Providence continues their policy of kicking artists in the teeth

All the DIY spaces in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence are being shut down. This is a damn shame.

For those who are unfamiliar with the concept of a DIY space, it's what happens when a group of artists get together, rent out a floor in an old mill building, live there and have bands play there. Even when there's just one of these in a city, it can create a vibrant music that everyone enjoys and can even make national and international headlines. The late, great Fort Thunder, closed a couple of years ago because developers wanted to put in a Shaws supermarket plaza (ie: they tore down old mill buildings and the history that goes with them to erect a fucking strip mall), still makes headlines in national and international press. I read about Fort Thunder in the local press when I lived in Cincinnati, and it was also mentioned in a recent issue of Alternative Press.

After the Fort closed, there was a hole in the Providence music scene that needed to be filled. So not one, not two, but around 5 or 6 DIY spaces sprung up to fill in the void, and it was great. Most of these spaces were located in one building, and in between sets you could just goto another space and see a band play there, or climb down the fire escape and walk across the roof to another space where the residents were just hanging out and watching a locally produced movie or something.

And the bands were incredible. There was no notion of capitalism to effect how shows were booked, because there spaces were not clubs with an owner who seeks to pack the house each night with beer-swilling fans. DIY spaces asked for donations to pay the rent and pay the bands. Great local bands that would hardly get noticed on the club scene would play in the DIY spaces and they were allowed to do whatever they wanted. Wanna shut off the lights and play with just a strobe? Sure. Wanna play a blistering 10 minute set of music? Go ahead.

But lately, Providence (with their new, oh so "progressive" Democrat mayor) has been cracking down on the artists who put that city on the map. Clubs and DIY spaces have suffered losses. Lupo's, the long time quintessential Providence night club to see some of the bigger national acts, was practically forced to move out of the building they had a 15 year lease on because developers wanted to turn it into a luxury apartment building. Lupo's was one of the best "big" clubs I have ever been to. IT was large enough to hold crowds for big national acts, but still small enough to make you feel close to the band anywhere you wandered, because you really were. You were never farther then 40 feet away from the stage no matter where you were, and it was easy to get right upto the front. Lupo's was forced to move into a shitty old theater called the Strand, and their weekend shows can only last until 10:30 because the Strand wants to hold shitty dance nights on the weekends.

The Lupo's building also had a smaller club called the Met Cafe. That's gone. Hopefully the new club that Rich Lupo opened, Ultra, can take the Met's place. But I think they have to preempt shows for shitty dance nights, too.

A couple of years ago, Fort Thunder was shut down by the city because they had shows. Another space named Studio 159 was shut down. I think they were around for a couple of months, that’s about it.

Now the city has given the axe to all the new DIY spaces, another blow to the artists that have made the city great. Gunsho has an explaination on the Honeypump message board:

i love providence, i love the great music that has come out of there for the past 15 or so years. unfortunately, this "gentrification" is inevitable. real estate agents call it "the bohemian factor", they gauge the potential value of a neighborhood by the number of artists that filter in. artists have always been on the front line of the gentrification process. same thing has happened in south boston, san francisco, seattle, williamsburg in brooklyn, etc. it sucks but it's reality. it's as much the fault of the students and the big schools as it is developers.

There are rumours that Wal-Mart wants tear down a few buildings and erect a new store in Providence. Wonderful. That’s just what Rhode Island needs, another Wal-Mart. That will add so much personality to the city, not to mention more low paying jobs to replace the jobs at local businesses which it will destroy.

It’s disappointing. There are a few local clubs to see shows, and I intend to goto one tonight (where this will surely be the topic of conversation), but it’s just not going to be the same. It’s not safe for artists in Providence. Not only are they persecuted for their art at the benefit of greedy developers, but this move by the city will make a few of them homeless. Temperatures dropped to –5 last night, the last thing we need are more people on the street. But if that’s what the developers want, then the city seems more then happy to bend over backward to suit them.

Saturday Dog Blogging

Meet Mack, who has a rather weird look in his eyes...

Ahhhh, election years

Moon bases and manned missions to Mars, what won't Bush say to get elected?

Of course, how does he intend to pay for this shit?

The officials said Bush would propose a funding increase for NASA next year of around 5 per cent, or $750 million (U.S.), with similar increases for the remainder of the five-year budget sent to Congress next month.

Let me get this straight: the economy is tanking, jobs aren't being created, people are in debt upto their eyeballs, schools in Oakland are in danger of being closed.. And Bush's priorities are to give NASA billions so we can have a base on the moon.

WTF? It's absolutely astounding that this man's approval ratings aren't in the toliet.

Will some schools in Oakland be closed?

From Indybay:

The occupation of Oakland schools by the State of California [tasnote: hey Ahhnald, do you have to close schools to keep your promise to not raise taxes?] enables the state to make cuts to our schools that a democratically elected school board would never approve. Administrator Randolph Ward's threat to close up 13 schools, all of them with high African-American populations, is only the tip of the iceberg of a more detailed policy that would lead to deeper segregation of Oakland schools.

Ward plans to rent shut-down schools to charter schools. Ward's attack is a thinly veiled attempt to privatize education. Ward is acting as an unelected, unaccountable overseer for the state to try to strip down, degrade and privatize education in Oakland.

The Crimes of Saddam

Certainly the man's an asshole, but did he gas his own people during the Iran-Iraq War? Here's a curious article which aruges that this crime may have been perpetrated by Iran.

Feeling the pinch? [updated]

[If you read popular blogs, skip this post because I quote directly from them. I have friends and family who come here and don't read other blogs, so this is a post for them. Usually I'd do my own research, but I'm just lazy tonight.]

dKos talks economy.

On jobs:

1,000 jobs created in December.

Let me say that again. 1,000 jobs were created in December. In all of the U.S.

The expectations were 100,000 to 150,000 new jobs for the holiday season.

But no. We came in slightly under those estimates. For a total of 1,000.

...And to further add insult to injury, November's job growth of 57,000 was revised downward to 43,000.

He goes on to quote an article discussing our weakening dollar.

The dollar fell to a record low against the euro on Friday following a shockingly weaker than expected report showing U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by only 1,000 jobs in December.

...The news triggered a sharp sell-off in the dollar against most key rivals. The greenback had been broadly higher just ahead of the jobs report.

Want more great news? Atrios gives you some from the Slacktivist.

Most Americans have more debt on their credit cards than money in their mutual funds.

But remember, Bush says that economy's doing great!

Update: While I'm plagiarizing for my friends, I'll quote something else Atrios stated better then I could:

I'm not going to question the characters of the fine fine career professionals who worker at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I'm sure they're above taking part in any manipulation of the statistics for political purposes. But, I would like to point out that it was really convenient that the October and November jobs estimates were revised downwards in the latest reports. Otherwise, rather than 1,000 job increase we saw we could have seen a 50,000 or more job loss for the month. That wouldn't really change the economic picture in a substantial way, but it would change the headlines.

Saturday is Election Day!

Celebrating the Third World in Pictures has some pretty nifty pictures, and gets my vote in the New Weblog Showcase.

Saturday is Cartoon Day!

Both by Ted Rall.

And if you missed "A Blog's Life" on GC13, then clickity click click lick. (Lick?)

Saturday Dog Blogging...

...will be saturday NIGHT dog blogging here at Loaded Mouth. Mack's taking his beauty rest and I want to snap a pic of him when he's playful.

Good Crap!

I know this is a small and unscientific poll, but Lou Dobbs CNN site today, he has a simple poll: Are you better off today than you were three years ago?

6527 people responded, 94% said no.

Unfortunately, they have breeded

From the "You just can't make this shit up" department: "TV addict seeks to sue"

A Wisconsin man is threatening to sue his cable television company for conspiring to turn his entire family into couch potatoes, local newspapers reported yesterday.

In a complaint filed with local police, Timothy Dumouchel said the Charter Communications cable firm was responsible for his own TV addiction, his wife's 23kg weight gain and his children being "lazy channel surfers".

"I believe that the reason I smoke and drink every day and my wife is overweight is because we watched TV every day for the last four years," Dumouchel said in his written complaint.

He said he would be willing to forgo his small claims suit in exchange for $5 000, or three computers, or even a lifetime supply of free internet service from Charter. - Sapa-AFP

Jesse at Gotham City 13 has what I believe to be a photo of the plaintiff.

Our Dictator In Chief

This is by a German man. Some members of his family were murdered in Hitler's camps, so he deserves your ear when he compares Bush to Hitler:

So far, I've seen nothing to eliminate the possibility that Bush is on the same course as Hitler. And I've seen far too many analogies to dismiss the possibility. The propaganda. The lies. The rhetoric. The nationalism. The flag waving. The pretext of 'preventive war'. The flaunting of international law and international standards of justice. The disappearances of 'undesirable' aliens. The threats against protesters. The invasion of a non-threatening sovereign nation. The occupation of a hostile country. The promises of prosperity and security. The spying on ordinary citizens. The incitement to spy on one's neighbors - and report them to the government. The arrogant triumphant pride in military conquest. The honoring of soldiers. The tributes to 'fallen warriors. The diversion of money to the military. The demonization of government appointed 'enemies'. The establishment of 'Homeland Security'. The dehumanization of 'foreigners'. The total lack of interest in the victims of government policy. The incarceration of the poor and mentally ill. The growing prosperity from military ventures. The illusion of 'goodness' and primacy. The new einsatzgrupen forces. Assassination teams. Closed extralegal internment camps. The militarization of domestic police. Media blackout of non-approved issues. Blacklisting of protesters - including the no-fly lists and photographing dissenters at rallies.

To RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie and all other Bush supporters who were offended when an ad on Bush in 30 Seconds compared Bush to Hitler: Until you have a successful counterpoint to this man's arguments, then I suggest you either tell us the truth or shut the fuck up. It's not some crazy conspiracy from all of us nutcases on the left to compare Bush to Hitler, it is based on similar historical trends of what each ruler has done since they came into power.

Gillespie, et al., ask yourself this: Can you look this man in the eyes and tell him he's a left wing crackpot for daring to compare Bush to Hitler?

Fark Headline of the Day

"Red Cross issues tailgating tips for fans attending Titans-Patriots playoff game. Tip#1: Avoid alcohol"

Some more news I missed over the holiday season

An oil spill in Puget Sound?! Indeed.

On Dec. 30, 2003, a refueling barge owned by Foss Maritime, at a Chevron-Texaco fuel-transfer station near Edmonds, Wa., was OVERFILLED by 4,800 gallons. The marine fuel promptly spilled into the Puget Sound in Washington State, just north of Seattle. By Dec. 31, it was a 105 square mile oil slick. The oil slick moved across the Puget Sound and landed at Jefferson Point, on the Kitsap Peninsula, to the west. This 400 acre marine estuary, which some say is the LAST PRISTINE COASTAL WETLAND IN WASHINGTON STATE, was sacred land to the Suquamish tribe, and is now an oily mess. Crabs are black with goo, the local news reported one seal has died, and birds are showing up incapacitated with the muck. Rescue teams are on the scene to try to help the wildlife. The Suquamish tribe is devastated (this also affects their fishing, and their clam beds are now black).

Activism makes me smile

From LA Indymedia:

This morning human rights and environmental activists with Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network daringly repelled down a 32-story skyscraper near the Los Angeles Auto Show and unfurled a giant banner reading, "Ford: Holding America Hostage to Oil."

Spokespeople are available at the intersection of Grand Avenue and 12th Street in Downtown LA to discuss the dramatic protest and explain how Ford Motor Company is fueling American oil addiction.

The unfurling of the banner occurred as people entered the LA Auto Show just blocks away. The banner was designed to raise public awareness about how Ford Motor Company and other auto manufacturers are needlessly keeping the US dependent on oil by refusing to increase the fuel economy of their vehicles.

The 40-foot by 60-foot banner featured an arm of a corporate executive holding a gas nozzle to the head of the Statue of Liberty as if ready to shoot the icon of freedom. Above the graphic were the words, "Ford: Holding America Hostage to Oil." Auto show attendees looked on in shock as activists unfurled the banner.

"A typical Ford vehicle on the road today gets fewer miles per gallon than the Model-T did 80 years ago," said Jason Mark, Clean Car Campaigner with the human rights group Global Exchange. "Ford is driving in reverse. It's a disgrace to Ford Motor Company's tradition of ingenuity. Proven technology exists to double the fuel efficiency of our cars and trucks. Yet Ford is turning its back on these solutions. Bill Ford says he wants to create an "environmental car company," but there's a huge gap between his rhetoric and reality. "

jumpstartford.com

You know...

I keep trying to formulate an entry while I'm at work, but then something is around to brake my concentration. It's annoying.

The economy's doing great!

BBC: "US deficit may pose 'global risk'."

Excessive fiscal deficits in the US could hurt the long-term sustainability of the American and global economies, the International Monetary Fund warned.

Recession, tax cuts and high spending for the war on terrorism have resulted in large deficits, the IMF said.

All that and no jobs, too. In the meantime, Bush wants to keep his tax cuts, some Democratic candidates are promising further tax cuts (with what money will these cuts be funded?), and Bush wants to setup programs to give jobs to non-American citizens. I don't mean to bash immigrants with that line; part of my family came here illegally in the early part of last century and we're all pretty productive. I have no problem with immigrants. We built this country. What I do have a problem with is when regular, non-immigrated American citizens are having trouble finding jobs and our president is looking to give jobs to non-citizens. Until we have a strong enough economy where there's enough jobs to go around, shouldn't we be more worried about our own citizens and their employment first?

Shameless

That could my biggest recurring headline of the year, especially when watchdogs like Common Dreams publish articles like this: "Execs Pay to Play with GOP, Fund-Raiser Includes Helping Leaders Write Energy 'To-Do List'." I wish I was making this up:

For around $4,000, industry executives can play golf and have dinner with key congressional Republicans at a Phoenix resort today, then "help Congress write its to-do list" on air pollution and energy policy during the next three days.

They also will hear top Bush administration officials talk about an upcoming rewrite of the federal Clean Air Act and the effect of energy policy on business interests.

By the end of the week, "members of Congress, senior administration officials, Western governors' office representatives, miscellaneous policy experts and invited business leaders" will draft a "Top Ten to-do list for Congress" this year, according to a published agenda.

Where's the media? Where's the outrage? These bastards aren't even trying to hide their biases anymore. In this brazenly undemocratic action, they have come right out and said that the backroom deals in Congress aren't done in Washington anymore. Yes, in a true, All-American, "Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death," manner, Republicans have whored out their Congressmen and women (though I'm betting this is all men involved here) to the resort of your choice, for the low low LOW price of $4000! Where's the media to report this scandal? And, more importantly, where's the media to report what corporations and Republicans are talking about. If bill writing and policy dicussion is taking place, then why isn't the media telling us what's going on?

Remember, some people still think global warming is a myth

Though the evidence in an article titled, "An Unnatural Disaster: Global Warming to Kill Off 1 Million Species," is pretty damning.

The sheer scale of the disaster facing the planet shocked those involved in the research. They estimate that more than 1 million species will be lost by 2050.

This is perhaps my worst idea ever

I have a Loaded Mouth tee shirt for sale on Cafepress.com. I know Matt will piss himself when he sees the design, and given his sense of humor, that means I'm in trouble. (Also, I just made a bumper sticker that's guaranteed to get me into even deeper shit.)

Makes a great gift!

Good God...

Ahnaaaaald pumps up Caleefornya with comments like this from his first State of the State speech:

Every governor proposes moving boxes around to reorganize government.

I don't want to move boxes around; I want to blow them up.

That was his applause line! Folks, I can't make this shit up...

Bush [hearts] Illegals [updated]

I'm in a rush right now, so I'll admit that I haven't fully read this article about Bush wishing to grant millions of migrants legal status, but just the topic alone gets me wondering. If Bush is supposedly so popular with the American people, how come he has to pander to hispanic voters? ANd isn't he taking a risk with this proposal? I mean, how many hispanic votes will he bring into his party to offset allof the hardline Republicans who would be against a measure such as this?

Either Bush and Co. are really stupid, (I can believe Bush is this stupid, but Rove being this stupid would surprise me), or Bush and Co. must have complete confidence that they have solidified their Republican base to the point that they won't get too angry with him when he tries doing things that should anger them.

Unfortunately, I'm strapped for time right now. I'll do a little more digging into this later, maybe listening to that druggie Limbaugh's reaction this afternoon.

Update: There seems to be mixed reaction to this. I listened to some of Rush's circus today and it was a topic of conversation, but I didn't hear him say anything necessarily bad about the topic. He played part of Bush's speech and, unfortunately, did a little singing while Bush spoke.

However, all of the comments on Free Republic's thread are negative.

Newsmax continues to tow the party line. Not only is their article positive, but they also find time to bash people who say that Bush isn't doing enough, or that Bush needs a comprehensive plan, otherwise this is just posturing during an election year.

Newsmax also links to this story about conservative congreesmen writing a letter to Homeland Security directory Tom Ridge opposing amnesty for illegal aliens:

The letter was written to Ridge in reaction to comments he made to an audience in Florida in early December. Ridge said that the government had to "afford some kind of legal status" to the eight million to twelve million illegal aliens who are currently living in America.

Two days later, when Ridge's comments were brought up at a White House press conference, the President's spokeman confirmed that the Bush Administration was looking into the options concerning illegal immigrants.

...The controversy mounted when Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado said that if Ridge could not enforce current immigration laws, he should resign.

Yet more updating: The right-wing National Review already has a cover for their next issue. What's the lead article, you ask? "AGAINST AMNESTY Mark Krikorian on a policy disaster"

Americans are spending, but where's the money?

Three words: Credit cards, muthafucka.

Consumer debt has more than doubled in the past 10 years to record levels, making it hard for many families to cope.

...Consumer debt hit a record $1.98 trillion in October 2003, according to the most recent figures from the Federal Reserve. That debt — which includes credit cards and car loans, but not mortgages — translates to some $18,700 per U.S. household.

You should read the whole article. It goes on to discuss how this credit card debt started during the 80's, attributed to the boom in the 90's, and it's what people continue to do now. ANd if I remember correctly, the Republicans keep telling us that people are buying and the economy is great, well what happens to the economy when people buy and can't afford to pay for it later?

Fark Headline of the Day

"Expert to teach Australians flirting and speed dating, will replace previous method of drinking massive amounts of beer and marrying whoever you wake up with"

Bias?

This headline and picture greeted me when I logged onto AOL tonight:

Hm. What editor at AOL choose that headline and decided to pick out the most evil looking picture of Dean they could find?

In the same rotating batch of pictures and headlines comes the feel good story of the year:

Peace talks for real?

Pakistani President Musharraf and Indian PM Vajpayee have agreed to peace talks over Kashmir. Though I have not had time to look at reactions in Indian and Pakistani media, the reports about this and the meeting that both men had in Islamabad at this week's South Asian regional summit have been optimistic. I'm not as optimistic. Don't get me wrong, Musharraf and Vajpayee actually meeting face to face and releasing a statement on the matter is great news. The fact that the summit meeting is secure enough so that neither Musharraf and Vajpayee have been assassinated is also great news, especially given the unstability of Musharraf's security a during last month when two attempts were taken on his life. If you have been reading the blog, then you know my thoughts on the topic.

It's the attitudes of Musharraf's hardline Pakistani opposition in his government and military that scare me. None of this people want to see peace with India, and Musharraf's big steps towards such a peace will anger them more. I hope Musharraf's got his shit together regarding his personal security.

Updates later, maybe.. Busy day.

Shameless

The Department of Labor is giving employers tips on how to bilk their workers out of overtime pay.

Urban Dictionary Definition of the Day

Shrimping!

Watching the federal government grow and grow

VodkaPundit has the raw numbers. With this kind of growth, who needs a Democrat in office?

It still pays to read right wing blogs

If I didn't look at The Corner on National Review, I would have never found this photo from topplebush.com:

I think Bush would look cute with a mustache. Don't you agree?

More demand for hybird autos

Looks like people are finally getting fed up so gas prices.

Earlier this month, Toyota said demand for its next-generation Prius has been so high since it debuted in October that the company is increasing production from 36,000 cars to 47,000 for the American market for 2004. Toyota spokesman Sam Butto said more than 16,000 Priuses were pre-ordered, and the company has yet to fill all the requests. Butto said Toyota sold 5,584 Priuses in November 2003, shattering the previous record.

..."There's no reason why hybrid technology wouldn't be included in all of Toyota's lines in the near future," he [Butto] said.

Even Ford's trying to edge into the market:

...Ford was the first U.S. carmaker to announce a hybrid, but its plan to roll out the Escape hybrid SUV has been delayed several times, including most recently because of problems with incompatible electronics between Ford and an external supplier. Ford recently announced that production of the Escape hybrid would begin in the summer of 2004, and the company hopes to have the vehicles for sale by the end of next year.

Once we elect a different president who actually knows how to handle the economy, maybe achmucks like me will get better jobs that will allow us to afford new cars. I want to buy a hybird, damnit.

The Real East Bumblefuck

It's kinda funny how pictures of what would look like the most boring place on Earth enthrall us simply because they are not from this planet. Here I am staring at larger images of this photo, which are essentially larger pictures of nothing. But since it's nothing on a different planet, that makes it an exciting nothing! The 90's had the ever famous sitcom about nothing, and now the 00's (say, uhm, what is the name if this decade, anyway?) have the ever famous pictures of nothing. Apparently, nothing seems to give us something.

"Homeland Security" strikes down protesters

Choke this down:

SACRAMENTO -- Animal-rights activists are sneaking into barns to snap photos of penned-up pigs, freeing chickens from cages and vandalizing farm equipment.

In response, farm groups and rural law enforcement agencies launched a massive lobbyingeffort this year to push a bill through the Legislature to strengthen trespassing laws on farms and ranches. They did it in the name of homeland security.

Personal thoughts and biases aside (I imagine my omnivore tendencies would place me in conflict with these activists), they are not terrorists.

Hits

If I'm to believe my logs, Loaded Mouth has received traffic from sharpton2004.org and joe2004.org (yes, the website of that Joe Lieberman.)

WTF? Well, I'm still receiving hits from searches for Kiran Chetry's legs and ass, so I know that's still normal.

You are being watched

George Paine at Warblogging tells you just how you are being wached.

This man, my banker, knows some very private details of my life. He knows where I eat dinner on a daily basis. He knows where I get my coffee. He knows what bars I go to, and when I go to them. He knows where and when I travel. He knows how long I spend in various places, he knows where I like to buy books. He knows that I have donated to political campaigns, he knows which campaigns, and he knows how much I have donated.

...Aquilan's software, and, I'm sure, all other PATRIOT Act verification software, is deeply flawed. This software is prone to false positives, just like the fraud detection software that brought me into the bank on my day off. The PATRIOT Act verification software is as likely to bring the Federal Bureau of Investigation to my door as the fraud detection software was to bring me to my bank branch. It is likely to necessitate a full government examination of my finances, of my habits, of my life.

...Specifically, Ashcroft and his FBI no longer need to visit with a judge and explain themselves when they want to see your or my bank records. They no longer even have to get a notice from the bank that our banking habits are "suspicious". No longer can a federal judge say "No, I think you're on a fishing expedition. You can't see George Paine's banking information."

Now John Ashcroft — or one of his underlings — simply have to write down on a piece of paper that your or my bank records are somehow related to national security. They must sign this letter and keep it on file. As soon as they do so they may access my bank records and, like my banker, construct little vignettes for themselves about my day-to-day life.

Start using cash, boys and girls.

Urban Dictionary Definition of the Day

Plumpkin!

Lazy, boring day...

Maybe I'll find something to post tonight. Or at least reply to comments or something.