This was supposed to be linked to my last post. I screwed it up, and was meaning to email Jamon to translate all of that nonsense he sent us about posting to the new blog address, etc, but totally forgot. Anyway check this out! He's so patient! Hooray!
http://www.guzer.com/videos/needle-art.php
Just one day after it was unveiled, a giant fiberglass and copper shoe honoring the Iraqi journalist who flung his oxfords at George W. Bush during the former president’s final visit to Iraq was removed by government order on Friday, local officials told CNN.Sphere: Related Content
The Baghdad artist Laith al-Amiri had installed his 8-foot-long sculpture on the grounds of an orphanage in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s home town, intending to celebrate the courage of Muntader al-Zaidi, the 29-year-old journalist who took off both of his shoes and rifled them at Mr. Bush on Dec. 14.
We Can Have Peace In The Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work is hot off the press. I love Jimmy Carter, but I am a little confused. First, it seems like he just wrote a book. Second, it seems like he wrote the same book. Maybe I am missing something. Disclaimer: I have not yet read this book. But I listened to him on NPR, looked up multiple reviews, and read the press release on the book. I simply cannot figure out what in this book is new. I think as usual, Jimmy Carter displays an incredible depth of understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And for the most part, I tend to agree with his depiction of Israel. But "A Plan That Will Work"? What plan? It seems like the same dual-state plan he has always espoused, with very little in the way of new or innovative ideas. Someone correct me. 'Else I'm going to have to read the book.
The NPR story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99875313&ft=1&f=1012
"In Israel, officials said that on Sunday, the cabinet is expected to discuss a proposal that the government defend the military if there are any international attempts to accuse it of improper activity or war crimes. The proposal is expected to assert that soldiers and officers operated in accordance with international law, the military’s values and moral principles."
NYTimes
I found this post on TIA and thought I'd draw attention to it again. I forgot that Gates had been reworking the Afghanistan story long before Obama decided to keep him as Defense Secretary. Curious to see what will happen with Afghanistan and when. Obama's already dropped the ball on Israel's attack on Gaza, during which he said nothing. Lucky for him the Israelis called a cease-fire a day before his inauguration. Otherwise he might've had to say something about it. But it's all over and wrapped up now, right? Case closed. So saying something about it at inauguration would've just been irrelevant and passe.
Sphere: Related Contentfrom the BBC:
Palestinian medical sources say the number of people killed in Gaza now stands at more thancan this be considered a measured response by the israeli military? can israel stop the rocket attacks by invading gaza and initiating an ever-escalating level of conflict? does israel have the right to overthrow a democratically-elected hamas government? the answer to all these questions is NO. if israelis were living in fear of rocket fire, gaza residents, and not just hamas-supporters, are now living in fear of missile attacks, collateral gunfire, mortar rounds, shrapnel, building collapse, lack of electricity and medical aid, and starvation, as the UN is now reporting an acute lack of food in gaza. Sphere: Related Content5001200, with some2,5004300 wounded. These figures cannot be independently verified.FiveThirteen Israelis have been killed since the start of Israel's military operation, which is now in its 10th day.
Karl Rove's IT guru Michael Connell--set to testify in 2004 electronic voting fraud case--dies in small-engine plane crash.
This is the same plane that hit a home near Akron, Ohio Friday night. Story on DN.
Don't miss Fox News commentator's poignant conclusion!
Ray McGovern: Rumsfeld's departure and replacement by Gates allowed US to continue unpopular war.
(Compare with, Bush's departure and replacement by Obama allows US to continue unpopular war.)
as early as obama was a serious contender for the democratic primary, my dad said he felt somebody would try to kill him. obama would be too prominent, too symbolic, and too much of a shift in leadership for many in this country to accept. i wondered if a well-armed, racist, home-grown, white american wouldn't adopt a method of assassination that has worked so many times overseas in the form of a suicide bombing. i hope it never comes to pass, but i still feel people are going to try like never before to assassinate him.
below is an excellent video documenting the potential assassination plots coming from american white supremacist groups. the cover of the "national worker" magazine that is displayed about 3/4 of the way through the video made my jaw drop.
"There were 130 members of the House, 23 members of the Senate who voted against war; Barack Obama did not choose one of them to be in his cabinet"--Amy Goodman.
Jeremy Scahill talks about the rise of private military contractors, and how this might look for the world. The first half of his talk is mostly about Obama's challenges, while the second half's about privatization, with some deviations.
http://www.zmag.org/zaudio/2894
On DN. The Chomsky segment begins at min. 29:00. How Obama movement is illusory populist movement; Obama's appointments / Clinton presidency No. 2; more. Click here.
(The first half hour is Part 2 of Amy Goodman's interview with scurrilous terrorist Bill Ayers.)
i've been reading about the Providence, RI, underground art/music scene this weekend because of my new found interest in john dwyer of the coachwhips, pink and brown, and his most recent work with thee oh sees. it seems as though much of the most innovative and daring work in the late 90s came from a collective, now disbanded, that dwyer was a member of called Fort Thunder. pictures of the old Fort Thunder, which is now a parking lot, are here >> http://fortthunder.02909.com/gallery-00.html
an excellent short essay (with a few typos) on art, culture, commercialization of art from a former Fort Thunderer here >> http://mudboymusic.com/wunderground.htmlThe problem lies in the fact that institutions devoted to preserving and promoting documents tend to think in terms of a legacy of objects. They see their work as part of a long chain of objects, and what counts to them is things with faces attached- not events or experiences. Their world is the world of paintings, and books; manifestos and letters of intent; things to be hung up, shelved, counted, sorted and named. They draw a circle around some, and not others- giving labels where perhaps none belong- and in doing so eliminate everything contradictory, ephemeral, and fragile.from a 2006 nytimes article about a retrospective on the providence scene >>
Their imposed coherence can never do justice to something that is in fact unlimited, wild and unpredictable- something indefinitely growing and changing.
Something dangerous. This is a thing called culture- moments and shared experiences for the "us" who are watching, listening and making.
Another product of the Providence/RISD scene is Ryan Trecartin, a recent graduate of the school whose brilliant senior-year film, “A Family Finds Entertainment,” may be the apotheosis of Fort Thunder’s collage-cartoon aesthetic. It was screened at the 2006 Whitney Biennial on a small monitor near the elevator and was not widely noticed.below is the first of five youtube videos of a family finds entertainment. i think it's pretty awesome.
On Vietnam and activism today.
dn2008-1114-1
Part 1. Part 2 will "Ayer" on Monday.
