A Minute of Mayhem for Malcolm

Your impact will be loved and hated for years to come. You were a punk rock revolutionary.

On the Humanade website, Mr. McLaren’s son, Joseph Corré, wrote:

“In celebration of Malcolm’s life we are asking people to observe a MINUTE OF MAYHEM at midday on 22nd April. Put on your favorite records and let it RIP!”

Here's a quick tribute from a "gin-sodden" Uke musician.

Reuters reported. Mr. McLaren died of mesothelioma on April 8. He was 64.

Thank you Malcolm.

The Storm

This is another I shot at The East Austin Studio Tour.

Chalk Skaters

These are some creative young artists.  Gave me a nice smile.  If you know who they are, let me know and I will give them credit.

Simon would have loved these guys!

Bush Claims More Powers Than King George III

According to Scoop from New Zealand,The Massachusetts School of Law issued a press release in which Constitutional scholar David Adler contends that George Bush has claimed more powers for himself than King George III was able to do.

“No executive in the history of the Anglo-American world since the Civil War in England in the 17th century has laid claim to such broad power,” said David Adler, a prolific author of articles on the U.S. Constitution. “George Bush has exceeded the claims of Oliver Cromwell who anointed himself Lord Protector of England.”

"Adler said, Bush has “claimed the authority to suspend the Geneva Convention, to terminate treaties, to seize American citizens from the streets to detain them indefinitely without benefit of legal counseling, without benefit of judicial review. He has ordered a domestic surveillance program which violates the statutory law of the United States as well as the Fourth Amendment.”"

You can read the entire article here.

Bill Moyers on

Bill Moyers addresses the argument over presidential power in his segment, "When the President does it, does it make it legal?" I found the historical perspective particularly interesting.

It's about 10 minutes long, but worth watching.

Quotable Quote - Dwight D. Eisenhower

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

--Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), during his farewell address, Jan. 17, 1961

Dick Cheney - Quagmire!

On April 15, 1994, Dick Cheney said that invading Iraq would cause a quagmire. Were his words propaganda then or now? It is worth listening to the architect of the new un-ending war with Iraq and how he viewed the situation in Iraq going in.

Women in Art

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art put together in an artful manner:



Works from artists such as: Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael - Raffaello, Titian - Tiziano Vecellio , Sandro Botticelli , Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Antonello da Messina, Pietro Perugino, Hans Memling, El Greco, Hans Holbein, FyodorStepanovich Rokotov , Peter Paul Rubens, Gobert, Caspar Netscher, Pierre Mignard, Jean-Marc Nattier, Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Franz XaverWinterhalter, Alexei Vasilievich Tyranov, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, Alexey GavrilovichVenetsianov, Antoine-Jean Gros, Orest Adamovich Kiprensky, Amalie, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Édouard Manet, Flatour, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, William Clark Wontner, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Comerre, Leighton, Blaas, Renoir, Millias, Duveneck, Cassat, Weir, Zorn, Alphonse Mucha, Paul Gaugan, Henri Matisse, Picabia, Gustav Klimt, Hawkins, Magritte, Salvador Dali, Malevich, Merrild, Modigliani & Pablo Picasso.

(Contributed by Hip Dad of S.A., TX.)

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

As promised: THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED DIRECTED AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY KIM BARTLEY AND DONNACHA O'BRIAIN IRELAND, 2003 74 MINUTES

Just one man's point of view...

Thanks to Kieran for sending me this one. This occurred back in October, but it should not be forgotten. I think it is important for all Americans to familiarize themselves with the Military Commissions Act of 2006. My hope is that after familiarizing themselves, they will get involved.

Dr. Martin Luther King

Dr. Martin Luther King giving his most famous address, I Have a Dream.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. denounced the Vietnam War while standing at the pulpit in Riverside Church. Dr. King said that there comes a time when silence is betrayal. Not only of one's personal convictions, or even of one's country alone, but also of our deeper obligations to humanity.

I agree with Dr. King. Silence is betrayal. To your country, your personal convictions, your family, your community, and your deeper obligation to humanity. I'm not asking you to be a civil rights leader...just speak up with love.

It's not about Republican or Democrat. It's not about left and right. It's about truth, honor and integrity to yourself. Speak up. Speak from the heart. Speak out.

Gothic Architecture

You must take a look at the other pictures Ellen posted (20 December 2006) of Sedlec Ossuary on her blog: Nonchalant Natter of the Sleeping Pirate.

(Click on picture to enlarge)
{Picture by Ben Hutchison}

"It is a Christian Chapel embellished (Baroque style) by 40,000 sets of human bones. Sedlec, is a suburb in the outskirts of the Czech town Kutna Hora."

To read about/view more images from Sedlec Ossuary check out these links:

http://sleepingpirate.blogspot.com/2006/12/sed.html

http://www.ludd.luth.se/~silver_p/kutna.html

Total War, Shortest War

This is footage of Joseph Gobbels giving one the most memorable of his wartime speeches at the Sportpalast (February 18, 1943); a piece of history many of us may have missed.

Notice the huge banner. I believe it is translated: "Total War, Shortest War."

German historian Helmut Heiber wrote in his Biography of Goebbels,

"[Goebbels] was able, until the very last minute, to encourage and exploit a blind trust in Hitler and his genius. It is indeed one of the macabre phenomena of the Third Reich that even in their country's agony the mass of the German people remained docile and faithful to Hitler's banner ... In spite of everything they had experienced, they kept the faith." [p. 133]