January 31, 2012

Play about Donald Rumsfeld

'Donald' imagines unknown unknowns

"Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern never does anything by halves, with some productions rivetingly imaginative and others frustratingly over the top. "Donald," the company's inventive piece about former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, is one of its very best.

The production is based on the 2011 novella by Stephen Elliott and Durham resident Eric Martin. In it, Rumsfeld is kidnapped by unidentified assailants who subject him to the psychological and physical tactics he approved for prisoners in the war on terrorism. Rumsfeld recognizes and appreciates these methods, at first patiently attempting to outsmart his captors. But as time goes on, he realizes the effectiveness of such relentless treatment and starts to break.

Tony Perucci's adaptation creates a chilling alternate world in the confines of Manbites Dog Theater. Seating is spread out in narrow rows against three walls, leaving the staging area dominated by a huge cube with walls of diaphanous material. Action takes place on all four sides as well as within the walls, on which photos and video are projected. Much of the time, scenes are observed through several layers of live and projected images, enhanced by a soundscape of clanking doors, painful cries and dripping water."

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/31/1818298/donald-imagines-unknown-unknowns.html#storylink=cpy

January 31, 2012

Mitt Romney’s a self-made man?

http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/01/31/mitt-romney-self-made-man/YdsEgE1d50S5ydLI02gfRP/story.html

The GOP presidential candidate may have made his own fortune, but he had a big head start

By Farah Stockman
| Globe Columnist

......"In 1963, the year my father’s father earned $4,400 as the curator of a small museum, Romney’s dad, a former automotive CEO beginning his first term as governor of Michigan, grossed $567,000. Romney went to an elite prep school and then to Stanford. He didn’t have to hold down a job alongside his classes or take on burdensome college loans. After graduation, his parents helped him buy a home for his young family in a safe, upscale suburb. Romney’s father ran for president - which could not have escaped notice when Romney applied to Harvard Business School or for his first job at a consulting firm."......

http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/01/31/mitt-romney-self-made-man/YdsEgE1d50S5ydLI02gfRP/story.html

January 30, 2012

You Are Not Alone

January 29, 2012

Obama reads Tantawi the Riot Act

http://thedailynewsegypt.com/columnists/obama-reads-tantawi-the-riot-act.html

Obama reads Tantawi the Riot Act
By Philip Whitfield January 29, 2012


CAIRO: Help me out here. Let’s read some news items together to prove I’m not completely mad. First a newsflash: Three PR gurus paid $4.3 million (plus expenses) to flack for SCAF in Washington DC dumped them after lawmakers harrumphed: Is there no shame in this town?

Update: Cairo says it did the dumping. Who’s pot calling who’s kettle black?

SCAF’s devil-may-care disregard for human rights is their undoing. No amount of pleading by a bevy of top brass hastily dispatched to the State Department and the Pentagon this week can save their skins. Or military aid.

<more>

January 28, 2012

Rick Steves On Iran

Yes, Rick Steves , the travel guy. Interesting lecture and Rick Steves is much more informative than the recent blatherings of xenophobic war mongering think tank foreign policy experts who don't even have a passport, or who think spring break at Cancun is being well traveled and culturally aware.
Rick Steves: “ Don’t underestimate the strength and unity of the Iranian people, if invaded or attacked, they will fight until the last person dies”

January 26, 2012

Egypt protests

(note the sign lower right at 1:00 )

January 25, 2012

NASA's 'Most Amazing' High Def Image Of Earth So Far

'Blue Marble 2012': NASA's 'Most Amazing' High Def Image Of Earth So Far

Today the space agency unveiled what it's calling the "most amazing high definition image of Earth — Blue Marble 2012." This one was taken "from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite — Suomi NPP," NASA says, and is a "composite image [that] uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012.


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http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/25/145843287/blue-marble-2012-nasas-most-amazing-high-def-image-of-earth-so-far

January 25, 2012

massive Syrian flag in Tahrir

January 25, 2012

3 A.M. Tahrir Square, Cairo Egypt

On the dawning of 25 Jan 2012, the one year Anniversary. This is the crowd in the middle of the night. It's gonna be a long day/night for news junkies.

January 24, 2012

Egypt's ruler partially lifts emergency laws

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hQYEiE9nNlK20kSKssdFAh1rsdlg?docId=4ff8b45fa4b843a794cacd29706b0b94

Egypt's ruler partially lifts emergency laws

(AP) – 14 minutes ago

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's military ruler has decreed a partial lifting of the nation's hated emergency laws, saying the draconian laws will remain applicable to crimes committed by "thugs."

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday that the emergency laws would be lifted effective Wednesday, the first anniversary of the start of the popular uprising that toppled longtime authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak. <snip>

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the beginning of the Egyptian Jan 25 protests. Tantawi is trying to appease them with a birthday present if they behave. I think tomorrow is going to be very very interesting, am following Tweets, I see Ben Wedeman (CNN) is there and few other journalists. I just have a feeling.