Visit the kelpforest....

An mp3 of this was circulating around my work about the time the governator got hisself elected last year. It's been about a year, and as far as I can see it's still applicable. If you want to hear it I can send you the mp3.

When I was a kid my momma said, “Son,
Don’t work for the state like your daddy done.
There ain’t a lot of money and there ain’t a lot of fun
And you’ll owe your soul to the golden one.”
But I was just a hippy and a slacker and fool
Didn’t wanna work but starving wasn’t cool
Took me a test got on that list
Started pushing that paper and I done my best

I got the State Worker Blues
Been payin’ my dues
Have ya heard the good news
Well,there ain’t none.

If you want a sad story, go and see the ex-boss
He’d be under the dome if he hadn’t got lost
Got the deficit recall muscleman blues
And it must be contagious ‘cuz I got em too
Now we got a new boss with a million dollar smile
He’s gonna pump us up but it might take a while
He’s gotta magic bullet to cure this mess
Straight from Hollywood, special effects

I got the State Worker Blues
Been payin’ my dues
Have ya heard the good news
Well, there ain’t none.

Now for year after year I done more with less
Then the less got less and there’s nothin left
If you want a paperclip you gotta get your boss to sign
And they’re handin’ out staples one at a time
At least I got PC with plenty of RAM
For worms and viruses and all of that spam
REFI, Triple X, Money for Free!
I got carpal tunnel from pressin’ delete

I got the State Worker Blues
Been payin’ my dues
Have ya heard the good news
Well, there ain’t none.

Well I’m not complainin’ about my fate
The food at the potlucks is always firstrate
And I’ll tell St. Peter at the Pearly Gate
I was proud to be a worker for the Golden State
There’s a little tarnish on the California gold
And Jay Leno’s jokes are getting’ mighty old
But to the best civil servants in all the land
This is for you, give yourselves a hand.

I got the State Worker Blues
Been payin’ my dues
Have ya heard the good news
Well, there ain’t none.

I got the State Worker Blues
Been payin’ my dues
Have ya heard the good news
Well, there ain’t none.

(repeat and fade out, add kazoo at the end)

- Happy Jack Hastings

For reliable voting results, look abroad...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1103/p01s03-wogi.html

Why other world democracies run smoother at election time.

Apparently, the US is one of the only countries in the world with such a mixture of different voting methods, and with partisan people allowed influence over election counts.

With that, I'm taking my allotted hour off to go and change the world.

I hope.

You tell me...

Things that make you go hmmm....

slo_mo_panda's story

In Oregon...

And in Las Vegas...

Apparently, there's some debate as to who did it...

The Judge's decision...

...so it was only five forms, buuut....

I was considering changing my party affiliation before this election. I'm rather glad now I didn't.

(edit 12/11/2008 - voter registration shenanigans - which seem to have become fairly common...)

Speaking of elections (my condolences to you guys in Australia), I am really surprised by how many Kerry signs and bumper stickers I'm seeing in my neighborhood, which I know is mostly Republican.

Yikes! I been reading/listening to him for going on more than 20 years, and I don't think I've ever heard Garrison Kiellor sound so angry!

(thanks, magicwoman)

I can't help agreeing with him, but I think there's plenty of hypocrisy to go around. Seems to me it's what all of politics is based on.

When I took government in high school, it pretty much disenchanted me with both major political parties. Both of them have changed almost 180° from what they first started from, and both contained major elements I found distasteful. I never joined either. It's my profound belief that anyone remotely interested in serving in politics should be barred forever from it. I can't remember whether it was a story by Arthur C. Clarke or Issac Asimov, that had a political system I thought should be tried, somewhere, sometime. If you had the qualifications for an office, such as owning your own large business, being a decent administrator, etc., your name went into a hat and it was decided by lottery. No one in their right mind actually wanted the job, but it was mandatory you served and did a good job if you were picked.

Of course, it wouldn't work in this world. Someone would find some way to abuse it, just like they do now.

I think someone either at the printer or in his office is playing a joke on our local state assembly member, whose office is not too far from my house. The latest flyer, stresses education reform - the ABC's of a 21st Century Education, it yells, Accountability, Basic Skills, and Crime-Free Schools! The very official letterhead at the top has the member's name, followed by the title "Assemblywoman, 67th District."

However, as you can see here, few assemblywomen are quite that bald...

My brother just sent this:

Are you a better?
Osama bin Lotto

Heh. Not that I'm a conspiracy theorist, but I wouldn't put it past 'em.

Here's Wolfwood from that Bush spot. I managed to get a screen cap, although it's pretty low-resolution.

( click... )

And why, exactly, is Nicholas J. Wolfwood, late of Trigun (oops, no pun intended), in political ad for the Shrub?

I really didn't get the feeling he was a Republican.

(by way of vwsrmylife and utsuri)

http://www.moveon.org/news/1163.html
http://www.moveon.org/windowlight/

Maybe it's a good thing I never took down the string of Christmas lights on our kitchen window.....

I do think it very likely that Saddam Hussein is an evil man who needs to be ousted, but this is not the way to do it. The cover of Newsweek today says "Why America Scares the World." Certain people are set on their arrogant courses and seems like there's no way to turn them.