Friday, 16 April 2010
Pin up of the day
An ash smeared naked Hindu holy man, poses on a motorcycle during the main Royal Bath at the Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar, India
Andrew WK: 'The return of the girl behind My Destiny'
My song My Destiny was deemed so frightening it earned me a juvenile restraining order. So what happened when the girl who inspired it got in touch?
After my high school crush had taken out a juvenile restraining order on me (read the story about how that happened here), I followed the restrictions of my punishment and didn't try to call or see her. I released my frustrations and pent-up urges in less romantic ways and got into vandalism and shoplifting. That ended up escalating into mail fraud and landed me in trouble with the police again. I had impersonated a local Michigan law-firm and wrote a fake letter on behalf of the underground cartoonist, Robert Crumb, posing as his lawyer. This all blew up in my face but I managed to get out of it because I was only 18 years old. To cut a long story short, I decided it was time to get out of the area for a clean break. I moved to New York City and soon signed up to do Andrew WK. I wrote this song, called I Want To Kill, shortly after arriving in the city.
Despite moving to a new area, I still couldn't stop thinking about the girl behind the song My Destiny. Part of me was just scared of getting in trouble again, but my infatuation was still very much alive; I had just pushed it deep inside me, and it was a matter of not letting it out. I got pretty good at controlling it, mainly by occupying myself entirely with Andrew WK. But one night, I saw her again, and all my pent-up feelings were let loose. Here's how it happened…
After we launched Andrew WK, my career immediately took off – it was an overnight sensation. I was on TV, on the radio, in magazines and newspapers, and touring around the world playing concerts. It was getting to the point where a lot of people I grew up with were seeing me around and shocked that "the troubled kid" from school was now some sort of "rock star". I was pretty low-key about any of the celebrity or fame I was receiving, but I couldn't deny the excitement of all the attention. On our first big US tour, we played every major city. When we played in Cleveland, Ohio, I heard a rumor that the girl was coming to the show. Of course, my heart skipped a beat and a lump formed in my throat. I was terrified but also thrilled. I refused to believe she was actually going to show up, but I was aware that she had moved to Cleveland to go to art school, so it was possible. I just couldn't believe that she would want to see me after all I had put her through. I figured she hated my guts and would never want to see me again, so I put her out of my mind.
We played our concert and had a great show. After, I was signing autographs for the audience in the parking lot behind the venue, when all of a sudden, there she was. It was probably the most scared I have ever felt in my life. I don't know how to explain the feeling. It was a mixture of total terror and absolute happiness. She made me almost sick with lust. I tried to avoid looking at her as best I could – but it was extremely hard to resist. The whole experience was overwhelming, and I excused myself from the rest of the fans and basically ran to my tour bus. After all, I still had the restraining order hanging over me (I wasn't quite 21 yet, which is when it ended).
After trying to catch my breath and slow my racing heart, I heard a knock on the door. It was her! I couldn't believe this was happening. What do I do!? I had a choice – I could either ignore her knocking (like she had ignored my knocking all those years earlier) and just let this miracle moment pass, or I could muster up my courage and answer the door. Maybe now, because I was doing well with Andrew WK and having success, she would give me the time of day! I gave myself a big mental pep-talk and answered the door.
"Hello," I said. I could barely talk – my mouth was so dry, and I was shaking with such force that the words were choppy. "Hello, Andrew," she said.
I invited her onto the bus and into the private back lounge, where it could be just her and me. I felt dizzy. My eyes were blurry and my ears were kind of ringing. My heart was beating so hard that I felt like I was having a heart attack. Still, I kept telling myself, "You can do this. You have to do this. This is what you wanted. This is your dream come true." We made our way into the back of the tour bus and I closed the door behind us. I was shaking, sweating, and felt like I was about to puke. I'm sure she could tell, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she sat down next to me on the bench seat and looked into my eyes.
"It's great to see you after all these years," she said. "I want to apologise for getting you in so much trouble back in high school. I think that song you wrote is really sweet, but back when I was younger, I was too freaked out to handle it or appreciate it."
I couldn't believe what she was saying! Here she was apologising to me! "No!" I said. "It's me that wants to apologise to you! I am so embarrassed about that song and that I was so obsessed with you. I'm really sorry for being so stupid back then."
"It's OK," she said. "We were both really young. Plus, you've obviously grown up a lot. You're doing really well now with your music and I think it's really cool."
What happened next was probably the most shocking, terrifying and awful experience I've ever had with a girl. All of sudden, just when I felt like everything was going great, I felt my nervousness intensify to a sickening degree. The room started spinning and my heart started beating harder than ever. I really felt like I was going to die – I couldn't catch my breath. The last thing I remember is that my head started to throb and my stomach started to hurt really bad – I couldn't see or hear anything. I blacked out.
I woke up in a hotel bedroom with my tour manager and some of my band standing around. What the hell had happened? Why aren't I on the bus? Was it all a dream? Where is she?
Turns out, I had experienced a severe anxiety attack and my body had shut down. If that wasn't bad enough, when I lost consciousness I also accidentally went to the bathroom in my pants. All of this happened right in front of her and, of course, she freaked out like crazy. She ran out of the bus and got security from the venue to call an ambulance. She thought I had died and was really scared. The medics determined I was fine, just a little stressed out, and took me to our hotel and gave me some fluids to rehydrate me after all the diarrhoea. I don't remember anything except blackness and then waking up in the hotel.
I never got the girl's phone number or had any way to follow up with her. I asked the venue security if they had seen her and they told me she left in a hurry. That was the last time I saw her and have never seen her again since.
I've obviously not told this story to many people except my closest friends. Publishing this is a part of the emotional therapy program I've been doing. Letting out these painful and humiliating experiences is supposed to be healing, so I'm going with it. Looking back now, I feel like maybe me passing out at that perfect moment was the universe's way of punishing me for what I did to the girl with My Destiny in high school. It was the ultimate golden opportunity and my body couldn't take advantage of it. I guess karma really is a bitch.
'One night, I saw her again, and all my pent-up feelings were let loose' ... Andrew WK in 2001. Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Despite moving to a new area, I still couldn't stop thinking about the girl behind the song My Destiny. Part of me was just scared of getting in trouble again, but my infatuation was still very much alive; I had just pushed it deep inside me, and it was a matter of not letting it out. I got pretty good at controlling it, mainly by occupying myself entirely with Andrew WK. But one night, I saw her again, and all my pent-up feelings were let loose. Here's how it happened…
After we launched Andrew WK, my career immediately took off – it was an overnight sensation. I was on TV, on the radio, in magazines and newspapers, and touring around the world playing concerts. It was getting to the point where a lot of people I grew up with were seeing me around and shocked that "the troubled kid" from school was now some sort of "rock star". I was pretty low-key about any of the celebrity or fame I was receiving, but I couldn't deny the excitement of all the attention. On our first big US tour, we played every major city. When we played in Cleveland, Ohio, I heard a rumor that the girl was coming to the show. Of course, my heart skipped a beat and a lump formed in my throat. I was terrified but also thrilled. I refused to believe she was actually going to show up, but I was aware that she had moved to Cleveland to go to art school, so it was possible. I just couldn't believe that she would want to see me after all I had put her through. I figured she hated my guts and would never want to see me again, so I put her out of my mind.
We played our concert and had a great show. After, I was signing autographs for the audience in the parking lot behind the venue, when all of a sudden, there she was. It was probably the most scared I have ever felt in my life. I don't know how to explain the feeling. It was a mixture of total terror and absolute happiness. She made me almost sick with lust. I tried to avoid looking at her as best I could – but it was extremely hard to resist. The whole experience was overwhelming, and I excused myself from the rest of the fans and basically ran to my tour bus. After all, I still had the restraining order hanging over me (I wasn't quite 21 yet, which is when it ended).
After trying to catch my breath and slow my racing heart, I heard a knock on the door. It was her! I couldn't believe this was happening. What do I do!? I had a choice – I could either ignore her knocking (like she had ignored my knocking all those years earlier) and just let this miracle moment pass, or I could muster up my courage and answer the door. Maybe now, because I was doing well with Andrew WK and having success, she would give me the time of day! I gave myself a big mental pep-talk and answered the door.
"Hello," I said. I could barely talk – my mouth was so dry, and I was shaking with such force that the words were choppy. "Hello, Andrew," she said.
I invited her onto the bus and into the private back lounge, where it could be just her and me. I felt dizzy. My eyes were blurry and my ears were kind of ringing. My heart was beating so hard that I felt like I was having a heart attack. Still, I kept telling myself, "You can do this. You have to do this. This is what you wanted. This is your dream come true." We made our way into the back of the tour bus and I closed the door behind us. I was shaking, sweating, and felt like I was about to puke. I'm sure she could tell, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she sat down next to me on the bench seat and looked into my eyes.
"It's great to see you after all these years," she said. "I want to apologise for getting you in so much trouble back in high school. I think that song you wrote is really sweet, but back when I was younger, I was too freaked out to handle it or appreciate it."
I couldn't believe what she was saying! Here she was apologising to me! "No!" I said. "It's me that wants to apologise to you! I am so embarrassed about that song and that I was so obsessed with you. I'm really sorry for being so stupid back then."
"It's OK," she said. "We were both really young. Plus, you've obviously grown up a lot. You're doing really well now with your music and I think it's really cool."
What happened next was probably the most shocking, terrifying and awful experience I've ever had with a girl. All of sudden, just when I felt like everything was going great, I felt my nervousness intensify to a sickening degree. The room started spinning and my heart started beating harder than ever. I really felt like I was going to die – I couldn't catch my breath. The last thing I remember is that my head started to throb and my stomach started to hurt really bad – I couldn't see or hear anything. I blacked out.
I woke up in a hotel bedroom with my tour manager and some of my band standing around. What the hell had happened? Why aren't I on the bus? Was it all a dream? Where is she?
Turns out, I had experienced a severe anxiety attack and my body had shut down. If that wasn't bad enough, when I lost consciousness I also accidentally went to the bathroom in my pants. All of this happened right in front of her and, of course, she freaked out like crazy. She ran out of the bus and got security from the venue to call an ambulance. She thought I had died and was really scared. The medics determined I was fine, just a little stressed out, and took me to our hotel and gave me some fluids to rehydrate me after all the diarrhoea. I don't remember anything except blackness and then waking up in the hotel.
I never got the girl's phone number or had any way to follow up with her. I asked the venue security if they had seen her and they told me she left in a hurry. That was the last time I saw her and have never seen her again since.
I've obviously not told this story to many people except my closest friends. Publishing this is a part of the emotional therapy program I've been doing. Letting out these painful and humiliating experiences is supposed to be healing, so I'm going with it. Looking back now, I feel like maybe me passing out at that perfect moment was the universe's way of punishing me for what I did to the girl with My Destiny in high school. It was the ultimate golden opportunity and my body couldn't take advantage of it. I guess karma really is a bitch.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
CNN Sues iReporter For Insisting He Works at CNN
CNN built its iReport platform as a kind of YouTube for news: Readers report on their own news stories, which they can upload onto CNN.com. Now CNN is suing one of those iReporters for claiming he works for CNN.
Robert Paisola is getting slapped with a lawsuit from CNN, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Paisola is a Salt Lake City, Utah man who frequently identifies himself as a "senior iReporter for CNN." We left phone and email messages for Paisola and will update as soon as we hear back from him.
The network is alleging that Paisola's Twitter page includes a CNN-stylized logo and that his LinkedIn page falsely states that "Robert is credentialed by CNN iReport."
We did some more digging and don't see the CNN logo on Paisola's Twitter page anymore. But his Twitter bio states that he is a "Debt Collector Abuse Advocate, Timeshare Scam Protector, Providing YOU with News YOU CAN USE from Robert Paisola CNN."
But on his LinkedIn page Paisola lists himself as "credentialed" by CNN:
Paisola has other strange misinformation posted on his LinkedIn page. He claims that he is the CEO of Western Capital Multimedia, and that the company acquired Condé Nast's Portfolio Magazine and Allure magazine. Condé Nast's Portfolio print publication was shuttered in August 2009 and its website was acquired by American City Business Journals. Allure is still owned and printed by Condé Nast.
Paisola has other strange misinformation posted on his LinkedIn page. He claims that he is the CEO of Western Capital Multimedia, and that the company acquired Condé Nast's Portfolio Magazine and Allure magazine. Condé Nast's Portfolio print publication was shuttered in August 2009 and its website was acquired by American City Business Journals. Allure is still owned and printed by Condé Nast.
He also claims that he is a "regular contributor" to BusinessWeek, CNN, Sirius XM, The Wall Street Journal and NPR. But we can't find his byline at any of those publications.
Here is the excerpt from Paisola's LinkedIn:
We requested a comment from CNN, but they have not gotten back to us yet. Here's a video of Paisola, in which he promotes his services to help fight off debt collectors. He claims he is "very direct."
We requested a comment from CNN, but they have not gotten back to us yet. Here's a video of Paisola, in which he promotes his services to help fight off debt collectors. He claims he is "very direct."
[Republished from www.businessinsider.com]
Palestinian media organization fabricates ElBaradei comments
A Palestinian news organization has fabricated an interview with Egypt’s leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei. In the comments, which were published by al-Qassem news site, it alleges that the former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief told them that he supported Palestinian resistance and “described resistance the only path open to the Palestinian people, because the Israeli occupation only understands the language of force.”
However, upon further checking and a message received by Ali ElBaradei, the opposition leader’s brother and press contact, it appears the entire “interview” was made up.
“If you are referring to the interview with that Palestinian media agency, it is total bogus,” the brother told Bikya Masr. “He never gave such an interview.”
According to al-Qassem, they reported that ElBaradei had said “the peace process has become a stupid joke ,which we talk about without achieving any progress.” But, the comments never occurred. The agency added that ElBaradei said that “Arabs should back their negotiation option with force and deterrence.”
It begs the question as to why an organization would create a false interview with such a high profile Egyptian politician. According to Mohamed Latif, a Palestinian media analyst and blogger based in Ramallah, the idea was probably to create solidarity with the Palestinian cause, “after so much frustration with Egyptian political leaders.”
However, Latif believes that fabricating such interviews will do more harm than good to other Palestinian news organizations and agencies who seek proper news gathering.
“Now, it will be even harder for Palestinian reporters and organizations to deal with ElBaradei because there will be a lot of suspicion as to how the quotes will be used and rightfully so,” he added.
The article did not simply stop at claiming ElBaradei believes in armed resistance, but had the opposition figure lashing out at the Egyptian government for the construction of a steel wall along the Gaza border and the conditions of Palestinians.
Al-Qassam wrote that “he [ElBaradei] also criticized Cairo’s construction of a steel wall along the border with the Gaza Strip, aimed at disrupting Palestinians’ ’survival’ tunnel network, as harmful to Egypt’s reputation.” They added that ElBaradei “described Egypt’s construction of the wall as joining Israel in its closure of the strip, which he said ‘has become the world’s largest prison’.”
“The logical solution to the problem would be to close the tunnels and open border crossings while creating a free trade zone in Rafah where Palestinians can trade and then return to Gaza,” they quoted the Nobel Peace Prize winner as saying.
Here in Cairo, activists are dumbfounded, as the interview shocked many who wondered why ElBaradei would have said such comments in the first place. Now, it obviously makes sense.
One activist, who participated in both the April 6 and 13 demonstrations that were violently suppressed by the Egyptian security forces, said that she believes these kind of false interviews will take the credibility way from the opposition and the goal of change in Egypt.
“We must be hard to expose these kind of false reporting because it will give the Egyptian government the ability to tell the world that we are violent and should not be listened to,” Dina Hisham said. “ElBaradei is our future and we can’t stand for this crap.”
International news agencies such as Iran’s PressTV and Israeli newspaper Ynet also reported the fabricated interview in their editions.
Joseph Mayton @'Bikya Masr'
Ex-Israel PM named in bribe case
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is a prime suspect in a large corruption scandal, law enforcement sources have told the BBC.
Mr Olmert returned to Israel from a holiday in Europe on Thursday after police asked he make himself available for questioning. He denies involvement.
Jerusalem officials are alleged to have taken bribes to advance a property development while Mr Olmert was mayor.
His successor as mayor was arrested on Wednesday over the case.
A judiciary spokesman said Uri Lupolianski was suspected of receiving bribes, money laundering, fraud, breach of trust, tax avoidance and conspiracy, in connection with the Holyland property development.
The controversial circle of high-rise luxury apartment blocks in West Jerusalem is regarded by many Jerusalem residents as an eyesore.
Last week, Mr Olmert's former lawyer, Uri Messer, was also arrested in connection with the affair.
According to Israeli police, during his time as deputy mayor under Mr Olmert, from 1993 to 2003, and later as mayor, Mr Lupolianski received more than 3m Israeli shekels ($810,000) in bribes from the developers in return for helping to advance the project by rejecting hundreds of objections.
Mr Lupolianski rejected the allegations, telling Channel 10 news: "This was 20 years ago. I don't know why everyone suddenly remembers now. A deputy mayor has no responsibility - it's merely a title."
Police say their serious crime unit has in recent weeks been investigating a "vast affair", of which the Holyland scandal is part.
"Ooer Missus" (Wildlife Edition)
The secretive but brightly-colored beast, a monitor lizard, is a close cousin of the komodo dragon and grows as long as a full-grown man is tall. But unlike the fearsome dragon, it is not a carnivore, nor does it feast on rotting meat.
Instead, it is entirely peaceable and tucks into fruit.
Dubbed Varanus bitatawa, the lizard measures two meters in length, according to the account, published by Britain's Royal Society. It was found in a river valley on northern Luzon Island in the Philippines, surviving loss of habitat and hunting by local people who use it for food.
Males have a double penis, called hemipenes, also found in some snakes and other lizards. The two penises are often used in alternation, and sometimes contain spines or hooks that serve to anchor the male within the female during intercourse.
How many of the lizards have survived is unclear.
The species is almost certainly critically endangered, and might well have disappeared entirely without ever being catalogued had a large male specimen not been rescued alive from a hunter last June.
Finding such a distinctive species in a heavily populated, highly deforested location "comes as an unprecedented surprise," note the authors, writing in the journal Biology Letters.
The only finds of comparable importance in recent decades are the Kipunji monkey, which inhabits a tiny range of forest in Tanzania, and the Saola, a forest-dwelling bovine found only in Vietnam and Laos.
Afghans 'abused at secret prison' at Bagram airbase
 Inmates from the old prison at Bagram have been moved elsewhere |
Afghan prisoners are being abused in a "secret jail" at Bagram airbase, according to nine witnesses whose stories the BBC has documented.
The abuses are all said to have taken place since US President Barack Obama was elected, promising to end torture. The US military has denied the existence of a secret detention site and promised to look into allegations.
Bagram was the site of a controversial jail holding hundreds of inmates, who have now been moved to another complex.
The old prison was notorious for allegations of prisoner torture and abuse.
But witnesses told the BBC in interviews or written testimony that abuses continue in a hidden facility.
Sleep deprivation
"They call it the Black Hole," said Sher Agha who spent six days in the facility last autumn.
"When they released us they told us we should not tell our stories to outsiders because that will harm us."
 | BAGRAM AIRBASE   I could not sleep, nobody could sleep because there was a machine that was making noise  Mirwais, former detainee |
"When I wanted to sleep and started shivering with cold I started reciting the holy Koran," he said.
But sleep, according to the prisoners interviewed, is deliberately prevented in this detention site.
"I could not sleep, nobody could sleep because there was a machine that was making noise," said Mirwais, who said he was held in the secret jail for 24 days.
"There was a small camera in my cell, and if you were sleeping they'd come in and disturb you," he added.
The prisoners, who were interviewed separately, all told very similar stories. Most of them said they had been beaten by American soldiers at the point of arrest before being taken to the prison.
Mirwais had half a row of teeth missing, which he said was from being struck with the butt of a gun by an American soldier.
No-one said they were visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross during their detention at the site, and they all said that their families did not know where they were.
In the small concrete cells, the prisoners said, a light was on all the time. They said they could not tell if it was night or day and described this as very disturbing.
Mirwais said he was made to dance to music by American soldiers every time he wanted to use the toilet.
The ex-prisoners said they were imprisoned at the secret jail before being taken to the main detention centre at the Bagram airbase, a new complex called The Detention Facility in Parwan.
Bagram's prisoners were moved to the Parwan complex from the old notorious Bagram prison site on the airbase earlier this year.
In 2002, two prisoners were killed in the Bagram prison while in US custody after being suspended from the ceilings of their cells and brutally beaten.
New jail
The BBC was allowed into the new Bagram prison for an hour.
This was one of the first opportunities any outsider has had to set eyes on Bagram's interned prisoners since a jail was first established at Bagram soon after 9/11.
In the new jail, prisoners were being moved around in wheelchairs with goggles and headphones on.
| ON BBC RADIO 4 Hilary Andersson investigates detention at Bagram on BBC Radio 4 at 2002 on 11 May 2010. |
Prisoners are kept in 56 cells, which the prisoners refer to as "cages". The front of the cells are made of mesh, the ceiling is clear, and the other three walls are solid.
Guards can see down into the cells above.
The BBC was told by the military to wear protective eye glasses whilst walking past the mesh cells as prisoners sometimes throw excrement or semen at the guards.
Prisoner accounts we logged painted a much better picture of the Parwan Detention Facility.
The US military itself has admitted that about 80% of those at Bagram are probably not hardened terrorists. It is the process of giving every detainee an internal military trial of sorts, called a Detainee Review Board.
The prisoners are represented by soldiers who are not lawyers.
"To this date, no prisoner has ever seen a lawyer in Bagram", said Tina Foster, who represents several of Bagram's prisoners in cases she has filed in on their behalf in the US. Guantanamo Bay's prisoners are able to see their lawyers.
About 100 prisoners have been released through this process, but due to an increased intake, the number of prisoners at Parwan is now 800, up from about 650 in September 2009.
The BBC put the allegations of ongoing abuses as a secret site on the airbase to the US military at Bagram. The military categorically denied the existence of a secret detention site.
"I've never heard of it. This is the only detention facility in Afghanistan" said Vice Admiral Robert Harward who is in charge of the Detention Facility in Parwan.
The US military promised to investigate any allegations of abuse.
Fighting for Drug Legalization Isn't Enough. You Need to Know Your Rights.
As the debate over marijuana legalization rages on and U.S. drug policy draws more public scrutiny than ever before, the arrests and injustices just keep adding up. We can debate the law until we're blue in the face, and we should, but it's equally essential that every American understand the terms of engagement in a battle that catches peaceful people in its crossfire each and every day.
It is because so few of us truly understand our basic rights that police are able to trample them so routinely. But it's also the haunting thought of that knock at the door, and the uncertainty of how to respond, that prevents so many among us from ever coming out of the closet and lending their voices to the debate. Fear and intimidation are the vital instruments without which the war on drugs would have been banished to the bowels of history long ago.
If you haven't yet seen the new Flex Your Rights video 10 Rules for Dealing with Police, please take this opportunity to do so, and please share it with the people you care about. It won't end the drug war, but it might help you get a better night's sleep. And you deserve that.
AIannucci I'm suspending the Wigan #Twitterforce on the grounds that this is how Hitler started. Any opposition will be seen as an act of war.
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