This makes me giggle.  I found it on George Takei's Facebook page.  

If Sauron had the humility to approach someone and ask nicely for a moment of conversation  he wouldn't be Sauron.  Also, I'm old enough to remember the years when going to the airport meant almost certainly being approached by a Hari Krishna.   

some ideas from True Botanica on accessing the virtue of thought in the coming year:

http://tinyurl.com/afnddvq

Happy New Year!!!!

I was thrilled to get into my car yesterday and catch studio 360 broadcasting material on Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase and The Armory Show. My fascination with Duchamp seems to be inexhaustible so I'm always happy when he gets air time. I came home and turned on the radio in the kitchen. The show went on to cover quite a range of topics from the split between Jung and Freud to the public's reaction to The Rite of Spring. 
I listened while I washed dishes.  I can't wait for the TV Series. So glad the world didn't end.  This is heaven to me.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/beyond/listings.html 

This is a link to the PBS site listing air times for the TV Series the Studio 360 piece was covering.

http://pussyriot.amnestyusa.org/

It seems clear that the number of people stumbling upon this site has doubled since I first made mention of Pussy Riot.  This site had 600 hits last month.  The link above goes to a page of Amnesty International which shows a map of supporters on record.  Acknowledging that there is menace in the world for supporters of a group of young, smart women talking about integrity in the use of power is like smelling salts to the inertia of our inner battle picking mechanism.  Why is this important?  Why present a target on their behalf? 

I have to say I'm sort of a prude myself when it comes to naming private parts.  My father has been one of the few people who reads whatever I write just to be supportive and I know that the 'vulgarity' of the band's name, if you choose to interpret it as not referring to cats, will make him cringe.  When I was very young he referred to my nether regions, when it was absolutely necessary to refer to them, as my 'under carriage'.  I think I was in my 30's before I heard the term used to refer to the underside of a car, which is it's only dictionary meaning.  If the band called themselves the 'under carriage riot' or the 'defenseless female riot' they would probably not be in jail.  Defenselessness is part of the story.  From the point of view of a mind seeking to justify opportunistic exploitation of _______ (fill in the blank with something useful or tasty that does not have readily apparent protection) defenselessness is in itself guilt and an invitation.  That's what makes their work and their unjust imprisonment relevant to me personally.  

This is from one of my favorite artists.  She's five.  Innocence and defenselessness may not protect one from imprisonment or physical violence but that's not the same as powerlessness.

http://tinyurl.com/cnwee4x  <----- Link to order this t-shirt from Amnesty International.  I'll be giving one to my daughter.

12/26  I did give my daughter one of these t-shirts for Christmas.  She won't be able to wear it to school but she appreciates the campaign.

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/04/166519644/qatari-poet-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-writing

This piece was broadcast last night into my kitchen as I washed dishes.  I haven't heard Andrei Codrescu's voice for awhile. It unfailingly makes me grin a little.  I believe a good number of the people happening on this site are searching Pussy Riot.  Andrei mentions them here.