Weekend OT
I'm not sure how this bodes for fiscally-minded conservatives, but Huckabee and Palin lead the polls for Republican leadeship.
Obama points to infrastructure, schools, and green jobs as a way toward recovery in his weekly address to fend off the criticism
that he is too mum on the economy.
In pop culture news, OJ is going away for a while. Guitarist Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay for plagiarism. You can compare the songs here
.
I have lots of grading to do. It's nearly the end of the semester. Hope your weekend goes well.
Submitted by Specter on Sat, 2008-12-06 12:05
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Dark City
Coldplay stealing songs, they seem so creative?
I can't play instruments for a reason, but I think: Thrid Eye Blind - 1000 July's
sounds like AC/DC - Back in Black 
Even more so Rammstein - Du Hast
sounds a lot like Ministry - Just One Fix 
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Coldplay vs Satriani
This one is tough. I don't know much about music composition, so take my comments here with a grain of salt. It seems to me that there are three notes that are very similar if not identical in these two pieces. They both have similar lengths also. The rest of the song, such as background lead in and fade away before and after these notes, is different enough for me to have my doubts about sheer plagiarism.
I always have my antennae up when grading papers for the least bit of copying, and I know the consequences of plagiarism (see Ben Domenech
), but it seems there are only so many chord progressions that you are bound to use the same three as another artist once in a while. Also the alterations may make it its own original composition. Then again there are only 26 letters in our alphabet and that does not prevent us from making innovative sentences each time we write, so perhaps I am wrong on the way music is put together.
My bet is they will settle out of court and Satriani will take home a limited bonus check this holiday.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
A (hopefully last) desperate cry for attention
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-missile6-2008dec06,0,6207749.story
The mssile defense charlatans are desperately trying to prove that after 25 years and 100 billion dollars (now increasing at $10 billion a year) that they can accomplish something. I hope Obama will stake this bondoggle once and for all.
The only real purpose for a working national missile defense is to circumvent MAD and allow a US first strike with nuclear weapons on a country like China or Russia. That's not a good goal. In fact that's a terrible goal.
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.
This program
has always seemed like a monstrous bridge to nowhere.
I'm only half stupid
Is this good news or
bad? Congress goes back to the 5
day work week. I imagine it gives Bob Novak the shivers. He always preferred that Congress be out of session so it could do less harm.
I'm only half stupid
Controversially unconstroverisal
Bill Ayers pens an op-ed in the NYT
A Profoundly Dishonest Drama
On his role as an advocate to end the War in Vietnam.
The article is well written, thoughtful and interesting, to those who are unwilling to buy into the caricature that was created to smear Obama during the campaign. That the smear jobs failed is one of the larger victories of this election season, in my humble opinion. May the days of Nixon/Bush politics be over forever!
I'm only half stupid
"Senator Clinton is pleased . . .
to learn of Jon's obvious interest
in the State Department"
Words fail me.
"The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." --R. Heinlein
Shocking
Obama chief speechwriter is too elite to buy American beer, or at leas hangs out with people that don't drink American.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Heh
I missed that.
I just wonder, though, how the reverse would play out.....picture this....me, on Obama's staff....at a party, with a Joe Biden cutout...and I'm grabbing his crotch.....
Ewww. Wait. Nevermind. That image is just too icky.....
"The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." --R. Heinlein
33
Looks like a Rolling Rock to me.
We are the environment. There is no distinction. What we do to the earth we do to ourselves. —David Suzuki
If its in a paper, it must be true.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
He should sue
I'd need to see a bigger photo to be positive, but I'm not convinced that it's a Heineken. Clearly this is one of the most important issues of the day, and I expect better investigative reporting!
We are the environment. There is no distinction. What we do to the earth we do to ourselves. —David Suzuki
What's American Beer?
Coors is 1/2 Canadian, and both Bud and Miller are owned by Europeans.
I guess we still have Schlitz.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
Samuel Adams
Sam Adams is American...unless some foreign entity has controlling interest in the stocks.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
My comments were in jest
My hometown, Fort Collins CO, is home to the finest breweries in the US. I love me some Fat Tire
and Easy Street 
.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
Codswallop!
There was some interest a while back about words like malarkey and balderdash, so I thought this might amuse some of you. From language expert Steve Pinker via Andrew Sullivan
in a story about Justice Scalia's use of the word "golly waddles." (Warning for the chaste and pure: actual swear words are in the article.)
I hope to see many of these words in use on Swords Crossed in the future!
We are the environment. There is no distinction. What we do to the earth we do to ourselves. —David Suzuki
I'l be dead in the cold cold ground
afore I use "flappydoodle."
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.
Poppycock
n/t
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Forget the 1960s
We are reliving the 1930s. Our economy's crashed, and workers are taking over factories
to stand up for their rights. Interesting times.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
Is this land made for you and me?
The workers better hope they don't get arrested and their employer signed non-recourse debt agreements with their creditors.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
So far,
the police are making sure everything is relatively civil, but they are not moving in. Obama said the company should live up to its promises and obligations
but did not go so far as to say he endorsed the workers' actions.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
Brendan or Ender
Look at this comment
when you get a chance.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/