Friday, July 31, 2009
HA!
Man: I need an ambulance
911guy: who is this?
Man: Joe
911 guy: okay, where do you need this?
Joe: I'm in a motherf*cking phone booth
911 guy: okay, what's the address there?
Joe: ....hold on
911 guy: Okay, sir, did you call for 911?
Joe: uh, yeah... no.
911 guy: okay, Joe, I need a location. What street are you on?
Joe: I'm in a motherf*cking phonebooth at the Stop and Go. That's it, I'm at the motherf*cking Stop 'n Go. On Waymouth...Hosmith, Carville 'n something. At the motherf*cking Stop and Go.
911 guy: Housmith, Corville and what?
Joe: hold on. ... yo lemme see. Coffee, coffee,
911 guy: Cafe?
Joe: There you go, I'm in the motherf*cking phone booth. I tell you what ...I'm driving down the road, driving my car, minding my own god damn business, and a motherf*cking deer jumped out and hit my car.
911 guy: Okay sir, are you injured?
Joe: Now, lemme tell you: I get out and pick the motherf*cking deer up because I thought he was dead. I put the motherf*cking deer in my back seat and I'm driving down the motherf*cking road and minding my own business, the motherf*cker woke up and bit me on the back of my god damn neck....he bit me and kicked the shit out of my car.
I'm in a motherf*cking phone booth, a deer bit me in the neck, and then a bigmotherf*cking dog came up, bit me in the leg then I went and I hit him with a motherf*cking tire iron, I stabbed him with my knife so I got a hurt leg and the motherf*cking deer bit me in the neck and the dog won't let me out of the motherf*cking phone booth, 'cause he wants the deer.
Now who gets the deer, me or the dog?
911 guy: okay, sir, are you injured?
Joe: Yeah, a motherf*cking deer bit me in the neck! hold on. The motherf*cking dog is biting me. Hold on, God damnit, get out of here--hold on, the motherf*cking dog is biting my ass,
hold on...
(inaudible)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
In Edinburgh next week? Say "hello" to my sis...
Associazione Etre
Type:
Music/arts - Performance
Network:
Global
Start Time:
Wednesday, 05 August 2009 at 15:55
End Time:
Thursday, 06 August 2009 at 12:00
Location:
C venues
Town/City:
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Phone:
448452601234
Who gets to clean it?
Made in Brazil by Petsmiling, this is - we believe - the world’s first canine sex doll. It’s a dog shaped, erm, ‘partner’ for dogs who are unable to pick up hot dates using their natural charm.Full story @ 'K9'
(Thanx to LS)
Grievous Angel presents Blogariddims 21: Fusion Dub. A mix of Miles Davis-inspired jazz, funk and soul, in dub (April 2007)
"This time last year I was waaaaay deep into a series of pilgrimages deep into dubstep, a process that is still ongoing, though not as spiritually all-encompassing as it was. And part of my response to the influx of dubstep vibrations that have been flowing into me since 2005 has been a re-connection with deep dub sounds of… Miles Davis. My connection with Miles has always crossed over with dub, electronics and industrial. I got heavily into Miles, especially the electric period but also the Gil Evans orchestral period, at the same time as I got into Cabaret Voltaire – when I was 13, almost 14. It was only a year or so later that I realised how much of an influence he was on Richard Kirk and Stephen Malinder; all I knew was that the sonics and spaces of 2 X 45 were identical to On the Corner. In the same way as the threads connecting from the Cabs to acid to ardkore and thence to dubstep are obvious, for me, the thematic connection from Miles to dubstep is also clear, but it’s more a matter of influence than direct connection.
So it was that when I was asked to do a solo outing in the brilliant Blogariddims series, I almost immediately decided to go on a voyage into Miles – in dub. I was going to include a lot of other fusion artists, but not much that I have in that genre really made the grade, so instead I threw in some of the soul and funk that influenced Miles in this period. And naturally, I used as my raw material much of Bill Laswell’s fabulous Panthalassa CD, which adds a layer of dub and re-edits to Miles’ originals. I simply re-edited and re-dubbed what Laswell did. All in all it’s an appropriate way for Blogariddims series to greet Beltane. I hope you enjoy it.
You can subscribe to Blogariddims, and download individual mixes, here: http://www.weareie.com/audio/blogariddims/Blogariddims.xml. This mix will be up for May 1st.
Tracklisting:
Liner notes:
0:00 Miles Davis: Bitches Brew intro
This snippet is so recognisable – those sharp parps are the perfect signal to wake up for the mix.
0:59: Miles Davis: Agharta Prelude Dub
Sheer, unadulterated, slow motion funk bliss. A dub of one of the tracks on Panthalassa, the original is from the Agharta album, which was recorded live at the Osaka Festival Hall in Japan on February 1, 1975. A lot of critics think is one of Davis‘ two greatest electric live records alongside Pangaea (which were both recorded the same day – Agharta in the afternoon and Pangaea in the evening). The band has its roots in the seminal group assembled for On the Corner. Saxophonist is Sonny Fortune, guitarists Pete Cosey (lead’n’headfuck feedback) and Reggie Lucas (rhythm), bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Al Foster, and percussionist James Mtume. Bill Laswell edited “Prelude,” down from over a half-hour and I took it down to five minutes so all you have here is pure funk jazz fire.
5:06: Miles Davis: Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (Edit)
Probably my favourite cut off Bitches Brew, this, at least it is now it’s had a bit of vigorous pruning. The album was recorded over three August days in 1869, right after the Woodstock Festival. Miles famously would assemble musicians at short notice, forcing them to think on their feet with minimal guidance – which must have been a total head-fuck. You can tell how the band are right on the edge of mapped territory on this tune, but they’re locked tight. It starts off all gorgeously loping, before slowly lifting off into heavy, fat jazz that almost has dubstep’s “wobble” in the low end. I took out a lot of the free jazz bleating in the middle and made sure there was plenty of Miles’ red hot but laid back groove, and even so we fit atonal jazz funk gold at around 10:39.
12:19: Parliament: Dr Funkenstein (Live) (edit)
God, I love Parliament. This is probably the best track off 1977’s Parliament Earth Tour album. It’s just a fat, minimal, drum and bass funk locked groove. The recording isn’t that hot but the playing is unbelievable so I slashed it down from its original 15 minutes and dubbed the fuck out of it. The end of it is very Apocalypse Now, the scene at the bridge as shards of Miles’ horn float through the wreckage of Parliament.
19:10: Miles Davis: What If
From one deep funk track to another, but dear god is this heavy. Previously unreleased track from Panthalassa, I edited it out of Laswell’s mix of Black satin/What if/Agharta prelude dub. It was called What If by Laswell because we was wondering, “what if this is Pete Cosey (on lead guitar?)”, but actually it’s Maclauglin. The real star is Michael Hendeson’s bass line, an awesomely solid, endlessly repeating syncopated figure that’s just irresistible. This one just rocks.
22:44: Curtis Mayfield: Stone Junkie (Live)
The marvellous Curtis in cheeky mood from this seminal soul live album, recorded at the Greenwich Village’s Bitter End club on a freezing January ‘71 night and released on the brilliant Curtis/Live! Album. Stone Junkie calms it down a bit from What If, but the chill factor is back with the FX. This is the sort of soul Miles was listening to pretty relentlessly throughout the seventies.
28:28: Miles Davis: Billy Preston
Another fantastic heavy funk work out, this is from the 1974 sessions that yielded the Get Up With It album. Most critics don’t seem to like this one but I love it, so much so I did a remix of it. This is just a dub of the original.
33:51: Headhunters: God Made Me Funky (Edit)
This is thee archetypal fusion track, here ripped to fuck. Herbie Hancock famously went looking for a bit of earth in 1973 and put together a funk band, The Headhunters. Yes it’s from the largest-selling jazz album of all time, but here’s it’s had the wanky sax solo ripped out, which makes the lush, faded out funk heaviosity that much more effective.
39:21: Miles Davis: Black Satin
From On The Corner – Kode 9’s favourite album of all time – and it’s a corker! Black Satin is built around a spanking hot cyclical break from Jack DeJohnette, with a set of discordant counter point tones bouncing around it and shimmering fuzz guitar drifting from the shadows.
43:14: Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (Edit)
This track is just mental. Absolutely dead serious, utter funk badness and jazz freakiness. This is just total, wailing madness which stays utterly the right side of formlessness, the energy surges and crackles and frankly it’s terrifying. The original edit loses its focus (sacrilegious though it is to say it) so I sharpened it up quite a lot by keeping the spotlight firmly on Miles – which doesn’t fit into the commonplace revisionism of praising the sidemen, but this is really about going with Davis into the nightmare. Across the chasm.
46:59: Miles Davis: In A Silent Way / Shhh Peaceful (Bill Laswell dub)
You simply don’t get any higher – or darker – than Bitches Brew, so it was time to let some light in with some lovely, twisted, sardonic chillage from 1969’s fantastic In A Silent Way album. If you’re reading this before downloading the mix and wondering if it’s all going to be a bit too much like onanistic jazz freakery, then fast forward to this bit cos it’s just lovely. Literally everyone in the country should own a copy of this album and we’d all be happier for it. And – despite the virtuosity on display throughout the rest of this mix, this is the one tune that absolutely anyone can learn to play on the guitar in half an hour. It’s that simple. But what Miles and his band do with it here is just priceless.
54:49: Curtis Mayfield: I Plan To Stay a Believer (Live)
Another one from Curtis / Live, and what a fantastic song this is. I won’t drizzle it with clichés (for once) but this simple, direct soul is the ideal partner for In A Silent Way, a similar cleanser.
57:30: Miles Davis: It’s About That Time
But Miles, even after his astonishing displays of malevolence throughout this mix, can out-do Mayfield when it comes to conveying purity and innocence, as he does on the very brief It’ About That Time."
@'Grievous Angel' (April 2007)
Get it here.
(Blogariddims 21 - 'Fusion Dub')
Derrick May BBC6 Mix 25 July 2009
Derrick MayA pioneer of techno, he is a modern day bluesman producing what he calls Hi-Tek Soul or "George Clinton meeting Kraftwerk in an elevator."
'Detroit techno legend Derrick May was invited to do a show for BBC Radio’s 6 Mix last Saturday evening. The 2hr show is in 3 parts, the first part is a Hi Tek Soul Mix, then he plays some all time favourites (Marvin Gaye, D’Angelo, Boards of Canada) and then the 2nd hour is a club style mix.'
Day 40
An important day as it is the 40th day since the shootings of June 20th, which of course included Neda Agha-Soltan.Shi'a Muslims, who make up over 95% of the Iranian population, observe the 40th day after death as a highly significant day of mourning. As a result, the 1979 Islamic Revolution often progressed in 40-day intervals. These dates frequently sparked the greatest protests and demonstrations throughout Iran. From Qom to Tabriz to Tehran to Shiraz, people poured into the streets to honor their martyrs. And with each procession, new martyrs were created and this cycle repeated itself until the revolution finally succeeded.
Thus, another Iran was born, one with a crimson tulip at its core. A single word in red Arabic calligraphy graces the center of the current Iranian flag, deliberately shaped in the outline of a tulip: "Allah."
Thursday marks the 40th day following the death of Neda Agha-Soltan and at least a dozen others. Since the world witnessed Neda's brutal murder in the streets of Tehran, she has become the symbol and rallying cry for the opposition. At least a dozen others were killed that same day as the so-called Islamic Republic continued to ignore the lessons of history.
More recently, on July 19, 28-year-old student Taraneh Mousavi was arrested after attending a speech about the martyrs of the opposition movement. Soon after, Taraneh became its next martyr. Her grisly rape and murder planted yet another seed of revolution.
And the cycle continues.
I expect that we will see the 40-day commemorations of martyrs like Neda and Taraneh pave the path toward change in Iran.
Many are speculating that the opposition movement is beginning to fizzle. They forget, however, that it took over a year of sporadic protests for the Islamic revolution to succeed and that it required far more than marching in the streets. A revolution demands just as much thought, preparation, and strategy as it does public demonstration.
The opposition's most brilliant strategy to date has been its use of Islam to combat a regime falsely claiming it to gain and maintain political power. The allegedly Islamic Republic of Iran disgraced the very faith it claimed to promote the moment the regime began forcing its twisted version of Islam onto the Iranian people, repressing women and religious and ethnic minorities in the process.
Today, the Iranian people are reclaiming Islam for themselves, and in the process, they are creating a new Iran from the blood of their martyrs.
On Thursday, July 30th, Iranians all over the world will be mourning, but they will also be tending to their gardens. Tulips are delicate flowers by nature. A mild wind properly timed can prove fatal. But tulips do not die. They are perennial. Between blooms, they prepare."
Melody Moeza @ 'HuffPo'
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Microsoft and Yahoo Reach Deal on Search
@ 'NY Times'
Coming October 26th
Peter Gabriel - Steam
Bill O'Reilly's fuzzy maths
Liked the comment at the 'HuffPo':
"Bill O'Reilly has a greater life expectancy than a chimpanzee because a chimpanzee has 10 times as many rational thoughts as Bill."
Obama pushes public option, debunks myths about plan
Just in case you didn't follow that:
"And the other thing that we do want to do — now, this is controversial, and I understand some people are worried about this — we do think that it makes sense to have a public option alongside the private option. So you could still choose a private insurer, but we’d also have a public plan that you could choose from that would be non-for-profit, wouldn’t have, hopefully, some of the same high administrative costs, and would be potentially more responsive to your needs at a lower cost. I think that helps keep the insurance companies honest because now they have somebody to compete with.
And I have to say, the reason this has been controversial is a lot of people have heard this phrase "socialized medicine" and they say, we don’t want government-run health care; we don’t want a Canadian-style plan. Nobody is talking about that. We’re saying, let’s give you a choice. You can choose the private marketplace, or this other approach.
And I got a letter the other day from a woman; she said, I don’t want government-run health care, I don’t want socialized medicine, and don’t touch my Medicare. (Laughter.) And I wanted to say, well, I mean, that’s what Medicare is, is it’s a government-run health care plan that people are very happy with. But I think that we’ve been so accustomed to hearing those phrases that sometimes we can’t sort out the myth from the reality."
The power of unauthorised use of songs
(Thanx HerrB!)
Hippie roots & the perennial subculture (slightly expanded)
…clearly the actual word “hippie” was a form of Ebonics (black slang) from Harlem that passed it’s way through the beat era into the 1960’s, until Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle used it enough times by late 1965 to describe the young arrivals in their city…that the national media soon swallowed it whole and patented it. But apart from the slick zoot suit clad “white Negroes” of 1930’s Harlem there actually were long-haired bearded individuals during this same era who wore sandals or bare feet and usually tended to favor mild subtropical places like southern California and Florida where they could forage their meals from the fruit trees that were so plentiful then…. (photo: eden ahbez 1948. Part-time yogi and full-time mystic, this 1940s “hippie” always spelled his name with small letters because he believed that only God and Infinity should be capitalized.)
eden ahbez lived behind one of the giant letters of the Hollywood sign.
He wrote the song ‘Nature Boy’ popularised by Nat King Cole.
Legend has it that he was so determined Nat King Cole should sing it, he took to hounding the singer with his sheet music of the song wherever he saw he was playing until his wishes were granted.
More here.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Muslimgauze Mix
“He was a guy who was very smart, very sharp, and very funny, in an untypical way, so that if you worked with him and got on his wavelength, he was a joy. He was cool guy and sorely missed. He never came across as a person who was interested in Islam as a religious faith. It was more to do with the political movement of the Middle East more than anything else. He was obviously very knowledgeable because when you look at his song titles he was talking about obscure figures in that part of the world and making obscure jokes. He wasn’t a Muslim and to me he never came across as one who had a deep understanding of the Islamic faith.” In later years, Bryn seemed to be emerging from his isolationist tendencies as he was besought with more requests for collaborations, remix projects, shows, and interviews. It’s highly unlikely Muslimgauze would have ever “made it big,” but he was getting wider recognition and acclaim for his music. This may have had something to do with emerging cultural changes in the latter decade of his life, with accelerating migrations to the West and the advent of electronic dance music. A new generation of savvy listeners perceived music beyond traditional pop constraints, and Muslimgauze was no longer such a stretch; increasingly, his listeners are from places to which Bryn dedicated his music”
1. Opiate And Mullah 06:33
2. Kabul Is free under A Veil 01:44
3. Under Saffron 06:35
4. Turkish Sword Swallower 02:44
5. Mosule 11:45
6. Old Bombay vinyl junkie 08:05
7. Bilechik Skills 05:31
8. Algeciras 04:24
9. Rebiana Sand Sea 05:27
10. Youssif Gujarati 04:34
11. Abu Nidal 05:43
Free Downloads via epitonic.com Made at Electric Lion´s Den. Berlin. Germany. Mix down by Switch Docta January 2007
"Am I Female?"
(@ 'the sweetest psychopath' via 'Mogadonia')PS: M~I been digging yr comments the last couple of hours...LOL!
Ali Akbar Mehrabian: Iran Minister Found Guilty Of Fraud Is Latest Blow To Ahmadinejad
TEHRAN, Iran — An appeals court found Iran's industry minister guilty of fraud, newspapers reported Monday, in a new embarrassment for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad even as he faces new disputes with his own hard-line camp over his government. Ahmadinejad has been feuding the past week with hard-liners, first over his appointment for vice president – whom he was forced to drop – then over his dismissal Sunday of his intelligence minister. Some hard-liners contend Ahmadinejad's government must be put to a parliamentary vote of confidence. The rift comes on top of the upheaval over Iran's disputed June 12 presidential election. The pro-reform opposition claims Ahmadinejad's victory in the vote was fraudulent and that its leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is the rightful winner. They say Ahmadinejad's government is illegitimate. The president's troubles within his own camp began earlier this month when he named a close associate, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, as his top vice president. Hard-liners were outraged because of past comments by Mashai seen as friendly to Israel. Iran's supreme leader last week ordered Ahmadinejad to remove Mashai, but the president stalled for days – infuriating hard-liners – until he finally conceded and accepted Mashai's resignation Friday. On Sunday, Ahmadinejad's office announced the dismissal of Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi. No reasons were given but the two had differed over Mashai. A prominent conservative lawmaker, Ahmad Tavakkoli, slammed Ahmadinejad on Sunday for the minister's dismissal, saying "there is no logical justification" for his move at the current crucial time. The disputes are in part symbolic since Ahmadinejad is due to form a new government in August. But the rift could indicate that powerful hard-line politicians are sensing weakness in the president amid the election dispute and are seeking to have greater control over him in his second term. Some conservatives clashed frequently with Ahmadinejad in his first term over what they saw as his tendency to reserve power to a small clique of associates rather than distributing it among the camp's factions. The court conviction of Industry Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, a close ally of the president, could give rivals further ammunition against Ahmadinejad. Mohsen Koohkan, a prominent hard-line lawmaker, said Monday that parliament will consider Mehrabian's conviction if Ahmadinejad tried to keep him in his post in the next government, as he has been expected to do. Parliment must approve the president's cabinet. The case was sparked by claims by an Iranian researcher that Mehrabian had stolen his idea for an "earthquake saferoom" – a design for a fortified room in homes in case of disaster. A 2005 book, whose authors were listed as Mehrabian, an associate and President Ahmadinejad, detailed the design. The appeals court upheld that the design actually belonged to researcher Farzan Salimi, several Iranian newspapers reported Monday. It convicted Mehrabian and the associate, Mousa Mazloum, of fraud. The court ordered the registration of the design to be taken from them and given to Salimi, but did not otherwise assign punishment. Salimi confirmed the ruling to The Associated Press. Ahmadinejad was not among the defendants in the case, though his name was also on the book. The newspaper Etemad-e-Melli said Sunday that Salimi presented his design to the Tehran Municipality's department of crisis management in 2003, when Ahmadinejad was Tehran's mayor and Mehrabian and Mazloum were municipality officials. The case could fuel complaints among hard-liners that Ahmadinejad keeps his close associates in top positions despite questions over their integrity. Last year, the president suffered a scandal when it was discovered that his interior minister, Ali Kordan, held a forged doctorate degree from Oxford University. Ahmadinejad defended him at first, but parliament eventually removed Kordan. In the wake of the intelligence minister's dismissal, the status of another figure from Ahmadinejad's Cabinet remained unclear. Semiofficial media reported Sunday that Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi had stepped down, apparently over the vice presidency flap. Ahmadinejad's office, however, insisted Monday that his resignation had not been accepted.@ 'HuffPo'
Alice Walker: "What is torture like?"
In this open letter to Barack Obama, author Alice Walker reminds the US president that torture does not lead to peace. She says: “I think about people in prison, being tortured, being bombed, being frightened and starved and humiliated, every single day. Voting for you was one way I felt I could reach out to them.”
Dear President Obama,
If word reached me that you were being tortured, I would instantly feel tortured myself, because I would be. Torture is something an entire society feels, whether we are within earshot of the screaming or not. People don’t like to believe this, but there is no way human beings can remain unaffected by what is done to other human beings, or even to animals who are not human.
If I heard this about you, I would do everything in my power to come to your aid, not simply because I know you to be rare and necessary to our planetary survival, but because you are simply a person, with feelings, aspirations, sorrows and dreams. And you have children. If I were a child and knew my parent was being tortured, day after day, what would I myself become?
It has already been recognized that “confessions” obtained by torture are useless. It is easy to see why. If someone is water boarding you and you think you will never see your little ones again, you would say anything. So would I. It is only in movies, I think, where the “hero” tells the torturer nothing as various body parts are cut, burned, frozen, electro-shocked or pulled out.
If one keeps company with cruel people, one loses, bit by bit, one’s own compassion. This is one of the reasons living in Washington, in the White House, as leader of the United States, is so treacherous.
And why I said to you when we met briefly prior to my introducing you to my community in San Francisco, that failure to win the presidency had not insignificant value: you could have a fine life living as a writer, doing and saying what you want, and traveling the world incognito and free. Leadership has its down side, and one of them is who one has to associate with in order to “get things done.”
When we look at the destruction, around the globe, caused by prior leaders of our country, and the terrible choices of how to behave, and we look at the White House today and see some of those folks still coming and going; what can I say? It gives us pause.
Ringing in my ears is something I thought I heard you say: America does not torture. And if this is true, now, under your watch, this letter is unnecessary. I also thought I heard you say Indefinite Detention Without Charge was gone with the wind of George Bush’s administration.
Was I wrong? Writers, and especially poets, don’t always keep their ears to the political ground, and so we are likely to miss the daily dramas that keep others informed. I hope you are holding steady on these points, because if you are, you are right.
Ringing in my ears is something I thought I heard you say: America does not torture. And if this is true, now, under your watch, this letter is unnecessary. I also thought I heard you say Indefinite Detention Without Charge was gone with the wind of George Bush’s administration.
The cruelty and injustice of holding anyone indefinitely without charge will not lead to carefree days and guilt-free nights for you or for any citizen of the U.S., and we want those days and nights in order to convince the youth of the world that there are basic human laws protecting their right to grow up without fear of endless detention.
I think about people in prison, being tortured, being bombed, being frightened and starved and humiliated, every single day. Voting for you was one way I felt I could reach out to them, fiction and poetry writing, even protests and arrests, having their limitations. You are the world’s hope for a better, a fairer, day. You have what few leaders of this country ever had: genuine affection and love from the people who elected you.
We are good people, too, for the most part. And even if we weren’t, we can be improved by a leadership of compassion, a leadership whose basic human instincts of fairness and decency we can trust to look at the whole story, the entire state of affairs, and not close off any portion of it. A leadership unafraid to hold accountable those responsible for torture and abuse.
This is our only hope, actually, to begin to soothe a little of the sorrow in the world. It isn’t a desire for vengeance, because we know vengeance, a karma, is created by Itself; it is instead a need to make right, to make whole again, by demonstrating to an injured and insulted world that we, as Americans, care about the harm other Americans, in our name, have done. We must show above all that we wish to understand our own madness in order not to continue growing and exporting it.
We know your plate is full. And I am always happy to hear of you and Michelle going off somewhere out of town for dinner. (No pun!) Any complaint about the cost is ridiculous: what your time away from your desk does for the world is priceless. You are a Leo/Ox and only someone with your combination of strengths could handle the presidency, which you do with grace. (What can I say? I love astrology!)
Even so, it’s too much for one person, or two; I myself favor a council for leading the country, but that is far in the future. Maybe not too far! So, delegate. We need the world to know we don’t accept the behavior as usual of American presidents and others who do horrible things to people, and then retire, wealthy, into memoir writing and golf; as if the disasters inflicted on a vulnerable world never happened.
I applaud and deeply appreciate all the good work you are, in fact, doing. It is huge. And beautiful, which I personally resonate with in world leadership. It has a beat. It has a heart.
In closing, I send this poem about torture that I wrote a few weeks ago and posted on my blog, http://www.alicewalkersblog.com
DYING
For those who with our taxes die of torture
What is it like
Dying?
Is it like
Sinking
Into a bath
Of warm
Milk?
Is it like
Lying naked
In the
Sun
Those first
Truly
Warm
Days
Of Spring
After
A winter
That
Froze
Your teeth?
Dying
I think
Can be
Like that.
Above all,
It
Is yours.
It is
A safe
Place.
They may
Be
Electrocuting
Your
Toes
At
The time
Or
Pulling out
Your
Finger
Nails
Or
Causing
Your terrified
Heart to stop
In
Other
Ingenious
Ways.
But
Dying
You
Escape
Them
Into
Peace.
They will
Never
Know
Something
Only
You
Can have.
Dying
Is yours.
Precious
Human being;
Whatever you
Have done.
Dying
Is
Your secret.
©2009 by Alice Walker
With loving kindness,
& despite the gravity
Of the subject, Joy,
Alice Walker
From the Ten Against Torture Campaign
Merce Cunningham RIP
Merce Cunningham, the American choreographer who was among a handful of 20th-century figures to make dance a major art and a major form of theater, died Sunday night. He was 90 andMonday, July 27, 2009
Telesma - Penumbra
(photos:Jeremy Opio)We have two CDs 1. O(h)M our first is a studio CD and 2. Hearing Visions: Live is a live CD from our winter solstice show last year where visionary artists allyson and alex grey painted live on stage with us for 2 hours in front of 1200 people."
All I can suggest is that if they are playing near you then check them out.
Scurvy Bastard, Sex Pistols & rubber vaginas
(For those who don't know, Scurvy was the 'best' man at my wedding back in 1983.
Now I've got to wondering, "what WAS in that brown paper bag that appears in ALL the photos?")
Basic Channel/Moritz Von Oswald
Basic Channel is a dubtechno production team and record label, composed of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, that originated in Berlin, Germany in 1993. The duo released a number of vinyl-only tracks under various aliases, each of which employed their signature brand of dissonant dub techno. The nine original releases were each primarily identified as Basic Channel productions by their catalogue numbers, as the Basic Channel logo on the label became more distorted and unreadable with each subsequent release. The duo set up a studio in Berlin on Paul-Lincke-Ufer, in a building which was eventually to house Mark Ernestus’ distributing company and shop Hard Wax, and the label's mastering studio Dubplates & Mastering, set up to ensure a desired dynamic quality for the vinyl. The Basic Channel imprint ceased business in 1995 (apart from two releases almost a decade later that were originally issued on Carl Craig's Planet E label), but were followed by a string of similar labels. Among the most important were Chain Reaction, which released non-Von Oswald/Ernestus productions and helped launch the careers of dub-influenced minimal techno producers such as Monolake and Porter Ricks; Basic Replay, which specialises in reggae and dancehall re-issues; Main Street, for house-related releases; and Burial Mix and Rhythm & Sound, which saw the duo's sound move away from the Detroit blueprint and closer to vocal-lead dub and reggae. Their With The Artists album, released as Rhythm & Sound and featuring celebrated reggae and dancehall vocalists such as Sugar Minott, featured in the top 50 records of the year for 2003 in The Wire magazine.
@ 'Wiki'
Discography
Hypnotic Breaks
(Sounds)
Do also check out the Moritz Von Oswald Trio 'Vertical Ascent' album recently released on Honest Jon's which also features Sasu Ripatti (Vladislav Delay/Luomo) andMax Loderbauer (Sun Electric) .
(Moritz Von Oswald Trio)More reviews/interviews here & here.
On the (highly recommended) album 'Recomposed' (Deutsche Grammophon)recorded with Carl Craig:
Von Oswald's fascination with classical music might come as a surprise to the casual observer, but can be seen as a musical career come full circle, once Moritz von Oswald explains his personal connection to classical music in general and legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan in particular. A classically trained drummer, von Oswald was not only a member of influential German new wave band Palais Schaumburg (together with Thomas Fehlmann among others), but also used to sit in as a drummer for recording sessions and performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, precisely the orchestra which Herbert von Karajan led to worldwide acclaim for well over three decades. While he regrets that he never had the chance to personally work with Karajan as a conductor, he had been highly impressed by seeing the aged maestro perform at the famous Salzburg Festival, just around the time the source material for 'ReComposed' was recorded.
'ReComposed' meticulously dissects the original single track recordings and reduces the composition to their core elements (dubbed 'Movements'), creating tension through repetition and subtle variation rather than drastic shifts. Released on Germany's most famous classical music label Deutsche Grammophon, the project becomes a widely noted success: Instead of imposing their point of view on the source material, von Oswald and Craig develop a musical language that works within the framework of both classical and electronic music - a musical lingua franca as a counter-thesis to many such projects' cultural imperialism."
Son # 2's Apple 15" Mac Book Pro arrived, which means I get his old computer which is better than this coffee tin & string driven thing I am using
Jesca Hoop - Money
Octopussy signs her 14 Kids onto reality TV show
There are times that I absolutely despair about this modern world of ours.
Iran intelligence minister sacked
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sacked one of his ministers, a day after he was forced to cancel the appointment of his vice-president.No reason was given for the sacking of Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie.
Meanwhile, the culture minister quit, saying the government was weakened.
Full story @ 'BBC' here.
Bing Hitler, I love you!
Bing Hitler @ The Last Laugh, Melbourne 1988.(c) ABC
I was actually at this gig and recorded it. Unfortunately I was laughing SO much that that is all you hear on the tape...Oh well!
"I went tae join the explorer's club. I couldnae find it!"
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Gala Drop
Note for all you people in Glesca, they are playing at 'Optimo' on September 13th.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Be gone 'Ugly Spirit'!
I would like to think that we shall not see you again, but we both know that when you have perfected 'the *rort', you will be back!(Learnt today that a lot of you Americans don't know that word. The educational 'Exile' at work!)
Palin's next step still a mystery!
Sarah Palin will enter uncharted political waters when she leaves the Alaska stage Sunday.
Now the question is whether she will go on to become a viable presidential candidate in 2012, after having quit her governor's job with 18 months left in her term.
@ 'Wall Street Journal'
UPDATE:
Palin Favorability Rating Dips As She Nears Exit, Poll Finds
@ 'Washington Post'
More.
Jesus H. Christ!!!
Cellcom Commercialפרסומת לסלקום מדיה
The commercial’s tagline, “what, after all, do we all want? To have a little fun,” only serves to make this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea even worse. Back to the drawing board with you, Cellcom. And no more associating the word “fun” with the plight of millions.
@ 'Daily Dish'
The row over a controversial advert for an Israeli mobile phone operator, which shows Israel Defense Forces soldiers playing soccer with Palestinians on both sides of the security barrier, continues.
In the Cellcom advert, IDF soldiers on patrol along the fence stop their jeep when it is hit by a soccer ball from the Palestinian side of the fence. The ball soon bounces back to the Israeli side, at which point the soldiers decide to hold an impromptu game with the Palestinians, cheered on by female soldiers.
The advert has been extensively criticized for making light of the Palestinian suffering inflicted by the West Bank barrier.
A video recently posted on YouTube has tried to reenact the game in reality, and found that the result could not be further removed from the situation on the ground: when the Palestinians kick the ball to the other side of the fence, what they get in return is a salvo of tear gas grenades.
Outraged Internet users have also vented their dismay on Twitter, blogs and other social networks. A Facebook group called "The new Cellcom advert makes me sick too" said on their home page: "You can go on forever about messages and media framings oozing with racism, but if you're here you think it's unnecessary. The unknown copywriter at McCann Erickson [the advertising firm behind the ad] displayed an unbelievably distasteful attitude, which does not deserve additional discussion. One thing the members of this group have in common is the shame we feel when an established Israeli company stands by such a repugnant advert, which brings us to call: remove it now!"
@ 'Haaretz'
Buffalo soldiers
Top Bush administration officials in 2002 debated testing the Constitution by sending American troops into the suburbs of Buffalo to arrest a group of men suspected of plotting with Al Qaeda, according to former administration officials.
Some of the advisers to President George W. Bush, includingVice President Dick Cheney, argued that a president had the power to use the military on domestic soil to sweep up the terrorism suspects, who came to be known as the Lackawanna Six, and declare them enemy combatants. Mr. Bush ultimately decided against the proposal to use military force.
Full story @ 'NY Times'
...And whose name pops up? Why yes - it's our old friend John Yoo again!
White House bans Twitter
Full story @ 'Read Write Web'
It being easier for an administrator to impose universal secure settings on 'Internet Explorer' I do understand not using 'Firefox' but Twitter?
(Thanx to Carolyn)
'Run This Town' leaks
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Shanghai encourages parents to have two children
@ 'HuffPo'
Breaking News: F.B.I. Arrests Dozens in N.J. Corruption Sweep
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- FBI agents are sweeping across northern New Jersey Thursday, making arrests in what reportedly is described as a major corruption probe.Radio station New Jersey 101.5 FM reports the sweeps are taking place in Hudson, Bergen, Monmouth and Ocean counties.
The stations say the probe centers on money-laundering and political bid rigging.
FBI spokeswoman Myrna Williams tells The Associated Press the arrests will go on till noon. She would not provide any more information.
Corruption has permeated New Jersey politics for years. Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie takes credit for 130 convictions of elected and appointed officials on corruption charges.
Christie is the Republican candidate for governor.
UPDATE
44 Charged by U.S. in New Jersey Corruption Sweep
A two-year corruption and international money-laundering investigation stretching from the Jersey Shore to Brooklyn to Israel and Switzerland culminated in charges against 44 people on Thursday, including three New Jersey mayors, two state assemblymen and five rabbis, the authorities said.
@ 'NY Times'
John Cage Meets Sun Ra
Modern classical composer John Cage and jazz maverick Sun Ra performed together in 1986 at Coney Island, New York. The result was recorded and released on this long out-of-print album. We are fortunate that Ubuweb is able to make this fascinating record available again. Sun Ra begins with improvisations on the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer. John Cage performs his vocal work, Empty Words (Part IV), and each alternates performances. Cage’s performance is wonderfully trance-like with long silences as is typical of him. Sun Ra’s playing is other-worldly with little of the jazz quality that one hears in his Arkestra works. As a combined effort this “meeting” may not be very convincing. However if you consider each individual’s artistry, especially Sun Ra’s incredible sojourn at the synthesizer, you will find this a very rewarding experience.
The album is available on two 160kbps MP3s.
Download
(The downloads are #6 and #7)
(Words from: 'Free Albums Galore')
Black Eyed Peas Have Officially Written The Worst Song Ever
Google Accused Of Invisibly Deleting Blog Posts On The RIAA's Say-So
From 'Techdirt'
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Nice to see that you no longer get told when you get a DMCA take down notice...
Interestingly enough I just discovered this. a translation by 'Pyrolse Bred' of an article in French from Jan 2009 here.Is the music business in crisis?
If by “crisis” you mean something similar to the steel industry in the 1970s or the automobile industry now, then the answer is no. The music industry had its heydays at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, when people replaced their vinyl records by CDs, while still buying new releases. Those exceptional days are over, but the industry is still doing well. In France, money collected by the Sacem (the main institution responsible for collecting and redistributing royalties) increased from 600 millions € in 2000 to 750 millions € in 2005.
This “crisis” is in fact a crisis of the CD, their sales declining steeply (by 20% in 2008). But this decline is offset by an increase in revenues from live shows and public broadcasting. The sales of digital music (like ringtones and so forth) are fast increasing (+ 26.8%) and music on demand has increased by 85%.
Are illegal downloads responsible for the decline in CD sales?
There’s actually no proof of that. One downloaded song doesn’t mean one lost sale. First, because the song might not have been purchased otherwise. Second, because the discovery of an artist thanks to a free download may induce the purchase of albums or of derived products (ringtones, concert tickets, video games etc).
Are CDs and DVDs the main source of revenues for artists?
No. The sales of records represent only a fraction of their revenues. In 2007 they represented (only) 16.5% of the money collected by the Sacem. Artists earn more money from live shows and public broadcastings (radio, TV, nightclubs).
How many artists suffer from the decline of CD sales?
If we imagined a sudden collapse of sales, only a few music writers would seriously suffer: the ones who never get played on the radio and never give any concerts. Others would see their revenues go from very comfortable to comfortable. In fact, in their vast majority, artists sell too few CDs to be hurt financially by illegal downloads. Only 5% of artists could be earning money from the sales of records. The issue for the remaining 95% of artists is to be known, not to fight piracy.
How come so few artists live off the sales of CDs?
Major record companies are largely responsible for this situation.
From the year 2000 onwards, they focused their marketing strategies on a small number of “safe” artists. Between 2001 and 2004, the number of artists who had a contract with one of the 4 majors has strongly decreased. The result is that by 2006 less than 6% of the artists represented 90% of the market.
Radio stations have also played a big role in impoverishing the market. A 2006 report by the “Observatoire de la musique” stated that on 31 radio stations (making up 92% of the audience) less than 3% of the songs played represented ¾ of the broadcasting time. And on radio stations aimed at young people the situation was even worse: the presumed 40 most popular songs represented 60% of the broadcasting time.
Who is the biggest loser of the decline in record sales?
The record companies: Universal (25% of the market), Sony BMG (21%), EMI (13%) and Warner (11%). They’re the ones who collect the biggest chunk of money from the sales of records. Off the price of 15-20€ for a CD, 19.6% is VAT, 21% goes to the distributor and 50% is collected by the record company. The main artist, writers and musicians collect together about 9%. In theory. Because record companies often deduct the costs of recording, marketing and shooting the video(s) from those 9%.
Could music be cheaper without ripping off artists?
Yes. Right from the start CDs were sold at a price 50% higher than vinyl records. But the manufacturing costs have quickly dropped below that of vinyl LPs. Moreover, in 1987, VAT on records went from 33.6% to 19.6%. The price of CDs on the other hand has only dropped by a mere 8%, and it subsequently never decreased further. Needless to say, artists are still not being better paid now than in the 1980s …
O Rappa - Minha Alma
The original studio version of this from O Rappa's album 'Lado A Lado B' was produced by Bill Laswell
Illinois:Lawsuit: Cops tasered 3 kids, threatened one with sodomy
A shelter for adolescents in southern Illinois is suing the local sheriff’s office for what it describes as an unprovoked attack by two police officers on four children, three of whom were tasered, and one of whom was threatened with sodomy by a sheriff’s deputy. The Southern Thirty Adolescent Center near Mount Vernon, IL, filed the lawsuit on behalf of three children in its custody, who the lawsuit says were tasered by Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies who had been called to help subdue two misbehaving children, aged 11 and 12. Neither of those children were among those who were tasered during what one news service described as a police “rampage.” The incident took place on July 4, 2008. The federal lawsuit was filed in an East St. Louis court on Friday. In the suit the children are named only by their initials: B.B., R.E., and Z.P. According to the legal filing, quoted in the Mount Vernon Register, one deputy “physically pushed R.E. towards his bunk and shocked him repeatedly with a taser. … R.E. was tased multiple times to multiple locations on his person, including, but not limited to, his neck. Deputy Bowers shouted to B.B. to lie down in his bunk and physically forced him to lie down. “Without physical provocation and/or physical gestures from B.B., Deputy Bowers held B.B. down on his bed and shocked him repeatedly with a taser. While he was tasing B.B., Deputy David Bowers threatened to sodomize B.B. As a result of this repeated and excessive tasing, B.B. urinated and defecated himself. Deputy David Bowers was aware that B.B. urinated himself after the tasing.” The filing goes on to say that a 17-year-old female visitor to the center, who had pleaded with police to stop the attack, was grabbed by an officer, choked, and locked in a closet. From the Mount Vernon Register, quoting the legal filing:
“As Z.P. was being repeatedly tased, [17-year-old] Megan Geisler pleaded with Deputy David Bowers and Deputy Lonnie Lawler to stop. Deputy David Bowers ordered Deputy Lonnie Lawler to handcuff Megan Geisler. … Deputy David Bowers grabbed Megan Geisler by her arms, lifted her off her feet, and carried her through the male dormitory to a nearby closet. On the way to the closet, Deputy David Bowers lifted Megan Geisler off the ground, pressed her against a wall and choked her. While choking her, Deputy David Bowers said, ‘do you want to live or die bitch’ to Megan Geisler. Megan Geisler was then thrown into a closet. At this time she began vomiting and heaving.”
According to AP, no criminal charges have been filed in the case, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the deputies “acted appropriately.” The Illinois Department of Family and Child Services told southern Illinois’ WSIL-TV that “shocking children with Tasers can result in serious physical and mental injury. Use of these weapons is especially troubling in cases where the children involved have committed no crime and have not even been charged with wrong doing.”
@ 'Raw Story' via 'Renegade Futurist'
To protect, serve, choke, shock and sodomize.
Asia swathed in darkness with the longest total eclipse of the century
Solar eclipse is seen in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, at 8:33 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. Photograph: Wang Peng/AP@ 'The Guardian'
Watergate Hotel attracts NO bids
An attempted auction of the Watergate Hotel, part of a Washington landmark made famous by a presidential scandal, has failed to attract any bids.The opening price on the hotel was $25m (£15.2m), but none of the 10 people registered to bid did so.
@ 'BBC'
Israel's internet war
Israel’s foreign ministry is reported to be establishing a special undercover team of paid workers whose job it will be to surf the internet 24 hours a day spreading positive news about Israel.
Internet-savvy Israeli youngsters, mainly recent graduates and demobilised soldiers with language skills, are being recruited to pose as ordinary surfers while they provide the government’s line on the Middle East conflict.
“To all intents and purposes the internet is a theatre in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we must be active in that theatre, otherwise we will lose,” said Ilan Shturman, who is responsible for the project.
The existence of an “internet warfare team” came to light when it was included in this year’s foreign ministry budget. About $150,000 has been set aside for the first stage of development, with increased funding expected next year.
Full story @ 'Counterpunch'
(Thanx Paul)
'Death of Neda'
Death of Neda A finely detailed portrait bust of Neda will be presented at a massive rally in front of San Francisco City Hall on July 25th. More than 20,000 people are expected to attend the event.
Story here.
Green Brief 35
Clinton: U.S. Will Extend 'Defense Umbrella' Over Gulf if Iran Obtains Nuclear Weapons
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Iran Wednesday that the United States would extend a "defense umbrella" over its allies in the Persian Gulf if the Islamic Republic obtains a nuclear weapons capability. Appearing on a Thai TV program, Clinton said the U.S. would also take steps to "upgrade the defense" of America's Gulf allies in such an event, a reference to stepped-up military aid to those countries. Clinton's reference to a U.S. "defense umbrella" over the Persian Gulf represented a potentially significant evolution in America's global defense posture. Washington already explicitly maintains a "nuclear umbrella" over Asian allies like Japan and South Korea, but seldom, if ever, has any senior U.S. official publicly discussed the concept in relation to the Gulf. The secretary's remarks also suggested the course the Obama administration might pursue if, as many analysts predict, an unchecked Iran succeeds in obtaining a nuclear weapons capability before President Obama's term expires -- in effect, how the United States might live with a nuclear-armed Iran. Clinton's comments evoked a vision of the U.S. countering such a threat by bolstering regional defenses and reminding Iran of the dangers of mutually assured destruction -- but not by seeking regime change in Iran or by taking military action to destroy the country's nuclear apparatus. "We want Iran to calculate what I think is a fair assessment that if the United States extends a defense umbrella over the region, if we do even more to support the military capacity of those in the Gulf, it's unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer because they won't be able to intimidate and dominate as they apparently believe they can once they have a nuclear weapon," Clinton said. Asked about the Obama administration's attempts to engage Iran, Clinton said she "had hoped we would get a positive response ... but then their elections happened." Clinton told her Thai TV interviewers there was "no doubt" that "irregularities" occurred in Iran's disputed presidential election and that the regime then "brutally repressed" those citizens that protested the announced outcome. Because of these events, the secretary said, the Iranian regime has been "preoccupied" and thus not responded to American overtures. "The nuclear clock is ticking," she said, noting that Tehran has continued to pursue its nuclear programs and adding that the U.S. and its allies in the nuclear diplomacy surrounding Iran "will not keep the window open forever." She repeated previous pledges to work to impose "crippling" sanctions if Iran does not halt its enrichment of uranium.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Live tweets
IMPORTANT: PLEASE RT: **Green Blackout** Tonight at 9 all appliances ON, at 9:05 all appliances OFF #iranelection
Iran updates
Is compulsion to amputate healthy limbs mind or matter?
One day, after years of agony, an Australian man took a large quantity of dry ice and intentionally damaged his left leg, so that a surgeon would have to amputate it.The action was intentional and the man, Robert Vickers, described the feeling of waking up in the hospital without his leg as “absolute ecstasy.” He’s one of a small number of people who have what psychiatrists have come to call body integrity identity disorder in which patients report the desire to have one or more of their limbs amputated because the extremities don’t feel like they “belong” to their bodies.Full story by Alexis Madrigal @ 'Wired' via 'Renegade Futurist'
Smoking # 26
No credit @ the moment as I liberated this picture from a site that constantly steals other people's pics without credit.If you ARE the original uploader then please get in touch and I shall be happy to credit YOU!
What is the world coming to...?
Who would have thought of such a thing...?
Sextortion at Eisenhower High
Last year, an awkward high school senior in Wisconsin went online, passed himself off as a flirtatious female student, and conned dozens of his male classmates into e-mailing him sexually explicit images of themselves. What he did next will likely send him to jail for a very long time.
By Michael Joseph Gross; Photograph by Glen Erler.
If you wanted to get with a girl like Kayla, you couldn't be a wuss. She IM'd him again.will u send it? she asked. Yes. He would. X pulled down his pants. When he was ready, he pointed the camera, snapped a picture, and sent it. omg, Kayla wrote. u r so hot. now its yr turn, he wrote. A minute later, Kayla sent a picture: shirt up, no bra, with the head cropped out. Fuck, X thought. That's hot. Even her screen name was sexy. Kayla's Facebook page said she was a junior, and though he'd never actually met her, you couldn't know every girl in a school with 1,200 kids. The night before, Kayla friended him with a message saying she always saw him in the hall and wanted to say hi, but she was too shy. Now she was asking for another picture.he typed. 1 minute. X looked in the mirror and flexed. He pointed the camera, snapped, then checked the shot. Nah. He could do better. He turned, flexed again, and snapped a few more. He picked the best one, cropped it, and sent it. She loved it. Totally loved it. Okay, now it was her turn. He wanted to see her face and body together, too. sorry, she wrote, too embarrassed. :-\ She'd make it up to him, though. That was a promise.*
via 'Who's afraid of the world wide web' by Conor Friedersdorf
@ 'Daily Dish'
"A long piece at GQ tells the disturbing story of Tony Stancl, an 18 year old high school senior who created a fake female identity on Facebook, flirted with male classmates by Internet chat, and successfully encouraged hundreds of them to send along naked photographs. These he kept on his computer. The unluckiest victims were subsequently blackmailed. The made up female would threaten to release the photographs unless the boys performed oral or anal sex on "my friend Tony." Some boys agreed, and allowed that to be photographed too.
It is difficult to imagine a more striking cautionary tale for teenagers who inhabit the Internet age.
One can only hope that the victims of "sextortion" in this case aren't permanently traumatized -- and that the perpetrator is appropriately punished, hopefully discouraging other would be predators from preying on classmates in the same way.
Having laid out the story, the GQ writer reaches the following conclusion:
What happened here is shocking because it was not all that shocking. In the beginning, when Kayla and Emily asked these boys for naked pictures, the majority of them thought little of saying yes. This exchange was within the range of what kids—lots of kids—consider normal. Online, a boy chats with a girl he's never met. Pants go down. Pictures are sent. And a chain of unpredictable, unknowable consequences is set in motion. Whatever else he may be, Tony Stancl is an opportunist. He rode the big wave that more and more kids ride, out to a place where every flesh-and-blood kid is also a phantom, where adolescence isn't so lonely, where you don't have to wonder, Isn't there anybody who wants what I want? In this world, no IM goes unanswered—and for every teenager who types the question will u send it?, there is another typing, Yes.
Am I alone in thinking that the casual attitude taken by many teenagers toward naked pictures generally -- as opposed to the horrific deception specific to the case above -- isn't surprising at all? In the annals of American history, how many high school boys have exposed themselves to high school girls they met only recently? I am certain that very few stopped beforehand to ponder whether being seen naked would traumatize them, and that very few were ever traumatized by the experience. (I'll avoid speculating one way or another about the experience of women.) I hasten to add that exposing yourself to high school classmates is a bad idea! It would seem to inculcate unhealthy attitudes toward sexuality, and risks prosecution under overly broad child pornography laws. Would my high school senior self nevertheless have complied if a beautiful classmate cornered me at a party, intimated that she had a huge crush on me, and hinted that maybe we could be a thing if only I'd undress? He probably would have!
This issue is so thorny. If I ran for office and confessed that as a 21-year-old I went skinny dipping in mixed company one drunken night in Nice, France, I'd be unembarrassed about the experience, which was innocent enough, pretty damn fun if you want to know the truth, and an exploit with which I imagine most people can identify. What if a classmate from those days, having taken photographs (or even worse, video) without my knowledge, subsequently released them online? I'd be embarrassed. Some folks would regard it as a minor scandal. Can you see the Drudge headline? "Senate candidate exposed in naked romp!"
Like the (apocryphal?) tribes who feared that being photographed would rob them of their souls, we've reached a strange point in society where lots of behavior, whether desirable or undesirable, is considered far worse if it is documented on the Internet. This is at times perfectly rational, or else understandably irrational, but it sure is vexing, and I am quite thankful that my own teenage years were blissfully free of having everything I did documented in the cloud."
Aung San Suu Kyi by Shepard Fairey
Most heard opinion why Obama won the presidential election last year is because of the effective use of social media. True. But also very important was the Hope-poster made by Shepard Fairey. How a piece of design went viral. Now Shepard Fairey made new stunning work portraiting imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma. “This Human Rights cause is something I believe in strongly,” said Fairey. “I created this portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi to raise awareness of her on-going house arrest and the oppressive nature of the military regime ruling Burma.”Full story @ 'osocio'
A killer blog...
A really great blog that I have just discovered:'Killed In Cars'
A treasure trove of music, some that I have never even heard of!
Tonight I downloaded four or five albums purely on the recommendation of this blog after I found it while I was looking for some 'Basic Channel' tunes...
What can I say apart from check it out and take a chance on something you don't know about and maybe you will get blown away like I did by this album.
Ahmahdinejad's pick for VP bows out after three days
Mashaie’s appointment came under harsh criticism by the conservatives, normally allies of Ahmadinejad. They objected to a remark he had made last year saying the Israeli people were friends of the Iranians. The appearance of nepotism (Mashaie’s daughter is married to Ahmadinejad’s son) also did not help his case. [...] The last thing he needed was being attacked by Shaiatmadari and the conservatives on the very first appointment to his new cabinet. He should have expected the reaction from the right to this nomination, but it seems that he may be loosing touch with the realities on the ground.
Natalia Estemirova: UPDATE
Hi Mona,
I read your memorial post about human rights activist Natalya Estemirova where you report about her kidnapping and brutal murder. I think you will find the following video relevant to your post.
http://www.newsy.com/videos/
It describes Estemirova’s life’s work and uses news coverage from different media outlets to make the case that the human rights worker was murdered by the state.
I think it is relevant to your post and I hope you will consider embedding the video in Exile on Moan Street. This story has been buried in the press and blogs like yours honor her memory by publicizing her cause.
Newsy.com videos analyze and synthesize news coverage of important global issues from multiple sources. Its unique method of presenting how different media outlets around the world are covering a story provides context to help viewers understand complex global issues.
Thanx Rosa for sending me the link and if some more people get to know of Natalia's story then I am glad to have been of help.
Here is the video:
Is this the man who killed Neda?
Arash Hejazi (the Doctor and eyewitness of Neda dying, the guy who was trying to help her in video) a few days after had an interview with BBC. People in the street went to the guy who shot Neda and took his ID cards, he said. He added “it is possible to recognize the killer if someone publishes that ID cards.”A few weeks later, the above pictures have surfaced on the net tho'nobody could confirm if those belonged to the killer.
Now Dr. Arash Hejazi says at his blog that we have the right man and that this IS is the killer.
Green Brief 32
Doug Wimbish - Doug Jam (1990)
From the forthcoming On-U Sound documentary.
Brendan - this is what I was talking about!
The Last of Heath
"When Heath Ledger died a year and a half ago from an accidental mix of prescription drugs, he was deep into filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus with his friend and mentor, director Terry Gilliam. From Gilliam, the crew, and other insiders, the author gets an exclusive account of Ledger’s final months—a pressure cooker of arduous filmmaking, personal turmoil, and chronic insomnia—and of how the 28-year-old star’s last movie was rescued by a trio of friends: Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell."Monday, July 20, 2009
Lee Scratch Perry with Dubblestandart and Ari Up | NYC @ BRKLYN YARD 18 Jul 2009
For a longer edit in higher resolution please go here.
Sleater - Kinney
'You're No Rock'n'Roll Fun'
One of the best live bands I have ever seen...sadly missed.
Too true
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we
rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter real ice cream and drank Coca Cola with sugar in it, but
we weren't overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on (if there were streetlights)
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Team sports were compulsory and not everyone made the first team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
"Sense and Sensibility...and Sea Monsters"
Details here.
For A - who just doesn't get it..."Why?"Thirty-six army officers arrested in Iran over protest plan
Hashemi Rafsanjani at Friday prayers under the pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photograph: Meisam Hosseini/APThe officers intended the gesture to show solidarity with the demonstrations against last month's presidential election result, which was won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but which has been clouded by allegations of mass fraud.
Rafsanjani used the sermon at Tehran university to challenge the authority of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, by questioning the result in the presence of the defeated reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and tens of thousands of his supporters.
Security forces used teargas and arrested dozens of those in attendance in a sign of the authorities' nervousness over the event.
The officers were rounded up on Friday morning by army intelligence agents who had caught wind of the plan. They are said to have been arrested at their homes and taken to an unknown location.
Peiknet, a Farsi website, said the officers had agreed the action at a weekly prayer meeting the night before at the Shah Abdolazim religious shrine in Shahr-e Rey, on Tehran's southern outskirts. "They decided to attend the Friday prayer in their military clothes as a sign of protest against the cruel massacre of people by the basij and revolutionary guards and to show their objection against this process and support for the people," the site said. It named 24 of the officers, who included two majors, four captains, eight lieutenants, six sergeants and four warrant officers.
The arrests expose the authorities' sensitivity to signs of mutiny among the various branches of the security forces.
Reports last month suggested that a senior revolutionary guard commander, General Ali Fazli, had been arrested for refusing to obey orders to suppress protests against election result. The reports were later denied but some sources say Fazli remains under pressure to toe the line.
While the army is considered to be secondary in importance to the revolutionary guards in the regime's military hierarchy, it is still under the command of Khamenei, who yesterday appointed a cleric, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, as the new head of its political ideology section.
Khamenei has declared the election result fair and overseen a fierce crackdown that has led to at least 2,000 arrests and a death toll the government puts at 20 but which some human rights groups say could be in the hundreds.
@ 'The Guardian'
Oh dear! Part 4 (but it really should be so much more...)
(@ 'Daily Kos' via 'The New Disease')
Jeez, I am getting old. Was it really 40 years ago today?
here.
I was a wee 9 year old kid down from Glasgow staying with some friends of my Mum's in Crystal Palace, London and I am sure that the film that they showed on TV before the landing was 'Tora! Tora! Tora!'
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Black Vinyl: Putting Healthcare on the Map
We excel in creating arbitrary lines on maps; delineating countless villages, towns, cities, counties, states, and nations from one another. These arbitrary lines exert influences on our lives subtle or great. For many they are the difference between life and death.
An unseen ruler
Defines with geometry
An unrulable
Expanse of geography
An aerial photographer
Over-exposed
To the cartologist's 2D
Images knows
The areas where the water flowed
So petrified the landscape grows
Children die everyday in America, the richest nation on earth, for lack of healthcare. Some of these kids live just a few dozens of miles from Canada - a place with national healthcare. The difference is even greater comparing Mexico to the United States. San Diego is just twenty miles from Tijuana, but the arbitrary line that divides the lives of their respective citizens is of unimaginable consequence. Even within nations arbitrary lines determine our lives - from the schools we attend to the doctors we see to the politicians that represent us.
Straining eyes try to understand
The works
Incessantly in hand
The carving and the paring of the land
The quarter-square the graph divides
Beneath the rule a country hides
Wire, a British art-punk band from the 1970's, wrote a song that doesn't directly address this issue, but that I've always associated with it, Map Ref. 41°N 93°W, from their album 154 released in 1979.
Chorus, interrupting my train of thought
Lines
Of longitude and latitude
Define, refine
My altitude
Perhaps the reason is because poetry is not dead, but is visible most prominently today in song lyrics. And, as postulated by Walter Pater, the poet creates a sense of an idea and doesn't have to spell it out exactly. Ambiguity, metaphor, interpretation: I choose to interpret this as a song about arbitrary lines on the map.
The curtain's undrawn
Harness fitted, no escape
Common and peaceful, duck, flat, lowland
Landscape, canal, canard, water-coloured
Crystal palaces
For floral kings
A well-known waving
Span of wings
Witness, the sinking of the sun
A deep breath of submission has begun
Of course I’ll never understand why the song’s title has map coordinates that point suspiciously close to Des Moines, Iowa.
Interrupting my train of thought
Lines
Of longitude and latitude
Define, refine
My altitude
Songwriting credits go to Colin Newman, Bruce Gilbert, and Graham Lewis of Wire. As always, lyrics are as I hear them after repeated listenings.
Kidz party mix # 1 - The Muppet Mashups
The other day the Spacebubs accompanied me on an outing around his local op-shops...and well instead of looking around the CD's and books like I usually do, we just ended up dancing in front of the radio instead.Of course the music (commercial radio station whatever) was crap so...
Here is the answer:
The editorial team here at 'Exile' are off to a party...
To get you in the mood, I leave you with this:
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Banksy in Africa
“Although believed to have been painted at the start of the year, images of Banksy’s street pieces in Africa are only now beginning to circulate. These great pieces are thought to be in Mali.”Brilliant!!!
THEY HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!
THE BEST IDEA (ALMOST) EVER
(AT LEAST UNTIL THE NEXT ONE)
WHO? WHAT? WHERE?
Shaolin Grand Master Tai Djin
Tai Djin was born in Fukien, China in 1849. His parents, not knowing what caused their baby’s hairiness, abandoned him in a forest. Tai was found by a monk who took him to the Shaolin Temple where he was cared for by the Shaolin Masters. Tai grew up to be highly educated, knowing he wouldn’t have much of a life outside the temple. He threw himself into learning martial arts -not just one discipline, but all of them! Tai achieved the title of Grand Master and is known from that point on as Su Kong Tai Djin. He was revered by his many students until (and even after) his death in 1928.(At 'Mental Floss' via 'Daily Dish')
Using Legos to repair building cracks
@ Urban PranksterLove it! But then one of the highlights of my life was going to 'Lego Land' in Denmark when I was a kid!
Iranian updates (keep refreshing page#49)
Cleric Says ‘Crisis’ Has Caused Loss of Public Trust@NYTimes
Photo of the attack on Karroubi earlier today causing his turban to come off!Watchdog accuses Iran of arresting photographers
PARIS (Reuters) - Iran has arrested at least seven photographers since its disputed presidential election, with the most recent arrests occurring less than a week ago, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said on Friday.
Images of blood-smeared protesters have captured the drama of the unrest provoked by last month's election result and footage of the death of a young Iranian woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, has become an icon of opposition protests.
"The Tehran regime is scared of images. The authorities have launched a real hunt on visual reporters so that no professional photo or video of sensitive subjects will leave the country," the Paris-based organization said in a statement.
Iran crushed the protests and in early July said most of the people arrested during the events had since been released.
Reporters Without Borders, an organization campaigning for press freedom, said five photographers were arrested less than a week ago.
It said the photographer Mehdi Zabouli was arrested on June 20, and his Franco-Iranian colleague Said Movahedi, on July 9.
Photographers Tohid Bighi, Majid Saidi, Satyar Emami, Marjan Abdolahian and Koroush Javan were arrested on July 11, it said, and at least five others have been injured by police or militias.
Four days after the election, Iran banned foreign media journalists from filming or taking photos of the protests, or even leaving their offices to cover the events.
(Reporting by Sophie Hardach; Editing by Angus MacSwan)@Reuters
TEHRAN (AFP)--A leading Iranian lawyer and women's rights campaigner, Shadi Sadr, was arrested on her way to Friday prayers in the capital that were attended by scores of vote protesters, her husband said.
"Shadi called me from an unknown location and said she was arrested by plain clothes officials who forcefully got her into a car," Hossein Nilchian told AFP.
He said Sadr was accompanied by her friends and she was the only one taken away.
Sadr, 34, is a well-known women's rights activist and has campaigned against one of Iran's internationally condemned practices of death by stoning for adulterers. She has defended several such convicts as a lawyer.
Thousands of supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrated in Tehran streets after the weekly Muslim prayers led by influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Iran has jailed dozens of journalists, political activists and reformist leader in the wake of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in a June 12 poll.
At least 20 people have died in clashes with security forces and hundreds of opposition protesters have also been detained.
Rafsanjani Friday called for the release of the detainees.
@Bourse
Love the official blue filter so you can't see the 'Sea of Green'!
Iranian updates (keep refreshing page#48)
Incredible scenes this morning at Friday prayers in Tehran. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani used strong language in his sermon, saying debate over the election should be re-opened. Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi was sitting in the front row, his first public appearance in weeks.
Eyewitnesses tells ABC News thousands of Moussavi supporters are rallying near Tehran University and that police are responding with violence. One eyewitness told me she and her mother were beaten, and not just by the paramilitary basiji but also by regular police who had been less aggressive in recent demonstrations.
This is significant. Iranians had been on pins and needles to see what Rafsanjani would say. Some right-wing newspapers indicated – and some opposition supporters worried – that Rafsanjani would capitulate but he didn’t. This is the clearest sign recently that the conflict is far from over inside the Iranian leadership. Other hard-liners, such as former candidate Mohsen Rezaei, have also refused to pronounce the dispute over. (Rezaei is known as an opportunist who likes to bend with the political winds so the fact that he’s hedging his bets is another sign the opposition isn’t a spent force.) And to see thousands of supporters in the streets – even bigger than the crowds on July 9 anniversary of the 1999 student uprising – shows the street protests are far from over either.
Friday, July 17, 2009
On the streets of Tehran again... (Refresh)
Renewed Protests, Violence Reported In Tehran
A photo the Associated Press received from an individual in Tehran, showing a man said to have been injured during today's clashes. AP photo
By Mark Memmott
"Clashes erupted ... in central Tehran" today, Reuters reports.
The wire service says there was violence involving "police and followers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi."
It quotes one witness as saying "police fired tear gas and beat supporters of Mousavi in Keshavarz Boulevard."
The Associated Press says that "pro-government Basiji militiamen in front of a line of riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of opposition protesters who changed 'death to the dictator' and called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to resign."
This followed a sermon today by former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who called for the release of those who have been arrested during previous protests over the disputed June 12 presidential election, which Mousavi and his supporters believe was rigged in favor of Ahmadinejad.
At the Los Angeles Times' Babylon & Beyond blog, there's video that's said to show "crowds of angry opposition supporters" reacting to Rafsanjani's sermon.
The Guardian is reporting that:
Outside Tehran University police fired teargas at Mousavi supporters who were demanding the release of detainees in the biggest anti-government protest since the mass demonstrations that immediately followed the contested election. At least 15 people were arrested, witnesses said.
Tehran Bureau has a photo it says shows Mousavi at the Friday prayers service where Rafsanjani spoke.
Rafsanjani's Friday Prayer Sermon
