Politics

Politically, I’m very liberal — about as far left as one can go without sliding into Libertarianism.

Jello Über Alles

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About a week ago, Mike Whybark attended a small event involving local performer Jason Webley), and subsequently posted a video of fellow accordionist Aaron Seeman leading the accordion class in a rousing rendition of the Dead Kennedys‘ ‘California Über Alles‘.

In an entertaining little bit of synchronicity, while driving around on Saturday afternoon Prairie and I happened to catch the last half of this week’s This American Life show on the local NPR station. The show (at least in this latter half) was a fascinating look at Michael Guarino, most notorious for being the prosecuting lawyer in the 1986 obscenity trial against Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys over their _Frankenchrist_ album and the H. R. Giger print included with it.

From the Alternative Tentacles website:

When a San Fernando Valley mother complained that her 13- year old daughter had purchased the record as a gift for her 11-year old brother (at a Wherehouse Records outlet in a large mall), the LA City Attorney’s Office decided to prosecute the case. Deputy city attorney Michael Guarino, the prosecutor in the case, admitted they chose to prosecute the DKs because it would be a “cost-effective” way to send a message to other musicians, record companies and fans. Guarino had been considering prosecuting several other groups when this case came along, and he thought he could win this one.

…

Charged in the case were Biafra, and four others, including the 67-year old man whose company pressed the Frankenchrist disc. Conspicuously not charged were Wherehouse Records which sold the offending album. They had agreed to stop selling Frankenchrist and all other Dead Kennedys albums when the controversy first surfaced.

Biafra and the others decided to fight the charges of distributing harmful matter to minors, and set up the No More Censorship Defense Fund…

Finally, after months of delay, during which Biafra’s time was taxed enough that he had no time to work on his music, the case went to trial. After a week-long trial in which witnesses such as Greil Marcus testified on the group’s behalf, and a respected art teacher attempted to show how the poster was an integral part of the Frankenchrist package, the jury came out deadlocked (7-5 in favor of acquittal), and the judge dismissed the case.

Jello has talked about this case many times over the years at spoken word performances, some of which have been recorded and released as albums. I first learned about the case from Jello’s spoken word album No More Cocoons, and have heard it referenced quite a few times over the years since.

Apparently, though, Mr. Guarino has come to see his zealous attack against the Dead Kennedys as a mistake — and has since come to gain an appreciation for the causes that Jello supports. From a 1997 Music News of the World article:

In fact, Guarino, whose son is a big fan of Biafra, said he now appreciates a lot of what the punk poet has to say in his spoken-word rants.

“In retrospect,” Guarino, the Director of Clinical Programs at JFK University in Orinda, Calif., told ATN last week, “I think it’s more important for (District Attorneys) offices and US Attorneys offices to focus on the tremendous amount of conflict of interest at the top, the accountants, the lawyers, the politicians, and get out of the area of freedom of expression.”

…

In one of life’s great ironies, Guarino said his teenage son “idolizes” Biafra and constantly listens to the punk poet’s CDs of spoken-word rants. “I keep trying to tell him that there’s much more to all of this than what Jello talks about, but he is definitely right about a lot of stuff,” Guarino said about Biafra’s conspiratorial rants. “He’s an interesting guy, but he only sees what he’s in a position to see and he can’t get beyond a quarter-inch or so of what’s going on. In some cases, it’s much worse than he could ever imagine.”

Towards the end of the This American Life segment, interviewer David Seagal (sp?) has called Jello and gotten the two men to talk. Not only do they end up talking about the nearly two-decade old case, but they go on from there, finding more common ground than might be expected and chatting like old friends.

It was an incredibly interesting bit of radio to randomly stumble across. The show (Know Your Enemy) isn’t available online yet, but according to the This American Life website, it should be downloadable in about a week or so. Consider it highly recommended listening.

iTunes “California Über Alles” by Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, The from the album Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury (1992, 4:13).

It’s only domestic violence if you’re married

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Here’s a jaw-dropping, “holy shit” item: in Ohio, beating someone you live with is only domestic violence if you’re married, and the justification used for this is Ohio’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.

A judge has ruled that Ohio’s new constitutional ban on same-sex marriage prohibits unmarried people from being able to file domestic violence charges, a decision that has prompted an immediate appeal by prosecutors.

Judges and others across the country have been waiting for a ruling on how Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage, among the nation’s broadest, would affect the state’s 25-year-old domestic violence law, which previously wasn’t limited to married people.

Wednesday’s ruling by Cuyahoga County common pleas judge Stuart Friedman changed a felony domestic violence charge against Frederick Burk to a misdemeanor assault charge.

Burk, 42, is accused of slapping and pushing his live-in girlfriend during a January argument over a pack of cigarettes.

His public defender, David Magee, had asked the judge to throw out the charge because of the new wording in Ohio’s constitution that prohibits any state or local government from enforcing a law that would “create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals.”

Prior to the amendment’s approval, courts applied the domestic violence law by defining a family as including an unmarried couple living together as would a husband and wife, the judge said. The new amendment banning same-sex marriage no longer allows that.

This disgusts me on all sorts of levels. The discrimination against same-sex partners is bad enough, but using that to reduce the possible penalties for abusing someone you live with purely because you’re unmarried is reprehensible — in this case, the assault was reduced from felony domestic violence, with a possible 18-month jail term, to a misdemeanor assault, with only a possible six month jail term.

Here’s hoping the appeals process goes a long way towards turning this mess around.

iTunes “Children of the Light” by Eva O Halo Experience from the album Gothik (1994, 4:22).

International Women’s Day

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Today is International Women’s Day (Updated link):

International Women’s Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women’s groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for “liberty, equality, fraternity” marched on Versailles to demand women’s suffrage.

Few causes promoted by the United Nations have generated more intense and widespread support than the campaign to promote and protect the equal rights of women. The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Since then, the Organization has helped create a historic legacy of internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.

Over the years, United Nations action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions: promotion of legal measures; mobilization of public opinion and international action; training and research, including the compilation of gender desegregated statistics; and direct assistance to disadvantaged groups. Today a central organizing principle of the work of the United Nations is that no enduring solution to society’s most threatening social, economic and political problems can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment, of the world’s women.

So, happy Day to all of you International Women out there. :)

(And, incidentally, this might be a good time to mention that here in the United States, the Equal Rights Amendment still hasn’t been passed. Isn’t it long past time that something was done about this? If we’re going to go amending the constitution, shouldn’t it be for something positive like banning discrimination, rather than institutionalizing it?)

(via Blankbaby)

…ask what you can do for your country.

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One night, George W. Bush is tossing restlessly in his White House bed. He awakens to see George Washington standing by him. Bush asks him, “George, what’s the best thing I can do to help the country?”

“Set an honest and honorable example, just as I did,” Washington advises, and then fades away.

The second night, Bush sees the ghost of Thomas Jefferson moving through the darkened bedroom. Bush calls out, “Tom, please! What is the best thing I can do to help the country?”

“Respect the Constitution, as I did,” Jefferson advises, and dims from sight.

The third night sleep is still not in the cards for Bush. He awakens to see the ghost of FDR hovering over his bed. Bush whispers, “Franklin, what is the best thing I can do to help the country?”

“Help the less fortunate, just as I did,” FDR replies and fades into the mist.

Bush isn’t sleeping well the fourth night when he sees another figure moving in the shadows. It is the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Bush pleads, “Abe, what is the best thing I can do right now to help the country?”

Lincoln replies, “Go see a play.”

(via Dad)

iTunes “Into the Trap” by London Symphony Orchestra, The/Williams, John from the album Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology (1983, 2:39).

Are we about to be without a Governor?

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This mess just keeps getting worse and worse. A local judge declared yesterday that the Republican suit to overturn the election will proceed, and might end up voiding the election — but he wouldn’t order a new election. Would that leave Washington without a Governor?

Bridges said in Chelan County Superior Court that allegations in the lawsuit filed by Republican candidate Dino Rossi and Republican voters, if proved at trial, would be sufficient to overturn the election. And he denied a Democratic motion to limit any challenge to issues of fraud and illegal votes, saying misconduct or neglect by election officials would also be sufficient grounds for setting aside the election.

“This case should go forward, at least at this point,”; Bridges said.

But the judge said even if Republicans prove their case, he won’t give Rossi what he has said he wants from the court: a new election.

Democrats argued he didn’t have that power, and Bridges agreed.

But Bridges dismissed the remedy requested by Rossi. Still remaining in the lawsuit is Rossi’s call to have the judge nullify the November election. That, Republicans say, would create a vacancy in the office that could be filled by a special election ordered by the Legislature.

Honestly, the whole thing is pretty confusing.

Who knows, though. If things continue in this vein, I might get to fire up my write-in campaign after all!

Update: More on this from the Seattle PI:

The only way to attain a legitimate election, Republicans have consistently argued, would be a revote — a new election between the two candidates. They specifically called for a revote in their lawsuit filed in court last month.

But with the judge’s ruling yesterday, that’s not going to happen — at least not one ordered by Bridges.

He cited state law and constitutional provisions saying that even if the election was tossed out and Gregoire removed from office, such a vacancy for governor could only be filled during the next general election in which voters are allowed to vote for the state’s executive office.

Because of special constitutional rules requiring the governor to be elected during the same election year as legislators, that could mean 2006.

iTunes “From Detroit to J.A. (full mix)” by Kleptones, The from the album From Detroit to J.A. (full mix) (2005, 1:00:02).

State of the Union 2005

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‘Liveblogging’ (though I won’t actually post this until afterwards) the State of the Union. I’m not sure why, all it’s going to do is annoy me. But still…

He’s introduced, standing ovation. Why the standing ovation? He hasn’t even fallen over yet.

He’s been placed in office by half the people he serves…details, details. And I have to wonder just how free and sovereign Iraq really is, we seem to have our fingers in a lot of pies over there.

“Our generation has been blessed…” Unfortunately, my generation is being quite nicely screwed, thankyouverymuch.

We’ve overcome the recession? Good to know, I’ll have to look into that. We’ve added 2.3 million new jobs…which is where compared to where his predictions said we would be?

“We will keep America the economic leader of the world.” As the dollar continues to fall.

He’s going to cut the deficit — which he created — in half by 2009. Okies. First thing, eliminate government programs that aren’t performing up to standard — what standards, and which programs?

From Prairie re: No Child Left Behind, because as a teacher she knows more about that than I do:

standards are lower, minorities aren’t being tested, high school diplomas don’t mean crap
and he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about
sure, you can increase the size of Pell grants if you don’t give them to as many people

(How many times did he have to practice saying “fruitless asbestos” without stumbling? He sure slurred that…)

Why can’t people give speeches without having to pause for applause breaks after every two sentences? Whatever happened to actually listening to what someone has to say, rather than just blindly applauding every talking point? (Of course, it does give me a few more moments to type my random comments here…)

He’s re-vamping the entire tax code? Apparently there weren’t enough loopholes in the current system for his big business friends.

So he’s advocating looser immigration standards for people who will take jobs that Americans “will not take”. Oh, give me a break. In other words, cheap labor for shit jobs. There shouldn’t be jobs that Americans “will not take”. Our sense of ego and pride — “I’m too good for that job” — is a serious modern problem that drives me up the wall.

Social Security has problems that “will grow worse with time.” A long, long, long time. There is no crisis. On a long enough timeline, we’re all dead, too.

Ooh — he’s getting booed on the Social Security bankruptcy claims!

Lots of namedropping — we’re looking at all these guys ideas because we can’t come up with any good ones. Or something like that.

So these Voluntary Personal Retirement Accounts are tied to the stock market. Gee, that’s encouraging.

And now we’re getting into “honor and values”, “;responsible and moral children”, etc. Marriage, of course. He’s still pushing for a constitutional amendment on marriage?

We’re also “building a culture of life”. Ugh. I can hardly listen to this. Anti-abortion (though he doesn’t come out and say it directly), embryos are sacred.

The emphasis on young men in this three-year program to keep kids out of gangs and such feels incredibly patriarchal and sexist to me. Young women aren’t worth saving? Or will saving the young men automatically bring their girlfriends/wives/sisters along with them?

No person should have to face prosecution for crimes they didn’t commit (unless they’re in Gitmo or have dark skin), so we’re focusing on DNA based defenses (and oh, by the way, don’t worry about the national database of everyone’s DNA that we’ll be building in the meantime). Not that DNA based defenses are a bad thing, but I worry about just what kind of privacy issues might be raised, and how they’re going to approach this.

At least now he’s admitting that Al-Quaida still exists.

Most of this section of the speech could be summed up with “DANGER! DANGER! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!” Yes, we’re still in danger, everyone still wants to kill us, and we should be sure to stay under our beds wrapped in tinfoil, we understand.

We know we should be giving the military the tools they need. That’s much of what we keep telling you. That $40M of inauguration money could have bought a lot of armor, weapons, and vehicles for our troops in Iraq.

Oh, crud, my ‘net connection just went down.

Just called Speakeasy and apparently Seattle’s network is having issues — it was described to me as being “up and down like a basketball”. I’ve still got access to my own server so I can post this, but who knows when it will actually be visible to the rest of the world.

At 6:55 pm PST our main Seattle network router went offline briefly. There are still problems with connectivity and routing for all circuits connecting through Seattle. We are working on the issue and hope to have full connectivity restored shortly.

Grrr.

iTunes “Flower of Sweet Strabane” by (unknown) from the album Songs of Ireland (1994, 2:20).

Lightbulb Joke 2005

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How many Bush Administration officials does it take to change a light bulb?

None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. There is no shortage of filament. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?

(via BOP)

iTunes “Sex Bomb (Peppermint Disco Radio)” by Jones, Tom

Michael Hanscom for Governor of Washington

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This has long since stopped being entertaining in the least, and is now just ridiculous and exasperating: Washington state Republicans are still desperately trying to force a re-vote in our Gubernatorial race.

The state Republican Party said in court papers filed yesterday that it has found 300 illegal votes and more than 400 that can’t be verified in the governor’s election.

With Christine Gregoire winning the governor’s race by 129 votes, Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance says he now has found far more than enough evidence to persuade a judge to nullify the election and call for a rematch between Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi.

Lawyers and Republican staffers are continuing to look county by county for votes cast by felons, in the name of dead people or by people who voted more than once, casting second votes either in other counties or other states.

Therefore, I make this declaration here and now:

If these idiots actually force us into a re-vote, I’ll mount a write-in candidacy drive.

Michael Hanscom for Governor of Washington. Sounds good to me.

I figure I’ve got no chance of winning (I’ve never been involved in politics, nobody knows who I am [well, outside of that little thing about a picture and a computer company], and I’ve got an advertising budget of…well, nothing). But hey — if I do win (snicker) it could be pretty entertaining and a definite learning experience (not to mention a raise), and if I don’t win, I WON’T CARE.

Hell, just running on a platform of “no re-votes if I lose” should get me a sizeable chunk of the vote.

Maybe Jacqueline could help me run my campaign?

iTunes “Love and Devotion” by M and M from the album DJ Mix 99 (1998, 5:40).

A pronounced deficiency in IQ | Metafilter

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Something interesting (sorry if I’m repeating someone above): ‘nuclear’ is the adjectival form of ‘nucleus’, which comes from the Latin ‘nuculeus’, from ‘nucula’ the diminutive of ‘nux’, meaning ‘nut’. So the at some point the ‘u’ between the ‘c’ and ‘l’ was dropped (and at that point would have probably been considered a mispronunciation).

My theory – it’s Bush’s comprehensive knowledge of and fluency in Latin that leads to his pronunciation.

— adamdegen

iTunes “Al-Salooq” by Ozric Tentacles from the album Arborescence (1994, 5:02).