net127

Patrick E. Tyler (New York Times) writes, “WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 The fracturing of the Western alliance over Iraq and the huge antiwar demonstrations around the world this weekend are reminders that there may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion.”

“In his campaign to disarm Iraq, by war if necessary, President Bush appears to be eyeball to eyeball with a tenacious new adversary: millions of people who flooded the streets of New York and dozens of other world cities to say they are against war based on the evidence at hand.”
(more…)

Overheard on the streets: “One.. Two.. Three.. Four… Bush and Dick; Make Love Not War!”

        
      _____           _____
  ,ad8PPPP88b,     ,d88PPPP8ba,
 d8P\"      \"Y8b, ,d8P\"      \"Y8b
dP'           \"8a8\"           `Yd
8(              \"              )8
I8                             8I
 Yb,                         ,dP
  \"8a,                     ,a8\"
    \"8a,                 ,a8\"
      \"Yba             adP\"
        `Y8a         a8P'
          `88,     ,88'
            \"8b   d8\"  Normand
             \"8b d8\"   Veilleux
              `888'
                \"

“First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.”

— Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945
(more…)

RareHeintz writes, “My wife and I like to take “mini-vacations” - our term for long weekend getaways to nearby cities. This year, since Valentine’s Day coincided with President’s Day (thus creating a convenient 3-day weekend), we considered a romantic getaway to Portland, Maine or Newport, Rhode Island, but eventually settled on a bed and breakfast in New Haven, Connecticut - which is where we’ll catch the commuter train into New York City for an anti-war protest on Saturday.”

“It’s the first time I can ever remember my wife putting politics before romance.”
(more…)

IZAKOVIC writes, “The Feb. 10, 2003 issue of the daily Croatian Daily Morning Leaf, publishes that U.S. President, George W. Bush and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, wear the same model of Italian shoes.”
(more…)

Poison Ivan writes, “For a several years, I’ve been collecting synonyms for the part of a woman’s anatomy that I find especially endearing. There are several hundred of them here, and I can’t say that I really understand some of them, but I’ve been told they are real. A few of these synonyms aren’t very flattering, but most of them aren’t that bad, and some of them are very nice indeed.”
(more…)

Heather writes, “I saw the coolest thing ever today. We went through Nordstrom’s and, on the second floor they had a piano player. There was an older guy dancing around and kicking up his heels to ‘Mac the Knife.’ He looked so happy and seemed to be taking so much joy in that momment. That’s how I want to age; the kids can pass me by thinking I’ve lost all my marbles, but I’ll be dancing and enjoying myself.”

Clay Shirky writes, “A persistent theme among people writing about the social aspects of
weblogging is to
note (and usually lament) the
rise of an A-list, a small set of webloggers who account for a
majority of the traffic in the weblog world. This complaint follows a
common pattern we’ve seen with MUDs, BBSes, and online communities
like Echo and the WELL. A new social system starts, and seems
delightfully free of the elitism and cliquishness of the existing
systems. Then, as the new system grows, problems of scale set in.
Not everyone can participate in every conversation. Not everyone gets
to be heard. Some core group seems more connected than the rest of
us, and so on.”
(more…)

The first-ever world-wide theatrical event for peace is coming to a city near you on Monday, March 3rd, 2003! Theatre artists from around the planet are raising their collective voice against war by producing readings of Lysistrata in order to:
Let the Bush Administration know that we oppose their war on Iraq.
Provide events where citizens can unite to enjoy an evening of spirited, comedic theatre while raising public awareness about the volume of war opposition.
Provide a humorous entree into a healthy community dialogue: What CAN we do on a local level to stop “diplomacy by violence” in our world?
Raise money for organizations that work for peace and human rights.

http://www.lysistrataproject.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Citing credible threats that al Qaeda might be planning attacks on American targets, the U.S. government raised the national color-coded threat level Friday to orange, indicating a “high” risk of a terrorist attack.

The change is only the second time the alert level has risen above yellow, an “elevated” risk, since the system was put in place in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

NUDE NO WAR PROTEST; BYRON BAY AUSTRALIA
750 NAKED FEMALES 7.2.03
ICON IMAGES PTY LTD

Tim Dickinson of Mother Jones interviews John Perry Barlow, the man who popularized the term ‘cyberspace’, discusses the Total Information Awareness project, online activism, file sharing, and the prospect of a digital counterculture.
(February 3, 2003)
(more…)

One should never be too tired, too sick, too jaded to fuck. One should
never get too belligerent, too unclean, too sexist to find someone to
engulf psychophysically for hours. Fucking is man’s greatest invention.
Fucking is the ultimate expression of joy, sorrow, fury, and the beauty of
the human story. The garden blooms in pink and red. Fuck on top,
fuck on the bottom, fuck against the wall, fuck in the dark, fuck
outside, fuck in public, fuck while drunk, fuck with friends, fuck your
enemies (and make some friends), fuck naked, fuck clothed, fuck in
your mother’s Blahniks if it rocks your box. Fuck because fucking brings
you closer to the fire. Fuck because it makes things beautiful.

It doesn’t matter whom you fuck, nor how you fuck. Pure fucking can build
bridges over any gap. Fuck a 40-year-old disenchanted trophy wife and make
her smile; fuck an adolescent boy and give him wet dreams for life. Go down
on your best friend. That sleepy flush after a really good fuck is the
secret to world peace. It’s all in the flesh.

Morrissey knew exactly how much power lies in the fuck. Instead of channeling
energy into sex, he let it all go into his words. Man’s urge to create a
greater and more beautiful world, his drive for art and science, equality and
unity, this is the same drive that puts the itch in him. Fucking is the
square root of everything humanity has ever done.

from http://www.reed.edu/~starkel/ffp.txt

I’ve seen some very strange things, but this is right up there near the top:

http://www.reed.edu/~starkel/dwutang1.mpg

The most amazing thing is that many hundred of paid man-hours must have gone into the production of this!

The other day…

The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day

Maybe repetition will let it sink in
It’s too easy to let it be surreal
It was just a made for TV movie right?
Just another hollywood special effect

The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day

There’s a giant crater in Manhattan
They say it was a building once
I think I saw that movie
Didn’t Harrison Ford play the president?

The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day

Soon the bombs will fall, won’t that be great
Endless nights of entertainment
Thousands of deaths in flashes of seething green
Hopefully my AOL stock will climb

The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day

Maybe HDTV will change everything
I’ll hear the tragedies in 7.1 digital surround sound
I’ll see every pixel of suffering broadcast live via satellite
Maybe then it will seem real

The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day

I want to cry, but I don’t know them
They aren’t real, they’re just actors
How can they be real?
How can that horror be real?

The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day
The shuttle was destroyed the other day

from http://sense.bigbrother.net/senseless/otherday.jsp

Dilbert: It takes years of training to know when to do nothing.

Welcome to my MovableType Blog!

KATE BETTS, The New York Times, reports:

MADONNA and J.Lo depend on him. Annie Leibovitz and Steven Meisel won’t print a picture without him. Anna Wintour and Graydon Carter shell out many thousands of dollars a year for his services. He’s arguably one of the most powerful men in fashion, but he doesn’t sit in the front row or wear designer clothes, and you certainly won’t find him on the Style network coughing up deep thoughts about Gwen Stefani’s Super Bowl outfit.

Come to think of it, though, there is probably no one who has such a close knowledge of Gwen Stefani, down to the pores of her powdered cheek.

This behind-the-scenes magician, more intimate with celebrity flesh than a personal trainer or a masseur, is Pascal Dangin, the digital retoucher for fashion’s and Hollywood’s most famous photographers. Some refuse to work with anyone else. On the glossy side of the newsstand just this month, he tweaked the covers of W, Harper’s Bazaar and Allure.
(more…)