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It’s time to lose the faith talk in politics

electWe’ve got to find a way to take the conservative symbolic message of faith talk out of American politics.  First let me state what I believe in as far as religion; I believe religion is a very personal thing, and I feel it should be that way for everyone. This goes a long way in understanding my disdain for so called ‘faith-based politics’, examples of which have been in abundance this campaign season. Now, before you jump on me, I am talking about ‘both’ (anyone find a viable 3rd party candidate that can raise 100 bazillion dollars to go the dance? I wish we could…but that’s another post ;) ) parties, Democrats and Republicans. When you hear any of them kowtowing to the evangelicals (who have been the sweet target these past few months), you know they’re deliberately targeting those people, and those people only. The fact that so many have been called out to ‘prove’ their conviction is the true one, and in line with the vote heavy evangelicals, is a sad commentary on how people vote.
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New Rambo film most violent yet

Sylvester StaloneOh yeah, just in case you thought us American’s didn’t stand for anything anymore, out of the chute comes a newly reworked Sylvester Stallone (who directed and co-wrote) the new ”Rambo” , out to prove that we’re still number one in over the top, mindless violence!  “The new Rambo film is the most violent yet – with more than two on-screen deaths every MINUTE. There are a total of 236 “kills” in the 93-minute-long action flick, which has just been released in America – an average of 2.59 each 60 seconds. In the first Rambo film, 1982’s First Blood, just one character lost their life, according to a chart compiled by terrorism expert and author, John Mueller. The fourth installment sees Vietnam War veteran John Rambo – Stallone – trying to free a group of Christian missionaries who have gone missing in Thailand. Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Mike Thomas wrote: “How violent is Sylvester Stallone’s new “‘Rambo’ film? “Put it this way: If you were to make it a drinking game and then take a slug of booze each time someone buys the farm, you’d either become monstrously drunk or possibly dead yourself from alcohol poisoning by the time the end credits roll. “Beheadings, disembowelment, exploding bodies, decomposing bodies, raping, torturing, hanging — you name the most depraved level of man’s inhumanity to man (and woman and children), and it’s most likely represented onscreen.”  Makes those Abu Ghraib photos look so quaint!  That, plus Stallone shows us all what it takes to be tough, plenty of plastic surgery and some good old fashion HGH (human growth hormone).  Gather round kids, be proud of your freedom, and our apparently innate manifest destiny to go forth and pillage!


Texas is number one

Don’t Mess With TexasAs everyone knows, Texans like to brag, so being number one seems like a great place for anything Texas; save for this.  “Texans’ fondness for large, manly vehicles has helped make the Lone Star State the biggest carbon polluter in the nation. The headquarters state of America’s oil industry spewed 670 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2003, enough that Texas would rank seventh in the world if it were its own country, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The amount is more than that of California and Pennsylvania — the second- and third-ranking states — combined. A multitude of factors contribute to the carbon output, among them: Texas’ 19 coal-burning power plants; a heavy concentration of refineries and chemical plants; a lack of mass transit; and a penchant among ranchers and urban cowboys alike for brawny, gas-guzzling trucks — sometimes to haul things, but often just to look Texas tough.“  Obviously living in Austin I didn’t see as much of this, but when we’d visit Houston you could see the facts to support the above claims; it was a mess.


Running XP on a Mac – is Boot Camp active when Windows is loaded?

bsod on an iMacToday at work someone running Windows on a Mac was having an issue communicating through the third party firewall software. The response from the third party was that they don’t support Mac, but my contention is that Mac has nothing to do with someone running Windows, after installing it via Boot Camp. I want to know the answer to this, so I’m posting it here, feel free to educate me if I’m missing something. (Note: names have been changed to protect the (non) supporting party).  So, it is my understanding that Boot Camp only installs Windows on a Mac machine (does the partitioning, installs some drivers for the hardware and guides you through installing Windows from an existing CD) after that when you boot the system you can choose Mac’s OS X or Windows, and that after choosing Windows it’s running ‘natively’ on the hardware and not under any kind of virtualization. From Apple’s site:

Boot Camp simplifies Windows installation on an Intel-based Mac by providing a simple graphical step-by-step assistant application to dynamically create a second partition on the hard drive for Windows, to burn a CD with all the necessary Windows drivers, and to install Windows from a Windows XP installation CD. After installation is complete, users can choose to run either Mac OS X or Windows when they restart their computer. (more…)


Do the collage – the art of Bob Pollard

On December 9, 10 Robert Pollard had his debut art exhibit called Do The Collage (a play on the title of Guided by Voices 1999 release, Do The Collapse) at Studio Dante. in New York City.  Now the entire exhibit is online (but note the person pictured at that link is not Bob), and  it displays the talents of Bob’s cut and paste collages, much like the sound of his band’s early recordings.

WHAT SO EVER IS YOUR TRIP TOTALLY

Some of these images will be familiar to GbV die hards, as Bob’s artwork adorned many of the cds, LPS and singles that GbV put out over the years.  Additionally, the above shows up as a prop onstage when he tours with his current band. Of course with all things Bob Pollard, the quality is there, despite the quantity that you sometimes have to wade through; persistence and patience will pay off, keep digging! Having said that, if anyone doesn’t have Alien Lanes or Bee Thousand, you’re missing out on some of the best rock from the early 90s. Here’s another salty salute to Bob! Kick it…



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