their gay brothers in Christ into the door of the church - but you can bet they're interested only in "curing" faggots and not in talking to them, they'll phrase their anti-immigrant lingo in terms of "protecting the jobs of American workers" and, of course, the support of the far right for Israel has nothing to do with actual support for Jews and everything to do with their desire to fulfill the "prophecies" of a nutjob written almost 2000 years ago. If it comes down to these freaks assuming power, I like to say I'll laugh my ass off at the shocked expressions on some folks' faces when they're carted off to face the "biblical" punishment for their crimes, but I'll probably already be dead by that point, undesirables like me being Number One on the Theo-Stalinists' Hit Parade. I could be wrong here - the far right's ascendancy might be about to crumble and collapse all on its own any day now, the progressives might pull it out of the fire in 2006 and get the chance to turn the economy around, shattering the base of the Theo-Stalinists. Hell, my fellow Queers might actually take over and name me "His Most Utter Fabulousity, Adam I, Emperor Of The United States and King Of The Dance Floor" (but I'm not holding my breath for that one, no matter how spiffy the robes would be). I could be wrong, but I've learned in my life that there are some opportunities that you can't pass up:
I hope I'm wrong, and I hope the lack of sleep is talking more than any knack for political haruspexy on my part. I hope so, but hope's not a method. They are our enemies, and they do not want to reason with us. There's no crime in telling them to shut the fuck up. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:19:00 AM | Monday, October 24, 2005
A Letter To My Senator Senator Hutchison - I was thrilled to read your recent statement regarding the outing of Valerie Plame as a covert CIA operative by the office of the Vice-President as a sordid means of punishing a critic of the administration for speaking out. Your efforts to stress the vital importance to our democracy of the principle of honesty, especially in cases like this in which national security has been jeopardized by the malicious efforts of one of the most powerful men in the world. These words brought a tear to my eye: I was reminded as well, however, that the laws of our Country are applicable to us all, including the President, and they must be obeyed. The concept of equal justice under law and the importance of absolute truth in legal proceedings is the foundation of our justice system in the courts.Your dedication to the basis - the foundation, as it were, of our legal system - is commendable. Were it to be determined that chief advisors to the President (a proud Texan, like yourself dedicated to the rule of law and straight dealing) and Vice-President were guilty of the crime of perjury before a Grand Jury, I rest easy knowing that your would tell them that their political connections did not matter, their power and influence did not matter: Lying is a moral wrong. Perjury is a lie told under oath that is legally wrong....Willful, corrupt, and false sworn testimony before a Federal grand jury is a separate and distinct crime under applicable law and is material and perjurious if it is 'capable' of influencing the grand jury in any matter before it, including any collateral matters that it may consider.To be sure, the thought of having to take a stand of that nature with a member of your own party is daunting, but I have faith that you will be able to rise above petty party politics and ensure that the message is made clear - that no man, be he ever so wealthy and influential, is above the law. That justice does not care about Democrats or Republicans, rich or poor - that what matters is the Rule Of Law. When you said, A hundred years from now, when history looks back to this moment, we can hope for a conclusion that our Constitution has been applied fairly and survives, that we have come to principled judgments about matters of national importance, and that the rule of law in American has been sustained.I felt like standing up and cheering. I could not be more proud of your sterling efforts to serve the people of the great state of Texas. I could not be happier that I was represented in the Senate by someone so morally strong, so dedicated to the Rule Of Law in our mighty nation. Can you believe that there are some elected representatives - I won't name them, their statements are shame enough - that had the audacity to say (and say on national TV - broadcast straight to millions of Americans!): I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation were not a waste of time and dollars.I was stunned - how could an elected representative - a member of the body responsible for writing the laws of our nation - say such a thing? Have they no shame? I mean, can you believe that? The sheer insulting audacity of that person (I suggest you check a tape of "Meet the Press" from Sunday, October 23 to see the culprit utter the scandalous words) makes the gorge rise in my throat. Really, you should find that senator and give them a piece of your mind (a good shaking would not be out of order, I think). To utter such sentiments when our national security has been threatened borders on, in my mind, treason. One does not excuse even the careless or accidental exposure of national secrets. One does not wink and nod at the efforts of the powerful to evade prosecution for their misdeeds. I am thankful every day for the presence of a staunch defender of the principles of our Constitution such as yourself in the Senate. Your efforts and statements in defense of the law serve as a shining example to my children, and I can only hope that one day one of my children will be able to rise to your heights of moral rightness and dedication. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:56:00 AM | Sunday, October 23, 2005
Bang! Bang! Me Use Mighty Thunder Stick Going out today with a friend to the target range. Should be fun - it's been a while since I did any shooting, so I'm probably going to be all over the damn place. I feel all macho an' shit now. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:26:00 AM | Saturday, October 22, 2005
Paranoia Is Sometimes A Survival Trait The good folks at the EFF have found something interesting on the paper coming out of your color printer. It seems that printer companies have programmed laser jet printers to put patterns of 1mm yellow dots on printouts to allow identification of the date and time they were printed, as well as the serial number of the printer. But of course, this information is only going to be used to catch "bad people", like counterfeiters and child pornographers and Honest. Nothing else to see here. Just move along. Someone will be by later to posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:39:00 PM | Friday, October 21, 2005
Campaign Notes: Religious and Cultural Sketches Following up on my post the other day of notes from my world-building for the next GURPS campaign I'm going to run, here's some very preliminary notes on the races of The City and their religions. Humans: BaselineFor the religion of this game world, I'm looking for two things: (1) Internal consistency - do the religions make sense, would they work in relation to each other? (2) Verisimilitude - do they seem real? I decided to go with a modified take on the Roman model - "Hey, that's a nice God you've got there. Think we'll take him, do you mind? Didn't think so." As the Gods are very real in most fantasy gaming worlds, it would (to my mind) be logical for them to, after some period in the past of intense warfare for followers, come to some sort of off-the-record agreement about places like The City, where they can all grab some fraction of the attention/prayers of the citizens at any time. The City is kind of a DMZ, where they can intermingle without having to gear up to wipe each other out. For the Dwarves, I opted for furthering the mystery and insular nature of them, plus giving the players a chance to do some creative role-playing. The City has sometimes been called "A Home For Every God", and that is not far from the truth. With a few exceptions, The City has welcomed and assimilated every faith that has entered its gates. Each God has an area of special attention, and the residents of The City take full advantage of that, praying to Gren for healing when they are sick, offering a lamb to Peschin when they are negotiating a difficult contract or even spilling some of their own blood at the altar of Huec when they wish to get revenge for a slight. In times of crisis to The City, the temples of Wrallat, the patron god of The City, have worshippers massed outside the door. The two exceptions to this ecumenism are the Dwarves and the Orcs. As with so much else about their culture, the religion of the Dwarves is shrouded in mystery. Its rites occur underground, and the Dwarves never discuss their faith with outsiders. All that is known is that they recognize one God and one God only, insisting that all other gods are fractured reflections of the True God. The Orcs, on the other hand, have a more animistic faith, recognizing individual spirits for almost everything in the World and negotiating with those spirits through the services of a shaman as needed.My hope is to keep the Gods distant, but still hanging over The City like Damocles' sword. Next up, the political and legal organization of The City. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:49:00 AM | Friday Five - Eggapalooza Yeah, I know, anything-palooza is so 1995, but I just like it. Deal. This week, Gord asks us: I've been reading Korean folktales, in which people of royal extraction seem often to have been born from eggs. What are your five favorite recipes containing eggs?While I'm tempted to engage in some laborious and tortured play on words involving royalty and breakfast, I'll spare you all that and move right into the food talk. (1) French Toast - Always good, so easy to make. Mmmmmmm. (2) In honor of the recent reopening of Cafe Du Monde, Beignets. So good, light and sweet and served with hot cafe au lait by drag queens in mufti to the hung over 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If Cafe Du Monde is back, New Orleans will make it. (3) Chocolate Meringue Pie - Melissa makes the best. chocolate pie. ever. End of story. (4) Fried Eggs - I like 'em fried in about 3 tablespoons of butter (real butter, mind you) until they're close to the consistency of hockey pucks and then eating 'em on crisp buttered toast with loads of tabasco. Heart attack central, but sooooooo tasty. (5) Hard Boiled Eggs - Right after Easter, when you've got a couple dozen uncracked dyed easter eggs is the best. I could eat 'em year round. Follow this link to see the other Friday Fivers (who may or may not have bothered to participate this week). posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:24:00 AM | Thursday, October 20, 2005
Intelligent Design Is The Best Argument Yet Against Itself Seriously, what creator worth his salt would go to the effort to make such dumbasses? Were I creating a species, I'd build in some pretty strong bullshit filters. It's obvious that for some humans, there ain't no bullshit filters. Rothschild told the court that the US National Academy of Sciences supplies a definition for what constitutes a scientific theory: “Theory: In science, a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses.”One of the leading "scientists" that supports unIntelligent Design admits that the only way his "theory" counts as a scientific theory is if one uses a much more vague definition of the term "theory" than the scientific community uses. In his own words:“I can’t point to an external community that would agree that this was well substantiated." The best term that fits Professor Behe is "intellectually bankrupt", as evidenced by this passage from the trial: The cross-examination of Professor Behe on Tuesday made it clear that intelligent-design proponents do not necessarily share the same definition of their own theory. Eric Rothschild, a lawyer representing the parents suing the school board, projected an excerpt from the "Pandas" textbook that said:This is nonsense - in the 21st Century, we shouldn't be wasting our time arguing with the intellectual equivalent of flat-earthers. You want to teach your kids an Invisible Sky Fairy created the whole earth, right down to Widdle Pwecious and His Widdle Toesies? Fine. Teach it at home. Schools funded by my fucking tax dollars need to teach kids facts. I use belief in creationism (and I include unintelligent design in that category) as a quick sorter - if someone professes a belief in the myth of creationism, I can pretty much write off anything else they have to say because they're deluded tools. Same thing with astrology, scientology, Kennedy conspiracy theorists, the infallibility of the pope and the music of Jessica Simpson, among others. If someone is so divorced from reality that they cannot differentiate between wishful thinking and objective reality, I really don't want to waste any more of my time listening to them. One of the real dangers of democracy is when the educational system fails. If students aren't taught to think for themselves and critically examine available evidence in light of the very real world around them, you're likely to elect mouth-breathing morons like this guy: Listening from the front row of the courtroom, a school board members said he found Professor Behe's testimony reaffirming. "Doesn't it sound like he knows what he's talking about?" said the Rev. Ed Rowand, a board member and church pastor.Yes, shitforbrains, we do have that academic freedom. We also, however, have an ethical obligation to point out that those "other points of view" are the points of view of deluded assholes, shit-eating liars and dumbass crackpots like you. [EDIT] Just got tipped to this interesting little piece on Dispatches from the Culture Wars. Seems "rigorous peer review" is another term with a very flexible meaning for the unintelligent design crowd. How postmodern of them! [EDIT EDIT] Julia has been kind enough to find a link to transcripts of the Dover trial. They're here. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:59:00 AM | Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Campaign Notes Every once in a while, I remember that this is not just a political rant blog. This is one of those times. I'm playing in a very entertaining post-apocalyptic zombie-ish campaign right now, and really enjoying it. I can't go long without working on the next campaign I want to run, though. Seeing as I will probably never be able to get players interested in my Neolithic Fantasy Campaign (privately dubbed "Shamans and Sabertooths" [saberteeth?]), I'm once again setting that aside and instead playing with building an urban setting for a fantasy campaign. The idea of a police procedural campaign was inspired, in part, by Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, but I'm aiming for a much grittier feel than his cutting satire. Here's the basic historical notes I've got so far on The City (almost all proper names in the notes are placeholders until I come up with something better. suggestions are welcome, provided they don't get annoying or silly). Since before the Gods walked, there was The City. In dark eons, creatures unimaginable crept and oozed along its streets. The Gods drove them out and took over The City, building and rebuilding over the tens of thousands of years of their Golden Age, until they tired of their games and left to find something new.Notes on religion to follow later today or tomorrow. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:44:00 AM | Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Don't Piss Down My Back And Tell Me It's Raining I've heard on the fucking Right Wing Echo Chamber that the 5-day delay in aid for the US Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina was within normal parameters, that we can't really expect the government to respond quickly or effectively in the event of an emergency or natural disaster, that politics had absolutely nothing to do with the shameful abandonment of the poorest residents of the poorest region of the United States. I call bullshit. 'Cause lookee here! News releases from 2004, from right before Hurricane Frances. The interesting thing about that was that Florida was still recovering from Hurricane Charley at that time. Thousands were still displaced, debris still blocked some roads, power was still out in many areas. Despite these handicaps, and that surely no one could have dreamed that two hurricanes would hit Florida within weeks of each other, FEMA managed an effective response. From a press release dated 9/4/2004: Preparedness measures are underway in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The FEMA Hurricane Liaison Team remains on duty at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Federal and state emergency management agencies charged with response activities continue to track the storm and hold daily video teleconferences to plan and coordinate Hurricane Frances response.Pretty impressive, no? I mean, sure, the 2004 election was only a couple months away, and Jeb is the Preznit's brother, but even taking that into account, that's a pretty goddamn proactive approach to a disaster. Within hours of landfall, crews sprung into action to ease the suffering of Florida's Let's compare, then, to the end of August, 2005. Again, from FEMA press releases, this one dated 8/28/2005: ...FEMA is moving supplies of generators, water, ice and food into the region for immediate deployment once the storm passes. FEMA’s Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) are also staged for immediate response anywhere in the region. The funding and direct federal assistance will assist law enforcement with evacuations, establishing shelters and other emergency protective measures.Those preparations sound great, don't they? So what happened? Here's a timeline of events before and after Katrina. You tell me. Don't fucking piss down my back and tell me it's raining. Don't tell me that no one could have prepared for this, because people have, and it's certainly clear that people (like good ol' "Heck-of-job-Brownie") claimed to be prepared. Supplies were ready for Haley Barbour's state, the republican governor of Alabama had the shit pre-fucking-positioned in his state, but Louisiana, chock-full of poor black people with a Democrat for governor? The clear message from Bush and his Gang of Incompetents was "Fuck you." In Louisiana, Negligent Homicide is defined thusly: Interesting. Would refusing to allow food and water deliveries to the folks at the Superdome or Convention Center constitue "criminal negligence", or does that fall under "homicide"? Richard Clarke dug up some of this info for his article in The Atlantic, I looked at the same sources and did some googling. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:06:00 AM | Monday, October 17, 2005
Better Than Porn I mean, dig it: DeLay Will Likely Be Booked This Week. God-DAMN, that's a turn-on. Many thanks to Chris of Literate Perversions for the title suggestion posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:22:00 PM | Proud To Be An American After all, what other nation serves as a shining beacon of the virtues of freedom as we do? What other nation presumes innocence and works as hard as we do to treat prisoners in a humane, civilized fashion? If you read the above and said to yourself, "Damn straight, skippy!" then you need to put the Kool-Aid down and go stick your tongue in an electric socket in hopes that will get your fucking neurons firing. A few more "bad apples" have been busy little bees over there in Iraq. As I've said all along, the worst of the "bad apples" involved in this On their day off people would show up all the time. Everyone in camp knew if you wanted to work out your frustration you show up at the PUC tent. In a way it was sport. The cooks were all U.S. soldiers. One day [a sergeant] shows up and tells a PUC to grab a pole. He told him to bend over and broke the guy’s leg with a mini Louisville Slugger, a metal bat. He was the fucking cook. He shouldn’t be in with no PUCs.Now, I'm no expert on military protocol, nor am I a legal expert, but it sure as shit seems to me that the fucking cooks should be, you know, cooking, not breaking detainees' legs. But that's just me, a bleeding heart liberal. In my experience, if Management wants things done a certain way, there's two basic methods: (1) Explicitly lay out the official way it should be done, thus making acceptable and unacceptable methods clear to all involved or (2) Refuse to clarify the acceptable procedures, which when coupled with a "don't bother me with the details" attitude makes it clear to all involved that the actual methods (fair or foul) don't matter, so long as The Boss can claim no direct knowledge. The latter method was obviously in force here. The torture of detainees reportedly was so widespread and accepted that it became a means of stress relief for soldiers. Soldiers said they felt welcome to come to the PUC tent on their off-hours to “Fuck a PUC” or “Smoke a PUC.” “Fucking a PUC” referred to beating a detainee, while “Smoking a PUC” referred to forced physical exertion sometimes to the point of unconsciousness. The soldiers said that when a detainee had a visible injury such as a broken limb due to “fucking” or “smoking,” an army physician’s assistant would be called to administer an analgesic and fill out the proper paperwork. They said those responsible would state that the detainee was injured during the process of capture and the physician’s assistant would sign off on this. Broken bones occurred “every other week” at FOB Mercury.Case in point - the soldiers knew that their officers (and, by extension, those above them) wanted the prisoners dealt with harshly. It became an acceptable method of stress relief to torture prisoners because they weren't really people by this point - they were "PUCs", enemies by virtue of the fact that they were Iraqis. The officer who spoke to Human Rights Watch made persistent efforts to raise concerns he had with superior officers up the chain of command and to obtain clearer rules on the proper treatment of prisoners. When he raised the issue with superiors, he was consistently told to keep his mouth shut, turn a blind eye, or consider his career. When he sought clearer procedures from general officers, he was told merely to use his judgment.Well of course he was risking his career - he was bucking the chain of command. It was made clear from the Oval Office on down that harsh treatment of prisoners would break them, destroy their morale, and cause fear of crossing the US in the general population. The official policy didn't matter squat - Rumsfeld's hand-wringing over the actions of the clerks cum jailers at Abu Ghraib was a dog and pony show, performed for the benefit of a lapdog US media and the Right WIng Echo Chamber. General Miller, late of Guantanamo Bay, had the real message for the soldiers: They're all guilty. Hurt them. Break their wills. Humiliate them and they'll talk. It was an unspoken rule, and the soldiers knew how things were going to fall without getting anything in writing. If an officer didn't object to their manhandling a prisoner, they knew they could keep it up. There didn't need to be an order for a cover-up, because the soldiers knew what they were doing was wrong. They'd work on their own to hide details from the Red Cross, from the press without prompting. To wit: [In Afghanistan,] I thought that the chain on command all the way up to the National Command Authority14 had made it a policy that we were going to interrogate these guys harshly.And who made the decision to ignore the Geneva Conventions? George W. Bush, with expert legal advice from then-White House Counsel (and current Attorney General) Alberto Gonzales. Go directly to the top. Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200. To date, only one officer has been punished for abuse of prisoners, despite clear evidence that it is a systematic problem in the US Military. Brigadier Janet Karpinski became the officer corps' fall guy for Abu Ghraib, despite her statements that she was frozen out of many leadership decisions by officers above and below her. No one in the administration has addressed the fact that torture of prisoners is happening throughout the Army. No one in the administration is willing to cop the the fact that torture (homegrown and outsourced) has become the default method for dealing with "terrorists" (by their standards, anyone accused of being a terrorist must be one). As I've stated before, we all have blood on our hands from this. Until we hold our leaders accountable, we're all stained. It doesn't matter that the apologists and toadies make a more vehement defense of this treatment, if we don't speak out we're all guilty. Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the Abyss, the Abyss gazes also into you. Fredrich Wilhelm Nietzsche posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:31:00 AM | Sunday, October 16, 2005
Fun With Translation/The pleasure translates Lost In Translation plays the old game of "telephone" with online translation tools, translating from English through up to 10 other languages, switching back to English between every other language. Lots of fun, and now I can see what my blog entries would be like subtitled in other languages! Or, run through the Machine: _ old game of "telephone" of the game of the translation of destr; _ with the translation of the subsidy in chain, still translates fech English another language one to 10, with English between each other language of kommutierend _ a good safeguard of the number and deix v of the hour of I we them poss, that that other language mine blog incorporated like title est! _ posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 5:19:00 PM | Saturday, October 15, 2005
Join The Soupy Legions! Soupy George says: Soup on your head makes you SEXY! 
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:54:00 PM | Family Bonding, Geek-Style Melissa's up in Dallas seeing "Wicked" today, I'm wrangling the kids solo. The morning was lazy, cartoons and cereal together, followed by the latest episode of Survivorman (arguably the coolest reality show on TV after Mythbusters). After lunch, Alec went down for a nap and I helped Drew and Franny create their first D&D characters. Drew created "Drew the Destroyer", a dwarven fighter and Fran created "Gandalf the Wizard". (Guess which kid's halfway through The Fellowship of the Ring in her bedtime reading? First two guesses don't count!) Their first adventure: track down kobolds that stole Jenny The Cheese Shop Girl's baby. Gotta see if I can get a scan of the portraits they drew of their characters. Drew was so excited to be playing that he couldn't sit still and spent the whole session dancing around the table jumping up and down and saying, "I HIT IT WITH MY AXE!!! THE AXE!!!!" Lots of fun. It's nice to be a geek. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 4:59:00 PM | Crossing Wires On Lost, a recurring theme in the series is a series of numbers: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. The characters were passengers on Oceanic Flight 815, 42 survived the crash of the front part of the plane - the numbers can be plugged into almost every aspect of the show, and I've seen attempts at the same ranging from the diabolically clever to the stupid. So, because I'm bored and trying not to rant too much on weekends, I figured I'd do a little multi-universe wire crossing to see what happens. I've got a copy of The Illuminatus! Trilogy (Dell, 1988 trade). Going through the book, I'll take the first word on each page.
Wow. That makes no sense whatsoever. So never mind, carry on. Oh, and if you're watching Lost, go here and look around. Hint: Click on the bar code near the bottom of the page, then type in "theislandiswaiting". posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:44:00 AM | Friday, October 14, 2005
| Quelle Surprise, Part Whatever I started a pretty heavy rant about yesterday's Potemkin Teleconference with 10 American soldiers and 1 token Iraqi soldier, but really, what's the point? It's fake, he's a fake, the whole War in Iraq was built on lies. To quote a bumper sticker I saw last week, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." Like his "town hall" meetings, like "Mission Accomplished", like his bullshit "saving" Social Security stroke-fests, like so much else about the Crawford Coward, it's a crock. It's a desperate attempt to give the impression he's worth something, that his presidency will be remembered for something other than cronyism, lies, wars of aggression and flat-out incompetence and corruption. It won't. You know it, I know it - even the dumbass Republican at work knows it (but won't admit it). He's a boob, a charlatan, a deluded tool, a pusillanimous popinjay, a veritable font of ignorance and vile corruption. We'd've done better with a crook like Nixon running the country than we've done with Bush. So, look, just pretend I wrote something cutting and incisive here and then go fire off a letter to your congresscritter. Trust me - once they know Bush is Damaged Goods, they'll dump him like a loaded diaper and never look back. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:05:00 AM | Collective Nounapalooza Marvin asks this week: Should it be a "sack of Hobbits" or a "bag of Hobbits" or a "hole of Hobbits?" Name -- or better yet, invent -- five of your favorite collective nouns.I've always enjoyed these exercises, even when in high school my English Teacher told me I couldn't use "A Clusterfuck Of Swingers". Some, like "A Bloviation Of Pundits", I've seen elsewhere, so I'll try to make sure no one else has come up with ones similar to mine.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:55:00 AM | Thursday, October 13, 2005
Shouting At Congress An email sent to Representative John Carter (R-TX): Sir:The first two or three letters were considerably more blunt, so I took a couple of days to phrase things as politely as possible. If I get another canned response this time, I unleash the invective. Sadly, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn have so far failed to respond to my calls or emails at all. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:47:00 AM | Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Well, Now! Ain't That An Amusin' Coincidence? Dick Cheney, currently the Vice President of the United States, is not destitute by any stretch of the imagination. In addition to his annual salary of $208,100 as VP (which comes with free travel, health insurance, round-the-clock security and a free mansion with the utility bills paid, among other things), he gets deferred compensation from Halliburton, where he served as CEO before noting that he was the best possible candidate when Boy George asked Dick to find a running mate for him. In 2004 he "earned" $194,852 from Halliburton. He also owns 433,333 options on Hallibirton stock. Which, he insists, doesn't count as a conflict of interest. Because he won't cash those options until he's out of office, see, and besides, he'll donate the profits to charity and you can take him at his word on that for all it's worth. In the last year, the value of those options has risen from $241,498 to well over $8,000,000. That's a rise of 3281%. Why are they worth so much now? Because Halliburton's stock has soared in value, thanks to all the no-bid contracts they've been getting from the Federal government in Iraq and along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Despite some pretty clear evidence of either Dick Cheney or his assistant Scooter Libby being actively involved in deciding who got reconstruction contracts in Iraq, the GOP has consistently refused to allow official queries into this matter. Not like there's a pattern of corruption and cronyism among the leaders of today's GOP, right? I mean, George Bush, Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, Robert Taft and Bill Frist - it's not like any of them are having troubles, eh? This stinks like a load of shit-covered fish in downtown Houston in July, folks. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math on this - how could he not be keeping track of the value of those options? And since his "deferred compensation" from Halliburton depends in part on how the company's doing, do you really think he's not paying attention? Cheney knows where his bread is buttered, and he knows that pumping up the stock price now means that when he leaves office, he could go back to Halliburton, or just sell the options and who the fuck is going to bother checking up on him to see if he really donated the profits like he said he would? Wasn't this the administration that promised to "restore honor and dignity" to the White House? Seems to me that what they call "honor" looks a lot like cronyism and corruption, and the "dignity" they promised smells like dead bodies floating in the sewage of New Orleans. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:44:00 AM | Tuesday, October 11, 2005
You Better Not Push Me I'm serious - push me and I'm gonna flip out like a ninja. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:23:00 AM | Monday, October 10, 2005
Checking The Job Listings Every once in a while, I scroll through the job listings online and see if there's anything high-paying that interests me. I decided not to apply for the position of FEMA Director year before last, because it required a "small donation to the Bush/Cheney reelection fund", plus I was way too overqualified, still being in posession of a complete cerebral cortex. Same with the "Supreme Court Justice" position last week, even though the money was good - the requirements for that included "ability to toady, toe the party line, suck up and clean Fat Tony Scalia's Asscrack". So the recent listing for writers and video editors for Al Qaeda really caught my eye. I mean, what liberal doesn't dream of working for the Official Enemy Of All That Is Good And Decent, especially when said Enemy is out to destroy our freedom? I went over to their website and noticed first off that it's crap - I mean, seriously, I know these guys are the leaders in Global Jihad, but would it kill them to maybe hire someone to code some non-sucky HTML? No flash, no games, no nothing. I look around for the "Jobs" section and it takes me hours to find it, and when I get there, I don't see any listing for pay or benefits except for something vague about "opportunity for one-way travel" and "72 virgins in paradise". There was this sentence: Every Muslim knows his life is not his, since it belongs to this violated Islamic nation whose blood is being spilled. Nothing should take precedence over this.which tells me that the pay probably sucks serious ass. They say I'd have to relocate to "Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Dick Cheney's Undisclosed Location", but they don't offer any relocation assistance, and everything I've read tells me that it'd be really hard for Melissa to find a job in any of those places. So I think I'll give this job posting a miss as well, and hope that maybe I can find something with S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in the near future. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:40:00 AM | I'm Sure There's A Simple Explanation For This Police Find Naked Burglar in S.C. DARLINGTON, S.C. - Police responding to an alarm at a cash advance business say they found a naked man hanging from the ceiling.God, I hate it when that happens. Your keys get tossed on the roof, then while you're up there, the ventilation system sucks your clothes right off you so you've got to go into the air vents to get them.... posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:30:00 AM | Sunday, October 09, 2005
Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day I'm starting a carpool with some folks from work, which will save me $$$ every month. But that's not it. I'm making a lot of progress on the campaign I'm designing, and building a really interesting society. But that's not it. Melissa's got a possible job that she's perfect for (and Good Vibes and job~ma would be appreciated) but that's not it. No, it's going to be A Good Day because Melissa's roasting a turkey for dinner. We'll use the turkey as the base of several additional meals, of course, but tomorrow night for dinner, I'll get to enjoy Turkey-y Goodness and maybe a midnight snack of Turkey Sammich. Mmmmmmmm. Turkey. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:15:00 PM | Saturday, October 08, 2005
From The Depths To The Heights So I have faith in my species again. Why? Scientists have designed a beer mat that will order you another when you're empty. A beer mat that knows when a glass is nearly empty and automatically asks for a refill has been created by thirsty researchers in Germany.Wonderful times, my friends. Wonderful times. Now if they'd just make a six pack that delivers itself to you from the corner store, I'd be happy. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:57:00 PM | Theocratic Fuckmonkeys Out To Kill Women Most cases of cervical cancer are caused by one virus: HPV. Worldwide, up to 1,000,000 women a year might die of cervical cancer by 2050 if present infection rates continue. This will, of course, hit the developing world especially hard, since most 3rd and 2nd World nations don't even rate the level of abysmal health care we get here in the US. There's a chance that HPV could be beaten back, though. Some scientists have devised a vaccine. The fuckmonkeys on the religious right want to doom millions of women to a painful death as their reproductive organs are consumed by cancer cells, though. In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.Yes, that's right. If we give women a vaccine that will prevent their getting cervical cancer, they'll run right out and fuck anything that moves, and nothing's more terrifying to the Fuckmonkeys than the thought of women engaging in healthy, safe consensual sex. Now, unsatisfying sex - as long as it's in the framework of a God-Ordained heterosexual marriage in which the man assumes his rightful place at the head of the family - that's OK, but even then, they don't want women to be, you know, safe from cervical cancer. HPV is extremely common. Half of all sexually active women between 18 and 22 in the US are infected. Most cases clear up, but sometimes infection persists and can cause cancer decades later.Charming. So the Theocratic Fuckmonkeys here in the States are one roadblock, and then, of course, we've got the Patriarchal Buttsniffers of the Developing world that are convinced if "their" women have HPV, it's because they're sluts and/or whores - certainly not because the men picked it up somewhere else and gave it to them. Makes you proud to be a human, to see crap like this. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:21:00 PM | Friday, October 07, 2005
Friday Five - These Are The Places In Your Neighborhood Been a while since I've done this. Between Katrina and Melissa's surgery and a massive overflow of spleen and bile internally, I just haven't had time. So, without further ado... Gord wants to know: Tell us about five local places (in your neighborhood, town, or city, or region) that you have never visited, but would like to go to sometime... if you ever get around to it?Here it is, then: Adam's List Of Must-Go Places He Is Going To Get To Real Soon Now, Honest:
The other Friday Fivers take a break from their busy schedules to post their answers. Find all the links here. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:51:00 AM | Indiana Legislators Drop Proposed Reproduction Restrictions Like cockroaches scuttling under the fridge when you turn on the light, Indiana GOP members ran like hell from the law proposed last week limiting reproduction to married "moral" couples. State Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis, issued a one-sentence statement Wednesday about her decision to drop the proposal.Translation: "We were kind of hoping to sneak this one through, but we got caught." Don't know if any of you called or emailed the fuckmonkeys in Indiana, but if you did, thanks. I'm maintaining very cautious optimism, while we're talking about good news, about Karl "Pig-Boy" Rove's latest testimony before the Plame Grand Jury. Cross your fingers, folks. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:45:00 AM | Thursday, October 06, 2005
Couldn't They Even Try To Be Sneaky? From the current trial in Pennsylvania over whether Real Scientists or Theocratic Fuckmonkeys should decide what gets taught in, you know, science class, we find that the unIntelligent Design text the Dover Area School District wants to use in biology - frickin' BIOLOGY - classes was originally written as a flat-out Creationist text. Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, took the witness stand in a landmark trial over a school system's use of the book "Of Pandas and People."... Forrest outlined a chart of how many times the term "creation" was mentioned in the early drafts versus how many times the term "design" was mentioned in the published edition.Aw, come ON! All they fuckin' did was run a find/replace in the fuckin' textbook - they didn't even try to make it sound different. High school students copying something out of a goddamn encyclopedia have the fuckin' sense to rephrase stuff so it sounds like they might've thought it up themselves. What the fuck were they thinking? I mean, that's like the time I came home and all the chocolate chip cookies were gone and all 3 kids had chocolate smeared around their mouths, and when I accused them of eating all the cookies, Drew looked at me and said (with flecks of chocolate on his tiny white teeth), "Prove it!" Seriously, it's a wonder asswipes like those unIntelligent Design idiots are able to dress themselves and make it through the day without a load of shit in their britches, if they think they can get away with this. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:33:00 PM | No, No, Wait - How 'Bout This? Since he took office in 2001, George Bush has yet to meet an appropriations bill he doesn't like. He has not vetoed a single bill that the GOP-led congress has sent to his desk. The man's got legislative heels rounder than those of a coke-addled nymphomaniac at a frat party. 5 years, no vetos. So now he's suddenly threatening a veto. "Wow,", you think, "the pork in that bill must be insane! I mean, he spends money like a drunken sailor on shore leave, and even the $250,000,000 Bridge To Nowhere in Alaska went through without a blink from him, so if he's finally threatening a veto, it must be some seriously egregious pork to get his dander up." It's bad, alright, just not the way you think. Chicken George is upset because US Senators had the audacity to tack an amendment on the the bill that would prohibit "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" against anyone held by the US, anywhere in the world. You read that right. John McCain, who spent no small amount of time being subjected to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" by the North Vietnamese after his plane was shot down added a rider that holds US Soldiers and government agents to the standards of conduct President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld insist our troops are already held to, since the folks that abused those poor prisoners at Abu Ghraib are just "bad apples". "We demanded intelligence without ever clearly telling our troops what was permitted and what was forbidden. And when things went wrong, we blamed them and we punished them," said McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam.Actually, Jeff Sessions (Necrophile-AL) begs to differ - "We do not have a system of systematic abuse of prisoners going on by our United States military." Uhhhh, yeah. Before you embarass yourself further, Senator Corpse-fucker, pull your head out of your ass because we're talking about the US military that's been abusing prisoners left and right under the orders of the Bush Administration, not the US military that lives deep inside Planet Rectum. Only 9 senators opposed this amendment - which is a little comforting, although it does seem funny that many of the senators that voted in favor of this also voted to make Alberto Gonzales, the man that wrote up the go-ahead to torture terror suspects, Attorney General. Andrew Sullivan, who has his moments of clear principle, posted the text of John McCain's statement about this: I don’t mourn the loss of any terrorist’s life nor do I care if in the course of serving their ignoble cause they suffer great harm. They have pledged their lives to the intentional destruction of innocent lives, and they have earned their terrible punishment in this life and the next.Big mistake there, Senator, trying to get to the Preznit through honor. Ol' Chimpy McCokespoon Bush doesn't know the meaning of it, which you should remember after his operatives smeared you in South Carolina, and after they Swift-Boated John Kerry and painted Max Cleland as a traitor. There's no room in the Bush/DeLay/Frist GOP for men of principle, unless that principle is "Filthy Lucre". There's no more place for a man of integrity there than there is for a boy scout in a methamphetamine-dealing biker gang. Every day, every minute that man is our president, he does more damage to our reputation and national honor. Time was, I was proud of my nation. I could say that, yes, we weren't perfect, but our hearts were in the right place, and we always saw our error sooner or later and tried to make it better. I can't say that now. The ideals that made our nation great, that made us a beacon of freedom around the world, are being systematically trampled underfoot. If we don't wise up and get rid of the Crawford Coward and his gang of thieves, we're going to fall and it won't be pretty. It's time to clean house, and since you Rethuglicans made most of this mess, I'm lookin' at you to start sweepin'. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:53:00 AM | Wednesday, October 05, 2005
What The High-Holy Jumped-Up FUCK Are They Doing? GOP Legislators in Indiana want to make it illegal to engage in "unauthorized reproduction". Yes, you read that right. According to a draft of the recommended change in state law, every woman in Indiana seeking to become a mother through assisted reproduction therapy such as in vitro fertilization, sperm donation, and egg donation, must first file for a "petition for parentage" in their local county probate court.Single women will be barred by law from receiving fertility treatments under this law. Surrogate pregnancies will be banned. Considering Indiana's recent passage of a ban of same-sex marriage, this means the bill hits gay couples hard. Straight couples, though, won't get an automatic pass on this. Some of the required information includes the fertility history of the parents, education and employment information, hobbies, personality descriptions, verification of marital status, child care plans, letter of reference and criminal history checks."Fertility history". (2) The fertility history of the intended parents, including the pregnancy history and response to pregnancy losses of the woman.What on EARTH could they be talking about? Hmmmm? Abortion? A description of the family lifestyle of the intended parents is also required, including individual participation in faith-based or church activities."Faith-based or church activities". Perhaps they intend to limit fertility treatments to Christians? It's not clear - they're at least intelligent enough to realize that outright stating "Kikes, Mohammedans and Pagan Devil Worshippers Need Not Apply" would kind of kill the chances of this bill becoming law. Some other things deemed of vital importance by the Buttinskis of the Indiana GOP: (6) Personal information about each intended parent, including the following: And: A verification and evaluation of the intended parents' marital relationship, including:Unmitigated gall doesn't begin to describe this. It's downright totalitarian. It's the GOP - the hard-core theocratic fuckmonkeys of the extreme fascistic right trying to make their psychotic beliefs the law of the land. I don't know if this law will pass the Indiana lege, but it says a lot that they're even willing to propose it. This is what the GOP is all about - this is the right wing with their masks off. This is their ideal for America, an America with no room for dissenters. As Alan Moore put it in V for Vendetta: There's thrills and chills and girls galore. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:32:00 AM | GIANT DEATH ROBOT QUIZ Yoinked from Laura  Which Colossal Death Robot Are You? Brought to you by Rum and Monkey posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:40:00 AM | About Fucking Time Bosnian Serb Tribunal Names 17,074 Serbs As Participants In Genocide At Srebrenica. 10 years ago, Serbian army units, paramilitaries and regular civilians stormed past the Dutch peacekeepers stations to protect the Muslim population of Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Despite a clear mandate to protect innocent civilian lives, the Dutch stood aside and did nothing as more than 19,000 Serbs rounded up the population of this "safe haven", separated the men and boys, stripped them and shot them. As many as 8,000 innocent men and boys were slaughtered in the worst act of genocide in Europe since WWII. The rest of the world did nothing. The EU decided its soldiers were too precious to risk, the US was mired in senseless wrangling over whether Bill Clinton got a blowjob from an intern and whether that was the End Of The World, or merely a harbinger thereof. Srebrenica was the worst single incident of the Balkan war, a fratricidal slaughter that featured neighbors turning on neighbors in an orgy of senseless violence. Sadly, the list compiled by the UN commission is not going to be made public. It's been given to state prosecutors for review. It should be made public, with the names and photographs of every single participant plastered on every wall. The Serbs responsible for it should be shamed, accused, tried and punished for their crimes. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:46:00 AM | Tuesday, October 04, 2005
This Isn't A Wild-Assed Guess Others have pointed this out, too. To fatalistically accept Harriet Miers as "the best we can get" is foolish. She's hard-core Texas Mafia, she's been an associate and reliable Go-To-Gal for Bush since his run for governor of Texas in 1994. Bush nominated her for one reason, and one reason only: he knows she'll deliver. What she'll deliver hasn't yet been specified, but she knows where her bread is buttered, and she's gonna dance with the one what brung her. Like Roberts, like Rice, like Gonzales, like every goddamn single other appointee, Bush and Rove know exactly what they're going to get. They don't care about actual skill or talent (if they did, why John Bolton for UN Ambassador? Why is Rummy still at Defense?) - they want compliance. And that's what they'll get, because you've got people like Harry Reid doing everything but spooging on Miers. Don't take her at her "word" that she doesn't have an agenda. The Dems' performance on Roberts was pathetic enough - I've seen tougher questioning on Oprah, fer chrissakes. Like LBJ's appointment of his personal lawyer and crony Abe Fortas, Bush wants a reliable vote on the Court. He wants to know there's one less person to worry about there, and with Scalia, Thomas and Roberts already firmly in his camp, that means there's only one more vote to pick up on any important issue. Fortas' nomination (and the filibuster by the GOP that derailed his appointment as Chief Justice - funny how they don't mention that very often, do they? Almost like they're afraid the Dems might get ideas...) is an excellent precedent. Miers is bought and paid for, she stated she thought Bush is "the most brilliant man she had ever met". Will she recuse herself from cases involving, say, DeLay's campaign finance violations, or Rove and Libby's involvement in The Plame Affair? Come on - if you think Karl Rove didn't ask her those very questions, you're smokin' some really powerful shit. The Dems in the Senate need to dig up their spines and ask some fucking hard questions, and be prepared for a fight, and then they need to actually fight. Miers might not be the worst we could get, but she's a far cry from the best, as well. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:31:00 AM | Monday, October 03, 2005
Attention Theocratic Assholes, Lysenkoist Fuckmonkeys And Idiot Mouth-Breathing Morons Charles Darwin is not the anti-Christ. He did not set out to destroy anyone's religion. He was a scientist, which means that he made detailed observations of facts, extrapolated theories from those facts and wrote a book suggesting an overall mechanism to explain those facts. In the century and a half since then, his theory has been tested. A lot. From its first dissemination, the theory of evolution was checked, tested, examined, checked some more and tested even more. It's stood up. Thus it is regarded by real scientists as a fact - in much the same way that they regard the sphericity of the Earth, the theory of gravity and the utter coolness of those guys that used liquid oxygen to get a charcoal grill lit. It's still called a theory, because there's a possibility (incredibly remote - think of the odds of winning the lottery, then magnify by 1000 and you're starting to approach the infinitesimal odds we're talking about here) that some new evidence could be found that proves it an incorrect theory. Said "overthrow" will (a) probably be a refinement of the theory rather than a wholesale casting out and (b) require new evidence, something that cannot be explained by any of the mechanisms postulated by Dr. Darwin and the legions of scientists that followed after him. PAY ATTENTION: NEW EVIDENCE. That means you've got to have something more than a vaguely-worded statement that relies entirely upon specious claims, falsehoods and many-times-translated words originally thought up by desert nomads with a serious jones for genocide. It doesn't matter what religious authority you can cite to back yourself up. Religion is not a matter of facts, but of opinions. It doesn't matter how many Americans think it's only fair to teach unIntelligent Design alongside real science in schools. If a majority of Americans believe we live in a vast, complex computer simulation, it still wouldn't be right to teach students that Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss will come to guide us to a massive rave. Religion is opinion, just like a preference for one sports team or another. You can claim differently, but there are no empirical or objective facts that bolster your position. You want to teach unIntelligent Design in public schools? Tough shit. Go start your own madrasa. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:40:00 AM | Sunday, October 02, 2005
Why I Love Joss Whedon He's very open about how he feels about his success. He's built a strong rapport with his fans and it shows. This quote, from an interview at The CulturePulp, really sums it all up: Q. Absolutely. Now, I'm sure you've seen that shirt that says "Joss Whedon Is My Master Now" in a Star Wars font. So let's say you are their master. What are your marching orders?I have to respect him for that - whether it's genuine or it's a carefully-crafted public persona, it's the way I think I'd feel if I were in his position. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:38:00 PM | Saturday, October 01, 2005
Good Movie Last night was my second time seeing Serenity, it was the first time for everyone else that went. For 3 months, I kept my mouth shut about spoilers. It felt so good to be able to talk about it with people, finally. I think most of the reviews I've seen agree with me in most respects - Serenity is one of the best SF movies to come out in a long time, one that combines good effects with good actors and, most importantly, a good script. One of Whedon's gifts is his ability to write dialogue that flows naturally but also retains a snap and crispness that keeps it intense. Some of the best moments in the movie were tiny, tiny facial reactions - Inara's composure slipping for just a fraction of a second when The Operative comes up the steps to greet her, River's moments of self-realization, Mal's split-second decisions. (Still trying to avoid spoilage here, so I won't give more details than those - not for a couple of weeks yet) It's a movie that is best seen after watching the original series (Firefly is available on DVD, you should check Netflix for it), but just enough of the backstory is woven in and around the characters that it's easy to understand at least the basic relationships and situation. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:05:00 AM | |
