Our Spending Priorities

Nice visual summary from True Majority. Click on the image for a larger version, or find an even larger one here.

Pilger on Propaganda in the Media

John Pilger is a journalist and documentary maker who's twice won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award and whose docs have received academy awards in Britain and the US. This is the first of 7 segments, all currently available on YouTube.



Pilger was relatively early in identifying Obama as a "corporate marketing creation."

Meanwhile . . . .

Trying to keep track of ongoing as well as more recent disasters, I found myself remembering these images, which some of you may have missed (click on the images for larger versions).

They were finally made available in 2005 after a series of F.O.I.A. requests and a lawsuit charging the Pentagon with failing to comply with the Act. When the Pentagon finally complied, the faces were blacked out (the Pentagon claimed it needed to "conceal identifiable personal information of military personnel involved in the homecoming ceremonies.")

The resulting images are eerily eloquent and complex, perhaps exemplifying what Matt McCormick has called "subconscious art."

More photos and info at the National Security Archive.

Cindy Sheehan: Camp OUT NOW

Sheehan has announced that on March 13 (which I'm told is the anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq), she will found a new camp across the street from the White House, on the lawn of the Washington Monument. The camp will have two purposes: to protest the U.S. wars in Iraq and A-stan, and to serve as a community for those who have lost jobs and homes during what she terms "the Goldman Sachs Depression." More at PeaceoftheAction.

Guantanamo Allocation Center

In case you missed my earlier post on the subject, this is a project initiated by artist Christoph Faulhaber "dedicated to the question of relocating the remaining detainees . . . . GAC focuses on the global process of allocation and relocation, and aims to provide accommodations in Germany that offer a process of re-socialization by providing and furnishing a temporary, and eventual, final home."

The GAC website was recently updated; among other improvements, you can now donate by Paypal, here.

SEE "In the Loop"

It's sorta like Dr. Strangelove, except it's a fictionalized yet only-too-plausible version of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Brilliant, hilarious, and fast; be alert, or miss half the fun.

Samples:

Malcolm Tucker: Right. Was it you?
Simon Foster: No, it wasn't. No. What?
Malcolm Tucker: You do know what I'm talking about, don't you?
Simon Foster: No. And... And... whatever it was, I almost certainly didn't do it.
Malcolm Tucker: Was it you, the baby from Eraserhead?
Toby Wright: No, no.
Malcolm Tucker: Then it must have been you, the woman from The Crying Game.
Judy: It wasn't me.

or (between a sorta Colin Powell-ish James Gandolfini and a sorta Hillary-ish Mimi Kennedy):

Lt. Gen. Miller: You're beautiful.
Karen Clarke: I'm sure you say that to all the girls.
Lt. Gen. Miller: Yes, I do . . . And some of the soldiers, too.
Karen Clarke: That's why you shouldn't run for office: bimbo eruptions.
Lt. Gen. Miller: Come on, don't believe that shit. I'm not gonna run for office. I'm just trying to do something different.
Karen Clarke: It's one of the reasons I like you. I know your passion about education and housing and . . .
Lt. Gen. Miller: Lingerie.
Karen Clarke: There you go.
Lt. Gen. Miller: Bestiality.
Karen Clarke: I'd forgotten about that. Are you still allergic to the dog?
Lt. Gen. Miller: Yes, yes, I wake up and my eyes are closed and my head is swollen and I look like a giant ball sac.
Karen Clarke: Oh, my God. You know, they do have modern medication for that sort of thing. Beautiful ball sac, though.
Lt. Gen. Miller: Thank you very much.

Gandolfini's facial simulation of his beautiful ball sac alone is worth the price of admission.

Trailer here; more at IMDB.

Initiative by Artist Christoph Faulhaber:

. . . the Guantanamo Allocation Center, which is "dedicated to the question of relocating the remaining detainees . . . . GAC focuses on the global process of allocation and relocation, and aims to provide accommodations in Germany that offer a process of re-socialization by providing and furnishing a temporary, and eventual, final home." The temporary housing is planned in Hamburg, Germany.

More info here (I've asked them for details re- how to donate and will update this post with anything I learn).

UPDATE: As of Sept. 30, you can donate via Paypal here.

The Yes Men

. . . publish their own New York Times:

Stimulus v. Iraq

Statue Honors Shoe Hurled at B*sh

Video and story here.

Bush's Legacy

per K. Olbermann's "8 Years in 8 Minutes":

Lots More Shoes

(And what did become of the original shoe thrower? Shouldn't more of us stand up and say, give me whatever punishment he got, since he only did what we wish we'd had the chance and guts to do?)

Thousands of Shoes Tie Up Miami Freeway

Per the A.P., "State troopers are looking for a charity to take thousands of shoes that were dumped on a Miami expressway, tying up rush hour traffic. . . .

"[Officer] Santangelo says he's not sure where the shoes came from. There were no signs of a crash and no one stopped to claim them. He says he hopes someone will take them because he doesn't want to send them to the dump."

Need an Audience, or Something?

You can get a whole crowd of cut-outs at Mr. Flat People, which points out that flat people

• Don't need to be fed
• Don't make noise
• Don't need breaks
• Don't ask for overtime
• Always do what you say

(Thanks, Ben!) The site lists a bunch of movies in which the cut-outs have been used, including U2.

Reminded me of the Flat Daddy program. You can order your own Flat Daddy for $49.50, but he's only the top half of a man.

Shoes, Anyone?

In Baghdad:



MORE shoes here, here, and here.

Per the BBC, meanwhile, the original perpetrator has, since the shoe-shooting, "allegedly suffered a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding" and faces up to two years in jail . . . AND, "offers to buy the shoes he threw are being made around the Arab world," one reportedly for as high as $10 million.

To paraphrase John Donne, "Ask not for whom the shoe-thrower throws; he throws for thee."

Why Must I Be a Teenager in Luv?

Last week I and a niece saw Twilight. The vampires were icy-hot. Also thanks to my niece, I'm totally enjoying some anima and manga.

I just want to lose myself in the romance -- the more over-the-top, the better. Maybe reality's been a bit much for me lately.

Meanwhile, finally, despite media consolidation, electronic elections, and other hurdles, we've managed to elect Obama.

He'll inherit one of the most horrific sets of problems faced by any new President in U.S. history. And we can't wait 'til he does: we hang on his every word; we can't stop talking about him -- why have his cabinet picks been so retro, will he in fact be able to direct them toward fixing all the problems, etc.; we're breathless, even gasping with anticipation. And it's still almost two more months before he'll be inaugurated.

Chomsky's Been Right 20 Yrs. or So Ahead of Most, for a Long Time:

Iraqis Topple Effigy of Bush

This was in response to a proposed agreement to allow the U.S. to continue occupying Iraq for three more years. Per The NYT, Bush said we'd leave when they asked us to. I think this counts as an ask.

In Case You Didn't Notice, Congress Also Passed a $619 Billion Defense Bill

Anne Lamott on What to Do

"Figure out one thing you can do every single day to be a part of the solution, concentrating on swing states. Money, walking precincts, registering voters, whatever. This is the only way miracles ever happen -- left foot, right foot, left foot, breathe. Right foot, left foot, right foot, breathe. The great novelist E.L. Doctorow once said that writing a novel is like driving at night with the headlights on: You can only see a little ways in front of you, but you can make the whole journey this way. It is the truest of all things; the only way to write a book, raise a child, save the world.

"As my anonymous pal Krinkle Bearcat once wrote: Laughter is carbonated holiness. It is chemo. So do whatever it takes to keep your sense of humor. . . .

"Reread everything Molly Ivins and Jim Hightower ever wrote. Write down that great line of Molly's, that 'Freedom fighters don't always win, but they're always right.' Tape it next to your phone."

More at Salon.