"Anyone who undermines the state will be punished by death." - Colonel Gaddafi
"Israel views this Iranian move [sending two warships through the Suez Canal] with utmost gravity and this step, like other steps and developments, underscores what I have reiterated in recent years – Israel's security needs will grow and the defence budget must grow accordingly."- Benjamin Netanyahu
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Galactic Economy
When I was a boy I dreamed of being able to travel to the stars. I used to watch Star Trek and other science fiction stories that imagined space travel and new planets. Just think of all the amazing things to see in the universe.
As time went on this adventurous dream transformed into a practical one. Though I became more skeptical over time I still remember my friend Matt exclaiming that humans had to leave earth in order to survive. Since then this mantra has been repeated by no less than Stephen Hawking amongst others. Survive what exactly, I should have asked? We both knew that the sun has an expiry date but I think he was thinking of a more civilized demise. After all we are our own worst enemies, destroying our landbases and ensuring that our children and their children suffer to the point of extinction.
Last night as I walked to my partner's parents' house, a thought came to me. They live in a well-off neighbourhood. All the nice houses and fancy cars made me think that we have chosen to obliterate the earth as soon as possible. It will be achieved through the standard channels: extreme over-consumption, depression, climate change, the toxification of the environment. If civilized humans have their way, and we brook no challengers, we can achieve our goal in a few generations. I know this is nothing new.
My important thought revolved around that imagined colonizing of the stars. Had the global economy and the people who drive it not facilitated this instant carnage . . .
(that would make a great song wouldn't it:
Instant Carnage's gonna get you,
Gonna knock you right on the head,
You better get yourself together,
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead,
What in the world you thinking of,
Laughing in the face of love,
What on earth you tryin' to do,
It's up to you, yeah you.)
. . . and instead have dreamed bigger and slowed down 'economic development' (i.e. destruction of life) they might have come up with a plan to obliterate the whole galaxy and just maybe the whole universe. Think Avatar but don't bet on the natives. Just imagine all the other habitable planets that the galactic economy and its minions could ravage and leave barren.
But maybe we could and can never leave our one and only home. Kind of makes it worth fighting for.
As time went on this adventurous dream transformed into a practical one. Though I became more skeptical over time I still remember my friend Matt exclaiming that humans had to leave earth in order to survive. Since then this mantra has been repeated by no less than Stephen Hawking amongst others. Survive what exactly, I should have asked? We both knew that the sun has an expiry date but I think he was thinking of a more civilized demise. After all we are our own worst enemies, destroying our landbases and ensuring that our children and their children suffer to the point of extinction.
Last night as I walked to my partner's parents' house, a thought came to me. They live in a well-off neighbourhood. All the nice houses and fancy cars made me think that we have chosen to obliterate the earth as soon as possible. It will be achieved through the standard channels: extreme over-consumption, depression, climate change, the toxification of the environment. If civilized humans have their way, and we brook no challengers, we can achieve our goal in a few generations. I know this is nothing new.
My important thought revolved around that imagined colonizing of the stars. Had the global economy and the people who drive it not facilitated this instant carnage . . .
(that would make a great song wouldn't it:
Instant Carnage's gonna get you,
Gonna knock you right on the head,
You better get yourself together,
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead,
What in the world you thinking of,
Laughing in the face of love,
What on earth you tryin' to do,
It's up to you, yeah you.)
. . . and instead have dreamed bigger and slowed down 'economic development' (i.e. destruction of life) they might have come up with a plan to obliterate the whole galaxy and just maybe the whole universe. Think Avatar but don't bet on the natives. Just imagine all the other habitable planets that the galactic economy and its minions could ravage and leave barren.
But maybe we could and can never leave our one and only home. Kind of makes it worth fighting for.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Movie Never Made
(I thought of this song as I stared at a screen telling me about all the Bahrainis being shot and beaten and all I could do is write to our dismal prime minister)
on silver mount zion
all buried in ruins
we was dancing the hora
until we vomited blood
spinning like crazy
Shoshanna i was jonesing
the towers had fallen
and the wind called out my grandfather's name
let's kill first the banker
with his professional demeanor
let's televise and broadcast the raping of kings
let our crowds be fed on tear gas and plate glass
'cos the people united is a wonderful thing
I know that you're dying
and I know I'm unwell
and together we sashay
through variations of hell
and as you walk through valleys of fear
the lure of my past never near
oh, don't be afraid, for the parade
will not pass our way
it's nobler to never get paid,
than to bank on shit and dismay
on silver mount zion
all buried in ruins
we was dancing the hora
until we vomited blood
spinning like crazy
Shoshanna i was jonesing
the towers had fallen
and the wind called out my grandfather's name
let's kill first the banker
with his professional demeanor
let's televise and broadcast the raping of kings
let our crowds be fed on tear gas and plate glass
'cos the people united is a wonderful thing
I know that you're dying
and I know I'm unwell
and together we sashay
through variations of hell
and as you walk through valleys of fear
the lure of my past never near
oh, don't be afraid, for the parade
will not pass our way
it's nobler to never get paid,
than to bank on shit and dismay
Monday, February 14, 2011
pHarmony
I had a good laugh watching this video. It's obviously true. Politicians work for the wealthy and powerful. Citizens are not powerful, but corporations are. So a crafty politician will say one thing to people while facilitating the destruction of the earth hand in hand with corporations.
Many of us don't need these videos anymore. If we created maybe 10 more clever videos like this will we stop the killing of ducks in tailings ponds? Would 100 stop greenhouse gas emissions completely?
Obviously not, though using these clever tools isn't a bad idea. It challenges the almost total state (corporate/government/police) domination of thought and discourse. You may have noticed that you aren't allowed to say (and possibly think) every thing you like. But through seeing this video, one or two people might wake up. And that's a good thing. Transformations are usually incremental. So we must continue to produce these excellent productions and grow our numbers.
But that's not enough to save ducks and stop climate change. We must think about our tactics more holistically.
Many of us don't need these videos anymore. If we created maybe 10 more clever videos like this will we stop the killing of ducks in tailings ponds? Would 100 stop greenhouse gas emissions completely?
Obviously not, though using these clever tools isn't a bad idea. It challenges the almost total state (corporate/government/police) domination of thought and discourse. You may have noticed that you aren't allowed to say (and possibly think) every thing you like. But through seeing this video, one or two people might wake up. And that's a good thing. Transformations are usually incremental. So we must continue to produce these excellent productions and grow our numbers.
But that's not enough to save ducks and stop climate change. We must think about our tactics more holistically.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Everyone Out Now!
A bit cheesy but moving. A music video of the revolution.
Lyrics:
I went down and I said I am not coming back, and I wrote on every street wall that I am not coming back.
All barriers have been broken down, our weapon was our dream, and the future is crystal clear to us, we have been waiting for a long time, we are still searching for our place, we keep searching for a place we belong too, in every corner in our country.
The sound of freedom is calling, in every street corner in our country, the sound of freedom is calling.
We will rewrite history, if you are one of us, join us and don't stop us from fulfilling our dream.
The sound of freedom is calling.
Lyrics:
I went down and I said I am not coming back, and I wrote on every street wall that I am not coming back.
All barriers have been broken down, our weapon was our dream, and the future is crystal clear to us, we have been waiting for a long time, we are still searching for our place, we keep searching for a place we belong too, in every corner in our country.
The sound of freedom is calling, in every street corner in our country, the sound of freedom is calling.
We will rewrite history, if you are one of us, join us and don't stop us from fulfilling our dream.
The sound of freedom is calling.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Talk is very, very cheap
So much for democracy.
One of the things that always broke my heart growing up was that the US said one thing but then did another (as my dad always reminded me). They always talked about high ideals like human rights and democracy but then when it came to it they would support a dictator like Noreiga or Pinochet and even sell the dictator in question the pliers to pull out the nails of union leaders or human rights lawyers. Made with pride in the USA.
At some point I gave up on the US. All children must grow up after all. How many times must you be disappointed before you abandon your fantasy? Talk is very, very cheap.
And now an agent of the state laid bare the US position on the peaceful Egyptian revolution. The Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg declared the position quite honestly. Whatever government emerges in Egypt in the future must "honor Egypt's historic peace treaty with Israel," he said.
Now I'm sure one of the Congressional Representatives asked specifically about Israel since he or she probably gets a lot of money from pro-Israel groups and is worried about his benefactor. But the response is telling about the US commitment to democracy. Let's do our jobs and provide some analysis.
One of the things that always broke my heart growing up was that the US said one thing but then did another (as my dad always reminded me). They always talked about high ideals like human rights and democracy but then when it came to it they would support a dictator like Noreiga or Pinochet and even sell the dictator in question the pliers to pull out the nails of union leaders or human rights lawyers. Made with pride in the USA.
At some point I gave up on the US. All children must grow up after all. How many times must you be disappointed before you abandon your fantasy? Talk is very, very cheap.
And now an agent of the state laid bare the US position on the peaceful Egyptian revolution. The Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg declared the position quite honestly. Whatever government emerges in Egypt in the future must "honor Egypt's historic peace treaty with Israel," he said.
"We are committed to ensuring that political changes on Israel's borders do not create new dangers for Israel or the region," he said in prepared testimony (you'd better believe it was prepared) to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"By working for orderly transitions, we believe we can help ensure Israel's long-term security just as we can support governments that are more responsive to their people."Now I'm sure one of the Congressional Representatives asked specifically about Israel since he or she probably gets a lot of money from pro-Israel groups and is worried about his benefactor. But the response is telling about the US commitment to democracy. Let's do our jobs and provide some analysis.
- Future Egyptian governments are forbidden by the US from making national decisions such as who to make peace with or not. Imagine a state dictated the US in the same way? Egypt can never walk away from a peace treaty with Israel. A veiled threat.
- Egypt is referred to as being on "Israel's border" not existing in its own right.
- "New dangers" are raised but never substantiated. Democracy in Egypt therefore could be a danger (especially since Israel has nuclear weapons).
- Israel's security comes well before supporting "governments that are more responsive to their people". Notice that he didn't say fully accountable to their people. Just more representative, perhaps a demi-democracy is in the cards. Israel comes before democracy.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Lessons from the Super Bowl
Like Urinating
I called a friend last night and caught him in a bar watching the Super Bowl. We had a nice chat and caught up, the game wasn't that engaging for him I suppose. I think that for most of us watching the Super Bowl is like urinating, you just do it. Such is the power of unrelenting marketing.
The British View
I'm copying this from the Independent in the UK:
If you have never watched American football, tonight's Super Bowl will be as incomprehensible a spectacle as an Aztec sacrifice would have been to the Conquistadors.
The Independent article that I copied the above piece from would never dare be written in the US. And not because everyone knows the bizarre rules. The article actually outlines the fact that 300,000 young girls (and one would imagine boys) are trafficked to the Super Bowl each year for sex. But under the bright lights, there is no sin.
M-V-P
The game of football revolves around the mythic quarterback. The individual who leads his band of heroes to victory. Apart from kicking plays, his office is always represented. He is invariably white and tall and god-like. If someone else wins the MVP award, they must be superhuman to wrench the spotlight from this mythic character. I can't imagine how anyone else could rise above the quarterback. The whole system is rigged against it. Sound familiar?
Cheese Heads Forever
Perhaps I'll close with some moderately interesting and inspiring reasons that it's good that Green Bay one the Super Bowl. But bear in mind that this is still just football--though the fact that I'm writing about it demonstrates that I'm a sucker for all that marketing I mentioned.
So Green Bay is actually owned by the community in much the same way a credit union is owned. As of June 2005, there are 112,015 owners. They elect a board of directors who operate the team. This structure allows a relatively small place like Green Bay (population approximately 100,000) to maintain a club.
In fact no other team in the league has this structure and it could no longer happen according to the NFL constitution which prescribes wealthy ownership. They were grandfathered in given their history. And while I'm sure they generate revenue for their 'shareholders', the team operates a foundation and supports worthy causes. And I don't think, like most NFL owners, that they are doing it for tax purposes.
I called a friend last night and caught him in a bar watching the Super Bowl. We had a nice chat and caught up, the game wasn't that engaging for him I suppose. I think that for most of us watching the Super Bowl is like urinating, you just do it. Such is the power of unrelenting marketing.
The British View
I'm copying this from the Independent in the UK:
If you have never watched American football, tonight's Super Bowl will be as incomprehensible a spectacle as an Aztec sacrifice would have been to the Conquistadors.
The game will be played in an air-conditioned stadium with a roof, in warm and mid-western Arlington, Texas (home ground of the Dallas Cowboys). From the roof are suspended the world's biggest HD video screens, each 60 yards long, so that the crowd in the stadium can see what's happening in close-up and watch the replays, essential to understanding the intricately choreographed brawl.
Although the rules change every year to make the game safer or more exciting for television (the latest change is a ban on hitting an opposing player helmet-first), the basics are simple.
The aim is to take the ball to the end zone of the 100-yard-long field. The team with the ball is allowed four attempts to advance 10 yards. Play stops every time the ball carrier is brought to the ground. If a team gains 10 yards, they start again with another four attempts. If they fail to gain 10 yards in three attempts, they usually use their fourth to kick the ball as far down field as they can.
There are two basic kinds of play:a run or a pass. For a pass, the quarterback, the leader of the offense, usually throws the one permitted forward pass. Look out for running back James Stark and wide receiver Antwaan Randle El.
By coincidence, today's evenly matched teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, have a history in the game's rust-belt origins and are the only remaining working-class names in the league. The team from Green Bay, a port on Lake Michigan, was founded 92 years ago, sponsored by a meat packing company. But today's game would be as unrecognisable to the meat packers of inter-war Wisconsin as it would be to most Brits.
The players – 45 on each side since the introduction of unlimited substitutions – are in action for a few seconds at a time. Ninety minutes of playing time will take three-and-a-half hours in real time.
The half-time show, meanwhile, has become a grisly index of music-industry has-beenery, today featuring the Black Eyed Peas.
Ridiculous? Of course. But what a spectacle.
Super Child Sex-TraffickingThe Independent article that I copied the above piece from would never dare be written in the US. And not because everyone knows the bizarre rules. The article actually outlines the fact that 300,000 young girls (and one would imagine boys) are trafficked to the Super Bowl each year for sex. But under the bright lights, there is no sin.
M-V-P
The game of football revolves around the mythic quarterback. The individual who leads his band of heroes to victory. Apart from kicking plays, his office is always represented. He is invariably white and tall and god-like. If someone else wins the MVP award, they must be superhuman to wrench the spotlight from this mythic character. I can't imagine how anyone else could rise above the quarterback. The whole system is rigged against it. Sound familiar?
Cheese Heads Forever
Perhaps I'll close with some moderately interesting and inspiring reasons that it's good that Green Bay one the Super Bowl. But bear in mind that this is still just football--though the fact that I'm writing about it demonstrates that I'm a sucker for all that marketing I mentioned.
So Green Bay is actually owned by the community in much the same way a credit union is owned. As of June 2005, there are 112,015 owners. They elect a board of directors who operate the team. This structure allows a relatively small place like Green Bay (population approximately 100,000) to maintain a club.
In fact no other team in the league has this structure and it could no longer happen according to the NFL constitution which prescribes wealthy ownership. They were grandfathered in given their history. And while I'm sure they generate revenue for their 'shareholders', the team operates a foundation and supports worthy causes. And I don't think, like most NFL owners, that they are doing it for tax purposes.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Simple Equation
I've written about this before. And anyone with any sense can see the connection. Every time the global economy grows, we humans increase our greenhouse gas emissions. These greenhouse gas emissions fuel climate change and threaten our species and all other species. So really the global economy threatens our species and all other species.
Logically therefore the global economy has got to go. There is no other sane conclusion.
The UK government just released the greenhouse gas emission numbers for 2009. Carbon dioxide emissions dropped by almost 10% from the previous year! Officials (don't you just love that title) said that this drop was caused by the bad, old recession. Boo fucking hoo. Can't they see that this is a really good thing, that they are reducing their emissions?
I'm not going to pretend that other officials (elected or otherwise) are actually going to do anything about reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that threaten our survival. A lot of people have faith in Kyoto, Copenhagen and Cancun and the One Tonne Challenge and One Million Acts of Green and other such spin. Each one achieved almost nothing (apart from maybe convincing people that something had to be done but then providing them no options for action apart from buying something new and sustainable) and there are, happily for the global economy, loopholes that you could drive a (polluting) truck through.
So our jobs are to encourage the global economy on its downward trajectory. At this point it's on its way anyway I would argue but it can always use a little push. Our survival demands it. Jobs (basically selling your labour for little pieces of paper that let you buy necessities--there are other 'jobs' and ways to live) aren't worth risking the planet. The Egyptians are doing there part as oil has now gone above $100 a barrel. Just a bit more and we'll have another recession and reduced GHG emissions. Keep up the good work!
Don't forget the equations:
Logically therefore the global economy has got to go. There is no other sane conclusion.
The UK government just released the greenhouse gas emission numbers for 2009. Carbon dioxide emissions dropped by almost 10% from the previous year! Officials (don't you just love that title) said that this drop was caused by the bad, old recession. Boo fucking hoo. Can't they see that this is a really good thing, that they are reducing their emissions?
I'm not going to pretend that other officials (elected or otherwise) are actually going to do anything about reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that threaten our survival. A lot of people have faith in Kyoto, Copenhagen and Cancun and the One Tonne Challenge and One Million Acts of Green and other such spin. Each one achieved almost nothing (apart from maybe convincing people that something had to be done but then providing them no options for action apart from buying something new and sustainable) and there are, happily for the global economy, loopholes that you could drive a (polluting) truck through.
So our jobs are to encourage the global economy on its downward trajectory. At this point it's on its way anyway I would argue but it can always use a little push. Our survival demands it. Jobs (basically selling your labour for little pieces of paper that let you buy necessities--there are other 'jobs' and ways to live) aren't worth risking the planet. The Egyptians are doing there part as oil has now gone above $100 a barrel. Just a bit more and we'll have another recession and reduced GHG emissions. Keep up the good work!
Don't forget the equations:
global economy growth = increased GHG emissions = runaway climate change = risk to all species
global economy shrinks = GHG emissions balance = less drastic climate change = reduced risk to all species
global economy shrinks = GHG emissions balance = less drastic climate change = reduced risk to all species
Remember you do get to choose which one you want for you and you children and their children. But you have to act!
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