Bradley Manning and the stench of US hypocrisy

Earlier this week, the soldier accused of leaking thousands of confidential documents to WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, was handed an additional 22 charges as part of his ongoing court martial process. The 23-year-old, who has been in solitary confinement for more than seven months, stands accused of computer fraud, theft of public records and willfully communicating classified information to a person not entitled to receive it. He now also finds himself faced with a rare charge known as "aiding the enemy" – a capital offence for which he could face the death penalty.
The revelation will no doubt have come as a blow to Manning, although given his ongoing treatment it is likely he already feared the worst. Made to endure strict conditions under a prevention of injury order against the advice of military psychiatrists, he is treated like no other prisoner at the 250-capacity Quantico Brig detention facility in Virginia. Despite that he is yet to be convicted of any crime, for the past 218 consecutive days he has been made to live in a cell 6ft wide and 12ft long, without contact with any other detainees. He is not allowed to exercise or have personal effects in his cell, and for the one hour each day he is allowed free from his windowless cell he is taken to an empty room where he is allowed to walk, but not run.
One of the few people to have visited Manning, David House, spoke yesterday of how he had witnessed his friend go from a "bright-eyed intelligent young man" to someone who at times has appeared "catatonic" with "very high difficulty carrying on day to day conversation". House drew similarities with the case of Bobby Dellelo, an American prisoner who developed psychosis after a lengthy period in solitary confinement conditions similar to Manning's. "For me this has been like watching a really good friend succumb to an illness or something," he said. "I think that Bradley Manning is being punished this way because the US government wants him to crack ahead of his trial."
While there has been widespread and well publicised condemnation of issues surrounding Manning's detainment, his conditions have failed to improve. In fact, things may have got worse, not better, for the Oklahoma-born soldier who is incidentally entitled to UK citizenship through his Welsh mother. Just two days ago, for instance, only 24 hours after having been told he now faces a capital charge, Manning was made to strip naked in his cell for no apparent reason. According to David Coombs, Manning's lawyer, the soldier was then left without clothes for seven hours. When the wake-up call sounded for the detainees at 5am, in an act of forced humiliation, Manning was made to stand naked at the front of his cell.
The incident, described as "inexcusable and without justification" by Coombs, is symbolic of the entire twisted saga: a gross injustice on a nauseating scale. We must bear in mind, of course, that Manning allegedly leaked military files because he, according to unverified internet chat logs, saw wrongdoing and had no other course of action because his superiors told him they "didn't want to hear any of it". He did not want to be complicit in war crimes, and felt that by leaking the files he could prompt "worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms".
In recent days and weeks the US government has condemned human rights abuses and repression in almost every country across the Middle East – yet at a prison within its own borders it sanctions the persecution, alleged psychological torture and debasement of a young soldier who appears to have made a principled choice in the name of progress.
"Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal," said Barack Obama in 2008. But the stench of his hypocrisy is no longer bearable. It is time, now more than ever, that Bradley Manning received the justice he so clearly deserves.
Ryan Gallagher @'The Guardian'

Libya removes itself from the net

As fighting inside the country intensifies, Libya's links to the net appear to have been completely severed.

Net monitoring and security firms are reporting that no net traffic is entering or leaving Libyan net space.
Renesys said the outage was more than just a "blip" as many sites have been unreachable for more than 12 hours.
Net traffic into and out of the country had been intermittent during recent protests but the cut coincided with a push to oust rebels.
During the early days of the rebellion in Libya, net access was restricted but in early March net traffic started to pick up in areas no longer under the control of Colonel Gaddafi's government.
Graphs of net activity maintained by Google show a steady rise in traffic to its sites throughout this week. In particular, Libyans were making heavy use of YouTube to post images of the conflict.
This changed late in the evening of 3 March when net traffic stopped flowing into and out of the troubled nation.
Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro, said the approach to cutting net links was different to that taken by Egypt.
While all routers reported that lines to Libya were live, any traffic sent was not reaching its destination and was probably being "blackholed", said Mr Ferguson.
Attempts to trace the routes that traffic could take into the country ended a hop short of official Libyan net space, said Mr Ferguson.
This meant that not only was Libya cut off from the net, but those inside the country would not be able to send messages or browse sites either.
@'BBC'

ggreenwald Glenn Greenwald

Bradley Manning forced to remain nude again last night - http://is.gd/vR47NZ - Remember back when forced detainee nudity was scandalous?

???

a_greenberg Andy Greenberg

Why did Interpol issue a red notice for Julian Assange but only an orange notice for mass-murderer Gaddafi? http://bit.ly/fLw6IH

Al Jazeera English Blacked Out Across Most Of U.S.

Picking Your Poison: How Everyday Chemicals Are Affecting Us

Serfs Up!

Tea Party Leaders Attack Constitution

From Lulz to Labor Unions: The Evolution of Anonymous

It wasn't so long ago that Anonymous staked its identity on relentlessly subverting culture for the lulz. The group became renowned for its mockery of egregious displays of political correctness, hypocrisy, social conservatism and lameness by way of constructing humorous memes, or by mythologizing these flaws in their satirical wiki, Encyclopedia Dramatica. Needless to say, their work had narrow appeal -- appreciated mainly by members of the group's forums. It took the inimitable trolling of Oprah -- which led to her hysterical announcement to middle America that a known pedophile network by the name of Pedobear was equipped with "over 9,000 penises that were all raping children" -- to garner the group significant time in the media spotlight.
These days, the narrative could not be more different. Over the past few months, Anonymous has constantly been in the headlines, but for reasons that are political rather than "lulzy." It seems the group has squarely concentrated its efforts on promoting freedom of information and speech by way of illegal, distributed denial-of-service attacks to crash the websites of authoritarian regimes in Africa and bolster the group's campaign for unfettered freedom of expression worldwide.
For the most part, the mainstream media remains befuddled by Anonymous, not knowing quite what to make of the group's mélange of illegal activity, political motivations and sardonic sense of humor. Moreover, as the group does not visibly toil on any ideological coalface, media outlets have been tempted to portray Anonymous as a group of lonesome hackers with nebulous but shadowy intent. Mass rallies -- like the ones in Wisconsin -- make for an easy, linear media narrative. But electronic subterfuge and virtual activism are often depicted as a bloodless sport -- the least compelling kind.
But now, things are getting bloody -- especially in the United States where Anonymous has gained considerable clout. This week, the group's actions spectacularly forced the resignation of beleaguered HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr after it was revealed that HBGary -- in tandem with Palantir Technologies, Berico Securities and Hunton and Williams -- were planning to initiate a disinformation campaign against pro-union organizers and opponents of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The group uncovered the astonishing lengths the three firms would go to in order to discredit their enemies: They planned to set up fake personas on social network sites to damage their opponents and contemplated using malware to steal private information. This has now prompted the Democrats to push for a Congressional investigation. (Being Anonymous, they also brandished their signature irreverence by hacking Barr's twitter account and announcing that he was a "sweaty ballsack of caterpillars.")
But certain aspects of Anonymous' methodology continue to divide those outside and inside the hacker community. DDoS attacks are useful for garnering media attention to certain political causes, but they can also be interpreted as an ironic attack on the opposing side's right to free speech. The persuasiveness of this argument depends on the size and character of Anonymous' targets. Multinational corporations and governments may seem fair game, but what about private citizens? Are critics right to suggest Anonymous is eroding an already blurry distinction between public and private spheres?
Pinning down a cogent ideology of the group is difficult, too. We can surmise a few things with confidence: Anonymous is a zealous defender of freedom of information; the free exchange of information; the right to be irreverent; and the necessity of calling out gross abuses of power. But how committed are they to, say, social justice? This excerpt of a recent missive against the Koch brothers goes as far to imply some level of solidarity with America's working classes and union movement, but it is hard to tell if the group's motives are genuine:

"Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one ... we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries' paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom."

Generally speaking, as Anonymous is a decentralized, online community of individuals, it is probably misguided to slap a political label on the group. As a member explained to a newspaper in Baltimore: "We all have this agenda that we all agree on and we all coordinate and act, but all act independently toward it." It's a fairly vague description of the group's politics, to say the least. This brand of civil disobedience is a stark contrast to the centralized, "real-life" social movements of the past, which generally had an identifiable leader and hierarchical order. Theoretically, anyone can become a member, as long as they profess a loose identification with the group's objectives. Coldblood, a spokesperson for the group illustrates just how elastic this identification can be, suggesting that Anonymous is in fact an "online living consciousness, comprised of different individuals with, at times, coinciding ideals and goals."
So what happens when these ideals and goals fail to coincide, as was the case when Anonymous threw its support behind WikiLeaks? Well, the results could be kind of anarchic. In the WikiLeaks scenario, disagreement arose over how Anonymous should show its support. Agreeing on the duration of DDoS attacks on Visa, Mastercard and PayPal -- as well as agreeing on the attacks themselves -- proved a point of contention. The group splintered off into factions -- Operation Leakspin, Operation Payback and Operation Avenge Assange -- each outlining different tactics to demonstrate their support. Anonymous even published a press release addressing "perceived dissent" within its membership.
For better or worse, Anonymous is a by-product of the political freedoms we often take for granted. The group's ability to induce actual changes in social and political policy may be limited, but their ultimate value to democracy lies in their capacity to perform vital checks on institutional power. Their methods may be radical, but for now their outcomes have proved nothing more than regulatory.
Gillian Terzis @'the Atlantic'

British government encouraged LSE to forge Libya links, says academic

How Not To Present Your Regime to the Public

Hardrock Striker - Motorik Life

Gaddafi fights back in key city

♪♫ Johnny Flynn & Cheyenne Marie Mize - The Water

William S. Burroughs -The Final Academy Documents 1962-63

Capturing Burrough's reading at The Hacienda in 1982 amongst other things. I actually caught all four nights of The Final Academy in Brixton back in 1982 where support included Brion Gysin, PTV, Cabaret Voltaire and 23 Skidoo.

Bonus:

Here is some footage shot by Fritz from Skidoo at the London event:

Disgraced CIA agent filmed rapes

A CIA station chief in Algeria, who was accused of drugging and raping two Algerian women, filmed the attacks and stored images on his computer, an official investigation has found. Andrew Warren, 41, seemed to have all the right qualifications asan undercover agent in the Middle East. An African-American schooled in martial arts, he is a convert to Islam and speaks six Arabic dialects.
But his disgrace has served only to inflame resentment of the US at a time when President Barack Obama is trying to improve his country's image in the Arab world.
US officials are seeking to determine whether other victims might step forward.
Warren served in Egypt and Afghanistan before becoming the CIA's top man in Algiers.
Local feelings are running high. "The rape of honourable women does not differ from the rape of nations," said an editorial in a prominent Algerian newspaper last week.
Two Algerian women have testified to investigators that they were lured to Warren's residence, plied with alcohol and raped. V1, as one of them is called in a report by the State Department's diplomatic security branch, was invited to a party by Warren in September 2007.
He served her three whiskies with Coca-Cola before she felt sick. He escorted her to the bathroom. When she awoke the next morning, she was lying naked on a bed. She noticed a used condom in the bin.
V2, the other victim, visited Warren's residence in February last year. He brought her an apple-flavoured Martini. She drank it then felt nauseous.
Warren undressed her and put her in a bath, saying, "It will do you good".
"I could still see," she is quoted as saying in the report. "I could still hear and even speak, but I was incapable of moving amuscle."
She came round later to find herself on a bed. She drifted in and out of consciousness while Warren raped her. V2 later informed her husband, but it took months for her to make up her mind to tell the US ambassador.
Recalled to Langley, the CIA headquarters in Virginia, last October, Warren admitted having sexual relations with the women but called it consensual. This was undermined by images investigators found on his computer and mobile telephone in which the women seemed as passive as dolls.
Also found in Warren's home was a handbook on the investigation of sexual assaults and quantities of Xanax and Valium, tranquillisers commonly used in date rape.
The scandal is a serious blow tothe beleaguered CIA, which depends on co-operation with Algerian intelligence for the tracking of terrorist groups linked to al-Qa'ida that are suspected of a series of bombings in the country last year.
Al-Qa'ida's Algerian branch issued a statement savaging the "apostate Algerian regime" for letting the American "rapist" out of the country. It also accused the Government of a "profound conspiracy with the leader of global infidelity: America".
Matthew Campbell @'The Australian'

In Eastern Libya, Defectors and Volunteers Build Rebel Army

The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry (Trailer)

Radical art group Voina 'attacked by police' in St. Petersburg

Voina president Leonid Nikolayev (right) started a fledging protest movement involving wearing a blue bucket to condemn officials' misuse of blue flashing lights

Three members of the controversial Russian art group Voina (War) have been attacked in St. Petersburg by assailants claiming to be police officers, their lawyer says.
Leonid Nikolayev, Oleg Vorotnikov and his wife, Natalia Sokol, were set upon by seven men on Thursday as they walked home after a news conference.
"Around seven men in civilian clothes were trailing them. When [Voina members] made to take a photo of them, they laid into them shouting 'We are from the police.' They were waving their IDs around and kicking the guys," lawyer Dmitry Dinze said.
All three were hurt in the attack, although they were not hospitalized.
The news conference was Vorotnikov and Nikolayev's first public appearance since they were freed on bail after three months in jail on charges connected with the overturning of police cars in St. Petersburg, a stunt which went by the name of "Palace Coup."
The two face up to seven years in jail if convicted. Bail was reportedly posted by British artist Banksy, who earlier donated almost $130,000 from a print sale to the group.
Voina have earned notoriety in Russia and beyond for radical art performances ranging from an orgy in a Moscow museum to mark the 2008 inauguration of President Dmitry Medvedev to painting a 65-meter phallus on a drawbridge opposite the St. Petersburg headquarters of the FSB, successors to the KGB.
Speaking at the news conference, Voina head Nikolayev said he feared police could commit him to a psychiatric hospital, a tactic widely used in the Soviet era to suppress dissidents.
"They ordered us to undergo a psychiatric examination," Nikolayev said. "This indicates that they probably want to lock us up in a madhouse."
He added their time in jail was "interesting and edifying," and that they were planning to direct their actions against officials and politicians drawing on their newly garnered knowledge of human rights abuses behind locked doors.
@'RIA Novosti'
Bailed by Banksy

More on Voina HERE

Protests in Tripoli after prayers

Hillary Clinton calls Al Jazeera 'real news'

Nine Years of Nudity in American Detention

Whoonga Dealers Are Peddling Poison

Those peddling Whoonga, the deadly drug sweeping through KwaZulu-Natal townships, should face murder charges as they are deliberately poisoning people.
This is according to Dr Thavendran Govender, who tested samples of Whoonga and found that it was based on rat poison and heroin - not antiretroviral medication.

While it is widely believed that Whoonga is based on the ARV called Stocrin, Dr Govender from the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Chemistry department found that it was a mix of heroin, morphine and strychnine, which is used to kill rats.

According to Dr Govender, it's clever mix that catches the addict in a vicious cycle that keeps them coming back for more. The heroin or morphine initially masks the effects of the strychnine, which cause terrible muscle spasms.
"The patient now has this excruciating body pain and the only way to relieve this body pain is to smoke more Whoonga because they now want to take in the heroin and the morphine to mask the strychnine," says Dr Govender.

"They are peddling a poison, because strychnine is a known poison. Therefore my belief is that they should not be tried for drug peddling but for attempted murder or even murder itself, because there are people dying from this and the dealers know they are putting poison into it."

Anton, a former user and dealer, describes the withdrawal: "You will feel like you are sick, you can't even walk from here to market. Next week, you can't even eat, you can't even smoke, even a cigarette. You can't drink the water you can't eat - you can't do nothing. You can't even sleep in the night. You don't smoke - you look like you're crying,."
Despite popular belief, there were only trace amounts of ARVs in one of the sample.
"It's a matter of what's available to dilute the sample and it also it could even be a marketing ploy, that some dealers are saying they have a better product than others," says Govender.

"But Stocrin has no proven psycho-active effects and its molecular weight is also so heavy, that it doesn't vaporise easily making it almost impossible to smoke."

Whoonga is sold as a powder that is usually mixed with marijuana and smoked.
According to Carol du Toit of the SA National Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Sanca), a few years ago Whoonga was a mixture between marijuana and Stocrin.
"However we have noticed that with our admissions of Whoonga patients, both at outpatient and inpatient level, that the mixture now seems to have progressed more to having a heroin content," says Du Toit.

Agrinet Khuzwayo's only son, Nduduzo, is a Whoonga addict. "He is very angry. He doesn't want to talk to us. He is doing a lot of funny things. He is selling his clothes. He is stealing at home, everything, even our clothes, my dishes," says Agrinet.

Nduduzo started smoking Whoonga four years ago: "Another friend of mine was smoking it. So, just get into it and I just smoked it like that. "
"It's breaking up families. I want to stop," he says, but despite promising to stop this month, he simply doesn't seem to be able to kick the habit.
In Durban, the drug is easily available in the city and in townships, sometimes for merely R20 for a twist of the powder that will last an addict for a day.
As Whoonga spreads through the townships of KwaZulu Natal, so too has the black market trade in pharmaceutical drugs increased.

Although there' s no evidence that antiretroviral drugs such as Stocrin create a high, criminals are robbing AIDS patients of life-saving drugs for the manufacture Whoonga.

Nancy Fias, the Community Outreach Facilitator st St Mary's Hospital in Marianhill, says a number of their patients have been robbed of their ARVs while others are selling their medication to the dealers.
Like Whoonga, Stocrin is also easily available on the black market - particularly outside Durban's hospitals where Health-e bought 24 tablets for R300.
Du Toit believes that not enough is being done to stop Whoonga: "If we have a properly orchestrated approach I have no doubt that we can make a dent in this problem but at the moment the whole approach is quite fragmented."
@'allAfrica'

Bradley Manning could face death: For what?

10 Words You Didn't Know Were Arabic Words

Libya revolt: Rebels say no talks unless Gaddafi goes

Rebels in eastern Libya have said they will not negotiate unless Col Muammar Gaddafi quits and goes into exile.

The National Libyan Council in the city of Benghazi also called for foreign intervention to stop government air strikes on the rebels.
The International Criminal Court said it would investigate Col Gaddafi and his sons for crimes against humanity.
There have been calls in Col Gaddafi's stronghold, Tripoli, for protests against his rule after Friday prayers.
In Benghazi, the opposition National Libyan Council said there was no room for talks, following reports that Col Gaddafi had ordered an intelligence chief to negotiate with the rebels.
'Stalemate' The council is led by former Libyan Interior Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who defected last month.

"If there is any negotiation it will be on one single thing - how Gaddafi is going to leave the country or step down so we can save lives. There is nothing else to negotiate," Ahmed Jabreel, a spokesman for Mr Abdel-Jalil, told Reuters news agency.

The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Benghazi says it appears that neither side has the capacity to move large amounts of manpower or firepower over vast expanses of desert.
He says that raises the grim prospect of a military stalemate and a political vacuum after the revolt that began in the east of the country in mid-February.
Meaningful talks would be difficult, says our correspondent, because Col Gaddafi's only aim is to remain in power and the rebels' goal is to end his 41 years of rule.
Terror in Tripoli At the defiant ruler's stronghold in the capital Tripoli, some residents have called for demonstrations on Friday after weekly Muslim prayers.
Protests last weekend after Friday prayers in several districts of the city were fired on by Gaddafi supporters, witnesses of the shootings have said.

Col Gaddafi's security forces have reportedly carried out a wave of arrests, killings and disappearances in the city in recent days in order to quell the opposition.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama repeatedly called on Col Gaddafi to quit during a White House news conference on Thursday.
"Going forward, we will continue to send a clear message: the violence must stop," he said. "Muammar Gaddafi has lost legitimacy to lead and he must leave."
Some 200,000 migrant workers have now fled Libya, into Egypt, Tunisia and Niger, says the International Organization for Migration.
The rebels, a mixture of citizen militias and army defectors, have been securing the key port of Brega, home to the country's second largest oil facility.
The government launched a new air strike on Thursday at Brega, but missed its oil refinery target and no casualties were reported.
'More mercenaries'

Amid reports that Col Gaddafi has recruited up to 300 more mercenaries from Mali, opposition forces in Brega have been braced for any fresh ground attacks

Gaddafi loyalists have withdrawn west to another oil port, Ras Lanouf, following their defeat in a battle on Wednesday.
The rebels, who are armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, have held funerals for some of the 14 fighters killed in that clash.
The major western rebel-held cities of Zawiya and Misrata have also repelled attacks by Gaddafi loyalists.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said Col Gaddafi and his inner circle were under its spotlight.
The court has identified at least nine incidents that could constitute crimes against humanity, including the alleged killing of 257 people in Benghazi last month.
"During the coming weeks, the office will investigate who are the most responsible for the most serious incidents, for the most serious crimes committed in Libya," he said.
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told the BBC the case was "close to a joke", built purely on media reports.
@'BBC'

Afghanistan and the arithmetic of austerity

♪♫ Tyler The Creator - Yonkers

Twitter Was Act One

Should we cheer or fear cyber vigilantes like Anonymous?

HA!

♪♫ Swans - Sex/God/Sex (Vera 23-11-2010)

Hilarious quote from an interview w/ Michael Gira in today's 'Age' when asked if it was true that the merch stand was selling cigar butts:

"Oh no, I was kidding," he laughs. So you were joking about the vials of semen then? "Oh no, that's for real, I generate a dozen of those a day. Good money in that."

Hate comes to Orange County

The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today released a video of a rally organized by anti-Muslim bigots to protest a February fundraising event held by an American Muslim relief group for relief work and charity in the U.S.
A few hundred protesters showed up to the rally, which was sponsored by groups such as: "We Surround Them OC 912" (a local Tea Party group), Rabbi David Eliezrie of Chabad - Yorba Linda, North Orange County Conservative Coalition, ACT! for America, and Pamela Geller (whose group "Stop the Islamization of America" has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center).
Elected officials Congressmen Ed Royce and Gary Miller, and Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly also attended and spoke at the protest rally.
The event -- held at Yorba Linda Community Center, a facility that has been frequented by Muslim families and businesses over the years -- first became a target of anti-Muslim bigots over two of the fundraiser's speakers, who were to speak on the importance of charity in Islam. Initial attempts of some groups to have the Yorba Linda Community Center and the Yorba Linda City Council cancel the fundraising event failed, followed by the protest.
In a statement, CAIR-LA said:
"We support the First Amendment right of protest\eors anywhere in America to voice their concerns, dissent, and even hatred. However, when our nation's foundational values of inclusiveness, pluralism and equality are attacked by some in favor of calls for advocating hate and violence, then all Americans have a responsibility to challenge and expose such bigotry and those who enable it.
"As the video shows, the rhetoric of the protesters became increasingly venomous toward the families and children who came to attend the ICNA Relief fundraising dinner. Protesters shouted invective statements such as "Go home terrorist," "Muhammad is a pervert, Muhammad is a child molester," "Go home and beat your wife, she needs a good beating" at the event-goers.
"Even more disturbing was the participation and encouragement of elected officials in promoting the hateful protest rally. Villa Park Councilwoman, Deborah Pauly, while addressing the crowd at the rally, appeared to threaten Muslim event-goers. Congressman Ed Royce (R-40), in a troubling trend of disparaging Islam and its followers, added fuel to the fire by encouraging protesters to continue on with their hate-mongering. The attendance of Congressman Gary Miller (R-42) was a clear surprise, since he previously has engaged with all constituents, including Muslims, toward a better America.
"We strongly urge all elected officials in attendance to distance themselves from such an exhibition of hate and bigotry. We further ask residents and elected officials of Yorba Linda, Orange County and other parts of our nation to speak out against such hateful rhetoric and the continued Islamophobia that plagues our nation."
Council on American Islamic Relations-Los Angeles (CAIR-LA), Phone: 714-776-1847, Email: info@losangeles.cair.com
ca.cair.com/losangeles
Via

Bradley Manning Jailed in Cell Naked, Lawyer Says

Frank Zappa guest starring in Miami Vice 1986

Crockett learns that a prominent drug trafficker (Frank Zappa) believes Crockett's alter-ego, Burnett, has stolen $3 million from him, and must find out who set him up before the trafficker's hitmen get to him.
Original air date: March 14, 1986

see also List of Miami Vice episodes

just watched the whole episode on German TV...

Why America won the Second World War

via
WSee the Save Waste Fats for Explosives, 1943 Office of War Information poster promoting governmental recycling during World War II here

♪♫ Motörhead – Ace Of Spades (@ Jimmy Fallon 3/2/11)

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Catch a Fire (1973 - Albumstream)

Catch a Fire was the major label debut for Bob Marley and the Wailers, and it was an international success upon its release in 1973. Although Bob Marley may have been the main voice, every member of the Wailers made valuable contributions and they were never more united in their vision and sound. All the songs were originals, and the instrumentation was minimalistic in order to bring out the passionate, often politically charged lyrics. Much of the appeal of the album lies in its sincerity and sense of purpose -- these are streetwise yet disarmingly idealistic young men who look around themselves and believe they might help change the world through music. Marley sings about the current state of urban poverty ("Concrete Jungle") and connects the present to past injustices ("Slave Driver"), but he is a not a one-trick pony. He is a versatile songwriter who also excels at singing love songs such as his classic "Stir It Up." Peter Tosh sings the lead vocal on two of his own compositions -- his powerful presence and immense talent hint that he would eventually leave for his own successful solo career. More than anything else, however, this marks the emergence of Bob Marley and the international debut of reggae music. Marley would continue to achieve great critical and commercial success during the 1970s, but Catch a Fire is one of the finest reggae albums ever. This album is essential for any music collection. (Vik Iyengar - allmusic; 5/5)

1. Concrete Jungle
2. Slave Driver
3. 400 Years
4. Stop That Train
5. Baby We've Got a Date (Rock It Baby)
6. Stir It Up
7. Kinky Reggae
8. No More Trouble
9. Midnight Ravers
10. High Tide Or Low Tide
11. All Day All Night

ALBUMSTREAM

Bootsy Collins - Don't Take My Funk (2011 - New Single)

New single feat. Bobby Womack

Listen HERE

from his new album
“Tha Funk Capital of the World”
to be released April 25th, 2011

KONONO n°1 - Gaîté Lyrique 3/2/11

01:19:00

Tony Silver - StyleWars (1983)

Calisthenic breakdancing and big, bold graffiti art were in top form and popularity in the U.S. in the early and mid-'80s, and this documentary extols the spirit and the talents of a variety of New York youngsters who were expert in either one or both of these challenging pastimes. Public reactions are wildly varied. On the one hand, the youth brave a police crackdown on graffiti and face barbed-wire fences and guard dogs in the railroad yards where they spray paint subway cars with oversized lettering. On the other hand, their art is shown in a municipal gallery and analyzed with the same seriousness as a Rembrandt or a Renoir. Whether viewers judge the graffiti an "eyesore" or a bit of post-modern expressionism, it is true that both the art and the dancing are incisively presented in this hour-long exploration. (Eleanor Mannikka - allmovies)

via