the bongobundos

The Darlings of Spain

Sporting de Gijon

After one year in Primera Division, Sporting de Gijon almost returned to Hell. But a last game victory turned fears into one more year of celebration.

Subhankar Mondal signs an insightful article on the nature of Sporting de Gijon's followers, at goal.com. It is worth a read.

"Sporting’s fans are a strange lot, and a whole lot better too. They never lose their voice or their spirit, are at their loudest when their side are at their lowest, have a party throughout the 90 minutes and welcome the opposition - any opposition - with open arms. In Spain they have this habit of booing their own players and walking out on the team at the worst of times but in Asturias and especially in Gijon they don't follow this tradition at all."

Read it all here.

Paz y Amor, tío!

Yeap. Here is Little Alfonso,

aka Tirso,

aka Peace&Love-Bro,

aka Yo-Thinking-of-Sleeping-Uh?

May 15 was the day.

Revelation

El Grande Chamán de la Lluvia

Amir Irani: hay días en que pienso en los caballos y algunas veces incluso rápido y grasa automóviles en la Unión Soviética, pero creo que a mí mismo acerca de dichos borrosa niña con cebolla faldas que caen cada vez que trato de aumentar hasta en el caballo de alta vanidad y, a continuación, creo que a mí mismo, el mundo debe ser así? no hay otra manera? ¿No hay salvación para la gente que está esquimales y quiere con la gente a veces parte del Oriente Medio y beber la sangre de los insectos que se han ahogado en someones vinager que compré pensando que era el vino? pero entonces me agite como una máquina de sexo y, a continuación, a su vez más y se quema en el fuego de mi propia creación, como el dios de más edad que se utiliza para dejar la tapa del baño abajo...

The previous script is a partial but literal transcription of Amir's comment on March 29^th (2009) chat with Chema. Click here to read the whole thing;  Chema's comments have been avoided to facilitate a poetic understanding of the text

(Transcribimos íntegros los comentarios de Amir al chat de 29 de marzo (2009), entre las 00:31 y las 02:21 (CET), con Chema Nieto, cuya aportación es obviada por mor de la poesía. Amir es estudiante de castellano desde hace unos meses, lector polífago y amante confeso de U2. Pincha aquí para leer el texto completo.)

No Line on the Horizon

U2 at its best. 

Six o’clock on the autoroute
Burning rubber, burning chrome
Bay of Cadiz and ferry home
Atlantic sea cut glass
African sun at last...

Post Punk and Other Stories

Hi there, still alive and kicking.
Check out The Post Punk Cinema Club's blog.
Be soon back w some words on Altjeringa and Kahuna.
Well, maybe; a bit too drunk w life lately I guess.

From Sound Location to iMusic

Binaural Beat Technology, a Premature Market

ABSTRACT: Certain training devices and some sound effects can modify the global electrical activity of your brain. From epilepsy to some mood disorders targets for possible clinical uses keep growing. Though insufficiently studied an aggressively appealing new age industry is flooding the market with recordings that give promise of enhancing brain power; from meditation to memorizing, from relaxation to alert states of more efficient functioning.

The confusing information around this not-so-new market and the Binaural Beats upon which it is construed have led this comprehensive review that explores the fundamentals of sound location, the Binaural Beat effect, brain waves and EEG biofeedback, in order to provide some basic information with which to confront the believe-it-or-not bet of new age "brain training".

Introduction

A Binaural Beat is a sound effect that creates a wave "inside the head" of the listener. As the frequency range of these waves is equivalent to that of electrical waves generated by brain activity binaural beats can be used to induce specific brain waves and thus, supposedly, to generate specific mental states.

The whole matter is really that simple. The aim of this review is to discover how and to what extent all this is true and how and to what extent can the marketed promises of products such as Hemi-Sync or iMusic recordings be given any credit.

The first part of this article is dedicated to sound location which will allow an understanding of what Binaural Beats are. Then some general ideas on the electrical activity of the brain and electroencephalographic (EEG) measures are purported to later discover how can those be modified, either with EEG biofeedback or Binaural Beat recordings, and its implications.

Sound Location

Under normal conditions any sound will stimulate both, left and right ears, independently.

From the very beginning the brain processes auditory information binaurally (this is, from the conveying information coming from both, left and right ears). Binaural processing allows the brain to identify single auditory "objects", interpreting left and right different inputs not as two distinct sounds but as only one percept.

Imagine there is someone shouting right at your left ear. Not only the left but also the right auditory system will be stimulated by the shouting although their information (left and right) will differ as far as, for example, distance to the sound differs from one or the other ear. These differences will be compensated by particular assemblies of neurons to form a combined (single) perception and serve to calculate, for example, the location of sound in space.

Location of sound depends on inter-aural (left-right) differences in volume (sound intensity), time and phase differences (Fig 1) and on the Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF), which is an expression of the particular characteristics of ears and cranial configuration and the way these relate to sounds of different locations in space. Basically the HRTF purports information of distance to the sound in a sagittal plane while intensity and time and phase differences provide an angular value in a transversal (horizontal) plane (Fig 2). Jointly a three-dimensional spotting of the source of sound is thus calculated.

Let us say left and right ears are stimulated with sounds such as those expressed in Fig 3 and let us convey that the HRTF function for these sounds locate them 2 meters in front of the listener. As far as there are no intensity or phase differences no left-right angular deviation will be perceived and so the source of the sound will be located right in front of the listener. But let us now imagine that the HRTF informs that the distance to both ears is null; in this case the source of the sound will be located inside the cranium of the listener (Fig 4). This is precisely what happens when one listens to (non-stereo) music with headphones; sounds are perceived as if located somewhere inside the head.

When using headphones a slight difference in phase of left and right sounds (Fig 1) will shift the location of the sound (still perceived as if inside the cranium) a little bit towards the side of the wave interpreted to come first (Fig 5; in Fig 1 the Blue (right) wave would be interpreted as arriving before the Red (left) one).

Binaural Beats

The pitch of a sound (Fig 6) is determined by its wavelength (deeper sounds have larger wavelengths than high-pitched ones). "Binaural Beat" is the name given to the sound effect that is perceived when listening to sounds in the left and right ears (using headphones) that differ slightly in pitch.

This slight difference in pitch produces a progressive displacement of right and left waves (Fig 7). As already seen in Fig 5 a mismatch in the phase of right and left waves displaces the perceived location of the sound towards one side. A progressive mismatch will be perceived as if the location of the sound (always inside the cranium) was moving (Fig 8). When the difference in pitch is small the mismatch-rematch of both waves occurs so fast that the "movement" of the sound is perceived as a vibration, as if the source of the sound was vibrating inside the cranium. This vibration can itself be expressed as a wave and the value of its wavelength is exactly the right-left wavelength difference (pitch difference in cycles per second). This value (the wavelength of the perceived movement of the sound) is very interesting as already mentioned and as we will soon see.

For the binaural beat (the perception of a vibrating sound inside the cranium) to take place the right-left pitch difference must be less than 30 Hz (cycles per second) or else the listener will perceive two different sounds, produced at the right and left ears (as it is actually the case), instead of interpreting them as a single sound.

Jeff Fletcher in his highly recommendable article describes Binaural Beats as hallucinations. Not wanting to lessen a bit the magic of sound effects the truth is that every perceptual process in the brain is a "hallucination", a construct of "objects" from small pieces of information, many times unrelated. Allow me a digression to show you The Dancer (and please take a trip to the amazing web-page of Dr. Hugo; also, for visual "hallucinations", check out this link). You may perceive The Dancer (click on the image) as turning around anti-clockwise or maybe clockwise. If you try you can get yourself to perceive The Dancer turning the other way around. Some people do perceive spontaneously The Dancer as constantly changing the direction of her movement. Dr. Hugo oversimplifies when explaining that the turning direction perceived depends on right-left hemispheric dominance but whatever the explanation truth is that her very movement is a "hallucination". Anyway, hallucination in this sense only means an effect produced by a perceptual system that tries to convey information into single percepts or objects.

EEG and the Electrical Activity of the Brain

Neuronal cells are believed to be the functional substrate of mental activity. It is well known that a neuron can release molecules -at the synaptic spaces- that are able to change the membrane properties of the cell such stimulated. These membrane properties are related to the balance of certain ions, inside and outside the neuron, which is cause of the electrical changes that can be measured at this level.

The electrical activity of single neurons can be measured, even in humans, by inserting electrodes in the neuronal tissue. Costly -and rather aggressive- single neuron measures are of limited interest when trying to understand "mental states" or general brain function. The Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a far less specific but a non-invasive way to measure the global electrical activity of the brain.

Usually 10 to 20 electrodes are placed around the skull and measures of global electrical activity of different regions of the brain are thus obtained. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), which measures oxygen uptake, can also obtain indirect rates of brain activity but it is important to note here that either EEG or state-of-the-art fMRI measures are but crude approximations to brain functioning.

An EEG will show brain waves of different frequencies as it detects the adding electrical activity of enormous groups of neurons at a given time. Depending on general activity patterns it is observed that some kind of waves appear more often than others. Generally, a relaxed subject with closed eyes -or listening to Mozart- will show waves that range from 8 to 12 Hz, mainly on the posterior regions of the skull. These waves are called "alpha waves", as they were the first to be identified.

A "beta rhythm" corresponds to EEG waves of 12 to 30 Hz and appears often related to active and sometimes anxious thinking. On the opposite side very slow waves of less than 3 Hz are usually found during deep sleep in normal adult subjects.

Some pathological conditions do show particular wave patterns. For instance EEG studies are widely used to determine epileptic predisposition, observing spikes and sharp waves intermingled within the otherwise normal and chaotic "beta" or "alpha" rhythms. Some neurological conditions, drug induced states or mood disorders do show general deficits or excesses of particular wave frequency ranges. For example there are studies that suggest that some forms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are related to an excess of low frequency waves and some anxiety and mood disorders are believed to be related to scarce "alpha" wave production.

Although not always consistent these results that point to more or less specific brainwave-frequency deficits or excesses as related to certain pathologies constitute the foundation of brainwave-oriented treatments. EEG biofeedback (or 'neurofeedback') is the particular form of biofeedback with which an individual can learn to stimulate and/or avoid certain brain wave frequencies.

Biofeedback

Basically biofeedback is a procedure in which a physiological variable (such as the cardiac frequency or the electrical conductance of the skin) is amplified and brought forward to the attention of a subject. Then the subject is motivated to find a way to change that variable in a specified direction which will (almost magically) enable him to (consciously) control an otherwise autonomic response.

A common way of biofeedback presentation is as a computer game in which the subject must try to control for example the movements of a spot on a screen (that changes its left-right position accordingly to the physiological variable being measured), following explicit instructions and with no other tools than his "mind" and the electrodes connected to the machine.

Thus defined biofeedback might seem a silly and inappropriate joke but truth is that it is an incredibly simple but powerful learning procedure. Its efficacy has been widely probed. Paradoxically enough best results have been found when the subject does not know what variable is he trying to affect.

As previously noted when the physiological variable being measured is (a localized) brain wave frequency the subject ends up learning how to facilitate the appearance of specific frequencies over others (a process that is sometimes called entraining). Many controversial and still germinal studies point to the efficacy of such a training method in certain mood disorders (facilitating slow "alpha" -relaxing- brain rhythms), ADHD (stimulating normal EEG patterns) or epilepsy (stimulating midrange brainwave frequencies).

Binaural Beats and the Frequency Following Effect

Binaural Beats are said to allow yet a different way of "tuning" the brain into specific wave frequencies. It has been mentioned before that binaural beats frequency range is below 30 Hz, which is similar to the brain wave frequency range found on EEG recordings. That range equivalence allows the Frequency Following Effect (FFE) to take place, by which brainwaves should slowly shift towards the frequency of the beat.

"Christiaan Huygens found out in 1665 that two pendulum clocks suspended by the side of each other did establish an odd kind of sympathy; the pendulum clocks swung with exactly the same frequency and 180 degrees out of phase. Synchronization has been found out to relay on platform motion such that damping effects favor antiphase motion (of the pendulums) while inphase oscillations induce additional counter-motion of the frame" (from Huygen's Clocks)

Synchronization means adjustment of rhythms of self-sustained periodic oscillators due to their weak interaction; this adjustment can be described in terms of phase locking and frequency entrainment. Biological systems do also show synchronization effects and the FFE would be but an example.

It has been described that the act of listening to binaural beats does promote a general brainwave pattern shift towards the (stable) frequency of the beat. Although this forced change of brainwave pattern has never been related to spontaneous mood or "mental state" corresponding changes "alpha" range Binaural Beats were promptly marketed as able to enhance meditative states or as anti-stress devices, embedded in natural sounds (waterfalls, bird singing, etc), slow repetitive mantras or rhythms and hypnotic or guided imagery chat.

The Hemi-Sync provides one of the oldest such recordings I know of; iMusic is one of the newest ones. iMusic amplifies the range of binaural beat frequencies extending it up to slow and not so slow "beta" rhythms and also down towards the slower side of "delta" sleep-facilitating waves, embedding the binaural beats in just normal music. Still very far from probe iMusic is said to enhance brain power, to turn you smarter, faster and probably happier.

As already mentioned an "alpha" rhythm is found on relaxed subjects. A biological cause-consequence confusion has led to believe that "alpha" wave stimulation must provoke a relaxed state. This has not been found.

Furthermore even the general brainwave shift after binaural beat stimulation is controversial. The FFE is actually related with short latency auditory evoked potentials and not with general effects over the brain. The Monroe Institute has led the investigation on this field and its consistently positive results relating binaural beat and global brainwave shifts have been called to caution after lack of independent similar results and patent links of this Institute with Hemi-Sync products (for further discussion read this experiment and critical review)

Conclusive Remarks

Passive training is probably one of the marks of our times. Devices for no-effort cooking, washing or physical shaping are in fashion. Passive brain training is no exception.

Neurofeedback is a fascinating tool that could well be used not only as a therapeutic instrument but also as a training device to prevent and equilibrate pre-morbid states. Although deeper and more ample studies are still needed preliminary results do show promising trends.

The sliding towards binaural beat technology and its appealing low-effort "training" combined with an aggressive marketing and biased "scientific" articles do only serve as a drawback for the more serious investigation that the field requires.

There is yet no proof that listening to binaural beats can change the mental state of the listener in spite of the observations that there might exist a brainwave shift. Few independent studies have been published on possible binaural beat effects. Among the most interesting experiences a single case study with positive results on an epileptic dog is described by David S. Walonick. On the contrary, depression enhancement and some recall impairments have been described in a small study with 7 Hz binaural beat exposition (Wahbeh H et al)

Neurofeedback as a clinical procedure is still under investigation. Its positive trends though are confused as proof of Binaural Beat technology. The truth is that the results of Neurofeedback are till scarce and contradictory and that there exists no relation yet between the possible effects of EEG biofeedback active training and the passive exposition to Binaural Beats.

Finally it is important to remember that, specially in healthy subjects, the EEG patterns are excessively unspecific and interindividually variable so as to pretend, even accepting a particular brainwave shift, that such a shift should be paralleled by specific brain function empowerment of just any subject.

On EEG related treatments the most promising fields of investigation today seem to be both compensation therapies and specific brainwave frequency range facilitation attending to individualized activity patterns.

Chema Nieto

Figures & Graphics by Elisa Robles and Chema Nieto

Further Reading & Links:

. Binaural Beats by Jeff Fletcher

. Binaural Beats (Wiki)

. Psychology Wikia

. Binaural beat technology in humans: a pilot study to assess neuropsychologic, physiologic, and electroencephalographic effects

. Role of Neurofeedback in the Treatment of ADHD

. Neurofeedback in Addictive Disorders Treatment

. Effect of neurofeedback training on the neural substrates of selective attention in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

. The frequency-following response in subjects with profound unilateral hearing loss.

. Human frequency-following responses to monaural and binaural stimuli

. Monroe Institute Research Papers

. Silva Related

. Critical Review from Penn Engineering

. Are neocortical gamma waves related to consciousness?

. Human Central Auditory Plasticity Associated With Tone Sequence Learning

. Huygens’ pendulums (abstract)

. The Story of Maynooth

. De la Localización del Sonido al iMusic

Are you ready for Revolution?

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free", John 8:32

No kidding kids. I won't say I'm not a bit scared as to what is about to happen but the pipes are loud and clear now. You hear them.

“All conditioned things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Try to accomplish your own salvation with diligence”, Buda

Oil is over. A new technology is just about to destroy the actual economical order and the US is ready to assume a moral guidance in these obscure times -which should not be such a bad thing; a pragmatical philosophy will be needed.

A global economical disaster means a global new order and most probably the upcoming of Bertrand Russell's utopia of a global, world government. From puzzlement to denial, from anger to bargaining, from depression to acceptance. Better get it all started.

“I can hear it calling me...”, Led Zeppelin 1:2 (Anne Bredon)

Obama is part of the benign plot that will try to lead US (lead us all I mean) to knowledge and to a hopeful future. Gen-We is no casual jester. Check out their presentation video. No kidding kids, I am also scared. But, strangely enough, I am thrilled. I guess that's the motto.

Good luck to ye all

“And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them”, Kings 1:40

The Virtual Barbershop: Holophonic Sounds

Get some headphones and listen to this: The Virtual Barbershop

And see if you can hold looking around you searching for the matchbox.

Also, for Italian lovers, vicino vicino... her breath is so close to your ears...

For more info check out our article at Bongobundos; although in Spanish I'm sure you can still follow Zuccarelli's adventures, the Pink Floyd link and even discover the great Argentinian boxer, Oscar "Ringo" Bonavena, or find out about the HRTF and the MIT Kemar. There are English -and even one Farsi!- links. Good luck there!

UEFA EURO 2008: Final Victory of the Red Dwarfs!

The Reds surrendered Europe to style. After an amazing start Germany played solidly but their futbol was not enough against an inspired Spain. Congratulated by all it is a special prize to be honored not just as Champion but as a 'deserved Champion', and even more, a Champion with the most inspiring game style.

This was definitely a victory for football. No matter what, Spain is a feast!

Sauron versus the Dwarfs

UEFA Euro 2008: Just a few hours for the Final Battle of the Spanish Dwarfs against Germany.

Chances are good; 4-1 seems a bit too optimistic though. All we expect is to witness the style that has brought the Spanish team to this final and to enjoy a beautiful final. Fiction and Reality will be definitely joined on this final rendevouz. ¡¡A POR ELLOS!!

3-0 Victory of Style

The game against Greece should have made it clear that Spain has brought in some golden reserve players to win this Euro Cup, specially Fabregas, Güiza and not yet sufficiently noticed Xavi Alonso and Santi Cazorla. International surprise on Luis Aragones changes (taking in Fabregas for Villa and then Torres off for Güiza) has been probed unjustified.

As much as Villa seems to be out for the final there is yet no fear; style can make Spain a winner. The German Panzer (football's Sauron) will match the Spanish Dwarfs next Sunday. Good to know I'll be watching the game with Amir and, hopefully, Alex.

"Spain to meet the Old Masters in Germany"

"A SUPERB Spain stormed into their first final in 24 years by rolling over in-form Russia at Euro 2008 in Vienna."

"When Spain get it right, it's glorious and it's why I love them."

"Aragones and his men had gauged this match to perfection. Germany will be impressed and wary."

"Fabregas delights as stylish Spain thrash Russia"

"Games like this show why Spain is everybody's second team!"

"The substitute Cesc Fábregas, laying on the third goal of the night with a meticulous cross to David Silva in the 83rd minute, epitomised excellence."

"Xavi struck midway through the second period, reacting superbly to turn in Iniesta's cross-shot. Spain's drenched fans raised the roof. Then Guiza reacted brilliantly to Fabregas' magnificent pass to put the game beyond Russia."

"Victory was deserved for Spain's skilled technicians, who also had the game's best player in Sergio Ramos who was terrific up and down the right. Fabregas also made his customary impact when coming on for Spain."

"72 min Spain might be still dominating, but I'm amazed that Aragones took Torres off: he was tearing the Russian defence apart with his intelligent runs and finding space with every attack. Strange, very strange. Will that decision come back to haunt Spain?

Goal! Spain 2-0 Russia (Guiza 73) What do I know, eh? (Don't all answer at once) After a superb one-two with Fabregas, who cleverly dinks it over Ignashevich, Guiza chests it down and slots it over Akinfeev and into the back of the net. That's utterly deserved and surely Spain are home and hosed now?"

"3-0 demolition of Russia"

Check out Spain's second goal here; from the seemingly easy steal of Russian attack to Spain's organized offense; check out how Güiza, after making a back pass to Sergio Ramos, runs horizontally to evade the offside and, very specially, the amazingly simple and elegant one-touch tower-pass of Fabregas above Russian defense. And then Güiza's fast turn into the box controlling with his chest and giving a fine touch with the outside of his right foot to dodge Akinfeev creating a goal to remember.

Click here to watch the goals of Spain against Russia at the semifinal.

Last minute victory of Sauron against the Uruk-hai

The Uruk-hai lost against Sauron. Intense battle for a bunch of Turks who should be dead long ago; a show of pure faith and endurance that nevertheless could not stand against the Panzer. Sorry Alex. Good game anyway!

The Battle for the Ring

Spaniards are said to have a team of Hobbits, a bunch of Dwarfs with which, nevertheless, got rid of former world champion Italy. And even though Spain needs to beat again the Rohirrim, the Horse-Lords of the East, it already dreams with a final battle against Sauron itself.

On the other side the Germans will have to beat their own creature, the Uruk-hai Turks, in order to prevail. The never-surrender attitude of the latter will make it hard for Spain to confront the Dark Lord personally.

The smell of fresh cut grass fills the air of the battle camp. Distant pipes turn closer and closer. Fortune makes her picks.

And Spain Made It!

120 minutes not finding a way to dribble Italy or Herbert Fandel Spain finally got a ticket to semis in an amazing stop by its hidden hero, Iker Casillas!

Endurance!

Ole Turkey!!

Terrible game, amazing ending! Congrats!

Schweinsteiger is a Panzer's name

The German Panzer rolled over a hard to wake up Portugal. Germany abused beautiful Cristiano Ronaldo and friends with brute force and intelligence, retreating afterwards though and risking a Portuguese recovery that seemed to be just a matter of time... but wasn't. 3-2 for Ballack & Co.

Croats against Turks tonight. The wanna-be frontier of European Christiandom against the wanna-be Europeans of the Aegean Sea; Slavs versus my dear Bastards; strenght versus endurance and lots of imagination on both sides. And while Russia will try to puzzle Holland the Spanish vendetta against Italy -and against its own history of international misfortune- is ready. GL!

Sporting de Gijon

With a last minute filigree Asturian David Villa, Spanish 7, stunned Sweden and qualified Spain for UEFA 2008 quarterfinals. Back home goals by Croat Mate Bilic and Luis Moran served Sporting de Gijon to knock Eibar out and get a ticket back to Spanish First Division -ten years after!. Barbaric shouts and pipes fill the air of Asturias tonight. 

UEFA EURO 2008

  Swedish 12 against Spanish toreo... let's enjoy the red while we can. France -or Italy- awaits for the quarter finals; the Clockwork Orange is just too much for us. Good luck everyone!

Brixton, by Elisa

Hello yo there! And happy new Christian year for you all. You see, London is cool but Brixton is hot (and so is the photographer!). We are finally back, hopefully.

Columbia Free Speech

Columbia University invites Europe's Darling (President Ahmadineyad) in order to let him know about the modern civilized world's revulsion at what he stands for.

Ahmadineyad takes note and beats the professors with clumsy but effective dribblings; "Homosexuals? We don't have this kind of problem in our country".

One-nill for the IRI. Europe shocked remembers previous defeats. "There was no way to see where the balls came from; forwards were weak and our defense was bribed", said Jose Aznar, Spanish retired goal keeper; "But I didn't know then what everybody knows now".

In the meanwhile Europe's Darling continues his psychopathic raids, the verbal ones outside Iran, the physical ones reserved for the chosen. On economical grounds everything keeps spinning alright -at least on the civilized world. The UN hasn't found the self-destruction button yet.

Dream on.

Europe Must Stop Iran

June 19, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Dirk Niebel

Iran is doing more these days than just ignoring global concerns over its nuclear program. The Islamic Republic is increasingly taunting the international community, making clear that it has no intention of abandoning its program and almost daring Western nations to stop it.

The situation raises serious questions and opportunities for Europe, which is increasingly threatened by Iran. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Europe not to take Israel's side in any dispute between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, Tehran and its terrorist client Hezbollah continue to recruit and train thousands of suicide bombers for possible attacks on the Continent.

The EU-3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- have spent three fruitless years trying to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for trade and other benefits. They've come to realize -- as some Iranian officials had told them from the start -- that Tehran never intended to cut a deal.

The recent change of leadership in Paris could bring about a new European approach, one that relies much more on economic pressure. Clearly, the limited United Nations sanctions against Iran are not doing the trick. The EU-3 should rally the world's major industrialized powers to tighten restrictions on trade and investment with Iran, which could prove very effective. Iran's economy, including its energy sector, depends heavily on foreign investment. Although Iran is one of the world's largest oil producers, it must import refined petroleum from abroad. Thanks to its dysfunctional economy, living standards for the average Iranian are already falling. This is fueling popular discontent, making the ruling mullahs increasingly nervous. The EU-3 is well-positioned to build a G-8 consensus on this issue. It can serve as a broker between the U.S., which wants to ramp up economic pressure while retaining a military option in case it fails, and Russia, which wants to prevent a larger U.S. military presence in the area.

And there is no time to lose. The International Atomic Energy Agency recently reported that Iran has made surprising progress in mastering the nuclear cycle. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei believes Iran might be just three years away from producing nuclear weapons. A day after the IAEA issued its report, President Ahmadinejad made his intentions clear in a nationally televised speech: "The Iranian nation today has industrial nuclear technology and..it will never retreat even one step from this path."

Emboldened by its nuclear progress, Iran's government is ramping up the repression of its own people and Western citizens. Special "vice squads" are cracking down on people accused of "immoral behavior." On May 10, for instance, security forces reportedly arrested over 80 young men at a birthday party on suspicions of being gay. The police led those arrested to the street, stripped many to the waist, and beat them until their backs and faces were bloody, according to Human Rights Watch. Young women who appear in public with their hair not fully covered are increasingly subject to arrests and beatings. The suppression of ethnic minorities is also rising. Over the past several months, Iranian security officials have carried out large-scale arrests and incommunicado detentions of Iranian Arabs, Kurds and Azeris, according to Amnesty International. The use of torture is widespread.

Westerners also face more risks when traveling to Iran. Haleh Esfandiari, a dual Iranian-American national and director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, was arrested in early May when she came to visit her 93-year-old mother. Charged with "crimes against national security," Ms. Esfandiari is being held in solitary confinement in the notorious Evin prison. Two other Iranian-Americans, Kian Tajbakhsh, who is working for the Open Society Institute of George Soros, and businessman Ali Shakeri, are being held on similar charges.

An Iran armed with nuclear weapons will only feel freer to suppress its own people and expand its influence across the region. The fact that Iran has offered to share its nuclear knowledge with other states and groups and hinted at even using nuclear weapons itself paints a frightening scenario. German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned the West last year that it must avoid the mistakes of the 1930s when the world did not react strongly enough to the rise of Adolf Hitler. It is Europe's duty to ensure that the past is not the prologue to the future.

Mr. Niebel is the secretary general of the Free Democratic Party, Germany's largest opposition party, and a member of the Bundestag.

Around Democracy

Edward Said

(weekly.ahram.org; original link no longer available. 2003)

"As Arabs, I would submit, and as Americans we have too long allowed a few much-trumpeted slogans about "us" and "our" way to do the work of discussion, argument and exchange. One of the major failures of most Arab and Western intellectuals today is that they have accepted without debate or rigorous scrutiny terms like secularism and democracy, as if everyone knew what these words mean. America today has the largest prison population of any country on earth; it also has the largest number of executions than any country in the world. To be elected president, you need not win the popular vote but you must spend over $200 million. How do these things pass the test of "liberal democracy?"

So rather than have the terms of debate organised without scepticism around a few sloppy terms like "democracy" and "liberalism" or around unexamined conceptions of "terrorism", "backwardness" and "extremism", we should be pressing for a more exacting, a more demanding kind of discussion in which terms are defined from numerous viewpoints and are always placed in concrete historical circumstances. The great danger is that American "magical" thinking à la Wolfowitz, Cheney, and Bush is being passed off as the supreme standard for all peoples and languages to follow. In my opinion, and if Iraq is a salient example, then we must not allow that simply to occur without strenuous debate and probing analysis, and we mustn't be cowed into believing that Washington's power is so irresistibly awesome. And so far as the Middle East is concerned the discussion must include Arabs and Muslims and Israelis and Jews as equal participants. I urge everyone to join in and not leave the field of values, definitions, and cultures uncontested. They are certainly not the property of a few Washington officials, any more than they are the responsibility of a few Middle Eastern rulers. There is a common field of human undertaking being created and recreated, and no amount of imperial bluster can ever conceal or negate that fact."

Westoxicated Joint

With Coffee & Cigarettes; that's how I'll join Amir's joint in just a few hours, thanks to the Killer College Radio link and their innocent (?) allowance of a Royal Republican to spread his political -and musical- westoxicated preferences on the air.

Good luck!

(the Platform for Number 25)

New Pics

Check out Alf's trip to Antartida and our latest snow-adventure...

Rejoice.

Das Leben der Anderen (The Life of Others)

The Tune of the Hero

The German title, more than the English translation, shows the significant though subtle contradiction between the terms, "life" and "others". Contradiction or may be distance; emotional distance.

It is precisely through a purely emotional language -without the usual stridencies of the genre- that the film is able to portray human isolation. And with, again, the utmost emotional precision, it exposes the absolute isolation to which individuals are condemned under a paranoid regime based on fear.

The rare combination of mainstream political acknowledgment and popular success allows the poet and the actress to dance. But they are the only ones able to display a spark of joy here -and no matter what, not even them are free of the anguishing consequences of general dread.

In this sick society the search for joy is punished, though it is still present. It is this presence what allows the film to encompass an optimistic turn. Surprisingly enough, it is nor compassion nor the commonly accepted ideal of love but only breaking the instinct of self preservation what sets certain strings of the human soul free to play the tune that allows contact, an honest contact, no matter the physical detachment, with "the other".

Now, the distance -or the contradiction- between "life" and "the other" is finally portrayed. Isolation is a natural trait -and a predictable consequence of fear- that opposes the life (or the joy) of "I" to that of the "other". The communion is brought by surrendering the ego; a basic human tune able to turn normal peasants -or even a slayer- into silent, but never again lonely, heroes.

P.S. to Amir: Should definitely encourage this film to arrive to Iran. Beware though of an intellectual analysis; only by setting aside such a discussion can the emotional language of the film be "understood".

Spain & The Democratic Game

Spain is bearing today the most ruthless clash among political extremes of her little more than 25 years Constitutional Monarchy, which, sadly enough, shows the fragility of our democratic convictions and understanding.

The harsh confrontation opposes basically right and left "isms" as well as central nationalism versus peripheral nationalisms, heated up by the issue of terrorism and by the active participation of Catholic representatives in almost every political debate (the Spanish Conference of Bishops, the higher religious committee, self-arrogated as national cultural core, intermingle the defense of nation-state union with considerations over family, education, terrorism or immigration in what has come to be a constant attack of any socialist measure).

But let me reframe a bit.

On Religion:

Taking away the laicism of our 1932 Constitution, the modern 1978 one privileges Catholicism over any other religious cult, which is translated in strong direct and indirect economical compensations as well as in an open allowance of cultural empowerment -by providing for example Catholic religious classes, teachers and priests in every public school, at hospitals, prisons, etc.

This privileged position is being menaced though due to a growing agnosticism among the population paralleled by the proliferation of different cults -mainly Muslim- that accompany a significant immigration flux. Also, the liberal (leftist) educational programs, which encourage the development of a critical capacity of pupils through the understanding of democratic concepts and the realization of their unique identities as free individuals, add up to the specific threats that the preeminent Catholic position upholds.

From here, the Catholic political stands can be well understood: Defense of limiting immigration, arguments to limit immigrant cultural expressions, confrontation with the demands of other religious groups to occupy a space at schools or in any public situation, confrontation with any educational program able to menace their own cultural views, argumentation in order to blend the concepts of Spanish Catholicism (religious status quo) and cultural heritage, etc, etc.

In any case, even though Catholicism is adding up to the noise, especially by their twisted misuse of democratic arguments, they are not the core of current confrontation.

On Terrorism:

The 11-M terrorist attack in 2004, just three days prior to national elections, can easily be traced back as one of the sparks that started it all. The right winged Partido Popular (PP), contradicting police evidence and international understanding, insisted during those three days in the negation of a radical Islamic link with the attacks, affirming that Basq terrorist group ETA was responsible for it.

Different international press agencies denounced Spanish government pressure to relate the attacks to ETA, contradicting their own information of Al Qaeda's involvement. In the mean while Spanish media divided, siding up with either one or the other theory. The consequent growing wave of popular repulse against the government was due, more than to the terrorist attack itself, to the stubbornness of the PP (and of part of the media), unable to admit Al Qaeda's responsibility, which was understood as an unacceptable lie by the populace. At the end, and though running as favorite, the PP lost the elections in favor of the socialist party (PSOE).

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The PP has not been able to swallow their electoral debacle leading from then on a campaign of harsh attacks against whatever socialist measure -including conspiracy theories in which ETA and the socialist government would be involved in the 11-M attacks-, with no other political recompense than increasing social tension and divisions.

The pick of social division was reached recently when the government allowed ETA's assassin Antonio De Juana to end at home his one year of imprisonment left, after a very much publicized hunger strike of the prisoner.

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Since the PSOE reached power, the government has been leading a negotiated end of ETA's terrorism -which is something that all previous governments, left or right winged, have tried at one point or another. The -old now- political pact by which the measures taken by any government on the matter of ETA's terrorism would be discussed but never used as political weaponry, ended up soon after PP's political draw back.

Terribly debilitated and losing by the day their scarce popular support ETA announced an indefinite cease fire. PP's opposition started then a public, derogative and very aggressive campaign denouncing (and wanting to prevent) any type of negotiation with the terrorist group. Beyond any other consideration, the PP seemed more than ever fearful of the socialist plausible political gains derived of achieving the final end of ETA's terror -which justified their frontal attack.

It is at this point that the case of De Juana (DJ) gains significance. DJ, convicted for the execrable assassination of 25 people during the eighties, had managed to legally reduce his condemn from more than 3.000 years to 18 years of imprisonment. At the time of his liberation he was kept in prison for technical reasons. DJ published then two articles in a Basq newspaper that were later used to charge him with 90 years for terrorist menaces. This condemn motivated DJ's hunger strike.

The case arrived at the Spanish Higher Court where DJ's condemn was significantly reduced to three years for general -not terrorist- menaces (he mentions 'blood' and 'Spain' in one phrase; his rather stupid articles constitute actually an angry outburst for not being liberated more than anything else). In any case, of his three years condemn he had completed two already, and his hunger strike was menacing to transform him in a sort of martyr -DJ had stated that he would either get freed or die. The government then, making use of its prerogative, decided that DJ should end his condemn in home confinement -once he is allowed to exit the hospital in which he is currently being taken care of.

The unpopular decision of the government -who is accused of liberating an assassin and of secretly trying to negotiate ETA's end- is being used up to nauseating extremes by the opposition, coinciding with the ongoing 11-M judgment and the PP unveiled accusations of ETA's (and PSOE!) involvement. Lacking either political experience or ability, the government falls to the dirty game of cross accusations with the PP, thus forcing the population to take sides for no other than emotional reasons.

The analysis, constructive discussions or the necessary reevaluation of our imprisonment policies are left aside, substituted, slowly but consistently, by propaganda bursts of either color, while witnessing a growing physical confrontation in the streets.

On Stupidity:

Not surprisingly a small town (Villaconejos; "Rabbit Town") has recently refined the concept of popular lynching when more than four hundred people managed to burn the house of a town's thug... when the thug was in prison! His wife and their old parents had to run for their life -a little bird was killed in the fire. The mob, proud of the action, invoke an old poem's cry to justify their action; "all together", they say.

It seems this is as far as we have gone into understanding the democratic game.

Around the Oscars

Gotta watch Das Leben der Anderen. And Del Toro's Labyrinth, which I haven't had the chance to watch yet. Both films seem to be fairy tales in which the evil of absolute power is portrayed; in the former as a gentle (unintentional) metaphor of what is to come for Western democracies under the self-imposed burden of global war; in the latter as a crude war of fantasy versus reality when reality is found intolerable.

The horror of Del Toro's small piece of reality is so seemingly unreal that is taken as fantasy, as an exaggeration, when not as pure exhibitionism of cruelty and madness. The actual reality of after (Spanish) civil war cruelty and madness can easily be taken thus as a casual background and not as the direct consequence of its (untold?) context; the fears and persecutions of a totalitarian regime and the paranoid surviving games peasants are forced to play within it. Del Toro's seeming inability to make his story translatable to actual terms, or to make the viewer identify himself ideally within the story, is probably due to his falling for tricks and monsters, which seem to have gained the protagonist role.

On the other side, the gray world of Florian Henckel depicts a scary, easily adaptable portrait of puppets in a play whose very activity represents the passive acceptance of horror. A passivity that "begins to crack", as Amir highlights, thus allowing the players to move away from the horror that has provoked it in the first place. The message is atemporal; the metaphor unintended. But Florian Henckel does not want to leave the viewer at a point of indefinite hope; he resolves and resumes the opened crack by giving color to the gray world: Es ist für mich. The abysmal difference among both realities arrives as a slap on the face.

But well, I never write as much about films that I have actually seen. Among those, Little Miss Sunshine is an unpretentious masterpiece that no one should miss. And Javier Fesser's short film, Binta and the great idea, is an extraordinary African tale, just a bit moralistic for picky sensibilities, but definitely worth the half an hour it takes to find out about the great idea that Binta's father carries on in a piece of paper. The link goes to the original version, in French, with Spanish subtitles (sorry about that; anyway, don't miss it if you can get it in any understandable language). The other Spanish nominated short movie, Éramos pocos (We were a few), probably even harder to find with English titles, constitutes an incredibly funny fifteen minutes shot of just three characters; a young guy, his father and his grandmother: When the mother leaves the house, tired of the tyranny of the men, they rescue grandma from a geriatric asylum and bring her home with them. The title itself is a humorous description of the movie as well as an untranslatable game of words: the familiar ironic saying "Éramos pocos y parió la abuela" -we were a few and grandmother got pregnant- may need though no further translation. Watch it -if you can.

And last, being in love as I am with Forest Whitaker -since the times of Smoke to Ghost Dog-, it is just a pity Peter O'Toole had to let go his chance of getting the gold after his impressive work in Venus; if anyone should ever want to know what acting is all about, O'Toole's interpretation is a must.

Gestures for Iran

"Internal pressure on the Iranian regime; support for proponents of democracy and human rights in Iran. There is no other answer.

There is only one thing that the outside world can do, and that is to tell the regime: 'We are serious about supporting the people who are inside Iran who are against you'. That is the only thing that will make Mr. Khamenei and everybody stand down. Because nothing else ruffles them. The only thing they are really scared of are the people themselves".

Reza Pahlavi

We, the bongobundos and the Spanish troupe we represent, support the proponents of democracy and human rights in Iran and will never compromise on any issue that is against their interest.

But words are not enough. As Reza Pahlavi has also said, "it is needed to actively look for practical ways of making those words and messages actually make a difference on the ground". While we (and hopefully you also) look for ways to make that difference, allow us this gesture. Not much, we know, but we expect it to be repeated far and wide.

ReWed

Alfonso and Maria got wedding-happy and so they came to Spain to celebrate once again. As far as it goes it seems they really enjoyed it this time, almost as much as the first one anyway.

I'll try to bring soon some impressive skiing crashes, featuring Alfi, Maria and Elisa, from our latest trip. And also some normal pictures; me and my influenza couldn't do better this afternoon. But there is some good material down there, or at least that's my perception so far -and that of my dripping nasal mucus.

Back in real life my Remington has been conveniently cleaned up and works and sounds even better than before. The same happens with Elisa -I mean, not that she has been cleaned up, you understand-; she is working harder and doing better by the day at the University.

And well, the world keeps spinning, with that nauseating effect now and then that is almost becoming familiar.

Later y'all.

the Remington & the Artisan

To write or not to write. That is not a question. At least not any more with my new 1929 Remington typewriter. Thanks to Elisa the old pleasures of techno-compositions and computer art are falling behind the pushing pulses of artisan work. Kiarostami, the Persian director, when talking about his movie 'Through the Olive Trees' (Zire Darakhtan Zeyton) affirms that "technology is a lie". And he is probably right; whenever means and ends are confounded, lies sprout.

This blog is already suffering the consequences of my falling for a machine that does not need no plug or battery, a delight I had almost forgotten. In fact, to typewrite on an old machine is like forcing oneself to compose on a different language, with a different rhythm and a distinctive thought flow. Something that I am enjoying so far as is marked by my latest silences on the web.

Sorry as I am for having abandoned this land of coincidental barbarians, I am more than happy with the intense work the Remington is pushing me into. But I am here no matter what; passion seems to have opened its doors to love, without chains or infatuation. And so, yes, this blog will survive the comeback of the artisan. As I must have said somewhere, that is not a question.

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photos by chema nieto