AS IT STANDS

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Sometimes the sublime suggests secrets scarcely seen!

Hidden beauty is often in the eye of the beholder who can see beyond a first glance. What do you see here?

The Ugly Head of Racism Rises in Texas Town of Paris

I can't believe that in this day and age, there are people so prejudice that they have to do hateful acts to show their their displeasure. This account from the Chicago Tribune this morning sickens me...

By Howard Witt | Tribune correspondent/2/24/09

HOUSTON — Only a few weeks ago, race relations had reached such a low point in the troubled east Texas town of Paris that federal Justice Department mediators were called in to try to bring together black and white citizens, but the public meeting quickly dissolved into rancor.

Now fresh racial tensions are erupting inside one of the town's biggest employers, the Turner Industries pipe fabrication plant, where black employees charge that hangman's nooses, Confederate flags and racist graffiti have been appearing throughout the workplace for months. Click here for the rest of the story.

(Photo by Karl Mitchell / 2/24/09)

A Real Ball Buster! Woman assaults boyfriend who didn't call her!

FROM THE PAGES OF THE SMOKING GUN...

Does this woman look like a testicle crusher? Well, that's what cops claim University of Colorado student Chalie Simon did to a former boyfriend early Saturday morning during a confrontation at a campus apartment.

Simon, a 19-year-old sophomore, went to Job Donkor's home at about 4 AM and became irate when he sought to remove her from the residence. That's when Simon allegedly "grabbed his testicles and squeezed hard," according to a police report. Donkor, 23, replied, "Yeah, it hurt a lot," when a cop asked about Simon's squeeze play. Donkor told police that he had dated Simon "on and off" during the prior 18 months, and that they had broken up "approximately 20 times."

Simon was apparently angry because Donkor had not, as promised, called or sent her a text message by 3 AM (police noted that another woman was sleeping in Donkor's bedroom when they arrived). Simon, pictured below in a Boulder County Sheriff's Office mug shot, was arrested on assault, trespass, and domestic violence charges.

image via thesmokinggun.com

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

FROGS CAN FLY: 'A Piece of ART as a Living Substance'

“Why frogs?” / Interview

PHOTO via MiMi Moscow

“K’ung-fu-tzu” (Confucius) 2003

The jump of frog symbolizes thirst of flying.
As genetic magic dream, about that far time,
when frogs were the ANGELS.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project “ FROG CAN FLY ” refers to people, frogs being only actors.
DE I: Why frogs?
Mi-Mi: Because they are small and light.
Can you imagine a Scooby Doo ring for example?
Of course you can, but don’t break your finger…
If you find a real dog set in place of a stone.
But a frog is an actor of a small chamber genre.
One cannot find a better main character for this role in nature
if one wants to develop the theme “A piece of art as a living
substance”
None of the fixing locks in the project are made of rubber and
their size is between 3 and 5 centimeters in the waist.
Strict! ... As on a podium. What can one do?- c’est la vie.
It is impossible to fit into somebody else’s shoes.
DE I: What principle was used to select an actor for the role?
Mi-Mi: The only principle: talent and desire to work.
Not all the applicants passed the audition. And,…
there were so many of them.
Some could not stand the intense schedule, some failed
because of personal reasons,
Others thought it was mere “talk-show” …
But the results of selection produced real Stars.
Frogs same as people may possess Star quality and Virtuosity.
It wasn’t necessary to force them to do special or
unnatural movements.
What was most difficult... to wait for a "Revelation"
on their side and not to interfere with this process.
Everybody is gifted in many different ways, and frogs
are not an exception.
Some open slowly and thoughtfully, like Confucius,
Others inflame instantly, like Eddy Chlorophyll,
But the truth is they cool down the very next moment.
Eddy is a natural born comedian.
Eddy is the one and only frog who can so selflessly put his paws
on his tummy and smile with such charm.
Nobody taught him, he just knew how, he was capable
and used it with grace.
He did 2 full days of shooting in the project and then he left.
Afterwards he used to come quite often but ...only as a spectator.
Confucius is unequivocally a Shakespearian character.
He is superb in tragic roles. If the project could continue,
he would make a remarkable King Lear.
But, on September 21st all Moscow frogs go to sleep till spring.
There's nothing to be done about it.
DE I: We hope nobody was hurt?
Mi-Mi: On the contrary, everybody ended up happy.
Siberian Postman and Fly of Destiny now live at our place.
They stopped being interested in mosquitoes and now eat delicious
African cockroaches with tremendous appetite.
They became fat and look contented.
“Freedom and Will” issues are of no relevance at the moment.
At nights they lose themselves singing duets…
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interview / “Desillusionist” magazine / 2006
Translation by
Lyan In Su & Steven Brayshaw.

EGG ART : Modern Masters Make Marvelous Miniatures

(image credit: Lew Jensen) Cranes" by Gary LeMaster

"Unicorn" by Ron Cheruka The Grecian Urn" by Gary LeMaster

Remember the highly praised Faberge eggs from the courts of Russian tzar?

Modern masters of eggshell filigree carving make similarly detailed works, using only the nature-given material: eggshell itself, cut in creative patterns by hand with high-speed drills.

GOP Strategy : Firmly Bury Head in Hole and Just Say No to Everything!

The word must have gone out when they lost the presidential election, that all Republicans are going to be big babies in defeat!
Just look at what their doing in Congress and the House of Representatives. Republican governors are also in lock-step with the new GOP strategy to “Just Say No” to whatever Democrats purpose.
It’s a mindless and petulant approach that doesn’t serve all Americans. But the GOP isn’t worried about all Americans. They serve a constituency that is out of touch with the majority of Americans.
They call themselves Conservatives, but they are really more like Extremists, who want things their way and that’s all there is to it. Confronted with reality, these GOP followers start throwing mud. They conjure up a crisis where there is none. They twist the words of Democrats into mangled messages to mislead the general public.
The so-called Moral Majority and Neo-Cons, have no positive direction to go because their own response to anything outside of their beliefs, is vicious attacks and lies. With one side of their mouth they say they hope the new Economic Recovery Plan will help Americans. From the other side of their mouth they are spewing dissent. They don’t want President Obama and the Democrats to succeed.
If they had any guts they should at least admit it. Partisanship has poisoned our country. GOP governors are positioning themselves as possible presidential candidates in 2012, by refusing help from the Recovery Plan. Damn the people in their state who need it. The GOP is sticking to core beliefs, which by the way have economically crippled America during the last eight years.
Look at what Bush and GOP cronies have wrought. A country in crisis.
You’d think that the Neo-Cons would wake up with reality bitch-slapping them everyday on Wall Street and Main Street USA.
Not so. The GOP’s core following is wealthy people who finance their follies because they want to continue being rich. Any concept of equality goes out the door when money is the motivator. They sit on Ivory Towers and call upon God to help them continue their dominance over the average American.
So that leaves us with a snake in our political system. It will strike out any attempt at bi-partisanship to prove how powerful it is. Tattoo’s, reading something like, “ Might makes Right and Money makes Might” are inscribed somewhere on their brains.
How can any sensible person work with someone who comes to the table with an attitude like that? Here’s what the GOP Extremists need to understand: the majority of Americans support Obama. That’s why he was elected president. Obama’s clear mandate to help the majority of Americans should count for something. In my opinion, the GOP won’t be happy until they get back in power. That however, is not going to happen for a long time, if ever again.
AS IT STANDS, we wouldn’t be struggling to survive as a country today if the Republican’s hadn’t made such a mess of things.

image via www.NewsCorpse.com

It may be Hard Times but Mardi Gras revelers are having fun

Tourism officials don't believe the economic downturn has dampened the mood at this year's Mardi Gras celebrations, and say that big crowds over the weekend and nearly full hotels bode well for the annual event.

Image via pbase.com

Monday, February 23, 2009

NORML announces introduction of landmark pot bill that will tax and regulate it like alcohol & tobacco!

HERE'S SOME EXCITING NEWS FOR MARIJUANA ADVOCATES...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2009
Contact: Dale Gieringer, Director, Cal NORML (415) 563-5858 dale@canorml.org

San Francisco, Feb. 23 - Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-SF) announced the introduction of a landmark bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol and tobacco at a press conference today.

"With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move towards regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense," said Ammiano. "This legislation would generate much needed revenue for the state, restrict access to only those over 21, end the environmental damage to our public lands from illicit crops, and improve public safety by redirecting law enforcement efforts to more serious crimes."

The bill would save the state's taxpayers over $1 billion, according to an economic analysis by California NORML, with additional economic benefits of $12 -18 billion. http://www.canorml.org/ background/CA_legalization2.html.

The bill would provide for licensed producers and distributors, who could sell to adults over 21. Producers would pay an excise tax of $50 per ounce, or about $1 per joint. Sales taxes would generate additional revenues, bringing total tax revenues to $1 billion. Additional economic benefits would be generated in the form of employment, business and payroll taxes and spin-off industries, like the wine industry, amounting to some $12 - $18 billion.

Last but not least, the bill would save the state $170 million in costs for arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of marijuana offenders. The result would be to eliminate such prohibition-related problems as black market dealers and smugglers, grow houses, and pirate gardeners on public lands.

The bill would not alter California's medical marijuana law, which allows patients, caregivers and collectives to grow medicine for themselves.

"California has the opportunity to be the first state in the nation to enact a smart, responsible public policy for the control and regulation of marijuana," said Ammiano. His bill is the first of its kind since

California outlawed cannabis in 1913. Only after being prohibited did marijuana become widely popular, eventually being enjoyed by millions of Californians. Due to soaring enforcement costs, the legislature decriminalized possession of small quantities in the Moscone Act of 1975, saving the state's taxpayers $100 million per year.

However, production and distribution remained illegal, leading to continued prohibition-related enforcement costs. Last year, agents eradicated a record 5 million illegal plants, up more than tenfold in five years. Marijuana arrests jumped to 74,119 in 2007, their highest level since the Moscone Act. California has over 1,500 inmates in state prison for marijuana offenses, ten times as many as in 1980. Marijuana is reported to account for 61% of the illicit drug traffic from Mexico, where prohibition-related violence has killed over 6,800.

"Tom Ammiano deserves credit for recognizing that legal taxation and regulation is the only solution to California's marijuana problem," says Gieringer of California NORML, a sponsor of the bill. "Marijuana users would happily pay taxes to buy it legally."

California NORML also thanks former Sen. John Vasconcellos for providing the original draft of this legislation.

Recent polls indicate that public support for legal marijuana is growing. A new Zogby poll found 44% of American voters support taxing and regulating marijuana, with support as high as 58% in western states:

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7806

image via Google Images

Time to get rid of the myths about why rich people deserve their money

Matt Miller, writing for The Daily Beast, thinks "The sooner we shed our illusion that people end up financially where they deserve to, the faster we’ll fix the economy."

"Yes, it should have been obvious before, but now that a seemingly endless parade of bankers have made fortunes while gutting their institutions and sinking the economy, we’re finally having our eureka moment.

Wealth in America increasingly comes not as the proverbial reward of the “free market,” but from rigged compensation systems that reward mediocrity or outright failure. This is causing a brain burp among many professionals — a group I call the Lower Upper Class – because it’s an affront to an idea they’ve cherished since they first started bringing home A’s from school and acing their SATs."

Click here to read Miller's whole column.

Slivers of splendor: semi-precious stones sliced to sell

Photographer Bill Atkinson reveals the wondrous textures within the semi-precious stones.

(Check out more examples from his recent book "Within the Stone"). Mr. Atkinson was one of the original developers of the Macintosh computer, responsible for Finder, QuickDraw, and HyperCard, among others. He is now an amazing nature photographer who is also working on next-generation printing technologies.

Shame! Shame! Shame! Lehman Brothers CEO hiding his assets

Despite the fact that Lehman Brothers got a bailout from the taxpayers last year, CEO Richard Fuld get $22 million in "retirement" pay! Between 1993 and 2007, Fuld was paid $466 million in wages and bonuses. Now it looks like Fuld is trying to hid his assets in case someone comes after his thieving ass! He recently sold one of the five houses he and his wife jointly own, to his wife for $100 in an effort to shift and protect his assets. How low will he go?