Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Charlotte Silver the American journalist based in the Palestinian West Bank has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Will Monsanto destroy Mexico’s corn?’ discussing the introduction of GE corn to Mexico would sound the death knell for the country’s precious ecology. Silver states “When GE corn was introduced in the mid-90s, Mexico was inhospitable to the new-fangled crop. The country’s National Biosecurity Commission established a (non-legally binding) moratorium on genetically engineered corn in 1998 as a means to safeguard what is considered to be the planet’s cradle of maize cultivation. Corn has been carefully tended in Mexico for eight millennia and environmental conservationists report that thousands of peasant varieties are still grown throughout the country. With an estimated 75 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity vanished as of 1995, Mexico’s heterogeneous corn fields are a rare vestige of the age prior to the “Green Revolution” era that is responsible for the artificially and unhealthily homogenous industrial agriculture that is prevalent now. Introducing GE corn to Mexico would sound the death knell for this precious ecology as it is widely agreed that GE crops cannot co-exist with conventionally bred seeds. Despite institutional protections against GE corn, neoliberal policies have already enabled certain strains of GE corn to intermingle with Mexican maize… Thousands of tonnes of corn that began inundating Mexico from, primarily, the US (mostly for non-human consumption) after the signing of NAFTA in 1994 ensured that the promiscuous plant’s pollen blew onto the pristine fields of small farms. As of today, it is estimated that at least one per cent of Mexico’s corn has traces of GE. But perhaps of more immediate threat to the magnificent biodiversity of Mexico’s maize is the country’s politicians’ willingness to succumb to the pressure of big biotech companies. …As long as politicians do not stand up for the health of their citizens or their land, biotech companies will reap profits in the grim wake of human and ecological destruction.“

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/gdJyl image source Twitter ow.ly/gdJT9

Lee Fang the American investigative reporter and blogger has published an article in The Nation Magazine titled ‘Does the NRA Represent Gun Manufacturers or Gun Owners?’ Fang states “Over the last four years, Congress and the Obama administration have only enacted laws that have deregulated gun use in America. It’s no secret why. As pundits love to note, the gun lobby is incredibly influential. But as we consider the potential for reform … one of the first questions we should ask this time is: who does the gun lobby really represent? The National Rifle Association portrays itself as an organization that represents “4 million members” who simply love the Second Amendment. The truth is much more murky. In reality, the NRA is composed of half a dozen legal entities; some designed to run undisclosed attack ads in political campaigns, others to lobby and collect tens of millions in undisclosed, tax-deductible sums. …Despite the grassroots façade, there is much evidence to suggest that corporations that profit from unregulated gun use are propping up the NRA’s activities, much like how the tobacco lobby secretly funded “Smokers Rights’” fronts and libertarian anti-tax groups, or how polluters currently finance much of the climate change skepticism movement. …The Violence Policy Center has estimated that since 2005, gun manufacturers have contributed up to $38.9 million to the NRA. Those numbers, however, are based on publicly listed “sponsorship” levels on NRA fundraising pamphlets. The real figures could be much bigger. Like Crossroads GPS or Americans for Prosperity, or the Sierra Club for that matter, the NRA does not disclose any donor information even though it spends millions on federal elections. And like other industry fronts, the NRA is quick to conceal its pro–gun industry policy positions as ideological commitments.”

Inspired by The Nation ow.ly/gdIgD image source Verum Serum ow.ly/gdIc8

Nassim Nicholas Taleb the 52 year old Lebanese American essayist and scholar whose work focuses on problems of randomness, probability and uncertainty is the subject of a critical review from Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times for his latest publication ‘Antifragile’. Kakutani in the article ‘You Are All Soft! Embrace Chaos!’ states”A reader could easily run out of adjectives to describe Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s new book “Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder.” The first ones that come to mind are: maddening, bold, repetitious, judgmental, intemperate, erudite, reductive, shrewd, self-indulgent, self-congratulatory, provocative, pompous, penetrating, perspicacious and pretentious. …Taleb contends that we must learn how to make our public and private lives (our political systems, our social policies, our finances, etc.) not merely less vulnerable to randomness and chaos, but actually “antifragile” — poised to benefit or take advantage of stress, errors and change… For the most part, however, the author is way better at identifying examples of fragility than he is at laying out specific strategies to become more antifragile. Often the narrative hops and skips from broad-stroke hypotheses to personal anecdotes …Taleb seems to revel in being contentious and controversial, perhaps betting that such notoriety will win him and his book some added buzz. He consigns television, air-conditioning, newspapers and economic forecasts to the category of “offensive irritants.” And he talks about rationing the supply of information because, he insists, “the more data you get, the less you know what’s going on.” “Antifragile” is also riddled with contradictions. Mr. Taleb offers predictions about the future, though he keeps talking about the unreliability of predictions. He repeatedly attacks theorists and academics as the sorts of people who would presume to “lecture birds on how to fly.” And yet he’s an academic himself (whose main subject matter, his book jacket tells us, is “decision making under opacity”), and the book he’s written is nothing if not one big, hyperextended, overarching theory about how to live in a random and uncertain world.”

Inspired by Michiko Kakutani ow.ly/gdCWq image source Sarah Taleb ow.ly/gdDij

Spencer Ackerman the American national security reporter and blogger has published an article on Wired titled ‘Pentagon: A Human Will Always Decide When a Robot Kills You’. In the article Ackerman states “The Pentagon wants to make perfectly clear that every time one of its flying robots releases its lethal payload, it’s the result of a decision made by an accountable human being in a lawful chain of command. Human rights groups and nervous citizens fear that technological advances in autonomy will slowly lead to the day when robots make that critical decision for themselves. But according to a new policy directive issued by a top Pentagon official, there shall be no SkyNet, thank you very much. …the Pentagon wants to make sure that there isn’t a circumstance when one of the military’s many Predators, Reapers, drone-like missiles or other deadly robots effectively automatizes the decision to harm a human being. The hardware and software controlling a deadly robot needs to come equipped with “safeties, anti-tamper mechanisms, and information assurance.” The design has got to have proper “human-machine interfaces and controls.” And, above all, it has to operate “consistent with commander and operator intentions and, if unable to do so, terminate engagements or seek additional human operator input before continuing the engagement.” If not, the Pentagon isn’t going to buy it or use it. …Human Rights Watch…among the most influential non-governmental institutions in the world, issued a report warning that new developments in drone autonomy represented the demise of established “legal and non-legal checks on the killing of civilians.” Its solution: “prohibit the “development, production, and use of fully autonomous weapons through an international legally binding instrument.”

Inspired by Wired ow.ly/fS3oZ image source Wikipedia ow.ly/fS3eB

Marissa Ann Mayer the 37 year old American business executive has been appointed the CEO of Yahoo, making her the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company, having been ranked at number 14 on the list of America’s most powerful businesswomen by Fortune magazine. Profiled by Nicholas Carlson for Worldcrunch, Carlson states “Yahoo is deep in the process of looking at ad tech companies to acquire… Yahoo’s business is pretty simple. It makes money by selling ads on Web pages. This is the formula: Number Of Visits To Web Pages X Rate Yahoo Can Charge For Ads On Those Pages = Revenues. That formula means there are only two ways for CEO Marissa Mayer to grow the business. Method One: She can increase the number of visits to Yahoo Web pages. The way Yahoo does that is by creating new popular products and media. Method Two: She can increase the rate Yahoo charges to put ads on Web pages. The way Yahoo does that is by using ad tech to find out as much as it can about the people looking at its Web pages, and, in “real-time” sell that inventory to buyers willing to pay more to reach certain demographics. Mayer is going to embrace both methods. Mayer’s favorite thing to work on is consumer-facing products. So she’s going to personally invest lots of time in “method one.” As for “method two,” Mayer would like to delegate. …So Mayer’s plan, according to our sources, is to buy an ad tech company with a strong executive bench, and install it as the new leadership of Yahoo RMX.”

Inspired by Nicholas Carlson ow.ly/fS05u image source Facebook ow.ly/fRZOy

Sarah Kendzior the American Anthropologist who studies politics and the internet in the former Soviet Union has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Why email is and must remain private’ on the premise that private communication, if monitored, will damage trust between individuals, making it harder to form relationships. Kendzior states “When I was a child, my grandfather offered me some advice: “Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want to read about in the newspaper”. To my nine-year-old self, this advice seemed strange, almost flattering. What could I possibly do that would be worthy of public interest? Why would anyone care? Decades later, this advice still seems strange, but not for the reasons my grandfather envisioned. The internet has made us all the media, able to broadcast the indiscretions of ourselves and others with ease. What seemed horrifying to him – transgressions exposed to an audience of thousands, maybe even tens of thousands – now seems like a comparatively good deal. How quaint to experience personal humiliation on a local level, endured for a day instead of preserved for eternity. The aftermath of the Petraeus scandal, in which the CIA director’s emails to his mistress biographer were considered grounds for his resignation, has sparked debate on whether email should be considered private communication. …The expectation that private communication will be monitored will damage trust between individuals, making it harder to form relationships and exchange ideas. Email, the most intimate form of online communication, should be considered private by default and legal rights to privacy must be strengthened. The self-censored life is not worth living.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/fKf7f image source Wustl ow.ly/fKf2v

Ian Bremmer the 43 year old American political scientist specializing in US foreign policy and global political risk has published an article on Reuters titled ‘What do we know about China’s new leadership?’. Bremmer states “As China obsessives know, it is tough to read tea leaves when the water is as opaque as that surrounding China’s Politburo. In the wake of the Chinese leadership transition, we’re left to sift through the news in search of answers. There is plenty we do not know about the process or what its outcome will bring, but when it comes to underlying themes we can understand, it is possible to make some predictions. Start with solidarity. In the most telling example of Chinese political unity, the Politburo, the elite political body that makes all of China’s major decisions, went from nine people to seven to consolidate control of the political process. The Communist Party is now more unified than before and is less likely to tolerate dissent from within. The stability of the Communist Party is paramount. All else will fall in line. Note what happens to those who don’t. If the Bo Xilai incident demonstrated anything, it’s that, in China, nails that stick up will be hammered down. There is no room for leaders who stray from the party platform. Need more evidence that power is being consolidated? Hu Jintao recently surrendered his military position sooner than expected so Xi Jinping, the incoming president, could have more control. Li Keqiang, Xi’s incoming deputy, got the nod to run the economy rather than Wang Qishan   the most senior and noted market reformer of the lot. Three of five of the remaining standing committee members seem to be protégés of former President Jiang Zemin, a sign that the leadership is looking to past success as much as to the future.”

Inspired by Reuters ow.ly/fKe67 image source Stephen Voss ow.ly/fKe0D

Erik Assadourian the American Senior Fellow at the Worldwatch Institute where he studies cultural change, consumerism, degrowth, ecological ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainable communities, has been profiled in an article by Malgorzata Stawecka for IPS News titled ‘For Champions of Degrowth, Less Is Much More’. Assadourian states “…intentional societal shifting is essential for a world where seven billion humans are depleting Earth’s biocapacity and threatening the collapse of key ecosystem services, like climate regulation, fisheries, pollination, and water purification, by not proactively pursuing a path of degrowth, then we accept that instead of degrowth we’ll have an uncontrolled global contraction that will lead to much more discomfort and human suffering than degrowth ever would. … The main challenge degrowth entails is the obvious one: how do we convince those with wealth and power to be willing to redistribute this to others – both within and across societies. All would benefit if that dynamic were altered … supporting efforts to create informal economic opportunities like small-scale farming and community gardening, bartering, and repair could help in creating new means for people to sustain themselves … As people worked less, they’d earn less, in turn reducing their overall luxury consumption; fewer people would fly, they’d buy smaller homes, they’d choose smaller cars or car-free lifestyles, and so on, while this would be seen negatively by some, the newfound leisure time and less-stressful lives would offset this – especially if governments also strengthened their traditional role of providing a robust set of public goods: libraries, public transit, safe drinking water, and so on. And these public goods could be funded by increased taxation of the wealthiest, which would also help reduce luxury consumption by the very segment of society having the largest ecological impact on the planet…”

Inspired by Malgorzata Stawecka ow.ly/fuLN7 image source Linkedin ow.ly/fuLL2

Wade Guyton the 41 year old American artist regarded to be at the forefront of a generation that has been reconsidering both appropriation and abstract art through the 21st-century lens of technology, using Epson inkjet printers and flatbed scanners as tools to make works that act like drawings, paintings, even sculptures. Guyton has  been profiled by Rachel Corbett for Blouin Artinfo in an article titled ‘”A Weird, Perfect Storm”: What’s Behind the Rise of Inkjet Artist Wade Guyton?’  Corbett states “Nobody, it seems, has a bad thing to say about Wade Guyton these days. Critic Roberta Smith called the artist’s current mid-career survey at the Whitney Museum of American Art “beautiful” and “brilliant.” Art advisor Lowell Pettit described him as “a southern gentleman, the sweetest guy you’ll meet.” And perhaps the most generous compliments come from collectors, who have been shelling out upwards of $650,000 for his abstract inkjet prints. …He [] seems to have found an intellectual and financial sweet spot. His timeless, neo-minimalist aesthetic—typewritten Xs, inky monochromes, razor-sharp lines, all manufactured by an Epson inkjet printer—is highly collector-friendly, and his market was strong even before the Whitney exhibition. The intersections between painting and technology in Guyton’s work contribute to a larger historical conversation tied to Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, and Agnes Martin. This is partly why observers bet that Guyton, along with perhaps his frequent collaborator Kelley Walker and Sterling Ruby, have the conceptual chops to outlast their peers.”

Inspired by Rachel Corbett ow.ly/f5vwG image source ArtNet ow.ly/f5vtJ

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev the 54 year old American Art historian and curator has been listed by ArtReview as the number one world ‘mover and shaker’ in its Power 100 list, the first time the position has been occupied by a female. Christov-Bakargiev was the Artistic Director of the current year’s dOCUTMENTA 13 exhibition in Kassel, regarded generally as an outstanding exhibition with record setting attendances. Coline Milliard for an Blouin Artinfo article states “globe-trotting curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev is the most powerful figure in the art world, according to ArtReview’s Power 100 list. In this much-awaited Who’s Who — published yearly by the veteran art magazine for more than ten years…  That it has taken over a decade for ArtReview’s Power 100 to have a female number one might well be indicative of a lingering gender inequality in the visual arts. And to get there, Christov-Barkargiev has had to pull out the big guns. Her critically acclaimed dOCUMENTA(13) … was the most popular dOCUMENTA ever. 860,000 people saw her show in Kassel, and an extra 27,000 visited the Kabul outpost (in total almost twice as much as the number of visitors at the last Venice Biennale). …The Power 100 jury is undisclosed but it is said to be composed of twenty members from different parts of the world, including staff from ArtReview’s editorial team. Shortlisted high-flyers were considered for their activity between September 2011 and September 2012. The criteria – “local and international influence” and “impact” — are almost as nebulous as the concept of power they are supposed to pinpoint. Yet few art professionals would deny that ArtReview’s 2012 Power 100 feels like a credible snapshot of the art world in the last twelve months.”

Inspired by Coline Milliard ow.ly/eU7PC image source Facebook ow.ly/eU7NN

Sam Bollier the American online producer and regular contributor for Al Jazeera English based in Doha, Qatar has published an article titled ‘Catalans press for secession from Spain’ as a regional parliament votes to hold a referendum as surveys show record high support for independence. Bollier states “Could Catalonia become the world’s newest state? The Spanish region – with a culture, history, and language of its own – faces high barriers to becoming a fully independent country. But that hasn’t stopped an emboldened independence movement from trying. On Thursday, the parliament in Catalonia – an affluent but debt-laden region in Spain’s northeast – voted to hold a referendum on independence after elections in November. Some Catalans have long favoured full independence, as opposed to the semi-autonomous status the region currently enjoys. But as Spain’s economy continues to stagnate and unemployment rates remain sky-high, more Catalans are questioning whether they would be better off on their own. …Pro-independence Catalans cite their region’s strong national identity, and note that Catalan taxpayers pay more to the central government than the region receives in return. Long one of the richest and most industralised parts of Spain, data from 2011 shows the region’s GDP per capita is 18 per cent higher than in Spain at large. The central Spanish government, however, is annoyed with the calling of a referendum on independence, even if it is non-binding. Spain’s deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, told a news conference that there were “legal and judicial instruments” to stop such a referendum, reported AFP. “And this government is ready to use them.” Given Spain’s precarious economic state, the timing rankled the deputy prime minister, who added on a radio programme that “this debate, at this time, is creating tremendous instability”.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/eKSs3 image source Twitter ow.ly/eKSm2

Jeanne Theoharis an American an associate professor of political science, along with Saskia Sassen has published an article on The Nation titled ‘A Human Rights Court Gives Torture the Green Light’. The article states “…the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) bowed to pressure from the US and British governments and turned a blind eye to the torturous conditions at the federal Supermax prison, ADX (short for Administrative Maximum), in Florence, Colorado, where prisoners languish in long-term solitary confinement. Dealing a blow to human rights on both sides of the Atlantic, the court rejected an appeal by five terror suspects held in Britain to block their extradition to the United States. …The most restrictive prison in the federal system, ADX was built to keep every prisoner in solitary confinement and designed to limit all communication among prisoners. Cells are the size of a small bathroom with thick concrete walls and steel doors. A prisoner must eat, sleep, shower, read, pray and use the toilet in the cell. For one hour a day, prisoners may exercise in an outdoor cage too small to run in or in a windowless indoor cell, empty except for a pull-up bar. The outdoor “recreation” cages are known as “dog runs” because they resemble kennels. The only “contact” ADX prisoners have with other inmates is shouting to each other through toilets, vents or the outdoor cages. They receive food through a slot and eat every meal alone within arm’s length of their toilet. Psychiatric care at ADX often consists of shouting to prisoners through their doors to inquire if they’re “OK.””

Inspired by The Nation ow.ly/ezBjl image source Wnyc ow.ly/ezBdb

Lewis H. Lapham the 77 year old American writer and editor describes how American democracy became the property of a commercial oligarchy in an article published on Aljazeera titled ‘Feast of fools’. Lapham states “ Forbidden the use of words apt to depress a Q Score or disturb a Gallup poll, the candidates stand as product placements meant to be seen instead of heard, their quality to be inferred from the cost of their manufacture. The sponsors of the event, generous to a fault but careful to remain anonymous, dress it up with the bursting in air of star-spangled photo ops, abundant assortments of multiflavoured sound bites, and the candidates so well-contrived that they can be played for jokes, presented as game-show contestants, or posed as noble knights-at-arms setting forth on vision quests, enduring the trials by klieg light, until on election night they come to judgment before the throne of cameras by whom and for whom they were produced. Best of all, at least from the point of view of the commercial oligarchy paying for both the politicians and the press coverage, the issue is never about the why of who owes what to whom, only about the how much and when, or if, the check is in the mail. No loose talk about what is meant by the word democracy or in what ways it refers to the cherished hope of liberty embodied in the history of a courageous people. The campaigns don’t favour the voters with the gratitude and respect owed to their standing as valuable citizens participant in the making of such a thing as a common good. They stay on message with their parsing of democracy as the ancient Greek name for the American Express card…”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/ezA47 image source 3quarksdaily ow.ly/ezzWd

James R. Lobe the 63 year old American journalist and the Washington Bureau Chief for the Inter Press Service, best known for his criticism of U.S. foreign policy and American militarism, has published an article on the IPS News titled ‘US: Pushback Against Growing Islamophobia’. Lobe states “Faced with a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and a well-funded campaign to promote Islamophobia, a coalition of faith and religious freedom groups said it will circulate a new pamphlet on frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Islam and U.S. Muslims to elected officials across the United States. The initiative, which coincides with the appearance in subway stations in New York City and Washington of pro-Israel ads equating the Jewish state with “civilised man” and “Jihad” with “savages”, is designed to rebut the notion that Muslims pose a threat to U.S. values and way of life. “Nothing gives weight to bigotry more than ignorance,” said Rev. Welton Gaddy, a Baptist minister who is president of the Interfaith Alliance, a grassroots organisation of leaders representing 75 faith traditions. “The FAQ enables people to be spared of an agenda-driven fear and to be done with a negative movement born of misinformation…” Gaddy was joined by Charles Haynes, director of the Religious Freedom Project of the Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center which co-sponsored the new 13-page pamphlet, entitled “What is the Truth About American Muslims?” “In my view,” Haynes said in reference to the so-called “Stop Islamisation of America” (SIOA) movement that, among other things, has sponsored the subway ads, “this campaign to spread hate and fear is the most significant threat to religious freedom in America today”.”

Inspired by IPS News ow.ly/ezr6u image source Lobelog ow.ly/ezr23

Jack Wu the looney American candidate for the Kansas State Board of Education and member of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, claims he “…fell victim to the lies of his evil teachers and thought evolution was real science for a time. After elementary school, [he] attended a private “Christian” school. There, [he] was taught that God created the world and the universe. At first, [he] stuck with his old pseudo-science evolution-based cosmology. However, the light of the holy scriptures burned all those trashy concepts away. [He] now knows that God is the Creator of all things. With the upcoming elections, [he] endeavors to make a difference in this evil city of Topeka and this perverse state of Kansas. The students and children of this generation need the light of the scriptures if to correct their erroneous ways. They don’t need Satanic lies like evolution filling their heads, and if elected to office, [he] would like to purge such lies from the curriculum.” Wu believes “The current public educational system in Kansas and the United States is preparing its students to be liars, crooks, thieves, murderers, and perverts. My mission, in running for the Kansas State Board of Education, is to throw out the crap that teachers are feeding their students and replace it with healthy good for the soul knowledge from the holy scriptures. Let’s be specific. Evolution should never be taught in public schools as science. Evolution is false science! God made the heaven and the earth and created humans from the dust of the earth! The very bad teachers that teach that men descended from apes via evolution need to have their teaching licenses revoked. Yes, students should be taught that God created everything.

Inspired by Louis Peitzman ow.ly/emnUQ image source BBC ow.ly/emnIW

John Kiriakou the 48 year old American former CIA analyst and case officer, the first official within the U.S. government to confirm the use of water boarding of al-Qaeda prisoners as an interrogation technique, which he described as torture has been profiled by Peter Van Buren for TomDispatch in an article titled ‘The Persecution of John Kiriakou – Torture and the Myth of Never Again’. Van Buren states “The one man in the whole archipelago of America’s secret horrors facing prosecution is former CIA agent John Kiriakou. Of the untold numbers of men and women involved in the whole nightmare show of those years, only one may go to jail. And of course, he didn’t torture anyone. The charges against Kiriakou allege that in answering questions from reporters about suspicions that the CIA tortured detainees in its custody, he violated the Espionage Act, once an obscure World War I-era law that aimed at punishing Americans who gave aid to the enemy. It was passed in 1917 and has been the subject of much judicial and Congressional doubt ever since. Kiriakou is one of six government whistleblowers who have been charged under the Act by the Obama administration. From 1917 until Obama came into office, only three people had ever charged in this way. The Obama Justice Department claims the former CIA officer “disclosed classified information to journalists, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee in classified activities.”

Inspired by TomDispatch ow.ly/edjSo image source Twitter ow.ly/edkPn

Phelim Kine the American Senior Researcher of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch has published an article in the Global Post titled ‘Why are people disappearing in China?’ arguing that foreign countries should resist China’s efforts to make them complicit in the abuse of human rights. Kine states “The Chinese government has a novel solution to the growing problem of illegal enforced disappearances. “Legalize” them. …Chinese state media announced a proposed change in the Criminal Procedure Law which would allow police to legally detain individuals and hold them incommunicado in secret detention for up to six months without contact with either their families or legal counsel. The Chinese government is pitching the proposed change as merely an extension of the conditions of the existing practice of residential surveillance, or “soft arrest,” to suspects in state security, terrorism or major corruption cases. “Soft arrest” allows police to confine criminal suspects to their homes for up to six months without trial or due legal process. But Chinese lawyers, legal scholars and human rights activists warn that the proposal is a cynical fig leaf of legal justification for a wave of enforced disappearances which violate both domestic and international law. …[past 6 months] Chinese security forces have forcibly disappeared at least 26 writers, artists, bloggers and human rights defenders, according to the nongovernmental organization Chinese Human Rights Defenders. …Victims are often violently abducted, denied their right to due legal process and contact with loved ones or lawyers, and are at high risk of torture while in custody.”

Inspired by Global Post ow.ly/edbgw image source Facebook ow.ly/edbeL

Karen Leigh King the 58 year old American Professor of Ecclesiastical History working in the field of early Christianity and Gnosticism has revealed a 1,600-year-old text fragment that suggest some early Christians believed Jesus was married—possibly to Mary Magdalene. The ancient papyrus fragment has a phrase, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife.’” The text also mentions “Mary,” arguably a reference to Mary Magdalene. In a Smithsonian Magazine article by Ariel Sabar states “The fragment was a shade smaller than an ATM card, honey-hued and densely inked on both sides with faded black script. …in the ancient Egyptian language of Coptic, into which many early Christian texts were translated in the third and fourth centuries, when Alexandria vied with Rome as an incubator of Christian thought. …The fragment’s 33 words, scattered across 14 incomplete lines, leave a good deal to interpretation. But in King’s analysis, and as she argues in a forthcoming article in the Harvard Theological Review, the “wife” Jesus refers to is probably Mary Magdalene, and Jesus appears to be defending her against someone, perhaps one of the male disciples. “She will be able to be my disciple,” Jesus replies. Then, two lines later, he says: “I dwell with her.” …The question the discovery raises, King told me, is, “Why is it that only the literature that said he was celibate survived? And all of the texts that showed he had an intimate relationship with Magdalene or is married didn’t survive? Is that 100 percent happenstance? Or is it because of the fact that celibacy becomes the ideal for Christianity?”

Inspired by SmithsonianMag ow.ly/e02Mz image source Heavy ow.ly/e02HG

Doug Aitken the 44 year old American multimedia artist whose body of work ranges from photography, sculpture, architectural interventions, narrative films, sound, single & multi-channel video works, and installations; has created his first public installation in the UK for the Liverpool Biennial – titled ‘The Source’. Dave Jennings for LouderThanWar has reviewed the installation, stating “The Source is housed in a temporary pavilion outside Tate Liverpool which was designed by Aitken alongside British Architect David Adjaye OBE and asks 2 simple questions: where does the creative process start and how is it realised? Simple questions they may be, but take a moment to consider and they are actually at the heart of everything we all love in music, art or any other creative process. How often have you asked yourself ‘how did they think of that?’ … or ‘why did they do it that way?’ …Aitken has presented a fascinating study of filmed conversations with a range of participants from different spheres of creativity such as music, art, photography, acting and architecture. These are projected inside the pavilion simultaneously during the day and then outwards from the building after dark. …Aitken’s conversations are projected simultaneously inside the pavilion so you can either wander round and take in different parts or stand in the centre and make a snap judgement which area to head to. You certainly leave the building with your faith in creativity reaffirmed – let people create what they want, when they want to and how they want to do it.”

Inspired by Dave Jennings ow.ly/dPh6K image source artistsbooksandmultiples ow.ly/dPgWJ

Terri Ciccone the American founder and editor of ContrappostoArt.com a street art enthusiast blog, has released an article on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘A Prognosis of Street Artist EKG’s Irregular Heartbeat’. Ciccone states “If you keep your eyes open, you can actually see a pulse of New York City everywhere. And I don’t mean “pulse” the way news anchors refer to it … I mean a beat, an ever streaming murmur, a recorded, monitored, living pulse. I mean street artist EKG’s orange heart beat running throughout the city. EKG’s tag, or “html link” as he sometimes thinks of it, is that recognizable blip on a machine that reminds us we’re alive. …More than 2,000 of these orange oil stick lines run along the bottom of walls like mice, and sneak through our feet as they slither down streets, go in and out of doors, run underground and live on beams holding up our subway stations, seeming to trail off into infinity. …And there’s a lot more to EKG’s tag specifically. The idea of symbol recognition is one that’s made a lot of people a lot of money, and one that is very relevant to our time. Think about the difference between the Nike symbol and the Occupy Wall Street tag, OWS. Both are highly recognizable but hold very different meanings. … EKG’s tag is not just another word scribbled in marker on the wall of the C train. It’s a creative reminder of who we are, where we live, and what kind of power our living, breathing bodies and minds can have.”

Inspired by Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/dP7rt image source Facebook ow.ly/dP8dY

Aaron Y Zelin the American researcher focusing on Salafi politics, global jihadi activism and reactions to the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa has published an article on Afpak titled ‘Dodging the drones: How militants have responded to the covert US campaign’. Zelin states “Over the past decade U.S. drone strikes have killed between 1,800 and 3,100 people in Pakistan, along with hundreds more in drone attacks in Yemen and Somalia, as a result of the United States’ efforts to combat al-Qaeda and its affiliates. The rise in strikes since the beginning of the Obama administration, and the growing stridency of questions surrounding the legal, moral, and practical efficacy of the program, have led to a lively debate among the commentariat. This debate is indeed important, but it is also crucial to understand how the drone program has affected the jihadis, and how jihadis have deployed the issue of drones in their propaganda. This is a necessary part of gaining a wider understanding of whether the program is a worthwhile endeavor. …In the documents collected by Navy SEALs during their raid of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan last May, bin Laden nicknamed Pakistan’s tribal areas the “circle of espionage” for the network of spies that helps identify targets and place tracking devices for the strikes. …The fear of infiltrators has created an atmosphere of paranoia within the jihadi movement, and has led many of al-Qaeda’s operatives in the Pakistani tribal areas to move to more urban areas like Karachi. …Bin Laden also suggested that individuals flee to Afghanistan’s Kunar province, where he thought they would be safer from the spy networks that have supported the drone campaign.”

Inspired by Afpak http://ow.ly/dEopj image source Washinton Institute ow.ly/dEonO

Tarak Barkawi the American Senior Lecturer in War Studies believes that Tony Blair and Desmond Tutu share a vision of world politics as an epic struggle between good and evil, in an article he published on Aljazeera titled ‘Invasions and evasions: The Tutu-Blair paradox’. Barkawi states “Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu refused recently to appear with former prime minister Tony Blair at the Discovery Invest Leadership Conference in Johannesburg. Tutu did not want to speak alongside a leader who had lied. “If leaders may lie, then who should tell the truth?” asked Tutu. The lie in question was the formal US-UK justification for the invasion of Iraq: that “intelligence assessments” had established that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD). …Tutu accuses Bush and Blair of “destabilising” and “polarising” the world “to a greater extent than any other conflict in history”. …accuses the Anglo-American leaders of being “playground bullies”. He even blames them for the current situations in Iran and Syria. …However, allowing finance capital and big banks to range unchallenged and unregulated certainly has cost Western governments vast amounts of treasure. As for blood, just how much sweat and tears, hopelessness and stunted lives, among millions suffering in the Great Recession of recent years, equate to some few thousands killed and displaced by petty warlords? Desmond Tutu needs to reconsider just who the great purveyors of lies and human suffering are in the contemporary world. The rest of us need desperately a new political and ethical language by which we can equate the suffering caused by the economy with that inflicted by force of arms.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/dEkHg image source New School ow.ly/dElT5

April Alliston the American Professor of Comparative Literature and Guggenheim Fellow has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Trolling for trolls in Disney World and the real world’ referring to the increase in internet trolling – much of it misogynistic and damaging. Alliston states “You may have thought trolls were those fairytale ogres who lurked under bridges once upon a time, or maybe those vintage naked plastic dolls with the big shocks of brightly-coloured hair that are so ugly they’re cute. But recently, trolls – fictional and nonfictional – are turning up everywhere, from cyberspace to the school bus, on screens large and small, showing us how fantasy can disturb reality, and folks from schoolboys to grannies can turn into trolls. A global outcry faulted British police last week for penalising trolls who use Twitter for hate speech. After his close friends were ridiculed and lambasted online following the stillborn birth of their child, television host Piers Morgan declared this week, “But what I am going to do is go to war with these trolls.” Earlier this summer another global outcry led to the suspension of schoolboys who aped cyber-trolls in person. The one thing that’s clear is how confused we all are about the line between fantasy and reality, words and deeds, victims and trolls. …While speaking out against internet trolls is gaining momentum, shouldn’t the incidents of cruel trolling be decreasing, not increasing? Instead of rewarding their victim by sending her away from the real world, let’s teach everyone – schoolchildren and adults – that trolling isn’t tolerated.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/dtAjD image source Facebook ow.ly/dtB0W

Ed Moses the 86 year old American abstract painter considered one of the most innovative and central figures of postwar West Coast art has been interviewed by Alanna Martinez for Blouin Artinfo. During the interview Moses describe his painting practice as “It’s all sort of intuitive: arbitrary and intuitive and intermittent, in terms that I may choose one color to do everything. And if I don’t like it I hose it off, or the assistants scrape the paint off. Before it dries, I start introducing paint again in various methodologies of marking: pouring, foam brushing, making a crisscross pattern and not liking that, and hosing that off and then starting over. I work on about 8 to 10 paintings simultaneously. …Sometimes I’ll work on a painting over a couple of months, and sometimes I hit it right off the bat. When I do, what happens is at the end of the day, I drag the painting, kicking and screaming, into my studio, tilt it up along the walls. I have two viewing spaces; they’re about 20-by-30 to 40 feet long with 16-foot ceilings, and the lights are all on tracks. I use incandescent lights. I don’t like paintings lit by fluorescent lights. …The painting is the issue, not the environment in which the painting exists. Fluorescent light neutralizes. There’s no drama to it, there’s no romance. But that’s not a popular attitude at this particular point. People are more interested in ideas than the romance of painting. I’m still old-fashioned in that sense. I’ve been painting 50 or 60 years, so that has something to do with being still in that situation.”

Inspired by Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/dtzpV image source Facebook ow.ly/dtzo4

Phil Patton the American author on design and culture has published an article in the New York Times on ‘Our Longing for Lists’. Patton states “We’re living in the era of the list, maybe even its golden age. The Web click has led to the wholesale repackaging of information into lists, which can be complex and wonderful pieces of information architecture. Our technology has imperceptibly infected us with “list thinking.” Lists are the simplest way to organize information. They are also a symptom of our short attention spans. The crudest of online lists are galaxies of buttons, replacing real stories. “Listicles,” you might say. They are just one step beyond magazine cover lines like “37 Ways to Drive Your Man Wild in Bed.” Bucket lists have produced competitive list making online. Like competitive birders, people check off books read or travel destinations visited. But lists can also tell a story. Even the humble shopping list says something about the shopper… Lists can reveal personal dramas. An exhibit of lists at the Morgan Library and Museum showed a passive-aggressive Picasso omitting his bosom buddy, Georges Braque, from a list of recommended artists. We’ve come a long way from the primitive best-seller lists and hit parade lists, “crowd sourced,” if you will, from sales. We all have our “to-do” lists, and there is a modern, sophisticated form of the list that is as serious as the “best of…” list is frivolous. That is the checklist.”

Inspired by New York Times ow.ly/dtykH image source Twitter ow.ly/dtyjH

Marc Abrahams the American editor and co-founder of Annals of Improbable Research, and originator and emcee of the annual Ig Nobel Prize celebration, has published an article in The Guardian titled ‘Strange but true: science’s most improbable research’ in which he highlights that ‘Science isn’t always about the big questions, spending his time studying research that seeks the answers to more unlikely problems – little conundrums that others dare not tackle’. Abrahams on his web site states “…is the father and master of ceremonies of the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, honoring achievements that make people LAUGH, and then THINK. The Prizes are handed out by genuine Nobel Laureates at a gala ceremony held each autumn at Harvard University and broadcast on National Public Radio and on the Internet. The Washington Post called Marc “the nation’s guru of academic grunge.” The Journal of the American Medical Association called him “the Puck of Science.” …Marc and several Ig Nobel Prize winners are the heroes in a manga in Young Jump Magazine, Japan’s most popular manga magazine. The Improbable Research editorial board of more than 50 distinguished scientists includes nine Nobel Laureates, IQ record holder Marilyn Vos Savant, and a convicted felon. …Marc has a degree in applied mathematics from Harvard College, spent several years developing optical character recognition computer systems (including a reading machine for the blind) at Kurzweil Computer Products, and later founded Wisdom Simulators, a creator of educational software. Marc is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study called “Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur.”

Inspired by The Guardian ow.ly/djsCm image source Twitter ow.ly/djsym

Rose Aguilar the American progressive journalist and radio host has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘The secret history of your favourite hamburger’ reporting on multiple undercover investigations over the years show horrific animal cruelty, neglect and abuse at slaughter plants. In the article Aguilar states “Thanks to the brave and compassionate souls who go undercover into slaughterhouses with hidden cameras, the truth about horrific cruelty to animals is no longer being hidden from the public eye. …Because undercover videos showing the most horrific animal cruelty you can imagine are released on a regular basis and receive widespread media coverage, the meat, dairy and egg industries are feverishly working to keep you in the dark by prosecuting the whistleblowers, not the factory farm owners. Those who oppose animal cruelty know what they’re trying to hide. …The USDA exempts birds from its enforcement of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which requires that farm animals be insensible to pain before they’re shackled and killed. Most people are appalled to learn that because the meat, dairy and egg industries are so powerful, not a single federal law provides protection to animals on factory farms. …Images of cows, pigs and birds being brutally tortured are powerful and the slaughter industry knows it. That’s why they’re working to pass Ag-Gag bills across the country. They don’t want you to know the truth. In March, with the help of agricultural lobbyists, including the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and the Iowa Dairy Association, Iowa became the first state in the country to make it an offense to capture undercover video exposing animal abuse.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/djqPT image source Twitter ow.ly/djqNB

William Sanford “Bill” Nye the 56 year old American science educator and television host, best known as the host of the Disney/PBS children’s science show ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ has released a video online urging creationist parents not to force “Crazy” world views of their children as “We need them”. Neetzan Zimmerman in a Gawker article states “In a new web video from online knowledge forum Big Think, science guy Bill Nye talks about evolution denial and its negative impact on society. “When you have a portion of the population that doesn’t believe in [Evolution] it holds everybody back,” Nye says. “Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology. It’s very much analogous to trying to do geology without believing in tectonic plates.” His disagreement with grownups who believe in creationism notwithstanding, Nye says they are welcome to their “crazy, untenable, inconsistent” world view, so long as they don’t try to force it on their children. “If you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that’s fine, but don’t make your kids do it because we need them,” Nye says. “We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need people that can-we need engineers that can build stuff, solve problems.” The video concludes on a positive note, with Nye assuring viewers that “in another couple of centuries that world view…just won’t exist. There’s no evidence for it.”

Inspired by Gawker ow.ly/djmaP image source Twitter ow.ly/djm1a

George Zornick the American reporter for The Nation magazine and former researcher for Michael Moore’s SiCKO documentary has published an article titled ‘JPMorgan Starts Buying Congress Again’. In the article Zornick states “When the “fail whale” breached at JPMorgan earlier this year, creating billions in embarrassing losses as a result of risky trading, the bank immediately ceased its political giving. Not that the bank didn’t need help from Congress – it certainly did, but a long history of donations to key committees bought CEO Jamie Dimon friendly audiences during hearings exploring the losses. Rather, the bank realized that while on the hot seat, the donations were tainted and likely unwelcome in Congress. But in a clear indication that JPMorgan’s seat has already cooled considerably, the bank is once again doling out the cash. …JPMorgan PAC wrote ten checks to the PACs of ten members of Congress, many of them key members of committees with the power to stop the risky trading that created the multibillion-dollar losses at the federally insured bank this year. Nine Republicans and one Democrat split $36,000 from JPMorgan Chase & Co. PAC in roughly equal amounts. …each of the Representatives sits on [either] the House Financial Services Committee or House Ways and Means. Each senator is on [either] the Senate Banking Committee or Senate Finance Committee. These committees exercise oversight over financial reform implementation and the financial services industry needs them on its side. …this certainly won’t be the last of them—and more importantly, what it buys the industry.”

Inspired by The Nation ow.ly/djjDT image source Twitter ow.ly/djjAs

Dan Murphy the American Journalist reporting extensively on Southeast Asia and the Middle East has published an article on the CSMonitor titled ‘Is Israel trying to lead the US to war with Iran?’ In the article Murphy states “After months of quiet, the drumbeat out of Israel for a war with Iran has started again. Iran is on the verge of a nuclear bomb, a point of “no return” as some Israeli politicians have it, and squadrons of anonymous sources, credulous reporters, and columnists have been mobilized to get out the word. …Israel’s security establishment is far from united on Iran, with many warning that a preemptive war could do more harm than good to Israel’s interests. Israel and Western powers have been periodically warning that the Islamic Republic of Iran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb since the early 1980s. As far back as 1992, Mr. Netanyahu, then a member of the Israeli parliament, said that Iran was five years away from a bomb and that its nuclear program must be “uprooted by an international front headed by the US.” …But until then the talk of war is best seen as an attempt to sway American politicians and public opinion. Netanyahu and his allies, as a matter of national interest, want to persuade the US to go to war with Iran under certain conditions, well aware that striking a definitive blow against Iran’s nuclear program is beyond their own capacity. …If Israel were to unilaterally attack, the US would almost certainly be drawn into the war. Obama’s advisers know it. Watch for pushback from them on the idea in the days ahead.”

Inspired by CSMonitor ow.ly/d7g0M image source Twitter ow.ly/d7fwI

Maryvelma Smith O’Neil the American Historian and activist for Palestinian statehood has published an article on Aljazeera arguing the Illes Relief as a prized treasure should be returned to Geneva rather than squandered in Jerusalem. In the article O’Neil states “The model relief was made by Stephan Illés, an enterprising young Hungarian Catholic, who arrived in Jerusalem in 1864. He spent his days quietly binding books to earn a living, but escaped after dark into a marvellous miniature world of his own creation. From 1872 to 1873, he painstakingly crafted a 4.5 by 5 metre (15 by 16ft) 3D model to make what came to be known as the Illés Relief – a 19th century Google Map of Jerusalem. …Back in Geneva, the Maison de la Réformation council had been assured that the relief would be seen by thousands of museum-goers. However, finding it today demands directed curiosity or deliberate intention – since it is tucked away deep in the subterranean level, where it attracts few visitors – as recently attested by a museum guide. It is the only artifact in the museum, yet it is simply described on a plaque as “a 19th century model of Jerusalem”. This near absence of curatorial documentation does not fall in line with Professor Rubin’s valuation of it as “an accurate and detailed cartographic document and therefore an important and unique source for the study of the history and georgraphy of Jerusalem in the 19th century”. “

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/d7c5U image source Bangkok Allure ow.ly/d7c1U