Psychedelia? Paul Simon? Her recently revealed record collection contains a few surprises After John Peel died, fans were excited to learn about a special longbox in which he kept the heart of his record collection – an eclectic set of 7in singles with a beloved tune for any conceivable occasion. Revealed at the weekend, the Queen Mum’s record collection – around 100 albums she kept at the Castle of Mey , her Highlands retreat – gives royal watchers a similar opportunity to reconstruct a life through music. How much can it really tell us, though? It’s easy to focus on the surprise inclusions – Paul Simon’s Graceland, for instance, the collection’s one concession to post-1940s pop music. But as anyone who has ever bought presents for grannies will realise, their record collections have a habit of picking up oddities along the way. For all we know the presence of Graceland implies nothing more than Edward or Andrew making a last-minute birthday visit to the John Menzies shop in Inverness. Despite that, a couple of entries really are puzzling. Moddan’s Bower by Mirk may be rooted in traditional Scottish folk but it’s also a highly prized psychedelic rarity, getting a glowing review on a site called Lysergia. And how to explain Keith Jarrett’s exploration of jazz and contemporary classical music, Arbour Zena? Abandoned by a passing European bicycle monarch in the late-70s, perhaps? The bulk of the records are easier to understand. There is a lot of Scottish music – traditional singers such as Jean Redpath, collections of folk tunes and reels. The extent of it suggests that the Queen Mother’s affection for this was genuine: more care seems to have gone into selecting the folk component of the collection than the cursory section given over to English classical music. These are social records – things to put on when guests are over, as they very often were. Record collections before the rock era were often an extension of performed or parlour music, not necessarily a well-sculpted expression of individual taste. But one part of the collection does seem more personal – records by variety singers, music hall performers and jazz orchestras from the inter-war years. Alongside bandleaders Glenn Miller and Paul Whiteman are mostly forgotten names – comedienne Beatrice Lillie, pianist Charlie Kunz. This is the music she grew up with, and kept with her till she died – the music that shows the Queen Mother not as hostess, or royal, but as pop fan. What the Queen Mum listened to – and what she should have She owned: Edith Piaf – La Vie En Rose. Iconic chanteuse, a fixture of every postwar gramophone collection. She should have owned: Grace Jones – Island Life. Includes a radical revision of La Vie En Rose. Jones may not have had Piaf’s pipes but her imperious demeanour would have struck a royal chord. She owned: Wilf Carter – Christmas In Canada. The Godfather of Canadian C&W, Carter enjoyed a long career but was best known for his yodelling numbers. She should have owned: Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel. Country music’s greatest yodeller, Rogers recorded no less than 11 lonesome Blue Yodel songs before dying of TB in 1933. She owned: Despers Steel Orchestra. Venerable steelband from Trinidad known for their imaginative orchestrations of classical pieces. She should have owned: Prince Buster – FABulous Greatest Hits. A reputed love of ska is sadly underrepresented in the collection. And he’s a fellow royal! Queen Mother Monarchy Tom Ewing guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media The father of man suspected of planting a bomb at a Spokane, Washington Martin Luther King Day parade believes that there is no way his son could have committed the crime. After a raid on his home, Kevin Harpham was arrested last Wednesday on charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and of possessing an improvised explosive device (IED) that was not registered to him. Cecil Harpham, Kevin’s father, told KXLY that his son was taking care of him at his home near Kettle Falls on the day the bomb was planted. Cecil suffered a stroke in November and requires daily assistance. “I know he didn’t go plant it because he was with me,” he said. “He helped me dress, he cooked my meals, he did my chores, he brought my firewood in and he just lived right here with me.” Cecil speculated that even though Kevin couldn’t have planted the bomb, he could have helped make it. “Maybe he might of helped them build a bomb, he might have, might have helped them build a bomb,” he told KXLY’s Sally Showman. Cecil recalled that Kevin had once bought a book about bomb making. “He said I bought the book and I read it and is so disappointed because there was no directions to build a bomb,” Cecil recalled. Cecil explained that his son identifies himself as a racist but doesn’t know how to hate. “Picture that if you had a son and he said I hate Negroes, but you go with him somewhere and he meets, he goes to a cashier to pay for his gas and you see him being very polite to this Negro and courteous and you stand back and you say jeepers, for a hater, he don’t know how to hate,” Cecil said. The older Harpham also sought to downplay the bomb by dismissing it as a prank. “This bomb really wasn’t a bomb, it didn’t go off, they couldn’t even blow it up with explosives besides it, if anything it was a really cruel joke,” he said. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which tracks hate groups, noted Wednesday that “Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in late 2004.” The FBI said early this year that the attempted bombing may have been racially motivated .
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Officials warn cooling pumps failing at third unit at plant in north-east of country, leaving fuel rods exposed The nuclear crisis in Japan’s stricken north-east escalated as officials admitted a third nuclear reactor could be in partial meltdown and warned the situation was “even worse” than in the other two stricken units. It followed a second dramatic hydrogen explosion at the plant. The announcement came as the official death toll from the worst earthquake and tsunami in Japan’s recorded history reached almost 1,900, with tens of thousands still unaccounted for. Millions of survivors struggled through another day with dwindling supplies of food and fuel, amid aftershocks, blazes and tsunami alerts. News of the blast at the Fukushima No 1 power plant, which blew the walls off another reactor unit, alarmed many. But experts were more concerned by the repeated exposure of fuel rods after cooling pumps failed in a third reactor, causing possible meltdown. “Although we cannot directly check it, it’s highly likely happening,” Yukio Edano, the chief government spokesman, told reporters. As Tokyo struggled to handle the spiralling crisis it asked both the United Nations nuclear watchdog for expert help and the US nuclear regulatory commission for equipment. Officials also began to distribute potassium iodide, which can help inhibit the uptake of radioactive iodide by the thyroid, to evacuation centres. They have already evacuated hundreds of thousands of residents within a 12-mile radius of the facility. But Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stressed that it was “unlikely that the accident would develop” like Chernobyl, and said the reactor vessels remained intact. Officials in Japan had earlier suggested one might have been breached. Several countries announced they would screen Japanese produce for radiation as a precaution. US officials said military personnel taking part in rescue efforts registered low levels of radioactive contamination after flying by helicopter back to their ships off the Japanese coast. They were cleared after a scrub-down but the ships moved position as a precaution. But the desperate shortage of supplies was a more immediate concern for the millions facing a fourth night in near-freezing temperatures. The Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that many emergency shelters were running out of food and fuel, leaving weakened survivors cold and hungry. “People are surviving on little food and water. Things are simply not coming,” Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate, told Associated Press. He said the prefecture was receiving just a tenth of the food and supplies it needed. “We just did not expect such a thing to happen. It’s just overwhelming,” he said. With aftershocks of up to magnitude 6.1 continuing, survivors fled to high ground in the morning as sirens blared and broadcasters announced a tsunami alert. It later proved to be a false alarm. But Friday’s 8.9-magnitude quake and tsunami have already left around 1,000 bodies on shores of the Oshika Peninsula and another 1,000 bodies in Minamisanriku, according to officials and police in Miyagi province. Around 9,500 people remain uncontactable in the latter town. The Kyodo news agency also said police and firefighters were still trying to recover 200 to 300 bodies in Sendai. In Iwate prefecture, around 8,000 inhabitants are missing from one small town, Otsuchi. Thousands were also missing in Soma, a city of 38,000 people, according to officials. On Monday, David Cameron told MPs there were “severe concerns” about the safety of several British nationals in Japan, but no confirmed fatalities. In a statement to the Commons, the prime minister said the devastation in Japan was of “truly colossal proportions”. The country’s ailing economy, overtaken by China as the world’s second largest last year, is also struggling with the impact of the disaster. The central bank injected 15tr yen(£113bn) into money markets to stabilise the situation. But the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average slid 6.2%. Several manufacturers and retailers suspended or reduced operations due to damage to the infrastructure in the north-east or to help reduce demand for electricity in the area around Tokyo. Most of the predicted blackouts to preserve power did not prove necessary, but some areas in the capital had electricity cut for a few hours. AP reported that the outspoken governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, had described the disaster as a “punishment from heaven” because the Japanese had become greedy. Japan earthquake and tsunami Natural disasters and extreme weather Japan Nuclear power Justin McCurry Tania Branigan Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
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Man remanded in bail by Glasgow court on suspicion of involvement in the December attack in Sweden A nursing student arrested in Glasgow has been charged with terrorism fundraising offences in connection with a suicide bomb attack in Stockholm. Ezedden Khalid Ahmed Al Khaledi, 30, appeared in private at Glasgow sheriff court and was remanded in custody after being arrested last Tuesday on suspicion of involvement with the failed car bombing in the Swedish capital in December. Khaledi, who had been taking a nursing course at North Glasgow college, was also charged with five identity and fraud-related offences under immigration and banking legislation. He was arrested last Tuesday after a dawn raid by Strathclyde police on his 19th-floor flat in Whiteinch, Glasgow, after a joint investigation with Bedfordshire police, the Metropolitan police and Swedish authorities. Two other addresses in the city were searched but there were no other arrests. After nearly a week in custody at a high-security police station in Govan, he arrived in court under armed guard. He made no plea or declaration and is expected to reappear in court next week after his bail application was refused. Khaledi is believed to be the first person arrested and charged in connection with the attack in a shopping area of central Stockholm on 12 December , when a car bomb caught fire but failed to detonate. An Iraqi-born Swedish national, Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, 28, was found dead when his bomb belt apparently exploded accidentally, injuring two passers-by. Al-Abdaly had been a student at the University of Luton, now the University of Bedfordshire, before graduating with a BSc in sports therapy in 2004. He had been living in Luton with his wife and children. Khaledi has been charged under sections 15, 16 and 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which relate to the use of money or property for terrorist purposes and fundraising. He is accused of opening accounts for terrorism purposes with Lloyds TSB, the Post Office, Halifax Bank of Scotland and Santander. He is alleged to have entered “into an arrangement” to provide cash for terrorism between January 2003 and December 2010. Khaledi was also charged with allegedly supplying false information about his identity to stay in the UK and claim benefits illegally and with fraudulently opening bank accounts with a false identity with Lloyds TSB and the Post Office. Global terrorism Sweden Europe Scotland Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Via Ed Henry at CNN : WASHINGTON (CNN) – P.J. Crowley abruptly resigned Sunday as State Department spokesman over controversial comments he made about the Bradley Manning case. Sources close to the matter said the resignation, first reported by CNN, came under pressure from the White House, where officials were furious about his suggestion that the Obama administration is mistreating Manning, the Army private who is being held in solitary confinement in Quantico, Virginia, under suspicion that he leaked highly classified State Department cables to the website Wikileaks. Speaking to a small group at MIT last week, Crowley was asked about allegations that Manning is being tortured and kicked up a firestorm by answering that what is being done to Manning by Defense Department officials “is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” Crowley did add that “nonetheless, Bradley Manning is in the right place” because of his alleged crimes, according to a blog post by BBC reporter Philippa Thomas , who was present at Crowley’s talk. Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com gives his acerbic take on the situation. Greenwald has been an outspoken critic of U.S. policy on torture and rendition, a policy he regards as duplicitous and hypocritical. Sadly, the Manning affair only reinforces that notion. On Friday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley denounced the conditions of Bradley Manning’s detention as “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid,” forcing President Obama to address those comments in a Press Conference and defend the treatment of Manning. Today, CNN reports , Crowley has “abruptly resigned” under “pressure from White House officials because of controversial comments he made last week about the Bradley Manning case.” In other words, he was forced to “resign” — i.e., fired. So, in Barack Obama’s administration, it’s perfectly acceptable to abuse an American citizen in detention who has been convicted of nothing by consigning him to 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement, barring him from exercising in his cell, punitively imposing “suicide watch” restrictions on him against the recommendations of brig psychiatrists, and subjecting him to prolonged, forced nudity designed to humiliate and degrade. But speaking out against that abuse is a firing offense. Good to know. As Matt Yglesias just put it: “Sad statement about America that P.J. Crowley is the one being forced to resign over Bradley Manning.” And as David Frum added: “Crowley firing: one more demonstration of my rule: Republican pols fear their base, Dem pols despise it.” John Amato: When PJ made his remarks I mistakenly thought the administration wanted to get the overkill treatment Manning has been receiving by the military out there as they obviously try to break him so they can link Assange directly to the leaked documents, which can be used so Assange can be prosecuted in America without the President having to use his bully pulpit against the military. Obviously that wasn’t the case. .
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Sacramento state assembly members have introduced a bill that would entitle them to carry concealed weapons Politicians in California say their working lives are now so dangerous that they should be given special dispensation to carry concealed guns to their offices in order to protect themselves. Members of the California state assembly in Sacramento from both main parties have introduced a bill that would put politicians in the same class of workers vulnerable to violence as agents who arrange bail for defendants or jewellery shop owners. The bill would grant California’s representatives to Congress in Washington and its state politicians a “good cause” classification, entitling them to carry hidden guns while in the state on the grounds of self-defence. The legislation , sponsored by two Democrats and one Republican politician in the Californian assembly, specifically refers to January’s mass shooting in Tucson in which six people were killed and 13 injured, including congress member Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head. Lou Correa, a Republican member of the Californian senate, told the Los Angeles Times that, in the wake of Tucson, he was considering keeping a stun gun in his office and said one of his employees had asked for increased protection from potentially violent members of the public. “I’ve had guys physically come up to me ready to punch me out,” Correa said, adding he had received email death threats. The Californian initiative highlights a peculiar trend since the Tucson shooting. Far from inspiring a major change in the US attitude towards personal weapons, which is among the most gun-friendly in the world, it has prompted a rash of legislative moves across the country designed further to loosen gun controls. The Legal Community Against Violence campaign estimates that there are currently 470 gun bills being considered around the US, of which 273 would make it easier for people to buy and carry weapons. Even in Arizona itself, where the Giffords shooting took place, there are 16 bills now pending, most of which favour the gun owner rather than the potential victims of gun outrages. One potentially significant shift in the other direction is that President Barack Obama appears to be moving towards tightening gun controls by making background checks on purchasers more stringent. In an article in the Arizona Daily Star, Obama said 2,000 Americans had been killed by guns since the Tucson massacre on 8 January. Every year, about 100,000 people are killed or injured as a result of gun violence in the US. “We have a responsibility to do everything we can to put a stop to it,” Obama wrote, highlighting the fact that Jared Loughner, who is charged with the Tucson shooting, was able to buy a gun, despite having been deemed by the US army to be unfit for service and by his college to be too unstable to study there. Obama went on to propose that the background check before gun sales should be made more rigorous and speedy. “None of us should be willing to remain passive in the face or violence or resigned to watching helplessly as another rampage unfolds on television.” US gun control California Gabrielle Giffords United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
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Deal-hungry veteran investor buys Lubrizol, which makes engine oil additives, telling its chief executive to ‘just keep doing what you’ve been doing’ Warren Buffett has made one of his largest acquisitions ever, agreeing to buy chemical and lubricants company Lubrizol in a deal worth $9.7bn (£6bn). Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s insurance-to-railways conglomerate, announced the purchase on Monday – barely two weeks after the 80-year-old investment guru had hinted that he was hungry to make more deals. Lubrizol, based in Ohio, makes additives for engine oils and industrial lubricants. Berkshire will pay $135 a share in cash for the company, a 28% premium on its closing price on Friday. “Lubrizol is exactly the sort of company with which we love to partner – the global leader in several market applications, run by a talented CEO, James Hambrick,” said Buffett. “Our only instruction to James – just keep doing for us what you have done so successfully for your shareholders.” Buffett made his reputation , and his huge fortune, through shrewd investments in well-run companies whose products and services are likely to be in demand in the future. He made his biggest deal in November 2009, buying US rail operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26bn. Lubrizol makes lubricants for engines, especially large trucks, buses and boats. Demand for the company’s products is expected to continue to rise as shipping of goods increases around the world. “It’s certainly a full price – especially if you think what the opportunity could have been had they bought at the bottom of 2008 or 2009′s market sell-off,” said Thomas Russo, of investment fund Gardner Russo & Gardner. “But it’s all about the forward-looking returns and I suspect that the rest of the world’s demand for the products will grow.” In his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders last month, Buffett predicted that “major” acquisitions were on the cards. “Our elephant gun has been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy,” he said. Before today’s deal, Berkshire Hathaway had a cash pile of about $38bn. Andy Kilpatrick, Buffett’s biographer, said he thought Lubrizol would be a good fit. “He’s paying a reasonable premium, and he’s getting an entire business with a brand name,” said Kilpatrick, a stockbroker who turned author to write Of Permanent Value, the Story of Warren Buffett. Berkshire, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, owns about 80 subsidiaries, including insurance, clothing, utility, furniture, jewellery and corporate jet companies. It also has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo. Warren Buffett United States Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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French prosecutors say executives have no case to answer over claims of industrial espionage that triggered diplomatic crisis Renault has been forced to apologise to three executives accused of industrial espionage after Paris prosecutors said they had no case to answer. Prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin said preliminary investigations into the suspected spy ring, in which insiders were thought to have sold secrets of electric-car technology, had enabled his office “to dismiss a certain number of theories, notably that which was put forward in the initial complaint by the company Renault”. In January, it emerged that three executives had been escorted from their offices at Renault’s Technocentre outside Paris, leading the French government to warn that it had been the victim of an “economic war”. President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered his intelligence services to investigate a Chinese link, which threatened to trigger a diplomatic row. The investigation centred on alleged bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein through which the spies could have received cash for revealing Renault’s secrets. But these bank accounts, alleged to have been in the names of the executives, did not exist, the prosecutor said on Sunday. Marin said the investigation was now focusing on whether Renault had been the victim of fraud, as no evidence had emerged backing its complaint of espionage. The Paris prosecutor said Renault had already paid €310,000 (£268,000) for false information and had €390,000 more to pay. Renault confirmed it had convened a special board meeting to discuss the matter. Renault’s chief operating officer, Patrick Pelata, apologised to the three men, pledging to repair the injustice against them. He hinted his own job may be at risk, saying Renault would accept all the consequences “up to the highest level of the company, that is to say up to myself”. The carmaker came under fire for carrying out its own investigation into suspected spying before informing the authorities of its fears. A Renault security manager has been placed under investigation for suspected fraud concerning the spying allegations. One analyst, who asked not to be named, said Pelata was “not necessarily irreplaceable, but it would still be a significant shock” if he stood down over the affair. The case also affects Carlos Ghosn, the dynamic CEO of Renault and its partner Nissan Motor. Early on, he spoke out personally, saying the carmaker had “multiple pieces of evidence” for its allegations. But in February, Ghosn said he had not taken part personally in the investigation. “If every time something happens in a company you had to take your pen and go and look into it to be sure of what people are telling you, the company would cease to exist,” he said. France Renault Automotive industry guardian.co.uk
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Android ‘s has already hit the set top box world with the Google TV , but that isn’t true Android. This is, packing Android 2.2. Or, at least, it will be when it ships sometime toward the middle of the year. It’s the Nixeus Fusion XS, a Marvell 88DE3010-powered media streamer with 2GB of flash memory and 512MB of RAM, and unfortunately a little processor fan that hopefully doesn’t make too much noise. That’s the same Armada processor that drives the OnLive MicroConsole and hopefully it’ll give enough oomph for FroYo to serve up HD video content, including BD-ISO support and whatever else the little, ebony thing can pull down over USB or Ethernet, spitting it back over composite and optical audio output or on one string of HDMI. It’s looking rather less powerful than the similarly Android-powered Xtreamer PVR , but its anticipated cost of $170 should be a good bit lower. Oh, and we can’t wait to see what the hackers do with it either. Android and Marvell to join forces in the Nixeus Fusion XS media streamer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …ABC Touts an Anti-Nuke Activist, Ex-Aide to a Lefty Organization as Experts on Crisis in Japan
March 14, 2011 No Comment
Good Morning America on Monday featured two liberal experts to explain the escalating crisis in Japan, but didn't identify the leftist background of either. Co-host George Stephanopoulos identified Joe Cirincione as someone “who has also spent many years inside the U.S. government dealing with nuclear issues.” The ABC anchor failed to mention that Cirincione previously worked for the liberal Center for American Progress and was the director of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace. (Stephanopoulos only explained Cirincione's current job, President of the Ploughshares Fund, a group dedicated to achieving a “achieve a safe, secure, nuclear weapon-free world.”) At one point, the journalist offered a mildly challenging question, wondering, “And the White House doesn't seem to be in a red alert status. Is that being too complacent?” Cirincione responded by defending, “The Japanese are some of the best in the world at this. But nobody's been prepared for this kind of thing.” The segment's other guest, Michio Kaku , currently has a radio show on Pacifica Radio . He's also been active in the global nuclear weapons movement and opposing Ronald Reagan. Stephanopoulos simply identified him as a physicist. The disaster in Japan is unfolding and neither expert was overtly political. However, Stephanopoulos promised both guest would be back on Tuesday. Will the host, a former Democratic operative, alert the GMA audience to their liberal perspective? A partial transcript of the March 14 segment, which aired at 7:14am EST, follow: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We're going to get some more perspective now on the nuclear disaster, from the men who have become our in-house experts, physicist Michio Kaku from the City University of New York and Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, who has also spent many years inside the U.S. government dealing with nuclear issues. … STEPHANOPOULOS: So, Joe, what should we be watching for the next 12, 24, 36 hours? And when will we know when we're out of danger of that complete
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