by SuicideGirls

On the surface, The Last Mountain is a documentary about the dirty business of coal, the highly destructive and toxic practice of mountaintop removal mining, and one community’s fight to preserve their homes, their livelihoods, their health, and the last great mountain in the region. However, the story of Coal River Mountain in West Virginia is allegorical of much that is wrong with America, which is why during our roundtable conversation with the film’s champion, renowned environmental lawyer and activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., he barely mentions the four-letter word that is coal. Instead, Kennedy focuses on the underlying history and climate that has allowed corporations to rape and pillage our environment, and poison and kill our citizenry with impunity.

In The Last Mountain, Don Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy (he retired at the end of December 2010), is typecast in the role of modern day robber baron. As the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia, his company is only able to function on the scale it does by subjugating democracy. Mountaintop removal mining is cheaper and less labor intensive than traditional underground coal extraction methods, but it causes such an affront to the landscape, water and air, that it can only be done when the authorities charged with protecting the public interest are willing and able to look the other way.

Between 2000 and 2006 Massey chalked up a staggering 60,000 EPA infractions, but has suffered little in consequences beyond much belated and pitifully low fines that serve the government’s need to be seen to be doing something while maintaining the status quo. Of course, Massey is not the only corporation and coal is far from the only industry that is using and abusing our severely compromised shell of a democracy. In light of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling allowing corporate campaign donations (and a subsequent one that makes direct-to-candidate payments permissible), our government couldn’t be for more up for sale if it were posted on eBay.

Though there will inevitably be dark days ahead for our democracy, it’s not all doom and gloom thanks to a groundswell of grassroots activism as witnessed in Coal River Valley and documented in The Last Mountain. As for the environment, Kennedy points out towards the end of this interview that there’s an (LED) light at the end of the tunnel, and ironically it’s capitalism in its cleanest and purest form that may end up saving the day.

Read our interview with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on SuicideGirls.com.

By David Seaman

Judge Napolitano on FOX Business Network has a great on-air rhetorical device, “What if?”

I’m going to blatantly steal — er, borrow — that device for this column because it does a brilliant job of covering one’s ass completely, while still pointing out obvious truths. Here goes, take a deep breath.

WHAT IF your government has lost all legitimacy to lead?

WHAT IF the media, once the American people’s last safeguard against corruption, is now corruption personified?

WHAT IF there was a protest of thousands of people converging on Capitol Hill tonight, January 17th, 2012, and the corporate broadcast media barely even mentioned it as of 1:12pm Eastern, save for a below-the-fold hat tip on msnbc.com?

WHAT IF there is a quiet battle brewing right now between dying TV broadcasting dinosaurs, and vibrant Internet companies like Google, Facebook, and Reddit?

WHAT IF that battle finally becomes public knowledge tomorrow morning, when the homepage of Google.com will display a message blasting the SOPA/PIPA Internet censorship legislation that Congress seems absolutely hell-bent on passing in one way or another, regardless of how many phone calls they receive from outraged constituents.

WHAT IF there was a separate battle, waged online and via telephone by tens of thousands of Americans…a battle we’ve already lost?

WHAT IF that battle was a desperate cry against the NDAA’s indefinite detention provisions, which President Obama quietly signed into law on New Year’s Eve, while the rest of us were drunk and distracted?

WHAT IF, as a result, your own government — according to some of the planet’s foremost legal minds — now has the very real ability to detain you without trial, access to an attorney, and without bringing formal charges against you.

WHAT IF suspicion alone is enough.

AND WHAT IF some government insiders, such as Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, have gone on record stating they believe this indefinite detention power will be used to silence political protesters, including Occupiers.

Makes today’s Occupy Congress seem rather important given all of that context, no? So where’s the media attention?

Image courtesy of Dustin M. Slaughter

David Seaman is an independent journalist. He has been a lively guest on CNN Headline News, FOX News, ABC News Digital, among others, and on his humble YouTube channel, DavidSeamanOnline. Some say he was recently censored by a certain large media corporation for posting a little too much truth… For more, find him on G+ and Twitter.

by Blogbot

Every week we ask the ladies and gentlemen of the web to show us their finest ink in celebration of #TattooTuesday.

Our favorite submission from Twitter wins a free 3 month membership to SuicideGirls.com.

Last week’s field of entrants was so strong, we picked not one, not two, but three winners, and they are…

@rdominguezjr.

@DirtyRawkstar.

@natcLe.

Enter this week’s competition by replying to this tweet with a pic of your fav tattoo and the #tattootuesday hashtag.

Good luck!

A few things to remember:

• You have to be 18 to qualify.
• The tattoo has to be yours…that means permanently etched on your body.
• On Twitter we search for your entries by looking up the hashtag #TattooTuesday, so make sure you include it in your tweet!

Check out the Tattoo Tuesday winners of weeks past!

by Nahp Suicide

IvyLlamas is from Barcelona, Spain, and has been shooting for Suicide Girls since 2007.

How did you first get involved with SuicideGirls?

It was in 2007. I was studying photography. One day, I had the pleasure to meet Albertine and Diaz-Arri (two staff photographers). I was seeing how they work and I thought it was really interesting and funny. Then I met some Spanish SG models and they trusted me to shoot a set for the community. Since them, I’ve shot more and more sets. At first I shot many creative sets, but you can see the line where I now try to work with SG in a soft style. Really, I love both styles.

What’s your background photography-wise?

I’ve studied art all my life, but I never finished my formal education. Yes, I was a “bad boy” in the school. You know, drinking… smoking… I was born in a suburb. This was not easy. I started to study the arts ‘cause the only thing I was interested in was music and art. I had many problems in the school with teachers. I think we had different points of view. Finally, I tried to find my own way. And here I am. I can’t live without creating things – music and art.

What was the first photo you had published?

I think around 2006 or 2007 in some Barcelona fanzine.

How would you describe your style?

It’s really hard for me to describe my own style. I was always a fan of surrealism and metaphorical images. I want to feel seeing a picture. Sometimes you see a picture, and probably you don’t understand what it means, but I ask, what do you feel? That’s the most important for me. On SG, my style is really soft (lately) but I try to express the atmosphere. Cold, hot, loneliness, melancholy, sensuality… Like I said before, I want you feel.

What gear do you use?

At the moment I use a Canon 5D and a 50mm 1.4. Then for my personal or clients work I use 400w flashes and a million self made inventions.

How important is Photoshop in your final images?

Good question. It really is important, of course, but it’s SO important to have a perfect capture first. I think when you obtain a good capture it’s amazing to work with it in Photoshop. But if you have a bad concept to work with, bad light, bad model, Photoshop can’t do miracles. Photoshop is a good tool if you think before.

What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing sets?

Daily life. I love to take the reality of daily life and transform it into a metaphor. I want to talk in your same language, with the difference that sometimes you haven’t the words to explain it. I love to crash these words and make you feel what I’m talking about. Sometimes a simple smile in the underground can inspire me.

What is your favorite image?

Wow! Hard question. I have to say I’m really critical with my own work. I shoot a set and two days after I think it should be better. But I have to say I’ve done some interesting sets for SG. For example, I’ve worked many times with DeeDee and I think we did and amazing work. She’s really creative and always invites me to play to her games. Then I have to say my favorite work is the last one. Devushka, Lullabee, Lyona, Tupou, Ukka, and for me, one of my favorites, the last one I shot with Crysta. Yes, she’s my partner, but “Atrapada en el Blanco” is one of my best works. Really special and real

Tell us why it’s your fave and how you achieved it?

With Dee Dee we did the most creative sets I made for SG. Devushka has this kind of mystery, which is so easy to make into poetical and beautiful atmospheres. And finally, with Crystal, she’s hot and fragile, and a perfect model to feel these feelings.

Is there anybody or anything you would love to photograph that you haven’t? (And tell us why)

I always think to shoot more fashion stuff, but it’s hard to work it…I have to say that photographers need to live. At the moment my work doesn’t allow me to dedicate time to personal projects, but this next year I’ll start to do new personal works. There are so many things I want to shoot. Every day I want to shoot new things.

For more on IvyLlamas visit his SG Profile and website.

Related Posts:

In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Lavezzarro

by Blogbot

This Sunday, January 22, hosts Nicole Powers (SG’s Managing Editor) and Lacey Conner (our resident recovering reality TV star from VH1’s Rock of Love and Charm School) will be joined in-studio by Mad-Max-meets-punk-rock performance art/percussion troupe Street Drum Crops, a trio of musicians who have a talent for being able to bang the shit out of anything and make it sound good – really freakin’ good.

Tune in to the world’s leading naked radio show for two hours of totally awesome tunes and extreme conversation – and don’t let yo’ momma listen in!

Listen to SG Radio live Sunday night from 10 PM til Midnight on Indie1031.com

Got questions? Then dial our studio hotline digits this Sunday between 10 PM and midnight PST: 323-900-6012

And cyberstalk us anytime on Facebook and Twitter.

[..]

By Daniel Robert Epstein

Early on in his career everyone knew that Steven Soderbergh was an innovative and brilliant filmmaker. But no one had any idea that he would eventually have such an effect on the business side of making films. Bubble is the first film in a series of six that will be shot on high definition video and be released on three platforms at once, theatrical, DVD and to air on HDNet.

Bubble is about three people who work at a doll factory in a small town in rural West Virginia. One is an older woman named Martha [Debbie Doebereiner] who obviously has a crush on a young factory worker named Kyle [Dustin James Ashley]. But when a young and sexy single mother named Rose [Misty Dawn Wilkins] comes to work to the factory Martha doesn’’t like her…

Read our exclusive interview with Steven Soderbergh on SuicideGirls.com.

Ackley Suicide in Pinkerton

• INTO: Skateboards, bass, animal rights, grassroots activism, The 1st, 2nd, and 4th Amendment, NPR.
• NOT INTO: Gun Control, animal abuse, child labor, parking enforcement, taxes!
• MAKES ME HAPPY: Good live music, slapin’ the bass, being with friends, adventure.
• MAKES ME SAD: Animal abuse, broken dreams, saying goodbye.
• HOBBIES: Spin the bottle.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Chapstick, skateboard, Vans, Mac Book, bass.
• VICES: A good sales man.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Not doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

Get to know Ackley better over at SuicideGirls.com!