In 1956 Peter and Joan Foldes made this animation about nuclear doomsday that caused quite an outcry after Ed Sullivan presented it to unsuspecting viewers and their children on his evening show. Io9 has more about the broadcast.
Author Archives: Cimaxion
America, One Quarter of Your Children Are In Poverty
Look at these kids. Look at how bright and good they are. Sixty Minutes went and found some of the millions of recently homeless families living in cheap motel rooms around this country as they try to maintain some semblance of normalcy in a rapidly collapsing world of foreclosures and endless joblessness.
An entire generation of kids is going to grow up with a very different attitude about life and country than we baby boomers have had. These kids are the shock to the American system. They experience an America of grinding poverty and large corporations that heartlessly protect only the top earners in their structures. But these kids have a sharp awareness and a reflective quality that bodes ill for the status quo.
Republican policies would strip poor families of affordable access to health care and birth control services. Republican policies favor the very wealthy and corporate profits at the expense of everyone else. This is very strange since many supporters of Republican policies are themselves poor. Democrats are not much better. They tend to have a more realistic view of poverty and its causes, but they do not show the strength required to stand up and be great in the face of despair. Obama is a decent and dull failure. I am pessimistic about his chances at a second term because he has not behaved as if he did not want or need a second term. All presidential mediocrities temper their politics toward winning a second election. A great president only wants a single term in office.
America finds itself in strange waters during a time when it is supposed to be commanding a bright future. It bogs itself down in budget busting wars that are meant to spread democracy in countries that do not value democracy. America spills its blood and money into the earth, but will end up with nothing. The people it fights for will not build free societies. They will wallow in filth and slip back into the hands of despots or religious tyrants. Some people on earth have no possibilities. It is that simple. One must eventually leave those people to their own particular demise. To believe otherwise is to engage a fantasy.
But not these people in this video. These are sharp and strong Americans who will recognize what’s been done wrong in this country and they will stand up and decide to fix things when they are just a little bit older.
I found this via Richard Metzger at Dangerous Minds.
BBC New York Punk Rock Documentary
Here’s an excellent BBC documentary on the origins of punk, hip hop and disco in the New York City of the 1970s. It was a hard time in the city but it held a wild energy that kept pressing up and inventing new things. What hit me about this film is how good Patti Smith really is.
New York since then, however, seems to have signed an unlimited contract with the Gap as a retail outlet. I think anyone with a streak of punkishness in them moves out to Los Angeles.
I found this via the excellent curatorial efforts of Rob Smart on Facebook.
Delta Airlines Appears to Join Saudi Arabia in Banning Jews or Israelis
In an agreement that harkens back to those between certain U.S. companies and Nazi Germany during the thirties and forties, U.S. carrier Delta Airlines has entered into an agreement with Saudi Arabia to offer service to the country that bans travelers who are from or who have visited Israel at any time.
Some reports around the web today, starting with an article on the USA Today web site which has since been deleted, say that the policy bans Jews from traveling to Saudi Arabia. This may be true. There is some confusion. I think the historic policy of the Saudis is to stop people who have been to Israel. But this is just another way to couch bigotry in slightly less obvious terms. The ban is essentially a ban against Jews. The bigoted kingdom has tried to prevent Jewish travel to its territory in the past and have removed such bans only when directly confronted. In general, there is ongoing discrimination against Jewish people in the country.
In fact, Saudi Arabia is one of the most bigoted countries on the planet. Non-Muslims are not allowed to even enter certain Saudi cities. That’s hard to equal in terms of sheer bigotry. Women are considered to be property and must wear concealing garments, move about in public with a male chaperone, and cannot operate a motor vehicle. In and of itself, this treatment of women is one of the most egregious crimes against human rights by any nation on earth. In addition, Muslim citizens of Saudi Arabia who convert to other religions are killed.
The fact that some American companies maintain a presence there is an embarrassment for me and I would hope for most Americans.
Delta airlines has released a statement that basically says they have to follow the rules of each country they fly to. Really? Well, I’m sure the good folks at Delta would have been very happy to follow the rules of the Third Reich just as well.
Here’s part of what Delta had to say about it:
First and foremost, I think one of the most important things to mention here is that Delta does not discriminate nor do we condone discrimination against anyone in regards to age, race, nationality, religion, or gender.
That said, some have raised questions about whether Saudi Arabian Airlines’ membership in SkyTeam means Delta is adopting any type of policies that could present barriers to travel for some passengers, including Jewish customers. For this particular concern, it’s important to realize that visa requirements to enter any country are dictated by that nation’s government, not the airlines, and they apply to anyone entering the country regardless of whether it’s by plane, bus or train.
We, like all international airlines, are required to comply with all applicable laws governing entry into every country we serve. You as passengers are responsible for obtaining the necessary travel documents, such as visas and certification of required vaccinations, and we’re responsible for making sure that you have the proper documentation before you board.
Okay, so what would this airline do if Saudi Arabia banned anyone who had ever traveled to the African continent? Would Delta airlines happily dance into a deal under those circumstances? But that’s exactly what they’ve done!
I recognize that Israel has its own problems with human rights in its treatment of Palestinian people. They do things to people that I object to and that often rise to the level of crimes against humanity. But quite frankly, I’d have my finger on the trigger too if I lived anywhere near countries like Saudi Arabia or Syria or Egypt.
If Delta airlines has to follow the barbaric and revolting rules of a country like Saudi Arabia, then it simply should not fly there.
Photography Breakthrough Allows Image Focusing Outside of Camera
The soon-to-be-available Lytro camera allows picture taking without focusing. The photos can be focused later by simply clicking on any part of the image to bring that area into primary focus. It’s a pretty historic achievement in photography. I don’t think anyone has done it before.
The camera uses something called a light field sensor. It captures the color, intensity and vector direction of the rays of light. This directional information is completely lost with traditional camera sensors, which simply add up all the light rays and record them as a single amount of light. So you can snap a picture without focusing at all and then later focus the image the way you want to.
Try clicking around on these images:
Talkin’ World Awakening – New Topical Song For Greece, Freedom and All People Sacked by Banka-Gangstas
German musician and filmmaker Michel Montecrossa sings a song of rage and protest aimed at banks and their governments who seek to eliminate entire populations in favor of a very small group of super-wealthy. The first decades of the 21st century are proving not to be about some ridiculous war on terror, but instead they are seeing the beginning of a conflict between large corporate interests and enormous populations. The uprisings in the Middle East have nothing to do with the dictators there. Those uprisings are against the corporations that do business with the dictators.
I like Mr. Montecrossa’s hard and direct approach. He is a wild man and he’s making some very interesting things. I posted earlier about his ‘Resurrection’ movie.