Synthesis supporter (via advertising) and presidential candidate John McCain may not be eligible for the office he’s running for. At least that’s what some people have been chirping about on the Internet. According to an article posted by Francis Steffan at AmericanVoice.net, McCain’s candidacy may be voided by the rules of the Constitution. Steffan writes:

John McCain was born August 29, 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, to two U.S. citizens. It’s a common misunderstanding that the zone was a U.S. territory - in fact, the U.S. had lease rights, but not territorial rights.

According to Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

A “natural born Citizen” is later defined in Section 1 of the XIV Amendment.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This shouldn’t be much of a problem for McCain or his supporters, though. If Bush’s presidency has proved anything, it’s that what’s written in the Constitution is of little concern nowadays. But fuck it, I was voting Obama anyway.

Punk rock legends the Bad Brains are due for their first taste of MTV. Starting today, MTV will premier their newest series, “52/52,” which will showcase one unsigned or indie band a week for the next year straight. Each group is entitled to 11 hours of commercial free broadcast over the course of the given week, and New York’s own Bad Brains will get things rolling. With the critical acclaim of Bad Brains’ 2007 release–Adam Yauch produced Build A Nation–the group will be debuting a dual video for “Give Thanks And Praises” and “Jah Love.”

Build A Nation is a return to greatness for one of the all-time punk rock heavyweights, and I am certainly glad that Bad Brains is getting the chance to expose their music to a wider audience. But at the same time, I for one am very interested and skeptical in seeing what real chances MTV is willing to take with the 52/52 series. Because let’s face it, the Bad Brains fucking kick ass no matter how you slice it, and whether or not they make their mark on MTV means little to nothing in the scope of their legacy. But what about these other unsigned/indie bands? Will MTV step up to the plate and for once and provide programming relevant to the name of their station, “Music Television”? I will believe it when I see it. For now, long live Bad Brains.

I’m a terrible dancer. My brain and body operate on two different wavelengths, but as I get older, I’m growing less and less likely to give a fuck. If you get a few Jameson on the rocks in me, I’m ready to go. And you’d better be wearing a cup.

It must be a sight to behold, and not in a good way. So I have to apologize to my coworkers if they’ve seen me chair bopping like a demoniacally possessed weeble-wobble lately. Good Shoes latest album Think Before You Speak holds frightening power over my groove thang.

Hailing from the South East UK, Good Shoes is a four-piece that plays criminally addictive pop/new wave. The album is due out in the States on March 18th from Brille records. Here’s a little snippet from the press release:

Formed in 2005, the last two years have been an absolute whirlwind for the four twenty-something lads of Good Shoes – singer/guitarist Rhys Jones, guitarist Steve Leach, drummer Tom Jones and bassist Joel Cox. After releasing two limited edition singles which sold out in a matter of days, Good Shoes took to the road in the UK, amassing a rabid fanbase in the wake of their frenzied live shows. Soon after, they ran off to Sweden to record Think Before You Speak with Tore Johansson & Per Sunding (Franz Ferdinand, The Cardigans, New Order). The record was released in the UK to widespread critical acclaim, resulting in a No. 1 single on the UK Indie Chart and subsequent tours with the likes of Maximo Park, Kaiser Chiefs and more, in addition to festival appearances at Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds. Reveling in the work of their contemporaries instead of the punk legends of yore (aspects of the Good Shoes sound remind us of mid-’90s Pacific Northwest standouts) has given the band a distinctive magic and freshness that has clearly struck a chord with a legion of music lovers and Myspace addicts who turn up religiously at the band’s shows.

Words are at a loss to describe how fresh and fun this album sounds, so instead, he’s a picture taken from the group’s MySpace page from a Good Shoes live show.

Everyone seems to be having themselves a merry time. Too merry in the case of the dude in the middle of the second row. Check out a stream of Think Before You Speak here to hear what me, that dude and the rest of us are all so jacked up about.

Yep, apparently so. I guess myself and the rest of the civilized world hadn’t really taken much notice. Well, now I guess Rhapsody is swallowing up their flimsy business in hopes of consolidating a losing venture.

Spin City:

“Our partnership with Rhapsody, the acquisition of FoxyTunes and the release of the web-based Yahoo! Media Player moves Yahoo! Music closer to our goal of enabling users to play all of the music on the Web,” said Yahoo’s vice president of video and media applications, Ian Rogers. “But, it doesn’t end there. Yahoo Music will continue to innovate and forge new ways to marry music content with the rich content of the Internet[s].”

I’m sure this has nothing to do with Microsoft’s looming shadow.

Whatever, I always thought the “all-you-can-eat” music business model was faulty. it’s like being in a book of the month club, only when you fail to renew your subscription someone comes in and takes all your books that you “bought.” BS. I still buy CDs.

Proof:

Just now I was rereading my glorious pwning of John McCain from yesterday on this here blog, when I noticed not one but TWO John McCain for President Banners in the direct vicinity, basically drowning out my opinion with their patriotic overtones and team-building pleasantries.

Damn.

Congratulations to Wesley Snipes for being a rich ass motherfucker whose too stingy to pay the same taxes that broke ass working folks like us have to pay, AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT!!!eleven!!one. As we reported last year, Blade / White Men Can’t Jump / Demolition Man / Other Shitty Action Movies No One Wants to Admit They Remember star Wesley Snipes was facing a possible 40-years in prison on federal tax fraud charges. But today it was announced that he had been aquitted on the most serious of these charges, but found guilty on three lesser charges of failing to file a tax return. Though these offenses are punishable by up to three years in the joint, chances are good that he will get off with a fine, that he can easily pay with his massive offshore stockpile of loot, and a couple signed pictures of him pwning vampires for the judge’s goth son. Speculation is growing that he will also soon be named Ron Paul’s running mate. Stay tuned.