tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14947739477062997492024-02-20T00:16:10.767-05:00write back soonlife. trying to find value in what we've been given.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger454125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-29081194557883127712012-03-20T17:00:00.000-04:002012-03-21T13:51:31.601-04:00Remembering the band i rise with a review of their demo five years after the fact<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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i rise was a hardcore band from Massachusetts. I forget how I found out about them, I feel like they were playing a show with Verse or something, but whatever the case, I wound up listening to some basement recordings they had on their MySpace page. For being basement recordings, they sounded pretty good, and you could tell that the band was serious and not like anything else going on. I was excited to find a new band that actually had the promise of being decent. They said they would be recording a <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?caw1alrkxm9377w">demo</a> soon and would mail it to you for $3 or something like that, so I sent them my $3 and soon got my CD in the mail, personalized nonetheless. Inside the foldover cover, the singer wrote "Alway [<i>sic</i>] rember [<i>sic</i>] to lick it before you stick it. Remember that my friend Chris! - Nicky" It was surely awkward, but if the man's message was to not be selfish with your sexual partner, then I can get behind that.<br />
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More importantly, the demo straight ruled/rules. It's four songs, all killer. Musically, I would put it in that 108/Burn style of midtempo moshy hardcore, with some fast parts. The guitar work and drumming are great. I know they had different people in the band, but whomever played drums here was really good. The singer and one guitar player are brothers and were the only constants, I believe. There are lots of little pinch harmonic squeals thrown in here and there. Many of the guitar lines are kind of metallic, but not in a cheesy way and not really even in an overt way. They're just good. It's all really fresh sounding, especially for when this came out. There really weren't other bands around doing this kind of thing. As for the vocals, they alternate between the 90s hardcore double tracked talked parts (Earth Crisis, Morning Again, Culture, Poison the Well, etc.) and screaming. The lyrics are good too. Two of the songs are about how much he hates religion, but not some juvenile shit about how Jesus sucks or typical punk stuff about how religion is a business. This is more about how religion ruins the world on a personal level and trying to make it through as a thinking person in a thoughtless world. For example - "You call me crazy for my beliefs, or should I say the lack thereof. But you're the one that lives life for death praying second after second to an imaginary figurehead." Or, "Some preach and scream 'the American dream,' and blow up clinics for what they believe. Some kill with bombs strapped to their flesh and truly believe they're different from the rest." The other two songs, I think, are more about broad personal struggles to escape the shittiness of modern life and I guess to just not be/feel confined in what you think or do, and also to live and say what you believe, to do what you believe in.<br />
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We played with them once, probably toward the end of them being a band. I think they were a four piece, but still sounded great. They played the song about praying second after second because our friend asked them to. They were cool guys. The guitar player was wearing the Nirvana Sliver shirt, and I think he was playing "On a Plain" while they were setting up, so that scored high marks in my book, obviously.<br />
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I'm guessing I got this some time late winter/early spring of 2007, as it was recorded January 22nd, 2007. Whatever the case, when I got it, I listened to it a lot, like every day for a long time. It's really short, so it's easy to listen to several times in a row. I still listen to it. It's my favorite thing they did. They put out a seven inch after this called "Down" that was good, as well as a split with Soul Control. They did an LP, "For Redemption," and I'm pretty sure broke up/broke down soon thereafter.<br />
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They still have <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?caw1alrkxm9377w">that MySpace page</a> up, and have an explanation about why they stopped playing. They say that they kept making less money every time they went on tour (as in negative money) and it was burning them out after two and a half years. I think the larger issue is that, unfortunately, there really just wasn't and probably still isn't space for a band like this. It hasn't been "cool" to care about stuff in hardcore for so long now. There will always be a little sub-scene of people who are into political bands or whatever you want to call them, but that shit died out with the masses of hardcore fans at some point in the late 90s. Let's blame Floorpunch. Anyway, it sucks that this is the case. The same thing happened with Verse. That band's last record, <a href="http://unsustainablespecies.blogspot.com/2008/08/verse-aggression.html">Aggression</a>, was fucking sick, but most of the kids who were/are into music that sounds like that and go to shows like that don't want to hear it. They are militantly apathetic, except when it comes to issues of straight edge, Nikes and colored vinyl. i rise existed in a liminal space where they were not explicitly political enough for the political kids and way too political for most hardcore kids. Oh, and I think all of the labels that put out i rise records went under (not because of putting out i rise records, ha), so that makes it hard to be a band. Plus there is the whole issue with MySpace killing DIY shows cause there were way too many bands trying to "tour" and instead of doing any kind of work, they would just send out mass messages to get on shows. Then there were too many shows happening and people got tired of going and people got tired of doing shows for bands that didn't understand or want to understand what DIY was about, viewing "the scene" as some kind of social/economic ladder mixed with the Hollywood Strip hair metal scene of 1985. People are still burned out on doing/going to shows. There also aren't any good bands.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><br />
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Anyway, thanks i rise. I appreciated you when you were around, and always will.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-34642648040825254972012-02-17T10:57:00.001-05:002012-02-17T13:52:51.340-05:00The Crisis of Music Journalism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Music journalists." "Rock critics." "Music critics."<br />
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What do these people even really do?<br />
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I was reading an article in the New York Times yesterday <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/arts/music/the-indie-band-sleigh-bells-new-album-reign-of-terror.html">on that band Sleigh Bells</a>. They are really bad and corny (see playing in front of a massive American flag on stage while using a Jackson guitar) but that's not the point. Also the issue of hardcore washup hipsters (see the guitar player having been in Poison the Well but "grown up" and moved to Williamsburg from Florida) is not the point. What IS the point is the article itself - what the writer says, how she says it and why I think she says it.<br />
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Basically, the concept of music criticism has long since run
out of steam. I have felt this for quite some time, but have not been able to
articulate it until reading this article. I feel like there are two things
going on here. There really hasn’t been anything good or exciting going on in
pop or rock music for a long time. Like probably ten years or so. Secondly,
rock critics have been trying to make their own niches for many decades at this
point. There is really only so much you can say about music that actually makes
sense and is grounded in reality. After a while, you get out into esoteric
spaceland and start putting your creative writing skills to work without much
connection to what is actually on that record. There are a ton of rock and pop
critics, with countless more having come since blogs hit big, and they are all
in competition with each other. Just as in so many other fields, you have to
make yourself stand out. There is a problem here though. A real one.</div>
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You see, when you merge the two issues – a lack of
interesting music and a glut of critics who ran out of anything original to say
a long time ago – you get a whole lot of emptiness. Take this Sleigh Bells
article for example. The way this woman writes about them, they just sound like
the most interesting band in the world:</div>
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FIRST came the recorded sound: drums and riffs, some
demonically heavy marching band. Next, a couple of guys with guitars, who
immediately started messing with their pedals in the darkened club. Two minutes
later there was Alexis Krauss, with ripped jeans and a distinct saunter. She
raised her arms as she reached the microphone, the black-haired queen of this
stage. White lights exploded behind her, over a wall of Marshall stacks…</blockquote>
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Sounds pretty exciting.</div>
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The new record is unmistakably Sleigh Bells, with dense but
bigger production that puts Ms. Krauss’s voice into sweet relief over Mr.
Miller’s dark metal peals. It is even more guitar driven — Mr. Miller
discovered a model, <a href="http://www.jacksonguitars.com/">the Jackson USA
Soloist</a>, that he loves — and more narrative and lyrical, with a crisper
focus on arrangements and harmony over beats.</blockquote>
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And then you hear it. Not very exciting anymore. It’s
actually pretty boring. I don’t mean to single out Sleigh Bells. It’s not like
they’re the worst band in the world. There are vast chasms of yawn inducing,
download and delete bands. But Sleigh Bells is the impetus for this.</div>
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So why is this? Why does the writer speak of the band like
this? I argue that she doesn’t have much of a choice. She can’t just say that
they’re shit. If you only ever write that bands are garbage, you won’t make it
too far in the journalism biz. So you are left writing positively of bands that
often are garbage. What do you do? Make things up. Who cares, right? You can’t
get fired for exaggeration like you can in fact-based journalism. You take your
creative abilities and run with them. Run far. Like a marathon far. I guess
part of it is that she is writing for the New York Times, where 95% of the
readership doesn’t know a thing about underground music. This a novelty for
them.</div>
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But this is a really common thing, the overselling and
overhyping of music, where everything is so overblown. I read shit like this all the time. The band will sound
really great and exciting and like I said above, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">then I hear it</i>. And I wonder what the hell the author was listening
to. I imagine that it’s the same thing, but they have to find something to say
about it.</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-54540247589282564332011-12-21T12:03:00.000-05:002011-12-21T12:04:09.134-05:00It gets better - it also gets worse for others<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Fucking brilliant.<br />
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This past weekend, I saw Latterman play three times. I'm usually not big on reunions, at all, but these dudes are legit and as much as I know them, are pretty much the same if not more punk than they were five years ago. I used to see them all the time and they and some of their future bands played my house several times when I used to do shows. These shows were ten dollars, with $1000 going to Queer Rock Camp in Olympia, so everything is good there as well.<br />
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Thursday, December 1st was at Maxwell's, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Maxwell's is a great venue for shows of the non-basement variety. It's really small, has been around forever and pretty much every band (including Nirvana and Fugazi) has played there. The sound is generally really good. No one who works there has ever hassled me, so I guess they are cool, ha. Anyway, some bands played before Latterman but I only saw a few songs of the one before them and that doesn't matter at all anyway. Latterman went on with really no fanfare around 10:30 and opened with "My Bedroom is Like for Artists Part 2," "Doom! Doom! Doom!" and "This Project Is Stagnant (Get It out of My Face)", as you can see above. They sounded as good as they ever did back in the day. Then they played a few songs from <i>We Are Still Alive</i>, I think five, which answered my questions about who would be playing the guitar that wasn't Phil's - Mike and Brian. Mike played most of the set, and Brian came out (after being paged for a minute) for four of the five <i>We Are Still Alive</i> songs. I think the songs they played from that record, not in order, were "Water Manes at the Block's End," "'I Decided Not to Do Them'," "If Batman Was Real, He Would Have Beaten the Crap out of My Friends," "This Basement Gives Me a Fucking Headache" and "We Work the Night Shift." Then Brian went away and that was the end of him. Following that, they played most of <i>No Matter where We Go</i>, as well as a "new" song, "Our Better Halves," which is the last song they recorded, but never got released until now on a one-song seven inch they were selling at the shows. As for <i>No Matter where We Go</i>, they played every song with words, with the exception of "We're Done For," which is a little perplexing, given the subject matter of the song - the social indoctrination of men into a sexist way of thinking, behaving and living - and that making men aware of this shit was always, at least to me, a big part of what Latterman was about. Oh, and there was only one song from <i>Turn up the Punk, We'll Be Singing</i> - "There's Never a Reason Not to Party." Bummer on that, but they weren't that comfortable playing songs/singing words that they wrote over ten years ago, which I guess I understand, but I promise there's nothing outwardly embarrassing on there! So yeah, they did their set, and included the "encore" song in the set instead of coming out and doing it, which is nice. Encores are pretty lame, unless you are legit about to fall over and need a minute.<br />
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The next night was at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Had to watch Yo Man Go, but we survived. I guess you could say we were still alive. Anyhow, Latterman played and that was all that mattered. They played the same set. Brian was again nowhere to be found initially. Jeff from Bridge and Tunnel came out and laid down some brutal vocals on "There's Never a Reason Not to Party," as he also did on Sunday, and I would assume Saturday, as he said he would also be at that show. Phil's head (a Peavey 5150 - I remember he used to play this Fender Rock Pro head, at least he's got all tubes now) broke and they switched it out for some Mesa. They were really good again. They had some problems with people stage diving and crowdsurfing. Matt and Phil were calling them out for it, with them being the staunchly anti-stage diving people they are. It was cool. No one was hostile toward the band for it, as least as far as I could tell. It stopped pretty quickly, until the last song, because really, what can they do at that point, stop playing? Probably not. People were definitely more wild than the night before, but no one was really out of hand, especially considering that it was a punk show with a few hundred people and I've seen some people do really, really stupid shit in similar circumstances. So yeah, overall, good time. They definitely played with more energy than the night before, which I suppose is to be expected. These were consecutively the largest shows they had every played, I believe. Oh right. There was some piece of shit with a Hot Topic embroidered patch vest of every band he listens to, as well as one reading "If it has wheels or tits, it's going to give me problems." After Yo Man Go was done, I'm pretty sure I watched a woman who had been standing behind him tell him off for it, at which point he sheepishly looked around and walked out. I didn't see him again.<br />
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Skipped Saturday's show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.<br />
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Sunday night was at the Bell House in Brooklyn. It was "sold out" but they definitely don't have a policy of packing the place, which I REALLY enjoy cause you can still move around quite freely at pretty much all times and no one has to be up your ass. So, Latterman played again...and it was the same set, but it was with the most energy I saw out of the three shows. If you closed your eyes and pretended you were in a basement, it was as though nothing had changed. Matt and Phil were still in great voice, Pat was playing hard as fuck, and the music was really tight. No one stagedove and maybe a handful of people crowdsurfed, but not to the extent that anything was said about it. This was the best night out of the three, as far as their performance. Really high energy and fucking spot on. They closed again with "My Bedroom Is Like for Artists," as you can see below. There are other videos of these shows, but I didn't take them, haha. They thanked everyone and each other and hugged and whatnot and that was that. They didn't practice any other songs, so they had nothing else to play, though I guess they could have played a song again, but that would be weird.<br />
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Final thoughts - it was good to see them all on stage again, pounding it out. They made the songs from <i>We Are Still Alive</i> sound a lot better to me, as I am not a huge fan of that record. I think the production is strangely stale and sterile sounding, the songs are not that upbeat and the lyrics are kind of bummed. It's just a different Latterman, and it doesn't really sound like Latterman live. There are definitely some great songs on there though, and I will be revisiting it for sure. The first two records sound like the band sounded when they played, and the songs from <i>We Are Still Alive</i> fit in much better live than they do on record. It would have been nice to see them play "The Biggest Sausage Party Ever" or "We're Done For," keeping with the band's decidedly pro-feminist stance. Whatever the case, they played really well and I was happy with the song selection, overall. Would have been nice to see them play some different songs from night to night. Where was Pat's Baltimore Orioles shirt? I definitely didn't feel like they were going through the motions. They all seemed genuinely into it and appreciative of people being there and being able to play again. It was also kind of reassuring and uplifting to see a bunch of people who had been friends for so long and who I know had some really serious issues for a while back together and putting things behind them. It makes me feel a little bit of hope in a world that rarely gives me hope for anything.<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-55483084696551330612011-11-13T09:19:00.001-05:002011-11-13T09:23:04.199-05:00I can't believe the things we say - re: Michele Bachmann<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In a Republican debate last night, Michele Bachmann <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/michele-bachmann-stage-set-for-worldwide-nuclear-war-against-israel/2011/11/12/gIQAFqaLGN_story.html">uttered the following</a>:<br />
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"The table is being set for worldwide nuclear war against Israel."</blockquote>
Somewhere, someone believed her.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-22204895444155178322011-11-11T15:35:00.001-05:002012-06-30T14:17:22.436-04:00Review - Nirvana's Nevermind Super Deluxe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been meaning to write this for a while but other things have been taking precedence. They still should, but I'm just gonna bust this out real quick so I can stop thinking about it.<br />
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So, Nirvana has been my favorite (favorite) band for twenty years at this point. I have everything (not the obsessive Kurt idolatry stuff or total bullshit releases like the self-titled best of or <i>Icon</i>). I own most of their records on vinyl, all original. No "Love Buzz" 7", of course, but you know how that goes. <i>Nevermind</i> is their, or anyone else's, greatest release. Of course, I was psyched out of my mind to hear that Geffen (Universal these days) was doing a four-disc reissue of the record. Well...<br />
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God, what a letdown this was. I was anticipating this release for
months, looking for news online every day, every damn day, and then I saw the tracklisting - the original record, b-sides
that every already has, the Smart Studios tape that EVERYONE already has
(and isn't that good) and a live CD that everyone already has. People were hoping it was preliminary. It wasn't. Then
I, along with anyone with ears, got REAL bummed when I heard it and realized it was
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war">"brickwalled" in the mastering stage</a>, meaning, <a href="http://youtu.be/3Gmex_4hreQ">compressed to hell so everything is the same volume</a>
(loud) and it hurts your ears, getting rid of many aural details in the
process. Bottom line - the whole thing sounds like shit and gives you a headache, the first two discs in particular.</div>
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No doubt, the boombox rehearsal tape and the "Devonshire
Mixes" were tantalizing from a distance. The Devonshire Mixes are Butch Vig's early mixes of all the songs, sans "Polly," which was recorded at Smart Studios in 1990, during the session featured on Disc Two. I was really hoping for them to deliver, as Butch's mix of "Breed" on <i>With the Lights Out</i> is KILLER.
However, they are kind of all over the place, which I suppose one should
expect for rough mixes - some drums are too loud ("Lithium"), some too
buried in the mix ("Breed," "Territorial Pissings"), etc. I wanted to love
them, but overall I don't. I do prefer the vocals on there, as they
actually sound like vocals and not wrapped in plastic, and the bass
sounds like a bass. People who are seriously into engineering seem to
have problems with the different sounds of the drums. It's nothing I
notice though. Also, if you wanna see hardcore Nirvana fans get REALLY
pissed off, Google "Sound City Sappy." A final note on this, the outro on Butch's version of "On a Plain" is so weird, in a way that makes me uncomfortable.<br />
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In the end, the Boombox
tape is definitely the gem here. Much better quality than I was
expecting and it has never been circulated in any form anywhere. Really
interesting stuff to see the band developing these monster songs in a
time that would, in retrospect, be the calm before the storm. It's that
much-fabled "last innocence" period.<br />
<br />
Now to get at what you
receive in exchange for your money - four CDs, a DVD and a hardcover
book for $109-$130+, depending where you got (get) it. <i>With the Lights
Out</i> is currently around $40 and you get three CDs, a DVD and a
softcover book. Both have substantial packaging. <i>With the Lights Out</i> had
WAY more unreleased stuff on it, like most of it. All of Disc One and
part of Disc Two on the other hand, have been released commercially. Disc
Four replicates the DVD, which again, has been available as a
high-quality audio bootleg since time immemorial. Plus, all the live
b-sides are from this show, so those songs appear three times on the set
- what? Anyway, you can buy the Deluxe for $20 and the DVD for $16 or
so. What do you miss out on? Not much. Not much.</div>
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So what happened? I bought the Super Deluxe and returned it without opening it. I stuck with the regular Deluxe and the DVD. I've probably listened to the Deluxe twice. I will never listen to the first disc again. What a profound disappointment. There are so many alternate takes/mixes/etc. they could have included. Even fucking studio banter. But they didn't. Just mostly a bunch of shit everyone already has, or if they don't, can get in much better quality, particularly the original record (although I have read that stores criminally pulled the original disc from the shelves and replaced it with a single-disc brickwalled shit sound remaster) and the b-sides (all of the singles are readily available online for a pittance - the original packaging and the sound are so much more worthwhile).</div>
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I also purchased and returned, unopened, the four-LP vinyl version of the regular deluxe after reading multiple times about how it, too, is brickwalled and sounds utterly horrific. What a shame.</div>
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<div>
Ah, almost forgot - many people report sync issues with the Blu-ray version of the live show, to the extent that <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nirvana-Live-at-Paramount-Blu-ray/dp/B0057MFA42">Amazon has instructions up to help customers deal with it</a>. I wouldn't know, as I don't have a Blu-ray player, but given the care Universal didn't put into the rest of it, I don't doubt it.</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-71556231743604996092011-11-10T00:03:00.001-05:002011-11-11T17:08:11.457-05:00Fuck Joe Paterno, Gary Schultz, Tim Curley and Graham Spanier<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
and every other piece of shit at Penn State who was involved with covering up <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/penn-state-scandal-timeline-jerry-sandusky_n_1084204.html">Jerry Sandusky's devotion to sexually assaulting</a> the kids who took part in his personal charity for disadvantaged kids. Send them off to a rape camp where they can get what they've earned.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Fuck them for sweeping this under the metaphorical rug so that their football program could soldier on untarnished. Fuck them for knowing that kids' lives were being ruined, kids who already had it bad, and not doing anything about it. He was raping 10 and 11 year olds. People knew this. They all fucking knew this and ignored it in the name of selfish glory.
There's no afterlife, just life until they die. May it be a long series of miserable, agonizing days for all involved. <br />
<br /></div>
Addendum: fuck anyone who tries to say that it's not fair to "Joe Pa" for "all he's done for Penn State." IT WOULD NOT MATTER IF HE PAID TO HAVE THE SCHOOL DIPPED IN GOLD AND GAVE EVERY STUDENT A MILLION DOLLARS. He ignored what was going on for his own glory and that of the school. It was all that mattered to him, his staff, and evidently the school's administration.
</div>
</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-32202239899837118252011-11-01T13:14:00.004-04:002011-11-01T13:15:35.441-04:00Late Halloween treat - lost in a corn maze<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been meaning to post this for weeks, but keep forgetting. It's fine though, cause with the big storm and all the aftermath, many Halloween activities have been postponed until the weekend anyway.<br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<br />
Fuck. They were "found" twenty-five feet from the exit.<br />
<br />
"My baby!"</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-60098853327352630762011-10-03T23:37:00.004-04:002011-12-18T21:59:18.682-05:00American concepts of "resistance" - Occupy Wall Street is pretend, a non-movement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I guess I don't really get the whole Occupy Wall Street thing. Nothing new has happened, nothing has changed. Still the same greedy pigs and their sycophants running it, still the same goals. America is still capitalist, just as it has been and will continue to be.<br />
<br />
Anyway. I was <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/02/business/wall-street-protests/index.html?hpt=hp_t2">reading about it</a> today, and I saw this great statement someone gave about what Occupy Wall Street means as a "movement":<br />
<blockquote>
"The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no
longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%," the statement
continues, referring to what it sees as a sharp divide between the
wealthiest Americans and the rest of society.</blockquote>
Ha. American activists love talking about how they won't tolerate things any longer, or how this is the last time that something is going to happen, so on and so forth. Basically, that now that they have been awakened, suddenly whatever evil it is that they perceive will end because they will it so.<br />
<br />
Now, of course, I have no problem, at least philosophically, with the idea of activism. I think a great deal of things are fucked and basically need to be burned to the ground, but that's another story. So yeah, I'm all for people trying to make positive changes and take back their lives and the land and whatnot, but it is <i>so unrealistic</i> to tell yourself or anyone else that there will be no more of anything. What these people really mean to say is that they <i>wish</i> for there to be no more of anything. But that doesn't change a damn thing except within you. People have to take real steps, collectively, to enact change, real, fundamental change. American activism, this kind of stuff, tends to be a lie. The lie is that you are doing something. Comparatively, yes, you are doing something if you hold it up to absolutely nothing, but on the grand spectrum, sitting on a sidewalk or holding a sign doesn't do shit. No one pays attention to you. They just walk around you. You choreograph everything with the police, nice and politely. And that's fine in and of itself, if that's what you like. The real problem is that you are telling yourself that you are in some kind of struggle, some "movement."<br />
<br />
Look at other very recent examples - did the people of Egypt just say, "Hey Mubarak, time to go, we won't tolerate you any longer?" No, they went out in the streets and struggled. Fought and died. How about Syria, right now? People are dying in the streets every day because they are at the ends of their ropes. I would venture a guess that most of the people who participate in Occupy Wall Street and similar types of demonstrations cannot comprehend such a feeling. Not that I mean to valorize or romanticize the suffering of Syrians or Egyptians or anyone else, just that white middle class demonstrators in this country try to act like they know this brutal suffering. It's like the line in that Propagandhi song about "play acting anarchists." It is. It's a performance, and probably one that's pretty offensive to people who suffer on a fundamental level, people whose lives are profoundly based on struggle.<br />
<br />
Just declaring something as over is delusional and terribly self-defeating. Cause you know what? You will stand by, you will compromise, you will tolerate these things. We all do every day. That's what this life is, at least here, now. Unless you go berserk and go shoot up the precinct or something like that, or say "fuck it" and take off for the woods like Thoreau or Ted Kaczynski (who also went the berserk route, but less intensely), you are tolerating these things. I mean, really, how are you not? You can oppose these things, but the economy, our political system and the very fibers of this social system are built on greed and corruption. They won't be going away anytime soon.<br />
<br />
People are fucking greedy. History seems to bear that one out pretty well. Whether it's land, cows, power, money, etc, people are greedy. Sure, you can say only some people are greedy, or it's not innate, it's socialization, whatever. But then it's kind of the back side of the idea that no one is free as long as others are oppressed. How can people as a whole not be greedy when some of us are?<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-5403889739597449052011-09-29T15:44:00.000-04:002011-09-29T15:46:36.490-04:00Hum on 120 Minutes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/DoeMHoVnjWo?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
I remember videotaping this when it was on when I was in high school, fifteen years old. It was during the summer, so my mom didn't yell at me to go to bed (it didn't come on until midnight). I went to the first Warped Tour three weeks later. They did "Stars" and "I'd Like Your Hair Long." I thought this was the coolest thing when I saw it, and I still do. I was so struck by everything about this band. First, fucking look at them. The bass player is going bald, the singer looks like he works at a gas station, the other guitar player is playing a fucking spraypainted guitar and the drummer is like just some dude. These guys, like you know how punk or hardcore or alternative bands or whatever often talk about themselves as "losers" or "rejects" or whatever? Well, most of the time they aren't. They are just saying that for cred. I am actually a loser and a reject. These dudes, they look like if we were in high school together, they wouldn't have been part of the cool "alternative" kids and we probably would have hung out. I mean they are seriously dorky, and I relate.<br />
<br />
Also, listen to how LOUD it is! You can tell this because of the way the limiting kicks in as soon as they ring out on that distorted chord. The clean intro is pretty loud, but then the broadcast volume actually decreases once they get into it. Full stacks will do that, I guess. I saw them once. They were really loud. And really good. Glad I did that.<br />
<br />
The guitar player's fingers just fly over that fretboard seemingly with no effort. It's like they're possessed.<br />
<br />
And the drummer, wow. Look at all those cymbals. Five crashes/rides and a china. Holy shit. He uses them all, too. Rumor has it he is/was a Rush fan, so it makes sense. Dude plays so hard, and so well. Love it.<br />
<br />
These are fucking great songs.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zmej68ut3KA?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
I'm very glad to have lived through a time of plentiful meaningful music.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-84628374465341825002011-09-23T12:42:00.001-04:002011-09-23T17:56:49.564-04:00U.S. Supreme Court - Go ahead and kill that nigger<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
Yeah, so if you didn't know, the Supreme Court, after deliberating for four hours or so, told Georgia to kill Troy Davis. And they did, Wednesday night. They didn't waste much time after getting the order, of course.<br />
<br />
The pig's family is psyched. Sick fucks.<br />
<br />
Other pigs, on the other hand, specifically the one hundred or so of them in riot gear lined up outside the prison, are bummed, because they didn't get to beat the fuck out of Troy's supporters or even gas anyone.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-88774186168582543632011-09-21T15:16:00.002-04:002011-09-21T15:16:43.321-04:00Troy Davis' death schedule<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
From <a href="http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/21/lawyers-file-appeal-to-stay-troy-davis-execution/">CNN</a>:<br />
<br />
3 p.m.: Will undergo a physical.<br />
4 p.m.: Last meal offered.<br />
5 p.m.: Opportunity to record final statement.<br />
6 p.m.: An optional sedative will be offered.<br />
<br />
Cold. Mechanical. Robotic. Falsely detached. Inhuman. Chilling.<br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-30944566685122625342011-09-20T12:56:00.002-04:002011-09-20T12:56:35.999-04:00Georgia pardons board - "We're gonna kills us a nigger."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Family of dead Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail - "Thank you for killing some nigger for us so we can feel better."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/ga-board-no-last-ditch-clemency-troy-davis-142847836.html">This</a> is a sick world.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtqqVFnad8xDY1wddDxVr8gZw1ULAaVt-OeKfao94Pu06EQVqjbdLy6sfV2H4F7wujWZnNsOxQ7KE2ij_xslqECy-e3oCxIk6JMDReajSgNbAq5md1_TepuZ6qUgrs_DVgkaBJ2XuZyU/s1600/troy+davis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtqqVFnad8xDY1wddDxVr8gZw1ULAaVt-OeKfao94Pu06EQVqjbdLy6sfV2H4F7wujWZnNsOxQ7KE2ij_xslqECy-e3oCxIk6JMDReajSgNbAq5md1_TepuZ6qUgrs_DVgkaBJ2XuZyU/s320/troy+davis.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
They're so bent on killing Troy Davis. They'd rather execute this guy than admit that they were wrong. Save face, dispense with a black man. It's an easy choice for those in power. Doesn't matter if a former FBI director, among many others, says, "Hey, you have the wrong man here. This guy didn't do it." THEY ARE GOING TO FUCKING KILL THIS GUY. Someone who didn't commit this crime will die tomorrow and short of armed conflict, likely nothing will stop it. Surely reason will not, and you KNOW compassion won't.<br />
<br />
It's not like I'm surprised. I mean, come on, this is a black man, a dead cop and the death penalty we're discussing. Of COURSE he's gonna lose. Fuck this place.<br />
<br />
I cannot imagine the anguish and powerlessness this would engender in one's self. It's like, there you are, the outside world is only a wall away, there a lot of people out there who want to help you and believe in you, and a few people are deciding to kill you. You have no say. You just have to die. You don't even get to fight. You just have to submit and take the needle. It's preordained. You know when you will die, where and how. A regimented, clinical death. It's so fucked and against all that is natural.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-52594115364750853562011-09-19T15:09:00.000-04:002011-09-23T17:57:49.162-04:00One of the fifty million things wrong with hardcore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This really has nothing to do with the band Defeater or even the record label, Bridge 9. I do not know any of them, I know little about any of them, and I have never seen the band play. I have no interest in putting them down or any kind of such childish crap. This is a critique of ideas.<br />
<br />
It's difficult to think of people in this country less deserving of aid than troops - cops, rich people, vivisectors, clergy, politicians...But here we have a month-long benefit for people in the military, with the help of Bridge 9 Records and the band Defeater, in honor of 9/11:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Boston, MA’s Defeater are no strangers to the themes of war with their
conceptual albums Travels, Lost Ground and Empty Days and Sleepless
Nights. All three albums tell the story of a family set in post-WW2
America and their trials and tribulations – from an alcoholic veteran
father, his wife and their two sons. Consequently, Defeater has been
well known for their support of US troops fighting for our country.
With the ten-year anniversary of the September 11th tragedy just on the
horizon, Defeater, along with Bridge Nine Records and All In Merch, will
be donating proceeds from their merchandise sales to the soldiers
returning home suffering from post traumatic stress disorder via the <a g10401112e7c6145a="true" href="http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wounded Warrior Project</a>.<br />
<div c7854368a2e5490="woundedwarriorproject.org" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 16px; width: 16px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Starting today, $1.00 from every shirt sold on their webstores through
September 30th will be donated to these soldiers that require
assistance upon their return home. Additionally, Bridge Nine’s webstore
will be carrying an exclusive t-shirt that will be sold for one time
only this September, and 100% of the proceeds will also go to the
Wounded Warrior Project. Defeater had this to say: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
“As the 10 year anniversary of September 11 approaches, we want to
recognize the soldiers who have been fighting in the wars that resulted
from the tragedy. Between now and September 30, defeater, Bridge Nine
and All-In Merch will donate a portion of our merch sales, including
every exclusive shirt, to the Wounded Warrior Project -- an organization
that helps war veterans recover from the physical, emotional and
psychological scars left by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This
organization allows these heroes to successfully return to the life they
left behind to fight for our nation's freedom. <br />
Whatever our political beliefs, each individual deserves to return home
to a support structure that helps them heal from conflict. Every person
we know and love that is willing to put their life on the line for the
people they care about deserves our attention and what little we can
give back in return. Thank you for your purchase, and to all of our
deployed friends and family.”</blockquote>
<div c7854368a2e5490="woundedwarriorproject.org" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 16px; width: 16px;">
</div>
<br />
Wow, no. So, so many things wrong with that. Why, oh why, should anyone aside from oil companies and weapons manufacturers be giving money to individual soldiers? Here are people who volunteered to join the military. That's what we're talking about. No one was drafted. A standard stint of enlistment is four years. Anyone who has joined the military in the last ten years had a pretty good idea what was going on - you're probably going to war. Pointless imperialist wars. Pointless. No glory. No defense of the country. Long-term occupation style wars. Invasions.<br />
<br />
So there you were, kicking in people's doors, terrorizing kids, shooting camels for kicks. Harassing people on the street. Asking for ID. Making fun of them and their customs. Waving guns at them. Humiliating them. Screaming "orders" at them in a language they don't understand. You are their new gods. And now here you are, back in the country. And you deserve money? No. You don't deserve ANYTHING. What did Charles Manson's followers get? Jail.<br />
<br />
"[E]ach individual deserves to return home to a support structure that helps them heal from conflict" - umm, what about the people who already were home (Afghanistan, Iraq) and never will be healed because now they are living in seemingly endless civil war, because they had their lives picked up and dumped on the ground? What about the people of Iraq who were living in a sovereign country that was no real threat to anyone, especially the United States, and now have had their infrastructure ruined, their past looted, and their future damn near stopped? And the people who did that deserve to "heal"? "Heal"? From the violence that THEY'VE done? From the misery that THEY brought? This is so deeply offensive to the annihilation that they have visited onto millions of people who had nothing to do with anything. This is a perversion of responsibility.<br />
<br />
"[W]illing to put their life on the line"? For what? For whom? No one wants you there except people in business and government. You fools. Tools.<br />
<br />
But they were just following orders, right? Ha. Classic defense. I'm sure people would respect that were this country invaded, by people just following orders.<br />
<br />
I know I've said this before, but what's up with people not getting the idea that the troops ARE the war? They fight. They shoot. They invade. Rumsfeld ain't gonna crawl through the desert. You think Obama will? How about anyone on the board of General Electric? No. Put down your guns and the war is over. That's it. End of story. Troops made the invasion and keep it alive every day. They choose to do this.<br />
<br />
Also, can I mention one more time that there is no relation whatsoever between 9/11 and Iraq? No one even claims that there is anymore. No one.<br />
<br />
Even if you respect the concept of America having to invade Afghanistan and "go get em," which they really didn't, seeing as Bin Laden was alive until not so long ago, why are they still there, ten years later? What's going on?<br />
<br />
All this shit is just nationalism. Blind patriotism. Giving money and "support" to people who've all engaged in horrible individual acts and one huge collective horrible act. Seriously, you look around, and when you think "Who could use some benefit money?", the answer you derive is the military? Fuck.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-51047172253670276752011-08-27T11:35:00.000-04:002011-12-03T21:16:25.902-05:00Scary stuff - re: chemical contamination of food<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="255" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/exBEFCiWyW0?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
I've been eating organic food on purpose for a long time. Didn't realize that conventional produce was also sprayed with defoliants.<br />
<br />
People nitpick on things like this and try to tell you that if these chemicals weren't safe, farmers wouldn't use them or be allowed to use them. People tend to use extreme scales to decide if something is safe, such as if you get cancer or not. It's not like something makes you deathly ill or does no harm to you. Also, hardly anything gives you cancer right away...So shortsighted, willfully blind. Who would spray things like this on their meals after preparing them? Virtually no one. But as long as they don't see it, it's fine. Like it's any different.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-40353764929103212122011-08-23T22:26:00.000-04:002011-08-23T22:26:19.106-04:00Kim Thayil on being a band<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6R5IxtcemN6Sw_Cv_anggiuPEZuO4RXrsy3Y8FGaQLj4BVWh-l0TSKy_UimN_i1Ia4rmZ9j_0Mn1JbiSSRFFXkJCpf3l5O9we6Vnirh7EwpDKOa42tF6yaR2mbGz5la6CRzS0-mhj0A/s1600/kim+thayil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6R5IxtcemN6Sw_Cv_anggiuPEZuO4RXrsy3Y8FGaQLj4BVWh-l0TSKy_UimN_i1Ia4rmZ9j_0Mn1JbiSSRFFXkJCpf3l5O9we6Vnirh7EwpDKOa42tF6yaR2mbGz5la6CRzS0-mhj0A/s320/kim+thayil.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>"I always imagined we were the band that made the party end. Like, ok guys it’s time to leave now, someone just put on Superunknown!"<br />
<br />
Fucking brilliant.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-83297603374408432842011-08-23T16:31:00.001-04:002011-08-23T16:32:10.091-04:00Hunger Strike now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="330" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2NxeZVv4Nqk?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
This shit SUCKS. Fuck everyone who had any involvement with desecrating the song as such. These dudes are so cheesy and lame. Someone tell Chris to grow his fucking hair out again. Chester Bennington, ouch ouch ouch ouch. That's it.<br />
<br />
Oh wait, there is also this, which is kind of worse, but not as bad at the same time cause no one from Linkin Park is involved:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="330" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hleFAMRkbJo?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
Seriously, the guy doing Eddie, no.<br />
<br />
Finally, WHERE ARE THE HIGH NOTES?</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-42180066986607711832011-08-23T16:24:00.000-04:002011-08-23T16:24:49.947-04:00Hunger Strike then<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="255" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ys3ZnYT53L4?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
It rules. Everything about it. What they're all wearing, Eddie's leather vest or whatever over a flannel shirt, it fucking rules. The long hair, everything is sick. I'm gonna grow my hair out and dress like 1990. Chris' high notes. It all rules. This is pretty much as good as it gets.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-45870960672617268462011-07-13T17:21:00.000-04:002011-07-13T17:21:24.277-04:00Pigs - how far they've comeNot very. At all. Fuck. It's from last month, but I've been busy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<object height="345" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/RXpMzT5yGp8?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/RXpMzT5yGp8?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="345" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
<br />
It's truly disturbing to watch people choose to end someone's life. It's so arbitrary and final. Judge, jury and executioner all in one spot. In this case, it is particularly troubling, as those making the decision tend to be beyond the law. A bunch of them keep shooting after their clips are empty.<br />
<br />
Here's the story <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/06/07/florida.shooting.witness/">as CNN tells it</a>. I'll provide some highlights:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>He said after the disturbance started he pulled over his truck and started recording with his cell phone camera, capturing the shooting.</blockquote><blockquote>"When he noticed me recording, one of the officers jumped in the truck, put a pistol to my head," he said. "My phone was smashed - he stepped on it, handcuffed me."</blockquote><blockquote>Juan Sanchez, a detective with the Miami Beach Police Department, said he could not comment on how officers that night handled eyewitnesses who may have filmed the incident, because the matter could become the subject of an internal investigation or a civil lawsuit....</blockquote><br />
<blockquote>Benoit's girlfriend, Ericka Davis, was also in the truck at the time.</blockquote><blockquote>"They handled us like we were criminals," she said. "The officer came over to the driver's side, on my left, and just put the gun to my head."</blockquote><blockquote>"They took everyone's phones and smashed them," she said.</blockquote><blockquote>Benoit says the only reason he still has the footage is because it was saved on a tiny memory card, which he removed and hid from the officers, despite being told to hand over his video.</blockquote><blockquote>"I took the chip out and put it in my mouth," he said, and kept it there the whole time he was interviewed by police at a nearby mobile command post.</blockquote><blockquote>His video shows an officer on a bike approaching his truck and pointing a gun directly into the camera, giving an indecipherable command, and then backing away.</blockquote><blockquote>Another officer orders them to stop filming and get out of the truck, and then the video ends....</blockquote><br />
<blockquote>Herisse was killed, and four bystanders were injured by gunfire, according to [Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos] Noriega.</blockquote><blockquote>Benoit and Davis criticized the police for the number of shots they fired, in the presence of numerous bystanders.</blockquote><blockquote>"We could have been killed," said Davis. "They were shooting so long, you could hear their guns clicking on empty, but they kept pulling the trigger," she said. "I think that's excessive."</blockquote><blockquote><b>Noriega said it was unclear whether the suspect shot at the officers</b>, but police later recovered a gun from his car.</blockquote><br />
<br />
<br />
Here's the video from CNN that shows an overhead view of the pigs killing that man:<br />
<br />
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<br />
They can do whatever they want. What would happen to a civilian who rode up to someone's car and started waving a gun at people? What if that person was caught on video doing so?<br />
<br />
We live under martial law. Some of us get by a lot better than others, cause of the color of our skin and where we live. But we all live it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-32602473065385466872011-05-27T15:10:00.001-04:002011-05-27T15:12:42.959-04:00USA - USA - USA - USA - USA - USA - USA - USA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Fucking idiots. Glad there are people out there looking out for me and my interests. We would all be in Saddam Gorbachev's iron fist were it not for <a href="http://www.app.com/article/20110510/NJNEWS10/305100057/Upside-down-American-flag-Manalapan-center-draws-protesters?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage">these wonderful patriots</a>, just in time for Memorial Day:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="c content-wrap" style="float: none;"><div class="gel-content" id="__gelement_8"><div class="gel-pane gpagediv" id="GPage1"><blockquote>MANALAPAN — More than 20 people, some carrying American flags, showed up at the Turkish American Community Center Tuesday to protest that an American flag had been hung upside down in front of the site.</blockquote><blockquote>The flag hung upturned next to flags of Northern Cyprus and Turkey, a largely Muslim nation – an insult to America, protesters said. Center President Mehmet Reyhan said he did not know who had incorrectly hung the flag; he only learned of it when a member notified him of protesters outside the Route 33 building this morning.</blockquote><blockquote>“Livid – I was livid that (someone) desecrated our flag and hung it upside down,” said Betty Bailey, a Millstone farm owner who helped organize the protest.</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>“You need people out there to watch these things going on, because we can’t just stand by and let our country be put down…I just think people are getting lax about (patriotism and vigilance),” Bailey said. “We’re standing up for our country.”</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>The reason the flag had been hung upside down – and by whom – remains unclear: Some questioned whether recent headlines about the killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden triggered it, or whether it had simply been an incident of vandalism or an accident.</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>Protesters said they believed the flag had been hung outside the site since Sunday night or Monday morning. They said the flag also had been tattered and incorrectly displayed in relation to the other two flags.</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>Reyhan said he didn’t believe a center member would have turned the flag upside-down. Two current members have to vouch for new members in order for them to join, he said, “and I don’t think any of our members would do anything like that.”</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>“I think every nation is very proud of their flag; if someone puts it upside-down, I look at it as an insult to the nation,” Reyhan said. “We are Americans. We love this country. We are here for 25 years and those flags are always flying in the correct way. This is the first time I have seen something like this.”</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>According to federal statute, the American flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of distress. The flag has beenflown upside down as a form of protest in the United States, according to published reports.</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>Reyhan said he reported the incident to township police and the Turkish consulate. He said he had all the flags taken down Tuesday morning because he’s afraid they could be rearranged again and cause problems for the center.</blockquote><blockquote>Bailey said she still had concerns.</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>“It was in front of their building and I really think if it’s your building, you should really kind of notice that the flag was hanging wrong,” Bailey said. “People have to start taking a stand, so we did. Hopefully, it won’t happen again.”</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>Reyhan said the center, in the township for 25 years, serves as a celebration hall for Turkish, American and Muslim religious holidays. He said the center also hosts Turkish language classes for youths and provides networking, employment assistance, transportation and translation services for Turkish immigrants.</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>The center has about 350 members from as far as New York and Pennsylvania, but with many in Monmouth County from Manalapan, Englishtown and the surrounding area, Reyhan said. None reported noticing the flag, he said.</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><span class="aa"></span><br />
<blockquote>As for bin Laden, Reyhan said Turkey, too, has been living with the horrors of terrorist groups, “So we don’t want any terrorists in this world. We want nothing to do with them.”</blockquote><span class="pp"></span><br />
<br />
I like how people just started "protesting" instead of making any attempt to contact someone in the building. There was no attempt at discussion. Just some patriotic circle jerk, stimulating one another's hatred for Muslims. I also like how this passes for "vigilance." The Turkish are known for nothing if not their deep anti-American views and radical Islamic philosophy. Someone has to keep tabs on them.<br />
<br />
I'm going with the bin Laden suspicion. Everyone knows that Muslims are plotting a secret overthrow of the government, in the interest of establishing a Western Caliphate. This should definitely be viewed as nothing else than the second phase of what began on 9/11. Now that this flag has been flown upside down, there is no turning back. We will all be worshipping Allah in a matter of months, no doubt. Christmas is canceled.</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-90951437550119117562011-05-26T10:24:00.000-04:002011-12-09T09:55:23.153-05:00Sickening - care packages for Troops<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Oh, how I loathe the cult of the American military.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Don't worry, there's "no political message, whatsoever." I guess "we love you, keep fighting, whatever you are doing is fine, we worship you, what you are doing is worthwhile and full of purpose" is not political.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Again, the troops ARE the war. They don't plan it, but they carry it out. They're the tools in the box. The people high above them are just the architects. You know that Obama wouldn't go shooting it out in Afghanistan. If it were really <i>his</i> war, it would be over immediately. So, yeah, fuck the troops. They do all the dirty work. Taking orders is not an excuse. Let us remember, no one is being drafted. If you don't realize that invading and occupying someone's country is wrong, then you should realize that kicking in their doors, blowing up their houses, creating a life of war for them and terrorizing their families is. And if you don't, fuck you. You've surrendered your right to live. I don't care what happens to you. You're being shot at because you are an invader. What would you do if Iran invaded the U.S.?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
The American heroes in Iraq or Afghanistan are the ones who refuse to fight or turn their weapons on their commanders. Or someone like Bradley Manning. Taking it down from the inside. Resisters. They get put in jail and are remembered as traitors or enemy sympathizers. What else could they be when everything is so black and white? There is only right and wrong, with us or against us. What about "we don't want any part"? That is not an option.</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-50701390980601602322011-05-25T21:07:00.001-04:002011-05-25T21:09:19.163-04:00Looking at Barry Goldwater forty-five years later<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Not a great guy. For example, he was brutally opposed to the Civil Rights Act.<br />
<br />
Still, I would prefer this type of conservative greatly to those we have today.<br />
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<br />
At the time of the 1964 presidential campaign, people on the left, the entire range of the progressive/liberal/radical spectrum, viewed his potential election to office as some permutation of the second coming of Hitler. He was universally reviled, from people like Roy Wilkins, a man no one could ever argue was extreme, through the fledgling antiwar movement to radicals of all stripes, including Malcolm X, communists, socialists, anarchists and so on. Of course, this also includes Democrats.<br />
<br />
What do we have now? A bunch of people who make him look like Bill Clinton - Bush. Bush II. Rumsfeld. Palin. Rand Paul and the entirety of the "Tea Party." These people fucking hate everything and everyone. At least Goldwater was readable. You know where he stood. This type of conservatism has largely died. I think people such as him are regarded as libertarians now, and substantially marginalized, fodder for late night talk show jokes. Conservatives vying for power now fashion themselves after Ronald Reagan, a man who was demonstrably and profoundly worse than Goldwater ever was. Goldwater reviled what conservatism had come to mean by the late 70s and early 80s. For the record, while not a supporter of gay rights, he also didn't oppose them - he thought it had nothing to do with the government. He hated the religious zealots who have become such a dominant force in our lives now.<br />
<br />
It's no wonder that activism has died and drug use is high. What else could the people who fought against Goldwater in the 60s feel once they saw Reagan come into power and usher in a deep cultural conservatism that has been with us ever since? Talk about defeat.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-74835184303861123152011-05-20T15:03:00.001-04:002011-05-20T15:03:43.499-04:00One of the more offensive headlines I've read in quite some time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Not because of the subject matter, but <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/18/earlyshow/main20063874.shtml">because of what it proposes</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<h1>Maid's lawyer: IMF sex assault case no setup</h1><br />
<br />
The fact that this woman has to deny that she is collaborating with others to destroy this man is fucking appalling. Why does she have to deny this?<br />
<br />
Because everyone knows that men don't really ever rape women and that for sure, powerful men don't do it. They don't have to, cause they already have what they want - money, material things, hot wives, whatever. Let's just forget that men like that develop an insatiable sense of entitlement and can never feel like they are adequately in control. It's always more, more, more, just like the drug addict.<br />
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Stupid women lying to destroy men.<br />
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Poor, poor men. Always the victims. It's hard being man.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-43058447935410707312011-05-18T15:48:00.006-04:002011-05-19T21:54:41.626-04:00Stupid bands (Jesuit) have stupid cover art (their discography)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMkinEBeiEW9t-5P3t6NKM1cwITkXezgqBKK9QKk0xthDRC69PStLfRmbCpTBsf8X3ZxYIWivu2e7Q7P4GFp7rUzoAh0rJ_g8VV6Sxuk8xDTi5dvz1A2CyQBeWF2kyuN-FVn9UkbxbEs/s1600/jesuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMkinEBeiEW9t-5P3t6NKM1cwITkXezgqBKK9QKk0xthDRC69PStLfRmbCpTBsf8X3ZxYIWivu2e7Q7P4GFp7rUzoAh0rJ_g8VV6Sxuk8xDTi5dvz1A2CyQBeWF2kyuN-FVn9UkbxbEs/s400/jesuit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wow, so edgy. Women are evil and it's cool when they're dead. So original too. Let's go stab skinny bitches with big tits in the heart with knives and strip them except for high heels and some kind of lacy thing and wrap them in barbed wire and wait until they rot. It will be cool.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's their self-important description from <s>Deathwish</s> Magic Bullet:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><blockquote>JESUIT were an unrelenting, noisy hardcore band from Virginia Beach, VA. They existed from the mid-90′s up until the changing of the century. In their wake, they left a rather nice-sized dent in the intensely-PC witch-hunt/”safe space” era of DIY hardcore. Whereas events attributed to Charles Manson are often credited with bringing a savage and brutal end to the peace, love, and drug culture of the 60′s, events surrounding bands like JESUIT and GEHENNA not only elicited controversy at every tour stop, but pushed a movement toward hardcore finding its more violent, unpredictable, and entirely irreverent roots as the “Portlandia” cult of 90′s hardcore crashed to a halt.</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="small">Taking the old "controversy" route in an attempt to substitute for lack of substance. Style over substance, except I don't think Jesuit had that either. Zzzzzz....I like the part where they swipe at safe spaces (it's easy for men to not have to ever consider such a concept - what are those bitches crying about?) and refer to people trying to make their scene a better place, eradicating hateful manly shit as a "PC witch-hunt." Did Rush Limbaugh write this? Thanks to people like the men of Jesuit and their mentalities, hardcore is about as dumb as it ever was. <s>Jacob Bannon, you should be ashamed</s>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="small"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="small">In reality, this band was bad. I don't know anyone who ever liked them. They recently played a pointless reunion show and no one gave a FUCK that they were playing. For the whole time. People left when they played, I'm assuming cause the band was just that breathtakingly original. People went off for the band before them and the bands after them, but the room stood still when the mighty Jesuit played. I guess they were just awestruck.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="small"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="small">I'm not one to talk about what hardcore is "really about." However, at the very least, hardcore has historically been a rejection of "them" and "out there." It's a counterculture, or was. Shit like this is just aping the mainstream to the fullest. It'</span>s just one more round in the never-ending hail of bullets coming at women the world over. <span class="small">It's not that I hold out any hope, in the least, for hardcore or punk to become some revolutionary, redemptive or even benevolent force (more to come on that in a later post), but I do want to take the time to point out how fucking shitty this record cover and the concomitant (lack of) thought process are. This is worse than a Motley Crue record. At least those guys liked women (as well as looked like them). This is the kind of thing one should expect from Avenged Sevenfold or Buck Cherry. This has everything to do with the mainstream. This challenges nothing. Women are put down at every turn. Women are sexualized constantly. They are told they are not good enough. Let me help you with that. Their efforts are "cute." Their bodies are routinely violated with impunity. I'll kill you if you fight back. Daily media blitzkrieg sensory overload says you are fat. Don't try, because you will likely fail. Give it up. Just take it. Know your place. Slut. </span>If that's what you're into, stay in the fucking bar where you and your numbingly mediocre band belong. Offending people is not hard. In this case, it was a replacement for having anything worthwhile or creative to say.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I guess this record cover is their last hurrah, their final go at those PC Police. WE'LL SHOW THEM. YOU CAN'T SILENCE JESUIT. Sorry I'm such a faggot guys. I bet you'd never call me a nigger though. Cause that's just not cool, right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="small"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="small">Aside from the thoroughly anti-woman, misogynistic theme and aesthetic, the "art" just sucks. It's fucking stupid. Super trashy. Who likes this shit? It's about as cool as this:</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3DU2m_zfiUhWodefuiLc-dWdEwxz8WJlMhNJSfMnQxIuZtwOZW3Kid_C4pNqVHQ8wgDpEtXKWxRf8aG-rmhCTxJcgAVyEdsjhNR7GSiAPqLwRMoDJWxdTrR2DZOE5t3O8KgCjYWCCybw/s1600/1161066882_hot_rod_radiator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3DU2m_zfiUhWodefuiLc-dWdEwxz8WJlMhNJSfMnQxIuZtwOZW3Kid_C4pNqVHQ8wgDpEtXKWxRf8aG-rmhCTxJcgAVyEdsjhNR7GSiAPqLwRMoDJWxdTrR2DZOE5t3O8KgCjYWCCybw/s640/1161066882_hot_rod_radiator.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><br />
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Edit: Oops on the Jacob Bannon tip. I saw this listed in the Deathwish store and assumed it was from them. Made sense, with Nate Newton and all. However, as a commenter pointed out, it's on Magic Bullet. In that case, Brent Eyestone should be ashamed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494773947706299749.post-3732761513466793452011-05-12T00:37:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:55:10.680-04:00Sons of Abraham<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4Fumy936tQt-_vu5M37xgoI3t4DzKKvYwgDnq4C1xvD7MxK76G8nK8WoRLj3Uh7vnch0mHOqON1sFL3Z6lbrCRbbLC-qX3aa5gpCHssoJWAkNnk3V2lUOUo419EVo9c6Sp_dN1y7_Ps/s1600/sons+of+abraham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4Fumy936tQt-_vu5M37xgoI3t4DzKKvYwgDnq4C1xvD7MxK76G8nK8WoRLj3Uh7vnch0mHOqON1sFL3Z6lbrCRbbLC-qX3aa5gpCHssoJWAkNnk3V2lUOUo419EVo9c6Sp_dN1y7_Ps/s400/sons+of+abraham.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><br />
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About 126 people in the world would find this funny.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0