—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

“Ye shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles?”

Matthew 7:16, the Bible (King James Version)

.

These ‘fine toys for boys’ feature the ironic statement “Not recommended for children under 36 months” on the packaging—manufactured in the 1970s by Matchbox, long part of Mattel, Inc., the world’s largest producer of plastic entertainment for children. Mattel is responsible for a virtual empire of toys for budding minds including the ever-empowering Barbie dolls that help girls grow up to become the well-rounded, well-mannered women we all know they have the potential to be, as well as the plethora of toxic Chinese-made toys under the Fisher-Price name [Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street] recalled of late due to hazards arising from the use of lead-based coloration.

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

—David Friedman

Manchester, UK

The hell of war comes home. In July 2009, Colorado Springs Gazette published a two-part series entitled ‘Casualties of War.’ The articles focused on a single battalion based at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, who since returning from duty in Iraq had been involved in brawls, beatings, rapes, drunk driving, drug deals, domestic violence, shootings, stabbings, kidnapping, and suicides. Returning soldiers were committing murder at a rate 20 times greater than other young American males. A separate investigation into the high suicide rate among veterans published in the New York Times in October 2010 revealed that three times as many California veterans and active service members were dying soon after returning home than those being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. We hear little about the personal hell soldiers live through after returning home.

(from wearedorothy) Read the ‘Casualties of War’ articles here.

 Images: plastic moulded toy soldier figurines with bases, 7cm high

—Jimi Hendrix

London, UK

My friend Paul Derrick has submitted this poster to the 2011 Busan International Design Festival in Korea, in response to an invitation to contribute to the exhibition themed ‘Expression of Peace through Design’ that will show from 1 – 12 June at the Busan Design Center and the Busan Metropolitan City Hall. In Paul’s words, the poster is “a graphic representation of new and different perspectives needed to build steps towards peace and disarmament.”

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of re-connecting with Paul and his wife Cathy in Vilnius, Lithuania… we had become friends a few years back in Havana during the Icograda congress in Cuba.

Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air – explode softly – and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth – boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn’t go cheap, either – not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.

—Robert Fulghum

.

During the “Bush era” I posted (and sometimes included in lectures I gave) “re-mixed” propaganda posters by Micah Wright. In his own words, “I shut down the Propaganda Poster Project when Obama got elected… I stupidly thought that (a) everyone had finally woken up, and that (b) Obama was sincere about ending Bush’s war/illegal renditions/closing Gitmo/helping the Middle Class, etc. Sadly, the last two years have simply proven that I have to be just as vocal with my elected Democrats to keep their asses in line as I was vocal against Bush & his ilk.”

View a whole new batch of re-mixed images (such as the one above) here.

—Kahlil Gibran

Toronto, Canada

I gave my presentation at FITC Toronto 2011, the 10th-anniversary gig, earlier today… exploring “why” we do what we do, and “to what end.” My talk included a personal existential narrative (tracing back to the 16th-century Holy Roman Empire) wrapped in a “big-picture exposition” on the power of design to shape culture and influence our tomorrows. Thanks to Shawn Pucknell for bringing me back to FITC on this special occasion (my 8th time giving a talk at FITC I believe).

Thanks also to those in attendance for the positive comments and feedback following the session. As promised, anyone who was registered for this FITC event can contact me and I’ll send you a link to download a PDF version of the presentation.