The Big Fear

“

Sony’s decision to pull the film (which depicts a fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un) sends a clear message that by threatening people with violence, you can get your way. We’ve always known this to be an effective tactic, of course, but rarely is such violence threatened when the stakes merely entail the showing of a movie. South Park nailed this “lesson” in the 200th and 201st episodes of the series back in 2010. The episodes aired after Trey Parker’s and Matt Stone’s latest run-in with Comedy Central executives who were squeamish about the creators’ desire to depict Muhammad, which of course is haram, as the world found out in 2006 when Muslim fanatics rioted and attacked several European embassies after a Danish newspaper published cartoons of him. In episode 201, Kyle and the boys come to realize what the only “true power” is, as a censored image of Muhammad stands in the background. Now it's claimed that China "helped" the Nork's SONY hack.  Duh, of course they did. Skim through the factoids below and tell me they have the technical wherewithal to hack more than a good cough.  6 crazy facts about North Korea  Here's 14 more crazy facts about North Korea And 20 more! Comedy Central is owned by lefty Via Com, so it is not surprising that they'd fold like a bad poker hand in the face of threats to their sorry asses.  A few years ago, when South Park first attempted to show Muhammad, the network censored it, claiming it was "because they're religiously tolerant"  "No you're not," Stone retorted. "You're afraid of getting blown up. That's what you're afraid of. Comedy Central copped to that, you know: 'We're afraid of getting blown up.'" All of which leads me to this— With metronomic precision each year the national press corps begins running columns by “religion scholars” who wish you to know that Jesus Christ is a fictional character. Mind you, no newspaper of note in the world is brave enough to run a similar story about the Prophet Mohammed. The latest comes from a “lecturer in religious studies” from Australia named Raphael Lataster. The Washington Post felt compelled to run this so the godless heathens in Washington, D.C. can continue on with no consequence. According to Mr. Lataster, “There are no existing eyewitness or contemporary accounts of Jesus. All we have are later descriptions of Jesus’ life events by non-eyewitnesses, most of whom are obviously biased.” These biased, non-eyewitness accounts include the writings of the Apostles Matthew, Peter, and John all three of whom were standing near the cross on which the magical mythological Jesus was nailed. They were just, one might suppose, looking in a different direction.   Full "There They Go Again," if you're interested.   Click-Click

”

Weeks you have left

“

I found this quite unsettling; don't know why.

”

E-Z PASS

It's So E-Z “ From a drawer in a little alcove hidden from the telescreen, Winston pulls out a small diary he recently purchased. He found the diary in a secondhand store in the proletarian district, where the very poor live relatively unimpeded by Party monitoring. The proles, as they are called, are so impoverished and insignificant that the Party does not consider them a threat to its power. Winston begins to write in his diary, although he realizes that this constitutes an act of rebellion against the Party. He describes the films he watched the night before. He thinks about his lust and hatred for a dark-haired girl who works in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth, and about an important Inner Party member named O’Brien—a man he is sure is an enemy of the Party. Winston remembers the moment before that day’s Two Minutes Hate, an assembly during which Party orators whip the populace into a frenzy of hatred against the enemies of Oceania. Just before the Hate began, Winston knew he hated Big Brother, and saw the same loathing in O’Brien’s eyes. Winston looks down and realizes that he has written “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”over and over again in his diary. He has committed thoughtcrime—the most unpardonable crime—and he knows that the Thought Police will seize him sooner or later. Just then, there is a knock at the door.-  1984 Warning to motorists: Don't speed in the toll lanes. E-Z Pass is watching. Several states, including New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania, say they monitor speeds through the fast pass toll lanes and will suspend your E-Z Pass for multiple speeding violations. In all, five of the 15 E-Z Pass states have some kind of rules on the books for breaking the speed limit in the convenience lanes. "You can lose your E-Z Pass privileges if you speed through E-Z Pass lanes," says Dan Weiller, director of communications for the New York State Thruway Authority. "You get a couple of warnings. We don't have the power to give a ticket, but we do have to power to revoke your E-Z Pass, which we will." He and tolling officials in several other states say the issue is the safety of human toll collectors. "At most toll barriers, we have a mix of E-Z Pass lanes and standard toll lanes," Weiller says. On Maryland toll roads, drivers' speed is monitored in the free-flowing toll lanes, which have a 30 mph speed limit, says Becky Freeberger, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority. "If we clock you at 12 mph more than that, we will send you a warning, saying slow down," she says. "It's not a ticket." If a driver gets a second such notice within six months, their E-Z Pass account can be suspended for up to 60 days. [Full] In the grand scheme of things this is but a pimple, but illustrative of how government will use any technology available to track the citizenry.  It's prompted me to write this comprehensive paper on how to take yourself out of the loop —now— before you, like Winston Smith, find a rat cage around your head. Chapter One Never connect to the internet ... Fuck. ”

Found Stuff

TWO THINGS Unplugged

What Boot?

Takin' it to da man, chump!

In a Flash ...

ALL SMOKE