Not Evil, Stupid

The Harold and Kumar Generation - Andrew Sullivan

I think that pretty much sums up my attitude about racism, or rather the bigotry of racism. It's just plain stupid and a waste of time. Yes, we are all racists in our own ways, but that's more due to culture. It's the bigotry and prejudice racism can inspire that's slowing us down as a nation.

Morning Goodness

Ballet Dancers Perform to the Pixies - Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing

Always trust in the Doctorow to bring the goodness for a sleepy mind.

Oh Fuck All, You Cock-Sucking Hippies

Fairy Headbands--Nightcap Bohemian Glamour - Trend Hunter

Death will come on swift wings for this nonsense. It's nothing but a fucking piece of string. And more than likely the woman who buys this fucking string will have a cat with some damn sense and think, "Oh! Look! String! Play!" Just hope it's at night with a fully exposed neck.

Oh...Well, Of Course

1) The Teenagers suck
2) Tim Goldsworthy is a member of UNKLE. Now everything makes sense.
3)The Ting Tings are fun
4) Lykke Li is charmingly clever. Which means I'm torn between breaking her hands and having her babies
5)Bishop Allen - friendly in that Austin sort of way. Why is it Houston bands kick your teeth in and take your wallet while Austin bands offer you good beer free?
6) Fuck Buttons should collapse your skull and you should thank them for it.

7)There's nothing as achingly beautiful as a soulful man, a microphone and a guitar.

Up a Tree

Tree Wave
Tree Wave @ MySpace

I was a touch disappointed that I had not heard of Tree Wave until a local festival in late March. Even if partially mitigated by the fact that they seem to have been on a sort of hiatus for a few years there, this is an act that I think I should have known about. Now, to get to to the actually music. Similar in set-up to Crystal Castles in the sense that the duo relies on 8-bit nostalgia and sounds to build their songs, vocalist Lauren Grey prefers a smoother, more subtle and non-digitized lyrical style. I think a more apt comparison is to say that Tree Wave is Stereolab for the electro age. Unlike Crystal Castles, Tree Wave goes for a smoothed out style with maintaining the glitchy fun of current electro acts like Dan Deacon. Moreover, some songs are built around a live playing of a game where the moves are translated into sound giving the act a serious organic feel.
2008 looks like the year Tree Wave might actually break out of Dallas some, playing at SXSW this year and beginning to line up a few shows here and there. While they only have a short 3-song ep out, the music is worth it. I plan on catching as many shows as I can now.

Playing with the Kids

If ABC Ran The Lincoln-Douglas Debates - Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing

I think this about sums up the disaster of a debate Wednesday night. It's amazing that no one was fired for it.

My Health Care Expertise

Tiering The Government - Matt Yglesias

Yglesias hits on a salient element of government run health care and health insurance--the coverage of such insurance is rarely, if ever, mentioned. Now I'm a believer in the need for universal health coverage (whether that's mandated or not is very debatable to me) but when I envision universal coverage I expect the kind of coverage that the average white, middle-class family would require. Of course catastrophic coverage is necessary but so is the yearly physical, the cost of blood work, the emergency visit for the flu or whatnot. Additionally, there's medication coverage such as psychological meds, blood pressure meds, and many other kinds of conditions that require the use of medication to maintain good health. So what would this kind of coverage cost; the kind of coverage that is actually useful?
Second to the issue of average cost is that of unnecessary medical procedures and how government coverage must avoid letting such procedure make it into the average coverage plan. The problem becomes part bureaucratic and part class. While listing all of the things that one should expect from universal health care we also need to have an exclusionary list--a clear list of those things not covered. However, universal coverage should not prevent those in the upper classes from using their wealth to expand their own coverage. The class issue is tangled up with the free market issue. How can we maintain a market-driven healthcare system while letting the federal or state government cover the costs of average health insurance?
I would like to note though, that whatever solution is proffered, it must take the burden off of businesses to offer health care to its employees. By doing so, many small and middle-sized companies will reap huge benefits while large corporations will have one less issue to argue over with the unions.
Of course, I do have to mention that I have no real understanding of all the details on health care and the proposals for universal health care. I just believe in it in principle and think there are practical ways of achieving it without breaking the government bank.