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Keith Olbermann, I Love You (More)

It's no secret that I have a huge mancrush on Keith Olbermann - and I'm not the only one, not by a long shot.

Here's the latest swoonworthy smackdown Olbermann's delivered:

The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack.

Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet.

We end the countdown where we began, our #1 story, with a special comment on Mr. Rumsfeld’s remarkable speech to the American Legion yesterday. It demands the deep analysis - and the sober contemplation - of every American.

For it did not merely serve to impugn the morality or intelligence - indeed, the loyalty - of the majority of Americans who oppose the transient occupants of the highest offices in the land; Worse, still, it credits those same transient occupants - our employees - with a total omniscience; a total omniscience which neither common sense, nor this administration’s track record at home or abroad, suggests they deserve.

Dissent and disagreement with government is the life’s blood of human freedom; And not merely because it is the first roadblock against the kind of tyranny the men Mr. Rumsfeld likes to think of as "his" troops still fight, this very evening, in Iraq. It is also essential. Because just every once in awhile… it is right - and the power to which it speaks, is wrong.

In a small irony, however, Mr. Rumsfeld’s speechwriter was adroit in invoking the memory of the appeasement of the Nazis. For, in their time, there was another government faced with true peril - with a growing evil - powerful and remorseless.

That government, like Mr. Rumsfeld’s, had a monopoly on all the facts. It, too, had the secret information. It alone had the true picture of the threat. It too dismissed and insulted its critics in terms like Mr. Rumsfeld’s - questioning their intellect and their morality.

That government was England’s, in the 1930’s.

It knew Hitler posed no true threat to Europe, let alone to England.

It knew Germany was not re-arming, in violation of all treaties and accords.

It knew that the hard evidence it had received, which contradicted it’s own policies, it’s own conclusions - it’s own omniscience - needed to be dismissed.

The English government of Neville Chamberlain already knew the truth. Most relevant of all - it "knew" that its staunchest critics needed to be marginalized and isolated. In fact, it portrayed the foremost of them as a blood-thirsty war-monger who was, if not truly senile - at best morally or intellectually confused.

That critic’s name… was Winston Churchill.

Sadly, we have no Winston Churchills evident among us this evening. We have only Donald Rumsfelds, demonizing disagreement, the way Neville Chamberlain demonized Winston Churchill.

History - and 163 million pounds of Luftwaffe bombs over England - had taught us that all Mr. Chamberlain had was his certainty - and his own confusion. A confusion that suggested that the office can not only make the man, but that the office can also make the facts.

Thus did Mr. Rumsfeld make an apt historical analogy excepting the fact that he has the battery plugged in backwards.

His government, absolute and exclusive in its knowledge, is not the modern version of the one which stood up to the Nazis. It is the modern version of the government… of Neville Chamberlain.

But back to today’s Omniscient Ones.

That about which Mr. Rumsfeld is confused is simply this:

This is a Democracy. Still. Sometimes just barely. And as such, all voices count - not just his. Had he or his president perhaps proven any of their prior claims of omniscience - about Osama Bin Laden’s plans five years ago - about Saddam Hussein’s weapons four years ago - about Hurricane Katrina’s impact one year ago - we all might be able to swallow hard, and accept their omniscience as a bearable, even useful recipe, of fact, plus ego.

But, to date, this government has proved little besides its own arrogance, and its own hubris. Mr. Rumsfeld is also personally confused, morally or intellectually, about his own standing in this matter. From Iraq to Katrina, to flu vaccine shortages, to the entire "Fog of Fear" which continues to envelope this nation - he, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and their cronies, have - inadvertently or intentionally - profited and benefited, both personally, and politically.

And yet he can stand up in public, and question the morality and the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer’s New Clothes.

In what country was Mr. Rumsfeld raised?

As a child, of whose heroism did he read?

On what side of the battle for freedom did he dream one day to fight?

With what country has he confused… the United States of America?

The confusion we - as its citizens - must now address, is stark and forbidding. But variations of it have faced our forefathers, when men like Nixon and McCarthy and Curtis LeMay have darkened our skies and obscured our flag. Note - with hope in your heart - that those earlier Americans always found their way to the light and we can too.

The confusion is about whether this Secretary of Defense, and this Administration, are in fact now accomplishing what they claim the terrorists seek: The destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the same veterans Mr. Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City, so valiantly fought.

And about Mr. Rumsfeld’s other main assertion, that this country faces a "new type of fascism."

As he was correct to remind us how a government that knew everything could get everything wrong, so too was he right when he said that - though probably not in the way he thought he meant it.

This country faces a new type of fascism - indeed.

Although I presumptuously use his sign-off each night, in feeble tribute… I have utterly no claim to the words of the exemplary journalist Edward R. Murrow.

But never in the trial of a thousand years of writing could I come close to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier generation of us, at a time when other politicians thought they (and they alone) knew everything, and branded those who disagreed, "confused" or "immoral."

Thus forgive me for reading Murrow in full:

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty," he said, in 1954.

"We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.

We will not walk in fear - one, of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of un-reason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men; Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were - for the moment - unpopular."

And so, good night, and good luck.

People like Keith Olbermann give me hope for America.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:26:00 PM

 
O Arturo, Prince Of Irony!

Good ol' Rummy - always good for a laugh!

This is his latest bit of comedy gold:

Rumsfeld: Terrorists Manipulating Media

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday he is deeply troubled by the success of terrorist groups in "manipulating the media" to influence Westerners.

Right! Because Rummy & Co need the media to listen to their lies!

"That's the thing that keeps me up at night," he said during a question-and-answer session with about 200 naval aviators and other Navy personnel at this flight training base for Navy and Marine pilots.

That's what keeps him awake at night? Not the thousands of killed and wounded American soldiers, suffering for Rummy's inept leadership. Not the tens of thousands of dead and maimed Iraqi civilians. That's pretty damn interesting.

Rumsfeld was asked whether the criticism he draws as Pentagon chief and a leading advocate of the war in Iraq is an impediment to performing his job. He said it was not and he knows from history that wars are normally unpopular with many Americans. "I expect that," he said. "I understand that."

"What bothers me the most is how clever the enemy is," he continued, launching an extensive broadside at Islamic extremist groups which he said are trying to undermine Western support for the war on terror.

"They are actively manipulating the media in this country" by, for example, falsely blaming U.S. troops for civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

"They can lie with impunity," he said, while U.S. troops are held to a high standard of conduct.

To quote Arlo Guthrie, Rummy's got a lot of damn gall, sayin' shit like that. "Falsely blaming U.S. troops for civilian deaths"? Falsely?

'Th FUCK?

I suppose Haditha never happened. I suppose all those civilians killed at checkpoints by trigger-happy soldiers, all the kids maimed and killed by cluster bombs, the civilian deaths in Fallujah - all of that never happened?

Every single time I think my loathing for the shit-sucking scumbags in the White House can't get any deeper, one of them comes out and says something like that.

It's gonna take years to clean this stain off our nation's character, though turning Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice over to the World Court would be a good way to start.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:48:00 PM

 
It's Me Birfday!

39 years old.

I suppose I should be a little more alarmed at the passage of time, a little more desperate to hang on to every possible sliver of my youth, but I'm not.

It's time, it happens to everybody.

So it's a normal day for me, mostly - I'm at work, I'll go home, pick up the kids and cook supper. Melissa's baking me a pie tonight for my birthday, but other than that, no big blowouts planned. Until I fly out to San Francisco next week.

::waves at Bay Area folks::
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:51:00 AM

 

Damn, Woman!  You Just Eat Up With The Stupid, Aintcha?

 

Oh, Katherine Harris, you're my favorite whackaloon Rethug candidate (in Florida, at least).  Thanks for demonstrating your complete and utter lack of understanding of the Constitution, as well as your commitment to the Talibanesque positions of the brain-dead portion of the Florida electorate.

Sweet Little Miss Moneybags, your primary campaign is floundering like a cow that wandered into a school of starving piranha.  Still, some people still treat you like a serious candidate – I dunno if it's pity or if they're as toilet-drinking stupid as you are.  I read your interview in the Florida Baptist Witlessness and you certainly had some interesting things to say:
 

What role do you think people of faith should play in politics and government?

 
The Bible says we are to be salt and light. And salt and light means not just in the church and not just as a teacher or as a pastor or a banker or a lawyer, but in government and we have to have elected officials in government and we have to have the faithful in government and over time, that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren't involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we're going to have a nation of secular laws. That's not what our founding fathers intended and that's certainly isn't what God intended. So it's really important that members of the church know people's stands. It's really important that they get involved in campaigns. I said I'm going to run a campaign of integrity. I'm not going to run it like all of the campaigns that I've seen before…. And you know, it's hard to find people that are gonna behave that way in a campaign and be honorable that way in a campaign. But that's why we need the faithful and we need to take back this country. It's time that the churches get involved. Pastors, from the pulpit, can invite people to speak, not on politics, but of their faith. But they can discern, they can ask those people running for election, in the pulpit, what is your position on gay marriage? What is your position on abortion? That is totally permissible in 5013C organizations. They simply cannot endorse from the pulpit. And that's why I've gone to churches and I've spoken in four churches, five churches a day on Sunday and people line up afterwards because it's so important that they know. And if we don't get involved as Christians then how could we possibly take this back?

 

Why should Florida Baptists care about this primary election?

They should care about this election period. I will tell you that everywhere I go throughout the state and even the nation, people say the pollsters, the politicians and spiritually—that Florida is the forerunner state. That what happens in Florida sets the trend for what happens nationally. And with this election, if Bill Nelson wins, it's going to be a very frightening proposition in 2008 in the presidential elections because whoever wins Florida will win the presidency. And he'll be in a position to largely influence. No other candidate can beat Bill Nelson except for me. No one even has a chance because of name identification and fund raising abilities and things like that. But the real issue is why should Baptists care, why should people care? If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you're not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin. They can legislate sin. They can say that abortion is alright. They can vote to sustain gay marriage. And that will take western civilization, indeed other nations because people look to our country as one nation as under God and whenever we legislate sin and we say abortion is permissible and we say gay unions are permissible, then average citizens who are not Christians, because they don't know better, we are leading them astray and it's wrong.

 

Blah blah, woof woof.  Done yet?

You're crazier than a shithouse rat, nuttier than a fruitcake, dumber than a bucket of rocks and about as useful as tits on a boar. 

It says something that even the Bushistas are running like hell from you, the woman that helped give them the state of Florida in 2000. 

Ms. Harris, Kate, sweet honeybaby, my overly-rouged harpy of the orange groves, you should go read the Constitution.  It's rilly kewl!  No, seriously!  There's this great part that is especially important and I'd like to quote it for you, mmm-K?
 

Article VI

Clause 3
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of
the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial
Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall
be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no
religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office
or public Trust under the United States.

 

Yeah, that's right.  You're so full of shit it's a wonder it doesn't fall out your ears, you simpering, drooling monument to the wisdom of laws forbidding consanguination.  Someone needs to pour some chlorine into your gene pool.  I'm surprised you haven't been strangled by your intestines in a desperate attempt to save the world from contamination by your genetic material. 

How did you make it to adulthood?  You've got the kind of stupid that usually dies off fairly young.  I want to know who kept you from sticking your tongue in an electric socket as a child, because I need to kick his ass.

posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:42:00 AM

 

Pope Wingnut XVI, Boldly Leading The Church Into The 17th Century

Pope Benedict, former Nazi, has fired the director of the Vatican Observatory because he had the audacity to suggest that "Intelligent Design" is a religious belief and incompatible with the realities of science as sane, non-wingnutty people know it.

Wow.  It's like he never heard of that Galileo feller!  How sad it must be for him, that he can't just order a new Inquisition and burn some heretics at the stake!

Hat tip to Zarq for the original link.

posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:22:00 AM

 
A Wine Review, Of Sorts

I like wine, but I'm a straight-up amateur when it comes to wine. I know what I like, but I can't use all the fancy lingo the wine experts use.

That's never stopped me, though - I drink what I like and be damned with the reactions of snooty waiters!

So when Spidra mentioned a special blog promotion by the Mankas Hills Vineyards, I felt like I ought to give it a try.

I emailed them my age and address, as well as my blog's URL, and on Friday, I got a bottle of their 2004 Amelie. Man, that's some smooth stuff.

It's tasty, too. It goes well with fish and chicken, or just as a small libation to wind up a crazy day at work. It's a keeper, that's for sure - I'm adding it to my list of "Wines To Buy Again Because They're Good Stuff".

Give it a go - I don't give commercial endorsements on this blog unless I really dig what I'm recommending. I really dig this wine.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:32:00 AM

 
Hottest. Porn. EVAR!

Oh, man. I needed a cigarette after hitting this site. It's so damn hot and sexy, I had to change pants. Check it out!
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:53:00 AM

 
Um, WTF?

Rush Limbaugh has always been a vile, pustulent, worthless waste of genetic material. Always. Word is, the doctor slapped his mother when he was born.

The latest is, I think, his Mel Gibson Moment. The point at which he lays it all out for you in so blatant a fashion that you can't excuse, deny or rationalize his sick bullshit.

Of what do I speak? This.

On the August 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Rush Limbaugh suggested that the competition in a new season of CBS' reality TV program Survivor, in which contestants are reportedly divided into competing "tribes" by ethnicity, "is not going to be fair if there's a lot of water events." In support of this assertion, he cited a March 2 HealthDay article reporting that "young blacks -- especially males -- are much more likely to drown in pools than whites."

Yeah. He said it. Really! But wait, there's more!

During the program, Limbaugh suggested that "people at CBS" are "scratch[ing] their heads" and asking whether "the swimming portion" of the new Survivor competition is "going to be fair." When pressed by an African-American caller to identify "[w]hich team ... would be the worst swimmers and why," Limbaugh stated that "the white tribe would be the best swimmers" based on the performance of white athletes at "the Olympics." After apparently disconnecting or cutting the volume level of the caller, Limbaugh said: "[Y]ou're saying I'm being racist because I'm saying blacks can't swim." He further protested: "I mentioned the swimming comment only because it's not going to be fair if there is a lot of water competition in this. It just isn't. It is not a racial or racist comment at all."

Yes it is. It's about as racist as you can get without putting on a motherfucking white hood. It's only a little less racist than lighting a goddamn cross on fire in someone's yard. Here's words straight from the fat sack of shit's mouth:

We don't know who makes up the -- I mean, we've got the names here of all these members of the tribes, but Hispanic encompasses a lot. You could have a Cuban in there. You could have a Nicaraguan. You could have a Mexican or two. You could have any number. And you know, if they start fighting for supremacy amongst themselves, that could lead to problems. But our early money is on them anyway, because these people have shown a remarkable ability, ladies and gentlemen, to cross borders, boundaries -- they get anywhere they want to go. They can do it without water for a long time. They don't get apprehended, and they will do things other people won't do. So, our money, early money, is on the Hispanics.

The white tribe, I have to tell you -- I don't have a whole lot of hope in the white tribe. The Asian -- the Asian-American tribe probably will outsmart everybody, but will that help them in the ultimate survival contest? Intelligence is one thing, but raw, native understanding of the land and so forth -- this is probably why the Native Americans were excluded, because they were at one with the land here, and they probably would have an unfair advantage.

The African-American tribe, tough to handicap on this one, because you just -- it's -- it's -- there are many characteristics here that you would think give them the lead and the heads up in terms of skill and athleticism and so forth. The Asians, as I say -- the brainiacs of the bunch. The Hispanic tribe -- they've probably shown the most survival characteristics of any -- What? What are you shaking your head about for? What are you -- well -- well, I don't know that CBS is going to let them get away with that. The -- we were talking about the white tribe. We're speculating among ourselves that if the white tribe behaves as it historically has, they will bring along vials of diseases; they will end up oppressing the other groups; they will deny them benefits; deny them their property, steal it from them, and you know, put them on some kind of a benefit program. The white tribe put everybody else on some kind of benefit program, but the benefit program, of course, will not be enough. There will be no education. The white tribe will not allow any health care.

Disgusting, isn't it?

Just in case you're inclined to let, say, some network executives know you're a wee bit steamed about their allowing Limbaugh to vomit forth his noxious bile on the air, here's some contact info:

Rush Limbaugh
rush@eibnet.com

Premiere Radio Networks

Premiere Radio Networks, Inc.
15260 Ventura Blvd. 5th Floor
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Main: (818)377-5300
Fax: (818)377-5333
Toll Free: (800)533-8686

The Rush Limbaugh Show
1-800-282-2882
rush@eibnet.com
fax: 212-563-9166

The Rush Limbaugh Show
1270 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Remember to be polite, but firm. If possible, provide network folks with specific details of your demographic and explain exactly why you're going to go out of your way to avoid listening to their radio networks.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 4:03:00 PM

 

About Damn Time

 

Morning-after pill to be available without prescription

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription -- but only with proof they're 18 or older, federal health officials ruled Thursday, capping a contentious 3-year effort to ease access to the emergency contraceptive.

 

Girls 17 and younger still will need a doctor's note to buy the pills, called Plan B, the Food and Drug Administration told manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.

 

…

 

The pills will be sold only from behind the counter at pharmacies -- so the pharmacist can check photo identification -- but not at convenience stores or gas stations.

 

There isn't enough scientific evidence that young teens can safely use Plan B without a doctor's supervision, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the FDA's acting commissioner, said in a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

 

But Barr did prove that over-the-counter use is safe for older teens and adults -- and licensed pharmacies are used to checking for proof of age 18 before selling tobacco and certain other products, von Eschenbach wrote in explaining the agency's age cutoff.

 

It's a start, at least – and one long overdue.  It's a ruling that is scientifically sound and much more in keeping with the attitudes and beliefs of the majority of Americans.

posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:47:00 AM

 

Oh, Well Done!  Well Done Indeed, Sirs!

 
US interventions have boosted Iran, says report.

 

The headline pretty much tells you all you need to know, but for the mentally slow and/or willfully ignorant out there, I'll quote some:

 

A report published by Chatham House said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had removed Iran's main rival regimes in the region.

 

Israel's conflict with the Palestinians and its invasion of Lebanon had also put Iran "in a position of considerable strength" in the Middle East, said the thinktank.

 

...

 

The study said Iran had been swift to fill the political vacuum created by the removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. The Islamic republic now has a level of influence in the region that could not be ignored.

 

In particular, Iran has now superseded the US as the most influential power in Iraq, regarding its former adversary as its "own backyard". It is also a "prominent presence" in its other war-torn neighbour, Afghanistan, according to Chatham House's analysts

 

So in short, Iran - the latest bogeyman thrust at us by Deadeye Dick and the Simp Chimp - is in a stronger position right now because the US acted unilaterally, illegally and foolishly.  Diverting resources from Afghanistan at a crucial point, wasting those resources in the idiotic Iraqi quagmire and the subsequent waste, fraud, torture and chaos has resulted in Iran becoming even stronger than before.  Israel's murderous bombing campaign in southern Lebanon has locked things up even more in Iran's favor.

I swear, it's almost like Bush and Rummy and Cheney were being paid by the Iranian government to help them in the region. 

It'll take a lot of doing to fuck things up more from here.  Sadly, I think they're working on that.

posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:21:00 PM

 
Pat Buchanan Cares About The Volk!

Pat Buchanan apparently thinks he's living in the 1930s.

In Germany.

His latest? Nothing much, just a little fearmongering mixed with a few asinine notions of racial purity:

America faces an existential crisis. If we do not get control of our borders, by 2050 Americans of European descent will be a minority in the nation their ancestors created and built. No nation has ever undergone so radical a demographic transformation and survived.

Oh dear me! Those swarthy brutes shall surely despoil the purity of our innocent daughters! Lock up your wimminfolk and keep your powder dry! McDonald's shall become "Garcia's", Burger King "Tandoori Rajah". It's terrible, terrible!
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:49:00 PM

 
Flying Solo Again

Melissa's off on a business trip, so I've got the kids solo tonight and tomorrow night. They're behaving so far... mostly.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 5:27:00 PM

 
More Gaming Stuff For Sale!

GURPS Supers 2E
GURPS Supers Adventures
GURPS Old West 2E
GURPS Undead
GURPS New Sun
GURPS Castle Falkenstein
GURPS Atlantis
GURPS Monsters
GURPS Chaos in Kansas
GURPS Mars
GURPS Aliens
GURPS Espionage (It's not in good shape at all, so I'll throw it in free for the first person that buys something else off this list)

Car Wars: AutoDuel Quarterly Vol 10, #3 - Fall 2042 Edition

Tribes (game by Steve Jackson and David Brin)

Ogre Miniatures (book of rules)

Star Trek RPG (Last Unicorn Games) Narrator's Toolkit by S. John Ross

Palladium - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle RPG

Villains & Vigilantes adventures:
Terror by Night
Death Duel With The Destroyers
Crisis at Crusader Citadel
F.O.R.C.E
The Pentacle Plot

Champions RPG - 3rd Edition, 6th Printing

SJ Games X-Bugs set 3: Chitinians vs. Sovietoptera

Illuminati Crime Lords

Frag
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:56:00 PM

 
GURPS Books I'm Selling


Before I put these on eBay, I figured I'd give you folks out there first crack at these books. If you're interested in one or more titles, email me and we can discuss the condition/price and shipping.

SJG Cardboard Heroes CASTLES Walls and Towers
GURPS Camelot
GURPS Places of Mystery
GURPS Religion
GURPS Celtic Myth
GURPS Discworld (HB)
GURPS Fantasy
GURPS Fantasy Folk
GURPS Egypt
GURPS Aztecs
GURPS Black Ops
GURPS Atomic Horror
GURPS Deadlands
GURPS Deadlands Varmints
GURPS Technomancer
GURPS Reign of Steel
GURPS Ogre
GURPS Bio-Tech
GURPS Ultra-Tech
GURPS Ultra-Tech 2
GURPS Space 2E
GURPS Time Travel 2E
GURPS Mecha
GURPS Spirits
GURPS Psionics 3rdP
GURPS Blood Types
GURPS Swat
GURPS Special Ops 3rd
GURPS Goblins
GURPS Myth

I also have:

Hero Wars Complete Guide to Griselda
Star Trek The Next Generation: Forgiveness - Graphic Novel by David Brin

Let me know as soon as possible - your purchase will help a very important cause (specifically, the Adam C. Lipscomb Wants To Get His Happy Ass To The Bay Area Fund).

Later: They're going fast! Get 'em while they're hot!
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:03:00 AM

 
Last Gasp Of Summer

Went out on Lake Travis today - Melissa's parents have a ski boat and invited us and the kids out for the afternoon.

It was good - in addition to everyone commenting on my weight loss, I got some good swimming in and just had a good time relaxing.

Summer's winding down now - not that you can tell from the temperature around here - and soon it'll actually be getting cool.

Well, cooler. Like maybe down in the 90s. Man, that'd be nice.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:38:00 PM

 
Pot Calls Kettle Black

Orrin Hatch is a damn fool, y'know? He's one of those moral, upright Rethuglican shitlickers that thinks impeaching a successful and popular president for adultery is A-OK, but questioning the merits of a war based on lies, that has killed over 40,000 innocent men, women and children is treason. Letting the Supreme Court pick our president? Go right ahead! Let the courts decide if laws are constitutional or not? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING?

The latest stupid out of this assmarmot is this:

Sen. Orrin Hatch, who continuously decries the bitter partisanship in Washington, implied this week that Democratic success in November's election could result in terrorist attacks on America.

Hatch was quoted in Tuesday's Tooele Transcript Bulletin as saying Middle East terrorists are "waiting for the Democrats here to take control, let things cool off and then strike again."

Why, I wonder, would terrorists do that, when Bush has made it so goddamn easy for them to disrupt the lives of everyone in the West? Recruitment is up, fundraising is up, so why would they want that to change?

It's not the first time he's dribbled moronic bullshit like this, either:

During the 2004 presidential election, Hatch suggested al-Qaida members wanted Democratic challenger John Kerry to defeat President Bush.

Terrorists "are going to throw everything they can between now and the election to try and elect Kerry," Hatch said in a Washington Post story printed in September 2004.

Yeah, that would be why Osama Bin Laden (where is he, BTW - weren't we gonna git him "dead or alive"?) released a tape right before the election, basically saying, "Stupid Americans! I am the Arab boogeyman, and I am coming for you! PS - I understand your infidel reverse psychology, therefore I shall endorse Kerry and you, like the syphilitic sheep you are, will vote for the violator of diseased camels Bush. SUCK THIS, AMERICA!"

Orrin Hatch is, like the rest of the GOP leadership, talking out of his ass.

Hatch claims he "doesn't recall" making the statement, it's damn close to the position taken by other Rethuglicans, from Joseph Lieberman to Dick Cheney. But, of course, they wouldn't lie to us, would they? Perish the thought! ::clutches pearls in horror::

Remember - the easiest way to tell if a Republican is lying is to see if his lips are moving.

Bush and his gang of thieves have done nothing since 9/11 but weaken America.

• They have crippled our armed forces, bogging them down in a senseless quagmire in Iraq.
• They have encouraged continued US dependence upon foreign oil, placing us at the mercy of the nations providing the oil.
• They have cut funding for law enforcement in areas that need it, instead funneling money to the states and districts of loyal GOP members of the House and Senate.
• The economy is at best stagnant, thanks to idiotic and self-serving cuts in tax rates for the wealthiest 1% of Americans.
• Our schools remain underfunded, with the added bonus of "No Child Left Behind", which imposes asinine restrictions on our schools without providing one damn cent of funding for them.
• FEMA, a model disaster response agency under Clinton, has become once again a patornage plum, handed out to any moron with money to donate.
• New Orleans, one of our nations busiest ports and the linchpin of the Louisiana economy, was devastated by Hurrican Katrina, and Bush and his cronies did nothing until it was too late.

I could go on, but when I do my pulse skyrockets and my right side goes numb.

Gee-willikers, Orrin! Could it be that perhaps the terrorists want Bush and Company to stay in office? After all, it's all much easier, now. Sure, they probably won't be able to do anything as spectacular as 9/11 again, but they can keep trying, and even if they fail every time, they'll still snarl up the airports, cripple large sectors of the economy and in general inconvenience millions of Americans they could otherwise never touch.

So go fuck yourself with a broken beer bottle, Orrin Hatch. We can see who butters your bread, so we know why you say the stupid shit you do.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:44:00 AM

 
Argh

I decided to clear out some space in my gaming closet, so I packed up a box of out-of-date GURPS sourcebooks and headed off to a local consignment shop to put them on ebay.

Imagine my disappointment when I pulled up to find that the shop had closed. Without updating their website, natch.

Got to do all the scutwork on the auction myself now, so it'll be a few days more before I get the books posted.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 2:17:00 PM

 
I Hate Money

Hate it. A lot. It's a fucking pain in my ass, is what it is.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:22:00 PM

 
Why Am I So Nervous?

I mean, I'm just getting my hair cut.  Sure, it's been over 3 years since my last haircut, but still - it's just a haircut.

I reckon it's because it means there's no turning back - another way of telling myself that I can't slack off at work any more, that I need to get serious about looking for a new job.

::shrugs::

Let's hope it works.

posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:00:00 PM

 
Poking around on Monster.com today, I saw this job description:

!!FINANCIAL ANALIST NEEDED ASAP: $60k+!!!

Either the person responsible for posting job openings at this company can't spell, or they're looking for someone that can count money with their rectum.

Either way, I'll pass. 

posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:54:00 PM

 
Back to School!

And I, for one, couldn't be happier.  The kids are back on a normal schedule and I'm back on a normal schedule and it's a schedule that means I get to see Melissa in the morning AND the afternoon.

Yeah, sure, there's homework and projects to deal with, but that's easy.  Plus I get more sleep.


posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 1:47:00 PM

 
You Wanna Talk Fun?

Try cleaning wheat flour out of a fish tank.

Hoo-doggie! That's some fucking fun.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:45:00 PM

 
Whoops

I knew I forgot something last night - I forgot to blog. I can't remember what I was going to write about, but it was probalby a little ranty.

Let's just pretend I wrote something brilliant, shall we?
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:26:00 AM

 
Grrrr. Arg.

Back to school time. Just dropped more money than I have at the moment on school supplies - over $100 for Drew and Fran's school supplies for the year.

Not to sound like an old fogey, but I remember when students showed up at school with a pencil and a notebook and they were ready to go. Why are students responsible for providing kleenex, ziploc bags and the like for our schools? Why do teachers have to spend their own money on that kind of thing? Why, exactly, do we pay taxes then? Where does the money go? High school athletic programs, sadly, never seem to lack for money. What kind of sick, sad country are we, that football is more important than books? That a fancy new stadium is more important than stocking classrooms with the essentials for school?

I'm not the only parent that feels this way.

Like Smoooochie in the link above, I don't much care for the endless parade of fundraisers at the school. I hate having to pimp tacky wrapping paper, shitty candy and completely useless plastic crap, and I hate even more the constant guilt trips.

Fuck that noise. I pay taxes - a lot of taxes - for decent schools. I expect to get my money's worth for those taxes. More money for schools and teachers, less for goddamn tax cuts for Paris Hilton and other useless, sick wastes of genetic material.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:31:00 AM

 
Old Friends, New Friends

Melissa and I went to hear Adrienne Martini read from her book last night. It was fun, and intimate - most, but not all, of the people there for the reading knew Adrienne, either from her time in Austin or through her column at AustinMama. Adrienne's really good in front of an audience - easygoing with a great sense of humor. - and there was a lively Q&A session after the reading.

It was weird for me, being at a reading by an author I know so well. I kept wanting to interact with Adrienne as a friend at a relaxed gathering, interrrupting and cracking jokes. I didn't, of course, but it was a weird mental place for me.

After the reading, a group of us went to Opal Devine's on 6th Street here, where we had the privelege of being served by Bill The Worst Waiter EVAR. Every other order was messed up and Bill had a serious attitude problem, but was for the most part noted primarily for his absence. At several points, I almost resorted to throwing my pint glass at BillTWWE to get his attention.

Despite the crappiness of the waiter (something Melissa and I have noticed happens to us every time we go to Opal Devine's), it was a good time. We got to met Kim Lane, the founder of AustinMama and in general had loads of fun mocking BillTWWE and chatting and cracking up.

Sadly, I have to work tonight, but Adrienne's coming for dinner with Melissa and the kids, which means I've got a full day of housecleaning to do.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 7:34:00 AM

 
First Results

Playing around last night, I built a section of wall for The City. The scale's not exactly right, and I'll probably be going back and futzing with it for a while, but here's what it looks like so far:



Eventually, I'm going to map out the largest and most important buildings in The City and who knows? In another 10-20 years, I might have every building mapped out.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:20:00 PM

 
More Fun With Google

Google's got a new freebie out there - Google SketchUp. It's a simple to learn, simple to use 3D modeling program.

I'm going to try to use SketchUp to design some of the more prominent buildings in The City, see if that'll help get the creative juices flowing again. I'll post links to pics as I make 'em.



posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 10:52:00 PM

 
From The Original Scrapped Pilot

Ladies and gentlemen, from the Vault Of Lost TV, a trailer for the original pilot of "Lost". For some reason, the networks thought the premise wasn't very believable and they scrapped it.

For your viewing pleasure, then, I bring you Lost: '76!
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 4:25:00 PM

 
Sisyphus Wept

Another Saturday, another day spent asking, telling, ordering, bribing, cajoling and eventually punishing whiny children to clean their rooms.

::sighs::

[edit] - I wrote this yesterday afternoon and hit post, but for some reason it didn't publish.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 5:59:00 PM

 
<b>Trying this out</b>

Internet access at work will be a bit spotty for a bit, so I'm testing out posting-by-email again to see how it works.  I'm sending this at 6:15 PM Central, we'll see how long it takes to get posted.

If it works, then I'll try to post something bigger and more ranty later tonight.

--
Adam C. Lipscomb
Austin, TX

posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:17:00 PM

 
Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

More from the Bushistas. White House Proposal Would Expand Authority Of Military Courts.

A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism, according to officials familiar with the proposal.

The plan, which would replace a military trial system ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in June, would also allow the secretary of defense to add crimes at will to those under the military court's jurisdiction. The two provisions would be likely to put more individuals than previously expected before military juries, officials and independent experts said.

Yep - the military courts would have jurisdiction over pretty much anyone they want them to. Even Stalin made sure he had the fig leaf of "peoples' courts" when he wanted to purge the Soviet Union of "wreckers" and "enemies of the state".

Under the proposed procedures, defendants would lack rights to confront accusers, exclude hearsay accusations, or bar evidence obtained through rough or coercive interrogations. They would not be guaranteed a public or speedy trial and would lack the right to choose their military counsel, who in turn would not be guaranteed equal access to evidence held by prosecutors.

Detainees would also not be guaranteed the right to be present at their own trials, if their absence is deemed necessary to protect national security or individuals.

Every single facet of our American legal system, every protection allowed murderers, child molesters and rapists, would be denied to the people placed under the jurisdiction of these courts.

Any single person could at any time be accused and arrested on the word of someone that knows someone that might have heard something, get hauled away to a secret prison, tortured and beaten, placed on trial without knowing the charges or their accuser, defended by whatever incompetent/corrupt attorney the court deems proper - and that attorney would not be allowed to see all the evidence - these unfortunate souls could be tried, convicted and found guilty without even being allowed at the trial.

Deep in whatever Hell he's in, Josef Stalin is laughing his ass off.

The plan calls for commissions of five military officers appointed by the defense secretary to try defendants for any of 25 listed crimes. It gives the secretary the unilateral right to "specify other violations of the laws of war that may be tried by military commission." The secretary would be empowered to prescribe detailed procedures for carrying out the trials, including "modes of proof" and the use of hearsay evidence.

So if Donald Rumsfeld gets a little pissed off at some newspaper columnist that's being a little too critical, well, golly gee whiz! A new crime, that National Security prevents the government from naming, just happens to be the crime committed by the insufficiently deferential columnist.

Unlike the international war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, the commissions could rely on hearsay as the basis for a conviction. Unlike routine military courts-martial, in which prosecutors must overcome several hurdles to use such evidence, the draft legislation would put the burden on the defense team to block its use.

So let me get this straight - "terrorists" would get fewer protections than the rapists of Srebenica or one of the men that led mobs of machete-weilding people against innocent Tutsi women and children. Does that seem right?

Does this seem like America to you?

Ten years ago, if you'd shown me that article, I would have laughed at the clumsy dystopianism of the story. The very idea that our government would seriously propose such Kafkaesque procedures would have been unthinkable.

Time to make some more calls. Make it crystal clear to your Senators and Representatives that voting for this proposed bill would be a Very Bad Idea. Make it clear that you expect them to do their duty as citizens and protect the Constitution, not give cover to Bush's dictatorial chubby.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 11:55:00 AM

 
Happy Birthday!

Today's Melissa's birthday! I'm still loving her with a big ol' love. 'Cause she's so lovely.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:50:00 AM

 
George Bush Likes It When Children Die

I really think he gets off on it - squats in front of the TV in the Oval Office, yanking his little dick as hard as he can as he watches images of women and children that died in a deliberate attack by Israeli forces.

56 people, 37 of them children, died when Israeli bombs slammed into an apartment building in Qana, Lebanon.

Mothers, cradling their children in their arms, died with no warning and for no reason. Israeli authorities claim that Hizbollah guerrillas fired rockets from a location near the building, but no rockets have been found, and none of the bodies recovered so far have been positively identified as guerrillas.

37 children.

Despite what the fucking genocidal monsters on the right will tell you, those children and their mothers did not deserve to die. They committed no crime that could possibly merit their death in this fashion.

The US government is complicit in this - every attempt by the UN to force a cease-fire has been blocked by UN Ambassador John Bolton. The Bush Administration is shipping precision-guided munitions to Israel and has made it clear, through its inaction, that it's perfectly fine to murder UN peacekeepers despite their pleas that shelling directly on their position be stopped. It's perfectly fine to murder little boys and girls as they huddled in their mothers' arms. It's perfectly fine to bomb ambulances, to fire missiles at civilians trying to flee a war zone. It's perfectly fine to say things like:

"Everyone in southern Lebanon is a terrorist and is connected to Hezbollah." - Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon

"One who goes to sleep with rockets shouldn't be surprised if he doesn't wake up in the morning." - Israel's UN ambassador Dan Gillerman.

All of that is A-OK.

Because George Bush gets off on the murder of children. None of that pissant retail stuff, either - kidnapping a child here or there is for pussies. No, George Bush really gets off on the big body counts. He always comes the hardest if he gets to see fathers and mothers shrieking with grief over the twisted, mangled bodies of their children, especially if those kids are in their pajamas.

And we're all complicit in this - every man and woman that voted for that monster, every single one. Every man, woman and child that pays taxes here. Every member of Congress that has not fought tooth and nail against the depredations of Bush and his gang of bloodthirsty thieves. Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

More blood on our hands. More death because of us.

You want to see what we've done? Do you really?

Here it is. Look at it. Look closely.

The bodies were carried into daylight one by one, all gray-skinned with dust, one small boy his mouth stuffed with dirt, a stiffened arm pointing accusingly into the air. Wasps and flies buzzed with greedy excitement around his face and blood-sodden hair. "It's Ali Shalhoub," muttered an onlooker as the child was placed on a stretcher and carried away.

I'm finding it harder and harder to muster any love for my homeland. I want to believe that we can still achieve the ideals in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. I want to believe that we can be as good as we've claimed to be. I want to believe there's still hope for the United States.

I can't keep it up, though. I can't keep telling myself that there's a chance to pull our nation out of its nosedive into the gutter, not when our government permits - hell, encourages - atrocities like this.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:26:00 PM

 
A Quick Update

I've posted a lot about my depression lately - I've finally admitted to myself that it's not something I can will away, that it's going to be with me in some degree or another for the rest of my life. The antidepressants help, as does the therapy. I'm learning how to adapt.

So now I'm beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Daylight's a long way off still, but it's a sign that things are improving.

So thanks to everyone for the kind sentiments. I appreciate them more than I have words for.

Now it's time for me to roll up my sleeves and fix the bad patterns in my life.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 4:27:00 PM