Sun reflecting bright.
A lure, come outside, its nice…
And then freeze to death.

01.30.2004

###

One a local politics list, someone took some pretty nasty shots at a local art collective that had burned down.

I’ve been taking some time off that list, but after some thought and encouragement, I decided to make a post contradicting the attack. Especially difficult in this case as it is a local list and we’re supposed to avoid international topics, but the attacks were in the form of suggesting that the place was evil and anti-Jewish because of its support of Palestine.

Anyway, I got a sideline response thanking me for posting it and had a little correction that blew me away:

“It was actually the 1967 border, not the 1968 border, fyi. I was there.”

It is bad over there now, but I can’t imagine being over there then. It is a bit daunting to speak when one realizes that some of those listening have so much more experience in and knowledge about the subject.

*heh* Perhaps I’m just not used to being in that situation.

…

Anyway, here’s a fun Mark Fiore flash for today. He puts serious information into nice little bite sized entertaining chunks.

Oh, and as long as we’re talking about videos, everyone knows about the Move On “Bush in 30 seconds” ad, right? The one that CBS is refusing to air? If not, be sure to check it out. It is the winner in a contest of amateur produced videos and while it is definitely propaganda, it is well done propaganda.

…

Happy Birthday Mom!

Bitter wind blowing
Pretty white snow drifts gather
Sparkling in street lights

01.28.2004

###

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club got a mention by the Baghdad blogger. At some level, I find that makes me happy.

Shining sun smiles but
Melted snow will freeze again –
Hope the cat won’t slip.

01.24.04

###

Another forward – an article by Paul Krugman in the NY times:

Democracy at Risk

By Paul Krugman
NY Times | January 23, 2004

The disputed election of 2000 left a lasting scar on the nation’s psyche. A recent Zogby poll found that even in red states, which vote for George W. Bush, 32 percent of the public believes that the election was stolen. In blue states, the fraction is 44 percent.

Now imagine this: in November the candidate trailing in the polls wins an upset victory — but all of the districts where he does much better than expected use touch-screen voting machines. Meanwhile, leaked internal e-mail from the companies that make these machines suggests widespread error, and possibly fraud. What would this do to the nation?

Unfortunately, this story is completely plausible. (In fact, you can tell a similar story about some of the results in the 2002 midterm elections, especially in Georgia.) Fortune magazine rightly declared paperless voting the worst technology of 2003, but it’s not just a bad technology — it’s a threat to the republic.

First of all, the technology has simply failed in several recent elections. In a special election in Broward County, Fla., 134 voters were disenfranchised because the electronic voting machines showed no votes, and there was no way to determine those voters’ intent. (The election was decided by only 12 votes.) In Fairfax County, Va., electronic machines crashed repeatedly and balked at registering votes. In the 2002 primary, machines in several Florida districts reported no votes for governor.

And how many failures weren’t caught? Internal e-mail from Diebold, the most prominent maker of electronic voting machines (though not those in the Florida and Virginia debacles), reveals that programmers were frantic over the system’s unreliability. One reads, “I have been waiting for someone to give me an explanation as to why Precinct 216 gave Al Gore a minus 16022 when it was uploaded.” Another reads, “For a demonstration I suggest you fake it.”

Computer experts say that software at Diebold and other manufacturers is full of security flaws, which would easily allow an insider to rig an election. But the people at voting machine companies wouldn’t do that, would they? Let’s ask Jeffrey Dean, a programmer who was senior vice president of a voting machine company, Global Election Systems, before Diebold acquired it in 2002. Bev Harris, author of “Black Box Voting” (www.blackboxvoting.com), told The A.P. that Mr. Dean, before taking that job, spent time in a Washington correctional facility for stealing money and tampering with computer files.

Questionable programmers aside, even a cursory look at the behavior of the major voting machine companies reveals systematic flouting of the rules intended to ensure voting security. Software was modified without government oversight; machine components were replaced without being rechecked. And here’s the crucial point: even if there are strong reasons to suspect that electronic machines miscounted votes, nothing can be done about it. There is no paper trail; there is nothing to recount.

So what should be done? Representative Rush Holt has introduced a bill calling for each machine to produce a paper record that the voter verifies. The paper record would then be secured for any future audit. The bill requires that such verified voting be ready in time for the 2004 election — and that districts that can’t meet the deadline use paper ballots instead. And it also requires surprise audits in each state.

I can’t see any possible objection to this bill. Ignore the inevitable charges of “conspiracy theory.” (Although some conspiracies are real: as yesterday’s Boston Globe reports, “Republican staff members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media.”) To support verified voting, you don’t personally have to believe that voting machine manufacturers have tampered or will tamper with elections. How can anyone object to measures that will place the vote above suspicion?

What about the expense? Let’s put it this way: we’re spending at least $150 billion to promote democracy in Iraq. That’s about $1,500 for each vote cast in the 2000 election. How can we balk at spending a small fraction of that sum to secure the credibility of democracy at home?

So, how to react to that, then?

Anxiety mounts,
Zero hour is approaching
Hope my strings don’t break.

01.19.04

###

That was about the worst haiku I’ve written, but not enough time today to make it perfect. Daisy Cutter is playing at the Red Sea tonight and 4th Street Station tomorrow. Check the website for more info.

###

In the spirit of people’s recent quizes, here’s AOL’s president match:

http://www.presidentmatch.com/Main.jsp2

Yep, I seem to be following a family tradition of picking presidential candidates who aren’t likely to win (or in this case, even be given a shot at running).

The matches for me were :
Kucinich : 100%
Sharpton : 96%
Gephardt : 93%
Kerry : 92%
Dean : 87%

and so on, down to…

Bush : 8%

###

Kind of an interesting tidbit. About a year ago, I lent a digital camera to someone who was going to do work in Palestine. They ended up working at an ISM media office which was raided by the Israeli military as well as dealing with numerous other problems.

Apparently, when they arrested her, they tried to confiscate the camera, but she managed to hang on to it. They did however take one of my memory cards from her.

Sort of strange to think that one of my memory cards is now in the possession of the Israeli military. I hope it wasn’t my 256 meg card.

On the upside, she’s gotten over 1000 pictures (I did give a couple dummy cards so that she could surrender one without her good stuff). I saw the photos she brought back from the last time she borrowed my camera to go over there – they were pretty incredible, so I’m looking forward to seeing what she has this time.

It is impossible to imagine what living in Palestine would be like, but through an independent lens, one can get a hint…

###

And, a local tragedy. I’ll just forward it.

Babylon Art and Culutral Center 612.722.5438 www.thebabylon.org

Dear Friends,

As many of you may have heard, the Gustavus Adolphus Hall in which the Babylon is located was consumed by fire on Friday, January 17. The cause of the fire is , as of yet unknown. Fire department officials are currently determining whether or not the building will need to be demolished. No one has been allowed into the building to retrieve any possessions, and the fire department has charecterized the damage to all four of the businsesses in the building as a “total loss.”

This loss has been devastating for all of us invovled in the Babylon. It is till hard for me to believe that the Babylon no longer exists- one night we were there working on our projects, and the next morning I spent the day in the restaurant across the street watching the dream that so many people had worked so hard to build burn to the ground.

The losses- beyond just the space, and what it has come to mean in our community, as well as in the greater Twin Cities art and performance community, are extensive. Iraqi artist Haider Al- Amery lost his entire collection of artwork, literally nearly every piece of work that he has created since coming to the United States. His uncle, Sabri, also lost many of his paintings. The La-Tia artists collective, which had just gone into a partnership with Babylon, lost an extensive amont of artwork, including the majority of the work for an exhibit that was supposed to open that very night. Patricia Mendoza, an artist who rented space at the Babylon, lost alomost her entire collection of artwork as well. Luckily, the Art Across Borders exhibit of Iraqi and Palestinian art work is currently on tour in Iowa, and wasn’t damaged, although all records and information about the artists and their artwork, as well as irreplacable information collected in Iraq and Palestine are gone.

On top of these material losses, I am saddened beyond words by the loss of the work, energy and dedication so many inspiartional and incredible people have poured into the Babylon since it’s humble beginning. The growth of the Babylon as a political art space, with no grant funding and no wealthy backers, has proven to me that anything is possible when people are dedicated to their dream and willing to work for it.

Next week the Babylon collective will be meeting to decide our next steps. I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support we have already recieved- it has given me the strength to get through what have been an extremely difficult couple of days. While our course of action is yet to be determined, all indications from those involved is that we would like to re-open the Babylon in the next few months. I am, personally, dedicated to re-opening the Babylon in South Minneapolis, and continuing to build on the incredible relationships we have developed with our neighbors, colleagues and supporters in the past two and a half years.

If you have ever thought about getting invovled with the Babylon, or making a financial doantion, NOW IS THE TIME. Checks can be made out to the Babylon Collective, and mailed to me at 1522 Carroal Ave. St. Paul MN. If you are interested in organizing a benefit, or otherwise helping out in the re-grouping and rebuilding process, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at megbabylon@hotmail.com, or call me at 612.251.1746.

Thank you again for your support-
Meg Novak
Babylon Art and Cultural Center
Art Across Borders

I think my favorite rug store was in the same building. *sigh*

I feel really bad for the folks at Babylon, they’ve really worked to make it a cool place with lots of great memories. I’ll never forget sitting on the floor in their big room listening to David Rovics or all the political movies I’ve watched there.

They weren’t only political though, a couple of people I’ve known had their first art shows there as well.

sad…