audio { Tumbling Down the Rabbit-Hole

So I decided this last week that I needed some more vinyl in my life. Plastic platters with musical grooves. I love digital recordings, I think the quality of reproduction is quite a bit better in many ways...

...But there is something cool and nostalgic about vinyl. Not to mention the fun of cranking up my parents original Beatles albums, or Carpenters albums, or the Moody Blues, or a couple classical albums (yeah! they have classical), or heck, there's even a Jethro Tull album in there, and Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison!. And singles! I wonder what the "Joe Cuba Sextet" sounds like, or what "Take Good Care of My Baby" by Bobby Vinton sounds like. Is "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf on a 45 better than on the radio? Does Mama Cass' voice pop out on "Dream a Little Dream of Me"? And I still swear you've never heard "The Thrill is Gone" by B.B. King until you've heard it on vinyl (or live, B.B. is a great showman and a great gentleman of the blues). I think I even have a Pearl Jam single from the days of yore.

Well, a quick survey of my dad's old turntable (a Pioneer PL-12 from the 70's, which is nearly as cool as his Marantz receiver) indicates that it needs a new stylus, a new drive belt, and the smoked dust cover is missing.

One of the things I had not thought about is why records get scratches and pops. The reason is that the needle, which is MADE OF DIAMOND, is dragging across the vinyl with a lot of force. That force, along with dust or contamination, will damage the platter over time. All records degrade over time, so at some point, those recordings will be gone. So much for perfect digital replication. Still, that makes it more akin to a bottle of wine. Pop the cork and enjoy. Oh, and the stylus only lasts a year or two.

Its looking like it will run me $50-100 for a belt and stylus of mild quality. But what the heck.

music { The Pipettes

Old sound, new band. I kinda like them.

'You're Kisses Are Wasted On Me' - the Pipettes

Who da man? { Kucinich da man!

response { Owning your actions

Knight has posted an excellent response to the debate DAV of EvilBobby and I had regarding Naderish Voters. Read it. It is eloquent and well put.

in memoriam { Mstislav Rostropovich

Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич (Mstislav Rostropovich), one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century, has died.

As an aspiring (if amateur) cellist, his playing and recordings were an inspiration to me. His talents will be deeply missed.

Mstislav Rostropovich
1927-03-27 to 2007-04-27

.

politics { speaking the truth

I was unable to watch the Democratic candidates debate, but I heard a quote from Mike Gravel, former senator from Alaska. Obama was talking about Iran and nuclear proliferation. I heard this quote at the end of the video and cheered.



On the military industrial complex



The best... on the other candidates



There's a whole slew of 'em and I really like this guy. He passionate and says what should be said.

politics { Democratic Candidate Debate

I was not able to catch it, but saw recaps on the news. I have to admit, I was pleased with Edwards and his admittance that he made a mistake in voting for the war and that it was a mistake he would live with the rest of his life. It is not often you see politicians admit they made a mistake freely like that.

I salute you Mr. Edwards.

*Update - watch the all the chapters of the Bill Moyer journal Allthingspring posted earlier. Chapter 4 they have flash backs to 2002 and all the Senators, who would either become candidates in 2004 or 2008 (Kerry/Clinton) and listen to what they said. Yes hindsight is 20/20, but our elected officials should have done more scrutiny on the Administration, as should have MSM. Also watch KnightofNothings posting with Bill Moyers and Jon Stewart (I await the full episode for this after it airs).

Admitting you're wrong does not make you less of a leader, it shows you are human and only America's cult of machismo gives a damn, and you know what, they're a minority.

casual_friday { hardwired to concede so much we had to stow it

After yesterday's intensity, I think we need something lighter, and I'm still on a huge MM kick.

Modest Mouse, 'Dashboard'

environment { carbon trading/offsets revisited

The Financial Times had a small piece on their own investigations into the carbon credits industry.

The FT's findings seem to be that the entire carbon trading industry is rife with failings and dubious benefit.

media { Bill Moyers, MSM, War

Bill Moyers Journal on 'Buying the War' - the complete failure of the mainstream media to challenge the lies of the Bush administration to enter us into an unwarranted, illegal war of aggression.

He's ripping the mainstream media a new corn chute.

The media should be a skeptical resource, a critic when governments spout things that aren't true. When thousands of lives depend on those lies being believed or disbelieved, their failure to provide a check to arrogant power becomes criminal.

Worth a watch.

no apologies { Never gonna happen.

I will never apologize for voting for Nader in 2000, which was voting my conscious. So I think everyone will just have to get over it...or go cry in a corner.

But on a more serious note, at this point, continuing to bash 'Naderish Voters' will accomplish nothing except alienate more liberals. Is this not (still for now) a free country and open society? Is not the electorate supposed to be allowed to choose their own candidates?

P.S. Ouch, saying Green Party members work for the Republicans, that's low.

retort { when liberals have no one to blame, they blame liberals

EvilBobby has decided to respond to my response regarding his response, to which I can only respond...


TASTES GREAT!

response { Naderish Voter

Evil Bobby has a piece about Naderish Voters to which I feel I need to respond.

To set my stance on this I will provide a little background. First, so its out of the way, I voted for Nader in 2000. I vote progressive and liberal, almost any candidate on the left of the spectrum that I feel represents my views. I am a member of the Green Party and a member of the DFL, even though the DFL makes you sign that loyalty oath. I support the DFL because lately they have been fielding candidates I feel I could stand behind. The DNC, I have far more loyalty to the DFL than I do the DNC. At the national level I think the Democrats have some work to do, they have had a few gems like Kucinich, who I supported in 2004 until he stepped out of the race after the primaries.

2000 though was like another time. I am quite upset with people, and especially liberals who have found a convenient scapegoat in those who voted for Nader in 2000 for our current woes. They tend to not want to look back at the ills that were in the party (representation of themselves) back in those days, where a large faction of the more green and peace aligned were not seeing support in the DNC. No one, except maybe Rove, could have predicted the hell that has become America since 2000, and especially since 2001. 9/11 provided a catalyst that opened pandora's box and was like Christmas for the neo-cons. No one expected the SCOTUS to appoint a President. Nader did not lose the election for the Democrats in 2000, they lost it themselves. Remember Gore changing how he acted to seem more macho? That turned people off.

The generalization that Nader voters lost the election especially galls me in states like MN where I hear quite a few DFLers jump on the Nader bashing bandwagon. We have an Electoral College. Gore won MN, by a safe margin. Bush won because of the all or nothing system that awarded Florida's votes to him. Want to blame someone? Blame all of us for not wanting to institute better electoral reforms such as run-off voting, splitting (or abolishing) electoral votes. Blame the MSM if you feel you need a scapegoat. But don't blame your fellow liberals, especially the ones with consciouses and who are free and independent thinkers. The Democrats need to be reminded of their progressive and liberal roots from time to time. They aren't perfect. No one is, especially in this country.

Blaming Naderish voters won't fix the Bush situation. Nor is it justified. America in its early times used to have more than 2 parties. But today, at least at the national level one could almost argue we have one party with two faces.

(O.K. back to work since I'm supposed to be paying attention in this meeting)

politics { Walz

Tim Walz piece in the Times.

.

warcraft { lvl 60, it used to be a big deal

Pernox, at lvl 60, with the Guildie who helped me get there. It used to be the 'end-game' but now that's lvl 70. Still its an accomplishment.

politics { facist state in 10 easy steps

Yeah I'm on a politics tear today. (perhaps b/c of the music I am listening to at work today: Modest Mouse, She Wants Revenge, Placebo, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Sonic Youth)

Saw this on the Guardian UK: Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

(distilled, how many seem familiar?)

1 Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2 Create a gulag
3 Develop a thug caste
4 Set up an internal surveillance system
5 Harass citizens' groups
6 Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7 Target key individuals
8 Control the press
9 Dissent equals treason
10 Suspend the rule of law

response/politics { Tim Walz responds to my email

Or why I voted for Walz, it was because of responses like the one below.

A few weeks back I sent a note to Tim Walz (along with probably many) asking for the cessation of torture and the closing of Guatanemo Bay and all the secret torture prisons the U.S., here is his response.

Dear [I choose to anonymous my name],

Thank you for contacting me about protecting civil liberties. As a 24 year veteran of the National Guard, I served to safeguard the personal freedoms of all Americans. You can count on me to stand up for them as your Congressman.

While we must be vigilant against terrorists and use all tools at our disposal, we must never cede our liberties to our government.

On the domestic front, I believe wiretapping and e-mail monitoring are appropriate only after the judicial branch has exercised its Constitutionally-mandated role and approved the action. Congress must ensure that the NSA and FBI follow the law when conducting investigations of U.S citizens and those suspected criminal activists.

Internationally, questions surrounding the treatment and interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay have sunk the credibility of the United States to an all-time low. The President should move to close this facility immediately and the Justice Department must make it clear that torture is never acceptable. Moreover, the Justice Department and the CIA must abandon the practices of using secret prisons to detain suspects indefinitely and using extraordinary renditions to whisk suspects off to "torture-friendly" countries for interrogation.

You will also be happy to know that I have cosponsored H.R. 1678, the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2007. The legislation will fund domestic treatment centers for victims of torture and broadcast that America stands against all forms of torture. The legislation is pending consideration before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and I am hopeful it will be enacted into law soon.

Thank you again for sharing your views with me, and I look forward to hearing from you again in the future. For more information about my activities representing southern Minnesota in Congress, please visit http://walz.house.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.



Sincerely,


Tim Walz
Member of Congress

wtf? { Wal-Mart hires former Intelligence Officers

Reading my gmail this morning I saw this link in the sponsored ads bar for my message from FAS Secrecy News:

Wal-Mart Recruits Intelligence Officers

The job description includes collecting information from "professional contacts" and public data to anticipate and assess threats stemming from "world events, regional/national security climates, and suspect individuals and groups."

"Familiarity with a broad spectrum of information resources and data-mining techniques" is listed among the skills sought, along with a foreign language, preferably Chinese or Spanish.

...

"The idea that Wal-Mart is creating its own personal CIA should make every American _ Wal-Mart customer or not _ nervous about whether Wal-Mart is invading their privacy or could do so in the future," said Chris Kofinis, spokesman for WakeUpWalMart.com.

So of course I had to follow the link.

WTF?

I can see the need for a company to have its own internal security, but this seems like more than counter-intelligence. Somethings fishy. This goes beyond normal corporate espionage. What makes me pause on this is:

1) Its Wal-Mart so I'm instantly suspect.
2) The Walton family is crazy.
3) Wal-Mart has a history of spying on employees.

The idea of corporations having their own intelligence services and armies used to be the stuff of science fiction, but its fast becoming reality it seems.

dreams { Once there was this guy who...

Ok so I'm not going to quote 'Crash Test Dummies'. But my dreams have been, not strange, but different. I'm still going through a series where my dreams re-live parts of my younger life. Visions of things that were or things that were, but not in that way. Lately I've been having, not a dream, more of a vision. The scene is its night, and its dark and I'm standing on a loading dock looking out at the late spring/early summer night. A gentle breeze blows through the oaks and maples I can see just across the small concrete area for the trucks to back in. The smell on the air is that of how warm evening just after a rainstorm smell. Wet asphalt, earthy aromas of rich soil, moisture in the breeze. Bugs hover around the single light hanging in the parking lot. I know this place, I've been in this place. I've experienced this, but that was 12 years ago. When I worked night shift at Deluxe. I'm the only one on the dock and I'm wearing a blue smock. This means it was the back of the Red Fox plant. But its deep night the sounds of the city are quiet. The sky is still deep and dark, no pre-dawn yet, it must be 3am. But that's not completely right. I wore a blue smock on second shift when I did printing press maintenance. On third shift I packed boxes. I never turn around to look or confirm that I am where I am.

The trees are lush and green.

politics { when the right can't blame anyone, blame liberals...

...or Rush Limbaugh is a twat.

I was reading my salon.com newsletter this morning when Joan Walsh had found this from Rush.

"This guy had to be a liberal," ... "You start railing against the rich and all this other -- this guy's a liberal. He was turned into a liberal somewhere along the line. So it's a liberal that committed this act. Now, the drive-bys will read on a website that I'm attacking liberalism by comparing this guy to them. That's exactly what they do every day, ladies and gentlemen. I'm just pointing out a fact. I am making no extrapolation; I'm just pointing it out."