bush sunday bloody sunday

Yes, another video, but this is amazing.

Feeling up Fred

Jim (stop by and welcome him back, btw) sent me a link from the Evangelical Right blog of an interview with "God Hates Fags" preacher Fred Phelps's son.

If you do not know who Fred Phelps is, here is a selection from his wikipedia entry: Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (born November 13, 1929) is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, a religious hate group based out of his home in Topeka, Kansas that operates independently of any other Baptist church or religious organization. Phelps is known for preaching that God hates homosexuals and will punish both them and "fag enablers" (which his church defines as anyone whom they find to be insufficiently anti-homosexual).

Phelps has gained national attention for interrupting the funerals of American servicemen killed in Iraq, staging cynical, mocking protests against the United States government, the deceased soldiers, and their families. He claims such deaths, along with other tragic events such as the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, are caused by God because of his hatred of homosexuals and America's tolerance of them.

Now watch this video from the Australian television show from The Chaser's War on Everything

Music Reviews and News

--by the Kid

Rhymefest

I buy a lot of CDs. Generally my tastes are fairly eclectic and my purchase of music reflects that. A few years ago I started to make an effort to buy CDs of Indiana based musical artists who had a major label debut. It was a no questions asked personal policy where I would buy the CD, no matter if I was wowed by what I had heard previous to the purchase or not. It started with the Why Store’s first CD for MCA (even without being overly impressed with the lead single “Lack of Water”) and I have continued it since. I thought it was my small contribution to showing the mighty powers that be that Indiana based artists had some commercial viability. Granted this has not required a great monetary contribution on my part (unfortunately) and my single purchase here and there did little to bring fame and fortune to Hoosier based bands.

For these reasons, I agonized recently about whether to purchase Rhymefest’s major label debut on J Records, “Blue Collar”. I have heard about Rhymefest for a few years. He has been touted quite a bit by the local alternative press. Every article I read about him seemed to casually mention his semifinal defeat of some nobody by the name of Eminem at the 1997 Scribble Jam, Cincinnati’s hip-hop festival. Of course Eminem went on to great fame and, until recently, Rhymefest remained in national anonymity.

My problem did not stem from the genre of music. I admit that rap makes up the smallest percentage of my music collection but that didn’t cause me a problem because there is a great amount of rap I really like. My problem was to whether to consider Rhymefest an Indiana based artist and if so, whether or not I should purchase the CD based on this policy I started a few years prior.

Rhymefest is a native from the South side of Chicago. He certainly makes no secret of his native origins and in fact boasts of them repeatedly. The lyrics on his debut mention multiple times where he is from and the CD itself includes “Chicago, Illinois” under his moniker made to look like a patch. All information I found on-line refers to him as “Chicago” rapper Rhymefest. In fact his myspace page indicates the same. Also his new video for the second single for “Blue Collar” shows him rapping on an “el” train while scandalously clad women dance and myriad of Chicagoan landmarks drift by the windows. I never have ridden that particular “el” but would love to take it for a spin next time I am up in the Second City. I did ride an “el” one time where a guy put his feet on my lap the whole ride and told me I had no pride over and over, but I digress.

Not withstanding where he grew up, Rhymefest lives in an Indianapolis suburb. He moved here a few years ago for family reasons and if recent media reports are true, remained even after the reasons for his move ended.

I decided to buy the CD, regardless of my personal confusion of whether or not it fell into this policy I started. For one, Rhymefest grew up in Chicago and obviously loves and respects that great city. I can’t blame him for associating himself with the city where he came of age. If I moved to, say, Omaha tomorrow and one day woke up with Rhymefest’s talent you bet I would drop bombs about Muncie and Vincennes. Second, a video based on the “el” certainly a little more street cred than taking a spin on the People Mover out at Clarian Complex. Also Rhymefest (the story goes) has had a series of tough jobs to support himself and his family and this experience has resonated in his lyrics on his new album. As a former factory painter, corn detasseler, dishwasher, short order cook, watermelon thrower, third shift stock boy, and waiter, I felt I could identify with the lyrics. And most importantly, even after his reasons for moving here ended, Rhymefest stayed. I picked up the CD the first week of its release for only eight bucks.

The CD begins with the introduction and then leads to the three most radio friendly songs on the disk. In fact, the CDs first two singles are found within the first four selections on Blue Collar, “Brand New” and “Fever”. “Brand New” features Kanye West, his friend and his collaborator on West’s hit “Jesus Walks”. Both songs are good but I swear I could hear the record company executive in the background pushing for songs that could translate well to that medium. The songs have a good beat but are not the highlights of the disk. I was most impressed with his other collaboration with West, “More”. The song “More” is a Rhymefest self-boasting of his own dreams and aspirations in the music business. It begins with Rhymefest telling the story of a rapper who had a moment of glory now since removed. I am not sure if Rhymefest is talking about his own insecurities about a very fickle business but the song, one of the slowest on the CD, is a highlight.

I also really liked the next song “Chicago-rillas”. The beat of the song is actually the growling of a gorilla and though it sounds bizarre, it works (maybe it’s a dog who knows). The song, like many on the disk, is actually telling a story with this particular song describing life on the streets of his native city. The other song I really enjoyed was “All Girls Cheat”. The title certainly gives away the song’s theme but contains many of the best lines on the disk (“I ain’t telling ya that ya are wrong for keeping her, All I’m just trying to say ya you don’t own her ya leasing her.”). This song might be Rhymefest’s most personal song based on recent events.

I have enjoyed Rhymefest’s first CD. No matter where his address may be, he is certainly very talented and “Blue Collar” will likely find itself a national audience.

Virgin Millionaires

On Final Four weekend the City held a concert on the Circle. The concert had several popular national acts and was hosted by the former Mr. Jessica Simpson himself, Nick Lachey. One of the bands that played was a band that I never heard of, Virgin Millionaires.

The band gave a good performance and certainly an animated one at that. But, I have to admit the music didn’t overly wow me. When I made it home, I checked them out on line and I was surprised that they hail from Indianapolis. It impressed me that the local organizers would put a local band on the stage with established national bands.

Virgin Millionaires have certainly done a good job of promoting themselves. Their song “Bombs Away” is on heavy rotation on WZPL and they have received airplay on X-103. A review of their myspace page shows they are actively playing shows here in the greater Indianapolis area. Last month they released their EP here locally. For many of the reasons I noted above, I picked it up at Luna for eight bucks.

When I picked up the EP I had hoped that my initial impression would be changed. Unfortunately, it was not. I don’t dislike this band, I think they are good but I don’t know if they will have quite national appeal as touted by Nuvo recently. Their music reminds me similarly when I hear a band such as Train, Fall Out Boy, or Matchbox 20. I don’t find the music offensive to say the least, but I also don’t find it memorable either. My gut is telling me that there are probably a hundred bands throughout the country every bit as good as Virgin Millionaires. It makes me wonder how they will catch the attention of a national label.

At this point I am reserving judgment on the band. I don’t regret buying the CD but I haven’t found myself grabbing for it too often. If they have a great album in them hopefully they will show that when they release their full length CD.


Midwest Music Summit

The Midwest Music Summit, held here in Indianapolis, announced their schedule of concerts recently. You can access the entire line-up here

The Midwest Music Summit features several up and coming bands signed and unsigned to labels. For only twenty bucks you can get a wristband that will get you access to all shows over the course of the three days. It is held on August 10th to August 12th.

One of the highlights of the three days will be on August 10th at the Vogue when Margot and the Nuclear So and So's make their return to the Vogue since their there in April. You can read about that concert here .

Support local music.

--The Kid

The Bush Administration is a hazard to your health

Exhibit 1

HPV is the commonly sexually transmitted infection. It is estimated that 75 percent of reproductive age men and women have had it at one point. Most cases are transient and pass by unnoticed. The real danger with HPV is that it is the leading cause of cervical cancer which kills four thousand women each year. Two drug companies have developed a vaccine for HPV which could prevent thousands of women from contracting cervical cancer. Shockingly, right wing Christians, the Family Research and (according to the New Yorker) the Bush administration all oppose the HPV vaccination.

"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful," Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council told the British magazine New Scientist, "because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex."

Yes, we all know the only which keeps 15 year old girls from having sex is the threat of cervical cancer.

Exhibit 2

President Bush is poised to use his first veto in his six years as President to stop federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Over seventy percent of Americans support continued research in embryonic stem cells, which could lead to advances against several conditions including paralysis, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's.

Exhibit 3

Lastly, from today's Washington Post: "Federally funded "pregnancy resource centers" are incorrectly telling women that abortion results in an increased risk of breast cancer, infertility and deep psychological trauma, a minority congressional report charged yesterday."

According to the article, the federaal government has given 30 million dollars in funding to these anti-abortion pregnancy resource centers since 2001. President Bush is a strong advocate of these sites which were formerly called "crisis pregnancy centers". Few of them received any federal funding before 2001.

One particular center told a caller the risk of cancer would increase 80 percent after an abortion. The consensus in the medical establishment is there is no link to an increased cancer risk after an abortion or miscarriage.

In sum, the adherence to the failed abstinence policy could put millions of women at risk for cancer. The President is going to veto a bill which could lead to medical advances. Finally, federally funded pregnancy centers are lying to pregnant women to scare them from having an abortion. This administration chooses to ignore science even to the point where it has to lie or coverup studies. You can call it a reversion to the middle ages, make a reference to Galileo or even call it the American Taliban. Sadly, it is not much of a stretch.

Dubya Dubya III

An open microphone picked up this comment by George W. Bush to Tony Blair at the G-8 summit.

Mr Bush was caught saying that a key to defusing the Middle East crisis was for "Hezbollah to stop doing this s**t". "What they need to do is get Syria to get Hizbollah to stop doing this s**t, and it's over," Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a leaders' lunch at the Group of Eight industrial countries gathering here.

The president was on camera but apparently unaware that his words were being captured by a microphone.

It was unclear who 'they' were.


Link

Updated: St Allio informed me of this Crooks and Liars video footage.

Jim points to this more thorough NYT article.

Sitemeter fun Volume 4

Torporindy is the number three search result for "Does angola, Indiana have jews?"

Interestingly, this search came from Charlottesville, Virginia.

America's No. 1 terror target: Indiana?

This is pretty ridiculous. According to Homeland Security, one out of every nine terrorist targets in the country are in Indiana. We have almost twice as many targets as California or New York. This is probably because our overzealous state agency placed Wal-Marts and “other assets” on the list.

One of the businesses on the list is Amish Country Popcorn (pictured above) in Berne, Indiana. The company employs five people. Perhaps they were on the list because terrorists universally hate the Amish. Personally, I know Al-Qaeda, Chechen rebels, the IRA, ETA, November 17, JDL and even the former Red Brigades, hate the amish and hate popcorn as much as they hate our freedom.

Actually, this will work out well as we'll receive more federal money. Of course, this comes at the expense of legitimate targets in New York, Washington DC and California.

No Cigarettes, No Porn, No Fun

First they banned cigarettes...

Now, they are taking away pornography. Pretty soon no one is going to want to go to prison.

Magazines such as Hustler, Playboy and everybody's favorite--Easy Rider are banned from the Indiana Department of Corrections effective July 1 for their depictions of nudity. An inmate is suing over the policy and claims magazines such as National Geographic could be banned.

--

In other news, the Germans were given rave reviews for their organization of the World Cup. On the other hand, there is always at least one critic .

--

The Sheriff of Marion County (Indianapolis) will receive a 50,000 dollar raise. He made 360,000 dollars last year. The head of the larger Indianapolis Police Department earns 89,000 dollars a year.

Here are some Sheriff salaries for comparable cities:
• Cook County, Ill. (Chicago): $160,000.
• Jefferson County, Ky. (Louisville): $96,000. The sheriff is also eligible for up to another $3,300 in training incentives a year.
• City of St. Louis: $90,000.
• Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati): $96,000.
• Franklin County, Ohio (Columbus): $99,000 ($11,000 of that comes from the state).

-- Source Indianapolis Star library research

Fatrobot shows the real reason Zidane received the red card.

Rupert Murdoch owns myspace.com. Does he have a myspace page? I don't know, but Slate.com has created one for him. check it out.

Adam Carolla hangs up on Ann Coulter

I have never been a fan of Adam Carolla, but this is pretty cool From Crooks and Liars.

Audio

On yesterday’s Adam Carolla radio show, Ann Coulter called in to the show an hour and a half late, then told the host "I am really tight on time."Carolla responded, "All right, well get lost" and then hung up on her mid-sentence.


The Great Society provides a rough transcript:

ADAM CAROLLA: Ann Coulter, who was suppose to be on the show about an hour and a half ago, is now on the phone, as well. Ann?

ANN COULTER: Hello.

CAROLLA: Hi Ann. You’re late, babydoll.

COULTER: Uh, somebody gave me the wrong number.

CAROLLA: Mmm… how did you get the right number? Just dialed randomly — eventually got to our show? (Laughter in background)

COULTER: Um, no. My publicist e-mailed it to me, I guess, after checking with you.

CAROLLA: Ahh, I see.

COULTER: But I am really tight on time right now because I already had a —

CAROLLA: Alright, well, get lost.

A new look for lady liberty?

MEMPHIS, July 4 — On Independence Day, Lady Liberty was born again. As the congregation of the World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church looked on and its pastor, Apostle Alton R. Williams, presided, a brown shroud much like a burqa was pulled away to reveal a giant statue of the Lady, but with the Ten Commandments under one arm and "Jehovah" inscribed on her crown.

And in place of a torch, she held aloft a large gold cross, as if to ward off the pawnshops, the car dealerships and the discount furniture outlets at the busy corner of Kirby Parkway and Winchester that is her home. A single tear graced her cheek.

It was not clear if she was crying because of her new home, her new identity as a symbol of religion or, as the pastor said, America's increasing godlessness. But although big cheers went up from the few hundred onlookers at the unveiling, and some people even wore foam Lady Liberty crowns bearing Christian slogans, she was not universally welcomed.

link

Indiana 49th in reproductive rights

A partnership between Ipas, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective has rated Indiana among the worst in the country for reproductive rights. Only neighboring Ohio fared worse. The site evaluates reproductive laws and apping "uses a penalty-points system to determine whether a state's laws and policies uphold sexual and reproductive rights".

Honestly, I do not know how Indiana ranked below South Dakota (46th), which recently enacted a ban on all abortions unless the mother's life is endangered. The partnership has not been informed of Indiana's "Choose Life" plate, so it's possible we could be ranked 50th next year. The detailed map has very detailed information about reproductive laws in every state.

This makes me hope there really is a hell.

Margot & The Nuclear So and So's -



I love this video by Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos. It features a cartoon of bloodthirsty pirate cats who invade an island of unsuspecting mice. The video has also been featured on spin.com

I found this story on Shakespeare' Sister

A large Delaware school district promoted Christianity so aggressively that a Jewish family felt it necessary to move to Wilmington, two hours away, because they feared retaliation for filing a lawsuit. The religion (if any) of a second family in the lawsuit is not known, because they're suing as Jane and John Doe; they also fear retaliation. Both families are asking relief from "state-sponsored religion."

This blog has an excellent collection of links about the harassment directed to this family. The persecution largely stemmed from There are several shocking examples of persecution this family had to go through, but this one is probably most shocking to me:

A former board member suggested that Mona Dobrich might "disappear" like Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the atheist whose Supreme Court case resulted in ending organized school prayer. O'Hair disappeared in 1995 and her dismembered body was found six years later.

Update: This story is on Kos now.

Apparently, the Stop The ACLU Coalition to publicize the names, address, and telephone number(s) of the Dobrich family on the group's website. Classy.

Declaration of Independence

Doug Masson has the full transcript of the Declaration of Independence posted on his blog today. As I skimmed through it, I started to wonder which George they were talking about. This led to me to begin a list of how the grievances outlined in Declaration of Independence applied to our President. After a few google searches, I realized that I am not the first person to have done this. The Veterans For Peace issued their "Declaration for Impeachment" one year ago. It reads as follows:

"He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.


He has - deprive(ed) us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury - transport(ed) us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.


He has constrained our fellow Citizens - to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.


He is at this time transporting large Armies - to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.


A (President) whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

Other than what is contained the paragraphs, the language above is unchanged from the original document.

Happy Independence Day.

The Bayh Campaign

It is no secret Senator Bayh is going to run for President in 2008. Otherwise, no one in their right mind would spend so much time in Iowa. The Louisville Courier Journal had an article about how Senator Bayh is looking for grass roots support in the blog world. The article mentions the growth of the website AmericansForBayh.com and blog friend Marie.

Update: Rob notes a similar article is in today's Indianapolis Star

Your friends and neighbors

Are you bored watching community access channel only to find the same boring complaints of trash pickup, unmowed lawns and noisy vehicles? Well, it takes a nut raving about rogue helicopters to inject some much needed excitement into this tired format.