20 September 2006
Only the Stones Remain - the Soft Boys
It was whule in the Soft BOys that Robyn Hitchcock released his first records, including the 1980 masterpiece Underwater Moonlight. This song must have been filmed sometime around 2002 during the Soft Boys' brief reunion . The guitarist Kimberley Rew went on to play in Katrina and the Waves. Their winning the Eurovision Song Contest was the kiss of death for them but Walkinmg on Sunshine is not a bad pension plan!
19 September 2006
Soldier admits war crime charge
There are numerous press reports about Corporal Donald Payne who became the first member of the British armed forces to admit a war crime in court when he pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilians detained in Iraq.
Corporal Payne is one of seven British troops who went on trial today facing charges linked to the death of an Iraqi civilian who was in British custody and to the alleged ill-treatment of other detainees. in Basra, southern Iraq, in September 2003.
The court martial at Bulford Camp, Wiltshire, marks the first time British service personnel have been prosecuted for war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. Cpl Payne, 35, admitted inhumanely treating civilians but pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. His six co-defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges facing them.
Julian Bevan QC, prosecuting, said the case against the seven defendants centred upon the alleged ill-treatment received by Iraqi civilians held for a period of about 36 hours at a temporary detention facility in Basra between September 14 and 15, 2003. He said that the detainees were repeatedly beaten, kicked and punched while handcuffed and hooded with sacks; made to maintain a stress position for unacceptable lengths of time; deprived of sleep; continually shouted at; and "generally abused in temperatures rising to almost 60C". "One civilian, Baha Musa, died as a result, in part from the multiple injuries he had received - there being no less than 93 injuries on his body at the post-mortem stage, including fractured ribs and a broken nose," Mr Bevan told a seven-man judging panel.
Aside from Cpl Payne, another two of the defendants face war crimes charges. Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 22, and Private Darren Fallon, 23, both of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, both deny a charge of inhumane treatment, which is a war crime under the International Criminal Court Act .
All the other charges faced by Cpl Payne and the six co-defendants are alleged offences under the British Army Act 1955. Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 29, of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm with an alternative count of common assault. Major Michael Peebles, 35, Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 37, both of the Intelligence Corps, and Colonel Jorge Mendonca, formerly the commander of the Queen's Lancashire is also accused of negligently performing a duty.
The "negligently performing a duty" charge, faced by three of the men, relates to an alleged failure to take reasonable steps to ensure that military personnel under the officers' control did not mistreat Iraqi civilians being detained. The trial, which has been listed for 16 weeks, continues.
army
war
crime>
trial
Corporal Payne is one of seven British troops who went on trial today facing charges linked to the death of an Iraqi civilian who was in British custody and to the alleged ill-treatment of other detainees. in Basra, southern Iraq, in September 2003.
The court martial at Bulford Camp, Wiltshire, marks the first time British service personnel have been prosecuted for war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. Cpl Payne, 35, admitted inhumanely treating civilians but pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. His six co-defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges facing them.
Julian Bevan QC, prosecuting, said the case against the seven defendants centred upon the alleged ill-treatment received by Iraqi civilians held for a period of about 36 hours at a temporary detention facility in Basra between September 14 and 15, 2003. He said that the detainees were repeatedly beaten, kicked and punched while handcuffed and hooded with sacks; made to maintain a stress position for unacceptable lengths of time; deprived of sleep; continually shouted at; and "generally abused in temperatures rising to almost 60C". "One civilian, Baha Musa, died as a result, in part from the multiple injuries he had received - there being no less than 93 injuries on his body at the post-mortem stage, including fractured ribs and a broken nose," Mr Bevan told a seven-man judging panel.
Aside from Cpl Payne, another two of the defendants face war crimes charges. Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 22, and Private Darren Fallon, 23, both of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, both deny a charge of inhumane treatment, which is a war crime under the International Criminal Court Act .
All the other charges faced by Cpl Payne and the six co-defendants are alleged offences under the British Army Act 1955. Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 29, of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm with an alternative count of common assault. Major Michael Peebles, 35, Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 37, both of the Intelligence Corps, and Colonel Jorge Mendonca, formerly the commander of the Queen's Lancashire is also accused of negligently performing a duty.
The "negligently performing a duty" charge, faced by three of the men, relates to an alleged failure to take reasonable steps to ensure that military personnel under the officers' control did not mistreat Iraqi civilians being detained. The trial, which has been listed for 16 weeks, continues.
army
war
crime>
trial
Global warming in England not down to natural causes
The BBC and other sources are carrying a report that central England temperatures are about 1C higher than in the 1950s, According to Meteorological (Met) Office the average temperature in Central England was 9.4C; it is now 10.4C and the reason for the increase cannot be attributed only to natural climate change.
Computer models used by David Karoly (of the University of Oklahoma) and Peter Stott of the Met Office Hadley Centre indicate that that the warming observed over the past 50 years is extremely unlikely to be part of a natural cycle:. the calculated probability that the rise was part of a natural cycle was less than 5%. However when they introduced the factor of "anthropogenic forcing" (greenhouse gases produced by industry, transport and other human activities) the model reproduced the observed temperatures. They conclude that "..the observed annual mean warming trend over the last 50 years is very unlikely to be due to natural internal climate variability alone."
Their findings are set out in Anthropogenic warming of central England temperatures, which was published yesterday by the journal Atmospheric Science Letters, a publication by the Royal Meteorological Society.
Central England temperatures have been recorded since 1659 and the record is longest continuous series of temperature measurements made by instruments anywhere in the world.
global
warming
Computer models used by David Karoly (of the University of Oklahoma) and Peter Stott of the Met Office Hadley Centre indicate that that the warming observed over the past 50 years is extremely unlikely to be part of a natural cycle:. the calculated probability that the rise was part of a natural cycle was less than 5%. However when they introduced the factor of "anthropogenic forcing" (greenhouse gases produced by industry, transport and other human activities) the model reproduced the observed temperatures. They conclude that "..the observed annual mean warming trend over the last 50 years is very unlikely to be due to natural internal climate variability alone."
Their findings are set out in Anthropogenic warming of central England temperatures, which was published yesterday by the journal Atmospheric Science Letters, a publication by the Royal Meteorological Society.
Central England temperatures have been recorded since 1659 and the record is longest continuous series of temperature measurements made by instruments anywhere in the world.
global
warming
Well shiver me timbers...
Avast mateys and so on and so forth.....Apparently today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day so feel free to splice any mainbrace you feel fit to splice. Sadly it would seem that few pubs will be serving authentic grog and fewer will accept pieces of eight as legal tender. Such a pity....
Click here for the International talk like a pirate day official website.
Click here for the International talk like a pirate day official website.
18 September 2006
Penis transplant gets the chop
I never thought I would be able to make a joke about strapadictomies but now I get the opportunity it seems somehow hollow…. It does seem odd at first that someone would seek to have a transplant removed but a major operation like this comes with a heavy psychological price.
According to the Guardian and several other papers today, Chinese surgeons performed the world's first penis transplant on a man whose organ was damaged beyond repair in an accident this year. Apparently the incident left the man with a 1cm-long stump with which he was unable to urinate or have sexual intercourse. "His quality of life was affected severely," said Dr Weilie Hu, a surgeon at Guangzhou General Hospital.
According to the People’s Daily online dated 22 September 2005 surgeons at the Guangzhou General Hospital of the Guangzhou Military Area Command did a 7hour operation (15 hours according to the Guardian et al) , implanting for the for the first time an allogeneic (genetically different but from the same species) penis for a man who lost his in an accident after over-drinking in 2004. The operation took place on 20 September 2005.
Leaving aside the discrepancies over the date and duration of the operation the procedure, described in a case study due to appear in the journal European Urology next month, represents a big leap forward in transplant surgery; it required complex microsurgery to connect nerves and tiny blood vessels. The surgical team claimed the operation was a success. After 10 days, tests revealed the organ had a rich blood supply and the man was able to urinate normally. Although the operation was a surgical success, surgeons said they had to remove the penis two weeks later. "Because of a severe psychological problem of the recipient and his wife, the transplanted penis regretfully had to be cut off," Dr Hu said. An examination of the organ showed no signs of it being rejected by the body.
Jean-Michel Dubernard, the surgeon who performed the world's first face transplant said psychological factors were a serious issue for many patients in such circumstances. "Psychological consequences of hand and face allografts show that it is not so easy to use and see permanently a dead person's hands, nor is it easy to look in a mirror to see a dead person's face," he wrote in the journal. "Clearly, in the Chinese case the failure at a very early stage was first psychological.”
In 2001, surgeons were forced to amputate the world's first transplanted hand from Clint Hallam, a 50-year-old New Zealander, who said he wanted the "hideous and withered" hand removed because he had become "mentally detached" from it. The original transplant was conducted by Prof Dubernard's team at the Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyons, who have since performed the world's first double arm transplant.
penis
transplant
China
According to the Guardian and several other papers today, Chinese surgeons performed the world's first penis transplant on a man whose organ was damaged beyond repair in an accident this year. Apparently the incident left the man with a 1cm-long stump with which he was unable to urinate or have sexual intercourse. "His quality of life was affected severely," said Dr Weilie Hu, a surgeon at Guangzhou General Hospital.
According to the People’s Daily online dated 22 September 2005 surgeons at the Guangzhou General Hospital of the Guangzhou Military Area Command did a 7hour operation (15 hours according to the Guardian et al) , implanting for the for the first time an allogeneic (genetically different but from the same species) penis for a man who lost his in an accident after over-drinking in 2004. The operation took place on 20 September 2005.
Leaving aside the discrepancies over the date and duration of the operation the procedure, described in a case study due to appear in the journal European Urology next month, represents a big leap forward in transplant surgery; it required complex microsurgery to connect nerves and tiny blood vessels. The surgical team claimed the operation was a success. After 10 days, tests revealed the organ had a rich blood supply and the man was able to urinate normally. Although the operation was a surgical success, surgeons said they had to remove the penis two weeks later. "Because of a severe psychological problem of the recipient and his wife, the transplanted penis regretfully had to be cut off," Dr Hu said. An examination of the organ showed no signs of it being rejected by the body.
Jean-Michel Dubernard, the surgeon who performed the world's first face transplant said psychological factors were a serious issue for many patients in such circumstances. "Psychological consequences of hand and face allografts show that it is not so easy to use and see permanently a dead person's hands, nor is it easy to look in a mirror to see a dead person's face," he wrote in the journal. "Clearly, in the Chinese case the failure at a very early stage was first psychological.”
In 2001, surgeons were forced to amputate the world's first transplanted hand from Clint Hallam, a 50-year-old New Zealander, who said he wanted the "hideous and withered" hand removed because he had become "mentally detached" from it. The original transplant was conducted by Prof Dubernard's team at the Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyons, who have since performed the world's first double arm transplant.
penis
transplant
China
17 September 2006
Banksy in LA
Today’s Observer carries an article about Banksy’s first foray to LA.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Jude Law and Keanu Reeves were among the celebrities gathered for the first LA show by the Bristol-born prankster and graffiti artist who is known for his street art and interventions in Britain,. His show, 'Barely Legal', was his first large-scale exhibition in the US. Complete with valet parking and a retinue of publicists the show included pieces of British iconography, such as a Guardsman on Horse Guards Parade atop a pantomime horse, in addition to work aimed specifically at the local audience. Occupying an entire wall is a painting reinterpreting an American icon, the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima. In Banksy's interpretation, the scene is given an urban setting with a group of protesters raising the flag on top of a car.
On entering the exhibition , visitors were presented with a flyer reading: 'There's an elephant in the room. There's a problem we never talk about. The fact is that life isn't getting any fairer. 1.7 billion people have no access to clean drinking water. 20 billion people live below the poverty line. Every day hundreds of people are made to physically be sick by morons at art shows telling them how bad the world is but never actually doing something about it. Anybody want a free glass of wine?'
A week before the Los Angeles exhibition, Banksy visited Disneyland, somehow managing to place an inflatable figure dressed as a Guantanamo detainee alongside a railroad ride. A short film of the escapade runs inside the LA show. In the same darkened screening room a glass case displays another of his recent interventions: the Paris Hilton CD doctored by Banksy, which he carried out with the help of Los Angeles-based producer Danger Mouse. Enormous cockroaches had been placed inside the display case.
Like much of Banksy's work, it is an overt statement. But of what, precisely?
Banksy himself displayed a fine sense of bullshit in a interview he gave to Roger Gastman published in the LA Weekly. 'Some of the paintings have taken literally days to make,' he confided. 'Essentially, it's about what a horrible place the world is, how unjust and cruel and pointless life is, and ways to avoid thinking about all that. One of the best ways turned out to be sitting in a warehouse making paintings about cruelty, pain and pointlessness.'
Banksy on the West Bank
Anarchy Jordan, an artist at the first public view of the show on Friday night, had his doubts. 'I don't know if he's selling out, but it's sad,' Anarchy Jordan was impressed by the subversiveness of some of the pieces, including the familiar Paramount films logo bearing the word Paranoid. 'Coming to LA and doing this is subversive," he said. 'After all, LA is the origin of so much nonsense.'
This used to be at Brian Haw's protest outside parliament
Banksy
Graffiti
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Jude Law and Keanu Reeves were among the celebrities gathered for the first LA show by the Bristol-born prankster and graffiti artist who is known for his street art and interventions in Britain,. His show, 'Barely Legal', was his first large-scale exhibition in the US. Complete with valet parking and a retinue of publicists the show included pieces of British iconography, such as a Guardsman on Horse Guards Parade atop a pantomime horse, in addition to work aimed specifically at the local audience. Occupying an entire wall is a painting reinterpreting an American icon, the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima. In Banksy's interpretation, the scene is given an urban setting with a group of protesters raising the flag on top of a car.
On entering the exhibition , visitors were presented with a flyer reading: 'There's an elephant in the room. There's a problem we never talk about. The fact is that life isn't getting any fairer. 1.7 billion people have no access to clean drinking water. 20 billion people live below the poverty line. Every day hundreds of people are made to physically be sick by morons at art shows telling them how bad the world is but never actually doing something about it. Anybody want a free glass of wine?'
A week before the Los Angeles exhibition, Banksy visited Disneyland, somehow managing to place an inflatable figure dressed as a Guantanamo detainee alongside a railroad ride. A short film of the escapade runs inside the LA show. In the same darkened screening room a glass case displays another of his recent interventions: the Paris Hilton CD doctored by Banksy, which he carried out with the help of Los Angeles-based producer Danger Mouse. Enormous cockroaches had been placed inside the display case.
Like much of Banksy's work, it is an overt statement. But of what, precisely?
Banksy himself displayed a fine sense of bullshit in a interview he gave to Roger Gastman published in the LA Weekly. 'Some of the paintings have taken literally days to make,' he confided. 'Essentially, it's about what a horrible place the world is, how unjust and cruel and pointless life is, and ways to avoid thinking about all that. One of the best ways turned out to be sitting in a warehouse making paintings about cruelty, pain and pointlessness.'
Banksy on the West Bank
This used to be at Brian Haw's protest outside parliamentBanksy
Graffiti
Ian Dale - what a very nice man!
Thanks to Gert and Patrick H my attention was drawn to an entry on Ian Dale's website (Ian Dale is apparently an influential conserviate - I have seen his name numerous times in the blogosphere) listing his top 100 presumably british left wing blogs. A scan of the attached pdf file and lo and behold the Poor Mouth is there at number 67. I am not sure what to make of this given that I don't dwell much on hard political issues and when I do I tend to be a bit of a pessimist. Hiho, now for something on Banksy...
Cash for peerage scandal - a whole lot of nothing?
According to today’s Observer
police investigating the alleged cash-for-peerages scandal have so far found no 'compelling' evidence of serious wrongdoing, raising the likelihood that no charges will result from the high-profile Scotland Yard inquiry. This result will come as a relief to both Labour and the Conservatives who were threatened with involvement in what could have been one of the most damaging scandals of recent times.
And yet the damage has been done. People will remember the original headlines and form their opinions accordingly – that the Government is knee deep in sleaze. News that there is no case to answer will probably not change this impression. It is also sod’s law that the Tories will be less tarred by this scandal even though they too were under investigation.
The impression of sleaze is sadly another hurdle for Tony Blair’s successor to jump to secure a fourth term in 2009
police investigating the alleged cash-for-peerages scandal have so far found no 'compelling' evidence of serious wrongdoing, raising the likelihood that no charges will result from the high-profile Scotland Yard inquiry. This result will come as a relief to both Labour and the Conservatives who were threatened with involvement in what could have been one of the most damaging scandals of recent times.
And yet the damage has been done. People will remember the original headlines and form their opinions accordingly – that the Government is knee deep in sleaze. News that there is no case to answer will probably not change this impression. It is also sod’s law that the Tories will be less tarred by this scandal even though they too were under investigation.
The impression of sleaze is sadly another hurdle for Tony Blair’s successor to jump to secure a fourth term in 2009
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