Art Machine
Just another former infatuation junkie

The Supreme Court has hammered out a number of decisions in the past few days. They have upheld seperation of church and state, but they have also upheld the federal government’s drug war (didn’t the Republicans want to give power back to the states?); made a decision regarding filesharing that could endanger VCR’s, DVD recorders, iPods, and any other legitimate technology that can be used in a criminal act (anybody up for a lawsuit against Smith & Wesson?); and ruled that your property can be taken away by the government and given to another private owner as long as they can make more in tax revenue from it.

It’s likely that the filesharing, drug war, and eminent domain decisions will have farther-reaching implications than anybody has considered yet. But a businessman in New Hampshire wants to make sure a Supreme Court Justice learns the effects of his decision on a very personal level.

Justice Souter’s vote in the “Kelo vs. City of New London” decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter’s home.

The proposed development, called “The Lost Liberty Hotel” will feature the “Just Desserts Café” and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon’s Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged.”

Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

“This is not a prank” said Clements, “The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development.”

I swear I did not doctor this screenshot.

I’ve posted this picture to make a point. Puni Puni Poemi makes no sense. It doesn’t even make sense that A.D. Vision has released it as Puni Puni Poemy but the IMDB entry clearly uses the Poemi spelling. Whatever any of this means, however, the review is now up at the Anvil & Sprocket, along with Thud’s review of little-known Diana Rigg/Telly Savalas flick Assasination Bureau.

This time around, I realize that my iPod has undergone a thorough spring cleaning while my iTunes is still packed to burst. So instead of my usual tactic of setting iTunes to “Party Shuffle,” I shuffle my iPod like a deck of cards. Now I’ve voided my warranty. Curse you, you fickle gods of iPod!

1. “Missing Link” – The Hives
2. “Back to Me” – Kathleen Edwards
3. “Nerdcore Hiphop” – M.C. Frontalot
4. “Smack My Bitch Up” – Richard Cheese
5. “Bella Figlia Dell’amore” – Caruso
6. “Psycho Killer” – Talking Heads
7. “Hoodstomp” – K.V.
8. “If You Knew Susie” – Eddie Cantor
9. “Better Git It In Your Soul” – Charles Mingus
10. “Kozmic Blues” – Janis Joplin

Not many people can look at a wall full of children’s art and wax philosophic about copyright and trademark law, can they?

Photo hosted at Flickr

The local shopping mall has a couple of walls covered in tiles that were painted by local children. The tiles have a definite pattern to them – you’ll find lots of the standard kiddie portraits of their favorite pets or their moms or dads, a scattering of multi-colored peace signs, and a handful of variations on the yin-yang. Some of the kids are even experimenting with abstract imagery, playing with line and color without creating a representative image.

And in the middle of looking at the tiles, I came across a tile that one kid had completely filled with the Bat-signal.

And I chuckled. Because there’s no way in Heck that anybody would ever consider telling a kid that his tile wasn’t going up on the wall because it contained obvious trademark infringement.

So here’s what occurred to me.

When we’re young, corporations spend billions upon billions of dollars to fill our heads with their imagery. Corporate logos are slapped on toys, distributed on t-shirts, and flashed on the screens during commercial breaks for our favorite shows. This conditioning is supposed to turn us into good little consumers later in life as we come to associate things like the Golden Arches with fond memories and feel a loyalty to the image as we would toward an old friend.

And, in fact, the sale is so successful that we reach a point where our individual systems of iconography become encoded with the images we have been sold. When called upon to create self-expression, we follow our passions – and our passions are in the images we have been sold. Our personal iconography which is meant to help us express ourselves to the world becomes filled with – and, in some cases, completely composed of – the icons of everyday commerce, and when we create these images we are praised for expressing our passions and our work is proudly displayed in public.

As we grow older, however, our iconography remains the same. We build off of what we already know and we continue to express ourselves with the imagery that has meaning to us.

But without the defense of our youth, we are told that our iconography that we built over the years is no longer available to us. Putting the Golden Arches on our wall gets a cease-and-desist order from the McDonalds corporation. Putting the Bat-Signal on a T-shirt results in a lawsuit from Warner Bros. And let’s not even consider the ramifications of sticking Mickey ears on your head in Photoshop.

And the imagery introduced to us in our later life is just as controlled – the Starbucks mermaid, the multi-colored apple with the bite taken out of the side, a bunny in a bowtie are all images that we are bombarded with and expected to make a significant part of our lives, and yet we are not free to use them to express ourselves.

Just some thoughts. To the kids in elementary school out there, you won’t always be able to fly your Bat-Signal proud. Enjoy your cultural freedom while it lasts, and consider bolstering it with images that aren’t associated with cheeseburgers and fries – those will come in handy later.

It’s the Friday Random Ten!

1. “Who You Are” – Radiolife 03
2. “The Wedding” – Neal Hefti
3. “Kuribota” – Waldemar Bastos
4. “Surf Mission” – El Stew
5. “Autostrada” – Nil Dymont
6. “Sweater Weather” – The Tidbits
7. “Satan is my Motor” – Cake
8. “Do Re Mi” – Ry Cooder
9. “1941” – Harry Nilsson
10. “Middle-Aged” – Sepia Hours

Further information is surfacing about the recent attempts to cut the funds for Public Broadcasting. It appears that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is investigating its own chairman. Why?

Well, there’s the little matter of $15,000 spent on lobbyists last year without the board’s consent or knowledge. This is problematic, because the CPB is not supposed to hire lobbyists. Not only that, but it appears that Tomlinson used CPB funds to hire lobbyists to oppose a bill that would have strengthened public broadcasting.

Corporation officials said the two lobbyists did not approach lawmakers but provided strategic advice on handling a bill last year that would have given public radio and television stations more representation on the corporation’s board. The measure, which died, was opposed by the White House and Mr. Tomlinson but was supported by stations.

One of the lobbyists, Brian Darling, was paid $10,000 for his insights into Senator Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican who sponsored the provision. This year, he briefly served as a top aide to Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, but resigned after the disclosure that he had written a memorandum describing how to exploit politically the life-support case of Terri Schiavo.

Mr. Darling did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

The other lobbyist, Mark Buse, a former top aide to Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said he provided advice on the legislative process over a month and did not talk to any lawmakers. Mr. Buse, who was paid $5,000, said he was hired at the suggestion of Katherine M. Anderson, a former chairwoman of the corporation and a current board member.

Oh, it gets better.

Tomlinson has argued since he took the position as chairman to make public radio and television “less liberal” and “more balanced.” Of course, we know what the conservative concept of “balanced” is from Rupert Murdoch and Fox News – fifteen loud conservatives for every quiet, moderate liberal.

But Tomlinson hasn’t just stopped there. He’s actually been checking the political backgrounds of guests on a popular public television show. Again, using CPB money without the board’s knowledge or consent.

The investigators, in the corporation’s inspector general’s office, are also examining $14,170 in payments made under contracts – which Mr. Tomlinson took the unusual step of signing personally, also without the knowledge of board members – with a man in Indiana who provided him with reports about the political leanings of guests on the “Now” program when its host was Bill Moyers.

Additionally, Tomlinson has refused to sign off on strong statements condemning the slashing of funding to public broadcasting – instead issuing a statement that he is “concerned” and will “be joining with our colleagues in the public broadcasting community to make the case for a higher level of funding as the appropriations measure makes its way through Congress.”

Bush is not a fool. He knows a thing or two about running organizations into the ground and walking away with a fat wallet – and as a former editor of Reader’s Digest, Tomlinson knows a thing or two about flexing editorial muscle. And they both know how to tear something down from the inside. Amid the resignations from public broadcasting over disputes with Tomlinson, it’s interesting to note that Kathleen Cox’ contract was not renewed in April, leaving the CPB without a president. Tomlinson has an idea for who he wants:

Fromer co-chairwoman of the RNC Patricia Harrison.

This is not going to be pretty.

Let’s see what’s on the news today. Hm. Michael Jackson has been found innocent. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are dating. Michael Jackson has been found innocent. Christian Bale says he’s very pleased with his role as Batman. Michael Jackson has been found innocent. You can send your kids off to summer camp while you vacation in Europe. Donald Trump says that he would hire Michael Jackson to sing at his casinos, but he’s afraid Jackson would stand up his audiences. Howard Dean says that Republicans are “not nice.” Industry insiders are offering advice for how Michael Jackson should make a comeback. A juror says he believes Michael Jackson has molested kids, just not these particular kids. Tom Cruise loves Katie Holmes. Oh, hey! Look at that! Michael Jackson has been found innocent!

Oh, yeah. And Republicans are trying once again to off Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird.

By a voice vote, the House Appropriations subcommittee adopted a measure that would reduce the financing of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the organization that directs taxpayer dollars to public television and radio, to $300 million from $400 million. The subcommittee also eliminated $39 million that stations say they need to convert to digital programming and $50 million for upgrading aging satellite technology that is the backbone of the PBS network.

The cuts in financing went significantly beyond those requested by the White House and are likely to be approved next week by the full Appropriations Committee and then by the House.

...

The vote came as public stations and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are engaged in a debate over the editorial balance in programming and the independence of the stations.

The head of the Republican-controlled corporation, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, has pressed public broadcasting to correct what he and other conservatives consider liberal bias. That has prompted public broadcasting leaders – including the chief executive of PBS – to object that his actions pose a threat to editorial independence.

Republicans shut down PBS because they think it’s liberally biased? Why, that’s unheard of! That would be like Bill O’Reilly telling his producers to turn off his guest’s microphone – and that never happens.

Hey – did I mention the Gallup Poll CNN is running that suggests that nobody really cares about the verdict in the Michael Jackson case? You’d never know it from the fact that Jackson makes up about eighteen minutes of Headline News’ thirty-minute news cycle, while I heard the cutting of funding to PBS mentioned… never.

And proving the current Republican power structure’s determination to leave as many children as possible behind…

John Scofield, a spokesman for the Appropriations Committee, said the cuts were not related to the “Postcards” episode that had prompted criticism.

“Ready to Learn was one of more than 50 programs terminated in the spending bill,” he said. “It might be a nice program to do, but not in a flat budget with large budget deficits. We felt the same way about 49 other programs.”

What frustrates me the most about this is that it’s happened before. I’m not forgetful enough that I don’t remember the last time Republicans tried to kill NPR and PBS. Only that time they hit it hard in the media, appearing on Larry King and spouting off for hours on end, employing all the usual spin tactics. My personal favorite – a Republican senator telling Larry King that NPR’s elimination would be “no big deal” because “there will be commercial stations that will move in to play classical music.”

This time around, however, while the media is bloated with stories about Jackson, Jolie, and Cruise and channels like CNN are trying to convince us that every American has enough money and leisure time to send their kids off to camp while the parents take a week-long jaunt through Europe, the slashing is happening very quietly in the background.

It’s a new pattern the Republicans have learned. First, you wheedle. If that doesn’t work, you bully. And if that doesn’t work, wait until everybody has forgotten the issue and then slip it in under the door.

Write your U.S. Representative. Tell them to oppose the funding cuts and urge them to call foul as loudly as they can.

And now the Anvil & Sprocket podcast is up and running! There’s not a fancy button at Anvil & Sprocket just yet, but you can either pick it up from a text link there or grab this link.

It’s here at last!

The Anvil & Sprocket – your favorite movie review site – goes live with its first ever radio show. Thrill to the excitement as Anvil and Sprocket discuss the recent big-screen edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The Podcast feed isn’t up and running yet, but you can get a jumpstart by downloading the mp3 of the show. Share and enjoy!