Capture the Moment: On the uses and misuses of photojournalism. “This may be a useful time to reconsider our relationship to

photojournalism. For it is a relationship that is increasingly disturbed

and yet absolutely key to our understanding of, and bewilderment

about, the world outside our selves (and possibly, therefore, about our

inner selves as well). In our image-glutted culture, our connection to

photographs—and especially to those that record atrocities, wars,

and other manmade disasters—resembles a bad but inescapable

marriage in which one unhappy partner distrusts yet depends upon

the other. (As in so many unhappy marriages, there is a convenient

third party—in this case, the exploitative photojournalist—to blame.)” Boston Review

The Culture War Against Kids: “The culture war is not just phony, but reactionary. It commodifies powerless groups

to project a fearsome image of constantly escalating menace, suppresses discussion

of real social inequalities, and promotes repressive government solutions. Youth are

the most convenient population upon which to project damage, keeping the debate

safely away from questioning adult values and pleasures that form the real

influences on youths. In short, the culture war is not about changing genuine

American social ills such as high rates of child poverty, domestic violence, and

family disarray, but fomenting an endless series of moral panics that obstruct social

change.” A convoluted argument, unconvincingly argued, that fear of youth is fabricated. AlterNet

Fires Believed Set as Protest Against Genetic Engineering. A research laboratory at the University of Washington and several buildings at an Oregon tree nursery went up in flames, apparently simultaneously overnight Sunday night. Authorities cited “strong indications” that responsibility lay with a loosely knit radical environmental network opposing genetic modification of trees. ELF, the Earth Liberation Front, has claimed responsibility for similar acts in the past, including the celebrated torching of an Aspen CO ski resort, and its initials were spray-painted at the site of the fire in Oregon. It is unclear if there is an organizational core of ELF or if unrelated eco-radicals operate under its banner.

The Washington fire may have destroyed a significant portion of the world’s population of at least one rare plant painstakingly raised from tissue cluture at the lab. Some environmental groups have supported genetic modification of trees, reasoning that augmentation of yields from commercial tree farms will reduce pressure to log old-growth forests. However, could the alterations come to harm native forests by escaping and dominating wild types? New York Times

Senator From Vermont Says He Is Leaving G.O.P.. A Democratic majority looms as James Jeffords jumps ship, either to the Democrats or independent status. Jeffords, a moderate who often voted with the Democrats and opposed Li’l George’s tax cut proposal, was apparently offered strong, but unspecified, inducements by Dems. and Repubs. to convince him to go or stay. He’s going, and whether to the Dems. or independent, the Republicans lose their ascendency and their committee chairmanships in the Senate, and bye bye, Trent Lott. Now some of the heat is off frail 98-year-old Strom Thurmond to hang on as long as he can. New York Times

Genetically-Modified Food Spoof and NY Times Reefer Madness — AlterNet media commentary.

India: Dealing With the Dead. The Zoroastrian tradition of leaving bodies unburied to decompose and be consumed by vultures is threatened by a decline in the scavenging birds. High-tech to the rescue, with ritualistic trials of ozone generators to mask the smell (which has been offending upscale neighbors of the Zoroastrian community) and solar reflectors to hasten decomposition. Wired

Rejection of Sharon’s truce proposal. ‘Palestinians lost no time in branding Sharon’s truce

proposal a “trick” designed to divert international

criticism of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.

They said calm can only be restored after Israel halts

settlement construction.

Israel’s truce offer came a day after an international

commission, headed by former U.S. Sen. George

Mitchell, published its recommendations [overview here from CNN] for ending eight

months of fighting and restarting peace talks.’ MSNBC

Japan scientists find possible Alzheimer’s cure: “Ikuo Nishimoto, a professor of

pharmacology and neurosciences at

Keio University in Tokyo, said on

Tuesday his team has discovered a protein, which they have named humanin,

that can stop the death of brain cells that occurs in Alzheimer’s patients.” Years of testing lie ahead before approval for clinical use, of course… CNN

Bush Talks With Dalai Lama Seen by China as 2d Jab in Eye: ‘It is just “a

coincidence,” of course, that President

Bush will have a well publicized “private

meeting” with the Dalai Lama on, of all

days, May 23.

The meeting was condemned today by Chinese officials who have spent the last

week extolling May 23 as an important anniversary in the “liberation” of Tibet.

They have also been shrilly denouncing the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan

leader, as a wicked proponent of serfdom and a “scum” who wants to split the

motherland.’ New York Times [Finally, the Court Jester and I are on the same side of an issue, although of course not nearly for the same reasons…]

Clay Idols – At home with Wallace and Gromit Slate