A Ron Paul Supporter Surrenders
Jan 14th, 2008 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
Thoughts on Iowa
Jan 4th, 2008 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
From my boy Wolfgang:
“34 Percent for the Christian slaves under the sky, 25 percent for the Business Lords in their halls of stone, 10% for the defenders of freedom doomed to die, in the land of Iowa where voters lie.”
Is The Internet Dumbing Us Down?
Jun 19th, 2007 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
About two minutes after that last perhaps too-hopeful “Techno-Gonzo Manifesto” post about the wondrous nature of DIY and New Media, I found this up on digg: “A new book argues that YouTube, Wikipedia and Web 2.0 will ruin our culture. Andrew Keen wants to start an argument. And his new book “The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture” shows that he knows how to do it. [This book is] a relentless attack on the beloved Web 2.0 touchstones of user generated content and “the wisdom of crowds…”
Sounds like a book I’d like to buy.
I found a link to another essay associated with this: The EDGE’s “Digital Maoism” I can’t say I neccessarily agree with apocalyptic premises: it is my own belief that in the ends, sheer quality will win out over the babbling hordes. Nonetheless, these are tough questions.
The Techno-Gonzo Manifesto
Jun 19th, 2007 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
On the night of Hunter S. Thompson’s suicide two years ago, I awoke at approximately 2 AM in a groggy daze. I stumbled across the room and threw on my khaki fisherman’s hat, a lopsided, piece of crap accessory I once found laying neglected behind a thrift shop, only feet away from the dumpster. It nearly exactly mimicked the hat that the gonzo legend wore during the course of his infamous Las Vegas misadventure. I imagine that if I owned bulky yellow tinted sunglasses, a journalist’s vest, a long cigarette filter, khaki shorts and an especially atrocious Hawaiian shirt, I might have also donned that apparel at the time. It would not be until the morning that I knew of the legend’s death, but even then I could feel some sense of emptiness and sadness filling me. There was a void in the world of gonzo, and as such I resolved to fill it. With that in mind, I pen this manifesto with respects to the late Hunter S. Thompson; his legacy of old-fashioned gonzo journalism is one that has inspired me personally to get my hands dirty, so to speak, in the “new media” world wide “Web 2.0″. I’m not quite so pretentious yet as to declare myself the harbinger of a new type of journalism; “Techno-gonzo” is, rest assured, only a set of tags, buzzwords I feel help to bring out the essence of my kind of journalistic storytelling. Like many writers, I feel, I design my work with the goal of exposing the world to a previously unexplored part of itself; there remain quite a few uncharted places on America’s cultural cartography. One can only imagine what sorts of dragons slither in the margins: dangerous, and spectacular reptiles, I’m sure, transcending all imagination. The role of the techno-gonzo reporter, then, is to stumble upon those dragons, by chance, intuition, or deliberation, and joust with them, spy on them, observe them intimately and steal their metaphoric treasure. And then, like any good Promethean, he must blog it, open the connection so the world can share in the insight or experience.
He must say the words that have never been spoken before but resonate with the quiet stirrings of the reader’s brain. This, etymologically, was to be the function of the media - to serve as a medium for communicating one person’s thoughts and experiences to another. Unfortunately, the airwaves and all the useful frequencies are owned by the state and leased to corporations. There is no denying that Rupert Murdoch and other various piggish network moguls control most of what you see, hear, or read. The Internet exists as a free, endless media vacuum for any individual to communicate their experience, but it is the moguls who validate things. It’s not news unless it’s on ABC or FOX. You’re not a musician unless a record label hands you checks and plasters your face on MTV. You’re not popular or special if you’re not reported on in a tabloid. Your writing is meaningless unless it’s in a mainstream print publication. The media makes its capital by investing in the images that customer wants to be fed; the artist makes his money by selling his images to the media. The exchange of money in this process gives legitimacy to the phantasms of “art”.
Things, especially creative things, have no validity in our society unless they have received the endorsement of money. This is to say, money is the way things are assigned value and worth. For all intents and purposes, this blog is worthless because it does not generate revenue. This is partly a lie: I do, after all, have Google AdSense plastered at the top of the page, but those are worth only nickels apiece. In the time this blog has been in existence, I have, to my pleasure, hosted around six thousand unique visitors, around half of whom have rolled back around for repeat engagements. Through AdSense clicks from those few questionable souls who actually click on ads, I have made around ninety three cents. That and seven pennies could buy me a Coca-Cola. That’s a lie, because I haven’t even factored taxes into the equation yet.
The moral of the story is that unless one manages to sell himself to one of the few media outlets of the country capable of monetizing (and therefore ascribing value to) one’s work, one effectively works pro-bonum. An artist working pro-bonum is not a charitable or generous man: he is exiled to obscurity. There is no value to obscurity when you’re trying to change the world. As Richard Metzger says: “The most subversive things you can do is to be popular. There is no point in having a feeble voice if you don’t have to.” Yet this is a significant part of the techno-gonzo ethos: one works with the vain hope, but not the expectation, of compensation. The aim is not to line one’s coffers or to sell one’s souls, but to instead strive for the integrity only doing it yourself, (or “DIY”, as the hip might say) can bring. One must not be afraid to get one’s hands dirty or to practice deception: one must seek out secreted things, photograph places where cameras are prohibited, explore things other would rather not. One must be intrepid and immersed in story and opinions, and furthermore, exercise the freedom to detail these things as wildly, vividly, and honestly as he possibly can. The journalist should never be divorced from the action, and he should never-ever protect the interests of his sponsors at the expense of the truth. He should aim his work into the future, where all things have been exposed. This requires a certain clarity: the ability to penetrate the veil of time to maintain the singular vision of the Truth, with the capital “T”. This is a sacred standard one should strive to hold himself to: to live any other way is to be held accountable in eventuality for obscuring the light. If there is a heaven, Rupert Murdoch shall never bathe in its glory. The techno-gonzo journalist must be aware of himself recursively in a high, post-temporal fashion, and use the words and images which best suit that perspective.
I have spoken of the difficulties in presenting one’s message through the noxious sea of the mainstream media, but that is only the pessimistic view of things. At the Disinformation company’s “Disinfocon” convention in 1999, Richard Metzger presented a more positive schema: “Whoever controls what you see controls what you think, but our reality is no longer based on what “they” tell us. With the new media tools we all have at our disposal, all of us with the inclination to make our voices and opinions heard loudly can now more fully participate in the debate. Think about it: there is more free speech today than there has ever been at any point in history.” I believe this is also true. There is an establishment in place which controls the flow of information, and, similarly, there is a secondary establishment, a social movement that has been occurring for quite some time where information cannot be controlled. It is a tenuous movement: it is only a matter of time before someone tries to find a way to buy out the blogosphere. Nonetheless I prefer to ride out that current, break through the controls of Chomsky’s “gatekeepers” - it is my wish to reside in a world flooded with free information.
I should only hope this enthusiasm does not prove itself as frivolous as the hopes of every other counter-culture movement. I will never forget Thompson’s water-mark speech: “There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs,” he wrote. “We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.” I don’t think that can be the case, however. We have the freedom, we have the technology, we have the power to fashion a new world. We can’t turn back now - we’ve come too far.
The Re-districting Game
Jun 19th, 2007 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
One of my readers sent me this link: it’s actually pretty fun.
http://www.redistictringgame
Who would have thought that politics makes for a great gaming experience? It’s like World of Warcraft, except actually worth your time.
Ron Paul Excluded in Iowa [UPDATED]
Jun 19th, 2007 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
Mr. Wigfield fowarded me this e-mail, titled “DREWSPEAK HELP US WE NEED MAGICK” and marked urgent:
Ron Paul Excluded in Iowa
“June 19, 2007 - Iowans for Tax Relief and Iowa Christian Alliance will host a presidential candidates forum on Saturday, June 30th in Des Moines. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson, and Tom Tancredo will participate.
Ron Paul, however, will not participate. Why? Because he wasn’t invited.
We heard about this forum from numerous supporters in Iowa who asked why Dr. Paul was not going to participate. Those supporters assumed that Dr. Paul was invited.
The campaign office had not received an invitation so we called this morning; thinking we might have misplaced the invitation or simply overlooked it. Lew Moore, our campaign manager, called Mr. Edward Failor, an officer of Iowans for Tax Relief, to ask about it. To our shock, Mr. Failor told us Dr. Paul was not invited; he was not going to be invited; and he would not be allowed to participate. And when asked why, Mr. Failor refused to explain. The call ended.
Lew then called Mr. Steve Sheffler, president of the Iowa Christian Alliance, to talk with him. Mr. Sheffler did not answer so Lew left a message. He has yet to respond.
Why are the Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance excluding the one Republican candidate who scored at the top of every online poll taken after the MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN debates? Why are they denying Iowans the opportunity to hear from the Republican presidential candidate whose popularity is growing by the day?
We couldn’t get answers to these questions from Messrs. Failor and Sheffler. Maybe you’ll have better luck. Their contact information is below.
It’s ironic that on the same day we learned the Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance excluded Dr. Paul from their candidates forum, we received a call from ABC News confirming Dr. Paul’s participation in its nationally broadcast August 5th debate to be held in Des Moines.
- Kent Snyder, Chairman
Ron Paul 2008″
Contact Information
Edward Failor
Iowans for Tax Relief
2610 Park Avenue
Muscatine, Iowa 52761
Phone: 563-288-3600 or 877-913-3600
Fax: 563-264-2413
E-mail: itr@taxrelief.org
Steve Sheffler, President
Iowa Christian Alliance
939 Office Park Road, Suite 115
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
Phone: 515-225-1515
Fax: 515-225-1826
E-mail: slscheffler@iowachristian.com
Call these people. I’ve been, but their phones are busy and noone’s picking up. E-mail these people. Get your friends to call and e-mail them. Harass them and make sure they know where they’re doing wrong. Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy isn’t so obscure that it could have legitimately “slipped their minds” to send him an invitation. Personally, I would hope the man would crash the damn thing, but I suppose that might be a little inappropriate. It doesn’t make sense that a group looking for tax relief would fail to support the only man out there who explicitly aims to reduce their taxes by cutting military spending. If you’ve seen the Republican debates, let’s be frank: Ron Paul has stolen the show, but he’s being ostracized in favour of the tyrannical Giuliani, a man who, like Hitler before him, used a national disaster an excuse to hold onto power long after he needed to be out of office. We need to swing the hammer and let these people know what’s what with Ron Paul. If anyone gets any kind of comment back from these people, please let me know immediately! I would love to post whatever half-assed explanations these guys have for their actions.
Wolfgang alerted me to this - apparently, there’s more to the story:
“The Chairman of Iowans for Tax Relief, Ed Failor, is a Senior Advisor to the McCain Campaign in Iowa. Everyone calling him should be aware of that.
563-288-3600 or 877-913-3600; Fax 563-264-2413″
Another intrepid investigator, Sean, left me a comment filled with the sponsors of the sponsors of the debate: that is to say, more people to put pressure on. Here they are:
The event is also Co-Sponsored by:
Krishna Engineering Consultants, Inc,
Light Expressions by Shaw
clsmeltzer@shawelec.com
Coldwell Banker Mid America Group, Realtors
Marvin A. Pomerantz
Chairman and CEO.
Phone: (515) 224-3610
E-Mail: MPomerantz@MidAmericaGroup.com
Teresa A. Wahlert
President and Chief Operating Officer
Address: Regency West 4
4700 Westown Parkway, Suite 350
West Des Moines, IA 50266-6728
Phone: (515)224-3620
FAX: (515)224-3666
E-Mail: TWahlert@MidAmericaGroup.com
Carolyn H. Helmlinger
President, Coldwell Banker Mid-America Group, Realtors®
Address: Regency West 1
1501 50th Street, Suite 350
West Des Moines, IA 50266-5920
Phone: (515) 224-3603
FAX: (515) 224-3503
E-Mail: CHelmlinger@MidAmericaGroup.com
Dennis J. Tinker
Vice President and Controller
Phone: (515) 224-3628
E-Mail: DTinker@MidAmericaGroup.com
Steven M. Coleman
Vice President, Property Management
Phone: (515) 224-3649
E-Mail: SColeman@MidAmericaGroup.com
Kent Allison
Director of IT, Mid-America Group,
Vice President IT, Coldwell Banker, Mid-America Group, Realtors®
E-Mail: kent@midamericagroup.com
Bradley A. Long
Vice President, Strategic Development
E-Mail: BLong@MidAmericaGroup.com
Julie Durbala Reeves
Director of Strategic Marketing, Mid-America Group, Vice President of Marketing, Coldwell Banker Mid-America Group, Realtors®
E-Mail: JReeves@MidAmericaGroup.com
Christopher D. Greenfield
Vice President, Business Development
E-Mail: CGreenfield@MidAmericaGroup.com
Paul Clowser
Business Analyst
E-Mail: PClowser@MidAmericaGroup.com
Larry Cedarstrom
President, Mid-America Commercial Real Estate
Address: Regency West 5
4500 Westown Parkway, Suite 150
West Des Moines, IA 50266-6717
Phone: (515) 224-6177
FAX: (515) 224-6199
E-Mail: LCedarstrom@MidAmericaGroup.com
Ron Paul has over 9000 supporters on facebook alone. He’s been a star at the debates and has proven to be the most honest out of any of the Republican presidential candidates. He and Mike Gravel are my homeboys. The man’s a bloody senator and a true constitutionalist, and he deserves better. What’s the world coming to when honest men are denied a stage at a presidential debate?
Paris Hilton - a negligible, spoiled, dumb whore.
Jun 19th, 2007 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
Paris Hilton. Just saying her name sours my tongue; is this woman really all that relevant? I suppose she’s a major influence on the teenage and tweenage girl market, and her reality TV shows (I think that’s what she does… I don’t watch TV) are popular, but the fact of the matter is that the woman’s a spoiled, dumb whore. It’s a cold and callous thing to say, and I’m sure it’s infinitely degrading towards women and all that jazz, but it needs to be said: Paris Hilton is a spoiled, dumb whore, and that’s it.
My friend Wolfgang suggested I write an article about the social injustices of Paris Hilton’s jail escapades. The problem is that I haven’t even been bothering to follow them. Why should I? A quick Google search shows me that Paris Hilton was arrested for DUI, went out partying again the next night, was sentence to jail, was let out of jail by the town sheriff, (who apparently had received money from her family), was sent back to jail by the judge, and is now serving out her time with 24/7 medical and psychiatric assistance for… ADD and panic attacks? A compulsive fear of being photographed on the can? This narrative doesn’t make any sense. People go to jail - it happens. Celebrities, being people, can go to jail too, and I don’t see why they deserve any exemption. I understand the Sheriff involved is a kind-hearted person trying to do the right thing. But quite personally, Hilton is someone who’s lived a very high-profile life showing complete disregard for the world, laws, and people around her, with nothing to justify her behavior except a privileged birth. So why not lock her up for a while? This is a woman who needs a hard lesson.
D-Bag Judge suing local dry cleaner for $54M cries over pants in court
Jun 13th, 2007 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
“WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge had to leave the courtroom with tears running down his face Tuesday after recalling the lost pair of trousers that led to his $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner.”
Part 1. Drycleaner loses the man’s pants. Part 2. The judge fights back with $54 Million dollar lawsuit on the grounds that the “Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign was fraudulent. Part 3. Judge reveals himself a d-bag:
“As Pearson explained that those weren’t the pants for the suit, he choked up and left the courtroom crying”.
Seriously, WTF? Who does that? I can’t deny that few things give me more pleasure than calling out a corporate establishment for poor service and using that as leverage to cut myself some sort of deal, but this is entirely absurd. What kind of person pays a thousand dollars for a suit? What kind of person -cries- about a pair of dress pants? Perhaps if he had some sort of sentimental attachment to his pants I would understand, but there is little I see to imply that these were the man’s “lucky pants” or were special in any way beyond the price tag. They’re nothing more than an expensive pair of pants - so why, exactly, the fuss? He was offered a settlement, why didn’t he just take it? How is it even slightly ethical to take a family laundromat to court for fifty-four million dollars? How is it even feasible that the small company could cough up that much money?
If, Judge Pearson, you happen to have stumbled upon my page - perhaps using that nifty Firefox plug-in, StumbleUpon, I would like to say three things to you. You’re a bully, your lack of ethics has long crossed the bridge to cruelty, and you should be disbarred on the spot. You should not be permitted to enforce the law, you money-grubbing, materialistic, selfish prat. Go pop your collar or something.
End rant.
Police use Facebook to douse bush party
Jun 13th, 2007 by Lord Andrew J. Andrews II
Some kids were all like, trying to party it up; the Man, however, was cruising on his Facebook, saw the “event” page, and posted down on it, being like, “We know what’s up and we’re gonna be there too”. And so it was.
read more | digg story
I noticed that this link vanished from digg almost as quickly as it went up: in essence, it details the locations and executive orders allowing the usage of multitudes of fully staffed and operational prison camps throughout America; in essence, the only thing barring these things from going into use are the orders to make the country a police state. Pretty sketchy if you ask me.
I’ve heard conspiracy theorists rant about these a lot. Prison camps for American citizens - it’s been done before. We’ve all heard about the Japanese internment camps during World War II, we all know about Guantanamo Bay, it’s all passe now. When someone says the government has the facilities to herd Americans into prison, it’s not shocking. Out of every single bloody country on the globe, America has the single largest percentage of its own population imprisoned. I imagine most people are aware of this by now. I feel like these facts should affect me on some visceral level - shouldn’t I care that my fellow citizens are being locked away, that the government is prepared to lock even more of them away, that habeas corpus has long since been thrown out the window, that human rights don’t mean anything to anyone, except for perhaps a buck to an ACLU lawyer? But they don’t- they’re just facts. This disaffection worries me more than anything else - I consider myself to be a fairly educated and active citizen, probably more-so than the average American, as sad as that fact is. But if the general atmosphere of the world has me so jaded that I can’t muster up the energy to care about concentration camps on American soil, then what, exactly, does that say about the country and environment which has imposed this lack of sentiment on its citizens?
In lighter news, possibly the greatest Onion headline ever: “Retired Gen. George Washington Criticizes Bush’s Handling of Iraq War”