Headline clinic
As a professional word-using and language-rearranging guy I'm often called upon to listen to Japanese explain to me what the nuances of various English words are and why my 40+ years of speaking and writing my native tongue cannot possibly equal the fact that they went to a very famous Japanese university. Despite this, I still have yet to be arrested for assault and battery with a dictionary, so clearly I am a patient person. However, I am losing patience with my colleagues at CTV and Canadian Press. They seem to consistently grab the wrong end of the stick when reporting on political matters. Now I have to fix their headlines and copy too.

Departure of Tory strategist-- leaves 'massive hole leaves'
Updated Thu. Feb. 5 2009 6:53 PM ET
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- He was considered so critical to Stephen Harper's success that mere chatter about a possible election once forced him to cut short his honeymoon -- leaving his new bride alone in Japan.
Now Patrick Muttart is leaving Canadian politics.
The rarely seen, never-heard political strategist who left his stamp on the TV ads the Tories ran, the tax cuts they introduced, the slogans they uttered, and on their strategy for defending Canada's Arctic, has informed colleagues of his exit.
His objectives were consistent: win overconvince the middle class to screw themselves, use consistent messages and images to create a branddo whatever Karl Rove would do, and make the Conservatives the party of Canadian patriotism mouthbreathing knuckledraggers.
Publicly, his colleagues were loath to assess the impact of his departure. Privately, they said his influence was incalculable.
"This leaves a massive hole," said one government official.
"He taught the conservative movement in Canada how to win electionslie, cheat and steal again."
Friends expect that Muttart and his American wife may leave for the United Statescrawl back into the slime from whence they came, a place with myriad opportunities for a conservative political operative with a winning track record who is willing to lie, villify, cheat, and generally throw mud in ways that would embarass Joe McCarthy.

And if it is further thoughts on language that you seek from the perspective of one who uses a lot of it, you can do no better than this.

A Preemptive strike
in the weekend ukulele wars

Some animals are more equal than others

It is one thing to chase an evil incompetent smirking son of priviledge from the White House and elect a decent president, but there are more, a lot more, where he came from and something must be done about it eventually.

From the Huffington Post (click through for more juicy robber baron audio)

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.
Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.
Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.
"This is the demise of a civilization," said Marcus.
"This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."

First, they destroy the economy through greed and ignorance. Then they belly up to the public trough demanding the taxpayers bail them out. Then they take that money and use it to expand their empires, fund executive perks, line their pockets and make sure the poor get poorer. -Fuck these "I'm all right, Jack"-asses.

From the New York Times

By almost any measure, 2008 was a complete disaster for Wall Street — except, that
is, when the bonuses arrived.

Despite crippling losses, multibillion-dollar bailouts and the passing of some of the most prominent names in the business, employees at financial companies in New York, the now-diminished world capital of capital, collected an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses for the year. That was the sixth-largest haul on record, according to a report released Wednesday by the New York State comptroller.

(snipped for length, go read the whole thing)

On Wall Street, where money is the ultimate measure, some employees apparently feel slighted by their diminished bonuses. A poll of 900 financial industry employees
released on Wednesday by eFinancialCareers.com, a job search Web site, found that while nearly eight out of 10 got bonuses, 46 percent thought they deserved more.

And yet, when someone suggests that the progressive income tax could be a little more progressive after eight years of tax cuts for the rich, he's derided as a socialist who is engaging in class warfare. Sometimes I really wonder, in light of things like this, why there aren't angry pitchfork-and-torch wielding mobs in the streets of America

He also kneels to pray

In light of the General's explanation, I think this needs to be pointed out.

Yes, except for that one time, oh, and that one other time...and maybe those few other times.


If only he could just, y'know, admit it and move on





In a nutshell: Being gay --totally okay. Being gay while hiding it and telling people that God hates gays and they should too --not so much.






--yeah, you deserve some shit for that, Teddy. Being homosexual is not a "lifestyle choice" but being a meth-head hypocrite and all-around general douche bag certainly is.

And while we're on the subject, this is the funniest moment in Canadian television history, bar none.

The Revolution Will Be Streamed

ON SALE NOW

I know I blogged a bit about this before, but now that the MP3 album is finally available I thought I might tug on your sleeve about it one more time.

A killer collection of 14 tracks of folk, funk, rock, salsa, dance pop and country, The Revolution Will Be Streamed is a cooperative effort by musicians and political activists coordinated by me, with a lot of help from a lot of people. Don't take my word for the quality of the music - click that picture of the radio over there and listen, I'll be streaming the whole album for the next few days on Radio Woodshed. After that, you can go to the Amazon site and listen to free samples. And if my stream is down, you can go listen to the it at the General's joint (His inner Frenchman did the cover art).

All the money raised from the sale of the MP3s available now at Amazon.com (and in a few weeks at itunes) will go to support Netroots Nation in Second Life.

Netroots Nation is a group dedicated to pushing progressive causes and candidates in the United States. It grew out of the Daily Kos website and facilitates activism, political organizing and networking in the progressive community. They aren't the only reason Barack Obama was elected, but they were an important part of the campaign and Bill O'Reilly thinks they are worse than the Klu Klux Klan, which is a good enough reason to support them on its own. Thousands attend their convention each summer. Netroots Nation in Second Life makes it possible for hundreds more to attend the convention online by streaming the various speeches and workshops in Second Life. The massive Second Life effort run simultaneously with the real life event also affords the opportunity to do the sort of networking the convention is intended to foster.

Liner notes
As the famous anarchist "Red" Emma Goldman may or may not have said: "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution"
There are few things more popular in Second Life than music and dancing. After all, in a virtual universe, we are all young and fit and we can all dance like the genetically cross-bred children of Martha Graham, Fred Astaire, Alvin Ailey, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson and Gypsy Rose Lee. But while we dance, we talk, and as often as not, we talk politics.
And you can't dance without music, whether it's the hot salsa of Los Gatos, the sunny folk-funk of Richard Maynard-Langedijk, the brooding, country-flavored power-pop of Calliope's Radio or even the off-beat satirical stylings of Billy Bob Neck -- it's all here.
The proceeds from this album will go to aid Netroots Nation in Second Life in its efforts to support progressive politics through online activism, networking, advocacy and work on behalf of progressives running for elected office. We are grateful to the artists for the donation of the their inspiration, creativity and hard work. And to you, the listener for contributing to this worthy cause.
Special thanks to all the artists who contributed, Gen. J.C. Christian, Jillan McMillan, Jane2 McMahon, Rocky Torok, Michele Migrish, Jackson Street Books, and all the regulars at Cafe Wellstone, the Lonely Yak and the Red Zeppelin.
Check out the website:http://www.nninsl.org/

The Revolution Will Be Streamed
1. So Glad - Richard Maynard-Langedijk
2. My Strange Love - Brian Lillie and the Squirrel Mountain Orchestra
3. Super Evil - Spoon Spatula
4. Arianara - Los Gatos
5. Hank Paulson's Blues - The Black Tie Martini Club
6. Gimme a Job - the Extras
7. Jesus: The Anti-Rap - Billy Bob Neck
8. Endless Night - Richard Ainslie
9. Zumbro Valley - Zathras Afarensis
10. One More (Land of Beginning Again) - Katherine King Segal & Charlie Brown
11. Watcha Gonna Do? - Golgotha
12. Rachel's Song - Scott & Michelle Daiziel
13. Samba Do Sueno - Pete Siers & Los Gatos
14. Darker, Longer - Calliope's Radio

Who is on the album? Who are these wonderful, talented and generous people who have given their time and creativity (and royalties) up for good cause? I'm glad you asked.

Richard Maynard-Langedijk

This singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer, who has been a stalwart at the Hillside music festival, operates out of a fortified compound in Guelph, Ontario.

Brian Lillie and the Squirrel Mountain Orchestra

Brian Lillie is a folksinger from Ann Arbor, Michigan who has been playing guitar and writing songs for over 20 years. He has performed in everything from loud, weird rock bands to sufi-inspired dance groups, but his first love has always been simple, heart-felt acoustic music. Other works include Rowboats and Good Luck Fire Chief

Spoon Spatula

Better know in Second Life as Spoon Dastardly, the most dastardly spoon in Spoontown and King of all cutlery.“Super Evil” is about a terrified pedestrian walking through dark city streets while fruitlessly attempting to project the false image that he, himself, is dangerous. Written in Hollywood, CA, in 1994 as part of a collection of songs about Los Angeles.

Los Gatos

This Michigan-based Latin Jazz quartet has a pair of albums to its credit: "Cats Got Your Tongue" and "Insight". Los Gatos plays weekly at the Firefly jazz club in Ann Arbor as well as in numerous music festivals. They have been together since 1997. "Samba Do Sueño" was originally released on Insight and the previously unreleased "Arinañara" was recorded at the Michigan Jazz Festival in 2007. Check them on video here

Black Tie Martini Club

Lead by Second Lifer and podcaster extraordinaire Caleb Bullen. Sadly, the astounding podcast which can be found here or on itunes, is on semipermanent hiatus, though the management is still throwing fans an occasional bone. Thankfully, we still have the archives.

The Extras

Terrific Canadian band from back in the day, best known for their paean to contraceptives "Circular Impressions" -- more can be learned here and here.

Billy Bob Neck

A fine upstanding conservative Christian man who's Hour of Being Good is a beacon in the darkness for us all.

Richard Ainslie

A mysterious man of mysterious talents who intends to keep it that way.

Zathfras Afarensis

Network geek? Raconteur? Rootsy, eclectic Second LIfe DJ with a KT Tunstall fixation? Minnesota-born folk singer and occasional songwriter? Guilty, on all counts.

Katherin King Segal and Charlie Brown

Katherin King Segal is a singer-songwriter from New York who is now based in Los Angeles. She teamed up with veteran studio guitarist Charlie Brown for their 2006 album Land of Beginning Again. And she is very understanding (we hope) about rookie producers who spell her name wrong.

Golgotha

Goth-tinged rockers featuring Second Lifer NTropy Sellers, "I'm not sure who this band is but they have great shoes."

Scott and Michelle Dalziel

Amazing husband and wife team who are much in demand musically in both first and Second Life. The fresh and soulful sounds of Scott and Michelle's voices, combined with their high energy performance, memorable and meaningful songwriting, and instrumental finess, put them in a category all their own. Said to have more sound than two people should be allowed, they cannot be confined to acoustic the Rock or Folk genres, as they continue to branch out intoThey R&B, Jazz, roots, and Blues. The duo were Kerrville Folk Festival finalists in 2004 and 2007, and they were selected as a featured artist of the month in 2008 by Folk Alley, one of the leading genre radio stations. Their 2007 CD, Thinking Out Loud, hit #12 on the International Folk charts.

They are also very understanding and forgiving of rookie producers who spell their name wrong in liner notes (we hope).

Calliope's Radio

Formed in mid-2006, Calliope's Radio is the dazzling product of many musical backgrounds, stories and styles. With Dana Komer's soaring vocals fronting a dynamic band, Calliope's Radio recounts haunting, beautiful and instantly classic musical stories. These Kitchener-based musicians are capable of capturing the audience with everything from Joplin-esque and Sheryl Crow alt-rock infused hooks to aching country-steel ballads, reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies . Calliope's Radio is melody at its finest.

The General has more to say.

And for those of you among what my kids now call "Dad's cartoon friends" in Second Life - Fez Records (me) and NN in SL will be throwing a big release bash at the Netroot Nation Ballroom on Saturday, Feb. 7 from 7 pm until whenever - we will play the whole album, there will be DJs, including me, contests, prizes, dancing and plotting of revolution. Be there!

News Flash!

"The Revolution Will Be Streamed" is now available in the United States as an MP3 download at Amazon. Go there and listen at your leisure to samples or tune in to Radio Woodshed starting Monday when I and a few other bloggers will be playing the playing the album in an endless loop all day. It should be available by Feb. 23 on the U.S. and Canadian itunes stores as well.

Come back on Monday and I'll have a whole bunch of information about the artists involved --and the great big virtual release party we're planning in Second Life.

Bygones? I don't think so

Prosecuting people responsible for torture is not "controversial"  -- it is a legal international treaty obligation to the Geneva conventions for sake.
There have been dozens of torture deaths in U.S. custody ( more listed here) 

Waterboarding is unquestionably torture.
The Tokyo war crimes tribunal tried, convicted and sentenced a Japanese officer to 15 year hard labor for waterboarding GIs in World War II. 

Despite the best efforts of John Yoo and Alberto Gonzales to try to weasel around it, waterboarding is torture. Failure to prosecute for torture is itself a war crime. Obama has no choice -- he must order the Justice Department to investigate and charge people where appropriate.

Required Reading



Things you need to read this week include:



Top ten Hunter S. Thompson quotes



People who deserve it -- 'it' being a punch in the face



Stuff white people like -- Funny because it's true



A Town Called Dobson -- great political comic strip


A blog for those who like the cute animal pictures, but can no longer stand the lolcatz text

Speaking of protest music...

That there is the cover of the MP3 album I have spent the last month putting together. And man, is it suh-weet!  14 tracks of great music and all the money goes to Netroots Nation in Second Life. And I'll send a free copy to whoever is the 50,000 visitor to the blog, which should be sometime today -- if you think it's you, leave an email address in the comments so I can send you your prize. 

I'll be putting the album into heavy rotation on Radio Woodshed when it shows up for sale on Amazon.com as an MP3 download soon -- it should be on itunes in Canada and the US in February. In the meantime, here's the liner notes and song list:

As the famous anarchist "Red" Emma Goldman may or may not have said: "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution"

There are few things more popular in Second Life than music and dancing. After all, in a virtual universe, we are all young and fit and we can all dance like the genetically cross-bred children of Martha Graham, Fred Astaire,  Alvin Ailey,  Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson and Gypsy Rose Lee. But while we dance, we talk, and as often as not, we talk politics.

And you can't dance without music, whether it's the hot salsa of Los Gatos, the sunny folk-funk of Richard Maynard-Langedijk, the brooding, country-flavored power-pop of Calliope's Radio or even the off-beat satirical stylings of Billy Bob Neck -- it's all here.

The proceeds from this album will go to aid Netroots Nation in Second Life in its efforts to support progressive politics through online activism, networking, advocacy and work on behalf of progressives running for elected office. We are grateful to the artists for the donation of the their inspiration, creativity and hard work. And to you, the listener for contributing to this worthy cause.

Special thanks to all the artists who contributed, Gen. J.C. Christian, Jillan McMillan, Jane2 McMahon, Rocky Torok, Michele Migrish, Jackson Street Books, and all the regulars at Cafe Wellstone, the Lonely Yak and the Red Zeppelin.

Check out the website:http://www.nninsl.org/

The Revolution Will Be Streamed

1. So Glad - Richard Maynard-Langedijk

2. My Strange Love - Brian Lillie and the Squirrel Mountain Orchestra

3. Super Evil - Spoon Spatula

4. Arianara - Los Gatos

5. Hank Paulson's Blues - The Black Tie Martini Club

6. Gimme a Job - the Extras

7. Jesus: The Anti-Rap - Billy Bob Neck

8. Endless Night - Richard Ainslie

9. Zumbro Valley - Zathras Afarensis

10. One More (Land of Beginning Again) - Katherine King Segal & Charlie Brown

11. Watcha Gonna Do? - Golgotha

12. Rachel's Song - Scott & Michelle Daiziel

13. Samba Do Sueno - Pete Siers & Los Gatos

14. Darker, Longer - Calliope's Radio

Update: We have a winner and it's JJ at Unrepentant Old Hippie!

The rest of you will have to make do with this video of the closing track for the time being, but the album should be available at Amazon within a few days and on itunes next month

So long, and thanks for all the bullshit

The Wall Street Journal editorial on the legacy of Dubya reminds me of the Douglas Adam's observation in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

“Man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much...the wheel, New York, wars and so on...while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man...for precisely the same reason.”

The piece lauds Bush for all same things that about 75 percent of the electorate criticism him for; the war in Iraq, the establishment of the national security torture state apparatus, the erosion of the public school system, the baby steps toward banning abortion, the administration's response to the financial catastrophe. It stops short of congratulating him for drowing all those annoying poor people in New Orleans, but maybe that is just part of his "record of unparalleled success that will be increasingly appreciated in the years to come."

Given that the author of this hagiography is none other than Marc Thiessen, Dubya's own speechwriter and former apologist for Jesse Helms, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But most newspapers didn't ask Joesph Goebbles to write Hitler's obituary in 1945 or G. Gordon Liddy to reflect on the legacy of Nixon on the day he slunk from office.

Bordering on the insane

An American academic and former 1960s radical accused by U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin of being a “terrorist” friend of Barack Obama's has been denied entry into Canada to speak at an education conference.
William Ayers, a distinguished education professor from the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he was perplexed and disappointed when the Canada Border Services Agency declared him inadmissible at the Toronto City Centre Airport on Sunday evening.
He said he has travelled to Canada more than a dozen times in the past.

Of all the dumbass, pig-ignorant, petty, moronic, pissy, neocon attempts at revenge, this is one of the most ill-timed. No, I don't think border services called Steverino up at 24 Sussex for marching orders, but I do know that to be denied entry you either have to arouse suspicion in the border guard that inteviews you or have you name on a list somewhere. So either the border guard involved is a FOX-watching nitwit who thought he was doing his job and "teaching those pinkos a lesson" or the someone more senior in the relevant ministry made a completely tone-deaf and idiotic decision, likely in the belief that they were doing their job and "teaching those pinkos a lesson."

All things considered, I suppose we should all be grateful he wasn't tasered to death with impunity or anything.

"This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender"




Pete Seeger was born in 1919 and has been a lifelong political activist. He and Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly and Alan Lomax - all friends - pretty much invented American folk music. He was jailed in the 50's over his refusal to testify at the McCarthy Hearings. He put out his first studio album in 12 years a little while ago. Short of digging up Martin Luther King, I can't think of anyone better suited to preside over leading a half a million people in song on the Mall in Washington on the occasion of the inauguration of the first African American President.

Just look at that old rascal grin.

"In the square of the city, in the shadow of  a steeple,

by the relief office, I'd see my people,

As they stood there hungry, I stood there whistling,

This land was made for you and me

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;

The sign was painted, it said 'Private Property'

But on the other side, it didn't say nothing,

That side was made for you and me.

Nobody living, can ever stop me

As I go walking  that freedom highway

Nobody living can ever make me turn back

This land was made for you and me"

I noticed the HBO version of this was taken down at You'Tude within hours of being posted. Some thoughts on certain copyrights:

"This song is Copyrighted in the U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don't give a durn. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do."
--Woody Guthrie

No doughnuts, just holes

What is it with wingnuts and doughnuts?
Admit it, you didn't think they could top the weirdness of the boycott of Dunkin Donuts over a scarf worn in an advertisement, did you? Sadly, you were wrong. This tops CC's discussion with a conservative for the funniest thing I have seen all year. And it isn't even intended as a joke.

KRISPY KREME CELEBRATES OBAMA WITH PRO-ABORTION DOUGHNUTS

Washington, DC (15 January 2009) – The following is a statement from American Life League president, Judie Brown.
"The next time you stare down a conveyor belt of slow-moving, hot, sugary glazed donuts at your local Krispy Kreme you just might be supporting President-elect Barack Obama's radical support for abortion on demand – including his sweeping promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act as soon as he steps in the Oval Office, Jan. 20.

The doughnut giant released the following statement yesterday:
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is honoring American's sense of pride and freedom of choice on Inauguration Day, by offering a free doughnut of choice to every customer on this historic day, Jan. 20. By doing so, participating Krispy Kreme stores nationwide are making an oath to tasty goodies -- just another reminder of how oh-so-sweet "free" can be.

Just an unfortunate choice of words? For the sake of our Wednesday morning doughnut runs, we hope so. The unfortunate reality of a post Roe v. Wade America is that "choice" is synonymous with abortion access and celebration of 'freedom of choice' is a tacit endorsement of abortion rights on demand.
President-elect Barack Obama promises to be the most virulently pro-abortion president in history. Millions more children will be endangered by his radical abortion agenda.
Celebrating his inauguration with "Freedom of Choice" doughnuts – only two days before the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to decriminalize abortion – is not only extremely tacky, it's disrespectful and insensitive and makes a mockery of a national tragedy.
A misconstrued concept of "choice" has killed over 50 million preborn children since Jan. 22, 1973. Does Krispy Kreme really want their free
doughnuts to celebrate this "freedom.""

I know, I know, you read it and you think "Wow, the Onion is really pushing its luck." I wanted to invoke Poe's Law , but I checked it out and it seems to be a actual organization that is run by and caters to people who really need some professional psychiatric help. Seriously, the reeducation camps cannot open soon enough.
The somewhat popular diabolical conservative ridicule machine has more

The mind reels while Tom Waits

David over at Jim Dandy Goodness has thrown down the gauntlet, declaring that he does not like Tom Waits. I, therefore, in the spirit of Sam-I-Am, must poke, prod and otherwise annoy him until he gets his mind right.

Sure there's the music,


which continues to get more avant-garde


and the hypnotic and sometimes hyper-strange videos


But really, its the total package: the persona and the performer



and only Waits or Bob Dylan is the kind of subversive genius that would come up with this:



And as if that isn't enough, here is an entire concert from the same tour, from last July in Atlanta, that is stone gar-un-freakin'-teed to blow your mind.

Live from the Red Zeppelin 

Yeah, yeah I know, "Second Life -- geez, what a geek!" Well, you know what? Me and my cartoon friends have more fun hanging out in virtual space for an afternoon than you do in real life in a month, so just bite me. I get to hang out with Gen. J.C. Christian, Shini, Bookem & Dano Jackson, Deesue, Avedon, and many, many more from all over the world - play music for them, dance with them, plot revolution with them -- all kinds of fun stuff. And we're all young, good looking and thin in SL. And I get to live in a big scarlet dirigible, fly and wear a fez. How's your meat-space weekend looking now, reality slave?

Of course, you could join us (it is FREE -- all you need is a halfway decent graphics card and and a DSL connection) and come dance, watch movies, chat and plot, or at least listen in, on Sundays from 5pm  PST/8pm EST ...............................................................or you could watch TV.

Appalled yes, surprised no

"Truth is that the people of the administration are guided by no particular agenda other than the continued expansion of their own power for the sake of owning power. There's no fundamental reason for governing. They're not trying to accomplish anything"

--David Kuo

   former special assistant to President George W. Bush

Tonight, on a very special episode...

CC talks to a conservative who may or may not be Patticakes Ross. Unquestionably the funniest thing I've read this year.

Now ain't the time for your tears

And you thought it was just a song.

William Devereux Zantzinger, whose six-month sentence in the fatal caning of a black barmaid named Hattie Carroll at a Baltimore charity ball moved Bob Dylan to write a dramatic, almost journalistic song in 1963 that became a classic of modern American folk music, died on Jan. 3. He was 69.

Obviously, the song and the six months he served had a major impact on Zantzinger

In 1991, The Maryland Independent disclosed that Mr. Zantzinger had been collecting rent from black families living in shanties that he no longer owned; Charles County, Md., had foreclosed on them for unpaid taxes. The shanties lacked running water, toilets or outhouses. Not only had Mr. Zantzinger collected rent for properties he did not own, he also went to court to demand past-due rent, and won.
He pleaded guilty to 50 misdemeanor counts of deceptive trade practices, paid $62,000 in penalties and, under an 18-month sentence, spent only nights in jail.
Information on Mr. Zantzinger’s survivors was unavailable. Though he long refused interviews, he did speak to the author Howard Sounes for his book “Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan” (2001) , telling him of his scorn for Mr. Dylan.
“I should have sued him and put him in jail,” he said.

A tip of the Fez to Avedon Carol at the Sideshow for catching this

In case you can't be bothered with waiting for it to come up on the playlist on Radio Woodshed, here's the Dylan song with some other primo protest music.


SeeqPod - Playable Search

Truth & Consequences

As Dubya slithers from the White House, one vital question remains: Will there be any consequences for him or any of his evil, incompetent cabal of ignorant, blood-fattened henchmen?

The soon-to-be ex-president has asked for some television time to give a farewell address Thursday in which he will do his best to find a silver lining to the hurricane of the last eight years and try to burnish his legacy, using the blood and tears of Iraqi children and American soldiers to polish the turd that has been his presidency. "I've kept you safe" he'll bleat "I've fought the terra!" ignoring the fact that if he'd paid attention his national security briefings in 2001 he might well have really kept America safe and that for the last seven years he's been unable or unwilling to find a six-foot-seven dialysis patient in an area not much bigger than Rhode Island.

Thursday's speech will be all about trying to salvage some sort of credit, and I'm not really interested in listening to that crap. No, what I'm waiting for is the announcement to the press on Sunday or Monday about the pardons. Bush supposedly is generally loathe to pardon people, but I'll give you 10 to 1 that there are blanket, pre-emptive pardons handed out for misdeeds that "may or may not" have been committed in the service of the Bush administration. The only question is who gets one and who doesn't.

As has been pointed out in many places this week, the few decent, competent career civil servants who have survived the last eight years of relentless dimwittery and hyperpoliticization are bound to have amassed container-loads of smoking gun memos documenting the both the petty douchebaggery and massive criminality of the likes of Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, Monica Goodling, John Yoo, Douglas Feith, Michael Brown ----oh, the list goes on and on and on. Can Bush afford to leave his people exposed to the possible rigors of justice? Is he confident they won't turn on him? How low on the totem pole will the whitewash brush be applied? Will he pardon the torturers or just their bosses? Or will he throw his underlings to the wolves and scurry off into the sunset with just his inner circle granted immunity?

And if he has the hubris to declare that neither he nor his minions have done anything wrong, will Barack Obama do anything about it?

What part of 'crazy' didn't they understand the first time?

Andre Thomas is clearly not quite right in the head. How else would you explain the horrific crime that landed him on death row in the first place? As if tearing the hearts out of his estranged wife, and young son and daughter wasn't enough to get him an appointment with a shrink. while in jail awaiting trial he tore out one of his own eyes and started spouting Bible verses.

But since this all happened in Texas, and folks there wouldn't want a little thing like being crazy as a shithouse rat to get in the way of a good execution, Thomas was sent to death row rather than a mental hospital. In fact, he's apparently received little or no psychiatric care whatsoever during the last four years he's been on death row. Until last month that is, when he plucked out and ate his remaining eye. 

 

"Thomas was treated at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler after the Dec. 9 incident. Then he was transferred and remains at the Jester Unit, a prison psychiatric facility near Richmond, southwest of Houston.

"He will finally be able to receive the mental health care that we had wated and begged for from day 1," Bobbie Peterson-Cate, Thomas' trial attorney, told the Sherman Herald Democrat. " He is insane and mentally ill. It is exactly the same reason he pulled out the last one."

So just how nuts do you have to be to kill and not be executed in Texas? Sometimes it's accident, sometimes it's not. But people end up just as dead. And what does it take to get to see the prison shrink? It seems in Texas, they've decided its cheaper to kill than to treat.