Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,494 Al Green - Call Me
26 minutes ago
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Westminster City council: Parliament Square's permanent protest camp had to go
Peace protester Brian Haws sits handcuffed after being arrested by police on Parliament Square ahead of the Queen's speech. Photograph: Ian Nicholson/PA
For weeks, a permanent Glastonbury has been set up on Parliament Square. While we all support peaceful protest, it is completely unacceptable for this public square to become a campsite in the heart of central London, when it is meant to be a place for everyone to enjoy. We welcome the mayor's plans to take action and remove the protestors as it is unfair for a major part of our city to be occupied and turned into a no-go area by vociferous minorities, however laudable their causes of land reform, sustainability and self-sufficiency may be.
The campsite may have been dubbed "democracy village" by some, but what the protestors have effectively been doing is taking away others' freedoms.
Londoners and visitors have not been able to enjoy the public square when more than 40 tents prevent them from walking across it and enjoying it. Every day while the protestors remain, our street cleansing teams are having to dispose of at least a tent's worth of waste from the square. In addition, the creation of a permanent home on the square has stopped others, with causes that are just as important, from being able to protest there. It is not right that anyone else who wants to highlight an issue cannot take their cause to the square because it is overcrowded with tents, compost lavatories, an oak sapling and vegetable plots.
As well as the disruption caused to ordinary workers and tourists who are prevented from going about their daily business and enjoying the Unesco world heritage site, the police have been diverted from policing local communities and tackling crime. It is clear that the present legislation is not working and new laws are required to ensure everyone can enjoy the square and give other groups the opportunity to legally protest there. New legislation is urgently needed to enable the police to intervene effectively in cases of prolonged demonstrations, or where there are real public order or nuisance problems. We need powers to regulate and police the square.
In Westminster, we want to see effective legislation, backing the police to do what is appropriate in a civil, democratic and peaceful society. Parliament needs to turn its mind to this and pass the necessary laws as soon as possible. We want to work with the police and the Greater London Assembly to make sure that this situation does not happen again, in order that everyone – be they workers, tourists or other protestors – can use the square. We hope that the campsite is removed as soon as possible.
Parliament Square anti-war, peace camp protester, Brian Haw arrested
Anti-war campaigner Mr Haw, who has been camping there since 2001, was held as police searched the
“peace camp”.
Another protester Barbara Tucker, who has also been camping outside the Houses of Parliament, was arrested.
Ms Tucker was heard saying on BBC London 94.9: “You can’t arrest him [Mr Haw], you don’t have a search order.”
High Court action
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that two people had been arrested in Parliament Square at about 0800 BST for obstructing police.
Police with sniffer dogs searched the collection of tents opposite the Houses of Parliament before the Queen arrived at the state opening of Parliament.
Phoenix, an environmental activist who has been living in the camp, witnessed the arrests.
He said: “I didn’t like the way he was held in a stress position and was taken off.
“He was carried off by four officers with his whole body weight on his forward shoulders…he wanted his crutches.”
Mr Haw, of Redditch, Worcestershire, set up his camp in protest against sanctions on Iraq and then over the war.
In 2007, he won a legal battle to remain in place due to a drafting error in a new law banning unauthorised protests in Westminster.
Since 1 May several other tents and flags have cropped up on the green, which has been dubbed Democracy Village by campaigners, who include anti-war demonstrators, climate change activists, communists and anarchists, as well as some homeless people.
The green is owned by the Greater London Authority.
The Mayor of London’s office said Mayor Boris Johnson was seeking to apply to the High Court over the camp. But the spokesman added he had nothing to do with the police searches.
“The mayor respects the right to demonstrate, however the scale and impact of the protest is now doing considerable damage to the square and preventing its peaceful use by other Londoners – including those who may wish to have an authorised protest,” he said.
“As a result he has given GLA officers the authority to apply to the High Court to begin legal proceedings for trespass.”
Councillor Colin Barrow, Leader of Westminster City Council, backed the legal action.
“We felt that the hijacking of Parliament Square, one of London’s historic public spaces, needed to be brought to an end,” he said.
Another POV...musn't say anything, stay polite...
Konx-om-Pax - Display Copy Mix
Glasgow-based director, animator and sound designer Konx-om-Pax aka Tom Scholefield (designer/director for Hudson Mohawke and Jamie Lidell amongst others) has put together this exclusive mix for The Wire as part of his Display Copy project.
Along with being a studio and record label, Display Copy is also a club night in Glasgow. Forthcoming gigs scheduled are: Oneohtrix Point Never, Tomutonttu, DJ set from Konx-om-Pax and special guests. Glasgow Artschool, 29 May, 11pm–3am, £5/6. Gescom, Konx-om-Pax and Guy Veale, Glasgow Ivy Bar, 4 June, 8pm–12am, free.
Click here to download Knox-om-Pax’s Display Copy mix (1h 38m, tracklist below)
1. City Scum Shot, “The Bamboo Vein”
2. Grippers Nother Onesers, “After Dark Cravings”
3. Ducktails, “Seagull’s Flight”
4. Dolphins Into The Future, “Lone Voyager”
5. Tod Dockstader, “Knockwhistle”
6. Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan, “The Visitor from Inner Space”
7. Bruce Haack (Miss Nelson And Bruce), “Mudra”
8. Conrad Schnitzler, “Trigger One 2″
9. Irsol, “Concentration”
10. Tolerance, “Sacrifice”
11. Stephen Mallinder, “Length of Time”
12. David Fenech, “Poteaux/Feux”
13. Coil, “Who’ll Fall”
14. Throbbing Gristle, “Painless Childbirth”
15. Team Doyobi, “Music For Cat”
16. Alan Sparhawk, “17.53″
17. Zoviet France, “Fire Sticks”
18. Konx-om-Pax, “At Home With Mum & Dad”
19. Chris Carter, “Clouds”
20. Sir Richard Bishop, “Smashana”
21. Erkki Kurenniemi, “Sähkösoittimen Ääniä #4 (1971)”
22. The Goslings, “Overnight”
23. Konx-om-Pax, “Hurt Face”
24. Pocahaunted, “Chinatown”
25. Konx-om-Pax, “Jamie Mono Tape”
26. Current 93 & Nick Cave, “Patripassian”
27. Popol Vuh, “Through Pains to Heaven”
28. Alexandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry, “Tarot Will
Teach You/Burn Your Money”
29. Nicholas and Gallivan with Larry Young, “Angles Wing”
30. Chris Corsano, “How Should You Throw It On Other Occasions?”
31. Androids Of Mu, “Atomic X”
32. Martin Creed, “Fuck Off”
2. Grippers Nother Onesers, “After Dark Cravings”
3. Ducktails, “Seagull’s Flight”
4. Dolphins Into The Future, “Lone Voyager”
5. Tod Dockstader, “Knockwhistle”
6. Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan, “The Visitor from Inner Space”
7. Bruce Haack (Miss Nelson And Bruce), “Mudra”
8. Conrad Schnitzler, “Trigger One 2″
9. Irsol, “Concentration”
10. Tolerance, “Sacrifice”
11. Stephen Mallinder, “Length of Time”
12. David Fenech, “Poteaux/Feux”
13. Coil, “Who’ll Fall”
14. Throbbing Gristle, “Painless Childbirth”
15. Team Doyobi, “Music For Cat”
16. Alan Sparhawk, “17.53″
17. Zoviet France, “Fire Sticks”
18. Konx-om-Pax, “At Home With Mum & Dad”
19. Chris Carter, “Clouds”
20. Sir Richard Bishop, “Smashana”
21. Erkki Kurenniemi, “Sähkösoittimen Ääniä #4 (1971)”
22. The Goslings, “Overnight”
23. Konx-om-Pax, “Hurt Face”
24. Pocahaunted, “Chinatown”
25. Konx-om-Pax, “Jamie Mono Tape”
26. Current 93 & Nick Cave, “Patripassian”
27. Popol Vuh, “Through Pains to Heaven”
28. Alexandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry, “Tarot Will
Teach You/Burn Your Money”
29. Nicholas and Gallivan with Larry Young, “Angles Wing”
30. Chris Corsano, “How Should You Throw It On Other Occasions?”
31. Androids Of Mu, “Atomic X”
32. Martin Creed, “Fuck Off”
BPGlobalPR The ocean looks just a bit slimmer today. Dressing it in black really did the trick! #bpcares
♪♫ Josh Ritter - Mexican Home
From the album of John Prine covers 'Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows' which also features Lambchop, Bon Iver, The Avett Brothers and many more.
Prison Beauty Pageants
Instead of a modeling contract, the winner of this Siberian prison's beauty contest gets early release. Too bad life on the outside is just as tough.
Final Jay Bennett Solo Album to Be Released as Free Download
Donations accepted to benefit the Jay Bennett Foundation 
Jay Bennett: "Twice a Year"
Jay Bennett: "M Plates"
In a press release, Jay's brother Jeff Bennett said, "Those of us who loved Jay lost a son, a brother, a collaborator and a loyal friend. The world lost a gifted musician, thoughtful song-writer and uniquely creative force in the studio who was always working to make music better. This album is part of a larger effort to honor Jay's memory and enhance his legacy by exposing more people to his music and by supporting charitable efforts to make the world a better place."
Last May, former Wilco multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett died of a painkiller overdose at the age of 45. To commemorate the one-year anniversary of Bennett's death, Bennett's mother Jan and brother Jeff have set up a foundation in his name. According to the Jay Bennett Foundation's website, the foundation will support "music and education."
On July 10, the Foundation will release Bennett's final solo album, Kicking at the Perfumed Air, as a free download. Though the download is free, the Foundation will accept donations, which will benefit the Foundation and its partner charities. You'll also be able to buy a physical copy of the album on CD, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Foundation.
Right now, you can download two songs from the album:On July 10, the Foundation will release Bennett's final solo album, Kicking at the Perfumed Air, as a free download. Though the download is free, the Foundation will accept donations, which will benefit the Foundation and its partner charities. You'll also be able to buy a physical copy of the album on CD, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Foundation.
Jay Bennett: "Twice a Year"
Jay Bennett: "M Plates"
In a press release, Jay's brother Jeff Bennett said, "Those of us who loved Jay lost a son, a brother, a collaborator and a loyal friend. The world lost a gifted musician, thoughtful song-writer and uniquely creative force in the studio who was always working to make music better. This album is part of a larger effort to honor Jay's memory and enhance his legacy by exposing more people to his music and by supporting charitable efforts to make the world a better place."
Tom Breihan @'Pitchfork'
Liverpool FC set to unveil Heysel tragedy tribute at Anfield
Liverpool are planning to commemorate the Heysel tragedy this Wednesday by installing a permanent memorial at Anfield.
Thirty-nine supporters died in Brussel's crumbling Heysel Stadium after a wall collapsed amidst ugly scenes between English and Italian fans.
Christian Purslow and Philip Nash will head a delegation of Liverpool officials flying to Turin this week ahead of Saturday's 25th anniversary to meet Juventus officials to mark the event that shadowed the 1985 European Cup final between the two sides.
Since the tragedy, both Liverpool and its supporters have attempted to atone for the mistakes made on that night by offering an olive branch to their Serie A counterparts with a series of bridge-building initiatives.
But tensions ran high when the two sides were paired together in the quarter final of the Champions League in 2005, as Juventus fans turned their back on a mosaic at Anfield designed to offer an apology for the horrors of Heysel.
A plaque is set to be unveiled outside the Centenary Stand at Anfield to commemorate the lives of the 39 victims with Phil Neal, the Liverpool captain on that fateful night, being joined by Juve legend Sergio Brio and Gianluca Pessoto, the club's director of youth development.
Monday, 24 May 2010
Mick Jagger: 'My upbringing kept me stable'
The previous evening, Sir Mick Jagger, speaking fluent, faultless French, had introduced the premiere of Stones In Exile at the Cannes Film Festival, a new documentary that charts the making of what is regarded as one of the finest albums in rock history amid scenes of bacchanalian excess.
It must be odd, I suggest, to look at one's younger self in such detail. "It's a bit like poring over a family album," he says. "I'm not nostalgic for that time, but it was a good time and it was interesting to look at what was there."
There was a dark side to this particular rock family, of course. What happened over those long, hot summer months of 1971 in Provence – just an hour's drive away from where Jagger sits today – has become the stuff of rock legend, as the band recorded in the basement of guitarist Keith Richards's Villa Nellcote, and a rapidly increasing group of hangers-on partied around them.
Richards and his then-partner, Anita Pallenberg, were both descending into heroin addiction; bass player Bill Wyman was desperately homesick for Branston pickle and English milk; and guitarist Mick Taylor – who had replaced original member Brian Jones who had died in 1969 – was overawed by the rock star lifestyle on display. Jagger himself remembers it all with affection.
"I don't regret anything and I'm very fond of all of it. It was a wonderful time. You can paint it in a very dark manner – you know, it was decadent – and, yes, it was quite decadent – but decadence is very enjoyable.
"Was it dark? Yes, it was dark. But it was also a very beautiful place. We were in France in the sun and, even though we had no money, we all managed to rent beautiful houses. I had a wonderful house near Antibes with a swimming pool and a lovely lawn. I enjoyed my time in the south of France. It got a bit crazy at the end – there were all these hangers-on – but we just closed up and left."
Back in those days, the rebel Stones were under siege, fleeing Britain, where the Inland Revenue were hot on their trail in pursuit of unpaid taxes. Despite almost a decade of hits and sell-out tours, they were penniless, thanks to bad management and a punitive UK tax rate of 90p in the pound. Moving to the south of France to record a new album, after their acrimonious split with manager Allen Klein, seemed like the best solution.
"It was the most convenient thing to do financially," says Jagger. "Taxes were very punitive and, through our own fault and other people's fault, we had not been very good at looking after our money. It was just that time. If it had been 20 years later, we wouldn't have had that same problem.
"We were broke. But we got money from the record company to fund our album, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to come down here and live in a nice way. We had a lot of back taxes to pay and that was the only way we could do it at that time."
Although each of the five Stones had their own villas, they recorded in the basement of Richards's rented house, which quickly became party central. Jagger admits that he took drugs, but never went as far as Richards.
"We all did excessive things, but I don't remember it being particularly bad in the south of France. [In the film] you see it like it is, it's a very pleasant place, really. I've had a lot of unstable moments – everyone does in their life – but I had a very centred upbringing."
Jagger grew up in Dartford, Kent, in a stable, middle-class family, the eldest of two boys. His parents – Basil, a teacher, and Eva, a hairdresser – instilled values that kept him from going off the rails, he says.
"Yes, I think so. When you are young and you have a very close family life, it helps you be centred for later. If you don't have a very stable upbringing, I think it can be difficult."
He has seven children himself, by four different mothers, including four with Jerry Hall. Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, 26, is now working as a model and actress. "We talk a lot," he says. "We chat about the business she's in. What advice do I give her? Don't take it too seriously. And don't take life too seriously – always remember that it's a passing fad."
While Richards and the hangers-on partied at his villa, Jagger would drop in to record and then retreat to the tranquillity of his own rented house.
"I was pretty centred. I had a very nice house and garden, and a really nice swimming pool – and I never had anything quite like that before. I had a friend who was a falconer who used to come and train his falcons in my garden. That was very restful. It wasn't mad, really, for me, to be honest."
Drugs have become part of the myth surrounding the Stones, and while Jagger – who married his first wife, Bianca, during the exile in France – may have stayed away from the worst excesses, the film does have some shocking moments. Not least, the son of one of the backing musicians – at the time just eight years old – telling the film-makers that his main function was to roll joints for whoever wanted them.
"You don't see anything that bad, do you?" Jagger protests in mock outrage. "Lots of children running around rolling joints. And, you know, people making music. It's pretty much what I imagine most people think being in a rock band is all about.
"But yes, you are right to a certain extent, excess was the order of the day. But you get excesses now in consumption of other things like consumer goods."
His attitude to drugs today is still controversial, suggesting on an American TV chat show recently that all drugs should be legalised, with a trial period where they are decriminalised in a small, contained community, such as the Isle of Man.
"Legalising drugs is an issue that every government, and every police force, in fact, has done studies on. I think the British police force came out at one point and said they thought they should be legalised.
"It's a subject fraught with difficulties because it's not an easy thing to do. You can't just tick it off and go, 'OK, all drugs are legalised…'. But having drugs illegal is so much of a problem because, as the police in any country will tell you, there's a lot of violence at the user-end of drugs, people steal money to get drugs, and so on. And at the other end, the supply end of the chain, there's a lot of violence too, as you see in Mexico now, for instance.
"So that's what I said. And I said if you want to try legalising it, you should do it in a small community – and I jocularly said that when they have a new mobile phone system, they always try it out in the Isle of Man. After I'd said it, I thought: 'Oh, either they are going to love this on the Isle of Man or they are going to hate it…' I also said Iceland and then I thought, 'Oh God, Iceland, the banking crisis and then the volcano, and now I'm saying they should legalise drugs there and they're not going to like it…'
"It was slightly jocular. But there is a seriousness there – they did try legalising drugs in Amsterdam and the rest of Holland, with varied results, you might say. There were good results and not-so-good results. I think it's good to have a debate, an ongoing debate, and it's a very serious issue, but it is an issue that needs to be addressed because the violence of the supplier has got really, really bad. If you ask any police force, a lot of the crimes they deal with have to do with drugs."
Jagger has been out of the country since Britain's new coalition government took power. Although he doesn't reveal which party he voted for, he is intrigued by the Conservative-Liberal pact, and hopes that the alliance will bring radical changes to the country.
"I'm very interested in politics, and I think it's fascinating what's going on. Every day is something different, and we'll see how radical the change is.
"The thing about society is that you get a government, and society changes either very little or a lot. During the Thatcher years, there was a big change in society; even during the Blair years, even though it was a bit imperceptible, there was a large change in society. We were in a bit of a holding pattern with the Gordon Brown government, and everyone knew we were. It was sort of more of the same for the last two years."
Jagger today has a personal fortune estimated at more than £300 million. The time in Provence recording Exile On Main Street marked a sea change in the financial fortunes of the band, and they went on to become one of the most successful groups of all time. Creatively, though, they never quite scaled the heights of that remarkable, eclectic album infused with blues, country and soul.
The reissued album, with six bonus tracks unearthed and reworked by Jagger and co, is on course today to become the band's first number one in 16 years. "It's my finest hour!" he laughs. "Well, it's certainly good and it was certainly a creative period. It's a very good album but whether it's the best, I don't know. I don't really have favourites."
The Stones have tentative plans for a limited tour where they would perform the album in its entirety. And he will keep on working until he drops, because, well, that's what he does.
"Everyone's life comes to an end. We'll all die, we all have the same fate, but I think you should just keep going while you can, doing what you like."
Martyn Palmer @'The Telegraph'
FACT mix 152: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
OK, there’s no Single Most Influential Musician of One Said Period. Music – and indeed, the world – doesn’t work like that. But if you were to assemble some royal pantheon of the most influencial musicians of the last ten to fifteen years, then Ariel Pink would be near the top of the pile.
Self-releasing bedroom pop records since the late ’90s, where Ariel tributed the AM radio of days gone by, layering his own samples with beat-boxed drums and vocals, he was eventually picked up on by Animal Collective, who released his classic The Doldrums on their Paw Tracks label. Suddenly, people started to pick up on Ariel’s music – most notably, the hauntology massive, who discussed, tributed and blogged about his work in depth, and the hypnagogic pop brigade (Pocahaunted, Washed Out, Ducktails, etc), upon whom he’s the single most significant influence.
While the early Ariel Pink releases were self-produced, his new album, and first for the 4AD label, Before Today (described by Ariel in a recent interview with FACT as “a combination of visions … a game of roulette”) was recorded with the full Haunted Graffiti band, mostly in the House of Blues studio with producer Sunny Levine (Quincy Jones’ grandson) and engineer Rik Pekkonen. The full Haunted Graffiti band have compiled this FACT mix along with Ariel, tracklist follows the download link.
Download: FACT mix 152 – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
(Available for three weeks)
(Available for three weeks)
Tracklist:
01. НИИ Косметики “unknown”
02. Samsimar “Indang Pariaman”
03. Warfield Spillers “Daddy’s Little Girl”
04. Vahag Sekadean “VS”
05. Chuck Edwards “Oh La La La”
06. FX “Les Choces Ne Sont Pas Ce Quelles Semblant”
07. Aarow “Paris Now”
08. Europeans “Europeans”
09. Dirt Wizard “Kill The Wizard”
10. Softboiled Eggies “Shower In The Rain”
11. Devo “Bottled Up”
12. Prince “When You Were Mine”
13. t.o.l.l. “Milzbrand (edit)”
14. Bobb Trimble “One Mile From Heaven”
01. НИИ Косметики “unknown”
02. Samsimar “Indang Pariaman”
03. Warfield Spillers “Daddy’s Little Girl”
04. Vahag Sekadean “VS”
05. Chuck Edwards “Oh La La La”
06. FX “Les Choces Ne Sont Pas Ce Quelles Semblant”
07. Aarow “Paris Now”
08. Europeans “Europeans”
09. Dirt Wizard “Kill The Wizard”
10. Softboiled Eggies “Shower In The Rain”
11. Devo “Bottled Up”
12. Prince “When You Were Mine”
13. t.o.l.l. “Milzbrand (edit)”
14. Bobb Trimble “One Mile From Heaven”
Waterpistol
What the cover of Shack's 'Waterpistol' should have looked like.
Image by Stylo Rouge?
More Shack related stuff
(Thanx to 'ShackNet'!)
Genesis P-Orridge -The Pandrogeny Project Lecture
The Pandrogeny Project lecture was presented Monday May 12th at 70 North 6th St. Loft Space, Brooklyn, NY
Oil spill brings ‘death in the ocean from top to bottom’
It has been an hour since our sport-fishing boat started streaking through the freshly oil-soaked marshes of Pass a Loutre, but we’re still only halfway through the slick. Eighteen miles out and the stink of oil is everywhere. Rashes of red-brown sludge are smeared across vast swaths, between them a swell rendered faintly psychedelic with rainbow-coloured swirls.
Cutting the engines, we slide to a stop near Rig 313. We’re not supposed to be in the restricted zone, but other than the dispersant-spraying aircraft passing overhead there’s no one to see us. Despite the thick oil, we’ve seen only two clean-up boats out of the 1,150 that the response claims to have on site: one was broken down, the other was towing it.
Skimming and burning are the most visible elements of the clean-up operation, and that’s no accident. Over the past few days it’s become clear that far more oil is gushing from the seabed than BP had admitted. Oil has been prevented from reaching the surface by dispersants injected into the flow some 5,000ft below, but is spreading through the midwater in vast, dilute plumes.
Along with the marine toxicologist Susan Shaw, of the Marine Environmental Research Institute, I’ve come to peer into the hidden side of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Wreathed in neoprene and with Vaseline coating the exposed skin around our faces, we slip into the clear water in the lee of the boat. Beneath the mats of radioactive-looking, excrement-coloured sludge are smaller gobs of congealed oil. Taking a cautious, shallow breath through my snorkel I head downwards. Twelve metres under, the specks of sludge are smaller, but they are still everywhere.
Among the specks are those of a different hue. These are wisps of drifting plankton, the eggs and larvae of fish and the microscopic plants and animals that form the base of almost all marine food webs. Any plankton-eating fish would now have trouble distinguishing food from poison, let alone the larger filter-feeders.
Onshore, small landfalls of the same sludge have started to cause panic among locals as they coat the marshes. Here, just a few feet beneath the surface, a much bigger disaster is unfolding in slow motion.
“This is terrible, just terrible,” says Dr Shaw, back on the boat. “The situation in the water column is horrible all the way down. Combined with the dispersants, the toxic effects of the oil will be far worse for sea life. It’s death in the ocean from the top to the bottom.”
Dispersants can contain particular evils. Corexit 9527 — used extensively by BP despite it being toxic enough to be banned in British waters — contains 2-butoxyethanol, a compound that ruptures red blood cells in whatever eats it. Its replacement, COREXIT 9500, contains petroleum solvents and other components that can damage membranes, and cause chemical pneumonia if aspirated into the lungs following ingestion.
But what worries Dr Shaw most is the long-term potential for toxic chemicals to build up in the food chain. “There are hundreds of organic compounds in oil, including toxic solvents and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), that can cause cancer in animals and people. In this respect light, sweet crude is more toxic than the heavy stuff. It’s not only the acute effects, the loss of whole niches in the food web, it’s also the problems we will see with future generations, especially in top predators.”
When a gap in the slick opens, I dive on one of the huge steel legs of the rig. Swirling around it are dozens of some of the biggest fish I’ve seen in nearly 20 years of diving. Huge cobia, amberjack, mangrove snapper and barracuda thrive on the shelter provided by the rig structures, creating some of the most sought-after game fishing in the United States: our skipper claimed that he’d hosted three world record-breaking catches last year.
“They’ll be healthy enough now, but it’s just a matter of time,” Dr Henry Bart, a fish biologist at Louisiana’s Tulane University, told me later. “Cobia feed on upper water-column species. The oil is going to magnify up through the food chain.”
What happens to marine species in the dark, unseen waters below us is less certain. In the Gulf the depths are better known than almost anywhere in the world, for the oil industry has to show what exists on the seabed before any drilling can begin. This, along with an on-going Census of Marine Life, has helped to reveal that life within seabed sediments is astoundingly varied.
A pod of sperm whales resides off New Orleans and is believed to be dining on giant squid. These ultimately depend on the tiny specks of life that are slowly being poisoned at the surface.
What happens next, no one can say for sure.
Frank Pope @The Times'
Revealed: how Israel offered to sell South Africa nuclear weapons
The secret military agreement signed by Shimon Peres, now president of Israel, and P W Botha of South Africa. Photograph: Guardian
Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state's possession of nuclear weapons.
The "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa's defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, then Israel's defence minister and now its president, responded by offering them "in three sizes". The two men also signed a broad-ranging agreement governing military ties between the two countries that included a clause declaring that "the very existence of this agreement" was to remain secret.
The documents, uncovered by an American academic, Sasha Polakow-Suransky, in research for a book on the close relationship between the two countries, provide evidence that Israel has nuclear weapons despite its policy of "ambiguity" in neither confirming nor denying their existence.
The Israeli authorities tried to stop South Africa's post-apartheid government declassifying the documents at Polakow-Suransky's request and the revelations will be an embarrassment, particularly as this week's nuclear non-proliferation talks in New York focus on the Middle East.
They will also undermine Israel's attempts to suggest that, if it has nuclear weapons, it is a "responsible" power that would not misuse them, whereas countries such as Iran cannot be trusted.
South African documents show that the apartheid-era military wanted the missiles as a deterrent and for potential strikes against neighbouring states.
The documents show both sides met on 31 March 1975. Polakow-Suransky writes in his book published in the US this week, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's secret alliance with apartheid South Africa. At the talks Israeli officials "formally offered to sell South Africa some of the nuclear-capable Jericho missiles in its arsenal".
Among those attending the meeting was the South African military chief of staff, Lieutenant General RF Armstrong. He immediately drew up a memo in which he laid out the benefits of South Africa obtaining the Jericho missiles but only if they were fitted with nuclear weapons.
The memo, marked "top secret" and dated the same day as the meeting with the Israelis, has previously been revealed but its context was not fully understood because it was not known to be directly linked to the Israeli offer on the same day and that it was the basis for a direct request to Israel. In it, Armstrong writes: "In considering the merits of a weapon system such as the one being offered, certain assumptions have been made: a) That the missiles will be armed with nuclear warheads manufactured in RSA (Republic of South Africa) or acquired elsewhere."
But South Africa was years from being able to build atomic weapons. A little more than two months later, on 4 June, Peres and Botha met in Zurich. By then the Jericho project had the codename Chalet.
The top secret minutes of the meeting record that: "Minister Botha expressed interest in a limited number of units of Chalet subject to the correct payload being available." The document then records: "Minister Peres said the correct payload was available in three sizes. Minister Botha expressed his appreciation and said that he would ask for advice." The "three sizes" are believed to refer to the conventional, chemical and nuclear weapons.
The use of a euphemism, the "correct payload", reflects Israeli sensitivity over the nuclear issue and would not have been used had it been referring to conventional weapons. It can also only have meant nuclear warheads as Armstrong's memorandum makes clear South Africa was interested in the Jericho missiles solely as a means of delivering nuclear weapons.
In addition, the only payload the South Africans would have needed to obtain from Israel was nuclear. The South Africans were capable of putting together other warheads.
Botha did not go ahead with the deal in part because of the cost. In addition, any deal would have to have had final approval by Israel's prime minister and it is uncertain it would have been forthcoming.
South Africa eventually built its own nuclear bombs, albeit possibly with Israeli assistance. But the collaboration on military technology only grew over the following years. South Africa also provided much of the yellowcake uranium that Israel required to develop its weapons.
The documents confirm accounts by a former South African naval commander, Dieter Gerhardt – jailed in 1983 for spying for the Soviet Union. After his release with the collapse of apartheid, Gerhardt said there was an agreement between Israel and South Africa called Chalet which involved an offer by the Jewish state to arm eight Jericho missiles with "special warheads". Gerhardt said these were atomic bombs. But until now there has been no documentary evidence of the offer.
Some weeks before Peres made his offer of nuclear warheads to Botha, the two defence ministers signed a covert agreement governing the military alliance known as Secment. It was so secret that it included a denial of its own existence: "It is hereby expressly agreed that the very existence of this agreement... shall be secret and shall not be disclosed by either party".
The agreement also said that neither party could unilaterally renounce it.
The existence of Israel's nuclear weapons programme was revealed by Mordechai Vanunu to the Sunday Times in 1986. He provided photographs taken inside the Dimona nuclear site and gave detailed descriptions of the processes involved in producing part of the nuclear material but provided no written documentation.
Documents seized by Iranian students from the US embassy in Tehran after the 1979 revolution revealed the Shah expressed an interest to Israel in developing nuclear arms. But the South African documents offer confirmation Israel was in a position to arm Jericho missiles with nuclear warheads.
Israel pressured the present South African government not to declassify documents obtained by Polakow-Suransky. "The Israeli defence ministry tried to block my access to the Secment agreement on the grounds it was sensitive material, especially the signature and the date," he said. "The South Africans didn't seem to care; they blacked out a few lines and handed it over to me. The ANC government is not so worried about protecting the dirty laundry of the apartheid regime's old allies."
Chris McGreal @'The Guardian'
Gang of Four - You Don't Have to Be Mad
"We’re emerging blinking into the light after many months locked in Andy’s studio, clutching Gang of Four’s new album: Content. Later this summer you’ll be able to buy it on download or CD. But we’re offering weirder and more wonderful options to a limited number of GO4 aficionados. What about taking a helicopter trip to this summer’s Glastonbury Festival with us? Or you might enjoy a listen to our first ever gig (recorded in Leeds in May 1977), provided to you on a cassette inside a Walkman individually decorated by Andy and Jon. A private view of an exhibition of GO4 art combined with a gig in London’s ICA this June are just some of the other possibilities... Jon & Andy"
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