Since the mid to late 80's, the US Air Force has had an ASAT(Anti Satellite) missle called the ASM-135 that was fired from a F-16 at extreme altitude and would seek out and collide with its targets as opposed to exploding near them.
I will assume your finger hit the wrong key; the ASM-135 was carried by an F-15, not F-16.
This is my concern: Yes, the Chinese and US economies are joined quite tightly at the fiscal hip. If they "drop teh credit bomb" in order to choke the US ecomony, their economy and their savings and the economies of much of the First World crash too. Everybody loses, massive unrest, etc etc.
But if such came to pass, which country and which government is more likely to survive in closest-to-intact form?
The country that is comfortable with smacking down its unarmed and under-informed citizenry with tanks, information blackouts, oppression, and a rather firm grip from the single party at the top, with a majority of the citizenry that expects austerity and that type of control due to decades of "thats the way it has always been"....
or the country where everybody has (or can get) weapons, wants and believes they _deserve_ the latest gadetry, the vacation home, the phat ride, the cushy life, the government subsidy, the best-of-everything-from-the-entire-world ?
In such a M.A.D. scenario, who would collapse into civil unrest first?
Not to be picky.. okay exactly to be picky.. and somewhat off-topic as well.. 500,000 and 1,000,000 only apply to English-language recordings certified by the RIAA. Recordings with over 50% of Spanish-language content use lower thresholds in the U.S.
Also, the IFPI (the international version of the RIAA) has a set of numbers it applies to sales in every country, based (I assume) on the size of the overall market. They very by country.. the US #s are by far the largest.
My understanding is that any venue large enough for a major touring act to play (Madonna would qualify I suspect) is most likely an AFM signatory.
I'm not completely sure how they can enforce that here, considering that Texas is a "right to work" state ( http://www.nrtw.org/rtws.htm ). Then again, IANAL to the nth degree.
I do know that there is no hard and fast rule as to which venues are signatories and which aren't. The smaller the venue, the larger the chance that they don't have an agreement.
Whether or not you have to be AFM to perform depends on the venue, actually. Most of the big venues and live theaters in this area (being Ft Worth, TX) are AFM signatories, but the little clubs where me and my ilk play are outside their circle.
I've always wondered why the AFM hasn't gotten more involved in the actual working lives of musicians and in exactly the copyright/contract issues you are talking about. I know several AFM members.. from what I can tell, if you aren't working sessions in a studio, or on a Broadway/concert stage, an AFM membership is of limited value.
Hate to tell you, but you can get the flu in summer. But all that aside, people die every year here in Texas because of the heat.
DALE: That's code for U.N. commissars telling Americans what the temperature's going to be in our outdoors. I say let the world warm up, let's see what Boutros Boutros Ghali Ghali has to say about that. We'll grow oranges in Alaska!
HANK: Dale, you giblet-head, we live in Texas! It's already 110 in the summer, and if it gets one degree hotter, I'm going to kick your ass!
Come on, who cares? Let people be ignorant. It's not like bringing people of below average intelligence or fundamentalist mindset into the scientific fold is going to make them valuable contributors. It'll just be a new type of ignorance to deal with. Let them be.
That would be all fine and well except for one thing: they're reproducing....and at a higher rate than those of us who value science. And those people and their progeny will vote.
Just a quibble: CDBaby, another cool company, sells CDs for $14.
CDBaby actually sells CDs for whatever price you, the artist, want. For example, we like selling our CD for $10, online or offline. So we set our price at $10. And CDBaby sells them for that. http://www.cdbaby.com/meetgoodwin. Not often I get to stick a link to the band in to a response and actually have it be relevent;-)
As the bass player in a band named Goodwin, I heartily encourage invoking our name when and wherever possible. ESPECIALLY in places that draw lots of traffic;-)
It only plays music that you buy from apple in the iPod store and I have an extensive MP3 collection, so that was all useless,...
GAH! I sure wish this mis-representation of the iPod would die. I heard a commentator on NPR say the same stupid thing last week. In fact, I think it was the author of the recent Forrester "iTunes is teh DYING!" study, who was being interviewed during Marketplace. He should've known better, but no there it was...
But now seriously speaking, you know all those 14 yo looking girls in hentai are probably supposed to be 18-19 for them. We see the japonese women as younger than they really are, and they see the white women as older also.
Yeah, but how old are the tentacle beasts? Ever consider that??? HMM? WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILD-TENTACLE-BEASTS?!?!?!?!?
Slashdot Mirror
Gravity? There is no such thing as gravity, there is only the Theory of Intelligent Sticking Together.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASM-135
He thinks he has a girlfriend, but in reality he is supporting a woman and her B.O.B. Never fear, he's still one of us. Maybe even moreso.
The common man under 25 will eventually be the common man over 25. Building a lasting political movement takes time.
This is my concern: Yes, the Chinese and US economies are joined quite tightly at the fiscal hip. If they "drop teh credit bomb" in order to choke the US ecomony, their economy and their savings and the economies of much of the First World crash too. Everybody loses, massive unrest, etc etc.
....
But if such came to pass, which country and which government is more likely to survive in closest-to-intact form?
The country that is comfortable with smacking down its unarmed and under-informed citizenry with tanks, information blackouts, oppression, and a rather firm grip from the single party at the top, with a majority of the citizenry that expects austerity and that type of control due to decades of "thats the way it has always been"
or the country where everybody has (or can get) weapons, wants and believes they _deserve_ the latest gadetry, the vacation home, the phat ride, the cushy life, the government subsidy, the best-of-everything-from-the-entire-world ?
In such a M.A.D. scenario, who would collapse into civil unrest first?
I've always blamed Canada.
Golollum: I Haz Teh Precious
Bilolbo: Lost Hobbit is Lost.
Gollum: I Can Has Bilburger?
Bilolbo: I'm In Ur Caves, Tellin' Ur Riddels
Golollum: WANT!
Bilolbo: A Ringz, I Findz It.
Golollum: Nooooes! They Be Stealing Mah Precious!!!
Bilolbo: Invisible Me.
Golollum: Mah Precious, I Mourns It.
Tagged: lolkien, lolbbit, golollum
Not to be picky .. okay exactly to be picky .. and somewhat off-topic as well .. 500,000 and 1,000,000 only apply to English-language recordings certified by the RIAA. Recordings with over 50% of Spanish-language content use lower thresholds in the U.S.
.. the US #s are by far the largest.
.. the captcha is "damned")
Also, the IFPI (the international version of the RIAA) has a set of numbers it applies to sales in every country, based (I assume) on the size of the overall market. They very by country
references:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_certification
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_recording_sales_certification
(heh
My understanding is that any venue large enough for a major touring act to play (Madonna would qualify I suspect) is most likely an AFM signatory.
I'm not completely sure how they can enforce that here, considering that Texas is a "right to work" state ( http://www.nrtw.org/rtws.htm ). Then again, IANAL to the nth degree.
I do know that there is no hard and fast rule as to which venues are signatories and which aren't. The smaller the venue, the larger the chance that they don't have an agreement.
Whether or not you have to be AFM to perform depends on the venue, actually. Most of the big venues and live theaters in this area (being Ft Worth, TX) are AFM signatories, but the little clubs where me and my ilk play are outside their circle.
Point taken.
.. from what I can tell, if you aren't working sessions in a studio, or on a Broadway/concert stage, an AFM membership is of limited value.
I've always wondered why the AFM hasn't gotten more involved in the actual working lives of musicians and in exactly the copyright/contract issues you are talking about. I know several AFM members
Rather than legislating it, artists could form a proper union or professional society I guess.
Like the American Federation of Musicians?
Should they include free ponies, too?
Yes. They should include OMG!!! Ponies!!!
But did she say "fuck" ?
Is a drug that turns people into mice and 99% of diseases will be a solved problem.
Are you kidding? Mice die from EVERYTHING! Don't you ever read medical research?
HANK: Dale, you giblet-head, we live in Texas! It's already 110 in the summer, and if it gets one degree hotter, I'm going to kick your ass!
Gee, sounds like evolution in action to me
(even for older tunes, try to buy something good form a pop band in the 80s,...
can't be done.
Yeah, I love listening to mercury
Personally I prefer Mars, the Bringer of War.
bz? (pvp "deathmatch", complete with wireframe graphics. mmmmm, loved those guided missles)
conquer? (CivWho? plus you got the source code, and could tweak to your hearts' content)
Hello Kitty's Island Adventure? Butters is da man!
Let's say Canada is on the black list. Then all countries on the black list would only do business togeter and not with the US anymore.
Woohoo! No more Celine Dion!!!!!
When I RTFA my first thought was how stupid it was, but you have shown me the error of my ways. Thank you, kind sir.
Just a quibble: CDBaby, another cool company, sells CDs for $14.
;-)
CDBaby actually sells CDs for whatever price you, the artist, want. For example, we like selling our CD for $10, online or offline. So we set our price at $10. And CDBaby sells them for that. http://www.cdbaby.com/meetgoodwin. Not often I get to stick a link to the band in to a response and actually have it be relevent
As the bass player in a band named Goodwin, I heartily encourage invoking our name when and wherever possible. ESPECIALLY in places that draw lots of traffic ;-)
It only plays music that you buy from apple in the iPod store and I have an extensive MP3 collection, so that was all useless,...
...
GAH! I sure wish this mis-representation of the iPod would die. I heard a commentator on NPR say the same stupid thing last week. In fact, I think it was the author of the recent Forrester "iTunes is teh DYING!" study, who was being interviewed during Marketplace. He should've known better, but no there it was
But now seriously speaking, you know all those 14 yo looking girls in hentai are probably supposed to be 18-19 for them. We see the japonese women as younger than they really are, and they see the white women as older also.
Yeah, but how old are the tentacle beasts? Ever consider that??? HMM? WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILD-TENTACLE-BEASTS?!?!?!?!?