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Aural Sonata Vol.3
12 minutes ago
Thursday 2 February 2012
Judge: Oakland Police in 'serious violation' of court order
OakFoSho Spencer: For Hire
Oakland Fire: "OPD called for backup. Said we would not engage unless they fell in. Cops can't swim."#OccupyOakland #OO #Aquapy #OWS
Oakland Fire: "OPD called for backup. Said we would not engage unless they fell in. Cops can't swim."
ACLU Sues U.S. for Information on Targeted Killing Program
Our government’s deliberate and premeditated killing of American terrorism suspects raises profound questions that ought to be the subject of public debate. Unfortunately the Obama administration has released very little information about the practice — its official position is that the targeted killing program is a state secret — and some of the information it has released has been misleading.
Our suit overlaps with the one recently filed by The New York Times insofar as it seeks the legal memos on which the targeted killing program is based. But our suit is broader. We’re seeking, in addition to the legal memos, the government’s evidentiary basis for strikes that killed three Americans in Yemen in the fall of 2011. We’re also seeking information about the process by which the administration adds Americans to secret government “kill lists.” We think it’s crucial that the administration release the legal memos, but we don’t think the memos alone will allow the public to evaluate the lawfulness and wisdom of the program.
We know something about the fall 2011 strikes from media reports. On September 30, the CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) jointly carried out the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen born in New Mexico, using missiles fired from unmanned drones in Yemen. A second U.S. citizen, Samir Khan, was killed in the same attack. Two weeks later, Anwar al-Awlaki’s son, Abdulrahman, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen born in Colorado, was killed in another U.S. drone strike elsewhere in Yemen. The administration has not adequately explained the legal basis for these strikes, and it has not explained the factual basis, either.
Soon after the fall 2011 strikes, we submitted a FOIA request to the CIA, Department of Defense, and Department of Justice (DOJ). Three months later, we have yet to receive a single document in response. Outrageously, the CIA and the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel responded by refusing to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to our request. Essentially, these agencies are saying the targeted killing program is so secret that they can’t even acknowledge that it exists.
Some officials, including President Obama, have spoken on the record about the program. They have publicly claimed responsibility for killing al-Awlaki, and they have more generally defended the government’s right to kill citizens after a secret non-judicial process. Just last week, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta acknowledged on 60 Minutes that the U.S. can and does carry out targeted killings of U.S. citizens subject to the recommendations of the CIA Director and the Secretary of Defense and pursuant to the President’s authorization. And this week, President Obama publicly defended the CIA targeted killing program in a live internet interview [starts at minute 26:30].
The government’s self-serving attitude toward transparency and disclosure is unacceptable. Officials cannot be allowed to release bits of information about the targeted killing program when they think it will bolster their position, but refuse even to confirm the existence of a targeted killing program when organizations like the ACLU or journalists file FOIA requests in the service of real transparency and accountability. One news report indicates that the Obama administration may be planning to release more information about the targeted killing program. Let’s hope that’s true. The public has a right to know the evidence and legal basis for the deliberate targeted killing of U.S. citizens. So chilling a power must be opened to public scrutiny and debate.
Learn more about targeted killings: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
Nathan Freed Wessler @'ACLU'
♪♫ Young Charlatans - Shivers (1978 Demo)
Rowland S. Howard, Janine Hall, Ollie Olsen and Jeffrey Wegener
jeremyscahill jeremy scahill
The war against Planned Parenthood and women's health care providers is absolutely reprehensible.
Amsterdam: The Bicycling Capitol of Europe
Amsterdam has created a bicycle friendly city that promotes a healthier, more active lifestyle for its residents. With people meeting face to face instead of bumper to bumper, the city challenges us to rethink our car centered-lives.
I miss Am*dam so much sometimes as I have never driven a car in my life!
I miss Am*dam so much sometimes as I have never driven a car in my life!
Ad Break: HA!
After reading this story in the LA Times, we decided Apple Scotland needed their own commercial. http://lat.ms/z2w1Mj
Bonus:
(For Yotte!)
(Thanx Claudia &Son#2!)
AlanStrangeSky Alan Strange
Sentences handed down to Stephen Lawrence's killers won't be referred to Court of Appeal for a decision on whether they are "unduly lenient"
Canada: Changes to identity screening requirements
Last July, the Governor General of Canada made changes to the Aeronautics Act, (note: these changes were not subject to the Parliamentary process) which have the potential to adversely affect several groups of people.The specific clause which is of concern states that:
Sec 5.2(1) An air carrier shall not transport a passenger if
(a) the passenger presents a piece of photo identification and does not resemble the photograph;
(b) the passenger does not appear to be the age indicated by the date of birth on the identification he or she presents;
(c) the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents; or
(d) the passenger presents more than one form of identification and there is a major discrepancy between those forms of identification.
There is an exemption for any passenger whose appearance has changed as a result of medical reasons (and they have a letter from a healthcare professional confirming this), but in principle, the ruling gives the authorities the option to bar people with a mismatch between their gender presentation and "the identification he or she presents" (presumably this is most likely to be their passport) from entering the country. So if you were assigned one gender at birth but your presentation is at odds with the stereotypical appearance often associated with that gender, then you may be prevented from flying into, and within, Canada. It's fairly clear that this could have a significant impact on some TS/TG, intersex and other non-binary identified people.
The risk of being prevented from travelling because of a mismatch between one's gender presentation and legal documentation isn't a new thing and can be traced back, if I understand correctly, at least as far as the days after the 9/11 attacks when some male members of the bin Laden family were believed to have fled the US dressed in burqas. A longer-term outcome of this has been the steady introduction of body-scanning technology at all airports in the US and the UK wherein one's anatomy is clearly visible on-screen to airline employees (note: not security officials). In passing, this article by Victoria Cohen in The Observer last October points out that these scanners are also being introduced at some UK railway stations.
However TS/TG, intersex and non-binary identified people are not the only vulnerable group here: Canada has also recently introduced legislation to prevent Muslim women from covering their faces while taking the oath of citizenship and I can't help but wonder if these regulations could also be used against this group, too. The logic is that if a woman's face is not visible, then it's not possible for the Canadian authorities to assess if her appearance is congruent with her documents. I think that there is significant potential for Islamophobic discrimination and associated human rights breaches as a result.
Of course, many of the particular concerns of TS/TG, intersex and other non-binary identified people could, theoretically, be allayed by the removal of gender markers from passports, and by the delinking of one's legal documentation to one's gender presentation and medical/surgical status. As things stand, even if a TS/TG person has undergone surgical transition, there is no guarantee that they won't be tripped up by the requirement; for example, last year, Egypt refused entry to two TS women who had undergone surgery because their documents and physical bodies differed.
It seems to me that the questions of document mismatch and gender markers on passports could well benefit from further consideration by those with the power to legislate around human rights issues. But I doubt that's likely to happen as long as certain countries continue to view every air traveller as either a potential terrorist or in need of punishment for not complying with cultural stereotypes of what is meant by male and female.
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Cross-posted from The F-Word
Wednesday 1 February 2012
✔
Simon_Cullen Simon Cullen
Fair Work Australia decision on equal pay test case is here: fwa.gov.au/sites/remunera… For some workers it will mean pay rises of up to $24K pa
♪♫ Kraftwerk - Rückstoss-Gondoliere (Beat Club 1971)
An early and very rare TV performance of Kraftwerk - the legendary and influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. From mid 70s to early 80s, the minimalistic and pure electronic combination of repetitive rhythms, catchy melodies and vocoder voices were revolutionary for its time. They strongly influenced Chicago's House Music and Detroit Techno and many artists from Depeche Mode to even Rammstein. The more Krautrock-orientated song "Rückstoss-Gondoliere", performed at the Beat Club TV show, features the early and short lived line-up of Florian Schneider-Esleben - later only Schneider as surname-, Michael Rother (guitar, keyboards) and Klaus Dinger (drums).
Bonus:
♪♫ Die Antwoord - I Fink U Freeky
*sigh*
Die Antwoord 2012 Tour Dates:
02/09 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
02/10 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
02/11 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
02/14 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
02/15 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
02/18 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
02/19 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
02/20 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
02/22 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
02/24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia
02/25 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
03/03 – Brisbane, AU @ Future Music Festival
03/04 – Perth, AU @ Future Music Festival
03/10 – Sydney, AU @ Future Music Festival
03/11 – Melbourne, AU @ Future Music Festival
03/12 – Adelaide, AU @ Future Music Festival
Ministry Of Sound Radio Presented By DJ Storm feat. Mikal studio mix
Tracklist:
1. The little Things - D - Bridge - Metalheadz .
2. Change on Me - Commix - Dust - Metalheadz.
3. Tear Down - Die + Break - Grand Funk Hustle EP - Digital Sound Boy.
4. Decimal Point - NFM - Zoltar.
5. They're Wrong - Break - Symmetry.
6. Arsenal - Saudade - Spy + Marky remix - Radar.
7. Play this Game - Break + Mikal - Metalheadz .
8. The Others - Octane , DLR + Survival - Dispatch.
9. Steady Eddy - Digital - DUB.
10. Wheel of Time - Subwave - Subwave - Metheadz .
11. Envy - Commix - Dust - Metalheadz .
12. Aeeh - Subwave - Subwave - Metalheadz .
13 . Cornered - D - Bridge - Metalheadz.
Mikal guest mix
1. Cracker - Enei - Jubei remix
2. Circle - Fierce + Vicious Circle - Section VIP.
3. Salvage - Break + Nico.
4. Contortion - Xtrah.
5. Headbanger - Mikal .
6. Project 1 - Jubei + SPY.
7. Behind Time - Alex Perez.
8. The Chant - Mikal.
9. Catch 22 - Skeptical.
10. Skip Rope - NFM.
11. Show You - Foreign Concept + Kasra .
12. Talk to Frank - Commix - Break remix .
13. Something New - Break.
14. Rohshach - Mute + Mako.
15. Just a Game - Mikal + Break.
16. Shackles - NFM.
17. Metropolis - Adam F.
Released by: Metalheadz
Release date: Jan 23, 2012
via
*shucks*
billie_r_martin billie ray martin
@exilestreet did you know that exile on moan street is my favourite blog name in the world?
♪♫ The Opiates - Silent Comes The Nighttime (Again)
billie_r_martinhere's the embed. you could put it up coupla hours before if you like. then it would be exclusive hehe. code coming up
(BIG thanx Billie XXX)
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