New Coldplay Song is GOOD

Coldplay - Viva La Vida (Download this torrent)

One minute I held the key

Next the walls were closed on me

And I discovered that my castles stand

Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand



I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing

Roman Cavalry choirs are singing

Be my mirror my sword and shield

My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain

Once you go there was never, never an honest word

That was when I ruled the world

Fine, the Black Man Can Be On Top: Obama/Clinton 08

"She is tireless, she is smart. She is capable. And so obviously she'd be on anybody's short list to be a potential vice presidential candidate," said Obama, who inched closer to winning the nomination by routing Clinton in North Carolina and almost defeating her in Indiana on Tuesday.

Some Democrats are saying Obama and Clinton would be a formidable team against Republican John McCain in the race to the November election.

According to a CBS News/New York Times poll released last week, a majority of both Obama and Clinton voters say they would favor a so-called "Dream Ticket" involving both candidates. -Reuters

Yes, that's an inflammatory statement from a radical black bisexual woman who rejoices in all sexualities and laments the obvious statement liberal America has made to women. It's no wonder, the only people of note even vaguely still in favor of Clinton are women, we who wanted a chance too. A split ticket becomes our damn chance, not just yours or mine; I'll continue to fight for this possibility. It might fucking save the world, and I'm almost positive it's what Al Gore wants (or sees as the best possible outcome). The dismissive statements from Obamafawnia* had indicated a snowball chance in hell, and on the other side--firmly entrenched in the Clinton camp are women, queers and scientists. I think one of the only variances between the two is Clinton's push for increased space spending.

As a black woman, I beg of you. I know it might not make a difference, but I wanted to try.

As I've remarked before, it's not unprecedented this level of veracity and it does indicate growth in our democracy. And I think she'll take it, and I think he'll ask. Whether or not it was planned this way from the beginning, I'd hate to speculate. NOT!

*Whiteboy and girl fandom that reeks of possible Uncle Tom ignorance, a'la some of what made Morgan Freeman so popular in Driving Miss Daisy (e.g. redemption from white guilt, salt and pepper hair, sharp but seemingly cheap suits...)

Steampunk

With feigned indifference I've noticed steampunk as a next big mainstream thing, seems the NY Times agrees. No, the NY Times does not = cultural death, why ever would you think that?

It's fascinating to see people of color involved in the retooling of historical eras, previously we weren't so transparent in the paradigm. Sure, there's some who might scoff and deign to call the subculture a natural extension of mainstream rejection e.g. goth/alt/metal/the pierced. When did this youth dismissive culture forget they were once young? Perhaps people get sick of asking for the same things, they see the rock remain a mountain instead of handfuls of sand. I see each expression as a tick tock on the clock of positive evolution.

Do you live in Josef Fritzl's world, or does he live in yours?

I've been captivated by the Fritzl case. I can reasonably say I've covered the majority of world history and happenings, and never heard something so very bad as this. Summing the story up:

Father molests girl from 11-18, then at 18 he fakes her joining cult and locks her in basement dungeon for 24 years, Father fathers 7 children with her, 3 of which he takes from the mother, his own daughter, at birth to raise upstairs with his wife who rejoices the children left on doorstep by long-lost daughter, 1 child dies at birth and Father incinerates, 3 others remain downstairs (currently aged 19, 18, and 5), dungeon is less than 6 ft high, and has no windows or access to outside world but has a tv. 2 weeks ago, the oldest under the stairs daughter fell ill and is taken by Father to hospital where rare blood disease is uncovered, doctors need to test mother so police post image of mother on local tv where children and mother see it downstairs. Upstairs and downstairs have been reunited and father is in custody facing 20 years. This happened in Austria.

We should know about these stories, because it could be happening under our feet. Right now. Go check.

While police continued to probe one of the most horrific cases of domestic abuse in European criminal history, Sepp Leitner told the daily Die Presse he had come eerily close to discovering the windowless prison a decade ago.

Leitner lived for four years in a small flat on the ground floor immediately above the cellar in the 1990s.

He said he could never understand why his electricity bill was so high, considering he was frequently absent and did not even have a washing machine.

Leitner only realised this month after the case emerged that he was paying the utility costs for the underground prison as well, which had an elaborate security system installed by owner Josef Fritzl, a former electrician.

"If I'd been a bit more persistent and not let it go until the mystery of the high electricity consumption had been resolved, perhaps we'd have found out about the dungeon earlier," Leitner said. - AFP

Um, Yeah...

I told my youngest sister, aged 16, about this and she asked me FAITH, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS TELL ME THESE THINGS?! First I share for comparison, it's good to know how nice your life really is and how worse your childhood could have been. From a philosophical standpoint it's fascinating, a real 21st century Myth of the Cave. Growing up underground seeing the "real world" through a tv is just one facet when you consider the psychological depths of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. If the abuse was downstairs, was it upstairs too? Artificial lights or full morning sunrises, would it matter if you were shackled by fear and trauma?