BNP in Kaiser Chiefs furore
The British National Party (BNP), a tiny, ultra right-wing political group in the UK has sparked anger across the music business by using the song ‘I Predict A Riot’ by the Kaiser Chiefs as the soundtrack for one of their propaganda videos on the website Youtube.com.
A BNP spokesman denied that the video had ever contained a Kaiser Chiefs song claiming, “This isn't the type of music our party would ever want to be associated with, like rap music we think it's wrong to play this stuff. What's wrong with Beethoven?" This reminds me of the argument I had with a neo-Nazi in the Red Lion one evening where he tried to convince me that rock and pop music are bad because they’re both ‘black music’. What an idiot.
The Kaiser Chiefs have yet to confirm whether they will be taking legal action against the party. The video has since been withdrawn from the Youtube.com site after complaints were made about its content. Despite this, there remain a large number of unpleasant, racist films hosted at the site as well as hundreds of members actively involved in posting racist, fascist and homophobic comments to videos and fellow users alike.
It strikes me as very odd that the people who run Youtube.com find nudity disgusting but organised, political racism passable. How can it be that the site’s editors can delete a film with a handful of expletives in it, yet films featuring such disgracefully racist material stay intact?
Share ThisExpecting a comfortable winter
In some ways, the winter's even better than the summer…
Share This'Islamo-fascism' - an emotional term
An excellent piece in The Nation's September 11 2006 issue criticises the misuse of the term 'fascism' in today's political dialogue, as well as the nonsense of a concept of 'Islamic-fascism' (or 'Islamo-fascism).
"Islamo-fascism" enrages to no purpose the dwindling number of Muslims who don't already hate us. At the same time, it clouds with ideology a range of situations–Lebanon, Palestine, airplane and subway bombings, Afghanistan, Iraq–we need to see clearly and distinctly and deal with in a focused way. No wonder the people who brought us the disaster in Iraq are so fond of it.
Crystalising perfectly my feelings about this silly term, Katha Pollitt only hints at what I've said before about who precisely is closer to fascism if one compares Osama bin Laden and George Bush, Jr. At least I can be sure of one thing: some people out there continue to care about the meaning of words.
Oh, and while I'm here, I've a nice article in the works about Melanie Phillips, the sour-mouthed darling of the right-wing blogging world.
Share ThisWhy does everyone hate the BBC?
There is a widespread trend in the so-called ‘blogosphere’ which consists of bashing the BBC for an alleged bias behind their coverage of home and international news. Sites like ‘Biased BBC’, ‘Busting BBC Bias’, and several others are dedicated to highlighting a perceived anti-conservative or more often anti-Israeli agenda.
Analysis of state-run news agencies is important. I have witnessed plenty of occasions when the BBC has taken up its ‘public service – unite the people’ mantle with a bit too much enthusiasm. Golden Jubilees and other uninteresting royal events leap to mind.
However, I have never detected anything in their coverage of the Israel-Palestine or Israel-Lebanon which amounted to anti-Israeli bias. Every news report I’ve watched over the last few weeks has matched Fox News for the amount of content broadcast from the Israeli side of the frontier, spending plenty of time talking to Israeli civilians in shelters, inspecting damage to houses and shops, asking for the opinions of shoppers and holidaymakers in Tel Aviv. All of this was done in a sensitive, humane way with absolutely no hint of malice or put-downs on the part of the BBC.
Of course, the BBC also showed images of devastation in southern Lebanon. Blocks of flats which had collapsed, two-storey-deep holes in Beirut, dead women and children. Several times, it was noted that the BBC weren’t allowed to enter Hezbollah-controlled zones. It was made clear at these times that this might have been because Hezbollah had ‘command and control bunkers’ or ‘armed fighters’ on the streets. Read more
Share ThisAnn Widdecombe tells it like it is
Just heard the delightful Ann Widdecombe on Five Live explaining why she's against David Cameron's plans to increase the number of woman Conservative MPs. She's worried that by forcing some constituencies to have at least two women on their candidate shortlists, the Tories will be bringing about a sort of hierarchy or division of women MPs: those who are assisted by their party to win a safe seat just because they're women and those who, in her own words,
Have beaten off all the men in order to win their seat
…
Frankly, I'm not sure which is worse. The problem of female-preferential shortlists of the image Ann Widdecombe has now left forever burnt into my retinas.
Share ThisDo you like gospel music?
The weather recently has been pretty unpleasant. Nowhere near as ugly as August 2005 but still… not as hot as August 2004. Tuesday evening, we suffered what seemed to be a miny hurricane here in Cerdanyola with my terrace (and maria plants) seemingly constantly on the edge of the eye (or whatever the very worst part of the storm actually is).
Regular visitors may have noticed some changes to the design of the site. During the quiet August period, I've been experimenting with a number of different designs including the 'three column, red banner' style you see currently. The present design is, essentially, a shift to a 1024×800 resolution… meaning that users with older monitors may not be able to view the page correctly. The white on red design is based on the 'old' thebadrash site. The current quote below the site name, 'If you can't beat 'em, bite 'em' is from a song by Weird War detailing just how to struggle against authority. The design is based on being able to change the quote from time to time.
The big debate this month has been over my treatment of the 'NGO', Solidaridad Española Con Cuba. The founder of this company took a disliking to my linking him with US propaganda firm, The Rendon Group (and, by proxy, with the CIA), despite this being clearly stated on his CV. He also took offence when I claimed that he was 'an idiot' who 'sounds like a prick'. Life's hard, Ricardo.
Gemma and I have booked our honeymoon for this October. We're off to Thailand. Good times, good times.
Share ThisNeil Hagerty, Ian Svenonius: Two pop music heroes you may not know but, like, should
Pop music can be a difficult terrain to navigate: just what do you feel okay listening to, and can you admit to it? This issue is at the heart of dozens of websites (like myspace.com and last.fm) and grips millions of young people searching for their Pan.
Myself, I pretty much decided that I'd stick with Royal Trux about seven years ago. For me, their blend of free jazz, 70's opiate-rock, RnB, boogie-woogie and smart, personal, witty, political lyrics was enough. Despite my liking for bands such as The Fall, I am still certain that Royal Trux sum up what it is I want pop music to be: cool, sexy, angry, bored, wasted, wise.
Neil Hagerty, one half of Royal Trux is my first pop music hero. He was a guitarist in Pussy Galore, a band now confined to the 'most mental album I own' category (a bit like Royal Trux?!)… and while I'm unsure as to how much influence he had on the values of that group, I'm aware that he was behind their covering the entire Exile On Main Street album. A declaration of intent, perhaps.
Through their albums, Royal Trux have covered enough material for a complete website or two (see the links in my sidebar). Suffice to say, I drank a bottle of vodka the night they broke up. Stupid of me. It should have been juice. Since then, Neil Hagerty has released a series of albums (firstly solo, now with The Howling Hex), all of which I've found to be entertaining, challenging and good pop records. My favourites are probably the two solo/band crossover records, Niel Michael Hagerty - The Howling Hex and The Howling Hex - All Night Fox. Read more
Share ThisAlter Cola - the taste of freedom?
Has anyone else seen this? It's called 'Alter Cola' and seems to be a Catalan no-brand 'free' cola-style drink. Gemma bought it for me somewhere in town. The drink's website has a charming flash animation which encourages us to send a pretzel to the White House. What could they be suggesting? It's well known that young Catalan nationalists often align themselves with the madder extremes of the anti-globalisation lobby. Absolutely nothing wrong with an alternative to Coke, mind… I just don't dig the 'let's kill Bush' styling. No, let's impeach the bastard!
I've got a bridge weekend til Wednesday now. Sweet relief.
The CIA in Solidarity with Cuba
A comment piece in today's Guardian included a link to the delightfully titled blog, killcastro.com - a site which advocates and salivates for the death of the old dictator. There are plenty of sites like this around. Many are run by Cuban emigrés (or refugees) who - often for the right reasons - tirelessly campaign for an end to the island nation's 40 year communist regime. Nothing new there then, you might think… and you'd be closer to the mark than you might expect.
A link on killcastro.com pointed to a Spanish website called Solidaridad Española con Cuba (Spanish Solidarity with Cuba), which the blogger had found linked to from the site of the right-wing Spanish daily ABC (which the author describes as 'a great paper'). Solidaridad has the appearance of an ONG site… full of campaign information and advice for tourists who want to visit the families of political prisoners in Cuba. Obviously, the name of the site is beguiling. The left do not own the term 'solidarity'… but it is fair to state that it's usually used in socialist rhetoric. A right-wing site using solidarity as its name ensures that it achieves a high ranking on Google, whoever decides to search for it.
So, Solidaridad Española calls for democracy and freedom for Cuban people. I decided to find out a little more about who runs the organisation, just out of interest you see. The association's president is one Ricardo Carreras Lario. A quick Google search on Sr. Lario finds that he is employed by a firm called The Rendon Group (TRG).
TRG defines itself as 'an international strategic communications consultancy' based in Boston, MA. This intrigued me. Just what does an 'international strategic communications consultancy' actually do? The description struck me as the sort of euphemism that lobbying firms and gun-runners use when they describe themselves as 'corporate advocacy groups' and 'contingency security specialists'. And it doesn't look like I was far off the mark. Looking into TRG's abridged list of clients, several US government agencies feature prominently (including the Dept. of Defense, the US Air Force's Air Intelligence Agency, the US Army, US Strategic Command… you get the picture). So some dude who runs an organisation which describes itself as a NGO also works for a company who work closely with the US military? So what?
So what is when you look further into the sort of things that TRG have done for the US government in the past. The Rendon Group is described in an award-winning piece of journalism as being run by 'the man who sold the war'. That is to say, TRG played a significant role in 'selling' the Iraq war to the American public. So that's what international strategic communications consultancy involves!
TRG's founder, John Rendon is the guy who was given millions of dollars by the US government to try to install that notorious ass, Chalabi, as Iraqi president. He is directly implicated in the story of how a proven liar's false claims were sold to the public as 'reliable and significant'. He takes money from the CIA to get us to believe the right version of events… and sometimes, to make those events happen.
Now I'm no fan of Castro. Beyond the faint respect I have for a man who has successfully survived decades of attempted assassinations, invasions, blockades and universal hatred outside (and, if we trust Solidaridad, inside) his own country, I strongly disapprove of his attitude toward a free press, free speech, homosexuality and numerous other issues. At the same time, I recognise that things might have been different in Cuba if they'd been allowed to trade with their neighbours over the last few decades.
I also know enough of US-Cuba history to know that a pro-democracy 'ONG' run by a man who works for a firm who get huge contracts from the CIA for propaganda and regime-change operations might not be as trustworthy as it seems. As always, this issue is clouded by the number of people on either side with an interest in a certain state of affairs. I wouldn't trust Castro to protect my freedom of speech… just as much as I wouldn't trust a future Cuba that's been brought about by people like Solidaridad and The Rendon Group.
Share ThisAK47
AK-47
Once upon a time the AK-47 provided
some solace to anyone
who defied the empire and who dared
to march and hold a gun
I remember walking through the jungle looking up
through my new defoliated roof;
Everybody said : "Ooh, run for cover"
but I stood my ground cos I knew:
There was nothing that could catch us
there was nothing that could hurt us
yeh, we'd inherit the earth
As long as we kept
that hatred in our heart
as long as we could
strike first
With our
AK-47
With the power of
AK-47
Flux
Yes, I'm messing around with my design for a bit. The site may well malfunction from time to time during this period. Three columns beckon…………………
Share ThisR.I.P. Arthur Lee
Inspired, eccentric, singer and guitarist Arthur Lee has died from leukaemia in hospital in Memphis. As the unpredictable leader of psychedelic pop band, Love, Lee inspired generations of musicians as well as his peers with his combination of folk, rock and punk. To me, their album Forever Changes is almost perfect (and this is from someone who as a rule, strives to 'prefer the earlier stuff' from everyone).
The language of 'terror' revisited
The big difference between the IDF and Hezbollah, we’re told, is that one is a terrorist group and the other a fully incorporated armed force which has rules of engagement and which most importantly does not kill civilians intentionally.
This is of vital importance: Hezbollah murder civilians randomly as their main operational technique. The IDF kills ten times as many innocent civilians in its strikes against Hezbollah but because these are not an aim of the strikes, they don’t really count.
The paucity of this argument should be plain for all to see. It can be attacked on two fronts:
(i) The aim of Hezbollah is not to kill Israelis, per se, but to pursue a radical, nationalist agenda. The death of Israeli civilians is not therefore the sole aim of Hezbollah rather than something which must happen in order to win. In this way, Hezbollah’s crimes can be justified using the same justification which the IDF uses.
(ii) In the vast majority of conflicts between Israel and its neighbours (or groups such as Hezbollah), huge numbers of innocent civilians are killed or displaced. Because this is nothing new, it must surely feature in IDF strategic planning. It can therefore be said that the death of innocent civilians is considered as a justifiable means to achieve the end which the IDF seeks. Therefore, while not the primary aim of Israeli military attacks, civilian deaths are not regretted by the IDF being, as they are, the way by which Israel will prevail.
It is therefore not the aim of either to murder civilians, but because both forces know that these deaths will occur, they are intentional. In other words, there is no fundamental difference between Hezbollah and the IDF. Both forces recognise that in order to achieve their goals, they must murder innocent civilians.
It is important that we stay on top of the language being used by our media and governments – and that we take care to question such widely accepted facts as the difference between two murderous forces.
Click here to read 'War on terror', linguistics and logic.
Share ThisReview: Great Moments at Di Presa's Pizza House
Combining heart-breaking tragedy and side-splitting comedy is a hallmark of great writing. Neil Hamburger’s album from last year, Great Moments At Di Presa’s Pizza House has enough of both to make it a classic barely a year after it was released upon an unsuspecting world.
Charting Hamburger’s early days as he starts gigging in a pizza parlour, this album manages also to tell the tale of an America which was; pizza houses with pipe organs, pizza houses with AA meetings-cum-poetry recitals, pizza houses with wet t-shirt competitions that got out of hand. And there, in the midst of it all, our only remaining link with those great old days: Neil Hamburger himself.
Hamburger’s material in this album is often directed at celebrity and is often far more up-to-date than in much of his other work. Launching into his set with three quick jabs against Mick Jagger, Madonna and Robin Williams, Hamburger stakes his claim as the last of the great comics: the man who, despite compromising massively with his style and material, never sold out. Of course, he was never given the opportunity to sell out but that doesn’t really mean anything.
Along the way, we meet a host of other characters, new and old, who played a role in the life of both Di Presa’s Pizza House and Neil Hamburger. Such as Leroy Brothers, another comic hired by the pizza house – this time just when controversial ‘afro-American’ stand-up was becoming mainstream. His muddled racial stereotypes and clumsy, awkward style – all in hock ‘black man’ accent is rudely interrupted by a customer denouncing him as the white son of a lawyer for Kraft Foods.
Hamburger, though, is on ebullient form. At points, he refers to the proprietors of Di Presa’s Pizza House as ‘pricks’, and asks a critic of his last two albums to ‘go fuck yourself’. He insists that the last few albums were poor because of the messy divorce he was going through at the time. For more information on this, check out ‘Left For Dead In Malaysia’ where Neil, realising that no one in the Kuala Lumpur karaoke bar can understand him, spends several minutes in morose discussion of his wife, divorce and suicide.
Great Moments At Di Presa’s Pizza House is a tour-de-force, and is highly recommended either as an introduction to Hamburger or to complete your collection. 1 out of 1
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thebadrash.com is
a blog by Tom Clarke in Barcelona, Catalonia, covering politics, culture and society
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