Pumpkin Seeds: Trickle Down Edition

1. My earliest "political" memory is of rooting for Jimmy Carter over Ronald Reagan in the 1980 Presidential election. My second is of being disappointed that Reagan didn't die when he was shot in 1981. 2. Reaganomics can kiss my ass. Shit trickles downhill, not prosperity. There is no pony buried under the manure; just more manure. 3. On Tuesday, my boss finally got the boot. Thursday's goodbye lunch was one of the most awkward moments I've ever had to contribute $21 to. What do you say to someone that was justifiably fired and knows it? 4. Realized last week…

Continue ReadingPumpkin Seeds: Trickle Down Edition

Jesse Helms is back! And this time he’s black.

You can’t make this stuff up.

“Jesse Helms is back! And this time he’s black.” That’s Winston-Salem city councilman Vernon Robinson’s campaign slogan as one of eight GOP candidates in the July 20 primary for North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District.

Pretty inoffensive, though, compared to the radio ad he’s running:

ANNOUNCER NO. 1: Vernon Robinson, conservative. The aliens are here, but they didn’t come in a spaceship. They came across our unguarded Mexican border by the millions — illegally.

They’ve filled our criminal courtrooms and invaded our school. They sponge off the American taxpayer by clogging our welfare lines and our hospital emergency rooms. They’ve even taken over the DMV. These aliens commit heinous crimes against us, like Maximiliano Esparza, who raped a nun and strangled her with her own rosary — illegally.

They commit crimes but won’t commit to learn our language. You walk into a McDonald’s restaurant to order a Big Mac and find to your horror that the employees don’t speak English — illegals. You may be in the heart of America, but you feel as though you are in the Twilight Zone.

Vernon Robinson will secure our borders, cut off the welfare payments and once and for all make English our official language. Press one for English? No. Vote Vernon Robinson for English.

VERNON ROBINSON: I’m Vernon Robinson, and I approve this message.

ANNOUNCER NO. 2: Yo Gringo! Este episodio de Twilight Zone era pagado para Robinson por congreso.

The ad’s come under fire, not for it’s extreme offensiveness but for the fact that the required disclosure at the end – “This ad was paid for by Robinson for Congress.” – is in Spanish.

…?

(more…)

Continue ReadingJesse Helms is back! And this time he’s black.

Dirty Laundry

If you haven't heard by now, Bill Cosby aired some dirty laundry in full public view a couple of weeks ago, speaking at a gala marking the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation ruling. "Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal," he declared. "These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids -- $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.' . . . I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange…

Continue ReadingDirty Laundry

Ladies and gentlemen: Mr. Trent Lott!

Lott Defends Treatment of Iraqi Prisoners By Helen Dewar, Washington Post, Thursday, June 3, 2004 Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) proved he has not lost his knack for inflammatory rhetoric when he defended "really rough" treatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, including the use of dogs against a prisoner "unless the dog ate him." ... "Hey, nothing wrong with holding a dog up there, unless the dog ate him, scared him with a dog," Lott said. When WAPT news anchorman Brad McMullan noted that a prisoner died at Abu Ghraib, apparently after a beating, Lott responded, "This is not Sunday…

Continue ReadingLadies and gentlemen: Mr. Trent Lott!

Pumpkin Seeds: Entertainment Edition

1. The Day After Tomorrow is a stereotypical NYC slam poem: good intentions; overt but shallow politics; a handful of clever moments. New York City flooded; an environment-hating, Dick Cheney-lookalike VP; and American refugees fleeing across the Mexican border are the main highlights of what is basically a special effects exhibition that borrows liberally from the same formula that birthed Independence Day, minus the semi-coherent script. Overall, a guilty pleasure. Hopefully they'll be able to add a disclaimer to the DVD that "no careers were harmed in the making of this motion picture" as I like Dennis Quaid and am…

Continue ReadingPumpkin Seeds: Entertainment Edition

Set This House in Order

Finished Matt Ruff’s Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls yesterday. Absolutely amazing! He’s one of a handful of writers I want to BE.

A description of the plot would be inadequate because his work is so layered and full of texture that it wouldn’t do it justice. Kind of like explaining procreation in clinical terms. Suffice to say that his ability to convey a multitude of distinctive characters has never been stronger than in this twist on a coming-of-age tale of two people with multiple personality disorders. Each personality, or “soul” as he calls them, is as sharply drawn as any of the major characters in Fool on the Hill or Sewer, Gas & Electric: THE PUBLIC WORKS TRILOGY, and the way he presents life inside their heads is nothing short of brilliant.

That the story takes place in the real world, as opposed to the hyper-realistic fantasy settings of his first two books, is a testament to his versatility and a body blow to the idea that “fantasy” and “literary” are two separate genres.

The lives of Andy Gage and Penny Driver, the protagonists of House, will stick with me for a long time.

Up next: Crawfish Dreams, by Nancy Rawles, another random-while-browsing discovery. One chapter in and I’m liking her style.

(more…)

Continue ReadingSet This House in Order

Cause the whole, world, loves it when you don't get down (bah da, bah bah bah-da da) And the whole, world, loves it when you make that sound (bah da, bah bah bah-da da) And the whole, world, loves it when you're in the news (bah da, bah bah bah-da da) And the whole, world, loves it when you sing the blues (bah da, bah bah bah-da da) --Whole World, OutkastAn interesting talk with Omar last night left me with mixed emotions, like an addict who no longer really craves the high but still can't quite break the habit. Having…

Continue Reading