Friday! Underworld- Crocodile (& that Radiohead thing)

Well it could be no other, their current single in advance of the album Oblivion With Bells out on Monday. Check out Get Weird Turn Pro for a preview or click pic for underworld’s site with exclusive moosic to groove to (although you can’t make up your own price like with Radiohead -which is probably a good thing for underworld given my transport related financial woes- and anyway Korova bought the Radiohead box set so that makes up for my, ahem, low bid- although, truth be told, if it was full price for Radiohead I would have waited to borrow it from a friend. So in fact their strategy works, they got some cash from me they otherwise wouldn’t have got. Underworld however got my priority spending moolah ‘cos I like ’em more).

Burma Junta Ignores UN & Internet Hijacked By Army

Also- Rain is wet, grass is green, sky is blue. No big surprise-

 Myanmar’s military junta rejected a U.N. statement calling for negotiations with the opposition, insisting Friday that it would follow its own plan to bring democracy to the country.

The impoverished country’s main opposition party, however, urged the ruling generals to comply with U.N. demands for negotiations with pro-democracy forces and ethnic minorities, and the release of political prisoners.

Top opposition party the National League for Democracy — led by the detained activist Aung San Suu Kyi — endorsed the Security Council statement.

“Since Myanmar is a member country of the United Nations and as the government has declared it would work with the U.N., we earnestly underscore the need to urgently implement the demands made by the Security Council,” the NLD said.

Oh but that bastard? He died at last, good-

The fourth-ranking member of the junta, Prime Minister Gen. Soe Win, 59, died Friday in a military hospital after a long illness, relatives and state media said. Soe Win reputedly oversaw a 2003 attack on Suu Kyi from which she escaped unscathed. 

Other groups agree with the UN-

The New Mon State Party (NMSP), which has a cease fire arrangement with the Burmese military junta, has welcomed the United Nation’s call for genuine dialogue with democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, all concerned parties and ethnic groups and the release of all political prisoners and detainees.

“We strongly support the UN statement and that is the party’s objective. That’s the most suitable response for the current crisis in Burma (Myanmar),” said NMSP spokesperson Nai Ong Mange.

Nai Ong Mange said many UN envoys visited Burma many times in the past but there was no effort on the part of the junta for a change to democracy.

Now importantly the reason the online flow of first hand info has slowed and remains so and now, not much hope in sight-

The Ministry of Defence and Communications will take over the Myanmar Post and Telecommunication near future, according to sources. Tech savvy people splashed photographs of protests by monks and of the brutal crackdown around the world. Digital pictures and videos were uploaded in blogs embarrassing the Burmese military junta no end. This led the regime’s plan to substitute army men in civilian posts at the MPT, sources said.

While the peaceful demonstrators were being beaten up and shot on streets of the biggest city Rangoon, on September 28, the junta shut down the internet to check the information flow.

However, believing that the mass protests are over and have been effectively controlled since Oct 4, the junta restored internet connection but it continues to be unstable. The junta is scanning the internet and is on the lookout for anyone trying to send out information to the outside world.

Some cafes are warning users against surfing political sites because the MPT and Myanmar Teleport (formerly known as Bagan) are monitoring the net, an internet user said. The news of protests had attracted employees of private business houses and some companies restricted the time of use of the internet for their work, according to an IT programmer .

Massive Calls For Strong Sanctions Against The Burmese Junta

The Shan Women’s Action Network-

It is very clear that foreign investment in Burma at this time means complicity in the military regime’s oppression of our people and exploitation of our resources. We therefore urge the EU to impose strong new economic sanctions on Burma’s military regime. In particular, we call for an international arms embargo.

Since the publication of our report “Licence to Rape” in 2002, detailing the rape of 625 women and girls in Shan State, SWAN has been exposing the ongoing use of rape as a weapon of war by the regime. With the continual build-up of Burma Army battalions in Shan State, civilians face the constant threat of violence, and women and girls live in perpetual fear of sexual assault.  

The Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma)-

“Now is the time for the EU to put its money where its mouth is. If the Europeans do not have the determination to keep up the pressure, it gives the rest of the world an excuse to backtrack on Burma, as well,”  

The Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB)-

Continuous ignorance by the military government on calls to stop the human rights violation and engage in a dialogue for peaceful transition towards democracy shouldn’t be left overlooked any more. The EU has particularly to show this time that it can no longer expect the regime to move forward a positive change in Burma without any punitive pressure from the international community.

The FDB strongly requests all 27 EU members to take the situation of Burma into their serious consideration and take further steps together by imposing stronger targeted economic sanctions.

As well as yesterday’s call by The Federation of Trade Unions – Burma (FTUB)

Time to inform your elected reps (if you have not already done so) to make the EU an active force for democracy in Burma and not a paper tiger. And many businesses still think they know better than the people of Burma and magically find their profit making enterprises are just what Burma needs, go and visit some via the Dirty List, let them know what you think of their arrogance.

Jena 6: A Judicial Lynching The Victim Has To Fund

I kid you not-

Bell has been sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile facility following a closed hearing in which Judge J.P. Mauffrey ruled that the teen was in violation of probation set as the result of four prior juvenile offenses, CNN reports. Judge Mauffrey is the same judge that originally presided over the Bell trial.

“We feel this was a cruel and unusual punishment and is a revenge by this judge for the Jena Six movement,” said Sharpton. “His parents were also charged with the cost of all court costs and witness costs and will have to pay for him in the facility. I have committed that National Action Network will financially support the parents through this unusual financial strain imposed upon them.”

“He’s locked up again,” Marcus Jones said of his 17-year-old son. “No bail has been set or nothing. He’s a young man who’s been thrown in jail again and again, and he just has to take it.”

After the attack on Barker, Bell was originally charged with attempted murder, but the charges were reduced and he was convicted of battery. An appeals court threw that conviction out, saying Bell should not have been tried as an adult on that charge.

The KKKulture is utterly corrupt there, a rotten borough. This is plain revenge on ‘uppity outsiders’ who insisted on a civilised, just system not stewed in white supremacy. When the attention looked away for a moment they had their little lynching in court, they are so stupid, they just made this a hundred times worse. Ideally state & federal step in and fire these cracker assholes, but in the Bush imperium they feel waves of approval from the top that would halt any interference. After the spate of copycat nooses something has to give, this sickly white superiority has to be put in its place.