Science Fiction Turns To Real Terror

At first there is a very, very, nice movie WITH Ray Bradbury at The Hyperpicture
http://hyperpicture.blogspot.com/2012/06/ray-bradbury.html


Update: Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203, Interviewed by Sam Weller, The Paris Review, Spring 2010, No. 192

"You can’t learn to write in college. It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do—and they don’t. They have prejudices."

http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6012/the-art-of-fiction-no-203-ray-bradbury


Then there is this real art turns to real agony gem:

On the Natural History of Surveillance
Adam Rotstein, 6 June, 2012
http://rhizome.org/editorial/2012/jun/6/natural-history-surveillance

Rotstein links to:
Surveillance in Science Fiction
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science_List_Detail.asp?BT=Surveillance

The Julian Assange Show: Cypherpunks

5 June 2012

Good marketing: Dangerous Liaisons: Assange guests targeted in FBI sting


5 June 2012

Get More Bost and Cutler - Now!

Mike Bost explosion: One of the best political rants you’ll ever see: "Illinois state Rep. Mike Bost’s (R) explosion on the floor of the Illinois state House may go down in history as one of the great political rants of all time." Aaron Blake, 053012

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/mike-bost-explosion-one-of-the-best-political-rants-youll-ever-see/2012/05/30/gJQAnzZc2U_blog.html


Mike Bost
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bost






Ivor Cutler (1923–2006)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivor_Cutler

Looking for Truth with a Pin (Ivor Cutler Documentary) [1/6]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmEARHNmsZg

The Imperial Downfall - And As Usual There Are No Fucking Barbarians That Can Take Care Of It All

… there are no barbarians any longer


Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?


Those people were a kind of solution.

Constantine Cavafy

In BBC Magazine, 25 May 2012, there is a good text that compare today with the fall of the Roman Empire (- i.e. it can´t be hidden any more).

Viewpoint: The time Britain slid into chaos, The social unrest, economic gloom and austerity in Europe today mirrors one of the greatest crises in British history, says the historian Michael Wood.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18159752


The same day, 25 May 2012, in The Wall Street Journal: New signs of a global slowdown are darkening the economic outlook.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304840904577423961992317658.html

....

Update 19 July 2012: America's fascination with the apocalypse
BBC, 19 July 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18877449



Update 17 June 2012: The Perils of Ignoring History -This Time, Europe Really Is on the Brink, A Commentary by Niall Ferguson and Nouriel Roubini 12 June 2012

The European Union was created to avoid repeating the disasters of the 1930s, but Germany, of all countries, has failed to learn from history. As the euro crisis escalates, Berlin should remember how the banking crisis of 1931 contributed to the breakdown of democracy across Europe. Action is urgently needed to stop history from repeating itself.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-germans-have-learned-nothing-from-history-a-838429.html





Update 25 May 2012: Theresa May: we'll stop migrants if euro collapses - The Government is drawing up plans for emergency immigration controls to curb an influx of Greeks and other European Union residents if the euro collapses, the Home Secretary discloses today.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9291493/Theresa-May-well-stop-migrants-if-euro-collapses.html


....

However, the ultimate text about this topic is Waiting for the Barbarians by Constantine Cavafy (1863–1933).




Text: Waiting for the Barbarians
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/181780

W. H. Auden has/had also some good points.



Text: The Fall of Rome
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=14280


But, back to Cavafy, to reach out for the full story - Ithaka:

When you set sail for Ithaca,
wish for the road to be long,
full of adventures, full of knowledge.


Please, note that the translation in the video is much better.



Text: Ithaka
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/181782


Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_P._Cavafy

The Cavafy Archive website
http://www.cavafy.com/


W. H. Auden (1907-1973)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden


Roman Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire

Ithaca or Ithaka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca

Odysseus, king of Ithaca
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus

Odyssey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey