eye of the storm

well i'm still ticked that the state of texas grabbed all those kids; i'll give the whole argument if you want. but i'm pretty amazed that they've been liberated.

it's good that the texas courts have thrown a wrench into the state kidnappings, apparently on the grounds that alternatives to straight-up snatching were not sufficiently explored. duh. i'd like you to think about what these kids are going through. i hope that the courts and the "welfare" people are not going to use these kids as balls in a tennis match. that really *is* abuse.

of course, i support legalizing same-sex marriage. and if you were me, you would also support an absolute ban on opposite-sex marriage. it's fucking unnatural.

Got no dog in this fight but...

Hi, y'all. Crusader AXE here, occasional guest blogger from the Defeatists. I personally have no dog in this hunt, but find it something that Crispin would probably find enragingly amusing. The idea of not swearing in bars is intriguing -- in a lot of places you can't smoke in bars, so not swearing in bars sort of fits in with the puritanical-Mormon-Nanny-State ethos that the country is evolving toward. Next, they will turn off the big screen TVs because sports TV encourages yelling, cheering and betting in bars. Then they will forbid talking to strangers. The sole reason for going to bars will be to drink. Which will then be forbidden by the FDA because alcohol is addictive and a food. (C6-H12-O6). Commerce will be paralyzed and human life will become extinct, although ....Life is already not worth living...

well i have moved out to a new house (marion and i having separated), sobered up, and now i'm ready to blog, bitches! ok i have solved the deep mystery of benazir bhutto's death: she died of natural causes, at the exact moment that someone shot her in the head and blew her the fuck up.
and i want to say that i am a change agent, a changent, as it were. what this country needs is change: completely random, unpredictable change involving absolutely everything simultaneously. now that will be an experience! and in this election, i am the experienced changent: the jimi hendrix of politics. the nihilist party is back.

Occasionally you wonder what you might do if you were smarter

Crusader AXE here, occasional guest blogger and long-time fan of Crispin's Sonata in A Minor for Kazoo and Jewsharp. I know that he occasionally despairs about the ability of his undergraduate students to read, write and think critically. I did with mine and found a solution; I ceased teaching. This was especially rewarding for me personally, since my students were graduate students.

However, it's wonderful to see what happens when highly intelligent adult scholars and scientists choose whimsical idiocy over serious endeavor. It makes me feel warm inside to know that there is indeed hope for the sword-swallowers amongst us.

nothing is funnier than totalitarianism. or even just political power in general. i loved yesterday's top headline: bush admits war not going as well as he'd hoped. on the other hand, outlawing opera makes sense.

Known as Turkmenbashi, or Father of all Turkmens, Niyazov was renowned for such peculiar acts as ordering citizens to get gold teeth extracted, outlawing opera and banning men from listening to car radios.

During a 21-year rule he turned his country into a hymn of praise to himself: kindergartens, towns, factories and a month of the year (January) were named Turkmenbashi. He erected a revolving gold statue of himself in the capital Ashgabat and giant billboards of the leader hung all over the country.

He often feigned embarrassment at the adulation. "I'm personally against seeing my pictures and statues in the streets - but it's what the people want," he once said.

But the pressure to worship the leader was relentless. Children in the gas-rich state were forced to learn his book of poetry, the Ruhnama, at school, and a copy of the book was sent into space for good measure.

pretty hilarious piece of youtube, courtesy of emma.

one thing that's wrong with the washpost: when you are the official world order mouthpiece, you don't report news, only repeat what the people who can't say anything are saying. then you get in the habit of thinking that nothing is something. among today's stunning headlines:
civil war in iraq imminent, says annan
total abortion ban spurs critics
marines pessimistic on anbar
bush to press maliki on sectarian violence
contractors face more scrutiny

feel informed now? the only apparent content in today's paper is the refreshingly factual
seahawks down packers

i agree that 50 shots is too many to pump into a bachelor party. i would draw the line at 20. ok, ok: 30 if the folks are black.