An interesting 3D exploration of Picasso’s  Guernica. 3D by Lena Gieseke with music by Manuel de Falla, Christopher Johns and Matthew Anderson.

No vídeo acima, vemos uma animação em 3D de Guernica.

Guernica é uma pequena cidade espanhola (localizada no País Basco) que foi bombardeada pelos nazistas durante a sangrenta guerra civil espanhola. Hitler e a igreja católica apoiaram o ditador Franco, que pôs fim a guerra em 1 de abril de 1939.

Esta foi uma guerra motivada, se é que podemos dizer que há motivos para guerras, por uma fracassada tentativa de golpe de Estado. A guerra civil espanhola durou de 1936 até 1939, logo antes do início de outra insanidade, a segunda guerra mundial.

Revoltado com tamanha insensatez humana, Pablo Picasso pintou, em 1937, o que seria uma de suas mais famosas obras. Esta pintura, impressiona pela mensagem de caos, dor e pânico que só uma guerra pode trazer. Há boatos de que esta obra era algo que Picasso já tinha pintado anos antes do bombardeio, mas que estava sem um tema associado a ela. Com o bombardeio, e a oportunidade de apresentar uma nova obra na Exposição Internacional de Paris de 1937, Picasso acabou por apresentar Guernica ao mundo.

De qualquer forma, é genial!

Charlie Baker

Richard Tisei

Here’s interesting news from Massachusetts:  Charlie Baker, one of the GOP candidates for governor next year, has chosen openly gay state senator Richard Tisei as his running mate (who, apparently from the photos we have of him, is also a giant).

Tisei would, as far as we know, become the first openly gay Lt. Governor in the country should Baker defeat Dr. Utopia’s longtime close, personal friend (and fellow David Axelrod project) Deval Patrick, one of the worst governors in not only the country currently, but in Massachusetts history.

Baker’s running against Christy Mihos for the Republican nomination. Mihos is a man, despite the fact that most people we know think he’s a woman (and some people, like our friend Panda, think he was one of the daughters on Empty Nest, but that’s lesbian actress Kristy McNichol, who played tomboy “Buddy” on Family as well). We know little about Mihos, but suspect “I’m not a woman no matter how much you think I am” won’t be an effective campaign slogan for him, no matter how much of his own personal fortune he wants to waste in this race.

Baker feels like he could defeat Patrick, while Mihos looks like a loser at first blush.  Patrick’s incredibly vulnerable, since Massachusetts residents have lived with the Axelrod brand of Hope and  Change for much longer than the rest of the country — and they aren’t too happy with the results (remember, Patrick’s 2006 campaign was Axelrod’s Guernica, testing the messaging, branding, speeches, and even campaign colors and font before using them for Dr. Utopia’s 2008 run).

We would very much like to see Patrick lose his re-election bid, for a variety of reasons, but mainly because whatever’s effective in bringing Patrick down could (also Guernica-style) be instrumental in defeating Axelrod’s other, more dangerous creation in 2012.  If Patrick goes down for the count in liberal Massachusetts, then Dr. Utopia will be vulnerable indeed in 2012.

We look forward to learning more about Baker and Tisei in the days ahead.

Any of you from Massachusetts please chime in and let us know what you think, as this is not a state we have ever followed closely, with no personal connections there of our own.

Pablo Picasso’s Guernica in 3D. We actually just discussed this piece in my Modern Art History class. This was interesting.

Super Annimation…

In Support Of The 1934 Drawing Being By Pablo Picasso, by Melvin Becraft

 My study of Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece, a 1934 ink drawing titled by Mark Harris, has resulted in 56 pages of addendum to the 1987 edition of my book, Picasso’s Guernica – Images within Images.

In 1981 I began finding hidden images in Picasso’s Guernica which led to the writing of my book. Ten years later Harris began finding hidden images in the 1934 drawing and in 1993 wrote an essay on the work which he sent to me in November 93. His essay noted similarities between the 1934 drawing and several of Picasso’s other works including Guernica of 1937 and The Three Dancers of 1925.

From 1993 to present we have remained in close contact. During this time Harris found the appearance of a Hitler caricature in the 1934 work. Both Guernica and Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece have dark forms near dead center and in each those dark forms appear to center on Hitler’s moustache. In 1993, Harris discovered a baby’s milk bottle in Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece. Shortly thereafter in The Three Dancers I discovered a related wine bottle overlaid in part by a silhouetted woman’s breast.. These bottles are in the same approximate location in each work.

In his original essay Harris had noted the great similarity between Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece, The Three Dancers and Guernica and finding a number of similar hidden forms showed this to be true and proves that the 1934 drawing is by Picasso.

Picasso’s Initiation, The Studio with Plaster Head of 1925

This Picassian transport of ideas from work to work led to insights into other works such as the 1925 Studio with Plaster Head which is a true landmark in Picasso’s life.

This work shows a sideways seen hidden caricatured image of a hooded Picasso being born again but not through the Catholic canon of faith, but rather through individual illumination, that is, through gnosis.

It is noted that this caricature is androgynous (often in mysticism this is a characteristic of a god), and the plaster head on the pedestal is also androgynous. The female portion of both heads is the light blue part containing a completely dark triangular eye.

Picasso made some very interesting wall designs in both The Three Dancers and The Studio with Plaster Head, both of 1925. They strongly evoke the Fleur de Lis “best known as an emblem of the French monarchy” (pp. 187-8, Symbols, Signs and Their Meaning, Arthur Whittick, c l960).

Picasso in 1925 announced his initiation and apotheosis in The Studio with Plaster Head (see my p. 149 for the hidden initiation image). Therefore the wall designs would appear to link him to the society into which he was initiated. On p. 155 of Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln one finds illustrated the Plantard family crest which has the Fleur de Lis as the central emblem. Their book pointed to Pierre Plantard as a possible secretary general (p. 177) of the Prieure de Sion society, perhaps even grand master (p. 188) sometime subsequent to Jean Cocteau’s alleged term. In 1925 the grand master of the Prieure de Sion society is alleged to have been Jean Cocteau (p. 105), a close acquaintance of Picasso. (For details of the Prieure de Sion refer to Holy Blood, Holy Grail.)

Therefore the possibility exists that this 1925 initiation image depicts Picasso’s initiation into Prieure de Sion membership. It certainly depicts his initiation into a group with secrets evidenced by the book and diploma.

Interestingly, both The Three Dancers of 1925 and Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece of 1934 appear to have as their basic design three figures bound together by a horizontal tie,and the central design on the Plantard crest has three vertical shapes bound by a horizontal tie. In The Three Dancers the horizontal tie is formed by the clasped hands at center. In Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece the horizontal tie is formed by a concealed pantomime horse.

Most of our findings and insights came about directly from studying Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece (the 1934 ink drawing). Without the knowledge we gleaned from the 1934 work we would have found little in the 1925 The Three Dancers, less in the 1925 Studio with Plaster Head and several other works covered. Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece of 1934 has proven to be a bridge, a major bridge, between The Three Dancers of 1925 and Guernica of 1937. And the hidden images in the 1934 work rank it with The Three Dancers and with Guernica in thematic complexity.

I therefore agree with Harris, that though done in ink and gouache the 1934 work is a masterpiece.

It is hoped that scholars will realise and accept that most of the above mentioned masterworks do contain intentionally placed hidden images. The most important cryptic reference for me is the 1925 Studio with Plaster Head initiation image.

There is no doubt in my mind. Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece celebrated in Harris’s 1993 essay The Discovery of Picasso’s Unknown Masterpiece and in his 1994 Visual Addendum to that essay is by the hand of Pablo Picasso.

© Melvin E. Becraft, 8 Dec. 1996.

Interpretations of the 1934 Drawing

Jung’s 1932 Article on Picasso

Overview of thoughts on Picasso drawing by Dr Ralph Goldstein

An Interpretation of the 1934 Drawing by Eberhard Fisch

Testimonials

In Support Of The 1934 Drawing Being By Pablo Picasso, by Melvin Becraft.

Parque del Retiro

After inhaling our burger and fries at Burger King JC and I took a long stroll through Parque del Retiro. It was built by King Philip IV for the royal family. This enormous park is the most popular park in Madrid. It’s dotted with beautiful fountains and filled with lush green gardens. It even has an artificial lake and street performers for the children. The lake is called the Estanque del Retiro. Rowboats can be rented during the weekends.

The Parque del Retiro isn’t far from the Museo Del Prado and both JC and I were extremely eager to see some of the most famous pieces art in history. These were works of art I’ve only seen in book so to be able to see them in person with my own eyes was so surreal. The Prado Museum was packed with tourists and why wouldn’t it be? It’s the most famous museum in Madrid. In order to avoid the masses and losing time, we strategized our museum visit by mapping out every single piece of work we wanted to see. This way we were able to see where each piece was clusters on the map. Instead of having to scramble all over the museum to beat the crowds, we were able to see the ones that were closest together before moving on to the next section of the museum. The Museum Del Prado currently holds:

• Hieronymus Bosch’s Table of The Seven Deadly Sins
• Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden Of Earthly Delights
• Caravaggio’s David Victorious Over Goliath
• Diego Velazquez’s The Family of Felipe IV (Las Meninas)
• Francisco de Goya’s The 3rd of May 1808
• Francisco de Goya’s Saturn Devouring One of His Sons

The visit was a quick 1-2-3. Mission accomplished. We didn’t linger or stroll around. It wasn’t such a good idea with it being the weekend and all. Plus, we were eager to visit the Museo Reina Sofia

Guernica at the Museo Reina Sophia

The Museo Reina Sofia is located directly across from the Atocha train station. We went to see Pablo Picaso’s most famous piece, Guernica. Even though I was exhausted, jet-lagged and reeked of that stale airplane stench I stood in front of the painting and stared at it for at least half an hour. It is now forever branded in my mind. The mural depicts the bombing of Guernica, an aerial attach by the Germans and Italians during the Spanish Civil War.

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world’s attention. – Wikipedia

At the end of our museum visit, we walked across the street to the Atocha train station, bought round trip tickets for Toledo and called it a day – a very long day. As I was getting ready for bed that night, that last thought that popped into my head before I fell asleep was, “Oh man, this is only day 1. Yes!”

Devlet yönetimimizin ilginç bir tutumu var: Kimi konularda dediğim dedik tavrından hiçbir biçimde vazgeçmiyor. Sözgelimi Rıfat Ilgaz, bu nedenle bütün yaşamı boyunca olmadık baskılara uğradı, hiç hak etmediği çileler çekti.

Dün ölümünün 40. yılında anılan Nâzım Hikmet de böylesi yazarlarımızdan.

Ölümünün ardından 40 yıl geçmesine karşın Nâzım Hikmet’le ilgili önyargıların, korkuların, çekingenliklerin ortadan kalktığını söyleyebilmek zor.

Yirminci yüzyıl boyunca pek çok ülkede baskı yönetimleri hüküm sürdü. Bu yönetimlerin ilerici sanatçılarla araları hiç iyi olmadı. Yunanistan’da Albaylar Cuntası boyunca ülkenin önde gelen şairlerinden Yannis Ritsos, toplama kamplarında, sürgün adalarında yaşadı ama 1974’te demokrasiye geçilir geçilmez, o da olağan hayatına döndü, üzerindeki bütün baskılar kalktı.

İspanya’ya demokrasi 1975’te geldi. Kırk yıldır başka ülkelerde sürgünde yaşayan Rafael Alberti, yaşı yetmişi geçmişti, ülkesine döndü. Picasso, 1973’te öldüğünden o günü göremedi ama ünlü tablosu “Guernica”, Madrid’e dönüp Prado Müzesine yerleşti.

Böyle bakınca, tek parti yönetiminin 1938’de hapse attığı, Demokrat Parti yönetiminin 1951’de yurttaşlıktan çıkardığı Nâzım hikmet’in de 1961 Anayasası’yla birlikte ülkesine dönebilmesi, yasaklı kitaplarının yeniden yayımlanabilmesi gerekmez miydi?

Yönetimler değişiyor, baskıcı yönetimler devrilip, demokrat yönetimler geliyor ama gazeteler, 1962’de bile, “Nâzım Hikmet vatan hainliğine devam ediyor hâlâ” diye başlıklar atabiliyorlardı.

3 Haziran 1963’teki ölümü bile Nâzım Hikmet’in ülkesindeki durumunu değiştiremedi.

İlk kez 1965’te, “Yön” dergisinde bir şiiri yayımlandı. Ardından başka yayınlar birbirini izledi. Memet Fuat, annesinin sakladığı müsvettelerden aralarında Memleketimden İnsan Manzaraları’nın da olduğu dev yapıtları yayımladı. Ancak bu yayınları yapanlar, yıllar boyu mahkeme kapılarında, cezaevlerinde süründüler.

Şerif Hulusi’nin başlatıp Asım Bezirci’nin tamamladığı ilk Bütün Şiirleri çalışması 1975-80 arasında Cem Yayınevi’nce yayımlandı.

12 Eylül 1980 darbesiyle yeniden yasaklı günlere dönüldü. 1987-90 arası bu kez Adam Yayınları’nda Memet Fuat ve Asım Bezirci’nin emekleriyle şiir, oyun, roman, öykü, çeviri, yazı ve konuşmalarının toplandığı 26 kitaplık bütün oluştu.

1990’ların sonuna doğru Birleşmiş Milletler’in İstanbul’da gerçekleştirdiği Habitat toplantısının açılışında Cumhurbaşkanı’nın ağzından, “Yaşamak bir ağaç gibi tek ve hür / Ve bir orman gibi kardeşçesine / Bu hasret bizim” dizeleri dökülüverdi.

2002, şairin doğumunun yüzüncü yılı nedeniyle Nâzım Hikmet Kültür ve Sanat Vakfı’nın girişimleri, Kültür Bakanlığı’nın geniş desteğiyle UNESCO tarafından bütün dünyada Nâzım Hikmet Yılı ilan edildi. Ülkemizde ve dünyada görkemli etkinlikler düzenlendi. Bunca coşkulu buluşmanın arasında bile yurttaşlığının iadesi için hazırlanan kararname Bakanlar Kurulu üyelerinin tümü tarafından imzalanmadığı için sonuçlanmadı. Ders kitaplarında şiirleri yer alamadı. Nâzım’dan korkanlar, korkularından kurtulamamışlardı hâlâ.

Nâzım Hikmet, yaşadığı yüzyılın önde gelen büyük şairlerinden biri olmasının yanında, hem ulusu, hem de bütün insanlık için bir simge kişilik olmuştu.

Savaşsız ve sömürüsüz bir dünyanın yanında, yalansız, insani bir dünyanın da simgesiydi. Türkiye’de hapiste yatarken de, Rusya’da bütün dünyanın tanıdığı bir şairken de aynı insandı. Düşünceleri her koşulda ve ortamda insani ve insandan yanaydı. İnsanın özüne ilişkin temel değerlerdi hep savunduğu.

Bu nedenle her okuyan onun şiirlerinde kendi hayatına, dünyasına ilişkin bir şey buluyor. Onun ürünlerine sinmiş insani değerler, onu bütün insanlığın ortak kültürel değeri kılıyor.

Demokratik görünümlü yöneticiler, yüreklerindeki karadan kurtulamadıkça Nâzım Hikmet korkularından da kurtulamayacaklar. Bu kimsenin değil, yalnızca onların sorunu.

Nâzım, yüzyıllar geçse de Ayasofya, Süleymaniye, Yunus Emre gibi değerini koruyacak ama onu halkından uzak tutmak için çaba gösterenlerin  ulaşacakları bir yer olmayacak.

4.6.2003

Madrid’s museums have hours of free admittance at times that actually encourage people to visit.  The Reine Sofia, for example, has free admission on M, W, R, and F starting at 7pm AS WELL AS Saturdays starting at 2:30pm and Sundays at 10am.  What a nice contrast to Boston’s MFA, which is free of charge only on Wednesdays after 4pm (yet they suggest you donate $20 anyway).  Not to mention that Reina Sofia is way better, but I suppose it’s unfair to compare.

The Museo Reina Sofía is named for the current queen of Spain (yes, Sofia) and houses 20^th century Spanish artists, with some French painters thrown in as well.  If you are on a short trip to Madrid, and can only go to one museum, I would choose this one. (However, you can’t quite get around not going to the Prado now can you?) The Sofia is a beautiful building, thoughtfully organized, and includes some great Picasso’s (including you know what), a beautiful room of Miro, early and late Dali, Juan Gris, Francis Picabia, Andre Messin, and Pablo Gargallo.

The crowd in front of Guernica could pass as an installation piece.

View Larger Map
*click Google Map link above to explore this etapa in detail

Etapa 6: Gernika to Meakur
Distance: 15 km
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Weather: Some rain, cloudy & cool
Photos: 40 total
Notables: Oak of Gernika, Biscay Assembly House, stained-glass ceiling, Picasso’s Guernica, finding Meakur in the rain

Etapa description continued after the break. Follow the flecha . . .

Walking the Camino de Santiago does not allow many chances to do actual sight-seeing unless you take a day off as I did in San Sebastián and Bilbao.  However, today’s etapa was a short 15 km to Meakur, allowing me to spend a casual morning in the symbolic Basque city of independence, Gernika (Guernica).

Gernika is the ancient seat of Basque lawmaking and the tree in the above photo of Gernika-Lumo’s coat of arms signifies the Oak of Gernika.  Traditionally, Basque assemblies would meet under local trees to discuss their fueros (code of laws).  Eventually, the separate assemblies were replaced in 1512 by a single assembly that met in Gernika.  One of the oaks, Gernikaka Arbola, survived until the 19th Century and the petrified trunk is on display under tight security at the current Biscay provincial assembly house. Subsequent trees have been planted from from the seeds of the original oak.

This tree amazingly survived the most infamous event in Gernika’s history, when Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe bombed the town at the request of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. The bombing occurred on a Monday, a traditional market day in the town, and was an early example of carpet bombing. Pablo Picasso immortalized the event in a famous anti-war painting: the original is on display at a museum in Madrid while there is also a mural in Gernika and another copy at the entrance to the Security Council room at the United Nations in New York City.

Back at the site of the Oak of Gernika, I took in the impressive stained glass ceiling inside the Casa de Juntas, which houses the Vizcaya (Biscay) assembly and the historical archive of the Basque Country.

With noon approaching, I set on my way out of Gernika and back on the Camino. The 15 km to Meakur was only going to take me 3-4 hours. Along the way I met a German pilgrim who was resting his feet in a field recently cleared by loggers.

Most of the pilgrims I met on my Camino were German but this one was different as he was closer to my age – most German pilgrims were in their 50s. He lived in Munich and was taking a few weeks holiday before starting a new job. He had become frustrated with his previous job and realized that his days consisted of sitting in an office, talking on the phone, and then going home to watch television and have dinner. He was disgusted about his sedentary, unhealthy, and uninspired lifestyle. His goal was Santiago de Compostela but he knew his lack of pace and time meant he wouldn’t be able to walk the entire way and would require a train or bus trip to cut some distance off his Camino. We walked and talked together for a few kilometers before arriving at a tricky navigational point on the day’s Camino. He didn’t speak any Spanish so I did my part to flag down some motorists to give us directions. The foreboding clouds from the morning had fulfilled their promise of rain and we were trying to find the correct way to Meakur and the albergue in driving rain – not one of my favorite Camino memories.

Meakur is actually off the Camino and honestly not worth the hassle of finding. The albergue is nice yet expensive, the village is tiny, and the nearby town’s restaurants did not open for dinner until the typically late Spanish dinnertime. Tonight’s meal was half a loaf of bread, two oranges, and a handful of sunflower seeds – early to bed to fight off a hungry stomach.

It was originally been commissioned as a propaganda piece by the Spanish Republican government for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris. Pablo Picasso turned the tragic bombing of Gernika, Basque Country, by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, into a nerve-wrecking elegy of individual suffering and an embodiment of peace. Fully of hidden images, allegorical figures and meaningful gravitas, Guernica depicted suffering people, animals, and buildings wrenched by violence and chaos. The original now resides at the Renia Sophia Museum*, while a more famous tapestry copy was donated to the United Nations by the Rockefellers. The tapestry is less monochromatic than the original, and uses several shades of brown. On February 5, 2003 a large blue curtain was placed to cover this work as the Bush Administration desired not to it in the background while the U.S. diplomats argued for war on Iraq.

At its unveiling at the Spanish Pavilion of the World’s Fair, David Seymour (Chim) was on hand to photograph the artist in front of his work as it received its first public showing (ab0ve). In this photo, Chim proved himself to be more far-sighted than his contemporaries–at Paris, Guernica was widely criticized. The German fair guide called it “a hodgepodge of body parts that any four-year old could have painted.” The Soviets, who favored realistic imagery, didn’t like it either. Leftists and communists, the very people who should have supported it, attacked the painting as not illustrating any political agenda, and that it expressed suffering rather than optimism. In Spain, it was declared to be “antisocial and entirely foreign to a healthy proletarian outlook.” Later, the painting toured the Scandinavian nations, UK and US, becoming famous and widely acclaimed in the process.

Below is the picture of Picasso painting his masterpiece by Picasso’s longtime muse and photographer Dora Maar, who made herself world famous with her photographs of the successive stages of the completion of Guernica in Picasso’s workshop at the rue des Grands Augustins.

* The first version of this post erroneously mentioned that Guernica was residing in the Prado. In fact, it is in the Renia Sophia, to which it was moved from the Prado in 1992.

Ten new photographs by Scott Peterman, from Guernica.

Guernica / Ice Houses.

Cabra, 1938: el Guernica de la República, dice El Manifiesto:

En tal día como este 7 de noviembre, la ciudad cordobesa de Cabra fue bombardeada en 1938 por la aviación de la República. Era un lunes, día de mercado, lo que hizo aumentar el número de víctimas: 101 muertos y más de 200 heridos. ¿Constituía la ciudad de Cabra un objetivo militar? No. ¿Estaba situada Cabra en las proximidades del frente? No, estaba muy lejos. ¿Se conocen las razones de tal brutalidad? No, se ignoran por completo.

Hasta tal punto se ignoran los motivos del bombardeo que uno se pregunta… si no sería por celebrar el día 7 de noviembre, aniversario de la revolución soviética, de la cual procedían, por cierto, los tres aviones Katiuska SB-2que sembraron la muerte aquella fría mañana de noviembre.

¿Sabías que en Guernica “mató” mucha más gente la propaganda republicana que las bombas alemanas?

Nunca ha llegado a saberse cifras oficiales de víctimas ni existen datos fiables sobre el número exacto, pues la propaganda de entonces, impulsada por periódicos ingleses, quería dar una imagen “de lo que iba a ocurrir con Hitler en el futuro”, exagerando el número de víctimas y elevándolos incluso a tres mil. Hugh Thomas dice que las versiones hablan de entre 100 y 1.600, estimando que la cifra más probable sea de 1.000 muertos.^[4] Sin embargo, los datos más actuales apuntan entre 250 y 300 muertos.^[5] Los historiadores de la asociación “Gernikazarra” Vicente del Palacio y José Ángel Etxaniz estiman que hubo 126 fallecidos ^[6] .

Lo que hace la propaganda…

This evening I found my dissertation. I also found wordle.net. I have now smooshed them both together to create an aesthetically pleasing word cloud of the most frequently used words.

Dissertation via Wordle

I would say it tells you about the dissertation in the broadest sense. You can probably work out that I focussed on Picasso – if can’t you should probably try looking again! I was looking at his relationship with the communist party and why a painting he made specifically to ingratiate himself with them is near-universally judged to be a flop. In case you’re interested the full title is:

Why was Picasso’s Massacre in Korea not successful as a communist painting and why has it not been afforded the same critical recognition as his earlier political painting, Guernica (1937)?

I’d be interested to see how much of the broad thrust of other art essays is retained using word clouds. Perhaps that’s a project for another night though!

Scott Peterman’s been photographing ice shacks in Maine and New Hampshire. I’d describe them as majestically spooky:

More here. His process:

I prefer to photograph on milky days in rain, fog, and snow, when the light is filtered and the range of color is extremely narrow. This makes the shacks seem all the more mysterious, as if they have been airlifted onto the scene, opening up the narrative rather than confining it to a documentary study of vernacular architecture.

Asalamu Alaikum.

I remember a few years ago, when I would hear people say about Muslims: “they just don’t value life like we do.” First of all, it must be said that this is a racist and Islamophobic comment meant to characterize all Arabs and Muslims as lunatics.

This comment was made in particular as a reference to “suicide bombers.”

This blog post is not about the politics of “suicide bombers.” With that said, I think it is important to quickly say that first of all, I call “suicide bombers” “Martyrs.”

Why do people martyr themselves?
Well for starters, lets put a the situation of martyrdom in context.

I think that it is central to understand the situation a martyr is in: they want to fight back against NOT ONLY an occupying force, but a MILITARILY AND ECONOMICALLY SUPERIOR occupying force.

For a martyr, the only way to stand up to the most advanced tanks, drones, jet fighters, heat seeking missiles, spy satelites, etc. is to use domestic products to create homemade bombs. The only reason a martyr uses their body as a weapon is because that martyr does not have access to advanced military equipment. I assure you, if a martyr was government funded, they would not need the rode of martyrdom.

————

But insh’Allah, let us look at this a little closely, and in broader context. Insh’Allah anyone who reads this blog has read something about history.

“They just don’t value life like we do.” Ok, well lets see.
Many people may have heard of World War I and World War II.

BOTH TIMES, EUROPE BLEW ITSELF UP AND EACH OTHER ACROSS THE ENTIRE CONTINENT. Martyrs are small change compared to the level of brutal, raw, mass destruction during WWI and WWII. Moreover, while martyrs kill themselves as an act of resistance, subhanAllah, both of the World Wars were intended to spread Imperialism.

————

World War I about 16.5 million deaths, and about 21 million wounded.
Europe in particular, was basically destroyed. And for what? For the re-division of the world by the Imperialist European powers.

By the time of WWI, the imperialist powers had carved up every possible section of the world into colonies or “spheres of influence.” Now those colonies and sphere’s of influence were running into collisions with each other, and each imperial power wanted to take over each other’s territories. The cost was 16.5 million dead and 21 million wounded. So, who exactly “just doesn’t value life?”

World War II would happen 21 years after World War I. Some people have claimed that WWI so completely decimated Europe, that Europe needed time to create give birth to more children, to be able to continue the war again. WWII happened for basically the same reasons of WWI. WWI was not able to satisfy the imperialist powers in their redivision of the world, so WWII would be the final episode, ending with the sole standing super powers being the US and the USSR.

WWII would kill an estimated 60 million people internationally. Again, Europe would be decimated completely, with Western Europe relying on the US to rebuild it, and Eastern Europe relying on the USSR to rebuild it. Of course, both the US and the USSR did not rebuild Europe out of benevolence, but out of self-interest in creating modern day spheres of influence, and as bulwarks against each other.

And again, with the understanding that 60 million people died (and this includes the deaths created by THE HOLOCAUST), the question must be repeated: exactly whom is it that “doesn’t value life?”

While I could go on and on and on with examples of “western savagery” and the way in which capitalism creates these acts of institutionalized mass murder, I will stop here and end with some subhanAllah horrifying pictures.

I want everyone to remember, the pictures you are about to see are not only real, but are taken from one of the most industrially advanced places on Earth, particularly back in the 1910’s, 1930’s, and 1940’s. I would also like to remind everyone that the working class build these cities, and then rebuilt these cities, and then again rebuild these cities.

I would also like to remind everyone that the Jewish people were systematically slaughtered in the concentration camps, but they were not alone. The concentration camps were also for Communists, Socialists, Gays, Transgenders, Elderly, Disabled, Roma, and “criminals.”

I figure I should add in Picasso’s Guernica as well to depict the bombing of that. I like art and I love anti-war art.

Avec les huits soldats américains tués hiers en Afghanistan, le mois d’octobre aura été le plus meurtrier depuis l’engagement des Américains dans ce pays il y a 8 ans; au total 55 soldats sont morts ce mois-ci. De notre côté, 131 soldats canadiens ont perdu la vie en Afghanistan depuis le début de la mission en 2002.

Je suis quelqu’un de pacifique et contre les guerres. Je trouve les guerres absurdes, irrationnelles, barbares et inutiles. Comment les guerres sont-elles possibles, alors que la population est générallement contre? Selon moi, il y a deux ingrédients essentiels.

Le premier ingrédient est un gros gouvernement. Il faut que l’État ait de bien longues tentacules pour diriger autant de ressources vers une activité aussi destructrice. Les régimes totalitaires ont d’ailleurs été d’effroyables machines de guerre dans l’histoire.

Le second ingrédient est l’inflation ou la capacité du gouvernement à financer ses dépenses militaires en créant de la monnaie. En effet, si gouvernement devait augmenter les impôts pour financer ses guerres, la population de révolterait. La monnétisation est une façon bien plus subtile (et hypocrite) pour l’État de financer son expansion puisque les citoyens ne s’en rendent pas compte. Cette activité est bien entendu grandement facilitée par l’existence d’une banque centrale.

Observez le graphique suivant, lequel montre le pouvoir d’achat du dollar américain entre 1800 et 2009 ($1.00 en 1800 vaut maintenant $0.05). Vous constaterez que les périodes d’inflation les plus sévères sont toujours causées par des guerres. C’est simplement parce que le gouvernement “monnétise” ses dépenses militaires.

Ces périodes de sévères inflation sont:

• La guerre de 1812-15
• La guerre Civile 1861-65
• La guerre Hispano-Américaine de 1898
• La Première Guerre Mondiale 1914-18
• La Seconde Guerre Mondiale 1939-45
• La guerre de Korée de 1950-53
• La guerre du Vietnam 1960-75
• Les campagnes d’Irak et d’Afghanistan des années 1990s-2000s

Avant la création des banques centrales, sous l’étalon-or, il était beaucoup plus difficile pour les gouvernements de financer leurs guerres. Ils devaient débaser la monnaie notamment en modifiant son ratio d’équivalence en or ou en imprimant de la monnaie de papier sans avoir d’or sous-jacente.  Cette pratique a été fortement utilisée au cours de l’histoire, notamment par l’Empire Romain qui l’utilisait pour financer ses campagnes militaires. Certains croient d’ailleurs que ça a contribué à sa chute.

Durant la Première Guerre Mondiale, l’Allemagne a augmenté sa masse monétaire de 400% et en 1923, le pouvoir d’achat du Papiermark avait diminué drastiquement (on l’utilisait comme papier-peint sur les murs!). La Seconde Guerre Mondiale n’aurait pas été possible si Hitler n’avait pas pu la financer en imprimant de la monnaie. Suite à la chute du régime Nazi, le Reichsmark a d’ailleurs été remplacé par le Deutsche Mark en 1948 pour éviter une seconde vague d’hyperinflation comme celle qui avait frappé le pays en 1923 (lorsque le gouvernement a monnétisé sa dette de guerre).

De nos jours, les guerres sont beaucoup plus faciles à financer. Les gouvernements n’ont pas besoin de l’accord du peuple pour mener leurs campagnes militaires. Ils n’ont pas à militer pour justifier leurs actes. Ils n’ont pas à défendre des augmentations d’impôts pour payer ces guerres. Ils n’ont qu’à se tourner vers leur banque centrale pour obtenir le financement.

Ainsi, le budget militaire des États-Unis s’élève maintenant à plus de $663 milliards (5% du PIB) alors que celui du Canada a augmenté à plus de $19 milliards (1.5% du PIB). Le gouvernement Américain a englouti près de $600 milliards dans les guerre en Irak depuis 2003, soit environ $2,000 par habitant.

Pour un excellent texte sur la guerre et l’inflation, je vous recommande celui-ci du Mises Institute.

Je vous laisse avec la Guernica, cette oeuvre que Picasso a peinte en réponse au bombardement de la ville de Guernica en Espagne en 1937. Cette oeuvre est devenue un symbole de l’horreur de la guerre.

En 2003, une reproduction du tableau présentée à l’ONU a été cachée à la demande des diplomates américains par une toile bleue lors du vote de la résolution concernant la guerre d’Irak. Sa simple vue occasionnait un sentiment de honte pour les passants.