While I find politics as distasteful as Emo music, and as boring as watching golf on television, it does give me an abundant supply of material to blog about.

Take votechooser.com for instance. Select your opinions on the issues that matter, and Vote Chooser selects the candidate whose opinions most closely match your own...

...except for one large detail.

Did you notice that only Republicans and Democrats are represented? There are other parties, you know. In fact, those who come to see Jagged Spiral perform at Club Underground tonight will get to hear me announce an entirely new and different political party! All the more reason to brave the cold and come out to hear some live, loud guitars!

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Concert, Jagged Spiral, political, Politics

What happened?

As reported by the Future of Music Coalition, it seems that AT&T censored anti-Bush lyrics sung by Pearl Jam front man, Eddie Vedder during their recent "blue room" webcast from Lollapolooza.

Read Pearl Jam's Press Release on the issue here.

Wired has also dug up other instances of censorship at AT&T, including Tom Petty, the Nightwatchmen, and others, at other webcast music festivals.

AT&T admitted to the censorship, but said it has to censor foul language. Strangely, this report suggests otherwise:

"AT&T originally said that it only edits Blue Room Webcasts for profanity since the site is available to all age groups. But a group calling itself the Future of Music Coalition, counted 20 instances of curse words being used during the Pearl Jam Webcast that were not censored by the content monitor."

So, AT&T seems to think that cursing is NOT profanity, since it was allowed, but saying "George Bush, leave this world alone!" IS profanity, because it was censored.

Got that?

Why is this a problem?

The analogy would be the power company shutting off your power because you were using it to run your skilsaw to make "Anti Bush" signs for your frontyard. Or, the phone company shutting down your voice every time you tried to tell your parents what a blithering idiot George Bush is.

For a country that was founded on freedom of speech, this kind of activity is worse than simply unacceptable. We simply cannot allow people to censor the speech of others simply because they have the power to do so; that is beyond Unconstitutional. Any company that would edit out Anti-Bush comments during a webcast would also disable access to websites/blogs/news/etc.. of any content they did not agree with.

If we allow this, then we might just as well burn the Constitution of the United States of America, and let the Anarchy begin. Personally, I'm fine with either way, but I think most people would prefer we all just follow the rules, since it has gotten us quite far with few internal wars.

What can you do about it?

Well, your options here are limited.

1. Storm the White House, take the Constitution of the United States, and burn it. Unfortunately, if AT&T provides the webcast, no one will see it, so your Anarchy will be pretty limited.


2. Storm AT&T, take the CEO's underwear, and burn them (while he is still wearing them). Post the video to YouTube. This will show people that Americans won't put up with censorship.


3. Support the Future of Music Coalition, even if that means just subscribing to their free newsletter and passing along stories like this one, and make sure the word gets out there to people: Here is PROOF that the Man is keeping you down! Here is a CRIMINAL caught in the act! It's not just rumor, it's not just hear-say, and it's not an isolated incident. Anyone with an Internet connection can see this for themselves.


4. Resume your life of Quiet Desperation.


KTHXBYE,
-CZ

Labels: political, Politics

Um...

IT'S STILL DOWN!

Yep, the bridge is still busted, people are still dead, including my coworker's brother, you still can't cross the river there, and I hear the president wasted a bunch of jet fuel flying over the damage instead of logging onto cnn.com who made the bridge collapse their lead story for five straight days.

Open Letter to the President: Isn't jet fuel expensive? Should you really be so wasteful as to fly Air Force One out to Flyover Land just so you can gawk? Or is it that you've seen the media manipulate tragedies so often that you don't believe it unless you see it for yourself? Yeah, maybe the whole thing was photoshopped! Hell, if you're gonna take personal trips on the taxpayers dime, why don't you also swing by Wisconsin Dells on the way over? Hey, when you are in Minneapolis, stop by and pick up a copy of Jagged Spiral's "Days From Evil" and I'll sign it for you.

Open Letter to CNN: Five Fucking Days? Don't you have Anything Else to report? Aren't we at War someplace? Maybe there's some positive story you could focus on? Here's a story for you, why are people who get their news through CNN less informed than those who get their news through The Onion?

Open Letter to Gawkers: What are you looking for? Lend a hand or get the fuck out of the way.

Open Letter to Fans Of Jagged Spiral: I know this kind of tragedy has followed Jagged Spiral around in the past, but I assure you we had nothing to do with it. We were racking our brains trying to come up with a way to cash in on the tragedy like everyone else, but it looks like everyone's pretty much got it covered. I mean, politicians are using it to get some free press, and some people are even starting to run scams like this. Genius.

KTHXBYE,
-CZ

Labels: anti, Culture, Open Letter, Politics, rant

The film "Impaler" is mostly about Jonathon Sharkey, self proclaimed Hecate Witch, Satanic High Priest, and a Sangu...Sangwe... um, some kind of Vampire.

I've written about Jonathon Sharkey before, and attended the premier of "Impaler" on 30 May 2007 to get a better glimpse into this colorful character running for President in 2008.

Jonathan Sharkey is a pretty exciting guy. Besides being a Witch/Satanist/Vampire, he was a pro wrestler, a drill sergeant, and a race car driver. Jonathan isn't terribly well-spoken, and he tends to ramble a bit, but these things haven't kept others out of office, and Jonathan does have several things going for him. He isn't ever uncomfortable or nervous in front of the camera, and he does have an abundance of Moxie. Undoubtedly, his non-traditional party status, his former wrestling career, and his powerful charisma will get him more than one comparison to Jesse Ventura.

Unfortunately, the documentary "Impaler" did more damage than good to his potential governmental career. The filmmaker/director W. Trey White clearly has no idea what he's doing. The movie is not so much a 'documentary' as it is a cameraman without a tripod (or lights, or a good microphone) following Jonathan around for a while, taping stuff and then cutting the interesting bits together in more-or-less chronological order.

During the filming of "Impaler", Jonathan was arrested in Indiana and jailed for 175 days, Mr. White admitted that he didn't know what to do with his main character literally 'out of the picture', so he had the idea to interview other people who knew Jonathan. Just think, a documentary about a person with input from OTHER PEOPLE! Imagine what the movie would have been like if Jonathan hadn't been jailed.

Strangely, in this so-called 'Documentary', we never find out what Jonathon Sharkey currently does for income. There is No mention of any previous political experience. He mentions a political science degree, but does not tell us where he got it. There is also No mention of his 2004 campaign for the presidency, or his several failed attempts to be elected to congress. However, we do get to see his girlfriend drink his blood several times, which is ridiculous and pathetic. We get to see the cards made for Jonathan's girlfriend by the kids she drove to school before she lost her job, accompanied by sappy music, because...um, well... perhaps Mr. White was hoping that if you felt sorry for her, you might give Jonathan a sympathy vote. Oh yes, you also get to see Jonathan's girlfriend try to light her blood on fire...um, I really can't even try to justify that one...

Jonathan repeatedly asks us to 'ignore his beliefs', but that's difficult to do when more of the film was about his lifestyle and strange relationships than his political platform.

In the end, "Impaler" isn't about a man running for the presidency, it's a man's rebuttal to all the fucked up relationships and events in his past. The speech at the end of the movie confirms this.

I was disappointed with Mr. White's discussion after the premier. In part of the film, Jonathan asked Mr. White to turn the camera off, but he left it running, catching pieces of a conversation 'the audience wasn't meant to hear'. Right. Anyway, when asked about it, Mr. White said it wouldn't be right to censor the facts, because the audience deserved to hear the whole story. But not five minutes later, he admitted that Jonathan's children had said some incriminating things about Jonathan, and he felt that the children weren't being entirely honest, so it was decided to cut those accusations out of the movie. This proves that W. Trey White has a slanted sense of journalism, and isn't smart enough to hide it (like a real journalist.)

Jonathan Sharkey is an interesting, charismatic, angry and probably dangerous person, which makes him someone I want to have a beer with someday. I might even vote for him, I mean I voted for Jesse Ventura. His promise to Impale criminals is refreshing. (Although if you read this blog at all, you will know that as King of The United States, I have brought back 'Burning at the Stake' as a real punishment.)

Jonathan showed up at the premier with a large spear and threatened to impale W. Trey White if he found the movie "Impaler" mocked him in any way. I was surprised to find he allowed Mr White to live after seeing the movie.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: movie reviews, Politics

If you aren't into Internet Radio yet, you should be. Check these sites out:

Accuradio
Live365
Pandora
Digital Gunfire (My personal favorite)

Do you enjoy the content? Diverse huh? Cool, huh?

Not for long. Internet Radio sites are being unfairly shafted by 'The Man'. They need your help. Check the following link, they do a better job of defining the problem than I do.




The solution is to call your Congressional Representative, and tell them (don't ask, that's not how it works.) TELL your representative to cosponsor the Internet Radio Equality Act, or forever hold your tongue about how internet radio became the same bland shit as terrestrial radio.

You have until 15 July 2007.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Call To Action, Music Industry, political, Politics

After all the e-mail and much 'To-Do' about this matter, I am laying it to rest. Below is a side-by-side comparison (nay, Proof!) that I am in no way resembling, related to, or an acolyte of, Jonathon, "The Dark Count"




Obviously, we both have the same fashion consultant, but there are many differences between us. (BTW: I'm the one on the right.)

Actually, there are only two but they are significant. First, I am slightly shorter. Second (and much more important) is that I am far better-looking. The other differences are not visible from mere pictures, including the fact that I have already proclaimed myself King of the United States long ago, and therefore Will Not be running for President in the 2008 Election.

I hope this puts an end to the confusion.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Fashion, Politics

OK, I just need to clear up this minor misconception. I am in no way, shape or form affiliated with Jonathon (the Impaler) Sharkey, (AKA: 'The Dark Count') who is currently running for Govenor of MN, and also will be running for President in the 2008 election. [Editor's Note May 2007: Hyperlink here has been removed. The site was pulled and replaced with ads.]

Furthermore, I am not a member of the Vampyres, Witches and Pagans Party.

It has been pointed out to me by certain people that Jonathon and I have the Exact Same Gothic Cross necklace. I have been informed that dressing like a Hecate Witch/Satanic/Sanguinarian Vampyre/Ordained Dark Priest is a Great-Big-Fashion-NO, and bad for my street cred. (Especially one who is studying to become a Hecate *High* Priest)

The suggestion that we tend to dress alike is preposterous, and I've provided proof below:



The differences are obvious. You can tell from the picture that I piss more evil before breakfast than Jonathan the Choir Boy has seen in his lifetime. (I'm the one on the left.)

From Jonathan's own website: [Editors Update June 2007 - Website link retracted, as website was pulled and replaced with ads.]


Jonathon's first "Spell" ever, was a "Death Curse." Though Jonathon is very pleasant to be around, he is a follower of the "Dark Side" of "The Craft." His powers and abilities are unmatched!


I'm speechless.

Jonathon, I'm sorry, but Satan is my personal psychiatrist, and he's Never Fucking Heard Of You.

H.S.,
-CZ

Labels: political, Politics

Lemmy (Need I even mention his last name? Do you know anyone else named Lemmy?) Speaks out about the US presidential election. He says,

They are all the same anyway. All politicians are bastards anyway — every one of them. It doesn't matter who you vote for you'll always have a s*** government. All they are after is themselves and their pockets. They are all lying, cheating bastards

I couldn't agree more. I voted today, and I can happily tell you I did not vote for any Republi-crats, (nor did I vote for Raplh Nader).

I voted for Cthulhu, "Why vote for the lesser evil?"

Vote on,
-C

Labels: Politics, Praise