Gina Rinehart is a Fucking Cunt

Danny Brown and his crew are simply calling it “the thing”. The time when a female fan forced her way on stage undressed Brown and performed an act which would make Jim Morrison blush. The blowback (ahem) was swift and intense, different sides of the political and social spectrum weighing in and labelling Brown a filthy, perverted misogynist or lauding it as the height of masculine virility something like a hiphop version of the forty virgins waiting in heaven for the suicide bomber. But as Kitty Pryde – one of Brown’s tour compatriots and probably more importantly his close friend – recently alluded to how would such a scene have been interpreted if the genders had been reversed? If a pretty young woman had been trying to perform in public and a man had undone her fly and sexually assaulted her? I can’t speak for the hip hop community but at any rock n roll night, he’d be lucky to get out of the venue alive. And yet why has this incident been treated so differently? Why has there been no interrogation of the repercussions of such an act on Brown? Two reasons; race and gender.

Kitty Pryde has extensively criticised the intense pressure on artists such as Brown to live up to hip hop’s hyper-masculine expectations. While Brown’s response to “the thing” brought harsh criticism from many feminists, the backlash from those male fans of Brown’s would have been equally unforgiving; faggot, pussy, coward just some of the monikers which spring to mind. Now, doing something that is wrong because some baseball-cap-wearing-fucker bullies you into it is still wrong, that’s certain, however, in what sense was Brown ever able to give his informed consent with regards to this particular issue? Surely that should be the standard by which we hold any sexual interaction to account? Was he supposed to, in the heat of the moment, stop the show, cut the lights and consider whether this was something that he really wanted to do? Fuck that. We all know that would not be possible. Or as Kitty suggests was he meant to kick the woman away, and enjoy the ensuing shitstorm about being more Chris Brown than Danny. And so, the inevitable occurred and he went along with it, of course he’ll come out now saying how great it was etc. but on no possible level can this be considered an acceptable level of consent and without a doubt if the genders were reversed, we’d all be screaming rape.

The other nasty side of this whole thing has been the impact of Brown’s race. The hyper-sexual black man has long been a common trope in Hollywood and once (perhaps still) provided the ostensible motivation for the lynching and extrajudicial killing of African Americans in the South. Some pointed to the role this stereotype in the extensive condemnation of Chris Brown for his cowardly assault on girlfriend Rihanna. Especially when compared to the white-silence which blanketed the airwaves when Sean Penn beat Madonna half-to-death with a baseball bat. The black man can’t control himself, his evil testosterone-fuelled blood apparently pumps in one direction and we are all at risk. Once more this bullshit latent sexual racism comes to the fore as Danny Brown is crucified for being publicly violated.

It’s always going to be hard to defend someone like Brown (as i’m sure it was and is to prosecute a rapist when the defence starts revealing the survivor’s sexually history to a conservative jury), a man who exists within the already sexist, piggish culture of contemporary hip hop, where incidents like this are not cause for concern but celebration. That’s the nature of our expectations not just within hip hop but in society in general. While women are given an unrealistic standard to which they are expected to conform in almost every field; sexually, socially and physically men are pressured to live up to a similar sexual stereotype, that, while certainly universal is far worse for African Americans and other people of colour. What is clear from this “thing” is that no reasonable person could expect someone to give their informed consent to a sexual act when they are in the middle of a performance with hundreds of people watching them. So lets call this what it was, rape, or at best a gross violation of Brown’s personal and private space. If he were Annie Brown we certainly would.

In George Orwell’s 1984 the last couplet of The Party’s slogan: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength is surely the most important. All else becomes mere window dressing when ignorance is celebrated and idiocy is lauded, especially at a state level. It seems Orwell showed a supernatural prescience in formulating his dystopia, as just a few days ago China’s People’s Daily syndicated an article from the Onion which labelled Kim Jong-un “Sexiest Man Alive”.

It has been noted before that North Korea has come closer than any other nation to a real-life of Oceania. And with its omnipresent depictions of the Dear Leader, state-mandated public uniforms and perpetually empty supermarket shelves; the political prisoners, torture and summary executions seen in all dictatorships are a mere formality. When the line between fact and fiction becomes so indistinct that satire can be republished as credible journalism then the state has at last fulfilled its dream of total ideological and intellectual control. What hope is there for change or progress when the very parameters of reality are dictated by the state? As Winston carefully toils away revising history and altering the past in the Ministry of Truth, one-party states across the globe have tried equally hard to define their own reality, their own truth, free from the epistemological, political and ethical bounds which have guided post-enlightenment, democratic politics.

With the syndication of the Onion’s ironic “Sexiest Man Alive” article China’s leadership have proved just how desperate they are to frame North Korea as a worthy friend, more valuable and indispensible than the west would have them believe. However, instead of a light-hearted republication of an American paean to the chubby face, and firm features of Kim Jong-un, China has inadvertently admitted its own deep desire to keep its population misinformed and in the dark.

North Korea and to a lesser extent China have long provided the western world with equal parts fear and mirth, proving that the terrifying visage of the police state only requires the smallest crack before staid, military officiousness becomes laughable. While there is hope that with the untested leadership of Kim Jong-un, North Korea will reverse its stagnation and finally engage with the rest of the world; the apparently unwavering support of its bigger brother – Communist China – makes this seems at best unlikely and at worst, an impossibility.

LIN · GUA · LUC · ERE  noun \ˈliŋ-gwə-lüs-ər\

            plural lingualux

 Definition of LINGUALUCERE

1. To discover that a previously conceived, seemingly-original idea is in fact a well established concept.

Examples of LINGUALUCERE

 · After teasing out the minutiae of my philosophical attitude towards meat-eating I had the worst lingualucere and realized it was just Speciesism rebadged.

VI · VID · ES · CITE  noun \ˈvi-vid-i-ˈsīt\

            plural vividescites

 Definition of VIVIDESCITE

1. The extreme frisson experienced when remembering a dream.

Examples of VIVIDESCITE

· I woke in a sweat from and panicked with the vividescite of remembering my dream from the night before. 

I’m thinking that this will be the first of a series of intermittent riddim history posts, describing the genesis and progression of my favourite instrumental tracks.

I know i’ve already posted about Sugar Minott’s Oh Mr. DC, but this riddim is just too good and deserves another look in.

Prince Buster originally penned the tune Shaking Up Orange St to this riddim in 1966, a classic Jamaican paean to Buster’s undeniable talent, ability and confidence.

For over a decade the riddim remained unused, gathering dust in the vinyl holsters of the Island’s selectas, until 1978 when Sugar Minott released Oh Mr. DC. His sweet, mellifluous voice takes the tune to the next level, reworking the backing track and incorporating some of Buster’s best lines in describing to the local constable the pressures of trying to provide for his family by selling sensimilia. Minott’s cut is soulful, classic reggae, dropping hard on the three and highlighting the injustices of Jamaica’s drug policy and the struggles of just getting by. 

Once recognised few great riddims stay hidden for long and Pressure and Slide was no exception. Within three years new cuts were being made across the Island culminating in Yellowman’s Two To Six Supermix a super slowed down raga jam from King Yellow, all bravado and cocksureness. But the riddim only reached its apex in 1985 when reworked entirely on the now ubiquitous Korg synthesiser. Pressure and Slide exploded with Beres Hammond’s internationally successful What One Dance Can Do, tons of new artists soon composing stellar renditions over this classic beat. Johnny Osbourne’s Rock-A-Dub (my personal favourite) is a call to arms while Sugar Minott even has another crack with Cool Down. The riddim was bigger than ever and the bass is just that quintessentially early dancehall sound, more prominent and powerful than anything heard before or since. 

Pressure and Slide was mixed up and altered many times over the next two decades with numerous artists cutting tunes (i’d be remiss not to mention Anthony B’s Cut Out That which almost inconspicuously appropriates Percy Mayfield’s Hit the Road Jack!). Finally, a brand new (albeit slightly cheesy) remix of the tune was realised in 2004 as the Pressure and Slide/Invasion riddim. Named after the eponymously titled Capleton song which despite the over the top backing track gives every other artist who has worked with this song a run for their money.

The history of Pressure and Slide is not just the story of one riddim, it is a microcosm of Jamaican music in general. The effortless shift from rocksteady to reggae then dancehall akin to the transition music has experience in Jamaica. It highlights the fluidity of genres on the Island and the expectation that artists be attuned to its natural progression. It is a unique quality of Jamaican music that instrumentals nearly 50 years old still retain their pertinence and influence. It shows the importance Jamaican musical history plays in the contemporary culture and the true knowledge and respect Jamaican artists have for the music which has preceded them. Pressure and Slide is not unique, there are hundreds of great riddims available which deseve recognition and in their reuse and appropriation are never forgotten. 

Been slack as, due to a couple of recent additions in my life. I won’t bore you with the details, but they’re incredible and my life is so much richer because of them. I praise Jah everyday now for the gifts he has bestowed upon me. 

Consequently, i’m riding a lot more (1) and potting plants every second day (2) which means i’ve been completely neglecting this blog. But university’s just around the corner and procrastination will once more become the norm, so expect to see a great deal more of me. Here’s what’s exploading my cerebellum at the moment. 

This bass, is insane, i’ve listened to reggae/jamaican music for nearly 10 years (intently for closer to five) and and even by those standards this bass is big enough to make even the strongest ears crumble. 

†  dowload g-isaacs’s best of here  √ 

The best outcome for the world may well be the worst result for the USA. That’s the vibe i’m getting from Republican Congressman and GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul. Whilst intent on abolishing fundamental government infrastructures he considers part of the encroach of ‘Big Government’ including the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service he is also determined to see the US return to its non-interventionist roots, no longer interfering “militarily, financially, or covertly in the internal affairs of other nations”.

Incase that didn’t quite encapsulate the crazy contradictions inherent in RonPaul here is a list of shit he would like to see happen if he were president.

The removal of the Cuban embargo.

The complete elimination of income tax. (!)

The nullification of Roe Vs. Wade.

An end to the War On Drugs and the criminalisation of addiction.

A return to the Gold Standard. (!)

The cessation of what he has defined as federal use of torture under the PATRIOT Act.

The decriminalisation of prostitution.

The immediate withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan.

The consequences for Americans should this ‘intellectual godfather’ of the Tea-Party movement succeed are unfathomable. A ‘first world’ powerhouse without any of the safeguards so associated with progress. No healthcare net at all, none, zero taxation on the wealthiest sections of society and finally the once-sacrosanct legal monopoly of the US Post to deliver mail opened up to private competition. It’s a crazy hyper-super-nuts kind of laissez faire capitalism the likes of which has never been seen before. The results, however, are fairly predictable,  extreme wealth pooling in the upper income strata while the poorest sections of society are further exploited as working regulations get stripped back to allow full penetration by the free-market. Gross.

Meanwhile, Afghanis, Cubans and detained ‘Terror Suspects’ could probably breathe a collective sigh of relief, as, US troops are withdrawn from their home towns, sanctions lifted from their countries and dogs inside their cells muzzled. I’ve never thought the apocryphal Chinese curse ‘may you live in interesting times’ was much chop (i’d much rather be scared than bored) but if this guy comes up trumps in 2012, it will almost certainly have made this saying redundant. 

interesting how reggae can make even the most fucking moribund stuff sound fantastic.

RIP Carlo Dellora

1989-2012

So ‘Hitch’ is dead. No, not the star of the eponymously named romantic-comedy we all wished had never left Bel-Air, but the portly journalist and unparalleled polemicist who never once fled from a fight. Oesophageal cancer at the age of 61. I only started getting into his work in the last couple of years, but fuck, he was inspiring. Uncompromising, unequivocal and willing to say things others would have avoided for propriety’s sake or straight fear. His targets were often those protected by their faith or title: Mother Theresa, Father Jerry Falwell (“if he had been given an enema after his death he could have been buried in a matchbox”) and Henry Kissinger, Hitch could never be accused of being an opportunistic pugilist.  

Many of my own friends and innumerable commentators I respect dismissed Hitchens as a neo-conservative, sexist, imperialist and capitalist patsy. While I don’t really want to get into a slanging match about the ‘New Left’ forsaking old principles these pithy characterisations do little to adequately convey the breadth of Hitchens’ political constitution. He loathed superstitious extremism, ‘capricious lawmaking’ and the inequality of contemporary politics. He was a champion of reason, enlightenment principles and the right of all to live free of persecution and fear. It was not just that he detested religion as an affront to both reason and secular democracy but that he genuinely believed that faith was the primary source of the world’s misery.

If I can mount one criticism (and there are no dearth) against Hitch it is that perhaps he allowed his own passion and ‘desire to be vindicated’ to cloud his judgement. This was evidenced in his fucking bizarre support for the War In Iraq as some sort of military countermeasure against the threat of ideological Islamic extremism. At times he could be carried away by the message and end up ignoring the practical outcome (see, why women aren’t funny, yes, hilarious, but in classic Hitch form responsible for losing about half his readership). No prisoners, no quarter. He always maintained that people should be able to write what they want without fear and goddamn it if he didn’t live up to his own expectation.

His eloquence was unparalleled and even with such poignant inspiration combining the best parts of his eulogies would not come close to replicating his effortless wit or caustic irony.

Martin Amis wrote, “My friendship with the Hitch has always been perfectly cloudless. It is a love whose month is ever May” and though few knew him let alone drank with him, his words remain the warmest part of summer.

Semper Sic Tyrannis.

13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011

 

Here’s a post i made from my facebook account regarding striking poultry workers at a Baiada chicken factory in Laverton. I thought about re-writing it to be more up-to-date, especially given that the National Union of Workers has since secured  employees virtually all their demands, but for background information it sets the scene for what was a lengthy and grueling fortnight for striking workers.

“For the past week or so poultry workers at the Baiada chicken factory in Laverton have been on strike, picketing against some truly fucking grotesque working conditions. 

Last year Sarel Singh was sucked into a machine he was cleaning and decapitated, shocked workers were given less than hour to take in what most of them had witnessed before being told to get back to work and clean up the body themselves. Singh, was murdered (don’t fight me on this one because however you fucking look at it, it’s murder) as a result of Baiada’s unscrupulous drive to cut costs, maximise profits and forgo safe working conditions.

But that is not why this strike has been called, these workers are only after assurances that their jobs are safe. Not safe from violence, harm or decapitation but safe from sham contracting, cash paid workers, over-casualisation and piece rates. 

Workers are demanding an end to unethical and unlawful employment practices in the poultry industry and this is where Sweet Teens come in (the band, THE BAND).

Thanks to Tom and I’s longstanding membership of the Union Bosses Union of Victoria (a sub-brach of Militant Unionists Union of Australia MUUA) we were chosen from amongst thousands of better bands to play tonight at the picket line. I think things kick off around 6 and other bands include Legends of Motorsports [ed. they did not in fact play] and @plus more to be announced. 

Baiada have declared that they will “go to war” with workers if they strike, if so, we will provide the music for when we win.

so we’ll march day and night by the big chicken tower

they have the poultry but we have the power.

-20/11/11