31 Aug 2013

Spellbound

Siouxsie And The Banshees

30 Aug 2013

Yello MegaMix

Yello (125 minutes)

27 Aug 2013

Secret Pakistan - Double Cross

"Secret Pakistan" by BBC showing involvement of ISI and Pakistan Army in helping taliban.

Part 2 Secret Pakistan - Backlash

26 Aug 2013

23 Aug 2013

Fireflies

Owl City

North Carolina Bans Use of Latest Science on Rising Sea Level

A new law in North Carolina will ban the state from basing coastal policies on the latest scientific predictions of how much the sea level will rise, prompting environmentalists to accuse the state of disrespecting climate science.

beach-erosion-north-carolina

The law has put the state in the spotlight for what critics have called nearsightedness and climate change denial, but its proponents said the state needed to put a moratorium on predictions of sea level rise until scientific techniques improve.

The law was drafted in response to an estimate by the state's Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) that the sea level will rise by 39 inches in the next century, prompting fears of costlier home insurance and accusations of anti-development alarmism among residents and developers in the state's coastal Outer Banks region.

Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue had until Thursday to act on the bill known as House Bill 819, but she decided to let it become law by doing nothing.

ABC News

22 Aug 2013

Adolescent Sex

Japan

Gay Reporter Kicked Off RT After Protesting Anti-Gay Law

Reporter James Kirchick was kicked off the air of Russian TV Wednesday after he refused to talk about Bradley Manning and instead spoke about the Russian government's anti-gay laws.

21 Aug 2013

CCR Condemns Manning Sentence, Whistleblower Should Have Never Been Prosecuted

Today, in response to the sentencing of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement.

We are outraged that a whistleblower and a patriot has been sentenced on a conviction under the Espionage Act. The government has stretched this archaic and discredited law to send an unmistakable warning to potential whistleblowers and journalists willing to publish their information. We can only hope that Manning’s courage will continue to inspire others who witness state crimes to speak up.

manning-verdict

This show trial was a frontal assault on the First Amendment, from the way the prosecution twisted Manning’s actions to blur the distinction between whistleblowing and spying to the government’s tireless efforts to obstruct media coverage of the proceedings. It is a travesty of justice that Manning, who helped bring to light the criminality of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, is being punished while the alleged perpetrators of the crimes he exposed are not even investigated.  Every aspect of this case sets a dangerous precedent for future prosecutions of whistleblowers – who play an essential role in democratic government by telling us the truth about government wrongdoing – and we fear for the future of our country in the wake of this case.

We must channel our outrage and continue building political pressure for Manning’s freedom. President Obama should pardon Bradley Manning, and if he refuses, a presidential pardon must be an election issue in 2016.

Center for Constitutional Rights

Apple Helps Cops Hide Police Brutality

The rapid emergence of smart phones with high definition cameras leads to consequences for law-breaking cops. Recently, law enforcement has throughout the country has been trying to pass laws that would make it illegal to film them while they're on duty. But Apple is coming out with a new technology that would put all the power in a cop's hands. Check out the video by Anna Kasparian and the link for more information

20 Aug 2013

CIA Finally Admits Role in 1953 Iran Coup

Sixty years ago, on August 19, 1953, modern Iranian history took a critical turn when a U.S.- and British-backed coup overthrew the country's prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh.

David Miranda: 'They said I would be put in jail if I didn't co-operate'

David Miranda, the partner of the Guardian journalist who broke stories of mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency, has accused Britain of a "total abuse of power" for interrogating him for almost nine hours at Heathrow under the Terrorism Act.

David Miranda

In his first interview since returning to his home in Rio de Janeiro early on Monday, Miranda said the authorities in the UK had pandered to the US in trying to intimidate him and force him to reveal the passwords to his computer and mobile phone. "They were threatening me all the time and saying I would be put in jail if I didn't co-operate," said Miranda. "They treated me like I was a criminal or someone about to attack the UK … It was exhausting and frustrating, but I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong."

Miranda – a Brazilian national who lives with Glenn Greenwald in Rio – was held for the maximum time permitted under schedule seven of the Terrorism Act 2000 which allows officers to stop, search and question individuals at airports, ports and border areas. During that time, he said, he was not allowed to call his partner, who is a qualified lawyer in the US, nor was he given an interpreter, despite being promised one because he felt uncomfortable speaking in a second language.

heathrow

"I was in a different country with different laws, in a room with seven agents coming and going who kept asking me questions. I thought anything could happen. I thought I might be detained for a very long time," he said. He was on his way back from Berlin, where he was ferrying materials between Greenwald and Laura Poitras, the US film-maker who has also been working on stories related to the NSA files released by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

The Guardian - David Miranda detention: White House was given 'heads-up'

Alan Rusbridger (editor of the Guardian): The mood toughened just over a month ago, when I received a phone call from the centre of government telling me: "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back." There followed further meetings with shadowy Whitehall figures. The demand was the same: hand the Snowden material back or destroy it. I explained that we could not research and report on this subject if we complied with this request. The man from Whitehall looked mystified. "You've had your debate. There's no need to write any more." Full story here

Tito was not a Yugoslav?

Famous Yugoslav communist leader and one of the creators of the Non-Aligned movement, Josip Broz Tito, was not of Yugoslav origin, according to a document on the phonetic analysis of the language he spoke, recently published on the website of the CIA.

tito-stalin-molotov

The CIA document was recently declassified, and in it is noted that Tito spoke Serbo-Croatian, yet, with a foreign accent. In a comprehensive analysis of possible languages which could have been Tito’s mother language, Russian and Polish are the most possible ones.

Vowel ”I” is pronounced the same after soft and hard consonants in Serbo-Croatian. On the other hand, those who have Russian or Polish as their mother language, would pronounce that vowel as soft ”N”, and that’s the way Tito spoke, which was described as foreign accent in the CIA document.

Authors of the document say that it would be logical to assume that controversial Tito was Russian or Polish, but stressed that his identity can only be assumed, and that he certainly isn’t of “Yugoslav origin.” They also note that only Tito’s non-Yugoslav origin was the key to success in dealing with ethnic problems in multicultural Yugoslavia, and his impartiality and persistence. Therefore, that is the reason why Tito in his ruling was not a Serb, Croat or Slovenian, but a Yugoslav.

InSerbia News - B92

19 Aug 2013

Freedom

Woodstock 1969, Richie Havens was the festivals first performer, he held the crowd for nearly three hours (in part because he was told to perform a lengthy set because many artists were delayed in reaching the festival location), and he was called back for several encores. Having run out of tunes, he improvised a song based on the old spiritual "Motherless Child" that became "Freedom".

18 Aug 2013

Princess Diana 'murdered by British military'

New information ­reportedly handed to ­Scotland Yard by military ­police allege she was killed by British military ­personnel with SAS links. The dossier is believed to include the claim that at least one soldier was sent to France to ­assassinate Diana.

diana dead

It also alludes to the Princess’s own murder fears in her secret diary discovered after the Paris crash nearly 16 years ago this month. The information was passed on by the parents-in-law of a former soldier who was serving in 1997. This weekend the Yard is ­assessing the reliability and ­credibility of the information that is believed to make references to the SAS.

A sergeant from the original police investigation, who is now more senior, is leading the new inquiry into the death of divorced Diana, 36, and boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed, 42. Henri Paul, 41, the drunk driver of the Mercedes, also died in the accident in a tunnel at the Pont d’Alma on August 31, 1997. Diana’s death has been surrounded by conspiracy ­ theories and claims she was ­murdered.

More on the Daily Star

17 Aug 2013

What religion has contributed to the world this month

Episode 9 (July-August 2013) – Other episodes

US used 8-year-old boy to plant chip on surrogate father so they could kill him in drone strike

A shocking new story reveals that the U.S. army inadvertently had an 8-year-old boy turn into a spy and place electronic tracking devices on his surrogate father so that they could spot him and kill him in a scheduled drone attack.

illustration by frank stockton

The 8-year-old boy and his biological father have confessed to helping spy on the al Qaeda officer, and now the biological father is believed to have been executed while the fate of the young boy remains unknown.

The , thorough story was reported by The Atlantic who claim that the boy, named Barq al-Kulyabi, helped lead American drones to an al Qaeda operative named Adnan al-Qadhi who had been placed on the U.S. ‘kill list’ due to his role in the Yemeni branch of the terrorist organization.

More on the Mail Online and The Atlantic

The Long Astronomical Perspective

The Sagan SeriesWikipediaThe Carl Sagan Portal

16 Aug 2013

A New "451" Error Message Would Tell Users When Governments Are Blocking Websites

If you don't think book burning is a fair analogy for blocked websites, may I remind you that the British Library's wi-fi filter recently blocked users from accessing Hamlet due to its "violent" content. And the Shakespeare-blocking library is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to inadvertent censorship. Over the years there's been a steady stream of reports of innocent websites getting swept up in overzealous copyright crackdowns, and free expression activists fear the same will happen under British Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial "pornwall."

451

To fend off the chilling effects of heavy-handed internet restriction, the UK consumer rights organization Open Rights Group wants to create a new version of the “404 Page Not Found” error message, called “451 unavailable,” to specify that a webpage wasn’t simply not there, it was ordered to be blocked for legal reasons. 

In case you missed the reference, the number is shout-out to Ray Bradbury’s book-burning government censorship novel Fahrenheit 451. The campaign's hope is to increase transparency and shine a light on web censorship—both intended and inadvertent. If the group gets its way, the 451 message would include information on who initiated the block, the reasons for it, links to the relevant court documents, and steps for how to go about challenging the block.

Full article on Motherboard

An American Hero

The Colbert Report

Former Archbishop of Canterbury tells ‘persecuted’ western Christians to grow up

Christians in Britain and the US who claim that they are persecuted should “grow up” and not exaggerate what amounts to feeling “mildly uncomfortable”, according to Rowan Williams, who last year stepped down as archbishop of Canterbury after an often turbulent decade. “When you’ve had any contact with real persecuted minorities you learn to use the word very chastely,” he said. “Persecution is not being made to feel mildly uncomfortable. ‘For goodness sake, grow up,’ I want to say.”

Rowan_Williams

True persecution was “systematic brutality and often murderous hostility that means that every morning you wonder if you and your children are going to live through the day”. He cited the experience of a woman he met in India “who had seen her husband butchered by a mob”. Lord Williams’s years as archbishop of Canterbury were marked by turbulence over the church’s stance on the role of gay priests and bishops; gay marriage; and homophobia in the wider Anglican communion – with many members of the church expressing disappointment at a perceived hardening in its position on homosexuality.

Asked if he had let down gay and lesbian people, he said after a pause: “I know that a very great many of my gay and lesbian friends would say that I did. The best thing I can say is that is a question that I ask myself really rather a lot and I don’t quite know the answer.”

More on The Raw Story

What if you're wrong?

Professor Richard Dawkins by SkeptiSketch

14 Aug 2013

Google Says You Have No "Reasonable Expectation" of Privacy

Gmail users have no “reasonable expectation” that their emails are confidential,  Google has said in a court filing. Consumer Watchdog, the advocacy group that uncovered the filing, called the revelation a “stunning admission.” It comes as Google and its peers are under pressure to explain their role in the National Security Agency’s (NSA) mass surveillance of US citizens and foreign nationals.

gmail

“Google has finally admitted they don’t respect privacy,” said John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project director. “People should take them at their word; if you care about your email correspondents’ privacy, don’t use Gmail.” Google set out its case last month in an attempt to dismiss a class action lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of breaking wire tap laws when it scans emails in order to target ads to Gmail users.

More on Alternet

Magic vs Science!

Atheist Experience

13 Aug 2013

Teenager Denied Heart Transplant Because Of 'History Of Non-Compliance'

A US teenager with less than six months to live has been denied a life-saving heart transplant because of low grades and previous trouble with police, his family have said.

heart-transplantation

Fifteen-year-old Anthony Stokes has been told by doctors he does not qualify for a new organ due to a "history of non-compliance",broadcaster WSBTV reported. His mother, Melencia Hamilton, says the procedure is the only thing that will cure his enlarged heart condition.

Huff. Post

Protest for Teen Killed By Taser

We Are Change covers the emotionally-intense protests for Israel Hernandez – the Miami, USA, teen who was killed when tased by cops, who reportedly laughed and “high-fived” each other after doing so. Friends, family, neighbors, and strangers arrived at the rally, amassing in an undeniably potent group that attracted the attention of onlookers, drivers, and Miami Beach Police, who watched cautiously the entire time behind shady sunglasses, or atop nearby rooftops.

We Are Change

No Church In The Wild

Music by Jay-Z & Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean & The-Dream

Prince Charles faces scrutiny by MPs over veto on laws

The British parliament is to investigate Prince Charles's controversial role in helping to shape government legislation in a move likely to increase pressure on Whitehall to reduce the secrecy around alleged royal lobbying.

MPs will examine the heir to the throne's little-known royal veto over any new laws that affect his private interests next month. The move follows a Guardian investigation in 2011 into the secretive constitutional loophole that revealed how ministers have been forced to seek permission from the prince to pass at least a dozen government bills.

Prince_Charles_bowler

The House of Commons political and constitutional reform committee, chaired by the Labour MP Graham Allen, will ask whether there is a risk that the requirement of royal consent, which is also granted by the Queen depending on the nature of the law being passed, "could be seen as politicising the monarchy".

It has emerged that Charles has held 36 meetings with ministers since the government took power in May 2010. He has met the prime minister, David Cameron, seven times, four different ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government and held six meetings with ministers in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, which oversee areas in which the prince campaigns on planning and the environment respectively. Neither Whitehall nor Clarence House will elaborate on what was discussed in the private meetings.

More on The Guardian

The Revelation of the Pyramids

For the first time ever, a historical paradigm -- scientifically valid and robust -- has been directly presented to you. By itself alone, this demonstration may shake the artificial constructs imposed by education through disregard of inconvenient facts: These facts, the size sometimes of the great pyramids, are not included in the official palace claimed by the body of so-called rational knowledge and will, sooner or later, challenge and reshape it.

12 Aug 2013

Major General Smedley Butler & The Fascist Takeover Of The USA

Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940) was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps (the highest rank authorized at that time), an outspoken critic of U.S. military adventurism, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars, and France in World War I.

In 1933, he became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot, when he told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to overthrow Franklin D. Roosevelt. The purported plotters wanted Butler to lead a mass of armed veterans in a march on Washington and then become a dictator. Butler never met with any of the principals, and the individuals supposedly involved all denied the existence of a plot. The media ridiculed the allegations.

WikipediaAlso see IndyBay

Dutch Elite Pedophile Scandal Explodes

Paul Joseph Watson talks to We Are Change's Luke Rudkowski about how the elite pedophile scandal in Holland is being blown wide open. Rudkowski conducted a shocking interview with one of the victims of the scandal, who says he was sexually abused by politicians and other prominent elitists.

Investigate Demmink Website

11 Aug 2013

What A Waste

Ian Dury and The Blockheads

Bush, Gog and Magog

Here's a story we should all be ashamed of missing: George W Bush attempted to sell the invasion of Iraq to Jacques Chirac using biblical prophecy.

In the winter of 2003, when George Bush and Tony Blair were frantically gathering support for their planned invasion, Professor Thomas Römer, an Old Testament expert at the university of Lausanne, was rung up by the Protestant Federation of France. They asked him to supply them with a summary of the legends surrounding Gog and Magog and as the conversation progressed, he realised that this had originally come, from the highest reaches of the French government.

gog-magog

President Jacques Chirac wanted to know what the hell President Bush had been on about in their last conversation. Bush had then said that when he looked at the Middle East, he saw "Gog and Magog at work" and the biblical prophecies unfolding. But who the hell were Gog and Magog? Neither Chirac nor his office had any idea. But they knew Bush was an evangelical Christian, so they asked the French Federation of Protestants, who in turn asked Professor Römer.

He explained that Gog and Magog were, to use theological jargon, crazy talk. They appear twice in the Old Testament, once as a name, and once in a truly strange prophecy in the book of Ezekiel:

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Full article by Andrew Brown on The Guardian

Bradley Manning, the Nuremberg Charter and Refusing to Collaborate with War Crimes

In this segment of Reality Asserts Itself, Paul Jay and Vijay Prashad discuss the Bradley Manning case in light of the 68th anniversary of signing the Nuremberg Charter which states it is illegal to follow orders to commit a war crime.

TheRealNews Facebook

10 Aug 2013

US fast-food workers in vanguard of growing protests at 'starvation' wages

McDonald's in New York's Times Square, in midsummer. The fast food store heaves with native New Yorkers and tourists, including a table of Filipino nuns and a troupe of burlesque actors. The staff, remarkably unstressed, offer only accommodating smiles. But behind the scenes the atmosphere is anything but relaxed.

McDonald's, along with dozens of profitable Wall Street-listed fast food and retail chains, is being rocked by unprecedented workforce- and consumer-led protests over wages and conditions.

fastfoodworkers

Since last year, when Walmart faced the first co-ordinated strikes in its history over pay and conditions, similar protests have been spreading through America's low-wage workforce. Earlier this month thousands of fast food workers in cities including New York, Chicago and Detroit took to the streets, many wearing red "Fight for 15" T-shirts – a reference to the popular call for a $15 (£9.70) hourly wage, almost double the current minimum. With more protests planned for the autumn, America's most marginalised, vulnerable and exploited workforce is on the march.

"We're frustrated and we're angry," says Alex Mack, 33, a worker at Wendy's in Chicago. "I make $8.25 an hour and it's impossible to live on. I'm a father, a husband. I'm always robbing Peter to pay Paul, shorting one bill to pay another." But Mack is optimistic that the strike action will be successful. "If we stick together, it's not impossible," he says.

Full article on The Observer

Weapons Of Self Destruction

Robin Williams

9 Aug 2013

Homoerotic Homophobes

Freedom Sounds

The Skatalites

The Religion of Peace

Sam Harris on Islam - Sam Harris Website

"I Do Not Want to Die in Prison": Cancer-Stricken Lawyer Lynne Stewart Seeks Compassionate Release

Lawyers for imprisoned attorney Lynne Stewart head to federal court today to seek her release from prison. Now 73 years old, Stewart is dying from cancer in a Texas prison.

Free Lynne Stewart (graphic-by-Rashid-Johnson)

Last month, Stewart’s treating physician in prison estimated her life expectancy is approximately 18 months. This comes after the Federal Bureau of Prisons denied Stewart’s request for early release — a denial her lawyers are appealing and hope to address today in a hearing before her original sentencing judge, Judge John Koeltl. In 2010, Stewart was sentenced to 10 years in prison for passing messages from her client, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, to his followers in Egypt. In a letter to Judge Koeltl, Stewart wrote: "I do not intend to go 'gently into that good night' as Dylan Thomas wrote. There is much to be done in this world. I do know that I do not want to die here in prison — a strange and loveless place. I want to be where all is familiar — in a word, home. ...

More on Democracy Now! - Justice for Lynne Stewart

The Sun’s Magnetic Field is about to Flip

Something big is about to happen on the sun.  According to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the sun’s vast magnetic field is about to flip.

“It looks like we’re no more than 3 to 4 months away from a complete field reversal,” says solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. “This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.”

More on MyScienceAcademy

8 Aug 2013

Father and son brought back from jungle after fleeing Vietnam War bombs

Authorities in the central province of Quang Ngai Wednesday rescued a father and son who have been living up a tree house in the jungle for more than 40 years.It took many hours and around 40 kilometers through the jungle for the officials to reach the men’s place, which had been found by some of their family members.

The father, Ho Van Thanh, 82, was too weak to walk and some men had to carry him out of the jungle on a hammock. First investigations found Thanh had fled into the jungle bringing his son Ho Van Lang, then around one year old, during a panicking night in 1971 in the Vietnam War, when his house was bombed, killing his wife and two older sons.

Ho Van Tanth

They lived in a house that looks like a bird nest, built from sticks on a big tree around six meters from the ground, and near a stream. They used dry bark to make pants, though officials found Thanh has carefully kept a little red coat of his son and his soldier’s trousers at a corner of the house.

The two also made their own tools like knives, axes and arrows for hunting. Daily foods include cassava, corn, and wild leaves. They have a field of nearly one hectare (2.47 acre) that also plants sugarcanes. Both have forgotten the mainstream Kinh language.

Thanh Nien DailyPictures here

Ex-spy 'Falcon': U.S. likes Snowden in Russia

Christopher Boyce, the subject of the 1985 movie "The Falcon and the Snowman," spent 25 years in federal prison for providing U.S. intelligence secrets to the Soviet Union.

boyce

It was with a heavy heart that I heard Edward Snowden has been granted, and apparently accepted, temporary asylum in Russia for one year. Short of locking him naked in solitary confinement as an example to other leakers, as was done to Bradley Manning, Russia is exactly where the American intelligence community wants Snowden.

How better to discredit Snowden's warnings of the threat posed to civil liberties by our ever-growing surveillance state than to ceaselessly point out that he has found sanctuary in the arms of the FSB, the successor to the KGB? I suspect this latest development will nix any possibility of reform of domestic surveillance operations coming out of the House Judiciary Committee.

snowden1

Of course, at this point, where else could Snowden go? He had spent five weeks in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. That had to be a purgatory on earth. By leaning on our allies, America had effectively trapped him there. One should not take too seriously, though, the outrage expressed by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Congress over this latest Russian perfidy. By fleeing to America's traditional bogeyman, Snowden has seriously blunted his own effectiveness. He has become an easy target for the U.S. government to demonize.

Christopher Boyce on CNN.com

Mr. Hulot's Holiday

Les Vacances de M. Hulot (released as Monsieur Hulot's Holiday in the UK and Mr. Hulot's Holiday in the US) is a comedy film starring and directed by Jacques Tati. It introduced the pipe-smoking, well-meaning but clumsy character of Monsieur Hulot. The film gained an international reputation for its creator when released in 1953. The film was very successful as it had a total of 5,071,920 admissions in France.

Military & Police...What are You Doing!!

7 Aug 2013

Best Use Of A Billboard Ever

The lack of clean water is one of the leading causes of life-threatening conditions like diarrhea. I am completely digging the fact that these engineers tapped into a water source that was always there.

More on Time

Radioactive water emergency at Fukushima 'beyond Tepco's control'

Japan's devastated nuclear plant at Fukushima is facing a new emergency due to radioactive water...

Euronews

An Open Letter to David Cameron and the IOC by Stephen Fry

Dear Prime Minister, M Rogge, Lord Coe and Members of the International Olympic Committee,

I write in the earnest hope that all those with a love of sport and the Olympic spirit will consider the stain on the Five Rings that occurred when the 1936 Berlin Olympics proceeded under the exultant aegis of a tyrant who had passed into law, two years earlier, an act which singled out for special persecution a minority whose only crime was the accident of their birth. In his case he banned Jews from academic tenure or public office, he made sure that the police turned a blind eye to any beatings, thefts or humiliations afflicted on them, he burned and banned books written by them. He claimed they “polluted” the purity and tradition of what it was to be German, that they were a threat to the state, to the children and the future of the Reich. He blamed them simultaneously for the mutually exclusive crimes of Communism and for the controlling of international capital and banks. He blamed them for ruining the culture with their liberalism and difference. The Olympic movement at that time paid precisely no attention to this evil and proceeded with the notorious Berlin Olympiad, which provided a stage for a gleeful Führer and only increased his status at home and abroad. It gave him confidence. All historians are agreed on that. What he did with that confidence we all know.

olympic 1936

Putin is eerily repeating this insane crime, only this time against LGBT Russians. Beatings, murders and humiliations are ignored by the police. Any defence or sane discussion of homosexuality is against the law. Any statement, for example, that Tchaikovsky was gay and that his art and life reflects this sexuality and are an inspiration to other gay artists would be punishable by imprisonment. It is simply not enough to say that gay Olympians may or may not be safe in their village. The IOC absolutely must take a firm stance on behalf of the shared humanity it is supposed to represent against the barbaric, fascist law that Putin has pushed through the Duma. Let us not forget that Olympic events used not only to be athletic, they used to include cultural competitions. Let us realise that in fact, sport is cultural. It does not exist in a bubble outside society or politics. The idea that sport and politics don’t connect is worse than disingenuous, worse than stupid. It is wickedly, wilfully wrong. Everyone knows politics interconnects with everything for “politics” is simply the Greek for “to do with the people”.

olympic 1936-3

An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 on Sochi is simply essential. Stage them elsewhere in Utah, Lillyhammer, anywhere you like. At all costs Putin cannot be seen to have the approval of the civilised world.

He is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews. He cannot be allowed to get away with it. I know whereof I speak. I have visited Russia, stood up to the political deputy who introduced the first of these laws, in his city of St Petersburg. I looked into the face of the man and, on camera, tried to reason with him, counter him, make him understand what he was doing. All I saw reflected back at me was what Hannah Arendt called, so memorably, “the banality of evil.” A stupid man, but like so many tyrants, one with an instinct of how to exploit a disaffected people by finding scapegoats. Putin may not be quite as oafish and stupid as Deputy Milonov but his instincts are the same. He may claim that the “values” of Russia are not the “values” of the West, but this is absolutely in opposition to Peter the Great’s philosophy, and against the hopes of millions of Russians, those not in the grip of that toxic mix of shaven headed thuggery and bigoted religion, those who are agonised by the rolling back of democracy and the formation of a new autocracy in the motherland that has suffered so much (and whose music, literature and drama, incidentally I love so passionately).

Full letter on The New Adventures of Stephen Fry

6 Aug 2013

Sonnentanz

Klangkarussell

Russians who want to immigrate to Israel could need DNA test

A number of people from the former Soviet Union wishing to immigrate to Israel could be subjected to DNA testing to prove their Jewishness, the Prime Minister’s Office said Sunday. The policy was reported in Maariv on Monday, one day after the Israeli paper revealed that a19-year-old woman from the former Soviet Union was required to take the test to qualify for a Birthright Israel trip.

russians in israel

The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that many Jews from the FSU who were born out-of-wedlock can be required to bring DNA confirmation of Jewish heritage in order to be allowed to immigrate as a Jew. A source in the PMO told Maariv that the consul’s procedure, approved by the legal department of the Interior Ministry, states that a Russian-speaking child born out-of-wedlock is eligible to receive an Israeli immigration visa if the birth was registered before the child turned 3. Otherwise a DNA test to prove Jewish parentage is necessary. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the decision to require DNA testing for Russian Jews is based on the recommendations of Nativ, an educational program under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office to help Jews from the FSU immigrate to Israel.

The Times of Israel

Infecting Puerto Rico With Cancer

In 1931, Dr. Cornelius Rhoads was sponsored by the Rockefeller Institute to conduct experiments in Puerto Rico. He infected Puerto Rican citizens with cancer cells, presumably to study the effects. Thirteen of them died.
What’s most striking is that the accusations stem from a note he allegedly wrote:
"The Porto Ricans (sic) are the dirtiest, laziest, most degenerate and thievish race of men ever to inhabit this sphere... I have done my best to further the process of extermination by killing off eight and transplanting cancer into several more... All physicians take delight in the abuse and torture of the unfortunate subjects."

dr-cornelius-p-rhoads
A man that seems to be hell-bent on killing Puerto Rico through a cancer infestation would not seem a suitable candidate to be elected by the US to be in charge of chemical warfare projects and receive a seat on the United States Atomic Energy Commission, right?
But that’s exactly what happened. He also became vice-president of the American Cancer Society.
Any shocking documentation that would have happened during his chemical warfare period would probably have been destroyed by now.

The 13 Most Evil U.S. Government Experiments on Humans ranker.com

5 Aug 2013

Punks vs. Monks: Rockers aside, few willing to criticize Buddhist-led violence in Myanmar

Punk rockers draw double-takes as they dart through traffic, but it’s not just the pink hair, leather jackets or skull tattoos that make these 20-somethings rebels: It’s their willingness to speak out against Buddhist monks instigating violence against Muslims while others in Myanmar are silent.

Rebel-Riots

“If they were real monks, I’d be quiet, but they aren’t,” says Kyaw Kyaw, lead singer of Rebel Riot, as his drummer knocks out the beat for a new song slamming religious hypocrisy and an anti-Muslim movement known as “969.” ‘’They are nationalists, fascists. No one wants to hear it, but it’s true.”

Radical monks are at the forefront of a bloody campaign against Muslims, and few in this predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people are willing to speak against them. For many, being Buddhist is an important part of being Burmese, and monks, the most venerable members of society, are beyond reproach. Others are simply in denial, or buy into claims the Muslim “outsiders” pose a threat to their culture and traditions.

The Washington Post

Take It Or Leave It

1981 film about the British ska band Madness.

4 Aug 2013

Riddles In Stone

Explore the fascinating history behind the Masonic and Rosicrucian influence so prevalent amongst the Founding Fathers as they planned the layout of America's Capitol. For years, extreme controversy has abounded as to the exact meaning of the occult symbols found within the street layout, the buildings, and the monuments of Washington, D.C. Was this city laid out to reflect the vision of a Masonic Christ foreseen by Sir Francis Bacon? Is it true that America's capitol was laid out according to the astrological shapes of certain planets and stars so revered by occultists? Does this occult "wisdom" represent the interests of America, or a hidden agenda? What can these realities mean for the unfolding destiny of America and the world? Now you will know that, when President Bush said he was fulfilling the "Ancient Hope" of the "New Order of the Ages" he was merely acting out the plan reflected in the street layout and in the architecture of Washington, D.C

Russia Promises To Prosecute Gays During 2014 Olympics

"Russia will enforce a new law cracking down on gay rights activism when it hosts international athletes and fans during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the country's sports minister said Thursday, appearing to contradict assurances to the contrary from the International Olympic Committee.

TheYoungTurks

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra Live

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

You're Failures!

Love him or hate him Alex Jones spoons out info with comedy!

2 Aug 2013

How the Media Got Guatemala's Dos Erres Massacre Wrong

NPR received a Peabody award for their piece on the 1982 massacre, but they omit one important fact; the US directly sponsored the Guatemalan special forces that brutally killed thousands of civilians

The Real News

International Banking Conspiracy

A documentary looking at banking tycoons: from the Rothschild family in Europe to JP Morgan and others in the US. How banks not only control governments but also appoint politicians through huge campaign donations.
Governments at the service of the major banks, the best example: the Obama administration and the history's biggest bail out of the same institutions that caused the Great Recession.
Also looking at the International Banking Cartel led by the Bank for International Settlement (in Basel, Switzerland) known as the bank of central banks (58 central banks) and The US Federal reserve System.

Dance Craze

The film was directed by Joe Massot, who originally wanted to do a film only about the band Madness, whom he met during their first US tour. Massot later changed his plans to include the whole 2 Tone movement. The film, shot in 1980, comprised performance footage of Madness, The Specials, The Selecter, The Bodysnatchers, The Beat and Bad Manners on tour throughout the United Kingdom.

1 Aug 2013

Gay Athletes & Tourists Could Face Arrest During Russia's Olympic Games

Gay athletes and supporters at Russia’s 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games could face arrest under the country’s newly approved anti-gay legislation. That's according to politician Vitaly Milonov, who says the law cannot be selectively enforced nor suspended, despite claims from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the Russian government has given assurances as to the safety of athletes and supporters, regardless of their sexual orientation.

sochi

In an interview with Interfax news agency, Milonov said: “I haven’t heard any comments from the government of the Russian Federation, but I know that it is acting in accordance with Russian law. “And if a law has been approved by the federal legislature and signed by the president, then the government has no right to suspend it. It doesn’t have the authority.”

Milonov, who co-sponsored the bill against “non-traditional relationships”, added he had “spoken with many American politicians” and that they “support the stance I’ve taken on this issue.”

Huff. Post

Uruguay votes to create world's first national legal marijuana market

Uruguay's unprecedented plan to create a legal marijuana market has taken its critical first step in the lower house of Congress. All 50 members of the ruling Broad Front coalition approved the proposal just before midnight on Wednesday in a party line vote, keeping a narrow majority of the 96 MPs present after more than 13 hours of passionate debate.

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The measure now goes to the Senate, where passage is expected to make Uruguay the first country in the world to license and enforce rules for the production, distribution and sale of marijuana for adult consumers. Legislators in the ruling coalition said putting the government at the centre of a legal marijuana industry is worth trying because the global war on drugs had been a costly and bloody failure, and displacing illegal dealers through licensed pot sales could save money and lives. They also hope to eliminate a legal contradiction in Uruguay, where it has been legal to use pot but against the law to sell it, buy it, produce it or possess even one marijuana plant.

"Uruguay appears poised, in the weeks ahead, to become the first nation in modern times to create a legal, regulated framework for marijuana," said John Walsh, a drug policy expert at the Washington Office on Latin America. "In doing so, Uruguay will be bravely taking a leading role in establishing and testing a compelling alternative to the prohibitionist paradigm."

The Guardian