Friday, March 31, 2006

Light Weekend Reading: Jeff Freeman, Artist

Jeff Freeman is an artist living in Bar Harbor, Maine, whose artwork is starting to get a following:

He readily admits his work is not for everyone, but those who take the time to get past the first, disconcerting impression will likely find the humor - albeit dark humor - and may realize that even the most grotesque pieces are also intensely personal.

Take, for instance, "There Are Other Ways to Die" (his titles are like little riddles to understanding his pieces). It's clearly a monster, and it's engaged in some pretty self-destructive behavior including running with scissors and smoking. One can't help wonder if this is the artist's alter ego.

Another grotesque figure doubles as a wine rack, and grimaces horribly over its burden of bottles.


Sounds like a fellow who's either read too much Stephen King, or not enough.

I went looking for some photos of his work, but could only find a photo of a chair he designed that looks fairly normal.

Peace,

Tor

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Thursday, March 30, 2006

Lance Dutson's Story is Told

Lance Dutson is finally getting his story told in the wider media, both print and web. Congratulations, Lance. Hopefully all this harassment of you and your family and your business will stop post haste.

For those who aren't familiar, read Lance's recap of the Pay-per-Gate scandal with the Maine Office of Tourism here.

There's a quick online version of VillageSoup's story here. I'll be rushing out to get the print version to get the whole write-up. VillageSoup prints two papers: VillageSoup Times for Knox County, and VillageSoup Citizen, for Waldo County. I'm not sure if it's in the Citizen, which I can get nearer to home.

Derek Anderson, the publisher of VillageSoup, also has this to say in his editorial on the subject:

I understand how Pay Per Click works. I understand blogs. I've read all of Dutson's submissions on his blog. Knowing what I know, and reading what I've read, I'm not sure I agree with Dutson's original argument about the state's use of Pay Per Click advertising. I do believe, however, that he had the right to ask those questions -- questions I am anxious to hear the answers to. I also believe Dutson had the right to criticize the execution of the state's marketing plan....

The funny thing is the Maine Department of Tourism and its contractors probably could have avoided all this. Dutson started out asking questions and writing pointed commentary on the execution of the state's marketing plan. Rather than attempt to answer the questions, it seems the contractors tried to discredit the value of his perspective.


The golden ring so far is Lance Dutson's exposure in the Portland Press Herald. It's one of Maine's two major daily newspapers, and certainly will help Lance get his message out.

Peace,

Tor

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Free Political Speech and the Workplace

Rarely does so lunk-headed a bill emanate from a legislator in Augusta:

The bill would make it illegal for an employer to retaliate against a worker who disagrees with the boss's views or refuses to go to a meeting regarding politics. Employers still could say what they want, but they couldn't use employment actions to force workers to listen or agree, supporters said....

Sen. Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, sponsored the bill after hearing about employers circulating political materials at work, such as report cards that rate how business-friendly individual legislators are....

Edmonds said she has not heard of any specific examples of such intimidation occurring in Maine but existing state law would not protect workers if it did occur.


I worked in a union shop warehouse for just under seven years. The union was forever putting leaflets on our breakroom tables that made all Democrats out to be saints who wanted nothing more than to protect us poor, defenseless proletarians and our grandmothers from the dastardly Republicans. If we wanted to attend a union meeting on any subject, we would be forced to hear political propaganda that didn't even pretend to have anything to do with the business at hand. Voicing dissent would lessen one's likelihood of being backed up by the union in any dispute with management.

So I find it very odd that this bill does not also address the problem of union intimidation. Just kidding.

If my employers were so blindered by their political leanings that they would retaliate against me for not agreeing with their point of view, why in the world would I want to work for them? If they couldn't evaluate my worth to them as a worker outside of the question of politics, I'd be a moron to keep working for them.

Peace,

Tor

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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Benjamin Solah

Thanks to Benjamin Solah for renting a corner of his blog to me for a week. Do go over and see what he's about. He's got a revolving photo header, like mine, so do refresh repeatedly while you're there.

He's a horror writer from Sydney, Australia, who lands politically as a Marxist revolutionary who would have much preferred Trotsky to Stalin. I'm of the view that even Trotsky's leadership would have eventually given rise to a Stalin-like figure in the Soviet Union anyway, as ruthless people always are attracted to positions of power over their fellow humans.

Peace,

Tor

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Countdown

As we await further word from Lance Dutson concerning Pay-per-Gate (and I think we'll be hearing something within the next several days), I thought I'd provide a few quick links to other blogs that are following the proceedings.

First, Naked Conversations has provided some much-needed moral support, and has helped Lance "amplify his voice." Outside of the Pay-per-Gate issue, this is a wonderful blog (and book) that should be considered a must-read for anybody who wants to think about how blogs are affecting, and will continue to affect, the customer/business dynamic. The ramifications of what they notice about the burgeoning blogosphere extend far beyond merely the business world, so even people who are interested in blogs as a social phenomenon should check out their site.

Journalism Hope is a blog that covers, among other things, citizen journalism, and now: Lance Dutson.

Jason Clarke, coauthor with Dave Hardy of Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man, also lent his support in a recent post. He's also a Maine web developer, so he must have some sense of what Lance is facing with his business being threatened.

Peace,

Tor

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Bloggers Rule

The FEC sez bloggin' 'bout candidates is okay, so long as you're not doing it on company time, or at the request of your union.

In a unanimous vote yesterday, the Federal Election Commission left unregulated almost all political activity on the Internet except for paid political advertisements. Campaigns buying such ads will have to use money raised under the limits of current federal campaign law...

The rules "totally exempt individuals who engage in political activity on the Internet from the restrictions of the campaign finance laws. The exemption for individual Internet activity in the final rules is categorical and unqualified," said FEC Chairman Michael E. Toner. The regulation "protects Internet activities by individuals in all forms, including e-mailing, linking, blogging, or hosting a Web site," he said.


I'm sure there will be some blogging scandals in coming election cycles, where we find out that people were getting paid to promote one candidate or another, under the table. But keeping the blogosphere as freewheeling as possible is important to the electoral process overall. If politicians gain the ability to regulate the speech of bloggers who disagree with them, we'll all be done for. Might as well move to China at that point.

Peace,

Tor

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Monday, March 27, 2006

Sgt. Corey Dan, the Deity and Homosexuals

The Saturday funeral of Sgt. Corey Dan went well for those who gathered to mourn his death:

The service was nearly overshadowed by threats of pickets by the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., which vowed to send delegates to express its belief that American soldiers are being struck down because of the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Members are known for carrying pickets with inflammatory statements, including "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."


There are at least two problems with the reasoning these folks conjured up.

First, they are saying that the terrorists and insurgents are doing the will of their deity. Therefore, they are putting themselves in the position of being terrorist sympathizers. I rather doubt that's what they intend.

Second, look at this country's war deaths over the years. If there is a cause-and-effect correlation between America's growing acceptance of homosexuality and war deaths, it seems to be a preventive one. That would signal that their deity is pleased with America's tolerance of gays. The folks who are really suffering in the war are Iraqis. And theirs is the much more homophobic culture than ours, by far.

Peace,

Tor


Chris Bliss and the Bliss Diss

What can I say, it's Sunday. Time to watch some juggling. My apologies to family and friends who are still on dial-up.

First is Chris Bliss, doing a truly artful job with three balls set to side two of Abbey Road.



It didn't take too long for Jason Garfield to "parody" the act, this time with five balls.



While I couldn't juggle either three or five balls, I have to say that while five balls is more impressive, three balls is more expressive.

Peace,

Tor

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Sunday, March 26, 2006

When Is America Not at the Crossroads?

On the one hand, I don't feel that I need to read Francis Fukuyama's new book, America at the Crossroads. Gary Rosen, the editor of Commentary, has this to say about it in the Washington Post today:

...Neocons consider the internal character of a regime the key to its external behavior, see American power as a tool for moral ends, distrust international law and institutions, and doubt the efficacy of ambitious social engineering.

Fukuyama's complaint isn't that these principles are necessarily wrong but that, in practice, they have collided disastrously since 9/11. As he charges (and as others have amply documented), the architects of the war in Iraq were too keen on the prospect of toppling a nasty regime to pay much attention to the formidable task of "social engineering" that lay ahead.


Is this stating anything but the obvious at this point? Even George W., way back in the 2000 campaign debates, understood this to be true; however, he let the neocons around him talk him into adopting their nation-building ideology.

On the other hand, Rosen's review does lead me to suspect that Fukuyama's book may be worth a read for his discussion of "what foreign policy types call 'soft power' -- the less coercive means at America's disposal, from foreign aid and election monitoring to the sort of civil affairs know-how that was so conspicuously lacking when U.S. forces arrived in Baghdad." Maybe it's an opening for the neocons to start rethinking how they are going to free the world in the long run. If this book hints at the myriad peaceful paths to achieving that (and peaceful means are the only means that will give enduring results), then I guess it will have to go on my reading list.

Peace,

Tor

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Saturday, March 25, 2006

Link Love: Pajama Market

I'm just giving a little link love to Pajama Market's recap of Lance Dutson's ongoing Pay-per-Gate situation. Otherwise, I understand from Lance that things are really getting active on many facets of the case. Hang in there, buddy!

Peace,

Tor

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Friday, March 24, 2006

The Return of Buddha Boy

Buddha Boy Ram Bomjan apparently resurfaced on Sunday after his disappearance on March 11. Now he says he'll be gone for six years.

Now there's some concern by a local officials about a bank account:

Santaraj Subedi, the chief official in the district, said yesterday that the bank account that he had insisted the committee open had been frozen after Ram's disappearance. It contained more than £500,000.

Mr Subedi is urgently trying to track down Ram.


To apply a cliche from American political scandals, follow the money, Mr. Subedi.

Peace,

Tor

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Guess Who's Stalking Susan Collins

Couldn't help but notice that my old Shebang Street Theatre chum Peter Stewart was one of the protestors at Senator Susan Collins' speech the other day. He's the bearded one, on the left.

But most of the buzz before Collins' speech was about the carefully planned demonstration, which featured protesters dressed in black wearing on their backs the number "2,319," the latest tally of Americans killed in the conflict.

While there were no arrests, police -- who had been notified by protesters of their plans -- weren't taking any chances.

The Maine State Police parked their mobile unit outside the event in case they needed to process multiple arrests at the scene. A UM Public Safety officer videotaped the crowd to document any unruly behavior that might lead to an arrest. But police said there were no problems.


The fact that the protestors informed the police ahead of time about their action should have been a pretty good indication that all of the extra precautions were actually unnecessary. They just wanted to confront their elected official, not spend time in the slammer.

I'm also skeptical that the videotaping was only to be used in the case that arrests might be made. If so, the videotape should now have been destroyed, since no arrests were made. I'd wager it's sitting in a file somewhere, to be compared with other events.

Peace,

Tor

A Little LOR Humor

A little light Lord of the Rings humor for your Friday afternoon, courtesy of Becky.

Peace,

Tor

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CandleChic

A shout out of appreciation to CandleChic for renting the space in the right-hand column. It's a fairly new candle-lovers' blog, replete with candle-burning tips and links to contests where you can try and win free candles.

Peace,

Tor

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Thursday, March 23, 2006

Belfast Police Stomp Out Corrupt Public Works Director

The police department in Belfast, Maine should really be very proud of themselves. They have done superb police work and ousted the city's Public Works Director for stealing diesel fuel from the city.

I guess after holding a position like that for so long, you start to feel a sense of entitlement to the taxpayers' fuel supply. Even if you're making a lot more money than most of the taxpayers who've paid for it.

The two best parts of the story are that public works employees blew the whistle, and that the Belfast P.D. acted quickly and carefully to get the video evidence of the ongoing thefts.

Peace,

Tor

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Tom's of Maine Goes Big Time

For the record, I do not like Tom's of Maine toothpaste or mouthwash. It just tastes crappy and chalky and doesn't make my mouth feel so clean as other, cheaper brands do. Like Colgate. Which just so happens to be buying out Tom's of Maine for a cool $100 million.

So while I obviously am not rooting Tom's of Maine on as a loyal customer, I am happy that this Maine firm is going big-time, and will hopefully be able to keep many Mainers employed for a long time. As a left-libertarian, I do have some real concerns about the legal structure and power of large corporations in this country, but as a Mainer I'm eager for any good news about a Maine concern.

I just hope that Tom is able to hold onto his core customers, as he expands his overall customer base. Early reactions range from a commenter over at All Things Maine who is obviously against anyone ever making money on a business they have built up from nothing, to the cautious optimism of Treehugger, who hopes "the little company can expand its markets, innovate around sustainability principles, and start to change the culture of it's [sic] new owner to help 'mainstream the green' and bring jobs back to the US."

I believe environmentalists can slowly come to the conclusion that the best environment in which to achieve their goals is the free market, not a socialist system.

Peace,

Tor

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Scotus Limits Some Searches

The Supreme Court has ruled 5-3 that warrantless searches where one resident agrees but another resident protests are unconstitutional:

The court's liberal members, joined by centrist Anthony M. Kennedy, said that an officer responding to a domestic dispute call did not have the authority to enter and search the home of a small-town Georgia lawyer in 2001 even though the man's wife invited him in.

Janet Randolph called police to the home in Americus, Ga., and _ over her husband's objections _ led the officer to evidence used to charge Scott Randolph with cocaine possession. That charge has been on hold while courts considered whether the search was constitutional.


Wieland of Transparent Grid has this take on it:

Souter writes that so long as the police do not spirit the suspect occupant away for the purpose of preventing him from denying consent, nothing would constitutionally stop them from not going out of their way to try to obtain his consent. Thus, if officers take a suspect of the house, put him in a police car and drive him away from the scene so that he canĂ‚’t be present to object, the search is invalid. If, however, officers can point to an objectively reasonable excuse for removing him from the scene, they can then seek consent from another occupant. It will be an area ripe for finagling.


Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSblog has an excellent exposition of the background of the case, and the precedents involved. In other words, legal scholarship is not necessary to see what he's talking about.

From the point of view of a non-legal-scholastic, I have to agree with Wieland's assessment that "finagling" will abound. Officers will have to learn exactly what is allowed, and try and steer situations away from disallowed searches. I wonder what would have happened if Janet Randolph had disappeared into the house and then reappeared with the straw to show police. Without their asking her to, of course.

In general, I say it's better that the default position of the Supreme Court should be that the Fourth Amendment rights of individuals against police searches should be construed as broadly as possible.

Peace,

Tor

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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Outsourcing Violence

I've gotten an email from Mike Hein concerning an article (about the Spellbound situation, natch) in the current Capital Weekly. I can't find an online version of it (Mike, if you've got the URL, I'd be happy to post it). Mike has posted the pertinent part of the article in the comments section of one of Pastor Bill Cripes' posts:

Hein said it's absurd that anyone would accuse him or his group of doing such a thing.

"The speculation that anyone I know or anyone from the prayer vigil is involved is completely wrong and unfounded," he said.


Mike, you need to understand that this violent action was easily seen by many (me included) as a possible follow-up to the threat of violence you initiated by contacting police and other officials of Augusta concerning the peaceful, nonviolent activities that Stockford and her models were undertaking. Sending the police is an act of violence. Police enforce the law with the threat of violence to those who won't abide by it.

Sometimes violence is justifiable, in order to defend someone from the violence of another. I myself once called police about suspected domestic violence in a home down the street from me (despite your allegation to me in another email that community standards in my neck of the woods favor spousal abuse), and even called to complain about some teenagers who were committing sonic violence against the whole neighborhood in the wee hours of the morning.

But when one has been peacefully going about one's business, harming nobody, then being faced with the threat of violence from police in particular and government in general unless one changes one's behavior is anathema to the workings of a free society.

Yes, it was wrong of me and others to publicly suggest that you, thwarted in your attempt to outsource compliance with your moral system through the Augusta police's legal application of the threat (and perhaps reality) of violence, could have decided to more directly commit an act of violence against one of Spellbound's models, and threaten yet another. I have already apologized for that.

But understand that your way is not the way of peace. It is the way of violence.

And I have noted that, despite your disavowal of the act that caused Spellbound to stop using lingerie models in its windows, the CCL has claimed victory on the issue in its recent appeal for funds. If your actions had nothing to do with Stockford's decision, how can Mike Heath claim it as a reason that the CCL deserves more funding?

Peace,

Tor

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