Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

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

David Runnalls the Canadian writer and environment columnist, former Board member of IUCN-the World Conservation Union, and current Distinguished Fellow with IISD, has published an article in The Globe and Mail titled ‘Roasted, toasted, fried and grilled’: climate-change talk from an unlikely source ‘. Runnalls states “ This past little while has seen some statements from unlikely sources about the critical economic importance of dealing quickly with climate change. President Barack Obama led off the batting with his inaugural address, calling on Americans to take the lead in developing the technologies necessary for the emerging low-carbon economy. He pointed to the drought and Hurricane Sandy as the most recent evidence that our climate is changing for the worse. But the most startling statements came from the heads of those bastions of economic orthodoxy: the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. …[head of the IMF Ms. Lagarde] said: “Unless we take action on climate change, future generations will be roasted, toasted, fried and grilled.” Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, went so far as to insist that climate change be at the top of the Davos agenda, along with finance and growth, “because global warming imperils all of the development gains we have made.” …These statements are not from the head of Greenpeace or from David Suzuki. They come from the heads of the bulwarks of the international financial system. For years, the IMF has resisted straying into the realm of environment and finance, viewing it as a side issue best left to international environmental organizations. And while the World Bank has invested in low-carbon futures and has been active in climate talks, the issue has not been raised to the top of its agenda. Until now. Climate change as the main economic discussion point at the annual meeting of the rich and famous leaders of governments and multinational enterprises?”

Inspired by David Runnalls, The Globe and Mail ow.ly/hMwGA Image source CIGI ow.ly/hMwF2

Michael T. Klare the American Professor of Peace and World Security Studies has published an article on TomDispatch questioning if Barack Obama is morphing into Dick Cheney, highlighting four ways he is pursuing Cheney’s geopolitics of global energy. In the article Klare states “As details of his administration’s global war against terrorists, insurgents, and hostile warlords have become more widely known — a war that involves a mélange of drone attacks, covert operations, and presidentially selected assassinations — President Obama has been compared to President George W. Bush in his appetite for military action. …When it comes to international energy politics, however, it is not Bush but his vice president, Dick Cheney, who has been providing the role model for the president.  …it is possible to reconstruct the geopolitical blueprint that Cheney followed …a blueprint that President Obama, eerily enough, now appears to be implementing, despite the many risks involved.1. Promote domestic oil and gas production at any cost to reduce America’s dependence on unfriendly foreign suppliers… 2. Keep control over the oil flow from the Persian Gulf … in order to retain an “economic stranglehold” over other major oil importers. 3. Dominate the sea lanes of Asia, so as to control the flow of oil and other raw materials to America’s potential economic rivals, China and Japan. 4. Promote energy “diversification” in Europe, especially through increased reliance on oil and natural gas supplies from the former Soviet republics of the Caspian Sea basin… This four-part geopolitical blueprint, relentlessly pursued by Cheney while vice president, is now being implemented in every respect by President Obama.”

Inspired by Tom Dispatch ow.ly/cf7Nz image source Twitter ow.ly/cf7MZ

Robert Bernard Reich the 66 year old American political economist and professor has published an article on his blog titled ‘The Big-Lie Coup d’Etat’ assessing the “… launching [of] a multi-million dollar TV ad buy [by] Crossroads GPS, the sister organization to the super PAC American Crossroads run by Republican political operative Karl Rove. …is a tax-exempt nonprofit group, it can spend unlimited money on politics — and it doesn’t have to reveal where it gets the dough. By law, all it has to do is spend most of the money on policy “issues,” which is a fig leaf for partisan politics. …The narrator in the ad … solemnly intones: “In 2008, Barack Obama said, ‘We can’t mortgage our children’s future on a mountain of debt.’ Now he’s adding $4 billion in debt every day, borrowing from China for his spending. Every second, growing our debt faster than our economy,” he continues. “Tell Obama, stop the spending.” This is a baldface lie, by the way. Obama isn’t adding to the debt every day. The debt is growing because of obligations entered into long ago, many under George W. Bush – including two giant tax cuts that went mostly to the very wealthy that were supposed to be temporary and which are still going, courtesy of Republican blackmail over raising the debt limit. In realty, government spending as a portion of GDP keeps dropping.”

Inspired by Robert Reich ow.ly/bW9Qs image source Facebook ow.ly/bW9H9

Idea that we are all citizens of the world (March 9th)

Kwame Anthony Appiah the 57 year old Ghanaian born UK-American philosopher and cultural theorist has been awarded the National Humanities Award by Barack Obama, for advocating a school of thought he describes as ‘cosmopolitanism’. Appiah’s cosmopolitanism is an idea and way of being, the way we view ourselves in the world at large. Appiah describes the concept as, “A tradition of thought that tries to develop the metaphor of the idea that we are all citizens of the world.” The cosmopolitanist philosophical tradition has its beginnings with German philosophers such as Hegel through to Du Bois and others, Appiah defines his conception of cosmopolitanism as “universality plus difference”. Appiah states that different cultures are respected “not because cultures matter in themselves, but because people matter, and culture matters to people.” According to Appiah’s take on this ideology, cultural differences are to be respected in so far as they are not harmful to people and in no way conflict with our universal concern for every human’s life and well-being. Appiah argues there are two ideas that “intertwine in the notion of cosmopolitanism”. The first is the idea that we have obligations to others that are bigger than just sharing citizenship. The second idea is that we should never take for granted the value of life, and we become informed of the practices and beliefs of others.

Inspired by Aljazeera http://ow.ly/9mb7r image source David Shankbone http://ow.ly/9mbfd

Frank Shepard Fairey the 41 year old US LA based street artist renowned for his 2008 US presidential election poster ‘Hope’ of Barack Obama has been physically attacked after the opening of his exhibition at a Dutch Copenhagen gallery, resulting in a black eye and bruised ribs. Leftwing anarchists have been enraged following his involvement with a controversial mural referring to Fairey as an “Obama illuminati”. The mural commemorated the controversial demolition of a youth house that had become symbolic of the tensions between the fringe leftwing community and the establishment. Thought to be an establishment propagandist piece, the mural was vandalized by protestors with graffiti slogans “no peace” and “go home, Yankee hipster”. Fairey declined to report the incidents to police stating he was not a huge fan of the cops.

Inspired by thedailybeast http://ow.ly/63efw image source Wikipedia http://ow.ly/63eF3

Cynthia Stroum the former US Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and a major donor to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has been accused of having a confrontational management style during her appointment to the Ambassador’s position. Inspectors from the State Department Inspector General’s office visited the U.S. Embassy in Luxembourg reporting chronic gaps in staffing levels caused by Stroum, leading to a state of dysfunction and an absence of a sense of direction. Stroum apparently spent an inordinate amount of her and other staff time supervising the repair of the ambassador’s residence and purchasing unwarranted volumes of wine and other liquour.  Gaps in staffing levels came about as senior staff sought transfers to other embassies to escape Stroum’s management style.

Inspired by Ryan Reilly at  TPMMuckraker ow.ly/3R7vW image source TPM ow.ly/3R7vE

There are easier ways to learn these lessons (November 7th)

Barack Obama the US president accepted the responsibility for the Democrats ‘shellacking’ in the congressional elections, leading to control of the congress ironically being handed back to those that created the worst recession since the 1930s and who consistently stymied his attempts to reinvigorate the US economy. The rise of the ultra right wing conservative Tea Party activists along with cable television and radio shock jocks helped set the agenda of the debate that lead to the demise of Obama’s previous presidential winning popularity. Unpopular measures highlighted by his opposition included the bailout of the banks and car industry, while ignoring his efforts at job creation and reforming the way ‘Washington’ does its business.

Political Arts | Ian Bunn Visual Artist

My digital art work is essentially politics and art. It’s about iconic people, places and events of our day.  Recorded visually through daily compilations of manipulated digital images, posted online and disseminated via online media and social networks. The works are diaristic in nature that metaphorically record a spectator’s experience of the contemporary digital age.  The resulting work intentionally has a painterly aesthetic acknowledging my historical painting practice.

Adapting Pop Art’s notion of mass media imagery into a context of the contemporary digital age, the work draws on a myriad points of reference. Utilizing fractured images to provide an allusion to the digital noise pounding away daily into our sub consciousness.  The work is essentially popular culture arts, diverging from the traditional Pop Art notion of a pronounced repetition of a consumer icon, instead this work focuses on the deluge of contemporary digital content. The compilation of the fragmented imagery is vividly distractive, not unlike cable surfing or a jaunt through Times Square.

This digital photo manipulation art work is premised on the basis that Pop art in its beginnings, freeze-framed what consumers of popular culture experienced into iconic visual abstractions. With the advent of the techno age, visual information circulates in such quantities, so rapidly and exponentially, that to comprehend a fraction of it all becomes a kind of production process in itself.  Hence this work considers fragmented elements of Popular Culture through an artistic and conceptual exploration of specific people and events of the day.

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