And another thing, Pelosi and company

I remembered W has another thing right--partial privatization of Social Security. It has to be done. SS will be insolvent before 2050--no more money. The only realistic steps we can take without partial privatization are (1) raise payroll taxes yet again (and again and again and again), (2) cut benefits, (3) raise the retirement age, (4) let old people go destitute, (5) means testing--screwing people out of the thousands of dollars they were forced to pay into it, (6) a mixture of some or all the latter. None of these options seem pleasant--politically or otherwise.

But, of course, none of the people in office will have to worry about it. They will let it be someone else's problem. Not just mediocrity this time, but cynical below-average mediocrity rules here amongst the D's.

It is impossible for SS to keep up with inflation--just is. The limited amount they don't pay out in benefits gets put into Treasury notes specifically designed to just keep your head above inflation waters. So what's wrong with partial privatization? Too hard. This is the D's biggest failure to date and only continues--a huge problem somehow fixed by putting their heads in the ground and hoping it goes away. Stellar. Just frickin Stellar.

Pelosi and her Merry Band of Dipshits

So the immigration bill failed. I didn't read the whole bill--and maybe it was a bad one--but how long is this going to go on?

We continue to have low unemployment in the country while the illegals keep coming in (and most of them do it via air-travel, btw). It is therefore mathematically impossible to say that they are taking our jobs. As such, it is only reasonable to assume that they are here performing jobs we need done. Additionally, it is all too obvious that our current immigration policy simply does not match our nation's market realities. It just doesn't. So...what are we waiting for?

"The American people believe that until we're able to secure our borders and enforce our laws, taking additional steps [in immigration reform] is really not in the best interests of the country," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio

This was in response to the proposition that since the whole shitterie can't pass, why not at least pass a few critical elements? Ah, yes, Boehner Boy, why be practical? Why even try to solve at least part of the problem. Instead, we will just let the whole situation remain a disaster "until we're able to secure our borders."

Why would he be so impractical and irresponsible? Because we're asking him to work. That's it--and it's obviously not just him. Immigration reform is a difficult problem and requires a lot of work and compromise. Building a wall--easy decision. Who cares if it costs billions and solves nothing? In an honest moment, he might even say something to the effect of "Keeps me in office, Beehatch! Best part...I don't even have to think!"

Just WTF is Pelosi doing? This is perhaps the one thing that W has basically right, she could demonstrate real leadership with this one, and one would think that she could get a *lot* of mileage out of it by delivering it for President Knucklenutz. Instead, with White House support, it fell on the floor and there is no apparent backup plan. Can no one do anything substantial in American politics anymore? Honestly?! Are we doomed for mediocrity?

Glasgow

I'm flying to Glasgow tomorrow (hopefully), so the car bombing was of particularly good timing for me. If it were for vacation I would be really pissed, but this is for work so...whatever. I'll get there when I get there.

But obviously, what pisses me off more, is this petty and idiotic protest of _fill_in_the_blank_. No one has made the attacker's motives public (if that's possible), so I have no idea what this one is about but, what the hell good is this for any one's cause? Just what the hell have the Scottish done to anyone other than in retaliation to the English?

If this turns out to be another show of violent vulgarity from the usual suspects of self-pitying Muslims (and it likely is, let's be honest), then what? Do we "listen to our enemies?" A withdrawal from Iraq is in order, yes, but then what? Quit supporting the "Zionists of Israel?" We're not going to do it. We're pulling our bases out of Saudi Arabia, we're not going to submit to the Caliphate, and we're going to keep our women in a non-slavery status--sorry. Do we need to get out of Afghanistan too? The freely elected leader wants NATO troops there, so I'm not sure the cause for concern, but...I give up, I guess.

Guys (Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood), I'm going to let you in a well-known secret. Your countries suck. Sorry, it's true. They suck, suck, and suck some more. Too many of you are dirt poor, uneducated, socially backwards, intellectually retarded, and (to date) you have nothing to offer the world. Not a book, a painting, a song, a joke, a movie, an invention, a theory, a school, nothing. Nothing. That's not our fault, it's yours.

However, to be so ashamed of it as to offer a return to a time when you were worth a shit--by way of petty and vulgar violence--isn't going to heal the wounds. You will still suck, you will just be despised as well. Feared, no--not with time anyway. Just despised as filthy, retarded apes. Is that what you really want for your nation and your culture? Forget it...it's not like anyone is reading this anyway--much less those cats.

Been a while

Sorry for both of my fans, I've been negligent. I'm still fooling around with that new girlfriend and am rapidly becoming a shell of a man I once was. Whooped, whooped, whooped. Worst part is--I don't really mind. In fact, I've never been happier. I'll get on things soon though. (And compared to my last attempts, this ain't bad...).

Bireli III

And the last for a bit. But just listen to this arrangement of a stupid, silly, beautiful, wonderful, 6-2-5-1 Stevie Wonder tune. Absolutely darling (call me gay if you want, but I could really care less--and have a couple witnesses to the contrary if you are serious).

Bireli II

I particularly enjoyed watching him blow John "Look at me! I know scales!" McLaughlin away with this one. To McLaughlin's defense, he is better than I could ever hope to be and would be the first to say, "Yes, Bireli is far better than I."

Bireli as sideman

As much a testament to his ability as any (he's the guitarist)

US health care

A co-worker and I had had a brief, friendly debate about the subject of universal health care, but our differences are microscopic, in the end. Ultimately, we agreed that this should be an argument about how we should do it vs. whether or not we should do it. (Andrew Sullivan let's a reader opine here about the the French health care system, and it's pretty well done).

The United States is at or near the bottom of the barrel amongst industrialized countries when it comes to infant mortality, overall health, heart disease, percentage of wages put into health care, etc. If such is the case, why should we be so thankful for America's gems of health care? What good does it really do for our country?

Andrew's concern--as is mine and that of my aforementioned co-worker--is that the excellence of America's medical profession may be lost in the process. That the breakthroughs in medical and pharmaceutical innovation may become casualties of, well, democracy. Democracy and capitalism did it to architecture, for certain (poetry, painting, sculpture, and music are--perhaps arguably--similar casualties). The world of medicine in the US may well suffer.

However, if the current system results in more dead babies, more unhealthy people, more people in bankruptcy, what are we really gaining in US medical excellence? The argument could (or at least should) never be that easy. But isn't that a general framework from which to start with? Should it not be "what could we be prepared to sacrifice for a better health care system?"? There is an argument to be had. Let's hope we have it.

Great weekend

What a difference a couple days can make. I vested for the pension at my company on Saturday, so a big payoff awaits me should I ever decide to leave, I'm house sitting for a friend that has a pool when it's 231 degrees or so out here in Phoenix, and I met a girl.

In truth, I've known her for years and always had a crush on her, but circumstances changed to where we actually went out on a date together. I was instantly happier than I've been in years. Amazing (and a bit scary) what a beautiful woman can do for a guy. I'm completely smitten--covered in smit--and never happier to be so.

And Father's day just passed...

This is what you buy for yourself after you get paid for donating your wedding tackle.

Eddie Harris

Ohhhhh baby! Not taking anything away from John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, or Cannonball Adderley, but this cat can swing. For all the, comparatively, unsung studs of the sax like Coleman Hawkins, Ike Quebec, Sonny Stitt, Eric Dolphy, and all the others, a reminder that (1) we have been blessed with thousands and thousands of phenomenal musicians and (2) a cool groove does wonders for the soul.

A breath of fresh air

This is old news, really, but please read this. A well-written and scathing attack on his German contemporaries.

America has always been an easy target since WWII, but never so much as now. The European press, to include Germany, is curiously silent about how nobody in the continent did anything to stop the mass murder and genocide of 200,000 men, women, and children in Bosnia until the U.S. (on the other side of the Atlantic) decided to get involved, but are all too happy to report about Guantanamo abuses. That's the math: do nothing=innocence, to do something, though mismanaged and even largely wrong=complete culpability/evil. As much as I despise the work of Bush and his administration, at least he tried to do something about the despotic and evil regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Could the EU do it? Please. They can't even agree on the same phuckin currency. Do you seriously expect me to believe that they will one day rise to be a unified military power (as they should be)? An English Sergeant saluting a French captain...? A German Petty Officer saluting a Polish Admiral...? I would actually like to be surprised, but I'm not exactly atwitter in anticipation.

Still, the US does deserve some criticism. Actually, a lot of criticism. Bin Laden is still at large, the Taliban is still alive and well in Afghanistan, and we seem hell bent on burning Afghan poppies but can't get a national road built in 5 years. Yes, a road. And, of course, the orange jumpsuits of Gitmo and the torture victims of Abu Ghraib becoming national symbols are shockingly inexcusable. But I wish Europeans would engage us more than make sophmoric over-simplifications. Bush is worse than Hitler? Please. Bush is too lazy to be Hitler, for starters. Secondly, Abu Ghraib does not equal Dachau. Sorry--not even close. So you can keep Hitler, Germany. He's your history, not ours.

And Britain...remember Amritsar? How 'bout the famines that occured regularly in India under British rule but never since Independence? Belgium, do we really need to bring up the Congo? France, don't even tempt me. Check that...you have nukes and aren't afraid to test them in the atmosphere and murder Greenpeace protesters in order to do it. Vive le France! The last war the Vatican supported was Fascist General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. So we all have blood on our hands is the point. We are all very flawed. To use anti-Americanism as a crutch is no less odiferous than American politicians talking of "freedom fries" and "cheese eating surrender monkeys." It's normally an indication that you have nothing of value to say and you are desperately seeking attention--like two chicks making out in a bar. It's normally not very sexy. In fact, it's pretty pathetic.

Cultural distance

So I'm in lovely Bellevue, Washington--a suburb of Seattle--and it is stunningly beautiful and peaceful here. The people are sooooo nice too. Calm, laid-back, friendly, comfortable...great place to be.

And after munching on some good Vietnamese food, drinking a glass or two (ok, three) of delicious Chardonnay from a local vineyard, I decided to offer this while a trifle buzzed: the farther away from middle America, the better--generally speaking. The food is better, the incomes are higher, the people are more educated, the scenery is better, the infrastructure, etc. etc. Again, this is generally speaking, and there are drawbacks to living out of the "Heartland"(L.A. and New York City come to mind especially). But even in the last parenthetical two, there is an energy, a freedom, and a tolerance that, perhaps oddly, makes me feel safe vs. endangered.

There are so many Asians here you would think a free Michael Jackson concert is just a few blocks away everywhere you go, but nobody cares. In many parts of the Midwest and the South I bet it would be a cause for serious alarm. I say that because I grew up with all sorts of Mexicans as a kid and nobody cared. Only when illegal immigrants started going out to the Midwest and the South in large number (after I was already an adult) did it become so newsworthy--to the point that many people seem to think it's the beginning of the end for America.

I don't want to be one of those guys getting on the bandwagon of "Religion is Stupid," as seems to be the craze lately. Religion is very personal. And my lack of it is intensely personal--I just don't want to talk about it if I can help it. But I'm reading Hitchen's "god is not Great" book and I can't help but see how areas that are at least more moderate in their practice of religion, more accepting, more sure of themselves, make for better people and better citizens. I doubt very few here would care at all if I were an atheist (or a Jew or a Hindu, for that matter). Lubbock, Texas or Topeka, Kansas...not so sure.

This is already overlong and meandering, so let me try to sum it up this way. A lack of education and or grounding in secularism leads to superstition, and uneducated, superstitious people practicing religion can be a very Bad Thing (TM). Combine that with how diversity can breed tolerance and that the lack of diversity can breed fear and/or intolerance, the "Heartland" of America is suffering--more than the West Coast or North East--from both organized superstition and intolerance in the guise of religion and "traditional values." It's a shame, because I've met a large amount of genuinely very, very nice people from the Midwest and South. Amongst them would be close friends and people in my own family, including my mother. But I'm so glad I don't live there. Not because I'm a snob or an elitist, but because I want to hear different languages, eat different food, see different people, listen to different music, live the American Experience! I don't want to define myself by an ethnicity or a religious denomination. I just want to be human, and feel free and unafraid, like all of us. And the more one clings to the "Old Time Religion" and cultural norms, the harder that seems.

Again, this is generally speaking and a matter of degrees vs. sharp divisions, but I've seen the Midwest and the South. Even lived there for a while. Believe me, it's better out here. Ah....forget it, why not another glass, yes?

The banana republic

It's us, as in the United States of America--but not quite. Never in my life have I been in so much awe of Jefferson, Paine, and Madison. To think that their pragmatic and brilliantly simple approach to government and self rule could not only still be applicable well over 200 years later is amazing enough. To think that it could still keep us relatively sane and coherent with this presidential administration in place is beyond remarkable. That's the good news.

Here's the bad news: It's worse than you think. This is a must read. It is an article about General Taguba--a career officer charged with investigating the Abu Ghraib scandal--and his experience in fulfilling his duty. It seems rather long at first, but at the end I wanted to know more. Writing now, I demand to know more and I trust that is will come out with time.

The highlights for me:

Wolfowitz asked. Someone else asked, “Is it abuse or torture?” At that point, Taguba recalled, “I described a naked detainee lying on the wet floor, handcuffed, with an interrogator shoving things up his rectum, and said, ‘That’s not abuse. That’s torture.’ There was quiet.”

Having male detainees pose nude while female guards pointed at their genitals; having female detainees exposing themselves to the guards; having detainees perform indecent acts with each other; and guards physically assaulting detainees by beating and dragging them with choker chains.

I learned from Taguba that the first wave of materials included descriptions of the sexual humiliation of a father with his son, who were both detainees. Several of these images, including one of an Iraqi woman detainee baring her breasts, have since surfaced; others have not. (Taguba’s report noted that photographs and videos were being held by the C.I.D. because of ongoing criminal investigations and their “extremely sensitive nature.”) Taguba said that he saw “a video of a male American soldier in uniform sodomizing a female detainee.”

A few weeks after his report became public, Taguba, who was still in Kuwait, was in the back seat of a Mercedes sedan with Abizaid. Abizaid’s driver and his interpreter, who also served as a bodyguard, were in front. Abizaid turned to Taguba and issued a quiet warning: “You and your report will be investigated.” “I wasn’t angry about what he said but disappointed that he would say that to me,” Taguba said. “I’d been in the Army thirty-two years by then, and it was the first time that I thought I was in the Mafia.”

A recently retired C.I.A. officer, who served more than fifteen years in the clandestine service, told me that the task-force teams “had full authority to whack—to go in and conduct ‘executive action,’ ” the phrase for political assassination. “It was surrealistic what these guys were doing,” the retired operative added. “They were running around the world without clearing their operations with the ambassador or the chief of station.”

Know this. Regardless of political affiliation (I'm an Independent), with this President and his staff, along with a complicit majority Congress and an invertebrate opposition party, the United States is an officially barbaric and rogue world power. I emphasize "officially" because the decision making has come from the top. For the first time in my life, at age 36, with seven generations deep in this country, I'm ashamed of being an American.

What's with the gay thing?

This chick can be rather entertaining sometimes, if a little predictable. Still, a character--and that's good enough: http://www.rachellucas.com/2007/06/a_word_about_john_edwards.html. What gets me in this little missive of hers is that she and her commentortium practically masturbate each other with their "John Edwards is gay" stuff. First, Edwards is obviously not a gay man.

Secondly, he actually has a couple whatchamacallit....oh yeah, PLANS about a couple of things. You know, things like...cutting the taxes of a working family vs. Paris Hilton...going to war with a plan...staying out of a husband's gut-wrenching choice of letting his vegetable wife die after years of life support systems have done no good instead of singling him out as an evil man because the wife occasionally and involuntarily says "GRRRRR" and druels down her chin...having a system that doesn't leave people floating down a flooded street while their bodies are being gnawed at by rats...dealing with a disastrous health care system that burdens all citizens and businesses...balancing a budget...those kind of things. You may disagree with him about them (as I do on some), but at least he demonstrates a couple synapses firing together.

Third, he was almost VP of the United States before Florida (our internal third world nation) and Ohio decided to screw things up for everyone--and with Kerry the Banal as the lead man on the ticket. So he is obviously not a repulsive fembot to tens of millions of Americans, if not the vast majority.

Fourth, he's not that popular amongst the D's. He's struggling to stay in the double digits in the polls.

And fifth, let's have a taste test.
--Three of the GOP candidates don't believe in evolution. All of the D's do.
--McCain apparently thinks that success is just around the corner in Iraq. The D's are with the 2 thirds plus of Americans who don't. Breaks my heart, because I'm normally a McCain guy, but he's wrong and I think he secretly knows it.
--Romney thinks that Jesus decided to hang out with the Native Americans--excuse me, Lost Tribes of Israel--in Missouri after the crucifixion. None of the D's do.
--Ron Paul is routinely vilified by other Republicans for sounding like Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. Doubt the D's understand why (I know I don't).

Which leaves Rudy G, running for President of 9/11. Could Edwards lose to him? Maybe. But if Rachel and her giggling sycophants can't see that Ru Paul in full drag would likely be an improvement to this GOP hell we've been living through, they are truly the ones out of touch. (Oh, wait...didn't mean to demean Rudy's drag performance. Hyuh hyuh hyuh, heeez ghey!)

And while we're at it...

A clip of the great lost talent of Eva Cassidy. The woman still gives me chills.

Ohhhh Joey

I know that Buddy Rich is supposed to be the Gold Standard and all, and far be it for me to try to speak otherwise, but just look at this cat go. I find myself listening to Joe Morello and Chico Hamilton more than Buddy Rich or other drummer greats. Nothing personal, just the way my ear is. Hope you enjoy it.

Jessie May

So my friend's dog died today. She was half Lab, half Rottie, and 100 percent whoop-ass dog. She was suffering from heart disease and in pain, so he did the noble thing. Either there is no god, or God is a sadistic prick. I'm going to miss her.

youtube-dl

Something I bet Mr. Chick-black-hole can't do (see below) is tell you how to get youtube videos on your hard drive. A python script called youtube-dl is all that's required. Check out http://www.arrakis.es/~rggi3/youtube-dl/ for more info but, basically, once it's installed, you type something like:

youtube-dl -l -a "http://youtubevideoyouwant.com"

into a command prompt and away it goes. The -l and -a flags mean "literal title" and "avi format," respectively. There are other options too, of course. Fricking rocks. They say there is a Windows port for it, but I wouldn't touch that with a dirty shwantzstucker. Works very nicely on my FreeBSD system. Anything with a python interpreter should do just fine. (btw, might wanna stay away from the pornotube-dl script. Prolly works, but that site is filled with a plethora of sex you don't want to see. Trust me, I look at pr0n for a living--I'll explain later. If you want pr0n, there are plenty of other places to get it).

Adreas Oberg

This cat rocks. Sweedish too...yeah, not sure when they got their groove but as a weekend warrior jazz guitarist, I don't appreciate the fact that he is a Norse god, physically, and a guitar god in ability. Playing guitar is supposed to help dorks like me score chicks. This guy could score chicks as a shitwagon driver. I've never seen him live, but I bet the guy is a walking box of catnip. Just not fair.

First Crack

Don't know if I'll actually stick with this or not, but here's hoping.