:: Archipelapogo ::

:: 29.8.03 ::

Yay Air Force! Full speed ahead!

Just a nice uplifting story for your holiday weekend. A new report being released by the inspector general of the Dept. of Defense that looks into sexual assaults in the Air Force Academy determines that the numbers are far worse than anyone expected.

Of the 579 female cadets surveyed for the report, 109 said they were victims of at least one sexual assault. One in 10 of the female seniors said they were victims of rape or attempted rape — yet more than 80 percent of the alleged attacks were never reported.

A group of women, all former cadets, say they were raped at the academy and they understand why victims are reluctant to come forward.

According to former cadet Jessica Brakey, “The day my military career slipped through my fingers is when my chain of command found out about it. … Before I knew it, I was fighting to keep up with all the paperwork and all the excuses that they were trying to throw at me for trying to get me out.”

What happened to the man who assaulted her? “He’s flying jets as far as I know,” Brakey said.

Have a great Labor Day.

For those that may be stalking me, I'll be in Tulsa this weekend. If you're good, you know the usual haunts. Just a tip.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Cripes

On my journey out to fetch lunch today I saw three of the more interesting people that work for the same local government jurisdiction that I do, albeit not in the Office of Government Slack.

The first is Bitchy McGrouser. In the course of two weeks I saw her at the sub place and the burrito place with her boyfriend/husband/friend that's a guy/confidant or whatever (who also works for LGJ, possibly in the same department). Both times I saw this poor guy bend over backwards for this girl, setting the table with napkins and plastic forks, pulling out her chair, being all sweet and gentile and making me and my ilk look like a bunch of mongrels. Both times, though, this girl was in a snit from all hell. I don't know what she was pissed about because she would launch into her tirades in a whisper. The combination of meek and bitchy is a deadly one. Of course, scapegoat boy would just look at her with an empathetic face and attempt to console her, which appeared to be about as easy as trying to get an ostrich to mate with a sharp cog. It looked like she was complaining about work (I don't know which department she's in) but I guess I never know. Maybe scapegoat boy deseves it. Maybe he called out her sister's name in bed or something. But I don't think so, he's definitely more empathetic than apologetic. All I know is whatever got this girl irked so badly, she was having a very rough time getting over it.

But scapegoat boy wasn't with her today. Maybe he got a clue and ran the hell away. Maybe she finally offed him and he's stewing in a nice Merlot-based marinade in a tupperware in her fridge. Beats me.

The second guy I just became aware of during our "evacuation drill" Monday morning. I don't know if he's new or if I just hadn't seen him before, but he instantly made me want to hurl black eggs and shoot chards of glass from my eyes in his general direction. Unfortunately I lack the ability to shoot things from my eyes and I was fresh out of black eggs. Anyways, you've got this guy at your work too, or you at least did five years ago when guys like him were found more frequently than discarded cigarette butts. He's got the cool greased hair, wears a bowling shirt, is never seen outside without his sunglasses (nevermind that it's two in the morning and it's raining and the moon no longer exists). He totally looks like he still uses "Dude, you're so money!" four times a day (eight on weekends). I bet he does that damn "point your finger like a gun and click your tongue" crap too. He's the kind of guy that deserves to be squished into Jon Favreau's sweaty ass crack while in a Sauna. In Ecuador. I hadn't seen his kind in quite a while. It'd been nice.

The third sighting was our own little local government cockroach lookin' dude. Head way to small, body way to big. Not fat, just disproportionate. He's also got beady little eyes that he hides between a pair of eyeglasses from 1983, a horrid combover and a dirty little moustache. Well, he had the dirty little moustache. The little bugger shaved it off. It was shocking. Not walk in on your parents and they're in to S&M shocking (no, this is not coming from personal experience). More like discover you've got a flat tire on a Monday morning shocking. He still scuttles, but he looks much less Gregor-esque, which is a very big disappointment. Ten bucks says it's back by December though.

There are many more characters here for another day, like guy with the tiled picture of his baby necktie and exasperated woman. For now, my day is over and I'm going home.

Oh, one last note. Remember Plum Guy? He's back after a long hiatus (I'm sure he went to Amsterdam or something). Anyways, the other day he had a heckler, which made me squeal with delight. Interesting times indeed.
:: Scott [+] ::
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So Long, Fare Well

So the reports are surfacing that Dallas Police Chief Terrell Bolton has been fired. Man, can't a guy get a second chance? Sure, there was that pesky fake drug scandal. And the highest crime rates in the country. But, but....um.

It's about time. Bolton was ineffective and a liar. Why it took this long is a question. Who will replace him is a more important question.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Run for the voting booth

So Taco Bell decides to run a marketing campaign based on the California Recall in which, um, an order for a Crunchy Beef Taco is a "vote" for Arnold while an order for a soft chicken Taco is a "vote" for Gray Davis. You think there's some kind of subliminal message being given here?

How ironic that the most ludicrous domestic political scandal since 2000 is being mocked to promote the ingestion of powdered beef and plastic cheese. Such is the state of the times, I suppose.

Maybe I'm just pissed they denied my topless Mary Cary Tres Leches milk dispenser.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Who's the big loser here? We are. Again.

What with all the hoopla in California and the Middle-East and blackouts and Scot Peterson Trials and Kobe Bryant and everything else in the news, the appointment of Utah Governor Mike Leavitt as new head of the Environmental Protection Agency has likely flow under more than a few radars. I've been doing some reading on Leavitt and his environmental record and, as should be expected, he leaves much to be desired.

Sierra Club has broken down a couple of key issues in which Leavitt has failed pretty miserably. For those that don't want to read the whole link, I'll do a brief summary:
-- Utah's clean water enforcement is among the worst in the nation, according to a February 2003 EPA report.
-- He's been a staunch advocate of the so called "Legacy Highway" that would threaten the wetlands and fertile farmlands. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the $415 million highway project on the grounds that its key agencies were "arbitrary and capricious" in issuing construction permits on the project. Specifically, the environmental impact study for the proposed highway was inadequate because its sponsors failed to look at less harmful alternatives and ignored obvious impacts on the wildlife and Utah's environment.
-- He's long been an advocate of reducing the Federal role in protecting the environment and having states take over.*
-- Leavitt's Administration has turned a deaf ear to a local group called the "Citizens for Responsible and Sustainable Agriculture" who are attempting to sue the "Circle Four" Hog Farming Operation who has a terrible track record when it comes to manure spills and lagoon breakage. To date, the operations have apparently paid just $11,700 in state pollution penalties, and Governor Leavitt helped to pass a law that prevents citizens from bringing nuisance suits against agricultural businesses, making it difficult to hold corporate polluters responsible.
-- Opened millions of acres of Utah wilderness to roadbuilding and development via some special deals with the Department of the Interior.
-- Advocated the opening of coal plants, which are among the highest pollutants used. Air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a dominant cause of smog, deadly soot, global warming, pollution in our National Parks, and toxic mercury contamination in our fish.
-- Leavitt purged many competent biologists at Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources. Although at the time Leavitt defended the reduced headcount as a budgetary necessity, Wilkenson writes that "a year to the day after the purge was completed, the number of DWR staff members miraculously returned to previous levels, but the positions were filled with game biologists told to refrain from identifying endangered species."
-- Had a major conflict of interest with the emerging problem of "whirling disease" a fish parasite and his family's own commercial hatchery. Leavitt led the charge in passing a bill to shift the responsibility over commercial fisheries and whirling disease from the Division of Wildlife to the Department of Agriculture which would be more favorable to commercial hatcheries.

Sounds like we got a real Green fellow here, eh? You can read the Sierra Club's press release on Leavitt here.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Twosday

::Chico's got some great pics from ground zero of the NYC blackout that I assure you are worth perusing.::

::For the ladies that want to get a jumpstart on their Valentine's Day costumes, or just need that something new for their boudior, I think I've found your solution (yes, safe for work). This comes from Dominic who used to e-mail me links but now has his own place to put them, something that is most likely a good thing. ::

::Finally, anyone interested in a free five-month old black lab (purebread, I'm told) in the Dallas area, e-mail me (or leave a comment here with your e-mail in it) and I'll forward you the e-mail I received.::
:: Scott [+] ::
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Just some quickies

::Head's up: The Reverend Horton Heat's Live DVD to come out in October. Not sure what day yet, but I imagine it'll be sometime around their show on the 18th with Southern Culture on the Skids.::

::Should I send my diploma back? All in all, I hope there's one more job casualty in this. President Sloan has begun running the academic side of the Uni into the ground preferring less experienced but more willing to bring religion into the classroom professors to more experienced neutral profs. It's pissing off a lot of tenured faculty, alumni, and students. I'm not sure it would be 'fair' for him to go down for this as well, but whatever it takes is fine by me.::

::This story of the reporter that got shot in Iraq due to the fact that U.S. Troops thought his camera was a grenade launcher makes me very sad. I feel for his family.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Meme-whore

interview game
here's how the game works:

THE RULES
1 -- leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 -- i will respond; i'll ask you five questions.
3 -- you'll update your website with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 -- you'll include this explanation.
5 -- you'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

My questions came from Charles.

1. What does Archipelapogo mean?

It's just a random word that I coined several years ago. My senior year in high school we read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in my literature class. I enjoyed the book immensely and it got me interested in the old Soviet Gulag system. Solzhenistsyn also wrote a non-fiction account of the prison system called The Gulag Archipelago. I purchased Volume 1 (of three, it's one hell of a tome) and convinced myself that I'd read it in the near future. Other than flipping through and reading certain sections, I still haven't quite conquered it. I'd still like to some day.

Flash forward to the Summer of '99 when I took a Managerial Accounting class at Tulsa Community College (I didn't want to take it at Baylor, and it transferred). It's Managerial Accounting, so it's obviously quite boring, and I did a lot of doodling and web-surfing. Oddly enough, my mom, who is a book keeper but never finished her accounting degree, decided to take the class with me. So with her sitting next to me, my surfing time was limited. I've always enjoyed doodling logos and random words and started messing around with the word "Archipelapogo". It just got stuck in my head.

I figured that I'd use it for something, a zine or website or somesuch. A year and a half later when I started the blog, it seemed like a good opportunity, so up it went. I still love the word in spite of, or due to, it's non-sensical nature, and I'm pretty sure I've got a monopoly on it.

2. are you the same religion you were when you were born or did you choose your church and why?

I am the same religion, but I'm pretty inactive. I was pretty active in church growing up, youth group, all that stuff. It gave me a place where I felt like I belonged, something school didn't. That said, I haven't been to church other than when I go home in several years. I've never been to a church in Dallas, and while in Waco, I only went my freshman year. The people at Baylor burned me out very badly. Their importance on reaching certain levels of criteria to be "the perfect Christian" annoyed the hell out of me. That and the fact that they wouldn't accept any questioning of beliefs or spirituality, even just for fun "what-if" discussions.

That said, I didn't go to Baylor because it was a religious school. I went b/c it was a good education and was a good distance away from home, plus they offered me a scholarship (that I lost, but oh well). Since freshman year, the majority of my friends have been either non-Christians or unknowns, with some kind of in my position. I still do have a strong faith in religion, but the church scene does more harm to me than it does good. I'm sure that's a problem on my part, my attitude, but that's where I am right now, and I'll have to work through that when the time is right for me.

That said, I don't mix religion and politics and would never impose my beliefs on anyone else. I don't even discuss it unless pressed to. I'm very sensitive to those that choose not to believe in my particular religion or in any religion at all so long as they give me the same respect.

3. If you could invite five people - living or dead - to a dinner party, who would you pick?

To take a different angle other than the usual five heroes question, here's what I'd do. I get Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat. Then I get Jesus and Mohommad. I know the Israelis don't believe that Jesus was the son of God, but he's best prophet that the Judeo-Christian faith has got, and I think he'd speak for the J-C God well. For the fifth, someone to broadcast the dinner live around the world. Ideally (and this is my game, so I can do that) we'd get this whole mess settled once and for all.

4. If you could go back in time (within your lifetime) and change only one thing, what would it be? it could be in your life or someone else's. (the change would have to be something you could change with your knowledge.)

This is a tough question. There's really not much about my life that I would want to change. Nothing really. And for all of the tragic events that I've seen happen, I think that the resulting positives that came are beneficial to the people involved and I'm not sure I'd want to change that. For example, Oklahoma City has become a wonderful place in the nine years since the Timothy McVeigh bombing. It's rallied to form a much tighter community, has improved their downtown vastly, and it's quickly becoming a nicer city than Tulsa, something that previous to '94 seemed impossible.

That said, if I could do one thing, I'd prevent my mother from being mugged. When I was about 13, so this would be '92-ish, my mom got mugged in a Target parking lot shortly after dusk. The guys didn't hurt her or anything, just intimidated her, snatched her purse, and ran off Fortunately, she already had her car keys out so she could still get home. But it shook her up very badly. She's a pretty meek person as it is and this had an obvious effect on her. Unfortunately, she's not the kind of woman that would take that anger and fear and use it to empower herself. She still gets paranoid in parking lots at nights and tries to avoid being there at all costs.

5. What is your browser homepage set to?

At work it's automatically set to the County homepage, which I could change but I won't. At home it's set to this here page, b/c I'm fucking vain, that's why! I use the sidebar as a portal, so when I dial-up (yes, I still dial-up), I can open a few new pages in new tabs that will send me rolling. Usually I'll open MeFi, and then a blog or two that I haven't checked in a while. I'll usually open two different blogs that link to various other sites that I like to check as well. There is definitely a method to the madness.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Dallas Music Fest

For five days in November, Dallas will be having it's first Music Fest.

Dallas Music Festival 2003 will be the largest event of its kind ever held in Dallas. This year's inaugural event will feature more than 400 acts performing live on 20 area stages over the course of five days. Over 1,500 musicians and 15,000 fans are expected to attend. The festival will take place November 12-16 2003. DMF 2003 events will consist of many live concerts, expert panel discussions and a special showcase performance at Curtain Club.

The line-up isn't going to be released until about a month before the event, but advanced passes are $15 for everything except the panel discussion and the showcase. That's a great deal. I'll certainly be keeping an eye on this. (Nick, you may want to tell your friend's band about this as they're accepting submissions for local acts).
:: Scott [+] ::
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Vroom.

Forbes magazine comes up with lists of British and American cars they wish were still made. It's kind of a fluff piece, and I wouldn't mention it if it weren't for the cool pics of the Packard Twin Six, Aston-Martin DB5, and 1948 Land Rover. While neither American nor British, I sure could go for the bringing back of the Volkswagon Thing.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Dubai is the new Las Vegas

As if building a giant man-made island shaped like a palm tree wasn't enough, the Guardian now reports that Dubai wants to build the world's firstunderwater hotel.

It already plans to build the tallest tower, artificial islands shaped like palm trees and like a map of the world; now the ostentatious emirate of Dubai is to host the world's first underwater hotel.

Called Hydropolis, the hotel will resemble a giant submarine anchored in the Gulf, and accessed only by a tunnel via a waterside reception area.

Work on the £310m 220-suite facility would begin this year, finishing in 2006.

In a bid to become a holiday mecca, relying on tourist dollars rather than oil, the emirate aims to become the biggest and best holiday destination.

Every piece of available land on the Palm resort, being built in the shape of two palm trees in the middle of the sea, has been sold. Now, a plan for a similar venture with 200 scattered islands shaped like the globe's land mass is being launched. Also recently announced was the construction of Burj Dubai, planned as the world's tallest tower. Although the building's height is being kept secret it is thought to far surpass the current champion, Malyasia's Petronas Towers at 452 metres (1,483ft).

I wonder how clean all of the investors are? Remember, Las Vegas was built on mob money.

:: Scott [+] ::
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One last one....when it rains...

I'm quite miffed that I missed out on Kaf's latest contest (results here) as I've instantly thought of a few of my own. For posterity, I submit them here...

Run, Babar, Run!
Big-Top Babar
Babar and Me

and by far the best I can come up with:

Y Tu Babar Tambien.

:: Scott [+] ::
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Good on you, Brittney!

Big congrats to Brittney for getting the cover story in the new Nashville Scene. I'm completely psyched, and of course very jealous, about this.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Slactivism at it's finest

I've changed my title-tag in solidarity with the movement to call "bullshit" on Fox News and their attempted lawsuit against Al Franken. In an unsurprising turn of events (is that an oxymoron? eh, who cares?) Franken's as yet unreleased book has leapt to number 1 on the Amazon Sales rankings. Suck it, O' Reilly. (cheers to Jaq for the tip).

Update: The defective yeti, as always, pins it.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Deep Ellum needs help

The Observer's been on a roll lately. This week they've got an article on the emerging street scene and ensuing increase in crime in that area in the past couple of months. This really saddens me as Deep Ellum is probably my favorite area of Dallas to go. It's by leaps and bounds the best place in town for live music and there's a few decent bars down there. I've been going at least a few times a year since 1997, even before I moved to Dallas.

I went to Deep Ellum (Galaxy Club, specifically) a few weeks ago for a psychobilly show on a Saturday night and on the walk back to my car had to make my way through this "emerging scene". I'd by lying if I didn't admit that for the first time I've ever been in Deep Ellum I felt apprehensive. Sure, it didn't help that I was alone, but I left relatively early (12:45 or so). I parked under the 75/45 bridge where there's meters that don't run after 10:00 so I could get free parking, so I walked about a half-mile from the club back to my car. On the way nobody really made any attempt to intimidate me or said much to me (other than a guy offering me pot) so I guess I was lucky. I figured that maybe something special was going on that night and that it was a once-in-a-while trend. I'm saddened to see that this isn't the case.

This article won't make me avoid Deep Ellum all-around. But I will definitely be more careful about going by myself, especially on weekends. That's something I may not do at all until things turn around. For the sake of Dallas and it's most historically artsy and independent district, I hope this happens soon.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Tackling issue #2

I've been pretty quiet on the Texas Democrats and their leaving the State to avoid Congressional redistricting. For one thing, I find the whole thing absurd on both sides. For another, I don't know what I can really offer. However, I do side with the Dems on this issue for one reason and one reason only. The Repubs are playing dirty.

Nevermind the imposed fines. Disregard how much this is costing the taxpayers. Forget the fact that the Texas State Legislature is going to be completely stalled until this issue is resolved. The main word here is bully.

Imagine if the Democrats had control of the National Senate. And the Presidency. And the SCOTUS had no ability for checks and balances. Now, say the Dems decide that even though they have a majority, it's not enough. They want a bigger lead in the national senate. They look to the West Coast. Specifically, they look at Oregon, Idaho, and California. Say, for example, that both Oregon and California, both being fairly liberal states, have two Democrat Senators each. Total of Four. Say then that Idaho, a fairly conservative state has two Repulican Senators. Total = 4 Dems to 2 Repubs.

Now say someone crunches the numbers and sees that Oregon has a much larger populous than Idaho. So they want to combine Oregon and Idaho into one State where the liberal populous of Oregon will overwhelm the relative conservative minority of Idaho. Then, to compensate for the other two Senators, they split California in half, effectively giving the state four Senators total. They find a line, no matter how loopy, where they're 95% sure that both halves will have a majority Democrat basis. Net effect: Six Democrat Senators. Net gain: Two new Democrat Senators where there used to be Republicans.

Does this sound fair? What would you do?
:: Scott [+] ::
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Time to play some catch up

Oh man. What to talk about first. Let's do California Governor's race, shall we?

Matt over at bottomdwelling waxed politcally as a native SoCal'er in what sums up probably a typical feeling towards it all. I'd hate to live there right now what with all of the hoopla. My initial feeling is that doing a recall eight months into a term, especially when that recall is initiated by one person who's got sour grapes, is a good way to screw over the electoral process of the most populous state. Then again, I know I'm not alone in that feeling. You lost, get over it. Remember that phrase, Republicans? Wait until next time around and get out the vote on your own.

And now it's looking that, absurd as it is, Arnold's got a good chance at winning. Jeezy Chreezy. Let's take a man who's acting in action movies has made him very rich and permit him to buy his way in. And Arnie's past isn't exactly squeaky clean, you know. All I've seen Arnold do in his public appearances is say that he's "for the people" (+10 for originality there, buddy), and that since he's not rich, he's not at the mercy of special interest groups. Then he flashes his $20 million a movie smile. One hell of a platform he's got. And he's not even clean on the "special interests" tip.

So what to do if you're California? Maybe, as jpoulos points out, Davis could resign and just have Bustamante take office. This may not do away with the recall, but if it does, it may be worth it if the polls look bad enough. Other than that? Pray for the best and take some comfort that, at least for the time being, Arnold can't run for President.


:: Scott [+] ::
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You look like the Hulk trying to put on a condom!

Dong makes the funny...you know, again.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Ambling, Rambling Thoughts

1). The Modern in Fort Worth is a very nice museum with many fine pieces of art. And it's free. I especially enjoyed the two pieces by Edward Ruchsa and this piece by David Bates (click on the picture for a slightly larger version). I even bought a very reasonably priced poster of this Ruchsa painting to put in my bedroom as the walls in there are as barren as Phil Gramm's soul.

2). Thanks to Nic, I messed around and bought myself a new toy. All the free stuff that comes with it put me over the top. I got a painted blue one. I'm very excited.

3). I was outside the Office of Government Slack building earlier and heard a car drive through a puddle of something. This struck me as odd since it hasn't rained in Dallas since Betty White was in diapers. Well, baby diapers, I suppose. Anyways, I looked into the street only to find that what said car had driven through that made a slight splash was little else than a pile of bright orange vomit. As I turned to walk in, I saw a man wearing a very fancy "When all else fails, read the Holy Bible" ballcap complete with one of those ropes across the front where the bill meets the rest of the hat. I think I'm going to stay inside for the rest of the day.
:: Scott [+] ::
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