Kurt Vonnegut vs. the !&#*!@.

I really wish this article on anti-consumerism was available in it's entirety on the web.

Download the song of the week: A3 - U Don't Dans 2 Tekno Anymore! (Offline)

Comment

--------

Let�s take a look at some of the issues raised by Bush during the first half of his state of the union address, (i.e. the Mr. Nice Guy part).

Bush wants to put a stop to what he called �double taxation� on corporate dividends. Here�s how I see it, the US government is taxing income. The companies get taxed on their income as do the shareholders on the income they receive from dividends. The stock market is already one of the leading causes of the large skew in the distribution of wealth in the US. The rich get richer, or so the saying goes, and removing the taxation on corporate dividends will only widen the gap.

From the Democrats' SUA response, �Under the president's proposal to eliminate taxes on stock dividends, the top 1 percent -- that's people who earn over $300,000 -- would get more tax relief than the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined.�

Federal income tax cuts were also a hot item but there was no mention of the over 1 million unemployed Americans who have already exhausted their benefits and cannot find jobs.

Again from the Democrats' SUA response, �After gaining 22 million jobs in eight years, we've now lost two million jobs in the last two years since President Bush took office � 100,000 lost last month alone. Two years ago, the federal budget was in surplus. Now, this administration's policies will produce massive deficits of over a trillion dollars over the next decade.�

Bush also spoke of the environment, energy independence and the $1.2 billion in research funding for hydrogen-powered cars. I�m all for research on alternative energy sources but about solutions that already exist, like public transportation, car pooling, bike riding, etc. The US also has an abundance of sun and wind energy which it could harness and yet hydrogen power, which is yet to be proven safe and reliable is receiving the largest share of the research funding. And what exactly is the continued push for oil drilling in Alaska doing to promote oil-independence and a healthy environment?

$200 million for drug rehab sounds like a good start, but you have to wonder why more money can�t be put into rehab and drug education when the US war on drugs is already costing over $30 billion a year.

Bush�s attempt to make the US look like a major humanitarian force came in the form of AIDS relief for Africa. Now don�t get me wrong, $15 billion over the next five years for AIDS relief in the form of drugs and humane care is a very positive thing. It also serves to line the already fat pockets of Bush�s friends in the pharmaceutical research and drug industry. Why is none of this money going to AIDS awareness, sexual education and the promotion of condom use. (Maybe it is and it just wasn�t mentioned� I hope so.)

Finally, the scariest comment made by Bush jr. was this:

�All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries. And many others have met a different fate. Let's put it this way: They are no longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies.�

What exactly does that mean? Are innocent people who are suspected of being terrorists being killed by the US army? I�m not surprised� but I am wondering what ever happened to the idea that one was innocent until proven guilty.

The Transcript of President Bush's second State of the Union address.
The Transcript of the Democrats' response to President Bush's State of the Union address.
Another take on the address.

Comment

--------

So George Bush delivered his State of the Union Address.

I've got a good idea. I'm going to read someone else's speach from three different teleprompters and you can stand up and clap each time I complete 15 sylables.

It's cool to watch the person known as the leader of the free world speak his mind and yet act as if he's reading something for the first time...
__________________

If you get a chance, steal someone's national post everyday the rest of this week. Nick Hornby's most recently published work, Songbook (I think that's what it's called), is being featured. Each article is an excerpt from Songbook which is about specific songs and music in his life. Makes for a good read.
__________________

Recently at the Detroit auto show, Ford was displaying a concept car called the Model U, a great little piece of work. Here's a quick run down of some of the features:

• Hydrogen Engine
  
• Recycleable polyester seat fabric
  
• Corn-based tire fibres
  
• Sunflower seed engine oil
  
• Soy-based seat foam
  
• Corn-based retractable (and completely compostable) roof
  
• Soy-based resin tailgale
  
• Clear-coat paint that replaces petroleum-based materials with plant-based ones.
  

Is an accurate five day forecast possible? Are those forecasts created soley to placate the viewers?

Well it's cold today, but in five days I have something to look forward to.

If I was consistantly making bad predictions at work, I probably wouldn't be working much longer. What standard are meteorologists being held to that allow them this freedom to make unaccountable predictions?

Comment

--------

Brian Eno wrote an editorial piece for Time magazine entitled, The U.S. Needs to Open Up to the World. Christopher Caldwell wrote the Americentric response, Europe Needs to Get Real.

And I thought I was a paranoid conspiracy theorist... The 21st Century Blues.

Writing under the influence.

Stop Motion Studies.

Another top X of 2002 hip hop list.

The song of the week comes chalk full of G. Bush Sr. quotes... It's up to you! (Offline)

Comment

--------

Here's what I want you all to do... First read Marissa Kamin's essay on Why Gen X Doesn�t Care that it Doesn�t Care About the War, (slightly US-centric but still a great read). Next, (if you are Canadian), check out the Dialogue on Foreign Policy webpage and let our Government know how you feel about Canadian foreign policy. This is your opportunity to contribute to Canada's foreign policy. Finally, watch this little Bush jr. video montage and then go out and watch Bowling for Columbine.

Want to learn more about Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, 2001?

Delerium is having a remix contest. Download all the separate instrumental and vocal tracks from their song After All, here.

Comment

--------

Just some links... Some spookier than others:

• Conclave Obscurum
  
• My Pet Skeleton
  
• Brittle Bones
  
• Kilfish
  
• Toca Me
  
• Twexus (Not spooky...)
  

Check out the video for Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt.

Madelyn Murray O�Hair In Hell.

Winnipeg hip hop heads looking for something to do on Wednesday night should check out :

"Wed. Jan 23 ILL GRUBBS JAM @ The Collective
wpg rap's next big thing... GRUBBS... pick up his new self-produced cd!
with his trusty sidekick... ED.WORDS sharp name, sharp rapper
and a special bonus... DJ CO-OP and MC DAVE DUB-L.
cover only 4 bucks cheap!"

Comment

--------

Three time world DMC champ DJ Craze, Drum and Bass producer Adam F and MC MC are coming to Winnipeg on February 27!

I only have one question: Who the heck is MC MC?

Update: DJ Brian and DJ John Kelly will be here on Friday Feb 7th.

Comment

--------

Watch this 18 minute mini-documentary on Raves. A fairly unbiased view of a very miss understood scene. Even a jaded ex-partygoer like myself still got goose bumps when they were describing the phenomenon which is The Vibe. The background music they picked to showcase could use some improvement... but no one is perfect.

Positive stories on drug use in the mainstream media are few and far between.

Comment

--------

I added some more scanned stickers to the images page. If you live in Winnipeg and hang out at the same places as I do, you may have already seen these around.

This art is far too wicked to be hidden away in a comment.

The song of the week is: Buck 65 - Attack Of The Nerds Remix. (Offline)

Comment

--------

John K. Samson of The Weatherthans loves Winnipeg. (Real Player Required)

This goes well with a link I posted back in October.

Comment

--------

I found some interesting sites last night:

• Dirty Wallpaper - Art and filth on the walls of seedy european streets
  
• ReFresh - ReLoad - An evolving online exhibition intended to inspire, provoke, engage and promote.
  
• Design For Chunks - Redesigning the inflight sickbag.
  
• Quick and Dirty - An online visual design rag.
  
• Sticker Maker - Create your own Tak Tak sticker sheet.
  
• Gibson Blog - William Gibson has a blog.
  
• Jesus 'healed using cannabis'.
  

What a relaxing weekend! A bit of chill'n... a bit of cross country skiing... and a whole lot of sleeping...

Do you miss the Sesame Street of the late 70s and early 80s? Think Elmo should take a hike? Wonder why they stop playing the funky pinball counting song? You're not alone.

Otis Fodder is posting 365 mp3s on his site this year. A new song will appear every day. "Listeners of the incredibly strange and outsider realm take note, for this is the majority of material that will be made available. Obscure and out-of-print recordings will be the primary focus, although once in a while there may be a change."

A Reader's Manifesto - An attack on the growing pretentiousness of American literary prose, written by B. R. Myers.

You could do this too if you locked yourself in a room long enough.

Almost Cool has a reader contributed top albums of 2002 section... check out all the good music you slept on this year.

Comment

--------

Today is a special day. I have now been dating my girlfriend for five years. Happy Aniversary Sweetheart!

I love you.

Comment

--------

From the movie, The Ice Storm :

"To find yourself in the negative zone, as the Fantastic Four often do, means that all everyday assumptions are inverted. Even the invisible girl herself becomes visible and so she loses the last semblance of her power. Seems to me everyone exits partially on a negative zone level, some people more than others. In your life it's kind of like you dip in and out of it, a place where things don't quite work out as they should, but for some people there's something about the negative zone that tempts them and they end up going in...going in all the way."

Comment

--------