In the Army

Rachel Papo's photo project, Serial No. 3817131, shows Israeli female soldiers as they complete their mandatory two-year military service.

She's off!

The USS Intrepid, home to New York's Air and Space museum, was finally pulled away from its collapsing pier today after being stuck in Hudson River mud. The Intrepid will go stay in Staten Island and the pier will be rebuilt.

What shall it profit?

From Slate, an interview with David Simon, producer of HBO TV series, The Wire. Simon is unique in America today in acknowledging openly the absolute monstrosity of advanced Capitalism:

Slate: If you had to sum up what The Wire is about, what would it be?

Simon: Thematically, it's about the very simple idea that, in this Postmodern world of ours, human beings—all of us—are worth less. We're worth less every day, despite the fact that some of us are achieving more and more. It's the triumph of capitalism.

Slate: How so?

Simon: Whether you're a corner boy in West Baltimore, or a cop who knows his beat, or an Eastern European brought here for sex, your life is worth less. It's the triumph of capitalism over human value. This country has embraced the idea that this is a viable domestic policy. It is. It's viable for the few. But I don't live in Westwood, L.A., or on the Upper West Side of New York. I live in Baltimore.

But it will hardly matter what Simon thinks or says or produces, because a loud-mouthed right-wing rowdy can simply shout "Commie!" at him and We, the People will laugh and surf on.

Respect!

From the BBC:

Young people in Northern Ireland have cash in pocket but it doesn't buy them respect at the shop counter, a new survey has found.

The NI Commission for Children and Young People has urged retailers to value a new generation of shoppers, not treat them like second class citizens.

One in three young people surveyed said they felt shop staff were suspicious they would shoplift or cause trouble.

What about gypos? It's the dirty tinkers that's the real problem.