Soul Broker Tomorrow Night!!!

You're All Going to Hell!

While I'm Hard... At Work!

So, I'll be out of commision for a few days as I accomate myself with the new position (Reverse Cowgirl). In the mean time, here is a great ad that was forwarded to me:

Pic of the Day: The Fang Family

Don't they look like the perfect little happy Mormon Family?

And Look at Mr. Fang.

Doesn't he look like such a loving husband of 6 and father or 20?

No dysfunction here.

The Art of Insults

"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here."
- Stephen Bishop

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
- Winston Churchill

"A modest little person, with much to be modest about."
- Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
- Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."
- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"
- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it."
- Moses Hadas

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others."
- Samuel Johnson

"He had delusions of adequacy."
- Walter Kerr

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know."
- Abraham Lincoln

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."
- Groucho Marx

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."
- Thomas Brackett Reed

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily."
- Charles, Count Talleyrand

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man {or woman} who wrote it.
- Tennessee Williams

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
- Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."
- Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go."
- Oscar Wilde

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."
- Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend... if you have one."
- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one."
- Winston Churchill, in reply

"Interpreter! Interpreter! How do you say the opposite of Vive Le France?"
- Winston Churchill, on Charles de Gaulle

"A sheep in sheep's clothing."
- Winston Churchill, on Clement Atlee

"There but for the grace of God, goes God."
- Winston Churchill, on Stafford Cripps

"He occasionally stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened."
- Winston Churchill, on Stanley Baldwin

Band Update: Back In Novato

Soul Broker is Returning to Novato California for a night of rawk and rawl!!!

Saturday, July 16th, 2005

Soul Broker
&
Cleveland Steamer
(from L.A.)

Brown's Binyard
1009 First St.
Novato Ca 94945
(Map)

Doors @ 8
Show @ 9
$5
21+

Pic of the Day

Ahhh, And You Thought That People in Alabama Shouldn't Have Kids

Mother arrested for driving with kids in trunk
She faces up to five years in prison; ex-husband says she saw no harm

The Associated Press
Updated: 9:23 a.m. ET July 12, 2005

McLEAN, Virginia - A mother has been charged with child abuse and cruelty after she allegedly forced two of her children to take turns riding in the trunk of a car on an eight-hour drive from Alabama to Virginia.

Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker, 38, forced the two girls, aged 8 and 10, to take turns in the trunk July 1 because there was not enough room in the car, according to Curtis Schoonmaker, her ex-husband.

The woman was driving five children, including an infant, to her ex-husband's home outside Washington D.C. None of the children was injured during the trip. The girls told their father what happened the next day and he called the police.

A magistrate in Stafford County released Schoonmaker on $5,000 bail, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

"They asked to be let out. ... It was a hot day," Curtis Schoonmaker said. Efforts to reach Cheryl Schoonmaker were unsuccessful Monday.

Three of the five girls in the car were the Schoonmakers' children. One of the other children was a family friend and the infant was Cheryl Schoonmaker's.

Cheryl Schoonmaker is scheduled for arraignment July 22. The charges each carry a maximum of five years in prison.

Curtis Schoonmaker said his ex-wife had the option of renting a larger car but declined to do so. "She claims she doesn't see the harm in it," he said. "She didn't believe any accident would result."

This Story came from here.

Scientology = Bullshit!!!

Here is a quote uttered by Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard on November 7th 1948:

"Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion"

Check out this google search for more proof.

A New Title and a New Job

It seems like it's been forever since I've actually written anything of a personal nature in this blog, so I figured it was about time. Yesterday I got word that my direct boss was putting in her notice to take a job in San francisco; then she named me as her successor. What this means is a pretty substantial raise, a lot more responsibility, and the title of Research Director.

I'm pretty excited about the prospects of this job athough, I must admit my aspiratrions have never really been for middle management; I'm hoping this will turn into something more substatial in the future... Maybe a buck twenty-five and a new Mercedes!

Anyway, that's about all for now.
Hope all is well,
-Mike

... Oh wait, there was nothing political in this posting! Uhhh, Karl Rove is guilty and should be strung up by his balls. Have a great day!

Is America #1? I Think We All Know the Answer to That Question

America by the numbers
No. 1?

by Michael Ventura
February 23, 2005


No concept lies more firmly embedded in our national character than the notion that the USA is "No. 1," "the greatest." Our broadcast media are, in essence, continuous advertisements for the brand name "America Is No. 1." Any office seeker saying otherwise would be committing political suicide. In fact, anyone saying otherwise will be labeled "un-American." We're an "empire," ain't we? Sure we are. An empire without a manufacturing base. An empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in order to function. Yet the delusion is ineradicable. We're No. 1. Well...this is the country you really live in:

The United States is 49th in the world in literacy

(the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).

The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy

(NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).

Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day

(The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).

"The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all of the other countries'"

(Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, p.78).

Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that American businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training

(NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).

No wonder they relocate elsewhere!

"The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D) expenditures; and new capital raised"

(The European Dream, p.70).

"Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest producer of scientific literature"

(The European Dream, p.70).

Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science Foundation. The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year

(NYT, Dec. 21, 2004).

Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last year Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent, Indians 51 percent, South Koreans 28 percent

(NYT, Dec. 21, 2004).

We're not the place to be anymore.

The World Health Organization "ranked the countries of the world in terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. [was]...37th." In the fairness of health care, we're 54th. "The irony is that the United States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation in the world"

(The European Dream, pp.79-80).

Pay more, get lots, lots less.

"The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens"

(The European Dream, p.80).

Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a "developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.

Lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary American deaths a year. (That's six times the number of people killed on 9/11.)

(NYT, Jan. 12, 2005.)

"U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower"

(The European Dream, p.81).

Been to Mexico lately? Does it look "developed" to you? Yet it's the only "developed" country to score lower in childhood poverty.

Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S. households--"continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves." Families that "had members who actually went hungry at some point last year" numbered 3.9 million

(NYT, Nov. 22, 2004).

The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher

(NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).

Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America than in Europe

(NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).

The leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country is murder

(CNN, Dec. 14, 2004).

"Of the 20 most developed countries in the world, the U.S. was dead last in the growth rate of total compensation to its workforce in the 1980s.... In the 1990s, the U.S. average compensation growth rate grew only slightly, at an annual rate of about 0.1 percent"

(The European Dream, p.39).

Yet Americans work longer hours per year than any other industrialized country, and get less vacation time.

"Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies"

(The European Dream, p.66).

"In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies, conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European"

(The European Dream, p.69).

"Fourteen of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are European.... In the chemical industry, the European company BASF is the world's leader, and three of the top six players are European. In engineering and construction, three of the top five companies are European.... The two others are Japanese. Not a single American engineering and construction company is included among the world's top nine competitors. In food and consumer products, Nestlé and Unilever, two European giants, rank first and second, respectively, in the world. In the food and drugstore retail trade, two European companies...are first and second, and European companies make up five of the top ten. Only four U.S. companies are on the list"

(The European Dream, p.68).

The United States has lost 1.3 million jobs to China in the last decade

(CNN, Jan. 12, 2005).

U.S. employers eliminated 1 million jobs in 2004

(The Week, Jan. 14, 2005).

Three million six hundred thousand Americans ran out of unemployment insurance last year; 1.8 million--one in five--unemployed workers are jobless for more than six months

(NYT, Jan. 9, 2005).

Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40 percent of our government debt. (That's why we talk nice to them.) "By helping keep mortgage rates from rising, China has come to play an enormous and little-noticed role in sustaining the American housing boom"

(NYT, Dec. 4, 2004).

Read that twice. We owe our housing boom to China, because they want us to keep buying all that stuff they manufacture.

Sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the U.S. as the world's largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Last year, Brazil passed the U.S. as the world's largest beef producer. (Hear that, you poor deluded cowboys?) As a result, while we bear record trade deficits, Brazil boasts a $30 billion trade surplus

(NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).

As of last June, the U.S. imported more food than it exported

(NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).

Bush: 62,027,582 votes. Kerry: 59,026,003 votes. Number of eligible voters who didn't show up: 79,279,000

(NYT, Dec. 26, 2004).

That's more than a third. Way more. If more than a third of Iraqis don't show for their election, no country in the world will think that election legitimate.

One-third of all U.S. children are born out of wedlock. One-half of all U.S. children will live in a one-parent house

(CNN, Dec. 10, 2004).

"Americans are now spending more money on gambling than on movies, videos, DVDs, music, and books combined"

(The European Dream, p.28).

"Nearly one out of four Americans [believe] that using violence to get what they want is acceptable"

(The European Dream, p.32).

Forty-three percent of Americans think torture is sometimes justified, according to a PEW Poll

(Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2004).

"Nearly 900,000 children were abused or neglected in 2002, the last year for which such data are available"

(USA Today, Dec. 21, 2004).

"The International Association of Chiefs of Police said that cuts by the [Bush] administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left the nation more vulnerable than ever"

(USA Today, Nov. 17, 2004).

No. 1? In most important categories we're not even in the Top 10 anymore. Not even close. The USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and delusion.

This was reprinted in the City Pages from the Austin Chronicle.

5 Best & Worst movies Ever Made

OK people, I'm tired of doing all the writing for the 3 people who actually read this thing; so now it's your turn. I was just reading Liz's blog (P-List Media Junkie) and I got to thinking about movies. There are so many good ones out there... and so many rancid pieces of fermented eel dropping (or would the be floatings?). Anyway, Here is my completely un-premeditated list of movies off the top of my head:

Movies I loved
5 - American Beauty
4 - requiem of a Dream
3 - Austin Powers
2 - Office Space
1 - Dogma

Honorable Mentions:
The Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Orgazmo
Cannibal: The Musical
Team America: World Police
Baseketball
Austin Powers in Goldmember
All Tim Burton Movies
Most anything with Johnny Depp
Charlie's Angels

Movies I hated
5 - Titanic
4 - Alexander
3 - Matrix Revolution
2 - Constantine
1 - Magnolia

Dishonorable mentions:
Woody Allen movies
The Last Samurai
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin
Erin Brokavich
The Net
Speed 2
Charlie's Angels: Full throttle

How about you?

Ah, We're Finally Safe! Oh, Wait a Minute...

I love the arrogance of the American Government. As I'm sure everyone is well aware, there were a series of bombings in London early this morning that hit 3 train stations and one double-decker bus killing no less than 37 and injuring almost 700. Officials in London have said that they have been preparing for this for a while. One government source said that he knew something like this would be happening sooner or later; it was only a matter of time. So for the last 2 years England has been especially aware of the threat and has quietly been on a high alert for terrorist acts. I was obviously effective.

I don't say this because I want to make light of the event that happened in London, or to belittle the deaths of those 40+ people. The irony I find in this is America's response. First, the U.S. Government promised that our color code would not be raise because we are always on high alert for these kinds of things. This announcement was followed by this headline on CNN.com:

"Sources: U.S. terror threat level to be raised to orange for mass transit network in wake of London bombings. Details soon."

How arrogant can we be. Sure, we'll do a much better job protecting our subways than England did. Just like we were able to protect the WTC. I mean, let's be honest, the people who crashed planes into the WTC are the same people who bombed the parking structure just a few years earlier. We even knew that it was a target!

The really sad thing is that in the eyes of the world it seems that terrorism is winning the war on America. Obviously most people do not support terrorism, but then that's not the goal. The goal has always been to get the U.S. out of the Middle East and eventually destroy Democracy. Since this war began public opinion polls have show a steady trend of disapproval toward the U.S.; in a recent survey the majority Australians said they believe the biggest threat to the security of the world is the current American Administration.

Since the "revelation" that we should have never gone to Iraq the majority of the world no longer trusts us; the value of the dollar has plummeted, tourism has vastly declined, and the French hate us even more than they did 5 years ago. But seriously, even our biggest allies are scared of us now. Seriously, how can our buddies from down under be scared of us? How can the British people hate us? Hell, even Canada has been telling the rest of the world "yeah, they're our neighbors, but we don't like hang out or anything."

So the bottom line is that every time there is another terrorist attack in the world it will cast a shadow over the image of the United States (whether conscious or not). Every time a suicide bomber hits someone else's country they will think "damn Americans and their unjust war."

Of course, if we give up now we prove defeat. So what's the answer? I wish I had that but then again that's why I'm not in politics. All I want is a rational, non-warmongering approach from someone who wants desperately to end the violence in the world. Bush is obviously in this war for arrogant, self-serving, egotistical, and narcissistic reasons.

Here are also a couple of interesting facts I learned today about the US:

The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).

The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).

"The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens" (The European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a "developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.

"U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower" (The European Dream, p.81). Been to Mexico lately? Does it look "developed" to you? Yet it's the only "developed" country to score lower in childhood poverty.

Read a bunch more interesting facts (Scary) about the US here.

Repost: Great Story about the FBI:

The FBI had an opening for an assassin. After all the background checks, interviews, and testing were done there were 3 finalists; two men and a woman. For the final test, the FBI agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun.

"We must know that you will follow your instructions no matter what the circumstances. Inside the room you will find your wife sitting in a chair. Kill Her!"

The man said, "You can't be serious, I could never shoot my wife."
The agent said, "Then you're not the right man for this job; take your wife and go home."

The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room. All was quiet for about 5 minutes. The man came out with tears in his eyes, "I tried, but I can't kill my wife." The agent said "You don't have what it takes. Take your wife and go home."

Finally, it was the woman's turn. She was given the same instructions, to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into the room. Shots were heard, one after another. They heard screaming, crashing, and banging on the walls. After a few minutes, all was quiet. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman. She wiped the sweat from her brow. "This gun is loaded with blanks" she said, "I had to beat him to death with the chair."

MORAL: Women are evil. Don't mess with them.
Pass on this advice!!

To Anti Sexuals, We're All Gay

I came across the website of Dr. Marty Klein from a link sent to me by a co-worker. He has many great editorials on everthing from censorship to gay-right; this particular one is based on the latter.

Gay rights are not just for gays. They are essential for every sexual person in America, regardless of orientation.

As far as the anti-sex Right is concerned, sexual orientation isn't about straight vs. gay--it's about clean sex vs. unclean sex--and your orientation may very well be "unclean."

Gay rights will continue to be a primary battlefield in the culture wars of this decade. Consider the many ways in which sexual orientation is already the turf for clashes between progressives and conservatives: gays in the military, gay marriage, gay adoption, "reparative therapy," gays and jury duty, media portrayals of gays, and the ordination of gay clergy.

These issues are not just about gays. So-called "gay issues" are about anyone who wants the option of making non-traditional sexual or lifestyle choices; for example:

-Employment discrimination: You can lose a promotion because co-workers are uncomfortable with your non-job life choices.

-Housing: You can be denied the apartment of your choice because landlords disapprove of your living arrangement.

-Custody battles: You can lose your children because of your unconventional sexual interests.

-Suspicion: You can be denied security clearance or other job responsibilities because you are peceived to be vulnerable to being blackmailed about your non-traditional lifestyle.

Whether they explain their concerns as religion, public safety, children, or something else, movements that restrict the rights of gay people are an important refuge for people who want to restrict EVERYONE'S sexual rights. Those who are most against homosexuality are also typically opposed to people reading Playboy, getting abortions, and going to swingers' clubs--all deeply heterosexual activities.

Sexually anxious people instinctively sense that gays' celebration of ambiguity and their challenge to conventional rules are a threat. They're right: gays do threaten the traditional agreement that everyone must hide their sexual interests, and must compromise them for the sake of personal security and external "success."

And so in Florida, stable gay couples can't adopt children, and one has to pretend to be a single parent to do so. A Washington man whose partner of 27 years died without a will could not inherit his own home and business when an Appeals Court ruled that they couldn't have acquired property together. Continental Airlines last year refused to board a lesbian couple and their kids without permission from the kids' father--who didn't exist because the kids were conceived with donated sperm. And even in San Francisco, when a gay HIV+ man recently complained to his landlord about being threatened by another building resident, he was told to arm himself, rather than given the legally-required mediation.

Sexual conservatives believe they have the legal and moral right to not have to think about eroticism that makes them uncomfortable. They therefore demand limits on the sexuality of the entire community, everything from nude beaches to adult bookstores. Gays' very lives are an affront to such people: although gays aren't more sexual than the rest of us, they're often more open about the importance of sex in their lives, more willing to risk their job, friends, apartment, even safety to fulfill their sexual destiny. How many of us are walking around telling our boss, landlord, and sister exactly what role sexuality plays in our lives?

Many anti-gays want limits on others' sexuality to reduce their own internal anxiety. They disguise their personal desire for these limits by referring to public policy (or religious) concerns, but that doesn't address what's really driving them.

Such people are looking for the psychological safety of some limits. They've been retreating for years, watching as one taboo after another falls--from premarital sex to oral sex, from vibrators to S/M. They're desperate to feel that there is some line between normal and abnormal, something that makes them safe and superior. They need to maintain society's right to censor somebody's sexuality, regardless of who that sacrificial lamb actually is.

Since anti-gay organizations are where many anti-sex people now congregate, the anti-gay agenda is of great importance to every sexual person. The stronger these anti-sex people get, the more ambitious their plans become. We've already seen how they have used their recently acquired power in the school system: mandatory abstinence education, creationism, prayer at public events, and posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

Sex-positive people must expose the anti-sexualism hiding in the anti-gay movement, for this movement is using public policy tools to restrict the sexual choices of all people:

-Zoning laws (to close down strip clubs and adult bookstores)

-Sodomy laws (to punish non-reproductive sex, including group sex)

-Obscenity laws (to control what music we can hear)

-Mandatory Internet filtering: (to control what we can see in public and college libraries)

-Anti-condom AIDS education programs (to punish teen sexuality)

Where are you going to hide? Only two years ago, a Minnesota man faced prosecution for private, consensual, heterosexual--and still illegal--sodomy. Last year, the Phoenix city council shut down the city's 6 swing clubs, saying they undermined public safety and morality. And in Montclair, New Jersey, 65-year-old Marian Ruben was arrested when she tried to pick up her photos. She had taken nude pictures of her happy granddaughters, age 3 and 11. She has been suspended from her job as a social worker, and has legal costs of $25,000.

The government has passed a law (challenged by the ACLU and others) which would allow minors who claim to have been harmed from exposure to legal adult material to sue its producers or distributors. How many adult films, bookstores, magazines, or websites will remain for you to enjoy when such a law is enforced? The government also passed a law requiring public libraries to install internet filtering software on computers so that adults cannot see anything considered "harmful to minors" (and you know how broad that now is). Shall we reduce the Web to content fit only for 6-year-olds?

I don't want anyone creating a culture in which my sexuality can be controlled--and neither should you. Therefore, we should oppose the creation of a culture in which anyone's consenting sexuality can be controlled--such as gays'. It doesn't matter whether or not you're into sodomy. If America can criminalize sodomy, it can criminalize any kind of sexuality--commercial, contraceptive, collegiate, whatever.

It was only a few decades ago that single Americans weren't allowed to buy condoms. Recent laws prevent doctors from talking about abortion, and criminalize the creation of pornography using adults who look like minors. Anything can happen when sexual fear or disgust drive political decisions.

Although the anti-gay movement sees gays exclusively in sexual terms, the movement is about more than sex--it's about whether or not people will be forced to live according to the moral ideas of others. Sound relevant to your life?

The anti-sex people are after all "perverts," not just gays. And if you read Playboy--or this website--you're one of those "perverts" they're after. Just as the Inquisition persecuted even small heresies, and Hitler went after people who were only 1/8 Jewish, the anti-sex movement is coming after all perverts. To them, you're as good as gay.

So you must care about gay rights. You can do it because it's the right thing to do--but you don't have to. Do it because if gays' rights are tenuous, so are yours.