Into The Green

http://www.politicususa.com/conservative-war-lgbt-community.html

Thought this was an interesting article.  I hate to tell people this but yes, some people are gay.  They are attracted to members of their own gender.  Accept it, deal with it, and move the fuck on.  I'm sorry to say that you cannot claim that this is a free democratic nation when you marginalize some of your citizens.  We all have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness which for most people is marriage.  No one has the right to limit marriage to only a part of society that they personally approve of.  We are either a free nation or we're not.  Make up your mind.  What I really thought was hilarious and practically made me spit my coffee out in laughter was this.

That’s exactly the argument Jodie Brunstetter, wife of State Senator Peter  Brunsletter used when justifying her support for the measure.

In fact, according to the Huffington Post, Mrs. Brunstetter saidThe reason my husband wrote Amendment 1 was because the Caucasian race is diminishing and we need to uh, reproduce.

In the first place, there is no danger of the caucasian race diminishing and even if there were more people of other races than caucasians, so fucking what?  Where is it written in stone that caucasians have to outnumber everyone else?  Talk about an over-inflated sense of self-importance.  Mrs. Brunstetter, if caucasian people vanished tomorrow, the world would keep on turning and life would go on.  Deal with it.  Not to mention that gay people are gay and whether they are allowed to marry or not, they will continue being gay and not reproducing.  So that was really a fucking stupid statement.  You know lady, it's better to let people assume you're stupid then to open your mouth and remove all doubt.  Now, we all know you are an idiot. 

Then there was this.

In response to a question about DADT (and waiting until the audience stopped booing the man who asked it)  former Presidential candidate, Rick Santorum had this to say:

I would say, any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military,” he said. “And the fact that they’re making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to — to — and removing “don’t ask/don’t tell” I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military’s job is to do one thing, and that is to defend our country.

Apparently Rick has never been in the military.  Whether military members are straight or gay, they do indeed engage in sex.  They also eat, sleep, and shit.  Gay people are not being given a special privilege of any sort.  They're merely being recognized as equal individuals protected under the law like anyone else in this country.  The military is a part of society and should not engage in discriminatory practices of any kind.  And quite frankly, the only thing our military does is protect the special interests of Corporate America. 

No matter how far this country progresses, we still have people who are closeminded and love to hate someone.  And will do anything to marginalize the people they hate while at the same time they crow about freedom and democracy.  Give me a damn break.

I read this article and it was really pretty funny.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/40201_Fake_Outrage_of_the_Day-_Hilary_Rosen_Criticizes_Ann_Romney_Right_Wing_Goes_Nuts

Anne Romney is hardly the poster child for stay at home moms across America.  This woman is incredibly wealthy and can afford the best money can buy.  I hardly see her as a woman toiling over a hot stove, with a vacuum cleaner in one hand and a feather duster in the other, and a couple of kids underfoot.  She has absolutely no clue what it's like to be a stay at home married to a guy who maybe pulls in 30 or 40 grand a year if he's lucky.  Quite frankly I would not have apologized to Anne Romney for a damn thing.  Her claim to fame is being Mitt Romney's wife.  Not a stay at home mom.  Hilary Rosen was speaking about women who have to work a job as well as raise children.  Something many women have had to do since after WW II when their husbands came home in boxes.  People need to honestly learn to read.  Anne Romney has never had to work a day of her life outside her home and she knows that.  My advice to Anne really is to shut your stupid fucking mouth and go sit at home polishing your fingernails.  Even though I'm pretty sure you have some working mother who does that for you at a professional salon.  In closing, fuck you Anne Romney.  And no, I won't apologize.  Stupid bitch.

http://ppjg.me/2011/10/06/why-criminal-governments-spy-on-citizens/

I especially liked where he asked the question of what makes a government entity so special that they should have free access to our activities.  I'll tell you what.  Nothing.  Nil.  Zero.  They spy on people out of paranoia.  Probably wondering how much longer people are going to take their shit.  Here in the U.S. people try to make this a partisan thing.  Hey folks, neither the Democrat party nor the Republican party give a rat's ass about you having rights or having any privacy.  All this freaky surveillance shit is being voted in by BOTH parties.  That's right.  Both of them.  Even were Obama to lose in November, this nonsense would continue on.  Read the article.  Food for thought.  There is no safety in what our society has become.

You know, I read a lot of stuff on the Internet that either just catches my attention and fascinates me or someone suggests that I read something.  This particular article was fascinating.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57428067-83/fbi-we-need-wiretap-ready-web-sites-now/

Now the FBI can subpeona people's email and they can subpeona people's Facebook and they can subpeona people's Twitter and they have done so in the past.  And they can read the shit.  So why do they need a "backdoor" to all this shit?  They can read your shit anytime they damn well please to do so.  I don't believe that the Internet is full of a bunch of hardened criminals or even terrorists that they need to "backdoor" on.  I very seriously doubt that these type of people are stupid enough to elaborate on their nefarious schemes in an email, on Facebook, or on Twitter.  They sure as shit don't do that on the phone.  The Mafia learned their lesson back in the 40's about talking about shit on the phone.  I think anyone who would be that damn stupid would be extremely easy to catch without needing a "backdoor". 

Call me crazy but this just sounds like an easy way for them to spy on people without having to get a court approved subpeona.  How would anyone know if they got one or not when they can just tap in anywhere they want and how would anyone even know they were doing that.  For all we know, they already are and now they think they need to expand CALEA to make it all legit and shit.  It's just like all this surveillance shit that the DOJ wants to do on everyone because there are a handful of sickos who look at kiddie porn.  Yeah, that shit is sick but they have been quite successful at catching people at that shit in the past so why should everyone else's discussions and activities online be monitored?  I know there are criminals out there but the general public are not criminal suspects and we're kind of tired of this shit.  Investigative work means getting off your ass.  Crimes will never be solved with a click of a mouse.  And you can't spy on everyone just because one day they may think about doing something.  Free societies don't operate that way.  Besides, these kiddie porn people have stepped up their game.  They just hack into other people's shit, download what they want, and then if the FBI comes calling, they nab the wrong people and the actual criminal gets away. And the innocent Joe has to deal with a lot of heartache and mistreatment.

The problem I see with "backdoors" is that if the government can hack in that way so can criminals.  And Facebook is notorious for getting hacked.  So all we need is for Facebook or anything else to be easier for criminals to hack into and that's all this "backdoor" shit is going to cause.  The FBI will catch an extra handful of criminals and we'll all be dealing with having our shit hacked into. 

And what is it with giving telecommunications and ISPs "safe harbors"?  That comes across to me as not having any legal recourse if someone fucks up.  For example, the DOJ wants ISPs to keep all sorts of sensitive info like credit card numbers and bank account numbers for a certain period of time.  If that shit gets stolen or lost, the victims have no legal recourse because the ISP is immune.  Or if an innocent person is spied on, they have no legal recourse.  So they don't even have to be responsible for taking care of that shit.  There are no safeguards for the general public and for some reason any mention of safeguards is always vehemently opposed.  And holding someone responsible for not securing your shit is vehemently opposed.  Sounds crazy to me.

The FBI has always had a weird habit of spying on anti-war groups.  Now bear in mind that it is not illegal to protest against war.  Nor is it illegal to be opposed to warfare.  There is nothing on the lawbooks that states that the American people have to salivate over and embrace slaughtering people around the globe and there are many of us who just don't dig that shit especially since it always seems to raise the profits of the oil companies and the defense contractors make a killing.  No one needs to die over that shit.  Not enough oil?  Walk.  Gas prices too high?  Buy a bicycle.  But for some reason the FBI has always spied on peace groups.  All this "backdoor" shit is just an easier way to spy on people who are engaged in lawful opposition to wars.  People should be able to oppose things they don't agree with, and put together grassroots movements without being spied on.  And people should be able to post opinions and engage in lawful activities on the Internet without being spied on.  And we shouldn't have to worry about additional identity theft or hackers. 

The DOJ and FBI and all the other ABC agencies do their jobs well enough with what they have at their disposal and they can continue doing so.  Leave the laws alone and stick to investigating actual criminals.  We are not a nation of suspects.  And if people are engaging in lawful protest or don't agree with a government policy, that's their right.

When I hear the music industry complain about pirating and how they're losing so much money and protecting the artists, I'm also aware of the fact they are the ones who exploit these artists in the first place and that they're the ones who make the most money out of the deal.  Came across an interesting article.

http://www.negativland.com/news/?page_id=17

Gives you a nice little breakdown on who is actually making most of the money.  Sometimes I wonder if the actual target of all these anti piracy bills isn't the actual musicians themselves.  A lot of them have decided to record their stuff in their own studios, mix and produce it, promote it with the help of independent fanzines, and distribute it themselves.  Kind of leaves the music reps out in the cold.  Two reasons why I feel the music industry is losing money is they are churning out garbage and they just are not needed by independent artists who can do things themselves with the help of the Internet.  I think the music industry is more worried about their pocketbooks than anything else but that's the way it is with every industry.  The bad mistake of course is that music should not be an industry.  It sounds like you're manufacturing a product for mass consumption and art whether it be music, literature, film, paintings, or photographs was never meant to be marketed for high end profits.  It kind of loses the point which is art.  I can't even remember when the last time was that I listened to commercial radio. 

The problem with music is that you can take it only so far and everything that could be done with it has been done.  The 50's and 60's revolutionized music and it was fresh, new, and innovative.  The 70's experimented with disco but that wasn't too well received.  The 80's were dynamic but was totally oversaturated by bands.  I think shit really went downhill in the 90's with the advent of grunge and people thinking that a stage performance only had to consist of standing around and wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  When the stage performance end of it becomes sloppy, so does the rest of it.  That's when I think shit went downhill.  In the 2000's it became quite apparent that the Internet was the way to go if you wanted to get your shit out there and the total control the music industry had over musicians went out the window.  That's why they're pissed and they're doing everything they can to get that control back.  Unfortunately, it's done and over so stick a fork in it already.  There will always be a music scene but the people in the suits will no longer be needed and will fade away.  They haven't brought anything to the table that is fresh, new, and innovative in years.  But they think we should feel sorry for them.  Music piracy is not a good thing but let's remember who the real pirates are.  They're the ones lobbying for PIPA and SOPA and any other shit they can dream up to continue to live the lifestyles they are accustomed to and they don't give a shit about anyone else.

At the end of the day it's all about money but for themselves.  A lot of people say they refused to embrace the Internet.  Well yes, they did in more ways than one.  And they will never embrace letting artists do things on their own.  Cutting out the middle man.  But one day, that will be a reality so they may as well face up to it.  Their day is past.  And wasting our tax money to fight their losing battle is inexcusable.  Buying our politicians for their personal gain is disgusting.  But that's what is being done.

Oh and here's another fascinating article worth the read.  Courtney Love talks about the real pirates.

http://www.salon.com/2000/06/14/love_7/