The Breaking Time

Rapture time: Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies

In case you were wondering, here's a chart. Larger version here.

According to some calculations, most seeming to stem from the fundamentalist preacher Harold Camping, this Saturday, May 21 is the Rapture. Among those who do not hold with this, the typical reaction seems to be "party!"

While predictions of imminent apocalypse have a long pedigree, and one not just confined to Christianity, the Rapture is a recent and mostly American invention, arising out of 18th century Puritanism.

Growing up in the rural part of the Bible Belt, where mainstream and open-minded denominations rubbed shoulders with the more esoteric fundamentalists, this idea in particular always struck me as among the strangest. I remember a particular religious bookstore with a bargain bin of apocalypses, containing predictions that Gorbachev, hippies, AIDS and computers, among others, were signs of an imminent end.

At one point, around 4th grade, I acquired the sort of fascination with the concept that only a child can muster. After taking down a Bible and skipping forward to Revelation, I decided that the world would end the next week, around 10:40 in the morning, during the language arts portion of class. I waited quietly at my desk, inwardly relieved when the appointed time arrived and my teacher was not devoured by serpent beasts. Or harlots, for that matter, who I assumed were some type of badass female supervillain.

Later, I understood the roots. Poverty and upheaval are key to the American story, creating fertile soil for visions — not just religious or Christian — of sudden triumph. It is a hard world, and those who endure long enough would dearly love for the sky to open in their favor, just once.

In best secular fashion, more and more people are getting in on the celebration, and NPR is even asking for a soundtrack. After all, in my lifetime, we've had the Bomb, homegrown terrorists, Y2K, foreign terrorists and economic strife. As long as I can remember, things far more real than Rapture have loomed.

But here we are, still alive, throwing a party. Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies.

On the One Road

It's St. Patrick's Day, usually associated with green beer and massive inebriation. Like all holidays, however, the day is mutable enough to be what we make it. A part of my ancestry is Irish, and I respect the combination of dogged defiance and hospitality. So tonight I'll celebrate with friends our fortune in making it through hard times, and hope for better to come.

Ireland has produced an incredible amount of blistering laments, product of a long, bloody history. The song above, however, is different. "On the One Road" depicts a spirit facing uncertain odds ("we're on the road to god knows where") but roaringly optimistic ("night is darkest just before the dawn"), since something greater is coming, and everyone plays a role.

The song is about Ireland, but like all the best, universal at its heart. Wherever you are tonight, raise a glass, because the road doesn't end here.

The Rundown: DADT, monopolies, copper thieves (and anime)

Police arrest Iraq war veteran Rob Smith during protests at the White House against the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy Nov. 15. Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

* “We have a gay guy [in the unit]. He’s big, he’s mean, and he kills lots of bad guys. No one cared that he was gay.” 

That one quote, from an anonymous special ops soldier interviewed as part of the Pentagon's comprehensive report on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, sums up the absurdity of the whole matter in the most succinct way possible. Interestingly, the rank-and-file of the military doesn't see any problem with allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly. Funny how dealing with life or death situations tends to reveal how utterly stupid and irrelevant bigotry is. Hopefully this is DADT's nail in the coffin, and gay and lesbian soldiers will soon be able to serve openly, without bullshit.

* European Commission opens anti-trust investigation against Google European regulators seem ready to rake Google over the alleged prejudicial nature of its algorithms, ad programs and data. I'm not shocked, at all, and in the grand scheme of things, this sort of response is long overdue. 

Awhile back, I wrote about Nation vs. Corporation, and how Big Tech would likely be the next target, as the gleam of its "we'll bring you the future" message wears off, with governments and populations wanting its sudden power to be reined in. We'll see how it goes.

* AT&T offering bounties for copper thieves In Atlanta, AT&T is offering $3,000 rewards for information leading to the capture of thieves that are scavenging telephone lines for the valuable metal, as one of their recent heists left thousands without telephone service.

This is the latest evolution of an ongoing problem. Copper thieves have been a problem for years, especially in areas where the poverty rate is high. Hardware stores like Lowe's frequently hire extra security to protect from such theft.

As cultures have become more tech-based, the resources that technology guzzles become more and more valuable. Inevitably, that demand leads to such materials fetching a pretty penny, especially with growing economic insecurity. The black market ends up savaging one part of infrastructure to sell to another and I don't think bounties alone will overcome that.

* Every anime intro ever. Really. Try not to have a seizure:

The Rundown: bodies on the highway

The body of a man killed execution style and wrapped in bin liners lies by the side of the Acapulco-Mexico highway November 16, 2006. REUTERS/Stringer

*Drug Wars A stunning set of pictures inside Mexico's drug war. Fair warning, the picture above is one of the least graphic in the set, which includes everything from blinged-out .45s and narco-saints to headless bodies hanging from a bridge. A harrowing look inside how ugly a drug-fueled civil war is.

*New Haven uses SWAT team to crack down on nightlife New Haven, Conn. has apparently decided people drinking and attending strip clubs is such a dire threat that it needs to use the SWAT team — with masks and assault rifles, no less — to round up the patrons, on a search warrant that produced a single, unrelated charge. This comes on the heels of Operation Nightlife where police started rounding up clubgoers and were widely reported to have attacked and tased a Yale student. Bunny Colvin's rant from The Wire — "call something a war, and pretty soon everyone starts acting like warriors" — comes to mind.

*LGBTIQQAA Yes, that's now the going abbreviation. I remember when it was gay and lesbian, then, around the time I was in college, LGBT became popular, and that was fine. But at this point, the acronym's stretching to the point of uselessness.

There is a term, however, that covers all those groups and their struggle for rights without resorting to a ludicrous degree of political correctness or tongue-twistingly garbled abbreviations: human.

*Catholics in US overwhelmingly support homosexual unions Many do this in direct defiance of their official hierarchy, and in percentages greater, in some cases, than the rest of the mainstream populace. A reassuring sign and a reminder that adherents to a creed don't always follow the attendant hierarchy. Again, the lesson is to be careful lumping traditions into too-neat boxes. There is No They.

*Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation? A surprisingly decent series on the rise, hybridization and collapse of a subculture(s?) by Steven Hyden over at The Onion's AV Club. A good look at the way grunge and alt music linked into culture trends in one of the last eras before rock n' roll (along with mass music in general) splintered or become totally retro. Particular kudos for the way Hyden manages to balance enthusiasm with a realistic look at the limits of art.

*Experimentation, orgasms and the rise of anal sex Slate journalist William Saletan looks at changing sexual trends. Interesting material here on a social revolution steadily continuing in the background, though some of the "whoa" tone in Saletan's is a little puerile.

*'39 Queen doing an acoustic (what? yes!) presentation of one of the peppiest, saddest songs ever written about space travel:

Intermission, with f'ing Muppets

Occasionally, when my workload gets to frenetic proportions, I start to get grumpy. I love writing, deeply, but every once in awhile I polish off the day's pieces, shamble home and the last thing I want to do is yet more writing, even if it's something I really want to finish. 

Then I remember that I am extremely lucky and fortunate beyond anything I ever imagined just a few years ago: I write for a living.

So if you happen to encounter me in my grumpy state, please just take it in stride. The work-load induced intermission here ends soon, and please believe that it will be worth the wait. In the meantime, have some Queen-singing Muppets, something that never fails to cheer me up.

The Rundown: Quotable edition

Fuck yeah grammarpunk

I love quotes and everything to do with them and so it seems fitting to base this edition of The Rundown on telling passages that sum things up perfectly. Like so:

* "Ethnographic studies have found that, during possession, ‘spirits’ may offer opinions or solutions to moral crises and may protect the individual from trauma and despair during times of violence." Mozambique's plague of spirit possessions.

* "If any one or more of them, at any time, are inclined to raise their heads to a level with their master or overseer, humanity and their own good requires that they should be punished until they fall into that submissive state which was intended for them to occupy. They have only to be kept in that state, and treated like children to prevent and cure them from running away."

Running away from slavery was once considered a diagnosable mental illness.

* "There's stories of property owners who have court orders demanding their properties be left alone and they come in and demolish them" In Montgomery, the city government is using a local blight ordinance to target low-income homes — some in the middle of renovation or construction — for demolition. The owners are often billed for the cost and, when they can't pay (now being homeless) the city seizes the property for resale. Governments used to be at least more blunt about their intentions.

* "For such a mongrel between pig and puppy, begotten by a wild boar on a bitch wolf, never before in any age of the world was suffered by the poltroonery of mankind, to run through such a career of mischief. Call it then the Age of Paine." John Adams trash talks Thomas Paine. Epically.

* "There is a transexual prostitute on every floor, to satisfy customer requests" An interesting photo series on the quasi-legal Turkish brothels.

* "Each time your heart beats, your body moves..." A beautiful video on the zen of firing a gun.

Everyone Forever Now - "Shooting a Gun" from Everynone on Vimeo.

The Rundown: blood and lithium

Tomorrow's gasoline?

* U.S. Discovers massive mineral wealth in Afghanistan Roughly $1 trillion worth: 

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

There's my favorite Chinese curse, which goes "May you live in interesting times. May you attract the notice of those in high places. May you find what you are looking for." All three seem to apply in this case. Yet again a case of massive natural wealth found in a brutally fractious country. So far, much of the reaction I've heard has resembled "Oh. Shit."

Of course, the United States and many other industrial powerhouses once had massive resource reserves, but those have largely been used up and all the cheap stuff now lies underground of harsh political and geographical terrain.

Many of the devices powering the information revolution depend on lithium batteries. It will be interesting to see if technologists end up supporting bloodshed to keep that cheap, just as previous generations did to preserve cheap oil.

Of course, this cycle can't continue forever. We've got to find better ways of recycling old technology and using less resources in the new stuff.

Conor Friedersdorf argues the United States should run away from the Afghan resources, "sending someone else across the minefield in our stead. The United Nations? The World Bank? The China Mineral Corporation? Whoever it is, better that they suffer the consequences of this find than that we do."

* Chamber President wants government to pay for BP cleanup Speaking of the dangers of risky resource extraction, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce plans to push for the government to bail BP out.

It's a particularly shocking display of privilege, unjustifiable under free market ideals or any other. The translation on his statement is easy: "Shut up peasant, and pay your betters."

* Culinary diplomacy with the Axis of Evil Cafe The Conflict Kitchen, started by a group of Pittsburgh artists, features food from places the U.S. is on bad terms with. The project is intended "to help people see these countries as everyday, human places that are defined by more than just their policies and government." 

The article has a particularly interesting account of a meal (and the ensuing conversation) via satellite between a group in Tehran and Pittsburgh. 

* New Soft City One of the latest augmented reality proposal. We'll see how it pans out. I'm waiting for the inevitable black market/social uses of this technology to start arising and honestly I find them more fascinating than seeing in flashier ways if the buses are running on time. 

* And Still They Cry Out On the anniversary of the Green Uprising, rebel calls still ring from Tehran rooftops. 

* Prince Poppycock at America's Got Talent. Let's change things for a sec for the less serious. This is just absolutely divine.

The Rundown: It's the goddamn Breaking Time!

And Frank Miller is insane...

Frank Miller goes absolutely insane, with Batman, parts 1, 2 and 3: After coming off a news-writing binge that ended at approximately 7 a.m. I'm in the mood for some goddamn humor, and this hit just the right chord.

For those of you that don't know, Frank Miller, famed in earlier years for his classic, gritty remakes of Batman, has undertaken one final swan song, All-Star Batman and Robin, that personifies what he's become known for in his later works: utter stark, raving madness. This is well demonstrated by the panel above, which is actually fairly mild compared to the rest of the series.

Seriously, it's hard to appreciate the actual, sheer depth of the batshit (har har) until you actually see it for yourself. The I-Mockery version above is the perfect place to start, and as well as being fucking h

On a more thematic note, Miller is in the unique position of both helping to birth an artistic trend (grimdark superhero remakes) and play a major role in its final descent into clueless self-parody.

From Avatar to Fern Guilly in Five Easy Steps Also known as "White guy rebels against evil organization who wants valuable resource, joins indigenous tribe, hooks up with native hottie when someone's about to die. Hero bonds with important creature, wins over tribe, has a hippie moment and ends with (usually a repeated hippie bullshit line." This covers a surprising amount of stories, many making millions upon millions of dollars. I'll leave you to speculate why.

Legitimizing the illegitimate The excellent blog The Polis looks at ways of "legalizing" the slums that are a horrific, but often vital part of expanding urban centers around the globe. Essential Breaking Time reading.

Robots get sensitive skin An important technological step, though it further confirms my dire suspicion that technological progress will grind to a halt once researchers can fuck their robots.

The Story of Dune Fifty years ago Frank Herbert, a middle-aged journalist, sat down to write what would become one of the most innovative and influential sci-fi novels of all time. A surprisingly satisfying LA Times piece.

SEC charges Goldman Sachs with fraud And times just got real interesting. 

Blog Concerts The excellent Robin LeBlanc has dreamt an idea whose time has come, and a way to turn those writing binges into pure, transcendental art. Read it. These need to become a reality, soon.

Fashion on a leash

So a casting agency is trying not to be a casting agency but, apparently, a high-level subversion factory, despite doing work for unconventional types like Old Navy and Avon.

So they produce a "stylized take on the casting process," an oddly formal set of words that absolutely fail to describe the ominous witch's brew of arousal, group-mind claustrophobia, desperate striving and all-around deviance that is their one and only promo video, a work I also have to give credit for the best use of a Stooges song I've seen in ages.

So yes, if all of the above doesn't describe a product symptomatic of the lovely Breaking Time in which we live, I don't know what does. 

And yes, it does actually manage to be subversive: I still don't know quite what to think of the damn thing.

Poems for Friday: Plastic Bag

Fuck knows I love me some good Werner Herzog jokes. But occasionally he steps out of the darkness and reminds us of exactly why he casts such a long artistic shadow in the first place.

So it was that I came to the end of this week and realized that the above brilliant short film by Rahmin Bahrani, and narrated by Mr. Herzog, was the most stunningly tender piece of poetry I've encountered in some time. So enjoy, and remember: it's a wide world out there.

(Via, with many thanks, Coilhouse)