Greg Palast has a new book out: Armed Madhouse: Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf?, The Best Legal Whorehouse in Texas, No Child's Behind Left and Other Tales of Class Combat in a Dying Regime.
Palast has also done a podcast for Penguin Books. As the lady who introduces it says, this podcast contains strong opinions and strong language. Whatever. The podcast is available in a number of formats including Mp3 and whatever it is iPod people require: the penguin podcast page
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Hong Kong: post Bopha
Well, a little island in the South China Sea had about an hour of thunder and lightning last night and then all was peace and quiet. If there was anything, Mister B knows not, having slept soundly.
Tropical cyclone Bopah is still southeast of hereabouts, but has weakened to a tropical depression. Bopha is making its (irregular) way further westwards. The Number One is still up.
Elsewhere, to the north, tropical typhoon Saomai has passed the north end of Taiwan and is roaring toward mainland China's Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.
Hong Kong Observatory: tropical cyclone tracking
Tropical cyclone Bopah is still southeast of hereabouts, but has weakened to a tropical depression. Bopha is making its (irregular) way further westwards. The Number One is still up.
Elsewhere, to the north, tropical typhoon Saomai has passed the north end of Taiwan and is roaring toward mainland China's Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.
Hong Kong Observatory: tropical cyclone tracking
Hong Kong: light, bright, noisy night
The radio started crackling about an hour ago. . . lightning strikes. According to Hong Kong Observatory, between 11:00pm and 11:59pm there were 1,534 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. That thunderstorm front is heading west toward a little island in the South China Sea. Time to powerdown the computer and unplug the modem!
Bon soir, tout le monde. Or, as we say hereabouts, joi geen!
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
George Galloway
Last Sunday, George Galloway appeared on the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky TV. Given the venue, Sky TV, George was in combative mood: video google
Fernando Pessao
Started reading Fernando Pessao's The Book of Disquiet several months ago. Disquiet isn't a novel and doesn't have a plot. Instead, it's a multitude of short prose pieces -- pieces that are often melancholic, occasionally whimsical, beautifully written, and of an unsparing introspection.
Disquiet is the sort of book you can pick up, and dip in. But when it begins to read like a long and beautiful suicide note you know it is time to put Disquiet down. Time to think about something else, read something else. Like P G Woodhouse or Raymond Chandler. Which is what I did over a month ago.
But as that old adage goes: when the student is ready, the teacher appears. In this case, today, on page 297 of the Penguin Classics edition:
Elsewhere, and later: Situationist Guy Debord's theory of the dérive
Disquiet is the sort of book you can pick up, and dip in. But when it begins to read like a long and beautiful suicide note you know it is time to put Disquiet down. Time to think about something else, read something else. Like P G Woodhouse or Raymond Chandler. Which is what I did over a month ago.
But as that old adage goes: when the student is ready, the teacher appears. In this case, today, on page 297 of the Penguin Classics edition:
It's a rule of life that we can, and should, learn from everyone. There are solemn and serious things we can learn from quacks and crooks, there are philosophies taught us by fools, there are lessons in faithfulness and justice brought to us by chance and by those we chance to meet. Everything is in everything.Yes!
In certain particularly lucid moments of contemplation, like those of early afternoon when I observantly wander through the streets, each person brings me a novelty, each building teaches me something new, each placard has a message for me.
My silent stroll is a continual conversation, and all of us -- men, buildings, stores, placards and the sky -- are a huge friendly crowd, elbowing each other with words in the great procession of Destiny.
The Book of Disquiet, by Fernando Pessao
Elsewhere, and later: Situationist Guy Debord's theory of the dérive
Free Robert Fisk
Until the beginning of this week, The Independent newspaper's Middle East correspondent, Robert Fisk, was parked in the online pay-per-view section. With a bit of sleuthing it was possible to read those same Fisk articles elsewhere, possible but a tad irksome.
Now, it looks like The Independent has changed its policy, free Robert Fisk: Independent
Hong Kong: blowin' in the wind, again
When the Number One went up I know not. However, as of 5pm, tropical cyclone Bopha has crossed Taiwan and is currently 400km east of Hong Kong. Bopha is forecast to move west or west-southwest at about 18km/h.We may go to a Number Three. Or, not.
Hong Kong Observatory
Tropical cyclone Bopha is not much to look at in the satellite image. What does catch the eye is another -- as yet no-name, but perfectly formed -- cyclone to the east of Bopha. Ah, it does have a name: Saomai. That one looks like it is going to go north of Taiwan before barreling across the Chinese mainland.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Brighter than one thousand suns
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Hong Kong: blowin' in the wind
The weather event on Wednesday (3 August 2006) was a Number Three in name only.
Here's some of what happened when typhoon Prapiroon, 'god of rain', skirted the westerly environs of the territory:
(five-minute TVB News clip)
This longer, English-language news clip was found as a result of having seen a shorter Chinese-language clip posted at EastSouthWestNorth
Hereabouts got off lightly. Thirty-one dead and fourteen missing in Guangdong province.
Here's some of what happened when typhoon Prapiroon, 'god of rain', skirted the westerly environs of the territory:
(five-minute TVB News clip)
This longer, English-language news clip was found as a result of having seen a shorter Chinese-language clip posted at EastSouthWestNorth
Hereabouts got off lightly. Thirty-one dead and fourteen missing in Guangdong province.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band: Trout Mask Replica
In today's Guardian, music critic John Harris writes about his trying to come to grips with Beefheart's double-album, Trout Mask Replica. Harris is knowledgeable, amusing, and writes well. In short, he's worth a read -- if you are a bloke. Matters Beefheartian don't seem to appeal much to nonblokes.
Guardian: Mission unlistenable
Front cover: google images
Back cover:
What can Mister B tell you? That a good many spliffs were rolled up on that back cover. That Mister B would come back to what was then home (1969/70) -- a semi-squalid, damp and dirty basement flat in Brixton -- to find one of his flatmates wearing big headphones and 'singing' along to the good Captain. That it was a double album, which means it had four sides. Playing two sides was about enough. That we -- blokes and nonblokes -- all trooped off from Crouch End to the Albert Hall in 1971 (?) to see Beefheart and the band (Zoot Horn Rollo, The Mascara Snake, Antennae Jimmy Semens, Rockette Morton, Drumbo). That event turned out to be one of the loudest, most visually entertaining and musical shows Mister B has ever had the pleasure of attending. Oh, and that it probably helped to be chemically enhanced for most all of the above.
Fast 'n bulbous: Ella Guru
Couple of songs from Trout Mask: youtube
Too hardcore? For those who find Trout Mask a little too much, there is the later and very danceable Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart epic, Willie the Pimp: youtube
Guardian: Mission unlistenable
Front cover: google images
Back cover:
What can Mister B tell you? That a good many spliffs were rolled up on that back cover. That Mister B would come back to what was then home (1969/70) -- a semi-squalid, damp and dirty basement flat in Brixton -- to find one of his flatmates wearing big headphones and 'singing' along to the good Captain. That it was a double album, which means it had four sides. Playing two sides was about enough. That we -- blokes and nonblokes -- all trooped off from Crouch End to the Albert Hall in 1971 (?) to see Beefheart and the band (Zoot Horn Rollo, The Mascara Snake, Antennae Jimmy Semens, Rockette Morton, Drumbo). That event turned out to be one of the loudest, most visually entertaining and musical shows Mister B has ever had the pleasure of attending. Oh, and that it probably helped to be chemically enhanced for most all of the above.
Fast 'n bulbous: Ella Guru
Couple of songs from Trout Mask: youtube
Too hardcore? For those who find Trout Mask a little too much, there is the later and very danceable Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart epic, Willie the Pimp: youtube
Hong Kong: culture of defenestration
When hope goes out of the window in Hong Kong, the furniture often follows: Economist
Hong Kong: crimewatch
Oh, Mister B nearly missed this one: lawyer Kevan Egan was granted bail on 1 August 2006, pending his appeal against a conviction for attempting to leak the identity of a witness in Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption protection programme.
The conviction was based on the testimony of a South China Morning Post reporter, Magdalen Chow.
The Court of Appeal freed Egan, 60, on bail of HK$1 million cash and US$500,000 in sureties. He was also ordered to surrender his travel documents and is barred from leaving the territory.
Presumably, Egan will be enjoying a pint or three in the bar of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club in Ice House Street this Friday evening.
The conviction was based on the testimony of a South China Morning Post reporter, Magdalen Chow.
The Court of Appeal freed Egan, 60, on bail of HK$1 million cash and US$500,000 in sureties. He was also ordered to surrender his travel documents and is barred from leaving the territory.
Presumably, Egan will be enjoying a pint or three in the bar of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club in Ice House Street this Friday evening.
Love: Forever Changes
Hong Kong: Typhoon Prapiroon, the aftermath
Well, Hong Kong Observatory saw fit to raise the second-level, strong wind warning Number Three. That call is based on weather conditions in Hong Kong harbour.
Mister B has the utmost respect for the people at Hong Kong Observatory. They are required to forecast weather for what may be a small region, but it is one that is so topographically complex that there are a variety of micro-climates. It can be pouring with rain in Central or Sai Kung, and glorious sunshine 13km away on a little island in the South China Sea.
Yesterday, wind speeds with an average speed of 41 to 62 km/h were expected (in Hong Kong harbour). But as the chart in the previous post demonstrates, wind speeds on a little island in the South China Sea yo-yoed between 65 and 115km/h during the whole of yesterday. And sustained wind speeds were never less than 75km/h for almost three-quarters of the day.
Given the terrible, murderous damage and havoc a typhoon can accomplish, the weather people are also required from time to time to make the decision about whether or not to raise the Number Eight. If it does raise the Number Eight, the city closes down.
It's a huge responsibility, not an easy call. Yesterday, in many areas, including hereabouts, it was blowing a righteous gale. At the airport 111 flights were delayed, 249 canceled and 74 redirected to other airports. By midnight last night, ten thousand people were stranded at the airport.
Five hundred trees went down.
Maybe the Observatory needs to include metrics other than those just for Hong Kong harbour when it is making the decision about whether or not to raise weather warnings, most especially those that concern imminent tropical cyclones and typhoons in the neighbourhood.
Mainland China's People's Daily has a rather charming report:
Mister B has the utmost respect for the people at Hong Kong Observatory. They are required to forecast weather for what may be a small region, but it is one that is so topographically complex that there are a variety of micro-climates. It can be pouring with rain in Central or Sai Kung, and glorious sunshine 13km away on a little island in the South China Sea.
Yesterday, wind speeds with an average speed of 41 to 62 km/h were expected (in Hong Kong harbour). But as the chart in the previous post demonstrates, wind speeds on a little island in the South China Sea yo-yoed between 65 and 115km/h during the whole of yesterday. And sustained wind speeds were never less than 75km/h for almost three-quarters of the day.
Given the terrible, murderous damage and havoc a typhoon can accomplish, the weather people are also required from time to time to make the decision about whether or not to raise the Number Eight. If it does raise the Number Eight, the city closes down.
It's a huge responsibility, not an easy call. Yesterday, in many areas, including hereabouts, it was blowing a righteous gale. At the airport 111 flights were delayed, 249 canceled and 74 redirected to other airports. By midnight last night, ten thousand people were stranded at the airport.
Five hundred trees went down.
Maybe the Observatory needs to include metrics other than those just for Hong Kong harbour when it is making the decision about whether or not to raise weather warnings, most especially those that concern imminent tropical cyclones and typhoons in the neighbourhood.
Mainland China's People's Daily has a rather charming report:
At least one person was scratched by falling containers Wednesday afternoon in Hong Kong as Typhoon Prapiroon gained its strength in the South China Sea and brought occasional heavy rains and strong wind to the metropolis.Don't you just love that opening paragraph? Scratched! For the rest: People's Daily
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Hong Kong: Number 3
Yesterday, Hong Kong Observatory raised the Number One 'stand-by signal'. A tropical cyclone is lurking in the neighbourhood. In this case, tropical cyclone Prapiroon. That sounds Thai. Oh, it is: god of rain.Since when, Prapiroon intensified into a typhoon and is now some 340km to the south of a little island in the South China Sea. Headed west-northwest toward Hainan Island, typhoon Prapiroon is big enough and close enough that several hours ago the Observatory upgraded the signal to a Number Three:
Strong winds are expected or blowing in Victoria Harbour, with a sustained speed of 41-62 km/h (kilometres per hour). Gusts may exceed 110 km/h. Winds are normally expected to become generally stronger in the harbour areas within 12 hours after the issuing of this signal.Thankfully, it looks as if we shall be spared the ravages of a full-on typhoon. Instead of all that anxiety, ahead is the elemental buzz and ion-enhanced joy of heavy rains, gusts, squalls, and thunderstorms.
Action - Secure all loose objects, particularly those on balconies and rooftops. Flower pots and other objects likely to be blown away should be taken indoors. Secure hoardings, scaffoldings and temporary structures. Drains should be cleared to avoid blockage and overflows. Listen to radio and TV announcements for further information about the storm
Robert Fisk persona non grata on BBC Worldservice
A fluent speaker of Arabic, based in Beirut for almost three decades, the British journalist Robert Fisk is, apparently, persona non grata on the BBC Worldservice.
That's amazing. Fisk is one of the foremost experts on Middle East politics, and has met most anyone who is anyone in the region. But the BBC Worldservice won't use him.
Dan Damon of the BBC explains why (scroll down): BBC Worldservice
What BBC Worldservice listeners are missing, Robert Fisk: Wikipedia
Robert Fisk, The Conquest of the Middle East:
part 1: youtube
part 2: youtube
part 3: youtube
part 4: youtube
That's amazing. Fisk is one of the foremost experts on Middle East politics, and has met most anyone who is anyone in the region. But the BBC Worldservice won't use him.
Dan Damon of the BBC explains why (scroll down): BBC Worldservice
What BBC Worldservice listeners are missing, Robert Fisk: Wikipedia
Robert Fisk, The Conquest of the Middle East:
part 1: youtube
part 2: youtube
part 3: youtube
part 4: youtube
BBC Worldservice. . . reporting bias
Listening to the BBC Worldservice news programmes (World Update, 5pm, Hong Kong Time), it is striking how much the BBC reports the Israeli point of view.
Opening with airtime given over to Israeli politicians and spindoctors who litter what they have to say with talking points:"terror organisation; civilians as human shields". Followed by airtime for an Israeli military spokesperson who litters what he says with talking points: "terrorist organisation; civilians as human shields".
Next? Further explaining Israeli military strategy, tactics and successes or otherwise, a BBC (Israeli embedded?) reporter files a report on the miltary scorecard from the Israeli frontline.
All of the above? Twenty-odd minutes.
Oh, wait. Currently, the BBC's Dan Damon is interviewing a Syrian spokesperson. The BBC interviewer's questions are quasi-hostile. Three minutes.
Next? Two UK talking heads explain military strategy, in general, and Israeli military strategy, in particular.
The Lebanese? Zilch. Is there a BBC Worldservice interdiction on giving any airtime to anyone from the Lebanese government?
Oh! Wait. Thirty-three minutes into the programme, a Lebanese journalist reports on the Israeli-wrought death and damage today. Two minutes.
Now back to Israel's prime minister saying Hezbollah is being destroyed.
Ah! Thirty-six minutes into the BBC programme, a spokesperson for el-Manar, Hezbollah's TV and radio station. It's not a great phoneline. It's a somewhat hostile interview. Two minutes.
Next? Fierce clashes in Sri Lanka. . .
For a news antidote (streaming audio and video), Democracy Now! -- the War & Peace report, with Amy Goodman: Democracy Now!
Opening with airtime given over to Israeli politicians and spindoctors who litter what they have to say with talking points:"terror organisation; civilians as human shields". Followed by airtime for an Israeli military spokesperson who litters what he says with talking points: "terrorist organisation; civilians as human shields".
Next? Further explaining Israeli military strategy, tactics and successes or otherwise, a BBC (Israeli embedded?) reporter files a report on the miltary scorecard from the Israeli frontline.
All of the above? Twenty-odd minutes.
Oh, wait. Currently, the BBC's Dan Damon is interviewing a Syrian spokesperson. The BBC interviewer's questions are quasi-hostile. Three minutes.
Next? Two UK talking heads explain military strategy, in general, and Israeli military strategy, in particular.
The Lebanese? Zilch. Is there a BBC Worldservice interdiction on giving any airtime to anyone from the Lebanese government?
Oh! Wait. Thirty-three minutes into the programme, a Lebanese journalist reports on the Israeli-wrought death and damage today. Two minutes.
Now back to Israel's prime minister saying Hezbollah is being destroyed.
Ah! Thirty-six minutes into the BBC programme, a spokesperson for el-Manar, Hezbollah's TV and radio station. It's not a great phoneline. It's a somewhat hostile interview. Two minutes.
Next? Fierce clashes in Sri Lanka. . .
For a news antidote (streaming audio and video), Democracy Now! -- the War & Peace report, with Amy Goodman: Democracy Now!
Hezbollah, Hamas and Israel: Everything You Need To Know
The very excellent Alexander Cockburn leads us on a perilous excursion into the distant past, starting seven whole weeks ago: Counterpunch
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