Thursday 21 April 2011
Heroin.com: Selling Junk Online
Illustration: Curt Merlo
In 2008, New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan began leading a team of undercover investigators targeting the drug dealers who used Craigslist to advertise their wares. She sounded confident.
"It's like shooting fish in a barrel," she told the Daily News. That year, a Citigroup vice president, Mark Rayner, was caught moving ecstasy and cocaine from his Midtown offices using Craigslist. "We see lots of professionals, people with good jobs, doing it," Brennan said.
Three years later, drug dealing on the classified-ads website is still blatant and ubiquitous.
Sellers thinly camouflage their activity by posting ads for "420 T-shirts" or "tickets to the 420 show," using the numerical calling card for marijuana, or referring to "Tina," "T," and "parTy" for crystal meth. "Snow" or "skiing" is a cocaine reference. "Relief" calls up a healthy section of pills: Xanax, Ambien, Ativan, Klonopin, morphine.
Ironically, no search term is more productive at bringing up drug ads than "law enforcement," standard words for a buyer or seller who insists he's not with the NYPD.
Only a man named "Kai," however, appears to sell heroin openly on New York's Craigslist pages. And he's not very subtle at all.
"Want to 'nod out'? Ride the 'H' train," reads one subject line. The body of that advertisement offered "H, d@pe, diesel" for purchase "anywhere in Manhattan public or private." Sometimes he throws in the term "Papaver Somniferum L.," the Latin name of the plant that opium and poppy come from. For good measure, Kai insists in his ads that he's not law enforcement "and you shouldn't be either."
"We continue to conduct investigations into narcotics-related activity on Craigslist," Brennan tells the Voice. "Clearly, Craigslist and social-networking sites provide new opportunities for drug traffickers. It's something we're aware of and continue to investigate." Craigslist itself, however, did not respond to Voice requests for comment.
On a recent evening, Kai—who asked the Voice to use that name as an alias—finishes up a rack of ribs and a slice of cheesecake at a barbecue restaurant in Harlem. It's only 7, but it's been three hours since he last shot up. "I want to use right now," he says, looking nervous. "I'm thinking of how, I'm thinking of how." He takes out a cell phone and double-checks the Craigslist ad he had put up the day before, hoping someone will answer it soon. He sells drugs, he says, to support his own addiction, a fact that gets more obvious every minute since his last fix.
Despite the city's crackdown, Kai says he has gone untouched by law enforcement for the seven years he's been dealing on Craigslist. In his ads, he lays out strict e-mailing rules for his clients: include only a name and cell phone number. If a potential buyer follows the rules to the letter, he sets up a meeting in a public place—but he arrives without drugs. He says he can tell in a few seconds if a potential customer is legit, but makes each buyer lift up their shirt to show him that they're not wearing a wire, and lift up each pant leg to show him that they're not carrying a gun. Small talk builds to questions about drug use and then to specifics like quantity and price. Kai says he doesn't negotiate...
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Hetherington Family Releases Statement on Tim’s Death
It is with great sadness we learned that our son and brother, photographer and filmmaker Tim Hetherington, was killed today in Misrata, Libya by a rocket-propelled grenade. Tim will be remembered for his amazing images and his Academy Award–nominated documentary “Restrepo,” which he co-produced with his friend Sebastian Junger. Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict. He will be forever missed.
Taraf de Haïdouks & Kocani Orkestar - Band Of Gypsies 2 (2011 - Albumstream)
I Am A Gigolo
Pe Drumul Odesei
Mandrulita Mea
Talk To Me, Duso
Turceasca A Lu Kalo
Jarretelle
Où Cours-tu, Nostalgie? Après Toi Mon Amour
Dikhél Khelél
À Couteaux Tirés, Atika
100 Millions
Gypsy Sahara
Taraf de Haïdouks and Kocani Orkestar are undoubtedly two of the most famous and emblematic Balkan Gypsy bands. Started in 1991 in the small Romanian village of Clejani, the “band of honourable brigands” (that’s the literal translation of “Taraf de Haïdouks”) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year by launching an ambitious project: a kind of Balkan big band, in which the 13 Taraf musicians and singers are joined by the 13 members of Macedonia’s Koçani Orkestar, one of the top brass bands around. The big band has recorded a new album, and will be touring from the spring 2011 on.
ALBUMSTREAM
EU decides against stricter net neutrality rules
The European commission has decided against introducing legislation to protect net neutrality, saying media scrutiny and giving consumers enough information about their internet service provider will be sufficient to protect an "open and neutral" internet.
Legislation to prevent telecoms companies from introducing a tiered internet, with some content arriving faster than others, has been ruled out.
In a long-awaited report on its approach to net neutrality, the EU executive on Tuesday said "traffic management", or the prioritising of some packets of information over others, "is necessary to ensure the smooth flow of internet traffic, particularly at times when networks become congested".
Internet service providers have long argued they should be left alone to co-ordinate the flow of data through their networks, a position the commission has decided to endorse.
"There is broad agreement that operators should be allowed to determine their own business models and commercial arrangements," the report continues.
Commissioner Neelie Kroes, head of the EU's Digital Agenda department, said she will continue to monitor the sector for instances of ISPs blocking or throttling access to certain services, especially voice-over-internet-protocol offerings such as Skype.
Brussels admits there have been some instances of unequal treatment of data by certain operators, including throttling of peer-to-peer filesharing or video-streaming in the UK and five other EU states, and blocking or charging extra for VOIP services in six other countries.
But these problems were usually fixed as a result of bad press or via action by regulators, the report concludes: "Many of these issues were solved voluntarily, often through intervention by the [national regulators] or pressure created by adverse media coverage."
However, the commission has asked BEREC, the European electronic communications regulatory group, to investigate the extent of the issue. If by the end of the year Brussels finds that there are persistent problems of blocking, the commission will take additional action.
"If I am not satisfied, I will not hesitate to come up with more stringent measures," said Kroes. These measures could include "guidance" or a law to prohibit blocking of services.
But a "horizontal" bill, akin to that introduced by Chile last year, which goes beyond the problem of blocking and prevents any kind of tiered internet at all, the commission believes is unnecessary.
Last June, Chile became the first jurisdiction in the world to pass net neutrality legislation, forcing ISPs to "ensure access to all types of content, services or applications available on the network and offer a service that does not distinguish content, applications or services".
According to EU digital agenda spokesman Jonathan Todd, this goes too far: "The EU telecoms market is already healthily competitive. If an online service provider is confronted with extra charges for their content, they'll just tell the ISP to take a hike. It's a false debate."
Digital rights advocates for their part accused Brussels of succumbing to lobbying from the telecoms industry, saying consumers are not as able to "vote with their feet" as the commission believes.
"This simplistic spin does not stand the test of reality. In practice, millions of users can only chose one operator to connect to the internet, either because of geographical or commercial constraints," said La Quadrature du Net, a France-based online civil liberties group.
"Ms Kroes is hiding behind false free-market arguments to do nothing at all," added Jérémie Zimmermann, a spokesman for the organisation. He said that infringements of net neutrality are not an abstraction but already common to most mobile internet provision.
"In most EU member states, mobile phone operators agree on engaging in the very same discrimination in their so-called 'mobile internet' offers. These operators simply do not offer access to the universal platform of communications we call 'the internet'."
Leigh Phillips @'The Guardian'
Legislation to prevent telecoms companies from introducing a tiered internet, with some content arriving faster than others, has been ruled out.
In a long-awaited report on its approach to net neutrality, the EU executive on Tuesday said "traffic management", or the prioritising of some packets of information over others, "is necessary to ensure the smooth flow of internet traffic, particularly at times when networks become congested".
Internet service providers have long argued they should be left alone to co-ordinate the flow of data through their networks, a position the commission has decided to endorse.
"There is broad agreement that operators should be allowed to determine their own business models and commercial arrangements," the report continues.
Commissioner Neelie Kroes, head of the EU's Digital Agenda department, said she will continue to monitor the sector for instances of ISPs blocking or throttling access to certain services, especially voice-over-internet-protocol offerings such as Skype.
Brussels admits there have been some instances of unequal treatment of data by certain operators, including throttling of peer-to-peer filesharing or video-streaming in the UK and five other EU states, and blocking or charging extra for VOIP services in six other countries.
But these problems were usually fixed as a result of bad press or via action by regulators, the report concludes: "Many of these issues were solved voluntarily, often through intervention by the [national regulators] or pressure created by adverse media coverage."
However, the commission has asked BEREC, the European electronic communications regulatory group, to investigate the extent of the issue. If by the end of the year Brussels finds that there are persistent problems of blocking, the commission will take additional action.
"If I am not satisfied, I will not hesitate to come up with more stringent measures," said Kroes. These measures could include "guidance" or a law to prohibit blocking of services.
But a "horizontal" bill, akin to that introduced by Chile last year, which goes beyond the problem of blocking and prevents any kind of tiered internet at all, the commission believes is unnecessary.
Last June, Chile became the first jurisdiction in the world to pass net neutrality legislation, forcing ISPs to "ensure access to all types of content, services or applications available on the network and offer a service that does not distinguish content, applications or services".
According to EU digital agenda spokesman Jonathan Todd, this goes too far: "The EU telecoms market is already healthily competitive. If an online service provider is confronted with extra charges for their content, they'll just tell the ISP to take a hike. It's a false debate."
Digital rights advocates for their part accused Brussels of succumbing to lobbying from the telecoms industry, saying consumers are not as able to "vote with their feet" as the commission believes.
"This simplistic spin does not stand the test of reality. In practice, millions of users can only chose one operator to connect to the internet, either because of geographical or commercial constraints," said La Quadrature du Net, a France-based online civil liberties group.
"Ms Kroes is hiding behind false free-market arguments to do nothing at all," added Jérémie Zimmermann, a spokesman for the organisation. He said that infringements of net neutrality are not an abstraction but already common to most mobile internet provision.
"In most EU member states, mobile phone operators agree on engaging in the very same discrimination in their so-called 'mobile internet' offers. These operators simply do not offer access to the universal platform of communications we call 'the internet'."
Leigh Phillips @'The Guardian'
Talk Talk - Live at Montreux 1986
1. Talk talk 2. Dum dum girl 3. Call in the night boy 4. Tomorrow started 5. My foolish friend 6. Life's what you make it 7. Does Caroline know 8. It's you
9. Living in another world 10. Give it up 11. It's my life 12. I don't believe in you 13. Such a shame 14. Rene
1986 was the band’s only appearance at Montreux and caught them at the height of their success. With a set list packed with hit singles and lead singer / main songwriter Mark Hollis’ charismatic performance they delivered an outstanding concert that draws a great response from the packed Swiss crowd.
Line-up:
Mark Hollis – vocals
Paul Webb – bass
Lee Harris – drums
John Turnbull – guitar
Rupert Black – keyboards
Philip Reis – percussion
Leroy Williams – percussion.
Wednesday 20 April 2011
The Architecture of Access to Scientific Knowledge
Lecture by Lawrence Lessig at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, 18 April 2011
SBTRKT - Live From Young Turks x SXSW
Broadcasted on Saturday 19th March 2011
Tracklist & video at http://boilerroom.tv
(Thanx Happyyman!)
BBC：艾未未专题纪录片（Ai Weiwei, Without Fear or Favor）
“Missing.Paul Gallagher @'Dangerous Minds'
Call Chinese Ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui.
Demand the release of artist Ai Weiwei
202-495-2266.”
Bradley Manning moved to new prison
The US soldier accused of leaking a trove of secret government documents later published by the Wikileaks website is to be moved to a military prison in Kansas, officials have said.
Pte First Class Bradley Manning has been held pending court martial at a Marine Corps base in Virginia.His transfer comes amid international criticism of his treatment.
His supporters say he has been confined to a cell for 23 hours a day and forced regularly to undress.
At a press conference at the Pentagon on Tuesday, defence department general counsel Jeh Johnson said he would be moved to a new pre-trial jail at Fort Leavenworth, in the state of Kansas, imminently.
Mr Johnson said the transfer should not be interpreted as a criticism of Pte Manning's treatment at the Marine base in Quantico.
Officials have denied Pte Manning has been mistreated, though last month a top US state department official, spokesman PJ Crowley, resigned after saying the military's treatment of the Wikileaks suspect was "ridiculous and counterproductive".
Pte Manning, an intelligence analyst who joined the US Army in 2007, is suspected of leaking 720,000 diplomatic and military documents, including a database of military records from the Iraq war, Afghan war records, classified diplomatic cables and other materials.
In the past year, Wikileaks has published troves of documents it titled the Iraq War Logs, the Afghan War Diary, and reams of secret US state department cables spanning five decades.
Pte Manning has been charged with using unauthorised software on government computers to download classified information and to make intelligence available to "the enemy", and other counts related to leaking intelligence and theft of public records.
@'BBC'
Pentangle to reform
@'The Wire'
Adrian Sherwood Interview
...A lot of what you did - and with you just saying before that the racial atmosphere was a lot more tense in the early 80s, and you were mixing up punk and reggae and black and white artists - had an inherently political aspect. Did you see what you were doing as political?
AS: I think that reggae was carrying a political message because they were talking about sufferation, Garveyism, the back to African movement, pan-Africanism, the rasta thing, which was about the improvement of black people and the proudness of being black and the need for revolution. And over here you had the punk movement which was like 'I'm so bloody bored, can't we do what Guy Fawkes failed to do - blow up the place'... disenchanted white youth. And they were all kids who went to school together, and a lot of white kids were into reggae so it brought it all together. And on our front I had Mark Stewart, who was very politicised, and he had made The Pop Group albums, saying we tolerate mass murder, we're all prostitutes etc. By the time I was working with him and we were doing all his records which were all coming through On-U, and Tackhead after that... all that stuff was like news on the beat, as we called it. We were cutting up information, and Mark was our Gysin or Burroughs or something.
But I was brought up listening to the news in England, and you think 'Oh those poor Israelis how they're suffering' and you never heard anything about what they did to Palestine, or what went on. You were depoliticised from quite an early age in this country. But in the 70s there were loads of movements for workers' rights, the political situation... it was all put much more in your face, and it's only now I think we went through a gap for 20 years where I think people are comfortable with making money, they bought into the whole Thatcher thing. So I think with On-U, we were attempting to be as political as possible. I had to learn things - I learned lots of things off people about what really goes on. I didn't know the txtent of what goes on in the Middle East, about American Foreign Policy, the destabilising of governments like Nicaragua. I had to be taught that myself. I wasn't taught that by my parents or the school system...
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Adrian Sherwood with Bonjo from African Head Charge
Drilling Down Documents: Natural Gas's Toxic Waste
Wells for extracting natural gas, like these in Colorado, are a growing source of energy but can also pose hazards.
@'New York Times Interactive'
<<<>>>
Fracking Resource Guide Regulation Is Lax for Water From Gas Wells
..the relatively new drilling method — known as high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking — carries significant environmental risks. It involves injecting huge amounts of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, at high pressures to break up rock formations and release the gas.
With hydrofracking, a well can produce over a million gallons of wastewater that is often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground. Other carcinogenic materials can be added to the wastewater by the chemicals used in the hydrofracking itself.
While the existence of the toxic wastes has been reported, thousands of internal documents obtained by The New York Times from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.
The documents reveal that the wastewater, which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle.
Other documents and interviews show that many E.P.A. scientists are alarmed, warning that the drilling waste is a threat to drinking water in Pennsylvania. Their concern is based partly on a 2009 study, never made public, written by an E.P.A. consultant who concluded that some sewage treatment plants were incapable of removing certain drilling waste contaminants and were probably violating the law.
The Times also found never-reported studies by the E.P.A. and a confidential study by the drilling industry that all concluded that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways.
But the E.P.A. has not intervened....
Tuesday 19 April 2011
'I want to be a magnet for tapes' (Eno on the founding of Obscure Records)
The name might be commercial coquetry, but Island Records are not promoting their new Obscure label as mass appeal music, though a price of £1.99 should encourage people to take a chance. With low recording costs, and minimal promotion, the flexible project of 10 to 12 records a year is not a major investment. The most amazing thing about the project is that a rock record company should be starting a series devoted to minority music at all. The next most amazing thing is that the idea came from one of their own recording artists, Brian Eno, late of Roxy Music.
I presented this idea to Island by saying that they ought to be working towards the kind of research and development situation that you find in larger industries. This idea is to launch a few things out of the mainstream and watch their progress very closely. Most record companies do the opposite; put out a lot of mainstream projects, and the most successful is pursued in a big way, and the others quickly dropped. In business terms, this isn't a very healthy situation. Multi-national industries exploit a lot of different things at once, so that if the market takes a sudden turn in a different direction, they've already got a number of mutations that can cope with it. So it did have a business rationale. The first five Obscure albums will have cost much less than a single rock album. An ordinary rock album costs about £10,000. These will have cost about £6,000. I think a company of this size should be able to afford this kind of experiment.
All the time I've been signed to Island, I've been very interested in their affairs. Most musicians aren't, and regard the record company as a kind of enemy, really. I don't regard it as that and always try to stimulate some kind of co-operation between us.
I only started the thing on the assumption that Island would market and distribute them. As it is, I do everything, including the accounts, the pressing, and making a finished art-work for the cover. So I present them with a finished record, in fact.
Eno first came to rock in 1968. But before that, his interest in music had been encouraged at art school by Tom Phillips. Phillips introduced him to the kind of experimental musicians whose background is often neither classical nor popular, which hints at the kind of territory Obscure records have so far explored:
My main reason for starting the venture was that I wanted to be in a position where I heard anything interesting that was going on. I wanted to be a magnet for tapes. Otherwise, it's a case of rooting through music history to find enough interesting pieces which can change sufficiently to justify a new recording. We're going to do a Cage percussion album well as those pieces we've already done, since a lot of his percussion music hasn't been recorded. Another interesting thing is to put older music through new recording techniques, not treating them as performances that happen to be in front of microphones, but making a record with a piece of music.
With the early stages, the first 12 albums or so, I want to give the impression that the label is capable of taking a very wide range of material. But I'm not interested in releasing records of young rock groups. The main decision is whether I like a piece or not. I think the borderline area between rock and experimental is a very interesting one. The present stance is: Whatever happens, I'm not going to use my intellect. The experimental stance is: 'Whatever happens, I'm only going to use my intellect.'...
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Adrian Jack @'Time Out' (March 15-18, 1975)
Scar Art by He Duoling (何多苓)
“I started painting at a very young age. People of my generation failed to determine our own destinies. But thanks to my mother, who contributed my painting to a children’s magazine, my works was published for the first time. This experience is the driving force behind my accomplishments,” he said.
He’s early oil paintings were done with fine brushes, featuring themes like Chairman Mao on Jinggang Mountain. He said he was also facinated by the bleakness in Andrew Wyeth's nostalgic realist works in the 80s, so he imitate Wyeth and became known for works like The Little Long-tail Pheasant, The Beautiful Crow and Reviving Spring Breeze...
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The Sewing Machine Orchestra
Sewing machine orchestra is the first version of a performance created by Martin Messier. the basic sounds used in this performance consist entirely of the acoustic noises produced by 8 sewing machines, amplified by means of microcontacts and process by a computer.
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