New Airplay Changes Possible

Music industry insider Moses Avalon has alerted me to possible new changes to the broken Performance Rights Act, which would give payments to performers rather than just songwriters for terrestrial broadcasts. To my thinking, this will mean an uptick in both cover tunes and in new collaborations between non-performing writers and recording artists, as bands in the past have actively protected this revenue stream by adamantly doing their own material. In fact, some U.S. bands have previously gone so far as signing with foreign labels in order to skirt this limitation.

FBI Says CIA Is Full Of It

While the CIA touts their illegal waterboarding "swim lessons" as a key factor in gaining vital terrorist intel, the FBI says their info quality was about as good as a Chinese-made lead balloon.

The 45 Trillion Dollar Lie

That's how much there won't be available to come back to taxpayers as promised by our Department of Budget Weasels, all because they like to use accounting methods that would put private citizens in jail.

U.S. Torture Doublespeak Dictionary

Here's a compilation of U.S. Intel euphemisms and doublespeak regarding their torture terms and practices, including Black Sites, Special Rendition and more. It hurts to even read this.

Bush Shreds Record Records

The Bush admin is on track to break even their own record for contracts to shred documents. Half way through 2007 equals 2004, and should easily set a new record. 2008 should be a banner year.

Curtains For Father Of Rock

The one man that many music scholars credit with having a hand in the first Rock and Roll record, even if they disagree which record it was, has gone to the big studio in the sky. While many tag "Rocket 88" (actually recorded by Ike Turner), other strong contenders have his hand or influence, including even Chuck Berry's first hit. Here is a good blog link on his reach.

Senator Takes A Dip In Stupidity

PBS Newshour's host Gwen Ifill just asked Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) whether waterboarding constitutes torture. Bond replied that the technique is actually more like "swimming."
Yeah, right. I guess he doesn't know how to swim.
When asked if it was torture, he replied, "There are different ways of doing it. It's like swimming, freestyle, backstroke. The waterboarding could be used almost to define some of the techniques that our trainees are put through, but that's beside the point. It's not being used."
Conservatives have repeatedly tried to dismiss the seriousness of waterboarding, referring to it as a "swim lesson."
There's also no question that it's been carried out on detainees. Not only did former CIA interrogator John Kiriakou came out this week and confirmed that in 2002, al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded on orders from the White House, but there’s no doubt that waterboarding is torture. Period.

DJ Bush Does U2

This has to be one of the best ever video edit mixes. The vid of GWB snip rapping Bono's "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" before Congress is more excellent work from RX2008. Three thumbs up.

All Artic Ice Could Melt By 2012

Great, just great.

New estimates of a total Arctic ice melt have been just pushed up from 2040 to as early as 2012, and it comes from the latest NASA-backed data. This is just what we all need, as that's when the Mayan calendar runs out and the world ends.

BONUS: Here's a great video take on R.E.M.'s "The End of the World" with "Our Fearless Decider" from the talented brain of RX2008.

The UNsilent Night

Experimental musician Phil Kline has organized the UNsilent Night since 1992, and his unique multi-track, ambient boom-box network has gradually gone global. Raised in Akron, Ohio and New York educated, it started in the Big Apple and grows every year. Here is a flash of Baltimore's first go last year.

The Sixty One

Here is an interesting new site created by two USC music lovers who dropped their real jobs to launch it. Called the Sixty One after the highway, it is a game-ish, point-based music scouting blend that rewards you with points if you can discover new music others will also like. Think moneyless stock market with MP3s insteadof IPOs. I can see this catching on and snagging radio PDs and label scouts. viaboingboing

Over 3,500 TV Theme Tracks

When you need a quick hit of warm fuzzies from the insanity of reality, try time-warping with this mega collection of old TV themes by looking for your favs from your brain-rotting, pre-pubescent early years. I found Astroboy, Bronco Lane, The Tree Stooges, Wagon Train and even Yancy Derringer. YeeeeeHaw! The Big Bonus is a nifty TV-ish quiz show contest for one or two players, in case you were a seriously-addicted vidkid. I even got a 1957 "Crusader Rabbit" theme posted within minutes of a request.

CIA Destroyed Own Torture Evidence

Right in the middle of the 9/11 Commission investigation, the CIA denied knowledge of and destroyed critical videotape evidence of torturous CIA interrogations of two early detainees. While some unnamed officials said the vids were eliminated to limit legal liabilities, others excused their crime of destruction of evidence as a way to "safeguard" the identities of the interrogators from terrorist reprisals. Yea, right. We know better.
UPDATE 12/8: The CIA will investigate itself. Yea, right again.

U.S. Flag Snot Rag

When I saw this American flag snot rag for sale at a flea market, I had to get it to frame as a commentary on our society's current import blindness from worshiping at the alter of the corporate bottom line. Not only is the illegal "hankyflag" truncated to a square with shortened stripes and squeezed over-sized stars, but it even had "100% COTTON MADE IN CHINA RN92919" boldly printed in white right across the bottom red stripe. I wondered what Communist-owned slave factory made it, and why anyone in the U.S. would want such an antithetical example of this symbol of Freedom and Liberty. Oh, that's right, I forgot. We don't really have those anymore...

The REAL Story of Stuff

Here is a 10-year compilation (distilled to 20 eye-opening minutes) covering the real cost and enlightening details on the consumptive mindset and externalized-cost paradigm. Annie Leonard exposes our linear consumer system that can't survive on a finite planet, due to the Materials Economy that leaves out crucial real world limits, and has us use-up or throw away 99% of purchases in six months. I wanted to cry AND scream after seeing this. via boingboing

Liberty Bell Crack Widens

Thanks to a new Chief, the Mayor of Philly plans on declaring an arbitrary "emergency" and have his Police expand questionable practices, including stopping and searching anyone at anytime without cause, due to a high crime rate. Hey, if that flies, why not do it where crime is low to prevent it from increasing, and if nobody cares, why not do it where there isn't yet any lawbreaking to prevent any from occurring? Sadly, the real crime IS the theft of our liberties.

Drunk On Power

Not one to stop where they should, MADD has just convinced the N.C. Statehouse to pass a law that could suspend a driver's license for a non-driving offense. It seems jail time and fines are not enough as punishment for making alcohol available to consumers who are under the legal age of 21, even if neither ever get behind the wheel.

Street Chocolate

The chocolate industry, which is currently melting under the microscope in Canada for multi-billion dollar market price-fixing, hits a new low with the Hershey cartel pushing this latest fix on marketing their powder to look like steet-packaged nick bags of crack, heroin and coke.
I couldn't cook this stuff up any better if I tried.