for the love of GOD, go anywhere and watch the video to MOVE YOUR FEET by Junior Senior. what a fun video. its like a nintendo game circa 1987!

New Law for Israeli-Palestinian Couples

Evidently jim crow is alive and well...IN ISRAEL! seems if you marry one of those pesky palestinians, you don't get the same rights you would if you married a good jewish mate. disgusting.

The Digital Age

Tossed BellSouth and got a GREAT/CHEAP phone service--Expetel! Basic home phone service w/o frills is $15. Next i got rid of my DSL for a cable modem. Well, Timewarner cable must be trying to move everyone to digital cable, because i just got a package of a cable modem and digital cable TV for $87 a month. together that will likely cut my bills by 40%!

Anyway, so i get in w/ my new goodies. Hook up my cable box, and what do you know... they gave me the wrong box. They gave me one that gives me ALL the movie channels (no indemand or PPV tho). its STUPID! before i left, i confirmed what package i got to make sure i wouldn't be over charged, so right on with the luck! the problem is that its overwhelming at first (and still is). Almost that I feel i have too much. i must have 350+ channels now. No joke. how the hell do i look to see what's on for 350+ channels?! I think i spent 20 min. at prime time just looking to see what was on. its like an overload...

VH1 classics is fun--(so THAT's what Kansas looks like! yeesh!). I get revel in being dated! you know, our generation was the first of the modern rock era that grew up with stations playing nothing but nostalgia. I think this is why we've got a compacted timespan of

I like MTV2 (oddly, JasN has no cable but gets MTV2 on his rabbit ears!?!). i went to bed early, so i barely know what else i have on there!

Dean beats Cheney!:

woo hoo! VP Dick Cheney does a fundraiser where he raises $300,000 in one day. Howard Dean's campaign sends out a memo saying "lets do a counter fundraiser to beat the VP" and raises $344,000 by the time Dick eats lunch! Dean raised $507,150 total. damn right!

Howard Dean's Low-Rent Allure - Taking a ride on McFun with the presidential candidate.

"The president's not popular because of his issues, so we should stop co-opting those issues. The president's popular because people think he's a strong leader. That's what you have to get by in order to become president." The obvious implication: I'm a strong leader, and that's why I've attracted this odd coalition of Greens, Democrats, Perotistas, and McCainiacs to my candidacy

--From Howard Dean, Presidential Candidate. VERY true. One of the best statements about Democrats and today I've heard in a long while. Last night i was talking to my dearest and she was saying that my blog was making me sound sorta dreary on politics. She was concerned about how something that i'm so into seemed to be bringing me down.

it got me to think. i believe its overexposure to the 'bad' out there and not enough time dedicated to thinking about solutions. the solutions really are my idea of fighting back. without the solutions it seems i'm just losing. That being said, reading the above quote made me feel better. I need to start looking more for my answers than my questions.

I'm listening to The White Stripes again. (Elephant). At times its like i'm listening to The Who. bombastic with a voice that alternates between calm and rowdy. Other parts of the record are alternately tender and boisterous. "In the Cold Cold Night" sounds like a snooping, sneaky voice telling me what i want to hear. "Ball & Biscuit" is one of the best blues songs in recent years (though it gets a bit rockin' to call it a straight blues song--none-the-less, the lyrics are straight blues). "Seven Nation Army" is song of the year for me. This has to be one of the most balanced, well paced, and exciting new albums i've had in years.

Listened to Granddaddy the other day. actually downloaded their recent video. Just couldn't get into it.

i think it would be funny if someone ran up a pirate flag at the UN every now and then.

Bob Hope

Little known fact. Bob Hope was a great man, but he wasn't a great American. He was a great Brit. Born in London. Most people (including cnn, evidently) forget this!

"Hurt" by Johnny Cash

New Orleans, Johnny Cash, and the World.

I want to be in New Orleans. I've been thinking about it a LOT lately. just how much i liked it there. How happy it makes me to be in that town. I used to walk around until my feet hurt, just because i wanted to be in it.

I finally watched the Video to HURT by Johnny Cash. wow. pretty damn powerful images. I think about this guy, not just how iconic he is, but how hollow he makes other artists look. I see these images and i'd say a handful of people have ever had that kind of swaggar. I cannot imagine any of today's 'stars' carrying that much righteous presence. Bono is as close as we get. Another thing that gets me is the honesty that was there. do you know anyone else (including crime glorifying rappers) that would go perform in a PRISON? let alone make an album from it (a great one too). The thing that got me was that this was a man who had done some awful things in his life, and he believed you have to pay your debts, but when they are paid, they are paid. It was interesting to me because he wasn't saying "i feel sorry for you" or "its ok", because it wasn't. what he did say was 'i understand'. Listen to 'The Man in Black':

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Livin' in the hopeless hungry side of town
...But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there oughta be a man in black.

In an odd twist, I've been very happy about the way my life is going and very down about the way the world is going...my world in particular. my country and my state. its an odd dicotomy and often leaves me wondering how to feel. something is up and i don't know how to deal with it...and i don't know what that's like.

"Something is happening here, and you don't know what it is...do you, Mr. Jones?"

I really miss Fred.

Local News - The Meridian Star News: "he officially kicked off his re-election "
Our Governor FINALLY "kicked off" his re-election campaign. I know he barely has a primary, but this seems AWFULLY late. I think there is a negative effect when you go this long without seeing ONE sign. His opponent haley barbourhas already spent over a million dollars campaigning. Word is that this carpetbagger (haley) has a girlfriend in DC. I for one, cannot wait until she comes into the picture.

The Sun Herald | 07/24/2003 | GOP fields its longest slate ever in state Political buzz around the state...

Salon.com News | Report: FBI informant knew 9/11 hijackers Generally, i've been somewhat unwilling to assign "blame" to failings here in the US Gov't over 9/11. I find it hard to say "you should have known _______ was gonna do something utterly insane." I don't think it serves much of a purpose. that being said, look at this link. i have to think something is amiss when you have an undercover agent living with 2 of the hi-jackers before the attack. i mean they weren't followed...hell not even a heads up. i dunno. sounds damn bad.

Salon.com Comics | Tom the Dancing Bug another great Scalia Cartoon. i want a book of 'em! "SHRIEK! the Feds!" haw haw haw

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2003® Seems Candidate Howard Dean raised more money in N.H. than all other candidates for the office, including bush. hmmm...?

I watched Apocolypse Now the other day. I really like that movie, in part because its based on Heart of Darkness. I was talking with Adam the other day and realized HoD is my favorite work of fiction. I read it so long ago, i admit i'm a little rusty on the details...Hell! I don't even own a copy anymore! In watching the movie, i recalled the central conflict in the story...or rather the hypocrisy. The 'civilized' leaders wanted Kurtz removed from his position of power. He was too embedded in the dark place where he worked. it had made him crazy and uncivilized. the trick is that he was doing just what he was supposed to do there...and better than anyone ever had done the job. the irony is that you aren't any good to the powers that be if you are too good at it. you become like THEM (natives).

In my first trial i used 4 words...the last lines uttered by Kurtz in my opening statement.

The Horror. The Horror.

saw Terminator 3. Despite one detraction, i liked it. very fun. some small holes, but it was fine. I say if you want to go enjoy these movies, you will. if you plan to dislike them, you will do that too. I had a good time and left happy...can't say that about the matrix: reloaded.

Animated Film Is Latest Title to Run Aground at DreamWorks After Sinbad bombed...as did Treasure Planet at Disney, Dreamworks SGK will no longer do hand animated movies. The public seems to want shrek/Toy Story style animation. I don't know. While this may be true, it could also be that the story lacks in quality. i have to wonder... seems sad, but i guess its the way of all things.

hipster bingo Haw! this is for the suckers out there! suprisingly fits for all the hipper-than-thou crowd (i love that phrase).

Opinion - The Clarion-Ledger

After reading the normal Jerks in the Letters to the Editor page, i had to write myself:

After reading Jimmy Reed’s letter to the editor (7/17/03), I had to comment. The pretense that he and others like him carry is that if you do not agree with or believe in anything the President tells you, then you must be against America. Such blinders betray the very blood spilled by our forefathers. Americans have died for the right to question our government and if Mr. Reed does not like such democracy, he should seek out a nation that follows his own beliefs.

Furthermore, our President claimed to this nation, to the united nations, and to the world that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction. We were told that the administration knew exactly where the WMD were and that we were at risk of an imminent attack. These were the reasons to justify our occupation of Iraq. If our men and women that died in a war built on lies, the President better explain himself or he better resign. People compare the Bush lies to the Clinton lies. I challenge you to tell the families of dead American soldiers that its just the same. Our President’s mendacity sickens me. We all deserve better than this.

Democrat: Bush Official Wanted Iraq Claim (washingtonpost.com)

Well, it looks like they weren't happy w/ the evidence they had, so they demanded the CIA allow bogus intelligence into the President's most important speech in making the case for war. As it turns out, the rationale was that the President told the truth since the literal meaning of the statement was that the British passed on the info regarding attempted purchase of Uranium. The problem with that is that the claim was known to be bogus and it was presented to illustrate a threat to peace. it was presented as the truth, and it was not the truth. Interestingly, at around this same time, the administration was giving Haliburton a $7 Billion deal to help with the clean-up after the war--all without the required competative bidding process. Moreover, this is the same Haliburton that STILL pays Dick Cheney $1 Million a year. Oh, and that's the same Dick Cheney that dispached a delegation to check into the Niger/Uranium issue and then received the report that it was bogus.

A Republican Senator recently said "This isn't Watergate". I agree. Watergate didn't involved lying to the American People, the UN, and the citizens of the world about an imminent millitary threat and starting a war based on those lives. Watergate didn't give us over 1000 americans wounded or killed. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "The whole idea that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein was not real was something that was never under debate previously. This is an attempt to continue to rewrite history." What the hell does that mean? the whole point is that we HAD no debate b/c the premesis of a threat was accepted as real b/c the CIA and the President told us so. Now we find they were lying...don't be suprised we are mad!

Our President lied. he should stop blaming everyone in sight and take responsibility for what he did. He lied making the case for war. He gave his corporate supporters a sweetheart deal that was built on the graves of our soldiers, and he figured that was ok because Saddam was an S.O.B. Saddam being an S.O.B. doesn't give him the right to make war out of thin air and government contracts. If this President lied to the public in providing the basis of starting a war, I would call it a high crime. I think the question needs to be asked more directly: Did he knowingly mislead us to go to war? I believe he did.

Unless he comes up with some answers (and I mean HIM, not his surrogates that know how to speak), I think the President should resign or be impeached.

I'm not happy right now.

All Music Guide: The PretendersYou know...I really like The Pretenders. Listening here today, I've realized most of their songs I like--even if they sound upbeat--they aren't. I'd call them Stoic but actually desperate. Often an acknowledgement that things aren't working out, but not really a sense of failure. more of a sense that life is moving...as that's what it does...and an acceptance of the fact.

"Welcome to the human race..."

Draft Wesley Clark for President My nominee for President. He says he'll declare or decline within weeks. Hoping into the wind? mabye...

to me, Sprite-Remix tastes like Sprite and Fruity Pebbles. Just so's you know...

A Shifting Spotlight on Uranium Sales From this article:

WASHINGTON, July 14 — The White House defense of President Bush's State of the Union speech comes down to this: The president was technically accurate when he cited a British report alleging Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium in Africa, but he never should have said it.

The evidence "did not meet the standards we use for the president," said Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser and the minder of Mr. Bush's pronouncements.

--What do you mean Condie? you mean that most presidents don't knowingly state FALSE claims that other nations are making deals for nukes as a pretext for a 1st strike war? Good. I think not using make believe intelligence that sounds better (to you) than the truth is a good policy. Jesus. And people hated Clinton...I don't care what Clinton lied about...it never got our soldiers killed in a war sold on lies.

16 Words, and Counting Seems an organization of retired government "spooks" have written an open letter calling for Dick Cheney's retirement. It would appear that the State of the Union Falsehood wasn't a screw up, but rather deliberate. Fortunately, the GOP believes in personal responsiblility and the President has decided to take the responsibility here...Um. no. That last part is a lie. wow! Mr. President, this lying thing IS easy!

there seems to be a problem w/ the comments portion on everyone's site. i'm gonna see if they'll fix it! sorry.

You know...I've never been to France, but I would like to go. I've heard many people complain about how rude the French are, but my father (a man who can be difficult himself) said France was one of his favorite places. So, I don't know about France. I do know people here (more so now) often hate France. I really dislike the "If it weren't for us, you'd be speaking German now" attitude. A conversation this weekend got me thinking. If it weren't for France, we would not have won our independnce. If it weren't for France, we would not have won the war of 1812. If it weren't for France, the Union would not have been sustained. So, it would appear, we only FINALLY evened the score with WW1 and 2. So there. I swear the history channel better start covering more wars than WW2 or people are gonna have to read books again.

Follow the trail

Here you can see a trail of who knew what when concerning the forged documents bush claimed as proof of how active Iraq was in seeking Nuclear weapons. it stands to reason that Iraq WAS seeking Nukes...too bad Bush only had faked proof.

Damn "Fast" News Day.

I have a problem. I read too slowly and I read too much. Out side of my normal work, Today I've read 15+ newspaper articles. tonite i'm sure i'll read 1-7 Comic books. I try to watch a few movies a week and I am reading 3 books right now to boot...Yeesh. I don't see how ppl like Lucas do it. He prolly takes in 5x as much as i do and still likely gets more sleep. Time management skill i guess.

Saw League of Extraordinary Gentlemen last nite...
I thought it was good. It was good, mindless summer fun and did not really exceed or fall below my expectations. David had bemoaned the F/X as looking bad. He was wrong. the special effects were top notch actually, and certainly head and shoulders above some i've seen (think about the end of THE MUMMY RETURNS--yeesh!). I knew the story was loosely based on a comic that I like very much and I know (and like) the work of the writer James Robinson.

This movie is as much an adaptation of the ABC line of comics as it is the LoEG comic itself. The story is VERY much in the vein of the "Science Heroes," Neo-Pulp style found in America's Best Comics (ABC). If you like that, then that is exactly what you are getting on the screen. of course, sometimes things read better than they appear on a screen (Capt. America). One complaint. Tom Sawyer. character and acter were fine and worked ok. I just don't like the idea that we Americans need a character from the USA to relate (note: Star Wars had no Americans in it and did ok). I give it a B-

Yahoo! News - Groups Blast Beyonce's Grant's Tomb Dance Ummm...can anyone tell me who decided that Beyonce should do a show at/on Grant's Tomb? NBC! NOTE: don't set up musical numbers on or near anyone's grave. (FYI).

More than anything in the world i want to start making "GO HOME HALEY" bumper stickers and T-shirts. w/ a caption under that saying "go back to Va. where you came from" or some such. i hate that fuck and i'd put that on my car in a SECOND. anyone wanna lop down some cash w/ me?

Amazon.com: Music: Elephant

"Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes. If this isn't the damnedest song. the first bassline (not done on a bass!) is so strong. almost sneaky sounding. after the first lyric yer struck by how strong and exciting this song is. "I'm gonna fight 'em off. A seven nation army couldn't hold me back." This is easily one of my five favorite (new)tunes of the last 5 years. link goes to an OK sample. you should go find a better one!

Savage nation OK, everyone should read this. This JERK from the SF bay area is on the radio nationally... here too. He had a TV show on MSNBC and he just got fired. READ what this guy said on air. the amazing thing is that he says WORSE than this EVERYDAY. As if MSNBC were somehow unaware of this guy's positions. they weren't. what they wanted is to be/seem more conservative. they got JUST what they asked for, and didn't like it after all. I have to say, this guy is maybe the single worst voice to ever grace our various media outlets. I do not recall anyone in the history of radio/television that has uttered more destructive views to a (sadly) growing following. one of the few people i'd like to try and boycott of the air, as he really does not offer anything to the 'marketplace of ideas'.

Grand Old Protest - A Republican Web site even Bush-bashers can love. By Paul?Boutin: "A Kool-Aid club for the GOP."

You get points for being a better republican--redeemable for prizes!

well, here comes another day. worked 16 hours yesterday, which has to be one of my longest work days. Roy & Jerri came to town and we all visited over at JasN's house. some of us drank and we all talked. i knew roy had too much when he starts a sentence with "So aren't southern Baptists supposed to be Non-Judgemental..." haw haw haw! i should've known he was gone if he says something like that!

Somehow I managed to sleep until 8:34am. i have to be at work at 8:30, so that's a big deal. i make good time otherwise and as i walk in my boss seems cool. Still tired, lots of work to go, but today seems like its gonna be better.

Dean's Challenge: Turn Enthusiasm into Votes I'm starting to become more of a Howard Dean supporter. as i reflect on my own political views, it seems that--to me--what makes a winner is the willingness to fight. i think Dean wants to fight like no one i've seen in a damn long time. i also think that the civil unions deal is the only real thing making him look "liberal" this is media paint, in my mind. you know, if there ever was a "liberal media bias", i think those days are long gone.

Yeesh. ok, i have this project that i was doing for the boss. it was due to him a little while back. conflicting schedules and my forgetfulness made me MEGA late in showing it to my boss for final review. i was gonna go over it w/ him Thursday before the weekend, but wouldn't you know...my boss leaves early. holiday. now i have to present it to him today--the day its due to the Mississippi Supreme Court! As you can imagine, my boss would like a bigger cushion...

So my boss...i can't tell how pissed he is, and i think we'll see in a bit when he decides how great/screwed up the brief is, just what it'll take to fix it, and how well the fixin' goes. basically, i didn't ruin anything but its a question of how hard i made things on us. great.

Anyway, so i go to the office to touch the piece of work up last nite. i get a late start. i start getting a little nervous over it. i start scrutenizing everything. i write and re-write. next thing you know, i've stayed up all nite. i'm tired, but i have such adrenaline going its not affecting me.

Now, looking at the paper, i tried to fancy it up and make it a bit biting. i think this is VERY outta the ordinary for my boss and he's reading it like someone from lit class wrote his legal document. Not good. I have made some poor word choices perhaps, but still don't know how bad or good.

yeesh. technically, the whip hasn't come down, so to speak, but my head's reeling and i'm typing as fast as i ever have in these minutes i have before i jump back in. ah. is that a fax machine buzzing...?

3 attacks in 12 hours kill 3 GIs in Baghdad 3 more GI's killed since the war has "ended". Luckily, Bush corrected himself recently in an article i read where he stated "The War's Not Over" (damn sorry i lost the link). well, i'm glad to see it isn't. or that we can find ourselves so threatened to invade another country w/o actually declaring war. that has to be the wimpiest thing i've ever heard. the war was declared over so that bush could seem as if he'd wrapped it all up. he hasn't. more than 25% of the people that have died in Iraq died after we "won". now i see bush is starting to cut troop benefits while they are overseas serving. i cannot sufficiently express my displeasure right now.

David should write this guy a letter on the Supreme Court Ruling.djournal.com

Well, it looks like Howard Dean has the Bush administration licking their lips. Karl Rove, Bush Presidential aid, was seen recently at a 4th of July parade wearing a Howard Dean T-Shirt and button w/ his wife. Seems they LOVE their chances against someone painted as a dyed in the wool lefty. hmm...Hubris? ...or is he right to want Dean. hmmm...i honestly don't know. what i do know is my history books and i don't have TB (True Believer-ism). I don't think he's as liberal as he's painted, but the press has all but put Dean in hippie gear! yeesh!

For those who might not know, there is a new international court in the works. Previously we've supported this, and in theory we've supported the movement towards such multi-government resolutions to problems w/o the need to use weapons. Our president is doing his isolationist GOP'ers proud today. This week we cut off all military funding to 35 countries that would not give us immunity before this court. This court would be the first in human history that permanently exists for the purpose, in part, of dealing with genocidal criminals and crimes against humanity. I would go as far as to say that this administration has done more than any other to work against multi-national bodies of any type that have been established to deal with virtually any type of problem. The question they seem to present is 'do we need them?' for a few thousand years of human history, we've done without. about 80 years ago this idea started to take hold with the League of Nations, and then finally with the UN. the question, my friends, is whether we were better off pre-UN? if so, i'd like to hear some ideas of why we were better off before. anyone know the thought on this matter?

Hey big gray? You have any thoughts on the Liberia situation?Polly and the Mooch!

For those who might not know, there is a new international court in the works. Previously we've supported this, and in theory we've supported the movement towards such multi-government resolutions to problems w/o the need to use weapons. Our president is doing his isolationist GOP'ers proud today. This week we cut off all military funding to 35 countries that would not give us immunity before this court. This court would be the first in human history that permanently exists for the purpose, in part, of dealing with genocidal criminals and crimes against humanity. I would go as far as to say that this administration has done more than any other to work against multi-national bodies of any type that have been established to deal with virtually any type of problem. The question they seem to present is 'do we need them?' for a few thousand years of human history, we've done without. about 80 years ago this idea started to take hold with the League of Nations, and then finally with the UN. the question, my friends, is whether we were better off pre-UN? if so, i'd like to hear some ideas of why we were better off before. anyone know the thought on this matter?

Hey big gray? You have any thoughts on the Liberia situation?Polly and the Mooch!

In his 1989 memoir, Dr. Frist, the heart surgeon and Senate majority leader, confessed that at Harvard Medical School, he used to adopt stray cats at shelters, take them home and slice and dice them for practice.
"It was, of course, a heinous and dishonest thing to do," he wrote. "And I was totally schizoid about the entire matter. By day, I was little Billy Frist, the boy who lived on Bowling Avenue in Nashville and had decided to become a doctor because of his gentle father and a dog named Scratchy. By night, I was Dr. William Harrison Frist, future cardiothoracic surgeon, who was not going to let a few sentiments about cute, furry little creatures stand in the way of his career. In short, I was going a little crazy."
–from the NY Times. Heh. Frist is a nutjob!

and from James Carville, speaking on Gay Rights issues and the next election. Some serious things to think through..

"Their base is all gassed up, screaming that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve," he says. But he thinks the Democrats and gay activists would make a mistake "falling into Frist's trap" and making a stand on gay marriage now. "I don't care who gets married," he says, "but the Republicans will use this to divide the Democrats and reduce us to an accumulation of interest groups —— a woman's right to choose, a kid's right to education, a transgender's right to whatever."

I don’t think backing away from the issue is gonna solve it, but I’m not down for a righteous defeat right now. “DO SOMETHING” doesn’t mean do something stupid.

SO....did you know that Strom Thurmond had a baby with a black woman in 1925? credible sources say...article ponders whether this means "it was all a front" and he wasn't so bad, OR was he worse than thought? I believe the latter, since he embraced it for all it was worth and he knew he didn't have to do that. He chose to appeal to the worst in people and will be forever known for that since his works never took him in an (active) other direction.

Mr. Mooch noticed that Herman Miller has created a new chair that's basically a baby Aeron with a baby pricetag. Again, Mr. Mooch will create a living will for you in order to save and buy himself one of these babies.

David should be a Judge. Not many people I know, this young into the law game, I’d say that about. Actually, no one I’d say that about. I dunno if david has nailed down what he wants to do with himself, but I think he should be a judge. I think, as unreasonable as he often can be, I think there’s not much I’ve seen him take more earnestly or seriously than the law.

I LIKE the law. I could do it forever and it makes good money, but I don’t love it. I don’t. I like the kinda law I do, but I don’t give much of a damn about any of the 100s of other types out there. If I didn’t do the stuff I do now, I wouldn’t do it at all I think. I want to write more, and I’m slowly getting to do that, but like I said–slowly. Its my fault though. God I feel lazy though.

From Harper's Weekly:

Donald Rumsfeld, thesecretary of defense, made the surprising claim that "before
the war, there was no debate about whether Iraq had unconventional weapons." he also said that he doesn't "know anybody in any government or any intelligence agency who suggested that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons"; it was
immediately pointed out that Vice President Dick Cheney made precisely that claim in March.
---

Can I please have a presidential administration that at least remembers i was listening the first go-round before they start lying to me about what they really said?