May 06, 2008
The fight for labor protections didn't only turn deadly in the famous conflicts in West Virginia and the Rocky Mountain States. It happened in mild-mannered Wisconsin too....
April 23, 2008
And will try to put organic non rGBH users out of business by forcing them to put propaganda on milk cartons. I swear, every day I get closer to moving to the country, buying some goats and getting off the...
April 22, 2008
The august university I work at has named a new (and inaugural) "Director of Sustainability" who will be responsible for efforts to reduce usage of natural resources and general efforts towards conservation. The gentlemen taking the position had previously served...
March 16, 2008
That's what stands to be revealed in the discovery phase of a suit against the RIAA: Lybeck tells Ars that he'll be digging into agreements between the RIAA, RIAA member companies, MediaSentry, and the Settlement Support Sentry. Part of that...
March 01, 2008
Anyone? Anyone?: "Artist managers and lawyers have been wondering for months when their artists will see money from the copyright settlements and how it will be accounted for," said lawyer John Branca, who has represented Korn, Don Henley, and The...
January 29, 2008
As just about everyone who blogs on military issues has discovered, there is a fascinating Tom Ricks nugget in the Washington Post yesterday. The Air Force (our Air Force) notes that "the budget battle is zero sum - others gain...
January 07, 2008
Maybe they can save its soul....
December 14, 2007
For many years, I have been a customer of Working Assets long distance. They have been a wonderful phone company, and I credit them immensely for helping me discover that I had been "slammed" by a pro-life phone company that...
October 18, 2007
I'm having trouble expressing my level of disdain for the Congressional Democrats in the English language. "Sniveling" might work, but doesn't have enough banal evilness in it. "Evil" gives them to much credit for actually doing something (takes effort to...
October 15, 2007
... and sacks of dirt, because we have a nice regular Lowe's right here in town, saving me from ever having to consider wasting a dime of my money at Home Depot. Hat Tip to Shakespeare's Sister, and a crapload...
Showings of Once More with Feeling featuring Rocky Horror-style audience participation have been killed by Fox. Not thinking about the new generations that could get turned on to buy seven seasons of DVDs, are they? More likely thinking anything they...
October 06, 2007
...and the $9250 song, a repost of my love letter: Dear RIAA, I am writing to express my deepest gratitude for all your efforts in lobbying Congress to change the rules governing internet radio. I confess that at first I...
August 13, 2007
There has been quite a bit of attention paid to the recent censoring of Pearl Jam's performance. ATT claims that it was an error related to their policy of editing out profanity, but Pearl Jam and advocates of net neutrality...
June 18, 2007
What happens when a state can't - or won't - rely on a standing army to accomplish its security objectives? Privatization. In the case of the war in Iraq, it looks like the private sector has found new and improved...
May 17, 2007
One of the prime problems with US policy in the Mid East (if not the world) is that everyone believes that the US hates all of them, wants to bomb everybody, and generally couldn't give a dead rat what happens...
April 17, 2007
Coming on the heels of the Navy's decision to cancel their contract with Lockheed for another Littoral Combat Ship is news that the Coast Guard is wresting control of the troubled "Deepwater" program from a consortium headed by Lockhead Martin...
April 11, 2007
From a story in today's WaPo: The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has...
February 14, 2007
I'm not a fan of this mostly useless holiday. Falling about halfway between winter solstice and spring, I'm suspicious of some pagan origins here, but the relentless commercialism of the day makes me gag. According to the commercials, we're supposed...
January 07, 2007
Even with carefully documented respect of Fair Use by the blogger, The Rat went after Spocko, who conducted a citizen action campaign to alert advertisers to what they were sponsoring with their dollars. Read about it here and here. The...
December 03, 2006
This time, it's the MPAA, which used its clout to kill a bill that would have protected people from having their private information used and/or stolen. The reason? The MPAA said it would interfere with their investigations into piracy. Excuse...
November 23, 2006
Hear that? That's the sound of techies and hipsters doing a 180 in their feelings about Google. And why might that be? First for fucking up Blogger and now for turning YouTube into Their(corporate)Tube: And a very Happy Thanksgiving to...
November 05, 2006
Always a sign of someone speaking truth that exposes bullshit claims: The chain, Hannaford Brothers, developed a system called Guiding Stars that rated the nutritional value of nearly all the food and drinks at its stores from zero to three...
October 05, 2006
Bullshit. Dear Annie: How can I achieve a balance between standing up for myself at work and being regarded by colleagues as a bitch? Overall, I'm a pretty easygoing person, I try to help others out when I can, and...
October 04, 2006
...but why am I suspicious about Fox labeling Foley as a democrat? Fluffy something or others to the StealthBadger....
July 12, 2006
This week I am trying to make it through the last month of The New Yorker (so I am reading through articles some of you might have read some time ago). The latest piece I've found quite interesting is from...
July 07, 2006
It's so easy to save money when you don't give it to companies that want spokesmodels to look like cokeheads. Wait, did I say that? Clarkson looks like she could lose a few pounds. Since the brand is all about...
July 05, 2006
Anyone who knows me, knows I have no love for Disney. What they did to my home state, the sneakiness with which they snapped up the real estate, that they mass merchandised (is that a verb?) my Pooh bear... the...
June 25, 2006
Ask a Ninja about net neutrality. Via Majikthise....
May 13, 2006
Are we really surprised that the big phone companies (but not Qwest) meekly rolled over for the NSA database? Not even condsidering cynical thoughts like quid pro quo over ending Net Neutrality, can you imagine any major corporation that wouldn't...
May 05, 2006
Privatization of the Army's food supply? So Nick Andoscia went to Iraq. And hunger soon followed."I got a letter," says Karen. "And he had called me before that. He said 'send lots of tuna.' "Nick told his mother that he...
March 10, 2006
This doesn't happen very often (and when it does, I usually need to think twice to make sure I'm not doing something stupid), but I agree fully with President Bush's position on this whole Dubai port ownership business. President Bush...
February 28, 2006
Now I fully understand the laws of supply and demand, and sure, I expected higher heating bills this winter. And of course this is perhaps a subject that I of all people shouldn't be bringing up here since I'm the...
February 14, 2006
Oh yeah, this is fair. But I guess when it's what happens when you put supposed oil men (not real oil men, but big business cronies who equate being successful businessmen with cronyism) in charge of the country.New projections, buried...
December 22, 2005
Your assignment today is to go read the medium-length Washington Post story on the disaster that was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Short version: a bureaucratic mess. Discuss. (Seriously, a great read. Well worth your time.)...
November 14, 2005
From Steve Gilliard, more on the contortions of Target (and yes, that's his graphic and tag line. Nice, eh?). Do your fucking job and hand out the pills Here at Target we offer stylish, low cost goodsand vagina control I've...
November 13, 2005
Just so we're clear on that. First, a baseline. When you buy a regular CD, you own it. You do not "license" it. You own it outright. You're allowed to do anything with it you like, so long as you...