$30 BILLION dollars a year, billion, to be "simply wrong"?

The top Marine Corps officer in Iraq, Lt. Gen. James Conway, said on Friday U.S. intelligence was "simply wrong" in leading military commanders to fear troops were likely to be attacked with chemical weapons in the March invasion of Iraq that ousted Saddam.

billmon has compiled a list of claims re: the missing wmd's.

also, here's a bit from the nytimes about the "stimulus" package, actually more of a re-write of the tax code than a solution to the mounting record debt. it makes the same point that npr's "marketplace" show did yesterday when it interviewed a single mother, making somewhere in the low 20's a year, who will not get the additional $400 child tax credit ( a boost from $600 to $1000, checks that will head out this summer), even though she would be the perfect person to take that money and put it right back into the economy, buying things, goods and services and what not. compassion indeed.
i'm sure that, in this day and age, her bosses are just chomping at the bit to give her a raise in response to their tax breaks.

Why won't this once scandal-obsessed city take what happened in Texas seriously? Sure, it involved neither sex nor money. But it involved something more serious: the blurring of the line between the power of the state and the partisan interests of those who run it--a line that represents the fundamental separation between a democracy and a dictatorship. When FBI files showed up in Bill Clinton's White House, Republicans, with the help of the press, screamed with outrage, even though no evidence that they were used for any partisan purpose was ever uncovered. Yet, in this case, when we know that police powers were harnessed for partisan gain, the issue elicits laughs.

that is from the new republic, as chosen by talking points, which has stayed on top of the texas sized texan sleezeballs.

fantagraphics needs yer help. buy if you can.

heh. have you seen me.

oh yeah.
being moist all day, i listened to this american life to past the time - a very nice one about "superpowers" pointed me to gone and forgotten, a comics lovers site digging through the also-rans and left overs.

ol' matt datt, bless his heart, dropped a post to wish me well, as obviously i have not blooged for chit lately. instead of bitchin' about staring at a lightbulb (monitor) all day long, i'll post some linky goodness, but not before i mention that kottke is considering a slowdown as well. something in the water?
currently on the night table is the second ish of the believer, a sister mag to mcsweeneys, as well as the de capo book of rock and roll writing that i picked up at hawley-cooke while visiting the undisputed center of the universe, as well as the never-ending pile of Bike and Ride magazines that my friend lowell collected over the years. two british motorcycle mags that NEITHER have a web page!!
amazing in this day and age.
oh, what else, the latest sock monkey comic from tony millionaire, and proficient motorcycling, 'natch. everyday is, in some little way, a motorcycling day.

looking forward to this weekend to catch up from the last one. i went to perhaps one party too many, or had just too few hours less than enough time to myself that when tues rolled around and corrections arrived at werk, the punches were hard to roll with.

i'm a bit embarassed that the purchasing of a new vehicle, to replace the mustang, has itself turned into a bit of a soap opera. it has to do with titles and registrations and i can't even believe it. i am, of course, still hopeful at this point, but will probably wait to tell the retarded tale when its reached some kind of conclusion.

other than that, i've been using the networking function in the new itunage to listen to this other dude's collection of Nilsson tunes. serendipitously, this weekend i stumbled upon a copy of "the point" by nilsson, complete with illustrated book. about half the people i ask remember "the point" as a t.v. cartoon, and half don't.
upon further listening to "nilsson schmilsson" i'm convinced that the song "jump in the fire" has been used for some kind of advertising over the year because its sounds amazingly familiar. then again, the album was "on the charts" for most of a year and was very successful, so maybe it was just played alot. the girl remarked that this song was played on kxlu recently and she wondered if it was some new garage based group like the white stripes until mr. dj hipped her.

i also bought a cd. richard pryor's "is it something i said".

where'd the cheese go indeed:

Though Defense has long been notorious for waste, recent government reports suggest the Pentagon's money management woes have reached astronomical proportions. A study by the Defense Department's inspector general found that the Pentagon couldn't properly account for more than a trillion dollars in monies spent. A GAO report found Defense inventory systems so lax that the U.S. Army lost track of 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-unit.

was just on a break, chillin in the sun on the roof, when i heard a mockingbird.
i was never positive if what i was hearing for years and years was a mockingbird or a nightingale, but mockingbird it is.
they have a huge range of songs that they run through when singing.

the car is gone, it has been gone since this last saturday.
this older dude, who knew the first dude who was interested but didn't have a place to put it, bought it for a third dude who will probably restore it.
which is a nice thought.
i got $50 from the first dude to hold it for a week while he tried to find a place to store it and an additional $500 from the second dude who bought it for the third dude when the first dude couldn't find a dude to store it for him and thus forfeitted the 50 bones.
$550.
its not uncommon for me to get attached to "things", both animate and not as well as ideas, notions, patterns and habits. i had errands on saturday and so was going to leave the keys in the car for a fourth dude, the tow-truck dude, who was gonna pick up the car for the second dude - the dude who bought it for the third dude who lives up in san jose.
if i wasn't in a hurry at the time, i may have done more than just shudder when i sat in it for the last time.

other than that, this week seems to be about waiting - several things in the mail and some paperwork to clear up. its like tom petty said.

thought this was a nice bit from a review of the new matrixs movie that i don't plan on seeing:

When, in the first film, Neo sees the Matrix for what it is, a stream of green glowing digits, and thus is able to stop bullets by looking at them, the moment of vision is not simply liberating. It is also spooky and, in a Dickian way, chilling. This moment is the opposite of the equivalent scene in “Star Wars,” a quarter century ago, when Luke Skywalker refuses to wear the helmet that will put him in contact with his targeting machinery, and decides instead to bliss out and trust the Force, the benevolent vital energy of the universe. Neo’s epiphany is the reverse: the world around him is a cascade of cold digital algorithms, unfeeling and lifeless. His charge is not to turn on and tune in but to turn off and tune out.

"City Hall"
All you people up there in City Hall,
You're fuckin' it up for the people that's in the streets.
This is a song for the people in the streets,
Not the people City Hall.
All you motherfuckers in the streets it's time to rise up,
Come along children and fuckin' rise!

Lots of times when me and KG are watchin'
All the fuckin' shit that goes down at City Hall,
We get the feeling we should fuck shit up,
Yeah we should fuckin' start a riot.
A Riot!

We have 'em screaming in the streets,
we have 'em tippin' over shit and breakin' fuckin' windows of small businesses,
and settin' fuckin' fires!
and settin' fuckin' fires!
and settin' fuckin' fires!

[spoken]
And then after the smoke is cleared,
and the rubble has been swept away,
me and KG will peek out our heads.
We've been watching the riots on a monitor twenty floors below sea level,
from a bunker.

We did it Rage-Kage, we beat the bastards of City Hall!
[laughs] But now what will we do?
We must rebuild. But who will lead us in the rebuilding process?
Man, it's got to be someone with the know-how
and the elbow grease to lead us to a new land.
No, not me and KG, we don't have the cognitive capacity to lead...
Alright, we'll do it!

[sung]
We'll lead as Two Kings,
We'll lead as Two Kings.
Ahhhaaa (Two Kings, we'll lead as Two Kings)
Ah-ha ah-how,
We'll lead as Two Kings.

[spoken]
The first decree is to legalize marijuana.
The tyranny and the bullshit's gone on too long.
You old fuckin' shrivs who blocked it's legalization,
you're banished from the land!

[sung]
We'll lead as Two Kings,
We'll lead as Two Kings.
Ahhhaaa (Two Kings, we'll lead as Two Kings)
Ah-ha ah-how,
Lead as Two Kings.

[spoken]
The second decree: no more pollution, no more car exhaust,
or ocean dumpage. From now on, we will travel in tubes!

[sung]
We'll lead as Two Kings, oh, yeah,
We'll fuckin' lead as Two Kings.

[spoken]
Get the scientists working on the tube technology, immediately.
(Tube technology.) Chop, chop, let's go.

[spoken]
Third decree: no more... rich people: and poor people.
From now on, we will all be the same... ummm, I dunno,
I gotta think about that...

[sung]
We'll lead as Two Kings
Ah yeah, ah yeahhhahahaha.
Ha-ha-ho-hee, ha-ha-ho-hee-ha-ha-ho-ho-ho-ho.

[spoken]
[JB:] Oh my God.
[KG:] Ahh... What?
[JB:] Dude, the red phone is flashing.
[KG:] Oh, yeah.
[JB:] Let me scoop that up. Hello? Two Kings.
[KG:] Who is it?
[JB:] What?! No! No fucking way!
[KG:] What?
[JB:] Rage, there's a potato famine in Idaho, you gotta go down there!
[KG:] Oh my God... what?
[JB:] Dude, I gotta stay here!
[KG:] Why do I have to go?
[JB:] Please! Please!
[KG:] Oh, God, okay.
[JB:] Awesome... is he gone? Alright, emergency meeting of Parliament.
All right Parliament, I know this is fucked up, but Rage, he can't be King anymore.
Dudes, he's encroaching on my decrees!
Seriously, let's make him "Duke," a kick ass "Duke."
Or "leader formerly known as King," but-- uh-oh he's comin' back...

[sung]
We'll lead as Two Kings, oh yes
we'll really lead as Two Kings.

[spoken]
[KG:] Uh, dude?
[JB:] Rage.
[KG:] I went all over Idaho...
[JB:] Yeah?
[KG:] Uh, plenty of potatoes everywhere.
[JB:] What? There was no famine?
[KG:] Yeah, there was no famine, no.
[JB:] Dude.
[KG:] I don't know what's uh...
[JB:] A toast...
[KG:] A toast...
[JB:] Long live the "D."
[KG:] Long live the "D."
[clinking of glasses]
[JB:] Long live me. I'm sorry, I poisoned your wine.
[KG:] What?
[JB:] For the good of the land.
[KG:] You p-- I poisoned yours... huh heh, as well.
[JB/KG:] Noooooooooo!!!!!
No!

[sung]
City, city, city, city, city, city, shitty.
Shitty, city, shitty, shitty, city, city, shitty.
Hall, hall, hall, hall, hall, hall, hall, hall.

People inside me are askin' me to smoke up City Hall,
'Cause no one here is talkin'.
People inside me are askin' me to blow up City Hall,
'Cause no one here is rockin'.

People inside me are askin' me to blow up City Hall,
'Cause everyone is Rock-'em Sock-'em Robots.
Everyone is Rock-'em Sock-'em Robots.
Everyone is Rock-'em Sock-'em GO! OH!

originally posted as part of a newslist, but now online:

In the coming months, I will be documenting my daily adventures in recording an LA bidding-war band with a famous Producer. Romance novels have been written on the basis of less, so why not? It?s entirely possible this documentation will be complete come Tuesday. You never know, I could be fired. Something, that to date has not happened to me. The gambler in me wonders if I?m due. The conditions are certainly ripe for that occurrence. If I?m fired, then so be it, I?ll document my next project. But for now, I?m in, and we start Monday. Each day I will supply you with documentation of the days events. The identities of those involved will not be revealed so as to protect the not-so-innocent.

"Dio"

Dio has rocked for a long, long time,
Now it's time for him to pass the torch.
He has songs of wildebeests and angels,
He has soared on the wings of a demon.

It's time to pass the torch,
You're too old to rock, no more rockin' for you.
We're takin' you to a home,
But we will sing a song about you.

And we will make sure that you're very well taken care of.
You'll tell us secrets that you've learned. Raow!
Your sauce will mix with ours,
And we'll make a good goulash baby.
Dio, time to go!
You must give your cape and scepter to me.
And a smaller one for KG.
Go! Go! Dio! Dio!

mark e. smith font.

i had the best intentions, but one of the nights when i was in louisville, when i tried to access blogger, i simply had no luck.
that said, i just returned from a long weekend filled with derby fever. we booked tickets late in the game which meant that r/t to louisville would have cost 6 bills ea, which no sane person would ever pay so we flew into nashville, an easy three hour drive down i-65.
visited hatch show print and re-introduced myself to jim sherraden, the manager, as i have had the pleasure to commision two posters from hatch in the past. bought some gear, 'natch.
also stopped off at tootsie's where hank, among many others, was supposed to have snuck off to in-between sets on the opry, which at that time, was held at the ryman auditorium. the ryman served as a bit of severe storm haven when, upon our return to nashville to catch the last plane to the coast we found ourselves in downtown during a tornado warning.
i have a pretty hefty neurosis about these dispatches from hell, so the less said about them the better, but the nashville metro area didn't suffer from anything more than a great deal of rain, at least the metro area within three miles of the ryman, the twister was four miles west.

louisville was full of fools getting drunk, others getting wasted and still more looking to get hammered. there was a great deal of eating to go along with this drinking, quite a bit of yelling and shouting as well and a fair amount of driving, visiting, chatting and sleeping late involved as per the usual.
we didn't make it to the actual race this year, or the race the day before (the "kentucky oaks"), but did get invited to driver jim and tanya's wonderful post derby sunday brunch. driver jim was another artist involved in the show at the cinderblock, where i performed the opening night - a regular derby eve jam - the friday before the saturday of.
there was a saga, in the traditional sense of a long heroic tale, that involved a poster maker in chicago, his friend and courier, last minute labors, art eating greyhound, food poisoning and a stack of lovely commemorative posters arriving exactly on time to mark the occasion of the cinderblock show, as well as a stage and a sidewalk of thoughtful people.
two favorite moments from the derby day coverage:
1. local coverage cuts to the paddock area where tv personality reports from action at the ATM machine. actually asked: "sir, what do you think of this ATM machine?" to which of course, there was an opinion. segment was capped off with something along the lines of: "...some are taking out more than others here at the ATM, back to you."

2. the hour before the actual race is when the local coverage gives it up to the national big boys. at the start of the first report from the infield, where by this point everyone is tanked, the camera "flew" over head of a grip of fools before settling in front of the field reporter. but seconds before, as it flew over-head, one genius managed to unfurl the state bird up and exactly fill the lens of the camera, the whole hand, the whole finger, before the camera drifted away and the salute dropped back into the teeming crowd.

several things were bought:
book about hatch.
bluegrass.
untamed sense of control.
a small faces cd.
some nocal wine that i can't find down here or even from the winery since they had sold out!