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Omar Deghayes the 43 year old Libyan with residency status in the UK, having been arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and  taken into US military custody, was sent onto Guantanamo Bay detention camp where he was blinded permanently in one eye after a guard used fingers to gouge his eyes. Deghayes had moved temporarily to Pakistan with his Afghan wife and child, where he was arrested along with his family by bounty hunters in Pakistan and taken to the Bagram Internment Facility, prior to being sent onto Cuba. His wife and child were later released. Deghayes states "...troops marched into his cellblock 'singing and laughing' before spraying his face with mace and digging their fingers into his eyes as an officer shouted 'More! More.' ...My eye has gone a milky white color... Matt Sledge in an article for Huffington Post states “…spending six years in Guantanamo. He was never charged with or convicted of any crime, but it took strenuous pressure from United Kingdom authorities to win his release during the waning days of the Bush administration. Since then he has transformed himself into an anti-Guantanamo campaigner in the UK. He has mixed feelings about the camp's recently passed 11th anniversary. "To an extent it's good because it does make people aware that Guantanamo still exists," Deghayes said. But for Deghayes the anniversaries take on a more personal meaning than an excuse for speech making or press releases. …whenever such an anniversary rolls around, "All this comes back to memory, the mistreatment there." Obama, he said, has been "a real big disappointment to many of the human rights groups and people who care about justice." "Look at the people who committed all the crimes before Obama. He said let's look forward and we don't want to bring justice. That's turning a blind eye, I don't think anybody can excuse that."  Inspired by Matt Sledge, Huffington Post ow.ly/hYADV Image source Tobias Klenze ow.ly/hYAqg I don’t think anybody can excuse that (March 4 2013)

 

Omar Deghayes the 43 year old Libyan with residency status in the UK, having been arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and  taken into US military custody, was sent onto Guantanamo Bay detention camp where he was blinded permanently in one eye after a guard used fingers to gouge his eyes. Deghayes had moved temporarily to Pakistan with his Afghan wife and child, where he was arrested along with his family by bounty hunters in Pakistan and taken to the Bagram Internment Facility, prior to being sent onto Cuba. His wife and child were later released. Deghayes states “…troops marched into his cellblock ‘singing and laughing’ before spraying his face with mace and digging their fingers into his eyes as an officer shouted ‘More! More.’ …My eye has gone a milky white color… Matt Sledge in an article for Huffington Post states “…spending six years in Guantanamo. He was never charged with or convicted of any crime, but it took strenuous pressure from United Kingdom authorities to win his release during the waning days of the Bush administration. Since then he has transformed himself into an anti-Guantanamo campaigner in the UK. He has mixed feelings about the camp’s recently passed 11th anniversary. “To an extent it’s good because it does make people aware that Guantanamo still exists,” Deghayes said. But for Deghayes the anniversaries take on a more personal meaning than an excuse for speech making or press releases. …whenever such an anniversary rolls around, “All this comes back to memory, the mistreatment there.” Obama, he said, has been “a real big disappointment to many of the human rights groups and people who care about justice.” “Look at the people who committed all the crimes before Obama. He said let’s look forward and we don’t want to bring justice. That’s turning a blind eye, I don’t think anybody can excuse that.”

 

Inspired by Matt Sledge, Huffington Post ow.ly/hYADV Image source Tobias Klenze ow.ly/hYAqg

Siobhan Courtney the British freelance broadcast journalist and writer, argues when the UK’s water infrastructure is already in severe drought, why is fracking even being considered? Courtney published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Fracking: A dehydrated UK, watered only by capitalism’, stating “Only after the first attempt at fracking in the UK resulted in two minor earthquakes, did the department of energy and climate change decide to commission a panel of (government led) experts to investigate hydraulic fracturing further. Published in April, the first official British report [PDF] advises ministers to allow fracking to be extended across Britain. Quite how this decision was reached is staggering, as the report is full of confusing contradictions that only highlights the risks and consequences. …There has been a huge amount of attention and focus on the contamination process and structural damage caused by fracking. These concerns are of course, extremely valid, but attention, analysis and focus must be directed towards the sheer volume of water used in the fracking process. Water: nature’s most important and kindest gift to humanity. How ironic it is then, that humanity shows its gratitude by intentionally wasting and poisoning this precious life source.”

 

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/b7rsU image source BBC ow.ly/b7rrd

Jane Rogers the 59 year old UK novelist and teacher, best known for her novel ‘Mr Wroe’s Virgins and The Voyage Home’ has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction, for her first novel  in the science fiction genre ‘The Testament of Jessie Lamb’, a narration by a fictional teenager. The award director Tom Hunter, stated “It wasn’t an obvious Arthur C Clarke winner – it’s not from a science fiction publisher but from a small Scottish press. But I don’t think anyone was surprised it was nominated. It really is a very good book and it has found a real audience in the science fiction readership, it offers a route into dealing with quite serious issues, about science, about maternity and about making choices.” Described by Alison Flood in The Guardian as a “vision of a world crippled by biological terrorism… Taking place in a world in which a deadly virus, Maternal Death Syndrome, affects all pregnant women, putting the future of the human race in jeopardy, The Testament of Jessie Lamb is the story of one 16-year-old who decides she wants to save humanity. She volunteers for a programme in which she will be injected with an immune embryo, but also put into a coma from which she will not recover.”

 

Inspired by Alison Flood http://ow.ly/aOQ6c image source United Agents http://ow.ly/aOPA9

Andrea Mammone the UK historian and political commentator has published an article on Aljazeera on the potential damage from the austerity measures titled Austerity v’s solidarity: Democratic legitimacy and Europe’s future. In the article Mammone states, “The rebirth of ethnic-based nationalisms, the rise of right-wing extremist feeling and Europhobia are a likely new threat and will be forged with mounting social and workers’ protests. Yet, the Euro-dream was specifically to bypass these nationalistic divisions and create an all-inclusive porous European citizenship. This led to a reconsideration of concepts such as space, borders and belonging – and is, with some difficulties, aiming to create a European public sphere. The “market” economy was only one (though very important) of the pillars that had to contribute to build all this, but it was not the unique one. “Solidarity” was the other (at least implicit) pilaster. It is known that Germany was in fact helped after the Second World War without imposing severe austerity plans. Some of the measures now imposed upon Greece and perhaps tomorrow upon Italy, Spain, Portugal or some central or eastern European nations, may be to some extent necessary – but some political-economic flexibility and democratic legitimacy are essential, too.”

 

Inspired by Andrea Mammone http://ow.ly/ahTpl image source twitter http://ow.ly/ahTAO

Pieter Wezeman the 42 year old Dutch Senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfer Programme with expertise in Arms flows and procurements claims the Asian states are the largest of the arms buyers of the world. In an article published on the Press Service News Agency, Thalif Deen following his interview with Wezeman states “China, India and South Korea – three of the most vibrant economies in Asia – are also beefing up their military arsenals with new weapons systems from the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the UK… beating out the traditional frontrunners – the rich, oil-blessed Middle Eastern countries. India was the world’s single largest recipient of arms, accounting for 10 per cent of global arms imports, followed by South Korea (six per cent of arms transfers), Pakistan (five per cent), China (five per cent) and Singapore (four per cent). The five biggest arms suppliers in 2007-2011 were the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the UK. With the exception of Germany, the four other suppliers are veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council. The top five suppliers accounted for 75 per cent of all international arms transfers.”

 

Inspired by Thalif Deen http://ow.ly/a6WSs image source Thella Johnson http://ow.ly/a6Xiy

Rowan Douglas Williams the 61 year old UK Anglican bishop, poet and theologian and current Archbishop of Canterbury has announced he will be stepping down at the end of 2012 to take up a senior position as master of Magdalene College at Cambridge University. Williams as the senior bishop of the Church of England is the symbolic head of the international network of Anglican and Episcopal churches, representing nearly 80 million people in the Anglican Communion. Williams renown for being outspoken on social issues stated, “It is a job of immense demands and I would hope that my successor has the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros… he will, I think, have to look with positive, hopeful eyes on a church, which for all its problems is still, for so many people, a place to which they resort in times of need and crisis, a place to which they look for inspiration… I think the Church of England is a great treasure.” Williams’ departure leaves a church deeply split and on the verge of a fundamental schism, with little indications its divisions over opening the Anglican priesthood to women and gays can be reconciled by any potential successor.

 

Inspired by Andrew Brown http://ow.ly/9MEbH image source Brian http://ow.ly/9ME7Z

Ian McCurdie the UK medical practitioner specializing in Sport & Exercise Medicine, and the Director of Medical Services for the British Olympic Association and Chief Medical Officer for the British Olympic Team, has urged athletes of the British Olympic team to consider not shaking hands with other sports people, dignitaries and officials at the London Olympic Games. McCurdie claims the potential illness and possible injury from picking up germs are a serious threat to an athlete’s performance and suggests the alternative “maybe adopting the Japanese way and just bowing rather than shaking hands”. A spokeswoman for the team attempting to play down the controversy stated “It’s just basic, common sense. We are simply reminding athletes to take commonsense measures, such as washing their hands and using hand foam, to reduce the risk of catching a bug. …It’s the same type of advice many employers give to their employees. … As an official policy, we are not advising our athletes to avoid shaking hands with people.”

 

Inspired by Rachael Brown http://ow.ly/9ARvD image source St Anthonys Hospital http://ow.ly/9ARfX

William Woodard “Will” Self the 50 year old UK satirical novelist and short story writer renowned for his commentary on contemporary life in the UK is to become a Professor of contemporary thought at the Brunel University. In a Guardian article by Jeevan Vasagar, Self’s career is described as “…nothing if not diverse. He has swept streets, drawn cartoons and made cold calls; he has written as a maverick political journalist, a psycho-geographer, satirist and self-declared flâneur. … Self said his teaching would reflect preoccupations such as the relationship between people and geography “I do think there are interesting things to be said about the relationship between different modes of transport, including pedestrianisation, and perceptions of the way the city has grown up, the way we experience it, and the impact of new technologies on that … I just think that architects should be made to walk.” He added that Brunel attracted him for “psycho-geographical reasons… It’s very near to Heathrow, and there’s a big British Asian community that has grown up around Southall.”

 

Inspired by Jeevan Vasagar http://ow.ly/9tIU0 image source Facebook http://ow.ly/9tJmz

Simon David Jenkins the 68 year old UK newspaper columnist and author and chairman of the National Trust has published an article in the Guardian stating “Inflation is falling, debt is rising, growth is static and credit is edgy. All these are facts. There must be an economic equation that says what to do next. So where are the economists when we need them? As usual they have taken to the hills. You cannot get a straight answer for love nor money, even … from the Bank of England. … The failure to take economic management beyond the diktats of austerity has become the great intellectual treason of today. For three years it has trapped governments, economists, bankers and media in a collective miasma of panic about inflation. Thousands of citizens across Europe are having their lives ruined and their children’s prospects blighted because a financial elite, once burned, is too shy to think out of its box. It refuses to stimulate demand merely because that is not the done thing to do.”

 

Inspired by Simon Jenkins http://ow.ly/9maiy image source twitter http://ow.ly/9man0

Grayson Perry the 51 year old UK Turner Prize winning artist renowned for his ceramic classical form vases and cross-dressing female alter-ego ‘Claire’ claims in an interview with Anna Somers Cocks, that ‘Claire’ “gave me clarity. I always describe it as someone tidying up my tool shed so that I had everything easily to hand and wasn’t fumbling in the dark any more.” Perry states “She started as a spontaneous welling up of my sexuality when I was about 13. At first, I just tried to look like a woman. I would go shopping and wander about town, and it was a bit boring. …when I was about 40. I was having therapy and reconsidering everything, so I thought of wearing clothes that represented the extremes of femininity, and from that day on I indulged my fantasies… It’s brilliant the way society has embraced me, but it has taken some of the thrill out of dressing up. A side effect is that, in the past, when I dressed up and went out into the street, people would say, “Who’s that weird bloke?” while now I’m “Grayson Perry”, which means that I’m in danger of getting pestered.”

 

Inspired by Anna Somers Cocks http://ow.ly/9m9n0 image source http://ow.ly/9m9hh

Paul Chambers the 27 year old UK Accountant awaits the outcome of a High Court appeal against his infamous ‘Twitter Joke Trial’ for which he was initially convicted and fined. Chambers was ordered to pay a £1000 in fines and costs resulting from an incident concerning England’s Robin Hood Airport. During early January 2010, cold weather had resulted in disruption across northern England. Robin Hood Airport was one of many airports forced to cancel flights. Chambers intending to catch a flight posted a message on Twitter: “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!” Chambers was arrested by anti-terror police for making a bomb threat, after an off-duty manager at the airport found the message. Chambers had his mobile phone, laptop and desktop hard drive confiscated during a search of his house. He was later charged with “sending a public electronic message that was grossly menacing”. The conviction has been widely condemned as unfair, and referred to as a miscarriage of justice. The comedian and television presenter Stephen Fry has offered to pay Chambers’ legal bill.

 

Inspired by the Telegraph http://ow.ly/9drgr image source Carrentals http://ow.ly/9dqWj

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

Imran Khan Niazi the 59 year old Pakistani politician and former cricketer has announced he will be running for president of Pakistan at the next national election. In an article Professor Akbar Ahmed the former Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland questions which direction Khan would take Pakistan “After a decade as ally in the US’ “War on Terror” and the devastating social, political and economic impact…The hopes of a nation now rest on one man. Pakistan history is replete with examples of Pakistanis depending entirely on the savior figure only to be disappointed afterwards. Even Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, who remains so revered in Pakistan, died one year after creating the country. … There are already danger-signs as some old faces who have done the rounds with different parties have now jumped onto Imran’s bandwagon. The balance between making deals in order to chip away at the power base … and maintaining his integrity will be crucial.

 

Inspired by Akbar Ahmed http://ow.ly/8lLdX image source twitter http://ow.ly/8lLkY

Brian Edward Cox the 43 year old UK particle physicist and best known to the public as the presenter of science programs for the UK broadcaster BBC, has been credited in an article by Steve Connor with exhibiting a ‘Brian Cox effect’. Connor states “It was the year we saw an unprecedented turnaround in the popularity of science – especially the harder physical sciences – among A-level students. Exam boards marveled at the increase in the number of teenagers who want to study the notoriously difficult subjects of physics and maths. There could be only one explanation: the Brian Cox effect. With his floppy hair, youthful smile and telegenic good looks, Professor Brian Cox is living proof that you don’t need to be bald with bad teeth to be a boffin. His [2nd tv series] … drew in a young audience, demonstrating that the traditionally nerdy subject of physics is actually quite cool.

 

Inspired by Steve Connor http://ow.ly/8lKRy image source Bob Lee http://ow.ly/8lKXv

David Frederick Attenborough the 85 year old UK broadcaster and naturalist renowned as the face and voice of natural history programs on the BBC claims the future of our planet is at risk from the rapid urbanization of the past half century. In an article published by the Guardian, Attenborough states “We have a huge moral responsibility towards the rest of the planet. A hundred years ago people certainly had that … They were aware of the seasons and aware of what they were doing to the land and animals around them … So over 50% [living in towns and cities] is to some degree out of touch with the natural world and don’t even see an animal from one day to the next unless it’s a rat or a pigeon … That means that people are getting out of touch with the realities of the natural world, of which we are in fact a part”.

 

Inspired by Guardian http://ow.ly/89WW4 image source davidattenborough http://ow.ly/89X1O

Christopher Eric Hitchens the 62 year old UK author and journalist renowned for his confrontational style bringing him to fame in left wing circles of the UK and the USA has died after an extended battle with throat cancer. Hitchen’s death was announced by the ‘Vanity Fair’ magazine for which he had contributed articles over the past two decades. The magazine’s editor Graydon Carter stated “”There will never be another like Christopher. A man of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar, those who read him felt they knew him, and those who knew him were profoundly fortunate souls.” Richard Dawkins the evolutionary biologist and friend of Hitchens, stated “I think he was one of the greatest orators of all time. He was a polymath, a wit, immensely knowledgeable, and a valiant fighter against all tyrants including imaginary supernatural ones.”

 

Inspired by Aljazeera http://ow.ly/89WNL image source ensceptico http://ow.ly/89WUG

Martin Boyce the 43 year old UK artist renowned for his modernist sculptures and installations has been nominated for Turner Prize following his Swiss exhibition at Galerie Eva Presenhuber. Boyce’s sculptures have been described as a form of nonsensical modernism, appearing to dreamingly merge into each other to form a larger interior modernist installation. Boyce in an interview with Coline Milliard, stated “In my early teens I realized it was as much about looking as it was about making. My world was record sleeves, music and taking in your jeans to give them a narrow leg. Pop art and pop culture were my way in … You need to find people to talk to and to learn about the things that matter to you — it’s essential. Now with college and university fees that crucial breadth of people you might meet will be narrowed.”

 

Inspired by Coline Milliard http://ow.ly/7A1jg image source artmw http://ow.ly/7A1DG

Daniel Hind the UK author of two acclaimed books ‘The Return of the Public’ and ‘The Threat to Reason’ has published an article on Aljazeera, speaking out on the UK’s irrational faith in capitalism. Hind the winner of the Bristol Festival of Ideas Prize, speaks in the article of a “child-like faith in market forces”, and “for decades, the advocates of free markets dominated public discussion, but the rest of us are now talking … in ways that are becoming increasingly audible … this is not an initiative of the established powers. Instead, a few thousand concerned citizens have occupied a piece of land in front of St Pauls … as a venue for free deliberation, discussion and debate … I hope … people join this conversation, on their own terms, in ways and in places that seem right to them … surely time we put more faith in each other than in markets.”

 

Inspired by Daniel Hind http://ow.ly/7zQNN image source thersa http://ow.ly/7zQST

Luke Daniel Harding the 42 year old UK political journalist who had initially been refused entry into Russia, has been the subject of a brilliant article written with an interesting perspective by Edward Lucas. Harding in February 2011 became the first foreign journalist to be expelled from Russia since the end of the Cold War. Harding’s employer the Guardian linked his expulsion with his unflattering coverage of Russia and the Kremlin. Russia reversed the decision to expel him but granted only a short term visa. Harding did not further renew his visa and returned to the UK, alleging harassment during his Russian return, claiming the Federal Security Service were unhappy at the stories he wrote. Elsa Vidal of the media freedom watchdog, stated: “unprecedented since the Cold War … It’s an attempt to force correspondents working for foreign media in Moscow to engage in self-censorship.”

 

Inspired by Edward Lucas http://ow.ly/7deBo image source misterdann.com http://ow.ly/7dfmJ

Julian Patrick Barnes the 60 year old UK writer has won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for his book ‘The Sense of an Ending’ after three other books had been shortlisted in earlier years. Barnes had won several literary prizes in France where his crime fiction works earned him an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. ‘The Sense of an Ending’ is Barnes’s 11th novel, described by Julie Bosman of the New York Times as “a slim and meditative story of mortality, frustration and regret.” The head judge for the Booker Prize Stella Rimington, said the book “has the markings of a classic of English literature. It is exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading”, and the panel thought it “spoke to humankind in the 21st Century”.

 

Inspired by Julie Bosman http://ow.ly/7ddIC image source Cure Byte http://ow.ly/7de0t

Polly Higgins the 43 year old UK barrister voted by the Ecologist as one of the ‘Worlds Top 10 Visionary Thinkers’ continues to strive for the United Nations to acknowledge ‘Ecocide’ as an international crime. The UN currently recognizes four significant crimes against Peace: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, and Crimes of Aggression. Higgins proposal is to include ‘Ecocide’ as a fifth. “Corporations have no legal responsibility for the Earth, yet they have accrued silent rights – the right to pollute, to emit, to destroy – which have allowed enormous damage and destruction to take place without consequence.” Higgins claims the earth is treated unfairly and is “in need of a good lawyer”, however “the laws to protect the interests of the Earth do not exist” and it is “time now to change the rules of the game and eradicate the Ecocide”.

 

Inspired by aljazeera http://ow.ly/76G8c image source pollyhiggins.com http://ow.ly/76G0d

Tacita Dean the 46 year old UK Berlin based YBA visual artist who works primarily with film has unveiled her latest work in the darkened Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern as the 12th commission of the Unilever series. The work is a looped film installation, entitled Film, and is a homage to the declining analogue film industry under threat from the burgeoning digital and animation technologies. Dean is renowned for her work in analogue film, although she still explores a variety of other alternative media including photography and sound. The catalogue for this exhibition references international directors including as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese who provide favorable reflections on the power of analogue film. Dean laments the decline of the industry with the pending closure of her favorite London Soho Film Laboratory, announcing it will cease printing her chosen media the 16mm film.

 

Inspired by Charlotte Higgins http://ow.ly/75ZyR image source Teresa Gleadowe http://ow.ly/75Zwo

George Soros the 81 year old Hungarian born US financier and philanthropist supporter of progressive liberal causes has been speculated by critics such as the right wing extremist radio host Rush Limbaugh as providing financial backing to the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ grassroots movement. Soros known as “the Man Who Broke the Bank of England” because of his US$1 billion in investment profits during the 1992 Black Wednesday UK currency crisis, is one of the 10 wealthiest US citizens with a net worth estimated at US$22 billion, and has given away through philanthropic causes US$8 billion since 1979. Soros played a crucial role in the collapse of Eastern Europe communism, as an advocate of ‘open societies’, financially supporting dissidents including Poland’s Solidarity movement. Soros is the chairman of the Open Society Institute, and former board member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

 

Inspired by Jason Linkins http://ow.ly/6YFSM image source WEF http://ow.ly/6YFYf

Thom Yorke the lead vocal of the UK band Radiohead was introduced along with the band by Stephen Colbert to ‘The Colbert Report’ that was devoted almost entirely to the band. “Prepare yourselves, Radiohead. You’re about to meet Televisionface” , was how Colbert made the introduction to the hour-long special episode, stating “presented by Dr Pepper, except for Radiohead, who present themselves because they’re nobody’s corporate tool”. Yorke and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves during the show, and for the pioneers of “Serious Listening” they were actually laughing. Colbert chided the band for their anti-corporate stance yet sitting beneath a large Dr. Pepper sign. Yorke responded that the soda “tastes like that stuff you get at the dentist to swill your mouth out.” Colbert replied, “Well, Thom, It is a doctor”.

 

Inspired by Hadley Freeman http://ow.ly/6KMlp image source Comedy Central http://ow.ly/6KMrS

Patrick Keiller the 61 year old UK avant garde film-maker and artist, has been selected to undertake an installation of the central space at the Tate Britain. Keiller is renowned for ‘Robinson in Ruins’ film featuring the narration by Vanessa Redgrave. Released in 2010 the film documents the outcomes of a three-year research project titled The Future of Landscape and the Moving Image, the third in the Robinson series. The Tate Britain commission by Keiller will be its latest in an ongoing series of contemporary sculpture commissions which address the heritage of the space as a sculpture gallery. Keiller stated on accepting the commission, “As someone most usually involved with images and the linearity of narrative, I’m delighted by the invitation to devise an exhibit for a sculpture gallery.”

 

Inspired by Mark Brown http://ow.ly/6KMdB image source bfi.org http://ow.ly/6KMgx

Steve Rodney McQueen the 41 year old UK artist and filmmaker has released his new work titled ‘Shame’ at the Venice Film Festival to much acclaim. The film is about a 30+ male sex addict having issues managing his sexual urges after his sister moves in with him. The main character Brandon, skilled at the easy pickups, is constrained by his sister’s presence and disastrous activities including self harm, and a relationship with his boss. McQueen’s films are typically black and white minimalistic pieces, projected on an enclosed art gallery wall. He often appeared in his own earlier works, and is renowned for restaging a Buster Keaton stunt titled ‘Deadpan’ where a house collapses leaving him standing and unscathed through a window opening. McQueen is a Turner Prize winner, and received the Caméra d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

Inspired by Ann Binlot http://ow.ly/6FVTA image source futureshipwreck http://ow.ly/6FW7E

Chris Ofili the 42 year old UK painter renowned for his works referencing his Nigerian heritage and use of elephant dung, has had his first experimental piece located with two others in a vault of a gallery in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The piece was created in 1992 when Ofili traveled to Zimbabwe as a young 23 year old council funded artist to participate in an artists’ workshop, where he experimented in the use of elephant dung that has gone on to become his signature media. The Art Newspaper investigation uncovered these significant paintings from the now defunct workshop, in a branch vault of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. The paintings are in need of urgent conservation works due to the materials used and the young Ofili’s (now a Turner Prize winner of international fame) lack of experience at the time.

 

Inspired by Martin Bailey http://ow.ly/6y6if image source African Success http://ow.ly/6y6Gq

King Robbo and Banksy the two UK street graffiti artists are deep into a feud being played out publically. King Robbo is regarded as the founding father of the London graffiti scene, while Banksy has attained international recognition for his edgy spray stencil pieces. The feud apparently commenced when Banksy painted onto a King Robbo’s 25-year-old mural under a Camden Street bridge with a stencil of a man hanging the wall with wallpaper. King Robbo who is said to be in retirement, or a supporter retaliated by manipulating the image to give the impression the workman was paying tribute to King Robbo. Several other Banksy works including well known pieces have now been manipulated in an escalation of the feud and signed off as ‘Team Robbo’. Insiders are also speculating the feud is publicity stunt.

 

Inspired by Kyle Chayka http://ow.ly/6tX5k image source Matt Brown http://ow.ly/6tX4H

Gerhard Richter the 79 year old German visual artist renowned for his abstract and photorealistic painted works is to be honored with an exhibition at the Tate Modern in the UK. Richter a painter of immense skill has also embraced photograph, a rarity of sorts with painters of his notoriety, undermining the concept an artist needs or has an obligation to a single medium. Richter having escaped to the west before the Berlin wall was constructed, has gained popularity throughout his career with a significant boost in 2005 from a retrospective exhibition that defined him as one of the great artists of the century, and the greatest living painter of the time. Richter has been the recipient of many and often distinguished arts awards, which has particular emphasis given the post modernist cry that painting was dead.

 

Inspired by Jonathon Jones http://ow.ly/6tYqf image source Hps-poll http://ow.ly/6tYpi

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