THE CULTURE PROJECT (home of The Exonerated and Sarah Jones Bridge and Tunnel) presents the new HIT political drama…

GUANTANAMO: HONOR BOUND To DEFEND FREEDOM.

Called “The Most Important civil liberties case in half a century ” by The New York Times.

Summary: Weaving together personal stories, legal opinion, and political debate, Guantánamo: 'Honor Bound to Defend Freedom' looks at the questions surrounding the detentions in Guantánamo Bay, and asks how much damage is being done to Western democratic values during the 'war on terror.'

“Given the material, there is no need for histrionic acting. The facts literally speak for themselves. The evening left one stirred, questioning and with a sense that one could no longer seek refuge in ignorance.”-The Independent on Sunday.

“I want anyone who is seriously interested in the values that sustain civilization to see this production.”-The Financial Times.
Plays Tuesday-Saturday at 8PM and Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday at 3PM.
GET TICKETS on the web or over the phone through Ticketmaster.com or #212-307 4100, or in person from 12:30-7:30PM daily at the box office at 45 Bleecker St. (@ Lafayette) #212-253-9983.

Tickets Normally $55/60.

***SPECIAL INTER ACTIVIST DISCOUNT ONLY $25!***

Use secret code JGACT. Offer expires 10/19.

"Splendid Isolation: Urban and Rural Flows and Counterflows in Electronic
Music and Related Media"

February 10-12, 2005, Berlin, Germany

Held in conjunction with club transmediale.05 [BASICS]

The relationship between communication technologies and the city has been a
long and complicated one, where the density of communicative activity has
often been taken as defining characteristic of urban life. By contrast,
rural areas have been idealized and marked by the relative absence of these
technologies, a perception which tends to obscure the social and spatial
consequences of communication technologies in rural areas. Out of this
dichotomous set of associations has emerged a constellation of forces,
ideas, images and experiences which have defined both the city and rural
zones in unique and singular ways.

"Delving Into Democracy's Shadows"

Scott McLemee, Chronicle of Higher Education

The sociologist Michael Mann took a detour from his epic study of
power in human history. It led him straight to the horrors at the
center of modern life.

Scholarly books often resemble the pyramids erected for minor
officials in ancient Egypt. Impressive in their way — and built to
last — they are, nonetheless, difficult to tell apart. By contrast,
The Sources of Social Power, by Michael Mann, a professor of
sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles and a
visiting research professor at Queens University Belfast, is
"audacious in scope, ambitious in objective, and provocative in
challenge," as the American Sociological Association put it in
presenting Mr. Mann its 1988 award for distinguished scholarly
publication.

DVDs

The Velvet Light Trap

A Critical Journal of Film & Television

Issue Number 56, Fall 2005

Issue Theme: DVDs

Less than a decade after their entry into the market, the impact of DVDs has already become visible in media production strategies, legal and economic policy, marketing and distribution, exhibition environments, and audience reception habits. Decisions on style and content during shooting of film and television programs increasingly take into consideration possibilities for cross-media consumption. Recent years have also seen increased visibility of short forms such as making-of documentaries and other bonus features. Direct to consumer sales have created lucrative markets for otherwise marginal films and television programs and have affected habits of consumption. The home viewing environment, finally, opens possibilities for interfaces with other end-user entertainment technologies.

The Velvet Light Trap invites papers exploring issues surrounding DVD technology as part of audiovisual culture and practice. In addition to papers focusing on technology, we seek papers that examine DVDs in relation to questions of aesthetics, narrative construction, genre, production, promotion/distribution, exhibition, and reception — including issues of economic consumption and cultural use — from local, national, or global perspectives.

Norm Rejection writes:

Ten Years of Norm Rejection

Both NR Albums Online

It was back in 1994 that the Maltese agitprop crossover metal band Norm Rejection was founded, releasing its sold-out debut release "Subtly Mesmerized?" during the same year. Subsequently, Norm Rejection released two singles "Trance Upon the Chessboard" (1995) and "Where's the Green?" (1997) before releasing its two full-length albums "Deconform" (1998) and "0002" (2000), both of which are practically sold-out. Norm Rejection's line-up for these recordings was made up of Wilfrid Pace (Vocals), Sean Vukovic (Guitars), Mike Briguglio (Drums), Jo Kerr (Bass) and Andrew Martin (Keyboards).

Norm Rejection is commemorating is 10th year by making available online all songs of the "Deconform" and "0002" albums on its website, www.normrejection.com. Among the 17 songs in question one finds "Malta Not For Sale", "Caged", "6479, "Faceless" , "Urged" and "The Death of the Subject". Check them out!

On http://www.normrejection.com">www.normrejection.comone may also find Norm Rejection’s lyrics, biography, news and links.

Further info from Norm Rejection may be obtained through email at mikebrig@maltanet.net

"9/11: The Day the World Ended, Three Years On"

John Chuckman

A lot can happen in three years.

In the United States since 9/11, about 4,000 children died from child abuse and neglect; in more than 80 percent of cases, parents were the perpetrators. About 36,000 Americans died from unnecessary surgery. Another 21,000 died from medication errors in hospitals, along with another 60,000 from other errors in hospitals. Adverse reactions to prescription drugs killed about 100,000. Roughly 10,000 Americans died from accidental drowning. About 2,100 died from bicycle accidents. Homicidal Americans killing other Americans took another roughly 60,000 lives. Suicide took more than 90,000. Traffic deaths amounted to well over 120,000.

Leigh writes "The Heavenly States, a San Francisco-based band would like to offer any protesters who would like to use it access to their new single, entitled “Monument,” for use during protests scheduled for the upcoming Republican National Convention.

FurtherBunny writes "George W. Bush is arguably the most influential and controversial performance artist in the history of Western art. Born as the son of George HW Bush senior, he learned early on how politics works. After studying at Yale and Harvard, he chose politics as his medium for art. In the 80s, like many other artists of the time, he was influenced by the French postmodern theorist Jean Baudrillard. He was particularly interested in the following passage in the book “Simulacra and Simulation”:

“Go and simulate a theft in a large department store: how do you convince the security guards that it is a simulated theft? There is no “objective” difference: the same gestures and the same signs exist as for a real theft; in fact the signs incline neither to one side nor the other. As far as the established order is concerned, they are always of the order of the real.”

hydrarchist writes ... ok I just translated this statement from the Confédération Nationale du Travail Bureau confédéral Secrétariat médias medias@cnt-f.org CNT, because none of the other obituaries that I've seen give visibility to his libertarianism. HCB died August 3rd at the age of 95.

Death of an Anarchist

On the death of Henri Cartier Bresson: the CNT salutes the man of all liberties and every necessary escape.

The photographic genius that he was, known and recognised internationally, tirelessly answered those who asked him about his photographic compositions: "The technique has no importance! It's the point of view that matters...." And Henri Cartier Bresson never hid his point of view. On the contrary, he never missed an opportunity to let fly his war-cry during interviews: "Long live Bakunin!". A convinced and declared libertarian, Henri Cartier Bresson tirelessly photographed the world of labour, applying himself from 1931 to denounce of man's alientation before machines. He was present in social struggles, on every continent and, of course, in Spain during the war of 1936 where he made a film about the republican hospitals.

American Book Review Founder Ron Sukenick, 1932–2004

Dear Friends of American Book Review:

I'm writing to inform you that Ron Sukenick died in the early morning of July 22.  For the past several years, Ron suffered from Inclusion Body Myositis.  A muscular disease for which there is no known cure and only experimental treatment, it is a progressive and degenerative illness. By the turn of the century, Ron could walk only with the help of a cane, and he was wheelchair-bound for the last three years.