Quill Presents: Rev. Fred Phelps, Professional Asshole

Today, Quill gives the one-finger salute to YOU, Rev. Fred Phelps. You preach that the deaths of soliders in Iraq is divine punishment for the U.S., which harbors homosexuals...you and your followers praise God himself for IEDs that kill our boys in uniform every day. So here's me, the Quill, sincerely wishing you a painful, excrutiating DEATH and that your eternal soul rots and festers in the deepest, hottest parts of hell possible. I wish this upon you, and all who agree with you.

Here's a quote from the "good" Rev. Phelps: "The scriptures are crystal clear that when God sets out to punish a nation, it is with the sword. An IED is just a broken-up sword," Phelps-Roper said. "Since that is his weapon of choice, our forum of choice has got to be a dead soldier's funeral."

Seriously...fuck you, you ignorant little prick. The God I learned about growing up has no place for a bigot like you. You are a product of a twisted and warped ideology using God's name to justify atrocities. You are no better than the 9-11 terrorists, committing acts of cruelty and immorality with a belief system as an excuse.

When YOU die, Rev. Phelps, I hope that a billion people come and urinate all over every square INCH of your grave-site, and that the families of the brave you've defiled with your actions get to SHIT on your dead face before they close your casket. These people have to deal with the fact that their son/father/whatever is gone, a casualty of a questionable war - and you and your people prancing around and declaring their death a righteous act of the Lord as punishment for a pro-homosexual movement that doesn't even really exist? Fuck you. Fuck you until your MOTHER'S eyes gouge out and bleed profusely.

Scott, I feel your pain; I'm sickened to be a human being right now.

Another post...and the Quill DVD Update

In case you missed my earlier post, I won a very rare GK promo item, the "Guilty Gavel". You might not think that's cool; you don't have to.

We've added a few new DVD movies to our collection...just a few:

Dead & Breakfast
Hunting Humans
Poltergeist
Shaun of the Dead
Versus
Tremors: Collector's Edition
Malevolence
Sleepover Nightmare
Slaughterhouse Massacre
Hell of the Living Dead
Dead Heat
Nightmare City
City of the Living Dead
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
House By The Cemetery
Red Eye
Frogs
Ocean's Eleven
Breakdown
Flight Plan
European Vacation
Saving Silverman
A Guy Thing
Billy Madison
The Waterboy
Wrongfully Accused
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Just Like Heaven (Heather's)

In addition to these store-bought beauties, my neighbor and buddy Andy hooked me up with these for free:

The Hulk
Mystic River
I, Robot
Dreamcatcher
Reign of Fire
Basketball
Unforgiven
Apt Pupil
Minority Report
Bowfinger
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Spaceballs
The Frighteners (thank you Nix)
King of the Ants (thank you Nix)
Waiting
Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Dirty Work
The Way of the Gun
Master & Commander


Yes, yes...that is a sick amount of movies, and I am down with the sickness. It helps that the second half were all free, with about...oh...three or four times that still coming to me. Give me an eye-patch, I could get into this pirating thing. Naturally I will be hooking others up as well once we get our DVD burner. Let the madness begin!

Work's going great. Heather is doing well in her classes. Beaver passed a test recently to be eligible for a job as a counselor or a parole officer. Things are good almost all over.

Lots of shit speculated about Nix lately. What the man doesn't need right now is to be the focus of a rumor mill. So here's the deal - I don't dictate what anyone discusses in mixed circles or otherwise; but I will throw this out there: you can choose to whisper about the situation in the rumor mill, or you can be there for a guy who's fallen on hard times. Make your choices, people...

That's all I have for now. Later!


Quilled Tunes: "We Don't Care Anymore" - Story Of The Year

The Guilty Gavel

When Gravity Kills first came out, they made a promo item to go with their hit single "Guilty". That item was a judge's gavel, with a bronze plate on the head with GUILTY on one side, and the oval-shaped Gravity Kills logo on the other. This "Guilty Gavel" is second only to the 5 leather jackets made in rarity, and can be considered the Holy Grail of all Gravity Kills merchandise items.

And it is mine now. I won the sucker on Ebay for $5. For whatever reason, it had been posted on Valentine's Day, and I didn't see it until literally hours before it closed. I bid; no one else did; and I won. Fate has delivered unto me a gem of a collectible...

Boo-yah!

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then ... we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

- John F. Kennedy, September 14, 1960

"Jaws" author Peter Benchly has died. He was an advocate of the preservation of sharks, and a stout conservationalist. Horror has lost yet another great human.

God speed, Mr. Benchly...God speed.

Yes, I took the Jason thing down. I didn't wanna wait to post enough times to bring my links back to the top.

And now you know. :)

"So if unemployment is at an all-time low, why is it STILL so hard to find a decent job that isn't minimum wage, and the job market is still in the shitter?"

Glad you asked, Timmy...

See, a lot of high-paying jobs are currently being out-sourced; this is being done because it's much cheaper to pay someone overseas half the rate to do the kind of job you or I would expect decent pay for. And it IS true that new jobs are being created to replace those jobs, and people ARE, in fact, moving into said jobs.

Here's the problem: the jobs that are being created BARELY cut it in terms of pay to live on. That's right; high-paying jobs that are leaving our country are being replaced with mid-to-low-paying jobs. Because of this, there are actually fewer "good" opportunities out there.

Our current administration leaves all those details out, however, and paint a pretty picture for the American public, showing graphs and citing surveys that show how many new jobs are in effect and how low unemployment is.

"Okay, okay. So if the jobs are so low-paying and crappy, what's going on? How come people are taking them?"

Because they have no other choice. Due to the decline in medical coverage and social security benefits, people are working longer; therefore, there are less spots available for new, upcoming workers. Since those still-existent "good" paying jobs are being kept filled this way, the resulting void is filled with Option "B" - "B" for burger joint. It's work as a burger-flipper for a living and barely make ends meet, or sleep in a dumpster or road-side ditch with no money. When given the choice of maggot-covered steak or nothing at all, people are going to eat, no matter how sub-standard it may be.

"So, Mr. Smart-Guy Quill - how do YOU propose we stop that?"

Well, more jobs need to be kept in our country. This would mean taking a step toward regulating "big business"; and "big business" is something the current administration favors over the average citizen, unfortunately. Things like workers' unions help as well; your typical "big business" outfit doesn't dig unions, because unions keep them from shafting the workers on pay and benefits, which of course costs them money to provide. Keep in mind, what the unions ask for in terms and conditions would NEVER come anywhere close to making a substantial dent in a financial way to these companies, but "big business" fights the unions anyway.

"Why?"

Because it's all about the money to them. If they can clear an extra hundred grand by cutting medical benefits and freezing wage-rates on their workers - which is the equivalent of mere pennies to you or I - they will.

Making companies provide better health coverage would be tough given the fact that our country's health care system is a business itself, which refuses to import cheaper medicines and cures to avoid getting less money. The way to pacify the fat business cats to do that would be to allow medicines to be imported; but again, this would effect the bottom line of the medical coverage business.

Fixing Social Security is another issue that'd help. People would be able to retire sooner, which would open up the bigger jobs to new workers. Clinton had a very large surplus set aside for fixing Social Security...which Bush promptly squandered away so quickly, it was as if it was never there to begin with. Crap-loads of money to do this could again be stockpiled by increasing taxes on the richest people in the country, just like Clinton did; however, Bush and his cronies are pro-rich, pro-money, pro-business, remember? He scratches the backs of all his well-off buddies and fellow "elite" rich by cutting THEIR taxes, and putting the tax burden right back onto the middle and lower classes. If you were to raise taxes on the lower and middle classes - which Bush DID do that - the people in the middle class would have to strain to make ends meet, and lord help the lower class guys. The lower class guy would probably have to go on welfare - which has limited funds, because of limited tax money. (Are we starting to connect the dots, here? Hm?)

If you raised taxes on Mr. Joe Rich-Fucker, he would have to budget his massive income much like a middle-class person, only with a "minor" difference...instead of just blowing a thousand or million on a whim, he'd have to consider if he could afford that. Think having to own only one boat instead of five boats, shit like that. (And really, who the fuck needs five boats?)

I'm not saying it's a crime to be rich; far from it. If you're rich and you've made it, by hard work or inheritance, boo-yah, more power to you. However, does it make sense that the financial burdens be pushed on the poor? If you take a 15% tax on a guy that makes $28,000 a year, that comes out to $4,200 in taxes; and that's a lot if you've only got 28 grand to play with and have to live and pay for a car, house, etc. By the same percentage, if you take that corporate C.E.O. that earns around $600,000 a year, that's $90,000 in taxes; leaving this guy with easily over 500 grand left all to himself.

Not only that, but that $90,000 counts for nearly 22 "regular" people, and gives more money to the people of the country in the long run. But rich people just don't want to give up the ability to instantaneously gratify themselves and live the highest of lives - and they all helped Bush get in office, so he scratches them right back and tosses it all on our shoulders.

This is the way things are working. It all connects. It's not just a matter of doing one thing, creating more jobs. It's all got to change to make it work and keep it going. I know several people will not read all this. To those that did, thank you for your time, and I do hope you learned something from it.

(It's a wonder that half our country actually buys into the bullshit they spin. Who needs to clone sheep when we have a country full of them?)

Something for you guys this weekend...enjoy!

In 1961, Matisse's Le Bateau (The Boat) hung upside-down for 2 months in the Museum of Modern Art, New York - none of the 116,000 visitors had noticed.
Picasso could draw before he could walk and his first word was the Spanish word for pencil.
Sumerians invented writing in the 4th century BC.
The first book published is thought to be the Epic of Gilgamesh, written at about 3000 BC in cuneiform, an alphabet based on symbols.
The first history book, the Great Universal History, was published by Rashid-Eddin of Persia in 1311.
The first novel, called The story of Genji, was written in 1007 by Japanese noble woman, Murasaki Shikibu.
The Bible still is the world's best selling book.
In 1097, Trotula, a midwife of Salerno, wrote The Diseases of Women - it was used in medical schools for 600 years.
The world's longest nonfiction work is The Yongle Dadian, a 10,000-volume encyclopedia produced by 5,000 scholars during the Ming Dynasty in China 500 years ago.
Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote Meteorologica in 350 BC - it remained the standard textbook on weather for 2,000 years.
The first illustrated book for children was published in Germany in 1658.
Barbara Cartland completed a novel every two weeks, publishing 723 novels.
The word "novel" originally derived from the Latin novus, meaning "new."
A 18th century London literary club was called Kit-Cat Club.
Ian Fleming's James Bond debuted in the novel "Casino Royale" in 1952.
Johannes Gutenberg is often credited as the inventor of the printing press in 1454. However, the Chinese actually printed from movable type in 1040 but later discarding the method.
The Statue of Liberty is the largest hammered copper statue in the world.
The largest statue in the world is Mount Rushmore, the heads of four US Presidents carved into the Black Hills near Keystone. The heads are 18 m (60 ft) tall.
The largest horse statue in the world, the Zizkov Monument in Prague, stands 9 metres (30 ft) tall.
If a statue of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, like the Zizkov Monument, the person died of natural causes.
The words "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" were penned in the 17th century by English philosopher John Locke.
To save costs, the body of Shakespeare's friend and fellow dramatist, Ben Jonson, was buried standing up in Westminster Abbey, London in 1637.
The first novel sold through a vending machine - at the Paris Metro - was Murder on the Orient Express.
Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French journalist suffering from "locked-in" syndrome, wrote the book "The Driving Bell and the Butterfly" by blinking his left eyelid - the only part of his body that could move.
When Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1912, 6 replicas were sold as the original, each at a huge price, in the 3 years before the original was recovered.
When Auguste Rodin exhibited his first important work, The Bronze Period, in 1878 it was so realistic that people thought he had sacrificed a live model inside the cast.
Rodin died of frostbite in 1917 when the French government refused him financial aid for a flat, yet they kept his statues warmly housed in museums.
Vincent van Gogh, the world's most valued painter, sold only painting in his entire life - to his brother who owned an art gallery. The painting is titled "Red Vineyard at Arles."
Ernest Vincent Wright's 1939 novel Gadsby has 50,110 words, none of which contains the letter "e."
In 1816, Frenchman J.R. Ronden tried to stage a play that did not contain the letter "a." The Paris audience was offended, rioted and did not allow the play to finish.
The shortest stage play is Samuel Beckett's "Breath" - 35 seconds of screams and heavy breathing.
There are about 150 million sites on the web, with more than two billion web pages.
The world's libraries store more than a 100 million original volumes.
The largest web bookshop, Amazon.com, stores 2,5 million books.
The Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, stores 18 million books on approximately 850 km (530 miles) of bookshelves. The collections include 119 million items, 2 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4 million maps and 53 million manuscripts.
2 billion people still cannot read.
The problem of missing teeth was first discussed at length in 1728 by Pierre Fauchard in his book The Surgeon Dentist.
The first colour photograph was made in 1861 by James Maxwell. He photographed a tartan ribbon.
The first English dictionary was written by Samuel Johnson in 1755.
Noah Webster, who wrote the Webster Dictionary, was known as a short, pale, smug, boastful, humorless, yet religious man.
The first Oxford English Dictionary was published in April 1928, 50 years after it was started. It consisted of 400,000 words and phrases in 10 volumes. The latest edition fills 22,000 pages, includes 33,000 Shakespeare quotations, and is bound in 20 volumes. All of which is available on a single CD.
When Jonathan Swift published 'Gulliver's Travels' in 1726, he intended it as a satire on the ferociousness of human nature. Today it is enjoyed as a children's story.

"Ahhh. A man with a sharp wit. Someone ought to take it away from him before he cuts himself." - Peter da Silva
(Too late. Hehe.)

A blog, for you, the Quillmaniacs

Well, the first of what will hopefully be a regular string of poker nights was really cool. It was myself, Ben, Scuba, Jeremy, Dave, Ben's next door neighbor Jason, and my downstairs neighbor Andy. The buy-in was $5. The game: Texas Hold-Em.

Jason won the first round, walking away with $30, and Jeremy breaking even at second for $5.

Dave outright fucking slaughtered in the second round, walking away with $15, followed by Jeremy in third for $5 and Ben at second for $5. We're talking Dave ass-reamed and dominated in that second round.

Overall, it was great!

Bush is a hampster-raping asshole. Just wanted to point that out...again...

Cindy Sheehan gets arrested for a shirt, and the other demonstrator gets a slap on the wrist, just because she not only supports the war, but is republican. Yeah, THAT'S fair and balanced. Goddammit, that kinda shit makes me want to stab an ice-pick through the eye of that damned Republican elephant, along with every Republican. You guys are fucking assholes...

I have a MySpace account now. Yay. More blogging and maintaining and whatnot. Joy. Visit me at: http://www.myspace.com/quilledone

A new Friday flick is being rumored for release in October 2006...on Friday the 13th! Time will tell if this is true, but...if it is...Heather and I are claiming the rights for the organization of the party for it. That sounds dumber than it did in my head...oh well.

And suck it.