Over on boingboing, an article which links to a 20-minute documentary about the ‘Amen Break,’ a 6-second drum break from a late-60s record that’s been sampled and re-used in popular culture for 40 years More interesting than you think.
I’m linking to boingboing because they have links to the primary source as well as mirror sites for the movie.
I see that a lot of people are devoting a bunch of space to talking about the dubious Dubai connection, where a company in the United Arab Emirates will be managing homeland security for a US port city.
And it’s fine to talk about it, but what’s interesting to me is how much more space people are devoting to this no-brainer than they are to more recent scandals of far greater import in the short, medium, and long term.
I’m referring to the fact that the President of the USA recently declared that the law doesn’t apply to him, and the fact that a federal judge just threw out a case involving extraordinary rendition. These two issues speak to the very core of what it means to be an American, really, and the way the People (as in, ‘We the People…’) react to these two items will determine what freedom and liberty mean for future Americans.
DubaiGate, however, is easy to understand, easy to wrap your head around, and only shows incompetence. Therefore, it’s an easy thing to talk about. I mean, you might have read that previous paragraph and said, ‘Uh, the future of freedom and liberty for Americans? Are you on crack?’
No one wants to think about incipient facism in American government, much less do anything about it. We run a real danger in this country, because the radical right-wingers are organized and well-funded. They’d never say they were facists, because they’re mostly not. But they’re using nationalism and religion to remove many civil liberties, just like some other famous facists I could mention.
And with the President declaring God-Emperor-hood, and the courts saying the God-Emperor has the right to send people to other countries to avoid US laws having to do with humane treatment, things are getting more and more worrisome.
Maybe I’m just an old-fashioned civil libertarian, who can’t keep up with the new drill, the one where 9/11 ceases to be a national tragedy, and becomes a political prop: Both boogey-man and justification for anything. But I believe there are others out there like me who see a trend, a progression towards something very dark and sinister in the not-distant future.
I sometimes play chess, and in chess, you make decisions and then deal with the consequences. There’s only so much foresight a person can have, and either you’re walking into a trap or you’re not. And if you are, you deal. You play whatever moves you can in order to try and wedge your way out. And in that spirit, I have to say that I’ll be contributing money to Democratic party challengers in Congress.
Over on flickr, you really should check out Esco & Guilmon. He takes haunting photos, does amazing transformation and collage work, and also designs movie posters. A genius in the digital realm.
Start here.
I’m looking for a vehicle to replace the Honda.
The Honda’s a good car, but I want an SUV, like a Cherokee or a Trooper. Forest Service roads and car camping are in the cards… If I could buy new, I’d probably get the new diesel Jeep Liberty and run biodiesel.
Anyway. I’ve been looking about on craigslist, and found a few options. But naturally I got distracted by the medium format cameras that have suddenly appeared in droves. A Pentax 6×4.5 system for around $800, and a 6×7 for $2500. Both good deals. Pentax is also theoretically making a digital body for the 645 lenses, soooo…
The reason I’d want a medium format camera is for big prints. And what I really want is the Fuji or Linhoff 6×17 (yes, a negative that’s 6.5 inches long), for panoramas. Forget the 6×7, get the Fuji for $5k with the 90mm lens, take some pictures and make… calendars? How do you recoup $5k with huge prints of beautiful scenery?
A while back I linked to Lego.com’s WorldBuilder game. They updated it with new levels called Challenge Worlds. And now there’s WorldBuilder2.
It’s a blessing and a curse, isn’t it?
I posted this on Freecycle, before it occured to me I could ask on my Xanga thing.
I’ve got a Macintosh Portable with 3 megs of ram and the standard 40 MB hard drive. It all works, except the screen is a little flickery. It’s got System 6.0.5 installed. Black soft case with Apple logo and ‘Macintosh Portable’ embroidery.
I’d love to send it out to someone worthy, but, despite being ‘Portable,’ it’s so heavy I doubt the value of actually shipping it.
I thought I might send it to Xanga, loaded with System 7, the TCP/IP stack, and iCab web browser so they could test for Mac, but that’d be too silly.
But if you’re into it, speak up please.
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly things lose their sheen, their glow, their attraction.
For instance: Long long ago, I wanted to have all the episodes of ‘The Prisoner’ on tape. And now I have three episodes on DVD, bought mostly as a reflex action stimulated by my old desire. I can barely bring myself to sit through them if I put them on… Granted, it’s the last three, and they’re all heavily psychedelic in their own way, and require a certain state of mind. But mostly I’m just a very different person now than I was when I first became a fan.
And thus it is with many things. But it seems like the desire fades faster now. Maybe I’m older, maybe I’m more enlightened, maybe I don’t have as much disposable income. I can’t see myself buying things just to buy them (like so many people do), and the things I want are things I know I don’t need. It’s almost like a sport, wanting things. When you get them, the sport is over. Wanting is more fun than having.
There are some things I want, that I know I need. There are places I need to go and see, and things I need to do, and probably people I need to meet… I have no idea who these people are, but I’ll meet them, and then it will be obvious that I needed to meet them. I can’t want to meet them. I can’t want them to be a certain way, because that would limit what would come of it. Wanting is more fun than having, but some things, relationships especially, are better to have than to want.
Interactive Johari Window.
Tell me what you think of me by following this link: HomerTheBrave.
(You can view my results here.)
Update: I didn’t realize this thing was making the rounds here. I saw it on mefi.
“I believe that when we leave a place, part of it goes with us and part of us remains. Go anywhere in the station, when it is quiet, and just listen. After a while, you will hear the echoes of all our conversations, every thought and word we’ve exchanged. Long after we are gone .. our voices will linger in these walls for as long as this place remains. But I will admit .. that the part of me that is going .. will very much miss the part of you that is staying.”– G’Kar to Sheridan in Babylon 5:”Objects in Motion”
G’Kar was always my favorite character on Babylon 5. He starts out purely evil, and ends up being revered as a sort of warrior/zen master.
I really wish I could say I’d seen Katsulas in more roles than just Bab5 and Star Trek, but… I’ll always think of him as G’Kar. Minus the lizard makeup.
Damn. Now I want to watch the whole thing again. Maybe just seasons 3 and 4.
Republicans: The party of lawlessness.
Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt
White House Sways Some GOP Lawmakers
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 15, 2006; Page A03Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration’s warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday. [..]
Republicans: The party of lawlessness.
The photos America doesn’t want seenBy Matthew Moore
February 15, 2006
MORE photographs have been leaked of Iraqi citizens tortured by US soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.Tonight the SBS Dateline program plans to broadcast about 60 previously unpublished photographs that the US Government has been fighting to keep secret in a court case with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Although a US judge last year granted the union access to the photographs following a freedom-of-information request, the US Administration has appealed against the decision on the grounds their release would fuel anti-American sentiment. [..]
Republicans: The party of lawlessness.
White House blames Cheney shooting victimWashington
February 14, 2006 – 3:19PMThe White House today tried to absolve US Vice President Dick Cheney of any blame for shooting a 78-year-old friend on a Texas hunting trip, as other officials struggled to explain why they waited nearly 24 hours before making the news public.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the victim, wealthy Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, had not followed basic hunting safety rules.
“Protocol was not followed by Mr Whittington when it came to notifying others that he was there,” McClellan said.
“And so, you know, unfortunately, these types of hunting accidents happen from time to time.”
However, several hunting experts were sceptical.
They said Cheney might have violated a cardinal rule of hunting: Know your surroundings before you pull the trigger. [..]
