Archive for the 'Current Events' Category

Shock/Horror - Sam’s Club patrons can’t figure out new milk.

Published
by
logickal
on 6/30/2008
in Asides and Current Events
. 0 Comments

You’re kidding me, right? These “new-fangled” milk jugs cost less all around and people can’t figure them out? Wake up, America. Pouring milk with a “rock-and-pour instead of a lift-and-tip” is the LEAST of your worries. Figure it out.

Oh, and kudos to the NYT for pointing out all of the issues with the new jugs. I mean, you give people brains and opposable thumbs, what do you expect?

Money Quote: ‘Why’s it in a square jug? Why’s it different? I want the same milk. What happened to my old milk?’

Parallels…

Published
by
logickal
on 6/5/2008
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

You may have noticed my obsession this year with 1968… It’s hard not to see parallels between 40 years ago and the present day. Harold Meyerson has an interesting article about the ‘68 Democratic primary race that points out something that is very accurate in my view…

I tell this tale, of course, not merely to remind us that the better world of which Robert Kennedy so movingly spoke died aborning 40 years ago in Los Angeles. I also tell it because I see a dynamic similar to that between the Kennedy and McCarthy campaigns in the relationship between Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s equally historic campaigns, and because today’s Democrats have been given a chance — as they were not in 1968 — to come together and make the kinds of changes they have only dreamed of over the past four decades. You would think — well, hope — that after 40 years, this time they’d get it right.

More Chaos in Myanmar

Published
by
logickal
on 5/5/2008
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

Myanmar Death Toll Reported at Nearly 4,000 - New York Times

мебелиfurniture BulgariaThe death toll from the devastating cyclone in Myanmar over the weekend escalated to nearly 4,000 people on Monday, with thousands of others still missing and at least one entire village wiped out, state television and radio reported.

If the reports are accurate, the death toll would be the biggest from a natural disaster in Asia since the tsunami of December 2004, which devastated parts of Indonesia, Thailand and other parts of south Asia.

House Passes Resolution in Support of Tibet

Published
by
logickal
on 4/9/2008
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

via The Gavel

My definitive statement re: Tibet, China and the Olympics is forthcoming.

Speaker Pelosi: “I was reading the paper the other day as the torch was going through Paris that one of the carriers of the torch said that what was happening with the protesters was ‘very unpleasant.’ And I thought ‘You think that’s unpleasant? Maybe you should be in the subhuman conditions that the refugees are in Darfur. If you think that’s unpleasant maybe you should be in a prison in Tibet for your faith in His Holiness the Dalai Lama. If you think that’s unpleasant maybe you could still be in prison from the Tiananmen Square Massacre, some people are still in prison from that time.’”

Free Tibet

Published
by
logickal
on 3/14/2008
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

No Olympics for China...

Ironic - take China off of the list of human rights abusers and look at what happens.

Tricycle has a roundup of BBC stories related to the unrest, and the International Campaign for Tibet has made a statement. I would have more to say (or play for you tonight), but I’m weary. My thoughts are with the Tibetan people tonight, particularly those in Lhasa.

…and also this: David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists—and Megastars

Published
by
logickal
on 12/22/2007
in Concepts and Techniques and Current Events
. 0 Comments

David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars

What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that’s not bad news for music, and it’s certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists.

Wired: David Byrne and Thom Yorke on the Real Value of Music

Published
by
logickal
on 12/22/2007
in Asides and Current Events
. 0 Comments

Everyone should read this:

But it was really good. It released us from something. It wasn’t nihilistic, implying that the music’s not worth anything at all. It was the total opposite. And people took it as it was meant. Maybe that’s just people having a little faith in what we’re doing.

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Rest In Peace

Published
by
logickal
on 12/7/2007
in Current Events, Music and people
. 0 Comments

He will be missed.

The composer Karlheinz Stockhausen passed away on December 5th 2007 at his home in Kuerten-Kettenberg and will be buried in the Waldfriedhof (forest cemetery) in Kuerten.

Logickal presents Twelve Offerings

Published
by
logickal
on 10/16/2007
in Current Events, Logickal, Music and Releases
. 6 Comments


I would like to introduce Twelve Offerings, the newest release by Logickal. It is dedicated to the people and Sangha of Burma, the monks who peacefully led protests against the ruling Junta on the country before being suppressed. All proceeds of this release will be given to The U.S. Campaign for Burma.

UPDATE: Twelve Offerings is now available from iTunes Music Store (and iTunes Plus) and Beatport. Unfortunately, I cannot include personalized donation messages for sales via these services, but all proceeds will be donated regardless.


Continue reading ‘Logickal presents Twelve Offerings’

Count me in as a “Skyful Liar”

Published
by
logickal
on 10/13/2007
in Asides and Current Events
. 0 Comments

Thanks to Reason for this, by way of The Tricycle Blogs…

We will never know

Published
by
logickal
on 10/12/2007
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

Even though the headlines aren’t screaming at us any longer, things aren’t “all better” in Burma. One visit to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners is enough to remind us:

AAPP has learned that authorities from Kyaukpandawn Township informed the family of Ko Win Shwe yesterday that he died while in interrogation.

Ko Win Shwe, a 42 year old NLD member, and other 4 others were arrested on September 26, 2007 because of their active support and participation in the monks’ demonstration.

After Ko Win Shwe and group were arrested, they were placed at Plate Myot Police Center near Mandalay. He died as a result of torture during interrogation. However, his body was not sent to his family and the interrogators indicated that they had cremated it instead.

Many people are reporting that numerous demonstrators were killed when security forces brutally cracked down on the peaceful demonstrations with shooting and vicious beatings. Many dead bodies and injured persons were cremated or placed in the river. Some dead bodies of monks have appeared in the Pazundaung River in Rangoon in the past few days. In addition, many of those who have been arrested have been tortured during interrogation.

Twelve Offerings is nearly complete. Expect an announcement very soon.

Episode 38-Global Day of Action

Published
by
logickal
on 10/6/2007
in Current Events, Logickal, Podcast and Releases
. 2 Comments

Today was the Global Day of Action for Burma. If you’ve been following the blog for the past couple of weeks, you might have picked up on the fact that I’ve been following the protests in Burma rather closely. As it happens, I’ve been recording material over the past two weeks, and am preparing a CD release in the next few days to support the Burmese people in their struggle to gain freedom from the oppression of the military dictatorship that has ruthlessly suppressed the peaceful demonstrations led by the Therevada Buddhist monks over the last weeks. I can’t stand with them directly, and have little to offer - but all proceeds from this release will be donated directly to the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

In this podcast, listen to a short mix of selections from the upcoming release Twelve Offerings to Burma. Please check back in the next few days for information about ordering this release and contributing to a worthy cause.

 
icon for podpress  Standard Podcast [15:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (295)

Burma Is Important

Published
by
logickal
on 10/2/2007
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

Thousands dead in massacre, body of monks dumped in the jungle

Published
by
logickal
on 10/1/2007
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

From http://soneseayar.blogspot.com via The Buddhist Channel

Yangon, Myanmar — Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma’s ruling junta has revealed.

The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: ‘Many more people have been killed in recent days than you’ve heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.’

Continue reading ‘Thousands dead in massacre, body of monks dumped in the jungle’

Please…

Published
by
logickal
on 9/27/2007
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

There are a million things I would like to say regarding what’s going on in Burma… but all of it pales. Please hold the Burmese in your thoughts as they try to stand against a truly repressive regime.

US Campaign for Burma - Burma Blog - Another - A Flickr Feed - niknayman

A Reporter at Large: The Black Sites: Reporting

Published
by
logickal
on 8/6/2007
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

Please Read This.

3k Rolls on, and Capture

Published
by
logickal
on 3/28/2007
in Current Events, General and Idleness
. 0 Comments

Into Philly tomorrow, requisite stress levels check. So busy with “real life” in between jaunts, I’ll have to catch everyone up at the end of it all.

In the meantime, read this - I would like to echo the point here, that while I’m am anti-censorship as a rule, I find something seriously repulsive about the billboards that were pulled. If we lived in a society where the abduction, torture, rape and murder of women (or children, or men, or puppies) was a fictional construct like the boogieman, then maybe this would just be “suitably chilling.” Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in - and sometimes we have to draw a line somwhere between art and advertising.

I’ll let Joss Whedon say it, much better than I can:

From: Joss Whedon
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 10:17 PM
To: Advertising
Subject: CAPTIVITY BILLBOARDS/REMOVE THE RATING

To the MPAA,
There’s a message I’m supposed to cut and paste but I imagine you’ve read it. So just let me say that the ad campaign for “Captivity” is not only a literal sign of the collapse of humanity, it’s an assault. I’ve watched plenty of horror - in fact I’ve made my share. But the advent of torture-porn and the total dehumanizing not just of women (though they always come first) but of all human beings has made horror a largely unpalatable genre. This ad campaign is part of something dangerous and repulsive, and that act of aggression has to be answered.

As a believer not only in the First Amendment but of the necessity of horror stories, I’ve always been against acts of censorship. I distrust anyone who wants to ban something ‘for the good of the public’. But this ad is part of a cycle of violence and misogyny that takes something away from the people who have to see it. It’s like being mugged (and I have been). These people flouted the basic rules of human decency. God knows the culture led them there, but we have to find our way back and we have to make them know that people will not stand for this. And the only language they speak is money. (A devastating piece in the New Yorker - not gonna do it.) So talk money. Remove the rating, and let them see how far over the edge they really are.

Thanks for reading this, if anyone did.
Sincerely, Joss Whedon.
Creator, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

Oh, By The Way…

Published
by
logickal
on 3/7/2007
in Current Events
. 0 Comments

FITZ!

Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty…

A peek inside the process with the jurors…

…and a reminder that nothing’s really over.  Oh, and let Froomkin deliver his goods as well.

Our Man Fitz

Published
by
logickal
on 2/28/2007
in Asides and Current Events
. 0 Comments

Sydney Schanberg with the New York Observer gets it, and spells it out to anyone that doesn’t:

Day by day, witness by witness, exhibit by exhibit, Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor in the trial of Dick Cheney’s man, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, is accomplishing what no one else in Washington has been able to: He has impeached the Presidency of George W. Bush.

Of course, it’s an unofficial impeachment, but it will also, through its documentation, be inerasable. The trial record—testimony, exhibits, the lot—will be there, in one place, for investigators, scholars, reporters and Congress to pore over. It goes far beyond the charges against Mr. Libby. It is, instead, a road map to the abuses of power that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney and their shadow government of neoconservatives have committed as the neocons carried out what they had been planning for years: an invasion of Iraq—and other military excursions—for the purpose of expanding American dominion.