The Revolution will not be Televised

If you want to know how the world works, this is the documentary to watch.
A great fly on the wall view of Media Manipulation, the military at the beck and call of foreign powers, and the people getting off their asses & demanding change.

HUGO CHAVEZ ELECTED PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA IN 1998, IS A COLORFUL, UNPREDICTABLE FOLK HERO, beloved by his nation's working class and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides. Their film records what was probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état.

The Revolution will not be Televised.

Trent Reznor and Saul Williams Show the Music Industry How to Release an Album Online

Journos and music fans from all corners fawned over Radiohead for their bold release strategy for In Rainbows. After breaking with the majors, Trent Reznor and his parter-in-crime Saul Williams are taking that strategy and stepping it up to the next level of awesome. Saul's new Trent-produced album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust is now available two ways: Free or $5.

Digital Downloads

Steampunk Laptop

What a beautiful, beautiful piece of kit.

Datamancer

Ahem - Datamancher appears to have exceeded his bandwidth, poor lad.
Steampunkworkshop.com has kindly set up a mirror here.

Blackwater Has Spies for Hire

First it became a brand name in security for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now it's taking on intelligence.

Washington Post

Canadian Study: Piracy Boosts CD Sales

University of London researchers, Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz surveyed a large group of Canadians to find out what the effect of piracy is on music sales. The results are surprising, at least, for the music industry.

Torrent Freak

Explorers surounded by Wolves.

British explorers on a polar expedition described their terror yesterday after coming face to face with a pack of bloodstained wolves.

Times Online

This reminds me of the excellent tho disturbing essay
"ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED BY HAVING MY ARMS RIPPED OFF BY A POLAR BEAR"
by ANDREW BARLOW

What if all drugs were legal?

A refreshingly lucid article on the pointlessness of Drug Wars.

Understandably, many Americans fear that with no drug laws, we would have hundreds of thousands of addicts, crack babies, children trying drugs, and other evils. But that's what we have now.

Let's assume the worst

If all drugs were legal, addicts would no longer pay black-market prices to criminals for drugs of questionable and dangerous origin. They would get drugs produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies and pay market prices. They would no longer die from buying toxic drugs, and they would no longer have to mug innocent people to support their habits.

populistamerica.com