forget_about_your_soft_spot

Perestroika, by Mikhail Gorbachov. It's actually not too didactic or authoritarian in style, which is good. Unfortunately, because Gorbachov was still very much a product of the Soviet system, the book contains a number of propagandized historical references. And because it was published in 1987, I doubt he could be as open about the reform program as he'd like. On the plus side, I got it at a book sale, and it only cost 25 cents. Next on the list, "Annals of an Abiding Liberal", by John Kenneth Galbraith. Which I got at the same incredible book sale.

Yeah, I was also amazed at how long the set was. My wife was even impressed by them live, and she rolls her eyes and groans every time I play one of their CD's. They're just one of those bands with a very incredible stage presence... which I suppose they should be, considering how long they've been around.

Does The Lounge also involve the use of NF$? I was operating under the assumption that it was just a privileged access part of The Bored, and that access was attained by a minimum of 60 posts...

Hum. I was wondering where those NF$ came from, way back when. Oh well. Moving forward, I will attempt to rectify the situation with increased participation, and more careful use of my Matt Good related virtual currency.

Have you ever seen them live? They're pretty freakin' awesome. Nels Cline playing the guitar looks remarkably similar to what I imagine Nels Cline having an epileptic seizure would look like. But it's amazing to watch, and even more amazing to hear.

Oh, on a somewhat related note... if anyone here read about that accidental exposure of some BP restart workers to alpha radiation... yeah, I was one of those 19 workers exposed. It really isn't a big deal. The AP reports got a good deal of the facts mixed up or just plain wrong. And compared with the gamma/beta doses we regularly receive working in containment, the alpha was really dick-all.

Framing houses with modern mennonites. The work itself was quite enjoyable. But the boss refused to look for our next job until we completed our current one, the co-workers continually lectured me about living in sin (I smoke, and was living out of wedlock with a woman), and the pay was barely above minimum wage. The worst week had to have been when we ferried to an island to build a cottage for a well-off fellow. We all stayed in the same house, so it wasn't just 40 hours of harassment that week. It was literally from dawn to dusk. Which is roughly the time modern mennonites go to sleep. I'm sure there were some employee rights violated, but I was just glad to have a job at that time in my life.

Any Wilco fans here? I figure there probably will be, as they're endorsed by Mr. Good himself. I've been a fan since the Summerteeth era. And I'd have to say that's my favourite of their albums. I've found their more modern work to be a touch too experimental for my tastes. Still quite enjoyable, but not so much as their earlier works... of course, I feel the same way about Radiohead.

Last of the Ghetto Astronauts- Radio Bomb Underdogs- Change of Season Raygun- So Long Mrs. Smith Beautiful Midnight- Strange Days/Giant (it's a tie) Loser Anthems- The Man from Harold Wood The Audio of Being- Sort of a Protest Song Avalanche- Song for The Girl White Light- It's Been a While Since I Was Your Man In A Coma- Big City Life Hospital Music- Single Explosion Live At Massey Hall- Apparitions Vancouver- Empty's Theme Park

A documentary about Andrei Sakharov. I suppose that counts... it came on a DVD, anyway. Before that: The Lives of Others (very good, I highly recommend it), and Zombieland.

I hope this is not too intensely personal, and that it is in the correct location. I was just curious as to what everyone here does for a living. I've always imagined the core of Good's (new) fanbase to be fairly well educated young people. I suppose I might as well start. I'm a carpenter, and I work at a nuclear power plant, building tube & clamp scaffolds for maintenance crews. It is intensely boring work, but it pays well. *Shrugs*

I kinda figured the same thing. But I don't want to push the issue or anything. I was without computer for a fair chunk of time since joining as well... *Shrugs* Oh well. Can't blame a guy for trying. As for being a fan... saw MG 3 times on the acoustic tour. 3 times on the Hospital Music tour. And twice on the Vancouver tour (other obligations on the third convenient date). I suppose that would qualify me as, at the least, a decently dedicated fan.

Fair enough, I suppose. It was worth a try though. *Shrugs*

Can anyone email me/pm download links? I hate being that guy, but I've been a member since 2004, and made about 28 posts (thank you user stats). So Lounge membership is likely out of the question... It's not because I'm not here often. I just don't have much of value to add. I'm a quiet, lurky type of guy.

Forget about your soft spot: you said you were going to go to trade school for electrical. My father is an electrician and owns his own successful electrical contracting business. He's hired many apprentices over the years. Its a good trade to get into. In fact i worked many summers w/ him and his guys. tough work, not my cup of tea, but offers a stable career. Oh god. It's tough? Damn!! Why does everything I choose always have to involve work of some sort? :angry: Out of curiousity, what sort of electrician is he? I'm looking to be an industrial electrician (the pay is slightly higher, and positions tend to be unionized). Oh, also... I don't suppose you happen to live in Windsor, Ontario do you? If so... lemme just send you my resume. ;)

Now that I've finally got a car that isn't thrice removed from it's original owner, covered in rusty freckles and infected with mechanical pneumonia, I too intend to drive across Canada. But first I must find this apprenticeship/job. Gas doesn't come cheap these days (unless you're American).

I did not know that... thanks for the interesting bit of information. I shall look into the book. Is it a just a point-by-point list of trivia, or a 'real' book? Will

"however, one cannot trash welfare, a lot of people use it on rainy days...and in many regions of canada, especially on the east coast employment is only seasonal and welfare holds whole communities together through the winter..." Oh, I know. And that's perfectly fine. But it's a largely unproductive venture, in purely economic terms. If we could train those seasonal workers to do something else during the winter months, that would mean decreased burden on state accounts, and increased capital as a paycheque would be higher, and drive consumption, which would in turn help the economy in those regions. Which would have the added benefit of increasing input to the welfare system, and allow for increased infrastructure development, etc. It's that mobile and liquid workforce argument I made a couple of posts back. That said, it's as much of a pipedream as fully functional Communism, so seasonal welfare is a good system, which rightly sustains those who are unable to work during a given season. ;) Will

Yes! Precisely how I feel about the subject. Although I still think University style education (conceptual, theoretical, logical, etc) is critical to the survival of a civilized culture. I think we should encourage more people to work in the trades (I'm about to make a shift from junior Web Designer for a Toronto magazine to electrical apprentice), but we must educate them from a young age to be thinkers as well. (West) Germany has worked somewhat on this model in the past. The economy was heavily protectionist, and thus there existed a whole culture of vocationally educated, yet well-informed factory workers, carpenters, etc, who made about twice as much as their North American counterparts. Mind you, that's all changing, thanks to the *GREAT* (I slather as much sarcasm on that word as possible) global economy, which has shipped many jobs to former Soviet Bloc countries. That said, the entire culture is pretty much apprenticeship based. My cousin is a pharmacist, and trained mostly on the job (if I recall correctly, there was a 1 year pre-apprenticeship education). Here, that's several years of University. She came out fully trained, with no debt (in fact, several years worth of wages), and an ability to train for something else if she wishes. No serious implications due to thousands of dollars "wasted" on a field she had decided to leave. Definitely better than what we have.

Wow. Now *that* was the best post this board has ever seen, and mine pales in comparison. ;) Anyway, yes, I essentially agree with what you are saying. Any new or moderated form of government we attempt should focus on creating class mobility, not simply increasing wealth. It is not enough to boost welfare payments and simply be done with it. We must find ways to allow people with the drive and the ambition to pursue higher education to do so, preferrably affordably. We must not forcefully shift wealth, but attempt to create a situation where it would be possible for anyone with the desire to work hard and succeed to do so. Apprenticeships, on the job training and vocational schools are all good ways, although they should be separated from normal learning education. The infection of high school with workplace co-ops, and the replacement of theoretical colleges and such with vocational schools are part of the reason for declining democratic interest and media literacy. Also, some workforce mobility would be useful, and I think apprenticeships would be useful for this. We've got to make it easier for people to make career switches from things like salesman, web designer, etc to electrician, plumber, or farmer (and visca versa). We must also make the last category of jobs viewed more favourably than they currently are. This could decrease unemployment, particularly in sectors which are suffering a net job loss. Anyway, I've rambled enough. Out of curiousity, are you taking Economics at University?

No, because by it's very nature, Marxist Communism would disassemble and reconstruct our very capitalistic practices. Control of the means of production for the workers means that the business owners must *lose* control, and who will *vote* for the removal of their own wealth? Everyone with a stake in the company, which means anyone in the upper and upper-middle classes (the bougeousie, shareholders, executives, people who may someday be promoted to executives, etc), would fight such a transition. And then what? The government's Communist-spirited reforms designed to empower the workers would be brought to a screaching halt by protests, or they'd have to be violently repressed. Socialist Democracy (practiced in moderation by Canada, and many European countries), can be worked. But it is not terribly effective. State organizations are horribly inefficient in most cases, and uncompetitive. Russia's technology all but stagnated in the 70's. To a lesser degree, the Socialist democracies in Europe are having the exact same problem. The break-up of state monopolies, particularly telcom corporations, are an excellent example of this. The technology was stagnating, the costs were rising, and eventually the systems became gradually unworkable. I'm sorry, but as an economic system, Communism (even moderate Socialism) fails as well. It simply cannot keep up with the monsterous production capacity of a capitalist economy where workers are a commodity, and therefore have very few rights. I wish it wasn't so. I really do. I want nothing more than to experience wealth redistribution, social services and all of the other benefits traditionally associated with countries like (West) Germany, France, Sweden and Finland. But they are all falling to the more competative nature of unrestrained capitalism. On a side note, one thing I think should really be ended is corporate welfare. It is the most shameful element of our capitalist governments, and generally does very little to provide job security for the workers in the long run. If a company is unable to compete and survive, it should die, preferrably before it lines it's unsuccessful CEO's pockets further. Will

"Are you positive about that? What about when Hitler's Germany invaded Russia near the end of WW2? Wasn't Russia/USSR a communist state at the time?" Despite the name (National Socialism), the Nazi state was primarily an authoritarian fascist regime. Socialism was barely involved at all. So yes, the USSR was a Communist state, but Germany was not. (See: Wikipedia link. Note: Wikipedia is not a perfect or reliable source of definitive information, but it will do for a message board discussion, and this is mostly correct). I do agree that Communism could work, if human nature was easily rectifiable and we could just "jump in". But is that really much of an accomplishment? I mean, technically, if human nature can be removed from the equation, Democracy is perfect as well. So are benevolent dictatorships. Nazism would be a beautifully workable and non-brutal system, if there was no diversity and everyone was Aryan, German speaking, and... well... a Nazi. The entire viability of a system is dependant on it's workability within the context of human nature. In those terms, democracy, with all of it's checks, balances and evolutionary nature, is probably the best we have. Or at least will be, one day. Will

I couldn't get the link to load at home or at work. Could you find a mirror, or possible check to see if you've got it pasted in there correctly?

Ten dollars (Canadian) to the first person who can explain to me how America is like Nazi Germany. I mean, honestly, as much as I dislike the political path which America is taking, it is not as bad as late 1930's Germany. In fact, I'd say that to say that is an insult to all the Germans (Jew or otherwise) who suffered through Hitler's rule. Any takers?

Disclaimer: I like Matt. I think he's terribly intelligent. Successful Prime Ministers have to have a deep understanding of our economic, cultural, political and legal systems. As well, they must be consumate diplomats, willing to concede, argue, debate. They must be patient. As much as I like Matt, I do not think he is sufficiently educated to be Prime Minister. Learning as you go is not an option, because this nation's well-being is not an experiment. Ideally, of course. That said, if Ralph Klein can be an elected official, why the hell not elect Matt?