Archive for October, 2010
Senate Candidate O’Donnell Unfamiliar With First Amendment
New York Magazine notes an interesting debate exchange between Delaware Republican candidate for Senate Christine O’Donnell and her opponent Chris Coons: “Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?” The situation is laden with irony, of course, as O’Donnell was a “Constitutional Government fellow” at the conservative Claremont Institute. This is a pretty good indication of the level of constitutional knowledge in the Tea Bagger movement.
Images of 19th Century Paris’s Hell-Themed Café
Manning Krull at Cool Stuff in Paris has posted some rare pictures of a Hell-themed café that was founded in late 19th century Paris.
Little is known about the establishment, which appears to have operated into the mid-20th century. National Geographic has this to say:
“A hot spot called Hell’s Café lured 19th-century Parisians to the city’s Montmartre neighborhood—like the Marais—on the Right Bank of the Seine. With plaster lost souls writhing on its walls and a bug-eyed devil’s head for a front door, le Café de l’Enfer may have been one of the world’s first theme restaurants. According to one 1899 visitor, the café’s doorman—in a Satan suit—welcomed diners with the greeting, “Enter and be damned!” Hell’s waiters also dressed as devils. An order for three black coffees spiked with cognac was shrieked back to the kitchen as: “Three seething bumpers of molten sins, with a dash of brimstone intensifier!”
Next door was a less interesting…
The Wacked-Out World of Paul McCarthy
I can't talk any more.
The internet has become an eternal shore for moving images of all kinds. A nimble search with creative keywords will almost always reveal compelling films and television episodes washing up in the hightidewhitenoise. Recently, we’ve been turning up a number of great art videos as well.
Quite by accident we just stumbled across this gem by Paul McCarthy. Here’s what Frieze Magazine has to say about “Painter”:
The Painter (1995) is a brilliant interrogation of the senility and late paintings of Willem de Kooning, complete with collectors and dealers puppet-mastering around him. It’s a video deploying, as so many of his videos do, the mise-en-scène of instructional television (from the Galloping Gourmet to Martha Stewart), but one in which the painter mumbles and cries: ‘You can’t do it anymore you can’t do it anymore.’ And later: ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ He means painting, he means art-making, he may…
Kanye’s Album Cover: Banned By Whom?
So here’s the now infamous non-cover for Kanye West’s forthcoming album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” which normally I wouldn’t consider newsworthy as it’s clearly just Kanye hyping the release, but it does raise a good question: when an artist says his or her work has been banned, how official does the “ban” have to be? If a corporation that controls the artist’s work refuses to release or exhibit it, is that a ban, or does a ban have to be from government with criminal penalties attached?
For those of you unaware, Kanye has been trying to whip up interest in his album by tweeting about the cover. A couple of sample Kanye tweets:
“Banned in the USA!!! They don’t want me chilling on the couch with my phoenix! http://twitpic.com/2ykxjk”
“So Nirvana can have a naked human being on they cover but I can’t have a PAINTING of a monster with no arms and…
London Calling – Again
The image of Paul Simonon smashing his bass on the cover of The Clash’s London Calling is one of the most iconic images in all of rock ‘n’ roll. While you can’t always judge a record by it’s cover, in this case, you can.
London Calling is a great record in a great looking package, but Marcus Gray’s new book Route 19 Revisited: The Clash and London Calling is a different story. While the book’s cover – and its title – implies that this volume is an examination of the band’s 1979 release, and a critical analysis that would argue it’s place among rock’s best records, covers can be misleading.
This is actually much, much more…
Obama Administration Declares the Attorney General Above the Law
Watch the Tea Party not get up in arms over this bit of Bushesque tyranny. Jonathan Turley on Countdown With Keith Olbermann:
CIA Sues Former Agent
The book publishing world was thoroughly excited at the prospect of the Pentagon buying up entire print runs of books they wanted to suppress when it was revealed that Anthony Shaffer’s book Operation Dark Heart was the first of what the industry laughingly hoped was a trend. It seems the CIA wants to play things a little differently, however: the agency is suing Ishmael Jones for disclosures made in his book The Human Factor: Inside the CIA’s Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture, as reported by Bill Gertz for the Washington Times:
The CIA has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against a former deep-cover agent who published a book critical of the agency without allowing CIA censors to remove large portions of the manuscript before publication.
Ishmael Jones, pen name for the 20-year CIA veteran and Arabic speaker who said he sought to expose corruption in the agency, is facing a civil lawsuit over his 2008…
Happy Anniversary of Wall Street’s ‘Black Monday’: October 19, 1987!
Still on record as the largest percentage drop in the DOW in history. Gordon Gekko, care to comment?
New York’s ‘Rent is Too Damn High’ Party Official Statement (Video)
Fresh from the recent New York State gubernatorial debate, Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is Too Damn High Party speaks the truth.
Finally, Some Goddamn Truth Expressed on U.S. TV News
Don’t freak with the BS topic of yesterday in this clip, wait until around 2:45 minutes in where Dylan Ratigan (the only mainstream journalist as far as I’m concerned has been calling out these Wall Street crooks for some time) goes on a well-deserved rant on MSNBC’s Morning Joe regarding the unsaid truth about America’s “War on Terror” — he directly calls out the “extraordinary failure of our politicians and our media” to explain the money route behind these operations.
Thank you, Mr. Ratigan.
Chilean Miners Rescue Saga Exposed as Masonic Mega-Ritual
Vigilant Citizen combs popular culture for hidden esoteric meaning:
The rescue of the 33 unfortunate Chilean miners has definitely turned into an international media event. All aspects of the rescue have been carefully staged to make the entire thing a spectacular show inspiring emotions, admiration and national pride. For those knowledgeable of Masonic and occult symbolism, it is hard not to ponder on the numerological and symbolic facts of the event.
To the initiated, the deep significance of 33 miners being rescued in 33 days could not be more obvious. Can you guess how many characters were used in the first note sent by the miners?
Vigilant Citizen has also published dangerous exposés of the Illuminati infiltration of K-Pop, the occult symbolism of Kanye West’s Power, and an esoteric interpretation of Pinocchio.
Holy Bat-Internets! The Batcave’s Been Discovered in Okinawa Using Google Maps!
Holy Bat-Internets! Many thanks to the intrepid reporting by Cyriaque Lamar on io9.com. (Possibly a new Bat-Ally?) At least we are closer to determining the new villain in the anticipated sequel to The Dark Knight.
It’s that vile Searchmaster known as … The GOOGLER! Cyriaque Lamar writes on io9.com.
Batman’s secret hideout has been discovered using the magic of the internet, and surprisingly it’s not under Wayne Manor. No, it’s located on a US military base in Okinawa. Who’d have thunk?
Why does this building sport the Batman insignia? Says one Reddit user, “There are two squadrons of [F15s] here on Okinawa, the bats, which sport blue tail flashes, and the cocks, which sport red tail flashes.” That sounds perfectly logical. Perhaps a little too logical. I’m inclined to believe that that hangar hides a device more along these lines…
God May Not Be the Theoretical Higgs Boson: SHE May Be the Already-Discovered Weak Force
Dickey Eason
We all have our ideas about how the world and universe work. Some of us see the hand of “God” in everything. Others are atheists or agnostics—still others are guided by spirituality. But no matter where we are on the “believe” spectrum, most of us see a rather benign universe. By that I mean that we do not see specific forces struggling with one another in the cosmos once we get away from earth, which is interesting to me. We see conflict and battles on earth but not in the rest of the universe.
We view it much as we do a documentary—no plots, no dynamics—just an intriguing show. We look at ourselves—human life on earth—as being the real show. But that separation has, I believe, caused us to distort our perceptions of the Big Picture. I think if we start seeing the natural conflicts that exist in the universe,…
All Singing, All Dancing Japanese Robot Debut
In case you don’t have a dance partner, or need someone to star in your up and coming musical, Japan has the robot for you! From Daily Mail:
The age of robots being used in everyday homes has come a step nearer with the development of a new humanoid. And once they’ve done the dishes, they can join you in bop round the living room.
For the catchily named HRP-4C, dubbed Divabot, which has a realistic face and moveable features, can sing too. And yesterday she showed off her neatest dance steps at an exhibition in Tokyo.
Yale University Poll Shows Americans Are Confused On Climate Change
Click image to download PDF of full report
I’m not sure which camp the results of this poll by Yale University helps the most, the climate change believers or their sworn enemies, the “deniers:”
Americans’ Knowledge of Climate Change reports results from a national study of what Americans understand about how the climate system works, and the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to global warming. Among other findings, the study identifies a number of important gaps in public knowledge and common misconceptions about climate change.
Overall, we found that 63 percent of Americans believe that global warming is happening, but many do not understand why… These misconceptions lead some people to doubt that global warming is happening or that human activities are a major contributor, to misunderstand the causes and therefore the solutions, and to be unaware of the risks. Thus many Americans lack some of the knowledge needed for informed decision-making in a democratic…
‘Intellitar’ Helps Create ‘Digital Clone’ To Leave Legacy For Your Ancestors
Photo: Glenn Baeske/Huntseville Times
Humanity has continually questioned what happens after death. The technological age is now asking, what happens to your online presence after death? Virtual Eternity is a program that allows users to create a ‘digital clone’ of themselves in order to engage with future generations. It puts a new spin on the after life. The Huntsville Times reports:
Have you ever wished to once again be able to talk with a loved one who has died? Maybe say something you had wished you had told them? Or even hear that something special from them?
A local company won’t be able to make that happen but it can realize that opportunity for future generations. The company, Intellitar, will be releasing Virtual Eternity on Wednesday.
“The whole concept is legacy creation and preservations,” said Don Davidson, the founder and CEO of Intellitar.”The idea is I can use a number of technologies available and create a…
White House ‘Muzzled Own Scientists Over Oil Spill Fears’
The Independent reported on Oct. 8:
The White House was facing allegations yesterday that it had muzzled its own scientists in the early days and weeks of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill so that the public would be ignorant of the potential scale of the environmental disaster that was unfolding.
A paper written for the National Commission established by President Barack Obama to investigate what happened suggests that officials at the White House stood in the way of scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) when they were preparing to release details of a worst-case scenario for the blow-out including a top-end estimate of the rate of flow of oil into the sea.
In a second report also written for the Commission, investigators say that “for the first 10 days of the spill, it appears that a sense of over-optimism affected responders”.
As the spill worsened BP came under wide criticism for allegedly…
Texas Vs. New York: Whose UFOs Are Bigger?
How fitting that as the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers do battle in Major League Baseball’s playoffs, Texas comes up with its own set of mysterious UFOs over El Paso, right after New Yorkers spotted UFOs over Manhattan.
Will Apple End Sexting As We Know It?
In more sad news for the youth of today, Apple has been awarded a patent for technology that alters text messages to remove objectionable content, i.e., an anti-sexting device. Our friends at TechCrunch report:
Today the US Patent and Trademark Office approved a patent Apple filed in 2008, which, get this, prevents users from sending or receiving “objectionable” text messages. The patent’s official title? “Text-based communication control for personal communication device.”
Ladies and gentlemen this means that Jobs and company have just sealed the deal on a solution to the number one fear of parents across America, kids sending “unauthorized texts.” As it looks like whatever algorithm or control the system is comprised of will basically censor the transmission of R-rated content on iPhones, is this the first sign of the end of “Sexting” as we know it?
Yes and no, as those interesting in “Sexting” will probably find some clever workaround to express…
