It appears that the Administration is throwing around the word 'fascism' is a context that's amazingly neither ironic nor self-referential. See how many times you can spot it in the echo-chamber. [more] [more] [more] [more] [more]
Apparently the similarities with the original brownshirts in unilateral, unprovoked invasions of sovereign states under false pretenses don't phase the PR guys.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
LETTERS FROM A BROAD: It's Not Just a Job... It's a Dead End: An appeal to those who feel drawn to military service out of economic necessity. (popmatters)
"Summer arrives/ With a length of lights/ Summer blows away/ And quietly it gets swallowed by a wave,"
Summersong (mp3) by the Decemberists, from their forthcoming album courtesy of Pitchforkmedia
Summersong (mp3) by the Decemberists, from their forthcoming album courtesy of Pitchforkmedia
HornMassive is what it sounds like -
a 2 Ton (4500 Lbs US), 3.5 M by 3.1 M by 4 M mobile 2000 watt steel and aluminuim horn sound system, all powered from a commercial 12” speaker driver. It functions as a mobile audio input station whereby people can plug-in in order to project "content" a distance of 1 km, designed to be the ultimate monophonic sound projector intended to catalyze social activities in multiple settings.
from WFMU's Beware the Blog
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Listen to Vincent Price talk about how he prepares pickled mushrooms (mp3).
Laugh now, creeps, but I'm going to put a club beat behind this and have Ibiza freaking out next summer.
I found this awesome link at record robot while looking for anything by the late-80's Philly pop-punk band Electric Love Muffin (mp3), which is also here. Philly-rock seems to have disappeared at the stroke of midnight on 12/31/89, but before the great purge there were dozens of bands that were this good and sounded like nobody from anywhere else.
Laugh now, creeps, but I'm going to put a club beat behind this and have Ibiza freaking out next summer.
I found this awesome link at record robot while looking for anything by the late-80's Philly pop-punk band Electric Love Muffin (mp3), which is also here. Philly-rock seems to have disappeared at the stroke of midnight on 12/31/89, but before the great purge there were dozens of bands that were this good and sounded like nobody from anywhere else.
Truthiness XIV
More bile-raising fake political stagecraft courtesy of the Bush Administration. (Philly Daily News)
It turns out the Katrina victim that Bush was willing to meet with was actually a Republican politician. This, of course, was never mentioned during the 'impromptu' meeting's coverage on CNN. "Creating our own reality"* indeed.
Knowing about his past would make insightful, hard-hitting comments on the administrations catistrophic handling of the disaster like "And I just wish the President could have another term in Washington." make a little more sense.
*...According to Mr. Suskind, "The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' " The aide told Mr. Suskind, "That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act we create our own reality." (NYTimes, 10.04)
More bile-raising fake political stagecraft courtesy of the Bush Administration. (Philly Daily News)
It turns out the Katrina victim that Bush was willing to meet with was actually a Republican politician. This, of course, was never mentioned during the 'impromptu' meeting's coverage on CNN. "Creating our own reality"* indeed.
Knowing about his past would make insightful, hard-hitting comments on the administrations catistrophic handling of the disaster like "And I just wish the President could have another term in Washington." make a little more sense.
*...According to Mr. Suskind, "The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' " The aide told Mr. Suskind, "That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act we create our own reality." (NYTimes, 10.04)
The more things change...
Nine black children attending Red River Elementary School were directed last week to the back of the school bus by a white driver who designated the front seats for white children.
Nine black children attending Red River Elementary School were directed last week to the back of the school bus by a white driver who designated the front seats for white children.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Friday, August 25, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
When will neoconservatism stop being perceived as a political ideology and start to be treated as a pathology?
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Money buys happiness. But not in a good way.
Firebaugh argues that, in evaluating their own incomes, individuals compare themselves to their peers of the same age. Therefore a person's reported level of happiness depends on how his or her income compares to others in the same age group. Using comparison groups on the basis of age, the researchers find evidence of both relative and absolute effects, but relative income is more important than absolute income in determining the happiness of individuals in the United States. This may result in a self-indulgent treadmill, because incomes in the United States rise over most of the adult lifespan.
The referenced paper, "Relative Income and Happiness: Are Americans on a Hedonistic Treadmill?" is available here for download. (pdf)
Firebaugh argues that, in evaluating their own incomes, individuals compare themselves to their peers of the same age. Therefore a person's reported level of happiness depends on how his or her income compares to others in the same age group. Using comparison groups on the basis of age, the researchers find evidence of both relative and absolute effects, but relative income is more important than absolute income in determining the happiness of individuals in the United States. This may result in a self-indulgent treadmill, because incomes in the United States rise over most of the adult lifespan.
The referenced paper, "Relative Income and Happiness: Are Americans on a Hedonistic Treadmill?" is available here for download. (pdf)
Monday, August 21, 2006
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Sweden's Pirate Party launches first commercial darknet
"But there are much more fundamental values at stake here than
copyright," Rickard Falkvinge says. "The new technology has brought
society to a crossroads. The only way to enforce today's unbalanced
copyright laws is to monitor all private communications over the
Internet. Today's copyright regime cannot coexist with an open
society that guarantees the right to private communication."
"But there are much more fundamental values at stake here than
copyright," Rickard Falkvinge says. "The new technology has brought
society to a crossroads. The only way to enforce today's unbalanced
copyright laws is to monitor all private communications over the
Internet. Today's copyright regime cannot coexist with an open
society that guarantees the right to private communication."
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Watching an expert hotrod pinstriper at work is surprisingly one of the most calming, meditative things you can do as this youtube video proves (link via boingboing)
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
The Racing Bicycle has great pics and info on vintage competition bikes.
The poster section is especially worthwhile.
For even more bike fetishism, head to the excellent bike design blog.
Good Wired article on PirateBay, and how the MPAA's attack spawned a backlash that led to a political movement.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Friday, August 11, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
[Revenge of the Irate Moderates] An excellent op-ed piece from the NYTimes that shows the corellary of Lieberman's recent hammering as a struggle to hold on to a rational middle while the Bush administration increasingly pushes the far right boundary further into extreme radicalism.
Yet while all this has been happening, the political discussion in Washington has become a captive of the Bush agenda. Traditional beliefs like every person’s right to a day in court, or the conviction that America should not start wars it does not know how to win, wind up being portrayed as extreme. The middle becomes a place where senators struggle to get the president to volunteer to obey the law when the mood strikes him. Attempting to regain the real center becomes a radical alternative.
How does Cheney see this? As a victory for the terrorists, of course.
The talking points may change, but Republican bullshit is *relentless*.
Yet while all this has been happening, the political discussion in Washington has become a captive of the Bush agenda. Traditional beliefs like every person’s right to a day in court, or the conviction that America should not start wars it does not know how to win, wind up being portrayed as extreme. The middle becomes a place where senators struggle to get the president to volunteer to obey the law when the mood strikes him. Attempting to regain the real center becomes a radical alternative.
How does Cheney see this? As a victory for the terrorists, of course.
The talking points may change, but Republican bullshit is *relentless*.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
A nice summary of the controversy surrounding AOL's release of 3 months of private search data. Buffoons.
Amazon selling food? Are we going through this web-groceries nonsense again? Someone please explain this to me.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Another day, another ape-like menace
Police in one Delhi suburb say they have ordered officers to "shoot on sight" to halt the ape-like menace.
This is the sentence that gets me, though:
It apparently scratched and attacked people sleeping on the roofs of their homes, during the scorching summer months.
Who's sleeping on the roof? The victims or the ape-like menace?
Police in one Delhi suburb say they have ordered officers to "shoot on sight" to halt the ape-like menace.
This is the sentence that gets me, though:
It apparently scratched and attacked people sleeping on the roofs of their homes, during the scorching summer months.
Who's sleeping on the roof? The victims or the ape-like menace?
[Danger- No Curves ahead] If you want your guitar to say "I'm as dangerous as a guy with a purple suede La-Z-Boy can possibly be", you want pointyguitars.com.
These will hurt your ears, eyes, and your bass players ribs if that fool doesn't look out when you've got your shred on. Over 400 pointy photos.
Happy August. I havn't been tracking Bob Dylan's excellent XM broadcast on a week-by-week basis, but whitemanstew has. He's got links to the complete archive of all the shows so far in mp3 format. The most recent show theme is 'The Devil'.