Congress Gives Itself a $93,000 Raise
I guess that only certain people's wealth should be spread around.
Have I ever mentioned my strong support for congressional term limits?
I was going to make a separate post for each of these, but I'll just cover both now.
First of all, Ace comments on an interesting liberal tendency in this post:
The liberal MSM announces categorical rules to explain their decisions when they go against conservatives (as they usually do), and then they quickly forget about such categorical rules when it comes to liberals.An obvious example is the eight year jihad against "questioning patriotism," at least when a conservative seems to question a liberal's patriotism. When that happens, there's a categorical rule against it, and there is therefore hardly any point in investigating whether the suggestion of unpatriotic conduct has any merit.
When a liberal questions a conservative's patriotism, of course, the rule is much more nuanced, and we can freely inquire into whether, for example, it's "unpatriotic" for Rush Limbaugh to hope that Obama fails.
Another obvious one? Bipartisanship. Bipartisanship is always, categorically, the highest ideal we can aspire to in politics; except, that is, when Democrats control the levers of power, and then suddenly it's a far more nuanced proposition. To the extent it's considered at all.
They employ this deceit in order to claim they're not making political judgments at all; when they refuse an ad or condemn a Republican for "questioning patriotism," they must do so; there is no decision-making involved at all, as the rule is categorical.
These are good observations, and the part about bipartisanship got me thinking once again about the problem of liberals seeing their opinions as truisms.
I've noticed over the last couple years that "bipartisanship" often means "doing whatever liberals want." When they're in the minority, they claim that any attempts to enforce conservative ideals are "divisive," and that we have to strive for "unity," etc. by considering liberal ideals as well. Then, when they gain power, like right now, they change the narrative. All of a sudden, we're supposed to "put politics aside" and go with the flow in the interests of the country.
Again, this goes back to the problem of opinions vs. facts. In the liberal mind, conservatives know what's right and are simply slowing down the process of improving the country because they hate poor people or black people or women or something. Therefore, "bipartisanship" really means "putting aside your ignorance and doing what we all know is the right thing."
Maybe I'm wrong, but considering what we've heard from the Obamabots so far, I kind of doubt it.
Speaking of Obama, I'm still baffled by his ability to get people so excited. It's like when he talks, his supporters are hearing something completely different from what the rest of us hear, which leads to the two sides talking right past each other when discussing his ideas.
While I was watching my Monty Python DVDs, as mentioned in the last post, one sketch in particular reminded me of this dilemma: The Man Who Makes People Laugh Uncontrollably.
If you haven't seen the sketch, it features a man, played by Terry Jones, who makes people burst into hysterical laughter every time he talks. The problem is that he's not actually saying anything funny. However, people are so affected by it that they can't help themselves, even if laughter is completely inappropriate for the situation.
Do you see the parallels here? In the sketch, the guy can say something as innocuous as "good morning" and leave an entire elevator full of people gasping for breath on the floor. In Obama's case, he can make an entire crowd practically bow down and worship him by spouting inane bullshit about hope and change.
In both scenarios, an outside observer can't possibly figure out what people are reacting to, because they're on different wavelengths. The audience of the Monty Python sketch interprets the man's words as everyday banter, while those of us who aren't on the Obama bandwagon are left struggling to find substance in his speeches while others declare him to be the next (insert great political/religious leader here).
I probably could've written this entire post better, but I had to get these thoughts out into the open. Comment if you have something to add.
Just for fun, here's a list of all the DVDs I watched in an attempt to keep myself entertained while I waited for my adapter to be delivered:
- Episodes 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 of Monty Python's Flying Circus (I actually have the entire series, but the rest is on VHS back in Pittsburgh).
- Sidney Crosby: On the Ice and Beyond, including the Winter Classic and other bonus material.
- The April 9, 1993 Pens vs. Rangers game from the Pittsburgh Penguins 10 Greatest Games collection.
- All episodes of The Simpsons: The Complete First Season, once normally and once with commentary turned on.
- All but two episodes of The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season, again viewing each episode twice due to the included commentary.
Incidentally, watching the Simpsons DVDs reminded me just how funny the show used to be before dipshits like Mike Scully and Ian Maxtone-Graham ran it into the ground with "Homer gets a wacky new job while Bart worships this week's celebrity guest" episodes.
I also borrowed some movies from my roommates, and since I was seeing each for the first time, I thought I'd do some brief reviews here (yes, I know some of these are old, but I don't care. Also, possible spoilers):
Considering how much of the play they had to cut out to make a movie, it's hard to accurately judge the finished product, especially since I only skimmed through the original when I was supposed to read it in high school. Also, even though this was almost 20 years ago, Mel Gibson seemed a little old to be playing Hamlet. Still, not a bad final product, but it's probably been done better.
Overrated. I heard a lot about the adrenaline-pumping action and inspirational speeches in this movie, so I was expecting to be at least somewhat impressed, but it's basically just two hours of dudes in speedos killing weird-ass ninjas and monsters in slow motion while reminding us every few minutes that they're SPARTANS!!! from SPARTA!!!
Note to the writers: It's kind of stupid to have Leonidas give a self-righteous spiel about the importance of the phalanx and then only show it properly used once throughout the whole film. I wasn't expecting it to be even 75% historically accurate, but I highly doubt that anyone, even the actual Spartans, could repeatedly break rank and run into the midst of the enemy force with no shields and expect to survive that long. On the plus side, the first couple of battles are kind of exciting before the slow motion starts to get tedious, and the gratuitous semi-nudity in the oracle scene was a fun bonus.
Pretty damn good. I have to give a favorable rating to any movie that can make me care about what happens to a volleyball. At first, I was bothered by the convenient plot device of having helpful items wash up on shore, but then I realized that a movie about a guy who gets stranded on an island and dies because he can't make a fire or collect water wouldn't be very interesting.
Speaking of realism, I like how everyone doesn't magically turn back the clock four years when the main character is rescued, and that he has to deal with the fact that life has moved on without him. Also, the sound editing in this movie is possibly the best I've ever heard. The plane crash scene is a work of audible art.
It's a little tough to give this one a rating. First of all, the DVD was smudged or scratched or something, conveniently making it impossible to view the film's climax. I had to skip from Salieri bringing Mozart home after he passes out to Mozart's burial. Also, I wasn't paying proper attention to a few scenes at the beginning because I was too hung up on trying to figure out why an Austrian composer had an American accent while everyone around him sounded either German, Italian, or "movie foreign" (i.e. vaguely British).
Those things aside, it was decent. If nothing else, it inspired me in my own musical pursuits (I'm currently working on the third song in my Lovecraft concept album), and the underlying messages about the nature of genius and the frustration of mediocrity are fun to think about. Also, I'd like to see an estimate of how much the costume department spent on wigs for the cast.
I think that's everything.
For those who are unaware, that title is my creative way of mentioning that today is my 24th birthday. It's also my first ever birthday without cake or some other kind of dessert.
On second thought, I'm going grocery shopping in a little while. Maybe I could buy something. Hmmmm...
UPDATE
I went ahead and bought myself a small cake. I figured that after losing 75 pounds, I kind of earned it.
Wow. What an unpleasant experience this has been. Fortunately, my new adapter finally came today, and with a little work, I got it to function properly. However, my PowerBook is still on its way out. The battery is completely dead and won't charge anymore, meaning that if the adapter is unplugged (which happens very easily), everything shuts off instantly. I don't think I can wait until I have a job to get a new computer. This is some serious shit here.
In closing, let me just say that those were the longest ten days of my life. I feel like a junkie finally getting a fix after going cold turkey for a while. When I got the computer to stay on, I actually collapsed onto my bed in a fit of joyous laughter.
I'll have more on my week and a half of time killing in a later post. Right now, I need to eat.
UPDATE
After further fiddling and about a dozen accidental shutdowns, I caved and ordered a new battery. Eventually, it's going to be cheaper to just get a new computer. This thing is begging to be put out of its misery.
According to the UPS tracking thingy, my new adapter won't be delivered until fucking Monday, so I'll have to continue surviving without a computer for a while longer. This is rather bad timing considering all the possibilities for political blogging at the moment. For now, I'll just say that what I have seen so far of the Obamessiah administration and people's treatment of it is making me wonder more than ever what this childish empty suit has actually accomplished in his life to warrant such sycophantic adulation, because it seems like the only thing he's actually good at is winning elections. I'd go on, but blogging on a cell phone is annoying. Later.
Like I said earlier, my fucking PowerBook adapter died, taking the battery with it. I can still access the net on my cell phone, but it is rather tedious to type a post on a keypad. I ordered a new adapter, but since the fucker decided to crap out on a Friday night, it could be a few days before I can blog normally again. Until then, consider this an open thread, and I will try not to go insane from several days of not having a computer or cable TV. This post took almost 20 minutes. Have a nice day.
You may recall from the pictures I posted a few days ago that my apartment provides a pretty good view of the Hudson River.
Therefore, I'm really not sure how I was unaware of this until I read about it.
I mean, this literally happened right outside my window, and I had no idea. I need to get out more.
(NOTE: I know it's a little hard to comment right now with Fluffy roaming around, but any input/discussion would be appreciated on these kinds of posts. I kind of miss the community aspect this blog used to have.)
So...politics! I've decided that with The Obamessiah only a few days away from riding his magical unicorn into the White House to spread the wealth change, it's time to get back to this type of blogging occasionally. I can't afford not to pay attention for the next 4-8 years.
However, rather than discussing current events, this post is more of a refresher on an issue I've talked about a few times in the past: Far too many liberals have a somewhat unnerving inability to accept the fact that some people don't agree with them.
As I've said before, liberals tend to see their opinions as the truth and go forward from there. Much like children, they believe that everyone sees the world as they do, and that any honest person would therefore share their ideas of how to fix the nation's problems.
For example, it's not an opinion that affirmative action combats racism; it's simply a fact that it does. If you disagree, you may claim that you think affirmative action actually perpetuates racism rather than preventing it, but since that's not true, the only logical conclusion is that you hate minorities and don't want them to succeed.
I've discussed other examples in the past, so I won't take up more space with those. However, this is all relevant because liberals now have a clear majority in our government, and I'm kind of worried about how free our speech will really be once they get their hands on the reins of power.
Allow me to share a couple links that are reinforcing this fear. I realize that these are individual opinions, but they represent a more general belief system, so...yeah. First, there's this thread on the CFI Forum (hat tip to Sublime Bloviations) in which the poster rather awkwardly expresses the following:
I’m sure most people are aware of Right Wing Radio shows.Mostly AM band.How often do you hear this stuff?How often do you encounter someone who’s an echo-box of this dreck. Folks,this garbage must be criminalized.I know that it is in the constitution,it’s in the FCC guidelines.It is an exercize of free speech and press. Loopholes must be found to muzzle these outlets.They engage in flat-out propaganda,which is laced with outright fabrications,innuendo,and hate and fear-mongering.Surely,somewhere,buried in the FCC,or in the laws of the constitution,there must be tools to eliminate this stuff. Have you seen the damage it does?I’m speaking from an unbiased,objective point of view too.I’m not trying in this instance to counteract damage done to the left or liberals. These programs have created thousands of robots.Uninformed people who are completely out of touch. Objecting to this and saying that these people freely choose to listen to it,is not enough.Drug cartels are smashed and their members imprisoned for giving people things that they freely choose to do. The actual damage these programs do is quantifiable and relevant.I thought it was illegal to broadcast lies?
Others try to explain why this is a load of shit:
No, No, No! The First Amendment is absolutely fundamental and under no circumstances should ANY political speech ever be restricted or discouraged.
It’s not illegal to broadcast lies...Censorship is not the answer. Speaking the truth is the answer.
But the poster, undaunted, presses on:
Well if speaking the truth is the answer,then where does that leave speaking the falsehoods?Accchh!I know we can’t muzzle people,the way the FCC did to certain other elements of radio.Afterall the FCC has a partisan appointed leader.And of course I know we live in a perfect society where advertisers have absolutely nothing to do with TV and radio content. I know I’m banging my head against the wall here,in the face of rational people,who cite constitutional points.Even though the constitution is constantly bended and morphed to suit the needs of legislators and activist judges,as well as presidents. I know it’s noble to place fair play in high regards.I like lofty ideas.I respect noble,egalitarianism. Unfortunately,I see the unfair playing field that is set-up by corporate interests and conservative-christian based nazis. To repeat,these radio shows are hindering progress.They are having a noticeable,relevant effect on the populations mind-set.
And later:
...The constitution doesn’t have to be thrown out,it could be amended.The Supreme Court could rule in favor of some class action concerning bias/truth in the media. Another 4 years are going to pass.In this time,the propaganda outlets are going to be going full-tilt to destroy the gains made by the Democrats in this latest election.This electorate can easily be swung back by these propaganda outlets,if the new Administration falters in its promise for change and renewal. I’m not being a Pollyanna here.(is that the right word-Pollyanna?)This is a real threat to the democracy that you are defending...
Again, there is a pattern here: This genius doesn't agree with most of the opinions expressed on conservative talk radio, so he decides that the solution is not to counter those opinions with his own, but to simply shut down outlets that have the temerity to broadcast contrary views. The last chunk is especially telling. His justification for outlawing right wing radio is basically that it poses a threat to the new administration's goals. This doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense unless you believe that everyone knows Obama will do the right thing all the time, but certain evil people will lie about it in order to put their equally evil party back in power.
Why is this so important to recognize? One* word: Fairness Doctrine.
An example of this point, slightly older, comes to us by way of this post from another blog:
But the right always complains about the proposed "fairness doctrine", because they say that the quality of the product should stand on its own in the free market, and if people want to listen to Limbo, and his ratings are high - too bad, its what the people have chosen. Which would be a fair point if 'the people' could be trusted to choose the right thing. But the people are stupid, and can not be trusted to see through Limbo, and his ratings are a testimony to this fact. We need to enforce fairness - even if "the people" don't want it....And YES - we *have* come to the point where radio-broadcast-book-burning is necessary, and censorship should apply to the likes of Limbough. 3 hours a day, 5 days a week - he spews the most vile and offensive racist and sexist garbage, and yet people, alot of people - tune in. He must be stopped.
Once again, we see the true danger in believing that only one set of opinions is valid. It's not just that Rush Limbaugh has a different view of the world. That's impossible! The truth is that Limbaugh knows liberal policies are better (the "right thing," in fact), but because he's an evil racist/sexist/whatever, he chooses to lie about it, and the sheeple believe him. Therefore, he must be stopped so that liberals, who really do have everyone's best interests at heart, can do their work.
This. Is. Fucking. TERRIFYING.
How do you reason with people who have decided, before an argument even begins, that their view is unquestionably correct? How do you present evidence to someone who thinks that the point of a debate is to expose the hateful motivations behind your opponent's ideas, rather than proving that your own ideas are better?
More importantly, can the First Amendment survive in an environment dominated by this type of infantile thinking? We've already seen that, in the eyes of many liberals, criticizing Obama's lifestlye, associations, economic policies, etc. is just a roundabout way of calling him a nigger. What happens when they decide that his critics present a threat to national security?
Keep in mind what's already been said on the issue of "fairness," as well as what happened to a certain plumber who dared to ask St. Hopechange a question.
I hope I don't live to see the day that voting Republican is considered a hate crime.
The word is "definitely."
Not "definately." Not "defiantly." Not "deffinatly."
D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y.
Pick up a fucking book sometime, you utter fucking retards.
It's been a long, long, long time since I posted any of my music, so here's some new material. I have a lot more if anyone is actually interested, but since I don't know if anyone actually is interested, I'll leave it at this for now.
I'm going to link to all three files right now so you don't have to wade through a sea of verbosity to find them, but I suggest checking out the backstory in the extended entry just so you know what the hell you're listening to:
Anyway, the first song here is a fun little experiment I've been conducting over the past few days in between getting settled into my apartment and trying to restart my job search.
A few important details: This song was done entirely with GarageBand instruments, but each and every note/beat is from my brain, not a pre-made loop. To put it another way, I didn't play it, but I did write it. I composed the whole thing in TuxGuitar, exported it as a MIDI file, imported the MIDI into GarageBand, tweaked the instruments, reverb, etc., then exported it to iTunes as an AIFF file, converted it to MP3, and uploaded it to the Internet.
...The above paragraph could probably be part of a longer answer to the question of why I've decided to be an editor instead of a writer or a musician.
Anyway...
The song itself, which I decided to call "Entropy" because it was written while the rest of my life was in a state of disorder, was partially inspired by Dream Theater's epic Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. I wanted to try something in a bit more of a prog vein, but I don't have the resources or the talent to record what I had in mind with real instruments, so I took advantage of technology.
"Entropy" is an instrumental that mixes my usual heavy rock style with some more unconventional stuff. For example, it switches between three different time signatures (try to identify all of them!). Also, it contains all the following instruments, or at least digital approximations of them:
- Electric guitar
- Bass guitar
- Piano
- Drum set
- Timpani
- Triangle
- Shaker
- Vibraslap
- Congas
- Orchestral strings
Incidentally, I have at least minimal experience playing everything in that list except the last one. Have I mentioned that I practically lived in the band room in high school?
So, check that out and see what you think. I feel like this song may have a different kind of appeal than my usual "METAL METAL GRUNGE METAL GRUNGE GRUNGE METAL RAAAAWRRR!!!" approach.
Next up are two related songs in my more traditional metal genre. I mentioned a while back that I was trying to write a concept album based on The Shadow Out of Time, my favorite H.P. Lovecraft story. Since then, I've managed to complete two songs, so it's still a work in progress, but you can listen to what I have so far.
I recorded both of these by playing my guitar through my trusty PODxt (mostly using the Triple Rectifier model) over GarageBand drums and bass (using the same TuxGuitar-MIDI-GarageBand method as "Entropy"). "Shadows," the opening instrumental, was recorded in GarageBand, and "Amnesia," based on Chapter 1, was recorded in my Tascam Digital Portastudio, so it sounds a bit more professional. Also, "Amnesia" has lyrics, which you can check out below if you really care. As always, feedback on any of this stuff is both welcome and encouraged.
Amnesia
My life interrupted
My routine disrupted
Wondering what did
I do to deserve this?
My memory corrupted
I can't reconstruct it
I'm controlled by something
With another purpose
Lost in confusion
Is this an illusion?
Or did an inhuman
Form take me over?
I've seen it in nightmares
My mind travelled somewhere
It seems so familiar
Yet it fills me with horror
Assaulted by visions
I changed in an instant
Remaining insistent
That I did not know myself
But some were convinced
That there was someone else hidden
And watching from within
My body now a shell
I sought arcane knowledge
Though I cannot recall it
Can't see past the wall that
Divides me and those years
Mysterious sojourns
So many were concerned
But one day I returned
And the stranger disappeared
I cannot bear
To face the thought
I've been somewhere
That time forgot
But I must know
I'll find the truth
If this life was my own
There must be proof
It seems I was a puppet
For five years of my life
My friends were frightened of it
I lost my children and my wife
My speech aroused suspicion
That I was not of this Earth
A lurking terror had arisen
From my unexplained rebirth
My pursuit of education
Was relentless and precise
I sought forbidden consultations
And built a strange device
Today I have no memory
Of what my search revealed
But still, the visions call me
I have to know what's real
I cannot bear
To face the thought
I've been somewhere
That time forgot
But I must know
I'll find the truth
If this life was my own
There must be proof
Dear incessant piece of shit,
SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
- CD
UPDATE
I have had to listen to this constantly for the past few hours, and it's been doing this on and off for over a year:
I am going to lose my fucking mind.
Got some better pictures of the area around the apartment.
First, a daytime view of Manhattan from the kitchen:
The view from my window isn't bad, either:
By the way, if my blogging is sporadic, it's probably because I'm on an extremely unreliable wireless Internet connection at the moment. I'll see what I can do.
On another note, I haven't seen Larry the Liberal in a while. I may have to track him down to see what he thinks of Obama's performance as Present Elect. At the very least, I'd be interested to see how he reacts to the news that one of my roommates is a scary Brown Person™.
You out there, Larry?
Hello again, minions. After some much needed rest, I'm back to blogging. Now that I've had some more time to get settled into the apartment, I thought I'd share some pictures. Each shot here is from a different corner of my room:
Also, here's a bonus image of me looking retarded after being awake for about 30 hours:
Finally, check out a slightly blurry shot of Manhattan from the kitchen window:
I'll try to get a better picture during the day.
On another note, I don't think anyone has commented in several weeks. Is it just that nobody has anything to add, or is Fluffy the Spamhound devouring everything?
P.S.: Fire Therrien.
Greetings, anyone and everyone dedicated and/or bored enough to continue checking back here. This is just a quick update to let you know that I just moved into my first actual apartment a few hours ago.
That's right, it took almost 24 years, but I finally left my parents' house for good. I'm still in Weehawken, New Jersey, but that's as specific as I'm going to get. The next step is to find an awesome job in Manhattan and start making some money, largely so I can afford to buy a replacement for my PowerBrickBook.
I'll have more info and some pictures later. However, I'm currently dealing with the effects of not having slept for over 24 hours thanks to fun last-minute travel preparations, so I need to do some more unpacking before I collapse from exhaustion.
Keep coming back, because there will probably be lots to write about real soon. Incidentally, unlike certain other times, the topic of annoying roommates probably won't come up much, as the two other guys in the apartment are really quiet and, honestly, much more mature than me. Fun stuff.
Final thought: When I first started this blog in my freshman year of college, I really didn't think it was going to last for more than a week. And yet, here we are, over five years later, and I'm still at it.
I need a social life.
