social issues: Token Terri Schiavo entry

I was going to stay off the subject. Really I was. My whole contention this whole time has been that it's a private family matter in which none of us have any business butting.

Wouldn't you know it, the American Family Association never fails to get my dander up. So in a way I love getting their e-mails. Endless fodder for ranting!

They headline it thusly: "Terri's Case: The Roe v. Wade of Euthanasia". Subtitle? "Terri's father says the courts are in control of this country".

It opens: "Now that the courts have ruled that a disabled person--Terri Schiavo--must die ... "

Um. Dozens of judges have ruled the same way. For years. You jump on the bandwagon now, you spineless creeps.

Disabled.

Dis-fricking-abled.

Michael J. Fox is disabled. Thousands of returning Iraq war veterans are disabled.

Terri Schiavo has no cerebral cortex to speak of. She's way beyond disabled. She's not there anymore.

"Liberals have been salivating over a case like Terri Schiavo's to use in pushing euthanasia."

If you think anyone is deriving pleasure from Mrs. Schiavo's condition, you're sadly mistaken. You're some truly sick, sick people, to even think that.

One more paragraph.

"How arrogant and powerful have activist judges become? Here is what Robert Schindler, Terri’s father, said about the judicial system that sentenced his daughter to a slow, agonizing death by starvation: 'What I think you're seeing now is a display where the judicial system is…flexing their muscles. They're showing who's in command of this country. And we're not. The public is not, and the people you elect to Congress are not. The judges are. And woe to this country with those people in power. We've lost control.'"

Not one word that comes out of this mercenary bastard's mouth is worth a tinker's damn to me. Until today, I had some sympathy for everyone involved, even if I personally felt the Schindlers were having some trouble letting go. Now, I think they let go a long time ago, but they're trying to milk this for all they can and it sickens me.

Who's profiting from this tragedy? Michael? That money's gone, friends.

Robert Schindler? Tom DeLay? Merchandising tragedy, using it as a smokescreen for criminal behavior.

But then we see what the true point of the e-mail is as we come to the bottom.

"The only body that can stop liberal activist judges from controlling this country is the U.S. Senate. In a few days the Senate will vote on ending the liberals' filibuster of conservative judges who see their sole responsibility to be that of interpreting the Constitution."

Apparently, interfering in private matters and undermining the sanctity of marriage got written into the Constitution when I wasn't looking. Silly me.

These people are utterly shameless in their willingness to use Mrs. Schiavo ... to use her as messily and unthinkingly as a facial tissue, to be wadded up and thrown out as soon as they're through.

As Randi often says, when someone shows you who they really are, believe them.

It all comes 'round again, bastards. Karma's a bitch.

Current events: Michael Jackson needs help. Soon.

I mean, I thought he took a big, flying leap off the edge when he picketed Sony a couple of years back.

Now, though, it turns out that this is all a big plot to steal his catalog of music copyrights.

"But please know a lot of conspiracy is going on as we speak." and "It's a huge catalogue, it's very valuable and it's worth a huge amount of money, and there is a big fight going on right now as we speak about that," he said, adding he was not broke, as has been rumoured.

Mmm. Sure. Not about sexual abuse at all.

Then this:

"I was coming out of the shower and I fell on my body weight," he said.[blogger's note: Whaaa?!]

"I'm pretty fragile. All of my body weight fell against my rib cage and I bruised my lung very badly. I'm in immense pain. I'm in agonising pain."

Bizarrely, he went on to say how he was in perfect health.

"But I do my very best," he said.

"I am eating, yes I am. I don't want anyone to think I'm starving. I'm not. My health is perfect, actually."

And with that, I'm done with Michael Jackson, unless he, like, shoots up the courtroom or something. But there is one seriously damaged individual.

music: It seems like half my music entries relate to death

Holy crap. This is very sad. Paul Hester, formerly of Crowded House, took his own life this weekend. I'd go on and on, but the article in the Australian articulates just what I'd say, better than I could.

Not for the first time, I feel an unfortunate darkness settling over the world.

Air America Radio: Is this for real?

I remember predicting something like this recently. Can't remember if it was in these pages or not, but, um, wow.

Springer Talk Radio Show To Expand Nationwide.

politics: Incredibly misleading

Oh, how I love getting e-mail from the American Family Association. Better than a Thirstbuster-sized espresso for getting me energized and worked up. Really, what got me most was this paragraph:

"The media has put out so much misinformation concerning this situation that we did an interview with Sen. John Cornyn of Texas to clear up the confusion. Sen. Cornyn is recognized as the leading authority in explaining the battle over which rule will be used to confirm judges, the traditional 51 vote total required by the constitution or the 60 vote total desired by liberal Democrat Senators."

Erm. All-righty, then.

Tradition, is it? Shall we talk tradition? The filibuster has been around a lot more than this pissant little organization. The filibuster is one of the most important checks on the tyrrany of the majority, ensuring that, even if the little guy can't win the fight, at least he can make himself heard.

This paragraph makes it sound as if Democratic senators are trying to unfairly wrest control of the senate from the Republicans and rewrite the time-honored rules of order.

Projection, anyone?

I'm not sure if they're lying or if they honestly don't understand the difference between a filibuster and a confirmation vote, because, though this may be a small quibble, a vote to end a filibuster is not a vote on the measure in question.

While the cause-and-effect chain may be something like 'A causes B causes C causes D', the assertion here is that 'A causes D', omitting certain important and mitigating steps in between.

I was pondering this when I remembered something else I read today, an article to which I was led by Daily Kos.

It turns out that US diplomats told our allies that North Korea had been selling nukes to Libya, surely an alarming assertion and one that bears telling, if true.

But this is the Bush administration -- since when have they been sticklers for the truth? This story is, oddly enough, almost true, in that 'A causes D' sort of way. But B and C are doozies.

See, North Korea sold nukes to Pakistan, our friends of convenience in the region. And Pakistan, our close, personal friends, out of whose ass the sun always shines, sold the nuclear material to Libya.

So two examples don't exactly make a trend, but they are an interesting confluence of tactics. Is this a conservative thing or what? And do they realize they're lying, or do they rationalize editing out the in-between steps because people are too stupid to follow a chain of causation?

politics: I can just smell the cons going apoplectic over this

The man in the UN the cons love to hate, the man they accuse endlessly and breathlessly of being a corrupt, evil America-hater, has a new plan for the United Nations.

This is the grand international body that, on the one hand, they ridicule as impotent and ineffectual, while on the other hand they oppose any expansion of its reach or powers that would actually render it more potent and effectual.

So now he unveils a plan to make the organization more effective, more accountable and more powerful.

The prevailing attitude in America with regard to the rest of the world reminds me of the neighbor kid when I was little. He was an only child with few or no friends, not much for socializing and used to getting exclusively his own way. Early on, I used to go over and play at his house (it always had to be at his house; once or twice, only, did he come over to our side of the fence). What were we going to play? It always came down to him. What were the rules? Up to him, as were any changes midway through to tip the course of things in his favor. If he cheated, it was OK, especially if he did it cleverly and got away with it so he could gloat later. But if I cheated, he'd fly into a raging tantrum and kick me out.

In short, he did not play well with others. Before long, I stopped going over there anything but rarely. He got better later on, as he matured, and as he realized he had few friends.

I think the metaphor stands up pretty well.

Go, Kofi!

politics: Why does the Senate hate America?

Bastards. Rat bastards. I hope they all die suffocating on their own filth.

Why is this necessary? They are men and women with no vision or understanding of the fact that they mold the future, doing things simply because, now that they hold the sceptre, they can. Like Iraq, these soulless creatures of the night have been fixated on ANWR, perhaps out of some twisted desire to kill off the world so Armageddon can come. It certainly won't do any good as an energy source. The reserves are negligible and I'm reasonably certain that by the time any oil is flowing from underneath that delicate soil either the world will have moved away from a petroleum based economy, or millions will be dying each month in the oil wars.

Get a real energy policy, you spineless wimps. Get some vision. Save America. And leave the wilderness alone.

And a special note to Senate Democrats who voted in favor of this balderdash: You're the reason I'll never join the Democratic Party. Stupid, stupid, stupid, and as long as you keep this up, you'll keep losing the battles you care about as well as the ones you don't. Listen, the rules of the game changed when the Republicans gained an almost unilateral lock on power. They don't need your horse trading. They don't need agreements with you in order to get their agenda through. They're already remaking the government in their own image, and the shadow is spreading across the land. Fight back now, down every avenue, or pretty soon you won't even be able to.

politics: Katie, bar the door! Wolfie's coming!

I'm ashamed to admit that the Bush administration's ability to choose incredibly bad nominees to important posts continues to surprise me.

And now comes word that Paul Wolfowitz is being put forward to run the World Bank. What insanity is this? Seriously.

I'm loath to direct my outrage so predictably, but let's get real! Expect graft and corruption. Expect money pouring into projects that do nothing to improve the lot of people's lives but enrich neocon-led corporations. It's one more step forward for PNAC's pax Americana.

I could just spit.

personal: Well, isn't this interesting?

I suppose scoring highest on agnosticism wasn't much of a surprise. Seeing Christianity down so far on the list, and Islam so high, did surprise me, though. I've always sort of fancied myself an agnostic Christian with some Buddhist leanings. Anyway, ...

You scored as agnosticism. You are an agnostic. Though it is generally taken that agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in God, it is possible to be a theist or atheist in addition to an agnostic. Agnostics don't believe it is possible to prove the existence of God (nor lack thereof). Agnosticism is a philosophy that God's existence cannot be proven. Some say it is possible to be agnostic and follow a religion; however, one cannot be a devout believer if he or she does not truly believe. agnosticism 83% Islam 71% Buddhism 71% Paganism 63% Christianity 58% atheism 54% Judaism 50% Hinduism 42% Satanism 38% Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com

politics: I shouldn't care about Shadegg anymore, but ...

I do. I don't live in his district anymore. And I believe I may live in just about the bluest neighborhood in Arizona now (my governor, state legislators and US representatives are all Democrats). But this shameless sycophant is positively insufferable. Most of the other Arizona Republicans range from the positively loony to the almost tolerable to borderline fascist but high enough in profile that other people know already. But where does this leave John Shadegg?

A singularly undistinguished intellect, he hasn't ever really had a good, important idea to put forth. Rather, he admits to shamelessly and mindlessly peddling the neofascist agenda that's destroying America, whatever his own feelings on the issues, though admittedly not in so many words. After all, this imbecilic toadying has gotten him a lot of money and key committee appointments so far, so why quit now? Add to that the fact that his Paradise Valley and East Phoenix electorate votes Republican the way a corpse twitches when you apply electrodes to its musculature, and mix in a few sprinkles of money from Tom DeLay's Corporate Bribery, Graft and Corruption PAC (or whatever he's calling it these days) and, well, heaps of other corporate and special interest money, and really, you have a recipe for success, even if you are an incompetent boob.

Seriously. They'd vote for a twitching corpse if it had an (R) after its name. And then they'd re-elect it.

Ahem. Anyway.

True to form, he submitted this useless waste of paper and ink to the local newspaper, blindly failing to notice that the Bush administration plan for Social Security would utterly eviscerate the most successful social program in the history of the United States (come to think of it, the WPA was pretty darned successful, but Social Security dwarfs even its not insignificant size and economic impact) rather than save it. And he takes the Democrats to task for failing to provide a solution that will 'save' Social Security.

Um. Dude.

It doesn't need saving, any more than someone with a skinned knee needs 'saving.' No plan? Try raising or eliminating the cap on payroll taxes. Presto! Elegant, simple, and doesn't involve mortgaging the future security of America to engorge the gigantic ticks that are the financial services lobby with the blood of working Americans.

But at least he has the party line down, the same party line Jeff Gannon spewed so ably when accusing the Democrats of being 'divorced from reality.' Well, Mr. Shadegg, et al., we are divorced from the 'reality' you've tried to create. We're wise to your shell game. We're in the reality-based community here.

music: *sob* Why do I NEVER find out about these things till it's too late?

One of my top-five bands of all time is having a pub-concert crawl.

"It's kinda like Live Aid," says John Mann, "except without any redeeming socio-political factors."

I'm not really that heavy a drinker, but the idea of getting drunk with Spirit of the West holds great appeal for me. But it's tomorrow. To-fricking-morrow! Unfair.

Anyone want to buy a twelve-pack of Okanagan Spring Brewery Beer so I can get the SotW promo CD?

Didn't think so. Alas.

politics: Gannert/Guckon really doesn't get it, does he?

Loath though I may be to contribute to his traffic, it seems that the White House Whore has forgotten how little credibility he has anymore and rather than hide in shame, as he really needs to, he's showing himself for the publicity hound he really is.

This is precious: "It (the SCLM) was horrified that the relentless string of hostile and a few downright disrespectful questions had been broken. My greater sin in their eyes, however was that I dared to suggest that two Senate Democratic leaders held an illogical view of the economy’s weakness and the strength of Social Security."

Erm, no. Your greatest sin was being an uncredentialled, unexperienced 'journalist' with completely unjustifiable access to the leader of the free world, wielding a fake name (or several) and a hypocritical past. Then there's the fact that your questions themselves were frequently misleading or outright wrong, and solely designed to provide an excuse for the spewing of the day's talking point.

Ooh, this is even more precious: "After all, I had “no journalistic credentials” despite the fact that I had written over 500 articles for Talon News over a two-year period." Erm, yes, true, I suppose, but that was after they let you in the White House, nimrod!

Oy. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Especially spicy is his ongoing list of questions he would've asked had he been in the briefing room that day. Today's? "Has the White House had any conversations with or given any directions to United Nations Ambassador-designate John Bolton to demand a full accounting of the Oil-for-food program and an investigation into the sexual misconduct of UN peacekeepers in the Congo and elsewhere?"

Ooh, ooh, call on me, Jeff, you sexy stud you! I can answer! I can answer!

The answer would be no, primarily because the trail of that would lead back to the Bush administration and its corporate allies who most directly benefited from this, and who directly or indirectly approved of the now-suspect transactions.

Oh, and one last thing, from yesterday's entry: "The New York Times is hailing the first blogger to be issued a "day pass" to a White House press briefing. ... According to the 'Gannon Standard', I am expecting to see other bloggers' reports on his sexual and financial history as well as some conspiracy theories about who this guy is." ... Thanks, JD, for finally admitting that you're a blogger and not a journalist. *phew* Glad that's over with. Really, he's merely a curiosity, and while his story may bear further scrutiny as it continues to unfold (I'm hearing some real tinfoil hat stuff out of Democratic Underground, but I'm a bit credulous at this point), he himself clearly does not, particularly because it's what he craves.

politics: An update to the Arizona embarrassment

All-righty, then. I thought it was bad enough before, but having been tipped off by radio reports, I looked up the text of the bill I mentioned the other day.

Existing Arizona law apparently defines misconduct, with reference to this subject, as carrying a deadly weapon without a permit, transporting it without a permit, enter public places and such where a reasonable request (e.g., a sign indicating policy) has been made to leave it in the custody of the sponsor, churches, bringing them into polling places on election day. etc., etc., etc., ... The usual, basically. That's part one.

Another Arizona law defines a deadly weapon as "anything designed for lethal use, including a firearm." Follow me? This includes, say, nuclear weapons, poison gas, landmines, bombs, IEDs ... anything designed for lethal use. That's part two.

The bill stipulated that existing law, in essence, "does not apply if the person is a United States citizen carrying a deadly weapon for personal protection, the protection of others, the state or the sanctity of a dwelling unit, whether the person is a resident of the dwelling or not." That's the last bit.

Get it? In other words, the law is so broad that some borderline insane vigilante guy could walk at random into state office building with a dirty bomb in a suitcase and sit in the lobby watching for undesirables.

Etc., etc. I'm sure you can think of more likely scenarios -- I'm just picking one for the sheer ridiculousness of it. Who decides intent? And when is it ever OK for someone to carry capsules of poison gas into a polling place, whatever their intent?

Thankfully, the bill has been withdrawn.

Lord, what fools these Republicans be.

misc: In which I receive some small amount of dairy vindication

I have always enjoyed dairy products ... particularly cheese, yogurt and ice cream -- in moderation and, mostly, only on occasion. But drinking milk? It makes me phlegmy. It does nothing for my thirst. It tastes OK, but I'd really rather have a nice, cold glass of water than milk.

For decades, the American dairy industry has tried to make me feel un-American, or like I've been seriously endangering my health, like my limbs would eventually all snap like dry twigs because I've avoided a constant flow of cow juice into my stomach. Defiantly, I've stuck to my guns. Consume dairy for enjoyment, not for health! has been my credo, only never spoken -- I don't really want to be dragged off because of my strange obsessions.

Apparently I win. Study: Dairy Not Best Source of Calcium. 'Nuff said.

It's all about the World Bank ... But you can dance to it

OK, this just blew my mind.

He has integrity. He's intelligent. He's passionate about social justice causes. And he ain't American. So why does this news about Bono make me feel like the world has unexpectedly flipped upside down and we're dangling from trees by our toes?

politics: Sometimes (OK, almost always) my state government embarrasses me.

Gun bill approved by Senate.

Yeah. Because the most pressing problem Arizona faces is that people with concealed weapon permits aren't allowed to take them into bars. This will make us safer. I know I feel better knowing they won't be allowed to drink if they're packing heat, because it's incredibly easy for the bartender to verify that the concealed weapon permit holder has no weapon with him or her.

Wholly Jeebus, my state is run by yutzes.

misc: Oh my word.

An actual 'cover letter' sent in by an applicant for a position in one of our facilities (our application process is all online, and this is copied-and-pasted from the window.

Certain parts redacted for privacy's sake ...

JOINING THE [old, superseded company name] TEAM WOULD BE A GREAT OPPURTUNIY OF A GROUND FLOOR POSISTION W/ADVANCEMENT. I COMPLIMENT MYSELF W/HAVING SUCH SUPERB PUBLIC RELATION SKILLS. CURRENTLY I'AM IN A POSISTION @ [other related company], THAT HAS ALLOWED ME TO BUILD MY STABILITY ALONG W/ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS. THE DELEGATION OF MY RESPONSEABILITIES OVER THE YEARS ALLOWS ME TO SUPERSEADE
MY CURRENT POSISTION. I FEEL I COULD REALLY CONTRIBUTE THE THE [company] TEAM!. THE SKILLS I USE SUCESSFULLY PER DAY CONSIST OF; COORDINATION OF REPAIR/REHAB PATIENT SERVICES, QUOTATIONS BEING COMPLETED DAILY TO INSURANCE COMPANIES, VERIFY ELEGABILITY AND BENEFITS, COLLECTING IF NECESARRY, ROUTING DISPATCH DRIVERS HOURLY, AND MAINLY FRONLINE CONTACT WITH PATIENTS AND THERE FAMILIES. OVERALL TROUBLESHOOTING FAMILY ISSUES AND ACCOMADATING THERE NEEDS IS MY NUMBER ONE GOAL. MY EXPERIENCE AND MY QUALITY OF EXPERTISE WOULD BE A AWARDING ASSEST TO THE "[old, superseded company name] TEAM".
RESPECTFULLY, [APPLICANT]

Words fail.

personal: A new era

I look back at the last three months or so and realize how much has changed in my life, and how quickly. It started with my graduation in December (though it occurs to me I never did have the wild, celebratory bacchanal I promised my friends), and it's continued on through today. We finally bought our house and as of yesterday we were completely emptied out of the old place. And on top of everything, I got a major raise and psuedo-promotion (an upgrade of job title and refinement of job description, but only a slight increase in responsibilities) on Monday.

This puts me now at one of those defining points in one's life, the times you can use to divide your life into 'before' and 'after'. There have been a few in my adult life -- joining the Coast Guard, leaving the Coast Guard, moving to California, moving back from California. But this is the one where I seriously grow up. I'm planning for our future. We're homeowners. I have my master's degree, so I actually (theoretically) have pretty good earning potential. I have a fantastic band, and we have plans that will make it even better. Soon, too, we'll be starting on recording our first album with this lineup.

For possibly the first time in my life, I have a sense of optimism based on something other than blind faith and wishful thinking. Even with the raise, the next few months will be extremely tight money-wise, but assuming the nation's economy doesn't completely collapse, I think we'll be doing OK.

I just feel like I'll never stop being sore and sleep-deprived till we've got all the boxes unloaded.