morphizm

[Viggo Mortensen, Perceval Press]
Thank you, Howard. It is an honour to have read you, heard you, learned from you, known you at least a little. You will always be missed, always be celebrated. Your history is our history, irreplaceable, unforgettable, as contagious as your smile, a blessing, a warning, a measuring stick, an example to us all.
Continue reading R.I.P. Howard Zinn, Historian of the People

[Greg Palast, Morphizm]
In today’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court ruled that corporations should be treated the same as “natural persons”, i.e. humans. Well, in that case, expect the Supreme Court to next rule that Wal-Mart can run for President.
Continue reading The Manchurian Candidates

[Scott Thill, Morphizm]
Our current obsession with Yemen is anything but current, brainiac documentarian Adam Curtis argued in his BBC blog “The Medium and the Message.”

In fact, it’s older than Osama.

“What I find so fascinating about the reporting of the War on Terror is the way almost all of it ignores history — as if it is a conflict happening outside time,” Curtis wrote in a post entitled “Yemen: The Return of Old Ghosts.” “The Yemen is a case in point.”

With nearly peerless artistry, the 55-year old Curtis has already explored the international roots of Islamic terrorism in brilliant films like The Mayfair Set (below) and The Power of Nightmares (above).

He’s also dissected technocratic rationality in Pandora’s Box, finance and freedom in The Trap, marketing and mind-control in The Century of the Self, whose title was borrowed by art-rockers And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead for their latest release, and much more arresting work.

But good luck finding them on television.

Continue reading Adam Curtis: Meet the New Yemen, Same As the Old Yemen

[Jim Kunstler, Clusterfuck Nation]
As the disaster in Haiti moves into its “Katrina” phase of organizational chaos, relief effort failure, and public health calamity, the world will get another lesson in the dangers of techno-triumphalist posturing. American authority pretends to be in flawless control of a situation that by the minute crumbles into anarchy and death as the generals strut their stuff and the CNN crews broadcast yet another feel-good segment about adopted orphans. At this point, one rainstorm is all it will take to kill what is left of the Haitian social order.
Continue reading Clusterfuck! Disasters Far and Near

[Greg Palast, Morphizm]
1. Bless the President for having rescue teams in the air almost immediately. That was President Olafur Grimsson of Iceland.

On Wednesday, the AP reported that the President of the United States promised, “The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could be deployed to the quake-ravaged country within the next few days.”

“In a few days,” Mr. Obama?

Continue reading The Right Testicle of Hell: Haiti

[Scott Thill, Morphizm]
“Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it’s a deal.”
MORE @ HUFFPO

[Jim Kunstler, Clusterfuck Nation]
The economy that is. Especially the part that consists of swapping paper certificates. That’s the buzz I’ve gotten the first two weeks of 2010, and forgive me for not presenting a sheaf of charts and graphs to make the case. Just about everybody else yakking about these thing on the Web provides plenty of statistical analysis: Mish, The Automatic Earth, Chris Martenson, Zero Hedge, The Baseline Scenario…. They’re all well worth visiting.
Continue reading Clusterfuck! Six Months to Live?

[Scott Thill, Morphizm]
As you may have noticed, I’m redesigning the site. A glance at the header image above will let you know the place is a mess. But given the brilliant ease of CSS, I’ll probably be fully finished by the end of January. Especially if I can kill this cold. Stay tuned, and hit me with any suggestions, feedback or comments via the usual channels.

[Scott Thill, Morphizm]
After losing the visionary Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show has been leaning heavily on scathing comedians like Jason Jones, Samantha Bee, John Hodgman and this UK import, who just landed his own stand-up show to add to his recent blind deal with Paramount Pictures. It couldn’t have happened to a better brainiac. I interviewed Oliver for Wired, and it was good. And funny. Especially the part where he counsels our fading American empire on how to get over itself. And fast.
Continue reading John Oliver: Enjoy the Abyss, America!

[Scott Thill, Morphizm]
Look, New York Times: You can pay me for my cultural and political insights. People already do. Seriously. Like when you posted that article today advising underwater homeowners to walk away from their worthless mortgages? Dude, I wrote that a year ago. And then this year. It’s common knowledge now, which is not an insult. What is an insult? Not hiring me. Seriously. Also, I’m kidding. Continue reading New York Times Bites My Walkaway Rhyme