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January 30, 2010
January 27, 2010
Space Ace
Slug Bug
January 25, 2010
Hypothermia
From an almost TOO elaborate and expressive exploration of the impact of hypothermia from Peter Stark:
"Driving out of town, defroster roaring, you barely noted the bank thermometer on the town square: minus 27 degrees at 6:36. The radio weather report warned of a deep mass of arctic air settling over the region. The man who took your money at the Conoco station shook his head at the register and said he wouldn't be going anywhere tonight if he were you. You smiled. A little chill never hurt anybody with enough fleece and a good four-wheel-drive.It only gets better from there, exploring how cold and humanity have never quite gotten along, in the process examining how in 1980, sixteen men were rescued after an hour and a half in the north sea -- though after getting a hot drink on the rescue ship, they mysteriously all proceeded to dropped dead, in unison. Isn't biology cool?But now you're stuck. Jamming the gearshift into low, you try to muscle out of the drift. The tires whine on ice-slicked snow as headlights dance on the curtain of frosted firs across the road. Shoving the lever back into park, you shoulder open the door and step from your heated capsule. Cold slaps your naked face, squeezes tears from your eyes."
Brand Obama
An Alternet excerpt of Chris Hedges' book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle:
"Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, armies of corporate lobbyists grease the palms of our elected officials, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia, and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East. Brand Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us. But like all branded products spun out from the manipulative world of corporate advertising, this product is duping us into doing and supporting a lot of things that are not in our interest.Still better than Brand Palin, which would have permanently marred this country with the intellectual equivalent of irritable bowel syndrome. Still. Telecom immunity for wiretaps, more war, more corporate handouts....What, for all our faith and hope, has the Obama brand given us? His administration has spent, lent, or guaranteed $12.8 trillion in taxpayer dollars to Wall Street and insolvent banks in a doomed effort to re-inflate the bubble economy, a tactic that at best forestalls catastrophe and will leave us broke in a time of profound crisis. Brand Obama has allocated nearly $1 trillion in defense-related spending and the continuation of our doomed imperial projects in Iraq, where military planners now estimate that 70,000 troops will remain for the next fifteen to twenty years. Brand Obama has expanded the war in Afghanistan, increasing the use of drones sent on cross-border bombing runs into Pakistan, which have doubled the number of civilians killed over the past three months. Brand Obama has refused to ease restrictions so workers can organize and will not consider single-payer, not-for-profit health care for all Americans. And Brand Obama will not prosecute the Bush administration for war crimes, including the use of torture, and has refused to dismantle Bush's secrecy laws and restore habeas corpus.
Does anybody really wonder why men like George Carlin stopped seriously following politics (or voting) in his later years and just sat down, crossed his legs, and laughed at everyone?
"A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter"
Caleb Larsen's "A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter" is a piece of art in the shape of a black cube that repeatedly attempts to sell itself via eBay (over and over and over again).
Umida Akhmedova
From the CPJ:
"On January 13, investigators with the city police department in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, criminally charged Akhmedova with insulting and libeling the Uzbek people and its traditions through her work, according to international news reports. On Thursday, investigators informed Akhmedova’s lawyer that they had concluded their probe and the case will be transferred to court in the next few days, Akhmedova told CPJ. If convicted on both charges, she could serve up to eight years in jail. Akhmedova is prohibited from leaving the country."
Her crime? Taking these photographs that Uzbekistan government officials felt portrayed the country in a negative light.
January 23, 2010
Stop Motion
January 16, 2010
Nick Gentry
More here
January 07, 2010
Fungus Bible
