It seems so long ago now. But just under five years ago, London’s nightlife found itself at the center of a seismic cultural explosion that still reverberates around the U.K indie-verse today.
As with the psychedelic scene based around the UFO Club in Tottenham Court Road and the punk movement’s Soho HQs The Roxy and The Vortex, it involved a small group of movers’n’shakers taking control of the pop apparatus to create something new, exciting and—whisper it—revolutionary.For a short while the fat-cats of the British music business—a dismal alliance of promoters (tell me, have you ever seen a skinny one?), lazy managers and idea-free labels—were on the back foot, and oh, what pleasure it was to be alive to see it and be involved in it. In its place? A new form of night-time activity, where gigs could take place on a bus, a subway train or even, at one memorable soiree in Regents Park, up a tree, and the old ways—not least the capitalist chicanery of (yawn) advance credit card bookings—could go swing.
Ever since The Stone Roses had attempted to subvert the medium with their gig at Spike Island in 1990—deemed a failure by anyone who hadn’t actually been there—promoters in the U.K had ensured that any free expression amongst bands was brutally clamped down upon. At many venues—not least the once-prestigious The Rock Garden in Covent Garden—young bands were even forced to endure a “pay to play” policy which meant they had to cough up £50 before they could even get on a stage. Worse, it was an unspoken rule that if any band dared go beyond these preset boundaries, there would be hell to pay.
TagCivil Liberties
Terrible idea for so many reasons…
“As Oregonians drive less and demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, it is increasingly important that the state find a new way, other than the gas tax, to finance our transportation system.”
According to the policies he has outlined online, Kulongoski proposes to continue the work of the special task force that came up with and tested the idea of a mileage tax to replace the gas tax. […]
A GPS-based system kept track of the in-state mileage driven by the volunteers. When they bought fuel, a device in their vehicles was read, and they paid 1.2 cents a mile and got a refund of the state gas tax of 24 cents a gallon.
Full Story: Albany Democrat Herald
(via Cryptogon)
Latest update from Rachel Bevilacqua (Rev. Magdalen):
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for all your help so far in fighting to get back and
keep my family together. It’s a little over a year since we finally
moved back into our house in Georgia, our whole family back together.
It’s so wonderful to be together again I can’t describe how good it
feels, and how thankful we are to have been able to have two holidays
together so far without being split up again, even though the court
case started back up in September.Since the first notification of the court case, we’ve come a long way.
I retained Mr. Brian Goewey to represent me, and got permission from
the court to testify by telephone. At the last court appearance,
Judge Punch, who had returned to the case, raised the issue of
inconvenient forum himself, and told the two lawyers to submit papers
about that issue, and he would decide it all in writing. So for the
first time in a while we had no pending court cases, just waiting for
the judge to decide!After several weeks, Judge Punch dismissed the case! I was so excited
I didn’t know what to do, but then my lawyer informed me that it’s
possible to appeal even the dismissal of a case. Jeff has until
January 15 to submit an appeal, so I am counting down the days to find
out whether the case is finally dismissed beyond all recall from the
County of Orleans.I haven’t spoken to Jeff since the decision, so I don’t know what he
will do, but I have to assume he’s going to try his hardest to appeal,
so each day that goes by without a phone call saying there’s an appeal
is a good day. I will write again after the deadline passes and let
you know whether we won!Meanwhile, Mr. Mattingly, the original lawyer who won us the right to
go home in the summer of 2007, but who can’t represent me anymore
because I owe him so much, needs to be paid something before the end
of the year, or he will get in trouble with his partners. I still owe
him $24,000, but he never bothers me about it, and he took off a lot
of other charges to get it down that low.Of course, I have no hopes of raising so much money, but I hope that
if everyone who reads this either sends in a little bit, just $10 or
so, or else forwards this email to someone who might be willing and
able to help, we can make it a good year for Mr. Mattingly after all,
so in the future when some other poor artist needs help, he’ll once
again step up to fight for civil rights, without worrying about a
financial penalty.We already raised $500 for Mr. Mattingly from the Jocko Dome-o
fundraiser in Cleveland, which is so awesome! So many amazing artists
and good friends came together and made some really cool art. You can
read all about it here:http://devodude.com/jocko/jockodomeo.htm
I know the last time I wrote I used a link that wasn’t working for
everyone, so I’ve included this link that is pretty old but seems to
still work (sorry, you have to scroll down almost to the end):http://www.subgenius.com/updates/maghelp.html
Or if you want to just mail Mr. Mattingly a check, or use a card over
the phone, his info is:Christopher S. Mattingly
42 Delaware Ave
Ste 120
Buffalo, NY 14202-3924
(716) 849-1333 ext 351Together, we’ve already come so far. I could never have made it to
where I am today without all of you who have helped me so much
already. Thank you once again for all your help and support, and I
will write again as soon as I find out the final outcome of this long,
long, long case.Thank you!!
Rachel Bevilacqua (Rev. Magdalen)
(Thanks Trevor!)
A Canadian college student majoring in chemistry built himself a home lab – and discovered that trying to do science in your own home quickly leads to accusations of drug-making and terrorism.
Lewis Casey, an 18-year-old in Saskatchewan, had built a small chemistry lab in his family’s garage near the university where he studies. Then two weeks ago, police arrived at his home with a search warrant and based on a quick survey of his lab determined that it was a meth lab. They pulled Casey out of the shower to interrogate him, and then arrested him.
A few days later, police admitted that Casey’s chemistry lab wasn’t a meth lab – but they kept him in jail, claiming that he had some of the materials necessary to produce explosives. Friends and neighbors wrote dozens of letters to the court, testifying that Casey was innocent and merely a student who is really enthusiastic about chemistry.
(Thanks Justin!)
“Back in November, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot measure — called Question 2 — that, on Jan. 2, will turn possession of an ounce or less of marijuana into an offense on par with a traffic violation. Now police and prosecutors are wondering how the heck they’re going to enforce it. Here’s the story from the Boston Globe.
Among the questions enforcers are trying to answer:
- What should police do with people caught with several joints who refuse to identify themselves?
- Will state-run laboratories that test drugs seized in criminal cases continue to do so for small quantities of marijuana?
- Will police chiefs discipline officers who spark up a spliff after work?
- Can a judge summarily revoke the probation of a convicted offender on the basis of a citation for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana?
“I’m not suggesting that officers are doing it,” David F. Capeless, president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, told the Globe. “But what you’re doing, whether it’s officers or other public employees – transportation workers, bus drivers, teachers – you’re removing a disincentive by saying: ‘We won’t be able to do anything to you. You won’t get disciplined for this. It won’t mean your job. It may mean a $100 fine.’
Proponents of the change – including financier George Soros, who spent more than $400,000 in favor of decriminalizing marijuana – said it would ensure that those caught with small quantities would avoid the taint of a criminal record.”
(via WSJ Law Blog)
“Story #1: Over One Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by U.S. Occupation
By Sebastian Kunz, with Danielle Stanton, Tim LeDonne, Kat Pat Crespan, and Heidi LaMoreaux
Sources:
After Downing Street, July 6, 2007
Title: “Is the United States Killing 10,000 Iraqis Every Month? Or Is It More?”
Author: Michael Schwartz
AlterNet, September 17, 2007
Title: “Iraq death toll rivals Rwanda genocide, Cambodian killing fields”
Author: Joshua Holland
Reuters (via AlterNet), January 7, 2008
Title: “Iraq conflict has killed a million, says survey”
Author: Luke Baker
Inter Press Service, March 3, 2008
Title: “Iraq: Not our country to Return to”
Authors: Maki al-Nazzal and Dahr Jamail
Student Researchers: Danielle Stanton, Tim LeDonne, and Kat Pat Crespán
Faculty Evaluator: Heidi LaMoreaux, PhD
Over one million Iraqis have met violent deaths as a result of the 2003 invasion, according to a study conducted by the prestigious British polling group, Opinion Research Business (ORB). These numbers suggest that the invasion and occupation of Iraq rivals the mass killings of the last century—the human toll exceeds the 800,000 to 900,000 believed killed in the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and is approaching the number (1.7 million) who died in Cambodia’s infamous “Killing Fields” during the Khmer Rouge era of the 1970s.
ORB’s research covered fifteen of Iraq’s eighteen provinces. Those not covered include two of Iraq’s more volatile regions—Kerbala and Anbar—and the northern province of Arbil, where local authorities refused them a permit to work. In face-to-face interviews with 2,414 adults, the poll found that more than one in five respondents had had at least one death in their household as a result of the conflict, as opposed to natural cause.
Authors Joshua Holland and Michael Schwartz point out that the dominant narrative on Iraq—that most of the violence against Iraqis is being perpetrated by Iraqis themselves and is not our responsibility—is ill conceived. Interviewers from the Lancet report of October 2006 (Censored 2006, #2) asked Iraqi respondents how their loved ones died. Of deaths for which families were certain of the perpetrator, 56 percent were attributable to US forces or their allies. Schwartz suggests that if a low pro rata share of half the unattributed deaths were caused by US forces, a total of approximately 80 percent of Iraqi deaths are directly US perpetrated.”
(via Green 960. h/t: Heyoka Magazine)
Justin Boland’s latest mad scheme:
The City of Detroit has such an absurdly bad depression on home prices that you can currently buy an apartment building for less than $1000. To begin with, hop on Realtor.com and take a look around Detroit.
Rather than abandoning Detroit, should we be embracing this opportunity to start over? Is there a proven track record of using sustainable development and ecosystem design to raise property values? Are there factories that could be transformed into carbon sinks, community supported farms, bioremediation projects and public parks? Are there blocks that could benefit from permaculture installations?
I disagree with comment about first collecting standards and practices then starting franchises. The way to make these things work isn’t to get everyone to sign-on to one single experiment in one location. It’s to get a lot of concurrent experiments going and sharing information. Not everyone can move to Detroit or is willing to. Other alternatives suggested include Baffalo, NY and St. Louis, MO. I’d have to add Yakima, WA to the list as well.
Also, there’s no reason to re-invent the wheel. Here are people to learn from or team up with:
Bolozone and CAMP in St. Louis. (More on Bolozone)
Ithica Hours, a starting point for looking at Ithica in general.
And of course Justin’s other project Vermontistan, which has some overlap with Second Vermont Republic.
Alone among major Western nations, the United States has refused to sign a declaration presented Thursday at the United Nations calling for worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality.
In all, 66 of the U.N.’s 192 member countries signed the nonbinding declaration — which backers called a historic step to push the General Assembly to deal more forthrightly with any-gay discrimination. More than 70 U.N. members outlaw homosexuality, and in several of them homosexual acts can be punished by execution.
Co-sponsored by France and the Netherlands, the declaration was signed by all 27 European Union members, as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries. There was broad opposition from Muslim nations, and the United States refused to sign, indicating that some parts of the declaration raised legal questions that needed further review.
“It’s disappointing,” said Rama Yade, France’s human rights minister, of the U.S. position — which she described as in contradiction with America’s long tradition as a defender of human rights.
(via Steven Walling)
Parisians covet the honey of their urban terroir, giving the city’s bees prime real estate in the ritzy neighborhoods around the Opéra and Jardin de Luxemborg. London’s bees were recently awarded best in show—their honey came out top in England’s National Honey competition. Stateside, Bay Area bees give San Franciscans one more reason to feel superior to New Yorkers. Even Chicago, hell, even Dallas has bees on top of municipal buildings, including, in Chicago’s case, City Hall.
But in New York, bees are reprobate and illegal. They appear in the City Health Code’s Section 161.01, along with an enormous list of animals “naturally inclined to do harm or capable of inflicting harm,” lumped in with the truly ferocious/impractical—polar bear, cougar, alligator, whale—and a menagerie of the truly obscure. Actively encouraged by almost every other self-respecting cultural capital, the common honey bee, according to Health Department logic, must be banished along with binturongs, sea kraits, coatimundis, numbats and zorilles. Whatever these other animals are, I bet they don’t pollinate much or produce any honey.
KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.
The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster’s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster’s secret mobile office nearby.
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