J. Scott Jennings, who yesterday told the Senate Judicial Committee that he is only 29 years old, might not have expected a line of questions from Ted Kennedy about the January 26th presentation at the GSA headquarters. Nice work, Ted. Henry Waxman has some juicy new leads to follow. Indeed the GOP PowerPoint presentation was shown in other federal buildings where partisan/political activity is prohibited.
Friday Music Videos II
It's KMFDM, bitches! Nothing subtle about these Germans. But I still like them for their humor and danceable beats. Here they are with New American Century (2006) accompanied by a homemade video from a fan.
Count your blessings
Walk the line
Don't move too fast
Or fall behind
There are rules you must obey
They get re-written by the day
Don't do this - don't say that
Your every move is logged and tracked
By the all oppressive eye
Spy satellites in friendly skiesThe new american century
Has only just begun
No one exempt from the tragedy
Counterattack start pushing backFight the power
That chokes your speech
Fight the power
That makes you bleed
Fight the power
That propogates lies
To keep you weak
Keep you in lineNo one dares to say a word
Our panic drives all human herds
In the land where cash is king
Our silence bought and sold for free
The future's banging on our door
When real I.D. will be the law
Love thy neighbor and turn him in
It's call patriotismThe world is watching in disbelief
Chanting shame on you
How can you stand by so quietly
Letting them rape your libertiesFight the power
That chokes your speech
Fight the power
That makes you bleed
Fight the power
That propogates lies
To keep you weak
Keep you in line
Fight the power
that reigns you in
Divides and conquers
Defines your sin
Fight the power
For one and all
Before the power swallows us wholeThose who cannot learn from history
Are doomed to repeat it!You can't be bothered or concerned
You see no reason for alarm
Prejudice, religion hate
Usher in the new mandate
Absolute and resolved
One nation under one god
Lack of interest has its price
As we're stripped of all our rightsFight the power
That chokes your speech
Fight the power
That makes you bleed
Fight the power
That propogates lies
To keep you weak
Keep you in line
Fight the power
that reigns you in
Divides and conquers
Defines your sin
Fight the power
For one and all
Before the power swallows us whole
Friday Music Videos I
I just got the Japanese import edition of Interpol's Our Love To Admire CD. As an Interpol fan since 2003, I am not disappointed at all. Here they are performing Mammoth, the fifth track on the album.
Spare me the suspense
Spare me the suspense
I got no currency, but I'm heaven sentSo spare me the suspense
Just spare me the suspenseHey lady wait, oh, I so hope you try
You're late, babe you know it's your timeAnd I won't let you sit by
So cold in the pitch
Night, alone
You can't make amendsNo I won't let you sit by
So cold in the pitch
Now we should dance like two fucking twins
Just spare me the suspenseThere are seven ancient pawn shops along the road
And the seven aching daddies you may want to knowOooh, right on
Hey lady wraith, oh baby I can't deny
I got a taste, a taste, a taste and it's timeBut I won’t let you sit by
So cold in the pitch
Night, alone
You can’t make amendsNo, I won’t let you sit by
So cold in the pitch
Now it’s enough with this fucking incense
Just spare me the suspenseThere are seven ancient pawn shops along the road
Oh I know seven aging daddies you may want to knowWhen you played your heart out
It made me turn aroundOooh, right on
Wait, and you froze in the night
You're late, there's a hole in the sky
No haste, no lesson, no lie
Got a taste that I can't deny(Spare me the suspense)
And you wait till you know that it's time,
You wait till you know that it's time
You wait till you know that it's time
You wait till you know that it's time
You say that I'm sent from God (you sent black lies), do you know
You said that I'm sent from God (you sent black lies)
How's That Roger Clemens Working Out For Ya?
That good, eh? I see.
It's August. Brace Yourselves.
Cartoon by the great Ted Rall. (Yes, I said great).
It is August, the month with a very bad rap. While I don't agree with all of his assessments, this article by David Plotz has become somewhat famous since it does sum-up a lot of reasons to dislike August (and it helps that Slate re-posted it in 2006). But what makes it worth reading each year for me is the context in which it was written. Look at the original date. Remember those times? Those were the days, right?
What were we talking about by the water cooler seven Augusts ago? We had a missing, white, female intern in Washington (what was her name again?). We had rumors that Bobby Fischer was resurfacing in Internet chat rooms. We were content with our economy, despite the dot-com bust. And according to our president, we lived under the false notion that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans protected us. But George W. Bush knew better. He was working hard to protect us from attack, right?
He was in Crawford, Texas all that month. But make no mistake, it was a working vacation. On August 6th, he was handed a Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) that sprung him to action. It had an unmistakable warning in its title. What was the title, again? Anyone?
Dr. Rice, maybe you remember? You weren't there in Crawford, but you were the NSA Director. You might know.
Riiiiiiight. Bin laden Determined to Strike in US. Thank you for feigning the recall of that title, Doctor. Nice effect.
And George W. Bush applied his success in August 2001 to other crises that occurred in future Augusts. Like this one in late August 2005. Imagine the catastrophe that would have ensued had FEMA not recognized that the citizens of New Orleans were unable to evacuate, and that the levees were likely to break. Imagine that.
So sleep tight, America. There's no need to worry about our leaders. They are waking-up every morning with our safety and security as their top priority. They will protect us. I have no doubt.
The Handbasket Just Increased Velocity
We don't need to leave in order for Iraq to disentegrate and break-up. It is happening now. This news is long-awaited, but now there is officially a new crisis for the fragile Iraqi government.
Sunni bloc quits Iraq govt, 73 dead in bombings
By Mariam Karouny and Paul Tait
Wednesday August 1st, 2007The main Sunni Arab political bloc quit the Iraqi government on Wednesday in a blow to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's shaky coalition as suicide bombers killed more than 70 people in three attacks across Baghdad.
The resignation move pushed the government into a new crisis undermining its efforts to reconcile Iraqis and end sectarian strife.
Fifty of Wednesday's dead were killed when a suicide bomber in a fuel truck packed with explosives targeted motorists at a petrol station.
The Sunni Accordance Front left Maliki's Shi'ite-led coalition over his failure to meet a list of about a dozen demands, including a greater say in security matters.
"The government was still ... closing the door on reforms which are needed to save Iraq," Accordance Front spokesman Rafei Issawi told a news conference, adding the government should have met its demands or "at least admit its failure."
Issawi said Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie and five ministers would resign on Wednesday.
The Sunni Front's 44 members will remain in the 275-seat parliament. Its withdrawal will have little practical effect on the 15-month-old government, which is virtually paralyzed by infighting but needs only a simple majority to keep functioning.
Maliki's government has already been weakened by the withdrawal of fiery Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's political bloc, one of the biggest in parliament, over his refusal to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The coalition is under pressure from the United States to end sectarian strife between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs, which has killed tens of thousands. Washington is unhappy at the slow political progress in reconciling the warring sects.
DOOR STILL OPEN
Iraq Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a member of the Sunni bloc, said the Front was still open to negotiation.
"The doors are still open on all options, including returning to government, if they introduce reforms," Hashemi told reporters.
The Accordance Front is made up of three main Sunni Arab groups, including Hashemi's Islamic Party. Its list of demands included the disbanding of Shi'ite militias that have targeted Sunni Arabs.
Iraq's other deputy prime minister, Kurd Barham Salih, told Reuters the Sunni bloc's withdrawal was the most serious political crisis yet faced by Maliki's government.
He said preparations were continuing for a summit of the political leadership of Iraq's Kurdish, Shi'ite and Sunni Arab communities, which would take place in "the next few days."
"The crisis is grave and its implications should not be underestimated, but I hope it offers an opportunity to address the causes of political instability afflicting this country," Salih said of the meeting.
The Accordance Front, which last week suspended the work of its six ministers and gave Maliki a week to meet its demands, accused the government of failing to consult it on key issues.
The U.S. ambassador and the top general in Iraq are due to give a crucial progress report to Congress next month as U.S. President George W. Bush comes under growing pressure to show progress in the unpopular war or bring troops home.
In Baghdad's Mansour district, police said the suicide bomber had lured motorists queuing for petrol before exploding the fuel truck. Another 60 people were hurt.
Twenty people were killed when a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle near a popular ice cream parlor in a bustling commercial area of Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite district of Karrada. Another bomber killed three in southern Doura district.
The U.S. military, which began a build-up of 30,000 extra troops this year in a bid to buy time for Maliki to meet his political targets, said three of its soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the east of the capital on Tuesday.
Another was killed by small arms fire in eastern Baghdad on the same day, taking the total killed in July to at least 78, the lowest monthly toll for the U.S. military in Iraq since last November and since the troop build-up began in February.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin, Aseel Kami and Peter Graff in Baghdad)
Whistle While You Work
Wish I could say there were entertaining moments during Tony Snow's press briefing this afternoon. But the highlight was someone's cell phone, which briefly caused Tony to do a little dance. I was too late to capture that, but I did get his next move - a roll of the eyes and a whistle while the annoying ringing continued.
It's August in Washington. Nothing to see here, I'm afraid.
Put NYC Pigeons On Hatch Control
Hollywood has just initiated a birth control program for pigeons (apparently it is called hatch control in bird world). We in New York need to do the same. Enough of these urban pests. Squirrels, you are OK. Pigeons, there's way too many of you.
Hollywood pigeons to be put on the pillAssociated Press
Monday July 30, 2007Hollywood residents believe they've found a humane way to reduce their pigeon population and the messes the birds make: the pill.
Over the next few months a birth control product called OvoControl P, which interferes with egg development, will be placed in bird food in new rooftop feeders.
"We think we've got a good solution to a bad situation," said Laura Dodson, president of the Argyle Civic Association, the group leading the effort to try the new contraceptive. "The poop problem has become unmanageable and this could be the answer."
Community leaders planned to announce the OvoControl P pilot program, which Dodson believes is the first of its kind in the nation, at a news conference Monday.
Dodson said representatives from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals contacted her group with the idea to use OvoControl P. Other animal rights groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, support the contraceptive over electric shock gates, spiked rooftops, poisons or other methods.
It's estimated about 5,000 pigeons call the area home. Their population boom is blamed in part on people feeding the birds, including a woman known as the Bird Lady, who was responsible for dumping 25-pound bags of seed in 29 spots around Hollywood.
OvoControl P has been registered with the state Department of Pesticide Regulation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Developed by Rancho Santa Fe-based Innolytics, the substance contains nicarbazin, which interferes with an egg's ability to develop or hatch, said Erick Wolf, Innolytics chief executive.
The pilot program was expected to show results within a year, and the Hollywood area's pigeon population is expected to shrink by at least half by 2012, Dodson said.
Someone tell Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs that we need to take similar action in New York City.
Barry's Road To Histroy Must End, But It Won't
I don't want any pitcher to give up home run # 755 to Barry Bonds. My 2-cent opinion is please keep walking him - even with the bases loaded. Keep walking Barry. Keep him stuck on # 754 until he has a career-ending injury or retires. That's the solution every team and every pitcher needs to follow.
Actually, I have more than a 2-cent opinion on this. I am furious at the fans in one of my favorite cities, San Francisco. They have zero respect or love for the game. They are as bad as Yankee fans. I have been to two of their home games last season, and my sister was at a home game this past spring. With the exception of older fans, who come from other regions or remember the NY Giants, the San Francisco fans do not pay attention to what's going on in the field, unless Barry is at bat. They munch on some of the best ballpark food in the USA.
They have the best club section in the majors, with full bars, California rolls, fine local wines (duh), pizza, and great dogs (apparently the SF crowd is not into ice cream as much as we New Englanders are, but their food otherwise rocks). And they are very content to bundle-up in the 50-degree summer weather and much on their upscale food and not be bothered by the game. When I let out a cheer after seeing a bare-handed scoop and throw by David Wright to initiate an exciting double play, a Giants fan turned around in slow-motion and exclaimed, "Gee, someone really likes the Mets." No dumbass, someone really likes baseball.
What is wrong with these people?
San Francisco, you probably don't want to hear this, but you are like George W. Bush when it comes to Barry Bonds. You are all alone, in your bubble, thinking that you have something worthy of respect or glory. You probably think that history will look upon Barry favorably. Please.
Barry has talent. But he is a cheater and a liar.
Steroids don't make you a better hitter, but they make you hit the ball further. Also, steroids don't make you step-up two hat sizes, or step-up three shoe sizes. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) does that. Barry has clearly used it. He used to be skinner than me (I am 6'3, 200). Now he makes me look tiny. That wasn't training or simply topical cream steroids. Barry was injecting a lot of stuff. Got it? he cheated.
There should be no hung jury on this one. The jury is in. And the more you praise and cheer for him, San Francisco, the more you look like the stupidest, most naive and blind spots fans on earth.
You have a wonderful ballpark and a great history in the National League. Your franchise had the greatest all-around player ever, Willie Mays. That's something to be extremely proud of. But right now, you really don't deserve baseball. Right now, you are pathetic.
Wherever Barry goes, he is bood by fans who acknowledge the truth. Why do you continue to cheer him? What the hell is wrong with the City on the Bay?
No End In Sight: Opens Today In New York
It premiers tonight at the Film Forum on East Houston and Varick. A must see among Iraq documentaries this year, along with Taxi To The Dark Side.
Friday Music Video
I'm rollin' up I-95 up to Boston tonight. Need a good driving song. Something that represents my northern Manhattan. Got it. I have to keep in mind that Archetype and M are seeing The Police at Fenway Park Saturday night. But still, this is my first track choice.
this is why I'm hot
this is why I'm hot
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot
this is why I'm hot
this is why I'm hot
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hotI'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't cause you not
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot
I'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't cause you not
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hotthis is why I'm hot
I dont gotta rap
I can sell a mill sayin nothin' on the track
I represent New York, I got it on my back
niggas say that we lost it, so Imma bring it back
I love the dirty dirty, cause niggas show me love
the ladies start to bounce as soon as I hit da club
but in da Mid-West, they love to take it slow
so when I hit the club I watch them get it on da flo'
and if you need it hifey, I take it to da bay
Frisco to Sac-Town, they do it erryday
Compton to Hollywood, soon as I hit LA
I'm in dat lo-lo, i do it da Cali way
and when I hit da chi, people say that I'm fly
they love da way I dress, they like my attire
they love how I move crowds from side to side
they ask me how I do it, and simply I replythis is why I'm hot (hot)
this is why I'm hot (hot)
this is why, this is why,this is why I'm hot
this is why I'm hot (hot)
this is why I'm hot (hot)
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hotI'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't cause you not
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot
I'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't cause you not (mims)
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hotthis is why I'm hot, catch me on da block
every other day another purse another drop
16 bars, 24 a pop
44 a song nigga gimme what you got
I'm in to drivin cars, fresh across da lot
I'm in to shuttin' stores down, jus so I can shopif you need a bird, I could get it chopped
tell me what you need, you know I get 'em by da flock
I call my homie black, meet me on da avvve
I hit wash heights with the money in the bag
we in the big spendency, my pimpin neva a drag
find me with different women that you niggas never had
but those who say they know me, know I'm focused on my green
player you come between, you better focus on da bean
I keep it so mean, the way you see me lean
and when I say I'm hot, my nigga this is what I meanthis is why I'm hot hot
this is why I'm hot hot
this is why, this is why,this is why I'm hot
this is why I'm hot hot
this is why I'm hot hot
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hotI'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't cause you not
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot
I'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you hate cause you not (mims)
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hotthis is why im hot, shorty's see da drop
ask me what i paid and i say yea i payed a guap
and den i hit da switch dat take away da top
so chicks around da way they call me cream of da crop
they hop in da car, i tell em all aboard
we hit da studio, they say they like how i record
i gave them black train, and now i did you wrong
so everytime i see them man they tell me thas they song
they say im da bomb, they love the way the charm hanging
from the neck it compliments the arm, which compliments
the ear, then comes tha gear so when i hit tha room
tha shory's stop and stare niggaz start to hate
rearrange they face little do they know i'm keeping
things buy waist side so i reply no body got ta die
similar to lil weeze coz i got tha firethis is why I'm hot hot
this is why I'm hot hot
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot
this is why I'm hot hot
this is why I'm hot hot
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hotI'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't cause you not
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot
I'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you hate cause you not (mims)
this is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot
Pat Tillman Was Murdered
This explains a lot, doesn't it? It's horrific. Pat Tillman was shot by more than one soldier, with standard M16 rifles, in the head, from a distance of less than 35 feet. He was delibrately targeted and fired upon by his own men. Then superiors covered it up and even congratulated each other via e-mail for preventing a criminal investigation. And while the Tillman family was lied to, the heroic story of Pat Tillman was sold to the American public to drum-up support for the occupation of Iraq, Army enlistment, and the War on Terror.
I am not shocked much in Bushworld, but even this story has me shocked. And knowing that Tillman was a left-leaning atheist, and seeing how he affirmed it in his very last words, has me furious. He was in Afghanistan for the same reason I would have gone - to kill the guys who trained and financed those who killed our people (and nearly killed me) in 2001. He wasn't there to promote Bush's 2004 reelection, but that's how he was used in the end. It it outrageous. And since the Bush administration took steps to prevent the truth from coming out, claiming broad executive privilege, then they must be held accountable for the cover-up.
The NFL needs to shut the fuck up about how one of their stars kicked Taliban ass. The Bushies and warhawks need to shut the fuck up about how we need to enlist and fight their war. And the wingnuts just need to shut the fuck up. I want justice. The Tillmans deserve justice.
AP: New details on Tillman's deathBy MARTHA MENDOZA
AP National Writer
July 26, 2007Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.
The doctors — whose names were blacked out — said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.
Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a friendly-fire accident.
The medical examiners' suspicions were outlined in 2,300 pages of testimony released to the AP this week by the Defense Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Among other information contained in the documents:
• In his last words moments before he was killed, Tillman snapped at a panicky comrade under fire to shut up and stop "sniveling."
• Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory e-mails for keeping criminal investigators at bay as the Army conducted an internal friendly-fire investigation that resulted in administrative, or non-criminal, punishments.
• The three-star general who kept the truth about Tillman's death from his family and the public told investigators some 70 times that he had a bad memory and couldn't recall details of his actions.
• No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene — no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.
The Pentagon and the Bush administration have been criticized in recent months for lying about the circumstances of Tillman's death. The military initially told the public and the Tillman family that he had been killed by enemy fire. Only weeks later did the Pentagon acknowledge he was gunned down by fellow Rangers.
With questions lingering about how high in the Bush administration the deception reached, Congress is preparing for yet another hearing next week.
The Pentagon is separately preparing a new round of punishments, including a stinging demotion of retired Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr., 60, according to military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the punishments under consideration have not been made public.
In more than four hours of questioning by the Pentagon inspector general's office in December 2006, Kensinger repeatedly contradicted other officers' testimony, and sometimes his own. He said on some 70 occasions that he did not recall something.
At one point, he said: "You've got me really scared about my brain right now. I'm really having a problem."
Tillman's mother, Mary Tillman, who has long suggested that her son was deliberately killed by his comrades, said she is still looking for answers and looks forward to the congressional hearings next week.
"Nothing is going to bring Pat back. It's about justice for Pat and justice for other soldiers. The nation has been deceived," she said.
The documents show that a doctor who autopsied Tillman's body was suspicious of the three gunshot wounds to the forehead. The doctor said he took the unusual step of calling the Army's Human Resources Command and was rebuffed. He then asked an official at the Army's Criminal Investigation Division if the CID would consider opening a criminal case.
"He said he talked to his higher headquarters and they had said no," the doctor testified.
Also according to the documents, investigators pressed officers and soldiers on a question Mrs. Tillman has been asking all along.
"Have you, at any time since this incident occurred back on April 22, 2004, have you ever received any information even rumor that Cpl. Tillman was killed by anybody within his own unit intentionally?" an investigator asked then-Capt. Richard Scott.
Scott, and others who were asked, said they were certain the shooting was accidental.
Investigators also asked soldiers and commanders whether Tillman was disliked, whether anyone was jealous of his celebrity, or if he was considered arrogant. They said Tillman was respected, admired and well-liked.
The documents also shed new light on Tillman's last moments.
It has been widely reported by the AP and others that Spc. Bryan O'Neal, who was at Tillman's side as he was killed, told investigators that Tillman was waving his arms shouting "Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat (expletive) Tillman, damn it!" again and again.
But the latest documents give a different account from a chaplain who debriefed the entire unit days after Tillman was killed.
The chaplain said that O'Neal told him he was hugging the ground at Tillman's side, "crying out to God, help us. And Tillman says to him, `Would you shut your (expletive) mouth? God's not going to help you; you need to do something for yourself, you sniveling ..."
___
Associated Press reporters Scott Lindlaw in Las Vegas and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press.
Feinstein vs. Gonzales: The Full Clip
Reposted from Politics TV. In the now-infamous July 24th hearing, Feinstein tries to get to the very bottom of the USA terminations. Who put the USAs on the list and how many firings did Gonzales approve?
This was so infuriating, I almost expected Feinstein to drop an F-bomb when Gonzo laid-out examples of possible misconduct and then admitted that none of the terminated USAs were terminated for such examples. I myself would have said, "fuck you," gotten-up, and stormed out. Fuck that. Would you agree? Try not to curse.
Human Trafficking By First Kuwaiti Contracting
That's not a typo. This is fucking incredible. These two whislteblowers, despite their hokey appearance and grammatical errors, speak for themselves.
The US State Department has a lot to explaining to do. And this is yet another scandal to unfold in Bushworld.
Just watch this, especially the second video.
Holy Motherfucker.
Henry Waxman should go on the fucking warpath. And he will.
Rory Mayberry is not a new face to appear before Congress. He blew the whistle on Halliburton's scandalous management of food services for foreign contract laborers in 2005.
And now, he reports that he met Filipino and Indian workers who were being paid as little as $200 per month by First Kuwaiti, and if he blew the whistle then, he would have been thrown out of the Green Zone to face greater physical risks. Sounds like something out of Pol Pot's Cambodia or Argentina 30 years ago. It's scary and real.
Max Blumenthal Strikes Again!
He's incredible and he is on a roll. And he does it for free (it helps to have the Wingnuts come to DC to do their conferences). This time, he infiltrates the Christians United for Israel conference in Washington, DC back on July 16th.
You will notice two young female PR agents in the video. I find it funny when I do a simple Google search for their backgrounds. Alison Crisci is a graduate of Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA, and is a liberal compared to most people in the conference (although she is an outspoken Christian, she supports tolerance of Muslims). Kara Silverman graduated from Ohio State University in 2005 who majored in geography and Jewish studies. They both work for 5W, a fast-growing PR firm in New York. I am tempted to call them both losers. But as a Communications major, I have to remember that the PR industry really sucks when you are starting out. Long hours, low pay, and gigs like this. Ouch.
Live Earth And Other Circle Jerks
By Archetype:
It's official. I will no longer attend ANY "green" events. You know what I mean, these self-important, self-righteous, self-absorbed, do-gooders who want to tell me that either things are really, really bad and I have to change or that they are really really trying hard and here is the evidence in which a 100-slide PowerPoint presentation outlines everything they have done to protect the environment or at least identified the problems that all these other people have the change (as was skillfully pointed out at an EPA seminar on green building I attended this week). Where is the ownership to this issue? Where are the real leaders?
All I have to say to all of them is, GO FUCK YOURSELVES!
"Compiling the data is hard… it takes time"
"Changing behavior is hard… it takes time "
"Changing policy is hard… it takes time "
Nope. None of those are hard. Complicated? Perhaps, but not hard. There are many things about this issue that are hard. But let me share something that is really very easy, simple in fact.
A collapsing eco-system. Very easy.
Doesn't need consensus.
Doesn't need further research.
And now that we continue to sit on our hands with half-measures at best and a whole gaggle of rhetoric, here is another thing it doesn't need, time.
Time is no longer of the essence. As Living Colour once sang, Time's UP!
Look, I like Al Gore, we should be having retrospectives on his two-term Presidency at this point, but he is part of the hypocritical problem. The time is well past. Happy Earth Day, folks. Al and the many disillusioned thousands (millions?) who attended or watched the Live Earth "festivities" all must face some facts here. We, the people, do not have a say in our future. The rich and, subsequently, the powerful, which have always had that say, will determine our fate. And they give less than a shit about state of the planet. An inconvenient truth? Indeed. Inconvenient because we fat, lazy citizens might have to walk to work. We might have to drive smaller cars or live in smaller houses or even GOD FORBID, use less electricity. Wait, that sounds strangely like sacrifice. Apparently, all you good Christians leave the sacrifice to sons of God and the like.
Well, we reap what we have sown. And we have sown a wonderful world where nature is going to make it really easy for us in the not too distant future. I love the gun-to-the-head analogies. Hey, that only works if people actually know it's a gun and not a finger with the thumb mimicking a trigger. Nature has the gun and has held it to our collective heads for a long time now. But we all look up and obliviously smile like it's all just a big joke. We all have that Iraq-War-George W. Bush-Press-Conference look on our faces. Well, ha-ha…..BOOOOM. Yeah, fucknuts, that's your brains on that wall back there. Nighty-night.
I am an architect, which puts me on the front lines of this debate. Buildings are the number one consumers of energy (the key player in the environmental debate). This means that I am both the uniter and the divider. I let this shit happen. Why? Because I am too afraid to confront superiors and clients with cold hard realities. More of that truth stuff there. Superiors have benndoing this stuff a hell of a lot longer than I so they know what's best for me and world at large. And Clients do not want to pay for innovation. Well, good design needs not innovation. A well thought building will cost the same to build as a less thought one, but will greatly reduce the cost of operation of that building over the life of it. Well hey, clients don't care about later, they have a budget now to worry about. All in due time, right?
I am also a LEED accredited professional. That sounds pretty special, no? What that means is I have taken an exam given by the United States Green Building Council (I know you all are ware of such an organization, right?) regarding my aptitude in their LEED rating system, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Do you know what it really means? Nothing. More than half my current firm are LEED Accredited Professionals. Know how many know really what a green building would look like? Very few. That is the problem. There are so many in the know about these things, but they do the least amount of the actual built work. In our wonderful little profession comes the term "value engineering". "Value engineering" is the art and craft of taking a building that works perfectly and cutting out all of the things that architects and engineers agreed would make the building work effectively and cut those things down so that the price (that some less than expert contractor has priced to build) will be reduced. Inevitably the first things cut from a construction budget? You guessed it, the "green stuff". Why? Because we pussy-architects cower at the clients and their devil-on-the-shoulder contractors wim. Where are the Samuel Mockbees and the Glen Murcutts of the corporate architecture realm? Suppressed and encourage to adhere to the old adage, " young designers should seen and not heard."
Hey, all you mentors in the architecture field….please read the passage starting with the 123rd word of this blog and ending with the 126th. Thanks for your precious time.
So whether its Architects or Should-Be Presidents or even scientists or climatologists, they all say the same things. We need to change. And sure, change is coming slowly. But the fact remains true to a saying that has become my mantra,
Less Bad, Is NOT Good.
Less bad. More Sustainable. They both say the same thing. Our demise is merely slowing. The problem is at what rate? No one can quantify that. How convenient.
So enjoy Live Earth 2, enjoy Leonardo DiCaprio telling us what car we should drive, enjoy being less bad. I will be avoiding these self-congratulatory circle jerks and other back-patting or finger-pointing events and meetings in order to draw up some new plans about impacting real change that is so desperately needed. I will take care of this, I wouldn't want all y'all to be inconvenienced.
- Archytype, July 26th 2007, 13:00 EDT
Leave Coco Alone!
By M:
Can this guy get a break. I didn't see the play last night but I'll just assume he fucked up royally. But I'm getting tired of the BDD's nailing him and then crying about Johnny Damon being gone every time.
from BDD:
Johnny Damon Never, Ever, Ever, Ever, Never Hid From Reporters After a Game or Ducked the Tough Questions for Four Years in Boston.
Ok I'll play along. Johnny talked to the media...never had anything even remotely enlightening to say...except that he's an "idiot", but yes he talked to the media. He made the reporters and BDD feel legitimate and cuddly all over.
But let us not forget that Johnny Damon is a Yankee now...and he's a Yankee not because the Yankee's were willing to spend more (which is based more in myth than in reality) but because Scott Boras (and JD by association) is a fucking liar (which to the best of my knowledge Coco is not). During the negotations Boras repeatedly told the Sox that there were teams (as in multiple teams) that were making offers of six year contracts for ridiculous amounts of money (like 15+ per year). The Sox were never willing to go past four. They made an initial offer of around 10million per year (2 million more than the 8mil per year JD was already making) for four years. Now if there were offers for 6 years at 15mil per year than yes the Sox offer would seem low...but the reality is there were NO OTHER OFFERS. The Yanks gave Boras a fortnight to accept their four year 12 million offer. SB and JD knew this was the only other offer out there and to save face they took it.
John Henry asked Boras afterwards why Johnny took an offer for 12mil a year for four when supposedly there six year deals for more $ on the table.
Boras gave a bullshit response about Johnny being attracted to the Yankee mystic and the Sox not having been aggressive enough. Henry naturally was furious feeling rightly that they had they been given the opportunity they could have met (and probably beaten the Yankee offer)...but Boras and Damon never gave him the chance. Damon allowed his ego to be bruised because of the Sox's initial offer (which was just that...an INITIAL offer) and Boras used that to his advantage. Boras's angle was to get someone to switch sides from the Sox to the Yanks or vice versa...to establish a trend where players would actually make that leap. That way as his other clients from both teams hit free agency he'll have set a precedent (that's its no longer taboo to make that direct switch)...and then these two big budget teams can go at it. Breaking that taboo was great for Boras...but it exposed him for the lying piece of shit he is. He negotiated in bad faith. Johnny was just stupid and allowed himself to be manipulated by Boras. I think he really thought the Yanks were his only option and that the Sox didn't love him anymore....which was bullshit.
Now BDD knows this completely. All of the above info is taken from Feeding the Monster by Seth Mnookin...they've posted links to the except on this many times. But whenever Coco makes a mistake or even worse refuses to talk to the media they cry about Damon...as if any of the above is Coco's fault!!!
And what about JD...yeah he hurt the Sox last year. But he's breaking down.
He has to DH most nights. And Coco has made at least a half dozen insane catches this year alone that Damon couldn't make on his best day...never mind the routine stuff (like actually taking the field) Plus look at their #'s. Damon is batting .245 with 5 HR, 36 RBI's and 18 stolen bases. Coco is at .281, 5 HR's, 38 RBI's, and 17 stolen bases. So where's the travesty of not having Damon? If the choices were Coco and Damon of 2003/04 than I could see the point. And Coco is hot as hell right now. To be hitting .281 when I don't think he made contact with the ball until June is pretty impressive. Plus his body actually works.
Damon was one of my favorite players and I hate that he went to the Yanks.
But the circumstances that sent him their were entirely his own. Its not the fault of Coco or the Red Sox front office. So BDD and any other Red Sox fan or reporter that wants to keep throwing JD at Coco should check the facts and then fuck off. And the "tough questions"? Give me a fucking break. Tough questions...more like incessant whining from a bunch of little bitches who couldn't do a lap around the Red Sox locker room without needing medical attention afterwards. Leave Coco alone.
Gonzales Cannot Be Fired
So he must be removed for lying to Congress. We have found the Administration's defensive wall. Take down Gonzales and we can discover the other scandals and violations of the constitution that are going on in the White House.
And speaking of Whitehouse, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island rocks. We don't see much of him here, but he has pretty much researched and has proven the solid, unprecedented political links between the White House (Cheney's office and Rove's office) and the DOJ. Ted Kennedy is becoming more and more silent by the month. He has lost his teeth, it seems. So Whitehouse, Feingold, and now Schumer have to take-up the slack. Chuck also rocked on Tuesday.
Thanks to TPM Muckracker for posting these video clips.
Highlight Reel:
His dangerous exchange with Schumer. If he goes down for perjury, it will be for this clip:
2007 Genesis Tour: Bad News For Europe; Worse News For The USA
The more I post, the more you can learn about my interests. Not only am I a fan of the golden age of science fiction (1953-1980), space opera (Star Wars, Farscape), and auto racing, but I am also a fan of progressive and art-rock. I don't consider myself to be hardcore. I don't drool at the thought of seeing a Magma or Dream Theater show. I only went to NEARfest once, and it scared me a little. But I am enough of a fan to enjoy most of the works of Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, Rush, some of the Yes family tree, some of the Roxy Music family tree (Brian Eno, especially), and most of all, Genesis.
Now I am not here to provide a history of the band, but let me wind-up to deliver this week's curious and depressing news.
Genesis is a band that has had more than one artistic peak, which makes them an exciting and interesting band to follow. They released six studio albums with Peter Gabriel at lead vocal. The last three of those albums represent the peak of Genesis as a five-member unit (Foxtrot (1972), Selling England By The Pound (1973), The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974)). As many pro-rock fans know, Gabriel left the band following the Lamb tour, and after hundreds of auditions, Tony banks and Mike Rutherford agreed that their drummer, Phil Collins, would take-over singing duty. Genesis returned from the studio in 1976 as a four piece, and released two more great albums, Trick of the Tail (1976) and Wind and Wuthering (1977). Following the departure of the great Steve Hackett on lead guitar, Genesis transformed again.
Genesis remained a storytelling band. They had gravitated towards songs about medieval times, Greek drama, English country life, Scottish history, fantasy tales, and apocalyptic and/or futuristic tales. With Wind and Wuthering, they still brought-up cricket, afternoon tea, and 16th century Scotland. But they changed their tone a bit with their next phase. With their 1978 album And Then There Were Three, there were fantasy stories, a song about the gold rush, a complex emo-rock song in 5/4 time (Snowbound), and...a radio-friendly ballad! Follow You Follow Me was the first Genesis song to get the attention of large numbers of female listeners and eventually, female fans. Nothing wrong with that at all. But the narrative of the band from 1978 to this day reflects the band's artistic, personal, and political structure. Simply put, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, the two former public schoolboys and residents of little castles in Surrey, manage the band. Phil brings-in the most commercial, radio friendly material (which seems to have had an influence over Mike and his contributions since 1983 or so). Tony has consistently provided the best musical compositions. And the band has made sure that at least one long song is produced for each album (the final ones being Driving the Last Spike and Fading Lights in 1991). And perhaps most interesting, the band seems to get together and/or produce new material whenever Phil is going through a rocky phase in his marriage.
Really. That's how it works.
They recorded Wind and Wuthering in Vancouver in 1976. At that time, Phil's first marriage was slowly falling apart after just one year. Phil and Andrea Bertorelli divorced in 1980, after two more acclaimed Genesis albums were released. His angst over the divorce manifested itself in his finest solo albums, Face Value, and Hello I Must Be Going. That's a lot of good material over one failed marriage. In 1984, he married Jill Tavelman. During his second marriage, he released three more best-selling solo albums, picked-up some Grammies, and released two more albums with Genesis, not to mention two enormous singles (Against All Odds, Easy Lover) that helped canonize him into 1980s pop culture. 1987 saw Genesis and Peter Gabriel competing against each other for MTV VMAs and Grammies as the platinum counts mounted higher. The difference is, So was as commercial as Peter Gabriel would ever get. The last Genesis album with Collins on vocals, We Can't Dance (1991), sold a whopping 10 million copies, about half of them in the USA.
Phil left Genesis in 1996 as his marriage to Jill fell apart. Phil had a solo album up his sleeve with Dance Into the Light, which was a financial and artistic failure compared to his previous five solo albums. He found himself being commissioned by Disney to compose songs for both the Tarzan movie and Broadway show. He picked-up an Oscar for Best Original Song for that effort, and met and married the young Orianne Cevey along the way, followed by a move with his then 27 year-old bride to the English-speaking side of Geneva, where she borne him two children.
Phil is not usually as cold or as distant (or as WASPy) as his two public school-educated bandmates, Mike and Tony. But apparently Phil has shown a pattern of transmitting bad news via e-mail or fax. Some of his divorce-related communications were sent to Jill via fax in 1996. Now that's not as bad as Rudy Giuliani breaking the bad news to Donna Hanover in a public press conference, but still, that's cold. She fortunately walked away with a $30M settlement. We later learned that Phil's company ceased paying royalties to two members of Earth Wind and Fire, under the cold explanation that the two were overpaid, and so royalty payments for the Serious Hits Live CD would end. It seemed like an unprofessional way to end a 10-year relationship.
Last year, Phil and Orianne Cevey separated. Many fans speculated that it would lead to a Genesis reunion. And indeed it did.
As for live performances - Genesis world tours since 1986 have all followed a similar template. Whereas their shows of the late 1970s features a mix of lengthy older songs and shorter ballads, the tours over the last 21 years have cut the longer songs into medleys (particularly The Lamb, and the solo of Firth of Fifth). Two long songs from the 1980s have survived: Home By The Sea (parts 1 & 2) and Domino (parts 1 & 2). And the rest of the setlist has been filled with some classic hits (Turn it On Again), recent # 1 hits (No Son of Mine), and recent ballads (In Too Deep (released as a single in 1987), Hold on My Heart (released as a single in 1992). The encore has essentially been the same, which includes a truncated Tonight Tonight Tonight, and their biggest hit Invisible Touch.
In November 2006, Genesis announced that they were going to get back together, release a box set of their best material with Phil on vocals (1976-1982), and play songs they haven't played in years on the tour. They even hinted that they would drop medleys in favor of complete song performances. I didn't take it too seriously, and neither did most fans. When the first setlist was leaked, it was a real downer. With the exception of the Duke material woven into the medleys, it looked a lot like their 1992/93 setlist:
Behind The Lines / Duke’s End (medley)
Turn It On Again
No Son Of Mine
Land Of Confusion
In The Cage / The Cinema Show / Duke’s Travels (medley)
Afterglow
Hold On My Heart
Home By The Sea
Follow You Follow Me
Firth Of Fifth / I Know What I Like (medley)
Mama
Ripples
Throwing It All Away
Domino
Drum Duet
Los Endos
----------
Tonight Tonight Tonight (intro)
Invisible Touch
I Can’t Dance
The Carpet Crawlers
Ripples, In The Cage, Afterglow, Los Endos, Follow You Follow Me, and Carpet Crawlers stand-out as pre-1980 songs to be performed in their entirety. Not bad. But three of those above songs were performed in their early 80s tours. So it seems like an easy way to add songs back to the setlist rather than reach deeper into the catalog to play something that would truly be 'new' for even old fans. Granted, Ripples and Carpet Crawlers fit that definition. But being selfish, I would have wanted more. A complete song from Duke or Abacab would make me feel a lot better about this tour.
Also, Genesis fans would question why Throwing It All Away is in the set list while the songs from Duke are edited into medleys. Also infuriating would be the Firth of Fifth medley, in which guitarist Daryl Sturmer obnoxiously plucks extra notes into the solo, or the bit of The Cinema Show where Tony Banks' keyboard solo is truncated (at least in the European clips I have seen).
Furthermore, fans report that Tony's keyboard setup sounds low-budget and amateurish. Genesis should be supporting their box set and play more songs from the late 1970s. But instead, they continue to play 1980s top-40 hits and reduce Gabriel-era works into lazy and uninspired medleys. For the fans, it does not represent a compromise. It gives them no compelling reason to go to the show at all.
These blokes are hardly working and laughing once again to the bank.
Archetype and I are still seeing the September 16th show in Hartford, despite my argument above. He writes:
The British are coming… The British are coming…The band Genesis is returning to the North American shores in the coming weeks and with it shocking news…..(warning: sarcasm in use) Rumors are abound of them changing the set list to accommodate the American audience.
Accommodate, indeed! What it really means is "dumbing" the set down to just the ultra-pop hits. Songs like Ripples will serve as the casualties. I am not sure who comprises the demographic that would rather hear In Too Deep over Ripples, but I venture to guess they are not really Genesis fans. Maybe in 1986 In Too Deep thrilled the pop-thirsty Yanks, but for the likes of myself and other hard core fans we saw it as the necessary evil to ring in another chance to see our boys tour.
Lets put aside the overwhelming desire for myself to see the entire quintessential group reunite, that being the current threesome (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford) joined on stage with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett (lead guitar). No offense to Daryl Steurmer and Chester Thompson but most have us have seen that version more so than the other line up. Perhaps that will come to fruition someday. Though I am reaching an age where it appears that the troubadours of my youth are really just an aged bunch that lacks the hunger of their preceding selves. Unparalleled success, I suppose, can bring that. Even Tony Banks in a recent interview backstage in Europe said as much, that not supporting an album has made the tour more relaxed and since they don't feel they need to win fans the pressure to perform is lessened.
I think something has been lost here. Perhaps I have loftier standards for a band that pushed the music world and especially the live gig presentation. While I am sure the visuals will dazzle, they have slipped a bit in the delivery of the music itself, whether it's the vocal range that slips with age or the virtuosity in the play or even the selection of songs themselves, this is not the Genesis I would necessarily have paid to see.
Truth is, though, I am paying to see them, the 16th of September in Hartford, Connecticut. Not a choice venue for me but they were purchased with the hope of them being true to their words in the press conference, of renewing the idea of Genesis being a band beyond the hits, so to speak. Well the vast majority are just that, the hits. And on the surface that is OK, but news that as they arrive on the North American leg of the tour that more hits will supplant less popular tracks breaks my heart. I have heard that stuff. Ripples is a beautiful song. It is a song that perhaps the majority of the American audiences may not remember in lieu of the popularity of the more recent ones, but it is a chance to re-introduce NA to a truly beautiful song. That is what a live show is about!
Supporting an album might just be what the doctor ordered, only instead of one that has yet to be recorded, how about one that was recorded a long time ago that has been forgotten on American airwaves? Say, A Trick of the Tail, Wind and Wuthering, and …And Then There Were Three , all of which were re-issued with bonus material just before the tour began? But not the tracks that keep showing up as medley pieces, but rather the very beautifully penned pieces that are not instrumentals such as Squonk, Entangled, Blood On The Rooftops, Say Its Alright Joe, Ballad Of Big, and Cul De Sac. Would the audience who is in the know not appreciate this? Would the audience that is not in the know not find these pieces beautiful?
More so than the unknown is the known, and I am referring to the legitimacy of certain songs in the live realm. I am sure Hold On My Heart and In Too Deep are fabulous singles in the catalogue, but they are not compelling live tracks. Live tracks should evoke the very senses not covered in the albums and should be more dynamic than the album cut. Neither of those two do that. Most bands fall short in the live realm, a product of over-production in the studio. Live gigs should ebb and flow with dynamism but to not include a song that proved to ascend beyond the album and basically had it all, Supper's Ready, and include songs that cannot reach further than the album cut seems as though the Genesis has lost track of its roots. They did not outsell Pink Floyd, but they out played them. Maybe "proggers" acknowledged the sheer magnitude of the abilities of Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman when comparing them to Tony banks but Banks wrote better pieces than either of those two. He understood the power in less is more and when that combined with well timed crescendos would create epic moments that Genesis is most known for with the live material.
So, here we are on the verge of a let down. I am trying to remain upbeat about that press conference promise but I have trepidations. I beg the members of Genesis to reconsider any thought of changing the set-list from the European one. Though if you do, consider going the other way with it to re-examine older songs with the same commitment that you have to these newer pieces. Give us here in America another chance.
The latest interview with Mike & Tony supports the post above. They are discussing dropping Ripples in favor of In Too Deep. And my god are they grumpy. Look at that video greeting. Yeah. Thanks for sticking with two guys who were performing with vigor 25 years ago, but today are two grumpy millionaires from Surrey.
It's almost as if I treat them like members of the 2004 Red Sox. Sure, some of them were truly great players (Ortiz, Cabrera, Lowe, Arroyo, Schilling, Foulke). Some were unlikely heroes (Bellhorn, Reese). But others really were idiots. Some were evangelicals I wouldn't want to be seen with (Nixon, Varitek). But if I actually saw any them in the flesh, I would pay for their dinner, buy them a drink, or just thank them.
Genesis' greatest work is behind them and they will always be thanked for that. What's frustrating is how they could get right back on track now if they just dropped the medleys, and added some songs we fans really haven't heard in a while. Ababab. Snowbound. Squonk. Burning Rope. Entangled. Man of Our Times. Dammit.
And just last week, Phil revealed that the tour is a royal pain in the ass because it is keeping him away from his two youngest children, who are back in Geneva with Orianne Cevey. Boo hoo.
As my friend M says:
I'm so sorry I've given Phil over $100.00 of my money...now I owe him an apology too. I'm sorry Phil!! I didn't mean to keep you from your children. As a father I truly sympathize. I'm sorry I dragged you out of your home and forced you to do half ass versions of what was once great music.
I will keep an open mind, and follow this tour through the Genesis blogs. I will comment on the Hartford show after it takes place.
You Can Terminate It, Britney.
That is, assuming you are pregnant again. I hear that your bodyguard may be the father. Hey, if a small-time blogger in Manhattan has heard that, then it might be everywhere when US Weekly hits the news stands this morning.
Just reminding you that you have at least 15 weeks to change your mind. That's a long time to contemplate if a third child before your 27th birthday is really a good idea. And considering your incoherent, sad interview to OK magazine this week, I think a full-term is the last thing you need.
I'll make this simple. You have your publicist or assistant contact me here, and I can get you taken care of in a clean, discreet Manhattan clinic for free. No photos. No interviews. I'm sure someone you trust can be here for you as well. Maybe JT. He's a good guy. He wants you to be well and be happy.
I would not ask, but I would hope that you one day tell the press that you had an abortion, and you are not going to hell for it.
You would be a ground-breaking celebrity who made a difference. We need abortion to come out of the closet. That's the best way to keep it legal in this country.
So if you are pregnant again, please terminate it, Britney. Do it for you.