Saturday, 29 October 2011

'Gloombah' raises his fist in solidarity w/ #OccupyMelbourne

(Photos by TimN)
Funnily enough as I was reading 'Where The Wild Things Are' to Spaceboy at bedtime tonight he pointed out that in the picture of Max getting up to 'mischief' the teddy hanging from the sheet-rope had his fist raised!!!
Bless his little (revolutionary) cotton socks!

Le 'garçon d'espace' et son père (TimN) @OccupyMelbourne (29/10/11)

(Thanx Monica!)

(Thanx Jeff!)

Spaceboy on the front line @ #OccupyMelbourne (29/10/11)

The continuing adventures of...
(Photos by TimN)

Julian Assange: BBC World Have Your Say

Brian Eno: Control VS Surrender (Moogfest 27/10/2011)


Brian Eno describes his exhibit, "77 Million Paintings," and talks about the idea of control versus surrender in the randomization of images and sound in his work.
Via 
Image
Dark Shark

Steve Barker interviews Adrian Sherwood @ Rough Trade East 27/10/11



Laurie Penny: If I can’t wear a short skirt, I don’t want your revolution

Lefty journalism professor tries to discredit the Tea Party by passing along sensational footage to his buddies at the Times!!!



DATA Made FLESH

How Occupy Wall Street Cost Me My Job

David Harvey: The Party of Wall Street Meets its Nemesis

The Party of Wall Street has ruled unchallenged in the United States for far too long. It has totally (as opposed to partially) dominated the policies of Presidents over at least four decades (if not longer), no matter whether individual Presidents have been its willing agents or not. It has legally corrupted Congress via the craven dependency of politicians in both parties upon its raw money power and access to the mainstream media that it controls. Thanks to the appointments made and approved by Presidents and Congress, the Party of Wall Street dominates much of the state apparatus as well as the judiciary, in particular the Supreme Court, whose partisan judgments increasingly favor venal money interests, in spheres as diverse as electoral, labor, environmental and contract law.
The Party of Wall Street has one universal principle of rule: that there shall be no serious challenge to the absolute power of money to rule absolutely. And that power is to be exercised with one objective. Those possessed of money power shall not only be privileged to accumulate wealth endlessly at will, but they shall have the right to inherit the earth, taking either direct or indirect dominion not only of the land and all the resources and productive capacities that reside therein, but also assume absolute command, directly or indirectly, over the labor and creative potentialities of all those others it needs. The rest of humanity shall be deemed disposable.
These principles and practices do not arise out of individual greed, short-sightedness or mere malfeasance (although all of these are plentifully to be found). These principles have been carved into the body politic of our world through the collective will of a capitalist class animated by the coercive laws of competition. If my lobbying group spends less than yours then I will get less in the way of favors. If this jurisdiction spends on people’s needs it shall be deemed uncompetitive.
Many decent people are locked into the embrace of a system that is rotten to the core. If they are to earn even a reasonable living they have no other job option except to give the devil his due: they are only “following orders,” as Adolf Eichmann famously claimed, or “doing what the system demands” as others now put it, acceding to the barbarous and immoral principles and practices of the Party of Wall Street. The coercive laws of competition force us all, to some degree or other, to obey the rules of this ruthless and uncaring system. The problem is systemic, not individual...
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David Graeber, the Anti-Leader of Occupy Wall Street

Philip K. Dick on the language virus theory of William S. Burroughs

Dick spent some time thinking about the information virus theory of William Burroughs, which he uses here to clarify his own thinking about "living information." Burroughs' theory interests and troubles him, as he indicates by praising Burroughs for getting the problem right. But he ends up disagreeing with Burroughs about the nature of the entity, and takes the opportunity to distinguish his own view in contrast to Burroughs. As is not uncommon in passages like this, Dick proceeds beyond the general theoretical question to speculate about his own experiences. I find this kind of passage beautiful and picturesquely Dickian. He is weaving a tense and compelling portrait, almost Lovecraftian in its description of the theoretical attraction and squeamish repulsion he feels for Burroughs' notion, of his work on the information paradox.
"I cannot accept Burroughs' view that we have been invaded by an alien virus, an information virus, yet on the other hand I cannot readily dismiss this bizarre theory as mere paranoia on his part. I think he is onto something real and important, and that his statements do more good--far more good--than harm (that is, he states the problem correctly, although perhaps his analysis of the cause is faulty; still, merely to be aware of the problem is to achieve a great deal). Now, I have been able to find accounts in ancient times of what seems to be a thinking or perceptual dysfunction or perhaps the thinking or perceptual dysfunction.
...Burroughs may have indeed detected an "information virus" or something like an information virus, but my supposition is that, if you grant its existence, it is of long-standing. World mythology supports this. Not just Christian.
Where Burroughs and I sharply disagree is that my supposition is that if--if--and information life form exists (and this is indeed a bizarre and wild supposition), it is benign; it does not occlude us; on the contrary: it informs us (or perhaps it has no interest in doing either, but simply rides our own information traffic, using our media as a carrier; that is entirely possible. That I myself saw this living information in the spring of 1974 is not something I wish to claim; on the other hand, I will not deny it. The issue is important, vital, and also elusive. If you grant an occluding information virus, are you not then yourself occluded in your very analysis of it, as well as your perception of its existence? There is a paradox involved. I'm sure you can see that. And I try to deal with it in VALIS."
Selected Letters of PKD 1980-1982, p.146
Here's a link to Burroughs on Language as a Virus from Outer Space
Here's a recent article explaining the history of the concept of information
Mr Hand @'Philip K. Dick and Religion'
Check out the link above  for much more PKD...

Piercing the Paleolithic Penis

The NYPD Is Now Threatening To Sue Occupy Wall Street Protesters