Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

On August 23, the Prodigy is back, with a new album called, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. For those of you who remember The Fat of the Land, I think this will top that. This will have a bigger impact than it's predecessor, and already, I am blown away by the guest stars: Julliette Lewis, Princess Superstar, Noel and Liam of Oasis (c'mon admit it, you love Wonderwall, don't be ashamed) and Kool Keith.

But what is really interesting, is how they are releasing the new single, Memphis Belles. It will be a limited download only, (eventually there will be a standard cd mix), of a total of 5,000. But it gets more interesting. The buyer creates his mix, from a simple interface of various melodies, drum tracks, and guitar tracks. The artwork for the single changes for each different version. It gets better. There are four mastering options for the track. Standard high quality stereo, a lower bitrate headphone mix,a larger club system mix with a big phat bottom, and a Dolby Encoded Surround mix. Yes, a surround mix, using a new technology that enables mix to be burned on a standard audio cd that when connected to a DTS receiver, enables a full surround sound mix.
All for $3.66. This seems to be something groundbreaking, and hopefully will probably be repeated over and over again. (Are you paying attention Mr Richard D James???)
So head on over to this site and take part in something cool. Should be amazing.

(c/o NME)

USA PATRIOT Act: Your tax dollars at work

The FBI has brought both georgewbush.org and CafePress under investigation for a teddy bear wearing a t-shirt reading "Bush kills Arabs dead." Apparently a friend of a federal judge in Michigan sent it to him as a gift, but, not knowing who it came from, he purportedly assumed it was a threat.

Could someone please help pick up the fragments of my head which have scattered everywhere in its recent explosion?

F911 Tops Weekend Box Office Charts

Awwww yeah...as far as I'm concerned, anyone who sees Fahrenheit 9/11 (Ray and I went this weekend) can not possibly vote for George Bush aftwards. And with that in mind, how fucking hot is this? F911 has set the record for the first documentary film to ever be the #1 box office earner on an opening weekend.

Oh, it's on! But now that them fuckers have made their money, and the message getting out is infinitely more important than Michael Moore's profits, here's a torrent.

They're smelling the coffee!

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals labeled "enemy combatants" by the Bush administration and the DOJ are entitled to challenge that status in US courts.

Woo! Justice inches towards prevailing!

Times Suppresses Info on Iraq-Al Qaeda Ties

The NRO alleges that The NY Times suppressed knowledge of a memo which potentially indicates that there was indeed a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda.

Ok, The Times is shady. We knew this. BFD. What I'm more concerned about is the manner in which The NRO os trying to suggest that this recently-discovered document is a vindication of Bush's position on the subject. Even after the 9/11 Commission concluded there was no such Iraq/Al Qaeda link—based upon the intelligence which the administration built its case for war on—both Bush and Cheney continue to tout the existence of this connection without providing any evidence, including the new memo in question.

So how is this a vindication for Bush? What—is he some sort of super-President with psychic powers? Did Jesus tell him there was a tie and now that it may check out, after we've bombed the shit out of the country with no evidence, it's all a-okay? "Uh, we had a hunch. Sure, we raided the house without a warrant and dug up the floorboards. But it looks like we were right." Buh? Does innocent until proven guilty mean anything?

FEC To Strike Down Moore Doc?

The Hill is reporting that members of the Federal Election Commission intend to ban advertisements for Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 from television and radio under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, raising fears that this may be a new tactic employed to suppress the growing number of mainstream documentaries critical of the Bush administration, and thus, generally, dissent.

Doesn't this seem a little absurd considering Michael Moore isn't a political lobby (like a 527 or a PAC)? He's just a film maker, and frankly, one many folks are far from impressed with...

Eep!!!

New enitrely-vocal Bjork album features Rahzel & Mike Patton!!!

Crandan, look what you made me do. Thanks.

Recently, I have begun to teach a Moroccan friend of mine English, so that he has a chance of passing a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam. In doing so, I have had to go do things I never thought I would, such as form lesson plans, re-learn bits and pieces of English grammar, and try and figure out as much of what I can, to help this person to get a degree, and be able to go back to Morocco and help his family. Which is his what he wants to do.
So I have devised a class focusing on the major areas of the exam: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, and Grammar.
For the reading comprehension part, I will be using Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World. Despite what some of you would like to believe, I am not using these books as an excuse to bash Bush, or America, or really even the idea or institution of governments, as I do not think that would help anyone. More or less, I am very familiar with these novels, and the also use past present and future tenses in order to tell each story. So to teach grammar from them will be much easier. I couldn’t start him out with See Spot Run now could I?
As for the actual grammar parts, we each got a copy of English Grammar for Dummies, and I will be writing out tests and exercises myself, so we both know that this endeavor is worth the time and effort on each of our parts. As for using a For Dummies guide, they are well written, and easy to explain difficult sections. Besides, even though I actually do well in English classes, a little brush up is mandatory, and as they say it For Dummies. Hehe.
For the listening Comprehension, I am using Al Franken’s “Lies and The lying Liars Who Tell Them” as Al’s voice is easily understandable, he is entertaining, and will not put either of us to sleep. Remember how boring those learn French tapes were? For something a little different, I will also use William S. Burroughs reading “Naked Lunch”, As it is not only slightly more difficult than Al’s, but because the was in which Burroughs speaks is at times, a little hard to understand, and getting accustomed to different accents is important. “Did I ever tell you about the man who taught his asshole to talk?”
As for the Essay question on the TOEFL exam, I am cooking up something nice and juicy about 1984 and Brave New World. But that’s my little secret. Hehe.

Update: (6/26/04) Seems the guy I was going to teach has to get a third job in order to help support his family. Some kind of crisis happened, so I am given a unwanted break. Never fails. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. Damn you Murphy.

Happy Daze

This weekend brings a very special day. Verrrry special. Guess?

...OK, if you still have no idea: it's Mobius' birfday the 19th! Wahoo!

Happy, Happy Birthday Mobius!

Wee! I'm naked! Honk Honk!

Just past dark last night (6/12/04) upwards to 200 goosepimpled nekkid people rode their bikes through the streets of the central Eastside and downtown Portland, for the World Naked Bike Ride. I bared to my thread-bare skivvies and joined them, "USE IMAGINATION" written down my right arm and leg. About 30% of people were completely naked, and another 30% were at least topless. There were beautifully painted bodies, and unabashedly normal, hairy, chubby bodies, all perched very contentedly on their bikes (and there was one very happy skater) in sprinkly 59' weather. Together we made a lot of noise, what with horns and bells and "war" cries against auto domination and for nakedness.

I was surprised at a couple of things. One, how good it felt to be naked on my bike. The cold wind and raindrops felt swell, even as I sped up. Two, people respond very well to group nakedness, especially sailors (the fleets are in Portland right now) and frat boys. We had a police escort and not one complaint. What I sensed from the crowd as their faces lit up, as they cheered and clapped and took pictures and videos, tried to reach friends on their cell phones, waited trapped in their auto fishbowls, was that they were envious. Well, they shudda been! It was great!

NPR/OPB just reported on the Seattle and Olympia rides, which drew ~60 and a dozen riders respectively, but failed to mention Portland's ride, which probably now still holds the record for drawing the most riders. If you like bikes, come to Portland!

Strange Relations

Bush Flips His Script

Capitol Hill Blue reports,

In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as "enemies of the state." [Emphasis added.]

Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.

Full story.

Our War For Terror

For the past few months, Sacred Cow Productions, (the company founded by Bill Hicks and Kevin Booth) in association with other 'Neck favorite Alex Jones, have been producing a documentary called American Drug War. Among the interviews to be featured, is parts of this 20 minute interview with Tommy Chong, from Taft Correctional Facility, where he is currently finishing a one year sentence for being Tommy Chong.

Operation Pipe Dreams, one of Ashcroft's illegal uses of the Justice Department, is nothing more than another of the terrorist acts committed by the government on private businesses, their owners,as Tommy has lost about $5 million in sales and jobs, and the American population at large. If anything, Operation Pipe Dreams is nothing more than a veiled attempt to clamp down on a section of culture most noted for dissent. Stores that carry Chong glass and similar products are being shut down where I live, due to legislation currently being passed in our state legislature.

So the reasoning goes, is that the war on drugs scores another victory????? No one may get paraphenalia any more. uh huh. That will only happen when Dick, Halliburton, and the CIA stops protecting the trade themselves. On an interesting report published by Michael C. Ruppert, the is a very direct link between the Heroin Trade, Halliburton, and Kellogg Brown and Root in order to boost Halliburton's overall profit. No wonder then, that after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghani poppy production increased to new high records. And, Halliburton, through its Kellogg Brown and Root division, is providing mercenary (call them what they are) support for Afghani officials, most of whom are of the consensus that opium production is the only method from which the people can make any money. The UN is currently importing and killing local prices on regional crops, forcing farmers to do what they have to. Kinda like in Kentucky.

The trail of opium, of course, has to do a lot with the CIA, who needs companies like KBR, DynCorp, Bechtel, etc etc, to provide the security for the Global Opium Trade, from The Vietnam/Thailand/Korea area, through Russia, To Afghanistan, Northern Iraq (you thought we were friendly with the Kurds cause they were gassed and willing to overthrow Hussein????? (C'mon, we all need our fix) through to Turkey and on to America. Mafia, government and large multinational military-industrial corporations, are making damn sure this war on drugs never actually ends. There is too much money to be made in keeping dissent imprisoned, sickness, death and suffering continuing, and keeping the population constantly unconscious with fear.

So where does this all lead to? In discussing an American Fascist state, one must realize how exactly that the powers that be will control and manipulate the population into doing what they are told. With that, the CIA and these war companies, by controlling the production and distribution of drugs, and then, giving the US prison industry the business of locking people up for doing nothing more than falling for a very devious trap. Once the population is to scared to accept and obey, or otherwise locked up, sick and/or dead, there will be no stopping any of our worse nightmares. It'?s coming, as we look in disbelief that we are seeing what it is we are seeing.

The War on Drugs is nothing more than a very expensive waste of taxpayer money, designed to trap and imprison anyone and everyone, in a game where the deck is stacked. The blood of too many people is being spilled for the military industrial complex, which we have been warned about for years. Democracy will give way to tyranny, and the corruption of those whose wealth demands it will always win over freedom. Warnings of this type have been circulating since Ben Franklin, the writings of the Marquis De Sade, Eisenhower's warnings after WWII, Huxley, Orwell, and a numerous list of the left and right, the paranoid, everywhere. We are living in an age where the noose is being tightened, and the power and money hungry, the influence peddlers, and those trusted to keep watch over corruption, are lurning thier heads, while slowly,peaceful individuals are being rounded up and locked down, all so some CEO can make a few more bucks. This is truly decadent, and this is not what this country is about. If America is the greatest outpost of a free and open society, then we have truly failed everyone who ever died defending this nation.

America is great place, i would like to visit it sometime. I have no idea where i live anymore, and it's not a free and open society.
Links:
American Drug War
Readme.doc

Spelling Bee Gangsta (video)

Some of you already probably saw this on the news, but I still HAD to post it. Yesterday, at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., 13-year-old Akshay Buddiga fainted on stage when confronted with the daunting task of having to spell the word "alopecoid". To the crowd's amazement, Buddiga had the presence of mind to shake it off, get back up and correctly spell the word, thus making him the first official Spelling Bee Gangsta. Oh, and he also went on to place second in the competition.

Misunderestimating Bush's Mispriorities

Matthew Yglesias writes, in The American Prospect,

Iran, as we know, is seeking nuclear weapons. Bush claims to be concerned with nuclear nonproliferation, but he acted on this concern by invading a country that had no capacity to assist Iranian nuclear development (and would have had no desire to do so in any event). The invasion did, however, do a great deal to distract attention from North Korea, which would be willing to assist and which now has the capacity. The pattern continues.

To make a long story short, the results of a second Bush administration would be as follows: A bankrupt United States possessing a broken military -- as Phillip Carter has recently reported for the Prospect, it will take years to reconstitute the supplies that have been cannibalized for the Iraq venture -- faces off against a nuclear-armed Iranian regime that's seen its two regional adversaries replaced with failed states in which Iran-affiliated warlords wield disproportionate influence.

The American people need to start asking themselves, whose side is Bush on?

Full story.

Anti-War Movement Bolstered By Military Families

They called us traitors as we marched through the streets of NYC, protesting the war in Iraq. Now, the families of servicemen fighting in Iraq & Afghanistan are joining our ranks.

What's that Schopenhauer quote? "All truth passes through 3 stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." Sigh.

Partial Birth Abortions A-Okay

A federal judge has ruled the "partial birth abortion" ban unconstitutional. A woman's right to choose to smash her baby's skull is safe, once again...

You'll have to excuse me. I'm pro-choice. I'm all for RU-486. But, unless it's threatening the life of the mother, dragging a developed fetus out of your body and clobbering it over the head is just a bit too inhumane for me.

Am I misunderstanding this issue/procedure? Cuz that's fuckin' sick. I mean, I understand "if they start here, where will they stop," but I mean... Crikey! WTF?

Draft Legislation Introduced

Legislation has been introduced implementing military conscription, which would begin as early as Spring 2005—only one year from now.

The pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots nationwide.. Though this is an unpopular election year topic, military experts and influential members of congress are suggesting that if Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan [and a permanent state of war on "terrorism"] proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to draft.

And don't think you're exempt ladies. They want you, too. But, just so you know, in advance... It's legal to burn your draft card.

Ladies Night in NJ Deemed Discriminatory

Next time you go to the bar in Jersey and it's a total sausage-fest, thank this asshole.

Enron Nailed On Price Gouging

The DOJ has reluctantly released evidence of Enron's participation in market manipulation during the California energy crisis—audio tapes of Enron employees laughing and joking about robbing an entire state. Sigh...

Tricky Dick Staged The Steal

Evidence has surfaced linking Vice Resident Dick Cheney, former Halliburton exec & current residual employee, with no-bid Iraqi reconstruction contracts totalling more than $1.7 billion dollars for his former company. Notorious for tax evasion while Cheney was at the company's helm (more on that here), Halliburton came under fire earlier this year when it was discovered that the company overcharged the US government $61 million for gasoline, and another $16 million for food to American soldiers in Iraq.

While many questions still surround the issue, one must wonder most strongly how such blatant government looting can continue to go unchecked.