Like the shotgun needs an outcome.

This new track by Lykke Li is a swift transition from previous songs like "Little Bit". But what can you expect from a sexy Swede?


Don't pull your pants before I go down
Don't turn away this is my time
Like the shotgun needs an outcome
I'm your prostitute, you gonna get some

And my other favourite track of the week comes from Aussie artist Illy with "On the Bus". Think you can relate if you were that kid, like way back, on the bus with a Discman banging Biggie with a bottle of Passion pop, ciggies in the pocket.

"Double X" debunks the myths and misunderstandings around feminism.

By Milly Caffrey

Gloria Steinem, American journalist, feminist, socialist and political activist pictured here while working as Playboy Bunny Waitperson in 1963.

Ms Kristy Fraser Kirk who dared to sue former David Jones CEO Mark McInnes for sexual harrassment.

Radio avoids the visual assault that a blaring television can often inflict. Its blindness creates a certain intimacy and appeals to the imagination of the audience. However, sustaining the interest of the listener for thirty minutes each week can be a challenging task for producers and presenters.

It is then no mean feat that Sydney’s 2SER FM has won a national award for excellence at the Community Broadcasting Conference for the weekly half hour program “Double X”. Produced and presented by Rosie Lentini and Jeanavive Mcgregor with a small team of volunteer journalists, including Louisa Olsen and Farah Ahmed, the show tackles everything from the recent Kristy Fraser Kirk sexual harassment lawsuit to tantric sex.

Inheriting the role of producer almost a year ago, Rosie Lentini changed the format of the program with the aim of showing everyday women that being a feminist isn’t all about burning bras and growing a monobrow.

“There is a stigma around feminism and admitting you believe in equal rights for women. I wanted to break down the concept of feminism,” Ms Lentini says. “Making it more accessible, looking at issues like female sexuality and providing women with the information to make the choices that are right for them.”

This notion of female empowerment has been noticeably absent from recent mainstream media coverage of Kristy Fraser Kirk’s allegations against David Jones then-CEO Mark McInnes. Unsurprisingly, it has been proven in court that Ms Fraser-Kirk suffered psychiatric harm after being ravaged by the media in their unabashed sexual interest of the case.

“There was also a lot of media attention on the size of the lawsuit,” Ms Lentini says. “And I think that many people missed the point. What we tried to do was recast debate over the case and give a voice for people to express their reactions to sexual harassment.”

Based on a different theme every week, with an interesting array of guests, “Double X” is an often hilarious but always informative program. For a medium born in the late 19th century, radio has survived and evolved through the digital age, proving that radio is certainly not a dying art. The award to “Double X” is well-deserved recognition for a feminist program that challenges those who believe feminism to be irrelevant. As Ms Lentini asks, “Who can say that feminism doesn’t mean anything anymore?”

Find out more about the program and listen to the podcasts here.

From the Outside Looking In

 By Milly Caffrey

Album cover: From the Outside Looking In. "This is trick photography," NJE says. "That homeless guy could have been me."

So the troops are dying, what you trying prove? And all I see is shit on the 6 o’clock news, how many express their views to get them out of Iraq, why they not doing nothing just to bring them back?

This is solo hip-hop artist NJE “Politically Speaking” on a track from his latest album From The Outside Looking In.

“I’ve had a relatively easy life, not really dramatic,” NJE says. “But growing up in Campbelltown, you see a lot of people going through bad things. There are many housing commission blocks in this suburb and you don’t hear a lot of good things about the area.”

This is partly why NJE started writing lyrics in his late teens to express not only himself, but also issues he saw affecting those around him.

“Whether it be drugs or kids having babies too young… seeing friends go downhill really impacts you.”

Influenced by soulful, old jazz, NJE’s latest album also illustrates how Aussie hip-hop has developed over the past ten years, shifting away from strong nationalistic themes and associations with beer, BBQs and Southern Cross tattoos. Although there is still a focus on the “Aussie battler”, hip-hop artists are increasingly articulating lyrical rhymes and bouncy beats that connect with those living in areas in which NJE says the expectation for individuals to succeed is “pretty low”.

However, member of hip hop duo Koolism and Triple J presenter, Hau Latukefu, thinks describing the genre as “Aussie” hip-hop misses the point.

“The only Australian music is indigenous music. When we were starting out in the early nineties, we were trying to create an identity for ourselves, so we differentiated the genre by calling it Aussie hip-hop. But now that’s irrelevant, we can just say ‘local artist’ instead.”

But whether you define NJE as a local or Aussie hip-hop artist, his rhymes represent a genre imbued with a do-it-yourself attitude and a dedication to give a voice to those often left out of social change.

NJE’s goal of elevating his underground beats to a universal stage looks set to become a reality with an upcoming collaboration with skilled and influential American MC Kool G Rap. Combine this with an album that buzzes with originality, and you have an MC no longer looking from the outside in, but poised for success.

Check out NJE's MySpace here but also the hilarious but banging clip below for "Appetiser (The Entree)".
 

More than 250 people dead from cholera in the 21st century

A cholera outbreak that already has left 250 people dead and more than 3,000 sickened is at the doorstep of an enormous potential breeding ground: the squalid camps in Port-au-Prince where 1.3 million earthquake survivors live. Health authorities and aid workers are scrambling to keep the tragedies from merging and the deaths from multiplying.

Five cholera patients have been reported in Haiti's capital, heightening worries that the disease could reach the sprawling tent slums where abysmal hygiene, poor sanitation, and widespread poverty could rapidly spread it. But government officials said Sunday that all five apparently got cholera outside Port-au-Prince, and they voiced hope that the deadly bacterial disease could be confined to the rural areas where the outbreak originated last week.

"It's not difficult to prevent the spread to Port-au-Prince. We can prevent it," said Health Ministry director Gabriel Timothee. He said tightly limiting movement of patients and careful disposal of bodies can stave off a major medical disaster.

If efforts to keep cholera out of the camps fail, "The worst case would be that we have hundreds of thousands of people getting sick at the same time," said Claude Surena, president of the Haiti Medical Association. Cholera can cause vomiting and diarrhea so severe it can kill from dehydration in hours.

Robyn Fieser, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, said she was confident that aid groups and the Haitian government will be prepared to respond to an outbreak should it occur in the camps. But she stressed that the challenge of preventing its spread is "immense."

"There are proven methods to contain and treat cholera, so we know what we're dealing with. The biggest challenge is logistics, that is, moving massive amounts of medicine, supplies and people into place to treat them and prevent the disease from spreading," Fieser said from the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Doctors Without Borders issued a statement saying that some Port-au-Prince residents were suffering from watery diarrhea and were being treated at facilities in the capital city. Cholera infection among the patients had not been confirmed, however, and aid workers stressed that diarrhea has not been uncommon in Port-au-Prince since the earthquake.

Women's Rights Aborted

By Milly Caffrey

It took less than an hour for a Cairns jury to find Tegan Simone Leach, 21, and her partner Sergie Brennan, 23, not guilty of procuring an abortion and supplying drugs to procure an abortion following a three-day trial last week.

The couple were charged under the 110-year-old Crimes Act that lists abortion as illegal in both Queensland and NSW unless carried out to prevent serious danger to the woman’s physical and mental health.

Despite some media reports, the medication was not “smuggled” into the country, and in fact passed through customs. RU486 is also legal in Australia, but its availability is extremely limited as there is no pharmaceutical company that imports it. This means that individual practitioners have to apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration to dispense the medication, which can also cost over $300.

The couple also claims that a doctor informed them that there was no alternative to an invasive surgical procedure, which in Queensland can incur an $810 upfront fee for a termination in the first trimester.

Despite the couple’s defence that they felt they were not ready to have a baby, the Prosecutor Michael Byrne accused Ms Leach of making a “lifestyle choice”. However, even pro-life advocates have disagreed with this position.

“I don’t think calling it a lifestyle choice is a very compassionate approach to take,” said Mary Joseph, Projects Officer for the Life Marriage and Family Centre at the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. “We do think at the same time she needed to have the necessary support.”

Spokesperson for Pro-Choice NSW, Jane Caro, believes “a lifestyle choice might be whether you want to live in a flat or a house… (termination) is a life time choice. It’s a solid determination of women not to parent because they want to do it properly and thoroughly…. a sensible, entirely mature and grown up position.”

Although the case against Ms Leach and her partner has been dismissed, the verdict has still not clarified the whether practitioners will be protected when performing a medical termination in pregnancy. As Jane Caro points out, the case has made the medical profession in Queensland and NSW “nervous”, therefore making women’s access to abortion in both of these states more difficult.

“When you make access to abortion difficult, you increase the possibility of an early term abortion becoming a late term abortion.” This procedure can be extremely traumatic, involving the removal of a dead foetus that is developed enough to require dilation of the cervix for its extraction.

When asked whether the Premier would consider removing abortion from the Crimes Act before the 2011 election, a spokesperson for the Attorney General John Hatzistergos stated, “The law on abortion in NSW provides a balance between competing interests in this area of the criminal law. The long-standing law allows abortions for women who meet criteria in certain circumstances. All other abortions are ‘unlawful’.”

The law seems to ignore the results of a survey conducted by the Australian National University in 2003 which found that over 80 per cent of respondents supported a woman’s right to choose whether or not she has an abortion.

The solution is then the decriminalisation of abortion in both Queensland and NSW, to ensure the rights of doctors, and most importantly women, who deserve the security in knowing they ultimately hold control over their own bodies.

Commonwealth equals wage exploitation for some

In a recent speech to the Queensland Media Club, Prime Minister Julia Gillard declared that Australia has survived the global financial crisis better than any major advanced economy.

“In 2009 the Australian economy grew by 1.3 per cent,” Gillard said. “In contrast, the world’s advanced economies contracted by 3.2 per cent.”

Australia’s public debt is approximately six percent and the unemployment rate has remained steady at 5.1 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But these positive figures are dulled by estimation from Dr John Sweeney of the Edmund Rice Business Ethics Initiative that not all employees in Australia are enjoying the benefits of a strong economy.

“Over the last ten or twelve years profits have grown steadily at 11 per cent per annum,” Dr Sweeney said. “Wages have increased over three per cent annum.”

This indicates the increasing inequality between Sydney’s rich and poor, and an expanding market of people being employed below award wages and under the minimum wage.

This disturbing figure also undermines the prime minister’s assumption that “work gives economic security and enables life time choices”.

There are numerous examples of recently arrived migrants being employed at $8 or $10 an hour. The minimum wage is over $12.

Dr Sweeney tells the shocking story of an asylum seeker who approached the Edmund Rice centre for help after being kept as a virtual slave of an unscrupulous employer.

“He had been in Australia for five years and had met someone who ran a fruit and vegetable shop. The owner employed this man, but never paid him. He told him that if he left the shop, he would be picked up by the Department of Immigration. The man was so scared that he stayed in the shop, and the owner would lock him inside every night.”

Unfortunately this is not an isolated case of undocumented workers being exploited in the off-the-books economy.

“I think that it’s very widespread,” Dr Sweeney said.

Dr Sweeney said the onus was on the government to stop unethical and exploitive practices by creating initiatives that will grant all workers the “personal dignity” that Julia Gillard claims all employees deserve.

By Milly Caffrey

A rational respect for religion

This article appeared on the ABC website and was written by Scott Bridges.

A few weeks ago I read that a long-dead Australian was set to be promoted to the rank of Saint by the Catholic Church. This news registered about as strongly on my give-a-shit meter as the AFL Grand Final(s) and the latest Guy Sebastian album.

I am an atheist, you see - not that this informs my personal identity any more than the fact I love asparagus or that I think George Lazenby was the best James Bond. It’s just that Mary MacKillop and the Pope and stuff are not really my thing, just like Australian Rules football and FM pop. No harm done. Some of my best friends are Catholic, Fox FM listeners, or Collingwood supporters etc.

But as yesterday’s canonisation ceremony drew closer, the militant atheist pack-hate directed towards Catholics and believers of any religion in general reached a crescendo so intense that I almost took communion myself just to spite other atheists. Piss-taking and joking is one thing but outright hatred is another.

The way I see it, if you think the whole concept of religion is wrong then you should feel free to say so - vocally and passionately if the mood takes you. If some aspect of religion deserves criticism (for example, stoning “criminals”, abusing children, or over-commercialisation of faith) then you should feel free to criticise - vocally and passionately if the mood takes you. But if your opposition to religion begins to manifest itself in the form of personal abuse or blind hatred on the basis of belief then maybe it’s time to remind yourself of that rationality you wear so proudly as a badge.

Is it rational to smear all those who hold religious beliefs as being stupid, unthinking, or sheep? Isn’t it possible that some believers have put a lot of thought into their faith and have simply come to a different, although equally critical decision than your own, or that there may be other reasons unrelated to philosophical thought for faith to exist? For millions around the world religion is all in life that is constant and safe; religion motivates, encourages, consoles and gives hope. Is it rational to hate people who hold onto these things in their lives?

Is it rational to ignore and diminish the positive aspects of religion just because there are negative aspects? Sure, the Catholic Church, as an organisation and a collection of individuals, has been responsible for many terrible crimes through the years (as have most, if not all, organised religions), but churches and their non-Christian counterparts also do an awful lot of good for people and communities around the world. For every paedophile there are thousands of hard-working clergy whose only mission is to improve others’ lives. Is it rational to hate this?

Perhaps the problem these past weeks has been the inescapable media build-up to the moment Our Mary would burst onto the Heavenly stage and prove that Australia can do God just as well as it can cricket and faux-American accents in Hollywood films. For your average atheist it was probably a tad galling that our newspapers and TV bulletins fawned over the internal goings-on of a religion in which relatively few Australians actively participate. The whole thing is a bit surreal when you think about it.

And be honest - would you even have batted an eyelid in surprise if the commercial TV coverage suddenly cut away to a corner of the studio where a clutch of Mary supporters were dressed in green and gold, holding Vatican flags, and chanting some sort of horrible “Oi! Oi! Oi!” iteration? It was really looking like it would get that ridiculous at times.

But obviously enough people are interested in Mary MacKillop’s canonisation or the media would’ve dropped it like a bag of week-old prawns. People might’ve been interested because they are Catholic, or Christian, or nothing at all and they just like the pomp and ceremony, but it was clearly a story of some national significance.

Over the past week, as the canonisation ceremony drew nearer, I’d noted the increasing media chatter about Australia’s first Saint-in-waiting and, duly noted, I ignored it. Then last night I flicked through the television channels around dinner time and struggled to find Mary MacKillop-free broadcasting so I turned the TV off. Same as I do during that last week in September.

Actually, I lie - I didn’t totally ignore it. Over the past week I’ve discussed the MacKillop circus with others whose ideas are similar to mine, and I’ve made and heard some great jokes and gentle piss-taking about the canonisation. But whenever I saw the jokes turning into aggressive and compassionless attacks on those to whom religion is real and important, I’ve felt uncomfortable. Surely two of the most rational behaviours we could exhibit as humans are tolerance and respect, so perhaps us atheist beacons of rationality should lead by example.

Liberal and Liberal Lite

 "What we've got now in the United States," said black leader Jesse Jackson, "is one party, two names... Republicans and Republicans Lite." In Britain, too, it is no longer possible to justify a vote every five years on the basis of lesser-of-two-evilism. Like the United States, Britain has become a single ideology state with two principal, almost identical factions, so that the result of any election has a minimal effect on the economy and social policy. People have no choice but to vote for political choreographers, not politicians. Gossip about them and their pretty intrigues, and an occasional scandal, are regarded as political news.

Hidden Agendas - John Pilger

Its only after the election that the public slowly realizes the insidious campaign that was conducted, brainwashing them into believing one candidate was really better than the other. In the end, it didn't matter who won. We still have a Prime Minister who wants to dump all refugees in another country, taking the saying "out of sight, out of mind" to a whole different level. We still have a Prime Minister who keeps bashing us with the "fact" that Australia pulled through the global recession better than any other country on earth (then why can't they afford to give benefits to young people studying Masters degrees?).

"I want to take Australia forward," Julia Gillard says, "Mr Abbott wants to take it back." The truth is, you both want to take us to the tip.

Politically correct words for wanks

Alcoholic: Anti Sobriety Activist

Assassination: Involuntary Term Limitation

Censorship: Selective Speech

Chronically Late: Temporarily Challenged

Dishonest: Ethically disorientated

Frog: Amphibian American

Garbage Man: Sanitation Engineer

Hamburger: Seared Mutilated Animal Flesh

Homeless: Outdoor Urban Dwellers

Ignorant: Factually Unencumbered

Lazy: Motivationally Dispossessed

Loser: Uniquely Fortuned Individual with an Alternative Career Path

Shoplifter: Cost of Living Adjustment Specialist

Someone who has no other reason to park in a handicapped zone: Morally Handicapped

Originally published at Culture Served Raw
http://cultureservedraw.blogspot.com

U.S. nuclear aid to Israel

Iran is threatening to release documents showing how the United States has provided Israel with enriched nuclear materials. This isn't new at all, considering the U.S. has been propping up this Middle Eastern killing machine since 1948, supplying them with weapons to defend the only American democratic oasis in the region. In contrast to the widespread vilification of Mahmoud Ahmahdinejad over alleged nuclear ambitions, Israel's own possession of actual warheads has been largely glossed over. The irony of the fear campaign directed against Iran is that technically, although they have been deemed in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, they have actually signed it, unlike Israel.

Israel has refused inspections of its nuclear weapons program, meaning that if Netanyahu converted to Islam (or decided to hike royalty fees for the United States in light of new oil and gas discoveries in Israel that could render it energy self sufficient), he'd probably be in some deep trouble with America. But Israel is a democracy, therefore saintly and pure. A democracy that demands citizens pledge allegiance to a wholly Jewish state. Netanyahu's right wing conservative government has about as much tolerance for multiculturalism as I do for flouro high waisted pants (that is none).

But I have to say one thing for Netanyahu, he just doesn't give a shit, does he? He has already stated that there's no way Palestinians are ever returning to their homeland, "any demand for resettling Palestinian refugees within Israel undermines Israel's continued existence as the state of the Jewish people." And hes also straining relations with his long term American buddies over the continued construction of 1600 homes in East Jerusleum, which is occupied territory and is illegal to build on under international law. Obama even offered him upgrades to Israel's advanced weapons and an increase in the $3 billion annual aid for nothing.

In the understatement of the year, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Israeli settlement activities posed a threat to Middle East peace talks.

A recently discovered document released by the South African government also reveals a secret military agreement signed by Shimon Peres, Israel’s Foreign Minister at the time (and today Israel’s President) and South Africa’s Defense Minister P. W. Botha in 1975. Israel offered to sell the apartheid regime weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical and conventional weaponry to destroy and defeat the million person African resistance movement. 

But don't be so quick to judge. I mean, is it really so different from the U.S. supplying Israel with WMDs  which they may one day use to wipe out those pesky Arabs on the other side of the bank?

Fox in the Sky

 Australians are not exactly spoiled for choice for television news. In fact, most people with a brain will just go straight to the radio or internet to get their current affairs coverage. We have Channels Nine, Seven and Ten, to deliver your basics (e.g. Lindsay Lohan caught with her head in a bag of cocaine) or the ABC, which mainly focuses on national issues, and SBS. Most Australians can't even access the new 24 ABC news channel, the first of its kind to be broadcast here.

If you have Foxtel, you only have CNN as an alternative to the disturbingly unbalanced Sky and Fox. Unfortunately, CNN has a propensity to show far too many programs on the top ten millionaires in Nigeria and international golf tournaments. But when they do broadcast actual news its pretty good.

Apart from this option, most television viewers are being swallowed by a conservative news agenda, whose main tactics are to report on trivial trash so as to distract the public from the real issues like climate change and conflict in the Middle East. Its easier to divide opinion over whether Kim Kardashian has a fat ass (she does) than how Obama should face China on human rights issues.

Sky is great at this tactic. Take this morning, when the channel was swamped with coverage on Tony Abbott's accusation of "low bastardry" towards Julia Gillard. Bastardry is not a word. Sky news (and Channel 7, its partner in crime) have gone apeshit with this "issue", calling in "experts" such as 2GB radio hosts to comment on what this story says about each politician's personality.

They also called in former Deputy Premier John Watkins, who looked quietly embarrassed at being there, and repeatedly tried to steer the conversation towards what he believed should be the real issue:

Why is Australia still involved in Afghanistan and when will there be a full debate in parliament on whether we should still be there?

The news anchor glossed over this and got back to the hardhitting questions. "Yes, but what does this say about Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott's relationship?"

Quality news, Sky.

But then, what can you expect from a corporation owned by someone almost as evil as Margaret Thatcher and a certain dictator with a mustache I won't name.

Forbes's list of 100 powerful women seems to confuse marriage with achievement

 Article from the Sydney Morning Herald by Grace Dent.

All glossy magazine Top 100 editions (albums, gigs, celebrities) are designed to prod buttons. As the alert, fully functioning "360-degree media" cognisant lump that I am, I know this. Yet when respected business magazine Forbes released a tally of The World's Most Powerful Women with Michelle Obama as the winner, my gums began to retract.

Clearly, Forbes made many curious decisions along the way. Lady Gaga, for example, sat 11 places above Sonia Sotomayor, America's first Hispanic supreme court judge. Sotomayor spent 2010 transforming judicial thought on the "right to remain silent", while Gaga was probably dancing about a stadium - nips out and wearing backless chaps made of tampons - hooting: "Woo! Leetle monsterz. Female empowerment!" This sort of irony is par for the course in list-land.

But Michelle Obama as number one - sorry? Apparently, she beats every chairwoman of the board, political leader and high-rolling one-woman entertainment conglomerate on the planet for her role of being "within pillow-talk range of her husband the president".

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"Michelle is a forceful advocate of school nutritional standards," said the blurb beneath her name, typed in, clearly, by some poor bugger who then emailed the editorial team saying: "What: Michelle Obama number one? Isn't Indra Nooyi, the chief executive of PepsiCo making more of an impact on the world? Come on, WTF?"

Don't get me wrong. I like Michelle Obama. She seems a charming, fragrant human being who "does hugs", etc. If people want to festoon trophies upon her for being "caring", "motherly" or having attractively toned arms in designer dresses, be my guest. But powerful . . . why?

Does Forbes think Michelle is more powerful than Janet Napolitano, head of US homeland security, because she gets to go to bed with Barack, while poor Janet just gets to protect the entire country? Apparently, Michelle Obama is also more powerful than German chancellor Angela Merkel - but then, sad sap Angela is only lobbying for a non-permanent seat on the UN council, while Michelle . . . well, Michelle has the real power. The president plainly couldn't get up in the morning if he didn't have her sunshine smile and the promise of her unconditional love. Yes, I feel sick, too.

It is, of course, a backwards notion that being on the arm of a powerful man raises a woman's stock more than her own personal achievement ever could, but in Britain we're just as bad. We love a "wife and girlfriend", and no serious Woman of the Year awards - organised by women themselves, I might add - is complete without Coleen Rooney, Abigail Clancy or Danielle Lineker clomping up the red carpet to honour their nominations for most inspirational being. Oh pipe down, you female transorbital neuroendoscopy specialists at the back, Coleen has a children's book deal and will almost certainly help choose the colour of the cover.

And so, we give the message to young girls that it's better to be an accoutrement to a man with a skill, than actually to be skilful. I don't have a daughter, so I don't know how you tackle the question: "But Mummy, why hasn't Coleen split up with Wayne if the paper thinks he likes to go to bed with other girls?" But Aunty Grace's answer would be: "Well, Coleen's entire media value comes from being connected to him, so she probably knows that if she leaves him she'll be absolutely shafted."

I do, however, think there's a sneakier, misogynistic message at play by Forbes when it places Michelle Obama above Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the US House of Representatives (making her, when elected in 2007, the highest-ranking woman in US political history). They're clearly implying that women with whom men are smitten can have a skulduggerous and manipulative influence.

Oh yes, Michelle may look harmless in her silk Maria Pinto dress with her strong views on lunchbox nutrition - but behind closed doors, Forbes is saying, she could be Lady Macbeth, whispering in Barack's ear of plunder and the means whereby he may soonest accomplish it. Just one word whispered after she has accidentally sat on the remote control and caught 10 minutes of Al Jazeera, and America will be in Iran, pulling down statues as quick as you can say: "Out, damned spot."

Back in the real world, I have no power over anything my husband decides in his business. I'm here for him to talk to, of course, as I'm sure Michelle is for Barack. But with regard to the outcome, I have absolutely no power. Why would I? I don't work there.

Anyway, if Forbes's reasoning is to be believed, then the most powerful woman in the world is actually Liu Yongqing, wife of Hu Jintao, paramount leader of the People's Republic of China. But they were never going to make her number one and put her on any magazine covers. She hasn't even got nice arms.

Oh Ahmadinejad, what will you do next?

I'm not sure why this matter warrants any attention at all, but have you ever noticed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad never wears a tie?
Seriously, look at pictures of him on Google and you will see my point. The man refuses to be restrained by cumbersome articles of Western attire. Or maybe he just doesn't like them because Benjamin Netanyahu wears one.
What a pointless waste of space this has been.
Here is his full speech at the United Nations General Assembly, which caused a mass walk out when he implied 9/11 was an inside job.

From Pakistan to Mexico: yes, American robots are taking over the world.

Since 3 September, U.S. robots have killed 149 people, and they're just the official statistics. So double that number. They're not "pilotless aircraft" or "advanced insurgent detectors" or "unmanned aerial vehicles". These are bullshit names used to detract from the fact that the U.S. government, the wealthiest, most advanced nation on earth, has produced robots that kill people, mostly civilians.

More frustrating is the fact that a U.S. terrorism alert issued this week about al-Qaeda plots to attack targets in Western Europe was politically motivated and not based on credible news information, Senior Pakistani diplomats and European intelligence officials have said.

This warning was an attempt to justify a recent escalation in U.S. drone and helicopter attacks inside Pakistan that have set the country on fire.

These drone attacks are pre-emptive and are not combating an eminent threat in any way.

The U.S. government are failing to take into account that these attacks are fueling anger among Pakistanis and the international community. It is an infringement of Pakistani sovereignty and counterproductive, making the 3000 American personnel in Pakistan easy targets. 

On the other side of the world, the U.S. have now deployed drones on the border with Mexico to counter American fears of "illegal aliens". 

Aljazeera explained the development:

In his book Empire's Workshop, the historian Greg Grandin argues that many US military policies used today in the Middle East - invented threats, targeted killings, and covert support for death squads - were perfected during dirty wars in Latin America against democratically elected leftist governments.

In the drone case however, Mexican economic migrants are facing technology developed to deal with insurgent fighters based in the conflict zones of the Middle East and Central and South Asia.

"Drone technology has vastly improved in the last few years," says Pratap Chatterjee, an expert on military contracting with the advocacy group Corpwatch. "The border is reaping some of the technological development that came from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," he told Al Jazeera.

When Obama was elected, people across the world anticipated change and hope, the two key words that fueled his rise. Now, despite drawing down troops numbers in Iraq, Obama has increased troops in Afghanistan and generally continued the murderous policies of his predecessor. Wreck havoc and destruction across the Middle East in the name of oil (twenty per cent for us, the rest for our allies in Western Europe and Japan)? Yes we can, the U.S. says.

I was the fuckin stalker.

From Fixup  blog:

Have you ever fallen in love with someone working in a fashion store? In Sweden we have them Nordic fashionistas turning you into a retard, stunned by their beauty. A few years ago I was buying a pair of jeans & this extremely pale & freckled alfa girl assisted me & turned me into a retard. I mean, I thought we had a connection so I started to drop in at her ”boutique” or whatever, quite often just to get a peek, or at best talk to her. Sometimes I would even pretend dropping my keyes or something else in the fitting room, just to get my fix once more. We actually became somewhat friends & we did even meet out for a beer, but since I was retarded at that point, she could easily talk me into buying stuff. A lot of stuff.  Of course I didn’t see it that way at all, all I cared about was spending some good time with her. Which I payed for. I didn’t even realised how bad it was until I met a friend who also worked at a clothes store. She told me about a guy that was stalking her at work, but she was fine with it cause she could always sell him a shirt or a pair of jeans. So he was good business. Just like me. Eventually I did found out that the bitch had a boyfriend all along & that her friends knew about me, I was the fucking stalker.

The bittersweet between my teeth

Alright, I might be a little bit obsessed with Chiddy Bang at the moment. They dropped this steaming hot lovely track on Triple J's Like A Version last week..

They took the Naked and Famous song, "Young Blood" and remixed the fuck out of it. It shits all over the original (its alright, no one from NZ reads this blog anyway) and includes some killer lyrics, "I ain't had a handout, no welfare, all I had was cable and the Fresh Prince of Bel-air".

The Naked and Famous vid is a bit too high resolution, Coca Cola commercial for my liking, all those fresh, clear, smiling faces.... shudder. Chiddy Bang adds some much needed dirt to the song.

The blog Pretty Much Amazing has been partly the catalyst for Chiddy Bang's success, hence why they state they're "pretty much amazing" in every radio/t.v. interview/ public appearance.

Its probably better to have a music blog promoting your talent than some crappy talent show anyway.

Enough rambling... I strongly advise you to download the track here!

Obituaries from Oruzgan

An incident in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan in April 2009, proved to be just another inconsequential drop in the bloodbath that has become the nine-year war. Australian soldiers killed three unarmed men, referred to in Defence Reports as FAM KIA (fighting age males killed in action), acronyms that cleverly dehumanise the Afghan population for the Western world, and disguise the fact that many fighting age males are only 15 years old.

This incident warranted no further investigation, no administrative action against those responsible for the deaths, nor any changes to the methodology for assessing the risk of civilian casualties in operations of this kind. What makes this incident more disturbing is that it was shortly preceded by the killing of six Afghan civilians by three Australian soldiers, on 12 February 2009. One of the soldiers has been charged with manslaughter and two others face lesser charges, including failure to follow orders and dangerous conduct.

A man Amrullah Khan, as well as a teenage girl Zakera, ten-year-old Esanullah, eleven-year-old Nawab, two-year-old girl Gulsima and one-year-old Esmatullah were all killed on that night. Three former Australian soldiers from the Special Operations Task Groups set out to hunt down a local Taliban leader, Mullah Noorullah. After failing to find him at an initial compound, the soldiers claim that they entered a second house where an insurgent repeatedly fired upon them at extreme close range from within a room containing women and children. The day after the attack, Lieutenant General Mark Evans, head of joint operations, stated that there had been an exchange of fire between the Taliban and Australian forces. The puzzling thing is that the Taliban commander they were looking for, Mullah Noorullah, was killed three months later.

The survivors of that night have still not been interviewed by the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service. However, Zahir Khan, brother of Amrullah Khan, has stated to media that there were no Taliban insurgents in the house and that Australian soldiers attacked in the dead of night, shooting without identifying targets. The wife of Amrullah Khan also claims that Australian soldiers later admitted they had made a mistake and were in the wrong compound.

The case against the soldiers then hinges on whether they took adequate precautions not to harm civilians. They have expressed their remorse over the incidents, publicly stating on 27 September, “Words will never adequately express our regret that women and children were killed on 12 February 2009. ”

As the faces of war, these unnamed soldiers will cop the blame for these atrocities. This is despite the ideal aims of most of those deployed to make a positive difference to the lives of the Afghan people. According to Andrew Cheeseman from the Stop the War coalition, Australian troops have been placed in a dangerous and precarious position by forces that do not have these objectives in mind. He insists that the aims of the war can only be political, and also believes that the lives of Afghan civilians should be worth more than the strategic aims of the United States and Australian armies. For the United States, the war in Afghanistan is part of “projecting US dominance over the Middle East generally and penning China in, intimidating them. Australia assists America in exchange for support in the dominance of the Asia Pacific region, particularly the Solomon Islands and Indonesia.”

This alliance between the United and Australia is problematic and complicated by the disparities between each countries commitment to the Geneva Convention. In 1977, two protocols to the 1949 Geneva conventions were approved to protect civilians from becoming objects of attack. Over 150 nations had approved the 1949 conventions, while approximately half did not in 1977. Jake Lynch, Associate Professor and Director for Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney, explained that instead of signing this article, “the United States developed high tech weaponry for warfare which claims to distinguish between civilians and insurgents… however, this results largely in the death of civilians. By allying ourselves with the US, we are signing up to this way.”

“This way” refers to a military approach characterised by insidious tactics and the justification of children’s deaths as collateral damage.  The propaganda that has filled the pages of many mainstream Australian newspapers also testifies to how the media has distorted the coverage of the war. As Cheeseman states, “there is no coverage from anything other than the soldiers perspective… never from the people fighting on the other side, whether they’re Taliban or whether they just want independence.”

This highlights the desire of many Afghans to be free of the great powers that have used their homeland as a political pawn for centuries. The claim that once coalition led troops pull out, the country will collapse into ruin is both simplistic and insulting to the abilities of the Afghan people, who marched through Kabul in August demanding the right to come together and forge the destiny of their country.

The initial aim of the war, to remove al-Qaeda, has been lost in the nine-year struggle that has killed 21 Australians and according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan left 2412 civilians dead in 2009 alone. In sustaining both physical injuries and psychological trauma, Australian troops, like the Afghan civilians, become collateral damage in a war that has no end in sight.

Taking over the world, one drone at a time

Pakistan:

10 people died in one drone strike targeting a militant hideout, four people died when a vehicle was struck, and four others were killed when another hideout was targeted.

All three occurred in the Data Khel area of North Waziristan.

While the United States is the only country in the region of Pakistan and Afghanistan known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones -- which are controlled remotely -- U.S. officials normally do not comment on suspected drone strikes.

It was not clear whether any insurgents had been successfully targeted with these attacks.

Cults

Cults - Oh my God



Has been going around for a while. They're a bit mysterious. The opening of "Go Outside" is a quote from the ultimate cult leader, Jim Jones, leader of Jonestown: "To me, death is not a fearful thing. It's living that's treacherous."

Despite the sinister references its happy indie pop with a glockenspiel and a good bass.

Chiddy Bang

Chiddy Bang are a rap group from Philadelphia who have sampled Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, Passion Pit and MGMT.They sort of sound like Kid Cudi but their lyrics are much better. Its the electronica afro-beat that makes it cool.

Chiddy Bang described how the band formed:

Pat:  We are all huge Lionel Jefferies fans, so the name kind of came to fruition on its own. However, we met under slightly less delightful circumstances. My jeep came into tremendous contact with a small moose while driving through Vermont one summer’s eve. As I stopped to peel the dead carcass off the road, I heard a rustling in the bush somewhere behind me. My hand instinctually reached for the 9 mm pistol strapped to my thigh. Thick brown fur skittered just through the underbrush. Just when I was about to pull the trigger and waste him, I saw the pink skin of a human child’s bare bum. I quickly snatched the newborn from almost certain starvation. Quivering, the child nestled to my awaiting bosom. I named him Noah. He knew some rappers and a dude named Zach.

Breakfast feat Kate Nash is my favourite song download it.