Obey our Bombs

Shepherd Fairey's posse has been tagging Mk82's in Iraq. props boys. In his next letter, Obama will have to add dumb bombs to, "Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign."
In case you're wondering, each bomb costs $268.50, a stop sign is about $149.

Pirates vs Pentagon

The Maersk Alabama was taken by Somali pirates this morning. It is reported that the ship is carrying aid supplies to Kenya. This is the first U.S. flagged vessel to be taken. By 12:15 CNN reports the crew regained control. This is fairly unprecedented. The Pentagon reports one pirate is in custody and claim 'three others tried to escape'. Presuming they jumped overboard? This is 300 miles off the coast. The vessel's captains both graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. And one of their father's, Joseph Murphy, is an expert in anti-piracy tactis. A happy story all around.

It seems a little fantastical to me.If you go to the Maersk Website, an error message comes up when trying to track the Alabama Vessel. According to Global Security, Maersk is a primary shipping contracot for the Department of Defense, and it is not uncommon for Top-Secret security clearance to be required aboard these ships. It'll be interesting to see what the captured pirate has to say.

The timeline is breaking a little now. The boat taken 6:30 am EST, and retook by 10:00 am EST.
The NYT is reporting 7:30 am local, but that should be 2:30 pm. We'll see how it unfurls.

April 21 update: There has been some chatter about conspiracy here.

Soccer Victory

Allow me to indulge in a personal triumph. After a long residence in the doldrums of the nyc soccer hierarchy, my team Defpoints of the Urban Soccer League registered a decisive win against the league leaders HJD. After three season with no registered wins, though two impressive draws, our victory will surely send shockwaves throughout the league. Team Cheetah now looks like the team to beat. Someone please send them the word: Beware.

Suckling

This is the trailer for 'The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins'. It traces 38 year ld conceptual/performace artist Vanessa Beecroft adopting children from war-torn Africa. The trailer's conflict trifecta: 1.The project's iconic photograph featuring white goddess Venessa sustaining the life of the infantile blacks. Note the loving handling by photographer as he carries one baby away. 2.Adding Christian religious characters for a moral compass? This is the way. I always love a wise old white man. 3.These people. Vanessa is putting herself on display. Her art's conflict is allowed because she is concious of a reality it reveals. This documentary looks to feature the artist as exhibition. Her previous work can longer be looked at through compassionate intellectualism. It's merely symptomatic of Western coffe-table ambivalence . Anyone (except Canadians) interested can now buy the dvd for $50 + $10 shipping and handling. Or, about 3.15% GDP per capita in Sudan.