Existentially Speaking

Plan B

http://artfuldodgertattoo.com/

Welcome

It's time to take another moment to shine a spotlight on one of our amazing artists. This time we'll take a look at Tammie. Having tattooed for over ten years, she's a recent transplant from the east coast and more specifically from Massachusetts. Like Lucky, she's a bit of a jack of all trades with no specific specialty, but she truly shines with large, bold color pieces. A quick look at her online portfolio will show her breadth of talent and imagination. She currently has spots available, but as it gets warmer here in Seattle those will fill up fast so get in touch with her either via email or come on by to meet her in person.

Friday the 13th!

Written by Dave Hawley

Sunday, 08 January 2012 23:59

Join us this weekend for the first Friday the 13th of the New Year! All weekend long (1/13-1/15) we'll be offering Piercings for $13 (plus a $13 jewelry fee) as well as dozens of tattoo designs drawn by our talented artists for just $50 each. This will be an all weekend event and as always walk-ins are welcomed, but spots will be limited so to make sure you get in on these prices give us a call and we'll get you an appointment.

Last Updated on Monday, 09 January 2012 00:13

New Year, New Deals!

Written by Dave Hawley

Tuesday, 03 January 2012 21:56 http://artfuldodgertattoo.com/

Drug Culture" 'In Mexico, reporters are hunted like rabbits'

At the end of January  the Royal Courts of Justice to heard Jonathan Heawood, of English PEN, speak to the Leveson inquiry about the importance of a free press.

In Mexico free expression is all but buried.  Mexico has the dubious distinction of being tied for first place with Pakistan as the world's deadliest country for journalists.

Since 2000, 67 Mexican journalists have been killed – a number that President Calderón's war on drugs has only helped to increase. In 90% of these cases, no one has been prosecuted, never mind convicted. The PEN International delegation in collaboration with Mexican PEN, aimed to draw worldwide attention to the culture of impunity that silences not only the people who speak out, but the word itself.

The trip turned out to be an eye-opener, revealing the way in which competing drug cartels, inept or corrupt government, the police and terrified media join together in the suppression of free expression.

We met politicians and prosecutors, writers and journalists, ambassadors and NGOs, our visit culminating in a public event, "PEN Protesta", where dozens of Mexican writers spoke;  one paraphrasing Mandelstam, "if you kill poets it means you don't respect poetry but if you kill journalists you don't respect society.".

Mexico, described it as "a magical country full of assassinated people and no apparent assassins". 


One of Mexico's pre-eminent writers, Elena Poniatowska said, "reporters are hunted like rabbits."
...when it comes to the practice of journalism, and to the prosecution of the murderers of journalists, Mexico is caught in a series of interlocking catch-22s. The government blames the deaths on organised crime. 

But, according to the London-based free expression group Article 19, up to 70% of aggressions against the media are government-inspired. Most of these can be laid at the door of local and regional government, about which the national government says it can do little. 

Added to this, an inept or corrupted police force joins with a similarly corrupted media to portray the murders as crimes of passion, which means they are never properly investigated.
The big media corporations often lead the charge in denigrating murdered journalists, even accusing them of being linked to the same cartels they were trying to denounce. 

This obliteration of a free press is not surprising: when a cartel targets a town for take-over it first compromises the mayor with threats or money and then it takes care of the police. 

Having taken control, it cannot let the press talk about the extent of its corruption and so has to move in on this, the third leg of the stool.








by Gillian Slovo
 president of English PEN.


READ MORE:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/03/author-author-gillian-slovo

'In Mexico, reporters are hunted like rabbits' | Books | The Guardian

The Tentacles of American Food Culture are far reaching.

Dairy Queen opens 500th restaurant in China

International Dairy Queen Inc. has opened its 500th Dairy Queen restaurant in China, and plans to maintain its accelerated growth in that country in 2012 by adding more than 100 new locations this year.

Since the first Dairy Queen opened in Beijing in 1991, China has been the frozen-treat chain’s largest international market. The 500th location, which opened in the Hu Dong financial district in Shanghai, is one of more than 350 Dairy Queen units operated by franchisee Shanghai Shida Catering Management Company.

“With the world’s fastest-growing major economy, China continues to be a tremendous expansion market for the Dairy Queen system, and we attribute that in large part to strong alliances with our development partners here, including Shanghai Shida Catering,” John Gainor, International Dairy Queen’s president and chief executive, said in a statement at the opening in Shanghai. “Today, more than ever, people everywhere are looking for value, but they still want to treat themselves … and we look forward to continued expansion.”

China was Dairy Queen’s largest growth market in 2011, the company said. One-hundred thirty-one of the 271 total Dairy Queen units added during the year were in China.

The country also has been a major expansion driver and international proving ground for the world’s largest quick-service companies. Louisville, Ky.-based Yum! Brands Inc., for instance, derives its largest share of its annual operating profit from its China division, whose same-store sales grew 19 percent for fiscal 2011.

Yum has more than 3,700 KFC locations in China, as well as more than 750 Pizza Hut units there, in addition to smaller systems for its Chinese quick-service concept East Dawning and the recently acquired Little Sheep casual-dining chain. The company plans to open more than 600 units in China in 2012.

Likewise, Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s Corp. opened 200 restaurants in China in 2011, and plans to build about 250 restaurants there this year. China also is expected to get a large portion of the 450 remodels planned for the company’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division.


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