Friday, December 02, 2005

Eugene Robinson on Tookie Williams

Op/Ed columnist Eugene Robinson says Williams does not deserve special treatment in his appeal to avoid the death penalty on Dec 13. Read his piece here, from Washington Post. In a nutshell, Robinson argues that no one should be killed by the state because the death penalty is applied inequally and is fraught with errors, yet Williams' case is no different from anyone else on death row, except that he has celebrities to promote his cause. Is it any wonder that Snoop Dogg is in his corner, as Snoop himself was a crip and narrowly avoided going to prison for shooting a guy? Or that Jamie Fuxx is bloviating on his behalf, since Foxx appeared in a TV movie about Williams' "conversion"? There are some cases, when the perpetrator of the crime has confessed, there is absolutely no question about their guilt, and it's open and shut. In those cases, the death penalty might be the just desserts, but in every other case, the death penalty is an anachronism that puts us in the company of Iran, Pakistan, Singapore, and a bunch of other non-western theocratic hellholes. Time to evolve, America. Tookie Williams created the Crips, the gang that got to play real life Axis & Allies in Southern California before spreading the gang disease to other cities. Thousands are dead, thousands of lives torn apart and destroyed. Thousands more are in prison, paid for by the good citizens of this great state, and Tookie is responsible. The fact that he is now sorry about it means little, as he's been in prison for 27 years, you'd think at some point every prisoner would wrap their head around the magnitude of their crime. I still believe that he owes the State for 27 years' worth of incarceration, which is about $45,000 per year X 27 = $1,215,000 so far. Tookie maintains his innocence, and since it's been proved that there were innocent people on death row, his life should be spared. But Williams is no martyr or hero, or anyone for duplicitous dipshit celebrities to wrap their arms around.
Texas Gerrymandering Seen As Illegal

A story in today's Washington Post shows that there was a unanimous decision against the redistricting shenannigans of Tom DeLay, but that the Justice Department lawyers were overruled by political appointees. The fact that all six lawyers and both analysts were unanimous should be cause enough to toss out the DeLay redistricting. And don't forget that the current legal woes DeLay is in stem from his efforts to raise money for this redistricting scam. The Texas Republicans gained 5 seats from the redistricting, giving them a firm hold on Congress. Those 5 seats were crowed about as if the country and state had taken a harder turn to the political right, when in reality, these 5 seats were manufactured out of thin air. Corruption. The document detailing these behind the scenes was leaked at last, after having been suppressed by the Republicans. The case will now go before the Supreme Court. Republicans and Tom DeLay: you're on notice. (apologies to The Colbert Report).

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

UPDATES!!!

We have updated the site today. Added tons of new reviews, a new Events listing, and 8 new tracks on the Culture Bunker Jukebox. Now rocking tunes by: Super Furry Animals, The Rifles, Aberdeen City, Ben Krieger, The Exit, The Sock Angels, 100 Flowers, and The Sun.

Monday, November 28, 2005

FASCISM

There's a great commentary on Fascism - Then And Now at the Common Dreams website, check 'er out. It dispels the myth that fascism is something that drops down from above and instead examines the root causes. Some easy Monday reading for you.


GEORGE BEST 1946 - 2005

Football legend George Best passed away last Friday. Best received a liver transplant a year ago but could not stop his alcoholism, which eventually led to his death. Best, a Northern Ireland boy, became a worldwide hero for his brilliance on the pitch, and in particular became a legend for the Manchester United club. He famously left football at the top of his game and proceeded to party like a rock star, with sports cars, famous models, and copious amounts of alcohol. One story has it, that a bellboy was summoned to a hotel room Best was in, and when he walked inside found the footballer sprawled on the bed, the room in total disarray, the current Miss Universe in bed with George, and 20,000 pounds in cash strewn about the bedroom. The bellboy famously asked, "George, where did it all go wrong?" So we honor his memory and his style, his gifts he brought to the game.