Crazy Talk

Those right-wing nutters in the U$A make me laugh! They are soooo kooky. Here's a few quoteable quotes;

CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck: "Blowing up Iran. I say we nuke the bastards. In fact, it doesn't have to be Iran, it can be everywhere, anyplace that disagrees with me." [5/11/06]

Jonathan Hoenig, managing member of Capitalistpig Asset Management LLC, on Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto: "I think when it comes to Iran, the problem is we haven't been forceful enough. I mean if you -- frankly, if you want to see the Dow go up, let's get the bombers in the air and neutralize this Iranian threat." [6/5/06]

radio host Michael Savage: "I don't know why we don't use a bunker-buster bomb when he comes to the U.N. and just take [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] out with everyone in there." [7/21/06]

Anthrax Woe

Do you remeber the Anthrax attacks that happened just after 911? At the time it was blamed on the Iraqi's (on top of 911). Since then we've not heard much about this. How ever here is some interesting stuff...

It was documented at the time that the anthrax strain used was military grade. This was widely reported in 2002 in publications such as the New Scientist.

"Soon after I [ Professor Boyle] had informed Bowman [the FBI agent investigating the case] of this information [above], the FBI authorised the destruction of the AMES cultural Anthrax database." The Professor continued.

The destruction of the anthrax culture collection at Ames, IA., from which the Ft. Detrick lab got its pathogens, was blatant destruction of evidence as it meant that there was no way of finding out which strain was sent to who to develop the larger breed of anthrax used in the attacks. The trail of genetic evidence would have led directly back to a secret but officially-sponsored US government biowarfare program that was illegal and criminal.

Chilling stuff.

Iraq: The Plan That Dare Not Speak Its Name

There is very little consideration in the mainstream media that the only viable option in Iraq is to leave. I think this is for a couple of reasons. First, that this would be an admission by the political class, not just Neo-Labour, but all who supported the war before it happened and now support the occupation, that Iraq was a colossal mistake of titanic proportions. Second that the original aims of the war; control of the geo-strategic oil supplies in the region, would be lost to the west. I blogged about a recent TV show where the Neo-Labour Harriet Harman tried to defend the (bullshit) position that Iraq was the best decision with the information that they have available. I read a great article that rips this defense to tiny little bits;

"...late that July, Sir Richard Dearlove, head of MI6 (the British equivalent of the CIA), returned to London from high-level meetings in Washington to report to Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top officials. In a secret meeting, he told them that the decision for war in Iraq had already been made by the Bush administration and that now, in a memorable phrase, 'the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy'....On May 1st, 2005, notes from this meeting, dubbed 'the Downing Street Memo,' were leaked to the London Sunday Times. Thanks to that memo and other documents, it's now commonly accepted that the Bush administration 'fixed' the intelligence around their war of choice..."

Harman tried to bleat on that TV show that it's easy to say in hindsight it was not a great decision. As can be read above, they KNEW it was a bullshit decision but went along with it anyway. What hindsight shows us is how much of a gamble they took and how scared they were of popular opposition to the war. I think this can be seen in the recent victory of the Fairford Coach actions and ongoing Fairford Five Trials. I wonder if the clamp down of dissent we have been seeing stemmed from a fear that is would give a focus to the unraveling of the plot that had been hatched. (If you don't know, the Fairford Coach Trials relate to a couple of coaches of people to were on their way to protest the war at the Gloucestershire US airbase but were illegally detained by the police.) Here is what the appeal court verdict said;

The court accepted (para 48) that in some situations a breach of the peace could only be prevented if action were taken which would risk affecting wholly innocent individuals. As to the Chief Constable's appeal, the court considered (para 52) that the passengers were "virtually prisoners" on the returning coaches, that (para 53) the action taken went well beyond anything held to be justified by the existing common law authorities and that (paras 54-55) it was not shown that there were no less intrusive measures that could have been taken.

Check that, the cops made people "virtually prisoners" for no other reason than they opposed the imperial ambitions of Tony Bliar and is Neo-Labour stogies. Welcome to the war of terror. What is staggering is how much further than this Neo-Labour have been able to go; banning protest outside parliament, ID cards, terror act upon terror act and so on. This juggernaut is out of control.

Bristolian goes on the Attack

I was flicking through the TV on Saturday night when I settled on More4 to watch historian David Starky's current affairs discussion show 'Starkey's Last Word' (you can see the show by going to http://www.channel4.com/more4/microsites/L/lastword/ and clicking on the link '6 Dec: The Iraq Study Group') and to my surprise and anticipation he announced his line up of guests as Harriet Harman (Neo-Labour, Minister for Constitutional Affairs) Ed Vaizey (Tory shadow arts minister) and Ian Bone, anarchist! Bone is the co-founder of Class War, editor of the Bristolian, Vote Nobody organiser and now author of the excellent 'Bash the Rich'. The show was great fun. I bet they put Bone on it anticipating some sparks – and he did not disappoint. They sat him between Harman and Vaisey and their body language suggested that they were a bit uncomfortable with a commoner in their midst. After giving the other two a chance to give their point of view on the debarkle of Iraq, Starkey turned to Bone for his option and the Bristolain let rip;

"I've got a three point solution that would get us out of this [Iraq] much quicker. [Bone counts 1 on his finger] We should get popular opposition to this war back on the streets. [2] We surround No.10 Downing Street on May Day and stay until Mr.Blair goes or ends the war a la Hezbolla, Lebanon. [3] The troops should come home, not wait to be ordered home by George Bush or Tony Blair, but just get on the plane and come home because all they are at the moment is just sitting ducks and aunt Sally's waiting to be shot at and these two... [points to Harman and Vaizey] ..should should be prosecuted for war crimes."

Fantastic! He's just said what I have longed for somebody to say on the Iraq issue. Yes! Bliar and his cronies in the dock! Indeed I would go further and suggest that a massive investigation into not just this war but all UK companies and politicians who supported Saddam at any point be dragged into the dock alongside Harman and Vaisey. Starkey must have agreed with much of Bone's statement as he went on to describe it as "devastating and largely accurate incitement." Shortly after Bone rounded on Harman;

Bone: "The problem here is that we still get these weasel words trying to justify.."
Harman: "It's not weasel words..."
Bone: "It is completely and utterly weasel words...you're not thinking about saying sorry for the 650,000 dead, you're just thinking about justifying your position which was based on lies..."

Shortly after this Starkey had to reign Bone in. Harman looked very, very uncomfortable. Good. Discomfort is the least the political establishment deserve for their complicity in war crimes.

PS. Thanks to the Kebele people for putting on a good night out on Friday. If you missed it, it was their birthday party at the Black Swan and these was some fantastic music going down.

PPS. You've got a a couple of weeks left until the 22nd – the final date to make your views known on the climate-crime scene that may be the Bristol Airport Expansion – write or email to tell North Somerset Council to stop the madness. Responses to the public consultation held by North Somerset Council should be sent in time for the deadline of 22 December to: Kate Durston, Development Control, North Somerset Council, Somerset House, Oxford Street, Weston-super-Mare BS23 1TG. It is crucial to quote ref: 06/P/2701/MP and include your name and address. You can also email: dccomments@n-somerset.gov.uk , again giving the reference 06/P/2701/MP and your name and address. Alternatively, you can respond online through the Stop Bristol Airport Expansion website at: http://www.stopbia.com

Goatlab II, Drumcorps plus the Beginning and End of My Disastrous Career as a DJ

Goatlab II has come and gone and well...wow. I think it was a top night with the bar for performances set skyscraper high. Drumcorps set was amazing. I think it has to be one of the best sets I have ever seen. If you don't know, Drumcorps is the metal-mash project of breakcore producer Aaron Spectre. Live, the project consists of him, 2 midi keyboards, a mixer-type thing, laptop – and for the final mosh effect – a guitar. He was late in setting up and this helped to build the hype for his set. So, by the time he was ready, the room was packed and ready. The wait was worth it. A burst of noise from the midi, and wave of sounds that ran down the length of the room. The crowd jumped to his call for metal action. The crowd loved it, they went c-r-a-z-y and rightly so. It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. R-o-c-k-i-n-g. All that. If you missed it – pah! If you saw it, then welcome to the throng of the blessed. It looks a bit like this:



(Not from Goatlab, sadly, but from Wasted 2.

Now in contrast, Goatlab II was where I had my first chance to DJ. There was a graveyard slot going in the back room and I decided to go for it. To my shame, I did not do my homework so was not on-top of the kit when I started, but was sure I could do something (I mean it's just playing records – how hard can it be?) I started with some classical (The Thieving Magpie) and then mixed it into an ATR old-skool techno track and it all sounded, well, ok. People seemed interested. I played a couple more tracks and after a while the crowed thinned to nothing. (Gone to see Parasite play, I bet...) A bit demoralizing, but I thought I could recover. Then, more people arrived. OK, I thought, time to grab them. So I go back to the Thieving Magpie and they seem interested, then I panicked and mixed (well, sloshed) it into a Napalm Death track. The crowd walked out. Thus was Goatlab II the beginning and end of my disastrous career as a DJ. I'll stick to what I know.

Here's some pictures from Goatlab taken by resident DJ Nim Chimpsky...(Nice one Nim!):

http://www.thebigpicturelibrary.com/Goatlab

The Iraq Trap II

I had written previously about how there are good indicators that the now dead Al-Zarqawi realised that the U$ would go into Iraq and so set a trap for them, as the U$ has done to the USSR in Afganistan..more evidence of this emerges;

"A senior al-Qaida operative deliberately planted information to encourage the US to invade Iraq, a double agent who infiltrated the network and spied for western intelligence agencies claimed last night."

Makes the whole Iraq thing even more of a genocidal cock-up than it is now.

Bash the Rich

Well I've just finished reading 'Bash the Rich' by Class War co-founder Ian Bone. Bone was touted by the Sunday People as 'the most dangerous man in Britain'. Wow! Nice accolade. Bone has also been a major character in the Bristol political scene. I was going to write a short prece about what he has been up to, but I was beaten to it by the discovery that he has a wikipedia entry!

In 2001 Bone started the Vote Nobody campaign which encouraged residents in Easton, Bristol to turn out for the local election and vote for 'Nobody'...In that same year he started The Bristolian, a scandal-sheet that purported to give "independent news from Bristol that the other papers won't touch". Freely distributed throughout the bars and pubs of Bristol -- and by Bone himself in Bristol's Corn Street -- the newssheet gained a weekly circulation of over 15000. ...The Bristolian gave way to the Bristolian Party, which stood in the local elections in an attempt to mobilise widespread discontent with Bristol City Council's policies...On 1 May 2003 a total of 2560 people voted for the Bristolian Party, which gained an 8% share of the vote within the 12 wards they contested. The Bristolian was runner-up for the Paul Foot Award for investigative journalism in 2005....

Unfortunately the book only goes up to the mid/late 80s and does not cover his time in Bristol. 'Bash the Rich' is his account of his radicalisation in the 60s up to the end of the miners strike in the 80s. The book draws on Bone's considerable experience of street level politics and while a trawl through history, always sounds current. For example while describing the momentous events of '68 during protests against the Vietnam war, he remarks;

Indeed 35 years later the same Oxbridge crowd – Tariq, Pinter, the redgraves, Ken Loach – have led the anti-Iraq war movement into the same cul-de-sac of mind-numbingly boring rallies in Hyde Park instead of direct action on the streets to bring effective opposition to the war. The new generation of anti-war activists have had themselves saddled with the very same movement leaders so effectively bottled it in Grosvenor Square in 1968.

Many have critisised Bone for a lack of 'theory' to his politics. I think the book, while an easy read and very funny, does offer a pretty sharp political insight. Take this example, from his days in Swansea in the 1970s;

What we discovered with the Swansea Mafia pamphlet [about council corruption] was that it was possible to engage the political attention of the punters by concentrating on local issues but not presenting it in an overtly political way. People told us that the pamphlet wasn't political because it was 'the truth'....now what was needed was something that wouldn't just gain their interest in a passive way but would encourage them to organise and act now for themselves...

Bone also spends the last chapter on a jaunt through history to expalin his personal ideology. This is, I think, the best section of the book. Take this example as Bone describes a pivital moment from the Putney Debates:

Cromwell and Fairfax are increasingly exasperated by the leveller's demands for equality – not apparently made with any reference to religion, Christ, or god, as was the custom.
“By what right or power do you make these demands?” Inquires Fairfax. After a pause the reply came.
“By the power of the sword, Master Fairfax, by the power of the sword.” Whoops! Jesus Christ! What did he fucking say? Stick that up your warty old nose master Master Cromwell!

As you can see, the book is full of swearing. Would you expect otherwise? No! The book is a funny, brutal honest, often self-critical and absorbing account of Bone life from birth to the mid 80s. Once I got going with it, the momentum of his tale takes over and before you know it, it's all over. The book claims not to be a 'dry tome destined to gather dust in leftie bookshops' – an opinion I would concur with. A great read and I hope Bone writes a volume two. And some kids books too!

A Personal History of Breakcore Part 1

Inspired by a fellow blogger Love and Rage's list of all time favorite punk tracks, I wanted to take a trawl through the Breakcore scene looking some of my favorite tracks and in the process compile my tale on a 'must have' list of breakcore.

Delete Yourself! - Atari Teenage Riot (1995)

I don't really listed to Atari Teenage Riot (ATR) much these days, but back in the day – they were rarely of the stereo. I tended to listed to more bootlegs of band member Alec Empire's DJ sets that their studio albums, but their first album, Delete Yourself! Is great. The opening track 'Start the Riot!' with its totally OTT super-fast drum sample was a clear announcement that this sound was going to take no prisoners. The album was a tour-de-force for it's time, and while it sounds a little tame by todays standards, it set a benchmark of mashup that would, for me, open the story of breakcore. It was not just the sound I identified with, I was also taken with their strident anti-Nazi stance and the mixture of punk/metal/techno sounds. It was punk with electronics and I liked it and wanted more. When I finally got the see them play live (in the Bristol Bierkeller supported by Lolita Storm) it was amazing. The band gave it their all and the gig was not only loud and proud, but was as full on as I had imagined. My ears were ringing for days afterwards. I now have tinatus – thanks ATR!

Bomb20 – Field Manual (1998)

This is a definitive album in the evolution of the breakcore sound. Keeping with the punk vibe, its young, angry and rough around the edges. More that rough around the edges, its rough through and through. At the time of creation, Bomb20 was 19, angry and it shows in his sound. A lurching mishmash of samples, beats, breaks and turns - great stuff! I feel it began to define the breakcore sound by establishing the broken beat structure, the frenetic jumping from one break to another that is at the center of true breakcore. Its a great album and an essential part of any breakcore collection.

Parasite – Baby 9mm (2001)

Ok, so the guy is a mate of mine, but that does not diminish the impact of his sound. I pick this on it's quality and nothing else. Period. This was Parasite's first 'proper' album (as in not a CDR) and was released by Peace Off. Until now, the breakcore sound was quite a blunt instrument - it was a big sound that came at you pretty fast. What Baby 9mm shows is that it can be subtle, yet distorted. It can sound almost laidback while still being broken. Parasite brought a lot of hip-hop and jungle influences into the mix while aided the evolution of the sound.

Venetian Snares – Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972-2006 (2002)

So I was listening to breakcore and pretty much exclusively listening to DHR to get my fix. But after a while it stopped giving me the same buzz. It was as if the sound, while dynamic and exciting had stopped moving forward. Then I heard Snares – and boy, was it a revelation. Track one of Higgins Ultra Low Funk... begins with an opera singer effusing, "Junglist!" while the breaks crash and smash around her. This sound was a revelation. It took breakcore to a new level. Set it fully apart from other forms of dance music. It also meant that the sound was still alive and had plenty of places left to go.

Various Artists – Ballroom Blitz (2003)

Not the work of one artist, but a compilation of many. There is a tendency to look down on compilation albums as a lesser work than the original setting. Not so here. The whole was definably greater that the sum of the parts. Death$ucker (Parasite's label) gather together some amazing performers – some know and some unknown, and crammed them together. Its got lots of different styles, the anthemic sound of Parasite's own 'Strong Like a Lion' to the irreverent and wonderfully OTT 'Bohemian Crapsody' by Sickboy. I think it set a strong standard for the scene that, as a result, forced to to rise higher in response. Plus it's great to masup to!

PS - Parasite has set up his own blog, that covers him and his projects - http://dswat.blogspot.com/ - plus he's also setup the Bristol Breakcore blog for the local scene - http://bristolbreakcore.blogspot.com/ - check 'em out!

US Elections - A Warning...

Well the US elections have come and given Bu$h a kicking he so richly deserves. However I think we do need a note of caution. Firstly elections are not good places for radical change. In a recent talk on Iraq, Scott Ritter says that the reason the US public is turning against Iraq is not because of the death, torture, violence, bombings etc, but is because the US military is loosing – that if they were winning it would all be ok. Scary assessment. His talk (delvered before the elections) also talked about war with Iran; If we go to war with Iran, the US will not be able to win without troops on the ground. And troops on the ground will not win it, as Iran are smart and canny. So Bu$h will order the use of nukes to break the back of the Iranian army (the Bu$h regime has changed the doctrine to allow nukes to be used in a non-nuke setting to aid US forces) When nukes are used – the gene is out of the bottle and it's not going back in until a US (my note, or UK?) city has been leveled by an Islamic nuke. Is that where we want to go? Scary assessment.

And we are still in for more of the same. The US occupation of Iraq will not end now. Climate Change will still be an uphill struggle. The Palestinians are still going to get a kicking from Israel.

Pelosi, [the new Democrat house leader] like so many other Democrats and Republicans in D.C., does not appreciate the asymmetry of the conflict. She cannot understand that Palestinians are faced with violence every day as their livelihoods and homes are uprooted to make way for new Israeli settlements. Never mind that the farm collective where Pelosi landed in her fancy helicopter was at one time operated by Palestinian farmers. For the land, according to Pelosi, has always belonged to the state of Israel.

"One thing, however is unchanged," Pelosi added. "America's commitment to the safety and security of the state of Israel is unwavering. America and Israel share an unbreakable bond: in peace and war; and in prosperity and in hardship."

On another point, to get a bit tin-foil hat...

And Now, Martial Law

About a week ago some left-wing bloggers began circulating rumors that Bush had secretly signed something called the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" that "allows the president to declare a 'public emergency' and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to 'suppress public disorder.'" I couldn't find the text of the law at the time, formerly H.R. 5122, or a reliable media account, so I decided not to report on it.

I can now confirm the bloggers' account. Bush signed the JWDAA hours after the MCA, in a furtive closed-door White House ceremony. There is, buried deep down in Title V, Subtitle B, Part II, Section 525(a) of the JWDAA, a coup. The Bush Administration has quietly stolen the National Guard away from the states.

Eeek!

Bristol Neo-Labour MPs and the War in Iraq

Following up from the article on how Bristol MPs voted on the recent push by parliment to inquire into the Iraq War, I was Looking a bit further into the subject. I searched the excellent TheyWorkForYou.com site to see what some of them had to say on the subject of Iraq, as all of the MPs featured in this article supported the government in blocking the inquiry.

Bristol East's Kerry McCarthy is a good little Neo-Labour trooper, she has never rebeled against Neo-Labour in this parliament and Hansard (the record of who says what in parliament) has no record of her ever saying a word on Iraq. Nor is there a positive search result for Doug Naysmith, Labour Bristol North West for speeches on Iraq. He did vote on 18th March to say that the case for the war was not proven. However when the statement about WMDs was put to the vote asking MPs to find out why we were told that,

"..Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction capable of being used at 45 minutes' notice; further recalls the Government's contention that these weapons posed an imminent danger to the United Kingdom...notes that to date no such weapons have been found; and calls for an independent inquiry into the handling of the intelligence received.."

He voted to support Bliar. He also voted against the publishing of the Attorney-General's advice on the Iraq war. But on the killer vote: the declaration of war - he was absent. Nice one, Doug.

Then there is Dawn Primarolo, who was aka 'Red Dawn' but is now a fully signed up a Neo-Labour loyalist. Needless to say she voted for the war and has totally supported the government though and though. I guess she had faith in Bu$h and crew that a new Iraq would 'dawn'. She also has no words in the offical record on Iraq.

Mind you, Iraq is going so well, that they don't need to say much on the subject. I mean who would want to pipe up in parliment to ask about the between 46,863 civilain dead (minimum from iraqbodycount.org) and 665,000 (Lancet study, 200,000 of these due to coalition forces). We don't want to talk about that. We don't need to talk about Basra, the main city in the Brit-zone of Iraq, "Basra is now the most corrupt city in Iraq." (says Ed Harriman in the London Review of Books) That's a top acolade! Anything else? "As a centre of oil smuggling, the British-occupied area around Basra is rivalled only by the Niger delta." Number one in corruption in Iraq and number two for oil sumggling in the world!!

It would appear that our local trio of Neo-Labour stooges all want to keep quiet about Iraq and want to keep us quiet about it too.

This makes it the more vital for people to speak out, to say the names of the dead. (Supporters of Bristol Stop The War Coalition will be gathering in the Centre opposite the Hippodrome on Saturday 11th November at 2pm to read the names of the dead of all nations in the illegal war in Iraq.)

Rebel Yell

I found this little snippit in the paper the other day:

Rebels and guerrillas attend Santiago summit

A gathering of 300 Latin American revolutionaries has brought together guerrilla fighters from around the continent for a three-day conference in the Chilean capital, Santiago, to coordinate its fight against US military intervention and celebrate "the US defeat" in Iraq. "If the US loses in Iraq, they will not have the same political capabilities ... to intervene in Latin America," said Chilean guerrilla Jorge Galvez. The three-day summit, which began on Friday, hosted members of the Colombian group Farc and groups from Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina.

I have tried to find out a bit more on the summit. I could not find anything else on the issue; I googled, checked the FARC's website, checked Narco News - nothing. Perhaps the summit attendees should head down to Oaxaca to help out?

The March of Religion

I went along to the re-enactment today of James Nayler’s ride into Bristol in October 1656 (part of the Bristol Radical History week). I knew nothing of Nayler before the radical history crew put the spotlight on him. It's an interesting tale; Nayler was a former soldier in the civil war who, after God spoke to him, became an itinerant preacher. Here are some of his radical ideas;

He said no man or King had a divine right to rule. He was a fighter for democracy...He spoke out against the slave trade, "Where can the innocent go out and not a trap laid to bring him into bondage and slavery?"...He criticised the wealthy for taking the common land from the people...He denied that the Bible was the word of God and said that people had the 'spirit of Christ' within them.

Far from being a lone voice, he connected with people and his ideas had resonance and were a threat to the rich and powerful;

Sent to London where he was the subject of a full Parliamentary debate for ten days, and found guilty of "horrid blasphemy," he received over three hundred lashes, a brand of the letter B on the forehead, and finally a red-hot iron through his tongue. He was placed in solitary confinement for three years in Bridewell until 1659. He died a year after this.

It was great to see important parts of our past being commemorated. Nice one Bristol Radical History people!

Shoot the Rich

I was reading the paper today and noticed this little snippit;

But the Communist MP Viktor Ilyukhin commented recently: "We need such fairs so that we can place snipers near by and shoot their visitors as parasites. None of them earned their money honestly. Such events are sheer savagery."

On the subject of having it in for the rich, Ian Bone's book 'Bash the Rich' is out now.

The Paradox of Iraq

Paradox 4: Sometimes Doing Nothing Is the Best Reaction

This paradox is, in fact, a criticism of another cardinal principle of the occupation: the application of overwhelming force in order to teach insurgents (and prospective insurgents) that opposition of any sort will not be tolerated and, in any case, is hopeless. A typical illustration of this principle in practice was a January 2006 U.S. military report that went in part: "An unmanned U.S. drone detected three men digging a hole in a road in the area. Insurgents regularly bury bombs along roads in the area to target U.S. or Iraqi convoys. The three men were tracked to a building, which U.S. forces then hit with precision-guided munitions." As it turned out, the attack killed 12 members of a family living in that house, severely damaged six neighboring houses, and consolidated local opposition to the American presence.

Paradox 7: If a Tactic Works This Week, It Will Not Work Next Week; If It Works in This Province, It Will Not Work in the Next

The clearest expression of this principle lies in the history of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the anti-occupation weapon of choice among Iraqi resistance fighters. Throughout the war, the occupation military has conducted hundreds of armed patrols each week designed to capture suspected insurgents through house-to-house searches. The insurgency, in turn, has focused on deterring and derailing these patrols, using sniper attacks, rocket propelled grenades, and IEDs. At first, sniper attacks were the favored weapon of the insurgents, but the typical American response -- artillery and air attacks -- proved effective enough to set them looking for other ways to respond. IEDs then gained in popularity, since they could be detonated from a relatively safe distance. When the Americans developed devices to detect the electronic detonators, the insurgents developed a variety of non-electronic trigger devices. When the Americans upgraded their armor to resist the typical IED, the insurgents developed "shaped" charges that could pierce American armor.

And so it goes in all aspects of the war

My Tube...

Just getting into YourTube, and here's a bit of what's on my tube...

Refuse/Resist by the youth wing of Sepultura - great fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TviTCFAGr6w

Drumcorps-02-04-06 (get ready for GoatLab!!! 1st Dec http://www.thegoatlab.com )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymZ3qWfqa0

Venetian Snares @ BGMW-XIV - Live and lov'in it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVj2sJ5zx94

The Assdroids-snakes & ladders video ????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHTRF_uhVnQ

PS. Also please sign the petition!

We believe that after two hung juries – which are failures of the government to prove their case – that the it should end its persecution of the 5 Fairford protesters who tried to stop the war crimes of aerial bombardment of civilian areas during the Iraq war. The Fairford protesters were acting out of a human concern for the civilians of Iraq and morally (as well as legally) did a brave action.

The Fairford protesters are people who were arrested while trying to disarm USAF B52 bombers stationed at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire before the attack on Iraq in March 2003. They are nonviolent and accountable, attempting to prevent the deaths of innocent Iraqis in an illegal war.

http://www.petitiononline.com/FAIRFORD/petition.html

Bliar should be in the dock!

B52 Trial – Hung Jury!

This was the second trial of the B52 people that has failed to reach verdict. It's not a total victory, but it is great news as it's not a guilty verdict. There is a petition online that you can sign asking to end the legal persecution:

http://www.petitiononline.com/FAIRFORD/petition.html

These results show that when this question is put to ordinary people (the Jury) many of them see the actions of the Fairford people as justifiable – to my mind a correct reading of the situation and akin to the principal set out in the Nuremberg trials. I'm no lawyer but here's what part of the Control Council Law No. 10 says is a war crime;

". . . Atrocities and offenses, including but not limited to murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, rape, or other acts committed against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial or religious groups whether or not in violation of the domestic laws of the country where perpetrated."

Note that end bit - "...whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated." This was there to stop the Nazi's wriggling out by saying they were obeying the law of Germany – laws the conveniently wrote. If we take this idea and flip it round it should also mean that those who move to stop ". . . Atrocities and offenses.. against any civilian population..." which the air campaign, cluster bombs, shock-and-awe and depleted uranium must surly be, then it is the right of people to stop this "...whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated." - in this case Fairford in the West Country, UK.

On the subject of Iraq, I saw Question Time on TV and there were a couple of funny moments. Both involve the neo-labour stooge Vera Baird MP. When answering the question, are the occupation forces part of the problem she said that before the war, "everyone thought that Saddam has WMDs" – to the masses derision of the other panelists and audience. She re-qualified her statement to say that she means that all at the UN thought that Saddam has WMD's, again massed derision. Are these people living in a dream-world? There was loads of voices, such as Scott Ritter, the former Marine intelligence Officer and UNSCOM weapons inspector saying there were no WMD's – the UN's Hans Blix did not deliver a 'yes' verdict with his reports, it was a 'don't think so, but impossible to say for sure'. This seems like a thinly veiled attempt to re-write our collective memories. It will not work. The second funny moment was when she called Tony Bliar a 'democrat' to the massed guffaws of the panel and audience.

Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff; "As a foreigner, you can be welcomed by being invited in a country, but we weren't invited certainly by those in Iraq at the time. The military campaign we fought in 2003 effectively kicked the door in. Whatever consent we may have had in the first place, may have turned to tolerance and has largely turned to intolerance." Even the British army want out. Iraq is a colossal fuck-up and it should be Bliar and his cohorts (including Brown, who, whatever he said in private, supported the war) should be in court for war crimes against the 655,000 dead of Iraq.

A good Iraq quote from Bash.org (it's a snipit of a real chat room conversation);

[Blaxthos] i think we're ultimately responsible for the insurgency
[superdan] I wouldn't rush to cop to that
[Blaxthos] saddam didn't have political instability
[Blaxthos] chop chop a coupla hundred insurgents
[Blaxthos] kinda takes the wind out of sail
[superdan] I'm more likely to put the responsibility on the guy who pulled the trigger or ordered it
[superdan] yup
[Blaxthos] didn't bush command us to attack ?
[superdan] and he can be held responsible by the folks killed by US forces
[Blaxthos] but since we toppled their government (which kept the insurgents in check) aren't we responsible for the insurgency ?
[superdan] no
[turtle_] no way dude we will overpower them with our freedom
[superdan] haha
[Blaxthos] in legalese we call that proximate causation
[superdan] there should've been a better plan in place to prevent it, but that doesn't mean it's his fault
[Blaxthos] so you say it would have spontaneously occured if we hadn't gone to war ?
[superdan] no
[Blaxthos] can't have cake and eat it too
[Blaxthos] see also: scores of retired generals coming forth to say "we told him so"
[turtle_] we had a fantastic plan
[Blaxthos] MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
[turtle_] it went something like "i believe we will be greeted as liberators"
[turtle_] but then they fucked it all up by not doing that

BreakLinks

Here's a couple - Parasite pointed me to ACRNYM, who sounds great!!!! And a Drum Crops interview...http://meertv.nl/archief/showmovie.asp?Id=1236

Keep rocking ///\\\!!!

PS. The next GoatLab is going to have DrumCrops live!!!! 1st Dec people.

Post GoatLab Goating

I went to the hospital yesterday to see a consultant to be told that I have got pulsatile tinnitus – where I can hear and kind whooshing of blood in my ear. Sometimes is can be quite loud and irritating. A friend told me that one form of treatment to to have sound at a set frequency to drown out the tinnitus. I guess this is like fighting fire with fire.

Well last night my tinnitus got the crap kicked out of it. No whooshing, all rocking full on sounds instead! I was supposed to wear ear plugs last night to take the edge of the speakers, but I forgot to put them in and instead my ears were treated by a musical barrage of the finest nature for which I am glad to risk impending damage.

Big Joan's set was amazing – the sound resonating across the space. It was an intimate space for such a full sound and it was a joy. Gusset's set was a top mix of tunes that got the crowd bouncing. Jay Nom stormed it. MAIOF rocked out in his own inimitable style. Floorclearer was in top form climbing on the DJ desk to extort the crowd to higher states of metal consciousness with chant's of "Slayer! Slayer! Slayer!" Sickboy and Bong-Ra's Servants of the Apocalypitc Goat Rave was a top piece of gabba-jungle-mash performance. A stunning UK debut for the project. ...and Parasite's set at the end of the night was wikid, wikid!! All in all a good crowd up for it. Special mention to the two guys in goatwear – you guys rock!!!

Forward, fellow goathearders, to the goat future on 1st December!

From the night...
Photos
Gusset's Set

The Flood!

It's out...mmmmmm..the new Big Joan EP on Death$ucker - and it rools! I have had other media/content stuff published before but the couple of hours I spent helping Parasite to do his track on the EP, leading to a credit on the label, well I'm agog. I'm so agag, I'm hot.



See you at the Lab!

Goat Time

Goat Time approaches!!! The first installment of The GoatLab will take place on Friday 29th September at Bristol's notorious Timbuk 2 venue on Small Street.

Heres the full line-up:

Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goat Rave (aka Bong-Ra and Sickboy)
Big Joan (Blood Red Sounds)
DJ Floorclearer (Wrong Music / Death$ucker)
My Ambulance Is On Fire (Noise Terminal One)
Gusset (Death$ucker)
Ironside (P.R.A.N.K / Dissident)
Dub Boy (Ruffnek Diskotek)
Jay Nom (Death$ucker)
Anakissed (anakissed.com)
Parasite (Death$ucker / Peace Off)
Nim Chimpski (Bad Planet / Finga Munkie)

Friday 29th September @ Timbuk2. 10pm - 4am. £5 in fancy goat wear. £6 b4 11pm, £7 after. Tickets are available from DSWAT and DMT Records (Stokes Croft). Full info here.

AND, and, and there is a new goatlab radio online too! Check the Genesis vs. Assdroids at the end.

Global 2 Local News Round-up and Comment

Local TA Called Up to Fight War on Terror (TM)

Territorial Army recruits from Gloucestershire are being called up for duty in Afghanistan. This is on top of 100 TA people being called up from Somerset too. They are to be based in the thick of the insurgency in Helmand province. We’ve had press reports of the ferocity of the fighting and how the US/UK had underestimated the insurgency they are facing. I think there is a huge amount of what is going on there that does not add up. Take the number – a June assessment of the strength of the Taliban’s active fighters by the coalition put them at 2000 to 5000 active fighters. By June the Coalition claimed it had killed 1200. Add into this the big 'Operation Medusa' they have just completed which they say killed 500 militants. So the coalition should have killed between 36% and 90% of the Taliban's fighters – an attrition rate that should see them wiped out shortly. Yet the war grinds on and on without an end in sight. The Soviet war and attempt to re-model Afganistan began in 1979 and ended in defeat in 1989. Ten years.

Also of note that there is no word of civilian casualties in all this? Take this snippit of news that shows the brutal war unfolding;

This week they [US forces] launched a drive in Andar [province], searching houses and raking buildings with helicopter gunship fire into a Taliban compound. At least 35 people died including a mother and two children. "We've warned people they may see soldiers shooting in their villages. I tell them this is the price of peace and freedom," said US commander Lieutenant Colonel Steven Gilbert.

The price of freedom of death – and they wonder why there is a growing insurgency?

"Nobody saw this coming. It's pretty dire," admitted one official in Kabul.

Local MP Opposes Airport Expansion

The MP for where I live, Stephen Williams, is backing the anti-airport expansion. Glad to hear it. I got a thing through the letterbox stating;

"Climate chaos is 'too important to ignore' says Lib Dem MP".

All we need now to stop climate chaos is a miracle! I have been reading Monbiot’s stuff in the guardian and the section on the climate deniers was very interesting. My favourite quote was from a petition that stated;

"We are living in an increasingly lush environment of plants and animals as a result of the carbon dioxide increase. Our children will enjoy an Earth with far more plant and animal life than that with which we now are blessed. This is a wonderful and unexpected gift from the Industrial Revolution."

Not only are they saying that a CO2 increase is not a problem – but that its good for us. Weyhay! Guess who championed this bonkers petition? Yes, the Daily Mail’s Hate correspondent Melanie Phillips. You can’t make it up.

Slayer!!!

My last post is a little depressing, but hey - if you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention. But its Friday, and now its...

Slayer Time!!!

http://leatmosphere.blogspot.com/2006/06/6-6-06.html#links

Live like a m*&therfu*ker!

War on Terror? War on Reason

The war on terror is a dumb ass pile of crap. The reason the Coalition of the Willing invaded Iraq? WMDs – we know that is bunk. Saddam and his evil-doing? Now we get this...

The U.N.’s chief anti-torture expert, Manfred Nowak, says: "The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein." Sectarian violence has filled the Baghdad morgue with bodies bearing evidence of brutal torture.

Yes Tony Bliar, you have made a monumental cock-up in backing Bu$h's oil war. But then what did we expect from a right-wing zealot? Iraq is a mess and it's only going to get worse.

The US Department of Defense has done some opinion polling that indicates that 3/4s of Iraqi Sunnis now support what the Pentagon calls the "insurgency". When the DoD started doing polling on the subject in 2003, they found that 14 percent of Sunni Arabs supported the insurgency. If there are 5 million Sunni Arabs, let us say that 1.5 million are less than 15 years of age. Of the 3.5 million left, half are women and less likely to actually engage in violence, though they might offer support for it. So that is 1.75 million men. At 75%, that is 1.3 million male supporters of the guerrilla movement.

While the war on terror here at home decends into farce...

Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Nigel Wylde, a former senior British Army Intelligence Officer, has suggested that the police and government story about the "terror plot" revealed on 10th August was part of a "pattern of lies and deceit."

Tony Bliar, Bu$h and all - you are Assdroids. You need a Nuremberg trial like we need a social revolution.

Living in the Shadow of Bin Laden

Its been five years since the day the towers came down. Since the day Bin Laden set the global agenda and our politicians, for their own twisted reasons, went along. If this was a film script it would go to flash back for five. Flashback to five years ago...

I heard about the first plane from a work colleague who was sat on the desk next to me. It seemed pretty unreal. I checked the net to see what was going down. Breaking news was a plane had hit the world trade centre...

In 2001 incidents of terrorism are running at about 1700 per year, globally.

Camera cuts forward in time to now. It's five years later and we are living in the shadow of Bin Laden. He wanted a war. Bu$h and Bliar gave him three. In Bristol two brave and principled people are awaiting trial for trying to stop war crimes. In Iraq a US armored car pulls the gate from a building and marines pour in searching for terrorists. There is shouting and screaming, children huddle as men are bagged and cuffed and lead off to uncertainty. Those they leave behind choose to join the insurgency.

Flashback to then. As the second plane hits, the net goes down. I can not remember a time then or since that this had happened. At first the BBC site went to a text only version, then that too would go.

Soon after this Bu$h would declare that either you are with him or with the terrorists. Rumsfeld would take the Iraq war plans off the backburner and once more put them into motion. In Afghanistan, Bin Laden would argue with Al-Zarqawi about how the US would respond to his attacks. Al-Zarqawi says they will attack Iraq and set off there to prepare for their coming.

Then; the only news was from the older-school technology of radio and TV. The work colleague who was sat on the desk next to me had Radio 5 Live going on his desk. A US senator suggested that this might be the work of the anti-capitalists. They were blaming a movement I consider myself part of. The lack of hard facts meant that the media began to blur news with speculation into fantasy.

Now – there is a vigil in Bristol each day to protest the wars. This has been going on since they started bombing Afghanistan. In Bristol there are also companies who make missiles that they use in the war on terror. Dick Cheney said that this war would not end in our lifetimes. A forever war. As if to prove this, the war in Afghanistan that we have supposedly won, still rumbles on there with no end in sight. The main casualties are civilians But Bliar and Bu$h don't count them.

Back them – at work we are all watching the TV – stunned by the horror and spectacle of the event. Our boss tells us to get back to work.

Now – the forever war takes in Iraq to sit alongside Afghanistan, Colombia and Palestine in their crusade for enduring freedom. During this war on terror they would use torture, cluster bombs, detention without trial, phosphorus shells, depleted uranium and bomblets. The forces of righteous would deploy the darkness to fight evil.

"The United States military uses another type of bomb, this one 'a terrific weapon' with 'tremendous destructive power,' according to U.S. General Wesley Clark. It is the BLU-82, also known as the 'Daisy Cutter.' This fifteen-thousand-pound bomb, filled with an aqueous mixture of ammonium nitrate, aluminum powder, and polystyrene soap, is so large it can only be launched by rolling it out the rear door of a cargo aircraft, the MC-130 Hercules. The slowness of the cargo plane means Daisy Cutters can only be dropped when there are no defenses, in other words, only on those who are defenseless...A parachute opens, then the Daisy Cutter floats toward the Earth. The parachute slows the descent enough to give the transport plane time to get away before the bomb explodes. The bomb detonates just above ground, producing what are called overpressures of one thousand pounds per square inch (overpressure is air pressure over and above normal air pressure: overpressures of just a few pounds are enough to kill people) disintegrating everything and everyone within hundreds of yards, and killing people (and nonhumans) at a range of up to three miles. General Peter Pace, vice-chair of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, put the purpose clearly: 'As you would expect, they make a heck of a bang when they go off and the intent is to kill people.' Marine Corps General Trainor was even more specific about the effect of Daisy Cutters on people in Afghanistan: 'Besides the physical degradation, these— along with the regular ordinance dropped from B-52s—provide great psychological punishment, as victims begin to bleed from the eyes, nose, and ears, if they aren’t killed outright, of course. It’s a frightening, awesome assault they’re suffering, and there’s no doubt they’re feeling our wrath.'"

Bu$h says god is not neutral. As we have Daisy Cutters - he must be on our side.

In 2005 incidents of terrorism are running at around 5100 per year. Since that day when Bin Laden killed 2,973 people to set his agenda, the west's fury and blundering would add another 62,006 dead to the tally.

And counting.

Cost of war so far: $313,693,687,636 and counting.

Now – Bliar is mired in a regicide plot for control of the Neo-Labour throne. How else could it have ended? Neo-Labour were built on spin and deception and lies. They lied about Iraq, Afghanistan and terrorism There were no cheering crowds in Iraq – just Al-Zarqawi's network and an insurgency There are no cheering crowds at number 10, just knives hidden in smiles.

Before – A couple of years after 911, I would hold my nose and vote Lib Dem to oust Neo-Labour in the national election. They won in Bristol West. The media, taking their cue from Neo-Labour focus group research said people don't care about the war. I did. In the run up to the largest ever demo sends coach after coach from here to London to say No War. Bliar ignored us. He ignored all of us who said it was a decent into terror. He said history would be his judge. Instead the dead of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are his judge. They say, on one count of war crimes; guilty. He does not count them. He only counts the rich and powerful.

Now; I don't want to live in the shadow of Bin Laden. I want to see the sun again. I want us out of Iraq and Afghanistan I want the billions spent on war to go on making poverty history. I want Neo-Labour to consume itself in an orgy of destruction and leave only ashes (epitaph; 'Here lies the Labour Party 1900-2006, an opportunity lost. May future generation learn from our failure.')

I want the court to issue an arrest warrant for Bliar on charges of war crimes. I want Bin Laden caught and put on trial in the Hague. I want the Fairford disarmers to be acquitted and offered the Freedom of the City of Bristol.

I want us to break the cycle of war and destruction that costs so much and offers so little.

I want to be able to spend more time blogging about music and less time writing of death and terror.

I want Bu$h to read Derrek Jensen and weep:

"Even if the primary target of these bombs [daisy cutters] were members of the Afghan military (or terrorists, whatever or whomever they may be) those who were killed were mainly just people trying to survive. 'We were farmers,' said Kamal Hud-din, after American planes made four passes over Kama Ado, his home village, killing more than half of the three hundred people who lived there. 'We were poor people. And we didn’t have any contact with any organizations.' It’s no surprise that people like these—people living in mud huts with straw roofs, using wooden plows to till the soil exactly as their ancestors did—were killed. Colonel John Warden, who planned the air campaign in Iraq, said that dropping any of these bombs I’ve mentioned 'is like shooting skeet. Four hundred and ninety-nine out of five hundred pellets may miss the target, but that’s irrelevant.'

So, who dies? I have seen pictures of the dead, dark-haired children laid out on mattresses, hands folded neatly above the last clothes they will ever wear by parents now standing looking downward, eyes red, in the background. The children's faces are bloated, and red, too, though not from tears but instead from blood which never seems to finally wash away. The parents' hands, too, are red where faint traces of their children’s blood remains."

I want Bill Hicks's second coming to happen now so he can set us on the path to enlightenment.

Migration and the Comming War with Iran

A couple of top articles worth reading;

An amazing article in imigration that looks deep into the comming storm;

"The issue is not securing a broken border any more than the real issue in New Orleans is building a better levee. Storms are rising, and the walls and levees are simply points where we taste their initial force as they move inland....We want an answer, a solution. But there is only this fact: We either find a way to make their world better or they will come to our better world. At the moment, we insist on the wrong answer to the wrong question. And so, the Border Patrol will grow.There will be a wall. Tougher laws will be passed by Congress. And the people will keep coming."

And another pointer to war with Iran;

"In the days, weeks, and months ahead Khuzestan and southern Iraq will come under further focus as British troops mobilize their rapid deployment ground units—the type needed for waging war and invasion—on the Iranian border and a showdown looms ahead between Iran and the United States over the Iranian nuclear energy program and its ultimate fate."

Dark days.

Bu$h Quote Madness

This is a great quote from Bu$h;

“We face an enemy that has an ideology. They believe things. The best way to describe their ideology is to relate to you the fact that they think the opposite of the way we think.”

To me it says; don't think America! Do as your told! They are bad people because I say they are!

It's as if the quote was lifted from Team America.

Hollywood Bomb Plots in the Real World

I had written before about being skeptical (to say the least) about the so-called terror plot that the government said they had uncovered. Thus far there have no charges, no explosives found (that we've been told about) and its seems to be that perhaps the plot existed in the mind of the alleged plotters or event the government. So it was with great interest that I read this in The Register;

So the fabled binary liquid explosive - that is, the sudden mixing of hydrogen peroxide and acetone with sulfuric acid to create a plane-killing explosion, is out of the question. Meanwhile, making TATP ahead of time carries a risk that the mission will fail due to premature detonation, although it is the only plausible approach.

Certainly, if we can imagine a group of jihadists smuggling the necessary chemicals and equipment on board, and cooking up TATP in the lavatory, then we've passed from the realm of action blockbusters to that of situation comedy.

It should be small comfort that the security establishments of the UK and the USA - and the "terrorism experts" who inform them and wheedle billions of dollars out of them for bomb puffers and face recognition gizmos and remote gait analyzers and similar hi-tech phrenology gear - have bought the Hollywood binary liquid explosive myth, and have even acted upon it.

There is also an interesting article on the 60's radicalism; Stay vigilant. The light will come.

Talking War on the Net
There is loads and loads of discussion about the Lebanon/Hezbollah/Israeli thing. What is interesting is the derth of anaylsis of the military and socio-political events going on. Its far more indepth that you would find on TV and very interesting. Thake the reliable War Nerd;

The rest of you idiots actually seem to take Cooper [CNN journalist] seriously when he talks about how the IDF is going to "expel Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon." Christ, Hezbollah IS Southern Lebanon. You might as well try to expel ants.

Indeed. This was the point I too war making - that Hezbollah came from Israeli occupation, so to think a few weeks of bombing is going to remove them when they withstood 18 years of occupation is weak to say the least. War Nerd goes on;

As long as the IDF was beating up on Hamas down in Gaza, it could hide its weakness most of the time...facing Pals with nothing but rifles and old RPGs. It's easy to look tough rolling through refugee camps in the world's most heavily armored tank....But as you may recall, those tanks got a real different reception when they chased Hezbollah's raiding party back into Lebanon after the Hezzies killed three IDF soldiers and kidnapped another two...the first Merkava steamed over the border. Guess how far it got. Ten meters. Ten goddamn meters. Then KABOOM! A Hezbollah mine or shaped charge turned it into a very expensive oven, with four crew killed. Another IDF soldier died trying to rescue them. So within a few minutes the IDF had lost eight men. As far as I know, Hezbollah's losses were zero.

So now we are talking Fourth generation warfare (4GW) - the type of 'war on terror'(tm) thing that emerged from the cold war. Over at Global Guerrillas, there is a good discussion of where all this is going;

Hezbollah's performance in a set-piece battle with the Israeli military (arguably once, a top notch conventional military) is an excellent example of how non-state groups have radically improved their ability to conduct tactical and strategic operations...The central secret to Hezbollah's success is that it trained its (global) guerrillas to make decisions autonomously (classic 4GW), at the small group level. In every area -- from firing rockets to defending prepared positions to media routing around jamming/disruption -- we have examples of Hezbollah teams deciding, adapting, innovating, and collaborating without reference to any central authority. The result of this decentralization is that Hezbollah's aggregate decision cycles are faster and qualitatively better than those of their Israeli counterparts.

So, as Queen stated; We're just waiting/For the hammer to fall.

Ceasefire Now Demo (and Terror in the News)
I attended the demo today in Bristol calling for an immediate ceasefire over the Israel/Hezbollah/Lebanon war. It was a lively event with a good mix of people from various ages and ethnicities. It was a warm afternoon and good weather for a stroll around the city while exercising your democratic rights. I'd estimate at its height there were around two hundred people. There was also a smaller counter demo calling for support of Israel. This numbered around two people. As the march wound its way around the city centre and up Park St, this dropped to one. I had a look at the flyer the one support-Israel guy was handing out. I don't agree with the content or framing of his arguments, but I did admire him a little for coming out and having his say against such overwhelming numbers on the other march. (Mind you he did have an undercover copper shadowing him, so I guess his was pretty safe.).

Here's a few interesting links on the subject of this conflict:

Why Israel is losing
http://www.opendemocracy.net/themes/article.jsp?id=2&articleId=3808

Hezbollah Against Democracy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006H.shtml

At War with Syria and Iran: The Neo-Cons May Get Their Wish
http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/10467/At_War_with_Syria_and_Iran_The_Neo_Cons_May_Get_Their_Wish

All this comes on the heels of the deluge of terrorism news, including new security restrictions at Bristol airport – you can't take your electronic gadgets on the plane with you in hand luggage so have to put your Game Boy Advance in the hold (what! No Fire Emblem?). I am a little disappointed by the rush of the media headlong into this story. You'd think some of them would be a little more cautious about reporting the back-handed pronouncements of 'security officials' and 'police sources' as fact, after all we have been down this road before...

Remember the Ricin Plot? Headlines: 'Toxic Terror Plot' (Sunday Mirror) and 'The al-Qa'ida Plot to Poison Britain' (The Times) and so on. Reality after the facts came out? "...there was no ricin – a fact suppressed for more than two years. There was no terrorist cell, just one deluded and dangerous man who killed a police officer during a bungled immigration raid...despite more than 100 arrests and months of investigation which took detectives to 16 countries, no al-Qa’ida plot ever materialised." The Ricin non-Plot kicked off with high profile arrests on 5th January 2003 – just about the time when the plan to steamroller the public into war with Iraq had gone off the rails. A few days earlier the UN weapons inspectors declared they found nothing new to point to any WMDs. The Ricin plot was a helpful push for the pro-war agenda at the time.

But maybe I am being paranoid. This might be coincidence? Then I remember the forest gate terror raids. 250 cops doing a full-on trashing of a house in north London. They find no terrorism but do shoot one person accidentally. Again, it's hard to be get a bit skeptical about the timing. After all the raid "..was triggered by a man with an IQ of just 69 who was described as an 'utter incompetent' when he was jailed for a terror offence, it was claimed yesterday." So why go so gung-ho over that? This all kicked of at the beginning of June 2006 – and the previous month had seen some of the worst news coming out of Iraq as it slid into civil war.

But maybe I am being paranoid. This might be coincidence? But other non-events of terror include; Tanks at Heathrow (February 2003, Iraq war stared in March), Red Mercury (September 2004), the Canary Wharf plot (November 2004), the Jean Charles de Menezes debacle and more. I'm not saying that there is no threat, the 7/7 bombs show there is – and this may yet turn into something more substantial that the smoke-and-mirrors in the media to date – but that does not mean the government is not capable of duplicity and using terror to push its own agenda. The US journalist I F Stone was talking to a class of journalism students. One asked him what the most important piece of advice he could give them was. He replied with two words; "Governments lie."

Goat Lab Radio Aug'06
A new radio show is now up on the site...

http://dswat.streamlinetrial.co.uk/thegoatlab/?Radio

Tracklisting:

Big Joan - Here Comes The Flood (My Ambulance is on Fire RMX) - soon to be released on Death$ucker Records in september!!!
God Forbid - The End of the World
The Jam - A bomb in Wardour Street
Part Chimp - Chimp Happy
Candie Hank - Sunshine Reggae
YT - Real Girl - from the Straight Outta Brittain album
Meatloaf - Paradise By the Dashboard Light - the karaoke classic!!!
Mad Processor - 106 miles
Nam Shub - Nam Shub Wobble - also to be released on Death$ucker Records in september!!!
Tom Waits - The Piano Has Been Drinking
Frank Turner - The Ballad of Me and My Friend
Ebola - Klingon Rave Squad
Uriah Heep - Rainbow Demon
Vom It! - Hairy Blood
Monster Zoku Onsomb - Dark Eyes Glow - new exclusive MZO tunes fresh from australia!!! On Death$ucker!!

PS. Is it just me, or does all this terror alert stuff happening right when the UK govt. is getting a kicking over Lebanon all sound a bit...well convenient?

Opposing the Bombing is NOT Support for Hezbollah
Just because somebody opposes the bombing of Israel, it does not mean they support Hezbollah. From what I have seen of the group their ideology is almost totally opposite to what I personally believe. They are racist (anti-semitic), sexist and homophobic. I don't want to live in a world dominated by such ideologies or groups. So why am I opposing the Israeli bombings, especially as they claim they just need a few weeks and they will have finished the job?

Well firstly its a fantasy that Israel will destroy Hezbollah in a few weeks. The group fought Israel when it occupied southern Lebanon for about 20 years – why is this few weeks of war going to be any different? The reports are that the Israel army is facing a foe far more dangerous that it anticipated, who are waiting in secure bunkers for the ground troops to invade. Hezbollah have been preparing for this for years, thus the tactical thing to do is not blunder into their trap, as Israel is doing. This war, so far, has not weakened Hezbollah, has not stopped the rocket attacks; but has strengthened it, boosted its image and further degraded the Israel image. I also oppose it moral grounds plus the pragmatic view that an attempt to destroy a group that kills about 10 civilians (predominantly women and kids) for each alleged Hezbollah fighter it gets, is not going to stop the problem. If just two of each victims family pledge revenge (If you want a graphic account of how a civilian who is the victim of state terror turns to terrorism read Killing Rage by Eamon Collins) then Israel is may well be creating more fighters/terrorists that it is killing. Occupation created the problem of Hezbollah. has Israel occupied south Lebanon to get another group - the PLO - who were also created by occupation. Thus it follows logic that if occupation created the problem, dealing with occupation can end it. Drain away the grievances against Israel and you drain the supply of recruits and supporters and fanatics. This mean a meaningful peace that does not simply throw people the scraps of land that Israel does not want and removed the ethnic apartheid that it has created. Israel has been trying the military solution to its problem for decades and is no closer to peace. How many have to die before this changes? I cite Israel as having to change as it is the dominant power in the region and without it changing nothing else will.

More news on this issue:

Israeli strikes cause massive environmental disaster
http://www.gnn.tv/articles/2455/Oil_Spill_Hits_Lebanon_s_Beaches

Sistani Threatens US over Israeli War on Lebanon
http://www.juancole.com/2006/07/what-is-hizbullah-western-and-israeli.html

A War Without End?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072706H.shtml

Israel bans reporting of use of "unique" weapons in Lebanon
http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/israel_censor.htm



http://www.granta.com/shop/product?usca_p=t&product_id=33

The Media War

We are now the targets of as vast media war being fought for hearts and minds. There is a vast push of information that leads us to decide who is right and wrong in the current middle east war.

Is Bliar and Co right to oppose a cease fire? I would say no. They are wrong. They blither about a 'lasting ceasefire' but each time I see images of dead children, I can't help but think they would still be alive with a cease fire. But then what should we expect from a bunch of neo-con, privatization warmongers. Bliar is not allowed (by Bu$h) to go to Lebanon, but does have time to go a see Rupert Murdoch. Its all about priorities. Dead arab kids are not one of Bliars.

Is Israel wrong to defend itself? People (not states) have a right to self-defence. This is not self-defence, it is terrorism. Self-defence is to pursue the best strategy to protect you and yours. Fighting is not always the best strategy. So far, a a cost of hundreds dead, the rockets still reign down on Israel and they have handed a PR victory to their enemies and exposed the weakness of the IDF. Not a great strategy. Given that Israel faces resistance groups that were founded in occupation and feed off occupation - the solution is and always has been to end the occupation.

Don't Israel's opponents want to wipe it off the map? People talk about the various extremist groups wanting to wipe Israel off the map - physically they can't as Israel has the 4th most powerful army in the world (behind US, Russia and China) and they have nukes. They cannot be wiped off anywhere. They are the dominant power (backed by the US) and so they are the ones with the power to create peace.

Is this not all about anti-semitism? No. That's a bullshit cover that atrocity is hiding behind. I have no doubt that there are various people pushing anti-semitic ideas, the problem is that by Israel's actions is that it is creating a fertile ground for such claptrap to flourish. This is not a problem created by anti-semitism, it is created by occupation. Both resistance movements that Israel is facing were created by its own policies. The root issue, not peripheral issues, need addressing.

Some interesting posts on the war:

Israel's Attacks Helping the Enemy?
http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/10157/Israel_s_Attacks_Helping_the_Enemy

Israel claims it's justified in bombing civilians because Hezbollah mingles with them. In fact, the militant group doesn't trust its civilians and stays as far away from them as possible.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/28/hezbollah/index_np.html

Israel Drops White Phosphorus Bombs, Littlest Victims Suffer
http://gnn.tv/headlines/10114/Israel_Drops_White_Phosphorus_Bombs_Littlest_Victims_Suffer

Meanwhile Iraq, Afganistan and Global Warming rummble on in the background...

A Guide to Middle East Insanity

I can't believe the shit I am hearing from the airwaves and on the net. To hear a UK or US official speak – you'd think they had been gestated from a spin training camp only a week ago; "All this started when Hamas/Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli soldiers..." WHAT? What? You what? So before that, it was all peaches and cream? It would be funny if people were not dying. It is time to put things in perspective...

This DID NOT just begin when Hamas/Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli soldiers: It goes way beyond that. It did not even begin in 1948 when the state of Israeli was created by displacing sections of the ethnic population. Ultimately you have to lay the blame of the various colonial wars and games played in the region of decades. I am sad to say Britain has a huge part in why this is all such a mess. The kidnapping of the last few weeks is simply the latest in a long line of acts by various sides. You could say the escalation began with the kidnapping – but again you would be wrong. Hamas did attack a post and kidnap a solider, but then they would say it was in response to the ongoing Israeli campaign against them. The Israeli campaign is a response to..and so on back into history.

The solution is not to disarm Hamas/Hezbollah: Bu$h and Bliar seem to think so. The weasley Kim Howells on the Today program echoed this view is a shameful display of cross-logic and cowardice. He said the problem was that Lebanon has not implemented UN the resolution to disarm Hezbollah. (He also said he would not defend the Israeli actions but did not support calls for a ceasefire. Huh?) That the solution was to disarm Hezbollah and Hamas and the for the Israelis to make the occupation a little nicer. This is the key point – occupation.

The issue is OCCUPATION: Occupation, occupation, occupation. Nobody in power in UK/US really want to say it but that is the key. Why was Hezbollah created? They were created to resist the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon. To think that Israeli will be able to destroy an organisation that was spawned by their militarily aggression and fought their occupation for 20 years by more occupation and military aggression is INSANITY. Why was Israel occupying South Lebanon? To try and kill of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Why was the PLO created? To resist the Israeli occupation of Palestine. (On a side note it is interesting that Hamas were nurtured in their early days by the Israeli intelligence people as they wanted a counter to the secular PLO – and like the occupation of south Lebanon, that too has bitten them on the ass).

No justice, no peace: The solution is an end of the occupation. Anything else is simply dancing round the fire.

The Parasite

There is a good write up about breakcore in XLR8R magazine;

It’s there [at crazzy parties] that [breakcore] artists, the majority of whom perform live, unleash their sonic assault and some serious antics: singing, screaming, moshing, telling jokes, tearing their clothes off, bashing their heads on tables and then bleeding on the audience, making the most of thrift store bins for crazy costumes, and, bizarrely, almost always wearing funny hats. Breakcore artists are some of the most thoughtful, inventive, and politically progressive people making music today, but on stage they are a bunch of fucking loons.

Oh yes. It also gives a good profile of my mate and co-labo8tor Parasite;

Parasite
It’s hard to believe that the royal ruckus known as Parasite is actually breakcore's hardest-working bloke. The affable bloodsucker (Armin Elsaesser to his mom) is best known for helming the consistently great Death$ucker label, which boases the scene’s best and most eclectic roster (with releases from Bong-Ra, knifehandchop, Monkey Steak, d’kat, and DJ Ripley). He’s also the head honcho of DSWAT distro, one of the most active online mailorder stores, and a driving force behind the Toxic Dancehall parties in his hometown of Bristol, England. A testament to breakcore’s increasing popularity, these raucous affairs grew from 30 people in the basement of an Indian restaurant to crowds over a thousand strong at the Black Swan in just three years.

Toxic Dancehall is now defunct, but Parasite and his partner Anakissed are starting a new party called The Goat Lab. "The name was directly inspired by the U.S. military’s research into psychological warfare using de-bleated goats as a test bed," says Elsaesser, who, like many in the scene, has a strong political streak. "Breakcore, by its very nature, is political!" he says. "The very fact that the majority of breakcore tunes are a copyright infringement [case] waiting to happen is proof of this. Also, political opinions can be heard in a wealth of breakcore tunes today. Look at artists like Aaron Spectre, Noize Punishment, and The Bug, to name a few–all have a political message to convey. Certainly in Bristol whenever an anti-Blair/Bush sample gets dropped, the reaction from the audience is generally positive, with shouts of acknowledgment. Personally, I try to remain active in a political sense in that I regularly play benefit gigs, support political causes, and attend political rallies, [and] I also sell political material [through DSWAT]."

On the subject, I have heard an early version of Parasite's Big Joan remix - owch! its good. Very good and its going to rock the clock...

Yo Bliar!...A Word from Lebanon

With the current crisis in the middle east - amidst all the comment and statements of groups and countries and factions it is easy to forget that behind each batch of casualty figures are real lives and real deaths. Even those who are not killed or wounded, still suffer from the trauma of war. If anything in the fucked up situation we see unraveling around us means anything at all, I think perhaps we need to listen to the voices of ordinary people. This is an email written by Raida, one of IndyMedia Lebanon's volunteers;

Hi Petros

Thank you for writing to me, I am fine, and all the members of my family are fine, some of them had to sleep in the shelters as they live close to the bridge that was attacked twice yesterday and today by Israel, the house of my sister was damaged seriously yet she and her family are fine, of course the children are terrified.

As for my coworkers in the Palestinian camps in the south, I am not able to reach them by phones, I lost contact with them in the 2nd day of the Israeli war, I hope they are fine. Israel destroyed Lebanon completely. We have electricity for 2 hours per day yet other regions have no electricity at all.

I think you are following the news, 4 massacres till now, two families were killed, all members of the families, two civilian cars also were attacked and many were killed, till now 100 civilians were killed among them there is many children.

Israel says this war will continue for two weeks, this means the attacks will reach every region in Lebanon. Iraqis, Syrians and Kuwaities were killed also in the attacks. The photos attached are of people displaced or killed in the israeli shelling and bombing.

I will end my email now because I fear the electricity will be cut again now. Thanks again for your email and concerns, I salute you and Sue and all the other friends by your side hope always to hear from you

Salaam
Raida

Contrast the words of ordinary people ("...of course the children are terrified...") with our beloved leader, Bliar. This is his assessment of what to do to stop the killing (death toll currently over 300 in total); "Well... it's only if I mean... you know. If she's got a..., or if she needs the ground prepared as it were... Because obviously if she [condi rice] goes out, she's got to succeed, if it were, whereas I can go out and just talk." Does that mean you can't achieve jack-shit Mr.Blair? I think it does. It shows in full effect that the UK is a client state of the US. Blair is toothless to stop the killing and Bu$h just does not give a shit, after all its the Syrian's fault. None of which stops the killing.

I also checked out Israel Indymedia to see what was being written there, but at the moment it seems to be under a spam attack by people opposed to its coverage and so you can't get much from it.

I notice that there will be a show solidarity with people under Israeli attack called by Bristol Stop The War Coalition: Friday 21st July between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on the Centre opposite the Hippodrome.

Images of the bombing here...

Goatlab Radio

Me and Parasite are back on the digital airwaves! We've got a new show - Goatlab Radio and our first rocking session was last night!!! Check it out - Goatlab! Goatlab!



http://dswat.streamlinetrial.co.uk/thegoatlab/?Radio

Has Ashton Court Lost its Way?

I have watched the arguments rage back and forth about the Ashton Court Festival and the sponsorship of the event, the ticket prices and new things like the VIP passes. Ashton Court is an event beloved by much of the city, so it's not surprising to see passion aroused by the event.

The argument of the festival organizers about costs is;

"This year we reluctantly took the decision to put up our basic admission price to £9. This was because we have been hit with two unavoidable cost increases: Firstly, the controversial new Licensing Act has increased our licence fee from about £1,000 to £16,000. Second, new security industry regulations (known as SIA) have added about £45,000 to our costs. In addition, inflation in the industry is running ahead of normal price inflation, and the overall cost of putting on the event this year is going to be in the region of £600,000. Because we are a totally independent organisation we have to find all the money ourselves."

OK – Lets take this apart a little. While the figures seems pretty massive, the sponsorship, including Orange, only generates 22% of the income. Compare this to the report by FilmBUZZ on film festivals where the sponsorship generated is on average greater than the 59% Ashton Court plans to take from tickets; "Festivals make the bulk of their income from corporate cash sponsorships. With a mean of nearly $100,000 annually per festival, the average total corporate sponsorship cash commitment is more than $40,000 higher than ticket sale proceeds, the second highest revenue source."

For a minority cost of the event, Orange has managed to re-brand the name of the event and its decor in their image. Looking at some of the festivals cited by FilmBUZZ, despite a higher proportion of the costs being shouldered, the events are not renamed as part of the sponsorship. In short, I think Orange as getting a bargain and Ashton Court has sold itself cheap.

Now consider the Brighton Festival – the level of sponsorship is is proportionally fairly similar to that of Ashton Court (£799,721 ticket sales vs. £416,924 sponsorship) – also not renamed by its sponsors – now this festival, unlike Ashton Court, does get council funding and their analysis is that this funding reaps a benefit of around £22 per £1 funding in spending by people who attend.

Now the site security costs are the largest proportion of Ashton Court's costs, and judging by last year, this funded an overzealous bunch of pseudo-paramilitaries to swan around in fake body armour and give people a hard time. IMHO, they were not worth the money. Also the staging costs are pretty huge plus a £35K cost for artists. So if the festival costs lots because of all these factors and so needs the sponsorship – why not reduce the overall costs? This could be done by getting back to its roots – no big name acts. I don't think they are needed. People go to Ashton Court because its Ashton Court and not to see The Stranglers or whoever. Come back to it being a show case for local talent. Acts supported by the event who do make it to the big time could be put under obligation to play a benefit gig or play Ashton Court for free as a thank you to the community that helped to make them. All this means smaller staining costs, smaller artist fees and so smaller security costs. With this in place, the case can then be put that, like the Brighton Festival, the council should be putting something in (after all we pay for the council, so its our money and could be our festival.) The council could not only help with money but in-kind stuff such as site hire etc. We could all help to lobby the council for a festival that was ours.

Next you further cut the costs by dropping the traffic management costs. Its a local festival so we could look to transport solutions that do not allow cars into the event without a very good reason. Not only will this save on the traffic management but we could turn the event into a showcase of environmental car-free planning: Armies of volunteer rickshaw drivers to take people to and fro, better bus links to and fro. After all the council (we) subsidies First Bus – lets make them earn it by helping soft the transport out on our festival day.

In short, I think the event has lost its way. It is time to step back and ask when the event is for and why we have it. I don't think its to see a few big names, but as a common place all Bristolians can get together and have fun. For that we all need to think again and I am not sure aping all other corporate sell-out events is worth it.

What is Ashton Court's Unique Selling Point? Its us, not Orange.