Liked the comment at the 'HuffPo':
"Bill O'Reilly has a greater life expectancy than a chimpanzee because a chimpanzee has 10 times as many rational thoughts as Bill."
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Bill O'Reilly's fuzzy maths
Liked the comment at the 'HuffPo':
"Bill O'Reilly has a greater life expectancy than a chimpanzee because a chimpanzee has 10 times as many rational thoughts as Bill."
Obama pushes public option, debunks myths about plan
Just in case you didn't follow that:
"And the other thing that we do want to do — now, this is controversial, and I understand some people are worried about this — we do think that it makes sense to have a public option alongside the private option. So you could still choose a private insurer, but we’d also have a public plan that you could choose from that would be non-for-profit, wouldn’t have, hopefully, some of the same high administrative costs, and would be potentially more responsive to your needs at a lower cost. I think that helps keep the insurance companies honest because now they have somebody to compete with.
And I have to say, the reason this has been controversial is a lot of people have heard this phrase "socialized medicine" and they say, we don’t want government-run health care; we don’t want a Canadian-style plan. Nobody is talking about that. We’re saying, let’s give you a choice. You can choose the private marketplace, or this other approach.
And I got a letter the other day from a woman; she said, I don’t want government-run health care, I don’t want socialized medicine, and don’t touch my Medicare. (Laughter.) And I wanted to say, well, I mean, that’s what Medicare is, is it’s a government-run health care plan that people are very happy with. But I think that we’ve been so accustomed to hearing those phrases that sometimes we can’t sort out the myth from the reality."
The power of unauthorised use of songs
As we speak the song is climbing up the itunes charts!
(Thanx HerrB!)
(Thanx HerrB!)
Hippie roots & the perennial subculture (slightly expanded)
…clearly the actual word “hippie” was a form of Ebonics (black slang) from Harlem that passed it’s way through the beat era into the 1960’s, until Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle used it enough times by late 1965 to describe the young arrivals in their city…that the national media soon swallowed it whole and patented it. But apart from the slick zoot suit clad “white Negroes” of 1930’s Harlem there actually were long-haired bearded individuals during this same era who wore sandals or bare feet and usually tended to favor mild subtropical places like southern California and Florida where they could forage their meals from the fruit trees that were so plentiful then…. (photo: eden ahbez 1948. Part-time yogi and full-time mystic, this 1940s “hippie” always spelled his name with small letters because he believed that only God and Infinity should be capitalized.)
eden ahbez lived behind one of the giant letters of the Hollywood sign.
He wrote the song ‘Nature Boy’ popularised by Nat King Cole.
Legend has it that he was so determined Nat King Cole should sing it, he took to hounding the singer with his sheet music of the song wherever he saw he was playing until his wishes were granted.
More here.
Tuesday 28 July 2009
Muslimgauze Mix
Muslimgauze by Ibrahim Khider (March 2005)
“He was a guy who was very smart, very sharp, and very funny, in an untypical way, so that if you worked with him and got on his wavelength, he was a joy. He was cool guy and sorely missed. He never came across as a person who was interested in Islam as a religious faith. It was more to do with the political movement of the Middle East more than anything else. He was obviously very knowledgeable because when you look at his song titles he was talking about obscure figures in that part of the world and making obscure jokes. He wasn’t a Muslim and to me he never came across as one who had a deep understanding of the Islamic faith.” In later years, Bryn seemed to be emerging from his isolationist tendencies as he was besought with more requests for collaborations, remix projects, shows, and interviews. It’s highly unlikely Muslimgauze would have ever “made it big,” but he was getting wider recognition and acclaim for his music. This may have had something to do with emerging cultural changes in the latter decade of his life, with accelerating migrations to the West and the advent of electronic dance music. A new generation of savvy listeners perceived music beyond traditional pop constraints, and Muslimgauze was no longer such a stretch; increasingly, his listeners are from places to which Bryn dedicated his music”
1. Opiate And Mullah 06:33
2. Kabul Is free under A Veil 01:44
3. Under Saffron 06:35
4. Turkish Sword Swallower 02:44
5. Mosule 11:45
6. Old Bombay vinyl junkie 08:05
7. Bilechik Skills 05:31
8. Algeciras 04:24
9. Rebiana Sand Sea 05:27
10. Youssif Gujarati 04:34
11. Abu Nidal 05:43
Free Downloads via epitonic.com Made at Electric Lion´s Den. Berlin. Germany. Mix down by Switch Docta January 2007
“He was a guy who was very smart, very sharp, and very funny, in an untypical way, so that if you worked with him and got on his wavelength, he was a joy. He was cool guy and sorely missed. He never came across as a person who was interested in Islam as a religious faith. It was more to do with the political movement of the Middle East more than anything else. He was obviously very knowledgeable because when you look at his song titles he was talking about obscure figures in that part of the world and making obscure jokes. He wasn’t a Muslim and to me he never came across as one who had a deep understanding of the Islamic faith.” In later years, Bryn seemed to be emerging from his isolationist tendencies as he was besought with more requests for collaborations, remix projects, shows, and interviews. It’s highly unlikely Muslimgauze would have ever “made it big,” but he was getting wider recognition and acclaim for his music. This may have had something to do with emerging cultural changes in the latter decade of his life, with accelerating migrations to the West and the advent of electronic dance music. A new generation of savvy listeners perceived music beyond traditional pop constraints, and Muslimgauze was no longer such a stretch; increasingly, his listeners are from places to which Bryn dedicated his music”
1. Opiate And Mullah 06:33
2. Kabul Is free under A Veil 01:44
3. Under Saffron 06:35
4. Turkish Sword Swallower 02:44
5. Mosule 11:45
6. Old Bombay vinyl junkie 08:05
7. Bilechik Skills 05:31
8. Algeciras 04:24
9. Rebiana Sand Sea 05:27
10. Youssif Gujarati 04:34
11. Abu Nidal 05:43
Free Downloads via epitonic.com Made at Electric Lion´s Den. Berlin. Germany. Mix down by Switch Docta January 2007
Listen now or download here.
"Am I Female?"
(@ 'the sweetest psychopath' via 'Mogadonia')PS: M~I been digging yr comments the last couple of hours...LOL!
Ali Akbar Mehrabian: Iran Minister Found Guilty Of Fraud Is Latest Blow To Ahmadinejad
TEHRAN, Iran — An appeals court found Iran's industry minister guilty of fraud, newspapers reported Monday, in a new embarrassment for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad even as he faces new disputes with his own hard-line camp over his government. Ahmadinejad has been feuding the past week with hard-liners, first over his appointment for vice president – whom he was forced to drop – then over his dismissal Sunday of his intelligence minister. Some hard-liners contend Ahmadinejad's government must be put to a parliamentary vote of confidence. The rift comes on top of the upheaval over Iran's disputed June 12 presidential election. The pro-reform opposition claims Ahmadinejad's victory in the vote was fraudulent and that its leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is the rightful winner. They say Ahmadinejad's government is illegitimate. The president's troubles within his own camp began earlier this month when he named a close associate, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, as his top vice president. Hard-liners were outraged because of past comments by Mashai seen as friendly to Israel. Iran's supreme leader last week ordered Ahmadinejad to remove Mashai, but the president stalled for days – infuriating hard-liners – until he finally conceded and accepted Mashai's resignation Friday. On Sunday, Ahmadinejad's office announced the dismissal of Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi. No reasons were given but the two had differed over Mashai. A prominent conservative lawmaker, Ahmad Tavakkoli, slammed Ahmadinejad on Sunday for the minister's dismissal, saying "there is no logical justification" for his move at the current crucial time. The disputes are in part symbolic since Ahmadinejad is due to form a new government in August. But the rift could indicate that powerful hard-line politicians are sensing weakness in the president amid the election dispute and are seeking to have greater control over him in his second term. Some conservatives clashed frequently with Ahmadinejad in his first term over what they saw as his tendency to reserve power to a small clique of associates rather than distributing it among the camp's factions. The court conviction of Industry Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, a close ally of the president, could give rivals further ammunition against Ahmadinejad. Mohsen Koohkan, a prominent hard-line lawmaker, said Monday that parliament will consider Mehrabian's conviction if Ahmadinejad tried to keep him in his post in the next government, as he has been expected to do. Parliment must approve the president's cabinet. The case was sparked by claims by an Iranian researcher that Mehrabian had stolen his idea for an "earthquake saferoom" – a design for a fortified room in homes in case of disaster. A 2005 book, whose authors were listed as Mehrabian, an associate and President Ahmadinejad, detailed the design. The appeals court upheld that the design actually belonged to researcher Farzan Salimi, several Iranian newspapers reported Monday. It convicted Mehrabian and the associate, Mousa Mazloum, of fraud. The court ordered the registration of the design to be taken from them and given to Salimi, but did not otherwise assign punishment. Salimi confirmed the ruling to The Associated Press. Ahmadinejad was not among the defendants in the case, though his name was also on the book. The newspaper Etemad-e-Melli said Sunday that Salimi presented his design to the Tehran Municipality's department of crisis management in 2003, when Ahmadinejad was Tehran's mayor and Mehrabian and Mazloum were municipality officials. The case could fuel complaints among hard-liners that Ahmadinejad keeps his close associates in top positions despite questions over their integrity. Last year, the president suffered a scandal when it was discovered that his interior minister, Ali Kordan, held a forged doctorate degree from Oxford University. Ahmadinejad defended him at first, but parliament eventually removed Kordan. In the wake of the intelligence minister's dismissal, the status of another figure from Ahmadinejad's Cabinet remained unclear. Semiofficial media reported Sunday that Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi had stepped down, apparently over the vice presidency flap. Ahmadinejad's office, however, insisted Monday that his resignation had not been accepted.@ 'HuffPo'
Alice Walker: "What is torture like?"
In this open letter to Barack Obama, author Alice Walker reminds the US president that torture does not lead to peace. She says: “I think about people in prison, being tortured, being bombed, being frightened and starved and humiliated, every single day. Voting for you was one way I felt I could reach out to them.”
Dear President Obama,
If word reached me that you were being tortured, I would instantly feel tortured myself, because I would be. Torture is something an entire society feels, whether we are within earshot of the screaming or not. People don’t like to believe this, but there is no way human beings can remain unaffected by what is done to other human beings, or even to animals who are not human.
If I heard this about you, I would do everything in my power to come to your aid, not simply because I know you to be rare and necessary to our planetary survival, but because you are simply a person, with feelings, aspirations, sorrows and dreams. And you have children. If I were a child and knew my parent was being tortured, day after day, what would I myself become?
It has already been recognized that “confessions” obtained by torture are useless. It is easy to see why. If someone is water boarding you and you think you will never see your little ones again, you would say anything. So would I. It is only in movies, I think, where the “hero” tells the torturer nothing as various body parts are cut, burned, frozen, electro-shocked or pulled out.
If one keeps company with cruel people, one loses, bit by bit, one’s own compassion. This is one of the reasons living in Washington, in the White House, as leader of the United States, is so treacherous.
And why I said to you when we met briefly prior to my introducing you to my community in San Francisco, that failure to win the presidency had not insignificant value: you could have a fine life living as a writer, doing and saying what you want, and traveling the world incognito and free. Leadership has its down side, and one of them is who one has to associate with in order to “get things done.”
When we look at the destruction, around the globe, caused by prior leaders of our country, and the terrible choices of how to behave, and we look at the White House today and see some of those folks still coming and going; what can I say? It gives us pause.
Ringing in my ears is something I thought I heard you say: America does not torture. And if this is true, now, under your watch, this letter is unnecessary. I also thought I heard you say Indefinite Detention Without Charge was gone with the wind of George Bush’s administration.
Was I wrong? Writers, and especially poets, don’t always keep their ears to the political ground, and so we are likely to miss the daily dramas that keep others informed. I hope you are holding steady on these points, because if you are, you are right.
Ringing in my ears is something I thought I heard you say: America does not torture. And if this is true, now, under your watch, this letter is unnecessary. I also thought I heard you say Indefinite Detention Without Charge was gone with the wind of George Bush’s administration.
The cruelty and injustice of holding anyone indefinitely without charge will not lead to carefree days and guilt-free nights for you or for any citizen of the U.S., and we want those days and nights in order to convince the youth of the world that there are basic human laws protecting their right to grow up without fear of endless detention.
I think about people in prison, being tortured, being bombed, being frightened and starved and humiliated, every single day. Voting for you was one way I felt I could reach out to them, fiction and poetry writing, even protests and arrests, having their limitations. You are the world’s hope for a better, a fairer, day. You have what few leaders of this country ever had: genuine affection and love from the people who elected you.
We are good people, too, for the most part. And even if we weren’t, we can be improved by a leadership of compassion, a leadership whose basic human instincts of fairness and decency we can trust to look at the whole story, the entire state of affairs, and not close off any portion of it. A leadership unafraid to hold accountable those responsible for torture and abuse.
This is our only hope, actually, to begin to soothe a little of the sorrow in the world. It isn’t a desire for vengeance, because we know vengeance, a karma, is created by Itself; it is instead a need to make right, to make whole again, by demonstrating to an injured and insulted world that we, as Americans, care about the harm other Americans, in our name, have done. We must show above all that we wish to understand our own madness in order not to continue growing and exporting it.
We know your plate is full. And I am always happy to hear of you and Michelle going off somewhere out of town for dinner. (No pun!) Any complaint about the cost is ridiculous: what your time away from your desk does for the world is priceless. You are a Leo/Ox and only someone with your combination of strengths could handle the presidency, which you do with grace. (What can I say? I love astrology!)
Even so, it’s too much for one person, or two; I myself favor a council for leading the country, but that is far in the future. Maybe not too far! So, delegate. We need the world to know we don’t accept the behavior as usual of American presidents and others who do horrible things to people, and then retire, wealthy, into memoir writing and golf; as if the disasters inflicted on a vulnerable world never happened.
I applaud and deeply appreciate all the good work you are, in fact, doing. It is huge. And beautiful, which I personally resonate with in world leadership. It has a beat. It has a heart.
In closing, I send this poem about torture that I wrote a few weeks ago and posted on my blog, http://www.alicewalkersblog.com
DYING
For those who with our taxes die of torture
What is it like
Dying?
Is it like
Sinking
Into a bath
Of warm
Milk?
Is it like
Lying naked
In the
Sun
Those first
Truly
Warm
Days
Of Spring
After
A winter
That
Froze
Your teeth?
Dying
I think
Can be
Like that.
Above all,
It
Is yours.
It is
A safe
Place.
They may
Be
Electrocuting
Your
Toes
At
The time
Or
Pulling out
Your
Finger
Nails
Or
Causing
Your terrified
Heart to stop
In
Other
Ingenious
Ways.
But
Dying
You
Escape
Them
Into
Peace.
They will
Never
Know
Something
Only
You
Can have.
Dying
Is yours.
Precious
Human being;
Whatever you
Have done.
Dying
Is
Your secret.
©2009 by Alice Walker
With loving kindness,
& despite the gravity
Of the subject, Joy,
Alice Walker
From the Ten Against Torture Campaign
Merce Cunningham RIP
Merce Cunningham, the American choreographer who was among a handful of 20th-century figures to make dance a major art and a major form of theater, died Sunday night. He was 90 and
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