The Hackenblog has moved to http://hackenblog.hackenbush.org/ or www.hackenblog.com.Please update your links, thank you.[Main Index] [Next entry: "Placeholder"] 01/17/2003 Entry: "Best of Anna Phalaxia, RIP" Scenes from this blog's earlier incarnation.
Scenes from this blog's earlier incarnation 2003.01.16 Just did all the heavy lifting on bush's tax cut, or sorry, stimulus package, outrage for me. In the vice grip of politics Paul Krugman, Ph.D. Is it possible not to love this man? He's adorable! 2003.01.15 "We are fundamentally a middle class society that works together to solve problems. We're not an I-got-mine-and-the-hell-with-the-rest-of-you society." 2003.01.15 2003.01.15 "Enter Rocky Delgadillo, the L.A. city attorney. Since his election last year, he's focused on child abuse, creating a special unit to deal with it. As useful as that may be, in the hands of an unscrupulous prosecutor it can become an instrument of persecution—especially when aimed at a star with a prior sex rap. Sources say that when the D.A. rejected the Reubens case, officers involved in the investigation brought it to Delgadillo. (The D.A.'s office says the case was transferred because it involved a misdemeanor.) With just a day to spare before the one-year statute of limitations expired, Delgadillo issued a warrant for Reubens's arrest. If convicted, he could spend a year in prison, but even if acquitted he will probably suffer professionally. For an androgynous former star of children's TV, two strokes and you're out." Richard Goldstein. "Persecuting Pee-wee, A Child-Porn Case That Threatens Us All" January 15 - 21, 2003 Someday, God willing, the LAPD will reform to the point of not being an occupying army of this stupid city. Someday. Maybe. 2003.01.15 "America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCarthyism, worse than the Bay of Pigs and in the long term potentially more disastrous than the Vietnam War." John Le Carre The United States of America has gone mad How many people have to say this in how many places before the bush junta backs off? Or will it be necessary for Canada and Mexico to invade us to assure a peaceful neighbor and nuclear-armed world citizen? A regime change, if you will. Hm. 2003.01.13 So all I have is this tiny observation and it might be my imagination (but I don't think so) that there is a tiny quote from "The Ride of the Valkyries" at the beginning of "Come Fly With Me". Words by Sammy Cahn - Music by James Van Heusen. 2003.01.12 19.36 The Federal Poverty Level for a Family of One is $9,039/year, which is $4.35/hour which is $0.80 less than, as of 1997, the Federal Minimum Wage of $5.15. Ick and scary; no one nowhere can live on that. More scary, but useful, facts in the link below. "Via TalkLeft (who got it from the Horse): most Americans believe that between 1 and 5 million people live in poverty in the US. It's actually more like 33 million, at or below the poverty level." Long story, short pier 2003.01.12 Thank God for Hullabaloo, Digby's blog.You were expecting John Galt? Oh, by the way, did anyone else hear about the peace demonstration in downtown Los Angeles BEFORE it happened (so like maybe more people could show up) or was it just me and everyone I've talked to today that didn't know? God, I love this town, rilly I do. 2003.01.11 Money! Recycling the worst of the 80s! Judicial Nominees from HELL! Smoking! (but not a gun) Sex! Had enough? Yeah, moi, aussi. I'm off to dance to The Blue Hawaiians, that famous nonpareil Hulabilly band. Later, lover. (Check out the audio sample of "Flesh and Soul". Oooh aaaah.) 2003.01.09 I'm trying to do more consolidated entries so readers only get blasted with these shrill ravings once or twice a week. VanderHashish has the most wonderful, informative and well organized site I've seen in a while. Thanks CalPundit, another guy I like a lot even if he does live in Irvine, for the link. I'm old enough to REALLY remember the Reagan administration. And I thought being 42 was just tough on my skin. "But when you talk about canonizing him, you can go suck a sprinkler head. Ronald Reagan may have been a likable guy - even in the White House, he answered his fan mail, sometimes enclosing a check to a citizen going through hard times - but his administration was also flat-out the most anti-democratic, hoodwinking, lying, Constitution-flouting, despot-coddling, rich-enriching, deficit-building, environment-despoiling, health-endangering, paranoid, cynical and fundamentally corrupt one in our nation's history. Name a strip mine for it if you must, but no monuments, please." I'm glad somebody (else) out there remembers it the way I do. And God love Robert Parry for telling the truth, too: "In the late 1970s, when Carter's human rights coordinator, Pat Derian, criticized the Argentine military for its 'dirty war' -- tens of thousands of 'disappearances,' tortures and murders -then-political commentator Reagan joshed that she should 'walk a mile in the moccasins' of the Argentine generals before criticizing them." (Does that make anyone else want to run out of the room screaming or is it just me?) This is not from his book about the Contras, "Lost History", which I also highly recommend. His site it at Consortium News and is chock full of great stuff. The best part of this book is the end, where he references unclassified documents that prove that all the things the Reagan Administration denied in the Iran/Contra hearing were true. Hell, Reagan even said at one point that he authorized the arms for hostages deal, the wicked ninny. Anyway, it's kind of an upsetting book, but worth the time and effort to read. So, as the current regime in D.C. wades ever hip deeper into more of the same misguided, if not downright evil, right-wingnut Republican ideas, no wonder I have déjà vû. The 1980s - the decade that would not die. Well, enough history, back to the horrors of today: "His latest round of proposed tax cuts won't create jobs and won't grow the economy. It will only do more of what his last round did -- make the rich even richer." 2003.01.07 "'You've never been pegged?' I asked. I was surprised and didn't try to hide it." One of the rare, maybe the only, hetsmut I've ever loved. 2003.01.07 Well, the power in my neighborhood was out for 24 hours so it was necessary to go out with the neighbors and drink margaritas last night. But today, we're back in business: "Here's how it works. Faced with a real problem - terrorism, the economy, nukes in North Korea - the Bush administration's response has nothing to do with solving that problem. Instead it exploits the issue to advance its political agenda." "Mother Teresa was given, to our certain knowledge, many tens of millions of pounds. But she never built any hospitals. She claimed to have built almost 150 convents, for nuns joining her own order, in several countries. Was this where ordinary donors thought their money was going?" It's a deeply weird day when I agree with Christopher Hitchens. "Q My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis? " And Helen Thomas, too, should stay out of small planes for the foreseeable future. And, lastly, And these are John Lehman's qualifications for this position: "Some senior naval officers, allegedly including one flag rank officer, were quietly and quickly retired. According to one NIS investigator, the Coos Bay arrest opened up a Pandora's box of pedophile cases in the Navy and, according to a number of federal law enforcement officials in Portland, Seattle, and Washington, the cover-up of the incidents "went right to the top" - and the top at the time was John Lehman." So, since Kissenger blew it off, we have another expert in cover-ups, from the Reagan administration no less, on board. Great; and are all these former Reagan guys cryogenically preserved somewhere or what? I mean, aren't there any younger sociopaths who want a civil service job out there? I'm almost expecting someone to re-animate William Casey and put him in charge of some crucial security function Oh well, in ten years... it'll be different. 2003.01.06 Oh this is a good idea, let's tax people who make less than $85K a year even more. 2003.01.06 Yuck 2003.01.06 "These people recognized that even then, within days after the planes hit, there was a good deal of opportunistic ground being seized under cover of the clearly urgent need for increased security. These people recognized even then, with flames still visible in lower Manhattan, that the words "bipartisanship" and "national unity" had come to mean acquiescence to the administration's preexisting agenda - for example the imperative for further tax cuts, the necessity for Arctic drilling, the systematic elimination of regulatory and union protections, even the funding for the missile shield - as if we had somehow missed noticing the recent demonstration of how limited, given a few box cutters and the willingness to die, superior technology can be."Fixed Opinions, or The Hinge of History 2003.01.06 Even paranoids do have enemies and CBS and Penelope Spheeris should rot in hell. 2003.01.04 You know, I sort of shrugged when Atrios mentioned the Enron movie, but then Sandra Delete did, so it must be a trend not a theme. Edit 05Jan03: Although I realize CBS is cashing in on the misery of Enron's employees, shareholders and PGE in California, maybe this movie will give the Dems a little leg up. I mean, if the CBS watching demographic realizes that people not unlike themselves lost not only their jobs, but also their retirement accounts though the unbridled greed of people way too closely connected to the Bush regime, and only Mr. Fastow has done the perp walk (so far), perhaps more of them will get off the couch and vote Democrat in 2004. I've no idea and, other than grasping at straws at this point, have no idea what to do to get rid of the rotten gov we have in DC right now. Oh well.
"But as a combat veteran of the Korean conflict, I believe that if we are going to send our children to war, the governing principle must be that of shared sacrifice. Throughout much of our history, Americans have been asked to shoulder the burden of war equally. "That's why I will ask Congress next week to consider and support legislation I will introduce to resume the military draft." I'm down with his point here, but Congressman Rangel ought to recall who wound up actually fighting the Viet Nam war last time there was a draft. If you have enough money and are the right color, you can always get out of the draft. Look at GW Bush, D Quayle and, Lord forgive me, W Clinton. Only Al Gore was sucker enough to actually go to Viet Nam and do his military service. Okay, yeah, he was an Army journalist and not a combat grunt. But journalists, Military and not, went out in the field in that war and he still went when he probably could have avoided it. Sigh. Can't we have the mid to late 90's back? Please? "Mother whose heart hung humble as a button 2002.12.30 The New McCarthyism only worse because we should know better. 2002.12.29 Being your average Southern California girl savage, I was raised on those annual viewings of The Wizard of Oz. However, as an adult, when I finally learned there were actual books behind all that cinema, I was freaked by the books and never liked them. Maybe it was the illos, but they never took root for me. Too bad, I guess, because CalPundit has some interesting comments on them. 1.7 million cases of mail fraud is good enough for me! 2002.12.27 but I kind of liiiiike this one: 2002.12.26 Like I really needed another reason to loathe Laura Schlessinger. Huh, I thought CDs were recyclable. Thanks to the amazing and adorable Lene T for this one. Big smoochies for my Xmas prezzies, too, most dahlin' one, you is the best that ever was ever made in heaven. Union Carbide, now Dow. Will the 1980s please end soon. "Earlier this month, on the 18th anniversary of the leak, Bhopal survivors and international supporters brought "contaminated soil, water and brooms," and a demand for remediation measures, to Dow India in Bombay." Oh, and here's the punchline: "Dow's response? It's suing the survivors for ten thousand dollars." 2002.12.24 "This past year brought shocking revelations about how American institutions, from corporations to government agencies, really operate. But the whistle-blowers haven't been rewarded; Time makes it clear that Ms. Cooper and Ms. Rowley are personae non gratae in their organizations. And those on whom the whistle was blown have mostly gone unpunished. Last week one F.B.I. official singled out by Ms. Rowley - he blocked an investigation that might have averted Sept. 11 - received a special presidential award." Paul Krugman, NYT Op/Ed 12/24/02 Click here for all his columns.
"As much as I appreciate reasonable discourse, there is sadly little evidence that it is of any use. Most progress is made by outraged people yelling at the tops of their lungs and fighting for change, the completely unreasonable people who are willing to sacrifice everything to their beliefs. This can be both good and bad, of course, but there you have it. Historically speaking, we moderates are but spear carriers for our louder, brasher betters." Even if he does live in Irvine. 2002.12.23 Office of Information Awareness logo: 2002.12.23 As if I didn't need another reason to hate Nixon: "Early in his career, as clerk to Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, Rehnquist strongly endorsed upholding the Court's keystone pro-segregation decision of 1896 in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, and favored a Texas law permitting white-only primary elections. "It is about time the Court faced the fact that the white people of the south don't like the colored people," Rehnquist wrote. In 1964, according to sworn testimony, Rehnquist led efforts to harass minority voters in Arizona on behalf of the Barry Goldwater campaign. That same year, he publicly opposed the adoption of an anti-discrimination ordinance covering public accommodations in Phoenix. In 1970, as Richard Nixon's assistant attorney general, Rehnquist proposed a constitutional amendment designed to limit and disrupt implementation of the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision of 1954. Since being named to the Supreme Court, Rehnquist has consistently advanced his regressive views on race, as in his lonely dissent favoring the granting of federal tax-exempt status to Bob Jones University." 2002.12.20 Is this really the country we want to be? "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of Muslim men and boys are being subjected to strip searches in freezing, standing room only detention centers in southern California after being arrested for routine visa irregularities, immigration lawyers said on Thursday. "They estimated that between 1,000 and 2,500 males, some as young as 16, were spending their fourth day locked up in what they called inhumane conditions after voluntarily presenting themselves at immigration offices to register under new anti-terrorism rules. "The situation in the detention centers is absolutely horrifying. In one center, they were ordered to strip down and given a strip search. They were only given a prison jumpsuit, without any underwear, T-shirts, socks or shoes. They were not given blankets. They are freezing," Iranian-American lawyer Sohelia Jonoubi told Reuters." I am completely ashamed of my country. I mean, why is it that the Tim McVeigh's and the other militia types freak out during a benign Democrat administration but are silent when the very things they were afraid of start to happen during a Republican administration? Yes, I realize three thousand people needlessly died in New York last year, nevertheless arresting people for complying with the law seems a little alarming to me. Yes, I realize these people are not citizens, but we have two citizens, Yaser Esam Hamdi and Jose Padilla, who are being held with no release or trial date in sight, might have been or are being tortured, and were being held incommunicado, without right to counsel for months on end or any of the usual Constitutional guarantees we citizens get if we can get our lawyers to fight for them. So, how much longer can any of us who do not agree with the lunatics running the US government at the moment feel safe? Beats me. All I can say is: Vote Democrat in 2004 (if you haven't been jailed or disenfranchised for being a registered Democrat). 2002.12.18 I believe this is why they call it the graduated income tax. 2002.12.18 "Routinely, when Pat Robertson is interviewed on any of the cable news shows, he is never asked any questions that even begin to explore the right wing radicalism that is on copious display on The 700 Club. On one show some years ago, while defending a Judge who likes to say a Christian prayer in court before a case is heard, Robertson insisted he'd have no problem with a Moslem judge reading from the Koran, though he was pleased as a nice cup of Christian punch to note there are no such judges anywhere in the US of A. A week later, there was a filmed "news" report on the show on the growth of Islam in America in which Islam was identified as a Satanic religion, the symbols of which Christians had to be on guard to avoid, including visiting mosques, or having Islamic art in the home. We sometimes forget, because of the Reverend attached to their names, how often these guys lie." Leah A at Eschaton. Man, she should have her own blog. 2002.12.18 "I came here because of my deep interest and affection for a land settled by the Dutch in the mid-seventeenth century, then taken over by the British, and at last independent; a land in which the native inhabitants were at first subdued, but relations with whom remain a problem to this day; a land which defined itself on a hostile frontier; a land which has tamed rich natural resources through the energetic application of modern technology; a land which once imported slaves, and now must struggle to wipe out the last traces of that former bondage. I refer, of course, to the United States of America." http://www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/r060666.h 2002.12.18 ...myself off the race issue. Slooooowly but surely... yeah right. 2002.12.18 Is it just me, or has anyone else considered the fact that the Dixicrats began to migrate after Goldwater, an Arizona Republican, did not oppose segregation in his '64 prez run. And also, that Nixon, a California Republican and a Quaker at that, developed the Southern Strategy to get those scared, angry and silent "majority" white people votes in '68. Reagan, another California Republican, built on those foundations and now look where we are. So, aside from the Dixicrats, like Wallace, who were from and stayed south of the Mason-Dixon line, Republican racism didn't really come out of the South; it was a carpetbagger transplant again. Sigh, does Reconstruction never end? But, more seriously, Race baiting doesn't go back in the bottle once the election is over, especially if the race baiting party wins. 2002.12.16 The publisher of my one published composition has a new website and online store. 2002.12.16 Strange Fruit is one of the hardest songs to hear her sing. I sure do like jeanne d'arc's blog, Body and Soul, which I could listen to all night long. That when the going gets wacky, the wacky get going. "One Bush voter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the pranks on Poindexter: 'If they're making him as uncomfortable as we are, good.'" Heh heh heh. First Kissinger, next Poindexter, then Lott, God willing 2002.12.15 "Should Lott resign, the Democratic governor of Mississippi would be in a position to name a replacement, potentially creating a 50-50 tie. At that point, the party switch of just one Republican senator - similar to the one made by Vermont's Jim Jeffords when he became an independent in 2001 - would return the Democrats to power." 2002.12.15 These guys are mean, not necessarily wrong, but definitely mean. 2002.12.15 Sorry, Lene, I guess there won't be a Gore in Four Tour after all. 2002.12.14 "Monica Lewinsky reflected Bill Clinton's PRIVATE moral failure. Trent Lott reflects the Republican Party's POLITICAL moral failure. Both Monica Lewinsky and the issue now confronting Trent Lott and the Republican Party are moral issues. One involves personal morality and the other involves public morality." Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. TRENT LOTT IS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY'S MONICA LEWINSKY Thank you, Congressman Jackson, for having the guts to say this out loud. It's about time, too. So, while were at it, here's my two cents: Trent Lott is a disgrace to the species; not just Republicans or the Congress (such as it is) or America or Christians or Mississippi or swamp rats or anything, really. Anyone who thinks life was better under Jim Crow is insane. Jim Crow was just plain wrong - morally and legally and there's just no other sane and human way to look at it. Also, I don't have numbers in front of me, but the prosperity of the former Jim Crow states has gone way up since then. Oppressing and murdering your work force is stupid and anyone who thinks things are better that way is mentally defective or a sociopath (or both). I don't really see where the "New" Reagan Republican racism is really that far from the "New" Reagan Republican religious Right intolerance. I mean, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson would lynch us all if they could. Well, okay, that's a little over the top. Let's say they'd lynch those of us who disagree with them (which is everyone on my A list). Sigh, the Dems might be dopey but at least they're not meaner than a startled cottonmouth. And the Greens' platform is so far in orbit, it's irrelevant. Sorry, Greens, I'm sure y'all are nice people, but when you oppose the Dems, you end up supporting people like Trent Lott by default and that makes you as bad as he is. Get your white sheets and burning crosses but make sure they're 100% biodegradable and not made by any global conglomerate and have a nice nightride. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. End of sermon. 2002.12.14 Bye bye Henry. 2002.12.12 "Good grief. I turn my back for 10 minutes, and they bring back the old War Criminal." Adding insult to injury (12/12/02) 2002.12.11 For those of you who thought high school was bad enough. It just got worse. 2002.12.08 22.34 More on the blasts from the past. Back, But Not By Popular Demand. 2002.12.08 More on self-publishing on the web from John Scalzi no less. 2002.12.07 Yet another website turns into a book 2002.12.06 I really love Bill Moyers and Buzzflash, too. 2002.12.05 The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act is a really bad idea and should be scrapped. Oh my God, they've dug up Elliott Abrams. "He (Abrams) pleaded guilty in 1991 to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress. Abrams received a Christmas Eve pardon from President George H.W. Bush in 1992." Is Rove just going through the Bush pardon before conviction list and seeing who's not "busy" these days? 2002.12.05 I am driven to quote the Newt thing: GINGRICH: In all fairness, it's something Gore had worked on a long time. Gore is not the Father of the Internet, but in all fairness, Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet, and the truth is - and I worked with him starting in 1978 when I got [to Congress], we were both part of a "futures group - the fact is, in the Clinton administration, the world we had talked about in the '80s began to actually happen. And then... Martin Walker wrote this in The Guardian: WALKER (12/30/88): American computing scientists are campaigning for the creation of a "superhighway" which would revolutionize data transmission. Legislation has already been laid before Congress by Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee, calling for government funds to help establish the new network, which scientists say they can have working within five years, at a cost of Dollars 400 million. (Both from The Daily Howler my favorite read these days.) But what I want to know is, if Al Gore can't be the Father of the Internet, could he be the Sugar Daddy of the Internet? I mean, $400 Million buys a lot of ice and fiber optics, y'know? 2002.12.03 "Now, the election. Given my oft-stated belief that the GOP, if not actually pure unmitigated evil, is at least pure unmitigated annoyance trying to work its way up to evil, you might believe that I am terribly put out by last Tuesday's election results. But remember: I am a white, male, straight, college-educated upper-middle-class sort of person. Whatever philosophical issues I might have with the Republican party, it is nevertheless a true fact that just about the very last time someone of my race, sex, orientation and income class was personally put out by Republican policies, it was the Reconstruction Era in the South. I'll be fine. It's the rest of you that might have to worry. In the meantime, I'll be sitting here working on my little pile of money. Hey, that's what the President wants me to do." 2002.12.03 And some Poindexter, too! 2002.12.01 Sigh 2002.11.29 "Why is a proven liar and wanted man in charge of the 9/11 investigation?" 2002.11.27 Bush names Kissinger to head 9/11 probe 2002.11.26 Tax the working poor! 2002.11.25 I knew there was something familiar and bothering me since I got back to Los Angeles and started paying attention to the news. Heaven bless the Rittenhouse Review for clarifying that I'm not having High School flashbacks or have slipped into a temporal anomaly. I was a loner in High School; it seemed the safest thing to do. I was with the weirdos in Drama class, the only girl in chess club, and had more guy friends than girl friends, but didn't date because no one asked me. I also took the maximum number of courses each year and summer school so I could get the hell out in three years. I have never regretted skipping my senior year, I could tell it would be just more of the same alienation and depression. Why are girls so mean to each other? Because it was the only thing I knew how to do, I was turned inward all through Junior and Senior High school, but I don't think I was ever intentionally mean to anyone. And, after bolting my lunch, I got a lot of homework done in the library during those lonely lunch hours. Regrets? Oh, a few. However, I wish they'd teach children social survival skills, like "what goes around comes around" and "if you can't be nice, be quiet", at an early age. But we live in a winner take all society, so if you're going to step on someone, make sure you really crush them so you don't run into them again on your way down. Not that I'm not horrified, but, having been sad and lonely in High School, I can see how the school shootings happen. Too many guns and too little kindness and something somewhere's gotta give. Now, since we're trapped in media-high-school-land, how that's going to play out in the larger world is anybody's guess.
Joe Bob Briggs: "In other words, it's not exactly risky duty. So why not expand the universal draft to, say, age 65? Bring EVERYBODY in. "Tell Bill Gates he needs to take off two years from Microsoft to serve his country. Check out Madonna on an M-16. Haul in those Wall Street guys who like to speculate on military contracts but might feel different about actually squatting in a tank all day. "NOW let's see how popular it is." on the The Universal Military Training and Service Act of 2001. 2002.11.22 Joe Bob Briggs explains it all to you. Okay, not that I approve of cock fighting (just read that scene in "Day of the Locusts" if you can stand it), but since the world started falling apart on December 12, 2000, it's not been on the top of my "for God's sake, do SOMETHING about it!" list. 2002.11.20 Isabel Samaras paintings! 2002.11.19 Parents! Interrogate your pediatricians before they vaccinate your children. Oops. Maybe they should have thought that through a little better. But, now that I’m thinking about it, doesn’t the Justice Department have better things to do with it's time? 2002.11.15 Ew! John Poindexter is back and even William Safire is creeped out.
 
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