The Exit are on tour, dates below. Yes, they are playing with some lame-ass bands, but that makes it even better: you get to go home early. Be kind to Straylight Run, I don't know what they sound like but that name is epic. Read "Neuromancer" to find out what it means.
Sep 24 Detroit, MI @ Alvin's (w/ RX Bandits, The Format)
Sep 25 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop (w/ RX Bandits, The Format)
Sep 26 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts (w/ RX Bandits, The Format)
Sep 27 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (w/Simple Plan, Coheed and Cambria, The
Movielife, RX Bandits, The Format)
Sep 28 South Amboy, NJ @ Club Krome (w/ RX Bandits, The Format)
Sep 29 Towson, MD @ Recher Theatre (w/ RX Bandits, The Format)
Sep 30 New York, NY @ Knitting Factory (w/ RX Bandits, The Format)
These dates are confirmed. Venues to be announced soon...
Oct 26- VA (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
Oct 27- SC (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
Oct 28-Nashville (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
Oct 29-Baton Rouge (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
Oct 31- Austin TX (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
Nov 1- Dallas TX (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
Nov 2- Houston TX (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
Nov 3- Tucson, AZ (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
Nov 5- San Diego, CA (w/ Straylight Run & The New Amsterdams)
http://www.theexitrock.com
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Bombshells On Iraq --- Robert Scheer's Tuesday column contains a number of bombshells that we want to emphasize here, to keep them from slipping under the radar. (And I'm borrowing big chunks of the text from Scheer's site, here). The first, is a transcript of what Paul Wolfowitz (the new Dr. Strangelove) said on ABC on this year's 9/11 anniversary:
"We know [Iraq] had a great deal to do with terrorism in general and with Al Qaeda in particular and we know a great many of [Osama] bin Laden's key lieutenants are now trying to organize in cooperation with old loyalists from the Saddam regime."
The next day, Wolfowitz was forced to retract his words, and admitted to Associated Press that his remarks referred not to a "great many" of Bin Laden's lieutenants but rather to a single Jordanian, Abu Musab Zarqawi. "[I] should have been more precise," Wolfowitz allowed. In short, he told the Big Lie to the TV crowd and told a half-lie to a smaller crowd. It turns out that the Jordanian in question operated in the Northern Alliance's territory (our allies) and did not, in fact, run a chemical lab. Two points for Wolfie.
Next, Dick Cheney (bad guy) was raked over the coals by Tim Russert (good guy) and forced him to defend his claim, made on "Meet the Press" before the war, that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons. "Yeah, I did misspeak," Cheney admitted. "We never had any evidence that [Hussein] had acquired a nuclear weapon."
This is big stuff, kiddies: you are being fucked over. These big blatant bold lies worthy of Stalin undermine everything our country stands for. Our boys in government are spreading it so thick we're all gonna need hip boots. And this is all very courageous for Scheer, Russert and the other real journalists who document these systemic abuses of power. The freedoms of speech and the Press are the only things keeping us from becoming a totalitarian theocracy. For their role in defending our Constitution and the concept that the government is of, by and for the People, these same journalists get called every kind of name, including traitor. In fact, these people are true patriots.
"We know [Iraq] had a great deal to do with terrorism in general and with Al Qaeda in particular and we know a great many of [Osama] bin Laden's key lieutenants are now trying to organize in cooperation with old loyalists from the Saddam regime."
The next day, Wolfowitz was forced to retract his words, and admitted to Associated Press that his remarks referred not to a "great many" of Bin Laden's lieutenants but rather to a single Jordanian, Abu Musab Zarqawi. "[I] should have been more precise," Wolfowitz allowed. In short, he told the Big Lie to the TV crowd and told a half-lie to a smaller crowd. It turns out that the Jordanian in question operated in the Northern Alliance's territory (our allies) and did not, in fact, run a chemical lab. Two points for Wolfie.
Next, Dick Cheney (bad guy) was raked over the coals by Tim Russert (good guy) and forced him to defend his claim, made on "Meet the Press" before the war, that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons. "Yeah, I did misspeak," Cheney admitted. "We never had any evidence that [Hussein] had acquired a nuclear weapon."
This is big stuff, kiddies: you are being fucked over. These big blatant bold lies worthy of Stalin undermine everything our country stands for. Our boys in government are spreading it so thick we're all gonna need hip boots. And this is all very courageous for Scheer, Russert and the other real journalists who document these systemic abuses of power. The freedoms of speech and the Press are the only things keeping us from becoming a totalitarian theocracy. For their role in defending our Constitution and the concept that the government is of, by and for the People, these same journalists get called every kind of name, including traitor. In fact, these people are true patriots.
Monday, September 15, 2003
The Independent interviewed Chrissie Hynde recently. Click here to check it out. The Pretenders' first album is one of my all time favorites, although I don't like anything they did after it. One album can make a legend. When Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott died, so did the unique Pretenders sound. Oh well, go for Chrissie anyway.
Recall, Totally --- The 9th Circuit has put the California recall election on ice. Read about it here, from Yahoo News. This will of course be appealed, and laughingstocks like Tom McClintock have called the 9th Circuit "laugingstock" of the judiciary. Again a crucial election will be in the hands of the judiciary. The other laughingstock, Schwarzenegger, had this to say about the decision to postpone the election:
"Historically, the courts have upheld the rights of voters, and I expect that the court will do so again in this case," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "The people have spoken, and their word should, and will, prevail."
The people voted for Davis, doesn't that vote count for anything? In other words, Arnie, if you want the will of the people to prevail, why don't you just fuck off?
"Historically, the courts have upheld the rights of voters, and I expect that the court will do so again in this case," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "The people have spoken, and their word should, and will, prevail."
The people voted for Davis, doesn't that vote count for anything? In other words, Arnie, if you want the will of the people to prevail, why don't you just fuck off?
Centro-Matic is on tour:
Mon 9/15 - Albuquerque NM - Launchpad
Tue 9/16 - Phoenix AZ - Modified
Wed 9/17 - San Diego CA - Casbah
Thu 9/18 - Los Angeles CA - Spaceland
Fri 9/19 - San Francisco CA - Cafe du Nord
Sat 9/20 - Sacramento CA - Capitol Garage
Mon 9/22 - Portland OR - The Tonic Lounge
Tue 9/23 - Seattle WA - Tractor Tavern
Wed 9/24 - Boise ID - Neurolux
Thu 9/25 - Salt Lake City UT - Kilby Court
Fri 9/26 - Denver CO - Larimer Lounge
Sat 9/27 - Kansas City MO - The Brick
Sun 9/28 - Lincoln NE - Duffy's
Mon 9/29 - Iowa City IA - Gabe's Oasis
Tue 9/30 - Des Moines IA - Vaudeville Mews
Thu 10/2 - Minneapolis MN - 400 Bar
Fri 10/3 - Madison WI - Toronto Club
Sat 10/4 - Chicago IL - Subterranean
Sun 10/5 - St. Louis MO - Hi-Pointe
Please check http://www.centro-matic.com for links to all the venues for info about advance tciket sales, age requirements, and showtimes. Check out the latest reviews, news, mp3 downloads, and more stuff at http://www.centro-matic.com
Mon 9/15 - Albuquerque NM - Launchpad
Tue 9/16 - Phoenix AZ - Modified
Wed 9/17 - San Diego CA - Casbah
Thu 9/18 - Los Angeles CA - Spaceland
Fri 9/19 - San Francisco CA - Cafe du Nord
Sat 9/20 - Sacramento CA - Capitol Garage
Mon 9/22 - Portland OR - The Tonic Lounge
Tue 9/23 - Seattle WA - Tractor Tavern
Wed 9/24 - Boise ID - Neurolux
Thu 9/25 - Salt Lake City UT - Kilby Court
Fri 9/26 - Denver CO - Larimer Lounge
Sat 9/27 - Kansas City MO - The Brick
Sun 9/28 - Lincoln NE - Duffy's
Mon 9/29 - Iowa City IA - Gabe's Oasis
Tue 9/30 - Des Moines IA - Vaudeville Mews
Thu 10/2 - Minneapolis MN - 400 Bar
Fri 10/3 - Madison WI - Toronto Club
Sat 10/4 - Chicago IL - Subterranean
Sun 10/5 - St. Louis MO - Hi-Pointe
Please check http://www.centro-matic.com for links to all the venues for info about advance tciket sales, age requirements, and showtimes. Check out the latest reviews, news, mp3 downloads, and more stuff at http://www.centro-matic.com
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Iraq Casualties --- Harry Shearer, on his syndicated radio program, mentioned that nearly 1500 US soldiers have been evacuated as casualties (wounded or killed), a number much higher than the 200 or so reported fatalities. It's called spin control. The real numbers will be huge by the time the press gets their act together and starts blowing the lid off this fiasco.
Iraq: The 51st State --- So much for presenting the USA as a nation based on laws and a nation devoted to international conventions. The war in Iraq has made apparent many implausibly cynical truths about the right wing now in charge of the Presidency, the Senate, the House, and the majority of the Supreme Court. This new Right Wing fundamentally seeks to destroy the institutions and freedoms we have held sacred for decades. Namely, the attempt to privatize schools in the form of a voucher program will destroy public education, privatizing Social Security will bankrupt the plan, and many other programs developed as far back as the New Deal are under attack. These are wholesale attacks on public lands, clean air and water protections, affording protections to endangered animals, and in general, Federal regulatory agencies like the SEC, FCC, FAA and others that keep in check those people who would turn the public sector into their own private capitalist hunting ground. The new Right Wing, headed by Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rove, have brought a neo "Christian" philosophy (minus all the bits about love, compassion, humility, meekness and so forth) to the world theater that sanctions everything from pre-emptive military adventures to a win-at-all-costs political strategy at home (one example: ads run on TV against Senator Paul Wellstone had Saddam Hussein popping up on screen, linking the two). Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) provided this quote from Fox TV's voice of bloodthirsty self-righteousness, Bill O'Reilly, concerning his (and the new Right's) views on how we should have fought the "war" in Iraq: O'Reilly argued for the complete destruction of Baghdad, a city of 4.5 million residents (3/26/03):
There is a school of thought that says we should have given the citizens of Baghdad 48 hours to get out of Dodge by dropping leaflets and going with the AM radios and all that. Forty-eight hours, you've got to get out of there, and flatten the place. Then the war would be over. We could have done that in two days…. You flatten Baghdad, you flatten all the troops, we know where they go, there's nowhere to hide in the desert. We know where everybody's moving. And you know as well as I do, this war could have been over in two days…. It's just frustrating for everybody to know that we have been fighting this war with one hand behind our back.
(click here for the full article.) Does this sound American to you? That we should make 4.5M people homeless and possibly dead (it is a brutal desert, after all) and create an international crisis of the first order just to remove Hussein from power? Now we are being asked to pony up another $87 Billion for this Iraq fiasco. I say Bush & Company can pay for this out of their tax cuts, or their corporate swindling (Enron , Global Crossing, Tyco et al were all friends with the Bush Admin). Now we are told that our troops are going to have to start cycling home within the next 6 months to maintain a state of readiness, meaning, we have stretched our military thin. How does a nation replenish its military in an unpopular engagement? You guessed it: a draft. That is the next logical step in their plan, I'm just wondering how long it's going to take them to foist it on us as a "patriotic" act.
There is a school of thought that says we should have given the citizens of Baghdad 48 hours to get out of Dodge by dropping leaflets and going with the AM radios and all that. Forty-eight hours, you've got to get out of there, and flatten the place. Then the war would be over. We could have done that in two days…. You flatten Baghdad, you flatten all the troops, we know where they go, there's nowhere to hide in the desert. We know where everybody's moving. And you know as well as I do, this war could have been over in two days…. It's just frustrating for everybody to know that we have been fighting this war with one hand behind our back.
(click here for the full article.) Does this sound American to you? That we should make 4.5M people homeless and possibly dead (it is a brutal desert, after all) and create an international crisis of the first order just to remove Hussein from power? Now we are being asked to pony up another $87 Billion for this Iraq fiasco. I say Bush & Company can pay for this out of their tax cuts, or their corporate swindling (Enron , Global Crossing, Tyco et al were all friends with the Bush Admin). Now we are told that our troops are going to have to start cycling home within the next 6 months to maintain a state of readiness, meaning, we have stretched our military thin. How does a nation replenish its military in an unpopular engagement? You guessed it: a draft. That is the next logical step in their plan, I'm just wondering how long it's going to take them to foist it on us as a "patriotic" act.