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| .)) |
Monday, February 28, 2011
What can the ICC do regarding Libya/Gaddafi?
Muammar Gaddafi is doing everything in his power to stop the Libyan revolution in its tracks. He has rejected dialogue in favour of brute force. The international community has condemned the violence in no uncertain terms. On Wednesday UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke of serious violations of international law and human rights in Libya. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called on Tuesday for an independent international investigation, condemning the "callousness with which Libyan authorities and their hired guns are reportedly shooting live rounds of ammunition at peaceful protesters".
Dr Pillay, a former judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, says such actions could constitute crimes against humanity. But the ICC’s current chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo says his hands are tied. This week he announced that the solution lies first and foremost in the hands of Libya; the ICC can only serve as a legal last resort.
New regime
The ICC can only intervene if Libya refuses or is unable to carry out its own investigation into the crimes. Until such times, Mr Ocampo can only wait on the sidelines. If Gaddafi is toppled, a new regime may want to bring him to justice before a Libyan court. Ocampo will only be able to act if Libya’s new leaders are unwilling or unable to take such steps.
But that scenario is still a long way off. This week Gaddafi declared that he would fight on until the last bullet. Mr Ocampo is bound by the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty that led to the founding of the ICC. Gaddafi’s regime is not a signatory to the treaty and has therefore banished the prosecutor to the sidelines for the time being.
Yet there is still a chance that the ICC may come into action. First of all, the UN Security Council might instruct Mr Ocampo to carry out investigations in Libya. However, the Security Council is very much divided on the ICC. So far the UN has only asked Mr Ocampo to conduct investigations in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur.
The other option lies in Tripoli itself. It is extremely unlikely that Gaddafi would ever accept the jurisdiction of the ICC, but a new Libyan regime might. The ball remains in Libya’s court: Ocampo will have to wait and see whether a new Libyan leadership will invite him to investigate the current political violence.
If the ICC takes on the case, it will focus on investigating whether crimes against humanity have been committed. Any crimes committed by Gaddafi before July 2002 will be beyond the court’s jurisdiction.
The International Criminal Court
•The International Criminal Court has been based in the Dutch city of The Hague since July 2002.
•The prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, can only prosecute people suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed after 1 July 2002.
•There are 114 signatories to the Rome Statute.
•Five suspects are currently being held at the UN detention facility in Scheveningen. Trials are ongoing against:
•Lubanga (DR Congo)
-Katanga & Ngudjolo Chui (DR Congo)
•Bemba (Central African Republic)
•The court' s most wanted suspects are:
•Omar al Bashir (Sudan) for war crimes and genocide
•Joseph Kony (Uganda) for war crimes committed by the LRA rebel group
Apostle Of Solitude - Sincerest Misery (2008)
Pounding heavy/doom metal from Indiana. With Chuck Brown & Bob Fouts (The Gates Of Slumber) on guitar & vocals - bass. Nothing fancy here, just straightforward heavy-ass doom, done the classic way. Think Candlemass, Saint Vitus, early Cathedral,... Great album!
myspace.com/apostleofsolitude
Debut full-length, released on Eyes Like Snow. Also available on 2xLP with 3 bonus tracks (limited to 250 copies).
Reviews here & here.
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Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday Driver On Tour - Tales From Beyond EP (2010)
Southern fueled stoner/ hard rock from Poland, Bielsko-Biala. Thanks to the band for sending me this one, check it out & give them a visit below!
'Sunday Driver On Tour is a mix of hard rock, metal, stoner & southern rock influences. In 2010 we released our first EP called "Tales From Beyond".'
myspace.com/sundaydriverontour
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Unmarried and living together still a taboo in India
From Love Matters:
Living with your boyfriend or girlfriend without being married? It’s still a taboo for most Indians. But a growing number of couples are daring to make the move.
“It’s a constant battle”, says Amrita about her parents insistence that she get married. She and her boyfriend Avinash, both 27, want to wait. They live together in Delhi and have full-time jobs in the fashion industry.
“It came as a shock when I told them we live together,” she says. “I try to explain it with practical arguments. We save money and I tell them honestly we would spend most of our time together anyways. They are not completely okay with it, but I did not leave them much choice.”
It’s because both of their families live far from Delhi that the couple can share a house. “If my parents lived in Delhi, I wouldn’t have a choice but to stay with them,” says Amrita.
“My older brother has been a huge help. He’s met Avinash and convinced my parents that he’s a trustworthy guy, and that it’s safer for me to live with him now I’m in Delhi.”
Pressure
Amrita told her parents about her relationship with Avinash a year before she moved in with him. At first they found even that hard to accept. Avinash’s family feels the same.
The couple has been together now for five years. As time passes, the pressure to get married builds. “Sure we want to marry eventually,” Amrita says. “But right now we want to focus on other things. We’ve both set certain personal targets, things we want to accomplish career-wise. Our parents don’t understand – they tell us we can do all of that after marriage.”
Disguise the truth
Because of the disagreements, Amrita and Avinash haven’t been able to visit each other’s parental homes. “My aunts and uncles all live there as well and they don’t know about our relationship yet. So my parents wouldn’t be comfortable with me bringing Avinash home,” Amrita explains.
Even in Delhi, the couple sometimes disguise the truth about their living situation. “Our maid, for example, probably assumes we’re married. So does our landlord. Just after we had agreed to take this place, an older lady in the family asked how long we’d been married. We told her we weren’t, and the expression on her face changed. But I think she liked us and luckily she didn’t make an issue out of it.”
Sexuality
Between the couple and their parents, one area remains in Amrita’s words, “grey”. “We don’t discuss sexuality with them. And when they come and stay with us in Delhi, Avinash and I sleep in separate rooms.” She smiles: “Whether, they are in a state of denial, or blissfully ignorant, I don’t know.”
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sheavy - Disfigurine (2010)
Released 2 months after 'The Golden Age Of Daredevils', also on Dallas Tarr Records. Get 'em here.
sheavy.com
myspace.com/sheavymetal
Doommantia review.
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Friday, February 25, 2011
The Fat Rat Grumble - Chapter 1: Liquid Stones (2002)
Raw fuzzed out stoner/ psych grooves from Italy.
'This can be considered a "side project" of T.H.U.M.B., some experimental near to some pysch/doom featuring Bokal on guitars and Zmudah on drums. was recorded on 2002 before T.H.U.M.B's Overloaded Rock'b'roll. Even if this was made just for fun, we are very proud of it!'
myspace.com/fatratgrumble
fatratgrumble.bandcamp.com
Find the T.H.U.M.B albums here & give the guys a visit at thumbstoner.blogspot.com, expect new stuff!
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Castro, Cuba and the Internet
Cuba without political prisoners. It sounds like Castro without his beard. Still, it's almost upon us. Moreover, Cuba has lifted its blockade of dissident internet blogs. So, have the Castros seen the light of democracy?
Flock of doves
Welcome to Cuba! Take a seat in the slightly rundown but astonishing theatre of optical illusions and be baffled by the Masters of Mirage, the Castro Brothers. You may think you see something but you can never be sure. The old illusionists are certainly not going to tell you what's really happening. The tricks are concocted behind closed doors by the inner circle and there's no press conference afterwards.
Here we go. The dissidents appear from the hat in rapid tempo one after another and flap around in the spotlights like a flock of doves. In jail since 2003, 75 of them in total, serving decade-long prison sentences for expressing their opinions. But now they're set free. And soon the last dove will rise into the air. Bravo! No democracy without freedom!
Orlando lives
Thanks are due to the Catholic Church, which insisted on this performance. And to Orlando Zapata, who died in a hunger strike a year ago trying to get himself and his fellow prisoners released. And to the dissident Guillermo Fariñas who took over Zapata's hunger strike and to whom the Castros capitulated, rather than be internationally embarrassed once again.
Behind the scenes, out of sight of the audience, Fariñas was arrested and released, arrested and released. Zapata's mother was arrested because she wouldn't keep quiet about her dead son. "Orlando lives!" she shouted at a police officer. For a year now the police have been making her life a living hell. While ordinary Cubans neither know nor care about dissidents.
Last rabbit
Even so, change does seem to be in the air: the bloggers trick! For years dissident bloggers and journalists like Yoani Sánchez were blocked by Cuba and could only be read abroad. Now, with the snap of a finger, they're back! Give Raúl Castro a hand! Say what you like, surf where you like. No freedom without information! We've seen it in Egypt - social media chase away dictators. Soon Cuba will be Twittering and Facebooking too. Just a pity there are no Cubans in the audience, they couldn't afford the tickets. No one has internet at home and in the hotels it costs six dollars an hour, a week's wages for a Cuban.
Never mind, time for the finale. The Castros are conjuring their last rabbit out of their top hat: the super information highway. Thanks to Venezuela, Cuba will be getting broadband internet. Say goodbye to delays, goodbye to the US embargo! Long live democracy? Read about it in Granma, the Castro Brothers daily magic programme, where it warns that the new cable service "will not result in an explosion of information". Broadband does not means "broader" communication. Still no internet for the ordinary Cuban.
Illusions
The new capacity is intended for the Cuban government and state-owned companies, where one and a half million people will lose their jobs in the next few months. It's the main event in the Mirage Brothers new show: freedom to earn your own money. The former civil servants are expected to set up their own companies. So that is bound to result in more political leeway, isn't it?
Roll up, roll up, it's the Theatre of Illusions, take a seat and sit back and wait for the arrival of... democracy. Now you see it, now you don't!
Flock of doves
Welcome to Cuba! Take a seat in the slightly rundown but astonishing theatre of optical illusions and be baffled by the Masters of Mirage, the Castro Brothers. You may think you see something but you can never be sure. The old illusionists are certainly not going to tell you what's really happening. The tricks are concocted behind closed doors by the inner circle and there's no press conference afterwards.
Here we go. The dissidents appear from the hat in rapid tempo one after another and flap around in the spotlights like a flock of doves. In jail since 2003, 75 of them in total, serving decade-long prison sentences for expressing their opinions. But now they're set free. And soon the last dove will rise into the air. Bravo! No democracy without freedom!
Orlando lives
Thanks are due to the Catholic Church, which insisted on this performance. And to Orlando Zapata, who died in a hunger strike a year ago trying to get himself and his fellow prisoners released. And to the dissident Guillermo Fariñas who took over Zapata's hunger strike and to whom the Castros capitulated, rather than be internationally embarrassed once again.
Behind the scenes, out of sight of the audience, Fariñas was arrested and released, arrested and released. Zapata's mother was arrested because she wouldn't keep quiet about her dead son. "Orlando lives!" she shouted at a police officer. For a year now the police have been making her life a living hell. While ordinary Cubans neither know nor care about dissidents.
Last rabbit
Even so, change does seem to be in the air: the bloggers trick! For years dissident bloggers and journalists like Yoani Sánchez were blocked by Cuba and could only be read abroad. Now, with the snap of a finger, they're back! Give Raúl Castro a hand! Say what you like, surf where you like. No freedom without information! We've seen it in Egypt - social media chase away dictators. Soon Cuba will be Twittering and Facebooking too. Just a pity there are no Cubans in the audience, they couldn't afford the tickets. No one has internet at home and in the hotels it costs six dollars an hour, a week's wages for a Cuban.
Never mind, time for the finale. The Castros are conjuring their last rabbit out of their top hat: the super information highway. Thanks to Venezuela, Cuba will be getting broadband internet. Say goodbye to delays, goodbye to the US embargo! Long live democracy? Read about it in Granma, the Castro Brothers daily magic programme, where it warns that the new cable service "will not result in an explosion of information". Broadband does not means "broader" communication. Still no internet for the ordinary Cuban.
Illusions
The new capacity is intended for the Cuban government and state-owned companies, where one and a half million people will lose their jobs in the next few months. It's the main event in the Mirage Brothers new show: freedom to earn your own money. The former civil servants are expected to set up their own companies. So that is bound to result in more political leeway, isn't it?
Roll up, roll up, it's the Theatre of Illusions, take a seat and sit back and wait for the arrival of... democracy. Now you see it, now you don't!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Gaddafi's and the Netherlands
Gaddafi senior and junior in trouble with the Dutch. Gaddafi sounds like Hitler, according to Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal. He described the Libyan leader’s TV speech on Tuesday as “a verbal outburst reminiscent of the 1930s”
Colonel Gaddafi is losing his grip on the country as the violent chaos in Libya continues. The Dutch government is doing its bit by freezing the regime’s assets in the Netherland. Not that Duthch news papers are under any illusion that the colonel will be losing any sleep over it. But the Dutch press has plenty of suggestions for more action. Enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, a no-fly zone, and a humanitarian air bridge, and a sea blockade. An oil boycott? Armed intervention is the only thing worth bothering with, says historian Gerbert van der Aa. Not feasible, says the other – stick to the no-fly zone.
Meanwhile, Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, has also been naughty. He’s in trouble with Dutch philosopher Alex Voorhoeve – his old teacher at the London School of Economics – for plagiarism. It’s emerged that he played fast and loose with the quotation marks in his thesis. The worthy thesis is apparently about “the role of civil society in democratisation” and attacks “authoritarian, corrupt regimes that don’t listen to the real needs of the people”. On Monday the author had a slightly different take on authoritarian regimes. He threatened his fellow Libyans they’d be mourning hundreds of thousands of deaths if they didn’t knuckle under and do as his dad told them.
Colonel Gaddafi is losing his grip on the country as the violent chaos in Libya continues. The Dutch government is doing its bit by freezing the regime’s assets in the Netherland. Not that Duthch news papers are under any illusion that the colonel will be losing any sleep over it. But the Dutch press has plenty of suggestions for more action. Enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, a no-fly zone, and a humanitarian air bridge, and a sea blockade. An oil boycott? Armed intervention is the only thing worth bothering with, says historian Gerbert van der Aa. Not feasible, says the other – stick to the no-fly zone.
Meanwhile, Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, has also been naughty. He’s in trouble with Dutch philosopher Alex Voorhoeve – his old teacher at the London School of Economics – for plagiarism. It’s emerged that he played fast and loose with the quotation marks in his thesis. The worthy thesis is apparently about “the role of civil society in democratisation” and attacks “authoritarian, corrupt regimes that don’t listen to the real needs of the people”. On Monday the author had a slightly different take on authoritarian regimes. He threatened his fellow Libyans they’d be mourning hundreds of thousands of deaths if they didn’t knuckle under and do as his dad told them.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Late for this guy
Is it Tuesday after lunch yet?
What the hell happened to the world while I went on that binge, and what the hell was I drinking, smoking, snorting, injecting, and ingesting that would lead to civil unrest in Madison, Wisconsin? Is Moammar going to send troops to help the public employees battle the new Reaganism? Why do Republicans always try to present themselves as such benign assholes? Why is this guy blue, daddy? Why can't we have an endless party system?
So it looks like the world is going for its hand instead of a jack bastard, or some other equally Babelfished inebriation of communication.
If the past several weeks since Wikileaks incited a couple of halfway literate detergents to rouse the rabble and whip them to frothy peaks of idealism have confounded the aged leadership, the liberal bimbos, and the corporate media to put their hands in their shorts and scratch their heads, that's good for the rest of us.
The revolution passed them by. Let them die. Not that they deserve the comfort of the piss that passeth for understanding and all.
There will come a time when you can take your clothes off when you dance.
From out there on that stuff,
The Good Doctor Faustroll
BTW, you won't believe where I had to stick my fist to recover my gmail password.
[真鍋譲治]
ドラクゥーン ―竜姫兵― 第01-05巻(完)
Dragoon v01-05
[白川晶×フカキショウコ]
ガーディアン・ドッグ 第01-04巻(完)
Guardian Dog v01-04
[楠桂]
イノセントW 第01-03巻(完)
Innocent W v01-03
[桐山光侍]
忍空 ～SECOND STAGE 干支忍編～ 第01-06巻
Ninku Second Stage v01-06
[三浦勇雄×山田孝太郎]
聖剣の刀鍛冶 第01-04巻
The Sacred Blacksmith v01-04
[島袋光年]
トリコ 第01-12巻
Toriko v01-12
[牛木義隆]
夢喰いメリー 第01-04巻
Yume Kui Merry v01-04
Hindu temple The Hague
The Hague has a large Hindustani population - immigrants from Suriname, the former Dutch colony in South America, whose forbears originally came from South Asia. With a population of 60,000, they form the city’s largest ethnic minority group. The three communities will foot the bill for the complex themselves. Two apartment blocks providing 45 homes will be built alongside the temple.
The local council has now given the project its final backing, and says the complex will become an icon for the city. Labour Party councillor Rajesh Ramnewash says he is “extremely proud” of the cooperation among the three different Hindu movements, who drew up the plan jointly.
Despite their differences, it proved remarkably simple for the three communities to work together, he says. They were brought together by the need for a “beautiful, serene space” to practice their faith, says Mr Ramnewash. “Until now we were obliged to use out-of-the-way offices or converted garages. Now we can make a start on a huge complex.” The councillor believes it will be the only temple complex in the world to be shared by three divisions of Hinduism.
Funds
The sale of the apartment blocks, to be built by a project developer, will generate funds to contribute to the cost of the temple complex. But the three communities can actually afford to pay for the complex themselves. “Otherwise the council wouldn’t have accepted the plan.”
Mr Ramnewash says a tight schedule has been set for the project. The plan is to be finalised within six months. “Construction will start at the end of 2012.” He doesn’t expect the new temple complex to meet with any resistance in the city.
Monday, February 21, 2011
The 16 Amsterdam's in the USA
There’s Amsterdam Idaho, Amsterdam Saskatchewan, Amsterdam Virginia, Amsterdam Georgia... you get the picture. In total, there are 16 towns named Amsterdam in North America. And they have become the subject of Amsterdam Stories USA, “an east-to-west road movie” by Dutch filmmakers Rob Rombout and Rogier van Eck.
Why Amsterdam? For both filmmakers, Amsterdam “connects to their Dutch origins and thus to emotions, images and stories.” And, while many European cities have clones in “the New World”, Amsterdam is the only one that has spread across the continent from East to West – perfect for a road movie.
Clogs and windmills
Mr Rombout says that their film about “unknown America” also shows quite a lot of Dutch heritage. “Not people wearing wooden shoes, but there are always windmills. Sometimes they are the biggest building in the whole village. You can even buy Dutch liquorice 'drop' here in the stores. There is always a Dutch element. They are proud of it.” But what do the residents of these small towns and villages think about their home’s namesake? Mr Rombout says they are interested. “Most of them have never been abroad. But I would say they are more interested in Dutch heritage than in Amsterdam heritage. Because Amsterdam unfortunately has this reputation of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll and that’s not really the image they like in the countryside here in America.”
The film is actually the second part in a trilogy of Amsterdam-based feature-length documentaries. The first, Amsterdam via Amsterdam, told the story of a sea expedition between two islands named Amsterdam at the opposite ends of the earth.
The third film, yet to come, will be called Amsterdam Black & White. Mr Rombout describes it as “a double portrait of a small village in South Africa in Transvaal – of course black – and a small village in the North of Holland which is also named Amsterdam which is of course completely white.”
As the slogan goes, I ♥ Amsterdam, all of them. Amsterdam, the Netherlands is the best!
(There is also a small town in Texas called 'Nederland' and 'luling'..the latter, only the Dutch understand that word.))
[よねやませつこ]
アブアビ - Absorb ; Ability - 第01-02巻(完)
[みなもと悠]
明日のよいち ! 第01-13巻
Asu no Yoichi v01-13
[山本賢治]
ブラックジャック ～黒い医師～ 第01-03巻(完)
Black Jack Kuroi Ishi v01-03
[ナイロン]
フロッグマン 第01-03巻
Frogman v01-03
[奥浩哉]
GANTZ ガンツ 第30巻 HQ
[ふくやまけいこ]
まぼろし谷のねんねこ姫 第01-04巻
Maboroshi Tano no Nenneko Hime v01-04
[朔ユキ蔵]
セルフ 第01-04巻(完)
Self v01-04
[鎌池和馬×近木野中哉]
とある魔術の禁書目録 第07巻
Toaru Majutsu no Kinsho Mokuroku v07
[ふくやまけいこ]
東京物語 第01-07巻(完)
Tokyo Monogatari v01-07
Coffinworm - When All Became None (2010)
'Blackened' sludge/doom from Indianapolis, Indiana. Recently got into this band, and this is one hell of a record. It mixes elements of death & black metal into one filthy sludge pool. A crushing & nihilistic wall of sound. This is the band's debut full-length, released on Profound Lore Records.
Reviews here & here.
myspace.com/coffinworm
coffinworm.blogspot.com
MP3@320Kbps
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Sunday, February 20, 2011
Escape The Flesh - Promo (2011)
Thick, nasty death/ doom from the Czech Republic. Not much info on this one, just this great 2 track promo. Think Coffins & Hooded Menace, highly influenced by the old school death metal sounds of the early 90's. Check it out if your into the genre, good stuff.
bandzone.cz/escapetheflesh
metal-archives.com
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Saturday, February 19, 2011
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