Check Out Philip Ross and Laura Splan’s SF Camerawork Opening Tomorrow Night

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Laura Splan is one of the Illegal Art artists I’ve been working with making my movie.
Of course, not all the art she creates is illegal. She’s got an opening tomorrow night with another artists, Philip Ross.
Hope to see you there.
Artists Presentations – Philip Ross & Laura Splan
Tuesday, August 26, 7:30 pm – Gallery opens at 7 pm
SF Camerawork
@ New Langton Arts
1246 Folsom Street (between 8th and 9th Streets)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Local artists Philip Ross and Laura Splan both make work inspired by life and life science. Whether it’s human or non-human life, growth or decomposition, ecosystems or HMO’s, each artist works in a variety of media to present provocative work unveiling traits of the world around us. Artist Philip Ross uses living organisms and life support technologies as the inspiration and the means by which he makes his work. This process has yielded a series of highly manipulated living organisms and a number of sculptural structures specifically designed to support, confine and protect them. Laura Splan’s work explores how our surroundings and experiences mediate our perceptions of the human body. Believing that interaction with objects can leave a mark on our psyche via their form and function, Splan examines the dynamics of these interactions through visual metaphors, visceral materials, and images that challenge our perceptions of beauty and horror. The artist frequently uses medical science and technology as a point of departure to question categories of what is natural, what is normal, and what is desirable.
Gallery & Bookstore opens at 7 pm
$6/$4 members, students, and seniors
http://www.sfcamerawork.org/events.html

Anonymous File Swapper Fights Back Against The RIAA Subpoenas

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File swapper fights RIAA subpoena
By John Borland for CNET News.com

An anonymous California computer user went to court Thursday to challenge the recording industry’s file-trading subpoenas, charging that they are unconstitutional and violate her right to privacy.
The legal motion, filed in Washington, D.C., federal court by a “Jane Doe” Internet service subscriber, is the first from an individual whose personal information has been subpoenaed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in recent months…
The motion was filed by a pair of Sacramento, Calif., attorneys, who said the RIAA had gone too far in its effort to protect its online copyrights.
“This is more invasive than someone having secret access to the library books you check out or the videos you rent,” said Glenn Peterson, one of the attorneys, in a statement. “The recent efforts of the music industry to root out piracy have addressed a uniquely contemporary problem with Draconian methods–good old fashioned intimidation combined with access to personal information that would make George Orwell blush.”
The “Jane Doe” motion comes as the first individual legal response to the RIAA’s effort to sue large numbers of file swappers. It follows similar legal challenges from several ISPs and colleges, including Pacific Bell Internet Services, an SBC Communications subsidiary…
Critics of the unconventional subpoena process have noted that individuals whose information has been sought in other subpoena processes, such as potential libel cases, are given the legal opportunity to challenge the request for their personal information, however.

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Al Franken Victory In “Fair and Balanced” Suit

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In Courtroom, Laughter at Fox and a Victory for Al Franken
By Susan Saulny for the NY Times.

“I never really had any doubt,” he said in a telephone interview, calling the ruling “a victory for satirists everywhere, even the bad ones. In addition to thanking my own lawyers, I’d like to thank Fox’s lawyers for filing one of the stupidest briefs I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The Fox court papers had referred to Mr. Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” writer and performer and an unabashed liberal, as a “parasite” who appeared shrill, unstable and “increasingly unfunny.”…
If anything, the lawsuit only benefited Mr. Franken. His book had been scheduled for release in September, but the publicity caused the publisher to print an extra 50,000 copies, for a total of 435,000, and to roll the book out on Thursday.
After the ruling yesterday, it moved to the No. 1 spot on the best-seller list at amazon. com…
One round of laughter was prompted when Judge Chin asked, “Do you think that the reasonable consumer, seeing the word `lies’ over Mr. O’Reilly’s face would believe Mr. O’Reilly is endorsing this book?”
The giggling continued as Dori Ann Hanswirth, a lawyer for Fox, replied, “To me, it’s quite ambiguous as to what the message is here.”
She continued, “It does not say `parody’ or `satire.’ ”
Ms. Hanswirth said Fox’s “signature slogan” was also blurred, because people who were not associated with the network, which owns the Fox News Channel, also appear on the cover with Mr. O’Reilly.
Judge Chin said, “The president and the vice president are also on the cover. Is someone going to consider that they are affiliated with Fox?”
The courtroom broke into laughter again.
Ms. Hanswirth replied, “It’s more blurring, your honor.”

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Thousands In Portland, Oregon Protest Against The Shrub – August 21, 2003

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Doug Byers sez:

I’m a photographer living in Portland Oregon. As you may know we had a large demonstration against George Bush’s fundraising visit to Portland today. Thousands of people flooded the streets to send a message to our president of strong protest on many political and social fronts.
The show of force by the Portland Police was VERY SCARY INDEED !! The storm troopers have landed !!
Here is a link to additional images.
(http://www.byersphotography.com/bushprotest1)


Daily Show: Syphilis Mascots – The Healthy Penis vs. Phil The Sore

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The Daily Show’s Mo Rocca has really outdone himself this time!
This has got to be one of the funniest bits I’ve ever seen.
Apparently, there’s a new syphilis outbreak, and the Dept. of Health hired an advertising company to run some focus groups and find out the best way to deal with the problem.
The result: The Healthy Penis. A squeaky clean fallice with a big smile to help people understand about healthy genital hygiene. San Francisco residents responded very positively to The Healthy Penis.
Everything seemed great, until it was time for The Healthy Penis to bring the campaign down to Los Angeles. Citizens there, such as Ron Jeremy, objected to a healthy penis being used as a symbol for syphilis. As an alternative, organizations in L.A. created “Phil the Sore” to start a negative campaign using scare tactics to educate the public about syphilis, (rather than having a healthy genital representative’s positive tips and information).
This film was produced by Jim Margolis and Edited by Einar Westerlund.
This is from the August 20, 2003 program.

The Daily Show – Sore Loser (Small – 10 MB)















The Daily Show (The best news on television.)

Taco Hell Says: Vote For A Beefy Hunk Or A Soft Chicken

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This makes about as much sense as any other part of this recall, I suppose.
How transparent of Taco Hell. But now that I’ve thought about it, rather brilliant.
Who says you can’t buy votes anyway? That’s exactly what they’re doing.
Even I have become a pawn in their little game bringing this to you now.

Who Says You Can’t Buy Votes

At participating locations for a limited time. This promotion is solely sponsored by Taco Bell Corp., and is not affiliated with nor has it been endorsed by any other entity.