Taliban House - by Wez G

The Taliban House mix by Wez G was created in 2009 for the Global Intelligence Data Services (GIDS) company which at that time was in Afghanistan for operations against the Taliban and in support of the Afghan Government. This mix was played on the choppers while going into operations. In a very first, the GIDS Radio Station (click here) on KryKey.com streamed this through their satellite system on the helicopters.

 

This mix has been tested under battle conditions!

 

You can hear the Taliban House on their radio station right now at http://www.krykey.com/Radio/PRSPage.aspx?id=291

 

The opportunity to win a Taliban House t-shirt is on offer this week by KryKey.com by guessing the Top 4 radio stations in the new ranking after midnight this Saturday. To enter go to the KryKey Facebook page and leave your guess on the post (click here).

Radio-Free Swat Valley

Radio-Free Swat Valley

ON March 5, in the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, forces believed to be affiliated with the Taliban bombed the shrine of Rahman Baba (1650), the most revered Pashtun poet. The attack evokes one of the grosser Taliban outrages from the pre-9/11 era: the dynamiting in 2001 of the enormous stone Buddhas in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley. This use of bombs as cultural commentary is especially notable in that the shrine was sacred to other Muslims. It reminds the world, and especially complacent Muslims, that the Islamist extremists’ war is a civil war within Islam — and not just a “holy war” against other religions and the United States. It should show American policymakers the wisdom of working to persuade Pashtuns to reject the Taliban. The bombers took aim at the poet’s shrine because it represented Sufism, the mystical form of Islam that has long been predominant in India and Pakistan. The Sufism of Rahman Baba generally stresses a believer’s personal relationship with God and de-emphasizes the importance of the mosque. It refrains from exalting violence and war and praises such virtues as tolerance, devotion and love. Its practice relies extensively on dance, music and poetry. Some of Sufism’s most esteemed poets and scholars are women. The extremists are determined to destroy Pakistan’s moderate Sufi tradition — by claiming the exclusive right to fly the banner of Islam and asserting this claim through cultural, educational and violent means. Through intimidation, they silence musicians, still dancers and oppress women. As a result, artists and performers are leaving Pakistan’s Swat Valley and the North-West Frontier Province in droves. Though the Sufi tradition has been widely followed for centuries in South Asia, its hold is weakening as the extremists flex their muscles. Pakistan’s inability to enforce its laws in the border region with Afghanistan has allowed extremists to threaten dominance in northwestern Pakistan.

The United States may be able to help Pakistan prevent this, however, by supporting Pashtun opposition to the extremists. The Pashtuns who oppose the Taliban need protection. The extremists have gunned down, bombed and hanged those who have worked against them. It would help to improve the government’s schools in the region and thus reduce the appeal and influence of Taliban-run madrassas. And by building roads and creating jobs and business opportunities for the Pashtuns, the Pakistani government, with American help, could counter the money and other material blandishments offered by the extremists. It is a costly failing that the American government has been unable to communicate quickly with the Pashtun community about the attack on the Rahman Baba shrine. Congress has provided trillions of dollars to support military action in the fight against terrorism, but it has not yet provided resources for a strategic communications capacity that could be the key to victory. If it had the equipment and personnel for the job, the United States could broadcast radio programs for the Pashtuns commemorating Rahman Baba’s life and poetry, thus helping to revive the collective memory of Sufism and inspiring opposition to the Taliban. Other programs could highlight the cultural and physical devastation wrought by the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The United States conducted impressive strategic communications during the cold war. Radio Free Europe, Voice of America and other programs conveyed information and ideas that contributed to the discrediting and ultimate defeat of Soviet communism. KryKey Personal Web Radio would also be an excellent tool for this, but as internet access in the area is virtually non-existent, this is currently not an option.

Pakistan’s Islamist extremists apparently know the value of strategic communications. They preach and broadcast, understanding that every non-extremist school they close, every artist they force to move, every moderate tribal leader they kill and every Sufi shrine they destroy can increase their powers of intimidation and persuasion. The problem along the Afghan border is not mass support for Islamist extremism. Rather it is widespread acquiescence by people who are fearful and demoralized. As the extremists work to demonstrate that only they represent the true Islam, Pashtuns can reflect on the warnings against cruelty and violence that Rahman Baba outlined in “Sow Flowers”:

Sow flowers to make a garden bloom around you,
The thorns you sow will prick your own feet.
Arrows shot at others
Will return to hit you as they fall.
You yourself will come to teeter on the lip
Of a well dug to undermine another.

Later this week KryKey Personal Web Radio Blog will explore the history of Radio-Free Europe and its effect in the Cold War.

Music; at work, at play, in business and even warfare.

When I was a small child some 30 years ago I partook in a revolution that has led to today’s MP3 Players – it was the Sony Walkman. My parents bought me one of these new devices and this let me take my music everywhere playing what was then the cassette tape, and wearing headphones. It was a revolution for me as before I was tethered to my ‘record’ player and now wherever I went, I took music. The only drawback in those days that the batteries didn’t last very long and I had to change them regularly – or is that the same today?

I used to in those days race motocross and was sponsored by Yamaha and I used the music on the way to a race (Dad driving me there) and before the race to motivate me. Kiss, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple all did the trick and got me focused for each 45 minute race.

Fast forward to 2003 when I was in Northern Iraq as an Information Technology Warfare Consultant we played music over the Comms to also motivate us. I remember flying in a Chopper with music on loud speakers on the outside as we flew into the ‘hot’ zone – this was Physc-Ops!

Over the years the ‘portable’ music players got smaller, better and batteries lasted longer, and today we have MP3 players which are credit size and batteries last up to several hours. The Apple iPod is the most popular and the word iPod is now a generic term for any MP3 Player.

Traveling and working I have found music keeps me inspired; helps pass the time and keep me motivated. Look around anywhere, now; people walking on the street, running in the park, on the train and even at work and you will see the listening to music. You are probably one of them!

As a lover of music, in 2006 I had an idea to create KryKey Personal Web Radio and over a period of 24 months I designed, financed and built it. There was other online music streaming services on the Internet which they called themselves ‘internet radio’, but I think they are more of what I would call an ‘internet jukebox’. You can make Playlists and then listen to the music and that’s where it stops. KryKey Personal Web Radio is what it says. It is a real web radio system where people can create a web radio station and create content to broadcast. Music, promos, Podcasts, can all be added to each Radio Station Studio and then played. Others can be invited in as DJ’s. This is a real radio station system. After a couple of months in Beta, version 1.0 will morph into version 2.0 in May 2009 with a better interface and new site. If you haven’t created a Personal Web Radio Station on KryKey.com yet, I suggest you do to get that all important Radio Station name before it goes. Web Radio is the future and KryKey will be part of it. (Read this Blog on the future on Internet Radio)

WezG is a new friend that I have met recently and he is a DJ of some note. A couple of weeks ago he created a mix which he called “Taliban House”. This was immediately added to the KryKey Personal Web Radio Station; JNCBEST which is a private company supplying its services to the US Intelligence Agencies and Military. In a world first, in Afghanistan, they connected to their Personal Radio Station via a satellite phone and then plugged that into the Comms unit, and they were playing and listening to the “Taliban House”. This they used to motivate themselves as they flew on missions in Afghanistan. They also played this on loud speakers outside the Chopper. Motivation; and Physc-Ops.

Music has the effect on people in many areas. Workers of all fields have embraced headphones in order to inspire them and to make their days pass more easily. As many of today's jobs take place in front of a computer screen in and in a room full of cubicles, access to a computer means you have every available genre of music available to you in the form of online radio stations. Listening to music at work can be more than just fun, as listening to music boosts the levels of neurotransmitter dopamine, a brain chemical that can help people focus. One of my friends, Shane Stringer is a cartoonist and he has told me on numerous occasions that he finds music to be a great motivator at work, he says "It makes a slow day go faster and often really does help me in the creative process."

Music in business also has an effect on people. Research has shown that music influences behavior and the right music can keep customers in a business longer, leading to an increased chance of a sale or the purchase of additional items. In a Restaurant or café environment, the right music can reinforce a brand image and influence behavior (by motivating staff, speeding up or slowing down customer turn over, or providing an enjoyable atmosphere so that customers come again) - it can even be used to mask distracting noise. In a Store, music can play an important role in enhancing the atmosphere, reinforcing a brand image and ultimately ensuring that customers have a positive retail experience. In the Hotel & Tourism industry, image and service are paramount. Furthermore, when it comes to reinforcing image and creating atmosphere, music is an essential component. Hairdressers, Beauty Salons, Doctor & Dental Surgeries, Nursing Homes can use music for a soothing and relaxing process, and of coursed in a Gym or Health Club it helps motive while the people exercise. That’s why we created a new ‘business music streaming’ service called KryKey Entertainment Service or KES for short. KES provides a wide range of music choice with hundreds of pre-created Playlists, and with new Playlists being added each month. The wide selection of music ranges from Easy Listening, Chill Out, Rock, Power Ballads, House/Dance, Pool Mixes, Lounge, Top 40 from the UK the US and Holland all compiled by international DJ's from the Europe, the UK and the USA. Also if you do listen to music at work, please be responsible and use headphones, keep the volume low so you can hear the phone or co-workers, and don’t sing aloud.

Music is the common denominator of all people on this planet and besides being used for pleasure can be used for motivation, business and even warfare.

Music; enjoy it wherever you are.

Via Satellite Phone Listening To KryKey Personal Web Radio In Afghanistan

Via Satellite Phone Listening To KryKey Personal Web Radio In Afghanistan

On Sunday, DJ WezG released a new mix called "Taliban House" which was created especially for playing while in Afghanistan by the Intel-Security company JNCBEST in the Choppers while flying on missions.

What is probably a world first, JNCBEST is using a Satellite phone to connect to KryKey Personal Web Radio (http://www.krykey.com) through the internet and then to their Personal Web Radio Station (http://www.krykey.com/prs/JNCBEST) and listening to the "Taliban House".

Will the "Taliban House" help bring peace to Afghanistan, and will it end up a classic tune the same way "The Valkrye" is for when it was used in the movie Apocalypse Now?

You can hear this track on www.krykey.com/prs/JNCBEST or www.JNCBEST.com or www.ShuffleRadio.co.uk