by David Burn | May 31, 2004 | Politics
Teddy Roosevelt wrote to a friend in 1897, “I should welcome any war, for I think this country needs one.”
William James, the philosopher, and one of the leading anti-imperialists of his time, wrote about Roosevelt that he “gushes over war as the ideal condition of human society, for the manly strenousness which it involves, and treats peace as a condition of blubberlike and swollen ignobility, fit only for huckstering weaklings, dwelling in gray twilight and heedless of the higher life…”
by David Burn | May 29, 2004 | Digital culture
Wired is running an interesting piece on Nick Denton, the publisher of Gawker, Gizmodo, Fleshbot, and Wonkette. Of the four, Wonkette strikes me as most entertaining. Denton found Nebraska native, Ana Marie Cox, a.k.a. The Antic Muse, a self-described “failed journalist” to tackle the gossip beat in Washington, D.C.
Cox seems up to the task, as Wonkette recently outed Jessica Cutler, a Capitol Hill vixen and author of the now defunt blog, Washingtonienne. Cutler used the blog to detail her sexual conquests. She provided lurid notes on the daily shuffling of her deck of men, including the kinky acts she would sometimes perform for them for money. Upon being discovered, she was, needless to say, dismissed from her Senate job for “improper use of Congressional computers.”
Cox and Cutler (on right) looking suspicious, maybe even scandalous.
by David Burn | May 28, 2004 | The Environment
Conscientous livestock producer, Niman Ranch, started out in Marin County, north of San Francisco, and now twenty years later is a luxury meat brand with producers in several states including Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska. The brand now has a following among top-tier chefs and discriminating consumers nationwide. Even Chipotle, the gourmet burrito chain with McDonalds backing, is in on it. They serve Niman Ranch shredded pork and I can attest it is delicious.
Dennis Olson of Alexis, IL raises 700 hogs a year and has been a Niman Rancher since 1999.
by David Burn | May 28, 2004 | Music
Fareed Haque Group
FHG took the stage to an attentive, maybe somewhat surprised gathering, on Friday night in this recently renovated Roger’s Park room–The Morseland–a supper club run by our friends Matt and Gregory. The Morseland’s tagline is “Good eats. Nice beats.” With Fareed and his posse in the house, including DJ Cappo, the “nice beats” part went without question (the food’s good too). Fareed’s main gig, Garaj Mahal, is also well worth seeing live, but there’s something more pure and more satisfying about his side project. In any case, I like that Fareed is a Chicagoan and that we have the ability to see him perform in both of his bands on a semi-regular basis.
by David Burn | May 26, 2004 | Literature, Politics
One of the great things about Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States is the cast of characters he introduces to the reader. Characters that are in many cases unique voices and “true American heroes.” Emma Goldman is one such character deserving of a closer look and frequent mention. More frequent than Madonna, for instance.
An excerpt from the Emma Goldman papers: When President William McKinley was shot in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz, the police immediately tried to implicate Goldman, noting that Czolgosz had recently attended one of her lectures in Cleveland. Consequently Goldman and other anarchists were arrested. Eventually, though, disappointed by the lack of evidence against her, the authorities were forced to order Goldman’s release. Goldman temporarily withdrew from public life to avoid harassment. When she re- emerged she entered one of her most politically active periods, speaking around the country, writing on a wide range of topics, and editing her free-spirited journal, Mother Earth from 1906 to 1917. Many, however, remained convinced that she was a dangerous killer, thanks in large part to the anti- anarchist agitation of the press.
Emma’s mugshots from 1901.
by David Burn | May 24, 2004 | Advertising
According to New York Press, the city’s self-proclaimed “premier alternative newspaper,” Donny Deutsch is one of New York’s most loathsome characters.
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Donny Deutsch
Ad Man
DEUTSCH REPRESENTS THE latest trend in that most loathsome of New York traditions: the selling of adolescent greed, egomania and narcissism as charisma and depth of character. The chief of David Deutsch Associates (sic.) says he only hires “Jews, chicks and fags,” and is known for tearing off his shirt during office hours and saying—without irony—things like, “I can kick the ass of any CEO in advertising!” Think Steven Seagal meets Charlotte Beers. The “Elvis of Advertising” has been dabbling with a CNBC talk show and even told New York magazine that he’d consider running for mayor. Qualifications: good at selling shit, does lots of pushups. Look out, Bloomie.
by David Burn | May 23, 2004 | Advertising
Naomi Klein, Canadian journalist and author, caught my attention with her forthright reporting from Iraq. Which led me to her book-length anti-capitalist critique, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, a work I find perversely fascinating, given my occupation as a corporate scribe. Ironically, the No Logo Web site leverages the No Logo brand quite well.
by David Burn | May 23, 2004 | Chicago, Literature
Chicago native, author and organizer, William Upski Wimsatt, is one of the more high profile d.i.y. advocates working today. His books, Bomb the Suburbs and No More Prisons are underground sensations.
by David Burn | May 23, 2004 | Politics
Craig Unger’s House of Bush, House of Saud begins with a single question: How is it that two days after September 11, 2001, even as American air traffic was tightly restricted, a Saudi billionaire socialized in the White House with President George W. Bush as 140 Saudi citizens, many immediate kin to Osama Bin Laden, were permitted to return to their country?
by David Burn | May 22, 2004 | Advertising, Politics
Sticker Nation of Ashville, NC is offering a quality adhesive product with phrasing of your chosing at a very reasonable price.
