heart in a cage

Yahoo closes DRM-music store, screws its customers

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:50:46 -0500

Yahoo closes DRM-music store, screws its customers: I’m glad that I had the forsight (minus a few iTunes purchases) to avoid DRM-stores completely.

Obama's "We Are the World" Speech

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:42:00 -0500

Obama's "We Are the World" Speech

"We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of..."

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:15:49 -0500

“We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment—a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation for the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori commitment to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, the materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.”

- Harvard biologist Richard Lewontin, “New York Review of Books” (via davereed)

A little verbose, but right on.

sexartandpolitics: toomuchawesome: bg5000: This American Life...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:11:43 -0500

sexartandpolitics:

toomuchawesome:

bg5000:

This American Life did a segment last year for their Showtime show on the Wiener Circle here in Chicago. I’m glad they don’t gloss over the obvious racist dynamic at work there. I think that’s why i’ve never gone there. That and the fact that i don’t like Chicago style hot dogs.

I guess I’m naive enough to be rather shocked by this. Maybe I think too highly of people. But between this and some of the things that Britt has written on her blog, I guess I just don’t see this stuff happening at all. It’s so funny how I’m from a part of the country that a majority of Americans consider a wasteland of racism and intolerance, and yet this happens in a northern metropolitan city, in the state of our first successful black president candidate. The irony is astounding, but I can tell you this much: this would never happen where I come from.

Wow. (Language alert)

Anarchists' gathering surprisingly organized

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:42:15 -0500

Anarchists' gathering surprisingly organized

"The thing is, America has largely overcome racism, and that has been true for at least the past..."

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:24:19 -0500

“The thing is, America has largely overcome racism, and that has been true for at least the past quarter century. But there is an enormous race-grievance industry whose market depends on the maintenance of white guilt and black resentment, and it is they, not blacks in general, who would suffer from this aspect of an Obama presidency”

- James Taranto

China to its citizens: "Talk about anything meaningful at your own risk"

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:03:40 -0500

China to its citizens: "Talk about anything meaningful at your own risk": Ridiculous. The only bonus to rewarding one of the world’s worst human rights violators with the Games is the intense scrutiny they’re getting.

50 Cent Looking for Big Change Outta Taco Bell

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:51:47 -0500

50 Cent Looking for Big Change Outta Taco Bell: It’s always unfortunate when rappers feel demeaned and taken advantage of, isn’t it? After all, they aren’t getting a taste of their own medicine or anything…

onemoretimewithfeeling: mascarah: moderation: Careless...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:12:18 -0500

onemoretimewithfeeling:

mascarah:

moderation:

Careless Whisper, by Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright…(great cover. Lee sparked another Ben Folds post today)

Wow. LOVE. I am a huge fan of covers. Does anyone have a list of favorite covers?

Two great voices on one great song. Btw mascarah, I really like almost all of the covers Nouvelle Vague does. Check them out. :)

onemoretimewithfeeling: Chantal Kreviazuk - Feels Like Home Will...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:08:47 -0500

onemoretimewithfeeling:

Chantal Kreviazuk - Feels Like Home

Will you stop with the audio posts? You keep forcing me to reblog them!

davereed: soundreview: Old School Vs. New School no...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:45:55 -0500

davereed:

soundreview:

Old School Vs. New School

no contest

Saw the new one Tuesday night. I definitely enjoyed watching it, but I still haven’t decided what I think about the film. I was surprised by the amount of philosophical content it contained, although I’m unsure exactly what Christopher Nolan is trying to say. The Joker had quite a few monologues on the nature of man, good and evil, chance and circumstance, and the “virtue” of injecting anarchy into society. Despite a few glaring and unnecessary political jabs (which were immediately invalidated by the contradictory actions of the protagonists), the film was remakably thoughtful and tasteful. Violent, but not bloody. Scary but not horrific. Visually stunning, especially anytime Heath Ledger graced the screen.

P.S. My biggest complaint was the deep, course, raspy voice that Batman adopts when he’s around people who know Bruce Wayne—it sounded idiotic.

radard: amayadori.tumblr.com I cannot count how many times I saw...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:33:52 -0500

radard:

amayadori.tumblr.com

I cannot count how many times I saw something like this early in the morning during all my summers spent here.

Obama re-writes history on a stupid answer he gave 1 year ago

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:21:47 -0500

Obama re-writes history on a stupid answer he gave 1 year ago

New VLC Includes Last.FM Support

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:23:14 -0500

New VLC Includes Last.FM Support: YES!

OpenCongress - Track bills, votes, senators, and representatives in the U.S. Congress

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:29:47 -0500

OpenCongress - Track bills, votes, senators, and representatives in the U.S. Congress

"According to the Green New Deal Group, humanity only has 100 months to prevent dangerous global..."

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:21:49 -0500

“According to the Green New Deal Group, humanity only has 100 months to prevent dangerous global warming.”

- BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | ‘100 months to save the planet’

Does this mean we only have to endure the alarmists’ shrill activism until November of 2016? I can hold out til then.

My coworker keeps harassing me with Cute Overload links…

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:53:18 -0500

My coworker keeps harassing me with Cute Overload links…

radard: youwillbeassimilated.net

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:41:48 -0500

radard:

youwillbeassimilated.net

Photo

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:48:31 -0500

onemoretimewithfeeling: daveklonke: dihard: Fear of thieves...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:27:06 -0500

onemoretimewithfeeling:

daveklonke:

dihard:

Fear of thieves siphoning fuel has made these locking gas caps all the rage these days. One gas-cap maker has already sold more locking caps in the first six months of this year (about 1.3 million) than in all of 2007. (per Time)

I wonder if they make these for golf cart gas tanks. We have no proof, but we suspect two carts were drained of gas a few weeks back while out for a round of golf. Four gallon tanks and people are stealing the gas. Is it really worth the effort to steal $16 worth of gas?

Wow. It feels like we are moving into a Mad Max world.

Proof that history forgotten is destined to repeat itself: I remember my dad telling me as a kid about the fuel rationing in the 70s, how locked gas caps then became all the rage, how theives simply pried them open in response (damaging the vehicle), and how quickly the trend died out.