Relevant Song for the Day - Pretty Boy Floyd by Woody Guthrie

Power (Doc, 2024) - Featured Film of Interest - Recommended

"Frederick Douglass said, 'Power concedes nothing without a demand.' And the power that is American policing hasn't conceded anything. If anything, it's doubled and tripled down on that power."

Links:

Roger Ebert.com Review

Watch Power - Trailer and Film

IMDb - Power (2024, Documentary)

Thought for the Day - From an Unapologetic Gen X'er

Yes, this really is the first thing that I decide to post in 9 months.  Actually, many posts are awaiting, just held up by pure Slacker mode (a shout out to all the Gen X'ers).
Check out the article below.  I've been waiting for an excuse to post this ever since it popped up on their website.

Link:  NPR:  25 Years Later: Was 1993 The Greatest Year In Music?

umm, of course it was - one of my personal favorites at least.  So much authentic, innovative music at one moment that includes and extends beyond what is discussed in the article.  Extraordinary year in so many genres and sub genres, from rock (um, grunge?) to metal to punk to hip-hop to jam band (felt obligated to include), and so much more.

Politics Meets Humanity - Sen. Jeff Flake Confronted by Protesters Ahead of Kavanaugh Vote - Media with Purpose

The strength, courage and conviction of the women protesters confronting Flake is nothing short of inspiring to action, and endless admiration and appreciation.

Now, I also want to note the truth seeking ability of the camera's eye, and the infinite strength of media when driven by noble forces.  The camera offers the peoples' voice amplification like nothing else can, if we use it.

Nothing really needed be said.  Just watch.




Link:  NPR - WATCH: Assault Victims Confront Jeff Flake After He Says He Will Vote For Kavanaugh

"Believe in Something..." - Colin Kaepernick's Nike Ad Campaign, 2018 - Media with Purpose

"Don't ask if your dreams are crazy.  Ask if they're crazy enough."

Note from biab:  Sometimes it takes a Goliath to bring down Goliath.  The world we created is more complex and unjust than i typically care to imagine.  Strange times bring strange allies.

Graduation Advice from 'the peoples' pervert' - John Waters’ RISD 2015 Commencement Speech

Why can't we all be so lucky as to have a brilliantly twisted mad man of this caliber to offer us advice upon graduation from art school/film school?  The Class of 2015 at RISD was treated with face to face guidance from the master of transgressive independent cinema himself, John Waters.  I can't even remember who spoke at my graduation. Wait, was I even at my graduation?  Hmm?  Can't remember that either.  Enjoy, and be sure to watch the video posted below.

Link to full article:  Addicting Info - Best Graduation Advice Ever: "Go Out Into The World And F*ck It Up Beautifully"

If you don’t have time to watch Waters’ entire 12-minute speech, here are the top 13 take-aways.

1. Get used to rejection: “Hopefully you have been taught never to fear rejection in the workplace. Remember, a no is free.”
2. Find your partners in crime: “A career in the arts is like a hitchhiking trip. All you need is one person to say “Get in” and off you go. And then the confidence begins.”
3. Stay inspired: “If you’re a visual artist, go see the shows in the galleries that are frantically competing to find the one bad neighborhood left in Manhattan to open up in.”
4. Ask you’d make something better: “Watch every movie that gets a negative review in the New York Times and figure out what the director did wrong.”
5. Keep informed: “Read, read, read!”
6. Learn from your enemies: “Listen to your political enemies, especially the smart ones, and then figure out a way to make them laugh.”
7. Hone your sense of humor: “Humor is always the best defense and weapon. If you can make an idiot laugh, they’ll at least pause and listen before they do something stupid – to you.”
8. Use the world for artistic inspiration: “Watch people on the streets. Spy, be nosy, eavesdrop.”
9. Stay open to new things: “As you get older, you’ll need youth spies that will keep you abreast of new music that nobody has heard of yet.”
10. Don’t hate rich people: “They’re not all awful. Believe me, I know some evil poor people, too. We need some rich people: Who else is going to back our movies or buy our art?”
11. Use technology wisely: “Outrage outdated critics. Use technology for transgression, not lazy social living.”
12. Screw what others think: “Design clothes so hideous that they can’t be worn ironically.”
13. Do something fabulous: “Go out into the world and f*ck it up beautifully.”

The Genius Of The Crowd: Charles Bukowski - Social and Philosophical Considerations

Steve Jobs - In Memory of an Innovator (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011)

Innovation is the rarest and highest level of human thought and capability.

Steve Jobs: The Link Between Machines And Humans

by LINTON WEEKS

October 6, 2011

With his black turtleneck, wire-rimmed glasses and conspiratorial grin, Steve Jobs was arguably the best ambassador ever between androids and humans.

When Jobs died Wednesday at 56 after protracted combat with pancreatic cancer, the world lost a valuable shuttle diplomat between computers and tablets and gadgets and animated robots, and the people who so desperately long to relate to them.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," Apple, the company Jobs co-founded, said in a brief statement. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

In memoriam, the Apple.com website last night featured a full-screen photo of Jobs — turtleneck, glasses and grin — and this epitaph: "Apple has lost a visionary and a creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

The tech world lost a leader; the creative world lost a soulmate. He straddled both worlds like a colossus...

For the complete article follow the Link:  NPR - Steve Jobs: The Link Between Machines and Humans

The End of the American Dream? - Media with Purpose

Links: changetowin.org
Think Progress.org
truthout.org

Magic Mushrooms Can Make Lasting Personality Changes, Study Says

Elizabeth Lopatto, ©2011 Bloomberg News
Thursday, September 29, 2011 - SF Gate

Psilocybin, or "magic mushrooms," can make people more open in their feelings and aesthetic sensibilities, conferring on them a lasting personality change, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers. People who had mystic experiences while taking the mushrooms were more likely to show increases in a personality trait dubbed "openness," which is related to creativity, artistic appreciation and curiosity, according to the study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. The change was still in place a year later, suggesting a long-term effect.

"The remarkable piece is that psilocybin can facilitate experiences that change how people perceive themselves and their environment," said Roland Griffiths, a study author and professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine in Baltimore. "That's unprecedented."

Magic mushrooms, also known as "shrooms," are hallucinogens native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Mexico and the U.S. The fungi were favored by former Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary, who founded the Harvard Psilocybin Project, and explored by '60s writer and anthropologist Carlos Castaneda. They are typically eaten but can also be dried and smoked or made into a tea.

Openness is one of five major personality factors known to be constant throughout multiple cultures, heritable in families and largely unvarying throughout a person's lifetime. The other four factors, extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness and conscientiousness, were unchanged by being dosed with the hallucinogenic mushrooms, the study found. This is the first finding of a short-term intervention providing a long-term personality change, researchers said...

To read more go to:  SF Gate - Magic Mushrooms...

Portishead - Roads - Song for the Day

"How Can it Feel This Wrong" - Posted by NY Times columnist and Princeton professor Paul Krugman to his blog - The Conscience of a Liberal - in response to the recent debt ceiling/spending cuts "compromise" passed by congress.

I do not join in the applause for the children of congress that supposedly came together to accomplish something, nor any other major participants. Shame, sadness, and disillusionment is what i have come away from the recent political (not legislative) debacle with - as we have observed from oh so far away.

Bill Maher - Why Liberals Don't Like Bachmann & Palin

Link:  HuffPost Comedy - Bill Maher Calls Bachman & Palin Boobs

Bonus Maher Video - 07/09/11 - Wake up from the slumber...

Portugal drug law shows results ten years on... AFP Reports - Progressive Resolutions #01

(AFP) – Jul 1, 2011 

Lisbon

LISBON — Health experts in Portugal said Friday that Portugal's decision 10 years ago to decriminalise drug use and treat addicts rather than punishing them is an experiment that has worked.

"There is no doubt that the phenomenon of addiction is in decline in Portugal," said Joao Goulao, President of the Institute of Drugs and Drugs Addiction, a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the law.

The number of addicts considered "problematic" -- those who repeatedly use "hard" drugs and intravenous users -- had fallen by half since the early 1990s, when the figure was estimated at around 100,000 people, Goulao said.

Other factors had also played their part however, Goulao, a medical doctor added.

"This development can not only be attributed to decriminalisation but to a confluence of treatment and risk reduction policies."

Portugal's holistic approach had also led to a "spectacular" reduction in the number of infections among intravenous users and a significant drop in drug-related crimes, he added.

A law that became active on July 1, 2001 did not legalise drug use, but forced users caught with banned substances to appear in front of special addiction panels rather than in a criminal court.

The panels composed of psychologists, judges and social workers recommended action based on the specifics of each case.

Since then, government panels have recommended a response based largely on whether the individual is an occasional drug user or an addict.

Of the nearly 40,000 people currently being treated, "the vast majority of problematic users are today supported by a system that does not treat them as delinquents but as sick people," Goulao said.

In a report published last week, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) said Portugal had dealt with this issue "in a pragmatic and innovative way."

Drug use statistics in Portugal are generally "below the European average and much lower than its only European neighbour, Spain," the report also said.

"The changes that were made in Portugal provide an interesting before-and-after study on the possible effects of decriminalisation," EMCDDA said.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Link: Portugal Drug Law... AFP

Reason and Faith? - Image of Intrigue #02

Since the Reason and Faith? posting with the image of a church marquee reading, "Reason is the Greatest Enemy that Faith Has," i have received a few responses from friends. Actually, they are just sending pictures of equally interesting, funny, or ridiculous church marquees from around the states. In the original post, i mentioned that it would be an interesting photography shoot/collection - well, maybe i can just make a little collection of my own right here on the blog. It may not have the high-art meets americana aesthetic that i had in mind, but it should still be interesting.
With that said, i would like to encourage anyone that has pictures of interesting church marquees, or stumbles across them while holding a camera, to please send them my way and i will post the ones that i find suitable (whatever that means within my subjective, twisted judgement). Whether they be philosophically/theologically intriguing, humorous, down-right ridiculous, absurd, or beautiful and thought provoking, please send them. I am not looking to mock, necessarily - just exploring a quirky intrigue that happens to mock itself from time to time. If it happens to be funny or hypocritical then so be it. Thanks.

Below are two of the images recently sent by friends:

The Story of Stuff - Media with Purpose - Video

Link:  The Story of Stuff Project

Middle-Class Suburbanites Fail to See Irony in Their Lives

These parents (left) work constantly to make money to provide a better life for their children, yet in so doing, see them an average of one hour per day. In a recent study, this family reported "no irony whatsoever" in its lifestyle.

Princeton University’s renowned Institute for Advanced Studies revealed yesterday that the middle class, known to French social theorists as the “petit-bourgeoisie,” failed in over 98 percent of measured cases to notice the inherent irony in their lives. Though their very existences are riddled with the   exact opposites of intended meanings that define irony as we know it, the middle class roundly failed to notice it in a barrage of tests conducted over the past six months by IAS.

“There are countless examples of irony evident in the lives of suburban consumerism-based nuclear families,” Institute spokesperson Jody Clewes said. “These ironies, however, are totally lost on the fatuous, unthinking middle class.”

The IAS released over 75 sample questions and answers to demonstrate its findings, ranging from irony evident in social and political agendas, all the way to personal lifestyle choices.

Most striking was the middle class’s predominant self-definition as “socially liberal,” with regard to equal civil rights and fair treatment for society’s impoverished. This stood in marked contrast to the middle class’s recent trend toward gated, exclusive communities as well as voting for lower property taxes in high-income areas and higher taxes for those living in low-income communities with racially exclusive public schools. Of those polled, 100 percent saw no irony in this.

Similarly, the suburbanites were asked if the frequently cited justification of “wanting to provide my children with a better life” stood in contrast to working seven days a week to accumulate money. Despite the ever-widening gap between parents and children, and the skyrocketing divorce rate resultant from a lifestyle focused not on family but on careers, all those polled responded, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As for middle-class suburban lifestyle, there was a similar lack of “irony recognition” among the respondents.

When quizzed about the familiar practice of “saving money” by purchasing retail items “on sale,” when the items are not needed even under non-sale conditions, only one of the 68 housewives polled reported noticing slight irony. It was later confirmed that the woman had recently been “chewed out” by her husband for spending too much on extravagant, fashionable hats.

“What we’re seeing here,” UCLA sociologist T. Hubbard Meyer said, “is that these people sincerely do not see how absurdly comic and borderline pathetic their lives are. Of course, as part of academe, I live on campus and do not have to deal with such societal trifles.”

Middle-class Americans also failed to see the irony in avoiding physical activity by driving everywhere and using elevators instead of stairs, and then joining an expensive health club. The study also queried the logic of drinking diet soda for health reasons, despite the fact that soda is universally defined as a non-healthy “sweet,” with “diet” merely representing a lower-calorie version of soda with no inherent nutritional value...

For the full report follow the Link:  The Onion

Absurdity of the Moment - #03

absurdism |əbˈsərdˌizəm|

noun

the belief that human beings exist in a purposeless, chaotic universe.

I think this sums it up pretty well. Hmmm? No need to add much input.

Links: 

purpleunions blog

Why NY Matters - Andrew Sullivan

Stephen Colbert Has Some Advice for Republicans Looking for the Youth Vote - Gawker Video

Hilarious and Disturbing - 06/16/2011 from Gawker

by Matt Cherette — If there's one big advantage that Barack Obama has over his Republican counterparts, it's the youth vote. Which is why Kenneth del Vecchio, a former New Jersey judge, created a pro-life horror movie called The Life Zone in an attempt to attract younger, conservative voters. On tonight's Report, Stephen Colbert took del Vecchio's idea and explained how other Republicans could take advantage of it.


Thanks to my brother's slightly unhealthy fascination with Gawker (understood, honestly) for this video and quite a few other hilarious posts.


Follow the Link for the Video:  Gawker - Stephen Colbert Has Some Advice for Republicans Looking for the Youth Vote - Video

Reason and Faith? - Image of Intrigue

Just a little thought for the day.  I could make a pretty strong, and logical, argument for the reciprocal of the above message, but who needs healthy debate and shared differences when you have religion? My friend sent this picture a while back from the South East and I recently rediscovered it.  It says so much with so little - take it as you please. For infinite interest, bewilderment, and occasional humor, just do a tour around the Southern states reading the church mini-marquees.  You will be amazed at what you find - and it would make one hell of a photography project.

Anecdotal Humor - Troubletown by Lloyd Dangle

I can't really attest to the entirety of the satirical collection (or really any of the other cartoons posted) on this blog, Troubletown, but a friend sent this my way (i think via Ebert's blog) and I thought it was worth sharing - a bit heavy handed and blunt maybe, but it hits right on target - and, it's funny/painful. I have had to ask this very question to myself many times.