June 05, 2007

Fake Plastic Trees

The word itself—nurdles—sounds cuddly and harmless, like a cartoon character or a pasta for kids, but what it refers to is most certainly not. Absorbing up to a million times the level of POP pollution in their surrounding waters, nurdles become supersaturated poison pills. They’re light enough to blow around like dust, to spill out of shipping containers, and to wash into harbors, storm drains, and creeks. In the ocean, nurdles are easily mistaken for fish eggs by creatures that would very much like to have such a snack. And once inside the body of a bigeye tuna or a king salmon, these tenacious chemicals are headed directly to your dinner table.

One study estimated that nurdles now account for 10 percent of plastic ocean debris. And once they’re scattered in the environment, they’re diabolically hard to clean up (think wayward confetti). At places as remote as Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, 2,100 miles northeast of New Zealand and a 12-hour flight from L.A., they’re commonly found mixed with beach sand. In 2004, Moore received a $500,000 grant from the state of California to investigate the myriad ways in which nurdles go astray during the plastic manufacturing process. On a visit to a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe factory, as he walked through an area where railcars unloaded ground-up nurdles, he noticed that his pant cuffs were filled with a fine plastic dust. Turning a corner, he saw windblown drifts of nurdles piled against a fence. Talking about the experience, Moore’s voice becomes strained and his words pour out in an urgent tumble: “It’s not the big trash on the beach. It’s the fact that the whole biosphere is becoming mixed with these plastic particles. What are they doing to us? We’re breathing them, the fish are eating them, they’re in our hair, they’re in our skin.”

Posted in Damn Nation! | 5 June 2007 at 12:33 PM | Comments (0) | | Link

May 18, 2007

Green Scare

Since 2005, the government has brought over 20 cases against environmentalists that have redefined not only free speech, but also redefined environmentally motivated property destruction – like torching Hummers or tree-felling equipment – as being on a par with the murderous assaults of Al Qaeda. Twenty eco-radicals might not sound like a lot, but it’s almost as many as had been arrested for major crimes in the 18 years previous, while 1,200 known attacks by ALF or its younger twin, the Earth Liberation Front, caused as much as $200 million in damages. It is important to note that no persons have ever been injured or killed in these attacks, but industry lobbying groups have forced the government to make prosecuting them a top priority.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 18 May 2007 at 10:22 AM | Comments (0) | | Link

November 03, 2004

I'm Worried For My Tired Country

You've all heard the news already.

There are not words—and anyway, what could I say that hasn't been said already?

Posted in Damn Nation! | 3 November 2004 at 04:53 PM | Comments (0) | | Link

October 26, 2004

Can You Hear Us?

This showed up in my inbox today—from someone not usually interested in or associated with hip hop—and I must say I'm impressed. I've heard some rumblings about the new Eminem video, "Mosh," but it's much better than I expected.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 26 October 2004 at 11:16 PM | Comments (0) | | Link

October 18, 2004

Deception Lane

I rarely, if ever, think this—let alone say it—but I wish I had cable just so I could have seen Jon Stewart on "Crossfire." While yes, I understand that Jon is a comedian, he's one of the few people on television who doesn't have his head shoved so far up his ass that he can't see what's going on.

STEWART: It's not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery. And I will tell you why I know it.

CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?

STEWART: Absolutely.

CARLSON: You've got to be kidding me. He comes on and you...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: What is wrong with you?

(APPLAUSE) CARLSON: Well, I'm just saying, there's no reason for you -- when you have this marvelous opportunity not to be the guy's butt boy, to go ahead and be his butt boy. Come on. It's embarrassing.

STEWART: I was absolutely his butt boy. I was so far -- you would not believe what he ate two weeks ago.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You know, the interesting thing I have is, you have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.

CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think.

STEWART: You need to go to one.

The thing that I want to say is, when you have people on for just knee-jerk, reactionary talk...

CARLSON: Wait. I thought you were going to be funny. Come on. Be funny.

STEWART: No. No. I'm not going to be your monkey.

Read the entire transcript to see just how much emotional rhetoric these guys came up with to try and shut Jon up. You know they're professional journalists when you can see them sweating and begging their guest to be funny.

But the real highlight of the show? Jon insulting Tucker Carlson's bowtie and informing him "You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show."

Rawr! Get 'em, tiger!

Posted in Damn Nation! | 18 October 2004 at 12:37 PM | Comments (0) | | Link

October 10, 2004

What Liberal Media?

"The conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose television outlets reach nearly a quarter of the nation's homes with TV, is ordering its stations to preempt regular programming just days before the Nov. 2 election to air a film that attacks Sen. John F. Kerry's activism against the Vietnam War, network and station executives familiar with the plan said Friday.

Sinclair's programming plan, communicated to executives in recent days and coming in the thick of a close and intense presidential race, is highly unusual even in a political season that has been marked by media controversies.

Sinclair has told its stations — many of them in political swing states such as Ohio and Florida — to air "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," sources said. The film, funded by Pennsylvania veterans and produced by a veteran and former Washington Times reporter, features former POWs accusing Kerry — a decorated Navy veteran turned war protester — of worsening their ordeal by prolonging the war. Sinclair will preempt regular prime-time programming from the networks to show the film, which may be classified as news programming, according to TV executives familiar with the plan."

"'What's happening in Ohio,' says Talley, 'is that the secretary of state has issued a statement saying that provisional ballots should not be issued if voters are in the wrong polling location.' With tens of thousands of newly registered voters, confusion about where to go is likely. Withholding provisional ballots -- which the Help America Vote Act, passed in 2002 in the wake of the 2000 election debacle, specifically mentions as an alternative voting method when valid registration is in doubt -- will result in many people simply not voting.

We 'sent a letter to the secretary of state saying that it's a violation of the Help America Vote Act,' says Talley. Not getting an adequate response, the Ohio Voter Protection Coalition filed a lawsuit on Tuesday. The Ohio Democratic Party has already sued on this issue, and a judge is expected to issue a ruling on that suit by Oct. 15.

Provisional ballots might seem like small potatoes in the scheme of things. But one professor at Case Western Reserve University -- site of the recent vice presidential debate in Cleveland -- has crunched some numbers and he's not at all convinced this issue is of little consequence.

Using data from the 2000 election, the professor, Norman Robbins, calculates conservatively that as many as 13,000 Clevelanders will have to use a provisional ballot as a result of clerical and other errors. The typical discard rate for provisional ballots means that nearly 2,300 of those will be invalidated. But this doesn't include all the people who show up at the wrong polling place and don't get a provisional ballot at all. Multiply this by the eight urban areas around Ohio and the potential for disenfranchisement is high. Considering that Al Gore lost Ohio by 165,000 votes and Ralph Nader (who will not be on the ballot) took 117,857 votes, it could impact the election not just in Ohio, but affect the outcome of the national race.

'Who does this provisional ruling affect most?' asks Robbins. 'People who move. Census data shows that low-income people are 90 percent more likely to move. If you're poor, you're twice as likely to have to vote provisionally. On top of that, when they get a provisional ballot, they're likely to encounter [poll workers] who give them unclear information on a complex form. That's already difficult.

'Now, if you're in the wrong precinct, don't bother voting because your provisional ballot is going to be thrown out, even if it was a clerical error that got you into provisional world. These are the people who are most likely going to have two jobs. They're not going to be able to go to another poll. They might have kids in day care. They may have no car. This ruling disproportionately targets one part of the Ohio population.' And they are, needless to say, most likely Democratic voters.

Ohio's secretary of state was also sued because 21 counties were wrongly informing ex-felons that they had no right to vote. According to Robbins, the secretary of state's office agreed to inform all ex-felons of their voting rights in time for the registration deadline, but then backed out based on a 'distorted' interpretation of the law."

Posted in Damn Nation! | 10 October 2004 at 09:45 AM | Comments (0) | | Link

July 07, 2004

You Are Not Alone

Though I don't make much of it here, I am a fan of architecture, and of sustainability and city planning initiatives. I grew up in a place I not-so-affectionately refer to as suburban hell, a maze of track homes and cul-de-sacs in salmon and beige stucco that has been so overdeveloped some serious rain would wipe it from the Earth in a flood of cracked drywall. Green building has become more popular in the past few years (though not in the area where I am from), but the technology has not outpaced the increasing demand for square footage.

The American proclivity for living large does more than raise questions about whether a 4,000-square-foot single family home should ever qualify as a "green" residence. It also calls into question one of the fundamental tenets of sustainability -- that market demand for green products and technologies will save us from environmental apocalypse. If we all go solar, if we install rainwater catchment systems and use sustainably harvested lumber, so the logic goes, then there's no need to deprive ourselves of the luxuries that space -- and the furniture and accessories to fill it -- affords. But the issue of consumption, not to mention overconsumption, is curiously absent from the sustainability discourse. And in an era characterized by unprecedented consumer wealth, this could be the movement's fatal flaw.

PS Check out the creepy developments in RFID technology that spell big trouble for the little shopper. On one hand, this is the greatest idea ever: ultra-thin imbedded tags that communicate directly with their surroundings, eliminating shoplifting and even the need for checkers—you can ring up groceries yourself. On the other hand, this also means that manufacturers can track your purchases and preferences closely, targeting marketing strategies at specific shoppers. As though what we need in the world is more marketing.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 7 July 2004 at 04:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (5) | Link

June 18, 2004

Psychos With Drum Machines

Another American hostage has been beheaded, this time by Al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia.

The pharmaceutical industry is already sitting pretty, raking in billions of dollars in profits each year through cozy associations with doctors and pharmacies. President Bush apparently intends to further line these ever-deepening pockets by instituting mental illness screening for the entire country. The initiative is aimed primarily at diagnosing and medicating children as early as possible in order to "change their trajectory" from aggressive to passive.

I would be one of the first people to admit that mental illness is widely misunderstood and stigmatized, but screening an entire country of people just to hand out more prescriptions for Prozac is a bit too close to Brave New World for me.

Antitrust legistlators in the EU are close to approving the merger that would unify Sony and Bertelsmann music groups into the world's largest music empire and make the Big Five into the Big Four. The deal was formerly opposed by the EU—which previously shut down the proposed merger of Warner Brothers and EMI music groups—and, if approved, means that Sony BMG will be the source of one out of every three CDs sold.

Speculation is brewing that 20% of Miramax's staff will be let go this year. It seems the brothers Weinstein have already exceeded their $700 million production budget, and will have to tighten the belt before the end of the fiscal year on September 30.

Sprint seems to be following suit, and will be cutting 1,100 jobs by mid-July.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 18 June 2004 at 11:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (72) | Link

June 07, 2004

Facts Are Stupid Things

Hey, did you hear that Ronald Reagan died? I'm sure it comes as a shock but I want to do my part to console a nation blind with remembrance. Thus I extend my condolences for his family, and my sympathies to those who haven't yet come to terms with the fact that death doesn't make you a better person, it makes you a corpse. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but I'd rather be honest than a hypocrite. After all, it wasn't my life. I'm already headed for my own reckoning. {Via Out of Focus}

Schadenfreude is a word most Americans should be well used to. After all, we are a nation of voyeurs, loving nothing so much as watching others being gagged and tied, humiliated, violated, or otherwise exploited. I can substantiate this claim by falling back on the old capitalism dictum of supply and demand, but anyone who sits down with American media of any sort—TV, radio, film—is guaranteed the opportunity to bask in the discomfort of others.

We are a nation of sadists and libertines who pretend allegiance to morality, grasping at the wisps of salvation as they sparkle and fade, all the while hungering to see Christ hammered to the cross again and again and again, peevishly wishing that we could really feel redeemed through that suffering. We delight in witnessing pain of all sorts, reveling in the the knowledge we are safe and unharmed, escaping from the rest of our pains through the degradation of others. I'm not claiming that no other nation suffers from these same tendencies—these are human traits, not strictly American ones—but it is reaching a fever pitch.

These behaviors are now so universally internalized here that depiction has become the aim of such behaviors rather than a by-product, a shift which is turning out more horrors all the time.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 7 June 2004 at 03:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

May 27, 2004

Dirty Old Town

ALERT! Tonight at 9PM, The Way the Music Died will air on PBS.

A large chunk of the art collection of Charles Saatchi—known for his patronage of the Young British Artist movement—has been destroyed by fire in London. I can't claim to be that upset (as most art after 1960 makes me physically ill) but I think it is sad when anyone's work is destroyed, no matter what my feelings about it are.

RCA has released a new DVD player which allows the users to purchase filters that edit out objectionable material during viewing. Not to sound old-fashioned or anything, but my parents always managed to edit out anything they found objectionable in what I was watching. You could save the $70 price tag by spending some time parenting your children, rather than letting the television do it for you.

For the other geeks out there, here is the most complete incomplete map of Springfield. Yes, that Springfield.

And suddenly, all those annoying creative writing blogs are starting to make sense.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 27 May 2004 at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (38) | Link

May 24, 2004

Moderation, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

Being neither a Republican nor a Democrat (for equal amounts of the ridiculous inherent in both parties), I enjoy my place as a fairly staunch middle-grounder. I have lots of opinions on any number of political topics and being without a party allows me to pick and choose candidates based on qualifications rather than any nagging feelings of allegiance to a group. That being said, I have long mourned the defeat of Senator John McCain as the Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2000.

I have no more bias against the GOP than I do for any other party—in general, political parties are made up of fanatics and zealots, two groups that make little-to-no sense on any issue. Partisanship is a curse that plagues all houses equally.

Because of my feelings about political parties, I have a hard time getting fully behind candidates (mostly because I feel they are puppets, obligingly nodding to the beat of the party drum). My opinions generally run further left than right according to the current party scheme, and McCain is one of the first conservatives that ever made sense to me; mostly, the word "conservative" inspires frightening visions of church+state, back-alley abortions, deteriorating care for the poor, tax breaks for the rich, unmitigated xenophobia (if not all-out warmongering), intolerance and a frightening thirst for wealth and power. (I could give a similar list for the Dems but I'm not bitching about them today.)

But in the midst of all that negative conservatism comes McCain, who could very well have given Bush a fight for the nomination by lying about his views. Instead, he was vocal about what he thinks and what he would do; not that I believe everything he said, but I appreciate a politican who can be honest despite the consequence of certain defeat. I was really quite sad when McCain lost the nomination, and I have been hoping ever since that the Republicans would come to their senses and send him in to save the day.

It won't happen—thus ending any chance that I would vote Republican in the near future—but a girl can dream, can't she? I mean, how can you not love a man who keeps a list of porkbarrel policies currently in play on his website? He's just enough of an outspoken asshole to be endearing.

Speaking of outspoken assholes, check out these memos, which are Evelyn Waugh's response to Hollywood's treatments of Brideshead Revisted and Scoop. An excellent example of the kind of biting condescention you don't find in the wild anymore; this is what they aren't teaching the children in school!

Kris Kristofferson to release a new album.

Jawbox's For Your Own Special Sweetheart and Jawbox to be re-released this year on DeSoto, possibly including a live DVD.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 24 May 2004 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (28) | Link

May 17, 2004

Casualties and Causality

Our lives are haunted by sound-bite visions of the infuriating morons who run our lives.

Thumbing through a back issue of Rolling Stone on my lunch break, I found an article by Matt Taibbi, writer for the New York Press, on being in the press corps on the Kerry campaign trail, generally dressed for work as a viking. Aside from the outright hatred he has inspired in many people—based primarily on charges that he is too flippant and too biased, unlike all other journalists—his writing is witty and interesting, and I wanted to post the conclusion of his piece because I think it summarizes the candy-coated happy train that is coverage of the presidential election:

If large numbers of Americans are turned off by politics, it's in no small part because they are sick of consuming that singular process the campaign represents: a bunch of rich people talking to one another in front of the help.

Being intrigued by his writing, I naturally hunted up some other articles. Outside of some Onion-style practical joking at the Buffalo Beast and an incident at his paper in Russia, called The eXile, Taibbi now sticks mostly to political and sports reporting at the NY Press and The Nation. (The incident at The eXile was one in which journalists were pitted against one another to determine the worst writer among them; the "winner" of the competition—a reporter from the NY Times—then got a pie in the face. The pie, unfortunately, was filled with horse semen.) Recently, and more seriously, he wrote a piece about the Iraq-Vietnam comparison made by Ted Kennedy. Though he obviously has no great love for politicians of any persuasion, I thought his assessment of our involvement in both wars is the most reasonable I've seen.

And, to continue on my glut of Matt Taibbi stories today, here's a fun quote on the Dean phenomenon from an article in The Nation:

It is probably already possible to speak of the existence of a "Howard Dean problem" in liberal America. The outlines of the problem are as follows: Vast numbers of people, horrified by George Bush and desperate for a positive change, have geared up this election season to throw their weight behind anything resembling a human being. Along comes Howard Dean, a well-spoken, obviously intelligent man who opposes the war in Iraq before it is politically expedient to do so, bluntly calls George Bush by all the names he deserves and quickly builds an impressive insurgent candidacy largely on his own, through the strength of a remarkable Internet version of a word-of-mouth campaign. To many, the choice seems obvious.

But thirsty people can have faulty vision, and when your eyes have burned you enough times, you begin to fear the mirage more than the thirst. And therein, for Howard Dean, lies the problem.

They may have been overzealous and a bit misguided, but at least the Deaniacs didn't fill anyone's face with stallion milk.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 17 May 2004 at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

May 12, 2004

The Not-So-Little Death

Medical science has discovered that all that was known about fat and how it kills people is, pretty universally, incorrect. Rather than causing death by the long-term stress of carrying around extra weight, fat actually secretes hormones that affect the entire body and which, when released in large amounts (due to larger amounts of fat), actually poison the organs.

More on the iTunes mission to open up the vaults of the music industry by releasing rare and out-of-print materials in the iTunes Store. Speaking of which, I recently made my first purchase at the iTunes Store to find out what all the fuss was about. It was a remarkably easy experience, though I didn't browse the catalog very long so as to avoid temptation.

Now you, too, can carry up to a dozen iPods at once, thanks to Karl Lagerfeld and Fendi. The logical question here is who on Earth has a dozen iPods? Lagerfeld, that's who!

However, since Bowles' report, Lagerfeld has increased his collection significantly -- to 40 iPods. That's right, he now owns 40 iPods, according to the latest issue of French Elle. Modeling a silver jogging suit, Lagerfeld confesses to owning 40 of the devices. Although at first glance the reader may assume he means a single 40-GB iPod, he meant what he said: He has 40 iPods.

Lagerfeld has converted his collection of 60,000 compact discs to a unique iPod storage system, according to a recent report in Womens Wear Daily. Lagerfeld keeps most of the iPods scattered around his various homes, which, in turn, are scattered around the globe.

Maybe if I write him a nice letter Mr. Lagerfeld will take pity on me and buy me an iPod. At this point he could probably buy them at cost.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 12 May 2004 at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

May 11, 2004

Quo Vadis, Sopor?

I have a terrible reaction to violence, even when I know it is fake. I freeze up and my eyes well up with tears—even though I'm not crying—and I can't breathe. This happens often at the movies. Lead pipes and fireplace pokers coupled with eyes or knees or other sensitive parts of the anatomy have me leaking like a faucet.

Not this time.

I was really trying. I worked on objectivity, on disassociation, on reason. I tried to watch the video of Nick Berg's death with as little emotional turmoil as possible because I know how I am. I made it as far as when his captors pulled out the knife, started screaming and grabbed his head, pushing him to the floor. At that point I had to close the window because my palms were clammy and my hands were shaking and I was having trouble breathing. But I didn't cry.

Perhaps it is because I knew what was coming. I had prepared myself for it and I was prepared for my reaction, but I don't think that was it. Some things are too much to even cry for. There's nothing left to do but freeze up. Instead, I'll try not to think about it, and hope it doesn't catch up with me tomorrow. Or the day after.

And that his mother never sees that tape.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 11 May 2004 at 10:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (4) | Link

Bodas de Sangre

An op-ed piece in the NY Times caught my eye today. Written by the highly interesting and insightful Luc Sante—whom, if you have not read his work, is a writer and photography historian who has written about early crime scene photography and other horrors on film—this piece attempts to explain why the photos from Abu Ghraib are so troubling:

Of course the violence at Abu Ghraib was primarily psychological — hey, only a few people were killed — and the trophies were pictorial, like the results of a photo safari. Some commentators have made a point of noting this very relative nonviolence, contrasting it with the lynching of the four American military contractors in Falluja last month. This line of argument is notable for what it leaves out: there is a difference between the rage of a people who feel themselves invaded and the contempt of a victorious nation for a civilian population whom it has ostensibly liberated.

In a note on a personal pet peeve, I keep hearing senators and military personnel on the radio who cannot correctly pronounce Abu Ghraib. Granted, languages in the Middle East are not easy to manage with our softer American accents, but doesn't it seem to anyone else that failure to learn the proper way to say the name of the prison in question trivializes the horrible importance of these events?

To bring things up even further, more information continues to come to light regarding the treatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Not only were these people cruel, they were swapping the photos like they were dirty playing cards or magazine pinups.

Army commanders had a different response when, on January 13th, a military policeman presented Army investigators with a computer disk containing graphic photographs. The images were being swapped from computer to computer throughout the 320th Battalion.
...
NBC News later quoted U.S. military officials as saying that the unreleased photographs showed American soldiers “severely beating an Iraqi prisoner nearly to death, having sex with a female Iraqi prisoner, and ‘acting inappropriately with a dead body.’ The officials said there also was a videotape, apparently shot by U.S. personnel, showing Iraqi guards raping young boys.” Not to mention terrorizing people with snarling German Shepards, sodomizing them with chemical lights, sexual humiliation and your plain, old-fashioned beatings.

The Complete Bushisms at Slate.com. Considering the above mess, it isn't funny so much as painful.

Monsanto backs off of genetically modified wheat in response to protests from farmers. Whoop!

CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research—and the birthplace of the world wide web—celebrates 50 years of operation this year.

In its first 50 years, Cern uncovered the quark layer of matter, discovered how nature's forces operate, and showed how matter was created in the first moments after the Big Bang.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 11 May 2004 at 09:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (8) | Link

May 07, 2004

Now Safe for Kids!

JohnKerryIsADoucheBagButImVotingForHimAnyway.com
Generally speaking, a long domain name is not a good idea, but this one works.

The FDA has turned down the application to sell Plan B (the "morning after" pill) over the counter, citing concerns over the health of young women.

Wendy Wright, senior policy director at Concerned Women for America, a conservative women's organization, said that the agency had ignored political pressure and made its decision based on science.

"The F.D.A. is right to be cautious about having a potent drug that can be harmful to women sitting next to candy bars and toothpaste," Ms. Wright said. Broad availability of Plan B would allow people to slip the medicine to women without their knowledge, Ms. Wright said.

Not only do we have to worry about roofies, now we have to worry about crazed bands of abortion-givers running amok and dropping birth control into our drinks, preventing pregnancies for couples who want children. Does she realize how completely, insanely paranoid she sounds?

Aside from that, women who are concerned about the health of the nation should be more concerned about the over-the-counter drugs that are already available. Case in point: Children's Dimetapp® ND Non-Drowsy Allergy is an OTC allergy drug targeted specifically for use by children. The active ingredient in Children's Dimetapp® ND Non-Drowsy Allergy is 10mg Loratadine—5mg more Loratadine than the same dose of Claritin-D or Children's Claritin. I don't know about anyone else, but it would seem to me that a drug marketed for children would have a lesser dose than the "adult" drug. The pharmaceutical industry is cannabalistic and deceitful—just look at the recent revelations about anti-depressants—but we're still worried about the permissive message an OTC birth control pill would send to young girls.

Call me crazy, but when I go to a rock show that I know is going to have ear-splitting sound, I don't think "I don't need to wear earplugs because I have some Advil at home and that will take care of the headache I will get from the volume." When I overindulge in alcohol, I don't start out my drinking by thinking "I have some Alka-Seltzer and Tylenol at home, so my hangover won't be that bad; I can have as much booze as I want!" The existence of a pill that can prevent pregnancy does not erase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, nor does it lessen the fear and anxiety over becoming pregnant. Even the most careful adults—with fully functioning faculties of reason—encounter the occasional broken condom. A pill like this would accomplish more good than it would harm, methinks.

In the cock-of-the-day report, Ryan Adams has closed his website down in protest of the 'death' of Friends. Let's face it, Ryan: it was a trite, formulaic exercise in media saturation that went on too long to be relevant. Then again, that sounds a lot like your career.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 7 May 2004 at 10:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

May 06, 2004

Separate, Not Equal

I decided that more news about the war needed a stand-alone post, since photos of abuse and dead soldiers are a little bit more morbid than custard recipes and the Google IPO.

More pictures of the abuses at Abu Ghraib have come out. There isn't much left to say, really, except that I don't think there is any going back. I'm pretty sure America has crossed the line into unforgivable behaviour.

You can't see caskets, but you can see photos of all the dead American soldiers. I get the feeling that the gallery was intended to inspire some patriotic interest in supporting the war, but I think it brings home the reality of nearly a thousand dead soldiers.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 6 May 2004 at 10:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

May 05, 2004

Bowling for Bush

Since I am well and stuffed from a monster fruit salad, here is some interesting food news: social accountability for food production is on the rise, as are "healthy" choices at fast food restaurants.

"They have said one mechanical royalty isn't enough." Even though an artist is lucky to get much in the way of royalties at all, record companies want to jack up the prices of digital downloads so that the growing trend in downloading will make the industry more on a per-song basis. As a business model, this should sink more spectacularly than the Titanic.

Thank God dissent is still alive and well: "Metallica display, you get it first, and with good reason." Go visit the surly, irritable and righteously indignant folks at Downhill Battle and bannedmusic.org. The kids at Downhill Battle are fighting the good fight for Voluntary Collective Licensing, a flat-fee solution that would allow legal downloading while compensating musicians for their work.

Disney is forbidding Miramax, its subsidiary, from releasing Micheal Moore's new documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, because it is critical of President Bush and his relationship with the ruling family of Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, said Michael D. Eisner, Disney's chief executive, asked him last spring to pull out of the deal with Miramax. Mr. Emanuel said Mr. Eisner expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr. Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor.

"Michael Eisner asked me not to sell this movie to Harvey Weinstein; that doesn't mean I listened to him," Mr. Emanuel said. "He definitely indicated there were tax incentives he was getting for the Disney corporation and that's why he didn't want me to sell it to Miramax. He didn't want a Disney company involved."

I don't think I even need to comment on this one. It speaks for itself.

I'm going to follow up that particularly American piece of news with a link to the photos of abused Iraqi prisoners. I've been following the story with a mixture of trepidation and disgust—on one hand, I don't find it at all hard to believe that these things are going on; I had already assumed it was going on. On the other, I didn't want to see the pictures because I still want to think that no matter how bad things are, the blame is all lodged somewhere in the top levels of government. As the pictures show, I was being foolish and naive.

Perhaps that foolishness is what made the evidence so upsetting, or perhaps it is the entire situation. Regardless of the cause, photos of bruised, beaten men tied up and covered by hoods and thrown into heaps while laughing soldiers pose and joke is disgusting. The photo of a bruised, beaten corpse, wrapped in cellophane and left on ice like some demented, barbaric cryogenics experiement nearly made me want to scream and rage. Who are these people? Why would you do that to anyone? But most of all, where did my country go wrong, and why is it failing us all so terribly?

Posted in Damn Nation! | 5 May 2004 at 01:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (13) | Link

April 23, 2004

Turning Rebellion Into Money

I was excited about the upcoming presidential election for approximately two weeks. Those weeks were during the Democratic primaries, back when I thought someone with some substance—some real ideas, maybe—had a snowball's chance in Hell of being nominated. I was, quite obviously, wrong.

Before reading the quotation below, taken from a article about the GOP losing votes by alienating young voters and mocking the Democrats for trying to engage members of the hip-hop community, I'd like to mention my thoughts on the matter. Shocking even myself, for once I agree (in tone, if not in principle) with the Republican objection to Kerry's appearance on MTV. The excerpt below is horrifyingly patronizing. It isn't even creative condescension—he doesn't say anything at all, and he expects the youth voters to eat it up because he has something that sounds sort of nice to say about the music they listen to! Well, fuck you John Kerry. Fuck you and your trite party line about the poetry and violence of rap. Keep that up and I might vote for Nader just to spite you and the handlers that let you loose on the world with that bullshit.

On March 30, Sen. John Kerry appeared on an MTV news special for an interview, where he was asked about trends in popular music. "I'm fascinated by rap and by hip-hop," Kerry responded. "I think there's a lot of poetry in it. There's a lot of anger, a lot of social energy in it. And I think you'd better listen to it pretty carefully, because it's important."

It's important all right—if the kids who listen to rap don't vote for you, you're screwed. Aside from Kerry's repugnant little episode, I was terribly disappointed by Salon's coverage of the story, ironically explaining to the reader that the GOP pundits who are lambasting Kerry would "be tagged as playa hatas" in the rap community. Oh Salon, you smug, pretentious bunch of terrifyingly liberal idiots! What would your readership do if didn't have you to explain the intricacies of urban culture?

Posted in Damn Nation! | 23 April 2004 at 10:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (130) | Link

April 22, 2004

Toothaches & Novocaine

Aside from my ever-annoying incoming wisdom tooth and my impending afternoon appointment with my dentist to take care of it, today's news is interesting.

BayStar Capital, a major investor in technology, has sent a letter to SCO Group requesting the return of the $50 million investment made last October. SCO, as you might remember, is the company that is suing IBM, Novell, DaimlerChrysler and Auto Zone for what it perceives as outright theft from Unix. The loss of $50 million will certainly dampen the lawsuit against Linux, since carrying on four major lawsuits against very, very big companies is a time- and money-consuming process.

In keeping with my weekend's entertainment—watching movies, such as Last Call—the University of South Carolina just acquired a collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald's scripts, written toward the end of his life while living and working in Hollywood, at MGM. Sadly, Fitzgerald was not cut out to write for the screen and only one of the manuscripts ever made it on film. The rest are all preserved, most in his original penciled longhand, suited best for the reading public that made him famous.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 22 April 2004 at 10:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

April 21, 2004

Wallpaper

Recently browsed by yours truly:

betterPropoganda, a new free and legal download site for fans of independent music of the rock and hip hop persuasion. The site, while similar in composition to Epitonic, focuses on newer music, as opposed to Epitonic's equally worthwhile and important focus on seminal music from the recent past. On the plus side, you can save songs that you like on betterPropoganda to a playlist for future reference. If you're like me and find yourself searching out music at work and promptly forgetting what songs you heard when you get home, that is a very nice feature.

Yet another in what appears to be a new trend, the Pitchfork spoof. RichDork, brought into being by the folks at Something Awful, asserts that "all written content was produced by eternal college students who were laughed at by English professors when we submitted rambling, vapid essays to them, which is why we now work at Border's bookstore, but one day we'll have our big break and then you'll see".

I've long suspected that Pitchfork is run by a group of bed-headed, bespectacled Dave Eggers fans with an insane prejudice for Radiohead. Apparently I'm not the only one.

Plus, lots of interesting things in the news lately:

IN P2P trading, Palisade Systems has designed a new program, Audible Magic, that purports to block the transfer of copyrighted materials on P2P networks. Endorsed by the RIAA, the filtering software is sold as part of a bundle of network-management tools and cannot be installed in the individual file trading software (such as Kazaa or Morpheus), but rather must be used on a network. Naturally, this is a major draw for colleges and universities who are being scandalized by student file sharing, as well as being hounded by the RIAA. I say it is creepy and invasive, not only because there is plenty of freely available legal copyrighted material for download, but because in addition to policing action on P2P networks, the software also searches any files transfered through email or instant messages. Three cheers for the impending police state! Hip hip hooray!

THE Governator has promised to have a 'Hydrogen Highway' up and running in California by 2010. Much, I'm sure, to your surprise and awe, I think this is an excellent notion...being put in place at a very bad time. We have already lost huge chunks of state funding for the arts and education; that money is instead being funneled into reinstating California's aerospace economy. And while hydrogen is the fuel of the future and a huge push—in the form of the $90 million it will take to create a workable network of hydrogen fueling stations, as well as all the funding for R&D on hydrogen-powered vehicles—is needed to get the ball rolling, something about this becoming a partisan issue weighted on the side of the party notorious for old (oil) money seems a little bit fishy to me, especially when the funding is coming from private sources.

IT'S just like Giuliani never left office! Veteran New York street artist James De La Vega is being charged with vandalism and facing up to a year in jail. Apparently even the enlightened minds of New Yorkers, living in the definitive urban locale, can't understand the important contribution of public art to metropolitan life.

Meanwhile Robert Johnson, the Bronx district attorney, recently told the New York Times, "We find it offensive that people come here and treat our walls as their canvas." As though there are not worse things that someone could be doing in a public space than using it to make art.

But in a country where works of art held in private collections are singled out and targeted simply because they upset the sensibilities of certain segments of the population (such as the uproar in 1999 over Chris Ofili's "The Holy Virgin Mary," part of the decidedly modern collection of eccentric collector and patron Charles Saatchi, being shown in New York), I suppose it is hardly surprising that we have only a vague idea of how to go about creating positive spaces amidst the thick of urban experience. We can barely keep a handle on preventing censorship for "real" artists being shown in museums, so why should a small group of urban (read: generally not white) kids be allowed to paint perfectly viable and non-gang-related pictures on walls in their communities?

IN political news, the New York Times ran a story yesterday about the new trend in campaigning: MRIs. Researchers at UCLA are using MRIs to study the levels and locations of brain activity triggered in partisan voters when they are shown various images, among them commercials for Bush and Kerry, as well as images from past elections. The study hopes to find out how people with strong partisan ties think about the techniques currently used to sway voters and, by proxy, how those techniques and others can be most effective.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 21 April 2004 at 11:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

April 16, 2004

News Flash: Literacy is Good

In an attempt to cut the recidivism rate among convicted felons in California, the state government is considering re-instating the prison education programs that were cut during the crime legislation wave of the '90s. Unsurprisingly, 50% of convicts are illiterate; sadly, only 10% of that half of the inmate population are literate at a ninth grade level when they leave.

Call me thick but I still don't understand how it makes sense that educating prisoners is "soft on crime." That makes it sound as though education is a particularly enjoyable experience; going to public school isn't even fun on a good day (like graduation), so I can't imagine that going to school in prison is better than that. Aside from that, if prisoners are coming out of jail with no skills besides tattooing with guitar strings and Walkman motors, the prison system is just begging to be filled with repeat visitors. Shockingly, it took the California government ten years to realize this. Perhaps it would help if the people running the prisons were literate, too.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 16 April 2004 at 10:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

April 14, 2004

LA-ology

In general, I like Los Angeles. Granted, I probably feel more kindly toward it because I grew up in close proximity to the city and have lived in it for the past six years. If you are willing to look for it, LA has a rich and interesting history, full of vibrant people and places. The architecture here is outstanding (if you like Arts & Crafts and mid-century modern a la Neutra and Schindler), the weather is impeccable, there are great record stores and restaurants, year-round farmer's markets, cheap bookstores (because no one here reads), some interesting bars and clubs, and there is no better place to be if you like film.

Unfortunately, that last recommendation is also the biggest problem with LA—other than the lack of useful public transportation, which necessitates owning a car and contributing to traffic. I'd even be willing to deal with the traffic if venturing out of doors didn't mean dealing with legions of struggling actors, or worse—people who have already made it in Hollywood. People come here to see stars; that's part of what drives the LA tourist economy. What people don't realize is that stars and the people behind them (producers, directors, screenwriters) are by and large the most self-centered, vain, narcissistic, tempermental and vacuous people on the planet.

I deal with people in the film industry all day, every day and I can safely assure everyone that they are exactly how you imagine them to be, and I mean that in a pejorative sense. (I thought State and Main was an excellent representation of what Hollywood is like.)

In the way of proof, I'd like to offer exhibits A and B as representations of the personalities that are symptomatic of the industry at large:

EXHIBIT A: The Quotable Harvey Weinstein, head of Miramax.

To the personal trainer hired by his wife Eve, who was greatly concerned for Harvey's health: "I don't have time now, here's a fifty, get the fuck out of my office."

Filmbrain's all time favorite Harvey confrontation has to be the one with Elliott Goldenthal, composer and husband of Frida director Julie Taymor. Harvey and Taymor had been arguing over a test audience's reaction to the film. Always the gentleman, Harv turns to Goldenthal: "I don't like the look on your face. Why don't you defend your wife so I can beat the shit out of you."

[Borrowed from Filmbrain]

EXHIBIT B: The Quotable Quentin Tarantino, self-aggrandizing director of derivative films.

If He Were Teaching QT101 —
EW: If you were teaching a class on your own films, what deficiences would you point out?
QT: The answer is none. I'm sure somebody else might find weaknesses, but I can't. If there's a weakness, I don't do it — you'll never see the scene.

Quentin On Marty —
"I really do think directing is a young man's game....If I say Martin Scorses's movies are getting kind of geriatric he can say, F--- you, man! I'm doing what i want to do, I'm following my muse, and he's 100 percent right. I'm in my church praying to my god and he's in his church praying to his. There was a time we were in the same church, and I miss that. I don't want to go to that church. If I was headed to that church, I would write novels."

[Borrowed from Cinecultist]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd be afraid to say such things about Martin Scorsese. He's scary and powerful and I don't believe he'd think twice about ridding the world of someone as over-appreciated and untalented as Quentin Tarantino.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 14 April 2004 at 11:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (58) | Link

April 06, 2004

I Heart Taxes

Until now, the public debate over the Bush tax cuts has played out along predictable, partisan lines. You've heard it so often, you can probably say it along with me. Bush argues that cutting taxes for all Americans stimulates the economy and will make everyone more prosperous. His stated goal: "Lower income taxes for all, with the greatest help for those most in need.'' Meanwhile his opponents say the bulk of the tax cuts have gone to the well-off. Bush and his opponents are both being factual—but, as we'll soon see, they use convenient facts and ignore inconvenient ones.

The blather from both sides obscures the real, but largely hidden, agenda behind the Bush tax cuts. Bush has been open about each item he wants: lowering taxes on capital income, such as dividends and capital gains; creating two big new income-sheltering investment plans; eliminating the estate tax. But he's not been at all forthcoming about the ultimate effect of his program. If Bush gets what he wants, the income tax will become a misnomer—it will really be a salary tax. Almost all income taxes would come from paychecks—80 percent of income for most families, less than half for the top 1 percent. Meanwhile taxpayers receiving dividends, interest and capital gains, known collectively as investment income, would have a much lighter burden than salary earners—or maybe none at all. And here's the topper. In the name of preserving family farms and keeping small businesses in the family, Bush would eliminate the estate tax and create a new class of landed aristocrats who could inherit billions tax-free, invest the money, watch it compound tax-free and hand it down tax-free to their heirs.

I've always been suspicious of investments as a form of income. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned but getting something for nothing doesn't seem kosher, so I avoid it. Apparently I've missed an amazing racket, though I still get to sleep soundly at night knowing I'm not doing anything shifty. And I get to wake up early to go to work and earn my heavily-taxed salary.

Oh capitalism, how I love you.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 6 April 2004 at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (62) | Link

April 01, 2004

Someone Needs to Do This for LA

Posted in Damn Nation! | 1 April 2004 at 04:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (29) | Link

March 31, 2004

"Meow" Is Not the Message

Q: Why is American beer like having sex in a canoe?
A: It's fucking close to water.

While looking for the wording of this old (and very worn) joke, I found two interesting things:

01. Hipster Bingo: Mocking the scene, one trucker hat at a time.

02. Pabst Blue Ribbon: Another Winner
Retro Chic Suds Hit With Hip Young Adults

["retro chic," a phrase hung on a host of young adults who affect the style and attitude of the mythical good ol' days: real or imagined working-class values clothed in polyester button-downs, Chuck Taylor shoes, Levis and old T-shirts]

The popularity of PBR is a lesson in reverse psychology. Young adults have taken to the beer because it wasn't forced down their throats. Like ugly clothes and extreme sports, Pabst's value lies in its expression of individuality and choice, a rejection of consumer society by those who feel manipulated by it. Pabst's selling point is its distinct unpopularity, its unself-conscious existence among beers that reinvent themselves as regularly as political candidates.

We've come so far that the kids are now out drinking PBR because it is the alternative to having your social status tainted by drinking a more fashionable beer. It's the liquid equivalent of the trucker-cap-and-vintage-T-shirt-look!

This is just more evidence for the theory that hipsters are emotionally stunted, permanently trapped in their teens and desperate to have anyone notice their behavior. "Hey, look at me! I'm drinking a beer that only costs $6 a case! I'm so much more down-to-earth than you, despite the fact that I spent 45 minutes to get my hair this messy, and I bought my vintage jeans at Diesel! Don't I just scream 'hip' and 'retro'?"

Last I checked, drinking beer stopped being rebellious when I turned 18.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 31 March 2004 at 07:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (99) | Link

March 02, 2004

Liberal Schmiberal

It's probably just my abnormal level of emotional sensitivity speaking, but I think it's patently ridiculous that there is even a debate over gay marriage. The issue of interference aside, any sort of a ban is inherently discriminatory; whether or not the discrimination violates anyone's civil rights is a matter for the courts to decide but I think it's fairly clear that banning marriage on the basis of sexuality would be such a violation. At the moment, however, such unions are still illegal and Jason West, the mayor of New Paltz, NY, is currently facing charges for marrying same-sex couples. If convicted, he could receive fines and a year in jail.

West said the prospect of further punishment does not deter him, adding that the newlywed couples inspire him.

"Just the looks on their faces, just the absolute joy of finally being able to be equal," he said. "That is the highest moral calling I could possibly imagine."

In another note, Democratic front runner Kerry countered Bush's call for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and is pro-civil unions, though he is part of a movement attempting to rewrite the Massachusetts state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. With a record like that, Bush will never get that liberal label to stick!

Posted in Damn Nation! | 2 March 2004 at 04:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

February 27, 2004

Twenty Centuries of Scandal

After months of striking by workers—and my own personal boycott of my local Ralphs—the grocery strike may finally be coming to an end. I had already decided that, should the grocery chains fire all their employees at the end of the contract term, I would not return to any Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions or Albertsons again.

I probably won't go back even if they do end the strike and keep the workers, mostly because I am a creature of habit. I have already carved out a happy little grocery niche at Trader Joe's for most everything, and a non-striking market for everything else. Guess the big guys shot themselves in the foot letting things go on this long, huh?

Things appear to be getting better on the renewable fuels front, as well. Researchers in Minnesota have found a way to manufacture hydrogen using ethanol to produce a 33% higher yield, meaning the implementation of an efficient and renewable energy source could be in the near future.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 27 February 2004 at 02:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (89) | Link

February 26, 2004

The Once Over Twice

I know I've been posting a lot about The Passion of the Christ lately, and these posts have mostly been fueled by the general nastiness aimed at the film. I understand the protests that surrounded The Last Temptation of Christ because the novel and the film were meant to arouse ire and doubt; I don't, however, understand what the big fucking deal is about The Passion. I haven't seen it yet—make no mistake, I will—but I have a hard time believing that a single film has the ability to mobilize a massive campaign of anti-Semitism in the world today. Anti-Semitism may or may not be on the rise but the world has not forgotten the Holocaust and no one is particularly anxious to go through it again.

Reasonable people the world over can rationally deal with the fact that Jesus was a Jew and that some of his Jewish contemporaries did not appreciate the ways in which he tampered with traditional Judaism. It is not the fault of the Jews that Jesus died (since that's what he came here to do) any more than it is my fault that European traders bought and sold slaves. Jesus preached against popular sentiment and was punished for it, not unlike many religious figures who came after him: Luther, Calvin, Joan of Arc, even Joseph Smith. He came here to preach and die, and die he did. He fulfilled his purpose, so what is everyone so fucking tweaked about?

At the moment, they are all twisted up over the remarks made by Mel Gibson's father about the Holocaust—specifically, that he said the Holocaust didn't happen. Now, while I find his statement naive and foolish I don't believe that you should hang the son for the sins of the father. Many people in Hollywood are denouncing Gibson for not publicly criticizing his father, which, to my mind, is ridiculous.

It is none of Mel Gibson's business nor is it his responsibility to police his father or his father's views. My father and I disagree on a great many things—voting Republican, for one—and no matter how often we argue about it, or out-and-out fight about it, neither of us is going to change. Mostly we agree to disagree and don't talk about those things, which I assume is the same in most families interested in keeping the peace. If I came out publicly and criticized my father's views (no matter how justified or correct my opinions were by comparison), it wouldn't affect anything but my relationship with my dad. That, to my mind, is more important than public opinion, and I assume it's the same for Mel Gibson.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 26 February 2004 at 02:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (26) | Link

February 25, 2004

We're Desperate

I don't make a secret of the fact that I disagree with the American prison system. There are many substantiated reasons that prove the prison system only serves to turn out more—and better—criminals, people who were jailed with the aim of punishment without rehabilitation. I really have a problem when prisons are used as a source of cheap labor; it gets even worse, though, when prisoners are employed as a last-ditch effort to reap the benefits of owning a company in the United States and employing workers who will work for sweatshop wages.

"Obviously, it doesn't do anything for the labor market here," said University of Oregon political science professor Gordon Lafer, author of a study on prison labor.

"It's like bringing little islands of the Third World right here to the heartland of America," he said. "You get the same total control of the work force, the same low wages, and it does nothing for the inmates."

Also, convicts don't benefit much from training for jobs that no longer exist in America because they have all gone overseas or into prisons, he said.

The bitch of it is that there isn't a happy medium here between keeping labor in the States and not exploiting workers or prisoners, when all three would be the best possible outcome.

So our choice is "or death"?

Posted in Damn Nation! | 25 February 2004 at 04:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (14) | Link

If We're Divisive, No One Will Win!

The Democrats have a continual rough road in that they refuse to come together behind a candidate. The leaders of the party are trying to oppose the Republicans by becoming more like them in every respect but their platform on social issues, and even that is sketchy. Combine that with the general childishness exhibited by most candidates and you get a big, tangled web of accusations and petulant whining. The only thing that keeps me willing to vote Democrat (even though I am not a registered member of any party) is that they are the only group with a hope of unseating the unrepentant regime of GW. It's not that I think the Democrats will do better so much as that I think regime change, in our current political climate, will at least keep the politicians from feeling too secure in office.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 25 February 2004 at 04:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (7) | Link

February 23, 2004

Super Noam!

What this wall is really doing is taking Palestinian lands. It is also — as the Israeli sociologist Baruch Kimmerling has described Israel's war of "politicide" against the Palestinians — helping turn Palestinian communities into dungeons, next to which the bantustans of South Africa look like symbols of freedom, sovereignty and self-determination.

...

It is misleading to call these Israeli policies. They are American-Israeli policies — made possible by unremitting United States military, economic and diplomatic support of Israel.

• • A Wall as a Weapon, Noam Chomsky on the Israeli barrier hearing

Posted in Damn Nation! | 23 February 2004 at 11:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (4) | Link

February 03, 2004

Private Still Means 'None of Your Goddamned Business'

Though the federal government seems to have decided that any medical procedure involving a fetus that is outside the body is infanticide, the judicial branch thankfully still has their wits about them.

A judge in Virginia overturned the partial birth abortion ban, saying it was "impermissibly void for vagueness" because it violates privacy rights and (unlike previous laws in the same vein) it did not make exceptions for procedures in which the life of the mother is threatened. Further, it was worded so vaguely as to make other procedures not included in the ban questionable, if not wholly illegal.

And people get mad at me for harping on them to use specific language...

Posted in Damn Nation! | 3 February 2004 at 03:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (6) | Link

February 02, 2004

You Mean We Came From Monkeys?!?!

In another astounding foray into logic, the state of Georgia is revamping their high school curriculum. What follows is just part of the rather amazing list of cuts, which includes a tour de force of the humanities and sciences: world history from 1500 CE on; US history starting with the founding of America and skipping forward to 1876 and Reconstruction (leaving out most of the Civil War) to the present day; in science, the history of life, common descent, human origins, the role we play in the ecosystem, the Big Bang, the age of the Earth and other topics would be completely eliminated; evolution will still be taught, but under a different name.

Even better than those is my personal favorite cut: Marquis Harris. The Atlanta school system did not hire this 22-year-old Rhodes Scholar nominee when he applied for a teaching position because, as expressed in the letter he was sent:

It was felt that your demeanor and therefore presence in the classroom would serve as an unrealistic expectation as to what high school students could strive to achieve or become.

Not to point fingers or anything, but I am amazed that Americans can wonder why other first world countries laugh at us. Watching our progressive decline into stupidity has to be the international equivalent of watching a dog eat peanut butter.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 2 February 2004 at 05:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (361) | Link

January 29, 2004

A Budget Right Out of a Fairy Tale

So, for the first time in US history, our yearly deficit will exceed $500 billion. $500 B-I-L-L-I-O-N.

President Bush's new budget projects the Medicare overhaul he just signed will be one-third more costly than estimated and this year's federal deficit will surge past a half trillion dollars for the first time, administration and congressional officials said Thursday.

$500 FUCKING BILLION! And that's just this year. If Bush wins the election, we have four more years of skyrocketing budgets to look forward to!

And in the continuing saga of Ryan Adams versus the Universe, he is now claiming that he could have been paralyzed by the fall that broke his wrist.

I say that this is just further proof that the powers that be want him to give up the sham he calls a career and go crawling back to Whiskeytown, hoping against hope to get his talent back along the way.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 29 January 2004 at 07:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (65) | Link

January 27, 2004

Throwing Away Your Civil Rights is the New Black (List)

I can't decide if the increasing "security" currently being used to hassle people at the airports is really supposed to help us or if it's just a really big, elaborate scheme to keep Americans so timid and frightened that we stay in our country and watch our news and buy things we see on our TVs rather than going out and realizing we didn't need most of this shit in the first place. Forgive my derisiveness if you must but most of the avenues being explored in the name of security generally seem to have many more far-reaching applications (and implications) than simply those we are supposed to believe they are for.

The Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, would screen all passengers by checking that information against commercial and government databases. Each passenger would be given one of three color-coded ratings.

Suspected terrorists or violent criminals would be designated "red" and forbidden to fly. Passengers who raised questions would be classified "yellow" and would receive extra security screening. Most would be "green" and simply go through routine screening.

Screening some foreigners after fingerprinting and photographing them already has resulted in 70 people being stopped from entering the country, although the foreigners-only program is only three weeks old, Hutchinson said.

Though none was a terrorist suspect, Hutchinson said the program, called US-VISIT, proved its ability to spot people trying to use fraudulent immigration documents to gain entry, he said.

And in general weirdness, I found an article that, had I not found it in the "real" press, I would have expected from the nimble minds over at The Onion. It seems that Al Franken, irritated over the behavior of some folks at a Dean rally, body slammed them in support of free speech and Greco-Roman wrestlers everywhere.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 27 January 2004 at 05:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (43) | Link

January 26, 2004

Fuck You and the Cats You're Spending Your Life With

If you're reading this, you're probably one of my friends. And if you're one of my friends, you probably share my opinion on political pundits, particularly the conservative ones. Therefore, it would be no surprise that I despise Ann Coulter. Why am I making this point, you ask? Because I'm about to go into a rant about Ms. Coulter and her barely logical ideas!

I started reading an essay about married couples with opposing political views on salon.com and, much to the dismay of my good sense, I continued reading even after I saw her name come up in the article. What idiocy is she spewing now? Just this:

Coulter has an explanation for the supposed prevalence of lefty lasses and Republican lads: "Notwithstanding their progressive pretensions," she says, "all women want a man."

For those of you who are not my friends, I am neither a lesbian nor a feminist. I am in a rather traditional relationship with a man three years my senior. He pays for me when we go out on dates, he opens the door for me, he thinks that (heterosexual) women and men cannot have truly platonic friendships. And I can say with great certainty that Ms. Coulter's above quote is the stupidest thing I have heard in a long, long time. So stupid, in fact, that I can't decide whether the best response would be to groan aloud or to beat my head into a wall in frustration.

This might be a lame semantic bone to pick, but all women do not want a man. I, in fact, do not want a man. I am with my boyfriend because I want a partner; someone who complements me and makes me try to be better. Someone I can lean on and who can lean on me. Hallmark sentiment to be sure, but the day that I want a man for any reason even resembling one ascribed as part of a gender role will be a very cold, very uncomfortable and very long day in Hell.

And while I'm on the topic, I think that comment is a deeply saddening one. Though I do not like Ann Coulter I would like to think that a woman who has amassed the amount of interest she has would think more of herself—and be more intelligent—than to say that she wants a man because of something as uninteresting and obviously programmed as femininity.

Yes, I am a woman and I am not ashamed that I like and want a man to hold my hand—but that hand is there for support, not to lead the way. I can make my own way. I just don't want to be alone when I do it.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 26 January 2004 at 06:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1) | Link

The Ribs Shall Inherit the Earth

There really are times when all you can do about the state of the world is grab a rib, sit back, and laugh.

Then again, there are times when all you really want to do is punch people in the face for having to haggle over what should be, at least in my little universe, very easy decisions.

And there are times when you get the feeling that things might be getting better, just a little. Cases in point: parts of the Patriot Act have been declared unconstitutional and musicians are finally rallying around personal control rather than being pimped by the record industry.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 26 January 2004 at 04:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (109) | Link

January 16, 2004

More Fun on the Home Court

"Ads which do not promote the selling of things basically are not welcome," says Eli Pariser, MoveOn's campaigns director. "The scary thing about it is that advertising at this point is one of the only ways you can even get access to the media. To have it restricted on the basis of viewpoints is dangerous."

For those of you who haven't heard about it yet, MoveOn.org sponsored the "Bush in 30 Seconds" ad campaign, where individuals sent in homemade commercials campaigning against Bush's reelection. Once they picked a winner, they raised $1.6 million to run the ad in the Super Bowl, only to be turned down by CBS' policy against running any ad with a relevant political or social message. Pretty sneaky, and yet totally unsurprising.

Posted in Damn Nation! | 16 January 2004 at 11:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (32) | Link