This week we hail the triumphant return of Valentinos (our man in Nicosia) to the Strangeland, in which time we discuss geopolitics, austerity hawks, war-torn current events, festivals and rising musical stars, all set to the backdrop of hard blues guitar, both new and classic.
Come for our unique flavor of international commentary, stay for the rockin’ ambience.
PLAYLIST Hall Of The Mountain King – Big Brother & The Holding Company In My Time Of Dying – Led Zeppelin Moby Dick – Led Zeppelin Little Wing – STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN Journey of a Sorcerer – Eagles Albatross – Fleetwood Mac Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience Manifest Destiny (Pt. 1 & 2) – Rival Sons All The War – Rival Sons Gary Clark – If You Love Me Like You Say Gary Clark – Please Come Home Your Touch – The Black Keys Georgia Women – R.L. Burnside Goodbye Pork Pie Hat – Jeff Beck Blues Part II – Blood, Sweat & Tears Big City After Dark – Link Wray Marianne’s Wish – Still Here Marianne’s Wish – Brainwash Eli’s Coming – Three Dog Night
Current TV was sold to Al-Jazeera English for a reported $500 million dollars. Eliot Spitzer has quit his show, while the Young Turks made a point of saying they are independent, and thus owned by neither organization.
Time Warner Cable opportunistically jumped at the chance to drop Current with the ‘change of ownership’ clause in their contract. Time Warner contends it was not a political move, but cited ‘lack of demand’ and their already-streaming online free content as factors. According to the New York Times, Time Warner Cable wrote: “We are keeping an open mind, and as the service develops, we will evaluate whether it makes sense, for our customers, to launch the network.”
The point has been made at AlterNet that Time Warner subscribers are hit with the cost of political organizations they may not even want, with FOX charging $1 per month for its content and MSNBC 20 cents.
It is difficult to take seriously, however, claims that anything regarding Al-Jazeera in America (which would be called Al-Jazeera America) are not at least somewhat politically-motivated. FOX fraudsters called Al Gore and his Current TV a litany of names from ‘failures’ ($500 million worth of fail) to hypocritical assertions of tax avoidance, even implications of American betrayal and of being *gasp* unpatriotic! FOX has a long history of blind stereotyping and anti-Muslim hatred, xenophobic fear-mongering and jingoistic bias; they reveal too much of themselves by calling the internationally award-winning Al-Jazeera English news agencies Anti-American terror mouthpieces: “Al Jazeera, known as the network of the Arab Street, is also known for taking anti-American, anti-Israel and pro-terror positions.” Absurd allegations from arguably the most morally bankrupt propaganda companies in the media.
The Bush administration condemned Al Jazeera for its Arabic-language network’s coverage of the Iraq War and broadcasting of al Qaeda tapes, even targeting its headquarters in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Perceptions that the news organization, which is funded by Qatar’s government, is anti-American continue even as U.S. political leaders such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have praised the network’s reporting abroad.
Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English, acknowledged to The Huffington Post in August 2011 that “in the United States of America, there were myths and misconceptions that needed to be tackled about what Al Jazeera stood for and what Al Jazeera English stood for and stands for.”
On Wednesday, Al Jazeera management expressed confidence that there’s strong demand for its programming in the U.S., which already accounts for 40 percent of the viewership of its streaming English-language network.
The talking heads at FOX are exploding so fast at news of the sale, you’d think terrorists had managed to creep in.
Bill O’Reilly has lambasted Al-Jazeera’s coverage of the Arab Spring for its ties to the government of Qatar; which would have been a legitimate criticism if it wasn’t embedded in such an an us-vs-them framing, and combined with a factually inaccurate post-9/11 terror angle. It is also particularly silly considering FOX’s parent company’s second-biggest investors is Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a nephew of the Saudi king. FOX’s biggest investor and founder is, of course, an Australian. Those damn international interests at work!
Glenn Beck went so far as to claim Al Gore had chosen to sell to Al-Jazeera over red-blooded American patriots such as himself. Unfortunately, Beck’s story is beset with inconvenient truths; he didn’t have the money for the purchase, didn’t intend to raise the money, was not a serious buyer, and happens to be at the opposite end of the philosophical universe as Gore. Beck then admitted that he thinks “global warming is nonsense”, and said that Al-Jazeera “hates America” while he himself loves it. Just loves it up in a cup.
Most of the ‘America hatred’ stems from Al-Jazeera’s coverage in the Middle East, including reporting on and showing the released tapes of Osama Bin Laden. Because a new agency should, you know, ignore or lie about what is going on in the world, especially if it concerns international affairs, the War on Terror or national security. How ridiculously pathetic is our own myopic national news when it has to be stated: “Content with an Arab perspective is not necessarily anti-American.”
Progressive online source Salon has even more on the possible biases and more possible openness of new points-of-view that would come from Americans getting that sweet cable access:
Juliette Kayyem, the national security and foreign policy columnist for the Boston Globe and lecturer at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, told Salon that the impression of Al Jazeera as an anti-America, anti-Israel newsroom was misleading. On a visit last month to Doha’s Al Jazeera campus, she noted, the reporters seemed more than anything young, ambitious and innovative. (Failing to break into the U.S. market meaningfully with Al Jazeera English, the network had been streaming through YouTube for interested U.S. viewers.) They were unconcerned about ownership issuing marching orders: “The monarchy knows Al Jazeera is a good brand for the monarchy,” said Kayyem. “And the more they mess with Al Jazeera, it’s not a good brand.”
Which is not to say that Al Jazeera has magically shed a point of view. “I suspect as viewers get to know the content,” said Al Tompkins, the Poynter Institute’s senior faculty for broadcasting, “they will develop filters through which to watch the journalism, in the same way thoughtful viewers filter Fox or MSNBC and so on.” He cited Britain, Canada, South Africa and Denmark as states whose government-funded networks did good journalistic work.
For the record, can we just acknowledge that every media source has some bias somewhere along the political gradient, with many much worse than others? I can appreciate the alternative views from liberals at RT, for example, and still realize that they go easy on their own right-wing president Putin, who just granted a tax haven to the wealthy. I can enjoy the Chris Hayes and Ed Schultzes of MSNBC, and also see their news cycle asapologism for Obama‘s war crimes. I don’t need to suspect every local story from every minor FOX affiliate to be branded and approved by the GOP, especially if I’m watching FOX Sports.
Once again, it just requires constant calibration of your bullshit detector, which can only be helped by more information, not less.
In which we discuss the real loser of the debate; America. Schills, sellouts, state-sponsored spies, union betrayals, battleground states and third party revolutions.
PLAYLIST
In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Terramix) – terraon
Bionic -Groove Collective
Aneurysms -Mr. Dibbs
El Salvador -Cybotron
Something Bells -Daedelus
Frontier Psychiatrist -The Avalanches
Glue of the World -Four Tet
Easy Muffin -Amon Tobin
Sign Of The Dove – World United
I Love Buddha -Monkey
Insomnia- Yellow Magic Orchestra
Kometenmelodie 1 – Kraftwerk
Wavelength – Delerium
Music Sounds Better With You (Radio Edit) – Stardust
Aerodynamic – Daft Punk
New Horizons – Synaesthesia
The Tao of Love – Vangelis
Reactionary – Controller 7
More Dance Music – Kid Koala
I wanted to play something cool, something a little dark, and something that rocks tonight. Perhaps I was inspired by the politicians in the news, and all the pernicious trash that seems to be poking out from every cool, dark rock around.
PLAYLIST
In The Hall Of The Mountain King – Sounds Incorporated
I´ve Loved You – The Music Machine
Instrumental Duet – Bela Fleck
Ray Gun Suitcase – Pere Ubu
The Darker Days Of Me & Him – PJ Harvey
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Elvis Costello
I Wanna Rule The World – 10cc
2/1 – Brian Eno
All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands – Sufjan Stevens
She Is Staggering – Polaris
Fools – The Dodos
Change My Life – Spoon
Rumble – Link Wray
Baby, Please Don’t Go – Them
Bloodstains (Darkness Version) – Agent Orange
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
Red Right Hand – Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Guitar Solo 6 from ‘Dead Man’ – Neil Young
Bad Trip – Bo Diddley
Insanity Creeping – The Flow
Castles Made Of Sand – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Sittin’ On Top Of The World – Howlin’ Wolf
Free Ride – The Illinois Speed Press
Overture – The Collectors
White Room – Cream
When I Was Young – Eric Burdon & The Animals
Cool It Down – The Velvet Underground
Évasion de Julien – Miles Davis
The Old Revolution – Leonard Cohen
The world trembles as it is eaten by the different engines of war machines, political machines, corporate machines and… y’know… actual machines.
With an appropriately science-fiction-themed playlist culled from the halls of io9, we explore our fantastical present and technologically-foreboding future, as we try to build better laws of robotics against their hungry machinations.
PLAYLIST
In the Hall of the Mountain King – Erasure
Tunnel Of Light – Ayreon
The Battle of Evermore – Led Zeppelin
Movements Of A Visionary – Tangerine Dream
The Fish [Shindleria Praematurus] – Yes
The Supernatural Anaesthetist – Genesis
Surfing with the Alien – Joe Satriani
Engines of Difference – Man… or Astro-man?
Rusty Metal – Aphex Twin
Into The Void – Black Sabbath
Veteran of the Psychic Wars – Blue Öyster Cult
When The Machines Rock – Tubeway Army
celestial annihilation – unkle
The Sprawl – Sonic Youth
Sirius – Alan Parsons Project
Supernova – Mike Oldfield
Supernova at the end of the Universe – The Orb
La Via Della Droga – Goblin
Cats on Mars (DMX Krew Remix) – Gabriela Robin
Strict Machine – Goldfrapp
Elektrobank – The Chemical Brothers
3000 – Dr. Octagon
Positive Contact – Deltron
Mira et Ten – Alain Goraguer
Space is the Place – Sun Ra
While Yuri G is in limbo, in transition, in a bad way or just in a strange place, yours truly, the Stranger, takes the helm of Psionic Dehiscence for another week, with the Strangeland in tow for four hours of radio, playlists, and news! If you don’t like it then call the station at 415-550-0511 or myself at thestranger@earthling.net. San Franciscans can also contact Mayor Ed Lee directly at (415) 554-6141 or email mayoredwinlee@sfgov.org.
PLAYLIST
Yuri-G – PJ Harvey
Car Radio – Spoon
Toccata – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Sweet Leaf – Black Sabbath
Hassles Fresh – Blueberry Pancake
Symphony of Science
The Beast – Milt Buckner
She Blinded Me With Science – Thomas Dolby
Weird Science – Oingo Boingo
Bolero – Pink Martini
Lonlon (Ravel’s Bolero) – Angélique Kidjo
Clair De Lune – Tomita
The Lonely Shepherd – Zamfir
Springtime For Hitler – Henry Mancini
Hall Of The Mountain King – Big Brother & The Holding Company
Calling Elvis – Dire Straits
Flying In A Blue Dream – Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, St
The Punk and the Godfather – The Who
Everyone Had a Hard Year – The Beatles
Natural Good – Bartel
City Hall – Tenacious D
Red Right Hand – Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Drunken Master – Groove Collective
The Wondrous Boat Ride – Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
What Sound – Lamb
Reanimator – Amon Tobin
As the Moon Speaks/Astral Lady – Captain Beyond
Blues, Part II – Blood, Sweat & Tears
Uncle Remus – Frank Zappa
The Ghost Song – The Doors
Space Lion – Yoko Kanno
IG-88 – mc chris
Hong Kong Phooey – Sublime
Go Monkey Go – Devo
bumpys lament – isaac hayes
88 Lines About 44 Women – Nails
Absurdist Noir 