Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

weblinks

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I feel like i’ve always dreamed the internet; a place where you could literally find out about anything, and in keeping with that i think The Gnod self-adapting database of musical taste could be the coolest thing ever! And, well, really it’s not that cool, but it could be if its predictions for popular artists werea little more focused. Still, i love how all the little words float around and repell each other (watch Radiohead through a couple of reloads of this one). You can experience the page’s more typical function here. I suppose i’m just not that excited by relational or triangular reccomendations anymore because i have so damn much music already. Who knows.

https://www.crushingkrisis.com/2004/03/107432262653741968/

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Yes, i know all politicians are crooked, and you’ll be pointing out these same things to me next time a Democrat comes up for re-election. I just plan to do everything i can to make sure that happens exactly four years from now.


Administration sources tell TIME that employees at the Department of Homeland Security have been asked to keep their eyes open for opportunities to pose the President in settings that might highlight the Administration’s efforts to make the nation safer. The goal, they are being told, is to provide Bush with one homeland-security photo-op a month.

This from a Time article via Metafilter via Pandagon, a person i actually know (sorta) through Rabi. I don’t think that this move is downright evil, as Bush is certainly a big part of why we have a Department of Homeland Security today, but when it comes down to it no-one should be telling the Department to look into photo-ops — i don’t care what party they’re from.

Here’s an alternative to partisan voting: If we reward the people who lie less on a consistent basis, maybe everyone will lie less. Along those lines, a conservative classmate of mine put together Anybody But Bush 2004 as his senior project. Go Geoff!

Also, if you missed the big campaign story from last week, the article does an excellent job of rehashing it simply: Tipped off by Democrats on Capitol Hill that the appointment was in the works, Kerry’s staff had quickly done a LexisNexis search on the proposed nominee, Anthony Raimondo, and discovered that the Nebraska manufacturing executive laid off 75 U.S. workers in 2002 while building a $3 million factory in Beijing. That might make it awkward for him to champion keeping jobs at home. Two hours before the Commerce Department was scheduled to announce Raimondo’s nomination last week, the Kerry campaign did it for them. A day later, Raimondo had withdrawn his name from consideration … White House officials insist that the nomination collapsed because a Senator in Raimondo’s home state did not approve of him.

Anyway, BushBashing aside, the article is a good read. I’d obviously love to put a Democrat in office, but what i’d love more is for every person who has ever read this site to go out and vote in November. That would be much cooler.

https://www.crushingkrisis.com/2004/03/107939524276123597/

Ecstacy Debunked

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Ecstacy Debunked – If opponents of drug use are going to say scientific evidence should be the reason to “Just Say No,” at least they could report their studies accurately. I would love to do research about the press that ecstacy/MDMA has received over the last decade; does it deserve to be so thouroughly (and occasionally falsely) villified just because it gives the user pleasure? Seems like an overly puritanical approach to combatting America’s drug problem when there are other more addictive, more harmful substances to drum out of the youth culture.

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And, in case you were unaware of how fucking cool the internet is:

On one hand, we have SongFight, where computer-recorders such as (but not yet including) myself vie every week to write the best song to match titles like “Tomorrow’s Almost Over,” “Soft Orange Glow,” and “What We Need More Of Is Science.” Everyone discusses the merits of the tunes, but the audience is the ultimate arbiter of the winner. I need to find the time to participate, as i always have some catchy idea when i see the titles. If the idea sounds intriguing but you’re afraid you will be eaten alive (ahem), Sharing Machine might be more your speed — their winners are crowned by a panel of constructive judges rather than the whims of the democratic process.

On the other hand, there is Nowheresville and his Photoshop Tennis Matches (that one with commentary by Jett Superior), which must be seen rather than described.

On yet another hand, which might just be the first hand wearing a glove to disguise itself (or maybe not giving the finger), there is Some Songs, where anyone can submit a song for rating (and occasional praise or drubbing) by an audience of their peers. While the singing is sometimes slightly under my par of expectations, the mixing is often far, far above. With nearly thirteen hundred songs in their archive you could easily find a new favorite song once every week.

Between the three hands, it’s enough to keep you busy for weeks!

https://www.crushingkrisis.com/2004/01/107436270195078291/