America is notorious for its lack of public restrooms. Unlike Europe, however, it is extremely uncommon to find people relieving themselves in public places. For lack of a more polite way of putting it, Americans simply hold it in. Until they get home, that is. (More…)
Without a doubt, this period of global unrest is the most mediated in history—and only due to the rise of a global digital grassroots citizens media movement. Now that virtually every mobile phone is a camera, and most camcorders have become affordable, every protest seems to have its own crew filming itself. (More…)
What do we do when we reach the end of things? What does cinema look like, and how do we respond when we know the end is here? If you look at my list of favorite films of 2011, you’ll get some ideas. Split between films by Europeans like Lars Von Trier, Béla Tarr and Pedro Almódovar and American filmmakers such as Jeff Nichols and Spencer Susser, my favorite films share an apocalyptic vision of the world (More…)
You never know what you’re going to find when you shoot photos in the dark. The little cluster of houses is visible from Interstate 10. They look like they’ve been abandoned for decades. Their collapsing roofs blend with the scrub and dirt of the desert, and the place looks like it’s completely outside of time. (More…)
It’s a matter of trust. So went the logic of Monday’s announcement by Canada’s immigration minister, that the government would ban the wearing of niqab, or burqas, when veil-wearing Muslim women take Canadian citizenship. Judges have to be certain they know who they’re dealing with when awarding such privileges, Minister Jason Kenney informed The Guardian. (More…)
When word began to circulate that Fox Business Network host Eric Bolling had criticized The Muppets for promoting anti-capitalist values, many people were incredulous. Social media sites were soon awash with the type of satire popularized by The Daily Show. But this dismissive response obscured the fact that he was being mocked for doing what many progressives have advocated for decades: taking popular culture seriously. (More…)
“Sans papiers.” For European advocates of multiculturalism and social justice, few terms have as much political significance as this piece of graffiti testifies, in Brussels’ Matongé neighborhood. French for “without papers,” the designation was originally coined in reference to illegal immigrants to France, who number up to 400,000, according to The Guardian. (More…)
Europe didn’t need Anders Breivik to know that xenophobia has grown to epidemic proportions. Sample graffiti in any metro area, and you’ll find more hate speech than anything else. Despite its leftist politics, Turin, for example plays host to amongst the most racist tagging in Italy. Note the use of a Swastika, in the place of an S, in the word “Islam.” (More…)
Don’t let reports about his inevitable return fool you. No matter how powerful Silvio Berlusconi remains, a vast number of Italians would prefer he disappear, forever. Whether they can actually get rid of him is another story. (More…)
Occupy Wall Street has demonstrated that the late Gil-Scot Heron’s 1970 assertion, “the revolution will not be televised,” has been rendered a cliché. Indeed, this revolution is highly televised, and not just live 24/7 on Global Revolution. (More…)
Queer exhibitions are not just art shows, but platforms for furthering democracy. They not only foster visibility and equality, but foreground complex images which society conceals from itself. As contemporary art theorists Lois Keidan and Lois Weaver put it, art performs human rights. (More…)
They sound like neocons. Promoting Israel, criticizing Islam, decrying the lack of democracy in Iran. In reality leftist radicals, ANTIFA (Anti-Fascist Action) aren’t the most orthodox progressives. All the same, it’d be difficult to argue that they weren’t fellow travelers, either. Blame it on a fondness for appropriating imagery from Hollywood films, and comic books, like this sticker’s use of a scene from Marjane Satrapi’s award-winning Persepolis.