A Violently Executed Blog |
|
|
There is a god. His name is Thor. Jack Kirby is his prophet. A Violently Executed Feed BUY SOME STUFF, MAKE ME HAPPY Contact me. Links and stuff Handshake Bloggers Damn Good Music
|
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Getting Ready Tony Blair is getting ready for his next summit with President Bush. As you can see, he's hard at work! 
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:19:00 PM   | | Rest In Peace Coretta Scott King has died. That was a woman I respected a lot, a woman with a strong, clear voice that remained dedicated to her husband's ideals. I'm only sorry that she had to see what the liars, crooks and scumbags on the right made of her husband's words and deeds. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:05:00 AM | Monday, January 30, 2006
I Ought... I ought to be blogging about the Alito nomination, about Joe Biden's stab in the back to the other Democrats, about the number of Democratic senators that still don't understand that politics with the GOP is a fucking back-alley knife fight. I ought to, but I can't, because right now it feels like someone's got a corkscrew jammed into my lower back and is twisting everything back there into a tiny little knot of agony. So, do me a favor - make up your own rant, throw in as much or as little profanity as you like and phone it in to every Democratic senator. Let them know we've got their backs, and let Biden and Lieberman know we've got their numbers. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:58:00 AM | Sunday, January 29, 2006
Sleazy Is As Sleazy Does I mentioned the other day that Bush just nominated the lead prosecutor on the Abramoff case for a federal judgeship - a move that might be innocent, but sure looks crooked as hell. Well, as it turns out, that's the second time he's done that. Seems that back in 2002, a Grand Jury in Guam started looking into Abramoff's lobbying in that territory. The day after the Grand Jury issued a subpoena for documents related to the case, Bush announced he was demoting the lead prosecutor. The other prosecutors got the message and shut things down in rather short order. Please note - this was in 2002, which means we could've had the crooks and cheats in Congress brought to justice a while back, but Bush deliberately worked to protect a man he claims he didn't know (a man that's an old buddy of his right-hand man). For almost 4 years, then, we've had liars and criminals like DeLay, Ney, Blunt, Cunningham, Rove, Norquist and the rest of them running loose, stealing more money from the taxpayers, lying, cheating and in general debasing the ideals of our nation. All you idiots, morons and selfish sons of bitches that voted for the GOP, this is your fault. I hope you all get ass cancer. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:36:00 PM | Saturday, January 28, 2006
George Bush Stands With Iran On what, you ask? Seems that those freedom-loving folks in Iran, the ones that support peace and a nuclear-free Middle East just like we do, well, they got their knickers twisted up over the prospect of the Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians and the International Lesbian and Gay Association getting consultative status on the United Nations' Economic and Social Council. Nope, can't have that - why, those damn queers'd be demanding they be treated like human beings! Then they'd be polluting our Precious Bodily Fluids, and making us all get the gay marriages! The Bush Administration was honored to have the chance to support other progressive, enlightened regimes like Iran, Cuba, the Sudan and Zimbabwe - nations with which we have a long history of shared traditions and mutual respect - to deny both groups the same status enjoyed by more than 3000 other organizations. I'm so proud that our government avoided siding with the repressive regimes of nations like Belgium, Denmark and other Western Nations, nations that do not respect human rights the way we and Iran do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just go puke. Oh, and this is posted without comment, save to note that we should, indeed be proud of our efforts to win the hearts and minds of Iraq's citizens. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:36:00 PM | Friday, January 27, 2006
Nothing Suspicious There, Nosirreebob! Abramoff mentions that he's got photos of himself with Bush, and whaddaya know? The lead prosecutor in the case gets nominated for a federal judgeship! The prosecutor, Noel L. Hillman, is chief of the department's public integrity division, and the move ends his involvement in an inquiry that has reached into the administration as well as the top ranks of the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill.Let's look at that last line again: "...the most important federal corruption investigation in a generation." That takes us back to Watergate right there. Before that, I think you have to go to the Teapot Dome and the Harding Administration. Why, if you're an upright, moral guy that has nothing to fear from an investigation into sleazy bribery and fraud charges, would you take a step that could cripple the investigation? Looks to me like someone's trying to shut things down before they get too close to home. Of course, we remember how into the whole concept of a special prosecutor the Righties were during the Clinton administration. When Robert Fisk said, "OK, not much to the whole Whitewater thing. Let it go, guys." the Rethugs went apeshit and demanded that Ken Starr spend 6 years and tens of millions of dollars to produce some bad porn and, ultimately, we got this verdict: "This office determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that either President or Mrs. Clinton knowingly participated in any criminal conduct." So how come a failed land deal is more dangerous to our republic than a criminal buying and selling access to the White House, a conspiracy that involved not just a sleazy lobbyist but the LEADERSHIP OF THE GOP and the President's right-hand man? How can it be that a blow job is a bigger threat than illegal, warrantless wiretaps on American citizens? Please, someone explain to me, because I seem to be missing something on this. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:22:00 AM | Thursday, January 26, 2006
Always Remember...  Spider Jerusalem doesn't care what you think, he doesn't care what you do. If you get in his way, if you mess with him, he will fuck. your. shit. up. Thanks to Maggie for getting me hip to this meme! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:57:00 PM | Grandma My grandmother died last night. She'd been living for some time in what I call the "Eternal Now", so in some ways I'd steeled myself. The last time I talked to her, I'm not entirely sure she knew who I was, but I said what I needed to say. Of course, if our money situation hadn't been so tight, we'd've been in Georgia over Christmas and I could've seen her again. If wishes were horses... The memorial service will be in February. I can hear her voice in my head, her graceful northern-Mississippi accent smooth in my ears. When we went to their house, she'd pour some chee-tos in a wooden bowl for my brother and me to eat as an afternoon snack. Breakfast at their house was always a full meal - cereal, bacon, toast, grapefruit - to this day, when I see those pictures of a "complete breakfast" they show on cereal commercials, I think of uncounted breakfasts with Grandma and Daddy Rush. I miss her. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:40:00 AM | Wednesday, January 25, 2006
| Tuesday, January 24, 2006
| Just A Quick Note Hello, Mr. CIFA Snoopy McSnooperpants! Your illegal domestic surveillance has, I hope, clued you in to the fact that I've called George W. Bush a coke-addled simpleton, a sickening violator of infant goats and a wetbrained moron. I have, in case you missed it, also called Dick Cheney a soulless snuff-film junkie, a twisted caricature of a human being and the son of a diseased whore with a thousand fathers. Please, take notes and make sure you spell my name right. Also, feel free to stop over at my CafePress store and buy some souveniers! The war in Iraq is a waste of time, murdering and maiming thousands of Iraqi civilians and American soldiers to no end save fattening Halliburton's bottom line. The "War on Terror" is a farce, a sham, a potemkin war designed to allow a cabal of neo-monarchists to steal power for the executive branch and to destroy our nation - and your domestic spying is in direct violation of your oath to protect the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. I mean, come on - who's a bigger threat? People like me, average citizens trying desperately to make ends meet, or people like Tom DeLay, Rick Santorum and Jack Abramoff? A bunch of peacenik grannies, or Karl Rove and Ralph Reed and Pat Robertson? Just think it over. And please, make sure your cameras photograph my good side. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:29:00 AM | Monday, January 23, 2006
Home Little Alec (aka Danger!Baby) took a spill on Saturday night, necessitating a trip to the ER and stitches. He's still a little achy today, so I'm staying home with him. I think I aged another 5 years Saturday, plus got a whole new crop of grey hairs. I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to my parents for all my dangerous exploits as a child, particularly the whole running in front of a moving car thing. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:25:00 AM | Sunday, January 22, 2006
Two Choices: Suck Up To Bush Or Become A Terrorist Somewhere along the way, the United States became a binary nation. We're given the option of either wholeheartedly supporting the criminally insane tactics of George W. Bush or signing on to the murderous and psychotic tactics of Osama bin Laden. Michael Moore, obviously, chose the latter, at least in the eyes of the supposedly "impartial" Chris Matthews. John Kerry, according to the gelded lapdog press in 2004, was four-square on the side of TERROR. Howard Dean? Terrorist. Hillary Clinton? TEH EVOL! Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not about to go start blowing up skyscrapers full of stockbrokers - but I'm also somewhere short of aiming missiles at houses full of innocent Pakistani women and children. By defining our "enemies" to include those that fall short of the mindless zealotry our president appears to demand, this administration blinds our vision to the real threats:
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:31:00 AM | Saturday, January 21, 2006
New Link! A blog for all the foodies out there - friend of mine named Liz has set up a whimdoozy of a blog called The Honeyed Fig. Loads of delicious vegetarian recipes for your culinary delight. Go check it out. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:51:00 AM | Friday, January 20, 2006
| Thursday, January 19, 2006
New Fiction I've started some new fiction over at the LJ. If you're interested, go check out 13 Moons: #1. I'm trying a series of connected stories, forming a strong narrative thread. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:41:00 PM | Plus ça change... One of these statements is from 2002, the other from 2006. One discusses Iraq, one discusses Iran. Which is which?
Give up? Is the deja vu making your head ache? The answer is here. Maybe later I'll see if you guys can identify which Swift-Boat attack is from 2004 and which is from 2006, 'cause Jack Murtha is the new John Kerry, apparently. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:27:00 AM | Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Dissent = "Threats to the President" That's what the Secret Service says, at least. And the US Supreme Court agrees with them. From Facing South (A site very stingy with the linky-love, but I won't hold that against them. Much.): With all eyes on the Alito confirmation non-aftermath, the Court hastily refused to hear the appeal of South Carolina activist Brett Bursey, the first and only person to be prosecuted under the statute governing "Threats to the President."Yep, I can see how dangerous a sign reading "No more war for oil, don't invade Iraq" could be. Why, it might make people think! Some of them might disagree with it! Worse, some might agree with it! Horrors! The trespassing charges were dismissed four months after the arrest, but the feds wouldn't have it. The Secret Service quickly moved to press the unprecedented "Threats to President" charges, and, after being refused a jury trial, Bursey was convicted and given a $500 fine.Seems the SS are a bunch of whiny titty-babies, too. God, how pathetic is it that our government is run by (and protected by) a bunch of little babies that shit their pants if someone disagrees with them? Most powerful country in the world, and we can't find a guy hiding in a cave in the poorest country in the world, our president pisses himself if confronted with a contrary opinion, and the Secret Service, supposedly the best of the best, goes into a tizzy if they see a sign critical of Our Dear Leader. God, this country is pathetic. And that goes for all the bed-wetters that voted for this crew of simpletons so they wouldn't have to worry about imaginary terrorists blowing up their local Wal-Mart. You people disgust me. Why doncha go suck on a pacifier and shut the fuck up for a while, let the grownups run things? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:46:00 AM | Paul Hackett's Done Gone And Twisted The GOP's Knickers And those titty-babies can't stand it! Oh, how delightful - between this and the Right-wing shitbags' pearl-clutching over Hillary Clinton's use of the word "plantation" in reference to Tom DeLay's corrupt criminal enterprise, the false moral outrage is piling up like nobody's business. See, Paul Hackett, a candidate for US Senate in Ohio, gave an interview last week in which he said, among other things, "The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren't a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world," he said. "The challenge is for the rest of us moderate Americans and citizens of the world to put down the fork and spoon, turn off the TV, and participate in the process and try to push back on these radical nuts - and they are nuts."Now, imagine the tough guys at the GOP - you know, the folks that bravely take deferments rather than serve in the military, the ones the protect us by spying on us, the guys that are BY-GOD-MEN and not wimpy pussies like the Democrats - those tough guys cinched up their belts and waded into the fray, guns blazing. Not. No, instead, we get this, no doubt delivered in a petulant whine: “Paul Hackett’s attempt to compare Christian conservatives to terrorists is abhorrent and completely inappropriate. These intolerant views have no place in the public debate, and I hope his fellow Democrats reject this divisive hate speech. Hackett has shown repeatedly that he will say or do anything to get attention, and it’s unfortunate that views like his are embraced by the Democratic Party. I think, Mr. Hackett, you’ve once again proven who real ‘radical nut’ is.”Oh, my stars and garters! The nasty hatefulness of that cruel, cruel Paul Hackett! Why, he hurt their feelings, he did! And then - now, this is the true moral outrage - Paul Hackett had the audacity to respond to the GOP's pursed-lipped complaint: “I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it. Equal justice under the law for all regardless of who they are and how they were born is fundamental to our American spirit and our American freedoms. Any person or group that argues that the law should not apply equally to all Americans is, frankly, un-American.”Oh, the perfidy of Paul Hackett! The hateful divisiveness, urging Americans to unite regardless of any artificial divides between them! Why, it makes me faint, it does! Lawd-a-mercy, fetch me the smelling salts! I'm gettin' the vapors! Ye gods, I haven't seen grown men whine and cry like the GOP since that time I kicked a frat boy in the crotch. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:01:00 AM | Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who watches the watchmen? That's the question Juvenal asked almost 2000 years ago. The full quote, noui consilia et ueteres quaecumque monetis amici,translates roughly as: I hear always the admonishment of my friends:- he was speaking of dealing with unfaithful wives. His words, though, have become more appropriate in the political arena. We've heard over and over that the NSA's illegal domestic wiretaps are vital, necessary to the War On A man was seen playing a tuba while roller-skating through Central Park. A passer-by stopped him and asked why he was doing that, and the man replied, "To chase off the monsters!" After 9/11, the NSA knew that they'd been handed a blank check. Ever since Bush took office, they'd increased their domestic spying, and they began salivating at the prospect of more money, fewer restraints and less oversight. Their dreams indeed came true, and they rushed to pass all the information they'd gathered in their illegal spying to the FBI. Sadly, almost all of it was useless. In the anxious months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the National Security Agency began sending a steady stream of telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and names to the F.B.I. in search of terrorists. The stream soon became a flood, requiring hundreds of agents to check out thousands of tips a month.Not everyone agrees, of course. Dick Cheney and George Bush insist that the illegal domestic spying was necessary. "I can say unequivocally that we have gotten information through this program that would not otherwise have been available," General Hayden said. The White House and the F.B.I. declined to comment on the program or its results.Well of course General Hayden would say that. I mean, you don't see any monsters in Central Park, do you? Nope, me neither. We're told the program worked, but when pressed for details, the folks running it smile and draw the curtain closed behind them. "Sor-REE!" they intone, "Can't tell you that. Nash'nul security an' all that, wot?" We're expected to take it on faith that they're only looking at bad people, that they're not really rummaging through our closets and lingerie drawers, listening to our phone calls and reading our emails. No, we have to trust them. Which brings me back around to the question that started this: Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Congress and the courts are supposed to watch the watchmen. Bush bypassed the courts for this stasi program of illegal domestic spying, and the GOP-dominated Congress has for 6 years devoted itself to firmly planting its face in the trough of Bush, eagerly lapping at the torrents of filth and waste that are provided them. The people we've elected specifically to rein in the power of the presidency are AWOL - or in some cases, actively helping The Man Who Would Be King. We are, at the end of it, the final authority. We the people have the ultimate power over the madmen, tyrants and fools. We've got to get the criminals, the liars, the snoops and the fools out of power - replace them with men and women unafraid of the imaginary terrorist behind the door. We, ultimately, watch the watchmen and we watch those that watch the watchmen. It's up to us, and only us, the voters, to get off our asses and do something. March, raise your voice, donate money, donate time and most importantly, CAST INFORMED VOTES. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:43:00 AM | Monday, January 16, 2006
MLK Day Today's the national holiday celebrating the birth and life work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was taken away far, far too early, and his message has been twisted by the very people that fought hardest against him. I don't know what he'd have been like today, but I'm willing to put down cash money that he wouldn't be hanging around with Klan-lover Tony Perkins, dog-beater James Dobson and their ilk. I like to think he'd still be out on the front lines speaking truth to power and fighting like hell for the justice so many Americans are still denied. Of all his writings and sermons, my favorite is his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It is an impassioned and eloquent demand for understanding and action, and it still moves me to tears. Back in 2003, I posted a quote from it that applied perfectly to the debate over same-sex marriage. It's a clear explanation of why I don't support the idea of just sitting and waiting for those in power to grant what the powerless need: We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant 'Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."I grew up understanding the importance to our nation - and the world - of Dr. King's work. I understand perfectly how our nation cannot and will not survive if we restrict freedom and justice to those that can afford to pay for them. What makes the United States great is its potential. Our ideals are set out in front of us, and no matter how many false pledges of loyalty and obediance we give to the flag, it is the Constitution that we should follow. The words and ideas matter more than any piece of fabric, are more powerful than any one man or political party, are stronger than any prejudice or petty hatred. Sooner or later, the GOP's stranglehold on power will end. The edifice of corruption will crumble and fall, the mighty among them will exchange their Armani suits and Gucci shoes for polyester jumpsuits. When that day comes, they better pray that the people judging them haven't forgotten the importance of justice tempered with mercy. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:44:00 AM | Free Speech Is For Pussies I mean, who needs it, right? Only the people saying unpopular things - and who cares about them, right? Congress agrees, 'cause they've told us that it's not important that people be able to protest the president. A clause in the new PATRIOT Act gives the SS wider latitude in detaining those terrible, nasty, horrible people that think they can just show up at a public, taxpayer-funded event and exercise their first-amendment rights. The bill adds language prohibiting people from "willfully and knowingly" entering a restricted area "where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting." The measure also applies to security breaches "in conjunction with an event designated as a special event of national significance," according to the bill.Yep - already you've got to sign a loyalty oath to get in to one of Bush's speeches, but now if you do get in and dare to hold up a sign critical of our Maximum Leader, the SS has a much easier time finding a crime with which to charge you. Now, not everyone thinks this is a bad idea - Arlen Spector says it's just a way of making sure the SS can properly secure an area before and during an event. Well, duh! And while they're making it secure, they can round up dissidents and lock 'em up to make sure the area is "safe". Welcome to winter in America. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:20:00 AM | Sunday, January 15, 2006
Recommended Reading I've been somewhat remiss in not pointing you, dear readers, to The Left End of the Dial, Dr. James Benjamin's excellent and thoght-provoking blog. He's been on a tear lately, pondering torture and the difference between the war on terror and terrorism. Go read it, man got some good stuff to say. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:02:00 AM | Here's To Hyperkinetic Peristalsis OMG. Worst. Night. EVAR. I do know, though, the exact amount of time it takes for a rotovirus to make its way through my family. 1 week, 3 hours. Last night around 10PM, it hit, and I spent the next couple of hours violently expelling everything in my system. I mean everything - when I was done, I'm pretty sure I'd also chucked up my kidneys and the socks I was wearing. The rest of the night was spent waking up every hour or so. I seem to be OK now, but my stomach feels like Mike Tyson's been using it as a punching bag. Thanks for the virus, kids! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:10:00 AM | Saturday, January 14, 2006
Saturday for Sundaes The kids helped clean their rooms today, so I bought sundae fixings at the grocery store. For dinner, it's bangers and mash and then sundaes and homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert. And the best part is, I haven't looked at the news all day, so there's been nothing to get me angry today. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 5:05:00 PM | Friday, January 13, 2006
Stupid, Incompetent and Evil - Not The Best Combination George Bush ordered illegal surveillance of American citizens before 9/11. "The president personally and directly authorized new operations, like the NSA's domestic surveillance program, that almost certainly would never have been approved under normal circumstances and that raised serious legal or political questions," Risen wrote in the book. "Because of the fevered climate created throughout the government by the president and his senior advisers, Bush sent signals of what he wanted done, without explicit presidential orders" and "the most ambitious got the message."So that means that Dick Cheney's statement of a few days back, "If we had been able to do this before 9/11, we might have been able to pick up on two of the hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon," Cheney said. "They were in the United States, communicating with Al Qaeda associates overseas. But we didn't know they were here plotting until it was too late."That statement right there was bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit. They did have a surveillance program that bypassed FISA before 9/11, and they were using it, and it still didn't catch Mohammed Atta and his co-conspirators. I mean, Jesus jumped-up-Christ on a nuclear-powered pogo stick! This moves their incompetence into a whole new level, one untouched even by their previous standards of incompetence. They had warnings like "Bin Laden determined to attack within United States", they had a surveillance program spying on Americans without any oversight at all, they even had bipartisan blue-ribbon commissions giving specific warnings that someone might use an airplane as a guided missile - they had all of this, and they still couldn't protect us from Al Quaeda. And they think they're qualified to protect us now? Shit, man - that's like Superman asking Lex Luthor to keep an eye on the kryptonite. That's like leaving your kids in the care of an ex-con with a substance abuse problem for the weekend. Man, if someone from the Bush Administration insisted the sky was blue, I'd walk outside and double check before I believed them - and I'd keep my hand on my wallet the whole time. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 4:22:00 PM | Teach Your Children Well Alec was running a fever yesterday, so he had to stay home from daycare. He's feeling better now, but the rule is 24 hours fever-free, so Alec's home again today. I called in sick to work, and Alec and I are spending the day just chilling. So far, we've watched a bunch of the old Fleischer Bros. Superman cartoons and played on the Gamecube. Alec has learned how to say "w00t!" and "pwned!". I'm so proud of my little boy! posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:43:00 AM | Thursday, January 12, 2006
Uncle Joe Sez: "Way To Go, Dick and George! "If we had been able to do this before 9/11, we might have been able to pick up on two of the hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon," Cheney said. "They were in the United States, communicating with Al Qaeda associates overseas. But we didn't know they were here plotting until it was too late." That's what Dick Cheney says about Boy George's illegal NSA wiretap program. Well, hell. If I had a magic time machine, I could go back and punch the mothers of the 9/11 hijackers in the stomach so Mohammed Atta and the rest of 'em wouldn't be born. If only, if only. If only we had some ham, we could have ham and cheese sammiches. If only we had some cheese. That's bullshit. The FISA court puts out for clandestine surveillance requests like a drunk sorority girl at an all-you-can-drink "hunch punch" frat mixer. If a surveillance request is so stinky they won't touch it, then it's pretty goddamn nasty. The goddamn gall of those shitbags - to insist that they've got to destroy America to save it - that really pisses me off. Apparently, all of the following are A-OK if you're fighting to preserve our freedoms:
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:52:00 AM | Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Fuck The Poor, We Got Fatcats To Coddle! Quelle surprise! It seems the IRS is more concerned about $9 billion in refends to working poor people than the hundreds of billions we taxpayers are cheated out of by small businesses, corporations and fatcat bastards. IRS limited refunds of poor, congress told. Tax refunds sought by hundreds of thousands of poor Americans have been frozen and their returns labeled fraudulent, blocking refunds for years to come, the Internal Revenue Service's taxpayer advocate told Congress today.Dear God, how dare those - those poor people try to get their refunds from the IRS! It's almost like they think they're legally entitled to them or something! Most of the poor people whose returns the computer flagged as fraudulent were seeking the earned income tax credit, a benefit for the working poor. The credit can return all of the income taxes and Social Security taxes withheld from the paychecks of poor people. Without the credit, many poor people coming off welfare and going to work would receive less money because of taxes taken out of their paychecks and the loss of health benefits, I.R.S. data and other government documents show.Robbing poor people, while corporations get away without paying a fucking cent in taxes, and fatcats hide their money overseas, and there's an entire sector of the economy that works on a cash-only basis and doesn't even report its income. Boy, that's the compassion we expect from our government, ain't it? Let's ponder what that says about our government's priorities, shall we? It tells me that our government would rather punish innocent poor people than identify and punish crooked rich people. Land of the free and the home of the brave, that's America. Just don't be poor. It's not illegal yet, but they're tryin' to fix that. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:16:00 AM | Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Our Own Little Chamber of Horrors Man, it just keeps getting better. This, from The Guardian: New details have emerged of how the growing number of prisoners on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay are being tied down and force-fed through tubes pushed down their nasal passages into their stomachs to keep them alive.The men are striking because they shouldn't be there - they're being held without charge or trial, without being able to see the "evidence" that has kept them locked up for up to four years in a prison camp, where they're waterboarded, beaten, shackled in their own feces, left naked in cells with the air conditioning turned as cold as it will go, spattered with urine. There's some lawyers fighting the good fight over this, trying to do something for their clients. The London solicitors Allen and Overy, who represent some of the hunger strikers, have lodged a court action to be heard next week in California, where Edmondson is registered to practise. They are asking for an order that the state medical ethics board investigate him for 'unprofessional conduct' for agreeing to the force-feeding.Thanks to Senator Lindsey Graham's (R-Deeply Closeted) addition of this to the ban on torture by US forces (a law, BTW, that Bush stated he'll obey only as he sees fit when he signed it). We've become worse than the evil we claim to be fighting. Scrub away folks, but it won't make any difference. That blood's there forEVER. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:13:00 AM | Monday, January 09, 2006
Give 'Em Hell, Howard! Further evidence why Howard Dean should be our president right now. Skimming through my morning news scan, I came across this little tidbit on DailyKos. It seems Leslie Blitzer was trying to be a good little pawn and relay the GOP's Abramoff Talking Pointstm - you know, "Democrats are implicated in this scandal! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" Howard Dean shut Blitzer down - here's a transcript: BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington, should the Democrat who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back?Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Crooks and Liars has the video, which includes Leslie Blitzer's disappointed sigh before he tells Dean he's going to have to let him go. I'm howlin' for Howard today, man. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:50:00 AM | Sunday, January 08, 2006
In Surveillance We Trust The NSA, even before Bush specifically ordered illegal, warrantless wiretaps, was spying on Americans. The Pentagon apparently hasn't ever stopped keeping an eye on dangerous terrorists like the Quakers. The author of Bush's Brain has found himself on the TSA's "No-Fly" list - apparently for the horrific crime of writing a book critical of Boy George. What else could there be? Well, until they got busted for it, the IRS was tracking the political affiliation of taxpayers in 20 states. As it hunted down tax scofflaws, the Internal Revenue Service collected information on the political party affiliations of taxpayers in 20 states.Suuuuuuuuuuure! Very much like the laws that prevent the President from authorizing warrantless wiretaps, holding American citizens without charge or trial, or ordering US soldiers to torture innocent cab drivers that made the mistake of driving past a US base in Afghanistan. Yep. If anyone in the government while Bush is in power assures me that the law prevents them from doing something, I'm going to operate under the assumption that's exactly what they're doing. Man, this is the law-breakingest government I've ever seen. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:01:00 PM | Saturday, January 07, 2006
You Go To War With The Army You Have And then three years later, you keep using the army you had then. What do I mean by that? A secret Pentagon study shows that many of the US Marine casualties in Iraq could have been prevented if the Marines had upgraded body armor. A secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.Supply Our Troops. The men and women George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld are throwing in to the meatgrinder of Iraq deserve to get the best we can give them. Right now, they're getting shafted. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:03:00 AM | Friday, January 06, 2006
Well Now, Ain't That Somethin'? In the "This Comes As No Surprise Whatsoever" Department, a vociferously anti-gay Tulsa Baptist preacher was arrested for... wait for it... soliciting a male plaincloths policeman for sexual favors. Man, the schadenfreude is so thick you can cut it with a knife! Lonnie Latham, senior pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church, was booked into Oklahoma County Jail Tuesday night on a misdemeanor charge of offering to engage in an act of lewdness, police Capt. Jeffrey Becker said. Latham was released on $500 bail Wednesday afternoon.Well, I'm sure Rev. Latham must've said something that the officer interpreted as an offer - I mean, he wouldn't be a big fat hypocritical idiot or anything, right? Latham, who has spoken out against homosexuality, asked the officer to join him in his hotel room for oral sex. Latham was arrested and his 2005 Mercedes automobile was impounded, Becker said.Whoops! Guess he is. And a Mercedes - must bring in good money, the hypocrisy. Hey, wasn't there something about rich men, camels and the eyes of needles in that there Bible? Well, never mind. Ol' Lonnie had this to say: "I was set up. I was in the area pastoring to police."Ah, yes. That's the only reason he'd be in that part of town, after all. The arrest took place in the parking lot of the Habana Inn, which is in an area where the public has complained about male prostitutes flagging down cars, Becker said. The plainclothes officers was investigating these complaints.Orrrrr... maybe there's another reason.... I and others have long maintained that the loathing expressed by many on the right for homosexuality is in actuality loathing they feel for themselves and the desires their upbringing and narrowminded worldview tell them are "sinful". Not all homophobes are deeply closeted, but I'd bet a large number of them are. And it's sad and pathetic and funny and infuriating all at once. If Lonnie Latham had chosen to be honest, he could've made a difference. Sure, he might've lost his comfortable job as pastor of one of the biggest churches in Tulsa, but he could've been happier, and he'd have had a chance to make it clear that he's human, and gays are human, and that what matters is that good Christians care about each other as human beings, as imperfect creatures. That's a lesson I learned a long time ago, one that's stuck with me even after I gave up believing. I've got a little bit of pity for Lonnie, but not much. He didn't ask for his sexual orientation, but he made a choice to be a hypocrite. The closet he hid in forced him to deny a part of himself, but he could have opened the door any time. He chose to be a coward, though. He decided it was better to have a nice car and a fancy house and be an Important Person than to be honest with himself and with the world. So pity only goes so far. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:11:00 AM | Thursday, January 05, 2006
The City Wiki I've created a wiki to hold all the notes I've got so far on The City, the GURPS campaign I'm developing. It's right here, read and enjoy. I'll be adding new stuff as fast as I can, it'll probably have updates every week or so at the least. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:13:00 AM | Death In The Mines The Sago Mine collapse shouldn't have happened. That mine should have been shut down, the corporation that owned it fined out of existence for numerous health and safety regulation failures. In 2005 alone, there were 20 roof collapses in the mine. In 2004, the Sago Mine had an accident rate of 15.90 accidents per 200,000 man-hours worked - almost 3 times the national average. The mine's operators have been assessed only $24,000 in fines for most of the violations in 2005, of which they've paid over $14,000. Coal mine operators have had it easy under Bush - he's fired whistleblowers in the MSHA and cut the staff by 170 people, as well as set a cat to watch the canary. Note that among the regulations rolled back and/or weakend by Lauriski included ones controlling coal dust and diesel fumes in mines - the proximate cause of the explosion that caused the collapse and killed 12 men. The 2000 rules regarding redundant exits for mines were also among those deleted by Lauriski before his departure. To link this to other issues, is it any surprise that Samuel Alito wanted to limit the scope of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act? Are you shocked that the MSHA no longer complies with the Freedom of Information Act? The cause of the fire that collapsed the Sago Mine is still under investigation, but it's pretty damn clear to me that Bush and the incompetents he likes to put in power are four-square on the side of the corporations. Their attitude is, "Workers? Fuck the workers - we can get cheaper ones once we've finished destroying the unions and gutting health and safety regulations." George W. Bush - bad for workers, bad for the economy, bad for freedom and bad for America. I'll ask again - when does the impeachment begin? posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:33:00 AM | Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Scalito On Eavesdropping OK, so next week the hearings about Samuel Alito start up on Capitol Hill. I'm hoping they'll be interesting, that lapdogs like Joe Biden (D - MBNA) and Joe Lieberman (D - Somewhere Inside Bush's Rectum) won't fuck everything up. An interesting question for Sammy would be this one: "In light of the President's recently-disclosed illegal NSA wiretaps, please give us your detailed position on the specific legal and Constitutional issues involved in this case." The Senators can really hold his feet to the fire on this question (like they can on the Abortion questions) because of this. Seems that back in 1984, Alito weighed in with a memo regarding a lawsuit against former Attorney General John Mitchell for authorizing an illegal wiretap of an American citizen without a warrant. Alito's position then was that he thought the AG should be immune from lawsuits, but because it was John Mitchell (Nixon era, Watergate, etc), the odds of convincing the Supreme Court of that were pretty damn slim. As it turned out, he was right on one count - the Supremes thought the notion of "Absolute Immunity" was a Very Bad Idea. So out of Samuel Alito's past, yet another legal opinion surfaces that has direct bearing on issues that are front-page stories today. It's not unreasonable to expect that sooner or later, the Supreme Court is going to have to rule on Bush's illegal wiretaps. We need to know his opinions before our Senators vote on him. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:54:00 AM | Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Clearing Away The Fog It's funny how time away from work can make it harder to keep up with the news. My newsreading habits are pretty well established - listen to "All Things Considered" on the way to work, tune in to Air America on the radio in my cubicle and, when work-flow allows, checking the New York Times, Salon, CNN and the BBC on my RSS feeds. At home, I have to fight the kids for TV time (and I prefer not to let them see the fawning knob-jobs the mainstream media give the right wing, the kids being so young and all), and I can't spend as much time online as I'd prefer due to the need to supervise the kids and get chorse done. A news story has to be pretty Big Stuff to get through the insulation of the walls of my house. So I see I managed to keep up with most of the big story - Bush's illegal surveillance of American citizens - but I missed a lot of the little tidbits. I'm still sorting through everything, but a couple of items really got my attention:
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:38:00 AM | Monday, January 02, 2006
Melissa's Latest Column The Cost of Childcare. The so-called "Mommy Wars" get lots of press: supposedly American mothers are at one another's throats over whether they stay at home with their children or put them in some kind of childcare so that they can work outside the home. Personally, I suspect this to be largely a media invention.For more, follow the link. Also, my friend Adrienne's latest column is up: What's the Word? My head is officially empty. I can hear the beginnings of thought in there, rattling around like marbles on a vast tile floor. Some have argued that these marbles were lost long ago. To quote Bart Simpson, "Au contraire, mon frere." They are in there – but are unable to connect with each other in any meaningful way. It was that kind of December. For the past couple of days I’ve been trying to come up with my word for 2006. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 4:51:00 PM | Sunday, January 01, 2006
Turn And Face The Strange 2005 had a lot of changes in it. One year ago, I found out I had pneumonia, and made the decision to quit smoking. I've been smoke-free for 372 days now. Melissa had some health problems that are mostly resolved now. The kids have been growing and maturing. I did some fiction writing, actually managing to finish stuff (yeah, it was very short fiction, but I finished it. That's a starting point, eh?). I don't make resolutions as a matter of course, as the very act of making a resolution tends to incline me to break it, but I'm planning to do the following this year: (1) Keep working on my temper and my tendency to obsess over small slights (2) Write more and better (3) Find a new/better job (4) Cure cancer, find the secret to world peace and learn how to make stinky cheese. Okay, maybe not the cancer or world peace, but the cheese, yes. posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:52:00 AM | |
