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2/1/2004
BLASPHEMY
We got a few responses to last episode’s Blasphemy, so either stick with your
apathy and skip on down to the music and movie reviews, or buck up and muster
some attention span for a variety of opinions.
Let’s dive into the cesspool of political debate with this one from degenerate
JDP:
"That was alot of fun we used to take acid and jump from planes. You can't piss
test for that you know!"
So, since you were using drugs, that means you were supporting the terrorists at
the same time you were breaking the law (according to the Bush White House) and
endangering your comrades-in-arms? You should really apply the Socratic Method
to your own analysis of your political beliefs and those whom you so
passionately support. Of course, when asked directly, Mr. Bush has deflected
questions about his own possible cocaine use, so maybe the Republicans are your
party of choice. Stonings and religion have many things in common, and both seem
to have at one time or another featured prominently with our current executive.
And, of course, your implication that the inability to detect your drug abuse
somehow makes it acceptable ironically fits right in line with Bush
Administration arguments about how missing WMDs justify military action (yeah, I
know, it's NOT really logical, but hey, neither was the passage from which I
quoted.). Ignorance is nothing of which to be ashamed. Stupidity is nothing of
which to be proud either. But don't let rationality or facts cloud your
judgement. That could be seen as unpatriotic.
Degenerate JDP
Degenerate MM was very motivated by KH’s statements:
Our friendly, eager, but apparently borderline illiterate Republican pal
probably hasn't seen documentaries like "Unprecedented" that make it clear
that the media's (and our) sense of outrage is far from intact if people
can moo and bray over Howard Dean's overenthusiastic Barbaric Yawp when
addressing his supporters and completely ignore (or support the
overlooking of) the highjacking of the election in Florida.
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election is the riveting story about
the battle for the Presidency in Florida and the undermining of democracy
in America. Filmmakers Richard Ray Prez and Joan Sekler examine modern
America's most controversial political contest: the election of George W.
Bush. What emerges is a disturbing picture of an election marred by
suspicious irregularities, electoral injustices, and sinister voter purges
in a state governed by the winning candidate's brother. George W. Bush
stole the presidency of the United States. and got away with it. " .the
movie highlights those on the front lines .from the African-Americans who
were turned away from the polling booths for assorted reasons. In one
memorable scene the filmmakers freeze-frame a 'protest' against the ballot
recount, identifying participants as staff members of Republican elected
officials." --Elaine Dutka, Los Angeles Times
Let's see what the candidates are interested in supporting.
Bush strongly FAVORS appointing judges who will outlaw abortions.
Dean, Clark, Kerry & Edwards all strongly OPPOSE this.
Bush strongly FAVORS outlawing "partial birth" abortions.
Dean, Clark, Kerry & Edwards all strongly OPPOSE this.
Bush strongly FAVORS outlawing all abortions with possible exceptions made
if rape / incest can be proven.
Dean, Clark, Kerry & Edwards all strongly OPPOSE this.
Bush strongly FAVORS parental notification for minors under 18.
Dean and Kerry strongly OPPOSE this. Clark & Edwards are somewhat opposed.
In short, the Democrats OPPOSE the government getting involved in
restricting the reproductive freedom of women.
Bush strongly FAVORS the "Constitutional Gay Marriage Ban".
Dean, Edwards and Kerry somewhat oppose it, Clark is withholding his
opinion. Some people have been pointing out that marriage is a loaded word
implying religious sanction more than governmental sanction. If you are
supportive of the separation of church and state, you are on thin ice once
you legislate how your citizens may or may not choose to partner up.
Bush somewhat OPPOSES Equal Rights for Civil Unions. Read that again. The
President Select is OPPOSED to ensuring all Americans EQUAL RIGHTS under
the law.
Dean, Clark & Edwards all strongly FAVOR allowing partners the
right to visit their ill life partner in hospital, to inherit, to receive
benefits, et cetera. Kerry is against "Gay Marriage" but supports most
civil rights for gay folks.
Bush strongly OPPOSES allowing gays to serve openly in the military.
You're welcome to die for your country as long as you don't prefer
partners of the same gender as your own.
Dean & Edwards all strongly FAVOR allowing gays to openly serve in the
military while Clark & Edwards somewhat FAVOR it.
When will we learn that restricting the rights of other groups is wrong?
Some people are unaware that the Equal Rights Amendment guarranteeing
equal rights for women has yet to be officially passed. In Florida,
African Americans are still denied their right to vote. Illegally. Why do
some people think that it's okay to discriminate against people based on
what they would prefer to do in the privacy of their own bedroom?
The government shouldn't be involved in marriage issues at all, seeing as
how marriage tends to be bound up with religion / spirituality issues. But
since the government insists on being involved, then the same benefits and
penalties ahould apply to every citizen desiring a civil union or marriage
or legal partnership, IMHO.
The phrase "Gay Marriage" is a bit of a smokescreen, BTW. Gay friends
point out that they aren't interested in "Gay Marriage" by that name. They
merely want the same benefits (being included as beneficiaries on health
and life insurance policies, visitation rights, inheritance rights, etc.)
mixed-sex partnerships / marriages are entitled to.
Bush strongly FAVORS organized prayer in public schools. Let's do the math
here. PUBLIC school are funded to a great extent by your TAX dollars and
are subject to rules and regulations framed by our government...the State.
Prayer--and to whose God? With what words? With what rituals?--is, duh,
religion, or Church. Organized prayer in public schools = dismantling the
separation of church and state. Name one country that functions well as
both a theocracy AND a democracy. Now name some countries that are run by
religious figureheads or politicians espousing an official religion or
belief system for the rest of the country but which are not completely
fukt-up.
Clark and Kerry strongly OPPOSE organized prayer; Dean & Edwards somewhat
oppose it.
Bush strongly FAVORS the Commandments being displayed in Federal
Buildings.
Clark and Kerry strongly OPPOSE posting religious documents in federal
buildings; Dean & Edwards somewhat oppose it.
Think this country was "founded on Christian principles"? Do your homework
and stop being lazy and letting the religious right spoonfeed you
bullpoop. The country was founded by people escaping religious
persecution. Founding it with "Christian principles" or indeed any
religion's rules and tenets would have been anathema to them. We have
freedom of religion in this country. I only wish we had freedom FROM
religion as well.
Bush strongly FAVORS the federal funding of religious charities.
Guess what religion will get funded predominately? Give up yet?
Clark & Kerry strongly OPPOSE this; Dean and Edwards somewhat OPPOSE this.
I'm getting long-winded, so let me hit a few high (or LOW) points here.
Bush strongly OPPOSES a National Review of Death Penalty Fairness. This
isn't even a proposed policy change, this is a REVIEW to see if there has
been any unfairness afoot. Naturally, execution-happy ex-governors would
prefer to let things stay uninvestigated.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kerry all strongly FAVOR the proposed review.
Bush favors The Patriot Act, which increased the federal government's
power to search, seize, imprison and otherwise intimidate ANYONE without a
trial, without making amends for harassing innocents, etc. It promoted
racial profiling. What would have been far more helpful would have been
not to let the dozens of bin Laden family members in the country fly home
on the US Gov't dollar mere days after 9-11. Typically when you have a
murder suspect in mind, you question their family members. You do not,
despite your dad's close ties with Saudi Arabia, defy all reason and
normal procedure.
What terrorizes you more...the possibility that you might be held without
due process by our government, with none of your constitutional rights
upheld OR your workplace being targeted by a terrorist in an airplane? I'm
not trying to make light of a horrible tragedy, but restricting freedom to
'ensure' freedom is bullcrap.
You can tighten immigration controls and be wiser and more careful about
who we allow to live and work here, especially if they are visiting from
countries who are our known enemies. None of the candidates oppose this
type of solution.
Bush strongly FAVORS Medicare Prescription drugs being covered by private
insurers.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kery all strongly OPPOSE this.
Bush strongly FAVORS privatizing Social Security.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kery all strongly OPPOSE this.
Bush strongly OPPOSES rolling back tax cuts fro people making over
$100,000.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kery all strongly FAVOR this.
Bush strongly OPPOSES raising the minimum wage.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kery all strongly FAVOR this.
Bush sstrongly OPPOSES extending unemployment benefits.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kery all strongly FAVOR this.
Bush strongly FAVORS oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kery all strongly OPPOSE this.
Bush somewhat OPPOSES mandatory Clean Air Emissions standards.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kery all strongly FAVOR this.
Bush strongly OPPOSES tougher fuel efficiency standards.
Dean, Clark, Edwards & Kery all strongly FAVOR this.
This administration is leaving us with the worst deficit in history, has
done less for individual's civil rights, has tries to dismantle rights and
freedoms granted in the Bill of Rights and in the Constitution, has tried
to promote a theocracy, has silenced dissent and legal peaceful protest,
has illegally interferred with the rights of people (especially
minorities) to vote, has had zero regard for the environment, has rewarded
big business and special interests at the expense of the average citizen,
unemployment is at an all-time high (and of those employed, many are
working for far lower wages than before), chose to ignore our allies and
supporters and force us into a war, censors protestors, and on and on.
One does have to wonder why Dean is being singled out for abuse, given
that Kerry is currently the front-runner and given that Dean's supposed
faux-pas is so ridiculously minor compared with the real injustices and
evils perpetrated by the current administration.
Keep your eye on Florida. Note also that the company making the polling
machines to be used in many, many precincts all over the country is
rumoured to be pro-Bush Republican. That scares the pee out of me,
personally, especially after watching "Unprecedented".
I hope you'll rent it.
And I hope people will stop being so complacent and get out and vote this
year. Please register, whether it be via "Rockthevote.com" or when
renewing your driver's licence or by signing up with the political
activist group of your choice. I don't care if you vote for Bush, the
Democratic opponent or Mickey Mouse, just exercise your rights. If you
fail to stir yourself off your couch to go out and vote, your right to
bitch and moan and complain about the political process won't be affected,
but deep down you really are a hypocrite. If you don't like it, make an
effort to CHANGE it.
End of rant.
Degenerate MM
On a vaguely related note, we got this from degenerate LS:
A few days ago I witnessed a heart breaking confession. Dennis Miller,
who I always thought was pretty observant and witty, announced that
after September 11 he turned to the right. He said Bush was a great
president because now the world respected the United States. That is
strange because I think most of the world thinks we are a bunch of
arrogant assholes who think they have the right to tell the whole world
how to live. Bush can't run this country yet he thinks he knows what is
best for the rest of the world. He made some other awful comments and
even said "God bless John Ashcroft". What mind control freak got hold
of him? I was shocked. It was kind of like George Carlin came out as a
born again Christian. I'm sorry that political satire has lost a funny
voice.
And the guy who started this shitstorm, degenerate KH, came back with this:
Hey guys thank for printing my rant. I am glad I get to be your editoral fodder!
Oh and by the way Dean proved me right! Clark is a arm chair general. He was
fired from his post for gods sake! Let's not forget Clark getting photo ops in
Kosovo with terrorist leaders. Kerry, I do not know much about but he seems like
a good American. He definatly looks the most presidential. I say he has the best
chance of beating Bush. I am not happy with Bush's domestic poilices and
spending, but he is out there fighting the bad guys. Maybe Kerry would be the
right guy. Oh by the way I voted for Gore at the last election. But, when those
planes hit the towers my first thought was, "Thank God! That Gore is not
President now!" We need a cowboy in that office right now, just like England
needed Churchhill. Keep up the good work. Oh and if I could re-enlist I would oh
except for the part where you can't tell your boss to go fuck himself or your in
serious trouble, I never liked that part. Later Kent
This has all inspired us to start actually talking to the average man on the
street and here’s a transcript of a recent rant:
“Yeah, I heard that speech. That sumbitch is letting illegal aliens take our
jobs and his corporate buddies send the rest of ‘em overseas. I don’t give a
darn if gays get married or not. There ain’t no weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq and apparently unless you work fer Haliburton or whatever there ain’t no
jobs there either. Last I heard, there ain’t either one on Mars. These ain’t
matters of survival, goddammit, putting food on the table and feeding my wife
and kids are! But for some reason people in the South – people just like me who
ain’t got no job and can’t afford to live, getting deeper in debt every day –
voted for that man and they’re gonna vote for him again. I just don’t get it.
Same thing happened when his daddy was in office – I got laid off. Clinton got
elected and I had work. Another Bush gets into office and I’m unemployed again,
have been for a year. Now, I love the South and my fellow Southerners. But Bush
ain’t one of ‘em. Hell, the man ain’t even from the South, he grew up in
Connecticut. Having some big ranch out in Texas don’t mean he’s like me. Now if
he had no job, no rich friends, didn’t give a shit – pardon me – about athletes
on steroids or protecting the sanctity of marriage and all that bullshit and
spent more time worrying about protecting his family and his income, then he’d
be like me. Now I don’t care what the man says between now and November. I got
three years of knowing what he says don’t amount to a hill of beans. The man is
a liar and a cheat. Cheated his way out of the military too. Did you know that?
But he wants to send our boys all over the world fighting terrorists where
terrorists don’t even live? He lets his buddies send our jobs overseas too, then
gives the rest to illegal immigrants. Gives tax breaks to his rich friends while
spending my tax dollar like a televangelist – on everything but the
congregation!
No, I’m sorry, but fuck him and the rest of the republicans with him. I learnt
my lessons.”
Frank “Bubba” Blithe on the State of the Union address and why he started Bubbas
Against Dubya
In completely unrelated news, I have a modest proposal on how we can restructure
society to better fit our individual preferences. Many of us, myself included,
just aren't morning people. I don't have the get up and go, we do more before 9
AM than most people do all day mentality. I arrive at work an hour late and I'm
still not awake enough to do my job.
On the other hand, there are people at my office that arrive around 7 AM, full
of vim and vigor. They poke their chipper heads in my door moments after I
arrive. They've already been working some 2 or 3 hours and expect me to be
similarly motivated. But no, instead of vim and vigor, I'm full of piss and
vinegar until sometime around 11 AM pretty much every day.
I've noticed that Morlocks like myself don't seem motivated to do the types of
jobs at which the Eloi excel - cube villages, manual labor, etc. just don't suit
those of us who'd rather watch the sun rise at the end of a night of adventure,
rather than sunrise signaling a new day full of activity.
I've also noticed that many of the Eloi don't seem competent at the types of
jobs at which we Morlocks excel - artistic endeavors, dangerous adventures, etc.
just don't suit those who'd rather watch it on TV at 8 PM shortly before hitting
the sack.
So what we need is a society in which the Eloi get their sense of accomplishment
through the building of roads, the shuffling of papers, the management of the
minutia that keep complex systems rolling - your average 9-5 job. Then, as the
sun sets, we Morlocks can rise and write the songs that make the Eloi sing about
our torrid tales of nightly adventures, documented with film and photography and
strange paintings involving confusing symbols. Meanwhile, the Eloi can live
vicariously through our creative efforts, from the comfort and safety of their
suburban homes.
Of course, the only way to make this system work within a capitalist society is
to make the Eloi believe artistic efforts are actually worth money, that art is
at least as valuable as, say, anything labeled a “monthly report.”
And if I could figure out how to do that, I wouldn't be slaving away in a cube
village...
EAR PLUGS
Headed to the Earl early on Friday and had a few drinks with familiar faces
before slinking into the back room as The Bluejays started up. As always,
wonderful rootsy country with great songs, but I think they described the crowd
best when they joked, “We’d like to thank you, and you, and you. Hell, we could
probably do it by name.”
There were only of a few of us there to see Chad Proctor play guitar for the
group, making it as much Sonoramic Commando as The Bluejays, but Chad never
misses a note and Jay’s lyrics always bring a smile.
A few more folks wandered by the time Caroline and the Ramblers came on, with
more of Chad’s smooth guitar work backing up Caroline’s incredible voice.
There’s not a better retrobilly voice in town, probably not in the rest of the
world either. A fair size group of old Star Bar regulars mingled with a fair
sized group of trendy hipsters who looked fresh out of Midtown, making it a
diverse crowd.
The Woggles were setting up but we wanted to head down the block to The Echo
where you got in for free with the wristband from the Earl, and vice versa, all
to support Johnny Knox and his fight against the system.
Flattop Mike and The Marauders were on stage doing covers of classic 96 Rock
fare – AC/DC, Twisted Sister, etc. They did a fine job with the material,
especially considering it was the first show with the new lineup.
We chatted with more familiar faces and old friends, then Johnny Knox stepped up
and did a short, unexpected set with the usual gusto. Blistering guitar running
through rockabilly and other bluesy sounds.
The crowd at Echo was even more diverse than that at the Earl, with psychobilly
punks mixed in with the old Star Bar regulars, Midtown trendies, and East
Atlanta hipsters.
After a swinging set by Johnny, The Forty-fives stepped up and greeted the small
but smiling crowd and proceeded to burn the mother down. I can remember catching
them at the Star Bar for their second ever appearance when I thought, “These
guys suck, but with a little practice they could be really good. They have the
talent and energy, they just need to rehearse a little.” Well, that’s been a
couple of years of incessant shows that keep getting better every time. These
days they have it licked. If there’s a bigger party on stage you ain’t gonna see
it for $8. They threw in a few covers of the era that inspired their own tunes,
a few R&B classics done 60’s English invasion/garage rock style, with enough
energy to make them absolutely their own, making everyone but SW forget the
depressing reason for the whole evening.
Then suddenly we were all turned into pumpkins, thanks to the idiots in the
Atlanta City Council. Sure, you can party hardy until 4 AM – at Underground
Atlanta. But the rest of Atlanta now rolls up the streets at 2:30. It’s probably
something that shouldn’t be said, but I can’t wait for the first shooting at
Underground at 3 AM, just to see if the fervor and panic extends to drown that
place (again.)
FILM FLAM
We caught The Triplets of Belleville on Sunday night at Midtown Art Cinema. It’s
a French animated feature I’d been looking forward to since I caught a preview a
while back. The drawing style reminded me of one of my childhood favorites, The
Aristocats. Triplets tells the tale of a kidnapped bicyclist and the grandmother
determined to rescue him with the aid of aging vaudeville performers, the
Triplets of Belleville. The film has very little dialogue (almost entirely in
English, for those of you phobic of foreign film) and about the first half of
the film is a little show, but the visuals are beautiful and the action sequence
at the end is imaginative and just damn cool. If you’re a fan of cartoons, this
is a must-see. But catch it quick. If I remember right, it’s only playing for a
week!
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