music that has mah ear

ani difranco - joyful girl

the blue van - independence (also, “royal pains” tv show theme)

obadiah parker - hey ya cover (absolutely wonderful!)

Blogged, Just for Fun, music, videos, Comments (0)
Tagged as: music,videos August 26, 2009 @ 12:26 pm

news that caught my eye

i’ve not been posting much, cuz i’ve suddenly been *swamped* with things to do.  (more on that in a bit).

these were things that caught mah eye over the past month:

Profit found in jailing immigrants for feds

SAN ANTONIO — As federal officials begin an overhaul of the widely criticized system used to incarcerate immigrants awaiting hearings and deportation, their challenge includes a deep inconsistency in the amount paid to a hastily assembled network of private prisons and local jails that hold thousands of such detainees.

Contracts obtained by the Associated Press illustrate the problem in paper-heavy detail, and not all of the discrepancies can be explained by geography or differences in the cost of living. For example, a suburban Atlanta county is paid less than $43 per day to house an illegal immigrant, while a rural New Mexico county gets $97 a day — just a few dollars shy of the amount paid for a bed in Los Angeles.

Some county jails charge only the actual cost of housing an immigrant, while others acknowledge partnering with private prison companies to profit from the system.

Last week, the Obama administration announced a series of “major reforms” in the detention of illegal immigrants, including placing federal employees inside the largest facilities to monitor detainee treatment. In doing so, John Morton, the new director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, acknowledged the current system is both inconsistent and lacks oversight.

“There isn’t a uniform rhyme or reason to it,” he said.

there’s no real uniform rhyme or reason to our immigration policy as a whole.  why should detention be any different?  society seems geared towards profiting off of other people’s misery, so maybe that’s the “consistency”.

$3 billion buys not-so-green vehicles

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the nation’s top car salesman in recent weeks, has cited the Obama administration’s best-seller list of mostly smaller, fuel-saving cars like the Ford Focus to describe the success of the Cash for Clunkers rebate program.

But what LaHood and other administration officials usually don’t mention is that some trucks and sport-utility vehicles that get less than 20 miles per gallon, like the Ford F-150 truck and one version of the Cadillac SRX Crossover, also are being purchased with the new government subsidies. Both are bulky vehicles weighing more than 6,000 pounds when loaded that boast at least 248 horsepower.

Just how many consumers used the federal rebates to buy these larger, not-so-green vehicles is unclear. The Obama administration has declined so far to release detailed records of purchases under the program being compiled by the Transportation Department, listing every clunker deal requesting rebates. The Associated Press requested the data July 31.

The Transportation Department distributes regular summaries of sales from the clunkers program and has used the electronic sales information from dealers to bolster arguments that Americans are dumping gas guzzlers for gas savers. But its failure to release detailed records means the public can’t verify those claims.

ahhh.  it’s so nice to have transparency back in the federal gov’t….................................................oh.  nvm.

Expert blasts fire investigation that led to execution

Key testimony that sent a Corsicana auto mechanic to the execution chamber for setting a house fire that killed three young children was based on faulty investigations that ignored eyewitness reports and failed to follow accepted scientific procedures, an expert review of the case concludes.

While the 51-page report by nationally known fire scientist Craig Beyler stops short of charging that Cameron Willingham wrongfully was sent to his death, it dismisses as slipshod the investigations by Deputy State Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez and Corsicana Assistant Fire Chief Douglas Fogg. Willingham maintained his innocence until his execution in 2004.

“The only statement I want to make is that I am an innocent man — convicted of a crime I did not commit,” Willingham said from the death house gurney.

The men’s investigations into the December 1991 blaze at Willingham’s residence failed to meet current standards of the National Fire Prevention Association or even standards that were in place at the time of the fire, Beyler wrote.

Some of the testimony Vasquez offered to support his claim that the fire was set to kill Willingham’s 1-year-old twins and 2-year-old stepdaughter, Beyler contended, was “hardly consistent with a scientific mind-set and is more characteristic of mystics or psychics.”

the wheels of justice don’t just move slowly, they get bogged down and go entirely flat all too often.

also, see:

Books That Counter Our “Training” To Make War By John Pilger

great list of books.  i’ve to add a couple ot my “must reads” list.

Blue Cross and Blue Dog Democrats: Reflections on “Health Reform” Under “The Unelected Dictatorship of Money” by Paul Street

democrats can kvetch about republicans blocking healthcare reform all they like, but seriously, get a grip.  republicans are going to try to block healthcare reform.  if for no other reason than because democrats support it.  the *real* problem, lies not with the other party who were going to balk ~anyway~, but with those within your own party that are balking and fighting against meaningful reform.

Blogged, Current Events, Comments (2)
Tagged as: war,news,obama,healthcare,injusticesystem,otherpeoplesexpense August 26, 2009 @ 11:28 am

where did the time go?

one day, you’re in high school, waiting for it to just all be over so you can GET OUT…

then, *blink*,

fast forward,

you’re sitting in a mall, chatting with your friends, waiting for your store to open so you can go to work, so that you can LEAVE and go have a good time…

then, *blink*,

fast forward,

it’s 20 years and several lifetimes later, and you’re wondering where all that time went, waiting to *feel* like the adult you most certainly must have become when you weren’t even looking…

did i tell you about the time i ran with bandidos?  probably not.  that was so many previous lifetimes ago that it’s hard to believe it was me.  whatever else they did, they kept it separate from me and treated me with a measure of respect and kindness that few would have ever expected of them and i am forever grateful.

or the time i stood with a crowd of stunned onlookers as a car exploded into flames, trapping it’s occupants inside?  several hundred people and the only sound was that of the flames and one lone voice screaming, “oh my god, oh my god” over and over.  i think that was me.

then there was the time…

and the time…

it just keeps passing.  so many lifetimes.  so many people passing through. 

every now and again, those people make indelible marks on the person you are and the person you are to become.

i am me, because of my peoples.

Blogged, Just for Fun, Writing, Personal, Memories, Comments (6)
Tagged as: me,writing,memories,personal August 12, 2009 @ 11:41 am

couldn’t have said it better myself…

You should be cautious about knowing who I am. It irks me. To be known. It’s fucking impolite. To think you know someone. As if a someone is just so. “I know you!” Oh do you now? How about now?

You should be wary of names and photographs. They are liars. They freeze what wants to melt.

I have stared long into mirrors. I don’t know me. Why should you? I don’t pound out letters to find myself. Let’s burn that fucker down. I am not some butterfly pinned to a science project.

How do you get from moment to moment? Focus now. Shit. You missed it. You have to watch. Have you ever watched yourself from here to there? Focus hard enough and things get blurry.

A self is a product of blurred distinctions. But what of that blur? That’s where it’s at. You think you’re some thing but you’re not. You’re a bomb.

i just discovered the notorious bhj... better late than never.

Blogged, Life, Lists, Personal, Just for Fun, Writing, Comments (2)
Tagged as: quotes,links,peoplewhokickass August 12, 2009 @ 12:33 am

trial for judge sharon “killer” keller can’t be soon enough…

texas monthly has an article on judge sharon keller who goes on trial august 17th for her mishandling of a death penalty case.

As she goes on trial this month, nearly everyone—journalists, lawyers, and even some of her colleagues—is calling for her head, but is the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals the monster she’s been made out to be?

why, yes.  yes, she really is:

in 1996, judge keller ruled that a defendent had received a fair trial, even after it was shown that his confession had been tortured out of him.  her reasoning?  even though the man’s rights were violated, the outcome of the trial would not have changed.

in 1998, judge keller rejected calls for a new trial after dna showed that the man who had been convicted was innocent.  her reasoning?  dna evidence was immaterial.  the defendant had no proof he was innocent.

and that’s just two instances.  there’s plenty more.

Blogged, Current Events, Politics, Texas, Comments (0)
Tagged as: texas,politics,news August 02, 2009 @ 06:11 am