Charles Alexander Diez, the 42-year-old firefighter accused of shooting a man in the head because he was concerned about him biking with son on a busy road, posted a $200k bond yesterday. Diez was charged with first-degree-murder for the shot for the poorly aimed shot at cyclist Alan Simons, striking his helmet but missing his head. |Citizen Times|
‘Burning Ice’ for Global Warming
Artist Chin Chih Yang will unveil an icy new installation on global warming in Union Square this weekend. On Saturday, the public will be invited to gather around “Burning Ice,” his construction from 21,000 pounds of frozen water. Warmed by the crowd and summer sun, the sculpture’s melting will trigger increasingly alarming lights, sirens and video projections from within the ice–”a forceful visual representation of how human activity is hastening the melting of the world’s great ice deposits.” The public is invited to cool out with the work from 11 to 7 PM, or until it all disappears.
In what should be considered a big victory for both property owners and vandals, a new law in September will prevent the city of Wichita Falls, TX from fining businesses and residents for not removing graffiti. Under the current law, property owners are given 15 days to remove the offending outdoor art or face a fine of $50. Although that’s relatively cheap compared to the cost of buying paint and hiring someone, the ordinance didn’t comply with state law. |KAUZ|
Photo via KAUZ News
A Swedish company has been fined $3,000 after one of it robots went berserk and nearly killed a worker in 2007. Thinking the power was off, the injured employee approached the rock moving robot when it “came to life and grabbed a tight hold of the victim’s head” until he was able to fight it off. |The Local|
Brooklynites Let Their Truck Go to Seed
“How do you grow your own food in the big city if you ain’t got any land?” Well, if you’re among the minority of New Yorkers who owns a vehicle you could build your own four-wheeled farm. “Truck Farm” is a film and food project by the filmmakers at Wicked Delicate, documenting their summer-long conversion of an old gray Dodge into a mobile garden. A video introduction to the urban growing project, after the jump. Read more »
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn highlights the neighborhood nightmare that Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project is creating, even before any real construction begins. A Pacific Street sidewalk was turned into a traffic lane with little or no signage to warn the befuddled pedestrians and drivers attempting to navigate the dangerous “traffic mitigation” mess. |Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn|
Since its inception, the Drug War has been one of the most dismal and costly failures in U.S. history. Although a certain amount of blame can be placed on Harry Anslinger, one of the original founders of America’s draconian drug policies, there’s a whole litany of characters responsible for its proliferation, many of them sitting in the Oval Office, including hippie president Jimmy Carter! See who else helped turn a “public-health initiative into a century-long military campaign” in author and drug policy schooler, Ricardo Cortes’ illustrated series for Vanity Fair. |VF|
FAILE Sculpture Offers Clean Slate
After somebody cleaned the vandalism off FAILE’s illegal street installation, comes close-up photos of the prayer wheel’s naked wood. Take a good look now because, unless the third time’s the charm, this sculpture will be gone in a matter of days.
Photos by SMKjr
Sharks, Bees Hate Cell Phones
Movistar, a Latin American cell phone company wants Peruvians to know that—just like every other damn cell phone company in the world—your number “always survives” no matter what happens to your phone. OK. First, let’s get the obvious observation out of the way: why the fuck are bees attacking a cell phone? Was the person calling his/her (sorry) “honey?” I know I know, the ad visuals are metaphors. Stupid metaphors that don’t connect very well. And, to yet again repeat one of our favorite mantras here at ANIMAL: STOP the lazy creative practice of Photoshop animal abuse. Here’s the third ad from the campaign featuring numbers being saved from a vat of toxic waste. |Images: pixelblog|
The 4,000-year-old city of Babylon, home to one of the seven original wonders of the world, the eponymous hanging gardens, wasn’t in great shape when U.S. Forces arrived, but they didn’t help things either. A new UNESCO reports says the military bulldozed ancient hilltops for parking lots, destroyed cuneiform covered bricks and pottery and stuffed sandbags with archaeological fragments during their ‘grave encroachment on this internationally known archeological site.” |Washington Post|
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