New Order's Factory Records singles remastered

Aorto at the very wonderful 'Everything On My iPod' blog alerted me to this site where
£50 Note and brunorepublic have remastered all 20 New Order singles released on Factory Records.

A true labour of love but boy have they done a great job.

As they say:

"The purpose of this blog is to archive the work of Joy Division and New Order during their tenure on the legendary Factory Records from Manchester, England. While the stories of both bands have been documented thoroughly in book, film, and CD/box set formats, many of their recordings from 1978-1990 remain unreleased on any other format than the original (now out-of-print) vinyl singles.
The concept for Recycle was proposed by the late Rob Gretton, who was the manager of both bands until his death from a heart attack in 1999. He wanted to release a comprehensive singles box similar to what The Clash, Blondie, and Depeche Mode have done, with each disc collecting all the A-sides, B-sides, and remixes of each single, and house them in miniature sleeves with faithfully restored/reproduced artwork. When Gretton died, the project died with him.
Although London Records/Rhino is about to roll out 2-disc deluxe editions of the five studio albums New Order recorded for Factory, there's not enough room on the bonus discs to collect everything together, and as many of you may know, the first rollout of these discs was a huge disaster, plagued with horrible mastering and culling many tracks from vinyl, despite being promoted as remastered. Most of the master tapes are missing, and it's taken the label almost a year to fix the problems and get remanufactured discs into the stores.
New Order was such a singles band that it seems criminal not to give them the singles box treatment. Substance isn't even in print anymore, so it's back to the basics. Sourcing from my personal collection and working closely with a friend who is an audio restoration expert (along with input from a small circle of other superfans), I'll be posting Recycle as a virtual box set of 20 singles, from 1981's Ceremony to 1990's World In Motion, providing detailed notes and anecdotes along the way."
NEW ORDER - RECYCLE

NB: 

Don't forget you can find the Cabaret Voltaire produced New Order demos recorded at Western Works on the 7th September 1980

HERE
(While you are there check out the other New Order rarities.)

Rives controls the Internet

(Thanx Tim!)

Iran 27 Dec 09 Protest Police Car running over people!

Disinfectants 'train' superbugs to resist antibiotics

Disinfectants could effectively train bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics, research suggests.

Scientists know bacteria can become inured to disinfectant, but research increasingly shows the same process may make them resistant to certain drugs.
This can occur even with an antibiotic the bacteria have not been exposed to.
Writing in Microbiology, the National University of Ireland team, who focused on a common hospital bacterium, urges a rethink of how infections are managed.
Scientists in Galway found that by adding increasing amounts of disinfectant to cultures of pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lab, the bacteria learnt to resist not only the disinfectant but also ciprofloxacin - a commonly-prescribed antibiotic - even without being exposed to it.
The researchers report the bacteria had adapted to pump out anti-microbial agents - be they a disinfectant or an antibiotic - from their cells.
The adapted bacteria also had a mutation in their DNA that allowed them to resist ciprofloxacin-type antibiotics specifically.

Residue from incorrectly diluted disinfectants left on hospital surfaces could promote the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria Dr Gerard Fleming

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium most likely to infect those who are already seriously ill.
It can cause a wide range of infections, particularly among those with weak immune systems such as HIV or cancer patients, as well as people with severe burns, diabetes or cystic fibrosis.
Surface disinfectants are used to prevent its spread - but if the bacteria manage to survive and go on to infect patients, antibiotics are used to treat them.
Bacteria that could resist both these control points could be a serious threat to hospital patients, the study said.
At the high concentration levels generally employed this was unlikely to be a problem - but "in principle this means that residue from incorrectly diluted disinfectants left on hospital surfaces could promote the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria", said study author Dr Gerard Fleming.
"What is more worrying is that bacteria seem to be able to adapt to resist antibiotics without even being exposed to them."

Disinfectants may not just be the problem, they may also be the cure Dr Gerry McDonnell

There is an increasing body of research that raises concerns about the effects on antibiotic resistance of disinfectants and antiseptics.
An EU report published earlier this year stressed the importance of the "appropriate and prudent" use of disinfectants to minimise the risk that bacteria become resistant to both forms of defence.
It also emerged this year that treatments in hospitals in Brazil had been compromised by a bacterium, mycobacterium massiliense, which had developed resistance to a common sterilisation fluid and a number of antibiotics used to treat the subsequent infections.
"This was very significant because it was really the first incident related to resistance to a biocide which led to clinical failure, which is new," said Dr Gerry McDonnell, a researcher in the field.
"This really needs to be an area of active investigation and debate. But it's worth bearing in mind that disinfectants may not just be the problem, they may also be the cure."
Research was published this year showing that the disinfecting wipes used to protect against MRSA could in fact spread the bug, as the solution contained was often not sufficient to kill all the bacteria picked up, and hospital staff often used the same wipe to clean more than one surface.

@'BBC'

(Thanx Robin who also says: "It takes PC to an extreme even for the BBC. I think it is a wonder to read and amazing how you can get around using the word “Evolve” or anything close to it.")

Iran: A summary

(Thanx Rosa!)

AAAAAAAAGH! (updated 7:55AM: SSSSSSSSSSSSH!)

AAAAAAGH!

(7:56AM I just knew that this image that CTel posted the other day @'Acid Ted' would come in very handy sometime...I also knew when I originally posted this that I was not going to be feeling at all well when I woke up today!)

Dick Cheney - Patron of the Arts

How many times have we seen Dick Cheney's mug plastered across our TV screens over the past 12 months, spewing garbage about the Obama administration putting the lives of the American people at risk?

Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the Northwest bombing in a Monday statement that vowed more attacks on Americans.
American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.

Somehow this brings to mind what Cheney had to say just weeks after President Obama took office:

When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry.

So, how's that protecting America one still life painting class at a time working out, eh, Dick?

Of course the question now is, will Cheney again be booked on every
Fox News to peddle more criticism of President Obama, or will this little "oops" moment mean that Dick is slithering back to his undisclosed location?

@'Daily Kos'

Mahmood Delkhasteh: The 21st Century's First Authentic Revolution

In 1979 Iranians introduced a new form of social revolution. In place of the guerrilla-style armed struggle that had characterized the twentieth-century revolutions in non-western countries, the Iranians modeled a spontaneous nonviolent mass movement. And much to the experts' surprise, in less than 2 years this movement overthrew a dictatorial monarchy that had the backing of both Western powers and the strongest army in the Middle East. The principles of freedom and independence that sustained this revolution were soon violated by Khomeini, who instituted an even more repressive and brutal regime than that which had been dismantled. But the methods of the early victory set a new precedent, shaping the imagination of what was possible in the Eastern European revolutions of the 1980s.

Now, after thirty years, this revolution has boomeranged back to the streets and rooftops of Iran. A new generation is determined to finish the job that their parents began but could not bring to fruition: the establishment of freedom and democracy in an independent Iran.

The violent confrontations at yesterday's Ashura demonstrations, which resulted from widespread resistance to the brutality of the regime's various security forces, have shifted the balance of the struggle towards the people. The question is no longer whether this corrupt regime will be overthrown, but rather when it will go, and how. It is clear that this struggle, which began as a simple protest against the rigged presidential election, can no longer be defined as a movement for either state reform or civil rights. Yesterday's demonstrations, occurring throughout the country and from Tehran to the smallest towns, cannot be defined by any term other than revolution.

Dictatorships always maintain a fragile balance between fear and anger, which they either inflict on or produce for the people they rule. As long as the fear of the regime's power outweighs anger at its effects, its position is relatively secure. But if this balance tips with changes in conditions either at home or abroad, and if feelings of anger begin to supersede those of fear, then given opportunity and circumstances it is safe to assume that a regime's days are numbered. Yesterday, in defiant resistance against thousands of security forces and carrying with them in demonstrations the experiences of more than a century of struggle for democracy, Iranians demonstrated to themselves and to the world that this is truer than ever of the Iranian regime. The balance has tipped from fear to anger, and there is a new determination to make Iran free and independent.

The consequences of this revolution cannot be underestimated. Many argue that it was 1979 Iranian revolution which transformed Islamic fundamentalism into a global phenomenon. If this is correct, then it is possible that the present revolution might to do the 'unthinkable' and overthrow a corrupt, fundamentalist regime. Such a non-violent revolution could secularise the state, separating it from religion, and revolutionise religion itself by redefining Islam as a discourse of freedom and a method not for obtaining and managing power, but for expanding freedom. The principles of such an Islam are already being produced, not least of all in the latest works of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, who during the course of his life became an advocate of human rights. His unprecedented burial gathering, despite being disrupted by the regime's great attempts to minimise it, suggest that the Iranian public recognises and perhaps even favours this discourse. An authentic Islamic renaissance is already sweeping through many Iranian cities, and its effect on other Islamic countries will be felt in the coming years and months.

@'HuffPo'

Obama on Iran: "History will be on the side of those who seek justice."

"Before I leave, let me also briefly address the events that have taken place over the last few days in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States joins with the international community in strongly condemning the violent and unjust suppression of innocent Iranian citizens, which has apparently resulted in detentions, injuries, and even death.

For months, the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality, even on solemn occasions and holy days. And each time that has happened, the world has watched with deep admiration for the courage and the conviction of the Iranian people who are part of Iran’s great and enduring civilization.

What’s taking place within Iran is not about the United States or any other country. It’s about the Iranian people and their aspirations for justice and a better life for themselves. And the decision of Iran’s leaders to govern through fear and tyranny will not succeed in making those aspirations go away.

As I said in Oslo, it’s telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation. Along with all free nations, the United States stands with those who seek their universal rights. We call upon the Iranian government to abide by the international obligations that it has to respect the rights of its own people.

We call for the immediate release of all who have been unjustly detained within Iran. We will continue to bear witness to the extraordinary events that are taking place there. And I’m confident that history will be on the side of those who seek justice.

Thank you very much, everybody. And Happy New Year."

What is really happening in Tehran

PHOTOGRAPHS

Those arrested in Iran

Ebrahim Yazdi (former Foreign Minister)
Emad-e’Din Baghi (Human Rights Activist)
Morteza Hadji (Minister of educaion during Khatami era)
Leila Tavassoli, daughter of Mohammad Tavassoli
Seyed Hosein Mousavi Tabrizi (Head of the clerical Association of Teachers and Researchers of Qom)
Alireza Beheshti Shirazi (Editor in Chief of Mousavi’s online journal Kalameh Sabz)
Ghorban Behzadian Nejad (Mousavi consultant)
Mohamad Bagherian (Mousavi consultant)
Rasouli (deputy of President Khatami’s Baran Foundation)
Forouzandeh (Manager of Mousavi’s office)
Mohammad Sadegh Rabbani (retired university professor who used to be the general prosecutor 20 years ago, arrested yesterday 27 December)
Mohammad Moin (son of former Presidential candidate Mostafa Moin, the former Minister of Science and higher education, arrested 27 December)
Heshmatollah Tabarzadi (Student Activist)
Haleh Sahabi (Women’s Rights activist)

Iran stands on the brink: Massoumeh Torfeh

The situation in Iran has reached the point of no return. The opposition has been calling for weeks for the downfall of the Islamic Republic and the removal from power of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His own supporters have demanded the "harshest possible punishment for the instigators of unrest". Judging by the video footage and photos distributed via the internet, despite the brutal clampdown of the last six months the opposition does not appear frightened. The demonstrators are directly confronting the police and security forces. Many police officers have been injured in the clashes of the last two days together with scores of opposition injuries and eight deaths on Sunday – Ashura – a day on which in Islamic tradition no blood is to be spilled. Some of the pictures of those killed on Sunday are as gruesome as last summer's images of Neda Agha Soltan.

Different layers of the opposition, the reformist Islamists as well as the more modern, possibly secular young activists and academics – and artists, musicians and journalists – have been enraged over the past few weeks. Students – always at the forefront of democratisation movements in Iran – were not allowed to mark their national day on 16 Azar (7 December); high-ranking reformist ayatollahs in Qom and Isfahan were not allowed to mourn the death of the highly respected Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. Several ayatollahs and leading opposition figures who have spoken out in defence of human rights, the right to demonstrations, and for a free media, have been threatened with losing their positions, and accused of "collaboration with western conspiracy". Hundreds of high-ranking opposition figures were arrested on Sunday and Monday, and many who are in detention received long prison sentences.

However, despite their unprecedented techniques of distributing information and mobilising support, the opposition still lacks a clear statement as to where it is going and what it would do were it to topple the regime. It also lacks a leader accepted by all. Activists argue that if they did have such clarity the entire machinery of the state would ensure their leadership was obliterated. And it is true that the military arm of the regime is killing and arresting at random.

It is also true that Khamenei no longer has any of his seasoned advisers – such as former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, or the former speaker of the parliament Mehdi Karoubi. He sidelined them all when supporting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the presidential elections. Over the past six months the supreme leader has also lost crucial links with the reformist ayatollahs and clergy in the holy cities of Qom, Isfahan and Mashhad.

The leader is now surrounded by the hardline clergy, right of centre politicians, Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia, who are calling for direct confrontation. This can only lead to further bloodshed. The opposition is now calling for more strikes and attacks at important centres of power such as the state TV, where clashes took place yesterday. And February sees the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic. There is talk of a military coup by the Revolutionary Guards if the situation does not settle down.

Iran is facing a long period of political instability; and with increasing tensions in neighbouring Pakistan, plus the volatile situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, regional security appears more precarious than any time in the recent past.

@'The Guardian'

یک نفر = یک سخنگو

Later/

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Finally a message to all the people following this blog in Iran:
Any pictures or words would be gratefully accepted here at Exile...
Monastreet @ gmail dot com
twitter/exilestreet

PHOTOGRAPHS

1205 GMT: The Human Rights Activists News Agency claims that 550 people arrested on Sunday have been transferred to Evin Prison.