Art For Art's Sake: Ziolkowski

The scale of this one never ceases to amaze me - like the original artist, sadly, I won't live to see it finished:

                          

I first read about it in a sci-fi novel, 'Logan's Run' by George Clayton Johnson and William F. Nolan - being sci-fi, the idea of a mountain sculpture hiding a supercomputer and guarded by lethal cybernetic eagles was just part of the make-believe world. Or, so I thought at the time.

Years later, I learned the truth. Amazingly, it is indeed real (though minus the supercomputer and the eagles, which is a real shame!). Or...will be real, anyway.

In 1929, Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, wrote to the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to propose it. Why did he choose Ziolkowski, a Polish American? I haven't been able to find out, but I can only assume that it was on the basis of his work on the more-famous Mount Rushmore monument. I admire his vision, and his steadfast refusal to take any form of government grant...

And if only all modern art were so grand and uplifting!

Talk Is Great, But Action Is What Works...

Almost 100 crimes in Dartford were committed using weapons in the past year, News Shopper can reveal.

The campaigning mother of Sidcup knife victim Rob Knox says she is not surprised by the figure, obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

I'm not surprised by the figure, either. Though for a very different reason:

She told News Shopper: “From working on the ground with young people it does not surprise me at all, to be quite honest.

“I always say to the kids, 'put your hand up if you know someone who carries a knife'.

“And whatever area, whatever school, be it boys or girls, in what can be perceived a good area, at least 50 per cent of them would put their hand up.

“So this figure doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s quite upsetting.”

Well, you see, Mrs Knox, there's really no consequences to carrying knives any more  The government you cosy up to tells you there is, and promises new legislation, but like all their promises, these prove to be worthless.

Mrs Knox added: “It’s a real uphill battle but I can’t give up.”

Oh, you might as well. The police have, and who can blame them?

Thanks, But I'll Still Give It A Miss...

Van Badham asks:

Did anyone attend the live performance of Mikala Dwyer's Goldene Bender  at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art the other day?

Nope! For two reasons.

The first being, I don’t live in Australia. The second being, I've read all I need to know about it at David Thompson’s site.

So I’ll give this ‘nuanced examination through performance of the precise moment that our private selves know public shame’ a miss, thanks all the same.

Van, however, thinks this sort of thing isn't so much art, as it is quid pro quo:

Just as I'm forced to mentally excise myself from the reality that my personal tax contributions pay for refugee internment camps, so the Australian right must suck it up, accept that libertarianism is more than just a conservative attempt at a groovy haircut, and learn to live with the free and democratic expressions of people whom they don't like.

Nicely comparing border protection apples with adolescent tantrum display oranges there…

Don’t Round Up The Usual Suspects!

A cyclist was assaulted in York, following an argument with…

No! I know what you’re thinking…

… another cyclist.

There’s a turn-up for the books, eh?

The man, who is in his thirties, was cycling over the railway bridge in Crichton Avenue, at about 6.30pm on Wednesday, June 5, when the front of his bike was clipped by another cyclist travelling in the opposite direction.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said the victim was punched by the second cyclist, and a scuffle broke out before a passer by intervened.

The victim was not seriously hurt and not require hospital treatment.

The suspect apologised before cycling away in the direction of Wigginton Road, but police want to speak to anyone who saw the incident.

You get a politer class of road rage attacker on a bike, I guess… ;)

Do You Remember When You Did Your Exams?

A state-of-the art chicken coop, complete with a gym, is the latest addition to Surbiton High School.

Kavita Patel, head of biology, claims watching the chickens is calming for the students.

And why do they need ‘calming’?

Kavita Patel, head of biology, said: “Having the chickens outside it is about having live animals, and getting everybody to see them every day.

"The students can see them at breaks and lining up for exams. They are calming, they are good for the exam period.”

Ah. I see. When they finally graduate and get jobs, I hope they won’t be stressful ones. Because I can’t see employers taking anything other than a dim view of a demand for ‘calming’ techniques when there’s a rush job on or a deadline to meet.

And…when did schools take it upon themselves to cosset their students, and remove all traces of stress from their lives? Stress is natural, hardship is a part of life.

Back when I did exams the idea that they should be ‘stress free’ was an alien concept. If you’d asked any of my teachers what they were doing to avoid burdening their pupils with this, they’d have stared at you blankly and wondered what you’d been smoking...

Want To Get Out Of Jury Service?

Don’t wash for the week before the trial. Simples!

A murder trial has collapsed after a female juror complained that the man sitting next to her in the court smelled.

So…move him, or hand him a can of deodorant. Simples! No..?

No:

The trial into the death of 20-year-old Jamie Sanderson, who was stabbed in Oceana nightclub, was two days into a six week trial when Judge Wendy Joseph discharged the jury.

She said:“There is a problem. There is nothing that the poor man can do about it. I am not prepared to force him to sit in another part of the court room. “

Well, it’s only public money, judge. It’s not like it costs you anything, is it?

And we can’t have any hint of ‘discrimination’ towards the man with the offensive body odour, can we?

The juror in question was spoken to by the court matron about his cleanliness.

While the jury were out of the court room, lawyers were told he had no health issues, regularly showered and washed his clothes.

So…why did he smell?

The judge considered moving him into the press box but said she felt this may ostracise him.

Judge Joseph said: “He was pretty comfortable where he was in the jury box and did not wish to be put to one side. In light of that, it would be wrong of me to make him do that.

“He believes that the complaint has come from a number of jurors.”

So the trial collapses because of her wish not to ‘ostracise’ the man. Unbelievable!

She also said it worried her that as the weather got warmer it could lead to more complaints.

This is an English summer. I really wouldn't worry too much about that…

This Is Not What Most People Would Regard As ‘Without Incident’…

Iain Cochrane, chief executive of Glasgow Prestwick, said: “We carefully plan and train for this kind of eventuality and I am relieved it ended safely and without incident.”

Oh. Really?

Five passengers from a flight that was forced to make an emergency landing in Scotland after the discovery of a threat to start a fire on board are now claiming asylum in Britain, police have revealed.

That’s an ‘incident’, isn’t it?

Why Does It Take Three Years..?

Dudley Magistrates’ Court heard how Mohammed Mahdizada made no attempt to intervene when the Japanese akitas launched at Alan Pearce’s Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Oscar.

When Mr Pearce put his hand down to stop the two dogs, one bit his hand before biting him again on his two feet as he fell and slipped to the ground in the Fen Pool Nature Reserve in Pensnett, Dudley.

Mahdizada, 27, an asylum seeker from Iran who lives in Walpole Street, Wolverhampton, then walked away with the two dogs, making no contact with Mr Pearce, who later needed eight stitches to his feet.

*sighs*

Mahdizada was convicted following a trial last month of allowing a dog to be out of control in a public place. He claims to be looking after the dogs in his home while the owner is away in Iran.

Gosh, I hope the owner left him plenty of cans of Pedigree Chum too. After all, asylum seekers live in penury, according to the progressives…

The situation has left police unable to get owner’s permission to assess the dogs for their danger to the public from their owner – so an application to destroy them cannot be made.

Surely it can be made once Mr Anon returns? In the meantime, they are under the temporary ownership of Mr Mahdizada, so why cannot he give permission?

Would a vet refuse to treat them because he's not the owner?

Yesterday at the court hearing, deputy district judge Mr Prakash Aujla said: “If someone can’t be bothered to obey laws in this country or assist this court, they deserve the punishment it warrants.”

Oooh, I bet that didn't go down too well…

Mr Roy Paterson, defending, said Mahdizada had been living in the country as an asylum seeker for three years and did not work.

Why does it take three years to assess his claim?

Mahdizada will be sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on July 10.

One to watch.

Well, Stop Them Defining ‘Vital Services’ For Themselves, Then…

Dozens of local authorities are on the brink of financial collapse but ministers have failed to come up with adequate contingency plans to prop up vital services, according to a committee of MPs.

Oh, really? ‘Vital services’, eh..?

Hodge warned that some councils may have no option but to cut services as a result of tight finances.

"Local authorities are tending to cope with funding reductions. But in the long term there might well be little room for further efficiency gains and services would have to be cut. There needs to be frank and open dialogue between central and local government and the public on just what services councils will be expected to provide in a prolonged period of declining funding."

Well, I’ll tell you what I consider to be 'services councils should provide', and I’ll certainly tell you a service that they shouldn’t provide.

Feeding other people’s kids for ‘free’:

Free healthy breakfasts could soon be on the menu at all primary schools in Hull, the Mail can reveal today. The move is part of a fresh drive to improve the health of children in the city, as figures confirm rising obesity rates.

Let’s get this straight – feeding children is the responsibility of their parents. It’s not the responsibility of the school, or the council, or anyone else.

The board, which is a partnership between the council and public health experts, is expected to approve a number of new initiatives costing about £200,000 at a meeting later this month.

There’s £200,000 that can be saved immediately, then, and put to work on repairing potholes, ensuring that refuse is collected and fly-tippers prosecuted and that local parks are maintained. All services the council should be providing…

Cllr Inglis said: "What I have been trying to do is focus the board's activities on younger age groups.

"This really has the same principles behind the free school meals initiative – catch them early, get them into good habits and we all reap the benefits in 20 or 30 years' time.

"For me it's almost a no-brainer."

It certainly takes a no-brainer to come up with it, though perhaps not in the way you meant!

Blackpool council leader Simon Blackburn said as well the nutritional and educational benefits, the scheme was designed to tackle poverty.

"This is not about helping kids whose parents are on benefits, it's about people earning £12,000-a-year and struggling to make ends meet."

Perhaps you should ask yourself why people earning that amount might struggle? Could it be because they are paying too much in tax that then goes to feed other people’s children?

Second Bites At The Leniency Cherry…

A schoolgirl who tricked another teenage girl into a sexual relationship by making her believe she was a boy has been released from prison after judges decided her sentence was too harsh.

Oh, the poor thing! She’s a victim too, you see!

McNally's counsel argued that judge James Patrick, who passed sentence in March, did not pay heed to her own youth and vulnerability, or give her credit for her decision to plead guilty.

Psychiatric reports found McNally had self-harmed and was having suicidal thoughts, the court heard.

Lord Justice Leveson, sitting with Mr Justice Kenneth Parker and Mr Justice Stewart, acknowledged the victim suffered substantial harm, describing the case as extremely difficult.

They imposed a two-year supervision order to go with the suspended sentence. McNally spent 82 days at Holloway prison in London.

That’s right. Only 82 days…

Meanwhile, since the Pussy Pass is in full swing:

A woman jailed for eight years after aborting her unborn baby within a week of her due date has had her sentence reduced to three-and-a-half years.

Lady Justice Rafferty, heading a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal, said it was an extraordinarily difficult sentencing exercise, but the term was manifestly excessive. Catt sobbed in the dock throughout the hearing in London.

Lady Justice Rafferty said that Catt's complicated obstetric history, which involved adoption, seeking termination and concealment of pregnancy, threw up a "potential for disturbance, personal misery and long lasting difficulty".

All of which, someone less forgiving than our judges seem to be might say, is surely just the consequences of what she did?

Catt, who was described at her trial as "cold and calculating", had no relevant previous convictions and a psychiatric report excluded mental disorder.

But what do they know, eh, Rafferty?