anti-[everything]

Call me jaded, but I cannot muster the energy to care about the presidential primaries. The Republican voters, of course, will inevitably pick someone despicable because that's just what Republicans do. The Democrats, on the other hand, will pick someone that pretends to be respectable (e.g., Hillary Clinton) but really is just as rotten as the "alternative." That's what Democrats do.

None of this really matters.

New Mexico has closed primaries. Only registered party members are allow to vote and the only official parties in NM are the two parties of capitalism: Republican and Democrat. I'm not a member of any political party. So, I don't get a vote in the primaries.

It's hard to care.

Early in the pre-election cycle, I made an effort to listen to what candidates were saying. I thought over who I really thought might follow through on promises of Universal Healthcare (not Universal Insurance), a solution Iraq, etc. Then I realized it didn't matter since I choose not to affiliate with either party. Regardless, I suspect none of them to follow through. More accurately, I suspect that the final winners in the primary contests will be the least threatening to the status quo. Hell, you can't even get into the presidential debates unless you're in one of the non-threatening parties.

That's what elections in America are about.

Technorati Tags: politics, state primaries

Continuing with my plan to make listening to the live broadcast as difficult as possible, onight is anti-[Radio] #4 is LIVE at 10:30 PM MST.

Listen or Die!

Or maybe not. How about sometime tomorrow?

Technorati Tags: anti-[Radio], iTunes Music Store, podcast, punk

I haven't been getting much sleep lately. I have too many projects right now and despite my long days and sleepless nights, nothing seems to be getting done. My office is damn disaster, thought that really isn't anything new. I have piles of books, papers, notes and other nonsense almost everywhere I look. I need to rummage through it all every day or so to remind myself what's in the piles I'm neglecting. It's frightening.

I'm not sure the coffee even does anything any more. It keeps the headaches away, I guess.

I'm at home most all of the time now. That means I don't need to shower regularly or get too dressed. I can wear the same shit everyday. Not having to socialize every day is nice. I don't really want co-workers and colleagues to talk to on a regular basis. At the same time, I really don't have any reason to leave the house. Ever. That may lead to insanity.

It's times like these when I want to smoke, especially late at night or early in the morning. Sometimes I think I'd probably push a 90-year-old, quadriplegic, epileptic midget down a flight a stairs if made a pack of smokes and a light would materialize in my hands. But, I don't smoke anymore so there's no use complaining about it.

Technorati Tags: education, life, losers, coffee, work

Holy shit, I think my site works again. My host (nearlyfreespeech) was physically moving its hardware over the last day, and fixing problems over the next, which accounts for the lost of connectivity to this site. I know. Millions were disappointed by the outage. I was going to post something for 9/11 Day, otherwise known as Patriot Day. Why it's called Patriot Day is beyond me. I guess it is patriotic to die.

I'll make an effort to post something relevant or at least topical later...maybe tomorrow.

I was going to do a anti-[Radio] episode, but decided not to until my blog worked again. I guess I should get on that.

I wrote the above yesterday when I thought nearlyfreespeech had things working again. Turns out you could see the pages, but none of the cgi or mysql bits were working. I guess things are working now.

In honor of Patriot Day...

Technorati Tags: nearlyfreespeech.net, anti-[Radio], 9/11

Blackwater security firm banned from Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead. The U.S. State Department said it plans to investigate what it calls a "terrible incident."

In addition to the fatalities, 14 people were wounded, most of them civilians, an Iraqi official said.

The article refers to Blackwater and similar organizations as "security firms." The truth is, they're mercenaries.

It will be interesting to see who comes to Blackwater's defense. I doubt they will actually be banned from Iraq and that the Bush administration will pressure (i.e., force) the Iraqis to allow the corporate death squads to remain active within their borders.

Iraqi authorities have issued previous complaints about shootings by private military contractors, according to a July report from the Congressional Research Service.

"Most recently, a news article discussing an incident in which a Blackwater guard shot dead an Iraqi driver in May 2007 quoted an Iraqi official's statement that the Iraqi Interior Ministry had received four previous complaints of shootings involving Blackwater employees," the congressional service report said.

The Congressional Research Service report cited other concerns, such as "the apparent lack of a practical means to hold contractors accountable under U.S. law for abuses and other transgressions and the possibility that they could be prosecuted by foreign courts."

The reported added, "Iraqi courts do not have jurisdiction to prosecute contractors without the permission of the relevant member country of the Multi-National Forces in Iraq."

Contractors fall under Justice Department and FBI jurisdiction for alleged crimes, said a Pentagon official, who confirmed the accuracy of the congressional report.

If Iraq was a truly sovereign nation, it would throw all of these private armies out of its borders. Hell, if they were truly sovereign, they'd probably toss out the "Multi-National Forces in Iraq" too. But, no one really believes the occupied nation is actually a sovereign state, do they?

Technorati Tags: Blackwater mercenaries, Iraq

Clinton unveils mandatory health care insurance plan

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton announced a $110 billion health care reform plan Monday that would require all Americans to have health insurance.

...

A Clinton adviser compares the plan's so-called "individual mandate" -- which requires everyone to have health insurance -- to current rules in most states that require all drivers to purchase auto insurance, according to The Associated Press.

In her plan, Clinton said families would receive tax credits to help pay for coverage. The tax credit would be designed to limit the premiums to a percentage of a family's income.

Here's another reason not to vote for Clinton. No, I'm not afraid of national healthcare. What I'm afraid of is corporate shills that will "solve" the healthcare crisis in this country by legislating in the interests of the insurance industry. Clinton's plan would require us to purchase coverage from the very industry that works tirelessly to drive down quality of care and drive up quality of profits. All this plan will do is force more citizens and tax dollars into the hands of the insurance industry. Let's be clear: the insurance industry operates to maximize profits, not coverage. Who's being subsidized here? Right-wing critics will decry this plan as "socialized" healthcare, but the only beneficiaries of this plan are corporations. Sounds like capitalism to me; the ruling class will always legislate in its favor.

Americans don't need universal insurance coverage. We need quality, universal health care.

Technorati Tags: healthcare, Clinton, politics, insurance

Seriously. How much effort does it take to make your damn pdf an actual form that I can fill out in Acrobat or Preview? I've done it before. It isn't difficult. Why the fuck would you even bother posting a pdf that I have to print out and fill out by hand? Do they hate me? What fucking year is this? Why don't I just telegram my entries?

It's as if someone is trying to punish me for having sloppy, lazy penmanship...repeatedy.

Yes. This is what passes for a post around here.

I have other shit to do right now.

A: Childrens do learn.

During his first presidential campaign, Bush -- who promised to be the "education president" -- once asked: "Is our children learning?"

On Wednesday, Bush seemed to answer his own question with the same kind of grammatical twist.

"As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured," he said. Reuters.com

George W. Bush: America's first retarded president.

Technorati Tags: education, George W. Bush, mental retardation

I mean it this time. There's no live broadcast and I'm still banned from iTunes Music Store. I blame Steve Jobs because he's Beatles-loving hippie. Fuck him.

Just get the damn podcast: Podcast Feed

Listen or Die!

Technorati Tags: anti-[Radio], music, podcast, punk