The Supremes Chisel Away At Miranda Protection

By Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor



Voting along predictable lines, a five-knucklehead majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has voted to further water down the Miranda Rights of suspects. 


“The right to remain silent” actually--now--requires you to speak.  The Supremes ruled 5-4 today that criminal suspects must explicitly tell police interrogators they wish to remain silent in order to receive Miranda protections. 

Writing the dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the decision “turns Miranda upside down . . . suspects will be legally presumed to have waived their rights even if they have given no clear expression of their intent to do so.”

More police Identikit faces I made in Faces 3.0

Another batch of composite faces I created in my police Identikit software.  OK, sure, they're not quite as spooky as the usual suspects you see on wanted posters...click the image to enlarge...

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A semi-literate reader takes us and some other readers to the woodshed over a 2006 article on "An open letter to my teen-age son"

One of the coolest parts of having a long-running blog is that the posts are available and findable on the internet years later.  There are probably 20 or so posts we've written on subjects that appear in few other places on the internet.  Some of these articles come up at the top of internet searches (this one is the no. 1 result in a google search), and people often comment on articles from many years ago. 

"An Open Letter To My Teenage Son" is one of those.  I remember hearing this on AM radio many times when it came out (in late 1967).  It starts out half-rational--even inspirational--and descends into reactionary gibberish and hate when he talks about the war and "draft-dodging."

Click here to see our article, the "lyrics," and a link to the actual "song."

A couple of days ago, someone--anonymous, of course--left two comments on this post and on the comments about the post. 

"all you people must not believe in the flag or what rights you have that the military gave you by fighting for you damn rights so you don't like it there are other countrys that you can go to and then you can go to heckes after ward"


"well as for the youngster from Saterday July 12th 2008. that is becuase you were not brought up right i have listen to this song from almost day one and it brought chills to my back and its still doing it today so if i was your father i would say good get the f out. Thats just what i felt like"
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Video: A man reunites with old gorilla friend

Another Jeff Clinton find...as he wrote, "Man reunites with gorilla after five years. Bring a handkerchief."



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Thanking the vets on memorial day (especially my two favorite vets).

Can we say Happy Memorial Day, or should you? But then you can't wish someone a glum day either. In any case, thanks vets, and especially my mom (Marines, World War II, still sharp and cranky at 86) and my dad John 2nd, (both in the Army and the Navy in WW II, died in 1964).

Colum and Del. . .way back

A photo of Colum and Del by our friend David Grosten taken around 15 years ago.

Click to enlarge...










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jack brummet face drawings: Nos. 28 and 32

Click drawings to enlarge...

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Wow. Bill Withers sings a stunning song at the Rumble In The Jungle

This song is a real knockout.  He sang this at the concert before The Rumble In The Jungle in Zaire, where Muhammed Ali knocked out George Foreman.

A couple of interesting Bill Withers facts:  1) he was making toilet seats for the Boeing Company when he was working on his first album, and 2) in 1985, he just stopped making music (publicly anyway).


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Orgy In The Pantry

Orgy In The Pantry
By Jack Brummet

Soft pulses murmur in the distance:
Muffled voices murmur counterpoint music,
Sing-song transactions hum
Through wood and plaster, doors and walls.
The push and pull of iambic conversation,
And the percussive boom of laughter
Skein a polyrhythmic framework
On a symphony of voices.

A rustling sound upstairs
Wakes me.
I get out of bed
And edge up the stairs.
The sounds pull into focus
And the parts emerge.
Heavy breathing, moaning,
A rhythmic thumping, groans and giggles.

I shuffle to the pantry
And ease the door open,
Walking between nylons, belts, a bra,
T-shirts, striped trousers, a housedress,
Skirts, vests, shoes and socks,
Camisoles. panties, and sweaters,
A toque, monocle, and top hat.

I step in and nearly trip on
Mr. Peanut, lying on his back
With a Grand Coulee grin on his mug
And Sara Lee in fishnet stockings on top,
Rubbing peanut butter
On her breasts and nether parts.
Snap, Crackle and Pop are naked
On the floor, daisy chained
In various conjugations
With the Campbell Soup Twins.

Aunt Jemima and Chef Boy-Ar-Dee
Are in the corner, half undressed,
Staring into each others eyes
And sharing a bottle of wine.
Duncan Hines is against the wall
Watching. . .getting solo kicks,
Digging the scene at the voyeur remove
Where watching trumps participation.

Uncle Ben and Speedy Alka Seltzer
Sip mint juleps, watching the Doublemint Twins'
Messopotamian strip-tease.

Mr. Clean and Tony The Tiger are oiled up,
Greek style, grappling on the pine floorboards.
Enveloped in a churning cloud of flour,
Betty Crocker's housedress is hiked up around her hips,
Arms on the Pilsbury Doughboy's shoulders.
The Jolly Green Giant and Mrs. Butterworth
Waltz around the pantry
And Mrs. B's feet never touch the floor.

Captain Crunch, Colonel Sanders,
Bazooka Joe and The Frito Bandido
Sit in a circle, passing a bong
And laughing at the show.

I don't know if I'm dreaming or awake,
If I should go to sleep or wake up,
Quit dreaming I'm awake
Or quit imagining I'm asleep.
I don't know whether to
Spectate, participate, or abrogate.
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Help Jack stay out of jail by raising his bail!

I NEED YOUR HELP!               
I'm going behind bars for "GOOD"  
PLEASE HELP BAIL ME OUT!

Your donation is my key to freedom! I need $2,400 to get out. The good news, aside from getting me off the streets a while, is that we're providing help and hope to kids and adults served by MDA in the Seattle area, and nation-wide.  We've raised a lot of money for MDA in the last week, and we're about $250 from our goal.  Give me a hand here and push me over the edge...

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Click here to donate and help me out.
 
Thanks for making a difference!
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Poem: Explosions

Every cell in the body
is replaced every seven years
I'm no longer the Jack

I was in 2003
poems and explosions
go off in my skull

as each cell fades
my brain rewires itself
and the new circuits

begin to sing
in a synaptic chorus line
and I don't know

if I will wake up
in the morning
as Adolph Hitler,

Bishop Tutu
or something
in between.
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The Long Winters and Grand Hallway

Saw a great show at the Crocodile last night.  It's the first time I'd been since the rehab/reopening.  It's so much better now for viewing shows--we were in the balcony...a small bar overlooking the stage.  Nice.

The Long Winters, particularly John Roderick were good, and Roderick, as he always is, was hilarious.  They play a hard driving kind of power pop, and very few downtempo tunes.

Grand Hallway

I was really knocked out by Grand Hallway.  A really interesting, energetic, and different band that;s been getting a lot of buzz, and great notices at South by Southwest.