November 25, 2009

PUT THESE IN THE RIGHT ORDER

Time Out put out a list of 50 greatest Animated Films and everyone gets annoyed in the comments. I thought the list was pretty crap myself, but it was nice to see Southpark well up there, cos it is a true epic in scale. Beavis and Butthead do America is pretty shit hot too. The film at no 50 (Heavy Metal- The Movie) I have been trying to get hold of for ages. I was pleased, and surprised to see Fern Gully on the list, which has some really bad 80s music but epic performances from Robin Williams and Tim Curry, with Tim Curry's big song, Toxic Love up there with anything from Fantastia or Dumbo in terms of psychedelia.



My top Animated films?

1. Ratatouille- One of the best films ever made in my opinion- period. If I told you how many times I have seen it I would be embarassed.
2. South park: Bigger, longer Uncut
3. Hunchback of Notre Dame- A surprisingly subversive tale slips out of Disney as they do sometimes, the first scene where the hunchback baby is held over the well was genuinely scary, and the whole story about the evil Churchman being after the free living gypsies was unmistakably Battle of the Beanfield in flavour.
4. 1o1 Dalmations- Again, surprisingly scary- You 'it 'em, I'll skin em! and beautifully sketchy in drawing.
5. Wall- E- prooving the art of animation is still as much of a spiritual quest as it ever has been.
6. Fern Gully
7. Lord of the Rings (Ralph Bakshi 1978) A very artistic rescue of a live action attempt
8. Toy Story
9. America- World Police (Do puppets count?)
10. A toss up between Roger Rabbit and Jurrasic park I reckon. What do you think?

also rans- Beavis and Butthead, Waltz with Bashir, Fantasia, Dumbo etc etc etc I could watch animated films over and over.

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POLICE STOCKTAKING



From Alex Thompsons Snowmail earlier:

POLICE, PUT THE KETTLE OFF?

Is it the end for our cops using their batons against protesters? Possibly so, for two reasons. First, they've been told to lay off the likes of climate change and G20 demonstrators by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Denis O'Connor.

He says in a report that officers risk losing public support if they're seen as aggressive and unfair. Second, the female senior officer put in charge of recent climate demos showed herself to be adept at keeping public order and allowing protests.

She deserves more recognition and we'd like to ask her tonight how she succeeded - but the police won't let her come on.

Curiously the key contentious issue of "kettling" - coralling crowds for hours on end and not letting them disperse until they are utterly bored and exhausted - is not overtly touched upon in this investigation. Odd, because that's the issue which has aroused more debate than probably any other aspect of street disorder policing.

Police methods ‘could erode public support’: http://bit.ly/5qyzOY

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

I went through a phase of consuming everything on Youtube about the Balkan confict. There is a lot of Russian pro-Serb stuff about Kosovo which I took to be the propaganda of Allies. Thanks to Madam Miaow I have read another perspective from John Pilger, which makes NATO out to be the war criminals this time, which is pretty much what the Russian stuff I saw was saying.

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November 23, 2009

Behind The Scenes

Fascinating reporting from behind the scenes in The Telegraph today and The Daily Mail a while ago, which I missed at the time. In The Telegraph Andrew Gilligan details the conflicts between the British and American top brass in Iraq, whilst in the Daily Mail Craig Murray details the path 2007s bumper crop of smack took into Europe.

Hostility between British and American military leaders revealed
Britain is protecting the biggest heroin crop of all time

Also from India, Mumbai terrorist Kasab in his own words
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November 20, 2009

November 18, 2009

MUSA ON TV



He said a lot more than this, and spoke mainly to say that in his opinion, The Quilliam Foundation don't know what they are talking about. I noticed he said

"I have done my time and got out"

when he should have said

"I was held for nine months and found not guilty"!

There has been a bit of press recently about the taps in Hamza's cell and Hamza preaching through the plug hole. Musa reckons this is just prison guards making money out of outlandish stories and he thinks that the drains from the prison within a prison where Hamza is held go in the other direction anyway.

Some of the press goes into much more detail about Fatwahs from Abu Qatada appearing in the Arabic press. One article even elaborates on some sort of code developed by Qatada, Hamza and Abu Doha. I remember a recording of Hamza smuggled out of jail one time reported in the papers. I cant find it online but it sounded genuine. I don't remember that it encouraged terrorism, unless it did so in code of course.

The Prison Service insisted: “There is no proof this recording was made by Hamza and no evidence it was made in prison.”

One report says

...The Ministry of Justice said it had not seen Quilliam's report. The ministry said it was unfortunate Quilliam had not interviewed prison staff as part of its research...

I think Musa, like a lot of Muslims thinks that Quilliam are just trying to justify their budget.

He said the said that the CNN interview was a few minutes out of half an hour, but he wasn't that unhappy with how it came out. I can see that he is on a mission to ready the world for a rehabilitated Atilla, which I think is a good thing. I am not sure that the authorities are ready for the idea at all. I am pretty sure he wont be able to do any media which pretty much fucks up my filming ideas but that is not necessarily a bad thing. He probably could do with being plugged back into family life rather than the oxygen of any more publicity. I am not sure how much more I can say, but I am hoping Musa will drop round and do some more Malung TV soon.

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NO SHIT SHERLOCK



So that was why I kept getting calls from every other fuckin mobile phone provider offering me shit I didn't want. What a surprise. Talk about stating the bleedin obvious. I actually got a call from T-moblie offering me discounts or whatever. I was so pleased it was them and not Orange or whoever, I answered "Yes! Yes! tell me!"

"I can't hear you, can you stop shouting?" came the reply.

"Tell me! Tell me about these amazing offers!"

"Sorry I think this is a bad line."

They hung up.

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November 17, 2009

TEN GRAMS A DAY

'Delusional' warning over club drug

Heavy use of the dance drug Ketamine causes memory loss and can make users "delusional", according to researchers. Users became "dissociated" in their day-to-day lives and struggled to remember names and conversations. Researchers at University College London, also linked the drug - which is known as "Special K" - to depressive symptoms.

During the trial, two out of the group of 30 heavy users, who were taking up to 10g a day, died in ketamine-related accidents. The study said: "This renders them very vulnerable to physical dangers, such as drowning or crossing busy roads without checking for traffic. High doses of the drug, which is used by vets to tranquillise horses, leave users "completely unresponsive" to things going on around them, the scientists said...


Right. My guess would be that anyone doing ten bloody grams a day is doing what I call "English Ketamine". Stuff which has been powdered a long time ago and only has a very mild ketamine like effect, hence having to do ten grams. The only people I have met in this country who take stupid amounts of K don't even know what the real effect of freshly evaporated K is. They are delusional.

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November 13, 2009

ART


There is an exhibition of the work of Paul Day at Plus One Gallery (plusonegallery.com or click on image for more of Paul Days work)

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November 11, 2009

LINKAGE

Was just chatting with some of these people on facebook. Lots of fascinating stuff which I am bookmarking for myself to read as much as anyone else!

Firstly Nadene Ghouri's account of being under fire whilst trying to teach journalists in Swat,
her PBS reports about the Afghan Police, and in the Guardian here.

Also Connor Foley's Afghan stories about rebuilding Afghan pride, the work of Rory Stewart, Aid problems in Afghanistan, and UN peacekeeping.

I've read most of this, and will catch up with the rest when I have more time.

The most depressing thing I heard in this conversation was that the Taliban were in the Kallash valleys. I've written a bit here about my experiences with them, and how they were culturaly suppressed by the dominant Muslim culture over there when I found them in 2000. Under the Taliban this could only be worse. It's really sick to imagine war in a place so beautiful. I'm really worried.

also on Yahoo news- an article about American wounded
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AND NOW FOR SOME MUSIC

November 09, 2009

Dobbins Revenge on David Nutt



This is the story of the fall of a once proud stallion- all because of the vicious lies of one PROFESSOR NUTT who claimed that horse riding was more dangerous than ecstasy. The guy talking to Dobbins said he "was allowed to ask him to leave" as he was organising the protest. Dobbins later told us that he thought that was legally dubious but he danced away from the guy just in case he became dangerous.

He wasn't that fazed though, saying

"I've met much more serious nutters than him on the dance floor!"

BBC,The Sun (who owe me money)...

Support Professor Nutt Facebook page

Students for Sensible Drugs Policy

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November 04, 2009

HIP HOP REPUBLICANS

This is a Republican attempt to recruit Black voters
via Rightwingsparkle here

November 03, 2009

Domestic Extremism

I DON'T BELIEVE IT

The government being brought low over the truth about drugs being brought to them by a "Professor Nutt"? I thought I had been smoking. Wierdest thing is the Daily Mail website- complete with comments supporting the Prof going up, and comments against him (in favour of the Home Secretary) going down. What the fuck is happening?

"Politicians think that they know the facts but scientists know the facts."

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November 02, 2009

MORE JENVEY

Glen Jenvey says he was faking being a Muslim for a book.

ATILLA IN THE NEWS


A jailed hate preacher has begged to be deported when he is freed - to sever all ties with his old extremist pals.

Atilla Ahmet, 45, says he now shuns terror, despite once hailing the 7/7 blasts and urging the Taliban to bomb Britain. The cleric, an ex-minder of hookhanded Abu Hamza, has asked the Home Office to scrap his UK citizenship and send him to Turkish Cyprus, his parents' country. He is serving seven years for soliciting murder but says he is "deeply ashamed" of his past and has apologised to terror victims.

Brother Musa said: "Atilla doesn't mix with extremists any more and wants to go to Cyprus and keep his head down. He's sorry about what he did and things he said.

"He has a spotless record in jail but fears that the authorities will put him back inside as soon as he is freed."

The dad-of-four, an ex-bouncer and soccer coach, was jailed in March last year. He is likely to be freed from Woodhill jail, Bucks, in February - halfway through his term, including time on remand.

In 2005, a Mirror probe caught Ahmet, of Hither Green, South East London, sneering at "filthy unbelievers" and calling the UK "the front line". He later called 9/11 a "deserved punch on the nose".

He was a key figure in a terror recruitment cell and urged Muslims to commit atrocities.

He was seized in 2006 and admitted three charges.



Also: Freed terror fanatics should be treated 'nicely' says leaked papers

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