Author of The Anarchist Cookbook Sells Out, Denounces Book

The author of The Anarchist Cookbook, one of the classic "banned books," has denounced his masterwork. Read author William Powell's statement here at Anarchistnews.org. Why do I care? Why am I posting about The Anarchist Cookbook? Why are you not posting about it? It's a classic book and a hot-button issue after all these years. Powell wrote the book in 1968-1969 and people who know what it is still whisper when they talk about it. I love discussing things that are taboo. I'll let you in on a little secret. I have seen and read parts of the book. It's outdated at this point, but from what I understand people have made updated copies and put them online. People tell me current ones are far worse than what Powell had originally written. Even the revelation that Powell denounced the text appears to be old according to the comments at the above story link.
Hat tip to the twitter feed of Anarchist News where I first saw the story.

Johnny Cash Project is a Freaking Cool Tribute

There is no way for me to prove it, but I liked Johnny Cash before it got cool a few years back, not long before, but still before. Now that he has fallen out of buzz-worthiness I can safely go back to being a fan. Walk the Line with Joaquin (pronounced JOE-ah-quin) Phoenix was an abortion, and I hated people fawning over it. Jamie Foxx did a better job in Ray. I was in college when Cash died, and I remember it kind of affecting me. I was sad. I'm not a fortress of snark, after all. When I was goofing around trying to be a musician in college two out of the first three songs I performed live were Cash songs. I played and sang Folsom Prison Blues, Drive On, and squeezed in Keep on Rockin' in the Free World by Neil Young. It was fairly mediocre, and that's probably remembering it through rose-colored glasses. The most vivid memory I have around the time Cash's death was beginning work on a short story about him a few days before his death. I may have cursed him the same way I did Joey Ramone who also died from cancer while I was in college the day after my roommate and I put up a Ramones poster in our dorm room. True story. Weird, huh? I never finished the short story. It didn't seem a fitting tribute at the time, but this site I found does seem like a fitting tribute. It may be because I envy people who can draw, but I think what they have done at The Johnny Cash Project is so cool. I recommend starting at this link to get an idea of what's going on with the site. It's a great site, and I really appreciate the work they have put into it. Here's the Man in Black himself performing the same song I covered but doing an infinitely better job of it in 1994 at The Viper Room in Los Angeles. Here's Drive On.

I would have put a video or pictures from the site up, but I couldn't find a way to embed them, and I think they want it that way. For something so cool, I can respect it.

Beat Generation Update: Kerouac Football and Bukowski Stamp

Breaking news about dead people: Even though I have a picture of Jack Kerouac as my avatar on twitter and a picture of him on the right side of this blog I neglect to do many posts on him because I don't think people want to read anything about him. I do, though, and what would be the point of having Kerouac as an avatar if I never say anything about him?  Maybe I should change it since I really don't have much to do with my favorite literary genre, the beats. This blog has gone in a different direction and I guess it doesn't make much sense to keep any kind of association with Kerouac or the other beats. With that being said, I enjoy a certain blog and literary journal called Beatdom. They have had two recent pieces that caught my eye.
Not everyone knows that Kerouac played football. He was a running back in high school and at Columbia University for a short time before dropping out of college to write and be beat-y. It's true. Beatdom recently published an interview with a guy who played football against Jack Kerouac in high school. The interview is very entertaining. Among the highlights is Kerouac's high school nickname- "Twinkle Toes." I didn't know anyone ever actually had that nickname. Also, the old crotchety guy they interviewed that played against Kerouac said the bottom of piles in football back then were extremely dirty with biting, punching, and nut shots, and then called current generation of football players "panty wastes." He said Kerouac was especially dirty and the other players respected him because of it. Imagine that. The best part of the interview by far is this question and answer.

Q: I’m finding it kind of hard to believe Kerouac was such a viscous menace after reading his books.
A: He was a beast and a man’s man until he moved to NYC and linked up with that goddamn no-good Beatnik Allen whatever-the-hell-his-name-is and he started filling his head up with that love, peace and happiness crapola!

Hilarious. I encourage you to click above and read the whole interview.
Now on the Bukowski stamp front. How freaking awesome would it be if Charles Bukowski, the "bad boy of poetry," was on a postage stamp? He worked at the Post Office for a period and there was a petition I'm fairly sure I signed to try to get one of my favorite poets on a stamp, but it fell short of the 10,000 signature goal. Good news, though. The people who started the petition submitted the petition to the USPS and they are going to consider a Bukowski stamp. Nicely done, guys.

Stupid Baby Names Reaching a Fever Pitch

Hey ladies who are currently pregnant or may become pregnant and significant others, there is not a contest to see who can name their child the dumbest thing. If there were such a contest Gwyneth Paltrow would have already won it when she named her kid 'Apple.' It's getting harder and harder to look at people with a straight face when they tell me they named their child something like 'Maize' or 'Cerulean.' Wait, you named your child after a name for corn no one uses or a crayon color you only get with the really big packs of crayons? Why has naming a child something offbeat moved from mere isolated incidents to an out and out trend? The line is being blurred on what a normal name even is, and I really don't see a reversal in this trend. I'm not saying every boy should be named 'John' and every girl named 'Elizabeth', but 'Toshiba' is crossing a line. You may be wondering why I have a picture of Anna Paquin in this post. Well, besides sexing this place up a bit it is because of this Entertainment Weekly article in which Vlada Gelman discusses the recent spike in parents naming their girls 'Sookie,' the name of Paquin's character on her HBO series True Blood. It doesn't matter how much you like a television show, you don't name your kid after a character on one. Name your pet rabbit 'Sookie,' not your child whom you love and want to look out for. Parents are supposed to feel an obligation to protect their offspring, not make a joke by naming them after a flash-in-the-pan excuse to see some violence and boobs on HBO's Sunday night lineup.
I would give parents who are mulling over names like 'Tangerine' or 'Letter Opener' the traditional warning that naming your child something stupid may get them beat up or made fun of on the playground, but with the proliferation of weird names the kids who have normal names are going to have sore arms from all of the punching. If parents are really having a hard time with names you could just open up the Bible. Nehemiah is a kick ass name.

Somebody Get This Man A Cheeseburger

The latest Youtube sensation involves a drunk man longing for a cheeseburger and the tangled web he weaves as he tries to fight a guy at a Whataburger in Texas with special guest appearance by noted white rapper Paul Wall (don't care) and other people I think have something to do with music about which I do not care. Have you ever been drunk to the point where you could not fight? I don't think I have except maybe that one night where I drank loads of Soju and beer as I shouted "No tomorrow!" with a bunch of Korean guys. I threw up kim chi 4 times the next morning. It turns out there was a tomorrow.
You have a chance to get in on the ground floor here, folks. The video was posted 3/25/2010. There is brief, non-sexual nudity of the 2nd worst kind, a guy's butt. Enjoy and be the first to share it with your friends. Tell them where you heard it first. Y'all come back now, ya hear? Ok, I'm going to stop now and show the video.

My favorite parts of the video are the guy in the brown shirt repeatedly asking the drunk guy who attacked him, "are you done" after he had the guy in the worst submission hold ever *looks to MMA aficionados for confirmation* and the guys of unknown ethnicity at the 3:00 mark who say, "Only in America." Only in America, indeed, my culturally diverse brethren. And then at the end we see Paul Wall put Michael Strahan on blast for being slow. Not a smart move, Gap Tooth will be looking for you in the screets! You won't be able to lay low at the scrip club or Scranton, PA. Wait, that one works without changing the... oh, nevermind. I ASKED FOR A CHEESEBURGER! I'LL WHOOP ALL Y'ALL! I WILL BEAT YOU ALL OVER THOSE FRENCH FRIES!

Independent Spirit Awards

The Oscars were last night. Big deal! The Independent Spirit Awards were Friday night. Instead of turning on the Oscars, we watched Where the Buffalo Roam with Bill Murray which I found to be a cheery ray of sunshine compared to Johnny Depp's turn as the iconic Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Seriously, that movie creeps me out, and it is hard to creep me out. Then we watched all six episodes of Eastbound & Down because it had been a while since we have watched Kenny Powers tell that principal, "No, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not trying to be the best at exercising. I play real sports."
It is a yearly tradition for me to watch the Independent Spirit Awards in front of my computer with Netflix pulled up so I can make sure not to miss any movies I may be interested to see. I ended up adding a few movies, but I already had most of the ones I might want to see sitting in my queue. My wife asked me a question that I thought was interesting because I did not know the answer. She asked what qualified a film for The Independent Spirit Awards, does it just have to be weird or have Peter Saarsgaard in it? Good question, right? According to this story from the AP, "the Spirit Awards honor movies that cost less than $20 million to make, with a significant part of their budget originating outside the Hollywood studio system. Other criteria for nominations include originality and provocative subject matter." Good to know.
Here's the full list of winners of the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards:

• Best Feature: Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
• Best Director: Lee Daniels, Precious
• Best Male Lead: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
• Best Female Lead: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
• Best Supporting Male: Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
• Best Supporting Female: Mo’Nique, Precious
• Best First Feature: Crazy Heart
• Best Screenplay: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
• Best First Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
• Best Cinematography: A Serious Man
• Robert Altman Award: A Serious Man
• Best Documentary: Anvil! The Story of Anvil
• Best Foreign Film: An Education
• John Cassavetes Award (best feature made for under $500,000): Humpday
• Acura Someone to Watch Award: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Easier With Practice
• Chaz & Roger Ebert Truer Than Fiction Award: Bill Ross and Turner Ross, 45365

And even though I am growing quite fond of him, I disagree with Roger Ebert that Eddie Izzard was not funny as host. I think he did a fine job. I hope we can still be friends in my head, Mr. Ebert. And if I heard the phrase, "based on the novel Push: by Sapphire," I was going to open fire on my television. Nails on a chalkboard.

Site News: Internet Ultimatum

Ok internet, I knew you were a cruel mistress, but I thought you were one I could tame. After writing this blog for about eight months I thought I would be doing a little bit better than this. I mean, do not get me wrong, people are visiting the site. I look at the traffic numbers. Not many people are commenting, though. So I am trying to face reality. Either the writing/content is not good, the blog is too fragmented/ not focused on one topic, or I just need to give it more time. These are the three options to which my hurried internet research into what makes a blog successful has led me. What really spurned this was after I wrote a post about guns yesterday about eight people unfollowed me on twitter. What, do you people not like personal frredoms? And hovering in the 60's makes eight followers a big loss. So I am going to put it to the few readers I have (somewhere in the 40-70 range as best I can estimate,) what should I do? Should I quit toiling on this blog? Should I focus on one topic? Is my writing/ take better on one particular topic that you have noticed? I'm putting a poll at the top right of the page or you can leave feedback in the comments (no Chinese characters, spambots!) I would also ask for a modicum of support in the form of the occasional comment, tweet, retweet, or sharing a link with a friend if you think the post is worth it. I realize this makes me fairly vulnerable, but what do I care? No one ever comments anyway. Boom, roasted myself. The poll will be up for about 2 weeks.

Things No One Else Is Talking About: Posse Comitatus

I know what you are thinking. "What in the hell is a posse comitatus? That sounds like a posse of Bolsheviks or a weird sex position." After reading that wikipedia article  you should know how important this may be in coming years. Posse Comitatus is a latin phrase meaning explicitly "Power of the county." What is means in American law is very important to you and I in regards to the ever-tightening police state noose around our necks. Before I start trying to pass myself off as intelligent I must admit that I first became aware of the idea of posse comitatus from the television show 24,which I love, but after that I have done my research, so there! To sum it up very simply the law states that the American military cannot be used for domestic law enforcement. I found an article on the subject and what it may mean in America's not too distant future by Jacob Hornberger on the Campaign for Liberty Website. It is an important read. Hornberger hypothesizes a scenario in which the ever-evolving war on terror evolves to where the same American military that has had to endure on-the-fly training to be police in Iraq and Afghanistan may become police here in America in the name of a "war" on drugs or terror within our borders. And I doubt the issue of posse comitatus will be broached with the same deference, much less trepidation, in which it was dealt in the hit Fox television show. The lines have already been blurred with the use of the National Guard overseas. The vice-versa of that would not be a good thing.
We need education. We do not need people to continue to be lazy and roll their eyes every time history or constitutional law are mentioned. Look at you, sitting and wallowing in your ignorance. 24.

Firearms Freedom Act

This lovely piece of legislation first introduced in the state of Montana, God love 'em, "declares that any firearms made and retained in-state are beyond the authority of Congress under its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the states." Why am I just now hearing about this? This is a beautiful thing. Let me go ahead and expound this to the furthest degree for you so you can see how cool this is. One could, in effect, manufacture and sell one's own automatic weapons or weapons that are currently illegal in America as long as they are not transported outside of the state lines in which they are made and purchased. Tenth amendment to the extreme! Of course there will be a lot of legal wrangling regarding the validity of this law even as a similar has already been passed in Tennessee and introduced in a number of other states. I think it is a wonderful idea. It is refreshing to see a change from the defense of a constant onslaught of gun control measures that restrict our freedoms to an expansion of those freedoms instead.

How Racist Is Your Subconscious?

This test designed by Harvard is designed  to determine how racist your subconscious is. Go to the site and click on "Demonstration" then "Go To Demonstration Tests" then "I wish to proceed" then choose one of the tests. I am not sure if the tests are truly scientific, but I see what they were working for. Maybe if they change the order around or made it more random somehow. I do not know exactly how to make sure it is scientific, but I could almost predict which pattern they were going to be set up in. I think the bigger issue, though, is not fault with their method, but the assertion that everyone is in some part racist. I agree with the assertion but not necessarily with their method. It is still cool. I plan on taking more tests. Here is the link:
http://implicit.harvard.edu
Thanks to Sole for posting this link on his twitter @mcsole.

Weak Dollar Is More Serious Than Some Realize

The U.S. Dollar weakening is one of those stories that you hear on a newscast or read on the internet and are immediately bored to tears. I personally enjoy keeping up with the U.S. stock market and other financial markets, but I was saying that for most people. Ok, I am calling you stupid. I kid. I kid. You are great. A "one-world government," "one-world currency," and "new world order" are all terms that have been thrown about for some time, mostly to desensitize us to them and give politicians a chance to call people in opposition to those ideals paranoid and not progressive. Let me keep setting this shit up before I get to the weak dollar. Stay with me. It is worth it.
As I have grown older, I see the world both more cynically and more clearly. Most hot button issues cycled by the news and politicians are rehashed again and again for a reason. They are usually a pretext for something else. Stories of gun violence are used to call for more restrictive gun control laws. Outcry over the environment and climate change on the brink of bringing destruction are going to be used to tax us to poverty. Remember what Public Enemy told us, "Don't Believe the Hype." Weak Dollar talk is a pretext to move us to a one-world currency. This story details it. The powers at be are not trying to hide it from us anymore. We are now in what I like to call "feeding us the rationale" portion of the process of moving to a one-world currency.

Common Misspellings

I had never seen this website until Roger Ebert posted a link to it. He is probably the most prolific twitterer on the interwebs so I usually click on the links he posts. While grammar is never a very sexy topic I think it is important. I am not the most perfect picture of grammar, but I am way above average. This post from the Oatmeal details several words that are often confused and misspelled. Check it out.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling
I see people misspell these often.

The Last Thing Anyone Wants or Needs

I do not remember putting a National ID card on my Christmas wish list. Who did it? This article by Sheila Dean for the Campaign for Liberty website is a good read as I am trying to burn off the rest of the content I had stored up for 2009 so I can start fresh in 2010.The most in your face part of this article- that the government expects us to finance our own freedoms being taken away. Thank goodness the states have sort of stood up to this act. I am glad this piece of crap legislation is stalled.

Pelosi Must Be Stopped

You may have heard the phrase, "You can't fix stupid." That phrase may have been invented for Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Windfall Tax on Retirement Income

Adding a tax to your retirement is simply another way of saying to the American people, you're so darn stupid that we're going to keep doing this until we drain every cent from you. That's what the Speaker of the House is saying.

Read below...............

Nancy Pelosi wants a Windfall Tax on Retirement Income. In other words tax what you have made by investing toward your retirement... This woman is a nut case! You aren't going to believe this.

Madam speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to put a Windfall Tax on all stock market profits (including Retirement fund, 401K and Mutual Funds! Alas, it is true - all to help the 12 Million Illegal Immigrants and other unemployed Minorities!

This woman is frightening.
She quotes... 'We need to work toward the goal of equalizing income, (didn't Marx say something like this?), in our country and at the same time limiting the amount the rich can invest.'

(I am not rich, are you?)

When asked how these new tax dollars would be spent, she replied:
'We need to raise the standard of living of our poor, unemployed and minorities. For example, we have an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in our country who need our help along with millions of unemployed minorities. Stock market windfall profits taxes could go a long way to guarantee these people the standard of living they would like to have as 'Americans'.'

(Read that quote again and again and let it sink in.) 'Lower your retirement, give it to others who have not worked as you have for it'.

Death by Religious Stubbornness

The parents of an 11 year-old girl who died from a treatable form of diabetes were each convicted earlier this year for second-degree reckless homicide. The parents' religious beliefs led them to pray instead of seeking medical help for their daughter, Madeline. When the girl stopped breathing, someone (not specified) called 911. By that point, of course, the parents' decision had sealed the girl's fate. The parents religion was Christianity, specifically Pentecostal, or Charismatic as it is called in Christian circles. Christians follow the Bible. There are many miracles outlined in the Bible. People also die in the Bible from old age, disease, or any of the other reasons people die today. 

Things No One Else Is Talking About: Cloves Banned

WHAT THE FUCK? Are you kidding me? Why am I just now hearing about this?
Cloves are now banned in the US. [Kansas City Star]
Again the government is trying to tell us that we are too stupid to make our own life decisions. Well government, you're too stupid to not build up trillions of dollars in debt through mismanagement, overspending, and in general bad decisions.
I'll take my chances making my own decisions. The ban is not only on cloves, but all fruit and candy-flavored cigarettes and maybe even some flavored cigarillos. This seems like a small infringement because most people rarely buy cloves or other items affected by this ban, but the principle and the surprising backer of this legislation are what worry me. The principal of taking away/ infringing on our freedoms simply can not be tolerated any longer. Each freedom we are made to give up is another step toward living in shackles. One of the most shocking aspects of this story is Altria (Philip Morris) backed not only this piece of legislation, but the government's efforts to put tobacco regulation under FDA control entirely. I understand their short-term benefit. They plan next to push regulations against menthol cigarettes which will piss off a significant portion of the US population. Altria is attempting to gain the market share it has loss to menthol producers, namely Lorillard, who makes Newports. If menthols are banned Lorillard would almost certainly go out of business since 98% of their market is Newports, leaving Altria, who makes Marlboros, to sell non-menthol cigarettes with no menthol competition. That scenario would be a huge boon to Altria and RJ Renyolds, but the trend would continue toward banning all cigarettes, not just cloves and menthols. They are basically giving themselves cancer.
One day cloves will be the beginning of one of those poems that goes... First they came for _____ and we said nothing. Next they came for the __________ and we said nothing. Last they came for __________ and no one was left to defend it.

Things No One Else Is Talking About: 9/11 Truth

Another 9/11 anniversary passed recently with a little bit less ado than the previous year, as has been the trend since the incident's first anniversary. I'm not saying no one cares. That's not the case. All Americans care about every aspect of the national tragedy that was 9/11. We have had several years to process some grief and move on to other struggles and pain, though.
Even I have a hard time writing this because the issue is so sticky, but there is an aspect of that day's events that may not be dealt with for several decades. Let me explain. Many people do not believe the official story that has been published on 9/11. In fact, many people on the commission don't think they got to the complete truth. I refer you to, as crazy as it sounds, Charlie Sheen. This is a long article, but read what you can of it. In spite of being viewed as a crackpot for his views on 9/11, even President Obama had to give him his due since Sheen was so well-researched for his "20 minutes with the President."
http://www.infowars.com/twenty-minutes-with-the-president/
I'm not sure what I believe about 9/11 other than it was horrible. There are many lingering questions that have been raised and researched since 2001, but I doubt we will have any answers to them for a long time. We might be disconnected from that day's events by the time all of the truth sees the light.

Some Ideas Are Barely Good on Paper

"More oppression is what we need." That's what I was thinking to myself this morning as I awoke. Good thing I found this piece of shit story. The current level of oppression imposed on us by police forces across the US is obviously not enough. Now some police departments such as this one in Idaho have had some of their officers trained to be phlebotomists so that they can administer blood tests to the people who refuse breathalyzer tests when under suspicion for DUI. Why don't we all just live in cages on farms like chickens? We could have periods of exercise and have shelter and be fed three times a day, but we would be under constant supervision so nothing would ever go wrong and no one would ever do anything wrong. Let me live my damn life. I don't need your help brushing my teeth or putting on my clothes. Quit intruding!
With England leading the way, America is sprinting to catch up in ways our respective governments have control over our lives. This really doesn't even seem like a big shoe that's dropped. It's way less important than say, a United States president firing a CEO of a company (GM). I'm probably just overreacting as usual, right?

They've Got Just As Much of a Right As We Do

Hugo Chavez recently being given a 2.2 billion credit line in order to buy arms may be a shock to some, but to me, it is rote dictatorial behavior that does not excite me in the least. The story (The Associated Press via Yahoo) details how Venezuela has already received $4 billion in financing from the Russian government in recent years, and quite frankly, they have a right to arm themselves. At the heart of Chavez anti-Western rhetoric lies the truth that the US does keep a watchful eye on his country to the point of increasing the access and number of American troops stationed in Columbia. Chavez is a cog in the balance of power that we learned about in history books when we were in high school. Even though the juggernaut that is America has slowed to a molasses pace, we still need someone to call us on out on shit. Why not a South American dictator? Bottom line: Venezuela is a sovereign country that has just as much of a right to defend their soil just as America.

At Least Someone's Making Money

Wait, you say the Federal Reserve made money off of the bailouts, buying mortgage-backed securities, and the other clearance items they facilitated the sale of over the past two years, do you Financial Times via Reuters? File that in the obvious folder and move on. Why else would they have let Lehman Brothers fail or forced the sale of Bear Stearns except that it was in the bank's own self-interest. The Federal Reserve is a private bank. There is nothing federal about it except they print our money and the president appoints the chairman to their term. The Fed doesn't necessarily have any government accountability. People such as Ron Paul are trying their best to change that fact, but as of now the Fed is its own entity operating to make themselves a lot of money. They are doing a damn good job of it too. The headline in the story says $14 billion, but in the story it says they also made another $19 billion in interest on all of the loans to different companies over that two-year period. That sounds like a bank to me.