Corporate media: anonymous ‘official’, generic drawing = Iran nuke ‘evidence’.

May 14th 2012 By Carl Herman   Find Full Article Here:-

Following US and UK “leaders” Obama and Cameron’s threats to war-murder Iranians under ongoing similar non-specific accusations, US corporate media now “reports” that an un-named alleged official from an un-named nation provided a generic drawing alleged to be from an Iran military base consistent with nuclear weapon development.

A generic search provided 8 million results from the initial AP “news”, such as this one, showing the extent of corporate media’s echo chamber.

Let’s compare this typical corporate media “reporting” with revealing objective data:

The US waged unlawful war on Iran for 35 consecutive years with the overthrow of their democracy from 1953 to 1979, and then supported Iraq’s War of Aggression from 1980-1988 that war-murdered ~ one million Iranians.

US corporate media lies in omission of this history, then lie in omission that US war-murder threats are both criminal and ignore that all inspections find Iran’s treaty-guaranteed programs for nuclear energy and medical isotopes fully accountable. They lie in omission by failing to report that Iran is in compliance with all treaty terms, and that the US is in violation for not eliminating its nuclear arsenal per treaty terms. Corporate media also lie in omission (such as here) by not reporting that the Non-Proliferation Treaty does not have any authority to enter military bases. To make this last point clear, imagine if Iran demanded access to US military bases to prove what we know, the US has expanded technology and efficiency of their nuclear arsenal in Orwellian opposite of treaty terms. Would the US comply and US media demand such access?

Corporate media lie in commission by stating Iran’s president threatened Israel, when the crystal-clear content and context is stating Israel is wiping the Palestinians off the map.

US corporate media lie in omission that US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are in direct violation of war law and UN Security Council Resolutions, and that all “reasons” for those wars are disclosed by US government agency reports as known lies as they were told. This is immediate and vital history when considering the same actors’ rhetoric with a new war target.

Real pictures of Iran and Iranians.

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This is Tehran

This is the city that Iran built the nuclear reactor for

Joe Strummer: The angry young man who grew up.

By Ian Burrell  20th May 2012.  Find Full Article & Photo Gallery Here:-

The leader of The Clash was the spokesman for a generation. But what was Joe Strummer really like? To mark the 10th anniverary of his death, his widow reveals the truth behind the legend – and how the angry man of punk finally found real happiness in the country life.

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How to remember Joe Strummer? It’s a question being asked around the world, as the 10th anniversary of the singer’s untimely death approaches. To his legion of devoted fans, the leader of the Clash was a rebel genius – the John Lennon of his generation, according to his front-page obituary in The Independent. His sloganeering lyrics, fuelled by anger, idealism and the call for justice and unity, empowered the social consciences of countless thousands. But the woman he knew as “Luce” remembers a very different character to the public image of punk’s poet hurtling down the Westway of life.

“He was quite quiet when I met him,” she says. “He wasn’t doing anything, just living at home – he wasn’t out with the posse. I became more and more aware of his charm, shall we say, as I got to know him.”

Nearly a decade has passed since Strummer fell victim to an undiagnosed heart defect on 22 December 2002 – which is already a longer time than the nine years the former Lucinda Mellor spent in his life. His influence is probably greater now than when they first met at a Hampshire funfair in 1993, and his star will shine even brighter this anniversary year. But for all of Strummer’s lasting international adulation, it is Lucinda who remains the principal keeper of his flame. And she is anxious that her recollection of their time together will not be distorted by myth. “He was always a hero to lots of people and he was always a hero to me – and I’d like to believe I don’t think any more or less of him since he’s died,” she says. “I’d like to think I haven’t glorified him or looked through rose-tinted spectacles at my life with him. He was special, magnetic.”

Everybody Draw Mohammed Day May 20th 2012

Everybody Draw Mohammed Day was an event held on May 20, 2010 in support of free speech and freedom of artistic expression of those threatened by violence for drawing representations of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It began as a protest against censorship of an American television show, South Park, “201” by its distributor, Comedy Central, in response to death threats against some of those responsible for two segments broadcast in April 2010. Observance of the day began with a drawing posted on the Internet on April 20, 2010, accompanied by text suggesting that “everybody” create a drawing representing Muhammad, on May 20, 2010, as a protest against efforts to limit freedom of speech.

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Is war inevitable? Guardian readers respond.

23rd May 2012.   Find Full Article Here:-

We asked you whether the end of war could ever be within reach. Several Guardian readers share their thoughts.

The Greeks and the Trojans didn’t invent war, but they did fight one of the most famous ones in history. Photograph: Philip Spruyt/Stapleton Collection/Corbis

For this special edition of the people’s panel, in partnership with WNYC, we asked you: is the end of war within reach? Or is war inevitable? Responses came in droves, and select entries are featured on WNYC’s End of War series. Participants may also be featured on The Brian Lehrer show and be invited to a special event at The Greene Space on June 13.

Here are a few of our favorite responses:

‘We end war or war will end us’ – George Delf

After a lifetime objecting to war I conclude: either we end war or war will end us. We debate endlessly the madness of war, yet almost neverstart with the madness of each of us. Responsibility and blame are dumped on enemies, leaders, arms-dealers, military and religious fanatics. Anyone but you and me.

It is time to own up. I am a democrat whoclaims a share in my nation’s actions. I prove it by voting, paying taxes and yelling at my television screen. So a Blair/Bush/Obama war is mine, too. Without millions like me our wars could not start. Hanan Matrud would still be alive, instead of a dead eight-year-old girl, shot by a British soldier outside her home in Iraq. “An unfortunate mistake,” said the army inquiry. The usual cop-out and a lie.

To send an army far away to a foreign land and kill a little girl is no mistake. ‘Collateral damage,’ the disgraceful euphemism, is part of every war. Her death is a crime of the first magnitude. Ours. Refusal to kill anyone at all, for any reason, seems like wild idealism in a deluded age. Yet it is the key to a barbaric prison. Outside is a new civilization based on respect for life. A memorial for Hanan and untold millions. War is crime. Let’s wake up. Killing people is wrong, any time, anywhere, whatever cannibal chiefs may say.

‘We need more bodies like UN to end war’ – Richard Kapit

The end of war will happen one day. Consider recent American policy regarding military interventions. The US is unique in its capacity and propensity for military operations, and it probably engages in more of them than any other nation. Nevertheless, nowadays, even the US usually seeks a UN security council sanction to justify an invasion and a Nato resolution and backing to execute one.

War will become less frequent as international quasi-governmental bodies, similar to the UN and Nato, establish precedents, rules, and international laws that require application of non-military sanctions before military operations begin. Something similar is happening now in the international effort to stop Iran from developing nuclear material enrichment operations.

The end of war will be accomplished when international governmental bodies set up standing police forces capable of military operations and interventions, and they then routinely and without exception insist that individual nations utilize international legislative, judicial, and other non-military means to bring international conflicts to resolution.

Damien Hirst: Two Weeks One Summer – review.

22nd May 2012 by Jonathan Jones   Find Full Review Here:-

White Cube Bermondsey, London 23 May – 8 July 2012.

A detail from Two Parrots (2010) by Damien Hirst. Click to see full picture.

Photograph: Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.  All rights reserved, DACS 2012

The last time I saw paintings as deluded as Damien Hirst’s latest works, the artist’s name was Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. A decade ago the son of Libya’s then still very much alive dictator showed sentimental paintings of desert scenes in an exhibition sponsored by fawning business allies. Searching for some kind of parallel to the arrogance and stupidity of Hirst’s still life paintings, I find myself remembering that strange, sad spectacle.

There is a pathos about Two Weeks One Summer, in which Hirst shows paintings of parrots and lemons, shark’s jaws and foetuses in jars in a vast space in White Cube Bermondsey. It is the same kind of pathos that clings to dictators’ art. This is the kind of kitsch that is foisted on helpless peoples by Neros and Hitlers and such tyrants so beyond normal restraint or criticism they believe they are artists. I am not saying this to be cruel. There is a real analogy: Hirst like an absolute ruler must be utterly surrounded by a court of yes-people, all down the line from his painting shed to the gallery, if there is no one to tell him he is rowing himself to artistic damnation with these trivial and pompous slabs of hack work.

This is the third exhibition by Damien Hirst to open in London this spring, and it retroactively mocks the others. His retrospective at Tate Modern is brilliantly edited. It includes all the best vitrines, and none of the rotten “proper” paintings that he now makes at home in Devon. To paraphrase the epitaph on Albrecht Dürer’s tomb, whatever is immortal (or at least memorable) of Damien Hirst is in that exhibition. But here is the other side of the story: an artist so wealthy and powerful that he can kid himself he is an Old Master and have the art world go along with the fantasy. The most recent paintings here were finished this year, so the fantasy is still very much alive. So is the courtiers’ chorus of support.

Boat crafted from Mary Rose and Jimi Hendrix’s guitar to be launched.

7th May 2012.  Find Full Article Here:-

A boat crafted from 1,200 pieces of wood, including fragments from the Mary Rose and Jimi Hendrix’s guitar, will be launched today as part of a national art project to mark the Olympics.

Created as a “floating collage of memories”, The Boat Project has been funded by the Arts Council England’s Artists’ Taking the Lead project Photo: PA

Created as a ”floating collage of memories”, The Boat Project has been funded by the Arts Council England’s Artists’ Taking the Lead project as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

The artists who came up with the idea, Gary Winters and Gregg Whelan, known as Lone Twin, visited 20 locations across the region seeking contributions to be used in the building of the craft.

They also invited members of the public to bring wooden pieces to the West Sussex boatyard where it was built. The only criteria was that the items were made from wood and had a story behind them.

The diverse contributions include a plank from the London 2012 velodrome, several hockey sticks, a Victorian policeman’s truncheon, large crates used to transport gold as British securities to Canada during the Second World War and a hairbrush used by a make-up artist at Pinewood Studios in the 1960s.

A spokeswoman for the project said: ”People from all walks of life responded by giving treasured items from all parts of the world and, more humbly, their garages.

Britain has world’s third highest proportion of sexually active teens.

By Sarah Boseley  25th April 2012.  Find Full Article Here:-

UK also ranks badly among high-income nations for harmful teenage drinking, according to study in Lancet medical journal.

The UK scores badly for teenage drinking and pregnancy. Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex Features

Britain has the third-highest proportion of teenagers who are sexually active at an early age and also ranks badly among high-income nations for harmful teenage drinking, according to a series of studies published in the Lancet medical journal on Tuesday.

The research, plus a report by Unicef, call for more attention to be paid to the changing needs of the young, warning they are at risk of mental and physical illness, vulnerable to unhealthy product marketing and that too many will die early.

The studies found neglect across the globe, including in affluent countries such as Britain and the US. Among 40 countries with broadly comparable data, England had the fourth-highest number of adolescents who had been drunk by the age of 13. Wales came fifth and Scotland eighth. Wales had the third-highest number of 15-year-olds who drank every week, with England fourth and Scotland again eighth.

For early adolescent deaths, Britain ranked in the middle of high-income countries. Worst was the US, because of a very high rate of violent deaths – 10 to 20 times above that of other developed countries. The US also had high binge-drinking rates (despite alcohol being prohibited for those under 21) and the top rate of cannabis use of all high-income countries with data.

London Frieze braves backlash to fly the flag of British culture in Manhattan.

By Edward Helmore, New York 28th April 2012.  Find Full Article Here:-

The fair faces the threat of protests by the Occupy movement against art commercialisation as it makes its first trip abroad.

Detail from Michele Abeles’ “Red, Rock, Cigarettes, Newspaper, Body, Wood, Lycra, Bottle” (2011) at the Frieze New York 2012.

The Frieze art fair is set to plant the flag of British culture and commerce on Manhattan soil in its first overseas expansion of the brand.

But while organisers plan to shake up the cosy world of New York art fairs, and draw thousands of buyers and fans of contemporary art to a snaking, architecturally unique tent on Randall’s Island, Frieze arrives as art critics and curators detect a significant shift in art practice away from the overtly market-orientated and commercial.

At the same time Frieze is drawing the attention of the Occupy protesters. The movement, gearing up for a city-wide day of demonstration, has vowed to picket Frieze over its use of non-unionised labour, as well as stage a general protest against art as a luxury for the rich. Members of the subgroup Occupy Museums plan to protest at what it calls “the rampant financialisation of art”. Part of their objection, the group says, is that fairs such as Frieze benefit a small number of artists but not the larger arts scene. “We want to un-Frieze art,” says representative Noah Fischer.

Besides waving placards, they plan to trade art for objects in kind, even tickets for the fair itself. Frieze co-founder Amanda Sharp says she’s not necessarily against the Occupyers, but senses the protest is based on false expectations.

“Over the last 10 years, the art world has tracked global economic change. In America there is a more politicised awareness of inequality between class and wealth. At the same time, more people have decided that art can be a career. They’ve seen art reality TV shows and they think they can make a career purely out of their work. That’s an unrealistic expectation so a lot more people feel disenfranchised,” she says.

The fair features 180 galleries from around the world in a tent designed by New York-based SO – IL Architects. Among attractions are a sculpture park featuring works by Cerith Wyn Evans and sound installations by Marin Creed and writer Rick Moody that VIP guests will listen to as they are ferried to the fair in cars provided by sponsor BMW.

Occupy’s positions are not far from an emerging view among New York curators and critics sounding the death knell for the era of conspicuous art consumption in which wealthy collectors were celebrated for spending money.

Farmers demand the World Bank and Wall Street stop grabbing their lands.

23rd April 2012.  Find Full Article Here:-

(Photo: CC HondurasBlog via Flickr)

Peasants from the Bajo Aguán valley, Honduras, which is witnessing an alarming situation of violence and repression against peasant communities. On April 17, 2012, the International Day of Peasant Struggle, Honduran peasants started massive land occupations, with about 3000 farm families occupying more than 12,000 ha in at least six departments. (Photo: CC HondurasBlog via Flickr)

The World Bank is playing a leading role in a global land grab, say farmers’ movements and their international allies.[1] The World Bank’s policies for land privatisation and concentration, have paved the way for corporations from Wall Street to Singapore to take upwards of 80 million hectares of land from rural communities across the world in the past few years, they say in a collective statement released today at the opening of the World Bank’s Conference on Land and Poverty in Washington DC.

“Rural people are losing control over land and water because of this global land grab,” says Honduran farmer leader Rafael Alegria of the international farmers’ movement La Via Campesina. “We want the land grab stopped and the lands taken to be returned to the local communities. In Honduras, we demand that the law for rural modernisation promoted by the World Bank be canceled and that a new law for agricultural transition be adopted”.

The World Bank will be meeting with government officials and private sector investors during its annual conference, where they will discuss large-scale farmland acquisitions by foreign corporations in developing countries. The World Bank will be promoting its controversial Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI).

Signed by Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale, FIAN International, Focus on the Global South, Friends of the Earth International, GRAIN, La Via Campesina, and the Transnational Institute – 23 April 2012