why does wordpress ignore the post args?

There is no category argument:

  • cat (int) – use category id.
  • category_name (string) – use category slug (NOT name).
  • category__and (array) – use category id.
  • category__in (array) – use category id.
  • category__not_in (array) – use category id.

You want to be using the category_name argument– note that it takes the slug not the name–, though I’d recommend using the ID.

And…

Please don’t use query_posts.