Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Jason Lazarus the 37 year old American artist, curator, writer, and Assistant Adjunct Professor has been interviewed by Julia Halperin for Blouin Artinfo in an article titled ‘26 Questions for Semiotically Inclined Photo and OWS Sign Artist’. In the article Lazarus states “The documentation of OWS created more questions than answers — the disparate messages on protest signs resisted clear, linear, or congealing narratives that traditional media rely on to produce content. Re-creating the signs, collaboratively, with the public, allowed a way to not only produce those messages documented widely across time and space en masse, but the process of creating them literally slowed down readings of the phenomenon, producing an experience of heightened awareness of the productive (unresolved) questions that linger in OWS’s wake as well as to the economy of protest (materials, aesthetics, scale, textual play/innuendo/multiple layers of meaning). The project is a kind of reverse-photography, imaging 3D sculptures from flattened images demands a careful, multiple-layered, and active reading. …The project … frames a collective process of becoming where our strain of late capitalism is openly and visibly questioned and criticized as incompatible with our current iteration of democracy. Meanwhile, the capital in the system, like water, continues to fill in the gaps with unending resilience and infinite flexibility. … it’s important to me that the project started as re-created signs that actually occupied public space as part of Occupy USF Tampa, and they have since traveled to alternative exhibition spaces on their way to a museum. They will make their way back to alternative venues and street as well. Political art is optimal when it’s most liquid, able to travel through contexts and paradigms. I’m interested in how this project will change as its referents become distant with time.”

Inspired by Julia Halperin, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/jAq2p Image source Twitter ow.ly/jAq0S

Sarah Mousa the American graduate student at the Center of Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Layers of resistance’ implying Egyptian murals aren’t a form of art – they are an act of protest. Mousa states “…just one month after the fall of Mubarak, security forces gathered demonstrators from Tahrir Square into the National Museum. There, amid ancient Egyptian artifacts and under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the protesters were tortured. One year later, that day was marked with another act of protest; members of the opposition used their talent to paint elaborate murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, just off Tahrir Square. The street, home to the American University of Cairo, had been the site of bloodshed for months. …SCAF erected eight cement walls, barbed wire barriers and security checkpoints throughout Downtown Cairo, citing security purposes. …The walls were a point of great contention; some climbed over them, others attempted to knock them down. …Graffitists, who had mostly used stencils or quickly scribbled messages on walls to avoid arrest or torture …spend more time painting …Mohamed Mahmoud Street as well as the SCAF-constructed barriers became sites of elaborate paintings. Over the past year, the murals, whitewashed and painted one over the other several times, have confronted a number of forces of power: the SCAF government, the Ministry of Interior, the Islamist-dominated parliament, societal apathy, the Morsi leadership, Mubarak-era hijacking of culture, and Western modernist dictations on the utility of art. …The dimensions of resistance revealed in the evolving walls of Downtown Cairo point to the depth of Egypt’s revolution. The range of authoritarian forces, both political and social, and on local and global scales is poignantly confronted through the protest murals, which are far more than artistic works to be preserved and displayed.”

Inspired by Sarah Mousa, Aljazeera ow.ly/j4H6R Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4H6C

Bennett Ramberg the American writer, foreign policy consultant and expert on nuclear weapons proliferation, terrorism and international politics, has published an article on Reuters titled ‘Responding to North Korea’ in which he states “Now that Pyongyang has conducted its third nuclear test, the international community must accept what it cannot change: North Korea is a nuclear-arming state. No sanctions, no carrots, no rhetoric, no threat, no military act is likely to change this fact. The question now is how to minimize risks. First, we need to take a deep breath before we leap to any new policy. The impulse to push the North’s nuclear toothpaste back into the tube will remain. But sanctions have repeatedly failed. For reasons known only to itself, China — the one country that can effectively pinch North Korea both economically and politically — continues to provide Pyongyang with energy and foodstuffs. Beijing’s policy will likely continue. …Then there is a China card that Japan and South Korea could manipulate. Through their pundits or politicians, either could declare that the time has come to reconsider non-proliferation vows that could prod Beijing to put the squeeze on the North or risk a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia. Even talk about the option, however, could exacerbate already simmering tensions if Tokyo were to take the lead. While we can clearly exclude some options — like a U.S. military strike on North Korea’s nuclear sites — the benefits of other solutions remain murky. Rather than rush one way or another, the best course would be for Washington and its allies — following their perfunctory declarations of dismay — to take a deep breath and carefully evaluate options rather than respond compulsively. Pyongyang still has a long way to go before it becomes a credible nuclear threat.”

Inspired by Bennett Ramberg, Reuters ow.ly/j4AKM Image source TamilNet ow.ly/j4Av1

Gina McCarthy the American public administrator, an environmental health and air quality expert currently the assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to head of the EPA. George Zornick in an article published in The Nation magazine titled ‘Obama Makes a Strong Choice to Head the EPA’ states “There are three basic things one would hope to see in the White House’s nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency. …should possess a big, ambitious vision for combating climate change; …should have federal rule-making experience, since that’s the administration’s only real hope for getting things accomplished in that area; and …should be able to get confirmed by the US Senate. At first blush, Obama’s selection of Gina McCarthy seems to clearly check each box. …Here’s why: She constructed or played a role in several pioneering cap-and-trade initiatives. McCarthy spent most of her early career in Massachusetts, eventually becoming a top environmental official for none other than Mitt Romney. She commanded the development of Romney’s “Climate Action Plan” for the state, which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to ambitiously low levels… At Obama’s EPA, McCarthy oversaw the clean-air rulemaking process. Though Lisa Jackson headed the EPA and took a lot of heat from Republicans over new regulations, it was McCarthy who was doing much of the “heavy lifting,” according to the National Journal in 2011, “playing a key role in the march of environmental regulations to fight climate change and slash pollution from coal-fired power plants.”… McCarthy already passed Senate confirmation once. Republicans are well aware that the EPA will take the lead in the administration’s climate initiatives, and are certain to battle the EPA nominee regardless of who it is. McCarthy will no doubt face stiff opposition. But insofar as a nominee can be resistant to GOP opposition (and still be a strong pro-environmental choice), McCarthy fits the bill.”

Inspired by George Zornick, The Nation ow.ly/j4nzQ Image source USA Govt ow.ly/j4n8t

Jason Leopold the American investigative reporter, author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller ‘News Junkie – a memoir’ and the current deputy managing editor of Truthout has published an article titled ‘Guantanamo Hunger Strike “Potentially Life-Threatening” Attorneys Allege in Letter to Prison Officials’. Leopold states “…One prisoner who has experienced dramatic weight loss is 37-year-old Fayiz al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti who has been detained at Guantanamo for nearly 11 years. His military attorney, Air Force Lt. Col. Barry Wingard, told Truthout Tuesday that al-Kandari has lost roughly 26 pounds and another Kuwaiti prisoner, Fawzi al-Ohda, 24 pounds since they began hunger striking three weeks ago. Wingard, who is currently at Guantanamo visiting with his client, said neither prisoner has been “tubed yet.” Wingard said al-Kandari was “unfocused and had difficulty focusing on our various discussions.” On a Facebook page set up for al-Kandari and al-Ohda, 35, a post dated February 28 claimed Guantanamo guards were taunting the hunger strikers. “In response to the hunger strike, soldiers opened containers of food so the smell could fill the prison,” the Facebook post alleges. “The prisoners were then asked if they wanted one or two servings of food. The response with a big smile: ‘Do you really think the smell of your food is stronger than our religion?'” …”There is a real sense of frustration and desperation beginning to sink in here,” Wingard said. “I believe the bigger problem is that the 30- to 40-year-old men have decided not to passively die in animal cages without an opportunity to represent themselves, now well into their twelfth year. For them, any hope of justice has long since faded and death is looking like the only road out of Guantanamo.” In January, the State Department shut down the office that was set up to close Guantanamo and repatriate the prisoners who have been cleared for release.”

Inspired by Jason Leopold, Truthout ow.ly/j4lbx Image source Facebook ow.ly/j4lFl

Walter Ruiz the American lawyer and Naval Commander appointed to serve as Defense attorney for captives who faced charges before the Guantanamo military commissions, reported that Guantanamo guards had improperly seized privileged documents his clients needed to aid in their defense and that security officials had improperly been secretly monitoring the conversations between the suspects and their attorneys. In a Huffington Post article titled ‘Obama’s Guantanamo Is Never Going To Close, So Everyone Might As Well Get Comfortable’ Ryan J Reilly states “…Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz stood inside an old airplane hangar on the southernmost tip of the island and reflected on a central but unfulfilled promise of Obama’s 2008 campaign. “We’re still here,” Ruiz said, as reporters milled around the aging hangar, which has been repurposed as a work space for the journalists and human rights observers who have been flying in and out of Guantanamo since the first suspected terrorists were brought here 11 years ago. …“We’re still in military commissions. We’re still arguing about the basic protections the system affords us. We’re still talking about indefinite detention,” Ruiz continued. “We’re still talking about not closing the facility.” After years of legal wrangling, the trials of Khalid Sheikh Muhammad and four other men allegedly responsible for the 9/11 attacks have barely gotten off the ground. Ruiz, an attorney for alleged 9/11 organizer and financier Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi, estimates he has traveled to Guantanamo 50 to 100 times for client meetings and pre-trial hearings on legal minutiae since he joined the military’s defense counsel office in September 2008. “I’m here trying this case, people were here trying this case in 2008, arguing many of the same motions we’re arguing now,” Ruiz said. “And I think folks that have been around here for a while would tell you not much has changed at all.”

Inspired by Ryan J Reilly, Huffington Post ow.ly/iuHCm Image source Robert Stephenson ow.ly/iuHfy

Steven Allan Spielberg the 66 year old American film director, screenwriter, producer, and studio entrepreneur with a career of more than four decades covering many themes and genres, is to head the Cannes jury for 2013. Ben Child in an article published in The Guardian titled ‘Steven Spielberg to head Cannes 2013 jury’ states “Director whose films – Sugarland Express and ET – premiered at the festival more than 30 years ago says he is ‘privileged’ to take reins for 66th edition in May. …It will be the first time the US director has taken the role. A favourite of the French event, which premiered his 1974 feature debut Sugarland Express, as well as 1982 sci-fi blockbuster ET, Spielberg agreed in principle to preside over the competition for the coveted Palme D’Or two years ago, say organisers. With his schedule currently clear following delays to sci-fi tale Robopocalypse… “My admiration for the steadfast mission of the festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none. The most prestigious of its kind, the festival has always established the motion picture as a cross-cultural and generational medium.” He added: “The memory of my first Cannes film festival, nearly 31 years ago with the debut of ET, is still one of the most vibrant of my career. For over six decades, Cannes has served as a platform for extraordinary films to be discovered and introduced to the world for the first time. It is an honour and a privilege to preside over the jury of a festival that proves, again and again, that cinema is the language of the world.” …Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux confirmed: “Steven Spielberg accepted in principle two years ago. He was able to make himself available this year to be the new jury president and when meeting him these last few weeks it has been obvious he’s excited about the job.”

Inspired by Ben Child, The Guardian ow.ly/iuCrm Image source Romain Dubois ow.ly/iuCjG

Matthew Barney the 45 year old American artist who works in sculpture, photography, drawing and film, whose early works combined sculptural installations with performance and video has been featured by Carol Vogel in a New York Times article titled ‘Matthew Barney Heads to the Morgan Library’. Vogel states “…Barney, an artist with a cultlike following… fashions his sculptures out of unusual materials like tapioca (dumbbells) and petroleum jelly (a weight bench). His drawings are the least known of his works. But to a place like the Morgan they are also the most intriguing. “There will be many people who will be surprised to see a Matthew Barney exhibition here,” said William M. Griswold, the museum’s director. “But his drawings are central to what we do. Many of them explore aspects of his technical innovations and his process, which makes a show like this ideal. For many people it will be a real revelation.” …It is the first museum retrospective devoted to Mr. Barney’s drawings and will consist of about 100 works. They range from the late 1980s, when he was still an undergraduate at Yale University, to those he created in conjunction with his five-part “Cremaster” film cycle, produced between 1994 and 2002, to his current project, “River of Fundament,” his film and live performance collaboration with the composer Jonathan Bepler that was inspired by Norman Mailer’s novel “Ancient Evenings.” Loans for the exhibition are coming from museums here and in Europe as well as from private collections. Besides the drawings… the show will include some of Mr. Barney’s storyboards. To show the kinds of myths and legends that inspire his work he has chosen books and manuscripts from the Morgan’s own collection, like a 2,000-year-old Egyptian Book of the Dead, a medieval zodiac and a copy of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.”

Inspired by Carol Vogel, New York Times ow.ly/iqW6r Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/iqVZF

Jim Hartung the American President of GlobalEnergySolutions an internet-based company providing information about energy and related subjects, having a history in innovative energy technologies includes solar energy, gasification, nuclear power, gas turbines, and enhanced oil recovery. Hartung has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘Can NASA Stop Global Warming?’ in which he states “…since the Apollo program, NASA has lacked a clear, overarching goal to guide its activities. To drive progress in crucial areas, the agency needs a compelling vision that is consequential and relevant to current needs… Obama should challenge NASA to address one of today’s most important issues, global warming, by developing safe, cost-effective technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the planet’s atmosphere and oceans. This mission could be accomplished in two phases. During the first phase, which could be completed by 2020, researchers would identify roughly 10-20 candidate geo-engineering technologies and test them in small-scale experiments. The second phase would include large-scale test demonstrations to evaluate the most promising technologies by 2025. Developing these technologies is crucial, given that, over the last half-century, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased from roughly 320 parts per million to almost 400 parts per million, heating up the planet and increasing the acidity of the world’s oceans. At this rate, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will exceed 450 parts per million in roughly 25 years. …Far from conflicting with other, more traditional NASA programs, this mission would help to reinvigorate NASA and give its other programs greater focus and significance. This new, overarching vision would motivate NASA to gain a better understanding of the planetary processes that may affect Earth’s future, and to advance its capability to influence these processes if needed. Ultimately, this knowledge could be NASA’s greatest contribution to the world.”

Inspired by Jim Hartung, Project Syndicate ow.ly/imWZ5 Image source Global Energy Solutions ow.ly/imWHL

Michael H Posner the 62 year old American lawyer, the current Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) of the United States, is the subject of an article published in the Guardian by Glen Greenwald who states “…accountability for high-level government officials is inconceivable in the US, highlighting its culture of impunity. A US State Department official  “expressed concern” about what he called “a ‘climate of impunity’ over abuses by police and security forces” – in Egypt. The official, Michael Posner, warned that failure to investigate Egyptian state agents responsible for “cruel treatment of those in their custody” – including torture – creates “a lack of meaningful accountability for these actions”. …statements that are so drowning in obvious, glaring irony that the officials uttering them simply must have been mischievously cackling to themselves when they created them,” and this American denunciation of Egypt’s “climate of impunity” almost certainly goes to the top of the list. After all, Michael Posner works for the very same administration that not only refused to prosecute or even investigate US officials who tortured, kidnapped and illegally eavesdropped, but actively shielded them all from all forms of accountability: criminal, civil or investigative. Indeed, Posner works for the very same State Department that actively impeded efforts by countries whose citizens were subjected to those abuses – such as Spain and Germany – to investigate them. Being lectured by the US State Department about a “culture of impunity” is like being lectured by David Cameron about supporting Arab dictators. …We also see here, yet again, how monumentally important leaks are. Almost everything we know about the conduct of the US government … comes from diplomatic cables published by WikiLeak …For exactly that reason, it is no mystery why the US government is so eager to punish so severely those responsible for leaks generally and these disclosures specifically: precisely because nothing sheds light on their bad acts the way whistleblowing does.”

Inspired by Glen Greenwald, The Guardian ow.ly/i3iwV Image source US Govt ow.ly/i3ite

Noah Shachtman the American contributing editor at Wired magazine, and the editor of its national security blog, “Danger Room,”  who before turning to journalism, Shachtman worked as a professional bass player, book editor, and campaign staffer on Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign, has published an article titled ‘Is This the Secret U.S. Drone Base in Saudi Arabia?’. Shachtman states “…satellite images show a remote airstrip deep in the desert of Saudi Arabia …the base’s hangars bear a remarkable resemblance to similar structures found on other American drone outposts. And its remote location — dozens of miles from the nearest highway, and farther still to the nearest town – suggests that this may be more than the average civilian airstrip. …the U.S. built its secret Saudi base approximately two years ago. Its first lethal mission was in September of 2011: a strike on Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born propagandist for al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia. Since then, the U.S. has launched dozens of drone attacks on Yemeni targets. News organizations eventually found out about the base. But they agreed to keep it out of their pages — part of an informal arrangement with the Obama administration, which claimed that the disclosure of the base’s location, even in a general way, might jeopardize national security. …The drone base’s exposure is part of a series of revelations about the American target killing campaign that have accompanied John Brennan’s nomination to be the director of the CIA. Brennan currently oversees targeted killing operations from his perch as White House counterterrorism adviser, and would be responsible for executing many of the remotely piloted missions as CIA chief. …In their hours of questioning Brennan, however, the Senators didn’t once ask the CIA nominee about the secret Saudi drone base.”

Inspired by Noah Shachtman, Wired ow.ly/i0Vtx Image source LinkedIn ow.ly/i0VY8

Eric S. Perlstein the 43 year old American historian, journalist and was a Senior Fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future where he wrote for their blog about the failures of conservative governance, The Big Con. Perlstein has published an article in The Nation Magazine titled ‘Hell Isle’ where he states “Check out what the loopy Ayn Randroids are up to now. In long-suffering Detroit, a libertarian real estate developer wants to buy a civic crown jewel, Belle Isle, the 982-acre park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead …and turn it into an independent nation, selling citizenships at $300,000 … says would-be founder Rodney Lockwood “to provide an economic and social laboratory for a society which effectively addresses some of the most important problems of American, and the western world.” The Plan is …“Belle Isle is sold by the City of Detroit to a group of investors for $1 billion. The island is then developed into a city-state of 35,000 people, with its own laws, customs and currency, under United States supervision as a Commonwealth.” Relations with neighboring, impoverished Detroit will be naught but copacetic, and not exploitative at all: “Plants will be built across the Detroit River…. with the engineering and management functions on Belle Isle. Companies from all over the world will locate on Belle Isle, bringing in massive amounts of capital and GDP.” (Because, you know, tax-dodging international financiers of the sort a scheme like this attracts are just desperate to open and operate factories.) Government will be limited to ten percent or less of GDP, “by constitutional dictate. The social safety net is operated charities, which are highly encouraged and supported by the government.” Although, on Belle Isle, “the word ‘Government’ is discouraged and replaced with the word ‘Service’ in the name of buildings.”

Inspired by Rick Perlstein, The Nation ow.ly/i0TiP Image source Facebook ow.ly/i0TXs

David Choe the 36 year old American painter, muralist, graffiti artist and graphic novelist of Korean descent, having achieved success with his “dirty style” figure paintings comprising raw, frenetic works which combine themes of desire, degradation, and exaltation; has been the subject of an article on The Daily Beast by Lizzie Crocker titled ‘Facebook Artist David Choe Launches New Gig With Porn Star Asa Akira’. Crocker states “A year after David Choe became the most surprising multimillionaire to emerge from Facebook’s IPO, the bad-boy graffiti artist is making the publicity rounds with a new pornographic podcast featuring porn star Asa Akira. …Tits, ass, and goblins. Bare-chested chicks straddling hellhounds. Perverse imagery has long permeated graffiti artist David Choe’s work, including the infamous murals he spray-painted at Facebook’s first headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. The company’s then president, Sean Parker, allegedly told Choe to “go crazy and draw as many giant ‘cocks’” on the walls as he wanted. Choe was paid for the job in Facebook stock, which was valued at $200 million when the social media behemoth went public last February. …A year later, Choe is opening up about his new gig with porn star Asa Akira: DVDASA … The first two episodes of DVDASA feature comedian Yoshi Obayashi as a special guest, though Choe hopes to lure actors, rap artists, and other “legitimate people” into the podcast studio… He claims he created the podcast as a forum to voice personal transgressions and divulge bizarre fetishes and fantasies. “When you talk about everything openly, it’s hell on your personal relationships,” he says. “It’s weird, because it feels good and yet it’s also really self-destructive. But [Asa and I] have already figured out that we’re self-destructive people anyway, so it’s like, fuck it.”

Inspired by Lizzie Crocker, The Daily Beast ow.ly/hYBSx Image source Facebook ow.ly/hYBS8

Carey L Biron the American Washington correspondent reporting on development, international governance and US foreign policy has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘U.S. Firms Stash Tens of Billions in Tax Havens’. Biron states “The research arm of the U.S. Congress is warning that U.S. corporations’ use of tax havens has risen substantially in recent years, with companies offering massively inflated profit reports from small countries with loose tax regulations. …Further, these numbers appear to be growing. Extrapolation from the new CRS statistics suggests that U.S. corporate profits reported from, for instance, Bermuda grew by five times during the decade leading up to 2008, the last year for which data is available. Perhaps the most striking part of the new findings is simply the brazenness with which U.S. corporations appear to have become accustomed to misreporting their overseas earnings. …Incredibly, notes Citizens for Tax Justice, an advocacy group here in Washington, these countries were found to have accounted for 43 percent of the 940 billion dollars of overseas profits reported by U.S. multinational corporations, despite having made just seven percent of their foreign investments in those same countries. On the other hand, the five countries where U.S. corporations do much of their overseas business (the United Kingdom, Germany, etc) were reported to tax authorities as having accounted for just 14 percent of overseas profits. …Tax-dodging effectively takes food from hungry mouths,” Stephen Hale, advocacy head for Oxfam, said in a statement. The group offers an estimate of 32 trillion dollars currently sitting in tax havens around the world, and notes that taxes on this lump sum could raise nearly 190 billion dollars a year. On the contrary, Oxfam states, “Just 50.2 billion (dollars) a year is estimated to be the level of additional investment needed, combined with other policy measures, to end global hunger.”

Inspired by Carey L. Biron, IPS News ow.ly/hYE3X Image source Twitter ow.ly/hYE37

John J Studzinski the British American Banker and vice chair of Human Rights Watch, serving on many prestigious bodies councils and arts institutes has published an article in The Guardian titled ‘Germany is right: there is no right to profit, but the right to work is essential’ highlighting the strength of Germany lies in its medium-sized manufacturing firms, whose ethos includes being socially useful. Studzinski states “People talk too much about the economy and not enough about jobs. When economists, academics and bankers are allowed to lead the debate, the essential human element goes missing. This is neither healthy nor practical. Unemployment should be our prime concern. Spain, with youth joblessness close to 50%, is in the gravest crisis, but there is hardly a government on the planet that is not wondering what it can do to guide school-leavers into work, exploit the skills of older workers, and avoid the apathy and alienation of the jobless, which undermines not just the economy but also the social fabric. There may be no definitive answer but, over the past half-century, Germany has come closest to finding it. Its postwar economic miracle was impressive, but its more recent ability to ride out recessions and absorb the costs of reunification is, perhaps, even more remarkable. …Germany’s resilience springs from the strength of its medium-sized, often family-owned manufacturing companies, collectively known as the Mittelstand, which account for 60% of the workforce and 52% of Germany’s GDP. …There is no right to make a profit, and profit has no intrinsic value. But there is a right to work, and it is fundamental to human dignity. Without an opportunity to contribute with our hands or brains, we have no stake in society and our governments lack true legitimacy. There can be no more urgent challenge for our leaders. The title of the next G8 summit should be a four-letter word that everyone understands – jobs.”

Inspired by John Studzinski, The Guardian ow.ly/hMIcU Image source HRW ow.ly/hMIbg

Llyn Foulkes the 78 year old American artist creating landscape paintings that utilized the iconography of postcards, vintage landscape photography, and Route 66-inspired hazard signs, returning to his childhood interest in one-man bands and began playing solo with “The Machine,” which he created. Foulkes has been interviewed by Scott Indrisek in an article published in Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Renegade Llyn Foulkes is Making a Comeback With a Major Survey at the Hammer’. Indrisek states “…Foulkes is having his second big moment. The L.A. artist and musician showed with Ferus Gallery in the 1960s and enjoyed early recognition for quirky, detailed oil paintings — an enormous cow, or rocks that sort of looked like people. He later moved on to more complicated mixed-media works, creating intricate scenes that brought together cartoon culture and self-portraiture as well as an ongoing series of grotesque bloody heads. …Foulkes had had a few recent pieces in last year’s Documenta (13) exhibition, where he also sang and performed with his complicated, self-made musical instrument, dubbed the Machine. [in the interview Foulkes states] “…Early on in the ’60s I was pretty well known, and then I gave up what I was doing and tried to go back to what I was doing before. Art changed, Minimalism and installation art and all that stuff came in, and there wasn’t that much in the art magazines about me in the ’80s. I’ve had problems from the stock market of art — let’s put it that way. I’ve always been out of the mainstream because I always talk against what’s going on in art. …I’ve always been pretty much a loner, in the sense that I didn’t really associate with that many other artists…”

Inspired by Scott Indrisek, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/hMxcu Image source Facebook ow.ly/hMxca

Kevin Bogucki the 48 year old American Naval Lieutenant Commander assigned to the Office of Military Commissions as a military defense lawyer with the Department of Defense, has requested to spend two nights in prison cells at Guantanamo Bay in order to understand conditions in which 9/11 accused are held. Chris McGreal in an article published in The Guardian titled ‘Lawyers for 9/11 suspects ask to be locked up at Guantanamo’ states “Lawyers defending Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and four of his co-accused have asked to be locked up for two nights in the Guantánamo prison in order to understand the conditions in which their clients are held. The US government has objected to the request on the grounds that it “could endanger the lives of those involved in such a visit” and instead offered an escorted tour. …Bogucki, likened the government’s offer to the “jungle ride at Disneyland”, where visitors think the mechanical elephant is real. He said he wanted a “full and meaningful inspection”. None of the defence lawyers have ever seen inside the maximum security facility, Camp 7, where detainees captured and tortured by the CIA – including Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times – are held. …A government lawyer, Major Rob McGovern, said the authorities would agree to the lawyers visiting the prison but only on a two hour escorted trip without the detainees present. He derided the notion that defence lawyers would be walking around in their client’s shoes for 48 hours. … McGovern said it was to ensure the safety of the visiting attorneys. Defence lawyers said they did not feel in danger from their own clients.”

Inspired by Chris McGreal, The Guardian ow.ly/hLRIs Image source Facebook ow.ly/hLRGA

Jeffrey Alexander Frankel the 60 year old American Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and former member of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Bill Clinton has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘Will Europe’s Fiscal Compact Work?’. Frankel states “At the start of 2013, the eurozone’s “fiscal compact” entered into force… The compact – technically called the Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union – requires member countries to introduce laws limiting their structural government budget deficits to less than 0.5 % of GDP (or less than 1% of GDP if their debt/GDP ratio is “significantly below 60%”). So, will this new approach work? A limit on the “structural deficit” means that a country can run a deficit above the limit to the extent – and only to the extent – that the gap between revenue and spending is cyclical (that is, its economy is operating below potential due to temporary negative shocks). In other words, the target is cyclically adjusted. …The aim is to fix Europe’s long-term fiscal problem, which has been exacerbated by three factors: the failure, since the euro’s inception, of the eurozone-wide Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) to enforce deficit and debt limits; the crisis that erupted in Greece and other countries on the eurozone periphery in 2010; and the various bailouts that have followed. …Ever since the eurozone was established, its members have issued official fiscal forecasts that are systematically biased in the optimistic direction. Other countries do this, too, but the bias among eurozone countries is, if anything, even worse than it is elsewhere. …if forecasts are biased, fiscal rules will not constrain budget deficits. In any given year, governments can forecast that their growth rates, tax revenues, and budget balances will improve in subsequent years, and then argue the following year that the shortfalls were unexpected.”

Inspired by Jeffrey Frankel, Project Syndicate ow.ly/hnJJp Image source Harvard ow.ly/hnJIm

Embracing innovative new forms of diplomacy (February 9 2013)Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton the 65 year old American politician, wife of the 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton, leading candidate for the Democratic 2008 presidential nomination, and the US Secretary of State, has been the focus of an article by David Rohde on Reuters titled ‘Clinton: International portfolio, domestic concerns’ referring to her potential candidacy for the 2016 presidential nomination. Rohde states “…She [Clinton] has been a very good but very cautious secretary of state, who kept her distance from Afghanistan and other seemingly intractable conflicts. Clinton established a strong relationship with President Barack Obama, was innovative and worked tirelessly, but her position as a potential 2016 presidential candidate clearly influenced her performance. One State Department official praised Clinton’s tenure, but talked about looking forward to the arrival of her presumed successor, Senator John Kerry. …After promising a sweeping break with the approaches of President George W. Bush, the Obama White House has proved just as insular and controlling of foreign policy as the Bush administration. …Obama’s first-term foreign policy was marked by cautious, political calculation. Members of his foreign policy team rightly point to the president’s re-election as proof that their approach worked. A more decisive Obama approach in foreign affairs, though, may have helped him at the ballot box. …The lesson of Iraq is that American invasions are not the answer. But neither is isolation. Traditional American diplomatic engagement is needed in the Middle East, including efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At the same time, new means of diplomacy – what Clinton called “smart power” – should be carried out as well. U.S. trade, technology and private investment – not simply drones – should be used to counter militancy. Clinton deserves credit for restructuring the State Department and embracing innovative new forms of diplomacy.”

Inspired by David Rohde, Reuters ow.ly/hhRPd Image source Kai Mork ow.ly/hhRIm

Zillah Eisenstein the American political theorist, activist and Professor of Politics having written books that have tracked the rise of neoliberalism both within the U.S. and across the globe. Eisenstein has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Female militarism: Band of sisters?’ claiming that fighting on the front lines of a war zone doesn’t exactly reflect feminist ideals or progress towards gender equality. Eisenstein states “…US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has lifted the military’s official ban on women in combat. This overrides a 1994 Pentagon ruling that excluded women from artillery, armour, infantry and other combat. …I wonder who really wants to serve in combat? Who wants to fight wars in the first place? Who wants to be on the front lines and kill other human beings – or better yet, get killed themselves? …Not all, but many who “choose” to enlist have few other alternatives. Many are in the US military today because of a lack of alternatives in a shrinking job market. …The pay is about equal between Wal-Mart and the military, although the latter job can get you killed. I do not think that many enlisted women are any more pro-war than I am. It is a job, albeit a dangerous one. The rest of us are just lucky enough to have other options. …My point is that the global economy and its shrinking labour market, everywhere, is growing more militarist and more female at the same time. And, it is really important to not confuse the presence of females, especially in combat, with gender “equality”. …There is less and less equality for everyone, men and women alike. Equal to what and to whom and for what? I am thinking about that 99 percent. US military women are still part of the 99 percent, unequal even if now with full citizen rights.”

Inspired by Zillah Eisenstein, Aljazeera ow.ly/hfL1N Image source Facebook ow.ly/hfKZS

Michael Bruce Sterling the 58 year old American science fiction author best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology helping to define the cyberpunk genre has been featured by George Dvorsky in an article published on io9 titled ‘Bruce Sterling Thinks Artificial Intelligence Has Jumped the Shark’. Dvprsky states “…if his recent comments about the potential risks of greater-than-human artificial intelligence — or lack thereof — are any indication, he’s itching to start a giant fight among futurists. …Sterling penned a four paragraph article saying that we shouldn’t fear the onset of super AI because a “Singularity has no business model.” He writes: This aging sci-fi notion has lost its conceptual teeth. Plus, its chief evangelist, visionary Ray Kurzweil, just got a straight engineering job with Google. Despite its weird fondness for AR goggles and self-driving cars, Google is not going to finance any eschatological cataclysm in which superhuman intelligence abruptly ends the human era. Google is a firmly commercial enterprise. It’s just not happening. All the symptoms are absent. Computer hardware is not accelerating on any exponential runway beyond all hope of control. We’re no closer to “self-aware” machines than we were in the remote 1960s. Modern wireless devices in a modern Cloud are an entirely different cyber-paradigm than imaginary 1990s “minds on nonbiological substrates” that might allegedly have the “computational power of a human brain.” A Singularity has no business model, no major power group in our society is interested in provoking one, nobody who matters sees any reason to create one, there’s no there there. So, as a Pope once remarked, “Be not afraid.” We’re getting what Vinge predicted would happen without a Singularity, which is “a glut of technical riches never properly absorbed.” There’s all kinds of mayhem in that junkyard, but the AI Rapture isn’t lurking in there. It’s no more to be fretted about than a landing of Martian tripods.”

Inspired by George Dvorsky, io9 ow.ly/gXH7O Image source Pablo Balbontin Arenas ow.ly/gXH9v

Sterling Wells the 28 year old American artist painter and sculptor has been featured by Allison Meier in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Artist Sterling Wells Creates Post-Natural Landscape Paintings’. Meier states “When looking at a painting, you lose yourself in an imagined world,” artist Sterling Wells told ARTINFO. Yet his work takes this idea a bit further than most artists, basing his detailed watercolor landscapes on miniature fabricated environments that he builds within his studio.  “The falseness connects them to painting, in that I’m inventing an artificial world within a frame, and to entertainment,” he elaborated. “Like watching a movie, going to a theme park, or looking at the dioramas at a natural history museum, I also want my art to be temporarily immersive and transporting.” …He loved working outside where he could become “attuned to the colors of the world, the way the light changes over the course of a day.” However, he became frustrated by the limitations of painting. “I initially wanted to make my own natural environments in order to control the light, and because I wanted to paint a purely natural landscape, but none was easily available,” he explained. “Painting from observation seemed too passive — I wanted to engage directly with the environment, and actively create new realities.” …he builds sculptural environments that he uses as models for his paintings, and also art on their own. He continues to work outside, painting en plein air in the middle of creeks or in the rain with a tarp over his head. Only now he also paints in a studio cluttered with rocks, paint, and warped car parts, where he tends to a small greenhouse and the often post-apocalyptic feeling of nature overtaking abandonment…”

Inspired by Allison Meier, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/gXFTE Image source Facebook ow.ly/gXFSH

Zachary “Zack” Kopplin the 19 year old American science education activist from Louisiana  known for his campaigns to keep creationism out of public schools and focuses on separation of church and state causes, has been featured by George Dvorsky in an article published on io9 titled ‘How 19-year-old activist Zack Kopplin is making life hell for Louisiana’s creationists’. Dvorsky states “For Zack Kopplin, it all started back in 2008 with the passing of the Louisiana Science Education Act. The bill made it considerably easier for teachers to introduce creationist textbooks into the classroom. Outraged, he wrote a research paper about it for a high school English class. Nearly five years later, the 19-year-old Kopplin has become one of the fiercest — and most feared — advocates for education reform in Louisiana. We recently spoke to him to learn more about how he’s making a difference. Kopplin, who is studying history at Rice University, had good reason to be upset after the passing of the LSEA — an insidious piece of legislation that allows teachers to bring in their own supplemental materials when discussing politically controversial topics like evolution or climate change. Soon after the act was passed, some of his teachers began to not just supplement existing texts, but to rid the classroom of established science books altogether. It was during the process to adopt a new life science textbook in 2010 that creationists barraged Louisiana’s State Board of Education with complaints about the evidence-based science texts. Suddenly, it appeared that they were going to be successful in throwing out science textbooks. “This was a pivotal moment for me,” Kopplin told io9. “I had always been a shy kid and had never spoken out before — I found myself speaking at a meeting of an advisory committee to the State Board of Education and urging them to adopt good science textbooks — and we won.” The LSEA still stood, but at least the science books could stay…”

Inspired by George Dvorsky, io9 ow.ly/gXDfK Image source Facebook ow.ly/gXDbO

Kate Ruggeri the 24 year old American artist, curator, and DJ has been nominated by Blouin Artinfo as an emerging artist in an article titled ‘Painter-Sculptor Kate Ruggeri Finds Heroism in Humble Materials’ by Allison Meier. Meier states “Following a fire that wrecked her studio, Chicago-based artist Kate Ruggeri is persevering by creating work that evokes hope and heroes through the unlikely materials of old clothes, buckets of house paint, and twine. …she’s been experimenting with merging her interests in painting and sculpture into dimensional forms swathed with reclaimed fabric and discarded materials, and coated with thick layers of paint. The results have a scrappy, tactile quality, but also a quiet gravity. … “Joseph Campbell’s monomyth was my main inspiration, since I was little I’ve been interested in myths, adventure stories, and biographies. I don’t think it’s very difficult to identify with a hero at moments in your own life.” …One of Ruggeri’s sculptures, appropriately called “Hero,” strides like a DIY Giacometti, a paint-stained backpack on its shoulders and a walking stick pointing forward. “In the past few months, I have seen great heroics in my friends and community,” she explained. “My roommate had been mugged and shot walking home, and survived. There were a number of tragic deaths in the Chicago community. My studio building had burned down and I had lost all of my work.” … A painter at heart, she started using sculptural constructions as canvases because she was exhausted with looking at blank, flat surfaces. After building a wooden armature, she wraps it with window screens, fabric, found materials, and personal possessions. …“In my work, I try to create homages to human experience,” she said. “I see the viewer on their own journeys, having their own lives, their own struggles, triumphs. It’s a way to be self-reflective.”

Inspired by Allison Meier, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/gSY54 Image source lawnlike ow.ly/gSY33

Henry Blodget the 46 year old American former equity research analyst and  senior Internet analyst, now CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Business Insider, has published an article titled ‘Apple’s Cheap iPhone Is A Great Move For The Company’. Blodget states “At the end of this year, when Apple’s cheap iPhone comes out, it is going to be amusing to listen to all the Apple fans who consoled themselves about Apple’s loss of market share by dismissing competitors’ phones as “cheap plastic crap.” Because the new cheap iPhone is supposed to have a cheap plastic back. …But more importantly… Apple’s decision to finally launch a cheap iPhone is a great move by the company. It’s a move that is at least a year late, unfortunately, which has helped Apple lose a lot of global market share to competitors like Samsung.…Because the explosive growth in the smartphone market has now shifted to emerging markets like China and India, where there are few carrier subsidies and most people can’t afford phones that cost $600. By insisting on maintaining the premium prices of its phones, Apple has missed out on this growth in the past couple of years. …Apple’s decision to offer a $99-$149 phone will reduce the amount of profit that Apple makes per phone. And, relatedly, it will likely reduce Apple’s profit margin. But that’s okay. Apple’s profit margin is still extraordinarily high–the highest in the industry, by a mile. Apple’s profit margin, even after accruing for taxes that the company mostly doesn’t pay, is an astounding 26%. …No other hardware companies have margins that are anywhere close to that high. …Apple has sacrificed revenue growth and platform growth by deciding to confine itself to the “premium” market.  And, meanwhile, Apple has raked in such an astounding amount of profit that Apple has no idea what to do with the cash piling up on its balance sheet.”

Inspired by Henry Blodget, Business Insider ow.ly/gQZtW Image source Financial Times photos ow.ly/gQYZu

As biofuel demand grows so do hunger pangs (January 17 2013)Elisabeth Rosenthal the American medical doctor specializing in epidemic disease, scientific and environmental matters has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘As Biofuel Demand Grows, So Do Guatemala’s Hunger Pangs’. Rosenthal states “In the tiny tortillerias of this city [Guatemala City], people complain ceaselessly about the high price of corn. Just three years ago, one quetzal — about 15 cents — bought eight tortillas; today it buys only four. And eggs have tripled in price because chickens eat corn feed. …Recent laws in the United States and Europe that mandate the increasing use of biofuel in cars have had far-flung ripple effects, economists say, as land once devoted to growing food for humans is now sometimes more profitably used for churning out vehicle fuel. In a globalized world, the expansion of the biofuels industry has contributed to spikes in food prices and a shortage of land for food-based agriculture in poor corners of Asia, Africa and Latin America because the raw material is grown wherever it is cheapest. …With its corn-based diet and proximity to the United States, Central America has long been vulnerable to economic riptides related to the United States’ corn policy. Now that the United States is using 40 percent of its crop to make biofuel, it is not surprising that tortilla prices have doubled in Guatemala, which imports nearly half of its corn. At the same time, Guatemala’s lush land, owned by a handful of families, has proved ideal for producing raw materials for biofuels. Suchitepéquez Province, a major corn-producing region five years ago, is now carpeted with sugar cane and African palm. …Roughly 50 percent of the nation’s children are chronically malnourished, the fourth-highest rate in the world, according to the United Nations.”

Inspired by Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times ow.ly/gKkg3 Image source Twitter ow.ly/gKkeF

Lucy Lippard the 75 year old American internationally known writer, art critic, activist and curator among the first writers to recognize the “dematerialization” at work in conceptual art and was an early champion of feminist art has been featured by Chloe Wyma in an article for Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Four Decades After Lucy Lippard’s “Six Years,” Is Conceptual Art Still Relevant? Wyma states “If you want to understand the stakes of the “dematerialization of the art object,” look no further than the late British artist John Latham’s “Art and Culture,” the entrance piece at “Materializing Six Years: Lucy Lippard and the Emergence of Conceptual Art” at the Brooklyn Museum. The piece mockingly takes its title from mid-century formalist art critic Clement Greenberg’s influential text: An open briefcase reveals a copy of Greenberg’s book, an overdue notice from the library, and vials containing the masticated pulp of its pages. The byproduct of a party where Latham invited guests to chew the pages of Greenberg’s book, the work takes the radical propositions of dematerialization quite literally, turning the bible of formalist art criticism into formless cud. Casting off the cloth of the detached, Greenbergian art critic, Lucy Lippard played a crucial role, not only as a writer, but as curator and collaborator within the diverse artistic activity that’s now catalogued under the rubric of Conceptual Art. As she writes in the forward to the exhibition, Lippard and her circle “invented ways for art to act as an invisible frame for seeing and thinking rather than as an object of delectation or connoisseurship.” In their critique of the art object, they sought to remake the art world as a network of ideas to be shared, rather than a marketplace of objects to be bought and sold.”

Inspired by Chloe Wyma, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/gGWLj Image source Fluxusa ow.ly/gGWJS

John Owen Brennan the 57 year old American chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama whose responsibilities include overseeing plans to protect the country from terrorism and respond to natural disasters has been nominated to fill the position of CIA Director on the resignation of General Petraeus resulting from his affair with his biographer. In an article published in Wired titled ‘If You Thought Obama’s Drone Godfather Was Powerful, Wait ‘Til He’s at the CIA’ Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman states “If confirmed by the Senate to lead the CIA, John Brennan … will be clothed in immense power. He’s already an architect of the CIA’s accelerated counterterrorism campaign, the one that launches drone strikes at suspected terrorists around the world. From his perch at the White House, Brennan has been a major advocate for the CIA, perhaps more effectively than the men running Langley, thanks to his close relationship with Obama. …By putting Brennan at the CIA and former Senator Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon, Obama’s national security predilections come into focus: aggressive but secretive wars with minimal troop and logistics footprints, matched with winding down the long slog in Afghanistan. …Brennan suddenly looks like the most powerful member of Obama’s national security team. Hagel looks like he may face a tough confirmation fight, and in any event is new to the Pentagon, a management challenge like no other. …“Brennan is The Guy now,” Zegart notes. “There’s no more important asset, coming into the head of the agency, than having that kind of trust of the president. Brennan is possibly unique in that respect: I can’t remember an incoming CIA director with that kind of relationship with the president.””

Inspired by Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, Wired ow.ly/gGS16 Image source White House ow.ly/gGROp

I use materials: time, space, color, words (January 13 2013)Robert Barry the 76 year old American artist renowned for his non-material works of art, installations, and performances using a variety of otherwise invisible media, has been interviewed by Celine Piettre for Blouin Artinfo in an article titled ‘Artist Robert Barry Discusses Working With “Time, Light, and Darkness”’.  Barry states “I don’t like this term [Conceptual Artist]. I find it very limiting, as far as I’m concerned in any case. I use materials: time, space, color, words. My work is visual, and not purely about ideas or concepts. …I don’t work so much on language as on words, which I perceive as objects. They have a color, a size. They exist in a given space and time. They have a tangible aspect. Words are also very personal. They come from us and say things about us. They have a story. We all interpret them according to our own experience. I’m always surprised when people ask me this question. I’m interested in words — that’s it. It’s like I painted flowers or landscapes. It’s a personal interest, a work material that offers infinite possibilities. …Video is a natural medium for me. I’ve used it since the beginning of my career. It’s a medium of time — a notion, a material that is truly integral to my work, like light. I like the idea of light emerging from the darkness and plunging into it again. It’s something that everyone experiences. …It’s important to me that there can be different levels of perception, experiences, and time. All these components of the real are combined here: the idea of art, war, light, words, and speech — they work together to make the piece. … In general, I like using music in my work because it’s an art that exists in time.”

Inspired by Celine Piettre ow.ly/gwWNu image source TownNews ow.ly/gwWMO

Esther Dyson the 61 year old American former journalist and Wall Street technology analyst, now entrepreneur who concentrates her investments on emerging digital technologies, and is Chairwoman of EDventure Holdings focusing on issues related to medical technology, aviation, and space travel. Dyson has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘The rise of the attention economy’ claiming people in the attention economy spend their personal time attracting others’ attention. Dyson states “…companies go online to earn money. Google is perhaps the purest example of a company that transforms purchase intentions into income; most other “internet” companies offer something of independent value on the other side of those searches. But many individuals, most of the time, go online without any interest in buying something. They are there to find out about the world, catch up with friends, play games, listen to music, chat, or just hang out – and, increasingly, to get the attention of other people. Thanks to highly productive surplus economies, they can spend a lot more time being economically inactive. …This attention economy is not the intention economy beloved of vendors, who grab consumers’ attention in order to sell them something. Rather, attention here has its own intrinsic, non-monetisable value. The attention economy is one in which people spend their personal time attracting others’ attention, whether by designing creative avatars, posting pithy comments, or accumulating “likes” for their cat photos. Just as we are driven to spread our physical DNA, so apparently do we have an urge to spread our virtual identities, so that we cannot be erased. Instead of physical descendants, we are offering our own virtual selves to posterity.”

Inspired by Project Syndicate ow.ly/gwVob image source Twitter ow.ly/gwVdO

Jodi Dean the 44 year old American International lecturer having written widely about politics and culture with activist interests include digital media, post-structuralism, neoliberalism, psychoanalysis, and the OCCUPY movement. Dean has published an article in The Guardian titled ‘Occupy and UK Uncut: the evolution of activism’ claiming the challenge these movements face is how to grow without becoming instruments of the systems they contest. Dean states “Earlier this month, Occupy Our Homes engaged in anti-foreclosure actions across the United States. In Atlanta and Minneapolis, activists helped families occupy vacant bank-owned homes. In Sacramento and Detroit, groups protected residents from eviction. In Philadelphia, Chicago, and St Louis, demonstrators protested against foreclosure. Thousands took part in these actions, yet coverage was restricted to local media outlets. Why did the protests get so little attention? Declining public interest in Occupy doesn’t account for it. Occupy Sandy, a relief effort organised by Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters to assist the victims of the hurricane, was covered. …Occupy Sandy’s mutual aid connected the hurricane to a critique of capitalism for failing to provide infrastructures adequate to the needs of an urban population in a changing climate. It has used its access to the community as an opportunity for consciousness-raising. Similarly, UK Uncut links its attack on Starbucks and Google with a larger analysis of the connections between profits for corporations and cuts for people. It channels anger at corporations’ failure into an exposition of the deeper unfairness of the system itself. Both movements are embedding themselves deeper into society. Instead of jumping from issue to issue or rising up only to sink back down, they are building solidarity. They’re organising for a longer struggle, finding ways to create spaces for debate within a broader commitment to collective, egalitarian solutions.”

Inspired by The Guardian ow.ly/gwUNH image source lareviewofbooks ow.ly/gwULb