One Year Ago Today

fuso max

interesting little fuso max custom frame from dave moulton's blog.  i like the color combo.  apparently light metallic purples are xtra-spiffy on lugged max frames.  he really nailed the seatstay attachment; it looks super smooth.  old-timey max fork uni-crown, too.

blood on the tracks

when things turn to shit, i think many people will be horrified by the level of chaos and violence suddenly pervading our society.  reading this, though, should disabuse anybody hoping wistfully for the possibility of a peaceful and comfortable solution to the problems in the united states.  there is so much dangerous ignorance and downright evil spewed by those assholes; it can't be excused.  they are the most privileged and pampered people on earth.  the impending revolution will be a bloody one, but really, it needs to be.  the rot in our oligarchy is killing everyone and only radical intervention will save us.  the suffering will be legion but there is probably no way to avoid that now.  no matter what happens, the scores will be settled and blood will baptize a new civil war.  after a generation lost to upheaval and drowned in bloodshed, the survivors will have an opportunity to engender a more just society.

flaccid clown car crackup

speaker boehner's clusterfuck is great for obama's political future, but the short term could be very difficult for many americans.  the tax cut is pretty much bullshit, 20 bucks a week, maybe, but represents a political bear trap for folks like scott brown.  the medicare reimbursement issue threatens to put more pressure on seniors and doctors but that will take a while to work through.  the unemployment, though, that gets ugly on the very first day.  figure that long-term unemployed folks, in their second year without much income, are pretty much barely there, and if you cut off their meager unemployment benefit, well, they're fucked.  the personal toll, stress and privation, is an inexcusable tragedy that will quickly spread into the community.  that unemployment insurance is the best stimulus for the local economy; it's too small to contribute to savings and every cent of it gets spent immediately, so every jerkoff on the chamber of commerce, every bank and landlord, every car repair shop, grocery store, bar, pharmacy, liquor store, meth dealer and streetwalker should be screaming bloody murder and shoving a red-hot coulter all the way up the asses of that dicknose boehner and every one of those teabagger jerkoffs in the house.  i guess that would be a great stimulus for fireplace poker manufacturers as well.  buy american, motherfrakkers.