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by Madam 8-Ball
IS IT REALLY AN HONOR JUST TO BE NOMINATED?
AQUARIUS: Definitely.
PISCES: Absolutely.
ARIES: Absolutely.
TAURUS: Yes.
GEMINI: Maybe.
CANCER: Absolutely.
LEO: Maybe.
VIRGO: No way!
LIBRA: Absolutely.
SCORPIO: Absolutely.
SAGITTARIUS: Yes.
CAPRICORN: Ask again later.
Specialty Bonus Sign
OPHIUCHUS: No way!
Sunday, February 27.
JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE GO PILLS
7PM. The Eight By Ten.
Federal Hill, Baltimore.
10 East Cross Street
If you are sick of the Oscars, here is the perfect solution!
Jonathan Richman is a legend. He was a Modern Lover. He's the guy in There's Something About Mary. He'll be backed by Tommy Larkins on drums. And he's coming to Baltimore, which, if you live in Baltimore, means this show is closer than going to see him in DC.
Collectively, The Go Pills aren't legends (yet). Individually, though, they kinda are.
If you're reading this, the chances are very good you pay your fair share of taxes.
You may not like it, but you pay them.
Know who doesn't? Bank of America. Boeing. Citigroup. Exxon-Mobil. General Electric. Wells Fargo. You know, the titans of industry and capital. The large corporations who we bail out when needed, and who we subsidize even when it's not needed.
In fact, you paid more in federal income taxes last year than all of these cororations. Combined.
And yet, cuts to public services continue.
Organized labor is now under attack.
College tuition aid is being cut.
Health benefits, unemployment insurance, and health benefits are all being targeted by conservative law makers.
As a result, Americans are taking to the streets and taking to the halls of state capitols. And, as this clip shows, even the police are on the side of the people:
But it's not just in Wisconsin.
Here's a recent protest outside of Bank of America in Boston.
What we are seeing is domestic disaster capitalism - a Wall Street-caused, unprecedented economic crisis which conservatives are using to kill social safety net programs, public entitlements and are setting up a giveaway to the very titans of industry and capital who caused the disaster in the first place, and who don't pay their fair share in the second.
In the coming months, politicians across the country are going to tell Americans that the only way to stave off huge deficit and balance the budgets is by gutting programs for the poor, eviscerating support for the middle class, eliminating labor rights, and decimating the government’s ability to serve the public interest. This is a lie. The United States is the richest country in the history of the world, and income inequality is higher now than it has been at any time since the 1920′s, with the top “top 1 percentile of households [taking] home 23.5 percent of income in 2007.”
Wall Street is crushing mainstreet.
But mainstreet is fighting back as hundreds of thousands of students, union workers, retirees, public employees and what's left of the exhausted middle class come together to form The Main Street Movement.
Join up with US Uncut.
Follow them on Twitter.
Like them on Facebook.
Join the movement. The moment is now.
More1.
More2.
It's one thing to oppose Maryland's soon-to-be-passed same sex marriage legislation. It's another thing to be a State Delegate and, like Anne Arundel County Republican Don Dwyer Jr., to be distributing materials from hate groups to your colleagues.
Dwyer sent the following email with links to Mass Resistance. Mass Resistance is a hate group as ranked by The Southern Poverty Law Center.
This is Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr.
I have been fighting for many years now to keep marriage between a man and a woman as the Creator God intended.
We are about to redefine the term “marriage” to include same sex marriages. Please open, print and read the attached files regarding Same Sex Marriage
PLEASE NOTE: THE EFFECTS OF SSM AND THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK ARE VERY DISTURBING BUT YOU MUST KNOW WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT TO CHILDREN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS For more information on the educational agenda please click these links. http://www.massresistance.org
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/issues/kevin_jennings/index.html
Montgomery County Maryland is currently teaching homosexuality in their schools.
I NEED YOUR HELP TO WARN PARENTS AND OTHER CHURCH LEADERS
In His Service,
Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr
Dwyer wants to be the face of homophobia in Maryland. Really. The Baltimore Sun's Julie Bykowicz reported:
Del. Don Dwyer Jr., an Anne Arundel County Republican who has called himself "the face of the opposition" began his testimony with a prayer. He implored legislators to look to their faith.
"Look deep into your soul for the answer," he said.
Shame on you, Anne Arundle County, for electing this hateful dolt as your representative. And shame on anyone who looks into their supposed "souls" and ends up supporting people like Dwyer.
BERSERK
[mp3]01 Giant Robots
The Berserk cassette I still have is from 1990. It was a promo I got from Dave Koslowski from Merkin Records. I had seen Berserk play somewhere in Virginia in 1990/91-ish and wanted to book them to play on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where I was promoting shows at the time.
This song, "Giant Robots" is #3 on the cassette demo. It's also track #1 on the the self-titled full length released in 1994 by Go Kart Records.
The single won the Baltimore CityPaper's "Best 45" in 1991. The band won CityPaper's "Best Band" award in 1992. By the late '90s, the band had broken up (and played a reunion or show or two) and Brent Malkus, Dave Cawley and Skizz Cyzyk had moved on to many other projects.
The album fluctuated between a Devo-esque sound and a heavier Husker Du sound. The result is a fascinating piece of Baltimore music history.
Yesterday, in a tight vote (24 - 21), the Maryland Senate voted to approve same sex marriage legislation.
The state senators listed below, because of their own prejudices, ignorance and/or bigotry, decided to vote on the wrong side of history and try to deny the right of two consenting adults to marry.
Anne Arundel County
John Astle - Democrat
James DeGrange - Democrat
Edward R. Reilly - Republican
Bryan Simonaire - Republican
Baltimore County
Norman R. Stone, Jr. - Democrat
Calvert County
Thomas V. Miller - Democrat
Carroll County
Joseph Getty - Republican
Charles County
Thomas Middleton - Democrat
Dorchester County
Richard F. Colburn - Republican
Frederick County
David R. Brinkley - Republican
Garrett County
George Edwards - Republican
Harford County
Barry Glassman - Republican
Nancy Jacobs - Republican
J.B. Jennings - Republican
Prince George's County:
Ulysses Currie - Democrat
C. Anthony Muse - Democrat
Douglas Peters- Democrat
Queen Anne's County
Edward J. (E.J.) Pipkin - Republican
St. Mary's County:
Roy P. Dyson - Democrat
Washington County
Christopher B. Shank - Republican
Worcester County
James Mathias - Democrat
Absent
Prince George's County
Joanne Benson - Democrat
But we can imagine how she would vote:
But Sen. Joanne Benson said her father – who was a "civil rights warrior" and a friend of Kittleman's father – taught her that marriage can only be between one man and woman.
"My father often talked to us about the importance of marriage," said Benson, D-Prince George's. "One thing he said to us was you get married because one of the most important reasons for marriage is to have children."
Sadly, this is one of the most assinine and just plain stupid rationalizations for doing the wrong thing I've read from a Maryland Democrat for a long time (and I've read some doozies over the past couple years).
What's more, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller has said that if this legislation does become law then a referendum question would be on the 2012 ballot. And this bill's chances of becoming law look pretty good.
It's one thing to go against your party and lose the vote, Mike. It's another thing to actively try and defeat legislation after it has already been passed.
Also, Mike - when you put these dumbass referendums on ballots for the public to vote on, it just makes some of us think what the hell are we paying you for?
And finally, why do churches and religious institutions get special exemptions from anti-discriminatory policies? Do religous groups have the right to refuse to participate in weddings based on race?
Senators amended the bill to include protections for religious groups and institutions to keep them from being forced to participate in gay weddings.
Meet Rep. Paul Broun. He's a Republican from Georgia.
This past week, at a town hall event, one of his constituents asked:
"Who is going to shoot Obama?"
Now, it's important to remember in these sorts of situations, you can't blame the politician for the question. After all, there are all kinds of crackpots and crazies out there. The only thing we can hold the politician accountable for is the way he handles such a question.
Outrage, for example, might be an appropriate response. Perhaps a stern rebuke, reminding the citizen that political assassination has no role in democratic American politics.
So, how did Rep. Broun handle this question?
This is his response:
"The thing is, I know there's a lot of frustration with this president. We're going to have an election next year. Hopefully, we'll elect somebody that's going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare."
Ah. Sympathy with the audience member's frustration.
Classy.
But then, Broun is the same politician who has been telling constiuents that Obama is a socialist.
That Obama and BP had some sort of conspiracy going with the BP Gulf oil spill.
And during healthcare debates, he told a man with a major depressive disorder to just take it to the emergency room.
That's some great representation ya'll have for yourselves there, Georgia.
TONIGHT! AN EVENING WITH TIM KREIDER
Friday, February 25.
7:00PM. Atomic Books.
Hampden, Baltlimore.
Cartoonist Tim Kreider celebrates the release of his new book, Twilight of the Assholes, by reading from and signing copies of the book.
Refreshing beverages will be served.
Tim was also appointed to Rolling Stone's Supreme Court of Assholedom.
JAD FAIR
myspace
last.fm
[mp3] The Best Ever
From the upcoming album, His Name Itself Is Music, due out on March 1.
[mp3] Bite of My Soul
From the upcoming Brooklyn Sound Solution. Due out on March 15.
