Sub-Urban Sickness

I'll post some coherent thoughts on the weekend later, but for now, two things:

1. Photos from knutmeg1 & mistresscarrie's wedding

2. My ( speech from the reception )

Back in April, I heard the story of a pastor from Arizona who was detained and handled brutally by border patrol officers. He detailed the experience via YouTube:



I felt for the guy. I honestly didn't know much about the man himself or what version of Christianity he practiced. I felt like it didn't matter that much since this was a story mainly about abuse of authority by the border patrol. Due to my positive experience with certain Progressive Christian friends, and a huge surge in the amount of environmentalism and humanitarianism in modern Christianity, I didn't assume one way or another. I even thought that his youth, his cadence in his speech and his disillusion with authority due to his experience made him seem like one of the "good guys."

I was dead wrong.



He hates Gays, wants Obama dead and opposes Liberalism and Catholics. Etc. Etc.

I would say that he got what he deserved preemptively via the Border Patrol, but I can't honestly be certain if God works that way. I'm already convinced that I've been had. This guy likes the spotlight and being controversial so who wonders what the real story of that Border Patrol incident really is. I even wonder if he believes all his hatespeech deep down. Though that doesn't really matter one way or another as it gets spoken just the same.

It's rhetoric like this that still makes me think another Shoah is possible. If people are willing to use any institution, whether it be the Church or the Government to further their racism and homicidal hate-filled propaganda, only those who believe in righteousness have the power to stop them. As we've seen from history, most people just sit by and do nothing.

"The Bear Jew" is my new fucking hero.

Excerpt from an interview of Eli Roth from See Magazine:

"No — absolution’s a Christian concept. We collect interest. We get more angry about stuff. These people tried to exterminate us — I’d want to wipe every one of them off the planet!"

Now, it's conservatives who are using photoshop to make the president look like Hitler. The crazies in this country are scaring me even more now that they no longer have the White House or Congress.

But the Democrats are pissing me off. We used to joke that they had no spine or balls, but it wouldn't have mattered at the time since they had neither Congress nor the White House. Now they have both and it wasn't until Barney Frank actually took a second to tell off a woman comparing Obama to Hitler that they appeared to be showing actual leadership.

If I were less progressive, I'd say that the fact that a Gay Jewish Congressman had bigger balls than any other politician at the moment does not bode well - but I know better.

The minute you invoke "Godwin's Law" even off the interwebs, and bring up Nazi analogies, you've not only lost the argument, you've given everyone permission to verbally beat you into the ground.

Then there was the woman who yelled 'Heil Hitler' at an Israeli man. The weird thing was that she looked liked she was wearing an IDF shirt. Does. Not. Compute.

It's time that the crazies be called out for what they are so the rest of us can have a sane discussion about Health Care or any other issue that our country must face. These ideologues aren't concerned about whether or not it's a moral decision or a fiscally intelligent decision, all they care about is their precious viewpoint - because in America, opinions are more important than facts.

Via phigmentor on FB...

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

I got 18

( List Under Here )

Harry Potter on Friday night. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I always find the parts tedious where they insist on focusing for too long on the kids' awkwardness, especially when it comes to teenage romance. While it's kind of cool to see Harry "snog" Ginny and so forth... umm... isn't there a dark wizard plotting to destroy a whole lot of shit?

Being annoyed with this obvious oversight from both J.K. Rowling and the screenwriters, I compensated by doing little “Getting jiggy with it dances” in my seat at the theater. I got lots of strange looks.

One thing that other epic movies such as Lord of the Rings or Star Wars always had over the Potter movies was the sense of urgency. The problem with these flicks is that they trod along and somehow get spaced over the course of a school year. I’ve always been under the impression that evil forces' schedules aren't dictated by a school calendar except when the cafeteria is serving magic mystery meat. Sauron or Darth Vader isn't going to say, "I've got to get those meddling do-gooders, but I guess I should wait until they're done with classes for the week and they're in their "casual" clothes.

That aside, it was infinitely better than the last movie. Either the editor and director finally understood what "choppy" meant and avoided it or they were replaced by pod people who despite a wish to enslave the human race, knew that a quality product had to be made first.

I've prided myself on not having read any of the books. The reason for that besides the fact that it's a children's book, is simply because I'm just not a fan of fantasy authors constantly feeling a need to create a brand-new lexicon of words for readers to familiarize themselves with. Sure, in fiction, it's fun to come up with innovative new words out of your ass, but I've always felt that not doing that keeps a fantasy or science fiction story grounded and realistic. Besides, most of the shit J.K. Rowling makes up are bastardizations of Latin.

But the story's finally starting to get interesting enough that I might consider reading Deathly Hallows in advance. It always happens with epic serial movies that have a sequel coming. The movie ends and the first thing I think is, "Fuck, I have to wait another 2 years for this to end." But if I can have some damn closure and just treat the last two movies as just a fun visualization of a story I already know, I think I'll be less grumpy about the situation.

I went down to Freedom Plaza, just next door to my office building to participate in a Flash Mob Freeze for Iran Solidarity.

The organizers were seriously rude.

Only about 8 people showed up.

I chilled with some of the other participants. They asked me where I was from. I said, "Here." They were apparently shocked to know that I'm a born & bred Washingtonian. "They're not that common!" they said. " People other than political organizers, legislative staff and lobbyists live and work here," was my response. It did not endear them to me except for one dude who was also a native.

We started getting briefed on what we were doing. The organizers wanted us to stand IN the intersection of corner of 13th & Pennsylvania blocking traffic. I told them that they were mistaken if they thought I showed up to help them block traffic, especially in full view of the countless DC cops.

The thing is, if the concept of flash mobs freezing in time had worked the way Improv Everywhere originally envisioned and organized it, it would've worked. But with less than 10 people and diva-like organizers it looks like stupidity.

One more person showed up but left pretty quickly. I left with him.

Speaking of DC cops, the most hilarious thing was that DCPD sent out a memo yesterday to all offices in the area about this flash mob thing. Here are few key points:

"We have seen violence with Flash Mobs in New York and Pennsylvania. One flash mob in Philadelphia pulled drivers out of their cars and assaulted pedestrians and severely beat a cyclist. Implication for DC: Flash mobs could potentially disrupt traffic, entry/exit from train stations, and businesses...

...A flash mob is an electronically-organized event that creates the appearance of a seemingly random gathering of people. Participants gather and perform an unusual action for a brief moment, then quickly disperse."

The only violence that could potentially occur from these poor saps were getting run over by angry DC drivers trying to cross an intersection.

I also call shenanigans on the DCPD as I did a Google search on variations of "Violence Flash Mobs" and found nothing. I love the fact that this city does a better job of disinformation than the Federal Government.

Tickets for Guster go on sale at 10:00 AM this morning for 2 DC shows at the 9:30.

I am so fucking stoked. I'm even more stoked for grayce who's wanted to see them since we've been together.

I wonder if their shows are still kinda like Jewish Singles events. At any rate, it's rather disturbing regarding the passage of time that it's been 10 years since Lost & Gone Forever came out. What the hell have I been doing all this time?

I'm assuming based on this year's theme for SMB, that Tom Hanks will be showing up?

I'd totally go if he showed up. Especially in a leather gimp outfit.

Has anyone had the following Facebook problems lately?

No notification of comments
Selective texting of comments (if you opt for that feature)
Random deletion of comments from threads

As far as Social Media goes, I'm not happy with this one despite its accessibility.

Happy Birthday knutmeg1!

Okay, I think I've covered every medium for this birthday. I left a message on Facebook, I sent an e-card, I sent a text-message, I've posted a note on Livejournal, I've tweetened on Twitter, I've sent by carrier pigeon, I've sent a singing telegram and I've written on the bathroom wall.

But I didn't do a paper card. I'm a bad friend.

Oh yeah, you'll get your present in a month. It's not that I haven't bought it yet, I'm just too cheap to FedEx.

Am I just the world's biggest asshole for not feeling mournful that Michael Jackson has died?

Certainly he is a son and a father and those who know him will mourn him. He was an amazing entertainer in his heyday bringing joy to many.

But my issue is this: True, he was proven "not guilty" by a court of law, but statements he made on TV made me seriously doubt the verdict. I wonder if he would've gotten off if he hadn't had such a high-priced team of attorneys at his side.

I don't know if all the Jesus Juice in the world can make me feel differently. He had a rough childhood and was certainly a man with a lot of emotional problems, so you can feel sorry for him... but if he made one sexual advance or touch against any child, I don't think he's worth anyone's tears.

Sometimes a spirited back & forth on livejournal with people with really screwy senses of humor can make a drab day that much more entertaining.

Palin Demands Apology From Letterman

The joke by Letterman:

"'during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

Okay, not really that funny, but it's a joke and it's not saying she blew up the Trade Center or anything. Last time I checked, there's still a 1st Amendment.

The retort by Sarah Palin:

"I would like to see him apologize to young women across the country for contributing to kind of that thread that is throughout our culture that makes it sound like it is OK to talk about young girls in that way, where it's kind of OK, accepted and funny to talk about statutory rape," she said. "It's not cool. It's not funny."

NEWSFLASH: YOUR DAUGHTER IS 18! STATUTORY RAPE NO LONGER APPLIES!

But okay, maybe you thought Letterman was actually referring to Willow Palin who is 14 which he claims he wasn't. All I have to say is, "so what if he was?" In a culture that sexualizes teen girls at a very young age from a Miley Cyrus topless photo shoot to stores like the Limited carrying middriff-baring tee's and low-cut jeans bought mostly by young girls, can I ask how anyone is truly suprrised or outraged anymore?

Palin chose a life of politics and in effect has damned her whole family mainly because she tends to shoot her mouth off without thinking and it just attracts more attention - most of it negative.. She knew that any and all of their actions would be documented, studied, discussed and catalogued. Books would be written, TV shows produced, and T-shirts would inevitably enter the fray.

People have drawn comparisons to Chelsea Clinton saying how hands off the press was with her. The major difference was that Chelsea wasn't a white-trash girl whose mother and school gave her virtually no usable sex education and was evidently fucked a boy with a similar backround of a shitty sex education. Even if Chelsea was sexually active at some point before she was 18, she knew how to keep in under wraps and apply her learned knowledge of sex ed NOT to get pregnant.

In any case, Sarah Palin would have been better off leaving the issue alone, at least for her political career. After being characterized as a "Pitbull with lipstick," she's only feeding into that stereotype of herself even more with each word she utters. Instead of actually discussing domestic policy or current events, she feeds more into her celebrity. While some claim Obama's celebrity helped him get elected, last I checked, he actually discussed issues at campaign rallies and didn't really talk a lot about himself.

Take note, Mrs. Palin - that's class. Learn it.

Okay, ONLY Rap video from Arlington, but still awesome!

3 2 People Shot at U.S. Holocaust Museum

Update via NBC4:

"NBC's Pete Williams reported that the gunman was born in 1920. There are rumors he sustained life-threatening injuries.

Two police sources told Williams the gunman is James Wennecker von Brunn, who allegedly has connections with white supremacist organizations and anti-government groups."

Great... just when you thought the far right wasn't getting any crazier than they were before.

David Carradine dead in Thailand of apparent suicide

Serious bummer.

Dear DC female interns and newly graduated young professional women:

I'm all about a free country, but could you please learn that men are transfixed by boobies? When you're in close quarters on the metro, smashed up next to one another, it's best to wear something that doesn't show off your ample cleavage or something that isn't so form-fitting so that each and every square inch of round perfection is seen.

This was pretty much me this morning, just on the metro...



I love a dirty movie as much as most guys, but let's keep the real-life titties in check, 'kay ladies? Get a webcam or be a stripper if you have to show it off. I don't commute to work wearing spandex shorts hugging the outline of my unit.*

You should feel pretty when you're out in the world, but there's a difference between feeling pretty and showing off your tatas. I'm really not sure what these girls/women are trying to accomplish during in their young careers, but prancing around in a low-cut top is not the way to earn actual respect in an office and sleeping with senator is a really bad idea.



*I apologize to anyone who actually visualized me wearing spandex. I'll pay for your first session of therapy.