More Fighting Talk...

from Inspector Gadgets blog:

Metcountymounty-

‎...Even with force mobilisation we would have had a problem clearing it, it would have been brilliant but messy, and no good news would come out of it. Back to the days of mass raves now, they’ve tried and won, and we’re now screwed....

This was his response to being present at the Scumoween Rave over the weekend reported in the paper.

Rave hordes in 18-hour spree of destruction at former Royal Mail depot in central London

Illegal Holborn Rave Was A Smokers’ Revolution And Against State Control

I used to read Metcountymounty's blog and I must admit I was disappointed when he stopped blogging. I am very much in favour of Police blogs. It is a sort of accountability which is more realistic than press releases or "on high" officers with no direct experience of what they are talking about making measured statements which mean fuck all.

What's not been mentioned-

This was the third time this building has been partied, there may have been more. The idea that anyone could do any more damage to it isn't very credible.

I've heard various stories of what happened. The ITN piece about raves "coming back" was hilarious.



I think this was the fifth scumtek over the last couple of years, with over thirty rigs at each. Not really my scene. Obviously this one was reported cos it was in the West End and because there was trouble for a while. My band were playing at a fairly large squat party in a slightly more secluded place elsewhere in London.

I make no comment on what I didn't personally witness but I will say-

The sort of squat parties we get booked at charge a fair bit of money and attract a different crowd. They also put a load more money into decor and sound equipment but they are about the same size as skumtek. They are basically everything you could ask for from a professional nightclub (except for bloody toilets) with security who can look after security rather than having to steal peoples drugs from them to give to the council. They never ever have any problem with the Police because they talk to them in a polite and professional manner.

I used to do some of the more hairier Hackney parties where I used to specialise in talking to the cops to convince them not to bust us. I think I might have written about them somewhere. It was just such a damn interesting cultural barrier to cross at whatever level of inebriation I was on at the time.

(Just found one- see POLICE OFFICER NO GIVE ME PRODUCER)

There are loads of comments about the Police throughout this blog.

...Back to the days of mass raves now, they’ve tried and won, and we’re now screwed....

I am sorry Metcountymounty feels this way. For one thing, what is "back to the days"? When have mass raved ever stopped? We have been playing at raves of between 2 and 4 thousand people for years now with no trouble from or given to the Police. How are they screwed? They make the same decisions every weekend all over London. If they get to a party which is setting up they can bust it and stop it. If the building already has thousands of people out of their heads inside, its better to leave it and do what needs doing on Saturday night surely.

See ITS THE SMOKE- the last one a couple of weeks back including a picture of a lone Policeman being taken for a tour of the venue as everything was winding down. I sat eating chips with the TSG in Camden one time when they inexplicably bust the trance party next door and left ours alone.

I am sorry Metcountymounty is so enthusiastic to fight with people. He sounds just like some squatters I used to know.

More interesting comments from Metcountymounty

...What pisses me off is the fact that they had the gall to do it in central london, in the middle of a high residential population KNOWING that our spineless as fuck bosses would ultimately let them. They KNOW that the media hate us and will slate us no matter what, they KNOW that most of the population who will speak up are left wing pussies who will take any opportunity to have a go at us and they KNOW that ultimately they will get away with it....

Obviously I am hoping Scumtek hasn't Castle Mortoned our ventures in London. I am not in favour of rubbing "their" nose in it just because you can. That's how the CJB came about. Wake up. We are a minority. They don't understand us. I don't buy any of this shit about "parties should be free" either. in my experience the people who used to shout this the loudest used to make shit loads from selling drugs.

another retired officer-

..All sounds like a return to the 90′s when I was on the TSG, spent innumerable lare turn commissioner’s reserves dealing with raves and pay parties. Must say though, that the illegal S&M rave in an archway under the railway bridge in Brick La...ne in Bethnal Green was more than compensation for all the aggro. I’ve never seen so many females in leather and rubber in one place in my life…..

The Policeman is right. I was at this party and it was amazing. I forget who the people who organised it were but it's a real shame they don't do stuff any more as they were seriously forward thinking people.

Reality check for anyone who is interested- Why am I against parties in legal venues? A certain huge South London venue which was recently closed down used to have to pass the council a box full of drugs to the value of x pounds every month to keep their license. Do you think they collected this amount of drugs on hardcore drum and bass nights or fluffy trance nights? I got totally sick of getting into a frame of mind where I was enjoying myself and causing no harm to anyone and then suddenly seeing the person next to me assaulted by wankers wearing black. I voted with my feet along with everyone else.

I take a very dim view of causing the Police problems on Saturday night when they have serious stuff to attend to, the law is not their fault and I have no influence on how they enforce it. We just do what we do. My interest is in understanding why we do it.

More on the spot footage from Skum'oween break in



UPDATE: Police bust party as it is setting up. Cheers Scum'oween! Nice one guys! Any more bright ideas?
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INFINITY

I don't know how many more times Channel 4 can make documentaries like this with the same decriminalization message over and over, but I am glad they do.

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TALES OF CASTRO

This is a bit of a "Story behind the song"

THE FOG OF WAR

Castro was in the bathroom, hiding from his wife and doing a line of heroin. I was on the phone to Nippon TV.

“Do you speak English?”

“Hai,” said a female voice.

That was what they all said. She was the third tier of secretary-receptionist and I had already been on the phone for twenty minutes. They all knew how to speak English, but then didn’t. “Well, ah… Could I speak to Mr Kurosawa, please? The international news editor?”

Some rapid-fire Japanese. Then: “Kurosawa-san? You like to speak to Mr Kurosawa-san?” The incredulity in her tone of voice conveyed the idea that Mr Kurosawa-san was an incredibly important man and one quite simply couldn’t call up like this out of the blue and expect to speak to him.

She put me through to a lady called Yui instead, and I started on the same story I had already told ABC, NBC, Sky, BBC, ABC (Australia), TVE, TV France, Doordarshan and God knows who else. Castro and I had been working the phone in shifts from his kitchen without stopping for 24 hours.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the overall military commander of the Talibn was killed yesterday. We have a video interview, the first one he gave specifically directed at a Western audience. It was recorded 24 hours before he died. Might you be interested?”

The Japanese bought it, too.

A week earlier, I had dropped in on Castro because he had called me up, asking for a favour. I was sick, sick, sick. I hadn’t taken any heroin for two months..

(to read more)
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EXTREME MAH JONG

Middle-aged Shanghai residents are turning to ketamine, cocaine and methamphetamine to sustain them through marathon sessions of mahjong and cards, a state newspaper has warned...

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TESTING TESTING

Nothing new to report as yet, still sorting out the technology :-)

Found some interesting links-

a Jamaican article about Sheikh Faisal being deported from Kenya

and an article in the Independent US waves white flag in disastrous 'war on drugs'

Also I have just finnished Edna Fernades' Holy Warriors which I thought was a really good book about the Political and religious struggles within India.

Review here

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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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RECLAIM THE BITCH

Well they got that one nailed down no worries. With the Thames festival winding down around it heads with blatant yellow jackets with "Reclaim The Beach" written on the back manhandle sound systems and decks down onto the beach as soon as the tide starts going out and everyone parties till the tide comes back in. No interest whatsoever from the law, a good time had by all and everyone pitching in on clean up duty at the end. Well done to all involved. Listening to all that dancehall at night in a T-shirt almost put me back in Jamaica.

At one point when some friends left and before others arrived I was dancing having a good time and noticing most people were standing around posing and chatting. The only people going for it, and whose vibe I could feel were a couple of kids. I spoke with their mum.

"I know you aren't supposed to take your kids raving, but we were here anyway and they are having such a good time.."

"Yeah," I agreed "It takes the rest of us untold drink and drugs to get to the same level as these guys are at naturally. Its ridiculous".

Things got a bit leary so the mum removed her nippers and I missed them.

Some people were doing balloons of laughing gas, or hippy crack as some call it. I have been experimenting with Holotropic breathwork which has pretty much the same effect, so I got some people to experiment with it to compare the effect, just in case they didn't have to waste their time breathing in N20.

I thought that it would be pretty funny if I have spent the last however many years getting myself in whatever states on whatever pills potions and drinks and all I had to do was breathe in and out really deeply for the same effect.

I haven't done any drugs for almost five months now. I was really surprised there was nothing wrong with my throat after years of bongs, so I didn't immediately restart my habit once I got the all clear. I don't feel any healthier, or in any better state of mind. I play the guitar the same which is nice, as I always thought I needed a bong to play the guitar which I obviously don't, so maybe that is good.

Dealing with friends with mental health problems is making me feel old, and making me feel there are better, more interesting things to do than the same drugs or even new ones. Having the number of the local secure unit on my phone still feels wierd. Old and drug fucked is not a good look, and if I have got away with it, I have got off lightly.

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READING

We have all been watching Derren Brown teach a granny to beat a load of top poker players in a week. He taught her about "tells", how to "read" people and also hypnotised her to trust her instincts. It was pretty amazing to watch. Without learning any tells we had a go at this round the kitchen table tonight with mixed results. If I am not going to be into drugs anymore I think I might have a go at this self hypnosis and auto suggestion stuff for a bit.

I saw a cabaret Hypnotist do this about twenty years ago and I still love it.

I DREAM A DREAM

OK. It is safe now. Panorama's protest piece started by addressing everything I was moaning about, and proceeded through all the relevant questions about Police and FIT squad attitudes to protest. Well done Panorama, I'll shut up now.

Apart from that life is in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment. I may be filming, I may not. I may "get somewhere" filming, I might not. I might just branch off and do something totally different. Sort of same as usual really. I can't complain.

I have just finnished reading The Brotherhood of Eternal Love by two British writers Stewart Tendler and David May (interview here). This is an excellent book which, as David says might be made into a film at some point. I haven't wanted to take acid for a long while now, though I would like to again one day. I am off all drugs for the moment and I have stopped smoking for health reasons. I am avoiding social situations involving alchohol because I don't want them to lead to more cigarettes. I even went running with Mr Camel which was a surprise.

I haven't really made a point of taking a stand politically here because I don't really feel political, though I do feel a bit guilty about that. I assuage this guilt a tiny amount joining in debates over at the excellent Pickled Politics blog where I managed to get myself accused of being racist and of not being racist enough in the comments section of the same post.

I am not really any good at debating. I rarely take it seriously enough and pursue a path of comedic anti-intellectualism which is designed to be more entertaining than productive and probably isn't that entertaining either. Most of the time I find myself butting into the middle of some of the regular commenters long term rows with each other with the same stuff over again, but I like Pickled Politics and I think they are taking a very "live" attitude to the recent BNP gains in the European Parliament. I am glad they are taking it seriously even if I am not. I mean, the far right are no threat are they?

Whilst none of these extremist groups affect my life I hold the same attitude to all of them. I find these controversial utopic views fascinating. I don't know why, but I do.

What else have I been getting into? Oh yes. Lady Gaga at Glastonbury and I don't know why about that either. All her songs sound like the same mediocre Madonna song, but I am not sure which one. She sounds like she is doing a bad impression of Madonna when she sings, but scores a few points for grunginess. She is marginally prettier than Madonna was at her age. I think she will be quite sexy if she gets to forty- yet the whole package, together, I can't help liking, and I was never a Madonna fan though I liked the one with the buring crosses in the video.

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If you have ever wondered...

The Bible mentions four powerful drugs, three that are stronger than LSD. They are wormwood, hemlock, gall and myrrh. None are ever used to induce visions of the Bible God. No prophet of God ever used drugs to speak or listen to God in the Scriptures. Anything that takes away the conscious control of our minds or feelings is a sin against our souls. No one has a right to put himself at the mercy of a chemical that opens the door of the mind to the spirit world outside of Christ's loving protection. No true disciple of Jesus uses drugs. The use of drugs to put us into contact with the spirit world is something that God hates with a holy anger because it brings such deep spiritual damage to the souls He has entrusted to us. It is worth a note to see that Jesus was offered a drug mixture only once in His life - and He refused it....

alternatively:

The Bible does not directly address any form of illicit drug use. There are no express prohibitions against cocaine, heroin, ecstasy (MDMA), or methamphetamines (Meth). There is no mention of marijuana, peyote, magic mushrooms, or acid (LSD). Nothing is said about huffing, snorting, dropping, smoking, shooting, licking, or any other method of ingestion. This is not to say, however, that recreational drug use is permissible. On the contrary, there are several very clear biblical principles that place drug use well outside the realm of acceptable behavior...

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This cost 2.2 million pounds

The first thing that happens when you Talk to Frank about Cannabis? He offers you a virtual spliff.

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BALLS

The soaring rate of testicular cancer in the UK and other Western countries is linked today to the increased popularity of cannabis...

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SNORTED

Doctors and drug workers in Bristol have established a link between the use of Class C drug ketamine and severe bladder and kidney problems.

A BBC investigation for Inside Out West found a rising number of ketamine users in their teens and 20s were admitted to Southmead Hospital over the past year.

Many had to undergo operations - two even needed their bladders removing.

Doctors at the hospital conducted further research and discovered a similar pattern across the UK...

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DECRIMINALIZATION

Cannabis Advice ignored

I wasn't going to blog about this but the news today has tipped me toward exposure. The other day I was cautioned for possession of marijuana. A van load of them stopped us on the way to a gig. A thick Bermondsey girl said she would have to confiscate the minuscule amount she found in my wallet. I suggested she could also give it back to me instead as I wasn't raping anyone, stealing from them or mugging them. This might sound like a long shot. I don't know, it has happened before. I'd say it works- with humans. I also suggested in no uncertain terms that they could all give up trying to make me feel like a criminal as it wasn't going to work.

Three days later, dressed up all nice in my suit off to meet Rachel and Musa for the Quilliam launch round the corner from my house they pounced again. Now I have nothing against the Police in London. I have met a lot of them over the years I was squatting in very difficult circumstances and found them to be OK. Sensible. The ones WHO ARE LOOKING FOR CRIMINALS that is. These ones are like the little misfits from school who tell on people. They aren't looking for criminals because they are scared of them. They are scared they might get hurt. They wear the uniform but they leave the Police work to others.

UPDATE:

Cannabis will be raised to a class B drug with a maximum five year jail term for users, the government said on Wednesday, rejecting a recommendation from its own drugs advisers to leave the classification unchanged.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the decision had been made because of concern, particularly amongst the public, about the "alarming" use of skunk, a stronger strain of the narcotic which now dominates the market.

So make skunk class B. This is really disappointing in the fucking 21st Century.

RELAX

We all need something to help us unwind at the end of the day. You might have a glass of wine, or a joint, or a big, delicious blob of heroin to silence your silly brainbox of its witterings, but there has to be some form of punctuation, or life just seems utterly relentless.

BRAINWASHING EXREMIST IDEOLOGY

Well the brainwashing part anyway. Watch as we all go to hell in a hanging basket. A hanging basket? How many units did it sell? Who did the pitch? I am hooked anyway. You can actually see the brainwashing on their faces and in their reactions to Sir Alan. It is strange. Years and years of training and what good is it actually doing? Anybody? Is it me? What actually is it these people are doing on the screen in front of me? Monkey's walking amongst other monkeys convincing them they want stuff they don't which they are going to go on to other monkeys to....? I've got to remember sometimes that it is me who takes the drugs and not them.

BIG UP ABBIE!!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!

Hofmann was disappointed when his discovery was removed from commercial distribution. He remained convinced that the drug had the potential to counter the psychological problems induced by “materialism, alienation from nature through industrialisation and increasing urbanisation, lack of satisfaction in professional employment in a mechanised, lifeless working world, ennui and purposelessness in wealthy, saturated society, and lack of a religious, nurturing, and meaningful philosophical foundation of life”.

Albert Hofman pictured here with DJ Goa Gill has passed. Good luck on your next trip Abie! I missed an opportunity to go to his 100th birthday party in Basel Switzerland. People who went told me he still took acid sometimes. Do read LSD-My Problem Child here. MAPS project here.

Channel 4 News. I am pretty sure all this stuff about "People jumping out of windows" refers to a fucked up experiment the CIA were doing with one of their staff members, and as for Abie being against people partying with his drug- well what is this?

Anyway I haven't taken any acid for a very long while. It is interesting that the new research is into treating problems of the psyche and post traumatic stress disorder because reliving stress was one of the reasons I stopped taking it. I'd end up walking round in circles talking to myself.

MALUNG TV NEWS

I was watching TV at a friends place last night. I was about to switch it off and switched it over totally by accident to see Rachel and Glen on Newsnight. Abu Izadeen was a favourite radical voice for them over a long time. The show was presented by my favourite brown eyed ex- BBC London presenter who is looking even more sexy as she gets older. She had a right go at Anjum Choudarry who got in his Blair Bush Corporation one liner and is the only one who mysteriously still manages to stay out of the nick somehow.

I'm not sure that I agree with the whole concept of "radicalization" how it is presented here. If the idea that we are totally right and they are totally wrong was true, that "they" have been "brainwashed" by an "evil ideology" we wouldn't be at risk. Continually. I am not sure how I can join in the debate really as it seems so obvious to me but when I tell anyone else they glaze over.

I don't think I met a single person in Finsbury park who appeared to be brainwashed in all the years I used to pop up there. I think the concept of "brainwashing" as it is presented is a serious red herring which will only lead to less understanding and more danger. I wish everyone would get over this whole brainwashing fantasy. No one is brainwashed. Except perhaps the guy at 4.00 they name "Osama" on Newsnight's Al Mujaharoun video he is brainwashed. People should stop with this "swinging pocket watches" fantasy. Now. People believe things. I think certain Koranic verses we all know by now have become alive to a worrying number of Muslims who are reacting to events in the world as they see them. Its not rocket science, I mean they are making the fucking videos. They are telling us really clearly.

Is that a controversial view? I don't know. I'm just selfish. I don't want to be bombed.

via Paula

Ketamine breakthrough in treating depression

the class C drug, which is abused for its hallucinogenic effects, is now being hailed by scientists as a breakthrough treatment for severe depressives.

New research has found that patients who have failed to respond to more conventional drugs can be cured of depression within as little as two hours with an injection of ketamine...

...Ketamine is one of several banned drugs that have been found to have therapeutic benefits. Ecstasy has proved effective for traumatised servicemen who have fought in Iraq, and trials are also taking place involving rape victims who are given the drug to help them to recount their ordeals without triggering anxiety. Scientists have used LSD to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety.

However, mental health charities have reacted with caution to the results of the ketamine trials. The charity Sane points out that many people with mental health problems already self-medicate using illegal drugs, and that not enough is known about their long-term side effects.

People self medicate? No shit. I'd say there was some truth in this. K took away my depression and transported me to a world of euphoria- for at least two hours..

Also LSD testing begins in Switzerland:

Dr. Gasser's study received final approval from the study's Ethics Committee (the Swiss IRB equivalent) on July 12, 2007. The protocol is for a preliminary 12 patient, double-blind design to gather basic information on safety and efficacy for this patient population and to develop a treatment approach. Though there has been substantial prior research with LSD in cancer patients that demonstrated safety and some degree of efficacy, that research was conducted over 35 years ago. For this study to follow modern drug development standards, we must start from scratch and build carefully.

Carefully does it.

JAH RASTAFARI INTERVENES

Anyone with the remotest non conformist tendency may well snigger about this...

EXPERIMENTATION

via Paula


also:

Channel 4: The UN report says the lenient treatment of celebrities is regrettable and sends wrong messages to young people.