Saturday, July 16, 2005

41. The Empire is the institution, the codification, of derangement; it is insane and imposes its insanity on us by violence, since its nature is a violent one.
42. To fight the empire is to be infected by its derangement. This is a paradox; whoever defeats a segment of the Empire becomes the Empire; it proliferates like a virus, imposing its form on its enemies. Thereby it becomes its enemies.

Again from VALIS by Philip K. Dick.

It should be clear from this short excerpt that getting OUT is the only effective way to do anything at all. If you work within the constrains of the "System" (in Valis: "The Black Iron Prison") you will become a part of it. You can only escape the boundaries by knowing (remembering) they exist in the first place.

PS: I got by "Das Keyboard" today. It is a dream and a wonder. A giant black brick, much larger than a normal keyboard, faceless, and amazing to type on. I am actually typing faster and more accurately. Also, it could wake the neighbors. CLACK CLACK CLACK CLANK
posted by Barrie , 10:21 PM Þ 

In pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.

True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their own way.
It can't be gained by interfering.
posted by Irdial , 6:51 PM Þ 

beer mat cogger
gay bar stool
quiz night owl
publicando
posted by Irdial , 1:16 AM Þ 
Friday, July 15, 2005

Beverage and brewing paraphenalia/poet based triplets



Lemonadrian Mitchell
Demi-john Betjeman
Cup of T.S. Eliot
Edwin Arlington Robinson's Barley Water
Ginger Allen Ginsberg

and...erm, that's it.
posted by captain davros , 10:13 AM Þ 
Thursday, July 14, 2005

Did Mimi Majick ever use this amazing machine?

PS: Why do my posts never show up?
posted by alex_tea , 7:49 PM Þ 

"Represting freedom or barrier... Depending on how you look at it."
posted by meau meau , 12:21 PM Þ 

When a country is in harmony with the Tao,
the factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the Tao,
warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.

There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself,
no greater misfortune than having an enemy.

Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.
posted by Irdial , 12:20 PM Þ 

Surely meau, you mean this?!
posted by Irdial , 11:16 AM Þ 

...according to Einstein's theories, space can be twisted enough to create a local gravity field that looks like a doughnut of some arbitrary size.
[...]
Although it is difficult to describe what this would look or be like in real life...

I wonder?
posted by meau meau , 10:23 AM Þ 

Europe speeds up plan to clamp down on suspects 
By Stephen Castle
Independent Published: 14 July 2005

Europe's interior ministers agreed to speed through a raft of measures to
clamp down on terrorist suspects as France announced a temporary
re-imposition of border controls following the London bombing. A day of
talks in Brussels brought pledges to meet an accelerated timetable for a
host of data storage and information-sharing initiatives, giving police and
security services new means to monitor individuals.

The reaction to the first home-grown suicide bombing on European soil was
pragmatic, with the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, saying there is "no
one, single, measure I can propose that will stop terrorism".

Instead of proposing new ideas, the UK, which holds the presidency of the
EU, sought to speed up measures already in the pipeline. Most
controversially, yesterday's deal included a promise to agree by October on
rules to retain for at least 12 months all e-mail and phone data.

This would include details of the date, time and duration all phone and
internet messages, the calling and called numbers, the location of mobile
calls at the start and end of a connection and whether the conversation was
"terminated explicably or inexplicably". By December all 25 EU ministers
promised to finalise rules on a European evidence warrant and on the
exchange of information between law enforcement authorities [...]

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article299083.ece

My emphasis.

The problem with the Alex Jones analysis of these outrages is that it only works for one attack carried out by 'patsies'. As soon as there is more than one, then the whole idea collapses.

No one says that in Israel and Iraq that the suicide bombers are not 'real', that they are patsies or creatures of the government (though they might be the creations of the government). Time will tell if this is the case here or not. The line above that struck me apart from the details of what is to be stored was that this is 'the first home-grown suicide bombing on European soil'. If there are more outrages to come, then you might expect a response where everything and everyone is to be locked down like it is in Isreal. The French closing their borders because some brits blow up their neighbors....not very intelligent.

It has to be pointed out of course that all of the Israeli measures (road blocks, ID cards, punishing the families of suicide bombers) do nothing to stop suicide bombers. Better that we do not go down the Israeli route, and instead choose a home-grown solution; complete withdrawal from the affairs of the middle easterners on a permanent basis.

Now. Which person out there in the blogosphere understands how the title of this post relates to the body? email me with the answer!
posted by Irdial , 9:14 AM Þ 

Cornish patsies anyone?
For the gamblers.
posted by Irdial , 8:37 AM Þ 

15. The Sibyl of Cumae protected the Roman Republic and gave timely warnings. In the first century C.E. she foresaw the murders of the two Kennedy brothers, Dr. King and Bishop Pike. She saw the two common denominators in the four murdered men: first, they stood in defense of the liberties of the Republic; and second, each man was a religious leader. For this they were killed. The Republic had once again become an empire with a caesar. "The Empire never ended."
...
7. The Head Apollo is about to return. St. Sophia is going to be born again; she was not acceptable before. The Buddha is in the park. Siddhartha sleeps (but is going to awaken). The time you have waited for has come.

Philip K. Dick, VALIS, 1991 Vintage Books edition. 99-100
posted by Barrie , 6:18 AM Þ 

Legal music downloading leaps in 2005
Last Updated Wed, 13 Jul 2005 19:10:45 EDT
CBC Arts
Paid music downloads through the internet have tripled in the U.S. in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2004 according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The company tracks sales of music and music video products throughout North America.
Nielsen says American internet users downloaded 158 million individual songs from January to June 2005, compared with 55 million during the same period in 2004.
Meanwhile, CD sales in the U.S. fell by seven per cent in that period compared to the year before.
As a result, single-song downloads account for six per cent of overall music sales, up by four per cent compared to last year.
Music analysts credit the creation of new pay sites for the jump, noting that music lovers are gravitating towards Apple's iTunes Music Store and downloading onto their iPods.

This story is meaningless; can you figure out why? There is nothing here to state that 'illegal' downloads are either falling or being effected in some way or another. But of course this is only one set of statistics. Had the article suggested the other 95% of downloaded files on anyones's mp3 player were not purchased at a pay-site, the article might have gone somewhere. Pay-sites have not converted anyone. Those using p2p or more private methods, have not changed one iota.
Yet another sad example of "news"writers not knowing about the subject they're writing on. But of course this is not news!
Sorry about the poor formatting - am using IE on OS 9 at a company branch way outside of town and blogger doesn't work very well on it.
posted by Barrie , 1:17 AM Þ 
Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Straight from the paralell universe called 'Upside-Down Circus':

[...] From a smattering of radical websites comes the argument that we are being hypocritical in mourning the dead of London when we allegedly gloried in civilian deaths in Iraq.

This utterly misrepresents the BBC's reporting of Iraq, where we have always sought to portray the whole picture of events in that country. The second exception is principally Fox News in the United States. A contributor to Fox said after the London bombings that "the BBC almost operates as a foreign registered agent of Hezbollah and some of the other jihadist groups". On the Fox website today there is an opinion piece, "How Jane Fonda and the BBC put you in danger". I am writing this in a building which was bombed by Irish terrorists. My colleagues and I are living in a city recovering from the wounds inflicted last week. If I may leave our customary impartiality aside for a moment, the comments made on Fox News are beneath contempt. [...]
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1527063,00.html
posted by Irdial , 6:46 PM Þ 

3bn is the magic number
posted by alex_tea , 2:35 PM Þ 

I said:
They've wheeled out the ~3bn figure again - the sacred number of not-really-knowing-the-detail.

now they say:

The London bombings will cost the UK up to £3 billion and have an effect on the economy comparable to a natural disaster or deadly virus outbreak, an expert has said.

Greece secured a 3 billion euro loan from the European Investment Bank on Tuesday to upgrade mainland links with the islands.

The Group of Eight (G8) has pledged a $3bn aid package for the Palestinian Authority.

and so on.
posted by meau meau , 2:19 PM Þ 
posted by captain davros , 12:18 PM Þ 

Mixture of dismay and annoyance today, I live quite near one of the areas of Leeds under investigation, not close enough for disruption but I'm hoping that none of the idiots from the BNP (or whatever) do anything in the area, there's a recently built mosque which is closer to where I live that may be a potential target (as one mosque has already been burnt last week then it's likely). Certainly go through the neighbourhood on a regular basis and noone needs any more shit than the usual kids (of all backgrounds) throwing water bombs and eggs.

Idiots.

Blogdial had a Leeds-London axis way before this, we're so cutting edge!
posted by meau meau , 9:43 AM Þ 

The real threat of ‘terrorism’
CBC News Viewpoint | July 11, 2005 | More from Anthony Westell

The problem for al-Qaeda and its spinoffs is that terror, so called, doesn’t terrorize, or not for long. The number of tourists visiting Madrid has risen since the bombing there last year – according to the New York Times – and property prices in New York are much higher than they were on 9/11.

blah blah blah nothing interesting here

The Muslim fanatics who attacked London, or at least those who planned the attacks, must know this, so what were they really trying to achieve? The classic terrorist tactic has been to provoke a vastly superior enemy to overreact by taking repressive measures that eventually undermine its own credibility and reputation.

Whoa, what? What's the first phrase all about? The second part is basically elementary, but how does that first phrase fit into this? What at all does "muslim fanatic" have to do with the situation? Not only that, but that SPECULATION is given prominence over "those who planned the attacks." This man is presuming these people are muslims. And that they are enemies. This is clearly "us vs. them" language.

The tactic of provoking excessive reaction seemed to be working again in London last week.

This is a perfectly good observation. However, what YOU are saying is that these people are Muslims, and that what they have done is directly connected to their religion. Does the term "bigotry" apply here? I don't want to be too harsh.

Yet what really happened? Some 50 people were killed and more wounded. Each case is a tragedy to family and friends, but many plane crashes kill more, as do some railway accidents – of which Britain has more than its share. The daily toll of traffic deaths goes mostly unremarked.

The measure of death and destruction terrorism can inflict does not amount to war, and should not be equated with war. I’m not theorizing, but writing from experience. The small English city in which I grew up lost 150 dead and most of the main street in one night of bombing by the Luftwaffe.
...
No matter what they tell themselves, they are not warriors but criminals, and they pose no threat to our way of life – unless we allow ourselves to be provoked into changing it ourselves.

This man does not ONCE mention the thousands of dead Iraqis that HIS home country is responsible for! He does not even think that there is any reason behind these attacks, aside from religious zealotry. To him these "turrrrists" have no home, no families, no personal reason to do anything. In essence they are not PEOPLE they are THINGS. This is EXACTLY the kind of wrongheaded thinking that will never solve the problem.
One of the letter writers however, seems to know what is "going on:"


With all due respect to his generation, nothing about their world view ever changes, except that they are always the “good guy” and someone else, either a different race, religion or political viewpoint, is the “bad guy”. We live in a time where issues like globalization and terrorism are mainstream topics (and often considered to be inter-related).
It is no longer acceptable to pretend that there are good guys and bad guys who can be identified by religion, ethnicity, political views or the colour of their skin. Once you have lost all perspective, and your views become based on WHO you are, as opposed to WHAT is going on, there is a serious problem.
...
Until we start asking the questions that matter, this will continue to happen. Until we start caring about the “other” innocent lives lost that were undoubtedly one of the motivating factors for the fanatics behind the bombing, this will continue to happen. Until we start reacting to the horrible atrocities committed by the “good guys”, this will continue to happen. We should be just as outraged by the loss of innocent life whenever it happens, wherever it happens and whoever perpetrates it.
I notice that Mr. Westell is sure to mention religion. The vast majority of Al Qaeda’s targets have been other Muslims, generally Shia, but not always. To allow this to turn into an anti-Muslim crusade is both childish and dangerous.
posted by Barrie , 4:22 AM Þ 
Tuesday, July 12, 2005


Clavecin et piano-forte

Après des études à Brême (Allemagne) et au Sweelinck Conservatorium d’Amsterdam (Pays-Bas) auprès de Gustav Leonhardt, Hélène Clerc-Murgier est lauréate du concours international de musique de chambre d’Utrecht et obtient le Prix Spécial de la Radio Hollandaise Arko.

Elle joue ensuite dans de nombreux ensembles et accompagne des solistes tels que Paul Esswood, Jill Feldmann et le violoncelliste Anner Bylsma.

En 1999, elle enregistre avec Nima Bendavid les suites pour viole de gambe de François Couperin, disque qui rencontre un grand succès critique (ffff Télérama, 10 de répertoire...)
Dès 1995, elle fait partie de l'Ensemble Matheus, avec lequel elle se produit comme soliste (concertos de Bach et de Mozart) et continuiste en France (Sablé, Ambronay, théâtres du Châtelet et des Champs-Elysées, France-Musiques... ) et à l'étranger (Prague, Amsterdam, Postdam, Djakarta, Chine, Vietnam et Japon... )

En 2004, elle est engagée par David Stern dans l’orchestre Opera Fuocco, et participera au projet "Mozart 2006", à l’occasion du bicentenaire de la naissance de Mozart (1756-1791). Il s'agira de la production de La Finta Giardiniera de W.A. Mozart.

Fidèles à leur attachement à la défense du répertoire réstauré, Pauline Warnier et Hélène Clerc-Murgier ont interprété avec l’ensemble Matheus des opéras tel que la Verita in Cimento , Orlando Furioso de A. Vivaldi (enregistrement Naïve) L’occasione fa il Ladro de G. Rossini.

[...]


21 juin 2005 à 18h Fête de la musique
"La voie de la musique" : rue de Varenne rendue piétonne, du musée Rodin à l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura.
Musée Rodin
77, rue de Varenne
75007 Paris

30 juillet 2005 à 21h
Prieuré Saint-Michel
61120 Crouttes
Tel : 02 33 39 15 15

20 août 2005 à 21h
Prieuré Saint-Michel
61120 Crouttes
Tel : 02 33 39 15 15

1er septembre 2005
Port-en-Bessin

Avril 2006
tournée en Malaisie

[...]

here...

Before you die, you must hear this:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Alpha/ALPHA007

http://www.alpha-prod.com/fb/asp/consultation/visu.asp

Have I said this before? If I have, then I said it twice.

posted by Irdial , 8:53 PM Þ 

The heat's affecting my pretty little head, substitute 'biometric' for DNA in the last post. (And worry about any DNA database ever being 'credible').
posted by meau meau , 6:16 PM Þ 

There's been a drip-drip approach in BBC news broadcasts about the (apparent) difficulty of identifying bodies (quickly) after last weeks events in London. Whether they are expressing the State's interest in the acceptibility of a DNA database may be a question worth asking. I'm not so foolish as to deny that such a databse would help identify bodies more rapidly but there is no reason why any database should bear any resemblance to the NIR proposals. If there were to be such an entity the following points would have to be satisfied in order to 'uphold British values and way of life':

1. Such a database (or regional databases) would have to be completely voluntary, that's voluntary as in never EVER being required to have your details stored and to be able to have your records deleted at your request. The default must be an assumption that the citizen does not want to be included.
2. The database would have to be accessible by authorised NHS staff and only for specific and clearly legislated purposes. The person whose details are being requested (or next of kin/parent/guardian) must be notified.
3. The database must not be networked beyond the local lab dealing with requests. All requests to be handled locally i.e. DNA samples to be sent to the lab and processed on site.
4. There must be no police (or spy) access to the database. A coroner may submit fornsic DNA samples to an NHS lab for identification. Any database must act for the benefit of the individual not the State.

The NIR fails on ALL these counts and more. Bear it in mind when Clunk or Liar or 'Auntie' start talking about how NIR would have prevented the suffering of victims families, etc by allowing speedy identification.
posted by meau meau , 3:49 PM Þ 

As of 11am today:

Your photostream has been viewed 666 times.


The devil take your cybershot and your photo collection...



Bugger.
I'm going to have that in my head all day now.
posted by Alun , 10:56 AM Þ 
Monday, July 11, 2005

Email spying 'could have stopped killers'

Sunday July 10, 2005
The Observer

Millions of personal email and mobile phone records could be stored and
shared with police and intelligence officials across Europe to help
thwart terrorist attacks.

The Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, will propose new measures at an
emergency meeting of European Union interior ministers which will
discuss the implications of Thursday's London bombings.

He raised the stakes dramatically by claiming they could 'quite
possibly' have helped prevent such attacks, by identifying in advance
suspicious patterns of behaviour by potential terrorists. [...]

Clarke admitted he cannot claim that ID cards would have prevented the
bombing, although he argues that in Spain, where they are compulsory,
they helped trace the alleged perpetrators, via their mobile phones,
which Spaniards can buy only after producing an ID card. [...]

Whar? ID cards wouldnt have stopped the bombing, but storing peoples emails would have?

Of course, this would mean that anyone using PGP to encrypt their email would have to give up their private keys in advance, 'just in case you are a terrorist'. We have already been there years ago, with the whole absurd key escrow nonsense. And services like pookmail.com would need to be either outawed or forced to register and store all emails that went through their systems. You can imagine a future where you are not allowed to send email without your thumb authenticaed NIR being in the header - the future could be as stupid and restrictive as you like...

OR

The western countries could get out of the middle east debacle and solve the problem overnight.

Charles Clarke announces that he has the cure for Cancer, "New Labour has the cure for Cancer, it eliminates all traces of tumors in any corpse we apply the cure to". In other words, all of these measures (ID cards, scanning and storing emails) will not PREVENT dedicated fighters committing outrages in a city, they might help capture the people who did it after many people have been killed. These dedicated fighters whose numbers are automagically replacing are like the legions of brooms in 'The Sorcerers Apprentice' featuring Mickey Mouse.

All the cabinet should watch that animation very carefully.

And then they should watch the itchy and scratchy lampoon of it, because its more like what is really happening today.

posted by Irdial , 2:46 PM Þ 

News

Nature 436, 10 (7 July 2005) | doi: 10.1038/436010b

Scientists finally get their hands on Kennewick man

Rex Dalton, San Diego

Bone studies and DNA tests will help determine the origins of the 9,000-year-old skeleton.

America's most highly contested anthropology specimen, Kennewick man, is finally being studied by scientists.

After nine years of federal-court battles and several months of preparation, researchers last month began examining the ancient skull and bones. The US government and Native American tribes had fought to block the bones' examination under a federal law designed to protect ancient human remains. But last year, the eight scientists involved won the legal battle.

[...]

But not all of the scientists who fought the case can take part in the work. The battle in federal court in Portland, Oregon, was so long that two of the eight scientists have retired, and a third, Robson Bonnichsen of Texas A&M University in College Station, died in his sleep last December, aged 64 — just two weeks after getting a look at the specimen. "He was euphoric when he got to see it," says Cleone Hawkinson, a retired anthropologist from Portland who helps the group. Ironically, Bonnichsen had filed a court declaration in 2002 arguing for a quick decision because senior scientists in the group might not live to study the bones.
[...]


Am I representative of my species?
In 9000 years will my bones convince scientists that neo-Yorkshire man was "a bit stumpy, with a fairly large head, and hands showing extensive use of simple tools such as hammers and computers."?

Of course, the main argument here is whether ancient remains should be respected or used as scientific fodder. When is a remnant old enough, or significant enough, to fulfill the latter description? It could be argued (as above) that one skeleton will tell us nothing significant, so leave it in the dust. Or that this is the greatest find in American history!

posted by Alun , 9:57 AM Þ 

********** wrote:

> Fabulous post... exactly what I've been saying to people here, mostly
> ex-Londoners, who're reacting as though it's humanity's greatest crime
> and directed against their closest family.

Thanks for that. I try to get it just right because its important to do so; using your anger to give you focus...make you stronger...without falling into the trap that the 'pearly kings and queens from hell' fall into - baying for revenge and mass expulsions.

> Asking about the last time
> they cried for Iraqi deaths quickly deflates puffy eyes. Because it's
> our country, for some reason the deaths are more worthy, the tragedy
> more intense, the actions more despicable, the response more heroic...
> but only to the blind, unfeeling, thoughtless masses.

You mean the racists. This is central to what racism is all about; our lives are more valuable than theirs. Pictures of an Iraqi girl with her leg blown off should bring you to precisely the same level of outrage wether its your next door neighbors girl or the girl made famous in the photographs.

Many people 'suffer' from this subtle and indisious form of racism, and really, its 'ok' as long as your country never interferes with the affairs of another's. As soon as you do however, that subtle flaw tips the balance of judgement so that you can murder other people and feel nothing. That is what is happening right now. If Bliar and murder inc. were going to drop bomps on a hypothetical Bhagdad which was populated by Londoners, (and british cultural artifacts) they would not dream of damaging a single doric column much less accepting 'collateral damage' and 'unfortunate but unavoidable incedences of civilian casualties'. This is the test; if it were your own country you were trying to effect 'regime change' on, would you bomb its capital as Bhagdad was smahed? The answer will always be 'no', and so therefore, you cannot justify raining death on someone else's capital city. Ever. Unless you are a racist that doesnt think thier cultural artifacts and lives are as valuable as yours.
posted by Irdial , 9:36 AM Þ 

Wave of Attacks Kill 48 People in Iraq


Monday July 11, 2005 7:31 AM
[...]


Who do you grieve for today, and why?

There is no reference to this, no space to fit in these 48 deaths, on the front page of the Guardian website, which refers to at least 30 stories.
Including:

More on the attacks on London
Blair's blowback
Comment: Those who refute any link between the Iraq war and the London bombs are in denial, says Gary Younge.
More comment and analysis
Defiance and solidarity on the web
Online: Images include 'We defy terrorism' superimposed on London Eye as 90% of searches focus on bombings.
More from the Online team
Callous? No - the City simply kept its nerve
Business: Business as usual is the right response to bombing, says Edmond Warner.
Allianz sees limited bomb effect
More business news
Seven hospitals still treating 62 injured in blasts
Casualties: Sixty-two people injured, several critically ill, are still being treated at seven London hospitals.
SocietyGuardian.co.uk
Religious leaders unite to condemn 'evil'
Religion: Leaders of five of the main faith groups in Britain issue joint statement of condemnation of terrorist bombings.
Comment: Karen Armstrong
Special report: religious affairs
Police defend city centre shutdown
Security: Chief explains 10-hour Saturday evacuation as police cope with forgotten luggage alarms.
Home-grown terrorists or 'clean skins' from the Balkans?
'The attackers had no aim beyond killing'
Press review: The foreign press asks what will happen next.
More comment and analysis
Attack on London
Interactive guide: Where the bombers struck in London.
More interactive guides
The day London was attacked
Photographs: Images selected by Roger Tooth, the Guardian's picture editor.

[...]
posted by Alun , 9:10 AM Þ 
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