While I don't know if I fully subscribe to the "Give Up" philosophy (there are too many needy people trapped by circumstance in red states), the folks at the Give Up Blog make a good point by noticing that red states, though they hoot and holler about having low state taxes, are pulling in a considerably larger amount of federal dollars than states like New Jersey, where we wind up giving more than we get from the Feds. That is, these red states get to claim that have low taxes while offloading the burden of keeping their mismanaged governments afloat on to folks like me.

Is this the much vaunted conservative virtue of personal responsibility? Forget welfare mothers, let's start talking about welfare governors.

Got a WalMart in your county? Then it's pretty likely that your county sucks, at least as far as poverty is concerned. Over the past decade, dependence on food stamps has grown 8 percent, compared to over 15 percent in counties with WalMarts. Yet more proof that they are destroying America.

On my way to get my morning pumpernickel bagel with tofu cream cheese, I passed by not one, but two CocaCola trucks sporting large ads on the back for CocaCola Blak (or Blãk--no idea how that's supposed to be pronounced.) I've heard of this shit in news releases, etc., and I thought it sounded disgusting. I mean, Coke with coffee essense? Fuck me in a tree, that's nasty.

This was an untested hypothesis, however, so, in the interest of science, I went into a bodega on 8th Ave. and bought a bottle. For $2. Eight ounces. Right away, that should have set off alarms. I'm paying more than twice as much for a third less beverage in a twee little "classic" shaped bottle. Already, I was feeling like a rube.

The first sip, the very first impression, was that someone had dumped some cold coffee in a can of cola. That's it. Less carbonation, probably because the Coke was diluted by the coffee they poured into it. Seriously, no joke--I'd have bet you could make your own Blãk at home with ingredients on hand. You could even use Pepsi or, better still, generic brand "Kola" and your leftover Chock Full o' Nuts. At any rate, my rube factor was rising.

And then the real nightmare began. If you look at the ingredients, fans of the regular stuff will be delighted to know that Blãk contains just about the same toxic soup. And those ingredients began to work their magic. Beyond just being uninspired, overpriced, and poorly flavored, the junk started in on my palette. For a bit, I got a sense of Wurther's Original dissolved in Dr. Pepper. Then I stopped sipping. And I kept tasting it. I gave up the remainder of the drink and threw the bottle away (with probably 50 cents worth of the stuff.) And I kept tasting it. I tried to wriggle my tongue against my hard palette to clear it off. But I kept tasting it.

Maybe it's that I'm so unused to drinking Coke without the cleansing power of bourbon or rum, but the nasty, mass-produced taste of Blãk just wouldn't quit. And it kept getting fouler and fouler. Whatever ingredients had led me to think it was just cola and coffee wore off, but the other junk persisted. It's as if the CocaCola people were telling my mouth, "It's not enough that you drank this shit, motherfucker, but you're damn well going to remember it!" That's the taste you're left with, for about five minutes or more--the taste of sorrow, of poor decisions made in haste. The taste of bad memories.

Don't buy Blãk, even as a joke or on a whim. That's what I did, and I'm hoping my sacrifice will count for something. Learn from my mistakes. Don't be a rube. Save those two dollars and buy a small screwdriver to jam it through your tongue. Trust me, your tongue will thank you.

The Republicans in Congress have decided to bribe you again. Take your hundred dollar check and buy a hybrid car (or fill up your Escalade one and a half times.)

Alan Greenspan finally got what's been coming to him...the truth. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called him out, saying he was "one of the biggest political hacks we have here in Washington."

Daaaaaamn! And while I'm still not happy that we have an anti-choice Dem running the show in the Senate, I'm glad to see he's got a lot more teeth than frickin' Daschle.

This was linked to a Salon.com article. I think it's too funny for words.

To be fair, this guy is an anarchist, not merely conservative and religious. He's a pacifist in addition to being anti-government, which is an interesting twist on the geneology of kooks.