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'This Is Not Art has grown and developed over the last nine years, providing an annual extravaganza with a variety of workshops, panels, performances, speakers and exhibitions on all kinds of important topics. We’ve have remained true to our core aims - innovating, developing and showcase emerging art and media forms.

'And this year is no exception. Throw in some spontaneous performances, artist networking, radio broadcasting and a some ripe social & political cheekiness, and you have a rough idea of what This Is Not Art Festival has become, the largest and most diverse annual media and arts festival in Australia.'

'The 45th New York Film Festival is something of a family affair here at the Village Voice. Two of our own, the estimable J. Hoberman and the indefatigable Scott Foundas, sit on the selection committee of this proudly selective, stubbornly steadfast institution. When it comes to NYFF 45: This time, it's personal—to borrow the tagline from Jaws: The Revenge, a movie about a creature unchanged for millennia that must perpetually move forward or die.' (Village Voice article).

'Who knew music this shit-hot could come from a mountainous Norwegian town known as the "City of Rain"? Following in the footsteps of fellow townspeople Royksopp, Kings of Convenience and Sondre Lerche, Fredrik Saroea and Ketil Mosnes formed Datarock in 2000 while students in Bergen, Norway (where "there's still lots of black metal"). Or, as Saroea once put it in an online interview, "We fell in love. He became pregnant and gave birth to a small Casio watch. As our love grew, the Casio watch grew to become a Casio keyboard. And that's how we became Datarock."

'They gigged around for a couple of years, released a few EPs and finished their full-length debut in 2005 on their own label, Young Aspiring Professionals. After signing with Canada's Nettwerk Music Group this winter, Saroea (vocals, guitar) and Mosnes (backing vocals, bass) finally saw the stateside release of Datarock Datarock, an album of seriously silly and dweebishly sexy contradictions that'll have you shouting from Bergen's seven mountaintops, I have heard the future, and it’s all about the past.' (LA Weekly article).

'With this week's application to build a new nuclear plant – the first such filing in nearly 30 years – the industry says the US is on the verge of a nuclear power renaissance.

'With virtually no greenhouse-gas emissions, reactors are touted as part of the solution to global warming. Over the next 15 months, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects a tidal wave of similar permit applications for up to 28 new reactors, costing up to $90 billion to build.

'But the renaissance may be less robust than it looks. Even if the projects are successful and building proceeds at breakneck speed, the lead times are so long and costs so high that it's unclear that the US can build enough nuclear plants to make a dent in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. They're so financially risky, experts say, that the only reason building plans are under way is that the federal government has stepped in to guarantee investors against loan defaults.' (Christian Science Monitor article).

The following is a small portion of John Gorenfeld's "'End of the World Prophet Found in Error, Not Insane': A Failed Prophet's Survival Handbook," one of 41 articles in Disinfo's new anthology, Everything You Know About God Is Wrong: The Disinformation Guide to Religion, edited by Russ Kick. Other contributors include Richard Dawkins, Neil Gaiman, Douglas Rushkoff, and H.G. Wells. All major religions, and some minor ones, are covered. (More information is here.)

Here is the first portion of Gorenfeld's article:

Behind the doors of the CIA and U.S. Army Intelligence, science and ESP come together like a movie in the electrifying scenes of Jim Marrs' new book, PSI Spies: the True Story of America's Psychic Warfare Program. The author of best-sellers that have revealed the secrets and the conspiracies of the Federal Government, Marrs traces in PSI Spies the evolution of remote viewing and the use of this mental technology from the hidden laboratories of the 1970s to a new generation of viewers now being trained by former PSI spies.

'2007 has been a great year for sex. OK, every year is a great year for sex. But this year is especially interesting, with reports of sexsomnia, vegansexuals, man boobs, female promiscuity, double penises, horny old folks, cosmetic vagina surgery, publicly funded sex-change surgery, and the decline of marriage and co-sleeping. Among this year's hundreds of Human Nature stories, five trends and discoveries stand out.' (Slate Magazine article).

'As "The Kingdom" progresses, the role of the F.B.I. squad begins to inflate. At first, under the guiding hand of the local investigator, Colonel Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), the agents are largely confined to their quarters and barely permitted to disturb the crime scene. As the rules relax, the film turns into "C.S.I.: Riyadh," with Sykes fishing around in bomb craters for twisted clues, and, by the end, the fantastic four—heavily and inexplicably armed, despite having been stripped of all weapons when they arrived—are up to their ears in a mad, percussive firefight in a militant patch of the city, dodging rocket-propelled grenades, kicking down doors, and generally shooting anything that doesn't speak English. Anything adult, that is: "The Kingdom," written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, is one of those violent, jaw-jutting films which like to signal a softer side, every now and then, by stooping down to address the anxieties of children. At home, the kindly Ghazi is seen cuddling his offspring, thus setting up a symmetry with Fleury, who at the beginning of the film, back in Washington, soothes his young son. "There are a lot of bad guys out there," the kid says. "But you ain't one of them," Fleury replies.

'The trouble with Berg's film is not hard to pin down. Since he made a sour little black comedy called "Very Bad Things," in 1998, he has become adept at the marshalling of multiple figures, and the boom and stutter of the action sequences in the new film—whether on the freeway or in the claustrophobic back alleys of Riyadh—leaves you thoroughly winded and wiped. Even in the midst of that response, however, you realize that what whips up the melee is vengefulness. This is not to be confused with justice; the film has nothing but contempt for the traditional methods of diplomacy and international law, and the true villains of the piece are not the terrorists, whose patient bombmaking we watch in horrified detail, but Schmidt, the sweating wimp from the State Department, who is nauseated by the sight of blood, and, even more heinous, the U.S. Attorney General (Danny Huston), with his quibbling reluctance to unleash the F.B.I. on foreign soil.' (New Yorker article).

'Did the prisoners at Leavenworth consider suing Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel for ripping off the saggy belt-less trousers they wear in the prison yard? Did hundreds of anonymous graffiti artists sue Stephen Sprouse for printing tags on Louis Vuitton satchels?' (Village Voice article).

'Ms Head's account made her one of only 19 survivors who had been at or above the point of impact when the planes hit. But no part of her story, it turns out, has been verified.

'The family and friends of the man to whom she claimed to be engaged say they have never heard of Tania Head and view the relationship she describes with the man, who did die in the north tower, as an impossibility.

'A spokeswoman for Merrill Lynch, where she told people she worked at the time of the terror attack, said the company had no record of employing a Tania Head.' (Guardian article).

'Not many people can tell you much about the November 1979 takeover of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, by Islamist militants. That's partly because the Saudi authorities, as is their way, kept a tight lid on information during that fateful two-week period when the regime's survival seemed, for the first time, in danger. Little changed afterward by way of transparency (even if the Saudis released a fascinating Arabic-language video on the event, pouring opprobrium on the militants). That is why Yaroslav Trofimov's just-published book The Siege of Mecca is so valuable a document, not only in describing the murky events surrounding the takeover almost 28 years ago, but also as a backgrounder on the depth of Salafist tendencies in Saudi Arabia and the later emergence of Al-Qaeda. Trofimov, an Asia-based reported for the Wall Street Journal, has written extensively on Islam and the Middle East. An earlier book, Faith at War: A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, from Baghdad to Timbuktu, was selected as one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post.' (Reason article).

The following is a small portion of Sam Jordison's "'Irish Gulags for Women': The Catholic Church's Magdalene Asylums," one of 41 articles in Disinfo's new anthology, Everything You Know About God Is Wrong: The Disinformation Guide to Religion, edited by Russ Kick. Other contributors include Richard Dawkins, Neil Gaiman, Douglas Rushkoff, and H.G. Wells. All major religions, and some minor ones, are covered. (More information is here.)

Here is the first fifth of Jordison's article:

'Kinsey's pioneering work is still one-of-a-kind because in all the time since, only a handful of sex researchers have even tried to match his breadth, depth, and scale. For all our obsession with sex, we're skittish about studying it. There's one major exception: a large survey, conducted in the 1990s, that far outdid Kinsey in terms of statistical reliability. It's the most authoritative sexual self-portrait the country has. But you've probably never heard of its author, because unlike Kinsey, he has worked hard to keep it that way.

'As a pioneer in the field, Kinsey had methodological strengths. To begin with, he was a counter, to the core. He gathered his data by conducting detailed, face-to-face interviews, occasionally lasting six hours or longer, and then tabulating how many people said they did what. He was an innovator in this regard, zeroing in on behaviors (whether a person had a homosexual experience or response, for instance) rather than identities (whether a person described himself as gay). That more concrete, less subjective approach has largely endured.' (Slate Magazine article).

'Dan Rather's complaint against CBS and Viacom, its parent company, filed in New York state court on Sept. 19 and seeking $70 million in damages for his wrongful dismissal as "CBS Evening News" anchor, has aroused hoots of derision from a host of commentators. They've said that the former anchor is "sad," "pathetic," "a loser," on an "ego" trip and engaged in a mad gesture "no sane person" would do, and that "no one in his right mind would keep insisting that those phony documents are real and that the Bush National Guard story is true."

'If the court accepts his suit, however, launching the adjudication of legal issues such as breach of fiduciary duty and tortuous interference with contract, it will set in motion an inexorable mechanism that will grind out answers to other questions as well. Then Rather's suit will become an extraordinary commission of inquiry into a major news organization's intimidation, complicity and corruption under the Bush administration. No congressional committee would be able to penetrate into the sanctum of any news organization to divulge its inner workings. But intent on vindicating his reputation, capable of financing an expensive legal challenge, and armed with the power of subpoena, Rather will charge his attorneys to interrogate news executives and perhaps administration officials under oath on a secret and sordid chapter of the Bush presidency.' (Salon Magazine article).

'Eddie Van Halen's son looks like Peppermint Patty. There's no getting around it. I wish things could be different. As do, presumably, fans of Van Halen. This week, the long-beleaguered pop-metal behemoth disembalms original singer David Lee Roth for what is surely the Chinese Democracy of reunion tours, a long-threatened and oft-aborted rehash of those early-'80s glory years, before jovial, tequila-hawking asshat Sammy Hagar took over and turned the band into wusstastic chart-toppers. The Rothian diehards are (cautiously) elated. But the thorn on this particular rose lies in the absence of beloved bassist Michael Anthony, the bearlike dude with the Mickey Mouse watch collection and (lasciviously) angelic harmonies, kicked to the curb for I'm sure just totally rational reasons and replaced by . . . Eddie Van Halen's son. His name is Wolfgang. He is 16 years old. And in fascinating rehearsal pics released last week, choogling merrily behind the pleasantly emaciated Roth and his own terrifyingly emaciated father, Wolfgang looks well-fed, looks content, looks beatific, looks like Peppermint Patty.

'This is far from the most ludicrous and offensive bullshit reunion maneuver a rock band has ever foisted on its horrified fans. No iconic, dead frontmen replaced via reality show, etc. Doesn't even make the Top 20. Yet Wolfgang's promotion has the distinct, surrealist, forehead- slapping ring of Van Halen and Van Halen alone, a band that for nearly 30 years has mingled thrilling debauchery (the libidinous Roth years), wild success (Hagar's lucrative but frequently banal string of four straight No. 1 albums), and breathtaking innovation (Eddie's violent six-string virtuosity throughout). Unfortunately, just as resonant lately are the bitterly acrimonious disasters—the breakups, aborted reunions, and yawning stretches of inactivity, plus a universally ignored one-album dalliance with Extreme bellower Gary Cherone—that now threaten to permanently tar the band as a dinosaur-act punchline.' (Village Voice article).

'Mark Pesce points his mobile phone at this reporter for a few seconds and then, without breaking the flow of conversation, thumbs a few digits into the device. "Dude, that's on YouTube now. I'll send you the URL," he grins.

'That is the sort of connected world that Mr Pesce - a self-confessed geek, writer, educator and futurist - inhabits. It is a world where making a short film of anything that takes your fancy then posting it immediately on the internet is as natural as breathing.

'Mr Pesce, 45, who will present some of his ideas at this week's Web Directions conference in Sydney, says the profound effects of living in this new connected world cannot be overstated. From young people who have never known life without mobile phones and computers, to baby boomers who are increasingly climbing on board the connected bandwagon, no one will escape.' (Age article & Pesce video).

'The FBI detained artist Steve Kurtz for 22 hours. But when tests proved the bio-chemicals he'd had were completely harmless — they prosecuted him anyways.' (10 Zen Monkeys article).

'Finally, the net itself represents the last authority, the last hierarchy. The telecoms firms themselves, and the networks they control, are the last, best hope for hierarchy. The physical implementation of a telecoms network - where all the end nodes flow though a series of concentrators to a central hub - is the word of hierarchy made flesh. Although networks have engendered the collapse of hierarchy, the agents of that collapse - these telecoms firms - have been strangely resistant to these same qualities of those networks. But not for very much longer. With the recent advent of mesh networking, the networks themselves are now becoming as radically restructured, radically decentralized, and will, in themselves, be as chaotic as the culture they engender.

'Just as the audience seized control over both the creation and distribution of media, this planetary mob is asserting control over the bandwidth and spectrum which have, until now, been the sole province of telcos and governments. We are gearing up to another fight, hierarchy against network (even now in its opening rounds, in the disguise of "net neutrality"), and once again, if history is any guide, the hierarchy will draw back from the field bloodied and defeated. At that point, networks will be the physical embodiment of the process they engender. The network is already pervasive; soon it will also be entirely rhizomic. The triumph of the network will be complete.' (FutureStreet Consulting blog entry).

'Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress yesterday to approve an additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the Bush administration's 2008 war funding request to nearly $190 billion -- the largest single-year total for the wars so far.

'The move came as Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff and former top U.S. commander in Iraq, warned lawmakers that the Army is stretched dangerously thin because of current war operations and would probably have trouble responding to a major conflict elsewhere. "The current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply," Casey said yesterday. "We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight and are unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies."' (Washington Post article).

'How long, O God, shall men be ridden down,

'And trampled under by the last and least Of men?

'The 19th-century poet Alfred Tennyson could not watch video-clips on YouTube of Poland's uprising being crushed, but his response perfectly captures the sense of impotent rage one feels as Burma's peacefully protesting monks and nuns are beaten up and tear-gassed by the country's security forces. It has been 19 years now since its first great movement for democracy in 1988, and 17 since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a clear popular mandate in free elections. Yet under its Orwellian military regime, this beautiful land has sunk even further into poverty and oppression. How long, O God, how long?

'As I write, shocking accounts of violence flash across my screen, including reports that several people have been killed. We do not know if the protests will persist, as some of the young monks promise, or be subdued. But two things are clear. Although the minister for religious affairs, General Myint Maung, rails against "external and internal destructionists" and the sinister role of "global powers who practise hegemonism", this was an entirely home-grown protest. Following sharp price rises in August, the cup of bitterness overflowed. No one in Washington, London or anywhere else outside Burma turned a tap. And this home-grown popular protest has - so far - been as peaceful as can be.' (Guardian article).