Bullitt list -- 04.12.10

Today's category: Enter the Dragon

Listen, I get that China is the up-and-coming superpower. We Yanks have had our day in the sun. But now the strains of having it too good for too long, along with the desire to have it all for free have made us a few steps slow and short of breath.

The Chinese, on the other hand, still have what Survivor called the Eye of the Tiger. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to live there or anything, and I'll take the relative freedom of the USA to the Chines censorship and state social control. But there can be little doubt that the Day of the Dragon is near.

They just need to iron out a few things. Because they have some fucked up shit going on that is unbecoming of a world superpower

• You remember this gal from a month or two ago? Chick is growing devil horns. When you say you want your girls to be horny, this isn't what you have in mind. Chinese doctors say the growths on Zhang Gouzheng's forehead are "cutaneous horns," made up of compacted keratin, which is the same protein we have in our hair and nails, and forms horns, wool and feathers in animals.
  
  They say that, while rare, they tend to show up in fair-skinned elderly adults who have history of significant sun exposure, and in demon spawn.


• Kudos to the federal judge that awarded several Virginia families $2.6 million in damages from a Chinese manufacturer of drywall. It seems the Chinese thought it would be a good idea to make drywall (you know, the stuff the walls in your house/apartment are made of out of?) from the waste materials of scrubbers on coal-fired power plants.
  
  Big surprise, that cheap Chinese-made drywall emits sulfuric acid gas into you home. Bummer. It causes extensive damage to wiring, heating and air conditioning, floors, closets, kitchen cabinets -- not to mention YOUR LUNGS!!!
  
  So, yeah. China, as you make the ascendancy into superpowerdom, you might want to figure out how to build houses that don't kill your own people.


• Another Chinese medical oddity that may or may not be related to sulfuric acid emitting drywall is the case of a boy who was born with 16 toes and 15 fingers. There are many advantages of having so many digits -- it's a new world record, you can easily count to 31, you have multiple options for flipping the bird.
  
  Still, doctors opted to do surgery on the polydactyl boy to make him more normal. Of course as we've seen, 'normal' in China has a whole different definition.
  


• The Chinese are taking misogyny to a whole new level. You know what happens when you take the communist's one-child-per-family policy and mix in a culture that values men over women?
  
  You get a badly imbalanced gender ratio for one thing. By some estimates, China will have 30 million more men of marriageable age than women within the next 10 years. Thirty million! That's more than the population of Texas. Can you imagine the state of Texas being nothing by dudes? Gives me the heebie-jeebies.
  
  I don't know what they're going to do. Import a lot of foreign women? Some kind of war to "cull" the surplus men? Promote the use of X-box, Cheetos, Mr. Pibb and Internet porn as a means to keep all these maniacs in check?
  
  All I know is that this kind of gender imbalance is unprecedented (to the best of my knowledge) and could end up causing the downfall of the Chinese superpower just as it gets going.

tagged: Bullitt, China, polydactyly, Zhang Gouzheng, cutaneous horns, drywall, sulfuric acid, misogyny , gender ratio imbalance

Bullitt list -- 07.01.09

Today's category: Speaking of...

• So some geniuses at a sex conference in Amsterdam (yeah, big surprise) have announced that having sex every day can increase a couple's odds of conceiving a child. The study was led by Australia's King of the Obvious David Greening of IVF Sydney (IVF stands for "I value fucking").
  
  The study also had some other surprising findings:
  • The use of alcohol can help lead to daily sexual intercourse.
  • Avoiding the use of contraceptives can significantly increase the odds of conceiving a child.
  • Australian men really, really like participating in these kinds of studies.
    
    
• And speaking of children, I took my kid to go see the new Pixar animated feature UP the other day. Pretty good flick. I liked it. I give it a thumbs up and a recommendation.
  
  But one thing really stood out to me almost from the beginning of the movie. The character Russell has an amazing resemblance to a local KC blogger. See if you agree. Here's a pic of the character from the movie.
  And here's a pic of someone who, in my opinion, could have been separated from Russell.
  So whadyathink Internet? Am I right or am I right.
  


• And speaking of uncanny resemblances (and movies), Sacha Baron Cohen's latest joint, Bruno, is set to open in theaters on July 10. Judging by the trailers, it's pretty much the same thing we saw in Borat, but instead of a fictitious moronic Kazakh journalist making fun of people, it's a fictitious moronic Austrian gay male supermodel making fun of people.
  
  Pretty derivative, since the whole moronic male supermodel thing was done to death by Ben Stiller in Zoolander eight years ago.
  
  
• And speaking about being done to death, it seems like celebrities are dropping like flies these days. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson (if you believe the media stories) Billy Mays... they all make it seem like being a celebrity is a death sentence anymore.
  
  The truth is, being a human is a death sentence. And I've got news for you, there are going to be more and more frequent celebrity deaths in the years ahead. You see in our celebrity-obsessed culture we're suffering from a glut of "celebrities." It's getting to the point that, not far in the future, everyone will be a celebrity.
  
  C'mon people, have some standards. Having an internet video show doesn't make you a celebrity.


• And speaking of internet video, Bloomberg reported the other day that popular programs like The Simpsons are now commanding higher advertising rates on websites like Hulu.com and TV.com than they are on prime time television.
  
  It looks like advertisers are getting wise to the facts that a) people just skip through the ads on the DVR/Tivo, and 2) people actively seeking out content online are loyal fans and more valuable as an audience than people passively watching content on TV.

tagged: Bullitt, movies, Up, Bruno, Zoolander, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Stiller, Ben Stiller, pop culture, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Hulu, TV, The Simpsons

Bullitt List – 11.30.18

Today's category: Nature is not your friend

Look, don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of Nature. There are few things I enjoy more than getting out-of-doors, out of the city, doing some hiking, biking fishing... anything really that will get me away from the soul crushing mass of humanity that weighs down on all city dwellers 24-hours a day (Not you though. You're cool. You're alright. I'm referring to all of the other humanity).

But let's face it, that fandom is a one way street. Those people who say that Nature is beautiful are only partly right. Nature is beautiful, sure. But Nature doesn't give two shits how beautiful you think it is. And Nature wouldn't think twice about sinking a cobra fang into your neck if you let your guard down for half a second.

So, Nature Boy, while you're busy thinking up your rebuttal, here are a few Bullitt Points to back up my assertion that Nature is not your friend:

• Scientists Find New, Disease-Spreading Tick in 9 States
  It's not cute. It's not here to save the day. It's here to spread human-killing pathogens.
   
• New Wasp Species Turns Spiders into Zombies
  Just what we need, zombie spiders. Mark my words, this is only the first step for these wasps. They're coming for you next!
• New Weapons to Fight Baby-eating Snakes
  "…they have even been found trying to swallow the hands of sleeping infants."  Good luck with that, snake hunters.
• Young Girl Gored by Deer in London Park
  
  
  Yes they're magnificent creatures, so graceful and gentle... unless they're looking to get it on. Hey, if you only have a couple of weeks each year in which to get your freak on, you might feel a little aggressive at times too. Bottom line, kids: Stay away from horny deer.

Bullitt list -- 11.20.09

Today's category: Goin' Rogue

• Lot's of news on the ladies health care front. First a group appointed by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (Kathleen Sebelius, proprietor) said women don't need to get mammograms until they're 50 (rather than 40) and they don't need to get them as often.
  
  Next, another group said women don't need to get Pap smears as early nor as often.
  
  It’s pretty clear to see where this is going. When the Gubmint takes over your health care, they're going to need a way to cut spending. The solution, tell you that you don't need as much health care and then not give it to you. Problem solved.


• I heard the talking heads on the insipid morning show this morning bemoaning the departure of Oprah Winfrey from the airwaves in 2011.
  
  The final comment that made me leave the room was when one of the ditsy hosts asked a guest "expert" "How will the audience fill the void left by the departure of Oprah's show?"
  
  Are you kidding me? Look at the ratings, toots. There is no void left by Oprah's show. Why do you think she's calling it quits to begin with? When you're best ratings come from an interview with Sarah Palin, you're probably doing well if you can keep yourself from taking a flying leap off the Hancock Center.


• Think the Great Banker Bailout of 2009 was fun? Well, just wait until next year when we all get to bail out the entire state of California.
  
  The LA Times reported that there's no end in site to CA's budget woe's -- currently in a $21 billion deficit -- even after the latest tax increases and draconian cuts in state services.
  
  It's okay though. California has a plan. They have enacted stricter energy efficiency standards on televisions sets that will probably increase the price of the TV's and encourage people to buy new HDTVs in Nevada or Arizona or Tijuana.
  
  So at lease we know the CA legislature has its priorities straight.


• And here's a final WTF story to end your week on: Peruvian Police have busted a gang that they say was killing people to harvest their body fat.
  
  Check this out:

  Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.
  
  Three suspects confessed to killing five people, but the gang may have been involved in dozens more, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police. He said one suspect claimed the gang wasn't the only one doing such killings.

  According to the story, the suspects claim the bottles of liquid human fat they were carrying when they were arrested would fetch $60,000 a gallon on the international market.
  
  Given that, I'm thinking KU Athletic Director Lew Perkins might want to think twice about firing Coach Mark Mangino. I don't know if they can afford to loose that kind of natural resource.

tagged: Bullitt, movies, mammogram, Pap smear, health care, Kathleen Sebelius, Oprah Winfrey, Hancock, pop culture, California, TV, Peru, fat, Mangino

Bullitt list -- 11.12.09

Today's category: Face value

• Is it just me or does Major Nidal Malik Hasan look a lot like Andre Agassi. Not the young Andre Agassi with the long flowing locks and day-glow orange Nike sneakers, but the old, bald strung-out-on-meth Andre Agassi.
  And how much does it suck to be a person of Middle Eastern descent in the United States these days. My cube neighbor, Musheer, threw his hands up incredulously when this story came out. "Oh great! This is just what we need!." I feel for you, brother.
  
  
• As you know, the House of Misrepresentatives passed a healthcare reform bill last weekend. Some people will consider this bill the "change" promised by the Obama Syndicate lo those many months ago. Those people will be wrong. Our government has been wasting money on Federally financed "entitlements" for decades. Nothing new here, just more of the same. Doctors and pharmaceutical company executives should be happy, though.
  
  Oh, and if any of the congress critters bothered to actually read the entire (roughly 2,000 pages) health care bill before they voted for it, I'll eat XO's Kangol.


• I saw the report from the Center for Responsive Politics that showed there are 237 millionaires in Congress. That's nearly half of the Congress (44 percent to be exact), as compared to 1 percent of the general public who are millionaires. Anyone still believe you are represented in Washington?
  
  The same report showed that of the 10 richest millionaires, 8 are Democrats. There's nothing wrong with being rich, but those of you who like to play in the partisan politics game should now realize how meaningless the term "rich Republicans" is. As I've been saying for a long time, there's no real difference between Republicans and Democrats.
  

• Telegraph UK reported yesterday that, based on applications to BeautifulPeople.com (really, there's a website called BeautifulPeople.com? Does anyone even want to argue that our culture has completely waned at this point?), the British are the ugliest people in the world.
  
  This is incredibly offensive. Are we really so shallow as to judge an entire nationality on such superficial criteria? Really?
  
  
• I've never had to knock on wood, but I know someone who has which makes me wonder if I could. It makes me wonder if I've never had to knock on wood. And I'm glad I haven't yet, because I'm sure it isn't good. That's the impression that I get.
  

tagged: Bullitt, movies, Nidal, Agassi, health care, Congress, millionaire, Kangol, pop culture, British, ugly, Amy Winehouse

Bullitt list -- 05.29.08

Today's category:
Names I'm considering for my new punk band...

• Zip Line Smugglers
• Earth Friendly Bombs
• The Robomonkees
• Toad Venom Aphrodisiac
• Toilet Possum

tagged: Bullitt, punk, zip line smugglers, toilet possum, bombs, Toad Venom Aphrodisiac, monkey, robot

Bullitt list -- 06.24.09

Today's category: Well aged.

• Condolences and congrats to Henry Allingham of the UK who became The Oldest Man in the World last week when former Oldest Man in the World Tomoji Tanabe died in his sleep in southern Japan.
  Congrats to Allingham for living long enough to earn the title, and condolences since having this title is essentially a death sentence.


• Knob Creek, makers of fine bourbon for more than 300 years, announced in a marketing campaign that they've run out of bourbon and won't have any until the next batch is ready in November. The culprit of course is Xavier Onasis. Jeez dude, go easy on that stuff.



• In case you missed it, PETA is in the midst of completing the total usurpation of Marxist hero Che Guevara by using his granddaughter to mock his name in an Argentinian ad campaign. In the campaign, a scantily clad Lydia Guevara urges the audience to "Join the Vegetarian Revolution." And while I agree that something about this is revolting, it certainly doesn't appear to be Lydia herself. I'm sure sure her grandfather would approve.



• Everybody's complaining about the heat. Like it's some big surprise that it gets intolerably hot and humid in Kansas City in the summer. Like nobody's expecting that around this time of year we experience localized supernovae, and people who have the means flee to the Fourth Circle of Hell where's it's much cooler. C'mon people, I know it's hot but let's try for a little originality, mmmkay?



• Did you guys see the sunset last night? Nice. Almost makes up for the thermonuclear temperatures we've been suffering through. Almost.
  
  
  

tagged: Bullitt, heat, summer, Che Guevara, PETA, sunset, Knob Creek

Bullitt list -- 05.05.10

Today's category:
Hope & Change update

I remarked once upon a time that the famous Hope and Change campaign that swept the current president into office on a tide of schmaltz and triteness wouldn't actually change anything. Well, I've been seeing some headlines lately that indicate that things actually have been changing...

..for the worse.

• One of the things Comrade Obama promised to "change" was the general lack of transparency among government agencies. After all, we're supposed to have a government of the people, by the people, for the investment banks people. Hard to achieve that when the people aren't allowed to know what's going on with the government.
  
  Luckily, Obama put his best people on the task of increasing government transparency. That's why, after a year and a half, federal agencies are NOT more transparent.
  
  In fact, some agencies in the Obama Administration are using trumped up exceptions to Freedom of Information requests more than they did in the previous year.

  Major agencies cited the "deliberative process" exemption at least 70,779 times during the 2009 budget year, up from 47,395 times during President George W. Bush's final full budget year... Obama was president for nine months in the 2009 period.

  I guess we'll just have to rely on the Ministry of Truth to tell us what we need to know.
  
  
• But hey, at least we still have a free press in our country, right? In fact, we have the most open journalistic culture in the world. Our reporters have more access to more government officials than any other country in the world, free or otherwise, right?
  
  Well, not so fast my friend. According to the annual report from Freedom House, press freedom around the world declined for an 8th consecutive year, and the United States press now ranks 24th in press freedoms (PDF). And that's before factoring in recent events wherein CEOs of major U.S. corporations who lost their latest techie toy pull strings to have law enforcement authorities harass poor, hard-working journalists.
  


• And speaking of law enforcement authorities, the Obama Administration has has the dubious distinction of overseeing a new record for people under wiretap surveillance. Wired recently reported a 26 percent jump in police wiretapping.

  Courts authorized 2,376 criminal wiretap orders in 2009, with 96 percent targeting mobile phones in drug cases, according to the report. ... Not one request for a wiretap was turned down.
  
  Each wiretap caught the communications of an average of 113 people, meaning that 268,488 people had text messages or phone calls monitored through the surveillance in 2009, a new record. Only 19 percent of the intercepted communications were incriminating...

  This sort of thing shouldn't be surprising given Obama's history of supporting domestic spying. Still, you might want to be careful who you criticize when you're on the phone with your crazy, conspiracy theory uncle.


• Not that you're worried about the government spying on you. Why would they care who you are? As long as you mind your own business, go to your job every day, pay your mortgage, do what the authorities tell you, pay your taxes.... oops. You forgot to mail your tax return, didn't you. Well, I guess there's a satellite-based missile with your name on it...
  
  



• Okay, maybe saying there's a satellite-based missile with your name on it is a bit of an exaggeration. Because despite the spying, censorship and opaque bureaucratic machinations, if there's one thing our government never does it's assassinate its citizens.
  
  Well, almost never. It turns out the Obama administration has ordered a hit on a U.S. citizen, effectively approving a death penalty sentence without a judge or jury or due process of law.

  The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them.

  Kind of surprising that there haven't been any protests or marches against the administration's abuse of a citizen's civil liberties. Maybe it's because al-Awlaki is a legal US citizen and not a illegal alien.
  

tagged: Bullitt, hitman, Obama, freedom, hope, change, Anwar al-Awlaki, spying, wire tap

Bullitt list -- 12.10.09

Today's category: Really?!?!!

• Alright, I've got a lot to say to say and not much time to say it. I'm starting on the other side of the pond, but believe me there's more later about our own effed up country. But before we get to that...
  
  Really, East Africa? Really!???
  
  The AP reports that more than 10,000 East African albinos are in hiding after more than 50 African albinos have been killed since 2007.

  The mistaken belief that albino body parts have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa's albinos into hiding, fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set.

  In the latest reported killing last October, "albino hunters" beheaded a 10-year-old boy and cut off his leg as well.
  
  Can someone explain to these people what century it is? I thought we got past this witch doctor crap and moved on to the violent racism crap.


• Next, on to the UK...
  
  Really, Leeds University? REALLY?
  
  You're seriously advertising a job that pays a guy to go to strip clubs and conduct "research"? According to the ad "prior experience of conducting research in the female sex industry" is essential.
  
  So again, really? No, seriously, really? 'Cause I might be interested in a new gig. Do you pay for relocation?
  
  
• Oh, and while we're in Europe, really Italy? REALLY? Why give up centuries of tradition for a mere boost in worker productivity.
  
  The Italian Program Minister (really?) is urging Italian workers to give up the traditional 2-hour mid-day lunch break to increase the country's productivity.
  
  Now look. I like Italy. It's one of my favorite countries. I find the culture fascinating, and lazy workers and corrupt public officials are part of the culture.
  
  Besides, I think Italian productivity may be a bit overrated. Do we really need more $500,000 cars and $50,000 dresses? I mean, really...
  


• Okay, bringing it back home now. You guys remember when liberty used to mean something in America? Yeah, me neither. But it seems like there was a time when it was more than just a punchline in an election year stump speech.
  
  Well, those days (if they ever really existed) are long gone as evidenced by two recent events.
  
  Last week a Chicago woman was tossed in jail when a couple of short segments of the movie New Moon were captured on her video camera as she taped her sister's surprise party.

  Managers contacted police, who examined the small digital camera, which also records video segments, Cmdr. Frank Siciliano said. Officers found that Tumpach had taped “two very short segments” of the movie — no more than four minutes total, he said.

  Hey, I'm not advocating pirating movies. But really?? We're going to throw people IN JAIL?! without a trial? For taping a birthday party?! REALLY?!?! Why not just go ahead and tattoo a serial number onto her forearm while you're at it?
  
  And science help you if you decide your waitress doesn't deserve a tip. Theft charges against John Wagner and Leslie Pope have since been dropped after they were arrested for refusing to pay a $16 gratuity for craptastic service in a Pennsylvania bar.
  
  But the fact that you can get arrested and carted away to the police station for not paying A FRIGGIN' TIP? Really?!! Do the police/restaurant owners know what a gratuity is?
  


• Finally, if you need any more evidence that our country has reached its cultural nadir, reference yesterday's ridiculous Barbara Walters Special. I mean, really. This show gives new meaning to the word "special."
  
  According to Walters, the most fascinating people of the year include Kate Gosselin, Adam Lambert, Laddie GaGa (I can't believe I just typed that), Glenn Beck and Sara Palin.
  
  Really.
  
  What does it say about a person when they can be fascinated by such vapid pop culture personalities. I wouldn't even know who these people were if it weren't for their ability and eagerness to self-destruct in public.
  
  Fascinating?! Really!??? This is the best our culture can do? There's no scientific, medical, literary or artistic accomplishment we can point to? You're telling me we're stuck with "pa-pa-pa-poker face, pa-pa-poker face," as our crowning cultural achievement this year?
  
  Come to think of it, that sounds about right.

tagged: Bullitt, African albino, Leeds University, strip club, Italy, culture, Tumpach, New Moon, pop culture, Barbara Walters, Lady GaGa, Kate Gosselin, Adam Lambert, Poker Face

Bullitt List – 12.07.18

Today's category: Profiles in GYAHHH!
Say what you will about the Internet. It's divisive and leads to unchecked, destructive tribalism. It's an amazing tool for communication, offering us unprecedented exposure to different cultures and a chance to draw closer as one world race. Both views, while contrary to each other, are valid.

But one thing you can always say about the Internet is that it's interesting. Well, it's been its usual shocking and gross week out there on the Internet, so proceed with caution.

• Woman dies from brain-eating amoeba after using neti pot with filtered tap water
  I heard that one time a brain-eating amoeba tried to attack Meesha, but it starved to death. #sickburn
  Also, follow Nancy Reagan's advice and stop putting bugs up your nose.
   
• Kona Community Hospital shuts down due to scabies outbreak
  "Kona Community Hospital shut down today due to a severe outbreak of scabies, a highly contagious skin condition caused by tiny burrowing mites…"
  
  Dudes. These are tiny mites… burrowing into your SKIN! This sort of thing is how the Justinian Plague started, right?
  
• Asian beetles disguised as ladybugs burrow into your dog's mouth
  
  
  I mean there's just way too much burrowing going on lately, amirite? I guess this might be localized to the North Carolina region, but still... I see those beetles all over during the late fall.
  
  If I see them trying to migrate into my house this winter, I'll be sure collect them and feed them to my neighbor's crazy barking dogs (I'm kidding! I would never! I'm a dog person!).
  
• Man coughs up bizarre blood clot shaped exactly like part of a lung
  
  
  But perhaps the most GYAAHHH! story of the week comes from the New England Journal of Medicine, which reports that a dude recently died shortly after he LITERALLY COUGHED UP A LUNG!!!
  
  Okay, it was a blood clot that looked like a piece of his lung... because it had been lodged in his bronchial tree and become a cast IN BLOOD of the inside of his fricken' LUNG!

Bullitt list -- 02.26.16

Today's category: What I learned this week

Hey, look, I think that by now we all realize that life is tough and full of disappointment and the best that you can hope for is to enjoy any rare, brief moment of happiness and maybe learn a few things along the way.

So, here are a few things I've learned this week…

• That movie Thor: The Dark World is even more unwatchable than most comic book movies.
  
  I get that part of enjoying most movies, but especially comic book movies, is suspension of disbelief and "buy-in" to the internal logic of the film's story line. But even by its own logic, a race of hyperintelligent, god-like aliens should know better than to bring a sword to a laser blaster battle.
  
  I mean, why not give all of the regular foot soldiers in the Asgardian army an Odin Plasma Spear, or at least an assault rifle. I mean if you've got superior technology and science, use it! I'm guessing there's no Second Amendment on Asgard.
  
  
   
• But it's good to know that science has your back when your up against the wall, when you desperately
  
  need to cross the bridge but some weirdo trollish wizardy guy is blocking your path, making you answer he these silly questions three. In those situations, it's nice to have this little factoid in your mental pocket:
   The air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow (European) is...


• Speaking of science, no less of a luminary than Albert Einstein himself made an appearance this week with the news that he had verified that there was a force in the universe even more powerful that the splitting of an atom: The Power of Love.
  
  In a letter to his daughter, Einstein wrote,

  …what I will reveal now to transmit to mankind will also collide with the misunderstanding and prejudice in the world.

  But there was one late 20th Century philosopher who did understand. I refer of course to Hugh Anthony Cregg II, who once wrote…

  

  The power of love
  is a curious thing
  Make a one man weep,
  make another man sing
  Change a hawk
  to a little white dove
  More than a feeling
  that's the power of love

  
  
• And speaking of philosophy, the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō once said

  A flute with no holes is not a flute. And a donut without a hole, is not a donut.

  … or something like that. It loses a little in the translation. The important point is that I learned this week that regardless of flutes and donuts, a croissant is still a croissant even if it's not crescent shaped, at least if your in the UK.
  
  This is terrific news… for some reason… probably…


• Finally, since we're getting into the realm of poetry, I just wanted to mention that I learned this week that one of my favorite new bands is getting ready to release a new album.
  
  I first heard of Frightened Rabbit on an NPR music segment and almost immediately went online to buy their album Pedestrian Verse. In my opinion there's not a weak track on it. Here's the video for the excellent Woodpile…
  
  

The new album, Painting Of A Panic Attack, is on pre-sale now on all of the major online record stores (Google Play, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify… is that all of them?), and I expect a review very soon on Dan's new blog. In fact, I'm specifically DEMANDING a listen from Dan ASAP.

That's enough knowledge from me for now, I don't want to blow your mind too much. Hey, here's an idea: Let me know in the comments what YOU learned this week (if anything)…

Bullitt list 07.30.08

Today's Category: Things You Shouldn't Have Done

• Promised your neighbor you'd build their fence
  
• Tried to eat, in one day, a number of pounds of food equal to your age
  
• Casually tampered with the laws of space-time
  
• Pissed off your publicist/only friend in the universe
  
• Trampled that toad
  
  
  tagged: Bullit, list, fence, toad, links, Steve McQueen

Bullitt list -- 06.21.10

Today's category: Watching the watchmen

As we make the government more responsible for our everyday lives (food, shelter, health care, etc.) it stands to reason that it will require a more aggressive police force to, well, enforce all the rules we as a country have been begging for.

Well, welcome to the future…

• A group headed by the National Hispanic Media Coalition has requested that the FCC launch a probe to monitor hate speech and "misinformation" online. They say the FCC should gather and catalog information about who uses hate speech, when and where, then turn that information over to the NHMC so that they can "hold the media accountable" for hate speech.
  
  Aside from the obvious First Amendment violation this suggests (not that we actually care about the Bill of Rights anymore), this is a good example about being careful what you wish for.
  
  Often, a police state isn't forced upon a society, at least not initially. What happens is that through fear and ignorance, a group will demand the the government protect them from whatever bogeyman du jour they perceive to be out there. Then, too late, they realize they've given up their liberty in exchange for the illusion of security.
  


• Luckily, we live in a republic that recognizes certain inalienable rights that protects us from abuses of the state. Of course, just because those rights are inalienable, doesn't mean they can't be watered down.
  
  The highest court in the land got into the act recently when it declared that if you remain, then you give up your right to remain silent. Any watcher of TV cop drama's is pretty familiar with the Miranda Rights. I bet most of you could say it right off the top of your head.

  You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?

  Until a few days ago, the only way you could waive this right was to expressly say that you waive your right. Now the only way you can exercise your right to remain silent is to break your silence to expressly affirm that right. In other words, your Fifth Amendment (there's that pesky Bill of Rights again) right not to incriminate doesn't exist if you don't say it does.
  
  As my friend Joel rightly put it, police now get to assume you don't want your Constitutional rights. Makes trampling on the public that much easier, I guess.
  


• You know what else makes it easy to keep the plebs under your boot heel? Tasers, baby!
  
  That's right, another court ruling has established precedence that will allow your local stormtroopers to indiscriminately Taser your ass for something as harmless not wearing a seat belt while driving and wearing only boxer shorts and sneakers.
  
  Now granted, Tasing is probably better than having a cop pop a cap in you half-naked ass. And even I'll admit to seeing a bit of humor in the over use of the Taser in the past. But come on people, am I the only one who thinks its a bit of an over reaction to Taser these hippies? I know they smell bad, but I suspect this ruling might have turned our different if it had been caught on camera…
  


• …Then again, maybe it wouldn't. Another disturbing trend is that more and more people are being arrested simply for … taking pictures. In public areas… Where you would have no expectation of privacy… But there are police there.
  
  And this is one of the scariest developments in our nascent police state. Not only is the government using abusive tactics and ignoring constitutional rights, but now they are trying to criminalize the documentation of those abuses.

  A few weeks ago, an Illinois judge rejected a motion to dismiss an eavesdropping charge against Christopher Drew, who recorded his own arrest for selling one-dollar artwork on the streets of Chicago. Although the misdemeanor charges of not having a peddler's license and peddling in a prohibited area were dropped, Drew is being prosecuted for illegal recording, a Class I felony punishable by 4 to 15 years in prison.

  Look, I respect good police officers and I'm grateful for the work that they do. But in my opinion, the clear sign of an abusive officer is if they are afraid to be seen doing what they do. How else could this kind of law be interpreted other than to protect officers who abuse their authority?
  
  Kind of makes you want to right your congresscritter to complain. But that might not be such a good idea…
  
  
• You see, in a police state your best course of action is to stay low and try to maintain your anonymity. But that won't be so easy is some lawmakers have their way.
  
  A bill sponsored by New Mexico Democrat Harry Teague aims to use the Federal budget bribes to get states to collect DNA samples from ANYONE who is ARRESTED and put them in a national database.
  
  It doesn't matter if the person is charged, or even acquitted. Merely being brought "down to the station." This is some next level, pre-crime Minority Report meets 1984 meets Blade Runner type shit.
  
  Think of the message this is sending:
  
  "Okay kids, think what we want you to think, snitch on your friends, don't take pictures or we'll Taser your ass, haul you downtown and your DNA will be ours for the rest of your life."
  
  Sounds like Utopia to me.
  

tagged: Bullitt, police, abuse, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Miranda Warning, DNA, Taser, cameras