Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died.
On Friday, Holbrooke was rushed to the hospital with a torn aorta. He went through more than 20 hours of surgery. Earlier this evening, speaking at the US State Department, President Obama sang Holbrooke's praises and called him "a tough son of a gun."
Holbrooke, 69, was a former ambassador to the United Nations and served as chief negotiator at the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2010 10:05 Comments ||
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#3
Holbrooke was 69? For some reason, I have this mental image of him as an eternally pugnacious 53, 54. Of course, I have to remind myself occasionally that the Clintons are in their sixties, too, now. Time marches on.
He did some good in his life, here and there, and that's about as much as you can hope for in politics or diplomacy.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/14/2010 10:35 Comments ||
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#4
Best diplomacy for the Paks would be to tell them to FOAD.
Original story in LVRJ - link (and text below) is to ars technica to avoid feeding the troll.
News aggregation impresario Matt Drudge is being sued for copyright infringement for reproducing a copyrighted photo along with a link to a story about airport security on the Las Vegas Review-Journal website.
Instead, Righthaven announced it had teamed up with the nation's second-biggest news chain, owners of the Denver Post among others, and has now filed a lawsuit that arguably takes the mass-suer to a whole new level with its biggest target yet.
In the new lawsuit, Righthaven asks a judge to "lock the Drudge Report Domain and transfer control of the Drudge Report Domain to Righthaven."
Drudge's post also allegedly contained "an embedded hyperlink entitled: 'VEGAS CONFIDENTIAL,' linking directly to a section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal website."
This lawsuit, though, is a rarity insofar as copyright infringement being connected to linking. Righthaven takes issue with the fact that the Drudge Report has no DMCA takedown regime to respond to those who alleged violations of copyright. How'd Drudge miss that?
All he offers is links, no copy/pasted text, and often not the even the original headlines. I'm not sure how a location on the web, often enough a fleeting location that disappears after a few days, can infringe copyright as opposed to drive business to the news source, and therefore ad revenues. For years news sites have been sending links to Drudge in exactly that hope.
The plaintiff demands statutory damages for willful infringement, costs, and an injunction that would allow Righthaven to seize the Drudge Report domain.
According to the complaint filed yesterday in Nevada District Court, the Drudge Report website is alleged to have posted a photo first found in the Denver Post showing a TSA agent giving a pat-down at an airport. Here's hoping they bit off a whole lot more than they can swallow.
#1
sounds like they're just harassing Mr. Drudge. linking to news sources on a "free" (at least for now) "world wide web" doesnt seem to contradict the common sense notion that if its out there on a free platform, anyone can look at it or link to it. just sayin......
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2010 10:09 Comments ||
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#3
Oh, for the days when problems like this received a more direct solution.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/14/2010 10:17 Comments ||
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Who is Righthaven?
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/143767
Snip:
Thu, 09/02/2010 - 20:15
Bloggers already know of the association between Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Steve Gibson. The latter's Righthaven firm has launched a legal war on websites over alleged copyright infringement.
All three worked for Chicago Law firm Sidley Austin LLP, where Gibson and Michelle Obama coincidentally specialized in copyright-related "intellectual property" law for the firm.
#5
Hillary Clinton is also an "intellectual property" lawyer.
But for the life of me I can't see how they can prove any damages from Drudge because all Drudge does is direct trafflc TO them, he doesn't take any away/
#6
... I can't see how they can prove any damages ....
They don't have to. The copyright statute provides for an award of damages of up to an specific amount set forth in the statute for each act of infringement with no requirement that the plaintiff prove an actual loss.
#7
Let's hope they sue Google News next and [insert favorite event here]
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/14/2010 12:55 Comments ||
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"The copyright statute provides for an award of damages of up to an specific amount set forth in the statute for each act of infringement"
But I can't understand what he is "infringing" on by simply publishing the link to the article. That is like being busted for infringement for simply publishing the ISBN of a book in a bibliography.
He isn't copying their material. You mean to tell me that if I publish a list that says:
A Book About How Cars Work: ISBN-13: 978-0966862300
That I can be prosecuted for copyright violation? That is basically what Drudge is doing, simply posting a description and a pointer.
#9
That I can be prosecuted for copyright violation?
If he hasn't properly licensed the rights in them, his use of copyrighted photos would seem a fairly straightforward act of infringement.
Agree that alleging that linking rises to the level of infrinement is nuts but I don't know how the courts have developed that issue since it first popped up a decade or so back.
#12
attorneys for the Electronic Frontier Foundation accusing the newspaper of entering a "sham" relationship with the Review-Journal's copyright enforcement partner Righthaven LLC — and accusing Righthaven of copyright fraud
Bleed them of everything they stole and then some.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Cote d'Voire leader Laurent Gbagbo has launched a nationalist counterattack, rallying supporters with a warning to French and UN troops not to "make war" on his people. "None o' that peacekeepin' stuff around here, me boyos! We ain't got no peace to keep, so youse can keep yer distance whilst we fights it out!"
The conflict with the international community was to sharpen, as the European Union prepared to slap "restrictive measures" on "those refusing to submit to election results", a source in Brussels said.
Gbagbo and long-time enemy Alassane Ouattara are locked in a dangerous stand-off after both claimed victory in last month's presidential election.
Ouattara has the backing of the international community, including the UN Security Council, but Gbagbo still enjoys the support of the Cote d'Voire army and the ports that are key to the country's massive cocoa trade.
The 65-year-old incumbent occupies the presidential palace and his ministers appear to exercise control over their departments, while Ouattara is trying to control the levers of state from a hotel protected by UN peacekeepers.
In a country that has seen several bouts of violence during a decade-long political crisis, the deadlock is a volatile cocktail, and Gbagbo's generals added to the mix Sunday with a stark warning to international troops.
"We simply advise our brothers in the 'impartial forces' to never again get the blood of Ivorians on their hands," army chief of staff General Philippe Mangou told soldiers on a tour of loyalist barracks around Abidjan.
"They are not here to make war on Ivorians. They are here to help Ivorians move towards peace," he added, in remarks carried repeatedly on Cote d'Voire's RTI state television, which remains a loyal Gbagbo mouthpiece.
The 'Impartial Forces' are the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society' 10,000-strong peacekeeping force and former colonial power La Belle France's 900-strong Licorne detachment, which works under the same mandate in support of the UN mission.
Pledging to defend what he sees as Gbagbo's constitutional mandate, Mangou warned international forces to beware a repeat of the bloody festivities of 2004, when French troops clashed with Ivorian forces and protesters.
"In 2004 we went through painful events. Ivorians have not forgotten -- they have forgiven. We decided to turn the page, but we want everyone to read what is on that page before it is closed," he warned.
In 2002 a failed putsch against Gbagbo plunged Cote d'Voire into a conflict that split the country between the rebel mainly-Mohammedan north and Gbagbo's richer Christian south.
Gbagbo has accused La Belle France of supporting the rebellion, and in November 2004 tensions between government supporters and French troops helping patrol the shaky ceasefire line boiled over.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Soddy Arabia's Islamic police jugged more than 250,000 people in one year and those involved in ethical crimes topped the list, a local daily reported on Monday. 250K out of a population of 28,686,633...
Those jugged and convicted included nearly 15,556 Saudi men and 1,004 Saudi women as well as more than 74,000 expatriates, the London-based Arabic language Alhayat newspaper said, quoting the annual report by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the most feared law enforcement authority in the Gulf Kingdom.
The report, covering the past Mohammedan Hirji year that ended last week, showed nearly 8,530 Saudi men and 968 national women were involved in illegitimate affairs and other ethical crimes. Around 5,077 expatriate men and 3,417 foreign women were also jugged in connection with such crimes.
"The ethical cases topped the list of those jugged in the past year, followed by religious cases, alcohol, drugs, illegal publications and illegal practices by shops," the Commission said in its report.
"A total 251,000 cases handled by the Commission last year, a decline by around 19.5 per cent over the preceding year....nearly 281,000 people were involved in those cases and some 25,000 cases were referred to the competent authorities."
The report showed the capital Riyadh topped the list of those cases in the past year, followed by Makkah, and the northern region.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
And every day, the urban Saudis get more and more pissed off at these rural yokel police oppressing them.
"Oh, please! Just make it go away!"
[The Nation (Nairobi)] The international community stepped up pressure on Haiti Sunday, urging the country's leaders to find a quick and peaceful solution to a post-election crisis sparked by a vote recount plan opposed by opposition candidates. A quick solution to a Haiti crisis? Right next to the quick and peaceful solution to the Middle East ...
Ambassadors from the United States, La Belle France, Spain, Brazil, the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, the Organisation of American States and the European Union urged Haitian presidential candidates to prevent violence and pursue legal means to challenge the election results. Aristide says he's tanned rested and ready. And can give his two week notice to Seven Eleven whenever ya need him...
Verification commission
The joint statement, on the eve of a meeting to discuss the formation of a special verification commission by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to sort out the dispute, invited the candidates "to take part in the process of establishing the commission." Okay. Form the "special commision" to Haiti. Muldoon, who's pissed me off lately?
Separately, the Club of Madrid, a forum of 79 has beens former world leaders, called on the international community to beef up its presence in Haiti ahead of January's runoff vote, to prevent more of violence and alleged vote rigging. Harrrumph harrrumph harrrumph! Waiter! More wine!
In a bid to counter the widespread allegations of fraud and stave off further protests, the CEP announced plans to add up all the tally sheets in the presence of the three main candidates. That's always a good place to end up. It might be the place it all started, to whit, the Chicago-style ballot boxes, that needs work, though.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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Once you're living in a proletarian paradise the state needs to take special care of educating you and your kids so you can all become New Socialist Men and New Socialist Wimmin.
[El Universal] Venezuela's current university system is about to disappear. Government's desire to control higher education institutions in order to accommodate the socialist model has already materialized in the 93 articles of the Bill on Higher Education submitted by the Ministry of Education to the National Assembly.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
There's also a new enabling bill in the works due to the rain and deh floods. The out going AN will obviously support, but it's a matter of law LOL how long it can last. In theory not beyond the end of the current AN term. Heh. Right.
Posted by: Goldies Every Damn Where ||
12/14/2010 0:16 Comments ||
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Once you achieve your proletarian paradise there's nothing for you to strike over unless you're some sort of bourgeois counterrevolutionary, in which case you need to be shot.
[El Universal] Labor conflicts and union demands are perceived by the Executive Office's authorities as possible threats to the oil industry's operations. Therefore, a possible legal instrument to regulate the oil workers' right to strike is being considered by Venezuelan authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm all in favor of the right to strike oil...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/14/2010 20:18 Comments ||
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Australia retired the last of their 32 F-111C/Gs on December 3rd.
Australia kept its F-111s for so long because of the aircraft's long range, and ability to carry lots of bombs and missiles over long distances. Australia is a big place, surrounded by vast oceans. So the F-111 provided an aircraft that could get to where it was needed quickly and do what needed to be done. In the end, however, the growing expense of keeping the complex, and aging, aircraft operational led to their retirement. Smart bombs made the large payload of the of the F-111 less useful. So, after more than four decades of service, the Vark faded away. So, what does Australia have now that can reach Jakarta? Look at a map: Indonesia, overpopulated, high Islamic population. Australia, underpopulated, Western nation. You do the math.
#1
According to Wikipedia ( too cheap to buy Janes)
they have various flavors of Lawn Darts and 5 A300s that are tankers to tow them to the scene of the action.
#2
F111's used to fly over our school (very low) in the Flinders Ranges- they must have used the community for a way point, and they always flew away up the same gorge. We would all race out to see them, I remember two kids just amazed "Miss Cooper jumped over my desk!"
Great planes, once they sorted them out. They had some patches that were older than the pilots.
For the first time since World War II (and over four years of German occupation), a German combat unit has been stationed in France. The German 291st Infantry Battalion, part of the 6,000 strong Franco-German brigade has moved into a base in eastern France.
The Franco-German brigade was set up at the end of the Cold War, in 1987, as a symbol of growing French-German unity, and dedication to mutual defense. But until now, none of the German units were ever based in France. French units were often based in Germany, which was not unique. At the end of World War II in 1945, French units occupied part of Germany until the 1955. The Franco-German brigade now part of a more recent multi-national military organization; Euro Corps (founded in 1992).
Meanwhile, German troops stationed in France is a big deal, as France still has bad memories of German occupation in 1940-44, 1914-18 and 1870-71. Meanwhile, EU nations are becoming more aware of their military limitations and liabilities. When called on to send peacekeepers to Afghanistan, many European states found that their armed forces were more uniformed civil servants than combat ready troops. The waste and duplication in the military is becoming more of a scandal, and making multinational forces a more attractive way to go.
#1
I think the French will accommodate the German Army well - its not like they have not had experience doing that. After all, there is the old saying:
The U.S. Air Force has blocked employees from visiting media websites carrying leaked WikiLeaks documents, including The New York Times and the Guardian, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Major Toni Tones, a spokeswoman at Air Force Space Command in Colorado, said the command had blocked employees whose computers are connected to the Air Force network from accessing at least 25 websites that have posted WikiLeaks documents.
The Air Force "routinely blocks Air Force network access to websites hosting inappropriate materials or malware (malicious software) and this includes any website that hosts classified materials and those that are released by WikiLeaks," she said.
The Air Force move comes as the U.S. government seeks to minimize the damage from WikiLeaks' release of 250,000 State Department cables through media outlets and on its own website.
The cables released last month, which reveal blunt, sometimes derisive depictions of foreign governments and leaders, have been an embarrassment for Washington.
Past releases this year by WikiLeaks contained sensitive information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which Washington said compromised national security and put people at risk.
The Pentagon had already prohibited its employees from viewing WikiLeaks documents online, no matter how widely they are published, but it has not blocked access to websites that post leaked cables.
Pentagon officials have instructed employees they "shouldn't access the WikiLeaks site because the information there is still considered classified," said Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.
[Geo News] At least eight people were killed and five others injured during a clash between two armed factions of hillbillies on a land dispute in Naseerabad, Geo News reported Monday.
According to Levies sources, the warring groups belong to Lango tribe; the incident occurred in Naseerabad suburb of Goth Ali Muhammed, where the two factions were long involved in a land dispute.
A group took positions and shot up Goth Ali Muhammed, killing two men and injuring five others. The other group soon retaliated, killing at least six people.
According to sources, the clash is currently underway since 4am this morning now with nobody from the high-ups made to the flashpoint.
The Levies sources further said both the groups are currently locked in the exchange of fire and the warring factions could not be brought under control thanks to the insufficient number of Levies personnel.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] A Paleostinian paramedic said he was verbally abused by relatives of an Israeli patient from Beit Fagan, a neighborhood of west Jerusalem. Verbally abusing your relative's paramedic can be a really dumbass thing to do...
Fadi Badarna, who holds an Israeli ID card, works for the Red Star of David ambulance service and in the intensive care unit of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. He told Ma'an he was trying to resuscitate a patient who had lost consciousness when the man's relatives surrounded him and told him "You are a dirty Arab, and you are not authorized to make decisions." "Well, okay. Here. You push on his chest and you can do the breathing thing. I'll go have a cigar." Wanna see my picture with Arafat when he was one of my patients? He had pain in the ass relatives too...
"When I finished with first aid and decided to transfer the patient to hospital, I told the family that only one can go with him in the ambulance, and they repeated the same abuses. They also uttered bad words about my mother. "Hey, Uri! Why don't we take the scenic route?"
"The one with the cobblestone streets?"
"Yeah. But it's an emergency so maybe you oughta drive it fast."
"Gotcha."
"I did not take interest in their insults, and I continued doing my duty as a paramedic. The administration of the Red Star of David supported me and strongly condemned the family's conduct." Probably because he's a medic first and an Arab second, whilst the relatives were assholes first and foremost.
Badarna said it was not the first time he heard racist comments from Israelis. He said two months ago, security guards at Hadassah Hospital insisted on physically searching him as he transferred a patient, but he refused. They wanted to search me because I am Arab, despite the fact that I work for an Israeli service."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#4
Wherever you go, human nature remains the same. You would be surprised how many people are jerks to paramedics and EMTs wherever you go. So I'm with the Palestinian paramedic on this one: the guy seems to have just been doing his job, trying to save lives.
#5
Believe you me, there is a reason many children of Jews decide to become gentiles. Just ask the last 3 generations of my family, who WERE Jewish until they died of heart attacks from ranting like Woody Allan and getting into tussles with authority. The dirty little secret everyone is supposed to ignore.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/14/2010 14:39 Comments ||
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#6
My brother the firefighter says you wouldn't believe the crap they put up with on medical calls. Damn near every time they hit an OD'ed junkie with the Narcan to bring them back, they get pissed because you ruined their high. Come up swinging a lotta times. Says he'll take on a five alarm fire over that shit anytime...
[Arab News] Japan's Nissan Motor Co. delivered the first mass-market all-electric car to a technology entrepreneur in Caliphornia on Saturday as the company tries to get a jump in the nascent green vehicle race.
The first customer, Olivier Chalouhi, has been riding an electric bicycle to work, and he plugged his new car in for the cameras outside San Francisco City Hall. The charge point, one of 400 in the region, had a green official city sign near it that said, "Green Vehicle Showcase: Cars that make a difference."
The Leaf is one of a handful of mass-market fully electric or extended range plug-in vehicles slated to reach consumers in the next year.
The battery-powered Leaf, with an EPA-certified battery-only range of 73 miles (120 km) is due to hit showrooms this month in a limited roll-out -- along with Chevy Volts by General Motors Co. Ford Motor Co. expects to deliver its first electric Focus compact cars late next year.
Carlos Taveras, the North American head of Nissan, said his company would focus on satisfying the first 20,000 Leaf customers before opening up for more orders next year.
"We are not in a rush," he told news hounds, reasserting Nissan's plan to go straight to zero-emission cars, as opposed to the Volt with its gasoline engine that can recharge the battery to give it more range.
Work at Nissan's Tennessee plant was under way to have production capacity for 100,000 battery packs by early 2013, Taveras said, though he told Rooters that was not an indication of expected demand for the car.
The Leaf and Volt are seen as the spearheads of the greening of automobiles. But gasoline and diesel-powered cars with better fuel economy are seen as having more immediate impact on lowering greenhouse gas, mainly because of their greater numbers.
Caliphornia, the most populous US state, is the biggest market for conventional cars and is expected to be the biggest one for electric vehicles as well. The fact the Leaf is eligible for the Caliphornia rebate, while the Volt is not, will be a selling point for Nissan.
The Leaf is also set to be delivered to Oregon, Seattle, Tennessee and Arizona, followed by Hawaii and Texas shortly after that.
As a pure electric car, the Leaf tops the Volt in the category on the EPA label that tracks greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle. Since it carries no combustion engine, the Leaf has no such emissions, although greenhouse gases would be produced by the power plants used to recharge the car.
The Leaf will be priced at about $32,780 before a federal tax credit can bring the sticker price to about $25,280 and, in Caliphornia, a rebate that can reduce it to about $20,280.
Journalists named it the 2011 European Car of the Year, the first electric vehicle to be chosen for the award.
Chevy's Volt -- named Green Car of the Year and Motor Trend car of the year -- is rated at 84 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, less than one-tenth of the industry's worst-performing vehicle on that score.
The Volt is designed to run for 35 miles (56 km) on a full charge of its 400-pound (181-kg) lithium-ion battery pack supplied by a unit of Korea's LG Chem. After that, a 1.4-liter engine extends the driving range to about 379 miles (610 km).
GM plans to build 10,000 Volts next year, 45,000 in 2012 and has begun discussing ways it could increase the production should there be more demand.
Capturing the fuel-economy leadership from Toyota Motor Corp's hybrid Prius would give GM bragging rights it has sought throughout the Volt development effort.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Think about this: The Leaf and other electric cars are not zero-emission vehicles despite the hype; they are remote emission vehicles. The power has to come from somewhere, the electron fairy just doens't pop in, slap the hood with her magic wand and "presto" a full charge. but try to sell that to a enviro greenie weenie and see what happens: mouth frothing, eye bulging, shakes and hysteria will greet you.
#2
Caliphornia, the most populous US state, is the biggest market for conventional cars and is expected to be the biggest one for electric vehicles as well.
Except Caliphornia is BROKE.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/14/2010 9:52 Comments ||
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#3
Uh, hello..... ANY manufactured machine has remote emissions. A gasoline powered car has both remote and ( I suppose non-remote emissions ).
#4
Its not pollution if its energy from Utah or Kansas, its what they deserve.
Now, are we going to have to add sound makers a la Houston Light Rail so that people don't start walking out in front of these fancy electric vehicles, and what does having the AC unit and fan do to the maximum expected range, or for that matter driving in mountains or I-40, and with the heater on? How long does that charge last if you are stuck in traffic...yes yes the battery is not engaged because it is electric blah blah bullcrap. Lights, radio, windshield wipers, gps, cell phone charger all going while just sitting there, stop and go. I'm just going to go ahead and guess that in order to keep the weight down it will have a cage made of these new alloys which are too tough for traditional jaws of life to cut through.
$12,000 in government tax credits? OK, I see the niche for such vehicles but just admit it..it is a personal transport with a very narrow ability which would not be worth it if someone else were not picking up 1/3 of the tab but that is ok because if fosters your fancy snob tendancy to look down on others who point out the obvious. No I get it I really do, locals have retrofit golf carts into road legal in-town transport. Honestly I cannot wait for these vehicles to get into the market gonna be good times.
#5
Actually they could claim to be "emissions free" if they drew power exclusively from nuclear or hydroelectric plants. You know, the generation plants that the Greens block with lawsuits.
I still do not know why no major manufacturer has come out with a diesel electric motor and direct electric drive. Submarines have been doing that for decades. It would be seriously efficient, and a well tuned diesel running at constant speed (the engine providing charge and electrical current, not the car) the pollution would probably be far lower than the equivalent conventional drive gas or diesel engine.
I used to ride a bicycle to work in San Francisco - and I, you know, just peddled it. No electric motor necessary. That's the funny thing about bicycles...
#7
That's the design we've been using in our locomotives for the last 50+ years. It's not made it in the individual vehicle market due to noise, exhaust and operating time, I'd suspect. Why it is not used in trucks is an interesting question. You would think trucking companies would be enthusiastic about the design if it were economically efficient.
#9
Hey 746, we know that all vehicles are remote and not remote; my comment addresses the mis-statement in the press release quoted in the article. On behalf of all the 'Burgers, allow me to apologize for our obvious lack of in depth knowledge that you seem to bring an all fronts.
thanks for playing.
#11
I still do not know why no major manufacturer has come out with a diesel electric motor and direct electric drive. Submarines have been doing that for decades. It would be seriously efficient, and a well tuned diesel running at constant speed (the engine providing charge and electrical current, not the car) the pollution would probably be far lower than the equivalent conventional drive gas or diesel engine.
Because the air pollution control laws in CA (which are now, thanks to the Zero Administration, the air pollution control laws for the nation) are seriously biased against diesel vehicles. Since the combustion happens at a higher temperature, it basically means that there's a higher chance that nitrogen compounds will be formed.
(Oh, and since then, CA has been taking an even harder line against diesel engines, because they also produce soot; they want to make them cost-prohibitive to use for things like forklifts and over-the-road trucking).
(Ain't it funny how stopping CO2 emmissions is important to these people until basically suddenly it isn't?)
#13
Chevy Volt. American Jobs. The GMCs made in China, stay in China, buy Chevrolet volt which will be made in USA. I think GMC just hired about 7000 American workers for this.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/14/2010 17:36 Comments ||
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#14
"try to sell that to a enviro greenie weenie and see what happens: mouth frothing, eye bulging, shakes and hysteria"
Sounds entertaining. Can I bring popcorn? :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/14/2010 19:03 Comments ||
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#3
Do not assume for a moment that this is nonsensical as it sounds. The OSS and later, the CIA, did an awful lot of serious psychological analysis of fascist and communist fanatics, and reached some very useful conclusions.
For example, HUAC investigators were taught to tell surreal and funny jokes to suspected communists, because it had been discovered that their world view was so restrictive, that any irrationality would be ignored. They couldn't honestly laugh. If they laughed, it was forced.
In this case, the way fanatics *defined* art, was not as something that "broadened horizons", but as something that accurately reflected their fanatical worldview. This was why National Socialist art was so similar to Socialist Realism art.
Idealized realism was good. Surrealism was evil and decadent, and thus forbidden to their artists. It also irritated the heck out of the fanatics. A bonus.
#4
Well, it is history... doesn't come with an expiration date unless you're way, way too deep into revisionist historiographical politics. I've heard about the CIA's European subsidy to culture and intellectual institutions; I don't think I noticed this bit about American art subsidies. Somehow, it fits with my internal stereotype of the liberal-fascist tendencies of the very WASPy, idiot-pretentious CIA that they'd be so very, very bad at patronizing the art world. It's not as if their brothers and uncles in corporate America were doing any better, leaving us with a public cultural landscape littered with massive, deranged aluminum monstrosities looming over empty, arid concrete plazas.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/14/2010 10:29 Comments ||
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#5
Yoko Ono singing was one of the first Active Crowd Dispersal (ACD) weapons
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2010 10:35 Comments ||
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#7
To promote openness and free-enterprise, the CIA established a secret, government program that undermined the preferences of free citizens by subsidizing unwanted art. Of course to freely express your opinion that abstract modernist art sucked, was "Philistinism". This article was clearly written by an elitist fabian socialist of the London intelligentsia set.
#8
Good snark, Frank. But you raise an interesting point. If modern art drove the Bolsheviks nuts, just think what the Jefferson Airplane would do to them.
#9
Considering the platform these artists were placed upon for my generation's students it likely irrated the hell out of the writer that the artwork was used for such means.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/14/2010 12:26 Comments ||
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#11
Frank Zappa was very popular in Soviet Lithuania.
Vilnius is the only place they erected a monument for him (after the Soviets left).
Hmmmm
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/14/2010 13:00 Comments ||
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#12
Brief historical note: The Nazis gathered up all the art that was offensive to party sensibilities and made the mistake of presenting an exhibition of it to show the people what horrors the mighty Nazis were protecting them from. The Nazis had to close the exhibit because people lined up around the block for days to see it.
On a related topic:
"After the Shock is Gone: Pity the poor artist trying to get a rise out of an audience today"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703377504575650882413327998.html?KEYWORDS=Eric+felten
I studied at the University of Buffalo, part of the State U. of NY system. The old campus was done in the classic, ivy-covered walls style. The new campus, built after the student riots of the later 1960s, was deliberated designed to discourage student gatherings and break up riots into groups small enough to be handled by the police (or whomever). So while the CIA may not have been involved in architecture as a weapon, architecture was certainly used for a while for deliberate behaviour modification and control. No doubt that is also why the grad student dorms were at the old campus at the edge of the city, while the undergrads were domiciled in the suburban isolation of the new campus.
#14
Ah, that would explain Suprematism: it must have been the KGB's secret counterweapon!
Mom's right: The Nazis put a lot of work into destroying modern art as a movement in Europe. Rather unsurprisingly, Stalin hated it as well.
To learn more about the Nazi's war on modern art you can read Lyn H. Nicholas' excellent and painstakingly researched Rape of Europa, or see the documentary with the same name. The Nazi's and Soviets were big time art thieves as well, stealing whatever the didn't destroy.
#15
The preferred soviet art style was sometimes called 'heroic realism'. In this artistic style, the people are all healthy, hard working, patriotic, etc.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/14/2010 14:59 Comments ||
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#16
You're so ugly you can be a modern art master piece! Gunny Hartman, Full Metal Jacket
#17
I wonder, will the CIA fund my watercolor painting classes? I like to use blue and green paints and I oppose Jihadists and rude fellows everywhere.
#18
There's the story of Picasso in occupied Paris.
A German officer looking at Picasso's painting "Guernica" asks him:
"Did you do this?"
Picasso replied: "No, you did."
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/14/2010 18:04 Comments ||
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#19
The new campus, built after the student riots of the later 1960s, was deliberated designed to discourage student gatherings and break up riots into groups small enough to be handled by the police
The reason the streets of Paris were reworked into a grid pattern was for crowd control. Cannon could be placed at the intersections.
#1
Taking three weeks straight off would definitely affect the kids in her class. Why would she risk screwing up her class with a lousy substitute. She obviously is not a dedicated teacher. What she should have done is take a year as a substitute teacher, do her hajj, and the next year go back to full time.
#3
If she wanted time of for hajj she probably isn't the kind ofperson I want teaching my kids anyway. Give her the time off, paid, and pay for her ticket even - as long as she doesn't come back.
#6
Lunar calendar resets every 33 years. Since you only have to do Haj once (if you can and not everyone can), she only has to wait for Haj to rotate to summer vacation. By then, she will have saved enough money to go
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[Arab News] Japan's Nissan Motor Co. delivered the first mass-market all-electric car to a technology entrepreneur in 
