The Line-up

If there were ever a group of men that should all be in prison for the rest of their lives, here they are. Even the best of them, Colin Powell, is guilty of taking us into a war by lying to us.

Notation

via

Police Violence Against Middle Aged Ladies

It is distressing to me that this story has gotten so little coverage in the major media. In case you haven't heard, here's a synopsis:

San Diego - Friday, June 26 - A middle aged lesbian couple in a nice neighborhood was holding a fundraiser for Francine Busby, a Democrat seeking state office. A short speech was made around 8pm using a small P.A. All the while a neighbor was shouting obscenities, especially anti-gay slurs. It would appear that the neighbor then called in a noise complaint. This was around 9pm and the noise ordinance doesn't come into effect until 10pm. Nonetheless the sheriff's department sent a deputy. This wasn't a rock concert, it was a small gathering (the cop says 50 people, the fundraisers say no more than 30) of mostly middle aged ladies. When one of the owners, 60 year old Shari Barman, questioned why the deputy needed her age since he had her name and address he proceeded to twist her arm behind her back and throw her to the ground. When the other partygoers protested and Barman's partner begged the deputy to be careful with Barman's arm as she'd just had shoulder surgery the deputy freaked out and pepper sprayed everyone within range in the face. He called in back-up which came in the form of six more cars, a helicopter, a fire truck, and a canine team!

“It was a private, quiet party,” Busby said. “I can't reiterate enough that there was never any noise.” ...

The American Civil Liberties Union also has weighed in, releasing a statement yesterday calling for the sheriff to release more information about “what appears to be a significant abuse of power by a peace officer who intruded into a person's home and reacted with unwarranted force to an unsubstantiated complaint alleging a minor infraction.” more

There is a lot of speculation that this was caused by steroid abuse. Whatever. This deputy is typical cop: vindictive, stupid, angry, mean, spiteful, dangerous and worst of all, armed. This is not an isolated incident. Cops are fucking insane in this country and we have to find some way to turn it around. There is a prison guard mentality that is endemic in law enforcement and the cliched "I am the law" approach is now standard but we continue to increase the number of crimes and we recruit the kind of knuckle dragging bullies that will beat anyone that argues with them. You show me one good cop and I'll show you at least one piece of shit that would be jailed if he didn't tend to fuck with the poor and helpless.

These wealthy San Diego ladies will probably get justice in the end, but its because they can afford it. We have two justice systems in this country, the one that favors the rich and the one that jails the poor. And lord help you if you're poor and black! They say there is no honor amongst thieves, but there is far less honor amongst cops.

Frankensenator

Congratulations to Al Franken for overcoming the endemic right wing corruption in our electoral system by managing to barely win his Senate seat. The decision was finalized by the Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday. A tip of the hat to his opponent Norm Coleman for not continuing in the federal courts for the next five years. He was a bit of a dick for carrying it this far but he is a Republican, after all. Why couldn't he be more like a Democrat and cave in after a few weeks? Oh that's right, Republicans don't mind stealing elections.

For some reason Rush Limbaugh and the entire Rupert Murdoch Nazi propaganda empire are absolutely apoplectic over Al Franken becoming the 100th Senator. Maybe Rush is so upset because of a wonderful little book Franken wrote in the 90's:

By the way, Rush Limbaugh is still a big fat idiot and a liar and a bully and, to quote Keith Olbermann, he continues to be a great big bag of jack ass.

And it is quite possible that Fox Noise and the rest of the reality challenged universe of Rupert Murdoch owned media outlets (often confused with news reporting organizations) is shaking white with anger against Franken because of this other little book he wrote that basically condemns everyone being paid by Rupert Murdoch and everyone in the Republican party:

Both of these books are highly recommended by me, the smartest person in the room. You will laugh a lot (unless you're one of the above-mentioned Murdoch employees or the kind of drooling idiot that believes what Rush Limbaugh says) when you're not apoplectic with rage that there is no way to imprison people for careers built on lying.

Volcano Video

Rambling

A few hours ago Sarah Palin announced she was resigning as Governor of Alaska. Since then it appears the mass media has decided to adopt the word "rambling" to describe her speech. Might I offer some other words? How about:

Babbling, whining. petulant, adolescent, confusing, paranoid, and/or incredibly long.

She is such a Republican, just spouting shit off the top of her head as if it were absolute fact. She has decided that her husband wasn't a member of a secessionist party so by god he wasn't... despite the fact that he was an active member of said party for seven years. Drilling for oil is a good thing because of her religious beliefs. Blather blather blather. But facts don't matter to Republicans. She mentions near the end of the first half (gods help us this speech went on longer than Governor Sanford's seemingly endless original apology for fucking around on his wife) that she and her oddly named husband are spending nearly a million dollars fighting lawsuits of some kind and that the other people "don't have to pay a dime." Since when can you go to court for free? Anyway, here is her speech in two halves. I listened and have been reaffirmed in my joy that this stupid bitch isn't the Vice President right now. If you can watch this whole thing... I'm sorry. It was excruciating to watch this stupid woman vomit nonsense for twenty minutes.

The Roots of Break Dancing - RUN DMC

Dear Governor Sanford,

Fuck you, you hypocritical, right wing, piece of shit. Where the fuck do you get off comparing yourself to King David?!? You're not even up to the level of Pontius Pilot you worthless scumbag. If you were alive in the days the Old Testament mythologizes you would not be mentioned. The State you rule wouldn't be mentioned. Your descendants nor your ancestors would get a stroke of ink. You are only slightly above NOBODY in American politics so don't even for a second seek to equivocate yourself with a BIBLICAL KING! Maybe if you weren't such a self centered prick you wouldn't have fucked around on your wife. Admittedly she deserves being fucked around on for being stupid enough to buy into the right wing worldview but you, Sanford, you're below contempt. Shitting on you would be a waste of good shitting.

Weren't you one of the conservative shit-heels screaming most loudly for Clinton's impeachment? For getting a blowjob? Not for lying about his whereabouts and repeatedly leaving the country (basically abandoning his elected position) to fuck a mistress as you did, but for getting a BJ from a pretty young thing (tip o' the hat to Michael Jackson) and trying to cover it up? You have abdicated your position as governor for some pussy in Argentina and you think you should remain governor because King David went through some shit you somehow force to resemble your fuckups? You're not only a piece of shit, you're a worthless piece of shit.

And who is it that shouts loudest in support of the Defense of Marriage Act? Claiming gays getting married would ruin the "sanctity of marriage?" That would be you, asswipe. You who proves to the world that uptight, rightwing, conservative hypocrites are bound to do exactly what they condemn the rest of us for doing.

In closing, Mr. Sanford, I'm looking forward to seeing your ass booted out of office and your house. Even as I type this news is coming in of other trysts with other women and the fact that you "withheld" (i.e. lied) the extent of the affair you just confessed to. Yeah, fuck you, buddy.

Bat Shit Crazy Idiot and Liar

She repeatedly says, "We know..." but everything she says we know is false. Is she a liar or an idiot? I'm gonna say she's both liar and an idiot, mixed with a giant dose of bat shit crazy.

Unless she says or does something really amazingly wacky,* as opposed to her normal bat shit craziness, I'm going to leave Madam Bachmann to some people who are really serious about her. I thought I'd leave you with the "Michele Bachmann Year In Review" video and link you to an entire blog of her videos here:

*Anybody want to start a pool on how long 'til she says or does something else bat shit crazy?

Bat Shit Crazy Cont'd

You know someone is bat shit crazy when even Glenn Beck thinks they're nuts:

To Da Moon!

Japan's Kaguya spacecraft crashed into the Moon last week, as planned. APOD

My Robot

What would Isaac Asimov think of this?

The Continuing Crisis

More Post-Traumatic Stress: Peter Singer, the author of a new book on battlefield robotics, told LiveScience.com in May he had seen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan grow so attached to their bomb-disposal robots that, in one case, the soldier risked 160 feet of enemy machine gun fire to retrieve his little buddy, and in another, a soldier brought his robot in for repairs with tears in his eyes over the "injury" to his beloved "Scooby-Doo." Several units, he said, had given their robots promotions, Purple Hearts and even a military funeral. [LiveScience.com, 5-21-09] via News of the Weird

Michael Jackson

I can't say I was effected greatly by news of Mr. Jackson's passing. Writing this piece has given me a slightly melancholic feel and has brought back memories, but mostly I've just had "Billy Jean" stuck in my head all day. Most of us were a little surprised to hear of his death as he was only 50, he had that line-up of shows in London coming up, and despite being kind of miniature and deathly looking I just figured he was still in good shape.

I never met the man but he's been around me since I was a child (which is a disturbing image, I must admit). I distinctly remember singing along to "ABC"* and "I'll Be There" when I was about eight (that was 1983 so he was a 15 year old kid), spinning Bad and Thriller when DJ-ing high school dances, the video for "Thriller" being a major event my freshman year at Tulane (the MTV broadcast was projected on a big screen in the basement of the campus bar), and I sold all his records (in staggeringly enormous quantities) for the decade I worked in record stores. His songs are part of the vast quilt of music in my life. It is sad that one of those pieces won't add to itself.

As a musician I never feel I am intimately acquainted with anyone I know through their songs. Though I have hung out with and even engineered live sound for many musical legends I have no personal connection to those people. They are just people I have met who happen to be famous and/or brilliantly talented and when the nice ones die it makes me a little sad. I have much less personal connection to Michael Jackson and, like so many people, many aspects of his personal life (that I was exposed to whether I wanted to be or not) disturbed me in many ways. His extravagant lifestyle was sickening. At one point this man had enough money to buy the Beatles catalog. And he was able to piss that money away on monkeys and theme park rides and go bankrupt?!? I don't even want to know this crap about this man but he was famous and rich and weird and kind of stupid and he made a bunch of great records. And he's dead. That's kind of sad.

But I'm going to die some day too, just as will all of you. There is a slew of people who are adults who have no memory of John Lennon being killed. It won't be long until there will be adults who don't remember Nirvana. Michael Jackson's music was around for all of us in a way that only we can relate to and under conditions which are gone forever. There will never be a time again when you can go cruise around the court square and here something like "Beat It" coming from every car because it was on the cool local radio station. There is no MTV so what are the chances there will be another dancing superstar to approach his status? Just trying to think of how much our world has changed since "ABC" seems nearly impossible. From cell phones to satellite radio to mp3 downloads to YouTube and Facebook, the world is utterly different and I doubt anyone can begin to aspire to the level of a Michael Jackson. Shouldn't every generation have a "Thriller" moment?

So yeah. I know this was a bit jumbled and repetitive but life is a bit jumbled and repetitive and the whole concept of Michael Jackson is jumbled and repetitive. It is sad the man is dead. Long live his recordings.

*My clearest memory of singing a Michael Jackson song (with that strange distortion all those early memories have) is singing "ABC" on the school bus when I was 8. We also sang "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" and I remember us getting the giggles over saying the word "damned." Do eight year olds still get embarrassed at saying "cuss words" out loud?

WWCD?

3D Glasses

Here's that erupting volcano picture... in 3D!!!

A Photograph

Talk about being in the right place at the right time! NASA