THE DOG DID NOT EAT GEORGE’S HOMEWORK, BUT, IF IT DID, IT’S REALLY THE FAULT OF HILLARY AND THE MEDIA
Ben Stein is a piece of human redundancy who wrote speeches for Richard Nixon, a novel about Quaaludes, did a bit of acting, and then hosted a quiz show. He also lives in LA and will be crying like a baby for FEMA and rescue when the next 7.4 hits us. Here, from The American Spectator, he does us a favor in 12-step tabulating all the standard arguments that will be used by Bush supporters and rightwing gum-flappers in the coming days, so we can all anticipate the mind-boggling bullshit in store. Over to the wholly ludicrous Ben Stein...
"A few truths, for those who have ears and eyes and care to know the truth:
1.) The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was an astonishing tragedy. The suffering and loss of life and peace of mind of the residents of those areas is acutely horrifying.
2.) George Bush did not cause the hurricane. Hurricanes have been happening for eons. George Bush did not create them or unleash this one.
3.) George Bush did not make this one worse than others. There have been far worse hurricanes than this before George Bush was born.
4.) There is no overwhelming evidence that global warming exists as a man-made phenomenon. There is no clear-cut evidence that global warming even exists. There is no clear evidence that if it does exist it makes hurricanes more powerful or makes them aim at cities with large numbers of poor people. If global warming is a real phenomenon, which it may well be, it started long before George Bush was inaugurated, and would not have been affected at all by the Kyoto treaty, considering that Kyoto does not cover the world's worst polluters -- China, India, and Brazil. In a word, George Bush had zero to do with causing this hurricane. To speculate otherwise is belief in sorcery.
5.) George Bush had nothing to do with the hurricane contingency plans for New Orleans. Those are drawn up by New Orleans and Louisiana. In any event, the plans were perfectly good: mandatory evacuation. It is in no way at all George Bush's fault that about 20 percent of New Orleans neglected to follow the plan. It is not his fault that many persons in New Orleans were too confused to realize how dangerous the hurricane would be. They were certainly warned. It's not George Bush's fault that there were sick people and old people and people without cars in New Orleans. His job description does not include making sure every adult in America has a car, is in good health, has good sense, and is mobile.
6.) George Bush did not cause gangsters to shoot at rescue helicopters taking people from rooftops, did not make gang bangers rape young girls in the Superdome, did not make looters steal hundreds of weapons, in short make New Orleans into a living hell.
7.) George Bush is the least racist President in mind and soul there has ever been and this is shown in his appointments over and over. To say otherwise is scandalously untrue.
8.) George Bush is rushing every bit of help he can to New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama as soon as he can. He is not a magician. It takes time to organize huge convoys of food and now they are starting to arrive. That they get in at all considering the lawlessness of the city is a miracle of bravery and organization.
9.) There is not the slightest evidence at all that the war in Iraq has diminished the response of the government to the emergency. To say otherwise is pure slander.
10.) If the energy the news media puts into blaming Bush for an Act of God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New Orleans city authorities and the malevolence of the criminals of the city were directed to helping the morale of the nation, we would all be a lot better off.
11.) New Orleans is a great city with many great people. It will recover and be greater than ever. Sticking pins into an effigy of George Bush that does not resemble him in the slightest will not speed the process by one day.
12.) The entire episode is a dramatic lesson in the breathtaking callousness of government officials at the ground level. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had gotten her way and they were in charge of your health care.God bless all of those dear people who are suffering so much, and God bless those helping them, starting with George Bush."
Below is something of a rebuttal from Michael Moore, although I really don’t think it’s worth bothering to debate the Stein doctrine. If someone starts spouting this crap at you, and is within easy reach, my best advice is to simply punch them hard between the eyes and be done with. If violence, even in the face of extreme provocation, cannot be considered an option for moral, religious, health, or gender reasons, simply and clearly enunciate the words "Shut the fuck up you abject cretin" and spit in their drink. Here’s Michael Moore...
"There is much to be said and done about the manmade annihilation of New Orleans, caused NOT by a hurricane but by the very specific decisions made by the Bush administration in the past four and a half years. Do not listen to anyone who says we can discuss all this later. No, we can't. Our country is in an immediate state of vulnerability. More hurricanes and other disasters are on the way, and a lazy bunch of self-satisfied lunatics are still running the show."
The secret word is Abdicate
CRYPTIQUE – The threat level is stuck on stupid.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Thursday, September 08, 2005
FALANGIST FUNNIES
For a long time I have wished people would stop using the word conservative when they mean neo-Nazi psychopaths. The lethal debacle on the Gulf Coast does, however, seem to be separating the sheep from the gauleiters. The Katrina deathtoll has even moved the pitbull Robert Novak to question Bush competence in today’s edition of his syndicated column...
"The common complaint is that the president has let the lawyers take over. Chertoff, a former federal judge and assistant attorney general, is a quintessential lawyer who has surrounded himself at Homeland Security with more lawyers. Michael D. Brown, who as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is Chertoff's subordinate, is also a lawyer. Neither Chertoff nor Brown was experienced in politics or large-scale management before joining the Bush administration."
Unfortunately Novak doesn’t go on to say the Bush seems fucking incapable of appointing any public officials except by the criteria of graft, cronyism, and deliberate incompetence when put in charge of stuff the necons don’t like – as in FEMA and anything to do with peace or poor people. But it is major turnround. Out on the fringes, though, it’s rabid storm trooping as usual like this clip sent over by some girl by some character called Michael Calderon at David Horowitz's Frontpage Magazine. I guess this is what passes for humor among fascists...
"Expect heavily armed and infuriated conservatives to launch a cleansing war against the traitors. The armed will mow down the mostly unarmed segments, especially those elements that devoted 40-plus years to anti-American hatred to destroy this country. Should the likes of Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Michael Moore, Ward Churchill, Dennis Raimondo [sic], et al. act out their sedition ... expect their bodies to be found shot full of holes ... Leftist professors will be strung up. It will be every man, woman, and child for themselves."
The secret word is Heil
A LETTER TO BOB
Dear Bob,
What is this shit, man? I went along the Victoria’s Secret TV commercial because I’m a guy and I understand. And I’ve stood up for the pencil moustache when friends said it made you look like a Jivaro shrunken head of Vincent Price, and I really did enjoy Masked and Anonymous, but, fuck it, did you have to sell The Times They Are A’Changing to Kaiser Permanente – a fucking HMO, and the reason why, in America, you stay healthy or die? Do I really have to come over and piss on your grave after I’m through with Mick & Pete.
As always,
Mick
For a long time I have wished people would stop using the word conservative when they mean neo-Nazi psychopaths. The lethal debacle on the Gulf Coast does, however, seem to be separating the sheep from the gauleiters. The Katrina deathtoll has even moved the pitbull Robert Novak to question Bush competence in today’s edition of his syndicated column...
"The common complaint is that the president has let the lawyers take over. Chertoff, a former federal judge and assistant attorney general, is a quintessential lawyer who has surrounded himself at Homeland Security with more lawyers. Michael D. Brown, who as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is Chertoff's subordinate, is also a lawyer. Neither Chertoff nor Brown was experienced in politics or large-scale management before joining the Bush administration."
Unfortunately Novak doesn’t go on to say the Bush seems fucking incapable of appointing any public officials except by the criteria of graft, cronyism, and deliberate incompetence when put in charge of stuff the necons don’t like – as in FEMA and anything to do with peace or poor people. But it is major turnround. Out on the fringes, though, it’s rabid storm trooping as usual like this clip sent over by some girl by some character called Michael Calderon at David Horowitz's Frontpage Magazine. I guess this is what passes for humor among fascists...
"Expect heavily armed and infuriated conservatives to launch a cleansing war against the traitors. The armed will mow down the mostly unarmed segments, especially those elements that devoted 40-plus years to anti-American hatred to destroy this country. Should the likes of Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Michael Moore, Ward Churchill, Dennis Raimondo [sic], et al. act out their sedition ... expect their bodies to be found shot full of holes ... Leftist professors will be strung up. It will be every man, woman, and child for themselves."
The secret word is Heil
A LETTER TO BOB
Dear Bob,
What is this shit, man? I went along the Victoria’s Secret TV commercial because I’m a guy and I understand. And I’ve stood up for the pencil moustache when friends said it made you look like a Jivaro shrunken head of Vincent Price, and I really did enjoy Masked and Anonymous, but, fuck it, did you have to sell The Times They Are A’Changing to Kaiser Permanente – a fucking HMO, and the reason why, in America, you stay healthy or die? Do I really have to come over and piss on your grave after I’m through with Mick & Pete.
As always,
Mick
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
WHEN I FIND MYSELF QUOTING CHURCHILL TWICE IN 24 HOURS, I KNOW WE’RE IN TROUBLE
"The responsibility of government for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate. It is in fact, the prime object for which governments come into existence." – Winston Spencer Churchill
Spin that at your peril, Coulter, Hannity, Malkin, Limbaugh, and the rest of fawning Bush lackeys. Your boy deserves nothing but disgusted contempt. His phoney authority died in the course of last week, somewhere in Jefferson Parish, so shut the fuck up. You only dishonor the dead.
Some girl just sent over a perfect example of how the mainstream is finally getting it, and the cry is not just from a bunch of old veteran freaks...
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-golden5sep05,0,6258105.column
Also from Bob Herbert in the NY Times...
"Like a boy being prepped for a second crack at a failed exam, Mr. Bush has been meeting with his handlers to see what steps can be taken to minimize the political fallout from this latest demonstration of his ineptitude. But this is not about politics. It's about competence. And when the president is so obviously clueless about matters so obviously important, it means that the rest of us, like the people left stranded in New Orleans, are in deep, deep trouble."
I WOULD DRAW THE PRESIDENT'S ATTENTIONN TO THE THREE "R’s" WHICH MAY BE HIS ONLY REMAINING OPTIONS...
Repentance
Resignation
or failing those...
Revolution
None of these words is a secret.
"The responsibility of government for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate. It is in fact, the prime object for which governments come into existence." – Winston Spencer Churchill
Spin that at your peril, Coulter, Hannity, Malkin, Limbaugh, and the rest of fawning Bush lackeys. Your boy deserves nothing but disgusted contempt. His phoney authority died in the course of last week, somewhere in Jefferson Parish, so shut the fuck up. You only dishonor the dead.
Some girl just sent over a perfect example of how the mainstream is finally getting it, and the cry is not just from a bunch of old veteran freaks...
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-golden5sep05,0,6258105.column
Also from Bob Herbert in the NY Times...
"Like a boy being prepped for a second crack at a failed exam, Mr. Bush has been meeting with his handlers to see what steps can be taken to minimize the political fallout from this latest demonstration of his ineptitude. But this is not about politics. It's about competence. And when the president is so obviously clueless about matters so obviously important, it means that the rest of us, like the people left stranded in New Orleans, are in deep, deep trouble."
I WOULD DRAW THE PRESIDENT'S ATTENTIONN TO THE THREE "R’s" WHICH MAY BE HIS ONLY REMAINING OPTIONS...
Repentance
Resignation
or failing those...
Revolution
None of these words is a secret.
WINSTON CHURCHILL CALLED IT THE BLACK DOG. THE MOMENT OF BLEAK AND WEARY DEPRESSION WHEN IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THE FIGHT IS ENDLESS. SELF-SATISFIED STUPIDITY REIGNS, LOYAL OPPOSITION IS WHOLLY INEFFECTUAL, AND THE DEAD BODIES PILE UP IN MOUNDS. IT HAS RAINED UNTIL SEPTEMBER AND I AM ANOTHER DAY OLDER AND DEEPER IN DEBT. LIKE THE SONGS SAYS, "I COULD SLEEP FOR A THOUSAND YEARS."
BUT TOMORROW IS ANOTHER SCARLET-O’-HARA, FUCKING DAY, AND THE FACT HAS TO BE FACED THAT, AFTER FIVE YEARS OF THIS ADMINISTRATION, AND FIVE YEARS OF THEIR SO-CALLED NEW AMERICAN CENTURY, THE NUCLEAR SUPERPOWER IS AN OUT-OF-CONTROL SHAMBLES. THE BASTARDS HAVE TO GO. AS IN GO NOW. THE CHILDREN MUST BE EVICTED FROM THE NURSERY, THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH THE TOYS. THE ONLY PERMISSIBLE DEBATE IS OVER THE MANNER OF THEIR DEPARTURE, FOR GO THEY MUST. THE WORLD WILL NOT SURVIVE THREE MORE YEARS OF THIS IDIOCY.
BUT TOMORROW IS ANOTHER SCARLET-O’-HARA, FUCKING DAY, AND THE FACT HAS TO BE FACED THAT, AFTER FIVE YEARS OF THIS ADMINISTRATION, AND FIVE YEARS OF THEIR SO-CALLED NEW AMERICAN CENTURY, THE NUCLEAR SUPERPOWER IS AN OUT-OF-CONTROL SHAMBLES. THE BASTARDS HAVE TO GO. AS IN GO NOW. THE CHILDREN MUST BE EVICTED FROM THE NURSERY, THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH THE TOYS. THE ONLY PERMISSIBLE DEBATE IS OVER THE MANNER OF THEIR DEPARTURE, FOR GO THEY MUST. THE WORLD WILL NOT SURVIVE THREE MORE YEARS OF THIS IDIOCY.
Monday, September 05, 2005
BEYOND ALL EXCUSE OR REASON 1.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the U.S.S. Bataan, "equipped with six operating rooms, hundreds of hospital beds and the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day," has been sitting off the Gulf Coast since last Monday - "without patients."
More to follow...
The secret word is Aghast
The Chicago Tribune reports that the U.S.S. Bataan, "equipped with six operating rooms, hundreds of hospital beds and the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day," has been sitting off the Gulf Coast since last Monday - "without patients."
More to follow...
The secret word is Aghast
Sunday, September 04, 2005
THANK GOD FOR WONKETTE
"We have it on good authority that Christopher Hitchens is preparing a ten-point litany explaining why conditions on the grounds in New Orleans are much better than you think." http://www.wonkette.com/
"We have it on good authority that Christopher Hitchens is preparing a ten-point litany explaining why conditions on the grounds in New Orleans are much better than you think." http://www.wonkette.com/
ANNE RICE
Over the years, I have, now and then, been unkind to Anne Rice. Those of us in the vampire business can take on all the bitchiness of a wolf pack at times. In today’s NY Time, though, she contributed an Op Ed piece that seemed to clarify some of the reasons I was finding myself becoming so angrily obsessive about the disaster.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html?incamp=article_popular
Over the years, I have, now and then, been unkind to Anne Rice. Those of us in the vampire business can take on all the bitchiness of a wolf pack at times. In today’s NY Time, though, she contributed an Op Ed piece that seemed to clarify some of the reasons I was finding myself becoming so angrily obsessive about the disaster.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html?incamp=article_popular
FRESH LINKS
From guys running a blog from a building in downtown NO, which may tell more than any of the increasingly confused news channels.
http://mgno.com/
And an example (despite all the disingenuous explanations) of the probably unconscious spin that placed on even a small thing like a picture caption.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/katrina/looters.asp
PLUS
This just in from LK in Paris...UPDATE: Good God. Laura Rozen passes along the following report from a Dutch reader:There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV.ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.
From guys running a blog from a building in downtown NO, which may tell more than any of the increasingly confused news channels.
http://mgno.com/
And an example (despite all the disingenuous explanations) of the probably unconscious spin that placed on even a small thing like a picture caption.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/katrina/looters.asp
PLUS
This just in from LK in Paris...UPDATE: Good God. Laura Rozen passes along the following report from a Dutch reader:There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV.ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
MY PET GOAT AND THE BUTCHER’S BILL
At the end of the engagement Nelson would ask for "the butcher’s bill." (For the historically-challenged, Horatio Nelson was the Brit admiral who trashed Napoleon by sea.) The butcher’s bill was his name for the casualty figures, and I very tired of reading the butcher’s bill run up by the My Pet Goat inefficiency of George W. Bush.
The words of the President quoted below are simply not those of a leader with the slightest grasp of reality...
"The good news is - and it’s hard for some to see it now - that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott’s house—he’s lost his entire house - there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch."
And talking of reality, there seems to be a fight brewing among the Red-State right, between the humans who have finally realized that their boy is a clown, and the wholly deluded who still spring to his defense. This set of posts seems pretty representative of a trip I took around the rightwing blogs...
http://right-thinking.com/index.php/weblog/comments/10557/
MEANWHILE
In a highly creative use of the internet, a wiki-map of the Gulf Coast has been created at...
http://www.scipionus.com/
The secret word is Accountability
Thanks for all the birthday wishes.
At the end of the engagement Nelson would ask for "the butcher’s bill." (For the historically-challenged, Horatio Nelson was the Brit admiral who trashed Napoleon by sea.) The butcher’s bill was his name for the casualty figures, and I very tired of reading the butcher’s bill run up by the My Pet Goat inefficiency of George W. Bush.
The words of the President quoted below are simply not those of a leader with the slightest grasp of reality...
"The good news is - and it’s hard for some to see it now - that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott’s house—he’s lost his entire house - there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch."
And talking of reality, there seems to be a fight brewing among the Red-State right, between the humans who have finally realized that their boy is a clown, and the wholly deluded who still spring to his defense. This set of posts seems pretty representative of a trip I took around the rightwing blogs...
http://right-thinking.com/index.php/weblog/comments/10557/
MEANWHILE
In a highly creative use of the internet, a wiki-map of the Gulf Coast has been created at...
http://www.scipionus.com/
The secret word is Accountability
Thanks for all the birthday wishes.
Friday, September 02, 2005
SEE THE CONSERVATIVE COMPASSION
SEE THE PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP
ALL THE FUN OF THE FIASCO
BUT THE POOR DIE IN THE STREET
Around 3.00AM last night I was in the depths of disgust. I had heard the words "shoot to kill" at least seven times on various newscasts, plus Louisiana’s totally ineffectual Governor Blanco posturing about her "300 soldiers fresh back from Iraq" and how "they have M-16s, and they're locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so if necessary, and I expect they will." Fury gripped me as these assholes attempted to blame the victims for the disaster, as in Michael Chertoff, the ludicrous Secretary of Homeland Security, claiming food couldn’t reach the Superdome because it had "crowd control issues." And then Bush himself bleating how "nobody expected the breach of the levees." Bush simply refuses to accept that he is the leader, the bucks stop with him, and, in a parliamentary democracy, there would be an opposition howling for his head and his resignation after he had allowed a large and decimated city to go without food, water, and medical supplies for four days without doing a fucking thing.
Today, as the first pathetic trickle of relief came in, and the mayor went on radio to curse the feds, I was marginally less furious. Grateful at least for Harry Connick, Kanye West, and few angry TV reporters who were stopping the horror from being buried either in lies and racism, or touchy-feely, self-congratulatory sacchine about white babies saved from wrath of the storm and the evil looters.
The email flies thick and fast, and here are some of the usual suspects.
HCB comments on yesterday’s diatribe against Fox...
Don't forget O'Reilly asserting, several times, that many of the people who stayed in NO deliberately remained behind so they could loot and wreak havoc. The question is, if a handful of street level thugs could successfully anticipate the effect of Katrina, why couldn't the government? As usual the Murdoch Rottweilers have laid down their firewall to allay any criticism of the Bush administration, while Condi takes in a show and buys shoes, and Bush struts about and pretends to give a shit. Funny, even in their little group photo op with the governors, Bush can hardly stay focused as he pretends to listen. Missing, I noticed, the their little assembly, was the governer of LA and the Mayor of NO. We haven't seen him for days, have we?
Meanwhile some girl has the goods on Condi and the comment "i would say it's un effing believeable, but nothing these people do ever surprises me."
Courtesy of Gawker: "Secret service is all over Seventh Avenue. That f---ing worthless bitch is shopping in showrooms right now." Whoa, such language! And how could anyone just assume that our leaders have anything other than the best intentions? We actually have it on good authority that Condi’s snapping up the best of the Spring 2006 collections and sending the fripperies directly to the Red Cross.
"Eyewitness: Sec of State Condoleezza Rice laughs it up at 'Spamalot' while the Gulf Coast lays in tatters. Theatergoers on New York City's Great White Way were shocked to see the president's former national security advisor at the Monty Python farce last night - as the rest of the Cabinet responds to Hurricane Katrina."
According to the Drudge Report, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently enjoyed a little Broadway entertainment. And Page Six reports that she’s also working on her backhand with Monica Seles. So the Gulf Coast has gone all Mad Max, and Rice is enjoying a brief vacation in New York. We wish we were surprised. What does surprise us: Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the Washington Post’s Robin Givhan).
A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, "How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!" Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman.Angry Lady, whoever you are, we love you. You are a true American, and we’ll go shoe shopping with you anytime. Copyright 2005 Gawker.com
Some girl has also found Fats Domino
(Reuters) - Rock 'n' roll pioneer Fats Domino, who went missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was rescued by boat from floodwaters near his New Orleans home and is "stressed out" but safe, his agent said on Friday. Domino, 77, beloved for his boogie-woogie piano style and such hits as "Ain't That a Shame" and "Blueberry Hill," ended up as one of thousands of New Orleans residents stranded by flooding after he rebuffed pleas from friends to evacuate as the storm bore down on the city, agent Al Embry told Reuters.
The rotund musician, his wife, Rosemary, and at least one daughter were picked up by rescue boat on Tuesday following frantic efforts by Embry to alert authorities that Domino and his family were believed trapped in their home, Embry said. "We heard he was on the balcony with his family and waving to people." He said Domino and his family initially were taken to the New Orleans Superdome with thousands of other evacuees and have since been moved to an unspecified location "because of all the media attention." "He is doing well, he's just stressed out a little bit," Embry said in a phone interview from Nashville, Tennessee. "But praise God, he got out of the thing." A daughter, Karen Domino White, who lives in New Jersey, told news agencies she had identified her father from a photograph published by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, showing a man being helped out of a rescue boat. Embry said he confirmed details of Domino's rescue in calls to a son of the musician and the governor's office.
While kaymo views the menachious inner workings and dark agendas beneath the veneer of excuses...
Vis a Vis Limbaugh and Reilly etc.... the campaign to turn the disaster of New Orleans into a plus for the GOP is underway. Make it an "urban riot"-- read black youths with guns-- and we know what part of America will start saluting. But for Rove the demise of New Orleans is an electoral plus. It destroys the big Democratic vote center in Louisiana, a state that wobbles slightly in its assigned Southern Strategy Orbit. Once the population of New Orleans has been put in refugee camps, for a good long stay, the campaign to get rid of Louisiana's annoying Democratic Senator Landrieu will get underway in earnest. Rove always has his eye on the prize, the permanent Republican Majority and One Party Rule.
And Rob, a very old pal, also made contact with word on other missing musicians...
My man in the Louisiana music scene, CC Adcock, says Willie (de Ville) no longer lives in NO and has moved back to NYC. Children by the millions still wait to hear about Alex Chilton. (And whether Allen Toussaint is really in the Superdome.) CC actually went in to NO yesterday with his friend, producer Mike Neopolitano (who is also Ani DiFranco's husband), to retrieve some albums he was working on that were on hard drive. CC says that French Quarter is unscathed, but the whole scene is bizarre. And saw few if any cops/troops/rescuer workers, raising questions as to whether what the govt. tells us is true.
Rob also has a great piece in Salon on the Camp Crawford
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083105M.shtml
The word is Communications. It’s no secret.
OH YEAH – Tomorrow is my birthday. At least I will not die young. But I still want gifts.
SEE THE PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP
ALL THE FUN OF THE FIASCO
BUT THE POOR DIE IN THE STREET
Around 3.00AM last night I was in the depths of disgust. I had heard the words "shoot to kill" at least seven times on various newscasts, plus Louisiana’s totally ineffectual Governor Blanco posturing about her "300 soldiers fresh back from Iraq" and how "they have M-16s, and they're locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so if necessary, and I expect they will." Fury gripped me as these assholes attempted to blame the victims for the disaster, as in Michael Chertoff, the ludicrous Secretary of Homeland Security, claiming food couldn’t reach the Superdome because it had "crowd control issues." And then Bush himself bleating how "nobody expected the breach of the levees." Bush simply refuses to accept that he is the leader, the bucks stop with him, and, in a parliamentary democracy, there would be an opposition howling for his head and his resignation after he had allowed a large and decimated city to go without food, water, and medical supplies for four days without doing a fucking thing.
Today, as the first pathetic trickle of relief came in, and the mayor went on radio to curse the feds, I was marginally less furious. Grateful at least for Harry Connick, Kanye West, and few angry TV reporters who were stopping the horror from being buried either in lies and racism, or touchy-feely, self-congratulatory sacchine about white babies saved from wrath of the storm and the evil looters.
The email flies thick and fast, and here are some of the usual suspects.
HCB comments on yesterday’s diatribe against Fox...
Don't forget O'Reilly asserting, several times, that many of the people who stayed in NO deliberately remained behind so they could loot and wreak havoc. The question is, if a handful of street level thugs could successfully anticipate the effect of Katrina, why couldn't the government? As usual the Murdoch Rottweilers have laid down their firewall to allay any criticism of the Bush administration, while Condi takes in a show and buys shoes, and Bush struts about and pretends to give a shit. Funny, even in their little group photo op with the governors, Bush can hardly stay focused as he pretends to listen. Missing, I noticed, the their little assembly, was the governer of LA and the Mayor of NO. We haven't seen him for days, have we?
Meanwhile some girl has the goods on Condi and the comment "i would say it's un effing believeable, but nothing these people do ever surprises me."
Courtesy of Gawker: "Secret service is all over Seventh Avenue. That f---ing worthless bitch is shopping in showrooms right now." Whoa, such language! And how could anyone just assume that our leaders have anything other than the best intentions? We actually have it on good authority that Condi’s snapping up the best of the Spring 2006 collections and sending the fripperies directly to the Red Cross.
"Eyewitness: Sec of State Condoleezza Rice laughs it up at 'Spamalot' while the Gulf Coast lays in tatters. Theatergoers on New York City's Great White Way were shocked to see the president's former national security advisor at the Monty Python farce last night - as the rest of the Cabinet responds to Hurricane Katrina."
According to the Drudge Report, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently enjoyed a little Broadway entertainment. And Page Six reports that she’s also working on her backhand with Monica Seles. So the Gulf Coast has gone all Mad Max, and Rice is enjoying a brief vacation in New York. We wish we were surprised. What does surprise us: Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the Washington Post’s Robin Givhan).
A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, "How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!" Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman.Angry Lady, whoever you are, we love you. You are a true American, and we’ll go shoe shopping with you anytime. Copyright 2005 Gawker.com
Some girl has also found Fats Domino
(Reuters) - Rock 'n' roll pioneer Fats Domino, who went missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was rescued by boat from floodwaters near his New Orleans home and is "stressed out" but safe, his agent said on Friday. Domino, 77, beloved for his boogie-woogie piano style and such hits as "Ain't That a Shame" and "Blueberry Hill," ended up as one of thousands of New Orleans residents stranded by flooding after he rebuffed pleas from friends to evacuate as the storm bore down on the city, agent Al Embry told Reuters.
The rotund musician, his wife, Rosemary, and at least one daughter were picked up by rescue boat on Tuesday following frantic efforts by Embry to alert authorities that Domino and his family were believed trapped in their home, Embry said. "We heard he was on the balcony with his family and waving to people." He said Domino and his family initially were taken to the New Orleans Superdome with thousands of other evacuees and have since been moved to an unspecified location "because of all the media attention." "He is doing well, he's just stressed out a little bit," Embry said in a phone interview from Nashville, Tennessee. "But praise God, he got out of the thing." A daughter, Karen Domino White, who lives in New Jersey, told news agencies she had identified her father from a photograph published by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, showing a man being helped out of a rescue boat. Embry said he confirmed details of Domino's rescue in calls to a son of the musician and the governor's office.
While kaymo views the menachious inner workings and dark agendas beneath the veneer of excuses...
Vis a Vis Limbaugh and Reilly etc.... the campaign to turn the disaster of New Orleans into a plus for the GOP is underway. Make it an "urban riot"-- read black youths with guns-- and we know what part of America will start saluting. But for Rove the demise of New Orleans is an electoral plus. It destroys the big Democratic vote center in Louisiana, a state that wobbles slightly in its assigned Southern Strategy Orbit. Once the population of New Orleans has been put in refugee camps, for a good long stay, the campaign to get rid of Louisiana's annoying Democratic Senator Landrieu will get underway in earnest. Rove always has his eye on the prize, the permanent Republican Majority and One Party Rule.
And Rob, a very old pal, also made contact with word on other missing musicians...
My man in the Louisiana music scene, CC Adcock, says Willie (de Ville) no longer lives in NO and has moved back to NYC. Children by the millions still wait to hear about Alex Chilton. (And whether Allen Toussaint is really in the Superdome.) CC actually went in to NO yesterday with his friend, producer Mike Neopolitano (who is also Ani DiFranco's husband), to retrieve some albums he was working on that were on hard drive. CC says that French Quarter is unscathed, but the whole scene is bizarre. And saw few if any cops/troops/rescuer workers, raising questions as to whether what the govt. tells us is true.
Rob also has a great piece in Salon on the Camp Crawford
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083105M.shtml
The word is Communications. It’s no secret.
OH YEAH – Tomorrow is my birthday. At least I will not die young. But I still want gifts.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
THE DOOMWATCH THAT NEVER SEEMS TO END
WHERE THE FUCK IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?
This is going to appear disjointed because, right now I feel disjointed. Almost a poem of helpless fury. All afternoon, I have been spasmodically watching a great American city – the birthplace of the blues – slip away. Where now is the much vaunted Homeland Security as inhabitants beg to TV cameras "Help us! Help us!"? Maybe too busy spying on librarians?
A massive chant – "Help us! Help us!", while I can personally do nothing except rage. I’ve seen people dying in the supposed shelters at the Superdome and the NO Convention center without food and water, while, tanks roll on downtown streets loaded with heavily armed police and National Guard protecting fucking corporate property. I’ve seen an NBC reporter in shock, telling of the deaths, and how the rumors of anarchy are vastly exaggerated, and trying to make clear the difference between anarchy and folks foraging for food and medicine to survive. He also begs for help.
And yet, on Fox news I’ve watched in disgust as Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly hammer on and on about "the breakdown of law and order", and stack up the buzz words until you need wings to stay above them – "rape", "looting", "crime", "gangs", "chaos" "disorder", "anarchy." On radio, the hideous Limbaugh huffs and puffs that the people still in NO and Biloxi don’t deserve help. They were warned to get out. (And a nod and a foul Limbaugh wink. After all, they’re only poor black people.)
BUT WHERE THE FUCK IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?
Fox would have us believe that relief cannot be brought until the streets are secure. And yet the continue to hamper relief efforts by spreading their horrorshow rumors. I am not going to forget this, you bastards. News crews fly in and out, and even Harry Connick can get in. Are media and musicians braver than FEMA and the National Guard? At the Convention Center, Connick seemingly talked to people and did what he could. The same NBC reporter told how he was the closest thing to an authority figure to come there since the levee burst. Maybe Fox are loyally covering up for the Federal cluster fuck, but, like I said, I ain’t going to forget what I’ve seen. Or the deathly quiet from all of those usually make so much unholy noise about the right to life. Were’s your fucking God today, Pat Robertson? No one to blame, Ann fucking Coulter? Where are the sooo patriotic flags in the windows of the SUV, assholes? Must the weeping be left to atheists?
EMAILS COME FROM THE EQUALLY ANGRY
HCB hasn’t been exactly helpless...Put Irish radio in touch with John Swenson, who's been supplying nightly reports on NO, as have I. The fun part is that John helped them make a connection with the bartender of Johnny White's Sports Bar, which has stayed open throughout, and she's feeding them the right sort of local color commentary. A real coup.
But he’s still pissed enough to be quoting Orson Welles...
Harry Lime: "Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever?"
The Third Man
Bush looks down from Air Force One, 2000 feet in the air, and remarks "it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground," Wonder if he feels any more connected to the worms below than he does the red blots in Baghdad?
He also provides a link to a sobering essay by Dion Dennis
http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=468
While kaymo looks dourly to the future...
Or not. Maybe I'm just a cynical old hippy, but I have to wonder if the future New Orleans won't just be a small domed entity around the hotels and the French Quarter-- operated by Disney-- plus the industrial sector that the rest of the country needs, while the ruined slums and suburbs will be left to the Formosan Termites and the waves.This may sound heartless and all that, but this is a Republican country run by flinty hearted Christians who like to spend their money on themselves, right? Why would they want to build housing for hundreds of thousands of poor, nay destitute, African Americans, especially as said housing would just become a huge, juicy target for the next Category 5 Hurricane that happens to slam into that part of the Gulf Coast?
Estimated costs of rebuilding New Orleans are already running over $100 Billion. Seeing as how the country is already deep in the red and has an expensive little war on its hands that won't go away, I don't see how this thing is doable, other than as a limited re-build of a tourist district.But even that may be hard to contemplate, until the many square miles of flooded, ruined homes, mired in filth and corpses have been bulldozed, or cleared away.
And any time, this year or next, or a few more down the road, another big Hurricane is gonna come boiling out of the Gulf. And a little farther down that road, when the oceans are a wee bit warmer, there's gonna be a new kind of storm, Category Six, with sustained winds of 200 mph.In fact this disaster may just be the first of several to come, with Miami, Charleston, Houston, Savannah, Mobile all capable of providing the next. With the obvious fragility of American civilization exposed-- one big storm can disrupt gasoline supply to half the country-- one has to wonder if this may not be the beginning of a long retreat from the southern coasts, a pulling back to higher ground and safer land.
Some girl sends a related link to yet another of global warming symptom in Scotland...
"last year's breeding failures were due to lack of food for seabirds as a result of warming seas along the east coast which are a result of climate change."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4201880.stm
Maybe that’s enough for now. I feel strange. Disgust is tiring. I just heard on TV that Fats Domino is among the missing. And has anyone heard anything of Willy de Ville?
The secret word is Shameful
WHERE THE FUCK IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?
This is going to appear disjointed because, right now I feel disjointed. Almost a poem of helpless fury. All afternoon, I have been spasmodically watching a great American city – the birthplace of the blues – slip away. Where now is the much vaunted Homeland Security as inhabitants beg to TV cameras "Help us! Help us!"? Maybe too busy spying on librarians?
A massive chant – "Help us! Help us!", while I can personally do nothing except rage. I’ve seen people dying in the supposed shelters at the Superdome and the NO Convention center without food and water, while, tanks roll on downtown streets loaded with heavily armed police and National Guard protecting fucking corporate property. I’ve seen an NBC reporter in shock, telling of the deaths, and how the rumors of anarchy are vastly exaggerated, and trying to make clear the difference between anarchy and folks foraging for food and medicine to survive. He also begs for help.
And yet, on Fox news I’ve watched in disgust as Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly hammer on and on about "the breakdown of law and order", and stack up the buzz words until you need wings to stay above them – "rape", "looting", "crime", "gangs", "chaos" "disorder", "anarchy." On radio, the hideous Limbaugh huffs and puffs that the people still in NO and Biloxi don’t deserve help. They were warned to get out. (And a nod and a foul Limbaugh wink. After all, they’re only poor black people.)
BUT WHERE THE FUCK IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?
Fox would have us believe that relief cannot be brought until the streets are secure. And yet the continue to hamper relief efforts by spreading their horrorshow rumors. I am not going to forget this, you bastards. News crews fly in and out, and even Harry Connick can get in. Are media and musicians braver than FEMA and the National Guard? At the Convention Center, Connick seemingly talked to people and did what he could. The same NBC reporter told how he was the closest thing to an authority figure to come there since the levee burst. Maybe Fox are loyally covering up for the Federal cluster fuck, but, like I said, I ain’t going to forget what I’ve seen. Or the deathly quiet from all of those usually make so much unholy noise about the right to life. Were’s your fucking God today, Pat Robertson? No one to blame, Ann fucking Coulter? Where are the sooo patriotic flags in the windows of the SUV, assholes? Must the weeping be left to atheists?
EMAILS COME FROM THE EQUALLY ANGRY
HCB hasn’t been exactly helpless...Put Irish radio in touch with John Swenson, who's been supplying nightly reports on NO, as have I. The fun part is that John helped them make a connection with the bartender of Johnny White's Sports Bar, which has stayed open throughout, and she's feeding them the right sort of local color commentary. A real coup.
But he’s still pissed enough to be quoting Orson Welles...
Harry Lime: "Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever?"
The Third Man
Bush looks down from Air Force One, 2000 feet in the air, and remarks "it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground," Wonder if he feels any more connected to the worms below than he does the red blots in Baghdad?
He also provides a link to a sobering essay by Dion Dennis
http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=468
While kaymo looks dourly to the future...
Or not. Maybe I'm just a cynical old hippy, but I have to wonder if the future New Orleans won't just be a small domed entity around the hotels and the French Quarter-- operated by Disney-- plus the industrial sector that the rest of the country needs, while the ruined slums and suburbs will be left to the Formosan Termites and the waves.This may sound heartless and all that, but this is a Republican country run by flinty hearted Christians who like to spend their money on themselves, right? Why would they want to build housing for hundreds of thousands of poor, nay destitute, African Americans, especially as said housing would just become a huge, juicy target for the next Category 5 Hurricane that happens to slam into that part of the Gulf Coast?
Estimated costs of rebuilding New Orleans are already running over $100 Billion. Seeing as how the country is already deep in the red and has an expensive little war on its hands that won't go away, I don't see how this thing is doable, other than as a limited re-build of a tourist district.But even that may be hard to contemplate, until the many square miles of flooded, ruined homes, mired in filth and corpses have been bulldozed, or cleared away.
And any time, this year or next, or a few more down the road, another big Hurricane is gonna come boiling out of the Gulf. And a little farther down that road, when the oceans are a wee bit warmer, there's gonna be a new kind of storm, Category Six, with sustained winds of 200 mph.In fact this disaster may just be the first of several to come, with Miami, Charleston, Houston, Savannah, Mobile all capable of providing the next. With the obvious fragility of American civilization exposed-- one big storm can disrupt gasoline supply to half the country-- one has to wonder if this may not be the beginning of a long retreat from the southern coasts, a pulling back to higher ground and safer land.
Some girl sends a related link to yet another of global warming symptom in Scotland...
"last year's breeding failures were due to lack of food for seabirds as a result of warming seas along the east coast which are a result of climate change."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4201880.stm
Maybe that’s enough for now. I feel strange. Disgust is tiring. I just heard on TV that Fats Domino is among the missing. And has anyone heard anything of Willy de Ville?
The secret word is Shameful
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
DOOMWATCH KATRINA
It’s hard to come to grips with the fact that New Orleans as we knew it is history. I also worry about the friends and folks I know down yonder. And between the bouts of numbness with the TV images, I want to leap up and down and scream. "It was a superstorm, motherfuckers, because the temperatures on the ocean surface are too fucking high!" But maybe rage is not yet appropriate.
This email came from Cole Coonce, a stalwart colleague at LA CityBeat, and I share it because it brings the disaster into a tighter, more personal focus...
... as of this morning, the levees have broken and the water in New Orleans is rising an inch every five minutes....
In the days before the hurricane and subsequent flood, I took snaps from a trolley going uptown from St. Charles and of the statue of Ignatius J. Reilly on Canal Street. I also took pics while cycling along the levees that are supposed to keep the Mississippi River in check and out of New Orleans itself. Also is stuff from the French Quarter, where my old pal Bo Fingers insisted we look for his friend Al Broussard, the Human Trumpet. (Turns out Al passed a couple of years ago, but we still have a grand time.)
I left New Orleans early Sunday. All Flights were cancelled, rental cars were non-existent and it was a 20 hour bus ride to Houston 300 miles away (the nearest airport) Sunday morning to Monday morning. The exodus was replete with a stinking backed-up toilet and an air conditioner whose condensation leaked into my lap for the duration... the first 10 miles took six hours... the bus driver bailed on the interstates and took parish highways through swamps, plantation country and sugar cane fields, which allowed for a lengthy meditation on the duality of the South as well as the imminent devastation.... anyway, I finally caught a plane out of George Bush last night...
And, of course, I got off light.So: Also documented is the Natchez Trace in Jackson, Mississippi, where I spent a couple of days last week cycling with my sister and my mom's neighbor, who -- come to find out -- is a DEA agent. Yes, Missisippi: My family got hit pretty hard by Katrina in Jackson and near Hattiesburg.... torn up fences and power lines, uprooted 150 foot pine trees, etc... My good ol Uncle Ed and Aunt Dot cannot get out of their house because of the prodigious amount of debris... but at leeast they lived... still, they are pretty demoralized and their plight makes me rather sad and feeling somewhat guilty about being back in Los Angeles and not back their helping them sift through the damage...
Even though none of these were shot in the storm itself, I still make no apologies for the blurriness of any of these photos. With the camera in hand, I rarely get off the bike, nor stop the vehicle. Except for the stuff in the French Quarter, these pics are all about motion... as was the situation in Mississippi and Louisiana itself.
Keep in mind that a lot of this stuff is now underwater and is teeming with sewage, water mocassins and dysentery.
80 people are dead in Gulfport, Mississippi alone. Trust me: that is a very conservative count. My mom told me the winds of Biblical proportion beat up her house ALL day Monday. Jackson is 180 miles north of the coast. There is more damage than is really fathomable along all those small towns from the coast, up the delta and into hill country. I cannot confirm this yet, but there is a rumor that Richton, Mississippi (where my Uncle Ed is the local doctor) is basically g-o-n-e. So: the only difference between this and the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia not too long ago is that the American peoples of the Gulf Coast were given 48 to 72 hours notice that the shit was going to hit the fan. We'll see how much difference that notice will make in the final casualty count.
http://www.kerosenebomb.com/natcheztrace-neworleans
The secret word is Mortality
It’s hard to come to grips with the fact that New Orleans as we knew it is history. I also worry about the friends and folks I know down yonder. And between the bouts of numbness with the TV images, I want to leap up and down and scream. "It was a superstorm, motherfuckers, because the temperatures on the ocean surface are too fucking high!" But maybe rage is not yet appropriate.
This email came from Cole Coonce, a stalwart colleague at LA CityBeat, and I share it because it brings the disaster into a tighter, more personal focus...
... as of this morning, the levees have broken and the water in New Orleans is rising an inch every five minutes....
In the days before the hurricane and subsequent flood, I took snaps from a trolley going uptown from St. Charles and of the statue of Ignatius J. Reilly on Canal Street. I also took pics while cycling along the levees that are supposed to keep the Mississippi River in check and out of New Orleans itself. Also is stuff from the French Quarter, where my old pal Bo Fingers insisted we look for his friend Al Broussard, the Human Trumpet. (Turns out Al passed a couple of years ago, but we still have a grand time.)
I left New Orleans early Sunday. All Flights were cancelled, rental cars were non-existent and it was a 20 hour bus ride to Houston 300 miles away (the nearest airport) Sunday morning to Monday morning. The exodus was replete with a stinking backed-up toilet and an air conditioner whose condensation leaked into my lap for the duration... the first 10 miles took six hours... the bus driver bailed on the interstates and took parish highways through swamps, plantation country and sugar cane fields, which allowed for a lengthy meditation on the duality of the South as well as the imminent devastation.... anyway, I finally caught a plane out of George Bush last night...
And, of course, I got off light.So: Also documented is the Natchez Trace in Jackson, Mississippi, where I spent a couple of days last week cycling with my sister and my mom's neighbor, who -- come to find out -- is a DEA agent. Yes, Missisippi: My family got hit pretty hard by Katrina in Jackson and near Hattiesburg.... torn up fences and power lines, uprooted 150 foot pine trees, etc... My good ol Uncle Ed and Aunt Dot cannot get out of their house because of the prodigious amount of debris... but at leeast they lived... still, they are pretty demoralized and their plight makes me rather sad and feeling somewhat guilty about being back in Los Angeles and not back their helping them sift through the damage...
Even though none of these were shot in the storm itself, I still make no apologies for the blurriness of any of these photos. With the camera in hand, I rarely get off the bike, nor stop the vehicle. Except for the stuff in the French Quarter, these pics are all about motion... as was the situation in Mississippi and Louisiana itself.
Keep in mind that a lot of this stuff is now underwater and is teeming with sewage, water mocassins and dysentery.
80 people are dead in Gulfport, Mississippi alone. Trust me: that is a very conservative count. My mom told me the winds of Biblical proportion beat up her house ALL day Monday. Jackson is 180 miles north of the coast. There is more damage than is really fathomable along all those small towns from the coast, up the delta and into hill country. I cannot confirm this yet, but there is a rumor that Richton, Mississippi (where my Uncle Ed is the local doctor) is basically g-o-n-e. So: the only difference between this and the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia not too long ago is that the American peoples of the Gulf Coast were given 48 to 72 hours notice that the shit was going to hit the fan. We'll see how much difference that notice will make in the final casualty count.
http://www.kerosenebomb.com/natcheztrace-neworleans
The secret word is Mortality
Sunday, August 28, 2005
SUNDAY OP-ED
Today I had my first op-ed piece in the LA Times, which I guess is some kinda landmark. If the subject matter seems a little unexpected it was requested not instigated. I hope there will be more
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-farren28aug28,0,3101267.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
The secret words is Debut
CRYPTIQUE – You wicked political dwarf, we will resolutely smash your desperate war moves!
Today I had my first op-ed piece in the LA Times, which I guess is some kinda landmark. If the subject matter seems a little unexpected it was requested not instigated. I hope there will be more
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-farren28aug28,0,3101267.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
The secret words is Debut
CRYPTIQUE – You wicked political dwarf, we will resolutely smash your desperate war moves!
Saturday, August 27, 2005
SATURDAY ODDS AND ENDS
Saturday afternoon. It’s hot. The TV beyond the wall just told me it was 108F in Chatsworth (where the porn comes from.) I should be answering emails. I should be writing. I should be reading someone’s novel, I should be reading someone else’s screenplay. I have work to do, but right now I’m not doing it. I suppose I should be commenting on polls that claim the 2008 Presidential Race will be between Hillary and Rudy Giuliani, and maybe warning how, if Georgie-Boy continues to look so bad as we approach the 2006 midterm elections, the Republicans must not be allowed to slide away from him.
But I’m not.
I’m playing with a North Korean Insult Generator (see below) and mightily procrastinating. Later, I don’t doubt, guilt – if nothing else – will motivate me back to the grind, but, in the meantime, I am enjoying the sweet lethargy of life, and posting some odds and ends that might amuse.
ANOTHER SPECIMEN OF DRUG WAR FOLLIES
(via munz)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/27/opinion/27tierney.html?th&emc=th
SOMETHING POSTED FOR NO REASON EXCEPT IT CAUGHT MY IDLE IMAGINATION
(From Japan Today) KOBE — Kenichi Shinoda, the Yamaguchi-gumi's No. 2 man, formally became the sixth boss of Japan's largest crime syndicate in a ceremony held Saturday at its headquarters in Kobe. The ceremony, marking the first change of power for the Yamaguchi-gumi in 16 years, was attended by some 100 leaders and members of affiliated groups nationwide, police said.
The Yamaguchi-gumi traditionally holds such a ceremony to mark a change of power, which is intended to establish "quasi-blood relations" between the new boss and his subordinates, the police source said. According to the National Police Agency, the Yamaguchi-gumi had about 39,200 members and quasi-members last year, which accounted for 45% of all gang members throughout Japan.
AND NOW A MESSAGE FROM OUR BELOVED AND THRICE BLESSED LEADER
relayed by HCB...
http://www.nk-news.net/extras/insult_generator.php
CRYPTIQUE – The trick is not minding.
The secret word is Tomorrow
Saturday afternoon. It’s hot. The TV beyond the wall just told me it was 108F in Chatsworth (where the porn comes from.) I should be answering emails. I should be writing. I should be reading someone’s novel, I should be reading someone else’s screenplay. I have work to do, but right now I’m not doing it. I suppose I should be commenting on polls that claim the 2008 Presidential Race will be between Hillary and Rudy Giuliani, and maybe warning how, if Georgie-Boy continues to look so bad as we approach the 2006 midterm elections, the Republicans must not be allowed to slide away from him.
But I’m not.
I’m playing with a North Korean Insult Generator (see below) and mightily procrastinating. Later, I don’t doubt, guilt – if nothing else – will motivate me back to the grind, but, in the meantime, I am enjoying the sweet lethargy of life, and posting some odds and ends that might amuse.
ANOTHER SPECIMEN OF DRUG WAR FOLLIES
(via munz)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/27/opinion/27tierney.html?th&emc=th
SOMETHING POSTED FOR NO REASON EXCEPT IT CAUGHT MY IDLE IMAGINATION
(From Japan Today) KOBE — Kenichi Shinoda, the Yamaguchi-gumi's No. 2 man, formally became the sixth boss of Japan's largest crime syndicate in a ceremony held Saturday at its headquarters in Kobe. The ceremony, marking the first change of power for the Yamaguchi-gumi in 16 years, was attended by some 100 leaders and members of affiliated groups nationwide, police said.
The Yamaguchi-gumi traditionally holds such a ceremony to mark a change of power, which is intended to establish "quasi-blood relations" between the new boss and his subordinates, the police source said. According to the National Police Agency, the Yamaguchi-gumi had about 39,200 members and quasi-members last year, which accounted for 45% of all gang members throughout Japan.
AND NOW A MESSAGE FROM OUR BELOVED AND THRICE BLESSED LEADER
relayed by HCB...
http://www.nk-news.net/extras/insult_generator.php
CRYPTIQUE – The trick is not minding.
The secret word is Tomorrow
Friday, August 26, 2005
DOOMWATCH
As part of Doc40's untiring efforts to prove that it’s later than we think, and global warning is further advanced than most in power are willing to admit, we (like Rod Serling) submit the following for you consideration...
The world’s biggest bog is melting. The West Siberia peat bog is the size of France and Germany combined and it is turning from permafrost to a land o’ lakes, releasing billions of tonnes of methane into the atmosphere in the process. Botanist Sergei Kirpotin described it as an "ecological landslide that is probably irreversible and undoubtedly connected to climatic warming." Temperatures in western Siberia have increased on average by 3C in the past forty years, but the thawing of millions of square miles of frozen peat has "all taken place in the last three or four."
The secret word is Slush
TRIVIA
Q: Who said "fascism is a merging of corporations and government"?
A: Benito Mussolini who, in context, probably knew what he was talking about.
CONFLAGRATION
For those of you who have been asking, my novel Conflagration, the sequel to Kindling, has finally found itself a slot in the Tor Books schedule. It will be out in June of 2006.
HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION – (in an accent like Bela Lugosi with high creepy minor chords) You will buy a book this weekend. You will buy a book by Mick Farren this weekend. (more creepy minor chords)
OH YEAH, I ALMOST FORGOT...
New Mick's Media column out in LA CityBeat...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2533&IssueNum=116
As part of Doc40's untiring efforts to prove that it’s later than we think, and global warning is further advanced than most in power are willing to admit, we (like Rod Serling) submit the following for you consideration...
The world’s biggest bog is melting. The West Siberia peat bog is the size of France and Germany combined and it is turning from permafrost to a land o’ lakes, releasing billions of tonnes of methane into the atmosphere in the process. Botanist Sergei Kirpotin described it as an "ecological landslide that is probably irreversible and undoubtedly connected to climatic warming." Temperatures in western Siberia have increased on average by 3C in the past forty years, but the thawing of millions of square miles of frozen peat has "all taken place in the last three or four."
The secret word is Slush
TRIVIA
Q: Who said "fascism is a merging of corporations and government"?
A: Benito Mussolini who, in context, probably knew what he was talking about.
CONFLAGRATION
For those of you who have been asking, my novel Conflagration, the sequel to Kindling, has finally found itself a slot in the Tor Books schedule. It will be out in June of 2006.
HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION – (in an accent like Bela Lugosi with high creepy minor chords) You will buy a book this weekend. You will buy a book by Mick Farren this weekend. (more creepy minor chords)
OH YEAH, I ALMOST FORGOT...
New Mick's Media column out in LA CityBeat...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2533&IssueNum=116
BOSS GOODMAN UPDATE
A little tardy in posting, but all is well. Su writes...
You probably already heard, but Boss has had his angiogram and his arteries are fine. They're letting him go home today.
And from Boss himself via Funtopia Rich
"Angiogram done no probs, arteries all fine, goin' home today...YAH HOOTIE!"
A little tardy in posting, but all is well. Su writes...
You probably already heard, but Boss has had his angiogram and his arteries are fine. They're letting him go home today.
And from Boss himself via Funtopia Rich
"Angiogram done no probs, arteries all fine, goin' home today...YAH HOOTIE!"
Thursday, August 25, 2005
RE ANN COULTER (see yesterday)
The following was sent over by HCB...
One of my favorites, from Casablanca:
Major Strasser: Are you one of those people who cannot imagine the Germans in their beloved Paris?
Rick: It's not particularly my beloved Paris.
Heinz: Can you imagine us in London?
Rick: When you get there, ask me!
Captain Renault: Hmmh! Diplomatist!
Major Strasser: How about New York?
Rick: Well there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.
As for Robertson, seems to me that the Venezuelan angle is their relationship with Iran, more so than supplying Jamaica with low-cost oil and swapping oil for doctors with Cuba. Chavez is being very cute meantime and declaring that he wants to give poor people in America cheap oil and gas. I'd love to see that.
But the fun part is how Robertson has got himself jammed in the middle between Bush's religious right agendas and oil interests. The poor cousin in the religious right has always been the hillbilly pentacostal factor, which the Bush folks, and the slicker members of that establishment, I'm sure, are as eager to forget as Nashville was when they went looking for slick country and tried to bury Hony Tonk, back when. But musically, Hillbilly is now hip, whereas it's be a cold night for alligators before Fallwell shares a snake with Oral Roberts, or Robertson teams up for a tandem limousine hooker humjob with Swaggert.
Did you catch the Texas chupacabra, by the way? Ratty looking thing, but the scary part is the fangs.
AND CHECK THIS OUT...
The site linked below has the preposterous idea that we should all make use of Paypal to buy Christopher Hitchens a drink. "Fuck off" I cry. Hitchens is grossly overpaid by Vanity Fair for his drunken revisionism. On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind the odd bottle of scotch donated by an awed reader. Of course, I’m too tech-inept to instal the Paypal button, but it’s worth thinking about.
http://windsofchange.net/archives/005182.php
(The email here, by the way, is byron4d@msn.com)
The secret word is Malt
The following was sent over by HCB...
One of my favorites, from Casablanca:
Major Strasser: Are you one of those people who cannot imagine the Germans in their beloved Paris?
Rick: It's not particularly my beloved Paris.
Heinz: Can you imagine us in London?
Rick: When you get there, ask me!
Captain Renault: Hmmh! Diplomatist!
Major Strasser: How about New York?
Rick: Well there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.
As for Robertson, seems to me that the Venezuelan angle is their relationship with Iran, more so than supplying Jamaica with low-cost oil and swapping oil for doctors with Cuba. Chavez is being very cute meantime and declaring that he wants to give poor people in America cheap oil and gas. I'd love to see that.
But the fun part is how Robertson has got himself jammed in the middle between Bush's religious right agendas and oil interests. The poor cousin in the religious right has always been the hillbilly pentacostal factor, which the Bush folks, and the slicker members of that establishment, I'm sure, are as eager to forget as Nashville was when they went looking for slick country and tried to bury Hony Tonk, back when. But musically, Hillbilly is now hip, whereas it's be a cold night for alligators before Fallwell shares a snake with Oral Roberts, or Robertson teams up for a tandem limousine hooker humjob with Swaggert.
Did you catch the Texas chupacabra, by the way? Ratty looking thing, but the scary part is the fangs.
AND CHECK THIS OUT...
The site linked below has the preposterous idea that we should all make use of Paypal to buy Christopher Hitchens a drink. "Fuck off" I cry. Hitchens is grossly overpaid by Vanity Fair for his drunken revisionism. On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind the odd bottle of scotch donated by an awed reader. Of course, I’m too tech-inept to instal the Paypal button, but it’s worth thinking about.
http://windsofchange.net/archives/005182.php
(The email here, by the way, is byron4d@msn.com)
The secret word is Malt
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
COMPARATIVE RELIGION
So the founder of the Christian Coalition and constant political player Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, declaring, "it's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop." Since I don’t watch The 700 Hundred Club (few do) except when very drunk, I don’t know Robertson’s precise beef with Chavez, but I would surmise that it has something to do with Venezuela having a mess of oil, Chavez being a socialist, having his picture taken with Fidel, and giving the finger to the US oil barons. Any of the above would be enough to set off the loathsome Robertson. I don’t doubt Old Pat will get away with this statement unscathed, but I have to reflect that, if I was to call for the assassination of any political leaders I didn’t like, even on this humble weblog, I’d have the FBI ripping through my harddrive and god only knows what else.
AND TALKING OF LOATHSOME
In one of her recent, narrowly syndicated columns, Ann Coulter includes the most extraordinary aside. In a tired retread of basic Bush, she weakly rants...the savages have declared war, and it's far preferable to fight them in the streets of Baghdad than in the streets of New York...but then goes on to add... (where the residents would immediately surrender). Say what? Have you forgotten, my dear, that New York is the only place in this wretched country to actually go through the fire? I’d advise staying off 2nd Avenue for the next few weeks. Paulie and Sal want to talk to you, and they don’t look happy.
MO’ RELIGION
I know that this is very far from new, but since it’s making he rounds, I though I’d post it.
Taoism: shit happens.
Confucianism: Confucius says, shit happens.
Buddhism: if shit happens, it isn't really shit.
Zen: what is the sound of shit happening?
Hinduism: this shit happened before.
Islam: if shit happens, it is the will of Allah.
Protestantism: let shit happen to someone else.
Native American: what is the medicine of shit?
Catholicism: if shit happens, you deserve it.
Judaism: why does this shit always happen to us?
Pantheism: it's all the same shit.
Atheism: I don't believe this shit.
Agnosticism: what is this shit?
The secret word is Fatwah
CRYPTIQUE – There are no injections against the devil.
So the founder of the Christian Coalition and constant political player Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, declaring, "it's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop." Since I don’t watch The 700 Hundred Club (few do) except when very drunk, I don’t know Robertson’s precise beef with Chavez, but I would surmise that it has something to do with Venezuela having a mess of oil, Chavez being a socialist, having his picture taken with Fidel, and giving the finger to the US oil barons. Any of the above would be enough to set off the loathsome Robertson. I don’t doubt Old Pat will get away with this statement unscathed, but I have to reflect that, if I was to call for the assassination of any political leaders I didn’t like, even on this humble weblog, I’d have the FBI ripping through my harddrive and god only knows what else.
AND TALKING OF LOATHSOME
In one of her recent, narrowly syndicated columns, Ann Coulter includes the most extraordinary aside. In a tired retread of basic Bush, she weakly rants...the savages have declared war, and it's far preferable to fight them in the streets of Baghdad than in the streets of New York...but then goes on to add... (where the residents would immediately surrender). Say what? Have you forgotten, my dear, that New York is the only place in this wretched country to actually go through the fire? I’d advise staying off 2nd Avenue for the next few weeks. Paulie and Sal want to talk to you, and they don’t look happy.
MO’ RELIGION
I know that this is very far from new, but since it’s making he rounds, I though I’d post it.
Taoism: shit happens.
Confucianism: Confucius says, shit happens.
Buddhism: if shit happens, it isn't really shit.
Zen: what is the sound of shit happening?
Hinduism: this shit happened before.
Islam: if shit happens, it is the will of Allah.
Protestantism: let shit happen to someone else.
Native American: what is the medicine of shit?
Catholicism: if shit happens, you deserve it.
Judaism: why does this shit always happen to us?
Pantheism: it's all the same shit.
Atheism: I don't believe this shit.
Agnosticism: what is this shit?
The secret word is Fatwah
CRYPTIQUE – There are no injections against the devil.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
SUNDAY FUNNIES
Woke up this morning, and, for want of anything better to do, I read the NY Times (oh boy). Gleaned some hope from an excellent piece by Frank Rich that seemed to confirm my hope/feeling that maybe the nation has reached a tipping point on the nonsensical bloody war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/opinion/21rich.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1124669278-pcViXMxZuNBkIUkaXlDjWQ
I also picked up the snippet of information that "if the American military presence in the region lasts another five years, the total outlay for the war could stretch to more than $1.3 trillion, or $11,300 for every household in the United States."
But then I turned to a story about all the fucking money that’s being poured into "the debate between evolution and intelligent design" that is no fucking debate at all and the fucking NY Times ought to know better, and all the weight of depression came back as I remembered the millions out there who adamantly believe that God created the world in six days and that The Dukes Of Hazzard is entertainment for humans.
And then an email came from some girl with a link she’d recieved from 00Soul and I had to laugh.
http://supermodelpersonals.blogspot.com/
It was only at this point that I turned to the LA Times and discovered Hunter's farewell.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-thompson21aug21,0,5289216.story?track=tothtml
CRYPTIQUE – How long can I share a planet with Jessica Simpson?
The secret word is Acute
Woke up this morning, and, for want of anything better to do, I read the NY Times (oh boy). Gleaned some hope from an excellent piece by Frank Rich that seemed to confirm my hope/feeling that maybe the nation has reached a tipping point on the nonsensical bloody war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/opinion/21rich.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1124669278-pcViXMxZuNBkIUkaXlDjWQ
I also picked up the snippet of information that "if the American military presence in the region lasts another five years, the total outlay for the war could stretch to more than $1.3 trillion, or $11,300 for every household in the United States."
But then I turned to a story about all the fucking money that’s being poured into "the debate between evolution and intelligent design" that is no fucking debate at all and the fucking NY Times ought to know better, and all the weight of depression came back as I remembered the millions out there who adamantly believe that God created the world in six days and that The Dukes Of Hazzard is entertainment for humans.
And then an email came from some girl with a link she’d recieved from 00Soul and I had to laugh.
http://supermodelpersonals.blogspot.com/
It was only at this point that I turned to the LA Times and discovered Hunter's farewell.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-thompson21aug21,0,5289216.story?track=tothtml
CRYPTIQUE – How long can I share a planet with Jessica Simpson?
The secret word is Acute
Friday, August 19, 2005
REAL BAD NEWS
THE HORROR, THE HORROR, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN IS NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! For more, read....
http://www.thesuperficial.com/archives/003295.html
And then perhaps wonder who now will lead the Voters of The Dead Zone?
The secret word is Disappointed
MORE ASSORTED COMMUNICATIONS (this starts below, but such is the way of the blog)
After my methamphetamine story in LA CityBeat, (see last Thursday) HCB sends the following literary snippet...
'Benzedrine,' said James Bond. 'It's what I shall need if I'm going to keep my wits about me tonight. It's apt to make one a bit overconfident, but that'll help too.' He stirred the champagne so that the white powder whirled among the bubbles. Then he drank the mixture down with one long swallow. 'It doesn't taste,' said Bond, 'and the champagne is quite excellent.' – from Moonraker
And some girl sent this link, unrelated but fun...
http://www.fedexfurniture.com/
(But, yo Boarg, might you have not have conceived and built such things back in the day?)
THE HORROR, THE HORROR, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN IS NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! For more, read....
http://www.thesuperficial.com/archives/003295.html
And then perhaps wonder who now will lead the Voters of The Dead Zone?
The secret word is Disappointed
MORE ASSORTED COMMUNICATIONS (this starts below, but such is the way of the blog)
After my methamphetamine story in LA CityBeat, (see last Thursday) HCB sends the following literary snippet...
'Benzedrine,' said James Bond. 'It's what I shall need if I'm going to keep my wits about me tonight. It's apt to make one a bit overconfident, but that'll help too.' He stirred the champagne so that the white powder whirled among the bubbles. Then he drank the mixture down with one long swallow. 'It doesn't taste,' said Bond, 'and the champagne is quite excellent.' – from Moonraker
And some girl sent this link, unrelated but fun...
http://www.fedexfurniture.com/
(But, yo Boarg, might you have not have conceived and built such things back in the day?)
ASSORTED PLUGS & COMMUNICATIONS
Dimitris sends the following as discordant satire, but I tend to believe it especially, the bit about pirates and global warming. And I really want one of those faux-Michelangelo mugs, maybe for my upcoming birthday.
http://www.venganza.org/.
LEARNED AND FREE
Our friend Jake has been a-publishing and now writes...
Invisible Books is pleased to announce the online publication of Hours One through Six of the Book Amduat. The complete text, in English, Hieroglyphics and transliteration, with all illustrations reproduced and explicated, is available without charge in PDF format.
Amduat, describes Ra's journey through the twelve hours of the night. It is the Divine Comedy of Ancient Egypt, and the most influential religious text ever produced there.
This is the first complete translation to appear in English in 100 years, the only version of the hieroglyphic text available online or currently print.
http://www.invisiblebooks.com/Amduat.htm
He also sends a kind encouragement for my kicking nicotine...
Burroughs once told me it was harder to quit than junk. I'm not sure about that, since he never really managed to quit either. If you can manage this, you have strength such as few men possess. And if you fall off the wagon, dust yourself off and get back on in a few days. "Seven falls make a rider."
NOT FREE BUT NICE
Plus another plug for Ellen, a good friend of Doc40, who has her own crafts store on ebay. Check it out...
http://stores.ebay.com/MooCat-Arts_W0QQssPageNameZviQ3asibQ3astoreviewQQtZkm
IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
A number of people have asked when Conflagration, the sequel to Kindling, will be published and my only answer right now – and until September when Tor Books and the rest of New York gets fully back to work – is "I don’t have a clue", except it will probably be a while since the paperback of Kindling has still to come out.
The secret word is Waiting
Dimitris sends the following as discordant satire, but I tend to believe it especially, the bit about pirates and global warming. And I really want one of those faux-Michelangelo mugs, maybe for my upcoming birthday.
http://www.venganza.org/.
LEARNED AND FREE
Our friend Jake has been a-publishing and now writes...
Invisible Books is pleased to announce the online publication of Hours One through Six of the Book Amduat. The complete text, in English, Hieroglyphics and transliteration, with all illustrations reproduced and explicated, is available without charge in PDF format.
Amduat, describes Ra's journey through the twelve hours of the night. It is the Divine Comedy of Ancient Egypt, and the most influential religious text ever produced there.
This is the first complete translation to appear in English in 100 years, the only version of the hieroglyphic text available online or currently print.
http://www.invisiblebooks.com/Amduat.htm
He also sends a kind encouragement for my kicking nicotine...
Burroughs once told me it was harder to quit than junk. I'm not sure about that, since he never really managed to quit either. If you can manage this, you have strength such as few men possess. And if you fall off the wagon, dust yourself off and get back on in a few days. "Seven falls make a rider."
NOT FREE BUT NICE
Plus another plug for Ellen, a good friend of Doc40, who has her own crafts store on ebay. Check it out...
http://stores.ebay.com/MooCat-Arts_W0QQssPageNameZviQ3asibQ3astoreviewQQtZkm
IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
A number of people have asked when Conflagration, the sequel to Kindling, will be published and my only answer right now – and until September when Tor Books and the rest of New York gets fully back to work – is "I don’t have a clue", except it will probably be a while since the paperback of Kindling has still to come out.
The secret word is Waiting
Thursday, August 18, 2005
SPEED. KNOW WHAT I MEAN? RIGHT?
Cover story in current LA CityBeat is a summation of most of my current thoughts on amphetamine. (sniff)
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2491&IssueNum=115
Now if I could just remember where I put the secret word...
Cover story in current LA CityBeat is a summation of most of my current thoughts on amphetamine. (sniff)
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2491&IssueNum=115
Now if I could just remember where I put the secret word...
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
The following fell from the net and...
ALL I CAN SAY IS...YES!! OH YES!!
To: Friends, Family, and my fellow Americans
Subject: Get America Back On Track!
It's not too early to be thinking about the future of this country and who's going to lead it. Election after election we're given the "choice" between two unappealing candidates and have no choice but to vote for the one we dislike less. But now, that's about to change.
Stepping up to the forefront of politics is a new type of leader, motivated by his love for his country, not special interest groups. His distinct image and captivating voice you already know, and now it's your chance to make him the leader of the people, for the people, by the people. That's right... Christopher Walken is running for President.
Now, at this early stage of the campaign, is when the grass-roots voters like us can really influence the candidates we'll see in the elections. So take a few minutes to visit the Walken 2008 Home Page at http://www.walken2008.com , read about the man and his ideas, and send them a message of your support. This is how the system should work, and now's your chance to have your voice. Don't let it slip away!
Sincerely,
-A caring citizen
CANDIDATE QUOTE – "Bear costumes are funny... Bears as well."
The secret word is Heterochromia.
ALL I CAN SAY IS...YES!! OH YES!!
To: Friends, Family, and my fellow Americans
Subject: Get America Back On Track!
It's not too early to be thinking about the future of this country and who's going to lead it. Election after election we're given the "choice" between two unappealing candidates and have no choice but to vote for the one we dislike less. But now, that's about to change.
Stepping up to the forefront of politics is a new type of leader, motivated by his love for his country, not special interest groups. His distinct image and captivating voice you already know, and now it's your chance to make him the leader of the people, for the people, by the people. That's right... Christopher Walken is running for President.
Now, at this early stage of the campaign, is when the grass-roots voters like us can really influence the candidates we'll see in the elections. So take a few minutes to visit the Walken 2008 Home Page at http://www.walken2008.com , read about the man and his ideas, and send them a message of your support. This is how the system should work, and now's your chance to have your voice. Don't let it slip away!
Sincerely,
-A caring citizen
CANDIDATE QUOTE – "Bear costumes are funny... Bears as well."
The secret word is Heterochromia.
BOSSWATCH
Most other things have been off the table in the last 24 hours while emails have been flying over the condition of our favorite heart attack victim. Even the 28th anniversary of the Death of Elvis has been largely ignored (Although here's an artifact...
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0816.html
I talked to Boss on the phone just now and seem chipper, pleased to be in bed and waited upon, and willing to gossip about all the rest of you. Seems resigned to cutting out the booze and taking up swimming. Also lectured him on joining the 21st century and getting webbed. A computer may not be essential to a master chef, but, as a DJ, the MP3 modern world is crowding in. The following from Su tells most of the current story.
Hello folks – Visited Boss in Hammersmith Hospital last night - he was looking fine, not wired up to anything. He's going to have an angioplasty in the next few days - will keep you posted. The address is: Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0HS - he's currently in Ward B2 but will be moving to a different one before the op (actually I don't think they call it an operation, it's a procedure which is carried out with only a local anaesthetic, I believe). They don't usually keep people in long after an angioplasty, so with luck he'll be home soon. OK, I'm off to google 'angioplasty' and really wind myself up. PS The hospital being next door to Wormwood Scrubs Prison, Boss is sharing his ward with a prisoner under 24-hour guard, weird.
And an update comes from Rich – Boss has his angiogram today and has now been moved toWard A9.
The secret word is Goodmayes
Most other things have been off the table in the last 24 hours while emails have been flying over the condition of our favorite heart attack victim. Even the 28th anniversary of the Death of Elvis has been largely ignored (Although here's an artifact...
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0816.html
I talked to Boss on the phone just now and seem chipper, pleased to be in bed and waited upon, and willing to gossip about all the rest of you. Seems resigned to cutting out the booze and taking up swimming. Also lectured him on joining the 21st century and getting webbed. A computer may not be essential to a master chef, but, as a DJ, the MP3 modern world is crowding in. The following from Su tells most of the current story.
Hello folks – Visited Boss in Hammersmith Hospital last night - he was looking fine, not wired up to anything. He's going to have an angioplasty in the next few days - will keep you posted. The address is: Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0HS - he's currently in Ward B2 but will be moving to a different one before the op (actually I don't think they call it an operation, it's a procedure which is carried out with only a local anaesthetic, I believe). They don't usually keep people in long after an angioplasty, so with luck he'll be home soon. OK, I'm off to google 'angioplasty' and really wind myself up. PS The hospital being next door to Wormwood Scrubs Prison, Boss is sharing his ward with a prisoner under 24-hour guard, weird.
And an update comes from Rich – Boss has his angiogram today and has now been moved toWard A9.
The secret word is Goodmayes
Monday, August 15, 2005
BOSS GOODMAN
Stop The Presses – For those of you who know him, either personally, or by repute, Boss has suffered a heart attack. The following comes from Rich and tells about all that I know right now.
This is nothing to get too alarmed about I hope, but I spoke to Boss tonight and he's had a minor heart attack and has been admitted to Hammersmith Hospital. He answered his mobile and sounded OK, and they've taken him off monitors etc. but they're still keeping him in to do an angio-wotsit in a few days time. He was very chirpy and cracking jokes, so hopefully it's nothing really serious, and he said they've been brilliant at the hospital, so at least he's in good hands too. I think he'll be in for at least a few days yet.
Stop The Presses – For those of you who know him, either personally, or by repute, Boss has suffered a heart attack. The following comes from Rich and tells about all that I know right now.
This is nothing to get too alarmed about I hope, but I spoke to Boss tonight and he's had a minor heart attack and has been admitted to Hammersmith Hospital. He answered his mobile and sounded OK, and they've taken him off monitors etc. but they're still keeping him in to do an angio-wotsit in a few days time. He was very chirpy and cracking jokes, so hopefully it's nothing really serious, and he said they've been brilliant at the hospital, so at least he's in good hands too. I think he'll be in for at least a few days yet.
BITING THE BULLET II
Second day in and my nicotine withdrawal is going wholly to plan. This is not about to become some dreary detox diary – perish the thought. I have far too much to do. I would like to thank all the well-wishers who have emailed me or posted on the lumbering comments board. Gentlemen, I appreciate the support. Mr. MR has also sent this bouquet of ancient, big-tobacco, propaganda kitsch.
http://www.chickenhead.com/truth/pallmall2_40.html
The secret word is Lucifer
CRYPTIQUE – But, doctor, what do I do with my hands?
Second day in and my nicotine withdrawal is going wholly to plan. This is not about to become some dreary detox diary – perish the thought. I have far too much to do. I would like to thank all the well-wishers who have emailed me or posted on the lumbering comments board. Gentlemen, I appreciate the support. Mr. MR has also sent this bouquet of ancient, big-tobacco, propaganda kitsch.
http://www.chickenhead.com/truth/pallmall2_40.html
The secret word is Lucifer
CRYPTIQUE – But, doctor, what do I do with my hands?
Saturday, August 13, 2005
BITING THE BULLET
Having finally admitted what many have been telling me for years – I will almost certainly die a week from next Thursday unless I quit cigarettes. I am, therefore, this weekend, biting the bullet and doing it. Serious withdrawal. Plus I’m making this public statement so I will totally humiliated if I slip back into my old Humphrey Bogart ways. Having said that, I won’t go whining on about this for pages, unless I start receiving "told-you-so" lectures and other irritants, in which case I will probably seek a long rifle, and a tall building, and let he heartaches begin. This is not easy. As my old pal Willie DeVille once told me, "Quitting nicotine is harder than quitting dope". And I’ve been doing this shit for 45 some years, with James Dean, James Bond, Frank Sinatra, and Bette Davis to reinforce how cool it was. This I need kindness, tolerance and gifts of nicotine gum and those plastic pacifier thingies. More later. Right now I must withdraw to withdraw.
The secret word is Zippo.
Having finally admitted what many have been telling me for years – I will almost certainly die a week from next Thursday unless I quit cigarettes. I am, therefore, this weekend, biting the bullet and doing it. Serious withdrawal. Plus I’m making this public statement so I will totally humiliated if I slip back into my old Humphrey Bogart ways. Having said that, I won’t go whining on about this for pages, unless I start receiving "told-you-so" lectures and other irritants, in which case I will probably seek a long rifle, and a tall building, and let he heartaches begin. This is not easy. As my old pal Willie DeVille once told me, "Quitting nicotine is harder than quitting dope". And I’ve been doing this shit for 45 some years, with James Dean, James Bond, Frank Sinatra, and Bette Davis to reinforce how cool it was. This I need kindness, tolerance and gifts of nicotine gum and those plastic pacifier thingies. More later. Right now I must withdraw to withdraw.
The secret word is Zippo.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
DRUGS, DRUGS, AND MORE DRUGS
For the last two/three days I have been writing an erudite piece on crystal meth, its manufacture and history. If all goes according to plan, it will be the cover story in next week’s LA CityBeat. In the meantime my media column in this week’s issue is mainly about marijuana.
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2469&IssueNum=114
I would also draw your attention to this bizarre story from Wired. It would seem like we humans are still so stupid that we piss in the river, but, at the same time, have the technology to analyze and measure the chemical content of the urine.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,68434,00.html
The secret word is Pseudoephedrine
For the last two/three days I have been writing an erudite piece on crystal meth, its manufacture and history. If all goes according to plan, it will be the cover story in next week’s LA CityBeat. In the meantime my media column in this week’s issue is mainly about marijuana.
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2469&IssueNum=114
I would also draw your attention to this bizarre story from Wired. It would seem like we humans are still so stupid that we piss in the river, but, at the same time, have the technology to analyze and measure the chemical content of the urine.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,68434,00.html
The secret word is Pseudoephedrine
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
WELL THIS IS WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN HAD IT BEEN SO...
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=2601530&blogID=24862361
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=2601530&blogID=24862361
Friday, August 05, 2005
NOVAK UNGLUED
Seems that the wantonly ugly Robert Novak came unglued on CNN. I missed it, but some girl sent over chapter and verse for those who care. I would that it was the start of a much greater unravelling.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/08/04.html#a4309
The secret word is Warthog
Seems that the wantonly ugly Robert Novak came unglued on CNN. I missed it, but some girl sent over chapter and verse for those who care. I would that it was the start of a much greater unravelling.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/08/04.html#a4309
The secret word is Warthog
Thursday, August 04, 2005
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER WEEKLY
LA CityBeat comes round again, and this week I have two pieces. An analysis of the new terrorism that I really do think has something to say for itself...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2416&IssueNum=113
And also more whimsical observations on the local wildlife...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2414&IssueNum=113
The secret word is Corvid
PARIS HILTON IS SHOPPING FOR A CATHEDRAL
I read in The Week that Paris Hilton attempted to rent St. Paul’s in London for her wedding to Paris the Greek, but she was turned down. Doubtless she will go on looking. Nortre Dame? Chartes? Isn’t there one in Dresden? Doubtless she could lease something gothic in Roumania pretty cheap, although I personally think it more fitting for her nuptials should take place in the Astrodome as a pay-per-view special. What Paris doesn’t know is that she has helped crystalize an idea for a new novel. Essentially about wealth. All I have so far are the scant lines of dialogue below, and no idea if any gastropod publisher would ever put it out, but it is growing in my head and you are actually witnessing conception...
(Two unnamed characters, one of whom is very rich.)
"The vast majority of the very rich don’t deserve their fucking fortunes."
"They don’t?"
"They think the only purpose of wealth is to flaunt it with an obscene lack of originality." Unamed was always careful never to split infinitives. "I mean, okay, Branson has his spaceship, but..."
Other-Unnamed raised an eyebrow, sensing a revelation. "But what?"
"I believe I can now buy myself my very own nuclear weapon and still have change left over."
Other-Unnamed took a deep breath, aware that Unnamed was serious. "Wouldn’t you have to buy a small country to keep it in?"
Unnamed smiled. "I have my island."
LA CityBeat comes round again, and this week I have two pieces. An analysis of the new terrorism that I really do think has something to say for itself...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2416&IssueNum=113
And also more whimsical observations on the local wildlife...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2414&IssueNum=113
The secret word is Corvid
PARIS HILTON IS SHOPPING FOR A CATHEDRAL
I read in The Week that Paris Hilton attempted to rent St. Paul’s in London for her wedding to Paris the Greek, but she was turned down. Doubtless she will go on looking. Nortre Dame? Chartes? Isn’t there one in Dresden? Doubtless she could lease something gothic in Roumania pretty cheap, although I personally think it more fitting for her nuptials should take place in the Astrodome as a pay-per-view special. What Paris doesn’t know is that she has helped crystalize an idea for a new novel. Essentially about wealth. All I have so far are the scant lines of dialogue below, and no idea if any gastropod publisher would ever put it out, but it is growing in my head and you are actually witnessing conception...
(Two unnamed characters, one of whom is very rich.)
"The vast majority of the very rich don’t deserve their fucking fortunes."
"They don’t?"
"They think the only purpose of wealth is to flaunt it with an obscene lack of originality." Unamed was always careful never to split infinitives. "I mean, okay, Branson has his spaceship, but..."
Other-Unnamed raised an eyebrow, sensing a revelation. "But what?"
"I believe I can now buy myself my very own nuclear weapon and still have change left over."
Other-Unnamed took a deep breath, aware that Unnamed was serious. "Wouldn’t you have to buy a small country to keep it in?"
Unnamed smiled. "I have my island."
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
THE CIRCLE MAY SOON BE UNBROKEN
Some girl sent over this link which would seem to indicate that even solid, old-school rightwingers are having problems with the Bush agenda.
http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=andersonm&date=050728
Meanwhile this fell from the blue; a marathon debate about white kids wearing dreadlocks. Something with which I empathize for obvious reasons. (I particularly like the Swedish kid who claims Vikings wore dreads.)
http://birdhouse.org/blog/archives/2001/07/white_boy_dreadlock.php
The secret word is Natty
Some girl sent over this link which would seem to indicate that even solid, old-school rightwingers are having problems with the Bush agenda.
http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=andersonm&date=050728
Meanwhile this fell from the blue; a marathon debate about white kids wearing dreadlocks. Something with which I empathize for obvious reasons. (I particularly like the Swedish kid who claims Vikings wore dreads.)
http://birdhouse.org/blog/archives/2001/07/white_boy_dreadlock.php
The secret word is Natty
YESTERDAY’S BUSTS Part 2
As I was cutting the codes out of this second piece from The Guardian sent over by Roger in Scotland, I wondered to myself why I was bothering to post this stuff. Was it an odd forensic nostalgia, or just because recent days have been so depressingly August? Or maybe there is some merit, while dope remains eternally demonized and illegal here in the USA, to remember a nervously naive time when the London authorities through they could stamp out the whole thing by rounding up the obvious celebrities. (Plus hundreds of lesser mortals.)
Sir Mick Jagger may now be a respected knight of the realm, but 35 years ago, when he claimed that detectives had tried to plant drugs on him, police were distinctly unimpressed. Secret files released yesterday to the National Archives show that an internal inquiry by Scotland Yard dismissed the allegations, saying the Rolling Stones singer was caught up in "the world of users of dangerous drugs". Jagger's main witnesses were described as "the dregs of society", while his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull - who was also caught up in the claims - was said to be "most unreliable".The allegations followed a police raid on Jagger's home in London's fashionable Cheyne Walk in Chelsea on 28 May 1969, led by the head of the local drugs squad, Detective Sergeant Robin Constable.
A quantity of cannabis resin was seized by the police. However, the allegation that Sgt Constable had tried to plant some "white powder" on Jagger and then demanded a £1,000 bribe to drop the charges surfaced some weeks later when Jagger and Faithfull were filming in Australia. In the midst of shooting the movie, Faithfull was rushed to hospital in Sydney with a drugs overdose after suffering hallucinations that she was the dead Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones. She told the Australian detectives who came to interview her that she "hated coppers" because of her recent experience at the hands of the police in Britain.The Australian police report stated: "She elaborated on this, alleging that her recent arrest in England for 'possession of cannabis' was a result of a trumped-up charge when the chief of the Chelsea drug squad called at the flat she and Jagger occupied and produced some cannabis, stating that he would arrest them if they didn't pay him money."
The claim that Sgt Constable had tried to plant drugs and then attempted to solicit a bribe was to form the basis of the singer's defence when he was charged with cannabis possession at Marlborough Street Magistrates' Court, London. Jagger also went on to allege that the cannabis seized in Cheyne Walk had "shrunk" while in police possession from a half-pound block to just a third of an ounce - the inference being that it was being sold by corrupt officers. Although he was found guilty and fined £200 and ordered to pay 50 guineas in costs, Scotland Yard had little option but to investigate the singer's claims.Jagger enjoyed some high-profile backing from the lawyer, Michael Havers, who went on to become a Conservative Attorney-General, and the Labour MP Tom Driberg.
Nevertheless, the police distaste for the case - particularly some minor drug dealers Jagger and Faithfull called as witnesses - was plain from the outset. "The private persons interviewed during the course of this investigation represent extreme ends of the scale. At one end are public figures, whilst at the other are the dregs of society," noted Commander Robert Huntley, who oversaw the inquiry.In a statement to the police, Jagger described how Sgt Constable had allegedly tried to plant the "white powder" - apparently heroin - in a piece of folded-up paper produced from a box in the house. "I think he put the box down and opened the folded paper. He said: 'Ah, ah, we won't have to look much further'," Jagger said in his statement. "As I got to him he showed me the paper and I saw it contained some white powder.
"I said, 'You bastard, you planted me with heroin'."
Jagger then went on to claim that the officer had tried to solicit a bribe in order to drop the case."He said, 'Don't worry about it, Mick, we can sort it all out'. I said, 'No, we can't'. He said, 'Come on, how much is it worth to you?'
"He seemed to want me to name a figure but I did not want to," Jagger added.
"He twice asked me how much it was worth. He then said 'a thousand', but I never replied. After this he said to me, 'You can have your money back if it doesn't work'."
However, after interviewing all those involved, the Yard's investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector William Wilson, said that the claims came down to Jagger's word against Sgt Constable's. The Director of Public Prosecutions then ruled no action should be taken against Sgt Constable to end the matter.
The secret word is Horticulture
As I was cutting the codes out of this second piece from The Guardian sent over by Roger in Scotland, I wondered to myself why I was bothering to post this stuff. Was it an odd forensic nostalgia, or just because recent days have been so depressingly August? Or maybe there is some merit, while dope remains eternally demonized and illegal here in the USA, to remember a nervously naive time when the London authorities through they could stamp out the whole thing by rounding up the obvious celebrities. (Plus hundreds of lesser mortals.)
Sir Mick Jagger may now be a respected knight of the realm, but 35 years ago, when he claimed that detectives had tried to plant drugs on him, police were distinctly unimpressed. Secret files released yesterday to the National Archives show that an internal inquiry by Scotland Yard dismissed the allegations, saying the Rolling Stones singer was caught up in "the world of users of dangerous drugs". Jagger's main witnesses were described as "the dregs of society", while his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull - who was also caught up in the claims - was said to be "most unreliable".The allegations followed a police raid on Jagger's home in London's fashionable Cheyne Walk in Chelsea on 28 May 1969, led by the head of the local drugs squad, Detective Sergeant Robin Constable.
A quantity of cannabis resin was seized by the police. However, the allegation that Sgt Constable had tried to plant some "white powder" on Jagger and then demanded a £1,000 bribe to drop the charges surfaced some weeks later when Jagger and Faithfull were filming in Australia. In the midst of shooting the movie, Faithfull was rushed to hospital in Sydney with a drugs overdose after suffering hallucinations that she was the dead Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones. She told the Australian detectives who came to interview her that she "hated coppers" because of her recent experience at the hands of the police in Britain.The Australian police report stated: "She elaborated on this, alleging that her recent arrest in England for 'possession of cannabis' was a result of a trumped-up charge when the chief of the Chelsea drug squad called at the flat she and Jagger occupied and produced some cannabis, stating that he would arrest them if they didn't pay him money."
The claim that Sgt Constable had tried to plant drugs and then attempted to solicit a bribe was to form the basis of the singer's defence when he was charged with cannabis possession at Marlborough Street Magistrates' Court, London. Jagger also went on to allege that the cannabis seized in Cheyne Walk had "shrunk" while in police possession from a half-pound block to just a third of an ounce - the inference being that it was being sold by corrupt officers. Although he was found guilty and fined £200 and ordered to pay 50 guineas in costs, Scotland Yard had little option but to investigate the singer's claims.Jagger enjoyed some high-profile backing from the lawyer, Michael Havers, who went on to become a Conservative Attorney-General, and the Labour MP Tom Driberg.
Nevertheless, the police distaste for the case - particularly some minor drug dealers Jagger and Faithfull called as witnesses - was plain from the outset. "The private persons interviewed during the course of this investigation represent extreme ends of the scale. At one end are public figures, whilst at the other are the dregs of society," noted Commander Robert Huntley, who oversaw the inquiry.In a statement to the police, Jagger described how Sgt Constable had allegedly tried to plant the "white powder" - apparently heroin - in a piece of folded-up paper produced from a box in the house. "I think he put the box down and opened the folded paper. He said: 'Ah, ah, we won't have to look much further'," Jagger said in his statement. "As I got to him he showed me the paper and I saw it contained some white powder.
"I said, 'You bastard, you planted me with heroin'."
Jagger then went on to claim that the officer had tried to solicit a bribe in order to drop the case."He said, 'Don't worry about it, Mick, we can sort it all out'. I said, 'No, we can't'. He said, 'Come on, how much is it worth to you?'
"He seemed to want me to name a figure but I did not want to," Jagger added.
"He twice asked me how much it was worth. He then said 'a thousand', but I never replied. After this he said to me, 'You can have your money back if it doesn't work'."
However, after interviewing all those involved, the Yard's investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector William Wilson, said that the claims came down to Jagger's word against Sgt Constable's. The Director of Public Prosecutions then ruled no action should be taken against Sgt Constable to end the matter.
The secret word is Horticulture
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
MARTIAN ICE AND TERRESTRIAL STUPIDITY
Some girls sends us the story of how there is ice on Mars.
http://www.wfmynews2.com/news/technology/tech_article.aspx?storyid=46199
While, in red state Wisconsin, contraceptives become illegal on campus to curb promiscuity.
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/07/27/64850
THE BUSTS OF YESTERDAY
The following comes from Roger in Scotland. The London Guardian has obtained the files on the 1960s law enforcement vendetta against the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. For those of us who don’t see The Guardian, here’s Lennon, tomorrow Jagger...
The Scotland Yard drug squad detective who led a midnight raid on John Lennon's London flat privately explained to the home secretary that he needed a large number of police with him because he expected to find "an unusual party", involving large numbers of people, in full swing. Detective Sergeant Norman "Nobby" Pilcher, who built his drug squad career targeting musicians, including Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Eric Clapton and Donovan, finally turned his attention to the biggest prize of all - a Beatle in October 1968.
A confidential Scotland Yard file, which was released at the National Archives to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that Pilcher came under strong pressure from the then home secretary, James Callaghan, after the raid on the Marylebone flat.
In his report, hand-delivered to the home secretary, Pilcher tried to explain why it had taken seven police officers and two dogs to raid Lennon's flat, and how it was that the press managed to arrive on the scene within minutes of the drug bust.
It was widely believed that Lennon had already immortalised Det Sgt Pilcher as "Semolina pilchard" in the Beatles song I Am the Walrus. The Beatle described him as a "head-hunting" cop: "He went round and bust every pop star he could get his hands on, and he got famous. Some of the pop stars had dope in their house and some of them didn't."
On this occasion Lennon was confident that he didn't. At the time he lived with Yoko Ono in the flat he rented from George Harrison at 34 Montague Square. The previous tenant had been Jimi Hendrix. Lennon had been tipped off three weeks earlier by Don Shorter, a Daily Mirror journalist, that Pilcher had him next on the list and he had the flat meticulously cleaned in the belief that Hendrix must have left some trace of drugs in the apartment.
Lennon always insisted he had been framed by Pilcher, who was subsequently jailed for corruption because of his practices in the drug squad. Lennon was fined £150 for possession but the conviction was to give him years of trouble and pain. It was enough to trigger a deportation order against him in the US in 1971, and a subsequent four-year battle against being thrown out. Ono said it also contributed to the couple losing custody of her daughter, Kyoko.
The Scotland Yard file shows that not only did the drug squad's only two sniffer dogs, named Yogi and Boo-Boo, find some cannabis, but that the police also claimed they had a battle getting into the flat.
Pilcher said the raid had been carried out after "information received" indicated there would be at least three people living on the premises and they were "in possession of a quantity of cannabis". He said the flat had been difficult to enter because it occupied the ground floor and the basement, there was no rear entrance and there was an entryphone system to the front door. Pilcher said two detective sergeants, three detective constables, one a woman, and two dog handlers - without dogs - turned up at the flat at 11.55pm on Friday, October 18 1968 armed with a search warrant, and hammered on the door.
Inside, John and Yoko were in bed. Yoko went to open the front door. "Upon being informed that we were police officers and the reason for our visit, she ran back along the passage into the flat and slammed and locked the door," Pilcher said.
The couple had been lying in bed dressed only in vests and feeling "very clean and drugless". Lennon was in no mood to cooperate and phoned his solicitors.Pilcher reported: "An attempt was made to enter the premises by way of a rear ground floor window but this was prevented by Lennon who held the window closed." The detective sergeant claimed Lennon had said: "I don't care who you are, you're not bloody coming in here."When the police started to force open the front door of the flat, Lennon decided to open it. The struggle had lasted eight minutes. Once the police had established that John and Yoko were alone they had to wait half an hour for the arrival of the dogs. In the meantime two of Lennon's lawyers had arrived and several press photographers had also made it to the scene.The flat was searched with the dogs sniffing around the four large rooms. "Cannabis resin was found secreted in a leather binocular case and a suitcase. Both of these quantities were found by the dogs," Pilcher's official report said.
He claimed that "past experience proved that it is necessary to take at least six officers to carry out the execution of the search warrant, plus the dog handlers".
They had decided to take five officers plus the dog handlers this time because of the difficulty of getting into the flat and the fact that the rooms were "in a very untidy condition".
But Pilcher then told the home secretary that such a large number was needed because "it is not unusual when executing search warrants for premises occupied by members of the entertainment world to find that there are large numbers of people present taking part in unusual parties. In this case it was found that only two persons were present, and both were in a state of undress."
Pilcher also denied tipping off the press. The official Met report concluded: "One thing is certain as far as this incident is concerned, and that is the press was informed by somebody." The document suggested a neighbouring resident might have been responsible.
"The fact that police officers were attempting to effect an entry into the residence of Lennon and Cox [Ono] is of immense news value to the press and of likewise publicity value to Lennon himself. The police officers involved have been questioned and strongly deny being responsible for any leakage of information."
Pilcher had learned his lesson. The following year when he raided George Harrison's Esher estate he timed the bust to coincide with Paul McCartney's marriage to Linda Eastman, so he could be sure the Beatle would not be at home.
As the file reveals, after getting it in the neck from the home secretary he wanted to be sure the premises were empty when he arrived "mob-handed" at Harrison's home in March 1969.
The secret word is Nicked
Some girls sends us the story of how there is ice on Mars.
http://www.wfmynews2.com/news/technology/tech_article.aspx?storyid=46199
While, in red state Wisconsin, contraceptives become illegal on campus to curb promiscuity.
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/07/27/64850
THE BUSTS OF YESTERDAY
The following comes from Roger in Scotland. The London Guardian has obtained the files on the 1960s law enforcement vendetta against the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. For those of us who don’t see The Guardian, here’s Lennon, tomorrow Jagger...
The Scotland Yard drug squad detective who led a midnight raid on John Lennon's London flat privately explained to the home secretary that he needed a large number of police with him because he expected to find "an unusual party", involving large numbers of people, in full swing. Detective Sergeant Norman "Nobby" Pilcher, who built his drug squad career targeting musicians, including Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Eric Clapton and Donovan, finally turned his attention to the biggest prize of all - a Beatle in October 1968.
A confidential Scotland Yard file, which was released at the National Archives to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that Pilcher came under strong pressure from the then home secretary, James Callaghan, after the raid on the Marylebone flat.
In his report, hand-delivered to the home secretary, Pilcher tried to explain why it had taken seven police officers and two dogs to raid Lennon's flat, and how it was that the press managed to arrive on the scene within minutes of the drug bust.
It was widely believed that Lennon had already immortalised Det Sgt Pilcher as "Semolina pilchard" in the Beatles song I Am the Walrus. The Beatle described him as a "head-hunting" cop: "He went round and bust every pop star he could get his hands on, and he got famous. Some of the pop stars had dope in their house and some of them didn't."
On this occasion Lennon was confident that he didn't. At the time he lived with Yoko Ono in the flat he rented from George Harrison at 34 Montague Square. The previous tenant had been Jimi Hendrix. Lennon had been tipped off three weeks earlier by Don Shorter, a Daily Mirror journalist, that Pilcher had him next on the list and he had the flat meticulously cleaned in the belief that Hendrix must have left some trace of drugs in the apartment.
Lennon always insisted he had been framed by Pilcher, who was subsequently jailed for corruption because of his practices in the drug squad. Lennon was fined £150 for possession but the conviction was to give him years of trouble and pain. It was enough to trigger a deportation order against him in the US in 1971, and a subsequent four-year battle against being thrown out. Ono said it also contributed to the couple losing custody of her daughter, Kyoko.
The Scotland Yard file shows that not only did the drug squad's only two sniffer dogs, named Yogi and Boo-Boo, find some cannabis, but that the police also claimed they had a battle getting into the flat.
Pilcher said the raid had been carried out after "information received" indicated there would be at least three people living on the premises and they were "in possession of a quantity of cannabis". He said the flat had been difficult to enter because it occupied the ground floor and the basement, there was no rear entrance and there was an entryphone system to the front door. Pilcher said two detective sergeants, three detective constables, one a woman, and two dog handlers - without dogs - turned up at the flat at 11.55pm on Friday, October 18 1968 armed with a search warrant, and hammered on the door.
Inside, John and Yoko were in bed. Yoko went to open the front door. "Upon being informed that we were police officers and the reason for our visit, she ran back along the passage into the flat and slammed and locked the door," Pilcher said.
The couple had been lying in bed dressed only in vests and feeling "very clean and drugless". Lennon was in no mood to cooperate and phoned his solicitors.Pilcher reported: "An attempt was made to enter the premises by way of a rear ground floor window but this was prevented by Lennon who held the window closed." The detective sergeant claimed Lennon had said: "I don't care who you are, you're not bloody coming in here."When the police started to force open the front door of the flat, Lennon decided to open it. The struggle had lasted eight minutes. Once the police had established that John and Yoko were alone they had to wait half an hour for the arrival of the dogs. In the meantime two of Lennon's lawyers had arrived and several press photographers had also made it to the scene.The flat was searched with the dogs sniffing around the four large rooms. "Cannabis resin was found secreted in a leather binocular case and a suitcase. Both of these quantities were found by the dogs," Pilcher's official report said.
He claimed that "past experience proved that it is necessary to take at least six officers to carry out the execution of the search warrant, plus the dog handlers".
They had decided to take five officers plus the dog handlers this time because of the difficulty of getting into the flat and the fact that the rooms were "in a very untidy condition".
But Pilcher then told the home secretary that such a large number was needed because "it is not unusual when executing search warrants for premises occupied by members of the entertainment world to find that there are large numbers of people present taking part in unusual parties. In this case it was found that only two persons were present, and both were in a state of undress."
Pilcher also denied tipping off the press. The official Met report concluded: "One thing is certain as far as this incident is concerned, and that is the press was informed by somebody." The document suggested a neighbouring resident might have been responsible.
"The fact that police officers were attempting to effect an entry into the residence of Lennon and Cox [Ono] is of immense news value to the press and of likewise publicity value to Lennon himself. The police officers involved have been questioned and strongly deny being responsible for any leakage of information."
Pilcher had learned his lesson. The following year when he raided George Harrison's Esher estate he timed the bust to coincide with Paul McCartney's marriage to Linda Eastman, so he could be sure the Beatle would not be at home.
As the file reveals, after getting it in the neck from the home secretary he wanted to be sure the premises were empty when he arrived "mob-handed" at Harrison's home in March 1969.
The secret word is Nicked
Sunday, July 31, 2005
MACAW INDECENCY
HCB sends the following...
LONDON (AFP) - A foul-mouthed parrot previously owned by a lorry driver has been banished from public areas in a British animal sanctuary after repeatedly embarrassing his keepers, they said. Barney, a five-year-old Macaw, is now kept indoors at Warwickshire Animal Sanctuary in Nuneaton, central England, when outsiders visit after abusing dignitaries with swearword-littered insults. "He's told a lady mayoress to f..(expletive) off and he told a lady vicar: 'And you can f... off as well'," sanctuary worker Stacey Clark said. Nor did the forces of law and order escape, she added. "Two policemen came to have a look at the centre. He told them: 'And you can f... off you two wankers'." Clark said sanctuary workers believed Barney either picked up the phrases from television or was taught them by his previous owner, a lorry driver who emigrated to Spain. "He does say 'Hello, big boy' and 'Thank you' when you give him a biscuit," she added. "But it's mainly naughty words and always to the wrong people. We're trying to teach him not to swear. Macaws are very intelligent birds."
In a separate email, HCB also comments on last Friday’s post...
"THE MOST MINDLESSLY ASININE STORY OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, the NY Post ran a screaming cover story recounting how Osama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, cut it with poison and sell it in the United States." If Bob Dylan were a fresh folkie he'd be singing about looking for Osama under his bed – and Ed Sullivan wouldn't let him sing it. I loved the cocaine story – that Bin Laden is accruing all this cultural mythifying just shows how desperate we are for a little attention. I think we – the (US) nation – have assault envy this month. There's a new rumor that Bin Laden doesn't actually exist – that's a sure sign of how ethereal he's become. And I guess they're digging cells out of Ladbroke Grove. Wonder if Boss has been cooking up delicious entrees for the bad guys at Sunday brunch.
Which actually raises an interesting and overlooked cultural footnote. Our pal Boss Goodman, is the hero of a hundred adventures, but an unreconstructed Luddite with no email. Aside for DJing at London’s 100 Club, he is also the master-chef at a well know pub, The Portobello Gold, (Where he once cooked for Bill Clinton.) It’s unlikely he ever cooks for Jihadist or even wannabee Jihadists, because hard core Muslims don’t drink, word up. And are thus beyond the assimilating influence pub of culture that has absorbed so many other waves of immigrants down the centuries. (Ask the Huguenots or the Hindus.) Which inspires a joke that might start "four swarthy geezers with backpacks walk into a pub and... (Complete the joke and win a virtual prize.)
The secret word is Cracker
THE BUGGERS
Our pals in Holland have been quiet for a while, but now they have issued a new communique.
When, on several occasions, Tony Blair called the bombings and attempted bombings of the city of London the fruits of an "evil" ideology, he was not just simplifying matters for dramatic purposes. What he was trying to achieve with such an archaic word was detaching the motives behind the bombings from political reality and blowing them up to mythological proportions. Political reality can be discussed, analysed and understood. Myth, on the other hand, evades discussion and defies understanding: it is an order beyond the grasp of reason. Ranking your enemies among the mythological forces of evil is a stale but still effective piece of propaganda to frighten people and to muster them under your flag, cross, crescent, or any other symbol held up as a representation of the forces of "good". It is an appeal to fears and desires that underlie much of the ethics of religious and post-religious societies. Blair knows that. Bush knows it. And so do the leaders of Al-Queda. Much as Blair would have us believe that the London bombers have fallen prey to evil, it is all too clear what has really driven them to their horrible and desperate acts: British military interference in the Middle-East and Central Asia, which, contrary to what Blair maintains, goes back a lot further than the 9/11 attacks and pre-dates Al-Queda by more than 150 years. It's evident why Blair would want to escape political reality: a majority of his own people has been against the latest invasion and occupation of Iraq from the start, and the last thing Blair needs now is being held responsible for having brought the war home. Admitting that there is a connection between the war in Iraq and the London bombings would make his positionuntenable and would very likely lead to withdrawal of British troops and British investments from Iraq. It would mean immense loss of face for Blair and the Labour Party and loss of capital for British industries and banks with interests in war and oil. Of course, Blair is right when he says that nothing can justify cowardly suicide bombings like the ones in London. But condemnation of the attacks must not prevent us from trying to understand the motives of the bombers, who, after all, are only human. By demonizing the bombers to save his own skin Blair has endangered British society even further, and it is only thanks to the self-control and realism of the British people that Blair's remarks haven't split their multi-cultural society beyond repair. What demonization leads to became clear when policemen killed a completely innocent Brazilian in the London underground last week. 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead publicly for having been in the wrong place at the wrong time, having worn the wrong clothes, and having run away for plain-clothes policemen with drawn guns. De Menezes was shot in the head at pointblank range five times. Killing somebody five times is not a professional mistake but an act of rage and hatred. It is a hysterical effort to root out evil.
Read why the British deserve a better Prime Minister than Tony Blair in an article in The New Statesman by John Pilger (sent to us by Gerard Bellaart of Cold Turkey Press)...
http://www.newstatesman.com/Politics/200507250004
The Buggers can be contacted at...http://www.sea-urchin.net/buggers
BUY A BOOK, SAVE AN AUTHOR
HCB sends the following...
LONDON (AFP) - A foul-mouthed parrot previously owned by a lorry driver has been banished from public areas in a British animal sanctuary after repeatedly embarrassing his keepers, they said. Barney, a five-year-old Macaw, is now kept indoors at Warwickshire Animal Sanctuary in Nuneaton, central England, when outsiders visit after abusing dignitaries with swearword-littered insults. "He's told a lady mayoress to f..(expletive) off and he told a lady vicar: 'And you can f... off as well'," sanctuary worker Stacey Clark said. Nor did the forces of law and order escape, she added. "Two policemen came to have a look at the centre. He told them: 'And you can f... off you two wankers'." Clark said sanctuary workers believed Barney either picked up the phrases from television or was taught them by his previous owner, a lorry driver who emigrated to Spain. "He does say 'Hello, big boy' and 'Thank you' when you give him a biscuit," she added. "But it's mainly naughty words and always to the wrong people. We're trying to teach him not to swear. Macaws are very intelligent birds."
In a separate email, HCB also comments on last Friday’s post...
"THE MOST MINDLESSLY ASININE STORY OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, the NY Post ran a screaming cover story recounting how Osama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, cut it with poison and sell it in the United States." If Bob Dylan were a fresh folkie he'd be singing about looking for Osama under his bed – and Ed Sullivan wouldn't let him sing it. I loved the cocaine story – that Bin Laden is accruing all this cultural mythifying just shows how desperate we are for a little attention. I think we – the (US) nation – have assault envy this month. There's a new rumor that Bin Laden doesn't actually exist – that's a sure sign of how ethereal he's become. And I guess they're digging cells out of Ladbroke Grove. Wonder if Boss has been cooking up delicious entrees for the bad guys at Sunday brunch.
Which actually raises an interesting and overlooked cultural footnote. Our pal Boss Goodman, is the hero of a hundred adventures, but an unreconstructed Luddite with no email. Aside for DJing at London’s 100 Club, he is also the master-chef at a well know pub, The Portobello Gold, (Where he once cooked for Bill Clinton.) It’s unlikely he ever cooks for Jihadist or even wannabee Jihadists, because hard core Muslims don’t drink, word up. And are thus beyond the assimilating influence pub of culture that has absorbed so many other waves of immigrants down the centuries. (Ask the Huguenots or the Hindus.) Which inspires a joke that might start "four swarthy geezers with backpacks walk into a pub and... (Complete the joke and win a virtual prize.)
The secret word is Cracker
THE BUGGERS
Our pals in Holland have been quiet for a while, but now they have issued a new communique.
When, on several occasions, Tony Blair called the bombings and attempted bombings of the city of London the fruits of an "evil" ideology, he was not just simplifying matters for dramatic purposes. What he was trying to achieve with such an archaic word was detaching the motives behind the bombings from political reality and blowing them up to mythological proportions. Political reality can be discussed, analysed and understood. Myth, on the other hand, evades discussion and defies understanding: it is an order beyond the grasp of reason. Ranking your enemies among the mythological forces of evil is a stale but still effective piece of propaganda to frighten people and to muster them under your flag, cross, crescent, or any other symbol held up as a representation of the forces of "good". It is an appeal to fears and desires that underlie much of the ethics of religious and post-religious societies. Blair knows that. Bush knows it. And so do the leaders of Al-Queda. Much as Blair would have us believe that the London bombers have fallen prey to evil, it is all too clear what has really driven them to their horrible and desperate acts: British military interference in the Middle-East and Central Asia, which, contrary to what Blair maintains, goes back a lot further than the 9/11 attacks and pre-dates Al-Queda by more than 150 years. It's evident why Blair would want to escape political reality: a majority of his own people has been against the latest invasion and occupation of Iraq from the start, and the last thing Blair needs now is being held responsible for having brought the war home. Admitting that there is a connection between the war in Iraq and the London bombings would make his positionuntenable and would very likely lead to withdrawal of British troops and British investments from Iraq. It would mean immense loss of face for Blair and the Labour Party and loss of capital for British industries and banks with interests in war and oil. Of course, Blair is right when he says that nothing can justify cowardly suicide bombings like the ones in London. But condemnation of the attacks must not prevent us from trying to understand the motives of the bombers, who, after all, are only human. By demonizing the bombers to save his own skin Blair has endangered British society even further, and it is only thanks to the self-control and realism of the British people that Blair's remarks haven't split their multi-cultural society beyond repair. What demonization leads to became clear when policemen killed a completely innocent Brazilian in the London underground last week. 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead publicly for having been in the wrong place at the wrong time, having worn the wrong clothes, and having run away for plain-clothes policemen with drawn guns. De Menezes was shot in the head at pointblank range five times. Killing somebody five times is not a professional mistake but an act of rage and hatred. It is a hysterical effort to root out evil.
Read why the British deserve a better Prime Minister than Tony Blair in an article in The New Statesman by John Pilger (sent to us by Gerard Bellaart of Cold Turkey Press)...
http://www.newstatesman.com/Politics/200507250004
The Buggers can be contacted at...http://www.sea-urchin.net/buggers
BUY A BOOK, SAVE AN AUTHOR
Saturday, July 30, 2005
THIS MAY, OF COURSE, BE THE ANSWER
A group of fundamentalist Christians from Texas (where the hell else?) want vast numbers of their kind to migrate en mass to South Carolina where they would first take over the state government and then secede from the Union and set up a theocratic free state – presumably with all the Christian trappings like hanging, burning, stoning, judicial torture and brutal repression of everything that makes life living for us sinners, plus huge refugee camps of displaced trailer trash outside Baltimore. I really feel this is a damned fine idea, because the ensuing civil war will be extremely interesting to watch. I’m am not an advocate of nuclear weapons, but in this instance I might just make an exception. Or maybe Federal troops could break out some of those super-psychedelics supposedly developed by Sid Gottlieb at MKULTRA in the 1960s, the ones in vapor form that act on skin contact. The Christian rebs will be convinced it’s their Rapture and give up.
For the real story rather than the scifi...
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7556-Group_promotes_secession_from_U.S..html
The secret word is Armageddon
A group of fundamentalist Christians from Texas (where the hell else?) want vast numbers of their kind to migrate en mass to South Carolina where they would first take over the state government and then secede from the Union and set up a theocratic free state – presumably with all the Christian trappings like hanging, burning, stoning, judicial torture and brutal repression of everything that makes life living for us sinners, plus huge refugee camps of displaced trailer trash outside Baltimore. I really feel this is a damned fine idea, because the ensuing civil war will be extremely interesting to watch. I’m am not an advocate of nuclear weapons, but in this instance I might just make an exception. Or maybe Federal troops could break out some of those super-psychedelics supposedly developed by Sid Gottlieb at MKULTRA in the 1960s, the ones in vapor form that act on skin contact. The Christian rebs will be convinced it’s their Rapture and give up.
For the real story rather than the scifi...
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7556-Group_promotes_secession_from_U.S..html
The secret word is Armageddon
Friday, July 29, 2005
LINKS (GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT)
MICK ON PIMPING
Great riff of pimpery in LA CityBeat by your humble scribe...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2410&IssueNum=112
THE OSAKA CYBERGIRL
HCB sent the story of the Osaka girl android this morning, but since the TV news got its hands on it,I'm struck that the section of the population who should be most threatened by the realistic female android is TV news persons.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4714135.stm
THE MOST MINDLESSLY ASININE STORY OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, the NY Post ran a screaming cover story recounting how Osama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, cut it with poison and sell it in the United States, hoping to kill thousands of Americans, but was thwarted when the Cali Cartel decided it would be bad for business. A subsequent Doc40 investigation revealed that this was maybe a desperate ploy by the a terror-eclipsed DEA for funds and attention that was ignored by the rest of the media as too bizarre to consider. Not the Post though. See...
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07262005/news/worldnews/50787.htm
For more rational takes on the stroy try...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8729331/
Or...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2005/270705cokecaper.htm
AND FINALLY
If hear Donald Rumsfeld correctly, the War on Terror has been renamed the Global Struggle Against Extremists. A fuck up by any other name would smell as...
CRYPTIQUE – Extremism in defense of the extreme.
The secret word is Kevlar
MICK ON PIMPING
Great riff of pimpery in LA CityBeat by your humble scribe...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2410&IssueNum=112
THE OSAKA CYBERGIRL
HCB sent the story of the Osaka girl android this morning, but since the TV news got its hands on it,I'm struck that the section of the population who should be most threatened by the realistic female android is TV news persons.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4714135.stm
THE MOST MINDLESSLY ASININE STORY OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, the NY Post ran a screaming cover story recounting how Osama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, cut it with poison and sell it in the United States, hoping to kill thousands of Americans, but was thwarted when the Cali Cartel decided it would be bad for business. A subsequent Doc40 investigation revealed that this was maybe a desperate ploy by the a terror-eclipsed DEA for funds and attention that was ignored by the rest of the media as too bizarre to consider. Not the Post though. See...
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07262005/news/worldnews/50787.htm
For more rational takes on the stroy try...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8729331/
Or...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2005/270705cokecaper.htm
AND FINALLY
If hear Donald Rumsfeld correctly, the War on Terror has been renamed the Global Struggle Against Extremists. A fuck up by any other name would smell as...
CRYPTIQUE – Extremism in defense of the extreme.
The secret word is Kevlar
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
A WEEK FOR FABULOUS IDEAS
About six minutes ago it occurred to me that one – and maybe the only – effective way to reign in both terrorism and The War on Terror would be to legalize recreational drugs in all their multiple forms immediately. The moment that marijuana became legal, corporate jets full of executives and money would fall on terror fountainheads of Afghanistan and Pakistan like the gentle rain. Hashish could be for Kabul what single malt was for Scotland*, not to mention premium Paki black. With wealth comes consumerism, and consumerism means Starbucks, VH1, lap dancers, and Hello Kitty. No time for jihad. Look out Saudi oil. There goes the Wahhabi fundamentalist ballgame, and the Afghans will be having more fun than they ever had slaughtering Americans, Soviets, Brits, and each other, all the way back to Alexander the Great. And for those with a jones to still be cowboys, there would always be illegal boutique grade opium. No government is ever going to legalize the raw milk of paradise.
(* Many of make the mistake of thinking that legalization will mean the neighborhood entrepreneur will no longer be on the run from the DEA. Forget it. The moment legalization comes, Anheuser-Busch, RJR, and Sony will have the shit – and I use the word with extreme precision – sewn up.)
The secret word is Lateral
Check this out. It’s weird and disgustingly amusing.
http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/rubber.html
About six minutes ago it occurred to me that one – and maybe the only – effective way to reign in both terrorism and The War on Terror would be to legalize recreational drugs in all their multiple forms immediately. The moment that marijuana became legal, corporate jets full of executives and money would fall on terror fountainheads of Afghanistan and Pakistan like the gentle rain. Hashish could be for Kabul what single malt was for Scotland*, not to mention premium Paki black. With wealth comes consumerism, and consumerism means Starbucks, VH1, lap dancers, and Hello Kitty. No time for jihad. Look out Saudi oil. There goes the Wahhabi fundamentalist ballgame, and the Afghans will be having more fun than they ever had slaughtering Americans, Soviets, Brits, and each other, all the way back to Alexander the Great. And for those with a jones to still be cowboys, there would always be illegal boutique grade opium. No government is ever going to legalize the raw milk of paradise.
(* Many of make the mistake of thinking that legalization will mean the neighborhood entrepreneur will no longer be on the run from the DEA. Forget it. The moment legalization comes, Anheuser-Busch, RJR, and Sony will have the shit – and I use the word with extreme precision – sewn up.)
The secret word is Lateral
Check this out. It’s weird and disgustingly amusing.
http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/rubber.html
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
FROM THE FAR LEFT OF THE BRAIN
Preferring my torture to be delivered by more intimate means that either gravity or centrifugal force, I have never ridden any amusement park ride more physically invasive that Space Mountain at Disneyland, and, mercifully, I am now at an age where no peer pressure could lure me onto one of those new generation of monster roller coasters that have names like The Mangler or The Vomit-Ripper. I did wonder, however, while watching a Six Flags commercial, why parks didn’t give/sell badges or medals to those who have undergone such an ordeal and completed the ride. They could then be collected and worn like campaign ribbons, demonstrating to the world what a desperate and hardened sensation-seeker one really is. I consider this a really good idea and will be home if any amusement park operating corp wants to stop by and hand me a million in small bills for the idea. But, then again, why should they? In my needy pursuit of self-expression I have already given it away for free. Which may be a telling summation of both my condition and character.
The secret word is Irrelevant
Preferring my torture to be delivered by more intimate means that either gravity or centrifugal force, I have never ridden any amusement park ride more physically invasive that Space Mountain at Disneyland, and, mercifully, I am now at an age where no peer pressure could lure me onto one of those new generation of monster roller coasters that have names like The Mangler or The Vomit-Ripper. I did wonder, however, while watching a Six Flags commercial, why parks didn’t give/sell badges or medals to those who have undergone such an ordeal and completed the ride. They could then be collected and worn like campaign ribbons, demonstrating to the world what a desperate and hardened sensation-seeker one really is. I consider this a really good idea and will be home if any amusement park operating corp wants to stop by and hand me a million in small bills for the idea. But, then again, why should they? In my needy pursuit of self-expression I have already given it away for free. Which may be a telling summation of both my condition and character.
The secret word is Irrelevant
Monday, July 25, 2005
NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE?
After feeling disconnected and lousy from the heat all weekend, I turned on Sunday night’s ABC News and discovered that it wasn’t just LA, Chicago, and New York sweltering in meteorological hell, but all of North America was experiencing 100F heat, the North Pole is, as we speak, melting like a gin and tonic at a picnic, and – if that wasn’t bad enough – a huge freak sandstorm (that’s right, sandstorm) was blowing across the Atlantic towards Florida in defiance of most normal wind patterns. It will, we were told, create some lovely sunsets. Okay, so I’ve said it too many times before, but it applies more than ever. This is a none-too original opening for any number of science fiction global-disaster movies, except Hillary Swank won’t bore to the center of the Earth and miraculously save us all with the help of whales. If the bloody superpower in which I find myself residing had anything approaching a genuine leader, he or she would be on TV explaining to his or her fellow Americans just how bad a global weather disconnect we were really facing, and not taking his geo-thermal advice from oilmen, General Motors, and Jerry Falwell. But, hey, this is democracy.
And what is the White House doing as a nation liquefies? Why, neighbors, Georgie is squirming like a toad to get his pal Karl Rove of the hook*, while his media machine defends his asinine war. This time by attempting to prove that suicide bombers are not pissed about US troops in Iraq. Count the number of times you hear the mantra "the attacks predate the invasion" recited by some talking coif, Tony Blair, or even the PM of Australia. Iraq is good, see? For any number of reasons we will continue to invent.
* for the whole story, over to the ever-on-the money Frank Rich
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/opinion/24rich.html?th&emc=th
The secret word is Heatstroke
After feeling disconnected and lousy from the heat all weekend, I turned on Sunday night’s ABC News and discovered that it wasn’t just LA, Chicago, and New York sweltering in meteorological hell, but all of North America was experiencing 100F heat, the North Pole is, as we speak, melting like a gin and tonic at a picnic, and – if that wasn’t bad enough – a huge freak sandstorm (that’s right, sandstorm) was blowing across the Atlantic towards Florida in defiance of most normal wind patterns. It will, we were told, create some lovely sunsets. Okay, so I’ve said it too many times before, but it applies more than ever. This is a none-too original opening for any number of science fiction global-disaster movies, except Hillary Swank won’t bore to the center of the Earth and miraculously save us all with the help of whales. If the bloody superpower in which I find myself residing had anything approaching a genuine leader, he or she would be on TV explaining to his or her fellow Americans just how bad a global weather disconnect we were really facing, and not taking his geo-thermal advice from oilmen, General Motors, and Jerry Falwell. But, hey, this is democracy.
And what is the White House doing as a nation liquefies? Why, neighbors, Georgie is squirming like a toad to get his pal Karl Rove of the hook*, while his media machine defends his asinine war. This time by attempting to prove that suicide bombers are not pissed about US troops in Iraq. Count the number of times you hear the mantra "the attacks predate the invasion" recited by some talking coif, Tony Blair, or even the PM of Australia. Iraq is good, see? For any number of reasons we will continue to invent.
* for the whole story, over to the ever-on-the money Frank Rich
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/opinion/24rich.html?th&emc=th
The secret word is Heatstroke
Friday, July 22, 2005
CRYPTIQUE SPECIAL – I’M THINKING ABOUT IT
The significance has still not fully sunk in.
Suicide bombers have attacked a major international city and completely fucked up.
"Of course I know how to attach the fucking detonator!"
For a suicide bomber, survival has to be the ultimate in defeat and dishonor.
The idea of a feared terrorist legging it out of Kennington Oval tube station, and being chased down by irate passengers, is not only shameful but absurd in the extreme
I worry that the Ali G wigger in the Bob Marley jacket and Fidel Castro fatigue cap who was shown repeatedly on CNN may not live to see Sunday.
When the bomb fails to detonate, isn’t the only course of action is to fall to one’s knees and disembowel oneself with an ornamental Saracen dagger?
Samurai are made from sterner stuff than Wahhabi.
A terrible pun involving Wahhabi and wasabi presents itself but I resist.
Rep. Tom Tancredo wants to bomb Mecca.
Lend him a B52 and let him.
In the words of the great Ellen Ripley, "Nuke the entire site from orbit."
In the McLuhan speedup, not all cultures accelerate at the same rate.
The yuan is now am opaque currency.
Could you sit in a movie theatre full of grown men dressed as Dakota Fanning?
The secret word is Conjecture
The significance has still not fully sunk in.
Suicide bombers have attacked a major international city and completely fucked up.
"Of course I know how to attach the fucking detonator!"
For a suicide bomber, survival has to be the ultimate in defeat and dishonor.
The idea of a feared terrorist legging it out of Kennington Oval tube station, and being chased down by irate passengers, is not only shameful but absurd in the extreme
I worry that the Ali G wigger in the Bob Marley jacket and Fidel Castro fatigue cap who was shown repeatedly on CNN may not live to see Sunday.
When the bomb fails to detonate, isn’t the only course of action is to fall to one’s knees and disembowel oneself with an ornamental Saracen dagger?
Samurai are made from sterner stuff than Wahhabi.
A terrible pun involving Wahhabi and wasabi presents itself but I resist.
Rep. Tom Tancredo wants to bomb Mecca.
Lend him a B52 and let him.
In the words of the great Ellen Ripley, "Nuke the entire site from orbit."
In the McLuhan speedup, not all cultures accelerate at the same rate.
The yuan is now am opaque currency.
Could you sit in a movie theatre full of grown men dressed as Dakota Fanning?
The secret word is Conjecture
Thursday, July 21, 2005
AND THEN, ON THE WAY TO BED, I FLIP ON CNN TO SEE IF THERE'S ANY WORD ABOUT THE BREAKING STORY OUT OF CHINA THAT THE DOLLAR IS BEING ALLOWED TO FLOAT AND WHAT THE HELL THAT MIGHT MEAN, ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT THERE HAS BEEN ANOTHER ATTACK ON THE LONDON TUBE. AS MY MIND BOGGLES, I LIGHT A CIGARETTE. THE ATTACK SEEMS NOT SO SERIOUS OR MAYBE BUNGLED, BUT FAMILIAR STREETS ARE AGAIN ON TV. AND EVEN MORE THAN BEFORE I FIND MYSELF DEALING WITH GULF BETWEEN PERSONAL DAILY NORMALITY AND THE UNREAL NOISE AND UNBELIEVABLE VOICES THAT ECHO ACROSS THE WORLD.
TUCK YOU, TUCKER
Tucker Carlson is an annoying neo-yuppie TV-boy and professional right-winger who believes that wearing a red polka-dot bow-tie is cool. He used to be irritating in CNN’s Crossfire, but now he’s irritating on his own show on MSNBC, The Situation. He is, however, even more irritating in a promo for The Situation in which he pretends to pretend that he’s some 1970's-style private eye on some imaginary Quinn Martin detective show like Cannon. And – as if this wasn’t incongruous enough for someone who is essentially a male Ann Coulter – during the course of the spot he slams a bad guy with a white boy ‘fro and Zapata mustache into the hood of a car. My problem is that this character looks a lot like me circa 1970. I mean he’s not quite a dead ringer, being kinda skanky, and without my artist’s smouldering passion, but the resemblance is enough to annoy. I’m not so narcissistic to believe that Carlson had ever heard of me – even though I have previously abused him both on net and newsprint – but the vision on my screen was enough to give me pause. (And The Situation is so damned lame that it’s always possible that I may have more total readers that Tuck has viewers.)
And while we’re on the subject of white boy afros, I also find that "dorkwad" commercial for movietickets.com quite offensive. So be warned, mocking we of the long and curly can be ill advised. We tend to mutate into Bob Dylan and write poisonously venomous and vitriolic songs about you that cut to the bone.
JAMES DOOHAN – RIP
I DIDN’T HEAR ABOUT IT, BUT I SURE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN IT
http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68242,00.html
PLUG
Ellen, a good friend of Doc40, had her own crafts store on ebay. Check it out...
http://stores.ebay.com/MooCat-Arts_W0QQssPageNameZviQ3asibQ3astoreviewQQtZkm
The secret word is Coiffure
Tucker Carlson is an annoying neo-yuppie TV-boy and professional right-winger who believes that wearing a red polka-dot bow-tie is cool. He used to be irritating in CNN’s Crossfire, but now he’s irritating on his own show on MSNBC, The Situation. He is, however, even more irritating in a promo for The Situation in which he pretends to pretend that he’s some 1970's-style private eye on some imaginary Quinn Martin detective show like Cannon. And – as if this wasn’t incongruous enough for someone who is essentially a male Ann Coulter – during the course of the spot he slams a bad guy with a white boy ‘fro and Zapata mustache into the hood of a car. My problem is that this character looks a lot like me circa 1970. I mean he’s not quite a dead ringer, being kinda skanky, and without my artist’s smouldering passion, but the resemblance is enough to annoy. I’m not so narcissistic to believe that Carlson had ever heard of me – even though I have previously abused him both on net and newsprint – but the vision on my screen was enough to give me pause. (And The Situation is so damned lame that it’s always possible that I may have more total readers that Tuck has viewers.)
And while we’re on the subject of white boy afros, I also find that "dorkwad" commercial for movietickets.com quite offensive. So be warned, mocking we of the long and curly can be ill advised. We tend to mutate into Bob Dylan and write poisonously venomous and vitriolic songs about you that cut to the bone.
JAMES DOOHAN – RIP
I DIDN’T HEAR ABOUT IT, BUT I SURE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN IT
http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68242,00.html
PLUG
Ellen, a good friend of Doc40, had her own crafts store on ebay. Check it out...
http://stores.ebay.com/MooCat-Arts_W0QQssPageNameZviQ3asibQ3astoreviewQQtZkm
The secret word is Coiffure
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
CALIENTE FUCKING LOCO
We might as well give up arguing about global warming. The way it feels tonight, we’re in the terminal stage. It’s 2.15AM and it’s 175F in the LA Basin, (I swear) and I hear the rest of the continent is in much the same condition. Too hot to think, too hot to breathe, and my laptop may soon become malleable. Too hot even to complain although, by tomorrow, I’ll probably be pissing and moaning. Too hot, in fact, to go into the hideous ramifications of how Bush’s nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court is the sanctioned dawning of an era of intensified ignorance and brutality unseen since Custer blundered across the Little Big Horn.
The secret word can only be Inferno
CRYPTIQUE – Whose right is it anyway?
We might as well give up arguing about global warming. The way it feels tonight, we’re in the terminal stage. It’s 2.15AM and it’s 175F in the LA Basin, (I swear) and I hear the rest of the continent is in much the same condition. Too hot to think, too hot to breathe, and my laptop may soon become malleable. Too hot even to complain although, by tomorrow, I’ll probably be pissing and moaning. Too hot, in fact, to go into the hideous ramifications of how Bush’s nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court is the sanctioned dawning of an era of intensified ignorance and brutality unseen since Custer blundered across the Little Big Horn.
The secret word can only be Inferno
CRYPTIQUE – Whose right is it anyway?
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
AS THE WORLD TURNS
And the day rushes by a dizzying speed (and I seem to be achieving nothing) I pluck this item from this morning’s NY Times as a reminder that the criminal War on Drugs still rages and people still rot away their lives because of minimum mandatory sentencing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/19/opinion/19tierney.html?th&emc=th
And talking of wars without end, Sunday was the 69th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War.
Ted Heath RIP (if only because he was only Prime Minister mentioned in a Beatles song.)
The secret word is Later
And the day rushes by a dizzying speed (and I seem to be achieving nothing) I pluck this item from this morning’s NY Times as a reminder that the criminal War on Drugs still rages and people still rot away their lives because of minimum mandatory sentencing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/19/opinion/19tierney.html?th&emc=th
And talking of wars without end, Sunday was the 69th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War.
Ted Heath RIP (if only because he was only Prime Minister mentioned in a Beatles song.)
The secret word is Later
Sunday, July 17, 2005
MAKING QUITE HORRIBLE SENSE
The link below was sent by kaymo and I would humbly recommend taking a look at it and becoming very, very paranoid. Although grandiose in the extreme, and even though one (and one’s mental health) does not want to spend a whole lot of time contemplating scenarios that end either in enslavement, nuclear annihilation, or both, some of the parts do have very sound and supported pedigrees in the world of conspiracy theorizing. Remember, though, that Whitley Strieber scripted Wolfen and The Hunger and has made a further name for himself -- and a few bucks -- after claiming he was abducted by aliens. (But then again, my own resume is a little odd, and I expect to be taken seriously.)
http://www.unknowncountry.com/journal/?id=188
The secret word is Junta
The link below was sent by kaymo and I would humbly recommend taking a look at it and becoming very, very paranoid. Although grandiose in the extreme, and even though one (and one’s mental health) does not want to spend a whole lot of time contemplating scenarios that end either in enslavement, nuclear annihilation, or both, some of the parts do have very sound and supported pedigrees in the world of conspiracy theorizing. Remember, though, that Whitley Strieber scripted Wolfen and The Hunger and has made a further name for himself -- and a few bucks -- after claiming he was abducted by aliens. (But then again, my own resume is a little odd, and I expect to be taken seriously.)
http://www.unknowncountry.com/journal/?id=188
The secret word is Junta
Friday, July 15, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
LA CITYBEAT
Two quite lengthy gems o’mine in this week's issue...
...on celebrity...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2340&IssueNum=110
...and the bombings...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2338&IssueNum=110
Two quite lengthy gems o’mine in this week's issue...
...on celebrity...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2340&IssueNum=110
...and the bombings...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2338&IssueNum=110
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
TOADWATCH
(Maybe best to read yesterday first.)
Today Karl Rove – described last night by Jon Stewart as "the only man in Washington with flesh-colored hair" – mounted his counterattack....
As told by MSNBC...
The GOP continues to believe that the best defense is offense, and true to form, Republican talkers are starting to try to change the subject and/or once again question Joe Wilson's veracity. Among those who have come to Rove's offense: President Bush, via Scott McClellan, who said yesterday that Rove has Bush's confidence; Laura Bush, who called Rove a very good friend; Newt Gingrich, via TODAY; Tom DeLay, via The Hill newspaper; and RNC chair Ken Mehlman, who has offered the staunchest backing of Rove by far. But Mehlman leaves Washington for Iowa today, which may cut into his media availability. Add to the list the Wall Street Journal editorial page, which today praises Rove for "turning out to be the real 'whistleblower' in this whole sorry pseudo-scandal," and notes that "there's no evidence that [he] broke any laws."
Before Mehlman lammed it out of town he left the following Rove-style "talkingpoint" that will be repeated by all the TV shrieking heads...
WASHINGTON, July 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement by Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Ken Mehlman on the partisan attack on Karl Rove:
"It's disappointing that once again, so many Democrat leaders are taking their political cues from the far-left, Moveon wing of the party. The bottom line is Karl Rove was discouraging a reporter from writing a false story based on a false premise and the Democrats are engaging in blatant partisan political attacks."
Meanwhile in other news...
"President Bush called Tuesday for the release of an Iranian journalist jailed for writing articles linking government officials to murder."
Meanwhile Wonkette has a suggestion...
Okay, we admit it, we were overthinking the whole Rove-Plame thing. In speculating that this wouldn't destroy him or the White House, we had been hung up on how he didn't break the law. What we realize now is that liberals finally have an issue where the headline hurts Republicans more than it hurts them: "White House Aide Identified Undercover CIA Agent." Now, shut up. Shhh. Zip it. ZZZip. No, really, quiet. Repress natural urge to pedantry. For once, allow Americans' short attention span work for you. And whatever happens, do not let Michael Moore make a movie about it. Let the Republicans shoulder the responsibility of having to explain how Karl didn't do anything illegal, or how when he identified the agent it was in a context that wasn't so bad, or that it's Matt Cooper's fault, or why this is all just a massive smear campaign. Soon, they'll be debating the definition of "is" and you can start rumors about Laura being a lesbian. Fun! http://www.wonkette.com/
MEANWHILE (again)...
Over at the NY Times, you can find a fascinating story on audio hallucination.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/health/psychology/12musi.html?incamp=article_popular
AND FINALLY SOMETHING WEIRD...
Two nights ago when the insomnia was bad, I scoured the cable grid for something to watch. By default, I clicked on one of the Encore Channels for Meryl Streep in Postcards From The Edge, but found to by surprise that John Walters' Pink Flamingos was being aired. Okay, so errors do happen on the cable schedule, but Pink Flamingos is pretty sturdy stuff even for premium cable what with its cock-sucking, shit-eating, talking-asshole, cop-eating cannibalism, and general overall theme of a drag-queen Manson Family, not to mention the dead chicken and all those eggs. I have heard nothing since, but, then again, it was the time of day when only Travis Bickel and I are watching TV. I do wonder, however, if some subversive out there is deliberate slipping in such raunch in very wee hours.
BUT LET’S LEAVE THE LAST WORD TO TRAVIS...
You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here. Who do the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh, yeah? Ok.
(Maybe best to read yesterday first.)
Today Karl Rove – described last night by Jon Stewart as "the only man in Washington with flesh-colored hair" – mounted his counterattack....
As told by MSNBC...
The GOP continues to believe that the best defense is offense, and true to form, Republican talkers are starting to try to change the subject and/or once again question Joe Wilson's veracity. Among those who have come to Rove's offense: President Bush, via Scott McClellan, who said yesterday that Rove has Bush's confidence; Laura Bush, who called Rove a very good friend; Newt Gingrich, via TODAY; Tom DeLay, via The Hill newspaper; and RNC chair Ken Mehlman, who has offered the staunchest backing of Rove by far. But Mehlman leaves Washington for Iowa today, which may cut into his media availability. Add to the list the Wall Street Journal editorial page, which today praises Rove for "turning out to be the real 'whistleblower' in this whole sorry pseudo-scandal," and notes that "there's no evidence that [he] broke any laws."
Before Mehlman lammed it out of town he left the following Rove-style "talkingpoint" that will be repeated by all the TV shrieking heads...
WASHINGTON, July 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement by Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Ken Mehlman on the partisan attack on Karl Rove:
"It's disappointing that once again, so many Democrat leaders are taking their political cues from the far-left, Moveon wing of the party. The bottom line is Karl Rove was discouraging a reporter from writing a false story based on a false premise and the Democrats are engaging in blatant partisan political attacks."
Meanwhile in other news...
"President Bush called Tuesday for the release of an Iranian journalist jailed for writing articles linking government officials to murder."
Meanwhile Wonkette has a suggestion...
Okay, we admit it, we were overthinking the whole Rove-Plame thing. In speculating that this wouldn't destroy him or the White House, we had been hung up on how he didn't break the law. What we realize now is that liberals finally have an issue where the headline hurts Republicans more than it hurts them: "White House Aide Identified Undercover CIA Agent." Now, shut up. Shhh. Zip it. ZZZip. No, really, quiet. Repress natural urge to pedantry. For once, allow Americans' short attention span work for you. And whatever happens, do not let Michael Moore make a movie about it. Let the Republicans shoulder the responsibility of having to explain how Karl didn't do anything illegal, or how when he identified the agent it was in a context that wasn't so bad, or that it's Matt Cooper's fault, or why this is all just a massive smear campaign. Soon, they'll be debating the definition of "is" and you can start rumors about Laura being a lesbian. Fun! http://www.wonkette.com/
MEANWHILE (again)...
Over at the NY Times, you can find a fascinating story on audio hallucination.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/health/psychology/12musi.html?incamp=article_popular
AND FINALLY SOMETHING WEIRD...
Two nights ago when the insomnia was bad, I scoured the cable grid for something to watch. By default, I clicked on one of the Encore Channels for Meryl Streep in Postcards From The Edge, but found to by surprise that John Walters' Pink Flamingos was being aired. Okay, so errors do happen on the cable schedule, but Pink Flamingos is pretty sturdy stuff even for premium cable what with its cock-sucking, shit-eating, talking-asshole, cop-eating cannibalism, and general overall theme of a drag-queen Manson Family, not to mention the dead chicken and all those eggs. I have heard nothing since, but, then again, it was the time of day when only Travis Bickel and I are watching TV. I do wonder, however, if some subversive out there is deliberate slipping in such raunch in very wee hours.
BUT LET’S LEAVE THE LAST WORD TO TRAVIS...
You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here. Who do the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh, yeah? Ok.
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