The Real Threat

In the light of the seemingly upsurge in fundamentalist terror, it does feel that ‘we’ seem to be on the ropes a bit. If the murders who did these attacks in London and Cairo are trying to destroy the way we live – then they must fail….if (and heres the hard bit)..only if we let them. Consider that the most powerful military force in the world cannot control a country of around 26 million people (US occupying Iraq), then what chance have a rag-tag band of nutters got of controlling 60 million people in the UK – unless we allow it? More interesting still is an article that says the real threat to values most of us hold true (freedom and so on) is those within the UK who have the power to warp what we believe in.

America [or in our case, the UK] is not threatened by any external forces or fanatical groups, but by lying, cheating, stealing, killing, hypocritical, arrogant Americans whose enormous wealth is only exceeded by their insatiable greed and their indifference to the plight of the people.

This small minority of Americans [or in our case British people] are the main enemy of the great majority of the American people as well as the enemy of the traditions, laws and spirit of America, our beautiful America – and the world at large.

Its food for thought.

PS. Also from GNN, "The Pentagon is blocking their release in direct violation of the ruling. Not to sound alarmist, but the nation appears to be sliding towards a true military state."

Ashton Court Review '05
I had family, including kids, down for a fair amount of the event so most of what I saw was Bouncy Castle live, but I can post a review of some stuff…in general I had a pretty good festival. The expanded kids section was a cool asset, though we only noticed the free bouncy castle after spending a fair amount on the pay one. Ooops.

I did get to see Ivory Springer on the lagermeister stage. It was a great set. This is, despite being a fan, the first time I’ve seen them live. What struck me most is how tight the sound is. For example on the track Submariner, the timings between the band as they throw waves of sound at the audience is pretty impressive. The songs were great and they obviously had a few fans in the audience as there was a plenty of singing along. What more could you ask for – great music, cold beer and a cloudless blue sky. My only complaint was that the set was too short!

Next I caught the Spinal Tap delight of 'Flylow', a Finish rock export in the Acoustic tent. These guys are either a clever parody of hair metal or really mean it and are…well rocking the 80s still. They had it all – power-ballads, long hair, rock-tattoos and mega-guitars! In one hilarious moment of Tap magic, the lead guitarist climbed onto a stack of speakers and promptly vanished from the stage as the pile collapsed. Still he popped back up a minute later, seemingly no damage done and still rocking out. Great fun all in all.

Then finally I caught the Toxic Dancehall set in the Blackout tent. I was torn, wanting to see Blackout (the drum and bass crew and not the tent) again (last year they were great) – but I was looking forward to seeing how breakcore went down with the Ashton Court massive and (caveat for rest of review) the TD crew are mates of mine. The TD show had half the crew dressed as police, half as black bloc – amazing visuals including VJing and footage from the G8 protests (thanks to Indymedia) – the music was a top mix of current breakcore favs including Venetian Snares, Shitmat and the top-metal sounds of Drum Corps. The last being so metal that a mosh-pit broke out and extra security was rushed in! The TD sight and sound went down a storm, the tent was at capacity and it was a great finish to the whole event.

PS. You can still get the Megamashup CDs – Dissent still needs funds, especially for prisoner support!

Privatization
Remember that the elected president of Haiti was over thrown a year or so ago? When asked why he says; Privatization. An interesting story and not surprising the ongoing resistance to economic slavery from an island that freed itself from slavery, back in the day.

Thoughts on London Attacks
Not feeling much like doing any work, I have just popped into Broadmead to get a pasty and seen the body-armored coppers deployed to close the stable door now the horse has bolted. Its hard not to feel depressed by the bombings in London, for many reasons. First any of us might know somebody effected by it – I, like many, have friends in London and don’t know yet if they are all ok. Chances are they were not hit, but you worry anyway. Then there is the fact that so many ordinary people will be affected by the attacks – whether wounded, grieving or simply terrified. The group who carried out the attack explained, in their own moronic flawed logic, that they have 'punished' the UK government. Well news flash – by killing ordinary people you have not punished the government – you have helped them. Bliar was having trouble getting ID cards through – I bet he has no problems now. Bush was facing a damaging media spotlight on his refusal to do anything about climate change – this is a good day to bury that bad news.

I have heard media commentators say that now is not the time to ask why, but to look to help the wounded and the bereaved. I do feel for those caught up in this madness. But its hard, as you see four hulking coppers pass by the Odeon, not to wonder how much of the UKs limited intelligence resources have been squandered not in fighting al-Qaeda, but in securing oil for Bush’s buddies.

Ever get the feeling we are but pawns in a brutal game of world-Chess?

Open Victory!
I wrote an article a while ago about software patents - and so am happy to report that: "Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voted overwhelmingly to reject proposed legislation that critics argued would have allowed the widespread patenting of software in Europe." Yay!