I will be interested to see how this affects the resistance to the US occupation of Iraq. Some will probably argue that this will make things easier for the US, but I think the opposite may happen. Many articles have cited the fact that some people fear driving the US out of Iraq because that would allow Saddam Hussein to return to power.

Now that he is captured, are those people more likely to attack the US to get it out? Maybe their fear of Saddam Hussein was the only thing keeping the lid on a lot of the hostility.

This isn’t to say I’m not glad he was captured, and certainly that he was captured rather than killed. He was an evil man, even if I don’t think that justified an unprovoked attack by our country. I can’t imagine how our government can allow a real public trial for him. Are they going to allow his defense to bring up things like the fact we provided satellite intelligence to him when he was gassing Iranians and others during the Iraq/Iraq war, or that Rumsfeld was happy to meet with him during that time? I doubt it.

__

For a more in-depth take on this, see Whiskey Bar’s post.

Amazing! For your listening pleasure, the Schoenberg Center provides a list of all compositions by Schoenberg, along with streaming recordings of all of them!

what are those young men doing?

Spotted in an article on CNN about New York tourism returning to pre-9/11 levels:

For adults, “the city that never sleeps” offers such attractions as guided night walks through Central Park — by foot or rickshaw cab — and private jazz tours, with club-hopping into the wee hours.

…

Central Park night crawlers are advised to bring along a flashlight, said guide Eric Stein, for a tour that includes “the darkest 37 acres” of the park — The Ramble, an almost untouched patch of Manhattan wildlife.

There is one more night of Swan Lake at Dance Theatre Workshop — Saturday the 13th at 7pm. We saw it tonight, and I highly recommend it. It’s a dance theatre work from the Von Krahl Theatre involving Estonian and Russian artists and plays off of the fact that totalitarian regimes have found the “high art” form of ballet a useful art form for their purposes. The music (by Sergei Zagny and recorded by NYYD), dancing, and design are all brilliant. It’s part of the Central Station series which features work from Central and Eastern Europe.

P.S. Not only were we there tonight, so was Mikhail Baryshnikov.

We just came back from buying work from “holiday sales” at White Box and Wallspace. Wallspace hasn’t updated their web site, but the hours are every day (even Sunday and Monday) 12-8pm through the 23rd.

From some of our White Box purchases:

Alejandro Diaz Wetback by Popular Demand, 2003 Ink/cardboard 9 1/4 × 12 1/2"

Carlos de Villasante Odalisque S.P., 1999 Ink/wallpaper 38 × 50″

We picked up a plush sculpture of a green helicopter titled Fluffy Green by Koji Shimizu at Wallspace, plus a CD from 1992 by Lisa Dilillo.</p>

Bush is unelectable.

__

What’s Google Bombing?

It’s always a good thing when a new art space opens. Tonight is the opening party for Gigantic Art Space in Tribeca, with a show called D Troit curated by Trevor Schoonmaker.

—

Update: That was certainly anti-climactic. We went down there, but there was a big badly-organized line that wasn’t moving, so we left. Not gigantic enough, apparently.

What I’m listening to as I work on code…

“No Hoes Bored” with DJ’s Sonny Ray, Decibel, and MC Long Division

on East Village Radio.

I agree with what she said:

To the Editor:

You quote a United States lieutenant colonel in Iraq as saying, “With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them” (“”http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/international/middleeast/07TACT.html?pagewanted=print&position=“>Tough New Tactics by U.S. Tighten Grip on Iraq Towns</a>,” front page, Dec. 7).

Have we become a country whose primary exports are violence and money?

ELIZABETH P. LOVE
Durham, N.C., Dec. 7, 2003

Also, read Road to Surfdom on our military attacking a union headquarters in Iraq. We’ll have no collective bargaining under our occupation! The Bush regime is keeping Saddam’s anti-organizing laws as it rewrites the Iraqi legal system.

__

While we’re on the subject of unions, Queerday gives us this story:

Calling their action “Queer Eye for Justice at H&M,” U.S. Representative and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, Gay & Lesbian Independent Democrats, UNITE union members and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists staged a protest at H&M’s busy Soho store in New York City, complete with a 20 foot inflatable skunk draped in a rainbow flag ascot. H&M, known for aggressively marketing to the gay community, was targeted for their anti-union contract. “The workers at H&M have made a brave decision to try to exercise their right to organize and bargain collectively,” Kucinich told the crowd. “Exercising this internationally recognized human right helps keep our democracy alive.”

I think Kucinich is pretty great.