WickedThought

(from )

Name three cds you own that you think no one else on your friendslist does

The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels
— Alan Moore, David J, Tim Perkins

Spectres
— Blue Oyster Cult

The Black Rider
— Tom Waits

Name three books you own that you think no one else on your friendslist does

The Book of Lies
— Aleister Crowley

The Book of Whispered Psalms
— Virginia Dare

Freemasons for Dummies

Name three movies you own on DVD/VHS/whatever that you think no one else on your friendslist does

Diggstown
House of Games
Josie and the Pussycats

Name three places that you have visited that you think no one else on your friendslist has

Blarney Castle, Ireland
Dinkeytown, St. Paul/Minneapolis
Maria’s Bed

(from Fact Check)

The President left out a few things when surveying the State of the Union:

* He proudly spoke of “writing a new chapter in the story of self-government” in Iraq and Afghanistan and said the number of democracies in the world is growing. He failed to mention that neither Iraq nor Afghanistan yet qualify as democracies according to the very group whose statistics he cited.

* Bush called for Congress to pass a line-item veto, failing to mention that the Supreme Court struck down a line-item veto as unconstitutional in 1998. Bills now in Congress would propose a Constitutional amendment, but none have shown signs of life.

* The President said the economy gained 4.6 million jobs in the past two-and-a-half years, failing to note that it had lost 2.6 million jobs in his first two-and-a-half years in office. The net gain since Bush took office is just a little more than 2 million.

* He talked of cutting spending, but only “non-security discretionary spending.” Actually, total federal spending has increased 42 percent since Bush took office.

* He spoke of being “on track” to cut the federal deficit in half by 2009. But the deficit is increasing this year, and according to the Congressional Budget Office it will decline by considerably less than half even if Bush’s tax cuts are allowed to lapse.

* Bush spoke of a “goal” of cutting dependence on Middle Eastern oil, failing to mention that US dependence on imported oil and petroleum products increased substantially during his first five years in office, reaching 60 per cent of consumption last year.

Analysis Follows

Two women wore t-shirts to the President’s SotU speech last night.

One of them wore a pro-war t-shirt and the other wore an anti-war t-shirt.

Both women were forced to leave the building.One of them was handcuffed, arrested, forcibly removed and booked on misdemeanor charges. The other was not.

Guess who was wearing which shirt?

More here.

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Just for the record, I’m pissed that both of them were forced to leave. And, for context, here’s a link to a court case from the Cool and Wonderful about wearing t-shirts in Congress not qualifying as “protest.”

“…Believing that the Capitol Police needed guidance in determining what behavior constitutes a “demonstration,” the United States Capitol Police Board issued a regulation that interprets “demonstration activity” to include:parading, picketing, speechmaking, holding vigils, sit-ins, or other expressive conduct that convey[s] a message supporting or opposing a point of view or has the intent, effect or propensity to attract a crowd of onlookers, but does not include merely wearing Tee shirts, buttons or other similar articles of apparel that convey a message.”

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Let’s ask a real serious question.

Do yellow ribbons qualify as “protest?”

How about those little American flag pins?

How about a wedding ring?

All are symbols with definate meaning. It is patently ridiculous to ban such symbols. Of course, we are talking about the “free speech zone” President.

(otherwise known as The Lovely and Talented Annie Rush, author of many amazing roleplaying games, such as Run Robot Red and The Secret Lives of Gingerbread Men) is a ROCK STAR!!!

Check it out.

According to her (and other witnesses at the scene), she was not warned about wearing the shirt; she was forcibly removed as soon as someone saw it.

The “authorities” (makes me sick to say that) have changed their stories about what happened three times.

More details here.

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Tuesday in the House chamber after she revealed a t-shirt with an anti-war slogan on it before President Bush’s State of the Union address.

Sheehan, who became a vocal war opponent after her son was killed in Iraq, was an invited guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-California, who has called for a withdrawal of troops in Iraq and supports legislation for the creation of a Department of Peace.

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She was invited to the State of the Union and Bush had her arrested. For wearing a t-shirt.

Free speech isn’t dead in this country, but if someone doesn’t get it a blood transfusion soon, it will be.

I had a dream last night. We had our first kiss.

It was a good kiss. No, it was a damn good kiss. Some may even call it a Great Kiss. Even a Mighty Kiss.

Damn, I have to admit, it was a Great and Mighty Kiss.

Is there a Requiem game near or around LA tonight? And, if so, does anybody want to carpool?

(from Fact Check)

A liberal group re-names itself and launches a $1-million ad campaign making dubious claims.

Summary

A liberal, labor-funded group calling itself Americans United for Change (previously Americans United to Preserve Social Security) is running a $1-million national advertising campaign that makes some dubious claims and tries to imply more than it can prove.

The one-minute ad attempts to link Bush’s recently signed energy legislation with high gasoline prices, and implies that former FEMA director Michael Brown was somehow linked to the Abramoff and DeLay scandals. It also assails Republicans for “cutting healthcare for our seniors,” ignoring the fact that Medicare is undergoing its largest expansion since it was enacted.

In fact, the new prescription drug benefit will provide an average, net benefit this year of $465 per person, according to an independent estimate by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The cuts the ad refers to will amount to less than a penny of every $3 over the next five years, according to projections by the Congressional Budget Office.

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I don’t give a shit who does it–“liberals” or “conservatives”–lying is lying.