Henry Danger
When I was in Lausanne, Switzerland two summers ago I visited a curious museum called Musée de l'Art Brut. It displays only the terrifying artwork of sociopaths and violent criminals. There was an exhibit by one especially deranged man. He painted watercolors of 50s-style scantily-clad schoolgirls on long scrolls of paper. In the cartoon bubbles the girls talk about graphic sex and cuss a lot. Did I mention some of the girls have phalluses? It only gets freakier. Further down painted on the scrolls, the girls wage war with aliens.
Since then I've been trying to remember his name. It's Henry Darger, Chan Marshall mentioned him in an interview. Here's the lowdown...
Thursday, April 10, 2003 12:03 p.m.
Republican Comeuppance
CAGW has always kinda annoyed me. Just look at their website. It's the graphic eqivalent of a novelty necktie. It's this "bah-dum-ching" kind of corny humor that gets them to title their yearly reference guide of "Government Waste," the "Pig Book." Still the aforementioned "Pig Book," was the inspiration for this Washington Times editorial:
What we find more worrisome than deficits is the growing hypocrisy and empty rhetoric in Republican and Democratic ranks to grandstand about fiscal responsibility, while rolling around in the same old pig pen. We agree that it's vitally important to increase military spending these days. But, it's equally important to be honest that this might temporarily accompany deficits. It's also true that every penny wasted on pet projects is one that isn't funding the military or homeland defense. In this light, especially during wartime, pork can be seen as very unpatriotic.
Nice. The Time op-ed page grows progressively libertarian each week
Now the hard-science groups are bucking for independence, claiming that the Lab's art-meets-technology focus is passé. Students complain that egocentric professors are undermining the Lab's interdisciplinary spirit. And the Lab's reputation as a scientific lightweight - "all icing and no cake," as Negroponte sums up the rap - never seems to die. Designing props for the wacky Flying Karamazov Brothers juggling troupe isn't exactly what the Nobel committee is looking for.
IRS Next
Activists will converge in front of the IRS on April 15th, because "They Won't Pay for this War." Yeah, target them more often, please?
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 10:08 a.m.
At Least One
The AlterNet Iraq NewsWire found this from an archived article in The Onion dated Jan 2001: "Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years." They also predicted the McDonald-obesity lawsuit last summer.
Also from AlterNet: Transcripts from a radio interview with John Brady Kiesling and John Brown, the diplomats that resigned from their posts to protest the Iraq war.
Bush Indoctrined
Here's a good article giving the background of the neocon movement from The SP Times.
You know, he looks like such a nice guy...
Monday, April 7, 2003 11:44 a.m.
Color Me Unsurprised
Michael considers why it seems no individuals among the Right ever step out of line. Their unison is remarkable. When the Neo-cons stepped onto the scene there was scarcely any debate whether conservatives would accept their message or not.
He ends with a lovely contrast:
The left is a grand mosaic, a quilt made up of thousands of different patches. And like any great work of art, we look different to all who see us.
My friend Mike is writing an article for MSNBC on why the anti-war movement is marginalized and no longer thriving on college campuses. Part of the reason is the post-information age counter-culture is diverse. While the twentieth century was a series of cohesive "movements," the twenty-first will be known for it's specialization and diversity. Cass Sunstein and Robert Putnam can keep crying about it. I just wish the largest subculture component were the people like me, who have a crayon box-style dabbling in about every aspect imaginable. I'll keep tokin' with stoners, raving with the ravers, philosophizing over au laits with the metrosexuals, and even -- on very rare occassion-- getting wasted with the Alphas. If I had to pick just one I'd be terribly bored.
Monday, April 7, 2003 11:18 a.m.
All In a Day's Work
A thousand people were massacred Thursday in Congo. The ethnic clash between Hema and Lendu tribes lasted only three hours. I think I lost my appetite.
Monday, April 7, 2003 04:13 a.m.
Microsoft "Patchy" Practices
Here's a great article on Microsoft's new fraud that they can't fix a DoS vulnerability on the NT system so anyone using NT should simply upgrade to 2000, XP, or 2003. It ends with a rallying call for open-source. If you're one of the 35% of PC users that has NT, don't upgrade! Do the right thing and chose Linux.
Here's a golden opportunity for Microsoft to show its customers that they get what they pay for -- instead, they're essentially being told that if they want a secure product, they'll have to pay for it again.
Either way you look at it, Microsoft is presenting a strong case against its own product line. Either the company is being dishonest with its customers in an attempt to wring even more money out of them -- or the company simply isn't competent to maintain its own products. Companies that want to protect their investments should be looking to other sources for their next operating system.
In other tech news, it's nice to see the AP have a big story on libertarians, even if it's just a vague look at surveillance. Bob Bar, Heather MacDonald and Ira Glasser are all cited.
Monday, April 7, 2003 03:57 a.m.
Understudy: Pyongyang
The Observer says war with N Korea is "almost inevitable."
Monday, April 7, 2003 02:36 a.m.
Time Flies
You all know it's April now? That means next month is May. And then it's June and then, ugh... I can offer only pithy, fortune cookie sentiments right now. I'm wondering what's the next plot twist in my life, and how long I need to wait until it begins.
Monday, April 7, 2003 12:56 a.m.
He's No Asshole. He has a "Beautiful Mind"!
I'm now reading Sylvia Nasser's A Beautiful Mind. It's very good. I didn't see the movie, and I know very little about John Nash, so I'm quite intrigued. The book has me back to pondering, as I did in my post about Simone Weil, whether craziness and eccentricity works as a safety net and adds regard to one's "genius." Now don't get me wrong, there's no doubt about it that Nash, especially in the later years, was kah-razy -- but his craziness brought public attention to his intellect.
I suspect a lot of "crazy" intellegent people do it at least part of the time as a put on. It's the ultimate alibi. You're a jerk to someone, and they'll laugh it off and say "Well, he's just crazy!" You forget to take out the trash seven weeks in a row, and they make the same excuse for you: "He's got his head in the clouds!" It justifies any bad behavior. Apparently the sign of a true genius is his unacknowledgement of reality.
Maybe I'm just jealous because I'm not crazy, and it looks like a lot of fun. Or maybe my lack of eccentricies is an eccentricity itself. Or maybe I am crazy, but also cunning enough to conceal it
No doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain
Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk.
Of course they're 'longing to go out again,' -
These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk.
They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed
Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died,-
Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud
Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride...
Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;
Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad.
Monday, April 7, 2003 12:19 a.m. Career Politicians Need Real Jobs Maybe the best thing to keep beauracracy in check is making sure incumbant candidates stay out of office. Right now, as much as I despise John Kerry, even he would be sweet relief from The Shrub & Co. Howard Dean has my vote (that is, if I were a voter.) Why? Because this war is psychotic, expensive, and while our heads are turned Republicans are scurrying about to draft their pet projects and send more of our tax dollars down the drain.
Does anyone really think Bush will privatize social security? That's about as likely as his plea for a Palestinean state. Economically Republicans are no different from Democrats. They both love pork. So the best thing we could do to set them on a diet, is mix 'em up every four years. You never want an "experienced" government that can draft legislation like a well-oiled machine.
