"Undermining my electoral viability since 2001."

RNC Kicker Identified?

Hit and Run may have found the identity of a Young Republican who was caught on tape kicking a protester at the RNC. Apparently the guy was an intern at the National Taxpayers Union. The NTU quickly cropped the photo which showed the individual in question once they heard it was being linked to.

This wasn't an isolated incident, either.

It's all pretty sad, actually. A uniter not a divider, eh?

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Libertarians/Necro-Analogies/Radicals Need To Vote Kerry Too

Sparking this train of thought: Michael Badnarik's Operation American Freedom

That's the name of his campaign for President, of course. Interesting. He's against the war in Iraq. Against gun control. Against the Patriot Act. Against Massive Spending. Pretty interesting stuff, could pull from either side. It will be interesting to see how much support he picks up, and how it compares to the Ghostly figure that is Ralph Nader.

I don't use that term pejoratively, mind. I really think Nader is the essance of a polical Ghost (a haunting figure that comes back to nag you for what you done wrong), just like Kerry is kind of a Zombie (once lively, then poisoned, now monotonous) and Bush is kind of a Skeleton (fierce, easily duped, possibly under the control of some unseen Wizard or Cheney/Rummy/Rove).

Necro-analogies aside, Badnarik's campaign is a good example of how third parties build support, by taking stances that feelright, no matter how politically feasible they are. That kind of purity is appealing, even magnetic.

I'm still obsessed with Ross Perot, and how he almost got to be president -- crazy, werid looking dude that he was -- simply by going on TV for long stretches of time and explaining shit. I don't know if he had a hidden agenda. I tend to think he was simply power-hungry; but the way he went about doing it, seriously trying to interest people in the long-term economic health of the country, speaks of a rather high view of humanity.

The Anarchists also exhibit this. I disagree with some of their actions even as I agree with many of their ideals, but I will say this without hesitation: Anarchists have a great reguard for the potential of human beings to be amazing creatures. It's almost Ryndian, the "heroic conception of mankind."

And for me it is precisely here where most Republicans and Democrats come up short. They're shepards, not leaders, and the worst kind at that: those with no respect for their flock. Their consistent (mis)underestimation of the intelligence of the non-political class will be their undoing.

How and when that happens, and whether it involves the parties changing their names (breaking up and reforming, as opposed to simply undergoing robust organizational renewal) is a matter for history to decide, as is the efficacy of inside infiltrators vs. outside agetators. For me and the radicals -- e.g. the people I blogged about below -- we're somewhat in competition with each other for who fixes things first, but it's important to remember we're often after the same things.

That being said, if you don't vote, or you vote for a third party this year in a national election, you're basically wasting your time, shouting into the maelstrom. If you want to make a splash, you've got to start organizing, evangelizing and institution-building. If you're not that serious, vote for fucking Kerry, ok? Boycotting only works when the system needs you (it doesn't), and the number of votes doesn't matter for any of the fringe candidates; no one's future is made by being a spoiler. All that matters for any radical or long-term cause is what organization is built and can be maintained for future use.

So do it. Organize, evangelize, institution-build, but build something that will last; but pull the lever to eject Bush, and then get ready to rumble with Big John.

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Bring The War Home San Francisco

Saw a lot of these stencils on my way to getting a bike tube. People aught to do a little more research on their sloganeering. "Bring the War Home" is catchy, yes, but the Weather Underground (who's slogan is was) isn't really a model organization.

Beyond which, organizing a campaign of wheatpasting and political theater in San Fran Fucking Cisco to stop the war seems a little less than pragmatic.

As my man Mark likes to say, "I'm in the business of getting shit done."

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Firefox Goes 1.0 -- Download it Now

Firefox is the community-built web browser from the Mozilla foundation. You want it. It's fast, renders pages beautifully, is insanely standards-compliant, and it doesn't feed into any organization's potential (or active) plans to dominate the world wide web.

The internet was meant to be Free, but it only remains so as long as we make it that way. Firefox performs as well (or better) than any other browser I've used, and growing the userbase makes a strong case for Open standards, Public code, and a Free internet.

These things are all very important as we move forward into the information age. If you don't think the net is going to change human life as much as the steam engine, think again, and then think about what that will mean if a single corporation (or oligopoly syndicate) is allowed to dictate the terms.

Dig this kind of shit? Be an evangelist.

If you're already a Firefox user (as I've been for the past several months), upgrade today. If you use Safari, IE, or Netscape seriously give it a shot. It's stable, pretty, and fast. Try it out for two weeks and see if you don't love it. Strike a blow for a free web and get a better browser at the same time. You've got nothing to loose but your chains!

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Firefox Goes 1.0 -- Download it Now

Firefox is the community-built web browser from the Mozilla foundation. You want it. It's fast, renders pages beautifully, is insanely standards-compliant, and it doesn't feed into any organization's potential (or active) plans to dominate the world wide web.

The internet was meant to be Free, but it only remains so as long as we make it that way. Firefox performs as well (or better) than any other browser I've used, and growing the userbase makes a strong case for Open standards, Public code, and a Free internet.

These things are all very important as we move forward into the information age. If you don't think the net is going to change human life as much as the steam engine, think again, and then think about what that will mean if a single corporation (or oligopoly syndicate) is allowed to dictate the terms.

Dig this kind of shit? Be an evangelist.

If you're already a Firefox user (as I've been for the past several months), upgrade today. If you use Safari, IE, or Netscape seriously give it a shot. It's stable, pretty, and fast. Try it out for two weeks and see if you don't love it. Strike a blow for a free web and get a better browser at the same time. You've got nothing to loose but your chains!

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Bombshell?

Did Bush use his power as Governor of Texas to cut a backroom deal covering up the truth about his National Guard service? Still Unreported: The Pay-off in Bush Air Guard Fix

Greg Palast is a BBC journalist, and a fairly good one. Whether he can get any traction in the American Newsmedia is an open question.

The story breaks down like this:

  • 1968: then Lt. Governer Barnes pulled some strings to get Bush into the cushy (and hostility-free) Texas Air National Guard (TANG)
  • 1994 Bush became Governor in a close race, in which he'd explicitly denied having strings pulled to get into the TANG
  • Barnes, at this time, is a corporate lobbiest who's working for GTech, which is running the Texas Lottery
  • GTech is under investigation from the FBI for corruption and in danger of loosing its lucrative contract
  • Bush spoke to the head of the lottery commission and the commission reversed itself, giving GTech a no-bid contract.
  • Barnes got $23 million for landing the contract. Bush was able to "put to rest" any questions about his TANG service.

are a changin'. Barnes is singing like a canary to anyone who'll listen that he got Bush into the TANG, and Palast has memos from the Justice Department, so if enough people decide to pay attention here the truth will out.

And again, it's not the crime; it's the coverup.

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Save Betamax - National Call-In Day September 14

Save Betamax - National Call-In Day TODAY

I just did this thismorning, calling up my reps and telling them that I think the INDUCE act will stifle innovation and doesn't serve the public interest. You can, and should, do it too. It's not too late to Save Betamax.

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Save Betamax - National Call-In Day September 14

Save Betamax - National Call-In Day TODAY

I just did this thismorning, calling up my reps and telling them that I think the INDUCE act will stifle innovation and doesn't serve the public interest. You can, and should, do it too. It's not too late to Save Betamax.

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Underworld (mp3!)

I've got a pretty eclectic music collection, and I thought maybe I'd haul out a few of my more gourmet morsels so you can hear the soundtrack to my life. It's mp3 blogging, baby, and it's all the rage.

Do you guys know and understand Underworld? It's great fucking music, early trance (before the sub-genres, it's what we called "techno" at the time). They're best known for the single that was featured in the film version of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. It's a thinking man's techno, and much of it is significantly deeper than Born Slippy, much of it engagingly narrative.

They're Real Artists.

Early Underworld sound is marked by long waves, surreal/poetic lyrics, and sudden, dramatic shifts. I've posted a track from their first CD, DubNoBassWithMyHeadMan -- one of the great Techno albums of all time. It's track number four, and so the sound starts off very much "in progress," but just let it hit you and try to groove along with it, and then enjoy the ride.

You can get soundgarden off your favorite peer to peer network, but this shit is rare and hard to find.

Underworld: Spoonman

Comment if this is something you would like me to do more often.

If'n you wanna buy the album: here's amazon.

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flight dreams

Was out in berkely the other night, dreaming of flying. Now tonight I meet a girl who started a legit bike gang down in LA -- in addition to many other things. It's good, very good, to make out.

Oh man. Oh yes. Oh Man.

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