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Archive for January, 2006
I’ve been emotionally exhausted by the illegal wiretapping shit thats been flying, to the extent that I didn’t know what to say that wasn’t completely obvious, and been too out of it with some throat virus to post anything. But the failed filibuster on Alito and Arlen Specter’s (R-Va) terrifying provision to the Patriot Act woke my ass up today.
Alito is likely going to be confirmed, and in time for the State of the Union address. More jingoist cheerleading bullshit to endure. The Dems couldn’t get their shit together enough to prevent a cloture vote.
And now, Arlen Specter has added a provision to the Patriot Act that would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any “special event of national significance” away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter.
While under normal circumstances and under a government that didn’t continually terrify me with it’s sweeping violations of human rights, this would seem reasonable. A restricted area *should* be protected. But I have no doubt that these days, a secure area can be classified as anywhere within miles of the event. Or even worse, that an area could be declared secure post facto, thus conveniently making anyone, anytime, anywhere at risk of felony charges.
Achtung, motherf*ckers. Chairman Bush knows what’s best for us by listening in to our calls. The innocent have nothing to worry about, so if you’re worried about it, you must be a terrorist, QED. And if you want to protest any of this live and in person, well watch out, because the men in dark sunglasses will haul your ass to a secret gulag and you’ll likely never be heard from again.
Sphere: Related ContentUpdate: Sadly this video is no longer available.
I am in debt to Allen for bringing a very funny SNL skit to my attention. I stopped watching years ago.
The skit represents Anna Nicole as a Smurf - or what happens when Smurfette gets fat and strung out on painkillers. As proud white trash, I loved the Anna Nicole show. And anyone who grew up in the 80s has to have nostalgtia for the Smurfs, right?
It follows her from her house to get some pizza, then to the gynecologist to have her IUD refitted.
Along the way we get to meet Gargamel, Azriel, and assorted smurfs.
Her shocking behavior gives poor Gargamel a heart attack in the end.
In a reversal of policy, the United States on Monday backed an Iranian initiative to deny United Nations consultative status to organizations working to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, a coalition of 39 organizations, led by the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called for an explanation of the vote which aligned the United States with governments that have long repressed the rights of sexual minorities. “This vote is an aggressive assault by the U.S. government on the right of sexual minorities to be heard,” said Scott Long, director of the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch. “It is astonishing that the Bush administration would align itself with Sudan, China, Iran and Zimbabwe in a coalition of the homophobic.” (Read more)
Thanks again, Bush regime. What’s that you say, family in Texas? You say that I should come visit on a regular basis because Texans and the GOP embrace the rights of everyone? ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR (OK what they actually said was individual gays are fine, its just a GROUP of them that they don’t like.)
Thanks for pointing this out, Kniwt.
Sphere: Related Content43. Rush Limbaugh
Charges: Rather than engage in the admittedly difficult task of justifying GOP policies rationally, the key to Limbaugh’s success is attracting an audience that actually yearns to be lied to. It doesn’t matter how many righteous fact-checkers assail him in print and on the web, because dittoheads don’t care that he’s lying, as long as the lies justify their prejudices. Limbaugh’s program is not just hypocritical; it is a celebration of hypocrisy for ignorant crackers, angry at smart people and strung out on the dwindling sensation that they are better than everyone else by virtue of their race, sex, nationality or level of bluster, because their character and accomplishments don’t warrant such feelings. If political discussion were sex, the Limbaugh audience would be a horde of virgins beating off to deranged rape fantasies.
Exhibit A: Started out in sports radio; hasn’t changed his approach one bit.
Sentence: Starved to death in full view of glazed ham; ACLU mistakenly bestowed entire estate due to barbecue sauce stain on last will and testament.
This is entry 43 in a reverse-loathsome list of the 50 most loathsome. It’s a funny (yet entirely terrifying) read. Guess what - Bush and Cheney are in the top 5, but neither is #1. Check it out.
Sphere: Related Content“There is a lunatic fringe to the orchid world, and a fine line between the average grower and the horticulturally insane,” Eric Hansen, author of “Orchid Fever.”
“You will hear tales of murder, mayhem, betrayal and greed,” said Hansen. “These plants have a long, rich history and they stir up the deepest of human passions. People are mesmerized by them.” (more)
Sphere: Related ContentDraft legislation making the rounds in the U.S. Senate gives us a preview of the MPAA and RIAA’s next target: your television and radio. (Please write your Senator about this!)
You say you want the power to time-shift and space-shift TV and radio? You say you want tomorrow’s innovators to invent new TV and radio gizmos you haven’t thought of yet, the same way the pioneers behind the VCR, TiVo, and the iPod did?
Well, that’s not what the entertainment industry has in mind. According to them, here’s all tomorrow’s innovators should be allowed to offer you:
“customary historic use of broadcast content by consumers to the extent such use is consistent with applicable law.”
Had that been the law in 1970, there would never have been a VCR. Had it been the law in 1990, no TiVo. In 2000, no iPod.
Fair use has always been a forward-looking doctrine. It was meant to leave room for new uses, not merely “customary historic uses.” Sony was entitled to build the VCR first, and resolve the fair use questions in court later. This arrangement has worked well for all involved — consumers, media moguls, and high technology companies. (Read more at eff.org)
If you haven’t made up your mind that Intel chips will “save” the Mac platform, Apple demoed the Intel-native version of Logic Pro 7 at NAMM today. How fast is it? Let’s just say I’m going to have to call that PowerBook of yours - yeah, the shiny 17″ version - a paperweight. Don’t go planning any Grammy’s, that’s for sure. The Intel version of Logic is doing things that weren’t even possible on PPC versions. To quote Bob Hunt, as he wowed the NAMM’ers with a session full of video and high-end effects: “None of these sessions would even run on a PowerBook.” (more)
AAAAAA I hate hate hate the period of time between the first and second revs of an insanely cool Apple product… Stories like this start to pop up and make your mouth water and your wallet itch.
I felt burned by purchasing a first rev ti-book several years ago though. The airport never worked well on it. And I let my guard down to buy my delicious 5G iPod. But why tempt fate? I’ll wait for a 2nd-gen mactel before emptying my bank account 
A court has spared a Thai transsexual drug dealer from caning because Singaporean law does not allow women to be sentenced to that punishment, a newspaper reported Friday.
Thai prostitute Mongkon Pusuwan, who underwent a sex change from male to female a decade ago, was instead sentenced on Wednesday to six years in jail after a medical report concluded that she was a woman, The Straits Times reported. (more)
Not exactly the most elegant context, but it’s neat that her chosen gender is legally recognized and a non-issue.
Sphere: Related Content
“Once again, the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit,” Janice Crouse, of Concerned Women for America, said. “None of the three movies — Capote, Transamerica or Brokeback Mountain — is a box office hit. Brokeback Mountain has barely topped $25 million (£14.2 million) in ticket sales. If America isn’t watching these films, why are they winning the awards?” (Read more blathering from stupid people)
Two bonus points for an actual *woman* speaking on behalf of the Concerned Women For America, which is usually fronted by some self hating closeted homo android calling itself “Bob Knight”. But minus 8 kajillion for sticking your fucking nose where no one (but your 8 zombie Texan followers) wants it. Again.
I’m thinking that some HUGE percentage of Merkins eat at Mickey D’s annually, but it still sucks and rots your brain *coughNARNIAcough*. I’m lazy, so I didn’t look really hard for information about Merkins McDonald’s habits, but I did find this:
Sphere: Related ContentIn fairness to fast-food, however, one must note that 7% of all Americans eat at McDonald’s every day; that more than 96% of all American consumers have eaten at McDonald’s at least once and that 90% of those people have eaten there four or more times. (Read more totally made up shit about McDonalds)