Sunday, May 28, 2006
Kokoda; the movie.
It's been a loooong, long time since I went and sat in a cinema. Probably sometime in 1990 when I went to see "Kundun" in Brisbane. (thoroughly enjoyed that one, by the way.)
I can, however, remember the times when I went to the Regent in Adelaide. A 'proper' Theatre. Chandeliers, ornate golden decorations and plaster mouldings on walls, boxes and balconies with velvet handrails, Knight Barnett rising up like Mephisto from beneath the stage to entertain and delight the arriving patrons with music from his three keyboard organ.
A 'proper' night out. Cartoons, trailers, "B" movie for the first half. Interval; popcorn, Jaffas and Maltesers .. then the "main feature".
This time, Saturday afternoon, 5.00 pm, I went to the Marion "MegaPlex". Nineteen cinemas in one place. (Ah, the economics of "scale".) One foyer, One Box office, one big lolly shop. (Bought a packet of Maltesers for 'old times sake', didn't think that 'rolling Jaffas down the aisle' very appropriate, considering age.)
5.05pm. Handed paper ticket to teenager at entrance to long corridor. He rips it in half, says "Keep walking, last door on right". Walked along corridor past 18 other doors and very few people to Door 9. Entered, and was pleasantly surprised.
Small cinema, comfortable, almost 'personal'. Red curtains on walls, subtly lit. Four other middle-aged patrons occupy the silent 200 seat theatre. "Come on in," they say. "heh," say I, "singular lack of young people," and choose seat.
Four other middle-aged people arrive. Lights dim, a couple of advertisements, trailers for up-coming movies. I might be oldish, but not deaf. "surround sound" system had me wishing for a volume control knob.
At this point, please bear in mind that have had considerable experience in the industry in a past life, as an actor and technician, and am notoriously 'hard to please'. Even so, any comments that I make from this point are purely personal, and not based on 'rules of critical analysis'.
Now, it may be that the director intended to convey the 'reality' of all that, but the movie failed to 'engage' me. It looked like they had done an excess of 'mud, slush and rain' scenes, the editor just picked them at random out of the bin, joined them together and called it a movie.
Other 'reviewers' also say this, and I agree with them. The photography is brilliant. Performances excellent… but self also feels that there should have been less 'mud, slush and rain' and a little more on telling us WHO these people were.
1/3rd of the movie was wasted. Some 'background' of where they came from, allow us to see them in their 'hometowns', how they 'arrived' at the Kokoda track.
The final scenes are sheer, cliché'd "keep yer chin up" propaganda.
Personally, as I left the theatre, was disappointed, bored and annoyed.
I can, however, remember the times when I went to the Regent in Adelaide. A 'proper' Theatre. Chandeliers, ornate golden decorations and plaster mouldings on walls, boxes and balconies with velvet handrails, Knight Barnett rising up like Mephisto from beneath the stage to entertain and delight the arriving patrons with music from his three keyboard organ.
A 'proper' night out. Cartoons, trailers, "B" movie for the first half. Interval; popcorn, Jaffas and Maltesers .. then the "main feature".
This time, Saturday afternoon, 5.00 pm, I went to the Marion "MegaPlex". Nineteen cinemas in one place. (Ah, the economics of "scale".) One foyer, One Box office, one big lolly shop. (Bought a packet of Maltesers for 'old times sake', didn't think that 'rolling Jaffas down the aisle' very appropriate, considering age.)
5.05pm. Handed paper ticket to teenager at entrance to long corridor. He rips it in half, says "Keep walking, last door on right". Walked along corridor past 18 other doors and very few people to Door 9. Entered, and was pleasantly surprised.
Small cinema, comfortable, almost 'personal'. Red curtains on walls, subtly lit. Four other middle-aged patrons occupy the silent 200 seat theatre. "Come on in," they say. "heh," say I, "singular lack of young people," and choose seat.
Four other middle-aged people arrive. Lights dim, a couple of advertisements, trailers for up-coming movies. I might be oldish, but not deaf. "surround sound" system had me wishing for a volume control knob.
At this point, please bear in mind that have had considerable experience in the industry in a past life, as an actor and technician, and am notoriously 'hard to please'. Even so, any comments that I make from this point are purely personal, and not based on 'rules of critical analysis'.
Kokoda; the movie, begins.
I shan't describe the short opening sequence after the 'voice over', probably the best bit. From then on it became a disconnected series of vignettes. The "Chocko's" wait, nervous, ill-equipped and unprepared. Claustrophobic jungle. Nobody knows what's happening. All close-ups, random shapes - either friend or foe - appear and disappear. Random gunfire. Instant inexplicable deaths. Mud, slush, rain. More mud, slush and rain. Where are we? Nobody knows. Lost contact. Unconnected random acts of sheer brutality by 'the enemy'. More mud, slush and rain. The group move from one undefined place to another undefined place. A wounding. Should they carry or leave? The wounded struggles on, gets lost. They see an Aussie bush hat dimly behind a tree. They call. It is a trap.
More losses and woundings. The jungle confuses all. A makeshift stretcher. Struggle from somewhere to somewhere. A brief respite in a native's bush hut. The original occupants have been killed.
Decisions. Move or stay. One decides to stay with the wounded, the other three move on. Up the hill or down the hill? Mud, slush and rain.
Three Chocko's eventually make contact with the AIF, are directed to the 'forward base', where 'the wounded' have collected. More mud, slush and rain. Word comes of an 'assault'. Every man who can still hold a gun takes up position.
A random series of images. Explosions, gunfire, deaths.
A brigadier thanks those still able to stand - in the mud and slush.
Now, it may be that the director intended to convey the 'reality' of all that, but the movie failed to 'engage' me. It looked like they had done an excess of 'mud, slush and rain' scenes, the editor just picked them at random out of the bin, joined them together and called it a movie.
Other 'reviewers' also say this, and I agree with them. The photography is brilliant. Performances excellent… but self also feels that there should have been less 'mud, slush and rain' and a little more on telling us WHO these people were.
1/3rd of the movie was wasted. Some 'background' of where they came from, allow us to see them in their 'hometowns', how they 'arrived' at the Kokoda track.
The final scenes are sheer, cliché'd "keep yer chin up" propaganda.
Personally, as I left the theatre, was disappointed, bored and annoyed.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
spotlight
I really can't give enough links to this problem. It has, however, been given a spotlight by Nanette Rodgers
WOW
Anglican Archbishop decrys movie as "a bolognese of myth, legend, speculation and fiction"
ummm thinks .. sounds like 'the bible'
ummm thinks .. sounds like 'the bible'
Women and Islam
There is, methinks, much "mis-" and "dis-" information regarding the 'status' of women in Islam. I offer this 'selected' quote as a starting point. The rest of the article is in the link following. There is much more information available (try typing "female women politics islam" into Google). It would be, in my VERY humble opinion, much more beneficial to let them try to work it out for themselves; instead of forcing any changes at the point of a gun. In fact, I think it extremely 'counter-productive' to use, or threaten, force as it has a tendency to "radicalise" many opinions with the result that people 'retreat' into their own separate 'fortresses', wave Nationalistic flags, shout and scream from the 'battlements' while developing any and all 'projectile rocks' and refuse to engage in open dialogue.
from "women against fundamentalism .."
Further reading
A brief history of Women's movements in Iran.
Islam and the Socio-economic position of Women.
"Thus, if fundamentalism is about returning to the golden age of Islam, Muslim women argue that they have much reason for optimism and much room for manoeuvre. Furthermore many highly educated and articulate Muslim women regard Western feminism as a poor example and have no wish to follow it. Not only do they dismiss Western feminism for being one of the main instruments of colonialism, but also they despise the kinds of freedoms that are offered to women in the Western patriarchy. (5) Using much of the criticism provided by Western women themselves, the Islamist women argue that by concentrating on labour market analysis and offering the experiences of a minority of white affluent middle class women as a norm, Western feminists have developed an analysis which is all but irrelevant to the lives of the majority of women the world over. They are of the view that Western style feminist struggles have only liberated women to the extent that they are prepared to become sex objects and market their sexuality as an advertising tool to benefit patriarchal capitalism. They are particularly critical of the failure of Western feminism to carve an appropriate, recognised and enumerated space for marriage and motherhood. They argue that by locating the discussion in the domain of production and attempting to gain equality for women, Western feminists have sought and failed to make women into quasi men. They have failed to alter the labour market to accommodate women's needs and at the same time have lost the benefits that women had once obtained in matrimony. Thus Western feminists have made women into permanent second class citizens. Not a model that most women, in the West as elsewhere choose to follow."
from "women against fundamentalism .."
Further reading
A brief history of Women's movements in Iran.
Islam and the Socio-economic position of Women.
51st state
Gee, don't they make a cute couple. One wonders if/when the Canberra stance on 'homo-gender' marriages might change..
Letter from Iran - in Edit
Am editing previous post re: Letter from Iran. Back soon. In fact, am not. The letter is out in public space. Am moving on.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Cage.
This is becoming bloody ridiculous. Am beginning to feel - and behave - like a Dingo trapped in a cage, snapping, snarling and biting any finger that comes within range.
Perhaps it’s the weather, which has been dull, grey and overcast for the past week or two, with occasional bouts of drizzly rain. Perhaps it's my perception that this beautiful planet is going to hell in a handbasket - aided and abetted by banks and 'big business'.
I really should get 'out' more. The 'Internet' is not doing my equanimity much good.
Perhaps it’s the weather, which has been dull, grey and overcast for the past week or two, with occasional bouts of drizzly rain. Perhaps it's my perception that this beautiful planet is going to hell in a handbasket - aided and abetted by banks and 'big business'.
I really should get 'out' more. The 'Internet' is not doing my equanimity much good.
Is this all there is?
If so, I doubt whether Mexicans and/or Pueto Ricans will be a problem.
world view (by a child in USA)
world view (by a child in USA)
GOD is an illegal immigrant
A provocative title? Let me try to explain.
There is a great deal of discussion at the moment about "immigration" legal or non-legal. My first question is 'when does something become "legal"?
To understand why I made the title a 'statement' instead of a 'question', we first have to delve far back into history
(In the beginning was the word; and the word was "Ogd!", but something became lost in translations .. heh.)
At this point, bear in mind that my paternal grandfather was C of E, and paternal grandmother's families were staunch 'Protestants' - stretching far back into the hills of Scotland. My mother's family began in South Australia from an "illegal" immigrant. Apparently a great-great grandfather was a cabin boy who "jumped ship", changed his name, and disappeared into the bush as a shepherd. We think he came from somewhere in Scandinavia. My Father died six months after I was born, and was raised by my mother for five years.
However, I have also been indoctrinated from birth into the Judeo-Christian notion of "GOD" and have to, mostly, work from within that 'framework'. Viewing the world and its peoples from 'outside' of that framework is not an easy task.
The reason I capitalised 'god' is because my guess is that the Judeo-Christian-Muslim "God of our fathers" began as a philosophical idea put forward by a man named Zoroaster (Zarathustra) who lived in Persia some 1000 years BCE (before Christian era).
Roughly 3000 years ago HE proposed that there were two forces - one "good" (Ahura Mazda) and one "evil" ( ) battling for control over the world.
(In MY beginning, I was a random collection of atoms, congregating in the genes of my ancestors. At first, all was darkness, then light. My eyelids were closed, but slowly opened. I found that I could focus, then tried to make sense out of the chaos that I perceived.)
He also proposed that Ahura Mazda created 'man-gods' to act as "intermediaries" between humans and the 'supreme being'.
(won't go into detail, but you can find a very long essay detailing the basis of my premise here).
From there, the philosophy of a masculine, all powerful, omnipotent Deity travelled through what is now known as the "Middle East", across into northern India; taken to Rome by the Legions, adopted, adapted and transformed by various masculine (sometimes emasculated) priesthoods and Emperors - modified and codified through various 'prophets' to suit local conditions and political climates - especially Constantine of Rome - to split and solidify into what we NOW know as Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
(a very peculiar God indeed. One wonders what they are all squabbling about, since they all working under the same 'God'. Am not surprised that the Christian and Judaic god "cannot be named".. it would link them back to the "original" idea developed in Iran/ Persia.)
IF this God IS All-powerful, All-knowing and Omni-present; I can't help wondering why he/she/it did not know of, and/or was not known in what is now known as South and North America until the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 (CE).
Apparently he/she/it hitched a ride on one of the ships; carried in .. what? A purse? A piece of wood or, perhaps, A BOOK?
Similarly, this god was not known in Australia or New Zealand until the arrival of Captain Cook. Did this Persian god arrive hidden in the in the back pocket of Captain Cook?
(I am neither a scholarly historian nor theologian, and this post is not up for 'serious' discussion, so if anybody wants to 'nit-pick' about details, do it on your own blog).
Captain Arthur Phillip (a human being) set up a colony on the east coast of Australia - formerly known as "Terra Australis Incognito" ('unknown land to the south') in the year 1788 (CE), and tried to "negotiate" with the inhabitants who had been custodians of this ancient land for roughly 40,000 terrestrial years.
(but THEY had no knowledge of a persian or christian 'god')
Finding no 'formal' (read 'European', read "Christian", read "Roman") basis for 'negotiation'; He informed "head office" who, 'in absentia' formally declared "New South Wales" and all lands attached to it "Terra Nullius". ('empty land' - there are no people here. Several million people 'disappeared' by the stroke of a pen.)
The Persian God must have snuck into Australia 'illegally' and 'unannounced', in the back pocket of Arthur Phillip; without permission, and with him the Empire of the Roman gods of war, conquest, profligacy and waste continue to illegally invade without serious challenge.
(Yeshua of Galilee had a go at trying to counter it, and Aristophanes the Greek wrote a play, " Lysistrata" .
Along with every other instance of flora, fauna and "igneous" - human beings live on a fragile, lonely planet which I call "Mother" Earth. If Dexter pummels Mama much further without relief, if she feels her temperature rising; her lungs eaten by cancer, she may have to call on her Sinister hand for assistance.)
IF, as the Persian/Roman/Christians say, there is 'good' and 'evil' .
Answer me this question.
You are on a boat, somewhere in the ocean. In the distance you espy a large Island, never before seen. Through a telescope you see a mass of various vegetation. There are birds and animals proliferating. You discern that there are NO SIGNS OF HUMAN HABITATION..
Does the devil exist on that island?
We have, methinks, taken our eyes off theBALL GLOBE. It is time to tear our eyes away from the skies "from whence Salvation comes."
Look down, look around. Worship this planet. Love and nurture it. Give your "tithes" to the restoration of "Gaia". It is the only "platform" we have.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/roman_empire.htm
http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/religion.html
http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch15.htm (short history of the rise of Rome)
There is a great deal of discussion at the moment about "immigration" legal or non-legal. My first question is 'when does something become "legal"?
To understand why I made the title a 'statement' instead of a 'question', we first have to delve far back into history
(In the beginning was the word; and the word was "Ogd!", but something became lost in translations .. heh.)
At this point, bear in mind that my paternal grandfather was C of E, and paternal grandmother's families were staunch 'Protestants' - stretching far back into the hills of Scotland. My mother's family began in South Australia from an "illegal" immigrant. Apparently a great-great grandfather was a cabin boy who "jumped ship", changed his name, and disappeared into the bush as a shepherd. We think he came from somewhere in Scandinavia. My Father died six months after I was born, and was raised by my mother for five years.
However, I have also been indoctrinated from birth into the Judeo-Christian notion of "GOD" and have to, mostly, work from within that 'framework'. Viewing the world and its peoples from 'outside' of that framework is not an easy task.
The reason I capitalised 'god' is because my guess is that the Judeo-Christian-Muslim "God of our fathers" began as a philosophical idea put forward by a man named Zoroaster (Zarathustra) who lived in Persia some 1000 years BCE (before Christian era).
Roughly 3000 years ago HE proposed that there were two forces - one "good" (Ahura Mazda) and one "evil" ( ) battling for control over the world.
(In MY beginning, I was a random collection of atoms, congregating in the genes of my ancestors. At first, all was darkness, then light. My eyelids were closed, but slowly opened. I found that I could focus, then tried to make sense out of the chaos that I perceived.)
He also proposed that Ahura Mazda created 'man-gods' to act as "intermediaries" between humans and the 'supreme being'.
(won't go into detail, but you can find a very long essay detailing the basis of my premise here).
From there, the philosophy of a masculine, all powerful, omnipotent Deity travelled through what is now known as the "Middle East", across into northern India; taken to Rome by the Legions, adopted, adapted and transformed by various masculine (sometimes emasculated) priesthoods and Emperors - modified and codified through various 'prophets' to suit local conditions and political climates - especially Constantine of Rome - to split and solidify into what we NOW know as Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
(a very peculiar God indeed. One wonders what they are all squabbling about, since they all working under the same 'God'. Am not surprised that the Christian and Judaic god "cannot be named".. it would link them back to the "original" idea developed in Iran/ Persia.)
IF this God IS All-powerful, All-knowing and Omni-present; I can't help wondering why he/she/it did not know of, and/or was not known in what is now known as South and North America until the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 (CE).
Apparently he/she/it hitched a ride on one of the ships; carried in .. what? A purse? A piece of wood or, perhaps, A BOOK?
Similarly, this god was not known in Australia or New Zealand until the arrival of Captain Cook. Did this Persian god arrive hidden in the in the back pocket of Captain Cook?
(I am neither a scholarly historian nor theologian, and this post is not up for 'serious' discussion, so if anybody wants to 'nit-pick' about details, do it on your own blog).
Captain Arthur Phillip (a human being) set up a colony on the east coast of Australia - formerly known as "Terra Australis Incognito" ('unknown land to the south') in the year 1788 (CE), and tried to "negotiate" with the inhabitants who had been custodians of this ancient land for roughly 40,000 terrestrial years.
(but THEY had no knowledge of a persian or christian 'god')
Finding no 'formal' (read 'European', read "Christian", read "Roman") basis for 'negotiation'; He informed "head office" who, 'in absentia' formally declared "New South Wales" and all lands attached to it "Terra Nullius". ('empty land' - there are no people here. Several million people 'disappeared' by the stroke of a pen.)
The Persian God must have snuck into Australia 'illegally' and 'unannounced', in the back pocket of Arthur Phillip; without permission, and with him the Empire of the Roman gods of war, conquest, profligacy and waste continue to illegally invade without serious challenge.
(Yeshua of Galilee had a go at trying to counter it, and Aristophanes the Greek wrote a play, " Lysistrata" .
Along with every other instance of flora, fauna and "igneous" - human beings live on a fragile, lonely planet which I call "Mother" Earth. If Dexter pummels Mama much further without relief, if she feels her temperature rising; her lungs eaten by cancer, she may have to call on her Sinister hand for assistance.)
IF, as the Persian/Roman/Christians say, there is 'good' and 'evil' .
Answer me this question.
You are on a boat, somewhere in the ocean. In the distance you espy a large Island, never before seen. Through a telescope you see a mass of various vegetation. There are birds and animals proliferating. You discern that there are NO SIGNS OF HUMAN HABITATION..
Does the devil exist on that island?
We have, methinks, taken our eyes off the
Look down, look around. Worship this planet. Love and nurture it. Give your "tithes" to the restoration of "Gaia". It is the only "platform" we have.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/roman_empire.htm
http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/religion.html
http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch15.htm (short history of the rise of Rome)
Saturday, May 13, 2006
1 + 1 = ?? X2
curious.
If a previous system of "central " leaders set up a system of "Private" health insurance, that is taken over and run entirely by "the members" .. how can the next system of government "sell it off".
Is it not "owned by the members"?
The "Government" ceased to 'own' it some time ago.
If a previous system of "central " leaders set up a system of "Private" health insurance, that is taken over and run entirely by "the members" .. how can the next system of government "sell it off".
Is it not "owned by the members"?
The "Government" ceased to 'own' it some time ago.
1 + 1 = ??
Have never been very good at Maths. In my mind 1 + 1 = possible problematical progeny. As a 'solitary' sort of bloke, 3 + 3 = 4 too many.
These days am having trouble trying to figure out the collective logic of Western "civilised" society.
How long can a human being exist without Oxygen? Five minutes? Ten?
How long without water? Two weeks? Five?
How long without a motor vehicle; an electric toothbrush, wide-screen plasma TV etc?
Have been watching the squeals of annoyance about the "high price of oil" with interest. (haven't we all?) Prices generally work on the theory of "Supply and Demand" .. don't they? (well, they would if 'stock market speculators' were taken out of the equation); But Wait…
Went into the local "service station" (a misnomer these days. They are mostly "mini marts" with a cashier) for the weekly 'fill-up' of the Work Wagon. Runs on AutoGas, 47 litresX$0.47 = $21.90. (1 US gallon = [slightly more than] 4 litres)
So, roughly, 12.4 US gallons = $AU 22.00
Petrol retails for $AU 1.30/ litre or roughly $AU 5.20/US gallon..
But here's the interesting bit. Self glances across and sees .. rack upon rack of BOTTLED WATER. $2.70/500ml. That's $5.40/ litre OR $21.60/US gallon.
My, my .. we ARE happy little brainwashed consumers. $5.40/ per litre for something that comes out of a TAP for FREE!!!!. (OK, almost free)
AND THIS IS FOR "PLAIN" WATER. How much money do we waste on "flavoured" and "coloured" water??
Not, of course, counting the COST of manufacturing or trying to "dispose" of the BILLIONS of Petrochemical "containers".
Something is rotten in the State of Consumerism.
OK, don't take my words as gospel .. do yer own research.
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp
http://infochangeindia.org/WaterResourceItop.jsp?section_idv=17 (PS. this link seems to have suddenly become 'unavailable' to me during the writing of this post. Paranoia is a peculiar perception.)
This post prompted by a beautiful series of photographs by Rauf.
Who gives a shit about "oil" wars. The PetroChemical Industry and its sick, psychotic "Marketeers" is small bikkies.
As Western Society continues to defile, desecrate, pollute and COMMERCIALISE the second most precious commodity that this planet has given us .. can feel "water wars" in the offing.
(PS. The current central Australian 'leadership' has 'upped' the bidding by proposing to 'sell off' the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric complex. Oy arseholes, it doesn't 'belong' to you. As the ORIGINAL 'headwater' and main feed supply for the entire Murray-Darling river system, it also 'belongs' to the 'downstream' people. )
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18181209-28737,00.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Snowy-scheme-sale-signed-off-by-Senate/2006/03/29/1143441191918.html
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/natint/stories/s1572539.htm
How far will a politician go .. to find a dollar to feed a vote??
Fromwww.polmar.com/pollution/petrole_e.htm
These days am having trouble trying to figure out the collective logic of Western "civilised" society.
How long can a human being exist without Oxygen? Five minutes? Ten?
How long without water? Two weeks? Five?
How long without a motor vehicle; an electric toothbrush, wide-screen plasma TV etc?
Have been watching the squeals of annoyance about the "high price of oil" with interest. (haven't we all?) Prices generally work on the theory of "Supply and Demand" .. don't they? (well, they would if 'stock market speculators' were taken out of the equation); But Wait…
Went into the local "service station" (a misnomer these days. They are mostly "mini marts" with a cashier) for the weekly 'fill-up' of the Work Wagon. Runs on AutoGas, 47 litresX$0.47 = $21.90. (1 US gallon = [slightly more than] 4 litres)
So, roughly, 12.4 US gallons = $AU 22.00
Petrol retails for $AU 1.30/ litre or roughly $AU 5.20/US gallon..
But here's the interesting bit. Self glances across and sees .. rack upon rack of BOTTLED WATER. $2.70/500ml. That's $5.40/ litre OR $21.60/US gallon.
My, my .. we ARE happy little brainwashed consumers. $5.40/ per litre for something that comes out of a TAP for FREE!!!!. (OK, almost free)
AND THIS IS FOR "PLAIN" WATER. How much money do we waste on "flavoured" and "coloured" water??
Not, of course, counting the COST of manufacturing or trying to "dispose" of the BILLIONS of Petrochemical "containers".
Something is rotten in the State of Consumerism.
OK, don't take my words as gospel .. do yer own research.
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp
http://infochangeindia.org/WaterResourceItop.jsp?section_idv=17 (PS. this link seems to have suddenly become 'unavailable' to me during the writing of this post. Paranoia is a peculiar perception.)
This post prompted by a beautiful series of photographs by Rauf.
Who gives a shit about "oil" wars. The PetroChemical Industry and its sick, psychotic "Marketeers" is small bikkies.
As Western Society continues to defile, desecrate, pollute and COMMERCIALISE the second most precious commodity that this planet has given us .. can feel "water wars" in the offing.
(PS. The current central Australian 'leadership' has 'upped' the bidding by proposing to 'sell off' the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric complex. Oy arseholes, it doesn't 'belong' to you. As the ORIGINAL 'headwater' and main feed supply for the entire Murray-Darling river system, it also 'belongs' to the 'downstream' people. )
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18181209-28737,00.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Snowy-scheme-sale-signed-off-by-Senate/2006/03/29/1143441191918.html
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/natint/stories/s1572539.htm
How far will a politician go .. to find a dollar to feed a vote??
Fromwww.polmar.com/pollution/petrole_e.htm
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Davo on the verge of insanity
Several times, people have said to me
"Davo, you've lost the plot." My standard reply used to be "Nah, I know what the plot is. Who's writing the script?"
Have recently realised that I really don't know what the "plot" is, so thought that I'd go looking for one. Erk! Apparently there are several. Depending on where one looks, there are anything from 3 to 36. Will split the difference and list 20.
"Davo, you've lost the plot." My standard reply used to be "Nah, I know what the plot is. Who's writing the script?"
Have recently realised that I really don't know what the "plot" is, so thought that I'd go looking for one. Erk! Apparently there are several. Depending on where one looks, there are anything from 3 to 36. Will split the difference and list 20.
20 Plots:
Tobias, Ronald B. 20 Master Plots. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1993. (ISBN 0-89879-595-8)
This book proposes twenty basic plots:
1. Quest (been there a couple of times)
2. Adventure (and here)
3. Pursuit (here also)
4. Rescue (not sure about here)
5. Escape (many times)
6. Revenge (am not sure, but probably)
7. The Riddle (can't figure this one out)
8. Rivalry (Yep)
9. Underdog (most of the time)
10. Temptation (frequently)
11. Metamorphosis (sounds scary)
12. Transformation (might try that, one day)
13. Maturation (not yet)
14. Love (several times)
15. Forbidden Love (heh, not telling)
16. Sacrifice (probably)
17. Discovery (only if I knew what I was looking for)
18. Wretched Excess (Ohhh, too often)
19. Ascension (?)
20. Descension. (how low can I go?)
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Beaconsfield community breathes sigh of relief
Todd Russell and Brant Webb, two very tough blokes, walk out of "Two Star" Accommodation.
Media "circus" in full swing mode.
(Only one casualty. Richard Carleton, Senior "60 Minutes" Media personality dropped dead from heart attack while asking "tough question" last Sunday.)
Media "circus" in full swing mode.
(Only one casualty. Richard Carleton, Senior "60 Minutes" Media personality dropped dead from heart attack while asking "tough question" last Sunday.)
Sunday, May 07, 2006
an offbeat analogy
What would a sensible person do?
Witnessing a playground Bully; tempt, taunt and stick fingers into "private parts"..
one of the 'kids on the block' hauls off and whacks Bully on nose.
In retaliation Bully calls in a few friends, Rapes innocent bystanders .. telling them
"This is for your own good."
OK, at this point am 'disconnected' from "reality"; am working on a post named "god is an illegal immigrant" but don't hold yer breath . just some idle thoughts. heh.
Witnessing a playground Bully; tempt, taunt and stick fingers into "private parts"..
one of the 'kids on the block' hauls off and whacks Bully on nose.
In retaliation Bully calls in a few friends, Rapes innocent bystanders .. telling them
"This is for your own good."
OK, at this point am 'disconnected' from "reality"; am working on a post named "god is an illegal immigrant" but don't hold yer breath . just some idle thoughts. heh.
Cut and paste..
folly' n. silliness or weakness of mind: a foolish thing: a monument of folly, as a great useless structure, or one left unfinished having been begun without a reckoning of the cost: (obs) sin.
The notion should be vaguely amusing, but it seems to me that the results of US actions abroad are - well - terrifying. If 'al Qaeda' really means 'the foundation', I wonder where the foundation of much of the terror gripping the world today really originates. Whatever one thinks about Osama binLaden and his methods, apparently he is not silly. Words are curious things, and can be used in a multitude of ways. "Shock and Awe" has been used as a euphemism. Well, that worked. I was "shocked" - that a nation which has spent multi trillions of dollars on 'weapons of mass destruction' as a 'deterrent' against attack should then be so afraid as to send an invasion force halfway across the world to attack and destroy a country already crippled by sanctions - and "awed" by the sheer, bare-faced hypocrisy of it all.
Actually, awed is not the right word. "Appalled" would be better.
For a Nation whose 'public' intention is to foster and spread 'peace', 'freedom' and 'democracy' around the world - then be willing, in the first instance, to completely ignore the democratic process of the United Nations and create a 'war' is nothing short of criminal. (It is no 'accident' or 'oversight ' that the US refuses to become a party to the International War Crimes Tribunal.) When prevailed upon to seek a further resolution from the Security Council, had to concoct a tissue of lies, propaganda and deceit to force a decision to conduct an invasion. Even so, were never given a clear mandate, and the 'legality' of the invasion will be argued about for generations.
(At least Colin Powell had the dignity and grace to 'fall on his sword', afterwards.)
If the intention IS to spread 'peace', 'freedom' and 'democracy' in the true spirit of those words - then they are doing a particularly bad job of it.
When the Romans, and indeed the British, created their Empires, they had a policy of continuing support and loyalty for the Allies who helped them create it. Quite a lot of that loyalty still exists today. By and large, they left behind stable political and social structures to be proud of.
From my brief readings about US foreign methods, they have no such policy, and have a history of turning against any previous allies when an immediate, short term goal arises.
This has disturbing implications for Australian policy makers.
Am including the following extract for consideration. Am not sure who wrote it (wasn't me), apparently an American. Even if half of it is true, there are some disturbing implications.
David.
(some background for the following http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/ and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA though the extract is not from there )
DJH 2005
Anonymous said...
The revelations that US troops have tortured and murdered Iraqi prisoners has shocked and concerned many people around the world. However, the revelations really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
American atrocities started when the nation was first formed with the genocide against Native Americans and torture has been an integral but mostly secret part of US policy since the second world war. After the war the US protected the worst Nazis so that it could learn from them and adopt their torture techniques.
After the CIA was officially formed it made torture part of its policy and exported its use around the world. In 1953 the CIA started Operation Phoenix, a program of torture and murder of civilians in Vietnam. Around the same time the US overthrew Iran's democratic government and put the Shah in power. The CIA created, trained and managed Iran's dreaded SAVAK secret police which tortured and murdered countless people. After the country of Chile dared to embrace democracy and elect a President not chosen by the US, the US was quick to install the brutal dictator Pinochet who tortured and murdered tens of thousands. CIA controlled death squads in Central America brutally tortured and murdered over 200,000 people during the 80's. Millions of others have been killed around the world as a direct result of US policy.
Torture was widely taught in the US School of the Americas to people who came to be known as some of the world's most monstrous violators of human rights. Amnesty International cites the United States as the largest international supplier of electro-shock weapons to governments that practice electro-shock torture. $3 million worth of electro-shock devices were sold to Saudi Arabia in 1990.
However, it is not only the CIA & military that has been guilty of conducting torture. The Chicago police department used brutal torture techniques against non-white prisoners up until the mid 80's. Throughout the US prison system, torture and rape are routine. In fact, the situation has been so bad that in 2000 the UN delivered a severe public rebuke to the United States for its record on preventing torture and degrading punishment. Amnesty International has repeatedly denounced U.S. police forces for "a pattern of unchecked excessive force amounting to torture."
The so-called 'War on Terror' is being used to create a culture of brutality from the highest level. Mass media has suggested that torture is necessary to protect American lives. The January 2001 cover of The Atlantic Monthly asked in large print, "MUST WE TORTURE?" Terrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman from Rand Corporation suggested that torture is necessary to protect American interests. It has been suggested by many Americans that torture be legalized.
The reality is that torture is not a good method of extracting information. Information obtained under torture is not reliable and a person who is tortured will make up whatever information is wanted just to stop the torture. A skilled interrogator can get the information they need without torture. Even the CIA's own "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual--1983:" says:
"Intense pain is quite likely to produce false confessions, fabricated to avoid additional punishment. This results in a time-consuming delay while an investigation is conducted and the admissions are proven untrue. During this respite, the subject can pull himself together and may even use the time to devise a more complex confession that takes still longer to disprove."
The advanced intelligence gathering technique of remote viewing can obtain information from a distance. This technique was used extensively to identify bombing targets in the first attack of Iraq and to probe the plans and intentions of Saddam Hussein in a daily basis. Non-harmful mind control techniques can also be used to extract information. From a technical aspect, torture is simply not necessary.
The brutality against the Iraqis isn't even about extracting information, it is merely brutality for its own sake. The question is why does the US government allow and promote torture?
Making Enemies
Most people are peaceful and more concerned with their own well-being than with invading another country. Lacking any real enemies, American foreign policy has intentionally created enemies and conflict to support the defense industry and further the goals of the ruling elite for the last 50 years.
Vietnam - The Vietnamese war was a good example of how the US creates enemies to further its own agenda. During WWII , Ho Chi Minh lead the resistant on behalf of the Allied Powers against the Japanese under an agreement that Vietnam be given its freedom from French domination after the war ended. Ho Chi Minh kept his side of the bargain and on August 17, 1945 he broadcast:
"We were fighting Japs on the side of the United Nations. Now Japs Surrendered. We beg the United Nations to realize their solemn promise that all nationalities be given democracy and independence. If United Nations forget their solemn promise and don't give Indochina full independence, we will keep fighting until we get it."
On September 2, 1945 a band marched through Hanoi playing the Star Spangled Banner. Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese Independence and began his speech with "All men are created equal." Yet, the dream of Vietnamese democracy was not to be. The country was divided and South Vietnam was given back to the French. The US betrayed the Vietnamese and supported French oppression. The US even offered the French atomic weapons to use against the Vietnamese, which the French fortunately declined.
It was only after the betrayal by the US that Ho Chi Minh turned to Russia for the help needed to defeat the French and truly became 'communist'. The US had effectively turned an ally into an enemy and destroyed democracy in 'Indo China'.
By 1954 the US was paying for 78% of the French war against the Vietnamese. After the French were defeated in May 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva Accords temporarily divided Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh ceded the North, and French puppet Bao Dai's regime granted the South. The accords also provided for elections to be held in all of Vietnam within two years to reunify the country. The US opposed the unifying elections, fearing a likely victory by Ho Chi Minh, and refused to sign the Geneva accords - further denying the Vietnamese the possibility of democracy.
As the French left, the US stepped in to control the South. The CIA's Phoenix Operation began almost immediately after the US takeover in 1954. Under US management the South Vietnamese secret police dished out live burnings, garroting, rape, torture, sabotage - much of which was blamed on the Vietcong. Over 50,000 civilians were tortured and murdered at the hands of the CIA & military intelligence. In all, over a million Vietnamese were killed by US forces. The land mines, unexploded ordinance and death from chemical contamination have killed and crippled countless more.
Richard Nixon admitted in his final days that he had escalated the war against Vietnam merely for the defense industry to sell more weapons.
It was in the early days of the fighting in Vietnam that a Vietcong officer said to his American prisoner: "You were our heroes after the War. We read American books and saw American films, and a common phrase in those days was 'to be as rich and as wise as an American'. What happened?"
Iraq - US involvement in Iraq goes back several decades and parallels British domination of the country early in the century. In 1958 the CIA hired Saddam Hussein to assassinate the President of Iraq - Abdel Karim Qassim. It wasn't until 1963 that Hussein and the US were successful in overthrowing the Iraqi government. In the process 5,000 were killed. Immediately after the coup Saddam rounded up and murdered another 800 people on a list prepared by the CIA of potentianl opponents. However, the new Ba'athist regime had little popular support and was replaced by rival army officers 9 months later. With more CIA help Saddam regained control and was kept in power until the US invaded Iraq in 2003.
In his book "October Surprise", Gary Sick details how Bush-Reagan used arms and cash to bribe the Iranians to keep the American hostages until after the election to prevent Jimmy Carter from being re-elected 1980. The Iranians kept their part of the deal and the hostage's release was announced the day Reagan was sworn into office. The US continued to clandestinely supply Iran with weapons to help pay for its illegal war against democracy in Nicaragua in what came to be known as Iran-Contra. At the same time it supplied Iraq with its chemical and biological weapons to use against Iran.
In 1986 Reagan sent Saddam a secret message telling him that he should step us his bombing of Iran. Iran is suing the US & Germany for supplying Iraq with the illegal chemical and bio weapons used against them in the CIA directed war of 1980-1988.
Up until Iraq's US approved invasion of Kuwait, the US Department of Defense training manuals sang the praises of Saddam Hussein, noting how he had vastly improved education, medical care, and the standard of living of his people. His regime was called one of the most enlightened, progressive governments in the region.
As Iraq massed it troops on the Kuwaiti border in preparation for invasion, the US watched on in complete silence. Ever loyal to US interests and his CIA handlers, Saddam invaded Kuwait to support the administration of George Bush and ensure support for long-term military bases in the Middle East. After killing 500,000 Iraqis, the US then setup Saddam's opponents so that Saddam could eliminate any active opposition to his brutal regime.
To further the suffering of the Iraqi people and set them up for future events, the brutal and meaningless sanctions were imposed. At the International Court On Crimes Against Humanity, US, British and UN officials were charged with 'causing the deaths of more than 1,500,000 people including 750,000 children under five, and injury to the entire population of Iraq by genocidal sanctions.' While the Iraqis were suffering and dying for no good reason, Saddam lived in unimaginable luxury.
The hatred of the Iraqi people towards the US, who put Saddam in power and kept him in power for over 25 years is only being deepened by US actions.
There was never any intention of "winning Iraqi hearts and minds". The 'revelations' about the US torturing Iraqis is merely a way to fan the flames of hatred against Americans.
"We have heard that a half million children have died," said "60 Minutes" reporter Lesley Stahl, speaking of US sanctions against Iraq. "I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And -- and you know, is the price worth it?" Her guest, in May 1996, U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright, responded: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price -- we think the price is worth it."
Other countries - Throughout the world the US has overthrown democracies, installed dictators, setup brutal secret police and death squads, and created conflict where none existed. Anywhere true democracy might rear its ugly head, the US is there to quickly chop it off and put one of its brutal puppets in place. Wherever brutality and corruption exists the US is usually somewhere behind the scenes manipulating events. In the process, the US has caused unimaginable suffering and deprived the world of hope.
The negative impact of US foreign policy is so great that the path of human evolution has been altered. The covert CIA coups and wars have deprived entire continents of the opportunity to climb out of poverty and eliminated generations of potential humane leaders. The environment is being destroyed with projects approved by US puppet governments with money loaned by the IMF and World Bank and then stolen by US Corporations, leaving the impoverished public to pay off the debt. Global warming is very real and causing billions in damage every year, yet the US continues to suppress alternative energy and worship the dark god of oil.
The Great Lie
I was raised to believe that America is the "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave". I was seriously misinformed. America truly is "the great satan". American mass media continues to project an image of the US as the "bastion of democracy" and "leader of the free world" - yet, few people other than Americans believe it any more.
The Real Agenda
Just as past American atrocities have created wars and conflicts, the current atrocities will result in more conflict, loss of life and environmental destruction. The preparations for the war against 'terrorism' have been going on for at least 20 years. In partnership with the Saudi ruling family, the global ruling elite has radicalized Islam through mind control facilities disguised as religious schools. In these schools they create the 'terrorists' needed for an enemy. Without the CIA, Saudi 'schools' and Israeli abuse of Palestinians there simply wouldn't be a threat from muslim 'terrorists'.
If the US had not stolen democracy from so many countries in the first place, muslim fundamentalism wouldn't have grown to the level it is now.
This time there is no adversary capable of standing up the US. The continued war will be one against freedom, democracy and life as the American military empire and its minions expand control gradually over more of the globe in the name of 'fighting terrorism' and the creation of a global corporate police state.
26 June, 2005 21:16
The notion should be vaguely amusing, but it seems to me that the results of US actions abroad are - well - terrifying. If 'al Qaeda' really means 'the foundation', I wonder where the foundation of much of the terror gripping the world today really originates. Whatever one thinks about Osama binLaden and his methods, apparently he is not silly. Words are curious things, and can be used in a multitude of ways. "Shock and Awe" has been used as a euphemism. Well, that worked. I was "shocked" - that a nation which has spent multi trillions of dollars on 'weapons of mass destruction' as a 'deterrent' against attack should then be so afraid as to send an invasion force halfway across the world to attack and destroy a country already crippled by sanctions - and "awed" by the sheer, bare-faced hypocrisy of it all.
Actually, awed is not the right word. "Appalled" would be better.
For a Nation whose 'public' intention is to foster and spread 'peace', 'freedom' and 'democracy' around the world - then be willing, in the first instance, to completely ignore the democratic process of the United Nations and create a 'war' is nothing short of criminal. (It is no 'accident' or 'oversight ' that the US refuses to become a party to the International War Crimes Tribunal.) When prevailed upon to seek a further resolution from the Security Council, had to concoct a tissue of lies, propaganda and deceit to force a decision to conduct an invasion. Even so, were never given a clear mandate, and the 'legality' of the invasion will be argued about for generations.
(At least Colin Powell had the dignity and grace to 'fall on his sword', afterwards.)
If the intention IS to spread 'peace', 'freedom' and 'democracy' in the true spirit of those words - then they are doing a particularly bad job of it.
When the Romans, and indeed the British, created their Empires, they had a policy of continuing support and loyalty for the Allies who helped them create it. Quite a lot of that loyalty still exists today. By and large, they left behind stable political and social structures to be proud of.
From my brief readings about US foreign methods, they have no such policy, and have a history of turning against any previous allies when an immediate, short term goal arises.
This has disturbing implications for Australian policy makers.
Am including the following extract for consideration. Am not sure who wrote it (wasn't me), apparently an American. Even if half of it is true, there are some disturbing implications.
David.
(some background for the following http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/ and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA though the extract is not from there )
DJH 2005
Anonymous said...
The revelations that US troops have tortured and murdered Iraqi prisoners has shocked and concerned many people around the world. However, the revelations really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
American atrocities started when the nation was first formed with the genocide against Native Americans and torture has been an integral but mostly secret part of US policy since the second world war. After the war the US protected the worst Nazis so that it could learn from them and adopt their torture techniques.
After the CIA was officially formed it made torture part of its policy and exported its use around the world. In 1953 the CIA started Operation Phoenix, a program of torture and murder of civilians in Vietnam. Around the same time the US overthrew Iran's democratic government and put the Shah in power. The CIA created, trained and managed Iran's dreaded SAVAK secret police which tortured and murdered countless people. After the country of Chile dared to embrace democracy and elect a President not chosen by the US, the US was quick to install the brutal dictator Pinochet who tortured and murdered tens of thousands. CIA controlled death squads in Central America brutally tortured and murdered over 200,000 people during the 80's. Millions of others have been killed around the world as a direct result of US policy.
Torture was widely taught in the US School of the Americas to people who came to be known as some of the world's most monstrous violators of human rights. Amnesty International cites the United States as the largest international supplier of electro-shock weapons to governments that practice electro-shock torture. $3 million worth of electro-shock devices were sold to Saudi Arabia in 1990.
However, it is not only the CIA & military that has been guilty of conducting torture. The Chicago police department used brutal torture techniques against non-white prisoners up until the mid 80's. Throughout the US prison system, torture and rape are routine. In fact, the situation has been so bad that in 2000 the UN delivered a severe public rebuke to the United States for its record on preventing torture and degrading punishment. Amnesty International has repeatedly denounced U.S. police forces for "a pattern of unchecked excessive force amounting to torture."
The so-called 'War on Terror' is being used to create a culture of brutality from the highest level. Mass media has suggested that torture is necessary to protect American lives. The January 2001 cover of The Atlantic Monthly asked in large print, "MUST WE TORTURE?" Terrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman from Rand Corporation suggested that torture is necessary to protect American interests. It has been suggested by many Americans that torture be legalized.
The reality is that torture is not a good method of extracting information. Information obtained under torture is not reliable and a person who is tortured will make up whatever information is wanted just to stop the torture. A skilled interrogator can get the information they need without torture. Even the CIA's own "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual--1983:" says:
"Intense pain is quite likely to produce false confessions, fabricated to avoid additional punishment. This results in a time-consuming delay while an investigation is conducted and the admissions are proven untrue. During this respite, the subject can pull himself together and may even use the time to devise a more complex confession that takes still longer to disprove."
The advanced intelligence gathering technique of remote viewing can obtain information from a distance. This technique was used extensively to identify bombing targets in the first attack of Iraq and to probe the plans and intentions of Saddam Hussein in a daily basis. Non-harmful mind control techniques can also be used to extract information. From a technical aspect, torture is simply not necessary.
The brutality against the Iraqis isn't even about extracting information, it is merely brutality for its own sake. The question is why does the US government allow and promote torture?
Making Enemies
Most people are peaceful and more concerned with their own well-being than with invading another country. Lacking any real enemies, American foreign policy has intentionally created enemies and conflict to support the defense industry and further the goals of the ruling elite for the last 50 years.
Vietnam - The Vietnamese war was a good example of how the US creates enemies to further its own agenda. During WWII , Ho Chi Minh lead the resistant on behalf of the Allied Powers against the Japanese under an agreement that Vietnam be given its freedom from French domination after the war ended. Ho Chi Minh kept his side of the bargain and on August 17, 1945 he broadcast:
"We were fighting Japs on the side of the United Nations. Now Japs Surrendered. We beg the United Nations to realize their solemn promise that all nationalities be given democracy and independence. If United Nations forget their solemn promise and don't give Indochina full independence, we will keep fighting until we get it."
On September 2, 1945 a band marched through Hanoi playing the Star Spangled Banner. Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese Independence and began his speech with "All men are created equal." Yet, the dream of Vietnamese democracy was not to be. The country was divided and South Vietnam was given back to the French. The US betrayed the Vietnamese and supported French oppression. The US even offered the French atomic weapons to use against the Vietnamese, which the French fortunately declined.
It was only after the betrayal by the US that Ho Chi Minh turned to Russia for the help needed to defeat the French and truly became 'communist'. The US had effectively turned an ally into an enemy and destroyed democracy in 'Indo China'.
By 1954 the US was paying for 78% of the French war against the Vietnamese. After the French were defeated in May 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva Accords temporarily divided Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh ceded the North, and French puppet Bao Dai's regime granted the South. The accords also provided for elections to be held in all of Vietnam within two years to reunify the country. The US opposed the unifying elections, fearing a likely victory by Ho Chi Minh, and refused to sign the Geneva accords - further denying the Vietnamese the possibility of democracy.
As the French left, the US stepped in to control the South. The CIA's Phoenix Operation began almost immediately after the US takeover in 1954. Under US management the South Vietnamese secret police dished out live burnings, garroting, rape, torture, sabotage - much of which was blamed on the Vietcong. Over 50,000 civilians were tortured and murdered at the hands of the CIA & military intelligence. In all, over a million Vietnamese were killed by US forces. The land mines, unexploded ordinance and death from chemical contamination have killed and crippled countless more.
Richard Nixon admitted in his final days that he had escalated the war against Vietnam merely for the defense industry to sell more weapons.
It was in the early days of the fighting in Vietnam that a Vietcong officer said to his American prisoner: "You were our heroes after the War. We read American books and saw American films, and a common phrase in those days was 'to be as rich and as wise as an American'. What happened?"
Iraq - US involvement in Iraq goes back several decades and parallels British domination of the country early in the century. In 1958 the CIA hired Saddam Hussein to assassinate the President of Iraq - Abdel Karim Qassim. It wasn't until 1963 that Hussein and the US were successful in overthrowing the Iraqi government. In the process 5,000 were killed. Immediately after the coup Saddam rounded up and murdered another 800 people on a list prepared by the CIA of potentianl opponents. However, the new Ba'athist regime had little popular support and was replaced by rival army officers 9 months later. With more CIA help Saddam regained control and was kept in power until the US invaded Iraq in 2003.
In his book "October Surprise", Gary Sick details how Bush-Reagan used arms and cash to bribe the Iranians to keep the American hostages until after the election to prevent Jimmy Carter from being re-elected 1980. The Iranians kept their part of the deal and the hostage's release was announced the day Reagan was sworn into office. The US continued to clandestinely supply Iran with weapons to help pay for its illegal war against democracy in Nicaragua in what came to be known as Iran-Contra. At the same time it supplied Iraq with its chemical and biological weapons to use against Iran.
In 1986 Reagan sent Saddam a secret message telling him that he should step us his bombing of Iran. Iran is suing the US & Germany for supplying Iraq with the illegal chemical and bio weapons used against them in the CIA directed war of 1980-1988.
Up until Iraq's US approved invasion of Kuwait, the US Department of Defense training manuals sang the praises of Saddam Hussein, noting how he had vastly improved education, medical care, and the standard of living of his people. His regime was called one of the most enlightened, progressive governments in the region.
As Iraq massed it troops on the Kuwaiti border in preparation for invasion, the US watched on in complete silence. Ever loyal to US interests and his CIA handlers, Saddam invaded Kuwait to support the administration of George Bush and ensure support for long-term military bases in the Middle East. After killing 500,000 Iraqis, the US then setup Saddam's opponents so that Saddam could eliminate any active opposition to his brutal regime.
To further the suffering of the Iraqi people and set them up for future events, the brutal and meaningless sanctions were imposed. At the International Court On Crimes Against Humanity, US, British and UN officials were charged with 'causing the deaths of more than 1,500,000 people including 750,000 children under five, and injury to the entire population of Iraq by genocidal sanctions.' While the Iraqis were suffering and dying for no good reason, Saddam lived in unimaginable luxury.
The hatred of the Iraqi people towards the US, who put Saddam in power and kept him in power for over 25 years is only being deepened by US actions.
There was never any intention of "winning Iraqi hearts and minds". The 'revelations' about the US torturing Iraqis is merely a way to fan the flames of hatred against Americans.
"We have heard that a half million children have died," said "60 Minutes" reporter Lesley Stahl, speaking of US sanctions against Iraq. "I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And -- and you know, is the price worth it?" Her guest, in May 1996, U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright, responded: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price -- we think the price is worth it."
Other countries - Throughout the world the US has overthrown democracies, installed dictators, setup brutal secret police and death squads, and created conflict where none existed. Anywhere true democracy might rear its ugly head, the US is there to quickly chop it off and put one of its brutal puppets in place. Wherever brutality and corruption exists the US is usually somewhere behind the scenes manipulating events. In the process, the US has caused unimaginable suffering and deprived the world of hope.
The negative impact of US foreign policy is so great that the path of human evolution has been altered. The covert CIA coups and wars have deprived entire continents of the opportunity to climb out of poverty and eliminated generations of potential humane leaders. The environment is being destroyed with projects approved by US puppet governments with money loaned by the IMF and World Bank and then stolen by US Corporations, leaving the impoverished public to pay off the debt. Global warming is very real and causing billions in damage every year, yet the US continues to suppress alternative energy and worship the dark god of oil.
The Great Lie
I was raised to believe that America is the "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave". I was seriously misinformed. America truly is "the great satan". American mass media continues to project an image of the US as the "bastion of democracy" and "leader of the free world" - yet, few people other than Americans believe it any more.
The Real Agenda
Just as past American atrocities have created wars and conflicts, the current atrocities will result in more conflict, loss of life and environmental destruction. The preparations for the war against 'terrorism' have been going on for at least 20 years. In partnership with the Saudi ruling family, the global ruling elite has radicalized Islam through mind control facilities disguised as religious schools. In these schools they create the 'terrorists' needed for an enemy. Without the CIA, Saudi 'schools' and Israeli abuse of Palestinians there simply wouldn't be a threat from muslim 'terrorists'.
If the US had not stolen democracy from so many countries in the first place, muslim fundamentalism wouldn't have grown to the level it is now.
This time there is no adversary capable of standing up the US. The continued war will be one against freedom, democracy and life as the American military empire and its minions expand control gradually over more of the globe in the name of 'fighting terrorism' and the creation of a global corporate police state.
26 June, 2005 21:16
Another question
You are a guest on a yacht. Not flash, built by owner.
It is launched, and heads out on inaugural trip.You see it heading toward a sandbank.
Whaddya do?
It is launched, and heads out on inaugural trip.You see it heading toward a sandbank.
Whaddya do?
A question ..
for the passers by.
What would you do if you spotted an older woman, laying on the pavement, signs of short of breath?
What would you do if you spotted an older woman, laying on the pavement, signs of short of breath?
Saturday, May 06, 2006
So close, and yet ..
Mother Earth can be capricious.
So far so good. Thanks to all 'pray' - ers (and whatever god you 'subscribe' to).
The most delicate stage is yet to happen.
Examiner - Tasmania
The Advertiser - Adelaide
So far so good. Thanks to all 'pray' - ers (and whatever god you 'subscribe' to).
The most delicate stage is yet to happen.
Examiner - Tasmania
The Advertiser - Adelaide
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Trapped Miners still in good spirits
TWO miners still trapped in a Tasmanian gold mine as a powerful machine slowly bores them a tunnel to freedom.
The high-tech borer began chewing through 12m of solid rock separating Todd Russell and Brant Webb from their rescuers.
The rock is harder than concrete and boring a one-metre wide escape tunnel for the pair could spill into the weekend.
more -
The high-tech borer began chewing through 12m of solid rock separating Todd Russell and Brant Webb from their rescuers.
The rock is harder than concrete and boring a one-metre wide escape tunnel for the pair could spill into the weekend.
more -
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Rescue will take days
Copied from local newspaper.
TWELVE METRES
FROM FREEDOM:
RESCUE WILL TAKE DAYS
By JOHN FERGUSON
02may06
TWO miners caught in the Tasmanian mine collapse will remain trapped underground for days, as rescuers are forced to delicately chip through 12 metres of solid rock to free them.
Todd Russell and Brant Webb received food and water yesterday for the first time in six days, but are wet and cramped in a tiny cage pinned under a rock.
The miners are being fed biscuits, a special nutritional supplement and water, and are under medication almost a week after an earthquake caused a rockfall that killed one of their colleagues as it trapped them nearly a kilometre underground.
Mr Russell, 35, and Mr Webb, 37, survived by drinking groundwater from their mine shaft and are stuck in a dark space of no more than 1.5m 1.5m.
Their conditions were detailed last night by Beaconsfield Gold Mine manager Matthew Gill, who said they may yet be trapped for days. They are at grave risk of being smothered by more rock falls and are helping guide the rescue team on the safest methods of getting to them for the retrieval.
Mr Gill said there had been a clear message from the men trapped beneath the tiny town of Beaconsfield, about 40km northwest of Launceston.
"We asked them what do you need and they said: 'Food, water and to get out'," he said.
"We are still some time off getting them out.
"We must stress the conditions are very difficult and dangerous and people should not underestimate the difficulty in getting them out safely. This work has to proceed very carefully."
The men received their food and medication via a 12-metre long pipe cut into the rock-face. It is made of PVC and the food and water was pushed down it.
Feeding the men yesterday afternoon was a major breakthrough for rescuers who had said they could not be moved until they had been rehydrated and fed.
But the going is still considered extremely tough as the mine owners, the main union and the Tasmanian Government warned against overconfidence.
The deadline for their retrieval from nearly a kilometre below the mine was pushed back by at least 12 hours – and probably more – yesterday.
Rescuers were asked if they could supply at least one of the men with bacon and eggs after they first made contact early on Sunday evening.
The light-hearted request belied the intense danger both men still face.
Australian Workers Union national secretary Bill Shorten warned yesterday that there were immense dangers associated with the operation. "This is going to be long and difficult."
His concerns were shared by Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon who warned that the original 48-hour deadline no longer existed.
Family and friends of the two men – including Mr Russell's son Trent – were yesterday taken into the heart of the mine's business operations.
Mr Russell's father, Noel, said he was elated when he heard his son was still alive.
"I felt as though I wanted to get on my hands and knees and dig," he said.
His wife, Kay, said not knowing whether her son was dead or alive was the problem that caused her the most grief. "It was the waiting and not knowing," she said.
A national rescue effort was under way yesterday to help retrieve the men from their predicament, with tonnes of drilling equipment and winches trucked into the mine compound.
Also sent in was a massive crane, piping and wood, probably to help stabilise the walls during the rescue effort. Rescuers are attempting to drill into the area where tremors dislodged rocks and trapped the two men.
A third man, Larry Knight, 44, died when an earthquake measuring 2.2 on the Richter scale sparked an underground rockfall at the mine.
Fourteen miners escaped unharmed, while Mr Knight was killed and the other two men were trapped in the tiny cage.
Of equal concern to the mine operators is the potential for rescuers to be caught up in any potential rock slides sparked by drilling in the sensitive part of the mine.
Mr Lennon said the trapped miners were providing crucial information on how they could be saved.
"They are providing a lot of intelligence to the rescue teams, which is influencing how they get them out," he said.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Australia Values.
There is a bittuva discussion in Australia at the moment about whether immigrants (and refugees) should have a good understanding of the English language, and "Australian Values" before being granted Citizenship.
"Australian Values" ?? A nebulous concept at the best of times.
However, this story typifies ONE aspect of those "values".
This sequence was taken (but not 'word for word') from the Adelaide 'Advertiser' Monday May 1st.. link will change).
There is much more detail - hidden among the hype and speculation - in the local rags… but .."in good spirits"??
Five days in pitch darkness, no contact with outside world? Surviving on drips of water from the rocks.
Dunno what you lot think but this stands as an Aussie record.
The bits that 'got' me are apocryphal at the moment but ..
"How are ya?"
"O.K. Bloody hungry. Who won the footy?".
Quote from Todd Russell's mum. "Todd's putting in for meal allowance, overtime pay, and 'living away from home' allowance."
There is still 24 hours (more or less) to wait.
"Australian Values" ?? A nebulous concept at the best of times.
However, this story typifies ONE aspect of those "values".
On Tuesday 25th April, 8.53 pm, a large rockfall traps three miners - Todd Russell, 35; Brant Webb, 36; and 44 year old Larry Knight - deep underground at the Beaconsfield Gold mine in Northern Tasmania.
Wednesday April 26th.
A remote controlled heavy earthmoving loader is equipped with two cameras and begins to work into the rockfall.
Thursday April 27th.
2am. Loader begins removing first of two known rock falls in mine.
6.30am. Loader begins removing rock from second area, where the three men were last seen.
6.52am. Body of Larry Knight found by loader. Search continues for other miners. Rescue crews begin drilling a second tunnel from alternative area some 30 metres distant from trapped men.
Friday April 28.
Blasting begins in rescue tunnel.
Saturday April 29.
Progress is slow; 4 mtrs every 12 hours.
Sunday April 30th.
6.50 pm. Beaconsfield Gold Mine announces contact with trapped men. They are alive and in good spirits. Rescue tunnel estimated to take another 48 hours.
This sequence was taken (but not 'word for word') from the Adelaide 'Advertiser' Monday May 1st.. link will change).
There is much more detail - hidden among the hype and speculation - in the local rags… but .."in good spirits"??
Five days in pitch darkness, no contact with outside world? Surviving on drips of water from the rocks.
Dunno what you lot think but this stands as an Aussie record.
The bits that 'got' me are apocryphal at the moment but ..
"How are ya?"
"O.K. Bloody hungry. Who won the footy?".
Quote from Todd Russell's mum. "Todd's putting in for meal allowance, overtime pay, and 'living away from home' allowance."
There is still 24 hours (more or less) to wait.
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