Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Why is fracking even being considered? (May 29th 2012)

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

Suffering. Now there's an artistic word (May 8th 2012)

Alison Louise Kennedy the Scottish writer known for a characteristically dark tone, a blending of realism and fantasy, and for her serious approach to her work. Kennedy has published an article in The Guardian titled ‘Suffering. Now there’s an artistic word. Or so you’d think.’ Kennedy states “I have been trying to write for at least a quarter of a century, and I can say very firmly that in my experience, suffering is largely of no bloody use to anyone, and definitely not a prerequisite for creation. If an artist has managed to take something appalling and make it into art, that’s because the artist is an artist, not because something appalling is naturally art. …I was recently in the company of a film producer. …the producer told me all about how necessary it was that creative people of every type should have as awful a time as possible. …To his way of thinking, comfort and success are poison, the Stones never did anything good after they’d got money, Van Gogh prospered because of mental distress, obscurity and ear mutilation and, actually …The producer hadn’t got any other examples, but he was convinced: if you weren’t hurting, you couldn’t be working.

Inspired by The Guardian http://ow.ly/aEbXT image source Tim Duncan http://ow.ly/aEbWi

Don’t ever lose sight of that (March 17th)

Rebecca Solnit the 50 year old US writer has published an article on Tomdispatch questioning “why the Media Loves the Violence of Protesters and Not of Banks. The Occupy movement had its glorious honeymoon when old and young, liberal and radical, comfortable and desperate, homeless and tenured all found that what they had in common was so compelling the differences hardly seemed to matter… All sorts of other equalizing forces were present, not least the police brutality… The most important direct violence Occupy faced was, of course, from the state, in the form of the police using maximum sub-lethal force… It has been a sustained campaign of police brutality from Wall Street to Washington State the likes of which we haven’t seen in 40 years …what Occupy came together to oppose, the grandest violence by scale, the least obvious by impact. No one on Wall Street ever had to get his suit besmirched by carrying out a foreclosure eviction himself. Cities provided that service for free to the banks… And the police clubbed their opponents for them, over and over, everywhere across the United States… This is the terrible violence that Occupy was formed to oppose. Don’t ever lose sight of that.”

Inspired by Rebecca Solnit http://ow.ly/9vbDo image source Maxeternity http://ow.ly/9vcgP

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

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

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

He has everything that is needed (January 24th)

Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa the 75 year old Peruvian-Spanish writer, essayist and Nobel Prize laureate has been invited by the Spanish government to head up the leading Spanish language and culture institute. The Cervantes Institute has responsibilities for promotion of Spanish Culture throughout the world though its seventy seven locations in forty four countries. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, extended the invitation for Llosa to take on the new role as president of the institution, and has not set a deadline at this stage for his acceptance. The role as president is a non-executive role, with the day to day operations of the institute’s centers undertaken by an executive board. Llosa’s rise to fame occurred in the 1960’s with several high profile novels across an array of genres including comedies, mysteries, historical, criticism and political; winning the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature with his works ‘Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter’ and ’Death in the Andes’.

Inspired by France24 http://ow.ly/8BMYN image source Daniele Devoti http://ow.ly/8BNdt

People are really voicing their own sovereignty (December 25th)

Carson Chan the 31 year old architecture writer and curator has been featured by Alexander Forbes in an interview for Artinfo Berlin about the fallout from the Arab Spring protests on the Moroccan ‘Marrakech Biennale’, which had been “forced into a state of adaptation, rolling with the ever-changing context of the region … [Challenging and reassessing] post-colonialism, and why it’s important to break the rules.” In the interview Chan states, “The context of North Africa right now is that it’s a tumultuous area of the world. The people there are really voicing their own sovereignty, their own ambitions, and it’s really exciting to be there… More importantly, I think, is how a post-colonial identity has affected people in Morocco. It was a French protectorate from 1912 to 1956, so French as a language was installed, certain codes of how to operate, what to show, what culture is being expressed was dictated by the French for a long time.”

Inspired by Alexander Forbes http://ow.ly/82McW image source artiffexbalear http://ow.ly/82Mks

A slim and meditative story of mortality (November 7th)

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 11^th 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

Yevgenii Nikolaevich Prilepin the 36 year old Russian writer and political dissident known as Zahar Prilepin has been the subject of an article published by Owen Matthews, who describes Priepin’s writing as “dark and violent, yet it shines with a Tolstoy-like faith in the Russian people”. Priepin a former military commander of the brutal OMON unit was subjected to howls of protest following remarks at a literary festival in France when he matter-of-factly stated “All I can say is that the Russian soldier has a natural talent for fighting and he’s ready to demonstrate that skill in any European country you like”. Priepin now heads the local branch of the banned National Bolshevik Party, is an admirer of the assassinated investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and despises the “thieves” in the Kremlin particularly Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Inspired by Owen Matthews http://ow.ly/69b0I image source Serj Nickel http://ow.ly/69bc9