
self-portrait as david - 1997
about john dugdale
BARGANTE: Que ou quem tem maus costumes; libertino,patife,velhaco. Trabalhador que trabalha em grupo, indivíduo de baixa extracção que se agrupa com outros, soldado, mercenário. Homem do mundo que anda com gente alegre, malfeitor. UM BLOGUE DE FERNANDO GONÇALVES




is all that the modern state would wish to have as its representative: detached in the fulfilment of hisbureaucratic obligations; obedient to, if not obsequious towards, his boss; wordy and word-twisting in matters of legal definition; stonewalling 
Coming soon to a media market near you: The GOP (Grand Old Prevaricators), who brought you the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004, have been test-marketing another TV ad campaign.
The fabrication this time: the war in Iraq. The target: any Democratic candidate who speaks out against the U.S. mission during the mid-term elections. The venue for the test is Minnesota.
Two ads have run so far. Both have caused a furor.
The first ad featured footage of the World Trade Center burning and testimony from soldiers who have fought in Iraq. Lt. Col. Robert Stephenson of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, tells viewers: “You’d never know it from news reports but our enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda, the same terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11.” And Capt. Mark Weber of the U.S. Army Reserve ominously asks: “Where do you want to fight terrorists? [pause] We want to fight them and destroy them in Iraq.”
Como se pode constatar através deste texto, as campanhas presidenciais americanas, que irão ter lugar daqui a dois anos e meio, já começaram.






On the eve of the third anniversary – 20 March 2003 – of the invasion of Iraq, President Bush began the fourth of his series of speeches in his second term attempting to articulate his strategy for the war. None of his previous explanations had succeeded in bolstering public confidence, so he tried again. His speech on 13 March at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies was a reiteration of the theme he had elaborated in his last round.
Bush is rigidly adhering to the guidelines suggested by public opinion specialist Peter Feaver, a professor at Duke University recently hired to serve on the National Security Council. He has advised the president that he must insist that the difficulties in Iraq are the price we must pay for victory and that just as Bush stands for "victory" his critics by implication represent defeat.
In his peroration, Bush reached for that last point, his high note sounding the clarion-bell of certainty that is most familiar and comfortable for him. "The battle lines in Iraq are clearly drawn for the world to see", he said, "and there is no middle ground."
LINK para o texto integral



For nearly two decades Neue Slowenische Kunst has been shaking up art and politics with their totalitarian aesthetic in Slovenia, greater Yugoslavia, and beyond into the EU and America. In addition to their most well-known facet, the band Laibach, NSK is made up of groups dedicated to painting, performance art, and philosophy.
Peter Mlakar heads up the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy. Fiercely intellectual and friendly, he agreed to an interview about magic, art, and politics.