Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Listen to duh boidies

Quote from a review in the rad-rag Countercurrents of Mickey Z's new book (I'm only assuming he has an old book), No Innocent Bystanders:
They came for the Sea Mink and I did not speak out because I was not a Sea Mink. Then they came for the Great Auk and I did not speak out because I was not a Great Auk. Then they came for the Cuban Red Macaw and I did not speak out because I was not a Cuban Red Macaw.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.
Caw! Caw! Auk! Auk! Sea Mink! Sea Mink!

Update: So the Cuban Reds are probably Cawmmunists, huh?

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sunday non-judgmental post

Woke up about 4:30 (yes, a.m.) and while deciding whether to stay up clicked on the TV and, on one of the Denver Open Media channels, caught my first-ever glimpse of Sister Who:




I am a Sacred Clown, forms of which have been part of every tribal society since the beginning of human history; the one whose job is to inspire others toward personal and spiritual growth and a positive attitude toward discovery, diversity, and constructive change.

A soft-spoken and gentle gay man also known as Denver NeVaar, I am passionate about the value of life and spirituality, have competed in physique/bodybuilding, and enjoy hiking and skiing.

I am a nun according to the more inclusive definition of a commitment to spiritual service and have never done anything intentionally sacrilegious or disrespectful of any member of any religious order of any form of spirituality. Rather, I am happy to encourage and support the ministries and personal spirituality of others in ways that are consistent with non-violence and mutual respect, trusting the Divine to guide each person's growth in individually appropriate ways.
The pics and quotes that follow (and many others "suitable for framing") are available at Sister Who's website for $10 each (Sister Who will sign your picture on request at no extra charge).



My spirituality is very eclectic, having begun within the Roman Catholic Church and included experiences of Pentecostal and Non-Pentecostal protestant Christianity as well as Pagan, Buddhist, Hindu, New Age, Native American, and Unitarian-Universalist forms of spirituality.



Sister Who is "Recipient of the 2006 R. Allene Sather Award from Iliff School of Theology for 'demonstrating interest and ability in innovative worship.'" Quite a school, that Iliff School of Theology.




Lincoln's leg with Sister Who.


Just noticed that's a real plate with the bizarre nun on it. Wonder if he has, like, eight complete place settings with bowls and salad plates and all? Actually I don't wonder at all.
As a form of the centuries old archetype of the Sacred Clown, I am the painter's canvas upon which symbols, colors, questions, insights, and various forms of prayer are presented to others within a wide variety of social situations. By the mere fact of my presence, I challenge each person I meet in various ways according to his or her unique experiences and perspectives, to look at things differently and thereby see things to which he or she may have otherwise been blind. Through intuitive meditation, readings using various decks of cards with symbolic images, and empathic dialogue, I open windows and doors of insight, offer hope, and provide inspiration to keep going, especially in those moments when life is a confusing, discouraging, or even adversarial jungle.
Update: Bet you didn't know that I too am a nun, according to the more inclusive definition of a commitment to making a complete ass of myself if there's a buck in it. Or even if there isn't.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Ciggie packs in Britain to carry pics of lung cancer, corpses

The Sun:
GRAPHIC pictures of throat cancer and rotting teeth are to appear on cigarette packets from next month.

The images will be put on packets to deter people from smoking.
Just in case you were wondering.
Among the other images smokers will see are rotting lungs, a corpse in a morgue and a body cut open during surgery.
The Sun has a slideshow.

Evil, meet stupid. Oh, you already know each other . . .

The Post:
A man who repeatedly slapped the back of his 17-year-old son's head egging him on to drive faster in the moments before a head-on collision has been sentenced to 36 years in prison.

"This may be the first time in Colorado where we obtained a conviction of vehicular assault when the defendant was not actually behind the wheel," said Scott Storey, Jefferson County District Attorney. . . .

Prosecutors said that [Kenneth Leon] Childress had provided alcohol to [his son Brett] Lafferty. Lafferty's 19-year-old girlfriend was a passenger in the front seat, and Childress was in the back seat with a three-year-old boy.

Lafferty was driving the group at about midnight on Nov. 22, 2007.

Childress, from the back seat, told Lafferty to drive faster, and was "egging him on" by hitting him in the back of the head as the car raced south on Wadsworth Boulevard.

Witnesses told investigators they saw Lafferty running red lights and racing down the road before slamming into a Jeep head-on.

The three-year-old was not restrained and was seriously
injured. . . .

Childress, of Aurora, was found guilty by a jury of reckless child abuse, vehicular assault, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

Storey noted that this was Childress' third alcohol-related offense and third felony conviction.
As I've had occasion to note before:


Lombroso was right: Kenneth Leon Childress.

Paul Newman

Here's the New York Times' obituary. I grew up in Westport, where he and Joanne Woodward lived for 50 years, until I was 12. Can't say I remember ever seeing him around town like AP writer Gregory Katz, who sounds a little older than me, did, but like everybody else I knew where they lived. We kids rode our bikes by their estate on our way to other places all the time, and I remember my sister Ellen and I once peeking through the very gates pictured in the Denver Post's pickup of Katz' story. We didn't see anyone.

Probably doesn't count as a brush with greatness, huh?

Update: E. Morris, Jr. notes in comments that Newman was a fine actor. Forgot to mention that because everything is always about me.

RMN: "Cyber-lebrity" Forrest just humble peace activist

Blech:
The elfin firebrand in the pink tiara who took to the streets with a pink bullhorn and found that the streets can be really hard when you get knocked down onto them is nervously laughing at the other end of the phone line because she's a little surprised at the question she's been asked.

"Do I feel like a celebrity because of what happened? No, not really, not at all," says Alicia Forrest, the 24-year-old member of Code Pink who became a cause celebre for police brutality and the darling of You Tube in August thanks to a Rocky Mountain News video of her being knocked to the ground by a policeman and subsequently hauled away and arrested during the Democratic National Convention.
Read whole thing, but only on an empty stomach.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Cops' DNC t-shirt brings attention to cowtown

The WSJ's Washington Wire has more on the tiny ruckus over the Denver cops' commemorative t-shirt:
Now that the delegates, news media, Secret Service and truckloads of Barack Obama tokens have left town, Denver is left with a tempest over a T-shirt.

The Denver Police Protective Association’s Democratic National Convention Commemorative T-shirts depict a truncheon-wielding cop looking out over Denver’s downtown with the motto:”We get up early to beat the crowds.” The front bears the number 68 in a circle with a slash through it, a reference to protester clearinghouse Recreate 68, itself a reference to the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago where protesters clashed violently with police and National Guard troops.

Activist groups say the shirt is fodder for a lawsuit they’re planning to file, charging that the Denver police systematically condoned violence against protesters. The police group’s response? Those activists just don’t get the joke.

“Nothing really happened,” Martin Vigil, president of the Denver Police Protective Association, told Washington Wire. “It wasn’t the event that the anti-government groups anticipated, and the T-shirts are a satirical comment on that, given to officers after the event as a ‘thank you’ for a perfect convention.”
Whoa. Back it up, bitch. Maybe not quite perfect. Pretty durn good. But satirical? I don't know about that.

But Glen [heh] Spagnuolo, co-founder of Recreate 68, said members of his group saw the shirts before the convention, and that the shirts reflect the brutality that Denver police officers exhibited during the convention.

“We feel like police should not be celebrating violating peoples’ rights,” Spagnuolo said. “These shirts set the tone for the beating that our members took.”

The beating that our members took. Complete, unadulterated fantasy. Next they'll be saying that IWAFBB*.
Given the high expectations surrounding the convention, turnout was anemic. Police arrested 154 protesters, and Recreate 68 is planning to file lawsuits relating to the mass arrests and detentions.
Mass arrests, plural. In fact, there was only the one, and in numbers it didn't come close to several of our strictly local Columbus Day protests. So, when are they going to file those lawsuits, anyway? I keep hearing about them, but nothing happens. Who knows, though, maybe a protester or two will win enough money to buy a starter house out in Highlands Ranch, like Glenn (scroll to update).

*It Was A Fucking Bloodbath.

Update: The Post, in low to middling dudgeon:
A T-shirt being distributed by Denver's police union that refers to Democratic National Convention protesters was supposedly a joke.

"We get up early to beat the crowds" and "DNC 2008."

Get it? "Beat" the crowds?
Huh-uh.
Count us among those who don't find it very funny.

The shirt, which features a menacing depiction of a baton-wielding officer, undermines the efforts the Denver Police Department has made to boost its credibility in the community.

It also accomplishes something we thought would be difficult if not impossible: It cedes the moral high ground to Re-Create 68 agitator Glenn Spagnuolo.
Sheeeit.

That's because the shirt also is emblazoned with a "68" with a slash through it — a reference to Spagnuolo's protest group.

It's true that Spagnuolo made a pest of himself in the months leading up to the August convention in Denver. He hinted darkly about violence and disruption.

And he boasted that Re-Create 68 would be 50,000 strong and would illegally occupy Civic Center park on a day when another group had legitimately obtained a permit to use the park.

Once the convention got underway, it was apparent that Spagnuolo's predictions were either a product of wishful thinking or delusions of grandeur.

I'd have used "and" rather than "or."
Protest crowds were far smaller than anyone predicted, and while a march did cross through the park, it was far from the mass sit-in predicted.

Overall, we thought law enforcement was effective in giving protesters the opportunity to exercise their First Amendment rights and march with little disruption to the rest of those who were in town for the convention.

It was, generally speaking, a peaceful four-day event.

Unfortunately, this T-shirt is an affront to the hard work of the officers who labored under difficult conditions to make that happen.
Guess that's why "officers from other departments like Lakewood police and the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department have been clamoring for the shirts and have ordered dozens more. [Detective Nick Rogers, who came up with the idea] said after the initial printing, there was so much demand he had to reorder more shirts."

Friday early a.m. at the Radio!

Night Beat! "Harlan Matthews, Stamp Collector" (29 May 1950). "Copy boy!"

Jack Benny! "From San Francisco with Jane Wyman" (30 March 1947).

And The Halls of Ivy: "Knockwurst Society" (31 March 1950).

Weird Bird Friday

Sometimes I'm amazed at what you can find on the internet. Other times, I'm amazed at what you CAN'T find.

I've been dealing with a tenant from hell all week. So naturally I wanted to post a weird evil landlord bird or a renter bird or a tenant bird. I googled like crazy, but could not find a single image of any of the above-mentioned tenancy-related birds.

I did find two pictures that were named "tenant bird 1" and "tenant bird 2"--but only because they were created by someone named Valerie Tenant (click on the "t" in the alphabet at the top). I like them, though. So even though they have nothing to do with my theme for the week, here they are. Enjoy!





--Drunkawife

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Did Bush ix-nay Israeli attack on Iran?

An LGF-like post, since LGF has been down for hours (or is it just me?)

Anyway, the Grauniad's lead story claims:

Israel gave serious thought this spring to launching a military strike on Iran's nuclear sites but was told by President George W Bush that he would not support it and did not expect to revise that view for the rest of his presidency, senior European diplomatic sources have told the Guardian.

The then prime minister, Ehud Olmert, used the occasion of Bush's trip to Israel for the 60th anniversary of the state's founding to raise the issue in a one-on-one meeting on May 14, the sources said. "He took it [the refusal of a US green light] as where they were at the moment, and that the US position was unlikely to change as long as Bush was in office", they added. . . .

Bush's decision to refuse to offer any support for a strike on Iran appeared to be based on two factors, the sources said. One was US concern over Iran's likely retaliation, which would probably include a wave of attacks on US military and other personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as on shipping in the Persian Gulf.

The other was US anxiety that Israel would not succeed in disabling Iran's nuclear facilities in a single assault even with the use of dozens of aircraft. It could not mount a series of attacks over several days without risking full-scale war. So the benefits would not outweigh the costs.
Read whole thing.

Recreate-68 unhappy with cop t-shirt

You knew this was coming:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BEATING PROTESTERS NO LAUGHING MATTER
Recreate 68 Calls for Accountability for Police Protective Association T-shirt

DENVER, September 28, 2008 - Denver ­CBS4 reported yesterday that the Denver Police Protective Association, the union representing most of Denver's police officers, has created and distributed a "tongue-in-cheek" t-shirt that suggests that "Denver's finest" think that beating people exercising their First Amendment rights is part of their job.

As described by Brian Maass, the back of the shirt­ given free to every Denver police officer and now being sold to other departments­ "features a menacing-looking police figure, wearing what looks like a Denver police badge and helmet and clutching a baton" with the slogan "WE GET UP EARLY, to BEAT the crowds," and "2008 DNC." The front shows the number 68 with a slash through it, an obvious reference to Recreate 68 (R-68), which organized, as promised, several peaceful, non-violent demonstrations during the DNC. It was initially reported to R-68 that officers were wearing the t-shirt under their riot gear during the convention, but the rumor was unable to be substaintiated at the time.
Substaintiated. That's our Glenn.
The people of Denver were assured by the city that it would respect First Amendment rights during the DNC, and that that police officers were being trained to do so. The actions of police during the DNC, which involved numerous violations of people's right to freedom of speech and assembly, put the lie to those promises. And now this appalling, tasteless t-shirt shows why. The members of Denver's police union clearly have no respect for the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
They have no respect for something, anyway.
The Denver Police Department Operations Manual includes a Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, which begins, "As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind, to safeguard lives and property, to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality and justice." The creation of this t-shirt makes a mockery of that statement.
As always, R68 discredits itself. By and large, the cops did exactly what their code requires: they protected the innocent, the weak and the peaceful from the "disorder and violence" R68 and its minions hoped to create. As for the "numerous" violations of the First Amendment rights of protesters--we're still waiting for the three, four, "or even five" lawsuits you pledged to file, Spagz.

Naturally, there are demands:
We, the Re-create 68 Alliance, demand that Mayor John Hickenlooper, Manager of Safety Al LaCabe and Police Chief Gerald Whitman conduct an investigation into the creation and distribution of this t-shirt; that Nick Rogers, the officer identified as responsible for producing the shirt, and any other officers involved, be disciplined; and that police training regarding civil liberties be reevaluated, because it clearly has not achieved its intended effect. We also demand that Mayor John Hickenlooper and Chief Jerry Whitman issue a public statement condemning this shirt, and condemning the attitude behind it that treats police abuse of power and brutality against peaceful protesters as a joke.
It's the tone that grates.

(via Westword, which for some reason doesn't link to the press release; a cursory look failed to find it on the interweb apparatus)

Shut up, he explained

To coin a phrase. Post columnist Susan Greene on how to talk to your kids about the financial crisis:
"Mom, what's a bailout?"

This from my 5-year-old first thing Tuesday morning.

As if Hurricane Ike weren't tough enough to explain, now come questions about a financial crisis that I find myself straining to answer.
Hurricane Ike? That's easy: hit the kid with a big tree branch (or, if that's not handy, a car fender or a cow) while you hold the tyke underwater in a bathtub or kiddie pool. That'll learn him.
So I turned to the experts.
Oh, God.
"We're saying this is a monumental change in the economy that's about a credit crunch where banks are tightening standards so that average people and even banks can't get credit to meet demands. And if people can't get credit to spend, the whole thing shuts down," explained Young Americans president Rich Martinez in a riff I'm pretty sure my preschoolers wouldn't understand.
Stupid preschoolers. Is that bathtub filled yet?
Jim Fay, a Golden-based parenting expert, offered easier advice:

"Keep it really, really simple," said Fay, author of the recent book, "Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats? Love and Logic Solutions to Teaching Kids About Money." "I would talk about how banks and government made a bunch of mistakes that have made it hard for the rest of us [Stupid banks. Stupid government.]. And then I would say we all need to do our part to fix the problem at home."
Or at the local textile factory. Bye, kiddies! See you in 16 hours!
Too often, money talk is considered taboo with kids.

"We speak with them about sex and drugs. But we don't talk about mortgages or debt," said Martinez, who shares with his 9-year-old details about his income, the family's house payments and other expenses.
More fun than a visit from a clown!
And there's another reason for openness . . . .

Whether or not they grasp the weight of a $700 billion bailout, our kids, their kids and maybe even their kids' kids will have to pay for it. We owe them an honest explanation for why universal health care and meaningful educational reform suddenly have fallen from the top of the nation's priority list.
Great, now we have to explain univeral health care to the illiterate little bastards. What a maroonette.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Let's ask the Geico Gekko next!

AP:
Michael Douglas had to field questions Wednesday about the financial turmoil shaking world markets from reporters recalling his role in the 1987 film "Wall Street."

The actor sought to focus on the subject of Wednesday's news conference—urging the United States and eight other holdout nations to ratify a nuclear test ban treaty.

Douglas won an Academy Award for portraying the rapacious banker Gordon Gekko, who popularized the phrase "greed is good" in the movie.

After world leaders here condemned the "boundless greed" of world markets, Douglas was asked to compare nuclear Armageddon with the "financial Armageddon on Wall Street."

But the likening to Gekko did not end there, with a reporter asking: "Are you saying Gordon that greed is not good?"

"I'm not saying that," Douglas replied. "And my name is not Gordon. He's a character I played 20 years ago."
Sure thing, Gordon.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Tuesday Night at the Radio!

I Was A Communist For The FBIIIII! "The Party Got Rough" (15 October 1952).

Nine years is a long time to endure the hatred and contempt of your loyal fellow Americans . . .
Tell me about it. Show starts a little muddy, but improves.

And Escape! "Conquest" (14 January 1951). Big fat William Conrad attempts Everest.

And a couple of Vic and Sades: "Landlady's Photos" (7 February 1941); and "Hank's Weather Service" (27 March 1941) (sorry that second show took so long to post; the archive went down).

In other t-shirt news

CBS4:
A tongue-in-cheek t-shirt poking fun at Democratic National Convention protestors is selling fast and creating some minor controversy along the way.
Minor until now, maybe.
The shirts were created and distributed by the Denver Police Protective Association, the union that represents most of Denver's 1,400 police officers.

The front of the black shirt shows the number "68" with a slash through it. One of the primary protest groups at last month's DNC in Denver called themselves "Recreate 68," harkening back to the violent, 1968 political convention in Chicago.
I did not know that.

The back of the shirt features a menacing-looking police figure, wearing what looks like a Denver police badge and helmet and clutching a baton. He's looming over the city of Denver along with the slogan, "WE GET UP EARLY, to BEAT the crowds." Also written across the back of the shirt is "2008 DNC.'



Of course:

One CBS4 viewer, Seth Barnett, contacted the station to complain about the shirts, writing they "are a terrible representation of our city and its police." Barnett, a 21-year-old college student, called the shirts "disrespectful," saying they seemed "like a low blow."

Barnett said he was appalled by the shirts and wrote Denver's mayor and the police department to complain.

The Denver police detective who produced the shirts, Det. Nick Rogers, says he has received no complaints until now. He said the shirts are being sold for $10 each at the Police Protective Association Offices. . . .

They went on sale following the convention and he said every Denver police officer was given one free. Beyond that, he said officers from other departments like Lakewood police and the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department have been clamoring for the shirts and have ordered dozens more. He said after the initial printing, there was so much demand he had to reorder more shirts.

CBS's story might force another reorder. Or two. If the DNC had been a bloodbath (h/t Benjie), the shirt might, I admit, be a little crass. The fact that not a single protester was actually beaten, though, makes it all in good clean fun.

Advice to Seth: Read some (earlier) Wambaugh.

Update: "No charges for cop who shoved protester":

A Denver police officer caught on tape shoving a Code Pink protester to the ground during the Democratic National Convention won't face charges, according to Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.

An investigation found that Alicia Forrest, 24, refused to back away as protesters crowded police during the arrest of a protester Aug. 26. A Rocky Mountain News video captured Officer Scott Stewart shoving the woman with his baton and saying, "Back up, (expletive)," as Forrest collapsed. Before the camera panned to the shove, police can be heard telling people to "Back it up," and Forrest can be heard saying, "Do it again."

"(Forrest) failed to comply with repeated lawful police orders to move back," said the DA's office. "She then grabbed an officer's baton, pushing it away. The officer pushed back, using the baton, and the woman fell to the ground."

Update II: The Rocky has more:
Forrest referred questions to her attorney, Dan Recht, when contacted Tuesday for comment on the DA's decision

"It's outrageous that the Denver DA would choose not to file assault charges against the officer who struck Alicia Forrest," Recht said.

"The incident was caught on video by a Rocky Mountain News cameraman and clearly shows the officer bashing Alicia with his baton in what can only be described as an excessive use of force."

But Kimbrough said that the video clip wasn't the only evidence in the case.

"The completed investigation included information was provided from witnesses at the scene, the officer and the woman who was involved," she said. . . .

Recht said he doesn't believe that the district attorney's actions Tuesday would affect Forrest's criminal case, which he is hoping to have dismissed.

"The issue remains whether Alicia will bring a civil suit against the officer, and that has not been determined yet," he said.
Not been determined yet? If it's so clear-cut, why not?

Why amn't I outraged. . .

About the kid who was suspended for wearing an anti-Obama t-shirt to school? Maybe because his dad is an attention-seeking jerk:

An Aurora sixth-grader says his conservative dad came up with the "Obama — A terrorist's best friend" slogan and did most of the work to emblazoned [sic] it on a T-shirt that got him suspended from school.

But 11-year-old Daxx Dalton said he stands behind the message and believes school officials violated his free-speech rights by suspending him for three days.

The boy also agrees with his trucker dad, Dann Dalton, that school officials are are bunch of "lefties" who wouldn't have disciplined him if the T-shirt had featured his favored presidential candidate, Republican John McCain.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit. But:

Dann Dalton told Fox 31 News, which first reported the story, that he is considering a lawsuit.

Dann Dalton is no newcomer to free-speech controversies.

The father took his two children in a stroller to a 2000 anti-abortion protest outside the Arapahoe County home of a doctor who provided abortions, according to a Rocky Mountain News story.

Neighbors in the normally quiet cul-de-sac at the time complained about weekly protests with abortion foes waving signs declaring "Don't Kill Kids" and calling the doctor "murderer."

Arapahoe County commissioners passed a law limiting demonstrations in residential neighborhoods — requiring protesters to keep moving and restricting the size of their signs.

Dann Dalton said the restrictions had only boosted the protest crowd.

"Hopefully we'll have Greyhound bus tours through the area before long," he said at the time.

During a 2003 Colorado Capitol protest supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Dann Dalton was quoted shouting "Bomb Islam" toward anti-war protesters, according to a Denver Post story.

Lovely. The kid's name is "Daxx," by the way. What movie has this dialogue:
General Broulard: Colonel Dax, you're a disappointment to me. You've spoiled the keenness of your mind by wallowing in sentimentality. You really did want to save those men, and you were not angling for Mireau's command. You are an idealist - and I pity you as I would the village idiot. We're fighting a war, Dax, a war that we've got to win. Those men didn't fight, so they were shot. You bring charges against General Mireau, so I insist that he answer them. Wherein have I done wrong?

Colonel Dax: Because you don't know the answer to that question, I pity you.
(No googling. E. Morris, Jr. is not eligible.)

Quote of the Duh!

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed," Biden told Couric. "He said, 'Look, here's what happened.'"

Monday, September 22, 2008

Girlie protest

Not even sure who was putting it on, but I heard about it from a CodeStink e-mail. It was on the west steps of the Capitol at noon today:





Took this pic and the guy said, "Wait, wait, take the other side!"



Awwww.

He was one of maybe six or seven guys (including me, only a provisional guy) in the crowd of something over a hundred.








Left: Ms. Global Warming.



Doing the wave. Yeah, that's a bandolier. Probably symbolizes imperialism and the War Machine and supporting Israel and attacking countries that pose no threat to us and stuff like that, huh?



Oh.















I don't get it.






Must be a William Pitt (The Younger) Bull.










There were speakers, of course:


Elbra Wedgeworth, city council member and, until quite recently, president of the 2008 Democratic National Convention Host Committee.

Naturally I didn't listen. It'll be on the news tonight (strictly local) if you want to know what they said.




Conclusion: These women REALLY don't like Sarah Palin.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sunday Night at the Radio!

Another X-minus-1, and what the hell, another Ray Bradbury story: "Dwellers in Silence" (10 November 1955).

Maybe one more episode of The Six-Shooter, and then we'll let it rest for a while: "A Pressing Engagement" (6 December 1953).

And Fibber McGee and Molly: "Fibber Writes Music for Meredith Wilson" (25 June 1940).

R68: Protests suck!

Mistress of the Clue-Bereft Susan Greene commiserates with the failed rabble-rousers:
Mark Cohen is in a funk.
Last time I saw him, he was in a clown su--er, wizard's costume.
It was the Sunday before the Democratic National Convention during an anti-war Rally the veteran activist had spent 18 months organizing. From the steps of the State Capitol, he was discouraged to see only a few hundred protesters.

Cohen — co-founder of the group Recreate 68 — had cut his teeth decrying the Vietnam War and always believed in the power of taking to the streets.

Now he's not so sure.

"Because we're the home-field activists, we felt we had to organize a march for the DNC or else people would say Denver doesn't care about the war," he said. "But mass marches don't work any more--
Any more? Oh yeah, they elected Richard Nixon in 1968.
"Politicians don't perceive any kind of threat from our actions."
Guess that's why they spent $50 million of taxpayers' money on security.

Glenn Spagnuolo, Recreate 68's louder-mouthed co-founder, voiced his own angst in his post-mortem:

"In the end, what did we accomplish? Not much. Do I feel like we influenced the Democratic Party at all? No. . . . I'm done with that type of protest."

Funny, just a little over a week ago Glenn was talking about building on the "momentum" R68 had gained from the protests.
The self-doubts of two of Denver's best-known protesters may be met with smugness by city officials, Barack Obama supporters and law-and-order ideologues irked by lefty dissent — however anemic — in August.
Law-and-order ideologues irked by lefty dissent. Hmpf.
Even activists are pointing fingers.
Even? It's their favorite pastime.
Many blame the less militant among them for cowering in the face of police overpresence or wimping out for fear of eroding support for Obama.
Notice how Greene doesn't say why, exactly, the "less militant" were "cowering" in the face of police "overpresence" (nice word)--the real possibility of violence from R68 and its umbrella groups.
Some blame a sense of powerlessness about a war that most Americans oppose.
Wouldn't be a Greene column if she didn't work that in. The assumption being, as always, that polls rather than elections should determine the direction of policy.
Some point to apathy in a town that got more worked up over a Rockies playoff game last fall than the deaths of 4,100 soldiers.
Now she's just being despicable. Anyone who doesn't share Greene's beliefs or priorities is callous, at best. Note, by the way, how she keeps putting her own opinions in the mouths of the crappy columnist's best friend, "Some."
Others (SBF!) cite infighting in the activist community, faulting Cohen and Spagnuolo for harkening back to protests in Chicago in 1968 rather than pushing a more current agenda. . . .

But all that misses the point.
Now there's something Greene's an expert on.
In a time of war and economic tumult, when gas prices, foreclosures and joblessness are rising, it seems an odd time for so many in Denver's activist left to be paralyzed by self-doubt. Frustrated peaceniks, anarchists and other liberals--
Anarchists and other liberals. I love it. She doesn't even get that R68ers and their homonculi couldn't care less about "economic tumult," gas prices, foreclosures or (especially) joblessness. What's the chant? Oh yeah: Two, four, six, eight, organize to smash the state--and don't forget to drive less to lower our dependence on foreign oil!

--who have given up on the Democrats and failed to build up a viable third party [whaddaya talking about?] are struggling with where to take their activism. . . .

Even young activists are questioning their future on the streets.

"At the end of the day, the only people who heard us were the riot cops. We need to figure out a different formula, something that's more inspiring to people," said 22-year-old Recreate 68 leader Carlo Garcia, one of roughly 150 protesters arrested in August.

Psssst. Hey, Carlo. How about . . . violence?
This week marks the midway between the convention and the perennial uprising against Italian-Americans' Columbus Day parade in Denver.
Uprising date circled on my calendar!
While the American Indian Movement meets today to set its plans for October, some core activists who back the group say enthusiasm for a mass protest is lower than ever. There are rumblings about a small, direct action blocking the parade, or even skipping a protest.
Aw c'mon, ya wusses.
"The question is whether it's worth our time, energy and resources to scream at a blind and deaf infrastructure," said AIM leader Glenn Morris.
Blind and deaf, Glenn, or just (like everyone else in the freaking universe) bored and sick to death of you, Spagz, Larry Hales, R68, AIM, Ward Churchill, his dog Benjie, and all of your threats, lies and hate?
"But let me be clear," he added. "Surrender is not one of our options."
Whatever, Chunky.

Speaking of evil demoralized, Benjie Whitmer hasn't updated his filthy Try-Works blog in almost three weeks. Time to get yourself worked up for Columbus Day, Benjie. If you can. But we'll understand if you don't show up this year (let alone get arrested--but you never get arrested, do you?). I mean, with kids and the wife and the job to worry about, who has time these days for revolution?

Update: Benjie's back! Obviously he's been over here, because he has the story about the woman who claimed Wart "threw" poison gas on her two years ago. It wasn't Snapple.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Dog day afternoon

On the Rocky's front page:
Dog the Bounty Hunter and his effervescent wife, Beth, are giving their latest bond jumper a couple of days off - but just a couple.

"We've been riding him so hard; sometimes these guys feel like committing suicide, and we don't want that," Beth said Thursday from the "Dog Cave," their upscale home in the south metro area . . . .
The Dog Cave. Kind of an interesting story, actually. Faulknerian. Well, maybe not Faulknerian. Jethro-ian.


Dog 'n' Beth (Bill Scanlon wrote the story and took the pic).

Is there something different about Beth?


At their wedding in 2006. Can't quite put my finger on it . . .

Earlier "Dog"gerel here (second bullet).

Blogging better

Dave Kopel compares the News' twittering to the Post's blogging of the Obama and Palin speeches in Denver(ish) this week. Blogging wins!

(Gee, I sound like Instaman).

Friday, September 19, 2008

Fame! I'm gonna live forev--uh oh, chest pains

Kenny Be's "Worst Case Scenario" in Westword this week (not, apparently, online):


Click to engorge.

Check out the bottom half of the upper left panel:



A little closer:


Wha?

All I can think of is, Be likes the name Drunkablog, because he can't have actually ever read the thing. I mean, come on, I'm not a pundit, I'm a 'tard with an internet connection. I'm a dumbdit. If I ever wrote serious crap like that I'd kill myself. And I've got negatory traffic. What am I doing with movers and shakers like Tina Griego and Susan Greene?


But that's me all right. The likeness is uncanny.

Oh well. I've already emptied a dozen Westword news boxes, so signed (by me, of course) copies will be on Ebay tonight. Cheap!

(forgot to say, h/t El Presidente, who's giving a seven-hour speech today and requests the honor of your presence. Or else.)

Ward Churchill accused of poison gas attack

Swear to God. Yourshlub.com:
Political activist claims harassment

WOMAN CLAIMS SHE'S BEING FOLLOWED

A 37-year-old Louisville woman filed a harassment report Sept. 16, insisting several men are following her. The woman, who describes herself as a conservative political activist, feels she's being targeted because she helped organize a rally at the Democratic National Convention. She said she noticed several men following her around town shortly after she posted information about the rally on a political Web site she maintains. The woman took pictures of the men and posted them on the site in an effort to help identify them. She stated this is not the first instance she's been targeted for her political beliefs. The woman claims former CU professor Ward Churchill threw "poisonous gas" in her face as she was exiting a store in Broomfield in 2006.
Sounds paranoid to me. Wart probably just breathed his black-toothed ciggie breath on her.

More: "Dan the Man" (real original, Dan) at Yourshlub saw this pic of a bank robber dubbed for unexplained reasons BOB and commented:


"I *totally* thought that was Ward Churchill.........until I saw he was 5'8". Oh, well."

People shrink as they get older, Dan.

Friday Dead of Morn at the Radio!

First time for this show: Mr. District Attorney! Based loosely (to say the least) on Thomas E. Dewey, Mr. District Attorney fought crime and corruption in a nameless city. This one's called "Labor Pirates" (19 August 1942).

Information Please! Guest Hillary St. George Saunders, author of Combined Operations. Good war talk (14 June 1943).

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Art corner!

By now everybody's seen Zina Saunders' painting of Sarah Palin with a fresh kill. Not so many have seen the highly successful Saunders' other recent Palin work:


"Sarah Palin's dream library, after the vetting is done."

Slightly more subtle, but not what you'd call, you know, subtle. Both paintings were originally posted at the website Drawger, librarian Palin on a page for women artists only called "Women's Work." It's worth a look. Having taken an art class or two (no, actually, just the one) the D-blog thought he'd learned that an integral part of artistic creation was perceiving things freshly. But the numbingly uniform worldview of the artists on the Women's Work page is almost Stalinist:



"The Republican Platform Against Choice" (Frances Jetter)


"One Nation Under God" (Susan Tibbles).


"Hittin' the Trail" (Jean Tuttle).



"Torture: the Great Seal of Approval" (Frances Jetter again).



"Infinite Jest" (Jing Jing Tsong). Pretty sure that's supposed to be Bush and Cheney. Still don't get it.

In fairness though, they're at least as harsh on Obama:


"Determined Ascent" (Wendy Wray). What's the whip for?

(h/t mason, who's a better artiste than these ginks any day.)

Update: Weekly World News: "Sarah Palin Bags A Bigfoot":


The Batboy: your assurance of quality journalism.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Wednesday Night at the Radio!

Since all I posted last night was a couple of Vic and Sades.

First, Night Beat, the adventures of intrepid Chicago Star reporter Randy Stone. Haven't played many of these, but a fun show. This one's called "Am I My Brother's Keeper?":
People are always telling me how lucky I am to have a job where all I've gotta do is walk around Chicago at night, looking for a story. It's a dandy little job, sure. All you need is an ammonia jacket, an extra set of arch supports and a goodly supply of penicillin, and you're all set.
(30 April 1950).

And since Caz quoted him this week for her Wednesday Wisdom post, here's Fred Allen: "Beatrice Lilly" (3 February 1946).

Third of arrested DNC protesters will go to trial

The Rocky's Berny Morson:
Manuca Salazar came to downtown Denver to protest the war in Iraq on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.

The protest ended Aug. 25 with Salazar in police custody for 10 hours. The 22-year-old Denver child-care worker is charged with, among other things, "throwing stones or missiles."

She denies it and says she didn't see anyone else throwing rocks, either.

"I wasn't violent at all," Salazar said.

Salazar is among more than one-third of the demonstrators arrested during the convention who are expected to fight the charges against them.

Of 154 people arrested, 29 have pleaded not guilty and are demanding jury trials, said Brian Vicente of the People's Law Project, which is lining up defense attorneys for those arrested. Vicente said he expects another 30 to demand jury trials when they go before a judge in October.

About 75 have pleaded guilty, said Vince DiCroce, director of prosecutions for the city attorneys office. . . .
Anatomy of repression:
Frank Anello, of Denver, said police grabbed him near the Auraria campus Aug. 24, the day before the convention began.

Anello, his pregnant wife and 3-year-old child were downtown to protest the war in Iraq.

He said the protest was already over, and Anello's wife was using a porta-potty when a Humvee full of police in riot gear arrived. He said he was arrested after refusing to give his name or let officers search his backpack.

Anello said his face was covered at the time. He had covered it during the protest because he didn't want police to identify him.

But, he said, police also had their faces covered.
Fair is fair. Sauce for the goose. A rolling stone gathers no moss.

The News has mugshots, too:


It's a bad hair extravaganza! (The twit with "VIRTUE" tattooed around his neck, incidentally, was charged with giving false information.)

Most of the 128 miscreants pictured were charged with interference with a police officer and obstructing a street, presumably for the failed first-day-of-the-DNC riot; many of those were also cited for "throwing missiles." Well over half were from out of state [update: see Update II]. The oldest person arrested was the holy man pictured upper left--77. The person from farthest away was--well, that's enough. No Spagz. No Benji.

More: Over at the People's Press Collective, the world's most hygenic dictator (he claims), El Presidente, notes that one DNC carbon-offset program actually netted a profit of $18.34 while reducing (theoretical) carbon emissions by almost one ton.

Update: Commenter Laurie did a statistical breakdown of the arrestees:

72% were males 28% were females

ages 18-24 comprised 70% of those arrested

25-35 years- 23%

36+ - 7%

Although Recreate68 promised there would be "people of color" participating in the actions, only 7% of those arrested were Black and 6% were Hispanic. 87% were White.

42% were from 25 other states and DC while 58% were from Colorado.

The biggest representation of other states were from Washington, 6 arrested, Missouri, 5 and Kansas, 5.

While most were charged with obstruction of a police officer (during the performance of his duties), obstruction of traffic and trespass, a few were charged with more serious crimes. Three men, ages 19, 20 and 34 were charged with asssault. The 34 year old man, Richard Ellis of Boulder, was also charged with property damage.

Three young men, ages 18, 19 and unlisted, were foolish enough to have marijuana in their possession while committing acts of civil disobedience. Doh!

Miscellaneous: Three men wore collars indicating they were clergy. Three listed themselves as transients [probably not the same three--ed.] and a total of 5 had no information listed on their residence. There was one "John Doe".

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tuesday Night at the Radio!

Just a couple of Vic and Sades for the moment: "Cherry Phosphates" (1 October 1942). Good wartime commercials at either end; and "Uncle Fletcher To Stay In The Butler House Hotel" (15 November 1943). Russell reads from another Third Lieutenant Clinton Stanley adventure.

Metro State instructor to students: find arguments that undermine Palin

Holy Jay Bennish! WorldNetDaily (home of the Little Entenmanns) has the scoop:
Students in an English class at Metropolitan State College in Denver have been told to assemble criticisms of GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin that "undermine" her, and students say they are concerned about the apparent bias.

"This so-called 'assignment' represents indoctrination in its purist form," said Matt Barber, director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel, whose sister, Janna, is taking the class from Andrew Hallam, a new instructor at the school.

The instructor also, according to students, is harshly critical of President Bush during his classroom English presentations. He reportedly has allowed students who identify themselves as "liberal" to deride and ridicule those who identify themselves as "conservative" or Republican.
(via The Daily Blogster, who has more, and the PPC)

Update: Slapstick Politics has even morer, including a link to local conservative talk-radioist Mike Rosen mit Metro students.

Gallery of capitalist angst!

The photo that appeared on front pages across the country yesterday:



The MSM has long been stuck on a single shot to illustrate bad days on Wall Street: Dejected stock trader, hand covering face. This one's unusual only in that it's a woman. Here are some more from yesterday, today, and the last few years:








The Quasimodo variation.

Photographers are so lazy. But really, what else is there to shoot? There's the bull:


Good for "up" stories, incongruous for "down."

The building (whatever building it happens to be):



And the stock ticker or board, often taken at a weird angle:



Or even psychadelisized:


Whoa. The colors.

Occasionally some genius will combine the graphical and the head-holding:



But most just stick with the standard:






Somebody loves this guy:





Should be disqualified: No hand to face.

And one more:



Those three pics are from two and perhaps three different bad days. Let somebody else have a chance, pal.














This guy's gouging out an eyeball.







And finally, a double-header:



I'm so depressed.

Update: Front page of the Rocky: "Stocks post solid gain after Fed keeps rates steady." The pic over the story:



And if you think that's a fluke, here's the pic accompanying the story:


Caption: Traders work in the product options pit at the New York Mercantile Exchange in New York.

This is starting to freak me out.

Update II (17 September):





AFP photo: "Traders of Moscow Interbank Currency Exchage during a trading session in Moscow on Wednesday."

Trader 1: Let's try capitalism, you said--

Trader 2: I said? You were the one going on and on about how crummy everything was under communism--"I earn $6 a month, we live in a one-room apartment with 16 other people, we had to eat one of the kids last week," whine, whine, whine--and now it's my fault?

Trader 1: --just a small investment, you said, and we'll be rolling in money like the Americanskis--

Trader 2: You're such a liar. I've never said "Americanski" in my life--

Trader 1: I'm a liar--

Mass quantities of vodka follow.

Update III (18 September): "DOW surges 410 points":


No handface today: Traders go mad with joy.