Just uploaded to the Honest Jon’s (recently crowned one of our10 best labels of the year) website, audio of a new single by the Moritz Von Oswald trio – the three-piece of nsi’s Max Loderbauer, Vladislav Delay (aka Luomo) and Moritz Von Oswald of Rhythm & Sound and Basic Channel fame.
Interesting news in itself, given the musicians involved and the quality of the two albums they’ve released in the last year and a half, Vertical Ascent and Live in New York, but given more spice by the addition of a certain Mala – yes, Mala of dubstep legends Digital Mystikz – who contributes a remix, or rather a “rebuild” to the single’s B-side, with “synths and other additions”.
You can stream clips of both sides, and check the artwork, by Will ‘Trilogy Tapes’ Bankhead, below.
The lawyer of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday his client was being persecuted for publishing embarrassing US diplomatic cables as Interpol called for his arrest over rape accusations.
As Washington tried to calm new outbursts of anger from world leaders over the leaks, France-based Interpol said it had alerted all member states to arrest Julian Assange, who is wanted in Sweden on allegations of sex crimes.
Assange's mother said she did not want her son "hunted down", while his lawyer in London suggested the alert issued by the global police body could be linked to the "bellicose" US reactions over the dumping of the documents.
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"This is a persecution and not a prosecution," his attorney Mark Stephens said, without revealing the whereabouts of the elusive 39-year-old Australian.
In Islamabad, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called in the US ambassador for talks as WikiLeaks' drip-feed of 250,000 US cables sent fresh shockwaves around the diplomatic community.
Suggestions by US diplomats that Pakistan's nuclear weapons could fall into terrorist hands "are misplaced and doubtless fall in the realm of condescension," foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told AFP in Islamabad.
The anger stems from a 2009 cable in which then US ambassador Anne Patterson spoke of concerns that someone working in government nuclear facilities "could gradually smuggle enough material out to eventually make a weapon".
A 2008 cable reportedly warned: "Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than any other country in the world."
The cables cited serious British concerns and also quoted the Russians as saying that there was "no way to guarantee" that the 120,000-130,000 people directly involved in Pakistan's nuclear programmes are all reliable.
They also said Pakistan's army chief had mused about forcing out President Asif Ali Zardari; laid bare US frustration at Islamabad's refusal to cut ties with extremists; and showed support among Pakistani cabinet ministers for US drone strikes.
Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fired back after cables released by WikiLeaks described US Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying that Russian democracy was in retreat.
Putin said Gates was "deeply misled" and warned Washington not to interfere in Russia's internal politics, according to the transcript of an interview with CNN.
In Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was furious at suggestions by US diplomats that he had secret accounts in Swiss banks and was involved in fraud, suggesting the cable's authors could face prosecution.
"I do not have one penny in Swiss banks," Erdogan said.
Argentina, meanwhile, said US cables that questioned President Cristina Kirchner's mental health were "shameful."
In Washington, the White House stood by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying Assange's calls for her to resign in the wake of the WikiLeaks release were "ridiculous."
Assange told Time magazine that Clinton should quit if she is found to have ordered US diplomats to spy on UN officials in violation of international agreements.
Gates separately tried to play down the mass leak, telling reporters that the consequences for US foreign policy were "fairly modest."
But Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate, called for Washington to treat WikiLeaks like a terrorist organisation by freezing the assets of people working for it.
The hunt for Assange sparked by Interpol's "red notice" request would likely focus on Sweden and Britain, where the former hacker spends much of his time.
Swedish prosecutors issued a warrant for Assange on November 18 citing "probable cause of suspected rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion." He has failed in one bid to get it thrown out but a second appeal is pending.
Assange is said to rarely sleep in the same place twice. Ecuador's left-leaning government initially offered Assange residency, but President Rafael Correa backtracked Tuesday.
Christine Assange told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that she was feeling "as any mother would be, very distressed" that authorities were looking for her son.
"He's my son and I love him and obviously I don't want him hunted down and jailed," she said from her home in Queensland.
Though it’s no secret that life is often brutally difficult for maids working in Saudi Arabia, a new wave of atrocities has stirred outrage in the victims’ home countries and has trained a spotlight on Saudi Arabia’s failure to protect foreign workers.
Saudi Couple Hammers Nails Into Sri Lankan Housemaid
In August, a 49-year-old Sri Lankan woman, Lahadapurage Daneris Ariyawathie, returned to her home after working as a housemaid in Saudi Arabia. When she arrived, her children immediately realized she was in terrible pain and took her to a doctor. She told him the couple she worked for had hammered hot nails and pins into her hands, legs, and forehead when she told them she needed to rest. X-rays showed 24 nails embedded in her body.
After the case was publicized and Sri Lankan government officials demanded the Saudi government take action, CNN reported a Saudi couple had been arrested for the torture. The government also reportedly considered suspending the recruitment of Sri Lankan maids, though they denied there was any connection to this case. However, while the government seemed to be making concessions, the head of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Workers’ Committee of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce told Arabic-language news organization Al Arabiya that Ariyawathie’s allegations were “absolutely baseless and illogical.” He did not -- presumably he could not -- explain why there very clearly were pins and nails in her body.
Doctors have removed most of the nails and metal fragments, and plan to operate to remove the rest of the nails at a future time.
Indonesian Maid Subjected To “Extraordinary Torture”
Indonesian authorities say twenty-three year old Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, an Indonesian woman working as a maid in Saudi Arabia, was tortured by her employers. They allegedly burned her with an iron, beat her severely, and cut her face and lips with scissors. (She will require extensive plastic surgery, and not just for cosmetic reasons -- in the pictures accompanying the linked articles, you can see that pieces of her face have actually been cut away.) On November 6th when she was admitted to a hospital in Medina, where she is currently recovering, a doctor who treated her said she was "wounded from head to toe." Another hospital worker told the Saudi Gazette that Sumiata's body bore the marks of numerous old wounds, and her bloodwork showed she may have suffered malnutrition or serious blood loss.
Indonesian authorities, including the president, have called for justice, but so far there has been no news of arrests.
Indonesian Maid Murdered
According to Indonesia’s minister of labor, via BBC News, when Kikim Komalasari’s body was found on November 11th her neck was slashed and she had severe cuts all over her body. The 36-year-old Indonesian woman worked as a maid in Saudi Arabia. Her employer allegedly murdered her and dumped her body on a roadside.
Indonesia’s president said the killing was “beyond inhumane” but that the Saudi government was taking action and he was “hopeful the perpetrators will be punished according to law.”...
More than two years ago, Mother Jonesexposed a private security firm run by former Secret Service agents that had spied on an array of environmental groups on behalf of corporate clients, in some cases infiltrating unsuspecting organizations with operatives posing as activists. Now, one of the targets of this corporate espionage is fighting back.
On Monday, Greenpeace filed suit in federal district court in Washington, DC, against the Dow Chemical Company and Sasol North America, charging that the two multinational chemical manufacturers sought to thwart its environmental campaigns against genetically engineered foods and chemical pollution through elaborate undercover operations. Also named in the suit are Dezenhall Resources and Ketchum, public relations firms hired by Sasol and Dow respectively, and four ex-employees of that now-defunct security firm, Beckett Brown International (BBI).
The suit charges that between 1998 and 2000 the chemical companies, the PR firms, and BBI "conspired to and did surveil, infiltrate and steal confidential information from Greenpeace with the intention of preempting, blunting or thwarting its environmental campaigns. These unlawful activities included trespassing on the property of Greenpeace, infiltrating its offices, meetings and electronic communications under false pretenses and/or by force, and by these means, stealing confidential documents, data and trade secrets from Greenpeace." Greenpeace is seeking an injunction against further trespass and thefts of trade secrets, as well as compensatory and punitive damages...
In the 1980s, Mills was an influential radio DJ on WJLB under the pseudonym “The Wizard.” Mills’ sets were a highlight of the nightly show from “The Electrifying Mojo”, Jennifer Owens. Complementing Mojo’s eclectic playlists, Mills would do advanced DJ tricks like beat juggling and scratching while mixing obscure Detroit Techno, Miami Bass, Chicago House and classic New Wave tracks both live and using a multi track when pre-recorded. In going on to create his own music Jeff Mills is credited with laying the foundations for the highly influential Detroit Techno collective, Underground Resistance, alongside ‘Mad’ Mike Banks, a former Parliament bass player. Just like Public Enemy did some years before in hip hop, these men confronted the mainstream music industry with revolutionary rhetoric. Dressed in uniforms with skimasks and black combat suits, they were ‘men on a mission’, aiming at giving techno more content and meaning.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) COP16 opens this week in Cancún, Mexico to discuss green business (November 29 – December 10, 2010). No one is expecting any global climate treaty to be signed at this conference. However there is hope that some progress could be made.
Two articles in particular caught my attention over the weekend. The first article was published in Grist is by Jennifer Morgan, Climate Director at the World Resources Institute, a think tank based in Washington, DC. The title of her article is “What can climate negotiations achieve in Cancun?” She writes “Establish a REDD+ mechanism” in a section titled “What decisions can be made in Cancun?” What was striking for me was the title of the following section, “What other issues remain contentious?” Clearly REDD+ is not a contentious issue for Morgan. The second article was by Kate Sheppard titled “Cancun or Bust” published in Mother Jones. Her penultimate paragraph reads, “Despite the very low expectations for a major agreement, there are major areas where the observers expect to see progress this year: ... the creation of programs to prevent deforestation (known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD). Progress in those areas would go a long way toward building trust and partnership between nations, observers say.”
I bet you’re wondering—what the heck is REDD?
Almost a year ago I went to Copenhagen for the last round of the UN Climate Conference COP15 with Sarah James, Gwich’in activist and current board chair of the Gwich’in Steering Committee in Fairbanks, Alaska. During the opening day of the conference Amy Goodman interviewed Sarah and I for a segment on Democracy Now. There, I participated in a contemporary art exhibition ‘(Re–) Cycles of Paradise’ organized by ARTPORT in partnership with Global Gender and Climate Alliance, where I presented a photo–video installation to highlight Sarah James’ work. That exhibition is currently being shown at the Centro Cultural de España in Mexico City through January 16 (will overlap with COP16 in Cancún).
While in Copenhagen, we stayed at a small hotel where each day we would gather at the lobby with other fellow indigenous activists including musician Robby Romero and his daughter, singer Dakota René of the Eagle Thunder Entertainment. Robby asked me have you heard about REDD? He told me a whole bunch of things about it but with all the commotion of the conference I came back with little understanding of what REDD actually is, except that the indigenous communities around the world regard it as the “largest land grab of all time.” While the conference resulted in failure, it gave birth to what has come to be known as the Climate Justice Movement.
So here is REDD from two different perspectives.
REDD According to the United Nations
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation
REDD is a program that was conceived by the United Nations and launched in September 2008 with expertise of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
According to UN–REDD website: “Deforestation and forest degradation, through agricultural expansion, conversion to pastureland, infrastructure development, destructive logging, fires etc., account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the entire global transportation sector and second only to the energy sector.” The webpage continues, “(REDD) is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. REDD+ goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.”
UN website also states, “The Programme currently has 29 partner countries spanning Africa, Asia–Pacific and Latin America, of which 12 are receiving support to National Programme activities.”
Let me explain in simple terms what it means. You may have noticed in the UN description, the line, “to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests.” Whenever there is value there is money that can be exchanged. Say a company in Global North, take BP for example want to continue their carbon emissions, but they want to offset it to reduce their net carbon footprint, then they can buy carbon credit through REDD, in the process some forest in Global South say, Indonesia would be saved while BP continues business–as–usual.
What could be wrong with such a well meaning and benign scenario to save the planet from climate change disasters?
On November 25 UN–REDD Program released a Newsletter with success stories and plans for the Cancún conference that you can check out here.
REDD According to the Indigenous Forest Communities
Reaping profits from Evictions, land grabs, Deforestation and Destruction of biodiversity...
