Notes From The Flip Side: 07.10.2005
"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."
Ray Bradbury
Permanent Link
http://www.punkrockacademy.com/news/07102005.html
We're All British.
Any time someone is killed out of hate, we all suffer for it. Any time someone is killed out of ignorance, our collective wisdom is impoverished by orders of magnitude. Any time a life is snuffed out for no purpose, the world becomes darker. Keep killing. We'll be back in the Dark Ages soon enough.
Go, Go ... Go, Judy Go!
You're in jail, but you're helping protect my freedom. I know that some people don't understand why you're in jail, that they think that our First Amendment rights are in jeopardy; I try explaining that journalists don't yet have a federal shield law, that - unlike doctors, lawyers, clergy - they are not entitled to keep their silence. They are simply morally obligated to when they agree to use an anonymous source. In short, when the judge ordered you to testify, you had the choice of disobeying a court order or breaking your word. My hat's off to you, Judith Miller.
Fuck Nike.
First of all, if you're wearing Nike shoes, you really should stop that. The karma of wearing shoes made in sweatshops by under-paid laborers will come back to haunt you and the money you're spending on those sneakers could probably pay for an ethical outfit, but I digress. If you want to learn more about Nike and its sweatshops, visit almost any search engine and search for Nike and sweatshops. You'll probably find a few of the following links:
[Global Exchange] Nike Campaign
[CorpWatch] Nike
[Educating For Justice Campaigns] Stop Nike Sweatshops
At any rate, Nike recently unveiled a brand, spankin' new campaign. The cover of Minor Threat's "Discography" is on the left. On the right? A brand new Nike ad born wholly of divine inspiration and nothing else whatsoever.
When I first started writing this, I had tracked down a lot of email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses and other ways to reach Nike and Wieden & Kennedy. About two weeks before this update was schedule to go live, Nike caved. Their response can be found at the link below:
You know, and I have to tip my hat to Alex on this one, apologies are nice and all, but I'm still reminded of something that someone wiser than myself once said:
"When we have nothing left to give / There will be no reason for us to live / But when we have nothing left to lose / You will have nothing left to use / We owe you nothing / You have no control / Merchandise keeps us in line / Common sense says it's by design / What could a businessman ever want more / Than to have us sucking in his store / We owe you nothing / You have no control / You are not what you own."
The good people won this time. That doesn't mean we don't need to be vigilant when next time rolls around.
Off The Top Of My Head ...
- Dear Hydrahead - Still no replacement copy of the Jesu disc. Is there a reason why you aren't responding to my emails? I heard you saw me listening to something on Deathwish; I promise, it was innocent. I wasn't cheating on you, I swear. Can you forgive me and send me the copy of the disc that you swore you would send before you stopped talking to me?
- I read Supreme Court decisions and opinions. I also follow up on Supreme Court news. If there's another contemporary court in the world that has as much impact and influence on geopolitics as the Supreme Court does (after all, the Supreme Court was essentially responsible for giving the world G.W. Bush and the second Gulf War), please let me know and I'll link to news about it as well.
- Danny Way is a serious freak.
- My apologies if this update seems thin. It's been a busy few weeks of recuperating, working and thinking. More as events warrant.
Now Playing:
Alkaline Trio.
Now Watching:
"Blackball," "Samurai Jack: Season 2," "Storytelling," "Strictly Ballroom," "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead," "Coffee And Cigarettes," "Big Trouble," "School Of Rock," "Starsky & Hutch," "The Bad News Bears," "Zoolander," "Bullitt," "The French Connection"
Just Finished:
Alan Moore and José Villarrubia, "The Mirror Of Love"
Now Reading:
Paul Avrich, "Anarchist Portraits"; Bertrand Russell, "Why I Am Not A Christian"; Umberto Eco, "Island Of The Day Before"; Alan Lomax, "The Land Where The Blues Began"; Peter Guralnick, "Lost Highway" and "Sweet Soul Music"; Steven Heller, "Graphic Design History" (edited with Georgette Ballance); Gunnar Swanson, ed., "Graphic Design And Reading"; Daniel Guerin, "No Gods No Masters"