The west’s crusaders, the United States and Britain, are giving less to help the tsunami victims than the cost of a Stealth bomber or a week’s bloody occupation of Iraq. The bill for George Bush’s coming inauguration party would rebuild much of the coastline of Sri Lanka. Bush and Blair increased their first driblets of “aid” only when it became clear that people all over the world were spontaneously giving millions and a public relations problem beckoned. The Blair government’s current “generous” contribution is one sixteenth of the ?800m it spent bombing Iraq before the invasion and barely one twentieth of a billion pound gift, known as a “soft loan”, to the Indonesian military so that it could acquire Hawk fighter-bombers.

This and a whole lot more here from John Pilger

MFSB-Mysteries of Love-Philadelphia international-1980
Mass Production-Cosmic Lust-Cotillion-1977
Average White Band & Be E King-What is Soul-Atlantic -1972
Coldcut -Beats & Pieces (mo beats mix)-Ahead of our time-1987
LL Cool J-I Need A Beat-Def Jam-1985
Rene & Angela-I’ll Be Good-Club-1985
Cameo-Candy(Extended mix)-Atlanta Artists-1985
Scritti Politti-The Sweetest Girl-Rough Trade-1981
Lillo Thomas-Settle Down-Capitol-1984
Gruzone-Film 2-Slam Jam-2004
Grace Jones-Pull Up to the Bumper (Larry Levan mix)-Island-1982
Loose Ends-Hanging On a String (Frankie Knuckles Reprise)-Ten-1990
A Guy Called Gerald-Voodoo Ray (Frankie Knuckles Paradise Ballroom Mix)-Warlock-1988
Fingers Inc-Mysteries of Love (dub)-DJ International-1985
Leon Watts Project-Swing It (harmonica cowboy mix)-USA-1992
Closer Music-1 2 3 No Gravity (Ewan Pearson 2004 mix)-Out of The Loop-2004
Adonis -Rocking Down The House-Trax-1987
Incogdo-Symply just a ventege (Derrick May & Carl Craig mix)
-Spiritual-1996
Blake Baxter & Abe Duque-What Happened (deep house mix)-Duque-2004
Herb Martin-Soul Drums-Ibadan-2004
LCD Soundsystem-Daft Punk is playing at my House-DFA-2005
Lopazz-Blood (Tiefschwarz)-Output-2004
Starship 727-All Depends on You-Pigna -2004
Bunny Sigler-By the Way You Dance-Salsoul-1979
Sound of One -As I Am (Farley & Heller Fire Island mix)-One-1993
Gemini-If You Got to Believe-Cajual-1995
Absolute feat Suzanne Palmer-There Will Come A day (Black lozenge mix)-Tribal-1995
Patti Labelle-More Than Materiel (Shelter vox)-Restricted Access-2004
Disco Elements-Feel the Flame-Azuli-1992
Altered Images-Don’t Talk to me about love-Epic-1981

I wonder how much time and money it’s taken for these clowns to parade around south asia spouting stuff about

The opportunity for Muslims to see “American values in action” is a welcome byproduct, he said.

“The United States is responding the way it is because this is a human catastrophe,” the secretary said at a news conference after his arrival in Jakarta, Indonesia Tuesday.

“but I think it does give the Muslim world — and the rest of the world — an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action, where we care about the dignity of every individual and the worth of every individual.

whilst the rest of the world seems willing to help unconditionally, to the US administration it’s become a political opportunity, and little else. Was there any real need for bro Jeb and poor old Colin (who’s become little more than a comi-tragic figure since he was caught lying to the UN in February, 2003) to fly in to grandstand over the suffering and deaths of hundreds of thousands. Slow to react, until it seemed he had to to save face, that Bush et al have seen the bright side of this is somehow predicable, and, if it wasn’t for the horror of it all, there would be some sort of bizarre comedy in their behaviour.

but there isn’t…..

what the US military is doing in Aceh is amazing, and the generosity of it’s citizens, wonderful, but the attempts by the US government to put a tag on its aid is shameful.

Then again what else would you expect.

Vanity Fair’s James Wolcott posted this rather depressing piece about a recent story in The Economist on his blog…

“[W]hen America’s well-drilled and well-fed fighters attempt subtler tasks than killing people, problems arise.” Their contempt for Iraqis is undisguised and dramatically expressed: a soldier, confronted by “jeering schoolchildren,” fires canisters of buckshot from his grenade-launcher at them, and marines busting down doors in Ramadi scream at trembling middle-aged women: “Bitch, where’s the guns?”

and

There’s a Peter Cook-Dudley Moore routine, one of their woolgathering dialogues, where Dud asks Pete, “So would you say you’ve learned from your mistakes?” and Pete replies: “Oh yes, I’m certain I could repeat them exactly.”

That seems to have been the Bush administration’s approach to Iraq. Take the mistakes of Vietnam and repeat them exactly.

And at that you can’t say they haven’t succeeded.

Whoaaa, this is very scary stuff……

he’s still with us..

Lovina, Bali, July 2004