Thursday, 31 May 2012

Pete Rock's Vinyl Collection (Crate Diggers)

Crate Diggers profiles people with extraordinary vinyl record collections, with owners displaying and telling the stories behind their collections. In this episode Pete Rock, the legendary DJ and producer for rappers like Nas, Notorious B.I.G, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan, talks about his early days with cousin Heavy D, his love of funk, and a rare Marvin Gaye record.
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The Rolling Stones to celebrate 50th anniversary with free exhibition in London

The Rolling Stones: 50
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood
A Free Photographic Exhibition at Somerset House
13 July – 27 August 2012
‘This is our story of fifty fantastic years. We started out as a blues band playing the clubs and more recently we’ve filled the largest stadiums in the world with the kind of  show that none of us could have imagined all those years ago’.
- Mick, Keith, Charlie & Ronnie
On 12 July 1962 the Rolling Stones went on stage at the Marquee Club in London’s Oxford Street. A phenomenal 50 years later, and to celebrate this milestone, Somerset House will present a free photographic exhibition documenting the last half-century and looking back at their astounding career. This exhibition will also coincide with the release of the book by the same name, published by Thames & Hudson.
With privileged access to a wealth of unseen and rare material, this one-off exhibition will include over seventy prints ranging from reportage photography, live concert and studio session images, to contact sheets, negative strips and outtakes from every period of the band’s history – from performing in the smallest blues clubs to the
biggest stadium tours of all time.
Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to purchase limited edition prints, copies of the book and other merchandise.
INFORMATION
Dates: 13 July – 27 August 2012
Opening Hours: 10am – 6pm Daily
Address: East Wing Galleries, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Admission: Free
Transport: Nearest Underground Stations – Temple, Embankment, Charing Cross
Further Information: www.somersethouse.org.uk

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Australia inches closer to getting killer drones

Ecstasy and cannabis should be freely available for study, says David Nutt


Bono to join Suu Kyi on stage. Is there no end to that woman's torment?

InstaCRT demonstration

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Michael Franti sings to my friend Lou's (upcoming) grandchild

Filmed in Louisville last Saturday night

Modern Warfare

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Punk Britannia (Trailer)

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Exclusive performances can be found here
If you are outside the UK, use this to view them...

EPIC, EPIC FIAL!!!

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An ap(p)t spelling really when you think of it...

Concerns of Racism Ahead of Euro 2012

John Pilger: Why the Assange Case Is Important

On 30 May, Britain's Supreme Court turned down the final appeal of Julian Assange against his extradition to Sweden. In an unprecedented move, the court gave the defense team of the WikiLeaks editor permission to "re-apply" to the court in two weeks' time. On the eve of the judgment, Sweden's leading morning newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, known as DN, interviewed investigative journalist John Pilger, who has closely followed the Assange case. The following is the complete text of the interview, of which only a fraction was published in Sweden.
DN: Julian Assange has been fighting extradition to Sweden at a number of British courts. Why do you think it is important he wins?
JP: Because the attempt to extradite Assange is unjust and political. I have read almost every scrap of evidence in this case and it's clear, in terms of natural justice, that no crime was committed. The case would not have got this far had it not been for the intervention of Claes Borgstrom, a politician who saw an opportunity when the Stockholm prosecutor threw out almost all the police allegations. Borgstrom was then in the middle of an election campaign. When asked why the case was proceeding when both women had said that the sex had been consensual with Assange, he replied, "Ah, but they're not lawyers." If the Supreme Court in London rejects Assange's appeal, the one hope is the independence of the Swedish courts. However, as the London Independent has revealed, Sweden and the US have already begun talks on Assange's "temporary surrender" to the US - where he faces concocted charges and the prospect of unlimited solitary confinement. And for what? For telling epic truths. Every Swede who cares about justice and the reputation of his or her society should care deeply about this.
DN: You have said that Julian Assange's human rights have been breached. In what way?
JP: One of the most fundamental human rights - that of the presumption of innocence - has been breached over and over again in Assange's case. Convicted of no crime, he has been the object of character assassination -perfidious and inhuman - and highly political smear, of which the evidence is voluminous. This is what Britain's most distinguished and experienced human rights lawyer, Gareth Peirce, has written: "Given the extent of the public discussion, frequently on the basis of entirely false assumptions ... it is very hard to preserve for [Assange] any presumption of innocence. He has now hanging over him not one but two Damocles swords of potential extradition to two different jurisdictions in turn for two different alleged crimes, neither of which are crimes in his own country. [And] his personal safety has become at risk in circumstances that are highly politically charged."
DN: You, as well as Julian Assange, don't seem to have confidence in the Swedish judicial system. Why not?
JP: It's difficult to have confidence in a prosecutorial system that is so contradictory and flagrantly uses the media to achieve its aims. Whether or not the Supreme Court in London find for or against Assange, the fact that this case has reached the highest court in this country is itself a condemnation of the competence and motivation of those so eager to incarcerate him, having already had plenty of opportunity to question him properly. What a waste all this is.
DN: If Julian Assange is innocent, as he says, would it not have been better if he had gone to Stockholm to sort things out?
JP: Assange tried to "sort things out," as you put it. Right from the beginning, he offered repeatedly to be questioned - first in Sweden, then in the UK. He sought and received permission to leave Sweden - which makes a nonsense of the claim that he has avoided questioning. The prosecutor who has since pursued him has refused to give any explanation about why she will not use standard procedures, which Sweden and the UK have signed up to.
DN: IF the Supreme Court decides that Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden, what consequences/risks do you see for him?
JP: First, I would draw on my regard for ordinary Swedes' sense of fairness and justice. Alas, overshadowing that is a Swedish elite that has forged sinister and obsequious links with Washington. These powerful people have every reason to see Julian Assange as a threat. For one thing, their vaunted reputation for neutrality has been repeatedly exposed as a sham in US cables leaked by WikiLeaks. One cable revealed that "the extent of [Sweden's military and intelligence] co-operation [with NATO] is not widely known" and unless kept secret "would open up the government to domestic criticism." Another was entitled "WikiLeaks puts neutrality in the dustbin of history." Don't the Swedish public have a right to know what the powerful say in private in their name?
Dagens Nyheter @'truthout'

 
               

Julian Assange given 14 days to challenge extradition ruling

Wednesday, 30 May 2012

♪♫ Ruby - Tiny Meat

I'd forgotten how good Lesley Rankine/Ruby is/are. (Was/were?)