Gay City News has an article on the lovely and talented Julian Fleisher.
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Julian Fleisher
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Categories: Culture -
Julio Rivera
Probably many people have heard of his murder, but know little else. Gay City News has a good history of the murder and the political changes that followed.
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Christoph Schmidberger
When I wrote about his show earlier, I couldn’t link to images of his work because Nikolai Fine Art’s web site is having some technical difficulties. I found out today that he has his own web site, so head on over and check it out.
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Why did they wait to tell us about No. Korea?
So, the Bush administration knew about North Korea’s admission concerning its nuclear program one week before the vote on Iraq in Congress. Were they waiting because they were afraid that Congress would raise questions about the logic of bombing Iraq but negotiating with North Korea?
Good letter in the NY Times today:
In “North Korea Says It Has a Program on Nuclear Arms” (front page, Oct. 17), you say “the administration’s decision to keep news of the North Korean admission secret for the past 12 days while it fashioned a response appears significant for several reasons.”
One reason not directly addressed in the article is the timing of the admission in relation to the Iraq resolution that was debated in Congress.
The administration withheld its announcement about the North Korean nuclear program until the day President Bush signed the resolution.
If this announcement had been made just a few days earlier, it would have been yet another reason for members of Congress to question the wisdom of invading Iraq over its hypothetical nuclear program when a real one exists in a different hostile government.
The administration’s decision to withhold this information was apparently another cynical ploy to force a vote in Congress about Iraq while withholding critical and relevant facts.
JEREMY E. MEYER
Haverford, Pa., Oct. 17, 2002Interesting fact: When the Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly returned from his trip to North Korea on October 5, he canceled his planned press conference.
I can’t believe anyone trusts this administration at all.
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Yes, it’s real
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My current favorite blog
… is TBOGG. He’s consistently funny, whether he’s skewering Andrew “shilling for big pharm” Sullivan, having a “Name the War” contest, or castigating President Bunnypants.
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Remind me which ones are allies?
The Council on Foreign Relations, not exactly a left-wing group, has issued a new report saying that Saudi Arabia is turning a blind eye to fundraising by al-Quaeda and similar groups.
There’s also a BBC article on the subject.
Bush and his ilk care more about oil and doing business with oil-rich despots than they do about terrorism. Anyone who thinks otherwise is sadly misguided.
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My home state doin’ us proud
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House Viet Nam Vet opposes Iraq War
I just read a column in the NY Daily News by Juan Gonzalez about Silvestre Reyes, a conservative Democrat from El Paso (and former Marine captain in Viet Nam, 1968-1969).
“Thirty-five years ago, I found myself half a world away in a place called Vietnam,” Reyes said during the Iraq debate. Now, he went on, “mothers and fathers and veterans come to me and tell me, ‘Please, do not let us get back into a war without exhausting all other avenues.’”
“As a member of the Committee on Intelligence, I have asked consistently the question. … What is the the connection between 9/11 and Iraq and Saddam Hussein? None.
“What is the connection between Iraq and Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda? Very little, if any. As to the weapons of mass destruction … there is a lot of speculation.”
Even a top general who testified before the committee expressed severe doubts about a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Reyes said.
Quite simply, the congressman concluded, “the case has not been made.”
One of the other things that struck me, and should be bigger news, is this: 47 of the 52 members of the House that are either Hispanic or African-American voted against the Iraq war resolution. The news media should be asking why. Is it because they realize that their constituents will suffer so that more powerful people can get richer from the war?
One reason for war you won’t hear from the White House is spelled O-I-L. Iraq has the world’s second-largest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, about 11% of the world’s total.
Kenneth Derr, the former CEO and chairman of Chevron, said it best in a 1998 speech at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco.
“Iraq possess huge reserves of oil and gas – reserves I’d love Chevron to have access to,” said Derr.
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Flu? Plus Craig Chester
I might not post much for a little bit. I think I have the flu, or at least something unpleasant with a cough.
We saw a reading of a new screenplay called “Adam and Steve” tonight, written by Craig Chester, at Fez. The cast included Ileana Douglas, Nora Burns, Mike Albo, and Bryan Batt. It also featured the Dazzle Dancers. I half expected to see Dan’l there. It was very funny, and the cast really got into it.
Two favorite moments:
Two men go into a store in Chelsea, looking to buy a ring. The salesman asks, “Nipple, cock, pride, or finger?”
When asked what it was like to be in the city on 9/11, someone responds, “Oh, you know. The sky was all purple, there were people running everywhere.”
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I once had Craig Chester as a waiter for Florent‘s big Bastille Day celebration outside on Gansevoort Street. This was after Swoon, not before, and he said he was helping out a friend for the day. I remember this was the year that there were a lot of protests over the French resuming nuclear testing in the South Pacific. Chi Chi Valenti, during her performance, unfolded a big sign that said, “STOP FRENCH BOMBS!” The crowd went wild.
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Categories: Culture
