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For Permalinks Go To Mirror Universe. For Commentary go Here. Recent ArchiveVisual (s) of the Day, Music Vid Archive, (Version 1) Phil's Anti Tony Mowad all vids (widescreen), Phil's Anti Tony Mowad/Anti BET on J Music Channel (widescreen!) or Here

Over 4000 vids in random play. More Update: Channel is working properly when you see a picture. Takes one minute to load. Channel not working as well when you don't see a picture.Update: If the embed above isn't working, then try here. This is the New Acid Jazz Channel. I'm not sure about the future of the company behind the old Acid Channel, which you can find here. You can also catch a widescreen version here. More legal update: This is actually more of a search engine (me plus the tech). All of these vids are available on the public youtubes (or have been publicly available) and such. Vids that are copyright violations are often taken down. I make no money from this.

More Acid Jazz (Older music videos.) Over 3500 hundred vids.

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ITEM: Special project I'm doing for Firedoglake. Click this link to find more places its embedded. The Occupationalist
http://storify.com/adbusters

Jan. 27

ITEM: Ted Rall has been arguing against nonviolence as a sole tactic in the struggle for a long time. I sort of fall off the wagon when he recommends that black folks should be the first to rise up in violence against the state. I, for one, think that New York cartoonists should be the first to take on the might of drones and local police and state police and national guardsmen and if that wouldn't be enough the US military. Then, and I say this as an unofficial spokesperson of the Black Community, we shall watch your results and act accordingly. (Just for the record: Anonymous hacking is the way to go.) I suppose he joins his sometime animation cohort Stephanie McMillan, who draws, arguably, the most radical comic strip I have ever read, in making the argument that nonviolence won't beat the Nazis, or the friendly (sometimes gorgeous) face of American Fascism as foretold by Bertram Gross.

Related: Here's a taste of Stephanie's newest. She's been critical of the Occupy Movement as of late even though she's been an early and vocal supporter. This is a familiar plotline for all you Doonesbury/Mary Worth fans. Our two characters are using arms attained by a German drug dealer in order to attack a corporation known as Omnicorp to stop them performing a geoengineering experiment. Just like South Park...

More Related: Derrick Jensen, also one of Stephanie's collaborators and most likely to be shipped to the FEMA camps (looks like those camps are real Jesse Ventura notwithstanding...), has articulated this view with the Environmentalist's version of Star Wars. Also: The Gandhi Shield. And: A different Indian hero.

ITEM: I will not be writing about She Who Cannot Be Named today. Or as I call her: The Face of Terror.

Jan. 23

ITEM: Sigh. Why hasn't my photoshop work turned me into an international art superstar...? Not fair...

You can even buy the tshirt if you don't mind being arrested on public obscenity charges. Great for schools I'm sure...

ITEM: Yeah. 61 degrees in January. Right. Thank goodness global warming isn't real...

Jan. 18

ITEM: No blackout for me because I just don't have that many readers where that will matter. But I will certainly support those efforts. I and 20 other people in the world love the Acid Jazz Channel apparently. There is no Acid Jazz Channel without Youtube. Youtube is probably dust if either SOPA or PIPA pass in their current forms. I'm going to do what I can as a citizen but we should all thank our lucky stars that powerful players like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are on our side. Those lobbies are what's stopping SOPA and PIPA. Not the public good. Now if we could only get them to care about indefinite detention...Here's what you will find on Boing Boing's page today:

503: Service unavailable

Boing Boing is offline today, because the US Senate is considering legislation that would certainly kill us forever. The legislation is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), and would put us in legal jeopardy if we linked to a site anywhere online that had any links to copyright infringement.

This would unmake the Web, just as proposed in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). We don't want that world. If you don't want it either, visit American Censorship.org for instructions on contacting your Senator. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has more information on this and other issues central to your freedom online.

ITEM: I guess the above would be my commentary on MLK's birthday. Thanks to local activist Celeste Taylor for pointing this out to me on Facebook. My other commentary is that the drug war has pretty much destroyed The Dream, unless that dream is undermining public education and pushing as many black men as possible into the prison industrial complex. More on that issue over at Democracy Now. My African American president has done nothing to slow down the drug war and hasn't even made the easy call toward marijuana legalization. He could have made a difference with the California ballot initiative that would have legalized marijuana. Firedoglake's Jon Walker lays this all out. Barack Obama: Not a field negro.

More possibly inappropriate but not illegal commentary about MHS PR Flak Connie McNamara

or:

Let's not call this a MHS PR Flak Connie McNamara Obsession

ITEM: So I'm still thinking about this Connie McNamara MHS thing. You don't understand I used to sit in the woman's dorm room.* I think I sat on the floor as a clever psychological move to downplay the fact that I was a towering six five black guy (right). I think she was, what, 5 seven with heels...? Anyway, she described herself as being "mousy". And I thought, to myself certainly, well then "mousy is something I'm into apparently...". Now, when I watch her on these Youtube clips not only does she not seem "mousy" but she resonates, well, power. This is more in the line of a Game of Thrones Matriarch in Red. That might be the kind of power one emanates when one has great wealth. She might make low six figures in her current post and from other postings on the Internets one of her hobbies with her late husband was "refurbishing homes". Not the kind of hobby poor people can get into. Possibly a millionaire. Possibly making ends meet with three kids to feed even on a low six figure salary. Possibly looking at the rare occurrence of not having a job since she left college in 1985 (How many people can say that? Connie's emotional intelligence is off the charts...) since this somewhat tainted Zimmerman guy is leaving. Are they looking for a new team? I don't think I want to know...Or perhaps the power comes from something tragic. I did find out, not with any deep searches just the Google, that her husband died in 2006 leaving her with three children under the age of 10. I can't even imagine how painful that would be. Or what's tougher: telling your three young daughters that their father won't be coming home or facing off against Anderson Cooper? I have a feeling that if I survived the former that the latter would mean nothing...It would certainly make you stronger in a Nietzschean sense.

I also wanted to point out that when I mentioned that Connie, still a practicing Catholic from what I can tell and an early supporter of Liberation theology I'm just now beginning to surmise (our earliest conversations were about Archbishop Romero and the nuns that got slaughtered in El Salvador...) was "non abstinent and impulsive" as a young person in college I didn't mean that in a bad way.

(Aside: Connie was a serial monogamist like most Americans back during the years of 81 to 83. First with Curt the fiancé she didn't marry and then that black haired kid she saw Nikki Giovanni with when Curt was studying abroad and then Curt again when he got back...Doesn't make her a bad person. Words like "normal" and "healthy" come to mind.. I think the fiancé bit was a bit of rationalization, which means her Catholic upbringing had an effect on her...possibly more on this later...Must investigate. Hurm.)

I think that's the strongest part of her argument with Anderson Cooper on that show of his. Those words struck me as completely truthful and not talking points. Where I think she loses the argument is what kind of outside independent medical advice the board got or did they even seek it out. My guess is that they did not. This is where Connie admits that she wasn't in on those meetings with the medical staff, not independent of the board I'm guessing. The prevailing medical evidence seems to be that there just isn't that much of a risk of transmission. Though, after taking a look at the many many longshots that have happened at the Milton Hershey school such as in this particular instance perhaps the MHS board doesn't equate low percentages with no chance at all...and think of the damages if another child was infected. More on this later. Or I might wait another 30 years to comment more. Who knows.

Related: I signed this petition in favor of letting that kid in the school. Of course, in a strong and loving world this kid would have wonderful public schools to choose from with decent food and teacher/student ratios in the 16 to 1 range. He wouldn't have to be, what's the word, "adversarial" in order to get a decent education. The school has a wonderful shot because the board is full of republican operatives and republican judges tend to be loyal. Plus they have an 8 billion dollar endowment. They'll get good lawyering. Just like when you're rich you can buy "reasonable doubt" you can probably also buy some kind of novel exception question that you can pitch to the appeals courts. Republicans tend to throw a lot of Hail Marys and they often win. The 2000 election being the most publicized outcome and this evil Texas redistricting plan being the latest 4th quarter throw to the endzone...the school should lose if the courts didn't tilt toward both Republicans and the rich. I guess we'll watch and see...

*These are my memories from the time I spent with Constance from 1981 through 1984 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I have not spoken to Connie in over 28 years although I think I sent her a letter back in 1992...no I don't know why. I'd like to say I was drunk but I don't drink...

Jan. 16

ITEM: I review Spaceman 3 here. Here's a snippet:

"Scenes of third world poverty strewn amidst almost unlimited tech advances. It’s what makes the world of Spaceman 3 so compelling. And so depressingly realistic."

ITEM: Or you could buy my art as a mousepad over at Cafe Press, which I haven't updated in over 10 years. Should probably do something about that...More art samples here. Nope I never sold any but people liked the work...

Jan. 12

LATE NITE AROUND THE INTERNETS

Just some things I liked on Facebook.

Two depressing stories about fracking. One: EPA abandon's PA town over destroyed water. The president is a democrat right? Two: fracking tied to local Pittsburgh quake. I saw the tremors.

Truthdig invite to reasonably dissatisfied New York Times reporters.

I am studying this Cory Doctorow video about The War Against Computation.

I will probably vote for Obama if the Justice Party doesn't get its act together. What choice have I got. I think these anti Romney ads are very effective.

Something I need to read: District 9 has supercharged African science fiction movies

Jan. 8

A SPECIAL THERE'S NO CRYING IN BLOGGING/FOOTBALL AROUND THE INTERNETS

ITEM: A healthy Steelers can beat anybody. We almost beat em with one leg down and second stringers everywhere. We'll get em next year if, you know, we're healthy...

ITEM: Occupy Pittsburgh has an event planned for Tuesday, Jan. 10.

I still think a decentralized movement is probably more effective in the long run, not to mention working to actually elect somebody. That would be a thrill right...

From Firedoglake and from the Occupy Pittsburgh website:

Occupy Pittsburgh is calling out to the 99% around the world for a Day of International Solidarity and Action against BNY Mellon on January 10. This is the day we go before a judge to fight for our right to continue our nonviolent protest against the greed, corruption, and influence of the 1%. We ask that you stand with us and tell BNY Mellon, the bank of the 1% that you can’t evict an idea whose time has come!
The People of Pittsburgh, like many others around the globe, answered the call to action that Occupy Wall Street put before the world on October 15th. Since then, we have peacefully rallied and occupied People’s Park, the space formerly known as Mellon Green. Pittsburgh’s is the only Occupation to reclaim land from a bank.

BNY Mellon is now calling for Occupy Pittsburgh’s eviction. This is a blatant attempt by BNY Mellon to silence us and to prevent us from resisting the corruption by the 1% of our political and economic systems. In response, we have announced our own eviction of BNY Mellon from our city. BNY Mellon’s fraudulent and exploitative practices have denied its customers and its workers billions of dollars in wages and benefits. We are fighting to redefine the ethics of our economy and to resist corporate control of our cities, our spaces, our politics and our lives.

Read the rest of the letter to find out what they want supporters to do.

What I Should Have Written Jan. 7

Blogging: For people who can't afford decent psychotherapy.

Jan. 6

Item: How I'm feeling today.

ITEM: Some comic book reviews I've done:

Spaceman 2.

Angel and Faith Issue 5, Season 9

The Strange Talent of Luther Strode Issue 3

RASL 12 Written and Drawn by Jeff Smith

Holy Terror by Frank Miller

African American Classics edited by Tom Pomplun and Lance Tooks

Wizzywig Volume 1: Phreak by Ed Piskor

And proof that my mother doesn't read my work. I may be the mysterious and enigmatic Philip Doppelganger, unless someone wants to arrest me. Then of course its just a fictional construct.

Jan. 5

Late New Years Resolution

Welp, 2011 wasn’t the best of years for me. I’ve been posting everyday but in different and multiple formats. I’m having a difficult time integrating various sites with this page. I’m also dealing with something I’ve not had to deal with or the implications of being a newly diagnosed diabetic. It’s not the serious insulin diabetes but I do have to take medication. This has totally screwed with my energy levels. The quick fix is some kind of caffeine jolt but I’m trying to do something long term. Given my new physical limitations I have to rethink some things.

In fact, given the fact that my uncle and father died at 60 and 64 respectively I have a replicant like lifespan of 10 to 14 years. Possibly 20 years if there are some treatment breakthroughs. I turn 50 in several months. My writing career could end much sooner. Now is the time for me to finish that novel, that collection, whatever. Next five years I need to get this done. Kindle publishing seems the fastest route if they don’t kill the Internet. For better or worse, this shall be my legacy.

I am quite happy with how the Acid Jazz Channel has turned out. Still the best music video channel I've ever made. Now if I could just figure out how to make money from it...

More Milton Hershey Communications Vice President Connie McNamara Porn

Amanda Bearse in Fright Night is pretty close to the Connie McNamara I knew 1981 - 1983, except that Connie has prettier eyes. We worked the same IUP campus job about, what, 10 to 15 hours a week? And she was nice to me. Obviously this was pure torture for me...I got to look at that everyday. Might be a reason why I started crying...withdrawal.

ITEM: Still figuring out if I should spill the deep dark secrets of my past friend Connie McNamara. (Don't know if Connie still considers me a friend or considers me at all. I would bet good money on the latter. Not that I care about it. I might be lying about that last thing I said.) It should also be pointed out, since I'm stupid and I hadn't considered that some people might think this is recent, that all this 1 in 7 billion stuff happened about 30 years ago from 1981 and 1983 on IUP's campus. Hey, its one of the advantages of being old and knowing about the Before Time when the info I've been able to get about Connie within an hour (Is she updating her linked in page and why..) would have taken a team of reporters weeks to do in the 80s. I'm thinking about writing a long several thousand word piece on it and seeing how and if it might sell via the Kindle. Would be fun to find out and I'm trying to build a library.

Actually it would be very positive stuff. Here's something I wrote already for this longer essay I had in mind.

This would be the beginning:

"In fact, Connie McNamara is probably the coolest woman I’ve ever known and with the benefit of 30 years of hindsight probably the best friend I’ve ever had."

This would be the end.

"Some of the best and kindest moments of my life were spent with Connie McNamara."

Just add several thousand words in between.

But its not going to all be that nice. It can't be. Nobody's that saintly. For example when Connie looks into the camera with Anderson Cooper and talks about those impulsive kids who don't choose abstinence might interact with this HIV kid well...I know for a fact that she was one of those non abstinent impulsive kids...how do I know this? I've seen the serene Afterglow too many times up close and personal. (Not the only evidence I have by the way...)No it wasn't me we never even held hands. It's complicated. And Connie has three little girls now. Maybe she wants to lie to them like any good parent. I don't know. Plus I've suppressed these memories because they're painful. I'm crying again. I don't cry over stuff. Attacked by two 100 pound rottweilers in this neighborhood. Didn't cry. Threatened by the Klan, personally. Didn't cry. Probably cried 10 times since 1984. Seven of those times can be attributed to Connie...so I might wimp out. But I'm running out of time. I know this could be a really good essay. I might even be able to shop this...So...I'll work on another freelance assignment for another few days and come back to this...

Jan. 4

ITEM: Out of 7 billion people on this planet Connie McNamara, the woman in this video, is the only person to tell me "I love you." (Relatives don't count although its nice to hear.) Born to play Peter Pan in your neighborhood revival show...I would write more about this and my relationship with her if Connie hadn't...reduced me to a puddle of my own tears at least several times...I might be Yella. I think the school is clearly wrong but she's so good...Like Walken in every movie.

Dec. 26

Happy Festivus all.

ITEM: Here's that book I wrote for the e publisher Hyperink.

Last time I checked I hadn't sold a single issue for $2.99. On the other hand, the book is retailing for $3.99 on Hyperink's front page for . Perhaps I should keep checking since they raised the price...Update: I've definitely sold more than one. Number 6 in the hot sellers list. Number 36 to 48 on the top one hundred.

Dec. 7

It's been a long time away. But now it's back.

Around the Internets

ITEM: Thomas Merton Center says the Mayor wants to close down Occupy Pittsburgh in the next 48 to 72 hours. It was close to petering out, anyway. I don't know why they're even bothering. It would be probably be stronger as a decentralized movement anyway. Onward Occupy Mic Checks and Occupy Homes...

ITEM: Three great sites that touch upon progressive state policy. There are a number of national think tanks but just about zip when it comes to local and state policy. No I don't count the Scaife think tank.

Here's the list:

Third and State.

Keystone Research Center.

The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center

I think these are all funded by Big Labor but I'm not sure...I do know that they're must reads if you're interested in progressive policy.

ITEM: Kepler confirms Earth like planet in the habitable zone. Curious about the gravity though and how to get there: Over 600 light years away.

ITEM: Must read Ian Welsh. "Public opinion is irrelevant" is an instant classic.

"Most countries in the developed world do not have functioning democracies in any meaningful sense. You can vote for party A, B, or C, but they will all do substantially the same things, differing only in how fast they do them and the degree of gratuitous cruelty they engage in.

Your opinion does not matter. Politicians are almost entirely in the thrall of a neo-liberal ideology, and are almost entirely the bought and paid servants of the very rich. If a politician does what the oligarchy wants, he or she will be taken care of, even if thrown out of office. If they don’t, money and influence will be used against them, and once out of office they will be on their own."

ITEM: I just wrote a 10000 word non fiction book for someone else. I got a decent up front payment and I get 30 percent royalties, I think. However, I could just as easily write my own eBooks and keep all of the royalties. Here's some background on the Obama record that I need in order to complete a book on third parties. Fits with the Ian Welsh above as well.

ITEM: Links to online tv. Trying to find a way to watch Current online now that Verizon has priced me out of service. Background: As soon as Keith Olbermann made the channel interesting they moved Current into a higher priced tier. Meanwhile, I can get all the brainless Fox news channels that I would ever want and would never watch.

Dec. 3

ITEM: I just finished a 10000 word nonfiction book about a popular eReader. Here's the big question as always for Internet jobs: will they pay me? On ePaper it seems like a great deal and I wouldn't mind doing more work for them. But is it real? Did I miss something? Stay tuned.

Aug. 28

ITEM: I posted this earlier but it disappeared. But now its back again. My cousin Leonce's new novel looks to be very very commercial. Still sounds like "Deadwood meets Avatar", with Native Americans and African Americans fighting The Man...The title appears to be: "I Dreamt of Heaven--The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang."

Late night March 31st

(Slightly rewritten on the 3rd. Trying to make it better.)

ITEM: My black republican cousin--who shall go nameless because I don't want to out the guy who thought McCain/Palin was better than Obama, disappointing though he may be--is apparently having trouble finding paying work and openly bridged the possibility of crashing with me for awhile. I have mixed feelings about this as you can probably guess. On the one hand, blood trumps everything and that's just how I feel. (I even housed his half brother for awhile even. The same half brother who wrote me a 300 dollar check that bounced.) Yet my slightly more vindictive hand thinks: "You reap what you sow" and "There must be a god of karma". I should point out that my cousin, who's a year older than me, has three strikes against him. He's black, he seems to be slightly overweight--which as someone who's slightly overweight as well I can tell you: this disqualified me from probably as many jobs as being black--and he's pushing 50. These are things that don't help in this particular job economy.

I should also note that jobs in the private sector really aren't unionized. By not unionized, I mean its kind of hard to keep a job even if you get one. "At will" means you don't really have any rights on the job. Ever lose your temper at the job? Ever lose your temper at the job justifiably? Did you keep that job? Ever organized a union and been fired a week later? Ever had a white co worker tell you on his last day that he was working relentlessly to get you, the only black employee, fired? Ever feel that you weren't given the best leads by a boss who you were certain was playing favorites? Ever feel any real job security at an at will job? I never have. But that's for another essay titled "Why I Didn't Mind Being a 99er." And that was before the downturn. If you browse through the Craigslist listings you can see the return of just straight out rip off jobs. Jobs where you lose money by doing the work. Jobs that are clearly pyramid schemes or feature psychotic bosses or just plain bad deals. Or that offer of 7.25 an hour. How do you live on that? I feel like strangling people when I get a request to check my credit history. (Hope the EEOC does something about that...)

So I know what my cousin is up against. Yet, to return to my vindictive hand, this is the world that the Republican Party has created. It should be clear that the GOP is the party of class stratification and third world wages. Their tactics, plain to anyone who can fuckin' read, has been to sabotage the economy in the hopes that they'll make electoral gains. It worked in the midterms and it might work in 2012. Frankly, I blame the national dems for not fighting like the Wisconsin 14. That's leadership. Even if those guys lose I know they've got my back. But here's the thing: I know who my enemies are.

I've always thought that my cousin was the kind of black guy who would fight for the Confederacy and then be surprised to feel the lash upon his back. I think he's genuinely surprised that he's having a hard time finding work. But, beyond all that, beyond the God of Karma, can I forgive a guy for openly rooting for what Ted Rall once described as the most successful fascist party on the planet?

I mean, if a foreign agent did what the republicans routinely do you would consider it an act of war. Osama Bin Laden wants to cut 1 billion dollars from state public education. The fiend. Jihadists want to undercut the EPA and allow industry to pump carcinogens into your air, water and food supplies. The bastards. (They also want to cut funding for cancer research. Now that's evil...) Old fashioned commies are giving away our natural resources, subsidizing oil industries and allowing BP to drill for oil in the Gulf. O that darned red menace. Sissified French atheist abortionists want to lower your wages so that you can be paid like Mexicans (Actually, this is a bi partisan effort but you get the point...) and give all your money to corporate executives. Predictable really. A radical anarchist thinks public teachers, who work like dogs and I know because my mother was one, shouldn't get paid decently or have any say in their class sizes, (probably so they can safely declare public education a failure.). Somebody send in the troops.

Would you want this guy, who endorses all these things--if he does so knowingly he's evil and if he does so unknowingly he's stupid-- as a roommate? Would you want him to get back on his feet so he can quote Rush Limbaugh to you? I have to be honest I'm just not sure...Perhaps there are limits to even blood. Or as I told him: "If you need a job, you're an idiot to vote Republican."

Jan. 1, 2011

ITEM: I'm still here. Who knew. More writing on the way this year. I might even publish something.

(Recent Archive)

Tuesday April 15, 2008

Bloom County character Oliver Wendell Jones and NPR Senior Producer Walter Ray Watson: Separated at birth? Actually, it was a closer resemblance before Walt got the dreds...

Morrissey was right. We hate it when our friends become successful. My former New Pittsburgh Courier colleague Walter Ray Watson is the recipient of a Nieman Fellowship. I think that means he gets to teach and write for a year or a summer and he still gets to go back to his job at NPR when he's done. One of the great crimes of this world would be if Walter was unable to finish a book--I mean, any book--before he leaves this plane. One of the most gifted natural stylists I've ever seen, let alone worked with. Congrats. I should note that this gives me another opportunity to take a shot at my old union busting Courier boss Rod Doss. Keep in mind that not only did Rod not hire Tony Norman, arguably the most interesting essayist in the local corporate media, he wouldn't give Walter a recommendation. True, that's because he sort of supported the union I organized down there. I guess that's the kind of thing that angers a pro life republican. But, and I do so hate giving Rod any credit at all, perhaps its best to have had a bad father than no father at all. Rod at least hired you when the white papers in this town wouldn't. I have to also confess I'm also interested in the topic he's studying which is: "will study how the new media will affect communities that lack access to the changing way news and information are delivered." Welp, as Walt used to write, I think the answer is that the new media will probably supplant and replace most of what now constitutes the mainstream media or at least that's my sincere hope. I do hope that NPR is the last to fall, however, in that they do represent excellence. One snarky point: shouldn't someone who's writing about the New Media actually have a blog or two? Then again, I suppose you could talk about my Morrissey impression among other embarrassing hijinks that we had at the Courier, which we once joked about turning into a sitcom proposal...

June 16

Keep checking out her work. Someone stole her bike recently. Goodwills and second hand shops have great cheap bikes.

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