|
Friday, July 4th, 2008
literaryquotes
[ riphertoshredsx ]
|
4:40p
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
"--and as I was singing and doing the slo-mo hands-in-hair-maneuver, I messed up the words to the song I was singing, and though it was two fifty-one in the morning, I became quickly, deeply embarrassed about my singing gaffe, convinced that there was a very good chance that someone could see me-- through the window, across the dark, across the street. I was sure, saw vividly that someone--or more likely a someone and his friends--over there was having a hearty laugh at my expense.
That must drive you insa--
Oh Please. What would a brain do if not these sorts of exercises? I have no idea how people function without near-constant internal chaos. I'd lose my mind." -- Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
|
(comment on this)
ginmar
|
4:52p
A Declaration of Objections, by Annabellep
Not cutting this, because, dammit, read it.
You can blame Violet Socks' ghost, of The Reclusive Leftist, for this. She's a welcome refuge of sanity in the Obamalution.
Declaration of Objections
July 4, 2008 by annabellep
When, in the course of U. S. Presidential Elections, it becomes necessary for one portion of a political party to assume among the people of the nation a position different from that which they have previously occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of their Constitution entitle them, a decent respect for the opinions of fellow citizens requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.
In agreement with generations who have gone before us, we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed at birth with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.
Prudence will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for transient causes; and accordingly experience has shown that citizens are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the political structures to which they are accustomed. But political parties are not governments, and when a long train of abuses and usurpations evinces a design to reduce them under authoritarianism, it is their duty to throw off such a political party, and to provide different representation for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of many in the Democratic Party, and it is this suffering which compels them to now demand the representation to which they are entitled. The recent history of both parties is a history of repeated injuries on the part of elected officials against the electors, having in direct object the establishment of authoritarian power over them, for the purpose of profit. This has rendered the Democratic Party unrecognizable to ordinary citizens. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
Objections
The members of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and By-Laws Committee violated The DNC charter on May 31, 2008 by meeting in private, in direct violation of the Sunshine Rules Provision of said Charter.
On that same day, the Democratic Party grossly violated ethical standards when it awarded four delegates to candidate Barack Obama based on actual votes for candidate Hillary Clinton, and in addition, awarded him delegates based on votes for “Uncommitted.”
Earlier in the campaign season, the Democratic Party violated its own Delegate Selection Rules by applying penalties to only two states who broke Section 11 calendar rules, even though five states broke those rules. In addition, Florida and Michigan were originally stripped of 100% of their delegates, even though the rules stipulated a 50% penalty.
The decisions of the RBC meeting mentioned above are evidence of sexism and authoritarianism within the ranks of the Democratic Party.
Caucuses are a violation of the one-person, one-vote and secret ballot principles that have been cornerstone Democratic values for more than a century. They produced a skewed and unfair result this primary season. Caucus states are also over-represented in the pledged delegate count, in violation of the one-person, one-vote principle.
Sexism was allowed to flourish as never before not only because of the behavior of the mainstream media, but also by the actions of many in the progressive online community, the stark silence of the Democratic Leadership and because ordinary Americans, male and female, engaged in it as long as it advanced their favored candidate.
Barack Obama and his campaign exploited racial issues in the primary campaign, which risks setting back the Civil Rights movement, and cynical Democratic leaders, as well as some ordinary Democrats, approved of this campaign tactic.
The voices of 18 million voters who supported Hillary Clinton have been illegitimately silenced, ridiculed, and subjected to outright fabrications on the part of the mainstream press and the Internet press.
The evidence is present, for anyone who wants to see it, that authoritarian tendencies fueled by greed are on the rise in the Democratic Party.
Now, in view of the dismissal of one-half the Democratic voters of this primary season, their social degradation, in view of the unjust actions above mentioned, and in view of the disenfranchisement of the voters in two states, and because we do feel ourselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of a free and fair primary election, we insist that the Democratic Party address our objections, or risk the loss of our votes come November.
In entering upon the work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we will use every instrumental within our power to affect our objectives. We will employ agents, circulate tracts and flyers, blog, advertise in all media, petition state and national Democratic leadership, and endeavor to enlist the press in our behalf.
Resolutions
Resolved, that the Democratic Party must seat the full Michigan and Florida delegation in adherence to the thoroughly Democratic principle of one-person, one-vote.
Resolved, that Michigan delegates must be awarded according to the actual votes cast, specifically that Hillary Clinton must be given 73 delegates and Barack Obama must be given 0 (zero).
Resolved, that Hillary Clinton’s name must be offered on the first roll call at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August of 2008, in accordance with tradition for 16 of the last 18 Democratic National Conventions.
Resolved, that caucuses should be abolished, and the Democratic Primary system in its entirety must be reformed to better reflect the one-person, one-vote principle, as well as the equal representation principle enshrined in the Constitution.
Resolved, that millions of women and men alike no longer think of the Democratic Party as the party for women’s issues, or for equality and fairness, or for the protection of abortion rights, and will no longer vote for them based on such criteria.
Resolved, that the cynical exploitation of cultural issues will not be rewarded with votes, and that it is part of the PUMA mission to educate the electorate about such abuses.
Resolved, that the PUMA movement is comprised of traditional and loyal Democrats who have carefully watched and recorded the events of the 2008 Primary campaign season.
Resolved, that 18 million Americans voted for Hillary Clinton, more than any other presidential primary candidate in history, and they have a right to help shape the agenda and processes of the Democratic Party.
Submitted July 4, 2008
Print it out and nail it to Obama's fucking door.
Spread it around. We wuz robbed.
|
(8 comments | comment on this)
literaryquotes
[ sparrowlove ]
|
5:49p
The Horse and His Boy
"Let me down, Edmund," howled Rabadash. "Let me down and fight me like a King and a man; or if you are too great a coward to do that, kill me at once."
"Certainly," began King Edmund, but King Lune interrupted.
"By your Majesty's good leave," said King Lune to Edmund, "not so." Then, turning to Rabadash, he said, "Your royal Highness, if you had given that challenge a week ago, I'll answer for it there was no one in King Edmund's dominion, from the High King down to the smallest talking mouse, who would have refused it. But by attacking our castle of Anvard in time of peace without defiance sent, you have proved yourself no knight, but a traitor, and one rather to be whipped by the hangman than to be suffered to cross swords with any person of honor. Take him down, bind him, and carry him within till our pleasure is further known."
Strong hands wrenched Rabadash's sword from him and he was carried away into the castle, shouting, threatening, cursing, and even crying. For though he could have faced torture, he couldn't bear being made ridiculous.
~C.S. Lewis
|
(16 comments | comment on this)
ginmar
|
4:08p
Much as I love the US anthem, I saw this is in the comments and Shakesville and loved this, too. Anybody got any attribution?
THIS IS MY SONG
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on clover-leaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh, hear my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.
|
(6 comments | comment on this)
ginmar
|
3:49p
In honor of Independence Day, Bravo decides that Buffy is number 3....
...while the Bond girls--a bunch of male fantasies in skimpy outfits with demeaning, juvenile names who exist for Bond to fuck----are somehow more important. Yeah, and you have to be grateful she beat out Laura Croft, whose qualities can be labeled and identified as 'left' and 'right.'
Ironically, while I'm typing this, this utterly obnoxious diet commercial came on with some stupid twit named Jillian came on where she boasts about how she's not like 'other girls.' She catches a football---and then preens: "How many girls can do that?" She's wearing a pink lace camisole because as we know, everything old is new again. And femininity can be defined by sports and activities. Why, everybody knows if a guy does laundry his dick will shrivel up and fall off, while if he goes near the kitchen sink, he'll actually develop a vagina.
Oh, God, this is a bunch of loser guys commenting on the hot women in the movies and the books. Wow, I feel so special. Um, dipshit? "Feminist" does not mean "I get to ogle girls and feel good about my pudgy unwashed self!" If they have to look nice, so do you. Some crunches wouldn't kill your ass, fanboy.
The movie coming on after this, however, features an actual nice, feminist bit. It's Clear And Present Danger and it features a Coast Guard captain in charge of a boat and a mission and leading quite effectively and competently, which is unusual because evidently the men in Tom Clancy books just have sex with one another and reproduce by producing mpreg assbabies or something. Hey, dude, what's that weapon doing on a boat?
OH, yeah, and the number one vixen? Turned out to be Catwoman, and they even talked about how shitty the Halle Berry remake was, too. What does that matter? It's Halle Berry in ripped up leather! Cool! How is that not feminist?
|
(5 comments | comment on this)
ginmar
|
2:37p
The perfect, pious, non sexist Obamabot:
This is after he posted an icon of an actual asshole, which I first replied to via email. Here's your basic bot in his real element; all the pretenses are gone. He's got kids, supposedly, and he's raising them to be a self-deluded hypocrite like he is. Isn't that special? Isn't that just wonderful?
Just the sort of man who understands them wimmen, just like his hero. I guess all it takes it poking one till she's pregnant and then sticking around to accept pats on the back that the penis works. The stuff upstairs? That doesn't matter.
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
ginmar
|
1:35p
Something we can all agree on: Jesse Helms was a hateful fuck, he's dead, and we don't need to say anything untruthful about the dead, we can just quote the mean old shit himself:
One of the most hateful men in American politics is dead:
Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican who became an icon to conservatives, died Friday at the age of 86, a senior congressional source told CNN.
Can't even begin to think of anything nice to say about this guy -- but a lot of other people will start praising Helms as if none of the hateful stuff matters. The hateful stuff matters. Let's reminisce on the life of one of America's biggest bigots who ruined the lives of so many.
Jesse Helms on "negroes":
As an aide to the 1950 Senate campaign of North Carolina Republican candidate Willis Smith, Helms reportedly helped create attack ads against Smith's opponent, including one which read: "White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races." Another ad featured photographs Helms himself had doctored to illustrate the allegation that Graham's wife had danced with a black man. (The News and Observer, 8/26/01; The New Republic, 6/19/95; The Observer, 5/5/96; Hard Right: The Rise of Jesse Helms, by Ernest B. Furgurson, Norton, 1986)
The University of North Carolina was "the University of Negroes and Communists." (Capital Times, 11/22/94) Black civil rights activists were "Communists and sex perverts." (Copley News Service, 8/23/01)
Of civil rights protests Helms wrote, "The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights." (WRAL-TV commentary, 1963) He also wrote, "Crime rates and irresponsibility among Negroes are a fact of life which must be faced." (New York Times, 2/8/81)
Helms on "degenerate, weak, sick homosexuals":
Over the years Helms has declared homosexuality "degenerate," and homosexuals "weak, morally sick wretches." (Newsweek, 12/5/94) In a tirade highlighting his routine opposition to AIDS research funding, Helms lashed out at the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill in 1988: "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy." (States News Service, 5/17/88)
Helms being a racist:
And the man ABC News now describes as a "conservative icon" (8/22/01) in 1993 sang "Dixie" in an elevator to Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the Senate, bragging, "I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries." (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/5/93)
Helms filibusters making Martin Luther King day a national holiday:
A year before the election, when public polls showed Helms trailing by 20 points, he launched a Senate filibuster against the bill making the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday. (David Broder, Washington Post, Aug, 29, 2001)
On cutting AIDS funding:
Sen. Jesse Helms says the government should spend less money on people with AIDS because they got sick as a result of "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct," The New York Times reported Wednesday....
"We've got to have some common sense about a disease transmitted by people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts," Helms told the Times.
From Ameicablog, which I'm not linking to because damn, Avrosis is another one of those tone deaf guys when it comes to sexism.
|
(17 comments | comment on this)
(1 comment | comment on this)
(9 comments | comment on this)
literaryquotes
[ turnyourankle ]
|
6:24p
margaret cho, "i have chosen to stay and fight"
"There is no reason to tell us apart because I don't wish to be classified, as if that makes me more human to you, or makes me more identifiable to you, as if you can understand me better, as if the country my parents came from has affected my life so much that it makes me an exotic and rare bird."
( 2 more )
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
ginmar
|
9:12a
Obamabots, you can officially shut the fuck up about Roe, forever
"Mental Distress" should not be a factor in late term abortions, sez supposed Roe Savior, Barack Obama.
After all that bullshit about how abortion is a decision between a woman and 'her pastor'---and we know what kind of kind, woman-friendly pastors Obama likes---you can pretty much shut the fuck up about Roe, Roe, Roe. Obama doesn't give a shit about women. When it comes to women, the fucker is McSame again, just with darker skin.
|
(87 comments | comment on this)
literaryquotes
[ dio_aiutami ]
|
2:39a
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Whenever we make that drive, I always make it a point to take Massachusetts Avenue, in spite of the traffic. I barely recognize the buildings now, but each time I am there I return instantly to those six weeks as if they were only the other day, and I slow down and point to Mrs. Croft's street, saying to my son, here was my first home in America, where I lived with a woman who was 103. "Remember?" Mala says, and smiles, amazed, as I am, that there was ever a time that we were strangers. My son always expresses his astonishment, not at Mrs. Croft's age, but at how little I paid in rent, a fact nearly as inconceivable to him as a flag on the moon was to a woman born in 1866. In my son's eyes I see the ambition that had first hurled me across the world. In a few years he will graduate and pave his way, alone and unprotected. But I remind myself that he has a father who is still living, a mother who is happy and strong. Whenever he is discouraged, I tell him that if I can survive on three continents, then there is no obstacle he cannot conquer. While the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.
"The Third and Final Continent" from Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
neitherday
|
1:59a
Outside the House
( +16 )
current mood:  awake
current music: fan
|
(2 comments | comment on this) Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
(23 comments | comment on this) Friday, July 4th, 2008
literaryquotes
[ v888 ]
|
2:10p
quoted in Alberto Manguel's "With Borges"
I don’t know exactly why I believe that a book brings us the possibility of happiness, but I am truly grateful for that modest miracle.
Jorge Luis Borges
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
iamagoat2's Friends Page