IN GOD WE TRUST – ALL OTHERS PAY CASH

Good morning, sinners!

Here’s yr entertainment headline for the day:



Carry on preaching,

This is dF

IT’S ALL IN THE FIST

ITEM [via thelastaerie ]: Introducing the first great Fox News video meme of the Obama 44 Era: The Love Doctor explains how you can tell just how much Obama and Michelle love each other.

Fisting, for example.

FAIL.

Leave it to a Fox News affiliate to have a relationship “expert” who doesn’t know what “fisting” is.

To be fair, it’s probably a requirement in all Fox News contracts that when the Obamas are talked about, you have to mention fists. Just in case they’re, you know, terrorists or something.

Fistful of love,

This is dF

ASK ME ABOUT FOIA REQUESTS

You’ve heard by now that Obama 44’s first major act in Operation Clean Up Bush’s Stupid Mess was to order the closure of the Gitmo detention camp, ban the CIA from renditioning suspects to secret prisons, and ban the use of torture techniques disguised as “spirited Q&A”.

Here’s a lesser publicized accomplishment: he also issued an executive order that all departments comply with Freedom Of Information Act requests as expeditiously as possible – and whenever possible to not even wait for an FOIA request before making information public.

It’s essentially a repudiation of General John Ashcroft’s instructions to the DOJ on handling FOIA requests: ignore them until a judge orders you to comply, and use as many excuses and stall tactics as it takes. Which was pretty much how the Bush/Cheney Connection preferred things. After all, what’s the point of spying on all Americans, including journalists, if everyone knows what yr up to?

It’s such a contrast of styles and philosophies that, for no apparent reason (probably the Gitmo connection), I found myself thinking of Col. Nathan R. Jessup’s Big Truth Speech in A Few Good Men. Specifically, this line:

“I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.”

I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this, but that rant is a 90-second master class in Bush/Cheney Leadership Philosophy (and far better expressed than Bush himself could ever have managed – Cheney could do that speech, but more quietly).

Clearly, Obama will be having none of that. At least on paper. The practice will probably be complex and imperfect. But hey, he’s only been on the job less than 72 hours. And all the White House computers apparently all still run on Windows 95. So, you know, he can only do so much.

Maybe that’ll be his next executive order: “Effective immediately, all WH computers must be upgraded to MacBooks by this weekend. Take the cost out of my first year’s salary. Love, Barry.”

Cleaning house,

This is dF

KILLING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY ONE MIXTAPE AT A TIME (2008 EDITION)

A couple of weeks ago, we gave you our list of the Def 20 Albums We Bought In 2008. Now, just in time for the Lunar New Year, we give you the music. Because we want you to hear the quality for yrself. And because it freaks out the RIAA every time we do this.

Terribly Frog Productions presents:

THAT'S NOT SCIENCE!
The best music acquired by TFI in 2008

( Track listing sold separately! )

As usual, Team Def offers you a choice of download options:

For a folder of individual DRM-free MP3 files + artwork [88.5MB], click here.

For an exclusive Def Mix MP3 + artwork [66 MB], click here.

Offer expires in seven days (or whenever Mediafire deletes them). Feel free to circulate among friends, relatives, work colleagues, teammates, neighbors, pharmacists, personal trainers, librarians and schoolchildren.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: The individual tracks were encoded at 160 kbps, the mix at 128 kbps (hence the relative fatness of the former). If there's any problems with the files, it's probably my fault, so let me know.

PRODUCTION NOTE: The Def Mix was created using GarageBand. Which is lucky for you, as I gave up trying to make one with Audacity, due to one too many “import errors”. I forget why I didn’t use GarageBand in the first place. I remember trying it once – possibly it didn’t support importing MP3s from iTunes at the time. Either that or it never occurred to me to use the podcast-building feature. The latter is probably more likely.

FBI WARNING: If you download these files, you are under arrest for Grand Larceny. Downloading music is a criminal offense, even if it leads to more album sales. We know where you live, and you will burn for this.

Enjoy yr weekend.

A vendetta kind of mood,

This is dF