I so want this on a t-shirt….
Author: dansomeone
Still searching…
…for a theme I really love. Going to try this one out for a bit.
OK, this is a thing on the Internet today…
But it made me laugh out loud for real.
Shutdown
So what happens if the government shuts down? I mean, I know all those federal employees get sent home without a paycheck (except for Congresspeople – they get paid, you betcha!). But what about services? What effect, e.g., on air travel? Does the TSA go home, leaving us without security checks and molestation? How about the FAA? Air traffic controllers are federal employees; without them, planes can’t take off and land (at least not with any assurance of safety). So I guess air travel comes to a grinding halt. That’s sure to help the economy.
Digression: By the way, for everyone who says that The Gubmint can’t provide services effectively, I point to the FAA, which, on an annual budget of about $14 billion, oversees a $170 billion industry that moves more than 600 million passengers per year, with a better safety record than any other mode of transportation. I don’t think any private enterprise could manage any better; and if you privatized it, you wouldn’t get one company doing it, you’d get multiple companies competing, which would lead to all sorts of inconsistencies and conflicts.
UA1703: Chicago Departure, this is United 1703. Any idea when we’ll get a runway?
ATC1: United 1703, I’m sorry, but United’s contract with ControlCo hasn’t been renewed yet. We aren’t authorized to give you clearance to take off.
ATC2: [breaking in] United 1703, this is Mandy with BigATC Inc. I can give you a one-time clearance for a low rate, no obligation. I just need a United Airlines corporate credit card and we’ll have you on your way to New York in just a few minutes. And be sure to ask for BigATC when you get into LaGuardia airspace!
No way that could lead to higher accident and fatality rates, right?
Anyway, I think there are probably dozens of ways we can’t predict in which a government shutdown will hurt people and hurt the economy. And don’t think the Republicans don’t realize it – they just don’t care. Their goal right now is to improve their chances at taking the White House next year. A bad economy is a boon to the party out of power, even if they caused it, because it’s much easier for the electorate to blame the current administration than to puzzle out who’s truly responsible for the problems.
Some people are comforted by the fact that the government shutdown in 1995 backfired so dramatically against the Republicans – the circumstances are pretty similar to today’s, with the GOP assuming midterm success gives them free reign to dictate everything in Washington, and most of the right seems to have total amnesia about the last time this happened (though I suppose part of that is because it was 16 years ago, when a good portion of the current crop of Tea Partiers were still in high school).
But I’m not one of those people who wishes for bad things to happen just so the “other side” finally understands how stupid they have been. The possible effects of a shutdown are pretty serious – I just found a few more in this post at the Harvard Political Review – and it would be much better to avoid them. On the other hand, I am not sure the shutdown effects are worse than the current Republican proposal from Paul Ryan – which includes, among other things, the ultimate dismantling of Medicare.
There is a small part of me that holds out hope that people of good conscience on both sides of the aisle will come out of the woodwork and slap some sense into the rest of Congress. But I’m not holding my breath. The next couple of months could be very bad times indeed.
Oh, more music! Epitonic.com
A link to this site came to me in the email today, and I am profoundly glad it did. I’ve only poked around a tiny bit, but it seems to have a great deal of well-curated indie music available for streaming and download, interspersed with bloggy articles about… music. Seems well worth exploring further.
Untitled
Um… yes. More, please. Much much more.
Maybe I won’t see this movie….
http://cavecitysink.tumblr.com/post/4167367840/this-movie-made-me-feel-bad-to…
I don’t think this particular reviewer can be accused of lacking a sense of humor. So I take this review as a fair indictment of Sucker Punch. I am less inclined to see it now.
I Lost Control @ Darkroom, 3/25/11
I got a chance to see what is probably my favorite Chicago band last night. I Lost Control took the stage midway between The Vindits and The Moves. I’ve seen ILC a couple of times before, and they did not disappoint last night.
The Vindits opened up, and I have to say, it’s gotta be tough to be the first band onto a bar stage. The crowd is still at the beer-and-conversation level of focus and energy. Except for your buddies, you can assume everyone is there to see the other bands. (Case in point: me.) How do you move the crowd to the totally-into-the-music level? Well, the Vindits tried to do it with a really solid surf-guitar/swamp rockabilly sound. I thought they hit it musically, but something was missing. First, they played five or six songs, and every one was at about the same tempo. Nothing was exactly downtempo, but nothing made me sit up and take notice. A little variety would have increased the energy level. Secondly, the vocals just missed. I thought the lead singer’s voice – basic indie tenor – was mismatched. The could have used a Johnny Cash bass, or (as the music put me in mind of the Cramps) the late, lamented Lux Interior.
I’ll discuss ILC in a minute. They were, after all, the real reason I went. But first, the headliner: The Moves. I try to subscribe to the philosophy that if you can’t say something nice about someone… oh, who am I kidding? No I don’t. And really, I don’t have much nice to say about the Moves. I don’t have much that isn’t nice to say either, because frankly, I kind of tuned them out and we left partway through their set. The band played straight-up power rock, and the lead singer had that Geddy Lee/Dennis DeYoung ultra-high tenor thing going. Basically, they sounded like they were trying to be Journey, and that does nothing for me.
So, ILC. I will tell you right now, this band hits all the right buttons as far as I am concerned. You can hear influences from Joy Division (“Runaway Train,” “Denial,” and of course the band’s name) to Devo to Talking Heads to Bauhaus and to just about every other band I loved in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The lead singer, Stevo Anderson, has a baritone to bass-baritone sound reminiscent of Ian Curtis or Lou Reed (or the aforementioned Lux Interior). Complex beats and great bass and guitar work always get me, and these people have those in spades. Also, how can you not love a Chicago band that does a song about Jon Burge? My only complaint: I want new songs. They have a 5-track EP out (and more tracks to listen to at their website), and I will never get bored with the tracks that I know… but MOAR PLEEZ kthxbai.
Final verdict:
The Vindits: Close. Really solid music, but they need a little more energy and a different vocal sound.
The Moves: Meh. Not my thing.
I Lost Control: Excellent. Absolutely right on and deserving of all accolades. I hope to see great things for this band.
Untitled
Yeah, OK. Guilty pleasure time.
Ca Plane Pour Moi. This song is a long-time favorite of mine, and this version wins a prize I can’t even come up with a name for: it’s Plastic Bertrand, the original singer of the song… backed by The Bosshoss, a German band that specializes in shit-kicking country&western covers of American pop and hip-hop songs.
So… that happened. The Bosshoss also has a song — possibly an original — I can’t stop listening to, even though I don’t really know if I like it or not. More on that, perhaps, later. Meanwhile, just go here and check out some of their other videos.
Untitled
Not so clever after all, are you, disdainful hipster?



