Hello, my long time readers, or perhaps, new ones.
This is just a quick update, and a little plan to tell you about the future of this blog.
As you can see, this has become very... sparse over the past few months. Some of you may think it's because I have nothing (of value) to say, or that I got bored with posting but it is really not the case. In this age of the 'new internet', one has to consider how he or she presents themselves. Social networking sites don't really have this problem. You maintain a personal profile, you do little updates with little things every once in a while, boom. you're there.
With a blog, to me at least, or any other web presence, you have to decide if it will be 'personal' or 'business'. And kind of stupidly, I've tried to merge the two. Some of my posts have been personal, some have been 'business' (comedic observances, political opinions). Going back and reading through it... it doesn't work. It's jarring going from me talking about snow and beautiful weather to a long winded rant on Obama™ The ActionFigure. It just doesn't make for a good read.
So, what will happen in the next few months (hopefully) is a more seperated webpresence from me. Granted, still contained within one site (I'm thinking of moving to wordpress for blog hosting) and having a much more streamlined feel of what I want to do on the web.
While considering all of this, I've been working on my own fiction and poetry. I have a small collection of poems I'd like to put out there, and possibly make a limited number of print editions to sell. Sadly, I don't think I have the infrastructure to do that via Blogger.com, so this is another reason why I'm considering moving to my own site.
What I'd like to do is the following: have my work, avalable online via creative commons licenses; have a seperate blog for daily musings (i.e. my rambling about weather, daily life), and then a section for what i consider my 'esays'; my views of the world, my social commentary. and what i'd like to do (way down the line) while all of these would be avalable on line for free; to offer a limited run print editions that would be bundled with other stuff. such as a personal inscription by me. or other things that i'd like to have as a reader.
In other news: things that may be on the new site, if/when it launches. The project i was working on with Blake M Petit has mutated. You'll be informed when I can tell you.
Thinking of trying to do a webcomic; i've been writing a script for comic based (very very loosly) on college stories and the college life i lived. i'm looking for someone to draw/ink.
Also, thinking of doing a podcast with some friends... just geek topics and whatever happens in our head.
anyway, i hope to update this a bit in the interem. but as to what the nature of the updates will be... i have no clue.
the california state supreme court will issue an opinion regarding the constitutionality of Prop 8 on may 26th at 10 am local time.
Prop 8's passage prohibitied Gay and Lesbian couples from marrying/recognizing any marriage between homosexuals in the state of California by amending the State's constitution by having the phrase "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." be included.
The thing is this due to the seperation of Church and State, any religious group (which is mostly the reasoning people are supporting prop 8; on moral/religious grounds) does not have to marry nor recognize married homosexual couples. Just how a Catholic run hospital doesn't have to do vasectomies, birth control or historectomies, churches would not have to marry the gays. the state run offices will issue marraige certificates; and the couple is married. much like how it works elsewhere. the church stuff has no legal bearing outside of church stuff.
I'm still just stumped on how and why people can justify this kind of action as anything but restricting someone else's rights. GLBT is a lifestyle choice, just like vegitarians, religious beliefs and golfing. We don't ban all golfers from marraige, and golfers (much like the gays) don't try to presuade you to 'join their team' unless you've expressed an interest in the sport previously.
Maybe this is just another case of me missing the point; but i don't think so. i think i hit it on the head.
this isn't meant as an attack on religion, or an attack on morals; this is nothing but the same mindset of civil rights, and the right to worship what you want. this is called 'respect for others'. i believe you have every right to protest, complain, try to convice gays that they are 'wrong' (as long as it's not hate speach/intimidation); but you have no right to take away their persuit of happyness, nor rights to privacy and equal protection under the law.
so, if california upholds Prop 8, expect a very graphic and long winded rant on wednesday; if california rejects the constiutionality of prop 8, expect a rant on another topic.
A lot of you may not know the picture to the left. It is a mug shot of Brian Warner (no, not one of the Animaniacs) also known by his stage name Marilyn Manson. Manson; named after model Marilyn Monroe and serial killer Charles Mason is a 'rock star' hailing from Florida. His music and image were once attacked by pundits on both the Left Wing and Right Wing due to the shooting in Littleton, CO in 1999. Manson-- as a persona and a musician has changed over the 15 years he's been on the musical radar (I count only the time from Nothing Records/Interscope onwards). He's gone from being the most 'feared' man in music, one of the most controversial to one who does nothing but parody his former 'talent'.
We Should Have Stayed in Florida(Portrait of an American Family)
Their first full length album produced by Trent Reznor is very much a continuation of the band's origional sound when they were known as Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids. Mostly a drum machine, keyboards and thrash-y guitars. Oh, and what sounds like a cat in a blender (manson's vocals). Manson started to get some attention during this period outside of Florida, mostly due to their tour with Nine Inch Nails and Danzig. The album is not as layered as the next few efforts, but it did spawn 3 music videos. Get your Gunn LunchBox Dope Hat
Between the first two albums, a remix EP Smells Like Children was created; more sonic experiment with then band and Reznor and some other collaborators. This included a cover (I'll dedicate a whole section on Manson's covers) of the Eurythmics song Sweet Dreams (are Made of This). The popularity of this song catapulted Manson into the mainstream spotlight with a more 'dark' image than previous works, which was more a parody/twisted outlook on children's entertainment (the willy wonka parody in dope hat and the childchatcher image from chitty-chitty bang-bang used on the cover of the EP).
Lookatme! I'm EEEEEvil.(Antichrist Superstar) The band's second full length album released in 1996 was produced by Reznor, and the sound of this album is arguably their most 'industrial' sounding due to collaborations on the album with (at then) Nine Inch Nail members Robin Finck, Danny Lohner, Chris Vrenna and Charlie Clouser, and Reznor contributing piano, keys, guitar and the kitchen sink. The album artwork and music is filled with jarring images and religious references some of them taking a misanthropic viewpoint.
The band's dark image progressed and religious groups protested Manson's performances; around this time rumors also started to fly about Manson, ranging from having his bottom ribs removed so he could preform self-feliatio; that he was Paul Pfeiffer from the wonder years (Joshua Saviano, the actor who played Paul is a lawyer); he mutilated small animals on stage etc. none of which, to my knowledge and research are true.
ZOMG I do DRUGS & I have BOOBS!! (Mechanical Animals) In 1998 Manson recruited guitarist John Lowery and decided to break with Reznor and decided to rip off David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and The Man Who Fell to Earth and add prothestic boobs, more glitter, and lots and lots of drugs. The result is a surprisingly good album with very idiotic lyrics. Mechanical Animals spawned a few Music Videos The Dope Show Rock Is Dead I Don't Like the Drugs (but the Drugs Like Me) Coma White
The Columbine Massacre in 1999 stopped his tour after media focused on him for supplying 'hate filled music'. He canceled 5 of his dates at the end of his 1999 tour due to the incident in Littleton, CO. Senator Joseph Leiberman among others in public outlets focused blame onto music, movies and games, including Manson's band. Manson was quiet about his views on the subject mostly until his next album Holy Wood.
Celebrity and Violence: Now I'm Exploiting America! (Holy Wood) Holy Wood, released in 2000 is Manson's reaction to American's obsession with violence and celebrity. It draws paralles between our culture and a love of violence as entertainment; giving murderers the attention (some) they crave. Manson paints a poitrait of american media as vultures and how as americans we consume every last dribble of violence on TV. From Kennedy to Christ to Columbine. His views are expressed in the excellent documentry produced during this time by Michael Moore Bowling for Columbine; as well as his appearances on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Back to the music. Manson as usual does the lyrics and vocals, but almost all the acutal music on this album is by Twiggy (Jeordie White) with some exceptions by John Lowery. Musically this has a throwback to AntiChristSuperStar. Some glam elements remain, but it's mostly just hard rock with some industrial-esque elements. Singles were Disposable Teens The Fight Song The Nobodies After this point, I really disliked the musical direction of Manson; so from here on out, I may be a bit.... critical compared to earlier. Mickey Mouse, Nazis and Imitation Swing Jazz (The Golden Age of Grotesque)
So for his 2003 musical endevor, Manson gave us a lot of puns in lyrics (although he CAN be skillful at wordplay... these just fell very flat), some vaguely 20's-30's swing-esque/metal sounding noises (Thanks Tim Skold! [and I like Skold's work in KMFDM, but this album was just... awful]). Manson's art direction done by photographer Gottfried Helnwein is atually kinda fun... sorta. Some of the 'we're in old vintage suits, with makeup' is kinda cool. very zoot-suity, very 30's... but then we also forget what else happened in the 30's... nazism. Yes, folks. Nazi's, and not the silly Indiana Jones Nazi's. Nazi's. In the video for This is the New Shit, manson rides into the video in one of Hitler's old limos. A lot of the promo pictures had Manson in an SS uniform, or sporting the Totenkoph (death head) on a hat. I'm not offended by any of this, it doesn't effect me, but... it's fucking silly. Songs such as Doll-Dagga-Buzz-Buzz-Ziggity-Zag, Golden Age of Grotesque, and The Bright Young Things all have a very very vague 30's sound, and the rest is just kinda... blah. It's missing the *something* from early Manson albums; and it's not less-shocking, I mean, NAZI's! and look at manson as Mickey Mouse! What the Hell?!
Singles (thank god there were only 2! ["(s)AINT" the third music video has been banned by Universal Music Group]): mOBSCENE This is the New Shit
I'm DONE with music... Oh, Wait! (Lest We Forget)
So, Mr. Manson decied to call it quits in 2003/4 after Golden age of a Giant Turd of an Album. So his record lable Interscope (Nothing Records folded in 2004 due to John Malm being a giant dick) decides to cash in on Manson's popularity and releases a 'Best of' CD. Personally, i kind of hate best of CDs, unless I really just like the singles from the artist. It takes the songs out of any context... and that, to me, is boring.
Anyway, Mr. Manson is going to make a movie based on alice in wonderland, then work on his Art, then... ruin his marraige to burlesque dancer Dita Von Tesse by FUCKING EVAN RACHEL WOOD who, i think was like 17 or 18? maybe 19.. and you're closing in on 40? what the hell man, what the hell?
So during this wonderful phase of Manson's career... he does two fatal mistakes. First he coveres what seems to be the hight of self parody he could ever do, by covering Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus and THEN, he goes out and ACTUALLY DOES cover the ONLY song that could at ALL be considered the HIGHEST form of self parody in the history of EVER! He covered This Is Halloween from Tim Burton's Nighmare before Chirstmas. Seriously, can you be done making music now? Can anyone take this live performance seriously?
Aren't You Done Yet?(Eat Me, Drink Me)
Ahh... let's look at the picture on the left-- see what it looks like he's doing? That's how I feel abut this album. Although it's not as bad as the cover of This Is Halloween... it's bad. Very, very bad. Once again, it's Manson and Tim Skold. The crux of this album seems to be two things. 1. Manson is happy to be fucking Evan Rachel Wood. 2. Manson is pissed off at Dita Von Tesse. Self parody still abounds here (If I Were Your Vampire, They Said Hell's Not Hot), and Manson is as emo as Chris Carrabba. "Wahh, I'm sad Dita left be because I am fucking a 18 year old no-talent-wanna-be-actress/songwriter, but I'm happy because I'm-fucking-said-18-year-old-and-I-don't-have-boobs-any-more." Music Videos that are not as bad as Personal Jesus: Heart Shaped Glasses (When the Hand Guides the Heart) Putting Holes in Happiness
I'm a leach who brought back the only person who made my records a sucess! (The High End of Low) So it's been announced a while ago that Jeordie White is back in Manson. White/Twiggy has had a sucessful time from Manson, auditioning for Metallica's vacant bassist position; recording and touring with A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Goon Moon and Josh Homme's Desert Sessions, Manson pooped out his Nazi album, his 'best of' cover album, played with his paints, and his emo album. What have we heard that Manson and White are working together again? A lot of hype 'that [the record] will blow Antichrist Superstar out of the water' and that 'it's harder than Twiggy's dick.'
Yeah... so far, i've heard two songs from it. the track "Arma-God-Damn-Mother-Fucking-Geddon" and "We're From America" (which is avalable as a free download from Manson's website). Not impressed at all.
I wish White all the best, but I do hope that Manson can either regain his creative edge and make something worth listening to, or just fade into obscurity.
power cord has been replaced and things are going very good.
well.. some things have been going good. my personal private life is amazing, and my more public social life has been... a mixed bag.
i'm keeping this short, but i expect a few blog posts in the next few days to be posted. it probably won't be ranty, but more explorative.
in movie news:
although it does not deserve every single 'OMG SEE THIS!!1/ best film evar,' i do recomend Slumdog Millionaire. it was a very good film. that night, however, was not a good night.
i do not, recomend The Watchmen unless you have read the book. It's a 3 hour almost straight adaptation of the comic and what that does is make the movie's pacing suffer...a... lot.
lastly, i watched bill maher's Religulous. it preaches to the athiest crowd, but it offers no other real chalenges as a film. basically a (and this is a massive intentional pun) 'preaching to the choir' piece. it offers a strong arguement against religion if you are an agnostic/athiest/skeptic, but it will not sway anyone sitting on the fence or anyone who has a belief in a god will see it as an attack. all it really does is act as ground for maher and director larry charles to poke fun at religion and dissect the bad stuff done in it's name. for me, it was funny at times with (maher is funny if you can detach yourself from the subject matter) and slaughters a sacred cow that most people don't dare touch. so for that maher gets an A for the sheer balls and for humor. but for actuall arguement/content, it's get's a C. while maher looks at most religions as morally 'wrong' and dangerous, i view it more as a tool for people who need it. yeah, bad shit is done in it's name, but one on one, religious people are fairly good folk. So for those of you who can laugh at religion/your religion/have no religion, go watch it. for those of you who can't/won't/don't... don't watch it, but don't try to ban the DVD. it's his opinion, and it's our right to consume it if we wish to.
in the next few days, you will see a blog on fiscal policy, another dealing with 'terrorism,' and one on some very nostalgic stuff from my childhood.
have not updated the blog due to a powercord mishap. things will be back to normal 'soon.'
tonight i am catching slumdog millionaire with jen, meg, amber and amiee. and foods.
possible review for that coming up.
also in the pipeline, a blog on true fiscal conservatism and how to actually restart our 'economy', an amusing review on shows we thought were funny, and the ups and downs of twitter.
i've been reading house of leaves again. been having some fucked up dreams because of it.
(just so i don't get sued, this entire post is in sarcasm)
Seriously, the old man who owns (through a giant media company) myspace can rim my asshole nice and slow.
In case you didn't know myspace (dot) com is full of BadHair, pedophiles, shitty bands, tools,and is one of the top social networking sites. Facebook recently has taken myspace's throne as shittest largest social networking site. Facebook has it's disadvantages, but in general doesn't have the spam (other than fucking app requests) that seems to permeate through myspace's teen angst ridden pores. Seriously, I delete spam messages and friend requests on average of twice a day. My very unused hotmail account doesnt get that much spam on average. And I've signed up for PORN using that address!
So why all the ire, and venom and hate, you ask? Let's take a look.... That's right! Mysack has declaired my BLOG a PHISHING SCAM! This blog is a motherfucking phishing scam! I want your passwords and your money! Muhahahaha!
I'm active, to a point, on a few different social networking sites; and if you look hard enough, you can find me.
I don't want to friend Tawney and Sheenah, I don't need to read chain letters in bullitens, I don't want my timetobewasted. I like my friends, I like silly surveys, I like being in the loop. But I'm sick of the bullshit. First from the majority of its users, now from the site itself.
My message for Rupert and the idiots working for myspace tag my blog as phishing spam... let me let George Carlin sum up my feelings.
I don't have pet peeves, I have major psychotic fucking hatreds, okay?
Then tell me that he didn't pay his taxes and see if i care.
Where the fuck were you screaming for another bunch of criminals resignation?
Seriously? You're concerned with TAXES on one man (and he re-fucking-paid them) when we are in an unconstitutional war, a war that's on an abstract concept and therefore unwinnable and our previous administration VIOLATED the fucking constitution to a) spy on members of the media, b) mislead the united states into war, c) was the most secretive administration in US history, d) did not testify under oath nor for the public record, nor separately (cheney and bush) to the 9-11 commission; and the commission was headed by Tom Kean appointed by Bush and was set up to 'fail'.
wake the FUCK up america. The Media and conservatives (fox, and to a point CNN) wants you to be pissed at Daschel so we won't get a true universal-single-payer healthcare system where if you're sick, and you can't afford it, you won't have to worry. Tom Daschel not paying taxes on gifts/services is NOT a big deal, and he rectified the problem with interest. Just like any other american. So wake the fuck up and see what they are trying to do.
There was a blog here; but i've decided to replace it with something more amusing and less depressing.
Rob's dog = awesome. Granted, I've known about Rob's awesome dog for a while now, but I don't feel like doing a serious blog right now.
So, I present you with Lola.
Lola vs. Jesus Doll
Lola reacts violently to the preaching of my Talking Jesus doll. This is the doll, in case you need one.
Lola vs. Robot
When I brought home a Roboquad robot the other day and started playing with it, our resident guardian K9 was none too pleased. I decided to put Roboquad in "autonomous" mode, set his aggression level to high, and let the battle unfold.
Lola She makes this weird gremlin duck noise when you rub her belly. Like a baby velociraptor.
Because I felt YouTube would benefit from just one more "look at the funny thing my dog does" video.
Oh, the things I find online. Oh, how wonderful and mysterious! Oh, how... nauseating at times!
So I think by now we've all seen some of the more ridiculous Obama related cashing-in-on-a-new-president-merch stuff such as The Coin, The Plate, The Water Bottle, and of course The Dildo. Although I find the dildo the only one to have an actual purpose, let me just say one thing about all this merchandise. Most of these are just to rip you off (the coin, plate... to a point, the dildo), and all of them go towards other people not related to the DNC/Obama's campaign (except for the water bottle).
However, I have found something far better than ANY of the above (because, seriously, why get an Obama dildo, there are FAR better sex toys out there). Something that's so much more artistic than adapting a face to be put on a dildo or plate. Something far more imaginative than any of these.
My fellow Americans (and international readers); allow me to present to you, my latest find. I bring you....
I do not know the specifics, as I cannot read Japanese. But I assure you there is nothing quite like the pictures you're about to see.
Click any picture to see the full size, meanwhile I'll post captions of what I think each picture is saying about The Obama Action Figure™!
The Obama Action Figure™ comes with Bad-Ass American Flag * the symbol of Pride* with Pointy spike of Justice and base of TRUTH, a stool for giving presidential Addresses, TWO different color ties to show support for the RED and BLUE states, rope of Hope (it's gold, therefore made of HOPE), Microphone for ENHANCING ACOUSTICS, and MANY DIFFERENT HANDS!!!!
Looking better than your sister's Ken Doll in a suit and tie, The President Obama Action Figure™ will help YOU protect your country from The Forces of EVIL!
President Obama's™ shoes are Faux leather for the Vegan Crowd, but also Strong enough to kick some Corperate ASS!
President Obama™ takes all issues seriously. This is a Serious Obama™, this is serious face.
After a hard day fighting for truth and justice and regulation, Obama™ needs to relax and take it east by striking an awesome pose.
Sometimes President Obama™ needs to have fun with his microphone and cut loose with some karoke; just be careful, because if it's country music you make him sing....
you'll need the secret service to protect YOU from President Obama™!
President Obama™ doesn't need the Army! He's can be all he can be without the Army!
President Obama™ is well aware of the danger the Zombie horde presents; He always has his Primary Weapon...
and his secondary!
"Only a master of evil, Cheney." Not even The Dark Side of the Force can tempt Obama-Wan Baraki™.
Thank you Cleveland! You're a Wonderful Audience! Good Night!
So as we are two days away from having Barack Hussein Obama being sworn in as our 44th President of the United States, let us have a Fair and Balanced my opinion of the man who still has power until Jan 20th at 12noon Eastern Standard Time, the current occupant of the White House, George W. Bush.
In Novemeber 26 2000, Katherine Harris dismissed recounts filed late in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward Counties stating the lateness of the submission was not justifiable, and declared Georgie the certifiable winner of Florida's election despite manual recounts showing Gore gaining on Bush's small lead. Katherine Harris, should be noted to be have been playing partasin politics, only being elected in 1999 under the Republican party banner. Oh and Jeb Bush, brother of George, son of George H. W. Bush (the 41st President) was the Govener of Florida from Jan 1999-Jan 2007.
December 8, 2000 after many lower court decisions, the Florida Supreme Court decided on a 4-3 vote to have a state wide manual recount. The Florida votes were showing Gore's votes growing and Bush's lead dwindling. On December 12th the United States Supreme Court effectively handed the presidency to Georgeie voted on party lines (or at least the party of those who appointed them) in a 5-4 decision to stop the Florida recounts. George W. Bush's lead had dwindled to a 154 votes over Gore. However, that number is not on the record books, as the Supreme Court said that Katherine Harris' certification of 537 votes stands. Bush still lost the popular vote overall (since when do the people know best anyway!) but due to having a Representative democracy, Bush still won the presidency by electoral vote of 271-266.
Members of the House objected to the appointment of Mr. Bush, but had no Senator to back them. (Yes, the video is narrated by Michael Moore; there are no others that I could find on teh YouTubes without him in it).
George was sworn in in front of the nations capitol with around 10,000 protesters in attendance. In his first couple of months in office George talked about stem cells research, and while he'd allow funding for it, the use of valuable embryonic stem cells that could potentially cure alzheimers, cancer, parkinsons and used to regrow lost tissue was not to be funded nor researched in the United States. During this period of time, Georgie offered major tax refunds ( a measely $300 for people like me and millions of dollars for CEOs) and cut taxes for the upper 20% (about $750,000/year or more)
September 11th 2001: "BinLaden Determined to Attack Inside U.S." was delivered as a Presidential Briefing on August 6th 2001. A full month and 5 days before the attack was to be carried out. Supposidly, dates were not known, nor were specific buildings, but Washington DC centers for government, millitary, and NYC and WTC were mentioned.
We invade Afghanistan October 7th 2001, for harboring known Terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. I'm not going to shed much light here, I am not sure of the authenticity of *some* of the videos/messages from OBL, and my government has lied to me before. That being said, I feel OBL was behind 9/11, and I feel that George W./his cabnet simply allowed it to happen. Not caused it to happen, but allowed it to happen to make their friends and famlies richer.
After September 11th the president and congress enacted the USA PATRIOT Act (October) which provided a lot of benifits to larger government involvment in everyday life, and struck major blows to our civil liberites.
More disturbing, to me at least is Executive Order 13233 which effectivly bars the Freedom of Information Act from applying to George W. Bush and his Cabnet during term; this has also been used to block records of Ronal Regan and Richard Nixon.
Georgie proposed reform to Social Security that effectivly would rape and pillage the remaining funds by puting it into stock market for business. And due to the recent economic recession, I'm sure we can imagine what would happen to Grandma's and Grandpa's Social Security checks. Social Security is in danger, at the current burden of taxation on the young and not well off. Those who make over $102,000/year are not taxed on any income over that $102,000. If they were taxed at full ammount, for all income, we'd have Social Security sustanable for the next 75 years.
George also tried to reform education with standardized testing and attempting to weaken teacher's unions.
In late 2002, a new office that reported directly to the President was created, the office of Homeland Security (George couldn't call it Motherland, because that made Ex-Russians nervous, and he couldn't call it Fatherland because it made ex-nazi's happy). headed by Tom Ridge (former Govenor of Pennsylvania) who now is on the Board of Directors for Home Depot.
In 2003, Bush gave me another $300 bucks to remind me that he's up for re-election while letting his corperate buddies continue to pay less than their fair share, Invaded Iraq, banned abortions in the 18-26 week catagories (how that is defined as 'partial-birth' is beyond me), made telemarketers stop calling me, Declared that major combat operations in Iraq were at a close, allowed companies to ship more jobsoverseas. Oh, and as a political manuver, he or Mr Cheney (again, we're not allowed to look at inside memos!) leaked the name of Valerie Plame an undercover agent for the U.S.A. to the Washington Post after her husband, Joseph Wilson(an Ambassador to Africa) wrote that Georgie fibbed about Iraq looking to buy uranium from Niger and that Niger had no Yellow-Cake Uranium (delicious!) that George claimed Saddam bought.
2004 George spent time trying to Overturn Roe V. Wayde by giving fetuses more rights, and allowing more and more countries to take our jobs.
Also in 2004, a draft dodger called a military hero a coward. Now I didn't care much for Kerry, but come the fuck on. Oh, and This Man's daughter is a lesbian. After Kerry lost the election, Bush said he had a "historic victory" and "political capitol" to spend. He won by 50.07%. In his second term, Bush attempted to repair relations with Europe- after he disastrously pissed off just about all of our allies.
August 29th 2004, Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, Bush encouraged the Governor to evacuate New Orleans, but with under 24 hours to do so, this proved impossible. FEMA, the state government and the Federal government failed in preperations, failed in providing aid and failed the people of Louisiana. People, normal citizens had more of an effective hand in aid than the government. People left my College to donate time and effort and money to help New Orleans and southern Louisiana.
Bush also tried to have it be a constitutional amendment to define marraige to a man and a woman, thus preventing an entire section of our population the right to marry someone of their choosing. Granted, it'd also prevent pologamy, but having partners outside of marragie, brought into your marragie to spice up you sex life is just peachy! As long as it's not two dudes wanting to vow to spend the rest of their lives together, than you can do whatever you want!
During this time Georgie has made it harder for a person to file for bankrupcy, gave us more tax-cuts even through our economy is strong.
I think I've expressed my opinion of Mr. Bush through out this piece very well. I voted against him when he was running against Kerry, although I voted for David Cobb who was running on the Green Party ticket. I voted against John McCain, because he shared a lot of similar policies as Mr. Bush.
I think you'll notice that I never called George W. Bush "President"; he took this oath, when sworn in.
I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Mr. Bush has not faithfully executed the office of PotUS. If anything he's abused the privileges there in, even if it's legal, does not make it right by pardoning people who have yet to be charged with a crime. Georgie has eroded parts of the Constitution by granting the executive branch with powers that are not defined within that document, he has not defended it, he's attaked it; he's eroded many liberties and his policies are detrimental to our society.
Bush said of himself that his greatest achievement as President was catching a fish. Mr. Bush, I'd have to say I agree with you on that.
History will judge G.W.B., and I for one, hope for a full investigation into him for war crimes and negligence. Since we LET him into office and didn't impeach him while in office, I think there should be an arrest of him, Cheney, Rice, Paulson, Rumsfeld/Gates, Ashcroft/Gonzales/Mukasey, Ridge/Chertoff, Abraham?Bodman and Zoellick/Portman/Schwab on Jan 20th 12:01 EST.
At the very least, we need to set an example that one CANNOT abuse the power with which we have trusted them.
To end on a happier note, Georgie is a goldmine of unintentional comedy. So I leave with two things. The first is Slate.com's list of Bushisms. The last can be found here at snopes.com and reprinted below.
Make the Pie Higher By George W. Bush I think we all agree, the past is over. This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty And potential mental losses.
Rarely is the question asked Is our children learning? Will the highways of the internet become more few? How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me. I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity. I know that the human being and the fish can coexist. Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.
Put food on your family! Knock down the tollbooth! Vulcanize society! Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!
We'll keep the formalities at a minimum and jump into my biased opinions.
Formality: Happy 2009. Hope your 2008 was decent.
Biased Opinions:
Top 7 Albums of 2008.
7. Coldplay - Viva la Vida Not immediately recognized by me as being a decent album, but it grew on me, and I thought the universal themes of love, life and death have been done... well, to death. But it's a nice easily digestible album.
6. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip With Teeth meets Year Zero, to a point. It has the rock-band-esque styling of 2005's With Teeth and some of the glitchy stuff of 2007's Year Zero. And it was released for free. Free. With over a million downloads from nin.com. If you'd still like to give a bit of cash to Trent Reznor and company, it's available on amazon.com, iTunes or as a physical CD/DVD combo.
5. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static Not a major departure for those familiar with Jack Johnson, but I do feel that the addition of other instruments and adding a little bit of distortion on some of his guitarwork makes this album more accessible than his previous.
4. Ladytron - Velocifero Now im not sure if this is going to replace Witching Hour as my favourite Ladytron album, but this feels much more fleshed out and I think the production done by Alessandro Cortini aided in this album feel compared to Witching Hour.
3. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into Influences of Daft Punk aside, this is just a fun album. Sure, it's just a combination of a lot of electronica mixed with some of the best rock elements with a splash of indie in there as well, but it does it well.
2. Modwheelmood - Pearls to Pigs Vols. 2-3 Add volume 1 to the other volumes and you have a full album. Just download it off of iTunes or Amazon (use amazon, DRM MP3's). It's a little eclectic, and at times inaccessible, but it's some of the best electronica I have ever listened to.
1. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer? Produced by Ben Folds, this is by far, the best album of the year. Moody piano pieces such as "Strength Through Music", fun rocking songs like "Leeds United", songs that were once part of the Dolls live catalogue "Ampersand". Oh and although a song about date rape, abortion, pregnancy tests, having rumors being spread of being a crackwhore, going to a concert with someone you kinda hate, "Oasis" is a fucking catchy and fun song to sing along to. All in all, my favourite album of 2008.
You can check out samples of songs on the respective myspaces.
Top 6 Movies of 2008 (up to October) that are worth the $8.50 to get in or the $20 DVD.
6. Teeth When I first heard about this film, I thought it was a documentary; but upon viewing, it is one of the best indipendant releases of 2008. Vagina Dentata. Horror(ish), amusing(for sure) and an interesting 'coming of age' film.
5. Funny Games A remake of a 1997 film, actually. A upper/upper-middle class family is assaulted by very polite and proper psychopaths. Excellent use of breaking the fourth wall, the American fascination of bad things happening to good people, and in general fucking with your head, a little bit.
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshell Touted as a romantic comedy, but it was far from it. Yes, it has romantic and sappy elements. But it also has a lot of funny stuff. And lots of nudity. Mila Kunis' boobs, and Jason Segel's... well... everything. Ass, Crotch, face... and I'm not sure what's worse. It was basically a Judd Apatow-esque film with little splashes of romance in it. And it worked.
3. Wall-E And on the other end of the spectrum from Sarah Marshell is the very family friendly film Wall-E from Disney/Pixar. The first human dialogue spoken by character that does not sound like beeps and boops is almost 40 mins into the film. Spectacular visual eff
Iron Man: Pros: Casting/Humor/Acting/Story. Con: Sam Jackson cocktease after the Credits.
1. Choke. Although not a direct adaptation, it's fairly faithful to Chuck Palahniuk's book. Victor was cast perfectly as Sam Rockwell. Everyone else was done well. It is a very witty film, not the gut busting Seth Rogan/Judd Apatow humor, but it had me quietly laughing the whole time. But it does have moments of drama and moments that made me... uncomfortable. A very great film.
Top 5 Rifftrax of 2008.
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets "I will eat your imortal soul"
3. Saw "Shoot him." "He won't move if you shoot him in the head." "Nobody listens to me."
2. Spider Man 3 "Giant Anthropomorphic Sand Thief wouldn't make the headlines, of course."
1. Lion King (That Guy With The Glasses) "Hey, maybe dad is next to that rotting corpse!"
Top 4 things that made me laugh unintentionally in 2008.
4. Pencil Tricks
3. SNL (NSFW/YouTubes)
2. Scientology v. Anonymous
1. Sarah Palin
Top 3 Things that did not live up to the hype.
3. Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy 16 years, and I get a shitty record and a free can of Dr Pepper. Go reunite with Slash, then we'll talk, Axl.
2. Ron Paul The most conservative legislator since 1937 leading a revolution? Give me a break
1. Cloverfield An ARG to promote a JJ Abrhams project, my GOSH that has NEVER been done before! And it was having us guessing on WTF took off the Statue of Liberty for months ahead of time.
Top 2 People who might have changed the world in 2008
2. The 131,237,603 who let their voices be heard in the 2008 election process.
