GLORIOUS

I had almost reconciled myself to the red back spiders, the flies, mosquito’s, snakes and other critters but rats?! God only knows what I am learning from this. All I know for sure is that if MED don’t get rid of the rats I am not living there. No feckin’ way, even if it means I am a wuss. The only thing I can think of as a practical solution apart from rat poison is to rent my neighbours goat to eat the grass right down at the back door. Maybe that will deter them?

Just a sec...

The one second film

OK. You can get this sort of thing in the Toy shop in the UK...
but I'm not sure about this...
via dannychoo

SUFI

via Omegaprojektet

The men attending the mawlid -- a celebration of the birth and life of Muhammad -- sat on colorful rugs, rocking gently back and forth, while the women, on the upper floor watching via a large projection screen, passed around boxes of tissues and wiped tears from their eyes.

The centuries-old mawlid, a mainstay of the more spiritual and often mystic Sufi Islam, was until recently viewed as heretical and banned by Saudi Arabia's official religious establishment, the ultraconservative Wahhabis. But a new atmosphere of increased religious tolerance has spurred a resurgence of Sufism and brought the once-underground Sufis and their rituals out in the open.

Analysts and some Sufis partly credit reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States for the atmosphere that has made the changes possible. When it was discovered that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, the kingdom's strict Wahhabi doctrine -- which had banned all other sects and schools of thought -- came under intense scrutiny from inside and outside the country. The newfound tolerance Sufis have come to enjoy is perhaps one of the most concrete outcomes of that shift.

"This is one of the blessings of September 11. It put the brakes on the [Wahhabi] practice of takfir , excommunicating everyone who didn't exactly follow their creed," said Sayed Habib Adnan, a 33-year-old Sufi teacher. The government "realized that maybe enforcing one religious belief over all others was not such a good idea."

sufi meditation

FUCKING IMMIGRANTS AGAIN

Mexican Border...

These are pictures from the blog of a Mexican friend of mine who has a job doing computer animation in Los Angeles. Adrian lived with us briefly in the squat I posted the news report about. We had quite a few illegal Argentinians, Brazilians, Poles etc. Lovely crowd. I don't think I could live anywhere else in the UK now. Too many English people.

Channel4 News piece about Basra

REPUBLICAN BASTARD WATCH

The evil Dave in Texas has finally got a blog. He's one of those bastid Republicans so go give him some shit here.

Also check out Uncle Jimbo's videoblogs including a great interview with the perma-tan absentee-MP, Galloway himself! (parts2-4 on Uncle Jimbos Youtube page)

Beatbox

CHENEY

spearing Russia while flirting with its even more undemocratic neighbors does confuse the message, to put it mildly, especially when done by a vice president closely identified with oil interests.

THERE'S SNOW GOD

Basra violence as helicopter downed
==============================

Tonight : British forces are in deep trouble in Basra.

A helicopter has been shot down and a number of British airmen killed -
people in the streets cheered as the wreckage burned in a grim
demonstration of how much local hearts and minds have been lost.

In the rioting that followed, Basra police say several more people were
killed and injured, including children. We'll be assessing what has
gone wrong with the local Shia militia who are rejecting their political
leadership and sticking to violence and we'll be asking whether the
British can stem the deterioration before it is time to leave.

snowmails

More:
http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-storypage.jsp?id=1390700

Killing Joke live

Well Killing Joke weren't like I remembered late 80s. They didn't play this track, but played an interesting remix with a girl singing after. They didn't play much that I knew at all and under the influence of magic mushrooms it was very wierd standing in between huge bald headed guys dressed in black. Very weird being at a gig at all.

I was too frightened of the mad mosh pit until the end when a body came flying out for everyone to part and make sure the guy was back on his feet. Controlled violence. Very interesting. Must have been very important in the eighties for people like this. On the bus I blew it with an amazingly beautiful girl who was dying for me to speak to her. I let her fo without saying a word. Its not the first time this has happened on mushrooms, I must have been giving out a glow. I'm still in bits now to be honest. I thought knocking the ganj on the head would sort all this out.Ah well, I'm starting to believe in love again which is good at my age.

Killing Jokes MySpace with 3 tracks

METUBE

I've got quite into Youtube over the last few weeks as you can probably tell. Here is my first effort at uploading. This was the best squat I ever lived in in 10 years or so of squatting. Hampstead heath at one end of the road, Highgate cemetry at the other. We had it for a year and after us it was resquatted twice. I think Camden council have finally done it up now.

Rock on with the Rightwing TV

via Rightwingsparkle, I love this. Powerline delving into some HUGE Mayday protests across America. The first report is sort of "one-sided party line" but the guy on the street is very good. He disagrees but is doing it properly and comprehensively and giving people a chance to explain themselves.

More McGovern

...they will not be able to repeal 18 US Code 2441 (the War Crimes Act of 1996 condemning torture) before going out the door. In addition, potential truth-tellers have become increasingly aware of the seldom-mentioned "Nuremberg obligation" to do what one reasonably can to prevent the commission of international crimes like torture.

By conducting these activities overseas, Bush's lawyers thought they might dodge the U.S. criminal statute. Maybe so. But international sanctions also apply. Will Donald Rumsfeld be able to travel to Europe once he loses his Secret Service protection and that afforded by the office of secretary of defense? Will CIA operatives, like the notorious keystone-cops kidnapping crew in Milan, be able to vacation on the Riviera?

What does this say?

I set my first ever Tarot with playing cards out in the wineglass shape. What does this say?

CARD ONE: The situation at hand. This card can be used to identify the situation, pin point the actual cause or identify the main participant.
3 of hearts:An unwise decision, made in haste and without proper background information.

CARD TWO: This card represents a past problem or situation which is related to the matter at hand.
King of clubs:Represents a very good friend. A lifelong companion, someone who can be trusted and counted on during times of need and sorrow.

CARD THREE: This card forewarns of a problem that can be expected to arise as a direct result of this present situation.
8 of hearts:An event, a celebration, a party/bash..etc. Some sort of ceremony that is already in the works..or is being planned.

CARD FOUR: This card along with (CARD FIVE) represents the past experiences that have caused this situation to come about.
9 of diamonds:Adventure: A move in the hopes of advancement.

CARD FIVE: (see above)
7 of hearts:A card of disappointment. Usually indicates a partner or other person failing to keep their promises. If this card comes up when dealing with some sort of plan, expect that the other person will back out.

CARD SIX: This is what should have been done, or what might have prevented the situation. It’s an important aspect because ,often, there is still time to rectify the situation or follow some of the advice now.
2 of diamonds:A serious love affair, resulting in a marriage or interfering with one depending on surrounding cards.

CARD SEVEN: Used to further identify situation in (CARD SIX)
Queen of hearts: A trusted woman. Someone knowledgeable and faithful. One who always plays fair.

CARD EIGHT: This card along with (CARD NINE), represents the final outcome. Card eight is the outcome without intervention. (No change of plans, nothing out of the ordinary, no extra effort)
3 of clubs:A sign of a second marriage or even a third. Or an engagement with someone, then a marriage with another, after a friendly separation.

CARD NINE: This is the outcome if you get some help from others, or make some changes in your plans, look at all of the other cards to help guide your decision.
4 of hearts:The bachelor or old maid card. This card represent someone who is too fussy in their selection of a partner. Someone who, by their picky nature, is destined to remain alone.

ex CIA Ray MacGovern vs Rumsfeld

also:

Zahn: Did you go to this speech today with the intent of challenging Secretary Rumsfeld?

MCGOVERN: I had no predetermined objectives. I just wanted to see what he had to say. But I did get very motivated when the first lady was ejected from -- from the -- from the crowd.

Zahn: How much of an ax do you have to grind with Secretary Rumsfeld?

MCGOVERN: It's not a matter of axes to grind. It's a matter of telling the truth. And we pledged, in my day at the CIA, to tell it without fear or favor, to tell it like it is. And, when I see that corrupted, that is the real tragedy of this whole business.

Zahn: There was a point where it appeared as though you were going to get kicked out ... Donald Rumsfeld encouraged whoever I think had their hands on you at the time to let you stay there. Does he get any credit for that today?

MCGOVERN: At first, I thought, well, that was rather gracious. But, then I got to thinking, I was not abusing the privilege. I was simply asking pointed questions. And for the national TV audience to see me carted away for asking Rumsfeld to explain what any objective observer would call a lie, that wouldn't have been good P.R. So, yes, I'm glad he let me stay. But I think it was for self- interested reasons.

Miserable Donuts

More Magic

Met a guy in India caller Topper if I remember rightly, an American who used a regular deck of cards for Tarot. He said that everyone had a card according to their birthday and I guessed mine correctly. Uncanny eh? Here's a page with each cards meaning. This is The Chandelier Spread, This is The Wineglass, This is The Fan Spread, I've been looking for a set of virtual playing cards to do the whole thing online with no sucess as yet. Here is a tutorial about how to make one anyway...

Went to a great squat trance party in Fulham on Sunday/Monday. Good mix of euro and south Americans. Didn't hear any good psy-trance though. Rarely do these days. Nice sharing drugs with friends and dancing. Did I have a spliff? Course I did. Chewed the inside of my mouth a bit too and met a really lovely Swedish girl I haven't seen in over a year, maybe two. Not sure where good trance is these days, but here is a good drum+bass radio station.

via Otomano some fantastic photos from Evgeniy Shaman