July 13, 2005
Sunday night I went to see Nic Armstrong and the Thieves at the Webster Underground; it was wicked boss, and also very loud. There weren’t nearly enough people there for such a bad ass show, but it’s not like Nic Armstrong could ever get any exposure in Connecticut. There isn’t one radio station in the state, save a couple of college stations that hardly ever come in, that would ever play Nic. Most of the stations in the state play Hip-Hop, and the one station that does play contemporary rock music, only plays what the record companies pay them to play, which is primarily lowest common denominator formula rock like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. It would also be next to impossible for anyone to purchase the record due to the fact that the only record stores around here are corporate chains that specialize in carrying a dizzying selection of nothing. Nine times out of ten I can not find the album I want and even when I do it’s usually about twenty dollars, which is simply absurd. And they wonder why people are downloading so much music.
It’s just plain silly I tell ya! So anyway Nic was the shit, and I had a splendid time, you can read Eric’s review here, he’s the reason I went, I wouldn’t even now about this band if it weren’t for the fact that he’s so goddamned hip. Right now I’m listening to this live Marvin Gaye record I bought in North Hampton, now that’s a happening town. The best artists always play in North Hampton and never in Connecticut. The last time I was there I saw James Brown, who was super bad. For a seventy year old man he sure was funky. Dang! I saw Wilco there and I also got to see Beck in this wicked chill little venue called The Iron Horse, that was hot! Plus North Hampton sports a couple pretty swell little record shops, one of which sold me the super cool Marvin Gaye record I’m listening to right now.
There is a record store in Waterbury, CT that I think is real swell called Brass City Records. I can usually drop a bunch of cash in a very short amount of time at that place. The only thing that sucks about it is that it’s in Waterbury, which is really far away from where I live, plus I don’t think I’ve ever driven there the same way. Every time I go I get totally lost and ending up aimlessly driving around Waterbury, which really isn’t the best town to be getting lost in, for about an hour until I magically stumble across it. I don’t’ like driving in Waterbury, come to think of it, I really don’t like Waterbury at all. But I do like Brass City Records and all it’s beautifully unorganized cornucopia of bliss.
And now for something serious:
I received an e-mail from Move-on that I’m just going to paste here so as to save me the trouble of explaining it, it’s pretty goddamned interesting.
On Sunday, Newsweek magazine revealed that Karl Rove, the President's key political advisor, was responsible for disclosing the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. Rove's lawyer has confirmed that he was involved.
Last year, President Bush promised that anyone at the White House involved in the leak would be fired. We believe that the President should stick to his word. That's why we're calling on him to fire Karl Rove.
Sign the petition to Bush right now at:
http://www.moveonpac.org/firerove
Valerie Plame was an operative working on stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction—the most important beat at the CIA and one of the most important jobs in the country. Rove revealed her identity and destroyed her network of connections to settle a political score. He weakened America's national security. For that alone, he deserves to be fired.
But as it turns out, that's also the White House's official position. Press Secretary Scott McClellan told the press in September of 2003, when the story first broke, that anyone at the White House who was involved would be fired "at a minimum." And when asked on June 10th, 2004, if he would "stand by your pledge to fire anyone found" to have leaked the agent's name, President Bush responded, simply, "Yes."
Of course, in the past the White House has strenuously denied that Rove had anything to do with it. In 2003, McClellan said that he'd asked Rove if he was involved, and Rove had said he wasn't. "The president knows that Karl Rove wasn't involved." "I've made it very clear, he was not involved, that there's no truth to the suggestion that he was." Asked again if Rove was involved, McClellan responded, "That's just totally ridiculous."
So what did McClellan have to say about the clear discrepancies between what the President and he had said in 2003 and what Newsweek reported on Sunday? Nothing.
Here's an excerpt from the transcript:
Q: Do you want to retract your statement that Rove, Karl Rove, was not involved in the Valerie Plame expose?
A: I appreciate the question. This is an ongoing investigation at this point. The president directed the White House to cooperate fully with the investigation, and as part of cooperating fully with the investigation, that means we're not going to be commenting on it while it is ongoing.
Q: But Rove has apparently commented, through his lawyer, that he was definitely involved.
A: You're asking me to comment on an ongoing investigation.
Q: I'm saying, why did you stand there and say he was not involved?
A: Again, while there is an ongoing investigation, I'm not going to be commenting on it nor is ...
Q: Any remorse?
It's worth noting that both Bush and McClellan have commented on the case repeatedly since 2003.
Republicans claim that the furor over this case is just politics as usual. But what Rove did has serious ramifications. Here's the story in a nutshell: In 2002, former Ambassador Joe Wilson was sent by the CIA to investigate rumors that Saddam Hussein had attempted to purchase uranium from Niger. Wilson found nothing, and wrote about it in a New York Times op-ed column on July 6, 2003 after President Bush used the claim as part of the case for war. Wilson was married to Valerie Plame, an undercover operative, who was revealed shortly thereafter by conservative columnist Robert Novak. Novak cited "senior administration officials" as his source that Plame was an operative.
Why out Plame? While we don't know the full story, there are a couple of reasons to do so: to exact revenge on Wilson for refusing to toe the Administration line, and to send a message to would-be whistle-blowers that they should keep their mouths shut.
In any case, Plame's work was important, and by exposing her identity, the leaker destroyed ten years of covert relationship-building and could have jeopardized the lives of other covert agents in the field. At best, it was recklessly irresponsible; at worst, it was malicious; and either way, the leaker undermined our national security.
That's why we, like the President, believe it's time to fire anyone who was involved with the leaking of Plame's name. And now we know that means firing Karl Rove.
Pretty crazy eh? I don’t know what good will come of this; I kinda hope they let Joe Wilson kick Rove in the balls, that seems just. What a douche-bag! It’s just one more example of how ludicrous this administration really is. I read a book today by Vincent Bugliosi called The Betrayal of America. The book consists mainly of an article Bugliosi wrote after the 2000 presidential election entitled None Dare Call it Treason. With many added footnotes and amplifications the book carefully deconstructs the process by which the Supreme Court chose our president. Bugliosi does a fabulous job of analyzing not just the motives of the five justices responsible but also their intent. This isn’t just some whack-job political opinion piece either, Bugliosi is probably the most well respected trial lawyer in the country, his positions are carefully researched and his conclusions are reached through a deep understanding of the process of law and how our justice system works and why it a lot of times doesn’t. The book clearly defines why what these five ideologues did isn’t merely morally indefensible but also criminal.
So today I feel a little disenfranchised. As a person who has always believed in the power of the right to vote and the sanctity of that process, I feel pretty fucking impotent.
Sorry to leave on such a down note, but I got things to do, and Buffy to watch.
Peace
Rold
Posted by harold at 07:05 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2005
I feel like I’m driving the Millennium Falcon, on more than one count. I drive a 1988 Chevy Caprice, the thing is huge and obtuse much like the Falcon, it sports a mighty V8 and can definitely move. It may not make the Kessel Run in less than twelve Parsecs but she’s fast enough for you old man. The Caprice also boasts an impressive amount of cargo space and an enormous trunk, perfect for smuggling large shipments of goods under the nose of the Galactic Empire. Did I mention the ample seating and leg room, perfect for a Wookie co-pilot and several of his friends?
Now here’s what really makes the comparison valid. My car seems to be in a constant state of disrepair. I currently am unable to roll down my driver’s side window, even if it were possible for the window to move, the handle fell off last month. I am also sporting an obvious lack of rear view mirror, I went to adjust it the other day and it came off in my hands. This all comes in the wake of various fuel pump problems, first it stopped and wouldn’t start going again, and then after that was fixed it I couldn’t get it to slow down, the car just kept accelerating, that was really neat.
With all it’s deficiencies though, my Caprice still manages to outrun Imperial starships, not the local bulk-cruisers mind you. I’m talking about the big Corellian ships now. I feel my comparisons are valid, even if my best friend isn’t a Wookie with a life debt.
PBS is premiering a new series this Monday at 10:00 pm called Guns, Germs, and Steel. The series is based on a fascinating book written by Jared Diamond. I read the book sometime earlier this year and it was thoroughly amazing. It took me a month to digest it all and I know there are large sections of it I’m going to have to re-read but it is truly a fabulous work. So that’s what I’m going to be doing Monday night. I t should be superb.
I found about that series because I was trying to find information on a movie called The Fire Next Time. I’m not even going to begin explaining what it’s about because there is a stellar synopses waiting for you at the end of that last link. I’ve been trying to find out how to go about purchasing it and I finally called the number they provide for you on the site. Apparently it’s not being released until February of 2006. Yeah, pretty cool, so any way, it’s supposed to premiere on Tuesday but it’s not airing in CT until Wednesday at 11:00 pm. So that’s what I’m going to be doing on Wednesday night.
This weekend is forty percent off days for employees at my store, so of course I had to buy a bunch of books. I couldn’t help it, they all seemed so lonely. My book purchases are far from over I’m afraid, Tuesday the new John Irving book comes out, which I absolutely must have, plus this coming weekend is Harry Potter book six, he he he.
I spent most of my day at work moving books around. And what do I find myself doing now that I’m home? Moving more books around, except now I’m not getting paid for it.
Ok, so I guess I have everything put away for now, of course all this will change when the newcomers arrive this week. I have a little bit of room left to work with but I really think I’m going to need another bookshelf mighty soon; I’ve done all the finagling I can.
Well, I’m starting to get kind of tired now, I should probably get some sleep, but I might watch one more episode of Buffy before I hit the hay, we’ll see. I can always fit the slayer into my schedule.
Peace
Rold
Posted by harold at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2005
Hey there y'all! The Shuffle King sent me this e-mail and I felt it was my civic duty to pass it on, what with the 4th of July approaching and all.
"As you probably heard, Sandra Day O'Connor just resigned from the
Supreme Court. This is an extremely important time for our senators to
hear from us. They need to know that we are counting on them to stand
up to President Bush and protect our rights –- because with a moderate
like O'Connor stepping down and a far-right like Bush making the
nomination, well, the stakes couldn't be higher. The Terri Schiavo
tragedy showed us all just how far these people are willing to go.
MoveOn PAC has already started an emergency petition, and we're
looking to get 250,000 signatures and comments to the Senate before
Tuesday –- which is when rumor has it Bush will announce his
nomination.
I hope you can take a minute to join me in signing this petition, so
our senators know that, in what might be the fight of our lives, we
need them to do what it takes to protect our rights.
http://www.moveonpac.org/protectourrights
Thanks!"
Once again I brought the serious, sorry. I promise you mindlessness soon, really I'm not kidding around here.
Peace, enjoy your Fourth
Rold
“Celebrate the birth of your country by blowing up a chunk of it!???
Posted by harold at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)