So, the documentary on Sixto Rodríguez called Searching for Sugar Man is sick and it won the Best Documentary Oscar this year. Great justice is alive and that is a concrete cold fact!
Records I love 2012, part 4 - *in progress*, ON HOLD!
This is the final part of the series on 2012 music. What a wonderful year in tunes. After this I’ll do my top 20.
Good Kid, m.A.A.d City is a concept record about growing up in Compton. Is one of those insta-classics. It has a lot of misses on it, but that is to be expected of a concept record like this; they are there on purpose. Kendrick is gonna do lots more in the next couple years. Here is Kendrick on Sway in the Morning. Give this record a whole listen. Be sure to see “Bitch, Dant Kill My Vibe” and “m.A.A.d. City”.
Mala in Cuba is instrumental, percussion-centric, cuban-style dubstep without much electronics. It is spacey and great in the background or foreground. I have records for home and car. This is a home record for me but I can see how one would call i a car record as well.
Dan Deacon is just a unique character. He brought us “Drinking Out of Cups” if that is any clue to this character. He doesn’t perform from the stage. He and his keyboard stay in the pit the whole show so he can party with you. This usually leads to terrible sound difficulties on top of his already chaotic music from what I have seen. Noisy, nerdy and happy music, fun to do live or on CD. I recommend you check out his soundcloud and his other records. As for this record, the 4 part “USA” and “True Thrush” are excellent. Video here for “True Thrush”.
a.P.A.t.T. - Black & White Mass [2008]
I’ve been liking this record lately. It is one of the weirdest things I’ve heard in a while. They are wonderfully wacky and delirious. They aren’t annoying to me, but they may be to you.
One can listen to most of their music on their site: www.apatt.com. Here are a couple good music videos. The first one is on Black & White Mass.
Steve-O does a short film about food.
Bitcoins
The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin The story is also in audio for the lazy.
The fascinating story of Bitcoin, an alternative online currency, in Wired Magazine. Bitcoins are both fiat and commodity in different ways. They are mined by computers solving increasingly difficult math problems. Don’t miss this story. This is a tale that includes the CIA, drugs, money, online anonymity, guns, hacking, giant computers, a cult of personality, and much more.
Bitcoins are making recovery this 2nd half of 2012 and are up to $12. The hype and boom being sufficiently worn down; Bitcoins are now a stable currency.
For more on Bitcoin and alternative currencies, check out Decline to State Radio and The Silver Circle Movie. Down with the Fed! The only way to win this is to stop using their money.
My professor said something quite brilliant the other day. He is my diff. eq. professor and usually rambles about beer and how things used to be; does a math problem now and then. He says as he writes on the board.
Population of Indonesia, a highly Islamic area: 200mill
# of Indonesians in Anti-American Protest: 100’s
# of Indonesians in attendance of latest Lady Gaga concert: 50K
Moby Dick for everyone!
These guys on www.mobydickbigread.com think it is a shame that this great work of literature goes unread. They do a chapter a day, with a different reader for each chapter. Chapter 1 was September 16th, 2012. You can hear them on Soundcloud. And remember! Never read the comments on Soundcloud.
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Do you like the Talking Heads? They didn’t release a new album; however, this could be even better. David Byrne & St. Vincent’s Love This Giant on 4AD has all the horns, dynamic rhythms, and optimistic yet neurotic fun you would expect of the Talking Heads record. Here’s a few tracks, check ‘em out.
And here is a video
The Dude is a short documentary on the Dude that inspired Joel & Ethan Coen’s The Big Lebowski. Very entertaining. He talks about activism during the Vietnam War & his part in the Chicago 7 trial.
Anarcho-Capitalism & Voluntaryism: 1st Draft
=========== THIRD DRAFT - but this one still sucks. I’m going to redo the whole thing later===========
Voluntaryism (also spelled voluntarism) is the (non)political conclusion people inevitably arrive at, when we apply philosophical methodology and the principle of non-aggression consistently. The stance follows in the direction of self-ownership —> people have the right to own things —> the NAP. It is the most basic form of moral code that almost everyone can agree is fair (I wouldn’t and am in no position to judge if a moral code is ’objectively correct’ and neither is anyone but a god if one exists).
From Wikipedia:
The non-aggression principle (NAP) is a moral stance which asserts that aggression is inherently illegitimate. Aggression, for the purposes of the NAP, is defined as the initiation or threatening of violence against a person or legitimately owned property of another. Specifically, any unsolicited actions of others that physically affect an individual’s property, including that person’s body, no matter if the result of those actions is damaging, beneficial, or neutral to the owner, are considered violent when they are against the owner’s free will and interfere with his right to self-determination, as based on the libertarian principle of self-ownership. Supporters of NAP use it to demonstrate the immorality of theft, vandalism, assault, and fraud. In contrast to pacifism, the non-aggression principle does not preclude violence used in self-defense or defense of others.
Republics are run by elite; democracies are run by the mob. Both make unreasonable laws and illegitimate taxes. Both are subjugation, destroying economic and personal freedom. Our government has soaked up a tyrannical power over us and demands more, and is unlikely to allow any amount of voters to make it relinquish any of it’s powers. There are more and more laws passed every year to give itself more power and further restrict our freedom.
The only way out of this is to hand all power back to the people in the form or minarchy (minimum rule) or anarchy. Income, property, and sales taxes are illegitimate. So is the state’s monopoly on the use of force (their hired thugs — commonly known as cops — that enforce their unreasonable laws). Tax is aggression because it is enforced by physical force and is not voluntary; they will throw you in jail if you don’t give them their share of what is rightfully yours. Social contracts? I didn’t sign anything. Think about it, do you really own your business if the government takes a large hunk of the profit and you can’t have a smoking section or serve alcohol after 2am? ‘Property taxes’? How about rent? Let’s call it rent. You are renting your own property from the government. The state makes theft illegal, yet it’s income consists entirely of stolen money.
Attacks on blatantly out-of-context Obama quote
The level of debate in this political election is embarrassing. And both candidates suck, there’s that too. I’m no supporter of Obama, but the way he has been taken out of context in the media this week make me cringe.
Obama said:
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges.If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.
What he was doing is reiterating what Elizabeth Warren said earlier about ‘kicking the ball forward for the next guy’. Americans paid taxes over a number of years to build streets and infrastructure in the city where your business is located so that cars and people could get into your business and do business. You have to pay taxes so there are even better roads and infrastructure for future businesses to succeed.
What all the pundits seem to have heard and repeatedly attacked was this:
If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.
They are going crazy about it.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
All that being said, most taxes are completely BS, Especially property tax. How different is federal tax from mafia racketeering? Do you really own your business if the government takes a large hunk of the profit, but you can’t have a smoking section and have to follow all kinds of unreasonable codes and do tons of paperwork to keep it running? ‘Property taxes’? How about rent? Let’s call it rent. You are renting your own property from the government. Sales tax and income tax go on new income and sales as they happen. Property taxes happen every single year. This is immoral. There’s more to come on taxes. In the meantime check out livefreenowradio.com and declinefm.com and learn about voluntaryism.
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I live in Austin and it is an excellent city. I'm linking, revewing and commenting on things for myself and whomever's interested. I am a curious & skeptical introverted contrarian and I'd love to argue with you.
