Thursday, 14 January 2010

Jefferson Airplane - House at Pooneil Corners (Manhattan Rooftop Concert 1968)


  Jean-Luc Godard filmed the band playing "House at Pooneil Corners" on a rooftop in Midtown Manhattan (December 7, 1968), for his projected "One American Movie" film. After Godard drops his plans, the footage is picked up by documentary film-maker D.A. Pennebaker, and is used in "One P.M."

Jay Reatard RIP


Matador Records, which also released Jay Reatard’s records, said in a statement: “We are devastated by the death of Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., aka Jay Reatard. Jay was as full of life as anyone we’ve ever met, and responsible for so many memorable moments as a person and artist. We’re honored to have known and worked with him, and we will miss him terribly.”

Wednesday, 13 January 2010



Haiti earthquake feared to have killed hundreds



Pictures from Port-au-Prince show some of the damage caused to the capital
A 7.0-magnitude quake which hit south of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is feared to have killed hundreds of people across the Caribbean country.
In the space of a minute, Haiti's worst quake in two centuries wrecked the HQ of the UN mission, Haiti's national palace and numerous other buildings.
A "large number" of UN personnel were reported missing by the organisation.
Describing it as a "catastrophe", Haiti's envoy to the US said the cost of the damage could run into billions.

The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude.
The tremor hit at 1653 (2153 GMT), the US Geological Survey said. Phone lines to the country failed shortly afterwards.
Aid workers and reporters at the scene estimated the number of dead to be in the hundreds or even thousands.
Vehicles ferrying the injured to hospital were hampered by rubble blocking the capital's streets.

I think hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement
Rachmani Domersant
operations manager, Food for the Poor

Bodies, white with dust, could be seen piled on the back of a pick-up truck.
As night fell, Rachmani Domersant, an operations manager with the Food for the Poor charity, told Reuters: "The whole city is in darkness.
"You have thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming."
Adding that he had seen no rescue vehicles in the hillside suburb of Petionville, he said: "People are trying to dig victims out with flashlights.
"I think hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement."
As the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti is likely to need international aid in order to cope with the quake's impact, the BBC's Nick Davies reports from neighbouring Jamaica.
'Three million affected'
In a statement issued in New York, the UN said that its local HQ in Haiti had "sustained serious damage along with other UN installations" and "a large number" of personnel were missing.

EYEWITNESS
Carel Pedre, TV and radio presenter, Port-au-Prince
I saw a lot of people crying for help, a lot of buildings collapsed, a lot of car damage, a lot of people without help, people bleeding.
I saw a movie theatre, a supermarket, a cybercafe, an apartment building which collapsed.
Now it's dark outside, there is no electricity, all the phone networks are down, so there's no way that people can get in touch with their family and friends.
There are aftershocks every 15 to 20 minutes. They last from three to five seconds. The first shock was really strong, people were falling in the streets and buildings collapsed.
I didn't see any emergency services, the people at the neighbourhood were trying to help each other.
The streets are narrow and there is lot of traffic and everyone is trying to reach family and friends. Traffic now is really difficult. People don't know where to go or where to start.
UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said it was unclear how many people had been inside the building.
The UN's stabilisation mission plays a vital role in ensuring security in Haiti.
Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the US, said the presidential palace, the tax office, the ministry of commerce and the foreign ministry had all been damaged, but the airport was intact.
He and Haiti's ambassador to Mexico, Robert Manuel, both said that President Rene Preval and his wife had survived the quake.
The World Bank, which said its local offices were destroyed but that most staff were accounted for, planned to send a team to help Haiti assess damage and plan a recovery, Reuters reported.
Mike Blanpied of the US Geological Survey said that, based on the location and size of the quake, about three million people would have been severely shaken by its impact.
"This quake occurred under land as opposed to off-shore, so a lot of people were directly exposed to the shaking coming off that earthquake fault, which was quite shallow," he told the BBC.
US President Barack Obama said in a statement that his "thoughts and prayers" were with the people of Haiti and America stood ready to assist them.
'Rubble and wire'
In the minutes after the quake, Henry Bahn, a visiting official from the US Department of Agriculture, said he had seen houses which had tumbled into a ravine.

HAITI COUNTRY PROFILE
Map
Half of Caribbean island of Hispaniola
History of violence, instability and dictatorship
Population of 10 million people
Most live on less than $2 a day
Democratic rule restored in 2006
Economy in ruins and unemployment is chronic
UN peacekeepers deployed - foreign aid seen as vital
Massive deforestation has left just 2% forest
"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Mr Bahn, who described the sky as "just grey with dust".
He said he had been walking to his hotel room when the ground began to shake.
"I just held on and bounced across the wall," he said.
"I just hear a tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the distance."
He said rocks were strewn all over the place, and the ravine was "just full of collapsed walls and rubble and barbed wire".
BBC News website readers in the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, said they had also felt the quake.
"My family is on the 8th floor of a tower in downtown Santo Domingo," wrote Max Levine.
"We felt a swaying of the building for 5-10 seconds. All the lamps were swinging. There was a 20-second pause and then another similar sway. We rushed out of the building with many others to the street."
In the immediate aftermath of the quake, a tsunami watch was put out for Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas, but this was later lifted.

LaraABCNews we seem to be two rounds into an #Iran-China cyberwar - first Baidu is attacked by the Iranian Cyberarmy, then Chinese hackers hit back
(PDF)

Feb 19th here in Australia. I'm warning you...


Aid agencies helping Haiti

This is an update of an earlier report on Help for Haiti after the 7.0 Earthquake.  The organization list was updated such that new information was placed in alphabetical order.
Haiti's an impoverished nation that is asking for fiscal help in the wake of the terrible destruction from the 7.0 Earthquake, the largest ever in that region of the World. Moreover the nation's being battered with aftershocks.
Power is out everywhere and people are in the dark and need help.  The capital city of Port-Au-Prince has been catastrophically damaged.
Fortunately, legitimate online help efforts are being established. Here are some of them as of this writing:
American Red Cross (Reportedly has contributed $200,000 to Haiti relief.)
AmeriCares Help For Haiti. Goes to their International Disaster Relief Fund.
Chuck Simmins also has this blog - http://northshorejournal.org/haiti-earthquake-aid - of coverage of the Haiti Earthquake Disaster and where to donate, including any organizations that may not be listed here.
Doctors without Boarders - not a Haiti Specific page as of this writing.
HaitiArise - HaitiArise has provided education and relief for the past six years. It's a registered Canadian charity and reports that 100 percent of donated funds go directly to Haiti.
Haiti Emergency Relief Fund - by Vanguard Public Foundation in San Francisco. Established for Haiti before the Earthquake.
Mercy Corps - Mercy Corps' website is devoted to the Haiti Earthquake Disaster; they're deploying a team bound for Haiti now.
Partners In Heath - You can use the drop-down menu to specify donations to Haiti.
Yele Haiti - Wyclef Jean's Haiti initiative to assist his native Haiti.
UNICEF - UNICEF has set up a special page for donations for the children of Haiti. In an email, UNICEF's Alissa Pinck reports: "UNICEF’s country office in Haiti and the regional office located in Panama is on the ground and have already deployed emergency teams to assess the situation and determine what the additional emergency needs are for the people of Haiti."

Live feed from Haiti



Gawdhelpusall...

British director Guy Ritchie has collaborated with Universal Records to create a label to launch his pub’s house band into the mainstream.
Ritchie believes that the band, an Irish folk group who regularly play at his pub – The Punchbowl – here, have what it takes to be successful and is funding them to help give the band a boost!

Jon Stewart meets John Yoo

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Daily Show: Exclusive - John Yoo Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor
Health Care Crisis

All City Showcase Mixed by Om Unit