==pla|\|ing lakes==

Saturday, June 26, 2004

Georgia is trying to loot the estates of deceased nursing home residents to pay for their care

1:56 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

Iain Sinclair's introduction to the Folio Society's new edition of H G Wells' The War of the Worlds [Literary Saloon]

Wells has received insufficient credit as a writer of rhythmic, incantatory prose, long-breath paragraphs to cut against his tight journalistic reportage. The War of the Worlds makes the journey from sensationalist incident to moral parable. Wells predicts an era when fiction and documentary will be inseparable.

I always thought Wells was a lot of fun to read, and clearly a visionary.

The text is available online in several places, though if I had the bucks, I'd love to have this and some of the other Folio Society editions (they seem to run aound $35, not bad considering the apparent quality of the books, and they have introductory discount offers).

1:43 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

TCM is running famous title director Saul Bass's Phase IV this Wednesday, which many people found pointless, but I might check out anyway (since it's not available anywhere else)

It's an oddball SF thriller about ants getting a little too smart.

1:01 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

Since their £300 (about $546) funeral stipend has been abolished in a government tax-cutting move, Germans are setting up appointments in Polish and Czech crematoriums to make sure they can afford um death

12:32 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

Thursday, June 24, 2004

An implant which stimulates the vagus nerve to treat chronic depression is on the way to being OKed by the FDA

Naturally the possible abuses of such a device are manifold, but I think the use of very mild electrical stimulation for medical and therapeutic purposes should be pursued, along with color and sound therapy.

3:14 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

Canadians on the verge of electing a far right government?

xymphora:

Canadians vote on Monday, and analysts claim the election is too close to call, with the possibility of the newly reconstituted Conservative Party beating the governing Liberals. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that this would be much like Canadians electing as their government Jörg Haider's Freedom Party (there are direct connections in that they share a major backer). Although they have appropriated the name and much of the membership of the old Progressive Conservative Party (which was bad enough but had its good points and wasn't a radical party), the new Conservative Party will be a party entirely devoted to the interests of big business, and will clearly be anti-human rights and anti-immigration, and in favor of destroying or significantly weakening every single social program that doesn't benefit the rich.

3:03 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

End of Democracy file:

Tax felon and cult leader Rev. Moon coronated at US Senate office building

More here.

2:04 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

Monday, June 21, 2004

BigPharma is starting to cut off Canadian pharmacies that cater to Americans

12:11 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

Shills for the plutocracy are trying to kill the successful publicly funded elections program in AZ

12:04 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

Sunday, June 20, 2004

More on the fed's scam (see post) to silence the Critical Art Ensemble in Buffalo [industrial.org]

Summary:

On May 30, members of the performance art collective Critical Art Ensemble were subpoenaed by the FBI. The FBI is planning to indict Steve Kurtz, a member of CAE before a grand jury on June 15, on unknown charges. CAE is under investigation for their use of scientific equipment to produce art projects that question the relationship between commerce, politics and biotechnology. Critical Art Ensemble have been producing performances and theory that merge political realities with technology and theater since 1987. Thus far eight subpoenas have been issued to: Adele Henderson, Chair of the Art Department at UB; Andrew Johnson, Professor of Art at UB; Paul Vanouse, Professor of Art at UB; Beatriz da Costa, Professor of Art at UCI; Steven Barnes, FSU; Dorian Burr, Beverly Schlee and Claire Pentecost.

You can add your name to a protest letter at the first link above.

11:56 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

The brain always chooses pattern over reality if it can [NYT regis. in left column]

If you do travel any distance, you'll need to plan and improvise, and that requires a brain. In animals that don't travel far - spiders, for instance - the brain can be tiny. In the small brains of birds that navigate over long distances, one finds bits sensitive to the Earth's magnetic fields. In animals like us, who roam great physical, social and symbolic distances, the brain must be big enough to map the changing world, provide a sense of control, and adapt to those changes. Otherwise we'd leave a scatter of lost selves babbling in the dust beside the road.

Pattern pleases us, rewards a mind seduced and yet exhausted by complexity. We crave pattern, and find it all around us, in petals, sand dunes, pine cones, contrails. Our buildings, our symphonies, our clothing, our societies - all declare patterns. Even our actions: habits, rules, codes of honor, sports, traditions - we have many names for patterns of conduct. They reassure us that life is orderly.

12:14 AM - [Link] - Comments ()