Monday, June 28, 2004

New Thinner Records DJ mix online. Stream it or download it.

Disclaimer: I'm not a DJ. I just do this sort of thing for fun.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 07:58 AM EST

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Because no website update is worth doing unless it can be done on three separate pages, I'm obliged to mention here that my remix of di_indicator's stunning "Catwalk Baby" is now available on Berlin's own unGleich Records. This is my first 12" appearance since "Warning Fatigue" last April, so I'm pleased to be back on vinyl again. A charmingly low-fi RealAudio version is available here.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 06:47 PM EST

Wednesday, June 9, 2004

Watch the trailer for "Fahrenheit 9/11".

No, really. Watch it.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 11:16 AM EST

Monday, June 7, 2004

When former Western heads of state die, the press lavishes them with affection. This happens regardless of what the former heads of state in question actually accomplished. With this in mind, let's examine the Reagan Legacy:

- The Iran-Contra Affair. In short, this involved the Reagan administration taking money from terrorists in Iran and using it to buy weapons for terrorists in Nicaragua.

- The "Mexico City Policy". In short, this was a policy that prohibited foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that received U.S. funds from providing abortion, abortion counseling referral, or related services with their own funds, even if provided in countries where abortion is legal, and the NGO's practices are consistent with local law, policy, and standards of medical practice. This policy remained in effect throughout both the Reagan and Bush administrations.

- "Star Wars". Known officially as the Strategic Defense Initiative, this was Reagan's plan for a missile defense shield. Despite the fact that the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty clearly prohibits missile defense systems, billions were spent researching this technology that is laughably unrealistic. Astute readers may find this strangely familiar.

- "Trickle-Down" Economics. Also known as "supply-side" economics, "Reaganomics" and, perhaps most accurately, "voodoo" economics. This is the notion that, by cutting taxes for corporations and the fabulously wealthy, those groups will have more disposable income, and will thus rejuvenate the entire economy. This didn't happen, of course. What did happen, however, was a deficit approximately 6 times larger than that of the Carter era. Astute readers may find this strangely familiar.

- Union Busting. When over 11,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization went on strike in 1981 to protest dangerous working conditions, President Reagan fired them all and replaced them with scabs.

Surely, we could go on and on. But it's clear from this small sampling that the Reagan years changed America forever, and set many of the precedents that govern today's political and economic landscape.

President Reagan - we'll all miss you. But some of us will probably miss you a bit more.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 05:06 PM EST

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