This is a test. This is only a test. If this had been a actual post, you'd have seen maybe something cool like...um...I dunno...content or something? Heh.

Seriously though, I'm in the process of resurrecting my blog after a long sabbatical. Stay tuned.

Moving

www.evilbusdriver.net

Change your bookmarks, linkage, etc.

Still a work in progress but getting there.

I'm done talking about it. I'm doing it

Over the next few days, I'll be moving over to a new server. So if things disappear here, that means I probably screwed up somehow, which wouldn't really surprise me.

In the meantime, go read this speech by journalist Bill Moyers. It gives cause for hope..sort of.

The Progressive Story of America

whoops...someone forgot to pay their bill

Apparently, the folks at Haloscan didn't pay their bill as the website has been suspended and there is a message to contact the billing dept. Time to search for a new commenting system perhaps? This is yet another reason to make the move to Moveable Type. I'll probably do so at the end of the month as I'm looking for a new hosting provider for my domain.

In other news, the wonderful site Wander Lust has gone belly up as the owner has decided to terminate the project. It's quite sad really, as I've been led to many a fine blog as a result of his work.

Let Freedom Ring

I nicked this from Pete who nicked it from spaz but it was so goddamn funny I couldn't help myself.



Sad thing is, this is exactly what happened in Eastern Europe when the iron curtain fell.

Dept of Corrections

Looks like The Guardian did a no-no and took the 'quote' from Wolfowitz out of context. The story was mentioned in The Australian and the original quote had to do with comparing the different aspects of using economic means vs military means in dealing with North Korea and Iraq. Since North Korea is already so impoverished, he reasons, economic punishment will work as opposed to Iraq.

Here's his original quote in context from the story:

The country is teetering on the edge of economic collapse," US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told a weekend Asian security conference in Singapore.

"That, I believe is a major point of leverage. The primary difference between North Korea and Iraq is that we had virtually no economic options in Iraq because the country floats on a sea of oil."

The US wants to build consensus for an economic blockade of North Korea to choke trade and encourage a quick resolution to the nuclear crisis.

It doesn't really change the facts, however. And plenty of evidence already exists that the war was all about oil. Nevertheless, The Guardian is just as guilty of poor journalism as the US corporate media. And I'll have to view everything in that publication with a more skeptical eye henceforth.

Arrogance beyond belief

"Let's look at it simply. The most important difference between North Korea and Iraq is that economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country swims on a sea of oil."
- Paul Wolfowitz, US Deputy Defense Secretary (via The Guardian)

So what was this war about again? Of course, statements such as these aren't important to the US media. No, the important thing now is 24 hour coverage of Martha Stewart. Never mind that Bush lied and people died. Never mind the no weapons of mass destruction have been found. Americans don't care of course. The end always justifies the means. So what if Bush lied about the reasons for going to war. The important thing is Saddam is gone. Too fucking bad we managed to kill thousands of innocent people in the process. Gotta have that cheap gas for all those SUVs out there.

The arrogance the Bushies display never ceases to amaze me. So cocky have they become that they freely can make these admissions without fear of repercussions. After all who is going to stop them? The press? nope. The Democrats? Show me one with an ounce of courage or conviction. The voters? You mean the majority who didn't elect Bush the first time? Will there even be another election in this country? Will it really matter if there is? After all, even Saddam held elections. Of course he was the only candidate running but that's really not that different from here given the state of the so-called 'opposition.' Bush might as well be running unopposed.

Anyway, special prize awarded to anyone who can find this Wolfowitz quote reported in an American news outlet. Good luck.

Are Americans really this stupid?

Lead story in all the British papers is about the WMD deception. It's nice to know the British have a government that will take its leader to task for lying to the public. Here in the US, we have a rubber stamp congress, court system and a timid press. I read blogs from overseas and people think Americans must be in some state of denial or something. While I do believe, as Mencken once said, that no one would ever go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public, I don't really think that people here are in denial. They are just not informed. I have to work my ass off just to become semi-informed about world events. Joe Sixpack, on the other hand, has neither the time nor inclination to do that kind of work.

Thanks to the British, this story is starting to show up in corporate news sites like CNN.You still have to look for it though. But it's cause enough to be optimistic. Remember it took almost two years for the Watergate scandal to run its course.

Anyway, here some more music, a good cover of the Beatles' Daytripper, but a much slower version than the original. Let me know what you think.

Daytripper