Yay! This is video of our first snow as New York residents! ENJOY! :)
And NO, it's not just flurries since it did stick to the roofs of cars. :P
Orignal From: Our First Snow in NYC
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Saturday, December 06, 2008
Our First Snow in NYC
Orignal From: Our First Snow in NYC
Chicago Factory Worker Occupation Shows What Happens When the System Fails (We All Fail)
OK, so here's how I was told it was supposed to all work growing up:
Orignal From: Chicago Factory Worker Occupation Shows What Happens When the System Fails (We All Fail)
1) You go to college
2) You get a good job (because you went to college)
3) Your boss pays you because he makes money in the business you both work at.
The reality in 2008:
1) college is becoming much too expensive for the majority of Americans to afford
2) no one is hiring because no one is making any money because no one is buying because no one is making any money etc, etc...
3) Your boss lays you off because most of point 2 applies to him AND in the case of one Chicago factory , he doesn't even pay you
See, here's what's going on right now in a factory in Chicago according to an article at ChicagoTribune.com:
Workers laid off from their jobs at a factory have occupied the building and are demanding assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay that they say they are owed.
About 200 employees of Republic Windows and Doors began their sit-in Friday, the last scheduled day of the plant's operation. On Saturday, about 50 workers could be seen through a window sitting on chairs and pallets on the factory floor. Reporters were asked to stay out of the plant's work area.
If you have a Digg.com account, please Digg this important labor rights story .
See, the company that owns the factory isn't making much money these days thanks to no one spending any money thanks to them not making any money these days. Sorry, you know this bit.
But remember a few months back when King George talked about our entire economy being in danger? He also made the point in that speech that "every day lending" had to continue. This suggests that loans are something businesses take out all the time just to keep the gears of capitalism lubricated.
This suggests that without said loans, most businesses would fall apart.
Whose idea was a system that had to perform like a shark? If it stops moving, it dies.
The problem is, that because we're all relying on this system, we all suffer.
So, banks fail, and can't give every day loans to businesses that rely on those loans to pay employees. Employees then can't eat or pay their bills or their mortgages and so they go hungry and homeless. Then, the banks don't get paid back and they can't give loans and they can't loan to businesses and--sorry, again, you know this bit...
Yeah, good plan, assholes. Does anyone else see the circle-jerk-cum-downward-spiral there?
And just why should businesses need every day loans to pay their employees? Shouldn't their employee's pay come from what the company makes? And if they can't make money why are banks giving loans to them?
This whole system sounds completely screwed up and I've lost even more faith in American political, business and financial leaders for supporting this thing. As a fiction writer I couldn't get away with a premise like this one.
You know the old saying that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link? What happens when all the links are weak? The chain morphs into another cliched metaphor--the house of cards. This was just a matter of time, folks. The signs of our failing economy were all around us, too. I've been blogging for years about various canaries in the mineshaft. I wrote a post a year-and-a-half ago about how Tower Records closing down was a sure sign our economy was in decline, like it or not.
As a former fanboy I watched my most prized scifi toys sell for a fraction of what they should have gone for. As an inhabitant of a major American city, I saw a number of local businesses close and get replaced by chains like Starbucks or Blockbuster (even if they weren't coffee shops or video stores in the first place). Another canary is that our currency isn't based on any thing real--no gold standard, no silver standard, just the credit of Americans as being able to produce goods and services.
Of course, America just lost over a half-million jobs last month , so you can imagine how much that hurts the value of our dollar. Less jobs means less ability for the American people to produce goods and services which means less value for our dollar. That, in turn, weakens our economy even more.
You know what this all is? It's a series of dominoes falling in very slow motion.
These dominoes are still falling. Can the Obama administration stop them?
Posted via email from thepete's posterous
Orignal From: Chicago Factory Worker Occupation Shows What Happens When the System Fails (We All Fail)
Friday, December 05, 2008
SOUTHERN CROSS (1984)
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Technically any good? This series is a sort of sequel to the original Macross series. However, there are no characters that cross over and there's really no reference to Macross at all. The only connection is the inclusion of two words in the full title of the series "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross." Those first two words are the same "SD" in the "SDF" of Macross. The only other similarity beyond those two words is the production company that made it--as a result, the animation is about as bad as it was for Macross so don't expect anything too amazing. The acting is just fine, as it often is in anime. The story, while it does feel a bit laborious at times, is generally pretty solid and enjoyable. It's got a great message at the end that I'm starting to recognize in other Macross-related anime.
Sadly, the music leaves a lot to be desired, but I think it's worth sticking with it anyway. There's also a bit of unnecessary nudity, but it's not too gratuitous. The mecha designs are probably the worst I've seen, but the characters are fairly well developed, so if you're like me, with story trumping all else, it's still watchable. The ending feels a little rushed, but that makes sense given the series was canceled early. Still, it manages to eek out a much more coherent, poignant and even resonant ending than a lot of better known anime. The ending also suggests a more than passing comparison to the Israel/Palestine conflict. (The premise of the series surrounds a group of humans that have colonized a planet formerly inhabited by aliens who left it behind--now they want it back and these humans are in their way.)
How did it leave me feeling? Pretty satisfied. It's not the greatest anime in the world, but it's definitely fun. If you're on a quest to watch EVERYTHING even vaguely connected to the original Macross this is not punishment the way Macross Plus is.
Final Rating? NFI - NetFlix It--if you can. Not sure how available this series is on DVD anymore. I managed to find a copy, but I got lucky, I think.
NOTE TO ROBOTECH FANS: There's a reason you probably think the Southern Cross portion of the Robotech saga is the worst of the three story lines--it's because the original story was very edited to explain how "Dana Sterling" could be Max and Myria's daughter, blah-blah-blah. In the original un-Robotech-ized version the series makes much more sense. Lt. Jeanne is a brash, young flygirl (like flyboy) who runs her group of soldiers by the seat of her pants.
Orignal From: SOUTHERN CROSS (1984)
Thursday, December 04, 2008
KING CORN (2007)
 Click to buy! |
Technically any good? Without coming out too much on the anti-corn side of things, this docu does a pretty good job of explaining the situation we're in with corn and it's not good. Farmers are apparently paid to not make a profit and there's too much corn being made every year and not all of it is even edible. Don't worry, there are a lot of other things inedible corn can be used for like something good like fuel or something horrible like HFCS. This movie is unbelievable, but unless they lied, so is the situation we Americans are in with corn. This movie breaks a lot of it down and even shows you that you can make high fructose corn syrup in your kitchen (it's apparently pretty dangerous).
How did it leave me feeling? Disturbed but unshocked. I am rarely surprised by the depths of absurdity our culture goes to in order to make capitalism work. I'm no commie, but this film illustrates the problem nonsensical capitalism brings to our lives. Check it out, you won't be sorry.
Final Rating? GSN - Go See Now--seriously--if more people knew how corn worked in this society, there would be change. (Well, I hope there would be change, anyway...)
Orignal From: KING CORN (2007)
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
GREAT DICTATOR (1940)
 Click to buy the 2-disk set! |
Technically any good? While I've never been a fan of comedians speaking gibberish in a way that it both sounds fun and sounds like another language, the film makes up for this in spades. To be honest, I did find myself laughing at the gibber-speak, but still felt like it wouldn't be done in a comedy, today.
The acting was a solid as you'd expect--that is to say, not great, but perfectly reasonable, for sure. The story is very solid, following a sort of "prince and pauper" vibe as silent movie comic actor/director/auteur Charlie Chaplin plays both the prince (a very Hitler-esque dictator) and the pauper (a Jewish barber). The setup is clearly absurd, but entirely brilliant. This is seriously amazing film making.
How did it leave me feeling? Seriously moved--there's a wonderful speech at the end that nearly brought tears to my eyes--it was disturbingly resonant in today's war-filled culture. I could not believe that something from sixty-eight years ago could still be true--and since it's about war and profit, how depressing is that? VERY.
Good on you, Mr. Chaplin! It's a shame you're dead. You'd be wishing you were, anyway. :(
Final Rating? GSN - Go See Now--this is a cinema classic for a reason. It's also a perfect double feature with To Be Or Not To Be. TheWife and I both agreed that George W. Bush should be forced to listen to Chaplin's big speech every morning before breakfast.
Orignal From: GREAT DICTATOR (1940)
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Posse Comitatus is Effectively Dead, Literal Death Coming Soon
Just a quick FYI on what Posse Comitatus is--it's an act that was passed into law back in 1878 and it keeps American military troops from enforcing the law. This law is a good thing because it stops the USA from being a military dictatorship. If the military enforces the law and not a civilian police force, that's exactly what you have. Sure, we may have elected Obama and our local officials, but the guy who decides to pull you over for a speeding violation might be holding an automatic rifle. You're going to do whatever that military person dictates.
Orignal From: Posse Comitatus is Effectively Dead, Literal Death Coming Soon
All that said, let me direct you to a few headlines from ThePete.Com over the past month or two:
That first post was about how military troops would serve on active duty to support local authorities in times of disaster or a terrorist attack--but specifically, they are to be trained in dealing with "unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds." In other words, during times of emergency, they'll be doing things the police normally do.
The second post is about how the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team has begun active duty inside the US--this was back in early October, by the way.
The third post goes talks about Democracy Now holding a debate on the subject of Posse Comitatus and military troops on the streets of America. I added that mission creep might occur and these soldiers would go from playing police during an emergency, to playing police full-time after the disaster is done. Seems reasonable to assume mission creep is a possibility, since we went into Iraq for the WMDs and didn't leave when we found none.
Late last night, at 2:45am I saw a Reuters.com article and felt compelled to write a post with this title:
The Reuters article reported on the claims of a task force--they said that there's a better than 50/50 chance that a major city in the world will be hit by a WMD terrorist attack.
Then, yesterday, fellow Pete, Peter Santilli, of PeterSantilli.com, Twittered a link to a WashingtonPost.com article with the following headline:
Yep, apparently 20,000 more USGIs will be added to active duty on American soil by 2011. Here's a cutting from that WaPo article:
Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dedicating 20,000 troops to domestic response -- a nearly sevenfold increase in five years -- "would have been extraordinary to the point of unbelievable," Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said in remarks last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the realization that civilian authorities may be overwhelmed in a catastrophe prompted "a fundamental change in military culture," he said.
So, what changed here with the non-military culture (us)? Was there really less hatred for America before 911? That would strike me as impossible since, if people didn't hate America before September 2001, 911 would never have happened, right? So, why are our values suddenly different? Why are we suddenly OK with troops serving inside America's borders?
3000 people died on 911. That's less than the number of American soldiers who died in Iraq. It's nothing compared to the number of Iraqis died in our invasion of their country--yet, here we are accepting a virtual military dictatorship, but only in the case of a "nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe," say Pentagon officials.
And what an amazing coincidence that a task force announces that they feel some major city in the world has a better than 50 percent chance of being hit by WMD when they did? Isn't this just perfect timing for the military, the politicians and the military industrial complex?
Lots of money to be made in the fear industrial complex!
Now, I don't think 911 was an inside job, but I do think it was a virtual inside job--that is to say that I think 911 was allowed to happen. What kind of leaders ignore the obvious signs that something like this could happen? We don't need a police state to be able to scramble fighter jets that can intercept hijacked aircraft. We don't need the Patriot Act to stop known terrorists from entering the country and taking pilot lessons. We just need our leaders to do their jobs.
That's what upsets me the most in all of this--the Home Minister of Mumbai resigned after his mishandling of the Mumbai Attacks last week. Have we had one person resign in shame because of 911? And now we're supposed to assume that the same people who let 911 happen are going to not screw this up, too?
And what about Obama's supposed "change we need"? Well, his cabinet is made up almost entirely of Clintonites and you may recall that they were in charge of America until just eight months before 911 happened. So, it's a cross-partisan breakdown of leadership.
What can we do?
Beats me, man. I'm just a blogger.
Posted by email from thepete's posterous
Orignal From: Posse Comitatus is Effectively Dead, Literal Death Coming Soon
Google Adsense (Doesn't) Fill Me With Confidence: 1 or 2 Rules to Flat a Stomach?
This is where automated ads really let us down. Which ad would you trust if you were staring at the two of these? How about and ad for Pepsi and Coke right next to each other? Sheesh. I'd trust neither.
Orignal From: Google Adsense (Doesn't) Fill Me With Confidence: 1 or 2 Rules to Flat a Stomach?
So, Google Ads pays me next to nothing and after seeing ads like this, I don't wonder why--I mean, for crying out loud, I don't even blog about flat stomachs! Thanks for nothing, Google Adsense!
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Orignal From: Google Adsense (Doesn't) Fill Me With Confidence: 1 or 2 Rules to Flat a Stomach?
TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942)
 Click to buy! |
Technically any good? Once you accept that Jack Benny and the rest of the cast (including Robert Stack) are actually Polish and not Americans, the film is pretty damn near flawless. There were a couple of contrivances to keep the plot moving, but there are enough genuinely wonderful surprises to keep this movie in the "worth seeing" column for sure. Benny is actually quite good as an actor and not just a very funny man in his role as a "famous" Polish actor. The ending of this film falls a little flat, but for a film made sixty-six years ago, it's surprisingly solid and even resonant. The dialog is so insanely witty I was floored by some of it.
How did it leave me feeling? Mostly satisfied and the only reason I don't say "completely" satisfied is because the ending is a little shrug-worthy, but there are some amazingly tense moments in this "comedy" starring one of the biggest comedy greats of all time. See this movie.
Final Rating? GSN - Go See Now--or at least go rent it or Netflix it--or hell, buy it. It's definitely something you want to watch more than once.
Orignal From: TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942)
My Jailbroken iPhone 3G Starting Up with the 2.2 Update Onboard
Thanks to all the hackers out there who make this possible!! I am but a humble wannabe hax0r who wishes he had the dedication to hack on the same level as the guys at iphone-dev.org and everyone else who did work on the iPhone that I'm not even aware of.
Orignal From: My Jailbroken iPhone 3G Starting Up with the 2.2 Update Onboard
Hacking goes to the very core of who I am as a person. I look at society and see a massively, uselessly complicated pile of rituals and traditions that have all been created by someone, sometimes for good reason, sometimes not. I see systems in place that exploit but reward, so they are tolerated. I see a country of people, in America, who allow so much to continue simply because they choose not to ask "why?" As humans, it's our job to ask "why?" of everything. There are always alternatives--sometimes they are better.
The iPhone is a perfect example of a system in place that shouldn't be there.
Hacking it via Jailbreaking re-exerts the rights we should all have over the things we willingly take into our lives.
It may seem a small victory over the lack of freedom that has crept into all of our lives, but it's a victory, at least. It also may seem odd to compare such grand ideals to something as geeky and seemingly inconsequential as a cell phone, but multiply all of these little compromises we make for society and you end up with a country of people who thinks a Cadillac is a sporty car and coal can be clean.
So, there you go--the iPhone is an awesome little powerhouse and now I have more power over it.
Posted by email from thepete's posterous
Orignal From: My Jailbroken iPhone 3G Starting Up with the 2.2 Update Onboard
Chances of a WMD Attack in a big city better than 50%??
Grabbed this on my iPhone just now and I have to admit that I don't trust this task force. These guys MUST be lying or hopelessly paranoid. There is no way you could say there's a better than 50/50 chance that a city will get hit by WMD.
Of course, bio or chem weapons I could see as being more likely, but still not a 50% chance, but nukes (which are what we all think of first when we hear the letters "WMD")?? No way, man, and reporting this story this way is nothing short of alarmist and fear mongering.
Reuters is really doing us a disservice by not making it immediately clear that nukes are much less likely than chem or bio. And even knowing that, when I saw that headline and read that first paragraph, I thought they meant their was a better than even chance that nukes would definitely hit a big city--then reality set in and I remembered how the odds of any random big city being hit are dramatically against.
Thanks, Reuters, for making us crap our pants...again!
Oh and newsflash: government task forces have been getting it wrong for the last 8 years--probably longer--all the press ever does is highlight the fear and bury the logic. Way to unquestioningly quote the party line and question little-to-nothing.
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Orignal From: Chances of a WMD Attack in a big city better than 50%??
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