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Archives
King of the Delta Blues This is underground comic book genius R. Crumb's retelling of the life of Delta bluesman Charlie Patton, based on the biography by Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow.
 [read more] thanks to MetaFilter ---------- Yazoo has two CDs worth of Charlie Patton. Charlie Patton, "Founder of the Delta Blues: 1929-34" Charlie Patton, "King of the Delta Blues: The Music of Charlie Patton" ---------- Both of these CDs are available on EMusic. ---------- And then there is John Fahey's monster collection of Charlie Patton and his fellow travelers. Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton
It's someone's birthday! The date has rolled over and it is time to celebrate the 29th anniversary of my 29th birthday. Zoe called at midnight to sing Happy Birthday. She said she would be nice to me all day. (She also said it would be hard.)
Comix Before Gary Larson, there was Kliban. I discovered him in the 70s. I hadn't realize he had died — I had wondered what had become of him. It's time to let the cat out of the bag B Kliban's 'Cat' cartoons first appeared 25 years ago. Today, they're at the heart of a multi-million dollar business and Kliban himself is recognised as a major influence on Gary Larson. But who was this enigmatic figure? [read more] thanks to MetaFilter ----------
 [read more] thanks to MetaFilter
Get Your War On
Chapel Hellion By David Rees' own accounting, he had an idyllic childhood. Growing up in Chapel Hill in the '70s and '80s, he played Rainbow Soccer, helped his parents tend a vegetable garden, attended theater and the N.C. Symphony, went to Chapel Hill High School, and hung out with close friends, who encouraged him in his artistic endeavors. In conversation today, the polite 29-year-old artist sounds for all the world like someone who in youth always ate his vegetables and never had any overdue fines at the library. Like someone your mother might describe as "a nice boy." [read more] thanks to Robot Wisdom ----------
Civil War November 25th, 1997, marked the 134th anniversary of the battles for Chattanooga. On that day, Dave Buckhout and T.C. Moore retraced the route along which these battles flowed, from Lookout Mountain, through the city, and onto its finale atop Missionary Ridge. They had cameras, a road map, and an '86 Buick. [read more] thanks to MetaFilter
War Against Some Terrorists The Republicans have gone to war, only this time it's against themselves. [read more] ---------- So, when Scowcroft speaks, it is completely and totally with the permission of former President Bush. And to speak out against the policy of the very president he now serves as head of PFIAB – thus risking being fired for his seeming disloyalty or insubordination – shows just how strongly the senior Bush and Scowcroft are fighting against the son's policy. [read more]
Intellectual Property Wil Wheaton — again. The music labels, publishing houses and studios who release our creative works would have you believe that unless we strengthen copyright laws, their clever euphemism for eroding your rights to parody and free expression, all artists will suffer. Don't you believe them. As a negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild, I have firsthand experience with these men who claim to care so greatly for artists, and I call shenanigans. The greatest danger to musicians is not Gnutella. It is the label. The greatest danger to actors and film makers is not DeCSS. It is the studio. These corporate masters care little for the artists who are filling their 4 car garages with new Porsches and filling their private jets with fuel and "hostesses." [read more]
Wil Wheaton Tom Tomorrow brings up this interesting combo — a Canadian rant and Wil's response. Both worth reading and thinking about. Open Letter to America from a Canadian Never mind that earth-friendly technology already exists to once and for all end dependence on oil, coal and nuclear energy from huge, out-of-control utilities and corporations. You would rather pay through the nose for your insecure comforts, wouldn't you America, and make others pay with their blood. [read more] ---------- I've been asked my more than one person to respond to the Open Letter to America, which is currently burning up the internet so fast, you'd think it was written by rtm. I am reminded of a time in my own life when I got a letter from someone I really cared about, telling me what I refused to tell myself: I was an asshole. [read more]
Japan To kick off the introduction of the NEW Real Japan, I thought I'd create a section where I would introduce my new turf. I'm no longer Alisa Sanada, writing from Dallas, or Tacoma, about Japan. I'm Alisa Sanada, writing from Tokyo, Japan. Life is definately going to be rad in Japan. I can just feel it right now through these pictures. I took these pictures of Waseda, arugueably the third best university in Japan, while I was visiting a friend last year who showed me around the campus. Though these pictures are from last year and they were taken during the summer when the campus was pretty much empty, there is still something to see.
 [read more] thanks to consumptive.org ----------
 [read more] thanks to Real Japan ----------
 [read more] thanks to Nippongraphica
Davezilla Madison was not exactly the type I normally date. She was a bit more high maintenance than I prefer. Her cellphone was permanently affixed to her head, leaving a visible dent on those rare ocassions when she put it down to knock back a shot. She had two really annoying habits. The first was jangling her Jaguar keychain loudly as she approached the car, so everyone knew it was her Jag. The second, was a need to fill every second with conversation. There would be no awkward moments of to fill around her as there was never any silence. Why did I agree to go out? Typical male. It was those legs of hers. No woman should be allowed to have legs that good. I’m certain she causes traffic accidents, strutting downtown in her mini-skirted power-bitch suits. [read more]
White House and Wall Street Crooks
Hauls of justice Vinson & Elkins, the attorneys for Enron, are now touting their expertise on "offshore special purpose entities" on firm's website. They are "well versed," says their advertisement, in "off- balance sheet treatment." In New York, they call that chutzpah; in Texas we call it brass body parts. [read more]
The Renewed Israeli Occupation While Mr Barghouti waits for his trial to start, two other powerful voices have been raised to haunt the Israeli authorities. The first is that of Nelson Mandela, who says he will be closely following the trial proceedings. His involvement is a reminder of the similarities between the bantustans for South African black people under apartheid, and the occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza. The other voice was that of Marek Edelman, who was deputy commander of the historic Warsaw ghetto uprising of the Jews against the Nazis in 1943. Now in his 80s, Mr Edelman wrote a letter early this month to Palestinian leaders. Though the letter criticised the suicide bombers, its tone infuriated the Israeli government and its press. He wrote in a spirit of solidarity from a fellow resistance fighter, as a former leader of a Jewish uprising not dissimilar in desperation to the Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories. He addressed his letter to "commanders of the Palestinian military, paramilitary and partisan operations - to all the soldiers of the Palestinian fighting organisations". [read more] ----------
Inbuilt contradiction The more the army leaves the cities, the more the Civil Administration authorities will encounter requests for passes. "But it's an administrative disaster," said one foreign diplomat following the process of reforms in the PA. Just to implement a reformation of the legal system requires freedom of movement for judges, prosecutors, attorneys, witnesses and accused between the various districts. To revive the Palestinian financial sector so salaries and pensions can be paid - and so the work of the security forces can be renewed, as the gradual cease-fire plan says - requires economic activity, which requires freedom of movement. An election will require freedom of movement for candidates and their activists. "The Civil Administration will need 50,000 new clerks just to issue travel passes for two million people within a reasonable period of time and in a routine manner," said the diplomat. [read more] ---------- Nablus: LAW warns of health and environmental crisis
Tomorrow Tuesday, August 20, 2002, Nablus and four refugee camps, in addition to five surrounding villages, will enter its third months under complete occupation. Israel's siege on the 200,000 residents of this area has not been eased and causes severe social, economic, environmental and health problems. The consistent use of violence and intimidation during the course of the curfew, and the widescale interference with humanitarian relief which has maximised the deleterious effect, the main thrust behind this isolation policy has been to collectively punish the civilian population in order to wear down its resistance to the occupation.
The Fourth Geneva Convention provides obligations to the Occupying Power:
First and foremost, collective punishment is not a valid rationale, and in fact a flagrantly illegitimate one, for their imposition. Secondly, any valid security considerations that exist for forcibly confining civilian populations to their homes are explicitly limited by the ---------- Israeli Air Force chief urges trials for leftist Gush Shalom activists
Free Davezilla The Free Davezilla movement has been getting some mainstream press (thanks to Ericzilla — Small. Fierce. Rubbery.)... And Now the Sequel: Every-zilla Meets the Lawyers "Bambi Meets Godzilla," the satirical animated short, begins with a shot of Bambi grazing in a meadow and ends moments later when the deer is crushed by a monstrous foot. David Linabury is hoping to fare better than Bambi. [read more] --------- Japanse keten jaagt op weblogger De eigenaar van het merk Godzilla, de Japanse speelgoedketen Toho, heeft niets beters te doen deze zomer dan jacht te maken op ge bruikers van iedere naam die eindigt op ‘zilla’. Zo is ondermeer een bekende Amerikaanse weblog, ‘Davezilla’, de dupe geworden. Ook AOL moert oppassen, mmet browser Mozilla. [read more]
This is so wrong But throughout congressional hearings on the topic in July, the real scandal with the military's other piece of plastic, the Government Travel Card (GTC), went ignored by the mainstream press, despite the fact that the card has plunged thousands of ordinary servicemen and servicewomen into debt so deep that the Pentagon is busy garnishing the wages of its own soldiers. And the only military commander known to raise hell about the scheme -- a lone Air Force colonel based in the Midwest -- says that blowing the whistle on the GTC ruined her career. [read more]
Environment
Corporate Capture The German election could be the second this year to be won or lost on the environment. In New Zealand, the Labour party failed to win its anticipated overall majority, partly because of its determination to approve the planting of genetically modified crops. The Greens, who did better than expected, have threatened to bring the government down if it lets the plantings go ahead. In Germany, Edmund Stoiber seemed certain of victory, until the floods exposed the fact that his shadow cabinet contains no environment spokesman. Now that the Germans are rediscovering their dependency upon the natural world, Stoiber's anti-environmentalism could be fatal. As the Indian proverb says, if you drive nature out of the door with a broom, she will come back through the window with a pitchfork. The environment is a long-term issue which has always suffered from the short-term imperatives of the political cycle. It has been treated, by governments all over the world, as a problem which can be endlessly deferred to the next administration. Now the problem is catching up with the politicians, but most of them have yet to notice. The fourth earth summit, which begins at the end of this week, looks certain to be a disaster. [read more]
Beyond categorization
Environmentally friendly energy Real power from nothing but hot air A one kilometre-high tower capable of producing enough energy for 200,000 homes has been approved by the Australian government and could be in operation within three years, subject to approval by the New South Wales state authorities. In effect a giant chimney, it will generate electricity by drawing warm air from ground level through turbines. Its developer, EnviroMission, says the full-scale prototype, planned for a site on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, could be replicated in deserts throughout the world. The company's chief executive, Roger Davey, said: "It's completely silent, it doesn't need any fuel, and the only by- product is hot air." [read more]
And now for something completley different... GM's Hy-wire concept turns auto world on ear
 General Motors has turned the normal concept of a car – or personal transport, at least – on its ear by unveiling in time for the Paris motor show a vehicle with no bonnet, no conventional engine, no steering-wheel and no foot pedals. The Hy-wire doesn't even have an instrument panel and never, ever needs petrol. [read more] thanks to BookNotes
Why running government as a business is a really bad idea...
Acceptable losses In terms of lives lost, the 1995 Chicago heat wave was one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in recent American history. Yet how many of you outside of Chicago have even heard of it? I certainly hadn't before reading Klinenberg's book. And part of the reason for that lies in the way we think about heat, a line of thinking reflected in the judgment of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and many of his city officials that the heat wave was an act of God, and that the deaths were unavoidable. However, an even more ominous attitude than simple complacency about hot weather was in effect during the deadly '95 heat wave: It was a classic case of how deciding to run a city like a corporation can put citizens' lives in danger. [read more] ---------- This reminded me of a book that I read some years ago, lent to a friend, never returned from friend (some friend!), that I need to buy and reread.
Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics ---------- Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics If there is a tragedy of the commons, it is not commoners over-exploiting their resources. On the contrary, most commoners do a pretty good job. The tragedy is invasions- sometimes by the military (so many villages burned in Africa wars), but mostly by traders and commerce. The two attitudes-the guardianship ethical complex of the commoners and the commercial ethical complex of the trader-are brilliantly contrasted in Jane Jacobs's book. It is, really, the only book on the subject, presented as a Platonic dialog among gathered friends at various evening salons. Jane Jacobs (author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities ) asks all the right questions: When is it ethical to deceive? When does business enhance or subvert the common good? When is industriousness a virtue? When a vice? How can guardians preserve guardianship and not contaminate it with commercial enterprise? For any of us involved with green businesses or community economics or free trade and sustainability, this idea-dense book clarifies and enriches the very contemporary and intense struggles over the future of the planet. [read more] ---------- Ideally, says Jacobs, in any given society the commercial and guardian syndromes should coexist in separate, symbiotic relationships. Why separate? Because, according to Jacobs: "[C]razy things happen systematically when either moral syndrome . . . embraces functions inappropriate to it." It is as though each system has its own moral ecology that can be fatally disrupted by the introduction of foreign elements. Jacobs fears that the guardian syndrome may be gaining ascendancy in inappropriate places and that "systemic corruption" of both syndromes may be spreading. Systemic corruption, more intractable than random individual corruption, frequently takes the form of breakdown, with each system losing the ability to discipline its members or to check its own extreme proclivities. But it may also produce "monstrous hybrids"—like the Sicilian mutual defense societies that applied raiding methods to trading (Mafia), the Ik of southern Uganda who began raiding each other when they were forced from hunting into farming, or American investment bankers in the takeover era. [read more]
When only too much is enough... Has your Suburban or Expedition gotten too small for you, or have the Jones' just one-upped you once again with a new Excursion? If you thought that so-called "large" SUVs like the Expedition have a tough look, then you need to check out the new Kenworth Pilgrimage!
 [read more] thanks to the bitter shack of resentment
WTC Donahue Interviews 9/11 Widow Kristen Breitweiser
DONAHUE: Tell me about what your-what’s-what is September 11th Advocates all about? What do you want to happen? thanks to Cursor
Water
Who Owns Water? As the World Summit on Sustainable Development draws closer, clear lines of contention are forming, particularly around the future of the world's freshwater resources. The setting of the summit paints the picture. Government and corporate delegates to the September meeting will gather in the lavish hotels and convention facilities of Sandton, the fabulously wealthy Johannesburg suburb that houses huge estates, English gardens and swimming pools, and has become South Africa's new financial epicenter. There, they will meet with World Bank and World Trade Organization officials to set the stage for the privatization of water. [read more]
Book Reviews Amazon book reviews as humor — for those who haven't come across Henry Raddick before. Henry Raddick's Public Reviews
Surviving Divorce: A Handbook for Men A well-written and challenging book which I bought for my Uncle Sandy as he attempts to cope with the aftershock of divorce. Unfortunately he thought the author's name was a coping strategy being suggested and he refused to read it.
The war to save our kids : raising G-rated children in an X-rated world Trying to shield our children from the pervasive obscenity of modern culture is a more-or-less full-time job as any parent knows. Thank goodness therefore for this sensitive and helpful guide to responsible parenting. Sometimes the old ways are best: when my own dad caught me smoking when I was a teenager, he sat me down at the kitchen table and I wasn't allowed to get up until I had finished the entire packet. That worked, after a fashion. I tried a similar approach with my own son Jonathan when I recently found a stash of porn videos in his room. I believe he found the 9 hour marathon viewing as uncomfortable as I did, and I have high hopes of weaning him of this filth. [read more]
The Bush Occupation Don't tell, maybe they won't ask. That was the message of a July memo from an official at the Department of Veterans Affairs, posted by Joshua Marshall at talkingpointsmemo.com. Citing "conservative OMB budget guidance" for spending on veterans' health care, the memo instructed subordinates to "ensure that no marketing activities to enroll new veterans occur within your networks." Veterans are entitled to medical care; but the administration hopes that some of them don't know that, and that it can save money by leaving them ignorant. [read more]
"Neighbor Practice" The topic of war crimes is now firmly fixed on the national and military agenda, and cannot be removed anymore.. This week there was a public outcry about the death of Nidal Abu-Muhsein in Tubas village on the West Bank. The 19 years old youngster was taken from his home by the soldiers who had come to the village in order to arrest (or kill) his neighbor, the Hamas activist Nasser Jerar. Nidal was compelled to approach Nasser's door and call on him to come out. Nasser, who must have been waiting for the soldiers, opened fire and killed him. Then a bulldozer was called in and to destroy the house, burying Nasser alive under its ruins. The use of a local resident as a "human shield" is a war crime. That was confirmed, on live television, by a senior reserve officer, the former president of the highest military court. The Fourth Geneva Convention expressly forbids the use of "protected persons" (as the convention calls inhabitants of an occupied territory) for such purpose. This practice, like the practice of compelling Palestinian neighbors to tour buildings suspected of being booby-trapped, is similar to the killing of hostages in retaliation for resistance actions. [read more] ----------
Some lives are cheaper than others Which is preferable - "pressure cooker" or "neighbor procedure"? Is it better to detonate a building with the occupants inside - a practice known in the Israel Defense Forces as "pressure cooker" - or to send one of the local neighbors to defend the soldiers bodily, the "neighbor procedure" in IDF argot. In the moral deterioration of the IDF in the territories, which has been greatly accelerated in the past few weeks, the choices that are made by the army's commanding officers are often described as an alternative between two controversial actions, in which the non-use of one automatically validates the other, and both of them together are automatically justified within the framework of the war on terrorism in which just about everything now goes. Thus it was that the IDF tried, at week's end, to justify the appalling use that soldiers made of an innocent neighbor, 19-year-old Nidal Abu Muhsein, who was equipped with a protective vest and sent to his death by soldiers who were engaged in a manhunt for a wanted individual, Nasser Jerar, in the village of Tubas, near Jenin. The other choice the soldiers had, according to the IDF, was to resort to the "pressure cooker" tactic. In fact, in this case the IDF did not balk at using that method as well: after the "neighbor procedure" failed, the army buried the disabled Jerar alive - he lost both legs and an arm a year ago - under the ruins of the building, which IDF bulldozers brought down without knowing whether there was anyone else inside. This act drew no response from anyone in Israel. [read more] ---------- Analysis / A totally unnecessary death ---------- Preemptive warnings of fantastic scenarios Just as the authorities are getting ready for an NBC [nuclear-biological-chemical] attack, worried Israelis should get ready for the possibility of a mass "transfer" of Palestinians in case of war in Iraq. Anyone who regards such ethnic cleansing as a horrible crime must raise their voice now, without any of the "ifs, ands or buts" so typical of the response to the punishment already being meted out in ever more strict steps. Warnings about ethnic cleansing should not only come from committed leftists, but from people whose patriotism cannot be questioned. And let nobody say it would be unnecessary protest because nobody is plotting "transfer." Immunizations against smallpox, and pills against atomic radiation are based on an even more fantastic scenario. And last but not least, a word to the Americans. They should also be warned that an assault on Iraq could unleash ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. Nobody should be allowed to say they weren't warned. [read more] ---------- On no issue is the JINSA/CSP hard line more evident than in its relentless campaign for war--not just with Iraq, but "total war," as Michael Ledeen, one of the most influential JINSAns in Washington, put it last year. For this crew, "regime change" by any means necessary in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority is an urgent imperative. Anyone who dissents--be it Colin Powell's State Department, the CIA or career military officers--is committing heresy against articles of faith that effectively hold there is no difference between US and Israeli national security interests, and that the only way to assure continued safety and prosperity for both countries is through hegemony in the Middle East--a hegemony achieved with the traditional cold war recipe of feints, force, clientism and covert action. [read more] ----------
J'accuse
War Against Some Terrorists We used to worry about a military coup against civilian authority. Now we worry about a civilian coup against military authority. It's the reverse of the classic movie "Seven Days in May," about gung-ho generals trying to wrest power from an "appeasing" president. In "Thirty-One Days in August," gung-ho presidential advisers try to wrest power away from "appeasing" generals. [read more] ---------- The war on Iraq is already under way There is growing evidence to suggest the physical war against Saddam Hussein has been under way for nearly six months. No shots have been fired or bombs dropped in anger beyond the attacks on Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries that U.S. and British air forces have been conducting regularly for a decade. Yet almost out of sight, U.S. and allied forces have been tightening the noose around Saddam, even deploying troops inside Iraq, according to some reports. [read more] thanks to SmirkingChimp.com ---------- Barbara Lee and Limbaugh … eye to eye at last Lee, the Democratic congresswoman from Oakland, was the only member of Congress to vote against that resolution, and for that she was called a traitor and received death threats from all over the country. The thoughtful UC Berkeley political scientist Nelson Polsby chided Lee, telling Newsweek that it was just "a feel-good vote, not an appropriation." Now Lee appears to have been a seer, and the vote of Congress was the worst kind of appropriation -- a blank check. "It was a blank check to the president to attack anyone involved in the Sept. 11 events -- anywhere, in any country, without regard to our nation's long-term foreign policy, economic and national security interests, and without time limit," wrote Lee in The Chronicle on Sept. 23. "In granting these overly broad powers, the Congress has failed its responsibility to understand the dimensions of its declaration." [read more] thanks to SmirkingChimp.com ----------
How Islam-Bashing Got Cool In the last six weeks, a major Protestant leader has described the Prophet Muhammad as "demon-possessed pedophile;" a well-known conservative columnist suggested that Muslims get "some sort of hobby other than slaughtering infidels;" the head of a conservative activist group suggested American Muslims should leave the country; and evangelist Franklin Graham described Islam as inherently violent. Meanwhile, the University of North Carolina is being sued by the Family Policy Network, a conservative group, for asking incoming freshmen to read a book called "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations, " an assignment Fox News Network's Bill O'Reilly compared to teaching Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in 1941. On Wednesday, a North Carolina state legislator told a local radio station his view: "I don't want the students in the university system required to study this evil." [read more] thanks to wood zilla lot
Why do things have to be so hard? Back down to the airport again. I picked Carol up at Gerry's (Gerry was still in the hospital) and got her to the airport on time and made it back to Gerry's to pick up my van (I drove Gerry's car down). I went to get in the van and I couldn't find my keys anywhere. They must have evaporated. Zoe and Gerry showed up about this time and Zoe drove me home. I called up Andrew (it used to be his van) and he was able to find a spare set of keys. Disaster narrowly averted. It was about 6 when I finally got the van home. I think I will chain myself to the computer tomorrow.
Stop the world, I want to get off We had an early TestingTesting Thursday night. An old east coast family friend (Carol) of Zoe and Gerry (Zoe's mom) arrived Friday from San Jose. We left at 8:15am to go pick her up at the airport and I got back home at 6pm. Yesterday Gerry fell so she went to the doctor this morning and is spending the night at Whidbey General because she had a weird EKG. Everything seems ok. I take Carol back to the airport tomorrow morning. I've been trying to keep up with work through all of this. I have a bunch of stuff to post but I'm going to bed. When I get back from the airport...
Zillafication
 The Davezilla Defence League Let's zillafy! zilla zilla zilla zilla zilla zilla zilla zilla zilla zilla zilla thanks to wood s lot
Environment George Bush will not attend this month's Johannesburg earth summit, the White House confirmed yesterday: a decision environmentalists said illustrated the administration's contempt for green issues. [read more]
Real America Why is it deemed so important to holiday in the heartland? The centre of America certainly contains many wonderful vacation spots, but Plains, Georgia, and Crawford, Texas, are not among them. The simple reason is that Americans regard the heartland as more than just a geographical expression (the country's central and rural areas). It is a moral condition: an embodiment of the authentic American tradition of self-reliance, family values and community spirit. The inhabitants of the heartland are descendants of the rugged pioneers who carved a great civilisation out of mountains and prairies. They continue to make their living by doing proper work—by wrestling with nature rather than shuffling symbols on a screen. Mr Bush is well aware of his electoral success across “real” America, while Al Gore was left with the celluloid bits. Hence the value of that gritty picture in the FT (even if it was largely seen by stockbrokers lounging around Long Island). But is the heartland really such an embodiment of self-reliance? Sadly, its true characteristics are not vigour and independence but economic decline and government handouts. The small communities that are supposed to embody the American spirit are, in fact, haemorrhaging jobs, people and wealth. [read more]
Design
The Work of Charles and Ray Eames
 Charles Eames (1907-78) and Ray Eames (1912-88) gave shape to America’s twentieth century. Their lives and work represented the nation’s defining social movements: the West Coast’s coming-of-age, the economy’s shift from making goods to the producing information, and the global expansion of American culture. The Eameses embraced the era’s visionary concept of modern design as an agent of social change, elevating it to a national agenda. Their evolution from furniture designers to cultural ambassadors demonstrated their boundless talents and the overlap of their interests with those of their country. In a rare era of shared objectives, the Eameses partnered with the federal government and the country’s top businesses to lead the charge to modernize postwar America. [read more] thanks to plep Charles and Ray had a tremendous influence on design in America. I first discovered them as an Architecture student in the early 60s. Going through this web site rekindled my wonder for all that they did. So many things that surround us today came out of their studio. I find them incredibly inspirational. One thing that struck me was this sketch showing their design process.
 They not only considered the interests and concerns of the design office and the client but also the concerns of society as a whole. It is when all three of these diverse set of interests are met that you have a truly successful design. It not only works for good design but for so many things we do. We would all do well to have such a concern for the impact on society when we create things.
War Agasint Some Terrorists Be Very Afraid - Bush Productions is Preparing to Go Into Action But the important thing, as my dad used to tell me, was to remember that the cinema did not really imitate reality. Newly converted Christian centurions did not go so blithely to their deaths nor did love reign supreme on the Titanic. The fighter pilots of Pearl Harbor did not perform so heroically, nor did wicked Roman emperors die so young. From John Wayne's The Green Berets, war films have lied to us about life and death. After the crimes against humanity in New York and Washington last September, I suppose it was inevitable that the Pentagon and the CIA would call on Hollywood for ideas – yes, the movie boys actually did go to Washington to do a little synergy with the local princes of darkness. But when Vice-President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld turned up together for the premier of Black Hawk Dawn, I began to get worried. After all, if the Bush administration is so keen on war, it better work out the difference between Hollywood and the real thing. Yet what we've been getting is a movie version of reality, a work of fiction to justify the prospect of "war without end". It started, of course, with all the drivel about "crusades" and "war against terror" and "war against evil", the now famous "they hate us because we are a democracy", the "axis of evil" and most recently – it would be outlandishly funny if this trash hadn't come from the Rand Corporation – the "kernel of evil". The latter, by the way, is supposed to be Saudi Arabia, but it might just as well have been Iran, Iraq, Syria or anywhere west of the Pecos. Along with this tosh, history is being falsified. Even a crime movie supplies a motive for the crime but after 11 September, Bush Productions would allow no motives to be discussed. The identity and religion of the perpetrators was permissible information: they were Arabs, Muslims. But the moment any of us suggested glancing towards the area from which these Arabs came – an area rich in injustice, oppression, occupation and UN-sanctioned child death – we were, as I've described before in this column, subjected to a campaign of calumny. [read more]
Old Japan DIARIES OF COURT LADIES OF OLD JAPAN
A.D. 1009-1059 I WAS brought up in a distant province which lies farther than the farthest end of the Eastern Road. I am ashamed to think that inhabitants of the Royal City will think me an uncultured girl. Somehow I came to know that there are such things as romances in the world and wished to read them. When there was nothing to do by day or at night, one tale or another was told me by my elder sister or stepmother, and I heard several chapters about the shining Prince Genji. My longing for such stories increased, but how could they recite them all from memory? I became very restless and got an image of Yakushi Buddha made as large as myself. When I was alone I washed my hands and went secretly before the altar and prayed to him with all my life, bowing my head down to the floor. "Please let me go to the Royal City. There I can find many tales. Let me read all of them." [read more] thanks to plep
War Against Some Drugs "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana can cause white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others... The primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." Excerpt from the testimony of Harry J. Anslinger, director at the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, before the U.S. Senate in 1937 thanks to Ethel the Blog This is why marijuana is illegal. Negroes, entertainers, and white women are degenerate races? Pardon me while I crank up my Satanic music (Burning Spear)...and just where is that bowl?
Posters Know Your Place! Shut Your Face!
 More posters being added to this fine collection. Best to check it out earlier in the day since the site is bandwidth limited and is often not available in the evening.
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