twinkle twinkle blah blah blah etc.

Who's Zoomin' Who?

The other night I was stuck behind a Ford Fiesta tooling down Livingston at ~15 mph. The Fiesta had a bumpersticker that read "If you aren't outraged, you are not paying attention," a very fitting statement for a vehicle that must be pedaled up hills.

But seriously. This morning brought so much bad news that I feel like Yosemite Sam. Have you been following this shit?

House passes bill on taxes:

Treasury Secretary John Snow said the vote marked an "important step toward ending the burden of the tariffs currently being imposed on U.S. exports."

Some Democrats said parts of the GOP-drafted tax cut, such as new tax rules for multinational corporations, promise to produce more jobs in other nations than employment in their home states.

"Under truth in packaging, it should be called the overseas job creation act," said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich....

The second item would pay tobacco farmers nearly $10 billion to give up a federal quota program that has propped up their crop prices.

Charles Rangel called this bill putting lipstick on a pig. I'm inclined to agree.

Then, there's this little thing about the Republicans blocking the torture memo subpoena:

[Orrin Hatch] described the Democrats' subpoena request as a "dumb-ass thing to do" and a "fishing expedition . . . to make a political point" but added that "I think the White House should comply" with the committee's earlier requests for the documents.

Democrats, accusing the administration of having "snubbed" and "stonewalled" the Senate on the issue, remained skeptical of administration intentions, however, and argued that subpoenas were the only guaranteed way to get the material.

"Hiding these documents from view is the brazen sign of a coverup, not cooperation," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), ranking minority member, who requested the subpoena on behalf of Democrats on the panel. "I haven't seen this kind of stonewalling since the Nixon era," he added.

Interesting to note that WaPo house style hyphenates "dumb-ass." Me, I would make it one word.

So, yeah. Fucking pay attention dumbasses.

In more pleasant, happy-little-trees news, Crimson Sweet is playing tonite at Siberia, 356 W. 40th Street (between 8th and 9th Aves), now conveniently attached to the Bellevue, so if you get bored with the hipsters, you can go watch porn. From the press release:Too fast for love, a hot hand in your glove, this fiery NYC band strips down the rock and rides it back sweating! This is the sound of Silverhead's whip coming down - a burning lash you'll want to feel! Right. Go check them out, it's 5 bucks, bands start at 9. (Also playing: The Gazelles, Ghetto Ways--ha! I just got that--and the Socials.) Crimson Sweet is one of my favorite live bands, and they are thoroughly loud enough to drown out my nonstop thoughts of forming a militia.

Finally, I'm going on vacation for the next few days. I'll be back next Friday, maybe. Smell yous later.

Posted by Dana at June 18, 2004 09:36 AM