Fallout

(Advisory - the following lyrics contain explicit language—surprise [said no one ever]):

FALLOUT

Steady like a gun, I am living a nightmare
Married to my fucking disease
Can't stop now, wanna die in a car crash
Maybe that's what I need

I can't stop a deadlock
I won't let you pray for me
I'm not gonna stay long
My head is turning

Fallout, left me without our love

Tear us apart my heart

Burning inside me, oh

Terrified of none, I am sleeping with hardware
Fearless and fucking mean
Out of control, stone cold and reckless
Looking for my enemies

I can't stop a deadlock
I won't let you pray for me
I'm not gonna stay long
My head is turning

Fallout, left me without our love
Tear us apart my heart
Burning inside me, oh

Fallout, you're leaving me undone
Maybe I'll use my gun
It's right here beside me, oh

{guitar solo}

{bridge:

Running from the law
Always looking behind me
They better get ready for me
Wanna kill them all
Put an end to this long chase
I won't stop till I succeed

The lawyers, the fraud
The system is flawed
It's time to take it to the streets
I won't take the fall
I wanna leave them with no trace
For the naked eye to see
}

Fallout, left me without our love
Tear us apart my heart
Burning inside me

Fallout, you're leaving me undone

Maybe I'll use my gun
It's right here beside me
It's right here beside me
Burning inside me, oh
Fallout

Words and music copyright Buckcherry and Warner/Chappell Music

Oh, man, almost forgot. Because of the many possible metaphorical interpretations, let me help out by dedicating this song to the generally mediocre douche bags who run General Electric. 

The Continuing Crisis . . . Déjà Vu All Over Again

Teacher Hauled Off Over "Inappropriate" Remarks

Stories like this one always lead me to ask follow-up questions like these:

Anonymous, Redux

Yes, I know, you were cheated when you got no info about Anonymous in a previous post. To right this wrong, I submit this, gentle reader:

(enjoy)

 

Spiritus in Machina

Acxiom is a data-mining company headquartered in Little Rock, AR. It's also really hard to pronounce (I'm guessing, as I've never actually heard someone say the name) and spell (so much so that it is misspelled as "Axciom" by such luminaries as ZDNet and The Huffington Post). I believe Acxiom prefers to be called a targeted marketing and planning company, or something like that. None of that is particularly relevant to this post, however; please review the following from Acxiom's website:

Last time I checked, the US population was slightly north of 315 million persons (US Census Bureau). Which begs the question, what exactly is Acxiom counting?  It occurred to me that perhaps the 500 million included all the people who have died and been born since Acxiom started keeping records in 1969, going by the name Demographics.  Since that time, approximately 96.3 million US souls have departed this mortal coil, based on CDC info and extrapolating for the last two years (US CDC WONDER Database). The current population already includes new births (as well as anyone born prior to 1969 who is still alive today), so we get to 411.3 million potential US consumers. Something is amiss, I think. My theories:

• Acxiom has multiple instances of the same people, so they have a higher raw count than the actual number of people who exist
• They are rounding up—badly
• You know those duplicate songs, pictures and other files you have on your computer? Acxiom has that problem, too
• Pets have been added to the database
• Imaginary friends are included in the database
• Someone forgot to Google "US population 2013," so instead just guessed from memory
• The immediately preceding person's education was subpar, was hampered by excessive use of mind-altering substances, or both
• Spiritus in Machina

* * *

The Slippery Slope of Losing Freedom

From the Wall Street Journal—Noonan: What We Lose if We Give Up Privacy

"I don't need to worry, I haven't done anything wrong" works fine until the storm troopers show up at your door and haul you away for planting marigolds, being a methodist, or liking "the rock music." This slippery slope has existed since before the Crusades, and it's at the core of destroying individual freedom. 

You're right, though, you haven't done anything wrong—until someone in charge decides that you have.   

* * *

Anonymous? What's that Whole Thing All About?

Uh, no.

Thanks for asking, though.

The Continuing Crisis, Continued...

Photo copyright NYDailyNews.com

Apparently, this principal in a NY intermediate (middle) school went on some crazy rant about blowing up the school, because he was mad at the students.  (It's from November, just FYI). The NYPD determined that the threat wasn't credible, and wasn't a terrorist threat, though complaints at the school are ongoing, but the process takes something like three years to complete.  Maybe I should start a bloggers' union.  

What I find bizarre is that everyone is up in arms about his "blow up the school" tirade, which to any intelligent human is simply rhetoric (I mean, seriously, he's been around this long without blowing up a school yet?), while no one has filed a federal lawsuit for his violation of the laws requiring a separation of church and state.  The photos in the article make it pretty clear that his religious leanings have bled over into his public school work.  

I wonder what the NYPD would determine if they spent taxpayer money to investigate the torching of Barbie Ken dolls?  For all their craziness about the guy who put up the drone posters in NYC, they do seem a bit more rational than some other law enforcement agencies I can think of.  

Oh, the link:  Principal crazy as a loon, probably from reading too many bible parables

Hopefully This Won't Have the Same Stupid Backlash as Blazing Saddles, but I Always Count on Intellectual Elitism for Its Own Share of Utter Stupidity

How to Make Money Selling Drugs

See this movie.  It opens Wednesday.

"Papers, Please!" (Aaron Swartz, RIP)

For those concerned about Eastern European crime syndicates uploading info from their computers, or who've watched a meltdown caused by an e-mail attachment or clicking a bad link, take heart.  Your government doesn't care, and they won't do anything to help you, though they may be willing to sell you the information they have in their files from spying on you.  The problem isn't real criminals, as you might think, but "High-Tech Terrorists" like WikiLeaks, whose real crime is revealing things that the government doesn't want us to know.

In that spirit, we get this kind of mindless, handwringing rhetoric and misdirection, as CISPA winds its way through Congress, aiming to take away our civil liberties:

WikiLeaks and Hacktivists, Oh My!

Do people really believe this drivel?  The lady doth protest too much, methinks.  It's a sad commentary, that politicians have managed to combine two words they most fear, yet know the least about.