Thursday, 14 July 2011

Billy Bragg: Liverpool was right about News International all along

20th anniversary of Hillsborough disaster

Football scarves from around the world pictured at the Hillsborough memorial on the 20th anniversary of the disaster in which 96 fans died. Many Liverpudlians still boycott the Sun over its coverage of the disaster. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
For the past 22 years, people in Liverpool have boycotted the Sun newspaper because of the lies that it printed about the behaviour of Liverpool FC fans at the Hillsborough disaster. Ninety-six people were crushed to death at Hillsborough in Sheffield on 15 April 1989. The Sun ran a front page story that accused Liverpool supporters of variously robbing and urinating on the dead bodies of the victims as they were laid along the touchline. The reports were totally unfounded. Since then, many people in Liverpool have refused to buy the Sun on principle.As I listened to the unfolding reports of the phone-hacking story last week, it occurred to me that the scousers had been right about News International all along.
@'The Guardian'

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Don't Buy The Sun

Watch How A Leica Camera Lens Is Made

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Psychogeography of the darkweb

Dérive on the Shadownet

A tale of two worlds: Apocalypse, 4Chan, WikiLeaks and the silent protocol wars

There is something eerie about the WikiLeaks logo. It works as a sort of graphic manifesto, an image of dense political content stating a notion of ample consequences. A cosmic sandglass encloses a duplicated globe seen from an angle that puts Iraqi territory at the centre. Inside this device the upper and darker planet is exchanged, drip by drip, for a new one. The power of the image lies in the sense of inexorability it conveys, alluding to earthly absolutes like the flow of time and the force of gravity. The WikiLeaks symbol can be read as a bullish threat that grants the upper world no room for hope. The logo narrates a gradual apocalypse, and by articulating this process of transformation through the image of the leak, WikiLeaks defines itself as the critical agent in the becoming of a new world.
What has become manifest since late November 2010, with the release of what is now known as ‘The US Embassy Cables’, is that the narrative implicit in the WikiLeaks logo, that of a world disjunct, not only fits the WikiLeaks saga but describes a greater struggle of global power, held diffusely by transnational corporations and enforced by governments around the world. This power is under attack by a relatively new actor that can be called, for now, the autonomous network.
The conditions that allow the network to challenge the power of governments and corporations can be traced to the origin of the Internet and the Cold War zeitgeist that made the network we know possible. It was only because Cold War strategists had to narrate to themselves the unfolding of what was known as the ‘worst-case scenario’ (the moment after a thermonuclear apocalypse was under way) that a computer network with the characteristics of the Internet was implemented. The idea of the apocalypse was so extraordinary that it allowed for the radical thinking that resulted in the TCP/IP computer protocol suite, a resilient network protocol that makes the end user of the network its primary agent. The design philosophy of the Internet protocols represents a clean break from the epistemes and continuums that had historically informed the evolution of Western power, as traced by Foucault and Deleuze from sovereign societies to disciplinary societies to societies of control.
The main goal of the early Internet was to provide a survivor with a versatile tool that could make him an empowered agent in an utterly hostile post-apocalyptic world. The TCP/IP protocol suite structures the network around three exceptional characteristics: (1) it essentially bypasses the need for central structures, establishing a network based on the principle of end-to-end (or peer-to-peer) communication; (2) it provides maximum resilience of communication in a hostile environment through the model of distribution; and (3) it is neutral to the information being distributed. These characteristics at the protocol level defined the network as, literally, out of control.
‘The early Internet was so accidental, it also was free and open in this sense [as a commons]’,1 Steve Wozniak says. To produce a commons is indeed an accident for Empire. Dismissed as a never-meant-for-the-masses autonomous zone, by and for the military and academia, it was allowed to evolve out of control. But this accident that happened because of daydreaming an extreme future never stopped happening. It evolved. At some point it gained an accessible graphic interface, and spilled all over the globe. By then it was too late to disarm what is now the increasingly contentious coexistence of two worlds, as the WikiLeaks logo registers. One world is a pre-apocalyptic capitalistic society of individualism, profit and control; the other a post-apocalyptic community of self-regulating collaborative survivors. The conflict arises from an essential paradox: because the web exists, both worlds need it in order to prevail over the other...

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Nicolas Mendoza @'Radical Philosophy'

Scuba - Essential Mix (Live @ Sonar 2011)

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Scuba Live @ Sonar 25.Jun.2011
Boddika ‘Rubba’ Swamp81
Brawther ‘Spaceman Funk (George FitzGerald Remix)’ Secretsundaze
Boddika ‘Windy’
Jon Convex ‘Pop That P’
Deadboy ‘Wish U Were Here’ Numbers
SCB ‘Mace’ SCB
Jichael Mackson ‘Gti’ Stock5
Paul Woolford & Psychotron ‘Stolen’
Joy O ‘Ellipsis'
Maurice Donovan ‘Babeh’ SSSSS
Rod ‘Malmok One’ Klockworks
Scuba ‘Adrenalin’
Beaumont ‘Lucky’ Kinnego
Marcel Dettmann ‘Lattice’ MDR
SCB ‘Loss’ Aus Music
Boddika ‘Acid Battery’
Tommy Four Seven ‘Surma’ CLR
Scuba ‘Feel It’ Hotflush
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New Actress track (Free download)

Actress – Parallel World

Ben Wedeman and CNN crew under fire in Libya July 12th 2011

This Is War: Watch the Libyan Revolution Explode through the Lens of a Helmet Cam

Know Your Rights!

Is Palestine Next?

Mr Scruff live DJ mix from Band On The Wall, Manchester (July 9th 2011)

Big thanks to everyone at Saturday's Band on the Wall gig, a lovely mixed crowd as always! This mix has an exceedingly mellow intro, so put your feet up, relax & press play!
To download this mix (for 3 weeks only) go to http://www.mrscruff.com, click on 'download code' & enter the code 'Bs97kw'. In return, it would be great if you would sign up to the Mr. Scruff mailing list (if you haven't already).. link here.. http://www.mrscruff.com/showscreen.php?site_id=9&screentype=folder&screenid=434

A Street that You Can Bounce On

Vodafone Hacked - Root Password published

The Hacker's Choice (http://www.thc.org) announced a security problem with Vodafone's Mobile Phone Network today.

An attacker can listen to _any_ UK Vodafone customer's phone call.

An attacker can exploit a vulnerability in 3G/UMTS/WCDMA - the latest and most secure mobile phone standard in use today.

The technical details are available at http://wiki.thc.org/vodafone.

THC was not immediately available for comments but an associated member of the group commented that 'the problem lies within Vodafone's Sure Signal / Femto equipment'.

A Femto Cell is a tiny little home router which boosts the 3G Phone signal. It's available from the Vodafone Store to any customer for 160 GBP.

THC managed to reverse engineer - a process of revealing the secrets - of the equipment. THC is now able to turn this Femto Cell into a full blown 3G/UMTC/WCDMA interception device...

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@'The Hacker's Choice'

Experimental Cartography: The Map as Art

Corriette Schoenaerts - 'Europe' 2005

My Time Undercover at The News of the World

Ian Katz: ‘It got pretty lonely’ covering News International scandal

In the Murdoch Hacking Scandal, Roger Ailes Stands to Gain

The Edge Pens Personal Letter To Baltimore Sun Over U2 Tax Evasion Accusations

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

HA!

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HA!

Steve Bell

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

♪♫ Warpaint - Warpaint

What Google+ circles really mean...

(Click to enlarge)
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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:
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YouTube brainless: Noni Hazelhurst hits back over storybook blue

Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Revealed

Ghostfunk - Max Tannone

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
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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...

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Sarah Seltzer @'AlterNet'

Darryl “DMC” McDaniels Explains Overcoming Alcoholism, Depression and Spasmodic Dysphonia

Can with Magic Michael - Live in Hannover Germany April 11 1976 (SBD)

(1) Vitamin C
(2) One More Night
(3) Bel Air
(4) Dizzy Dizzy
Magic Michael can also be found on the Greasy Truckers Party album from 1972 and had one track 'Little By Little' produced by Dave Edmunds on 'A Bunch of Stiffs'
Get it
HERE
Following on from Richard Metzger's post on Magic Michael over at Dangerous Minds the other day here's something I originally posted on the late, great 'Pathway To Unknown Worlds'.