I think that Rawdawg is looking to join a band, but hasn’t told us. And he’s moved to Poughkeepsie.

…birds and snakes and aero-plane, Lenny Bruce is not afraid…

 Or at least that might be what one thinks if one were to get all of one’s news about SCOTUS upholding the individual right to bear arms from Linda Greenhouse of the NYTimes. I’m so looking forward to the day when her buyout kicks in and we have some real reporting from the highest court in the land and not her endless whiny prattle. Oh, who am I kidding, it’s stil the Times. 

After the last few years, I feel as though the “right” has left me, and isn’t the party I grew up with. The presumptive Democrat nominee scares me more than anything I have ever dreamed or imagined. The GOP presumptive is a hero, but a 1980s Democrat. No party is a fit for me right now. When asked last week which party I belonged to - my response was an automatic - “neither, I am a Capitalist.” So, if I were to name a new party that fit my theories right now - it’s the Capitalist Party. What would yours be called? Discuss.
PS - the Bourbon’s was a close second.

So we have some friends who have lived in Alaska for a few years. Sometimes they regal us with stories that are quite bizarre. They were purchasing a house in Fairbanks (pop. 82,000), which is the Big City compared with the places they’ve been living (Circle and Fort Yukon).

They were ready to close on the house, and then all the sudden they couldn’t get in touch with the seller anymore. Given that Steph was 9-months pregnant at the time (delivered baby girl today), this was a concern. Then they found out why. When the guy who’s selling his house to you says “didn’t you see me on the front page of the paper?” But this is a brand of Alaska-crazy that we don’t see much round these parts. N’joy.

CNN has an article about a new report out by Physicians for Human Rights outlining US treatment of foreign prisoners (or terrorists, if you prefer, though it turns out some were not?). From the article:

The report is prefaced by retired U.S. Major Gen. Antonio Taguba, who led the Army’s investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in 2003.

“There is no longer any doubt that the current administration committed war crimes,” Taguba says. “The only question is whether those who ordered torture will be held to account.”

That’s a big question, General. My guess is no.

Hi, my name is Mike and I’m new to Hail Ming.  I like surfing the internet until 4 am and sleeping in.  Thanks for letting me in your club.

5×5,  Sprots

That cat is 71 and plays the guitar like a riot. I’d heard the name before, maybe heard a lick or two, but didn’t think much of it. Well. Seeing him play live was real treat. He is a true showman and a master of his instrument. You figure that’s he’s had to have lost a tidbit or two at his age, but I’m not so sure. I’m ready to go to the library and find some CDs to research this idea.

Dusty and I were able to sneak away Friday night and catch Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood fresh after the rain at a soggy Indy Jazz Fest in front of about 1500 fans. We stuck around for Buddy Guy. A nice little show up close and personal. I’d say we got our monies’ worth and then some.

It’s showtime in LA with some serious industrial grade porn on trial.  Prosecutors have charged an artist filming more than some light petting and hair-pulling like those bullshit women in prison movies on SkiniMax.  We’re talking straight-to-video stuff here.  Bestiality, feces, stuff-your-parents-didn’t-tell-you-about gonzo porn.    There is an upside for the defense noted by the AP article on CNN:

In an unusual twist, the trial is being presided over by the chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Alex Kozinski, under a program that allows appellate judges to occasionally handle criminal trials at the District Court level. Kozinski is known as a strong defender of free speech and First Amendment rights.

Any of you round here interested in something like that?

Meanwhile, the $5k w/rebuys Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball event is taking place today at the WSOP, and my heart dies a little more for not being there.

That said, had the annual physical today. Aside from needing to lose weight (ORLY?), everything else was five by five.

I caught this story yesterday driving after work. Click the listen now link and hear the ridiculous background noises and descriptions ([crunch, crunch]“Sandeep Jusraheen walks down [crunch, crunch] a gleaming white gravel driveway past a black fence and verdant winter wheat fields [crunch, crunch] to his kitchen where his wife and sister [clink clink of silverware] prepare dinner ….” Those always make me laugh.) It’s the story of the town in Iowa whose major industry is a kosher meat packing plant staffed primarily by Mexicans (not Mexi-can’ts), and how happy the town is to be multi-cultural - until the ICE gets involved.

What really struck me at the time was the absolute lack of culpability of anyone in the community. If you listen you’ll notice that the word “illegal” is never used, attached to “immigration” or otherwise. There’s a “massive raid” and many of the workers “plead guilty and will be deported” - guilty of what? The company is searching for a new CEO - why, did the last one break some laws? Did she eat some bad shrimp and die?

So I’m amazed at the lengths media outlets - NPR being probably the best example - will go to in order to avoid mentioning the illegal nature of illegal immigration. They’re all migrants, and undocumenteds, and “out of status” and “unnaturalized migrants.”

All that said, what does the Mingdom think about immigration policy? Part of the law school answer is that controlling borders and immigration is a hallmark of a sovereign nation. It’s also is a security issue. But we don’t do a very good job of it, and I’m not so sure it is a necessity of governments. Immigration control at national borders is a fairly recent development - historically it’s been a local issue (you know, chasing gypsies out of town when they’re done sharpening our knives because they steal babies).

Thoughts on immigration and border controls, NPR issue shaping via language?