Archive for May, 2010
Pentacostal Drum ‘n Bass
Join fundamentalist fervor with a high-tech acoustic savagery, and you are prepared for the cleansing fury of Baptazia. Be sure to turn up the bass.
You know it’s real when you feel the power of the Spirit.
War Crimes Prosecutors Aim To Subpoena Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell. Photo by Jesse Gross (CC)
From France 24/AFP:
Prosecutors want to subpoena supermodel Naomi Campbell to testify over a so-called blood diamond she allegedly received from Liberia’s ex-president Charles Taylor, said court papers filed Thursday.
“Ms Campbell’s testimony is necessary as there is evidence that Ms Campbell was given rough diamonds by the accused (Taylor) in September 1997,” said a prosecution application filed with the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
“Ms Campbell’s anticipated evidence concerns ‘a central issue’ in the case: the accused’s possession of rough diamonds,” states the document, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
Taylor’s war crimes trial heard claims in January that he had given Campbell a “large” diamond after a 1997 dinner hosted by South African ex-president Nelson Mandela.
The diamond was among those Taylor had obtained from Sierra Leone rebels and took to South Africa “to sell… or exchange them from weapons,” prosecutor Brenda Hollis said in cross-examination…
Death Toll From Gaza Aid Attack Hits 20
From PressTV:
The death toll from the Israeli navy’s takeover of a Gaza aid convoy has risen to 20 while Israel carefully censors reports on the casualties from the attack.
Gaza Freedom Flotilla came under fire early on Monday by Israeli navy forces in international waters more than 150km (90 miles) off the coast of Gaza.
The six-ship aid fleet was soon stormed by commandos descending from helicopters.
At least 20 people were killed in the takeover of the Gaza aid convoy, al-Aqsa TV channel reported, saying that more than 50 people, including leader of the Palestinian Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed Salah, were wounded in the attack.
The news trickled through the Israeli military censorship which has sought to block the reporting of any information about the casualties.
A report on the Israeli radio said the censorship was aimed at covering up the number of casualties brought to Israeli hospitals for treatment…
[continues at PressTV]
…
William Gibson Reveals His Favorite Science Fiction
William Gibson, generally credited as one of the progenitors of the cyberpunk genre of sci fi (Neuromancer being one of the seminal novels in the genre), has given New York Magazine a list of his favorite science fiction novels:
Tiger! Tiger! (1956)
By Alfred BesterIt’s also known as The Stars My Destination. My favorite literary expression of mid-century Manhattan, and I doubt I’d have written without having read it.
Dhalgren (1975)
By Samuel R. DelanyIt won’t work unless you can allow it to become your head for a few weeks; it helps if you’re rather young. Closest thing I know to a great “sixties” novel.
Arslan (1976)
By M. J. EnghA very different sort of alien invasion: America as Earth. One of the best works of science fiction you probably haven’t heard of.
The Crystal World (1966)
By J. G. BallardIt’s hard to pick just one Ballard, but you could certainly start with this.
The Forever War (1974)
By Joe Haldeman
The most…
World Cup Soccer In Africa: Who Really Wins?
In June 2010 the world’s most popular sporting event – soccer’s FIFA World Cup – will come to Africa for the first time. With less than two weeks remaining before the first match of the month-long tournament, one can practically hear the soon to be famous vuvuzelas – ubiquitous and deafening plastic horns that South Africans love to blow during the games – all the way around the world, such is the gathering media hype.
There is no doubting the overwhelming sense of excitement at large in South Africa. However, if one digs a little deeper, there are also those who question the vast sums being spent by the government of what is still a nation with millions of its citizens living in poverty.
With that in mind, in 2008 I began making the documentary film World Cup Soccer In Africa: Who Really Wins? to investigate what South Africans, across the social spectrum, believed the staging of the FIFA World Cup would mean for them personally, and for the country as a whole. The objective was to assemble a record of hopes and expectations, at that time in the country’s history – something to look back upon after the tournament was over, and in the context of actual experience (as explored in interviews to be conducted subsequently in late 2010).
There was, without exception, interest in the project expressed by everyone who was approached for an interview. The ultimate list of interviewees was essentially determined by logistics – whether they were present in a particular city on the same day that I was. For example, as luck had it, Archbishop Tutu…
The Great Diff’rent Strokes Hoax of 1999: Dana Plato’s After-Death Cult
As Gary Coleman’s death resurrects questions about a Diff’rent Strokes “curse”, a reporter tells the bizarre story of the “Cult of Dana Plato” web site in 1999. (Memberships had cost $30…)
A shady business promoter had taped his phone calls with the former star of the 1980s sitcom, Diff’rent Strokes, during the last month of her life, and created a web page that offered to let visitors “Ask Dana questions from the grave through the Dana Plato Psychic Network.” The promoter also flogged conspiracy theories about 34-year-old Plato’s death, asking whether it was all really a government conspiracy. (”After all, the government has done weirder things….”)
But ironically, one recording eventually showed he’d actually made a call to her fiance the night of her drug overdose — where he’d advised him, “That’s okay, man, let her sleep it off, dude. Whatever.”
Blood on the Water, Fire in the Sky: Chemical Cover-Up, Martial Law, and a Biblical Exodus.
From Big Medicine Show in New Orleans:
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood.
Revelation 8:8, King James Bible
A summer of Hell is coming to the Gulf Coast. The situation grows more dire every passing day as BP continues to own their crime scene and fumbles their “Top Kill” solution. An astounding revelation was made thursday of a second giant plume of oil six miles wide and twenty-two miles long discovered by marine scientists from the University of South Florida. As of Friday, scientists in Louisiana discovered another vast plume of oil. BP has been trying to mask the extent of the damage it has done by spraying the toxic chemical dispersants to hide the oil under the surface of the water. Watch Phillippe Cousteau Jr. dive into one of these plumes…
Government Website Addresses “Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation”
America.gov, the public relations arm of the State Department, has created a “Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation” webpage. They attempt to debunk “popular conspiracy theories” surrounding the JFK assassination, depleted uranium, the North American Union, the 9/11 attacks, and many more topics.
How Weed Won the West – Official Trailer #2
How Weed Won the West is the story of the growing medical marijuana industry, focusing on Los Angeles with over 700 legal dispensaries doling out the buds. In this sequel to Showtime’s American Drug War: The Last White Hope, Kevin Booth takes the viewer on what High Times magazine calls “a wild ride” and shows a glimpse at the possible future of cannabis legalization in America.
Pigeon Held in India on Suspicion of Spying
This one’s for the birds. via Google/AFP:
NEW DELHI — Indian police are holding a pigeon under armed guard after it was caught on an alleged spying mission for arch rivals and neighbours Pakistan, media reported on Friday.
The white-coloured bird was found by a local resident in India’s Punjab state, which borders Pakistan, and taken to a police station 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital Amritsar.
The pigeon had a ring around its foot and a Pakistani phone number and address stamped on its body in red ink.
Police officer Ramdas Jagjit Singh Chahal told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that they suspected the pigeon may have landed on Indian soil from Pakistan with a message, although no trace of a note has been found.
Officials have directed that no-one should be allowed to visit the pigeon, which police say may have been on a “special mission of spying”.
The bird has been medically examined and was being kept in an air-conditioned room under police guard.
Graham Hancock & David Wilcock Discuss The Nature Of Reality (Video)
Bringing together two inspirational investigators of our hidden past and uncertain future, this unique dialogue between David Wilcock and Graham Hancock takes us on a roller-coaster ride through the wonders of ancient civilisations and into the mysterious nature of reality itself.
[Click here for full playlist with entire interview]
What is the Ark of the Covenant? Why is its loss the greatest riddle of the Bible? Has its final resting place been found?…
Planet Chomsky vs. Dershowitz’s Orbit
By Gilad Atzmon:
The Israeli Interior Ministry on Sunday denied entry to Jewish American linguist Prof. Noam Chomsky turning him back from the Allenby Bridge border crossing in the Jordan Valley. Seemingly, the moral ash cloud that is pouring out of the morbid Jewish ghetto known as Israel is not going to clear. It is there to stay.
On the face of it, Chomsky’s border incident shouldn’t take us by surprise. Israel is the Jewish state and as such it operates as a synagogue of great magnitude…
Obama’s Oil Spill Response: The Story Behind the Story
I have received a number of emails about the environmental impacts of the BP oil spill. The size of the spill and the impacts on wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico ecosystems have prompted a number of readers to write:
“Bob, it looks like you are right, the environmental damage and pollution are the goal and not the unintended consequences.”
Others have noted the irony that the leak is believed to have started on Earth Day, April 22, when the Deepwater Horizon sank. [1]
Dana Milbank, at the Washington Post, appears to realize there is story behind the story of Obama’s bizarre behavior at his lengthy news conference yesterday at the White House.
“For eight years we had a president who refused to accept blame. Now we have one who seems to enjoy it.
He decorated the East Room with wuddas, cuddas and shuddas: “We should have busted through those constraints. . . . pre-deploying boom would have…
Demand the Evidence For Alien DNA!
I met Zechariah Sitchin again this week at the annual Book Expo America in New York City. At age 90 he was there signing copies of his new book, There Were Giants Upon the Earth: Gods, Demigods, and Human Ancestry: The Evidence of Alien DNA (Earth Chronicles).
His publisher, Jon Graham at Inner Traditions, told me about the book and how a petition is circulating to allow DNA testing on a goddess and a demigod, Nin.Puabi and Meskalamdug, held or more than 80 years in the basement of the Natural History Museum in London, that might once and for all settle whether or not humans have alien genes. Some more about the petition below, but Mr. Sitchin also told me about a profile and short film made and published about him in January 2010 by the New York Times. Check that out here.
The petition can be signed here. This is what it’s…
Can Bacteria Make You Smarter?
From Science Daily:
Exposure to specific bacteria in the environment, already believed to have antidepressant qualities, could increase learning behavior, according to research presented at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.
“Mycobacterium vaccae is a natural soil bacterium which people likely ingest or breath in when they spend time in nature,” says Dorothy Matthews of The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, who conducted the research with her colleague Susan Jenks.
Previous research studies on M. vaccae showed that heat-killed bacteria injected into mice stimulated growth of some neurons in the brain that resulted in increased levels of serotonin and decreased anxiety.
“Since serotonin plays a role in learning we wondered if live M. vaccae could improve learning in mice,” says Matthews.
Matthews and Jenks fed live bacteria to mice and assessed their ability to navigate a maze compared to control mice that were not fed the bacteria.
“We…
“Climate Change: A Catastrophist’s Perspective”
From Reality Sandwich:
ST Frequency
Since the release of Al Gore’s disquieting documentary An Inconvenient Truth, the extent of humanity’s influence on the earth’s climate has become one of the most pressing topics in the public discourse…
Right-Wing Blog Watch: Alternative Right
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
Welcome to a new feature on Red Star Times, right-wing blog watch. I am introducing this feature for the sake of keeping a close eye on right-wing blogs, ranging from hardline conservative to outright fascist. My first subject of study is Alternative Right, a particularly noxious website that brands itself as “radical traditionalist.” For those who aren’t familiar with the term, radical traditionalist is a term used by hipsters, goths and faux-erudite who espouse fascist ideology but want a term with more intellectual cache.
Radical traditionalist favorites include Oswald Spengler, Julius Evola and Alain de Benoist. Associated (allegedly) political movements include Eurasianism, metapolitics, third positionism and national anarchism. Alternative right is an exemplar of radical traditionalism and fascism in as much as it begins with hatred of minorities, women and the working class and proceeds to construct a bizarre mish-mash of gobbledygook as “ideology” after…
Is The President The Kind of Leader Chairman Mao Warned Us About?
We now know that it was the Obama Administration led by the President himself who used techniques well understood and denounced decades earlier by none other than Mao TseTung.
Mao had no use for those who talked left to move right.
In several high profile speeches, Obama lashed out at Wall Street for its greed and mendacity, proposing financial reforms that appeared to be hard hitting if only because of the way the lobbyists for the financial services industry squealed about them.
But even as he was feinting left, he and his main economic operative, Tim Geithner, were moving right to kill off amendments that the bankers hated like Senator Bernie Sanders’s proposal for a deep audit of the Federal Reserve Bank and the Brown-Kaufman Amendment that would have broken up the six biggest banks in America.”
As John Heilman explained in New York Magazine, “Geithner’s team spent much of its time during the…
Hypersonic Scramjet Sets New Speed Record
More than Mach 5 – not bad! CNET reports on the U.S. Air Force’s latest toy:
The X-51A Waverider flew today, and it flew fast.
The scramjet engine in the experimental aircraft burned for a little over three minutes at around 10 a.m. PDT Wednesday in a test range over the Pacific Ocean, pushing the X-51A to the hypersonic speed of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound…
