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mjp said: I'm, uh, working on it. Right now. ~ Fly me to the moon, then blow that shit up!

shane said: michael phillips,you are a fuckin madman,post yer next story... ~ Fly me to the moon, then blow that shit up!

mjp said: Yes, that is a potential problem for people in 10,001. I often worry about... ~ Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this...

damian said: indeed. ~ Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this...

Scott h Florance said: The Christians believe Jesus Christ tis immortal and he lives forever. It is... ~ Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this...

mjp said: Isn't there a NASCAR or gun or fishing or tabakky-chewing site you can go... ~ I can see for miles, but it's kind of blurry up ahead

Andrew Olin Jones said: Hillbilly said you might turn off the smog but I don't want you to do that... ~ I can see for miles, but it's kind of blurry up ahead

mjp said: My childhood box? I don't think anyone wants to open that... ~ Fly me to the moon, then blow that shit up!

previous ramblings

• I can see for miles, but it's kind of blurry up ahead 2.18.08

• Simple is as simple does 1.31.08

• I feel the earthworms under my feet 1.22.08

• New boots and panties 1.19.08

• I haven't given up, I've just stopped trying 12.25.07

• I don't pray. Kneeling bags my nylons. 12.20.07

• So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night 9.19.07

• Grab the closet case by the horns 8.11.07

• Blogged down in the forum of my youth 5.23.07

• Hotter than July 5.16.07

• 26 Miles Across the Deep Blue Sea 5.11.07

• A rose by any other name, still doesn't smell so good 4.6.07

• Children of a lesser dog from hell 2.22.07

• Squid lights 1.9.07

• Cats and dogs 12.19.06

• Mission accomplished! 11.22.06

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• A garbage can is somewhat precise. 10.6.06

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• I feel 100 pounds lighter already... 12.30.05

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• "God is a concept by which we measure our pain." 12.9.05

• Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this... 12.8.05

• Hey, what's with the torn up clothes, and didn't you have a shag haircut last week? 12.5.05

• Shameless self-promotion or a desperate cry for love? You decide. 11.18.05

• Further proof that drinking will kill you 11.6.05

• Big Apple dreamin' on a wooden floor 11.1.05

• Happy birthday to smog. Now where's my cake? 10.16.05

• I got nothing 10.4.05

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• A Rambling Essay on Politics and the Bleeding Life Written While Drinking a Six-Pack (Tall) 9.12.05

• (There's Gonna Be A) Showdown 8.31.05

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• rock the cash bar 4.12.05

• many rivers to cross 4.10.05

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• if you are the big tree, we are the small axe! 4.8.05

• give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine 4.4.05

• and who the hell figured QWERTY was a good idea? 4.4.05

• your pope was nothing compared to this guy! 4.3.05

• you've got a TV...i've got a TV...we've all got TV's... 3.29.05

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• last night a dj saved my life! yeah, maaaaan! 3.9.05

• if i had a hammer... 3.8.05

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• earth to smog, earth to smog 2.5.05

• my own private chernobyl... 2.2.05

• Estoy solo, pero siento que tu estas conmigo. 1.26.05

• confessions of an obsessive freak of nature 1.5.05

• death wants more death 12.30.04

• every mikkle make a muckle (ask a Jamaican what it means) 12.17.04

• things that don't suck 12.15.04

• what's it all about, mjp? 11.11.04

• old dog, new tricks 9.2.04

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©1995-2008 mjp

rock the cash bar
Tuesday, April 12th 2005, 1:33pm

oh, this is a good one...the IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industries) along with the Motion Picture Association has proposed a "code of conduct" for your internet service provider to abide by. the "code" involves lovely activities such as filtering, spying and handing over your name and address to a giant corporation's lawyers, all in the name of "social responsibility."

rock on, dude

of course the real problem here, as far as the IFPI and MPA's are concerned, is that the entertainment delivery technology is changing again, only this time they don't control the means to get you to buy your favorite records and movies for the third or fourth time. when we went from vinyl to CD, the record industry was there waiting patiently to take your cash for all of those Beatles and Led Zeppelin CD's, and the MPA welcomed the switch from tape to DVD for the same reason.

now though, the rules have all changed, and the record industry is shitting bricks because all of their back catalogs (which is where all of their quality product lives) are now available digitally, and they have effectively been removed from the loop. sure, they can sell you the only good song from the latest Madonna record on itunes or napster, but you ain't going to hand over $20 for the rest of it, and that little factoid fills them with blind, abject terror, and their only response is to seek out strongarm methods to frighten you into sending more money their way.

broadband internet connections killed the record industry. every 15 year old knows that they can sell their band's music directly to their fans without going into debt to a multinational corporation to do it, and without paying the 20th century middleman/bookie his vig. you would have to be out of your mind to sign a contract with a big record company these days, and more and more musicians are realizing that every day.

so the big companies are forced to look for other ways to bleed you, and right now the preferred method is fear of litigation and intimidation. the next big stick they will beat you over the head with is a tax on your broadband connection. don't believe me? perhaps you are forgetting that every time you buy blank recording media, part of that money goes to these companies (this goes back more than 20 years with audio cassettes). depending on which country you live in, you may also be paying these companies when you buy recording hardware - a cassette deck, VCR, CDR or MP3 encoding device (that's your iPod, pal). so it's not much of a step from where we are right now to a global bandwidth tax.

i have to admit though, this "code of conduct" borders on (evil) genius. who wouldn't be thrilled to come up with a way to force people to pay for their mediocre product whether they want it or not? i wish i had thought of it. there may still be a way to get a tenth of a penny from every internet user every time i post something here...i have to get to work on that. start prying those wallets open!