From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V9 #373 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Tuesday, December 19 2000 Volume 09 : Number 373 Today's Subjects: ----------------- my xmas favorites [HSatterfld@aol.com] Re: that was the year that was... [GSS ] Re: Business as fuckin' usual [The Great Quail ] Hours of distraction: ["Thomas, Ferris" ] Re: that was the year that was... [Christopher Gross ] Re: Business as fuckin' usual [Viv Lyon ] Re: Business as fuckin' usual [Terrence Marks ] Re: that was the year that was... [Michael R Godwin ] RE: REAP (Kirsty MacColl) [Cynthia Peterson ] Re: that was the year that was... [Viv Lyon ] Re: REAP (Kirsty MacColl) [Marcy Tanter ] Re: Business as fuckin' usual [GSS ] Re: REAP (Kirsty MacColl) [Eb ] Re: Business as fuckin' usual [Aaron Mandel ] beezarre Quail hype! [Eb ] blimey! ["jbranscombe@compuserve.com" ] Re: blimey! [Viv Lyon ] SonicNet coverage [Eb ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 07:28:50 EST From: HSatterfld@aol.com Subject: my xmas favorites Songs that I like that have not been mentioned here: Morphine's "Sexy Christmas Baby Mine", a vinyl-only B-side Diana Krall's out-of-print Christmas EP Dido's song from the new "Platinum Christmas" compilation, although it has very little to do with Christmas and finishing with "Burn Down the Malls" by Mojo Nixon/Skid Roper (or possibly "Transylvanian Xmas" if you prefer your Mojo Nixon songs without vocals) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 07:50:55 -0500 (CDT) From: GSS Subject: Re: that was the year that was... On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, Michael R Godwin wrote: > PS Aren't there a couple of States which split their electoral college > votes proportionately? Why not extend that system? Nebraska and Maine both split their votes, I believe. gss ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 09:45:27 -0500 From: The Great Quail Subject: Re: Business as fuckin' usual >I wish I shared your optimism, Viv, I really do,. I read over here that >there was a poll in America that 75% of the population accepted the >legitimacy of the election result. Huh? Where the fuck have you been you >morons?!? This will be my only political post regarding the election. I do think Gore should be president. Having heard all the explanations for the electoral process, I still think the popular vote is more important. Whether or not the Electoral Collge is abolished (unlikely), I only hope we can use this as a starting point for fixing some of the flaws in our system. I also think that the Republicans did every thing they could, in the meanest, lowest spirit possible, to hold on to this election -- which is only natural. (Natural, but not civilized.) But if the election was stolen, it was stolen *legally.* Within the system. So believe it or not, as much as it turns my stomach, I accept the *legitimacy* of the election result. Of course the Supreme Court divided along partisan lines. Of course there should have been a re-vote, or something, because EVERYONE knows that the votes in Palm Beach were just out of whack. But the problem is, though none of this seems fair, it was in fact legal, and the Democrats have to share some of this responsibility -- for instance, they *did* approve the Butterfly Ballot. I think it would be stunning, magnificent, almost unprecedented, if the Republicans would have conceded to Gore's desires and examined the Florida situation in a non-partisan, logical, rational light. But they took the opportunity to show their worst side -- mean, hateful, smug, gloating, accusatory, and always ready to cynically wave the flag in the name of self interest. Of course, if the results would have been reversed, if Bush would have won the popular vote, and Gore were clinging to the electoral vote by a hair, I would probably suddenly find those Palm Beach voters mere befuddled idiots who should have known better, and I would certainly think that Bush were just a sore loser. I would only hope I would be reasonable and non-gloaty, and I would allow a fair recount, but probably I would support everything legally possible to stop it. So was the election stolen? I don't know. It certainly wasn't as blatant as when Kennedy/Daley stole it from Nixon in 1960. It is certainly obvious that the election is being wrested away, but legally. I guess I pretty much agree with Eddie and his photo-finish analogy -- we had 200 years to change it, and we didn't. (I am also more concerned with the Jim Crow stuff than the other "corruption.") The problem is, of course, that the system is created and maintained by humans which are part of the system.Lamentable as it is, I do not believe that this election places us on the same level as some dictatorship guarding the ballot boxes with assault rifles or anything. I also don't think it really gives a good reason for people like jmbc to call three-thirds of the US population "morons," which I actually find a bit offensive. But American-bashing is the world's most popular sport, so who am I to deprive anyone of their fun? But in all honestly, I think we should have asked the UN to help, sending in a small investigative committee and offering an Official Bit of Advice on What to Do in the Name of Fairness. After all, even the Supreme Court are just partial, biased, compromised humans part of the system in question. But of course, the US is far too proud and arrogant to ever do something like that, and to be honest, the UN has its own interests, too. (Usually, um, *ours.*) And finally, I don't want to kick over the can of bees again, but I feel somewhat uncomfortable about the Naderites who are suddenly protesting about the election results. I'm sorry Mr. Michael Moore and company, when we needed your help on November 7th, you were too busy throwing away the most effective lever of power you were permitted to exercise against a Bush Presidency. As Americans, you of course have the right to protest at the inauguration. Just don't expect a lot of good natured feelings from the Democrats you were so intent on demonizing and alienating. Well, welcome to the Bush Years, Part II -- "The Revenge of Quayle." It really has brought out the worst in the three largest parties, hasn't it? The Democrats paraded their stupidity, the Greens their selfishness, and the Republicans their meanness. At least it will be a good four years for Letterman, Leno, and SNL. Mike Godwin, >PS Aren't there a couple of States which split their electoral college >votes proportionately? Why not extend that system? If they'd all do that, we might as well just go for the popular vote thing, which makes you think, doesn't it...? Eddie says, >what i might do on inauguration day is go down and show my bare ass >to the protestors. but that'd be about it. That might be reason enough to attend, and also makes me assume that the airfare Viv was getting together was for Washington DC. Anything for an Eddie Ass Sighting! (Did the X-Files ever cover that one?) Just my opinions as an American Democrat, - --Q ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 10:14:30 -0500 From: "Thomas, Ferris" Subject: Hours of distraction: http://www.engrish.com/ ______________________________________ Ferris Scott Thomas programmer McGraw-Hill Education 860.409.2612 ferris_thomas@mcgraw-hill.com (email) "We keep you alive to serve this ship, so row well... and live" - Ben Hur ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 10:39:28 -0500 (EST) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Re: that was the year that was... On Mon, 18 Dec 2000, steve wrote: > It's not doable. The pissant little states will never give up their > favored status. All Things Considered ran the numbers today, and the only > way to keep the electoral college and fix the system is to eliminate the > 2 "senatorial" votes from each state, thus allocating electoral votes > strictly by population. I'd like to see it, but it won't fly. That's my preferred solution too, but I'd add that each electoral vote should be allocated independently, rather than have a winner-take-all vote in each state. Since each state would have as many electors as Congressmen, we could just make each Congressional district serve as an electoral district as well, and require each electoral vote to go to the candidate who won the most in that district. And while it *probably* won't happen, I think it's worth a try. It would be interesting to hear the small-state politicians try to defend the current system -- their only possible argument would be "We must defend our unfair advantage," which would sound kinda bad. On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, The Great Quail wrote: > So was the election stolen? I don't know. It certainly wasn't as > blatant as when Kennedy/Daley stole it from Nixon in 1960. Always alleged, never proven. That is, some fraud seems to have occurred in Illinois (dunno about Texas), but no one has ever proved that it was enough to swing the state. A recent article on this question: > Lamentable as it is, I do not > believe that this election places us on the same level as some > dictatorship guarding the ballot boxes with assault rifles or > anything. Good point. However, we're paying the inevitable price of years of self-righteousness and scolding other countries: the moment we show any problems of our own, everyone who's been irritated by our scolding gleefully seizes the chance to turn the tables. It's just village gossip writ large. (I especially liked Castro's comments. What does the bearded one know about multiparty elections, anyway? When's the last time his government permitted one?) BTW, here's a question for you furriners: Do parliamentary-style countries like Canada and the UK hold local elections at the same time as national elections? I suspect that one reason American vote-counting takes so long is that we have to count so many elections on the same day: a single voter might have to vote for president, Senate, House of Representatives, a slew of state and local offices ranging from governor to school board, and a handful of referenda on top of it all. Maybe if there was only one vote on each ballot, we could dump the machines, count everything by hand and still have a result in time for the 11 O'Clock News. - --Chris ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 10:53:54 EST From: BLATZMAN@aol.com Subject: Crouching Tiger Crouching Tiger... is the only movie left that I want to see this year. I think Ang Lee is pretty fantastic. And Action Film fans should check out John Woo's MASTERPIECE Hard Boiled. You'll see why John Woo really is the king of Action Films Crouching Tiger expands to 150 theaters next Friday, so look for it! It's not in Phoenix yet, but it's supposed to be here friday... << Do the math... "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is showing in 31 theatres and made $1,100,000 last weekend. "Dungeons & Dragons" is in 2078 theatres and grossed $2,225,000. In theory, if Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were playing in as many theaters as Dungeons & Dragons it would have made $73,735,483 last weekend. >> Sorry, but your theory is incomplete and doesn't take supply and demand into consideration. Crouching Tiger is on so few screens, and the demand is so high, it's easy to fill a few screens to full capacity. Not to mention that a foreign language film with a wide release in the US would never hold those numbers. The real info that you can get is that D&D dropped something like 66% in it's 2nd week, which is totally the kiss of death. You'll see it yanked from most of it's theaters in it's 3rd week of release. Blatzy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 11:31:00 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: REAP (Kirsty MacColl) I admit I'd have no idea who she was if she hadn't done that Pogues song, but in doing so she made more of an impression on me than most of the people I've barely heard of. So. - -- begin fwd -- Singer Kirsty MacColl has died aged 41, her record company V2 has said. She is believed to have been killed in an accident on a diving holiday in Mexico. Unconfirmed reports say she was hit by a speedboat while swimming. A spokesman for V2 said a statement would be issued later on Tuesday afternoon. The daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl, she is best known for her 1987 Christmas hit with The Pogues, Fairytale of New York, and the hit single There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis. Her other hits include a cover of Billy Bragg's song A New England, and a version of The Kinks' track Days. She also sang backing vocals for acts including Talking Heads, Simple Minds and Robert Plant. Her last album, Tropical Brainstorm, was a tribute to Cuban music, which had influenced her throughout the 1990s. On Wednesday, BBC Radio 2 was due to begin broadcasting a documentary series she had made about Cuban music. A spokeswoman for the station said no decision had been made about whether the series should still go out as planned. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 08:38:22 -0800 (PST) From: Viv Lyon Subject: Re: Business as fuckin' usual On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, The Great Quail wrote: re: the Bush coup's legality Well, Quail, there's the letter of the law, and there's the spirit of the law. The letter of the law was just barely followed, and the spirit of the law was pissed on. > And finally, I don't want to kick over the can of bees again, but I > feel somewhat uncomfortable about the Naderites who are suddenly > protesting about the election results. HUH???!! > I'm sorry Mr. Michael Moore and company, when we needed your help on > November 7th, you were too busy throwing away the most effective > lever of power you were permitted to exercise against a Bush > Presidency. As Americans, you of course have the right to protest at > the inauguration. Just don't expect a lot of good natured feelings > from the Democrats you were so intent on demonizing and alienating. It doesn't have anything to do with supporting Gore! We have to demand fair elections, otherwise we may as well give up on electoral politics! It sounds like Eddie has, but I'm not ready to, yet. > Well, welcome to the Bush Years, Part II -- "The Revenge of Quayle." > It really has brought out the worst in the three largest parties, > hasn't it? The Democrats paraded their stupidity, the Greens their > selfishness, and the Republicans their meanness. At least it will be > a good four years for Letterman, Leno, and SNL. Yeah, how selfish to vote for the candidate you thought best fr the job. Allow me to say that I really don't think Bush is going to be worse for the country than Gore would have been. In that respect I'm perfectly fine with the election results. Especially now that there is such a shadow cast on Bush's legitimacy! He won't get anything done! Even the Republicans are edging away from him. Believe me, all this talk about bipartisanism with the Dems will last about two weeks. > >what i might do on inauguration day is go down and show my bare ass > >to the protestors. but that'd be about it. > > That might be reason enough to attend, and also makes me assume that > the airfare Viv was getting together was for Washington DC. Anything > for an Eddie Ass Sighting! (Did the X-Files ever cover that one?) Yah, for DC. And I won't deny that the prospect of seeing Eddie's ass is at least a major reason for making the trip. Wait a second, if I want to see Eddie's ass, all I have to do is rent a car, drive three hours north, and pants him. Hm. Vivien ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 12:14:24 -0500 (EST) From: Terrence Marks Subject: Re: Business as fuckin' usual On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, The Great Quail wrote: > So was the election stolen? I don't know. It certainly wasn't as > blatant as when Kennedy/Daley stole it from Nixon in 1960. Way I heard it, Nixon lost fair and square. The reason they didn't press hard for a recount in Illinois was that the Chicago vote fraud was balanced out by Republican vote fraud in rural areas, and that Texas was overwhelmingly Dem anyhow. (and the reason we use machine counts instead of by hand is that we Americans vote for about twenty things at a time, which makes hand counting prohibitively complex as a first count) Terrence Marks Unlike Minerva (a comic strip) http://www.unlikeminerva.com HCF (another comic strip) http://www.mpog.com/hcf normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 18:01:14 +0000 (GMT) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: that was the year that was... > > Lamentable as it is, I do not > > believe that this election places us on the same level as some > > dictatorship guarding the ballot boxes with assault rifles or > > anything. On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, Christopher Gross wrote: > Good point. However, we're paying the inevitable price of years of > self-righteousness and scolding other countries: the moment we show any > problems of our own, everyone who's been irritated by our scolding > gleefully seizes the chance to turn the tables. Well, we have been hearing stories over here about black voters being turned away from the FLA polling stations. If that really happened, it's what I would call electoral fraud. But did it happen? > BTW, here's a question for you furriners: Do parliamentary-style countries > like Canada and the UK hold local elections at the same time as national > elections? Not in the UK. Local elections are held at regular intervals. Some local authorities elect everybody every three years; others elect one-third of councillors every year. Parliamentary elections (are you listening, this is crucial?) are held when the Prime Minister feels like holding them - any day of the year. The only restriction is that the election has to be within 5 years of the last one. This of course is a massive advantage to the government, as they can go early when (as at present) they have a big majority in the polls; or they can hold off until the last minute and hope something turns up. > I suspect that one reason American vote-counting takes so long > is that we have to count so many elections on the same day: a single voter > might have to vote for president, Senate, House of Representatives, a slew > of state and local offices ranging from governor to school board, and a > handful of referenda on top of it all. The whole of the legal and school system in the UK runs on non-elected officials who "emerge" through some totally undemocratic process. School governors and magistrates are chosen by the political parties, I believe. Senior judges and bishops are just appointed by the government. The result is that the system is very old-fashioned and biased towards ageing prosperous white males. We really ought to change ... - - Mike Godwin n.p. "Tallahassee Lassie" Fleetwood Mac live at the BBC ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 10:09:58 -0800 From: Cynthia Peterson Subject: RE: REAP (Kirsty MacColl) This is truly horrible. And to think we were just talking of strange and wonderful Christmas songs by off-the-wall performers. Fairytale of New York should definitely head the list, even thought it's sad and depressing as hell. Kirsty's first album, Kite, is highly recommended, for those not familiar with her work. Sadly, I don't even have it on CD, but think I'll try to find it now, right along with the Pogues' If I Should Fall From Grace with God. Cynthia - -----Original Message----- From: Aaron Mandel [mailto:aaron@eecs.harvard.edu] Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 8:31 AM To: Fegmaniax List Subject: REAP (Kirsty MacColl) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 10:20:13 -0800 (PST) From: Viv Lyon Subject: Re: that was the year that was... On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, Michael R Godwin wrote: > Well, we have been hearing stories over here about black voters being > turned away from the FLA polling stations. If that really happened, it's > what I would call electoral fraud. But did it happen? Yes, it really happened. This is from Znet: "A Racist Elephant" by Laura Flanders "Many Floridians who found themselves "scrubbed" off the voting rolls weren't purged accidentally, reports Gregory Palast for Salon.com. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris paid a private firm, ChoicePoint, $4 million to "cleanse" the voting rolls, and the firm used the state's felon-ban, to exclude eight thousand voters who had never committed a felony. ChoicePoint is a Republican outfit. Board members include former New York Police commissioner Howard Safir and billionaire Ken Langone, chair of the fundraising committee for Mayor Giuliani's aborted New York Senate bid. The erroneous data wasn't their doing, ChoicePoint complains, the names came, raw, from the state of Texas. They were supposed to be reviewed locally, but they were distributed un-reviewed. African Americans dominate. (The 8,000 wrong names were "a minor glitch" ChoicePoint told Palast; a glitch fifteen times the size of the Texas Governor's lead.)" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 12:35:29 -0500 From: Marcy Tanter Subject: Re: REAP (Kirsty MacColl) I am so sad. She was so gifted, a really great singer and she had a really wonderful understanding of music. What a terribly, sad way to end. Tearfully, Marcy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 13:44:30 -0500 (CDT) From: GSS Subject: Re: Business as fuckin' usual On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, The Great Quail wrote: > I do think Gore should be president. Having heard all the > explanations for the electoral process, I still think the popular > vote is more important. Whether or not the Electoral Collge is > abolished (unlikely), I only hope we can use this as a starting point > for fixing some of the flaws in our system. We should eliminate the electoral college or at least hope the states start splitting the votes like Maine and Nebraska. > I also think that the Republicans did every thing they could, in the > meanest, lowest spirit possible, to hold on to this election -- which > is only natural. (Natural, but not civilized.) You can change the hat but the head remains. > I think it would be stunning, magnificent, almost unprecedented, if > the Republicans would have conceded to Gore's desires and examined > the Florida situation in a non-partisan, logical, rational light. But > they took the opportunity to show their worst side -- mean, hateful, > smug, gloating, accusatory, and always ready to cynically wave the > flag in the name of self interest. The Democrats should have requested a recount of disputed ballots in all of the counties initially, not just the ones they saw as most likely favoring them. I prayed, to something, that this would happen and then the outcome would have been fair and unquestionable, but of course this did not happen. You can change the hat but.... > Of course, if the results would have been reversed, if Bush would > have won the popular vote, and Gore were clinging to the electoral > vote by a hair, I would probably suddenly find those Palm Beach > voters mere befuddled idiots who should have known better, and I > would certainly think that Bush were just a sore loser. I would only > hope I would be reasonable and non-gloaty, and I would allow a fair > recount, but probably I would support everything legally possible to > stop it. Each side sees it from a perspective that differs by exactly 180 degrees. > believe that this election places us on the same level as some > dictatorship guarding the ballot boxes with assault rifles or > anything. I also don't think it really gives a good reason for people > like jmbc to call three-thirds of the US population "morons," which I > actually find a bit offensive. But American-bashing is the world's > most popular sport, so who am I to deprive anyone of their fun? Just remember where he is from and the neat, fair, up to date, un-biased, systems they use. gss ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 11:52:10 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: REAP (Kirsty MacColl) >Singer Kirsty MacColl has died aged 41, her record company V2 has said. WHOA! This definitely throws me. I interviewed her at IRS headquarters, around 1993...she was a tough interview (got offended at any question with the slightest relation to her private life), but jeez, whatta voice. Electric Landlady would rank among my most underrated albums of the '90s, and Kite was very good, too. And I keep hoping Tropical Brainstorm will get released domestically, so us Yanks won't have to pay import prices.... And what a horrible, stupid way to die. :( Eb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 14:52:26 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Business as fuckin' usual On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, The Great Quail wrote: > But the problem is, though none of this seems fair, it was in fact > legal, and the Democrats have to share some of this responsibility -- > for instance, they *did* approve the Butterfly Ballot. oh, not this garbage again. the Democrats did not approve the Butterfly Ballot -- i mean, did you? did any Democrat on the list? did any Democratic organization do so? no, it was just one Democrat, who fucked up. the fact that she fucked up in a way which might not have been in her own interest does not change the fact that she also disenfranchised a lot of people who had nothing to do with designing the ballot. > I'm sorry Mr. Michael Moore and company, when we needed your help on > November 7th, you were too busy throwing away the most effective lever > of power you were permitted to exercise against a Bush Presidency. more of the same! "if you aren't with us, you're against us." "well actually, the whole idea of a third party is that --" "SHUT UP! I HATE YOU! STOP VOTING!" the few Bush voters i know who are outraged over Floridians being deprived of voting rights have been welcomed with open arms by the protest movement, even though they contributed far more to a Bush presidency than Nader voters did. since you emphasize the important of acknowledging that our current situation is sleazy but legal, i will point out that one can believe in the laws that govern our election system without endorsing the current political establishment. frankly, your line of argument is weird. normally, one might expect to run into people saying "you're the one who was running riot in the streets; you've lost your right to be part of working on change within the system." i don't necessarily agree with that thinking, but it does make a sort of sense. you, on the other hand, are saying "you're the one who tried to work for change within the system; you've lost your right to try and preserve the system's integrity." how does that work? there haven't been any accusations about Nader backers committing election fraud, and yet they have less credibility than either Gore voters or Bush voters on the issue of clean elections? a ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 12:03:09 -0700 From: Eb Subject: beezarre Quail hype! http://www.adult11.com/links/p/peter_gallagher_naked.shtml If anyone can figure out what this has to do with Quail's website and LJ, you tell me. ;) Some strange gene-splice of Quail's love for Peter Greenaway with LJ's well-known love-child fantasy? Eb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 15:25:34 -0500 From: "jbranscombe@compuserve.com" Subject: blimey! Quail sed >I also don't think it really gives a good reason for people >like jmbc to call three-thirds of the US population "morons," which I >actually find a bit offensive. But American-bashing is the world's >most popular sport, so who am I to deprive anyone of their fun? Ah yes, I remember, you were the one who actually wrote 'this great country of ours...' with apparently no ironic intent recently! But the first quote above does seem rather a grim little bit of over-reaction. Lighten up, if I may essay a little local argot. I take it 'three-thirds' is a joke...Wouldn't it be ironic if I missed that irony ;-) Viv - You never mentioned that the protests at George 'Legitimate Because Quail Says He Is' Bush would be 'violent' in your first post, only 'massive' - I was taking issue with that second adjective. jmbc Must stop taunting the most powerful nation in the world Must stop taunting the most powerful nation in the world Must stop taunting the most powerful nation in the world ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 12:39:51 -0800 (PST) From: Viv Lyon Subject: Re: blimey! On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, jbranscombe@compuserve.com wrote: > Viv - > > You never mentioned that the protests at George 'Legitimate Because Quail > Says He Is' Bush would be 'violent' in your first post, only 'massive' - I > was taking issue with that second adjective. Ah. Well, I guess, after the past year and half, I'm starting to naturally equate "massive protest" with "violent protest," given that neither the media nor the police can imagine that a protest could be both large and peaceful. Whoops. I would predict that there are going to be at least 20,000 protestors out there on Jan 20, but then every single prediction I've issued thus far has gone awry, afoul, and askew. In that order. Vivien ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 12:42:57 -0700 From: Eb Subject: SonicNet coverage UPDATE: Kirsty MacColl Killed In Boating Accident British pop singer, 41, struck by speedboat while swimming, label says. Corey Moss reports: British pop singer Kirsty MacColl, who collaborated with musicians including the Pogues, the Rolling Stones and the Smiths in a two-decade career, was killed in a boating accident Monday afternoon, according to a spokesperson for the artist. MacColl, 41, was on vacation in Cozumel, Mexico, swimming with her two children when a speedboat allegedly traveling in an illegal area struck her. MacColl's children were not hurt in the accident. "We are absolutely distraught," Kevin Nixon, MacColl's manager of four years, said in a statement. "I was personally, immensely proud to be her manager after being a fan for so many years before that." Producer Steve Lillywhite, MacColl's former husband and father of her children, is flying to Mexico on Tuesday (December 19) to be with the children, MacColl's spokesperson said. In addition to working with U2, the Dave Matthews Band and Peter Gabriel, Lillywhite had produced two of MacColl's albums. MacColl released her latest album, Tropical Brainstorm, earlier this year. Her debut single, "They Don't Know," released on Stiff Records in 1979, failed to chart in the United States or England, but Tracey Ullman's cover version was a huge hit in both countries in 1984. MacColl later scored her own successful U.K. singles with "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" in 1981 and a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England" in 1985. MacColl, daughter of folksinger Ewan MacColl, sang on albums by the Rolling Stones, the Smiths, Simple Minds, Big Country, Talking Heads, Happy Mondays and others. Among her most famous collaborations are her duets with Shane MacGowan on the Pogues' alt-rock Christmas perennial, "Fairytale of New York," with Morrissey on his "Interesting Drug" single, and with Bragg on his "Sexuality." "Fairytale of New York" was remade this year by former Boyzone singer Ronan Keating. ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V9 #373 *******************************