Machine Samba is written by the author of Violent Messiahs and the Van Helsing movie tie-in promotional comic book. What a corporate whore!
Here’s a sample:
My hero, George W. Bush, told the world yesterday that the systematic torture and sexual humiliation of the Abu Ghraib prisoners in Baghdad is abhorrent (he pronounced it “aphorrent” but we’ve got bigger fish to fry). He all but actually apologized in the two truncated videos I’ve seen drifting around the net.
I believe he is sorry. Sorry that this is a fucking PR nightmare in an election storm. Sorry that even republicans are currently calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation. Sorry that they only started the Military Intelligence investigation (one of six) a little over ten days ago even though CBS’s 60 Minutes contacted the Pentagon three weeks prior for a response. Very very sorry.
Why I’m not buying the president’s moral outrage has a lot to do with the hard truth about abuse in Texas Prisons under his Gubernatorial watch and the fact that he never apologized to the impoverished Texas prison population. But then he doesn’t see all of them as potential suicide bombers sitting on a shit load of oil either.
It’s obvious what direction Machine Samba will be taking in the months to come.
Glasstrack outlines the reasons why selling your roommate’s stuff is a good idea. Since Glasstrack is also a good lawyer, this is probably something you can do without worrying about the law. In fact, my roommate is heading off overseas for the summer, so I’m thinking I could make at least fifty bucks for my poker bankroll. Sweet!
According to VIVA! Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican victory over French forces may have saved the Union. Sounds like a candidate for some speculative fiction. And the impetus for a statewide menudo cookoff!
Remember last fall? The weeks after the special election? Well, we’ve got some more fires going on. While they’re not as bad as last fall’s, they underscore once again that policies that allow human settlements to get too close to hills which historically burn down every few years are completely irresponsible. When you link the danger to human lives to other urban problems of congestion, pollution, and reduction of open space, you might want to start thinking about imposing a moratorium on further outward growth.
Of course, such a moratorium would be considered completely anti-American by some. The acceptable alternative would be to charge new developments in these areas hefty fees to pay for the construction and maintenance of vital infrastructure to these areas and for a heavy duty rapid response local fire crew. After all, if some people choose to live out in fire country, they should pay for the services needed to keep them healthy and safe.
Ended up +$$ for the first time in weeks. +13.75BB. Caught some decent cards from time to time and played them hard for some decent profits.
But the big winner last night was cavebutter (who will probably never blog again, so I won’t bother with the link). He ended up +21BB after about 3 hours of play. I don’t think I paid much attention to his play (we were hardly ever heads up, and when I bet, he usually folded), but I seem to recall he played a lot of hands. So he either got a good run of cards, or he tried to outplay the table with whatever marginal hands he got. Could have been either.