Nihilism for Dummies!

29 April 2004

"Freedom of speech is precisely for speech you don't like"

That's a bastardization of something Chomsky said once. Hell, maybe it's a dead-on quote: I don't know and I'm too lazy to look it up. At any rate, today we're going to look at the Freedom of Speech.

First, I hate to break this to Howard Stern and all his fans, but talking about lesbians, sex noises, and whatever other inane babble he's drooling on about is not - let's be honest - about free speech. That's about the freedom to be an idiot, which is a special right in and of itself. Yea, he's entitled to it, but he shouldn't cheapen the meaning of free expression by attatching himself to it. That goes for you to, Mr. Flynt.

The freedom of speech and expression, in its more or less proper sense, is political. The Founding Fathers wouldn't have known what to do with obscene, vulgar and licentious speech. So, that's probably not what they had in mind when they scribbled out the First Amendment.

So, with that in mind, let's just say that we all support the Freedom of Speech - because we all say we do, right? And we certainly do support that freedom when, say, the liberal cause du jour marches on Washington. Right? And yes, we even support the freedom of some of the right-wingers when they come out, in favor of war or no taxes or whatever. Right?

But, what about when Rev. Fred Phelps and his ilk come to town? Oh shit. There goes your happy-go-lucky notions of free speech, right?

These folks, ok, are fucking crazy. They make Pat Robertson look like John Dominic Crossan. Ok? They carry placards reading, God Hates Fags, Fags Doom Nations and, my favorite, some variation on Thank God for (insert date here) - in this case December 7, in others it is September 11.

Wow, this is harsh stuff, right? And, what's best? They bring the kiddies out to their protests. They were right here in the Asheville area last week, raising eyebrows, annoying pretty much everyone. After all, they drag the flag across the ground, they insult veterans, the dead, the gay, the left, the right, and, um, everyone.

But, guess what? I'm glad that these people are out there. This really is what democracy looks like. It's ugly. It's harsh. It's real. Now, I'm not sure whether or not these people really believe in any of the crap they talk about. I'm pretty sure they don't like "fags" or whatnot, but other than that it's hard to tell. Fuck 'em. That isn't what I'm on about today.

I just think it's important to remember that, no matter how offensive it is that you are hearing, whoever is saying it is entitled to be left alone about it. 'Cause, after all, if we all just left each other alone the world would likely be a better place.

Update: Check out this related site, God Hates America.

20 April 2004

A few words about words....

Some of our wonderful, dear, and sweet friends from the postmodern schools have been telling us for some time that words have conditional meaning; that, at times, correct interpretations can come from imperfect samples (ie: poor grammar or syntax, or misspoken words). That's all fine and well in some cases, but it simply does not apply to all language, especially when the word choice leads to interpretations that are far outside the bounds of common sense.

As I write this, CNN.com has as its lead story the following: Hostage soldier's family calls video 'chilling'. I'm sorry, but this simply does not work for me.

Private First Class Maupin is not, and cannot be, a "hostage." He is a soldier, and if captured, he is a "prisoner of war." Now, all the other White House nonsense about "detainees" and other assorted crap aside, it is hard for any sensible person to say that what is happening in Iraq is not a war. It is not a transition to democracy, as much as it is a new kind of colonialism being put forth by Mr. Bush and his Crew. At any rate, your government (I don't claim either side, or the independents) has placed US Soldiers into a foreign nation, and then acts shocked when they actually get captured or killed.

And this is not new. During the first weeks of hostilty last year, there were reports of "terrorism" at certain US camps. Hmmm. In what part of the world does this make sense? That the invaders of a country could be victims of terrorism?

And, for those of you who might be supporters of the war - reading this now and bristling with righteous anger towards me, ask yourselves this: Do you really enjoy reading news stories that paint your beloved military heroes as hapless victims? Think about that, before you use the words hostage or terrorist in regards to Iraq.

As I've said before, I don't mind half as much what is going on in this world as I do the horrible, clumsy, and foolish lying about what is going on in this world. Bomb every fucking square inch of land in the Middle East, for all I care, just don't fucking lie to me and swear you didn't know it was going to happen.

Do not mistake this anger, or try to use it to label dissent as pro-Islam or whatever. It bothers me that anyone has had to die, or suffer, for any reason - in Iraq or anywhere else. What disturbs me is that so many people accept death and suffering with such a calm Christian, "well, that's the way these things are," sort of mentality.

And still, it all just makes me withdraw. After all, if most people can't be bothered to question anything, why should I feel the need to be upset? I know it sounds somewhat contradictory, but it's the truth. My own brand of apathy keeps me sane, even though I curse it in others.

Sue me.

19 April 2004

Music(al) notes

Ha. I crack my own self up with funny shit like that headline. Ha. Ha. *cough* Let's move on, then.

So, a month or so ago there was all the talk about The Grey Album, that remix piece with Beatles music and Jay-Z's vocals. Yada, yada, lawsuit, bittorrent, yada, yada, 15 minutes of fame later and we have a new one. The Double Black Album, by DJ Cheap Cologne. Yea, it's Metallica's black album remixed with Jay-Z lyrics. Big thrill. Both of them are available over at BannedMusic.org

But that's not what this post is about. 'Cause I could give a shit about Jay-Z, The Beatles, or Metallica.

What I do think is amusing is this link that I stumbled across while reading up on music activism, namely What A Crappy Present. Now, this is amusing shit. Props to these guys for being funny about what is, to be honest, an occassionally serious issue.

14 April 2004

Your future business and political leaders....

Here's more news from our supposed institutes of higher learning. It's more important to look like we care, than to actually care what we do. At least, that's apparently what some sorority girls decided recently. check out this wonderful little story. And, today, if you know someone in a sorority, slap 'em around a little. Then beat the crap out of a frat boy. Then, just for fun, kick someone else down the stairs. Hate++!

After all, let's review the email Ms. Key sent to her sisters. Shall we?

"I dont care if you got a tattoo last week LIE. I dont care if you have a cold. Suck it up. We all do. LIE. Recent peircings? (sic) LIE."

Kids, she is a college sophomore. Why? She should be a junior high school dropout.

As usual, I'm not horribly concerned with what she did, after all she was honest. I am concerned with her apparent lack of intelligence. That's a bother. This is really a clue as to the stupidity of the supposed "political and educated class" in this country. And people wonder how Dubya won in 2000 and will likely win again in 2004.

Why I'm Done With Google, Part 3

Or, maybe not. You see, I'm still tracking the four hits a day I'm getting and I'm still noticing where they come from. Search results are amusing as hell. It's good to know that I'm still the number one result for "Nihilism for Dummies," despite there being precious little here for dummies and a little bit less about Classical Nihilism.

So, is this another failure of google's? Or, a little tiny success story for a guy named mat in BFE who runs a goofy little weblog that's about nothing (and manages to not be as funny as Seinfeld in the process). Hellation, I can't decide. I suppose it's just another digital curio for aliens to ponder one day.

13 April 2004

Today's quick note: links to archives up

I think I have run out of things to say. That's how it feels. Maybe that's the last joke of nihilism, you just run out of nothing to say. And then, suddenly, you have to actually come up with something. Which negates all yr nihilism.

Maybe not.

It's April, and there's already two candidates in the running for the job of Chief Fucker. Forget Nader, he couldn't hand enough Viagra out to his supporters this year to get him over the three percent mark. This is purely a power grab between Southern dumb and rich and Northern less-dumb and rich. Expect to see mud fly around June, when Kerry is revealed to have had sex as a by-product of being a rock'n'roll bassist (possible illegit kids floating around?) and then, in July, a leaked memo from the 9/11 Commission, saying that Dubya must have still been getting over the crack to have missed the signs that New York was fucked. Also possible revelation that Pentagon attack staged. Watch in October for the surprise: We have Osama! Cheering. Ticker tape parades. Troops coming home from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the "handover of power" in Iraq almost went down perfectly, except no one was there to pick up the baton, so we sent in Aristide.

4 April 2004

quick note:
I'm trying to work out some new CSS style for this site, so things are mostly broken right now, including all the old links to the archived files. Not that anyone would notice, though.

Down the memory hole?

I've mentioned before that the Internet sucks a great big fat donkey schlong, right? I'm sure I have, because I really think that it is true.

Once upon a time, we talked of the web and the internet ('cause they are different) as this wonderful tool of interaction and information. And now, it seems that the Internet is nothing more than a awful billboard or shopping mall and a thousand voices all screaming, all cancelling each other out.

Now, before we go on, I don't mean to say that there are not some really good resources out there. There are lots of databases and research sites and etc. But, what we are lacking is some sense of retention.

It blows my mind that these multi-national media conglomerates haven't yet figured out how to leave their content online for longer than ten minutes. Most attempts at following a link to a news story that is older than that (ok, exaggeration I know) will take you to some perverted 404 page that only serves to confuse....

Or, worse, are the media giants who decide that old news should cost you. Anyone want to explain this concept to me, without the "cost of storage and bandwidth" bullshit? Because it has nothing to do with that. It has a lot to do with students and businessmen and writers suddenly remembering that a crucial piece of the info they need lives inside the fifteenth paragraph of a Times piece from three months back. And, guess what? They'll have to pay three bucks to find it.

That's the same as that information not even being there.

And it is increasingly obvious to me that the information overload that we seem to be living with today is almost designed to make this memory hole possible. After all, if we are going to be flooded with a thousand new pieces of tripe tomorrow, then why save today's garbage?

Nihilism for Dummies is not about nihilism. It is not for dummies. It is not a weblog. It is not all it is cracked up to be.