rumsfeld -> congress: "145K soldiers eating 3.5 billion USD a month in iraq"

Students at the school had been revolting since 1967. They called it a "pedagogic gerontocracy", and demanded power on academic committees and changes to certain courses. But why did it all happen anyway? Surely this was a secure generation without material worries? Colin Crouch puts the whole movement down to challenges to the status quo. "We resented the exercise of authority and power without participation, and believed that we could assert that demand without fear".

"Human nature is not a given but infinitely malleable" LSE 68

The MediaGuardian 100 list is the definitive guide to the most powerful movers and shakers in one of the UK's most vibrant industries.This, the third year of its publication, has been the most controversial so far with the BBC director general, Greg Dyke, taking on the mantle of Rupert Murdoch as the UK's most powerful media executive.A panel of experienced media watchers gleaned from the worlds of politics, journalism, advertising and the internet judged entrants using three criteria: cultural influence, economic clout and political power.

"AABA is concerned with the poverty of accountancy and business education"

Website of a remarkable chap who night schooled his way to become a professorship of accountancy. But rather than use this as leverage to have it nice for himself, nodding at corporate accounts, he instead campaigns against corporate abuse of the tax system and governments complicity in doing nothing. See also Socialism in Reverse.

you're the devil in disguise, oh yes you are;

"There is something else our "leftist" critics should bear in mind: we must not only create and preserve social justice for those living and working today, but also consider future generations. Faced with changing our means to social justice - not, I repeat, our principles - we know the future has more rights than the past. We must resist those who hold that the welfare state and workers' and trade union rights are the source of all evil, but our resistance to these neo-liberals will be all the more successful if we tackle the task of restructuring the welfare state in order to modernise it. "

Sir John Stanley, the most argumentative of the Tories, said: "We reached the conclusion, unanimously, that the jury is still out."

The confused conclusion of the brain dead. Contrast with this or this.

"I always thought that Howl was a very exuberant and positive and funny poem. But at the time it was taken to be the ravings of this angry, rebellious jerk."

enjoyed phil reflections below enormously. "youth movement" what's it about? no one is quite sure. where's it going? down the shops i suspect. the ubiquitous nature of the affluent middle class rasta has not even passed by me, in my hermit like ranch-state, so i give you something that made me chuckle from the stereo of a friend. if you give me a call i'll be happy to sing it to you in my unforgettable faux patois;


Inglan Is a Bitch
by Linton Kwesi Johnson

w'en mi jus' come to Landan toun
mi use to work pan di andahgroun
but workin' pan di andahgroun
y'u don't get fi know your way aroun'

Inglan is a bitch
dere's no escapin' it
Inglan is a bitch
dere's no runnin' whey fram it

mi get a lickle jab in a big 'otell
an' awftah a while, mi woz doin' quite well
dem staat mi aaf as a dish-washah
but w'en mi tek a stack, mi noh tun clack-watchah!

Inglan is a bitch
dere's no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
noh baddah try fi hide fram it

w'en dem gi' you di lickle wage packit
fus dem rab it wid dem big tax rackit
y'u haffi struggle fi mek en's meet
an' w'en y'u goh a y'u bed y'u jus' cant sleep

Inglan is a bitch
dere's no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch fi true
a noh lie mi a tell, a true

mi use to work dig ditch w'en it cowl noh bitch
mi did strang like a mule, but, bwoy, mi did fool
den awftah a while mi jus' stap dhu ovahtime
den aftah a while mi jus' phu dung mi tool

Inglan is a bitch
dere's no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
y'u haffi know how fi suvvive in it

well mi dhu day wok an' mid dhu nite wok
mi dhu clean wok an' mid dhu dutty wok
dem seh dat black man is very lazy
but it y'u si how mi wok y'u woulda sey mi crazy

Inglan is a bitch
dere's no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
y'u bettah face up to it

dem have a lickle facktri up inna Brackly
inna disya facktri all dem dhu is pack crackry
fi di laas fifteen years dem get mi laybah
now awftah fiteen years mi fall out a fayvah

Inglan is a bitch
dere's no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
dere's no runnin' whey fram it

mi know dem have work, work in abundant
yet still, dem mek mi redundant
now, at fifty-five mi gettin' quite ol'
yet still, dem sen' mi fi goh draw dole

Inglan is a bitch
dere's no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch fi true
is whey wi a goh dhu 'bout it?

In the past, he has been called a prophet. "Yeah, yeah, I don’t take these things seriously. I just think it’s another media tag," he says dismissively. "The music is compatible with the poetry in so far as I am writing out of the reggae tradition and some of the poems are written are within the perimeters of the reggae structure. And it’s oral poetry and oral poetry lends itself to the rhythms of music."

"When one thinks of all these things, yeah, Inglan is a Bitch"

i have seen this very one sizzla in action a couple of times and popular opinion around here suggests elements of hatred beyond the homophobia (endemic beyond this guy)- he alledgedly likes making anti-white noises when he visits which only few of the attendants are able to understand or fully participate in. you see around here, bourgois white rastafarians display very limited appreciation of content- the language barrier between english as a foreign language and dancehall styled jamaican is fairly tough- whilst association is cheap (outfit, hairdo).

information is a very real problem throughout the range of post-modern identity narratives up for "choice" post-advent of mtv youth culture (calling it "youth movement" would be cynical). there certainly is an anti-something feel about it, but no-one's really all that sure about anything. you can say this about the late punk scene around but white bourgeois rastafarians in this instance means fairly well educated (banking method unfortunately) group of people collectively and half-heartedly, yet loudly agreeing about nothing in particular at all. the re-introduced christian pattern is very amusing (post-protestants bubbling on about "jah")

i spent the last weekend at such an event and i can tell you i wasn't all that impressed. to a people with a feel for the comedy of this smelly ironic thing it does offer an exceptionally liberal space due to the numbers game and demographics (hence repeat attendance even!), but personal achievement really does boil down to playing around with the scheme whilst there is some sort of background noise with a number of signifiers to it which you can, if you can, then read over into a narrative, belong it, belong to it, ride it, whatever you want to call it (consumption pattern?).

to contrast above with "that other thing", the bit behind the "da roots" on t-shirts at your shopping mall, real world for some, i'd refer to it as a form of post-colonial resolve- comparable to the mexican nationalist movement in anthropological terms. a proper and very legimitate totality, collective spiritual resolve in freirean terms. and also a highly specific movement- universal applicability i'd deny to it. black supremacy is the right hand end of this movement- an unhappy side-effect of any nationalist move to counter oppression, usually not even notable. sometimes it does come out. and then its pain-time for the palestinians.

lyndon kwesi johnson (am able to like this one- enjoy his pol stance in interview) re: rastafari:

Rasta has influenced Jamaican culture in a very big way. Not only in terms of the music but in terms of spirituality that it lent to reggae. Also in terms of the language, the Rastafari that has become a part of everyday Jamaican parlance, spoken by non-Rastafarians. My very first group was, in fact, called Rasta Love, which was a group of rasta drummers. We used to accompany my poetry with bass drum, funde drum and repeater drum. In all of my albums, there's also some repeater playing percussion in the background. Rasta is important for me on that level- as a cultural force that broadened our consciousness and opened our consciousness to our African hertitage and our African ancestry.

IN AMERICA, AFRO-CENTRIC TEACHING HAS BECOME POPULAR RECENTLY. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS MOVEMENT?

Frankly, I don't know what Afro-centric means.

BLACK CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT THAT CIVILIZATION BEGAN IN AFRICA.

So, once you learn that, so what? That's my attitude. Once you know that black people were a part of ancient cilivization in Africa and that African civilization has contributed a lot to world, what next? That's my position. Where do we go from there?"

and in western european pop culture, "african heritage", can be acquired fairly cheaply whilst we're certainly lacking the ancestry around here. the bit where it gets really funny is when sizzla comes on stage here, makes his "introductiory remarks", and you get thousands of dressed up whiteys greeting him with delight. whatever he's saying, it doesn't even matter

bigging up, don thereof - what a title

"Certainly the single event in this century which resonated with the multiple cultural, political, and religious dimensions of Ethiopianism was the coronation of Ras Tafari Makonnen, the then Prince Regent of Ethiopia. In November of 1930, the biblical enthronement of Ras Tafari as His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, became an internationally publicized event which was unique in the African world. The news of a black regent claiming descent through the biblical lineage of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, stirred the imaginations of an entire generation of African Americans and refocused attention upon ancient Ethiopia. The second Italian invasion of Ethiopia in October of 1935 produced an enormous wave of pro-Ethiopianist sentiments [...] In Harlem, thousands of African Americans marched and signed petitions asking the U.S. government to allow them to fight on behalf of the Ethiopian cause. In Trinidad, this crisis in the black world coincided with the emergence of calypso and a fledgling Caribbean music industry. Calypsos which described the crisis from a black perspective were carried by West Indian seamen from port to port throughout the black world. Music--always an integral part of African and African American culture--served to crystallize shared sentiments of racial pride in support of the Ethiopian cause."

Week by week, Cook says, the US is proving its inexperience in handling the situation in countries following such conflicts. "I was astonished at the decision to disband the Iraqi army without any jobs, and initially without pay, which released 400,000 men into Iraq with the knowledge of how to use weapons and nothing else to do." It is a mistake, he insists, that "no UN official would have made".

vietnam veterans -> rambo I?

“At a meeting organised last month by the Corporate Council on Africa, a senior CIA official, David Gordon, predicted that over the next decade African oil would be potentially more important to the US than Russia or the Caucasus. According to other participants at the meeting, he went on to warn however that over the following decade the oil industry ran the risk of imploding as a result of the region's inherent instability, unless the US did more to prop it up. “

Phil ... if you want some good, hardcore, righteous, revolutionary, Ragga check out Sizzla (although he is unfortunately homophobic) and Macka B who is hilarious. I might try and get some lyrics and post them. He has a song about Regan and Thatcher, P.W. Botha and the contras in Nicaragua... which includes a prophetic line written in the 1980´s saying "terrorism seems ok if you´re doing it for America". Macka B also has a good one about drinking, `Don´t drink too much if you cant take it´. Another good one off the top of my head is `Burn down Rome´ by Sizzla.

More fire!

René Mederos, 1968 [Better not to be, than not to be a revolutionary]

Unless the leading industrial countries get their act together and pursue compatible economic policies, the world economy may be threatened by 1930s-style competitive devaluation and an outbreak of protectionism.
This warning comes from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), one of the world's most prestigious international financial institutions.

In its authoritative annual report, the BIS warns that: 'The global economy faces a fundamental dilemma, which is becoming more acute with time. How can imbalances in growth and external accounts across the major economic regions be resolved while maintaining robust global growth overall?'

The bank suggests that the rest of the world has been far too dependent on the economic stimulus provided by the United States and that the ongoing decline in the dollar is going to make life much more difficult for Europe and Japan.

The report warns that unless other countries supplement fashionable 'structural reforms' [neo-lib- low growth, low inflation] with 'more expansionary demand management policies' [keynesian- give workers money to buy (their) products] there must be a question mark over 'whether domestic demand will expand elsewhere, notably in continental Europe and Japan, after a long period of weakness'

Sinking US dollar 'could drag world under'

The two British terrorist suspects facing a secret US military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay will be given a choice: plead guilty and accept a 20-year prison sentence, or be executed if found guilty.

American legal sources close to the process said that the prisoners' dilemma was intended to encourage maximum 'co-operation'.

god, should you exist, save my soul, should i have one

The concerns follow allegations by Amnesty and other human rights groups that US detainees in Guantanamo Bay have suffered severe abuse, including beatings that may have led to the death of two men held at the US detention facility at Bagram.

In March, Amnesty wrote to President Bush to complain about the treatment of detainees after US military officials reportedly confirmed that post-mortem reports in the cases of the two men who died at Bagram gave cause of death as 'homicide' and 'blunt force injuries'.

reminiscent of "non-people" in australian refugee camps killing selves in (un)necessarily elaborate ways

An internal CIA investigation has revealed that the US intelligence agency lacked hard intelligence when it concluded that Saddam Hussein still had illegal weapons during the build-up to war, the Press Association reported today.

According to the inquiry's preliminary findings, analysts had little up to date information following the expulsion of United Nations inspectors from Iraq in 1998. Instead, they "inferred" from evidence uncovered during the early and mid-1990s that Saddam still had a chemical, biological and nuclear arms programme in early 2003.

But Richard Kerr, a former CIA deputy director who heads the four-person review panel, said intelligence officials were "pretty much on the mark" with their conclusions.

"doubleplusgood, sir. carry on!"

thanks for report benji- always pleasing to hear people are engaging with the dirty manifestations of the system. decades of US-installed dictatorship should have left some traces in the legislative system.. your friend is less likely to get british governmental support than those poor trainspotters to say the least.

contemporary reggae, well, song is called "i'm a man of my own and i do what i want", dancehall-style noise with a little bit of content. i actually started listening to the lyrics when a bit on "poor getting poorer and rich richer" came up

corporatism

In this case, Mr Berlusconi was on the receiving end long before he responded so gauchely to German social democrat MEP Martin Schulz [local mp from aachen] who had questioned his suitability [trials back home?] to lead the EU.

schröder announced last night "berlusconi said sorry". today, berlusconi told italian newspaper his version: "i said i was sorry that my remarks were misunderstood".

Here is an e-mail I recieved from a friend in Greece, he was there for the EU summit in Thessaloniki...

And the memory-feeling of the soft sand filters through my hands. we've returned from our paradise beach to the stifling city of thessaloniki to sort out our friend jonathan's deportation and criminal charges. like all those arrested during the anti-eu protests he has been lumped with the blanket charge of 'possessing explosives, resisting authority and rioting'. jonathan was on his way to the peaceful social forum concert, happening at the same time as the anti-e.u riot, when he was arrested by undercover cops. he has an archetypal terrorist appearance: dreddlokks, unconventional. he looks set to be deported.

another friend, simon, faces even harsher futures. he is charged with the same felony but, to make matters worse, he 'had molotov cocktails in his bag'. friends took a mainstream media video to court showing a riot policeman placing molotovs in simon's bag while he was kicked by other police. the judge didn't want to watch the evidence because he had 'seen enough news already'. simon faces 7-25 years in a metal and cement cage.

me and friends have been sorting the legal issues and will continue to do so for the next few days. we're setting up a bank account to help all those arrested during the protests. we've got an address dealing specifically with this state terrorism: nojusticeingreece@hushmail.com .. we've splashed articles on this repression all over indymedia sites globally..

for the article

general coverage of the thessaloniki protests on indymedia

and then reflect on the paranoia of the state when its legitimacy is challenged by the eyes of the future. reflect on the desperation of the power-drunk when we attempt to smash their bottle.

good article on spain below... seems well considered and balanced.

Phil... what is the contemporary reggae quote about, who is it from?

ex-dictator alive and well: go back to bed, america

"i do what is wrong yet i know what is right"

contemporary reggae re: alienation

ironic

Downing Street's complaints about anti-war bias within the BBC appear to be disproved by an academic analysis that shows the corporation displayed the most "pro-war" agenda of any broadcaster.

A detailed study of peak-time television news bulletins during the course of the Iraq war shows that the BBC was more reliant than any of its rivals on government and military sources.

The findings, by academics at Cardiff University, give little support to the deep-rooted suspicions in government circles that lie at the heart of the row with the BBC. Instead, ahead of the report by the foreign affairs select committee into the government's use of intelligence, they give comfort to the corporation.

Over the three weeks of conflict, 11% of the sources quoted by the BBC were of coalition government or military origin, the highest proportion of all the main television broadcasters. The BBC was the least likely to quote official Iraqi sources, and less likely than Sky, ITV or Channel 4 News to use independent (and often sceptical) sources such as the Red Cross.

Claiming to fight terrorism on two fronts, both internationally and at home against Basque separatists, president José María Aznar's government is limiting the right to free speech and peaceful political activity in Spain. James Badcock reports.