Musical Spotlight: Adam Green

There are no artists working today that sound like Adam Green. He combines fairy tale melody lines with indie rock instrumentation, clever lyrics and a voice that’ll make your grandmother swoon.

Adam Green is one half of the anti-folk Moldy Peaches and a german pop sensation, though he hails from here in the states. His songs range from the sentimental soap opera fairy tale of “Frozen in Time” to the faux-Doors rock of “White Women”. This little dude is definitly worth your time. Check out some videos here.

“The way I write songs, they know I’m just some kid. I’m not all that unusual, but the listener knows where it’s coming from: personal experiences. I like my songs to be like a real person and have a personality. Someone who can’t sing a song without any humour in it, they have a serious problem.

Coldplay have a serious, unforgivable flaw. I can’t allow Chris Martin to sing to me; I can’t get into it. Music is like a love affair: you put on the headphones and get intimate. You can’t get with someone who doesn’t give it to you the way you like it.”

If you like eclectic artists like Beck, Zappa or Lou Reed, you’ll love Little Mr. Green. Try Jacket Full of Danger or Gemstones, his two latest efforts and be blown away. Witness his power:

Mark Elliot Cullen 1 Comment

The Implications of Saddam’s Hanging

Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader who for the last year has been held in captivity, was hanged on Saturday at 6 a.m. (10 p.m. Friday EST) at an undisclosed location in Baghdad.

There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the slaughter of 148 Kurds back in 1982, as well as inumerable crimes against humanity under his regime. Yet, the hanging itself will not provide a resolution for the crippled country. U.S. President George W. Bush warned that his hanging would not put an end to the violence occurring throughout the country.

He said: “It is an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the War on Terror.”

While the execution may be hailed as a triump for democracy, aside from the fact that the earlier judge had to be dismissed for allegedly sympathizing with Hussein, Iraq remains a war-torn, unstable country plagued by civil war between various opposing Islamic sects—the Shiites, Sunnis, as well as the Kurds—who all have long histories of violence and hatred towards each other.

It also seems important to keep in mind that, while I am not denying the fact that Saddam Hussein committed horrible atrocities against his own people, he remained our ally up until the end of the Cold War, when his regime’s power threatened the fragile stability of the Middle East, with particular regards to Saudi Arabia. At that time, he used the chemical weapons the United States sold to him to fight Iran to gas his own people. Thus, it seems ironic to condemn such a man, while lauding U.S. efforts as noble.

And, perhaps the greatest tragedy—or irony—of the Iraq war, is its impact on civilians. While Saddam Hussein stands accused, and rightfully convicted, of the deaths of nearly 150 Kurds (and clearly thousands more were brutally killed, raped, and tortured under his rule), it’s estimated that at a minimum, 52,000 Iraqi civilians have died, with the maximum being roughly 57,000.¹ In that sense, one must ask the question: who should’ve been on trial, Saddam Hussein or George W. Bush? (a little dramatic and leftist sounding, I know, but those numbers are just staggering and the media never reports on them!)

1. www.iraqbodycount.net/ ↩

Bryan Klausmeyer

Microsoft Giving Out Free Laptops, Screwing Self

Well hello there Mr. Willy Gates. Remember me? That would be a surprise, seeing as you totally forgot to send me my free Vista laptop. I heard through Slashdot that you were distributing these devices to bloggers as a way of saying thanks for all the hard work, covering technology and your Win-dows computer system. It’s actually lucky you didn’t send me one, because if you had, I would have broken into your house on Christmas eve, dipped your dog into liquid nitrogen, and shattered his frozen dog corpse with the laptop as your wife and children came down the stairs to open presents. I don’t even know if you have children or if you lay eggs or something, but boy howdy would they be disturbed.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I am a fan of your dominion over the earth and the internet. The Nazi’s may have been the second most evil¹ force our world has known, but you have to admire the German efficiency and pluckiness that put them on the verge of conquering the world 70 years ago. You respect it, like Link respects Gannon even though Gannon is pure evil and also a pig.² But I guess you have made me so damn angry because you have not returned that respect which I give to you, and completely snubbed me and my blog “Why is the sky blue?” at kohrakx.blogspot.com.

I’ve read Brandon LeBlanc, Scott Beale, Barb Bowman, Mauricio Freitas, Mitch Denny, and Long Zheng. All of their blogs SUCK compared to mine! Sure, I may not be “fancy” and have my own website or to bother to tag any of my bi-monthly posts with relevant searchable terms or any of those other bells and whistles. And yes, maybe I do only have 21 entries after being online for over six months. Some people believe in quallity over quanity, but I take it one step further, and believe in the quallity of the quantity of my quality. I don’t post a new blog entry until it is absolutely perfect, like my entry about getting the Back to the Future trillogy on DVD.

So congratulations, Mister Gates. You have forever alienated and made an enemy of every blogger like me, who you have SNUBBED. You couldn’t have offended me more if you dug up my grandpas and had a necrophiliactic three way. Myself, and the countless other members of the internet community who you have decided to ignore will now do the opposite to you. I invite every single blogger who did not receive a free laptop from Senor Bill “Moneybags” Gates to remind everyone through their blogs that “Windows” is more like “WinBLOWS.” That the true way to spell your company’s name is “MicroSUCK.” Together, we will post that picture of you as a Borg on every comment box and message board, and this time the world will listen! This is the beginning of the revolution, Billy-Boy.

You disgust me, Bill Gates. I am one person you will NEVER own.³

1. If you guessed that Microsoft was number 1, you may be smart enough to handle an iPod Shuffle. I got one for Christmas and it’s pretty cool. ↩
2. I also got a Wii and Twilight Princess for Christmas. Any ladies wanna trade Wii codes? ↩
3. P.S. Do you have any more of those laptops available? They look pretty cool and I really want one. ↩

Zach Cullen 3 Comments

Thoughts On Cloned Food

In a recent article published by the New York Times, the Food and Drug Administration has tentatively concluded that cloned meat and milk is safe for consumption in the United States. The decision came after six years of deliberation, and could make the U.S. the first country to allow the consumption of cloned livestock and goods.

Of course, the dairy industry and some farmers have met the decision with protest, as cloning could lead to significant price decreases in the meat and dairy markets. Hopefully, however, a price drop in both goods equates to a more equitable distribution of products that could, for instance, make steak a more affordable meal for any family. While some farmers are decidely against the decision, as it could negatively impact their market (despite the fact that agriculture is heavily subsidized by the Federal government as is), some farmers are rejoicing, as they have had to drain their milk and slaughter their cows that came about as a result of cloning up until now, leading to a large waste in resources that could be being used to feed families that go hungry.

The decision may also help to alleviate the “ick”-factor associated with cloned goods, and could perhaps open the door to even greater usages of science in the food industry, such as some recent experiments that have allowed for the artificial growing of meat using pig stem cells.

Bryan Klausmeyer

Christmas Peel

To celebrate the season, here’s a collection of hip tunes that’ll really get your engines started:

Christmas Peel by Missile Toe (Rachael Brown & Mark Cullen) (Hi-Res Cover)
All I Want for Christmas
Dragon’s Door
Drummer Peace
Christmas Dan
Mr. Grinch

Mark Elliot Cullen

I… Robot?

It seems that today is apparently a slow news day, aside from Ahmadinejad’s routine “nuclear power” schtick, but that gets so old after a while. So, what does one do when there is seemingly no good news available to discuss?

Read CNN’s “Offbeat” news section! It usually has much better articles than any other part of CNN, but at the same time they are typically unimportant in the larger context of international significance. That is why I was shocked to find a recent article in that section claiming that a study released by the British government says someday robots might become so advanced, they could demand their independence.

This is very troubling news to me. For far too long, robots have slipped under the radar, making us think that they are harmless, perhaps even fun. This study simply confirms the truth: robots are a danger to democracy. That is why I’m putting them on Stephen Colbert’s THREAT DOWN!

It’s time to stop this robot menace before it starts. According to the study, independence for robots probably won’t be much of an issue until the mid-21st century, but that doesn’t mean we should “appease” them in advance. Remember what happened with Hitler!

I won’t stand for robots zipping around on their camoflaged cyber-choppers, flying around at all times of night, looting and thieving as they please. We must stop the robot menace now!

Bryan Klausmeyer

Troop Level Conundrum

All of the major news outlets have been reporting on President George W. Bush’s decision to increase troops levels in Iraq. Easier said than done, however.

For one, increasing troops levels means one of two things, from a traditional stand point. First and foremost, one could institute the draft. This, however, seems implausible. Despite Mr. Bush’s father’s belief that America had “licked the Vietnam syndrome” after the American victory in the First Persian Gulf War, the memory of Vietnam is still very much the proverbial “Elephant in the room” of American politics. While the implementaton of the draft would help create a more diverse military in terms of race and class, it could also prove politically deleterious, as it would significantly aid in mobilizing a vigorous and strident anti-war movement.

The other option is to simply call back active-duty National Guardsmen. This, however, is troubling as well. Numerous National Guardsmen have already served their required military time, many even serving extended stays of duty, being redeployed up to three or four times. They have been strained and have bared a large and unfairly large portion of the burden of this war. Because of the preexisting strain on the National Guard, I think this too seems like an inappropriate option.

Therefore, with those two “traditional” approaches seemingly unavailable, I believe that the only logical and necessary conclusion is to increase the number of armed mercenaries in Iraq. Currently, the military already employs significant numbers of armed mercenaries, who are in turn employed by private military firms (PMFs) and other corporations associated with the defense industry (Halliburton).

Because armed mercenaries are private citizens and operate outside the bounds of the military, they are not subject to international law or the military court system, thus they’re capable of using extralegal means in carrying out operations. In addition to that, since they’re privately paid for and employed, the money spent on them “trickles back” into the American and Iraqi economy. You know what this means? You guessed it! Tax cuts!

It seems like the use of armed mercenaries is a win-win situation for everyone. You can avoid invigorating an anti-war movement, while also strengthening the number of troops in the region. Troops who are not held accountable to the Geneva Convention. Therefore, we should completely privatize the army, just like Mr. Bush’s failed Social Security reform bill. Hopefully you’re reading, Mr. Bush!

Bryan Klausmeyer 1 Comment

LMIRL, FO REAL!!!11

Just cruising the internet researching e-monitoring when I came across this helpful guide for parents. The Internet Lingo Guide offers parents a chance to communicate with their teens using hip cool slang, and to thwart their evil attempts at privacy. Some examples….

LMIRL: Let’s Meet In Real Life
P911: Parent Alert
8-#: Death

How often does the phrase “Let’s meet in real life” get used by teens? Enough to warrant the abbreviation “LMIRL”. I know kids are lazy and don’t enjoy typing out words, but I’ve never seen that used. Then again, I don’t hang out in preteen chat-rooms… but maybe i should start, it’s the only way to stay tech savvy with all the lingo floating about.

Why do parents need to worry when their teens are using the “death emoticon?” Because they’re too lazy to type out the word death. Obviously a sign of drug use.

If you can stomach more, check out this more radical website. It includes this gem:

IM is another danger. What’s that? That’s instant messaging. You get to send a message to another person instantly. Children are very naive and very trusting. They think they are indestructible. Children have disappeared forever, without a trace, when pedophiles they thought were other teenagers instant messaged them to meet them at a certain place. Suddenly, your child is gone without a trace. Does you kid have dozens and dozens of screen names in his buddy list? Guess what. About 10% of them are pedophiles that he thinks are sexy babes dying to meet him. Oh yeah, know what LMIRL means? That means “Let’s Meet In Real Life.” Lovely.

So very lovely.

Mark Elliot Cullen

Al-Sadr’s State

On Tuesday, CNN released an article that claims that Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army has replaced al Qaeda in Iraq as “the most dangerous accelerant” of the sectarian violence plaguing Iraq for nearly a year, according to a Pentagon report.

I think that if anything, this revelation essentially makes it clear that what you have in Iraq is a Civil War, without a doubt. Al Qaeda was always somewhat of a foreign presence in Iraq, but the fact that it’s now been overtaken by a native Shiite cause (and it has been for a while, the violence has just been slowly escalating over the past few years) under the command of Muqtada al-Sadr, whose support for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government is crucial to the government’s stability, is by far a sign that things in Iraq are not going very well, to say the least.

I have to disagree with William Broyles, Jr. though. While the fact that we have an all-voluntary army fighting in Iraq precludes, by and large, a class-less army, reinstating the draft would be a bad idea. While it might bring about a hastened end to the war—after all, college kids are mostly from middle to upper-middle class families—it presents Americans with a false choice. The only option, not necessarily the right or most moral one, is to simply pull out. There is no way without coalition and or NATO help that Iraq can be “fixed,” and now even Tony Blair, our strongest ally, has stated that he’s going to begin gradual troop withdrawal over the next year or so, under pressure from the British Parliament.

Bryan Klausmeyer