Umm... yeah, it's Eminem

If you haven't heard about it, Eminem has come out very strongly against Bush.

Yeah, I know. Weird.

Now, if you haven't seen the video, I suggest that you do. It's a long download (but I can get you a copy if you ask nicely), but stirring.

The ending isn't quite what I expected, but it is, at least, a good start.

Unamerican

I never thought I was unamerican and Real Voices.

Starry Smurf

I have been dubbed Starry Smurf.

The weekend was good. Friday I picked Steve up after class and we came back up here to meet the PSP people to go to a haunted house. The haunted house was fun, but for a different reason than normal. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone else run and scream. Hehe. I suppose we (Steve and I) were kinda party poopers, but whatever. Anyway, afterwards we got some Arby's and Van Wilder and came back to my apartment. Where we proceeded to have problems with the movie (it turns out it was, in fact, the movie, and not my computer), we decided to just forget about it and get on to more important matters. (I mean cuddling, people :-P ) We both had to work Saturday morning, but his new roommates had a couch and a chair that they needed to get rid of, so Steve and I got those (with some help from Barry) and put them into my apartment. It has completely changed the feel of my living room. Then we went back to his place and watched the movie (once we had figured out what the problem was) before heading to bed. SOOO nice to be held. So nice to hold. Sigh. Anyway, in the morning (er... afternoon by the time we got up), we had some chinese for breakfast (left over from the night before) and watched Philadelphia, with a very young Tom Hanks. FABULOUS movie. I love it, even though it's a very sad movie. I'm glad that I had the chance to see it again, and all the way through. I hadn't seen it all the way through, before.

So, then we took a shower and headed out to get a lamp for my living room, which we did find (and it graces it nicely, I think). Then, kesadilias (quesadillas) for dinner before I had to head back up for DLP meeting. A very nice weekend, indeed.

I'm considering participating in National Novel Writing Month but I wonder whether I have time.

For those of you who are CU-Boulder students, voting yes on the USSA referendum will make me happy by making my friends happy, and it will also allow our campus to continue to participate in this national organization.

Of course, your voting for Kerry will also make me happy, in that sickly, "well, thank god THAT's over" kind of way, not by any sort of liking that I have for him.

Indymedia Update, the Continuing Saga

Indymedia is reporting that the UK is now denying that its law enforcement agencies were involved (which, of course, doesn't mean that ANOTHER UK agency isn't involved, but...).

I urge everyone, once again, to sign the Indymedia solidarity statement if you haven't yet.

Life Update

Hi there everyone!

I've been putting up a lot of linkage and political stuff lately, so I thought, for a change (right before I post an Indymedia update), I'd post an update on my life.

Things are actually going well, for the most part. The guy that I had had a date scheduled with, and then found out that he was dating someone else, and I have now had a couple of dates. With another scheduled for tomorrow. Yay! Here's the scoop: Steve (for that is his name) has decided that, rather than date one man at a time, he is going to date several and, from those, choose a boyfriend. I hadn't been aware of this at first, but once he told me, I was fine with it. This, of course, is all before we met in person for the first time last Thursday (has it only been a week?). I wasn't originally going to go down Thursday night, but it turned out that I didn't have class in the morning on Friday because the prof was out of town, so I went down to meet him. He's quite handsome, very nice, owns his own condo there. Just my type, too: geeky. Soooo geeky. Ahhh! So nice. Anyway, so we really hit it off. Didn't even make it all the way through the movie. ;-) Well, okay, technically we didn't leave the couch until the movie was over, but we weren't paying a lot of attention to it by then. Then, in the morning, took him to school (he's going to DeVry for CompSci) before heading back up to Boulder. Then, that (Friday) evening, went to see him again for the previously-planned date. We saw What Lies Beneath, which is supposed to be a thriller, but like most thrillers, isn't, really, very thrilling. Except for one part, when I jumped a little.

Anyway, took him to work in the morning before I went to dress rehearsal for Brighton, which, well, wasn't all that great. Then, work and home again. Sunday was the concerts. The first one sucked majorly, though try telling the audience that. The second went much better, though of course not perfectly. I just have to remember that it's a community orchestra, not a professional one. Anyway, I conducted one piece, which went pretty well overall. Went to OC afterwards with my parents (that's Old Chicago, not Orange County). Monday, school, PSP meeting, in which I tried to draw Steve but failed miserably (but he will never see it! Hahaha!). Tuesday, class and a test. Wednesday, class and rehearsal, and today, class and work. The video card finally came! So now we'll see whether or not it actually works! In a little bit. What else? Mailed in my ballot recently.

Oh, also, I seem to be starting a lot of arguments/discussions about anarchy and just society in general lately. I suppose it's a good thing ("Ignite Debate", after all) but I really tire of arguing quickly. Sigh, ah well.

A friend from high school came out to me the other day. I wasn't completely floored - I had kinda suspected - but I had kinda thought that I'd've heard about it before now. Not sure what more to say about this right now.

I've picked a fight and made up (kinda) with a friend.

I think about Steve a lot, especially when other things are getting me down, because he seems to genuinely like me for who I am, and he's very enthusiastic about it, which is very nice but something I'm not entirely used to yet.

I had a couple moments of weekness and subscribed to a magazine over the phone and purchased tortilla chips (aka dorritos). I also got a D (64%) on my German Cultures quiz, but it's alright since I don't care, and she drops one of the quizzes anyway.

I want to cuddle up with Steve right now, but I can't because I'm here and he's not. Or maybe because he's somewhere else and I'm not. Not sure.

Went to the gamma class' date auction tonight. Didn't get auctioned (wasn't even asked, but that's alright, I wouldn't have gotten anything anyway), but won a couple of auctions accidently because I was bidding for people so they'd have a bid or to boost the price a bit.

Not much else to say right now. I'm sleepy, though. Take care.

Randomness

Hey all!

I really should post an update on my life, but I'm going to give you all a bunch of links, instead!

Firstly, OzyFest: An Interview with D. C. Simpson, the talented, handsome liberal (can you tell that I like him?) behind Ozy and Millie (if you get the Linux Documentation Project when you click on the link, try again later. There's a DNS update going through, but it'll be a little while) and I Drew This on Comixpedia.

Next, George W Bush and the 14 Points of Fascism or "Wake up and Smell the Fascism" from the Project for the OLD American Century. Makes me think that starting up a "Neo-Nazis for Bush" page to counter the Communists for Kerry page set up by the Hellgate Republicans (not that I have a problem with communists per se [though all current implementations of communism are wrong], but I find setting up such sites in an effort to scare voters is extremely distasteful) might be a useful endevour. Not that I'd get any press.

A quick search brings up Nazis for Bush, though. Yes, it is satire.

There's an interesting article entitled "What if George W. Bush had been elected president?" over on it's all one thing.

I'm saddened to see that students are still harrassed over voting eligibilty, but I suppose it's to be expected (which doesn't make it right).

monumental mistake has an article on librarians and activism.

Aaand... that's all for now. Stay tuned for even more fun links!

John Stewart on Crossfire

Okay, chances are good that you've seen it already, but if you haven't, download the video of John Stewart on Crossfire. And if you like what he's done (and I certainly do) contact Comedy Central and CNN (Crossfire) and tell them so!

United States Indymedia!

Just a quick link!

Oh, and the Lost Highway Times on the State.

Indymedia Update

So, the Indymedia servers have apparently been returned, but there is still a lack of knowledge concerning why they servers were taken and the matter of the subpeona, legality, etc. Anyway, the Indymedia have begun a Solidarity Petition to express outrage and attempt to learn why the servers were taken.

I'll take this chance to remind everyone that a government which hides things from its own People is trending towards fascism (regardless of its "justifications"). And, further, that all governments reach a state where they wish to hide things from their own People, eventually.

Voting

Well, it's getting to be that time again. I recieved my absentee (aka mail-in) ballot on Saturday, and just today got around to taking a look at it (I have not yet voted at a polling place). I was extremely surprised to see, not 2, nor 4 (D, R, G and L) candidates for president, but 12, including an independent and three socialist candidates! I'm also somewhat disturbed that I have heard of none of these candidates except for Kerry, Bush, Nader, Badnarik and Cobb, and the last two through a fluke! It was also nice to see a number of (okay, four) Libertarian Candidates in various races (President, Senate, House Dist. 2, CU Regent At Large). I don't completely agree with them, but I do think they're on the right track.

In the meantime, I have yet to decide on several of the ballot issues. Some are easy: yes on 36 and Referendum B, as well as 4A and 4B (FasTracks and SCFD, respectively). But some of the others I still haven't decided on. For example, amendment 37, concerning renewable energy. I fully support renewable energy, but reading Norm Olsen and the Libertarian party's position on the amendments has made me wonder whether it's the right method to take. Fortunately, I have some time yet before I must mail my ballot in, so I can consider the proposals more carefully.

That's about all for now. This is my 100th post, btw.

In Echo

In Echo of a friend's LJ post, I present "Meh":

Middle ground
Not up nor down
Emotions have no grip

And though I'd like
to feel some
Through my fingers they do slip

I try to care
I really do
But nothing matters much

No pain no worries
No joy or cheer
To my "meh"-state do I clutch

Third-party candidates arrested

From Mellifluous:

On October 8th at 9PM, two third party candidates were arrested for attempting to enter the Washington University complex holding the second presidential debate. The candidates, Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party and David Cobb of the Green Party, chose civil disobedience to fight the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). Over half of Americans believe third party candidates should be included, yet politicians continue to funnel public funds into the bi-partisan Commission. S.W.A.T. teams were used to deny the will of the American people while mainstream media ignored this historic event, a shameless suppression of political diversity.
Americans deserve to know about the unjust takeover of our political process. I posted this to take matters into my own hands. If you believe that real democracy thrives on diverse political voices and that it's time to use alternative methods to support these voices, post this in your Xanga, profile, or Livejournal, or e-mail it to those who care.

I would also suggest that you read the Badnarik blog and the Press Release.

I should probably write some commentary on the whole episode. If what's written in the Badnarik blog is true, then it's disgraceful, but again, not unexpected. I applaud Badnarik and Cobb's civil disobedience, even though I don't agree (necessarily) with all their politics. But, that's part of the point: I don't really know much about their politics, and exluding them from the debates is just another way to ensure that the only choice I have in the matter (not that such a thing as government should exist, but that's beside the point; it does) is between the Republicrat and the Democratan.

Quick Update

Hey there everyone.

Feeling quite a bit better today.

Sorry, last night was kinda bad.

I like writing one-sentence paragraphs.

Will somebody please fucking TOUCH ME?!?

Not much to say with this one. Frustrated and lonely. Last night, I thought that I had a date in a week. Thought I might be headed towards something. Tonight, no. He is apparently already seeing someone. Fuck. Nice of him to mention this before. Not just seeing someone, but it's a long-distance relationship. No one I know well enough to consider seriously as a boyfriend is even remotely interested in me. No one else in their right mind would consider dating me before they got to know me, at which point they would not be interested anymore.

One person. One, and he's in Cali. One that I've never met, and, though I may like to pretend differently, don't really know all that well.

I don't understand it. The conclusion that I reach is that something must be wrong with me. (DON"T FUCKING GIVE ME YOUR PITY! I don't want it. I don't know what I want for certain but I don't want that) But figuring out what is wrong is... difficult. I don't understand it. I could ask people but even if they gave me something useful, I don't think it'd make a difference. I don't think that I can change it, or that I'd even want to.

I had hoped that this would be a more stream-of-consciousness post, but I find that I'm censoring myself, so I'm done for now.

FBI Seizes IMC Servers in the UK

From the Indymedia:

Thursday morning, US authorities issued a federal order to Rackspace ordering them to hand over Indymedia web servers to the requesting agency. Rackspace, which provides hosting services for more that 20 Indymedia sites at its London facility, complied and turned over the requested servers, effectively removing those sites from the internet.

Since the subpoena was issued to Rackspace and not to Indymedia, the reasons for this action are still unknown to Indymedia. Talking to Indymedia volunteers, Rackspace stated that "they cannot provide Indymedia with any information regarding the order." ISPs have received gag orders in similar situations which prevent them from updating the concerned parties on what is happening.

It is unclear to Indymedia how and why a server that is outside the US jurisdiction can be seized by US authorities.

At the same time an additional server was taken down at Rackspace which provided streaming radio to several radio stations, BLAG (linux distro), and a handful of miscellanous things.

The last few months have seen numerous attacks on independent media by the US Federal Government. In August the Secret Service used a subpoena in an attempt to disrupt the NYC IMC before the RNC by trying to get IP logs from an ISP in the US and the Netherlands. Last month the FCC shut down community radio stations around the US. Two weeks ago the FBI requested that Indymedia takes down a post on the Nantes IMC that had a photo of some undercover Swiss police and IMC volunteers in Seattle were visited by the FBI on the same issue. On the other hand, Indymedia and other independent media organisations were successfull with their victories for example against Diebold and the Patroit Act. Today however, the US authorities shut down IMCs around the world.

The list of affected local media collectives includes Ambazonia, Uruguay, Andorra, Poland, Western Massachusetts, Nice, Nantes, Lilles, Marseille (all France), Euskal Herria (Basque Country), Liege, East and West Vlaanderen, Antwerpen (all Belgium), Belgrade, Portugal, Prague, Galiza, Italy, Brazil, UK, part of the Germany site, and the global Indymedia Radio site.

Crazy Electrical Storms!

I figured that, since everyone else mentioned it, I would be wrong not to mention the huge freaking storm last night that is completely out of season. Lost power at least once, but mostly I slept through it. I guess I'm just boring like that.

Met two new people at the GSA office during lunch today: Dillon and Angi. Angi seems nice, though truth be told I was doing my homework and didn't speak much with her. Dillon is cute, but I didn't speak much with him, either, before he left, so I don't really know anything about him, either.

No repsonse yet from Nathan.

I'd like to point y'all to some more blogs, if I may. There's an interesting post about Meritocracy vs Timeserving on Lost Highway Times. Also, and you will notice I've added three new links to the sidebar. Anarchoblogs is an aggregate of blogs run by anarchists (which you NEVER would guess from the title), the Indymedia are a worldwide, loosely grouped but highly connected Independent Media Centers, run with the general idea that you are the media. The Colorado Indymedia is the local group.

That's all. Rehearsal tonight for the dance on Saturday.

Dell

Just a quick note:

I ordered a refurbished laptop from Dell in august, and had been unsuccessfully trying to get it to run X under linux since then. About a week ago, I discovered that the reason I couldn't get X to work was that the card I thought the machine had - the nVidia card listed on my order sheet - was not the one that was actually in the machine - an XGI Volari. Naturally, I was somewhat annoyed about this, since there aren't any Linux drivers for the Volari (at least, not the mobile ones). So, I contacted Dell Customer Care yesterday, and they are going to actually ship me (for free!) the correct nVidia card. Wow! We'll wait until we see whether it works, but this could earn them some good marks from me.

Brotherly Love

So, we've decided that the best way to bond in PhiSig is to have an orgy (not with the initiates, of course). And, we're going to still call the female members 'brothers', but, to bend some gender, call the male brothers 'sisters'. Just thought I'd share.

What to say? The weekend was good (and nice and long but short at the same time). I finished reading Anarchism, so I should probably write a review soon. I also got about halfway through No Phule Like an Old Phule, which I then left at my parents' house, so I can't finish it right now. I also have started Bakunin's God and the State, though I'm not very far yet. We'll see, it's supposed to be good. My parents just got back from vacation in New Mexico (methinks), and mom brought me this old, well, basically a songbook with a bunch of different operasongs in it. With a (renewed) copyright date of 1925. ^_^ We'll see how that turns out, but might be a new project to complete (after the end of the Woody Guthrie Project, of course).

Went to a 'sleepover' on Thursday night, which would've been alright except, well, it kinda died about 2:30am and we all went home. Sigh. I know it's strange, but I kinda felt left out for most of it, and I'm not sure why I should feel that way. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Oh well.

What else? I got back my EM test today... not as well as I would've liked, but I got a 66/100 while the class average was ~43. Ouch for the class! I felt alright with that score, even though a friend got about 20 points more than I did. Yeesh. But a good portion of it was math, which is part of his major, so... Plus I barely studied. Not that I'll ever do better than him. He's too smart for most people's good.

And then, tonight we had Pinning for PhiSig. 12 initiates! That's a huge number for a fall rush! It was great! Only one guy, though. Think he might be gay, but hard to say. Don't think I'll be interested even when he's inducted, though. Not really my type. (I'm so superficial and I really shouldn't be, but there it is...)

I emailed Nathan on... I think it was Friday, and asked whether we could have lunch. Haven't heard a response yet, but given how often I think he checks his email, it could be a while yet. With luck, I'll be involved with someone when he does respond, and I won't be tempted to get back together.

I met this pretty cute EnvE last Wednesday, too. He was sitting outside my modern physics classroom, just sitting there studying. At first I just went into the classroom (okay, lecture hall, whatever), but then I decided he was cute enough after all, and I wasn't going to meet cute people unless I talked to them, so I went back out and introduced myself. His name was John. He seemed shy, especially based on the way he shakes hands. I think it has something to do with the image that I'm attracted to. I think the image comes along with shy people. Which is alright, I think. Provided we end up in a place where we're not shy with each other.

I should also mention God's Ex-Boyfriend, since he was kind enough to put up a link to my blog. Be warned, however: his posts are often more like articles, and they deal with a wide range of subject matter, from child pornography (and regular pornography) to politics to movies and more. The current post is on circumcision, and if you don't want to see pictures of both a circumcised and uncircumcised penis, then I suggest you wait a week or so. I like reading his articles. They're well-written and thoughtful (for the most part), even if I don't always agree with him.

Not much else to say. Be well, all.