ecopolis

posted by Trent himself in response to Apple’s rejection eMail of the new NIN app for iPhone:

…I’ll voice the same issue I had with Wal-Mart years ago, which is a matter of consistency and hypocrisy. Wal-Mart went on a rampage years ago insisting all music they carry be censored of all profanity and “clean” versions be made for them to carry. Bands (including Nirvana) tripped over themselves editing out words, changing album art, etc to meet Wal-Mart’s standards of decency – because Wal-Mart sells a lot of records. NIN refused, and you’ll notice a pretty empty NIN section at any Wal-Mart. My reasoning was this: I can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any “indecent” material for sale – but you could literally turn around 180 degrees from where the NIN record would be and purchase the film “Scarface” completely uncensored, or buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto where you can be rewarded for beating up prostitutes. How does that make sense? You can buy The Downward Fucking Spiral on iTunes, but you can’t allow an iPhone app that may have a song with a bad word somewhere in it. Geez, what if someone in the forum in our app says FUCK or CUNT? I suppose that also falls into indecent material. Hey Apple, I just got some SPAM about fucking hot asian teens THROUGH YOUR MAIL PROGRAM. I just saw two guys having explicit anal sex right there in Safari! On my iPhone!

Come on Apple, think your policies through and for fuck’s sake get your app approval scenario together.

and then

Everyone – let me be clear. I love Apple products and as goofy and out-of-touch as their app approval process / policy is, I will still use them because they work 1000X better than the competition. This is not a debate, it’s a fact. The iPhone is THE most elegant, modern smartphone at this point in time and it’s perfect for what we want to do with the NIN app – except for the ludicrous approval process, and that’s what I want to draw attention to.

Android is cool, but nobody has an Android phone. Blackberry is OK but the hardware is inconsistent and WinMo straight-up sucks balls. If Apple doesn’t get it together, we will most certainly make it available to the jailbreak community. I didn’t invest in this app to see it languish on the sidelines from an idiotic policy while this tour is in full swing.

Climate change is the symptoms of suffering on the planet. The plants, animals and human beings suffers because every day the balance of nature is sacrificed on the altars of the god of profit. Giuseppe Serravezza and Patrizio Mazza, coordinated by Tonino Girau, will lead us in the adventure of complex prevention and treatment of cancer, but also on the prospects opened up by the new local law. The talk is broadcast live on the Internet Wednesday, 11 March 2009 at 21, at www.oistros.it/lunapiena web – it is advisable to book the activities at lunapiena@oistros.it or email to skype contact casaoistros.

An official quote from AFP:

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) – China claimed success in its pre-Olympic battle against Beijing’s pollution, as strong winds helped

clear the thick smog that has hung over the Chinese capital this month.

Pollution levels have fallen by at least 20 pct since the first of a raft of short-term measures began at the beginning of July, Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau deputy director Du Shaozhong told reporters.

Despite visible signs of heavy smog that had pervaded Beijing in recent weeks and some branches of China’s state-run press highlighting the pollution problems, Du insisted there had been 25 days of “clean air” in July.

“We have seen comprehensive measures implemented already and we have seen that they have had comprehensive results,” he said.

Nevertheless, Du confirmed that further emergency measures were being planned if pollution was a concern during the Games, which start on Aug 8.

and a declaration by Australian Olympic Committe:

Australian Olympic officials have told athletes they can withdraw from events in Beijing with no repercussions if they are concerned about pollution levels, it was reported Tuesday.

Australia’s deputy head of mission Peter Montgomery said athletes would not be forced to compete, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Montgomery emphasised that he expected the country’s 433 team members would choose to compete but any decision not to would be respected.

“It is extremely unlikely an athlete will not compete, most athletes train for 10 years for this moment,” Montgomery said.

“For us, the athletes’ attitude to the event is paramount. If they don’t want to compete, that is fine. They will be under absolutely no pressure to compete if they feel uneasy or don’t want to compete.”

Nevertheless, Du confirmed that further emergency measures were being planned if pollution was a concern during the Games, which start on August 8.

“If we still don’t have ideal air quality for the Games, we will take more measures, and they will be measures that are similar to what has already been taken but to a higher degree.”

and here a report and a video by Wall Street Journal about pollution in China.

These are the only images of the 6 terrorists accused of realizing 9/11.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Walid bin Attash

Mustafa al Hawsawi

Mohammed Al-Qahtani

Ramzi Binalshibh

Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali

Il Consiglio dei Ministri ha approvato il DDL presentato in agosto che obbligava l’iscrizione al Registro Operatori Comunicazione (ROC) per tutti i blog.

La legge Levi-Prodi prevede che chiunque abbia un blog o un sito debba registrarlo al Roc, un registro dell’Autorità delle Comunicazioni, produrre dei certificati, pagare un bollo, anche se fa informazione senza fini di lucro.

La legge Levi-Prodi obbliga chiunque abbia un sito o un blog a dotarsi di una società editrice e ad avere un giornalista iscritto all’albo come direttore responsabile.

Il 99% chiuderebbe.

FIRMA!!

Venice Biennale Golden Lion is given to Argentine artist León Ferrari.

The art of Leon Ferrari is characterized by protests: Against politics and Christian religion. In 1976 he was forced to move to Brazil:

I became a full-time artist there. In Buenos Aires I made my living as an engineer and made works of art in my spare time. I was treated well in Sao Paulo and did not suffer being in exile

Ferrari ’s famous sculpture titled Western and Christian civilization (1964) shows a crucified Christ tied to an American fighter jet. His arms span the wings as he grasps a missile on either side, resembling a cross.

It was meant as a protest against the Vietnam War. However, it was not included in the exhibition in the Di Tella institute because they did not want to offend the church, but it was hanging there in the week before the opening so everybody saw it anyway. I left the sculpture in a deposit when I moved to Brazil and virtually forgot about it. Then I found this old receipt and went to have a look thinking it would have disappeared because I had stopped paying years ago. However, the man in charge of the deposit recognized me and after sort of settling the bill I took it with me. The work was exhibited various times since then, but it would be good to have a permanent place because it is stored again.

Until 21 november the sculpture is being exhibited at 52 Venice Biennale.

Casa Blanca, performance, Leon Ferrari y Pons

El arte de la eterna rebeldía

In 2000 he showed an installation of Christs and virgins playing chess with devils and penises, against the promises of eternal life. He also paid homage to condoms, which he would accompany by texts saying that by opposing these the church was promoting aids, whereas in a series of collages he denounced their collaboration with the military dictatorship. During the sixties, Ferrari participated in exhibitions like Malvenido Rockefeller protesting this politician’s visit to Argentina and ‘Tucumán Arde’, where treacherous economic politics had led to the closure of sugar factories leaving people in misery. His 2001 exhibition in Spain, which dealt with torture and the Catholic Church, was met with demonstrations and prayer meetings, and even paint-throwing and tear gas. In 2004, his exhibition in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, was forced to close following intervention by a Catholic priest and a subsequent court order. Protests and government action allowed the exhibition to reopen

-¿Le preocupa la censura de tus obras?

-A diferencia de la práctica tradicional de los artistas que cuando les censuran una pieza retiran toda su obra, yo dejo el resto, porque me parece que la censura forma parte de la obra. En el caso del ICI, por ejemplo, era mejor el espectáculo de la gente afuera que lo que pasaba adentro… Hicieron una misa en la puerta y rezaban el rosario, con carteles y figuras religiosas. Hasta me tiraron una granada de gas lacrimógeno. Con la reacción del publico las obras se vuelven una verdadera intervención. En el 92 expuse una obra que se llamaba La Justicia, en la que una gallina defecada en una balanza y me escribieron de todo: “”Qué culpa tiene la gallina de que vos quieras hacer arte”, “”Gallo: cagate en este arte deshumnanizante” y “Ojalá te encierren a vos”. Con eso armé al año siguiente una muestra que se llamó Autocensura. La gallina, esta vez, estaba embalsamada.

-¿Le parece peor la censura del público que la oficial?

-Peor no… mejor. Hay algunos, incluso, que se acercan a la verdad: los que me dicen herejes, por ejemplo. En cambio, no deja de llamarme la atención esa preocupación excesiva por la gallina. La Sociedad Protectora de Animales mandó una carta pidiendo que la sacara. Yo les contesté explicándoles que esa gallina estaba a la espera de que la degollaran y que, por lo tanto, tenía mucho mejor destino como obra de arte. Más satisfacción me dio cuando alguien me puteó porque hacía cagar una paloma blanca sobre una imagen del Juicio Final de Miguel Angel. Por lo menos sentí que había llegado mi crítica a la cultura. El Bosco, Miguel Angel, Giotto, sin dudas hicieron maravillas pero que justificaron una cultura basada en la tortura, en la persecución, en el castigo… Ese arte avaló el accionar de la Iglesia. Así que la reacción de este hombre me sirvió para constatar de que alguien me escuchaba. Las protestas intervienen directamente sobre la obra y la completan. Peor que las puteadas es la indiferencia.

Source:Leon Ferrari

Few days ago, the italian collective Molleindustria decided to remove from its website its last videogame, Operation: Pedopriest, “in order to not worsen the situation of our webspace provider that is legally responsable for all the content“. This decision was taken after a point of order in the Italian Parliament called “Countermeasures to the religions’ offenses”, in which the leader of the Christian Democratic Party Luca Volontè asked to shut down this website appealing to a 2006 law about child abuse and pornography.
The law includes a chapter about “virtual pedo-pornography” that consider illegal to publish “pictures whose quality of representation makes unreal situations appear real“. So the picture you see above (a screenshot from the game) is ILLEGAL according to the Italian Parliament. If you want to support Molleindustria, spread it over the web (or, if you prefer, take another screenshot from the game, that can be played here.

Paradoxically the christians politicians are exploiting a law against pedophilia to ban a satirical game that point the finger to child abuses committed within the clergy.

One of the most viewed video is the documentary realized by BBC about sex crimes and the vatican. It all started from a document called Crimen Sollicitationis that was prepared in 1962 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became the Pope.
This document present the vatican way to deal with allegations of child abuse against priests and it’s really scaring.