Right Wing Glurge Spam - Political Correctness

Sometimes you don't know someone's political leanings until you land on their "hay, this iz funny!" forward list. And even after that, you still respect them. After all, how else are you going to know what sorts of ultra-pseudo-patriotic, right-wing "librulz r crap" emails are going around?

This came from one of those friends:

The following is the 2007 winning entry from an annual contest at Texas A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term. This year's term was Political Correctness.

The winner wrote,
"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

Hahaha. Oh, those righties.

Unfortunately, it has not yet hit Snopes.com, but the first pieces are, unsurprisingly, unverifiable. The Texas A&M website is void of any reference to turds, save one that has nothing to do with the supposed contest. I've also looked at over a dozen blog and web posts of this quote: none of them link to an actual contest and most actually refer to a forwarded email. Good show, folks.

Note to self: Make up quote that quips on the definition of the Constitution or some such fodder that pokes at righties then disseminate quote by emailing a liberal who is known to flagrantly forward unjustified emails to others who will do the same.

Note to self: Make friends with a liberal who is known to flagrantly forward unjustified emails to others who will do the same, should such be found to exist.

Americans and Learned Helplessness

Beginning in 1967, Martin Seligman began a series of studies that helped buck some of the generalized ideas of B.F. Skinner's behaviorism and gave rise to the phrase "learned helplessness." I'm not going to go into the details of the study; you can read it here.

Here's the basis of the experiment:

1. A dog given a periodic electrical shock and a lever to stop it can learn to use the lever and deal with it.
2. A dog given a periodic electrical shock and a lever that does nothing can learn to deal with it.
3. A dog given a random shock and no means to control that shock will fall into stressful depression which, for dogs, consists of curling up in the corner of the sometimes-electrified cage, shivering with stress, and wincing at the occasional shock. This "giving up" and "dealing with it miserably" is what is called Learned Helplessness

This I heard about back in my early college days, but not until I saw the gas prices do their magical dance over the past couple years did I bring it into relevancy.

We are the third dog. Americans. World citizens. Anyone who is not directly in power. Many of us have curled up in the corner of the cage, driving through our daily grind, making sure we have a job, not rocking the boat, just trying to stressfully survive and always, always, awaiting the next shock.

As I mentioned, this thought came to being because when I began driving, you could still find gas for under a buck a gallon. Typing it, it sounds like a fairy tale, sounds like I'm 100 years old, but it was in 1993. Fifteen years later, we're looking at gas quadrupling in price. But steady we could understand.

The gas does a dance, a random dance for those of us very normal Americans who do not have the mental window into futures trading. As it was rising, we'd see a peak of thirty cents in a week. All over the news. Then it would drop fifteen, maybe twenty. All over the news again. But the up and down introduces complacency: "Well, it's a little higher now, but at least it's not as high as it was." And we keep saying that and we keep saying that and it goes up 4 steps and down 2 and up an down. And before you know it, I'm driving to Cleveland two weeks ago and internally audibly said to myself "Wow, $3.19 isn't so bad." But six months ago people were talking gas boycott at $3.00.

Complacency.

This happens in government as well: slowly and slowly our civil liberties are evacuated and someone puts the breaks on the electrical current for a couple minutes and our tail's all wagging. Bush denies that global warming is real and suddenly says he's going to support legislation to aid global warming (details to come, of course). Our taxes go up, our insurance rates rise - but maybe not so much one year - and we're looking at a couple hundred dollars coming to us in May. This is worse than shock; it's shock and biscuits.

So what's the solution? To carry the analogy, one dog could break the leash, crash the door. But we have minders, and before a shit is taken on the floor, we're back in the cage awaiting our next shock.

No, all the dogs must break loose, surround the minders, and in one solid and strong barking voice shout "NO! No more!"

I know. Dogs can't talk. But we can.

We've been led to believe we are a government of the people, by the people, for the people, yada yada. I have yet to see that play out in truth in my lifetime. I'm guessing many of you haven't. And lest we sit around watching American Idol and the Superbowl, we never will.

Any suggestions?

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable."

-JFK

Bend the bars. Make the change.

Rambling: Can Democrats Avoid Criticism?

As my always disclaimer states, I am not a fan of Republicans, but neither am I a mouthpiece for Democrats. I will vote Democrat in November.

That said, we've got Obama's new reason for being attacked:

You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate, and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Okay, this one doesn't need much background and can't really be explained away. The statement is angering because it's true. It terribly fucking true. I'm listening to Sean Hannity rail right now, How dare anyone claim that the great people of the United States of America are anything less than perfect!

But we are far from perfect. Obama said it concisely: Americans feel helpless because of continually being let down by their elected officials, because of seeing the economy fall apart, because of $4.00/gal gas and they can't do it anymore, they can't feel like they can control anything or have impact on how things are run, so they take refuge in things they can control: their religion, their beliefs, their hate. That's how mob mentality gains a foothold and the last refuge for learned helplessness (which I will attack in my next post).

But people - especially people who he is talking about - don't want to hear it; people like Sean Hannity who make their career on making themselves out to be the salt of the Earth like every good, hard-working, abused, and down-trodden American won't hear of it. Because from the Republican perspective, hard-working Americans with low-paying jobs in small towns are tough-livin' freedom fighters, but hard-working Americans with low-paying jobs in urban areas are lazy porch monkeys who don't know how to better themselves.

So Obama said something true about Middle America and everyone's outraged. I don't think he should've said it, but he did. He deserves to hear about it, but not from the angle that right-wing radio's running.

On the other hand, we've got Hillary doing shots in a bar in order to "connect" with Middle America. Crown Royal, to be specific. There are a very few points to make on this drinking op:

• Most Middle Americans do not buy Crown Royal because it's a touch fucking expensive. They drink Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and Wild Turkey. Perhaps even Paramount or another well brand. I drink Jameson, but that's because I'm an elitist prat who's not simply scraping by.


• Crown Royal is not an American, but Canadian, whiskey. (It's better than American whiskeys because America has a rule that does not allow the aging of liquor in previously-used barrels; Crown Royal is aged in oak barrels previously used to age cognac, enriching and complicating the flavor.)

This incident is not a huge deal, but I've heard many a parody today on the right side of the dial.

So Hillary, in trying to connect to Middle America, was unable to get it 100% right.

I guess I'm tired of hearing all this prattle about our Democratic candidates on poor word choice or whiskey choice or church choice or gun choice. John McCain being elected will lead directly to the deaths of thousands of Americans and thousands of non-Americans, if not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, then in Iran, and maybe a couple other countries that could exacerbate the rest of the world balance, knocking us into a World War with ...well, everybody.

To the right: shut up about the nuance; the only true threat to our freedom is the possible election of John McCain.

Ricky's Wisdom Today - 4/12/08

I'm writing a graphic novel and will say nothing more at this point other than this is pretty much the defining quote of my novel.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go." Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!"

-John 29:15

Mike Church - Brainwashing Kids, Blatant Lies

Sirius Radio has given me new perspective on the horrors of right wing talk shows. First it was Andrew Wilkow. I can almost stomach the whole show. Now...

Right wingnut radio neo-con, Mike Church - also known as "King Dude" because of an apparent unhealthy love affair with "The Big Lebowski" but ironically looks like every other straight-laced repub - was spouting flat earth global warming "myth" garbage and bragging about how well-versed his daughters are in the mythos of global warming caused by the proximity of Earth to the sun on Thursday.

Specifically, he talked to his daughters about how the lumber industry is doing the world a great service because if they didn't cut down those trees, those trees would grow old and dry out and die. Or some shit. He went on to say that because of hippie lawsuits, the lumber market is suffering, and that the folks on the show "Ax Men" on the History Channel are actually Canadians because they couldn't find any Americans who were loggers anymore.

Couple things, Mike:

1. Cutting down trees kills those trees. As you stated, those trees are reseeded. This is not a "natural process." Lightning and fires and decay are.


2. The lumber market is suffering because of the failure of the housing market which was artificially inflated by rich, white repub bankers.


3. The History Channel show "Ax Men" features American loggers logging in the American Pacific Northwest. Take two seconds not to sound like a boob.

Oh, Jesus, he just said the Liberals demanding religious tolerance in Tibet have no desire to extend the same tolerance to Mormons here in America. If he's referring to the recent spat in Texas where over 300 kids were taken into custody, Mike must be equating under-age sexual abuse - rape - to something that lives in the realm of acceptable religious practices. For someone with an 11 year old daughter, he should be ashamed.

I could write all day on this, but listening to him spew verbal diarrhea, yelling over the callers, putting everyone on defensive because of a perceived level of intelligence, and showboating musical parody as high comedy is giving me an ulcer.


UPDATE: 2 years later, I've been noticed by Mike Church. Read the comments here, then go to the modern post.

Waterworld Sees Steampunk Resurgence

Late Tuesday night, Lane Chancellor, avid steampunk aficionado and Chocobo breeder, caught the first twenty minutes of the oft-lauded Hollywood flop, Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner.

"I never knew," he said in a first-ever interview. "I'd seen it when it came out, but that was before I was totally into steampunk. It's like the movie was a story about the future - our future in loving on steampunk."

Chancellor shifted in his chair and subtly eyed his mother poking her head into the basement, wondering "what the hell's going on down there with the lights and the talking and the -"

"Shut up, mom! I'm interviewing," Lane shouted.

"Granted," he continued, "the jet-skis are piss-poor mock-ups when it comes to steampunk, but that balloon? Costner's sail rig? That's fucking hot! Steampunk gold, baby."

At which point, Chancellor waved his hand in a sad attempt at a Jedi Mind Trick, muttering "You will leave now. I have more important matters at hand," and lit the welding torch, continuing to work on his steampunk dildo. At which point I was terrified and allowed Mrs. Chancellor to pack me some cookies before I was on my way.

The Time Traveler's Wife

In one of those crazy incidences of synchronicity, this past Saturday night saw me at the home of some of my favorite people. Let's call them Art and Music, for as I am Writer, they eat their names with savor.

Saturday evening, after many a libation, we were visually walking the bookshelf and Art told me about a book she'd been given but never read: The Time Traveler's Wife. The next morning, mildly foggy from the aforementioned evening, I appeared back at my parents' house. Before I went home, without mentioning the previous conversation, I was handed The Time Traveler's Wife and told to read it.



So now I must.

But I don't just spill trivial bullshit on a regular basis, so here's the crux: I've barely begun the book (working on Harry Potter 6 right now as well), but caught this poem in the opening pages. It's called "Love After Love" but is more appropriately entitled "Love During Love." Because we need it. We forget, sometimes, during a relationship and especially during a marriage, that we are solitary figures, that we have an individual personality. We forget to know ourselves, our desires, our dreams. And sometimes we need to give ourselves a giant fucking hug.

(note: I realize this punches in the face the Zen Buddhist parts of my idealistic life, but I'm an admitted walking dichotomy, so get the hell over it.)

I almost cried the first time I read it. I cry now reading it again and again. Because I've forgotten.

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.


Derek Walcott

Don't Go Breakin' My Heart

Aaaaaughh.

This is pretty horribly straightforward: A man kills himself. He's an organ donor and his heart goes to another man in need. The suicide's widow is in contact with the recipient, eventually meets, falls in love with, and marries him. Man with the late husband's heart kills himself.

Aaaaaughh.

(source: ABC News)

All Business, Good & Bad

Just a reminder that my other blog, All Business, Good & Bad, is starting to pick up, as far as me posting more often goes.

The original premise of the blog (it was originally "Bad Business") was to provide a platform for me - as well as any other folks who wanted to email their stories - to piss and moan about consumer failures in the marketplace. I've since expanded it to include good business experiences because, well, simply pissing and moaning gets a little tired after a while. Not to mention that I've had some seriously wonderful experiences since moving to Cincinnati, OH.

There are national companies as I deal with them in chains or on the web, and there is some local Cincinnati flavor that can give you, fair reader, a heads-up on what to expect and possibly avoid from your own local service providers.

Posts past and including even today: Crappy Adidas shoes, the plus and minus of Proactiv, airline debacles, and home warranty companies. Much more in the archives. Much more to come (and I promise: more positive!).

Enjoy.

Mario Key Party!

If you're a subscriber to Game Informer, you also get Game Infarcer. From the world of Mario:

We all know that the Mario gang has some of the wildest parties in the industry, but Key Party takes the gang into some saucy new territory. Hey, we all know things can get a little boring in a long-term relationship (Toad and Yoshi have been domestic partners since '92), so why not spice things up with some gameplay that puts a new spin on the term "multiplayer?" Using the Wii remote to select a key from the fishbowl, you'll find out who you'll be hooking up with for the evening. From there, let's just say things ge interesting, and feature some motion control moves we never thought we'd see.

From Princess Peach to Kirby, the whole crew takes it to the next level in this one, and we even find out that some Nintendo heroes we thought we knew had some definite skeletons in their closet. Hey, has anyone seen Link and Wario? Wonder where they went off to...

Now that's a spicy meat-a-ball!

Raise a Glass for Reason in America: Beer!

75 years ago, our idiot government had a brain fart long enough to pause a continued stream of stupidity and repealed Prohibition. Today marks the first recovering beer deliveries. From the Beer Institute:

"The last 75 years powerfully demonstrate that a healthy beer industry strengthens our overall economy," said Beer Institute President Jeff Becker. "Looking forward, fair tax policies are essential to ensuring that brewers and beer importers can continue supporting the more than 1.7 million jobs we have created and $190 billion provided annually to the economy."

Fair taxes aside - Cleveland area still enjoys a "sin tax" on all alcohol and tobacco years after the stadium that it was meant to pay for was completed; and you can't smoke there - this is a cause for celebration.

So raise a glass in cheers for those who made it possible, and raise a joint for those working hard to reform the other idiot prohibitions still in existence.

Suicide by Singulair

If you weren't getting enough suicide risk from your own anti-depressants, how about some suicide risk from Singulair to round out your day?

The FDA today announced that it is working with the drug company Merck to investigate a possible link between Merck's asthma and allergy drug Singulair and behavior/mood changes, suicidality (suicidal thinking and behavior), and suicide.

The FDA's investigation may take nine months. As of now, there's no proof that Singulair directly affects suicide risk.

Exactly. No proof. However, noting that the FDA does not regularly shit out money to debunk big sellers in their drug company conspiracy team, there's obviously some impetus behind it in the form of reports. Singulair has already had to adjust their warning labels to include "tremor (March 2007), depression (April 2007), suicidality (October 2007), and anxiousness (February 2008)." Is this an attempt to boost sales of Zoloft?

Wait. Just to be clear: Merck already knows and acknowledges that their drug can cause suicidal thinking and behavior, but will be awaiting the FDA's study results before they pull the trigger (so to speak) on actual suicide. That's like saying that attraction between two people is known to lead to hand-holding, kissing, fondling, nakedness, oral sex, and rubbing the head of the penis on the clit, but we're going to need a full nine-month study to determine if it actually leads to fucking.

Message from Merck to depressed asthmatics: we'll address your issues once we're done rolling naked in our money; you see, we're doing a study to see if money can lead to fucking.

Ironic Sans - Bulbdial Clock

This is a brilliant idea from Ironic Sans, and I would buy one in a second.

The Bulbdial Clock has no hands — just one pole in the center of the clock, and three light sources of varying heights which revolve around the pole casting shadows. In the model illustrated above, the light sources are each attached to a ring which rotates around the pole. The innermost ring rotates once per minute, casting a “second hand” shadow. The middle ring rotates once per hour, and casts the “minute hand” shadow. And the outer ring rotates once every 12 hours, casting the “little hand” shadow.

(h/t to Bad Astronomy for the tip)

Too Late for Blu-ray?

For those of you following the happenings in the HD wars, HD-DVD lost, Blu-ray won.

What does that mean? Well, here's a surprisingly realistic opinion:

Laurie Fincham, Chief Scientist at THX, talks to Home Cinema Choice Magazine about Blu-ray's chances to become a dominant format of the future.

After HD DVDs demise the UK Magazine asked him for a comment. "Personally, I think it's too late for Blu-ray. I think consumers will only become interested in replacing DVD when HD movies becomes available on flash memory. Do we really need another spinning format?" he told the magazine.

No, I guess we really don't. If you've made the leap to HDTV, then you can get HD programming through your cable or satellite provider, should you subscribe. But shucking out several hundred dollars for a player to see a movie in High Def? Pshah!

And I'm not getting the $500 PS3 (because who's going to buy the cheaper one that's not backwards-compatible with the PS2?) for the PS upgrade and included Blu-ray. I think, unless prices come way the hell down, I'll be sitting this one out and await the super-huge solid state version.

Debbie Shank Vindicated, But Our Job Is Not Done

From the good folks at WakeUpWalMart.com:

Over the past few weeks, the Debbie Shank case gave us a tremendous opportunity to teach Wal-Mart a lesson about corporate responsibility.

Check out the Wal-Mart workers' petition to Lee Scott and Shank case overview

Today, the backlash against Wal-Mart's lawsuit finally drove the company to drop its claim on her settlement winnings. Consider this concrete proof that Wal-Mart must change when supporters like you take action.

After years of being dragged through the courts, the Shanks can finally begin to piece their lives back together. We couldn't be happier for Debbie and her family. But, we still can't forget the other Wal-Mart associates who have been treated unfairly by Wal-Mart.

Let's not forget Olga Sanchez, who lost her job because Wal-Mart wouldn't let her see her son before he was deployed to Iraq; or Sean Thornton, who lost his job while he was on active duty. We can't let Wal-Mart forget the 1.6 million women involved in the largest certified gender discrimination lawsuit in history.

We can change America's largest retailer just by raising our voices. That's an amazing thing. If we all remember this day, we'll see better things to come for Wal-Mart's associates.

Do not forget that Wal-Mart intakes 20% of China's GDP, that 80% of its products are from China (no workers' rights, lead, and all), and that it strongarms American companies to produce in China, manipulating the free market and killing American jobs. Oh, and don't forget the assassination of local businesses.

Our job, our duty, is far from over.

Gravel, Obama, National Initiative, Oh My!

Holy smoking peeholes! Looks like Obama's taking the Daddy Chair and Gravel's strapping him in.

(h/t to Freida Bee for the head's up)

Obama Adopting National Initiative. Gravel to Drop Out of Race

HARRISBURG, PA — Once Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel has announced he is now dropping out of the presidential race after meeting with Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama. Gravel had switched parties to run as a Libertarian on March 26th, but has now stated that his more recent decision is the result of Obama's declaration to adopt The National Initiative for Democracy. The National Initiative allows citizens to propose, alter, or nullify laws in conjunction with traditional legislative bodies and has been a major tenet of Gravel's presidential run.

During his run for the Democratic nomination, Senator Gravel accused Obama of being beholden to "corporatocracy" and "the military-industrial complex". While downplaying his previous denunciations as water under the bridge, Gravel did admit that strong disagreements still exist between him and the Senator from Illinois. This apparent chasm was highlighted by Gravel's insistence that he would turn down any offer to be in Barack Obama's cabinet should he become president.

A senior aide for the Obama campaign, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was premature to comment on the specific role Gravel would play in an Obama administration, but did state that the former senator from Alaska would be involved in creating an agency called The United States Electoral Trust, which would administer the legislative power of citizens at the federal level.

The aide also stressed the importance of the National Initiative in setting the Obama campaign apart from that of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. "Countries like Switzerland have shown that federal ballot initiatives can produce sound lawmaking," she said. "It's time that a major candidate for president got behind a serious proposal to entrust the people with the same power we place in the hands of our elected leaders. By adopting the National Initiative, Senator Obama is sending a clear signal that he trusts the American people to have a more direct role in their government."

Before announcing his intent to bow out of the race for the presidency, Senator Gravel discussed his meeting with Barack Obama. "Stop and think," Gravel told reporters. "This is a real chance to empower the American people by giving them the ability to make laws. 24 states already have ballot initiatives that give the people the same power as their representatives without dramatically changing the way our government works."

Senator Barack Obama was unavailable for comment, but the meeting was confirmed by a spokesperson for his campaign, who said that Obama was "looking forward" to working with the former senator in order to "show that Americans are serious about democracy".

Like Freida, this is the first I've heard of the National Initative, but what better way to govern?

And we've got a source!



Can't wait to see how this plays out!

Marketa Irglova from "Once" Quote

At the last Academy Awards, Marketa Irglova accepted the award for Original song with the following speech:

Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and
artists that spend most of their time struggling.

And this, the fact that we’re standing here tonight, the fact that we’re able to hold this, it’s just the proof that no matter how far out your dreams are, it’s possible.

And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don’t give up.

And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are.

And so thank you so much, who helped us along way. Thank you.

If you have not seen "Once," do it. Now. Either way, watch the following clip. Honestly, I can't even listen to the song without a few tears.

FCC: Nudity Okay...if it's Alyson Hannigan

FCC Okays Nudity On TV If It's Alyson Hannigan

TSA Fiddles With T-n-A

From CNN:

The Transportation Security Administration said Friday its officers at a Texas airport appear to have properly followed procedures when they allegedly forced a woman to remove her nipple rings -- one with pliers -- but acknowledged the procedures should be changed.

The woman involved -- Mandi Hamlin -- told reporters earlier Friday she was humiliated by last month's incident, in which she was forced to painfully remove the piercings behind a curtain as she heard snickers from male TSA officers nearby. The incident occurred at the Lubbock, Texas, airport.

It's almost unbearable to read stories like this because they make me so furious at the idiots we have in power, the retards we have supposedly protecting our safety, and no outlet - except a blog - for voicing that frustration. Sometimes I channel this into humor, perhaps even poking fun at the victim. I think I'll just stay with angry today.

They're supposed to be protecting us from those crazy folks who want to take away our freedom or some shit, but instead they invest in divesting this woman of her dignity. WTF?

Sirius R.E.M.

I realize this only applies to s sliver of my audience, but if you're an R.E.M. fan and have Sirius Satellite Radio, R.E.M. is taking over The Spectrum (Channel 18) for an entire week starting Monday 3/31, ostensibly creating an All-R.E.M. channel for a limited time. Swan Swan my Hummingbird, dears - I am Superman. Yum.

Ricky's Wisdom Today - 3/31/08

The quotes kept getting lost in the surrounding text, so this time I went with red. Enjoy.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is not.

-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English

G4: Morgan Webb or Olivia Munn?

I've been privy to the joys of the G4 channel for only about 8 months, but oh, joys there are. My two favorite shows on the deliciously hip/techie/nerdy channel are X-Play (although I preferred the simplicity of the old, game-core, version before the G4 powers that be decided that is should be a mini-AOTS) and Attack of the Show.

Some (stereotypical) men love Pamela Anderson or are hot on Catherine Zeta Jones. As far as movies go, I'm enamored with Christina Ricci. But we're talking about G4, and I don't think anyone, stereotypical or not, can argue with the delicious gamer and tech intellect paired with smokin' hot looks of Morgan Webb and Olivia Munn.



And I can't even remotely decide.

Could I have left the Webb/Munn question alone? Could I have posted images that were respectable as opposed to the FHM/Maxim/Whatever layouts? Sure. But then it wouldn't be as hot.

As the construct of my sentences reflects, the hottest thing about these women is their brains. Their penchant for tech. But being easy on the eyes doesn't hurt either.

What're your thoughts?

UPDATE: Taking into account a level of respect for these women, here they are sans exploitation, avec their respective co-hosts (see comments for full 'splainin'):






Ladies, please allow me to make some sort of amends for this phallocentric post: My eye candy and yours, David Duchovny.



...and for Frieda Bee: it's pretty difficult to find David Duchovny in his skivvies. Actually, damn near impossible. This is about as close as it gets.

Emo Wars in Mexico: Triste y Enojado

(Triste y Enojado = "sad and angry")



No, this is not a joke, although it is being treated like one because it deserves to be. From G4tv:

The frightening image above is from the front lines of the Emo Wars currently being waged across Mexico. Brave flat-iron brigades and elite moping squadrons have been deployed.

The war began in March when several hundred punks,metal-heads and rockabillies went on an emo-beating rampage in Querétaro, 160 miles north of Mexico City. The emos are fighting back with marches and an alliance with riot police.

Although some say Emo is regarded as homosexual in Mexico, others (like me) think kids always do this kind of dumb thing to each other, whether it's the mods v. rocker "wars" of the 60s or the punks v. skinhead wars of the 80s. I'd also like to note that the music of metalheads, punks and emos sounds almost exactly alike, so beating someone up over the razor thin distinction in styles and affectation is depressing evidence of the violent nature of humanity.

I couldn't even try to put it better. And if that's not enough, we've got a YouTube. It's in Spanish, and I don't know Spanish, but the visuals of the angry Emo mob are priceless:

Mark Levin is a Tremendous Douchebag

No, that's all.

He is. But he mentioned horrible, left-wing blogs today and I was hoping to make the cut.

Praise Jeebus!

Debbie Shank: Yes, Wal-Mart is the Villain

I love getting comments for my posts; it's like getting a present in the mail every time my email tells me that I got a comment. And for the most part, I simply reply (because I pretty much reply to all comments).

However, this one stuck with me on the issue of Debbie Shank and Wal-Mart:

Why is Wal-mart the villian? Three months after their employee enrolled in the health insurance they provide a semi-truck hits her and when she recovers a million $ they ask to be repaid their expenses. Ms Shank's accident is unfortunate but not Wal-marts fault. I haven't read anywhere if she recovered funds from her auto insurance...only that she can no longer afford a full time nurse and may have to move to a semi-private room.

My Response:

anonymous-

Wal-Mart provided health care. That health care provided Debbie Shank with the care she needed to recover to the point that she was before the settlement.

The settlement - which, because of costs, she got less than half of - was a court's decision that she needed/deserved that money to maintain proper care of her because of the injuries she incurred.

Wal-Mart, because of their insurance small-print, was well within their rights to recoup expenses. But there is business and there is good business; there is small print and there is over-reaching past morality and humanity to make a buck. Corporation, business, or human: this is wrong.

For fucking Christ's Sake! The woman can't remember her son died in Iraq from day to day and weeps like it's the first time every time. Throw her a fucking bone by not raping her for the money that might take care of her that she won't even realize anyway! "Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol? "

Wal-Mart will always be the villain because of how they strongarm producers to produce overseas (see: China) to increase their profit margin and kill American jobs in order to give us lower prices and lower standard-of-living jobs.

20% of China's product goes to Wal-Mart. 80% of what Wal-Mart purchases is from China, lead paint and all. Wal-Mart is the villain because it is hurting America and Americans. Nothing less.

Capital F You

I've recently changed "Cause for Concern" to "Cause For Concern." (The F is capitalized now.) This was a rash decision that will cost me in hundreds of man hours to append the title across the internets. Actually, after I watermarked the Hillary Sniper Photoshop below, I realized I capitalized the F. And it looked good. And I don't care if it doesn't match across the internets.

So welcome to my new same blog Cause For Concern. Enjoy!

Political Snypa: Intimidation, Under Fire

I am troubled.

I'm all for either Hillary or Obama over Maddog McCain, but the back-and-forth insanity of negative campaigning and which Democratic candidate is less desirable is starting to grate on my nerves. In my opinion, attacks on Clinton and Obama by the right wing and each other have been blown out of proportion.

And then this happened:

In a March 17 speech, Clinton said, "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

That account was still posted on her campaign Web site yesterday.
Clinton told CNN last week, "There was no greeting ceremony, and we basically were told to run to our cars. Now, that is what happened."

WTF? I'm not by any means trying to push an agenda, but I find this disheartening. There is a HUGE fucking difference between the-

Story: Under sniper fire and at the risk of my own an my daughter's life, we ran from the plane, ducked down, and hurried into the armored vehicles.

and the Reality: We waltzed off the plane, sans body armor, with motherfucking Sinbad, and listened to a little girl recite a poem.

I cannot reconcile the two. I cannot believe that is mis-remembering - two separate times misremembering and misremembering again when she authorized that it go up on the website. I do believe when she talks about sleep deprivation clouding her judgment, it was not her memory that was clouded, but the thought process that would have censored her and said in her head "Um, don't you think they have video of this? Do you really think you can get away with this story?"

And then this happened:

20 "top fundraisers" for Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign yesterday "upbraided" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for suggesting last week that Democratic superdelegates "should back the candidate with the most pledged delegates and urged her to respect the right of those delegates to back whomever they choose at the end of the primary season." The AP reports that in a letter to Pelosi, Clinton's supporters "said superdelegates 'must look to not one criterion but to the full panoply of factors that will help them assess who will be the party's strongest nominee in the general election.'"

The New York Times adds that the letter, "which carried threatening overtones in noting that many signatories were major Democratic donors, highlighted the deepening rift inside the party among supporters for Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama." Roll Call reports the "donors also pointedly noted their own contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 'We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August.'"

The theories abound on the right about the crazy strong-arm, knife-fight tactics the Clintons will use to - under any circumstances - secure the nomination. I would like to believe the best candidate, the majority candidate (or Al Gore) will win the nomination. Then her supporters decide to play political meathooks and knock Pelosi around a little bit.

And Hillary Clinton distances herself from the letter while allowing the threat to remain attached to her name.

For this week, I'm a little down on Hillary. And when it's starting to become clear that Obama is like Teflon on the pastor issue (foreshadowing future Teflon...ism), disillusionment of my "support both until the convention" idealism is slowly being revealed like the gummy center of a Blow Pop.

But, for the record, even if the selection rapes the process all to hell, while I'll be angry and rant swear to abundance, either Democratic candidate is better for our country than John McCain. Unless, of course, you fancy a row with Iran?

New Tower of London?

From DVICE:

Apparently, by 2015 London will need to provide housing for a million more people. That's no easy task, but as we told you a few weeks ago, the UK company of Popularchitecture is proposing a completely insane 5,000-foot-high tower that'll be able to house all million people in one go, and we recently snagged some more shots of it.

Coolest building that will never be.

A Cyber-Security Czar With No Cyber-Security Experience?

From BoingBoing:

The Bush Administration has finally filled the long-vacant "cyber-security czar" -- with a guy who has no experience with cyber-security (though he seems a decent sort).

By all accounts, Beckstrom is neither a cyber-security expert nor a Washington insider. But his private-sector background and published writings emphasize a decentralized approach to managing large organizations.

Good show, Bushie!

Frisky Dingo

You've heard of Frisky Dingo, haven't you? The Adult Swim animated series that just might be the funniest thing ever on television? You haven't? Well Christ in a Cardigan, you better get on the stick then.

Seriously, I haven't seen an animated series that I can (and have) watched over and over and over again and laugh as hard or harder every single time. It's post-modern speculative fiction dark comedy in the sense of the classic "Never apologize. Never explain" vein (Where is Killface from? What did Awesome X do before? Who cares a wit?). And you simply must see it. I'm not advocating downloading a torrent or anything, but only Season 1 is available on DVD. Season 2 wraps this weekend.

Okay, okay, here's a taste:



I'm giddy like a monkey finding the last lump of tossable poo on Monkey Island. Get it. Love it. Yum.

2008 Scion Hako Coupe

From MSN Autos:



I don't usually get all excited about cars, but I think I just tinkled in my pants a little.

Reminder: Me. In Your Box.

You know you're special to me. Yes. I'm talking to you.

And while you may have been here from the beginning, you may also be very, very new to this sexy, sultry place I like to call home.

You see, my first thoughts are of you, and I would hate for you to miss even one, single second.

So over there on the left, just below that little Hellbox avatar, it says "Enter Your Email." You know what that does? It will slide every little thing I write straight into your box every morning. And if you haven't tried Ricky Shambles in the morning, well, let's just say it's better'n an Egg McMuffin. Speaking of muffins...

So sign up, brace yourself, ...and release.

Now. Put your pants back on. What kind of place do you think this is?

(...and just because it fits...)

Jobs Cut, Unemployment Drops?

Draft from a couple weeks back, but still relevant.



From the AP on Yahoo:

For the second straight month, nervous employers got rid of jobs nationwide. In February, they sliced payrolls by 63,000, even deeper than the 22,000 cut in January, the Labor Department reported Friday.
...
The unemployment rate actually dipped slightly from 4.9 percent to 4.8 percent, as 450,000 people left the labor force for any number of reasons. Economists thought many people probably gave up looking for work.

Granted, the unemployment numbers reported in America are about as valid as Nielson Ratings, but this odd, cold shift in statistics at least captures the level of despair in America over the economy and the state of lower employment and making less than our parents, etc.

They just gave up.

Wal-Mart and Debbie Shank: Tragedy, Horror

Oh yeah, and Wal-Mart is the fucking Devil. Have your heard the story of Debbie Shank?

Debbie Shank breaks down in tears every time she's told that her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq.

Even though the 52-year-old mother of three attended her son's funeral -- she continues to ask how he's doing. When her family reminds her that he's dead -- she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.

Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.

It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan.

Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.

Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.

Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses, but in 2005, Wal-Mart's health plan sued the Shanks for the same amount.

The Shanks didn't notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.

The family's attorney, Maurice Graham, said he informed Wal-Mart about the settlement and believed the Shanks would be allowed to keep the money. Video Watch this couple's story »

"We assumed after three years, they [Wal-Mart] had made a decision to let Debbie Shank use this money for what it was intended to," Graham said.

The Shanks lost their suit to Wal-Mart. Last summer, the couple appealed the ruling -- but also lost it. One week later, their son was killed in Iraq.

"They are quite within their rights. But I just wonder if they need it that bad," Jim Shank said.

In 2007, the retail giant reported net sales in the third quarter of $90 billion.

No, that doesn't really need any further commentary.

Wake Up Wal Mart Video: Are You Living Better Yet?

Wal Mart is the devil. Another video from Wake Up Wal Mart:

In Brief: Who Ordered the Global Warming?

For anyone who has heard Rush or Savage or any other ignorant douchebag shout that Global Warming is junk science, liberal scare tactics, because someone had to put on a jacket in Florida in winter, and wanted to punch them in the dick, here's your fist:



From CNN:

A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started February 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years.

160 square miles. Gone. Just in case there was any fucking question.

Updates: Insane McCain and Dead Soldiers

Two quickies to mention:

1. I've added a counter to the left column to keep track of the confirmed American Soldiers who have died since we illegally invaded Iraq in 2003. When we hit five years and then we hit 4000 and the media made a little hiccup and a fart - just slightly offset - and then continued on with their Britney lobotomy monotone drone, I figured bright yellow was appropriate.

2. How Insane is John McCain? I really enjoy this blog. Welcome to Linktastica! my friend!

(UPDATE: Now ultra-alphabetized! After a brief foray into mental ineptitude that had me convinced "How" began with a W, we now have HIIJM in the H's.)

LifeGem: I Always Said Grandma Was a Gem

Caught this over at Angry Ballerina's Place, and according to the LifeGem website, those beauties you see above were once people.

The LifeGem® is a certified, high-quality diamond created from the carbon of your loved one as a memorial to their unique life.

Love. Life’s single greatest risk. Life’s single greatest reward. Love captures your heart in a second and holds it for eternity.

You have experienced a love without equal. You have had someone truly special in your life and mere words simply will not do.

Yes, you can send them your loved one's ashes and they'll make it into a diamond. Ooh, and not to leave out the buried folks, they also accept human hair. So technically you can grow out your own hair, have a diamond made of you and wear it yourself. I guess if you put it that way, it's kind of hot.

As far as the dead bodies into gems, I think it's kind of sad (read the testimonials). When we lose loved ones, it is the memories, the stories that carry on their legacy long after they're dead; to turn loss into a "thing" - in my opinion - is to miss the point, to covet the uncovetable, and hopelessly grasp at the intangible through a false attempt at manifestation.

Now the LifeGem for pets -- no, that's.... I'm going to crawl up in a corner for a while.

Mall Blogging II

As Sherwin Williams is World HQ'd in Cleveland, the above image is the first mall-based Color Center in the world. That's pretty fancy.

And to officially round out the awful experience of the mall, we have Petland, destination of puppy mills and source of children's doting and my personal hell. Above you see a large puppy crammed into a cage that can barely hold him. Here he will live out weeks - maybe months. How is this even remotely fucking legal?

I wrapped with some book shopping and waiting for the ladies outside Penny's. Now I'm numb and it looks about Beer-thirty.

Mall Blogging

This weekend I'm back in Cleveland with family for the pseudo-holiday of Zombie Jesus. And someone thought it would be a good idea to roam the mall. Blogging through it is how I will maintain my sanity.

Above is the main enterance of South Park Mall and a cacophany of sugar-laden children grappling to their numbed, saddened parents, waiting to sit on the lap of a sweaty man in a bunny suit making minimum wage.

Kids in the Hall Reunion Tour

Ohmygawd ohmygawd ohmygawd - The Kids in the Hall are gathering for a reunion tour.



Check out the fan-run MySpace to see the list of tour dates. (via BoingBoing)

Iraq War Blogswarm - 3-19-08 - 3992

I'm sad to announce that, according to today's count on the Iraq Coalition Casualties website, that we're - on the 5 year anniversary of this illegal war - just 8 dead Americans short of 4000.

That last statement was foul.

If the lives of 8 more Americans were taken, if we had reached 4000, then maybe, just maybe, someone might have taken notice.

Five long years we've been in Iraq, dealing with a literal invasion, now dealing with a literal occupancy. And they still don't want us there. And while McCain lauds the victories while messing up the details, he still says "success," nothing is right.

We're fighting a war with young Americans who eventually want to go home and see their wives or their children, against radicals who will easily give their lives and only hope their children grow up to fight the infidels. How do we fight that war? McCain says: for 100 years.

In reality, it's thousands of American lives. Millions more overall, perhaps.

What we are doing - and will continue to do under a Republican rule - is to spit in the face of God, to eschew peace for military contracts that don't actually benefit our military, to hold policies about our military that don't actually help the men and women "fighting for our country" even when they come home.

I just want to bring those kids home. I want, as Kucinich said, "Strength through peace," not Peace through strength.

And then maybe we can stop the - now inevitable - 5000 American deaths.

God help us all.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful

This piece was meant to be posted when the March 7th picture was taken by my phone, when we got dumped on. It pushed 14 inches when all was said and done. I simply thought it didn't work, but not having internet earlier today, I was tooling around with my phone and it sent - and posted. So please enjoy this and other posts I'll now be making with me fancy phone.

This is my first mobile blog post. The pic is outside in Cincinnati. Still coming down. Love it.

Arthur C. Clarke: 1917-2008

Sadly, as much of a Sci-Fi geek as I am, I only read Childhood's End in college and then 2001 only 3 years ago (way better than even Kubrick could've done).

A reminder that I have catching up to do.

He will be missed.

National Post has wonderful links.

Obama Makes Speech in PA, Conservatives Make Doody in Pants

Over the last 20 years, the recently retired pastor of Barack Obama's church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has gone a little overboard - from the perspective of many Americans - in a whole hoopla of comments about the generalized and endemic racism inherent in White (Devil) America, Judiasm being an awful religion, and the plight of the Black American. Did Right Reverend Wright say this crap all the time over the several decades he preached at the church? No one knows, but the Right Wing's got about 5 clips that haven't stopped playing on FOX or talk radio for the last 3 weeks.

To make my position clear: the language and ideas used in those excerpts (and I'm serious - turn on the AM dial and you'll hear a montage in 5 minutes or less) is understandably used in an effort to evoke reactionary solidarity amongst the black population of that church, but it is misdirected and divisive and right now it's working directly against what would be one of the beautiful outcomes: get folks fired up and get an African American in the White House.

Is Rev. Wright the same person as Barack Obama? No. Just like Televangelist Rod Parsley is not John McCain:

Senator John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor who has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam with the aim of destroying it.

Who's pitching a fit about that one? No one. Why? Because, realistically, we all realize that McCain pretty much believes the same thing.

So today, Barack Obama gave an extensive speech, primarily about race and overcoming our differences, but also to address the limited examples of these words and ideas and to denounce them. And that's what he did.

But the right wingnut radio syndicate is planting steamers in their boxers left and right because OMG he didn't denounce the man; he didn't stand up before the American people and shout at the top of his lungs "You're dead to me!" Dozens of alleged Christians, in their own words, on their own radio programs, are saying he must hate the sin and the sinner, must denounce the words and the man.

In all actuality, Limbaugh and Wilkow and Hannity and the rest are actually shitting themselves because they see this not sticking. And you know what? They're right. The immediate result and interviews and call-ins I heard have this result: those people who would not vote for Barack Obama before are still not going to vote for him. Everyone else is lauding the speech as brilliant and calling out the attacks as ugly politics.

And they're shitting their pants a second time because they realize that if they can't push this hard enough to stick, if they can't get anyone to believe the bullshit line I heard today that "he's falling apart," then they've got a huge problem should he become the nominee: Nothing will stick. (see: He says he denounces it? He's lying! Hussein! Michelle's an Angry Black Woman!)

And this just-about-failed attempt at race-baiting is a clear indication of just how difficult running John "them gooks" McCain against Barack Obama will be: you can only get so positive on McCain, they have no problem practically calling Hillary a "cunt" at this stage of the game, but if they're up against Obama, they're dealing with race. All the time. Because no matter what, they're dealing with an established presumption that Republicans don't like brown people, and if the attack is about race, they'll catch hell, and if it's not about race, it's coming from that direction because they really wanted to attack his race but couldn't.

Time to give up, take a breath, and regroup. Racists.

Subprime Tent Towns in LA - America's New Shantytowns

The dollar is in free-fall, the market is slipping, and foreclosures are hitting record numbers, to the extent that tent towns are now popping up in LA. So why am I hearing about this from BBC and not American Media? (via BoingBoing)

Ricky's Wisdom Today - 3/18/08

It does not matter whether you are a theist or atheist, what matters is sincerity, forgiveness, and compassion.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Muhammad vs. Jesus - Fight!

Kottie Paloma’s "Jesus vs Mohamed"

You sign up for one lousy free PDF about how the Wingnuts hate Obama and end up with every nutjob, anti-science, "ain't Christian ain't right" email partner spam in the world.

Today's anger ball is a book layin' out plain that not only are radical Muslims in the wrong, but the whole frickin' religion is whacked and based on hate and violence. And since I've never met a Conservative who has read the whole Quaran (let alone the whole Bible), I guess it'll stick. But the headline quote stayed with me:

"I have been made victorious through terror."
-- Muhammad, founder of Islam

Why did this stick with me? Because through the terror of the fear of hell, by the terror of the fear for people's own souls, by the terror of torture or being ostracized or being set on fire, Christianity has also been "made victorious."

As soon as we stop demonizing entire swaths of inhabitants of our planet Earth based on their belief system, the sooner we might come to accept that we're not that much different - on a very human level - than other people, despite the color of their skin or who they believe God's Messenger was.

Your Giant Jang Will Rule the World

Sometimes I scan through my spam folder to make sure nothing important gets pushed through. This one made my morning:

Your giant jang will rule the world

No, I couldn't make that up.

Because I don't want to make this blog NSFW immediately and Photobucket even deletes the three-lobed elementary rendition of a "jang," imagine, if you will:

A titanic statue, Colossus, thirty stories to the crotch, where is attached a twenty-eight story jang, hung to sway in the wind and as thick as a redwood. Adorned with vines of ivy and berries, decorated with chains and jewels. The ground below is constantly covered with a worshipful congregation, chanting, bowing, tossing libations as high as they can reach to wet the jang.

At least, that's what I thought when I saw the subject line.

One jang to rule them all.

Davis Fleetwood Up for YouTube Video Award

Davis Fleetwood, everyone's favorite Hermit, is up for YouTube's 2007 Video Awards for his video Students: A Challenge For You:



Go to the YouTube Awards Page, check it out under Politics and unless you enjoy watching Huckabee and Chuck Norris cross swords, cast a vote for Davis.

Google Spams Job Boards

Google, the undisputed juggernaut of online search - and, frankly, most things internets - is, amongst those of us who wear the label Search Engine Marketing Specialist, well known for their constant prayer to the Goddess Relevance. This means that when you type a phrase, say "making delicious rhubarb pie," into Google's elegantly simple home page, the results will probably be recipe related because, based on your query, you want to make a pie. They pride themselves on this, with good reason: they're damn good.

I like to keep abreast of opportunities because in today's day and age, "uncertain times" does not so much make me think of terrorism as me being out of a job. So when I saw the following post on my Careerbuilder email, I jumped because, well, power makes me horny:



Woo-hoo! Work for Google if I live in Ohio? Hells yeah. And then I followed the link.



Bugger. Google is spamming the job boards and produced something that is completely irrelevant to me. Google: shame on you.

ACLU Watch List Counter

The American Civil Liberties Union is keeping track of the climbing number of Americans on the government's terrorist watch list. And if I wasn't there already, blogging about it probably just put me on that list.



Yes, that number is accurate as of Friday afternoon. See the Counter.

FOX Attacks: Obama (Part II)

FOX Attack Obama? C'mon!

From Brave New Films.

Happy Pi Day!

Every year, there are a couple days that I can never seem to remember until someone reminds me of that day. Case in point: Pi Day!



Seven or eight years ago I took a slow afternoon at work and memorized that wonderful number - the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter - to the 50th decimal place. I've been on and off with remembering it to the 100th, but that 50th has always stuck with me. I know: I'm a math-tard.

So now that I remembered, Happy Pi Day!

Note: another example of usually-forgotten days is International Talk Like a Pirate Day - That's September 19th.

Io Musik: Sofa King Hott

It's not every day you get to see a friend succeed. Today be that day:

Wooster-based band Io will release their debut CD effort "Hidden
Traces" worldwide on March 18th, available via global download from
ITunes, eMusic.com, Napster.com, and Amazon.com.

Io is the solo-project of local musician/producer Paul Hugon. Paul
performed, engineered, mixed, and produced the entirety of "Hidden
Traces" over a two-year time frame. The album's indie-rock-meets-abstract-electronic nine songs transition seamlessly together throughout the 38 minute disc, taking the listener down a meandering path of musical exploration.

"The genesis of the project is loosely-based on an old mental hospital located in southern Ohio.", stated Hugon. "..some bizarre and strange happenings have been going on there since around 1874--it was always a place I found mysterious and intriguing. All the tracks on the disc have passages... [that are] in reference to The Ridges".

The Athens, Ohio-based mental hospital has been closed since 1993.
"Roughly the time I started recording in my first home studio..",
Hugon recalls.

Artwork is in harmony with Io's music--to the tune of packaging design by Jennifer Hayes Art (www.JenniferHayesArt.com). Ridges photos by Julie Mims and sleek design by Jennifer Hayes Art combine to creepily and effectively illustrate not only the former state mental hospital,but also the fresh and unique rhythms of Hugon's compositions.

Downloads will be available via the web sites listed above by April
18th, at the latest [links to follow]. To purchase a CD, send an email to iomusik@gmail.com-- or visit Io's myspace page at myspace.com/iomusik where you can also listen to tracks from the band.

Holy shitsmokes! Click and click away. And click. And enjoy.

Ricky Shambles Naked

No, I will not be running for president of the United States or anything else now or at any time in the future (sans, of course, President of the World, after the Apocalypse), and for that reason - I decided, in the shower yesterday, it would be a good idea - I'll be occasionally posting some personally embarrassing piece of my life that may or may not be completely humiliating or even interesting to my readers.

Raise Your What?



At about 10 or 11 years old, the word "steam" conjured up stolen images of HBO or videos at a friend's house: a couple heatedly making out, enough to cause the windows of a car to steam up. Why did I relate such words to meanings? I blame it on HBO and wavy Skinemax (yes, I snuck viewings of it wavy).

So when I was - at that age - one day helping my mother fold laundry and watching the afternoon news, I remember the TV anchor throw out the teaser before a commercial: "Learn to Raise Yourself a Steam."

"Holy crap!" I thought. "The news is going to teach me how to get it hot and heavy with the ladies!" (or whatever equally-lame way my brain processed the information). The proof came seconds later when Mom asked me to run downstairs to get something for her. "Of course - she doesn't want me to see the story," I thought, and ran like hell.

Of course, I got back upstairs in record time and when the news came back on, I learned once and forever that some people are just sad and need help raising their "self esteem" - that measure that they personally don't suck.

_____
So, dear readers, two questions:

Is the slice of truth, the ability to see Ricky laid out on the slab and the hammer coming down, worth the post?

Is "Ricky Shambles Naked" a nice title?

Feedback is always welcome.

Planet Unicorn

Planet Unicorn

William F. Buckley on the Mothafuckin Cheeba

William F. Buckley did much more than begin the modern conservative movement on the radios.

He smoked marijuana.

Buckley famously smoked marijuana — after sailing his boat outside the U.S. territorial limits, where it would no longer be illegal. Finally at the age of 78, Buckley wrote an editorial for the National Review decrying the war on pot.

"Legal practices should be informed by realities," Buckley argued, citing 700,000 pot arrests each year, 87% of which involved only possession of small amounts. "This exercise in scrupulosity costs us $10-15 billion per year in direct expenditures alone."

But would America ever rise up and demand a change in marijuana laws?

It is happening, but ever so gradually. Two of every five Americans, according to a 2003 Zogby poll cited by Dr. Nadelmann, believe "the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: It should regulate it, control it, tax it, and make it illegal only for children". The Dutch do odd things, but here they teach us a lesson.

Buckley's position was unexpected, but it offered an honorable example of his real commitment to intellectualism. He began his essay by writing that "Conservatives pride themselves on resisting change, which is as it should be. But intelligent deference to tradition and stability can evolve into intellectual sloth and moral fanaticism, as when conservatives simply decline to look up from dogma because the effort to raise their heads and reconsider is too great."

(via BoingBoing via 10 Zen Monkeys)

Home Schooling: Bane of Reason

Holy shitbox stormfront! Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a full-fledged, four-alarm Conservative dichotomy!

Let's start by chewing on this from SFGate:

A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.

The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.

I don't care about the abuse case that brought the issue to light; my initial and overall reaction is: it's about fucking time.

My first experience with a homeschooled kid was when I was working at a movie theater at 16. To all appearances, he was a normal kid. Unfortunately, 5 minutes with him showed him to be completely, socially retarded. When children are very young, they come to a realization that not everyone has the same ideas and thought processes that they do. I don't think he ever got past that.

Watch the movie Jesus Camp. All those kids? Homeschooled. Why? Because public schools teach the Devil's lies of evolution.

So back to the four-alarm dichotomy. I'm listening to Sean Hannity rail against the story and it hit me like a tire iron in the xiphoid process: Conservatives have been screaming about the quality of education for years (because NCLB itself is crippling America, in actuality) and screaming about getting rid of tenure and teacher's unions and making quality assurance a mandatory part of a teacher's life - who is paid dirt and works twice as hard as many full-time employees - to guarantee that our children are receiving the best education possible.

Amen: knock out the unions, pay them a minimum of 50K a year, and implement a fair rating system.

But how do you go from "We need full reform of the education system because teachers are not qualified enough to teach our kids" to "Moms with no educational background, formal post-secondary education, or accreditation are the best teachers evar?" Someone tell me how that fucking logic even remotely works!

Here's the logic: It's okay - in the conservative world of rainbows and unicorns and intelligent design - for conservative parents who don't want their kids to learn actual science - to keep them home and teach evolution instead. This, in and of itself, is a root problem; if you can't pass a general science test because the teachings being tested were written by the Devil, there is a serious problem.

Which is why this whole issue is long overdue. If you want to teach your kids at home, more power to you, but you better be held to the same bullshit NCLB tests that every other kid is held to, and you better damned well have at least a college degree.

If not, regardless of how this story is labeled or ignored by the media, we are dis-servicing the future of America and guaranteeing a continuance of idiocy and ignorance.

But maybe that's the plan. Ignorance breeds complacency breeds compliance. And that's what those in power would like to see every day; they love it and kiss it and dry hump their tailored-pants-clad chubbies all over it.

Amen.

Bumblebee Beats Optimus Prime

This is very high-qual stop-motion animation showing Bumblebee kicking OP's ass. Color me impressed.

Marine Motari Tosses Puppy Into Ravine

Our armed forces kill human beings every day of the week and we just shrug our shoulders and watch the number get bigger - if we even care to look at the numbers. U.S. Marine David Motari chucked a puppy into a ravine and everyone flips their shit.

Haven't seen the video? Here you go (looks like original came from www.puppytoss.com):



On one hand, it screams "gimmick!" On the other hand, some fucked up shit can happen during war time. Maybe they really thought that was funny. When you put justifications on lowering the value of human life so you can fill people with bullets, would the value of puppy life remain the same?

Either way, the canine community was not pleased:


http://view.break.com/466312 - Watch more free videos

Keepin' Out Those Canucks

From DVICE:

The Department of Homeland Security is moving forward with plans to erect a virtual border fence between the United States and our docile neighbors to the north.

Rather than use solid walls the Canadians could breach with a Zamboni, Secretary Michael Chertoff from the the Department of Homeland Security outlined the following measures: "We currently have a combination of infrared seismic sensors which are in the ground, remote and local video surveillance systems, and then of course at the ports of entry we have radiation monitoring devices." Unmanned aerial vehicles may also patrol the area. Similar tech, developed by Boeing, is employed along the US-Mexican border and has met with heavy criticism for the sensors' poor results.

Let me get this straight: Congress passed a law to build part of a big-ass fence on our southern border which we have not built and now we're looking at blocking the Canadians and their funny accents and absurdly-clean cities with unproven technology? With that thing above that looks like it was built by a meth-head in their garage with Gorilla Glue?

Hells yeah! This is 'Merica!

Separation of Church and State Event

From First Freedom First, safeguarding the separation of church and state, protecting religious liberty:

Actors, musicians and comedians will join church-state community members across the country on Wednesday evening, March 26, 2008 to put church-state separation on the national agenda during the 2008 election season.

In movie theatres in 25 cities across the nation, interested citizens will gather to learn about the threats to church-state separation and to demand that candidates for elected office answer questions about key issues dealing with individual freedom. Ten questions to ask candidates that have a direct impact on Americans’ lives will be featured.

You can see a map of locations at that link. I hope someone is going to webcast the event - Columbus is relatively close, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it on a Wednesday.

Rock Out With Your Clock Out

Just a reminder that Daylight Savings Time begins again this Saturday, March 9th, at 2:00am. And if you remember Spring forward, Fall back, you will realize that this is that dreaded day that at 2am it suddenly becomes 3am, so the bartender will be taking your beer at 1:30am (in Ohio, last call is usually at 2am and legally all bottles must be out of customer hands by 2:30).

You'll have to wait for November 2nd for that magical evening when at 2am it suddenly becomes 1am and bars are open that extra hour.

How is it I didn't have an alcohol tag until this post?

Update: I have a "drinking" tag. Wii Taw Dead.

Which reminds me of one of my favorite Onion articles: I'm Like a Chocoholic, but for Booze.

In Short: That Whole Darn Bible Thing

That big man, Jesus H. Christ (middle name Hussein...?), once said something that defined Christianity - yeah, the Big C - for all time when asked about the greatest law of all in Luke 6:31: Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Wow. That's deep.

So deep, in fact, that it's been a theme of all civilized time, many years before Jesus himself:

Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.

Confucianism. Mencius VII.A.4

Yeah, that was way the hell before Jesus.

And yet, despite this as one of the most sacred laws/guideposts of Christianity and beyond in all of history, no candidates on either side will immediately cease all war.

So do all the candidates for President of the United States denounce Christianity or simply accept that by doing unto others - killing them in a war - do they accept that others will be trying to kill us?

Fuck excuses, fuck examples, fuck postulates and sidewinding. This is basic belief stuff, basic action stuff.

Where are our candidates on this?

Sweet, Sweet, Political Lovin'

Just in case you've been voraciously reading and wondering about the density of my delicious, political snark and where it may have relocated to, here's a list of the last 3 days of posts I've made over at All Things Democrat:

Same as It Ever Was: Bush, McCain BFF

Limbaugh Stratigeries for Tuesday II

Notes On Superduperlicious Tuesday II

Oh, What the Hell Now? A Darker Obama?

My Primary Voting Experience in Ohio

Oh, the Conservative Confumanity

That Matt Santos Quote

FCC Official Wants Probe of “60 Minutes” Blackout

Party Jumping, Sham Voting in Ohio

Stop on over and say hello!

I got fancy and linked those directly. Yes, dance class is still just the deal of Little Shambles.

Wanderin' the Desert, Trippin' Balls

Dude, that guy's not even on a mountain! I'm so fuckin' high!

From Reuters:

The biblical Israelites may have been high on a hallucinogenic plant when Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, according to a new study by an Israeli psychology professor.

Writing in the British journal Time and Mind, Benny Shanon of Jerusalem's Hebrew University said two plants in the Sinai desert contain the same psychoactive molecules as those found in plants from which the powerful Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca is prepared.
...
Some biblical scholars were unimpressed. Orthodox rabbi Yuval Sherlow told Israel Radio: "The Bible is trying to convey a very profound event. We have to fear not for the fate of the biblical Moses, but for the fate of science."

Exactly, because 4000 year old stories, originally passed on orally then written and copied and translated are much more plausible than quantifiable, proof-worthy reality. Every damn time, you dirty, measuring, meddling scientists!