Cumulus Press has published a 128 page comic book/graphic novel that combines investigative journalism, comic art, and the politics of mining and resistance to mining. Extraction! is divided up into four stories and four extracted elements of the earth. Whether its gold in Guatemala or oil in Canada (Alberta to be specific), this book delivers some excellent critical analysis of plundering while offering up some excellent art-driven narratives.

The book was inspired by other political comix producers such as Joe Sacco, and of course the ongoing malfeasance of Canadian mining companies who continue to ignore domestic populations the world over as they dig and strip the earth for precious stones, industry staples and fuel.

Four journalists teamed up with four artists to dig up the dirt (excuse the pun) on the activities of some of these companies and the result is a great bed-time read.

To find out more or to purchase (for $20), visit the cumulus press site.

Figurative Pakistan is a group show opening at the Aicon Gallery in London, UK featuring four prominent Pakistani artists, Ijaz ul Hassan, Naiza Khan, Sana Arjumand, and Ahmed Ali Manganhar.

Ijaz ul Hassan is a long-time activist and dissident who came to prominence as a political artist in the 1970s when he was jailed for his public condemnation of martial law under General Zia-ul-Haq. Hassan was arrested, held in solitary confinement for four weeks and endured threats to his life and to the lives of his family and friends. Hassan's artwork was deemed so dangerous that is was removed from galleries and refused entrance into group exhibitions after his release from jail. During the worst of the political repression under General Zia-ul-Haq, Hassan painted messages on handbills and posters and distributed them by hand. Even today some of his paintings remain “classified”, although many have been declassified, some of which were shown in a recent retrospective at the Canvas Gallery in Karachi.

Hassan is considered one of Pakistan's most revered contemporary artists, but his work continues to attract suspicion and fear from state officials for its graphic images of violence and images of political protest. In the midst of Pakistan's current turmoil, he is once again being forced to endure military harassment and initmidation and his son, a lawyer, faces house arrest. Hassan left Pakistan early this month to be in London for the opening the Figurative Pakistan exhibition.

Hassan, who turned 67 this year, has begun creating images addressing Musharraf's current crackdown...

It seems just a phone call from this fellow is enough to get your flat ransacked by the police. At least two New Zealand artists have experienced state intimidation, confiscation of their property, and criminal charges for their association with Tuhoe and Maori activist Tame Iti.

In a coordinated series of raids in October, Tame Iti and 16 others were arrested and detained by state agents. Ite has come to the attention of state authorities as a high-profile advocate for an independent Maori state. He gained notoriety for baring his butt at public officials at the Waitangi Tribunal, the official treaty resolution process in New Zealand, and for shot-gunning a New Zealand flag. Ite travels in many circles, counting among his acquaintances wealthy art patron Jenny Gibbs and millionaire car-dealer John Murphy, while also co-hosting a television program for emotionally distraught Maori boys on Maori TV, and running sessions for adults with drug and alcohol problems through the Tuhoe Hauora health trust.

Ite is accused under anti-terrorism laws of operating military-style training camps in the Northern Highlands of New Zealand. He is accused of preparing some kind of large-scale event with environmental activists.

The two artists who were targeted in the October raids were Marama Mayrick and Gordon Toi. Mayrick was arrested and imprisoned for eight weeks. She is an artist, environmentalist, activist, student and filmmaker. She is accused of participating in a Tuhoe training camp. Iti is a long-time family friend of her parents. The arrest came just before an exhibition of her artwork was to open at a La Commune Cafe in Hamilton, NZ. The exhibition was renamed Orchids Under Surveillance and, shortly after her release from prison, opened earlier this month.

Gordon Toi had his tools and computer equipment seized during a raid on his home. He a prominent actor, carver, author and tattooist. Police kept his equipment for more than a month, only returning it after receiving a letter from his lawyer. The raid on Toi's home was in response to a text message he received from Tame Iti inviting him to a weekend camp – an invitation he says he declined. Toi met Tame Ite as a tattoo client (other of Toi's high-profile clients include American musician Ben Harper). Toi has a studio in Amsterdam, and regularly exhibits in Canada.

Despite gains made in coming to terms with the legacy of colonial violence, First Nations in New Zealand still suffer disproportionately. They make up about 15% of the population, but represent 40% of all convictions, and 50% of the prison population. Average household income among the Maori is 70% less than the national average. Life expectancy among Maori is 10 years lower than non-Maori.

No one is sure whether or not any of the charges against Ite and the others have evidence to back them (nor would it be the first time a state security agency has acted more on paranoia than fact). But the raids and arrests have heightened an already tense situation between aboriginal and non-aboriginal populations in the country. New Zealand is quietly and tensely waiting to see what laundry will get aired when the charges finally make it to court.

Walmartopia, the Off-Broadway musical that targets the happy yellow face, has been playing in NYC since the end of September. As the good reviews keep coming in on this political comedy for the stage, I wonder, will it take off? This is a challenge to any theatre directors out there - bring the Big Box farce off Off-Broadway, way off, to other cities and towns. This topic is way more universal than Miss Saigon, so lets see some franchising!

Jeremy Thal of the Indypendent had this to say:

The campy absurdity of the musical only works because our present reality is so bleak. The lyrics of many of these songs could be used by the Bush attachés to promote their next surge in Iraq or an invasion of Iran. Musical theater is disarming and audience friendly, but the message in Walmartopia rings through as serious and urgent. Rohn’s songs have a home-grown sound, true to Walmartopia roots in community theater. Expertly arranged by August Eriksmoen and sung by a skilled cast, the songs are at once exuberant and thought-provoking and overcome their camp. The finale is an almost Brechtian invocation to the audience to get out of their seats and do something, and while doing it, to keep singing.

Even sounds more entertaining than watching a Wal-Mart burn...

Long-time activist artist Vibiana Aparicio-Chamberlin was given a life-time achievement award by the city of Los Angeles last week. Aparicio-Chamberlin started her career in the 1970s doing street theater in East LA, and has spent most of her life teaching and continuing to use art to address social injustice. She is a painter, print-maker and mural artist.

Most recently, Aparicio-Chamberlin has focused her attention on the immigrant community in the US. In February, she conducted workshops for immigrant children, many who live in trailer camps, introducing them to the works of Frida Kahlo and Matisse. In late August, Aparicio-Chamberlin joined other activists in a march in support of Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant with an 8 year old (US born) son who was recently arrested by immigration officials. She also recently coordinated an art auction for conscientious objector Augustin Aguayo, a US Army paramedic who refused a second deployment to Iraq.

At the awards ceremony, after thanking the mayor, Aparicio-Chamberlin then asked the council to stop the war – at which point, they took the mic away from her.

To see more of Aparicio-Vibiana's work, go here.

Image of Aparicio-Chamberlin's painting "Women of Iraq: No War for Oil"

Ever wondered if villains get their inboxes filled with spam, too? Now you can play a hand in your favourite villain's e-fate. PleaseSpam.Us promises to put the emails of the most popularly unpopular people in a prominent place on their website (i.e. homepage) specifically designed to attract spambots. Here's the democratic catch. Not just any email will get posted. It must receive enough votes from the general public before the webmaster will make the email address spambot bait.

PleaseSpam.Us is yet another clever intervention by Johnah Brucker-Cohen who works out of Eyebeam Gallery in New York. The intention, according to artist Brucker-Cohen, is to critically re-examine the proliferation of electronic communications systems such as email as well as to question the advent of collaborative filtering (used by sites like DIGG and all of the "DIGG copycat sites" and "Reputation Systems" (as found on many commercial and community oriented sites). The ultimate intention with the project is to explore the tensions of utilizing spam as a cultural and social tool to encourage the debate of how these social systems often work to polarize opinions and pigeonhole debate into specified channels.

So far, George W. Bush's email – president@whitehouse.gov – has the most number of votes ...

Image + Nation, the week-long queer/glbt film fest in Montréal is celebrating 20 years of providing queers with something to get excited about as the days get shorter, colder. 20 Years: that's a long time... and opportunity to reflect back... to think ahead.

The War On Democracy is the 58th (or so) documentary made by filmmaker John Pilger, and is his first feature length made for cinematic release. Piltger has been a TV director/producer since 1958, and has built a reputation and following for his investigative journalism into some of the world’s most difficult human problems.

The War On Democracy is a history lesson tied to the present by Pilger’s bounding interest in the political potential of poor communities to transform national politics. His geographic scope in this film is the so-called “backyard” of the United States: Latin America. And this shy bit of Orientalism (in calling a continent with 20 or so counties, more than half a billion people, a combined GDP of 2 trillion, and hundreds if not thousands of cultures far older than the American Republic a “backyard”) goes to the heart of this compelling indictment of American foreign policy. America has been at war against democracy in the region seemingly since America began. Pilger’s catalyst for telling this not so new story now is the resurgence of popular democratic movements across Latin America fueled in large part by the charismatic and deep-pocketed leadership of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

We meet president Chavez, along with an eclectic array of historians, activists, former victims of various regimes, and former CIA senior planners. This is a retelling of how America has fought against the formation of democratic governance and accountability throughout Latin America and at great, tragic cost. The debate between Pilger and one former CIA executive about the number of the dead in Chile under Pinochet reinforces any lingering doubts about the pigheaded and callous disregard some American officials have had and certainly continue to have for human life, especially among the poor and indigenous. We learn some of the tragic stories of Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the all too familiar story of Allende’s fall under an American backed coup lead by Pinochet. What emerges is a clear and murderous disregard by American administrations for democratic principles and national sovereignty.

But we also get a glimpse of the social transformation taking place in Latin America, one of Pilger’s main theses in this film. In Bolivia, rural villagers exerted their collective strength and chased an ill-conceived and bad faith attempt to privatize their water resources. In Venezuela, after Chavez was kidnapped by an American-backed consortium of dissident army leaders and industrialists in 2002, it was the demands of the hundreds of thousands of poor from the barrio hillsides around Caracus who had taken to the streets and surrounded the presidential palace, that eventually forced the hand of “empire” to return Chavez to the presidential palace unharmed.

This notion of “empire” is another of Pilger’s central themes: that America is better understood as empire -- an aggressive political, military and economic entity of oppression, domination and expansion. It is an argument that, despite not being new, continues to be well suited to the times. Films like Pilger’s will perhaps do their bit to help move into the mainstream this persistently under-recognized and expanded notion of what it means to be an American.

An ad designed by Canadian agency Émergence and originally used in Quebec is causing an uproar in Italy. The ad (pictured at right) shows a baby with a hospital bracelet reading "homosexual." The regional government in Tuscany has recently put the ad up on billboards in a region-wide campaign to end homophobia.

The ad has sparked criticism from the conservative community and the LGBT community, with some arguing that it may communicate that homosexuality is a disease. One thing is certain - Émergence has stirred public interest, and it's not the first time.

From le Fondation Émergence (translated from the french):

The next question will be asked: is homosexuality innate or acquired? So far, science has been unable to answer this question in the affirmative or consensual. However, there is consensus on one fact: one does not choose their sexual orientation, which has inspired the theme of the campaign.

Read an article on this ad at gay.com.

Adel Abidin, an artist who left Baghdad for Helsinki in 2000, has created Abidin Travels, a satirical travel agency to promote vacation trips to his hometown. This artwork functions as both a website that locates flights and an installation. You can enter the mock agency to find brochures and advertisements absurdly combining horrific images of today's Iraq with typical commercial sales slogans.

Book a flight and get details on hotels, rental cars and tours of Baghdad through Abidin Travels. Keep in mind you will probably only need a one-way ticket, as you may not be returning. Your tour will be full of surprises, maybe an explosion here or there, but "all the beautiful places that you might have read about have either been destroyed or looted. There really are no sights left." This information and other harrowing vacationing tips can be found at abidintravels.com.

Abidin Travels is on view in the Nordic Pavilion of the Venice Biennale through November 21. This and other works covering themes such as: fundamentalism, identity, nationalism, religion, totalitarianism, and common stereotypes can be viewed on the artist's website. While some pieces maintain equal levels of humor and irony, others, like Construction Site and Common Vocabularies, are quite heartbreaking; all Abidin's works are worth exploring.