1972 Top 30 - # 9 America
23 minutes ago
Friday, 12 February 2010
Alexander McQueen dead
Designer Alexander McQueen. Photograph: Martin Godwin
The British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead at his London home at the age of 40.
His body was discovered at his property in Green Street, in the West End, shortly after 10am today. Paramedics were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A postmortem has been scheduled but police said his death was not being treated as suspicious. They would not comment on reports he had killed himself.
A spokeswoman for McQueen said: "Mr McQueen was found dead this morning at his home. We're devastated and I hope you understand that out of respect to his family and his colleagues we're not going to be making any further statement."
The death comes days before the start of London fashion week and a month before the designer was to unveil his new collection at Paris fashion week.
His family asked for privacy to come to terms with the death of McQueen, whose first name was Lee.
His company, Alexander McQueen, issued a statement saying: "On behalf of Lee McQueen's family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home. At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee's family."
"Lee's family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this."
Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, said McQueen had influenced a whole generation of designers. "His brilliant imagination knew no bounds as he conjured up collection after collection of extraordinary designs," she said.
"At one level he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashion shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern-day genius whose gothic aesthetic was adopted by women the world over. His death is the hugest loss to anyone who knew him and for very many who didn't."
Born in London in 1969 as the youngest of six children, McQueen left school at the age of 16 and was offered an apprenticeship at the traditional Savile Row tailors Anderson and Shephard, then at neighbouring Gieves and Hawkes.
At 20 he was employed by the designer Koji Tatsuno. A year later McQueen travelled to Milan where he worked as a design assistant to Romeo Gigli. He returned to London in 1994 where he completed a master's degree in fashion design at Central St Martins College. His degree collection was famously bought in its entirety by Isabella Blow, a leading figure in the fashion world who died in 2007.
In less than 10 years McQueen became one of the most respected fashion designers in the world. In October 1996 he was appointed chief designer at the French label Givenchy where he worked until March 2001.
In December 2000, 51% of Alexander McQueen was acquired by luxury brand Gucci, where he became creative director. Expansion followed and included the opening of flagship stores in New York, London and Milan.
McQueen was a four-time winner of the British designer of the year award as well as the international designer of the year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. He was awarded the CBE in 2003.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Updates:
How Iran's political battle is fought in cyberspace
Now there are reports that Khatami was also attack in Tehran, awaiting confirmation #IranElection ePersian radio is reporting a young man may be hit by direct bullet on Ashrafi Esfehani #22bahman #IranElection via @iran88
Information:
22 Bahman (11 February)
The Daily Nite Owl (Josh Shahryar)
Mardomak (Farsi)
Also check these YouTube channels:
تهران امروز
Reports that Karroubi has entered Sadeghie in Tehran and has been attacked. Unconfirmed so far #IranElection IRIB is showing doctored footage of previous years' revolution day celebrations to fool media #iranelection
Source in #Iran: Tor no longer working #IranElection
Source in #Iran: Tor no longer working #IranElection
خبرگزاری های ایران گزارش داده اند که میدان آزادی تهران از ساعت ۸ صبح پر از جمعیت بوده است
PressTV reports that Ahmadinejad is now at Azadi Square - No video footage... #IranElection 
Reports that people have been beaten by Sec. Forces at Azadi Sq as well now #IranElection
Overview: Reading 22 Bahman by HAMID FAROKHNIA in Tehran
[ analysis ] February 11 may mark a decisive day for the Iranian regime. Its leaders hope to prove to domestic and international audiences that they are in full control and that the protest movement that arose following last June's election is a spent force. To achieve their objective, they must make sure, in contrast to what took place on Ashura and other recent occasions, that protesters cannot congregate in large numbers and upstage the regime's well-choreographed processions. In turn, all the protest movement need accomplish to register a victory is to produce even a modest display of vigor and vitality.
Background
Ashura (December 27) proved to be a pivotal day all around. First, it forced other governments, beginning with the Obama Administration, to reevaluate the prevailing view of the pro-democratic Green Movement as an ineffectual force. Second, it allowed the hardliners in Iran to claim that the Green Movement presented a mortal threat to the entire regime. Certain moderate conservatives and important traditionalist high clerics in Qom had previously been leaning toward some version of a grand compromise--a trend especially evident after the huge funeral march for the late Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri right in the heart of the holy city.
However, the militancy of the anti-regime protesters on Ashura changed those sentiments, at least temporarily. Many of the centrists were terrified, while others were forced into adopting strong positions against the protesters. Taking advantage of the situation, hardline forces who had been divided and demoralized hastily mounted a large counter-demonstration on December 30, in which calls were made for the immediate arrest of opposition leaders and the execution of those earlier detained. What made this development particularly ominous was the information that seeped out which pointed to the creation of death squads by forces specifically tasked with the elimination of opposition leaders and activists. The death squads would have taken the form of "independent," "spontaneous" lynch mobs claiming to represent ordinary Muslims outraged by the despoiling of Islamic values.
On January 9, Ayatollah Khamenei took a stand against this development, probably under pressure from Qom grand ayatollahs. "Any roguish activity helps the enemy," he told a visiting crowd from the holy city. "The involvement of those without legal status or responsibility only compounds the problem." The result has been an ongoing stalemate.
What is at stake
The main objective of the regime is to announce that on February 11 the people of Iran by referendum have cast their verdict against the protest movement and in favor of the current regime, reaffirming the message of the December 30 counter-demonstration. Once this occurs, authorities would move to arrest Mousavi, assuming that he hasn't already caved in on his own accord, and forcefully clamp down on the whole Green Movement.
To succeed, they must (a) contain the pro-democracy protesters, (b) fill the surrounding streets with their own people, and (c) make things appear calm and orderly to the state media and ideally to the international media (some foreign journalists and television crews have been allowed in for the event).
What is planned
The regime's hopes of maintaining full control over Thursday's events rest on a set of logistical plans. A complex scheme is to be implemented in which the routes to the northern and eastern sides of Azadi Square, from where protesters customarily emerge, will be blocked for several kilometers in each direction. People trying to make their way to the square via those routes will be diverted away from the eyes of the international press, who will be confined to designated areas within the square. The diversion strategy will be executed with dozens of Basij contingents from the provinces that have been brought to Tehran. Each group has been assigned to one section of the city's northeast quadrant, using Azadi Square as the reference point.
At the same time, supporters of the regime will be marshaled en masse from the western and southern ends of Azadi Square. Two days prior to the ceremonies, the square's famous inner ring was already sealed off by special partitions. In the early hours of Thursday morning, the plan is to fill the space with die-hard supporters while checking the bags and pockets of the others wanting to gain entry to the protected zone to make sure they don't carry any Green paraphernalia.
Campaign of Intimidation
In preparation for the February 11 event, a campaign to intimidate potential protesters has been conducted over the past two weeks. Elements of the campaign include:
(A) The execution of two political prisoners, the first such executions carried out in a long time. Nine others have also been given the death sentence.
(B) Tehran's police chief has on several occasions gone on record claiming that everyone's emails, telephone calls and text messages may be accessed, and that those engaged in anti-regime activities will be immediately arrested. Other top law-enforcement officers have claimed that many people have been arrested based on photos taken of them during the Ashura protests. Indeed, a wave of arrests has taken place in the past two weeks.
(C) Those taking part in protests are now referred to regularly as "mohareb," meaning they are engaged in war on God, an act punishable by death.
(D) The regime now asserts that it will respond very harshly to those protesting. It is hard to accurately gauge the exact impact of these threats and the actual use of violence on the protesters.
Analysis
What the protesters may not realize is that most of the gestures are mere bluffs. Why? The government cannot simply choose to apply severe force on a large scale on February 11 -- after all, the Revolution whose anniversary is being celebrated was supposed to have inspired by the reaction to the violence and injustice of an oppressive regime in the first place. It would look monstrous, even to some supporters of the regime, if unarmed civilians were subjected to indiscriminate attacks recalling those seen in the films of the revolutionary period that have aired incessantly in recent days. On Thursday, up to 250,000 ordinary supporters of the Revolution may come out to the rally, including small children and the elderly. When the line between protester and supporter blurs, as is virtually certain, given such numbers, it will be extremely hard for security forces to throw tear gas and administer beatings.
It is important to know that the security forces have not used the same standard riot-control tactics for every protest action in the last few months. In other words, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the issue of quelling unrest. For the security establishment, each protest has its own special dynamic.
For example, on June 20--after Khamenei's first ultimatum--the protesters were considered fair game. This was no official holiday or national day of ceremonies and the Leader had made his threat public. This day, on which Neda was murdered, saw the largest number of casualties of any day in the past eight months. By contrast, on July 17, the day Rafsanjani was the Friday prayer leader, the protesters had virtually full protection against the regime's predations until about one hour after the conclusion of Rafsanjani's sermon. On September 18, Qods Day, the official celebration of solidarity with the Palestinians, there was relative restraint for many hours. The large-scale employment of violent tactics against protestors in broad daylight on the streets of Tehran would have terminated the utility of the Qods Day once and for all. Of course, by mid-afternoon, after the pro-regime crowd had dispersed, it was an altogether different story. On the national students' day, the regime has traditionally tolerated some protest activity on the country's university campuses. During this year's event, held December 7, students were again able to protest and rally relatively unmolested on campus, but those demonstrating outside school compounds were mercilessly beaten and arrested.
Given this history and the circumstances of the February 11 event, severe, large-scale attacks on protesters are quite unlikely, at least until the regime's loyalists have left the demonstration area. That can be expected to take place around 2 p.m. In sum, despite the recent announcements by various government and senior security officials -- clearly intended to demoralize -- we should not in fact expect systematic violence in the early part of the day.
Aside from this, those recently arrested have all been under surveillance for quite some time and were picked up in the past few days only as an intimidation tactic. This had nothing to do with the police forces' alleged ability to monitor all phone conversations and emails.
Finally, the two executed political prisoners had been arrested before the June 12 election. Unfortunately, they were probably involved with a group connected to the bombing of a mosque in Shiraz last April, and their trial and sentencing were postponed for many months in order to implicate the entire protest movement in their rogue act.
The important fact is that there is no consensus within the regime for executing any of the protesters on death row for the crime of "mohareb" before February 11. Had such a consensus been reached, the regime would have almost certainly carried out the ghastly sentences.
However, the cumulative effect still may be to frighten the parents of the young protesters to stop their children from going out on Thursday. Aware of these maneuvers, Mousavi issued his sharpest criticism of the regime yet in an attempt to offset the impact of its terror tactics. Among many observations, he stated bluntly, "Dictatorship in the name of religion is the worst kind of dictatorship."
At this moment it is impossible to know what may happen on Thursday. All eyes will be on the turnout and the resiliency of the green-clad protesters. Will they defy the threats and fulminations of a desperate dictatorship, or will they remain in the safety of their homes while the regime's henchmen prepare for mass reprisals?
Hamid Farokhnia, who is using a pen name, is a staff writer at the Iran Labor Report.
Google users in Iran report problems, as rallies loom
Google says its e-mail traffic in Iran has dropped sharply, amid reports access is being restricted for the Islamic Revolution's anniversary.
The web giant said that the decline had happened even though its networks were working properly. Opposition websites have urged major demonstrations on the most important day of the nation's political calendar.
Iran's police chief said that some activists had been arrested as they prepared for protests.
Google said users of its Gmail had experienced difficulties following a newspaper report about official restrictions.
'Permanent suspension'
"Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possible," the California-based company said in a statement.
 |  We are closely watching the activities of the sedition movement and several people preparing to disrupt the rallies were arrested  Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam Police chief  |
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran's telecommunications agency had announced "a permanent suspension of Google Inc's e-mail services".
Washington - which on Wednesday extended sanctions against Tehran - said any efforts to keep information from Iranians would fail.
US state department spokesman PJ Crowley said: "Virtual walls won't work in the 21st century any better than physical walls worked in the 20th century."
The 31st anniversary of the revolution could see protests from opposition supporters who say last June's re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged.
Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have called on their supporters to rally on Thursday.
Anti-government websites have urged marchers to display green emblems or clothes - the colour adopted by the opposition movement after the disputed election.
Fatal violence erupted after the poll, and sporadically since then.
The micro-blogging site Twitter and other social networking sites were used extensively during the post-election protests.
Tehran rally
Official events will be held across Iran but the main gathering will be at Tehran's Azadi square, where President Ahmadinejad is expected to speak.
 Opposition supporters have been urged to wear green as they did last June |
Ahead of the commemorations, police chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam said the Revolutionary Guards and Basij Islamic militia were ready for any trouble.
"We are fully prepared for holding a safe and glorious rally," he told Fars news agency, according to Reuters news agency.
"We are closely watching the activities of the sedition movement and several people who were preparing to disrupt the 11 February rallies were arrested," he said.
The anniversary comes a day after the US extended Iranian sanctions, aimed at the Revolutionary Guards.
The US Treasury will freeze the assets of a senior Guard commander, as well as four subsidiaries of a construction company he runs.
The move follows the announcement by Iran of its decision to further enrich uranium for its nuclear programme.
Tehran insists it is a civilian energy programme, but the West suspects it of trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
The Revolution Will Be Mapped (What discrimination looks like)
(Click to enlarge)
To get to the headquarters of the Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, visitors have to navigate a lengthy dirt road past white picket fences, grazing horses and a variety of outbuildings in various stages of disrepair. Set in a one-room former Primitive Baptist church on a 43-acre spread in rural Orange County, N.C., the institute holds a collection of old, ergonomically incorrect wooden desks and metal filing cabinets. The only signs of modernity are computers atop the desks.
Institute founders Allan Parnell and Ann Joyner, who live in a modest country house a stone’s throw from this office, are dressed in their everyday summer attire, T-shirts and shorts. But when they begin pulling maps off printers, Parnell and Joyner step decidedly out of the last century. “Our daughter tells people we work for the CIA, because what we do is so hard to describe,” Parnell says, only half-joking.
Joyner displays a series of maps showing the Coal Run neighborhood, a handful of streets located just outside the city limits of Zanesville in central Ohio. The first map provides a simple baseline, showing the city water plant and the boundary between the city and Coal Run, a part of Muskingum County. The second map adds water lines, which serve only the northern half of Coal Run. Successive maps add the residences in Coal Run, note which residences have water and which don’t, and break down their occupancy by race.
The last map puts all the data together, and the picture suddenly comes into sharp focus: Almost all the white households in Coal Run have water service, while all but a few black homes do not...
Continue reading
Top 100 - Music w/ Highest Selling Price from Discogs
Being record collectors ourselves, we've paid our fair share of hefty sums for long sought after records that were pressed in shamefully low numbers. We were curious to see if anything we've purchased ranked amongst the highest priced items that have sold in the Discogs Marketplace since we launched in 2005. While we won't say whether or not our purchases made the cut, for the sake of our relationships, we thought you might be interested in seeing this list.I've also added this as a list within Discogs. If you haven't checked out the recently added lists feature, here's a good example of how it might be used.
This list of 100 releases are items that were actually sold and paid for. All prices have been converted to $USD based on exchange rates at the time of sale.
1) $4143 Mistafide - Equidity Funk (12")
2) $2000 Mütiilation - Vampires Of Black Imperial Blood (2xLP, Ltd)
3) $1250 Concept Of AL.P.S., The* - Unknown (12", EP)
4) $1200 Ryvon D.J.* - I'm Gonna Dance (Take Me Tonight) (12")
5) $1200 Weldon Irvine - Time Capsule (LP)
6) $1125 Keefy Keef - Cause I'm Keefy Keef (12")
7) $1051 Les Joyaux De La Princesse - Exposition Internationale - Arts Et Techniques - Paris 1937 (Box, Ltd + 7", Blu + 2xCDr)
8) $1000 La Paris - One Night Lover (12")
9) $999 Cobra MCees - The M-Go / Blow This Town (12")
10) $982 La Monte Young - The Well-Tuned Piano 81 X 25 6:17:50 - 11:18:59 PM NYC (5xLP + Box)
11) $950 California (2) - Volerei (12", Maxi)
12) $885 Throbbing Gristle - Live From The Death Factory (LP, Pic)
13) $851 Phase N' Rhythm - Brainfood / Hyperactive (12")
14) $833 Various - Back To The Lab (LP)
15) $831 Jennifer Warnes - The Hunter (LP)
16) $831 Genocide Organ - Klan Kountry (7", Ltd, Spe)
17) $826 Clarence* - Hyperspace Sound Lab (12")
18) $814 Bill Brandon / Lorraine Johnson - We Fell In Love While Dancing / The More I Get, The More I Want (12", Promo)
19) $799 Pet Shop Boys - Yes (11x12" + Box, Ltd)
20) $796 Throbbing Gristle - Desertshore Installation (12xCDr, Ltd)
21) $754 Genocide Organ - Leichenlinie (LP, Album, Ltd, Han)
22) $750 Mystie - Have I Lost You? / Chains Of Passion / Deception (12")
23) $740 Boards Of Canada - Twoism (LP)
24) $733 Various - Equinox Chapter One (12")
25) $712 Cloud One Featuring Margo Williams - Don't Let My Rainbow Pass Me By (12")
26) $699 Intergalactic Orchestra, The - Super Nova (LP)
27) $697 Death In June / Les Joyaux De La Princesse - Östenbräun (LP + 7" + , Ltd, Bla)
28) $691 Tool (2) - Selections From Ænima (12", Pic, Promo)
29) $685 Stella Steevens - Butterfly (12")
30) $667 M.C. Price & D.J. Trouble* - My Life Story / The Price Is Right (12", Single)
31) $667 Concept Of Alps, The - Intensity (12", Blu)
32) $666 Proiekt Hat - Resolution 3379 (5xLP + 12" + Cass + VHS + Box)
33) $663 Kluster (3) - 1969-1972 (6xLP, Album + Box, Ltd)
34) $661 Pierce Brothers (2) / Starbirth - Party Person / Jammin (12")
35) $653 Ernie Ranglin and DXJ - Phantoms Of The Bass (12")
36) $652 Les Joyaux De La Princesse - Aux Petits Enfants De France (Cass, Ltd)
37) $650 Sensitive (2) - Driving (12")
38) $650 Indikator (2) - The Vision (12", EP)
39) $650 Phill Most Chill - On Tempo Jack (12")
40) $650 Keek & Qagee - Don't Say It Sing It (12")
41) $642 Genocide Organ - A Case Of Ortophedic Fetishism (Acetate, 7", Single, Ltd)
42) $641 Grand Wizard Theodore & Fantastic Romatic Five, The* - Can I Get A Soul Clapp "Fresh Out The Pack" (12")
43) $633 Various - MASK 100 (12", Ltd)
44) $620 Merzbow - Merzbox (50xCD + 2xCD-ROM + Box, Ltd)
45) $620 Gatsby - Love Sign (12")
46) $617 Various - The House Of Hits - The History Of House Music (11xCD, Comp, Ltd, P/Mixed + Box)
47) $609 Corner 2 Corner - Anyday / Corners 2 Corporations (12")
48) $605 Prodigy, The - Scienide (12")
49) $600 3'Da Hard Way - A Dirty Cop Named Harry (12")
50) $590 Various - Music (2xLP + Box)
51) $589 Jack Sass Band* - Save My Life (12")
52) $589 Kraftwerk - 12345678 (Box, Promo + 8xCD, Copy Prot.)
53) $587 Coil - The Restitution Of Decayed Intelligence (Acetate, 12", Ltd)
54) $584 Throbbing Gristle - TG24 (25xCD)
55) $583 Jean Tinguely - Méta (7")
56) $581 Hipnotic (2) - Are You Lonely? (12")
57) $577 Fugatives From Hell - Biz With The Skillz (12")
58) $575 Der Blutharsch - Der Sieg Des Lichtes Ist Des Lebens Heil! (Box, Ltd + 5x7")
59) $560 Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (LP, Album, Ltd)
60) $554 James "Jack Rabbit" Martin - There Are Dreams And There Is Escape (12", Album)
61) $553 Nurse With Wound - Flawed Existence (4xLP, Comp, Ltd + 10", Red + 5", Red + Box, Sou)
62) $550 Dope And A Gun - Who Got The Flava? / I Get Open (12")
63) $550 Coil - Astral Disaster (LP, Album, Ltd, Red)
64) $547 Ruthless Rod & M.C. Dollar - Loud As A Banshee (12", EP)
65) $540 Acen - Trip To The Moon (Omar Santana Remix) (10", Promo, Ltd, S/Sided)
66) $538 Various - 20' To 2000 (12xMinimax, Lim + 12xCD, Ltd, Com)
67) $533 Michael Jackson - Smile (12")
68) $525 Brothers, The - Brothers Theme (12", Promo)
69) $523 Various - Equinox Chapter One (12")
70) $520 Oasis (2) - Lp Box Set (Box, Ltd + 14xLP)
71) $520 New Sin - Black Fantasy (12")
72) $516 André Szigethy - André Szigethy (LP, Album)
73) $500 Coil - Absinthe Coil (CD, Ltd + Box, Ltd, Woo)
74) $500 Da Minds Of Sol - Blinded By Da Light / Holocaust Part II (12")
75) $500 Derrick May - In 87 (Acetate, 10")
76) $500 Carl Craig - Untitled (Acetate, 10")
77) $500 K-A-T-A - Fires In The Night (12", Maxi)
78) $500 Le Cop - Le Roc / Law (12")
79) $500 Full Body - You Got To Dance (12")
80) $500 Scratch Zone Symphony With M.C. Clock - So Smooth (12")
81) $500 Jackie Stoudemire - Invisible Wind (12")
82) $499 Lord Aaqil - Check It Out (12", EP)
83) $498 Dario Dell'Aere - Eagles In The Night (12")
84) $497 Die Tödliche Doris - Chöre & Soli (8x4", Col + Box)
85) $493 Grand Master Chilly-T & Stevie G (3) / Keeling Beckford Connection - Rock The Message Rap / Back To Back (12")
86) $492 Taj-Mahal Travellers, The - July 15, 1972 (LP, Quad)
87) $492 Phill Most Chill - The Be Intelligent E.P. (12", EP, Ltd)
88) $491 Limit Eccitation - In The Dark (12")
89) $491 Genocide Organ - Save Our Slaves (12" + 7" + , Ltd)
90) $491 Ronnie Love - Let's Make Love / Nothing To It (12", Promo)
91) $491 Jo.Boyer* - Isabelle And The Rain / Milady (12")
92) $491 James "Jack Rabbit" Martin - Only Want To Be (12", Ltd, W/Lbl, Promo)
93) $491 Carl Marshall & S.D.'S, The - I'll Give My Heart To You (LP)
94) $489 Isis (6) - Shades Of The Swarm (Box, Ltd + 12xVinyl, Album, RE, RM)
95) $485 Xymox - Subsequent Pleasures (12")
96) $475 D.J. Baby J & E. Rock Cometh - Tales From The Lite Side (12")
97) $474 SpeedyQ's & Armaguet Nad - Untitled (12", Ltd)
98) $470 High Fidelity (2) - High Fidelity (LP)
99) $469 Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (LP, Album)
100) $461 M.C. Outloud* - Clean And Sober (12")
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