Punk Rock Christmas

Its the year 2005, and people love to give gift cards in the holiday season. I got one of those Visa giftcards that you can buy ANYTHING with, and I got two Sam Goody gift cards. I'm using them all online.

So far I've ordered these cds from interpunk



And this shirt



And this patch



And these stickers



And so far I've ordered these cds from Sam Goody

Yes, tis a punk rock Christmas indeed.

Senior Research Paper: Punk Rock Today & Conclusion

The following is from my research paper titled "Another State of Mind". NOTE: I took out the internal citation, which makes this material plagarized.

If the ideas, actions, and philosophies of the aforementioned bands were not still practiced today, it would be easy to believe that punk is dead, but the opposite is true. Bands today are still formnig their own record labels, the most popular one being Fat Wreck Chords, formed by Fat Mike of NoFX. Not only do NoFX anf Fat Wreck Chords prove that DIY is still alive, but they also prove that punk is still political. Fat Wreck Chords has a multi-volume compilation album called "Rock Against Bush," which features countless bands, including Anti-Flag and Decendants, who express their political points of view through their music. Even pop punk bands write political songs; Green Day's 2004 album, "American Idiot", features many anti-establishmen messages. They final proof that punk is in no way dead, is the fact that some of the labels that were created by punk bands in the early eighties are still putting out albums today. Alternative Tentacles, Dischord, and BYO Records are still defiantly producing albums more than twenty years later, and they are run by the same people who founded them. Furthermore, many of the bands from "back in the day" are also still around, like Agent Orange, Circle Jerks, Bad Religion, and the Misfits (to name a few).

To conclude on a more personal note, I would like to add that my own band, The Drafted, plays the '80s hardcore style of punk (including political songs), and that our album was recorded by our friends who formed their own label, Lower Records. From my own experience, I can testify that DIY is easier to accomplish now than it has ever been, due to the internet and affordable recording equipment. Thus, any hope that a critic or loud mouth may have of seeing punk die is quite futile. I leave you with a quote from Shawn Stern, co-founder of the Better Youth Organization and frontman of Youth Brigade: "youth is an attitude, not an age [...] every generation should realize the responsibility to change what they feel is wrong in the world". That is DIY in a nutshell.

Senior Research Paper: DIY (continued)

The following is from my research paper "Another State of Mind". NOTE: I took out the internal citation, which makes this material plagarized.

Another example of DIY is the Better Youth Organization, formed in 1979 by future members of the band Youth Brigade. They founded the Better Youth Organization "as a reaction to police violence, outside exploitation and a general negative outlook held against the Punk/Alternative music scene in Los Angeles, CA". Later, the BYO started recording bands and booking tours under the name BYO Records. The first tour that BYO put on (with Youth Brigade and Social Distortion) was filmed and made into a documentary called "Another State of Mind".

Sometimes DIY happens by accident, the best example being the sparking of the Straight Edge movement. The song "Straight Edge" by Minor Threat was one of many that denounced drugs, alcohol, and one-night-stands. Many fans believed in the way of life that Minor Threat advocated and called themselves "straight edge", or "edge". Some drew "x"'s on their hands, because an "x" on someone's hand at a bar or venue means that they are a minor--not to be served alcohol. Other "edge" punks sometimes went as far as flicking people's cigarettes or spilling their drinks. This activity was something that Ian MacKaye, Minor Threat's frontman, was highly opposed to. In fact, MacKaye never told anyone to be "straight edge"; the entire movement was fan-induced, mass DIY.

Senior Research Paper: The Politics of Punk & DIY

The following is another excerpt from my senior research paper titled "Another State of Mind". NOTE: I took out the internal citation, which makes this material plagarized.

Now, why is punk rock not just music? One reason is the politics of punk. Many post-punk and hardcore bands of the early eighties were prone to writing political lyrics; some are even called "political bands". The most notable political band is Dead Kennedys, whose frontman, Jello Biafra, once ran for mayor of San Fransisco (Biafra researchpubs.com). Even one of the forefather bands, MC5, was politically involved; they played at the famous Democratic National Convention of 1968 (Vineyard rollingstone.com). Also, Joey Ramone (of the Ramones), rallied for Jerry Brown's campaign for governor of California (columbia.edu "Two rock and roll documentaries"). Anarchy is commonly associated with punk rock too, which began with the Sex Pistols, with their classic, "Anarchy in the UK", along with many other anti-establishment songs.

The true state of mind that most punk bands had was the concept of D.I.Y: Do It Yourself. Post-punk and hardcore bands were having hard times getting noticed in the music industry (probably because punks are generally looked down upon in society to begin with), so many of them formed their own record labels to release their recorded music. The Dead Kennedys formed Alternative Tentacles (Erlewine 246), Black Flag formed SST (Evans 81), Minor Threat formed Dischord (Erlewine 615), and the Subhumans formed Bluurg (Wikipedia "Subhumans"); these bands recorded, produced, and distributed their own albums, because they knew that no one else was going to do it for them. Labels like those are called "indie", short for "independent".

Senior Research Paper: Introduction & A History of Punk

The following is a draft of my research paper titled "Another State of Mind" , PLEASE NOTE: I took out the inernal citation, which makes this material plagarized.

A common phrase used by music critics (whether they be "experts" or just loud mouths) is the statement, "Punk Is Dead". The phrase usually refers to the absence of classic punk bands from the late 1970s. In other words, it is believed that punk rock died with the bands who started it. However, even with the earliest punk bands being gone, it is unfounded to say that punk is dead, because punk rock is more than just music, it is a state of mind.

First, a brief history of punk. The term "punk rock" was first used as a genre distinction in an early '70s issue of Cream magazine (Dougan 1138), but the influences of punk date back to the mid-1960s, with bands like the Velvet Underground (Unterberger 988), the Stooges (Erlewine 899), New York Dolls (Erlewine 653), and MC5 (Rees 565). These bands were breaking the rules that the limelit bands of the British Invasion were following; they were vulgar, very open about drug abuse and sex, and some were quite insane (namely Iggy Pop of the Stooges). Being from New York, the Velvet Underground and New York Dolls were probably the biggest influences on the Ramones, who were the premier band of the punk rock genre. After the Ramones played in England, future punk giants such as the Sex Pistols and the Clash were formed, and it is they, alongside Ramones, who are classified as "prototype punk", or "proto-punk": the first generation of punk rock.

The next generation of punk, "post-punk", came around 1979. Some of the new bands played so fast and were so angry that they were given the name "hardcore". The third generation of punk came in 1990 when Green Day combined aspects of both proto-punk and post-punk, creating a new sub genre called "pop punk".

Bush speaks, war is peace

I watched Georgey Boy address his nation tonight, and I must admit, he was pretty coherent.

The arguement that stuck with me the most was the one he made about 9/11. He said something like, "We weren't in Iraq or Afghanistan on 9/11, and the terrorists attacked us".
I guess we're supposed to make a connection like, "So if we're at war, we won't get attacked, and if we're not, we will." Apparently, the history of the entire world started on September 11th, nothing happened before that time, it was The Beginning. He's acting as if our government has been just minding it's own business for 200 years, completely innocent of any wrongdoing or mistake, and we all know how true that isn't.

It doesn't matter to him why the terrorists attack us, it is apparently not his job to think about such things. His job is to "protect" us, which he must be doing, since we're at war and there haven't been anymore 9/11's. He says that we're winning the war because 10 million Iraqis voted for a new constitution, but our goal is to stop terrorism, not just to "free" Iraq. Even with a democratic Iraq, terrorism will be a problem in the world, so what are we really doing over there?

Tonight he said that the goal is to kill every one of the terrorists, what rational human being could believe that this feat is possible? This goal makes no sense, therefore this war makes no sense.

House OKs Bill to Tighten Immigration Laws

From AP via Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - The House acted Friday to stem the tide of illegal immigration by taking steps to tighten border controls and stop unlawful immigrants from getting jobs. But lawmakers left for next year the tougher issue of what to do with the 11 million undocumented people already in the country.

click here for all of it

How to stop illegal immigration: make immigration easier to do.

The House legislation [...] includes such measures as [...] requiring employers to verify the legal status of their workers.

This is what really needs to be done. Stop treating the Mexicans like criminals, employers are more to blame for them wanting to come here.

I just don't understand why the Mexican border is so much more guarded than the Canadian border. It couldn't be a skin color thing, could it?

Furthermore, I think people need to get over themselves and learn to deal with people speaking different languages around them. Racism isn't just burning crosses.

Bush Raps Senators on Blocking Patriot Act

From AP via Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON -
President Bush said Saturday that senators who are blocking renewal of the terrorism-fighting Patriot Act are acting irresponsibly and standing in the way of protecting the country from attack.

[...]

Some of the most contentious elements of the Patriot Act include powers granted to law enforcement agencies to gain access in secret to library and medical records and other personal data during investigations of suspected terrorist activity.

The law allows the government to conduct roving wiretaps involving multiple phones and to wiretap "lone wolf" terrorists who may operate on their own, without control from a foreign agent or power.

click here for all of it

Bush just doesn't understand that you can't catch terrorists like that, because they don't work that way. Library and medical records? Wiretaps? I don't think terrorists look up books about terrorism, I doubt they tell their doctors that they got a cold because they're a terrorist, and it's foolish to think that they talk on the phone and just flat out say, "Dirka-dirka-dirka, lets highjack some planes".

I think the Patriot Act is intentionally used as a public opinion watch dog. They're not looking for terrorists, they're curious about who's with them and who's against them.

Senate blocks Patriot Act extension

From AP via Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - In a stinging defeat for
President Bush, Senate Democrats blocked passage Friday of a new Patriot Act to combat terrorism at home, depicting the measure as a threat to the constitutional liberties of innocent Americans.

HA!

I gotta admit, things seem to be kinda looking up when it comes to disagreeing with Bush. I mean, we've been in the majority for a while, but now its spreading to places where it counts: The Hill.

I can't wait to get my hands on some Christmas!

Thats right, its the holiday season and we LIBERALS are out to STEAL CHRISTMAS once again!!!!!!!

Better watch out, thats not Chris Kringle on your roof! I'm gonna steal your Christmas tree, ya know, the one that the Bible told you to put up. Oh wait, not the Bible, the Pagans, whatever.

And I'm gonna SHIT on your Christmas ham cuz I'm a LIBERAL and I'm out to STEAL CHRISTMAS and persecute you CHRISTIANS!!

At least thats what Bill O'Reilly says I'm gonna do. In fact, I think he'd like it, just so he and all the others could yell about it.

"Man, they won't let us sing Christmas songs!!!!!!! They're persecuting us Christians!".....Maybe they just don't want you singing in the first place. You've gone all year without singing, and you've been a huge jerk too, now you wanna sing about Peace and fellowship and act like pine trees, peppermints, and an obese Canadian are part of your religion? Fuck that.

I know I don't need a sarcasm disclaimer, but here it is.

Burn the SAT

25 minutes is not enough FREAKING time to write an essay.

Furthermore, Texas teachers need to TEACH the math stuff thats on the SAT.

I guess I'll just be a carni.

50 Years Ago Today

A Movement began

Another company, another mass lay-off

From Yahoo! News:

NEW YORK - The embattled drugmaker Merck & Co. said Monday that it will cut about 7,000 jobs, or 11 percent of its work force, and will close or sell five of its 31 manufacturing plants by the end of 2008 in moves that it says will save up to $4 billion.

The announcement comes as the company, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., faces the loss of patent protection for its top-selling cholesterol drug Zocor in 2006 and is facing thousands of liability lawsuits from its recalled painkiller Vioxx.

[...]

Merck said the cuts are intended to reduce the company's cost structure, increase efficiency, and enhance competitiveness.

click here for all of it

I completely understand that sometimes, the only way to keep your company afloat is to downsize, but do Merk or GM or Ford plan on giving their laid-off workers their jobs back when the company is ready to hire again? These articles never mention any such promises. Since it is not the workers' fault that the company is in trouble, why should they just be left in the cold, can't these companies re-hire former employees when its time to expand? To me, that seems the only ethical way to lay-off your employees in a situation like this. At least plan on undoing what you did to them. But of course, they don't give a damn about their employees. They're businessmen, they must turn a profit, right?

My best argument so far

The following is a response I made on a forum to someone who said that our military presence in Iraq stops terrorists from fighting us on our own soil:

Our whole 200+ year history shows that we don't take shit, we didn't need to start another war to prove that, plus, they didn't attack us because they thought we wouldn't do anything about it. They're religion doesn't tell them to just be bullies for the hell of it, not even their screwed up version of their own religion says that.

How to decrease Middle Eastern hatred of the US:

1) Stop supporting Israel. Playing favorites in a violent religious argument is a bad idea. Either support both Israel and Palestine or support neither of them.

2) Stop attacking countries that weren't a threat to you and weren't even feared by it's neighboring countries.

How to decrease hatred of the US from any point of view:

1) Don't overthrow democratically elected tyrants and install other tyrants, let oppressed people deal with it how they see fit.

2) Don't claim to be ridding a country of an evil-doer while you're in bed with a country whose leaders are just as evil.

3) Don't tell people to destroy their nukes while you have thousands of nukes. This displays that you think you are more intelligent than them, it isn't taken well.

I'm not saying we deserved 9/11, please spare me that nonsense, I'm just saying that violence can not be stopped by violence. If our goal in Iraq is to stop terrorism, war is the perfect anti-strategy.

(yes, violence stopped the Nazi regime, but the Nazis were an elite group, they were visible, they were aware of each other, there was a limited number of them because they only appeased Aryans and persecuted everyone else. They could be stopped because of their exclusive principles. Anyone can be a terrorist, it doesn't matter what you believe in, thats the difference between Iraq and World War II, only Germans/Aryans WHO AGREED WITH THE NAZI PRINIPLES could be given the title. You can destroy a title, but never an idea. Naziism was an institution, but terrorism is not so tangible)

My friend, the Welder

My brother and I caught up with an old friend the other day. We used to be in a Christian rock band with him, we even recorded a full-length album.

Before we left our friend's house, we got around to talking about how his job was going. Last time we saw him, he was a welder for GE, but something unfortunate happened there recently.

He got fired.

He was laid off, branded a "terrorist threat" after getting in a strictly verbal argument with his supervisor. All my friend was telling the man was that he had become a slave driver of sorts, and that the workers wanted to work with him, not for him. My friend was explaining to his supervisor that the workers were uncomfortable with the way he addressed the employees; he never greeted or said "good morning".

My friend was labelled a terrorst threat because his supervisor, whom my friend had known for many years, knew that he sometimes came into contact with Bandidos, an outlaw biker organization (my friend, the welder, is in the Soldiers for Jesus Biker Club, and they sometimes administer to Bandidos). My friend also made the mistake of pointing out that, hypothetically, firing someone who you think is a terrorist is only putting yourself at more risk. (The irony in that hypothetical situation is quite obvious).

"Terrorist threat" was a harsh allegation, and its hard to find a job when you've got that hanging over you, because GE is part of a conglomerate of hundreds of other companies, he's been virtually blacklisted. He's been lucky enough to find another job, but its in Texas City, he lives a thirty mile drive away in Baytown. (the only way he's been able to find a new job is because he had hundreds of friends who worked at GE who were heartbroken about what happened, they've been putting in a good word for him in the industry)

He told us that if he'd been in the union (as he is now), he could have gotten his supervisor fired instead of himself, but who really knows? At GE he had a health insurance plan for himself and his wife, now at his new job he only has insurance for himself, he has to pay for his wife's medicine out of his pocket. Right now he has his resumé at a company thats closer to his home, he'll have insurance coverage for his wife if he gets this job.

I just wanted to share this story with anyone who happens to stop by the blog, because I think its a textbook example of how screwy the big American corporation is run. I recently posted an article about GM's new job-cutting plan, plus we all know how screwed up Walmart is, now that you've heard this story, what say you about corporate America?

ThanksFighting

Gee Native Americans, thanks for giving us all this land for absolutely nothing, you didn't even fight us for it, you wanted us here, we're the bestest friends ever!

Hah, treaties? You knew we were joking, and you didn't mind, hey, you GAVE us this land!

So now lets celebrate the giving of America to the White Man, with no conflicts or grievances to speak of, God Bless America!

Protestors Arrested Near Bush's Ranch

From AP via Yahoo!

CRAWFORD, Texas - A dozen war protesters were arrested Wednesday for setting up camp near President Bush's ranch in defiance of new local bans on roadside camping and parking.

[...]

In August, hundreds of demonstrators camped off the road during a 26-day protest...But a month later, county commissioners banned camping in any county ditch and parking within 7 miles of the ranch, citing safety and traffic congestion issues.

click here for all of it

Hm, "safety and traffic congestion issues", eh McLennan County? That was certaintly some fast legislation that got passed, conveniently keeping protestors away from Bush's ranch, I wonder how all that work got done so quickly.

Bushies like to talk about how George is "like one of us", a "common man". Such bullshit, he's the president, he can get legislation passed in three months that perfectly serves his interest alone, how "common man" is that?

GM to cut jobs and close facories AGAIN

Remember this post that I made almost one year ago? Its about Michael Moore's first documentary, Roger & Me. Moore made the film after GM had announced a cut in 30,000 jobs and closing of about 11 factories, to try to boost profit that they hadn't been making.

Well now its happening again.

From AP via Yahoo!:

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and position the world's biggest automaker to start making money again after absorbing nearly $4 billion in losses so far this year.

[...]

"But these actions are necessary for GM to get its costs in line with our major global competitors. In short, they are an essential part of our plan to return our North American operations to profitability as soon as possible." [said GM's chairman, Rick Wagoner]

Its not just a problem that GM is dealing with, another American company is about to cut jobs.

Last week, Ford Motor Co. told employees it plans to eliminate about 4,000 white-collar jobs in North America early next year as part of a restructuring plan. Ford said the cuts will be made in part through attrition and elimination of some agency and contract positions.

[...]

The cuts will be in addition to 2,750 North American salaried jobs that Ford earlier said it wanted to cut by the end of 2005. Ford started the year with about 35,000 salaried workers in North America.

click here for all of it

Once again, blue collar employees are being laid off for problems that aren't their fault. Where are all these people going to go? 30,000 will be out of work. There's a big sand pit out in the middle east where I'm sure our president would be happy to see them put to work, but now I'm just rambling.

American companies suck.

This is happening in Houston?

From AP via Yahoo!

Jewish Leader Blasts 'Religious Right'

HOUSTON - The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them "zealots" who claim a "monopoly on God" while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler's.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said "religious right" leaders believe "unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person."

"What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?" he said during the movement's national assembly in Houston, which runs through Sunday.

The audience of 5,000 responded to the speech with enthusiastic applause.

He used particularly strong language to condemn conservative attitudes toward homosexuals.

[...]

"We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations," Yoffie said. "Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry."

click here for all of it

I can't believe this kind of thing is happening in Houston. A "liberal" movement's national assembly is being held in Houston? I'd fear for their safety, but they're 5,000 strong, so I think they'll be safe from the assholes around here that might actually do something.

It may be a religious assembly but at least they know what they're talking about, thats rare in Houston.

Senior Research Paper

Yes, its finally time for the notorious Senior Research Paper. Being in a regular class, our teacher made it quite easy for us. We got to choose whatever topic we wanted! So I'm doing my senior reasearch paper on Punk Rock. I think its going to be titled "Punk Rock: A Steadfast Legacy".

Maybe I'll post it when I'm done.

Maybe I'll use this blog to practice writing it.

Bush Takes Fresh Shot at Iraq War Critics

From AP via Yahoo! News

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - President Bush hurled new criticism at Iraq war critics on Monday as he headed for Asia, accusing some Democrats of "sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy."

[...]

"Reasonable people can disagree about the conduct of the war, but it is irresponsible for Democrats to now claim that we misled them and the American people," Bush said in his prepared remarks.

click here for all of it

Yeah, he didn't mislead us, he just gave us misleading information. He told us Saddam had/had access to/planned on getting weapons of mass destruction, which was false, therefore he mislead us. Whether it was intentional is anyone's bet. Some Democrats are saying that Bush manipulated the intelligence to fit his agenda. Unfortunately, there's really no way to prove that, so Bush can safely call them irresponsible, but there's no question about who mislead who.

Oil Company Execs Defend Profits to Senate

From Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON - Oil executives sought to justify their huge profits under tough questioning Wednesday, but they found little sympathy from senators who said their constituents are suffering from high energy prices.

[...]

There is a "growing suspicion that oil companies are taking unfair advantage," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. "The oil companies owe the American people an explanation."

[...]

The head of the Federal Trade Commission said a federal price-gouging law "likely will do more harm than good."

"While no consumers like price increases, in fact, price increases lower demand and help make the shortage shorter-lived than it otherwise would have been," FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras told the hearing.

[...]

Shell earned $9 billion in the third quarter, said John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Co., but he said the company's investment in U.S. operations over the last five years was equal to its income from U.S. sales.

"We respectfully request that Congress do no harm by distorting markets or seeking punitive taxes on an industry working hard to respond to high prices and supply shortfalls," said Hofmeister.

click here for all of it

I want to comment on what FTC chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said.

She said that price increases lower demand, which is true, if the demand is elastic, and the demand for gasoline is most certainly inelastic, meaning that because of gasoline's vitality to our daily life, consumers will buy it no matter how high the price gets.

Of course she knows this good and well. It is the inelasticity of the demand of gasoline that causes these companies to profit even during a supply shortage.

Enough is never enough for these fat cats and its no suprise to me that they feel the need to set their prices in a manner that profits them, while everyone else struggles.

Mark These Words

In response to a question from Ralph Nader:

Freedom, virtue - these two were practically synonymous in the minds of our revolutionary forbears. To them it was not inconceivable that an individual would be granted freedom merely for the satisfaction of instinct and whims. Freedom was not the freedom to do as you please but rather, if you will, the freedom to do as you ought! Freedom, virtue - they were practically synonymous a hundred years later in the mind of Abraham Lincoln when, in his second inaugural address, he called for "a new birth of freedom." But today, because we have so cruelly separated freedom from virtue, because we define freedom in a morally inferior way, our country is stalled in what Herman Melville call the "Dark Ages of Democracy," a time when as he predicted, the New Jerusalem would turn into Babylon, and Americans would feel "the arrest of hope's advance."

-Rev. William Sloane Coffin

click here for all of it

I kick ass

Okay, so my dad is back from his long ass business trip and short story shorter, our internet works.

Anyway, I think its time to comment on how much ass I kick.

In my English class, we were broken up into small groups and given a Canterbury Tale to read. We had to write a script for that tale (ours was "The Pardoner's Tale"), and perform it for the class.

The skits were supposed to be 6-12 minutes long, and after a few readings and run-throughs out in the hall, we knew ours was too short. We knew what we had to do, and we weren't sure if we could, but we went for it. We had to improve.

I had already planned my own solo ad-lib to kill some time after my character stabs one of the others. I was going for a Family Guy-esque type drag-on, something my band director calls "milking the bit". I was going on about how I had been working out ("squat thrusts", "raw eggs every morning").

I basically had the class rolling, and I did it with style, I was like a freaking comedian up there! I got the first laugh and I just couldn't stop, I was an effing god! The class was in my hands.

And then a few seconds later, my character and another character had to die from poisoning, and we dragged that out pretty well too, and I taq'd on a few more big laughs.

The next day my teacher was sort of joking around before we took this test and she nomiated me for "Playa of the Week". We had a vote, I kicked ass. "Who votes for Adam?", *crowd goes wild.

Okay I'm done.

Dod Gamn computer

I can't get on the net at my house, I'm posting this in my web mastering class, as I did with the Chris Walken post.

So just for a general comment on current political events: HA!

I've never been so content while reading the news as I have lately (aside from Rosa Parks and Pakistan, those things are sad). Approval ratings are low, the war is being more loudly questioned by politicians, and Its not looking good for any of the top Bush Administration big whigs as far as staying in power in 2008.

Is America waking up? It'll be about damn time, but the bigger question is, if the Dems take over the Senate in 2008, will anything change?

Walken for president?

Check this out. Its a campaign website for the 2008 presidential race, the candidate being Christopher Walken!

This could easily be a fan-started website that Christopher Walken doesn't even know about yet, but check out some quotes from the platform:

"Private schools have long been the standard for quality education in this country, while public schools have been regarded as prison-like institutions to house children until they reach adulthood and are unleashed into society... We need to teach our children of the value and importance of a good education, and not threaten them with punishment for failure."

"Border crackdowns and stricter controls don’t work. Our focus needs to be on employers who hire undocumented workers under-the-table. These employers not only cheat social security by avoiding taxes, but more importantly minimize the demand for
wage-earning citizens."

"Abortion is one of the issues tearing our Union apart. The answer lies not in forcing one side to follow the other, but in solving the underlying problems. If we focus on practical education and teaching responsibility, rather than debate over ethics, we’ll have no more need for abortion."

"Nobody will argue that Saddam Hussein was not a tyrannical dictator, or that he shouldn’t have been unseated, but to take our nation to war under false pretenses, against the will of the democratic world we claim to defend, is not a decision I support... I will seek the aid of the world community we once scorned, to form a special peacekeeping coalition to assist with the consolidation of power in Iraq. My top priority will be to stabilize Iraq under this international force and end our occupation."

If he really does run in '08, I'll definately vote for him. Its time to overthrough this bipartisan consensus thats getting us nowhere.

Its time to admit that Bill Gates is an okay guy

From Yahoo! News

LONDON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. founder
Bill Gates has pledged $258.3 million for research and development to combat malaria, including new cash to test the world's first vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease.

[...]

The largest of the grants, $107.6 million, will go to a vaccine initiative working with GlaxoSmithKline Plc on late-stage clinical trials of its experimental vaccine, Mosquirix.

The vaccine has already produced promising results in clinical trials but will not be available until after 2010.

Another $100 million will be plowed into work to accelerate the development of several promising new drugs, while $50.7 million will pay for research to fast-track development of improved insecticides and other mosquito control methods.

click here for all of it

See, here's a guy who knows how to be rich. He's been pied in the face just for being so damn rich, but we see now that he is a chartitable person. Sure it could just be a publicity stunt, and he does have the means to give even more, but at least he's giving to a worthy cause.

I just think Bill Gates should be left out of the left wing rants about fat cat CEOs.

Will Justice Be Served Soon?

From MoveOn.org's newsletter:

Today, the Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, a Republican appointee, announced that Lewis "Scooter" Libby lied to a grand jury, lied to FBI agents and obstructed an investigation into the White House cover-up of the lies that led our nation to war in Iraq. Libby has now resigned. Top White House advisor Karl Rove remains under federal investigation.

First DeLay, now LIbby. I hope they work their way all the way up to the top. Throw all the bastards in jail, melt the key down, and make a Peace sign medalian out of it.

I agreed with a Republican today

Today in Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amid record-high earnings from oil companies, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Thursday ordered a Senate hearing with testimony from major oil company executives on why energy prices are high.

[...]

"If there are those who abuse the free enterprise system to advantage themselves and their businesses at the expense of all Americans, they ought to be exposed, and they ought to be ashamed," Frist said in a statement.

[...]

"We need to increase refinement capacity, provide more energy resources, encourage conservation, invest in science and technology, and, most importantly, transition toward energy independence, including the use of more alternative fuels," Frist said.

click here for all of it

This is a Republican? A Republican said we need to invest in science and alternative fuels. A Republican. Said that. That we need to invest in alternative fuels.

I've heard Bill Frist's name before many times, but I can't remember why, I think he may be a big part of the religious right, but as for economics, he seems almost to be left wing, by this statement, anyway.

He's either bullshitting for approval or is a very old school Republican.

Maybe next year

Crap.

Stupid White Sox.

Come on, let us have this one, we've never had it before! We've never even played this series before!

Nah, the Astros are good enough to win four in a row....

U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Rises to 2,001

From AP via Yahoo! News

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An American soldier was killed Tuesday in a vehicle accident near Camp Bucca, the U.S. detention center in southern
Iraq, the U.S. military said Wednesday, a day after the somber milestone of 2,000 military deaths in the Iraq war was reached.

[...]

Some Iraqis sympathized with U.S. forces as the American death toll surpassed 2,000. But others noted that many more Iraqis had died in the conflict and said they hope the U.S. "occupiers" will soon go home.

click here for all of it

Did Vietnam take revenge on the United States after we finally pulled out of Vietnam? No. Would Iraq do the same? Hopefully. Right now, I'd say every Iraqi has some pretty justafiable beef with the U.S. The whole right wing argument about pulling out of Iraq immediately is that Iraq will fall into the hands of the insurgents, who must be terrorists too, and that we'll be in more danger from terrorist attacks that way.

Lets face it, we screwed up, well, the government screwed up. Iraq was never a threat, but now they have a personal reason to hate us, and staying only makes it worse, no matter how many constitutions get "approved". So why wait? Evacuate!

Rosa Parks, rest in peace

I'm sure we've all heard by now that the most well known protestor of our time has died at the age of 92.

Rosa Park's defiance against an unjust law started the movement that ended segregation and proved more solidly than anything since then that the power of the masses is unmatched by any level of government-backed opression.

Rest in Peace, Rosa.

Two down but it ain't over

Okay, 'stros have been getting raped by the White Sox, but I think we'll pull through with our home field advantage tommorrow.

I haven't been posting anything lately because I am really really lazy.

POLLITIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICS!!!!!!

There.

'stros win, bitch

The Houston Astros are going to the World Series. The Houston Astros are going to the World Series. wait wait wait............wait........what?

The Houston Astros are going to the World Series........processing..............



..........................so.......Astros: World Series..................HOLY SHIT!

Senior Funday tommorrow

I gotta admit, as a senior, I really like the TAKS test. Mainly because we don't have to take it, and when the underclassmen do, we get 4 periods of NOTHING! And I only have five classes so its like rock 'n roll till the cows come home for gravy 'n grits, fool.

THREE DAYS of TAKS this week, super rock rock on!

'1984': Sound Familiar? part 6

Another quote from George Orwell's 1984, this is some information Orwell lets you in on about Oceania, the main character Winston's home continent.

...the Ministry of Plenty's forecast had estimated the output of boots for the quarter at a hundred and forty-five million pairs. The actual output was given as sixty-two millions...Very likely no boots had been produced at all. Likelier still, nobody knew how many had been produced, much less cared. All one knew was that every quarter astronomical numbers of boots were produced on paper, while perhaps half the population of Oceania went barefoot.

(my emphasis of course)
This quote makes me think of all the loud mouths who boast about the "new jobs" Bush created, or will create, while we still have a considerable amount of poverty (and they know that there's still poverty, they admit it when they bitch about "all the welfare queens"). However I don't think we're to the point of lying about production, I don't think thats possible to get away with...yet.

Fuck Columbus and his holiday

"They...brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bears arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." -Christopher Columbus

Happy Birthday Thelonious Monk

If you don't know Monk's music, your life is unfulfilled. Check his stuff out. Monk was simply the most insane bebop piano player of all time.

Sorry if this is turning into a bit of a birthday blog, but Monk deserves daily recognition.

Happy Birthday John Lennon

Today would be John Lennon's 65th birthday, if I'm not mistaken. Its a very special John Lennon's Birthday for me, because my band, The Drafted, has the Track of the Day on garageband.com's punk page today. Its an anti-war/anti-Bush song called "1,000 Dead", our most angry political song that we have so far--definately a song with a message that Lennon would be behind today if he were still with us.

In memory of John, here are his most inspiring lyrics:

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Brighton Beach Memoirs

I just saw my first play at the Baytown Little Theater. It was really cool. They did a Neil Simon called Brighton Beach Memoirs. AWESOME play. FUNNY play too.

Three of the actors were really good, all teenagers.

Brighton Beach Memoirs is part of a three-play series about Neil Simon's life. This one shows "Simon's passage through puberty, as he percieved it." But its not just about Simon ("Eugene" in the play), its about two weeks of his boyhood where his family almost fell apart.

I highly recommend checking it out if a production of it ever comes to your town. If you live in Baytown, I feel sorry for you, because tonight was the last Brighton show.

Not only do I recommend checking out this play, I recommend visiting the Baytown Little Theater itself. Steel Magnolias plays in December.

Lead in Children's Lunch Boxes

From cehca.org:

Oakland, CA – The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) announced it is filing lawsuits today against makers and retailers of soft vinyl lunch boxes that can expose children to harmful levels of lead.

[...]

The levels CEH found in the lunch boxes are not high enough to cause acute lead poisoning during normal use. However, if your child is exposed to lead from other sources, a leaded lunch box would add to their health risk.

click here for all of it

I thought lead paint was illegal. The article talks about "legal amounts of lead". Why use lead paint at all? I'm sure Mr. Nader will be talking about this soon.

Oh no, Sterling could actually beat Lee this year, lets split up the district

From the Baytown Sun:

BAYTOWN — Hurricane Rita may have claimed another casualty: the annual Lee-Sterling football game. Under a plan released Thursday by the District 22-5A executive committee, the teams are not scheduled to meet.

However, there are still various scenarios that could have the Ganders and Rangers play “The Game” for the 38th year.

The new plan divides the eight District 22-5A schools into two four-team pools. Pool A includes Westfield, Beaumont West Brook, Sterling and Kingwood. Pool B is made up of Humble, Port Arthur Memorial, Spring and Lee.

Don't get me wrong, I couldn't care less about football, I just thought it would have been cool for Sterling to beat Lee in my Senior Year. Now the Lee-Sterling game will only happen if the outcomes of other games decide it. Why did they make it to where the Pools split up ALL the rival teams? Humble and Kingwood: rivals, Spring and Westfield: rivals, Sterling and Lee: rivals. I don't get it.

'1984': Sound Familiar? part 5

Keep in mind that in George Orwell's "1984", the seven contenants have merged into three superstates:

"...the conditions of life in all three superstates are very much the same. In Oceania the prevailing philosophy is called, Ingsoc, in Eurasia it is called Neo-Bolshevism, and in Eastasia it is called by a Chinese name usually translated as Dead-worship, but perhaps better rendered as Obliteration of the Self. The citizen of Oceania is not allowed to know anything of the tenets of the other two philosophies, but he is taught to execrate them as barbarous outrages upon morality and common sense. Actually the three philosophies are barely distinguishable, and the social systems which they support are not distinguishable at all. Everywhere there is the same pyramidal structure, the same worship of a semi-divine leader, the same economy existing by and for continious warfare."

Well, sound familiar to you?

'1984': Sound Familiar? part 4

Here are summore amazing quotes from George Orwell's "1984":

"...it is often necessary for a member of the Inner Party to know that this or that item of war news is untruthful, and he may often be aware that the entire war is spurious and is either not happening or is being waged for purposes quite other than the declared ones..." (my emphasis)

"It does not matter whether the war is actually happening, and, since no decisive victory is possible, it does not matter whether the war is going well or badly. All that is needed is that a state of war should exist."

The term "Inner Party" won't mean anything to you if you've never read the book. In "1984", there are three superstates. One is called Oceana. Oceana is governed by one political party that is simply refered to as "The Party". The class system of Oceana (from top to bottom) is Inner Party members, Outer Party members, and "the Proles". Inner Party members would probably be like what we just call "politicians".

DeLay Indicted!

From AP:

WASHINGTON - A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!

This is a mere slap on the wrist, but at least he technically didn't get away with it.

Giant Squid Seen Alive!

From Yahoo! News:

This is a photo released by Dr. Tsunemi Kubodera of the National Science Museum, showing an 8-meter (26-foot) long Architeuthis attacking prey hung by a rope, white line at left, at 900 meters...

Until now the only giant squids that have been seen were dead, washed up on the beach.

I dunno I thought this was kinda cool, shut up.

'1984': Sound Familiar? part 3

Here's another exerpt from George Orwell's "1984". Again, this is from the book in the story that the main character reads called The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism.

"In the past, the ruling groups of all countries, although they might recognize their common interest and therefore limit the destructiveness of war, did fight against one another, and the victor always plundered the vanquished. In our own day they are not fighting against one another at all. The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact. The very word "war," therefore, has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist."

Remember, this shouldn't be taken directly as Orwell's word, this was something that one of his characters wrote. It came from Orwell, but its not necessarily his idea or opinion or view or stance or belief. Its not for me to say whether meant it to be taken seriously, but we can all agree that it's a worthy quote.

'1984': Sound Familiar part 2

I've found the most outstanding quotes from George Orwell's "1984" are in the book that the main character, Winston, reads in the story. Its by a character named Emmanuel Goldstein who is seen by "The Party" as their ultimate enemy. This is from the third chapter of the book, specifically the part that addresses why even as society becomes more and more technologically advanced, poverty still "has to" remain.

"But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction--indeed, in some sense was the destruction--of a hierarchical society...It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small priviledged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty...would sooner or later realize that the priviledged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance."

"Goods must be produced, but they need not be distrubuted. And in practice the only way of achieving this was by continuous warfare."

My emphasis, of course.

Orwell wrote this in 1949!

I think everyone in the Bush administration has read this book, but is using the knowledge from it in the opposite manner in which was intended by Orwell. Crazy stuff. More of it later.

Re-reading '1984'

Yeah, the power outage gave me enough time (and lack of other options) to begin re-reading the long, disturbing George Orwell tale: "1984". Actually, the outage gave me enough time to just about re-finish the book. I only have a few pages left and since I'm re-reading it, I know that nothing really interesting is left to read anyway.

In re-reading this amazing work of art, (real art, I might add) I found some quotes that I'm going to post at various times in the very near future. One of those is right now:

(this is being said by the main character's interrogator near the end of the book)
"...In the Middle Ages, there was the Inquisition. It was a failure. It set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. For every heretic it burned at the stake, thousands of others rose up. Why was that? Because the Inquisition killed its enemies in the open, and killed them while they were unrepentant. Men were dying because they would not abandon their true beliefs. Naturally, all the glory belonged to the victim and all the shame to the Inquisitor who burned him..."

Take that quote and substitute "Inquisition" with "War on Terrorism" and "heresy" with "terrorism" and "heretic" with "terrorist", and you have "my opinion". Orwell wrote this in 1949. Why has this logic not been passed down since then? Okay thats a silly question to which I already know the answer, but all the same, the quote puts the whole "war" in an amazingly realistic perspective, while giving an historical example of how our current foreign policy has already failed in the past. Gotta love Orwell.

Happy Birthday Ray Charles and John Coltrane

Two greatly missed jazz musicians, born on the same day, four years apart.

Came back

We left at 6:30 am for Big Spring, Texas.

By about 2:20 pm we were in Liberty, and the storm had turned a lot more east, so we just came back. Took us like 20 minutes.

I really don't agree with being back here, mostly because we're planning on leaving again if we find out that the storm turns back this direction. I think we should just be better safe than sorry, but here we are. I mean, now there is no way we're going to get away before the storm hits. There's no point in leaving again, even if it turns directly at us and all of a sudden grows to an even stronger cat-5, because traffic is fucked up.

...but what do I know, I'm just a kid.

Evacuation

My dad says we're going to head for a place called Big Springs, TX. He said we accidentally drove through there on the way to New Mexico one time.

This is crap, I had to wake up at like 5:30 this morning, but I don't think we're leaving until a lot later.

I personally think my home of Highlands, TX is going to be pretty safe. I've got a feeling we're going to come back with no damage to the house, and little damage to the yard. We already know that Highlands doesn't flood, because its high groud.

Who knows, this benefit concert that we're putting on at our school in late October could end up raising money for us!

Category 5

Crap.

In the meantime, Cindy Sheehan made it to D.C. today. Good for her.

Rita is now Category 4

Oh my God. Its still got more than twenty-four hours to itself in the open gulf.

Friggin' SWEET

No school, kick ASSSSSS!!!!!

The Thing called Rita

GAY.

This is really turning out to be one Hell of a hurricane season. As if Katrina wasn't enough for everyone, this new hurricane has enough time to become a category 4, according to forecasters, and there's still a possibility that it could hit Louisiana.

Of course, most forecasters believe that Rita will hit Texas. I saw a predicted path online last night that showed the middle of Rita running up Texas just east of Houston, which is where I am.

On the bright side, maybe we'll evacuate to Austin. Austin rules.

Anyway, I'm starting to think that maybe its about time to stop arguing about global warming and start doing something about pollusion. Even if we don't prevent hurricanes, its a good idea either way, and there's no time like the present.

I smell a Democrat in '08. As if that will change much.

Stupid fans

Having been to two rock concerts in the past two months, I realize how dumb rock fans have become.

Does anyone care about guitar solos anymore?

When I saw Green Day back in August, Billy Joe did an extended guitar solo in one of the songs. He was over to the side of the stage, doing an assisted power stance on the monitor, and practically playing his guitar AT the crowd. He was obviously trying to get a big roar fromt he crowd during the solo. It didn't happen. It was like no one even noticed what he was doing.

Granted, he's not that great of a guitar player, but thats not the point. The fact is, most of the people there only wanted to hear exactly what was on the cd, they don't care about any added guitar solo stuff, its just not cool to them. They call themselves fans? When a guitar player who you came to see is doing a solo, looking right at you and not the guitar, just waiting for you to give him deserved props, and then you don't, you're an asshole. Period.

And then a few nights ago at Weezer, in any given song, there would be no upsurge in noise from the crowd during or after a guitar solo. I'll admit, most of Weezer's guitar solos are pretty cut and dry, but isn't that supposed to be a standard time for a crowd-goes-wild type thing?

Maybe I'm just picky about props because I know what its like to perform, but maybe people are just STUPID.

Weezer

I saw my second Weezer concert last night. They opened for Foo Fighters. With all due respect to Foo Fighters, Weezer should never open for anyone. Maybe they switch out from city to city, who knows.

Anyway, I tried to sneak up to the front just before they started playing "El Scorcho", but I got caught and almost got kicked out. But it couldn't have been a more perfect time to be up out of my seat because just when they went into the punk rock double-time part I was in the open walkway between the center section and the box seats and skanked my ASS off just before they told me I couldn't stand there and that if I jumped over the rails again I would have to leave.

All in all, it was a geektastic show, and though it obviously wasn't as special as the first time, it was probably the most fun I've had since then. Its just fun to go to a show where you know every word to every song...

this is hilarious

I know this is kind of irrelevant right now, but still

And the winner is

...it has been for decades now the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers to manage flood control along the Mississippi River. Louisiana most assuredly was given federal money for whatever purposes, but the money for the levees, several hundred million dollars to be used by the Corps, was actually CUT by the Bush administration, and reappropriated for the Iraq war.

This was Ron's comment on my blog about the Blame Game where I stated that I didn't know "who's side" I was on. Not that there's two distinct teams in this Blame Game, but I wasn't really sure what my opinion was.

I got it now. What really went wrong was that the different levels of government, such as local, state, and federal, were just not communicating well at ALL. If there was any good that came out of this storm, it was the knowledge that our "Homeland" isn't all that "secure". Basically, the American government has no idea how to help its people.

(as if the Iraq War wasn't proof of that already)

The Blame GameCurrent status: neutral

By now we've all heard the arguments in the nation wide debate on whether Katrina was handled properly.

I've heard arguments from both sides, and I still have to claim neutrality.

One of the best questions is why wasn't the National Guard pre-posted near the area so that they could get to the city as soon as the storm passed? This hurricane did not just sneak up on us. That sucker was coming. So why was New Orleans left to fend for itself for the first two days? I haven't heard an answer to this question yet.

On the other side of the argument, I've heard that the government of Louisiana has received vast amounts of money from the Federal government, but used none of it for things that were needed, such as levee repairs. I've heard that every computer model of a cat 3 or higher storm hitting New Orleans showed that the levee would breach. So if the state of Louisiana really had recieved as much federal funding as some right-wingers have said they did, shouldn't the state and local government be the one's to blame?

There are many more arguments and accusations that have been made, but I see these two as the main ones.

I'm sure I'll develope an opinion about this whole thing soon.

In The Public InterestBush, Katrina, and Big Oil

From Ralph Nader's weekly column on nader.org.

...Gasoline was averaging $1.36 per gallon on January 3, 2000, and is now racing towards $4 a gallon, having soared over $3 per gallon in many localities this week. Oil analysts are not reporting any shortages of supply worldwide, until the rigs and refineries were hurricaned last week in the Gulf of Mexico region raised such specters. OPEC has been pumping oil at record levels. There has been no sudden spike in demand.

......

If the price of wheat suddenly doubled, why would the loaves of bread in your supermarkets suddenly be marked up or the loaves on their way in transit? The price hike for wheat would not have reached them. Then why does the price of oil and gasoline spike up when these supplies were already purchased at previously lower prices?

......

Such questions are not on the minds of Bush and Cheney, who hail from the oil world. Imagine - experts in the industry that is gouging America that they are, and they keep leaving America and Americans defenseless.

click here for all of it

There was a lot more but it was just a little bit over my head, but the wheat:bread/oil:gasoline analogy was my favorite point that he made.

Is the price of gas really supposed to increase so quickly, even if production in the Gulf is slowed down so much?

I heard Bush said that price gougers were going to be arrested, I wonder what his idea of gouging is. I think we've been getting gouged for years.

YOUTH BRIGADE IS COMING TO HOUSTON

Oh my freaking GOD!!! Youth Brigade is playing at Fat Cat's on Thursday! Holy shit!!!!! This is a CLASSIC band from the '80s!! Oh man I HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!!!!!!

The Drafted

Our first LP is coming out this month.

Here's some streaming audio for anyone who hasn't heard it on myspace or purevolume.
(these streams are supported by geocities, be happy if they work)
"Don't Get Me Wrong"


"1,000 Dead"

Happy late birthday to Charlie Parker

I've been listening to Charlie Parker lately and I was just now reading a biography about him and it says he was born on August 29th, 1920, wish I could have caught that sooner, but better late than never.

Charlie Parker (aka "Bird") was one of the first sax players who dared to play fast. He's a textbook example of bebop, an amazing improvisor, and its a shame only jazz fans know who he was.



Happy Birthday, Bird

Alligator Haze

Hope its not too soon to start blogging about non-hurricane related subjects, but I thought I'd just write about something kinda funny.

I've been sick this week, my medicine of choice: Nyquil. I came to school yesterday and told Mr. Moore, "I'm all Nyquil'd out right now," and he said "Ahh, alligator haze all day,".

I just said, "yeah", and went about my school day. "Alligator haze" stayed with me. "What the hell is an 'alligator haze'", I thought.

So, for a laugh, I came up to Mr. Moore in 6th period and asked him, "Whats an alligator haze?".

He looked at me like he saw a ghost, his mind was completely.....(I'm on Dayquil right now, can't think of anything).

ooooooookay this stuff is starting to kick in hard, can't really concentrate, uh, okay, he said "alligator haze" is from a Stroke 9 song, about being drunk in New Orleans.

Okay, this was somewhat hurricane-related.

Katrina fools us all

So New Orleans didn't get hit as hard as everyone thought. Alabama sure got the shaft. Hurricane's suck big time.

Now, with a shorter supply of crude oil from the Gulf of Mexico, gas prices may reach 3.00 this week in places where they're not that high yet, like here.

Glad I filled up yesterday...

Shit

(picture stolen from Yahoo! News)

New Orleans is fucked.

We're probably gonna get a big piece of it too.

That is a BIG ASS hurricane...