this blog is a visual notebook of inspirations for a group of bandit bloggers. we post things we see and like. our lives don’t revolve around singular topics and neither does our blog. sorry! nothing is in-or-out of context here. enjoy xx
jeffrey epstein “financier” – donald trump, evanka trump, jeffrey epstein, ghislaine maxwell – epstein most likely had dirt on donald trump
robert maxwell “news mogul” (foreign spy) and her daughter ghislaine
robert maxwell (ghislaine maxwell’s father) henry kissinger
eric weinstein reveals the terrifying story of meeting jeffrey epstein
interesting take on who the “disgraced financier” jeffrey epstein really was. a financier who worked with no one (but wexler) and had no trace of investment documents. he was a supposed billionaire who’s wealth vanished after his mysterious death, very much like robert maxwell (ghislaine maxwell’s father) whos wealth disappeared after his mysterious death. he mingled with royalty and elite and documented dirt (honey traps) on each to use as collateral but for what?
eric weinstein (not related to harvery weistein) received his phd in mathematical physics from harvard university in 1992 under the supervision of raoul bott. weinstein left academia after stints at the massachusetts institute of technology (MIT) and the hebrew university of jerusalem. weinstein was invited to a colloquium by mathematician marcus du sautoy at oxford university’s clarendon laboratory in may 2013. you can listen to the full interview here. by xy
we are all trying to sort out how we got here? the atrocities on oct 7th were hard to take in, followed by more blood and death on the other side, which is also hard to accept. let us try and understand how we got here. why cant these 2 people (palestinians and israelis) live together in peace like they did until they didn’t some 75 years ago?
let us clarify that there are two categories of arabs living there – and they are often referred to “interchangeably”. they are those 1- the arab-citizens of israel who live in israel proper and those 2- the palestinians living in westbank and gaza who are facing much harsher set of realities such as settlements in west bank and check points across their territory. this article from “council on foreign relations” ( cfr.org ) refers to the ones living in israel proper as “citizens of israel”.
“council on foreign relations” was established in 1921 and is currently run by michael froman (president) and david rubenstein (chirman).
unedited excerpts :”israel’s declaration of independence recognizes the equality of all the country’s residents, arabs included, but equality is not explicitly enshrined in israel’s basic laws, the closest thing it has to a constitution. some rights groups argue that dozens of laws indirectly or directly discriminate against arabs.
israel’s establishment as an explicitly jewish state is a primary point of contention, with many of the state’s critics arguing that this by nature casts non-jews as second-class citizens with fewer rights. the 1950 law of return, for example, grants all jews, as well as their children, grandchildren, and spouses, the right to move to israel and automatically gain citizenship. non-jews do not have these rights. palestinians and their descendants have no legal right to return to the lands their families held before being displaced in 1948 or 1967.
another major difference is that, unlike the vast majority of jewish israelis, arab citizens do not have to serve in the israel defense forces (IDF), the country’s military. they can still enlist, and some do, especially druze and circassians, but some are stigmatized in their communities as a result. yet, not enlisting can significantly disadvantage them both socially and economically. for instance, many israelis make important and lasting personal connections with their fellow citizens through the idf, and they also receive many financial benefits, such as education assistance and discounted permits for building homes and owning land.”
“statistics from IDI show that arab citizens of israel continue to face structural disadvantages. for example, poorly funded schools in their localities contribute to their attaining lower levels of education and their reduced employment prospects and earning power compared to israeli jews. more than half of the country’s arab families were considered poor in 2020, compared to 40 percent of jewish families. socioeconomic disparities between israel’s jewish and arab citizens are less pronounced in mixed cities, though a government audit in july 2022 found arabs had less access to municipal services in those cities.
a good historic context in the recent history of the conflict and the rise of netanyahu, america & the road to war in gaza (full documentary) | FRONTLINE
gideon levy is an ex IDF soldier and an israeli journalist for the israeli daily haaretz
arab citizens’ concerns about inequality mounted after israel passed its nation-state law in 2018. among other provisions, the law removed arabic as an official language but gave it a “special status,” declared israel the nation-state of the jewish people, and said the jewish people have a unique “right to exercise national self-determination in the state of israel.” the language left many arabs feeling that their rights as citizens were being undermined.
to address disparities in the so-called arab sector, in 2021, the government approved a $9 billion, five-year plan to boost employment, improve health-care services and housing, and develop infrastructure, among other goals. it followed a similar initiative by the previous prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, who designated more funding for the sector than any of his predecessors, even as he frequently incited anger toward the arab community.” and then there is the west bank and gaza which is another story – the full article currently available here. by xy
now that xy is on a history lesson trip, here’s a great snippet into the past
before the world lost their mind – and when there was still some hope for peace
they try and make is sound complicated but its really not…
there is a land that 3 religions find sacred. they once all lived together on the same land. they can do so again. if you just stop the dehumanizing language of racism and hate and fucking with one another until one side goes mental. rinse repeat. you have to stop demanding the entire place for yourself, and using civilian terror tactics to win. we need a fair and just mediator as these people have been unable to make peace for 75 years and the way its going there is none in sight. finally, not that there is a god, but if there was one for all you delusional people, no one god gave this land to any one people. if you believe that i gotta a book that gives me everything you got. finally lets be fair, be nice — if you are in charge, find a way to live together and stop calling it a “religious state” for just one of the 3 faiths, or split the land 3 ways or make it a UNESCO world heritage site with no one government ruling it. i’m no politician but you guys are fucking up the entire world over this shit piece of land 90% of us don’t care about… by dd
a deeply personal documentary, dena spends a day in hebron retracing the footsteps of her father, who was born and raised in hebron. our reporter is given a tour by a kind hearted Israeli IDF ex-soldier. it is a look at life before october 7th massacres in the palestinian west bank territories which was and is not controlled by hamas
while these stories of human suffering can be heart breaking, i hope you can see there are good and righteous people everywhere including the IDF which you may believe to be harsh as they defend their country. there are also so many israeli’s who have stood up against the collateral damage that is the killing of innocent woman and children and do not support netanyahu. as long as there is hate and bigotry on either side there will be no peace and both governments are guilty of not delivering that to the good people of each side.
finally this can not be watched without a bit of history on how this country came to be and why. “how israel was created“
please educate yourselves by reading and watching multiple sides of the same story and judge for yourself. everything is biased, some are more biased than others. I find these to be factual and fair, but that is me.
if you watch this and you feel hatred in you, you are falling for the trap that is set for us all. understand your world and know that no one people can be all bad or good. there are good people and bad people in every country and culture. if this makes you hate all jews know that you have succumbed to oldest of racist means. you can condemn an act of a government or a group but to assign that guilt to their family and neighborhood and all such people is what we all must condemn. by xy
watch israeli historian and political scientist ilan pappe (jewish) debate journalist for jerusalem post melanie phillips (jewish)
and british born reporter and oxford graduate mehdi hasan (muslim) debate knesset member einat wilf (jewish)
since all middle easterners have been silenced and equated to “animals”, branded “incompetent, ignorant, uneducated and never to be believed”… it is nice to hear these words from 3 out of 4 speakers of jewish decent and one oxford graduated “muslim brown boy” that just maybe you can “half-believe”.
what is terrorism?
2014 gaza war – operation protective edge death tool – democracy now PBS
regardless of the bios, this is an interesting debate with some factual historic background to help you sort out your own thoughts. in this age of misinformation and propaganda please always research facts from several opposing sources in order to reach a best guess scenario. somethings of course, require no research – occupying, locking and controlling a people is wrong, kidnapping innocent civilians, killing the elderly and defenseless citizens is also outright wrong and all of them should be condemned. and while self defense is warranted to bring the perpetrators to justice, bombing an entire neighborhood, or schools, or a high-rises is no-way to justify getting a mass shooter inside. “collective punishment of civilians to achieve a political goal” is wrong and by definition is terrorism – no matter who partakes in that.
the troubles did not begin on oct 7th as many would like us to believe. the blood shed and oppression and resistance and terrorism has been going on for more than 75c years. our stance remains: condemn all collective punishment/terrorism no matter who partakes in them
bring the perpetrators to justice (*sometimes they are a group, sometimes they are a state)
free all hostages including wrongful detainment of political prisoners inside israel
stop the war and especially stop the killing of civilians – needless to say jewish, christian, or muslim… but especially atheists
negotiate a “just” peace with equally strengthened parties and an unbiased judge (meaning not the U.S.) to reach a two state solution or a one state with equal rights.
finally zionism is an ideology like communism, you can surely be against communism but not racist towards russians, or chineses who were communist or some of the founders of communism who where jewish. this is a mafia style gag order, routed in zero rational or reality.
…to peace and collaboration of all humans, and to everyone standing up to bullies, on the playground and on the world map – amen and dog bless america. by xy
despite charlie chaplin’s statement about his work, and the fact that city lights (1931) does in fact have a park, several policemen and a pretty girl, this film places the issue of class front and center in its opening scene and then plays out that theme, in different variations, for 87 minutes. it begins with some pompous dignitaries in formal dress about to dedicate a larger-than life size neoclassical statue of three figures titled peace and prosperity. the officials consist of politicians, businessmen with their wives, and the police. this is clearly a good cross representation of the ruling class in the us and chaplin beautifully uses them as one collective “straight man.” the crowd behind them – the “little people” – are there as a sounding board, amplifying and physically playing out the symbolic language of the assorted elites at the level of the street. they will presumably carry the message of peace and prosperity to those less fortunate who could not attend.
peace and prosperity is clearly an ironic title considering this was the second year of the great depression. it was also the era where war-drums from europe had found their beat. the nazis would take control of germany within two years and start the war machinery rolling; the japanese and the italians had militarized, nationalist governments ready to use force to realize their economic and colonial ambitions; spanish democracy was withering under the weight of fascist populism; and the americans after wwi were ready to impose a new world order with themselves at the head of the table. many writers, intellectuals, and analysts of the period realized it was only a matter of time before the festering aftermath of wwi exploded, bringing another world war. the thirties were in some respects similar to our era. it was a period defined by political polarization, instability, and rabid disparities of wealth and education; there was also a strong faction of nationalists spinning webs of fantasy, control, and power. this is the context in which peace and prosperity opens city lights.
the statue in the film fits the traditional neoclassical aesthetic, an art form that comes ready made for autocrats and their cronies. that is why during revolutions those statues are among the first things to come down, to be set on fire, to be urinated on, or to be thrown in the nearest river. peace and prosperity presents a tableau with a soldier holding a sword while another man with a hand up signals peace; a young woman dressed in traditional greek robes stands by ready to choose between her two suitors. the tableau espouses male heroism and reason balanced by the eternal mother/fertility goddess as provider, and arbiter, in harmonious balance – a pastiche of european sculpture from an earlier period.
the film was made four years after the advent of sound and is one of the last hybrid films that was shot as a silent with a soundtrack added later. in the early thirties sound and music were considered add-ons to the narrative and chaplin was the first film artist to use sound creatively, re-articulating one of the conventions of music hall and vaudeville – the use of musical instruments to parody human folly. he does it by turning what americans like to call the “boilerplate speech” into music. the society lady is “played” by a piccolo, the overbearing boss is “played” by a trombone, and the mayor is “played” by a kazoo – chaplin brings that technique back for one final go-around before taking a bow… read the full article at cineaction by dd
the other side of the wind (TOSTW) appears at first glance to be an overly poetic and precious title – something thought up by f. scott fitzgerald during his tender is the night phase – but the title is a lie that is stated as a fact. there is no “other” side to the wind because natural phenomena do not have sides, their shape is in constant flux and the side depends on the viewer not the event.
the title appears to derive from a statement made by oja kodar, welles’ companion and partner in the screenplay and direction to TOSTW, who said at one point in their long relationship that “now she knew what was on the other side of the wind,” referring to Welles’ habit of wearing a cape that would blow dramatically in the wind – an unusual habit that he picked up in the world of theater, magic and variety shows in the second and third decades of the 20th century that informed his early life in new york and europe.
kodar meant it as a metaphor for having seen beyond the myth of the great artist to the man himself. the self-conscious lie, becoming an unresolved paradox, would be close to welles’ heart as in his previous film f is for fake (1973), (henceforth fake) he delved deeply into the nature of artistic creation, history, narrative, and the mediation and lying that informs them as they engage with the world.
in his acceptance speech to the academy of motion pictures arts and sciences in 1975 for a lifetime achievement award welles described himself as a small family shop in relation to large corporate entities, and that in an ideal world there should be room for both. that he got nowhere in his attempt at a truce with hollywood executives is a given for in a sense they were there not just to praise him but to bury him.
welles refused to lie down, and to add insult to injury he then harangued his powerful and wealthy audience for letting him hang in the wind without giving him a chance. to prove to them that he was still in the game welles showed them a clip from his new work in progress titled TOSTW.
while the work was politely received there were murmurs – clearly the scene was nothing remotely like his masterwork citizen kane (1941), (henceforth kane)– in fact it looked like nothing anyone had seen before and for that particular audience of moguls and stars that was not a good sign. there are few things more terrifying for a conservative audience to see than work that is brilliant and beyond their scope of understanding for it suggests that they are living in a fantasy bubble that has limited their understanding of contemporary reality and works that deal with it. what such an audience wanted was reassurance, and the smart “players” (their own term) in their circle, knew how to provide that kind of aesthetic concoction. welles was, from their point of view, now on the lunatic fringes of the hollywood community – an eccentric older uncle who made wine commercials for television to pay the bills – someone who had spent too much time in europe looking at art and something had gone wrong, some derangement of the senses had unhinged the mind that had made the best hollywood movie ever made at the age of 25. the genius was on the skids and there was nowhere to go but down – after a time there was even a book titled whatever happened to orson welles? …read the rest of the article by george porcari on cine action website. by uh
“the antonioni adventure”, by george porcari (published by delancy press) is a must have for any antonioni fan. this 248 page book covers the career of the italian film director, and is accompanied by historic and rare images from his films… we got a copy in hand and had to share it.
production still from red desert
if you appreciate italian cinema and the genius that is michelangelo antonioni, you will love this book. george porcari, a professor, artist, and historian in his own right, who also happens to be one of antonioni’s biggest fans, meanders through antonioni’s films with grace and wit, putting new light on this master of cinema. the book was beautifully put together and designed by new york based design studio ceft and company. the limited edition book (300 copies), has an embossed, soft touch cover, and off-white matte paper interior pages. they are elegantly printed with dark grey text on an , which is easy on the eyes.
spread from chapter 4 on blow up
production stills from the eclipse
chris kraus, author of i love dick, torpor, and where art belongs, has this to say about the book:
“more than half a century after they were made, antonioni’s films remain singular and charged with mystery, existing both in and outside of their time. a photographer and filmmaker himself, george porcari’s critical understanding of antonioni is also a spiritual understanding of art and how it is made. porcari positions antonioni’s films within a larger cultural history without diminishing their singularity. this book makes antonioni’s work newly alive.”
pages 96 & 97 off-white matte paper elegantly printed with dark grey text
collage spread from chapter 5 on zabriskie point
… here’s what artist julia scher had to say upon her read… “the antonioni adventure offers a fascinating look at the disturbing eye of antonioni – in their time the films were about really seeing anew. dissuaded by alienation george porcari rocks thru what might have been called, in an earlier day, pure adventure.” – julia scher, artist, author of tell me when you’re ready – works from 1990-1995
this is a great book to take on a trip and just get lost in a world of emotional turmoil and fascinating mystery. if you missed the book launch and the book signing, you can still pick up a signed, limited edition copy at dashwood books in new york city (33 bond street) or at the gucci bookstore in soho nyc (63 wooster street) for $35, or buy it online here. by vk
ok i was floored to hear my hero, werner herzog, would spent even a minute on kanye west, but he did, and its not what you think.
“he was impressed” i was told?
he said this video was “fascinating” and contained what he called a “parallel story” a confusion of reality and fiction, “this is very good stuff” and he said if “kenya west” would apply to his school he would consider the film maker of this clip as a student at his school… i realized at that point that my world had ended… but read on…
the video included fake wax figures of caitlyn jenner, bill crosby, kanye west, taylor swift, kim kardashian and amber rose, note that these are fake! unlike kim kardashian, caitlyn jenner and amber rose who are “totally real”.
below: artist vincent desiderio 2008 sleep painting, the inspiration for kanye’s “work of art”
now for the record here, let me clarify that herzog did not go and review this shit piece of a clip. this was shown to him for the first time by a young, eager, editor at the daily beast, jen yamato. why she works at daily beast is beyond comprehension but i suppose we all have to eat.
so here is what werner herzog “actually” said, i will now translate for you in english, so please put on your best german accent and repeat out loud…. “zanx jen for interviewing me on your shit filled celeb blog, im not very sure why i am here, but i can imagine you must be zick of covering pop culture and needed to drag me into this to zave some portion of your lost soul. but ok lets make some converzation zince the camera is rolling… thiz iz an interesting veedeo. it delves into the realm of reality and fiction, nature and man…. and most importantly mans insanity… and his naive dezire to kontrol and deform nature… which of koze he desperately fails at… you may remember fritz geraldo? right. ok… so this is indeed a fazinating film for a young starving artists… and if he or she (cause herzog doesn’t even know about kanye) would ever apply to my zchool i may actually coinzider him/her az a student. i of course say this becauz none of the students who apply to my school can spend more zan $2 on their application films, and thiz film looks pretty damn good for a $2 film, not to menzion a young azpiring film student…”
so lets not get all excited here… herzog is in no way endorsing this self indulged, machismo inspired, naive infantile embarrassment of a work by, as he would call him, “kenya west”. ok? my world has not ended, and herzog has not blessed kanye in any way. you can all go home now. have a good weekend. by dd
alexandre bissonette, french canadian, christian (not a nice guy, google him)
researching a little on this i was surprised to learn that muslims are not the only ones with a monopoly on “going mental.” looks like other religions are just as capable. of course, for all you intelligent folks, this is all nonsense.. there are good people, and bad people, everywhere, and in every religion… you should meet my zen master, hes only two steps from going off the edge, but the students are nice.
for the rest of you unintelligent bigots, at least take on some sense of consistency. if you’re gonna hate 1.6 billion people in a religion for what some of its members do, then go and hate all religions for what some of its members did.
dylann roof, united states, christian (not a nice guy, google him)
btw what is terrorism anyway? “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” usually not very successful on the attackers side, and generally an act of desperation when other means fail, or at times out of pure hatred and complete disregard for life. a bad idea, how ever you slice it.
anders behring beivik, norwegian, christian (not a nice guy, google him)
terrorism is a matter of cause and effect, and often used by both sides, the enemy, as well as the protectors, to enlist fear in the public and enforce their agenda. be it intimidation, militarization, political power, freedom from oppression, land and water, gaining public support, or enforcing public suppression (a.k.a shut up and let me save you).
james holmes, united states, christian (not a nice guy, google him)
and this terrorism, for all you people born yesterday, is not a recent phenomena brought to light by fox news, and no its not a muslim exclusive either… the spanish crusaders used it in SA in the name of god, hitler used it against the german public (reichstag building set ablaze) in the name of country, the jews used it against the SS in the warsaw ghetto in the name of dignity, the IRA used it against england, algiers used it against france, the basques used it against the spanish, the FARC used it in columbia, the palestinians used it against israel, and so on…
if interested, go read about how many of those circumstances ended and how they were eradicated. it wasn’t by building a wall, spreading hate, or banning 1.6 billion people with big ears… “believe me, i assure you… it can be fixed… it would be huuuuuge!”
robert james talbot, texan, christian (not a nice guy, google him)
so you see my friend, we are being very silly… we are judging the book, by a… banana peel. i mean look at this chap to the far right, robert james talbot! he looks like glenn luchford, sweet, talented, fashion saavy probably. but he aint’. he’s a bad mother… as my brother james brown used to say. but you can’t start hating all dorky looking white people like glenn or robert here? or worse hating all christians because a bunch nutcases killed another bunch of people in a church, just for the color of their skin… or because jesus told him so the other night?
jared lee loghner, united states, christian (not a nice guy, google him)
on the other hand you can go right ahead and hate this guy. i mean his mother probably hated him too. only alex jones loved him and he loved alex back.
timothy mcveigh, united states, christian (not a nice guy, google him)
and then there’s this guy… who hated new order… i mean i didn’t love them either, but at least joy division and ian curtis where pretty damn ok. fuckin’ chill out dude!
so let’s not be as stupid as some stupid people. let’s be safe. let’s be compassionate. let’s be smart. let’s be humans. lets go read some history. and the next time you complain about people being fooled by fox news, or CNN, or isis, or exxon, or trump, or crooked hillary, which ever kool-aid they are on, just remember that out of 7 billion people on this earth, 6.5 billion of them bought into, the very believable story, that there is some incompetent old dude up there running the show. if they bought into that, they’d buy into anything. its just you and i my friend, left here to save mother earth from this ignorance. good luck and good night. by dd
like this guy! steve jobs’ father was a syrian immigrant from city of homs. don’t we all wish he would have stayed put! i mean these immigrants just come to america and leach-off of us good americans. about time we stop that folks. go donald trump! by dd
what in the world is going on here? one of those porcelain figurine must have been the source of inspiration here.
ok this one is quite sophisticated…. sort-of like one of those cheap chocolate boxes from duane read.
i’m feeling terrible for ruining the look of TS with such images, but i had to say something…. do you ever wonder who actually creates these horrendous victoria secret annual “fashion” shows? i do… i imagine if you would give four suburban 6-year old’s a set of primary colors from kmart, and ask them to envision a “dress-up show” with unicorns and angels and as many colors as you like, they would probably come up with something slightly better than this. what victoria secret adds to the mix is perhaps an adult pervert, on a supervisory role, to insure those horrendous lingeries, in those color combinations, make it onto the naked bodies of some of the top models. most of which are undoubtedly laughing all the way to the bank after a quick shower. i’m not sure how bad this can get year after year, before they actually reconsider the outcome. but as long as people praise this stuff, i suppose well be stuck at looking at beautiful girls dressed like “the image of a cheap prostitute” in the mind of an old fat man. this is not to say that this could not be done well, but for starters they gotta dispose of the kindergarten dream-team. by ars
a visual collective outlet of inspiration
