Jane's - Ocean Size

Much in the same way that Bush realized that man and fish could co-exist, this was the song that made me realize that Freak/Weirdo music and Metal could co-exist, dammit!



Update 2007-11-12: Video fixed. They can keep pulling the videos, we will keep linking to the new ones......

The Ditty Bops

Just because they're awesome...



Update 2007-11-12: I get really tired of YouTube videos that are eventually removed. Free advertising, people. Grrrr...........

White Man's Burden

Time was when a man was a man and something..something...something. Thank the good lord that people like voting chief John Tanner are looking out for downtrodden masses like me.

Nowadays, being a middle-class white man ain't the sure ticket to success that it used to be. I spend my days slaving away at the I/T Mills, while younger, completely marriage-able ladies are wasting valuable child-bearing years pursuing careers as Internet news pundits.

It makes me want to spit, I tell ya.

(completely serious)
No, seriously....it makes me want to spit. Let me tell you, please! If I was only born ten years later, I could'a been an Intertube contender, fer shure!!!
(/completely serious)

In these web-two-dot-aught days, with sites like The Webb Alert and Black20News, and their streaming talkies, any attractive female with a talent for news commentary can be a star.

But what about us thirty-somethings? We never had this shot at the big time. I could wear a low-cut shirt and smile all purty, but nobody'll watch my vidcast. Heck, all I get are a bunch of hits from Koreans looking for "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", following their links from Naver.com. Whatever they're looking for, they don't find it here...they just move on.

Bah, some day...there will be justice for the middle-class 30-something American white man...we will have a voice.

Siamese Dream - Rocket

Smashing Pumpkins, just because.



....memories of listening to this album when it was new, sitting in the woods with my cats, LOLcats!

Update 2007-10-30 22:34: Updated the title of the post. For whatever reason, I had it in my head the name of the album was "Cherub Rock". Personally, I blame the Clinton Administration. That or the booze.

eff it, modest mouse

Dashboard follows.....



Johnny Marr, y'all........

I'll Take Mine in "Go Mango" Green, Please

(Your author drools...)

The AutoBlog article isn't sure if this is an official (the automaker formerly known as Plymouth) car, or some custom one-off, but dear lord, I want one. Even with the godawfully ugly interior.

Update 2007-10-30-02:03 EST: From the update on AutoBlog, it is apparently a one-off. Curses!

Paulson and the Administration's Message

Back in late July, our Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson hit my radar by reportedly making the following comments on the economy:

Speaking on CNBC television, Paulson said the economy was moving to a sustainable pace of growth and the risks in the subprime mortgages market were largely contained.
(This was from a yahoo news article which has since expired.)

Now, bear in mind that when he said it, it was becoming clear that the subprime problems were not terribly well contained. I believe it was earlier that week that Mozillo explicitly said that the delinquencies were showing up in Alt-A and even Prime loans. Furthermore, the "subprime is contained" talking points had started to become something of a joke.

So to hear the Secretary of the Treasury tossing out talking points past their expiration date was a bit troubling. Either he was doing a really poor job of trying to bamboozle, or he was woefully uninformed.

Consequently, I've been trying to keep an eye on what Hank has to say about the economy since then.

Today, Bonddad informs me of his latest masterpiece. Now that the dollar is at all time lows against the Euro, and down substantially against just about every major currency which isn't on a dollar peg, Hank tells us:

"I believe that a strong dollar is in our nation's interest and also that currency values should be set in a competitive marketplace based upon underlying economic fundamentals,"

Bonddad comments:

Look -- if the US wants a "strong dollar policy" they have to act like a strong dollar economy. That means things like exporting more than they import and not issuing mammoth amounts of new debt every year. You just can't say it; you have to act in a way that leads to that result.

Indeed.

At this point, it's really hard to shake the belief that everyone in the Administration genuinely believes that if you just say something enough times, it will magically become true.

Victory!

When I was first waking up this morning, I thought I heard the news announcer say that the Red Sox had finally delivered victory over the insurgent Iraqis, but then I realized I was half asleep and misunderstood.

Congrats to Boston, anyway, I guess.

The "Comcast Blocking BitTorrent" Story Continues

Since I wasn't blogging while this was happening, I missed discussing this story initially. However, like all good juicy stories, this one keeps on giving.

Earlier this summer, there were reports that Comcast was blocking BitTorrent traffic. Comcast offered a denial that basically said they didn't monitor what types of traffic it's customers were using, but that they did reserve the right to shut down people who hogged bandwidth. More recently, the AP investigated and found some fairly conclusive proof that, contrary to what Comcast said, it sure looked like they were sending spoofed messages that appeared to be from the downloader to the seed host to stop sending. (Summary here)

Consumerist subsequently received some internal emails from Comcast that indicates that their official line is now that they are not "blocking access" to BitTorrent users. Which, in classic hair-splitting language, is arguably true. They're not technically blocking anyone's access, they're simply telling the seed file hosts to stop sending. The reps are being told, very sternly, not to deviate from their scripts, so I can't imagine there's some extremely precise legal arguments being utilized here.

And then, from an update in that same consumerist post, it is discovered that the software Comcast denies using to interfere with BitTorrent traffic is available as a choice on their internal troubleshooting system.

We'll be watching this one closely...

Domestic Wiretapping Prior to 9/11

This post is going to be rather sparse, and the main reason I'm putting it up is so I can easily find the WaPo link later on.

Main point: Everyone talking about providing retroactive Telco immunity in the upcoming FISA update argues that "Hey, it was after the 9/11 Terrorist attacks! They were trying to help the Gov't out in a very troubling time." However, as this article suggests, the domestic surveillance had started long before the Sept 11th attacks occurred.

Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week.
(emphasis mine)

This information has been significantly absent in all discussions I've heard lately, so it may have been refuted. Still trying to find out the status on the validity of the claim. More to come...

Update: Here's an article where emptywheel examines the SSCI arguments in favor of retro immunity for the telcos.

Irrational Exuberance, Oct 2007-style

Hey, everybody! It's Saturday!

Let's review what I consider the most interesting stock market news from yesterday.

Troubled home lender Countrywide Financial reported 3Q results yesterday. Here are the highlights:

- Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N) posted a $1.2 billion third-quarter loss on Friday
- The quarterly net loss totaled $2.85 per share, or $1.20 more than Reuters Estimates said analysts on average expected
- Countrywide wrote down $1 billion related to capital market disruptions.
- It set aside $934.3 million for credit losses, up from $38 million a year earlier, as more borrowers fell behind on payments
- Countrywide said borrowers were delinquent on 29.08 percent of subprime loans it serviced as of September 30, up from 23.71 percent in June.

Truly some grim results. I can only imagine the market must have really pummeled their stock.

Countrywide shares rose $4.23 to $17.30 on the New York Stock Exchange

Huh. You don't say...

Makes you wonder what all those buyers were expecting CFC to report, no?

So, at this point, I'm convinced that the financial markets are just completely covering their ears and shouting "la-la-la...I can't hear you!" for about half of the economic news coming in. There can't be a recession, because I called bull market, no takebacks.

AP Editorial Slant on Oil Revenues

So I get that this article is from the business news section, but this might well be the most transparently biased lead line I've ever seen.

The oil industry is under assault globally by nations and even provinces who want companies ... to cough up more royalties they can use to address issues like poverty and education.

The oil industry is under assault? Oh dear! Who will look out for the interests of those defenseless multi-billion dollar megacorporations? Forget the freaking children, wont someone please think of Big Lovable Oil? Curse those greedy nations (and provinces, no less!) for depriving these businesses of their profits and then frittering them away on the greedy poor and uneducated.

So, either....Wow! That's an interesting take on the subject. Or else, I tip my hat to the most subversive sarcasm since "A Modest Proposal".

Ouch!

Okay, so I'm basically just going to copy (and link to) Mark's boingboing post, because he pretty much sums this one up as elegantly and succinctly as possible:

Nad Shot is a blog that posts comic book panels of violent punches and kicks to the groin.

Nad Shot. A blog posting pics of comic characters getting hit in the nuts. I suppose "brilliant" is not the right word, but maybe "awesome" is close.

10/19 Changed Everything

Uh oh...from MSNBC...

Plane hits building near Vancouver airport
Two elderly people aboard aircraft injured, Canadian media report

Let's see if Harper is going to prove his Conservative cred and declare a Global War on Elderly People.