'Grappling Abraham' Batman!

First there there were jews for jesus and now guess what.

This is what Joe Lieberman had to say back in 2006.

“As far as I’m concerned [Barack Obama] is a ‘Baruch,’ which means a blessing. He is a blessing to the United States Senate, to America, and to our shared hopes for better, safer tomorrows for all our families. The gifts that God has given to Barack Obama are as enormous as his future is unlimited. As his mentor, as his colleague, as his friend, I look forward to helping him reach to the stars and realize not just the dreams he has for himself, but the dreams we all have for him and our blessed country.”

So in praise of Sarah Pailin VP nominee. The implicating horrors must be completely Stanley Kubrick.



World Jewry is absolutely terrified that Obama might cause peace to break out.



Can two houses occupy the same swamp?



Maybe Leonard Nimoy would have been a good candidate for vice president. It will take a vulcan dose of Dr. Spock logic to settle the israel palestinian conflict at the core of the middle east quagmire.




*

Recurring Encores

Miami Art Museum has a summer showing of selected works from their permanent collection. There you can see the copulating staircases aka miami does paris by Daniel Arsham. What's missing in the picture is size and feel. Art, like sex, is an experience best served first-hand with fantasy. Summer in the swamp for the taxpayer fueled art industry is more like reality, curatorially its not exactly a sink or swim proposition. When the local institutions roll out the old and new tried and true "it's new to you" selections from their recent acquisitions, they are working the operative word "floating". Floating till the fall season when all chips are in. But all is not quite with the arts community with only three weeks of gallery-walk Saturdays before Basel Art and Design Miami. As always the best kept secret is , the genesis of art is where the action is. To put it mildly, the artist studio is the place where art is made 365, the gallery is where it goes to shimmer and the museum is where it goes to repose.

Don't know, I'll Ask Her.

With the Olympic media spectacle all but out of public view, the news is now about convention-orama round the clock. As in Beijing, what we saw and heard from Denver is an undeniably dynamic and new symphony for pummeled democrats.
So now it is not surprising that from the iconic make-believe world of mavericks and dinosaurs, Grandpa McSame picked Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, as his running mate. Fair enough.




But it is a well known US census fact that there is a shortage of women in Alaska. The Eskimos in general are also concerned for how white man might cope given a severe shortage of good women. So why is McCain recruiting one of Alaska's best pumas away from the hard working folks of the great 49th. Dang, horse thief.



The logic is an unchangeable lack of vision that might be called the Bridge-to-Nowhere strategy for vicarious victory. By picking a closet democrat the republicans are desperately anointing themselves with the soothing salve of C.H.A.N.G.E. for their broken demoralized party. Change How Americans Get Educated.



And with all due concern for Biden's bid, in today's celebrity-worship, public-relations propaganda mill for engineering consent, Palin's appeal to the Hillary die-hard supporters, the sour-grapes-pumas may be the spoiler vote. In our winner-take-all rigged representational elections system, the VP choice not really the peoples choice.


Beauty queen contestant by night and fundi-fruitcake by day, she can look you in the eye and tell you black is white.... black as in big oil.

Palin was most decidedly hand-picked by the GOP, not so much by grampi-McC.

While the great '09 white house horse race gallops along, the world's down-trodden lumber along towards the final frontier in November.

*

Faceless... the Nation

photoshop this mural, the artist probably got busted.

Artist Unknown. I have been keeping an eye on this mural for weeks, presumable of Hillary, waiting to see if it will ever be finished. Now the "tear-up-perfectly-good-sidewalks-and-replace-with-same" city planners have dumped a pile of rubble to complete the picture.

From her speech at the convention in Denver:

"I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

We the people prefer to feel invincible.

*

Crystal Clear Sharp Axe

Shed a tear for listeners of Nicole Sandler

I knew the night before that monday morning would be awkward. It was not so much the getting up before the sun to get the kid to high school, it was an email from Diane Lawrence subject Nicole Sandler the talk show host got canned and replaced with... hold on to your boots... the ignorimus Don Imus. WDF to the third power?



940 AM early morning time slot has been a devoted to local talkies with Nicole replacing the titanic Jim Defede about a year ago. Sandler has a passionate down home open approach to talk radio that is very real local miami.


Randi Rhodes the madame of not mincing words.

Three years ago local radio station WINZ took a gamble with Air America programming and has enjoyed the benefits of airing the unspeakable- progressive liberal reason- truth to power. The voices are impressive- callers to Jerry Springer, Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Ed Shultz, Rachel Maddow, Stephanie Miller and others that make NPR sound like for nice little ol' ladies.


Ed Shultz, don't let the name fool ya, the anti-rush.

940 AM has been the lone noise wave that began a vital push-back to the behemoth echo-chamber built by radical conservative purveyors of hate in the past 20 years. We know the usual suspects, Rush gives way to Glen Beck, Candy Crowley spawns Kitty Pilgrims, O'Reilly the nut-rouser and the list goes on as Don Imus takes center stage right here in our swamp. There is nothing local about that dried-up cowhand.


Candy 'da crow' Crowley - cnn-ing is believing. Pigboy Jr. - Glen Beck.

So monday morning I'm listening to this twisted decrepit voice till i was greige in the face. It was like some prankster switched our meds, with some nasty side-effects. Imus replacing Nicole Sandler is a bad omen. WINZ belongs to Clear Channel Communications, the bush-friendly mega- consolidated media gobbler. Klear Channel was instrumental in the slurring of the Dixie Chicks.

Here is an exert from the official response to one listeners outrage:

Then instead of just Nicole progressive radio will be dead in South Florida completely. The station is a difficult station to operate. The progressive format has not translated to revenues like other formats have. So we are in the position where we have to evaluate its ability to generate dollars as we are a business. Plus, the morning ratings were the lowest on the station.

That said, especially in this important election year we are dedicated to the format, to choice and to providing an alternative to the other side of talk radio. Don Imus is a big name who does entertaining radio. He is some one familiar, sometimes for the wrong reasons to many people. Some of that is very unfair. Regardless he is a name we hope will bring needed attention and revenues to WINZ. And he has access to guests no other host on WINZ has.

Have you ever actually listened to his show? Please give it a try. You might find him more entertaining then you think. Change is always hard. Trust me, this one was very hard. However I hope you will give Imus a try and also stay with WINZ for the many programs you do enjoy.

kc
Director of AM Programming
Clear Channel Miami

Geez Louise. Airing Imus on 940AM is like having Andrew Dice Clay be the door-man at a lesbian club.


Rachel Maddow is a mainsteaming the message on the corporate boob-tube.



Got no beef with Howard Stern... Clearly it's time to get satellite radio.

*

Pie in the Sky Reagun Redux

Ronnie the "gipper" in an iconic moment of epic lucidity dreams of star-wars in orbit.

The stage is set for the next round of republican bow-outs. Conservative reagen wannabe worshipers have taken us so far out to an abysmal right field that it will take considerable efforts to return to center stage normalcy. We've seen it play-out time and again: the fundi-crazies take over with a new con, invariably trash everything we know to be good for the most People, then kick back and watch while progressive liberals restore our treasury and sanity.

But after eight years of terror foxnews lies, fear-mongering and mis-guided crony legislative blunders, we are burdened with tons of residual damage to our national integrity that is difficult to un-do. This time the damage is overwhelming. If you see daylight in the horizon keep in mind that when authoritarians run out of spin, out comes the big stick... and no one is immune from the dumb-ass side of a corporatist surveillance society.

The fashion squad busy cracking-down on impostors.

The time is ripe to tackle the problems in our dumpster. We are in an endless war, our economy is bust, the fabric of our society is in tatters, mass culture is morally bankrupt, our infrastructure is crumbling, the environment is trashed, our reputation in the world is in the gutter, the distribution of wealth/income is out of whack and some folks are making a killing.

Oh yeah, and where is this guy hiding? Maybe right in our own dumpster. I'd say keep bush/cheney till they finish the job.... but obviously they " just don't spend that much time on him".

*

Dude, Excellent Choice

Given the disastrous eight years of W and Dick, do the republicans really want to win in November? Are they willing or able to clean-up after themselves? Probably not. The political pendulum has swung far enough to the 'right' and is returning for another round of democratic fixes. It is a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. Here is obama's #1 man for the job.



It's official, the honorable Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. will be our next VP.

Most folks don't know much about Giant Joe, but they will surely get a heaping serving of dribble n drool from the corporate media frenzy that surrounds the Obama+Biden bid for the white house. All we really want to know is , does size really matter?



Joe Biden's elder son, Beau, is a captain in the Delaware army national guard and is set to be deployed to Iraq in October, 2008.

Give our boys something to fight for.... chicks with flags.



*

VP short-listed

Today's a big day for sidekicks.
It's no secret Swampthing's first choice for vice president was Bernie Mac.

RIP Bernard Jeffrey McCullough


It will take allot of soul-searching to find the second best...



... and if you talk to the super-dooper-scooper delegates, the choice is clear as clinton.
We probably deserve it after installing two bushies.



Everyone knows Grandpi McSame has made his choice.



Finally, what's up with Richard "Dick" Cheney lately? We don't hear much from him anymore, which is actually good news.


Ford ribbon-cutter wins the trifecta.
.

Stun Fun with Reddy Kilowatt

Bear with me here because it pains me to post about the growing problem with authoritarians, the casual use of force to restrain and simply up the fear factor.

``In a civilized society, abuse by those who are given great authority cannot be tolerated,'' Nevils said in a statement.

I guess we are not that civilized.






This guy got lucky cause his kid was in the car, no taser just double cuffs.
Magic City Mania Blog has the complete story.

"... After arresting Scott Conover for “unlawful photography” in Mountain City, Tennessee last June, Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy Starling McCloud threatened to arrest Conover’s 12-year-old daughter with the same charge after she snapped two photos of her father getting handcuffed."



photo not related

I pity the fool who didn't see this coming.

"This is an excellent idea. But I don't see why it should be confined to teenagers. Why not elementary school kids? They don't get in line fast enough? Zap 'em. Act up during nap time? Give 'em a jolt. They'll soon learn not to defy the authorities. teach 'em while they're young. Once they've been "accepted and legitimized" there's no reason they shouldn't be used to train kids to behave. After all, they're benign, harmless and entirely safe, so why would anyone object?

These school police have never had to use deadly force, by the way. Only one of them carries a gun. So, the usual excuse is not in play here. Clearly, they are going to use them on the students."


photo not related

Tasers are the super-duper cattle-prods of today.

"... It's telling that last week's mass immigration raid in Iowa, during which immigrant workers were rounded up and treated like cattle, was heralded by the whupping of federal helicopters hovering over the town and its meat-processing plant.

While the arrested workers, particularly those who used fake IDs (which is nearly all of them) are looking forward to prison time and then deportation, the plant's politically connected owners and managers are evidently facing no charges at all. But for ordinary folks in Postville, it isn't just illegal immigrants who are feeling the weight of this kind of law enforcement -- it has terrorized legal immigrants and longtime residents alike. And maybe that's the point..."




Double ouchy, it hurts just reading this stuff.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A former police officer accused of repeatedly jolting a handcuffed man with a Taser before he died was indicted on a manslaughter charge Wednesday by a grand jury in central Louisiana.

Pikes was shocked nine times with a 50,000-volt Taser as he was arrested on a drug possession warrant in January, authorities said. Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said Nugent broke the law when he ``unnecessarily'' used the Taser on Pikes multiple times and failed to get him medical attention ``when it was apparent he needed it.''


photo not related

I know that's a weird surname, but Mr. Ng is just like you and me.

He was 17 when he came to New York from Hong Kong in 1992 with his parents and younger sister, eyeing the skyline like any newcomer. Fifteen years later, Hiu Lui Ng was a New Yorker: a computer engineer with a job in the Empire State Building, a house in Queens, a wife who is a United States citizen and two American-born sons.

But when Mr. Ng, who had overstayed a visa years earlier, went to immigration headquarters in Manhattan last summer for his final interview for a green card, he was swept into immigration detention and shuttled through jails and detention centers in three New England states.




*

American Marble Recycled

"Jacob Epstein" 2008 swampthing

It was recently noted in the blogoscene that there is a deficiency in miami art postings, maybe it is because there are other more critical issues to consider, like getting the rent money. But like a good art-soldier, here is a bit of good news for artists who work with american marble aka styrofoam. As a fabricator to the stars I have been using eps foam professionally for years with great results... and allot of left-overs that are often re-used to make more art. Polystyrene is used in many plastics applications and is definitely not bio-degradable. Finally there is a 'green solution" to the great styro-dilemma. Thanks to new pal Will for the info:

Blue Earth Solutions - Blue, the new green. We recycle Styrofoam®™

Source: blueearthsolutions.com

Blue Earth Solutions is a publicly traded company that recycles Styrofoam®™ with StyroSolve©.The EPS turns into a gel, called Polygel©, which is pelletized and sold as raw material

Styroguy - Fun with styro-scraps.


FordFlexFossil 2008 swampthing


"Hammock" for Daniel Arsham 2008


"American Eagle" for Piotr Uklanski 2006


Bhakti-balls for Baxter 2006


Stellated Dodecahedron for R&R Studio 2007



Styrofoam is a curious passive metaphor for our unsustainable modern plastics dominated life-styles.

*

For Whom the Wrecking Ball Tolls

Many regular working folk are oblivious to the goings on in local government, particularly with regard to big long-term "improvement" projects. When made aware, we are confounded and often disappointed with irreversible costly decisions made on our behalf by elected officials.

For years residents of Surfside enjoyed the deco style community center and pool on Collins and 93rd. Hanging out there was always nice, it was the neighborhood anchor. Three years ago, the town stewardship was shifting and tax chest was flush with revenue from the halcyon days of the now busted housing bubble. After a costly renovation of the old town hall, talk began on what to do with the old community center. Some wanted to renovate but others wanted to build new. Much ado was made with an intense period of design activity for everyone to chime in. Then one day 2 years ago a kid got a mild electrical shock in the water and the pool was quickly condemned, shut down and more recently the whole place was demolished in just several days. Were there was once an wind-worn and charming center for the community there is now an empty gravelly parcel of beach-front.

Now the town officials want residents to decide, with a vote, if we should borrow 16.5 million dollars to build a fancy new community center.

But people want to know why the community center was demolished when there is no money secured to build a new facility. The logic here seems kind of back-ash-wards. Why not keep the place functioning till all the planning were complete? Why destroy the public commons? We have been without a pool for two years and by the time something gets built it will be another three years and our kids will be off to college by then.

For now, the only place to meet neighbors is at Publix.