say what you want, support the troops, support the war, but there is a line that has to be drawn somewhere, while we`ve been distracted by Martha, the eating/drug problems of the Olsen twins and the capture of wanted dissenter; Bobby Fischer, things thought hidden and withheld are coming to light.
the debacle that is Abu Ghraib has take a turn for the worse. what`s worse that the torture, how about the rape of little boys; in front of their mothers. what kind of fucking sick shit is that. there is no justification for that. and the fact that the story broke internationally at least a week ago and there has been no coverage in major US news outlet, shows… i don`t even know what i want to say anymore.
i can`t even find the words… i`m sitting here reading the stories on the verge of tears. i`m not sure why i want to cry, whether it`s rage over the fact that a government would allow or much worse encourage something like this or my fear for my own children and family in the inevitable reaction to this.
i`m just going to post some of the links now because i am completely at a loss for words, a word of warning, these stories are not for the faint of heart.
Google Search Results
Guardian UK
Google translation of Der Speigel article
i work in advertising, i have for over 12 years now, that means i have been privy to some of the most stupid ideas in the history of creation.
if you think you`ve heard idiotic utterances you haven`t heard anything until you`ve sat in a creative briefing session. i think there is a special sort of vacuum created in these meetings by the combined efforts of the spreading of copious amounts of bullshit and the simultaneous effort of trying not to swallow any of anyone else bullshit.
at any give time in one of these meetings there at least three simultaneous levels of bullshit going on, there is the BS that is fed to the general public; which the crux of advertising and marketing; there is BS that ad agency, pr firm whatever feeds to the client; they know what they`re doing, they have a clue and they`re really thrilled to be doing this and finally there is the creative bullshit which is the copy writer, graphic designer or whatever creative representative who know we`re going to get screwed on the short deadline and our design and copy is going to get fucked with, but we still put on the shiny happy face because we want to pretend; at least for a moment; that we enjoy our job; when in fact what we do enjoy is the regular paycheque and not starving to death.
every once in a while the creative team exacts it`s revenge and this generally falls into the `what were they thinking` category. for a brief, shining moment, the facetiousness or flippancy of a comment is lost and everyone higher up on the food chain buys it, wholesale. this is not a reflection on my current job, this is just an observation made over the years and the relevance of which will present itself now.
this morning i was assailed for an ad for the Ben-Gay patch. the first thought that popped into my mind was, people have Ben-Gay addictions? i got the sense that the creative team had been stumped at every turn, or at least i`d really like to hope so, but that holds no candle to the following gem
i have been privy to what i hope was an advertising in joke that somehow managed to slip past everyone and escape unfettered into the wilds of the consuming public; i was at vic`s nephew`s graduation when the valedictorian mentioned the name of the high school anti-drug programme; drug enforcement and teen health.
i deliberately typed without the initial caps to let it sink in for a moment, now with the caps; Drug Enforcement And Teen Health. that`s right the anti-drug programme is called DEATH. i know you want to discourage them from drugs but that might be a little excessive. plus how do you send your children off to DEATH camp for a weekend without a second thought?
we all look alike.
you know the drill; all black men look alike, well take that a step further, all black men with dreads look even more alike. in Nashville there are five of us, an English teacher at some exclusive private school, a lawyer, a musician, a fellow graphic artist; who i had the pleasure of meeting; and myself.
since i`ve been here, i`ve been mistaken for the school teacher and the musician, one of both of them must party a lot because people keep coming up to me and asking me if we`d met at a party earlier in the year. i don`t drink that much and i don`t do drugs, i don`t even party much so if i`d met you at a party, i`d know.
the other graphic artist was telling me about having dinner in a restaurant and this woman accosted him, mistaking him for her ex; the lawyer. i thought that was pretty odd, but having had people come up to me and start conversations, i don`t know why i did.
the other person i look like; only because of the dreads and only to small children; is the guy who host a show on disney. i`ve had small children just sit and look at me thinking i was that guy.
when i was in Chattanooga over the July 4th weekend, a member of an old school quartet of queens tried to pick me up, said i looked like someone he knew.
i am everywhere, i am Darth Insidious, i cannot be stopped.
sometime in the near future i have to have a version of the `TALK` with the boychick. i don`t know if it`s the implied caps or just nerves but the though fills me with dread. i have all the information at my disposal, what i`m worried about is how much is enough or how much is too much and am i going to warp him in some way. well not warp him so much open him up to all manner of ridicule and abuse by his peers or even worse; an ignorant teacher.
i think it would be safe to say, vic and i are liberally bent when it comes to sexuality but in these times that may not be a positive and how do i go about passing this information on to a brilliant eight going on twenty eight year old with the minimal amount of discomfort for us both. i tend to treat children like small adults and they tend to react well to that; which is why i`m always surprised when one of them behaves their age, i never know how to deal well with whining and pouting and crying and tantrums; the flip side to that coin is making information accessible to them.
i`ve been lucky with my children, they`re bright, well read and have ever expanding vocabularies but talking about sexuality still fills me with dread. my daughters have decided they don`t want to have these discussions with me and the boychick has decided he doesn`t want to have it with vic.
it was just my mother and i and she decided to educate me just i was about to enter high school; in the British school system, that`s 11. she sat me down told me about procreation, refreshed my memory of what`s different on men`s and women`s bodies and provided access to Man`s body and Woman`s body and number of other books on sexuality that were in the household library and that was it. i didn`t turn out too badly, i think. there are still things i learned as i grew older and there still things i learn everyday.
how do i condense and edit 20 odd years of knowledge into something comprehensible and useful for a young man? i want to explain the value of sexuality, but how do i do that without being moralistic and in light of fact that sexuality has become a commodity? does he need to know about safety now? i have all these questions. sigh. parenting is never easy.
in September 2001, two weeks to the day after the World Trade Centre attacks, NY continued the democratic process to elect a new mayor.
He [Pataki] also wanted to send a message that democracy could not be derailed by acts of terrorism, his aides said yesterday. Announcing that the primaries would go ahead, the governor described Mr Giuliani as “a great mayor”. But he added: “The election is going to go forward. I tell you, if I were a resident of New York City, I would write him in.”
sourced from here
it would do well for everyone involved to remember that.
American counterterrorism officials, citing what they call “alarming” intelligence about a possible Qaeda strike inside the United States this fall, are reviewing a proposal that could allow for the postponement of the November presidential election in the event of such an attack, NEWSWEEK has learned.
read the rest
the line is bold is my highlight, if that doesn`t worry you, then you`re obviously not living in the real world.
joining the long line of groups that are determined to see the current administration out of office are the librarians against bush; who according to their website are; a group of politically active librarians who are concerned about the Bush administration`s policies and their effects on civil liberties, privacy, and intellectual freedom.
taking an approach that`s a little different but with the same objective is axis of eve. axis believes that effective political action can be irreverent and exciting, and have launched a campaign of flashing at specific events including the RNC involving their line of protest panties; which include:
and men`s boxers that feature:
i thought that PJ O` Rourke accurately summed up my mood this morning.
i don`t generally read newspapers, i haven`t really since i choose advertising as a career; i look through them to see the ads or if i have something published, i don`t watch television news either, i find the news for the most part depressing and biased, which in turn depresses me more.
i would love to bury my head in the sand and avoid the news altogether, but i`m not built that way, i need to know and i tend to go out of my way to find out the whole story. which is why i tend to get my news online from a variety of sources, the most reliable of which is the bbc, which in my humble opinion is the only news source without an axe to grind. the beeb remembers what news is about; fair and unbiased coverage. but i`ve been down this road before.
today, i happened to glimpse a newspaper and saw this headline;
however there maybe hope in the form of Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2003; which is an amendment to the annual Justice Department appropriations bill that would effectively refuse any money to support use of the USA PATRIOT Act to obtain library or bookstore records without probable cause, so if you`re eligible don`t sit this one out, write your representative today.
i have no desire to see Michael Moore`s new film and this Bush administration does not fill me with confidence either. to me they are different sides to the same coin; excess.
they both prey upon the fears of people and use these fears to justify what they are doing. and they`re both profiting greatly as well. i posted The Boondocks comic earlier this week because i believe that we should never become so blinded by what we believe is right that we`re willing to do the wrong thing to support it. two wrongs have never and will never make a right.
do i agree with any neo-[insert evil of choice here]? not necessarily but that doesn`t mean they don`t have the right to speak. they do and more often than not it will do you good to listen, it will help you learn something; if not about them, about yourself. Sun Tsu said “Know thine enemy as thyself.”
there are things i believe strongly in, politics is not one of them there are too many grey areas and the basic principle of politics; trying to please everyone; is flawed. i believe in the right on consenting adults to do what their hearts desire in the privacy of their home. i believe in the freedom of the press to investigate and present the absolute truth. i believe religion should have no part of governance. i believe we have a personal responsibility to ourselves and our children to do what is right.
and what is right you ask? i think it boils down to one simple rule; Don`t take what isn`t yours.
enjoy your weekend whatever you do and for the US residents and citizens, it might be a good time to reflect that the freedoms that being fought for all over the globe on a daily basis are willingly being sacrificed right here at home.
