Puppies! The unbeatable way to instantly arouse protective instincts in anybody. The more curious it was last night that CNN Headline News ran an unusually extensive story about rampant puppy smuggling around the US-Mexican border. There they were on hidden camera, the cruel profiteers bringing in those unbearably cute bundles of fur and muzzle, endangering their wellbeing and health. There were interviews with the poor victims of puppy smuggling - young mothers, telling tearful tales about buying the cutest little pup for their children, just to see it die a few weeks later. The reporter asked the little boy on one of the mothers' lap, if he knew what happened to the puppy. Only the cruelest mind could've resisted, when the kid stammered 'it died'.
The method of using animal stories to drive home a political point has been used by CNN for a while. I remember that just when the US citizenry
had to warm up to the idea that their arch enemies who had threatened them with nuclear anihiliation for about four decades might be turned into their future customers in a soon to be globalized economy by Perestojika, CNN ran an exposee about a Russian bear handler, who sacrificed so much to raise and take care of those adorably well trained bears. It was so heartwarming to see a real life Russian being nice to animals. As enraging as it is to see heartless Mexicans smuggle puppies! Well, at least now we know where CNN stands on immigration reform.
---
Watch the CNN report on puppy smuggling.
Puppy photos courtesy of the Cute Overload blog.
Are the terrorists winning after all? Nonesuch will release a remastered version of Brian Eno and David Byrne's seminal 1981 album 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts', that omits the song 'Qu'ran', which featured samples of Algerian singers chanting the Koran. 
The natural impulse with all new sources of information on the web is to first first check yourself and then delve into your past. So I was indeed impressed, when I was able to see our house in Brooklyn so clearly that you can almost identify the make of cars parked in front. I also discovered that the pigeon breeder across the street actually has two aeries on his roof. Next we checked out my wife's family's home in Germany, where she noticed the ominous absence of the neighbor's house, which was built almost ten years ago.
Heading South to my family's place that peek into the geographical past revealed a beautiful summer's day with my mother's large Italian market umbrella throwing some shade over the place, where she used to put up a table for lunch in the summer. Which was a nice look back to happy days in Bavaria, since my mother has passed away five years ago. Does this prove how poperful Google has become? Can they reverse urban sprawl and wake the dead? Or did they just follow Rumsfeld's advice to look at Europe as old?
This might very well be the best American Idol season so far. One of the reasons is the ease with which the judges and the host make that show truly their own. There's some doubt though, if that still makes it a show suitable for the target group of tweens and teens. Maybe the foursome's next project should be a sitcom for adults called "Cautionary Tales of the Hazelden Gang", which would be a cross between "Friends", "The Surreal Life" and Sandra Bullock's "28 Days".
That's an idea many wish they had first - modern art for the cellphone. Downloadable wallpapers for cellphone screens, downloadable for two bucks a piece. Start Mobile out in San Francisco started this gallery of the most affordable art around, so you too can become a collector. And if you really like that image on your cell, you can follow the links to the artists' websites and buy the original on canvas.
Every major group show wants to be seminal, few ever are. ICP's 'Snap Judgements: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography' could be one of those expections. it truly marks a change of guard from the old-school African photographers like Malick Sidibé, Seydou Keita or Cornélius Yao Augustt Azaglo, who were basically trade workers with studios in market towns, whose main business were passport and family photos and who by mere accident or strike of genius developed styles that suited the tastes and esthetics of Western curators, galerists and collectors.
The new generation of photographers brings a new sensibility of urban Africa to their work that seperates them from their elders and Nothern peers. Boubacar Touré Mandémory's images of Dakar, mostly shot from overhaed or groundlevel perspectives for example change our view of African cities from the social documentarian's outsider view to the insider view of the city's inhabitants.
The Depth of Field Collective from Lagos, James Marinki's hazy images from nocturnal Nairobi and Jo Ratcliffe's panoramic dreamscapes might be found in Art Fairs from Basel to New York very soon. One of the highlights are the works of Nigerian photographer and filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu though, who brings the hipster style sensibility of Malick Sidibé and the vibe of urban Africa to the West. His videos make Harlem or Brooklyn look like the fun parts of Lagos and Kinshasa. He is also the New York editor of 
New York Times cultural critic John Leland has written the by far best analysis of hip yet. He divides the history of hip in six basic chapters: Africans in early America, 19th century intellectuals and bohemians, the Lost Generation, the Beats, Rock, Punk and Hip Hop.
Hamburg based band Texas Lightning was just chosen by popular vote to represent Germany at the international 
After reporting on the case of suspected Taliban commander Habibullah and a cab driver called Dilawar being tortured to death at the U.S. military prison in Bagram (Afghanistan) under the command of Captain Christopher Beiring, "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley asked Beiring: "In retrospect, do you have any sympathies for those two men?"