Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

One of the most fascinating things to come out of the current We Are 99%/Occupy Wall Street protests is the We Are 99% Tumblr.  At the site, people hold up signs that explain their current circumstances, and it tells the story of a whole range of Americans struggling in the Lesser Depression.  It is highly recommended. DATA The site features pictures of individuals holding their signs, and occasionally the tumblr reproduces the text of the signs themselves underneath the image as html text.  Sometimes the text under the image is blank, sometimes it is a different message, but often it is the sign itself. In order to get a slightly better empirical handle on this important tumblr, I created a script designed to read all of the pages and parse out the html text on the site.  It doesn't read the images (can anyone in the audience automate calls to an OCR?), just the html text.  After collecting all the text on all the pages, the code then goes through it to try to find interesting points. It's a fun exercise, pointing out things I wouldn't have seen otherwise.  For instance, I found this adorable little rascal, pictured below, mucking up the algorithm, as the first version of the code assumed all the ages would have two digits.  I found that he, and the sign his mom made for him as a confessional to her son, hit me a ton harder than any of the more direct signs of despair in this economy:

The biggest problem facing direct action movements is that we don't know how to handle victory. This might seem an odd thing to say because of a lot of us haven't been feeling particularly victorious of late. Most anarchists today feel the global justice movement was kind of a blip: inspiring, certainly, while it lasted, but not a movement that succeeded either in putting down lasting organizational roots or transforming the contours of power in the world. The anti-war movement was even more frustrating, since anarchists and anarchist tactics were largely marginalized. The war will end, of course, but that's just because wars always do. No one is feeling they contributed much to it.

I'm genuinely excited today to announce the release of my new book, With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful. As of this morning, it is available in bookstores as well as for shipping online. The book focuses on what I began realizing several years ago is the crucial theme tying together most of the topics I write about: America's two-tiered justice system - specifically, the way political and financial elites are now vested with virtually absolute immunity from the rule of law even when they are caught committing egregious crimes, while ordinary Americans are subjected to the world's largest and one of its harshest and most merciless penal states even for trivial offenses. As a result, law has been completely perverted from what it was intended to be - the guarantor of an equal playing field which would legitimize outcome inequalities - into its precise antithesis: a weapon used by the most powerful to protect their ill-gotten gains, strengthen their unearned prerogatives, and ensure ever-expanding opportunity inequality. This is how I described that development in the book:

Glenn Greenwald studied law and spent ten years as a litigator in federal and state courts across the country. Now he's a big two-fisted progressive blogger and columnist for Salon.com. And he's out with a blistering critique of what has happened to American law. We've stopped applying it to everyone, says Greenwald. We've carved out an exemption for Americans in the halls of power. We've created what Greenwald calls a "lawless elite" that is running roughshod over our economy and national policy. Over American law. This hour On Point: Glenn Greenwald, and liberty and justice for some.

Paul & Shark's new flagship store demonstrates how design can refresh a brand. Check it ouit and leave us your feedback...

Zaha Hadid architects unveil their design for a pioneering new institute and genocide memorial in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, which will bring together a museum, research centre, graduate school, document archives and research library. Read here...

Several aspects define building design: locale, context, function, occupancy… that become significant determinants of the final architectural make-up impacting cutting-edge dynamism that is the order of the day...

Lighting experts LumiGroup create bespoke ambience for Artopex flagship, combating the almost total absence of natural light… Read here and leave us your views...

Staying tuned in to our Indian roots adds a distinctive flavour and individuality to our global mindset and avant-garde homes during the festive season...

Just how important is wood in our ever-changing attitudes and practices in designing interiors? IAnD finds out...

Ar. Shigeru Ban's Aspen Art Museum sits in a glass box wrapped in a wooden lattice frame, upheld by the architect's reinventive design approach. Check it out here...

Designer boutique Gazal's Panache stands out for its striking monochromatic palette, interior detailing and lattice-work referencing the famous Benarasi weave, albeit in a contemporary avatar… Check out the store here

Need a home? Have limited resources? Here's Vietnam's architectural practice a21studio's solution to a warm and enjoyable home in the lap of nature…

Venice's new VITRARIA Glass +A Museum is dedicated to experience and discover the world of glass in its most unexpected forms. Its first exhibition is on view till Jan25, 2015. Check it out here...

Vo Trong Nghia Architects, Vietnam restore the charm of tropical neighbourhoods in the highly urbanized heart of Ho Chi Minh City through their one-of-a-kind project 'House for Trees'...