naked burial wish denied

During his life Robert Norton, of Pekin, Illinois, was often prosecuted for gardening and wandering outside his house in the nude. Robert Norton fought 20 arrests for "indecency" since his first in 1962, arguing that he had a constitutional right to public nakedness.

The 82-year-old said he wanted to be buried unclothed.

but his brothers have decided to lay him to rest in grey trousers and a shirt.

One of them, Jack, is a minister. "He's not going to be buried in the nude," he said.

naked protest

a culture's power structure depends largely on how we look and are looked at.

"To be offended by the visual appearance of another person is prejudice, akin to racism. The right to exist, uncovered, should hold precedence over the right not to view this, for the objection is irrational."

Australian Painting, Drawing and Printmaking

FRANCIS CRICK, the Nobel Prize-winning father of modern genetics, was under the influence of LSD when he first deduced the double-helix structure of DNA nearly 50 years ago.

"Dick Kemp told me he met Francis Crick at Cambridge. Crick had told him that some Cambridge academics used LSD in tiny amounts as a thinking tool, to liberate them from preconceptions and let their genius wander freely to new ideas. Crick told him he had perceived the double-helix shape while on LSD."

Before Prohibition

Images from the pre-prohibition era when many psychotropic substances were legally available in America and Europe

(via growabrain)

365 tomorrows

a collaborative project designed to present readers with one new piece of short speculative fiction each day for one year.

(via gravity lens)

the GENOCIDE of native americans

the LYNCHING of black citizens

the compulsory STERILIZATION of "undesirables"

TORTURE as foreign policy

and....

"in our names"

AMERICA IS THE PROBLEM

MP3 Bush RNC 2004 Sheep Pen Mix

"I believe America is called to lead the cause of terror in the new century."

...via Truthful Translations of Political Speech
("What they really meant when they said that.")

Bush has formally appointed John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations, without waiting for approval from the Senate.

we've all seen the old footage of Mr Bolton saying that there is "no such thing" as the UN and calling the US the world's "only real power".

Mr Bolton also said that if the 38-storey UN building "lost 10 storeys today, it wouldn't make a bit of difference".

Employees at the UN in New York described reactions ranging from disbelief to horror when Mr Bolton was nominated.

The nomination of such a strident character as UN envoy incensed many former US ambassadors - 102 of whom signed a letter urging senators to reject his nomination.
(bbc)

plus...

"Calls to end US domination of the internet"

Some 35 years after the US military invented the internet, the US Department of Commerce retains overall control of the master computers that direct traffic to and from every web and email address on the planet. And the US could make changes without the agreement of the rest of the world.

But a UN group is calling for an end to US domination of the net, proposing that instead a multinational forum of governments, companies and civilian organisations is created to run it.

"The internet should be run multilaterally, transparently and democratically. And it must involve all stakeholders,"
(new scientist)

there is no "psychology of the terrorist,"

there is only the psychology of the Human that plays out in a multitude of ways.

..."Terrorists, Victims and Society" edited by Andrew Silke

amazon.co.uk
amazon.com

archives...

Governments around the world betrayed their commitment to human rights in 2004

...and the american administration is seeking to dilute the absolute ban on torture....

The "war on terror" appeared more effective in eroding international human rights principles than in countering international "terrorism".

"The most destructive element in the human mind is fear. Fear creates aggressiveness."

...said Dorothy Thompson

12 warning signs of fascism

archive...

14 defining characteristics of FASCISM

"...as I think of the many myths, there is one that is very harmful, and that is the myth of countries. I mean, why should I think of myself as being an Argentine, and not a Chilean, and not an Uruguayan. I don't know really. All of those myths that we impose on ourselves - and they make for hatred, for war, for enmity - are very harmful. Well, I suppose in the long run, governments and countries will die out and we'll be just, well, cosmopolitans."

...said Borges, 1980

"The composition of vast books is a laborious and impoverishing extravagance. To go on for five hundred pages developing an idea whose perfect oral exposition is possible in a few minutes!"

"A better course of procedure is to pretend that these books already exist, and then to offer a resume, a commentary."

"I have preferred to write notes upon imaginary books."

...said Borges

In 1921, Borges returned with his family to Buenos Aires where he imported the doctrine of Ultraism

the death of free speech and protest in the UK

Five people were arrested today after staging an "illegal" demonstration outside parliament to object to new laws restricting protests in the area. the demonstration was to highlight the enactment of a new law banning demonstrations within half a mile of the palace of Westminster without at least 24 hours' prior authorisation from the Metropolitan police.

It also bans loudspeakers, megaphones and "encampments" such as the long-standing protest by Brian Haw in Parliament Square.

"awaiting"

"vote for yourself"

"The Vicissitudes of Moi, Moi, Moi"

...DrJoanne flickr