REPOST: Wanted: Flash Animator/Business Partner

I’m looking for a talented, ambitious and imaginative person with experience animating cartoons in Flash to develop and produce a once-per-week animated political cartoon. I provide scripts and artwork; you make them move and talk. Income split is 50-50; details will be discussed if a qualified individual steps forward. You must be patient since it will take some time to market and place animations, but I have a vision for the medium that differs significantly from other editorial cartoons doing animated work that I believe will sell and provide us both with a steady and significant income.

Please send your resume, qualifications and any questions to: chet@rall.com. I will respond only to those who I believe may fit the bill; my apologies in advance to the rest.

Things I didn’t have to make up
posted by TheDon

WASHINGTON — President Bush’s first surgeon general charged today that administration officials prevented him from providing the public with accurate scientific and medical information on such issues as stem cell research and teen pregnancy.
“The reality is that the ‘nation’s doctor’ has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas,” Dr. Richard H. Carmona told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. “Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried.
“The problem with this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science or marginalizing the voice of science for reasons driven by changing political winds,” said Carmona, who served from 2002 to 2006. “The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of the nation — not the doctor of a
political party.”

The Case For McDonald’s
posted by Susan Stark

Leftists hold many differing opinions on many subjects, although they tend to hold certain things in common, such as concern for the environment and social justice.

But one attitude that I find rather irritating is the almost universal disdain among Leftists, from anarchists to Democrats, of fast-food restaurants. McDonald’s in particular.

Leftists generally don’t believe in the Devil, but if they did, it would be McDonald’s.

And there are some good reasons for hating McDonald’s.

The food served is very poor in nutrition, and very high in fat and calories. It is designed to taste good, but not nourish the body with what it needs. Furthermore, the restaurant encourages waste by supplying disposable wrappings, cups, lids, straws, paper bags, and napkins. All of which are thrown away after one use.

Another grievance against McDonald’s, as with all fast-food chains, is that there isn’t any actual cooking involved. The food is assembled, much like on a factory assembly line, with one low-paid worker after another adding one ingredient until the product is finished.

All of these are good reasons for disliking McDonald’s and other fast-food chains. But I can’t help but detect a bit of elitism, either conscious or unconscious, in criticisms of fast-food.

It doesn’t seem to occur to these shiitake-mushroom eaters that many people eat at McDonald’s and the like because they can’t afford to eat out any place else. Sure, low-income people can prepare food at home, and for the most part they do, but why should they stay at home when the middle- and upper-income folks have their pick of dining establishments?

Another convenience (besides the low prices) of fast-food joints is the availability of the bathroom. Technically, you have to be a customer to use a bathroom in any restaurant, but with fast-food, this is usually not strictly enforced. In large, compact cities like New York and San Francisco where a dearth of bathrooms is near epidemic, this can literally save someone’s life. Especially for homeless people, run-aways, indigents, and delivery people, the fast-food restaurant bathroom can provide not only a toilet, but free running water as well.

During winter time, McDonald’s and other fast-food establishments can provide a warm place to sit without buying anything. And if the management insists that you pay for something, a hot cup of coffee or tea is a lot cheaper in these places than at Starbucks or the local bohemian joints. This has saved the life of a run-away, a punk, a krusty kid, an indigent, or a homeless person many a time. Especially here in New York, where some McDonald’s places are open 24 hours a day.

Sure, vegetarian restaurants are certainly healthier and less wasteful, but where does a vegetarian restaurant exist where you can walk off the street and use the bathroom, and is open 24 hours a day, and costs less than five dollars a meal?

TGIF! Drinks are on me!
posted by TheDon

Scooter Libby

Because this may not go online until tomorrow (due to the July 4th holiday).

Wanted: Flash Animator/Business Partner

I’m looking for a talented, ambitious and imaginative person with experience animating cartoons in Flash to develop and produce a once-per-week animated political cartoon. I provide scripts and artwork; you make them move and talk. Income split is 50-50; details will be discussed if a qualified individual steps forward. You must be patient since it will take some time to market and place animations, but I have a vision for the medium that differs significantly from other editorial cartoons doing animated work that I believe will sell.

Please send your resume, qualifications and any questions to: chet@rall.com. I will respond only to those who I believe may fit the bill; my apologies in advance to the rest.

TGIF! Drinks are on me!
posted by TheDon

Beerbon – use bourbon – a southern classic
Twizzler – just add sambuca
Nutcracker – frangelico
Beerberry – chambord
Pirate’s Gold – rum
Big Red – Cinnamon schnapps

the only limit is the size of your liquor cabinet. Go nuts!

Shortwave Report for Central Asia, Part 4
Posted by Susan Stark (Parts 1, 2, and 3 are in the Archives)

CLANDESTINE AND PIRATE RADIO

Radio itself was invented by Guglielmo Marconi, or at least he gets the credit for it (in my opinion, Nicola Tesla, the Yugoslav inventor, is the one who invents the radio).

In the very early days of radio, radio functioned very much as the internet does today in communication. There wasn’t much regulation for this newfangled hobby. Anybody who had a functioning transmitter/receiver could and did use it. Two or more people could use the same frequency (let’s say, at 1290AM, for example), and hold a long distance conversation. Two violinists on two sides of the Atlantic could have a duet over the radio, and others tuning into the same frequency could listen in. The very first DJs appeared, playing recorded music, with no one dictating what music to play.

In the United States, all that changed with the formation of the FCC, or Federal Communications Commission. Similar “regulatory” bodies appeared in other countries. The excuse for these regulations were complaints that broadcasters were interfering with one another, but the best explanation is control. It is harder to propagandize against another country, for example, if people in both countries are in regular communication with each other. Also, during World War 1, the government brought up the excuse of “security” (you know, spies communicate).

Nevertheless, despite all the current regulation, unregulated, or “pirate radio”, still operates. It’s very difficult for AM and FM pirate stations to stay on the air, even when they eventually try to play by the rules and ask for a license. Sometimes pirate radio operates out of a house or apartment, or even out of an automobile (although that can be difficult without a power source). In a lot of cases pirate radio broadcasts from a boat or ship. This type of broadcasting is more common than people think: There are several pirate broadcasters operating in New York City, at any given time. The success of these transmissions vary according to the quality of the transmitter and the ability to keep the transmitter outside vs. inside. But a pirate can reach a good number of people here due to the population density of NYC neighborhoods. Shortwave is a better way to reach a good audience through unregulated radio, across huge distances.

Clandestine Broadcasting:

Clandestine radio is similar, yet different than pirate radio. A clandestine transmission usually transmits from one country to another, for the purpose of circumventing the ideology and political control of the target country. It can either be transmitted by another government (usually), or by dissidents from the target country living abroad (sometimes). Examples of this are Radio Marti, broadcast by the US government to Cuba, as well as a few private stations run out of Miami by Cuban exiles. North Korea is also a frequent target for clandestine broadcasts. When a country is experiencing civil war or internal conflict, there can be clandestine transmissions targeted *within* the country. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kashmir are examples regions where internal clandestine radio operations are used.

In my opinion, virtually all shortwave transmissions are clandestine in nature, because they are able to bypass the imaginary lines that humans have created to separate one country and region from another. And if a country is repressive enough, then virtually *any* shortwave broadcast passing through that country is clandestine. During Taliban rule in Afghanistan (1996-2001), it is safe to say that all shortwave into the country was clandestine because it presented music and female voices on the air, both banned by the Taliban. The broadcaster “All India Radio” certainly doesn’t consider itself clandestine when it belts out Bollywood film tunes, but it was to a Taliban-era listener in Kabul at night, wearing headphones. And while the United States is not nearly as repressive as the Taliban, I and many others where fortunate to have a different point of view in early 2003 when most of the media in the US were pimping the Iraq Invasion. “Deutsche Welle” of Germany and “Radio Havana Cuba” of Cuba were among those presenting a refreshingly different viewpoint, but they aren’t listed or considered clandestine in nature.

Of course, Central Asia has been a recipient of clandestine broadcasts, most notably Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (as mentioned in Shortwave Report Part 3) from the United States. But what is weird about this is that Radio Liberty also appears to have *AM* and *FM* broadcasts in these countries as well. Are they broadcasting from satellite or within the country? I guess when you grease enough local palms, you get your access.

But other countries broadcast clandestinely in Central Asia. In 2002, the Voice of Tibet, a transmission from dissident Tibetans, was broadcast from Kazakhstan into Chinese-occupied Tibet.

JAMMING

Of course, as you can well imagine, the intended recipient countries of clandestine radio, or at least their governments, don’t appreciate these broadcasts. That’s where jamming comes in.

The recipient country of a clandestine broadcast, in order to keep their subjects in the dark, will jam the transmission. This mainly involves transmitting another broadcast on the exact same frequency, using different noises such as beeps or car engines. Of course you can’t hear the original through this mess.

The original broadcasters, however, can circumvent jamming by changing their frequency on a regular basis. Unfortunately, this forces those attempting to receive the broadcast into moving their radio tuner up and down the dial to find whatever heresy their government disapproves of.

That’s it for now.

TGIF! Summer drinks on me!
posted by TheDon
Summer’s here, ushered in by a heat wave, so here’s a light and refreshing drink.

Peach Water
pour Peach Vodka over some ice cubes in a double old-fashioned glass
pour peach flavored water in and stir lightly
vary proportions to taste and liver function
enjoy!