Reading List: März.

Fiction:

William Gibson: Pattern Recognition.
Jonathan Lethem: The Fortress of Solitude.
Cory Doctorow: Eastern Standard Tribe.

Non-Fiction: 

Robert Stockhammer: Ruanda. Über einen anderen Genozid schreiben.

Films:

Kaboom (2010, Gregg Araki) ***.
Dial 'M' for Murder (1954, Alfred Hitchcock) ****. 
Annie Hall (1977, Woody Allen) ****. 
Clean (2004, Olivier Assayas) *****. 
Sasom i en spegel - Through a Glass Darkly (1961, Ingmar Bergman) *****. 
The Blue Tooth Virgin (2008, Russell Brown) ***.  
Sucker Punch (2011, Zack Snyder) ***.

Series:

The Wire, Season Four and Five.
Luther, Season One. 
Wire in the Blood, Season One to Six.
Southland, Season One and Two. 
Downton Abbey, Season One.

Random stuff is random

PopMatters is publishing incredibly interesting articles in its ongoing series about Joss Whedon, but I found one about Identity and Memory in Dollhouse and one about Personal Identity (and how it sometimes shifts radically in Whedon's shows) particularly intriguing.

The Fades (so there won't be a new title?), a six-part-series written by Jack Thorne (Skins, This is England '86), is going to air on BBC3 at some point this year, and not only is Lily Loveless still part of the cast (playing the twin sister of the hero, who is "rather annoyed", which shouldn't be too much of a stretch from Naomi Campbell), but there is even more awesomeness in the form of Daniel Kaluuya (Posh Kenneth and also a writer for Skins) and Tom Ellis (Miranda). 

The A.V. Club interviewed Ellen Page, who sounds more passionate about her activism than her acting (which is fine by me - she's good at acting, she doesn't have to be able to explain why and how). 

Micachu is going to release a new record  (Chopped & Screwed) next week, and it's complex and disturbing and a little bit like a rabbit hole into a very twisted place. 

Also, The Mountain Goats' All Eternals Deck is a beautiful collection of songs. "The compasses I came into this world with never really worked so good"

SPOILER for Sucker Punch

"History is not encouraging."

For the time being, then - which could be short in this fast-moving conflict - Libya is quite a different story from Iraq. The combination of military success and intensive television coverage makes it resemble more the short (seventy-eight days) war in Kosovo in 1999. More generally, and here the comparison extends to the earlier wars of Yugoslavia’s break-up, a strong motivation of western states is to wage the anti-Gaddafi campaign while saving their electorates from having to watch on the television news the distressing effects of military combat.

The real conflict over Libya’s future is thus filtered through western political worlds that are pressed by intensive news-cycles. These pressures, powerful enough in “normal” times, accelerate where (as with Bosnia, Kosovo and now Libya) unequal conflicts in which state forces are committing or threatening massacre of vulnerable populations can produce among domestic audiences a “something-must-be-done” mood. 

openDemocracy: Libya, Arab democracy, and western policy, March 29, 2011

Linkliste unbehandelter Themen

Libya

On March 19, following the UN Security Council's approval of the No-Fly zone over Libya (with 5 abstentions from Brazil, China, Germany, India, and Russia), Allied forces started bombing Gadhafi's troops, destroying most of the Libyan air force in the process, prompting a new advance of rebel forces. 

Mr. Gates acknowledged on the same show that what was unfolding in Libya was not a threat to the United States and was “not a vital national interest to the United States,” but that the intervention was justified because of “the engagement of the Arabs, the engagement of the Europeans, the general humanitarian question that was at stake.”

NY Times: Clinton and Gates Defend Mission in Libya, March 27, 2011

The White House: Press Briefing by National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor For Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes and Press Secretary Jay Carney on the Situation in Libya, March 21, 2011

Guardian: Turkey offers to broker Libya ceasefire as rebels advance on Sirte, March 27, 2011

Guardian: Libya: Nato takes full control of military operation, March 27, 2011

Foreign Affairs: The Mythology of Intervention, March 28, 2011

Syria

Following widespread protests in which several demonstrators were killed, the Syrian regime decided to lift the state of emergency which has been in effect for 50 years, but it remains unclear when this will go into effect as the protests and the violence continue. 

Even as the Obama administration defends the NATO-led air war in Libya, the latest violent clashes in Syria and Jordan are raising new alarm among senior officials who view those countries, in the heartland of the Arab world, as far more vital to American interests.
Deepening chaos in Syria, in particular, could dash any remaining hopes for a Middle East peace agreement, several analysts said. It could also alter the American rivalry with Iran for influence in the region and pose challenges to the United States’ greatest ally in the region, Israel. 

NY Times: Unrest in Syria and Jordan Poses New Test for U.S. Policy, March 26, 2011

Elsewhere

Japanese government confirmed that there was a partial meltdown in one of the reactors in Fukushima. 

The German Greens celebrated victories in two regional elections.

Until Japan’s nuclear catastrophe, Baden-Württemberg’s ruling coalition, a partnership between the CDU and the Free Democrats (FDP), looked like it was headed for a narrow victory. The state’s conservative premier, Stefan Mappus, is not the most likeable politician in Germany. But voters enjoy Baden-Württemberg’s fast economic growth and low unemployment (the lowest youth unemployment rate in Europe, Mr Mappus often boasted). Why tinker with that?

Mr Mappus, however, happens to be the CDU’s leading cheerleader for nuclear power.  

The Economist: Angela's trauma, March 28, 2011 

Ernst Strasser, head of the ÖVP delegation to the European Parliament, stepped back after allegations of corruption. 

Notes

• Took a bit of a break after the Skins-rush
• Switched from FF to Chrome and while I never, ever expected to actually get along with a different browser, Chrome definitely kicks FF's behind. Also, the quick editing button that has been missing from blogger for ages now works on Chrome. 
• Chrome spell-checks for German though which means that EVERYTHING IS WRONG AT THE MOMENT. 
• My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary today.
• The A.V. Club has an interview with Sarah Vowell in which she, among other things, mentions loving Parks and Recreation for exactly the same reason I love Parks and Recreation. Also, you should be watching Parks and Recreation. NO, REALLY.
• I should collect some links about Libya. Maybe tomorrow.
• I've been watching Wire in the Blood all weekend long. Crime shows are my weakness. Also, Tony Hill.

Das Lied zum Sonntag

tUnE-yArDs - Bizness

...

A clip from tonight's season finale of MTV's Skins. 

Skins - MTV Shows

I like this. I'm not sure why, but I do.

An echo of humanity

The border planets are depicted as lawless, savage, and barbaric. At the very fringes of this space exist the mythologized (for those on the central planets) Reavers—beings outside the power and imposition of the Alliance. While Reynolds and his crew are part of the empire and resist from within—by stealing, smuggling, and harbouring fugitives—the Reavers are banished to the imaginary excesses for core planet populations. They are only real to those on the border where the excessive and the grotesque can exist. Reavers rape, tear the flesh from live humans, and disfigure themselves in their madness. The Reavers are the extremes of resistance. They cannot be colonized and are beyond the meanings of imperialism. Moving from the irrational to the rational is a colonial trope subverted by the Reavers. In Serenity, reason, enlightenment, and the civilized development of humanity, economically, politically, and culturally through colonization is corrupted by these creatures. They are irrational and cannot be brought to the rational—advanced and civilized—ideals of the colonizers. The Reavers are the embodiment of madness—of the colonial project gone wrong and perversions that result from imperialism.

PopMatters: A Postcolonial Provocation: 'Serenity'

Linkliste unbehandelter Themen

Politics: 

After days of often acrimonious debate, played out against a desperate clock, as Colonel Qaddafi’s troops advanced to within 100 miles of the rebel capital of Benghazi, Libya, the Security Council authorized member nations to take “all necessary measures” to protect civilians, diplomatic code words calling for military action. 

NY Times: As U.N. Backs Military Action in Libya, U.S. Role Is Unclear, March 17, 2011

In spite of a promised cease fire, the regime in Libya seems to be preparing for massive air strikes against cities under the control of the rebel forces, while NATO forces prepare counter measures.

Foreign Policy has a photo essay on Japan's history of devastating disasters. The true nature of the issue with the reactors in Fukushima is still unclear, both because the situation seems to be changing constantly and the limited information made available by the owners of the plant and the Japanese government. 

We make money not art on the "politics of air" and the works of digital media artist Andrea Polli. 

Another of her project, Breather, wraps up a car inside a plastic bag to illustrate the problem of air pollution in New Delhi India, where one person dies every hour from breathing complications. The quality of the air is so bad that walking in some areas of the city is the equivalent for your health to smoking 15 cigarettes in a day.

Pop Culture: 

"Super-group" Wild Flag, featuring Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney, Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole, played at SXSW, and NPR (mourning the loss of blogger and occasional co-host Brownstein) recorded it. I wonder how many records I'd have to buy to get them to play a concert in Vienna? 

She's Real (Worse Than Queer), a documentary of the queercore scene by Lucy Thane (1997) is available online. Part 1, Part 2

Bill Maher talks to Sarah Silverman about clumsy exposition, lazy writers and female comedians.

I can't really articulate my thoughts about the Skins finale. Unicorns and rainbows and tiny hearts and stuff. I've spent so much time this year on watching, reviewing, discussing and thinking about this show, and I can't really express how rewarding it is to have a perfect season with a perfect cast of unbelievably lovely  and complex characters to write about.

Episode Eight. Something bad's gonna happen.

 

moloko | caught in a whisper. shugo tokumaru | wedding. sonic youth | alice et clara. the white stripes | the union forever. cat power | the coat is always on. gustav | neulich im kanal. nouveaunoise | panaka. múm | the ghosts you draw on my back. nina simone | sinnerman. mumford and sons | white blank page (live). moloko | familiar feeling.  

Livestream. 

Liveblogging, kinda...

Elsewhere...

By day’s end, however, the loyalist army seemed to be in complete control, its tanks standing outside the gates and its soldiers moving through the town at will during the day. After nightfall they seemed to withdraw, and rebels reappeared to claim control that seemed tenuous.
The grim news from Ajdabiya was met with anger, anguish and tears by rebel leaders in Benghazi. On Tuesday afternoon, many of them privately acknowledged that an attack on the seat of rebel power was inevitable, if not imminent, and they again pleaded for Western intervention. 

NY Times: Qaddafi Forces Attack Rebel Stronghold in West, March 16, 2011

Without a no-fly zone, there seems to be little hope that the revolution in Libya will be successful. 

The Guardian: Benghazi braces for battle as Libya endgame nears, March 16, 2011

Die Zeit: Gadhafi will Rebellen in 48 Stunden besiegt haben, 16. März 2011

Two days after the Sunni monarchy of Bahrain brought in 2,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and other neighboring allies under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the day after it declared martial law, security forces rolled across the center of town, taking it from the Shiite protesters who had moved in a month ago and leaving it in flames.
“The G.C.C. troops are for fighting against foreign forces,” a protester, Syed al-Alawi, told Al Jazeera. “Instead they are targeting the people of Bahrain.” 

NY Times: Forces Rout Protesters From Bahrain Square, March 16, 2011

AlJazeera: Curfew follows deadly Bahrain crackdown, March 16, 2011

Foreign Affairs: Rageless in Riyadh, March 16, 2011

...

Den Berichten zufolge ist bislang unklar, ob Dampf oder flüssiges Wasser ausgetreten sei, berichtete der Sender NHK. Im Unterschied zu den ersten beiden Explosionen sei diesmal aber nicht nur das äußere Reaktorgebäude, sondern auch der innere Druckbehälter beschädigt worden.
Zum Zeitpunkt der Explosion herrschte Meteorologen zufolge Nordwind. Dies würde bedeuten, dass radioaktive Teilchen nach Süden in Richtung Tokyo gelangen könnten. Die japanische Hauptstadt liegt 260 Kilometer südwestlich von Fukushima-1.

Die Zeit: Weitere Explosion an Fukushima-1, 15. März 2011

I can't bring myself to go to sleep because I don't want to wake up to this tomorrow.

...

I hadn't even realized how much pictures like this one have been part of my nightmares for the past years, and to see them in a newspaper, not on a movie screen, is one of the most terrifying things I could have imagined. I always expected this particular catastrophe to happen suddenly, and instead it's a slowly developing story with contradictory information and a devastating sense of a constant and escalating failure of safety precautions, and a series of mornings with this odd little moment before opening the first news site, expecting that one devastating headline that will later be the point that distinguishes the before from the after.

Das Lied zum Sonntag

Thao and Mirah - We're Both So Sorry



"I just wanted to be good to you, but I found I was disarmed / By a lifetime of disillusionment and the distraction of the stars"

12 March 2011

Episode Seven. There's nothing we can do.

maxence cyrin | d.a.n.c.e. portland cello project with thao | beat (health life and fire). simon and garfunkel | cecilia. the string quartet | time is running out. regina spektor | pavlov's daughter. patti smith | horses. radiohead | reckoner. philip glass | ballet. maxence cyrin | right here right now.

I might not be around for this. 

LIVESTREAM

liveblogging, kinda...

In which I talk briefly about 'Glee'...

 

"We must defend our frontiers on a European level"

Bearing in mind that the costs of Libyan land borders and territorial waters’ patrols are jointly financed by Italy and the European Union, in the last two years hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers intercepted at sea have been driven back to Libya without any chance of setting foot on European soil to claim asylum. But in Libya, migrants and refugee are victims of discriminatory treatment of all kinds. They live in constant fear of being arrested, in which case they will be indefinitely confined in overcrowded detention centres where they are exploited, beaten, raped, and abused. Refugees who have no possibility of applying for asylum or accessing any other effective remedy, thereby run the risk of being forcibly returned to countries of origin where they may face persecution or torture. The inadequacy of Libya’s response to the flow of migrants and refugees is so infamous and well documented that it simply cannot be the case that the EU member states are only now starting to gain an insight into Libya’s doubtful track record in human rights, rule of law, and democracy.

OpenDemocracy: EU migration control: made by Gaddafi?, February 25, 2011

Under a 'Treaty of Friendship', the two countries agreed to cooperate in fighting illegal immigration. The pact allows Italy's coastguard to swiftly deport boatloads of illegal immigrants back to Libyan shores, skipping procedures for filing potential asylum applications.
Human right groups claim the agreement violates Italy's international human right obligations by dumping migrants and asylum seekers on Libya. Italy stands accused of handing over immigrants to Libya, which is not party to the United Nations Refugee Convention and has no asylum system. 

EurActiv: Italy's immigration deal with Libya sparks uproar, June 11, 2009

Sara Hamood; The American University in Cairo - Forced Migration Studies. African Transit Migration Through Europe: The Human Cost (January 2006).

The Norwegian Council for Africa: Libya: Europe's outsourcing of inhuman immigration control (opinion), February 24, 2011

The titular quote is from the French minister of European Affairs, Laurent Wauquiez, issued on March 2.

Das Lied zum Sonntag

Caribou - Jamelia

Caribou - Jamelia from Video Marsh on Vimeo.

What more could I do / To see her point of view? / Why can't I believe her?

Episode Six. This is just victimisation.

 beck | loser. kid harpoon | colours. talib kweli | get by. adele vs gnarls barkley | crazy in the deep. hidden words | temple. the rural alberta advantage | stamp. radiohead | little by little. gorillaz | the speak it mountains. fat segal | zombies in my house.

LIVESTREAM / ALTERNATIVE (does anybody have a better one?)

liveblogging, kinda

"Full range of possible military options"

The U.S. and the entire world continues to be outraged by the appalling violence against the Libyan people,” Mr. Obama said after a White House meeting with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico. “Muammar el-Qaddafi has lost the legitimacy to lead, and he must leave.”
Mr. Obama said he had directed the Pentagon to prepare for a full range of possible military options in connection with the crisis in Libya. Asked about whether the United States would support sending warplanes over the country to keep the Libyan air force from attacking rebels, creating what is known as a no-flight zone, the president said that was one of the options being considered. 


NY Times: Obama Calls for Qaddafi to Step Down and Authorizes Airlift, March 3, 2011

Linkliste unbehandelter Themen

Politik: 

Ich bin schon neugierig, wie der Rücktritt des deutschen Verteidigungsministers Guttenberg den all-semestrigen Vortrag zu Plagiaten und Seminararbeiten beeinflussen wird - die ganze Geschichte wirft natürlich auch die Frage auf, wie eine Doktorarbeit an den ausgereiften Programmen vorbeikommen konnte, während einige Leute mit ihren 10-seitigen und wesentlich unwichtigeren Arbeiten scheitern. 

Foreign Policy has an extensive article on China's relationship to dictators in other countries. 

Die Situation in Libyen verwandelt sich in einen (potentiell langfristige) Bürgerkrieg.  Umfangreiche Berichterstattung dazu bei Al Jazeera.

But over the past day or two, American military officials, even while positioning ships off Libya, have warned that a no-flight zone would not be as antiseptic as it sounded, and that the diplomatic and international political hurdles would be difficult to overcome. It is unclear if it would require an authorization from Congress to use force, the first since the authorization to use force against Iraq passed nearly a decade ago, or authorization by the United Nations.
Such authorization is missing from the United Nations Security Council resolution passed last week, and so far there is no movement in the Council to toughen that resolution.

NY Times: Gates Warns of Risks of a No-Flight Zone, March 2, 2011

BBC: Libya revolt: Gaddafi in crimes against humanity probe, March 3, 2011 

Die Zeit: Gadhafi schickt Kampfflugzeuge in besetzte Gebiete, 3. März 2011

DerStandard: Internationaler Strafgerichtshof ermittelt gegen Gaddafi, 3. März 2011

The Hindu Times: Two U.S. ships move closer to Libya, enter Suez Canal, March 2, 2011

openDemocracy: If not now, when? The responsibility to protect Libyans – who?, March 2, 2011

BBC: Libya: UK and France to fly Egyptians from Tunisia, March 2, 2011

Foreign Affairs: Libya's Terra Incognita, February 28, 2011

SWP: Umbruch in der arabischen Welt

Pop: 

Vor einigen Monaten gab es eine Slayage-Ausgabe zu Dollhouse, die sehr spannend zu lesen ist.

I can't find a trailer for Super with Nathan Fillion, Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page but a couple of scenes are available online! There seems to be a severe lack of interesting movies at the moment.  I also just finished five seasons of The Wire and now almost everything pales in comparison.

/switching languages like a boss without even noticing it

Neue Bright Eyes, Radiohead, Decemberists, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Jessica Lea Mayfield. Over at cellar door: zum Anlass passende Schreibblockade was Musik betrifft.

ALO ALO ALO.

Pictures, March 2011

Just 'cause I haven't done this in ages.