Does personal media make us anti-social?...and some personal SG experiences

Miliband isn't anti-business. He's anti-socialism.

Well, Ed Miliband is denying that he is anti-business after he attacked ‘predatory’ firms and a ‘fast-buck’ culture.

He also said that ‘large bonuses for bosses who achieve little should be phased out’, and ‘vowed to fight for “a new bargain in our economy so reward is linked with effort”. bbc

Perhaps he’s attempting to justify their continued usage of the word Labour as the party name. 

How the BBC, amongst others, steal Intellectual Property

“In contributing to BBC News you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way that we want, and in any media worldwide. bbc”

Well, it isn't 'stealing', because they told you that they are doing it before they do it.  And it is your choice as well right. 

now that's what i call music: Binky Blue, the EWI and 'Wonderful World'

'Wonderful World', by Louis Armstrong, played here by 'Binky Blue' on the Akai USB EWI.

Someone, in criticism of the EWI, commented beneath this youtube vid, "Nothing can replace the sound of a real clarinet".

Well, we can also say that a real clarinet can't easily sound like the EWI either.  And both sound good, in its own way.

What matters is the beauty of the sound, and the soul and passion with which it is played.  As for 'Binky Blue', the moment i saw his face, or expression, on the video, i knew it was going to be good.  A very apt complement to the tune and sound.


ed

The Dale Farm situation and the Travellers’ interesting idea of race

image from 'protectyourself'

For those who don’t know anything about this situation in the UK, well, it is regarding the pending eviction of ‘travellers’ - people who live, well, a bit the Hippies of the past, Gypsies, in a pretty communal fashion.  You could say that they’ve sort of rejected ‘modern’, ‘affluent’ lifestyles and prefer to live as a true community.  Very interesting that. 

But what i found most interesting was, in their ‘about’ section on their website, they ended of with,

‘We say no to home demolitions, and no to ethnic cleansing!’ source

Is being ‘anti-semitic’ akin to being ‘anti-fascism’?

“Yossi Klein Halevi, an Israeli author and political commentator, argues that all the Palestinians need to do to get a state is to convince Israelis that this state does not represent a threat.” bbc

wit challenge: How do you identify a mystery person?

VAT reinforces UK class divide...and riotous behaviour

The VAT in the UK is pretty high - 20%.

in comment: Hitler's Wall. Pull it down or keep it up?

 

Now that's what i call music: Neil Sedaka, 'Laughter in the Rain'

Oh man.  This song, and his voice, is the sound of spring, whatever the season.  I'm so glad that i grew up to this sort of music.  Lady Gaga type of rubbish, in comparison, is nothing short of child abuse.

ed

Wit, and why the road to democracy should be paved with laughter, and fronted by jokers

Wit is the sole of intelligence

It is the the most basic thing you slip into without really noticing how it impacts on your overall stature.

Mind the puns above.  Wit, likened to the ‘sole’ of your shoe, which you ‘slip on’ and which ‘impacts’ on your overall stature. 

CorpCon: ‘Pause Live TV’? What a load of ....

image from Sky.com

What’s with this ‘pause Live TV’ nonsense? 

racism and racial riots in SG : an email exchange with an irate Indian

Ed,

I wanted to bring 3 things to your attention:

1. Burning of paper during taiost 7th month - i am currently at home instead of at work thanks to this. i had such a severe allergic reaction to the smoke from burning paper money at my workplace that i had to see a doctor and am out of action for 2 days. i'm sure you have numerous other experiences you can draw on from others and yourself and hope you'll blog about it. it's plain unust the way the singapore government sees fit to overlook the burning of offerings even though it is illegal and a health, safety and fire hazard. shows how biased and corrupted they are. i'm sure if any other religious group were to do something even half as criminal, obnixious and antisocial, they would have been detained under the ISA a long time ago.

Now that's what i call soul : Sonny Boy Williamson, 'Bye bye bird'

comment on youtube:

Damn! Talk about creating a mountain with a handful of sand. Sonny does so much with so little with this number. Damn. Damn. I can't begin to imagine what america would be like without these real blacks. They didn't stop feeling despite being held down.  That is the greatest victory in the face of oppression.  To feel less as a consequence of being oppressed is the greatest loss.  

Can you feel the soul?  You should feel it in your diaphragm.  A heavy feeling.  A real feeling.   Such deep passion.  I'm humbled.  That's a good thing.  Gives me something more to aspire to.


ed

Why 911 remains 119 to ed

Americans made their greatest advances in promoting global stupidity/american-style ‘thinking’ with this 11/9 thing.  The whole world recognised it as ‘9/11’ and completely ignored the logic behind the dating system of dd/mm/yy in favour of doing/thinking/feeling as did americans.

Bourgeois Socialist BS on the BBC

I read, with increasing disbelief, this article on the BBC on how Marx was ‘wrong about communism’ and right about capitalism’.  Very clever line isn’t it.  If you think about it, to say that a great thinker is ‘wrong about communism’ and ‘right about capitalism’ is a perspectival sleight-of-hand.  On  the one hand, he is implying that communism is bollocks, and on the other hand, he’s saying that his critique of capitalism is correct.  What we are left with is that communism is left demonised, and we are to only take on board the critique of capitalism, not to do away with it and replace it with communism, but improve it. 

eds backalley band: Tropical Traffic

wit challenge: Do hunger strikes work?

corpcon: Why Amazon’s prices fluctuate, the nature of the devil, and the value of philosophy

I was looking to get Monarch of the Glen from amazon uk some time ago.  I put off the purchase for a while.  Then, the price went up from about 47 quid to a 100 quid.