Carl Mumpower hates women and wants them to be murdered

At least, that is the only conclusion I can draw from his recent activities. Carl Mumpower, Asheville City Council member and douchebag, has expanded from his crusade against the evils of undocumented human being, and the evils of the Demon Weed known as reefer (and other assorted fun items.) He has now gone for the trifecta of social authoritarianism, and set his sights on prostitution in Asheville. From Ashevegas:

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower has been pumping out press releases right and left this week about his displeasure with all the escort services doing business in Asheville. Mumpower questions why there seems to be so much activity in this industry, recently writing about prostitutes strolling near Asheville Middle School over on South French Broad Avenue.

You should read the full piece.

Its quite simple. Laws against prostitution do not stop prostitution. They only endanger prostitutes. When prostitution is illegal, it makes it that much easier for prostitutes to be assaulted, raped, and yes, murdered. Many fine organizations, like Bound, Not Gagged, have been saying so loudly and eloquently for years. And yet, dicks like Mumpower continue to champion prohibition. This leads me back to my original thesis; Carl Mumpower wants women to be murdered.
You want to get prostitutes off the streets? Fine, legalize prostitution so they can open a decent storefront like any other legitimate business. Want to protect women? Fine, legalize prostitution so that they can have the benefit of legal protection. Want to stop the objectification of women and the deadly sexism in society? Fine, legalize prostitution so that women (and men) are treated like adult human individuals who can decide for themselves what to do, who to do it with, and how much to charge for it. Want to stamp out the immorality of prostitution? Fuck off and die.
You know, it occurs to me that I may have been too hard on Carl "Goat*@&#er" Mumpower. I'm sure he doesn't want all women to get murdered. Only some of them.
There.
Is that better?

Is it wrong I'm kinda mad I didn't get featured in this?

From the latest Asheville Disclaimer:

Stanford pagans know how to party

A Year Among the Naked, the Pagan and the Vegan
By Atticus Lee

"....the revolting brilliance of the human experience." is a great turn of phrase.

What is the Temple of the New Flesh?

We are the children of the Kali Yuga, the spawn of this strange aeon. With us, Death may die. We have our feet on the ground, and our finger on the pulse of the world, and we know the truth: there is no enemy anywhere, and you are free.

Old sorcerers, feeble and afraid, have tried to chain us with shackles of Law, of Nation, of Church, of Science, Of Guilt, Of Decency. But we are wise to their ways, and have slipped our bonds. In vain they deny our power, in vain they seek to convince us that we are slaves to fate and providence. But we are wise to their ways, and we say: We are not victims. We are not subjects. We are not pawns. We happen to other people.

There is no world but the World, and it is stranger than you know. Everything is real, and nothing is forbidden. In this crucible we shall recast our bodies, our lives, our destinies, into the works of art and play we know them to be.

Chaos lives, in our hearts and in the soul of every grain of sand and the core of every star. We dance to the beat of our origin, and find it is our true step. We ride the dragon Tiamat, and she returns the favor. We take the offered apple, and give it to Eris, the fairest one of all. We are in the Way.

The Temple of the New Flesh is the answer to the question you have not asked yet. It is the grand conspiracy behind your daydreams and erotic fantasies. Its lineage can be traced back farther than humanity, and it will outlast the cockroaches. You may already be a member.

Ada & Charles Fight Crime- Or- Women Smoking Pipes are Hot

So, the People over at Io9 have turned me on to a new webcomic:

2D Goggles

I dig it. I really do. A lot. I just have a small problem with making Ada Lovelace the patron heroine of steampunk, as seems the trend.
Don't get me wrong, the person, the character, of Ada Lovelace, is great. Its iconic. Her brilliance, her heritage, her obsessions- they all combine to make a truly inspirational figure. But it is a figure that is properly claimed by the cyberpunks. It is a figure that did historically exist.
But what most people, even people who know who Ada Lovelace was, do not know is that she had a half sister by the name of Allegra Byron.
Allegra died when she was five. She is the unrealized possibility, the might-have-been. She is the road not traveled chosen, who could have made Europe and the World mad, bad, and wonderful to know. She is my candidate for the quintessential steampunk heroine.
I intend to develop these ideas further (and perhaps make her the protagonist of a steampunk story) at a time when it is not 4:37 frickin' AM. Good night.

Anti-Capitalist, Pro-Free Market

Remember, just because they say capitalism is the free market, doesn't make it so. Just because they say you're free, doesn't make it so.
Monopoly Capitalism by Kevin Carson.

This is me entering politics **Shudder**

So, I'm once again involved in a group starting a local currency for the Asheville area. This time, the group is taking a very long-term, so going approach, making sure we have all our based covered, T's crossed, and I's dotted before we even begin to think about designing the currency. This is completely opposite from how I have gone about these things in the past, so I approve.
Municipal elections are coming up in Asheville, and I happen to know some of the candidates. Given the inevitably political nature of local currencies, I written the first draft of a position paper to be handed out to the candidates. While the thought of this sticks somewhat in my anarchist craw, its going to come up in the local public scene sooner or later, and I'd to get a handle on it now before we get handled later on. Please note that this is indeed a first draft. I'll post the finished product when its finished.


Asheville Currency Project Position Paper

Dear Candidate:
We are a group working on establishing a community currency for the Buncombe County area. We believe that a community currency is essential to the future economic health and prosperity of this region. In order to help you contribute to this health and prosperity, we present the following positions that we urge you to adopt as part of your current political platform.

1. The City and County should accept all community currencies-that have met established standards for transparency, professionalism, and robustness,- as payment for all fees, debts, and other payments owed to the City and County by the residents of Asheville and Buncombe County.
2. The establishment of a community currency is essential to the economic health of the Buncombe County area, especially given the current national economic situation. With this in mind, either the City of Asheville or Buncombe County should, either through a direct grant or through requesting the appropriate federal funds, such as an Americorp grant, help fund the start-up and establishment of a community currency.
   
3. Due to the unscrupulous and uninformed actions and opinions of certain State and Federal officials, community currencies are in a constant danger of being declared illegal. While it turns out they are in fact legal, the resulting legal difficulties and frustrations drain vital time and resources from the community currency. Therefore, we request that that City and County legal resources make themselves aware of the true laws and regulations governing community currencies, and that they vigorously defend the legal rights of their citizens from improper investigation and harrassment from State and Federal officials.
4. To reiterate, the establishment of a community currency is essential to the economic health of the Buncombe County area. Thus we ask the City of Asheville to request that the Asheville Chamber of Commerce come on board with the community currency concept, and offer their resources and participation in order to ensure its success.
   

Rainbow Cake

Rainbow Cake.

By my brother, Ted. I don't know why.

New Vortex Cabaret!

A new Vortex Cabaret! Woo hoo! A heavily promoted one, as evidenced by this being posted a week before the event (well, heavily promoted by my standards.) It will feature the comedy rantings of Sister Discordia, music by Forrest, puppetry by Madison, and burlesque by Theatre de Fetiche. Gonna be a good show.
The Vortex Cabaret is a series of live variety shows I produce at the Boiler Room, on 11 Grove Street, every other Wednesday. This next one is scheduled for July 15th. They are, if I may toot my own horn, some of the best shows I've seen in Asheville, or really anywhere. Doors open at 9 PM. Come early and drink often.

**UPDATE**
We also have Elisa Faires &Co. back on as special guest performers for this Cabaret. Elisa's "Dada Beach" one on of the highlights of the performances last month.

I shot this!

Yi-frickin'-ha!


This video (in better quality) will be appearing in an upcoming Pleasure Saucer episode. Speaking of episodes, the next one should be up July 15th. They should also my much more regular after that.

**UPDATE**

I should say, My brother Ben and I shot this. All the good shots were his. But I did edit it.