PunkAssBlog.com

“Geronimo,” or “Something people say when they jump out of airplanes.”
It’s funny because I think if I wasn’t actually of Native American ancestry, I’d write more about them–as it stands, though, I suppose I feel like there is much less excuse for my lack of real in-depth knowledge about the history and culture–I’ve always had […]

I am leery of the death penalty for two reasons, one philosophical, one brutally concrete.
The philosophical reason is that I object to the State, that amorphous and unaccountable collection of legislation, having the absolute power of life and death over any individual. The State already has a fair amount of control […]

I’ve been working on some pieces about the American criminal justice system, and I came across this:
“A person who has chosen to commit armed robbery, rape or kidnapping has chosen to do something with a strong possibility of causing the death of an innocent person,” Mr. Scheidegger said. “That choice makes it morally justified to […]

…or let him be killed, apparently. That would be double-stuff good for The Powers That Be, having some racist gunhumper breeze through the non-existent deterrents and do in the primary threat to the status quo. Then they could avoid the tiresome hassle of ginning up some lame cover-up story for their operative/patsy. […]

I guess when a country ponders approving a 3 trillion dollar budget when it’s already 9 trillion in the red, the idea of anyone ever actually paying off their bills must seem like a sucker bet. At least, that’s what certain “optimists” are *hoping* is the case when our little tax rebates start showing […]

Six years, umpteen godzillion dollars and a Patriot Act later and this is all we got?
While the Defense Department conducts exhaustive planning for operations overseas, its planning for possible action inside the United States in response to attacks is inadequate, said the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves.
“We looked at their plans. They’re totally […]

Hooray! The extremely popular White House wielded its unstoppable positive momentum again this week:
A White House plan to broaden the National Security Agency’s wiretapping powers won a key procedural victory in the Senate on Thursday, as backers defeated a more restrictive plan by Senate Democrats that would have imposed more court oversight on government […]

Everyone who is queasy about RealID will find this post to be helpful when explaining to people why:
The story of Fidencio Estrada, a drug runner who bribed Florida Customs agent Rafael Pacheco to (among other things) access multiple federal law enforcement databases on his behalf, suggests that when it comes to the government collecting data […]

Another day of SPP talks and protests, another mindboggling quote from CCCE president Thomas D’Aquino. In reference to the protesters’ displeasure at the fact that elected representatives and the public aren’t being consulted on the SPP, he said:
I do not say to myself, ‘If I don’t get an hour with the prime minister in the […]

I have a lot more photos from the protest here, so check them out.
The media can’t really explain it. The governments of three countries have been very vague about it, to the point where most elected representatives don’t know what it is. And yet, some people seem rather upset about it.
Until a few days […]

You know who doesn’t normally have a lot of power? A dude actively disliked by over 60% of his supervisors.
Someone should really tell that to the idgit Democrats in Congress, though, who bluster about rights and justice and then bend over and stuff a poster tube in their ass to give the Republicans better […]

Every cloud has a silver lining. The best part about any needlessly reactionary legislative battle is waiting for the unintended consequences to pop up. Like remember when a bunch of states made vague anti-gay-marriage Constitutional amendments and now it’s harder in those states to get a DV conviction if you’re not married to […]