Guernsey’s parliament is called ‘The States of Deliberation’. I like that.
Also, my favourite entry on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index:
2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
Politics (category archive)
Had a go at a little World War II propaganda. The rhyme is original (hopefully) and the blur is deliberate (because I drew it roughly).
BBC News: French Muslims promote ‘cool Islam’. The article doesn’t interest me particularly, but the title made me think. I could make some wallpapers based on the theme, but judging by the reaction to my Communist wallpapers and that whole Muhammad cartoons thing, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
I’m posting this to help spread the word about the Steal This Film series and the movement it documents. In brief, there are two documentary films in the series, both are a bit more than half an hour in length. They’re about BitTorrent, P2P file sharing, and the free culture movement in general.
If you’ve ever downloaded a copyrighted song or movie from the internet, you have an obligation to watch these. If you have never done this, you also have an obligation. Because I say so. You can download them (for free, of course) through BitTorrent from stealthisfilm.com, or you can watch them streaming on Google Video (#1 and #2).
You will hopefully find these films to be thought-provoking—particularly the second one (so, if you’re only going to watch one, let it be that one). If you do watch these films and find yourself seeking more information, you’re clearly an intelligent person, and so you can do research on your own. I’d suggest you start by reading Free Culture (which I’ve previously blogged about), a book that’s freely available to read online (how fantastic is that!?).
Advance Australia Fair, our national anthem, is not a bad one—it doesn’t mention God or war at all, for example. However, the second verse is rarely used, which is a shame. So, I propose taking the best bits of each verse and making the super-anthem:
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We’ll toil with hearts and hands
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare
In history’s page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
With courage let us all combine,
Advance Australia Fair.
This version:
- Does away with the antiquated notions of us being young and girtness
- Keeps the nature’s gifts part, because our plains aren’t completely boundless
- Gets rid of the self-referential line about singing the anthem (and the word ’strains’, which I certainly didn’t understand until I looked it up) and replaces it with the line that usually follows the ‘boundless plains’ couplet
and replaces it with easily the best part of the entire song
Absolutely! Many of them relate to the 2007 Australian federal election.
* Now talking on #TheCommunistExperiment
* maestro has changed the topic to: Everything for everyone!
* LF (luminaflar@AB906894.53085F93.88C1369E.IP) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
* maestro gives channel operator status to LF
<LF> communism ftw
* lord_day (lord_day@private-8A4DD3F6.range86-143.btcentralplus.com) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
* maestro gives channel operator status to lord_day
<lord_day> O_o
<lord_day> hehehe
<maestro> How great is the proletariat? Very.
<LF> in soviet russia sandwich makes you
<lord_day> The temptation to kick you is high. *RESISTS*
<lord_day> :p
<LF> sandwitch*
<LF> i think
<LF> >_>
* spect (sspect@private-D9DE2C58.dip.t-dialin.net) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
<maestro> No, I think l_d is correct.
* lord_day gives channel operator status to spect
<maestro> Comrade.
* RincewindSW (rincewinds@private-A9D49B45.wfd76b.dsl.pol.co.uk) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
<maestro> Comrade.
* maestro gives channel operator status to RincewindSW
<spect> Comrade.
<spect> What now?
<lord_day> We all have power…
<lord_day> COMMUNISM!
<maestro> Woo!
<RincewindSW> Oh, right.
<RincewindSW> Heh.
<maestro> To the people.
<maestro> It really is fantastic.
<LF> damn i was too slow
<maestro> Class distinctions are overrated.
<LF> just cus i’m a paladin :P
<maestro> Heh.
* LF has been playing too many rpgs
<RincewindSW> Owning property is overrated.
<lord_day> Too true.
<maestro> Amen.
* Chasethebase (Chase@private-35A7568A.range81-159.btcentralplus.com) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
* maestro gives channel operator status to Chasethebase
<Chasethebase> huh?
<Chasethebase> wha?
<maestro> We are the people.
<maestro> And we have the power.
<Chasethebase> are we?
<maestro> Comrade.
<Chasethebase> ok…
<lord_day> In #TheCommunistExperiment the only difference between us is our names….
<lord_day> I think that needs to change.
* LF is now known as communist1
<maestro> I agree, comrade.
* You are now known as communist3
* lord_day is now known as communist4
* RincewindSW is now known as communist2
<communist1> spect chasethebase
<communist3> Please join us.
<communist4> We are all equal.
<communist4> Become Equaller
* spect (sspect@private-D9DE2C58.dip.t-dialin.net) has left #TheCommunistExperiment (No.)
<communist3> TRAITOR
* communist4 sets ban on *!sspect@*.dip.t-dialin.net
<communist3> One less imperialist scumbag.
<communist2> Workers of the world, unite!
<communist3> Viva proletariat!
* Chasethebase is now known as communist5
* TESTICLE (Sucker@private-5CACC4C8.dip.t-dialin.net) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
* communist3 gives channel operator status to TESTICLE
<TESTICLE> Uuh…
<communist3> Change your name, comrade.
* TESTICLE has kicked TESTICLE from #TheCommunistExperiment (Pwnt!)
* TESTICLE (Sucker@private-5CACC4C8.dip.t-dialin.net) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
* TESTICLE (Sucker@private-5CACC4C8.dip.t-dialin.net) has left #TheCommunistExperiment
<communist1> O_o
* TESTICLE (Sucker@private-5CACC4C8.dip.t-dialin.net) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
* KinGAleX (alexkuchar@private-428D885C.bri.dsl.connect.net.au) has joined #TheCommunistExperiment
<communist3> Comrades!
<TESTICLE> I have changed my mind.
* KinGAleX is now known as ComradEAleX
<communist3> Show your allegiance.
* communist4 gives channel operator status to ComradEAleX TESTICLE
* TESTICLE is now known as communist69
* ComradEAleX is now known as communistX
* communist1 doesn’t ask
<communist69> afk
<communist4> Ok.
<communist4> Next stop.
<communist4> AMERICA!!!
<communist3> No.
<communist3> Next stop #N.
<communist3> America can wait.
<communist4> ok
<communistX> Next stop, outta here.
* communistX (alexkuchar@private-428D885C.bri.dsl.connect.net.au) has left #TheCommunistExperiment
<communist4> hehehe
* communist3 sets ban on *!alexkuchar@*.bri.dsl.connect.net.au
* communist1 has quit (Broken pipe)
* communist4 removes channel operator status from communist2 communist3
* communist4 removes channel operator status from communist5 communist69
* communist4 is now known as lord_day
<lord_day> muwhahaha
<communist2> In #TheCommunistExperiment, communist 3 ban YOU!
<communist3> And this, my friends, is why communism doesn’t work.
<lord_day> I rule now.
<communist3> Thankyou for participating.
<communist2> Haha.
* lord_day sets ban on *!rincewinds@*.wfd76b.dsl.pol.co.uk
* lord_day has kicked communist2 from #TheCommunistExperiment (lord_day)
* lord_day sets ban on *!digglepnk@*.client.e-access.com.au
* You have been kicked from #TheCommunistExperiment by lord_day (lord_day)
I’m aware that the proportions for both are off.
No, I’m not going to say that terrorism doesn’t exist and that 9-11 et al. were inside jobs, because I don’t think that’s the case, but I do think that terrorism is less of an issue that they, the governments, especially of the United States, make it out to be.
Terrorism is always going to be an issue, and someone who’s determined to cause mass casualties is always going to be able to do it without arousing the suspicions of the authorities; we let pretty much anyone drive cars, which already cause plenty of fatalities in accidents, so it isn’t hard to come up with ways to intentionally kill people with them. Yet, this isn’t happening. Terrorists aren’t running down pedestrians, or burning down schools, or stabbing magistrates, or really killing a significant number of people on Western (in terms of culture, not hemisphere) soil.
The fact of the matter is that terrorists aren’t hitting us (the West, again) on home ground and you can’t just chalk that up to the vast amounts of money being spent on preventative measures—which in many cases are just shams (as recently re-demonstrated by Christopher Soghoian, whose situation got me thinking about the terrorism situation). There simply aren’t that many people out there trying to kill us in the name of terrorism.
However, it is a fantastic excuse to force draconian restrictions on the citizenry—who, as a whole, don’t seem to care that much. Certainly, they didn’t care enough to get George W. Bush out of power. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a staunch conservative or a radical socialist or anything else, when a government so terribly infringes upon your rights, you cannot accept that and you certainly cannot vote them in again and let them have another go at it.
Complainin' and Politics