Channel Axiom

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2010-09-01T17:07:00.001-04:00

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[Policy] Just walk away, America. Just walk away.

2010-01-10T13:07:00.000-05:00

Excellent article. If everyone who was underwater in their homes just walked away from their mortgages, the market might actually have a chance of working. As it is, the banksters have no incentive to renegotiate. President Obama has some gall, talking about homeowners being "responsible," when he has let the banksters walk away with billions, not to mention reneging on so many of his promises and murdering-by-proxy so many innocent civilians on the other side of the world. The Mortgage Bankers Association and the White House, bedfellows and hypocrites.

[Culture] Zhu Zhu pets are SUPER-safe

2009-12-08T09:44:00.000-05:00

Zhu Zhu Pets safe, regulators say

Heh. Sure they are.

"Did you realize that these f'in Zhu Zhu things that everybody's crazy for have poison antimony n' shit in em?"

"Dag! We better tell someone!"

Ring-ring.

"Hello? oh, errr, okay."
"~~Our Chinese overlords~~ The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says the Zhu Zhu things are safe, as long as kids don't actually suck on them TOO much or eat them n' shit."

"So they have poison in them, but not enough poison can probably be sucked out to kill most kids?"

"Right!"

"Problem solved. Hooray!!!!"

"America, fuck yeah!"

Merry Christmas!

[Rant] How to become super-richer if you are already super-rich

2009-12-07T09:44:00.000-05:00

The Wall Street method:

Borrow money from the Federal Reserve at 0.0% interest, because you are "too big to fail."
Use borrowed money to buy Treasury bills at an interest rate > 0.0%.
Profit!
Pay yourself a massive bonus, because you are a "financial wizard."

Unfortunately, this only works if you're a plutocrat with Ben Bernanke on speed dial. Hooray for American ingenuity!

[Politics] Hooray, everything's great . . .

2009-12-01T11:30:00.001-05:00

Bob Herbert, as usual, is 100% correct.

President Obama will go on TV Tuesday night to announce that he plans to send tens of thousands of additional American troops to Afghanistan to fight in a war that has lasted most of the decade and has long since failed.

After going through an extended period of highly ritualized consultations and deliberations, the president has arrived at a decision that never was much in doubt, and that will prove to be a tragic mistake. It was also, for the president, the easier option.

XTC had all this nonsense sorted in 1989.

Here comes President Kill again,
Surrounded by all of his killing men.
Telling us who, why, where and when,
President Kill wants killing again.
Hooray, ring out the bells,
King Conscience is dead.
Hooray, now back in your cells,
We've President Kill instead.
Here comes President Kill again.
Broadcasting from his killing den.
Dressed in pounds and dollars and yen,
President Kill wants killing again.
Hooray, hang out the flags,
Queen Caring is dead.
Hooray, we'll stack body bags,
For President Kill instead.
Ain't democracy wonderful?
Them Russians can't win!
Ain't democracy wonderful?
Lets us vote someone like that in.
Here comes President Kill again,
from pure White House to Number 10.
Taking lives with a smoking pen,
President Kill wants killing again.
Hooray, everything's great,
Now President Kill is dead.
Hooray, I'll bet you can't wait,
To vote for President Kill instead...

[Culture] William S. Burroughs: A Thanksgiving Prayer

2009-11-26T12:04:00.002-05:00

via Boing Boing

W. S. Burroughs - thanksgiving prayer -
Uploaded by Maetthew. - See the latest featured music videos.

[Art] Spongebob + Freddy mashup

2009-10-23T16:48:00.002-04:00

I did this mashup drawing as a demo for my cartooning students. I'm doing a series of drawings with cartoon characters in Halloween costumes for my class. This Spongebob Squarepants drawing was done digitally using my wacom tablet in the GIMP and inkscape. Process is below -

ROUGH SKETCH

PENCILS

INKS

COLORS

After I finished, I decided to add some color to the holding lines, but I'm not thrilled with the results. I'll have to devise a better method for color holds.

[Politics] They grow their Representatives real smart down Texas way

2009-04-22T18:04:00.000-04:00

(via TPM) Apparently, Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas's 6th district has never heard of continental drift or plate tectonics. I think it is absolutely awesome that so many of our elected officials are smug morons who think they're counting coup, while actually making complete fools of themselves; Texas seems particularly adept at producing these nitwits.

Maybe Representative Barton's brain just kinda drifted into his posterior?

[Politics] Wonkette is right

2009-03-25T16:44:00.001-04:00

This morning, the wife of my bosom sent me a link to this Wonkette story; her commentary was as follows:

wonkette is right

"When will these people learn that arguing you made a lot of money 'because of hard work' will not win you any points with people who work equally hard but make very little (to say nothing of those who have no jobs at all due to the fuckups of this editorialist’s colleagues), and this is in fact the very sort of vain insulting bullshit attitude that makes people despise bankers?"

That was an excellent point.

To which I replied:

Wonkette has never been MORE right than in this sentence:

we are forced to conclude that this gentleman’s hard-earned $742,006.40 in bonus money should go to the purchase of a giant bag of dicks for him to eat.

[Culture] Reverend Lowery's Inauguration Benediction

2009-01-20T15:38:00.003-05:00

Justice by mindgutter

when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream

(from beliefnet)

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand -- true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day. We pray now, O Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant, Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national and, indeed, the global fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hand, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations. Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you're able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed -- the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little, angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love.

Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around -- (laughter) -- when yellow will be mellow -- (laughter) -- when the red man can get ahead, man -- (laughter) -- and when white will embrace what is right.

Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: Say amen --

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: -- and amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen! (Cheers, applause.)

[Poem for today] I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

2009-01-20T10:41:00.002-05:00

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

[Culture] I kinda think Jesus was probably a little like J.B.

2008-12-07T15:04:00.002-05:00

Proposition 8: The Musical

[Politics] Now that the jackboot is on the other foot . . .

2008-12-04T15:23:00.003-05:00

Here's what Senator Dianne Feinstein had to say about so-called harsh interrogation techniques (what civilized human beings call torture) on 28 April 2008

Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif., a member of the Intelligence Committee, has vowed to continue pressing for the interrogation language, which she successfully offered in the 2008 version.

“The CIA has heard the message that a majority in both houses of Congress want the uniform standard provided by the Army field manual,” she said the day before Bush vetoed the 2008 bill in March. “We will not stop until it becomes law.”

After the House failed to override the veto, Feinstein said, “We’ll just keep sending it back, and he can keep vetoing it.”

And here's what she had to say to the New York Times in an interview conducted on 2 December 2008

in an interview on Tuesday, Mrs. Feinstein indicated that extreme cases might call for flexibility. “I think that you have to use the noncoercive standard to the greatest extent possible,” she said, raising the possibility that an imminent terrorist threat might require special measures.

Afterward, however, Mrs. Feinstein issued a statement saying: “The law must reflect a single clear standard across the government, and right now, the best choice appears to be the Army Field Manual. I recognize that there are other views, and I am willing to work with the new administration to consider them.”

(emphasis mine, in both cases)

I'm not really shocked that the odious Feinstein would modify her opinion now that the “boot stomping on a human face forever” is Blue instead of Red, but I would humbly encourage her to read How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq, or, at the very least, listen to Amy Goodman's interview with its author.

h/t Glenzilla

[History] 45 years ago today

2008-11-22T11:34:00.001-05:00

[Politics] There isn't a tent big enough to have both Sean Hannity and me in it

2008-11-14T15:30:00.003-05:00

wingnuts by silas216

As someone with strong libertarian leanings who nevertheless finds the modern Republican party utterly repugnant, I could not agree more with this reader from Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish -

It's why as a 27-year-old voter, the Republican party has been off the table for me since I could vote in the 2000 election. No matter how much I like or identify with any of "conservative" ideas, I refuse to stand in any tent, now matter how big, with people like Sarah Palin, Jim Broun, and Sean Hannity.

And for all of those "non-kook" conservatives out there scratching their heads about why the country polls "center-right" but voted so strongly for Obama, there is your answer, especially in my generation.

[Politics] Friedman finally comes clean?

2008-11-14T15:11:00.003-05:00

Thomas Friedman by Charles Haynes

In an alternate reality, odious hack Thomas Friedman finally speaks some truth:

I have no business holding a pen, at least with intent to write.

I know, you’re thinking I’m going too far. I haven’t always been wrong about everything. I recently made some sense on global warming and what we needed to do about it, for instance.

But to have been so completely and fundamentally wrong about so huge a disaster as what we have done to Iraq — and ourselves — is outrageous enough to prove that people like me have no business posing as wise men, and, more importantly, that The New York Times has no business continuing to provide me with a national platform.

You can check out the whole "New York Time Special Edition for Saturday 4 July 2009" here. This is a stunt worthy of the Yippies, courtesy of a coalition of art activists led by epic culture jammers the Yes Men.

[Politics] Andrew Sullivan's eloquent plea for Marriage Equality

2008-11-13T18:27:00.002-05:00

I found Sullivan's "stump speech" so moving that I'm going to just post a long excerpt -

Growing up gay in a largely straight world, and being told that you can have your legal contracts for your relationship if you're lucky, or live with domestic partnerships if you're really lucky, is a bit like growing up in a big, old house. You're allowed to live there - in fact, you were born there and grew up there - but certain rooms are off-limits. "You can't go in there," the adults say, as soon as you learn to walk. "Or there," they remind you as you get older. And you wonder why. But you're a good kid and don't want to make a ruckus, and it's your home too and your family, and they seem very insistent. After a while, they allow you to go up to the second floor and even third floor. There are rules there: don't touch that vase, don't put your feet on that couch, don't spill anything on that rug. But you can still hang out there if you really want to.

But there's one room at the very top of the house that has always been forbidden, and the more lee-way you are given elsewhere, the more stringently that rule is enforced. In the end, they say, "You can go anywhere and do anything - apart from that room." And you accept this, because they seem so intent on it. And you love them. But you keep wondering: why that room? What is up there? What am I not allowed to experience or to see?

And one day, you get up your courage and you wait till the adults are out and you gingerly make your way to that room you have never been in before.

And you go in, and look around, with some awe and burning curiosity. And you look in the cupboards and the drawers and under the chairs, and finally you find, in one dusty old desk, what they never wanted you to find.

You find the legal papers, the deed, that proves that they own the house. And you don't. However long you live, whatever you do, however you conduct yourself, this house will never be yours. You can live in it - with their permission, and under their authority. It is your home, because where else were you born and where else would you live - but only to rent, never to own. It is your family, but you are always kept one critical step away from being fully part of it. There is one fine line you will never be allowed to cross.

It is your country, but you are never fully a citizen. You can live here, but you can't vote. Your parents can die here, but you will never inherit this house.

We want to be citizens.

We want to be a full and equal part of our own homes and our own families and our own lives.

And some of us, having been in that room for a short while, know what it feels like.

And we will never, ever let it go.

[Culture] Danger falling goldbricks!

2008-11-13T16:42:00.007-05:00

Seth Godin offers everyone some good advice in these tough economic times -

Times are tough, and many say they are going to be tougher. That makes some people more focused, it turns others desperate.

You may be tempted at some point to try to make a million dollars. To do it without a lot of effort or skill or risk. Using a system, some shortcut perhaps, or mortgaging something you already own.

There are countless infomercials and programs and systems that promise to help you do this. There are financial instruments and investments and documents you can sign that promise similar relief from financial stress.

Resist.

There are four ways to make a million dollars. Luck. Patient effort. Skill. Risk.

(Five if you count inheritance, and six if you count starting with two million dollars).

Conspicuously missing from this list are effortless 1-2-3 systems that involve buying an expensive book or series of tapes. Also missing are complicated tax shelters or other 'proven' systems. The harder someone tries to sell you this solution, the more certain you should be that it is a scam. If no skill or effort is required, then why doesn't the promoter just hire a bunch of people at minimum wage and keep the profits?

There are literally a million ways to make a good living online, ten million ways to start and thrive with your own business offline. But all of these require effort, and none of them are likely to make you a million dollars.

Short version of my opinion: If someone offers to sell you the secret system, don't buy it. If you need to invest in a system before you use it, walk away. If you are promised big returns with no risk and little effort, you know the person is lying to you. Every time.

Synchronistically, todays Scary-Go-Round (excerpt at the head of this post) featured a similar subject.

I'll give the final word on the matter to Aleister Crowley, from the Book of Lies -

GOLD BRICKS

Teach us Your secret, Master! yap my Yahoos.

Then for the hardness of their hearts, and for the softness of their heads, I taught them Magick.

But... alas!

Teach us Your real secret, Master! how to become invisible, how to acquire love, and oh! beyond all, how to make gold.

But how much gold will you give me for the Secret of Infinite Riches?

Then said the foremost and most foolish: Master, it is nothing; but here is an hundred thousand pounds.

This did I deign to accept, and whispered in his ear this secret:

A SUCKER IS BORN EVERY MINUTE.

[Politics] Alice Walker writes brilliant, inspiring open letter to President-elect Obama

2008-11-12T15:28:00.003-05:00

Alice Walker has posted an open letter to the President-elect on the expectations and responsibilites of an Obama presidency. The letter, posted at The Root, strikes the perfect balance between celebration of this historic election, and determination to hold an Obama administration to a progressive agenda. I found this sentiment heartening -

Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise.

Walker was interviewed by Amy Goodman on the 11 November 08 episode of Democracy Now!

AMY GOODMAN: It wasn’t long after Barack Obama made his speech, his statement against war in 2002, that you were in front of the White House with a group of women writers, artists, activists, arm in arm, standing in front of the White House, getting arrested. It was Women’s Day, International Women’s Day, that period of time, that you got arrested. Now, Barack Obama is opposed to the war in Iraq, the timetable not exactly clear how it will work to pull out, but supporting a so-called surge in Afghanistan. How do protest someone you support so much?

ALICE WALKER: I protest them the same way I protest the ones, you know, like Bush and, you know, those people: whatever it takes—writing, speaking, being arrested. It won’t change. My part of the relay race won’t change. I know what my duty is. And my duty is to try to prevent war by whatever means I can manage.
And I love this person that we’ve elected. I love this gentle, seemingly considerate, thoughtful person. And that will, in no way, stop me from saying I don’t agree with, you know, X, Y and Z. I will not support this war. I think war is so incredibly backward, and I don’t think it’s intelligent, and it’s not sane. So why would you want to support it? And we’ve had leaders who would never be open to that kind of thought, and I think that he might well be open to the understanding that this is really true, that war is an insanity, basically.

You can watch/listen to the whole interview, or read a trascript here.

[Culture] I give you - Monkeys riding Dogs!

2008-11-12T14:14:00.005-05:00

This morning, VH1's BestWeekEver.tv introduced me to a concept that I had previously assumed only existed in my fevered imagination - MONKEY JOCKEYS.

Yes, you read that correctly, Banana Derby is a Greenville, SC based business that provides

A FULLY SELF CONTAINED SHOW TO ENTERTAIN GUESTS AT FAIRS ,CELEBRATIONS,TRADE SHOWS & EXPOS!! WE CAN ALSO PROVIDE MONKEY JOCKEYS FOR ALL YOUR PROMOTIONAL NEEDS !!

I am simultaneously thrilled and DEEPLY TROUBLED that such a business exists. My favorite quote from the Banana Derby website -

IF YOU LOVE PIG RACING,
YOU"ll GO APE FOR THE BANANA DERBY!!

And who, you might ask, is the star of the Banana Derby? Why who else but Gilligan T. Monkey!

h/t to the wife of my bossom

[Politics] Excellent column by Anjali Kamat: "Change We Can Believe In?"

2008-11-11T17:50:00.002-05:00

Must read column by Anjali Kamat on continuing to fight for change.

Here's the lede -

To all those for whom America has represented generations of racial injustice, the election of America’s first Black president marks the beginning of a new era…But unless the inspired millions who brought him to power continue to believe their demands matter and insist on holding him accountable each step of the way, it will be Obama’s corporate and hawkish friends who determine the domestic and foreign policies of the coming administration and our collective future.

h/t Democracy Now!

Welcome to Channel Axiom, an introduction of sorts

2008-11-11T15:46:00.006-05:00

We the People by Caveman 92223

I've decided that the best way to launch the new Channel Axiom blog is with a brief introduction and statement of purpose. Both myself (Mark Cooper) and Chad Lemons will be writing here, and hopefully this post will be followed in the near future by a similar introductory post from Mr. Lemons.

Although I was a strong supporter of (then Senator - now President-elect) Barack Obama's campaign, and I'm absolutely thrilled with his victory one-week ago, I intentionally allowed a week to pass before launching this blog. I wanted to allow myself a week to relax and celebrate before getting back to what I expect will be the hard work of holding soon-to-be President Obama and the United States Congress accountable for safe-guarding the ideals represented by the document pictured at the head of this post. I don't consider myself to be a Democrat (at least not ideologically), although I generally vote for candidates with the (D) next to their names. My real loyalty is to the principle that government power must be limited to ensure individual rights, a philosophy best exemplified in the United States by the ACLU.

That's right, I'm a card-carrying member!

It is absolutely crucial that the Obama administration repudiates torture, closes the horrific gulag at Guantanamo Bay, instructs the NSA to seek FISA warrants when surveilling American citizens at home or abroad, and commits to honoring the Geneva Conventions. To quote James Bovard,

A democratic government that respects no limits on its power is a ticking time bomb, waiting to destroy the rights it was created to protect.

There have been some promising rumblings from the Obama camp in this regard, but it will be the responsibility of all Americans who care about the Bill of Rights to continue to demand that the rule of law be restored in America.

I'll be making a number of posts in the coming days and weeks unpacking and discussing my worldview; I have been greatly influenced and affected by the writings of John Stuart Mill, Robert Anton Wilson, Alan Watts, Wilhelm Reich, Buckminster Fuller and Alan Moore.

Although most of the posts here at Channel Axiom will likely discuss politics and public policy, I also plan to occasionally write about comics, film, television, literature and any other topic I find interesting. For the benefit of readers using a RSS-reader, every post will be labeled in its title with a subject, e. g.

[TV] Why I love Dr. Drew Pinsky

or

[LIT] A belated memoriam for David Foster Wallace

Topics you find uninteresting should be easy to ignore. I look forward to a vigorous comment section, and you are more that welcome to email me at interpcoord (at) gmail (dot) com.

Channel Axiom Podcast - Coming Soon

2007-11-07T13:28:00.000-05:00