The thirst for oil continues...

The new 'Scramble For Africa' has begun. This time, it is not between competing European colonial powers, but a race between the US and China. It comes at a time that the continent is facing perhaps its gravest threat since the period of European colonisation, that of human-caused climate change.

Last month, following a series of air strikes in Somalia, the Bush administration announced their approval for a Pentagon plan to establish a commmand centre for Africa (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM) to oversee US military activities on the continent. As Salim Lone, former spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq, writes in Common Dreams, this new engagement 'is the last thing the world's most impoverished continent needs.'

When the Chinese president toured eight African countries to negotiate oil-related deals and announced multi-billion dollar aid deals, the move was roundly condemned by Western commentators on the grounds of the ignoring of human rights violations in nations such as Sudan and Zimbabwe, plus undoing much of the efforts made by politicians and campaigners in recent years to unburden Africa from the decades of debt enslavement and poverty. Yet when the US expands its primary reliance on the use of force to pursue its strategic interests to a part of the world with the most to lose by such an action, there is barely a peep of concern to be heard.

There are many wars still raging or areas continuing to experience post-conflict tensions in much of Africa, including still raging Cote d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, in previous decades there have also been notable successes in ending long periods of conflict, such as Namibia and Mozambique.

As Lone writes 'Africom will...militarise American relations with Africa, and militarise numerous African countries. It will also tilt these countries' policies towards the use of force. And it will inflame Muslim passions and create more angry militants opposed to a US military presence in their country or region'.

In fiscal year 2003, the US Department of Defense itemised ownership or rental of 702 overseas military bases in about 130 countries, with a further 6000 bases in US territory. Clearly, with the setting up of AFRICOM, the intention is to expand that number across Africa.

When will the human race learn that force only generates more force, aggression generates more aggression, and that stealing other people's resources only encourages them the push back against such actions? When will we finally begin to recognise other people in other places as just the same as us, and treat them equally?

Nelson Mandela said, 'If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner'. A better world for all is possible when we stop looking for enemies and start looking for partners.

The little things

I applied for a new job recently. It was in London, and although the job was potentially a very exciting opportunity, part of me was rather unsure about the idea of going back to the UK. I'm sure that some of what I originally felt compelled to leave behind, such as miserable standards of public service, would still be there.

Seems I didn't get selected for the interview anyway. Contradictory as it might sound given the above comment, I was felt a little down about this fact. A 'my country pushed me out and now it won't let me back in again' sort of thing!

Anyway, I left the house today and headed into Central Tokyo for a meeting. It was kind of good to get out amongst the throng again and remind me where I was. On the way back home, I dropped into my little suburban post office for a remittance I needed to send.

It took quite a long time for the man behind the counter to process my order, more than half an hour. This situation was most troubling for him and as I sat there playing Solitaire on my PDA, his brow was knotted in a permanent frown as he cradled a telephone next to his ear.

Eventually, he was able to sort out all matters problematic with my form, double check them with me and finish what I had come in to do. To my great surprise, he was so concerned about the delay he had caused me, that he gave me a little gift to apologise for having detained me for so long!

Perhaps it may be Japanese post office policy and it may have only been a box of bath soaps, but the very fact of him giving me this gift to apologise for the inconvenience caused made me smile to myself.

When would this ever have happened in England? Probably never.

I was reminded of a time when I experienced British and French train travel within a matter of days of each other. There were delays on both journeys. The train from Normandy to Paris was held up by an hour due to some sort of engine failure and as I arrived in the station (possibly Gare Du Nord, although I forget now), I was handed a voucher to claim back a portion of the ticket price, in compensation for the inconvenience caused. The refund increased incrementally as the delay lengthened.

The following week, I was back in the UK. I tried to take a train from London Victoria down to Brighton, but it stopped at Haywards Heath with no warning or explanation given. Eventually I had to track down a guard who informed me that there was going to be a replacement bus service along soon that would take passengers on to the rest of the journey. No hint of an apology anywhere.

It really doesn't take a lot to give a little back when something fucks up, and it can sometimes really go a long way!

Kuwaiti protest song

Shams - Ahlan Ezzayak (feat George Bush)
Uploaded by nice_

Musical tastes can change so much over time, according to changes in circumstances or outlook. As a kid, the music I first made my own was the frothy 80's pop of the likes of Duran Duran, Blondie and Adam Ant. Discovering The Beatles at about 14, I immersed myself in their world, with the wider 60's pop plus the rock 'n' roll and blues that preceded them to pad it all out. Moving through my teens, I discovered The Smiths and plunged into UK indie pop. Then in my early 20's, I moved to Brighton and my aural pleasures expanded massively - electronic music, funk, reggae, hip-hop, etc.

Becoming more politically motivated again, with the election of George Bush back in 2000 and the subsequent invasion of Iraq in 2003, I have spent much of the past few years listening to the return of Western protest music (such as what can be found at Peace.fm) and in Japan created what is probably the first collection of modern Japanese protest music (with the Peace Not War Japan CD compilation). I have also opened my ears up to all kinds of non-Western music as a result of living here and travelling around a few other countries (eg Nepal, China, UAE, Tanzania). I often wondered how the artistic communities of the Arab world are responding to the rise in conflict and imperialism in their lands in recent years.

Today, I came across this gem. It's by a well-known Kuwaiti singer called Shams and is called 'Ahlan! Ezayek? (which translates as 'Hi! How are you?'). The video was apparently shot in Cairo, using high production values, and is quite a scathing anti-Bush satire. It references puppet governments, executions, 'democracy', Guantanamo Bay and Handala, a cartoon figure of a small boy that symbolises Palestinian identity and defiance.

Take a look...

Rock 'n' Roll is Alive...!

The first gig I saw that really knocked my head off was Sonic Youth on the 'Goo' tour, in Cardiff in 1990. I couldn't even really work out what was happening, musically speaking. Since then, I've witnessed Nirvana's wanton stage destruction, seen Iggy's brazen stage antics and My Bloody Valentine's ear-splitting tonal assaults, along with all manner of other rock 'n' roll lunacy, from Julian Cope's madness to Super Furry Animals costumed playfulness. I never saw The Pistols, I never saw Lou Reed shoot up on stage and fortunately never witnessed G.G. Allin's coprophilic acts. Nevertheless, I still feel that I can justifiably say that I've witnessed a whole stackheap of damned good rock 'n' roll.

Last night, by sheer accident, I saw what had to top the lot of them and leave 'em all for dust. Most likely, you'll have never heard of them. Neither had I. That's the beauty of standing around in a place with no expectations - if you're very, very lucky, sometimes a band will come along that'll just change how you think about whatever it is that you're digging. That band come from Fukushima, north of Tokyo, and they are called Blue III. Say it aloud, go on. Yep, they take much of their inspiration from Bruce Lee, which is a lot more rock 'n' roll than you might think.

I'd gone down to see another band, Tokyo Pinsalocks. Nice enough, dug it and all that. An all-girl electro-rock trio who should probably be the opening act on the first music festival on the International Space Station. Hung round a little while after, chatted to a few people, was about to leave. Then, the volume's louder all of a sudden, so I peek back into the room again. There's something like an instrumental version of 'The Boys Are Back In Town' playing and there are three guys on stage, clad in leather and sporting huge frightwigs (including a couple of the meanest fros I've seen this side of 1972). They're miming along to the tune with tiny cardboard Flying V guitars, pulling all the right poses and faces. Looks like a laugh, I thought. Maybe won't disappear just yet.

The song ends, the wigs and leather jackets come off and they're all in yellow kung-fu tops - 'We are Blue III....AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!' and they're off. From the minute they started to long after they finished and I was on the train outta there, there was no let up in the energy.

All look the same - rock 'n' roll uniform, very cool. The guitarist and bass player have bright yellow (gaffer-taped) Flying Vs with radio pick-ups on, so totally wireless. Before you know it, the guitarist is running into the crowd, flinging rocking notes out in his wake, spinning around the venue, outta the door, through the back stage and back on again.

Every classic trick in the book, you know the ones you've seen from your Dad's old Hendrix videos and all the rest, gets pulled out, torn up and reborn at a higher level. The bass player plays his bass behind his head, the band play their guitars not with violin bows a la Jimmy Page but with light sabres! Sonic Youth used screwdrivers to attack their guitars - these guys used nun chuckas!! The singer's pretty handy with them too, even when he's not using them to thrash his instrument. He gets on the bass players shoulders, they run around the venue and he doesn't miss a note (still playing whilst up there).

Musically, it was like shoving your head straight into a bucket of every beast of a rock tune you've ever dug. Irony and skill, mashed up. The Darkness doing kung-fu. Asian AC/DC. The blues, pulled out through The Stooges intestines and wired up to a Tokyo power line - dose after dose. The Ramones, fresh off the bullet train and ready to go.

They could really cut it too. The drummer never let up on his frantic, pounding beats. The singer leaves his guitar feeding back on the stage, then goes up to the drummer and joins in the beat. The drummer then jumps into the crowd and gets almost the entire audience in a circle, kicking their legs and grooving hard. Now Japanese audiences are very much like British ones - stand back, arms kinda folded, with an 'I'm the hip one, go on, impress me' attitude. Blue III forced everyone in the room to abandon any delusions to their own cool and abandon themselves to the growing pulse of energy that was sweeping the space. Drummer gets back on stage, takes over behind the kit again, singer them does the same with the bass player. Takes his bass off him and starts playing it himself, all the time without missing a hard rocking note. Bass player dives into the crowd, energy keeps on growing.

It ended, as all good things do. It took me hours to wipe the smile off my face and stop my legs from moving to the same pounding beat that was continuing to thump around my head. But I emerged from that show realising that I may never see a band that is going to top them.

The website's all in Japanese, so if you don't read that, it won't be of much help. Someone has to take this band and spread 'em across the planet though.

If you ever happen to come across a live listing and the words 'Blue III' are on it, don't even hesitate, JUST GO!!