Dear Othergroup,
I know that some of you feel that there is little difference between John Kerry and George Bush, and may decide not to vote on Tuesday because of that. I write to urge you to reconsider and cast your vote for John Kerry.
There are many reasons to support John Kerry, but the most important reason is because George Bush took us to war against a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, and now over 1,000 Americans and up to 100,000 Iraqis are dead, 8,000 Americans are wounded (lord knows how many Iraqis are wounded), all for no reason, and with no end in sight. Our avowed enemy, Osama bin Laden, remains free. And George Bush sees nothing wrong with any of this.
Bush has decimated our standing in the international community; he has reversed our progress on the environment; he has taken a $3 trillion surplus and created a comparable deficit; he has alienated much of the scientific community by ignoring their recommendations on issues ranging from global warming to stem cell research; he endorses the US production of nuclear weapons; he has undermined our civil liberties, holding thousands of people prisoner without recourse to fair trials; he has mocked the Geneva Conventions, which protect our soldiers as much as any others; and he has created a climate that no longer welcomes immigration, which has fed our nation creatively and intellectually since its founding. Since our invasion of Afghanistan, their opium production has increased fourfold, and all over the mideast, potential terrorists are recruited with ease.
I apologize if I sound shrill, but this is the state of things today. We cannot allow George Bush to remain president. His argument that we need a consistent leader for the troops is unfounded -- our troops are professionals who will obey their commander in chief, whoever that is. John Kerry is intelligent, serious, and by virtue of his military, activist, legal and legislative experience, much more qualified to be President.
Perhaps you've heard the phrase, "the perfect is the enemy of the good." We may not have a perfect candidate, but we do have a real option between someone who is evil, and someone who is good... or at least good enough.
Thank you for your consideration. Your vote for John Kerry on Tuesday is of the utmost importance.
Regards, Barbara Koenen
Kevin, and anyone else who may be wondering, Pronunciation is, I think, something like: Tay-Ching Huh-Sigh - though with less space between the huh and sigh that my shitty stab at phonetics might imply. He also goes by Sam Hsieh - so at least there is no confusion about how to say that first name.
My understanding of the last piece was not just that he wasn't making art, but
that he was somehow totally withdrawing from the art world for some immensely
long period of time. But I could easily be wrong about the details of that
piece - I should do a Google search. You might want to look up info on his work
in High Performance magazine back issues. Oh how I miss High Performance - they
did such wonderful in depth interviews which serve as great points of reference
- something art mags are almost never useful for anymore. I have an issue with
a great interview with Hsieh and Linda Montano the about year-long piece they
did together. I can try to find the month/year for you if you like. In Chicago,
SAIC's library probably has all of the back issues of High Performance.
Columbia might have 'em all too.
Marc
Kevin Hamilton wrote:
Barb,
It's too late to get into this at length, but...
1) You are preaching to the choir here. Your lungs (or fingertips) are better put to use somewhere else.
2) Your arguments are well articulated rehashing of democratic stump speeches. If there was an undecided or Bush supporter on this list (which is unlikely), he'd probably be intelligent and a peer. He would have already heard all this and rejected it. In order to sway an intelligent peer, you must start with his argument and work from there. Why would an intelligent person support someone you feel is evil? Until you can answer that question your argument is ineffective. Until you can understand your enemy, you can not defeat him.
3) I think your real intention of posting here is to get us to the poles because you assume we will do the right thing once there. If that is in fact the case, then a more effective argument might have been "There are many reasons to support John Kerry, but the most important reason is" if you don't vote, if you don't get your ass to the poles, then we will lose.
Curt Alan Conklin Independent Election Judge 31st Precinct 32nd Ward
Mark your calender:
I have an opening at the Hyde Park Art Center Friday November 12th 5-7ish.
High performance did kick ass. I miss New Art Examiner too, all the magazines depress me now.
At 11:56 PM 10/31/2004, you wrote:
I plan on voting, but what if it's cold and rainy like it is today? My poling place is like 2 blocks away and there will be annoying people outside trying to get me to change my mind. Should I still make the effort?
Marc
Curt Alan Conklin wrote:
LOL
Curt Alan Conklin H: 773.782.0659 C: 773.343.2348 F: 425.790.9739 calanc at yahoo.com curt at curtconklin.com 1942 N. Wolcott Ave. Chicago IL 60622
If you take everything lightly you can carry more stuff.
Also, I might add... while I have already made this public knowledge to many, tomorrow is my birthday - a birthday which has essentially been ruined by the extreme anxiety I have about the election. While I think that Kerry is about the lamest and most pathetic piece of shit candidate we could have hoped for as an alternate to Bush, I will take it as an unforgivable personal insult if anyone I know votes for Bush on my birthday.
Remember too that no matter what happens on November 2nd, there is a rally at Federal Plaza at 5 PM on November 3rd to protest our continued occupation in Iraq. This happens no matter which loser wins or steels the election again tomorrow. After that I'm going to see the Peter Brotzmann Tentet small groups at the Empty Bottle, but you could also go see great shows by ICP at the Hot House or Minimokoto at the Subterranean. Nov. 3rd is an amazing night for music in Chicago. The good thing about all of these shows is that they feature people from other countries performing - which allows us a way of momentarily bypassing the horror, sadness and stupidity of our current predicament by immersing ourselves in vital art from other cultures that Bush would probably wage war with in a second if he could find even the most irrelevant reason to do so.
Marc
Curt Alan Conklin wrote:
I feel like a pagan. /jno
Do pagans normally feel like crap?
jno wrote:
Might I suggest once again the notion of an armed artist militia?
I will gladly provide weapons training courses if someone has the space.
At 09:50 AM 11/3/2004, you wrote:
I can train hand to hand combat.....Is Jim Crow coming back?
Just wait until a few supreme court appointments, we'll be back in the 40's
At 10:39 AM 11/3/2004, you wrote:
Remember that this is happening later today. Go and vent!!
Stop the War End the Occupations
A candlelight rally will be held on Wednesday, November 3rd at 5:00 pm at the Federal Building, 220 S. Dearborn, Chicago.
No matter who wins the election, the illegal and unjust war against Iraq and the occupations of Afghanistan and Palestine must end. We demand that U.S. troops be withdrawn from Iraq. Thousands have already died in a war that cannot be won. Join us to tell the President, we want peace and justice here and around the world.
I hate my fellow Americans.
-------------------------------------
A heart that's full up like a landfill A job that slowly kills you Bruises that won't heal
You look so tired and unhappy Bring down the government They don't, they don't speak for us I'll take a quiet life A handshake of carbon monoxide
No alarms and no surprises Silent, silent This is my final fit, my final bellyache with No alarms and no surprises please Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden No alarms and no surprises please (let me out of here)
Radiohead, "No Surprises"
I have to say I am filled with dread and concern about the hate filled direction this country is going. The Christian right gains more power, the separation of church and state erodes, we rationalize "pre-emptive war". Economic policies aside, which although I don't agree with all of them I can see the point in, are people so blind that they see abortion and gay marriage as issues worthy of selecting a president over? Do people think the war is going well? I don't get it.
I don't love Kerry either, but I am surprised Bush won. I think we are on our way to a theocracy an even more politicized Supreme Court which will no longer be able to perform their duties an neutral arbiters of justice. I think segregation and oppression of minorities, women and homosexuals is going to be on the upswing. It is the era of the stupid southern white religious fanatic. Our very own Taliban.
I hate to sound like a reactionary liberal but I really see dark days on the horizon. I think this whole anti-intellectual, God will guide us, line of rhetoric that is becoming so popular stands to cut heavily into civil liberties and intellectual freedom. Its a good thing the assault weapons ban is off because I think the time has come for anyone who doesn't think the ten commandments should be etched into the blackboards of schools, or that Darwin had a point, or been open minded about people different than they (and yes I know I am judging conservatives, but I don't see the kind of hatred from the left and sense of divine entitlement that I see from the right) ought to run out to buy a whole lot of them and stock up on ammo.We may need it.
I think a large portion of the population truly believes that stem-cell research will lead to the cloning of a super-race of homosexuals that will marry each other and cause incest by adopting children who don't know who their siblings are. Therefore, they had no choice but to vote for Bush. He will protect them (and no one else).
Oh yeah, and what's with only 10% of the 18-24 year olds voting? Do they have coherent arguments for why they didn't vote, or were they just too busy fucking with their picture phones and iPods? Or did Eminem not release his anti-Bush song early enough to reach them in time?
Marc
On Wed, 3 Nov 2004, Kathryn Born wrote:
I cant fathom their stupidity. Ok, so you dont change horses in midstream, but this is a torrent over rapids. /jno
Those I work with in that age group might not have helped much. Down here in Urbana we've got 20-year-old white boys proudly proclaiming Chief Illiniwek as their rightful and honored ancestor.
I haven't read Thomas Frank's latest book, but I imagine he must have something to say about the connection between the celebration of consumption and the reduction of political agency to mindless faith in a candidate as a "good man," and therefore worthy of leading the planet (into hell).
I'm listening to Kenny G on WFMU today, broadcasting W's speech as part of a mix of screams and howls.
Kevin
OG,
Thanks for posting about the rally on fed plaza, Marc.
Alright, I think this sucks. This polarization thing that everyone keeps talking about everywhere is fricken serious. I mean, while I love to see Michael Moore say things in movies that I never get to see on tv or in the mainstream media, and while I NEED my radical politics, something has to change when it gets this hot. Now I've been experimenting with proaganda a lot lately myself, but with Moore and the other lefty splatter films, I have to ask, wasn't there a feeling of apprehension under your anger? Where is this taking me?
Have you ever seen when people hydroplane over open water on snowmobiles?
How long can we indulge in that?
Indeed, the art world is about indulgence. It is a space of privilege, but I am not talking about rich people and arty young hipsters sipping free wine at openings, as enjoyable as that was for a season or two. This is a field where it is possible to indulge in complex and nuanced thought, reflection, critique, whether or not it is ever articulate or whether anyone ever evens tries to verbalize it (it barely ever is, and barely anyone ever does), the field is here, and it's vital. Lots of artists, at this very moment, are concentrating their efforts, indulging, not in reinforcing the polarities, but illuminating the the gray areas, the variegations, the connections and the common desires of the poles. Maybe not trying to unify, but to make maps and aid in navigation. Uh, I can't wait to see what else they come up with.
Maybe to tie that abstract foray into something some people might be able to relate to, did anybody see John Waters' newest movie? A Dirty Shame? Well I saw it a couple weeks ago and I was very disappointed. I have to say I'm rethinking it today, in the midst of all this, like, talk about polarization. Its set in a Baltimore neighborhood where the sex addicts and the prudish folks are organizing against each other for control of the neighborhood, it's got all kinds of filthy jokes about oral sex, butt fucking, and all that great, hilarious stuff. Lets just say there is a sort of transcendence in the end. Is that what I am talking about above? Well, the transcendence thing seems like bad writing to me, but the whole allegorical address of what seem like fundamental differences really appeals to me.
A'ight then, Mike
Mike,
1) John Waters has always reveled in bad writing. 2) Civil War, it's been awhile since we had one, perhaps it is due 3) The problem with the state of politics is that the hard right has worked faith into the fabirc of their politics, it is hard to reason with someone who believes their mandate is from God. Until we stop rushing toward theocracy no meaningful dialog is possible. It is no coincidence that 11 states had votes on constitutional amendments against gay marriage on the ballot. This issue turned out the religious right in droves. Brilliant strategic move. 4) We should find (with pitchforks and torches) Karl Rove and do mean things to him.
R
At 04:10 PM 11/3/2004, you wrote:
There was an increase in younger people voting, but the 17% reported is17% of the entire people who voted, which remains the same proportion as in 2000 since hicks and rednecks of all ages apparently came out in droves to vote for this fascist fucker.
MB
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Civil war in not a good idea since the facists who voted for him have all the guns. I think our best hope is cloning the super-powered gay couple. Bush won not because of the gay marriage ban, but because people feel "safe" with this smirking ass hole in the White House lying to them. Bush turned the "bully pulpit" into the real deal, scaring people to vote for him. The gay marriage ban really only affected the backwards states that would have gone to Bush anyway, all except Michigan. The only other option is to give Florida back to Spain (if they'll take it), Texas the southwest to Mexico, and any other redneck state out West we should drive out the inhabitants, place them into reservations, and give the land back to Native Americans.
The only consolation is that this gives us time to impeach him.
And what's up with Indiana declaring their choice before most Eastern states do? I know they don't observe daylight savings time, but since when did Hoosiers have that many toes and fingers to count on that quickly?
Incidentally, I saw John Kass in the Billy Goat the night of the election. I had some not-so-polite things to say to him since he supports Bush. He said that we (the table of people I was sitting with) inspired todays column. I was surprised the prick didn't gloat. The sad part was that in the Billy Goat, which is right below the Tribune building, they were watching Fox. Are Fox and the Tribune companies owned by the same dictator?
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I would like to show my graditude to all the idiots and morons who supported Nader 4 years ago, allowing Bush to win. Now we're getting 8 years of Bush. What a deal. Thanks.
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4) We should find (with pitchforks and torches) Karl Rove and do mean things to him. :
Can I have first dibs on Rummy and Cheney?
But seriously the really frightening thing is that we not only still have Bush, but the whole neo-con cabal.
I heard this quote for the first time on NPR today (a lot of you probably did as well, but it's worth repeating):
Katherine Chial
Normally I don't think it's nice to wish bad health on people, but isn't it at least within the realm of possibility that Cheney's weak heart or Bush's cocaine scarred brain could give out soon? Do Rumsfeld or Ashcroft have any interesting health problems we could be optimistic about?
It is at times like these that I return to the oeuvre of Michigan's gone but not forgotten saviors of righteous punk hatred - The Crucifucks:
And think of it this way - we'll have eight years of total shit on our hands, but by the first day after the inauguration, we are over the hump and it will be more than half way over. If anyone has a time machine that can take me into the future however, please put me in it. But make sure there aren't any flies trapped in there. I don't want to come out all recombobulated like the freakazoid in Cronenberg's Fly adaptation.
Thanks to those who went to the march tonight. For a while it was a pretty good feeling with a couple thousand marching through the streets. It provided a pretty good release and at least slowed some traffic and gave the police horsies a little cool air.
Oh yeah, and don't blame the Nader voters from 2000 - blame the Democratic party for finding some of the lamest and most conservative possible candidates ever. Did you already forget potential our VP Joe Leiberman, who wanted to save our moral fabric by regulating video games and scary movies? These people want to crush even our fantasies. Can't we at least have those?! Marc
Sorry, but Nader and his former and current supporters are on my eternal shit-list.
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Well if there is one thing that these elections and our current government entitle us to, it is the right, privilege, and pleasure of creating the longest shit-lists in American history. I know that all of the paper in my apartment, even if I tore up every book I own, still might not be quite long enough. Maybe if I also wrote on the insides of all my record sleeves and put them together that would begin to provide enough paper and I could get somewhere.
Marc
Michael Beyer wrote: "Sorry, but Nader and his former and current supporters are on my eternal shit-list."
Michael wrote: The gay marriage ban really only affected the backwards states that would have gone to Bush anyway, all except Michigan.
This is SO wrong....I'm currently stuck in the hellhole state of Ohio, my birth state, I'm sad to say today, and gay maariage was indeed on the Ohio ballot. This was a brilliant strategy by the facsists to get the theocracy vote out.
One hopeful note....the citizens of city of Cincinnati voted to repeal a blatantly discriminatory law denying gays and lesbians "equal rights"
but even with that little bright spot, we're still fucked.
On Wed, 3 Nov 2004, K Chial wrote:
[snipped]
That blew my mind!
What pisses me off is that when we finally have the liberal vs. conservative civil war that is most definitely looming on the horizon, we are going to get stuck up here in the northern states and those idiots are going to get the good weather.
That's a good point - but when they come up here and start getting pelted with snowballs with rocks hidden inside them, they won't know what to do! And just wait til they drive their covered wagons here in the Winter and try parking in a spot that someone else shoveled out because they are ignorant of the rules....
JFIFO at aol.com wrote: What pisses me off is that when we finally have the liberal vs. conservative civil war that is most definitely looming on the horizon, we are going to get stuck up here in the northern states and those idiots are going to get the good weather.
Oh yeah.
Hmmm. Sounds bloody. I choose New Zealand (or somewhere).
I was hoping for an ammendment against all marriage.
Mike
On Wednesday, November 3, 2004, at 06:22 PM, Michael Beyer wrote: "I would like to show my gratitude to all the idiots and morons who supported Nader....
While you're at it, go ahead and thank the democratic party, who in eight years still couldn't manage to find a candidate who could speak english well enough to ARTICULATE A FUCKING IDEA! George Bush is the worst president this country's had in a century, his administration has made a complete mess of everything that it's involved itself in, and it's lied continuously and outrageously to the american people, yet somehow in all these years and several election campaigns, the democrats couldn't seem to find anyone smart enough to call the ass-hole out on what he's done! Instead they leave it to an easily dismissible cartoon character like Michael Moore. At least Nader was able and willing to speak to the real issues like an intelligent human being.
Dave S.
In my mind Nader's problem is that he has let his ego get in the way of his typically clearheaded thinking on issues benefit consumer and the proverbial "little guy".
At 07:27 AM 11/4/2004, you wrote:
Richard Holland wrote: "In my mind Nader's problem is that he has let his ego get in the way of his typically clearheaded thinking on issues benefit consumer and the proverbial "little guy"."
I think that's a fair point. I think Kerry's problem is that he let his ego get in the way of realizing that being wealthy beyond human comprehension does not guarantee that there was anything even remotely compelling about him as a candidate for President. For a guy who was involved in Vietnam Veterans Against the War - a group notoriously against U.S. Imperialism, his turn on a dime "We will win the war in Iraq" spiel couldn't have been more disappointing.
At least we and our neighbors did well; Obama and Bean are glimmers of hope. And on the TV maps Illinois was a hopeful dangle of blue.
But as to the maps - whether national or the few county charts I saw of Ohio and Iowa, it seems it was the civilized parts of the country and the university outposts that went blue. The smart people were still outnumbered by ignorant superstitious folk led by the puppets of the corporations with their bogeymen of terrorists and queers and clones and aborted babies.
Ignorance and superstition spread easily, especially since it is in our masters interest that they do. A lot of people on OG are educators and you guys are the front line of defense. I ve seen a lot of art and theatre that is just not thought through expressions from the heart or gut or soul or other organ than the rational part of the brain. For years I blamed this on SAIC and its optional critique policy, but I ve seen work that evinces lack of critical thinking from a lot of schools.
Of course, art doesn t matter. It is the one place where it safe to enjoy flights of fantasy, leaps of logic, personal purging, even outright insanity. It is also the place to learn to think, to invent a problem and find a solution, to look at a thing and figure out what it is and why it exists. The problem is not only that these things usually make better art with some sort of editor/director/superego that artists are not developing, but that sloppy thinking spreads like kudzu; "I m an Artist and this is my unquestionable vision" is very close to "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." or not caring why you think you have to have that thing with the big ad campaign.
Teach your students to think while you still can, or next time Alan Keyes won t be quite so funny.
bulka
On Thu, 4 Nov 2004, Dave Stull wrote:
It also again demonstrates how needy people are for authority. And a liberal attitude will never do -- liberals are forever reconsidereing their base, evaluating alternatives, and can never make up their minds.
This country divides up between those who count on authority and need not ask any additional questions, and those who are still considering the alternatives.. the "wishy-washy".
What is the alternative label to "Liberal" which could be put in apposition to "conservative" and speak from a solid base of conviction?
/jno
jno wrote: "What is the alternative label to "Liberal" which could be put in
apposition to "conservative" and speak from a solid base of conviction?"
Liberals should just keep saying they are resolute. Don't even worry if you don't know what it means. Just keep saying that. It worked for Dummy.
The term "liberal" should be replaced with "progressive" which would imply that everyone else is "regressive".
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(Sorry, OG this message has nothing to do with the subject line, but I have recieved error messages everytime I try to post a new subject so..)
Dear Othergroup:
A friend and fellow artist and I are starting an organization in our neighborhood to help create affordable housing opportunities. I've live in the St Ben's/North Center/Roscoe Village area and have two children in the neighborhood public school. Since living here I've seen rents, property values and taxes skyrocket because it's in the city, it's economically and racially diverse, we have a great public school and there is a real sense of community. However, people and families are getting pushed out and many of the things which make it a great community are disappearing. Of course this is not a new problem, nor singular to our neighborhood; but we'd like to try and do something nevertheless.
We are hosting a show/party Friday, Dec. 3rd at my friend Julie's home (which will be empty of furniture at the time) in an effort to raise money and garner interest in this cause. This will not be curated and we are accepting donations of widely divergent types of work, so this may not be a venue you are interested in participating in. However, I thought I'd put it out there anyhow on the off chance that someone on othergroup might be interested. We're looking for donations of artwork to be sold, projects such as installations, videos or performances for the evening of the event itself or if you're interested in attending the event. I can be reached at:
chial at sbcglobal.net
We're having a meeting 11/15 at 7 pm, 1800 W Cornelia 205-B-bring artwork or ideas to donate.
Thanks for reading through this if you made it this far!
On Fri, 5 Nov 2004, K Chial wrote:
It is because you left off the password required on the Subject line. See [http://othergroup.net/about.php] which reads:
- All e-mails require a password on the Subject line;
- Non-text attachments to e-mails are deleted;
- E-mail exceeding 16K will not be accepted.
Of course _nowhere_ does it say what that password is. It was, however, sent to you when you signed up. And I won't mention it here, since this is a public document.
BTW, this simple system has kept the site entirely free of spam (except for some occassional 'housing' emails) (kidding). But seriously - I get up to 30 a day at other 'public' locations -- but this site has gotten a total of 5 pieces in the course of two years, all of which were refused with a note (same as what _you_ got) reading "email refused, password required".
That really seems to work.
HTH /jno
My own spam e-mail
I have a solo exhibition "Of change" opening at the Hyde Park Art Center this friday from 5-7 p.m. The show runs until December 15th
Hyde Park Art Center 5307 S. Hyde Park Blvd. (Del Prado Apartment Bldg.) Chicago, IL 60615
Phone: 773-324-5520 Fax: 773-324-6641
Hi Jno
Thanks for pointing out my error, and sorry for forgetting the procedure!
I promise to get it right next time!
Katherine
On Tue, 9 Nov 2004, K Chial wrote:
It is real easy to forget because it happens automatically when people respond and fail to change the "Subject:" line. The "Subject:" line is cleaned up for the archive, btw, so nothing shows publically.
What could still happen is for a spammer to sign up. But why bother to send 80 emails when you could send 10,000,000 in the same time as it takes to sign up? And we do have a blacklist, and could close auto-subscription.
/jno
Hear a radio ad for People's Energy, "Hints for saving money on heating bills as follows:"
OK, you all have fireplace flues? You-all have fireplaces? You-all have homes? Certainly you have radios and listen to intellectually challenging rock radio?
Cool! I will now turn down the thermostat to 60 degrees below zero Farenheit. That should save 100 percent. Or, is that Celcius? I may need to pay them. I know some of you dont have thermostats, but you could talk to your landlords.
HTH /jno