The Great Leap Forward

Still breathing.

Trying to focus on my schoolwork right now (and failing). Just 8 days to go and the term is over. I need to finish a research paper and a lesson plan, present both and that's it.

Iowa City Liberals in 8th place in the Daily Kos-Yahoo! league (66 points).

Much more activity here after May 6.

Here kitty kitty.

If you hate cats, then you'll love this ad. (Not for the squeamish.) Full story at snopes.com.

A somewhat tamer (but no less lethal) version involving a pigeon can be found here.

Personally, I like cats, but this appeals to my sick side.

Michael Moore's Bush-bin Laden documentary is coming out this summer.

If this doesn't bring the miserable failure down, nothing will. Michael Moore's long-expected film documenting the long-standing connections between the Bush and bin Laden families will be explored in Moore's new film Fahrenheit 9/11. I'm sure a lot of it is old news to those of us who have been paying attention, but it would be nice to see it break wide open, right in the heart of public consciousness. Right in the middle of election season. Say what you will about Moore - he really knows how to push the buttons.

The film will first show in Cannes. Those goddamn French.

I can't wait. I got my girlfriend (Bush voter with buyer's remorse - I don't think she agrees with him on one major policy point, yet she voted for him anyway - our long national nightmare, the uninformed voter) who did not like Moore to watch Roger & Me and she conceded that it was a good film, despite her low opinion of Moore himself. Now I have to get her to watch Bowling For Columbine. Drip, drip, drip - I still have six months to flip her, if you know what I mean.

Joining the Daily Kos community of bloggers.

It wasn't enough that I joined the Daily Kos-Yahoo! fantasy baseball league (6th place and dropping, by the way - very little clutch hitting from the Liberals these days). Now I've joined the DK community of bloggers. The complete list of enemies of the state is here. Give 'em a look when you have the time.

Additionally, congratulations are in order for both Daily Kos and Atrios' Eschaton, whose blogs have moved to the top, swamping previous king of the blogs, the Bush apologist Instapundit. (As I hear it, Kos is first and Eschaton is third. TGLF is 145,383rd.) Much of this is due to Air America's heavy promotion of the blogosphere, especially on Majority Report. Both Kos and Atrios have regular gigs on the show. Well done, gentlemen!

The band is called IZZ.

IZZ is a prog-rock band here in the NYC burbs. Two of my cousins. Tom and John, are in the band. Kim and I went to see John play a solo show at Cafenani in White Plains last night. Light turnout with it being a Wednesday night and all. It's tough being an artist in the Land of Soulless Crap. Anyway, it was a good show.

IZZ is playing in Phoenixville, PA (a little NW of Philly) this Saturday at the Rites of Spring festival. If you're in PA and into the whole prog thing, then go.

Empire North - Destroyer of civil rights?

Someone please tell me this is a joke - a shadowy Danish company, Empire North, is selling a rifle that can shoot a GPS-capable microchip into protestors (and take a picture of them in the bargain):

What is the ID SNIPER (TM) rifle?

It is used to implant a GPS-microchip in the body of a human being, using a high powered sniper rifle as the long distance injector. The microchip will enter the body and stay there, causing no internal damage, and only a very small amount of physical pain to the target. It will feel like a mosquito-bite lasting a fraction of a second. At the same time a digital camcorder with a zoom-lense fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis.

Why use the ID SNIPER (TM) rifle?

As the urban battlefield grows more complex and intense, new ways of managing and controlling crowds are needed. The attention of the media changes the rules of the game. Sometimes it is difficult to engage the enemy in the streets without causing damage to the all important image of the state. Instead EMPIRE NORTH suggests to mark and identify a suspicious subject on a safe distance, enabeling the national law enforcement agency to keep track on the target through a satellite in the weeks to come.

The urban battlefield?

Wait, it gets better - how about a junior spy camera that encourages kids to take pictures of "suspicious activity" (you know, brown people)?

Here's as much as they're willing to tell us about themselves:

EMPIRE NORTH is always at the cutting edge of technology, at the research of new products in the important area of Non-Lethal-Weaponry. This young, ambitious Danish company is currently developing brand new kinds of identification tools and anti-riot-equipment, tailored for the modern urban battlefield, combining outstanding Danish design and know-how.

According to their website, these enterprising young Danes will be in NYC late this month.

(Thanks to Ad B. for the link.)

Update: I hear Empire North is a hoax, according to this commenter, anyway...

Thanks to markymarx at Daily Kos for the help.

Will Ian Ziering replace the shark?

The good folks at Television Without Pity (by way of MSNBC) have given us a potential new replacement for "jumping the shark". TWP presents the Ziering!

But there’s a dark side to scoring a successful TV series that no one seems willing to face: in the ensemble cast of nearly every long-running show, there’s one actor whose career is destined to die with the show. That actor is The Ziering.

Why this unlucky person should be known as “The Ziering“will be obvious to anyone who ever watched “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Ian Ziering was, through its entire 10-season run, one of the show's stars breathing fratty, mulleted life into the character of Steve Sanders.

During the show's run, Ziering made a handful of TV movies, but since then has had to content himself with voice work in projects such as animated TV adaptations of “The Mighty Ducks,” “Godzilla,” and “Spider-Man.”

In short: no one in North America has laid eyes on Ziering since “90210” took its final bow; the show’s cancellation ended his career as a live-action actor. (In fact, Ian isn’t even the most famous Ziering these days; his ex-wife, Nikki Schieler Ziering, appeared last year in four episodes of “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!”)

TWP then gives some modern-day examples of potential Zierings: Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Tina Yothers, Michael Richards...there are more than a few TV stars out there who know that The Ziering lurks in their future. It's Hollywood Squares and boat shows from here on out!

(Before heading over there, see if you can guess which Friend is the most likely Ziering.)

readThis: Trouble in Pornland. A major HIV outbreak?

As you may have heard, the porn industry in California is currently in the middle of a voluntary shutdown due to an HIV outbreak. Pornblography has some of the latest, including a reaction from someone who works in the industry:

I have been working in the business for about five years, and this week I’ve realized how rose-colored my glasses have been. I’ve had the luck of associating with some of the good people in this business. The ones who care about the well-being of the talent, and care about the fate of this business. It is absolutely shocking to me to learn over the past two days that there really are people in this Valley who don’t care. Don’t care if people get HIV, don’t care if guys who should be quarantined are working, don’t care if performers have valid tests. The only priority is to get some fresh girl fucked hard on camera. To get her first anal. To get her first DP. To get her first interracial. Then throw her ass to the curb. “She knew the risks.” Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. Maybe her pimp was gonna beat her ass if she didn’t take the extra $100 to do two minutes of anal with some no-name male performer who may have been sucking dicks on Santa Monica Boulevard the night before. Whatever the particular situations may be, how can somebody have so little human compassion to not do anything and everything in their power to help?

Here's a good post from indie filmmaker Brian Flemming. It's about his own experiences using explosives on a movie set, which is a heavily regulated activity. He compares it to the porn industry, which has pretty much nothing at all:

Lara Roxx had zero protection by government agencies. There was no cop on that set. No fire marshal. No doctor. Nobody had a license. And nobody broke the law by paying a teenager to accept the uncovered penises of two men into her anus.

Roxx showed poor judgment, yes. She isn't blameless. But there are plenty of neophyte stunt performers in L.A. who would also be delighted to show some poor judgment and get themselves hurt or killed on a Hollywood movie set--but the government regulates those sets. I've auditioned plenty of eager young actors who would no doubt be willing to do their own dangerous stunts if it meant getting a good role and getting paid--but the LAPD, the LAFD and the Screen Actors Guild would all have something to say about that.

The 18-year-olds flooding into the porn industry have just about nobody. The porn companies label them "independent contractors," so the performers don't even have the workplace safety protections that fry cooks at Burger King do.

Lara Roxx, who is too young to legally drink in a bar, has HIV not just because she participated in a dangerous sex act. She also has HIV because there was nobody to stop the producers from dangling money and other inducements in front of this young woman to get her to take that risk.

Hopefully, none of this gets the attention of Jesus' Favorite Christian (TM), John Ashcroft.

The 2004 Presidential election will be cancelled.

They're just softening you up for the idea now by floating the idea of a terrorist attack. As Bush's numbers continue to crater (remember, this guy was "unbeatable" a year ago), the only way they can stay in power is to cancel the election. These people are desparate and will do anything to hold power. They don't give a shit about you, me, or democracy.

“I think we also have to take seriously that they might try during the cycle leading up to the election to do something,” she said.

“We are actively looking at that possibility, actively trying to see — to make certain that we are responding appropriately,” she said.

Boy, I feel safer already! Don't you?

fantasyBaseball: A quick update

A reversal of fortunes for the Iowa City Liberals as we have climbed all the way up to 5th place with 82 points. (It's a long way to the top, though, as ItsTheLiesStupid leads the way with 116.5.) The pithcing has really come around, but there are still a few weak spots as I try to find a few young arms to fill out the staff. Colby Lewis really didn't happen, and Ryan Vogelsong is one bad outing away from getting the hook. I'm hoping that Kris Benson of the Pirates pitches well against the Mets today, even though I like the Mets. A couple of good pickups have been Nate Robertson of the Tigers and Tom Glavine of the Mets. I'm also hopeful that new acquisitions Willie Harris (White Sox) and Adam Everett (Astros) do well at the plate. I had to bench Derek Jeter due to the Yankees' poor start - never thought that would happen!

The stats are more solid now - I'm tied for the league lead in holds and near the top in ERA and runs scored. The only weaknesses right now are wins and saves, which is why I've been swapping out pitchers. (I also lead the league in roster moves with 17, but it's finally paying off.)