Why are TIVO users so upset about their viewing habits being reported to a central server? Just because you turn your brain off when you watch TV doesnít make this type of espionage any different from going to the supermarket, where every purchase you make on credit is an official record of your consumer habits that can be sold (or subpoenaed) to whomever wants it.
By the way, if the Recording Industry were smarter, they would use Napster like TiVoóoffer people free music in exchange for their consumer data. Itís a Trojan Horse people accept every day.
By the way, if the Recording Industry were smarter, they would use Napster like TiVoóoffer people free music in exchange for their consumer data. Itís a Trojan Horse people accept every day.
by at 1:33 PM
Right on Rusty, good to have you on board. Hail! Hail! Chuck Berry! Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll! There was a movie titled something like that. I think.
In other news, I went out drinking last night at Club Foot. Great place to go, I gotta tell you. Next time I go there I'll be sure to let you all know in advance. I sure do feel like ass though. Blimey!
So, how many of you have Tivo? How do feel about people monitoring everything you watch? 1984 is upon us, its just a little late. Let me tell you, when I have kids, we're going to get rabbit ears on the TV and that's it. I encourage all of you to throw that fucking thing out the window and get your privacy back. Of course, if you own one, it may already be too late.
And how about webcams? While I agree its fun to watch teenagers show their nipple rings to the world, think about the concept: You've installed a camera in your own home. The man can watch what you're doing. Don't think that there isn't a new FBI branch that keeps an eye on webcams. If some guy came in and told me there was going to be a camera installed in my home, I'd knock his block off. But people are voluntarily putting these in their homes?
Not passing judgement. Just giving you something to think about.
In other news, I went out drinking last night at Club Foot. Great place to go, I gotta tell you. Next time I go there I'll be sure to let you all know in advance. I sure do feel like ass though. Blimey!
So, how many of you have Tivo? How do feel about people monitoring everything you watch? 1984 is upon us, its just a little late. Let me tell you, when I have kids, we're going to get rabbit ears on the TV and that's it. I encourage all of you to throw that fucking thing out the window and get your privacy back. Of course, if you own one, it may already be too late.
And how about webcams? While I agree its fun to watch teenagers show their nipple rings to the world, think about the concept: You've installed a camera in your own home. The man can watch what you're doing. Don't think that there isn't a new FBI branch that keeps an eye on webcams. If some guy came in and told me there was going to be a camera installed in my home, I'd knock his block off. But people are voluntarily putting these in their homes?
Not passing judgement. Just giving you something to think about.
by at 11:55 AM
People give Clinton a lot of grief for his handling of the China trade agreement, but itís hard to see how Bush II or even Bush I would have handled it any differently, especially after Bush pereís support for NAFTA. Riady and John Huang would have given the money to whoever was in power (and Huang did). In the current business climate, nobody wants to play Brutus to free tradeís Caesar. Itís a fundamental hypocrisy of ours, to raise a hue and cry about Chinaís human rights violations yet to look the other way when we rely on their cheap and plentiful labor market for our consumer products. I guess itís the fundamental conflict between democracy and capitalism, between profit and principle (though, for some, profit=principle). I wonder if the fact American businessmen will rely on unionized, Communist workers to grease the wheels of free enterprise ever bothers themóthe armed forces already have had to deal with berets made in China.
It strikes me how really isolationist the newly-minted w junta isónot only with its childish, knee-jerk reaction to the Hanssen spy scandal, but also its refusal to continue vital negotiations on the Korean Peninsula for no putative reason, other than that cold-war directive never to negotiate with commies (or that Clinton helped broker the dÈtente). All we need to do now is set up an embassy in Taiwan and ship them some warheads, and we probably will need that missile defense program! Talk about manufacturing demand.
Getting back to the Russkies, expelling scores of diplomats in retaliation is a little like closing the gate after the cows got outóthatís an analogy I think our hayseed president could appreciate. Besides, isnít this the responsibility of the FBI? They are supposed to be the Witchfinders General, and this guy had been operating for about 20 years beneath their notice. If you want to deliver an ex post facto retaliation, why not give Louis Freeh the power situp? Ashcroft is already talking about giving Hanssen the death penalty; Isnít that enough?
It strikes me how really isolationist the newly-minted w junta isónot only with its childish, knee-jerk reaction to the Hanssen spy scandal, but also its refusal to continue vital negotiations on the Korean Peninsula for no putative reason, other than that cold-war directive never to negotiate with commies (or that Clinton helped broker the dÈtente). All we need to do now is set up an embassy in Taiwan and ship them some warheads, and we probably will need that missile defense program! Talk about manufacturing demand.
Getting back to the Russkies, expelling scores of diplomats in retaliation is a little like closing the gate after the cows got outóthatís an analogy I think our hayseed president could appreciate. Besides, isnít this the responsibility of the FBI? They are supposed to be the Witchfinders General, and this guy had been operating for about 20 years beneath their notice. If you want to deliver an ex post facto retaliation, why not give Louis Freeh the power situp? Ashcroft is already talking about giving Hanssen the death penalty; Isnít that enough?
by at 11:46 AM
i'm ready for a second cold war, how about you?
man, i can't wait to officially hate the russians again. it's been way too long. hey! let me tell you a little secrect, i was always a closet sheep-screwin' ruskie hater!
i wonder if this is what "w" has been thinkin to himself for the past 10 years. i mean honestly, we are not treating the russians very well, and if we don't start treating them with some respect, dignity and diplomacy, the rest of the world is going to go ahead without us. don't think they can't, or won't.
in all repsect, i must say this mess started with our ol' pal bubba clinton, who was no james madison himself. and it goes back to the 1996 presidential campaign, in part.
bubba used u.s. muscle to stop imf funds from going to russia. granted, russia had BIG problems with laundering imf money, but why couldn't we have worked closer with russia, a VERY young capitalist country, to prevent these sorts of things from happening again, rather than yanking their safety net clean out from under them?
i'm getting to the presidential campaign. just hold on.
in 1996, clinton took campaign contributions from a james riady, who had connections with the lippo group, an organization of chinese businessmen. the millions of dollars in contributions came from these chinese businessmen and clinton took it, which is, of course, highly illegal. since bubba didn't get caught, although there is plenty of evidence to support such a claim, no harm is done, and slick willie gets away again.
fast forward to the year 2000, and the u.s. has decided to open trade with china, which is still a communist country with no regard for free speech, democracy or human rights. i wonder why we decided to do that (see paragraph above if you don't know the answer)?
so while the u.s. becomes chums with the chinese, we simulataneously start putting up roadblocks to russia's economic recovery.
so russia is, of course, pissed at the u.s., and now we start throwing their diplomats out of the country on their asses. good idea "w"! your last name is BUSH, dammit, and those russians remeber your father when they were communists. here is an opportunity for him to really step up to the plate and fix a big problem he inherited from the last administration that he is squandering.
bush of course will not pick up those pieces, because he cannot. why not? because his daddy's buddies (who are now his military and diplomtic advisors) are still scared of the russians, and will advise him to take a hard stand, with the exception of our secretary of state, who i believe will be grossly outvoted. and since "w" has no balls of his own, he will listen to his advisors and lead the nation down this terrible path.
if we keep this us up, the russians will not trust us for a very long time. they don't want to act this way anymore than the citizens of the united states of america want them to.
man, i can't wait to officially hate the russians again. it's been way too long. hey! let me tell you a little secrect, i was always a closet sheep-screwin' ruskie hater!
i wonder if this is what "w" has been thinkin to himself for the past 10 years. i mean honestly, we are not treating the russians very well, and if we don't start treating them with some respect, dignity and diplomacy, the rest of the world is going to go ahead without us. don't think they can't, or won't.
in all repsect, i must say this mess started with our ol' pal bubba clinton, who was no james madison himself. and it goes back to the 1996 presidential campaign, in part.
bubba used u.s. muscle to stop imf funds from going to russia. granted, russia had BIG problems with laundering imf money, but why couldn't we have worked closer with russia, a VERY young capitalist country, to prevent these sorts of things from happening again, rather than yanking their safety net clean out from under them?
i'm getting to the presidential campaign. just hold on.
in 1996, clinton took campaign contributions from a james riady, who had connections with the lippo group, an organization of chinese businessmen. the millions of dollars in contributions came from these chinese businessmen and clinton took it, which is, of course, highly illegal. since bubba didn't get caught, although there is plenty of evidence to support such a claim, no harm is done, and slick willie gets away again.
fast forward to the year 2000, and the u.s. has decided to open trade with china, which is still a communist country with no regard for free speech, democracy or human rights. i wonder why we decided to do that (see paragraph above if you don't know the answer)?
so while the u.s. becomes chums with the chinese, we simulataneously start putting up roadblocks to russia's economic recovery.
so russia is, of course, pissed at the u.s., and now we start throwing their diplomats out of the country on their asses. good idea "w"! your last name is BUSH, dammit, and those russians remeber your father when they were communists. here is an opportunity for him to really step up to the plate and fix a big problem he inherited from the last administration that he is squandering.
bush of course will not pick up those pieces, because he cannot. why not? because his daddy's buddies (who are now his military and diplomtic advisors) are still scared of the russians, and will advise him to take a hard stand, with the exception of our secretary of state, who i believe will be grossly outvoted. and since "w" has no balls of his own, he will listen to his advisors and lead the nation down this terrible path.
if we keep this us up, the russians will not trust us for a very long time. they don't want to act this way anymore than the citizens of the united states of america want them to.
by at 6:14 PM
a great big THANK YOU to everyone who came to our show last night at the underground lounge. we had a great time, and we hope you had fun too. let's do it again sometime!
while i'm riding my rock'n'roll high, i was even further flattered this afternoon...
i came across a homeless guy as i was walking home from the record store that didn't have pure rock fury in yet (the bastards). anyway, the homeless guy asked me for a cigarette, so i gave him one, and then he asked for some spare change so he could buy a forty. i gave him aboout 60 cents and a book of matches. he told me how much he liked to drink beer, and i told him to have a good time!
then he says, "now i know who you look like...do you know the rolling stones? what's his name?"
"you mean mick jagger?" i said.
and he says, "yeah, man! him."
i thanked him kindly, we punched fists in wonder twin fashion, and then i wished him well. nice guy, and i'm glad i was able to help him make it through his day. he sure helped me get through mine.
while i'm riding my rock'n'roll high, i was even further flattered this afternoon...
i came across a homeless guy as i was walking home from the record store that didn't have pure rock fury in yet (the bastards). anyway, the homeless guy asked me for a cigarette, so i gave him one, and then he asked for some spare change so he could buy a forty. i gave him aboout 60 cents and a book of matches. he told me how much he liked to drink beer, and i told him to have a good time!
then he says, "now i know who you look like...do you know the rolling stones? what's his name?"
"you mean mick jagger?" i said.
and he says, "yeah, man! him."
i thanked him kindly, we punched fists in wonder twin fashion, and then i wished him well. nice guy, and i'm glad i was able to help him make it through his day. he sure helped me get through mine.
by at 6:15 PM
i know this comes a little late, but i still think it's worth writing about...
i nearly cried when i saw chuck berry receive a kennedy center award. the man who INVENTED rock'n'roll, chuck berry, in all his glory, receiving one of the highest awards an american artist can receive.
it was so beautiful, not only because it legitimized, in a sense, chuck's artistic and cultural contributions, but legistimizes rock'n'roll as an artform in and of itself.
only an american could have invented rock'n'roll. and only an african-american at that.
chuck berry is one of the nation's most celebrated, convicted child molesters, but his cultural contributions cannot be denied. that, my friends, is the power of real rock'n'roll. god bless the USA!
i nearly cried when i saw chuck berry receive a kennedy center award. the man who INVENTED rock'n'roll, chuck berry, in all his glory, receiving one of the highest awards an american artist can receive.
it was so beautiful, not only because it legitimized, in a sense, chuck's artistic and cultural contributions, but legistimizes rock'n'roll as an artform in and of itself.
only an american could have invented rock'n'roll. and only an african-american at that.
chuck berry is one of the nation's most celebrated, convicted child molesters, but his cultural contributions cannot be denied. that, my friends, is the power of real rock'n'roll. god bless the USA!
by at 10:57 PM
God, it has been a while since I last posted on this mutha. But hey ho, I've been busy preparing for this website's musical counterpart and our first show! We'll let you know how things went after the show. Hopefully Rusty will get his ass on here at some point.
Don't forget, this is National Agriculture Week. More like National Agribusiness week, thanks to Ronald McReagan. Fuck that chump.
Don't forget, this is National Agriculture Week. More like National Agribusiness week, thanks to Ronald McReagan. Fuck that chump.
by at 3:50 PM
Women's liberation was a double-edged sword in many different ways. During the 70s and 80s, the rage was "self- fulfillment." Women entering the workplace and pursuing their "career" was the thing to do. While this was positive in many regards, women who stayed home to raise children (such as my mother) were looked at as behind the times. If someone asked a woman what her career was in the 80s and she said raising children, she'd be sure to have women snickering behind her back. (Again, what my mom has told me.) All of a sudden, raising children wasn't seen as an important job. What has happened to us, that the future of mankind, our children, takes a back seat to material fulfillment? Do we really need all of this stuff that we buy?
If you listen to the media and the government, they'll tell you we're in one of the greatest economic booms in history. But how much better off are we than we were twenty years ago? Today, even in middle class homes, both parents are required to work to make ends meet. Daycares are chock full with children who don't feel wanted. Divorce is at an all time high, all in the name of self-fulfillment. Once again, the government has suckered us in and kicked us in the nuts. As usual, the children lose out.
So as I was saying, who raises our children? Television, which is to say, the interests of multinational corporations. Television has been more of a constant than many children's parents. If you have children, maybe you should limit the amount of television they can watch. Or, you can watch programs and talk about them with your kids. This could be easily achieved, if only parents weren't so damn busy with making money all of the time. Human contact is where its at, folks. That's the REAL commodity, and that is precisely what corporate interests have taken away from us.
I'm off topic. Women, if you think you want children, you or your spouse had better be willing to make sacrifices. Being a mother is the most important job you can do, way more important than getting that new Lexus. Money isn't everything: In fact, it is nothing compared to love. If you're not willing to sacrifice a good deal of your personal and professional life, don't have kids: Get a fucking dog. At least if you ignore your dog, it won't grow up to shoot me or my children.
After all of this, W. (I shall no longer recognize him as our "president") has the nerve to point the finger at teachers. WEll, I'm going to point my own finger: How dare you, you piece of shit rich boy? Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a teacher, when you're expected to be like a parent to these kids, whose real parents slave away turning the wheels of your corporate gravy train? Do you know what teachers are paid? No, you wouldn't I guess, you hadn't done a day of work in your life until age 35!
If you listen to the media and the government, they'll tell you we're in one of the greatest economic booms in history. But how much better off are we than we were twenty years ago? Today, even in middle class homes, both parents are required to work to make ends meet. Daycares are chock full with children who don't feel wanted. Divorce is at an all time high, all in the name of self-fulfillment. Once again, the government has suckered us in and kicked us in the nuts. As usual, the children lose out.
So as I was saying, who raises our children? Television, which is to say, the interests of multinational corporations. Television has been more of a constant than many children's parents. If you have children, maybe you should limit the amount of television they can watch. Or, you can watch programs and talk about them with your kids. This could be easily achieved, if only parents weren't so damn busy with making money all of the time. Human contact is where its at, folks. That's the REAL commodity, and that is precisely what corporate interests have taken away from us.
I'm off topic. Women, if you think you want children, you or your spouse had better be willing to make sacrifices. Being a mother is the most important job you can do, way more important than getting that new Lexus. Money isn't everything: In fact, it is nothing compared to love. If you're not willing to sacrifice a good deal of your personal and professional life, don't have kids: Get a fucking dog. At least if you ignore your dog, it won't grow up to shoot me or my children.
After all of this, W. (I shall no longer recognize him as our "president") has the nerve to point the finger at teachers. WEll, I'm going to point my own finger: How dare you, you piece of shit rich boy? Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a teacher, when you're expected to be like a parent to these kids, whose real parents slave away turning the wheels of your corporate gravy train? Do you know what teachers are paid? No, you wouldn't I guess, you hadn't done a day of work in your life until age 35!
by at 4:11 PM
Well, I tried to post this two days ago, but the blogger ate it, so I'm going to make it much shorter.
So, now we've had TWO high school shootings in the past few days. I don't think we've seen the last of it. The funny part is, these haven't been inner city schools that the shootings have taken place in: They're typical white, suburban high schools. SO much for thinking you're safe in the suburbs.
All around the office I'm hearing "where were these kids' parents, shouldn't they have seen this coming?" I've got news for you, because I can tell you where these kids parents were: They were busy. That's right, busy. In case you have not noticed lately, its a brutal world we live in right now. In most suburban households, both parents hold down full time jobs that have them working 40,50,60 hours weekly. This shit has been going on since these kids left the womb. So when these folks get home (after their hour long commute, of course) they're often just too damn tired to parent. (To all of those suburbanites who gripe about inner-city welfare recipients and how they should all "just get a job," all I have to say is, at least they are around when their children need them!)
(to be continued...)
So, now we've had TWO high school shootings in the past few days. I don't think we've seen the last of it. The funny part is, these haven't been inner city schools that the shootings have taken place in: They're typical white, suburban high schools. SO much for thinking you're safe in the suburbs.
All around the office I'm hearing "where were these kids' parents, shouldn't they have seen this coming?" I've got news for you, because I can tell you where these kids parents were: They were busy. That's right, busy. In case you have not noticed lately, its a brutal world we live in right now. In most suburban households, both parents hold down full time jobs that have them working 40,50,60 hours weekly. This shit has been going on since these kids left the womb. So when these folks get home (after their hour long commute, of course) they're often just too damn tired to parent. (To all of those suburbanites who gripe about inner-city welfare recipients and how they should all "just get a job," all I have to say is, at least they are around when their children need them!)
(to be continued...)
by at 3:16 PM
Why do the British papers get to this stuff first? C'mon, Rusty, let's get the American media back in the game!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,445167,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,445167,00.html
by at 11:07 AM
And go here for the biggest story that was never reported:
http://www.mediachannel.org/views/whistleblower/palast.shtml
http://www.mediachannel.org/views/whistleblower/palast.shtml
by at 3:27 PM
``They (Americans) don't care what you think about his grammar, they care about what he's going to do that affects their lives,'' said Bush advisor Mary Matalin, assailing the press corps for their coverage of the president's felonious assault on his native language.
Bush's proposed education plan will affect the lives of many people, mostly children. None would disagree that basic language skills--which enable reading comprehension and communication--are an important part of learning. How can you expect students to be bothered to learn proper syntax, word usage, and grammar when their own leader shows such blithe contempt for the mechanics of language? Maybe he should take some of those proposed tests himself. Strunk and White, not Bush and Cheney!
And did you hear his latest flub--proclaiming he was against the "death penalty" when he actually meant the capital gains tax (the so called "death tax")? And he laughed at his own malapropism!
-Vladimir Lennon
Bush's proposed education plan will affect the lives of many people, mostly children. None would disagree that basic language skills--which enable reading comprehension and communication--are an important part of learning. How can you expect students to be bothered to learn proper syntax, word usage, and grammar when their own leader shows such blithe contempt for the mechanics of language? Maybe he should take some of those proposed tests himself. Strunk and White, not Bush and Cheney!
And did you hear his latest flub--proclaiming he was against the "death penalty" when he actually meant the capital gains tax (the so called "death tax")? And he laughed at his own malapropism!
-Vladimir Lennon
by at 3:16 PM
Man. Last night I saw the most boring band I've ever seen in my life. They're called "Death Cab for Cutie." I'd heard a couple of songs from their record that were pretty OK, and since the Fireside Bowl is right down the street from where I was I hopped on over. Its not that they were bad; they had talent, but man, talk about dullsville! They played really quietly, barely interacted with the audience at all, and didn't even move around either. I fought back the yawns the whole night. The club was packed and there was nowhere to move, which only fueled my annoyance. I ended up standing with my friends in the back of the room drinking beer and wondering when the band was gonna start, because I thought, "this must be another opening band, there's no way all of these people came to see THIS." (Not that I'd know, because the band didn't talk much to the audience and didn't tell us their band's name either.) So after over an hour of this quiet, timid, polite music, I asked a nearby girl, "Which band is this?" She looked at me like I was stupid and said, "Death Cab for Cutie." What's up with this city? This is entertainment? Why are these guys packing clubs with such a dull show? If I wanted this kind of entertainment I'd stay overnight in my cubicle at work and listen to Sting with headphones! Two of my friends fell asleep during the show! The worst part was, after they had been playing for what seemed like 6 days and finally stopped, people started clapping their hands politely(it sounded like goddamn televised golf!) and the band went out for an (unearned) encore! Someone, please send these guys (and their fans) a Chuck Berry record.
So, to sum it up: I love rock and roll. And Death Cab for Cutie=not rock and roll.
So, to sum it up: I love rock and roll. And Death Cab for Cutie=not rock and roll.
by at 9:29 AM