2009

I’m so proud of the SD Bloggers!

Pitty Pat Powers and Sibby share a tender moment

During this economic downfall in South Dakota, I couldn’t be more happier by the way the SD bloggers have covered it. Once again the bloggers have stepped up to the plate and have had non-stop coverage and perspective.

And the mainstream media wonders why they are filing bankruptcy? Because your heart isn’t in it anymore. And it is sad really. We are on the verge of an historic presidency, whether it succeeds or not, and it looks like the bloggers will have to cover it.

A shout out to my favorite SD bloggers; Cory, SD Mac, Pat and Todd. You truly have paved the way.

Of course Fairey didn’t take the photo. F’ing Duh!

You mean Warhol didn’t take this picture of Elvis!? The Shame, The Shame!

Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, where do I begin? As a fan of underground art (come look at my house walls sometime) and having a shrine to my hero, Warhol in my studio (there, I said it, are you happy) I have come to realize that everyone doesn’t understand copyright laws and ‘image borrowing’. Underground art is based on taking something that is mainstream and converting it to something original and anti-establishment. Something Fairey did with the HOPE Obama image. Underground art is kinda the thrift store version of fine art, just as beautiful and useful, but a lot f’ing cheaper. Though I am disappointed that Fairey hasn’t credited the photo, I’m also glad he didn’t. Why? He does not have to. Once you CHANGE something, it becomes yours. And that really is the essence of art. Creating something new, from something old. I would hope the original photographer would be joyous about it – not sure. But I will say this, Fairey’s version is a lot cooler than the original.

Steve, please stop trying to be an art critic and go back to something you are (kinda) good at, selling snake oil.

UPDATE: The press conference where the HOPE photo was taken was about Darfur and Human Rights, NOT abortion, as Mr. DooHickey would like you to believe.

Itzhak Perlman & Yo-Yo Ma, the Milli Vanilli of classical music?

They decided not to play the real thing. They pre-recorded the piece due to the cold weather and it’s affect on their sound and instruments. But this stinks. Aretha Franklin did not sound her best, but most people understand what cold weather does to sound, and she pulled off the real deal. What bothers me about this is that Yo-Yo talked about how he was nervous about the performance a few days earlier. WTF were you nervous about? You couldn’t do your best Ashlee Simpson impersonation? On top of that, it does not look good for the Obama administration. First HBO censors a gay bishop’s prayer, than these guys lipsinct classical music, and when Obama decides to take the oath over, he does not allow in TV cameras and forgets his bible. All in a couple of days.

Here’s the deal, Barry, we elected you because we were tired of censorship and GW Bush. Live up to your promises, let’s be transparent. I can’t take another 4 years of this kind of bullshit.

Event Center task force to take a year off?

May I suggest you take a permanent vacation;

So the task force wisely has chosen not to waste its time this year courting legislative permission to generate the money needed to build an events center.

That effort still will have to be made in the future. Perhaps then, when the task force has a few more details determined – maybe that little detail about the events center site – a better mood will prevail in the Capitol, and city advocates will have better luck making their case.

The task force, meanwhile, is showing good judgment in a lean year by resisting the urge to lobby on this issue.

To build events center, city needs money – but now isn’t time to lobby Capitol

Finally, someone in the task force grew a freaking brain and figured out raising taxes during a recession to build something WE DON’T NEED is not a good idea. Could you pass the memo to Mayor Munson please.

The Mideast Debate

In the movie ‘Munich’ the Zionists plot revenge and terror, something that continues to this day on both sides.

James Abourezk takes the side of Palestine;

In “Overcoming Zionism,” Joel Kovel writes that Israelis look upon non-Jews as being less than human. Reports last week show that the International Red Cross officials discovered a house. More than 100 Palestinian civilians were forced into it, then it was shelled. The building contained the bodies of dozens of men, women and children.

AND

In this time of economic hardship in America and of naked aggression by Israel, it is time to say: “Enough is enough.” We should keep the billions we send each year to Israel and Egypt. That will help us and help the people who suffer under the illegal Israeli occupation with the use of American support.

Marty Gallanter takes the side of Israel;

One notable exception came from Anwar Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem, where he recognized Israel’s right to exist and live in peace. His reward was the return of all Egyptian land taken in 1967 and removal of all Israeli settlements. The Israelis tried to give him back Gaza, but he wouldn’t take it. The same thing happened when Israel tried to return the West Bank to Jordan as part of that peace treaty some years later. Sadat paid for his peace efforts with his life, murdered by the Muslim Brotherhood, an extremist organization and the model for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. All three have chartered as their primary goal the destruction of Israel. All refuse to recognize that Israel might have the right to exist.

AND

Hamas has betrayed the Palestinian people. Israel has said it would accept an international force to keep peace. Hamas has refused. Israel accepts a two-state solution. Hamas has refused. A partnership for peace requires more than one side to make concessions. Until that happens, the innocents will be ones who suffer the most.

My take? I don’t think Peace is possible until one group kills the other off.

I have deep respect for both Marty and Jim. I have had several conversations with both men, and they are deeply passionate about their people and families still living in the region. Emotions run high when these two guys talk about the conflict. As you can see from reading both columns, they both have their own ‘set of facts’ and feel the other side is guilty. For a better perspective of this conflict, I recommend you watch the movie ‘Munich’. The movie portrays the deep hatred each side has for each other and also the deep love they have for their own societies. I’ll warn you, it is a very disturbing movie.