Sunday, September 09, 2012

Here are all my Tweets

                                    


Does this count as a "peer reviewed publication"?  (Probably not, but here they are.)

All My Tweets

The site does offer a mirror of what's been on my mind day-to-day (for better or worse) and yours too, if you use Twitter.  

Saturday, September 08, 2012

I will be using Weibo -- Chinese Twitter -- accidentally

您好我在中国的朋友。我将使用微博偶然。

As a way to further my understanding of people and events in China, I've gotten an account on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.   Weibo means "micro blog."  My friend Tang Xiaofeng, also called Denver,  a graduate student in Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer,  is helping me get started.  

My first Weibo message (above) announced, "Hello to my friends in China.  I will be micro-blogging occasionally." 

Denver saw it and sent me this message:  "Congratulations on your first Weibo entry.  However, the Google translation means, "I will use Weibo accidentally." 

I love it!  In my previous attempts to translate to Chinese into English using Google Translate the results read rather like 1950s beatnik poetry -- lots of wild and weird images thrown together in ways that make some, but not too much, sense.  This has a wonderful echo because one source of liberation for me as a teenager in small town California was -- along with rock and roll, jazz and my discovery of "the great books"-- was beatnik poetry, Ferlinghetti's "Coney Island of the Mind," for example.

So I'll be perfectly happy if the mistranslations of my Weibo tweets have that quality -- writing accidentally!  

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Spanish Hacktivists to speak about their digital tools

Here's the poster for a scholarly colloquium I've organized for next Wednesday at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  All are welcome.  If we find a way to stream the event on the Net, I'll post the notice here as well.

             


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Science Fiction Cinema and Social Criticism: My course for this fall term


Science Fiction Cinema and Social Criticism

Prof. Langdon Winner
STSS-2962 and STSH-2962
Mon. & Thurs., 4 – 5:50  in Sage 3705
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Fall 2012
         Dept. of Science and Technology Studies        
Office hours: Wed. 10-11:00 & Thurs. 3-3:50 in Sage 5709 and by appointment: winner@rpi.edu





This class studies relationships between science fiction films and serious works of modern social criticism.  Through a careful reading of texts, analytical viewing of films and comparison of the two experiences we will explore some of the most significant issues in modern society.  As in all your classes, the real subject is: How to think!

Meetings.  We will meet twice a week.  Roughly half of our time will be spent viewing the films, the other half discussing them in relationship to the readings you be doing.  Everyone should come to class fully prepared to discuss the readings, films and their own ideas about them.  Regular, active participation is required and is an important part of your grade.  Attendance will usually be taken. You are responsible for putting initials next to your name in the day’s attendance sheet.  Please arrive promptly and be seated so we can view the lengthy films and discuss them.  [Note:  Because we will focus upon the material and each other – rather than the vast world of outside distractions -- this class will strictly maintain a “no laptop, no tablet, no smart phone” policy.]  

Readings:  Some of the books for the class are available in the Rensselaer Bookstore.  Others are online or on reserve in digital format (indicated by * on this syllabus) at Folsom Library listed under the course name and “Winner”. http://library.rpi.edu/setup.do
Readings will usually be discussed on the day they are listed.  Readings listed as “optional” readings often can be found by online search, in Folsom or through inter-library loan.  They are not required and have not been placed on reserve, however.

Weekly short papers:  For many (but not all) weeks of the term there will be short papers to help clarify and express your ideas, one page, single spaced (no longer!).   Usually these will be due at the Thursday session. These writings should be thoughtful, neat and printed.   The goal is to make sure you keep up with readings and ideas, making sure that when asked about the readings and films, you will have interesting things to say to the group.  [Note:  Weeks in which there are no papers due will be announced in class, in advance.]   Grades on these papers will be on a 5 to 1 scoring scale (5 = very good, 4 = good, 3 = average, 2 = poor, 1 = very poor, 0 = did not submit. 

Three essays:   I ask you to write three short essays, five pages double spaced (no longer!).  These essays will discuss the connection between the readings and films you have been studying.  Sample topics will be distributed, but you may propose topics and approaches to writing of your own.  Grades will be given on and A though F scale with “+” and “–“  as appropriate.  Excellent: A; Good: B; Average: C; Very poor: D; Failing: F.  Due dates: Sept. 27; Oct. 25; and Nov. 15.  No short essays are due on any of these due dates.  However, you must have done the readings for the day and be fully ready to discuss them.

Final exam: On December 6 there will be an in class final exam consisting of several short answer questions and one short essay.

Writing standards: To help you understand and anticipate the standards I will use to evaluate your writing, three items will be useful to you.  First is the “Key to the Marginal Notes” which provides an arcane code for understanding my notes on style, organization, and other features of your writing.  Thus, the code “UC” means “This passage is unclear.”  Second, you will receive a list of key features I’m looking for in your written work, each one arrayed on a sliding scale from Very Good to Needs to Improve.  Third, is the wonderful essay, “Politics and the English Language” by a writer, George Orwell, whose novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, we’ll read during the term. URL for the essay: http://orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/

Grades.  Your grade for the semester will be determined by:
(1) attendance in class and active participation in discussions 20%;  
(2) weekly short papers with your comments on course materials, 20%
(3) three short essays: 45%
(3) in class final exam: 15%

Absences:  You may miss any two daily sessions without excuse and skip any one week’s short paper without penalty.  If you miss more than that, your grade will suffer.  Excused absences will be recognized for illness, family emergency, required varsity sports travel, and other crucial matters with written notification.  Usually, a simple email will suffice.

Late papers:  ALL PAPERS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN CLASS and on time.  There will be NO EMAIL OF PAPERS at any time during the term.  (Don’t ask. If you miss turning in a paper for any reason, just bring it to class the following session.  The grade will be necessarily lower, but often better than zero.)  Your weekly short papers are due on Thursday unless notified otherwise.

Other materials on the Web:  As the course moves along some additional course writings and illustrations from the web may be assigned.

Academic integrity:  All work submitted must be your own.  If you borrow ideas or information of any kind (which is always essential to learning and creativity), please just give a clear reference to the original source, a footnote or endnote, for example.  This is easily done, expresses gratitude and is a good habit to cultivate.  Evidence of plagiarism, borrowing materials or ideas without credit as well as other forms of cheating, will be dealt with severely – a grade of “F” for the course.

Learning Outcomes:
 
With any luck, students in this class will improve their ability to:

(1)  understand and interpret important works of social criticism and corresponding themes in modern movies;
(2)  read books and watch films in an active, engaged (rather than passive) manner;
(3)  recognize contrasting ideas and arguments crucial in debates about politics, policy and ethics
that involve scientific technologies;
(4)  grasp the ways that film makers express ideas and concerns about humanity’s present
 and future prospects;
(5) improve their ability to think and write clearly;
(6)  ponder ways in which their own lives and careers might include reflective artistry in
      professional work or other pursuits:
(7) fathom and anticipate ways in which bureaucratic strictures such as Orwellian Newspeak “learning outcomes” statements tend to infringe upon academic freedom in ways that commodify, degrade and infantilize the process of becoming a thoughtful, well-educated person.



Schedule

Week 1: Introduction

            August 27:      Discussion of the aims and requirements of the course.  Introductory comments
                                    about Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis.”
                       
            Readings:
                        Roger Ebert, “How to Read a Movie,” http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/08/how_to_read_a_movie.html
                        “MacGuffin,” [a plot device in films]:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin


            August 30:   “Metropolis” -- vision of a technological future 
           
                        Readings:
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “The Communist Manifesto”
                                    Available in several formats: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61
                        “Metropolis (film),” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_%28film%29

Week 2:  Interpreting Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”

            September 3: Labor Day holiday (no class)

                        Readings: (to be discussed on Thursday, Sept. 6)
                       
                        *Edgar Jung, “The Organic German Nation” in Roger Griffin ed., Fascism 
                        *Ernst Junger, “The Emergence of a New Type of Human Being,” in Griffin
                        *Martin Heidegger, “National Socialism as the Custodian of European Being”
                        Joseph Stiglitz, “The Price of Inequality,” interview with Amy Goodman

            September 6:  Workers, robots, class struggle, and the search for redemption

                        Readings:
                        Adam Call Roberts, “Metropolis: A Proto-Fascist Anti-Utopia”
                        Optional reading (for the truly inspired):  Siegfried Krackauer, From Caligari to Hitler



Week 3:   The Bomb, Scientists and Paranoia

            September 10:  Alien invasions – a message for planet Earth

                        Film:  “The Day the Earth Stood Still”
                       
Readings:
*Cyndy Hendershot, “The Atomic Scientist, Science Fiction Films, and Paranoia:
            The Day the Earth Stood Still, This Island Earth, and Killers from Space”   
                        *Albert Einstein, “Survival is at Stake”
                        *Lewis Mumford, “Gentlemen You are Mad”

            September 13:   Science fiction films as expressions of social unrest

                        Readings: 
Cyndy Hendershot, “Monsters at the Soda Shop: Teenagers and
Fifties Horror Films”
                                    www.imagesjournal.com/issue10/features/monster/text5.htm
                        Seth D. Baum, et al, “Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm
                                                Humanity? A Scenario Analysis”
                                                http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1104/1104.4462.pdf
            Ian Sample, ““Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists”

            Optional reading (for sci-fi pulp magazine fans): Henry Bates, “Farewell to the Master”
            [the 1940s short story that inspired “The Day the Earth Stood Still”] 

Week 4:  The Total State and Technologies of Control

            September 17:  George Orwell’s vision of humanity crushed

                        Film:  “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (Michael Radford’s adaptation)

                        Reading: 
                                    George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
                                     http://orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/english/

            September 20:  How many of Orwell’s fears are being realized today?

                        Reading:  Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four  (to the conclusion)
                                       Glenn Greenwald, “Extremism Normalized”
                                       http://www.salon.com/2012/07/31/extremism_normalized/

                                       Newt Gingrich, “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control”
                                       http://www.wfu.edu/~zulick/454/gopac.html
                                   
Week 5:   Supreme Rationality and/ or Utter Madness

            September 24:  America’s technocratic era

            Film:  “Dr. Strangelove”

            Readings: 
                        Ida Hoos, *Systems Analysis and Public Policy, (selections on reserve)
                        “Robert MacNamara,”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McNamara
                       
                        September 27   [First essay is due in class.]
            Films:  “Dr. Strangelove” (conclusion) and a BBC documentary:  “Pandora’s Box”
                        by Adam Curtis

            Readings:
                        Louis Menand, “Fat Man: Herman Kahn and the Nuclear Age”

            Optional reading (for the curious):  “Herman Kahn,” in wikipedia


Week 6:  Humans and Androids in a Dystopian World

            October 1:  The imagination of Philip K. Dick

            Reading: 
                        Philip K.Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 
                        http://www.mediafire.com/?zamnzjn1vko
                        or:   http://www.kejvmen.sk/dadoes.pdf

                        [Note today we will discuss Dick’s novel fully and look only at the very
                          beginning of the film.]

            October 4:  Artificiality and the “other”
                        Film:  “Blade Runner” (the final cut, 117 min.)

            Optional reading: (for the philosophically minded)
                        Stanislaw Lem, “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans”
                        http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/5/lem5art.htm

Week 7:   How to Read a Movie

            Tuesday, October 9 – [Note: Monday becomes a Tuesday session this week]

            Film:  A scene-by-scene analysis of “Blade Runner” in “cinema interruptus” mode

            Reading:
                        Roger Ebert, “How to Read a Movie,”
                        [Read the some of the comments that follow Ebert’s essay as well.]

            October 11 – Cinema Interuptus: “democracy in the dark” continues

Week 8:   Philosophy of Technology in Cinema

            October 15
            Reading: Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society, pp. xxv-xxxvi and pp. 3-107

            October 18
           
            Film, “Koyaanisqatsi (Life Out of Balance)”

Week 9:    Mass Media, Reality and Illusion

            October 22:  Is everybody happy?  Oh, yeah!

            Film:  “The Truman Show”

            Reading:
                        Chris Hedges: Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle,
                        chapters I and IV

            October 25:  An illusion called “America”
            [Second essays are due in class.]   
            Reading: 
                        Empire of Illusion, chapter V

Week 10:   Reinventing Discrimination (and Blasting It into Space!)

October 29:  The origins and dynamics of inequality

            Film:  “Gattaca”

            Readings:
            *Derrick Bell, “After We’re Gone: Prudent Speculations on America
                                    in a Post-Racial Epoch”
            *Sun Ra, This Planet is Doomed: The Science Fiction Poetry of Sun Ra, selected poems
with Introductions by Amiri Baraka and Bhob Steward

Film:  “Sun Ra Arkestra live at Montreux 1976” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7j-Hm2NgFM

November 1:  Genetic engineering and social policy

            Readings:
                        “Racial Segregation in the United States,” Wikipedia
                                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation_in_the_United_States
                        “Eugenics in the United States,” Wikipedia 
                                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_States

Week 11:   Is High Tech Civilization Inherently Violent?

            November 5:  Earthlings as the alien invaders

            Film:  “Avatar”

            Reading: 
                        *Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. I, selections to be announced

            November 8  Beings in harmony with nature

            Reading:
                        Endgame, selections to be announced

Week 12:   Post-Apocalyptic Visions I

            November 12:  concluding discussion of “Avatar” and Jensen readings
                       
            Reading,
                        Endgame, selections to be announced           

            November 15:  Environment and society collapse
                                    [Your third essay is due in class.]
                       
            Film: “The Road”  [Note the film will be show in its entirety today.]
           
            Reading:
                        Begin reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road


Week 13:   Post-Apocalyptic Visions II

            November 21

            No film today.  Continue your reading of The Road, now and over the Thanksgiving holiday.

            November 24 – No class, Thanksgiving feasting!

Week 14:  Post-Apocalyptic Visions II (continued)

            November 26
            Discussion of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in comparison with the movie, “The Road,” based upon the novel

Weeks 14 and 15:  Technology and Narcissism (a pungent combination)

            November 29

            Reading:  Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion, chapter II, “The Illusion of Love”

            Film, “15 Million Merits” (from the Black Mirror series)

            December 3
            Readings:  James Rivington, “Project Glass: what you need to know”
            Sherry Turkle, “The Flight from Conversation”

            Film:  “The Entire History of You,” (from the Black Mirror series)


            December 6:  Final exam in class



Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The boys and their toys: Drones R Us





A seldom acknowledged dimension of the U.S. military today is what the impish historian of technology David F. Noble used to call "the boys and their toys."  The logo above from the "Program Executive Office" of the "Unmanned Aviation and Stike Weapons" program shows the ghoulish fun that the guys are having with the latest collection of gadgets in their toybox -- the drone aircraft.  Yes, your tax dollars are paying to  produce menacing graphics of The Grim Reaper surrounded by the circular bureaucratic logo on what appears to be a Pentagon door or in a military Power Point display.

The idea that designing, building and using lethal weaponry is a kind of game is a common obsession in America today.  It is clearly on display, for example, in the "build a robot to smash other robots" competitions that are commonly used to attract middle school, high school and college students to careers in computer science and engineering.  The subtext is that killing and destruction are all part of the enjoyment that sophisticated technology involves.   To point out (as I sometimes do) that this approach is ultimately pathological and certainly not a great way to attract young people to lives as technical professionals is dismissed as "denying the kids their fun," and "rejecting the best way to recruit the next generation of engineers."  


In the interest of truth in advertising, my suggestion would be to include the Pentagon's stylish new grim reaper on advertisements for the next round of killer robot games we take to the country's school children.  They need to know what they're getting into.  (Perhaps they do already.)

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Spanish activists drag bankster into court

                                                    Rodrigo Rato in happier times


An interesting episode from the ongoing financial crisis in Spain is the move by Spanish activists to file suit against financial mogul and conservative political bigwig Rodrigo Rato, former head of the International Monetary Fund and, more recently, president of "Bankia,"one of Spain's largest banks.  The trial is now taking place in Madrid.  Some details and commentary are offered below.  

(I worked with Florencio Cabello to do a quick English translation of the story written by F. Fafatale.  The term "15M" refers to the continuing mass movement that began in Spain on May 15, 2011.)


 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 


INTRODUCTION

To a considerable extent the current financial crisis in Spain was
triggered by the collapse of a particular bank, "Bankia," a relatively
new financial institution composed of several smaller banks in 2011.
Responding to the panic of "bailout," "austerity," and cuts in social
services, a group of Spanish citizens related to the M15 movement has
launched a campaing called 15MpaRato*
(http://15mparato.wordpress.com). In fact, the campaign's first move
has been to file a lawsuit demanding that Bankia's former director,
Rodrigo Rato, as well as the rest of the board, be held accountable
for the mismanagement and possible criminal behavior involved in the
notorious bank's demise.  The story below provides details of the
citizens' case against Rato.

[*The term "15MpaRato" is an untranslatable pun meaning in Spanish both
"M15 is out to get Rodrigo Rato" and "M15 is here to stay".]

TRANSLATION OF THE ARTICLE:

15m Pa Rato: Citizens' networks find their own voice in the "Bankia case"
The signature of the memorandum [bank bailout plan] with the EU hasn't
caught 15MpaRato flat-footed. Here we review the course of the
citizens' initiative that has been successful in including its lawsuit
in the case against Bankia brought before the Audiencia Nacional [the
Spanish court that deals with serious crimes].

F. Fafatale (Madrid)
July 20, 2012.  Issue 179
http://diagonalperiodico.net/Redes-con-voz-propia-en-el-caso.html

"In the war between the elites and the common people, fear has changed
sides. Now we are the ones who define the targets", proclaims the
15MpaRato campaign website. On the web site we can find the lawsuit
against Bankia recently admitted by Fernando Andreu, judge of the 4th
Central Court of the Audiencia Nacional. This means that the M15
movement is already fully entitled to appear in court in this case.

Some weeks ago, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office backed the
lawsuit filed by the UPyD (Unión  Progreso y Democracia) party. This
meant that Rodrigo Rato and 32 former members of Bankia's board are to
be investigated on charges of falsifying accounts, dishonest
administration, price manipulation and improper appropriation of the
bank's funds.

Why is the 15MpaRato complaint different from UPyD's and others? In
their own words: "Our complaint includes almost every charge that
judge Andreu levels against members of the board, but also expands the
first lawsuit to include offenses contained in Article 282bis of the
Spanish Criminal Code". This article imposes jail sentences ranging
from one to six years and fines ranging from six to twelve months if
the administrators of a public company falsify economic and financial
 information in ways that cause serious damage. The 15MpaRato demand
adds: "The charges of falsifying accounts, dishonest administration,
price manipulation and improper appropriation are intended to protect
Bankia's legal goods, which formerly were public".

However, this complaint (launched by the Platform for a Citizen Debt
Audit, Xnet, Citizens' Bailout Plan, Iaioflautas (aging M15
activists), Platform of People Affected by Mortgages, Euribor
Operation, #CierraBankia, Real Democracy Now network and Madrilonia)
goes a step further: "We intend to protect the people, the affected;
we represent no other interest than the common interest of the people.
We are the people! The admission of our complaint allows us to appear
in court and watch over those interests at every moment in the process".

After the admission of its lawsuit, the 15MpaRato campaign has
required the judge Andreu the intervention of Bankia before Spain
signs the memorandum of agreement with the EU. This memorandum implies
modifying Spanish laws to turn the banks' private debt into public
debt. "The issuance of bonds is the trick to pay the big creditors,
but in ways that will later increase the national debt", explains
15MpaRato. On the contrary, If the judicial administrators intervene,
as will be discussed this week at the Audiencia Nacional, the
Government-backed issuance of new bonds could be abruptly stopped.

The next steps of 15MpaRato will be to expand attention to the
criminal aspects of the dispute and to gather information from Bankia
workers. Besides, this campaign collaborates with the platform of
#OpEuríbor, which focuses on the possible manipulation of Euribor, the
reference rate upon which most Spanish mortgages are indexed. to.
Together they reclaim "the nullity of all contracts signed by Bankia,
on the grounds that the calculation of Euribor in Spain has been
revealed as a fraud of historic dimensions, in much the same way that
we are seeing the Líbor scandal unfold in the UK".

The 15MpaRato lawsuit is also distinctive in its mode of operation,
showing the power of network collaboration achieved through the
Internet. The citizen response to the online campaign exceeded its own
promoters' expectations: the crowdfunding campaign launched to obtain
the ? 15 000 needed to file the lawsuit pulverized all records,
raising the money in less than 24 hours; all the information required
to initiate the case was gathered in 23 days, something that would
have been impossible for any single citizen to accomplish acting on
her own; in just 12 hours 50 small shareholders offered themselves as
plaintiffs and dozens of inside witnesses were located.

- From a communicative perspective, the campaign bears the imprint of
M15 movement, making the most of social networks. The press conference
organized in June to announce the filing of this lawsuit was both
twitted and streamed. The message was clear: "Impunity is over. For
each bank intervention, we will save schools, hospitals and jobs for
the benefit of all. We don't owe, we won't pay. They owe, they shall pay".

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Will we regard Coke and Pepsi the way we do cigarettes?


The presence of high fructose corn syrup in the food and drinks we consume is now commonly linked to America's obesity epidemic and a range of associated health concerns.  A story by Susan Heavy in Reuters notes:

" A leading U.S. cancer lobby group is urging the Surgeon General to conduct a sweeping study of the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on consumer health, saying such drinks play major role in the nation's obesity crisis and require a U.S. action plan.

In a letter to U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the American Cancer Society's advocacy affiliate on Tuesday called for a comprehensive review along the lines of the U.S. top doctor's landmark report on the dangers of smoking in 1964.

"An unbiased and comprehensive report on the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages could have a major impact on the public's consciousness and perhaps begin to change the direction of public behavior in their choices of food and drinks," American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network wrote."

 In a similar light, the the descriptions below by John Cassone, PhD of Cassone Wellness, arrived in a Google+ message.  They seem plausible.

 * * * * * * * * 

This is what happens to your body within one hour of drinking a can of soda.

10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system, which is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake. You'd normally vomit from such an intake, but the phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.

20 minutes: Your blood sugar skyrockets. Your pancreas attempts to maximize insulin production in order to turn high levels of sugar into fat.

40 minutes: As your body finishes absorbing the caffeine, your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your liver pumps more sugar into the bloodstream. Adenosine receptors in your brain are blocked preventing you from feeling how tired you may actually be.

45 minutes: Your body increases dopamine production, causing you to feel pleasure and adding to the addictiveness of the beverage. This physical neuro response works the same way as it would if we were consuming heroin.

60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, which boosts your metabolism a bit further. High doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners compound this effect, increasing the urinary excretion of calcium. The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (You have to GO!) Your body will eliminate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was otherwise heading to your bones. And you will also flush out the sodium, electrolytes and water. Your body has eliminated the water that was in the soda. And in the process it was infused with nutrients and minerals your body would have otherwise used to hydrate your system or build body cells, bones, teeth.

The sugar crash begins. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You start feeling like crap. Time to grab another?"

  * * * * * * *

It's been years since I've had a Coke or Pepsi.  I moan when as I watch friends order them in restaurants or at the ball park.  Once thought to be harmless beverages emblematic of the good life, they now loom as an increasingly obvious menace to our well-being.  Efforts to remove them from the American are often resisted with much the fervor that greeted anti-smoking campaigns and attempts to require the use of auto seat belt campaigns.  It's a question of precious "freedom" don't you know?



Thursday, July 12, 2012

Smashing victory over censorship at RPI and Troy

                                       Artist Wafaa Bilal with image from "Virtual Jihadi"


During the spring of 2008 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York the scheduled presentation of “Virtual Jihadi,” a piece of performance art by artist Wafaa Bilal, was banned by the university.   Mr. Bilal had been invited by the Department of Arts to show his work – a modified version of a first person shooter video game that depicts armed conflict in the Middle East – for the campus community.  Following a protest by the campus Republicans, Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer, decided that the work was not suited for campus viewing, and forbid the artist to show and discuss his politically controversial anti-war statement.  (I wrote extensively about this incident of explicit censorship in this blog during that period.)

As an alternative, the off campus Sanctuary for Independent Media located in north Troy, offered its auditorium for an evening showing.  Despite the presence of picket signs and protests outside the Sanctuary, the event to place in a fully packed house.  But the next morning, officials of the City of Troy arrived and locked the building, claiming that “code violations” made the place unfit for any social activity there.   Thus, Mr. Bilal’s art was censored a second time within a week.  Troy joined R.P.I. on the list of institutions eager to suppress constitutionally protected free speech.

It’s a long story, folks, but the long and the short of it is that the Media Alliance that operates the Sanctuary for Independent Media, filed a civil rights law suit against the City of Troy and won.  Part of the settlement involved an agreement for the Sanctuary and City to write a grant proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts.  Today the news came through that the proposal had been awarded an NEA grant, one to be matched dollar for dollar by The City of Troy.  Here’s the message of the Sanctuary’s Steve Pierce about this astonishing outcome.  

Hi--  Good news!  Our federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Troy for shutting down an anti-war art exhibit at the Sanctuary in 2008 comes to a close today with the announcement of a grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts, to be matched dollar for dollar by $50,000 from the city as agreed in our settlement of the case (http://www.nyclu.org/regions/capital-region/sanctuary-settlement-022712).    If you're unfamiliar with the history, there's a great short documentary about what happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v42OLzCDr98  Thanks for all your support over the years...  --Steve 

  % % % % % %

 At RPI, in Troy, New York and everywhere else, this a victory worth celebrating. 
Congratulations to Branda Miller, Steve Pierce and their colleagues who've made the Sanctuary for Independent Media such a lively place for art, education, community activity, media, and politics during the past decade.  


Note:  The documentary listed above is fabulous.  It should be required viewing for university and city officials who believe it would be a wonderful show of strength and moral character to censor political speech and works of art.  The stupidity of such measures is shockingly obvious.  Especially notable in the video are the absurd, laughable arguments in favor of censorship, especially the repeated insistence of RPI managers that Wafaa Bilal's provocative video presentation must be banned because it is equivalent to child pornography.