2011 in Mixtapes!

As the prophecies foretold, I made some mixtapes to celebrate the end of 2011! The mixtapes are thematic, with one containing "Pop, Rock, and World" and one for "Electronica & Dance". They contain only songs from 2011. The playlists are zipped, and contain .xml files that can be loaded into iTunes to preserve the playlist order (yes, I put a lot of neurotic work into the playlist order and flow!). To do that, first add the songs to iTunes. Then, click File->Library->Import Playlist and then select the .xml file within the downloaded playlist. It's super-easy =).

Enjoy!

"Pop, Rock, and World" Playlist:

1. Basement Jaxx & Metropole Orkest - Red Alert
2. TV On The Radio - Second Song
3. Metric - Black Sheep
4. Florence + the Machine - What The Water Gave Me
5. Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar
6. Adele - Set Fire To The Rain
7. Miike Snow - Devil's Work
8. Elbow - Lippy Kids
9. The Roots - One Time (feat. Phonte & Dice Raw)
10. M83 - Midnight City
11. LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem (Ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock)
12. Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What
13. Friendly Fires - Blue Cassette
14. Glee Cast - Rumour Has It / Someone Like You (Glee Cast Version)
15. Lupe Fiasco - The Show Goes On
16. Basement Jaxx & Metropole Orkest - Good Luck
17. Rihanna ft. Wiley and Calvin Harris - We Found Love (Remix)
18. Emeli Sandé - Heaven
19. Toddla T - Take It Back (Feat. Shola Ama & J2K)
20. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Lift Off (feat. Beyonce)
21. Lady Gaga - You And I (Official Radio Edit)
22. St. Vincent - Surgeon
23. The Lonely Island - Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)
24. Chase & Status - Blind Faith (Ft. Liam Bailey)
25. Breakbot feat. Ruckazoid - Fantasy
26. The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
27. Foo Fighters - Walk
28. Ry Cooder - No Banker Left Behind
29. Florence + the Machine - Leave My Body

"Electronica & Dance" Playlist:

1. Soulwax - Machine
2. ZZT - Partys Over Los Angeles (Paul Chambers Remix)
3. Breakbot - Shades Of Black
4. Justice - Helix
5. Daft Punk - End Of Line (Boys Noize Remix)
6. Shinichi Osawa & Paul Chambers - SINGAPORE MADNESS
7. David Guetta - Glasgow
8. Mumbai Science - Lotus
9. Cassius - I <3 U So (Skream Remix)
10. Nicolas Jaar - Sunflower
11. Switch - I Still Love You (feat. Andrea Martin)
12. SebastiAn - Embody
13. Lykke Li - Sadness Is A Blessing (Gold Panda Remix)
14. The 2 Bears - Bear Hug
15. Chase & Status - Flashing Lights (Radio Edit)
16. Nero - Guilt (Radio Edit)
17. The Glitch Mob - We Can Make The World Stop
18. Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Villa Remix)
19. Avicii - Levels (Radio Edit)
20. SebastiAn ft. Mayer Hawthorne - Love In Motion (Skrillex's Funkt-Out Remix)
21. Siriusmo - Signal
22. Deadmau5 - Raise Your Weapon (Madeon Radio Edit)
23. Loops Of Fury - I Need (Original Mix)
24. Jack Beats feat. John B - All Night (Original Mix)
25. Major Lazer - Original Don
26. ZZT - Zzafrika (Gesaffelstein Remix)
27. Swedish House Mafia Vs Knife Party - Antidote (Instrumental Mix)
28. Digitalism - Blitz
29. Joe Goddard - Gabriel (feat. Valentina)
    
    I hope you have as much fun listening to these as I had making them!
    

"Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante?" or How The New York Times is Emblematic of Our Pathetic News Media

On the exact anniversary of Congress passing authorization for force in Iraq, the New York Times public editor seriously asks whether "New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about."

This is a sad reflection not only on the NYT but almost all of the news industry which follows the same milquetoast model. It is not good enough to echo a right wing talking point and a left wing talking point and declare that the truth must inevitably lie in the middle. That is the kind of laziness and cowardice that allowed falsehoods like the Bush administration's Iraq WMD claims to go unchallenged. It is not journalism.

http://t.co/iB38FDHB

Facism in America

http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/12/emergency-manager-near-for-inkster-with.html

So, according to the Republican party, we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan in order to "bring them freedom and democracy." So why is that here in the US , that same party is arguing that democracy must be removed in order to save working class and black Americans from themselves. In Michigan, Republican governor Rick Snyder has instituted an "emergency manager" law that allows him to replace all local elected officials with "emergency managers" who rule their cities as unchecked tyrants.

Detroit would be the 7th city to have its elected government replaced by a state-appointed dictator. And with it, over 50% of African Americans in Michigan would be stripped right to an elected local government. The fight for democracy is on - it's just closer to home than some of us expected.

The Wealthy are "Job Creators"? Please.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/04/381510/upton-cant-explain-tax-cuts-jobs/

To follow up on yesterday's "John Boehner says tax cuts for the middle class are chicken shit" post, here is GOP supercommittee member Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) admitting that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy didn't create jobs. Even as Senate Republicans filibustered a plan to extend the wildly popular (even among Republicans!) payroll tax cut this week, claiming that it "hasn't created jobs," they are doubling down on their narrative that the wealthy can't be taxed because it will "kill jobs."

When Rep. Upton was asked on Bloomberg News why more jobs were created in the higher tax Clinton years than the lower tax Bush years, he couldn't answer. Indeed, the years of greatest job growth in the US since 1950 have all had top marginal tax rates (i.e. taxes on all income made beyond the first $250,000) of 70 percent or higher. The idea that lower taxes on the wealthy means higher job growth is intellectually bankrupt, plain and simple.

Why Do Young Voters Love Ron Paul?

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/28/why_young_voters_love_ron_paul/singleton/

Why do young conservatives love Ron Paul? It's not. as many conservative intellectuals dismissively purport, because he supports Marijuana legalization or because college kids "naively" cling to his brand of conservatism. It's because they agree with Rep. Paul that our imperialist foreign policy is making America less safe.

It's a real shame that Paul's popular foreign policy positions "are either ignored or mocked by a political and media culture that is ideologically invested in marginalizing them."

Mitt Romney - Change We Can Believe In?

For your viewing pleasure, here's a slightly younger Mitt Romney doing retail campaigning and boasting about not being a "career politician." Romney's "outsider" label is still something he's trying to use to sell his candidacy. What's the problem with this narrative? This clip is from 1994.

Whose Banks? Our Banks.

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2011/11/yes-the-us-government-ought-to-own-the-banks-now.html

"When you don't take equity...you aren't acting as a good agent for your principals, the taxpayers."

By all rights, the American people should own the major banks right now. We were lenders of last resort, and the government's decision not to secure equity for US taxpayers was an abject failure to represent our financial interests.

We were compelled by the crisis to act as a lender of last resort. But by all rights should have been able to take over the banks, clean house, restructure, and ensure the banks didn't make a profit off of their own avarice and incompetence. Instead, the government participated in the worst kind of crony capitalism by rescuing the banks and then letting their executives profit from tanking the economy