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Radiohead are supporting the campaign against human trafficking via a new promo video for All I Need to be shown on MTV EXIT [End Exploitation and Trafficking]. The video was directed by Oscar-winning cinematographer, John Seale who has worked on 'The English Patient' and 'Cold Mountain' and award-winning director Steve Rogers. The music video will premiere on MTV around the world on May 1. The video itself is shown in split screen: one side depicting a day in the life of a young child from an affluent, developed area; the other showing the day in the life of a child being forced to work in a sweatshop. A modern slave. Speaking about the video Thom Yorke explained: "I'm proud that the song and the video will help to raise awareness of this issue around the world." See item
below in Extra on prostitution in $ingapore. NOEL GALLAGHER SAYS TAKE THAKSIN TO THE CLEANERS Oasis' Noel Gallagher has slammed Manchester City FC owner Thaksin Shinawatra for his apparent plan to sack the club's current manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, NME reports Apr 29. Gallagher an avid City fan, said that sacking the manager, which Shinawatra is expected to do soon, would be against all the wishes of Manchester City fans. Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live Gallagher said: "To get rid of him [Eriksson] after the best season I can remember is ridiculous. It can't be for any footballing reasons. "For a club that's been going nowhere fast for the last 25 years, with a manager who's the best out there bar Jose Mourinho… he turned it around and gave us a bit of style and dignity and grace. He bought some great players. The fans have got pride back in the club… I just think it's beyond a joke. "We've got a manager who's got style. If the owner thought they could come in and qualify for the Champions League straight away then he's tripping. It'd be like sacking David Moyes at Everton or Martin O'Neill at Aston Villa because they didn't qualify. It takes more than one season. "Eriksson is a graceful and dignified man. This guy Shinawatra has come in and he seems like a bit of a nutcase. The only thing that will get him off the hook is if he's got Mourinho lined up. Apart from Mourinho Eriksson's the best thing out there. "I'd be amazed and appalled if I met a City fan who thought getting rid of Eriksson was a good thing. They all love him up there. I'd give him a big kiss and say, 'You know what, you take them to the cleaners.'" The $ingapore government through its company Temasek, has business dealings with Thaksin. Temasek paid billions to buy Thaksin's Shin Corp.
$INGAPORE MAY HOLD BANK INVESTMENTS FOR 30 YEARS SAYS LEE KUAN YEW $ingapore's mentor minister Lee Kuan Yew, 84, revealed that the government's recent US$18 BILLION investment in UBS and Citigroup were meant to be 30-year-long investments. GIC, as the fund is known, may hold the stakes for two to three decades, said Lee. $ingaporeans will have to wait two to three decades to enjoy the benefits. How old are you now? "The franchise of the banks, the expertise that they have, under proper leadership, they will be able to recover and rise again," Lee said in a Bloomberg TV interview Apr 30. "Will there be another Swiss bank like UBS for wealth management? We doubt it. That's why we invested in it." Mr Lee is the chairman of the Government of $ingapore Investment Corp, which made the multi-billion investments late last year. As of now, the investments have lost as much as a third of their value. UBS shares have fallen 35 per cent since GIC announced it bought into the biggest Swiss bank on Dec. 11. Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank by assets, fell 2 per cent since saying Jan. 15 it was getting $14.5 billion from investors including GIC. The Singapore dollar has gained 5.5 per cent since the start of the year. Citigroup said Apr 29 it's selling $3 billion of stock through a public offering, two weeks after reporting its second straight quarterly loss. $ingapore's
GIC manages more than US$100 BILLION of the country's wealth. Mentor minister
Lee's salary is about US$2 MILLION.
WARREN BUFFETT WARNS RECESSION MAY BE WORSE THAN FEARED Warren Buffett, 77, the world's richest person, said on Apr 28 the U.S. economy is in a recession that will be more severe than most people expect. He made his comments on CNBC television after his Berkshire Hathaway Inc agreed to invest US$6.5 billion in the takeover of chewing gum maker Wrigley Jr Co by Mars Inc in a $23 billion transaction. "This is not a field of specialty for me, but my general feeling is that the recession will be longer and deeper than most people think," Buffett said. "This will not be short and shallow. I think consumers are feeling gas and food prices," he added, "and not feeling they've got a lot of money for other things." Berkshire
is a US$197 billion conglomerate. He is deservedly the richest man in
the world as measured by some U.S. magazines. Mr Buffett's salary is also
modest by $ingapore standards. Warren Buffett's salary is US$100,000 plus
US$114,250 in fees and other compensation. A Thai journalist is being sued by Tesco but has vowed to continue his campaign against the multinational retailing giant. Tesco's Thai subsidiary, Tesco Lotus, is seeking damages of 100m baht (US$3.2m; £1.6m) from columnist and academic Kamol Kamoltrakul for an article he wrote for Bangkokbiznews on Oct 29, in which he claimed superstores were driving out local "Mom-and-Pop" stores and threatened to ruin the fortunes of millions of Thais. "I was shocked that I was sued for this amount of money," Mr Kamol - a neat, bespectacled, softly-spoken man in his late 50s - told the BBC News website. "It's nonsense. Tesco know I don't have that kind of money, so why do they do it? The only thing I can think is that they want to silence me." Mr Kamol says he is worried Tesco could win - and says that if they do, under Thai law he could lose his home. This appears to be the error in Mr Kamol's article: Mr Kamol claimed that Tesco's Thailand operation provided the company with 37% of its global income. He now admits he was mistaken, acknowledging that the true figure is closer to 3.7%. Mr Kamol's main allegation was that Tesco was guilty of so-called "creative accounting" - the practice of creating complex accounting structures which permit the lowest possible level of tax to be paid. Tesco has been operating in Thailand for a decade. In addition to the 370 stores it already operates, it planned to open a further 162 in 2007-8, according to its annual review published on its website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7367127.stm Can you imagine a $ingapore nation-builder under similar circumstances? Nation-builders serve the government in power, not the public.
May 18: Johor Bahru, Malaysia: Mosh Wanted - Malaysian Hardcore with Restraint, Dashdown, Overthrown, Lovemebutch, Crestfallen and more at KBDS Hall, Larkin, JB. Tix RM20. Starts 1pm. May 24:
Jakarta,
Indonesia. Sick Of It All. Tennis Outdoor Senayan. May 29: Jakarta, Indonesia. Extreme Noise Terror. Minggu. June 7: Genting Highlands, Malaysia: Click Five. Tix: RM180, 120 and 60. June 14: Kuala Trengganu, Malaysia: Turtle Fest with Bleeding Mascara, Dead Eyes Glows, Killing Steward, Cock Say Cock Dung, Miseria and more at 60s Studio, Kuala Ibai, Trengganu. Tix RM18. Starts 12 noon. June 21: Genting Highlands, Malaysia: The Osmonds 50th Anniversary Tour. Tix: RM360, 260, 160 and 110. June 22: Genting Highlands, Malaysia: Air Supply. Tix: RM193, 143, 113 and 83. August 3: Jakarta, Indonesia. Not Available. Hall Basket, Senayan. August 13: Jakarta, Indonesia. Trivium. Tennis Outdoor Senayan. ================ LAST YEAR WE SAID "When the price of one barrel of oil hits US$100, prepare to change your lifestyle. Get ready for Hell." THE RECESSION IS HERE. The price of oil this week is US$112.52 a barrel. ANOTHER WAR IS COMING.
Manufacturing Consent For An Attack On Iran:
Gates: Iranians kill US soldiers : The US Defense Secretary blames Iran for the killing of US troops in Iraq as the Bush administration steps up rhetoric against Tehran. http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=52941§ionid=351020101
U.S. military official: Iran boosting support for Iraqi, Afghan rebels: Admiral Mike Mullen conceded at a Pentagon news conference Friday that he has "no smoking gun" proof that the highest leadership in the Iranian government is involved. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/04/25/5386151-ap.html
Joint Chiefs Chairman Says U.S. Preparing Military Options Against Iran: The nation's top military officer said today that the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19799.htm WHY THE U.S. WANTS WAR WITH IRAN: Pakistan, India close to finalizing accord on gas pipeline from Iran: The U.S. has opposed the project because of fears it will weaken efforts to isolate Iran, which it accuses of pursuing a nuclear weapons program. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=
Iran has defied the U.S. and opened a new oil bourse on the island of Kish which does not trade in U.S. dollars. If the Iranian oil bourse is a success, the U.S. dollar may no longer be the world currency standard. "When crafting the U.S. energy policy, the Bush administration looked to invade Iraq and use that 'model' to control oil reserves throughout the Middle East. It excluded any cooperation with the world's other oil producers, and as a result we have the following: * Saudi Arabia is a tenuous ally at best, and has all but blackmailed the United States to stay in Iraq; * Three of the countries with the most oil reserves (Iran, Russia, Venezuela) are all working together at the expense of the United States - sometimes because of the Bush administration aggression; and * China, clearly the next economic superpower and the country that as of 2006 held the second largest amount of U.S. debt has joined in this alliance - also at the expense of the U.S. "It is easy to see how these alliances will form a very strong bloc in the global economy over the next few years, if not longer. And it is easy to see how the United States' approach to dealing with each of these countries contributed to the alliances - or at least being shut out of these alliances. Unfortunately for the United States (in many ways), the big winner here is Iran..." The full article here. ================ Roger Waters used his headlining set at the Coachella Festival in Los Angeles April 27 to deliver a strong political statement against the U.S. Government. At the end of his performance, Waters dispatched an inflatable pig across the crowd. On the side of the pig was the message "Don't be led to the slaughter", which was accompanied by a cartoon of Uncle Sam wielding two bloody cleavers. The underside of the pig had the name of Barack Obama along with a ticked ballot box. Waters supports Obama. Maybe now Roger Waters will build an inflatable $heep.
FATBOY SLIM TO SHOW PORK Fatboy Slim is to strip naked in the video for his latest single. Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, has decided to strip down to his birthday suit in a daring move to help promote the first track from his fourth album. He told the Razz Apr 19: "After I've finished my album I'm heading out to Los Angeles and I'm going to take all my clothes off for the new single. "It's not
something I've done before, but I have to say, I have been inspired by
quite a few naked people in the past. I'm not yet sure whether I'll get
a male or female photographer but I won't be displaying my bits on the
beach. I'm going to strip in a studio because that way things can be touched
up or enlarged as necessary."
Vivid Entertainment plans to release what it claims is a sex tape supposedly featuring Jimi Hendrix. The film shows a naked man who resembles the legendary guitarist wearing a bandana having sex with two brunettes in a dimly-lit bedroom. His full face appears on screen for only a few seconds, with his eyes closed. In other portions there are flashes of his profile. However his hands, bedecked with rings, roam large on the screen at times. The film has no audio, reports The New York Times. Vivid Entertainment, a large maker of pornographic movies, has created a 45-minute DVD, called 'Jimi Hendrix - The Sex Tape' that combines 11 minutes of sex footage with a retrospective of Hendrix's career in the '60s. The DVD includes commentary from two women who met Hendrix and say they believe the tape is real: Pamela Des Barres , the author of 'I'm With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie' , and Cynthia Albritton, better known as Cynthia Plaster Caster. Albritton is known for doing plaster casts of the genitals of rock stars, including Hendrix in 1968. Vivid will sell the DVD for US$39.95 in stores and over the internet, and will also offer the film for downloading. However the identity of the man in the film, which has circulated among Hendrix fans for years, has been disputed by experts and former associates. Vivid Entertainment claims that after an extensive inquiry led by private detective agencies, it stands by the Hendrix film as the real thing. Steven Hirsch, Vivid's co-chairman, said: "I believe that we did our due diligence, and as a result of that clearly believe that it's him." Hirsch said
he became convinced that the tape was authentic after tracking down the
man who shot it. They reached a monetary agreement "for his approval for
us to distribute this". According to the distributor Howie Klein, the
footage surfaced when a collector discovered a tin labeled 'Black Man'
in a box of rock memorabilia bought at an unidentified auction in London. Elvis Costello
explained the making of his new album Momofuku, "Every record has its
own method. This was the one for these songs." Costello also described
the title which, contrary to some beliefs, is not related to the hip New
York eatery Momofuku Noodle Bar, but rather, "a tribute to Momofuku Ando,
the inventor of the Cup Noodle. Like so many things in this world of wonders,
all we had to do to make this record was add water." Momofuku was recorded
in six days in February. It will be released May 6. Ex-Blur frontman Damon Albarn says his next album will have 130 musicians including a Chinese choir and an orchestra. Albarn told BBC 6Music Apr 28: "This one's [the new album] got about 80, 90 musicians on it - something in that region. It's got a 100-piece Chinese choir on one of the tunes. That plus the orchestra probably goes to about 120, 130 people." The album is slated for July. Albarn hinted
that the project may have something to do with his recent opera, 'Monkey:
Journey To The West' by saying that the title of the project had "something
of monkeys in there. There's a monkey or two in there at least - a bit
like Gorillaz as well. It's not an opera [though], it's a proper record". The UK Telegraph, March 25, 2008: "The $ingapore Government is offering students lessons in seduction to boost the city state's flagging birthrate. Students at two polytechnics can earn two credits towards their final degree by choosing the love elective. Activities include watching romantic films, holding hands and 'love song analysis'. "Isabel Seet, an 18-year-old mechanical engineering student, told the $traits Times newspaper: 'My teacher said if a guy looks into my eyes for more than five seconds, it could mean that he is attracted to me and I stand a chance.' "Besides
'love and sexuality', the curriculum also deals with the importance of
family life. The 'trainers' are provided by the Social Development Unit,
a government match-making agency. $ingapore's population figure for citizens
residing in $ingapore has not been revealed for a decade. Citizens and
permanent residents are put under the category of "$ingapore
residents". You can't put a good brand down: Once confined to marketing departments and media companies, the Mac is spilling over into a wider array of business environments, thanks to computing trends, not the least among them a rising tide of end-user affinity for the Apple experience. "We're seeing more requests outside of creative services to switch to Macs from PCs," notes David Plavin, operations manager for Mac systems engineering at the U.S. IT division of Publicis Groupe, a global advertising conglomerate. There are so many requests that Plavin now supports 2,500 Macs across the U.S., nearly a quarter of all Publicis' U.S. PCs. Buoyed by
increased interest in the consumer arena, Macs are cropping up in more
and more organizations, in large part because employees are pushing for
them. According to NPD Research, Apple's share of the retail market has
climbed to 14 percent as of February 2008. Gartner and IDC report that
the Mac's share in the U.S. as of March 31 was 6.6 percent. Alongside
that home-based shift from PC to Mac is a significant uptake for Apple
among businesses, as Forrester estimates corporations Mac adoption tripled
last year to 4.2 percent, mainly on the backs of enthusiasts seeking approval
for Apple's silver boxes in small workgroups. www.infoworld.com Here are some new DVD releases across the Causeway at your favorite DVD shops. The following DVDs were released April 26, 2008. Buy at your own risk:
WHO SAYS FILIPINAS DON'T WANT TO WORK IN $HEEP CITY, $INGAPORE? Recent reports in the nation-builder press that Filipinas are not coming to $ingapore and going elsewhere to work are not altogether true. It is one-half of the whole story. The Philippine embassy in $heep City has said trafficking of Filipinas in $ingapore "continues unabated." The embassy's admission came six month after INQUIRER.net first reported the sharp increase in the number of prostitutes in the island-state says a new report Apr 28, 2008. The warning came in the wake of meetings between the Philippine embassy, Ambassador Steven Steiner of the United States Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, and officials from the Philippine Presidential Task Force on Human Trafficking, who went to $ingapore to assess the situation there. The increased incidence of trafficking of Asian women, including Filipinas, to $ingapore prompted the U.S. State Department to downgrade the city-state's rating from Tier 1 in 2006 to Tier 2 this year. Philippine Ambassador to $ingapore Belen Fule-Anota said Filipinas who want to work overseas must scrutinize their recruiters in the Philippines well and ensure they have valid contracts before leaving the country. She also advised jobseekers to have their contracts duly verified by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) "before packing their bags for $ingapore." In a report submitted to the Philippines Dept of Foreign Affairs early this year, the embassy in $ingapore noted "an alarming increase" of 70 per cent in human trafficking cases from 125 in 2006 to 212 in 2007. There were only 59 recorded cases in 2005. Of the 212 human trafficking victims in 2007, a total of 57, or 27 per cent, admitted to either having engaged in prostitution or being coerced by their Filipino and $ingaporean handlers to prostitute themselves. Of the 57 victims, 39 were pub workers, 15 worked in escort service, while three were pick-up girls. The embassy culled data from individual interviews, recorded statements, and affidavits of victims who reported to the embassy in 2007. The number is believed understated. Click
here for the report. LOST MY HEAD Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft. Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings. Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure. "You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings... You see them covered in marks after being beaten," Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Apr 22. "But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it'," the police chief said. http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2319603620080423 In $ingapore,
if you are labelled a terrorist, that's it. You can be locked up forever
without trial. And nobody will speak up for you. See item below.
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Madonna,
soon to be renamed the smiling Virgin, is reported to be receiving payment
of £7.5million to play a one-off show in Dubai this autumn. Looks like
all the rich and famous in Asia and the Middle East will be heading to
Dubai in September. Better than watching F-1 in the dark in a city of
$heep. Starbucks
on Thursday (April 24) took a major step back from its music and book
business by handing over day-to-day management of its year-old music label
to Concord Music Group, reports Reuters, as it strives to contain costs
and rejuvenate its coffee shop business. The restructuring of Starbucks
Entertainment comes a little more than a year after the company unveiled
its Hear Music label with great fanfare. Paul McCartney was the first
artist to release an album under the Hear Music label, which has since
also released CDs by Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, among others. Senior Whitehall figures are to be held personally responsible if their department loses or mishandles personal information, under a range of measures designed to increase data security. Officials
across the public sector, including permanent secretaries and chief executives
of NHS trusts, are to be forced to take data protection "much more seriously"
under proposals due to be laid out by Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary.
NO ONE TO BLAME IN $HEEP CITY'S "LOST TERRORIST" EPISODE Speaking in Parliament, Prime Minister General Lee Hsien Loong acknowledged that Muslim terror suspect Mas Selamat Kastari's being missing from a detention center should never have happened. "We must admit our mistakes openly and honestly, put them right, and act against those who have been culpable," General Lee said. But General Lee said he remained confident in Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, as well as the top management of Wong's ministry, whom the leader said were not to blame. Wong is also a deputy prime minister. "I am satisfied that the ministry has taken the correct remedial and disciplinary action, and that the minister and top management were not to blame for what has happened," General Lee said. General Lee
said he understood that the government had to be accountable to its citizens
for mistakes that happen, but urged the public against overreacting. "I
think it's true that Singaporeans have very high expectations of their
government and therefore whenever there's a lapse, they take it very seriously,"
he said. "But the last thing we need is a witch hunt which would damage
and demoralize our intelligence and security agencies." Actor Wesley
Snipes was sentenced to 36 months in prison April 24, the maximum sentence
allowed. Snipes was convicted of three charges for not filing his taxes.
During the sentencing, Snipes apologized: "I asked this court to show
me mercy and the opportunity to set things right. This will never happen
again. I am very sorry for my mistakes or my errors." Prosecutors sought
the maximum sentence to deter others from attempting to avoid tax payments.
"We think it sends a real message," U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill said.
"Again you have to pay your taxes. If you dispute the taxes you owe, contact
the IRS and go through the formal process. To continually just say, 'I
don't owe taxes, you must show me why I owe taxes,' it seemed his position
was ludicrous." The message is clear, you have to pay for your mistakes.
Snipes should take up citizen $heep in $ingapore when he gets out of jail. Soaring food prices are a "massacre" of the world's poor and are creating a global nutritional crisis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Apr 22 in Caracas, calling it a sign that capitalism is in decline. "It is a true massacre what is happening in the world," Chavez said in a televised speech, citing U.N. statistics about deaths caused by hunger and malnourishment. "The problem
is not the production of food... it is the economic, social and political
model of the world. The capitalist model is in crisis." Hugo Chavez has
won popular support by subsidizing food for the OPEC nation's poor majority.
Globalisation has been blamed for disrupting traditional agriculture in
underdeveloped countries forcing them away from food self-sufficiency. ================ LAST YEAR WE SAID "When the price of one barrel of oil hits US$100, prepare to change your lifestyle. Get ready for Hell." THE RECESSION IS HERE. The price of oil this week is US$118.69 a barrel.
If made America's
first woman president, candidate Hillary Clinton has said she is prepared
to "totally obliterate" Iran if it launched a nuclear strike against Israel.
Clinton's comments, made in an interview with ABC's Good Morning America,
come on the day her campaign to be America's first female President faced
a tough battle for votes in Pennsylvania which she has won. Message understood. After the bundling out of former CentCom head Navy Admiral William Fallon, whom many have described as being against another war in the Middle-East, the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has recommended the top military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, to replace Fallon. Adm Fallon, who stepped down in March, reportedly split with President George W Bush over his policy on Iran. General Pet's controversial "surge" of an additional 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq has been claimed by the White House to have worked.
================ PUBLIC DISTRUST OF RECORD COMPANIES RISE New research has suggested that public trust of the music industry has fallen dramatically over the past year. PR agency Endelman found that only 31 per cent of people polled in a new research study said they trusted the music industry. A year ago the figure was 47 per cent. The company found that 46 per cent of those polled (who were aged between 18 and 34) said that they would ignore a music company's advertising and marketing campaigns, reports The Guardian. The figures
come after recent moves by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to
clamp down on illegal downloaders. The body has suggested that people
who illegally download persistently should have their internet connections
severed.
Any organization reaching a major anniversary would be proud of its history, with press releases, interviews and celebration. The IFPI hasn't said anything about reaching its 75th birthday in 2008. Instead, one of their staff has edited their Wikipedia page to keep their roots a secret. So what exactly do they want to hide? In 1933, the phonographic industry held a congress in Rome, Italy, to form an international federation. The fact that Italy had been a fascist dictatorship for 11 years under Benito Mussolini, wasn't something that bothered them. Eventually agreement was reached where record companies were seen as legitimate rights holders alongside musicians who created the music. - Enigmax Full article
here. We have previously ran two feature stories on the BigO site detailing the Sound Exchange's problem - that they are authorised to collect royalties on behalf of musicians but have difficulty distributing that wealth to the musicians. Keith Gordon has written an update at About.com:Blues that Sound Exchange have not paid many blues musicians. Among them are Blind Willie Johnson, Brownie McGhee, Freddy King and J.B. Hutto just to name four from a long list of renowned bluesmen. We reckoned
the RIAA created Sound Exchange can surely pour some of its resources
into organising themselves to track down these artists. It cannot be that
difficult. If they don't behave, Sound Exchange and the RIAA will surely
give the impression that they only care about collecting royalties, not
sharing them. - www.rockrap.com David Byrne
is talking about a new collaboration with Brian Eno after 30 years. The
pair recorded My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts back then. "Brian had written
a lot of music but needed some words, which I know how to do," Byrne explained
to the New York Daily News. "What's it sound like? Electronic gospel.
That's all I'm saying." It has been
revealed that Elvis did visit London back in 1958. One of his contemporaries,
Tommy Steele, has given a note to the Daily Mail that he had sworn "never
to divulge publicly" any information about Presley's visit. "I can
only hope he [Presley] can forgive me," Steele added. Steele's secret
was revealed earlier this week by theatre producer Bill Kenwright who
made the revelation during an interview with BBC Radio 2's Ken Bruce.
According to Kenwright, Steele told him that Elvis had taken in the
Houses of Parliament on his tour. Strangely, Elvis has never mentioned
any trip to London.
THE DAY THE DOLLAR FELL In the '50s, you would live through a whole slew of A-Bomb movies with titles such as The Beginning of the End. Now, in the 21st Century, science fiction has become more real. The films become semi-documentaries, in fact, most of the characters are real people. In The Day The Dollar Fell (2005), VPRO Backlight got Economic journalist Maarten Schinkel, financial editor of the Dutch national newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, to paint a 24-hour scenario of the chaos that would ensue once the dollar collapses. Guess what? It all begins in $ingapore when large sums of the US dollar are sold off. As other world stock markets wake up, the panic begins when the dollar value plunges further. There are panic runs on the banks. Ships cannot dock as there is no money to pay for the facilities. Airlines cancel flights as they fear that their planes would be impounded in another country against loans that are unpaid. Meanwhile, the OPEC countries pledge to maintain oil supply only if the Euro replaces the dollar as the currency of trade. The film's thesis is predicated on the idea that if the US spends three billion dollars a day to prop up its over-extended economy, then the bottom will fall out of the barrel at any moment. Other real life personalities interviewed in this 50-min film are investment guru, Peter Schiff, Morgan Stanley's Chief Economist, Stephen Roach and then Hongkong bank analyst Andy Xie. Schinkel is also a music composer and has authored the novel, Three. Two years old now but it's all happening as we speak... You can download the documentary here.
Here are some new DVD releases across the Causeway at your favorite DVD shops. The following DVDs were released April 19, 2008. Buy at your own risk:
MOVE TO LEGALISE PROSTITUTION IN LAS VEGAS
Nevada is the only state in the U.S. that allows legal prostitution, but in its largest city, Las Vegas, prostitution is illegal. When the mayor suggested changing the law, it sparked a huge debate. Mayor Oscar Goodman grabs the headlines whatever he says or does - and he relishes it. He is proud of Las Vegas' image as "Sin City" and happily calls it "an adult playground". Las Vegas is the gambling capital of the U.S. "It's disingenuous when people say they don't want to legalise it," says Mr Goodman. "Right now it's uncontrolled and unregulated. There's no check and balance as far as the women's health is concerned and legal brothels could be an important revenue-raising device for the city," says Mr Goodman. "When you speak about it intellectually, not morally, it makes sense," he says. "If we had a referendum or ballot on legal brothels, it would probably pass." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/7350146.stm $ingaporeans can hardly wait to have legalised prostitution in $heep City. Recently, a number of young and old men were in hospital as a result of consuming a sex drug that was sold illegally. This drug was cheaper than viagra and sold in $ingapore's notorious red light district. Once the two casinos open in $ingapore, expect to see the sex trade explode. And then listen to the pragmatic argument for legalising prostitution - "a revenue-raising device for" $heep City. "It is estimated that there are as many as 10,000 prostitutes operating illegally in Las Vegas, in an industry that may be worth as much as US$6 billion a year," says the BBC report. You can hear the PAP leadership licking their lips. Everyone, a congenital pragmatist. No PAP member has campaigned against the casino. Why? Read more below...
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POPE COMFORTS 6 SEX ABUSE VICTIMS IN SECRET Pope Benedict
XVI, in a dramatic surprise, held an emotional meeting on Thursday with
six victims of sexual abuse by priests, consoling them and promising them
his prayers. The 25-minute meeting, believed to be the first time a pope
has met with victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, took place
in the chapel of the Vatican's embassy and was kept secret until after
it was over. - Reuters In Boston alone, there are 1,000 victims of sexual molests by priests. The pope's friend president George W Bush has also declined to attend any memorials for fallen U.S. soldiers in the Iraq Invasion but he has held a few private meetings with families of the bereaved. See item
MEET THE CRUSADERS below. In 2005, a Texas lawsuit on a Catholic priest's alleged abuse of three boys named Pope Benedict XVI as a defendent. Here's the story: "Lawyers for Pope Benedict XVI have asked U.S. President George W. Bush to declare the pontiff immune from liability in a lawsuit that accuses him of conspiring to cover up the molestation of three boys by a seminarian in Texas, court records show. "The Vatican's embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic memo to the State Department on May 20 requesting the US government grant the pope immunity because he is a head of state, according to a May 26 motion submitted by the pope's lawyers in US District Court for the Southern Division of Texas in Houston. "Joseph Ratzinger is named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit. Now Benedict XVI, he's accused of conspiring with the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to cover up the abuse during the mid-1990s. "The three boys, identified in court documents as John Does I, II and III, allege that a Colombian-born seminarian on assignment at St. Francis de Sales church in Houston, Juan Carlos Patino-Arango, molested them during counselling sessions in the church in the mid-1990s. "Attorney Daniel Shea, who is representing one of the three boys in the civil suit, said in a telephone interview that then-Cardinal Ratzinger, who headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [the new name for The Inquisition] before becoming pope, was involved in a conspiracy to hide Patino-Arango's crimes and to help him escape prosecution. "In the lawsuit, Shea cited a May 18, 2001, letter from Ratzinger, written in Latin to bishops around the world, explaining that "grave" crimes such as the sexual abuse of minors would be handled by his congregation. The proceedings of special church tribunals handling the cases were subject to "pontifical secret," Ratzinger's letter says. "Ratzinger's involvement arises out of this letter, which demonstrates the clear intent to conceal the crimes involved," Shea said. Not only is the pope "infallible", he is above the law. Full story
here. A new documentary by Ben Stein, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, has used the novel way of including John Lennon's Imagine ["imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try"] without permission to create hype for the film which opens in the U.S. today. Media reports have all responded by giving this documentary free publicity citing its use without Yoko Ono's permission. The film is about how U.S. schools have not allowed the alternative "creationist" theory of life versus Darwin's evolutionary theory which is the one taught. The film did apply and received permission from The Killers to include their song All These Things That I've Done. Even if they didn't, it would not have attracted as much media attention. To paraphrase the Buddha, "of what good is it to you to have this knowledge?" Knowledge without wisdom is as empty as wisdom without compassion.
HARDCORE MM SOLD A 15-minute film of Marilyn Monroe engaging in oral sex with an unidentified man will be kept from public view by a New York businessman who has bought it for US$1.5 million, the broker of the deal said April 14. Memorabilia collector Keya Morgan said he recently arranged the sale of the silent, black-and-white film from the son of a dead FBI informant who possessed it to a wealthy Manhattan businessman who wants to protect Monroe's privacy. 'The gentleman who bought it said out of respect for Marilyn he's not going to make a joke of it and put it on the Internet and try to exploit her,' said Keya Morgan. 'That's not his intention and I would never get my name involved if that were to happen.' Monroe is clothed and the man's head remains out of the frame for the entire 15 minutes of the film, said Morgan, who watched it. Monroe was rumored to have had an affair with U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and Morgan said then FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, a Kennedy rival, went to great lengths to try to prove it was Kennedy in the film." There are
heavily redacted, declassified FBI documents talking about a "French-type"
film. They state the informant "exhibited [to agents] a motion picture
which depicted deceased actress Marilyn Monroe committing a perverted
act upon a unknown male," Morgan said. Cunning linguistics by the FBI.
MM could have started the CFNM [clothed female naked male] craze. Mobile phones, iPods and other consumer devices may soon be able to hold a hundred times more information than they do. Scientists at IBM say they have developed a new type of digital storage which would enable a device such as an MP3 player to store about half a million songs, or 3,500 films, and cost far less to produce. In a paper published in the current issue of Science, a team at the company's research centre in San Jose, California, said that devices which use the new technology would require much less power, would run on a single battery charge for "weeks at a time", and would last for decades. So-called 'racetrack' memory uses the 'spin' of an electron to store data, and can operate far more quickly than regular hard drives. Like flash memory, it has no moving parts, meaning that the problems associated with mechanical reliability are dramatically reduced. Unlike flash, however, it can "write data," or store information, extremely quickly, and does not have the 'wear out' mechanism that means flash memory drives can only be used a few thousand times before they wear out... timesonline.co.uk To be creative, you start with having an idea. You won't find creative technology in $heep City, only $heep and masters.
VENEZUELA TAXES OIL PROFITS, MAKES US$9 BILLION A YEAR FOR THE POOR Venezuela's parliament passed a law obliging oil companies to give windfall earnings to the government when world prices are above US$70 a barrel, a legislator said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said the new law would bring in an estimated US$9 billion annually at today's prices. President Hugo Chavez, who has for years squeezed more revenue from oil companies operating in the OPEC nation and nationalized all foreign-run oil fields, wants the funds to be spent immediately on social programs. The new law comes into effect this week. The government will take in about 92 cents for every extra dollar when world prices are above $70 a barrel and then 97 cents when they are above $100 a barrel, his oil minister, Rafael Ramirez told reporters. "Through the concept of this tax, there's going to be income around $9 billion. That's $770 million a month and an average of $150-$200 million a week." Ramirez said after explaining the law to Congress before it was passed. Chavez's
new move against oil companies is part of a worldwide trend where oil-producing
nations have sought to extract more revenue from foreign companies who
are benefiting from high prices. LAST YEAR WE SAID "When the price of one barrel of oil hits US$100, prepare to change your lifestyle. Get ready for Hell." THE RECESSION IS HERE. The price of oil this week is US$115.54 a barrel.
HISTORIANS PASS JUDGEMENT President Bush often argues that history will vindicate him. So he can't be pleased with an informal survey of 109 professional historians conducted by the History News Network. It found that 98 percent of them believe that Bush's presidency has been a failure, while only about 2 percent see it as a success. Not only that, more than 61 percent of the historians say the current presidency is the worst in American history. In 2004, only 11.6 percent of the historians rated Bush's presidency in last place. Among the reasons given for his low ratings: invading Iraq, "tax breaks for the rich," and alienating many nations around the world. Bush supporters counter that professional historians today tend to be liberal and that it's too early to assess how his policies will turn out... U.S News & World Report
THE BOSS BACKS OBAMA With the Pennsylvania democratic primaries days away, Bruce Springsteen has thrown his endorsement into the ring, backing presidential hopeful Barack Obama. In a signed message on his official website, Springsteen said "Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest. He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit." Barack Obama
spent his teenage years as a student in Jakarta, Indonesia. As far as
we know, he has never studied in $heep City, $ingapore. Lucky bugger.
MEET THE CRUSADERS When the man who is god's representative on Earth and who is infallible landed on U.S. soil, President George W Bush was on hand to greet Pope Benedict XVI, aka Ratzinger. The pope made clear he was not interested in meeting any of the victims of sexual abuse by an estimated 5,000 Catholic priests. The Holy Roman Catholic church has so far paid US$2 BILLION to settle lawsuits from abuse victims. U.S. president Bush is the man who led the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. The ongoing war is estimated to have killed more than a million Iraqis and so far cost the American public in excess of US$3 TRILLION. Sex thrills,
men kill.
DELIVER US FROM EVIL The most interesting fact in the documentary on Roman Catholic priests who sexually abuse children comes near the end when director Amy Berg flashes two brief paragraphs that suggest how high up the scandal seems to have touched. It said: "Pope Benedict XVI was accused of conspiracy to cover up sexual abuses in the US. "At the Vatican's request, President Bush granted the pope immunity from prosecution." Deliver Us From Evil is about three former victims and their families who appear on screen to be interviewed on what must have been a tragic, traumatic event. The film was named Best Documentary Feature at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival. Click here
to order the movie. The occupation of Iraq will cost US$3 trillion, America's most expensive conflict since WWII. Can YOU spend that money better? Here's your chance to go on a virtual $3 trillion shopping spree and prove it! Browse our online store, fill up your cart, click the checkout button, and send virtual gifts to everyone you know. A private
island fortress? Healthcare for all? Anything you can imagine, and if
you can't find it, add it yourself! ================ Amy Winehouse
and Mark Ronson are working on the theme song for the next Bond movie,
Quantum of Solace. The film is due in the UK on Oct 13. If you missed
Casino Royale [the previous Bond film], you didn't miss much. Barely disguised
as The Foxboro Hot Tubs - the current alias of Green Day - the punk-ish
trio have made six new tracks available to download from Foxborohottubsdownload.com/.
It's not for free mind you. The six songs - 'Side B' from their EP, 'Stop
Drop And Roll!!! - are available to download for US$5.49 (£3) now. The
band are now expected to release album, also titled 'Stop Drop And Roll!!!,
on vinyl and CD next month after it briefly appeared as a free download
in December last year. The usual torrent sites have these songs up as
well. The best things in life are free. The Zappanale German music festival is being sued by Frank Zappa's widow for £200,000. Gail Zappa believes the Zappanale Festival should pay her the money for the right to use her late husband's name, reports music newsletter CMU. She is also demanding to have a say on which Zappa tribute acts get to play the event, and that the festival logo of Frank Zappa's trademark moustache and goatee be changed and that a statue of him be taken down. Festival
promoters insist they took out a patent on the Zappanale name up to 20
years ago and organisers claim they have the right to use it. The festival
is already £120,000 in debt and organisers do not expect to make a profit.
Jesus' decendents have yet to be paid a cent in royalties for the Bible.
Decendents of his apostles are contesting the claim. Not the most
exciting headline but Sir Paul McCartney has announced he will be touring
in the later part of the year with concerts in the UK, US and Canada and
also down south in Australia. No plans for a visit to $heep City, $ingapore.
NME reports April 11 he hopes to preview new material. Snide remarks suggest
he wants to earn back the money [all of £24 million] he paid for his divorce
settlement. Get back. This news was announced by Ian Woodward in the paper version of the ISIS Newsletter on Wednesday 9 April, 2008. "For some time now, traces of rumour have been accumulating that, between them, suggest Legacy Records will be releasing another in the "Bootleg Series" later this year. In itself, this may not be too surprising but it seems that, like the very first in the "Bootleg Series", this will be a "(rare and unreleased)" issue. This forthcoming album has not yet appeared on the Sony schedules but a September release is anticipated, subject only to the usual unforeseen delays. This is expected to be a double-CD of mainly officially-unreleased studio material that, chronologically speaking, will overlap with the original "Volumes 1-3" release." http://www.bobdylanisis.com/Dylan%20Digest.htm For comparison,
the bootleg label Hollow Horn released Stolen Moments, the infamous Dylan
concert at the Town Hall in New York City on April 12, 1963. Recorded
for a live album, CBS abandoned the project and only bits and pieces have
been officially released on Dylan compilations over the years. Hollow
Horn claims their source is the original master tape and finally complete
as a 2CD set. Out now. For the last few decades, Dub Vendor in Ladbroke Grove has been one of London's most notable reggae institutions. During the '80s, the cramped interior of the original shop, squeezed behind the tube station entrance, was a wondrous cavern of Jamaican pre-release, old school dub and up-to-the minute UK reggae recordings, some of which Vendor's staff had a hand in creating. The friendly, knowledgeable employees often directed me to hidden treasures, furthering my reggae education. And sometimes recording stars would materialise, adding to the authenticity of the experience. In recent years, the shop occupied a larger space across the road, selling CDs, vinyl, and reggae publications. Sad news, then, that the shop is soon to close its doors, yet another quality record store succumbing to the online onslaught of Amazon, Play.com and MP3 downloads, legal or otherwise. And yet there remains no substitute for a visit to a good old, proper record shop, where folks who know music inside-out turn you on to as-yet unknown pleasures. An online trawl will never yield the same result, as MP3 sound samples will never match the visceral experience of hearing music through proper sound systems, which is why surviving London shops like dance specialist Phonica and Soho's cosmopolitan Sounds Of The Universe are so precious. Many internet sites don't respond to email queries, and some virtual vendors are not really familiar with the music they sell, but in a physical shop, the disc hits the turntable and queries are answered instantaneously. Record shops offer additional elements that can never be provided by the internet, such as in-store performances and album launches. Indeed, one of the most memorable gigs I experienced of late was a brilliant solo set by Karsh Kale of Tabla Beat Science in San Francisco's Amoeba Records, just one of the diverse acts featured there weekly. And on April 19th, there will be much more of the same across the UK and USA as independent record stores celebrate Record Shop Day, featuring a cornucopia of special events and in-store appearances to remind the public of the crucially important role record shops play in music's dissemination. And lest we forget, there is also a social aspect to the record shop experience that can never be provided by the internet. Lasting friendships have been formed in record shops, and I even know married couples whose eyes first met over Lovers Rock, A-G. It's all the more reason to get out there and show your support on Record Shop Day; even if you don't come home with the best piece of music you ever heard, who knows? You might just run into the love of your life. - David Katz NOTE:
When $heep City allowed superstores Tower Records and HMV to open in $ingapore
in the '90s, they removed quite a bit of censorship to let pass albums
like The Beatles Sgt Peppers, BANNED in DA $INGAPURA since 1967. Prior
to that, Singapore-owned shops were not allowed to sell such products.
The best indie record store in Singapore at the time, DA DA RECORDS at
Funan Centre, finally gave up and along with its closure went the excellent
and knowledgeable service. This was long before the advent of P2P sharing. We just found
out that the Shelby Lynne vinyl version of Just A Little Lovin' has issues
with the right stereo channel - noise. A second pressing has arrived on
Elusive Disc. His next single, All You Need Is Me, will also include on the b-side a cover of David Bowie's 1973 hit 'Drive-In Saturday'. The release is scheduled for May 19. Morrissey is currently working on a new studio album, set to be released in the autumn. The sax-heavy original in the hands of Morrissey? Worth a listen.
Here are some new DVD releases across the Causeway at your favorite DVD shops. The following DVDs were released April 12, 2008. Buy at your own risk:
MARIAH CAREY HAS NOTHING ON MATHS GENIUS SUFIAH YUSOF Mariah Carey's E=MC2, the new album, has nothing on Maths genius turned hooker Sufiah Yusof who told a British paper how she drives men wild... by reciting EQUATIONS to her clients as they have sex. And the Malaysian beauty defiantly claims that selling her body for up to £1,000 a time provides her with a far more glamorous life than she ever dreamt of when she went to Oxford University aged just 13. "My clients love the fact that I can stimulate their minds AND their bodies," she boasts in an interview with the News of the World. "And I don't believe my education has been wasted - in fact I usually take problem sheets with me to solve before appointments." Now that's hard work. Sufiah, a former child prodigy, works as a £130-an-hour prostitute while studying for a masters in economics. "People think escorting is sleazy and terrible but I don't see it like that," she says. "I've always had a high sex drive - and now I'm getting all the sex I want - and guys are much better in bed with an escort than a girlfriend. "I have men who are thrilled about my passion for mathematics. In fact one made me recite equations while he pleasured me, then I gave him oral sex while he chatted about algebra. It drove him wild." Beat that Mariah. Slide show
here: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/slidecenter/0604_maths/pages/01math12.htm The last time someone in $heep City tried something like this was Annabel Chong who at one time held the world record for 251 intercourses with 70 men under 10 hours. For her effort, the nation-builder press tore into her character and wrote several judgmental articles. She no longer resides in $heep City. Chong like Sufiah has completed tertiary education, graduating from USC. She also came from top schools in $ingapore, Raffles Girls Secondary and Hwa Chong Junior College.
+ + + + + RADIOHEAD - BBC RADIO THEATRE 2008 (ENCORE) Radiohead live at the BBC Theatre (April 1, 2008) was shared on the internet by leex100. Unfortunately the FM broadcast he taped did not include the encore. Now, thanks to paul_b35_uk, readers can enjoy the encore, Faust arp. Click here
to download the track. Bandleader Dave Clark sure took his time to approve the reissue of the DC5's LPs to CD. Lead singer Mike Smith couldn't wait. He died before he could make the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2008. Clark owns the band's master recordings and publishing. After the occasional greatest-hits package in the '70s, Clark waited until 1993 before unleashing the band's catalog on CD. These are long out-of-print and only black market copies out of Eastern Europe are available. In recent years, only a hits package has been available on iTunes. "I will get a package out by the fall," Clark told Billboard, Apr 4, 2008. "I have been approached by three of the majors and a few retailers." Clark says he will lead the relaunch with "The History Of . . .," then move to a single-disc hits album and a spread of studio catalog releases, which number 23 albums in all. Some impatient
fans have taken to the net to share all 23 LPs ripped from either vinyl
or the 1993 CD issues. Clark says his new remastered versions are "pristine"
and remixed by him. Expect to see the new CDs before Christmas. With everyone
and his aunt watching movies on tiny handphone screens or iPods, the aptly
named Microvision Inc., a small Redmond, Wash., company, recently demonstrated
a prototype of its tiny projector that can capture your handphone movies
and project them on a wall, table cloth screen or any other large surface.
The Pico projectors are small enough to carry in your shirt pockets and
can project an image that is 6ft when measured diagonally, if the projector
is set 6ft away from the wall. It is said to have an impressive image
as sharp as a DVD. The company hopes battery life can stretch up to two
and a half hours by the time the product streets before Christmas. This
is real creative technology. For a US$1 MILLION grant, a Chinese scientist, Prof Min Gu, is leading a team of researchers at Swinburne University of Technology's Centre for Micro-Photonics to use nano technology to make a disc that can store the equivalent of 200,000 DVDs. It will have 20,000 times more capacity than a Blu-ray disc. The team is three years into its five year project. www.sciencealert.com.au Can we trade one of $heep City, $ingapore's overpaid million-dollar ministers for Prof Min Gu's team? ================
Already out-of-print in Japan where it first appeared late in 2007, SHM CDs are the new audiophile's toy. CDs made with a new material for the surface of the disc that is not polycarbonate plastic. The new SHM CDs use the same material lining LCD screens. It is said to improve transparency and hence offer better sonic resolution. Developed jointly by JVC and Universal Music Japan. They can play on any CD player and are said to rival the more expensive and out-of-print Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs [MFSL] CDs. For a look at titles already released in Japan go here.
THURSTON MOORE ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC A straight-edge
documentary on the National Geographic Channel was narrated by Sonic Youth's
Thurston Moore. Inside Straight Edge, premiered April 9 in the US. |
RADIOHEAD VIDEO AGAINST SLAVERY
WATERS LETS FLY THE PIG
NEW HENDRIX LIVE PERFORMANCE FOUND
DAMON'S 130-MAN ALBUM HAS CHINESE LINK
THE SWITCH TO MACS
MADONNA'S £7.5 MILLION GOLDMINE GIG IN DUBAI
WESLEY SNIPES SORRY WON'T HELP - IT'S 3 YEARS JAIL FOR TAX EVASION
GENERAL PET RECOMMENDED TO LEAD U.S. CENTCOM
DUB VENDOR CLOSES
FINALLY, DAVE CLARK FIVE ON CD
BOB DYLAN'S P