Yeah, yeah, I know it must have cost her a fortune, but it was worth it!
Paris Hilton responds to the unauthorized use of her image in John McCain’s attack ad against Barak Obama:
The original McCain celeb ad can be found here.
BB,
Vivienne D’Avalon
We wave flags and pin them on our lapel. We say that by being patriotic we are free, but it is the farthest from freedom.
We wear patriotism as a badge of freedom but it is not so. We are bound by it. A person who questions the shredding of the constitution by the “Patriot” Act, is said to be against freedom.
The freedom to speak has been silenced, because our phones are being tapped for “our protection.”
The freedom to bear arms has been shot, because you have become a criminal by owning a gun.
The freedom to check out books from Benjamin Franklin’s public library has been burned, because the librarian has to give up the list of books you have checked out.
The freedom to find out the truth for yourself on the web has been 403′ed, because one can no longer surf with anonymity.
The freedom to worship as you will has been exorcised, because wearing a symbol of your faith can get you killed.
The freedom to tell your government what you think of them has been quashed, because your name will end up on a list of “special interest.”
The freedom to think has been abolished, because to think is to question the government.
The freedom to question the government has been obliterated, because you will be called unpatriotic.
But to question, to think, to speak, to read, to learn, is the true freedom that America once offered, and being free is the only reason someone should be patriotic. Patriotism is not just waving flags, singing the national anthem, or blowing fireworks up. True patriotism is exercising your Constitutional rights and defending them in the face of tyranny.
A lot of people will say this today: “freedom isn’t free;” but right now it would be nice if we had some of these freedoms, for which so many have paid the highest price, back.
-Magus-
Over the weekend I posted a new paper to our literature section: “Are things worse in America now than ever before?”
Are things worse in America now than ever before? Barak Obama doesn’t think so. In his book, The Audacity of Hope (review coming soon) he comments that when he hears liberals complain because America is slipping dangerously toward fascism, and our Constitution is being shredded beyond all recognition, he reminds them of darker times our country has faced.
The paper contains my remarks thereon. Once you’ve read it, please add your comments to this post and let us know what you’re thinking. Are things worse in America now than ever before?
Barak Obama’s book is available here:
128 New and used from USD 4.99
(558 Customer reviews)
BB, and have a wonderful Independence Day weekend.
Vivienne
These words should be remembered not as dirty words that one shall not say on TV but words that must be remembered as words that represent free speech and that which the FCC has taken away. And as for the man that said them George Carlin, he is most likely yelling them in heaven if it is as stuffy as people seem to think it should be. Rest well old solider of freedom, rest well.
-Magus-
Vivienne D’Avalon // Jun 24, 2008 at 12:29 pm
For Penn and Teller’s take on profanity, look at their second season of Bullshit for a fabulous episode on same:
56 New and used from USD 16.75
(41 Customer reviews)
.
For the “7 words you can’t say” sketch:
56 New and used from USD 10.00
(9 Customer reviews)
RIP, Mr. Carlin. We’ve come a long way since you were arrested (over and over again) for exercising your free speech and using those words in your act. Now people just get fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. I guess free speech isn’t free, after all. It’s very, very, expensive.
59 New and used from USD 11.99
(26 Customer reviews)
BB,
Vivienne
Rep. Dennis Kucinich has filed articles of impeachment with Congress and Robert Wexler has co-sponsored.
Though the argument against impeachment is that it is too late, millions of people across the United States feel that the principle of justice, the preservation of our Constitution, and the prevention of a nuclear war with Iran before November are more important than “political timing.” “Impeachment is necessary.” says Stephen Heller. “It is not a matter of politics, of right versus left, Democrat versus Republican. Rather, it is a matter of law. The current administration has repeatedly violated the Constitution and civil law. If there is no accountability for these violations, then why have a Constitution? Why have laws?” “Without impeachment hearings, the full spectrum of the crimes of the Bush administration may never be known,” notes Barbara Bowley, “and many of the incursions it has made on our democratic society will be hidden in the legal and bureaucratic structures they have developed….. [F]or the sake of the maintenance of our democracy, we must impeach this administration.” Richard Mathews points out that “[u]sing impeachment to get Bush out of office is not what is most important since he is going out anyway. I want to see him impeached even if it happens on his last day in office because we need to set a precedent that this abuse of power will never be considered acceptable.” Bush’s arrogance and hatred for our democracy must be punished. “It is unthinkable” says Tobi Dragert, “to have a president who calls the Constitution, the same one he sends our young men and women to kill and die for, ‘just a goddamned piece of paper.’” (emphases added).
Among the crimes of which Bush stands accused:
Article IX: Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor
Article X: Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes
Article XIV: Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency
Article XV: Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq
Article XVII: Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives
Article XVIII: Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy
Article XIX: Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture
Article XX: Imprisoning Children
Article XXIV: Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment
Article XXV: Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens
Article XXVI: Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements
Article XXVII: Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply
Article XXVIII: Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice
Article XXIX: Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965
and many others totaling 35 articles of impeachment, any one of which would be enough to impeach. The full text of all 35 articles can be found here. Call your congressman today to demand he or she supports Rep. Kucinich’s articles, or sign the petition in support found here.
As an additional note, according to Robert Wexler, on June 20th, 2008 at 10AM, Scott McClellan, author of
111 New and used from USD 9.22
What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception
Price: USD 18.45
(186 Customer reviews)
There is hope for justice yet.
Alright the election is done, let the election begin.
-Magus-
McCain- That’s not change we can believe in.
Alright, so because gays won the right to marry the world is going to end (when the Large Hadron Collider is turned on). But what does it mean to get married?
A 50% chance that you will lose 50% of your stuff (unless you get your prenups done right).
Some people insist that marriage is founded in the “good book;” but why not take a closer look at what the bible says — like the parts about forcing one’s daughter to marry some guy who killed your enemies. Sounds like a great idea! I will give my daughter to the first girl to get Hillary to finally give up.
So what is marriage besides being a reward for a favor?
Making sure your fuck spawn is really your fuck spawn.
Marriage comes from the same holier-than-thou mentality that demands you save yourself for your wedding night. It’s designed to ensure that your first-born boy (and only boys really matter) gets all your stuff. Thanks to the “sanctity” of marriage you “know” the woman you knocked up is holding “your” kid (but people forget that the size of human testicles are a direct result of our tendency to cheat [more info about that under cut- because it goes way off topic but is fun to read I promise]).
People seem to have this evil idea that:
Woman + Man= OK
Man + Man = FUCKING END OF THE WORLD (quickly turn on the Large Hadron Collider)
Man + Dog = apparently alright according to bible thumper logic
And leaving the best for last-
Woman + Woman = every guy’s dream / an accurate description of my love life (don’t ask- I’m just very, very lucky!)
Truthfully, marriage is about rights — originally the succession of property rights, but now legal rights as well. For example, if a gay person is hospitalized, as things stand currently, their life partner would not have the right to visit them, much less have any say about their care.
Some insist that civil unions are the same thing by a different name, but gays who have suffered from lack of legal standing know better, and the courts in California finally recognized that and corrected it.
In summation (never thought I would use that once I left high school), marriage is not the sanctimonious romantic ideal that our society represents it to be. Listen up, you people who have been vigorously thumping those bibles, please, please, please, wake the [tirade of expletives that even I refrain from putting on the web] up! Two same-sex people getting married are not going to “ruin marriage” — Britney Spears already beat those “damn dirty gays” to that.
So if any gay couple wants to have a nice wedding, go for it; just don’t let me catch the garter (or bouquet, for that matter) — I tend to be bad luck when I do.
-Magus-
On Thursday, May 15, 2008, the Supreme Court of California came down with a momentous ruling that’s reverberating around the country: it is illegal to discriminate against gays’ and lesbians’ civil rights, including the right to marry, based on sexual orientation. The court ruled that the state Constitution of California made such discrimination illegal, and suggested that the laws against same sex marriage were equivalent to the anti-miscegenation laws of the 20th century that made it illegal for mixed race couples to wed. They also suggested that the difference between civil unions versus actual marriage is the same “separate but equal” mentality of the notorious Jim Crow laws that relegated African Americans to the back of the bus and to their own segregated schools and water fountains.
Right wing bigots have vowed to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot in California. Changing the state Constitution to make same sex marriage illegal would have the effect of negating the Supreme Court’s decision, which is based on the existing law as represented by the current Constitution. 694,354 names are required on a petition to get the amendment put on the ballot for November. Governor Schwarzenegger, however, supports the court’s decision and has vowed to uphold the ruling, declaring that he will not support an attempt to amend the state Constitution.
The controversy started in 2004, when the mayor of San Francisco had his city hall start issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples, and marriage ceremonies continued for about a month before the state supreme court stepped in to put a temporary halt to the issuing of licenses pending Constitutional review; the state courts invalidated all the licenses that had been issued. It has taken until this past Thursday for the matter to final resolve in this historic ruling.
Let this be a reminder to everyone: this November’s presidential election is of crucial importance, because of the U.S. Supreme Court justices that the next President will be choosing. Unlike Califorinia, we currently have a conservative majority on the Court; if we don’t get a liberal in office, further conservative appointments may result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Brown v. the Board of Education, and any number of other 20th century victories for our civil liberties, rolling us back to the dark ages.
See also: Tom Paine
National Organization for Women (NOW)
The text of the California Supreme Court’s historic 4-3 decision can be read here.
Other sources: The Progress Report [progress@mx3.americanprogressaction.org]
Here we go the first Dark of the Moon Crone Cast. Vivienne D’Avalon and I’s first podcast together, we go over things from this Election, to Nanobots, to Scientology vs. a group called anonymous, to the FBI taping your Tubes. For the music clip “W’s Duty” by Jonathan Coulton go here.
Feel free to assemble? To associate with whatever activist group supports a cause near and dear to your heart? To sound off in your blog about corporate greed, evil oil cartels, and genetically modified food? Prepare to be boarded! Ex-CIA agents may steal the subscription lists of your favorite magazines, get your name and address and go through your trash. Is the U.S. Government blatantly breaking the law by invading our privacy yet again? No, this time it’s Corporate America hiring the government’s discarded spooks to trample our rights as citizens.
James Ridgeway at Mother Jones broke the story. A corporate spying outfit staffed by ex-Secret Service, ex-CIA, and ex-police personnel — Beckett Brown International, a/k/a S2i (”BBI”) — has been utilized by corporations like Halliburton, Wal-Mart, even the Carlyle Group (what a boon to conspiracy theorists!) to spy on their worst enemy: activist America. So far, Greenpeace and other environmental groups have been targeted; who knows which progressive organizations will be next? Air America? The Huffington Post? The Interfaith Alliance? After all, if Halliburton and Wal-mart can hire BBI to go after Greenpeace, what’s to stop Pat Robertson or John Hagee from hiring such a firm to go through the trash at the Interfaith Alliance or steal the membership lists of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, so they can start harrassing you or me?
“The company paid private spies to collect phone records and other private information on prominent activists, to root through dumpsters and infiltrate the staffs of environmental organizations,” says the FreePress. Mother Jones noted that “[R]ecords include[d] internal and confidential financial reports of a local bank that had been the subject of a takeover.” One of the firms BBI targeted suffered a break-in that included the theft of laptops and file boxes.
The unethical, immoral propietors of BBI bascially killed the company while snapping at each other, but they have since been snapped up by other security firms and are presumbably still doing essentially the same illegal things. And let us not be fooled by the fact that corporate espionage is pervasive, even expected — it is still illegal. Did BBI have limits, ops that were too black even for them? “On the advice of Cannistraro and Bresett, BBI turned down a $1 million job with the Church of Scientology, according to Dodd.” So I guess even they have their limits. Thank Xenu for small favors.
So if you’re ever daring enough to have an independent thought for yourself and <shudder> actually share it with another human being, congratulations — apparently you have just invited corporate America to go dumpster-diving in your organization’s parking lot, or to go on a panty raid in your daughter’s dorm. Meet the love of your life at your local ACLU meeting? Watch out — he may be an ex-spook assigned to infiltrate. Start campaining for net neutrality? Comcast has got your number, baby! Your credit card number, your pin number, your social security number…. Invested in that paper shredder for your mail yet?
BB,
Vivienne
How about me and you have a quick little chat.
After the Pennsylvania Primary I have one thing to say:
Look, you can’t win. You said that we should let the voters decide (and they did). Then, you said that the voters don’t matter because the Super Delegates know best. So when you were in the lead you loved the American Voter, when you got your ass handed to you in 12 states, suddenly they don’t matter. Stop cannibalizing your own party. Fuck.
This post brought to you by a fucking registered Republican who knows Obama can beat McCain and you can’t.
-Magus-
PS. I used to have no respect for you politics or your character. Now I have even less.
Dance Dance Revolution: Jefferson Mix
Alright, say that one of your favorite founding fathers was having a birthday — a person that is considered by Libertarians to be one of the greatest men to have ever held office (dare I say, even better than Ron Paul [yes I mentioned him {and FYI I voted for him} ] so leave us alone about not including him!).
Now for those disadvantaged students that studied American history in an American school, let me introduce you to one of my favorite presidents, second in my esteem only to Roosevelt — Teddy, not commie — Tomas Jefferson.
Let me list a few of the reasons Jefferson was great:
1) He was the 2nd Vice President of the United States and the 3rd President of the United States (third time’s the charm).
2) He was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of America at the time).
3) He considered much of the New Testament of the Bible to be lies, and was deeply suspicious of Catholic priests and bishops, feeling they were a reactionary force promoting ignorance (man after my own heart).
4) He wrote the Declaration of Independence, including the statement “that all men are created equal.” You know, that may even include gays, blacks, pagans, and women. Just a thought.
5) He said:
“I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical… God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty… What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?”
(One of my favorite quotes.)
Again, a man after my own heart; bring out the pitch forks!
To celebrate this great patriot’s birthday, you might say to yourself, “why not throw a party at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.?”
The place is open 24/7, or so the website says. So this is exactly what a group of 20 people decided to do — even though “the cake is a lie” — to “party hard” by dancing to music they were playing (silently, using head phones) on their mp3 players.
So — they came, they partied, they left — right?
Right?
Not really. Enter the swine, in the form of a park officer who arrested one of the dancers. You might think there must have been some legitimate reason for the arrest. You know, like fighting back, or even just being belligerent to the officer.
No.
Then what?
The heinous crime was simply asking why the group was being asked to leave.
For this unforgivable sin, one patriotic partier was actually arrested and held for several hours before finally being released.
Don’t just take my word for it — I had a hard time believing it myself. Check out the youtube videos under the cut.
[Read more →]
