August 1, 2007
Global Peace Index Rankings
Here is a list of countries sorted by their 'peace index'.
The peace index is calculated from a large number of factors from distrust of other citizens, through UN deployment, electoral openess, corruption levels, distrust of other nations etc. and ranges from 1 to 5 with 1 being the best.
I'm happy to say that Ireland is number 4 on the list with an index of 1.396, not far behind Norway (1.357), New Zealand (1.363) and Denmark (1.377).
As a comparison the U.K. is 49th with a score of 1.898, the United States is 96th (out of 121) with a score of 2.317. The U.S. is just one step above Iran, which scores 2.321.
Sadly, Iraq languishes last on the list with a score of 3.437
Posted by dottie at 1:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 24, 2007
Quick War Roundup
PNAC statement of principles - way back in old '97
Abu Ghraib should not have been unexpected
UPDATE: a latecomer. but a doozy!
Fascist America, in 10 easy steps
Posted by dottie at 6:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 15, 2007
Terror-free oil company in the states
An organisation called the Terror Free Oil initiative have started up a petrol station in Omaha that sells petrol made only from oil obtained from countires that don't support terrorism.
Apparently the oil comes from Canada and the U.S.
Hang on? Doesn't the U.S. support terrorism? Suharto, El Salvador, the creation and extensive support of the Mujehedin? Just to name a few that come off the top of my head?
hmmm...
Posted by dottie at 3:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 4, 2007
What happens when the U.S. Empire collapses?
It will happen eventually and now, moe than any other time in its history, the U.S. is ripe for collapse. Internal strife, huge social problems, lack of guidance and 'honour' from Government, terrible foreign policy resulting in bad foreign relations (even from allies, especially at the grass roots level), rising terrorist threats (real or imagined), increase in possibility of some kind of civil war - most likely based on social strife.
This is an interesting little presentation comparing how the USSR managed in its collapse and how the U.S. is totally unprepared for the same thing.
The U.S. has many troops abroad - imagine trying to repatriate them all? Imagine economic collapse and the subsequent refugees. Imagine what would happen at the Canadian and Mexican borders?
Imagine if the military, either acting on U.S. government orders or autonomously, decided to annex border areas of Mexico or Canada? Who would stop them? How would you stop them? Imagine how desperate they would be.
There would be massive famine across the U.S., millions would die of starvation - mostly in the cities where many people live in crippling debt anyway and have no access to independent transport or anywhere to go if they did have it.
I think there may be a novel in there somewhere...
Comments
Paul
Imagine if the military, either acting on U.S. government orders or autonomously, decided to annex border areas of Mexico or Canada? Who would stop them? How would you stop them?
As long as they check their guns at the border, they are welcome to come into Canada. If not, they will get will get their asses kicked. Maybe not immediately...but in short order.
Canada is not a quagmire the US would like to get involved with. We're nice...but crazy too.
dottie
he he.
I'm just going on the U.S. usual reaction to shortages - seize the resources.
If those resources happen to be across the border in still functioning Canada (resources like running water, functioning distribution systems and candy machines) then I don't think the U.S. would balk (at leats not for long) at full-scale invasion!
I'd hate to see it happen - mostly because you guys would kick U.S. butt, but be nice about it.
The courtesy would be the deciding factor - the U.S. troops wouldnt know what to make of it!
Richard Querin
While I'm not an avid TV watcher by any means, I'm always up for an apocalyptic show or novel (Stephen King's The Stand comes to mind). The current show "Jericho" is one I am actually following. If you haven't seen it, it seems to be delving into these issues at the moment. It's no documentary by any means, but it is fun (or rather 'entertaining') to see other people's take on the collapse of the US.
As a Canadian, I can say that any real collapse in the US will take Canada along with a bunch of other nations right along with it. Not something I am keen to ever see. But if that's what it takes to get "Entertainment Tonight" off the air for good then so be it. :)
Posted by dottie at 1:15 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 13, 2006
Mary Harney portrayed as a bloodsucker - seanad demands apology
The Star ran with a front page image of Harney altered to resemble a vampire.
Apparently this was 'biting' political commentary on her intentions with care for the elderly.
The seanad (the Irish senate) are up in arms with crosses, torches and all the paraphenalia conducting a witch hunt in order to procure an apology from the tabloid.
Seanad demands apology from the Star newspaper
Feck em. If they can close ranks and let Bertie away with his shenanigans then they should harldy be surprised when the public starts acting in the same manner. You cant turn a blind eye on one hand and demand the letter of the law on the other. Consistency please! Or accountability!
Mary is a big girl now (...) she should be able to take this kind of thing on the chin.
Maybe this is a chance for Irish politics to turn itself around and actually implement some level of accountability in Irish politics.
Or maybe not.
Still it would be a shame to waste all those torches and what with Christmas coming up and all the homeless on the streets - a PD BBQ would be in order with some roast suckiling something or other.....
Posted by dottie at 2:15 PM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2006
Drowning risk...
Fine, we are being told that we cannot bring water on board planes.
But they are asking us to dump the bottles into large containers in the middle of the airport.
If the liquid is so risky that you cannot bring it on a plane filled with HUNDREDS of peopl, then why is it OK to dump all this risky liquid into large containers in the middle of an airport concourse filled with THOUSANDS of people.
The terrorists are wetting themselves with this news - pissing themselves laughing.
Posted by dottie at 12:10 AM | Comments (0)
August 2, 2006
Where am I?
Have I somehow slipped through a wormhole and ended up in a paralell universe?
I just saw this on RTÉ
Blair warns Iran and Syria on extremism
WTF?
This is classic
It seems that the ferret faced little Weasal (Blair that is) was making a speech to the World Affairs Coucil in LA and was asked afterward if NATO had a role in providing a multi-national force in the Lebanon (why not Israel? They ARE the aggressors after all) His reply?
He said it was too early to be clear what was most helpful for the situation.
Mr Blair added that whatever force was deployed should be capable of ensuring that the Lebanese people 'vote in a democracy without outside interference from Syria or anyone else and without inside interference from armed militias'.
He suggests that a country that is being attacked by belligerent and powerful foreign powers has no right to self-governance because a group takes up arms against the aggressors?
If this logic had been applied throughout history there would be no Britain, America, Ireland, you name it. A nation has the (inalienable) right to decide on its own governance.
This is another example of the continuing use of 'the big lie' by the Axis powers (US, UK, Israel) - the bigger the lie, the easier it is to swallow.
Posted by dottie at 7:04 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2006
It's not a kidnapping - it's Israel and the World Media vs. Palestine
The link is to an interesting article that points out the differing viewpoints used to describe the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Blaming the Victims
Its well worth a read as it points out all that Israel has done to Palestine in the weeks leading up to the capture (it's not a kidnapping when a member of a beligerent force is captured by the opposition) of the Israeli soldier.
Of particular note is the language used by media to report incidents:
Israel - captures, detains, arrests
Palestine - kidnaps
Israel currently holds nearly 10 thousand Palestinians. Palestine has one captured soldier.
Israels (re)actions to the 'kidnapping' have been described as 'relatively restrained'. This in reference to a series of attacks that left a major Palestinian electrical generation station destroyed cutting off power to a huge region and rendering essential services such as medical, sewage treatment and water supply - as a result of which people are dying. The Israelis also cut-off the water supply to refugee camps by destroying the water pipes.
I am NOT suggesting that Palestine is innocent of all aggression - far from it.
I am saying that the representation of the situation is completely biased in favour of the Israeli viewpoint.
Then write to your local media and ask them to correct the imbalance.
Posted by dottie at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2006
U.S. soldiers in the wild
What to do when you encounter a group of uniformed soldiers wandering down a country lane
The report describes a young man putting a group of six U.S. soldiers under citizens arrest.
The reason? They were walking down the road.
Sounds innocuous doesn't it? Yet he was completely right.
We are a neutral nation. Our neutrality is compromised if we allow soldiers of a belligerent nation to wander our streets. All these soldiers were in uniform - they may or may not have been armed, that is not the point.
It may seem that the reporter was being pedantic and overeacting but we have to put the foot down somewhere. If we allowed U.S. troops to desport themselves whenever and wherever they wished in Ireland then we will have completely undermined out position as a neutral nation.
Already we have the situation where prisoners are being transported through Shannon airport - rendition - from law-abiding nations to nations where torture is common place. The Irish Government has let us down on this front, accepting the word of the most mendacious U.S. Government ever - even Nixon looks good compared to Bush and his cronies.
The end of the report mentioned above puts a lovely little Irish spin onto it all. The person who had lawfully placed the U.S. soldiers under arrest had been ridiculed by the Gardai.
When he finally got them to take him seriously he was confronted by a belligerent female Gardai who had removed her identification numbers (a crime...) only to be joined by a second, unidentifiable Gardai and two plain clothes officers.
That showed him - those poor, defencless U.S. troops are now safe from concerened Irish citizens hell-bent on preserving what little claim we still have on neutrality.
Comments
Justin
I absolutely do not understand what the issue is with troops walking around in Ireland. Could someone please clarify the reasoning behind this? I've been searching a couple of websites trying to track down an explanation for this, but none of them clearly explain what crime these soldiers were in the process of comitting.
As I read it, this news item is just infuriating. Whoever this asshole is is lucky that he tried this crap with a bunch of female soldiers, because if he had done this to some male Marines he would have gotten his teeth knocked out.
Mark Lennox
Hi Justin,
You said:
I absolutely do not understand what the issue is with troops walking around in Ireland. Could someone please clarify the reasoning behind this?
I thought I had. But to facilitate you the quote here should explain the crux of the situation
"Belligerents are forbidden to move troops or convoys of either munitions of war or supplies across the territory of a neutral Power."
from this article:
http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~nstanton/Ch9.htm
The point then being that the gentleman who arrested the soldiers was quite right as the soldiers by their presence a) threatened our neutrality b) threatened a diplomatic incident as strictly speaking we had been 'invaded' by belligerent troops.
As you (hopefully) read that article you will see that the Irish Nation is in a conundrum, we allow the transport of U.S. troops through Shannon while they are en route to Iraq which is strictly forbidden if we are to claim neutrality.
The Irish Government (and I guess we the people, as there are no protests against this..) try to claim neutrality still as they say the airport is open to all troops from all nations - a nod toward the need to take neither one side nor the other in a war. Also there is a lot of hand waving and vague explanations that certain areas of Shannon have been designated non-national territory (all marines etc. are kept segregated in areas that have no access to the greater public)
You said:
As I read it, this news item is just infuriating.
I'm sorry for your troubles Justin. This is a serious and complex matter and requires some objectivity.
You said:
Whoever this asshole is is lucky that he tried this crap with a bunch of female soldiers, because if he had done this to some male Marines he would have gotten his teeth knocked out.
Let's tackle the subjects you raised their one at a time.
First - the chap in question seems level headed and informed to me.
Second - I'm sure if you spoke this sentence to a mixed group of female and male marines you would find yourself beating a hasty retreat. The female members of the marines fight just as hard and are just as tough as their male counterparts. To insult and denigrate them in this off-handed fashion is disgusting. I take it that you are a U.S. citizen? These marines, both female and male, are dying for your rights. Have some respect!!
Third - if the hypothetical male marines had knocked his teeth out they would, in a just world, have been court-martialed. Hardly a fitting end to what I would hope was a worthy career.
I hope this clears up any misunderstandings you still have on the subject.
Justin
I still don't quite understand. If they entered the country, they must have been, at some point, given permission to enter. If the Irish government decided to let them in, then the responsibility for that decision should be on their shoulders. There is no reason to harass individual soldiers over a decision the government made.
As for the police, I can understand them mocking this guy, not only for the reason above but also that I'm certain there must be real crimes (like theft or murder) going on someplace that could use some attention.
And I'd like to again applaud this guy's courage because most Americans have no idea what citizen's arrest even is. If I was walking down the street minding my own business and some local suddenly tried to accost me like this, I would feel very threatened. This could have been a very ugly confrontation (hence my comment about the Marines)
Mark Lennox
Justin said:
I still don't quite understand. If they entered the country, they must have been, at some point, given permission to enter. If the Irish government decided to let them in, then the responsibility for that decision should be on their shoulders. There is no reason to harass individual soldiers over a decision the government made.
The issue of our neutrality is a serious matter for some people in this country at the moment. There are those of us who feel that our government has already comprimised our neutrality by allowing U.S. troops passage through Shannon.
Strictly speaking the soldiers should not have been in uniform inside or outside of the airport. We have had to swallow the goverments assertion that our neutrality is preserved by segregating the soldiers in Shannon airport.
The individual who made the report is an active anti-war protester and was quite right in his actions against uniformed members of a belligerent army in Ireland. Strictly speaking they shouldnt be there, they shouldnt even be in Shannon if we wish to claim neutrality.
Our Government shirks every responsibility it can with regard to policies like this leaving the policing of policies up to ad-hoc actions by the Gardai or private individuals and not passing laws until sufficient public outcry is raised (sufficient outcry means a threat to them getting voted in again..)
The Gardai (police) in this country are a joke. They come down in force on individuals and are nowehere to be seen when real crimes are happening. What the Gardai excel at - bullying, intimidation, drinking tea, breaking the law, avoiding their duties.
All Gardai are required to display their numbers on their shoulders as identification - these are more and more often removed as a means of initimidation. The fact that the Gardai involved found it necessary to arrive in force, all either plain clothes (different from uniformed guards with no numbers) and others without their numbers shows that they were out to intimidate the reporter involved.
If the Gardai had been acting lawfully then why would it have been necessary to remove their numbers?
Citizens arrest basically gives a citizen the right to detain someone who has committed a crime until an officer of the law can be found to properly detain them. It allows for use of sufficient force if the citizen believes that the criminal will flee before the officer arrives.
Posted by dottie at 12:55 PM | Comments (4)
April 12, 2006
Iran and alternative power
The US is about to launch a 'tactical' nuclear strike on Iran. Check the internet - especially anything by Seymour Hersh (yep, the same guy who was told to shut up when he started talking about torture in Abu Ghraib...)
'Tactical' in the sense that they *believe* that Iran may be five years from developing their nuclear arms technology to the point where they will be able to start producing / testing weapons.
Five years.
A lot can happen in five years. Think what five years of diplomacy could bring. Think of it this way - the US has spent the last five years turning Iran from a centrist, pro-democracy, pre-secular society into a society that has eschewed the tenets of so-called western democracy and elected a hard liner essentially turning their secular society into one driven by fundamentalism.
All this means that we can expect the US to cause huge pain, suffering, death and of course oil shortages. As a result of an unprovoked attack the middle East will blockade transport of oil or just stop selling it to the US and probably the rest of the 'western' world.
Where next then?
Alternate energy
We should have been pouring 10's of percents of GNP into research for alternate energy since the 70's. We havent, and we wont likely anytime soon.
Bleak outlook: we're fucked. Party's over. Welcome to the middle ages.
Positive outlook: community based efforts can make a difference. The myth of the hydrogen economy has to be busted and we must embrace ubiquitous use of solar energy (each home with a solar panel and a solar heat exchanger for heating water) and wind turbines of some description coupled to a bank of batteries somewhere in the house.
Basically, we are all going to have to look after ourselves, but we need help to get there. Government / EU funding of research into producing retrofittable kits to produce energy for a home - enough to reduce demand on the national grid. Car sharing, electric buses like they have in Canada, reduction of public consumption of electricty (think street lights etc. - cant be turned off but consume LOTS of electricity).
If we dont cut down our reliance on fossil fuels and find a viable alternative we wont have a future.
Posted by dottie at 2:46 PM | Comments (0)
March 30, 2006
New production
Licensing product designs is the way to go. Well, not now but in the fututre when we have cheap ways to produce consumer goods. 3d printers? maybe.
Imagine if you will a black box to produce objects based on a CAD blueprint supplied by and licensed from Nike, Coca Cola whatever - no secret formulas anymore but everybody has to pay a penny (or whatever) every time they want to use it.
This works out great because Reebok, Hilfiger etc. dont have to produce goods anymore. They dont have to worry about JIT resource planning, they dont have to build factories and pay insurance and all that crap that goes with producing consumer goods. They just R&D and market their crap.
The pressure is put on the owners and licensors of the designs - the owners of the 3d printers.
They pay a pittance every time they use the design to produce an object. They pay for their raw materials, the rent of the printer (if..), their own advertising, delivery and all that.
This means that the price of the final product is dependent on the costs of the raw materials, distribution etc. in the local area. The cost of the consumer product automatically stabilises around a point that the local consumers can pay.
And the Nikes, Reeboks, Hilfigers, Apple, Epson etc. of this world get a kickback from every product that someone else takes the time and trouble to make for them.
Pure. Profit.
If the consumer goods manufacturers of this world were clever they would pour every spare cent they had into the research and production of 3d printers, of Star Trek like matter condensers.
Essentially what we are talking about is turning their current income for which they have to work hard at every point into a passive income.
Plus, we the people get an easy way to produce things like farm tools, water sanitisers, shelters, furniture, TV's, computers and even more 3d printers!
And guns. There will always be guns of course.
Posted by dottie at 4:48 PM | Comments (0)
October 25, 2005
Rosa Parks R.I.P.
Rosa Parks, refusal to vacate her seat for a white man served as one of the catalysts to push the civil rights movement in the U.S. died yesterday aged 92. Rest in peace Rosa.
Wikipedia Article on Rosa Parks
Posted by dottie at 4:01 PM | Comments (0)
September 7, 2005
Bye, bye Miss American Pie - come on now, you know the words!
Drove my chevy to levee but the levee was dry - err oops!
From a post on Boing Boing
Posted by dottie at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
American Media grows a spine again....
This is fantastic. The worm finally turns. We may yet see the great North American delusion torn asunder.
Whats amazing about this crisis is that Cuban doctors are ready and willing to make their way to New Orleans to lend a hand but unfortunately are reduced to making quotes such as "it is a pity that idelogy stands in the way of humanity".
Hopefully some of this concern from the big bad communists (tm) will penetrate the thick skulls of citizens of the USA and they will finally put down the needles and stop tripping on speedball of ignorance and greed.
sorry, I'll get off my high horse now before someone starts throwing rotten tomatos at me...
Posted by dottie at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2005
Christian Fundamentalist Terrorist Gets Life
Eric Rudolph gets hauled off to his new home where hopefully he will be taught the true meaning of prayer to such archetypal figures as 'Sweet Jesus (that hurts)', 'oh god, oh god, oh god' and 'mommy'.
Posted by dottie at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)
July 7, 2005
A speech I heard recently
I'm sorry, I don't want to be an emperor - that's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like ot help everyone if possible - jew, gentile, black man, white.We all want to help one another; human beings are like that. We want to live by each others hapiness, not by each others misery. We dont want to hate and despise one another.
In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. Our way of life can be free and beautiful but we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned man's soul, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed and shut ourselves in.
Machinery that gives us abundance leaves us in want.
Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness - hard and unkind.
We think too much, feel too little.
More than machinery, we need humanity.
More than cleverness, we need kindness, gentleness.
Without these qualities, life would be violent and all would be lost.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us coser together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man. Cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of all.
Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world. Millions of despairing men, women and little children. Victims of a system that makes me torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear what I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men who will pass and dictators die - and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as men die liberty will not perish.
Soldiers, don;t give yourselves to brutes ,men who despiseyou, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel. Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder.
Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine gearts.
You are not machines.
You are not cattle.
You are men.
You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate - only the unloved hate, the unloved and unnatural. Soldiers - don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty.
In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written - 'the kingdom of God is within man, not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men' - in you, you the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us all fight for a new world. A decent world that will five men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security.
By the promise of these things brutes have risen to power - but they lie. They do not fulfill that promise, they never will.
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people.
Now let us fight to fulfill that promise.
Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national boundaries, to do away with greed, with hate, with intolerance.
Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all man's hppiness.
Soldiers - in the name of democracy - unite!
Charlie Chaplin - from his film 'the great dictator'
Posted by dottie at 8:43 PM | Comments (0)
April 4, 2005
Is there a draft in here?
I knew it was coming but apparently this is a bit of a shock to some Americans - well, mostly male 18-30 (and mostly black, low income, but thats another story...)
To all those who didnt vote for Bush I feel sorry, and for those who did vote for Bush, well.... I feel even more sorry - they will go to their deaths thinking they are doing the right thing.
There deaths will be made worthless when Bush, Cheney (if he survives his next heart attack - eat more pork Dick!), Wolfowitz and the rest of the merry pranksters get dragged before whatever is the appropriate tribunal that will result in them getting gutted and hung out to dry.
Posted by dottie at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
March 8, 2005
EU Software patents
Yesterday the EU passed the Software patents bill. This is a bad thing.
This opens the door for Microsoft and its ilk to muscle out software innovation undertaken by smaller companies., or even rivals - can you spell monopoly?
It also opens the door to small companies holding the web to ransom should they wish to - the Eolas patent being an example of this.
There will be lots of unforseen results for this and plenty of work for IP lawyers in the years to come - I think its time for a change of profession....
Posted by dottie at 4:47 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2005
Free Arash and Mojtaba
Today is the launch of the first campaign by the Committee to protect Bloggers. They are trying to get international pressure to secure the release of two Iranian bloggers, arrested and imprisoned for speaking their mind.
Please link to the site and at least send an email to the Iranian embassy to pressurise for the release of these two men.
Posted by dottie at 9:37 AM
November 10, 2004
Voting machines
This is my last post on the American 'democratic' system for a while - I promise. Read my lips - no new blog entries on the USA ;)
The one thing that puzzles me about the 'election' they just performed (and I mean performaed in the off-broadway sense....) in the US is the voting machines.
The average person demands accountability for many things in their life. When they go out and use their credit card to buy dinner for their bethrothed, or deal out some more virutal money for some geek books from Amazon, or even slap down some real cash for some stationery down at their local post office, they expect to have a receipt that can be tallied with information that the shop owner keeps on record in case there are any problems with the ofen sub 20 Euro transaction that just took place.
Compare that with the US election where every transaction, whether, financial, moral, physical or otherwise is going to be affected, and not just in the US, this is an election that affects the entire world - you better believe it!
This vastly important crux in so many millions of peoples lives passes off with a simple - 'trust us' from what is essentially the shop keepers of democracy. No receipt is issued, there is no paper trail - the vote(s) are just 'counted' and thats it.
This, to my mind, is actually the ultimate support for the western way of life - we are all saying (and like the green party - of you aint part of the solution...) that there should be more accountability for the purchase of a cup of coffee than there should be for the future of the world.
We are being asked to buy into the belief that people are basically good by people who are thouroughly rotten to the core - it will happen here....
Posted by dottie at 9:56 PM
November 7, 2004
One for the road...
Conservatives know what they want (usually money, power and influence in that order) and liberals (that's the rest of us, you know, the ones with 'common sense' and all that...) dont really know what we want.
That's why we always lose.
me? I've rationalised the whole thing I'm a liberal who wants to lose - I couldn't be happier... :)
Posted by dottie at 1:05 AM
Popular vote my ass...
I for one appreciate the (sometimes laugh out loud) statements on this page.
While the repugnants in the USA are declaring a landslide and claiming that more people than in the history of the US have voted Bush into power -with a 51-48 split I would keep in mind the corrolary of that statement - some US citizens (in fact almost half the country) are as pissed off as we are that a dim-witted, sociopath is in control of the most brutal and effective army (due to their superior firepower) and the largest ORGANISED nuclear arsenal.
Personally I think we are all fucked - you will see me frequenting bars and indulging in more ill-advised sexual liasons with young ladies, than normal [not difficult :) ]
Posted by dottie at 12:57 AM
Democracy
The difference between theory and application are funny.
In theory absolute democracy is anarchy - the people choosing for themselves, think about that for a second - imagine what life would be like if everyone chose their own path! In reality at best it becomes a federation, at worst - like the route the U.S. is taking - a facist state.
Theocracies, monarchies, communists utopias, etc. most of the rest are in fact plutocracies - government by the wealthy, for the wealthy. The names that are given to political affiliations of countries are usually a lie peddled to the majority backed up by the equivalent - 'you are with us or against us / heretic / communist / capitalist' - basically just misdirection, sleight of hand - ignorance is strength, war is peace.
And of course anyone who calls themselves an anarchist usually end up being a facist.
me? I like to style myself as a secular humainst, along the lines of Kurt Vonnegut. Even though I have many self-imposed restrictions and limitations I like to think I am liberal and even libetarian. I dont think this is double-think as I believe that you should be liberal in what you demand from others and conservative in the demands you give in return - so I guess even through my secularism I have at heart the essence of what it is to be an upstanding member (theoretically) of any major religion :)
Watch the TV for my new evengelical show - 'foxy boxing, feminist, anarchist, lesbian christians teach you stock trading in 6 days (including how to properly 'rest' on the seventh)'
Posted by dottie at 12:20 AM
November 3, 2004
Election day
Who said politics is boring?
I'm on the edge of my seat here...
Posted by dottie at 12:28 AM
November 2, 2004
Pray! Pray for the right result!
If you have an ounce of spirituality in you (or whatever passes for even remotely religious belief in your worldview!), spare a thought for the outcome of the election in the US tomorrow.
Pray that the black voters in Florida and around the US dont get intimidated into not voting (the republicans have been sending threatening letters to all registered black voters in certain parts of the US explaining that the fact they were registered by anyone but a White Anglo Saxon Protestant meant that they were registered illegally) and when they do vote, they vote for Kerry.
Pray that the 'swing' voters all over the US suddently start gagging on the smell of bullshit coming from the current US administration and vote for Kerry.
Pray that the soft conservatives, on hearing of all the most recent tramplings of civil rights in their own country by a self-confessed alcoholic, malfeasant, mendacious, simple-minded, aggressive, deluded, arrogant, selfish, ignorant mouth-breather like Bush and realise jut what the national prayer breakfast is all about and finally understand that Jimmy Swaggart and his ilk are the spawn of the devil and that the war in Iraq really as about money after all and as such their own hands are gory through associated guilt - that they change their mind and vote with their conscience - for Kerry.
Pray that all the troops stationed in the line of fire with inadequate firepower, no kevlar vests, sitting unwashed for days due to lack of water recycling equipment and sitting cramped in unarmoured humvees regularly sent into ambushes against rocket launcher toting insurgents - will realise what a raw deal they have and tell Bush to stay the course right up his ass and vote for Kerry.
Lets hope all the tired, the poor, the hungry, the huddled masses, who spent months learning the previous presidents of the US, and learning more about the constitution than the average supreme court justice, that after putting up with midnight raids on his family home because his white bread neighbours heard him talking something like Arabic - this Hindu Sikh will pray to Ganeesh for guidance and vote for Kerry.
Pray that all the millions of women across the US who will be denied further rights to choose how to live their lives, will remember the bad old days of the rhythm method and back-lane abortions that will render them infertile or worse and vote for Kerry.
Pray that all the millions of people with a so-called alternate lifestyle will realise that styling yourself as a cowboy is in fact choosing an alternate lifestyle, and they will remember how their hopes of being married to their life partner until death do them part was shattered when the supreme court annuled all their marriages and will vote for Kerry.
Pray that the stoned, slacker youth will realise that not voting at all is the same as voting for 'the man' and will switch off MTV / Playstation / X-Box and go and cast a vote for Kerry.
Pray that it will be a landslide for the democrats that the US has not seen since Washington was voted into the office for a second term - unanimously.
Wake up America! Get out of your bed, get down to the polling station and pray that John Kerry WILL make a good president - god knows he is your only choice and the rest of the worlds only hope.
Posted by dottie at 2:08 AM
October 29, 2004
No access to Bush by Johnny Foreigner
George Bush has blocked all access to foreigners who try to access his website on the 'internets' - ask yourself, do you want such a xenophobe being in charge of most of the worlds nuclear arsenal?
Posted by dottie at 3:22 PM
October 1, 2004
Why the upcoming election in the US is the most important event of the century
George Soros is a stand-up guy. He has been steadily promoting REAL democracy around the world for the last few decades (or at least since he was wealthy enough to make a difference).
The US republican party has insinuated that he has made money from drugs. This has been further bolstered by 'reports' into the 'rumours' by the Fox News network - font of all that is ultra right wing in the US. This is deplorable but encouraging at the same time. This means that they have acknowledged that George Soros is a Threat (captial T is intentional!). This is a good thing as it opens up the battlefront for the republicans (small r intentional) who are having a little bit more of a hard time since George Lakoff has started influencing the ideology, or at leats its expression, of the Democrats (yes, D intentional...)
George Lakoff has analysed the way republicans speak about certain topics and has noticed that they use certain phrases and words to 'frame' the debate on their terms. The Democrats for years have been trying to argue against the republicans policies using their language and failing as the republicans have carefully chosen the phrases that are valid in the debate, indoctrinating the audience (ie the people of the US) so that they have a negative reaction to certain trigger phrases and can immediately brand anyone who uses those phrases as a liberal monster who wants to kill babies, abolish the bible and only allow men to marry men.
Finally the Democrats have broken away from this, by using their own language independent of the republicans, robbing them of the power to trap them within the internal illogic of their arguments.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is that this election is the most important thing that will happen in the world in the next century. I believe that if Bush gets into power for another four years and has his way, the world will dissolve into chaos within twenty years. There will be a huge increase in terrorism and the brutality of such terrorism. More and more nations and peoples will be drawn into the morass of fighting through confusion, anger, misdirected rage, disinformation and greed.
If Bush gets into power, we are fucked.
There are a lot of good people trying to make reasoned arguments that will get US citizens to vote and vote right. Arguments that are far more balanced than the republicans claim that 'if John Kerry gets voted into power the United States will be attacked' - this was said by Dick Cheney. Makes you wonder how he can be so sure, doesnt it? People like George Soros who I used to introduce this slightly meandering essay (my apologies, I wrote it off the top of my head, so to speak).
The republicans will stop at nothing. Already we have had the 'swift boat veterans for truth' who lied about serving with Kerry (they never did and hardly knew him). We have had the whole 'flip flop' bullshit, which can more honestly be applied to Bush (here and here)
And now we have the partisan voter registration forms from Arkansas. Below you can see actual voter registration forms that were produced by the republican party in Arkansas. These were thankfully banned and prohibited from distribution before they saw the light of day, but shows what the republicans are capable of stooping to.
If you are a US citizen please register to vote and vote for Kerry - even if you dont like the guy! If you know a US citizen get them to register and vote for Kerry - even if you dont like Kerry!
Kerry has his flaws, hell every politician has his flaws (Clinton the great 'peace maker' is responsible for spreading 70 tons of depleted uranium over kosovo during the conflict there).
The important thing to remember is that Kerry is not Bush. Kerry does not believe he has been chosen by God to restore palestine to its 'rightful' people by any means and preside over the end of the world and the ascension of the righteous into heaven.
Bush is a fruit and nut case who will stop at nothing to gain absolute power and dominion over his target empire - the world. Kerry likes to snowboard.
You make the decision.
Posted by dottie at 12:26 AM
September 5, 2004
Space 1999
Does anyone remember the series Space 1999 - of course you do!
Remember once they had a trial or possibly an inquest of some sort and everyone could watch it on television? Apparently all speech was processed by a computer looking for stress patterns in the speakers delivery, and checking the factual nature of what they were saying and reporting all this real-time on screen as they spoke.
America definitely needs one of those doohickeys right now. Bush and his cohorts (and to a much lesser extent Kerry's crew) are lying and distorting and rattling sabres like there is no tomorrow (which if they get in power might very well be true...).
This is a great graphic depicting the words used by both parties during their conferences. What's interesting is how central Arnie comes out looking - he might actually be a good Governor!
Posted by dottie at 1:11 PM
July 11, 2004
USA Presidential ads
This is an amazing resource of presidential ads from the 60's to the present day. Its amazing the ads they had in the 60's for Johnston. The 'daisy' ad was a classic apparently.
Posted by dottie at 8:20 PM
May 31, 2004
EU USA PNR Agreement
Recently the European Union 'agreed' to hand over passenger information to the United States Department of Home Defense (for some reason that conjures up images of Dad's army...). Seems reasonable enough, the USA has a right to have a chance to weed out the terrorists who fly from Europe.
I have two problems with this.
First. If you are a terrorist, how likely are you to use your own name or any details that match to your background? OK, so patterns of falsified personal information might appear and point to a single source, just as any persons writing adopts a tone which acts as a sort of literary fingerprint, so too could a terrorists lie factory develop the same sort of 'fingerprint'. Grant that. BUT - innocent people still get caught in the net!
This is a big problem. Why? Four words - Guatanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib. People have been released from Guatanamo Bay after being held, often hooded, cramped, deprived, abused - for over two years - with no charges ever brought against them. The USA reserves the right to charge these people at any time in the future. Imagine having that hanging over you?
And remember these people were innocent. The USA tries to attach doubt to this by saying that no evidence could be found to back up their theories. Pah!
So, innocents caught in the net are presumed guilty and subjected to anal rape by chemical lights. Great.
The second problem I have is with the wording of the 'agreement' between the EU and the states.
Remember that all of us here in Europe have quite strict privacy laws. The airlines were up against it when they were ordered by the Department of Home Defense to hand over passenger information as they would have been breaking European laws. However it was coming to the point where the airlines would not have landing rights if they didnt hand over the info. Rock. Hard place.
Those innocents will have one happy thought to console them as they are repeatedly violated by the next Lyndie England - they were put there so that we could enjoy shopping and lattes in New York. Tht one thought should sustain them through their ordeal and by the time they are released - if they werent a terrorist before they surely will be. God bless America!
Anyway my beef was with the wording of the 'agreement'. I'll just throw out the points I'm having issue with:
Point 7 of their lead-in and jutification which talks about how the USA is a sovereign power and has the right to its jurisdiction which doent clash with international laws. fine. It then goes on to state, and this is the scary bit:
The United States is a democratic country...
errr... their current president was NOT elected. by the people. It an oligarchy at the moment.
it continues...
...democratic country, governed by the rule of law and with a strong civil liberties tradition.
Yaeh right! like for the last thirty years, except in the South where they are all secretly waiting for the return of General Lee.
The legitemacy of its law making process and the strength and independence of its judiciary are not in question.
What about Judge Roy Moore from, surprise surprise, Alabama? He wants to put a monument to the ten commandments in the foyer of the Alabama courthouse because he claims that God's laws are higher than that of man. Well I dont think any of us can dispute that point, but this is a member of the 'independent' judiciary that we are talking about here!
Press freedom is a strong guarantee against the abuse of civil liberites
Two words - FOX NEWS. These dipshits decided that instead of calling terrorists by their accepted name - terrorists - they would from now on cal them islamists, which would stop us all being confused with islamics, that is the followers of islam, or rather muslims. Well I for one am no longer confused about who is and who isnt a terrorist.
Other points of interest: the freedom of information act aplies to the information handed over. This means that you have to have sufficient security clearance to be able to view the information that is held against you. The weirder parts of the information handed over is listed below.
- frequent flyer information
- general remarks (!!!)
- no show history
- and a few other fields I would include if I could understand the acronyms....
- and there are thirty other fields, name address, sex, destination, favourite colour...
The most disturbing of these is the general remark field. Just imagine a ticket checker having a bad day. Somehow you manage to piss him/her off in some way and they make an oblique, scathing comment in the 'general remarks' field. They may as well tattoo 'I like being on the bottom of the naked human pyramid with a red chemical light up my ass' on your forehead.
The whole notion that such an agreement can be enacted with no discussion and merely for financial reasons is VERY disturbing. Democracy was hanging in there outside of the USA (where it is dead, dead, dead), but now is showing signs of catching the same disease that afflicted its Uncle Sam.
Ladies and gentlemen I herald the new age - I give you - totalitarianism.
Posted by dottie at 9:06 AM
April 21, 2004
IRAQ and Easter 1916
Some things are bothering me again. The phrase 'the silent majority' is bandied about a lot when talking about opposition to the uprising in Iraq. This 'silent majority' is chastised for not standing up and letting its feelings about the uprising be known.
The occupying forces would like to think that the opinion would be pro-occupation and anti-insurgency. I would like to think that by keeping quiet this 'silent majority' has made its opinion known in the most eloquent way. The truth is somewhere in between and will only ever be known by those who live through it, and only by those privy to the minutae of the lives of those who live through it - through their poetry, plays, diaries, blogs!
I think that a parallel can be drawn with Irelan during the uprising in 1916 and Iraq as it stands now (bear with me on this, I'm not trying to compare them point for point....).
During the Easter rising in Ireland there was a relatively small force that were active on the day. They had good success until they were beaten down by overwhelming forces and sustained artillery fire.
Anyway the point I am making is that they didnt enjoy wide spread support. The vast majority of the people in Ireland wanted the status quo to be maintained even though the yoke of English occupation, and in many areas oppression, chafed at the soul. See Yeats poetry for an example of how the intelligenstia at the time would have viewed the situation.
During the trial of the leaders and after the subsequent execution the groundswell of public opinion changed. Overwhelmingly the ordinary man in the street and right up to influential members of the upper and ruling classes supported the action. In retrospect the uprising had support and of course was ultimately successful.
I would imagine that the ordinary Iraqi would like very much to have a chance at enjoying his or her definition of a normal life, but war rages outside their doors. The chances of being killed by their country men is high, the chances of being killed by occupying forces is high. The occupation forces are brutal. Chaos is rife.
No matter the motivation for the 'uprising' we are seeing now, no matter what its original goals, it will be supported by the Iraqi people - sooner or later. It is the only path back from the chaos and lawlwessness that has become everyday life in Iraq. As an Irishman, aware of the bloody roots of our own republic, I cannot condemn the Iraqi people.
I can and might well condemn their actions but I will never condemn their desire for stability, whatever the cost.
Posted by dottie at 6:24 PM
April 18, 2004
Summary of the Bush news conference
A bit partisan but there ya go!
http://www.criticalviewer.com/archives/000057.html
Posted by dottie at 1:59 PM
April 9, 2004
Apathy and Democracy
Democracy is based on the premise that people wish to determine their own fate. This assumes a few things:
* that people know what is good for them
* that they like other people
* they are free from venality
* they are motivated
None of these things are true. Generally. Especially the bit about motivation. Especially.
In ancient Greece you HAD to be politically active and aware in order to become a citizen. You were called upon to serve your community through military duty, political office, public works, jury duty (501 people in a jury!!). Only if you were an active member of society did you get the chance to affect that society. Makes sense.
Our notion of democracy is so twisted that it now bears little resemblance to its humble origins. When was the last time you voted? When was the last time you wrote a letter to a TD for any purpose altruistic or not? When was the last time you sat in the public galleries at the Dail, or attended local council meetings or elections? Do you know who your local TD is?
Neither do I.
Apathy is the antithesis of democracy. Democracy is rule by the people.
Last year we had the pleasure of seeing hundreds of thousands of people thronging the streets of Dublin and other cities in Ireland to oppose the war and more specifically to vocalise anger at the crumbling of our neutrality. Bertie ignored it. Allowing American bombers and troop carriers to land at Shannon.
What happened to the rule of the state by the will of the people? What about our historical stance on neutrality? Surely that should be sacred?
Neutrality is a bit like virginity. You either are or you aren't. You can't be fucked a little bit and still be a virgin just as you cant involve yourself in a war just a little bit and still claim to be neutral. Are we still neutral? Will we begin to show in the coming months? Is there a shotgun wedding in the future with the European defense forces? What about Al Quaida and the bombers in Spain? That could happen here you know. We just mnaged to get our lads to stop bombing each other and now we want some foreigners to come and do it for us?
Does anyone remember around the time of the start of the war we had Bertie shaking hands with Bush on the white house lawn promising Irelands wholehearted support. That made us all a bit nervous though, so Brian Cowen offered exile to Sadaam.
I feel so much safer....
Posted by dottie at 3:34 PM
(Civil?) War in Iraq
Like most people I condemn the mutilation of the mercenaries bodies that happened in Fallujah last week.
However the attempt to describe the attack as an unprovoked and underhanded ambush is something that I cannot swallow.
Two words: thats war.
Iraq is still a warzone despite the fact that Bush declared hostilities to be ended (didnt someone forget to tell the Iraqis? And the mujahedeen? and the rest of the world??)
Those men lost their lives in an ambush. Western troops use ambush tactics all the time in combat, it doesnt make them evil. Why is it suddenly an evil tactic when used by Iraqi militants?
Western opinion is still being influenced by spin of major proportions. Next time you read a news report on an attack in Iraq or the middle East, have a close look at how the "Western" troops (by this I mean troops fighting for so called western ideals) and their actions are described as compared to the troops of the opposition and their tactics and most importantly their motivation.
The worst part of all this is that Americans have been killing Iraqis since the beginning of the war. Whenever an innocent gets caught up in the carnage (in other words every time the Western troops open fire) they are described as war casualties. The western dead are described mostly as terrorist victims.
Its a war for ideology, religion (unfortunately), greed, and revenge. It could never be described as a just war. Send the troops home now!
Posted by dottie at 3:05 PM
April 4, 2004
Political compass
Seems that I am more liberal than Ghandi. Go figure.
My results on the political compass
Posted by dottie at 10:39 PM
February 27, 2004
The new consitution of the DSA (Divided States of America)
More fundamentalism at work. Bush is attempting to balance the zealousness of the East with some western zealotry.
They were very careful with their phrasing of their opposition. If they had banned homosexual marriage then they would really have had a problem. Picture the scene a gay man and a gay woman decide to make a mockery of GWB by getting married. But its illegal because they are both gay. But they are at the same time Man and Woman. Someone's civil rights are getting trampled on somewhere.
So why is it so different for same-sex marriages? Because they is no progeny with same-sex marriages.
I think they should allow same-sex marriages on the proviso that the couple will either donate sperm or be inseminated with it (you work out who does what...) But none of your fancy In Vitro Fertilisation, they have to have full penetrative sex in the presence of a high court judge, or better yet, under the gaze of a full bishop, who annoints the couple with holy water at the moment of orgasm, and presumably conception.
They could film it and release the films to christian groups as wholesome entertainment - church approved! And in a single swoop they could end the twin evils of of the porno industry and the gay peril.
Hallelujah and pass the peanuts!
Posted by dottie at 8:12 AM
February 5, 2004
Massive Morals
Its about time someone pointed out to the lumbering giants that are tech companies that a little morality, ethics and just plain common sense every now and then goes a long way. However I am in two minds about this one....
I think that this article about Microsoft, Cisco and others being named in a human rights abuse lawsuit is pretty much on a level with any expose on governments selling arms to possibly hostile, or at least restive, nations.
Like they didnt realise that China had human rights abuses, how could they send over tech equipment and software that would allow the government to further subjugate their already oppressed people? Just when they had found the liberating power of information exchange through the internet it is monitored, tapped and restrivted in the worst way, and anyone who 'abuses' the privelege of the internet is jailed.
On the other handwithout these and other tech giants, not to mention the dollar from Joe Q. American Public, China would still be poverty striken. Well okay, it IS still poverty striken, but things are actually getting better. People are getting more educated, the tide is turning. Its the thin edge of the wedge people. Besides,, in financial terms, China owns America. As fars as I am aware China has forwarded the USA the largest line of credit ever given. If they decide to foreclose on that the USA and the world economy would go down the tubes. Anyway, I digress, thats a matter for another day and a conspiracy teory group meeting....
It would be nice to see a balance. The tech giants provide their technology and situate their companies in China and the government is held over to improve its human rights, especially in the area of electronic censorship, prosecution, etc. otherwise said companies will stop production, pull out etc. Essentially threaten embargos.
The problem with that is that is what countries and governments should be doing. We are talking about companies here. Companies have no other reason than to make more dividends for the shareholders, regardless of how that is done. Dead children in Bopal, dead sea life on your nearest coastline, mercury in your water, acid rain, nuclear waste in the Irish sea, all due to big companies cutting corners or 'taking risks' to make more money.
The much abused UN has tried it best, setting up guidelines and the like to direct companies toward ethical business practices. How are they going to stop them? They combined might of the world expressed through the UN couldnt stop a single mad texan and his clique, how are they to stop a corporation and their phalanxes of highly paid (note: not overpaid!), highly intelligent lawyers?
In Ireland the CAB (Criminal Assests Bureau) was formed after the shoting dead of Veronica Guerin. It brought many criminals to justice in recent years. I think we need something like this for corporations. But as ever the question is - who watches the watchers?
Posted by dottie at 10:25 AM