An open thread, where at your weekend leisure, you can discuss anything you like.
Life, Culture and Politics from BrisVegas
Larvatus Prodeo was an Australian group blog which discussed politics, sociology, culture, life, religion and science from a left of centre perspective. more»
Harpoons Harried:
Home-grown American Greenpeace Terrorists today saw off Japanese marine researchers whose m.o. includes scientifically slaughtering whales in southern ocean sanctuaries. To their dismay, the Japanese marine research scientists were out-thought and out-manoeuvred by a sea-posse of dedicated activists. Fearless and relentless every last mother-ship chasin’ one of ‘em!
Japanese authorities are as antsy as a swarm of sea fleas come upon a sea-ed dog. They bleat that their intentions have been misunderstood. Their honourable scientific cetacean researchers have been made fools of before the world. The Asian Cup has lost its gloss. They are puzzled that the world won’t accept that honourable Japanese scientific whale researchers merely want to slaughter the whales for strictly research, not gastronomic purposes.
In response to the whaling fleet’s “tactical retreat”, the Japanese govt. have diplomatically implored the governments of N.Z., Holland and Oz whose port facilities provide material support to the high seas terrorists, to cease such courtesies forthwith. They’ve got Buckley’s.
Meanwhile, beneath the full moon that beams upon the great southern ocean tonight, shanties of joy roll over the shimmering vastness as deep below, ancient songs marked for permanent silence, squeak and rumble for at least one season more.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/18/japan-recalls-whaling-fleet-antarctic
It’s unusual indeed that one can point to a good news story carried by their ABC, but the Sea Shepherd victory is one such. This season, they have reduced whale butchering in the SOWS by between 90 and 97%. It has been a while since an ecological or humanitarian endeavour has had a win like that. It’s even possible that Sea Shepherd have forced the Japanese government to abandon it for good.
Sea Shepherd copped a lot of abuse from ostensible environmentalists and concern trolls for their in-your-face stand on the matter, but the news yesterday vindicates them entirely. Although they probably won’t, they would be warranted in giving Greenpeace, (who copped out on this) and others a righteous finger. They put themselves in the line of fire. One of their people did gaol time in Japan. Yet in the end, they stopped the boats (did I really use that phrase!?
) where others could not.
Disclosure: I have been a financial supporter of Sea Shepherd for the last five years.
The looming US government shutdown, coming to a world near you in early March 2011, is receiving scant notice in the US media.
This discussion, the most detailed I have seen, comes from an Asian site. Why aren’t the US media all over this story?
When I was a yoof, A&R used to be one of the best bookshops in Sydney. I would spend heaps there every pay day and could get whatever kind of book I wanted.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/borders-angus-amp-robertson-out-of-step-out-of-time-independents-20110218-1azs5.html
No more. The shop in Armidale is useless. I actually had to search for the history section when I went in there the other day.
This one is for bookworms and people who can’t walk into a bookshop and come out in under half an hour or more even when they’re broke.
My latest history post.
http://beingahistoryheadandotherthings.blogspot.com/2011/02/hms-boyne-leaves-boston.html
Good link Paul; I like the quote from Jerry Seinfeld:A bookstore is one of the only places of evidence we have that people are still thinking.
I sell secondhand books at markets on weekends (weather permitting!) It gives me great pleasure when I sell truly wonderful classic writers to young readers and also to some older folk who want to catch up on great writers and great ideas after a lifetime of busy work. There’s often a conversation of some kind around the buying and selling of books.
“This case is enormously important because it drives a coach and horses through the claim that has been persisted in by News International and its executives, that the criminal activities of Goodman and Mulcaire were purely historic, the isolated actions of one rogue journalist and his private investigator associate.”
And it aint looking flash for Scotland Yard either.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/17/phone-hacking-police-kelly-hoppen
That’s pieces of evidence!
A joint UK, Kenyan study on a spider Evarcha culicivora that preferentially preys on Anopheles gambiae the malia vector.
A prefernce for sweaty sock odor and bloodlust feeding frenzies…. this is a very cool spider.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9398000/9398408.stm
Hold the front page!
The always polite errand boy Christopher Pearson calls for the resignation of Conroy while loonpond wisely concludes it should be the other way around.
http://loonpond.blogspot.com/2011/02/christopher-pearson-and-remind-me-to.html#comments
rainbowdog,
One of the great pleasures about going into a good second hand or independent bookshop is talking about books and life with the bookseller. Its an added pleasure to the buying experience.
Just about to have peeps over to undertake a full grain brew to yield a American rye Indian Pale Ale, hopped to heaven! Think Little Creatures Pale Ale but about third of the cost generated within your own kitchen
(i) Bookshops: I’m in a regional shopping centre enjoying the aircon. Just strolled out of the A&R. Their prices are still sky high and their stock still reflects their buyers’ whimsies and not customers’ needs. For instance: I’m interested in military history and current affairs; is there anything on the Indian army? Nope. Japanese Self-Defence Force? Nuh. What about the Chinese P.L.A., the 21st Century’s rising military-industial complex? Negative. But tonnes of wasted trees on Hitler’s underwear and other arcane (should that be “arcade”?) garbage.
Guess what. The customer is STILL right.
Enemy Outsider, this whole whaling thing is going to be a pain in the arse for me tomorrow. One of my Japanese friends, a weird nerdy bossy woman, has arranged a party with the intention of getting drunk and arguing with me about whaling. As happens sometimes with friends over here, I didn’t get much say in the matter (I barely controlled the date!)
So I’m due at my friend’s house tomorrow with a bottle of sake to drink wine and champagne and argue with at least 5 Japanese nerds (including the host) over the issue. Just on the weekend that the Japanese government admits (temporary) defeat.
A barrel of laughs it will be, I’m sure…
Graham Bell,
Hitler’s underwear?! Oh, that one I got to read. Was it tailor-made?
But seriously, I know what you mean. No wonder A&R are going to close down. Fortunately here in Armidale, Dymocks isn’t bad on military history, and Reader’s Companion, the independent bookshop, is excellent.
sg, I feel your social pain while at the same time appreciating that your situation is hilarious. Fronting tomorrow’s bash with a plate of marinated kangaroo kebabs would be a cheeky conversation starter though.
“Yeah, we’ve got millions of the bastards out there. Protein on the paw bounding free from Bullamakanka to the black stump. From road-kill to handy family factory paks, folk chow-down on all the yummy skippy they can handle with bugger-all chance of species extinction.
Mind you, koala bears taste best!”
Seriously, be fascinating to hear how recent events play into the party dynamic.
“Fortunately here in Armidale, Dymocks isn’t bad on military history, and Reader’s Companion, the independent bookshop, is excellent.”
Can I recommend Abbeys here in Sydney, Paul? They have a big online presence, a huge history section – and I frequently lose myself in there for days.
http://www.abbeys.com.au/abbeys/about.do
sg, for your whaling enthusiasts’ dinner party, if you have the bandwidth, try viewing (or just read the low-bandwidth transcript) some of last year’s ABC Foreign Correspondent episode entitled “The Catch”, aired 8 June 2010:
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2010/s2921893.htm
Very funny classroom story about this — I went through this doco with my Japanese language class at the high school. I set them some homework to find out what became of the two Japanese anti-whaling Greenpeace activists…the kids came in the next day, all outraged:
Students: “Sensei! It’s terrible! They got arrested and sent to prison!”
Sensei: “No, you need to read more carefully…look what it says…they got a one year suspended gaol sentence…
…Now, class, who can tell us what’s the difference between a gaol sentence and a suspended sentence?”
*hand goes up in front row*
Student: “Yep! A suspended sentence is what my dad’s got!”
——
OK, well, anyway, I’ve been harpooning some tomatoes this week. Got to go and make ketchup with 8kg of ‘em!
Re books.
I’m off to the US later this year so I thought I’d better get a new American field guide to birds.
I can buy the recommended book for $50 here in Oz [from Melbourne] plus postage because it is not available on the shelves in SA.
I can get it from the US for $13 plus postage.
Which made me wonder how much it would cost to buy a standard favourite field guide to Australian birds, one that is available in most stores in SA and the other states.
$50 here in Oz.
$16, plus postage, from the US.
Weird eh?
I’d like to see a thread on the Bligh reshuffle…
And now it’s bookshop chains.
Their cry echoes hollowly across the land again: Can’t those fickle customers see we value them? Look, it’s in our mission statement! Our managers have MBAs. Franchising is fantastic for everyone!
One of my favourite Brisbane bookstores is Avid Reader. It has a great range. The people who work there READ. Many are writers. They know and love books and talk to customers about books. The store has a communal character. It’s enjoyable to go there. Shopping at Bookdepository is usually cheaper than Avid, but it is not an experience.
Haven’t Borders/A&R et al twigged that people who read mainly popular titles and best sellers decamped years ago to Big W and KMart, simply because it’s cheaper? Borders’ clueless and indifferent staff repel the rest of us. Mostly, only very recently published books are stocked. They charge at least as much as Avid, but are completely devoid of what readers love about the independents.
I can see no reason to favour Borders over the vastly bigger range and lesser prices (10%? more like 50%!) of bookdepository, either. Not since we got told that it was all about free trade and the market. Bookdepository’s very basic website is more helpful than Borders’in-store ‘service’. Also, I don’t go to a bookshop for coffee.
Buying books is different to buying lotto tickets or this year’s fashions or whatever. Your bad,’REDgroup’.
The same friend who organized this whale-debate-drinking-party mashup came to my Australian election party last year and was really fascinated with the whole thing, so it’s not like there isn’t proper cultural exchange going on here. Also, I spoke to my role-playing group (one of whom is coming to the party) about it on Wednesday and they were thoroughly unconcerned. Two countries disagree on an issue, so what? One of them I think might be anti whaling but with typical Japanese subtlety didn’t make much mention of it. I don’t think anyone sees anyone’s mind being changed…
I also doubt any of them have a dad with a suspended sentence!
Speaking of Hitler Weimar Guitar Gently Weeps
US Airforce rumbled for buying “persona management software”.
Praise the Lord! The Pentagon is closing the Troll Gap.
sg – for having inflicted the last Oz election on a guest I would think a drunken rant on whaling by either side is a small punishment.
Re Borders: Today I shuffled for forlornly as a cloud that floats online with Book Depilatory and Amazon – when all at once I saw a crowd, a host of olden daffy dills – all with vouchers – like me with my $150 xmas vouchers.
I eyed a Kobo and then thought of an expensive reference book. I picked up a style guide – it had a price sticker on the back $30 in aud below it was another sticker $17 in USA.
I inquired of the pretty young thing – male – sales person if I might get $75 worth of books for my $150. No it must be $150 extra cash then I could get $300.
“What if I picked up $150 worth of stuff and gave you the vouchers and walked out what would happen?” – No answer.
“Ok maybe I’ll pick up Stephanie’s cooking book – y’know the famous big one and a few other things” – “Sorry its not in stock”
I mooched home still with $150 worth of Borders Bonds – I might as well have had a bunch of shares in One Tel.
Anita — I think I just read somewhere that Borders is now filing for bankruptcy.
One of the strange things about the Borders / Barnes and Noble etc business model is, it’s based at least in part on certain social facts in the US that may not be applicable in Australia, but maybe (I wouldn’t know for sure) the whole dog and pony circus is imported wholesale into a different culture without taking new facts into account. Wouldn’t be the first time a giant corporation made that error, gee I wonder why.
One of the things that happened here, and which may simply not be the case in Australia (it’s even changed here from now since then but I’m discussing long-term trends) is, we have excellent public libraries in all or most of our major cities, but because of bizarre social trends and strange aspects of the law, many libraries became in effect a sort of daytime holding pen for the homeless and the mentally distressed. This meant that the regular public couldn’t really use the libraries to good effect, and so a private-sector solution was born. But b/c the giant bookstores were for profit, they offered a sort of compromise: they offered a safe, sane book-lover’s environment, free of bizarre disruptions (I used to do work, or at least try to, in several Manhattan public libraries but it was like a non-stop production of Marat/Sade), but at the trade-off of commercially-friendly selection instead of depth. And CDs, coffee etc which I don’t really mind except as an obvious opportunity cost.
Of course now the internet is disrupting the whole thing once again, so who knows what we’ll end up with this time. My prediction is private book clubs. VC types, get to work!
But my point is, big transnationals being what they are, you may be experiencing secondary ripple effects based on phenomena like the NYC crack wars of the 1980s, that you shouldn’t have to worry about.
But there ya go anyway… C’est la vie, eh?
Eyeballing my local Borders I’d hazard a guess that their overheads and their dead inventory were too high to generate a profit.
I never could quite work out the soundness of the business model but I admit that maybe my inner suburban Borders wasn’t representative of the mainstream mall Borders.
Surely ebooks are biting deep into the book business. I’ve migrated across to ebooks and find them very flexible and usable. I’ll certainly be buying fewer physical books in future.
Katz @24
So now we know.
Anyone else following the protests in Wisconsin? Attempts to remove collective bargaining have given their unions a shot in the arm.
If you want to supply the Pentagon with persona management software, here is the tender document.
Down and Out — yuh huh, one good alternative source for the WI funnies is Ann Althouse.
I’ve been to Madison, (not that it matters), it’s a strange and charming place. The people are delightfu l and the lakes and brats are spectacular, but architecturally it’s one of the fugliest places I’ve ever seen. (Well, public architecture I mean, the private houses are often velly nice.) Amazing capitol building, but situated in about the most half-arsed urban-planning method I’ve ever seen. Go study Austin TX, guys! Oops, too late.
You have to take their politics with a grain of salt, but that isn’t surprising.
Great farmers market round the capitol on weekends, though.
And those brats. They ain’t lying, those people know how to cook up some brats.
Katz Thats the sort of thing (among other things) that Team Themis were effectively charging the US CoC 2 thou a day for.
You might want to have a look at my latest blog post for an interesting collection of links.
Katz — “which sophisticated adversaries”?! Oh please!
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not actually an “individual.” I’m a team of eight PLA intelligence officers who’ve been studying how to sound like a natural anglophone, in preparation for the coming cyberwar. Oops, did I say “coming”? Hell, it started eight years ago, and it’s nearly over now, and you guys haven’t even twigged it yet!
Hey, did I/we use “twigged” correctly? Not like it matters…
Twigged is fine, but in your previous comment you enthused over the cooking of rambunctious children. See your handler ASAP, you sap.
Does that course have a refund policy?
Thanks Down and out in Saigon for raising Wisconsin. It’s a fascinating piece of theatre. Tens of thousands on the streets, thousands in a permanent occupation of the State Legislature, and the term “Class War” appearing in the US MSM – it’s great. There’s a Tea Party counter-demo planned for tomorrow. Camels being hard to get hold of in Wisconsin, I’m waiting with bated breath for images of over-weight, upper-midle class Americans on electric scooters attempting to plough through the demonstrators.
The Egypt reference is not as fanciful as you might think. Reports from Madison are full of references to the revolutionary wave in the Middle East, people saying how they were inspired by scenes from Tahrir to resist. My favourite is the description of the reception of one bloke who appeared in the Capitol and was given a standing ovation for his home-made sign:
“I went to Iraq and I came home to Egypt.”
And btw, Gaddafi looks like toast. He’s lost the support of sections of the army and has been apparently hiring Korean mercenaries to deal with demonstrators.
su: j_p_z is talking about bratwursts, not toddlers. I hope.
Glenn Beck knows the score.
Iz joke, Down and Out. I’m very tempted now to make another about Br**twurst but, perhaps not.
Jules,
I loved how Glen Beck referenced “State Capitalism” – when he starts talking about Degenerated Workers’s States and the Organic Composition of Capital we will know that the end of days is nigh.
Anyone else reminded of the Illinois Nazis megaphone speech from Blues Brothers?
Yeah, maybe Glenn Beck is one of those fabled “leaders of Anonymous” and is pulling the most epic troll eva on the Tea Party in the US.
Although its more likely he’s doing it on behalf of the Kochtopus. Here’s one of their strategy semminar brochures. (featuring Glenn Beck as a presenter, and a start studded guest list.) Interesting considering the state of US politics at the moment.
Korean mercenaries!? Who knew?
South Korean, no doubt.
What’s happening in Wisconsin sounds like Workchoices but their legislatures have taken action to defeat the bill.
Glenn Beck’s an ignorant bigot, is he a normal Fox news anchor?
What about the US Congress failing to sign off on the US Budget or Appropriations. The administration will run out of money in March and public servants pay cheques and welfare transfer payments will be stopped. What affect will this have on the stock markets and financial sectors?
Interest policy shift on the part of the Greens: Sarah Hanson Young has just stated on “Insiders” that the Greens are only against nuclear power “until methods to deal with nuclear waste can be found”.
Well perhaps the Greens are becoming more realistic about the energy needs of the world. India and China definitely need to build nuclear power plants, they already have nuclear weapons. Hanson-Young also flagged the procedures for disposing nuclear waste are going to get a lot more attention.
She said the Greens are prepared to trade nuclear power in Asia for government subsidies to build a renewable energy industry in Australia
Geoff Honour,
Thanks. will check Abbey’s on line. Forgot about them. Used to visit the store regularly when I lived in Sydney. Nowadays I buy most of my books o/s. About 85-90% of them are obscure out of print titles but I’m looking forward to Masanoff’s new book on American Loyalists which I’m ordereing next week.
jpz @31 mentions cooking brats.
For years I had thought the only use for brats was selling them for medical experiments.
But there there must be some sort of mincing/ fine chopping to put the brat into the wurst.
Interresting and articulate Saudi blog.
http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/the-arab-revolution-saudi-update/
Jules @38, I clicked to that link and just burst out laughing,
then I remembered the people that watch Beck and wanted to cry.
My daughter workers at an A&R store in Brissie. All of the staff bar the manager and ass manager are casuals, uni students in the main, most of them are avid readers. We, from a recommendation here, shop at the book depository. Even with staff discount most books are too expensive at A&R. Lets hope the administrators can figure out a new sales model and keep the staff (3500?) employed. There has been a mass exodous of top persons starting with the CEO a few months ago, so maybe the owners weren’t listening.
Debbieanne @51 I know… if it wasn’t so scary it’d be funny.
Not sure about A&R, as they have been trading for years. But, the situation with Borders seems a little bit like the Krispy Kreeme debacle. When KK’s arrived they were special, sought out – people would take them on planes flying to other states as a treat. Then, they went everywhere. Every mall (I hate that word, rather than shopping centre – but name seems appropriate for the Westfields of the world). When Borders arrived in Melbourne, they were special and sought out. Then they went all over the place and especially since the change of ownership a couple of years ago, seemed to become less and less special. Just like the KK outlets.
Now KK have cut back their outlets, maybe Borders should do the same.
Mind you, in April 2010 REDgroup Retail announced 1HFY10 Profit after ta increase of 83% to $19.5 million up from $10.7 the previous year. This was after Phase 1 of their integration of Whitcuols, Borders and A&R to deliver a seamless operating environment delivering significant efficiences and cost benefits. It seems Phase 2 was more growth opportunities and Phase 3 is Ferrier Hodgson!
Heads up on a couple of Green Functions in Sydney that some at LP might like to attend.
1. Gasland movie — examines the problems in the US associated with Coal Seam Gas, fracking etc …
Date/Time: 1PM Saturday 5 March 2011
Venue: Boronia Grove, 49 Rawson St Epping (opposite Coles and adjacent to car Park)
RSVP: epping@nsw.greens.org.au or simply turn up.
Cate Faerman, Greens MLC will be in attendance to answer questions on issues related to CSG harvest in NSW.
2. Climate Solutions Forum — examines the problems in the US associated with Coal Seam Gas, fracking etc …
Date/Time: 2PM Saturday 12 March 2011
Venue: Shepherds Bay Community Centre, 3 Bay Drive, Meadowbank
RSVP: ryde@nsw.greens.org.au or simply turn up.
Speakers:Mark Diesendorf, Deputy Director Institute of Environmental Studies, UNSW, David Shoebridge Greens MLC
Mark Curtis writing for the Guardian has a fairly harrowing piece on the interactions between the militarisation and aid projects in Afghanistan.
he makes a case that at best military & cililian aid are providing no benefit to afghans and may infact be holding back development.
It certainly means we should be demanding an evidence based approach from our government to our commitments in Afghanistan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/19/afghanistan-military-operations-development
Stephen Smith decalred at his press conference that “we have to steel ourselves for more casualties [in Afghanistan}”
Total number of journalists who asked: Why?
Zero. Not one of them had the nerve and the brains to ask this obvious question.
Sunk cost fallacy rules OK! The cost of that fallacy is going to be more needless dead and injured human beings — Australian and Afghan alike — not that anyone in the Murdochracy is interested.
Uncle Sammy’s Gurkhas:
Twenty-three dead young Australian soldiers is part of the price we have paid since the occupation of Afghanistan began. Many more have been maimed physically and damaged psychologically. And lest we forget, there is the never ending sadness of their families?
It has taken till now (cf. link) for some of the geniuses in Washington to tumble that it might be a good idea to well, you know, maybe pow-wow apiece with local Talibani heavies.
On the grounds that our Great Military Patron has ensnared us once again in an unwinnable war and that their waging of this war has been grossly incompetent, we need to send our U.S. allies a “message” along the lines of:
“You guys have really screwed-up badly in Aghanistan. We’ve been shoulder-to-shoulder with you from the get-go, just like we were in Vietnam which was, let’s face it, a complete disaster. Australians gave then. Just as we did in Iraq and now again in Afghanistan.
Good friends speak to each other frankly when it matters; they don’t bullshit each other.
So here’s the thing, we will announce that no additional troops will be sent to Afghanistan and that the soldiers and “advisors” now in that theatre will, after mutual consultation, return promptly to their homeland, Australia.”
Ain’t gonna happen of course. FM Stephen Smith has spoken. Moloch’s up for another feed. We need to sacrifice more.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2011/02/28/110228taco_talk_coll
oh EC I weep (doing a bit of that atm anyway, but still…)
I found Borders kind of like Ikea – just too damn big.
“Phase 3 is Ferrier Hodgson”
Cute name for a blog, or a band or most anything really.
Hannah’s Dad (on 19 – about books):
My oath! I can relate to that. Of course, not everything sold overseas is cheaper – some up-market bookstores in well-known Asian megacities charge prices that make Somali pirates look downright honest; still, if you ask around you can generally find good-quality books at prices way below what we have to pay here …. and forget the old “cheap labour” excuse; the staff in those places are getting wages only marginally lower than that paid to ordinary Aussie workers. Paul Burns (on 15): Ta. Charity shops in regional towns/cities with a mobile technical and academic population are great places to seek out books on specific topics – make you wonder why the managers of mainstream book retailers don’t volunteer to work in charity shops to see waht the real public is buying and what they are not.
j_p_z (on 26);
Yeah. The problem of using public facilities – such as your excellent public libraries – as holding pens for society’s unfortunates is not quite as bad in Australia – yet; give us time; we’re racing to catch up with, and surpass, the USA on that too.
j_p_z (on 33) and Katz (on 35):
That was a clash/conflict/war/incident that was reported only in specialist news media – the mainstream media missed it altogether (“They were stoned and they missed it”). However, unlike the unreported Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, it was a conflict without any known (to us, at least) deaths among combatants and yet with marked effects on the directions of military affairs and politics
Gaddafi’s got mercs working for him – African mercs. That hasn’t stopped him from losing Benghazi to protestors. And that’s not all he’s lost. Protestors are driving tanks around, and a few army units have already defected to them.
I’m hoping the man is gone by the end of the week.
Poor old Gaddafi.
Another victim of the Tony Blair Force For Good Curse.
Blair could have declared Saddam a FORCE FOR GOOD instead of invading Iraq. Saddam would have been toppled peacefully and certainly because Blair’s praises are the most destructive force known to mankind.
I have just been watching the scenes of devastation in Christchurch on the teevee. They just showed the inside of the destroyed Christchurch Cathedral. There were swastikas on the walls. Can anyone tell me what the meaning of these swastikas might be?
Updating report on N.Z. earthquake. Things look very grim with more and more deaths reported.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4688671/Christchurch-quake-Running-report
Hmmm …
Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes
Most U.S. and foreign corporations doing business in the United States avoid paying any federal income taxes, despite trillions of dollars worth of sales, a government study released on Tuesday said.
The Government Accountability Office said 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005.{…}
Silkworm see the Fylfot Mural dates back to 1885 so its unlikely to be nefarious
Fake David Koch “Breitbarts” Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
http://www.buffalobeast.com/?p=5045
Some here have already referenced the protests in Wisconsin in light of protests in Egypt and Libya. Letterman made a joke about it in his interview with Donald Rumsfeld, asking him how he felt about the movement for change that is spreading around the world … first Tunisia, then Egypt, now Wisconsin. Despite Letterman’s humour, there is a real connection. Protest groups in Egypt have sent letters of support to the protesters in Wisconsin sitting in on the Capitol Building.
The Wisconsin protests really deserve a thread of their own.