The Power of User-Created Content

The fury of the Internet was released, especially on the Digg, when the HD-DVD encryption hex key was leaked. I'm not sure how many people actually know what to do with the key, or could even put it to use, but it was an interesting showing of what a revolt on the Internet looks like. Most people who care already know the story behind the whole fiasco. But I found a website that sums up the whole situation pretty well; http://www.09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0.ws/. Anyways, fight the power and so forth, the only way Internet nerds with too much time on their hands can do; with a hexadecimal number.

Media Contact Info

A list containing much of the contact information for the majority of major media outlets has been Dugg and revealed to the world. The source of the list is the Palestine Media Watch, whose main purpose is to "promote fair and accurate coverage of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in the US mainstream media."

The list is currently available at their website, and as a Google document. So, get in contact with your favorite/most hated media outlet and let them know how you feel.

Libby found guilty

Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr., an ex-aide of Vice President Dick Cheney, has been convicted on 4 of 5 counts of obstruction of justice. This ends a long chapter in the whole Plame affair with only a conviction on an aide and the person who actually revealed Plame's identity to the media.

"We're all going back to our day jobs," Fitzgerald said outside the courthouse. "If the information comes to light, or new information comes to us that would warrant us taking some action, we will do that."

So many high-level people are implicated in this whole situation that I do no understand why not more people are coming to justice. Patrick Fitzgerald has already stated that Richard Armitage was the first one to leak Valrie Plame's identity, but he supposedly did it by "accident".

All of what's been revealed about the Bush administration's dealings with this situations has be highly suspicious at best. First of all, I don't trust Armitage. He's a dirty guy who had shit up to his ankles in the Iran Contra scandal during the Regan era. Not surprisingly, he's been in the Bush administration almost since the beginning.

Then there's the question of why would Libby lie if there was no connection to Cheney in the investigation. The only person that I know who hasn't been officially implicated into the whole affair is Bush himself.

Everything is highly suspect, and the even the jurors know it.

One juror, Denis Collins, said "there was a tremendous amount of sympathy for Mr. Libby on the jury.

"It was said, 'Where's Rove, where are these other guys?'

"We're not saying that we didn't think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of. It seemed like he was the fall guy," Collins said.

I call bullshit on the whole situation. I'm glad Libby will be going to jail, barring a successful appeal, but the American people want justice against an administration that seems to play by their own rules, even when it comes to our national security interests.

The Compton Effect

The Compton Effect is an observation in physics in which energy and momentum is transfered between two electrons when they collide. This is evidence towards the idea that light is made of photon particles. The Compton Effect is also an album being produced by independent hip-hop artist Greydon Square.

In his own words, Greydon Square is "an artist that promotes rationality and freethinking reality through hip-hop." This is a unique form of hip-hop that is not seen in the mainstream music industry. He is an aggressive atheist that strikes against the foundation of theists' beliefs.

I am not a big fan of hip-hop, I'm more of a rock aficionado, but his lyrics are engaging and very intelligent and I can't help but enjoy his music. With a mediocre mainstream music scene at best in America, independent artists, such as Greydon, are a nice change of pace. Not since 2Pac have I seen a hip-hop artist who equates to this level of quality lyrics.



Best of luck to Greydon on finishing his album, which is due out June 6, 2007. You can find more about Greydon Square and The Compton Effect at TheComptonEffect.com.

Anti-war = Anti-troop?

Almost everyone I know is against the occupation of Iraq, similar to the majority view of America. I, myself, am against the way the occupation is being handled. Basically, we should either be there to win or be pulling out, and we don't have the support at home to win the war, so we should be pulling out. But that is not the point I'm trying to make.

Many conservatives on the floors of Congress, and elsewhere, have said that not supporting the war is the same as being against the troops. I just don't buy this argument. A lot of my friends are against the war because they are sick of our soldiers getting killed and maimed for what they believe is a unnecessary cause.

I personally have a problem with this argument because I have friends and family over in Iraq and I don't want them to be harmed whether that means pulling them out or putting the necessary number of troops in. So am I anti-troop because I want to see the ones I care about come back in one piece? I would say no. Therefore, most of the people against the war for the same reason are not anti-troop, they are simply against a war that was poorly planned and executed.