-You are right, Mr Sarkozy. They are ugly. Shall I begin the ethnic cleansing operation now?

-No, France is not quite ready just yet. Let's just deport them.

 If this were happening anywhere else in the world, with any other ethic group (well, almost any other ethnic group) western Europe would surely snub its nose. But this week, in France, hundreds upon hundreds of Roma immigrants, (known, in English, as Gypsies) were expelled from France. The Government of Nicolas Sarkozy says they were in the country illegally, arguing that by EU law they can be evicted if they are there more than three months and have no job and create a burden or are there less than three months and represent a "threat to public safety".

The pope, French churches, a UN committee and even several ministers in Mr Sarkozy’s own government have voiced opposition to no avail. France is dealing with them much as some small towns deal with the homeless, only instead of buying them a bus ticket, he sends them off to wherever they came from (presumably eastern Europe) with three hundred euros and claims that many are leaving of their own free will, by which he means that they are leaving of their own free will now to avoid leaving by force later.

Dear Mayor Michael Bloomberg,

You didn't have to speak out in defense of the mosque, but you did. Not only was this the right message for non-Muslims to hear, that we must extend the same freedoms to others that we wish to have extended to ourselves, but it is also the right message to send to the Muslim world: that we are not as intolerant and hateful as we seem.

There are extremists out there who call themselves Muslim that want us to be hateful and spiteful towards Muslims. Who want you to reject the Mosque. By painting the US as intolerant of Islam they are able to gain new recruits willing to commit acts of suicidal terror. But when you defended the Mosque, you sent a clear message of tolerance and openness. You made it that much harder for terrorists to recruit and for the hate to multiply. By defending the Mosque, you defended our country against terrorism.

It takes bravery to break this cycle of hate. Thank you for being brave.

bjorn

Correction: it seems that the "Mosque" is actually a community center. There is a small Mosque about four blocks from ground zero that's been there for years that has no association with the current controversy.

 Moma's PS1 currently has a display on view called "Pole Dance" which is the work of the architectural firm Solid Objectives, winner of the eleventh annual MoMA/MoMA PS1Young Architects Program. The project is an interactive environment of sand and pebbles along with, among other things, poles that hold up a netting which is used for holding yoga balls. While it was hard for me to see how this work addressed the program's current goal of "focus[ing] on designs which address sustainability, recycling, and reuse", it was kinda neat. I can't say I really appreciated the sound design, which was a bit shrill and distorted and therefore rather unpleasant despite not being terribly loud. Had it not felt like an afterthought I might have given it a break, but considering it was nothing more than a sensor on each pole triggering independent sounds, those sounds should have at least been pleasant and playful, like the rest of the exhibit.

What really took the day, though, was having the chance to see Kyra Johannesen and some of her other pole dancing super stars actually perform a dance routine on the poles. Sadly that was not part of the regular exhibit, and just a one-time thing, but I managed to snap a few photos.

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Friends don't let friends fly naked.
(Unless they are trying to make a buck)

 There's been a lot of controversy over the new "full body scanners" going in at airports across the country because they reveal a ghostly image of your naked body to the someone, in a different room. Even the american association for nude recreation has had their say. Not too long ago, a fight broke out between security officials because one walked through the scanner and the other saw enough to make fun of him. Whether they even work is another question, but clearly, these images are pretty revealing, no? How revealing? And do we need to protect ourselves from having these images seen or posted on the internet?

 Well, of course, there's a facebook group for everything. May they have the answer? Their mantra, in all caps, is this: "SCRAP THE CHILD PORN LAW VIOLATING, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSING, CANCER-CAUSING, ELECTRONIC STRIP SEARCH AIRPORT SCANNERS!" Interestingly, those under 18 aren't allowed through these scanners in the UK, so they may have a point there. I haven't seen any evidence that the radiation exposure is worse than existing scanners (which also use x-rays) but you are allowed to request a pat-down. But it's really the super freaky image they use that group scares me, so I won't be looking there for answers...

 Of course, whatever side you are on, there is always an an intrepid entrepreneur with the answer. In this case the answer is in the form of pasties! Flying pasties! Pieces of Rubber you stick in your clothes to protect your "dignity"!

But don't carry it twice.

 Isn't it convenient when you find one shred of evidence -- however small -- to support your beliefs? It's even better when you can distort it using questionable or downright bad math so that it seems more supportive than it is. That's what Rich Karlgaard just did in his recent blog entry, The Millionaire Cop Next Door, where he argues that government workers, like cops, firefighters, teachers (yes, teachers) and other hardworking Americans are the fastest growing class of millionaires, simply because they work for the government. No that's not a misprint, he's calling them millionaires. Not long ago, these folks were the heroes of the right. These were the hardworking Americans -- the "real" Americans -- who helped keep the fabric of our country together. Remember their heroic efforts on 9/11? I guess not.

 So apparently, lots of guys are signing off text messages to each other with "x". As in "kisses". And when I say lots, I mean almost a quarter. While I think it's nice that guys aren't afraid of a little SMS (short message snogging) with each other, it might make some of their wives jealous if they found out that their guy friends are getting more textual love than they are. Still, it makes me wonder: if fully 75% of 18-24 year old men are "Metrotextuals" and 48% saying that the kiss is commonplace among their friends, what kind of messages are they sending to each other? (Also, did T-Mobile get our permission to do this research?)

I've always known, deep in my heart, that women would be the death of me. Truth be told though, I always thought it would be one, solitary gun wielding femme fatale who simply had an taste for danger. Now I know the truth: all attractive women are dangerous. All of them. My misconception was due to art, while the truth comes by science. Thank God for science, which, truly, is unbiased, honest always has our best interests at heart. Take it from these wise researchers: Don't spend any time with attractive women: especially not alone. They are like black widows sucking at your souls!

Fig A. If you thought Michelle "Bombshell" McGee looked "trashy", Let me introduce you to Mr James' Ex-Wife, Janine Lindemulder. (Occupation? You guessed it: Porn Star)

 Oh, we all feel for you, Sandra. Your husband, Jesse James, married twice before (once to a tattoo-covered porn star, Fig A), cheated on you with a girl who, like him and unlike you, was covered in tattoos. Yup. No one could have seen that coming. I mean, here's a guy who's built a reputation on being Mr I-will-build-you-a-custom car/motorcycle/whatever (with 10 times the legal exhaust (!), no less), covered in tattoos, and here you are, little miss Bullock. Sure, we saw you in Miss Congeniality. You're tough. You like to act mean. But look, dating football players in high school won't cut it. Your momma was an opera singer and your daddy was a voice coach. A voice coach. You cannot compete in this territory.

 Michelle "Bombshell" McGee was the "trashy" girl's name. She's the one who did this to you. Let's see what the media has to say:

 I finally saw Avatar. I am pleased to say I learned a lot of lessons that I'm glad are being passed on to children all over the world:

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 After reading this comic you might be thinking to yourself, "man, Bjorn has a really low opinion of marketing people," but actually what inspired this comic is not what you think. I happen to know a few really amazing marketing people. These people not only follow hip new trends and know what's up, but they actually understand things like how to analyze sales and other data to see if marketing campaigns worked. These folks also seem to use Twitter very effectively, and it got me curious, so I did some googling to find out how you might use that new-fangled twittery-thing for marketing purposes. The results of my research are in the comic.

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When the internet first came out people talked about how it was going to "democratize" free press, by which they meant lowering the barriers to entry (sort of like when Alan Greenspan said that sub-prime loans would "democratize" credit. They are confusing capitalism with democracy. Ayn Rand would be proud.) Well they were sort of right: it's really cheap to start a blog/website/online-magazine/whatever and tell people what you think about things. Look at me doing it right now! Unfortunately, for the most part, if you are highly opinionated, you will usually be preaching to the choir. So, in the end, democracy is pretty much unchanged.

Twitter is sort of the same way. It started out as something fun and when people started engaging in politics or news on twitter, suddenly it was changing the very nature of politics and news. Sane people knew this was ridiculous, but sane people can never stop the hype machine. Hopefully twitter won't be hurt by overblown expectations.

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In case you didn't know this about me, I am a big dork. Not only that, but I'm not really into new-fangled things like twitter, and so on. While I love computers, I have more in common with the old Unix guy with the beard than the kid at the dotcom with his fancy new laptop: I hate buying new laptops. I rarely get excited about new hardware or things like twitter. I don't plan to ever buy an iPhone, and it's only recently that I've seen any actual use to the web other than as a diversion. Still, I think this comic represents two sides of my geekiness.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this three-part comic series on why I still just don't get twitter. The next two will be more accessible.

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Amanda Ray in a Spooky Cave!

   Amanda Ray's Debut Album Mirrored Images recalls some of my old favorites like Massive Attack and Morcheeba, but also brings in the energy of electro-grunge bands like Garbage. Sade fans will also feel right at home in Ray's rich, deep vocals. While you, like me, may feel unable to not think of these other great musicians while you have Mirrored Images on your iTunes playlist (on repeat, maybe?) Ray adds her own voice and a smack of sci-fi to the unique mix. She draws from an era of music that is often considered stale by many music journalists (the 90's), but was actually rich with underground sounds and new forms of expression, which she has a keen ear for. Ray's soulful, powerful, yet subdued vocals bring the chill European-style hip-hop back beats to life. All together, I could see this album making an appearance wherever there is dancing, parties, lounging or just listening.

  One listen to Ray's striking vocals and it's clear that she's not new to music. She is new to making it her full-time career, though. Her first album was made in Atlanta while working a full-time job. Now she's in NYC with an intern, a new album and a tour in the works. This "black electronic sci-fi chick", as Trace magazine called her, has become a very busy woman! However, she made time to talk to us a little about songwriting and making a go as a career musician.

Yesterday, Oprah Winfrey interviewed Mackenzie Phillips, an actress and daughter of Mamas and the Papas singer John Phillips. Mackenzie said that her father raped her and eventually their relationship became "consensual".

While it's hard to imagine anything other than Stockholm syndrome, a comparison she herself makes, it does raise some important issues like how power is used and abused, how rape and incest perpetrators get away with their crimes, and can psychologically manipulate their victims, etc. Many people might ask why she continued this relationship long into adulthood.

If we believe Mackenzie (her father died in 2001) this is a clear-cut case. This is not something that anyone could claim is a fuzzy area: her father had been giving her drugs since she was ten and started raping her at 19 when she was passed out because he was jealous that she was getting married. So the fact that she talked about these issue in her book and with Oprah should be a good opportunity for a dialog about these issues.

So the blogosphere must be talking a lot about psychology and real-world implications of all this, right? No.

  An excellent production and top notch cast helped draw attention to Wildflower, and its young, up and coming playwright Lila Rose Kaplan. Although a few reviews, including the New York Times, challenged or were uncomfortable with Kaplan's choice of ending, most, including variety and curtain up were charmed, as I was, by her characters and the tale of a mother and her unusual son who escaped from New York City to a small town known for its annual flower festival.

The cast of characters includes an ex-drag queen who becomes the family's emotional and literal source of nourishment, as both mentor and innkeeper who cooks; a hard-on-the-outside-but-soft-on-the-inside forest ranger; a misfit, bubbly teenage girl; a recently divorced, struggling mother; and her son who, while intelligent, clearly has more difficulty deciphering human relationships than your average teen. While this list certainly passes any east-village political correctness checklist, it's clear that they were not created with this purpose in mind: Kaplan weaves them together in a natural way that give the audience an opportunity to see what they all have in common, and the different paths they took to reach the same end. The beauty of these characters is their realness, even when most of them are completely out of place.

We recently spoke with Lila Rose to ask her a few questions about Wildflower and her upcoming projects...