nodoctors.com archive june 0007 |
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TANKERTOWN weekly "release" like record release
posted by elvis BIG HUGE GIANT RECORD ANNOUNCEMENT dept. Alright, we have confirmed final logistics at the plant and will be prepared to fill all orders as of July 1. We are pleased to offer, at long last, the third No Doctors LP ORIGIN & TECTONICS. The "package" consists of pristine 180 GRAM vinyl and includes a CD version as well. $20 post-paid in the US. Inquire for international rates and wholesale: orders @ nodoctors.com The cover features an original masterpiece by none other than TONY MILLIONAIRE (Maakies, Sock Monkey, Drinky Crow Show). You know you want it!
We will be posting all sorts of relevant materials (mp3 previews, selected reviews from luminaries, etc) over the coming weeks. But that shouldn't stop you from buying it now! posted by elvis Happy birthday Elvis deMorrow!
posted by chauncey Elvis's Konspiracy Korner Live Saturday 23 June 0007 1200 CST Per my theme song on the radio show, "The Oppression of the Penis", I am pleased to note that 2003 marked the post-war nadir for US male genital mutilation, down to 56% from a peak of 90% in the early '60s. So at least it's moving in the right direction (infant genital mutilation, that is). Did you thank your old man on "Father's Day"? This week I would like to do a bit of an "heads up" edition, discussing a relatively recent and very interesting event that will likely be receiving renewed attention in the coming months. I would also like to point out that my research this week relies heavily on everyone's favorite Wikipedia. Although I inevitably refer to the relevant entry in preparing each Konspiracy Korner segment, two entries were especially helpful this week. I of course am a big supporter of the Wikipedia project and highly recommend it as one component of any online research project. However, in my specific usage of the resource for these konsp pieces I have become increasingly struck by the way that it almost outdoes the korp media in its painful pretense of "objectivity" or "anti-bias" when dealing with any subject that is even remotely controversial (i.e. something other than Newtonian physics, etc). This is inherent in the design of the wiki itself, and of course the big difference between it and the korp media is that it also encourages perpetual dialogue and improvement by design as well. But it strikes me, and so I'm striking you with it. This is also why, even if I sometimes feel at the beginning of my research on one of these bits that I'm merely summarizing an handful of sources, by the end of my notes I am confident that I am offering something that is not quite covered already. I simply find a more human (and biased) discussion to be more stimulating than its faux-objective counterpart, and that is why I offer it here in the hope that someone else does, too. Anyway, this took me about a million words on the radio this week so hopefully I can knock it down a little here. On 21 December 1988 Pan American flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, shortly after takeoff from Heathrow airport en route to JFK. All passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 747 were killed, as well as 11 people on the ground, adding up to 270 people from 21 countries. Among the dead were 189 American citizens, and the explosion was the deadliest attack on American civilians prior to 9/11. The attack also marked the worst mass murder in British history, and provoked the largest criminal investigation in the UK performed by its smallest police force, in conjunction, of course, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who were quite interested in the matter. The three year investigation supposedly yielded 15,000 witness statements and collected 10,000 pieces of evidence, each carefully catalogued and stored (aren't they always?). In 1991 indictments were issued for Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, and Lamin Kalifah Fhimah, station manager at Luqa airport in Malta. Nearly nine years later, the accused were finally handed over by Libyan premier Muammar al-Gaddafi to be tried in Scotland. In January 2001 Megrahi was convicted of masterminding the bombing by a panel of three Scottish judges (no trial by peers, whatever!) and sentenced to 27 years. Fhimah was acquitted of his role in planting the suitcase carrying the explosives while the plane passed through Malta on the way to Heathrow. Megrahi has since seen multiple appeals rejected, but a Scottish criminal cases review commission is considering his case as soon as this week, and anonymous leaks to well-established papers in the UK make it seem highly likely that either his conviction will be overturned, or a new trial will be ordered. If that happens, keep the following strange story in mind... OFFICIAL NARRATIVE (best by 6/27/07) The official narrative that locked up Megrahi is that he orchestrated the bombing of PA103 in retaliation for the 1986 US bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya, a targeted strike intended to assassinate Gaddafi, which instead killed a hundred other Libyans, including Gaddafi's adopted daughter. Among the aforementioned 10,000 pieces of evidence were fragments of a Samsonite suitcase said to contain the semtex explosives, as well as circuit boards from a Toshiba boombox and timer used to detonate the device that were traced to the Libyan military. Also found were baby clothes purchased in Malta. The suitcase containing all of the above was said to have been routed onto PA103 from Luqa airport through Frankfurt airport to Heathrow (hence the failed indictment of co-conspirator Fhimah). Megrahi's proclivity for Maltese baby stuffs proved to be his undoing, as Maltese merchant Ton Gauci fingered Megrahi at his trial, claiming he clearly recalled selling him the very threads and noticing his distinct Libyan appearance. Guaci's eyewitness testimony and the above bits of evidence were the primary points upon which the judges' conviction hinged. In 2002 Libya successfully proposed a compensation package for the victims' families as follows: $2.7billion, or $1million for each of the 270 victims (less handsome US lawyer fees, of course!). However, the deal required no admission of guilt on Libya's behalf, and in fact was a pretty sweet move on their part: 40% would be paid when UN sanctions against Libya were lifted, an additional 40% when US trade sanctions were lifted, and the final 20% paid when the US State Department removed Libya from its list of nations sponsoring terrorism. Not too shabby for $2.7B. In fact, Libya never paid the final 20%, as the US refused to remove them from the shitlist by the agreed-upon deadline (they instead removed them in May 2006 - free!). WHO WAS (AND WASN'T) ON PAN AM FLIGHT 103? Aboard PA103 were at least four and probably five US intelligence officers, including CIA station personnel from Beirut and Cyprus. Perhaps the most notable passenger was Major Chuck "Tiny" McKee, a senior army office on secondment to the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) in Beirut. We shall return to his role momentarily. It is also worth noting several individuals who weren't aboard the ill-fated flight. The already interesting list of rock and roll air fatalities was nearly revised to include the Four Tops and John Lydon, all of whom had planned to be on the flight and missed it due to last minute changes in plans. Another notable 'also-ran' was New York auto mechanic Jaswant Basuta, who got too shitfaced in the Heathrow lounge to take his seat on the plane and was turned away at the gate after the door had been sealed. Devout Sikhs, he and his wife commemorated his near-death by holding a 48 hour prayer session once he returned. His wife was convinced that the divine spoke to her lover through the bottle, stating "on one side of the door was death, on the other, life; it's like something pulled him back" (emphasis added). Take note, fellow booze travelers! ONE ALTERNATIVE NARRATIVE The aforementioned Major Chuck "Tiny" McKee was a confirmed career spy for the US with solid CIA ties, and was reportedly the leader of a special forces team preparing an attempt to rescue American hostages being held by Hizbullah in Lebanon at the time. If this was the case, perhaps it was his plans for the yet-to-be-executed mission that were promptly disappeared by the FBI when discovered by locals amongst the debris of PA103. Or perhaps what was being snatched up was even more interesting, per the two teenagers in Lockerbie who claimed to have found $547,000 in travelers checks and bags containing white powder - also disappeared courtesy the local and US authorities. Other witnesses reported a large brightly colored tarpaulin covering the crash site with a marksman in an white helicopter hovering overhead to ensure the locals kept their distance. Whatever was and wasn't removed from the crash site, it very likely had something to do with both McKee and Monzer al-Kassar, a notorious international arms & drugs dealer and an Iran-Contra alumnus. There is reason to believe that Kassar was running a heroin pipeline from Syria to the US via Europe, and receiving protection from a rogue CIA faction in exchange for intelligence on Palestinian resistance groups based in Syria. As Kassar regularly used Pan American flights along this route to transport the heroin and its associated mule, perhaps the semtex suitcase was switched at some point for the heroin suitcase. Did the rogue CIA faction, who were monitoring various flights at Heathrow, allow the bomb on board thinking it was the usual drug package? Juval Aviv, the noted Mossad agent who lead the revenge assassinations in response to the murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, claims that this is what happened. Then again, Aviv was hired by Pan Am to investigate the attack, and this explanation conveniently absolves the airline security apparatus in letting the bomb aboard. There is a more likely and much more interesting explanation here, which I will return to in the concluding section. THE (SOON-TO-BE) OFFICAL ALTERNATIVE NARRATIVE Anyone who digs into the current bogus narrative will find it hard to defend the conviction of Megrahi, and once the Scottish review panel rules in his favor, a new and more plausible narrative will need to be substituted. Watch for something along these lines to become the new official narrative of the bombing of PA103: Ignore Megrahi, and take a look at a new player: Ahmed Jibril, a former Syrian army captain and head of the Popular National Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC). Jibril and his group were noted for numerous ballsy raids against Israel in the '80s, including one assault involving hangliders (!). In July 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 passengers, many of whom were pilgrims on their way to Mecca. Of course it was all claimed to be a mistake, but Ayatollah Khomeini was quite pissed, and vowed that the skies would rain with blood, offering a $10million bounty for anyone who "achieved justice for Iran". Jibril, we are told, took up the offer and set his sights on knocking out an American passenger jet, tooth-for-tooth. In October 1988, the German FBI equivalent Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) arrested a PFLP-GC cell in West Germany consisting of 17 suspects who had cased the Frankfurt airport and browsed Pan Am timetables, among other things. The cell had semtex explosives and the same Toshiba boomboxes that were used to convict Megrahi. After the 12/21/88 bombing of PA103, one of the Palestinian suspects was even found to have had a calendar in his flat with the date circled (a la Sirhan Sirhan). This thinker, Mohammed Abu Talb, is now known to have been in Malta when the bombing occurred (this is part of the new evidence that Megrahi's defense is prepared to present in the instance of a new trial). In fact, Gauci, the same clothing merchant who fingered Megrahi also identified Abu Talb. In fact, Abu Talb testified for the prosecution in Megrahi's trial, in exchange for lifelong immunity from prosecution in the case. In fact, two days after the bombing of PA103, the Iranian government deposited LB5.9million into an Swiss account belonging to the aforementioned PFLP-GC cell (the above is outlined in this fine article by Hugh Miles). Essentially, this theory swaps the placement of the bomb on PA103 in Malta (in the current official narrative) with the placement of the bomb occurring at the Frankfurt airport instead. And, you substitute Megrahi-Libya with Jibril-PFLP-GC as the mastermind. So, if nearly all of the above was known at the time of the investigation, why were Megrahi & Libya inserted in the place of the more likely suspects? This nascent official narrative tells us that in the run-up to the first US invasion of Iraq, Bush I was desperate for arab allies in the coalition. Thus, he chose to finger Libya, ignore the Syrian-based PFLP-GC, and succeeded in getting Syria on board for the festivities. Jibril was off the hook. MY PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE NARRATIVE My motto in these pages, other than the one listed upon the mast, is the more tangled the better. Here is the best and most tangled alternative narrative of the PA103 bombing I've found, laid out almost exclusively by Erick Anderson in December 1989 in the pages of the fine local rag San Francisco Bay Guardian: As mentioned above, a rogue CIA unit (referred to henceforth as "CIA-1" a la Anderson's approach) was conspiring with Monzer al-Kassar to smuggle heroin from Syria to the US via Europe. In addition to obtaining intelligence from Kassar related to Palestinian targets within Syria, CIA-1 was also rewarding him for previous assistance in arms-for-hostages deals. The whole stinking plot was discovered by Major McKee and his team, and after receiving a lukewarm reception from CIA when they reported the rogue faction, they decided to pack up their evidence and fly home to confront the relevant personnel directly. If there was still no will to act, they were prepared to make a big stink about it in the press. The above angle was actually advocated after the bombing by none other than Rep. James Traficant (D-OH), an unusually filthy congressmember who wasn't content to simply fall prey to bribery, racketeering, and tax fraud charges, but also forced his aides to perform manual labor on his Ohio farm and DC houseboat; still, at the time he was an active member of the House. With the above in mind, consider this: after the BKA raid in October, Kassar facilitates a new bomb shipment to Jibril in West Germany to replace the confiscated gear. Originally the plans were to bomb an American Airlines jet (still, in retaliation for the USS Vincennes shoot-down in '88). The AA target is scrapped after Mossad gets wind and tips off both the BKA and CIA-1. CIA-1 subsequently tightens airline security on all lines except Pan American, as they have at that point established a well-oiled pipeline for the heroin Kassar is smuggling into the states and would prefer to avoid extra scrutiny directed toward their mules. On 12/18, Kassar, now out of the loop of the specific bombing plans in the hands of the PFLP-GC cell, but well aware that the shit is about to hit the fan, additionally tips BKA to an attack on a Pan Am Frankfurt-London-New York flight within days, with the motive of protecting his drug shipment from a possible assault by Jibril. BKA passes the tip to CIA-1 and CIA, but not directly to Pan Am. Around the same time, Jibril confirms PA103 as the target, deciding that the operation is too advanced to be halted at that stage, and presuming that any disruption in Kassar's drug route would not be blamed on him. Finally, Jibril co-opts Kassar's usual drug-planting procedure, which involves the drug suitcase being planted in an employee locker area at the Frankfurt airport days ahead of time, which a baggage handler then substitutes for the mule's clean luggage at the last minute after the mule passes through customs. Multiple warnings continue to arrive at CIA-1 courtesy BKA and Mossad, increasing in specificity and proximity to the actual date of the attack. But they are met with either non-response or non-alarm by CIA-1. BKA surveillance at Frankfurt on the day of the bombing notes an unusual suitcase being loaded onto PA103, different in make, shape and color from Kassar's usual heroin transport (a BKA videotape of the suitcase going on the plane is subsequently "lost"). BKA reports the anomaly to CIA-1, who again reply that all is well, "don't worry about it, don't stop it. Let it go". Hours later, Pan Am flight 103, Major McKee & co., and everyone and everything else on board go up in a big, bright and thoroughly effective fireball. Multiple factions are pleased. The public is outraged. Things move forward. The Dow Jones rises. Presidents are elected. Business proceeds, as usual. 'leven' (special tip o' th' konsp to kevekev.com for alerting me to the impending action on Megrahi's case) posted by elvis Elvis's Konspiracy Korner Live Saturday 23 June 0007 1200 CST Full web entry to follow over the weekend. posted by elvis I am pleased to present the latest in an irregular series of reports from abroad c/o kevekev.com as he once again spends his summer traversing the West Asian lands. What really happens! -ed. Islam in Yo Face! pt. 4 - Tehran, Iran I was taking my afternoon nap today, staring at the ceiling, when a small earthquake hit. The ceiling sort of twisted before my eyes. It felt more like a wave going through me than the Star Trek 'shake the camera' effect. Powerful mojo. Then I heard screams and people running outside the apartment building. But women here scream a lot so it wasn't that big a deal. Are you supposed to run outside? (only if you're a girl! -ed., SF CA)
My Bahrain connection flaked, readers. Don't tell anyone but I'm going to chance it in Beirut - at least that's my feeling for now. One car bomb a week for the past 5 weeks is still not so bad if you do the math. I could get hit by a car in Tehran at probably greater odds. Plus, isn't it easier to get laid in those situations? You know, treat every day like it's your last day and all that? Yeah, that's my problem with women. Stability.
Went by the former American Embassy - notice the extremely damaged diplomatic seal. Yeah folks, it all happened here: Ted Koppel got famous and Reagan won in '80. The CIA documents inside that had been shredded before the takeover were meticulously put together by hand by revolutionaries in 1980, and then published in several volumes. As a result, the US had to change many of its codenames for famous celebrities such as Bob Hope, Liberace, and Tom Selleck.
posted by kevekev.com
BLOG TO SELF :: At a recent rehearsal, the fuse blew on my Mesa Boogie BASSMAN 200 amp. This is my first encounter with such a difficulty on a tube amplifier. I dutifully copied the specs for my fuse from the back of the amplifier and headed to the fuse store (a local hardware store (remember them?) or Radio Shack Korp will do). Then came the dilemma: my amplifier requires a 117V (volt) 6.25A (ampere) fuse, and neither of my local fuse carriers had those exact specs on hand. I chose the latter, hence the following questions, none of which immediately yielded clear answers from store personnel or online. I thus offer them here for future googly utility: Can I use a fuse with a lower or higher VOLTAGE rating than my amplifier specifies? Can I use a fuse with a lower or higher AMPERE rating than my amplifier specifies? While the best solution is to buy the exact fuse your amplifier recommends, you may also buy a fuse that has a higher voltage and/or lower ampere rating and still be safe. For example, I ended up finding a 250V 6.25A fuse and it works just fine. I could have bought a 250V 5A fuse and it would also work fine, but would probably blow more frequently due to the lower ampere threshold. Also an obvious but oft-ignored note to the tube amp consumer: always buy extra tubes and fuses. Nothing worse than blowing out mid-set and having no way to get back in the saddle. Like Tom Smith said...
posted by cansafis RETURN OF THE CURSE OF THE BOOTLEGGER'S GHOST The irregular bootlegging of the king anti-blog 'anon' author behind the "Findings" page in HARPER'S now carries an extra-enthusiastic recommendation that you subscribe to their fine magazine, as they have now archived their entire fucking catalog online for subscribers. Still so cheap, now super-value size.
posted by elvis TANKERTOWN weekly in good health & in ill
posted by elvis I am pleased to present the latest in an irregular series of reports from abroad c/o kevekev.com as he once again spends his summer traversing the West Asian lands. What really happens! -ed. Islam in Yo Face! pt. 3 - Tehran, Iran My body's sense memory is definitely short-term only. You know the solar sneeze, right? I get those occasionally, where for some reason you just sneeze when the sun's bearing down on you. But I forgot about the solar shit. When you step outside in 100 degree weather from a cooler 80 degree room, your stomach starts to play Merzbowel. God that's a bad joke. I could have gone with Fushitusha as well, for those keeping score.
That picture is of a traditional restaurant's amazing house band and their fabulous Cansafis-esque singer. Unfortunately pictures were not allowed so this is the best you get. There is a technique known colloquially (i.e. by me) as "cha-cha" where, after a good solid building of rocking the v-chords, the singer breaks the notes with his throat as he's running up and down some scale. Hard to explain, the closest I can get is Demetrios Stratos from Area. He did it occasionally.
posted by kevekev.com
Oakland record release show TONIGHT Saturday 6/16
posted by elvis
San Francisco record release show TONIGHT Friday 6/15
posted by elvis “Cards” or “A Cigarette for a Blind Man” He had given away many cigarettes in his life, but never to a blind man. It was accepted with "poker face" as would be found custom seated 'round the felt. The blind man held clout in many a gaming room formal & lax, and although the Braille-pocked decks that all agreed upon in his presence were not of his design, he had certainly turned them toward an habit of victory that could almost seem suspect if one didn't have eyes well-trained for such patterns. While the blind man of course required the mechanical dimples upon his wax, the sighted players could never quite grow accustomed to the feel; the marks reminded them of some sort of shitty candy, or a small growth upon the skin that one would prefer to ignore. In this way one does not need to conjure an false handicap to turn it to one's advancement in life; a method shared by many at the suggestion of a single man will rarely yield a balanced dividend. Turning toward his hand, he lit one of his own and considered the following: if a method as innocuous as the blind man's could stack such piles in his favour, what then of his labor as sold to another? He found the implications of suggestion much fouler than compulsion, and had sensibly long turned away from the yoke and sought his recompense in the autonomous regions of sport among men and profitable repose among women. Did not the citizens of Critias also shudder upon receipt of the "vermilion stripe"? A month, an evening, a card game shared similar physics. The narratives of mens' histories become inaccurate along the vectors of time and space. Only the most pitiable sort of optimist attributes this to a lack of accurate transcription or malicious intent; it is in reality a consequence of the contextual vastness that is in many circles held to be an end in itself. As the lens pulls away from its actors only the most stupendous fools remain to catch the eye. A flagrant foul, "pissing on the chips" in local parlance. Consider the fact that when two dice are rolled in rapid succession among two or more parties, one quickly begins to reconsider his notions of probability as they apply to the rolling of two dice. Now consider the narrative: they rolled the dice. With little aplomb, he laid down his aces and won. Across the felt, a grown man in a "Tintin" t-shirt appeared to be drunk. The blind man shed no tears. posted by elvis TANKERTOWN a two-year narrative, built weekly like stone
posted by elvis I am pleased to present the latest in an irregular series of reports from abroad c/o kevekev.com as he once again spends his summer traversing the West Asian lands. What really happens! -ed. Islam in Yo Face! pt. 2 - Tehran, Iran
First, let me make a correction: Iran no longer has the most refugees within its borders, as it did after the first Gulf War. It is third in the world. Obviously their moral fiber is slipping. Second, my presumptive gastrointestinal mastery was pure hubris. A few days later I got a mild case of food poisoning with symptoms including pale face, ring tone, and lip grip. I was the Oedipus of cuisine for a while there. The gods have humbled me once again. I am still debating whether to continue drinking tap water. Last time I was here I went bottled all the way, but I have been assured that the Awb-e shirin (sweet water) from the tap is the mother of all waters. Frankly, it tastes much better. And I do not blame my bowelry woes on it - I was drinking it from the beginning. Iran has begun to raise the price of gasoline. It went from a subsidized price of 80 toman a liter (about 40c/gallon) to 100 toman (oh, say, 42c/gallon). There is now a limit or ration of gas for everyone each month, with an accompanying smart card to be read at the gas station and deduct accordingly. According to liberal types, this is not enough to make a dent in gasoline consumption, and thus driving, in Iran. But, you may say, Iran makes shitbunches of oil, why not subsidize it? Well, it doesn't make all the gasoline. A significant portion of Iran's oil revenues thus travel outside the country to import (about half) of its refined gasoline. Either it should build new refineries or reduce its consumption of gas. With a high estimate of 1000 new cars appearing in Tehran's streets each day, and a low estimate of ZERO cars becoming defunct (its so cheap you lose money by NOT driving), some type of change is needed. But, I am not - an neither should you be - against subsidies as a tool for public planning. They are great. And when power/gas is a main element of consumption by the poor, it should be subsidized for their benefit. On the other hand, driving like Mad Max is not the best goal for public policy. Iran's public transportation is good (better than Baltimore (high standards! -ed.)), but could get much better. I would be in favor of removing subsidies for gasoline only if it could be proven that one could get around as easily via public transportation. In many cases in Iran, this is not the case. And it's a credit to Iran that, unlike many Latin American countries who removed these types of subsidies under pressure from international financial bodies, Iran never got the neoliberal memo. It's pure statism here, baby.
posted by kevekev.com “So Spoke the Senarius” razzled and frazzled of destiny- the blue light in the corridor- an inextinguishable essence- immutable- the triad that radiates through infinity- clear beams of excellence- supercilious miasma- the fresh beach- an old unknown tune exceptionally rendered in prose- purveyor of the elegant- a stratum unlike any other- bevelled and chiselled- the cold unknowable franchise- permeating all idioms with a totem of absurd vengeance- breath- the exit and the taste of tea- outward/inward- this snowflake drifts religiously- trains and trails and orgasm- supercilious- blue light- aquatic marine- the upright ascension- against a wind post- the archaic inscription etched upon a thousand mirrors- freedom- the longest patriot- for an hour a year- explicitly rendered in ink- the engine in the trenches- a tiger- breathing free and fierce- uncontrollable extinction- nine more cymbals to crash- layers of meaning and reason- alpha- lambdoma- omega- stingray circle- upon a dark oak table- the blood of Wodin- transforming- a singular focus on the narrative- the yellow line that is never to be crossed- power grids- symphony in the open air- smuggling cocaine- pineapple- ancient flute- sporadic- the cloak of dignity- the limbs of the tarantula- a mayor’s knowing glance- and the spiral in the sand- placing the rook on the chessboard- an ebony stallion under moonlight- fear in the face of the insider- boat toppling in the ocean- moonbeams- subtlety- strange wizardry- the blessed fixation- an apple orchard- we hear many ways- melodically and harmonically- clutching the iron- rust against his skin- old plenitude- meaning no more- the sound of the asteroid- he was fidonous- never drank coffee- all his money was kept in a line posted by chauncey ORIGIN & TECTONICS Mr. Brians here, enjoying a fine beverage and listening to Andres Segovia (mp3) in my well-appointed room somewhere in mid-Oakland (no solicitors, please). Allow me to introduce your focused mind to the concepts running amok this new slab so imbibed in 180-gram vinyl, nee the arches and squirted brain juice of No Doctors and YOUR collected mind, THE TRACKLIST TO ORIGIN & TECTONICS: Note, if you will, the path from earth to jewel to love at the circus, with you always. posted by mr. brian I am pleased to present the first in an irregular series of reports from abroad c/o kevekev.com as he once again spends his summer traversing the West Asian lands. What really happens! -ed. Islam in Yo Face! pt. 1 - Tehran, Iran I'll say it again: it's nice to be back in stable Iran. Low crime, clean metro, dark lustful eyes everywhere. The fashion crackdown which made such huge news in the West (the "one article on Iranian society" quota filled for 2007, I guess) wound down before I got here. It was overblown in the first place, more of a show, though some of the women here are taking more precautions than last summer. Still, the allure of couture abounds - I saw a new Benetton shop yesterday in north Tehran. In Iran, people know how to pronounce "Iran." That's one thing they'll always have over Americans. Caught the death anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini down at his shrine on Monday; it's like a Woodstock where everyone is fully clothed and crying a lot. I think Dennis Hopper still would have enjoyed himself. The erstwhile expat line here is that everyone who shows up at this annual event (at least 250,000+) gets a free ride and free food, thus people show up who don't "believe." I say "so what?" I went to Oktoberfest in Lincoln Square in Chicago and paid. What many Iranian liberals don't like to understand is that some section of Iran, numbering in the millions, is very religious, and they also understand that their ticket, meager as it is, lies with the government. Those who wish for a return to a monarchy should be careful who they call irrational, is all I'm saying. Did you know that Iran has allowed more refugees within its borders than any other country in the world, and has done so since the late 1980s? I did. Yet the US calls the movement of 70,000 Afghans back into Afghanistan an attempt to "destabilize the country." Last time I checked the US let in somewhere between 60 and 70 Iraqis into their borders in 2006, and told the rest "T.S." On the other hand, there's some serious brinkmanship going on here which is bad for anyone at all interested in rapprochement. But as I told a concerned citizen today, it's primary season in the US. That means lot of hot talk, no rocky the boat. Last word for now - a nota bene for international travelers: Passport holders, there are two kinds of stool softeners, one with laxative, one without. I think you know what's best. posted by kevekev.com TANKERTOWN Weekly Comicxks
posted by elvis I recommend anyone who has any interest in the current narrative regarding climate change and its possible human origins to spend some time reading noted lefties Alexander Cockburn and George Monbiot have at it in this debate, helpfully archived by ZNet here. Elvis's Konspiracy Korner Live Saturday 2 June 0007 1200 CST I have recently discussed several examples of "false flag" operations, and the topic at hand finds two of them to be immediately relevant: the "Lavon Affair", in which Israeli intelligence was caught initiating terrorist attacks on American targets in Egypt in 1954, and the 1964 "Gulf of Tonkin Incident", in which the Johnson administration falsely alleged that U.S. destroyers were attacked by the North Vietnamese in order to secure domestic support to escalate U.S. aggression in Vietnam. This Friday June 8 marks the 40th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in the midst of the Six Day War, in which Israel succeeded in seizing the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria and the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. Not bad for six days. On June 8 1967 the Naval Intelligence ship USS Liberty was riding the border between Egyptian and international waters, about 13 miles off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula. At 0600 local time, Israeli Air Force aircraft made repeated flyovers and most likely identified the large ship as belonging to the U.S. Navy. At 0900 there was another flyover, this time at a distance sufficient to prompt Liberty crew members to later recall waving to the IAF pilots. Nevertheless, at 1400 unmarked Israeli jets attacked the Liberty with no warning or provocation, using cannon, rockets, and In all, 34 crew members were killed and 172 wounded, the majority of them Naval Intelligence personnel, marking the single greatest loss of life by the U.S. intelligence community. The role of radio communication in the incident is highly unusual, with Liberty Captain McGonagle reporting that radio jamming was present (on American, rather than Egyptian frequencies, again suggesting positive identification of the ship by the Israelis). IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Yitzhak Rabin reportedly feared that the IAF was attacking a Soviet ship and ordered a halt, an order that was obviously never received. Similarly, U.S. Sec. Defense Robert McNamara recalled two separate rescue attempts from nearby aircraft carriers during the attack, and when his orders were questioned President Johnson himself got on the line, reportedly declaring that he didn't care if every man drowned, he would not embarrass his allies. (absolutely necessary aside: I recently learned, in a review of Geoffrey Perret's new book "Commander in Chief" by Thomas E. Woods Jr. in the American Conservative, that LBJ "had a habit of pulling out his genitals in the presence of his critics as evidence of his greater manliness", and furthermore "in response to the nagging questions of journalists as to why American men were being sent to fight in Vietnam, LBJ finally showed them his penis and snapped, 'This is why!'", and, the real kicker, I learned of a "member of the Secret Service who, standing next to the president, felt his leg getting wet. 'You're pissing on my leg, Mr. President!' he exclaimed. 'I know I am,' LBJ replied. 'That's my prerogative'") But enough presidential cock & balls! Why would Israel attack its ally in the midst of a wider war, for no apparent reason? Despite the fact that in 1967 the French were Israel's most powerful supporter, they still had plenty of solidarity in American power circles. After numerous "investigations" the official narrative from both the U.S. and Israeli sides has been that Israel mistakenly identified the Liberty as the Egyptian destroyer El Quseir, despite the fact that the Liberty was more than twice its size and, of course, bore latin rather than arabic letters and numbers, and was flying a large American flag. Although the U.S. has conducted "investigations" under the auspices of the Congress, CIA, JCS, and NSA, all were actually based upon the initial U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry proceedings, and had no mandate to look further. This initial inquiry, incidentally, was conducted in six days when Court President Admiral Kidd stated that it would take six months for a proper investigation. Court legal counsel Capt. Ward Boston also claimed on the record that he and Kidd were both convinced that the abbreviated investigations amounted to a deliberate coverup of an intentional attack. In 1987 the whole mess was "officially closed" by agreement of both governments, with Israel forking over $13 million for reparations. To this date there is a very adamant network associated with survivors and their families demanding a proper investigation. Just another faction of the anti-semitic internets, I guess! Some of the most interesting possible motives for the attack that I've come across are: Russell Warren Howe asserts that the Liberty was trailed by the Polaris submarine USS Andrew Jackson, whose mission was to take out all Israeli long range missile sites if they attacked Cairo, Damascus or Baghdad, for the sole purpose of preventing the Soviets from having to do the same thing and starting Word War III (shit!). Peter Hounam claims that LBJ and Israel agreed to completely sink the Liberty to justify U.S. assaults on Egypt, but the plan was aborted and reversed when it became clear that the ship was not going to sink (dead men tell no tales, etc.). Furthermore, a BBC documentary claims that U.S. nuclear-armed planes were already en route toward Cairo from a carrier in the Mediterranean, and were recalled at the last minute when the Liberty didn't sink (fuck!). Or perhaps LBJ simply struck a deal with the domestic Jewish lobby to back Israel unconditionally in exchange for some breathing room on the increasing protests against the Vietnam War? As the Liberty was an intelligence vessel, maybe Israel attacked it to prevent U.S. Intelligence from discovering their plans to occupy the Golan Heights (they subsequently did anyway). Or, perhaps intelligence gathered by the crew would have potentially contradicted Israel's narrative of the Six Day War growing out of attacks on Israel by Syria and Egypt, as opposed to Israel's Pearl Harbor-style surprise attacks? As you know, dear reader, I don't call sides on these things (see motto, above). But I do find it worth your time to consider what really happened forty years ago, and how it was subsequently handled by both the Israeli and U.S. governments. If the current administration decides to invade Iran (and I think it is thankfully unlikely), it will most likely be ostensibly justified by an similar "incident" in the Persian Gulf, and although the aggressor could in fact be Iran, my rapidly devaluing U.S. Dollar is on the U.S. or Israel provoking an incident not unlike some we've seen in the past. We can only hope they'll keep the nukes out of it this time. 'leven' archive of previous konspiracy korner pieces is kept here. Happy birthday W. Clxps!!
posted by elvis DAILY SMOOTHIE RECIPE This smoothie is my answer to a daily multivitamin. I understand the importance of vitamin and mineral supplementation, however, I have never been convinced that a chalky multivitamin is the best way to achieve this goal. So, I have developed a smoothie which contains all of the major vitamins (both fat and water soluble) as well as the major and trace minerals necessary for harmony and health. I’ve been testing this smoothie out on Chauncey every morning for the past few weeks and I can assure you the results are indeed astounding. Recipe: 2 Bananas Combine all ingredients in a blender. ## And the breakdown… The Fat Soluble Vitamins: The Water Soluble Vitamins: Major Minerals: Trace Minerals: The amounts of each of these found in the smoothie are enough to cover your RDA without completely overdosing on anything. For myself I also have added a Liquid B Complex. I have done this because I do not regularly consume animal products and want to make sure I am absorbing enough B12. For those of you who eat meat or dairy this additional supplementation is probably not necessary (unless, of course, your "meat" and "dairy" come from McDonalds). posted by michelle Elvis's Konspiracy Korner Live Saturday 2 June 0007 1200 CST Full web entry to follow over the weekend. posted by elvis TRIALS OF TRASH aka PILES OF TRASH
posted by cansafis |
