scum of the earth

"President George Bush is seeking funds for a controversial project to drive gas pipelines from pristine rainforests in the Peruvian Amazon to the coast.

"The plan will enrich some of Mr Bush's closest corporate campaign contributors while risking the destruction of rainforest, threatening its indigenous peoples and endangering rare species on the coast."

Family Fringe

The New York International Fringe Festival is soon to be upon us again—a two-week long underground theatre festival that Time Out New York calls "The biggest, funniest, silliest, wildest, kinkiest, freakiest, screwiest, wackiest, artiest, funkiest, feisteist, scrappiest theatrical showcase of the year."

This year's festival is itching to be a memorable one, with dozens of off-Broadway productions being performed all throughout the city. Most interesting, however, is the unexpected addition to this year's lineup of a new play entitled "Lost Cabaret or KATANDOGASTROPHIC," by Jakeneck crewman Aphid's father, Gerd Stern.

"Lost Cabaret or KatanDogastrophic takes a mind trip through our information-saturated age. A techno puppet guru, a sultry Kat and naughty Dog, and five scenesters play with their relationships to each other and to reality."

Directed by Katharine Temple-West and performed by the Intermedia Troupe, the 45-minute show will be appearing at the Bank Street Theatre Friday the 8th, Saturday the 9th, Saturday the 16th, Sunday the 17th, and Tuesday the 19th.

Rushkoff and I just copped tix for the 19th, so if you'd like to join us, be sure to pick up your tickets soon. You can click here to order online.

hey, i know that guy!

now, when i tell you that my hometown of new milford is the most f'd up suburb in the state of new jersey, y'all mock me n' try n' say that ain't true n' shizz.

enter now, anthony buonanno. in april of last year, a close high school friend, steve coitus-interruptus (as we affectionately called him), was arrested in connection with the robbery of the cheesecack factory in hackensack, nj, the restaurant where he worked, along with an anything-but-gentle man named anthony buonanno.

did you see the cover of the post yesterday? allow me to refresh your memory:


yesterday, that very same anthony buonanno entered an hsbc bank on 5th ave. & 41st st., handcuffed a suitcase to the bank manager's hand, opened it, and showed him a "bomb" inside. he then had the manager lead him to the vault, and after receiving his spoils, handed the manager a clock and said that the amount of time on the clock was the amount of time he had left to live.

the manager ran out of the building, fell to the ground and flopped around like a fish, screaming "i only have 30 seconds!" when the bomb failed to go off, the manager opened the briefcase and discovered a bunch of red-painted broomstick handles and some loose wires. and today the post is calling him a hero. i think that word hero is getting thrown around way too much these days, don't you?

anyhow, back to the point, while he was living in brooklyn most recently, he had been living in new milford and associating with people who were at one point very close to me; proving once again that new milford is the most f'd up suburb ever imaginable. oh—and it's not because there are criminals there. it's because there are crazy stupid ridiculous criminals there, as buonanno's actions yesterday, and last april, surely confirm.

Fast Food Fuels Slow Bus

For every 20 depressing Jakeneck stories there has to be at least 1 that gives hope to humanity. Recently, a group of college students have driven a bus fueled by used vegetable oil! I'd rather smell onion rings than carbon monoxide any day. Can we start doing this now? Last time I checked Dubya didn't have any interest in taking over Burger King.

photos from the jy26 action

a tale of two fundraisers

This morning, Dick Cheney attended a closed door fund-raiser where 150 people each paid $2000 to the Bush 2004 election campaign, raising $300,000. Over this past weekend the Dean campaign put up a fund-raising bat, challenging people to "Beat Cheney". The results? $508,000 donated by 9,600 contributors - all through the internet. That's an average of ~$50 each. Personally, I'd like to see public financing of campaigns, but this is a win for emergent democracy in which the collective action of a lot of people superceded that of a small coterie of elites. I'm not completely sold on Dean, but the DLC's dislike of him surely earns him some points.

Buy some stock and win big on the next terrorist attack!

Thank God we are not stupid enough to have let this happen. The Pentagon has abandoned plans to set up a 'terror stock market' in which investors could bag cash by successfully predicting terrorist attacks.

oh great

now my hat's not only passe, my whole neighborhood is too! at least the rents'll come down... maybe i could afford a loft on bedford.

gotta git me some

dalai lama laments not getting ass

Cash, viagra, & a tacky tie.

From CNN:

"The informant who led U.S. troops to the house where the Hussein brothers were hiding in Mosul is expected to collect a $30 million reward -- $15 million for each brother -- from the U.S. government."

holy fuck, here comes chuck

ny senator chucky schumer seems to have grown a pair of balls, calling out dubya on the saudi connection to 9/11.

he appeared at a press conference yesterday with the mother of a 9/11 attack victim, joan molinero, who screamed at the cameras while holding up her son's photo, "how many barrels of oil is his life worth?!"

wow! i just saw it on fox! i hope tons of people caught that soundbyte!

oooh i can smell an impeachment!

Dubya Breaks The Law, Again

Title 36, Chapter 10, Section 176 of the United States Code clearly states, "The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature."

Yet here is our fearless leader once again violating the law for his own personal gain, signing autographs for constitutents on small cloth American flags.

dude, where's my double standard

that 70's show star ashton kutcher revals, in this month's rolling stone, walking in on the bush twins getting baked at a party at his hollywood home.

total recall

So this CA recall thing is really going to happen. I'm still really split on it because Grey(face) Davis is such a piece of shit. He really deserves this. He's been cozy with big business and the only union he's helped out is the prison guards.

As happy as I'd be to see him go, the recall process has been far from democratic; rather it's been a one man show. Congressman Darrell Issa has pretty much single-handedly financed the effort using profits from his Viper car alarm company, offering petitioners $1 per valid signature. You've probably heard his voice proclaiming "You are too close to this vehicle, please move away" eminating from a car at some point. Kind of ironic that he was charged with stealing his own Mercedes.

Now that it's on, it's a free for all. Candidates have until Aug 9 to announce their candidacy, and anyone can do it for a small fee. From the GOP we're expecting Arnold "True Lies" Schwartzenegger, Issa, Riordan and a handful of others. From the Democrats: other than Davis it could be Diane Feinstein, another of CA's most conservative democrats. Us lefties don't have any great options.. Green Peter Camejo will run and there's an effort to draft Arianna Huffington, but a split vote will only ensure a GOP victory. The only decision I've been able to make about the whole thing is that I won't be adding my name to the ballot.

Activists Converge on RNC Meeting at Waldorf

Despite divisive statements made by members of the NYC activist community urging individuals not to attend, several affinity groups converged on the Waldorf Astoria hotel (Park Ave., between 49th & 50th Sts.) Saturday morning in an impromptu demonstration confronting the Republican National Committee. The committee has been holding a planning meeting for next summer's national convention at the hotel since Wednesday. Saturday morning, Bush campaign staffers Ken Mehlman and Terry Nelson made speeches under the banner "Victory Starts Here," intimating the President's intent to use the tragedy of September 11 as a backdrop for his reelection bid.

Over thirty-five activists assembled between the hours of 10 and 11 am, meeting little to no resistance from a slightly-less number of police officers. For the most part, the police were pleasant. They offered respect for, and understanding of the group's cause, and did not exert any unwarranted force nor anger, with the exception of one plainclothes officer who harrassed a participant at the very beginning of the rally. No such behavior was repeated, however. Only one official warning was issued: Do not attempt to enter the building. The demonstrators responded that they had no such intention.

Although the demonstration was unpermitted, the police created a pen from wooden blockades in the far lane opposite the hotel on the west side of Park Avenue, for the protestors to assemble in. No one entered the pen, however, yet they were permitted to march around the hotel well over a dozen times, chanting slogans and drumming while carrying signs and banners and distributing leaflets. A total of 800 leaflets were distributed throughout the day. (A PDF version of the leaflet is available for download at http://www.jakeneck.com/victory.pdf.)

At 11:30, the demonstrators proceeded to march to Times Square along 48th St., making a left on 5th Ave. and a right again on 42nd St., then proceeding to Broadway, without any police escort or interference. They circled the area of Times Sq., continuing in their protest calls and flyer distribution, while marching behind a seven foot-tall banner bearing George W. Bush's impression and the slogan, "Elect A Madman, You Get Madness," along with another banner reading, "Where are the weapons? Impeach Bush!"

The sentiment of the people on the street was mostly supportive, with the protestors receiving vast applause and praise from passers-by. However, a smaller number of Bush supporters encountered on the march directed a wealth of hostility towards the demonstrators. But rather than posing constructive arguments against the statements being made, they shouted obscenities and made other inappropriate gestures, which were ultimately ignored by the activists.

At approximately 12:45, the group returned to the Waldorf where there was none but one police cruiser left, seating two very surprised looking cops. The protestors then continued their demonstration for a short while longer before departing, again with no interference.

The demonstration, which was called by an anonymous network of affinity groups, was thrown together on short notice when news of the meeting was reported in the press the week thereof. Because of the short notice, a limited attendence was expected. The situation was not helped, however, by other activists in the community who began issuing statements, particularly on IMC and the NYC Medics listserv, urging others not to attend because of the ad-hoc manner in which the demonstration was organized and because of the precedent for violence and repression set by unrelated anti-police state marches which have transpired in previous weeks. These fears were dispelled, however, by those with nerve enough to attend, who did not encounter any of the violence or repression expected by the events detractors, proving that decentralized, non-hierarchical organizing tactics can in fact be quite effective in confronting immense power.

The discussion continues at IMC...

Victory Starts Here?

download pdf

New York Islanders draft Encino Man

Don't worry, this doesn't have anything to do with assclown Pauly Shore. The New York Islander's 20th draft pick from 1984 was recently found frozen in the Alps. Duncan McPherson was last seen in 1989, snowboarding on the Stubaier Glacier.

Appoint A Special Prosecutor Now!

So egregious and serious are Bush's misrepresentations that they appear to be a deliberate effort to mislead Congress and the public. So arrogant and secretive is the Bush White House that only a special prosecutor can effectively answer and address these troubling matters. Since the Independent Counsel statute has expired, the burden is on President Bush to appoint a special prosecutor - and if he fails to do so, he should be held accountable by Congress and the public.

—John Dean @ FindLaw, with an explicit breakdown of Bush's "mistruths" on Iraqi WMDs. Dean is formerly one of Bush's lawyers.

Forward this article to your representatives now!

File Sharers Exposed

Is your name on the RIAA's Hit List?

the modern pearl harbor

9/11 commission report confirms iraq had no connection to al qaeda.

that being said, 1 in 3 germans believe that the u.s. government plotted 9/11.

152 Members of Congress Vote for Medical Marijuana

The Drug Policy Alliance and its allies have been frantically calling congressional offices, converting members of Congress and preparing information on medical marijuana in anticipation of the most exciting drug policy vote in the past ten years and the votes have just come in.

Although the amendment to prevent the DEA and Justice Department from arresting and prosecuting medical marijuana patients and their caregivers in states that have approved marijuana for medical use DID NOT PASS, we are overjoyed at the number of Congress men and women who came out in support of reform.

The vote was 152 to 273. There has never been a vote in U.S. history this favorable towards medical marijuana.

You helped achieve this, let's keep the heat on Congress. As soon as we know how each Representative voted, we will send you the information so that you can thank or educate them.

(c/o The Drug Policy Alliance)

The Boss Comes Out Against Bush's Lies

"People come to my shows with many different kinds of political beliefs," he said. "I like that, we welcome all. There have been a lot of questions raised recently about the forthrightness of our government. This playing with the truth has been a part of both the Republican and Democratic administrations in the past and it is always wrong, never more so than when real lives are at stake.

"The question of whether we were mislead into the war in Iraq isn't a liberal or conservative or Republican or Democratic question, it's an American one. Protecting the democracy that we ask our sons and daughters to die for is our responsibility and our trust. Demanding accountability from our leaders is our job as citizens. It's the American way. So may the truth [win] out."

—Bruce Springsteen, 07/21/03

gunfire at city hall

details developing

Sugar Blues

Sugar came up, and I've been really interested in sugar for a long time, so I'm posting (bear with me, it's a long one). [Disclaimers: I do not endorse a certain kind of sugar or a certain kind of diet. This blurb is by no means exhaustive; feel free to ask questions &/or dialog.]

So, SUGAR can be blamed for all sorts of things (dental caries, nutrient deficiencies, heart disease, criminal behavior); however, at present sugar is being targeted for its role in obesity, specially in the USA. (The average American consumes 64 pounds of added sugar each year.) Sugar can make you fat in two or more ways:

1. Sugar-packed foods are empty calories. You need to eat more of them before you obtain essential nutrients and feel satiated. You eat more, you get fat.
2. When the body is fed with more carbs (simple & complex sugars) than it needs, the body's glycogen stores overflow. The liver breaks the extra sugar (glucose) down into smaller molecules, combines it with fragments of proteins and fats, and creates (ta da!) fat, a more permanent energy-storage compound. The liver can only store about half a day's worth of glycogen; however, fat cells can store unlimited amounts of fat.
3. Think now how much carb your diet is comprised of. Eat your heart out.

I would argue against claims that crystalline fructose, sorbitol, or sucralose (Splenda) are "better" for human consumption. Part of this is because I am pissed about efforts by big biz to continue sprinkling simple sugars throughout the "food pyramid," poisoning people by excess, the other part of it is skepticism, intuition, and well-researched personal sugar "wisdom." (Keep in mind that when most people say sugar, they mean sucrose [and now, fructose].)

1. Glucose (dextrose) is the sugar most readily absorbed and used by the body. It is the sugar in IV fluid. Maltose (a disaccharide) = glucose + glucose. Sucrose (a disaccharide) = glucose + fructose. Lactose (a disaccharide) = glucose + galactose. These are broken down by the enzymes maltase, sucrase, and lactase in the small intestine.
2. Fructose is naturally sweeter than glucose, but not so readily absorbed and used by the body. The low glycemic index has not so much to do with taking less in (which I doubt in this fruit-crazed world) as it does with a naturally crippled trans-epithelial transport from the bowel to the bloodstream and with that fructose must also be converted by the enterocytes and the hard-working liver into glucose (not an instantaneous process). Were blood glucose monitors called blood fructose monitors, I am sure the glycemic index of fructose would be higher. Fructose, too, becomes glucose, and must be dealt with by the pancreas all the same.
3. In opting for fructose, we are sacrificing our guts in order to placate our sweet tooths. Fructose, HFCS, sucralose, and sorbitol absorption (mainly in the small bowel) is a slow, awkward process such that the bowel will end up osmotically filling with water to dilute the concentration of sugars held there. If it is diluted in water already (such as in a fashion drink), both stay in the intestinal lumen. Ergo, diarrhea. This is why fruit juice is commonly used more as a laxative than as a thirst quencher among people in tuned with their bodies, and why I try to have dehydrated patients drink broth and tea instead of fruit juice. I dare say, drinking and eating products enriched with sugars that stay in the bowel lumen is setting yourself up for an Olestra-style doom. You can read a little more about choosing sugars here.
4. It would seem to me then, that you might indeed want to round out your diet so that the sweetness comes naturally from grains and vegetables (complex carbohydrates armed with near complete nutrition), and some fruit. Sweeteners such as honey and maple syrup are largely sucrose. My intuition tells me that if I have a mixture of glucose and fructose flowing down the pipe, my body with naturally opt for the more readily available (glucose), and that the fructose will stay in the intestinal lumen and act as something of a natural laxative. Fruits are especially laxative, not because of magic, but because of the magical combination of fructose and fiber. Take the fiber out of fruit and you are robbing it of it's natural gift to mankind: post-meal intestinal cleansing. I try my best to remember that fruit is nature's desert.

I believe people should think hard about what they eat. I believe everything in moderation is best.

I believe you are what you eat.

talk about synchronicities

so, on my way back from lunch just now, i came across a group of lydon larcouche supporters tabling and leafletting on broadway, between 75th & 76th streets. they brandished large signs reading, "larouche was right, cheney is a liar" and "democrats for larouche! let's make larouche #1!"

i approached them saying, "i think dick cheney and george bush are total fucking liars and that their behavior is abhorrent and dispicable, but how on earth could you possibly support lyndon larouche? the man is a right-wing fascist and known to be an antisemite."

instantly a gentleman responded by saying, "aw, come on—"

but i cut him off before he could even start his disinformation shtick, "what about that jewish kid who recently attended a right wing anti-war conference with a group of larouche supporters in germany, and was found dead soon thereafter?"

"where'd you hear that?" he asked.

"the uk guardian."

"you read this in a british paper?"

"yep."

"i'd love to see the article."

"ok."

so i ran back to my office and printed out the article crandan recently posted along with this piece from protest.net on larouche's antisemitic "conspiracism" and hand-delievered the items to him.

a woman standing there asked, "did you sign up for our list?"

"not a chance," i said, and walked away.

i hope, at the very least, i got that fool to question his allegience to larouche. but i fear that, because, to some extent, we harp on the same issues as these fascist wing-nuts, it reflects poorly on us, and makes our calls of "liar!" seem ludicrous and less palatable to the man in the street. and while we may be fighting, again to some extent, for the same cause, our ends are completely different. that fact, however, will be lost on the average citizen. at the same time, i'm compelled to ask, what the hell is a right-wing fascist like larouche doing running on the democratic ticket? hiding the fact that he's a megalomaniacal fascist from behind a centrist-socialist platform?

seems like a double standard

despite being a condition of "the road map," palestinian prime minister mahmoud abbas said that he will not crack down on palestinian terror organizations such as hamas and islamic jihad out of fear that it will stir a civil war amongst the fractionalized palestinian populace.

israel, on the other hand, has begun withdrawing financial support from its settlements, much to the dismay and virulent anger of its settlers.

in the meantime, the palestinian authority reports that 26 terror attacks have been committed against israel since a unilateral cease-fire began in the region last month, although the attacks were not completely unprovoked.

and on a related subject, here's an interesting piece from zeek, on the "weird and worrying links between the radical left and islamic right."

can i get an impeachment ova hea'?

lies, lies, and more lies.

yargh.

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. falalalala la lalala.

in the immortal words of al jourgensen, "CONNECT THE GODDAMNED DOTS!"

same old shtick

in response to crandan's earlier post on the jewish anti-war activist who was quite possibly murdered in germany, i offer this report by members of the shalom center on anti-semitic sentiment within the united for peace and justice coalition.

the shalom center is operated by rabbi arthur waskow, whom i've just spent the last week with studying principles of non-violence within a jewish framework. i've begun writing about my experience on shtv, and expect to delve into this subject much more in the future, as i've decided to commit myself to support of this organization and the philosophy it espouses. more on this then, soon.

This is what a police state looks like

See that bearded guy reading an article critical of FOX News? Somebody call the FBI.

(c/o Tom Tomorrow)

Turns out most of us are felons

A new bill proposed in Congress on Wednesday would land a person in prison for five years and impose a fine of $250,000 for uploading a single file to a peer-to-peer network.

Holy schnikees! Any chance this'll pass?

Attn: All rich, sadistic freaks inquire within!

Our famous city of sin, Las Vegas, now has a new sporting event going down. It's called Hunting for Bambi and it involves paintball against naked women. For $5-10,000, you can take your best shot. Women who avoid getting shot earn $2,500 and those that suffer the brutal black-n-blue blast receive $1,000 per round.

the war on bongs

article on bush's war on paraphernalia from rolling stone

updated versions

download pdf

download pdf

in order to comply w/some of the criticism received after creating these posters, i've modified them and reuploaded 'em. go to town, kids.

huzzah wha?

"I think the American people continue to express their support for ridding the world of Saddam Hussein based on just cause, knowing that Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological weapons that were unaccounted for that we're still confident we'll find," Mr. Fleischer said. "I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they are."

what the fuck is this idiot blathering about? you have no evidence of weapons AT ALL and it's OUR responsibility to tell the world where they are? how's this—i'm going to tell the world right now.

THEY DON'T FUCKING EXIST.

there, i said it. can we impeach your retarded cowboy boss now, fuckface?

oh, and you know what else, even if they do exist, that's not the fucking point. you can't arrest every american that owns a handgun for their potential to commit a crime using that gun. likewise, you can't overthrow any regime you want because of its potential to commit a crime. that's assenine. hence why you had to falsify a link between iraq and al qaeda—to make it seem, in the american public's eyes, that saddam was responsible for 9/11—that he had actually committed a crime. but he DIDN'T. and therefore, you're guilty of war crimes motherfucker. and i will not rest till your stank worthless ass is behind bars.

IMPEACH BUSH!

gay sex for liberty!

interesting piece in the national review about the supreme court's libertarian leanings influencing its decision to lift the gay sex ban

reefer madness

marijuana doesn't dull senses but it may lead to mental illness later in life.

great shots

check out my friend gabe's site for great burning man and rainbow gathering photos. gabe is also, incidentally, the drummer for the cannabis cup band.

more freeping madness

i was going to post this response to one of the rants on free republic, after i spent the morning going back and forth with them on their site, explaining for example that i'm not even remotely an antisemite and that there's a great tradition of leftist radicalism in judaism, but on my latest attempt to post, i received a message stating that "your posting privilege has been revoked." allow me to just share the response with you here, hoping some of those cowards join us here to continue the open discourse which is apparently prohibited in their lefty-bashing-only forum. contrary to free republic, on jakeneck we let everyone speak their minds, rather than resorting to restriction of free speech. at least our allegedly "america-hating" politics respect the first amendment, which theirs apparently don't. free speech by their standards is guaranteed only to those who agree with them.

first of all, i haven't a clue nor care who bob avakian is, nor, i assume, do any of the activists i associate with. secondly, all the revolutionary communist party members (or the revolutionary communist youth brigade, or silly maoists) we encounter we steer clear of. communist dictatorships are not socialist democracies, and are therefore contrary to our political ideals. just because we share the same theorists in steering our political ideologies doesn't mean we share the same causes. for example, most of the people i deal with believe only in non-violent civil disobedience, not bomb-chucking bolshevism, which you imply we are all supporters of.

next, in response to your contention that rncnotwelcome incorporates any such violence, rncnotwelcome is a protest against the republican party's use of 9/11 to promote their cause (9/11 being a result of republican foreign policy enacted during the reagan administration and continued forthwith) by staging their convention in new york during the week of the anniversary of that tragedy. if our reaction as outraged new yorkers (who still wonder where osama bin laden is and how bush could 180 on saying he's our top priorty to 18 months later saying he couldn't care less) is equated with bolshevism in your book, all i can say is, you're horribly confused, and obviously didn't lose any friends or loved ones in the world trade center. we lost 3,000 people. it's easy to be a flag toting bush lover from a distance. it's much harder when you can still smell the decay wafting up from ground zero and know that his and his father's foreign policy is responsible.

then saying "nobody gives a shit what you think" only serves to illustrate your severe disinterest in functional democracy, whereas discussion of these topics is clearly meaningless to you. you say full steam ahead with your agenda and to hell with everyone else. i say, that's immoral.

further, your suggestion that "america doesn't care what these people think" is a farce considering that america is comprised of at least 46% of "these people" according to most polls. the left and right are split on a 40/60 basis... and our numbers are growing.

finally, banning me from the site, as just transpired w/my other username demonstrates your lack of desire for open discourse, proving once and for all that you're a bunch of cowards, afraid of open discussion, because you know that a truly rational debate, sans name calling and so-called-witticisms, will knock the legs out from all of your arguments and show you the fallacy in your politics.

good day to you all.

it get's better...after i get banned, they keep going after me. check out this post:

We used to face a higher calliber of America hating commie simp bastard, this new generation is such a disappointment.

But in some ways, they're still the same, as evidenced by the photo. [referring to my jakeneck icon]

72 posted on 07/09/2003 9:19 AM PDT by arasina

and then:

Now they wear hats to hide the fact that they won't grow their hair long. The current crowd knows they're going to "sell out" (to use their parlance) and are preparing for it ahead of time.

75 posted on 07/09/2003 9:21 AM PDT by discostu

this just goes to prove their presumptuous idiocy. that photo was taken in on christmas day, 2001, on the lexington battle green in lexington, massachusetts, along with this photo of me standing in front of the memorial commeorating the fallen soldiers who so bravely fought for american indepdence from colonial rule. but apparently, now that i fight for third world freedom from american colonial rule, i'm a treasonous traitor. whatever. i wear a hat to cover up the fact that i'm balding, not to mention it was 20 degrees out when that photo was taken. still, what the fuck does the length of my hair have to do with how radical i am anyway? ass clowns. i get banned for rational discussion and these putzes carry the flag. everyone's right—attempting discussion with freepers is an incredible waste of time.

i guess we're all fucked now

how electronic voting (now mandated) will fuck us in '04

mobiusworkshop

download pdf	download pdf
download pdf	download pdf

download pdf

bush lied, admits it, press yawns

liberating soon-to-be-blog-member johnny yuda's link from the shoutbox, the white house has admitted it knew it was using faulty evidence to make the case against iraq. in other words, they've just admitted they lied.

bill clinton lied. he lied about getting his dick sucked. he was impeached. george bush lied to start a war, committing billions of dollars in american tax dollars to a preemptive strike against non-threatening entity, sending thousands of american troops to their potential deaths, and slaughtering nearly 7,000 iraqi civillians and 200-or-so american troops in the process. bill clinton, again, GOT HIS DICK SUCKED. BIIIIIIIIIIG difference between that and starting a war. and now that the administration has admitting lying, will there be an impeachment?

oh hell no. and you can tell just by the soft treatment the press is giving this issue. you have to stand in awe of the spin over at the times. they entitle the piece "Bush Claim on Iraq Had Flawed Origin, White House Says." how about HE FUCKING LIED?!?! how about some accuracy and honesty in reporting for once?! why soften every fucking blow?! why tongue bush's balls?! did they tongue nixon's balls through watergate? clinton's through lewinskygate? why does bush get off so easy?!

for god's sake, why?!

another new poster, revised

i, myself, don't necessarily agree with the first part,
but it may be effective nonetheless...


click here for pdf

any thoughts?

heads be on my poll like totem

the latest zogby poll is in... one in which i participated. i find it really interesting how george bush's approval rating is somewhat low, his stance on healthcare, taxes, economy, etc., are all rated exceptionally low (way less than 50% approval)... and yet somehow 50% of the people feel he should be reelected. it's just anathema to me...

new poster ala mobius1skillshack

click here for pdf

the work of art in the age of digital reproduction..

Went to a panel on illegal art last night (it's taken awhile to plop this out, it was on Wednesday). Some great minds talking aboout copyright, copyleft and everything in between. The site is worth checking out, lots of great downloads in the video section.

Among the speakers were a couple of my heroes,
Larry Lessig of Creative Commons, EFF among other things and Rick Prelinger of the Prelinger Archives. Also in the panel was Kembrew McLeod, who successfully trademarked "Freedom of Expression" (tm). Both the work shown in the exhibition and what the panel had to say on this topic were very inspiring; however it's hard to be hopeful in today's legal environment. I'll have a mp3 of the panel discussion sometime next week..

Some of the memes floating around:

• Ideas are not property (Intellectual "Property" is a misnomer).
  
• Copyright laws were intended to spur innovation and creativity, they now hamper and prevent it.
  
• A society which requires artists (and creative people in general) to have lawyers is not a free society.
  
• Appropriation as a form of resistance.
  

I'm working a larger page that deals with these issues, until that's ready enjoy this gem from Marshall McLuhan's 'The Medium is the Massage':

Medieval scholars were indifferent to the precise identity of the "books" they studied. In turn, they rarely signed even what was clearly their own. They were a humble service organiation. Producring texts was often a very tedious and time consuming task. Many small texts were transmitted into volumes of miscelaneous content, very much like "jottings" in a scrapbook, and in this transmission authorship was often lost.

The invention of printing did away with anonymity, fostering ideas of literacy fame and the habit of considering intellectual effort as private property. Mechanical multiples of the same text created a public--a reading publci. The rising consumer-oriented culture became concerned with labels of authenticity and protection against theft and piracy. The idea of copyright-"the exclusive right to reproduce, publish, and sell the matter and form of a literary or artistic work"-was born.

Anybody can now become both author and publisher. Take any books on any subject and custom-make your own book by simply copying a chapter from this one and a chapter from that one -- instand steal! As new technologies come into play, people are less and less convinced of the importance of self-expression. Teamwork succeeds private effort.

jeepers freepers!

some wingnut posted the following diatribe to craigslist yesterday morning.

Volunteers are needed to help support the Republican Party in New York for the upcoming Presidential Election. The lunatic fringe elements on the Left, who do not believe in the open discussion of ideas, will stop at nothing to disrupt the Republican Convention. We need good old fashioned Conservatives, the kind that believe in God, Country, and Family (the Mom and Dad kind), the kind that played football, baseball, and basketball, to help with security. This is totally separate from the organized Convention. We will meet the groups determined to disrupt the open discussion of ideas (the Convention) with a group of our own and battle them in the streets of New York if that's what it takes. We will get in their way and see if they have balls to move us. The republican convention, like the Democratic convention, is a 'Forum" for ideas. It is the democratic way of spurring debate in this Country. The protesters seek to eliminate that debate. They may state otherwise, but like everything else that comes from their filthy mouths, it's a lie. They say they merely wish to be heard. Then go out and get yourself some candidates and put together a Party...and be heard. Last I know, the "Green Party", "Environmental Party", and "Socialists' Party" are still alive and kicking. Why doesn't the Left just tell the Country (Honestly) what it stands for? Because they know that no one would vote for them. As always, the Left reveals the worst about itself at election time. The left is intolerrant. The Left is hateful. Look on any college campus and you will see how the Left feels about free speech...they don't like it. Volunteer for this worthy effort and I promise you will see some action. Are you ready to defend the right to free speech in this Country. The right for Conventioneers, who have paid the fees to gather and debate, to have that debate free of the anarchists and terrorists on the Left, than join with me in leading a defense against these marauding hordes. Let us meet them in the streets and show them who is Right!

sounds like a freeper to me! "The lunatic fringe elements on the Left, who do not believe in the open discussion of ideas, will stop at nothing to disrupt the Republican Convention." and geez, that sounds more like the freepers than anyone on the left that i'm familiar with.

what's a freeper? a freeper's a member of the free republic movement, a radically far right republican activist group that goes out of their way to disrupt discourse amongst liberals and leftists. freepers are reknowned for harassing protesters, stuffing ballot boxes, and spamming online forums with incoherent anti-liberal drivel. their tactics mimic those used to silence critics of the nazi regime. they are a deluded bunch to be sure.

and well... it looks like they're gearing up for the rnc too. fuckers. let's show 'em what radical activism is really all about... anyone got any ideas for counter-freeper actions? (c/o rncnotwelcome.org)

oh, and speaking of which, kids—check out the mobius-headmast @ rncnotwelcome.org, the quasi-official site of the movement against the rnc in nyc. more design work care of yours truly coming soon.

what's up with this shit?

As a dozen people marched toward Dana Place wearing Dean for President T-shirts and carrying Dean for America signs, Rove told a companion, " 'Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, that's the one we want,' " according to Daniel J. Weiss, an environmental consultant, who was standing nearby. " 'How come no one is cheering for Dean?' "

Then, Weiss said, Rove exhorted the marchers and the parade audience: " 'Come on, everybody! Go, Howard Dean!' "

what do they know that we don't? are they gonna lambaste him for his anti-war stance or something? maybe they want an adamantly anti-war candidate so that, finally, come the election cycle, they can uncover a vast array of WMD (read planted WMD), and then use it to paint him into a corner. "see, he's no patriot! he didn't believe us! look at all these weapons! he would've gotten us killed! traitor!"

good grief.

my top candidates, according to the issues

1. Kucinich, Cong. Dennis, OH - Democrat (100%)
2. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (90%)
3. Green Party Candidate (90%)
4. Clinton, Senator Hillary Rodham, NY - Democrat (83%)
5. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (82%)
6. Leahy, Patrick Senator, Vermont - Democrat (82%)
7. Lieberman Senator Joe CT - Democrat (80%)
8. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (80%)
9. Feingold, Senator Russ, WI - Democrat (77%)
10. Gephardt, Cong. Dick, MO - Democrat (76%)

i knew i didn't like dean for a reason. results c/o selectsmart.

the world ends today and you may die!

x-day 6 is upon us

can't get enough of your lunch, baby

barry white, dead at 58

i know, i know, i'm a crude, smug bastard. haha.

class '03: you're screwed

forgive the long post, but this is a wonderful piece taken directly from this month's issue of playboy (which i insist that i do, in fact, read for the articles) that i believe ought to be distributed to everyone you know who's fresh out of college or on their way into grad school, and so strongly at that, that i've taken the time to type the entire thing in.

Class '03: You're Screwed
by Ted Fishman
Playboy, Vol. 50, No. 8 — August 2003, pg. 50

Dear Graduates:

Remember at commencement when you were told repeatedly about the world of opportunities waiting for you—that the investment you and your parents made in your education would be returned a thousandfold?

Utter crap. The truth is, you are royally screwed.

As you've noticed by now, the job market has not been worse since Bush the Elder was president. You're in line behind 8.4 million workers who've lost their jobs, with 2.5 million private nonform jobs lost on the president's watch. The only workers the federal government's policies are helping are military contractors and financial planners who can tell the richest one percent how to maxmize their tax refunds.

The administration keeps talking about investing in the future. But the president is not planning to invest in your future. Bush's proposed cut on the taxes paid on dividends would deliver $364 billion to those who have already made their way in the world. Based on 2001's tax returns, Bush would pocket an estimated $44,500 a year. Cheney would save $326,555, which is probably one of the smaller paydays in an administration full of former chief executives.

Those who have incomes of $1 million will get an average of $90,000 kickback annually, enough to buy a Humvee in a designer color. For half of all filers (e.g., you, should you get a job), the refund would return less than $100, enough for a Game Boy Advance SP (minus the game). Most senior citizens would get back $89, barely enough to buy a month of the prescription drug Lipitor—from a Canadian pharmacy.

At the end of the Clinton era, the government was projecting a surplus of $3 trillion over the next 10 years. If he wins a second term, Bush will leave the White House having saddled the country with a projected deficit—and these are government statistics, which are always rosy—of $2 trillion. The swing from surplus to deficit ($5 trillion, give or take) is roughly equal to half the value of everything made and sold in the U.S. in the past year. It will be the most money owed by any entity in history. The combination of cutting taxes and launching the military budget to an all-time high will continue to run up the nation's bills long after the capital gang departs.

The debt now stands at roughly $90,000 per family of four. In five years it may be half again that. Servicing that debt, which will be your responsiblity, will feel a lot like paying a mortgage on someone else's house.

Say you have been lucky enough to find a good job. Look at your paycheck. After Bill Clinton raised taxes, in part to pay down the debt, the economy picked up and tax revenue increased markedly. For a few years it looked as if the perennial prediction that Social Security was doomed would be proved wrong. Social Security is again in danger, and the crisis will hit long before you see your first retirement check. Instead, it will hit when your parents become eligible. When the government cannot pay your parents' checks, their care and feeding will fall entirely on you.

Now might be a good time to start planning that home addition—the one where you parents will live when their money runs out. That is, if you can afford a house. When the government spends vast amounts of money it doesn't have, it needs to borrow increasingly vast amounts to keep up. That has a tendency to drive up interest rates. The last time the U.S. paid for an expensive war was Vietnam. At the time, the U.S. hunger for money upset world credit markets so severely that it took 20 years to recover. Interest rates ran as high as 17 percent. Don't have a mortgage yet? Imagine one with almost triple the monthly payment. Think small.

Don't expect the government to Build a Better Tomorrow. Once, Washington invested heavily in science, education and the arts. The space program was once the pride of America, not an underfunded studio for disaster footage. Advances in science were made routinely in great public labs by scientists who went to college with government help. As money grows tighter, the government will play a decreasing roll in seeding the future.

Debt creates a future in which the government works against our best ideas of ourselves. If this trend continues, we may end up with the sort of government we fear most—one where our resources go into keeping order. All it will be able to do effectively is police and punish.

George W. Bush stole your future.

observe the spin

"Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, suggested that Republicans were attempting to blur an important distinction between a program and actual ready-to-go weapons."

see, they're not going to find weapons, because there aren't any. so now they're going to act like it's not about weapons, but rather weapons programs. "ah see, we found a weapons program. proof!" but a weapons program—which may produce a weapon down the line—is not the imminent threat bush drove the nation to war with.

impeach the fucker!

random reposts

are we relying too heavily on the shoutbox to post random links, thus circumventing our ability to discuss them? allow me to repost some of our more recent items...

• tony blair's crew fabricated intelligence documents on iraq's wmd program
• sonic foundry, makers of the ever popular sound forge audio edting app (which apparently has just been sold to sony along with acid and vegas), have teamed up with raytheon, one of the nation's biggest defense contractors, to create "homeland security" solutions. i'm so glad i've been pirating their software all these years... (c/o fonadi)
• christina aguilera got fat! (i'm just reposting this to piss off vocal ren.)
• "Punk Rock Aerobics: The work out that rocks out. No more sucky classes full of braindead bimbos in spandex thongs. PRA is for fun people with discerning taste. An hour and a half cardio and strengthening class that will have you pogoing and skanking your butt off!"
• over half the country is grossly misinformed (c/o vocal ren.)
• soon after his 100th birthday, george orwell is rolling over in his grave (c/o crandan)
• treason vs. traitor
• score one for the good guys (c/o crandan)
• selling the country out from under unborn feet
• plastic recycling is back in nyc! (c/o crandan by way of enigmatic anne)
• top 100 corporate crooks of the decade
• the recently deceased strom thurmond had an illigitimate black daughter ... ha and haha!

ok...that's enough.

more moore on war

You see, George, it's not the lying and the doctoring of intelligence that has me all upset. It's that you've had control of Iraq for over two months now -- and you couldn't even find the time to plant just a few nukes or vats of nerve gas and at least make it LOOK like you weren't lying to us.

michael moore hands bush his head

update 7/3 moore in '04?!

shock and awe

"The United States on Tuesday declared almost 50 countries ineligible for military aid, including Colombia and six nations seeking NATO membership, because they back the International Criminal Court and have not exempted Americans from possible prosecution."

let's get ready to rumble!

Sharpshooters will man the rooftops. Counterterrorism agents will patrol in civilian guise. Bomb squads will case subway tunnels. At least this much will be certain when the Republican National Convention comes to Madison Square Garden next year, say two former NYPD officials who helped oversee previous conventions there.

[...]

Angry protesters have claimed police are meeting these demonstrations with new heights of repressiveness, amounting to a pattern of unfounded arrests and abuses. Now, with an eye to the near future, they are pushing back. A look at the activist scene today reveals a number of challenges that together form a multipronged effort to free the streets. New Yorkers want their right to protest to be as firmly entrenched as the police presence will be come 2004.

the village voice anticipates the upcoming 2004 rnc convention ...and of course the article is accompanied by yet ANOTHER photo of jeff. jesus, he's like the official spokesmodel of the left.

we now may be sorry

"There is never a wrong time to do the right thing," said notable 1st amendment lawyer Robert Corn-Revere. "By posthumously pardoning Lenny Bruce," he continued, "the state of New York declares to the world that it is a safe harbor of liberty for creative minds." Such an official act would do more than simply honor Bruce's personal commitment to freedom; it would serve as a public monument to liberty. — spotted in the July 14, 2003 issue of The Nation

running against a dem with bush in office makes me want to ralph

"Ralph Nader, still blamed by many Democrats for draining critical votes from Al Gore in the 2000 race for the presidency, says he is seriously considering running in 2004."