Anonymous Comrade writes:

"Carlos Cortez Dies at Age 81:
Social Issues Inspired Artist"
Chicago Tribune, January 23, 2005

Before Carlos Cortez decided to buy a home, his wife, Mariana, first had to convince him it would be in his best economic interest. He dreaded supporting a capitalist system that he believed cheated the common man out of a living wage.

But buying the home was a decision he would never regret. For the next 30 years, the basement became a studio for Mr. Cortez and his wood- and linoleum-cut graphics, and the living room became a gathering place for strangers who quickly became friends.

There, surrounded by the artist's black and white prints that inspired so many, poets and painters explored how art could incite social change, shed light on poor and disenfranchised populations, celebrate indigenous cultures and promote peace — all principles that inspired Mr. Cortez to create art.

Mr. Cortez, 81, a poet, muralist and graphic artist, whose portrayals of the challenges facing the common man are on display in neighborhood galleries and the Smithsonian Institution, died of heart failure Wednesday, Jan. 19, in his Northwest Side home.

CadmusOnez writes:

"Weed and Seed The Village"

New York City, Jan. 26, 2005

Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir

St. Mark's Church in the Bowery

January 26 2005 8:00pm

$10 (no-one turned away), 10th St and 2nd Ave

contact info: Michael ONeil

917-825-3562

bulletin@revbilly.com



Radical Reverend Sows Seeds For Future of Public Space



A city like New York should treasure every inch of greenery, but "developers" constantly harass community gardeners and City Hall provides no defense. Reverend Billy, the Obie Award winning founder of the Church of Stop Shopping, will dedicate his January 26, 2005 performance at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery to supporting these holy horticulturalists and their preservation of public space. "Community gardens are the canary in a coal mine for civic space in New York" warns Bill Talen, aka Reverend Billy.

s0metim3s writes

Australia on the edge

Angela Mitropoulos, reviewing Allaine Cerwonka, Native to the Nation: Disciplining Landscapes and Bodies in Australia, Borderlines 21, University of Minnesota Press, 2004.

Allaine Cerwonka’s Native to the Nation explores the everyday details of claims to ownership of — as well as and belonging in — Australia's postcolonial landscape. The attention to that detail is impressive.

So too are the analytical connections made between landscape, spatial control and geopolitics as Cerwonka puts some of Foucault’s concerns to work in examining how 'contemporary state power depends on the disciplining of territories and 'the production of docile bodies.' What makes Native to the Nation much more than another textbook Foucault is the attention to those details of contingency that Foucault insisted on, in this case: the specificity of the postcolonial territory of Australia, always located precariously on the edge of both ownership and beloning.

suzanne klotz writes:

"Arizona City Arts and Culture Commissioner Calls for Art Censorship"
Suzanne Klotz

In June 2004 I enrolled as a student in a college digital story telling workshop to create a digital introduction to a book I recently completed. The content of my digital story includes:

1) Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights that I witnessed in Palestine between 1991 and 1995;
2) Quotes by rabbis stating that the Israeli Zionist government falsely represents itself as being affiliated with Judaism and Jews.
3) Excerpts from letters written to Ariel Sharon by Israeli soldiers who are imprisoned because they won't inflict war crimes on the entire Palestinian population.

Knowing this is a sensitive subject I requested that the president of the college view my story on two separate occasions before the college was credited with the production. I was assured both times that it had been viewed and the college wanted and required production credit.

Michael Bell writes:

"What is Money?"

Michae Bell

Someone once said, or there was a song entitled, “Money is the root of all Evil”. So I ask, “ What is Money?”

* Is it a means of exchange, a facilitator?

* Is it a metal object, a piece of paper, a book entry, a hand shake?

* Is it tangible, solid, structural or is it an illusion?

* is it a commodity, like sheep, like iron ore, like bread?

* Does it grow, is it alive, is it conscious? If not, who creates, directs,
controls it? Is it out of control?

* Does it need control? Will it kill us? Who benefits, who looses?

* Is it a health hazard? Is it responsible for depression? Did it create
or extend gambling? Does it cause excessive or lack of medication?

* Does it support the rich or the poor?

* Does impede creative thinking, support for the impoverished?

* Does it cause poverty, dumping, deprivation, global warming?

* Is it responsible for wars, resource depletion, environmental
degradation, design obsolescence, high technical solutions, structural
decay?

* Does it accelerate the depletion of the earth’s resources, oil, minerals,
soil, rain forests, oceans?

* Does it create or impede progress?

* Is it a catalyst for development?

* Who needs it, banks, multinational corporations, stock markets,
supermarkets, governments, nomads, the people?

* Is it necessary for the proliferation of free trade agreements?

* What does it achieve, growth, booms and busts, inflation,recessions?

* Does money in the form of unearned income create inequities?

* Are compound interest rates the problem or is it money itself?

* Should the use of money be changed?

* Should interest be abolished or should it be replaced by a fee on
transactions?

* Should money be abolished or just taken out of the hands of banks,
and financial institutions, including stock exchanges?

Solution to a Stalled Revolution: Write a Mystery Novel

New York Times

What should a rebel leader with a little extra time on his hands do to get attention? Subcommander Marcos, the elusive and charismatic leader of the Zapatista movement in southern Mexico, has apparently decided the answer is to write a crime novel.

Two weeks ago, Pablo Ignacio Taibo II, a successful writer of detective stories set in Mexico City, received a clandestine letter from the guerrilla leader. In it, Subcommander Marcos, the rebel leader who made wearing a black ski mask sexy, proposed that they team up to write a detective story, alternating chapters.

"I thought about it for 10 seconds and said 'No, not right now. I'm very happy with my Pancho Villa book, which I'm writing, and this new project will drive me crazy," Mr. Taibo recalled. "Then rapidly, 10 seconds later, I said yes. It had the enormous attraction of insanity. For a writer like me who is always bordering on insanity, it was part of my, shall we say, greatest obsessions to do something like that."

CadmusOnez writes A Holiday Appeal From Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping...



I know for sure that GOD IS THE ABSENCE OF GENTRIFICATION. Yes I'm looking for the spark of light called the winter solstice to actualize our community center. I'm talking about that spark of light that is usually pawned off on the wrong God, and made safely apolitical. The most famous representation of the sunlight that starts growing again during the winter of discontent is Jesus -- but we steal him back, because JESUS WAS NEVER A CHRISTIAN! Amen?

Jackson Mac Low (1922–2004)

Jackson Mac Low died in New York on December 8. This
profound loss will take many years to properly
register, but since the New York Times has only
summarized his literary contributions, it is important
to note
other dimensions of his life, especially his political
involvements.

It's easier to download a copy of "The Yes Men" than find a perceptive review of the work. Please find the review from In These Times underneath.

You can download The Yes Men by clicking here for the torrent. In order to download it you will have to install the foxy little program called Bit Torrent. All details and additional information required reside in the Fahrenheit 911 thread.

Oh and be warned that the scum from the Motion Picture Association of America have recently started legal action against people sharing movies, and undoubtedly suprnova is one of the places they'll be fishing. If you can, look around and you'll find it in less exposed torrent communities as well.Enjoy.
Any questions? I'm all ears ;)

When Yes Means No

Into a season packed with political documentaries comes 'The Yes Men' ushering in a new and savvier era of protest.

The worst of times, the best of times: Sure, our nation is in the hands of a federal cabal to which nothing – lives, rights, nature, language, science, sovereignty – is sacred. Except profit. But as a result the popular culture is rousing from its inoculated slumber as it hasn't in 35 years.

Baltimore Anarchists Rally for Red Emma's Bookstore

Annie Linskey, Baltimore Sun

On a recent Sunday night, three men sat at Red Emma's
Bookstore and Coffeehouse, Baltimore's newest anarchist
infoshop. They were there to see a screening of several
films produced by the Independent Media Center.

The organizer of the evening's activities, John Duda, seemed
disappointed with the turnout. "Was anything else going on tonight?" he asked.

One customer, with a mop of brown hair, volunteered a reason
why so few comrades-in-arms turned out for the event: "The
Anarchists Union and the Women's Healthcare Collective meet
on Sunday nights," he said. A-ha.