General

Items that do not fit in other categories

Deep Thought about the New Yorker Cover

, ,

So, the New Yorker mag has a cover depicting Barack & Michelle Obama in the White House, in which she’s Angela Davis with a bandolier and rifle, he’s an Indonesian Moslem, Osama Bin Ladin’s portrait is on the wall, and the American flag is burning in the fireplace. As I’m the 23,452,998th person to point out, the satire is a little weak because it’s not clear whether the Obamas are being mocked or if it’s the people who circulate the Manchurian Candidate emails about them.

Whatever. It’s a magazine cover. I was kinda annoyed by it at first, but now actually it makes me smile a little.

What I’m waiting for now is the New Yorker cover that does to St. John McCain what this cover does to St. Barack Obama. It would have to include McCain setting the aircraft carrier Forrestall on fire (& killing 134 sailors), making propaganda tapes for the North Vietnamese, deserting his first wife (disfigured in an accident) for a mega-wealthy heiress, and having senile dementia.

Jail……………………………….Break!

,

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Amsterdam police say 15 camels, two zebras and an undetermined number of llamas and potbellied swine briefly escaped from a traveling Dutch circus after a giraffe kicked a hole in their cage.

Police spokesman Arnout Aben says the animals wandered in a group through a nearby neighborhood for several hours after their 5:30 a.m. breakout.

From a Associated Press wire story. I know I said I was boycotting AP, but when a story this big comes up, I think the public’s need to know trumps any moral quibbles about the fair use bastardy of our corporate overlords.

Everybody Knows the Story! Everybody Feels Real Sorry!

,

Just found out that the greatest rockaroll band in this or any possible universe, although defunct since 1982 or so, has its own myspace page. With several cool tunes, and also several cool videos. Now, I’m going to charge y’all to hie thee thither and feast your eyes and ears. But before you listen to “Andy Fell”, make sure you read up on Bishop Pike, for only if you know Pike’s story can you appreciate the poingnant creepy compassionate humor of that song. Be sure to watch the video of the band playing the song live and marvel at how the four singers were able to present their delicate harmonies against the sonic mayhem pounding out behind them. No wonder they upstaged every act they opened for.

Although I missed the goup in its heyday, I did see the two reunion shows they did in 1988 and 1989, and all I can say is, I have been to the mountaintop.

EcoEquity, Greenhouse Develpment Rights, Bali Conference, Our Planet

, ,

Tom Athanasiou and his good colleagues at EcoEquity attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“The Bali Conference”) & got a chance to share the ideas behind their framework for Development Rights in a Carbon-Constrained World. ( I earlier promised that I was going to give an in depth analysis of their argument, but I’ve changed my mind. They summarize it and present it better than I can, so what’s the point?)

Tom has a few follow-up articles about the Bali Conference and what comes next. In Grist, Environmental News and Commentary, Tom has a kind of Bali Conference trip report. In Foreign Policy in Focus, Tom has a short but important essay, “Towards a Defensible Climate Realism”.

These articles somewhat wonkish in nature, but hey, difficult problems require a little bit of thought, and what policy problem is more difficult or important than climate change? Besides, if you’re reading Wetmachine you probably have a fair amount of wonk in you, or at least geek, which is close enough. For some real insight into what really needs to be done about climate change at the policy level, rather than at the switch-to-energy-efficient-lightbulbs-and-hope-for-the-best level, you need to get acquainted with EcoEquity.

Check ’em out. Better still, subscribe to the EcoEquity newsletter, then you’ll be as in-the-know as I am!