Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Forfeiture complaint fails to provide evidence (February 29th)

Nour Samaha the Qatar freelance journalist has analyzed a pending legal action against the Lebanese Hezbollah that seeks to link the organization with drug related money laundering, finding the allegations wanting. In an article published on Aljazeera, Samaha states “The allegations span South American cocaine shipments, US-used car dealerships, money-laundering in West Africa, several money-exchange houses, and end up in a Lebanese bank. In December the US justice department filed a civil claim against certain assets both in Lebanon and in the United States in what is seen as the US government’s latest attack on Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia political movement… The in rem forfeiture complaint, filed in the district of New York with the aim of seeking almost half a billion dollars… However a close reading of the 65-page forfeiture complaint fails to provide concrete evidence of a Hezbollah-led operation aimed at procuring funds through money laundering… On numerous occasions the complaint highlights individuals as either being “members”, “operatives”, or “supporters” of Hezbollah, but fails to provide evidence of these alleged connections, or clarify what defines the characteristics of these terms.”

Inspired by Nour Samaha http://ow.ly/9doO1 image source Twitter http://ow.ly/9dph0

Hunger strike sparked solidarity protests (February 28th)

Khader Adnan the 33 year old Palestinian prisoner in Israel without any formal charges against him arrested for “activities that threaten regional security” ended his 66-day hunger strike after a deal reached for his release from custody on 17 April. Adnan’s hunger strike sparked solidarity protests across the West Bank and Gaza, and sympathy hunger strikes by other Palestinian prisoners. Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief, said that Adnan’s case was of “great concern… Detainees have the right to be informed about the charges underlying any detention and be subject to a fair trial.” An Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev had defended the use of administrative detention orders, saying Adnan was “no boy scout”. According to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, “over the years, Israel has held thousands of Palestinians in administrative detention, for periods ranging from several months to several years”. Under international law, the measure can be used “only in the most exceptional cases, as the last means available for preventing danger that cannot be thwarted by less harmful means”.

Inspired by Richard Falk http://ow.ly/9dodw image source Alternative News http://ow.ly/9doFh

Fascinated by the marks of a pencil on a surface (February 27th)

Edwin Hayes the UK Goal Mapping Practitioner, Life Coach and Marketing Consultant has realized a thirty year dream; Thornwood Studio a place where creativity can be explored and an artist can evolve. Hayes states “The moment you … became fascinated by the marks of a pencil on a surface or loved and attraction of colour;  that is the moment it started… In the early years creativity is encouraged only as far as it is seen as being helpful to the more “necessary skills”… if a person looses the opportunity to be creative, or creativity is suppressed in some way, a process of degeneration begins within that individual… I see the answer to so many issues in life lying in the ability of an individual to express themselves sufficiently through creativity, be it art, writing, performing or articulating an emotion through speech…  Thornwood Studio is an ambitious representation of a personal long-term dream, goal and journey. It is, in its simplest form a place, not only to explore my own creativity, but also a place which represents my passion for encouraging others to find what may have been misplaced, stolen or suppressed.”

Inspired by Thornwood Studio http://ow.ly/9dmyK image source Total Art Souls http://ow.ly/9dlQi

Contemporary art is good for business (February 26th)

Suzy Hansen a US freelance writer living in Turkey for five years speaks of an Istanbul Art-Boom Bubble in an article she published. In the article Hansen states “It appears that Istanbul, which went from a cosmopolitan wonderland in the 19th century to… a “pale, poor, second-class imitation of a Western city” for much of the 20th, is having its moment of rebirth… it is a heady time to be young and talented in Istanbul… In this conservative Muslim country of 80 million, the artists have minimal influence on social and political life at home… They have grown up during a relatively free and prosperous time in Turkey and make up an artistic elite that has more in common with their counterparts in other nations than with their own countrymen… the ruling Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party (A.K.P.), which routinely throws writers and journalists in jail, rarely bothers with provocative artists, at least so far… Freedom of expression is bad for politics, but contemporary art is good for business. Whether the government’s heavy-handed relationships with the corporate patrons of the art world will be good for art is another story.”

Inspired by Suzy Hansen http://ow.ly/96xX6 image source facebook http://ow.ly/96yYm

Both cooperative and competitive behavior (February 25th)

Richard Heinberg the US Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost Peak Oil educators, has published an article on Aljazeera discussing humanity’s choices to either compete or cooperate in future resource management. Heinberg states “The world’s governments engage continually in both cooperative and competitive behavior, though sometimes extremes of these tendencies come to the fore – with open conflict exemplifying unbridled competition. Geopolitics typically involves both cooperative and competitive strategies, with the long-term goal centered on furthering national interest… If the path towards increasing competition leads to both internal and external conflict, then the result – for winners and losers alike, in a “full” world seeing rapid resource depletion – will most probably be economic and ecological ruin accompanied by political chaos… Yet this is not the only outcome available to world leaders and civil society. A cooperative strategy is at least theoretically feasible – and its foundations already exist in institutions and practices developed during recent decades.”

Inspired by Richard Heinberg http://ow.ly/96xbM image source twitter http://ow.ly/96xvU

Squatting is a good way of preserving properties (February 24th)

Antony Mark David Gormley the 61 year old UK sculptor has spoken out in defense of squatters’ rights to use properties for good purpose while vacant. Gormley in an interview with Alex Needham states “Squatting is a very good way of preserving properties while at the same time putting them to good use. It’s a no-brainer that properties that are awaiting renovation or don’t have commercial tenants can be of use for creative things, and indeed to provide shelter for the homeless.” The UK government is considering draconian laws to criminalize squatting in residential properties with penalties of huge fines and imprisonment. Gormley during the 1970’s as an art student, has a six year history of squatting in a King’s Cross factory. “I have to say that the landlord of the factory was very, very positive about us being there. We had everything we needed including 25,000sq ft of work space. A lot of the artists’ space organization of the 70s was to use unused council and commercial properties for studios and they continued to do incredibly good work. I think it’s a principle that should be continued.”

Inspired by Alex Needham http://ow.ly/96wnA image source artobserved http://ow.ly/96x0m

Distance between social classes is growing (February 23rd)

Richard Sennett the 69 year old US Professor of Sociology renowned for his studies of the effects of urban living on individuals in the modern world, speaks on the trouble with multiculturalism in an interview with Andrew Anthony. In the interview Sennett states “The increase in inequality means the distance between social classes is growing greater. I’d say the issue for Britain is the same for a lot of ethnically layered societies. What you get is indifference as a way of managing difference. People keep to their own turf, not a complex social tapestry that mixes people together… it’s like a chemical separation – no longer speaking to people with different colour and accents. When they have to deal with each other they are at a loss… in Britain when people talk about community action they’re talking about an old-fashioned idea of where people have their homes. But the most important thing is the workplace. Workplace communities are getting weaker and weaker. Modern capitalism doesn’t encourage much interaction because it’s highly stratifying. Once you stop thinking about where you sleep, the whole issue of community takes on a different kind of character.”

Inspired by Andrew Anthony http://ow.ly/96vmw image source Ars Electronica http://ow.ly/96vJO

Key to success is to exercise your imagination (February 22nd)

Park Chan-wook the 38 year old South Korean film maker, one of the most acclaimed in his native country, has shot a full length feature film completely on a mobile smart phone. Park in an article published by Tony Myers states “It’s incredibly handy and fun to be able to film using my iPhone 4. Shooting at 720p, 30fps on that tiny piece of technology that fits in the palm of your hand, very exciting. I recently shot an experimental video on my iPhone 4 using an 8mm app called Super 8. On top of that I used a macro lens attachment made specifically for the iPhone… I ended up with an interesting, abstract video that I called ‘Darkness and Light in 8mm‘… The key to success is to exercise your imagination … and the most important thing is to get your ideas down either by writing or shooting a video. Shoot with the camera you have with you, it has been a springboard for us.”

Inspired by Tony Myers http://ow.ly/96uCi image source Masha Kuvshinova http://ow.ly/96v7J

I could no longer rationalize inaction (February 21st)

Daniel L. Davis a Lt Colonel in the US Army has published an open unclassified letter explaining his actions in publishing articles describing the misinformation about Afghanistan and the war. Davis in his letter states “…I was deployed to Afghanistan for a year… I saw many things during that deployment — the fourth combat deployment of my career — that I found disturbing. Eventually I felt morally obligated to do something about what I saw to such an extent that I was incapable of not acting … I submitted a Department of Defense Inspector General complaint against select senior leaders of the Armed Forces for being so deceptive to the US Congress and American people that the truth is no longer recognizable — and the biggest bill-payer for this deception has been the lives and bodies of America’s service men and women. Once I became aware of the truth on the ground, I could no longer rationalize inaction on my part …thousands of combat troops who continue risking their lives each and every day they go outside the wire … I was compelled to act…”

Inspired by Fabius Maximus http://ow.ly/96u6X image source aspousa http://ow.ly/96tXk

Parasite excreted by cats in their feces (February 20th)

Jaroslav Flegr the 63 year old Czech parasitologist and evolutionary biologist has discovered house cats may be carriers of organisms that are capable of entering the human brain resulting in personality disorders. Flegr in a recent article by Kathleen McAuliffe believes “The parasite, which is excreted by cats in their feces, is called Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii or Toxo for short) and is the microbe that causes toxoplasmosis—the reason pregnant women are told to avoid cats’ litter boxes. …a woman who becomes infected during pregnancy can transmit the disease to the fetus, in some cases resulting in severe brain damage or death. T. gondii is also a major threat to people with weakened immunity…. Healthy children and adults, however, usually experience nothing worse than brief flu-like symptoms before quickly fighting off the protozoan, which thereafter lies dormant inside brain cells… if Flegr is right, the “latent” parasite may be quietly tweaking the connections between our neurons, changing our response to frightening situations, our trust in others, how outgoing we are, and even our preference for certain scents.”

Inspired by Kathleen McAuliffe http://ow.ly/96sIz image source photosubmission http://ow.ly/96rHO

For an unforgettable ‘Groundhog Day’ experience (February 19th)

Michael C Hudson the US Professor of Government and International Relations, and currently serving as the Director of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, states “For an unforgettable ‘Groundhog Day’ experience, there is nothing better than a trip to Palestine and Israel.  We’ve experienced multiple revolutions over the past six decades in information technologies, social mores and political upheavals. The Soviet empire collapsed, democracy advanced around the globe, Asia began to rise and the West began to decline. It is all quite disorienting. But one thing remains constant: The Arab-Israeli conflict. It just grinds on and on. For those of us who have been studying it professionally, there is something oddly reassuring about that. For most others not directly involved, it has just become boring. Too bad, because, like a smoldering peat fire, the Palestine problem helps keep the entire Middle East on the boil… the US is out to lunch as far as this matter is concerned … the Obama administration appears resigned to “muddling through” even though its fecklessness feeds America’s many other problems across the region.”

Inspired by Michael Hudson http://ow.ly/7OEPm image source Georgetown Uni http://ow.ly/7OEF2

Human violence has fallen drastically (February 18th)

Steven Arthur Pinker the 57 year old Canadian-American Professor of experimental psychology and cognitive science has argued in his recent book ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature’ that human violence has fallen drastically over thousands of years. Pinker’s investigation of human violence, one of the base primal aspects of our lives, takes consideration of homicide rates and war casualties as a percentage of national populations. Pinker is renowned for his theory of language acquisition through his research on verbs, morphology and syntax. Pinker is said to have “popularized Noam chomsky’s work on language as innate faculty of mind, with the twist that this faculty evolved by natural selection as a Darwinian adaptation for communication.” Pinker’s work on human cognition suggests that combinatorial symbol manipulation has a significant part to play in the workings of cognition, not just associations among sensory features as many connectionist models argue.

Inspired by Carl Zimmer http://ow.ly/7UVlm image source twitter http://ow.ly/7UVpe

Global capitalism spirals out of control (February 17th)

William I. Robinson the US professor of sociology focusing on political economy, globalization and historical materialism claims that “As the crisis of global capitalism spirals out of control, the powers that be in the global system appear to be adrift and unable to propose viable solutions… the immense structural inequalities of the global political economy can no longer be contained through consensual mechanisms of social control. The ruling classes have lost legitimacy; we are witnessing a breakdown of ruling-class hegemony on a world scale. …there will be no quick outcome of the mounting global chaos. We are in for a period of major conflicts and great upheavals. …one danger is a neo-fascist response to contain the crisis. We are facing a war of capital against all… In my view, the only viable solution to the crisis of global capitalism is a massive redistribution of wealth and power downward towards the poor majority of humanity along the lines of a 21st-century democratic socialism in which humanity is no longer at war with itself and with nature.”

Inspired by William Robinson http://ow.ly/7OBFQ image source Brian Cuban http://ow.ly/7OBBT

Insights with sense of humor & lifegiving lightness (February 16th)

Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad Aseeri the 32 year old Saudi Arabian medical practitioner and artist, a prominent member of a contemporary artist group known as ‘Edge of Arabia”, has overseen the opening of an exhibition in Jeddah titled “We need to talk” curated by fellow artists Mohammed Hafiz and Stephen Stapleton. Edge of Arabia a nonprofit organization to support middle eastern artists, was launched to record breaking attendances with a major exhibition in London 2008 showcasing 17 Saudi Arabia artists. Mater claims prognosis is a central theme in his work, stating “from this knowledge of both loss and enlightenment [Mater] appears to have the ability to move from expressing sadness and anger to sharing … insights with a sense of humor and lifegiving lightness.” Reid Singer in an article published on Artinfo.com states “Though Saudi Arabia was largely unaffected by the wave of popular uprisings that took place across the Middle East during 2011’s Arab Spring, the political environment in the country remains tense. In this atmosphere, many forward-thinking Saudi artists have downplayed the political significance of their work and couched it in conservative terms.”

Inspired by Reid Singer http://ow.ly/8ZpGU image source Twitter http://ow.ly/8ZqzW

Questions the implied value of Facebook (February 15th)

Dean Baker the 53 year old US macroeconomist and author of a weekly online commentary on economic reporting, questions the implied value of Facebook in its latest IPO (initial public offering) and whether the business is really worth that much money. Baker states “Facebook is going public… that is likely to place the market value of the company in the range of $100 billion. This price would put Facebook among the corporate giants in terms of market value… Some simple back of the envelope calculations show that Facebook would have to gain an enormous share of advertising expenditures over the next 5 to 10 years in order to generate the sort of profits needed to justify this current price… there have been numerous cases of companies becoming market darlings which were most definitely not worth the price. The best example of a failed market darling is probably the internet giant AOL, which had a peak market value of over $220bn in 2000. The price tag for AOL today is $1.8bn.”

Inspired by http://ow.ly/8Zovw image source Facebook http://ow.ly/8ZoV4

Own artistic style in line with ‘pintura matèrica’ (February 14th)

Antoni Tàpies i Puig the 88 year old Catalonian Spanish painter sculptor and art theorist has died. Tàpies the best known Catalan artist emerging in the post Second World war period, had studied law before devoting his life to painting, initially influenced by Paul Klee and Joan Miró, he was instrumental in helping establish a Spanish movement connected to the Surrealist and Dadaist movements  known as ‘Dau al Set’. Tàpies established his own artistic style in line with ‘pintura matèrica’ where a mixed media of non-traditional artistic materials are included into the painted work, such as clay, waste-paper, rags, string and marble dust. Tàpies represented Spain at the Venice Biennale in 1993, and in 2003 he was awarded Spain’s foremost honour for artists, the Velazquez Prize. Tàpies painted approximately 8,000 pieces over his career, prompting Spain’s King Carlos in 2010 to award him the title of Marqués de Tàpies.

Inspired by Helen Stoilas http://ow.ly/8ZnnR image source canalhub http://ow.ly/8Znhv

Halliburton-developed drilling technology of fracking (February 13th)

Josh Fox the US director and writer of Gasland a documentary film focusing on communities impacted by natural gas drilling and stimulation methods known as hydraulic fracturing has been arrested, handcuffed and forcibly ejected from a congressional meeting for attempting to film the hearing into the hydrofracking practices. Fox states, “I didn’t expect to be arrested for documentary filmmaking and journalism on Capitol Hill… We were there covering a very crucial hearing about a case of groundwater contamination … resulting in 50 times the level of benzene in groundwater and EPA pointed in this case that hydraulic fracturing is the likely cause.” Fox states on his website, “The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a “Saudia Arabia of natural gas” just beneath us. But is fracking safe?” Fox describes his film as “Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown.”

Inspired by James Crugnale http://ow.ly/8ZlBn image source Natural Gas Watch http://ow.ly/8Zmge

Yelling the death of Twitter on Twitter is humorous (February 12th)

Jillian C. York the US Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has released an article on Aljazeera discussing what she claims to be “hysterics” surrounding the recent announcement by Twitter of its changes to the way it handles content takedowns. York states “Suddenly, netizens were calling for a Twitter boycott… and proclaiming the death of the platform… on Twitter, of course. While a Twitter boycott is unlikely to have any real effect… and yelling about the death of Twitter on Twitter is just, well, humorous… What the company had announced was that they’d built in the capability to censor content per country. And to do so only in response to official requests, though you wouldn’t know that was the case from the hysterics. …The truth is, Twitter has indeed instituted a method whereby they can – upon receipt of a “valid and applicable legal request” – take down tweets. The company also states that they will only respond “reactively”; in other words, to content that has already been posted. There is a safety feature built in: Users can change their location if they think the one Twitter has listed based on their IP address is wrong.”

Inspired by Jillian C York http://ow.ly/8SzQb image source http://ow.ly/8SA1E

Fracking has greenhouse footprint larger than coal (February 11th)

Ellen Cantarow the US peace and climate change activist claims a minor revolution is occurring in the US as anti-fracking develops its own Occupy movement, “a resistance movement that has arisen to challenge some of the most powerful corporations in history”. Cantarow released an article on TomDispatch.com stating “At a time when the International Energy Agency reports that we have five more years of fossil-fuel use at current levels before the planet goes into irreversible climate change, fracking has a greenhouse gas footprint larger than that of coal… Fracking uses prodigious amounts of water laced with sand and a startling menu of poisonous chemicals to blast the methane out of the shale. At hyperbaric bomb-like pressures, this technology propels five to seven million gallons of sand-and-chemical-laced water a mile or so down a well bore into the shale. Up comes the methane – along with about a million gallons of wastewater containing the original fracking chemicals and other substances that were also in the shale, among them radioactive elements and carcinogens. There are 400,000 such wells in the United States.”

Inspired Ellen Cantarow http://ow.ly/8TlDz by image source http://ow.ly/8SzzN

Only justification is "because it can" (February 10th)

Barry Wingard the 41 year old US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel of 28 years service and a Judge Advocate General (JAG) has written a damning condemnation of the dual US legal systems. In an Aljazeera article, Wingard states “Why does the US assert its right to hold human beings for life without trial in its never-ending battle against “terror”? The only justification that I can see is “because it can”…the most visible example of “American justice” has been the confinement of Muslims at Guantanamo Bay without a trial of any kind… For 10 years, the US has clearly demonstrated it applies one set of legal rules to Americans and another to non-Americans. The first set respects due process, the rule of law, individual rights and the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, the second set involves enhanced interrogation, indefinite detention and a presumption of guilt without any opportunity to prove innocence.”

Inspired by Barry Wingard http://ow.ly/8Szjl image source http://ow.ly/

I can’t draw caricatures of anybody (February 9th)

David Shrigley the 43 year old UK visual artist has provided an interview to MetroUK about his injection of humour into his work. Shrigley works with various media and is renowned for his humourous cartoons released as postcards and in softcover books. Shrigley’s work is said to have two major characteristics, an odd viewpoint and a limited technique. His use of free hand lines are crude and incorporated with the use of ruler, and the annotations to his drawings are frequently crossed out and suggestive of poor execution. In the interview Shrigley states “My work is really quite bleak a lot of the time and quite nasty as well, so maybe adding comedy into the mix makes it slightly less so… I’m not really interested in making people laugh that much; I just want to engage people and tell them something different.” Shrigley has produced a number of drawings published by the New Statesman. “I did it as an exercise to be a political cartoonist… I’m not really equipped to do that, in the sense that I can’t draw – I’m not an illustrator. I can’t draw caricatures of anybody…”

Inspired by Metro UK http://ow.ly/8SyRh image source List http://ow.ly/8SyYv

West has mainly relied on threat diplomacy (February 8th)

Richard Anderson Falk the 81 year old US professor of international law and international activist has published an article on Aljazeera stating that “The public discussion in the West addressing Iran’s nuclear programme has mainly relied on threat diplomacy, articulated most clearly by Israeli officials, but enjoying the strong direct and indirect backing of Washington and leading Gulf states. Israel has also been engaging in low intensity warfare against Iran for several years, apparently supported by the United States, that has been inflicting violent deaths on civilians and disrupting political order in Iran… So far, the United States has shown no willingness despite the passage of more than 30 years to accept the outcome of Iran’s popular revolution of 1978-79 that non-violently overthrew the oppressive regime of the Shah… seeks to dissuade Iran from doing what it seems entitled to do… I am afraid that only when and if a yet non-existent Global Occupy Movement is fully mobilised and turns its attention to geopolitics, will the peoples of the Middle East begin to have some reason to hope for a peaceful and promising future for their region.”

Inspired by Richard Falk http://ow.ly/8SyKY image source Gravatar http://ow.ly/8SyCl

It's just so ridiculous it's almost funny (February 7th)

Leigh Van Bryan the 26 year old Irish bar manager joked on his twitter account that “I’m going to destroy America and dig up Marilyn Monroe”, was arrested along with his partner Emily Bunting 24 on their arrival to the US on terrorism suspicions and immediately forced to return back to the UK. The pair were locked in a cell for 12 hours, interviewed under oath by Homeland Security officials and accused of intending to commit crimes in the US. Van Bryan claims the tweet was taken out of context and the meaning lost in translation, as the word ‘destroy’ refers to getting trashed and partying. The tweet referred to a US comedy ‘Family Guy’ quote ‘3 weeks today, we’re totally in LA p****** people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin’ Marilyn Monroe up!’ Van Bryan’s luggage was searched for shovels and spades, and Bunting accused of planning to act as his ‘look out’ during the tomb robbing crime. Van Bryan states “It’s just so ridiculous it’s almost funny but at the time it was really scary. The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist.”

Inspired by Richard Hartley-Parkinson http://ow.ly/8Sy0o image source twitter http://ow.ly/8Syrh

Thousands of woman exposed to the toxic product (February 6th)

Jean-Claude Mas the 72 year old French founder of the company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) that manufactured thousands of breast implants has been arrested by French police in a manslaughter investigation. Mas’s company provided hundreds of thousands of faulty breast implants constructed from industrial grade silicone, some of which ruptured after being implanted, resulting in one woman dying from a rare cancer. The company had been earlier closed by French authorities and since gone into liquidation, leaving thousands of woman exposed to the toxic products without financial recourse to have the implants removed. Mas in an attempt to save money in the production process authorized the use of an unapproved cheaper grade industrial silicon in lieu of surgical grade materials, and is under investigation for fraud as a result. The implants have proved vulnerable to leaks that allow the seeping of the inferior silicon into victims body.

Inspired by Angelique Chrisafis http://ow.ly/8SxvL image source http://ow.ly/8SxFI

Bentley with license plates “BUY ART” (February 5th)

Ronald Coles the 64 year old Australian influential art dealer and gallery owner has been arrested and charged with 87 counts of theft and fraud offences. Coles was seen as a model of success, a jet setter driving a Bentley with license plates “BUY ART”, is alleged to have defrauded 43 clients of their superannuation savings. Under Australian Superannuation Laws, clients are not permitted to retain their art purchases in their homes, instead leaving them with Coles for storage. Coles allegedly in turn on-sold the art works. The Gallery went into bankruptcy in 2009 and Coles disappeared into hiding. Police seized over 400 works from various properties and discovered many were fakes, allegedly painted by Coles. Coles was discovered after his disappearance working as a taxi cab driver, and is in custody pending the posting of his $AU100,000 bail. Coles offering little remorse claims that he is the victim in the scam that potentially places the Australian art industry in disrespect with potential investors.

Inspired by Jeremy Eccles http://ow.ly/8Jmox image source Brock Perks http://ow.ly/8JmZv

Well-cast for role of fall guy and scapegoat (February 4th)

Chase Madar the US lawyer and author of ‘The Passion of Bradley Manning’ has released an article on Aljazeera stating “The bodycount that resulted from Pfc Manning’s leaks have amounted to zero thus far, while his accusers stand bloody.” Madar states, “Knowledge may indeed have its risks, but how many civilian deaths can actually be traced to the WikiLeaks’ revelations? How many military deaths? To the best of anyone’s knowledge, not a single one. …the “grave risks” involved in the publication of the War Logs and of those State Department documents have been wildly exaggerated. Embarrassment, yes. A look inside two grim wars and the workings of imperial diplomacy, yes. Blood, no. The civilian carnage caused by our rush to war … is not speculative or theoretical but all-too real. And yet no one anywhere has been held to much account… Only one individual, it seems, will pay, even if he actually spilled none of the blood. Our foreign policy elites seem to think Bradley Manning is well-cast for the role of fall guy and scapegoat. This is an injustice. …someday Pfc Manning will be honoured.

Inspired by image Chase Madar http://ow.ly/8Jm6I source Muhammad Ahmad http://ow.ly/8Jm4R

Museums of art are our new churches (February 3rd)

Alain de Botton the 42 year old Swiss philosopher and television presenter in the UK who established a new educational enterprise in London called “The School of Life”, has released an article in the Guardian referencing the recent saying that “museums of art are our new churches”. de Botton implies that “…in a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion.” And if so, “It’s an intriguing idea, part of the broader ambition that culture should replace scripture, but in practice art museums often abdicate much of their potential to function as new churches (places of consolation, meaning, sanctuary, redemption) through the way they handle the collections entrusted to them… The challenge is to rewrite the agendas for our art museums so that collections can begin to serve the needs of psychology as effectively as, for centuries, they served those of theology… Only then would museums be able to claim that they had properly fulfilled the excellent but as yet elusive ambition of in part becoming substitutes for churches in a rapidly secularising society.

Inspired by Alain de Botton http://ow.ly/8JloO image source VeracityVoice http://ow.ly/8Jlxr

Many people applauded our youthful idealism (February 2nd)

Peter Albert David Singer the 65 year old Australian philosopher and professor of Bioethics specializing in applied ethics has released an article on Aljazeera applauding the ending of battery cages in Europe for the keeping of fowls. Singer likened the achievement to the Arab Spring, stating “The end of the battery cage in Europe is a less dramatic development than the Arab Spring, but, like that popular uprising, it began with a small group of thoughtful and committed people… In the early 1970s, when the modern animal liberation movement began, no major organisation was campaigning against the battery cage… It took a concerted effort… to stir the RSPCA from its complacency towards the battery cage and other forms of intensive animal rearing… hens kept in cages so small… hens could never walk around freely, or lay eggs in a nest… Many people applauded our youthful idealism, but told us that we had no hope of ever changing a major industry. They were wrong… On the first day of 2012, keeping hens in such cages became illegal.”

Inspired by Peter Singer http://ow.ly/8JkSu image source Joel Travis Sage http://ow.ly/8JkVW

Either very rich, very poor, or in trouble with IRS (February 1st)

Donna Brazile the 52 year old US professor and political analyst published several tweets following the 2012 State of the Union address by President Barak Obama stating “Republicans can’t seem to accomplish anything, yet they are able to prevent virtually everything from happening” and comically following up with “If you pay fewer taxes than Mitt Romney, you are either very rich, very poor, or in a whole lot of trouble with the IRS”. Brazile is renowned for her weekly contributions to CNN tv’s The Situation Room, and contributions to NPR’s Political Corner. Brazile directed the Al Gore presidential campaign in 2000, and briefly served as the interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2011. Brazile developed an interest in politics at the age of nine, helping to elect a City Council candidate who had promised to build a playground; the candidate won and ignited her lifelong passion for political progress.

Inspired by Donna Brazile on Twitter image source Ron Aira http://ow.ly/8JkIr