May 27, 2004
surviving commuting
recently i've been asked more and more frequently about commuting between brighton and london. commuting, held in much sensible dread by sane people, does have some undisclosed upsides:
conversly there are of course numerous annoyances:
May 25, 2004
christian exodus
christian exodus is taking a leaf out of herzl to try and organise the migration of all the godfearing in america to a single US state with the intention of then declaring independance from the union. the prospect of the new states' militia operating a guerilla war against the neighbouring states of sodom is irresistable.
May 24, 2004
on photography
susan sontag on abu ghraib in this mornings guardian
"...the photographs are us. That is, they are representative of distinctive policies and of the fundamental corruptions of colonial rule. The Belgians in the Congo, the French in Algeria, committed identical atrocities and practised torture and sexual humiliation on despised, recalcitrant natives. Add to this corruption, the mystifying, near-total unpreparedness of the American rulers of Iraq to deal with the complex realities of an Iraq after its "liberation" - that is, conquest. And add to that the overarching, distinctive doctrines of the Bush administration, namely that the United States has embarked on an endless war (against a protean enemy called "terrorism"), and that those detained in this war are "unlawful combatants" - a policy enunciated by Rumsfeld as early as January 2002 - and therefore "do not have any rights" under the Geneva convention, and you have a perfect recipe for the cruelties and crimes committed against the thousands incarcerated without charges and access to lawyers in American-run prisons that have been set up as part of the response to the attack of September 11 2001. Endless war produces the option of endless detention, which is subject to no judicial review."
May 20, 2004
Lines for Translation into Any Language
1. I saw that the shanty town had grown over the graves and
that the crowd lived among the memorials.
2. It was never very cold; a parachute slung between an angel
and an urn afforded shelter for newcomers.
3. Wooden beds were essential.
4. These people kept their supplies of gasoline in litre bottles,
which the children sold at the cemetery gates.
5. That night the city was attacked with rockets.
6. The firebrigade bided its time.
7. The people dug for money beneath their beds, to pay
the firemen.
8. The shanty town was destroyed, the cemetery restored.
9. Seeing a plane shot down, not far from the airport, many of
the foreign community took fright.
10. The next day, they joined the queues in the gymnasium,
asking to leave.
11. When the victorious army arrived, they were welcomed by
the firebrigade.
12. This was the only spontaneous demonstration in their favour.
13. Other spontaneous demonstrations in their favour were
organised by the victors.
James Fenton
in palestine
Peter Hansen, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, said: “In recent days the intensity of demolitions has seen a dramatic increase in the numbers of lost buildings in Gaza. Now UNRWA has the job of dealing with the human tragedy behind each demolition – the distressed children in its schools, the homeless families in need of basics like blankets, food and water, and the communities shaken by the stress of ceaseless conflict.”
He added: “We are extremely alarmed that even more demolitions are planned. Already huge swathes of Rafah have been flattened, to the extent that some families have experienced the trauma of demolition more than once. With these disproportionate military operations, Israel is in grave breach of international humanitarian law. This collective punishment can do nothing to calm the situation in Gaza or enhance Israel’s own security.”
press release from The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (PDF)
today i've been listening to the death of klinghoffer
My father’s house was razed
In nineteen forty-eight
When the Israelis
Passed over our street
chorus of the exiled palestinians
May 19, 2004
the rapture index meets middle-east policy
it just keeps getting scarier, report from the village voice:
"it was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued fiery warnings that "the Presidents [sic] Administration and current Government is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level"—this to a group whose representative in Israel believed herself to have been attacked by witchcraft unleashed by proximity to a volume of Harry Potter. Most of all, apparently, we're not supposed to know the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios. "
May 17, 2004
cross party agreement on civil partnerships begins to fade
just as massachusetts starts issuing state approved marriage licences the impressive cross party support on civil partnerships begins to fade as the bill reaches committee stage. the usual suspects are at work to downgrade the partnerships to contract-level and exclude northen ireland. ironically belfast is undergoing a discreet gay renaissance and the embedded homophobia in the legislatures is begining to meet serious challenges for the first time.
May 16, 2004
Vonnegut fulminates
"But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas."
inthesetimes
May 13, 2004
wirless-a-go-go
finally i am wireless. i failed and failed to get the new airport base station i brought in america to work so called in the expert.....ian, who has made everything work. i am now investigating room specific laptop activities.
May 12, 2004
May 06, 2004
May 05, 2004
Daniel Ellsberg and Sibel Edmonds on whistleblowing
caught this on the excellent democracy now breakfast show in northen california last week:
"We speak with two whistleblowers from different eras about their experiences in speaking out: Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator hired to translate pre-9/11 intelligence, has said the U.S. had considerable evidence that al Qaida was planning to strike the U.S. with airplanes. The Bush administration is now trying to block her from testifying at a major 9/11 lawsuit. And Daniel Ellsberg, perhaps the most famous whistleblower in U.S. history who leaked the Pentagon Papers setting in motion actions that would eventually topple the Nixon presidency and end the Vietnam war."
one of the notable features of democracy now's tv programme is the very odd music, ""Drummers of the Nile" here on Democracy Now!"
May 04, 2004
adbusters history lesson
US military intervention 1801-2004, also the amusing guide to left and right media.
