Why I'm Voting Republican... Psyche!

Halfway to Hell Club / Iron Chic

Last weekend I went home to Long Island. I was fortunate enough to check out some of my friend's bands play for the first time. Below are some shots from the show. Check out Halfway to Hell Club's MySpace page and listen to some tunes... I don't think Iron Chic has one yet.

Halfway to Hell Club

Iron Chic

Tony's Iron Man

There’s this guy I know, Anthony Lombardi. We call him “Tony Lombardi” for short. I met him freshman year of college, and we wound up living together sophomore year… and junior year… and senior year. I couldn’t get rid of the guy! After college we kept in touch via the Internet, and we even saw each other in person every so often.

In line with his competitive trajectory, Tony announced he was going to be competing in an Iron Man this coming August in Louisville, Kentucky. By competing in this race he will honor the memory of his deceased friend, Jared, and raise money for the scholarship fund in his name back in their hometown of Southington, Connecticut.

Since I work in TV, Tony approached me about filming a mini-documentary of sorts detailing his journey to the Iron Man and why he’s doing it. Up for the challenge, I agreed. Together, we approached our alma mater, Marist College, about borrowing a camera for the race and they obliged. They were beyond generous and are letting us borrow a camera, mics, tri-pod, etc. from now until September. An ex-coworker and current friend of mine, Brian Epstein, agreed to handle editing duties.

We’ll be shooting some training footage and interviews throughout the summer, culminating at the race over Labor Day weekend. If I get any great still shots, or something worthwhile comes up, I’ll throw it up on here. If you wish to keep up to speed on Tony’s training you can check out his blog. Wish him luck.

Lara Logan

If you know me, you know I’m a big advocate of The Daily Show. I feel like Jon Stewart’s interviews are generally insightful and thought-provoking, but last night’s episode featured one of the best interviews I’ve ever seen on his show. His guest was Lara Logan, Chief Foreign Correspondent for CBS News. Not only is she strikingly gorgeous with a sexy-as-hell accent, but she’s well-spoken, intelligent, and bad-ass. She’s embedded herself with Navy Seals, had her hotel blown up and survived, said, “What’s up, Mother Fuckers?” on air, and said that if she watched U.S. news she’d “blow her brains out.” Take the time and bask in the glory that is Lara Logan:

Proud to Be an American (?)

Michelle Obama has received a lot of heat for her somewhat negligent comment about being a proud American for the first time. Yes, it was a poor choice of words. She probably didn’t mean for it to come across as anti-American. Whatever her intention, my question is: So what if she hasn’t been 100% proud to be an American? I’m not 100% proud to be an American. Sure, part of me is, but part of me isn’t. Last time I checked, “Pride” was one of the 7 Deadliest Sins. Look up “pride” and you’ll find that most definitions carry a negative connotation. Pride leads to stubbornness and stubbornness leads to loss and defeat.

Synonyms of pride: conceit, egotism, vanity. Antonym: humility.

It seems like most people are quick to say that “American is the greatest country on Earth”. This is nothing more than arrogant, blind Patriotism. I’ve asked people why they feel that we’re the best country, and I haven’t received a good answer. My mom’s response? “Because we’re the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Her answer was a slogan, a bumper sticker.

Yes, we’ve had our moments. Yes, we show signs of greatness. But I also see Tila Tequila on TV and shitheads on Fox News wasting my time talking about “terrorist fist jabs” and “Obama’s Baby Mama Drama”. There's a fucking war going on. I don't want to hear about him wearing or not wearing a lapel pin. He's running for the fucking Presidency and people are questioning his loyalty to this country? It’s cliché, but I shouldn’t be getting my news from the Daily Show or the Colbert Report, but I have to. Our press has no spine.

If we were the greatest country in the world Americans would wear American flag patches on their backpacks when they travel abroad like other countries do, but we don’t. Instead, our backpacks are blank while every single Canadian makes damn sure they have their flag on their backpack to avoid being mistaken as an American citizen.

I’ve had conversations with grown, “normal” adults who says Barack Obama will “paint the White House black”, and that’s actually their first argument against his campaign. At least know the facts, know where your guy stands, and have a legit reason for voting for them. I’ll admit that I have prejudices that I’m not proud of, but I am in no way racist. I am encountering “intelligent” people who “can’t vote for a black man” and it’s blowing my mind. If we were the greatest country on Earth our Middle Class would be educated enough and cultured enough to not make such ignorant comments.

I’m sick of hearing Obama’s not experienced enough; he meets every requirement necessary to be President. I’m sick of hearing about how he’s nothing more than just an eloquent speaker. At this point it’s obvious that our government isn’t run by one man; It’s that one man and the people he surrounds himself with. If he can motivate people, can energize them, and get them to care, than that’s the point. I trust that those around him will guide him, that he’ll listen to the people, and try something new as opposed to following the status quo that has done nothing but tarnish America’s image. Experience? Experience has gotten us nowhere. Our country is in a cluster-fuck and I’m ready to start from scratch.

You can fact-check here and read about the truthiness of anti-Obama rumors here.

Toilet Woes

Know what sucks? When you poop at work, and as you're leaving the bathroom your boss is approaching the bathroom, and unknowingly says to you, "Ah, perfect timing!", and you want to say, "Actually, it's terrible timing", but you don't... and you can't look them in the eye for the rest of the day...

Obama Clinches

Heck Yes.

China Is Scary

This month’s RollingStone featured an article by Naomi Klein entitled “China’s All-Seeing Eye”. In the article, China’s obsession with surveillance technology was discussed, as well as what the U.S. is doing to aid it, and what we’re not doing to stop it. It was a lot to take in, but I feel there was a lot of information worth sharing. Below is my attempt to break it down in a way that’s easy to understand while keeping the facts in check. (Click here for the full article)

Shenzhen – A city in China with a population of 12.4 million people. 30 years ago this city did not exist. The city was built as an experiment, 1 of 4 areas in China where capitalism would be permitted while under the eye of the Communist Party.

Shenzhen makes iPods, laptops, sneakers, televisions, cell phones, jeans, furniture, cars, printers, etc. It has 9 Wal-Marts, and multiple U.S. fast-food chains line the streets.

Huawei is China’s telecom giant. Their research complex is so large that it has its own highway exit and city bus line for its employees.

As the Olympic Games in Beijing grow nearer, Shenzhen is being used as a testing ground for new surveillance equipment. In the last 2 years over 200,000 cameras have been installed, many hidden in lampposts. All of these cameras are on the same network, allowing the government to watch the entire city. In the next 3 years 2 million more cameras will be installed in Shenzhen.
- China’s surveillance camera market generated over $4 billion dollars last year.
- China’s government has ordered that all Internet cafes, restaurants, and entertainment venues install cameras with direct feeds to local police stations.

Golden Shield – China’s all-encompassing security network, with an end-goal of being able to watch its citizens through people-tracking technologies, thus preventing any uprisings before they can gather momentum. This network is made possible, in part, by U.S. companies such as IBM, Honeywell, and General Electric.

Citizens will be monitored on phone calls, be subjected to voice-recognition technology, have their Internet access limited by China’s “Great Firewall”, and have a national ID card with a computer chip storing personal info, as well as a photo, which can be uploaded at police stations. When Golden Shield is complete, there will be a database with information pertaining to all of China’s 1.3 billion citizens.

Golden Shield was recently tested during the riots in Tibet. China was able to limit, and in some cases, completely shut down Internet access. Outgoing calls were blocked, and police were actually able to text message citizens telling them to behave. The police later used surveillance footage from lamppost cameras to make a “highlight” reel of the most violent rioters contrasted with footage of police behaving with level-headed restraint. This propaganda piece was shown repeatedly on national news programs, and a most-wanted list of Tibetan rioters was compiled.

Ministry of Public Security in Beijing – is staging a “10-Million-Faces Test”. Companies in China will compete to see whose software is best able to implement face-recognition technology. The winners will be awarded fat government contracts and guaranteed business for years to come as their software is integrated with other Golden Shield Technology.

L-1 Identity Solutions (their web site is fucking sci-fi, Minority Report, Tom-Cruise-jumping-up-and-down-on-the-couch-crazy!) – Connecticut-based defense contractor. Maker of passports and biometric security systems. Former CIA director, George Tenet, is a board member. Thanks to government contracts, their expected 2011 revenue is over $1 billion.

L-1 has licensed its technology to a Chinese company called Pixel Solutions. Pixel Solutions, with the help of L-1’s software, hopes to be a winner in the 10-Million-Faces Test. This relationship may, or may not, be illegal in the U.S. After Tiananmen Square, the U.S. made it illegal for companies sell “crime control or detection instruments or equipment” to China. Because the U.S. government could not foresee such technology such as face-detection software, the L-1/Pixel Solution relationship has been allowed to exist.

L-1’s presence is China’s emerging surveillance markets is worrying because of what they do in the U.S. L-1 makes passports, takes finger prints of visitors to the U.S., supplies biometric equipment to U.S. soldiers, maintains our State Departments “largest facial-recognition database system”, and producers driver’s licenses in a handful of states.

L-1 is now offering a program called “Fly Clear” that will relieve people from waiting on long lines at the airport. To enroll in the program, one must get their fingerprints taken, their irises scanned, and carry a biometric chip with their personal info.

U.S. Companies Involved in Aiding or bowing down to China:
IBM, Honeywell, and General Electric have sold equipment and technology.

Google has made a special Chinese search engine that filters “sensitive” material.

Cisco has supplied hardware for the “Great Firewall”.

Microsoft has removed politically-charged blogs at Beijing’s request.

Yahoo has relinquished email-account info which led to multiple arrests, including that of a well-known journalist.

Chinese Companies of Note:
FSAN CCTV System makes 400,000 security cameras a year, half of which are exported to cities such as Manhattan and London.

China Security & Surveillance Technology has developed software to alert police when a large group of people have suddenly gathered.

Aebell Electrical Technologies has an English brochure to advertise their security cameras. The brochure features American iconography, including the New York skyline prior to 9/11. They’ll be going public on the Nasdaq by year’s end.

Misc.:
- “The U.S. currently has more people behind bars than China, despite a population less than a quarter of its size.”
- “The global homeland security business is now worth an estimated $200 billion – more than Hollywood and the music industry combined.”
- The Defense Department once tried to implement a plan similar to China’s Golden Shield. It was called “Total Information Awareness”, and a top executive at L-1 has a plan called “Operation Noble Shield.”

It’s amazing that we can stage a war with the intent of bringing democracy to a country, yet there are huge U.S. companies willing to alter their product to meet China’s undemocratic demands. In the U.S. we don’t care about democracy as much as we care about money… or Clay Aiken’s artificial insemination baby... Or how “Sex and the City” did at the box office (it beat “Indiana Jones”).

Australia Withdraws Troops

In what seems like a big deal, but for some reason isn't being covered as such, Australia has officially declared to cease combat operations in Iraq. To symbolize this event, an Australian flag was lowered at a base in southern Iraq. This move makes good on a promise by Australia's new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, that he made during his campaign last year. Good on him for sticking to his word.

I would consider the fact that one of our allies in this war, an entire continent, has declared "enough is enough" to be front page news. However, I only learned about it from a 10 second piece on CNN. I wanted to learn more, so I went to Google News. There was no mention of it under the "World" section. I searched "Australia", and finally an article came up. It was listed third under a story on cricket and an energy company possibly being sold. Not only that, the Associated Press article was only 4 sentences, totalling 77 words. Wow.

For more on the Australian perspective, check out this article from the Sydney Morning Herald.