December 26, 2005 | Discrimination by Pregnancy

A short one.

Catholic League vs. ACLU in Firing of Unwed Pregnant Teacher.

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November 24, 2005 | On 9/21/01, CIA Tells Bush No Saddam-al Queda Connection

Best show to date. File size dropped dramatically (6MB) and it still sounds great.

This one is a bombshell, folks. What remains of the Bush presidency just got nuked by his own lies catching up with him.

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Ella visit -> cheeb
cheeb -> munchies
munchies -> walk dog to store
walk dog to store -> raining
raining -> rain jacket
rain jacket -> rain jacket pockets
rain jacket pockets -> lost MP3 player

Ella visit == find lost MP3 player

Ella, thanks 2x!!!

So Kim (an ex) and her husband are camping the Best Buy in [forget the town] waiting for the NEW XBox 360° which, honest to god, I had no idea was being released yet. To me, anyone but Playstation is an also-ran because I'm a Huge Console Snob.

But anyway, she's been waiting since 9:00AM this MORNING. The store begins selling them TOMORROW morning. She and he are trading shifts waiting for this thing. Kimberly is living my dream. Not because she's going to get an XBox. Because of all the customers she's getting to fuck with.

Person: You're all waiting for the XBox?
Kim: Oh shit, this isn't Harry Potter???" [then running off]

Person: What are you waiting for?
Kim: The rapture.

(this is the best one if you actually know Kim.)

Person: You're all gonna get it?
Kim: Well, in a metaphysical sense, yes.

Latest podcast is up. Now Available In Minty MP3 Flavor Too!

The weekend show is done. Took less time, came out even better. w00t.

Unfortunately SwitchPod is having some issues right now but hopefully they're cleared up before the morning comes.

2005-11-19
Republican ChickenHawks Stonewalling Iraq Withdrawl Deadline

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My choice of music is genius, I tell you.

...and I'm modest, too! =) *ducking

I finally published my first podcast. The subject is U.S. military use of white phosphorus on civilians in Fallujah, Iraq.

This is what I learned.

1) It takes a Long Fucking Time to do something that doesn't sound like shit. I spent eight hours on this one.

2) My "brief notes" can get way out of hand. In fact my "brief note" turned into a 16-ish minute show.

Everyone is encouraged to listen. Nobody is required. But if there is feedback, lemmie have it. Good, bad and ugly.

Ella, you'll laugh.

Will Jason be publishing a weekly/semi-weekly/daily podcast? Maybe.

Will Jason stop chewing tobacco because it's bugging his mouth? Maybe.

Has Jason quit smoking? Yes.

Is Bush still a fucking idiot? You know it.

Does Jason want to have Jeanine Garafolo's babies? Ah, that one probably went without saying.

Is Jason beginning to forget what weed tastes like? Sadly, yes.

Though it kills me, and I'd love to be able to nail Bush's balls to the wall for Yet One More Lie, I am beginning to have serious doubts about the RAI documentary cited in a previous post.

See here.

It appears that a white phosphorus round is not really designed to work in the way it is alleged. If anyone finds a technical, disinterested (scientist?) analysis of whether white phosphorus could be used in a manner consistent with the allegation, PLEASE email me.

This is Really Bad Fucking News.

US forces 'used chemical weapons' during assault on city of Fallujah

By Peter Popham
Published: 08 November 2005

Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns that are the signature of this weapon.

Ever since the assault, which went unreported by any Western journalists, rumours have swirled that the Americans used chemical weapons on the city.

On 10 November last year, the Islam Online website wrote: "US troops are reportedly using chemical weapons and poisonous gas in its large-scale offensive on the Iraqi resistance bastion of Fallujah, a grim reminder of Saddam Hussein's alleged gassing of the Kurds in 1988."

The website quoted insurgent sources as saying: "The US occupation troops are gassing resistance fighters and confronting them with internationally banned chemical weapons."

In December the US government formally denied the reports, describing them as "widespread myths". "Some news accounts have claimed that US forces have used 'outlawed' phosphorus shells in Fallujah," the USinfo website said. "Phosphorus shells are not outlawed. US forces have used them very sparingly in Fallujah, for illumination purposes.

"They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters."

But now new information has surfaced, including hideous photographs and videos and interviews with American soldiers who took part in the Fallujah attack, which provides graphic proof that phosphorus shells were widely deployed in the city as a weapon.

In a documentary to be broadcast by RAI, the Italian state broadcaster, this morning, a former American soldier who fought at Fallujah says: "I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorus on Fallujah. In military jargon it's known as Willy Pete.

"Phosphorus burns bodies, in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone ... I saw the burned bodies of women and children. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150 metres is done for."

Photographs on the website of RaiTG24, the broadcaster's 24-hours news channel, www.rainews24.it, show exactly what the former soldier means. Provided by the Studies Centre of Human Rights in Fallujah, dozens of high-quality, colour close-ups show bodies of Fallujah residents, some still in their beds, whose clothes remain largely intact but whose skin has been dissolved or caramelised or turned the consistency of leather by the shells.

A biologist in Fallujah, Mohamad Tareq, interviewed for the film, says: "A rain of fire fell on the city, the people struck by this multi-coloured substance started to burn, we found people dead with strange wounds, the bodies burned but the clothes intact."

The documentary, entitled Fallujah: the Hidden Massacre, also provides what it claims is clinching evidence that incendiary bombs known as Mark 77, a new, improved form of napalm, was used in the attack on Fallujah, in breach of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons of 1980, which only allows its use against military targets.

Meanwhile, five US soldiers from the elite 75th Ranger Regiment have been charged with kicking and punching detainees in Iraq.

The news came as a suicide car bomber killed four American soldiers at a checkpoint south of Baghdad yesterday.

Not sure which I fear more. This hitting the news or this not hitting the news.

[update]

I found video. It's not for the squeamish.

So all you patriotic Bush supporters, enjoy. We finally found the WMD.

Ok. Now I'm listening to Meet the Press. Holy shit.

It's like Kennedy says "bullshit bullshit bullshit" and then a Republican whose name I can't remember and he says "bullshit bullshit bullshit" but then they move on to the subject of financial responsibility and it was pure rat-fleeing-a-sinking-ship.

Bush is fucked. I'm convinced. I've never, in my life, seen a political exodus like this. I'm too young to really remember much about Carter but I'm guessing it was less acrimoneous.

So I'm stoned and listening to NPR when they introduce an economist. This post is not about the story. It's about the name of the economist:

Hugh Johnson. [bio]

Imagine growing up with a name like that. No wonder he's economist. I'd want the most impersonal job in the world too if my name was phoenetically equivalent to "Huge Johnson."

Heard on The Majority Report: "Are you a Republican? A conservative? A dumbass?"

Yep. Just found my favorite podcast.

You know, it occured to me that there might be a silver lining in the litany of Republican investigations and indictments. For them, I mean.

We have DeLay's multiple ethical investigations, Abramoff's fundraising peccadilloes, the cloud still lingering over Rove, Libby's indictment stemming from his obstruction of justice in the Plame leak case, Mike "Brownie" Brown stressing about how far his sleeves should be rolled up to appear hard at work while Lousiana burned drowned, Rumsfeld and Cheney pushing hard to allow an excemption to torture prisoners not to mention an AVALANCHE of evidence that Bush ignored his own intelligence agencies and lied to get the country into a war to the tune of billions of dollars and thousands of lives.

And those are just the big stories. The National News ones.

Without getting too far off my rails here, in what universe does anyone get to invade a country by invoking the spectre of a despot who tortures enemies while simultaneously fighting to allow torture of their enemies? How does this administration have the support of even a single Christian? Of anyone at all with a moral or ethical bone in their bodies?

Where was I? Oh yeah. The silver lining.

These days you can throw a suvlaki sandwich into any crowd and hit a conservative under an ethics investigation. So if you've been abusing your trusted position, fucking over your constituents to line your own pockets while presenting yourself as a god-fearing, bible-reading family man, shoot, might as well get indicted now.

Who is going to notice?

I read and listen to news pretty much all day long, almost exclusively political stuff, and for the life of me I can't keep straight who is being investigated for what.

And this is the party that erupted in moralistic rage when Clinton got his dick sucked. What a joke.

I was going to post something political, something about what a shitbag Scott McClellan is, but this is better.



I didn't take it, my pics are still with my boss. Expect more on Monday.

I noticed yesterday that the Windows XP System Monitor was AWOL. Just gone. That is usually a Bad Thing. Then a series of crashes, I said "fuck that" and re-installed my OS.

Now I'm all pimped out with protection. That's what I get for going to an orgy without a rubber. Internet-ly speaking, of course.

Had some sixteen year old mack on me. Cute, too. I know you're skeptical. I was too but her line involved handing me her phone and saying "put your number in here."

"Come back in five minutes."
"You'll give me your number then?"
"Well, no, but I'm busy right now and it's fun to watch you try."

Yes, I really did say that. Sixteen. What is this world coming to?

Speaking of which...

My daughter -- all of eleven -- corrected my pronounciation of "Fiddy." As in "Fiddy Cent." She said pronouncing it "fifty" was for not only incorrect but a neon sign of one's whiteness.

I politely explained that affectation isn't culture and besides, if she was any more white she'd be clear.

She was not amused.

I'm beginning to sound like my fucking grandparents. There is a certain delicious irony in my country-music-loving daughter explaining hip-hop nuance to me.

Discovered something called Talk of the Nation on NPR. I can't remember the last time I spent a half-hour listening/watching the news and feeling like I was any wiser because of it. The show is awesome.

Now I know how fucked we are with the imminent avian flu pandemic. While it would be disingenuous to blame Bush, I can't help but think, "jesus, imagine if we'd spent a quarter of the money we've blown on a needless war on accelerating our readiness for this pending disaster?"

So I found myself wide awake at like 5AM. Decided to take a short walk to the local convenience store for no good reason at all. Just because it's there. About five steps out of my door I had an epiphany; why not watch the sun rise over the ocean from a rock outcropping?

Bad fucking idea.

It's cold. I know it isn't half of what outside will be like in two months but it's still fucking cold. The dog, bless his little fur-lined nuts, had a blast.

The fact that I hate cold as much as I do and still live in New England is a sort of testament to my stupidity.

Speaking of which, I thought to myself, "Self, why don't you take the dog for a walk? Granted, I don't have him on a leash but who the christ is going to be outside at 5:30AM?" Every local with a dog, that's who.

On an entirely unrelated note, hopefully I'll be publishing a song before November is out.

Alito, Bush's newest pick for a lifetime appointment on the U.S. Supreme court, is being hailed as a centrist, a judge well within mainstream America's thinking. As I mentioned earlier, Bush consulted with some private interest, anti-abortion groups (but not Democrats) prior to nominating Alito.

The point of a Supreme Court Justice is someone who looks at the Constitution and lays down the law based upon it. The role of the Justice is leave their own religious and political opinions at the door.

As an aside, I know it's popular to claim that this country is founded upon religious Christian principles and so theistic interpolation of opinion is fair game. Maybe that would fly if more than three of the Ten Commandments was enshrined in law. And the biggest commandment of all -- thou shalt have no other gods before me -- isn't one of them.

But I digress.

Part of that role is the fundamental notion that legal precedence has massive influence on the Supreme Court. You'll recall that Roe v. Wade enjoys 30 years of it. It's settled law.

So instead of listening to the talking points of the GOP, what do the private interest groups Bush consulted have to say about Alito?

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family Action, said he was "extremely pleased," and the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue declared that the country was on "the fast-track to derailing Roe v. Wade as the law of the land."