Alan Johnson: Back Door Man
Posted by barry at
12:30 AM on July 1, 2009
While the UK may have changed its 'Home' Secretary, it still marches on insanely towards the year 1984. Evil now comes in the form of Alan Johnson, who will be automatically registering all new passports onto the controversial 'national identity card database' that he is trying to introduce through the back door:
'Johnson said he had halted plans to introduce compulsory identity cards for airline pilots and 30,000 other "critical workers" at Manchester and London City airports this autumn in the face of threats of legal action. Longer term plans to extend compulsory ID cards to other transport industries, such as the railways, as a condition of employment have also been scrapped. But two batches of draft regulations to be approved by MPs tomorrow and next week are expected to include powers to make the passport a "designated document" under the national identity card scheme. This means that anyone applying for or renewing their passport from 2011 will have their details automatically added to the national identity databases. The regulations also include powers to levy a fine of up to £1,000 on those who fail to tell the authorities of a change of address or amend other key personal details such as a change of name within three months.' - Guardian 30 June 2009.
So it's also an opportunity to rip off the public financially. A Big Brother profit scheme, nice.
| Comments (0)Steorn Get Stomped
Posted by damien at
4:49 PM on June 30, 2009
Steorn? Remember them? The Irish energy company that said it had found a way to violate the laws of energy conservation to create a 'clean, free and constant' power, back in 2006?
Widely ridiculed for their assertions, Steorn issued a challenge to the scientific community to form a jury of peers to pore over the veracity of their claims.
In time a jury, comprised of 22 scientists, chosen by Steorn was created to do just that. And today they announced their findings:
Continue reading "Steorn Get Stomped"
| Comments (2)AEG Live Try To Cash In On Michael Jackson's Death
Posted by birdbath at
11:30 AM on June 30, 2009
(image by a_kep, used under a creative commons license)
Personally, I couldn't give a flying proverbial about the passing of one Mr. Jackson. He wrote some kickin' tunes in the early 80's but, from the time of 'Bad' onwards, discharged great blobs of sonic bilge into the ether which have infected our radio and telly waves ever since. Seriously. 'Man In The Mirror'? Are you having a laugh?
Anyway, we'd been blissfully ignoring the whole global hand-wringing about the passing of Senor Jackson until this rather hilarious tidbit bubbled up to the top of our RSS thing:
The concert promoters for Michael Jackson's planned shows at the O2 Arena in London today offered fans the option of a "specially created" souvenir ticket rather than a refund.AEG Live said full refunds were available for all legitimately bought tickets, but suggested some fans of the singer, who died on Thursday, would prefer to receive a ticket "inspired and designed by Michael Jackson for the fans" and made with a "special lenticular process". They are not able to have both.
"Since he loved his fans in life, it is incumbent upon us to treat them with the same reverence and respect after his death," Randy Phillips, the president and chief executive of AEG Live, said.
So, just so as we're clear, people unfortunate enough to have purchased a ticket to see Signori Jackson's 'This Is It' tour have the choice of asking for a full refund or a meaningless, commemorative ticket to a gig that will never happen, for the same price? Is that right?
Balls. Of brass.
| Comments (0)Yann Arthus-Bertrand's 'Home'
Posted by damien at
9:27 AM on June 30, 2009
A truly breathtaking piece of flimmaking:
Continue reading "Yann Arthus-Bertrand's 'Home'"
| Comments (0)'I'm From Limerick'
Posted by damien at
4:03 PM on June 29, 2009
Every once in a while, a video appears - a clever, cutting-edge, viral campaign designed to promote a little-known town and locality, boost tourism and trade and generally charm the world's knickers off.
This is not one of those videos.
Continue reading "'I'm From Limerick'"
| Comments (4)More about al-Libi Conveniently Dying
Posted by barry at
11:30 AM on June 26, 2009
'In a world exclusive, Andy Worthington, author of The Guantánamo Files, reveals new information, from a source in Libya, about Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, the former US "ghost prisoner" who died in a Libyan jail last month, focusing, in particular, on the prisons in which he was held, and the ways in which torture was used by his interrogators. Since the story first emerged last month that Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (whose real name was Ali Abdul Hamid al-Fakheri) had died in a Libyan prison, speculation has been rife that the Libyan newspaper Oea, which claimed that he had died by committing suicide, was covering up the fact that he had actually been murdered. Once the Bush administration's most famous "ghost prisoner," al-Libi had been the emir of the Khaldan training camp in Afghanistan, but his notoriety stemmed not from his own activities, but from the fact that, after his capture in December 2001, he was rendered by the CIA to Egypt, where, under torture, he made a false confession that two al-Qaeda operatives had been receiving information from Saddam Hussein about the use of chemical and biological weapons, which was subsequently used to justify the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.'
Continue reading this story at andyworthington.co.uk.
| Comments (0)Iran Elections: Previously Unseen Video Of Iranian Election Results
Posted by damien at
4:14 PM on June 19, 2009
Previously unseen video of Iranian Election results being read out last Friday night...
Continue reading "Iran Elections: Previously Unseen Video Of Iranian Election Results"
| Comments (2)Friday Choon: Depeche Mode's 'Peace'
Posted by damien at
8:25 AM on June 19, 2009
The second single from the album 'Sounds of the Universe'.
Continue reading "Friday Choon: Depeche Mode's 'Peace'"
| Comments (0)Iran: Latest Videos From Protests
Posted by damien at
4:48 PM on June 18, 2009
It's difficult to be dispassionate watching this, as a wounded cameraman runs towards the gunfire ahead of him in an effort to document what is happening.
Continue reading "Iran: Latest Videos From Protests"
| Comments (0)Fortean Fall: Raining Tadpoles in Japan
Posted by daev at
10:06 AM on June 18, 2009
According to Justin McCurry, Tokyo correspondent for The Guardian,
The Guardian: In Japan, it's raining tadpoles ...
Meteorologists admit they are bewildered by a spate of incidents in which the creatures appear to have fallen from the sky. People around the country have reported witnessing the phenomenon since the first sightings of stranded tadpoles were made in Ishikawa prefecture last week.
The article continues:
One popular theory is that the creatures were sucked up by waterspouts but meteorologists say no strong winds have been reported in the areas where tadpoles were found. One expert said gusts too weak to be picked up by observatories might have sucked up small quantities of water, along with a few unfortunate tadpoles. Ornithologists said it was too early too rule out their feathered friends.
While this isn't a new phenomenon, it's still a mysterious one, and similar events have been recorded throughout history - but famously drawn together by Charles Fort. While it's usually explained away as being caused by a "waterspout" or a meterological phenomenon, no one actually knows why it happens. Fort himself recorded reports of falls of alabaster, ants, ashes, beef, beetle larvae, berries, bitumen, blood, butter, charcoal, china fragments (naturally vitrified?), cinders, coal, cobwebs, coins, crabs, crayfish, eels, fish, flesh, gelatinous matter, grain, hay, ice, iron balls, jelly fish, limestone, lizards, mud, mussels, oyster shells, periwinkles, quartz, resin, salt, sand, sandalwood, seeds, silk, snails, snakes, spawn, spiders, carved and shaped stones, turtles, and of course, toads and frogs. To name a few.
Blather articles on 'falls':
Fish Fall in Ireland's West
Super Sargasso Surfin'
Raining Toads
Clay Shirky On Iran And Twitter
Posted by damien at
10:02 AM on June 17, 2009
(image from Poptech!, used under a Creative Commons License)
Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody, weighs in on the usage of Twitter in Iran's Green Revolution:
What do you make of what's going on in Iran right now? I'm always a little reticent to draw lessons from things still unfolding, but it seems pretty clear that ... this is it. The big one. This is the first revolution that has been catapulted onto a global stage and transformed by social media. I've been thinking a lot about the Chicago demonstrations of 1968 where they chanted "the whole world is watching." Really, that wasn't true then. But this time it's true ... and people throughout the world are not only listening but responding. They're engaging with individual participants, they're passing on their messages to their friends, and they're even providing detailed instructions to enable web proxies allowing Internet access that the authorities can't immediately censor. That kind of participation is reallly extraordinary.
Continue reading "Clay Shirky On Iran And Twitter"
| Comments (0)Roma Families Attacked In Belfast
Posted by damien at
9:12 AM on June 17, 2009
(photo by WMUD, used under a Creative Commons License)
Oh it just makes you proud to be Irish, doesn't it? From The Guardian:
'More than 100 Romanians have taken refuge in a Belfast church after their homes came under attack from racists.| Comments (20)Up to 20 families fled their homes off the Lisburn Road in the south of the city last night following repeated attacks on their houses. The 115 Romanians, most of whom are understood to be from the Roma community, were taken to the church in police mini-buses.'
Protests in Tehran - The Revolution Will Be Twittered
Posted by damien at
11:32 AM on June 15, 2009
You may be unaware of this, but there's a proper little propaganda fight emerging on social media streams this morning. The disputed Iranian election results have led to widespread protests and conflicting information as to whether today's mass rally, which is due to start in (*looks at watch*) an hour will go ahead.
Continue reading "Protests in Tehran - The Revolution Will Be Twittered "
| Comments (0)Friday Choon: Expialidocious - Mary Poppins Electronica Remix
Posted by damien at
9:01 AM on June 12, 2009
Ahoy hoy blatherbots. Been a while since we gave you a Friday Choon. Our apologies, but we hope this will rectify the situation: a wonderful electronica Mary Poppins mashup by an Australian DJ called Pogo.
Continue reading "Friday Choon: Expialidocious - Mary Poppins Electronica Remix"
| Comments (1)How to fake a UFO
Posted by damien at
12:14 PM on June 10, 2009
You know you want to. Go on. Go on. Go on...
Continue reading "How to fake a UFO"
| Comments (0)DMT: The Spirit Molecule
Posted by damien at
10:52 AM on June 10, 2009
An extract from the upcoming (and fascinating looking) documentary on DMT - 'The Spirit Molecule'. This is an interview with Blather favourite Douglas Rushkoff.
Continue reading "DMT: The Spirit Molecule"
| Comments (0)Sex Galaxy!
Posted by birdbath at
10:30 AM on June 8, 2009
Taking mashups to a whole new level...
Continue reading "Sex Galaxy!"
| Comments (0)Libertas: Europe's dodgiest political party in new controversy
Posted by daev at
9:20 AM on June 4, 2009
The European elections are underway - I'll be voting up the road tomorrow, here in Dublin's city centre. However, as much as I'll be avoiding voting for the space cadets that seem to be running Fianna Fail at the moment, I'll certainly not be voting for the weird all-over-Europe-like-a-rash Libertas party.
On the RTE website, there's a story called Libertas reveals new Wiesenthal alliance... but the article suggests no such thing! Instead it details a foot-in-mouth retraction by Libertas following a press statement from candidate Caroline Simons that the Jewish human rights organisation Simon Wiesenthal Centre was "beneath contempt" and "willing idiots". I dug around and found that following the Libertas backpeddling, the pan-European party has suddenly claimed an alliance with the Wiesenthal Centre... tho I don't see any evidence to say that the Wiesenthal Centre is happy with that matter. I'm watching that one with interest.
Continue reading "Libertas: Europe's dodgiest political party in new controversy"
| Comments (1)Irish Sex Abuse Scandal: Video from RTE's Questions and Answers
Posted by damien at
12:00 PM on May 26, 2009
It's not very often that plain, heartfelt words from a fellow citizen can articulate the rage of an entire country, but this gentelman's speech does just that.
This is a piece of video from the Irish TV show Questions and Answers (from state broadcaster RTE) from last week. The following exchange took place when an audience member (Michael O'Brien, a former member of the governing party, Fianna Fail, who had been sexually abused in state instiutions as a child) decided to have a few words with the Irish Government minister Noel Dempsey, over their handling of the sexual abuse scandals.
Well said Sir.
Continue reading "Irish Sex Abuse Scandal: Video from RTE's Questions and Answers"
| Comments (1)As thick as a brick. As clear as mud. New precision archaeological dating technique
Posted by ender at
12:46 PM on May 22, 2009
A new archaeological dating technique has just been unveiled that (all depending on it standing further scrutiny) has the potential to seriously shake the very foundations of the profession. Indeed, not since Angelina Jolie donned that tight figure-hugging leotard and strapped a trowel to her thighs, have tree-hugging tomb raiders and mucky crusty geeks the world over been positively salivating at the prospects of what may, or may be about to...eh, come.
| Comments (0)DictatorWatch: Obama continues extreme beatings at Guantanamo
Posted by barry at
4:40 PM on May 21, 2009
'...one Guantanamo lawyer, Ahmed Ghappour, said that his clients were reporting "a ramping up in abuse" since Obama was elected, including "beatings, the dislocation of limbs, spraying of pepper spray into closed cells, applying pepper spray to toilet paper and over-force feeding detainees who are on hunger strike," according to Reuters' - the full story in great detail by Jeremy Scahill has been published in various places on the internet, including antiwar.com.
'Muslim 007' Exposes British Lies
Posted by barry at
2:19 PM on May 21, 2009
'British security agents sent an undercover mole dubbed the 'Muslim 007' to convince Al Qaeda suspect Binyam Mohamed to turn informant if he wanted his torture to end, it was claimed last night.The new allegations suggest Britain's involvement in the 'medieval' treatment of the former Guantanamo Bay prisoner goes much deeper than previously thought. Ministers and MI5 have insisted they had no idea that Mohamed was the subject of an 'extraordinary rendition' to Morocco, nor that he was tortured there on the orders of the CIA. However, last night Mohamed told how the mole, known only as Informant A, tried to persuade him that giving intelligence to the British would end his ordeal - suggesting MI5 agents were complicit in his treatment.'
- full story at commondreams.org, 17 May 2009.
Note also that even though Miliband is no longer clinging to the false statement that the Americans would stop co-operating with British intelligence if the Brits came clean on Binyam Mohamed, he's claiming it's important to silence the truth anyway: 'On Friday, Foreign Secretary David Miliband signed a new demand for a gagging order, arguing that publication of the High Court judges' summary would cause irreparable harm to Britain's relationship with America.'
Remember, Britain MUST do this! It HAS TO! It's an imperative! The English rat must stay aboard the ship! The Titanic sails at dawn!
| Comments (0)Italy Charges CIA Agents with Kidnapping
Posted by barry at
5:27 PM on May 15, 2009
Some bullshit-free behaviour from the Italians:
'Sabrina DeSousa is as cool as you'd expect a CIA operative to be in a hot spot. DeSousa's predicament is that she's wanted on kidnapping charges in Italy, along with two dozen other Americans connected to the CIA's "rendition" of an al Qaeda suspect from a Milan street to an Egyptian torture chamber in 2003.' - full story in Jeff Stein's Spy Talk blog, 14 May 2009.
DictatorWatch: Obama Reinstates Kangaroo Courts
Posted by barry at
4:58 PM on May 15, 2009
200 years of jurisprudence out the window. Again.
'Barack Obama will restart Bush-era military tribunals for a small number of Guantanamo detainees, reviving a fiercely disputed trial system he once denounced but with new legal protections for terror suspects, US officials said yesterday' - full story in the Independent, 15 May 2009.
A pathetic performance, sir.
Picture from allisonkilkenny.wordpress.com
| Comments (0) Peter Serafinowicz: 50 Impressions, 2 Mins
Posted by damien at
2:40 PM on May 14, 2009
The great Peter Serafinowicz.
Continue reading " Peter Serafinowicz: 50 Impressions, 2 Mins "
| Comments (0)al-Libi Conveniently Dies
Posted by barry at
1:43 PM on May 14, 2009
al-Libi, who was tortured until he invented fictions that would provide the US with an excuse to invade Iraq, has conveniently died.
Scott Horton, the human rights lawyer, reports in his blog No Comment:
'Ali Mohamed al-Fakheri, also known as Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, had died in a Libyan prison. The report stated that the death was an apparent suicide and that Libyan prosecutors had opened an investigation into it, but it went on to note that friends of al-Libi questioned the circumstances of his death...Al-Libi played a key role in the torture debate. He provided a perfect demonstration of the way torture techniques can produce dangerous misinformation. Here's Peter Finn's account of the focal role played by the al-Libi interrogation in efforts to make a case for war against Iraq from today's Washington Post: "Libi was captured fleeing Afghanistan in late 2001, and he vanished into the secret detention system run by the Bush Administration. He became the unnamed source, according to Senate investigators, behind Bush Administration claims in 2002 and 2003 that Iraq had provided training in chemical and biological weapons to al-Qaeda operatives. The claim was most famously delivered by then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in his address to the United Nations in February 2003. Powell later called the speech a "blot" on his record, saying he was not given all available intelligence and analysis within the government. The Defense Intelligence Agency and some analysts at the CIA had questioned the veracity of Libi's testimony, which was obtained after the prisoner was transferred to Egyptian custody for questioning by the CIA, according to Senate investigators."'
Full story 'A Convenient Death', No Comment, 12 May 2009.
| Comments (0)The iSnort
Posted by damien at
9:32 AM on May 13, 2009
Let's see this one get past the App store police...
| Comments (0)Douglas Rushkoff's 'Life Inc.'
Posted by damien at
5:01 PM on May 12, 2009
A short video explaining the core concepts behind Doug Rushkoff's new book Life Inc.
Continue reading "Douglas Rushkoff's 'Life Inc.'"
| Comments (0)Ron Jeremy's 'One-Eyed Monster'
Posted by damien at
9:17 AM on May 12, 2009
Must see. Must see. Must see.
Continue reading "Ron Jeremy's 'One-Eyed Monster'"
| Comments (1)Phil Hendrie's 'Molesters Picnic'
Posted by damien at
1:29 PM on May 11, 2009
'She's in a suitcase by 10.30'
http://www.philhendrieshow.com/
| Comments (0)Orang-Utan Jailbreak
Posted by barry at
4:02 PM on May 10, 2009
'An Australian zoo was evacuated after an "ingenious" orang-utan escaped from her enclosure by short-circuiting an electric fence today. Staff at Adelaide zoo said 137lb (62kg) Karta used a stick to short-circuit the electric wires around her enclosure before piling up some more sticks to climb out' - Guardian 10 May 2009.
Yay! Long live the rebellion!
David Miliband: LIAR
Posted by barry at
7:24 PM on May 9, 2009
Well, it is either he who is a LIAR or his lawyers... Either way, a LIE has been told, by or on the behalf of David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary of the UK, in the legal case that won't go away: the kidnap and torture of Binyam Mohamed by the American government.
As we quoted from IPS News on Blather.net in February: 'British Lord Justice Thomas and Mr. Justice Lloyd Jones stated repeatedly that Secretary Miliband claimed the U.S. had threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Britain if information relating to Mohamed's alleged torture was disclosed.'
Now it turns out that the U.S. made no such threat! From The Independent, 9 May 2009: 'Mr Mohamed's lawyers said at a hearing last month it had since become clear from statements by Mr Miliband and others that the US had not threatened to withdraw intelligence co-operation.The supposed threat was not based on any contact with the Obama government or any knowledge as to whether or not his administration would maintain the position adopted under President George W Bush. Foreign Office lawyers apologised for its unintentional failure to correct the misunderstanding...'
I can't comprehend how this could be a 'misunderstanding'. How does this not look like Miliband or Foreign Office lawyers were DOWNRIGHT LYING?
Anyway, there's now been a 'High Court decision to reconsider a ruling which bans the disclosure of his alleged torture at the hands of US and Pakistani intelligence services with the collusion of British agents'.
Good.
But it's still 'alleged' torture, is it? It won't be when the 'paragraphs summarising US Government reports on Mr Mohamed's treatment' get published.
| Comments (0)DNA Serfdom
Posted by barry at
2:38 PM on May 7, 2009
UK: Whether a peasant is innocent of stealing a goat, or guilty, the British State will retain DNA records of all serfs regardless, according to a new decree issued by Vampire-in-chief the Countess Jacqui "I want your Blood!" Smith R.I.P.
'The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is accused today of undermining the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" by insisting on keeping DNA records of people cleared of crime' - The Independent, 7 May 2009.
'There are creatures crawling around beneath the paving stones outside my shed that would fill the great office of state of Home Secretary with greater dignity, intellect and competence' - Matthew Norman, 'How we'll all miss Jacqui Smith', The Independent, 7 May 2009.
'It seems to be as about as minimal a response to the European court of human rights judgment as one could conceive. There is a presumption not of innocence but of future guilt here ... which I find very disturbing indeed' - DNA pioneer Sir Alec Jeffreys, The Guardian, 7 May 2009.
'Smith's proposal still clings to the notion of creating a compulsory national DNA database by stealth. Instead of openly arguing and campaigning for this, Smith seeks to build one incrementally, slyly and on the quiet' - Mark Thomas, The Guardian, 7 May 2009.
| Comments (0)Richard Metzger's 'Dangerous Minds'
Posted by damien at
2:14 PM on May 5, 2009
Disinfo's Richard Metzger is back with a new show, "Dangerous Minds".
Continue reading "Richard Metzger's 'Dangerous Minds'"
| Comments (3)Total Victory for the Israel Lobby's Espionage Activities: Rosen-Weissman Case Dropped
Posted by barry at
1:12 PM on May 4, 2009
The U.S. prosecution against two officials of the Israel lobby group AIPAC, Steve Roseman and Keith Weissman, for espionage against the United States on behalf of Israel, has been dropped. The case apparently folded because of the fear of classified government information being revealed during the trial.
Rosen and Weissman never denied that they gave top secret U.S. information from the Pentagon to the Israeli government, and the Pentagon official who provided the information, Larry Franklin, pled guilty to espionage and was convicted. But Rosen and Weissman's ludicrous defence was that everything they were doing was normal for lobbyists, just fine, and in the interests of the United States (even though it wasn't).
It might be 'normal' for AIPAC to marshal its lobbying forces and within three hours stop the U.S. government from appointing the chairman of its own National Intelligence Council. It might be 'normal' for the same lobby to be the ultimate decision-making authority over who gets to be the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. But is it now 'normal' for the Israeli government to have free access to all top secret documents from the Pentagon? This is not comparable to the leaking of secret documents to the press, or anything like that. This was not done in the public interest. This was walking documents into the Israeli embassy. This was aiding a foreign power.
And what was the top secret information? Franklin was an Iran specialist, so this all had to do with Israel trying to concoct reasons for the U.S. to go to war with Iran. Like that would be in anyone's interest. But hey, if the Americans were stupid enough to go to war in Iraq, why not Iran? And anyway, it's worth a shot, there's no punishment for spying or, for that matter, controlling the careers of American politicians, so why not do whatever you want with America, your plaything? If the Sibel Edmonds case is anything to go by, Israeli phd students have already been employed as moles in every nuclear lab and agency in the USA (see Blather.net's 'Black Market Nukes!' series, part three), so Yahweh only knows what's coming next.
Of course, if Rosen had been convicted, he was going to sue AIPAC and spill the beans on all their shenanigans, as he had only been following orders. AIPAC until now had not been able to pull strings to get Rosen and Weissman off (though they had tried), but this existential threat to AIPAC from Rosen must have got the big wheels moving somewhere in the establishment. Rosen and Weissman's lawyers did make sure to say they were 'extremely grateful' to the Obama administration.
(once again, picture from eldib.wordpress.com)
All of our parents were the Zodiac Killer
Posted by barry at
12:54 PM on May 1, 2009
'...a middle-aged estate agent from California has stepped forward to claim she is the daughter of the famous "Zodiac killer".'
but
another man '...has stepped forward to claim his stepfather was the Zodiac killer...'
Read the Independent story.
| Comments (0)
Friday Choon: The Caretaker's 'A Stairway To The Stars'
Posted by damien at
9:00 AM on May 1, 2009
Came across this gorgeous ambient gem this week (hat-tip to the ever helpful Neil D. over at Lazybird) and have been loving it ever since. Press play.
Find the album here
| Comments (0)Extreme Shepherding
Posted by daev at
5:35 PM on April 29, 2009
God, I just love the internet sometimes...Thanks to Kate Kelly for bringing to my attention this rather whacky project by a bunch of Welsh shepherds. Using sheep and sheepdogs, and LEDs they create animations of giant sheep, fireworks, pong and more... apparently for a Samsung advert.
More here:
Read more about this video
Papers please! Plans for Smith & Brown's Nazi Police State are now at Risk
Posted by barry at
2:42 PM on April 28, 2009
United Kingdom: 'Senior cabinet ministers are privately discussing a plan to scrap the Government's £5bn identity cards programme as part of cuts to public spending' - full story at The Independent, 28 April 2009.
Machiavelli and the Military-Industrial Complex
Posted by barry at
12:51 PM on April 28, 2009
Here's an interesting little essay by Jeff Huber on the current state of the American Military-Industrial Complex. I hope he doesn't mind me quoting a few paragraphs to lead you in:
'...[Machiavelli] said of war that, "a well-established republic or kingdom would never permit its subjects or citizens to employ it for their profession." Machiavelli asserted that "as long as [the Romans] were wise and good, never permitted that their citizens should take up this practice as their profession." It was only when Pompeii and Caesar established the institution of emperor as professional warrior that Rome's republic began to erode. Eventually the army's elite Praetorian Guard "became formidable to the Senate and damaging to the emperor"...'
'In his 1961 farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned America to "guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence" by the "military-industrial complex" for the same reason Machiavelli cautioned heads of state of his day to beware of advisers who "in times of peace, desire war because they are unable to live without it." In '61, Eisenhower admonished that the "economic, political, even spiritual" influence of America's new war industry was "felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government." A decade into the new American century, militarism has woven itself into the very fiber of our society. Political careers and regional economies are wholly dependent upon it. The defense industry has transformed America into a warfare-welfare state, and it doesn't bother making a secret of it.
'Witness the recent uproar over Defense Secretary Robert Gates' proposed defense budget "cutbacks" that are actually an increase. Lipstick neocon Joe Lieberman led the protest over Gates' refusal to expand the F-22 stealth fighter purchase. At $360 million a pop, the F-22 is a Cold War albatross that was designed to go toe-to-toe with the Russkies in the skies over Europe. Now, its mission involves air-to-air combat against jumbo jets armed with box cutters; but it's built in Joe's state of Connecticut, so it's of vital importance to national security.'
Read the full essay, 'Brave New World Order' by Jeff Huber on antiwar.com
| Comments (0)The Swine Flu Conspiracy Theories Have Started
Posted by damien at
10:32 AM on April 27, 2009
Grab your tin-foil fedoras and hang on for dear life kids:
Feel free to leave your own theories about the Swine Flu below...
| Comments (3)Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno
Posted by daev at
9:14 AM on April 24, 2009
Ah, Isabella Rossellini. I've had a crush on her for years. And her mum, Ingrid Bergman too. Isabella (yes, I imagine we're on first name terms) is often associated with enigmatic, unHollywoodish roles such as the doomed lounge singer Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch's Blue Velvet, but has had a long history of activism and philanthropy. Isabella strikes me as a person who does the stuff that interests her. She keeps her own counsel.
So now, at the age of 56, it's intriguing that Isabella's making porno movies. Did I say porn? Aye, I did. Green Porno. Whatever you're expecting, well, you're probably going to be wrong.
Continue reading "Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno"
| Comments (1)Bull in a Supermarket, Ballinrobe
Posted by daev at
9:01 AM on April 24, 2009
I don't know which is funnier - the story of this young bull escaping from the mart and hurtling through SuperValu supermarket, in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, or the woeful wisecracks of all the humans involved.... and yes, it was probably looking for a china shop.
Mondrian's telephone exchange building, Dame Court, Dublin
Posted by daev at
9:23 AM on April 23, 2009
Mondrian's telephone exchange building, Dame Court, Dublin
Originally uploaded by Dave Walsh Photography
The artist, Mondrian (1872-1944) is thought to have made phone calls routed through here, as it was near the studio he used during his little known and rather brief 'Dublin period' in September 1938*.
*: May not be true.
Earth Day, it's here again
Posted by daev at
4:04 PM on April 22, 2009
Earth Day, celebrated April 22, is a day chosen to wake up people up to an awareness and appreciation for the Earth's (and Ocean's!) environment. Environment, you say?
Here's a little something from my Greenpeace colleagues to remind you:
Greenpeace is using today - and this video to mobilise 3 million people to join thefight for the climate, to force governments to act against runaway climate change. See www.greenpeace.org/me2 » and make sure to vote for the video on YouTube!
| Comments (0)Israeli spy on the wiretap (updated)
Posted by barry at
3:54 PM on April 22, 2009
'Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat long involved in intelligence issues, was overheard on a 2005 National Security Agency wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two former officials [Steve Rosen & Keith Weissman, who go on trial soon] of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. In return, the Israeli agent pledged to help lobby for Harman to become chairwoman of the House Intelligence Committee... Justice Department officials decided there was sufficient evidence to initiate an FBI investigation of Harman. But at the last minute, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales aborted the plan...' - Jeff Stein, Spy Talk, 19 April 2009.
Update 1: 'Harman was heard lamenting to the suspected Israeli agent how the tactics of a major Jewish fundraiser to use the threat of withholding political donations to California Democrat Nancy Pelosi to win Harman the gavel of the House Select Committee on Intelligence had badly backfired...'
- Jeff Stein, Spy Talk 22 April 2009.
Update 2: 'Intelligence Officials Tipped Pelosi To Harman Wiretap' - Jeff Stein, Spy Talk, 22 April 2009.
Update 3: Philip Giraldi, former CIA and DIA counter-terrorism officer, has been interviewed on antiwar.com [mp3] about this case and the surrounding issues, such as Israeli spying, corruption, the NSA and how this links to the Sibel Edmonds case.
| Comments (2)Random Poem Generator
Posted by barry at
11:37 PM on April 20, 2009
First poem
THE CLEAR CD CALMLY ORGANIZES THE COMPUTER.
DEATH IS A LIVELY PRINTER.
WHERE IS THE WARM SHOE?
WHERE IS THE ROUGH PRINTER?
THE MUSIC FALLS LIKE A CLEAR SHOE.
Second poem
BIG, STORMY CDS CALMLY MANAGE A CLEAR, LIVELY IPOD.
NEVER OBSERVE A PRINTER.
Third poem
DRIVERS TALK LIKE GRIMY GUITARS.
COMPUTERS TALK LIKE SMALL IPODS.
Fourth poem
WHERE IS THE GRIMY CIGARETTE?
GROW QUICKLY LIKE A RAINY GIRL.
DUSTY, SMALL LIGHTS CALMLY GRAB A BIG, FACELESS BOOK.
THE HOT GIRL LOUDLY GETS THE WORKER.
WHERE IS THE FACELESS GIRL?
Fifth poem
PRINTERS GO!
WHERE IS THE FAST WORKER?
THE KEYBOARD GOSSIPS LIKE A FACELESS PRINTER.
WHY DOES THE LAPTOP WORK?
Sixth poem
WHERE IS THE MISTY STREET?
WHY DOES THE DRIVER WALK?
CIGARETTES SHOP!
DEATH, LIFE, AND WORK.
Seventh poem
EXHAUSTION, EXHAUSTION, AND DISBELIEF.
THE DUSTY JOB CALMLY BUYS THE CORNER.
AH, WORK!
NEVER GRAB A LIGHT.
Eighth poem
THE GIRL SHOPS LIKE A DEAD STREET.
THE DUSTY COMPUTER QUICKLY BUYS THE GIRL.
NOISY, OLD GIRLS QUICKLY SELL A BIG, DARK GIRL.
FLOWERS WORK LIKE FACELESS WINDOWS.
NEVER GET A WINDOW.
Now make your own poem at thinkzone's poem generator. Advice: in order for the poems to get under the skin of our modern readers, as these poems undoubtedly do, you'll need to add words from your actual surroundings into the word lists, to see them hurled back at you with new, disconcerting meanings, challenging your complacent view of your reality! For instance, I added 'computer', 'CD', 'ipod', 'printer', 'keyboard', 'laptop', 'book', 'guitar', 'music', 'shoe', 'manage', 'observe' and 'disbelief' to the word lists. Now I change some words and I get a different feel:
THE RAINY DEALER QUICKLY GETS THE CITY.
AH, VANDALISM!
WHERE IS THE OLD CAR?
Right, I'm off to add in as many sexually explicit words as possible, so that I can have my erotic poetry end with lines like 'the girl works like a dark truck' and so I can find out what parts of the human body 'sell dead, dead rains'.
| Comments (0)Self-portrait With Motorcycle
Posted by daev at
5:34 PM on April 20, 2009
This is the last known image of the artist and adventurer (1615 - unknown) pictured astride his prized classic Suzuki motorcycle 'Molly', before setting off on a 2-year expedition to explore and map the Tolka Delta for the Irish Empire (on which the sun occasionally rises). His whereabouts are to this day, unknown, despite foolhardy forays into Fairview Park in search of the missing explorer.
Photographed using an antique Dessoustype camera, handprinted by pale-skinned virgins onto organic goats-rennet paper, then hung out to dry. Prints: limited edition to a run of zero.
See also: Self-portrait with coot and television (2005) »
| Comments (0)
J.G. Ballard, 1930-2009
Posted by barry at
9:51 PM on April 19, 2009
Sadly, one of the last great subversive writers, J.G. Ballard, has died. Read the news in Guardian.co.uk. He was probably the second-most read writer (after Philip K. Dick) among my cohort in the mind-expanding years following our escape from university.
I recommend you celebrate his life by reading The Crystal World, a truly ecstatic work of the imagination, Crash, his unforgettable subversive classic, and Miracles of Life, his recent autobiography. Get to it - he's gone but he should not be forgotten!
Continue reading "J.G. Ballard, 1930-2009"
| Comments (3)Obama Has a Burning, Almost Carnal Desire to be Worse than Nixon
Posted by barry at
1:01 PM on April 17, 2009
"...at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past," said Barack Obama yesterday - and what 'past' was he referring to? Why, the "dark and painful chapter in our history", meaning three months ago, the situation before he became President of the US of A. Yes, those who kidnapped and tortured under the previous administration will be mollycoddled, hugged, kissed and protected by the current one: (Obama pledges to protect CIA torture operatives, Independent, 17 April 2009).
Think about what the pompous Presidential statement implies. Let's imagine you killed and ate 327 children and got caught. You're in the dock and the prosecutor details your heinous crimes for the jury. Then when it comes to give testimony, what do you say? "...at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past," you'll say, adding that it was a "dark and painful chapter" in your "history". And, if the judge has the Obama mentality, all charges will be dropped. Maybe it should be called the Obama defence.
Listen, you, Obama!! All crimes happen "in the past"! If you don't "spend your time and energy" prosecuting those who are to "blame" you simply do not have a criminal justice system!
And since when was protecting criminals actually legal? Ever heard of obstruction of justice? Accessory after the fact? Who was that President who didn't physically commit a burglary but engineered the cover-up afterwards? Why, it was Richard Nixon! Wow, and I thought Obama only wanted to be as bad as Bush. No, he wants to achieve the full Nixon and nothing's going to stop him! Yes he can!
| Comments (0)The State of Journalism: 'Misguided becomes truly evil'
Posted by barry at
2:36 PM on April 15, 2009
Oh, oh, oh. Just when you thought journalists were merely incompetent and stupid, or just spineless cowards caving in to the powers-that-be all. the. god. damn. time, or (and who'd blame you for thinking this?) shameless cynics without souls, slithering cockroaches in the dark, adopting spurious 'moral' postures for the sake of creating sensation... ALONG COMES A NEWSPAPER that, on the face of it, actually wants you dead.
Here's an unbelievable media story highlighted on Graham Linehan's blog Why, That's Delightful! on 14 April 2009: The Daily Mail is running separate campaigns about the HPV vaccine, one in Ireland and one in the UK. In the Irish edition, the paper is all for the vaccine, and in the UK edition it's against it!
Linehan quotes Martin Robbins from layscience.net:
'Are they insane?! ...The revelation that the Mail is pushing two contradictory positions on a major public health issue on either side of the Irish Sea, proves once and for all that they don't give a crap about the impact such stories may have on their readers. It's a whole new level of sick. It's crossing the line where misguided becomes truly evil.'
Hmm, if you think about this, if the vaccine's dangerous, they're trying to get Irish people to take it and die, and if the vaccine's beneficial, they're trying to get British people not to take it and, as a result, die. Either way, it logically follows that this news story is nothing less than the attempted murder of readers!
So, uh, eh, be careful out there, boys and girls. Don't believe anything you read in the papers! (Especially the girls, I mean, this is a cervical cancer vaccine...)
| Comments (3)Can Europe Force the UK to Respect its 'Citizens'?
Posted by barry at
2:20 PM on April 15, 2009
'Britain's failure to protect its citizens from secret surveillance on the internet is to be investigated by the European Commission. The move will fuel claims that Britain is sliding towards a Big Brother state and could end with the Government being forced to defend its policy on internet privacy in front of judges in Europe.The legal action is being brought over the use of controversial behavioural advertising services which were tested on BT's internet customers without their consent' - Independent 15 April 2009.
Of course, they're not 'citizens' at all, they are subjects of 'the Crown'. Or subjects of BT (the Bad Trust), perhaps.
But this is all happening as 'The mobile calls, emails and website visits of every person in Britain will be stored for a year under sweeping new powers which came into force this month' - also known as bedtime for democracy.
| Comments (0)Left & Right Vs. the Military-Industrial Complex
Posted by barry at
7:36 PM on April 14, 2009
'"If the Iraq war has produced anything of value, it is to have brought the term 'military industrial complex' back into focus for an American public largely unaware of how and why their country is led to war," writes Eugene Jarecki in his new book, The American Way of War. Jarecki explains just how difficult it is to combat this complex. Through "political engineering," for instance, the Pentagon parcels out components to subcontractors in most states and key congressional districts -- the F-22 fighter aircraft has subcontractors in 44 states -- ensuring widespread continuous political support. With "front loading," defense contractors overpromise results, underestimate costs, and profit from continuous, costly modifications. With systems like missile defense that are already experiencing considerable cost overruns, the industry has begun production without proper testing. The waste involved is considerable. With its dispersed base of support and a built-in mechanism for distributing profits, the military-industrial complex is a tough nut to crack. Both sides of the aisle are reluctant to challenge such a behemoth. Democrats are afraid that curtailing military waste will leave them open to accusations of being "soft on terrorism." Most Republicans, meanwhile, are willing to subsidize the defense industry even as they oppose saving the auto industry. Still, there are ways to build a left-right alliance to tame the complex' - John Basil Utley, Foreign Policy in Focus, 31 March 2009. Read the full article to see his 10-point plan to take on the military-industrial complex.
| Comments (0)"Don't get gay!"
Posted by barry at
3:13 AM on April 14, 2009
'Hallucinations of dinosaurs: One of the cardinal signs of homosexuality' - taken from superdickery.com where you'll find more of this class of thing.
Saturday Morning Watchmen (GENIUS Watchmen parody)
Posted by barry at
12:56 AM on April 14, 2009
Go here and click on the yellow block capitals that spell out the words 'watch this movie!'.
| Comments (0)I Can't Stop
Posted by barry at
5:36 PM on April 13, 2009
This Californian walks into a bar. The bartender says "Hey. Why don't you beat up everyone in the bar?" The Californian says "I'll take a hot buttered rum." A guy pounds on the bar and yells "I'm gonna take you home and make love to you all night!"
So the Californian starts chanting "Dopey screwed a penguin! Dopey screwed a penguin!"
and
So this monkey walks into a bar. A midget gets close to the monkey and says "Give me a dollar and I'll pull down your pants." The monkey says "Are you kidding? I'm a monkey!" The midget looks at the monkey and tosses back a beer and says "I know I don't know you, but I'd love to give you a night you'll never forget."
So the monkey says "You have a drink named Eric?"
| Comments (0)Random Bar Joke Generator
Posted by barry at
5:25 PM on April 13, 2009
Example numero uno
This lady walks into a bar. A genie pounds on the bar and yells "I'm gonna do the mattress Macarena with you all night long!" The lady says "Can you stick a cue ball in your mouth?" The genie gets close to the lady and says "Give me fifty bucks and I'll beat up everyone in the bar."
The lady yells "All right! Where's that girl with the loose tooth?"
Second one
Okay, so a blonde walks into a bar. The bartender says "We don't see many blondes in here." The blonde shouts "Can you nail your feet to the floor?" The bartender says "See that hooker over there? If you recite the Carmina Burana from memory that hooker will do the mattress Macarena with you all night long."
So the blonde says "Just put it on my bill."
Three's the charm
So this lady walks into a bar. A guy says "I'd do something nobody in this bar has ever seen before to get a drink." The lady says "Are you kidding? I'm a lady!" The bartender says "Look, you seem like a nice lady. Give me a quarter and I'll make it worth your while."
So the lady sits down and says "Sure, but don't hit me so hard with the hammer."
Get them in at The Brunching Shuttlecocks.
Oh, why not one more...?
This Irishman walks into a bar. A genie says "I'd recite the Carmina Burana from memory to get a drink." The Irishman takes a deep breath and yells "I'll take a tequila shot." The bartender says "We don't see many Irishmen in here."
So the Irishman says "Yeah, well, I've given up drinking!"
| Comments (0)Obama Has a Burning, Almost Carnal Desire to be Worse than Bush
Posted by barry at
6:49 PM on April 12, 2009
'During the presidential campaign, Obama criticized Bush for being too quick to invoke the state secrets claim. But last Friday, his Justice Department filed a motion in a warrantless wiretapping lawsuit, brought by the digital-rights group EFF. And the Obama-ites took a page out of the Bush DOJ's playbook by demanding that the suit, Jewel v. NSA, be dismissed entirely under the state secrets privilege, arguing that allowing it go forward would jeopardize national security.' This is 'Coming on the heels of the two other recent cases in which the new administration has asserted the state secrets privilege'
- TPM Muckraker, 'Expert Consensus: Obama Mimics Bush On State Secrets', 9 April 2009.
EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) article, 6 April 2009.
Online petition: 'Tell Obama: Stop blocking court review of illegal wiretapping'.
Show us where the bodies are buried, Obama!!!
| Comments (0)People Who Don't Exist
Posted by barry at
3:12 PM on April 12, 2009
Do you think the internet is just for people who exist? Here's a great website for those of you who do not!
Unsurprisingly, 'This group does not have any stories yet' and there are 'No forum posts yet.'
Never mind, instead you could amuse your 'self' with Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia.
'No two democracies have gone to war with each other' - true or false?
Posted by barry at
3:23 PM on April 11, 2009
Yes, even Tony 'Pants on Fire' Blair was invoking the 'truth' of this statement recently when he was interviewed by John Stewart on American television (the last refuge of a scoundrel). But is it true?
Here is an online analysis of the topic: 'Democracies Do Not Make War on One Another....or Do They?', in which Matthew White gives 'traditional list of wars which may or may not have been fought between democracies'. 23 wars, in fact (become obessed with numerology, miss 7 turns). Also White gives us the mathematical probability of two democracies going to war, given the number of democracies on Earth (bet you hadn't thought of that, eh?)
| Comments (0)
