Friday, March 26, 2004
SPRING BREAK
Okay, finals are over and business is underway. Aside from a four day trip up to visit UC Berkeley and San Francisco with Mrs. X23 and her folks, I should get back to posting on a somewhat more regular basis. This world is getting interesting. I can do my little part to stop all that, so bear with me. I'll have a Moose pic up shortly for those of you who are jonesing for one, so bear with me.
|
Okay, finals are over and business is underway. Aside from a four day trip up to visit UC Berkeley and San Francisco with Mrs. X23 and her folks, I should get back to posting on a somewhat more regular basis. This world is getting interesting. I can do my little part to stop all that, so bear with me. I'll have a Moose pic up shortly for those of you who are jonesing for one, so bear with me.
|
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
GREENER DAY
No, not because of St. Patrick, that snake beating sod. The wife and I made the decision to rid ourselves of our last guzzling SUV and embrace the future and the environment by purchasing (on my recently improved credit, no less) a Honda Civic Hybrid. The only drawback is that we now have to transport our puppy to the dogpark in our much smaller, but more versatile Matrix. Such are the sacrifices we have to make. I promise Moose's adoring public that I'll get you a picture by the weekend. It's just been a terrifically busy week what with papers and finals and work and, well, I have some other news that I will not announce until it is finalized but let's just say if all goes well, my time in Bosley Medical hell may just be coming to an end :)
Moose pictures and commentary coming back soon!
|
No, not because of St. Patrick, that snake beating sod. The wife and I made the decision to rid ourselves of our last guzzling SUV and embrace the future and the environment by purchasing (on my recently improved credit, no less) a Honda Civic Hybrid. The only drawback is that we now have to transport our puppy to the dogpark in our much smaller, but more versatile Matrix. Such are the sacrifices we have to make. I promise Moose's adoring public that I'll get you a picture by the weekend. It's just been a terrifically busy week what with papers and finals and work and, well, I have some other news that I will not announce until it is finalized but let's just say if all goes well, my time in Bosley Medical hell may just be coming to an end :)
Moose pictures and commentary coming back soon!
|
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
I'M SPEECHLESS
You have to see this. Apparently, Los Angeles radio station KFI has Mel's favorite flay-toy, Jesus, as a host for a Sunday morning show. 'Nuff said.
|
You have to see this. Apparently, Los Angeles radio station KFI has Mel's favorite flay-toy, Jesus, as a host for a Sunday morning show. 'Nuff said.
|
OCTOBER SURPRISES
I've read here and there that if things are heading in the sour direction for Bushco in this election year, that they might orchestrate some kind of spectacle in October that would turn the tide for them. Now, I don't necessarily disagree with this as, well...let's just say if you touch a small piece of Dick Cheney, you may very well end up a hermit crab. However, I have been thinking lately that if, as some of the nuttier of the right wing cabal have implied...okay, not implied, but outright said...that if a vote for Kerry is like a vote for Osama or Kim, then would it be in Kim and Osama's best interest to turn the votes back to Bush, who, by the reckoning of the rupugs, is best equipped to make sure the likes of those varmits don't darken our doorsteps? I would think that, as participants in the U.S. political process, terrorists of all stripes, shaking in fear of Bushco's godlike power, would do everything in their power to keep things quiet this year. They wouldn't want to give Bushco any help at all. It just wouldn't make any sense if their goal was to help Presi...I mean Senator Kerry into office. Would it?
So what kind of October surprise can we expect then? Will the troubles in Iraq simply cease to be? Will 3-4 million jobs magically appear? Will Cheney's pace-maker suddenly stop in the night causing many a sympathetic American to let Bush stay in office because it wouldn't be nice to make him suffer two losses so close together? Or will Osama cast his vote for Bush with some kind of attack because at least Bush has done nothing constructive to catch him while Kerry might very well make a real effort to bring the man to justice?
Remember, should something terrible happen in October, it might seem that a vote for Bush is just like a vote for Osama.
|
I've read here and there that if things are heading in the sour direction for Bushco in this election year, that they might orchestrate some kind of spectacle in October that would turn the tide for them. Now, I don't necessarily disagree with this as, well...let's just say if you touch a small piece of Dick Cheney, you may very well end up a hermit crab. However, I have been thinking lately that if, as some of the nuttier of the right wing cabal have implied...okay, not implied, but outright said...that if a vote for Kerry is like a vote for Osama or Kim, then would it be in Kim and Osama's best interest to turn the votes back to Bush, who, by the reckoning of the rupugs, is best equipped to make sure the likes of those varmits don't darken our doorsteps? I would think that, as participants in the U.S. political process, terrorists of all stripes, shaking in fear of Bushco's godlike power, would do everything in their power to keep things quiet this year. They wouldn't want to give Bushco any help at all. It just wouldn't make any sense if their goal was to help Presi...I mean Senator Kerry into office. Would it?
So what kind of October surprise can we expect then? Will the troubles in Iraq simply cease to be? Will 3-4 million jobs magically appear? Will Cheney's pace-maker suddenly stop in the night causing many a sympathetic American to let Bush stay in office because it wouldn't be nice to make him suffer two losses so close together? Or will Osama cast his vote for Bush with some kind of attack because at least Bush has done nothing constructive to catch him while Kerry might very well make a real effort to bring the man to justice?
Remember, should something terrible happen in October, it might seem that a vote for Bush is just like a vote for Osama.
|
Monday, March 08, 2004
OFF LIMITS
Political advertising naturally takes a rhetorical position and uses both words and images both to display the ideology of the candidate it serves and to create a sympathy, if not a belief in, that very same ideology in the viewer. Sometimes, however, this advertising runs the risk of going to far and either being too negative or representing itself through images that may inadvertently prove hurtful to sectors of the population.
Recently, the Bush campaign began showing commercials around the country that show images of the tragedy of September 11th as a means of creating a mythology about the president’s ability to respond to national emergencies. While it may or may not be true that Bush was somehow transformed into a great leader because of the actions of terrorists, it is certainly the case that exploiting images of those events for political gain is both callous and morally reprehensible. Yes, it is a historical event with which Bush is associated. However, many people lost family and friends to those terrible acts and the deaths of their loved ones should not be fodder for the campaign to re-elect a president. There are certain things which should, by nature, be off limits.
The Bush administration, and its subsequent campaign for re-election, continually show a disregard for those things that should be considered off limits. It should be off limits to start a pre-emptive war against a nation that, by all evidence, posed no immediate threat to the United States. It should be off limits to reward corporations and the wealthy with tax cuts while increasing the burden on the lower and middle classes. It should be off limits to leave the world, both environmentally and economically, uninhabitable for future generations. And it should be off limits to create an insidious propaganda machine that distorts the record in such a way as to create the belief amongst the uninformed that the record on these issues is the opposite of the truth.
For the Bush team, however, there are no boundaries that they will not cross to enact their agendas. There is nothing and no one that they will not exploit to their own gain. Their recent advertisements are not surprising. They are simply par for the course.
|
Political advertising naturally takes a rhetorical position and uses both words and images both to display the ideology of the candidate it serves and to create a sympathy, if not a belief in, that very same ideology in the viewer. Sometimes, however, this advertising runs the risk of going to far and either being too negative or representing itself through images that may inadvertently prove hurtful to sectors of the population.
Recently, the Bush campaign began showing commercials around the country that show images of the tragedy of September 11th as a means of creating a mythology about the president’s ability to respond to national emergencies. While it may or may not be true that Bush was somehow transformed into a great leader because of the actions of terrorists, it is certainly the case that exploiting images of those events for political gain is both callous and morally reprehensible. Yes, it is a historical event with which Bush is associated. However, many people lost family and friends to those terrible acts and the deaths of their loved ones should not be fodder for the campaign to re-elect a president. There are certain things which should, by nature, be off limits.
The Bush administration, and its subsequent campaign for re-election, continually show a disregard for those things that should be considered off limits. It should be off limits to start a pre-emptive war against a nation that, by all evidence, posed no immediate threat to the United States. It should be off limits to reward corporations and the wealthy with tax cuts while increasing the burden on the lower and middle classes. It should be off limits to leave the world, both environmentally and economically, uninhabitable for future generations. And it should be off limits to create an insidious propaganda machine that distorts the record in such a way as to create the belief amongst the uninformed that the record on these issues is the opposite of the truth.
For the Bush team, however, there are no boundaries that they will not cross to enact their agendas. There is nothing and no one that they will not exploit to their own gain. Their recent advertisements are not surprising. They are simply par for the course.
|
MONDAY PUPPY BLOGGING
Moose says hello to all of his new friends in blogworld. Mrs. X23 and I had to build him an addition within our home. House training is not the best part of dog ownership and Moose is proving to be a handful. That being said, I'll let you all have a look at Moose's House
Of course, Moose doesn't always want to be in his house. Here, he tries his very best to climb out (silly Basset, your legs are too small!)
|
Moose says hello to all of his new friends in blogworld. Mrs. X23 and I had to build him an addition within our home. House training is not the best part of dog ownership and Moose is proving to be a handful. That being said, I'll let you all have a look at Moose's House
Of course, Moose doesn't always want to be in his house. Here, he tries his very best to climb out (silly Basset, your legs are too small!)
|
Sunday, March 07, 2004
AMENDMENT CONTEST
Remember folks! Just two more days in the
contest. Prizes are a copy of my super-35mm, short film COVERAGE, a personal picture od Moose the puppy and a special surprise. I only have five excellent entires. We need more! ¡Buena suerte!
|
Remember folks! Just two more days in the
contest. Prizes are a copy of my super-35mm, short film COVERAGE, a personal picture od Moose the puppy and a special surprise. I only have five excellent entires. We need more! ¡Buena suerte!
|
Saturday, March 06, 2004
MYSTERY 3000
Sorry, no science theatre here. But thanks to whomever came by from Rubber Hose to be visitor #3000. May your sun always shine on TV.
|
Sorry, no science theatre here. But thanks to whomever came by from Rubber Hose to be visitor #3000. May your sun always shine on TV.
|
Friday, March 05, 2004
BASH THAT PENGUIN BLOODY!!!
Thought you had enough of penguin bashing? Well, our good friend Trish has found this way to smash them Penguins into oblivion. Go on. Do it. You know you want to do it. Everybody's doing it. Go do it to. I got the thing to go 681.8...you need to hit the land mines...
Oh, only four days left in the contest. And #3000 gets a prize, too!
[UPDATE: 943.2!!!!]
|
Thought you had enough of penguin bashing? Well, our good friend Trish has found this way to smash them Penguins into oblivion. Go on. Do it. You know you want to do it. Everybody's doing it. Go do it to. I got the thing to go 681.8...you need to hit the land mines...
Oh, only four days left in the contest. And #3000 gets a prize, too!
[UPDATE: 943.2!!!!]
|
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
CLOSING IN ON #3000
Should any of you be the lucky 3000, let me know. I have so many things to give away :)
Currently in the Ipod (California by Rufus Wainwirght and Alameda by Elliott Smith)
|
Should any of you be the lucky 3000, let me know. I have so many things to give away :)
Currently in the Ipod (California by Rufus Wainwirght and Alameda by Elliott Smith)
|
JUST IN CASE YOU THOUGHT OTHERWISE PT.2
Via Atrios:
In a letter to the LA Times:
I am a high school teacher and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Monday morning, Period 1, a student, age 17, comes into my room. She asks me if I had seen the film "The Passion."
I answer, "No."
She continues, "It was so sad. I cried so much. I hate the Jews."
Very, very sadly, that tells the whole story, Mr. Gibson.
Anna Paikow
Los Angeles
Fuck you, Mel.
|
Via Atrios:
In a letter to the LA Times:
I am a high school teacher and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Monday morning, Period 1, a student, age 17, comes into my room. She asks me if I had seen the film "The Passion."
I answer, "No."
She continues, "It was so sad. I cried so much. I hate the Jews."
Very, very sadly, that tells the whole story, Mr. Gibson.
Anna Paikow
Los Angeles
Fuck you, Mel.
|
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
MOOSE SAYS NOT TO FORGET THE CONTEST!
Sorry I'm a bit late with the puppy blog. But We've been rebuilding our home to make the puppy happy and happy he surely is now. (Although from this photo, you would think he's a little sad, but he's a Basset, so he's always got a little sad look...)
Moose wanted me to remind you that the Constitutional Amendment Contest is still going on and we need more entries. I'm upping the stakes, I swear! In the meantime...
|
Sorry I'm a bit late with the puppy blog. But We've been rebuilding our home to make the puppy happy and happy he surely is now. (Although from this photo, you would think he's a little sad, but he's a Basset, so he's always got a little sad look...)
Moose wanted me to remind you that the Constitutional Amendment Contest is still going on and we need more entries. I'm upping the stakes, I swear! In the meantime...
|
