Michael Kindt's Blog, page 449

Hello there, I'm Erika, long time silent follower/fan of yours :) I'm writing a research paper this month about disenfranchisement and whether ex-felons should have their voting rights returned to them, and I was wondering if you have a strong opinion on i

Well, actually I've never been convicted of a felony, so am not an official felon, ex- or otherwise. Personally, I feel the felony/misdemeanor classification of crimes is out-dated. Crimes should be classified and ranked for seriousness as violent/non-violent. Traditionally, felonies have been serious crimes, but that has been fucked with by many states. One guy in California stole a piece of pizza and was charged with a "felony" simply because he had a very long previous record. So the felony designation is becoming meaningless. Our nation has more people behind bars than any other nation in the world, including the supposedly "unfree" China. That's a lot of people who have been disenfranchised. I believe everyone 18 or older should be able to vote. But disenfranchising people is a popular thing to do. More and more states are making it difficult to vote by requiring all kinds of IDs. Usually, people have to pay fees for these IDs, so the very poor are disenfranchised. But that was the intended (but not admitted) purpose. The very poor don't vote in great numbers, but those that do tend to be liberal, so it's a good idea from a conservative standpoint to put up barriers to keep them away from voting.

Hello there, I'm Erika, long time silent follower/fan of yours :) I'm writing a research paper this month about disenfranchisement and whether ex-felons should have their voting rights returned to them, and I was wondering if you have a strong opinion on i

Well, actually I've never been convicted of a felony, so am not an official felon, ex- or otherwise. Personally, I feel the felony/misdemeanor classification of crimes is out-dated. Crimes should be classified and ranked for seriousness as violent/non-violent. Traditionally, felonies have been serious crimes, but that has been fucked with by many states. One guy in California stole a piece of pizza and was charged with a "felony" simply because he had a very long previous record. So the felony designation is becoming meaningless. Our nation has more people behind bars than any other nation in the world, including the supposedly "unfree" China. That's a lot of people who have been disenfranchised. I believe everyone 18 or older should be able to vote. But disenfranchising people is a popular thing to do. More and more states are making it difficult to vote by requiring all kinds of IDs. Usually, people have to pay fees for these IDs, so the very poor are disenfranchised. But that was the intended (but not admitted) purpose. The very poor don't vote in great numbers, but those that do tend to be liberal, so it's a good idea from a conservative standpoint to put up barriers to keep them away from voting.

Will you answer my question?

No. I will tell you that I'm looking into it or something, then you'll never hear from me again. For I am the TUMBLR STAFF, the very incarnation of vague :)

Now I'm investigating.

Lots of my older posts have negative numbers. A person just liked an older post of mine and I went to it and it has -57 notes. Very odd. It looks as though the notes simply 'turned' negative. I'm quite curious, but, of course, would never learn anything from Tumblr. In fact, you guys should ASK ME THINGS and I will answer them like a member of the Tumblr staff would. C'mon, it'll be fun.

What the hell is this negative notes thing?

I have a post with -11 notes, which is weird. We all know how involved and communicative the Tumblr staff are with the actual Tumblr community of users—i.e., not even fucking remotely—so does anyone else know?

Text for the press release-style gig announcement I prepared for...

Text for the press release-style gig announcement I prepared for the Wax Bananas. Unfortunately, this show was cancelled due to the club owner's incarceration. On December 6 they'll be opening for the Queers. Hopefully that show is still on. Anyway:

WAX BANANAS INADVERTENTLY ALLOWED TO PLAY IN PUBLIC

Rapid City— On November 23, a terrible mistake will be made and The Wax Bananas, a punk rock band from Spearfish, will be allowed to play in Rapid City—right in front of people and everything. The "show" begins at 8 pm at the Skullets DIY music venue, located at 157 1/2 E. Main North St.

The band, comprised of Hadrian Kindt, Steven Cady, and Adam Mundorf, has been together for about a year and has, for completely inexplicable reasons, garnered a following of people who actually like their music, despite the fact that it isn't even remotely Hip Hop.

"I have no idea how they did it," said Spearfish teen Mandy Baggadix, as she bobbed her head vacuously to Taylor Swift. "Do you realize they actually make music with guitars and drums? Bizarre."

The Wax Bananas have performed publicly several times before, due in every case to a lack of foresight and initiative on the part of local officials. Their most recent "show" occurred on Halloween at Black Hills State University, where there was an unsubstantiated report of a person applauding. That performance was recorded and the tape turned over to Homeland Security.

Kyle Deuschnozzle, a spokesman for the Rapid City Mayor's office said there is very little that can be done regarding The Wax Bananas. "Terrorism comes in many forms, but it's not always clear cut. Since there are no laws yet in place to handle this type of behavior, our hands are tied." He then sighed dramatically and resumed praying.

For now, it looks as though the "show" will go on.

The music

Yep. It's ok to "occupy" if you're...

Yep. It's ok to "occupy" if you're occupying for movie tickets. No permit is needed for being good little consumers. You only need a permit (that is, permission) if you are expressing an opinion.

People are camping out for the next 5 days to get tickets to the...

People are camping out for the next 5 days to get tickets to the Twilight premiere. Um, where are the riot police????

Richie Dagger's Crime ~ The GermsSaturday night in...

Richie Dagger's Crime ~ The Germs

Saturday night in SoDak.

early-onset-of-night:Anal Tobacco Use Among South Dakota Youth...

early-onset-of-night:

Anal Tobacco Use Among South Dakota Youth A Cause For Concern Say Parents, Officials

BELLE FOURCHE, SD - When Janet Peterson was doing her family's laundry this past Saturday, she discovered something not that unusual in her son Cody's underwear: a large brown streak. But this streak differed from the normal 'skid marks' she regularly encounters while doing the wash.

"It was wider and thicker than usual," said the homemaker and mother of two, "and there were traces of blood and what looked like tobacco grains in it. It was a lot crustier too."

Tobacco use in any form is dangerous, but a new way to use the vile, heavily taxed weed has emerged in South Dakota. Anal tobacco use, virtually unheard of until the late 90s when it first appeared in Wyoming, has become something of a fad among the youth in this sleepy little town of 4500.

Located just a few miles from the Wyoming border, in many ways Belle Fourche has more in common with its neighbor than it does the rest of South Dakota. Ranching is a significant part of the economy, and rodeo and Western-style culture predominate over the farming, tourism, and Midwestern nature of the majority of South Dakota.

According to Belle Fourche Mayor Dave Schneider, it's no surprise that the practice of using oral tobacco anally made its first significant appearance in South Dakota here. "We suspected it would show up eventually, but instead of handing out pamphlets about the dangers of anal tobacco use to all the kids at school, we should have taken a different approach. All the pamphlets seem to have done was create more awareness and interest in using tobacco anally."

Cody Umbridge, 16, agrees. "I would never have thought about it. Seriously. Who would? But the pamphlet went on and on about the reasons for putting chew in your butt, like how the rectal muscles are strong enough to squeeze out every drop of nicotine and how the membrane or whatever in there is really porous and allows you to absorb it all really fast and catch a good buzz. It sounded like fun. It did say something about early prostrate cancer, permanent sphincter damage, and the potential for butt cheek amputation, but who pays attention to that stuff?"

"I actually did hear about it before but thought it was joke," says Cody Wiler, 17, Umbridge's classmate and friend. "But after I tried it I was hooked. You can get pretty high, but for me it's all about the burn."

Dr. Arnold Griffin of the Wyoming Department of Health knows more about anal tobacco use than perhaps anyone in the country. Head of Wyoming's anti-anal tobacco task force, 'Not No—Butt No!', Griffin has watched the practice of using oral tobacco anally grow into a state-wide problem. "It's become really significant here in Wyoming, rivaling both smoking and traditional oral use. I'd really hate to see the problem spread, even to South Dakota."

According to Griffin, anal tobacco use began on the underground rodeo circuit among, perhaps not surprisingly, the rodeo clowns. From there it spread to legitimate rodeo events and then to the cowboys and cowgirls in the stands. Unlike oral tobacco use, which is traditionally a male habit, using anal tobacco is not gender-specific. It is used by both boys and girls, and with equal vigor. Griffin estimates that as many as 10% of Wyoming teens are daily users of anal tobacco and that half of all teens in the state have tried using tobacco anally at least once.

Belle Fourche resident Cody Stevens, 13, says he began using anal tobacco after he noticed older, cooler kids doing it. "It looked like they were having a lot of fun, so I wanted to try. Now, I'm pretty hardcore addicted. I got a wad up there all day every day. Sometimes, the bleeding gets so bad I have to swipe one of mom's sanitary napkins and stuff it in my Fruit-of-the-Looms." Stevens went on to say that he doesn't see what's so sanitary about those napkins anyway.

Mayor Schneider says he plans on throwing a Town Hall Meeting for the problem, "just as soon as the brown ribbons arrive from the factory in China." All concerned Belle Fourche residents will be invited to attend. RSVPing, while not required, will be appreciated.

Like all Town Hall Meetings, says Schneider, this one will also be ineffectual and quickly forgotten, "but it will make people feel good, like they're actually doing something."

Reached for comment on the patio of his winter residence in Key West, Florida, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds said he was intensely concerned about the new way of using tobacco and is "working around the clock" on a solution to "nip it in the bud".

"We will not sit idly by while the youths of South Dakota are anally assaulted by Big Tobacco," he said.

Taking a sip from a virgin margarita, he then waved over a waiting lobbyist while a beautiful island girl applied sunscreen to his disturbingly white legs.

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