General – Page 26 – Wetmachine

Mark Lombardi, fallen artist of the conspiracy-obsessed

John January 8, 2004 February 24, 2013General, General, General, My Thoughts Exactly

Next time my bizniz takes me to San Francisco I’m going to make a pilgrimage to see the works

of

Mark Lombardi, the self-murdered artist/martyr of the conspiracy-obsessed.

I only recently learned of Lombardi’s work. Evidently he had been a minor artist with a small cult following until September 11, and since then he’s become, so far as I can tell, a minor artist with a large, fanatical and growing cult following.

His preoccupations closely parrallel mine– we both subscribe to Ishmael Reed’s notion that history is the story of warfare among secret societies. But whereas I tend to think obsessively about technology and write stories, Lombardi thought obsessively about money and power and drew pictures.

I should point out that when I say “minor artist” I mean no slight. This fellow’s work absolutely captivates me, and if I don’t manage to see it in San Francisco I’ll drive to Iowa, if I have to, to see it in person.

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Fileswapping- Wither To in '04

Harold January 5, 2004 February 24, 2013General, Tales of the Sausage Factory

The inevitable end of year/start of year column of rehash and predictions. No doubt I’ll regret this column next December, but if you’re interested in my predictions for the future of file sharing in 2004, read on.

Tales of the Sausage Factory: More Than A Toaster With Pictures

Harold January 5, 2004 February 24, 2013General, Tales of the Sausage Factory

My colleague Cheryl Leanza and I wrote an article for the American Bar Association Communications section defending media ownership limits and explaining why the old rules should be retained. It’s written with lawyers as the target audience, but we think we put it in English. It is available here.

Stay tuned . . . .

Tales of the Sausage Factory: I Am Now on the Sh–list of the Wall St. J. Editorial Board. Go me!

Harold December 31, 2003 April 3, 2012General, Life In The Sausage Factory, Tales of the Sausage Factory

Well, actually my boss, Andrew Jay schwartzman, and my organization, Media Access Project. But since MAP has only three attorneys and one admin staffer, I think I’m entitled to crow a bit.

The WSJ is a pay site, so I can’t provide a link. And copyright prevents me from reprinting the editorial � which appeared in the print addition of the WSJ on Dec. 30, 2003.

But to see my more detailed comments, see below.

Technocracy

John December 30, 2003 February 24, 2013General, General, General, My Thoughts Exactly

I’ve spent my adult life in dread of it. These guys are awaiting it like hyperchristians awaiting the second coming. Or so it would appear. Actually, I didn’t spend a lot of time at their site because it’s so unreadable. One would think that techoidolators would at least make a passable attempt at using technology to promote their point of view. Oh well.

Read Bernard Lewis — When He Goes On Sale

Harold December 24, 2003 February 24, 2013General, Tales of the Sausage Factory

Bernard Lewis has two books out this holiday season: “What Went Wrong?” and “The Crisis of Islam.” WWW was written before 9/11 and published just after, but has been rereleased to take advantage of the surge of interest in the Middle East.

Lewis’ work is interesting and insightful, but overpriced. Especially since much of what he says can be found in various articles over the last 15 years and available via Google. So I recommend the books, but only when they go on sale after the holidays.

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Golden Globes, former presidents and media ownership

Harold December 23, 2003 February 24, 2013General, Tales of the Sausage Factory

The Reagans, the miniseries originally created by CBS and then moved to Showtime, has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. Not bad for a series that CBS dumped to its sister property Showtime on the grounds that it didn’t have enough balance to air on broadcast TV. But was moving the Reagans off broadcast an artistic decision, or a financial decision by Viacom to curry political favor at a critical time.

A good week for civil liberties — mostly

Harold December 22, 2003 February 24, 2013General, Tales of the Sausage Factory

Three opinions came out last week that made a nice little Chanukah gift for civil liberties buffs. Two related to Ashcroft’s attempts to circumvent the Constitution in the name fo security, one cuts short the RIAA’s efforts to gut the Constitution in the name of copyright. But the opinions still leave a lot of room for concern.

Tales From the Sausage Factory: Saddam and Howard Dean

Harold December 19, 2003 February 24, 2013General, Tales of the Sausage Factory

I seem to be the only one in America who fails to see the link between the capture of Saddam Hussein this week and the 2004 Democratic Presidential Primary. Or so says an op ed in today’s Washington Post. On the other hand, I do see this as a classic example of media group think.

Will the real Monty Meekman please stand up?

John December 17, 2003 February 24, 2013General, General, General, My Thoughts Exactly

I only heard about this guy after my book was written, so he’s really not the model for Monty Meekman, the mad-scientist cartoon-villain of Acts of the Apostles. However it is odd (creepy?) that everything he does seems to have been done first by Monty.

And oddly enough I find a lot of what he has to say very compelling. Maybe I should check my brain frequencies. . . maybe I’m just one more happy Feynman Nine customer?