Ahh...the Muppets

I heard about this while listening to the top 101 songs of 1993 on Q101 in Chicago.
I love Jim Henson...The world misses you!!!

Late post of halloween 2008

Crazy Middle Eastern music at a Halloween party?

Sounds like fun!!!


And a slideshow of costume craziness

Election Night in Chicago: The Epicenter

Look closely and you will see Mr. Obama at his podium in front of a quarter of a million people at US Grant Park in downtown Chicago. Goosebumps. This was not just a historic night for Chicago but for the whole world. They watched as first Ohio fell; then California; then Virginia; then Florida. Eventually even the state of North Carolina fell from the graps of the Republicans.

How fitting that North Carolina was one of the states that President Elect Obama picked up on Tueday night. Greensboro was the site of the Woolworth's lunch counter sit in, a sit in that in 1960 helped spur the civil rights movement.


I cannot put into words how that night felt for me, let alone explain what it meant for people who have fought and died for racial, ethnic, religious and sexual rights in our country. But maybe these pictures and videos can do a more complete job:







Natalia at the Helm:

Completely Laughable

Biden also took aim at recent comments from Virginia’s Republican Party chairman that compared Obama to 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden. The chairman, Jeffrey Frederick said Obama and bin Laden "both have friends that bombed the Pentagon" — a reference to Obama's connection to 1960's radical Bill Ayers.

"I don't believe it … I can't believe it," Biden said of those comments. "I'm surprised John McCain hasn't gone down and whacked the guy with his fist. I mean, I don't think there's a prejudiced bone in John McCain's body. But that kind of stuff is really off the wall. I refuse to let myself believe John McCain has anything to do with any of that.”

This is completely and utterly laughable. Barack and Bin Laden the same because Obama served on a non for profit board with a man who has a seedy past? If this is the discussion we want to have then how about we talk of the associations in the Republican party with John McCain that are and were seedy: Trent Lott, Strom Thurmond.

And how about Bush's palling around with terrorists? The Bush family has well known and proven ties to the ACTUAL BIN LADEN family, mostly through their dealings in their oil exploits. They actually helped them leave the country after September 11 so the FBI could not question them. So before we make false accusations lets first talk about real associations

This whole idea of "palling around" with terrorists shows how inexperienced and desperate Sarah Palin is and how dearly she wants to become the next Neo-Con lying politician. How desperate is the Republican party that they have to rely on distorting the truth by any means necessary to get their candidate elected.

Jeffrey Frederich should be banished to a place of no return.

Network

Have any of you seen the movie, Network...."I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore". That is what ALL Americans should be saying because we have the worst health insurance IN THE WESTERN WORLD!!! Why?, because of the greed of insurance companies and, not all, but mostly Republicans on Capitol Hill. Everyone should see Michael Moore's movie Sicko if you want to know the truth about health care in our country.

We all need to get mad as hell because we let selfish, white-color people run everything and they have run EVERYTHING into the ground. It is time for the masses to take our country back. The power is in the vote, because I know that over 90% of our country makes less than 100,000 dollars so the power is in the masses. VOTE YOUR INTERESTS AND THE INTERESTS OF THE COMMON PERSON, NOT TE INTERESTS OF TE FEW.

The New Voting Scandal

Now we know how the election will be stolen this year:


http://news.aol.com/elections/article/voter-purges-in-6-states-may-violate-law/205837

Quote of the Year Rehashed

For those who missed the quote of 2007 from the always entertaining Bill Maher:



"If America's richest 1% are now so rich that even a 5 star hotel isn't good enough, it's time to bring back the guillotine. Yes what's being dubbed America's first 6 star hotel has just opened in Miami beach. How ritzy is it? Lets put it this way, J Lo can stay there but her husband can't. At this hotel when they ask if you want help with your bag they are talking about your scrotum.

But this is America and we can afford it, along with a 2 trillion dollar war and tax cuts, but there is one thing we can't afford, and that is health care for sick children.

So the question I'm asking is how did it all get so uneven. Warren Buffet asks the same question, he's the third richest man in the world, and a decent man. He points out that how ridiculous it is that he, the third richest man in the world, is taxed at 17.5%, while his secretary who makes 60,000 a year is taxed at 30%.

...now I know socialized medicine sounds like Stalin himself is going to come over your house and perform a forced sterilization, but really all it is is universal health care, which means everyone not just the rich will get to see a physician when their erection last more than 72 hours."

-Bill Maher

Anti-Abortion

If these people can take a case like this to the SC, then how about we (By we I refer to people who believe in the right of choice and freedom) ask to put every religious fundamentalist who has ever raped, sexual assaulted, stolen and embezzled money in the name of Jesus and used their position as a way to push their biased agenda on a "religious psycho" list like we do with sex offenders.



http://news.aol.com/article/high-court-rejects-abortion-poster-case/200387

I found Sarah Palin while reminiscing about old cartoons!!!!

WHAT!!?!?!

Bad guys vs. Good guys?

Ignorance

Such a sad and ignorant display of racism by a fundamentalist christian. I'm glad to see that the leaders and students at the school are equally outraged but this shows that all religions, not just Islam, are susceptible to radical elements like Al-Qaeda and highlights the need to keep church and state separate in America like our forefathers wanted.


http://news.aol.com/article/obama-effigy-hung-from-college-tree/187003

Good news about politics and the environment!!!

On Thursday, the reauthorization of the Great Lakes Legacy Act was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. This Act has been the cornerstone of our work to preserve and protect the Great Lakes and it has already proven effective in those efforts. I applaud the U.S. House of Representatives and their commitment to expand and continue this vital program. Now we have to keep pushing to make sure the United States Senate passes the legislation as well.

During the next month I will be participating in public meetings conducted by the Office of the Great Lakes. We are seeking your input on the draft framework that will serve as Michigan's action agenda for Great Lakes restoration.

Also, the Great Lakes Town Hall has asked me to be a guest blogger this week. Starting today, I'll be writing about the upcoming hearings and the Commission's work thus far. Later in the week, I'll explore the main issue areas covered in the Commission Draft Action Plan, and the need for continued collaboration at the local, regional, and national levels.

I hope you will all join the conversation at the Great Lakes Town Hall!

Thank you,

John Cherry

VP debate format change

"The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin on Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday." - NY Times

Why is the McCain campaign protecting Palin if she is ready to lead or country? If she becomes President will they disband congress because she can't handle the position? No media events when she declares war on Iran? When she takes reproductive freedom away from ALL women?

American Auto Workers Unite!

The UAW president blasted McCain and praised Obama on the subject of supporting American auto companies. It turns out McCain said he only buys cars made in America but it turns out that is a totally false statement:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/22/dems-seize-on-mccains-13-cars-2/

Some Spanish castle magic...

Good old John McCain is all confused again:


http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/361898

McCain and Gramm: Two people obsessed with the free market

Think McCain gives 2 cents about the common man or those not part of the elite? Read up on the facts before you make your decision.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080919/ap_on_el_pr/mccain

Also I have a movie recommendation for all those conspiracy buffs and those who ask themselves "Mother should I trust the government?"

Zeitgeist

A break from politics.

Over the summer I went on a Field School with the University of Illinois at Chicago near De Kalb, IL. We spent 4 weeks in the field and 4 weeks in the lab analyzing our finds. The site was a Clovis temporary camp site near the confluence of the east and north branches of the Kishwaukee River in De Kalb county, Illinois.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

http://picasaweb.google.com/render.jjl/FieldSchool#

Palin on energy

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/17/palin-says-voters-coping-with-do-nothing-senate-on-energy/

How will she "crush" the gridlock exactly? A whole lot of change in leadership (meaning a whole lot of republicans who will do what she says)? What exactly is her plan? I'm confused someone help me...

The Truth about Milton Friedman

The recent stock market plunge is another warning sign that the "Unlce Milty" free-market capitalist should go back to economics school at the University of Chicago to redo some of those theoretical frameworks that look so tantalizing on paper but flop in the real world.

Another sign that we need people like Obama/Biden in the White House making sure that we better regulate this economic system of ours that is out of control and out of touch with America. I bet McCain has a foot in his mouth now about the US economy being fundamentally sound.

Lastly I wish we could let these companies that run on high octane fuel at the top, yet bare bones were it counts to fall from the tops of the Sears Tower and Empire State buildings and not waste more taxpayers money to bail the multimillionaire execs out of sure ritual suicide.

ALAS they do need government interference!

McCain confused on Obama tax plan?

In a previous post I provided a non-partisan website that allows you to find out how much less in taxes you would pay under Obama. I suggest everyone go there and check it out.

http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/

Here is an article about why McCain thinks Obama is wrong on taxes:

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/15/mccain-taxpayers-not-solution-to-wall-street-failures/

How do Alaskan women feel about Palin?

Read the article and see:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080929/goldberg

Biden Revealed

Here is the link to a documentary put together by CNN about the Democratic VP nominee. If you have any questions about this man's abilities to help change America you need to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5izr1pNEiRA


And here is the link for the same documentary made for Palin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwmQT9ytKvE

Enjoy! Watch and learn

Immigration

I think that immigration reform is one of the biggest issues that we have to deal with in this new global world. If you agree you will read this article:


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/13/mccain-ad-slams-obama-senate-democrats-on-immigration/

The true deception in current politics

At the Republican National Convention in 2004, as grown men and women waived flip-flops in their hands, a symbol of John Kerry's supposed political record, I wondered is this really the America that our forefathers invisioned. Today it seems as though the tables have turned on the Republican party, perhaps Karma at work:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/13/palin.iraq/index.html

Taxes

For anyone who is afraid to vote for Obama because they will have to pay more taxes under his plan should check out this website:

http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/

Knowing the truth about how the candidates plans will ACTUALLY work is 95% of the battle.

Books

So not as to offend anyone by my opinions, I have decided only to post on articles that I will be reading over the next few weeks as we approach the election. I will post from both "liberal" media sites, as well as sites that are considered "conservative" just to be fair.

Here is the first one from fox news:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/12/mccain-camp-defends-palin-book-banning-inquiry/

The Fourth Reich

Yes, Palin is a neocon religious bigot

Deception

The choice of Sarah Palin as the VP for John McCain makes sense because it is a total Karl Rove trick aimed at deceiving women into voting for McCain solely based on gender bias. If I was a women I would be totally offended by this choice, as it tries to belittle the intelligence of women. Those who think this will sway Hilary voters to vote for McCain are diluted for two reasons, one because Palin and Hilary have very little in common on policy and two Palin is pro-life. Hilary stands for things that are quite the opposite from Palin, and any women who would swing their vote to McCain solely based on the fact that a woman is on the platform is no better than the lying politicians that run the Republican party like Rove. The Republicans are trying, for their own purposes, to create a rift in gender that does nothing to help the standing of women in our society. and if they were being sincer about picking a woman why not pick a more qualified woman, which two exisited on the supposed "short list".


One cannot blame Palin for this decision; who could turn down an opportunity like this? Yet the fact remains that she is no different from politicians in DC, evident by the corruption scandal regarding her sister. Furthermore, there is a huge gap in experience between being a Senator and Governor that the Republicans would have the nation ignore. And how soon we forget that there has been a woman nominee for VP before, Ferraro. I hope for all women that McCain does not win because Hilary had elevated the standing of women in our country so much and to have the Republicans mock her accomplishments with this would be terrible.

Smith and Hobbes

Smith and Hobbes

In the last paragraph of the chapter called India: The Modernization of Poverty (Find it here) in "Late Victorian Holocausts" the author mentions that the English rule in India, however Smithian in intention, was Hobbesian in practice. This one line sums up the entire article, and draws on modern comparisons in today’s global economy. Adam Smith’s ideals were based on self-interest can benefit common well being, a very socialistic capitalism ideal, while Hobbes believed that humans were self-interested cooperators. Hobbes was referring to when we as humans only help someone out if it benefits us in the end, no matter what advantages or hardships were placed on other people. Essentially humans live by the ends justifies the means. Smith on the other hand would argue that in self-interest there is room for a common well being. Example, in America there have been many laws and programs passed that help the whole such as social security, the New Deal laws passed by Roosevelt, and assistance for higher education. So there is a common good that can come from turning a profit, but it is the practices by the government in redistributing tax money back to the public that the common good relies upon. As for India during British rule, the British were only interested in their own self-interested cooperation, and left out the common well being part. They practiced usury wherever they were able, and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Indians through starvation and disease.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Discussion: anthropology of globalization

An article published on the University of Washington in St. Louis’s website announced that they and Pfizer will be working more closely to develop new drugs to put on the market. The article promises that the union of the two institutions, one a public university and the other a pharmaceutical power house, will be equal. Both Pfizer and the University will have an equal say on projects and research. The details of the collaboration were not revealed, so that lends me to speculate on whether this will bring about positive “social” change, as they both claim, or another situation in where a company takes advantage of a public institution to promote their sales and company name.

Reaction

There are a few big issues in both the Frontline(Persuaders, PBS.com) video and No Logo(Naomi Klein) that are very disturbing. The ease of success that private companies have infiltrated not only Universities, but high schools is offensive to our education traditions. People from all parts of the world come to America for education purposes. We have built a name for the quality of our higher education institution that the rest of the world envies, and the only effect that placing ads in the life of our students will have is to dumb down or education system. The only way companies should be allowed to advertise at Universities is through scholarship donations. Companies should have no control over research performed at Universities to protect the integrity of the particular research and the integrity of the University itself. Our country is becoming increasingly fascist, with corporations having more and more influence and control on public policy, and protecting our educational institutions from this corporatization should be a high priority

Friday, January 11, 2008

Exert from an interview with the Mars Volta on DIS.com.....

You must sympathise, to an extent, with writers presented with your albums when they’ve a very limited frame of reference to work a review from?

C: Well, if I was a journalist I’d be excited that I wasn’t going to be using the same adjectives, and that I’d be able to showcase some creative writing in trying to describe this to people. Many writers nowadays use obvious colours, or band references, to help people understand another band.

Depends on their audience, to an extent – some magazines only allow contributors a small amount of words per piece, too. Do you guys ever check the feedback to your albums? Do you think the albums bring out the best in writers who can flex their creative prose muscles?

C: Everything can be positive, even negative feedback. Part of our job is to elicit that sort of reaction.
O: It’s cool that our work does seem to inspire people, as even when reviews are negative they’re not just like, ‘This is bullshit’. We get four or five paragraphs outlining how we’re bullshit! They’re inspired to hate on our music, and get really witty and creative, and that’s kinda cool.
C: We opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers one time, quite a while ago, and the whole front page of this magazine’s review section was all about how much this guy fucking HATED us.

Given the fairly freeform nature of your headline sets – which can stretch for two-and-a-half hours and take myriad tangents – how do you find playing second-fiddle to another, bigger act? It must be tough condensing your set, and tougher still when the crowd isn’t yours and simply doesn’t get it...

C: There was always that… and there were times when the audience was really into it, too. But then there were times… Let’s say Quebec – I’ve never seen more Canadians acting American in my life, sitting down, eating hot dogs.

Like they were at a basketball match? Thing is, some big gigs feel like that, like sporting events, such is the level of detachment…

C: I do see that, for sure. But I think there’s an element of us throwing the pit-bull into an unsuspecting crowd, which can be fun… although sometimes it isn’t fun, too. There were times where I’d just turn my back for an entire set, as I don’t feel I need to give anything if the people watching aren’t giving us anything. We’ve been asked to play these places for a reason, and sometimes playing to such crowds pose good challenges for us.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Quote of the Year

"If America's richest 1% are now so rich that even a 5 star hotel isn't good enough, it's time to bring back the guillotine. Yes what's being dubbed America's first 6 star hotel has just opened in Miami beach. How ritzy is it? Lets put it this way, J Lo can stay there but her husband can't. At this hotel when they ask if you want help with your bag they are talking about your scrotum.

But this is America and we can afford it, along with a 2 trillion dollar war and tax cuts, but there is one thing we can't afford, and that is health care for sick children.

So the question I'm asking is how did it all get so uneven. Warren Buffet asks the same question, he's the third richest man in the world, and a decent man. He points out that how ridiculous it is that he, the third richest man in the world, is taxed at 17.5%, while his secretary who makes 60,000 a year is taxed at 30%.

...now I know socialized medicine sounds like Stalin himself is going to come over your house and perform a forced sterilization, but really all it is is universal health care, which means everyone not just the rich will get to see a physician when their erection last more than 72 hours."

-Bill Maher

Monday, December 17, 2007

Tool Live

For those of you who know about my obsession with Tool and their live shows, and for those of you who have never been to one of their concerts before here are some exclusive pictures from their fan website.

Welcome to a new dimension......

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Social Norms Marketing

We have all seen the anti-smoking and drug ads on TV. This is part of a new idea called Social Norms Marketing that looks at social norm perceptions and how it impacts the actual behaviors that the marketing is geared towards by using posters, advertisements, and other media based tools.

Research has shown that the actual actions and the perception of the actions are directly related in a cyclical fashion meaning that you cannot simple change the perception to change the action. And most people who are going to agree with the perception are those who don't have the problems, so the target audience is geared incorrectly most of the times.

Another facet of Social Norms Marketing that is intriguing is the decision to use the inclusion or exclusion theory. Should the marketing be geared towards being an individual or being part of a group.

In conclusion, Social Norms Marketing is an interesting new way of creating social change, but it still needs some work.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Meteor Shower

There is going to be a meteor shower this week that peeks on Thursday and Friday. Here is part of a Space.com article on it:

"Here is what astronomers David Levy and Stephen Edberg have written of the annual Geminid Meteor Shower: "If you have not seen a mighty Geminid fireball arcing gracefully across an expanse of sky, then you have not seen a meteor."

The Geminids get their name from the constellation of Gemini, the Twins, because the meteors appear to emanate from a spot in the sky near the bright star Castor in Gemini.

Also in Gemini this month is the planet Mars, nearing a close approach to the Earth later this month, and shining brilliantly with yellow-orange hue. To be sure, Mars is certain to attract the attention of prospective Geminid watchers this upcoming week."

It makes me wonder what people thousands of years ago would think when something like this would take place. It is pretty logical to think these type of unexplainable events where the cause for religion and mythology to take shape. Now that we can explain why these type of things happen, I think it is also logical to see that just because we do not know the reason behind something doesn't mean there is some crazy mythological or religious force behind it. But I guess hindsight is always 20-20....

With all that said I am looking forward to seeing these meteors burn in our atmosphere.