Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

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

Enhanced a feeling of group stigmatization (April 6th 2012)

Jonathan Laurence the US associate professor of Political Science has published an article on Aljazeera discussing Europe’s alienation of Muslims through laws restricting Islamic symbols that fuel political distrust. Laurence states “As Muslims and non-Muslims despair about the prospect of long-term Islamic integration in 21st century Europe, disagreement over the urgency and necessity to restrict Islamic symbols in the public sphere – from clothing to architecture and food – is at the origin of a potentially grave misunderstanding. Religion is not the primary factor of identity for most European Muslims, but the current atmosphere has enhanced a feeling of group stigmatisation and a shared sense of injustice where previously few bonds existed. This has fed a growing confrontation, foreshadowed in two competing narratives of victimisation dividing Muslims from non-Muslims in Europe, which continue to gain strength… There is the growing danger that the modest accomplishments of religious integration will be undone before Muslims’ incorporation has taken place. Europe’s Muslims increasingly perceive the sum total of public debate about them as simple religious persecution – an uncanny admixture of the political distrust that drove the Kulturkampf and the religious resentment that fuelled traditional anti-Semitism.”

Inspired by Jonathan Laurence http://ow.ly/9O6ID image source NYC French Consulate http://ow.ly/9O6HY

“getting money out of politics” his top goal (April 5th 2012)

Michael Francis Moore the 57 year old US filmmaker, social critic and activist has published an article calling out for the occupy movement to take political action from within the political system. Moore states “Here’s what we don’t do: don’t turn Occupy Wall Street into another bureaucratic, top-down organization. That will certainly kill it. Baby boomers who grew up working within traditional organizations need to calm down and not shoehorn this movement into the old paradigm of “Let’s elect people to office and then lobby them to pass good laws!” Let Occupy take its natural course. The candidates for office that we need are in this movement. (Are you one of them? Why not? Someone has to do it, and it would be better if it was you!) The laws that must be enacted to make this a more just nation will come in due time. And not ten years from now; some of this will happen this year. The leading candidate for Congress from my hometown of Flint, Michigan, has already taken a pledge to make “getting money out of politics” his top goal once in office. Others have joined him. We need to vote for them and then hold them to it.”

Inspired by Michael Moore http://ow.ly/9MLc0 image source David Shankbone http://ow.ly/9MM8H

Global financial crisis as a human rights issue (April 4th 2012)

Danny Schechter the US investigative journalist and independent filmmaker has published an article on Aljazeera discussing the global financial crisis as a human rights issue, calling on the UN to protect citizens from inequality and abuse by decisions of the elites. “As a long-time human rights advocate…  I think it’s important we recognise that there are economic and social rights as well as political ones, and that if the UN has the duty to “protect” ordinary people against military abuses, it also has the obligation to protect citizens who are being abused by the decisions of the 1 per cent – bankers, economic policymakers and big business honchos… An organisation like the UN, whose charter begins with the words “We The People”, has to try to defend the interest of economic victims as well as political ones, because national governments have been bought or silenced by the very vested economic interests that are ravaging so many of our communities… In most of the media, this crisis has been treated with a perverse logic: that no one was responsible since everyone was financially irresponsible and thus everyone is to blame – while at the same time no one is blamed.”

Inspired by Danny Schechter http://ow.ly/9MKby image source http://ow.ly/9MKa4

This is against the will of the Almighty (March 31st 2012)

Yisroel Dovid Weiss the 55 year old US Haredi rabbi, activist and spokesman for a branch of Neturei Karta, an anti-Zionist group, has been interviewed on Aljazeera explaining why Zionism and Judaism are not the same, “This is against the will of the Almighty and this is not what it means to be a Jew.” Weiss is renowned for his stance against the legitimacy of the Jewish state and occupation of Palestine. Weiss is quoted as stating, “The Zionists use the Holocaust issue to their benefit. We, Jews who perished in the Holocaust, do not use it to advance our interests. We stress that there are hundreds of thousands Jews around the world who identify with our opposition to the Zionist ideology and who feel that Zionism is not Jewish, but a political agenda…What we want is not a withdrawal to the ’67 borders, but to everything included in it, so the country can go back to the Palestinians and we could live with them…” On the issue of Iran Weiss has stated that Ahmadinejad is not an enemy of the Jews, but is a “God-fearing man [who] respects the Jewish people and he protects them in Iran”.

Inspired by Aljazeera http://ow.ly/9FxJN image source Rense http://ow.ly/9FxT8

We have seasons, just like flowers (March 29th 2012)

David LaChapelle the 48 year old US fashion, advertising and fine art photographer has recently been interviewed by Alexandra Ilyashov for Fashion Week Daily on the unveiling of his recent work ‘Earth Laughs in Flowers’, described as “a vibrant, vanitas-inspired spate of photos … which include decayed flowers, balloons, and burning cigarettes—and some touching tidbits from [his] teenhood stint at Interview.” During the interview LaChapelle stated, “The series is inspired by vanitas works by the old masters; all the objects had symbolic value and told a story, whether it was a fish, a knife, or a quill pen. Everyone’s done their flower series, whether it’s early [Irving] Penn, Mapplethorpe, Caravaggio, or Warhol. Vanitas reminds us of our connection to nature, and that life doesn’t go on forever. We have seasons, just like flowers. Spring is about youth and beauty; we age, ripen, and mature in summer and autumn, and then we decline and die in the winter of our lives. The title, “Earth Laughs In Flowers,” is taken from a line in an Emerson poem that I came across when I was halfway done with the series.”

Inspired by Alexandra Ilyashov http://ow.ly/9EaON image source the1secondfilm.com http://ow.ly/9Ebec

Kind of slick, fly-by-night, slacktivist thing? (March 28th 2012)

Ben Keesey the US CEO of Invisible Children has released a video responding to concerns raised by critics over the slick web video Kony 2012 that has gone viral since its release. The initial video highlighted the atrocities perpetrated by Kony, the leader of a rebel group known as the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) that has terrorized northern Uganda. Keesey states “When we launched Kony 12, our intention was to share the story of Joseph Kony with new people around the world, but in the process, there have been a lot of questions about us. So, we want to be as transparent as possible and answer some of those questions right now. Because our goal has always been the same, it’s always been one thing, and that’s to stop the violence of the LRA permanently, and help restore the war-affected communities… I understand why a lot of people are wondering is this just some kind of slick, fly-by-night, slacktivist thing? When actually, it’s not at all, it’s connected to a really deep, thoughtful, very intentional and strategic campaign… I understand that people may have questions… but any claims that we don’t have financial transparency … just aren’t true.”

Inspired by Connor Adams Sheets http://ow.ly/9Fw9K image source National Post http://ow.ly/9FvT0

How much would you pay for the universe? (March 26th 2012)

Neil deGrasse Tyson the 53 year old US astrophysicist and the director of the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History appeared before the US Senate Committee hearing submissions on NASA’s 2013 budget request & space program. Tyson stated “Exploration of the unknown might not strike everyone as a priority. Yet audacious visions have the power to alter mind-states — to change assumptions of what is possible. When a nation permits itself to dream big, those dreams pervade its citizens’ ambitions…  Epic space adventures plant seeds of economic growth, because doing what’s never been done before is intellectually seductive (whether deemed practical or not), and innovation follows, just as day follows night. When you innovate, you lead the world, you keep your jobs, and concerns over tariffs and trade imbalances evaporate … At what cost? … The 2008 bank bailout of $750 billion was greater than all the money NASA had received in its half-century history; two years’ U.S. military spending exceeds it as well… How much would you pay to “launch” our economy. How much would you pay for the universe?”

Inspired by Carl Zimmer http://ow.ly/9E620 image source NASA http://ow.ly/9E6Ng

He's really the Einstein of nonviolence (March 24th 2012)

Jonathan Edward Schell the 68 year old US author in an interview with Andy Kroll for Tomdispatch tackled the question of what exactly is nonviolent action? Schell stated “…I was led to see that there were forms of nonviolent action that could unravel and topple the most violent forms of government ever conceived — namely, the totalitarian. This went entirely against the conventional wisdom of political science, which taught that force is the ultima ratio, the final arbiter; that if you had superior weaponry and superior military power you were the winner… So I asked myself what exactly is nonviolent action? What is popular protest? How does it work? …a peaceful protest led by Mohandas Gandhi at the Empire Theater in Johannesburg, South Africa, on September 11, 1906. It’s rare that you can date a social invention to a particular day and meeting, but I think you can in this case.  Gandhi called himself an experimenter in truth. He’s really the Einstein of nonviolence.…before the Occupy movement here… We didn’t know how to drop a bucket into our own hearts and come up with the necessary will to do the things that needed to be done.”

Inspired by Andrew Kroll http://ow.ly/9AXSQ image source David Shankbone http://ow.ly/9AYzV

Unique challenge for the OWS participants (March 22nd 2012)

Timothy Zick the US Constitutional Lawyer, specializing in Federalism and  the 1^st Amendment (freedom of speech) has published an article on Aljazeera stating “…some element of the Occupy Wall Street movement may continue to engage in public protests in order to raise public awareness and to remind fellow citizens and officials of their central claims. Democratic protests help the people to continually keep their rulers in check, to hold officials accountable and to remind governors that sovereign power lies not in the institutions of government or public officialdom, but with the governed… At some point, if a democratic protest is to become an effective democratic movement, its members will need to engage in indoor politics. They will need to occupy legislatures, agencies and boards. This will be a unique challenge for the Occupy Wall Street participants, who generally eschew formal hierarchies and engage in non-traditional forms of communication and political decision-making. The challenge for Occupy Wall Street, as for any democratic protest, is to remain true to its core principles while seeking systemic changes from within. The American occupation teaches us that in any democracy, public protest is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for systemic change.”           

Inspired by Timothy Zick http://ow.ly/9AU7F image source W&M Law School http://ow.ly/9AUcH

Nature and nurture interact, not separate processes (March 21st 2012)

Eric Richard Kandel the 82 year old Austrian-US Professor and Neuropsychiatrist, the recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology Medicine research for his work on memory storage in neurons, has released his latest book, “The Age of Insight”. Kandel has been interviewed by Claudia Dreifus for the New York Times where he stated, “I’ve long been interested in memory. What does it look like on a physical level? …my mentor Harry Grundfest said, “Look, if you want to understand the brain you’re going to have to take a reductionist approach, one cell at a time.” He was so right. …in the 1960s, we went to a more reductionist approach. Instead of studying complicated mammalian brain cells, we studied the neural system of a simple animal — Aplysia, a snail with a very large nerve cell… We discovered that the snail’s reflexes could be modified by several forms of learning, and that learning involved alterations in how nerve cells communicated with one another. We next looked at short- and long-term memory in the snail…  It would turn out that short-term memory involves transient changes of the connections between the cells. There is no anatomical change. Long-term memory involves enduring changes that result from the growth of new synaptic connections…  When you see that at the cellular level, you realize that the brain can change because of experience. It gives you a different feeling about how nature and nurture interact. They are not separate processes.”

Inspired by Claudia Dreifus http://ow.ly/9ARU3 image source Eric Kandel http://ow.ly/9AS0g

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

We've been sold out by five justices (March 16th)

Ari Berman the US investigative journalist for The Nation institute and magazine has published an article on Aljazeera referencing the 2012 US presidential election as “the year of the big donor, when a candidate is only as good as the amount of money in his Super PAC.” The “2012 presidential election have become almost exclusively defined by the one per cent. Or, to be more precise, the .000063 per cent. Those are the 196 individual donors who have provided nearly 80 per cent of the money raised by Super PACs… “This really is the selling of America,” claims former presidential candidate and Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean. “We’ve been sold out by five justices thanks to the Citizens United decision.” In truth, our democracy was sold to the highest bidder long ago, but in the 2012 election the explosion of Super PACs has shifted the public’s focus to the staggering inequality in our political system, just as the Occupy movement shined a light on the gross inequity of the economy. The two, of course, go hand in hand.”

Inspired by Ari Berman http://ow.ly/9vaLm image source Businessinsider http://ow.ly/9vbnQ

My fellow scientists ready to engage in battle (March 14th)

Michael E. Mann the 46 year old US physicist and climatologist director of the Earth System Science Centre has discussed with Suzanne Goldenberg the vast conspiracy by the fossil fuel industry to harass scientists and befuddle the public. “They see scientists like me who are trying to communicate the potential dangers of continued fossil fuel burning to the public as a threat. That means we are subject to attacks, some of them quite personal, some of them dishonest… It is now part of the job description if you are going to be a scientist working in a socially relevant area like human-caused climate change… Literally a day doesn’t go by where I don’t have to deal with some of the nastiness that comes out of a campaign that tries to discredit me, and thereby in the view of our detractors to discredit the entire science of climate change… It took the scientific community some time I think to realize that the scientific community is in a street fight with climate change deniers and they are not playing by the rules of engagement of science. The scientific community needed some time to wake up to that…Those of us who have had to go through this are battle-hardened and hopefully the better for it, I think you are now going to see the scientific community almost uniformly fighting back against this assault on science. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future but I do know that my fellow scientists and I are very ready to engage in this battle.”

Inspired by Suzanne Goldenberg http://ow.ly/9v7RH image source Greg Grieco http://ow.ly/9v7Fg

Would become "born-again virgins" (March 10th)

Marilyn Minter the 63 year old US artist whose photographic works often include sexuality and erotic imagery via staged photo shoots with film and conventional darkroom processes, has been interviewed by Kyle Chayka in the lead up to the debut opening of the new art space ‘Family Business’ in New York, a collaboration of Gioni and Cattelan. Minter has curated the opening group show ‘The Virgins’, and during the interview stated, “Gioni and Cattelan have been great. They gave me full control… Cattelan explained the project as an altruistic gesture, giving artists a free place to express themselves. He pays rent and electricity and supplies interns to attend the space. It’s a pretty cool way to give back. I was sitting next to [Cattelan] at a dinner, and since he was “retiring,” I suggested he might want to start teaching. A month later he asked me to curate a show. I think they expect artists to use the space as a laboratory, to go with the flow… I wanted to have something on a screen that could run 24/7… I asked them if they would become “born-again virgins” for the length of the exhibition and show the first video works they ever made. It’s an excuse to show work night and day.”

Inspired by Kyle Chayka http://ow.ly/9mcYg image source facebook http://ow.ly/9mcP4

Subsidies are at the heart of the obesity problem (March 4th)

Patrick Doherty the US director of the Smart Strategy Initiative at the New America Foundation claims the US cannot become sustainable, nor can it induce global sustainability, without addressing the way it farms i.e. stop subsidies and switch to organic farming practices. In an article published on Aljazeera, Doherty states “Ill-conceived subsidies are at the heart of the obesity problem in the US and are undermining the family farm, depleting rural and maritime ecosystems, increasing our carbon emissions and suppressing agricultural exports from developing nations. The superiority of regenerative farming is now firmly established: organic agriculture outperforms and out-earns conventional industrial farming… Equally important, organic production produced slightly better yields than standard industrial techniques. Organic farming is also regenerative, rebuilding soils and retaining 15-20 per cent more water, in turn improving drought resistance… A shift from a policy of federally subsidised farmland depletion to regenerative agriculture would allow the farming families of the US to lead a prosperous life, caring for the land. Farmers would once again be stewards of the soil, rebuilding fertility, sequestering carbon, and protecting our waterways, all while feeding people wholesome food.”

Inspired by Patrick Doherty http://ow.ly/9eRid image source The Solutions Journal http://ow.ly/9eRcE

Fascinated by the marks of a pencil on a surface (February 27th)

Edwin Hayes the UK Goal Mapping Practitioner, Life Coach and Marketing Consultant has realized a thirty year dream; Thornwood Studio a place where creativity can be explored and an artist can evolve. Hayes states “The moment you … became fascinated by the marks of a pencil on a surface or loved and attraction of colour;  that is the moment it started… In the early years creativity is encouraged only as far as it is seen as being helpful to the more “necessary skills”… if a person looses the opportunity to be creative, or creativity is suppressed in some way, a process of degeneration begins within that individual… I see the answer to so many issues in life lying in the ability of an individual to express themselves sufficiently through creativity, be it art, writing, performing or articulating an emotion through speech…  Thornwood Studio is an ambitious representation of a personal long-term dream, goal and journey. It is, in its simplest form a place, not only to explore my own creativity, but also a place which represents my passion for encouraging others to find what may have been misplaced, stolen or suppressed.”

Inspired by Thornwood Studio http://ow.ly/9dmyK image source Total Art Souls http://ow.ly/9dlQi

Contemporary art is good for business (February 26th)

Suzy Hansen a US freelance writer living in Turkey for five years speaks of an Istanbul Art-Boom Bubble in an article she published. In the article Hansen states “It appears that Istanbul, which went from a cosmopolitan wonderland in the 19th century to… a “pale, poor, second-class imitation of a Western city” for much of the 20th, is having its moment of rebirth… it is a heady time to be young and talented in Istanbul… In this conservative Muslim country of 80 million, the artists have minimal influence on social and political life at home… They have grown up during a relatively free and prosperous time in Turkey and make up an artistic elite that has more in common with their counterparts in other nations than with their own countrymen… the ruling Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party (A.K.P.), which routinely throws writers and journalists in jail, rarely bothers with provocative artists, at least so far… Freedom of expression is bad for politics, but contemporary art is good for business. Whether the government’s heavy-handed relationships with the corporate patrons of the art world will be good for art is another story.”

Inspired by Suzy Hansen http://ow.ly/96xX6 image source facebook http://ow.ly/96yYm

Both cooperative and competitive behavior (February 25th)

Richard Heinberg the US Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost Peak Oil educators, has published an article on Aljazeera discussing humanity’s choices to either compete or cooperate in future resource management. Heinberg states “The world’s governments engage continually in both cooperative and competitive behavior, though sometimes extremes of these tendencies come to the fore – with open conflict exemplifying unbridled competition. Geopolitics typically involves both cooperative and competitive strategies, with the long-term goal centered on furthering national interest… If the path towards increasing competition leads to both internal and external conflict, then the result – for winners and losers alike, in a “full” world seeing rapid resource depletion – will most probably be economic and ecological ruin accompanied by political chaos… Yet this is not the only outcome available to world leaders and civil society. A cooperative strategy is at least theoretically feasible – and its foundations already exist in institutions and practices developed during recent decades.”

Inspired by Richard Heinberg http://ow.ly/96xbM image source twitter http://ow.ly/96xvU

Distance between social classes is growing (February 23rd)

Richard Sennett the 69 year old US Professor of Sociology renowned for his studies of the effects of urban living on individuals in the modern world, speaks on the trouble with multiculturalism in an interview with Andrew Anthony. In the interview Sennett states “The increase in inequality means the distance between social classes is growing greater. I’d say the issue for Britain is the same for a lot of ethnically layered societies. What you get is indifference as a way of managing difference. People keep to their own turf, not a complex social tapestry that mixes people together… it’s like a chemical separation – no longer speaking to people with different colour and accents. When they have to deal with each other they are at a loss… in Britain when people talk about community action they’re talking about an old-fashioned idea of where people have their homes. But the most important thing is the workplace. Workplace communities are getting weaker and weaker. Modern capitalism doesn’t encourage much interaction because it’s highly stratifying. Once you stop thinking about where you sleep, the whole issue of community takes on a different kind of character.”

Inspired by Andrew Anthony http://ow.ly/96vmw image source Ars Electronica http://ow.ly/96vJO

For an unforgettable ‘Groundhog Day’ experience (February 19th)

Michael C Hudson the US Professor of Government and International Relations, and currently serving as the Director of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, states “For an unforgettable ‘Groundhog Day’ experience, there is nothing better than a trip to Palestine and Israel.  We’ve experienced multiple revolutions over the past six decades in information technologies, social mores and political upheavals. The Soviet empire collapsed, democracy advanced around the globe, Asia began to rise and the West began to decline. It is all quite disorienting. But one thing remains constant: The Arab-Israeli conflict. It just grinds on and on. For those of us who have been studying it professionally, there is something oddly reassuring about that. For most others not directly involved, it has just become boring. Too bad, because, like a smoldering peat fire, the Palestine problem helps keep the entire Middle East on the boil… the US is out to lunch as far as this matter is concerned … the Obama administration appears resigned to “muddling through” even though its fecklessness feeds America’s many other problems across the region.”

Inspired by Michael Hudson http://ow.ly/7OEPm image source Georgetown Uni http://ow.ly/7OEF2

Global capitalism spirals out of control (February 17th)

William I. Robinson the US professor of sociology focusing on political economy, globalization and historical materialism claims that “As the crisis of global capitalism spirals out of control, the powers that be in the global system appear to be adrift and unable to propose viable solutions… the immense structural inequalities of the global political economy can no longer be contained through consensual mechanisms of social control. The ruling classes have lost legitimacy; we are witnessing a breakdown of ruling-class hegemony on a world scale. …there will be no quick outcome of the mounting global chaos. We are in for a period of major conflicts and great upheavals. …one danger is a neo-fascist response to contain the crisis. We are facing a war of capital against all… In my view, the only viable solution to the crisis of global capitalism is a massive redistribution of wealth and power downward towards the poor majority of humanity along the lines of a 21st-century democratic socialism in which humanity is no longer at war with itself and with nature.”

Inspired by William Robinson http://ow.ly/7OBFQ image source Brian Cuban http://ow.ly/7OBBT

Questions the implied value of Facebook (February 15th)

Dean Baker the 53 year old US macroeconomist and author of a weekly online commentary on economic reporting, questions the implied value of Facebook in its latest IPO (initial public offering) and whether the business is really worth that much money. Baker states “Facebook is going public… that is likely to place the market value of the company in the range of $100 billion. This price would put Facebook among the corporate giants in terms of market value… Some simple back of the envelope calculations show that Facebook would have to gain an enormous share of advertising expenditures over the next 5 to 10 years in order to generate the sort of profits needed to justify this current price… there have been numerous cases of companies becoming market darlings which were most definitely not worth the price. The best example of a failed market darling is probably the internet giant AOL, which had a peak market value of over $220bn in 2000. The price tag for AOL today is $1.8bn.”

Inspired by http://ow.ly/8Zovw image source Facebook http://ow.ly/8ZoV4

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

Yelling the death of Twitter on Twitter is humorous (February 12th)

Jillian C. York the US Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has released an article on Aljazeera discussing what she claims to be “hysterics” surrounding the recent announcement by Twitter of its changes to the way it handles content takedowns. York states “Suddenly, netizens were calling for a Twitter boycott… and proclaiming the death of the platform… on Twitter, of course. While a Twitter boycott is unlikely to have any real effect… and yelling about the death of Twitter on Twitter is just, well, humorous… What the company had announced was that they’d built in the capability to censor content per country. And to do so only in response to official requests, though you wouldn’t know that was the case from the hysterics. …The truth is, Twitter has indeed instituted a method whereby they can – upon receipt of a “valid and applicable legal request” – take down tweets. The company also states that they will only respond “reactively”; in other words, to content that has already been posted. There is a safety feature built in: Users can change their location if they think the one Twitter has listed based on their IP address is wrong.”

Inspired by Jillian C York http://ow.ly/8SzQb image source http://ow.ly/8SA1E

Fracking has greenhouse footprint larger than coal (February 11th)

Ellen Cantarow the US peace and climate change activist claims a minor revolution is occurring in the US as anti-fracking develops its own Occupy movement, “a resistance movement that has arisen to challenge some of the most powerful corporations in history”. Cantarow released an article on TomDispatch.com stating “At a time when the International Energy Agency reports that we have five more years of fossil-fuel use at current levels before the planet goes into irreversible climate change, fracking has a greenhouse gas footprint larger than that of coal… Fracking uses prodigious amounts of water laced with sand and a startling menu of poisonous chemicals to blast the methane out of the shale. At hyperbaric bomb-like pressures, this technology propels five to seven million gallons of sand-and-chemical-laced water a mile or so down a well bore into the shale. Up comes the methane – along with about a million gallons of wastewater containing the original fracking chemicals and other substances that were also in the shale, among them radioactive elements and carcinogens. There are 400,000 such wells in the United States.”

Inspired Ellen Cantarow http://ow.ly/8TlDz by image source http://ow.ly/8SzzN

Only justification is "because it can" (February 10th)

Barry Wingard the 41 year old US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel of 28 years service and a Judge Advocate General (JAG) has written a damning condemnation of the dual US legal systems. In an Aljazeera article, Wingard states “Why does the US assert its right to hold human beings for life without trial in its never-ending battle against “terror”? The only justification that I can see is “because it can”…the most visible example of “American justice” has been the confinement of Muslims at Guantanamo Bay without a trial of any kind… For 10 years, the US has clearly demonstrated it applies one set of legal rules to Americans and another to non-Americans. The first set respects due process, the rule of law, individual rights and the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, the second set involves enhanced interrogation, indefinite detention and a presumption of guilt without any opportunity to prove innocence.”

Inspired by Barry Wingard http://ow.ly/8Szjl image source http://ow.ly/

West has mainly relied on threat diplomacy (February 8th)

Richard Anderson Falk the 81 year old US professor of international law and international activist has published an article on Aljazeera stating that “The public discussion in the West addressing Iran’s nuclear programme has mainly relied on threat diplomacy, articulated most clearly by Israeli officials, but enjoying the strong direct and indirect backing of Washington and leading Gulf states. Israel has also been engaging in low intensity warfare against Iran for several years, apparently supported by the United States, that has been inflicting violent deaths on civilians and disrupting political order in Iran… So far, the United States has shown no willingness despite the passage of more than 30 years to accept the outcome of Iran’s popular revolution of 1978-79 that non-violently overthrew the oppressive regime of the Shah… seeks to dissuade Iran from doing what it seems entitled to do… I am afraid that only when and if a yet non-existent Global Occupy Movement is fully mobilised and turns its attention to geopolitics, will the peoples of the Middle East begin to have some reason to hope for a peaceful and promising future for their region.”

Inspired by Richard Falk http://ow.ly/8SyKY image source Gravatar http://ow.ly/8SyCl

Well-cast for role of fall guy and scapegoat (February 4th)

Chase Madar the US lawyer and author of ‘The Passion of Bradley Manning’ has released an article on Aljazeera stating “The bodycount that resulted from Pfc Manning’s leaks have amounted to zero thus far, while his accusers stand bloody.” Madar states, “Knowledge may indeed have its risks, but how many civilian deaths can actually be traced to the WikiLeaks’ revelations? How many military deaths? To the best of anyone’s knowledge, not a single one. …the “grave risks” involved in the publication of the War Logs and of those State Department documents have been wildly exaggerated. Embarrassment, yes. A look inside two grim wars and the workings of imperial diplomacy, yes. Blood, no. The civilian carnage caused by our rush to war … is not speculative or theoretical but all-too real. And yet no one anywhere has been held to much account… Only one individual, it seems, will pay, even if he actually spilled none of the blood. Our foreign policy elites seem to think Bradley Manning is well-cast for the role of fall guy and scapegoat. This is an injustice. …someday Pfc Manning will be honoured.

Inspired by image Chase Madar http://ow.ly/8Jm6I source Muhammad Ahmad http://ow.ly/8Jm4R

Either very rich, very poor, or in trouble with IRS (February 1st)

Donna Brazile the 52 year old US professor and political analyst published several tweets following the 2012 State of the Union address by President Barak Obama stating “Republicans can’t seem to accomplish anything, yet they are able to prevent virtually everything from happening” and comically following up with “If you pay fewer taxes than Mitt Romney, you are either very rich, very poor, or in a whole lot of trouble with the IRS”. Brazile is renowned for her weekly contributions to CNN tv’s The Situation Room, and contributions to NPR’s Political Corner. Brazile directed the Al Gore presidential campaign in 2000, and briefly served as the interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2011. Brazile developed an interest in politics at the age of nine, helping to elect a City Council candidate who had promised to build a playground; the candidate won and ignited her lifelong passion for political progress.

Inspired by Donna Brazile on Twitter image source Ron Aira http://ow.ly/8JkIr

Enrichment of the French cultural inheritance (January 31st)

Will Barnet the 100 year old US artist renowned for his dream like figurative human and animal paintings and watercolors depicting daily life, has been honored by being named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by French authorities. Barnet’s body of works including drawings and prints are recognized worldwide for his original style. Barnet is a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, and has been the recipient of numerous awards including being the first Artist’s Lifetime Achievement Award Medal given by the National Academy of Design. The French government’s guidelines for being named a Chevalier state the recipient must respect French civil law, and must have ’significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance’, although foreign persons can be admitted into the Order. Barnet had been honored earlier by the French National Academy Museum with an exhibition of his works.

Inspired by Judith H. Dobrzynski http://ow.ly/8Jk9x image source Amy Zimmer http://ow.ly/8Jk67