Saturday, March 01, 2003

The "discoverer" of DNA speaks:

""If you are really stupid, I would call that a disease," says Watson, now president of the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, New York. "The lower 10 per cent who really have difficulty, even in elementary school, what's the cause of it? A lot of people would like to say, 'Well, poverty, things like that.' It probably isn't. So I'd like to get rid of that, to help the lower 10 per cent."

Watson, no stranger to controversy, also suggests that genes influencing beauty could also be engineered. "People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great.""

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993451
posted by Irdial , 6:28 PM Þ 

***AC-130 Video from Afghanistan***

"The war in Afganistan is being waged daily and without much news from the media. There have been very few actual video displays of combat or combat photography."

http://www.suntzuorder.com/AC130_Gunship.wmv

Get ready to be sick to your stomach. If you are leet and on a fat pipe, try the high res version:

http://www.nata2.info/war/AC-130U_gunship_video_hi.mpg

These are some of the comments on this footage at the hk97 website:

"why not the mosque?... the moment a building harbours combatants is no longer a sacred placed of worshipness, it is a terrorist heaven, therefore should be added to the GO TGT List
I would have level that place first, then bring the other AC-130 with the 20 mike mike to finish the job"

"no mercy to the scumm of the earth"

"I love it when another terrorist is sent to Allah in pieces. Guess they won’t need the 70 virgins they are promised when yer whacker is 30 feet away, your head 20 feet away, legs etc. I would love to see more quality ‘payback’ like this!!"

read the rest of the comments:

http://www.hk94.com/weblog/index.php?p=62&c=1
posted by Irdial , 6:25 PM Þ 



i rearranged my room yesterday, with the help of my girlfriend. unfortunately, she put my speakers next to my monitor. and then the power supply to my external hdd (which holds all my apps, user files, fonts and work) went.

so now i am fu><0rd.

:(
posted by alex_tea , 6:04 PM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 5:51 PM Þ 

WTF??
posted by Irdial , 5:38 PM Þ 
posted by Ken , 4:48 PM Þ 

Whats peoples thoughts on the this?:

the reaction
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2810031.stm

the article
http://www.masskilling.com/
posted by chriszanf , 3:04 PM Þ 

This week I have been working on a print series that was originally about corporate hegemony, but that has changed as all art processes do. You never end up with what you set out to do. Currently it's about isolating oneself from the world - we'll see what it's about when it's done! It's a very time-consuming screen print series of 4 based on many many many drawings I have done, particularily of Chernobyl and scientific diagrams of plants (and plenty of arrows and words).
I've also recieved slides of my better work back - I'll see how they scan.

I'm pretty sure Bush is going to go into Iraq anyway. He made up his mind long ago. You can tell by the smug-ass look on his face.
But the rest of the world does not want to follow Bush to war. It will be his disaster (if it does happen).
Look at Blair as he stands beside Bush - he so does not want to go to war. He's scared shitless. He probably has diarrhea every fucking hour. The stupid bastard.

The word "critic" has a negative connotation attached to it, though it does not actually mean a negative thing. It's a person who talks about something in a constructively critical way. The comments should be useful. Most "critics," art critics especially, are very negative minded and do not fully comprehend what they are commenting on, and should not be writing at all - it is up to the reader to decide whether it is bullshit or not. The includes visual artists and music critics - the worst kind. These people do not discuss the work, they try find out what is wrong with it! And that is not the point of critique.

Konono: holy shit that's huge! Thanks for the link so much.

Alun said: "Though a dictatorship is the most common association with fascism, a democracy or republic can also be fascist."
The presidential government of my province of Alberta is completely fascistic. Ralph Klein is a "dictator" of sorts who is a puppet for big oil and industry, and the upper class.

I've been thinking of making some sort of ever changing music genre diagram, where you can add genres, link them to existing genres and add bands to genres. The more bands / sub genres a genre contains, the bigger it appears on the diagram.
I generally thing genres are a bad idea. For example, the Clash always gets put in the "Punk" section of the record store, but "Sandinista!" is not a punk album, at least in the traditional sense (punk, I suppose, as more of an idea than a sound). Your web would be able to connect such a thing to the many different musical "types" it is composed of. Just don't forget that bands are not just one style of music.

Alun, for mentioning the Hip, you get 40 000 subjective points. Use them as you may! Maybe to get some Hip albums.


I am the number
1
I am the loneliest number
_

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa
posted by Barrie , 9:18 AM Þ 

20Q
posted by Irdial , 8:23 AM Þ 
Friday, February 28, 2003

Audioblogger only works on USA numbers, so USA based blogdialers please dial with the free trial...
posted by Irdial , 7:06 PM Þ 

File-sharing advocates often imagine a middleman-free utopia where artists interact directly with fans, but how many fans really want to go through the trouble of buying music one track, one album, or even one artist at a time?

Whoever wrote this is a computer illiterate nincompoop. Software is brilliant at bringing together all the files you want (and the files you didnt know you wanted) into one place; that is why Napster was so popular. NO ONE buys or downloads "...one track, one album, or even one artist at a time". That is a straw man argument.

I smell a shill.

Digital distribution is about abundance, efficiency, and convenience; it needs middlemen like Hugh Hefner needs more Viagra. Some of these middlemen, such as Kazaa, are greedy vultures who make millions off artists without paying them a cent.

WTF? Kazaa is not a middleman, it is an aggregator allowing people who are sharing files to contact each other directly. It does not host files itself, in exactly the same way that Napster never hosted a single MP3 file.

Once again, this person is completely ignorant about how the internet works and in particular, how distributed file sharing works.

Others, like Pressplay.com and Rhapsody, at least license the music they make available.

Bingo! This biatch is a shill for the RIAA.

Kazzaa and all other file sharing services do not make music available for download they only create lists of what people have on thier hard drives, in the same way that google lists what is on the hard drives of web servers.

Home taping is killing music? Ignorant RIAA shills are killing the internet more like!

All offer services to fans that individual artists will never be able to match.

This is simply a lie. Any individual artist can post her files in one of many places, and then allow the search engines to pick up the pages. They can also put thier files on the file sharing networks. They can also group together under umbrlla organizaitons to concentrate the number of hits they get, and maximize their PR efficiency. What is for certain is that no amount of ignorant shill-words will stop this evolution from taking place.

Thus, musicians who successfully use the internet to generate revenues directly from fans will be exceedingly rare, just as writers who do the same already are.

The only looser in thie equation is the monopoly "middle man". If you knew what you were talking about, you would realize that it is only the small minority of artists who get paid anything under the current system, and the remuneration proposals of the Monopoly, like paying the artists $0.0023 per download, will not make even mega acts like Madonna any signifigant money.

There will always be very huge "winners" and people who hardly make anything at all. At least under the new system of free music, there is no brain dead, tone deaf A&R drone who decides what gets released and what does not. This is the fundamental difference that will change everything.

For every internet success story like that of blogger Andrew Sullivan, who recently raised around $80,000 from his readers via a pledge week on his site, there are hundreds of thousands of independent content creators who make nothing.

For every artist like Coldplay there are hundreds of thousands of acts that will never be signed by the monopoly because the Monopoly doesnt actually care about music. The small number that do get deals, will never make a penny out of what they sell, even if they sell as many as 250,000 "units". Do your homework!

The "war" with the music biz is not a war at all. Even if it were, it should be cast as a liberation struggle. Since you did not do this, we can only assume that you are a bought and paid spokesliar for the Monopoly. Missing from your piece of propaganda were any mention of links to free music philosophy and business model sites, putting across other arguments, or any links to the truth about how poorly artists arre treated under the current slave labor system.

Thankfully, no one is listening to these and the other lies trotted out by the propaganda division of the RIAA, and the genie is out of the bottle. File sharing is here to stay, is impossible to shut down, and is exposing people more and more into interesting, non Monopoly music daily.

Just who is "G. Beato" anyway? Google cached your pages and let me find your blog Beato. Search engines are useful are they not?

In the fall of 1995, I created my first webzine, Traffic. At the time, I was working as a marketing writer at a software company,

incredible; how can someone with no imagination as to what software can do write marketing for a software company???

but my work at Traffic led to a few paying magazine assignments, and by January 1997, I quit my day job to become a full-time freelance writer.

So, the free webzine you created allowed you to quit your job and write full time on a freelance basis. This is different to releasing music online and expecting the same benefits exactly how?

I'm currently a contributing editor at SPIN and a regular contributor to the Washington Post's Book World section. I've also written for Blender, Business 2.0, Inside, Wired, Forbes ASAP, Mother Jones, Newsday, Salon, Feed, Request, The Face, the London Guardian, the International Herald Tribune, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Chronicle, amongst others. I was also a frequent contributor to the pioneer webzine, Suck.com: from 1996 to 2000, I wrote approximately 100 pieces for it.

??? how is it that such a completely misinformed article could come from someone who has written for Wired???

Most hilariously, at the end of the blog page, he says:

"Support Soundbitten If you like what you read here, please consider making a donation."

What incredible hypocricy. People putting their music online can be likened to human shields flying to Iraq to protect Saddam, but a journalist putting his words online for free and asking for donations is somehow COMPLETELY DIFFERENT and OK.

This blog also has other contributors writing for it, much like several artists getting together to share music on a single site to spread the load. Didnt I just say that?!?

For Editors
See an article here that you'd like to reprint? Want to assign me something? Please contact me at gbeato@soundbitten.com.

Music maker says "Want to use our music in a movie or TV commercial? contact us!!!" Doh!

For Publicists Have a book, CD, DVD, or something else you'd like me to consider for review or other coverage? Please contact me at gbeato@soundbitten.com.

"Send me free stuff!" Thats the last straw!

My lord, that was an easy bit of destruction. And fun!

http://www.soundbitten.com/about.html
posted by Irdial , 5:29 PM Þ 

[]D []_ []_[] []V[] []D
posted by captain davros , 3:53 PM Þ 
posted by Claus Eggers , 3:53 PM Þ 
posted by chriszanf , 3:29 PM Þ 
posted by Claus Eggers , 3:19 PM Þ 

Tree Degrees
Now in beta
posted by Claus Eggers , 3:15 PM Þ 

So, imagine this: You're driving down the road, chatting at a party, or whatever. You have a phone. You call your blog on the phone. You leave a message. The message gets instantly posted to your blog as an MP3 file for the world to listen to. Cool? Do it now.
posted by Claus Eggers , 3:08 PM Þ 

[]D [] []V[] []D
posted by Claus Eggers , 3:06 PM Þ 

Digital distribution is bad for artists for the same reason that it is bad for record companies (and good for fans): it makes too much music available. As content becames increasingly ubiquitous, it loses value.
Freeloader.com
posted by Alun , 3:00 PM Þ 

Musical Mindfuck 1
Musical Mindfuck 2

Number two is some of the greatest music I have ever heard.
posted by Mess Noone , 2:35 PM Þ 

"British troops on their way to the Gulf are given a choice, and up to half of them have refused to have the shot."

ABC Net
posted by Irdial , 1:46 PM Þ 

Semper Fi, Do it and Die!
American Marines refuse vaccination.
posted by Irdial , 1:44 PM Þ 

Australian troops refuse Antrhax vaccine:

Only if you tie me (kangarroo) down sport.
posted by Irdial , 1:41 PM Þ 
posted by captain davros , 1:39 PM Þ 

U.S. Diplomat's Letter of Resignation

The following is the text of John Brady Kiesling's letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. Mr. Kiesling is a career diplomat who has served in United States embassies from Tel Aviv to Casablanca to Yerevan.

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I am writing you to submit my resignation from the Foreign Service of the United States and from my position as Political Counselor in U.S. Embassy Athens, effective March 7. I do so with a heavy heart. The baggage of my upbringing included a felt obligation to give something back to my country. Service as a U.S. diplomat was a dream job. I was paid to understand foreign languages and cultures, to seek out diplomats, politicians, scholars and journalists, and to persuade them that U.S. interests and theirs fundamentally coincided. My faith in my country and its values was the most powerful weapon in my diplomatic arsenal.

It is inevitable that during twenty years with the State Department I would become more sophisticated and cynical about the narrow and selfish bureaucratic motives that sometimes shaped our policies. Human nature is what it is, and I was rewarded and promoted for understanding human nature. But until this Administration it had been possible to believe that by upholding the policies of my president I was also upholding the interests of the American people and the world. I believe it no longer.

The policies we are now asked to advance are incompatible not only with American values but also with American interests. Our fervent pursuit of war with Iraq is driving us to squander the international legitimacy that has been America’s most potent weapon of both offense and defense since the days of Woodrow Wilson. We have begun to dismantle the largest and most effective web of international relationships the world has ever known. Our current course will bring instability and danger, not security.

The sacrifice of global interests to domestic politics and to bureaucratic self-interest is nothing new, and it is certainly not a uniquely American problem. Still, we have not seen such systematic distortion of intelligence, such systematic manipulation of American opinion, since the war in Vietnam. The September 11 tragedy left us stronger than before, rallying around us a vast international coalition to cooperate for the first time in a systematic way against the threat of terrorism. But rather than take credit for those successes and build on them, this Administration has chosen to make terrorism a domestic political tool, enlisting a scattered and largely defeated Al Qaeda as its bureaucratic ally. We spread disproportionate terror and confusion in the public mind, arbitrarily linking the unrelated problems of terrorism and Iraq. The result, and perhaps the motive, is to justify a vast misallocation of shrinking public wealth to the military and to weaken the safeguards that protect American citizens from the heavy hand of government. September 11 did not do as much damage to the fabric of American society as we seem determined to so to ourselves. Is the Russia of the late Romanovs really our model, a selfish, superstitious empire thrashing toward self-destruction in the name of a doomed status quo?

We should ask ourselves why we have failed to persuade more of the world that a war with Iraq is necessary. We have over the past two years done too much to assert to our world partners that narrow and mercenary U.S. interests override the cherished values of our partners. Even where our aims were not in question, our consistency is at issue. The model of Afghanistan is little comfort to allies wondering on what basis we plan to rebuild the Middle East, and in whose image and interests. Have we indeed become blind, as Russia is blind in Chechnya, as Israel is blind in the Occupied Territories, to our own advice, that overwhelming military power is not the answer to terrorism? After the shambles of post-war Iraq joins the shambles in Grozny and Ramallah, it will be a brave foreigner who forms ranks with Micronesia to follow where we lead.

We have a coalition still, a good one. The loyalty of many of our friends is impressive, a tribute to American moral capital built up over a century. But our closest allies are persuaded less that war is justified than that it would be perilous to allow the U.S. to drift into complete solipsism. Loyalty should be reciprocal. Why does our President condone the swaggering and contemptuous approach to our friends and allies this Administration is fostering, including among its most senior officials. Has “oderint dum metuant” really become our motto?

I urge you to listen to America’s friends around the world. Even here in Greece, purported hotbed of European anti-Americanism, we have more and closer friends than the American newspaper reader can possibly imagine. Even when they complain about American arrogance, Greeks know that the world is a difficult and dangerous place, and they want a strong international system, with the U.S. and EU in close partnership. When our friends are afraid of us rather than for us, it is time to worry. And now they are afraid. Who will tell them convincingly that the United States is as it was, a beacon of liberty, security, and justice for the planet?

Mr. Secretary, I have enormous respect for your character and ability. You have preserved more international credibility for us than our policy deserves, and salvaged something positive from the excesses of an ideological and self-serving Administration. But your loyalty to the President goes too far. We are straining beyond its limits an international system we built with such toil and treasure, a web of laws, treaties, organizations, and shared values that sets limits on our foes far more effectively than it ever constrained America’s ability to defend its interests.

I am resigning because I have tried and failed to reconcile my conscience with my ability to represent the current U.S. Administration. I have confidence that our democratic process is ultimately self-correcting, and hope that in a small way I can contribute from outside to shaping policies that better serve the security and prosperity of the American people and the world we share.

New York Times
posted by Irdial , 1:38 PM Þ 

I have worked next door to a music shop for nearly a year now, and I always said I wouldn't go mad and spend my cash on pay day.

But today I did.
posted by captain davros , 1:35 PM Þ 
posted by Alun , 1:20 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 1:08 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 12:17 PM Þ 

For the record...

Condaleeza rice cracker
Condaleeza rice paddy
Condaleeza ricin
Condaleeza riceicles
Condaleeza rice paper
Condaleeza rice eater
posted by Irdial , 12:03 PM Þ 
posted by Mess Noone , 10:15 AM Þ 

Another couple of triplets:

Collateral damage limitation (might have been done already)
Condaleeza rice pudding

seem to be having a problem with post&publish in Moz in windows. When I goto post I get a popup asking for ftp login details but not on any other browser/OS
posted by chriszanf , 1:20 AM Þ 
Thursday, February 27, 2003

Akin, this is from the Konono N°1 site:

"The first album by Konono N°1 is currently being recorded by Vincent Kenis (definitely the right person for the job: he is a great connoisseur of Congolese music, he has produced albums by Zap Mama, Taraf de Haïdouks & Koçani Orkestar, and has also been playing a key part in the sonic design of many albums of electronic music on Crammed/SSR)."
posted by chriszanf , 10:00 PM Þ 

Ive been spending some time on Linux lately and finding it great fun.

I've configured the kernel for a few things like my soundcard and compatability for vfat/ntfs partitions. When I compile it all seems to be ok (make dep, make bzImage, etc) but when I type:

locate bzImage
cp bzImage /boot/vmlinuz (after backing up my old kernel)

it returns an error of
cp: can not stat bzImage: no such file or directory

I'm intrigued.....

Another triplet: nasal congestion charge
posted by chriszanf , 7:57 PM Þ 

I saw the M25/London Orbital film when they showed it on Channel 4 in November. Stroke of luck seeing it really as I haven't watched TV for at least 9 months (no longer own one) and I was at my sisters.

They must have driven round and round it for days filming and the stories linked to the M25 that unfolded throughout were fascinating. In the parts where they were on the road they split the screen and had different camera angles running. The feeling was that I was in the car with the film maker and almost nauseous from the mundanity and repetition of the road.

I remember when they were building it. I was living near the junction with the A10 and went out one sunday on my bike and rode over to Waltham Abbey. I stood for a time looking at the huge groove they had cut into the countryside before finding a way down on to it and riding about where cars now zoom past at 70mph. That's the only time I've ever been on it and not been a passenger.

Triplet: emotionally raw data
posted by chriszanf , 7:46 PM Þ 

Top 11 Unusual Source Code Comments

11. /* This part doesn't really do any thing yet. It's just here in case we need it */
10. //** This should never execute **//
9. # This is the second of three impossible errors
8. /* Emergency fix to fix emergency Turkey Day Fix */
7. # Insert meaningful comments here
6. /* I didn't write this code */
5. # This code was hard to write. It should be hard to understand also
4. /* Break out the Ragu. The following is spaghetti code */
3. /* Quiet!!! This is orthogonal code */
2. /* Ryan don't comment code! */
1. /* Optimize THIS, code boy! */

http://www.networkcomputing.com/l
posted by Irdial , 7:11 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 7:02 PM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 6:42 PM Þ 

Konono = cool. Diversity from adversity.

Reminded me of ZGA, whom I saw last year and who were pretty amazing - three players; trombone, "drums" made entirely of metal, and an assortment of piezo-ised springs being played with sticks and combs and bows. Clearly a Coldplay killer if ever I heard such a thing.

More ZGA links
http://www.insound.com/zinestand/sndcollector/feature.cfm?aid=9126
http://www.sparc.spb.su/Avz/ZGA/
posted by captain davros , 5:42 PM Þ 

What did everyone think of that truely cool® konono link? When I saw the pictures I was surprrised and then when the sound started I was pleasantly surprised.

Their gear looks dangerous; they could probably sell custom amplification gear to every electric head in Europe for a premium.

I wonder who they are getting to mix the stuff, and what plans they have to get these dudes to collaborate with other people....the Cogolese, the Zairois have been making cool stuff for ages, but this, for me, takes the cake!
posted by Irdial , 5:32 PM Þ 

M25
posted by Irdial , 5:28 PM Þ 

yeah i thought of it as a venn diagram thing too, but that seemed overly compex and easily breakable. Take Krautrock or Afro Futurism, these genres encompass completely different partent Genres, taking from westernised rock and african folk music. Now if these influences were on different sides of the diagram the circle for the genre would either be a really weird shape, accidently overlap another genre or be erroneously big (size should indicate the popularity or influence of a genre).

See the problem? With a nuclear/network/molecular style diagram where each point is joined by a line, this confusion is reduced somewhat. Although not completely.

There may be a way to show both types of diagram though, from the same data.

Do you reckon it's worth doing?
posted by alex_tea , 5:26 PM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 5:22 PM Þ 

Genres are more like an infinitely complex smear of Venn Diagrams. Circles in circles in circles, overlapping other circles. Each genre is a circle, each dot is a band. It would be fun to try and code up a website for that kinda thing. Something like OS-AMG.
posted by Mikkel , 4:58 PM Þ 

London from space.
posted by Alun , 4:55 PM Þ 
posted by Alun , 4:44 PM Þ 

Thank you davros... I'll look it up...

There was also that guy who did those family tree things in the 70s and 80s. I had a Niravana one on my wall when I was about 12 I seem to remember. But then that's a bit different.

I don't know if I ever will get round to doing this. It's just one of those ideas I get that seems really good at first and then just gets far too complicated, or I just get lazy.

Like the electronic music gig guide I was going to do about 2 or 3 years ago and never got round to doing it. Still working it out now actually... Hmm...
posted by alex_tea , 3:10 PM Þ 

Mr Tea

I think there used to be an artist called Wigan who did big rambling genre type maps in clubs in the early 90's. I remember reading about him in iD, but I can't find anything about him on the net.

That's not to say you shouldn't do that incidentally . Just a reference.
posted by captain davros , 2:38 PM Þ 

By passing the current through this region, located on the left-hand side of the brain, the girl could be made to laugh uncontrollably - even when there was nothing funnier going on than a group of men standing around in white coats.


That sounds a bit mean. Like torture or something. Pleasure Torture. Involuntry Happiness.

Brand America
I've been thinking of making some sort of ever changing music genre diagram, where you can add genres, link them to existing genres and add bands to genres. The more bands / sub genres a genre contains, the bigger it appears on the diagram.

Thing is, is genre hierarchal? Even if it is not all links are hierarchal, some are siblings, not children. So it's getting more and more complex the more I think about it. Also there doesn't seem to be any need for this, it's just a bit silly. I was just getting really into the sometimes stupid genres people invent. I read an article somewhere, maybe in a blog, about musical genre, and why people get upset about it and stuff... Anyway...

What would be in the centre? I was thinking there are maybe three or four main genres, but then these are erroneous, but lets start with something really really basic and generic. I guess at a very base level you could split it up geographcially, Western and Eastern music. Or, it could be Rock, Classical and World music. Rock and Classical are both western, and World music is Eastern music? Non Western music? Hmm. This is confusing.

Where does Folk music fit in? Because you get all sorts of folk music, folk is more to do with the idea of a people's music, rather than a particular sound.

I think this whole idea has become a lot more complex than I first imagined.
posted by alex_tea , 2:16 PM Þ 

Aye, yes you do have to build it, which may be a minus factor if you don't feel like it. However, it is cheap because of that, which is a plus.

No, I haven't built one. But I did build THE SEDUCER!!!, and am currently rebuilding my studio. I got my 19" gear in (including one of these) and made a really amateurish patchbay last Saturday to connect it all.

I've got ever firming plans for an LP but can't decide how to release it. I'm sort of thinking of a free download since it's mostly M03s, with the option to send me a CD to burn if you haven't got a PC. The CD version would have a nice sleeve and an alternative mix. It'll all be one long continuous mix. Only problem at the moment is that in an attempt to back up stuff I deleted a ton of stuff from my music PC via a parallel cable link from my main PC, and guess what, I never actuallybacked up previously.

Incidentally I got the Knoppix disc yesterday from the Linux Emporium, along with a free Debian distro. This is the nicest Linux I've tried yet, and if you're curious and have a PIII or so PC you should try it!
posted by captain davros , 2:07 PM Þ 

Brand America.
posted by Alun , 1:25 PM Þ 

The 9-foot snow phallus, constructed in Tercentenary Theater, was torn down just hours after its erection.

Ho ho ho.

Avert your eyes, sensitive folk!






Feminist humour.



Here is your sense of humour
posted by Alun , 12:59 PM Þ 

Interview with SH.
posted by Irdial , 12:46 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 11:53 AM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 11:52 AM Þ 

So I have to build the thing? Have you done this?
posted by Mess Noone , 11:12 AM Þ 

Mess - you could always try this.
posted by captain davros , 10:39 AM Þ 

“We built it for fun, instead of building a snowman,” Skey said. “We built it specifically as a junior high prank.”

In spite of Skey’s intentions, Keel said she was offended by the joke.


"no-one said comedy has to be nice" - Jerry Sadowich
posted by chriszanf , 10:36 AM Þ 

Hundreds of thousands of antiwar activists flooded Senate phone lines yesterday as part of a "Virtual March" on Washington aimed at heading off a U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Protesters called and faxed senators in an innovative action, billed as a way to influence policy "without leaving your living room." Senators enlisted extra staffers to answer calls and to tally the number of constituents registering their opinions.[...]

Washington Post

ahem.
posted by Irdial , 10:05 AM Þ 

I need some advice. This may be my banjo.

Is it as good as it looks?
posted by Mess Noone , 9:52 AM Þ 

That idiot.
posted by b , 2:21 AM Þ 
Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Mikkel: OH GOD PEOPLE ARE SO STUPID IT MAKES MY BRAIN HURT
Mikkel: FUCKING GODDAMNIT HELL
Mikkel: JESUS LORD MOTHERFUCKER
Mikkel: CHRIST BARBECUE
Mikkel: http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=274155
Mikkel: ALSO
Mikkel: PEOPLE = STUPID
Jared: yes.
* Jared puts a gold star next to Mikkel's name.
Mikkel: seriously
Jared: I know.
Jared: I hate people.
Jared: harvey, go for the best.
Mikkel: if I built a snow penis and a feminist was offended and tore it down, I dont think I would ever be able to eat solid food again, due to my jaw exploding from laughter
Jared: did this happen to you?
Mikkel: no its in that article
Jared: ah. I had better click.
Mikkel: hence my jaw not having exploded (yet)
Mikkel: but I will definitely be building snow penises whenever I get the chance
Jared: what the fuck is this: It was gendered violence
Mikkel: I'm assuming someone called her a bitch
Mikkel: at least thats my guess
Mikkel: I probably wouldve
Jared: This is why I am never going back to America!
Jared: She said the snow penis follows a long line of public phallic symbols, including the Washington Monument and missiles.
Mikkel: hehe
Mikkel: YEAH MONUMENTS AND PENISES
Jared: Missiles!
Mikkel: what about the fucking pyramids, huh? BOOBIES!
Mikkel: I feel seriously repressed now
Mikkel: oppressed
Mikkel: haha
Mikkel: dohg
Jared: fucking americans.
Mikkel: She will never get a boyfriend, and I'm glad for him.

(Jared is American)
posted by Mikkel , 11:29 PM Þ 
posted by chriszanf , 9:37 PM Þ 

11
posted by Claus Eggers , 2:28 PM Þ 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
You have received this message from the "FIPR Alert" mailing list run by
the Foundation for Information Policy Research http://www.fipr.org/
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astonishing to hear a report on Radio 4's Today programme this morning
sounding the death knell for the entire classical music industry because
one recording of a Maria Callas performance is about to come out of
copyright. An EMI spokesman intones "how can we be expected to invest in
the classics of tomorrow if we can't get returns on that investment"...

Thanks to Simon Kelley for spotting this. I've appended his complaint to
Today below.

It's 19.5 minutes into clip 6 (you can press Ctrl+T in RealPlayer to
skip through the previous 5 clips):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/today_live.rpm

Subject: 26/02/03 report on European Copyright.
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 10:18:28 +0000
From: Simon Kelley
To: today@bbc.co.uk

Your report on European Copyright today was totally one-sided.

Anybody listening who had no background in this area would have thought
that the arrangements in the USA were uncontroversial and the shorter
copyright time in the EU was just some sort of bizzare legal oversight.
In fact until a few years ago copyright duration in the States was as
short and the bill to extend it was hugely controversial and has just
undergone a challenge in the Supreme Court.

The report used Industry spokespeople/lobbyists with no critical cross
examination and they were allowed to use double-speak like "protecting
European music" when they meant "protecting media companies" without any
challenge.

The basis of copyright is that the copyright holder is given a monopoly
on distribution of the copyright work _for_a_limited_time_ in return for
the investment required to make the work in the first place. Once that
limited time protection has expired, the legal prohibition on
duplicating the work is removed from third parties. Nobody is stealing
from EMI: they won't be lifting boxes of CDs from warehouses in the
middle of the night; it is simply that EMI's state-enforced monopoly
will expire.

For a handle on the campaign against copyrights and IP everywhere, on
everything, and for all time start at www.eff.org

Frankly, this report sounded like a lazy journalist being exploited by
industry PR people. You need to do something much better, and preferably
not by your "North America Business Propagandist".


Dr Simon Kelley.
posted by Irdial , 2:10 PM Þ 



stopsleeping
The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) is a neo-conservative think-tank that seeks US world domination through military conquest of what it calls "the new American frontier." PNAC's membership includes people such as Elliot Abrams, who lied to Congress about Nicaragua and denied massacres by US-trained forces in El Salvador; Dick Cheney, who voted against releasing Nelson Mandela from prison; Donald Rumsfeld, who advocates the "no evidence required" approach to international relations; Paul Wolfowitz, who has spoken of "ending states"; and William Kristol, former Chief of Staff for Dan Quayle.

Project for a New American Century


The Fourth Reich?
So scary that I'd support a pre-emptive strike against them.

I had to post this. These fascists, and I do NOT use the word lightly, are now running America. Their shared dream is now becoming our reality.

June 3, 1997

American foreign and defense policy is adrift. Conservatives have criticized the incoherent policies of the Clinton Administration. They have also resisted isolationist impulses from within their own ranks. But conservatives have not confidently advanced a strategic vision of America's role in the world. They have not set forth guiding principles for American foreign policy. They have allowed differences over tactics to obscure potential agreement on strategic objectives. And they have not fought for a defense budget that would maintain American security and advance American interests in the new century.

We aim to change this. We aim to make the case and rally support for American global leadership.


As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world's preeminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?


We are in danger of squandering the opportunity and failing the challenge. We are living off the capital -- both the military investments and the foreign policy achievements -- built up by past administrations. Cuts in foreign affairs and defense spending, inattention to the tools of statecraft, and inconstant leadership are making it increasingly difficult to sustain American influence around the world. And the promise of short-term commercial benefits threatens to override strategic considerations. As a consequence, we are jeopardizing the nation's ability to meet present threats and to deal with potentially greater challenges that lie ahead.

We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan Administration's success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibilities.


Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership.

Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their consequences for today. Here are four consequences:

• we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global
responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;

• we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;

• we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;

• we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.

Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next.

Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer William J. Bennett Jeb Bush
Dick Cheney Eliot A. Cohen Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky Steve Forbes
Aaron Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. Ikle
Donald Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad I. Lewis Libby Norman Podhoretz
Dan Quayle Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen Henry S. Rowen
Donald Rumsfeld Vin Weber George Weigel Paul Wolfowitz


Fascism is commonly defined as an open terror-based dictatorship which is:

Reactionary: makes policy based upon current circumstances rather than creating policies to prevent problems; piles lies and misnomers on top of more lies until the truth becomes indistinguishable, revised or forgotten.
Chauvinistic: Two or more tiered legal systems, varying rights based upon superficial characteristics such as race, creed and origin.
Imperialist elements of finance capital: Extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political domination of one state over its allies.
Though a dictatorship is the most common association with fascism, a democracy or republic can also be fascist.
posted by Alun , 10:42 AM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 8:01 AM Þ 
Tuesday, February 25, 2003

To call Savage Pencil a parasite is to say something that is simply not correct, and if he IS a parasite, he is akin to the bacteria that lives in bovine stomachs that helps them to digest thier food. In other words, essential to your LIFE!

If he is essential to my life, let me die tomorrow. If I survive, I'm selling all my fucking records and buying a banjo.
posted by Mess Noone , 10:16 PM Þ 

Q: What does Bad Vugum mean?

A: It's an expression that we borrowed from Captain
Beefheart. You can find it from the track "Sue Egypt" from
the album "Doc At The Radar Station" -a marvellous piece of
art by the way. Olli Pauke from Liimanarina - completely
weird noise band on Bad Vugum - told us that the name sounds
like a Bulgarian bath town...
posted by Irdial , 6:07 PM Þ 

By 'peripheral artist', I guess I just meant parasite. I have to question the need for 'critics', in writing, illustration, whatever. Surely a potent substitute for criticism is actually CREATING SOMETHING that will warm the hearts of your fellow humans and convince them, even momentarily, that their souls are not alone on this planet.

Professional contrarian, eternally in opposition, impotent, useless, infertile.

Nothing could be closer to death. It is far better that we have people doing good work from the first instance, instead of constantly reacting to the bad work of others; criticism saves us from having to be constantly reacting, wasting our precious and very limited time.

To call Savage Pencil a parasite is to say something that is simply not correct, and if he IS a parasite, he is akin to the bacteria that lives in bovine stomachs that helps them to digest thier food. In other words, essential to your LIFE!
posted by Irdial , 5:02 PM Þ 

I hear you too, Mess. Sometimes "critics" can convince one that one's soul is not alone though too - in a world of Coldplay I feel better when anyone offers any reaction to them that isn't the weird, stunned fawning that they seem to get so much of these days.

I put critics in double-quotes there since I guess we all react differently to critics. For me, on the whole anyone whose opinion annoys me becomes a "critic" in the worst, bloodsucking way, and I gnash and think "why are they allowed to write that crap" etc. But then anyone who strikes a chord with my thoughts ends up being something like a "writer" or "journalist" or "satirist" in my eyes, and I think "Ahh, how good to have an intelligent appraisal of something.

Half the time I think they're like dark clouds - feels like no use complaining when you can't do anything about their presence.

I've not encountered any Sav Pencil criticism - read a few things he wrote for the music broadsheets back in the early 90's under the name "Edwin Pouncey" - so he may be really annoying in that role. I still reckon he does a mean illustration though.
posted by captain davros , 5:00 PM Þ 

If it weren't so sad, I would be laughing.
posted by b , 4:03 PM Þ 

I hear you. But I want to be Kake Puhuu or noone at all.

By 'peripheral artist', I guess I just meant parasite. I have to question the need for 'critics', in writing, illustration, whatever. Surely a potent substitute for criticism is actually CREATING SOMETHING that will warm the hearts of your fellow humans and convince them, even momentarily, that their souls are not alone on this planet.
posted by Mess Noone , 3:57 PM Þ 

Psychological assault led by 'RadioTikrit'

When Iraqi air defence units picked up their phones, instead of a dialling tone, they heard a male voice speaking in Arabic. It told them not to use chemical or biological weapons, not to offer resistance, and not to obey commands to attack civilian areas, the source said.[...]

The Guardian
posted by Irdial , 2:57 PM Þ  

[As I noted in my article, the DEA.gov privacy policy 
allows information like IP addressses collected from visitors
 to be used in criminal investigations and prosecutions.
 --Declan]

---

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-985785.html

   Feds weed out drug paraphernalia sites
   By Declan McCullagh
   February 24, 2003, 4:32 PM PT

   The U.S. Justice Department on Monday said it indicted 11 Web site
   operators for allegedly selling illegal devices including bongs and
   holders for marijuana cigarettes.

   Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters that the government
   would ask a U.S. district court in Pittsburgh to point the sites to a
   Web page at the Drug Enforcement Administration explaining why they
   were taken offline, a new twist in crime-fighting.

   [...]

---

Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 08:11:56 -0600
Subject: FW:  ALERT: DEA to Redirect Seized Websites!!
From: Jules Siegel 
To: 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Bennett [mailto:discuss@WYOMISSING.COM]
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 9:08 PM
To: DPFT-L@listserv.tamu.edu
Subject: ALERT: DEA to Redirect Seized Websites!!


State and federal authorities recently conducted raids of various
companies/individuals that sell "drug paraphernalia", such as pipes and
related materials. Pipes, etc were seized along with their websites.

According to a Voice of America article, Mr. Ashcroft says they plan to
redirect the seized websites to to the DEA website.

A frightening quote from the a Voice of America article:
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=FAAF0B60-2B80-4100-BD255885C43351A6

"Mr. Ashcroft says customers who want to visit some of their favorite drug
paraphernalia websites are in for a big surprise in the days ahead. They
will be automatically redirected to the website for the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration."

In essence the DEA is going to usurp the freedom of speech and expression of
the people who run those seized websites. This would be akin to the U.S.
Dept of Justice redirecting the "aclu.org" website to the "usdoj.gov"
website.

And then there are the serious privacy issues involved if the DEA redirects
the seized websites, since they'll be logging all visitors, obtaining their
IP address and other highly personal information.

I encourage everyone here who values the freedom of speech and expression to
contact their local ACLU chapter (list can be found at http://www.aclu.org/
and/or other organizations that works with such issues.

Bottom line is this is a serious issue and if the DEA is able to do this,
they could potentially redirect *ANY* website - remember that the owners of
the websites seized have *NOT* been convicted of any crime.

Ron Bennett


-- 
JULES SIEGEL Apdo. 1764, 77501 Cancun Q. Roo Mexico
http://www.cafecancun.com/bookarts/jsiegel.htm

For free and ample discussion of issues in the news subscribe to Newsroom-L
http://ohio.stageserver.net/mailman/listinfo/newsroom-l_cafecancun.com




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posted by Irdial , 2:50 PM Þ 

In other words, they want the rest of the world to think that we are the ultimate weaving driver. Not to be trusted, but certainly not to be messed with either.

By these terrible means, they will create a world where war conducted by any country but the United States will seem simply too risky and the Great American Peace will begin. Unregulated Global Corporatism will be the only permissible ideology, every human will have access to McDonald¹s and the Home Shopping Network, all ³news² will come through some variant of AOLTimeWarnerCNN, the Internet will be run by Microsoft, and so it will remain for a long time.

Peace.

On Prozac.

Written by an ex Cattle Rancher
posted by Irdial , 1:52 PM Þ 


I am an imaginary number
1i
I don't really exist
_

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 1:23 PM Þ 

Please dont stop posting AK, the links and clearly written context are most informative, and you do not know who is reading blogdial, and where the page is being emailed to.

Every word in that BBC link is true. It is often the case that people who "appear to be failing to organize properly" are saying things that are completely true; when someone who you believe to be a liar is telling the truth, the words are nonetheless true , regardless of the source. Truth and true words are separate from man.

Dont be fooled by the propaganda about the situation in that country, to its credit, the BBC gives a good account of the background to all these problems.
posted by Irdial , 1:22 PM Þ 

You know things are arse-over-tit when..... Laugh or cry?

It's not war/peace that angers. It's the blatency of the attempts at deception. It's the hypocrisy. It's the narrow-minded, blinkered, self-interested borderline fascism. It's the political bullying, the chequebook politics (ask Colombia, Turkey et al). It is wearing on the soul.

I will try not to post on the subject for a while. Preaching. Converted. As a parting shot I recommend Monbiot in the Guardian as someone whose opinions are extremely well-informed, highly developed and cogent.
posted by Alun , 12:54 PM Þ 

Question time:
What is the weaker...?
(a) a UN which gives in to minority national self-interests and starts war on a pretext of (insert excuse here).
(b) a UN which stands up to minority national self-interests and prevents war

KLHKLJI£"$Y)*(£"&PIUBPK&*££££££££!!!!!!!!! (random swearwords) this is doing my head in and I can't stop thinking of it with every new story I read.
chinamission_un@mfa.gov.cn,france@un.int,france-presse@un.int,president@gov.ru,
I wrote to these and the Germans anyway, just to say thanks and stick with it. I will strike if and when necessary.

Akin, I admire your clarity.

Also, drug laws are fucked the world over since prohibition. I can legally buy seeds in the UK online. But if the little buggers germinate I'm a criminal! If the law is fucked, then fuck it!
Apologies for my language (or it's limitations) today.
posted by Alun , 11:51 AM Þ 

I just don't want to end up like Savage Pencil.

Being able to make people laugh is one of the most crucial powers man has. Being able to look at the world obliquely is also very useful, and its something that is sorely lacking today.

And as for not wanting to "end up like Savage Pencil", in every sense that matters, we have ALL "ended up like Savage Pencil". We ALL have to suffer the Badly Drawn Boy, Travises and every other piece of garbage that pollutes the airways day in and day out.

Anyone who thinks that they have escaped, please own up and show us the door.

Also, what on earth is a "peripheral artist"? Is the truth ever peripheral? I would argue that an illustrator humorist and critic like Savage Pencil is completely central, crucial and very much needed. Without people with his critical ear, the mushification of everything would be as easy as putting a soft boiled egg into a blender set at full speed.

People are taught literary criticism. The need for it is well understood. Its about time that criticism of popular music is valued properly; criticisms ability to sweep away illusion and dig the earwax of stupidity out of the ears of the ignorant is extraordinarily valuable. Anyone who read the better parts of the British music press when it actually worked well knows how criticism opens doors and enlightens, even whilst trashing bad work.

I can never understand what exactly it is everyone wants; do we want to live in a grey world of opinionless mush headed flesh where everyone just nods along to everything and anything, where every unstimulating stimulation is taken as "valid"?

I for one dont want ANY part of such a place, and if I had a button that I could press to destroy them all, I would have long ago broken my index finger pressing it.

My great colleagues A&H and I have been discussing this for over two years. "The Constituency" is a worthless mass of flesh, without imagination, a will or any focus, scrambling around in a dream world while "The Blob" closes in from every corner. Now that its too late, they are all running around like deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming 18 wheeler.

"In the end, it all comes down to a book written by someone you dont like very much." was one of our mutually evolved conclusions. And this is going to happen again and again. It is not satisfying, it is insufficient and there is no reason why I or anyone else with a brain should put up with it.
posted by Irdial , 11:41 AM Þ 

Pirate Radio L.A. (Danish commentaries in between)
Danish national radio came in possession of an entertainment broadcast made by 'Pirate Radio L.A.' hosted by Scott Shannon - one of Americas most well known radio DJs.

The program 'Bomb Iraq' was broadcast to American troops from a Kuwait radio station during the 1991 Gulf War.
posted by Claus Eggers , 10:52 AM Þ 

The Americans HATE the UN.

Has not everyone heard the paranoia (right or wrong) about black UN helicopters, UN troops to be deployed in continental USA etc etc?

These fears have been voiced by the religious right for decades, and now that they have the closest thing to one of thier own in the whitehouse, the UN can finally be destroyed.

Soverinty is a great power, which must be used responsibly. Each country should have the absolute right to conduct its affairs in the way that it wants, but when this means interfereing in other countries affairs, repression of individuals and other crimes, then it if for the other countries in the world to boycott them, just like South Africa was boycotted into submission.

IF (and thats a big if) this war happens, the UN should be moved to Paris. The UK will quickly be reformed if war happens, and will rejoin the brotherhood of nations. Rouge states, that unsettle the UN by constanly vetoing equitable resolutions and using it like a chessboard to bolster the aims of minorities against greater justice, need to be removed from the equation so that at last, the UN becomes a place where people seek and get justice instead of being a running joke.

Writing letters is a good idea, but a better idea is for everyone to stick together and strike en masse if the war goes ahead. This is the only message that you need to send, and it wil speak louder than any written word you could possibly write.

What an insane world; Russia, Germany France China, Angola all against the USA, with only Bulgaria taking sides with Uncle Sam Missile (a triplet dontcha know)...
posted by Irdial , 10:01 AM Þ 

Savage Pencil... Um, he's a collector. He's also an artist. A very peripheral artist. One whose only contribution, one might say, is criticism. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing. A critic. A collecting critic.

Enough, already. I just don't want to end up like Savage Pencil.
posted by Mess Noone , 9:59 AM Þ 

Democracy.
Let's assume it exists and is the, theoretical, way by which one is elected President of the USA or Prime Minister of the UK. It is, we are told, what one represents in these positions; a free society, choice, majority rule and so on.
Oh fuck it. I was going to write on how the US and UK are fucking up the UN, which has the potential to be a Good Thing for humanity, with their bullying and shouting. At the same time the French are pissed on as cowards and collaborators. The US and UK are in a MINORITY. Get used to it. I will try and find an e-mail address for the French, CHinese and Russian ambassadors today, to beg them to stand up to the US and UK, because if the bastards bully their way through on this one, the precedent is set and we are screwed for all time. The rule of law will be one rule, and that is who has the biggest guns and the most money.

P.S. I read a quote from Desmond Llewelyn (Bonds Q) who was a prisoner in the war, liberated in 1945 by American troops. They asked how long he had been a captive. He said 5 years. Impossible, they replied. The war's only been going 3 years.
Vive la France!
posted by Alun , 9:24 AM Þ 



Now. These people are smooking from a hookah, in Egypt. A hookah is used by musilms to smoke. Does this now mean that the hookas will be made illegal, and the importers and designers of modern versions will be rounded up and put in jail for three years?

Can you say, "Multi Vector Mcarthyism"®™?
posted by Irdial , 9:11 AM Þ 
posted by Claus Eggers , 9:05 AM Þ 

Removed from the internet:

smokelab.com

ghettoweb.com

Omnilounge.com


http://www.colorchangingglass.com/ is online, but with a protest.

www.testingfree.com sold drug test remedies...offline!

popesforyou.com offline.

Puffpipes.com turns up forbidden.

Well, what can i say? This is boom time for anyone in Europe (the free world) that wants to sell hand blown glass to our unfortunate American brothers and sisters. What I want to know is, how much CRACK did they have to smoke to comeup with this plan, and what did they use to smoke it?

The bad dream continues®
posted by Irdial , 9:05 AM Þ 


I am infinity

You may worship me,
but from afar
_

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa
posted by Claus Eggers , 9:01 AM Þ 

"With the advent of the Internet, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has exploded," Ashcroft said. "The drug paraphernalia business is now accessible in anyone's home with a computer and Internet access. And in homes across America we know that children and young adults are the fastest growing Internet users. Quite simply, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge. This illegal billion-dollar industry will no longer be ignored by law enforcement. Today, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, under the leadership of Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson and Associate Deputy Attorney General Karen Tandy, has taken decisive steps to dismantle the illegal drug paraphernalia industry by attacking their physical, financial and Internet infrastructures."

The defendants have been charged with conspiracy to sell and offering to sell various types of drug paraphernalia, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sections 846, 853 and 863. Federal law defines drug paraphernalia as those products that are primarily intended or designed to be used in ingesting, inhaling or otherwise using controlled substances, and include user-friendly and dealer-friendly devices. Items such as miniature scales, substances for "cutting" or diluting raw narcotics, bongs, marijuana pipes, roach clips, miniature spoons and cocaine freebase kits, among other things, are all considered drug paraphernalia.

"People selling drug paraphernalia are in essence no different than drug dealers," said Acting Administrator Brown. "They are as much a part of drug trafficking as silencers are a part of criminal homicide. These criminals operate a multimillion dollar enterprise, selling their paraphernalia in headshops, distributing out of huge warehouses, and using the worldwide web as a worldwide paraphernalia market. With Operations Pipe Dreams and Headhunter, these criminals are out of business and 11 illicit dot.coms are dot.gone."

The bad dream continues®

http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr022403.html
posted by Irdial , 8:47 AM Þ 

Instructions For Adding the NO WAR Counter to your site:

"Important Security Note: Kelvin Luck was kind enough to inform me that the way the proxies were set up potentially allowed people to access local files on the server. I've updated all versions of the proxy scripts so that this is now not possible. Also, I've added the postfix "_secure" to the zip filenames below, to differentiate them from the first versions. If you've already added the counter to your site, please replace the flash_proxy file with secure version below."

Uh oh!
posted by Irdial , 8:34 AM Þ 


I am the number
13
I am LUCKY
_

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa

ooh yah!

No-thing - The silence between words. Pure potential. The gap between the outgoing and incoming breath. It is unmanifest yet, but it contains all. -Osho Zen
posted by mary13 , 6:50 AM Þ 

DNA Computers?



Israeli scientists have devised a computer that can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC. The secret: It runs on DNA.
posted by alex_tea , 5:43 AM Þ 


How evil are you?


(just the picture of Barney in the background makes me feel evil!!)


Ive got RH Linux up and running now after a few difficulties (lost sound but it was a minor issue, easy to resolve) Ive been playing around with it and love the whole configurability just in the GUI alone (I only got my first machine this time last year and I love the learning curve of it). makes me feel a bit like this!! mwahahahaha!!!
posted by chriszanf , 4:28 AM Þ 

this is quite interesting. a no war counter... akin? anyone else with websites out there?

i'll add it to R107 as i'm working on a new layout right now anyway...
posted by alex_tea , 2:19 AM Þ 
Monday, February 24, 2003
posted by Irdial , 11:46 PM Þ 

Glad to Oblige...
posted by Irdial , 11:40 PM Þ 



This is SO cool!!!!! But where are the matching shorts or panties?

Like this one

You should make so much more clothes, it is so cool!
posted by Alison , 8:41 PM Þ 

Before the universe started, there was nothing, from which came everything.

Nuff Said.

I am Pi. I like Pi.
Pi goes on forever.
Pi is an irrational number.
Yet, you can use it.
Thats scary.
posted by Irdial , 6:23 PM Þ 

this is all a bit TCP...

anyway, how very apt, although i think i knew the outcome from the questions...


I am
0
I am nothing
_

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa
posted by alex_tea , 5:21 PM Þ 


I am infinity

You may worship me,
but from afar
_

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa


Besides that - I heard the French-American Fransois Kevorkian, my personal favorite house dj! He was again a pleasure to hear and dance to! What a night, got tears in my eyes cause of the beauty in the dj set! WOW!!!!

And Todd Solondz one of our all time best directors
Any of you have not seen his movies - DO IT!
they are cynical but yet funny
Hard and rough but in an nice way
and so post-post modern
posted by Alison , 5:21 PM Þ 

⇐⇒
posted by captain davros , 5:15 PM Þ 


I am
p

Everyone loves pi
_

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa
posted by Irdial , 4:53 PM Þ 

I just got an email, dated 1/1/70, 12:00AM, with a blank sender a blank body and a blank subject.
posted by Irdial , 4:43 PM Þ 

I went on a bus today into central London; it was more like a sunday morning than Monday afternoon; the cars.....were missing. It was dreamlike; the conductor said, "we are going to get into trouble, because we are going too fast".

Shocking, far out, wild and about time!
posted by Irdial , 4:38 PM Þ 

If I was in or near Haarlem I would be bidding on this.
posted by Josh Carr , 3:21 PM Þ 

there is plenty of awesome french music...

stereo total
programme
dorainne_moraille
sylvain chaveau
tone rec
dat politics

and of course, all that french house that i'm not really sure about...

daft punk, cassius, etc..

let's not forget that one half (or quarter or whatever) of sterolab is french as well...
posted by alex_tea , 2:51 PM Þ 





Now u know the score
(well u would if the gif would show up - actually it might just be the |=1r3\/\/@11 here)
posted by captain davros , 2:50 PM Þ 





How L337 are you?

'ow do you say, uh, i told you so?
posted by alex_tea , 2:46 PM Þ 
posted by captain davros , 2:11 PM Þ 

French music is past tense, baby. But they had their shot at leading the world (esp. Debussy era most recently. Although Piaf and Gainsbourg might count (performers rather than composers though. A valid distinction?).) They still have Boulez and Henry in this tradition. Not much stands out as 'modern' music though. Other european music could replace 'French' in this context. Language? (Brits are the only exception, unsurprisingly). Usually only non-vocal music crosses over from non-English to English speaking nations. (German electronic music especially relevant here). The only european vocal music I have is much folk music (esp. French and Spanish) where real soulful spirited singing means understanding comes through the sound of the words and not the meaning (also used, atmospherically by Cocteau Twins: contrast to soul-tearing flamenco singing).

But I think the problem European cinema has with the US (or, more aptly, vice versa) is a language problem. This combined with intellectual laziness. If all US blockbuster megamovies were eliminated there would remain more good films than I have time to watch. There is no absence of European films, there is an absence of take-up by the US market (and/or public) of foreign-language films (finally broken to some extent by Almoldovar and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). There is a reciprocality here: note the almost ubiquitous dubbing of 'foreign' films in France, Italy, Spain, Germany.

The Bollywood situation is strange and unique. These are blockbusters, replacing shooting with dancing. But yes, at least they are home-grown. I don't think Europe has a tradition of blockbuster films.
posted by Alun , 2:09 PM Þ 

I am all for the French, now more than ever, but honestly, if all the can offer us (in terms of music) is Johnny Halliday, and rappers rapping in French then they offer us nothing.

Nature abhors a vaccum. In the absence of European films, something will instantly take its place, especially if it looks good, moves fast...and has shootin!

India doesnt have this problem, and sports the largest film industry on earth. If you want to destroy cultural imperialism via cinematic invasion, set the rate of tax on indiginous cinema goers and film making to 0 and put your money where your mouth is.

The French have already had sucess in staving off cultural domination by mandating that 40% of all music played on the radio must be French. In my gut, I feel that this is putting a plaster on a gunshot wound. If no one wants French music, then there is something wrong with the music. There is no reason why people everywhere shouldnt love French music (if there even IS such a thing) as long as it is genuinely awesome; take Daft Punk for an example, awesome, and "French".

I read an interesting piece in the wsj.com paper version about Johnny Halliday and his new (53rd) "album", but cant find it online...what i DID find is this which is amusing..

Oh yes, and how could I forget teh priceless album by Alizee whose single, most unfortunately is wrapped up with dozens of links to pr0n on Google...yuk!
posted by Irdial , 1:29 PM Þ 
posted by Alun , 12:03 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 12:03 PM Þ 

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness, concerning all acts of initiative (and creation). There is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too, all sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occured. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
posted by Irdial , 11:49 AM Þ 

Read this and weep.
posted by Irdial , 11:45 AM Þ 
posted by captain davros , 10:44 AM Þ 

The ultimate Efnet sanction:
posted by Irdial , 10:38 AM Þ 
Sunday, February 23, 2003

Crapsios are amazing for making bungle amounts of noise! Yeah! That rules, carth. I like how you eventually got a composition out of it. Awesome!
In the shower this morning I was composing this big long song in my head for full orchestra with band. It was awesome, actually pretty coherent. I played it in my head long enough that I *probably* won't forget it (but most likely I will). Normally the songs I sing in my head dance around time signatures like Mike Oldfield's "Amarok" but this one kept on going... eventually ending up really beat-heavy, like four on the floor orchestrated. Of course, it'd sound like shit to anyone else - that's why we confine these things to the shower!
posted by Barrie , 7:56 PM Þ 

I have this old casio keyboard, where the demo song is Wham - Wake me up before you gogo. When it starts running out of power, it makes the most glorious noises if you hit the demo button and shake it a bit. Reminds me of carrionsound.com

Have a listen to todays session: mikkel-02-23-2003-170024-b.mp3

I really need to record more of this, I'm so in love with it.
posted by Mikkel , 4:18 PM Þ 

"Of them all, Rice is the scariest. Chevron Oil named a supertanker after her. Dripping with Ivy League degrees in international relations, an accomplished classical pianist, speaking elegant French, monumentally self-assured, Condy knows everything and nothing. It is utterly beyond her comprehension that the citizens of Baghdad might not welcome a cruise missile arriving in the upstairs bedroom as the instrument of their liberation".

smh.com.au
posted by Irdial , 1:15 PM Þ 
posted by Barrie , 8:55 AM Þ 

http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=homelandparty.4904876
posted by Irdial , 4:12 AM Þ 

I removed it because the test is broken, and crap anyway - just press submit without answering the questions and you are '5up4r l337' - not very l337. Reminds me of the time I answered an online intelligence test - for about an hour. I was up to page fourhundred-and-something when I gave up. A bit of research revealed that it was a satire, on a satire site. It looked very kosher however...
posted by Claus Eggers , 1:32 AM Þ 

ClEgSø tested as s|_|p4|~ |_33+ at 9:32 PM!
posted by Irdial , 12:27 AM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 12:26 AM Þ 
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