"It's morning in America, Hackenbush, and you
work the nightshift."
Saturday, July 8,
2006
This is current events:
"Steven Green, the former U.S. soldier arrested yesterday for the rape of a young Iraqi woman and the murder of her entire family, received a medical discharge from the service based on a diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder.
"ASPD is defined as "a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others," including failure to obey rules or laws, excessive temper or aggression, poor planning, impulsive behavior, an inability to meet basic social demands, and - probably most importantly - a lack of remorse. The diagnosis subsumes, but is not synonymous with, the much more serious diagnosis of psychopathy - true consciencelessness, the inability to empathize with others, and a consistent, remorseless tendency to manipulate, use, and hurt other people to meet one's desired ends." Putting the pieces together, Respectul of Otters, July 7, 2006
This is from a novel:
"The scum that was left in our military - because all the good ones were dead, ground up in the Bush war machine - either turned themselves in or were rounded up by professional and amateur bounty hunters and handed over to the authorities. The worst of them, like the Butchers of New York and those responsible for massacres in Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, were handed over to the World Court for Crimes Against Humanity. However, most were so pathetic, they were released and vanished, probably into to the Autonomous Zone where they could play soldiers for a while longer and then eventually die of disease, starvation, or unnatural causes; all the things our government had kept somewhat under control until the Bush family decided to destroy the rule of law and take the money and run. In its last years, the Bush administration seemed to think their best bet was to unleash the psychotics of the military on their own citizens. Well, it worked for a while. But that was in the past and the country was trying to heal itself. I read on the internet that starvation and cannibalism were such a serious problem in the Autonomous Zone, some very fine people tried to organize a way to at least feed it, but after some study realized things just needed to run their course down there." Darkness at Sunset and Vine Trilogy, speculative fiction by Ginger Mayerson
"The U.S. Copyright Office has instituted its first fee hike in seven years. The new fee for filing a document with the Office, which is now $45, went into effect on July 1. According to a statement from the Copyright Office the increase was put in place to offset the costs the Office incurs in providing its services. The last time the filing fee was raising was in 1999, when it jumped from $20 to $30." PW, oh, recently, (via BookSquare)
It was $10 USD not all that long ago. How utterly stupid.
Other than the postmark copyright, does anyone have any cheaper alternatives? $45 is a lot to a starving songwriter; I foresee many sad stories with this theme.
"The Queen of Soul jumps in for her ailing colleague Pavarotti to sing this aria from Puccini's 'Turandot.'" Aretha Franklin sings "Nessun dorma!" (via Mr.DanKelly)
You know, I love Puccini (or whoever wrote this aria) and I liked about 90% of this performance. Brava Aretha for even knowing, let alone trying this aria.
"Bloomberg News reported, on the Friday before a four day weekend, that Bush administration NSA spying plans began well before 9/11.
"'The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court.'
There's a new and wonderful as usual issue of Sequential Tart up. This issue includes an interview with Roberta Gregory. Don't know who Roberta Gregory is? I got two words for you: Bitchy Bitch. The first time I saw this comic, I could not believe my eyes.
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