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2.26.2005
Where in the Hell is Kilgore Trout? Last seen on Valentine's Day. Update: Trillian, Update 2: Kilgore is back, but not really, he has decided that blogging is not what he wants to do with six hours of his week. I can understand. You can either put the time and effort into making a blog worth reading and visiting, like Kilgore does/did, or you can do what I do. | The New York Times > New York Region > In Olympic Bid, City Must Be Ready to Cover Overruns, Too: "Experts on the Games say New York has yet to satisfy the International Olympic Committee's firm demand that host cities guarantee to pay for all cost overruns and deficits, no matter how high they go. Vote for your favorite snarky comment: 1) Didn't we sign a contract like that when we invaded Iraq? 2) Those who take the risks deserve the government bail-outs! 3) No problem, we'll just get Halliburton to run it for us. ... or add your own!! (as seen at Steve's) | 2.25.2005
I feel that we are still in a period of time where the connections between socialism/communism and a threat to religion are still very fresh. During the fifty some odd years of the Cold War an alliance between capitalism and religion was forged. The former Soviet Union represented a threat to both and as such each saw in one another a mutual partner. Religion provided the motivated masses to fight and vote while the owners of capital provided the money to fund such actions. Nowadays it not uncommon for me to meet resistence of any mention of social programs as "creeping socialism" and hence religious death. The connections are still very fresh in some people's minds, less so in the younger generations. The Cold War was a horribly polarizing event (as will be the War on Terror) that caused both sides to veer dangerously close to an idealogically edge, with the Soviet Union eventually collapsing and the United States becoming very militaristic and right wing. But during those days the rough alliance between the capitalists and the religious proved very useful to the people making the weapons and pushing a hard right social agenda. Both had a mutaul boogeyman in the communists to push their agenda. Its not entirely an accident that the names and faces in the White House read like a "who's who" of cold war politics. The "War on Terror" has replaced the Cold War for all intents and purposes. The irony is that this time, instead of the enemy being a left wing secular idealogy its a right wing religious one. But the answer is still the same, a ramping up of religious fervor and an increase in spending for arms makers. On Streak's blog (one of my new favorites) he answers the question I think many in the church should be asking; How can I be a good christian without embracing the overly right wing gay hating tv evangelists that are more intent on preaching hate then preaching the message of Jesus? Do it, as the kids say, "old school." Take as your challenge to America to dramatically reduce poverty and uninsured people in this country. Work with liberals and Catholics who are concerned about this and let your actions be your witness. Eradicate child poverty. Reduce the uninsured so the poor can attempt good health. Eradicate infant mortality. Investigate and act when corporations endanger the poor by dumping carcinogens into drinking water. But there you get back to the initial conflict of capitalism and christianity. Solved, of course, by carefully ignoring most of the New Testement. Capitalism by its very nature demands shortages. The "problems" that Streak refers to; poverty, homelessness, hunger, lack of health care are a by-product of the market. The market dictates that there be a demand that exceeds the supply. This drives up (or sustains) prices. Imagine for a second what providing high quality low cost housing for the poor would do to rent prices. In addition, as you alleviate the pain and suffering of people you have the unfortunate by-product (in the eyes of capital owners) of creating a more demanding work force that has more room to negotiate for better working conditions. Nothing works to quell unions, squash wages and quiet disgruntled employees better than a starving man outside clutching at an application for dear life. Take away the spectre of starvation and homelessness and people get uppity. Any earnest and effective attempt to address an real problems will be met with resistence by the people wishing to make money providing the services that the government (or church) would offer for free. In right wing religious minds, any attempt by government to address any social crisis is tantamount to socialism and by extension (in cold war mentality) a direct threat to religious freedom in America. A very useful connection for business interests. So we get gays and abortion instead. Business friendly religious issues. Nothing that calls for any kind of social justice that might threaten the bottom line. Nevermind that nothing made Jesus angrier than moneychangers in the temple... 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" I have to wonder how Jesus would feel about God's house being used as a recruiting area for the military? If there is any silver lining to the utterly fictitious war on terror its that no longer do we have an enemy that represents a secular-socialist boogeyman, nope, today's enemy is a fundamentalist religious one that hates all the same things as the domestic fundies do; gays, freedom, women, liberals, education, seculaism.. etc... Though magically, in the eyes of nutjobs like David Horowitz, the lefties and the islamic fundies are all on the same side? | 2.24.2005
It is now nearly a week since we launched our new website, DiscoverThe Network: A Guide to the Political Left The “alliance” between radical Islam and the left is generally not formal (though anyone imagining that there are no such alliances is naïve), but it can be easily identified in the profiles of individuals in the base, like Michael Moore or Ward Churchill, for that matter. Both regard the Islamic terrorists fighting America in Iraq as the resistance to an illegitimate occupation, and both believe the terrorists deserve to prevail. Organizations that share this view and are represented in this database include CounterPunch.org, Alex Cockburn’s webzine, the National Lawyers Guild, and leading “peace” organizations like International ANSWER and Code Pink. And this is just the tip of an ugly iceberg. What utter crap!!! After reading through several pages of the site (Horowitz often asserts that his critics haven't read his work) I have concluded that this collection of information has been presented solely for the reason of smearing people through association. So by Horowitz's reasoning, since Michael Moore is "celebrated" by Hollywood, and there are some in Hollywood that are against the war, Michael Moore stands shoulder to shoulder with the terrorists? The links connecting the "bad people" can stretch across time, space and need only be inferred to be included. Its not so hard to include all the party's enemies by this logic. Let's give it a try shall we. Rumsfeld once supported Saddam in the war with Iran, Saddam was a Baathist, the Baathists are part of the insurgency which is also supported by the terrorists, so... Its safe to say that Rumsfeld stands close to the terrorists as well, as a former supporter of Saddam Hussein. "Guide to the Political Left" Welcome to DiscoverTheNetwork. This site is a "Guide to the Political Left." It identifies the individuals and organizations that make up the left and also the institutions that fund and sustain it; it maps the paths through which the left exerts its influence on the larger body politic; it defines the left's (often hidden) programmatic agendas and it provides an understanding of its history and ideas. This "guide to the left" includes Mohammed Atta. At this point in time, no critic from the left has bothered to look at any of the actual individual profiles on the DiscoverTheNetwork site. None has argued that a single profile is inaccurate or makes invidious or unreasonable connections between the individual in question and other individuals or organizations or ideas. If the profiles of Bill Moyers, Cornel West and Barbra Streisand are fair and accurate, then what is the problem? Hmm... so yeah, looking over the information on Ayatollah Khomeini, a theocratic ruler with a history of human riight abuses I have to wonder, "Just how does this qualify as being left?" Then it dawns on me.. (not really, I already knew what the game was) that this is nothing more than a collection of people that Horowitza disapproves of. Its an enemies list. How else can he justify including Roger Ebert (whose greatest crime was accusing Bush of stealing the election) as well as Mohammed Atta (a 9-11 hijacker) Danny Glover's crimes? Being against the Iraq war and criticizing Bush and Reagan. Horowitz thinks that he can hide behind his claim that his information is factual. (He relies of quotes from others to make his most outrageous claims and throws around the word terrorist with way too much abandon.) But he can't hide from the fact that he has lumped together a group of people whose only common thread is Mr. Horowitz's own dislike. So basically, if you're a feminist, a member of a union, a civil rights worker, a activist of any stripe or a terrorist, you are an enemy of Bush, a member of "The Left" and thus an enemy of all that is right and sacred. Oh good lord, why do I even waste my time with this stupidity? | 2.23.2005
Free Fiona Apple Here's what I don't get. You listen to the two leaked songs (Better Version of Me and Extraordinary Machine) and they are vey in tune with current trends, especially given the success Jon Brion has had scoring such films as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Punchdrunk Love and I Heart Huckabees. Not to mention that both of her previous albums sold like gangbusters, even When the Pawn, the much ignored sophmore effort went platinum. I know not every artist/band that gets overlooked by their record label will turn around and win a fucking Grammy a couple years later, or in Fiona's case, winning the grammy, then getting the shaft, but sheesh, when are record execs going to realize that there is a market for good songwriting. The little kiddies with no taste, but fat wallets, will follow the trends, even if that means good music. The claim that it would cost too much to market and distribute seems pretty thin in this day and age where artists can reach an international audience with a piddly website and some good word of mouth. But it is also my belief that the majority of politicians and CEO's only know of the internets by reputation, and treat it as some sort of novelty that the "kids are into", and where people steal their stuff, without really understanding the potential. FionaApple.org | David Grenier: Writer. Bowler. Revolutionary. David tells an interesting story to illustrate a very important point. People no longer have to be openly racist, they can simply lean on institutional discrimination and wipe their hands of personal responsibility. That kind of “blame this vague mass of ‘consumers’ for my personal decisions” is the same story we get fed by CEOs who close down factories to ship production overseas, it’s the same story we get fed by mass media that gives us car crashes, fires, and screaming-head “pundits” instead of actual news. It’s the same story we hear every time someone wants to avoid taking responsibility for their own decisions and finds a convenient scapegoat in the spectral “invisible hand of the marketplace.” Its so true. Its a institutional trap of poverty that many minorities find themselves enmeshed. In David's story a DJ stops playing Hip Hop or Latin Reggae because the club wanted a crowd of cute white girls to attract the rich white guys, and the music was attracting the "wrong crowd". Whether you see the market as being "fair" depends radically on how much the market caters to your wants or whether the market creates obstacles to your success. Some of the political distance on such issues as "private accounts" for Social Security depend on how people see Wall Street; either as an agent of financial well being or as a predatory system that cleans out your pockets while you're working your ass off. Its incredibly difficult to discuss this issue with people because nobody ever wants to feel culpable for actions that we think are normal and rational. But much of our economic system is designed to take advantage of institutional prejudices. Its in the way we fund our schools, and in the standards we accept as "clean" or "moral" or even "friendly". Its in the roles that we designate for people based on the social norms. So its why we hardly ever (if never) see the cute blonde girl in the kitchen working the dishwasher while we find the older hispanic guy out front seating the tables. The restaraunt manager knows, even without ever having to admit it, that people expect to see cute girls out front seating and serving people and that he might lose business if his establishment doesn't cater to that norm. Am I guilty? Yes. Sex sells beer too. Our subconscience plays a more important role in our actions than I think we like to admit. So while consciously we might think we've gotten beyond the old habits of the past, we still act on the same impulses without giving them the same names. Its not enough to hide behind the economics and build a rationale for why other people "won't" or "can't". We have to recognize where there is an unjust system and work to make it better. Its what we have done in the past. Of course the people benefitting from the advantages of an unequal system are going to make excuses for why things should stay the what they are. I'm sure the fuedal lords and landowners of old could give a thousand reasons why it was better for people to be serfs and slaves too, but it wasn't better for the serfs, it was better for the landowners. Once again though, we find that issues of race and class become entangled, with too much emphasis placed on this being a problem of race, (i.e white people), even though its true that in America the majority of wealth is owned by white people, through a long history of real institutional racism. (note I'm still not pleased by what I've come up with here. This is an extremely difficult issue to sort out. I'm not feeling particularly eloquent so feel free to criticize at will... ;-) | 2.22.2005
Bloomberg.com: Top Worldwide: "An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale shook Iran's southeastern Kerman province today, the Iranian Red Crescent said on its Web site. At least 400 people were killed, the British Broadcasting Corp. said. As many as 5,000 were hurt, Agence France-Presse said." There are other, more compelling reasons why developing Nuclear technology in Iran is a really bad idea. | 2.21.2005
For the one of you that might care about headphones, this post is for you. I seem to have lost my earbuds, previously a pair of "The Plug" from Koss, which I have replaced with a pair of Sony's MDR-EX51LP's. So far? I like the Sony earbuds much better. They sound clearer, and even though they might not be as good at cancelling outside noise, they go in much easier and they didn't slip at all during my walk today. I used to hate that I would twist and wrench the plugs for several minutes only to have them come loose and fall out on the slightest tug at the cord. Plus, the Sony earbud's have incredible bass response for such small phones. Very nice. My first earbuds were the ones that came with my MPIO flash player. They were absolutely worthless. You couldn't wear those things for more than a couple fo minutes without your ears starting to ache. I didn't get any Apple earphones with my iPod because I got it used. So I have no comment on them. But I'd rather not have headphones that announce to the world that I'm an obnoxious iPod owner.. even though I am, an iPod owner. Years ago I bought a pair of AKG K240M headphones for use in home recording and I have been spoiled rotten by them. My only complaint is that they are really quiet; too quiet for use with portable devices outside. While mowing the lawn for instance. I still feel that Joe Satriani's Self Titled is probably still the best sounding recording I own. Though I can't seem to find it right now... | Dear Conservatives, I present to you further proof that your "movement" is morally bankrupt. When you visit the website for "The American Spectator" you will see an ad on the right side of the screen. It has a red X over a soldier and a green checkmark over two gay men dressed in tuxedos kissing. The message: "The Real AARP Agenda". The link takes you to USA Next, a "conservative" alternative to the "liberal" AARP. The American Association of Retired People hates American troops and is trying to turn us all gay? Interesting... Remembering of course, that just not too long ago the AARP was all buddy-buddy with the Bush Whitehouse to get that bloated monstrosity of a Medicare Prescription Drug plan passed. Which we now realize was just another step in their scheme to turn our retired people into troop-hating gays. The AARP's crime? Opposing the Bush plan to dismantle Social Security. Its one thing to say that the AARP is wrong to oppose the Bush plan for SS, that's all fair and within the boundaries of good taste (if you put your car in reverse and drive for about twenty years you'll see where you crossed it), its another to start slamming them with the pro-gay, anti-troop smear at the first sign that they disagree with the president. Smear first, ask questions later. Fire up the PR firms and let's get rolling!! Kudos to Josh Marshall as well as others for bringing this to our attention. | 2.20.2005
TheAgitator.com: "So perhaps we limited-government types are mistaken when we criticize today's big government conservatism's claims to be the heir to Reagan's legacy. In the sense that they support limited government in theory but not in practice, perhaps they really are the ideological descendants of Reagan. Social conservatives want to free themselves from the public schools, NPR, and high taxes, but when it comes to dictating who can marry whom, who can put what substances into their own parties, who can gamble, engage in consensual sex, or market pornography, they're perfectly comfortable dropping down the yoke of the state." No shit, you think? Extra Credit : How long can you fuel a movement on empty promises? Now, I'm not a fan of slashing government simply for the sake of it, especially when you realize that the "bad" parts of government always turn out to be the parts that protect people from exploitation. But, I understand the appeal of limited government. What I don't understand is the support that Republicans get from Libertarian types, when its as obvious as the sun rising that Republicans are not more commited to reductions in government spending than are Democrats. Especially when it comes to items like defense. What ever happened to the "peace dividend"? That reduction in military spending we'd see once the threat of the Soviet Union went away? Somehow we keep spending even more. Addiction. Politicians have learned that the most politically safe way of funnelling money to their buddies back in the districts is to send it through the Pentagon system. So now we see that Homeland Defense money is the new slush fund for vote buying around the country. In another case, a $935,000 grant was awarded for general security improvements to a port where an industrial park was being built, leading department staff members to question if the money was in fact an economic development grant, instead of antiterrorism financing. Because you see, when I think about limiting government, I think about all that money that gets given out to do nothing more than build ugly strip malls and pad donors pockets; the so called "good government" spending now enshrined in over $500 billion worth of "defense" spending. | 2.19.2005
Spirited Away : Great movie. I knew nothing about the plot before I rented it, so I was a bit surprised -- I recommend, but you've prolly already seen it. Swimming Pool : Uccckk. ----- You might be wondering when i'll make my break into professional reviewing? | FT.com / Home UK - Burnt offerings: "When martial law finally brought quiet, 35 blocks of Tulsa's north side - with 1,256 houses and 23 churches - had burned to the ground. Hundreds of homes and shops had been looted. Black men had been shot, burned and dragged through the streets." I'm a little late to this, first reading about it at Tom Coburn is a Big Fat Jerk who linked to it from Crooked Timber. I've lived in Tulsa most of my life, with only a couple years missing where I lived in Texas. I heard little about the race riots for most of my life. It has been swept under the rug for the most part. There is a side of me that feels that history should be given its peace but I also feel its incredibly important that we acknowledge what went wrong in our past so that we can clearly see the warnings signs should we ever start down that path again. You know... demonizing others, cultivating a culture of resentment and hatred? In Tulsa you have a few options available to you. You can either leave, which many of the brightest and most talented do; you can adopt the mindset that everything is a-ok even as the city is still horribly divided along racial lines; or you can be aware, acknowledge, and learn about why things are they way they are and try to change them. While its important to talk about race, and its still an important topic here in the United States, I think that if we focus on race as the driving motivation behind the violence of the past then we will miss the greater lessons that we so desperately need to learn: One group of people, who feel like they are deserving of the privilege they enjoy, either because of their own self-perceived sense of moral, racial, ethnic, national or idealogical superiority, will upon sensing their loss of privilege, latch onto the "other" as the source of their strife, and see violence as an appropriate "solution" to their "suffereing". Race is just one convenient faultline, one of the easiest to use because of the clearly visable divisions. But next time it could just as easily be some other point of tribal division. Its not always going to be Aryans vs. Jews, or Shirts vs. Skins, or Catholics vs. Protestants, or Blacks vs. Whites. In every instance its Us vs. Them with humans on both sides using tribal hatred to fight what is usually a fight over resources. | Salon.com News | Among the believers: Salon has a nice write up about CPAC. Including this quote from Chris Cox, Representative from California. 'We continue to discover biological and chemical weapons and facilities to make them inside Iraq.' See, and if you find this hard to believe, you hate "America"*. * "America" is the collective name for a group of angry people who believe that blacks, jews, hispanics, gays and other religious and ethnic minorities are dragging this country down because they are just not as smart and capable, and who believe that the undesirables have seized control of the government (in the name of equal rights) to steal their hard earned tax dollars that would be better off in the stock market earning returns as Wal-Mart and the military contractors find new and inventive ways of bilking the poor and making them rich. | Dizzying new heights of shillness. CPAC: Conservative Political Action Conference. 8:00 - 10:00 A.M : Hillary Clinton jokes and Pancake Breakfast 10:00 - 12:00 Noon : Ollie North Book signing : "How to Lie to Congress and Get Away with It" 12:00 - 4:00 P.M. : Blaming Liberals for everything from bellybutton lint to the last Ice Age (Which didn't really happen!) 4:00 - 6:00 P.M. : Roundtable Discussion : "Hey All Our Checks are Signed by the Same People!" 6:00 - Midnight : Whining about the media and universities (Affirmative Action for Conservatives) Midnight - 2:00 A.M. : Getting to "Know" You Party (Followed by : Heavy Drinking and Gay Sex Orgy) Of course, if I were a conservative I could make an extremely tasteless joke (a la Ann Coulter) about how I wish Osama would fly a plane in to the CPAC convention, ("HAHA they would be killed, get it!!!") and nobody would treat me like a hateful opportunist. Hell I might even get asked to speak at the next meeting of "respectable people" and shake the Vice President's hand. ok, now a real sample of the CPAC schedule: 2:15pm Book Signing (Atrium Ballroom Foyer) People, get over yourselves!!! We're already through one whole term of Bush and you people are still writing about Bill Clinton? PENIS. BLOWJOB. INTERN. (What else is there to say?) Does everyone there have a fucking book to peddle? And are they all about "Liberals, The Clintons and how we should round up and torture people we don't like?" (Hey that's a catchy title, I bet it would sell.) Did I cover it all? Presentation of Courage Under Fire Award You have got to be kidding me? They're going to give those smear artists an award? They can have my trophy I won playing soccer when I was a kid for all it matters to anyone. "Now crawl back to Texas until next time we need a person with no conscience." Attention Liberals: The Conservative Movement has become a parody of itself. Leave them alone, nothing this farcical can survive its own weight in sheer shortsightedness and stupidity. I should just resist the urge to read these websites, because every time I do I'm reminded of the depths of self-deception that people will go to earn a few greasy bucks. For while they all sit around and laugh about the Clintons and write books about the big bad evil liberals the people writing the checks have a real agenda that is dangerous for America. 8:50am - In Defense of Innovation : The War Against the Drug Companies Hello, Vioxx anyone? In this brave new age of conservative ideals we'll all get to sit around, make fun of the Clintons while the pills we take are slowly killing us. And when we find out that the drug companies knew about it all along (Reference history, see Tobacco Companies) we'll take them to court only to have a judge laugh in our faces and say "You can't sue them, they have special protections!!!" What, we have no legal rights anymore? When did that happen? Probably while you were reading all those books about how fucking great Ronald Reagan was. | 2.18.2005
2.17.2005
Bloomberg.com: Top Worldwide: "The House today passed legislation that will make it harder for trial lawyers to file claims in such jurisdictions as Madison County, Illinois, that are known as havens for plaintiffs seeking large judgments. Judges would be required to hold hearings to assess the fairness of settlements, and settlements would be banned if lawyers' fees result in a net loss to consumers." Meanwhile companies are still free to move to states with minimal consumer and worker protection. Wal-Mart has even earned the right to get a first peek at complaints headed to the Department of Labor. Upon receiving a complaint about a potential violation of wage and hour laws, DOL’s field offices around the country are now instructed to notify the DOL office in Little Rock, Arkansas, which will then notify Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas of the complaint. ` And just how did they earn that right, by working children on hazardous machines. The 24 alleged violations, linked to stores in Arkansas, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, had to do with teenage workers who used hazardous equipment such as a chainsaw, paper balers, and forklifts. As part of the $135,000 settlement the DOL will now give Wal-Mart fifteen days written notice of an audit and ten days to rectify the violation. | PMA Report 2005 - LetsGoDigital Camera Magazine PMA starts in two days, and if you're like me (and why wouldn't you be?) you're keeping a close eye on Nikon to see if they come up with something to compete with Canon in the entry level D-SLR market. Canon, you see, has just introduced a new Digital Rebel XT, an eight megapixel version of the Rebel that comes in black and boosts shooting speeds up to 3 fps for up to 14 frames. Pretty respectable. But more importantly, this pushes the price of the original Rebel down to $799. So... what you got Nikon? .. and in other news, Olympus announces 1,285 new models to add to their already bloated lineup of 12,567 different Camedia Digital cameras. "So you don't like our new 4MP 3x zoom camera? Well, how about a butt-ugly 5MP with 3x zoom? Or maybe one shaped like a bar of soap? One with infrared connection to a printer? No? Ok, how about one that has a twisting len? Well, it twists you see... ? Twists!!" | A few okie blogs I've never seen before... The Pub: New Years resolutions and tomorrow.: "7) I am going to drink more wine, more good beer, and less crappy beer. This is a biggy." Sounds good, you make the blogroll. Cheers! Streak's Blog: Soundtrack of my life Wilco. This may be one of the best bands that I have ever heard. Jeff Tweedy was originally in a band called Uncle Tupelo, and Wilco is his second band. What a band! From the poppy sound of A.M., to the really interesting rhythms of Summer Teeth and Being There, or the thoughtful and political Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, or personal and reflective A Ghost is Born. It is all great. Oh, you so made the blogroll!!! Some are teeth. panta ta ethne : A privileged girl gets a good dose of reality... "Reading Fast Food Nation has made me think about the difficult but valuable learning experience I had working at a fast food restaurant last summer. Being in that context gave me a different perspective on things. And I could get Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores in a lot of trouble. I should. The sexism, unfair labor practices, and major health code violations would anger even a hard-core pro-business right-winger. I should start a worker’s revolution so they could unionize. ok, I like you too. Viva la Revolucion! the parish : I Forgot My Big Goat Head "That ought to get me excommunicated, disfellowshipped, or warlocked (which is what happens in Wiccan circles)." Post evangelical writer? interesting... All you guys are on probation, you cease to be entertaining and *whoosh* you're gone. If you read this blog you may get the impression that I am anti-religious. But in reality I don't mind people being religious at all. I recognize that spiritual questions are part of being human. We strive for some kind of fellowship with other people about the big questions we all share. I get really excited when I see people within the religious world fighting the right wingers that wish to drag the idea of religion back to the dark ages. Being a religious person does not mean that you have to be a frothing fundamentalist. You can be a reasonable member of the 21st century and still have faith in the big head in the sky. I'll let others work out the details. UPDATE: I went for a little drive and had a few more thoughts about religion pop up in my head. Too often there is a tendency to split sides and assume who will be your friends and who will be your enemies based on assumptions. The rightwingers assume that they can count on the religious people to back them up. The assumption goes that Christians will line up behind other Christians no matter how poorly they represent the faith. Thus, Pat Robertson can claim a much larger representation than he actually has and the hucksters that peddle religion as a source of income and power will be shielded from criticism. The way I see, if we are going to be drawing up sides, there's fundamentalism on one side and the rest of humanity on the other. Fundamentalism comes in many flavors, left, right, religious, environmental, nationalistic, secular etc.. with the common thread being that they all agree that their way is the TRUTH and all other sides should be marginalized or destroyed. So it comes as no surprise that fundies hate other fundies. Each side then tries to draw the rest of us into their conflict by deception and inflammatory rhetoric. They wish to prey on our sense of tribal loyalty and turn us all into fundies. And in the fervor of heated debate and when we're feeling most threatened I can see how that mentality can have a certain appeal... "If only we could get rid of those people!" But its never going to happen. The best we can ever hope for is a world in which we all agree to let others be, in exchange for our own continued liberty. To that end, the rest of us need to work together to protect our mutual freedoms. | 2.16.2005
john vanderslice: mp3 index Some people wanting to buy mp3 players think that the only way to get music is to buy it. "Not so", I say. There are lots of artists, really great artists that are giving away free samples of their music with the hope that once you get a sample you'll come back for more, then you'll see them on tour, buy a shirt and get them a record deal. It has worked before! Whenever I "discover" a new artist I always ask around to the people I know to see if anyone else has heard of them. They usually haven't, but that's not surprising considering the Black Hole of culture in which I am trapped. Then I look around on the internet and I get that "everyone else has aready discovered them" feeling. Its a odd feeling, like when you feel "well read" and walking into a bookstore still feels intimidating. You scan the shelves and realize that you recognize maybe one title out of a hundred. You think "But... I've made an effort, I've tried!!" The same holds true about music. I've been actively hunting down new and interesting artists for years, and I can still scan over the racks at the cd store and go "huh, who the hell is this?" ... and then you can't even find the cd you're looking for? Today I recommend you listen to: John Vanderslice (mp3 index) Amitriptyline (mp3) Bill Gates Must Die (mp3) Go on, you know you still have nearly 15 gigs left on thet 20 gig iPod you got for Christmas! | Sometimes the blogosphere just gets stupid. Lately, with all this talk about Jeff Gannon and Eason Jordon and the like, I just find it hard to care about any of it. I dislike the nature of the partisan "gotcha journalism", especially when it distracts us from greater issues. If there is a role for blogs as watchdogs, it should be as critics of power, not defenders, or apologists. If it all boils down to which firing squad fires faster and louder then blogging will lose much of its potential as a way to discuss and expose issues that are being overlooked in the mainstream press. Will blogs go the way of A.M radio? Nothing but a wasteland of paid hacks lying for the sake of partisan gain? I hope not. Maybe its already too late. | 2.15.2005
I had the distinct dipleasure last night to catch Bob Yandian on the TV. Who the hell is Bob Yandian you might be asking? Well, I first heard that name over ten years ago. At the time I had four good friends that I spent loads of time with, high school buddies. One was a guy named P, a bright guy who I had lots in common with. After we finished going to our Catholic High School he started going to Grace Fellowship with his mother. Finishing at CHS was a condition of his fathers. Soon after he started to attend Grace Fellowship his personality changed. He started, in my opinion, to say things that went against his personality. This guy, who loved science was now giving me lectures on how the Dinosaurs and man co-existed, a fantasy concocted by the young Earth creationists to reconcile the existence of the Dinosaurs with the Biblical description of creation. They go so far as to suggest that Noah brought the dinosaurs on the ark with him. At a time where I was becoming more liberal (free thinking), my friend P was becoming more sympathetic to the notion of immutable truths. We would find ourselves arguing over the nature of langauge, whereas I would take the position that words are defined by usage and thus open to new intepretations, he would argue that words should never be used in contexts not previously defined. A silly argument I suppose, but eventually we found it harder to find common ground. SO last night I was flipping through channels and I came across good ol' Bob Yandian. He was hosting a show called Real Answers. The topic for the night was Finances. Of course there was also a product being peddled. A tape series called "A Time to Prosper". Here's the blurb from the website: As we are rapidly approaching the Second Coming of Jesus, we are entering into a time that has been specifically appointed by God for the flow of financial prosperity to be re-routed from the world into the Body of Christ. This 7 tape, 8 lesson series will focus on financial prosperity, what our attitude should be toward that prosperity, and how God views prosperity and its purpose in the earth. The basic premise behind the idea of Prosperity is that God will bless you if you transfer that wealth into the mission of spreading God's word. In turn God wants you to be prosperous because God's heaven is one of Gold, Diamonds and Jewels. and, most importantly, God will bless you materially if give to the ministry. The subtext is not so subtle that even a kingergartner couldn't see it: Give your money to Bob Yandian, no amount is too small, and if you give in faith you will be blessed by God with financial blessings. The show was taped as an audience show. The "host" tosses Bob softball questions and reinforces the message, and the audience asks the questions to give Bob a chance to explain his message. If the format sounds familiar, you might have seen it used for that Calcium treatment, various diet programs and all sorts of fruit juicers. Religious informercial? So true. And there was Bob Yandian telling us what God thinks about money. From the video for Part 3. "When you chase after God, the blessings of life will chase after you." "Because money, it has such a hold on people's lives, and you feel like 'I worked for it, that paycheck belongs to me, it represents forty hours a week that I have put in as sweat'. And God wants us to realize that its he that gave us the power to get wealth and the power included, my mentality, my wisdom, my natural ability, the breath I had, the strength I had, the food I ate, all the different things came from God to where that job was accomplished by the gifts of God in my life and therefore when I tithe I am actually giving back to God in thanksgiving, for this job, this strength and everything I have to accomplish this job, and its kinda of a different way of thinking. And God wants us to think that way so that he can turn around a bless and us and eventually bring us to the point in our life where we work less and we're blessed more. And God brings it from all types of sources around us where we planted so much seed out there that crops are coming at us every day." So the key to long term financial security is giving to "God", but we should make the checks out to Bob Yandian? Don't worry though, Bob will send up the faith and love up to God and keep the money part here on earth. "Men receive the money, but God receives the faith, your not throwing dollar bills into the air that God gets, in fact if he could take them there's no use for them in heaven, all the money's use is down here on this earth, so what its simply saying is that when you give money to men, make sure that you give it in faith and in love because it is the faith and love that God gets and that's what he blesses us back with, is our attitude behind the giving." Its starting to sound like an investment program. I rub magical love and faith on my money and give it to pastor Bob. Pastor Bob uses the money to do "God's work", he sends the love and faith up to God to make him happy, and in return I'll get a better job, a bigger house and more leisure time. Where do I sign up for this sweet deal? "The Bible talks about whatever you're going to sow you're gonna reap, you don't sow green beans and get tomatoes, and if you really want to get finances you sow finances." So, here's the tapes you'll wanna get!!! Just 35 Green Beans. Its actually a sweet little scheme. You get blessings from God for two things; 1) doing God's work, which means bringing people to God, A.K.A. Bob Yandian and 2) giving faith and love to God, and money to Bob Yandian. Not only does he get an army of free people working for him to recruit new members, he gets them to pay for the priviledge. That's a business model that even Wal-Mart's would be jealous of. | BatesLine: Whirled threatens BatesLine Congrats to local guy Michael Bates for getting some attention from the big dogs to his battle with the Tulsa World. I dislike the Tulsa World. I too think they are a small minded operation whose main offense in my eyes is not realizing that they can no longer expect to get people to pay good money for their piddly content when people can now get access to "important" new items with a click on Google News. Any self respecting newspaper in America should immediately open their content to free access with good, permanent linkage to prior content and focus less on regurgitating the AP and more on generating good, solid local reporting. That is, if they want to stay relevant, you can always generate revenue with ads linked to good content, not just by closing the gates and hoping people will pay to see what you got. They won't. However, and this is the important point, for all that is wrong with the Tulsa World, they are light years ahead of the utter trash that is KFAQ and the Tulsa Beacon. KFAQ, airs Batesline on their station, as well as hatemonger Michael Savage and major league asshole Bill O'Reilly. Tulsa Beacon, a sample quote from an editorial : "President Bush and Congress finally passed a ban on partial birth abortion but a fight has followed in the courts. The next step is to place common-sense restraints on abortion. The hope is the eventual overthrow of Roe v. Wade." I'd say that's pretty standard fare for the Beacon. Far right, anti-secular, pro-theocracy. Bates, if I read him correctly, rightly objects to the Tulsa World's bullying tactics (I mean sheesh -- no linking?!) but would be just as happy with hack jobs like the Beacon in its place. I utterly despise KFAQ as the source of most of the growing stupidity in these parts. Every time I tune over, I want to hurl my radio out the window in sheer frustration at the levels of idiocy issuing forth. "Standing up for what's Right" is KFAQ's motto and that's true. They don't give a shit about the truth with a small T. They sure do talk about big T Truth all the time though. Warning sign! Bates is no hero standing up for the little guy. He plays footsy with the wingnuts and this should be noted. The World is being stupid in targeting Bates for reprinting their content, when they should be encouraging people to link to their content instead, but Bates and his allies are not "reformers" as they try to paint themselves, they are part of the larger movement that pushes a rightwing message as an alternative to traditional news outlets. Tulsa needs a better news alternative, something that is independent and IS NOT some far right shillrag. I wouldn't be sad to see the Tulsa World go away, I would be even happier to see an alternative paper start up to offer better, objective coverage of Tulsa events. But I DO NOT want the Tulsa World to go away and be left with nothing but far right crap. Part of the problem with Oklahoma, in my opinion, is lack of access to good information. The right has such a stranglehold on the media that reading the internet seems like I'm reading about a different planet. Most liberals have written off this part of the country, they don't want to "waste money" by playing their message here. Big mistake. The right has been mainlining their message here through AM stations and churches for years. So much so that I hardly have a point of reference to discuss most political issues with people. I have to start at square one and fix all the misinformation that passes for news here. Preaching to the choir is fine and all, but its not going to win you elections. Its going to take years and years of deprogrammnig to get people in this part of the country back in tune with reality. If I did such things, I would thank god every day for the internet for allowing smart, curious people access to good information so we can break free of this small minded provincialistic attitude most people adopt when fed a daily diet of crap. .. and just last night I heard a news report that said only 40% of Oklahoma households have access to the internet. (Mike at Okiedoke gave me the real scoop on the numbers. "Nearly 50% of Oklahomans have a home computer, and about 44% of those are connected to the Internet.") So its even worse than I thought. We get great choices here in Oklahoma don't we? On one side we get cronyism / monopoly by an established good ol' boy network, on the other side we get far rightwingers who pander to the theocrats. No wonder smart people move. | 2.14.2005
Matador Records | MP3s Do yourselves a favor and download Miracle Drug by A.C. Newman. Awesome pop song. You'll be singing along in no time. Miracle Drug (mp3) If you want to play along, the basics are: Dm, Bb, F for the verses. C, G, Bb, C, F Am Lyrics, via Leo's Lyrics are as such: He was tied to the bed with a miracle drug in one hand, | If I find little that anyone else is saying all that interesting, how am I supposed to think of interesting things to say myself? Blaaaaaaaaaahh!!!! Maybe I'll go see Sideways tomorrow. Anyone want to come along? I'll bring you in spirit. | 2.13.2005
Lips and Ring Labrets I don't care who you are, lip rings either make you look like you have a permanent cold sore or that you're chewing on tin foil. Not attractive. | 2.12.2005
Digital Home Canada: "The UMD format is proprietary to Sony and the discs will not play on any devices other than the PSP." UMD stands for Universal Media Disc. | 2.11.2005
You would think that a day off, that ended up being a day at work, would be one in which to gripe about. But not so today. Even though is WAS my day off, I merely stopped by work to make a small purchase to aid in my earlier cleaning efforts. But I did so AFTER I treated myself to a movie; a matinee of "A Very Long Engagement" playing at AMC. The movie was just what I needed. Sadly, its no longer playing after today. So consider this is a poorly timed recommendation. Or think if it as an early rental recommendation? Or if your reading this in some other city you might still catch it on the big screen. Do so. As chance would have it, I walked into a situation for which a person was needed. I accepted the offer. Thus I was there to meet what was possibly the most charming (and quite attractive) woman ever. "Meet" is a strong word, "interact with" is a better phrase. I consider it bad form to ask out a girl while working and I stick to that. It seems like such a violation of trust to take what should be a fairly nuetral interaction, scripted, in part, on an agreed upon framework, and go beyond the prescribed limits. But if I was ever tempted.. today was the day. Am I way off base here? Am I taking things too seriously? Your input would be highly appreciated! Part of me thinks that I really should just seize on a situation when it arises, no matter when and where. I'm really very good at coming up with reasons to avoid uncomfortable situations. Maybe, too good? I take comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one that suffers from this affliction. Kilgore Trout, sensing what I was going through today offered this insight: Temporary crushes, by contrast, offer lots of room for fantasy and self-delusion. For example, let's say you stopped at PetSmart earlier this evening to buy some rat chow. And let's say that the cash register girl was awfully cute: agreeably flat-chested, long dark hair and matching dark eyes, and a smile that would make Apollo squint -- toothsome but not toothy, flirtatious but not wanton, friendly, warm, possibly even genuine. Thanks KT for that perspective (expect for that last sentence). Its hard to guage whether this was a good day or a bad day. I don't feel sad? | 2.09.2005
President Participates in Class-Action Lawsuit Reform Conversation: George W. Bush Today: "Some in our country think that Social Security is a trust fund -- in other words, there's a pile of money being accumulated. That's just simply not true. The money -- payroll taxes going into the Social Security are spent. They're spent on benefits and they're spent on government programs. There is no trust. We're on the ultimate pay-as-you-go system -- what goes in comes out. And so, starting in 2018, what's going in -- what's coming out is greater than what's going in. It says we've got a problem. And we'd better start dealing with it now. The longer we wait, the harder it is to fix the problem." George W. Bush February 28, 2001: A Blueprint for New Beginnings. Social Security as it now exists will provide future beneficiaries with the equivalent of a dismal two percent real rate of return on their investment, yet the system is headed for insolvency. Our new approach honors our commitment to Social Security by reserving every dollar of the Social Security payroll tax for Social Security, strengthening the system by making further necessary reform feasible. Boy, and people wonder why I call this mofo a liar. More Bullshit for New Beginnings: Chairman Greenspan has warned against such Government involvement in private financial markets: "Having the Federal Government hold significant amounts of private assets would risk suboptimal performance by our capital markets, diminished economic efficiency, and lower overall standards of living than would be achieved otherwise." The problem was that the government was going to be paying down the debt too fast, so we needed to cut taxes to keep the government from being to flush with cash. Too much money? The answer... tax cuts and personal accounts. Debt up to our eyeballs? The answer... tax cuts and personal accounts. "Absent policy changes, the Government is projected to accumulate $3.5 trillion in excess cash balances by 2011." But instead we got tax cuts that plunged us into the red, and now the president says that all that spending we did was coming out of Social Security and we shouldn't expect the government to honor its pledge to Social Security. Those tax cuts were sold on the promise of surplus (a dubious claim even then) and when that surplus didn't materialize they kept the tax cuts effective, even knowing that the money being used to pay for government operations would be borrowed AND taken out of Social Security payroll taxes. Ok, so right about now you should be livid. "So Mr President, in Feb of 2001 you said that Social Security payroll taxes would only be used to pay for Social Security, but now your saying that we've spent that money. Why did you break your promise?" 9-11 changed everything. "If 9-11 changed everything then why didn't your policy change? Why didn't you repeal your tax cuts if you knew that you would be spending Social Security money to make up for those tax cuts? Is it safe to say that your used Payroll taxes which disproportionately tax the working class to to pay for income tax cuts that mostly benefited the wealthy?" This is Class Warfare folks, whether you admit it or not. | ... so then I wake up at 5:30 A.M. in the midst of some disturbing dream wherein I'm drawing thick brown curtains over the walls of the room. My body deciding that I only needed four hours of sleep after sleeping for ten hours the night before. Why did I even bother setting the alarm? Next time I'll just use the kitchen timer. The good news, if you can call it that, is that I work this morning, so its not all for naught. But from now on, no more Flaming Hot Cheetos before bed. | Fistful of Fortnights: Somebody Shut This Man Up. Via Sadie via the Washington Post. "You know," [Coburn] said, "I immediately thought about silicone breast implants and the legal wrangling and the class-action suits off that. So, do you think I should go for the double D's or just a nice "tasteful" B cup? As for breasts... on women? My preference is for natural. If some poor girl is afflicted with overly large breasts thats fine with me, but I'm generally pretty happy with the smaller sizes. The best thing about breasts are not their size, but that they are attached to girls. ... and nipples. | 2.08.2005
Informed Comment: "Cranky rich people hire sharp-tongued and relatively uninformed young people all the time and put them on the mass media to badmouth the poor, spread bigotry, exalt mindless militarism, promote anti-intellectualism, and ensure generally that rightwing views come to predominate even among people who are harmed by such policies. One of their jobs is to marginalize progressives by smearing them as unreliable. " If I had enough money I could rent out a building, stick a fancy sign out front that read "Institute for the Proliferation of Stupidity", Hire a bunch of post grads looking to pay off their college loans, get them to go on TV and preach my message. They'd be "experts" and the media types would dutifully invite them to pontificate on all matters. | If given the choice, a Bible or a copy of OK Computer? I'd take the Radiohead cd. | 2.07.2005
Heretical Ideas » 100 YEARS OF AYN RAND I completely missed that yesterday marked what would have been Ayn Rand’s 100th Anniversery. I'll explain my contempt for Rand and her writings. Years ago I was really into the progressive rock genre. I had an older brother that listened to "classic" rock and I was exposed to such bands as Rush, Genesis and ELP and through further exploration of the genre, bands like Dream Theater and Fates Warning. So it was that when the internet came into my life at the start of college one of the first things I did was sign up for a few email groups devoted to those bands. It was through those email lists that I heard about the connection between Rush and Ayn Rand. I'd never even heard of Rand but many of the people there seemed to refer to her writings as inspirational. So I checked Atlas Shrugged out of the school library and began to read, prepared in every way to be enlightened. As I plodded through page after page of heavy handed rhetoric I began to see the appeal to many on the email lists. The "problem" with the world was that exceptional people like you and me were being held back by mindless bureaucracy, and the source of all mindlessness originated from government. A understandable reaction to the heavyhanded mess of the Soviet Union. But so terribly blind to the other side of reality, that handing control over to the wealthy elites of a capitalist society will just create another variety of tyranny. Objectivism in Rand's own words. 1. Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears. In my humble opinion its at number three that she jumps ship and starts to swim with the mermaids. I started to see the appeal of her writings with the progressive rock crowd. I could see a strong parallel with the "Look how smart I am because I listen to complicated music! Everyone else is a mindless simpleton trapped in their own bad taste." and the concept of the "heroic figure" being held back by the government. I've seen the same mindset in some punk rockers that think that listening to poorly composed three chord screaming provides them with greater insight into the injustice of the world. By gosh and by golly, I am the exceptional one destined to rise above the rest! "Oh if only we could get the terrible evil government out of our way I could pursue the exceptional life I was destined to lead. I would have fame, fortune and success." Of course it only stood to reason that if you were smart enough to be reading Rand then you were smart enough to rise above the masses and become one of the great ones. Its actually quite a compelling theme if you are prone to delusions of self-importance, and maybe feeling a little like people are trampling on you. Read through this exerpt from Atlas Shrugged to see what I mean: "She stood, hands in pockets, coat collar raised, the wind beating her hair in strands across her face." Just like a superhero... Ayn Rand on Apollo 11's launch: Frustration is the leitmotif in the lives of most men, particularly today—the frustration of inarticulate desires, with no knowledge of the means to achieve them. In the sight and hearing of a crumbling world, Apollo 11 enacted the story of an audacious purpose, its execution, its triumph, and the means that achieved it—the story and the demonstration of man's highest potential. Um yeah, a great event, but hardly the hallmark of Laissez-faire capitalism. I suppose what upset me the most about Rand's writing were that even though she is right in assuming that individuals should be free, that we should use reason and not superstition to guide our lives and that the state should not control the economy, in the context of the times I was reading her books it seemed that the Dagny Taggerts and the John Galts of the world were the problem. The capitalists had won, and they had created giant buildings full of page shuffling cube dwellers. The reality does not change, there will always have to be people to actually do the work of society. As much as a society full of entrepenuerial titans sounds appealing, at the end of the day somebody has to do the labor required to make society function. Still my favorite cartoon ever! "Waitaminute - NOBODY remembered to bring along an inexhaustible labor force of ROBOTS???" I couldn't help but think that the "great men" and the "heroic figures" turned out not to be the management types with whom she seemed so enamored. Worse still was the nearly cult-like devotion to her philosophy that arose during her life and after her death. Go ahead, read through the The Ayn Rand Institute website It is the value of his own time that the strong of the intellect transfers to the weak, letting them work on the jobs he discovered, while devoting his time to further discoveries. This is mutual trade to mutual advantage; the interests of the mind are one, no matter what the degree of intelligence, among men who desire to work and don't seek or expect the unearned. - Atlas Shrugged And my favorite: Anarchism is the most irrational, anti-intellectual notion ever spun by the concrete-bound, context-dropping, whim-worshiping fringe of the collectivist movement, where it properly belongs." - [Ayn Rand, "Brief Summary," The Objectivist, September 1971] | 2.06.2005
Birth of a Salesman: Pitching Social Security (washingtonpost.com): "But some of the country's most celebrated hawkers marvel at Bush's gift for selling. They rave about how he connects and inspires. With exclamation points!" Interesting. I'm not a marketing genius by any stretch but it seems to me that the two political parties take opposite approaches to their policy goals. The Republicans set about to create a demand for their product. The Democrats set about to meet what they see as a demand. So it seems that Bush will pull some policy agenda out of his ass, like say, attacking Iraq, that nobody thought was even on the radar and set about selling that policy to the Americans with his marketing team. War on Iraq : Now Solves 20% More Terror Than Previous War on Afghanistan!!! The Democrats on the other hand seem to look at what their constituents want and fashion an agenda to emcompass as many of those wants as possible. I've learned a thing or two about salesmanship since getting my current job. Much of what gets sold is driven by need. People come into a store looking for a product. They generally know what they want and may just need a little help finding it. That's a very small part what I do. What I get judged on is my ability to create a demand for the products that the company wishes to sell once the customer comes in the door. I have to create a demand for a good or a service where none existed. And it works. People leave the store with more than what they meant to buy. Part of it comes from raising awareness of a need that they didn't know existed. The rest is creating a demand for a product that they might not even want. The "best" salesman will not only get you to buy more than you want, but you'll shake their hand and thank them for doing so. I've worked with such guys, and its an amazing sight to see. I'm not so good at it. I lack the natural charisma to really make people fall in love with me on the spot and put their trust in my words. I have to win people over with my knowledge. I expect that if I can explain the benefits of a product best, answer any questions the customer has and assuage any doubts about the purchase I can win someone's trust and they'll give me the benefit of the doubt as I present them with add-on sales. I only go so far as to explain the benefits of a good or service. I leave it up to them to decide if they want to buy it or not. This means that I can only ever be an average salesman, but I'm ok with that. I don't place much self worth in what I do to make money. I gauge my self worth mainly by the number of comments I get on this blog. I've been thinking for a long while that Bush is the pitchman for a set of policy goals that have already been sketched out by others. You see the very latest in marketing strategies employed to sell the president's agenda items. They work very hard to control the message. They repeat, repeat, repeat. And they work very hard to tie their proposals into a greater sense of your own identity. Much of salesmanship is creating a story. Here's how this product is going to make your life better. Here's how it fits into the image that you've created for yourself. Its not unlike how Apple pushes the iPod as the essential accessory to a hip lifestyle. Not unlike how truckmakers try to integrate their brand into the image of "toughness" and "manhood". A recent Saturn ad campaign suggested in one commercial that buying a sensible SUV was like becoming your father. The message: "You're a good parent now. See how you take your kids to little league!" was a bit obnoxious even for a car commercial. The other commercial, the one with the young girl, equated the car buying decision with finding the right man. "I'm happy now, I've got a man and Saturn!". Yuck. I find it fascinating and highly disturbing that politics and consumer marketing have found such common ground. Being a Democrat or a Republican is no longer just a matter of picking the party that best represents your interests, its about brand loyalty. You've probably heard that old saying, that goes "If at 18 you are not a Democrat you don't have a heart, If at 30 you are not Republican you don't have a brain." I would add that if your loyal to either party you're just a rube waiting to be taken. I often wonder why more people aren't registered Independent. For the record, I am. Voting for a Republican does not make you more grown up, voting for a Democrat does not make you more compassionate, and buying a iPod doesn't make you any cooler (Case in point, I have an iPod, I am still as uncool as ever!). They're all just decisions that should be driven, not by some blind loyalty to brand or party, but by your own need. That's the way I see it at least. When I hear Bush speak or I see him on an interview I can't help but see a salesman trying to trick people with feel good language like "ownership society" and "personal accounts". I see such attempts to manipulate people on par with the little fake sticky note that was attached to a recent offer for internet service. It said "Hey, this offer ends soon, you better hurry - Terry" Or my other favorite, a five dollar check, that when cashed, would enroll me in a program that would "reward" me with 2% back on a new credit card. I could "earn" up to $1000. Oh wow.. I can't wait, to chuck that junk into the trash. | 2.05.2005
Plum Crazy: Here We Go Again Good catch by Lesley of Plum Crazy on some bullshit that Reynolds pulled out of his ass earlier today. Its the "Why doesn't The Left... ?" In this case its... criticize Muslim abuse of women. And look.. click click... google a little, and what do you know? Wrong again, another false claim that the partisans will eat up and feel all self-righteous about. Lesley provides links. Glenn Reynolds, graduate of the Rush Limbaugh school of journalism! | Roger L. Simon: Internal Investigations - What Blogs Can and Can't Do So Far or "All the Gates Come Together" I find this just a little bit humorous. "The question is who can investigate organizations of such power and complexity as the United Nations and CBS (and now CNN) if not themselves. Years ago the mainstream media - particularly the New York Times and the Washington Post - performed this function to some extent. But these days they seem almost chary about doing any serious digging that might yield results in conflict with their core ideologies, only publishing about Oil-for-Food, for one example, long after it was "a story." Hmm... could it be....? "So finally there are us - the blogosphere." I think some people are getting a big head. Many it seems are upset that their pet scandal that will finally tar and feather the scoundrels on the other side landed on page B12 instead of living for weeks on the front page. The "problems" with the MSM will be repeated by bloggers if and when they ever become legitimate. In order to maintain readership you will have to pander to the sensibilities of your readers, you will have to keep from offending people and stick to the conventional wisdom of the day. To get access to people with information you will have to get close to them, work out deals and sometimes agree to preach their message in exchange for greater access. To have enough money to pay journalists and have a decent standard of living you'll have go to the sources of money in our society. The gaps in your willingness to report the truth will grow, just as it has for the mainstream press. | 2.04.2005
Reading up on the Social Security mess makes me feel a little like a contestant on Let's Make a Deal. Here are the rules: Sort of... SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The way that the election is put before the individual in a personal account structure of this type is that in return for the opportunity to get the benefits from the personal account, the person foregoes a certain amount of benefits from the traditional system. Oh goodie!!! I'll take door number one! | What's wrong with the internet? Web designers who feel that each website that they create has to include every programming language and animated doo-dad available so that they can put in on their resume. In turn leading to messy, slow, unorganized websites that do nothing more than slow your computer to a crawl and make you want to hit ALT-F4. Sounds. Face it, nobody wants to have music load up with a website. Its dead, its annoying, its a bad idea. ok? Too many ads. I know its a source of revenue. But when it causes a website to become a blinking, chirping mess with the content buried someone underneath people would just rather move on than dig for what they want. Lack of design. This goes back to my first point. Too much of the web is created by computer geeks that have no clue about function. Its best if users can look at a site and figure it out quickly with minimal amounts of thinking (and clicking). Its also best to keep the load times of your pages down to a minimum so that even when people have high speed connections they aren't having to download content that does nothing to enhance their experience. Sometimes I'll load up these big expensive corporate websites and it will take ten minutes of wading through flash introductions and fancy web gizmos to even get the front page. And then, the menus won't even link to the content I need until I go through some ardous search process. At what point did it beceom good business practice to make your customers frustrated and angry? They are there for information, not fancy animations and popup menus. I hope I've kept this website readable. I've tried to avoid any unneccesary java or images that might keep it from loading smoothly and quickly. Ultimately I want you to get here quick, read what I have to say, a leave a comment for gawd's sake. If there's something about this website that bothers you or you don't like, mention it and I'll take it under consideration. But... enough complaining, I think I'll just watch The Shawshank Redemption again and go to bed. Luckily, even though I work this Sunday, I get off in time to come home and watch the Super Bowl. Ha! I should not have referred to people that are ruining the web as "Computer geeks", a term that has different meanings for different people. I was actually thinking about one guy I was friends with a few years ago that was a genuis. He was still in highschool and was already working for a software company writing code. One day he asked me to look over a website that we had created for a client, a computer sales company. When I visited the site is was such a mess of tables, Java and flashing gifs that couldn't quite figure out where one would actually buy something. Computer people aren't the only ones that forget that form should follow function. The inclination for "aspiring" webdesigners is to take any website, no matter how simple it should be, and turn it into a showcase of their skills. The best websites offer compelling content to their visiters and give them a reason to return again and again. That is the hardest part of running a website; keeping it interesting day after day. I don't care how slick your graphics, or how cool the animations, or the intro page, if the content is stall (see almost any record company homepage for a band) people will never come back. One of the reasons that blogs have become such an interesting trend is that it lowers the barrier of creating a page away from people that have content to provide. The web used to be a pretty boring place, with much of the real excitement of the Internets coming from forums, IRC, email and newgroups, places that were essentially areas of text but offered something new with each visit, while most webpages were static and rarely updated. It was just too damn hard to pop open your HTML every time you wanted to add some content. ..and, Shawshank Redemption is an awesome movie. | 2.03.2005
Audioscrobbler :: User :: juscuz Interesting... According to my Audioscrobbler page: My Top Tracks: 1. Elliott Smith - Bled White 2. Elliott Smith - East Way Out 3. Elliott Smith - Miss Misery 4. Elliott Smith - Tomorrow Tomorrow 5. Elliott Smith - Twilight 6. Badly Drawn Boy - Silent Sigh 7. Coheed and Cambria - Time Consumer 8. Elliott Smith - Between the Bars 9. Rilo Kiley - Paint's Peeling 10. Elliott Smith - Angeles My Top Artists: 1. Elliott Smith 2. Modest Mouse 3. Wilco 4. Badly Drawn Boy 5. Rilo Kiley 6. Nick Drake 7. Pinback 8. The Shins 9. Death Cab for Cutie 10. Beck | 2.02.2005
 "The principle here is clear: a taxpayer dollar must be spent wisely, or not at all." - George W. Bush - February 2, 2005 "And we should limit the burden of government on this economy by acting as good stewards of taxpayers' dollars" George W. Bush January 20, 2004 SOTU. "The best way to address the deficit and move toward a balanced budget is to encourage economic growth, and to show some spending discipline in Washington, D.C." George W. Bush January 28, 2003 SOTU. " Once we have funded our national security and our homeland security, the final great priority of my budget is economic security for the American people. (Applause.) To achieve these great national objectives -- to win the war, protect the homeland, and revitalize our economy -- our budget will run a deficit that will be small and short-term, so long as Congress restrains spending and acts in a fiscally responsible manner." George W. Bush January 29, 2002 SOTU. Reuters: Overall government spending has increased by 26 percent between 2001 and 2004, while discretionary spending during the same period has surged 38 percent, according to an analysis by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Washinton Post: CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin said tax cuts and spending enacted by Congress last year will contribute $504 billion to the government's overall forecast debt between 2005 and 2014. Additional debt over that decade should total $1.36 trillion, well above the $861 billion figure the CBO projected in September. Bush: I have a message for every American who is 55 or older: Do not let anyone mislead you. For you, the Social Security system will not change in any way. Because he will put it on the credit card. Current Balance: $427 Billion. The transition costs for the Bush Social Security plan? - On the credit card. The continuing cost of the Iraq occupation? - On the credit card. This is the credit card president. And, as is the plan, when it comes time to pay the bills it will come from programs that benefit low income and working class Americans. As part of that effort, officials said Bush will propose eliminating operating subsidies for passenger train operator Amtrak. No way? Amtrak! I didn't see that coming... oh wait, yes I did. | The New York Times > Business > Study Ties Bankruptcy to Medical Bills: "'If you're sick enough long enough, you're in deep trouble in our society,' said David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, another of the study's authors." There's your fucking crisis dipshit! Something to remember as tonight the President inhales room temp air and exhales a gale of hot air. I hope lots of people saw last night's Nighline. If not, I'll summarize it for you in a mock recreation of the interviews: Reporter: "So are you saying that Bush's plan for SS is a bad idea?" Man : "Yeah, collosally bad!" Reporter: "Is there any good way to execute Bush's SS plan?" Man: "Nope, it doesn't make a lick of sense to me or anyone else either." Reporter: "Is Bush just making shit up?" Man: "Pretty much, he fudges numbers to scare people but he's just full of shit." Reporter: "What would make Bush's plan workable." Man: "I dunno, a magic calculator, a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, a time machine...?" In short, Bush is going to do alot of talking about the cosmetics of his Social Security derailment plan but in the end he is not going to talk about the mechanics which accomplishs nothing towards "fixing" SS. The mechanics, as they are laid out will result in a slow dismantling of Social Security. The U.S. government will spend trillions of dollars moving people into the stock market, they will then jigger with the numbers to reduce the effectiveness of the program to keep people out of poverty, declare the sytem "broken" and call for an end to Social Security. "If you're sick enough long enough, you're in deep trouble in our society" What people seem to grossly misunderstand, or choose not to consider, is that the market is incredibly prejudiced in favor of people with lots of money. Everything looks great as long as you have money, people return your calls, you get good service, businesses climb all over themselves to cater to your needs. But, once you no longer have money, you get nothing. You are a leper. Society is essentially closed for you. If you get sick, you better have a mountin of money, especially if you can no longer work. Medical costs these days have climbed through the roof. Even people with employee sponsored health care are having difficulties. One person cited in the bankruptcy study, for example, broke a leg, missed a couple of months of work and then had $13,000 in unpaid medical bills, though his employer-based health plan had already paid for much of his care, Ms. Warren said. If you think that nothing bad will ever happen to you then you are an even bigger moron than the president thinks you are. It will. Social Security was developed as a way to catch people that had fallen through the cracks of a society that no longer values people with empty wallets and no ability to earn money. Any attempt to reform Social Security must still address this problem. The president plan fails to do this. It breaks the promise of Social Security. It will bring back the problem that the system was originally designed to fix. So why bother? Why is he doing it? Because it will put us at the mercy of the stock market. It will align our own financial health with that of the major stockholders. We will be so freakin' scared that the market will crash that we will accept any policy that benefits the market, even ones that put our own security and well being at risk. Environmental laws are bad for the market - get rid of them! Consumer protection laws are depressing stock prices - get rid of them! Major corporations are caught breaking the law - look the other way! In short, wholesale republicanism, the elevation of market interests over all else. Its already like this in many ways. There are already lots of people that vote to pretect their financial interests in the market to the detriment of society as a whole. People vote against their own interests because they fear the financial ramifications of challenging the market. Is it a deliberate strategy? According to a memo by Peter Wehner it is: For the first time in six decades, the Social Security battle is one we can win -- and in doing so, we can help transform the political and philosophical landscape of the country. We have it within our grasp to move away from dependency on government and toward giving greater power and responsibility to individuals. Read: Every man for himself. "If you're sick enough long enough, you're in deep trouble in our society" Poof.. there goes your personal retirement account. What's left? At the end of the day, we want to promote both an ownership society and advance the idea of limited government. It seems to me our plan will do so; the plan of some others won't. Whenever you hear the phrase "Ownership Society" you need to remember this sentence: "If you're sick enough long enough, you're in deep trouble in our society" Here's a great cartoon that expresses how I feel. | |
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