If you followed the link in "Fighting the double-standard" yesterday, you'll have read about the (idiotic) interpretation of Hillary Clinton's favorite songs. As Kevin Drum has discovered, you can easily generate a list of your most frequently played songs with iTunes. Just for grins, here's my list:
Now as a bonus, I actually get to provide a second list, because while my desktop machine is my primary source of music, I also have a laptop with a separate library of music:
So what does all this mean? Well, not much. Several of the items in the desktop list are there because I was trying to either write down the lyrics or learn the chord changes. It's probably as reasonable a barometer of my overall tastes as anything, although anyone who knows me well would point out at least one glaring omission. I use GarageBand on my laptop to record stuff, and then listen to what I've created repeatedly to decide whether the tunes are any good, so that's why I appear so prominently there.
Oh, and as for the whole Beatles vs. Stones brouhaha...dudes, the sixties were a long, long time ago. Get over it.
Someday maybe we'll get back to a point where Memorial Day is a remembrance of battles fought long ago and we can focus on our picnics and summer plans. Until then, I strongly suggest a look at
Posted by Jason at 09:12 AM
There's a long piece in Media Matters by Jamison Foser that takes a hard look at the double-standard in the media with respect to how progressives (vs. regressives? ok "conservatives," have it your way) are covered. Lots of it is familiar territory-- obsessive coverage of Clinton genitalia, Gore and Kerry getting a hard time while Dubya pretty much gets a free ride. Well worth a read. The piece ends with what I perceived to be a kind of call to arms, declaring that this kind of coverage "can't go on."
Over on This Modern World, Jonathan Schwarz saw this had had this little rant:
First of all, the corporate media has ALWAYS employed this double-standard, not simply "for years." And of course it can go on. What would stop it?
Of all the things that drive me crazy about my progressive compatriots, it's this belief that you can change the corporate media with accurate criticism of it. They believe at some point the people within the media will realize they're wrong, and their behavior will improve.
This is insane. The corporate media is the way it is because it exists to make as much money as possible. It doesn’t exist to give people an accurate picture of the world. It doesn't exist to provide jobs for honest journalists. Or rare occasions it will do both. But mostly it won't, because the need to make as much money as possible usually conflicts with everything good.
Waiting for this to change is like waiting for Santa Claus to bring us presents. But Santa Claus won't ever bring us presents, because THERE IS NO SANTA CLAUS.
Fine, so there's no Santa Clause...unless my niece reads this in which case yes there is a Santa Claus, and pay no attention to the crazy man. However, if there's no magical solution to solving the problem of media bias, that doesn't mean that there is no solution at all. In fact Jonathan hints at one element of what could force some change in the media. If corporate media is the way it is because it exists to make money, then one way to combat them is to reduce the amount of money they make. In that sense I think Jonathan is misunderstanding the target audience of Jamison's article, which is less the media itself than consumers of media. This kind of counterpoint is critical if we're going to get it through to folks that the story they're getting is warped. As this sinks in, people will turn to alternate news sources, and that (among other things) will prod corporate media into changing their ways.
I'm not going to claim that this would consistently get me off my butt, but it's awfully dang cool.
Looks like An Inconvenient Truth will only be opening in one theatre in Georgia.
I have no doubt that Fox and other news (or "newsish") outlets will be prodded into playing up the latest story of Congressional corruption as much as they possibly can. As you're bombarded with talking heads spouting variations of "See! See! Democrats are just as bad as Republicans! They're all bad! Very bad, those Democrats are!", it's important to keep this in mind:
Jefferson was a corrupt freelancer . . . a more-or-less random member of congress abusing his office for personal gain. Compare this to the case of Tom DeLay, the key mover-and-shaker in the Republican caucus for many years and an important one for years before that. His muck-worthy activities not only accrued to a more significant player, but also bore a direct relationship to the creation and sustenance of the GOP machine.
This is what happens when you try to give the same speech to a school in New York that you give to the kids at Jerry Falwell's school.
Last night was Veronica Mars night. We've been too busy to catch up, so after a couple months of not being able to watch the show we settled down to take in the rest of season 2. I had a nagging fear that we were missing the last episode, because the description of the last show we had on our recorder didn't sound like a season-ender. Sure enough, at the end of that episode we catch the announcement that Veronica was moving to freakin' Tuesday, so we're missing the last three episodes of the season. Now someone tell me this-- why the hell would they shuffle around their line-up with three episodes left in the season? Argh.
So what are our options? Well, we can go old-school and wait for it to come around in reruns. We could get hold of the DVD in late August when it comes out. I say "ugh" to both of those options. The show's not available through iTunes, or I would have gladly paid the six bucks to finish out the season. It doesn't seem to be available through any other legitimate channel, so instead I must go into the welcoming (if slightly ooky) arms of bittorrent.
Now I just have to hope like hell VLC can play these files when they come down...
Normally I don't get to look at Atom Bomb Bikini during the day, because even if I get a chance to scan my rss feeds he has a tendency to draw chicks in their non-worksafe attire (or lack therof). Today's image is perfectly worksafe, however. I like how he's got Dubya looking like a dirty old man.
Crooks and Liars (and Fascists, apparently!)
Bush Immigration Plan: Sucky? Or Suckiest Plan Ever?: "I have but one request of my country: If we're going to have a president whose sole job in life seems to be flying hither and thither on my taxpayer dollar in search of the ideal manly backdrop, can we at least elect George Clooney?"
Just go read it. My only comment is that while the men described here appropriately hung their heads in shame, I have no doubt that Dubya would simply jut out his chin in defiance at the mothers whose sons he had killed.
Paris Hilton may need help, but not this kind:
Conservatives push trade, monetary, tax and intellectual property policies that get the government deeply involved in the economy. The only difference between them and progressives is that conservatives want the government to help Paris Hilton, while progressives want the government to help regular people.
Even the knuckle-draggers among us should be able to understand this.
Just to review, here's my version, also using only one syllable words:
Quite a pair of news stories today. First we find out that the NSA won't give the Justice Department a security clearance to investigate that lovely surveillance program it's got going. So what does the Justice Department do? They drop the investigation. Yes, "magic." Then we find out that those same lovely folks at NSA are collecting a massive, and I mean freakin' massive database of call records. Given the companies involved and the numbers they're talking about, I would bet that every single person in this country has an entry in that database in one form or another.
Yes, that means you.
Now I know Mom doesn't like it when I cuss, but Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, how far does this have to go before someone finally shuts these people down? Do we no longer have any right to privacy in this country? Does it really help the government track down terrorists to know that your spouse calls at 5:30 to see if you want take-out? Bush apologists will claim that this is all to make us safer, but if they didn't have enough people to keep track of the data they were collecting before 9/11, they sure as hell can't keep up with billions of phone calls, not to mention the text messages and other communications I can only assume they're sweeping up as well.
And what can we do about it? Seems like not a damn thing. The Administration can't or won't (most likely the latter) police itself, or the Justice Department wouldn't have folded so easily. Sure, there are people like the ACLU fighting the good fight, but working through the courts takes years. And Congress is a fucking joke. When was the last time they actually acted as a serious counterbalance against anything? The only time they're stirred to action is to give millionaires more money or to pull stunts like compelling brain-dead women to appear before Congress because they "value life." And don't even get me started on the media, who you would think would have at least been energized by the hookergate scandal, but apparently not so much.
Ok, sure I could write to my Senators. I live in freakin' Georgia. My Senators are Republicans, and part of the problem, not the solution. Or maybe I could write to my Representative. He's at least a Democrat, but what's he going to do? Make a speech? He's a freshman in Congress who may have been redistricted out of his seat. I could cancel my cell phone plan. But my land line, not to mention my DSL also go through companies happily cooperating with the government. I don't think it's really productive for a web developer to go all Ted Kaczinski, if he wants to make a living.
I feel like I should have a conclusion here, but am not sure what else I can say beyond "Yeeaaaaarrgh!"
Full Text : The President of Iran's Letter To President Bush
I'll admit that I haven't had a chance to read it myself yet, but it seems important enough that I should do what I can to spread it around.
The Washington Monthly: "As the Washington Post's David Segal, the paper's former rock critic, asked me the other day, when's the last time you listened to Little Steven Van Zandt's 'Sun City'?"
Well, it's been a while, although that's at least in part because I only have it on tape and don't have any cassette players hooked up to anything. However, the version of "Silver and Gold" on that album totally rocks, and is way better than any other recording I've been able to find. It's one of my standby songs to play when I pull out my acoustic guitar.
Rumsfeld vs. 27 year CIA veteran
With all the burbling crap about Iran, I'm glad to see anyone in the administration called on their lies from the last go-round.
First reaction: Yet another example of Congress siding with large corporations over individuals.
Second reaction: Is this really a good idea, even if you only consider the bottom line? How are insurance companies saving money by cutting (in effect) diagnostic screenings? Is it really cheaper to wait until you can feel the lump before doing something about it?
Third reaction: Isn't it better for everyone that we catch things early? Doesn't that help everyone be more productive members of society?
Living in Georgia, I don't really expect much from our elected representatives. If they're not raving lunatics (yes Cynthia, I'm talking to you), they're very often Bible-thumping fanatics, or bigoted loons (just ask Sonny Perdue, who got elected in part by people upset because the confederate symbol was removed from the state flag). You don't have to go that far back to find Senators wishing they could shoot people for being disagreeable (miss ya, Zell).
Our representative may be less inbred then many of his colleagues, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean he will stand up for what's right. Thanks, John.
USNews.com: Inside Washington: Skewering comedy skit angers Bush and aides
Little Rural Riding Hood. Nothing like a Tex Avery cartoon to start off the day.
There's been a lot of commentary on Steven Colbert's recent appearance at whatever that dinner was (correspondent's dinner?), but I think this one sums it up best.