FREE Internet for Mac Users at the Gazillion Starbucks Near You
All you need is to know is someone with an iPhone for free internet.
Activate the "Develop" menu under preferences, and use it to make your User Agent Mobile Safari 1.1.3 — iPhone. Go to any page in your browser, and you will be redirected to the sign-on page. Click the AT&T button on the right, enter an iPhone number, and boom, instant, free internet.
I’m writing this post on my "iPhone" now, which looks amazingly like a MacBook Pro.
Does Safari for Windows have a Develop menu? Hope not. Maybe this will be under the radar enough for AT&Starbucks to not give a damn.
Also, Pike Place is not so bad. Peet’s is (much, much, much) better, but with the Apple+AT&T love happening at Starbucks it’s hard to resist the evil empire.
“That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button.”
"That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button."
Thus spoke Congressman Geoff Davis on the evening of April 12th, 2008. Yes, last Saturday. In our country. And did I mention he’s a Congressman? Can the Republicans further debase themselves and possibly make it any clearer that they are the antithesis of what this country needs? I suppose that having done their best to hold the popular will in check through fear, manipulation of insecurities, and relentless lies for seven years, it sorta becomes a way of life. Second nature.
I just watched the 6th episode of HBO’s (brilliant) John Adams, and was struck by their portrayal of early Washington, D.C. as a desolate wasteland populated by slaves and their masters. The use of "Boy" in a manner identical to Mr. Davis’ served as an instant signifier for the repression and degradation of African Americans during the founding of our country.
I suppose in a way it’s nice to know that Republican beliefs haven’t changed since 1799, they can be proud of over 200 years of mediocrity. I’ve no doubt of their ability to produce more in the centuries to come. I hope President Obama’s 2009 inauguration drives a stake of fear and loathing into the dark hearts of all who share Congressman Davis’ sensibilities, and that it brings about a great awakening among those capable of change.
Further reading / listening at Pol Watchers (kudos). The Congressman’s racist fearmongering is a real treat for the ears.
Marines. Washing Cars. In My Neighborhood.
Why are Marines washing cars in my neighborhood? It’s a rather large production too, with about a quarter-mile of little flags placed along the sidewalk of a six-lane road, culminating in two large transport vehicles with Marine banners. Next to them are what I presume to be actual Marines, holding professionally printed signs trying to induce passersby to enter a church parking lot. Where their car will be washed, I guess. Handy, because if you don’t stop, you hate god and America.
So. The most powerful military force ever assembled on planet earth wants to clean my car. WHY!?
Is this the only way that the Marines can get up-armored Humvees? An elite global fighting force competing with High School seniors for those much coveted car-cleaning dollars is too weird. Next they’ll be edging out the Girl Scouts with Freedom-Cookies and sponsoring Basra Bake Sales. Anything to keep Iraqi troops from running away when it gets heavy, I suppose.
This is getting ridiculous. BRING THEM HOME ALREADY.
The New Feudalism - Coming to a Suburb Near You
The suburbs are going to hell.
From 1974 to 2004, the average home size bloated from 1695 sq. ft. To 2349 sq. ft [1]. Alongside our giant homes came giant cars, obese beasts requiring constant refueling and super-sized hangars in which to park them. What begat this trend, a flight from cities towards an idealized and sterilized existence in pre-fab communities across America? How could such a flight from urban employment centers be feasible?
Abundant supplies of cheap energy, ludicrous amounts of cheap credit. We’re the global superpower, complacent in our superiority, and mainlining the benefits so hard we’re not even aware we’ve become nodding, oblivious junkies, addicted to our high-consumption lifestyle. I don’t think we can keep the high going much longer. We rode the internet bubble to great heights, and scored the housing bubble just in the nick of time to keep it up. Now that we’ve exhausted our national home equity, what’s next?
I think we’re going to have to come down. And it’s going to hurt. Declines in the value of the dollar, declining interest rates, and reduced consumer spending are going to shock our financial system. Consumer spending currently accounts for over 70% of the GDP, which is a large reason why foreign investors have been financing American debt. Basically, they’ve been loaning us money to continue buying their products. If we no longer buy their goods, why would they keep lending us money? Like the homeowner who has run out of refinancing options, at some point we’re going to have to just start paying the bills.
When we do, suburban living is going to become unsustainable for vast numbers of Americans. As we enter the second gilded age, the middle class income and job security that allowed the suburbs to flourish is going to disappear. Living 90+ minutes away by car from your job will become too expensive as gas prices climb to European levels (a gallon is currently around $5.80 in the UK and almost $6.00 in Italy [2]). The crumbling of our infrastructure (roads, bridges) will also make long-distance life more difficult. Add to that the fact that many homeowners will go upside-down (their mortgages will be more valuable then their homes as prices decline), and it’s not unreasonable to imagine many people being forced, or making the choice, to simply walk away from their suburban home. Witness the popularity (and I’m sure coming proliferation) of websites like YouWalkAway.com. The social stigma of foreclosure will be nonexistent this year or the next. Perhaps being foreclosed upon will be 2009’s hottest trend.
So what will become of these suburban landscapes? Many, I predict, will simply be abandoned, a larger scale exodus already on display in small farming communities in the county’s interior. I’ve always been interested in photography of abandoned spaces (especially in NYC where each square foot is worth a fortune) so I imagine we’ll get some pretty good documentaries and gallery shows about it, memorials to our easy-livin gas-guzzlin past.
As the suburbs empty, could feudalism make it’s entrance? The scenario I envision goes something like this: The middle class is dwindling, a larger and larger proportion of wealth in America is controlled by a smaller and smaller slice of it’s population (this is already well underway). The flight to the suburbs becomes a round-trip, as people increasingly need to be closer to their lower-paying jobs in order to survive. However, those whose fortunes do not rise and fall with the county’s in general but tend to only increase (the wealthy), will still be able to afford to stay out of the increasingly over-crowded and crime-ridden cities.
Super-exclusive communities (on the order of the Palms, or maybe, the World) featuring gates at the entrance and monolithic homes will flourish and start to offer more basic amenities, like private airports and shopping centers as nearby suburbs are depopulated and stores close. As the tax base plunges, services will need to be privatized (can anyone think of an American mercenary company up for just this sort of thing?). As the surrounding areas become increasingly vacant, these exclusive communities become fortified Green Zones, with lower class workers being offered board and protection in exchange for labor. After all, without a private plane, there’s nowhere to go anyway, so you may as well get paid in scrip that’s only good at the company store.
And thus, with the middle class eviscerated by current economic policies geared only towards the elite, we wake from our narcotic dream of giant homes, giant lawns, giant vehicles, and giant commutes to the harsh reality of a new, feudal America.
Damien