Zbigniew Brzezinski: Second Chance 4 America

Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American S
Written by: Zbigniew Brzezinski 18 th april

"[President George W. Bush] has a vision which can be described with two other words: Manichaean paranoia ... the notion that he is leading the forces of good against the empire of evil, that in that setting, the fact that we are morally superior justifies us committing immoral acts. And that is a very dangerous posture for the country that is the number one global power. ... The fact is he squandered our credibility, our legitimacy, and even respect for our power." The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, March 14, 2007.
I went to a lecture at the 92ns st Y given by Brzezinski( former national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter).The Democrats's response to KissSinger.Some higlights:" Constant reference to a "war on terror" did accomplish one major objective: It stimulated the emergence of a culture of fear. Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue. We are now divided, uncertain and potentially very susceptible to panic in the event of another terrorist act in the United States itself.That America has become insecure and more paranoid is hardly debatable. The events of 9/11 could have resulted in a truly global solidarity against extremism and terrorism. A global alliance of moderates, including Muslim ones, engaged in a deliberate campaign both to extirpate the specific terrorist networks and to terminate the political conflicts that spawn terrorism would have been more productive than a demagogically proclaimed and largely solitary U.S. "war on terror" against "Islamo-fascism." Only a confidently determined and reasonable America can promote genuine international security which then leaves no political space for terrorism. Where is the U.S. leader ready to say, "Enough of this hysteria, stop this paranoia"? Even in the face of future terrorist attacks, the likelihood of which cannot be denied, let us show some sense. Let us be true to our tradition

An evening with K48/the Kitchen

An evening with K48/the Kitchen(Chelsea)
Artist: Roxy Pain,Tobias Bernstrup,etc...
Aprile NYC

This evening i went to" the Kitchen "in Chelsea a center for video,music,dance,performance,etc...it was great!It was for free. This evening with K48 featured a very interesting animated film in german by Martha Colburn..german men and phalus in a colorfull blossom way! I don't mention the french artist who did a video of himself masturbating during 10 minutes in front of a postcard.I see just narcissism-nihilism-shitism-academism to shock the bourgeois...in a porno digital world... so serious was the audience... silent like in a church's office! ...paradoxally screening this mediocre sexual act reveals the influence of an absurd monotheist culture in decay on confused mind...Quindi sociologicly interesting to express the urban nevrose of our time.After all the follower of the Book are nevrotics...they can't control their instincts and the apparent lack of horizon in the techno scientific contemporary world is against their values. Bible's dated horizon ....Nihilism and childish nevrotic reactions...here we are in most of the contemporary art expressions ...a guy alone in a room obsessed with an image is like 1000.000 eyes stick on the computer cut off from Life and an healthy sunny sexuality .Eros is very powerful but it seems that the majority is sleepy or dead...Where is the life force?D.H. Lawrence expressed it very well in "Lady Chaterley's lover": Nature is against intellectual wankers;-)
The best performance was this kind of Klaus Nomi/Bauhaus manmachine singer: Tobias Bernstrup . A super 80's sounds electro with fantastic images on the huge screen.He started with a fog...smoke coming in all the theatre...i was very impressed by his performance.Imagine an androgyne wearing a one flashy black shiny trouser with high heels boots, half naked and a big plastic plaster on his neck...i think he's a friend of the couple sweeds i lived with in Dumbo...I strongly advise to go to the"Kitchen' more often;-)
The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street New York,NY 10011

Collapse:how societies choose to fail or succeed

Collapse:how societies choose to fail or succeed
Written by: Jared Diamond
Columbia University 25th aprile NYC

Today i went to a lecture at Columbia University of the distingueshed professor Diamond about his last essay "Collapse".The ampitheatre or the micro sound or the speed of Diamond didn't make easy to follow this brillant lecture.I am french native speaker so...it's hard to follow and get all the concepts but to sum up Diamond put that the end of a civilization has eight factors :
1/Deforestation and habitat destruction
2/Soil problems (erosion, salinization, and soil fertility losses)
3/Water management problems
4/Overhunting
5/Overfishing
6/Effects of introduced species on native species
7/Human population growth
8/Increased per-capita impact of people
Further he says four new factors may contribute to the weakening and collapse of present and future societies:
1/Human-caused climate change
2/Buildup of toxic chemicals in the environment
3/Energy shortages
4/Full human utilization of the Earth’s photosynthetic capacity
Diamond also states that we can learn lessons from past cultures for the first time in history.He doesn't see surpopulation as a major threat.Realist he talked about the Easter islands society ending because all the trees were used.He critizised the lack of equallity in education,health care in America...seeing more social problems in the future as a major factor of "collapse".The riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King issue was the exemple which illustrade the social tensions in LA where Diamond lives.He finished to look at several causes to explain that often civilizations collapsed from the inside-the Roman Empire.

The death of Michelangelo Antonioni

Rome,31th July 2007

An era ends: Antonioni is dead yesterday evening at 8 o'clock. It was full moon when Giulio and I went back from Tuscany's seaside Marina di Capalbio. How shiny was the moon that evening...A poet of the image is gone.No electric lights on the road, only the white moonlight reflected softly in the coutryside. Marina di Capalbio was the last film set of Michelangelo's 'Il filo pericoloso dagli cose '.A genuine approach of Eros's mysteries where Sensuality and Nature are one. That day, I remember walking on the beach watching the waves and the sunset...strangely thinking about Antonioni. One of the greatest mage de l'image is gone. What will survive are his films: inner landscapes paintings of human psyche. "L'Eclisse","Zabriskie Point","The Passenger" and "Identificazione di una donna" timeless 24 images/paintings. Poetic dreams in the waste land.The same day, Bergman died.

The Conspiracy/Robert Creeley

The Conspiracy

You send me your poems,
I'll send you mine.
Things tend to awaken
even through random communication.

Let us suddenly
proclaim spring. And jeer

at the others,
all the others.

I will send a picture too
if you will send me one of you.

Robert Creeley