At Guerica, Xiaoda Xiao: Prison Paintings, and earlier piece, Nixon’s Nose.

Post and paintings by Xiaoda Xiao, the activist, painter, violinist, and author of The Cave Man, and the forthcoming book The Visiting Suit: Stories From My Prison Life

Xiaoda Xiao is a former political prisoner, sentencedat at age 22 (without benefit of a trial), to a 7 year term in a labor camp, for defacing a poster of Chairman Mao.

check it out

A comment free lunchtime posting.

Wonderland or Not.

How is it that a country so close to the boats we cruise on, and the beaches we enjoy, can be a place of such absolute poverty in such never-ending social chaos?

The post earthquake devastation one way for the world to see the failure (some would say disproof of existence) of Pat Robertson’s god.

There are plenty of legitimate ways to donate, 5 bucks to Wycleff .

Or You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti.

Mercy Corp

Do what you can. Like a prayer but better.

peace

Wonderland or Not.

The famous “Just Wow” link for the day is, Walter Reed Officials Asked: Was Hasan Psychotic?. They asked this some time ago, long enough ago to have prevented this. There is something very strange, very wrong, and completely messed up here. We live in a country where you can get kicked out of high school, or at least expelled for the term, for carrying Motrin or Tylenol, but they won’t kick you out of the military, or even do a proper investigation if you are possibly psychotic and antagonistic toward the country you are serving?

The highly regarded “I’m loving it” link goes to The Hiking Artist.

The dreaded “you should vote” link goes to The World Challenge 09 finalists. There are 12 chosen finalist all innovative and awesome in their own right. My four choices use sun, shit, refuse, and disaster for the greater good. My top picks are Fuel Cell Kenya, Solar Sisters India, The Love in Haiti Project which many of you have probably already heard plenty about, and Old School Thai. Go find your favorites.

The rare “I’m sad I no longer live in N.Y. because I can’t go to this” link belongs to 33rd Annual Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival .

The coveted link, “My favorite non fiction blogelle” (a short piece posted to a blog), for this week is Get a Wife from the travel series Nowhere Slow at the Bygone Bureau.

The final and usually ignored must read link, Over 2,200 veterans died in 2008 due to lack of health insurance.

A research team at Harvard Medical School ( yea, yea, probably socialist), estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.

The researchers, who released their analysis today [Tuesday], pointedly say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate will not significantly affect this grim picture.

Peace

Wonderland or Not.