FOR THOSE BLEAK KNIGHTS
The Bedside Table is a table that comes apart to form a shield and beating stick, just in case a marauding band of outlaws from the neighboring fief invades your manor.
(Suggested by FUTURELAWYER)
Domingo Soto's Personal Blog https://domsoto.blogspot.com/
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Mount Rushmore vs. the Crazy Horse Memorial -- chicagotribune.com
SET IN STONE
In the Black Hills of South Dakota you can roll between two of the largest sculpted mountains on the face of the Earth. Mt. Rushmore, of course, is your old friend from elementary school, and you think you know it well. It makes a startling difference, seeing a sculpture in three dimensions after you've gotten to know it in two - especially when that sculpture tops a 450-foot mountain. And it may be just as startling to learn that the man who made it spent most of his 50s as a mover and shaker in the Ku Klux Klan. Some17 miles southwest of those faces the mountain has a face -- a face nine stories high. This sculpture shows the warrior Crazy Horse on horseback, pointing southeast to the lands where many of his people lie buried.
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE)
In the Black Hills of South Dakota you can roll between two of the largest sculpted mountains on the face of the Earth. Mt. Rushmore, of course, is your old friend from elementary school, and you think you know it well. It makes a startling difference, seeing a sculpture in three dimensions after you've gotten to know it in two - especially when that sculpture tops a 450-foot mountain. And it may be just as startling to learn that the man who made it spent most of his 50s as a mover and shaker in the Ku Klux Klan. Some17 miles southwest of those faces the mountain has a face -- a face nine stories high. This sculpture shows the warrior Crazy Horse on horseback, pointing southeast to the lands where many of his people lie buried.
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE)
FILM: DAYS OF GLORY
One of the great cultural equalizers for me is Netflix. I no longer have to go down to Blockbuster and pan for the occasional nugget of foreign fare. That is especially so with "Days of Glory" a film that celebrates the contribution of an Algerian (yes, Muslim) unit which joins the French Army to battle for the liberation of France.
One of the great cultural equalizers for me is Netflix. I no longer have to go down to Blockbuster and pan for the occasional nugget of foreign fare. That is especially so with "Days of Glory" a film that celebrates the contribution of an Algerian (yes, Muslim) unit which joins the French Army to battle for the liberation of France.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
MIDDLE EAST HEROES
What scares the hell out of most of us is that the forces of resacralization - both Christian and Muslin - are making such apparent headway without, it would seem, any apparent resistance. We need what Marcuse called a "great refusal". Oh sure, we see vestiges of resistance on the Western side, but it often looks to us from way over here that the debate in the Middle East is stilted.
What scares the hell out of most of us is that the forces of resacralization - both Christian and Muslin - are making such apparent headway without, it would seem, any apparent resistance. We need what Marcuse called a "great refusal". Oh sure, we see vestiges of resistance on the Western side, but it often looks to us from way over here that the debate in the Middle East is stilted.
Then along comes a video like this Aljazeera interview with Wafa Sultan that gives you hope that maybe things aren't quite as monolithic and hopeless as we fear.
Then, too there's this website called ALTMUSLIM that seems to take the liberal notion that all sides should be discussed. Here you can see the give-and-take debate that really is going on.
Check out their piece on Evin Prison in Iran.
Or,their piece on Comic Book Realities.
Another brave soul is Ibn Warraq, critic of Islamic fundamentalism and author of a recent book "Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out" and "How to Debate A Muslim"
The Australian Broadcasting Company has an online Radio Interview with him.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Comment is free: Plus ça change in Cuba
WHAT NOW FOR CUBA?
Since Fidel Castro was forced to undergo serious surgery and transferred all his powers to a group of senior ministers led by his brother Raúl in August 2006, Cuba has confounded those who predicted the collapse of the system without the supreme leader in charge. Now the agenda for the future must be to prove they can resolve some of the economic issues that the grand old man, now a semi-retired revolutionary who now longer appears in public, either could not or would not address.
(GUARDIAN, unearthed by Whythe Holt)
Since Fidel Castro was forced to undergo serious surgery and transferred all his powers to a group of senior ministers led by his brother Raúl in August 2006, Cuba has confounded those who predicted the collapse of the system without the supreme leader in charge. Now the agenda for the future must be to prove they can resolve some of the economic issues that the grand old man, now a semi-retired revolutionary who now longer appears in public, either could not or would not address.
(GUARDIAN, unearthed by Whythe Holt)
Monday, August 20, 2007
The Sleuth
HOW "QUAGMIRE" TAPE CAME TO LIGHT
The now famous Dick Chaney "quagmire" tape, which has gotten over half a million views on YouTube, may well have remained buried in the archives for another decade if it hadn't been for that one C-SPAN producer, an affable young Irishman named Emmanuel Touhey.
(WASHINGTON POST)
The now famous Dick Chaney "quagmire" tape, which has gotten over half a million views on YouTube, may well have remained buried in the archives for another decade if it hadn't been for that one C-SPAN producer, an affable young Irishman named Emmanuel Touhey.
(WASHINGTON POST)
Rovian Ways: Comment: The New Yorker
HE DID IT HIS WAY
Before Karl Rove joined Bush full time, he had maneuvered himself into a position in Texas that was about as close as it is possible to get to being an old-fashioned political boss. The state, thanks in part to his efforts, was solidly Republican, and candidates at every level of elective office—the governorship, the congressional delegation, the state Supreme Court, the legislature—begged him to consent to be hired by them. If he agreed, he would run a typically ruthless and hyper-organized campaign, and usually win.
(THE NEW YORKER, unearthed by Mediabistro)
Before Karl Rove joined Bush full time, he had maneuvered himself into a position in Texas that was about as close as it is possible to get to being an old-fashioned political boss. The state, thanks in part to his efforts, was solidly Republican, and candidates at every level of elective office—the governorship, the congressional delegation, the state Supreme Court, the legislature—begged him to consent to be hired by them. If he agreed, he would run a typically ruthless and hyper-organized campaign, and usually win.
(THE NEW YORKER, unearthed by Mediabistro)
The War | PBS
SERIES TO PREMIERE HERE
The University of South Alabama is hosting the showing of a one-hour preview of the Ken Burns documentary "The War."The documentary explores the changes World War II brought to four U.S. cities, among them Mobile.USA Archives provided Burns with more than fifty images for the Mobile portion of the series. Some of those images will be on display for extended viewing during the event. Burns is expected to appear and take questions from the audience. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.
The University of South Alabama is hosting the showing of a one-hour preview of the Ken Burns documentary "The War."The documentary explores the changes World War II brought to four U.S. cities, among them Mobile.USA Archives provided Burns with more than fifty images for the Mobile portion of the series. Some of those images will be on display for extended viewing during the event. Burns is expected to appear and take questions from the audience. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
8:00 p.m.
The Mitchell Center
University of South Alabama
Sunday, August 19, 2007
EDUCATE THYSELF
What do you do to keep yourself educated about some of today's major issues? Yeah, I know, some subscribe to the Double Bill Theory: it's either O'Reilly or Maher for them. It's always worth checking out Reuters, BBC, Aljazeera, Washington Post, New York Times, Granma, and the alternative press. You might also consider adding these to your informational fare:
What do you do to keep yourself educated about some of today's major issues? Yeah, I know, some subscribe to the Double Bill Theory: it's either O'Reilly or Maher for them. It's always worth checking out Reuters, BBC, Aljazeera, Washington Post, New York Times, Granma, and the alternative press. You might also consider adding these to your informational fare:
IRAQSLOGGER
This site is really a font of information on the Iraq war.
(Suggested by Arthur Madden)
LIVE LEAK
Iraqslogger seems to rely heavily on these guys, with good reason. This is YouTube, but for real.
MEDIA MATTERS
These are the guys that Fox hates. Enough said. (They are the actual flip-side of Fox and very doctrinaire Democrat but they always raise issues worth considering.)
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION
These guys are really fighting the good fight for some pretty ethereal - but hugely important - issues
Americans are Flocking to a Hi-Tech Creation Museum Where Man and Dinosaurs Frolick Happily Together - CommonDreams.org
OR NOT!
The Museum of Natural History in New York this is not. Welcome, rather, to the Creation Museum, a $27m facility that opened in May — to a veritable onslaught of enthusiastic visitors — on a 49-acre site in northeast Kentucky close to Cincinnati. There is no shortage of references to Darwin, whose teachings about evolution most of us are familiar with and more comfortable accepting. But the clear purpose is to demolish not celebrate them. You get the idea of where you are also when you learn that the folk behind it are the founders of a fundamentalist Christian ministry called Answers in Genesis.
(COMMON DREAMS)
The Museum of Natural History in New York this is not. Welcome, rather, to the Creation Museum, a $27m facility that opened in May — to a veritable onslaught of enthusiastic visitors — on a 49-acre site in northeast Kentucky close to Cincinnati. There is no shortage of references to Darwin, whose teachings about evolution most of us are familiar with and more comfortable accepting. But the clear purpose is to demolish not celebrate them. You get the idea of where you are also when you learn that the folk behind it are the founders of a fundamentalist Christian ministry called Answers in Genesis.
(COMMON DREAMS)
village voice > people > Ask a Mexican!: Want to Stop Immigration? Go Pick Strawberries Yourselves. by Gustavo Arellano
PICK IT YOURSELFSo want to save America from the Aztlanistas? Head for the fields and groves, wrap a bandanna around your face to fend off the pesticides, and start picking. And make sure there are no bruises on the fruit, lest the foreman dock you an hour's pay.
(VILLAGE VOICE)
(VILLAGE VOICE)
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