Saturday 30 October 2010

yemeni crickets or sheiks on a plane

Although the message that these thwarted terror attacks is clear forboding for bogeymen of all sorts and a bit of erstwhile rallying for the American mid-term elections, it strikes me as suspect that such ink-jet fireworks were uncovered just days after the European aviation authorities expressed their indignation, led by Great Britian, wanting to put an end to the unnecessary kow-towing to US air travel rules, especially the ones that they have not yet applied to their own domestic flights.  While there are certainly forces out there that might restore to deguising a bomb as a printer cartridge--I like the French word, cartouche, much better as it makes me think of all the Ramesse and King Tut exhibitions that I have visited and the gift shops there offered to render one's name in phonetic hieroglyphs (in a pharonic cartouche) and  I would like to see graffiti in ancient Egyptian: Monkey, Eagle, Cat, All-Seeing Eye--it smacks too familar, like besmirching one's carry-on's, belt, underpants, essential fluids, and finally one's dignity.  While thousands more are deputized in the name of safety and security and more extensive and far-reaching bad-touches are offered as alternatives to naked body scans, passengers must realize that if for one second one was considered any less thorough than the other or any risk was present, no choice would be given, no passage offered.  US rules of engagement are merely innuring factors, performed by agents ignorant of their psychological and numbing effects.  Nothing negates determination as highly as the chance dissuasion, and disillusionment can be counter-acted through more direct means.

Thursday 28 October 2010

whatever happened to with my transylvania twist?

It seems every second Halloween is much scarier than on off years, and one imagines that we are a little spooked by the election cycles in America. Campaign spending and cult of personality has escalated out of control, and for the usual reasons, which cannot be repeated too often: elected representatives and their army of groomed pages and administrative staffs are essentially immune from insider-trading. A congress person or a senator, especially one seated in one of the numerous committees and to the manor born, like agriculture, defense or social programs, is privy to nonpublic information and can even influence legislation in favour of one company or special interest over another, and nothing bars (saving perhaps the recursive and self-governing ethics committee) them from owning and trading stock in the midst of the deal. Elected representatives certainly have a vested interest in retaining their incumbency, maintaining influence or preening their connections for future careers in the private sector that has bankrolled their terms to begin with. European politics are not altruistic and of course not exempt from such persuasions, although appointments and outfitting of former public servants with their hoped for golden parachutes draws at least some attention if not outrage.

schwung and kool-aid

The truly frightening facet of politics, particularly so in America, involves the inertia and moment of what either or any party can claim as a mandate. Changing course is forever the status quo because underlying factors remain entrenched. Government does not solely exist to promote economic welfare, but its policy and deportment which cast the mold for whatever shape businesses and tax-payers, as both purveyors and beneficiaries, can assume, the peg barely fitting the hole, whittled down to baseline requirements or made more substantial with all the riders it can carry and still squeeze through. Neither the diameter of a loophole nor manipulation of the facts through sophistry changes market fundamentals and obligations for civic and economic stewardship. A disengaged public is more liable to accept the truthiness of the governing party without healthy scrutiny and in general innocence of corrobative influences. Redirection without commitment of energies, standing on spindly legs, is only so much gas to inflate the next market bubble.

Tuesday 26 October 2010

jinkies

With Halloween and trick-or-treating fast approaching, I thought it high time for a little holiday roundup.  I thought that this costume idea, from the opening credits of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?--the scary witch-doctor, was very clever and instantly recognizable.  Myself, when I was very little, I can remember, however, wanting to be Velma "Liz" Dinkley.
For those of you still looking for a costume idea, with the democratization of shiny colour-printing and papercraftiness, I defer to the excellent website Superpunch and this collection of downloadable and printable masks (or come up with your own design) for holiday cheer.