Sunday 8th November 2009
A clip of Republican representatives harassing Democratic reps, going out of order and shouting over them, “Object! Object!” Chairman Dingell isn’t able to keep order. “What is happening, my dear friends, is we are getting ourselves in a deep parliamentary morass.”
I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here but it seems that parliamentary proceedings in the US are about as ridiculous as in the UK. And that Republicans are childish cunts.
On Remembrance Sunday
“Historical memory is hijacked by those who carry out war. They seek, when the memory challenges the myth, to obliterate or hide the evidence that exposes the myth as lie. The destruction is pervasive, aided by an establishment, including the media, which apes the slogans and euphemisms parroted by the powerful. Because nearly everyone in wartime is complicit, it is difficult for societies to confront their own culpability and the lie that led to it.”
Chris Hedges, War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning
Regular readers may, like my own children, be a little baffled by my apparent obsession with, and opposition to, our war. I am no less surprised to find myself, nearing 50, shouting at the TV as our elected leaders and their faithful stenographers in the media spurt more lies so that yet another generation may know the infinite indignities of armed conflict.
As Britain has sprouted its annual harvest of commemorative poppies ahead of today’s marches, church services and memorial ceremonies, it has coincided (if that’s the right word) with the news that a number of British soldiers have been killed by an Afghan policeman. We are also reminded that it is 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The siren voices of newspapers command us to “never forget”, but in truth they are calling us to participate in a national act of selective amnesia. Never forget the fallen. Never forget to honour our forces. Never forget to support the “heroes” who invaded and occupy Afghanistan. But to remember the fact that our attack on that country eight years ago was an act of revenge and aggression; that our subsequent attack on Iraq, while more controversial, was no more or less in contravention of the Nuremberg Principles; that we were sold the fall of the Wall as promising a Peace Dividend; that the same people gain from war now as they did in 1914, and it is being fuelled by the same young men and women on a diet of the same lies, is not welcome.
As a child in the 1960s, for whom the nightly TV pictures of Vietnam were someone else’s war, I grew up genuinely, stupidly, believing that the 1939-45 war that still filled our culture and our national myth was the stuff of the past. Unaware, then, of the dirty wars, the proxy wars, the coups and the low-intensity conflicts with which countries like mine maintained their stranglehold on wealth and power, I would have simply not believed that my middle years would see my country invading and bombing others for no reason. I can scarcely believe it now. And the war fever I see all around me seems as alien and frightening as it would to my childhood self 40 years ago.
Saturday 7th November 2009
»Afghan ministry: NATO strike kills Afghan soldiers | AP
They’re not British or American, so they probably weren’t heroic individuals with mums, dads, wives and children. Move along. Nothing for the media to cash in on here.
This was the only way to get 10 megapixels out of a camera in 1968.
Friday 6th November 2009
»Miss England relinquishes crown | BBC NEWS
Who the fuck cares? Let us know when the Queen relinquishes her crown.
» Drunk social worker offered detox patient a double whisky | Independent
A social worker who offered to buy a double whisky in a pub for a client he had helped through detox was struck off today.
Craig McLoughlin, who was drunk at the time, told the client, known only as Mr A, not to worry about his dead father, adding “I’ll be your dad”, and he informed other people in the pub that he was his social worker.
Another drunken fuck-up in Sheffield. If we’re not literally pissing on the memory of the dead, we’re figuratively pissing on the memory of the dead.
Early origins for uncanny valley | BBC NEWS
Human suspicion of realistic robots and avatars may have earlier origins than previously thought.
The phenomenon, called the uncanny valley, describes the disquiet caused by synthetic people which almost, but not quite, match human expressiveness.
Experiments with macaque monkeys show they too are suspicious of replicas that fall short of the real thing.
The research suggests a deep-seated evolutionary origin for the reactions such artificial entities evoke.
Macaques find fake monkeys creepy? I find the fuckers creepy! They’re creepy little bastards! Make less creepy avatars. They look like they want to eat my brains for fuck’s sake. Hire Disney before you give the poor buggers nightmares.
Also:
Macaque monkeys are a favourite among researchers because of their biological similarity to humans. Their social lives have enough in common with humans to make comparisons apt, said Dr Ghazanfar.
Oh, do they look out for each other? Take turns watching the kids? Share their food in a group? Work together to ensure mutual survival? Hug each other when they’re feeling down?
Macaques have a “despotic” social network that means monkeys that are physically frail, old or sick are excluded.
Oh. Yeah. We’re cunts aren’t we. It’s ironic that people who don’t believe we evolved from monkeys are among those most against healthcare reform.
Thursday 5th November 2009
Jordan effigy to go up in flames | BBC NEWS
A huge effigy of glamour model Katie Price is to be set on fire as part of a Kent bonfire society’s celebrations to mark Guy Fawkes night.
As soon as we saw Indians burning effigies of Richard Gere and Jade Goody we just had to get a piece of the action. They’re burning celebrities to cinders? That looks like fun! How can we get away with that?
Wednesday 4th November 2009
Fork lift truck crash video | Channel 4 News
A fork lift truck driver in Moscow caused £91,000 of damage when he drove his vehicle into shelves at a vodka and cognac warehouse.
That’s just beautiful.
Bill Hicks interviewed by your mum and dad. Though your mum and dad are probably cooler. (via sloeber)
Tuesday 3rd November 2009
From Adam Curtis’ BBC blog. He’s researching the history of Afghanistan and the West. You should all read it (part one is here). Discussing American efforts to modernize Afghanistan in the 60s, Curtis notes the parallels with similar efforts in Vietnam. Unfortunately I suspect those outside the UK might not be able to watch the video.
By 1965 the Americans were fighting a bitter guerilla war against an unseen enemy, the Vietcong. The Vietcong hid among the thousands of villages in South Vietnam - from which they attacked the Americans. Rostow was convinced that you could use modernization theory to transform the country and defeat the communists.
He was a supporter of an idea called “Strategic Hamlets. The theory was simple - you took all the “good” Vietnamese out of the villages and resettled them in new planned villages which would be protected by the Americans. There the villagers would be educated by psychologists and special cadres to become new “modern” citizens devoted to democracy.
And here is part of a BBC film shot in 1966 which vividly shows the system the Americans had created in Vietnam in all its weirdness. By now it had become the central strategy in the counter-insurgency.
Sunday 1st November 2009
I miss Frank Bruno.
Saturday 31st October 2009
»Can there be peace in the Middle East?
In the latest guardian podcast from the 2009 Cambridge Festival of Ideas, two Middle East experts debate the future for the region.
This podcast provides really good background to the current happenings in Iran … and the first guy to speak - Anoush Eteshami - is my uncle! (sort of). He’s also prof of international relations and head of the school of government and international affairs at Durham University (a massive brain box).
It’s hardly light entertainment, but it’s a very comprehensive recap and exploration for people who want to know more about the recent election, and how Iran fits into the world today.
