Guardian of Seniors’ Rights… come on. The 60 Plus Association? What kind of phony “award” is this? Mike Bishop really must think his constituents are complete idiots, or else assumes his supporters will just swallow everything he feeds them. Just because you put a sign behind you saying you’re “protecting…

It is amazing just how mendacious much political advertising (propaganda) is. When thinking about “unhinged”, I think of people running over peaceful protesters in the streets, tiki-torch-carrying white supremacists marching through a college campus, putting children in cages after being separated from their parents, showering murderous dictators with fawning praise…

“I’m glad I was raised in the ’50s when a doll was an object, not a role model.” — Kirstie Alley On the docket for this year, Barbie’s “Inspiring Women” line of appropriated and commodified personas (two dead and one living). This seems to be the hottest new trend in…

I am releasing this now to remind us of just how Mike Bishop operates as a so-called Congressional Representative of our 8th District. This was written in Spring of 2017 as an archive of some artifacts of the process by which Bishop elided his fundamental responsibilities to his constituents, the…

So… on the whole “appropriation” of the Aisha Evans image by Pepsi with it’s Kendall Jenner commercial. That rings pretty hollow. It is certainly an appropriation of authentic protests and social movements in general (not much different than the old “I’d like to give the world a Coke” commercial). And…

From “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Owning Everything” Public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private [Virtue], and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics. There must be a possitive Passion for the public good, the public Interest, Honour, Power, and Glory, established in the Minds of the People, or there can be no Republican Government…

A Facebook “discourse” about the nature of reality Everyone should take a look at this video for a little context about the changing meaning of The Charging Bull… It’s a nice short by the Smithsonian. The Story of the Wall Street Bull From ticker tape parades to the Occupy Wall Street movement,www.smithsonianmag.com Before you all get too gushy about this, remember the “Fearless Girl” is a corporate publicity stunt. It is a perfect example of…

I am not a fan of gimmicky marketing campaigns, particularly those that co-opt very serious social issues like civil or equal rights. They are, of course, ubiquitous in our age of hyper-capitalism, when everything and everyone is somehow or another “branded”. The very language of capitalism and marketing have become…

False Equivalency and Race: Some Problems with Artistic and Cultural Appropriation Before Black History Month is over, let us explore what I see as a rather misguided, albeit legitimate, message recently published by Belleville News-Democrat in the form of a political cartoon. Some of you may have seen the controversial image this month, but more than likely not, given the endless…