A quick dose of seething hatred

Wag of my dick goes straight at the US Army, for fucking up the mailing addresses of letters to family members of US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and referring to the men as "John Doe". Forget for a moment the crippling dehumanization that comes with having your dead mom, dad, husband, wife, son, or daughter labeled a John Doe, and think for a second about the arrogance and disdain it takes to outsource the writing of letters to families of dead fucking US soldiers.

Oh, Army chief of staff General Casey is now writing a "personal letter" to each of the 7,000 family members? I award you no make up points - you should have been writing these letters your damn self all along.

Look, anyone who has watched a single fucking Vietnam or WWII movie knows that the only way to save the General that led the dead soldiers to their sad fates is to show him agonizing over writing exactly these kinds of letters. Outsourcing that shit is so goddamn horrible, I don't know that Dante even thought up a level for it.

So, in short, fuck you US Army.

Best Albums of 2008 - an idiot's list

Here you go, my favorite albums of 2008.

1. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
2. Sigur Ros - Meo Suo I Eyrum Vio Spilum Endalaust
3. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
4. Metaform – Standing on the shoulders of giants
5. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
6. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
7. Dr. Dog – Fate
8. Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter III
9. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer
10. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

Notable by its absence - Bloc Party – Intimacy. I found this to be a misnomer.

Honorable Mention (cause I’ve only heard 1-2 songs on it so far, so can’t totally judge):
Drive by Truckers: the song Opening Act might be my favorite of the year. I guess I’m a lil bit country. The crescendo of that song begins, “As I’m driving North and the sun is rising over a Technicolor horizon”, which is the most perfect lyric I’ve heard in a long, long time.
Deerhunter: the song Nothing Ever Happened is my current favorite song.
MGMT: Kids is an awesome song. There’s at least 2 other tracks on here I like, so maybe I should get around to listening to the whole thing.

The God You Suck Award: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend. Hatehatehate. Runner-up: Portishead. I heard “Machine Gun” about 500 times this year, and hate that song so much it kept me from listening to anything else on what I gather is actually a good album.

Ahem

Good afternoon, Governor Haley Barbour, you utter and complete fucking prick. You are a swine, a fascist, racist, pigheaded sonofabitch without the slightest inkling of a moral center.

Go fuck yourself with a rusty meathook, you shitstain on the tighty whiteys of Democracy.

Thank you for your time.

Devastatin Dave Presents: The Worst Song of the Year contest

Our first nominee for 2008: Sharp Drest, by Mochipet.


Sweet lord this song is fucking terrible.


Devastatin Dave, on the other hand, is amazing.

Got a nominee? Put it in the comments. We'll revisit this at the end of the year.

A Chicken in Every Pot and a Child in Every E.R.

Looks like President Bush is just about ready to Veto legislation that would provide expand funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program which provides health insurance at no- or low-cost to children of families that otherwise couldn’t afford it. Of course, health insurance is pretty expensive, in part because people who do not receive the preventative care that can keep them from developing expensive-to-treat chronic diseases later in life. They don’t receive preventative care, because, well, they have no health insurance, and have to rely on the ER for care.

Given how expensive covering kids would be, how would we pay for it? Well, by raising the cigarette tax. Makes sense to me, given the huge cost incurred by smokers on the nation’s Medicare system (funded by you and me). But not to Bush.

Apparently, he’d prefer to keep millions of kids out of care, so that they grow up with brains damaged by lead poisoning, unable to secure decent jobs except – surprise! – in the armed forces*. Of course, while those kids are waiting for hours in the ER for care, why not have them enjoy a refreshing, tasty Camel?

* not in any way meant as a slight to our fighting men and women, merely a statement of fact that the armed forces is one of the US’s employment safety nets. Much like prison and drug dealing, only less violent.

South Philly = Rhodes, cont...

So, you remember the previously posted here story about a pack of frothing idiots who think putting a couple 400 ft. towers at Broad and Washington will revitalize South Philadelphia.

Well, the same developer who wants to build those big steel phalli also annexed an entire sidewalk along South Street next to his nearly completed enormous eyesore monument to gentrification. To build a diabled access ramp for the 1st floor shops. That actually more closely resembles a terrace. That people in wheelchairs can't access, because, well, the sidewalk is too narrow for wheelchairs. Because of the access ramp this idiot built. Without zoning approval. Do yourself a favor: don't read those sentences again, or think about them too much - it can cause brain damage.

Of course, brain damage would qualify you for a seat on Philadelphia's city council, right down the row from Frank DiCicco, spokesman for hubristic developers everywhere.

In short,

DiCicco = dickbag.

Samir Benakmoume = Napoleon w/ a smaller penis and more VD.

Streets Department = chickenshit.

Wheelchair bound people = fucked.

South Street and 13th = deathtrap.

Rich, white tenants of the good ship = happy w/ a terrace (ramp) that they'll probably never use, cause then they'd have to sit within view of people who have a different skin tone than them.

South Philly = Rhodes

Whoo hoo!

Apparently, my 'hood is about to become the fancy, bona fide doorway to center city that everyone wants it to be.

Wait, did I say everyone? I meant, ALMOST NO ONE.

Notice that this collossal monument of hubris is brought to you by none other than Frank DiCicco, local councilman. This is precisely my problem w/ DiCicco. He's blatantly pro-business, pro-development, pro-whatever will line his district and pockets with more $. And he is so at the expense of the opinions of the people he represents.

While there's nothing at all wrong with being pro-casino, or pro-development, or pro-this-new-project, having that stance when it directly conflicts with the overwhelming majority of the people you represent is NOT ok. It's not democracy. Yes, he later changed course on the casino deal, but never forget that he was one of the biggest proponents of the deal at first. I can imagine him changing his stance on this come next election cycle, but meanwhile everything he's done since the election demonstrates his total disdain for his constituency. He's a piece of shit.

And, speaking of pieces of shit...
Fear not, young Fado dwellers! Roofie coolattas are back on the menu.

Here endeth the rant.