I’m glad to see Obama gave a speech for the Muslim community. Not all Muslims are terrorists. In case you missed it, here was Barry Blitt’s response yesterday.

Santiago, July 9. Human Rights Assembly + the Freedom Speech Platform took the San Francisco’s Church as a way of protest against the constant repression and violence from police against students, teachers and mapuche people. The action ended with the compromise of church of take part of the issue.

On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Photographer Robert Wiles took a photo of McHale a few minutes after her death.

The photo ran a couple of weeks later in Life magazine accompanied by the following caption:

On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a note. ‘He is much better off without me … I wouldn’t make a good wife for anybody,’ … Then she crossed it out. She went to the observation platform of the Empire State Building. Through the mist she gazed at the street, 86 floors below. Then she jumped. In her desperate determination she leaped clear of the setbacks and hit a United Nations limousine parked at the curb. Across the street photography student Robert Wiles heard an explosive crash. Just four minutes after Evelyn McHale’s death Wiles got this picture of death’s violence and its composure.

From McHale’s NY Times obituary, Empire State Ends Life of Girl, 20:

At 10:40 A. M., Patrolman John Morrissey of Traffic C, directing traffic at Thirty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue, noticed a swirling white scarf floating down from the upper floors of the Empire State. A moment later he heard a crash that sounded like an explosion. He saw a crowd converge in Thirty-third Street.

Two hundred feet west of Fifth Avenue, Miss McHale’s body landed atop the car. The impact stove in the metal roof and shattered the car’s windows. The driver was in a near-by drug store, thereby escaping death or serious injury.

On the observation deck, Detective Frank Murray of the West Thirtieth Street station, found Miss McHale’s gray cloth coat, her pocketbook with several dollars and the note, and a make-up kit filled with family pictures.

The serenity of McHale’s body amidst the crumpled wreckage it caused is astounding. Years later, Andy Warhol appropriated Wiles’ photography for a print called Suicide (Fallen Body), but I can’t find a copy of it anywhere online. Anyone?

Update: A not-so-great representation of Warhol’s version of this photograph is available at Google Books.

(link)

A street artist put up a piece as a birthday present for his girlfriend, who had moved to Connecticut. Friends and strangers alike were encouraged to pose with the painted lady; the photo project can be found here.

By late June, however, the piece was painted grey and then quickly revived with a Sharpie. Now, not even a month after, it seems that the statue the end, as it was found busted in half over the weekend. It’s a cruel, I wonder if it was personal… maybe not.

Earlier, Brownstoner pointed towards a Benches for Barack Craigslist ad that offers up handmade benches built. From the $40 price tag, $25 goes to the cost of building the bench, while $15 is donated to the Obama campaign. The benches, which measure 18 inches tall and 48 inches long, are delivered for free and can even show up at your doorstep in two hours! 

A list of fifty things being blamed on rising oil prices. Among them: pizza deliviery prices, weakened demand for wine, “gas rage”, and more foot patrol for police officers.

(link)

This decision was taken by the committee of Oppeano (Verona, Italy), where in May a building used by Muslims for prayer was bulldozed. In its place, the Municipality will create a public square named after the writer of The Rage and the Pride, which promoted a bitter campaign against Islam. 

The decision to raze the structure was taken by the municipal administration, which acquired the area for 70,000 Euros in order to transform it into an open area for parking and green space. 

My citizens did not want this takeover, explained the mayor, Alessandro Montagnoli, deputy of the Lega Nord, above all because it could create problems of practicability and cohabitation with the residents.

Source

“If I don’t make it out alive… delete my emails.”

Aside: Yup, this is a ridiculously short post.

Photograph from last year’s fireworks by nschaden on Flickr

We hope all of you have a happy and safe July 4th. Whether you’re enjoying tonight’s fireworks display or just a quiet day, take a moment to remember why we celebrate the day.

Here’s the NY Times has an editorial about the meaning of the day. The Post reprints verses by Ralph Valdo Emerson, Walt Whitman and Henry Holcomb Bennett.

Try to see Stanley Kubrick’s MySpace page because it’s actually pretty interesting. Lots of photos of him and his films.

(link)