Saturday 13 February 2010

Grant Hart - Nobody Rides For Free

Who the Hell Are Die Antwoord?

Breaking news...

Olympic Luger from Republic of Georgia Dies After Crash During Training Run

A luge athlete from the Republic of Georgia, Nodar
Kumaritashvili, was killed in a crash in training on the
Olympic track at the Whistler Sliding Center on Friday, an
official at the track confirmed. Kumaritashvili lost control
of his sled near the end of his run, when he was moving at 88
miles an hour, and was propelled over the track wall into a
steel pole. Training was immediately suspended on the track,
which many competitors have said may be too fast and too
dangerous.

Important: Please read...

FACT SHEET – CONROY’S GREAT FIREWALL OF AUSTRALIA

What is the 'Clean Feed'?

The Australian Federal Government is pushing forward with a plan to force Internet Service Providers [ISPs] to censor the Internet for all Australians. This plan will waste tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and will not make anyone safer.
The filter will do almost nothing to prevent the people who are willfully making, trading, and accessing child sexual abuse material. This type of material is not distributed in the open and we need to fund police to continue to infiltrate and prosecute the groups of people responsible for creating and distributing such material.
The filter will not prevent children from accessing inappropriate material. The proposed category of censored sites will not be wide enough to provide assurances to parents. Parents will be much better served by installing one of the many voluntary filters that are currently available and ensuring that their children are adequately supervised and aware of risks they may face online.
The list of material to be banned includes much more than child sexual abuse material. The category of material that has been 'refused classification' includes websites about euthanasia, controversial movies such as 'Ken Park' and 'Baise-moi', and many games that are designed for people over 16 years of age.
Despite being almost universally condemned by the public, ISPs, State Governments, Media and censorship experts, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is determined to force this filter into your home.

'Operation Titstorm' cyber attacks against Australian censorship laws will continue

An activist group that temporarily blocked access to key Australian government websites plans to continue its cyber attacks, the BBC has learned.

The group, known as Anonymous, was protesting against the Australian government's proposals to apply filters to the internet in the country.

A man claiming to be a representative of the group said that around 500 people were involved in the attack.

The method they are using is known as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS).

DDoS is illegal in many countries including the United Kingdom. There is no indication that the attack was carried out from within Britain. DDoS attacks typically call on machines in many different nations, making them hard to trace.

The sites were intermittently blocked on 10 and 11 February. The action has been condemned by various bodies including the Systems Administrators Guild of Australia (SAGE-AU) and Electronic Frontiers Australia.

"All it takes is a few people to basically send junk traffic to their websites which is causing them to be offline," the man, calling himself Coldblood, told BBC News.

"The people who are currently attacking (the government websites) are planning to keep doing it. It will probably keep happening until either they get bored or it gets sorted out."

The sites are currently back online but the domains of individual politicians, including that of Stephen Conroy (minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy), were among those targeted.

Web filters

Anonymous is protesting against Australia's plan to apply a country-wide filter to block certain content in 2011.

In trials already carried out the technology behind the filter has proved to be 100% effective in preventing access to designated sites.

The banned sites would be selected by an independent classifications body guided by public complaints, Senator Conroy has said.

He said the aim of the filter is to make the internet a safer place for Australian children.

Speaking to the BBC, Coldblood said that the activists did not support the creation of illegal content but that banning it would not tackle the issue.

"If something is illegal which is done on the internet the government should try and prosecute them," he said.

"If they ban it it will just appear somewhere again. What they really need to do is go after the people who are making this content."

The group consists of "a few thousand people" based all over the world Coldblood said.

They staged cyber attacks on Iran following the election protests and have publicly protested against the Scientology movement.

This was sparked after the Church of Scientology requested the removal of a clip from YouTube featuring Hollywood actor Tom Cruise.

"One of our main missions is against censorship on the internet," said Coldblood.

The group had not had any direct contact with the Australian government, he added.

SAGE-AU said the attack was "the wrong way to express disagreement with the proposed law."

"The impact of DOS attacks is frequently felt less by government agencies than by system administrators, many of them SAGE-AU members, who are responsible for managing websites and servers," continues a statement on its website.

YouTube in Australia

Senator Conroy has also contacted Google requesting that the company begins to filter YouTube content in the country.

Google says that while it complies with the laws of the individual countries in which it has a presence, it would only investigate and consider removing content after receiving a "valid legal request" about something already posted on the site.

"We first check that the request meets both the letter and spirit of the law, and we will seek to narrow it if the request is overly broad," said a spokesperson.

"YouTube is a platform for free expression. We have clear policies about what is allowed and not allowed on the site."

@'BBC'

Pirate boss to make the web pay

One of the founders of the Pirate Bay is kicking off a venture that aims to help websites generate cash.

Called Flattr, the micropayments system revolves around members paying a fixed monthly fee.

At the end of each month that cash will be divided among participating sites a Flattr member wants to reward.

Members might want to reward a band that made a track they liked, the author of a story they enjoyed or a site that gave useful advice.

Participating sites will sport a Flattr button in the same way that many have clickable icons that let visitors send information to friends or refer something they find interesting to sites such as Digg and Redditt.

"The money you pay each month will be spread evenly among the buttons you click in a month," said Mr Sunde.

"We want to encourage people to share money as well as content," Mr Sunde told the BBC. "It's a test to see if this might be a working method for real micropayments."

The minimum Flattr wants people to pay each month is 2 euros (£1.73) but members can pay more if they want to.

"That way you have control over your monthly spending on content, and you can rather help many people than just a few," he said.

Many micropayment systems had not proved popular, he said, because they were too cumbersome to use regularly.

Mr Sunde said he hoped it proved popular among the vast number of niche sites run by passionate amateurs that have a small, dedicated audience but which struggle to cover their operating costs.

Initially, Flattr plans to take a 10% cut of any cash paid as an administration fee. But, said Mr Sunde, it hopes to push that percentage lower as people sign up.

"We're not really in this for becoming rich," he said. "We're doing it to change things and making people get money they never got before."

"I know that people are nice enough," he said. "People love things and they want to pay."

Flattr is currently in a closed trial but hopes to be ready to launch by the end of March 2010. It is seeking partners looking to generate some cash from their content.

Mr Sunde said the idea for Flattr came to him about five years ago but could not pursue it because of "other things that took massive amounts of time".

"I wanted to find an one-click way to pay for content," he said. "I wanted it to be based on the idea that different people have different financial situations," he told the BBC. "So doing it in a flat rate manner was the only way."

The "other things" included The Pirate Bay website that pointed people towards copyrighted content such as music tracks and videos. Mr Sunde and three other administrators of the site were pursued in Sweden's courts by film and video game makers.

In April 2009, the four were found guilty of aiding copyright theft and were sentenced to one year in prison and fined 2.7m euros (£2.35m). Final appeals from both sides of the case are due to be heard in early 2010.

@'BBC'

حمله مزدوران وحشی به مهدی کروبی در روز ۲۲ بهمن

The Triffids

The Triffids were a 1980s Australian folk-pop band whose frontman, David McComb, died in 1999. On April 5, Domino will release Come Ride With Me... Wide Open Road: The Best of the Triffids, a career-spanning eight-disc box set, and a single-disc best-of called Wide Open Road: The Best of the Triffids. Also, the surviving members of the band will reunite and team up with some guests to pay McComb tribute at a few European shows in April.

International broadcasters condemn Iran over 'jamming'

BBC Persian Television is one of the channels being jammed by Iran

Three major international broadcasters have strongly condemned Iran for its "deliberate electronic interference" in their broadcasts.

The BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America said the jamming began on Thursday as Iran marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
They said Iran was broadcasting freely around the world while denying its own people programmes coming from outside.
Earlier, the US accused Iran of using a "near-total information blockade".
A state department spokesman said there were strong indications that the telephone network had been taken down, SMS messages blocked, and internet communication "throttled".
"Iran has attempted a near total information blockade," PJ Crowley said.

We will not stop broadcasting accurate and impartial news and current affairs into Iran

Joint statement by the BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America

In pictures: Iran revolution rallies

Iran claims uranium 20% milestone

John Leyne on cyber wars

"It is clear that the Iranian government fears its own people."
White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs meanwhile said that the web giant, Google, and other internet service providers had been "unplugged" in Iran.
Reporters Without Borders says the blocking of Google's Gmail e-mail system takes the drive to control cyber-space to a new stage.
But the organisation claims that most Iranian internet users know how to sidestep censorship and access blocked websites.
Correspondents say a number of governments - notably China and Burma, as well as Iran - make strenuous efforts to block modern internet communications among their opponents.
'Accurate and impartial'
The BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America said the Iranian authorities' jamming was affecting services on the Hotbird satellite, which covers audiences across Europe and the Middle East.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Tehran rally on 11
February 2010

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally Iran was now a "nuclear state"

These include BBC Persian Television, the Voice of America Television Channel in Persian and Radio Farda; and Deutsche Welle's Television and Radio services. BBC World News - the English-language channel - was also jammed.
"We condemn any jamming of these channels. It contravenes international agreements and is interfering with the free and open flow of international transmissions that are protected by international treaties," the broadcasters said in a joint statement.
"The Iranian authorities are using the same satellite services to broadcast freely around the world including broadcasts in English and Arabic; at the same time they are denying their own people programmes coming from the same satellites from the rest of the world," they added.

Footage said to show a policeman beating a protester

On Thursday, a day-long security clampdown in the Iranian capital Tehran succeeded in preventing large-scale opposition protests as the nation commemorated the Islamic Revolution.
The opposition turnout was dwarfed by huge crowds at the state-run celebrations in the centre of Tehran.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the rally, saying Iran was now a "nuclear state" and had produced its first stock of 20% enriched uranium.
But the White House said the assertion was based more on politics than science.

@'BBC'

Gil Scott-Heron - Live at Glastonbury (1986)

"Gun" (excerpt)

"Blue Collar" (excerpt)

With much buzz surrounding Gil Scott-Heron's new album, here's a half hour bootleg featuring four kicking tracks from a 1986 live show at the Glastonbury Festival, originally broadcast on the BBC. Here we capture GSH somewhere in the middle of his 12 year hiatus between "Moving Target" and "Spirits", but he's in fine voice and spirit.

Keyboardist Kim Jordan switches between synth and piano, and she contributes some particularly fine piano solos - she was a member of Gil's touring band for 12 years, also appearing on the live "Minister of Information" album and "Spirits", both in 1994.

Also appearing on those albums was the Turrentine-ish saxophonist Ron Holloway, who also played on "Moving Target" from which both "Blue Collar" and "Washington DC" appear live here. He went on to record some albums for Milestone in the 90s, including 1998's "Groove Update" which features GSH on new versions of "Three Miles Down" and "We Almost Lost Detroit". That album also featured drummer Rodney Youngs from here.

Joe Phillips' guitar adds a blues sensibility to the proceedings, occasionally rocking things out a little too much for me, but holding back (or held back) enough to not ruin things. Bassist Robbie Gordon played with GSH from 1978 until 1994. He released a solo album called "Still Growing" in 1996, which included an unusual straight-ahead acid jazz version of Gil's classic song "B-Movie".

Best anecdote about this gig comes from the blog Look on the Nice Side, and I quote :

"I once had a pee on a fence next to him at Glastonbury festival, right after he’d just come off stage. And when I asked him if he didn’t have a hospitality area backstage and his own posh toilets, he shrugged and sad, “Yeah man, but I like to pee with the people”.

TRACKS

01 'Gun'

02 'Washington DC'

03 'Blue Collar'

04 'Johannesburg'

MUSICIANS

Gil Scott-Heron - vocals, keyboards

Kim Jordan - keyboards

Joe Phillips - guitar

Robbie Gordon - bass

Ron Holloway - saxaphone

Rodney Youngs - drums

Larry MacDonald maybe on percussion....

Download links (WAV & mp3)

@'Never Enough Rhodes'

(Thanx Simon666)

My tuppence worth - is that it is SO good to see Gil Scott-Heron back on top of things (musically and I hope personally!)

I will never forget seeing him at Womadelaide in 1993 (I think) when his lateness coming on stage was really pissing off the mostly ignorant crowd, causing Andy Glitre (as the MC) to ask for calm saying that this is "Gil Scott-Heron, that we are talking about!" and as we all know the man is truly an original!

PS:

From a comment by Jamie just left over at 'Never Enough Rhodes':

"I was at this gig as a young, wide-eyed first-time Glastonbury festival-goer. I was 16 years old, I'd just left school two days previously and had just had the best weekend of my life up to that point. What this tape omits is that 'Johannesburg' was aborted initially due to the lack of crowd response. Gil had asked the crowd to sing along with the chorus and he'd explained, patiently, that if we didn't sing up he wasn't going to do it. Cue the first 'What's the word?' bit and a fairly lacklustre response from the crowd. Gil cut the band and gently mocked our poor singing. I remember him saying something along the lines of 'OK, I know you were probably too busy pulling on a joint and missed it but this time you've gotta sing up'. The next chant of 'JOHANNESBURG!' you can hear on the recording...."

Iran: Greening YouTube - An Interview with Mehdi Saharkhiz

Mehdi Saharkhiz (“onlymehdi”) talks with Diane Sawyer of ABC News about his use of YouTube to circulate information and images of post-election events in Iran:

Hoping for change in Iran (CNN)

Leon Botha/DJ Solarize

HERE

Iran protest photo wins World Press Photo of 2009

Italian photographer Pietro Masturzo's World Press Photo of the Year 2009, shows women shouting on a rooftop in protest at the presidential election results in Tehran on June 24, 2009. (Pietro Masturzo/Associated Press)

Friday 12 February 2010

The Takeaway: 30 Years since "Rapper's Delight"

Celeste Headlee sits down for an after-air conversation about the first mass-market rap single, "Rapper's Delight," which was released by The Sugarhill Gang 30 years ago this week. She's joined by hip hop musician Paul Miller (better known as DJ Spooky) and Keith Shocklee, who produced Public Enemy with The Bomb Squad.
(Thanx Stan!)

If this is 'the answer'...it must have been a particularly bloody stupid question!!! (Just kidding!)

Firstly, I must apologize for the lateness of this post, but I assure you, I have a LEGIT excuse. The Swine Flu floating amidst the airwaves of general Somerset West/Stellenbosch surroundings made it hard, nay, impossible for me to leave the house or do anything of value these last few weeks.

But before this whole flu pandemic, there was a time of peace; a time of tranquil beauty. A time in which close friends, all brothers and sisters in arms, left their homes and journeyed to Klein Libertas Theatre in Stellenbosch to see a… well… I’m not quite sure what you’d call them. And therein lays their appeal.

Die Antwoord sprung out of nowhere. They really did. Okay, so there was Max Normal and then Max Normal TV, but none of that really came close to the intensity and general vibe that Die Antwoord has so successfully captured.
It seems as if Die Antwoord have found a niche in the South African market; a gap somewhere between black, white and coloured people, in which to slip their hilarious skits, filthy Afrikinglish rap lyrics and super smooth attitude. The public are eating it up. I still maintain that another reason they are gaining momentum at such a rate is the fact that their album is available for free download and viral distribution, greatly increasing their coverage. Have you noticed the recent upsurge in aggressive Afrikaans wannabe-gangsters screaming ‘FOK JOU’ out their car windows? Die Antwoord has nothing to do with that…

Upon arrival at Klein Libertas I made my way straight to the bar and then into the building where the gig was to be held. One of the things I love so much about Die Antwoord is the effort they go through in stage-design and lighting. There had to be at least five strobe lights mounted at strategic locations on the walls and stage (if not more), smoke machines, and those SMART light things that like… change colour and shit bru; effectively making the venue an epileptic’s nightmare.

I walked into the venue to the sonic-genius of DJ Solarize, possibly one of the most interesting people I’ve ever not met in my life.
DJ Solarize (Leon Botha) was born with Progeria (rapid aging syndrome) but don’t let that alter your view on him. This guy ROCKS the decks like a jedi-master. Not only that, but upon looking into Solarize’s other projects, you will notice that he is all kinds of genius. No shit. Check his art out on Facebook – Leon ‘Solarize’ Botha I hope to see more of Solarize in the future.

Before long, and strategically placed at a point in the night where people are at a respectable level of drunkness (there is such a thing), Die Antwoord decided to make their appearance on stage, to the (adoring?) screams of about 200 Stellenboschians (official collective noun from now on).
Waddy Jones (now known solely as ‘Ninja’) and Yo Yo Yo Yo-landi Visser walked on stage, evidently in full character, ready to rock. Ninja took the stage with his back facing the audience and started with something along the lines of:

“I am black. I am white. I am coloured. I am English. I am Afrikaans. I am Xhosa. All FUCKED into one person.”
Ninja

Despite the tongue-in-cheek-ness of it (only reinforced by Yo-landi’s cheeky: “whatever…” in reply) it was still pretty epic; not only that, but it also pretty much sums up their entire act.
Which brings me to my next point: this is not a band; so much as it is a performance. And I, for one, love it. It’s hard not to love it, or at least appreciate it. The characters these guys have all conjured up for themselves are so believable and genuine; whether or not they’re 100% ‘the truth’? Perhaps we’ll never know.
For example, Ninja, is just laaik, THE most hardcore, zef, gangsta-rapper this side of the equator, but every now and then (not often, mind you, these guys are GOOD at what they do) you can see him break character very briefly.
One such moment was half-way through their set when the band invited some crazy peeps onto stage for the most-zef-dressed competition; I’m not too sure how it happened, but a large topless guy decided, this would now be the perfect time to behave like a dick. So he hopped up on stage to start causing problems with anyone within reaching distance and eventually, inevitably, people got pissed-off; Ninja being one of them. Now there was the problem that there was a fat, drunken dude on stage, and the only feasible way of getting him off was to push him, which would also lead to possible future court cases. So the band was stuck with the mission of trying to get him off safely (obviously the guy wanted to stage dive… would it be any other way?)…
Needless to say he ended up stage-diving anyway, during which you could see a brief moment of worry in Waddy Jones’ and Yo-Landi Visser’s eyes. The crowd parted like a monumental divorce and he landed flat on the floor, stomach-first. No damage done.
I would just like to extend a big ‘FUCK YOU’ to that guy. You were inches away from landing on me. If you can’t behave like a human you don’t deserve to be one. Okay: rant-over.

All-in-all, the gig was pretty-much flawless. The sound and lighting was superb, the performance from the band members individually and as a group was amazing (guests included the pirate-like swagger of Afrikaanse romantiese rap superstar uit die rowwe gange van N1 City, Jack Parow, and new-comer, Isaac Mutant, probably one of the best flow-rappers there on the night).

Once Die Antwoord had left the stage to the grief of their dedicated Stellenbosch fanbase, the stage was once again populated by two guys wearing matching Steri-Stumpie T-shirts. I, for one, thought this was hilarious. They were the ‘Wedding DJs’ and I’m sure they were very good, but alas, I decided to revisit the bar, in hopes of re-lubricating my mouth after all the screaming during Die Antwoord.

Never a dull moment whilst at a ‘Die Antwoord’ gig, and I went home feeling satisfied, with the new ambition of learning Afrikaans better, in hopes of actually being able to sing along to their anthem-like choruses next time.

“Party, party, party, party, party, party, party!”
Die Antwoord, Doos Dronk

@'The Wild West'

The zef side of the force

Michael Dustdevil & Bendle - Garden Shed (Rough Mix)

Though there have been many posthumous releases from Jimi Hendrix's archives since his tragic death, the recently-announced 'Valleys of Neptune' isn't meant to be a "lost" album. Rather, it's a look at the creative period in Hendrix's life between the 1968 release of 'Electric Ladyland' and his legendary appearance at Woodstock the following summer.

"In the aftermath of 'Electric Ladyland,' he made a series of recordings with the original Experience," co-producer, author and Experience Hendrix catalog director John McDermott tells Spinner. "When they effectively stopped working as a three-man recording unit, he brought in [bassist] Billy Cox -- this album captures that transition. We don't want to over-dramatize it. This is that missing period of time."

The dozen tracks on 'Valleys of Neptune' reflect a time where Hendrix, finding his way with a new band while fighting contractual problems, was blossoming creatively. Featuring reworked hits like 'Fire' and 'Red House' as well as fully-realized songs that have never officially been released, the album shows that Hendrix was embarking in a new direction, one that would later be heard on 'Band of Gypsys.' While the album is due out on March 9, check out Spinner's exclusive premiere of the title track below to hear what McDermott refers to as a "snapshot" into a part of Jimi's life that's rarely been heard.

Listen to 'Valleys of Neptune'

Hendrix 'Valleys of Neptune' Producer Interview@'Spinner'

Links to Spirituality Found in the Brain

Scientists have identified areas of the brain that, when damaged, lead to greater spirituality. The findings hint at the roots of spiritual and religious attitudes, the researchers say.

The study, published in the Feb. 11 issue of the journal Neuron, involves a personality trait called self-transcendence, which is a somewhat vague measure of spiritual feeling, thinking, and behaviors. Self-transcendence "reflects a decreased sense of self and an ability to identify one's self as an integral part of the universe as a whole," the researchers explain.

Before and after surgery, the scientists surveyed patients who had brain tumors removed. The surveys generate self-transcendence scores.

Selective damage to the left and right posterior parietal regions of the brain induced a specific increase in self-transcendence, or ST, the surveys showed.

"Our symptom-lesion mapping study is the first demonstration of a causative link between brain functioning and ST," said Dr. Cosimo Urgesi from the University of Udine in Italy. "Damage to posterior parietal areas induced unusually fast changes of a stable personality dimension related to transcendental self-referential awareness. Thus, dysfunctional parietal neural activity may underpin altered spiritual and religious attitudes and behaviors."

Previous neuroimaging studies had linked activity within a large network in the brain that connects the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortexes with spiritual experiences, "but information on the causative link between such a network and spirituality is lacking," explains lead study author, Urgesi said.

One study, reported in 2008, suggested that the brain's right parietal lobe defines "Me," and people with less active Me-Definers are more likely to lead spiritual lives.

The finding could lead to new strategies for treating some forms of mental illness.

"If a stable personality trait like ST can undergo fast changes as a consequence of brain lesions, it would indicate that at least some personality dimensions may be modified by influencing neural activity in specific areas," said Dr. Salvatore M. Aglioti from Sapienza University of Rome. "Perhaps novel approaches aimed at modulating neural activity might ultimately pave the way to new treatments of personality disorders."

@'Live Science'

Iggy and the Stooges to Release Massive Raw Power Reissue Box Set

Previously unreleased Iggy and the Stooges tracks: They still exist! The punk rock forefathers' catalog has been mined incessantly in the past 40 years or so, but a new reissue of watershed 1973 album Raw Power will unearth a few more tracks that still haven't seen commercial release, if you can believe it.
On April 13, Columbia/Legacy will release Raw Power: Legacy Edition. Two weeks later, on April 27, they'll follow it up with the even more deluxe Deluxe Edition.
The Legacy Edition will include a remastered version of the original album, featuring David Bowie's original mix, on its first disc. The second disc, titled Georgia Peaches, includes a complete recording of a heavily bootlegged Atlanta live show from 1973-- with two previously unreleased bonus tracks to boot: the studio outtake "Doojiman" and a studio rehearsal performance of "Head On". It'll also include a 24-page booklet with essays about the band and introductions from surviving members.
All that stuff will also show up in the Deluxe Edition. Both discs will share space with a third disc, Rarities, Outtakes, & Alternates From the Raw Power Era, which will include eight tracks from different sources (five of them previously unreleased). The fourth disc is a 30-minute documentary DVD called The Making of Raw Power.
And yeah, there's more. You'll also get a reproduction of a rare Japanese picture sleeve 7" single of "Raw Power" and "Search and Destroy", five 5x7 photo prints, and a 7" softcover booklet with an essay by Henry Rollins and testimonials from prominent folks like Lou Reed, Joan Jett, Tom Morello, and others. Before the April 27 release date, the box will be available exclusively through the Stooges' website. Stooges nerds, start saving your money.
We've got the tracklists for all three CDs included in the Deluxe Edition below. (The Stooges will play Raw Power in its entirety at ATP New York this fall, by the way.)

Raw Power (Deluxe Edition):

CD1 (Raw Power):

01 Search and Destroy

02 Gimme Danger

03 Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell

04 Penetration

05 Raw Power

06 I Need Somebody

07 Shake Appeal

08 Death Trip

CD2 (Georgia Peaches):

01 Introduction *

02 Raw Power *

03 Head On *

04 Gimme Danger *

05 Search and Destroy *

06 I Need Somebody *

07 Heavy Liquid *

08 Cock in My Pocket *

09 Open Up and Bleed *

10 Doojiman (outtake) *

11 Head On (CBS Studio rehearsal performance) *

CD3 (Rarities, Outtakes, & Alternates From the Raw Power Era):

01 I'm Hungry (outtake) *

02 I Got a Right (outtake) *

03 I'm Sick of You (outtake)

04 Hey, Peter (outtake) *

05 Shake Appeal (alternate mix version) *

06 Death Trip (alternate mix version) *

07 Gimme Danger (alternate mix from the 1996 Iggy "violent" remixes)

08 Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell (alternate mix from the 1996 Iggy "violent" remixes)

* previously unreleased

@'Pitchfork'

Information in War

A copy of one of my favorite books on intelligence has appeared on Google Books. This is Information in War: Its Acquisition and Transmission by Colonel George Armand Furse, published in London in 1895 by William Clowes & Sons, Limited.

There are a number of things I find interesting about this book.

It is a remarkably modern work, suffused with a sense that intelligence and reconnaissance can be effective in meeting the information needs of a commander and contributing to success on the battlefield. Interestingly, Furse draws extensively upon Clausewitz. The Prussian, of course, was famously skeptical about the utility of intelligence but Furse stands him on his head in this regard. Furse also makes the entirely sound and modern point that intelligence work requires a lot of up-front effort and the country that wishes to have a good wartime service must establish and maintain this service in peacetime.

Despite his generally modern approach, Furse does have some amusing things to say in his chapter on “Spies.” On the one hand, he argues that the use of spies is necessary in wartime. One the other hand, he finds their use distasteful.

In war spies are indispensable auxiliaries; and, when we are precluded from obtaining information by any other means, we must discard all question of morality. We must overcome our feelings of repugnance for such an unchivalrous measure, because it is imposed on us by sheer necessity. Necessity knows no laws, and means which we would disdain to use in ordinary life must be employed in the field, simply because we have no other that we can turn to profitable account. Information has been sought through spies in all wars, and we can plead in our favour that the enemy will not scruple to employ them in his behalf.

Also interesting is Furse’s extensive use of the American Civil War as a source of historical illustrations. This came at a time when the American experience was not generally thought to be of tremendous interest or relevance to Europeans. The Europeans, after all, had Prussia’s recent wars and the wars of Napoleon to draw upon. What could a bunch of amateur American generals have to teach the greatest, most sophisticated military powers in the world?

The final thing I find interesting about this book relates to the specific copy that Google Books has posted. This copy was at one time in the “Officers’ Reference Library” at the British naval base at Portsmouth. At some point it was sold off. It eventually made its way to the Columbia University Library which stamped it as a “Gift of Gen. William J. Donovan APR 2, 1958.” Donovan, of course, was the head of the Office of Strategic Services, the wartime agency that is generally considered the predecessor to the CIA.
My assumption is that this copy never belonged, per se, to Donovan, but rather that he made a donation which allowed the library to acquire a collection of books of which this is one. (I’m quite prepared to be wrong here. I’d be interested in hearing comments on this from readers who may be more familiar with how libraries work.) However, I have a specific reason for thinking that this copy did not come from Donovan himself. I know for a fact that Donovan already had a copy of this book and it seems unlikely to me (though it is certainly possible) that he’d have had two in his personal collection.
How do I know this? A few years ago I requested this work through inter-library loan as part of my dissertation research. The particular copy that came to me had originally been in the City of Detroit Public Library (entered into their collection on July 21, 1898) and then later in the Duke University Library. In between, however, it had belonged to Donovan. The book was not only stamped “Gift of Gen. William J. Donovan MAR 17 1958” but it had Donovan’s bookplate in it.
@'On War & Words'

Blackwater accused of defrauding US government

حضور بسیار گستردهٔ نیروهای امنیتی در خیابان - ۲۲ بهمن

Alexander McQueen dead

Designer Alexander McQueen. Photograph: Martin Godwin

The British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead at his London home at the age of 40.

His body was discovered at his property in Green Street, in the West End, shortly after 10am today. Paramedics were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A postmortem has been scheduled but police said his death was not being treated as suspicious. They would not comment on reports he had killed himself.

A spokeswoman for McQueen said: "Mr McQueen was found dead this morning at his home. We're devastated and I hope you understand that out of respect to his family and his colleagues we're not going to be making any further statement."

The death comes days before the start of London fashion week and a month before the designer was to unveil his new collection at Paris fashion week.

His family asked for privacy to come to terms with the death of McQueen, whose first name was Lee.

His company, Alexander McQueen, issued a statement saying: "On behalf of Lee McQueen's family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home. At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee's family."

"Lee's family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this."

Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, said McQueen had influenced a whole generation of designers. "His brilliant imagination knew no bounds as he conjured up collection after collection of extraordinary designs," she said.

"At one level he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashion shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern-day genius whose gothic aesthetic was adopted by women the world over. His death is the hugest loss to anyone who knew him and for very many who didn't."

Born in London in 1969 as the youngest of six children, McQueen left school at the age of 16 and was offered an apprenticeship at the traditional Savile Row tailors Anderson and Shephard, then at neighbouring Gieves and Hawkes.

At 20 he was employed by the designer Koji Tatsuno. A year later McQueen travelled to Milan where he worked as a design assistant to Romeo Gigli. He returned to London in 1994 where he completed a master's degree in fashion design at Central St Martins College. His degree collection was famously bought in its entirety by Isabella Blow, a leading figure in the fashion world who died in 2007.

In less than 10 years McQueen became one of the most respected fashion designers in the world. In October 1996 he was appointed chief designer at the French label Givenchy where he worked until March 2001.

In December 2000, 51% of Alexander McQueen was acquired by luxury brand Gucci, where he became creative director. Expansion followed and included the opening of flagship stores in New York, London and Milan.

McQueen was a four-time winner of the British designer of the year award as well as the international designer of the year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. He was awarded the CBE in 2003.

@'The Guardian'

Thursday 11 February 2010

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