Thursday, 14 July 2011

The recent letter to the editor entitled, “Senator Cardin’s affection for Bono’s foundation is indefensible,” (July 7) by Simon Moroney contains so many inaccuracies that it is pointless to attempt to correct them all.
But the most serious inaccuracy is the totally false and possibly libelous accusation that U2 and Bono have, by moving a part of their business activities to Holland, been involved in tax evasion.
For the record U2 and the individual band members have a totally clean record with every jurisdiction to which they are required to pay tax and have never been and will never be involved in tax evasion…

Full story HERE

Zuckerberg closes off Google+ account so he can't be tracked

What Google+ circles really mean...

(Click to enlarge)
Via

WTF???

The youtoob vid of Noni Hazelhurst reading 'Go The Fuck To Sleep' has been removed due to a 'violation of You Tube's policy on depiction of harmful activities'!!!

WTF???
So here it is again:
Via

YouTube brainless: Noni Hazelhurst hits back over storybook blue

Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Revealed

Ghostfunk is a remix project featuring Ghostface Killah and vintage African funk, high-life, and psychedelic rock music. Produced by Max Tannone. Check out the official site: http://ghostfunk.com for download.

Wugazi - 13 Chambers

Great mash up of Wu-Tang Clan & Fugazi
Download

Austrian driver's religious headgear strains credulity

Passport photos of Niko Alm with a colander on his head

An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear".
Niko Alm first applied for the licence three years ago after reading that headgear was allowed in official pictures only for confessional reasons.
Mr Alm said the sieve was a requirement of his religion, pastafarianism.
The Austrian authorities required him to obtain a doctor's certificate that he was "psychologically fit" to drive.
The idea came into Mr Alm's noodle three years ago as a way of making a serious, if ironic, point.
A self-confessed atheist, Mr Alm says he belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a light-hearted faith whose members call themselves pastafarians.
The group's website states that "the only dogma allowed in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the rejection of dogma".
In response to pressure for American schools to teach the Christian theory known as intelligent design, as an alternative to natural selection, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster wrote to the Kansas School Board asking for the pastafarian version of intelligent design to be taught to schoolchildren, as an alternative to the Christian theory.
Straining credulity In the same spirit, Mr Alm's pastafarian-style application for a driving licence was a response to the Austrian recognition of confessional headgear in official photographs.
The licence took three years to come through and, according to Mr Alm, he was asked to submit to a medical interview to check on his mental fitness to drive but - straining credulity - his efforts have finally paid off.
It is the police who issue driving licences in Austria, and they have duly issued a laminated card showing Mr Alm in his unorthodox item of religious headgear.
The next step, Mr Alm told the Austrian news agency APA, is to apply to the Austrian authorities for pastafarianism to become an officially recognised faith.
@'BBC'

Irish teens the biggest users of legal highs

Rare Keith Haring Collingwood mural restoration clash

My friend Gram wearing his serious 'save the mural' face!!!

Fans of Keith Haring's iconic Collingwood mural are dismayed by a state government decision not to restore the faded landmark to its former glory.
Last month, Premier Ted Baillieu announced Arts Victoria would preserve and protect the heritage-listed mural, now in disrepair after years of neglect.
New York artist Keith Haring painted the heritage-listed mural on the former Collingwood Technical College wall in 1984 and it is now one of his last remaining works.
Arts Victoria will preserve the mural as part of the site's redevelopment as the new home of Circus Oz and have not ruled out repainting it if the technology and materials to do so without damaging the original became available.
National Trust public art committee chair Thomas Dixon said the mural would be irrevocably changed by repainting. "The idea of someone taking a bucket and brush to vandalise his work is repulsive. If you want to repaint his mural, find another wall."
But Haring fans are crying foul, claiming the mural should be repainted, in keeping with the late artist's wishes.
Richmond gallerist John Buckley, who brought Haring to Australia, said Haring himself said a signwriter should repaint it. But Mr Buckley acknowedged: "It may be that it is in such bad repair that it can't be done."
Northcote resident Gram Morris (pictured) was prompted to start a Facebook group petitioning to save the mural last year when a rat by street artist Banksy was accidentally painted over. A year on, the group has swelled to over 5000 members. Both sides of the debate will meet at Richmond Town Hall later this month to discuss the fate of the mural.
Anna Whitelaw @'Melbourne Times Weekly'

16% Think It's OK for a Man to Hit His Wife? 5 Shocking Facts About Gender in America

With the GOP-waged wars on women, middle-class workers and poor families in full swing and steadily whittling away at women’s status in the US, it’s obvious that we have a long way to go in terms of equality of all kinds. But a new report sheds light on some surprising numbers highlighting that imbalance.

Without the right to abortion, or the ability to prevent and prosecute rape, or the ability to support one’s family, a woman cannot be a full human being, a citizen exercising her rights. This is a given. But did you know that many Americans--16 percent--still think it’s okay for a man to hit his wife? And did you know just how massive the wage gap remains between black and Latina women and white men? What about the fact that until recently, it was almost impossible for native American women to file rape charges if they were assaulted on reservations or that we’re positively the worst “developed” country on parental leave, bar none?

The list goes on, thanks to a recently released global report, “Progress of the World’s Women.(pdf), which focuses on the access to justice of women worldwide. The report comes from the dynamic new group, UN Women. Headed by Michele Bachelet, former president of Chile, the group is hopefully a nascent force for accelerating global gender equity. UN Women has released individualized information on all regions, and the North American fact-sheet (pdf link) highlights some fascinating, surprising and disturbing statistics that background our current climate.

Most importantly, when stacked up to other countries worldwide, the facts show that we’re not some pillar of opportunity for women compared to other countries and regions, but rather saddled with our own major problems. As Flavia Dzodan wrote for Tiger Beatdown, “I think this report does a good job at showing that inequalities and injustices are a global problem and that each region faces a unique set of issues, defined by their socio-political and cultural realities...no region in the world is without serious troubles.” Dzodan also makes the apt point that LGBT issues are absent from the report, which is unfortunate given their frequent close link with gender, race and class inequity. Abortion and reproductive health issues are not included in the US fact sheet, either.

Still, there’s a lot to learn about ourselves here...