Thursday 15 November 2012

India's increasing population via night illumination

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TGEU Press Release: TDOR 2012

Again increasing figures: Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project reveals 265 killings of trans people in the last 12 months

In total, since January 2008 the murders of 1083 trans people have been reported

The 14th International Transgender Day of Remembrance is being held on November 20th 2012: Since 1999, the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), on which those trans people who have been victims of homicide are remembered, takes place every November. The TDOR raises public awareness of hate crimes against trans people, provides a space for public mourning and honours the lives of those trans people who might otherwise be forgotten. Started in the USA, the TDOR is now held in many parts of the world. In the past, the TDOR took place in more than 180 cities in more than 20 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

Sadly, this year there are 265 trans persons to be added to the list to be remembered, mourned and honoured as an update of the results of Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project reveals.

The Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) project started in April 2009 and systematically monitors, collects and analyses reports of homicides of trans people worldwide. Updates of the preliminary results, which have been presented in July 2009 for the first time, are published on the website of the "Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide" project two to three times a year in form of tables, name lists, and maps:

http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en_US/tvt-project/tmm-results.htm

Every year in November, Transgender Europe provides a special update of the TMM results for the International Transgender Day of Remembrance so as to assist activists worldwide in raising public awareness of hate crimes against trans people.

The TDOR 2012 update has revealed a total of 265 cases of reported killings of trans people from November 15th 2011 to November 14th 2012:

http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en_US/tvt-project/tmm-results/tdor2012.htm

In comparison to the TDOR updates of the last years (162 reports 2009, 179 reports in 2010, 221 reports in 2011), we are witnessing a significant increase, which points to the extreme level of violence many trans people continue to be exposed to. However, this increase may also reflect the TvT project’s intensified cooperation and data exchange with trans and LGBT organizations, which document murders of LGBT or trans people in local and national contexts such as Grupo Gay da Bahia (Brazil), Observatorio Ciudadano Trans (Cali, Colombia), Pembe Hayat (Turkey), or TVMEX – Travestis México.

The update shows reports of murdered or killed trans people in 29 countries in the last 12 months, with the majority from Brazil (126), Mexico (48), and the USA (15), followed by Venezuela (9), Honduras (8), Colombia (6), Uruguay (6) and Guatemala (5). In Asia most reported cases have been found in India (6), Pakistan (5) and the Philippines (4), and in Europe in Turkey (5).

As in the previous years, most reported cases were from Central and South America, which account for 80 % of the globally reported homicides of trans people since January 2008. In Central and South America, in 2008, 94 killings were reported in 13 countries, in 2009, 165 killings in 16 countries, in 2010, 181 killings in 13 countries, in 2011, 208 killings in 16 countries. In 2012, so far 224 killings were reported in 19 Central and South American countries. The starkest increase in reports is also to be found in Central and South America, e.g. in Brazil (2008: 57, 2009: 68, 2010: 99, 2011: 105, 2012: 111 so far) and Mexico (2008: 4, 2009: 9, 2010: 14, 2011: 33, 2012: 43 so far). In Asia most reports have been found in the Philippines (28), India (21), and Pakistan (19). Regarding Europe the data also show a continuing elevated number of reported murders in Turkey in the previous years (2008: 4, 2009: 7, 2010: 7, 2011: 6, 2012: 5) adding up to a total number of 29 reported murders since January 2008.

In total, the preliminary results show 1083 reports of murdered trans people in 56 countries since January 2008.

The new result update reveals that in the last 58 months, 98 homicides of trans people were reported in Asia (2008: 15, 2009: 17, 2010: 29, 2011: 24, 2012: 13 so far), 69 in North America (2008: Canada: 1, USA: 18, 2009: USA: 13, 2010: USA: 9, 2011: USA: 16, 2012: Canada: 1, USA: 11 so far), 64 in Europe (2008: 13, 2009: 19, 2010: 10, 2011: 14, 2012: 8 so far), and 6 in Africa (2008: 2, 2009: 1, 2011: 1, 2012: 2) as well as 4 in Oceania (2008: 3, 2009: 1).

The TDOR update of the preliminary results also reveals that since January 2008 64 killings of trans people have been reported in 11 European countries (Albania: 1, France: 2, Germany: 2, Italy: 15, Poland: 1, Portugal: 1, Russia: 2, Serbia: 1, Spain: 5, Turkey: 29 and, UK: 5). In Asia, since January 2008 99 killings of trans people have been reported in 14 countries (Afghanistan: 1, Azerbaijan: 2, Bangladesh: 1, China: 6, India: 21, Indonesia: 4, Iran 1, Iraq: 3, Malaysia: 6, Pakistan: 19, Philippines: 28, Republic of Korea: 1, Singapore: 1, and Thailand: 4). In Africa, 6 killings have been reported since 2008 (Algeria: 1, Mauritius: 1, South Africa: 3, and Uganda: 1), and in Oceania 4 (Australia: 1, Fiji: 1, New Caledonia: 1, and New Zealand: 1).

Yet, we know, even these high numbers are only a fraction of the real figures; the truth is much worse.

These are only the reported cases, which could be found through internet research. In most countries, data on murdered trans people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the numbers of unreported cases. Another finding of these updates is that while Brazil has received special attention due to the elevated number of killings, the number of killings in other South and Central American countries like Colombia and Venezuela, and in particular Honduras and Guatemala is equally or even more worrying in view of the much smaller population sizes of these countries.

While the documentation of homicides against trans people is indispensable for demonstrating the shocking extent of human rights violations committed against trans people on a global scale, there is also a need for in-depth research of various other aspects related to the human rights situation of trans people. Therefore, Transgender Europe developed the Trans Murder Monitoring project into the ‘Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide’ (TvT) research project. TvT is a comparative, ongoing qualitative-quantitative research project, which provides an overview of the human rights situation of trans persons in different parts of the world and develops useful data and advocacy tools for international institutions, human rights organizations, the trans movement and the general public. A research team from Transgender Europe is coordinating the project, which is funded by the Open Society Foundations, the ARCUS Foundation, and partly by the Heinrich Boell Foundation. The TvT research team is assisted by an Advisory Board, composed of more than 20 international LGBT, trans and human rights activists and academics from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and Oceania. It furthermore cooperates with 17 partner organizations in these six world regions.

In December 2012, Transgender Europe’s TvT research team together with its partners in the Global South and East will publish a comprehensive research report in which the TMM data is comparatively analyzed and contextualized.

Mike Hart: Raise A Glass On The 10th Anniversary Of His Passing

You are not forgotten my friend

Friends of the much missed Mike Hart of Compendium and, briefly, Murder One, will be gathering at the Spread Eagle on Parkway in Camden Town,tonight (Thursday, Nov 15th) from 8pm, to raise a glass on the 10th anniversary of his passing. All welcome.

Stewart Home on Mike
 
A BIG thanx to Richard Thomas for organising this and keeping Mike's memory alive and well. I shall be there in spirit and raising my cup of coffee to Mike here in Melbourne. As an aside reading Stewart's piece where he talks about Kerouac, I do remember Mike telling me that Robert Fripp had come into Compendium one day to buy as many books as he could find on Kerouac (which of course ended up as source material for that fugn awful King Crimson elpee Heartbeat, an album that I KNOW Mike would have hated as much as I do) and Mike took great delight in finding the worst books about Kerouac that he could find in the shop to sell to him!

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Girlz with Gunz #59393

Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985)

UK Reggae (Aquarius 1976)


Pity that the last part of the programme is missing...
Bonus:
 

Penny Reel: Late Night Blues

One hears much these days from various and often not entirely disinterested parties of the great and significant advances made in the field of reggae music in recent years; of its pervasive influence on much of the contemporary dance scene and of its ever growing universal appeal.
Evidence is cited to support this contention that on the face of it presents a very convincing case.
We learn for example that the ubiquitous urban rap with the hip hop beat has its antecedents in reggae toasting of the early school, even though it might equally be said that U Roy, Count Matchuki, King Stitt and the rest originally lift many of their own catchphrases verbatim from US radio jocks broadcasting in the Fifties, or even that performers such as the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron portray their bleak visions of the American ghettoes in its own explicit language a good while before these Jamaican preachers make their presence felt in any way.
We are told too of the weird and mostly wondrous effect that dub techniques first pioneered in four track Kingston studios now have on defining the technological New Age enlightenment in all its ambient manifestations of inner space, while on the flip side of the same roots reggae coin is the sudden emergence of any number of dubious record labels busily collating onto compact disc scratchy vinyl recordings of newly discovered reggae legends for their expanding Eastern European and Far East markets, though with little visible benefit to the artists concerned as far as can be ascertained.
Closely aligned to all this is the roots and culture movement centred on Jah Shaka sound system and his many imitators, attracting audiences of different races in a not altogether unlikely alliance of dreadlock and crustie, while at the other end of the social scale we witness an entertainer like veteran Jamaican jazz guitarist and ska pioneer Ernest Ranglin playing Ronnie Scott to a polite and musically sophisticated yet almost exclusively European crowd.
I could reiterate at length other examples that apparently prove this same assimilative process. Clearly, it would seem, a hitherto much maligned music has finally succeeded in broaching all barriers and is now accepted on its own terms by the world at large, much as the pundits claim..!
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Pirate’s Choice#362: Penny Reel Selection

Esteemed reggae journalist Penny Reel plays a selection of his favourite sides
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Right click/save as: 41:07 — 18.9MB)
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A Dread Tale 

Jez Kerr - All The Things You Say

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(Version 1)
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(Version 2)
A Certain Ratio's bassist/singer riffs on James Brown's Soul Power

Glenn Greenwald: FBI's abuse of the surveillance state is the real scandal needing investigation

The Gates of Hell (Turkmenistan)

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HA!

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(Thanx Walter!)

♪♫ Mrs.Greenbird - Blitzkrieg Bop

from the German X-Factor

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Occupy Wall Street Has An Ambitious Plan To Buy Distressed Consumer Debt And Forgive It

Why Occupy's Plan To Cancel Consumer Debts Is Brilliant

McKenzie Wark: Blue Ruin - Spectacles of Disintegration

John McAfee Wanted for Murder

...McAfee's intensive use of psychosis-inducing hallucinogens would go a long way toward explaining his growing estrangement from his friends and from the community around him. If he was producing large quantities of these chemicals, as implied on Bluelight, that would also shed light on his decision to associate with some of Belize's most hardened drug-gang members.
McAfee's purported interest in extracting medicine from jungle plants provided him a wholesome justification for building a well-equipped chemistry lab in a remote corner of Belize. The specific properties of the drugs he was attempting to isolate also fit in well with what those closest to him have reported: that he is an enthusiastic amateur pharmacologist with a longstanding interest in drugs that induce sexual behavior in women. Indeed, former friends of McAfee have said he could be extremely persistent and devious in trying to coerce women who rebuff his advances to have sex with him.
HERE

McAfee: I’m Innocent

Post-Petraeus CIA Should Kill Less and Spy More, Former Chief Says

FBI Agent in Petraeus Case Under Scrutiny

Here’s the e-mail trick Petraeus and Broadwell used to communicate

Motives Questioned in F.B.I. Inquiry of Petraeus E-Mails

Paula Broadwell claims about Benghazi attack dismissed as 'baseless' by CIA

13 Low - Permutations

GusGus - Live on KEXP

Live at the KEX Hostel in Reykjavik during Iceland Airwaves '11. Recorded 10/12/11.
Setlist:
Selfoss
Arabian Horse
Over
Bonus:
GusGus live at the opening ceremony of the Reykjavik Concert Hall "Harpa", may 13th 2011.
Guest appearance by Högni Egilsson of Icelandic pop group Hjaltalín

David Simon: Barack Obama And The Death Of Normal

Monday 12 November 2012

Brent Stirton

Winner World Press Photo 2012 first prize in Contemporary Issues; Singles, for his portrait of Maria, a drug addicted sex worker from his AIDS in Ukraine story. 
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Kent man arrested after picture of burning poppy posted on internet

Stockholm

Gillard announces royal commission into child abuse

How Microsoft Lit Up London’s Night Sky to Launch Halo 4

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How I Was Drawn Into the Cult of David Petraeus

Paul Kelly & Neil Finn - Into Temptation


Two of Australasia's greatest singer songwriters Paul Kelly and Neil Finn, will bring their iconic songs on tour in February and March 2013.
Kelly and Finn will share the stage throughout as members of the one band, singing and playing together a selection from their rich and varied songbooks.
The concerts will be a family affair, with the line up to include Elroy Finn on drums and Dan Kelly on guitars.
Tickets will go on sale on Friday 16 November. All dates and details can be found here.
SAT 16 FEB / The Palais Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
MON 18 FEB / The Palais Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
WED 27 FEB / Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane, QLD
FRI 1 MAR / Adelaide Festival, Free Opening Night Concert at Elder Park, Adelaide, SA
SAT 2 MAR / A Day On The Green, Rutherglen, VIC
SAT 9 MAR / A Day On The Green, Armidale, NSW
SUN 10 MAR / Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW
MON 11 MAR / Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW
TUES 12 MAR / Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW
THU 14 MAR / Kings Park, Perth, WA

The world wide web of abuse

Australia and Obama’s return

All the world has a stake America’s presidential election. Barack Obama has seen off a surprisingly strong showing from Republican candidate Mitt Romney and now has four final years in the executive office.
The most immediate consequence of this for Australia is that it can enjoy the benefits of continuity. Significant amounts of time are lost as an outgoing president enters a “lame duck” phase and the new administration begins a steep learning curve. This has been avoided. PM Julia Gillard has an excellent relationship with President Obama, and she does not have to spend time waiting for and then developing a relationship with a new president.
Obama does not intend to make any drastic changes to his policy settings. The high value placed on the alliance with Australia will continue. The advantages – of support, intelligence and equipment as well as political access – will persist, but so will the downsides. Australia will continue to have to manage the knock-on effects of being so closely linked to the US. This includes the risk of being drawn into conflicts that could otherwise have been avoided, or fuelling the lingering perception that Australia is a reluctant Asian power...
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 Nick Bisley @'The Conversation'

Rules for US troops in NT kept secret

Black Cab - Go Slow

Scientology comes to Israel

Here save yourself a lot of money...


Operation Clambake

DDoS Attacks Take Down What.cd, BTN and More BitTorrent Trackers

The Sins Of General David Petraeus

Have You Seen This Man?

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The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Live on WFMU's Cherry Blossom Clinic (27/10/12)

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Monopoly Is Theft

Sunday 11 November 2012

English Defence League Hacked By ZHC


Typefaces Created Entirely With Computer Codes

Graphic artist and interactive visual designer Yeohyun Ahn has created a collection of typefaces for the digital age—using only computer codes.
Using mathematical expressions and algorithms, ‘TYPE+CODE II’ represents a completely new form of typography that does not follow the centuries-old traditions of the typographic world.
Each a tiny piece of software, the letters in the collection are characterized by the highly structured, complex yet mesmerizing patterns that one would expect of computer-generated products.
According to the artist, not all of the typefaces are presented in full alphabetical sets as they “were created by using computer codes, which means [she] can easily switch any letter from A to Z through just typing in [her] computer codes”.
View more of these futuristic typography HERE.
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