Thursday, September 30, 2010
Rory Carroll 'puta madre'?
Well the Guardian will be running lots of 'Chavez is a dictator' stories, when they run more about people being killed in Peru and Colombia, I will stop proclaiming fuck Rory Carroll!Sadly a lot of people are being killed in Colombia by right wing paramilitaries, I wish the British media reported more on this...but no Chavez/human rights stories are more to their taste.In August 2010 Colombian
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Macross Robotech Papercraft
I'm slowly working through all the anime I didnt watch as a kid and Robotech is currently being watched at my place. There are some pretty nice Robotech papercrafts out there in the wild. The one pictured above can be found here
And this transformed mech can be found here (there's a bunch more links on that page too)
And last but not least a SDF 1 Storm Attacker Mode which is absolutely amazing? Grab this here
Have you seen a macross paper model I've missed here? Let me know in the comments.
UCL workers win campaign for living wage
UCL Head Malcom Grant with sacked cleaner Juan Carlos Just got this.....Latin American Workers Association comrades have fought an amazing campaign and I think the power of the press, usually in Britain they work for the super rich, helped with the article in the Evening Standard on the campaign. Evening Standard article herePROVOST CONCEDES TO LIVING WAGE CAMPAIGNAs most of you will be aware, a
Green racism?
Green Racism anyone?Well the BNP argue that climate change does not exist but migrants cause most of Britain's environmental problems.In the 1980s the far right National Front, which included the present BNP leader Nick Griffin, had an 'ecological' wing called Greenwave.In Canada the environment is being used to justify attacks on migrants.Its worrying that environmental problems are being '
Monday, September 27, 2010
'Renowned Marxist philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, strolled past the rally with apparently little interest.'
The University is a factory.The University is a factory where most of the workers are to be sacked.The University is a factory where the most militant and organised are the cleaners.The University is a factory where one product is 'theory'.The University is a factory where the workers who produce 'theory' have the least interest in 'practice'.Soas was occupied in support of Low Paid Cleaners, it
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Bishop Eddie Long 'spews out more sperm'?
CNN has said "Long frequently denounces homosexual behavior."[14] Long has ministered “homosexual cure” programs to recruit gays and lesbians for what he called “Sexual Reorientation” conferences and his church offers an ongoing “Out of the Wilderness” ministry to help convert homosexuals into heterosexuals.[15] In 2004, Long led a march with Bernice King to the grave of her father, Martin Luther
Ken Livingstone tops Labour NEC poll
Ken Livingstone - 88,235Oona King - 64,004Ann Black - 59,200Ellie Reeves - 45,481Christine Shawcroft - 44,338Luke Akehurst - 30,825Nonetheless longstanding left NEC members like Pete Willsman are beaten.Still not convinced much room for left in Labour but happy to see the politician most associated with the Latin American Left win first place.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
British Hoteliers, Angered By Bad Reviews Threaten To Sue TripAdvisor!
When I visit a hotel or restaurant that is especially wonderful I'm always eager to recommend it to others-- and the place I go is TripAdvisor.com. I also go there to report to other travelers about crooked landlords, shoddy service, bad food, etc. It's a rule of the road I learned when I spent a few years driving across Europe and Asia in the '60s and '70s; you always look out for the brotherhood of travelers. Here are some of my most recent reviews from the best fish restaurant in Casablanca and the best Jewish restaurant in the Roman Ghetto to the best hotel in Fieri, Albania, a wonderful villa I rented in Ubud on Bali and all the best boutique hotels in Mali, as well as the best restaurant in Bamako! All the reviews but one-- for the grossly overrated Mamounia in Marrakech-- are positive. But I also have an e-mail from 2007 threatening a lawsuit for explaining how I rented an upscale apartment in Buenos Aires only to find that the landlady had stolen five one-hundred dollar bills out of the safe.
I also check on TripAdvisor for what others have to say, although unless I get a clear consensus about a place, I'm always somewhat skeptical about any one review. Besides so much is just a matter of taste. McDonald's is probably the most "popular" restaurant in the world. But I'd fast for a week before I'd ever eat in one... two weeks.
So I had to laugh today when I saw that the Guardian is featuring a news story on how British hotels are getting involved in a class action lawsuit against TripAdvisor because they don't like the reviews they're getting! It sounds like a bit of a scam by a KwikChex.com, a British "reputation management" firm, which is charging £35 (around $55) and "hopes to corral 1,000 peeved owners into a group defamation action."
One guesthouse owner says she has been branded a racist after turning a potential guest away and is so upset she has gone to the police. Another says he is giving up the B&B business he has run for 30 years following an online review claiming his rooms were dirtier than a sewage works. A third claims he is in despair because he seems to be spending more time dealing with unfair reports than actually running his successful seaside hotel.
They are just some of the 700 or so members of the hospitality business who have either committed to, or are contemplating, legal action against TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel review site, over what they regard as unfair reports.
A company specialising in protecting online reputations is collecting examples of comments that it believes overstep the mark. The firm, KwikChex, intends to collate the most "serious" examples, then ask TripAdvisor to take action. On one day this week KwikChex was dealing with an inquiry every five minutes.
Among the cases KwikChex is examining was a review on Brook Barn Country House, in Oxfordshire, a five-star B&B billing itself as a "jewel of a hideaway". Most reviewers on TripAdvisor agreed. "What a fantastic place!" says one enthusiast on the site. "A wonderful country retreat" adds a second.
But if readers scrolled down further this week they came across a review from "Ferdi", an IT salesman of Indian origin from the home counties who asked to be shown around Brook Barn. The hotel's owner, Sarah-Jane Ashman, recalls explaining that she could not as the rooms were full but was horrified a few days later when Ferdi's review appeared and seemed to accuse her of racism.
"I hate to ever think it but are there people out there who still have a problem with the colour of someone's skin?" Ferdi wrote. "I think I'll be staying away and would recommend to any other 'ethnics' to do the same. I don't think they like our sort around there."
Ashman says she was so distraught she called the police, arguing that the review could actually break the law by inciting racism. "Everybody gets bad reviews, that's fine," she said. "But to be called racist is completely wrong." [She could always move the show to South Carolina or Arizona and prosper with the reputation.]
Des Hague's B&B is at the other end of the scale. He charges £25 a night for a single room at Thornsett House, a Victorian villa five minutes from Sheffield city centre. "It's not the Hilton," he said, "But it's tidy and clean."
He claims his business has been undermined by "spiteful" reviews on TripAdvisor. Under the headline "B&B Hell" one reviewer claimed: "I have visited morgues, abandoned buildings, a sewage works and a coal pit. Each and every one was cleaner, tidier and better staffed than Thornsett House."
Other travellers disagree. "Friendly, warm, welcome" says one. But Hague says poor, unwarranted reviews are ruining his business. "Usually the phone is ringing off the hook at this time of year. Now there's nothing."
He says he has been in the business for 30 years but now plans to shut down the B&B. "I can't work out what is happening here. I've had enough," he said.
Earlier, the Guardian had an even more explicit report that must have been terribly amusing for its readers as they were learning there are over 35 million reviews on the decade-old site.
The Oddballs Palm Island Lodge is the second most popular lodge in Botswana's Okavango Delta, according to TripAdvisor. One user of the site, LASFNCY, "would recommend it in a heartbeat. Fantastic and memorable time". Duffyd, however, is not so gushing. "Snakes in my room, baboon pooping and peeing [in] my room and in the showers multiple times a day."
... Despite its critics, TripAdvisor is an online phenomenon; a brief flick through its listings has become a holiday institution, akin to last-minute passport panic, and outrage at airport sun-cream prices. The problem, of course, is oversaturation. As its listings continue to swell, things are becoming a little too noisy, and trawling through 738 reviews for a single hotel is a tiresome exercise. Increasingly, the skill is seeing the wood from the trees; sniffing out the haters (serial internet curmudgeons) and the sycophants (the owner's mum), and trusting the overall wisdom of crowds. Annoyed hoteliers should also heed the golden rule of TripAdvisor: for every 10 brilliant write-ups, there are always a couple of pooping baboons.
Ed Miliband blackmail was lessened slightly by the fact that he was in his pyjamas
Miliband stomped into the room where they were meeting at 4am and ranted that if they didn’t sign up they’d be denied access to a putative $30bn fund. The high drama of this bit of blackmail was lessened slightly by the fact that he was in his pyjamas at the time. It’s hard to be a moral titan in your jimjams but it’s easy to be the message boy of the rich and powerful.MORE HERE
Ed Miliband wins
Very close, still both Blairites!Blair's endorsement killed David, along with torture associations.Ralph Milband their dad was a great socialist.My friend John McDonnell, MP would have made a great and inspiring Labour leader but they didn't let him run.
Caroline Lucas to speak at House of Commons Million Green Jobs event
The TUC have adopted the One Million Green Jobs campaign.October 14, 2010 from 6pm to 8pmCommittee Room 10, House of CommonsOrganized By: Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union GroupSpeakers include Caroline Lucas MP, John McDonnell MP, Chris Baugh (PCS)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Tea Parties: The Politics of Fear
[col. writ. 9/19/10] (c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal For many, if not most, of the people who are active in the 'tea party' movement, are reacting to the fall of the American economy. They see vast home foreclosures, factory closings, the loss of jobs and the resultant loss of pay, across a wide spectrum of the working class, and they are afraid; very afraid. It's been said that money is the mother's
J.G.Ballard maps the desert of the real
"could consumerism turn into fascism? The underlying psychologies aren't all that far removed from one another. If you go into a huge shopping mall and you're looking down the parade, it's the same theatrical aspect: these disciplined ranks of merchandise, all glittering like fascist uniforms. When you enter a mall, you are taking part in a ceremony of affirmation, which you endorse just by your
Cabbages, Kings, Conventions.
My good friend Joseph Healy has relaunched his ecosocialist blog here.It remains essential reading this is about his work at the Convention of the Left.I am speaking tomorrow night at the Convention of the Left in Manchester as a member of a panel addressing the cuts in Europe and internationally. The Convention is timed to coincide with the opening of the Labour Party conference in Manchester. I
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Papercraft food + Foosball table and other neat crafty things
Grab them all here, just look for the pdf icon links and enjoy.
Batman Papercraft + Superhero Arts and Crafts!
If Superman is more your cup of tea then you can grab him here. Check the homepage too for some other great paper model goodies
Venezuelan election forecast
Venezuela: Elections to the National Assembly - another step on the road to democracy* by Francisco Dominguez, VSC Secretary Venezuelans once again go to the polls Venezuelans vote on Sunday for the South American nation's 165-seat National Assembly – its national parliament. This is the 16th national election or referenda since Chávez was first elected President in 1998. Venezuela’s last
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Courageous Mapuche need our support
My Chilean comrades are helping organise a meeting on 500 years of indigenous resistance in Latin America Latin America: 500 years of resistance with a focus on the Mapuche struggle, I have also pasted a letter in the Morning Star on the Mapuche struggle....my friend Hugo Blanco has been telling people here in the UK about the struggle of the indigenous in Chile, currently in the middle of a
The Already Forgotten War
The Already Forgotten War[col. writ. 9/11/10] (c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal Did you notice that the war was over? If you blinked, you may've missed it. It is amazing that a war which began with such fanfare, such awful rhetoric and such martial strains could pass from the 'combat phase' with such quietude, such nonchalance, such silence. Nearly 8 years of carnage, and what did it achieve besides the
Monday, September 20, 2010
'Clegg is a sellout' says Green Party MP
Lucas on Lib Dems: “on a whole range of issues they’ve sold out” As Clegg goes on defensive over cuts at Lib Dem conference, Greens reiterate the alternative – finding the cash to avoid the cuts and invest in job-creation As Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg prepared to defend the coalition’s cuts in his keynote speech to the Liverpool conference today, the Green Party reiterated its alternative policy
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Another Trip To Sri Lanka? Or Is It Too Soon?
Polonnaruwa was pretty cool
I discovered Sri Lanka, still Ceylon then, in 1970 when I drove there from England. (There was a funky ferry from Rameswaram in the south of India back in those days.) I loved Ceylon so much back in those days and talked about it in such superlative terms that in 1997, during a quasi-lull in the civil war, I went back for a month with two of friends, Roland and Steve. Well, not exactly a month. The quasi-lull in the fighting wasn't quasi enough. On top of that, all the fighting had taken a serious toll on everything wonderful the country had to offer, even in the areas where there had been no sustained fighting. So Roland and Steve ganged up on me in Negombo, one of the most boring places on the island and persuaded me to cut the Sri Lanka trip short and head off to Thailand.
Now the war is over and the NY Times is calling Sri Lanka its #1 travel destination for the year-- ahead of Patagonia, Seoul, Mysore, Copenhagen, Koh Kood, Damascus, Cesme, Antarctica, Leipzig and... L.A. And guess where Roland wants to go! He's now claiming he has nothing but amazing memories of Sri Lanka and wants to see it again. I suspect its because we went to Artesia to get Indian food a couple weeks ago and he bought a book on Ayurvedic medicine and wants to go to some Ayurvedic shop we stopped by in Nuwara Eliya (although he says there are some luxurious Ayurvedic resorts near Colombo and in Beruwala and Weligama. In fact, they're sprouting up all over the country now.
Now that the war is officially over-- although, apparently some of the Tamil rebels haven't gotten the message, at least not as of last Friday-- tourism is taking off again and hotels are being built everywhere. I hope they're fixing up the infrastructure before they start selling the place to Americans. I have a feeling it is still not quite ready for prime time for non-adventure tourists. In London, today's Sunday Times explores some of the pitfalls of Lankan tourism from the perspective of a Lankan reporter.
With additional numbers expected to be promoted most popular tourism sites visited by both local and foreign tourists are going to get overcrowded. If such sites are not improved on a proper plan and good management with priority being given to sufficient parking and traffic arrangements, good quality restaurants and clean toilet facilities, visitor safety etc. the value to the visitors will not remain for long. This is most relevant to nature reserves and wildlife parks that are extremely vulnerable to pollution and overcrowding. Visiting Yala national park on a long weekend is similar to going to a popular motor-cross event. The number of vehicles entering the park is an absolute harassment to the animals and a speedy way to endanger them to extinction.
Noisy vehicles and obviously high levels of carbon emission can do much damage to the wildlife in a short span of time. Many wild life enthusiasts have highlighted this matter through the media but to no avail. The opening of the Wilpattu National Park will certainly reduce the pressure on the Yala reserve in this respect but stringent controls must be worked out to allow only tolerable numbers to enter national parks, ideally with an advance booking system for peak periods. With all relevant government agencies being wisely brought within one ministry, the processes to deal with such matters is easier than ever before. It is the fundamental right not only of our future generations to see and enjoy nature in its true form, but also of the wildlife itself for its very sustainability.
Prostitution, Paedophilia and Drug menace
These remain as byproducts of tourism especially of mass tourism in certain destinations around the world. These vices have reached dangerous levels in some Asian destinations and are now seen as irreversible, by being entwined in the social lives of local communities. In reality Sri Lanka even at the moment has an issue at hand in this regard. The irresistible love for Dollars, Sterling Pounds and Euros cannot ignore societal damage that can permanently harm civic life and the cultural values of this country. It is critical therefore that there is a broad understanding of these problems and their impacts on Sri Lankan society. This understanding and initiative to prevent it should not only come from NGOs and resource tight government agencies. Since it is virtually a direct impact of the country’s leisure industry, it is imperative that the tourism sector take responsibility and preventative action on these fronts. Damage control should not come only as a CSR activity of a few but as proactive approach from all responsible.
Tourist Police
A destination must not only be peaceful but also safe for a visitor. From early times of tourism in the island certain resorts had tourist police units. To some extent they were effective though not necessarily to the level that they should have been. Three years ago, a Tourist Police section was introduced that set up office at No 78 Steuart Place, Colombo 3, where Sri Lanka Tourism has its offices. This was to look into the safety of tourists. With the expected increase in visitor arrivals, most resorts and tourist sites will require an effective force under this administration to ensure visitor safety.
There have been numerous threats in the past on tourists by local thugs who even have manhandled tourists. Most such thugs are closely linked to local politicians. Hence the police have found that their hands are tied in most cases. A few cases of rape of female tourists also had taken place in the past in certain beach resorts. Theft on the beach and snatch thieving at other places are not uncommon and tourists leave our shores with bitter memories, never to return.
If you do decide to go before we go back and I get to write a big thing about hotels and restaurants, there was one hotel we stumbled upon in the middle of nowhere that I totally recommend, the Kandalama in Dambulla. It was down a dirt road far from anything but... WOW! What an amazing find! It was built into the side of a mountain and overlooked a gigantic lake. We would be swimming in this amazing infinity pool and watching the elephants bathing in the lake below us. The place defined serenity and if we do go back to Sri Lanka I want to spend at leats a week at this place.
'I am going to sing a blues for the man they did wrong'
My favourite Christian sums up why we need to fight for land and freedom
Get some permaculture practice in Brighton
Just had this, permaculture is great, if you are based in Brighton it looks good.Scrumping + other volunteeringHave you ever thought about volunteering for BrightonPermaculture Trust? Why not join the team of people who make Brighton Permaculture Trust the dynamic organisation that it is? A friendly team of dedicated enthusiasts run the organisation, much of the work being voluntary.This week is
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Green socialist could win top trade union post
My good friend Jerry Hicks, could win the battle for Unite General Secretary, a working class hero and grassroots militant, Jerry would take an average workers salary, fight the cuts and campaign for green jobs.If we want to resist the Con-Dem government and build a sustainable future, supporting him is essential, nearest we have to the Latin American left in the UK, so if you are in Unite vote
Friday, September 17, 2010
Urgent appeal to prevent expulsion of rainforest preist
IMPORTANT Letter writing Campaign in support of BROTHER PAUL MCAULEY = help protect the Amazon and Indigenous Peoples ! Please sign and e-mail this Letter of Support for BROTHER PAUL MCAULEYPaul is an amazing environmental hero, who has dedicatedhimself for 2 decades to defend Perus Amazon Forrest andeducate Indigenous communities about their Rights.Sadly Perus Government is determined to
Russian Embassy Green Defenders protest
Dear ComradesWe are organising a protest this Monday in conjunction with the Russiancollective Chto Delat and would be verygrateful if you could publicise it as widely as possible. The protest ispart of a series of international actions in defence of the Khimki hostagesidarity/> .These are two grassroots antifascist activists (Alexei Gaskarov and MaximSolopov) who are currently in custody in
Women demand to be priests!
Catholic women demand equalityCall on Pope for women priestsFriday 17 SeptemberAssemble: 2pm to 2.30pm St. George's RC Cathedral, Corner St George's Road and Lambeth Road, SE1 7HYCatholic women's procession to Lambeth Place3pm rally outside Lambeth Place as the Pope arrives to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury at 4pm. Protest organiser contacts:Lala Winkley 0787 569 8194Pat Brown 0795 004
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Cute Anime Papercraft Girls
Grab them all here
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Paper Crafts For Kids
I know from personal experience how hard it can be to keep the little people in your life entertained, particularly if like me you live in a country where winter just seems to drag on and on.
So I thought I would dig out some easy, fun and damn cute paper models for that crafty kid in your life. Hey even if they get bored and want to watch cartoons at least you have something to do rather than watching Toy Story for the 30th time that week.
Piperoids
Amazon has these great little robots called Piperoids, there are many different versions to collect, they are all high quality and each have a story behind them, excellent for teaching kids about constructing things themselves
Animal Matching Puzzle made from paper of course!
A papery (is that a real word?) take on a classic matching game, could be a great gift for the kid who has too much plastic crap in his or her life. If you had the skills you could even customize it yourself.
Build your own Paper Town
As usual the Canon site has some great high quality papercrafts that are perfect for kids. There is a lot of variety here, from cars to buildings to a ferris wheel.
Paper Box World
These are great, such a simple concept that has been pulled of really well due to the bright vibrant colors and variety. Sweet, get some now.
There are heaps more great paper arts and crafts projects for kids of all ages out there in that big thing we call the internet. Have fun!
Samurai Gundam Paper Model
Two things that are awesome. Samurai and SD Gundams. Combine those and you have something truly special.
You know what else is awesome - papercraft, but hey why stop there, let's take it up another notch of awesome - free papercraft!
So what do we have here, Samurai SD Gundam Free Papercraft! Holy crap.
Get it here and don't forget to have a browse around the rest of this site for some more goodness.
Jobless on Labor Day
Jobless on Labor Day[col. writ. 9/5/10] (c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal As Labor Day rolls around, many are the homes in which the day is just another day, for there are no jobs to go to during the regular days of the week. That's largely because the nation's economy remains in the doldrums, a hair's breath away from big R recession, and a stone's throw from depression. Businesses are shedding jobs, not
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Least Expensive Cities In The World
Karakoram Highway, the world's highest, sort of Pakistan's Route 66, except you don't wind up in L.A.
Today's L.A. Times has a photo essay on the least expensive cities in the world to visit. I'm always on the lookout for a good bargain but I've never considered looking for a vacation spot because it's one of the 10 cheapest places to go. That said, between Roland and I, we've been to most of these places. They are inexpensive-- but not always the most memorable. Cheapest of all is Karachi, the biggest city in Pakistan, a virtual hellhole and someplace I wouldn't go to if someone paid me. In fact, I was in Pakistan twice and managed to avoid Karachi both times. Crowded, seething with discontent and misery, Karachi is on no one's list of places to visit-- not even Pakistan's It's dangerous and offers nothing much in return. I loved visiting Lahore, the country's cultural capital, and Peshawar, a veritable arms bazaar in the wild, untamed west, and I was in Islamabad-- third cheapest in today's list-- when it was being built and found it interesting in a theoretical way I always find cities built from scratch specifically to be a national capital. The main attraction is the giant Faisal Mosque, once the largest in the world (now the 4th largest) that holds around 300,000 people. It was built in 1986 and paid for by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. That said, according to a recent Guardian, the best places to visit in Pakistan for an average tourist (so, not counting climbing a Himalaya) are ancient Taxila, Lahore, the Karakoram Highway (the world's highest), Karimabad in the Hunza Valley, and Lake Saiful Muluk. None are on the list; all are incredibly inexpensive if you want them to be.
Roland's a big fan of Latin America and he's been to both Managua in Nicaragua (second cheapest) and La Paz, Bolivia (4th cheapest) and loved them both. He was especially unimpressed by La Paz's Mercado de las Brujas, the witch's market, which specializes in dried frogs, llama fetuses and all kind of aphrodisiacs.
Other than my extended stays in Afghanistan in the '60s and '70s neither of us has been to the Stans, although Alan Grayson, who has, assures me they are well worth the efforts. They're on the list. Today's Times essay lists Ashkhabad in Turkmenistan as the 5th cheapest place to visit and Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan as the 6th cheapest. Turkmenistan is almost all a giant desert and is sparsely populated. A normal person thinking of traveling there might read the Bradt travel guide to Turkmenistan; I'd recommend Ken Silverstein's hilarious novel, where takes place entirely in Washington, DC, Turkmeniscam: How Lobbyists Fought To Flack For A Stalinist Dictatorship. I might add, that aside from North Korea, Turkmenistan is the world's only remaining Stalinist dictatorship. I always wanted to go there to see some of the old Silk Road towns, like Ashkhabad, but there isn't really much left to see after you've taken a gander at the Ashgabat Flagpole (the world's tallest freestanding flagpole). Instead, there's the Darvaza Flaming Crater which is where, 40 years ago, n oil rig collapsed into a huge cavern of natural gas, creating a fire-filled crater. It's still burning and is hyped as the Gates of Hell.
We've both been to Calcutta many a few times-- Roland again this year-- and that's certainly worth a visit for it's old architecture from the days it was capital of the Raj. It's one of the places where it is inexpensive and filled with plenty of value including wonderful hotels and restaurants.
Roland is really jonesin' for a trip to Ethiopia, and Addis Ababa is the 7th cheapest in the world. But it doesn't have much allure for me and I'm holding out for Madagascar and South Africa. I'm not a big fan of Ethiopia's very distinctive cuisine-- which is available in great abundance on Fairfax Avenue in L.A.-- but Addis Ababa boats lots of colonial monuments and Lucy, humankind's 3-million-year-old ancestor, can be found at the National Museum there.
Numbers 9 and 10 are Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Windhoek, Namibia, neither of which I expect to visit any time soon, regardless of the cheap prices. Well... maybe Tegucigalpa if it's on the way someplace nice.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Tangier, Morocco, Rolling Stones... Paul Bowles
There are many timeless qualities about Morocco, timeless and charming, but it's a very different place now than it was the first time I went in the summer of 1969. Right now I'm putting the finishing touches on a trip there-- there have been a dozen since the first one-- and this time it'll basically just be to rent a house in Marrakesh's old city for a month... take some day trips to Essaouira, west on the sea and down over the High Atlas to Taroundant, two of my favorite smaller cities in Morocco. We're flying directly into Marrakech from London, something I don't think was possible in the '60s. I recall always either driving there or taking public transportation from either Casablanca, where Mococco's big international airport is, or from Fes.
The first time I went, though, it was in my VW van and we took a ferry from Algeciras in the south of Spain, a wonderful way to arrive in Morocco for the first time and gradually feel everything change-- the sights, sounds, smells-- between Europe and Africa. I had an idea that Tangier was like the Times Square of Morocco, a place to be avoided until you were hip to the hustles of the country. We took the boat across from Algeciras to Ceuta, still part of Spain, and then drove to Tétouan and the southeast to Rabat, missing Tangier entirely. After spending all of July traveling around Morocco we felt savvy enough to exit via Tangier. It wasn't for years until I really started liking the city and only then because I had a friend who lived there and who was able to introduce me to its secrets.
This weekend, the NY Times has a travel guide to getting lost in Tangier, Tangier in the high summer, in fact, something I've long learned to avoid. I love the "getting lost in" concept though.
Tangier seemed a good starting point. Not only does it have a magnificent medina that holds out the promise of geographical bafflement, but it is itself also lost in time and space. Since antiquity, Tangier-- at the mouth of the Mediterranean, roughly nine miles from Spain-- has been a gray zone between Africa and Europe, never quite belonging fully to one or the other, though controlled, for greater or lesser spells, by Carthaginian, Roman, British, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Arab forces.
Today, Tangier is known in America thanks in no small part to Paul Bowles, the novelist and composer who settled there in 1947, and the Beat Generation who followed him in search of cheap, exotic living (and, as William S. Burroughs said, “for the boys and the hashish”). For a few decades, Tangier was a playground for the wealthy and the literary-minded, but by the 1980s it was crumbling and dismal. When I told a friend who had visited in 1998 that I would be there more than a week, he was appalled.
Although the first time I went to Morocco I was hanging out with Jimi Hendrix, down south in Essaouira, the Rolling Stones-- and especially Brian Jones-- went there earlier than I did and got me interested in the place. Ironically it was at my friend Absalam's house in Tangier that the Stones recorded part of Steel Wheels in 1989. Good BBC documentary from the Stones' trips to Morocco:
Tip: if you decide to go, reading Paul Bowles' The Sheltering Sky is more important than any guide book
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Obstacle course
Obstacle course
by Dave Carpenter
http://im-possible.info/english/art/cartoons/dave-carpenter.html
Author - http://www.carptoons.com/
Three events with Hugo Blanco
'The Rise of The Green Left: Derek Wall Book Launch'14 September · 19:30 - 22:00Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way, London, W1T 5DLLaunch of The Rise of the Green Left: Inside the Worldwide Ecosocialist Movement by Derek Wall Speakers To include Derek Wall, Jeremy Corbyn and Hugo Blanco. For more info please email events@plutobooks.comhttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147547998599898&ref=ts--------
Sid Rawle RIP
Sid led a group of hippies called The Diggers at the back end of the 1960s and was a principle figure in the Summer of Love, 1967. In 1970 John Lennon of The Beatles invited Sid and The Diggers to make use of his island retreat of Dorinish (Beatle Island) to create a commune for his 'flower power' followers. The commune survived two years before they moved back to mainland Britain.Sid, along with
Full Metal Alchemist - Alphonse Papercraft
Late to the party as usual I only started watching Full Metal Alchemist in the last couple of months. It's a damn fine anime (and I presume excellent manga). My favorite character would have to be Alphonse Elric, stuck inside a big intimidating metal suit, this guy has a heart of a pacifist. Of course there is a sweet papercraft of the big dummy! Courtesy of Tamasoft, you'll need the PDO viewer.
Grab it here
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
José Bové and Keith Taylor take on Tescos!
Well supermarkets in general!GREEN EURO-MP WELCOMES KEY MOVE TO TACKLE SUPERMARKET ABUSES – MEPs vote for action on price transparency and a fairer deal for farmersThe Green Euro-MP for the South East today welcomed a move by fellow MEPs to tackle the uncompetitive and harmful practices of dominant food retailers which often mean unfair returns for producers – and poor price transparency for
Monday, September 6, 2010
Lets crash Tony Blair's book launch party on wednesday
In Richard III all the people dirty Dick had killed came back to haunt him as he slept, the ghosts must be queing up for Tony Blair, millions died, the killer clown has abandoned his book signing but he still has a book launch party.He has been recently encouraging us to go to war with Iran.....every step he takes leaves a footprint of blood.Message from Stop the WarTONY BLIAR HAS CANCELLED HIS
‘The merriest of all devils’
This from an article on a new blog in the name of one Jacob Bauthumley‘The merriest of all devils’The sexual radicalism of the Ranters certainly made an impressive contrast with the repressive society that created them. They saw Original Sin as being lifted, meaning that none of the repressive commandments laid down by the Church through the ages still applied. John Holland’s anti-Ranter pamphlet
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Climate activists found not guilty
The Copenhagen City Court ruled on September 2 that climate activists Natasha Verco, a 32-year-old activist from Australia, and Noah Weiss, a US student, were innocent of the charges against them.The two climate activists had been charged for organising “illegal activities” during the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009. Verco and Weiss had been accused of planning
NO IMPACT MAN?
No Impact Man by Derek Wall - levelground.infoThe last film always biases the reception of the next. The last film I watched was that 1990s British classic 'Dirty Weekend' based on the novel by Helen Zahavi. Director Michael Winner, best known for making Charles Bronson a household name in ‘Deathwish’, collides with feminism with disastrous results (but hey I liked it). Sickened by exploitation
Prime Minister steals for corporate masters
Couched in the flowery language of colonialism Premier Colin Barnett's words and actions really say "Nigger,you have the right to do as you're told". To a chorus of applause from Woodside, BHP, BP and Chevron,those international masters of indigenous and environmental exploitation.This is how it works. Local people have their land stolen by politicians who serve corporations.Green politics is
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Mumia Abu-Jamal : “I am an outlaw journalist”
">http://en.rsf.org/united-states-mumia-abu-jamal-i-am-an-outlaw-03-09-2010,38278.htmlOn August 29th, 2010, Reporters Without Borders Washington DC representative Clothilde Le Coz visited Mumia Abu-Jamal, prisoner on death row for nearly three decades. Ms. Le Coz was accompanied by Abu-Jamal’s lead attorney, Robert R. Bryan, and his legal assistant, Nicole Bryan. The meeting took place in room 17
Video: Tony Blair pelted with eggs
War criminal gets what he deserves.Should not be selling books, should be in prison.Vote David Miliband and get more of the same?
Friday, September 3, 2010
Mumia Abu-Jamal 'MAD NATION'
MAD NATION[col. writ. 8/29/10] (c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal When people are outraged, angry, or at their wit's end, politicians are abuzz with excitement; for it is precisely at this time when people are at their mercy; and politicians are at their most powerful. For a people under such a spell can be lead to do almost anything. In New York today, and various other cities across the U.S.,
Hugo Blanco 'ecologist your mother'
In 1963 the great Che Guevara praised a guerilla leader from Peru. Nothing unusual in that you might think, after all he was himself an Argentinian who helped to liberate Cuba, fought in Africa and died attempting to free Bolivia. However only once did Che praise a leader of Trotsky's Fourth International. Daggers were drawn between two sides of the fallout among the Soviet leaders of the 1930s
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
My 7th book published today!
My No Nonsense Guide to Green Politics is now on sale, you can get it from New Internationalist or good book shops or Amazon.Here is the Foreward from Nandor, a former New Zealand MP and a good friend, see what you think.The agenda of the international green movement willdominate the next century, as the demands of thelabor movement (and the responses of capitalism tothem) dominated the last.
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