I’d like to stand on a fucking pretentious soapbox and tell you how my blog will be unique. Truth is.. this is going to be like every other fucking blog on the planet.

I will give mundane details about my day.

I will complain about how the barista at Starbucks looked at me the wrong way.

I will write bad poetry about how girls fuck with my head and make me cry.

I will bitch about how fucking stupid George W. Bush is.

I will steal content from other blogs and pass it off as my own.

So why do it then? Because I had a little drinky the other day and it calmed my nerves and made me see things clearly. I described it as being “Sober on Rye” and I thought that was a cool concept.

So this blog is just for me to talk about shit in a way that maybe makes me see things a little more clearly. And maybe, just maybe, some fuckwad will read this and pour themselves a drink.

(NB: This was the last of a series of articles I wrote that got me really frustrated. So much so, I stopped blogging. The neoconservative wars, the bias and double standards really got to me. I’m the kind of person who likes to know what is going on in the world and I really didn’t like what I was seeing. Every couple days I would read a new article on the subject but I had to stop myself from posting about it because the blog was turning bitter. It stopped being fun. I reposted a few selected articles I thought best explained my positions on various issues.)

Jews for Justice for Palestinians: “There appears now to be a concerted attempt to destroy the Palestinians as a people.”

Why does an organization like this need to exist? Why not just “Justice for Palestinians?” These Jewish people want everyone to know that it’s not Jews killing Palestinians, it’s Israel killing Palestinians.

GHOST TOWN: “beginning of a story about a town that one can ride through with no stoplights, no police and no danger of hitting any living thing. “

This is a fascinating read. Elena has a camera, a kawasaki ninja, and a government-issued pass to Chernobyl.

Please read this carefully.

American neoconservatives are currently one of the most influencial groups in the world. They have directed American foreign policy since 9/11, including the two wars. American foreign policy in the past couple years has been heavily in favour of Israel and has consequently fanned the flame of anti-Americanism around the world. It may not surprise you that the majority of the top neocons are affluent white men. What may surprise you is that 26 of the alleged top (most influencial) 50 neocons are Jewish. In other words, the majority of the most influencial people in the most influencial group who have sent American soldiers into two wars against enemies of Israel are Jewish.

Adbusters took a lot of heat for the article they published on the topic. Kalle Lasn, Adbusters’ editor, responded to critics accusing him of anti-Semitism by asking the question, “If half the neocons were Palestinians, would the US have invaded Iraq?”

Reading through readers’ responses I particularly liked this one….

First of all, I’m Jewish. I commend you for your courage in raising the question but, unfortunately, no criticism of anything related to Jews is allowed in the United States. The blanket charge of anti-Semitism is a real conversation stopper because it implies that you have an irrational hatred for Jews so your ideas do not need to be discussed. The word terrorism functions the same way. When the foolish few attempted to suggest, after 9/11, that perhaps we were attacked because of our support for Israel, the administration and the molders of public opinion were quick to say, “It has nothing to do with Israel, they hate us for our way of life.” End of discussion. It’s an act of terrorism = irrational = no need to discuss or understand its motivations. Why? Because any discussion of terrorism leads back to our support for Israel and that cannot be questioned because … only a an anti-Semite would question it. Go chase your tail.

There is a wonderful line in the movie Exodus, based on the Leon Uris novel about the founding of the State of Israel, where the head of the Haganah (a Jewish terrorist group) says, “Terrorism is the handmaiden of liberty.” We don’t talk about Jewish terrorism anymore because that would confuse the docile masses. In any event, it is obvious that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. It was not that long ago that Jerry Adams, the head of the so-called “political wing” of the IRA, openly raised money in the United States and was a guest in the White House. Why? Because the Irish have more political clout than the Arabs.

But back to the case at hand. The Jews and the State of Israel have become untouchable subjects. Not to mention the fact that the US government has been commandeered by a small group of extremists who want to help the State of Israel at all costs. Al-Qaeda hijacked a couple of planes and flew them into the World Trade Center, the neocons hijacked the country and flew it into Iraq. I gotta go.
- Dov Prombaum
Naperville, IL

You said it my brother!

Now I don’t think Lasn is suggesting there is a cabalist conspiracy or that the Jewish Illuminati have taken over the United States… I think he was making a controversial statement to shed light on these neocons who have been advocating the same policies since Reagan and who have finally been able to “hijack” the US because of 9/11. Just what are they up to, Jewish or otherwise?

We know Bush and Blair lied and/or were lied to about WMD and connections to al-Qaeda.

We know Israelis – some of whom were allegedly “former” Mossad agents and suspect they were all active agents — filmed the WTC attacks (hmm, how’d they know to have the camera ready?) from atop their van. They were seen jumping up and down rejoicing at the sight of the towers burning. There is evidence to suggest that Mossad may have tried to set up a fake al Qaeda cell in Palestine. There are also rumours of Mossad agents posing as art students or setting up moving companies in the US… reportedly these cells have been “caught” with blueprints of federal buildings and in other suspicious circumstances.

Now I’ll be the first to say there are other likely explanations for the above or that they may be completely false…. but what if….?

Warning! The page linked to below contains very graphic photographs of the murder of Rachel Corrie on March 16, 2003. If these are real…. very disturbing.

ei: Photostory: Israeli bulldozer driver murders American peace activist: “The photos below clearly show that Rachel was well marked, had a megaphone which removes any doubt that the activists’ presence was somehow invisible to the driver, and she clearly posed no threat to the bulldozer driver.”

Makes me sick.

The S factor explains Bush’s popularity: “Some people — sometimes through no fault of their own — are just not very bright.”

Whether people are stupid or they just don’t care I don’t know. I don’t agree that results of an intelligence test should determine whether someone can vote or not. How about a general politics test?

Our country was formed in:
a) 1776
b) 1982
c) 1867
d) 1767

Or something similar to the citizenship test.

Our official head of state is:
a) Jean Chretien
b) Adrienne Clarkson
c) Queen Elizabeth II
d) Paul Martin

Canada has ___ provinces and territories.
a) 10
b) 11
c) 12
d) 13

Oh while we’re at it, why not identify the bigots.

The principle diety of Islam is:
a) Osama bin Laden
b) Kareem Abdul Jabar
c) Farooq
d) Allah

Muslims can be best described as:
a) Crustaeceans that attach themselves to the bottoms of ships.
b) Followers of Islam.
c) Towel-headed camel jockeys. Assholes.
d) No good satanists who want to blow shit up for no good reason.

On the subject of gay marriage I best identify with the following quote.
a) “Gay marriage should be between a man and a woman.” – Ahnold
b) “Can I bum a fag?” – Any Brit
c) “It’s a sensitive issue on both sides.” – Some guy.
d) “Burn in hell fudge packers.” – Another guy.

Now lets have some fun with them.

What hasn’t been said about democracy?
a) “Democracy is the rule of special interest groups” – Plato
b) “God wants me to be President of the United States” – GW Bush
c) “It is rediculous that two fools should have more of a say than one wise man” – Adolf Hitler
d) All have been said.

If you get one wrong you don’t vote.

Yahoo! drops Google, Google goes public, and Microsoft has entered the building.

Microsoft’s Search Domination Strategy: “What if Microsoft built an XML-based (.NET) indexing service into a future release of IIS, and/or released a .NET indexing service for current releases? “

I’m scared Sarge.

It’s a scary thought. Microsoft has been taking a beating in the server market, with IIS dropping to hold only 20 per cent of the server market. But if this guy is right, 20 per cent is more than enough. Imagine a world without Googlebot. Imagine a Web so interconnected a search on it would index up to-the-minute pages. This may be possible soon… at least for Sites on servers running IIS. IIS-hosted sites may be seamlessly integrated with what Microsoft may be coming out with… this would mean 20 per cent (IIS market share) of the internet would be automatically updated in Microsofts search engine. By comparison… Google doesn’t even index 10 per cent of sites on the Net.

Go public fast Google. And they seem to be. This is possibly the most anticipated tech IPO since Netscape back in 1995 and may be the key to marking a recovered tech sector. Depending on who is talking, Google may end up valued at anywhere from $4-Billion to $14-Billion. I can’t even imagine a billion dollars.

And if anyone cared, Yahoo! will soon be dropping Google as the primary search provider in favour of their own technology (Inktomi, I believe.) Yahoo! can suck a horse’s ass for all I care but maybe this will help give their sites some speed and reliability.

If I were to design a search engine… or at least the search interface.. I would allow a user to register and select a number of trusted sites (to be weighed higher) and/or a number of sites to ignore (to be… ignored.) The more people signed up.. we could eventually make some kind of aggregate of trusted sources and allow users to search only on “the most trusted sites.”

I need a job where I get paid to come up with ideas all day. I have a crazy idea every day.

Going to the hockey game now. Bye

This www.whereismygnome.com Web site looks to be a cute little attempt at some cyber campaigning for some Joe Blow to get his garden gnome back. In reality it is part of a $80-million ad campaign for Travelocity, an online travel company. Is everything is an ad these days?
Buy Coke

What a Crappy Present

Site suggesting RIAA-affiliated CDs are bad gifts. This site was done by the people at downhillbattle.org.

P2P and MP3 are here to stay. I’ve been saying for years that it’s up to the major record labels to adapt to the times and only that will stop illegal music swapping. I thought iTunes was a step in the right direction but I was wrong. Musicians only get pennies per song and they may never see it because of money they owe their label. The industry is fucked. Anyway.. the folks at downhillbattle.org make some interesting suggestions on how to fix everything and mostly the suggestion is to get rid of the record labels.

Another suggestion…

musiclink.com, a site helping you pay artists directly after downloading their music.

If you know me, you probably know that the P2P/RIAA issue is important to me. I believe the industry is anachronistic and exists solely to continue its existance. It isn’t needed. The internet has made record stores (amung other things) nearly obsolete yet they are still around. The recording industry isn’t flocking to the internet because the profit margins just aren’t the same as with physical CD sales. A much better system is in reach but the major labels have little to gain so they will put all their resources into lawsuits, ad campaigns, government lobbying, etc. to ensure that their status isn’t threatened. I’m not sure what that is but I’m pretty sure it isn’t the capitalism that Adam Smith envisioned.

The RIAA and its members are going down and all it will take is for someone to build a better system.

Googlewhacking: The Search for The One True Googlewhack

Go to google.com, type in any two words without quotes. If you get one and only one result you have yourself a Googlewhack! Didn’t take me too long to find zingiberaceae crosscheck. Zingiberaceae are perennial herbs mostly with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes comprising about 47 genera and 1,000 species. Ok, ok… I didn’t know that word but turmeric comes from curcuma which is a zingiberaceae. Or something. Er… it’s the ginger family.


Roar.

Some more of our gingerbread cookies…