"THAT'S NOT MUSIC! THAT'S MY BROTHER" says older brother trying to have a conversation. with his girl friend in competition to the raucus heckling of a flowers and heart rendition from the background. Art-Bob has truly caught the imagination of the physical culture group and prints of his drawings are in great demand. 8x10 dbl-wt matte prints are $1.50 each, 3 for $3 or 6 for $5. An 8x10 catalog print: $1. Art-Bob 1611 North Avenue 56, L.A. 42, Calif.
A visit to a Washington Logging camp inspired Bill MacLane to do this study which he calls "The Loggers". A former marine combat artist, Bill is a rather rugged fellow himself, and likes to "live" the experiences depicted in his pictures which we feel helps to give them a reallistic quality sometimes missing in the "studio" artist. An 8x10 print $1.50, or catalog of over a dozen paintings $1.50 or both for $2. The new address of Bill Mac Lane is box 9012 Queene Anne Station Seattle 9, Washington.
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RETURN TO DECENCY COMMITTEE: The aims of this committee should not be confused with any group interested in ethics or consideration of one's fellow man. Rather its purpose is the removal of any and all factors in our lives which lend themselves to a possible sensual interpretation, because everybody knows that if sensual stimulus is removed, peoples erotic concepts will be relegated to the subconscious where even if the individual is torn apart mentally, at least the outward refinement of society can remain undisturbed. Notable progress towards a return to Mid Victorian morality has already been achieved, but diligent committee members will certainly not content themselves with the mild initial restrictions they have successfully invoked. Of course, one should not consider lightly the high Victorian standards when even the piano legs were referred to "limbs" and in the more respectable homes were adorned with pantaloons. To achieve the ultimate in decency it will be wise to borrow all of the "moral" restrictions of all social and religious groups since otherwise some minority may be offended by the actions of others. The abolition of the human figure in art is essential and committee members in our government are now working for legislation meeting this ideal as nearly as possible. And of course, something must be done about the lack of clothing on public and private beaches. Nothing less than a return to the styles of the first of the century with 90% of the skin area covered should be tolerated. For that matter, serious restrictions should be placed on all clothing styles. We read in our newspapers recently of a marine commander forbidding men under his command from appearing in public in "shirts which showed off bulging arm muscles, or pants too tight in the seat", and young men wearing levis on Hollywood Blvd were stepped for questionning and advised to wear other apparrel. Judges of a 1955 beauty contest at Santa Monica California told this reporter they would not consider a girl brazen enough to wear a brief two-piece suit. So you can see the committee is already well organized and it has thorough plans to regenerate our people (according to its own standards) and let the chips (and freedoms) fall where they may!
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LEGALIZED MURDER! Almost all of the letters written to Pictorial as a result of our tirade against Capitol Punishment (Summer 55 issue) were in favor of our stand of opposing it, though some questioned whether this book is the proper place to discuss such issues. Our feeling is that where lives are at stake, any place is proper to help bring greater understanding. Since that editorial appeared dozens of other lives have been snuffed out by LEGALIZED MURDER. In Utah, Jess Neal, negroe, was shot by a firing squad though the American Civil Liberties Union clearly showed the court that his conviction had been obtained by purjured evidence of the police. The blood of a man executed by the state. is on all of our hands and unless we do all in our power to prevent this slaughter, we stand before God as guilty as the executioner himself!... Not a pleasant thought, but no amount of rationalization will let us escape its
In spite of, perhaps because of, this legalized murder by the state, criminal murd ers occur with the same horrifying regularity. Violence begets violence. Human life is held cheap--if the state can find justification in killing, so do its individual members reason that under certain conditions they are justified in taking the life of another. In Los Angeles shortly before we went to press, a policeman shot and killed a boy of 20 who ran from him when he tried to arrest him for failing to report to a probationary officer. After ten minutes of deliberation the coroners jury completely absolved the policeman. At other times innocent bystanders have been shot down by gun-happy killers with badges of immunity. There is never justification in taking a man's life against his will. Man dare not assume the role of the Almighty, and decide who shall live and who shall die. Certainly violent men must be restrained that others might live peacibly, and the fear of that restraint has proved to be as effective in curbing violence as execution in the six civilized states of our union and other countries who have advanced beyond this barbarism. If you wish to participate in the battle write Committee to Abolish Capital Punishment, 14 Pearl St. Brookline 26 Mass. attn Mrs Ehrmann, directr. Page 15