Recommended Blog

I don't recall ever promoting Orcinus. Perhaps I have to some of you in private emails, but I really want to point out the excellent work that David Neiwert does on a daily basis. He keeps tabs on the right-wing nutjobs in the US and provides such detail that one cannot help but to be impressed with his work. If you care about the threat posed to America by hate groups, this is the place for you to get your information.

Everybody Hates Beckham

Looking through my traffic reports, I see that something like 35% are coming here to read an old post trashing Beckham. In fact, Beckham Sucks! is the 4th ranked google search for those terms. Wow.

That post was written in 2004, during the Euro 2004 tournament, where Mr. Posh Spice sent a penalty kick flying over the net. And, although my reasons for disliking David remain intact, I have to say his performance in this year's World Cup may prove that he does not, in fact, suck. In fact, I will give him credit for playing sick and for puking after his goal. Sure, some players take off their shirts and prance around after a goal, but how many have included a bit of vomit in their celebrations?

Anyhow.. I thank y'all for stopping by and sharing your dislike for Mr. Posh Spice. And I still stand by my original statements that Becks was not the best midfielder when he played for Man U (Ryan Giggs was) and that he is not the best player for England (Rooney and Owen are clearly better).

Aww.. Let's Just F*ck the Whole 1st Amendment

Nevermind that Bush himself, as well as members of his administration, publicly spoke about monitoring the financial transactions of terror suspects, the GoOPer House wants to pass a resolution condemning the NYT for writing about the SWIFT program. Nevermind, too that the Republican mouthpiece Wall Street Journal published a similar story on the same day as the times... And, of course, you also have to ignore the entire free press clause of the First Amendment.

Honestly, what the f*ck is it with Republicans these days? They believe in a highly secretive, enormously powerful president who feels free to break and/or ignore the law and now they want to repeal the First Amendment. Isn't the GOP supposed to be the party of freedom and limited government?

But, then is anything surprising from the bunch of mouth-breathing knuckle draggers who thought AWOL Chimpy and Other Priorities Dick were more patriotic than a decorated veteran.

He's a Fat Drug Addict Who Can't Get It Up and Nobody Likes Him

So, Fatty McPill Popper needs a bit of the Viagra to get it up. This is not only funny, but interesting because Limbaugh serves as the mouthpiece to the Right Wing fringe in this country, a group of people who believe that all sex outside of procreative marital sex is a sin. So, will Rush fess up to his sin? Will his Cheetos eating lemmings feel a sense of cognitive dissonance?

I suppose the answer to both is no, given that Porky tried to deny, deny, deny his doctor shopping for hillbilly heroin (also known as Oxycontin). Plus, he's been divorced THREE times and yet millions of Zombies tune in everyday to eat up the GOP talking points. Which really does say a lot about how much the sanctity of marriage means to these raging jackasses- not a hell of a lot, unless it's used to bludgeon gays.

Book Plug

I am a bit late to the party, so to speak, but I heartily recommend Glenn Greenwald's How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok. As Glenn makes the case in his book (as he has on his blog), Bush's power grab really finds no home in either conservative or liberal ideology. But rather it is a sort of totalitarianism inimical to core American values.

Hopefully this book will find an audience outside of the liberal blogosphere, especially among those Americans who consider themselves conservative, yet have been blinded by the apologias issued forth by Faux News, Limbaugh et al. It is those people who really need to ask themselves whether an omnipotent president who believes he is free to break and ignore duly enacted laws is really in line with their notions of limited government and individual sovereignty. It's really a simple question and those who answer in the affirmative have really deluded themselves and are not actually conservatives at all, but rather Bush cultists.

So Much for Sisterhood

Louisiana Governor Blanco, a Democrat, signed a bill to ban abortions in that state. Unlike the South Dakota abortion ban, this is actually a trigger law. In other words, when the Bush Supreme Court overturns Roe, sending it back to the states, LA will instantly prohibit abortions. Just like the SD ban, though, this provides no exception for rape or incest.

Congratulations, Kathleen, you've sold out fellow women's rights in the name of good politics.

What the Religious Right is engaging in is nothing less than a war on sex, as evidenced by not providing rape and incest exceptions. These radical retards want to punish women for having sex and possibly enjoying it. They want to control women and turn back the clock to a time when women were barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.

Look at the evidence in front of us- banning abortion; punishing homosexuals; banning the sale of sex toys; abstinence only education; prayer in the schools; etc. What these Republicans want is nothing less than a sexless, Christianist republic, not all that different from Islamic republics like Iran or Taliban-era Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, the American people have yet to realize the grave and present danger these theocratic Republicans pose to our democracy and our way of life.

Why Can't More Dems Be Like Murtha?

In other words, why can't they have a f*cking spine? In response to Karl Rove's latest bullshit, Jack Murtha said-

He's in New Hampshire. He's making a political speech. He’s sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat backside-saying stay the course. That’s not a plan! We've got to change direction. You can't sit there in the air-conditioned office and tell troops carrying seventy pounds on their backs, inside these armored vessels-hit with IED's every day-seeing their friends blown up-their buddies blown up-and he says stay the course? Easy to say that from Washington, DC.

Decisions, Decisions

The more I contemplate the fall semester, the more I consider changing a couple of my courses. As of right now the lineup is as follows-
Trusts and Estates
Bankruptcy
Criminal Procedure II
Administrative Law
Fundamentals of Income Taxation

But I am contemplating swapping out of Crim Pro II in order to take Mergers and Acquistions; nixing Fundamentals of Income Taxation for Corporate Finance; and dropping Trusts and Estates in favor of Law and Economics. I'd end up with three classes in a row on Tu/Th, one on Mo and Fri and two on Wed. Not too bad, I suppose.

However, it would man that I was dropping a course taught by my favorite professor in order to pick up a class by my second favorite. And, should I really be taking M&A and Corp. Finance if I have no intention or ability to work for a large firm? Then again, I am interested in M&A, Corp. Finance and Law & Econ. So who knows what I will end up doing.

Beltway Dems Must Go

According to this report from Hotline On Call, the DSCC might support Lieberman's independent run for reelection should he lose the CT primary to Ned Lamont. This is just one of myriad reasons why we need to replace the ENTIRE DC Democratic establishment. As usual, the idiots got a nice email from me.

Hello-
I am writing to express my extreme displeasure with Sen. Schumer's comments with respect to Senator Lieberman's potential independent run for re-election (as reported in today's Hotline on Call). While I understand the DSCC's position of support for an incumbent senator, I cannot fathom why it would support someone running as an independent after being rejected by DEMOCRATIC primary voters.

Perhaps I am being naive here, but if Connecticut Democrats reject Lieberman, shouldn't the DSCC also reject him? If the voters of Connecticut pick Ned Lamont in the primary, they should expect that the DSCC would support him as well. It amazes me that Senator Schumer and the DSCC would even consider supporting an independent over a duly chosen DEMOCRATIC candidate for US Senate.

Is this just another example of how out of touch folks in DC are with the rest of the country?

Ten Random

Straight from the iPod--

1) Dresden Dolls- Mandy Goes to Med School The Dresden Dolls' indie cabaret is something of an acquired taste. And I may be more willing to embrace it since they're from Boston.

2) The Decemberists- California One Youth and Beauty Brigade The Decemberists made something of a splash last year with their video for Sixteen Military Wives, which mocked the US and its militarism. That is all fine and good, but the album from which it came, Picaresque, is the weakest of their three to date.

3) Mercury Rev- Something for Joey The Rev are probably one of my favorite twenty bands of all time. This track is from their sophomore album, BOCES (those of you who are from NY will be familiar with the acronym).

4) The Subways- No Goodbyes It really is a shame that the OC used a track from this album, Young For Eternity. That damn show is really offending me with its use of decent indie music and offering it up to the teenybopper masses. Damn you, Fox.

5) Soul Coughing- The Idiot Kings Wow.. I have nothing to comment here. It's all too obvious.

6) Jens Lekman- A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill I really need to listen to this album more. It's been on the iPod for awhile now and only gotten a couple of listens. On this track, his voice reminds me of Stephen Merritt (Magnetic Fields, Gothic Archies, the 6ths, etc.).

7) Tortoise- Eden 2 I put a couple of Tortoise albums on the iPod recently and rediscovered just how much I love this band. Clearly one of the more innovative acts of the past 20 years in indie/college music.

8) Broken Social Scene- Shampoo Suicide I like BSS maybe a little less than the average indie person, but I do love them for introducing me to Feist. She has quickly become my favorite female artist.

9) Thee More Shallows- House Break Mix in part Grandaddy and part Mercury Rev and you get these guys. The one downside is how slowly they work. But perfection takes time, people.

10) Boards of Canada- Farewell Fire Every iPod has to be stocked with some ambient, mood music. And, well, BOC just does it so damn well.

Bonus Bits-- The two artists I am really high on at the moment are Lansing-Dreiden and Mew.

Pumpkinhead Follies

So, Pumpkinhead Russert believes that National Review's Byron York is an interesting, objective observer of American politics. He probably also thinks that McDonalds is a fine steakhouse. Seriously, York's latest "book" is entitled The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy and is published by Crown Forum, purveyors of such right wing porn as Ann Coulter, L. Brent Bozell and John Podhoretz.

Like any good American, I felt the urge to write Timmay a love letter. The text is below.

Hello-
I am writing to express my bafflement with something said by Mr. Russert yesterday. His comment was an introduction to a question for National Review's Byron York. Mr. Russert said, "Byron York, you’re a conservative writer, but a—an interesting, objective observer of American politics." As I read the transcript I nearly fell out of my chair. Does Mr. Russert not actually read Mr. York? Or, is this another example of the media's willingness to give cover to right wing pundits and "journalists"?

Perhaps Mr. Russert should check out York's bibliography. If so, he would see that Mr. York's latest tome is entitled The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy- The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President- and Why They'll Try Even Harder Next Time. Surely, such a book title is not in line with what should expect from an "interesting, objective observer of American politics."

Then again, I am not surprised that the same host who forced Senator Obama to defend Harry Belafonte yet refuses to hold Republican officeholders accountable for the likes of Coulter, Falwell et. al. would believe that York is both interesting and objective. What a sad commentary on the state of today's media.

Appealing to the Morons

Now that Congress-critters are back from vacation, they plan on taking on such important matters as... Iraq War? Nope. Energy Prices? Nyet. Poverty? No siree. Instead, the GoOPers will focus on weighty issues like gay marriage and flag burning. Woo hoo. I am sure that the majority of Americans find health care, rising gas prices and casualties in Iraq far more pressing than fags and flags. But, the Morons who make up the GOP base are miffed at the Repubs and may not turn out in November.

At what point will the majority of Americans wake up and realize that Bush and his cronies care nothing about them and that all that matters to the GOP is turning out the angry, ignorant and intolerant among us to keep Bush and boys in power?

Where the Morons Are

According to the New York Times, there are only three portions of the country where Bushie has approval ratings above 50%. And the three are not Halliburton HQ, the Southern Baptist Conference, and the mental ward. It's actually Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. In other words, dumbfuckistan. I mean, what do any of those states have to offer the country, aside from Mormons, potato farmers and Dick Cheney?

Apparently, Bushie also enjoys "pockets of support" in Birmingham, AL; northwest GA; and Florida's Panhandle. Again, I ask- what do these parts of country contribute to the rest of us? Not a god-damned thing.

The funniest part of the story has to be the comments from Morons in Utah-
"I like George Bush because he is God-fearing, and that's how a lot of people in this area feel." Yeah, Bushie McWar boy is god fearing. And I'm Santa-Fucking-Claus. Call me a heretic, but didn't Jesus say, "blessed are the peacemakers"? Oh, and what about all of His teachings about taking care of the poor?

"I'm against the war in Iraq — and what happened with Hurricane Katrina, well, it was a failure by everybody... I tend to judge a person by their character. And President Bush reminds me of President Reagan. He's a man of principle." Seriously, you can't make this up. I wonder just what principles he thinks Bushie stands for. Let me take a crack at them- unprovoked war, enriching oil companies, spying on Americans. Oh yeah, Bushie certainly has some character. Just like Mussolini did.

"I like his honesty," said Allison Wilkey, a mother of three. I wonder just what she teaches her children about honesty. Maybe it's that lying is okay if it takes you to war to avenge your daddy. Or, perhaps that lying is okay if it gets you the phone records of millions of Americans. Come on, you idiot, Bushie is an absolute Machiavellian. Truth plays no role in his decision-making process. But I suppose if you are stupid enough to believe that Jesus came to America and that there are religious tablets in upstate NY, then you'll believe any-damn-thing.

God, please rid of us of your moronic followers.