Last night Rihanna performed in Dallas, Texas. As usual Rihanna's CIA handlers/Live Nation (the management) provided absolutely no official information about the concert and due to the fact the concert only ended some three hours ago unofficial is strictly limited.
However I can tell that Rihanna performed the standard set-list with standard costume changes and the standard stage set-up. Rihanna appeared on stage within a hour of the scheduled start of her performance which was late enough cause some excitement amongst the crowd but not late enough for that excitement to turn into anger. Obviously having not seen it I cannot personally comment on the strength of Rihanna's performance but I gather that it was energetic and more then competent.
During the time surrounding Rihanna's concert there were no highly illustrative shootings, fires, playing crashes or similar stunts from the US. However rather then reflecting that the US is now going to be behaving itself for the remaining three Diamonds World Tour concert this seems to be the US thinking that the gossip from the concert itself would be disruptive enough. Quite a few celebrities attended last night's concerts most noticeably Drake who Rihanna used to be romantically involved with. Rihanna is of course being supported on this tour by A$AP Rocky who she has been rumoured to be romantically involved in. Therefore the intention was to start the rumour that Rihanna is having sex with either Drake or A$AP Rocky as I sit here and type this.
Unfortunately though the reason why we know Drake attended the concert is that lots of fellow concert goers spotted him as he was in the audience rather then backstage. Also lots of people saw him partying at a nightclub after the concert without Rihanna meaning that it is extremely unlikely that he will be able to catch up with Rihanna's tour bus as it heads to Oklahoma. As for the rumours of A$AP Rocky I've never treated them with any degree of credibility. As such the small 4.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the Philippines shortly after the end of Rihanna's concert seems to be the earth itself mocking the US by making fun of the way we say the earth moves when people achieve orgasm.
All indications are that the US intends to press ahead regardless with its Rihanna plan. On Friday (15/11/13) they are going to release the video for the single "What Now." This is of course the video that caused Rihanna to go on her controversial diversion to Thailand during the South-East Asian leg of the tour. The release of the single is of course supposed to pose the question of "What now for Rihanna?" The fact the video is being released on the last day of the tour is just toe-curlingly awful but then subtly and deftness of touch have not been the hallmarks of this operation.
While I'm here I should also tidy up a little spat I had with Rihanna on Sunday (10/11/13) when she noticed I'd favourited on Twitter a blogpost comparing the Rihanna song "S.O.S" with the chemically-mediated tritrophic interactions of the Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed. I should point out that this was most probably written by an author trying to inject humour into an otherwise quite dull subject. However I thought it should be brought to Rihanna's attention in order to highlight exactly what I mean when I say "coded discussions." After all that article was quite vanilla by the usual standard.
09:35 on 12/11/13 (UK date).
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Monday, 11 November 2013
There Must Be a Climate Summit On.
Because as has been the case in three of the past four years I find myself writing the sentence; "I'm going to be in Court tomorrow."
As I've been saying since this criminal damage allegation began back in May 2013 I'm not going to reveal my defence strategy by going into detail before the trial. However I think I am able to tell you about something important that has or rather hasn't happened. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have failed to disclose the evidence alluded to in the initial case file to my defence team. As a result we have not been able to examine this evidence meaning we cannot mount a proper defence meaning that a fair trial cannot take place.
As such legally the only thing the CPS can do tomorrow is request that the Court grants an adjournment until such a time as this evidence is released and can be examined by the defence. The Magistrate is under absolutely no obligation to grant this request and my defence will be vigorously opposing it and pushing for a full acquittal instead. After all this is entirely the CPS' fault and the continuation of the case and the associated bail conditions infringe on my liberty.
So at the risk of famous last words and although I've spent the day making preparation I fully expect to turn up to Court tomorrow only to be told by my attorney that the case has been dismissed and I can leave straight away. After all 'forgetting' to disclose evidence prior to trial is an old trick for making cases disappear without having to explain the real reason why the prosecution has failed. The only worry is that this type of trick is normally a bit above a local Magistrate's pay-grade.
23:10 on 11/11/13.
As I've been saying since this criminal damage allegation began back in May 2013 I'm not going to reveal my defence strategy by going into detail before the trial. However I think I am able to tell you about something important that has or rather hasn't happened. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have failed to disclose the evidence alluded to in the initial case file to my defence team. As a result we have not been able to examine this evidence meaning we cannot mount a proper defence meaning that a fair trial cannot take place.
As such legally the only thing the CPS can do tomorrow is request that the Court grants an adjournment until such a time as this evidence is released and can be examined by the defence. The Magistrate is under absolutely no obligation to grant this request and my defence will be vigorously opposing it and pushing for a full acquittal instead. After all this is entirely the CPS' fault and the continuation of the case and the associated bail conditions infringe on my liberty.
So at the risk of famous last words and although I've spent the day making preparation I fully expect to turn up to Court tomorrow only to be told by my attorney that the case has been dismissed and I can leave straight away. After all 'forgetting' to disclose evidence prior to trial is an old trick for making cases disappear without having to explain the real reason why the prosecution has failed. The only worry is that this type of trick is normally a bit above a local Magistrate's pay-grade.
23:10 on 11/11/13.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Typhoon Haiyan: Day 3.
On Friday (8/11/13) the Philippines was struck by Typhoon Haiyan which is known locally as Yolanda. As I've said before if this typhoon had originated in the northern hemisphere it would have been classed as a category 7 hurricane. The system that classifies hurricanes only goes up to 5 so meteorologists are currently arguing whether Haiyan should be classified as a "Super-Typhoon" or a "Hyper-Typhoon." Whatever you call it though along with the 2005 Tsunami, the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2012 Japanese earthquake this has been one of those natural disasters that even has seasoned watchers sitting back and simply going "Wow!"
Reaching 50 miles (80km) wide and travelling some 400 miles (640km) across 6 central Filipino islands Typhoon Haiyan brought sustained winds of 195mph (312kmph) and gusts of 285mph (456kmh) along with a 45 foot (14 metre) storm surge that reached within 4 miles (6 km) of the coast. So significant was this flood of sea water that it was enough to drown people trapped in the second stories of buildings. Across Haiyan's 20,000 sq/mile (32,000sq/km) footprint devastation is reported to be at 70-80%. That means that 70-80% of all the homes, hospitals, schools, farmland, sanitation facilities (sewers, water wells etc), electricity pylons and telecommunication masts in the area have been destroyed leaving 10million people (1/8th of the total population) in need of emergency relief.
To their credit the Filipino government's preparation for Haiyan has been excellent. Prior to the typhoon making landfall they took the precaution of evacuating 1 million people out of its path and have made USD5.2 million available for the relief effort which in a country where the average yearly wage is USD1000 is a lot of money. However the sheer scale of the devastation has begun to overwhelm them. For example I think they only have 50 medium lift helicopters and 1 C130 plane available to cover a wide area that is inaccessible by road. Also much of the food aid they had stockpiled is in the form of dried rice and dried noodles. With the storm surge and to be blunt the rotting corpses of the dead contaminating the water supply much of this is going to be worse than useless. As a result as of 11:00 (GMT) today the Filipino government have only managed to bring relief aid to 500,000 people or 5% of those who need it.
This perceived failure by the government has left many of those affected feeling abandoned leading to a collapse of law and order with violence and looting breaking out. Therefore at this point the only solution I can see is for the Filipino government to declare martial law and channel all the relief and rescue efforts through the military with proper civilian oversight of course.
Be under no doubt that over the coming days and weeks I will be bending your ears, twisting your thumbs, arms and any other appendage that comes to hand in an effort to raise money in response to this disaster. However at the moment we are still at the point where we are trying to work out exactly what is needed, where exactly it is needed and how to get it there. So at the moment the main need of the Filipino government is for other governments, especially ones with a presence in the region, to provide it with as many helicopters and STOL aircraft as possible along with the crews needed to fly them.
When the time for fund raising comes in situations like this I cannot recommend the charity ShelterBox http://www.shelterbox.org/ highly enough although I will need to check their specific involvement in this disaster. What ShelterBox do is provide a plastic box. Exactly what this box contains varies on where it is being sent but it usually includes a tent, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, a basic toolkit and cooking utensils although it lacks basic high energy food. The contents of these boxes are all exactly the same and all boxes are exactly the same size. This means that you get fit x number of boxes onto a pallet and x number of pallets onto a plane/helicopter/truck. Therefore it is the quickest and most efficient way of making sure that everybody gets the basics of survival (1.water, 2.shelter, 3.food) as quickly as possible.
Beyond that it is also always a good idea to donate money to the United Nations World Food Program https://www.wfp.org/donate/typhoon-philippines-a
For those of you though who have friends or relatives in the Philippines or are lucky enough to be one of my celebrity readers I've noticed that the Filipino government has designated the Land Bank of the Philippines, Batasan Branch, Quezon City, Account number (3124-0055-81) as their official clearing account for foreign donations. So you can simply walk into your bank and transfer money directly to the very trustworthy Filipino government which will help cut out most of the political b*llshit and inter-charity turf-wars that normally accompany this type of disaster.
20:25 on 10/11/13 (UK date.)
Reaching 50 miles (80km) wide and travelling some 400 miles (640km) across 6 central Filipino islands Typhoon Haiyan brought sustained winds of 195mph (312kmph) and gusts of 285mph (456kmh) along with a 45 foot (14 metre) storm surge that reached within 4 miles (6 km) of the coast. So significant was this flood of sea water that it was enough to drown people trapped in the second stories of buildings. Across Haiyan's 20,000 sq/mile (32,000sq/km) footprint devastation is reported to be at 70-80%. That means that 70-80% of all the homes, hospitals, schools, farmland, sanitation facilities (sewers, water wells etc), electricity pylons and telecommunication masts in the area have been destroyed leaving 10million people (1/8th of the total population) in need of emergency relief.
To their credit the Filipino government's preparation for Haiyan has been excellent. Prior to the typhoon making landfall they took the precaution of evacuating 1 million people out of its path and have made USD5.2 million available for the relief effort which in a country where the average yearly wage is USD1000 is a lot of money. However the sheer scale of the devastation has begun to overwhelm them. For example I think they only have 50 medium lift helicopters and 1 C130 plane available to cover a wide area that is inaccessible by road. Also much of the food aid they had stockpiled is in the form of dried rice and dried noodles. With the storm surge and to be blunt the rotting corpses of the dead contaminating the water supply much of this is going to be worse than useless. As a result as of 11:00 (GMT) today the Filipino government have only managed to bring relief aid to 500,000 people or 5% of those who need it.
This perceived failure by the government has left many of those affected feeling abandoned leading to a collapse of law and order with violence and looting breaking out. Therefore at this point the only solution I can see is for the Filipino government to declare martial law and channel all the relief and rescue efforts through the military with proper civilian oversight of course.
Be under no doubt that over the coming days and weeks I will be bending your ears, twisting your thumbs, arms and any other appendage that comes to hand in an effort to raise money in response to this disaster. However at the moment we are still at the point where we are trying to work out exactly what is needed, where exactly it is needed and how to get it there. So at the moment the main need of the Filipino government is for other governments, especially ones with a presence in the region, to provide it with as many helicopters and STOL aircraft as possible along with the crews needed to fly them.
When the time for fund raising comes in situations like this I cannot recommend the charity ShelterBox http://www.shelterbox.org/ highly enough although I will need to check their specific involvement in this disaster. What ShelterBox do is provide a plastic box. Exactly what this box contains varies on where it is being sent but it usually includes a tent, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, a basic toolkit and cooking utensils although it lacks basic high energy food. The contents of these boxes are all exactly the same and all boxes are exactly the same size. This means that you get fit x number of boxes onto a pallet and x number of pallets onto a plane/helicopter/truck. Therefore it is the quickest and most efficient way of making sure that everybody gets the basics of survival (1.water, 2.shelter, 3.food) as quickly as possible.
Beyond that it is also always a good idea to donate money to the United Nations World Food Program https://www.wfp.org/donate/typhoon-philippines-a
For those of you though who have friends or relatives in the Philippines or are lucky enough to be one of my celebrity readers I've noticed that the Filipino government has designated the Land Bank of the Philippines, Batasan Branch, Quezon City, Account number (3124-0055-81) as their official clearing account for foreign donations. So you can simply walk into your bank and transfer money directly to the very trustworthy Filipino government which will help cut out most of the political b*llshit and inter-charity turf-wars that normally accompany this type of disaster.
20:25 on 10/11/13 (UK date.)
Operation Misery: Month 9, Week 1, Day 6.
Last night Rihanna performed in Denver, Colorado. As usual Rihanna's CIA handlers/Live Nation (the manangement) insisted on their information blackout. However it seems that Rihanna performed the standard Diamonds World Tour set-list with the standard costume changes and standard stage set. By most accounts Rihanna's performance was strong and there were no complaints about poor time keeping. It is worth pointing out though that Colorado was one of the US states that legalised recreational marijuana use at the November 2012 election so the audience may well have been too impaired to notice any problems.
During the concert there were no major incidents within the US although the US media did try make a lot of a shooting at a house party in Texas and a shooting at an ice rink in New York City. These though seem to have been routine events for a Saturday night in the US because in a country of around 350million people someone is bound to try and kill someone else at some point. The reason why the international US media made such a lot of noise about what are essentially local news stories was to promote discussion about what sort of dramatic stunts the world can expect as Rihanna completes her final US concerts. Personally I think this was something of a false test designed to lull everyone into a false sense of security. After all the entire world is asleep on Saturday night so there really wasn't anyone to stun, scare or confuse.
Things are expected to become much louder as Rihanna embarks on an intense final week of the Diamonds World Tour which will see her perform four concerts in five days in Dallas (11/11/13), Oklahoma City (12/11/13), Houston (14/11/13) and New Orleans (15/11/13). This schedule means that Rihanna will have a very high profile during the opening week of the two week COP19/CMP9 Climate Change Summit if for no other reason than I'm likely to be writing about it and I tend to get listened too in those circles.
Therefore the management's plan seems to have been that through the duration of the tour the world's climate scientists would have been captivated by the notion that Rihanna somehow controls the weather through her emotions. So for example did her moody return to Sydney, Australia in October somehow magically cause their bush fires? If the world's scientists were to entertain the idea that Rihanna's moods somehow effect the weather it would make the US the centre of attention as the world clamours at their door to find out what Rihanna's mood was at any particular point and how it correlates with specific weather events. Somehow I doubt the US intends to be truthful in the information it gives out. Fortunately though there seems to be little belief that Rihanna controls the weather so the best the US can really hope for is to use the issue as a coded way of finding out how it is viewed internationally in the wake of the Rihanna operation.
A further US attempt to disrupt the workings of the COP19/CMP9 Summit has been the rush over the last couple of days to force Iran into a bad deal over it's nuclear program. Within climate change circles nuclear power is hugely controversial for a number of reasons. Firstly there is much debate as to whether it is actually a low carbon power source that can be considered as an adaptation measure. Secondly nuclear power in incredibly complicated and expensive to do safely meaning that understanding of the technology is strictly limited to only the worlds richest and most technologically advanced nations. Finally the weapons potential of nuclear power means that it is one of the most closely guarded areas of discussion between nations with not even the closest allies fully knowing each others capabilities.
So by getting a much hyped deal on Iran's nuclear program which has been central to middle-eastern politics for the best part of thirty years the US was trying to make itself the centre of attention by forcing everyone to use climate change negotiations as a coded way to find out the details of the Iran deal. The fact that with the exception of China the foreign ministers of the P5+1 (the UNSC's nuclear powers plus Germany) all rushed to the Iran talks was a sign they wanted to get in on this dialogue on the ground floor. Fortunately though Iran stood up to the pressure and no deal was reached. Unfortunately though they're apparently all going to do it all over again on November 20th (20/11/13) in the critical final days of the COP19/CMP9 Summit.
As such I can't help but feel that Typhoon Haiyan which has torn through the Philippines which has to be the most controversial date on South-East Asian leg of the Diamonds World Tour and is now making its way to Vietnam (Kerruche Tran is half-Vietnamese) is the climate kicking back hard against the US' plan in an effort to remind COP19/CMP9 delegates what they're actually meant to be discussing.
16:50 on 10/11/13 (UK date).
During the concert there were no major incidents within the US although the US media did try make a lot of a shooting at a house party in Texas and a shooting at an ice rink in New York City. These though seem to have been routine events for a Saturday night in the US because in a country of around 350million people someone is bound to try and kill someone else at some point. The reason why the international US media made such a lot of noise about what are essentially local news stories was to promote discussion about what sort of dramatic stunts the world can expect as Rihanna completes her final US concerts. Personally I think this was something of a false test designed to lull everyone into a false sense of security. After all the entire world is asleep on Saturday night so there really wasn't anyone to stun, scare or confuse.
Things are expected to become much louder as Rihanna embarks on an intense final week of the Diamonds World Tour which will see her perform four concerts in five days in Dallas (11/11/13), Oklahoma City (12/11/13), Houston (14/11/13) and New Orleans (15/11/13). This schedule means that Rihanna will have a very high profile during the opening week of the two week COP19/CMP9 Climate Change Summit if for no other reason than I'm likely to be writing about it and I tend to get listened too in those circles.
Therefore the management's plan seems to have been that through the duration of the tour the world's climate scientists would have been captivated by the notion that Rihanna somehow controls the weather through her emotions. So for example did her moody return to Sydney, Australia in October somehow magically cause their bush fires? If the world's scientists were to entertain the idea that Rihanna's moods somehow effect the weather it would make the US the centre of attention as the world clamours at their door to find out what Rihanna's mood was at any particular point and how it correlates with specific weather events. Somehow I doubt the US intends to be truthful in the information it gives out. Fortunately though there seems to be little belief that Rihanna controls the weather so the best the US can really hope for is to use the issue as a coded way of finding out how it is viewed internationally in the wake of the Rihanna operation.
A further US attempt to disrupt the workings of the COP19/CMP9 Summit has been the rush over the last couple of days to force Iran into a bad deal over it's nuclear program. Within climate change circles nuclear power is hugely controversial for a number of reasons. Firstly there is much debate as to whether it is actually a low carbon power source that can be considered as an adaptation measure. Secondly nuclear power in incredibly complicated and expensive to do safely meaning that understanding of the technology is strictly limited to only the worlds richest and most technologically advanced nations. Finally the weapons potential of nuclear power means that it is one of the most closely guarded areas of discussion between nations with not even the closest allies fully knowing each others capabilities.
So by getting a much hyped deal on Iran's nuclear program which has been central to middle-eastern politics for the best part of thirty years the US was trying to make itself the centre of attention by forcing everyone to use climate change negotiations as a coded way to find out the details of the Iran deal. The fact that with the exception of China the foreign ministers of the P5+1 (the UNSC's nuclear powers plus Germany) all rushed to the Iran talks was a sign they wanted to get in on this dialogue on the ground floor. Fortunately though Iran stood up to the pressure and no deal was reached. Unfortunately though they're apparently all going to do it all over again on November 20th (20/11/13) in the critical final days of the COP19/CMP9 Summit.
As such I can't help but feel that Typhoon Haiyan which has torn through the Philippines which has to be the most controversial date on South-East Asian leg of the Diamonds World Tour and is now making its way to Vietnam (Kerruche Tran is half-Vietnamese) is the climate kicking back hard against the US' plan in an effort to remind COP19/CMP9 delegates what they're actually meant to be discussing.
16:50 on 10/11/13 (UK date).
Friday, 8 November 2013
Typhoon Haiyan.
Yesterday (8/11/13) the Philippines was struck by Typhoon Haiyan which is expected to make its way across the South China Sea making landfall in Vietnam in the early hours of Sunday (10/11/13). If this had occurred in the northern hemisphere it would have been classified as a category 7 Hurricane. The classification system for hurricanes only goes up to 5.
To put that in terms Americans would understand this has been a Hurricane Katrina plus a Hurricane Sandy striking at the same time. This has occurred in a nation where an average income of around USD1000 per year means that the majority of the population live in wood framed houses and a national electricity grid is a mere fantasy for most. This has also occurred in a nation that less then a month ago was struck by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that killed 183 people, damaged vital infrastructure, destroyed some 35,000 homes and internally displaced around 370,000 people,
So the sad fact is I am now going to bed because it will be a good six hours before even the Filipino government has an vague idea of how bad this has been.
03:50 on 9/11/13 (UK date).
To put that in terms Americans would understand this has been a Hurricane Katrina plus a Hurricane Sandy striking at the same time. This has occurred in a nation where an average income of around USD1000 per year means that the majority of the population live in wood framed houses and a national electricity grid is a mere fantasy for most. This has also occurred in a nation that less then a month ago was struck by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that killed 183 people, damaged vital infrastructure, destroyed some 35,000 homes and internally displaced around 370,000 people,
So the sad fact is I am now going to bed because it will be a good six hours before even the Filipino government has an vague idea of how bad this has been.
03:50 on 9/11/13 (UK date).
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Operation Misery: Month 9, Week 1, Day 1.
Although yesterday I was feeling too unwell to write a full post on things like Mohamed Morsi's trial in Egypt I was apparently feeling healthy enough to be very vocal on Twitter about Rihanna's current situation. Most of this was merely shouting for the sake of shouting. After all I have spent most of the last year waking up and going; "Wow Rihanna's done something really dumb" before struggling to find a more diplomatic way of putting it. Some of yesterday was relevant though.
For example Rihanna's single "What Now" has been pushed to the top of the US Billboard dance/club chart. Unlike the record breaking 7th UK number 1 Rihanna secured on Sunday (3/11/13) with her collaboration with Eminem "The Monster" the Billboard chart is based on airplay rather record sales. That means rather then having to convince enough people that a record is good enough to buy in order to get to the top of the Billboard chart all a record company needs to do is bribe enough radio stations to play a record. As I think I've explained a dozen times the purpose of pushing the "What Now" to the top of the charts is to pose the question; "What now for Rihanna now that the Diamonds World Tour is coming an end?"
Unfortunately MAC Cosmetics shot their load too early and yesterday dragged Rihanna to an event in Barbados to launch a lipstick the proceeds to which will go to VivaGlam which is a not particularly efficient charity set up to combat HIV/AIDS. This of course revealed that Rihanna's CIA handlers/Live Nation (the management) are still very much committed to their plan for Rihanna. As has been discussed at great length this involves Rihanna reuniting with Chris Brown. Then through a combination of the extremely limited career options that such a relationship will bring, the associated feelings of misery and the constant need for Rihanna to be protected from yet another beat down the unhappy couple will spend their foreseeable future being hoofed around the developing world on similar 'charity' adventures causing much annoyance to host governments as they go.
Also disappointingly despite all the evidence to the contrary the management believe that their plan for the remaining dates for the Diamonds World Tour is still viable so have indicated that the world will be treated to a barrage of noise intended to to cause panic and irritation while Rihanna performs her remaining US concerts.
The discussion about this particular issue began on Thursday October 24th (24/10/13) when I turned by PC off and Rihanna and US Ambassador to the UN Sam Power took this as a sign that I had gone to bed which was their signal to become very active on Twitter. Unfortunately for them I hadn't gone to bed and so was able to respond to them. This prompted an accident at a fairground ride in North Carolina, US when a ride that everybody thought had stopped suddenly restarted injuring five. Then on Sunday (3/11/13) there was a security lock-down at the airport in Birmingham, Alabama, US that was suddenly lifted just as I went to bed.
Last night's contribution to the noise barrage started with a 6 hour active shooter situation at the Westfield Garden State Mall in Paramus, New Jersey, US. As has become the trend in this recent rash of similar incidents in the US a firearm (likely an AR15 style rifle) was used but there were no casualties with the shooter simply killing himself. You may remember that Westfield is the mall chain that has been press-ganged into saving my native Croydon from bankruptcy. You may also remember that Rihanna turned on the Christmas lights at Westfield's Stratford mall when she really should have been meeting up with me ahead of the UK date of her 777 Tour. There is also some speculation that the shooter may have been a heavy user of the drug MDMA which known as "Molly" has become a very a hot topic in the US especially through the work of Rihanna and Miley Cyrus. Finally the Governor of New Jersey is Chris Christie. In the wake of the US government shutdown there has been lots of discussion about whether the Republican Party should adopt Christies co-operative approach or continue with their confrontational approach. I actually think the Republicans will be doing the US a great favour by continuing with the confrontational approach at least until Obama learns his legislative agenda is right at the top of the to do list just behind Chris Brown's restraining order.
If the active shooter situation in New Jersey wasn't creating enough heat and noise it was quickly followed up by another similar situation in Denver, Colorado. Here police were called to a Sandy Hook style middle-school after two men armed with AR15 style assault rifles were spotted breaking into the empty building. Following a stand-off with a SWAT team and the bomb squad the two suspects were discovered to be 15 year old boys armed with BB-pellet guns. This could have been a reference to a recent case where a teenager carrying a BB-pellet gun was shot and killed by police in California or a reference to the fact that like a lot of kids I used to have a BB-pellet gun. The fact that the suspects were said to be attempting to be burgle the school could have been a reference to my little burglar. It could also have been the US trying to promote debate about whether I'm trying to rob them by pushing back against the Rihanna operation. It could also have been an attempt to promote discussion about whether the US was trying to rob other nations through the Diamonds World Tour and associated stunts.
The answer to all these questions in both New Jersey and Denver is of course no. The US is simply trying to create a distraction to cover up the fact it's now just doing violence against Rihanna for the sake of doing violence.
17:05 on 5/11/13.
Edited at around 22:10 on 6/11/13 to add;
For the last week or so the Egyptian government has been discussing a new law banning offensive graffiti on buildings. Today Justin Beiber has come under investigation by authorities in Brazil for defacing a wall by spraying it with graffiti in an alleged act of vandalism. So although it's pretty pointless it seems an appropriate time to discuss my objections to Rihanna's new tattoo on her right hand.
I should start by pointing out that anytime Rihanna gets a new tattoo it bothers me because no matter how good the artist is they'll always struggle to improve on the canvas. Also Rihanna strikes me as someone who wears her tattoos like battle scars so every new tattoo means a new wound which obviously I object to. The main reason that Rihanna's new tattoo bothers me is that it's a cover up job. That is to say it has been done to cover up another tattoo - in this case one that Rihanna shares with Chris Brown. As always with this type of tattoo the main priority in the design is whether it covers up the other tattoo rather then how good it looks in its own right. Therefore I just thought it would have been better for Rihanna to get the existing tattoo lasered off rather then covered up especially as I personally think the hands and the face are two areas that should never be tattooed. Mainly though is a perfect example of the sort of thing I wish I'd be able to discuss with Rihanna in a more private setting.
For example Rihanna's single "What Now" has been pushed to the top of the US Billboard dance/club chart. Unlike the record breaking 7th UK number 1 Rihanna secured on Sunday (3/11/13) with her collaboration with Eminem "The Monster" the Billboard chart is based on airplay rather record sales. That means rather then having to convince enough people that a record is good enough to buy in order to get to the top of the Billboard chart all a record company needs to do is bribe enough radio stations to play a record. As I think I've explained a dozen times the purpose of pushing the "What Now" to the top of the charts is to pose the question; "What now for Rihanna now that the Diamonds World Tour is coming an end?"
Unfortunately MAC Cosmetics shot their load too early and yesterday dragged Rihanna to an event in Barbados to launch a lipstick the proceeds to which will go to VivaGlam which is a not particularly efficient charity set up to combat HIV/AIDS. This of course revealed that Rihanna's CIA handlers/Live Nation (the management) are still very much committed to their plan for Rihanna. As has been discussed at great length this involves Rihanna reuniting with Chris Brown. Then through a combination of the extremely limited career options that such a relationship will bring, the associated feelings of misery and the constant need for Rihanna to be protected from yet another beat down the unhappy couple will spend their foreseeable future being hoofed around the developing world on similar 'charity' adventures causing much annoyance to host governments as they go.
Also disappointingly despite all the evidence to the contrary the management believe that their plan for the remaining dates for the Diamonds World Tour is still viable so have indicated that the world will be treated to a barrage of noise intended to to cause panic and irritation while Rihanna performs her remaining US concerts.
The discussion about this particular issue began on Thursday October 24th (24/10/13) when I turned by PC off and Rihanna and US Ambassador to the UN Sam Power took this as a sign that I had gone to bed which was their signal to become very active on Twitter. Unfortunately for them I hadn't gone to bed and so was able to respond to them. This prompted an accident at a fairground ride in North Carolina, US when a ride that everybody thought had stopped suddenly restarted injuring five. Then on Sunday (3/11/13) there was a security lock-down at the airport in Birmingham, Alabama, US that was suddenly lifted just as I went to bed.
Last night's contribution to the noise barrage started with a 6 hour active shooter situation at the Westfield Garden State Mall in Paramus, New Jersey, US. As has become the trend in this recent rash of similar incidents in the US a firearm (likely an AR15 style rifle) was used but there were no casualties with the shooter simply killing himself. You may remember that Westfield is the mall chain that has been press-ganged into saving my native Croydon from bankruptcy. You may also remember that Rihanna turned on the Christmas lights at Westfield's Stratford mall when she really should have been meeting up with me ahead of the UK date of her 777 Tour. There is also some speculation that the shooter may have been a heavy user of the drug MDMA which known as "Molly" has become a very a hot topic in the US especially through the work of Rihanna and Miley Cyrus. Finally the Governor of New Jersey is Chris Christie. In the wake of the US government shutdown there has been lots of discussion about whether the Republican Party should adopt Christies co-operative approach or continue with their confrontational approach. I actually think the Republicans will be doing the US a great favour by continuing with the confrontational approach at least until Obama learns his legislative agenda is right at the top of the to do list just behind Chris Brown's restraining order.
If the active shooter situation in New Jersey wasn't creating enough heat and noise it was quickly followed up by another similar situation in Denver, Colorado. Here police were called to a Sandy Hook style middle-school after two men armed with AR15 style assault rifles were spotted breaking into the empty building. Following a stand-off with a SWAT team and the bomb squad the two suspects were discovered to be 15 year old boys armed with BB-pellet guns. This could have been a reference to a recent case where a teenager carrying a BB-pellet gun was shot and killed by police in California or a reference to the fact that like a lot of kids I used to have a BB-pellet gun. The fact that the suspects were said to be attempting to be burgle the school could have been a reference to my little burglar. It could also have been the US trying to promote debate about whether I'm trying to rob them by pushing back against the Rihanna operation. It could also have been an attempt to promote discussion about whether the US was trying to rob other nations through the Diamonds World Tour and associated stunts.
The answer to all these questions in both New Jersey and Denver is of course no. The US is simply trying to create a distraction to cover up the fact it's now just doing violence against Rihanna for the sake of doing violence.
17:05 on 5/11/13.
Edited at around 22:10 on 6/11/13 to add;
For the last week or so the Egyptian government has been discussing a new law banning offensive graffiti on buildings. Today Justin Beiber has come under investigation by authorities in Brazil for defacing a wall by spraying it with graffiti in an alleged act of vandalism. So although it's pretty pointless it seems an appropriate time to discuss my objections to Rihanna's new tattoo on her right hand.
I should start by pointing out that anytime Rihanna gets a new tattoo it bothers me because no matter how good the artist is they'll always struggle to improve on the canvas. Also Rihanna strikes me as someone who wears her tattoos like battle scars so every new tattoo means a new wound which obviously I object to. The main reason that Rihanna's new tattoo bothers me is that it's a cover up job. That is to say it has been done to cover up another tattoo - in this case one that Rihanna shares with Chris Brown. As always with this type of tattoo the main priority in the design is whether it covers up the other tattoo rather then how good it looks in its own right. Therefore I just thought it would have been better for Rihanna to get the existing tattoo lasered off rather then covered up especially as I personally think the hands and the face are two areas that should never be tattooed. Mainly though is a perfect example of the sort of thing I wish I'd be able to discuss with Rihanna in a more private setting.
Friday, 1 November 2013
Operation Misery: Month 8, Week 4, Day 6.
Sub-titled: "I May Have Spent Too Long Around Drag Queens."
Yesterday (31/10/13) marked the Pagan festival of Halloween. Here in the UK we don't really celebrate Halloween as an event. That's because in what seems very much like a formal attempt to impose Protestantism on the nations Catholics and Heathens we instead celebrate November 5th. Sometimes known as "Bonfire Night" or "Guy Fawkes Night" this marks the anniversary of the failed 1605 attempt by Catholics to assassinate the Protestant King James I by blowing up Parliament during its state opening.
Traditionally in the weeks running up to November 5th British children build effigies of Guy Fawkes and then go door to door demanding money (historically a penny) for their efforts. This of course fills a nice Trick or Treat shaped hole and mimics the way that wars between Catholics and Protestants were funded at the time. On the night itself everyone celebrates by letting off gunpowder filled fireworks in an effort to mock Guy Fawkes' failure to light the fuse on the gunpowder underneath Parliament. Finally we build big bonfires and chuck the effigies on them to commemorate the rather gruesome way that Guy Fawkes and his fellow plotters were executed for treason.
Funnily enough this quaint little tradition hasn't really caught on outside of the UK so in most of the rest of the western world Halloween reigns supreme. This is particularly true in the United States where having sold their souls to the devil long ago they will happily embrace any excuse to get people to spend money.
The traditional US Halloween celebration begins in the early evening when children go trick or treating. This involves the children door to door dressed in elaborate costumes to offer householders either the opportunity to give them a treat in the form of candy or allow them to trick them by playing a small prank on them - toilet rolls in the bushes is apparently a classic. After the children have gone to bed the adults come out to play going to elaborate and drunken costume parties. Particularly in vapid places such as Hollywood this gives all the young starlets and tartlets the opportunity to try to outdo each other and have vicious little swipes at each other through their choice of costume. For example last year Lady Gaga was incredibly rude about Rihanna.
Although they are in Barbados this year Rihanna and her crew decided to celebrate Halloween by going dressed as Mexicans. More specifically they went as Mexican Gangsters with an attempt to hide the racism behind the fact they were Zombie Mexican Gangsters. I thought this was a fantastic choice because it not only portrayed Rihanna and her crew as Mexicans which are core to the immigration reform debate it also brought up the fact that a significant proportion of illegal immigrants from South American generally bring with them a lot of drug related violent crime. That is one of the significant reasons that particularly Tea Party Republicans object to more immigration from South America. However I feel it was brought up here in an attempt to mock and circumvent a genuine concern by portraying it as racist.
The true beauty of Rihanna's Halloween costume came though from the preparation work the US Establishment (CIA etc) had put into it. A few weeks ago Rihanna's 'love rival for the affections' (personally I prefer the term " fellow victim") of Chris Brown Kerruche Tran did a similar Mexican Gangster themed photo-shoot to promote her fashion label. This meant that with the help of Melissa Forde a lot of people assumed that Rihanna's choice of costume was an attempt to have a dig at Kerruche Tran. This prompts a lot of speculation that Rihanna and Kerruche Tran are engaged in something of a B*tch Off for Chris Brown's affections. Personally I think Melissa Forde went in too hard because I suspect that having actually had to put up with Chris Brown over the last few months Kerruche Tran may well be at the point where she'd be happy to let anybody else have him.
The confusion created by any potential conflict between Rihanna and Kerruche Tran suited the handlers objective perfectly though. That because rather then trying to create a direct comparison between Rihanna and immigrants the handlers are instead trying to build an almost subconscious connection between the misery Rihanna experiences and illegal immigrants in the minds of US voters.
That way a wave of emotion is created that drives through immigration reform without anyone having the worry about pesky little details such as the associated crime and the driving down of US wages and living standards that large scale immigration creates.
16:05 on 1/11/13.
Yesterday (31/10/13) marked the Pagan festival of Halloween. Here in the UK we don't really celebrate Halloween as an event. That's because in what seems very much like a formal attempt to impose Protestantism on the nations Catholics and Heathens we instead celebrate November 5th. Sometimes known as "Bonfire Night" or "Guy Fawkes Night" this marks the anniversary of the failed 1605 attempt by Catholics to assassinate the Protestant King James I by blowing up Parliament during its state opening.
Traditionally in the weeks running up to November 5th British children build effigies of Guy Fawkes and then go door to door demanding money (historically a penny) for their efforts. This of course fills a nice Trick or Treat shaped hole and mimics the way that wars between Catholics and Protestants were funded at the time. On the night itself everyone celebrates by letting off gunpowder filled fireworks in an effort to mock Guy Fawkes' failure to light the fuse on the gunpowder underneath Parliament. Finally we build big bonfires and chuck the effigies on them to commemorate the rather gruesome way that Guy Fawkes and his fellow plotters were executed for treason.
Funnily enough this quaint little tradition hasn't really caught on outside of the UK so in most of the rest of the western world Halloween reigns supreme. This is particularly true in the United States where having sold their souls to the devil long ago they will happily embrace any excuse to get people to spend money.
The traditional US Halloween celebration begins in the early evening when children go trick or treating. This involves the children door to door dressed in elaborate costumes to offer householders either the opportunity to give them a treat in the form of candy or allow them to trick them by playing a small prank on them - toilet rolls in the bushes is apparently a classic. After the children have gone to bed the adults come out to play going to elaborate and drunken costume parties. Particularly in vapid places such as Hollywood this gives all the young starlets and tartlets the opportunity to try to outdo each other and have vicious little swipes at each other through their choice of costume. For example last year Lady Gaga was incredibly rude about Rihanna.
Although they are in Barbados this year Rihanna and her crew decided to celebrate Halloween by going dressed as Mexicans. More specifically they went as Mexican Gangsters with an attempt to hide the racism behind the fact they were Zombie Mexican Gangsters. I thought this was a fantastic choice because it not only portrayed Rihanna and her crew as Mexicans which are core to the immigration reform debate it also brought up the fact that a significant proportion of illegal immigrants from South American generally bring with them a lot of drug related violent crime. That is one of the significant reasons that particularly Tea Party Republicans object to more immigration from South America. However I feel it was brought up here in an attempt to mock and circumvent a genuine concern by portraying it as racist.
The true beauty of Rihanna's Halloween costume came though from the preparation work the US Establishment (CIA etc) had put into it. A few weeks ago Rihanna's 'love rival for the affections' (personally I prefer the term " fellow victim") of Chris Brown Kerruche Tran did a similar Mexican Gangster themed photo-shoot to promote her fashion label. This meant that with the help of Melissa Forde a lot of people assumed that Rihanna's choice of costume was an attempt to have a dig at Kerruche Tran. This prompts a lot of speculation that Rihanna and Kerruche Tran are engaged in something of a B*tch Off for Chris Brown's affections. Personally I think Melissa Forde went in too hard because I suspect that having actually had to put up with Chris Brown over the last few months Kerruche Tran may well be at the point where she'd be happy to let anybody else have him.
The confusion created by any potential conflict between Rihanna and Kerruche Tran suited the handlers objective perfectly though. That because rather then trying to create a direct comparison between Rihanna and immigrants the handlers are instead trying to build an almost subconscious connection between the misery Rihanna experiences and illegal immigrants in the minds of US voters.
That way a wave of emotion is created that drives through immigration reform without anyone having the worry about pesky little details such as the associated crime and the driving down of US wages and living standards that large scale immigration creates.
16:05 on 1/11/13.
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