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Monday, January 30, 2006

Something Got A Hold Of Me (Hank Williams)

Something Got A Hold Of Me (Hank Williams)

Linking to a great song by Hank Williams today. I've decided (for now) to side-step the legal issue and only link to songs performed by artists who have been dead for more than 50 years, since (according to European law) on theses songs there are no copyright restrictions anymore.

I started work today and it was an amazing bore, hopefully the will start giving me something to do tomorrow. But, this still means I have to get up early and do loads of university work during the night meaning I don't have as much time anymore to detail stuff here (except of course if I am bored at a computer at work :d).

Just one quick link about the Birdman, just because he has such a weird life story for a baller.

And a couple of random thoughts on Hamas' win in the elections in Palestina:
- Isn't it (positively) amazing that the current administration seems to step down without any kind of resistance? This is democracy, practised by a people that do not even have a state and no kind of order really. Isn't this what the West has been asking for the whole time? Taking place in the Middle East of all places?
- Hamas in power will become just another political party (maybe they will split, with a smaller faction clinging to their guns), history has proven it (Sinn Fein, Hizbollah (in Libanon)).
- Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is a lame duck, yet the Western world needs him to not have to deal with Hamas directly (for now, meaning for not too long, because politics move fast). I mean think about, how ridicolous is it that the German chancellerette (:d) does not meet with the election winners? I think she should have done just that and, while doing so, made clear that the existance of Israel is not open to debate. Isolating Hamas will not work, it is a dead end only days after the election already.
- Where this could hurt is Israel. I guess my dream (aka Peretz) is dead, but then let's hope the Israelis are not stupid enough to fall for Netanjahu again but rather will settle for Olmert.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

on the palestine comment:

first: this is democracy in partial violent anarchy. at least the gaza strip sees a more or less complete loss of central PA control, so there aren't really any people in the position to step down. that's for the democratic change.

second: hezbollah in lebanon is in one way a good comparison but not as intended by you: one one hand they are a political party, but with a very strict exclusive ideology, and second, they are still a very large militia and constitute in some parts of the country a parallel security apparatus (and in fact a parallel state). i'm not sure this is what you actually want in palestine.

Benjamin Thomas Sutpen said...

Be interesting to know who you are, nevertheless....:

Doesn't the fact that a government is stepping down in a society that is bordering on anarchy actually make it an even stronger point? Since usually governments in these situations tend to make the best (financially for the most part) out of the situation for themselves and refuse to giving over power peacefully (Haiti comes to mind as an example). The fact that the Palestenian administration does not hold as much power as say the German government does not inherently make the giving up power less meaningful, why would it?

I guess since you only mention the Hisbollah you agree with my Sinn Fein assesment, leaving the argument intact, but still, even in regard to that Lebanese group, I would claim that they have made progress on a path that will lead them to rely on peaceful political work only at some point. That this process hasn't been finished, by far I should add, does not change its basic impetus I believe.

Lastly and unrelated, anyone else notice how the troubles in Palestine at the moment have as its roots not Hamas members, but rather the Al Aksa brigades are the main perpetrators, which of course leaves one to wonder why a group dependant on the oh-so-much better party in Palestine politics (the Fatah) is involved in this as massively. And one last point for food of thought, unlike either Israel or Al Aksa Hamas has not killed any of their opponents since the truce called at the end of 2004. And just as a disclaimer I do not endore Hamas here, I do not believe in their policies, I just think the reactions towards their election win are greatly exaggerated if not unfounded.

Anonymous said...

Maaan, 'Sidestep the legal issues' ?
RIAA is gonna get you one way or another ;p

Benjamin Thomas Sutpen said...

ja, maybe, hopefully not :d

it is true though that in Europe there are no copyright restrictions on songs by artists who have been dead more than 50 years...

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