Via Farsheed (midnightparking.com), I discover the Portable Folk Band.

Lovin' this track. There are more available from archive.org on the band's site (clicky above).

Or maybe you'd rather see Connie Chung:

(UPDATED below) I'm ignorant on a lot of things Israeli/Palestinean, but I was reading about this poor kidnapped kid and trying to figure out what the heck is going on. The reports are kind of confusing, and I wonder if not missing some critical subtext.

So, Gilad Shalit is serving his stint in the IDF, and his checkpoint was attacked by Palestineans. No article seems to mention which specific groups were involved, but apparently in response the IDF has arrested a number of ministers in the Palestinean government, presumably most or all of them Hamas. Now, Hamas has been involved in all sorts of ugly violence over the years, but no one seems to be claiming that they're holding onto the kid.

Is this just how business gets done these days in the Middle East? One would think that with the proximity and history between the Israelis and Palestineans the IDF would be able to decyper the situation and target people who are more directly responsible. I mean, this seems almost as dense as our handling of sectarian issues in Iraq, but at least we're half a world away (although that's still no excuse).

Anyway, it seems like I'm missing something. Anyone care to put a lightbulb over my head?

UPDATE: I see now that the kidnappers are identified as "identified with Hamas" and that also "Hamas may be willing to release the solder," so clearly they're in control. Still, seems odd. Like, was this a freelance kidnapping, or was it planned? Did the abductors think they'd get a promotion for showing initiative, or were they acting on orders? Murky.

Got a bike! Surly cross-check, black, 60cm. Oh baby.

I got the call from the shop after finishing a return to the Gym, and I don't have the arm control to really give it a whirl, but tomorrow is another day.

Well, as it's a subject I'll wax wistful on from time to time, more than one person has asked if I'm actually ever going to the gym again. Indeed I am. Kells works down at the community pool, which has a small workout room that's got everything I need, and last night I went down to check in out. Mark came along to do a little water-based physical therapy for his shoulder/arm.

Proof:

No in-room shots, as it's considered somewhat gauche to bring your digital camera to the pool. If I keep this up though there'll be plenty of narcicism to go around, fear you not.

Quick tour of the area:

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

I don't like YouTube's pixelization of everything -- see the original here -- and will be looking for other services to host some video. Any recommendations? (Update: now using MySpace, which takes a fucking ice-age to process)

Billmon:

I mean, the idea that Kos could use his influence, such as it is, to intimidate Left Blogostan into a quivering reign of fear is simply laughable -- a paranoid fantasy that wandered away from Free Republic.com and was adopted by some silly little Ivy League boys who've decided they like how Karl Rove plays the game and want to get in on the fun.

It gets even better. I love me some Billmon.

I've been watching this little wannabe scandal with some amusement. I'm sure it's not fun for Kos and Jerome (and Steve Gillard, who had fake emails printed in his name), and I know it sucks for Matt who had to shut down his email list as a result of all this, but I can't get it up to care.

In fact, I don't think anyone outside the political media establishment cares about this; so I say fuck 'em. I know there are a lot of people trying to play/change that game, and I respect the hell out of that, but really... The future's out here where the people live. At some point you've got to be able to write off those half-bright power-geeks. Keep building your organization (which is made out of people, not pages in The New Republic) and good things will continue to happen.

I just deleted all my pr0n (that's pornography to you, mom) to make room for deadwood and my own goofball video editing (non-pornographic).

So yeah, maybe that's also a good thing. I've never been one to have that shame-based binge/purge relationship with porno, but I do think it can make the mind's eye lazy. It's like an erotic crutch. On the other hand, reaching into the realm of your own experience for fantasty purposes has always seemed like a potential liability to me. One you start imagining things, the odds are you'll want to do them -- visualize your success and all that.

I think I'll cut this blog post off now.

I'm about to start begging people for money for a project I've been talking with people about. Gonna lead with a video pitch. Let me know what you think:

The site we're working towards is here: www.looseconspiracy.net.

God I hate the sound of my own voice. Nerd!

I'm about to start begging people for money for a project I've been talking with people about. Gonna lead with a video pitch. Let me know what you think:

The site we're working towards is here: www.looseconspiracy.net.

God I hate the sound of my own voice. Nerd!

John Robb Sez:

Basically, it is a cynics play on our broken patent system. He and a team of lawyers use shell companies to snag undervalued patents. They have also built a patent factory in order to lock up entire fields of endeavor. The end product is an idea tax via royalties and penalties for non-payment. The big difference between this venture and other attempts at this is the amount of money and sophistication -- its an order of magnitude more.
...
IF the future of American innovation is rentier economics, then count me out. The cynical nature of this makes you want to root for Chinese knock-off artists.

A commentor adds:

[T]hese men are much worse than the robber barons. The robber barons typically had to actually build a railroad. Not just open up an office and persecute inventors.

Indeed. There's a deep and strong strain of business culture that sees nothing more attractive than locking up technology in a box, hardening the dividing line between creators and consumers in the digital age. It's the pure zero-sum fatback mentality: lock down something people need (like a bridge, or now a good idea) and charge a toll for using it, the kind of "entrepreneurialism" that holds everyone back. Nice.

Procedural literacy (the knowledge of how things work and thus how to change them and make new things) is already at a premium thanks to decades of proprietary thinking in the technology sphere. These kinds of ventures seek to extend the proprietary shell game beyond working products and into the realm of ideas themselves. Boo hiss indeed.

Paging Chris Messina...