ELECTRONIC SAVIORS - NEW DATE!!! - April 3rd 2010!

Digital Ferret Records, your local home for industrial and metal music, will be holding an art and music show on Friday, April 2nd to help raise money to fight cancer.

There will also be a CD Release Party with TERRORFAKT, REIN[Forced], and PATRICIA WAKE! Not to mention a group art show with a ton of local artists.

Please bring money for artwork to support cancer research!

Digital Ferret 4th Friday Event Series Metropolis Records Present: “Electronic Saviors”: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer

LINEUP:
+ Terrorfakt (NYC)
+ Rein[Forced] (Pittsburgh)
+ Patricia Wake (Pittsburgh)
+ Group Art show w/ 20 Artists
+ DJ's Isaac Cesium 137 & Mighty Mike Saga
+ Q & A with Jim Semonik

Make sure you come out! SHOW GOES FROM 6PM to 10PM!

Digital Ferret is located at 732 S 4th St in Philadelphia, PA.

New Computers: They Make Me Happy and Sad

By it's nature (or lack thereof), all technology has a short lifespan to certain degrees. When it comes to computers, its not very long at all. Yet, at the same time, its a virtual lifetime.

This week I'm updating the computers in my house. That involves a new desktop for my art, moving the old one to another room, and getting a new laptop as well. The old computers were purchased in 2007.

To some people it may seem relatively soon and still others not soon enough.

I originally bought them with the hope of simply updating them to Windows Vista since I was offered a free upgrade because I bought them so close to the launch date of the OS. As you may have guessed, I'm glad I never did it. Windows XP has been the OS of choice until yesterday when my laptop arrived and I set it up.

It was actually kinda heartbreaking. Think about it like this; you spend virtually every day and night with these items and they become vital parts of your life. Then the day comes when you must get rid of them and... well, improve. My laptop was with me when I redid my house, I did all my radio shows on it. Now its heading over to my friends house for a new life where it'll be put to better use.

Downstairs is the computer I got in 2004. It was actually the first new computer I ever got, and it was a gift from my mom a week before she went into the hospital never to return. I've used it for my artwork to this very day. To be honest, I don't know what I'll do with it when I finally let it retire this weekend... it has such a long and meaningful history to it. Its where I learned how to draw digitally, where I did my first few radio shows, where I learned how to REALLY use a computer (you know, stay away from this, download this anti-spyware program)....

Finally, there's my current bedroom computer. Oddly enough, there isn't much to say. It's where I designed and built the majority of my best artwork and websites, and I've become a much better designer and artist thanks to it.

Tomorrow I start my Windows 7 Journey full-force. The new desktop comes with a massive 21.5" screen, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 1TB Hard Drive. To say I'm excited is an understatement! New day, new possibilities, and the start of a new era of art, design, music, and more for me! But I'm still going to miss my old hardware, all of it, and all the good times we had.

Except for the printer. It's going down. OFFICE SPACE STYLE!

The "Flash Mob" of 40th and Market: Media-Generated Hype?

Wow, that was fast.

At 11:30AM, Nutter spoke how the city would not tolerate "Flash Mobs".

By Noon, word already went around Philebrity and Twitter of a plan to have another one TODAY at 40th and Market.

Before 1PM, Penn University already found out and warned everyone.

Personally? I actually want to go now. The fact that the media, the city, and civil leaders are saying this is a problem is actually THE problem now. All the reports, discussion, even telling people HOW to organize these things... well, it's pretty cool. The entire point of the Flash Mob when they were created was to create something fun, interesting, and semi-spontaneous.

So, how about this: You turn down the coverage and ignore it to some degree instead of making it the biggest news possible?

OR someone organize a "nice" one to counter it...

Anti-Soda Tax Rally Today

This just came in:

RALLY SET TO OPPOSE BEVERAGE TAX

Hundreds to gather at City Hall to oppose what would be nation’s highest beverage tax

WHAT: “Philly Jobs. Not Taxes” Coalition members will hold a rally against the city’s unprecedented 2-cents-per-ounce tax proposal on sugary drinks. The growing coalition is composed of concerned union workers, businesses, community organizations and individuals that strongly oppose the beverage tax. The coalition believes the tax unfairly burdens consumers, targets one component of the business community and is illegal under State law. The tax would more than double the cost of some beverages and put Philadelphia jobs at risk.

WHO: Danny Grace, Teamsters Local Union 830

Rushdi Mohamed, Owner, Cousin’s Market, North Philadelphia

Philly Jobs. Not Taxes Coalition members

Pete Ciarrocchi, President of Chickie’s & Pete’s and Co-Chairman of Philly Jobs. Not Taxes. (Available for morning interviews only.)

WHEN: Wednesday, March 24

12:00 PM

WHERE: Dilworth Plaza

City Hall (Northwest side)

SOURCE: PhillyClout

Now, I'm not happy that the movement to oppose this tax seems to be centered around union leaders and soda companies, and it actually hurts the movement in and of itself. What we need is a rally of the people, by the people to happen instead. More on that later, as well as possibly footage of the rally itself.

The South Street "Riots": The REAL Solution

Last Saturday, 3000 teenagers descended on South Street. No one knows why, no one has any answers, and since we don't have any answers, I can only assume either no one bothered to ASK the teenagers why they were there or they aren't talking (save the inane answer, "I saw a post on Twitter, so I came down." Sheep).

The dumbest things to come out of this have been either stupid, clueless, or harmful to everyone. Oddly enough, its the adults who are doing the damage.


STUPID IDEA 1: Councilman Kenny, apparently thinking the Internet IS "a series of tubes", is trying to sue social networking sites for not policing their sites and is demanding that they do something when they see something like this happen.

THE PROBLEM: The problem is actually pretty big.

For starters, that's impossible to actually do. Google can barely keep out pedophiles, so what chance does Facebook or Twitter have of finding what most likely would amount to .2% of their overall traffic and making an educated guess that, yes, it could mean a possible "flash mob"?

The next problem is that this begins to create a problem with policing the internet that can hurt everyone in the end. Remember how the Iranian government DEMANDED that Twitter shut down because the people opposing the government were using it to organize and protest peacefully against the rigged elections there?

-Not pictured: The Iranian Government going crazy

Are these kids trying to do anything like this? NOT EVEN CLOSE, but if the government sued and won, it would mean that social networking sites would immediately become another weapon the government could use against its people.


STUPID IDEA 2: The other idea is raising the curfew for people under 18. Currently, it's 10:30pm Sunday - Thursday, and 12:01AM on Fridays and Saturdays. If the parents and certain groups get their way, they want it as early as 9:30PM.

THE PROBLEM: It ignores the actual problems.

As I wrote before, if this is happening for a reason, its most likely because they're young and want SOMETHING to do. If you have 3000 people hanging out, being peaceful (on a whole), and shopping, it isn't a problem. Its a problem when there is violence, but its almost like pure statistics; Out of 3000 people, there is bound to be some problems. Everything in this city seems to close down at 7PM, and if you're young, poor, and don't drink, there isn't much to do.

Look at New York City, where crime has gone down over the last 20 years and they aren't facing these same problems. Don't you think it makes sense to keep businesses open later and encourage people to, well, shop and have fun?

The other problem lies in concerts. We already have a problem in this city with getting concerts in this city, and the new curfew isn't going to help at all.

Not only that, but it also doesn't do anything about the only random gatherings around Center City that happen after school, before even 6PM.


THE FINAL PROBLEM: People don't want these people to gather... but that's against the constitution. As American's, we have the right to Freedom of Assembly, and as such the right to gather in a peaceful matter. In these incidents, we're not seeing the right abused; we're seeing it used right, and only a select few abusing it. In fact, even with the events on video taken into account, there were, out of 3000 people, a total of 4 incidents.

More and more, people seem to take it like A Clockwork Orange is coming to life.

"Real Horrorshow, the sight of the red red kroovy on the ground!"

THE SOLUTION:

Wouldn't it make more sense to just have something to do?

Look, I've been saying for years that the city needs to have stores open later, and no one has listened. It isn't a great solution, but its also not my only one. It may sound out, but midnight basketball programs during the 90's also helped to reduce on this type of behavior, and crime as a whole. The concept was simple; give kids something to do.

The South Street "Riots" - Update: The Reason This is Stupid

The best way to sum up the general reaction to this is simple:

HOLY CRAP! TEENAGERS ARE GETTING TOGETHER AT ONCE TO JUST HANG OUT!



<--- This is how you and many others are reacting



Now, I'm just as guilty. A year ago, I was actually semi-headlining the group of people who thought this was the start of something big and horrible. That was actually as late as May of last year. Since then, the groups have come and gone.

So this past Saturday, on the first nice Saturday of the year, after a long , cold, snowy winter, the weather was awesome and people did what they normally do on those days: they go out and have fun. In this case, it was 3000 teenagers doing the same thing at the same time; going down to South Street to hang out.

I'm not going to hold back and I'm not going to be elegant: The fact that this is a crowd of basically over 3000 black teenagers is a little unsettling to a lot of people in this city. In fact, its unsettling to... everyone. White, black, hispanic, etc... its a pretty insane thing to witness and be stuck in the middle of. Would it be different if the skin color was different? I doubt it. Its still a large group of teenagers descending on a single area for seemingly no reason.

One thing I saw tossed around was "how is this different than when people go out after the Phillies win"? You basically just answered your own question. It's different for two key reasons: First, its about celebrating after a team basically everyone in the city loves win the biggest game in their career, and the city goes nuts. The second is that said reaction in understood, properly prepared for, and actually has a point.

So, these gatherings... what are we missing here? Easy: They're young. Look, if you grew up in this city during the last 25 years, you know that EVERYTHING shuts down in this city at 7PM, and there isn't anything interesting to do here unless you either have money or drink. Otherwise, your options are limited. So what you did was go down to South Street because it was the only place around where there was anything cool to do. Well, WAS, but you get the point.

Brian Sweeny of Philebrtiy said it best:

But have you noticed that both of the big flash mob incidents lately — the one at Macy’s earlier this month and the one on South Street on Saturday — have occurred in places that, not so very long ago, were vibrant hubs of the city but are now retail dead zones, symbols of civic failure?

God bless, you hit the nail on the head!

The "Soda Tax" Myth Part 3: It's a Slippery-Slope

When people say something is a "slippery-slope", it's considered a informal fallacy because it says there can be no middle ground when people argue a point. I've used the term a lot, and I want to acknowledge that I do see a middle ground in this, but to get there, I have to start with the simple fact that this is the start of something bigger here.

We began with taxing alcohol in 1862 at 20 cents a gallon under Lincoln to help pay for the civil war. Later on, we began taxing cigarettes, largely in part to help generate revenue, but with then a side-effect of helping health. From there, we began smoking bans, and then banning trans-fat foods.

In the end, we accepted all of these ideas and regulations. We realized that alcohol and tobacco was bad for us and we allowed the government to take more and more steps to stop us from, in a sense, killing ourselves. From simple taxation we went to bans. Its gotten to the point where smoking is banned anywhere but your own house, and to be honest, even as a non-smoker, I felt bad for the people who did smoke. In terms of drinking beer, we've agreed that alcohol should be consumed in reasonable quantities and by adults only.

So how does this relate to soda and sugary-drinks?

Sugary-drinks aren't that good for you. Period. Over the past few days, I've defended soda with as much fever and pride as possible. For me, a soda drinker, it effects me a lot. For some people I know, they don't think it will effect them at all, although I am quick to point out that in Philadelphia's case it most likely will.

But they aren't the problem. The problem is with over-consumption, abuse, and not taking personal responsibility for your actions.

That's IT. It's not hard, it isn't difficult, and it isn't much. If you consume too much of anything you run into problems. We seem so quick to run to the government to govern how we live. Why? Why are we so willing to give up our own personal freedoms for the sake of a little ill-conceived safety? We all know and realize that the biggest problem with this tax is that it isn't going to make people healthy in and of itself. We all know that over-consumption is the problem, be it fast food, junk food, or... well, anything.

So, where is this all going?

You may scoff at me getting so mad about this, but consider this: New York State is considering banning additional salt in restaurants. I am not kidding. SALT. Oh, come on, you know why; it's bad for you. Too much salt can give you a heart attack. Salt can kill you. We all know it, we all know its a fact... so why NOT ban it, right? I mean, if the government knows that TransFats will kill you, that soda isn't good for you, they MUST know better than us that salt must be banned as well, right?

Now we're looking at Pizza Tax. Why? Because it's BAD for 'ya! Come on, we all know it! Hell, it's WORSE than salt, let alone soda, right? The government is here to help! They want to make sure you eat right! An extra 10% per pizza isn't too bad, right?

Right?

I think you see my point.

So the soda tax was only the beginning. You, the people, have already shown your OK with the government regulating your day-to-day life and that they should be allowed to tax and/or ban anything THEY deem unhealthy for you. You? You have no say in this. These aren't put up to public vote, only to legislators.

Whatever happened to PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY?! When did we all decide that giving up our personal rights? When did we decide that we are no longer a nation of grown adults who should be able to make decisions based on what we know an instead nothing more than children? I was never informed! Never got a memo, never got a IM, never got an e-mail, let alone a phone call.

Is this a "slippery-slope" No. The middle ground is there, and it can be reasonable if we actually start to look for it. If we're too quick to jump to a conclusion and don't look for alternatives, we're going to miss it and wonder why things got so bad. But I have argued that, yes, this is the start of the lost of some of out personal rights.

In the end, that is why I oppose this tax more than anything else. Yes, I may be mad about the fact that I'm finally getting taxed for what I enjoy as opposed to the smokers and drinkers. Yes, I may complain about why I think it doesn't make any fiscal sense. And, yes, I may have spent a ton of time and energy just to get to this point. The bottom line is that this tax is, literally, just the beginning of them taxing away your rights and, even more importantly, your responsibility to keep yourself healthy and alive.

Why do I oppose this tax? Because I want to be treated like an adult!

The "Soda Tax" Myth 2: It Will Help Raise Money

Or, in another way, "Why the Soda Tax doesn't make fiscal sense."

This is going to be a long post, folks, so I'm diving it up into a few sections:

1. The Fiscal Argument for the Tax
2. The Key Problem with the Tax
3. Who's Hurt By the Tax Economically
4. The Social Cost of the Tax
5. What About Jobs?
   
6. How To Raise the Funds Without a New Tax

So, point one:

1. The Fiscal Argument for the Tax

When you look at the economic outlook for the City of Philadelphia... it's pretty grim. Millions of dollars are needed to keep the city afloat another year, and the deficit just seems to keep getting bigger. To make up the money, the city has floated around some really unpopular ideas: Taxing trash bags, taxing plastic bags, closing down libraries and pools... even threatening to shut down the court system in order to get more money from Harrisburg. Yet it never happened. With unions working without a contract and the problem only getting bigger, these new harsh economic times called for new thinking.

Sadly, it wasn't for the better.
The argument for the Sugary Drink Tax is not based on health. Let me be clear; this argument isn't about your health. While other states may have thought about doing this in order to help keep health care costs down and, in turn, add more money to health care, this has NOTHING to do wit that.

Instead, the tax would be seen as a way to make more money for the city.


2. The Key Problem with the Tax

The problem, though, is multi-pronged.

For starters, revenue from soda will go DOWN after the first year alone.

Let me explain: The reasoning behind a "Sin tax", which is a tax that is imposed on certain items because we've deemed them harmful, is to REDUCE consumption of an item. Let me repeat that: The idea of taxing soda in the first place is to reduce the actual consumption of the product. In turn, you guessed it, revenue goes down.

While some analysis think it could bring in $18 Million or so the first year, keep in mind its based on the idea that people would continue to consume soda at their present rate. Adding an extra 40 cents to a 20oz bottle really isn't going to help.

So, we've covered that the tax isn't to make you healthy, and that the tax revenue from taxing it don't make any economic sense. But who else is hurt?



3. Who's Hurt By the Tax Economically

Retailers, namely the small ones, will be hurt most by this tax. But also you.

Without going into the much detail, in a capitalistic society, the idea is that the market itself determines what people want. In essence, supply and demand. Over the past few years in terms of health, we've seen more demand for healthy food and healthy food alternatives, and the market has responded by creating more healthy choices. But we also understand that the government needs to help from time to time to make sure that businesses look out for us.
The Sugary Beverage Tax would be leveled against retailers first.

Here's how it works:

Retailers would have to pay an annual tax of $.02 per ounce based on what they sell during the year. In turn, this will do three things; either force retailers to cut back on the drinks, force them to raise prices on their soda, or force them to levy the fee to their customers by raising prices across the board on certain items. To be honest, I couldn't even guess which route would be taken by most.

But, lets assume that retailers put it across the board to lessen the blow across the board. In the end, nothing is being done to stop you from buying soda because, well, you're only seeing a minor price increase in soda itself.

It also means that if you don't drink any sugary drinks yourself, you are now a victim of this tax. If you are in favor of this tax, you may be taxing yourself in a new way without even realizing it.

Grocery bill will go up if this law is passed. If the tax is spread across the board, and it could, it means that food prices will go up for everyone. The casual soda drinker is still hurt as much as the habitual one.

Wouldn't it make more sense to offer an incentive to both retailers and citizens to cut back on soda instead of taxing them? Allowing retailers who either cut back on selling soda a tax incentive or even if they stopped entirely would be more effective than a tax!



4. The Social Cost of the Tax

Now we get the the toll this can, and most likely will, have on society in this city. IF this tax is levied, do not expect people to simply stop buying soda. As I mentioned yesterday, diet soda wouldn't be effected and thus presents a new set of problems. Businesses will lose money and many corner stores keeping neighborhoods alive may disappear since they would not be able to compete against the larger stores offering lower prices on basically one item that everyone wants that the smaller places couldn't.

On top of that, people will start to simply cross the county or state line in order to get a cheap soda instead, or maybe stock up.



5. What About Jobs?

We're also talking about jobs.

Some people scoff at the idea that Coke and Pepsi, who both have factories in Philadelphia employing hundreds, if not thousands, are in danger of losing their jobs. To a degree, they may be right. But, please, tell me this; If the city where you had a major plant started to pass laws exclusive to you and their area, wouldn't you think twice about having a factory there?

Is job lost feasible under this tax? Yes it is. Demand would be down in the city, but its likely that outside the city demand would grow thanks to people simply going across either the county or state line to grab as much cheap soda as possible. So while it is possible we could see job lost at these plants, I doubt we'll see them shut down.

But the local stores and operators will be hurt and we will see job loss there.



6. How To Raise the Funds Without a New Tax

So, we've seen that the tax isn't about your health but about making money. I've shown that the reasoning for the tax itself doesn't make economic sense and that the impact on your wallet is effected even if you don't drink soda since the tax could be applied to everything thanks to retailers. I've stated that I think we won't see Pepsi or Coke leave town, but jobs were still in trouble at small retailers thanks to the tax.

How do we make the money back?

It's insanely simple: First, we don't need new taxes. The idea of a tax is to raise revenue, and as I've pointed out, there is no reason this one would work.

Instead, we need to start enforcing laws. We can start with tax evaders.
The City of Philadelphia is projecting a $150 Million Dollar Deficit. The City of Philadelphia IS OWED $300 MILLION DOLLARS. So let me make this so easy, even Mayor Nutter can understand:
-$150 Million + $300 Million = $150 MILLION SURPLUS

Easy enough?

So, that solves our short-term problem... what about long terms problems? How do we keep crime down while making money? Again, another easy one based on simply enforcing the law.

Currently in Philadelphia, minor crimes, a.k.a. Nuisance Laws, are not enforced. These laws include jaywalking, spitting, and littering among other things. All of these offenses can also be ticketed, thus revenue thanks to fines. The idea of enforcing these "minor crimes" is that it reminds you that the police are there for a reason; to enforce the law. How many times have you seen someone break the law in front of a cop and the officer did nothing?

If people start to respect the people who are supposed to protect them, crime goes down. If crime goes down, you don't need to much police presence. The revenue from ticketing may go down, but you've also reduced costs as well.

To be honest, I could go on and on about this. I've written twice with ideas on solving this mess, and the ideas always seem to get ignored. With City Council and Mayor Nutter trying to get more funds, I hope they look toward this and start using these ideas.

Tomorrow, I'm going to explore the issue even more and discuss your health, personal responsibility, and what it all means to soda.

The "Soda Tax" Myth Part 1: It Will Make You Healthy

Today, I'm going to take the time to debunk the myth that the soda tax will make people healthier. Now, before I start, I want to say a few things: First off, I'm not with a beverage company, I'm not paid by one, nor am I getting free swag from this. Not only that, I also want to point out that I'm not dismissing the fact that soda isn't great for you, but it isn't inherently bad. It seems so many people want to make it an either/or debate, when really, it isn't. But more on that later.

Soda alone does not make a person fat. In fact, simply put, soda in moderation isn't bad at all. If you have a can of soda once every two days, you're not doing that much harm to your body. If you exercise, you're in even better shape. Every day, you see people eating fast food, buying junk food, and simply consuming what they can either get their hands on the easiest or they enjoy. If, in the end, they exercise, stay active, and balance it with healthy food, really, what's the problem?

The idea of "taxing soda" is that it reduces consumption. There's a few problems with that logic.

For starters, it only taxes soda made with sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup. You know what it doesn't tax? DIET Soda. So, the guy who wants to buy soda still can buy it without paying tax if he's willing to put something worse into his body.

Wait, what?

Point 1: DIET SODA IS BAD FOR YOU

For starters, Aspartame, the sweetener found in Nutra-Sweet, is commonly used in diet sodas. For me and others, it can actually trigger asthma attacks and other problems not related to caffeine consumption itself. Side-effects of it include dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss, and mood. The FDA has approved it, but it's only allowed in 90 countries out of over 150. In fact, it's 180 times sweeter than sugar. Neat, huh? So all the joy of sugar, but with much more painful side-effects. Throw in the fact that some people seem to ignore the fact that it is just as bad as soda itself, minus the calories, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster. The FDA has approved it, but it's only allowed in 90 countries out of over 150. Just to be clear, the stuff isn't going to kill you unless you drink a keg full of the stuff, and even then you just won't leave the toilet for a week.

Point 2: IT TAXES YOU FOR BEING CHEAP
Now, again, people keep referring to this thing as a "soda tax". The problem, though, is that it isn't a SODA tax; it's a SUGAR tax.

So, lets say you decide to not drink soda anymore because you hate the tax, so you go to the store to buy some juice. You have a choice between Mott's 100% Fruit Juice at $3.99 a gallon or a no-name brand for $2. You go up to the counter, pull out your $2... and then you're hit with a 2-cent per ounce tax! WHAT?!

Well, here's the problem: The juice you just bought has sugar in it. Yep, sugar! That means you would be required to pay an added tax on that juice to make you healthier. Your cost of living just rose thanks to this tax!

So the tax that was supposed to encourage people to make healthier choices may do just the opposite in some cases. Instead, they may buy bottled water which, in some cases, is actually pretty bad for you. It also makes it more expensive to make a healthy choice as well.


Point 3: IT TAXES YOU FOR BEING ACTIVE AND HEALTHY!

OK, lets just say you don't drink soda, and you only drink 100% natural juice. Awesome, and good for you! Personally, I couldn't do it, but still, good for you.

You've just hung out with your friends and played a great game of basketball, or maybe you just got done riding your bike around Fairmount Park, maybe even to work. You've worked hard, you're tired, and now you need to get some nutrients back in your body. So, just like most people, you go into the store and buy a Gateroade, Powerade, or maybe some other sort of sports drink.

BAM! 2 CENT AN OUNCE TAX!

Yes, your sports drink is now taxed thank to this law, so now there's a tax on being active and fit and not paying to drink bottled water. What? When was the last time you saw a water fountain in Philadelphia?

Point 4: TAXING THOSE WHO NEED IT

And now, the final group. Diabetics.

Now, this law, to those who want to point to the health benefits, is supposed to help stop people from getting diabetes, and to be honest, that's a great thing to try and stop. But, sadly, some people have it, and some people develop it at even a young age.

Thanks to this law, their little energy boost just got taxed.

In my life, I only knew of one person with the disease, and I want to state now that I don't know what type it was. I don't know if it was because they had low blood sugar, or if it was high. In the end, I knew they had the disease and it was a problem. Periodically while we were out, their blood sugar would get low and, being out of whatever it was that they may have had on them, we would go into the store and get a bottle of soda, or tea, or anything else with sugar in it to drink.

This tax will effect them as well.




I started by saying that we all want to paint soda in one way or another in this debate. There are people who so easily want, and do, compare it to smoking tobacco when, really, it's apples and oranges. There are also those who may go to far in their love of the drink to say it isn't bad at all. These people are also wrong.

Soda is fine.

We, as a society over the past 30 years, have taken the easy way out in these problems too many times. We seem to look to our government not to protect us, but to protect us from ourselves. This is one of the instances where we must start saying enough. This is when we need to start saying we need to be treated as adults, not children.

Soda isn't great for you. Personally, I drink about 20 - 32oz a day. Everyday. How and why can I do that, you ask? Because I can, and I know how much I can take. Everyone on this planet is different. What's right for you may not be right for me, and vice-versa. As Lemmy Kilmeister would tell you, "Anything that's good for me is fucking poison for a human being!" Actually, that one is true and no exaggeration, but you get my point.

I'm not trying to preach to everyone that soda is great, but I am saying that we need to start treating this just for what it is; a personal health matter.

Parents: Don't give your kid too much soda or sweets, it isn't good for them. A little treat now and then is fine, but not all the time. If you're an adult, just make sure you know how much you can handle and make sure you exercise properly.

In my humble opinion, if the City of Philadelphia cared about your health and that of everyone around, they would instead talk to Trojan and give out free condoms to the people in the city. Considering it's cheaper and easier to prevent STD's than it can be to treat it ($1 a condom if you're lucky)... yeah, lets focus on that and save a few more lives.

Metal Radio in Philadelphia: BACK WITH A F@$KING VENGEANCE!!!!

Thank you, thank you!

Mark Skull Pirate Radio has only been back on the air for a month, but what a month its been!!! After only 30 days, MSPR has done the following:

Nearly 600 Streams Launched!
Gone from 18th to 5th Highest EXTREME METAL STATION!
Rocketed from 6278 to 1666(!) in Overall Rankings!!
AND AN ASTOUNDING 751 TOTAL LISTENING HOURS!!!

WORLD DOMINATION, THY NAME IS MARK SKULL PIRATE RADIO!

So make sure you listen to the station, vote for songs, and bang your head like there's no tomorrow, because Mark Skull Pirate Radio, Philadelphia's Best and ONLY Metal and Punk Radio station, is BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!!!!

Most importantly, thanks to all the AWESOME listeners of the station as well! Without you, there is no Mark Skull Pirate Radio! It may sound odd, but the truth of the matter is, this station exists for YOU. Having this station is to get great metal music to the masses, and introducing people to new bands and sounds they may otherwise not hear. How many radio stations are daring to mix Metallica's "One" with Devin Townsend's "Namtase"?

To listen to Mark Skull Pirate Radio, all you need is a computer, an iPhone, or a Windows Mobile device (Yep, we're on the go!)! So come on! Turn on the station and have one hell of a good time! We're always on, and we're always looking for more people to enjoy the melodies!

Look for more new music as the days and weeks come by, and as always, send in your requests (and donations!!)! We have a few events coming up, so please make sure you listen closely! :D

South Philadelphia High School: How The NAACP Got Involved (For the Wrong Reason)

The NAACP.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons.

Periodically over they years, I've wondered why we need organizations like this. Not so much because I think racism is dead (I know its not, and I deal with it every single day from people you may not suspect), but because it seems there isn't a ton of need for them in this day and age. Sometimes I see why we need them, and I think to myself, "You know, for every time it seems they go after something stupid or dumb, they tend to get it right as well."

For the past few months, if not years, South Philadelphia High School has had a serious problem where Asian-American students have been getting bullied by black students simply because they're Asian. It's horrible, its disgusting, and the very fact that this level of racism still exists disgusts me! Hurting someone over the color of their skin? Where they come from? Who they are?! I'm simply appalled!

The problem has gotten so large, so intense, a group of Asian-American students marched to School District headquarters demanding action. Sadly, it still goes on to this day.



So when I heard the NAACP was going to take action, I was a little excited, and reminded why these organizations need to exist. The fact that one group of people was oppressing another, the fact that racism was an issue and that there was a serious problem that needed to be taken care of... I was proud.

And then I found out why. They were offended by this cartoon:

At first, I agreed with them. "Oh, they must be mad because the principal has been virtually asleep at the wheel about what's going on at her school. OK, that make sense. I mean, she's most likely is doing her best, but things have been pretty bad there for a while."

Not even close.

Mondesire, head of the city's NAACP, denounced the cartoon, called it disgusting and called on the School Reform Commission to condemn it.

"It is a lie. It is offensive. The Inquirer should be ashamed of what it did to Mrs. Brown," Mondesire said.

Source: NBC Philadelphia.

Which is really, really sad. Here they have a chance to advance colored people in Philadelphia, to come to the aid of people in need who are be discriminated against and having a tough time because of their skin color. Instead, they spend their time and effort saying that the cartoon is offensive and disgusting. This, from the same organization that wanted to have a pro-Michael Vick rally.

Is this why we have an NAACP in Philadelphia? To attack people who make valid points and arguments, and use satire to bring them to light? To defend ineffective people? To claim racism or take offense to things when you don't always agree with them?

To the Principal of South Philadelphia High School, I simply say this: If you find this cartoon so offensive, if you're so upset over it, prove him wrong. Show him, show us, but most importantly, show your STUDENTS wrong. Show them that you are doing something about this. Show them that you do care. Show them that hatred and racism in your school with NOT be tolerated! Expel students commiting hate crimes, report them to the police... do something to show you care.

Otherwise, madam, you are asleep at your desk, even if not literally.

Philadelphia New Sugary Drink Tax Would Add 2 CENTS AN OUNCE!

2 CENTS AN OUNCE?!

Those greedy bastards are at it again! The details of this stupid, unhealthy, non-beneficial, and ultimately harmful plan have come out.

They want to tax you 2 cents AN OUNCE to drink ANY sugary drink bought in Philadelphia.

The sound of 2 Cents an ounce may not seem like much at first, until you realize what it adds up to. A 12-0unce drink gets an added quarter, 1 20-ounce goes up an added 40 cents, a 2-liter bottle get's an added $1.36, and a 12-pack goes up $2.88! Throw in an added cost of basic sales tax, and things get worse!

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, if you don't drink soda, "Ha ha! Those losers who drink soda are going to have to pay through the nose!" Well, your wrong. This tax effects ALL SUGARY DRINKS.

So say "Hello" to a tax on Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Prune Juice, and ALL Fruit Juices! Oh, and sports drinks are also subject to this tax.

Let me see if I get this straight: The City of Philadelphia, trying to make people "healthy", has decided to impose a tax that would raise the cost of even healthy fruit alternatives so that the low income citizens of Philadelphia will be outraged and unable to afford them, thus meaning that if you want to drink ANYTHING in Philadelphia, your best bet is tap or bottled water. The odd thing being that bottled water IS harming not only Philadelphia's bottom line, but also the environment.

Soda has become a scapegoat in a war to TAX YOU as much as possible.

Folks, welcome to the modern day stamp tax!

Photo courtesy of NorCalLabs

FINAL WARNING: Kreator and Voivod At The Troc! March 4th! 7PM!

CHECK OUT THE POSTER OF DEVIANTART!!!!!!

If you're into metal at all, then I doubt I need to explain why this show is awesome. About a year ago, Kreator came to town and played The Troc with Exodus opening for them. That show was nothing short of amazing! This one? Well, let's just say Kreator is going to make this show even better than last year!

Voivod is sub-headlining this show, and I honestly can't remember the last time they played Philly! They haven't done a tour in 6 years, even including after the release of Katorz about 4 years ago.

KREATOR will be playing The Trocadero March 4th, 2010 at 7PM! They'll be playing with Voivod, Nachtmystium, Evile, and Lazarus A.D.

Check out these videos of both Kreator and Voivod! It should be one hell of a show!!!!

KREATOR:





VOIVOD:

How To Solve the Current Fiscal Problem in Philadelphia Without New Taxes or Fees!

Here we go again...

It was nearly a year ago when I posted the first time about how to solve the fiscal situation in Philadelphia, but has seemingly always been the case, no one really listened.

The ideas were simple: Start enforcing the law, go after Tax Evaders, raise only one tax to help raise cash in the long term, close down maybe one library that most likely isn't needed that much... oh, and instituting a bike license. Actually, that last one gained some ground, but by the same guy who now wants to tax my soda and wanted to impose a fee on plastic bags. Ever notice that laws and taxes designed to make things "better" always limit what little freedoms we enjoy?

Oh, and I proposed legalizing same-sex marriage to help with the budget more times than I can count.

So, how do we fix it this time? What, exactly, is the "magic pill" this time?

1. STOP THE ABATEMENT PROGRAMS!

"Wait, isn't that why Philadelphia gained so many residents over the past few years and caused a rebirth in Northern Liberties in Fishtown?" Yes, it is. Now it needs to stop.

For those not familiar with what an abatement is, its basically the city of Philadelphia saying you don't need to pay taxes on the home you just bought. This abatement is supposed to go on for 10-years. Mind you, during the time we've had this program, despite more and more residents coming to town, tax revenue has gone down and now the city is going broke.

I think you can see where I'm going with this.

2. RAISE PROPERTY TAXES (On Out-of-Towners)

Well, here we go, another really fierce-sounding idea, but one that needs to happen. Why?

At the corner of Juniper and Chestnut, above the Valu-City store, is one of the most beautiful examples of architecture in Philadelphia. The facade of this building has deteriorated over the years thanks in large part to the owner who refuses to do any basic upkeep on the property over the store. Why? Because he is simply squatting on the property, waiting to sell it.

The owner lives in New York City.

When it comes to property owned by people who don't live in Philadelphia who let their property crumble either because they simply don't care enough to take care of it or because they refuse to keep it in a decent condition, we need to start doing something! I'm not saying Philadelphia should only for Philadelphian's, but I am saying that charging those who let their property decay a extra fee of 25% - 50% of their real estate taxes is what we need to do to either get them to fix up their property or sell it to someone who will.

3. REFORM THE WAY PROPERTY TAXES ARE DONE

When it comes to the issue of gentrification in Philadelphia, people constantly yell about property taxes going up. One problem; that hasn't really happened at all over the past 5+ years in most of the city.

For the most part, the only real part of Philadelphia over the past 10 years I've seen where people who had lived and done business for forever and a day was South Street, and literally ONLY that street, although the effects were felt on a few other places about 1/4th of a block surrounding it.

Philadelphia Forward does a better job of explaining it than I can in a short post, but basically the way taxes are done now, it should be about 8% of the value of a property, but in certain cases its as much as 34%, and its all done on rough estimates. Again, this is a gross over-simplification on my part, but that's a general idea of what we're looking at here.

Apply the same rate to everyone in Philadelphia (Which is basically what the current law is) and start making sure houses are assessed to their real value.

4. OK, ONE NEW TAX: BOTTLED WATER

OK, this one is more of a vanity idea for me, but hear me out: The plan now is to tax soda because the city of Philadelphia needs the money. But what about bottled water? Bottled Water, in essence, is actually one way the City of Philadelphia is losing money every year. How many people refuse to drink Philadelphia Tap Water and, instead, rather drink bottled water? Considering the fact tap water is "virtually free", and you have people electing to drink bottled water, doesn't it make more sense to tax that instead of soda?

5. LEGALIZE IT!

I'll say it: We need to legalize two things in this city, and that's Same-Sex Marriage and, yes, Marijuana. I want to state now that I'm not a big fan of the second one, but it really makes sense.

As I've stated time and time again, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE MAKES A TON OF CASH! Most states have passed laws allowing it, and the occasional city has legalized it anyway. And marijuana? Not a fan, but considering the fact it's easy to tax, would reduce crime, and generate revenue in various ways (more 24/7 convenience stores, anyone?), tourist dollars, and more people moving here because of the easy access.

And if you're morally opposed to that, remember: Jesus wasn't a big fan of gambling, but this Quaker-based state already approved that. ;)

6. STOP THAT IDIOTIC DROP PROGRAM!

Remember in 2007 when Joan L. Krajewski decided to retire for one full day? In return, she got nearly $300,000!

You would assume that with the city in such financial straights right now that the other people in City Council would, instead, save the tax payers money and not use the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) program and vote to have it removed.

You would be wrong.

Six city council members have opted into the program – and city officials say combined, they stand to collect more than $2 million when their terms end in two years.

Council president Anna Verna stands to collect the largest sum: $571,679. Marian Tasco will take home $467,566. Payouts for Frank DiCicco, Jack Kelly, Donna Reed Miller and Frank Rizzo range from $189,000 to $392,000.

Source- CBS 3

Notice any interesting names on that list?

Throw in the fact that the cities unions are STILL without a contract, largely because they can't get anything for their pensions, and that $2 Million that these 6 little piggies look even greedier.

So, there you have it! 6 ways to save the city a ton of money, and make a ton as well. I plan on these ideas being ignored, just like always, and wonder why no one listens to common sense.

City of Philadelphia Propsing Taxes on Trash and Soda

In yet another desperate grab for cash, the City of Philadelphia is reportedly floating around 2 ideas: Taxing you to have your trash collected and taxing sugary drinks. Both are stupid, idiotic, horrible ideas. Lets find out why:

1. The Trash Tax Will Fail

It's actually pretty simple: Philadelphia has been, over the years, become a city of haves and have-nots. The haves are able to get by day-to-day and not worry about losing everything without missing a paycheck. The have-nots are barely getting by, and one missed paycheck means the end of their world.

Now throw in a fee for a basic city service.

The idea of a fee for garbage collection city-wide has been tossed around before and shot down for the same reason, especially since it was based on the idea of paying BY THE BAG. The idea never made it pass the drawing board.

2. The Soda Tax = Tax on Fun

As you may now, over the past few months, there's been a massive movement towards comparing soda to cigarettes and tobacco products. Now, other than the fact that its a bad argument, the reasoning tends to be that people drink too much of it and that its bad for you. Here's the problem with that argument: It basically states that people don't have any common sense, thus the government needs to swoop in and stop you.

Lets get something straight: The idea of taxing soda is not to help with you health, its to raise cash, and nothing more.

Not only that, but when it has been discussed in the past, it was always agreed a portion of the money would go towards health care costs. In this case, the only public health talk has been towards using propaganda to make it seem like the tax is for the public health when, in reality, its just to raise more money for the city.

Also, this is yet another tax on the poor.

Many argue that those in poor areas need to stop drinking soda the most and, in turn, need to drink more water. These people are basically saying there needs to be a tax on soda because they don't really deserve soda.

In my case, I don't have any real vices. I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, and save caffeine, I'm almost "straight edge". My vice, my lone pleasure in life? Soda.

More than anything, this tax says that adults shouldn't be treated like adults. We have a perfectly legal thing, something we all enjoy, but because a few of us have taken it and gone too far, it must be taxed?! It starts with soda, but what next? Candy? Snacks?

Does the fact that fast food is already taxed stop people from eating it so much?

These ideas and taxes must, and hopefully will, fail. Instead of fixing the way real estate taxes are done in the city, going after the biggest tax cheats in the city, or cracking down on people who owe the city thousands, if not MILLIONS, of dollars, we instead get stupid ideas for taxing people down to the bone!

If this is given serious motives, I wouldn't doubt seeing a few Soda Parties in this city.