The great Kurt Vonnegut compares and contrasts Christianity with Socialism in this pointed excerpt from the audio book of his A Man Without A Country collection of non-fiction essays.
Above, WI Judge David Prosser AKA “Prosser the Tosser” and his dimwitted pal Scotty…
Although I doubt there are many Wisconsinites who need reminding, tomorrow’s WI Supreme Court election between incumbent Judge David Prosser—who has said he’d rubber stamp Gov. Walker’s ticket to destroy the unions—and challenger Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg, will be of the most important statewide elections in decades. Important not just for Wisconsin, but to all of America’s working people. What happens tomorrow—and fuck it, our team is gonna win this one—should scare the shit out of the Republican Party, because when the dust settles, they are going to know—definitively—for whom the bell tolls. Guys, make no mistake about it, it’s tolling for your dumb asses.
Judge Prosser’s top aide said that Prosser would be a “complement” to Walker. How can a Supreme Court justice be anything BUT impartial? And Sarah Palin’s brain-dead Twitter-endorsement? I thought Republicans were against activist judges? Oh right, only when they’re on the other side? Seems to me that the Republicans don’t want to live by their own rules, and they damned sure don’t want others to live by their rules either. These people are clowns, just fucking clowns… and tomorrow they are going to have their heads handed to them on a Vanity Fair paper plate. They have to know it.
Last week former Gov. Patrick Lucey withdrew his support for Prosser and endorsed JoAnne Kloppenburg. Lucey released a statement that Prosser’s sleazy behavior has revealed what he described as “a disturbing distemper and lack of civility” in the Republican’s conduct. Earlier it had come out that Prosser is prone to hissy fits, including one where he called Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson a “total bitch” and threatened to “destroy” her.
David Prosser is a slug that needs some salt thrown on him.
Working people are starting to wise up and the events in Wisconsin have educated even some Tea party-types as that movement burns itself out and loses steam. In the past week alone, it’s been reported that GOP-affiliated special interest groups (many of them from outside of Wisconsin, of course) have bombarded the state with $2 million dollars worth of anti-Kloppenberg advertising. For a state supreme court election? Incredible. Clearly, the Republicans are scared shitless and they should be…
According to Kloppenburg, “The events of the last few weeks have put into sharp relief how important the Supreme Court is as a check on overreach in other branches of government.” The American Federation of Teachers issued a statement that “a Kloppenburg victory will swing the balance to our side. A vote for Prosser is a vote for Walker. It’s time to ‘get even.’”
Get even? Sure, but as much as I love me some Republican schadenfreude—their misfortune, my comedy—I just want to see some justice for the working people of Wisconsin. Tomorrow I expect both.
Once again Dangerous Minds has digitized Nate Cimmino for your conspicuous consumption. Sounds kind of barbaric, doesn’t it? For the purpose of rumination, this offering was conceived in two parts. The Sacred and The Profane. And, they are completely interchangeable, much as in life, so you may do what thou wilt with them.
01. Robert Palmer-Love Can Run Faster (Lee “Scratch” Perry Version)
02. B.S. Pully Intro
03. Joe Bataan-Chick A Boom
04. The Equals-Diversion
05. The Eloise Trio-Chi Chi Merengue
06. Miles Davis-Zimbabwe (edit/excerpt)
07. Muddy Waters- Hoochie Coochie Man
08. Howlin’ Wolf- Back Door Man
09. Greg Wall- Ofan (A Wheel Within A Wheel)
10. Rashanim- Seg Ug’di
11. Sort Sol and Lydia Lunch- As She Weeps
12. Love Of Life Orchestra- Beginning Of The Heartbreak / Don’t Don’t
13. A Secular Exegesis du Jour
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Video Bonus: The Equals Live In Germany 1966
The wild world of dancing to recorded music, the discotheque! The newest dance sensations today are the Frug, the Watusi, the Dog, Swim, Bird and the Mosquito.
The bizarre concept of phoning in your dance requests must have been a Chicago phenomenon and a short lived one. Today’s world is perfect for reviving this idea: tweet a dancer and request the Mosquito or the Bird. Now that would be groovy.
Music by The Squires.
Millionaire Mohamed Al Fayed has told fans of his soccer club Fulham FC, to go to hell, if they do not like his gift of a 7 foot 6 inch statue of Michael Jackson.
Today at its unveiling, Al Fayed responded to criticism over the relevance of having a $150,000, two-and-a-half ton monument to the King of Pop, outside Fulham’s stadium, Craven Cottage:
‘Why is it bizarre? Football fans love it. If some stupid fans don’t understand and appreciate such a gift they can go to hell. I don’t want them to be fans. If they don’t understand and don’t believe in things I believe in they can go to Chelsea. They can go to anywhere else.
‘People will queue to come and visit it from all over the UK and it is something that I and everybody else should be proud of.’
Al Fayed was friends with Jackson, and once invited the singer to attend a soccer match at Craven Cottage in 1999.
Al Fayed is proabably best known as the former owner of the legendary department store Harrod’s, and as the father of Dodi Al Fayed, the “boy friend” of Diana, Princess of Wales, who was killed alongside the Princess in the infamous car crash in Paris in 1997. Al Fayed has famously maintained a campaign to prove MI6 were behind the killing of his son and the Royal Princess.
One fan of Fulham FC, Lee Robinson told the Contact Music:
“Why us? Fulham football fans do not want a statue of Michael Jackson. It’s completely mad. He’s got nothing to do with us. To be honest, he’s the last person you’d want there.”
However, not all fans agree, this from the Guardian:
The former Fulham player Kit Symons, who is now Under-18s manager at Fulham, defended Al Fayed’s decision. “It is great,” he said. “The big thing is it is obviously something that the chairman feels very, very passionately about and he has decided to erect this statue and fair dos to him.”
Speaking about the time of Jackson’s visit, he added: “It was just happy times. They were great times back then. The chairman obviously used to bring high profile people down the games. Tony Curtis was here a few weeks after and it was just fantastic times.”
Celebrity aside, the statue is just not that good, and looks more like a waxwork or one of those gaudy plaster statues found in a theme park. And of course, there is the bigger question of whether a sports club wants to be associated with a man who allegedly had questionable relationships with young boys?
At a time when the shelf life of bands can be stretched way past the point of credibility, it’s a great statement to just stop. Last night LCD Soundsystem, one of the actual bands shaping the “post-Nirvana era,” bowed out with their final ever live show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
They may have divided opinion with their recorded work, but one thing is for sure, they were a really great live act. One of the best modern live acts, in fact, an asset that took them out of the realm of hipper-than-thou and into the mainstream. I think I saw them four times in total, and they got better and better (as did their records). For their last show they are on mighty form, and this is recommended viewing for both fans and fence-sitters alike:
Thanks Teamy!
Breaking with the mainstream media about what happened during the March 26 protest in London, this young woman offers a compelling eyewitness counter-narrative. The way she saw it, it was the police who provoked the demonstrators, and not the other way around.
More about YouTuber “Strange Sanum” here. And if you haven’t checked out Laurie Penny’s important essay at Boing Boing titled “Lies in London.” it’s an absolute must-read.
In The Real Cabaret, actor, Alan Cumming goes in search of the people and places that inspired Christopher Isherwood’s novel, Goodbye to Berlin and the muscial Cabaret.
Starting with Isherwood’s arrival in Berlin in 1930, and taking in a visit to his original apartment (immortalized in the opening paragraph of Isherwood’s novel), Cumming takes the viewer through the sex clubs and cabarets, to the performers, and writers who turned the Berlin stories into a multi-award winning musical. With contributions from Liza Minelli, and Ute Lemper.
Alan explores the origins of the Cabaret story in the writings of Christopher Isherwood and uncovers the story of the real life Sally Bowles, a woman very different from her fictional counterpart.
He talks to the composer of Cabaret about the inspiration for the film’s most famous songs and discovers the stories of the original composers and performers, among them Marlene Dietrich. Finally, Alan reveals the tragic fate of many of the cabaret artists at the hands of the Nazis.
The documentary pays tribute to the magic of the original film and explores the fascinating and often shocking reality of the people and stories that inspired it.
This is an excellent documentary, and Alan Cumming is quite superb as our host,
Previously on DM
Revealing portrait of Christopher Isherwood: ‘A Single Man 1904-1986’
Parts 2-6 of Alan Cummings ‘The Real Cabaret’ after the jump…
Backporch Tapes have just uploaded these two incredible recordings purported to be of Roman Polanski’s lie detector interview with the LAPD August 16 1969, just one week after the murder of his wife, after Sharon Tate.
The overall sound quality is poor, and Polanski sounds confused and upset, but certain questions and answers can be heard clearly - Polanski’s psychological state, his medication, his knowledge of the Polish army, and on the second clip, Polanski’s thoughts about the killer’s motives, and his suggestion of looking for something much more “far out.”
Lie Detector Test: LAPD interview Roman Polanski August 16 1969
Lie Detector Test: LAPD interview Roman Polanski August 16 1969, in which he discusses possible motive.
Previously on DM
With thanks to Simon Wells
