[thatprintguy]

Black sabbath vol 4 - black sabbath




Dance craze the best of british ska - live!
The specials
The english beat
Bad manners
Madness
The selector
The body snatchers

[Schrödinger's Chat]

Black sabbath Vol 4



Dance Craze best of british ska live




To link it back to the world of art, Wesley Magoogan, saxophonist supreme from the Beat is the dad of artist Lester Magoogan - www.lestermagoogan.co.uk/

[Schrödinger's Chat]

Haha, if I hadn't been checking Lester's dad's name I would have posted seconds before theprintguy. Serves me right for showing off.

[met]

Aug 11, 2020 20:33:18 GMT 1 thatprintguy said:

Black sabbath vol 4 - black sabbath




Dance craze the best of british ska - live!
The specials
The english beat
Bad manners
Madness
The selector
The body snatchers

Well done, thatprintguy. Congratulations to you.

And commiserations to Schrödinger's Chat.



REFERENCE ANSWERS


This competition was about musical artists paying visual tribute to other artists.

Answering the questions may have required some resourcefulness. If the video image lacked sufficient clarity, then a Google search was needed for a higher-res photo of the Sleater-Kinney album (to the extent members didn't own a copy).

Sleater-Kinney's Twitter account was helpful in this respect:

__________


The three albums I spotted:


1.  Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 (1972)*




Black Sabbath - Tomorrow's Dream (1972)
- uploaded by Black Sabbath




2.  Dance Craze (1981)*, the live compilation and soundtrack for the 1981 American documentary of the same name, about the British ska revival / 2 Tone music genre — featuring performances by Bad Manners, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, Madness, The Selecter, and The Specials.




[NB: Specific knowledge wasn't necessary here. For anyone familiar with the genre, the record cover alone made clear it was ska-related. The album then shows up in the top results of a Google Images search for "ska album".]


Madness - Night Boat to Cairo (live, 1980)
- uploaded by SivarRude




3.  John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy (1980)*




John Lennon - Watching the Wheels (1980)
- uploaded by johnlennon


__________


Side note: Fans of Sleater-Kinney will know that Carrie Brownstein is also an actress, comedian, writer and director — starring with Fred Armisen in Portlandia.

[viz]

subpop reissue of the album seems to use a different and larger image with respect to the original release, with additional records on view:



The one just above the Black Sabbath record looks like Bowie, although I could not identify any record with that cover, any ideas?

[met]

Aug 11, 2020 21:26:58 GMT 1 viz said:

subpop reissue of the album seems to use a different and larger image with respect to the original release, with additional records on view:



The one just above the Black Sabbath record looks like Bowie, although I could not identify any record with that cover, any ideas?

Cheers for posting. Wasn't aware that a less-cropped main image was used for the album's reissue.


Sorry — I don't recognise the cover just above the Black Sabbath record.

What looks like a vest also made me think of Leonard Cohen, but my Google search was unsuccessful.

[god’s ultimate noise]

Above Sabbath...

[met]

Aug 11, 2020 22:25:45 GMT 1 god’s ultimate noise said:

Above Sabbath...

Many thanks. That has spared me some mild anxiety (induced just by being conscious of my ignorance), and possibly a great deal of time scouring Google Images.

[met]

Joe Rogan Experience #1427 - Melissa Chen
- uploaded by PowerfulJRE on 14 February 2020



Melissa Chen is the NY editor for Spectator USA and the managing director of Ideas Beyond Borders.

www.ideasbeyondborders.org

twitter.com/MsMelChen


__________






__________




________________



At around 20:00 UK time on Monday 17 August, I'll quote this post and add one or more questions or instructions. The first member to answer correctly, wins.

[JockoLad]

***Please take a moment to read***

I recently took time out to watch a video posted by Met and subsequently answered the questions that he posed. It was my first time listening to a Joe Rogan podcast and I enjoyed the discussion, it was very informative.

I was sent a prize by Met (luxurious cookies, gone in one sitting) but also received a bonus prize. To say I was amazed by the standard of the bonus prize would be an understatement. I do not want to give away too much but I will say this: it was Banksy related, officially sanctioned by Pest Control and is in high demand both on this forum as well as further afield. As a collector of over 10 years I was delighted to be able to add it to my collection.

If you are keen to experience what I just have, all you have to do is engage in this thread. Lots of people are looking to find a means by which to get their hands on anything ‘Banksy’. This could be your opportunity.

Met, THANK YOU for your generosity, it is very much appreciated.

Also, thank you for taking the time to encourage discourse on the forum that goes beyond price queries and sales.

I will look to pass on your kindness in the coming weeks/months in the form of a giveaway or competition. Please remind if I’m taking too long!

[met]

Aug 14, 2020 20:33:03 GMT 1 JockoLad said:

***Please take a moment to read***

I recently took time out to watch a video posted by Met and subsequently answered the questions that he posed. It was my first time listening to a Joe Rogan podcast and I enjoyed the discussion, it was very informative.

I was sent a prize by Met (luxurious cookies, gone in one sitting) but also received a bonus prize. To say I was amazed by the standard of the bonus prize would be an understatement. I do not want to give away too much but I will say this: it was Banksy related, officially sanctioned by Pest Control and is in high demand both on this forum as well as further afield. As a collector of over 10 years I was delighted to be able to add it to my collection.

If you are keen to experience what I just have, all you have to do is engage in this thread. Lots of people are looking to find a means by which to get their hands on anything ‘Banksy’. This could be your opportunity.

Met, THANK YOU for your generosity, it is very much appreciated.

Also, thank you for taking the time to encourage discourse on the forum that goes beyond price queries and sales.

I will look to pass on your kindness in the coming weeks/months in the form of a giveaway or competition. Please remind if I’m taking too long!

Thank you for the kind words, JockoLad.

There is a selfless aspect to your post that is also most welcome:

By drawing greater attention to this thread and encouraging other members to participate, you prioritised the "higher cause" and knowingly made it more difficult for yourself to win future competitions. I tip my hat to you in recognition.

__________


As a heads-up to forum members, the bonus prizes will be random, perhaps offered once every three or so competitions — but exclusively to those who've already won the relevant competitions. More often than not they'll be tied to longer videos, where greater effort is demanded of participants.

Their purpose is pretty clear. It is to serve as carrots, with a view to promoting knowledge, reflection and engagement on a variety of issues and subject matters.

What people think, the opinions they hold, does not really concern me — provided they aren't simply falling back on buzzwords, slogans or dogmatic assertions, but are actually thinking. And doing so rationally, with intellectual honesty, i.e. with a mind that remains open to data, new evidence, nuance and alternative perspectives.

__________


In the interest of managing expectations, Banksy-related bonus prizes will be a rarity; I am not generous to a fault.

But each bonus will nevertheless hold reasonable interest, having some connection to art or literature. And if subsequently palmed off by the winner on eBay or a forum sales thread (I've no objection to either), the prize should be able to net at least a fiver.



Good luck to all competition participants going forward.

[met]

Aug 12, 2020 13:05:34 GMT 1 met said:

Joe Rogan Experience #1427 - Melissa Chen
- uploaded by PowerfulJRE on 14 February 2020



Melissa Chen is the NY editor for Spectator USA and the managing director of Ideas Beyond Borders.

www.ideasbeyondborders.org

twitter.com/MsMelChen


__________






__________




________________



At around 20:00 UK time on Monday 17 August, I'll quote this post and add one or more questions or instructions. The first member to answer correctly, wins.

QUESTIONS

1. [00:00—20:00, and 1:00:00—1:15:00] Melissa Chen is the managing director of Ideas Beyond Borders. With reasonable specificity, describe what this nonprofit does. In addition, state the title and author of the first book that Ideas Beyond Borders worked with.


2. [20:00—50:00] Chen refers to some of the unfair practices China has used to enrich itself to the detriment of the US, including intellectual property theft, corporate espionage, even corruption of academia. Regarding the latter, she hints at the potential national-security or economic implications for the US.

Chen also mentions cases where China has flexed its financial might to change the behaviour of Americans or American corporations from afar. No bullets necessary, just money. Cite two of the examples she gives.


3. [50:00—1:00:00] The musician Daryl Davis is discussed in the podcast as having been accused of being a neo-Nazi by New Jersey Antifa. Post a video featuring either an interview with or a talk by Davis to demonstrate how idiotic that accusation is.


________________


This competition will remain open to all eligible members* until a winner emerges.


Regrettably, I have to step away from my laptop now, but will be back online tomorrow in the early afternoon UK time to check any answers. Apologies for this time lag.

[afreefilms]

ANSWERS:

1) A) Ideas Beyond Borders simply translates books to Arabic and uploads to their site for access. It promotes pluralistic ideas of thinking and allowing to give ideas to parts of the world who censor the citizens from the world outside of their country.

B) Author: Steven Pinker
Title: Enlightenment Now

2) Example 1.China invests into american films and sell them in China. Although they change little continuity like in Top Gun changes the jacket patches from Taiwanese patch to a Chinese patch. Also in the marvel movie, “Dr.Strange,” changing the Tibetan monk to a Celtic monk to make the Chinese government content.

Example 2. Luxor brands have constantly have had to change clothes or state apologies to China. She stated that “Versace or Dolce or Gabbana listed like countries that were in, and it was like Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan .” That made china mad because it was all China. They demanded for them to change it because they know everyone wants access to the Chinese market. They apologized and changed the website.

P.S. I researched this more after listening to this. It was actually Versace shirt stating that Hong Kong & Macao as independent countries which upset China very much. This happens with tons of the companies and you can see a lot with one google search.

3)

He clearly states he supports freedom of speech but he doesn’t support any kind of supremacy. His whole plan is to more or less infiltrate these groups as becoming close to them. Honestly the best way to portray love and not war.



Thank you for letting me enter this contest! I hope these are correct. Either way, I’m happy I learned a lot from this and plan to start listening to all of his podcasts. More people need to enter this as they will have great opportunities for art but also an chance for education!

[met]

Aug 19, 2020 2:09:36 GMT 1 afreefilms said:

ANSWERS:

1) A) Ideas Beyond Borders simply translates books to Arabic and uploads to their site for access. It promotes pluralistic ideas of thinking and allowing to give ideas to parts of the world who censor the citizens from the world outside of their country.

B) Author: Steven Pinker
Title: Enlightenment Now

2) Example 1.China invests into american films and sell them in China. Although they change little continuity like in Top Gun changes the jacket patches from Taiwanese patch to a Chinese patch. Also in the marvel movie, “Dr.Strange,” changing the Tibetan monk to a Celtic monk to make the Chinese government content.

Example 2. Luxor brands have constantly have had to change clothes or state apologies to China. She stated that “Versace or Dolce or Gabbana listed like countries that were in, and it was like Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan .” That made china mad because it was all China. They demanded for them to change it because they know everyone wants access to the Chinese market. They apologized and changed the website.

P.S. I researched this more after listening to this. It was actually Versace shirt stating that Hong Kong & Macao as independent countries which upset China very much. This happens with tons of the companies and you can see a lot with one google search.

3)

He clearly states he supports freedom of speech but he doesn’t support any kind of supremacy. His whole plan is to more or less infiltrate these groups as becoming close to them. Honestly the best way to portray love and not war.



Thank you for letting me enter this contest! I hope these are correct. Either way, I’m happy I learned a lot from this and plan to start listening to all of his podcasts. More people need to enter this as they will have great opportunities for art but also an chance for education!

Thank you for this, afreefilms.

Based on your existing (undeleted) post count at the time of responding, it looks like you lacked the minimum number of 91 to be an eligible participant*. [This corresponds to at least four tabs being visible (up to 30 posts per tab) when your profile is accessed and someone clicks 'View this member's recent posts.'] From my count, you only had 87 undeleted posts when answering the questions.

Given your clear efforts, however, that requirement will be waived on this occasion. I appreciate there could easily have been good-faith confusion between (a) the number of posts a member has published on the forum (which appears beneath their username), and (b) the number of posts by that member which have not been deleted.

Congratulations on winning the competition.



REFERENCE ANSWERS


1.

1.1  The Ideas Beyond Borders* motto is "Making the Inaccessible, Accessible."

Melissa Chen describes the nonprofit as an organisation that tries to promote pluralistic thinking and exports ideas to part of the world that is often censored. It acquires the rights to books that are not available in the Middle East, translates them into Arabic, and makes them available online to be downloaded free of charge. The organisation also translates Wikipedia pages into Arabic. According to Chen, only 10% of English-language Wikipedia pages exist in Arabic.

In the podcast, Chen says there's a statistic that more books are translated from English to Spanish in one year than have been translated from English to Arabic in a thousand years.

She rhetorically asks whether people would even know what "Orwellian" means if they have never had access to or heard of George Orwell. And how can we expect them to break out of a status-quo mindset when certain words cannot be looked up (like "feminism" or "secularism") because they don't exist in Arabic? When not exposed to different ideas, when living in a monoculture where heavy censorship exists both from your authoritarian government and your religion, "the habits of a free mind are not really cultivated."

Chen: We're not saying, like, this is a top-down thing: “You have to read this.” I just want to live in a world where being ignorant is a choice.


1.2  Title and author: Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker.

Chen: [Abridged and edited.] That was the first book we chose to translate into Arabic. Recently, there were a lot of protests in the Middle East, and we started distributing that book. The person who was coordinating some of the protests was telling us, "We want to get this book out to the people, because a lot of these youths are really jaded, by theocrats in the region, by authoritarianism. And, you know what our religion has never gone through? Not the Reformation, we don't want the Reformation, we want the Enlightenment."

Because the Enlightenment is what constrained Christianity in a way — this idea of the social contract, of eroding absolute monarchy, separating church and state... all of these wonderful innovations came out of the Enlightenment. It promoted this idea that maybe people should be free to have their own conscience and think differently. And that is something that really is needed in the Middle East.



2.  Examples of China using its financial muscle to change the behaviour of Americans or American corporations from afar:


(i)  Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets of the NBA, tweeted in support of the Hong Kong protests in 2019. This was followed by backpedaling from both Morey and the NBA after the outcry and heavy-handed responses from China. Further fallout ensued. Wikipedia* offers a fair summary of the drama.


(ii)  In 2019, Versace prostrated itself (along with Coach and Givenchy) in an apology over a t-shirt design that was claimed to undermine Beijing's "One China" policy.* With the Versace design, Hong Kong and Macau had been added to a world-tour-style list of locations, but without mentioning their connection to China. Likewise with Taiwan for the apparel design(s) by one or both of the other brands.


(iii)  Marriott issued its own apology to China in 2018:

China’s Cyberspace Administration, the internet watchdog, said the hotelier had “seriously violated national laws and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people” after a customer survey listed Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as separate countries. The regulator ordered Marriott’s website and booking applications to close for a week.

The company, which operates more than 100 hotels in China, quickly responded with a profuse apology distancing itself from charges of supporting separatist movements.

“Marriott International respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We don’t support separatist groups that subvert the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China,” the company said in a statement. “We sincerely apologise for any actions that may have suggested otherwise.”*


(iv)  For the Marvel film, Doctor Strange (2016), one of the original characters was changed, apparently to appease the Chinese government — from a male Tibetan monk to the female Celtic monk played by Tilda Swinton.


(v)  In Top Gun (1986), Tom Cruise's character had a leather jacket with multiple patches stitched on it, including the flags of Taiwan and Japan. But in the sequel Top Gun: Maverick (2021), which is partly produced by a Chinese film distributor and production company, those flag patches have mysteriously disappeared.





The following articles and posts may be of interest to those who wish to read more on the subject of censorship / self-censorship and kowtowing to China:

- BBC (6 August 2020): Hollywood censors films to appease China, report* suggests*

- The New York Times (16 July 2020): Barr Urges U.S. Companies to Resist Serving as ‘Pawns’ for China*

- The Washington Post (11 October 2019): How China gets American companies to parrot its propaganda*

- The Federalist (10 October 2019): 14 Times American Companies Self-Censored Or Apologized To Appease Communist China*

- Reddit (circa October 2019): List of companies under China's censorship orders (so far)*



As an art-related side note, the post below by KAWS, regarding his Krusty the Clown / Mao piece, is worth a read. To my mind, it was both a smart business move and evidence of moral cowardice.





3.  New Jersey Antifa calling Daryl Davis a neo-Nazi was cretinous in itself, but also demonstrates the dangers of black-and-white thinking.

That accusation was an extreme, single-direction version of the (already reckless) presumption of guilt by association. It exemplified the "political one-drop rule" that Melissa Chen spoke about: Even if you associate and speak with a whole range of people, i.e. a normal distribution that includes individuals whose opinions you disagree with, you will still be tainted by the most right-wing person of that group.

The TEDx talk below offers a good summary of Davis's mindset and process, and what he has actually achieved by speaking with and listening to those who hold views different to his own.


Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies. | Daryl Davis | TEDxNaperville [18:52]
- uploaded by TEDx Talks on 8 December 2017



__________


afreefilms — Although your cookies are secured, a bonus task is available as well.

If you choose to complete it, and do so by 20:00 UK time on Sunday, 23 August (plenty of time), you'll win extra prizes: a vintage, collectible art postcard and one of my favourite books.


In the short clip below, Melissa Chen mentions the encroaching tyranny of China, especially digital tyranny in all forms: mass surveillance, the collecting of facial scans, and other uses of AI (in addition to the selling of that technology to other authoritarian states).

She also refers to UN joint statements condemning China's human rights violations and abuses in its treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang*. Paradoxically, the signatories were nations often accused of being Islamophobic (the USA, many European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan) — whereas the likes of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Algeria actually chose to side with China on the issue.


Should We Be Worried About a Hot War with China? [4:57]
- uploaded by JRE Clips on 14 February 2020




With a quick YouTube search, one finds plenty of news reports regarding China's surveillance society and digital dictatorship. These come from multiple sources such as Australia's ABC-TV (Foreign Correspondent), The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, and VICE News.

Among the selection available, find a video you consider balanced and informative, which covers both China's surveillance technology generally and the extreme use of that technology in Xinjiang. Then post your chosen video for others to watch in this thread.

[afreefilms]

Yay I’m so excited for the cookies!

I will have a response for the video shortly. I remember this part of the podcast and was very interested. I have a Jeff gillette painting from his Singapore show. A surveillance tower portraying Singapore being one of the most monitored place in the world.

[afreefilms]

Aug 20, 2020 0:23:24 GMT 1 met said:

Aug 19, 2020 2:09:36 GMT 1 afreefilms said:

ANSWERS:

1) A) Ideas Beyond Borders simply translates books to Arabic and uploads to their site for access. It promotes pluralistic ideas of thinking and allowing to give ideas to parts of the world who censor the citizens from the world outside of their country.

B) Author: Steven Pinker
Title: Enlightenment Now

2) Example 1.China invests into american films and sell them in China. Although they change little continuity like in Top Gun changes the jacket patches from Taiwanese patch to a Chinese patch. Also in the marvel movie, “Dr.Strange,” changing the Tibetan monk to a Celtic monk to make the Chinese government content.

Example 2. Luxor brands have constantly have had to change clothes or state apologies to China. She stated that “Versace or Dolce or Gabbana listed like countries that were in, and it was like Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan .” That made china mad because it was all China. They demanded for them to change it because they know everyone wants access to the Chinese market. They apologized and changed the website.

P.S. I researched this more after listening to this. It was actually Versace shirt stating that Hong Kong & Macao as independent countries which upset China very much. This happens with tons of the companies and you can see a lot with one google search.

3)

He clearly states he supports freedom of speech but he doesn’t support any kind of supremacy. His whole plan is to more or less infiltrate these groups as becoming close to them. Honestly the best way to portray love and not war.



Thank you for letting me enter this contest! I hope these are correct. Either way, I’m happy I learned a lot from this and plan to start listening to all of his podcasts. More people need to enter this as they will have great opportunities for art but also an chance for education!

Thank you for this, afreefilms .

Based on your existing (undeleted) post count at the time of responding, it looks like you lacked the minimum number of 91 to be an eligible participant*. [This corresponds to at least four tabs being visible (up to 30 posts per tab) when your profile is accessed and someone clicks 'View this member's recent posts.'] From my count, you only had 87 undeleted posts when answering the questions.

Given your clear efforts, however, that requirement will be waived on this occasion. I appreciate there could easily have been good-faith confusion between (a) the number of posts a member has published on the forum (which appears beneath their username), and (b) the number of posts by that member which have not been deleted.

Congratulations on winning the competition.



REFERENCE ANSWERS


1.

1.1  The Ideas Beyond Borders* motto is "Making the Inaccessible, Accessible."

Melissa Chen describes the nonprofit as an organisation that tries to promote pluralistic thinking and exports ideas to part of the world that is often censored. It acquires the rights to books that are not available in the Middle East, translates them into Arabic, and makes them available online to be downloaded free of charge. The organisation also translates Wikipedia pages into Arabic. According to Chen, only 10% of English-language Wikipedia pages exist in Arabic.

In the podcast, Chen says there's a statistic that more books are translated from English to Spanish in one year than have been translated from English to Arabic in a thousand years.

She rhetorically asks whether people would even know what "Orwellian" means if they have never had access to or heard of George Orwell. And how can we expect them to break out of a status-quo mindset when certain words cannot be looked up (like "feminism" or "secularism") because they don't exist in Arabic? When not exposed to different ideas, when living in a monoculture where heavy censorship exists both from your authoritarian government and your religion, "the habits of a free mind are not really cultivated."

Chen: We're not saying, like, this is a top-down thing: “You have to read this.” I just want to live in a world where being ignorant is a choice.


1.2  Title and author: Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker.

Chen: [Abridged and edited.] That was the first book we chose to translate into Arabic. Recently, there were a lot of protests in the Middle East, and we started distributing that book. The person who was coordinating some of the protests was telling us, "We want to get this book out to the people, because a lot of these youths are really jaded, by theocrats in the region, by authoritarianism. And, you know what our religion has never gone through? Not the Reformation, we don't want the Reformation, we want the Enlightenment."

Because the Enlightenment is what constrained Christianity in a way — this idea of the social contract, of eroding absolute monarchy, separating church and state... all of these wonderful innovations came out of the Enlightenment. It promoted this idea that maybe people should be free to have their own conscience and think differently. And that is something that really is needed in the Middle East.



2.  Examples of China using its financial muscle to change the behaviour of Americans or American corporations from afar:


(i)  Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets of the NBA, tweeted in support of the Hong Kong protests in 2019. This was followed by backpedaling from both Morey and the NBA after the outcry and heavy-handed responses from China. Further fallout ensued. Wikipedia* offers a fair summary of the drama.


(ii)  In 2019, Versace prostrated itself (along with Coach and Givenchy) in an apology over a t-shirt design that was claimed to undermine Beijing's "One China" policy.* With the Versace design, Hong Kong and Macau had been added to a world-tour-style list of locations, but without mentioning their connection to China. Likewise with Taiwan for the apparel design(s) by one or both of the other brands.


(iii)  Marriott issued its own apology to China in 2018:

China’s Cyberspace Administration, the internet watchdog, said the hotelier had “seriously violated national laws and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people” after a customer survey listed Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as separate countries. The regulator ordered Marriott’s website and booking applications to close for a week.

The company, which operates more than 100 hotels in China, quickly responded with a profuse apology distancing itself from charges of supporting separatist movements.

“Marriott International respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We don’t support separatist groups that subvert the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China,” the company said in a statement. “We sincerely apologise for any actions that may have suggested otherwise.”*


(iv)  For the Marvel film, Doctor Strange (2016), one of the original characters was changed, apparently to appease the Chinese government — from a male Tibetan monk to the female Celtic monk played by Tilda Swinton.


(v)  In Top Gun (1986), Tom Cruise's character had a leather jacket with multiple patches stitched on it, including the flags of Taiwan and Japan. But in the sequel Top Gun: Maverick (2021), which is partly produced by a Chinese film distributor and production company, those flag patches have mysteriously disappeared.





The following articles and posts may be of interest to those who wish to read more on the subject of censorship / self-censorship and kowtowing to China:

- BBC (6 August 2020): Hollywood censors films to appease China, report* suggests*

- The New York Times (16 July 2020): Barr Urges U.S. Companies to Resist Serving as ‘Pawns’ for China*

- The Washington Post (11 October 2019): How China gets American companies to parrot its propaganda*

- The Federalist (10 October 2019): 14 Times American Companies Self-Censored Or Apologized To Appease Communist China*

- Reddit (circa October 2019): List of companies under China's censorship orders (so far)*



As an art-related side note, the post below by KAWS, regarding his Krusty the Clown / Mao piece, is worth a read. To my mind, it was both a smart business move and evidence of moral cowardice.





3.  New Jersey Antifa calling Daryl Davis a neo-Nazi was cretinous in itself, but also demonstrates the dangers of black-and-white thinking.

That accusation was an extreme, single-direction version of the (already reckless) presumption of guilt by association. It exemplified the "political one-drop rule" that Melissa Chen spoke about: Even if you associate and speak with a whole range of people, i.e. a normal distribution that includes individuals whose opinions you disagree with, you will still be tainted by the most right-wing person of that group.

The TEDx talk below offers a good summary of Davis's mindset and process, and what he has actually achieved by speaking with and listening to those who hold views different to his own.


Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies. | Daryl Davis | TEDxNaperville [18:52]
- uploaded by TEDx Talks on 8 December 2017



__________


afreefilms — Although your cookies are secured, a bonus task is available as well.

If you choose to complete it, and do so by 20:00 UK time on Sunday, 23 August (plenty of time), you'll win extra prizes: a vintage, collectible art postcard and one of my favourite books.


In the short clip below, Melissa Chen mentions the encroaching tyranny of China, especially digital tyranny in all forms: mass surveillance, the collecting of facial scans, and other uses of AI (in addition to the selling of that technology to other authoritarian states).

She also refers to UN joint statements condemning China's human rights violations and abuses in its treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang*. Paradoxically, the signatories were nations often accused of being Islamophobic (the USA, many European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan) — whereas the likes of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Algeria actually chose to side with China on the issue.


Should We Be Worried About a Hot War with China? [4:57]
- uploaded by JRE Clips on 14 February 2020




With a quick YouTube search, one finds plenty of news reports regarding China's surveillance society and digital dictatorship. These come from multiple sources such as Australia's ABC-TV (Foreign Correspondent), The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, and VICE News.

Among the selection available, find a video you consider balanced and informative, which covers both China's surveillance technology generally and the extreme use of that technology in Xinjiang. Then post your chosen video for others to watch in this thread.

I remember researching about this a few years back.. I know there's some good news casts of it. I felt that this was the best informative video though. Shows you in depth on what and how they re using this surveillance technology.

[met]

Aug 20, 2020 0:59:53 GMT 1 afreefilms said:

Aug 20, 2020 0:23:24 GMT 1 met said:

[...]
__________


afreefilms — Although your cookies are secured, a bonus task is available as well.

If you choose to complete it, and do so by 20:00 UK time on Sunday, 23 August (plenty of time), you'll win extra prizes: a vintage, collectible art postcard and one of my favourite books.


In the short clip below, Melissa Chen mentions the encroaching tyranny of China, especially digital tyranny in all forms: mass surveillance, the collecting of facial scans, and other uses of AI (in addition to the selling of that technology to other authoritarian states).

She also refers to UN joint statements condemning China's human rights violations and abuses in its treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang*. Paradoxically, the signatories were nations often accused of being Islamophobic (the USA, many European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan) — whereas the likes of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Algeria actually chose to side with China on the issue.


Should We Be Worried About a Hot War with China? [4:57]
- uploaded by JRE Clips on 14 February 2020




With a quick YouTube search, one finds plenty of news reports regarding China's surveillance society and digital dictatorship. These come from multiple sources such as Australia's ABC-TV (Foreign Correspondent), The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, and VICE News.

Among the selection available, find a video you consider balanced and informative, which covers both China's surveillance technology generally and the extreme use of that technology in Xinjiang. Then post your chosen video for others to watch in this thread.

I remember researching about this a few years back.. I know there's some good news casts of it. I felt that this was the best informative video though. Shows you in depth on what and how they re using this surveillance technology.

Congratulations on winning the bonus prizes, afreefilms, and sorry for the delayed acknowledgement on my part.

Your FedEx parcel was collected from my home on Friday and should be with you in about 15 hours (Monday morning your time).

__________


With respect to the bonus task, there follows a couple of videos I believe are also worth watching.

The first, a VICE on HBO programme, is over two years old (April 2018) but offers a helpful introduction on the sophistication of China's facial-recognition and surveillance technologies, along with their practical applications, especially in real time. They are genuinely impressive and terrifying.

One of the developers of this technology refers to its future as being similar to Black Mirror*. He's specifically referencing Nosedive* (Season 3, Episode 1) from 2016, which stars Bryce Dallas Howard and focuses around social credit scoring.


How China Tracks Everyone [12:55]
- uploaded by VICE News (originally aired 13 April 2018 on VICE on HBO)




The next video is from 2018 as well, and explores in greater depth China's Social Credit System*, i.e. the nation-wide reputation system that imposes restrictions on the daily life of its citizens (including on the freedom of travel) if they don't score high enough. It essentially amounts to the abandonment of privacy in the name of security and convenience. Moreover, we go from mass surveillance and big-data policing to high-tech social engineering — "a digital totalitarian state where algorithms decide your fate, and nothing can be questioned."

Among the parts I found of great interest were the interviews with the wife and mother who was thriving in the system, hopeful about the future, and seemingly happy to accept the privacy sacrifice.

This second video also addresses the persecution of the Uyghurs. Three years ago (in August 2017), the United Nations announced it had seen credible reports that over 1,000,000 Uyghurs were at the time being held without charge in "education and training centres" in Xinjiang. I suspect it's unlikely their circumstances have improved since then.


Exposing China's Digital Dystopian Dictatorship | Foreign Correspondent [27:14]
- uploaded by ABC News In-depth on 18 September 2018

[afreefilms]

Yay! Thank you so much for allowing me to partake. I will watch these videos as well. You got me very interested in the topic.

[afreefilms]

I received my cookies! They were amazing, and very happy with them.

Also Met was so kind to give me a couple bonus prizes. Some true street art memorabilia, and one of my favorite books, 1984 by George Orwell. It's been a few years so I'll have to re-read it.

For anyone on the fence about ever entering, it never hurts to try. These questions gives you an opportunity for some education on some interesting topics, and chance to win some pieces of true history.

The cookies and bonus prizes exceeded my expectations! Thank you Met for your generosity!

[met]

Christy Turlington for Calvin Klein, 1995
Photographed by Peter Lindbergh



  +


Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
- uploaded by Nirvana



  +


mankind stands no chance #run (2015)
Video originally posted to Vine, with excerpt from Awolnation's Run (2015)
- uploaded by Vine Channel



  ≈


Meg Myers - Go (2014)
- uploaded by Meg Myers

[met]

A.




B.




C.

Moby - Go (1991)
- uploaded by Moby



Meg Myers - Go (2014)
- uploaded by Meg Myers



The Chemical Brothers - Go (2015)
- uploaded by The Chemical Brothers



Poptone - Go! (2018)
- uploaded by Cleopatra Records


________________



At around 20:00 UK time on Thursday 27 August, I'll quote this post and add one or more questions or instructions. The first eligible member* to answer correctly, wins.

[thatprintguy]

Met's cookies are LEGIT

[met]

Aug 26, 2020 3:25:43 GMT 1 met said:

A.




B.




C.

Moby - Go (1991)
- uploaded by Moby



Meg Myers - Go (2014)
- uploaded by Meg Myers



The Chemical Brothers - Go (2015)
- uploaded by The Chemical Brothers



Poptone - Go! (2018)
- uploaded by Cleopatra Records


________________



At around 20:00 UK time on Thursday 27 August, I'll quote this post and add one or more questions or instructions. The first eligible member* to answer correctly, wins.

QUESTION


In Part C, two of the songs have a clear tie to one another.

Identify the two songs and explain what connects them.


________________


In case nobody responds correctly beforehand, the answer will be posted in 24 hours — at around 20:00 UK time on Friday 28 August.

[afreefilms]

ANSWER:
'Go'. by Poptone and Meg Myers both tie together because they have the same baseline that carries through the whole song.

Hopefully this is correct because I couldn't find anything in the lyrics that connect any of the songs together. Also because the Moby track is all samples.

I am a big fan of music and love chemical brothers and moby! More people need to enter this lottery!

[met]

Aug 28, 2020 3:28:35 GMT 1 afreefilms said:

ANSWER:
'Go'. by Poptone and Meg Myers both tie together because they have the same baseline that carries through the whole song.

Hopefully this is correct because I couldn't find anything in the lyrics that connect any of the songs together. Also because the Moby track is all samples.

I am a big fan of music and love chemical brothers and moby! More people need to enter this lottery!

Incorrect answer on this occasion, I'm afraid — though I do acknowledge some similarities in the respective basslines of those two songs.

Let's see if another member steps up before 20:00 UK time.

[Schrödinger's Chat]

Moby - go
PopTone - go

The link:
Is it that Moby - Go samples Tones on Tails - go, whilst PopTone is made up of some of the members of Tones on Tails (Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins).

[astarti]

I would say that Poptone and Chemical Brothers songs are connected thematically and one could read them as complementing each other. They are both about breaking boundaries, comforting your fears and standing up for yourself.

(I m not eligible to participate in this lottery -I am new here-- so please Mr Met evaluate this answer after other members have given theirs)

[met]

Aug 28, 2020 16:38:23 GMT 1 Schrödinger's Chat said:

Moby - go
PopTone - go

The link:
Is it that Moby - Go samples Tones on Tails - go, whilst PopTone is made up of some of the members of Tones on Tails (Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins).

Schrödinger's Chat — You contravened Clause 2.1* of the competition rules by editing your post. Normally, you'd have disqualified yourself.

I did however see your original answer. It was correct (despite having been phrased as a question), so I'll use reasonable discretion and waive the breach.

Congratulations on winning.



REFERENCE ANSWER

The two songs tied to one another are by Moby and Poptone.


Key to this competition was knowing, or putting in the research and finding out, who Poptone are.

Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins (along with Haskins' daughter, Diva Dompé) formed Poptone in 2017 with a view to revisiting and performing live many songs they rarely had a chance to play — especially during their short-lived, pre-Love and Rockets project, Tones on Tail.

One of those songs was Go! (1984), a post-Bauhaus club hit for Tones on Tail. [Fans of Grosse Point Blank (1997) or Party Monster (2003) may recall the song being used in those films.]

Moby's 1991 single samples the "Go!" vocals by Daniel Ash from 1984.


Tones on Tail - Go! (1984)
- uploaded by Greg Haus


__________


Schrödinger's Chat — Cookies secured, but there's also a bonus question for you.

If you answer it correctly (in a single, unedited post) by 20:00 UK time on Saturday 29 August, you'll win an extra prize: an attractive, sold-out, limited-edition, enamel pin by one of the Mission School / Beautiful Losers artists.


Poptone's video consists of footage from at least two different concerts. In one of them, Daniel Ash is wearing a white t-shirt.

Identify the person featured on the t-shirt (the correct spelling of their name is essential), and also post a clearer image of that t-shirt.

[Schrödinger's Chat]

Haha, nothing gets past you Met, I read the unedited clause just after editing my post. I won't make that mistake again.

I'll give the bonus question a shot before 8.

[Schrödinger's Chat]

8 tomorrow.