Accountability means prison

Hitler paid the price. Hussein and Milosevic also paid for something. Charles Taylor is in the process...

How about impeaching/prosecuting the people responsible for the massive financial crisis originating in the US in the last few months of US supreme commander, Bush.

The effect of the bush administrations policies(not only the innocent victims of US-led wars which will cost over a trillion dollars of largely borrowed bucks), but the effect of it's American dominated global financial system.

Already the developing world has had to struggle with extremes in the price of oil, largely due to Americas' selfish domination and the the capitalist speculative system. These rich boys(and a few lasses)selfish money games, and the bullying and invasion of sovereign nations, has caused widespread hurt and suffering throughout the world.

Current events are proof that an unregulated free market, capitalist system is not a wholesome method to run this world. Just like National socialism of the Nazis or Maoism of Pol Pot, these systems may seem appealing on paper, but we all know their real effect. Putting the selfish desire of individuals to stash as much money in their pockets as possible, by whatever means, is essentially the "American Dream".

But, destroying the environment; exploiting workers; degrading food quality; removing species off the face of the earth; causing death, starvation and disease, really do happen as a direct result of free-market capitalism and globalization.
Is this really the best way?

paying off friends...one month to go

In his last moments as "the most powerful idiot" in the world, Bush forces the American people to give $700 billion dollars to the CEO's and shareholders of financial companies he is associated with.
Meanwhile the rest of the "first world" suffers from his management of the economy; much the same as Somalis suffer from US foreign intervention, Iraqis suffer from the theft of their oil, Iranians suffer from sanctions, Palestinians have to die in tunnels to get flour and milk, innocent Afghan villagers get blown to bits for looking like...well, Afghan villagers, Zionists settlements grow, Oil companies make the largest profits in the history of mankind, AIDS spreads, Global warming increases, Dolphins and Whales perish from US military sonar, Polish people are made the direct target of nuclear annihilation, Japan's peaceful self-defense force is forced to fight and pay for USA foreign policy aims, a nuclear arms race is ignited by India getting US nuclear bomb-making support, American citizens (most of whom didn't vote for Bush) are hated in every country throughout the world, a large proportion of US black and minority people are put in prison, airline passengers world-wide are forced to be humiliated, searched and left inconvienianced and thirsty (at their own taxed expence), if they can afford to fly after oil prices rose from $20 when Bush took office...

Anyway, we can go on and on...the main point is...he bought the world two major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has started a new one in Pakistan, and is well on the way to invading Iran. Well, I am sure McCain will do that one...

So, congradulations Mr Christian Bush...

thy shalt not kill, covert my neighbours goods, all that bullshit...George chapter 2, 2008

Weapons that really fuck up the little babies...

Depleted Uranium
It is hard, cheap and can smash the faces off the enemy! Sounds great. It can penetrate tank amour too, no problem. and it can lie there on the ground and deform your enemies babies for many, many generations to come!
But how do you choose which babies to deform? America choose it's friends(liberate with democracy) in Iraq to deform, NATO used them on Yugoslavia, Israel choose it's host neighbor...to name a few.

Severe body deformity, with head formed at 90 degree angle to upper torso.


Background
Depleted uranium is chemically toxic. It is an extremely dense, hard metal, and can cause chemical poisoning to the body in the same way as can lead or any other heavy metal. However, depleted uranium is also radiologically hazardous, as it spontaneously burns on impact, creating tiny aerosolised glass particles which are small enough to be inhaled. These uranium oxide particles emit all types of radiation, alpha, beta and gamma, and can be carried in the air over long distances. Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.5 billion years, and the presence of depleted uranium ceramic aerosols can pose a long term threat to human health and the environment. Campaign Against Depleted Uranium

Want to know more...
More info...

Being US's best friend

Georgia, having around 2000 soldiers fighting for US domination in Iraq, decided to launch it's own little war of domination. They sent in tanks, planes, artillery and a ground invasion force into the Russian enclave of South Ossetia.
Now this must be suicide when you compare Georgia's small army (armed by Israel), to a colossal ex-superpower like Russia. Especially a Russia led by a very strong leader like Putin, full to the brink with oil wealth and concerned about it's own security with US missile poking into it's face. On top of this, Russia's army has recent fighting experience in Chechen and the North Caucasus.
Only a madman would attack a semi-autonomous region that was of no immediate threat(history aside). Or maybe he had the nod from a certain superpower. "You folks go ahead...we are with you in the fight against terrorism, blah blah, freedom, blah blah, democracy is at stake..."
But the calvary didn't come. The poor Georgian soldiers were sitting ducks for the Russians and all they managed to do was kill a few civilians and smash their houses. In only five days defeat fell upon the invasion and threatened their whole country. Thanks to Europe, a ceasefire of sorts happened.
After the bomb dust settled and the angry Georgians(still searching the skies and who could only mumble "where are the Americans?"), a load of boxes arrived
These star and stripe-covered boxes of biscuits and things had a reassuring messages of the love from USA.

Meanwhile, scared shitless, Poland caves in to US demands of becoming a military base for US missiles, troops and intelligence gathering. And maybe also nuclear death for it's citizens...

Olympic Sport - China-bashing

All of a sudden the world is taking notice of the plight of minorities in the most populated nation in the world. Funny how for years nobody cared, but now that China has investments in Africa, owns the US debt and has modernized its army...the western media is acting as if it really cares about the plight of the oppressed in China.
Is it really just an all out attack on a country that is trying to be friendly to the world, changing from a staunch communist state to a emerging capitalist society?
Instead of criticizing, the west should embrace and steer this massive swing, and encourage it in a positive way.

The Great White (Jewish) Hope?

So who is behind Obama...the only hope for change in the world?
The answer we will eventually find out when it is too late, but how about say...David Axelrod?

Who exactly is behind Obama?

Most people have probably forgotton the national feeling of celebration and euphoria when a man named Bliar, delivered a victory from the conservative Tory party in the UK a few years back.
The advertising agency coined the name "New Labour" and together, they managed to con the British nation with the promise of CHANGE!
Sounds familiar?
Now, a new candidate for change is taking the world by storm.
Speaking from Israel, he confirmed his support for the Middle-Easts only hoarder of nuclear weapons(also a major arms dealer and UN resolution abuser), as well as making a 180 degree turn on policy.
No mention of peace from this man, probably the only man in the world powerful enough to deliver it. Just a load of threats to countries with major oil reserves...next he will be preaching drilling in nature reserves!

The great English Empire to Punish the Poor and Uneducated

Why educate and train the unemployed when you can just use them as slaves?

Benefit claimants could be forced to pick up litter and clean graffiti under plans to be unveiled by ministers. The Welfare Green Paper is expected to include proposals to force those unemployed for more than two years to work full-time in the community.
This shake-up will apply to all 4.5m people on out-of-work benefits, but is expected to impact most on those on Jobseekers Allowance.

In "New Labour's Britain", under unelected PM Brown (and probably the opposition idiot as well), it is a crime to not be able to find a suitable job.

Negotiation triumphs over bloodshed

Most people are oblivious to what is going on in the Muslim south of the Philippines. While most of the Philippines is Christian, most of the islands north and west of Mindano are Muslim and very poor.
And there is a war.
This clash of religions, imperialism and poverty has seen an uncounted number of deaths.
But, as in all wars; whether territorial, religious, resource-driven, tribal, political or power-based, it is always the same story.
The ordinary people suffer.
Displacement, violence, outside intervention and control, oppression, malnutrition and disease, destruction of livelihood, rape, loss of mobility, forced labour, relinquishment of education, inflation, lack of investment, theft of natural resources, arms dealing...even tobacco companies targeting the young and vulnerable...I have seen it all before.
SO...There are a bunch of farmers and fishermen, mothers and children, living on some islands and sometimes chatting at a local mosque.
Suddenly, night vision goggles, cruise missiles, advanced weapon systems, spy satellites, attack helicopters and jets, Navy SEALS...all of the USA's best counter-terrorism technology and trainers, are available to massacre these trouble-some Muslims and whoever is unfortunate to be standing next to them, related, or just fitting the profile.

Did I mention the money?
When I was in the Philippines, many a soldier told me they didn't like to posted in such a faraway place in a hostile role (some had wives and children there), didn't care if the local people had democratic control over their villages and farms...
but alas...if there was no war against terrorism...then they would not get the wads of cash, massive amounts compared with what ordinary Philippinos can receive...if there was no war!

But fially some good news comes.

Government and rebel negotiators in the Philippines have agreed to expand a Muslim autonomous region in the country's south.

The agreement follows secret talks in Malaysia between government officials and representatives from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Hermogenes Esperon, a senior adviser to the Philippine president, told reporters.

Under the deal the two sides agreed to expand the Mindanao autonomous region by more than 700 mostly Muslim villages.

Esperon said the two sides would meet again on July 24 to set a date for the signing of a memorandum of agreement, with formal peace talks to resume afterward...

Oil profiteering effects rich and poor alike

(French fuel protests 2007)
Japan...200,000 fishing boats strike! That is a lot.

"Faced with a shift in eating patterns at home towards more meat, cheaper competition from abroad and stocks depleted by years of overfishing, Japan's fishermen say the government must step in."

Oil profiteering effects rich and poor alike...if you believe the developing world are the only ones bearing the effects of US foreign policy?.

But there are benefits. Oil companies are making the best profits in the history of the world("we want to spread democracy, capitalism and the american way" Bush), and well, in the case of Japan, increased (albeit politically-persuaded) imports of US beef (BSE) and the unending stream of Starbucks, KFC's, Mcdonaldsux etc. Surely a bonus to the US-elite economy at a time when the invasion of Iraq is costing more than 2 billion bucks a week.



So, as a consequence,

Pope graces Australia with his presence

What is he doing there?
He says he, his advisers, page-boys, bodyguards and his very heavy pope-mobile are flying in environmentally-damaging planes to Aussie...to save the world from Global Warming!

So why all this "environmental pope" bullshit?

Shouldn't he instead be standing trial for covering-up(and his organisation creating) the disgusting child sex abuse that appears prevalent in his religion????
Or also indicted for murder caused by his organizations active condemnation of the use of condoms in countries ravaged with AIDS???
Or how about prison for harassment, prejudice and incitement of violence to gay people???

He may only be a dottery-old man, but he causes a lot of misery around the world...cuff him and let the world watch his trial !

World's Best Businessman Award goes to...

...US vice-president, Penis Cheney!

As the price of oil pollutes through the roof, and oil companies make the biggest profits ever know in the history of mankind, oh and...the world suddenly discovers we can't afford to feed the poor as a result of the knock on effect...Mr Dick is wandering around the safe streets of picturesque Baghdad...doing what he does best...

"Iraq is preparing to allow four of the biggest western oil companies to renew exploitation of the country's vast reserves for the first time in almost four decades.

Iraq's oil ministry stepped up talks with BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total after the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, visited Iraq in March..."

Bush Oil Inc. fucks up the world, now their own country

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Renowned for its wildlife, Arctic Refuge is inhabited by 45 species of land and marine mammals, ranging from the pygmy shrew to the bowhead whale. Best known are the polar, grizzly, and black bear; wolf, wolverine, Dall sheep, moose, muskox, and the animal that has come to symbolize the area's wildness, the free-roaming caribou. Thirty-six species of fish occur in Arctic Refuge waters, and 180 species of birds have been observed on the refuge.

Eight million acres of the Arctic Refuge are designated Wilderness, and three rivers (Sheenjek, Wind, and Ivishak) are designated Wild Rivers. Two areas of the refuge are designated Research Natural Areas. Because of distinctive scenic and scientific features, several rivers, valleys, canyons, lakes, and a rock mesa have been recommended as National Natural Landmarks.

Perhaps the most unique feature of the refuge is that large-scale ecological and evolutionary processes continue here, free of human control or manipulation. A prominent reason for establishment of the Arctic Refuge was the fact that this single protected area encompasses an unbroken continuum of arctic and subarctic ecosystems. Here, one can traverse the boreal forest of the Porcupine River plateau, wander north up the rolling tiaga uplands, cross the rugged, glacier-capped Brooks Range, and follow any number of rivers across the tundra coastal plain to the lagoons, estuaries, and barrier islands of the Beaufort Seas coast, all without encountering an artifact of civilization.

The refuge encompasses the traditional homelands and subsistence areas of Inupiaq Eskimos of the arctic coast and the Athabascan Indians of the interior.

Image: Dec 14th, 2007, local residents try to remove dense crude oil at a beach in Taean, South Korea

Official..Afghanistan is about to invade Britain!!!

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has revealed Afghanistan's intention to invade the United Kingdom.

"We have resolved ... it is in the British national interest to confront the Taliban in Afghanistan, or Afghanistan would come to us," Brown said at the conference.

India - ode to the motor car!

More than 100,000 people died, and an estimated 2,000,000 were seriously injured in Indian road accidents! These are the latest available figures from 2006.
Cars kill more people in India than malaria, TB and AIDS combined!
Add this to the release of the new super-cheap Indian car, which will only increase deaths, the cost of rising fuel impacting family budgets and food costs, global warming...etc, etc.
Surely the 100,000 deaths is enough to wake up this fast-growing nation to invest NOW in alternatives to the personal motor car.

Becoming your own enermy

Gordon Brown (unelected prime minister of the UK) has pushed through his proposal to increase the time that terrorism suspects can be held without charge. If the measure becomes law, Britain will have the toughest anti-terror laws in the Western world.
What is a terrorist? What is civilized behavior, the Geneva Convention, International Law etc?
How can you win the supposed "war on terrorism" when you become as bad as the very people you are fighting?
This is a sad day for British history...

Just who are the "Taliban" that we murder?

Once upon a time in a war-torn country, there was a revolution of the popular masses that sided with the Taliban, who brought some peace to the land.
This country was very poor, the environment very hostile, enveloped in clan warfare, recovering from a Soviet and American proxy war and flooded with small arms, an economy dependent on opium, a population addicted to opium, corruption, undeveloped health systems, a 1999 literacy rate of 36%, isolation from the outside world...to put it in a nutshell, a nation that comes close to living in the middle ages.
Then a super modern army lead by Bush, invades their land. Being mostly Christian and English-speaking, they use high tech weapon systems, super-sonic stealth bombers, cruise missiles, chemical weapons, night/heat vision sensors, satellite imagery, and big mutha-funking bombs!
They trample through villages and homes, destroying cash crops and insulting culture, bribing locals and officials who are approachable and detaining those who are not.
A large portion of the people who are resisting the foreign invasion are just ordinary tribesman protecting their family and their land. If they are Pashtun people (who populate Afghanistan and bordering Pakistan) they have become targets by ethnicity.
Unfortunately, the foreign soldiers and their pin-point weapons have been largely unsuccessful. Almost half the bodies blown apart are civilians. Also a large number of the killed "taliban", are most probably uneducated locals given an AK and told to defend their homeland and culture(religion).
This foreign invasion (Bush's one)has a catalysis effect. It radicalises the local populace, and draws "outsiders" to defend their cause. These outsiders have other agendas; be it a product of their own radical religious brainwashing, or the desire to justify the continuation of their own bloody misguided cause...the end result is that it is the ordinary civilians of this historic land are the ones who pay the price.

What Afghanistan needs is the slow lifting of the standard of living for the country, with health and education at the forefront. Not missionaries with bibles and Korans, McDonald's and Starbucks, genetically modified seeds and gasoline guzzling motorcars...Afghans need the means to empower themselves and chart their own destiny...free from the bullet and the bomb!

The Military Industry Top 100

For a taster, the Top 10 for 2006 with country and Arm sales 2006

1. Boeing (USA) $30 690 000 000
   
2. Lockheed Martin (USA) $28 120 000 000
   
3. BAE Systemsd (UK) $24 060 000 000
   
4. Northrop Grummane (USA) $23 650 000 000
   
5. Raytheon (USA) $19 530 000 000
   
6. General Dynamics (USA) $18 770 000 000
   
7. EADSf (W. Europe) $12 600 000 000
   (BAE Systems Inc. (USA) $11 280 000 000
   (BAE Systems, UK))
8. L-3 Communications (USA) $9 980 000 000
   
9. Finmeccanica (Italy) $8 990 000 000
   
10. Thales (France) $8 240 000 000
    

(view this web-link for the Top 100!)
The SIPRI Top 100 Arms Producing Companies (excluding China) 2006

Red, White and Blue...and Black...

Barack Obama

In one of his first acts after he secured the Democratic nomination for president of the US, Senator Barack Obama told Aipac, America's most powerful pro-Israel lobby, that he would do everything in his power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. He repeated the word "everything" several times.

John McCain
During the campaign for his party's nomination, he once sang "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys' classic "Barbara Ann".

The US election is not looking good for the world. Good for Oil Companies and the Military Industry.

Israels Right To Exist

In theory, Israel has no right to exist.
But in reality, Israel does exist and it is impossible to ignore this fact.
While Israel has UN seats, billions of dollars of yearly US Aid, nuclear bombs, high-tech weapons and delivery systems, armies of bullet-proof bulldozers, seemingly unlimited and an unchallenged right to torture, oppress and starve....WHAT DO THE PALESTINIANS HAVE?
So if Israel exists, then it must also give that right to the Palestinian people, whose houses and land the Israelis now live in.
You can't change what happened, but you can fix it...

Sticks and stones may...

On Iran...
Dr Rice says..."violent and extremist"

Sen John MaCain says..."continued pursuit of nuclear weapons" posed an "unacceptable risk"

Olmert says..."The Iranian threat must be stopped by all possible means,"

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says..

"Look at behaviour of the US president and members of his team, their words are like those of the mentally ill, sometimes they threaten … and sometimes they ask for help – it's like mad people staggering to and fro."

.

Iran - Let's scare the fuck out of voters

With the US election coming up(bored already!), the Republican choice(who so far hasn't had a fatal heart attack, yet) Sen McClain is swinging the bat at Iran.
It seems that 9/11 proved that if you scare the US public, you can get away with anything. Invading Iran would make the Oil administration(Iran has so much oil), Israel(major power in US politics), and well...the Christian Zionists happy (believe that by strengthening and supporting the state of Israel, they are more likely to bring about the "second coming" of Jesus as prophesied in the Bible).

Invading Iraq was easy (apart from all those WMDs), but Iran is a much different kettle of fish. And of course it will be the innocent masses on both sides that will pay the price.
With oil reaching over $500 a barrel, food will become too expensive for most of the developing world. At this price, the Oil administration will also become so rich that they will be able to own the world. The Middle East will explode. The war will spread across Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Iraq (Jordan probably will sell supplies to all sides and get very rich). The US-backed governments of Saudi and Egypt could face a rebellion from their angry oppressed masses that would further complicate the region. China would would have their say about the ownership of the world's oil being stolen by the US...

So to get the ball rolling...how about the new president using the tried and tested WMD line which worked well in Iraq...what about...Iran is getting a nuclear bomb!

Al Jazeera journalist released after more than 2500 days

"Six years and seven months were stolen from my life in Guantanamo camp under torture and inhuman treatment by those who call themselves a democratic people,"

Sami al-Hajj

China's other oppression - Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang

While the eyes of the media are focused on the oppression of Tibet, far away to the northern reaches of the worlds greatest nation(population over 1.2 billion), lies the province of Xinjiang surrounded by Mongolia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India, Tibet, Chinhai, and Gansu.
Once backed by the US to rebel, the situation in this harsh land is dire.

Of course China's opening up, as evidenced by the media coverage of the 2008 earthquake allowed to be seen by the world...nobody is watching what goes on in their back yard.

The idiot in power

In one of the world's most proudest democracies (one that helped invade a sovereign nation, decimated it's infrastructure and murdered it's people so they could also become a democracy), it is bewildering to see a Mr Brown in power.
The idea of a democracy is...well, I was told...that the PEOPLE vote for their leader.
Who exactly voted for Brown???

AI Report 2008: State of the World's Human Rights

Read the report (especially US and China)...

2008: State of the World's Human Rights

Wake up everybody.
We are all humans.
We can chose a life of love, peace and harmony if we really want.

SOFA - Status of Forces - forced on Iraq's people

IMAGINE...you are from a western country and your government allows an invading Islamic army to smash down your door any time, and take you away for "interrogation" without trial, for an indefinite period?
You would have no rights, no free movement...even though it is your country. You can't even speak the language of the invaders or understand their Muslim culture...
But your government signs a deal to allow these Islamic invaders to legally occupy your country.
I think there would be protests in the streets of London, Washington and Paris!
So, do you think the SOFA deal is really fair on the innocent Iraqi people?

Former US president Jimmy Carter said...

"The US has more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, the [former] Soviet Union has about the same; Great Britain and France have several hundred, and Israel has 150 or more,"

Did he say Israel?
A prolific UN resolution abuser, collective punisher, right-wing apartheid military state with active plans to expand it borders...possessing...150 or more, nuclear weapons???

Where are the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)? Has anybody told them?

Of course we all know about the severe threat to world peace posed by Israel. And there is probably only two solutions:

1. nuclear arm Israels threatened neighbours(a Cold-War policy commonly know as "nuclear deterrent")
2. force Israel to reliquish it's arsenal of weapons of mass destruction that obliterate women, children and well, everything.

Some facts about (US) animal factory farming

Wingspan of average leghorn chicken: 26 inches
Space average leghorn chicken given in egg factories: 6 inches
Number of 700 plus pounds pigs confined to space the size of a twin bed in typical factory farm: 3
Reason today's veal is so tender: Calves never allowed to take single step
Reason today's veal is whitish-pink: Calves force fed an anemia-producing diet
McDonald's brags: 60 million sold McDonald's doesn't brag about: 50 million butchered
McDonald's clown, Ronald McDonald, tells children: Hamburgers grow in hamburger patches and love to be eaten.
McDonald's clown, Ronald McDonald,doesn't tell children: Hamburgers are ground up cows who've had their throats slit by machetes or their brains bashed in by sledgehammers
Original actor to play Ronald McDonald: Jeff Juliano (diet now followed by Jeff Juliano: Vegetarian)
Number of animals killed for meat per hour in U.S.: 500,000
Occupation with highest employee turnover rate in U.S.: Slaughterhouse worker
Occupation with highest employee rate of injury in U.S.: Slaughterhouse worker
Cost to render an animal unconscious prior to slaughter with captive bolt pistol so that process is done humanely: 1 penny
Reason given by meat industry for not utilizing captive bolt pistol: Too expensive

John Robins

Tax the fuck out of the oil companies!

"as repetitive and uninteresting as it may sound, the fundamental laws of supply and demand are at work".

John Hofmeister, President of SHELL oil, who were making a staggering profit of $75million (£38million) a day in January 2008, when oil was a mere $100 a barrel.

It was $20 a barrel when Bush and his oil friends started his presidency.

Stay out of Palestine Mr Bin Laden

Mr B-L, Your fight is with US troops in Saudi. NOT Palestine. The Palestinian people are firstly Palestinian, secondly Muslim(although not all of them).
Don't use their oppression as an excuse for your existence.
What has happened to them is a concern for all free-thinking intelligent people. Don't use it as your public relations exercise.
Justice will eventually come to the Palestinians and bad karma will eventually come to the Zionists. It doesn't need your help to solve the injustice...what can you possibly do? Can you provide the Palestinian freedom fighter with state-of-the-art rockets and anti-aircraft systems to defend themselves? I don't think so...SO STAY OUT!

$127 for oil

Speculation that China will use oil is to blame for the latest rise.
Oil is still there under the ground just like it always. So...who is making so much money? We must pay whatever price they ask.

And, in the future when all the oil has run out...it will be the same for water.

Nakba - 60 years of disaster

As the world turns it eyes away from the world's biggest concentration camp, Israel celebrates it's creation on Palestinian land.

The Palestinian people, victims of illegal collective punishment, suffer a day-to-day existence of Israeli rocket attacks, checkpoints, closed borders, starvation, power outages, lack of fuel and medicine, disrupted education, insecurity and uncertainty.

While the Nakba(catastrophe) commemoration is being held across Palestinian towns and cities, Mr Bush is speaking at the Israeli Knesset.

Mr Bush said: "Israel's population may be just over seven million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307m strong, because the United States of America stands with you."

Does Mr Bush not understand the "terror and evil" that the Palestinian people are facing every second of their lives?

Cyclone Nargis vs Hurricane Katrina

America, an admitted aggressor with plans to overthrow the Burmese military junta, suddenly wants to send it soldiers into Burma with aid.
When the worried government refused the US soldiers entry, America shouted all sorts of insults.
But what about Katrina? Did the US Marines rush there to stop the looting, rapes and human misery?
A coincidence...Burma does have oil and resources...does New Orleans?

Or is it the "Christians" that the US is trying to get inside? Throughout history, imperialistic nations have sent in the Christian foot soldiers to convert the natives into submission. Image you have lost your husband and your starving children are crying in the ruins of your abode. A rich white missionary showers you with food and gifts...all you are obliged to do is attend their church.

I would welcome a change in Burma. It is one of the most oppressive nations in the world. I have met many Burmese during my years in South-East Asia and traveled the entire length of Burma's border, and visited Burmese refuge camps. These are a desperate people.

But America is not the solution. With America's track record, and the complicated ethnic patchwork, awash with weapons, it will leave a mess.

My heart goes out to the suffering people of Burma.

Jesus of Nazerth was Black

The pope, church of england et al...are a bunch of liars.
The convicted radical activist they revere was dark-skined, not Aryan-like as they would have the world (especially developing world former colonies).

A sensible warning about Iran

Ever wondered what might happen if the US decided to inflict carnage on the sovereign nation of Iran? The Neo-conservatives say that Israel will be safer and are probably already counting how much oil profits they will make as well as the control they will have on the worlds energy. Just like Iraq???

Although the Neo-cons have massive influence on the western media, they don't control it. Check out a down to earth account of the likely consequences of an attack on Iran at this link:

Attack on Iran: A Looming Folly By William Rivers Pitt

Bush and Iran - The idiot is still at the helm

His time as god-equal is running out...what devestation can he inflict before his term finishes(not including up to 1000000 Iraqi civilian deaths already)...?

The US military has troops in over 800 locations around the world and in 70 per cent of countries 1.6 million troops available for active duty in the US and abroad 546,000 troops in total deployed around the globe Biggest single deployment is in Iraq with 161,000 In Europe, more than 57,000 are in Germany and more than 9,800 in the UK Ecuador hosts the only US military base in Latin America Sub-Saharan Africa becoming a greater focus for deployment with over 2,400 troops stationed across region.Source: Pentagon

Palawan, Philippines

How is it possible to have such a wonderful, fresh, clean, underpopulated, safe, beautiful island...so close to the tragic confusion, corruption, gangland, beggerland...of cities of the likes of Manila and Cebu?
While there is communist rebels in places like Luzon, and separatists in Mindanao and the south; compared to all this, Palawan is a paradise.
Paradise if you can accept the poverty, lack of electricity, sanitation, a livable working wage...but smiles are big here, and it has escaped the sex-tourism taint that is a viral infection covering all of the Philippines.
Don't go there, come here. Palawan is a rural seaside paradise, where you don't need a clock. Just sit, watch and eat when food arrives.........the pace of life is, well, the pace of life here.

Philippines - a Christian country

Conversations so far in Manila..."How many kids do you have?"..."Do you want to marry my sister, mother, wife?"
"How much money do you earn?" ..."Can I have some?"

Vanila Manila...without the icing

I would like to thank the Philippines for hosting my visit!
Unfortunately I can't comment on Manila, as I have only just arrived and have really only seen chaotic fuming traffic, street begger children and dingy dodgy bars.
Tomorrow should provide more insights into this metropolis...stay tuned!

Oil hits $110

So who is benefiting from these record oil prices?

The world's biggest publicly traded company by revenue posted net earnings of $39.5 billion on revenue of $377.6 billion last year, topping its previous profit record of $36.1 billion in 2005, which at the time was the largest for any U.S. company.

Shell smashed all-time British company profit records today, posting 2007 earnings of $27.5billion (£13.9billion).

I wonder how the Indonesian boatman, Kenyan taxi driver, Egyptian minibus driver, Australian single parent...all manage to survive with such high consumer end prices?

Luckily oil companies are not greedy, otherwise they would invade oil-rich countries...

Dolphin saves beached whales

Moko, a dolphin living around Mahia beach in NZ, rescued two stranded Pigmy Sperm whales after local residents efforts failed!

$105 for Oil

Bush asked OPEC to save his arse by pumping more oil. But OPEC told him there was already a good supply.
So why do we all have to pay so much?
Chakib Khelil, Opec's president, blamed the rise in oil prices on speculation associated with the weakness of the US dollar. "What is happening in the oil market is due to the mismanagement of the US economy,"
So...who is the commander in charge of the US (clue=former oil executive) who is making you and me pay extra for everything?

New US foreign policy?

Unfortunately, it seems nothing will change. Obama (the candidate of change) says he is a staunch supporter of Israel. How can there possibly be peace....

You are as good as your handbag!

This handbag is a bargain! It is reduced to below $7000!!!
It does look like a piece of crap, but if you have this much money to waste on a bag...then I guess you don't really realize you own a shitty looking handbag.
In Japan, the label is more important than the looks.

US jail population reaches 1.3 million

1,300,000 US citizens in prison!
Highest in the world. This is only those in prison. There are people on parole, and people who don't get caught...Is this a scary place to live?

Canada won't attend the United Nations Follow-up Conference on Racism

It is a shame that Canada has decided not to participate in the upcoming United Nations Follow-up Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa.
The UN says "racism is too important an issue for member states not to work out their differences."
The issue is centered around Israel. Unfortunately, Israel's over-use of the term "anti-Semitism" to describe any discussion of the activities and policies of the nuclear-armed nation (which is the subject of numerous UN resolutions), smothers free speech.
Only through discussion can an end be found to the disgusting existence of racism and bigotry. Ignorance exists beside racism, and if all nations can sit down and resolve their differences then the world will be a better place. What did conflicts like World War 2 and Rwanda achieve, apart from a historical example of what happens when societies don't talk about their differences?
Shame on Canada to become hostage to the Jewish lobby.

Lets love everyone!

Anybody care for Udo?

I found this veggie(called Udo) in a market stall in Takastuki. It was the first time I have seen it.

Udo is a vegetable grown for its tender, etiolated spring shoots, which are a bit like asparagus. The plant is a strong growing perennial, producing the edible shoots from the roots each spring.
Before eating, the shoots are boiled in salt water, or are sliced and soaked in cold water, to remove a turpentine like resin. They are then eaten raw as a salad or cooked.

How about Blair?

The truth slowly emerges that he lied about US Renditions(torture?). As well as illegally invading Iraq against the will of the people who voted for him, attacking the BBC for freely reporting criticism about Iraq, he also deliberately brought the UK to the forefront as a target of terrorism. He went from being the most popular Prime Minister to one of the most hated.

His new job "middle east peace envoy" has seen the expansion of Israeli settlement building, no dismantling of West Bank checkpoints, collective punishment wrought on the suffering Palestinians in Gaza, and continued Israeli bombardments on Gaza which of course solicit reprisals and the continuation of stupid violence.

Now he wants to be the President of EUROPE!

The only way to get ahead in life is to start your own business!

Someone has the right idea to make it big and make a million.
Selling BEETLES!
Why didn't I think of it!!!!

Menu
- Rich beetle soup with croûtons
- Roasted beetle on a bed of grass
- Beetle with hot chocolate sauce

There must definitely be a demand...

Rubbish in the sea

I love nature and I love the sea. So I am absolutely disgusted at the state of many coastlines in the world. In Japan, at beaches from Toyama to Okinawa, I have witnessed masses of pollution. Whether from China or Korea(easy to blame) or from Japan(especially the Japanese fishing industry) there is absolutely no excuse for throwing rubbish in the sea.
This is not just a problem in the Sea of Japan. I have witnessed disgusting litter on scenic Thai islands, the Mediterranean, North Sea...it is a worldwide problem and there is no excuse for this. Please do your bit...let's keep this world clean.

About 15,000 plastic containers have washed ashore on the Sea of Japan coast since January, with one third of them carrying Hangul characters, Environment Ministry officials said Tuesday. The containers have washed ashore in 11 prefectures, and the ministry plans to ask the South Korean government to investigate the cause and to take preventive measures, the officials said.
By prefecture, 4,662 containers have washed ashore in Nagasaki, 3,738 in Shimane and 2,078 in Fukuoka, the officials said. The plastic tanks have a capacity of about 20 liters. Some of them carry Hangul characters for "hazardous" or "oxidizing agent," while others carry chemical formulas for hydrogen peroxide solution and nitric acid, the officials said.

Japan Today

Who killed Diana?

If it wasn't a murder, why are there so many ambiguities?
If it was just an accident, why would so many "suspects" be hiding in the background?
And, what use is it caring about this one murder? Surely we should trust the motives of the alleged conspirators as it is their job to lead Great Britain and it is not up to us to question their methods . Or is it?

Mohamed Al Fayed claims:

The car crash in which Diana, Dodi and their driver, Henri Paul, were "murdered" was orchestrated by MI6 on the instructions of the Duke of Edinburgh

Britain is not really a democracy, but is controlled from behind the scenes by Prince Philip, the Lord Chamberlain and an organisation called the Way Ahead group "who decide the destiny of this country"

The murder was carried out at the behest of the security services by photographer James Andanson, who has since died, by using a strobe light to blind Mr Paul

Mr Andanson was later murdered by British security services

The then-prime minister, Tony Blair, was part of the plot

British and French security services employees may have been part of the ambulance crew that took Diana to hospital to ensure she bled to death. A hospital which could have treated her was 10 minutes from the site of the crash, Mr Al Fayed said, but she was not taken to another medical building for an hour

Robert Fellowes, the Princess's brother-in-law and at the time the Queen's then-private secretary, was at the British Embassy in Paris prior to the accident and took control of the building's communication centre to contact GCHQ

Sir Michael Jay, at that time the British ambassador to France, was also involved in the conspiracy

The CIA also took part by tapping mobile phones

Princess Diana told Mr Al Fayed personally that "she knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to get rid of her"

Prince Philip was a "Nazi" and a "racist", and his real name "ends with Frankenstein"

Diana's divorce lawyer, Lord Mishcon, wrote a note in October 1995 outlining her fears that there was a plot to kill her in a car crash. Lord Mishcon passed this to police after the crash

But it was only after the princess's ex-butler, Paul Burrell, produced a note from the princess making similar allegations in the Daily Mirror in October 2003 that the Metropolitan Police agreed to hand over the note to the inquest

Diana and Dodi told Mr Al Fayed one hour before the crash that she was pregnant and that the couple would announce their engagement days later. Mr Burrell was also told

Dodi told Mr Al Fayed: "I bought the ring"

But once the security services - who were bugging their phones - learned of their plans, the decision was taken to have them assassinated

Diana told Mr Al Fayed that she had kept a wooden box, and if anything were to happen to her the contents of the box must be made public

Mr Burrell and Diana's sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, had promised to keep this box safe, but failed to do so

Mr Paul was in the pay of MI6, as was Diana's close friend Rosa Monckton

Blood supposedly taken from the body of Mr Paul in a Paris mortuary after the crash - which appeared to show the driver had been drinking - was not really his

Professors Lecomte and Pepin at the mortuary were employed by French intelligence to switch the samples and assist the cover-up

In addition, mortuary staff took Diana's "guts out to really completely falsify the body" and conceal that she was pregnant. She was embalmed to "corrupt the body"

The former home secretary, Jack Straw, was acting on the orders of "dark forces" when he refused Mr Al Fayed a passport

Bodyguard Trevor Rees - the only survivor of the Paris crash - was "turned against" Mr Al Fayed by MI6, as were his colleagues Kes Wingfield and Ben Murrell

Journalists working for the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, The Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph - acting on the instructions of MI6 - have all been engaged in a campaign to destabilise Mr Al Fayed's businesses as a punishment for speaking out against the conspiracy

Diana's relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan was "not serious". Mr Al Fayed said she would never marry someone who "lived in a council flat and has no money."

(source BBC)

Deer surprise

Cars, motorbikes and buses pass by oblivious to two diners enjoying the abundance of food along the Kamogawa riverbed. First time I have seen deer so close to the centre of Kyoto!

Toxic raindrops a-falling on our heads

"President George W Bush has directed a U.S. warship to shoot down an out-of-commission spy satellite..."
The US lead worldwide protests after China shot down a weather satellite in orbit January 2007.

UN says 1 billion could die from smoking

Congradulations to Kyoto and all the other cities in the world for making an effort to limit the damage done from tobacco. The implementation and enforcement of the No Smoking Zone in the centre of the city is a great step forward towards ending the pain, misery, and cost to society of such a harmful, addictive drug. But it is only a start...

The World Health Organization estimates that there are around 1.3 billion smokers in the world, of which almost 1 billion are men. This represents about one third of the global population aged 15 and over. The consumption of tobacco is changing - from the developed world to the developing world. The vast majority of smokers, around 84% or 1 billion people live in developing countries. If current trends continue by 2020 tobacco will kill 10 million people each year, with 70% of those coming from the developing world.

USA owns Lebanon?

"There is no excuse for foriegn influence in Lebanon..."
Bush

(Currently the US-backed government in Lebanon is unable to elect a new prime minister against a backdrop of political violence)

I was wrong. They do eat all OUR fish so lets wipe em all out!

A whales diet

All cetaceans are carnivores and do not consume plants or algae as food. The large Baleen whales eat schooling organisms that range in length from minute drifting mollusks, copepods(1 cm or less), krill(1–5 cm), and small fish and squid up to about 40 cm. All these are consumed by whales in vast quantities with each concentrated mouthful. Certain smaller baleen whales, such as the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), also pursue individual fish up to 1 metre long. Toothed whales, which range in length from about 1 metre for the finless porpose (Neophocoena phocaenoides) to 20 metres for the sperm whale, eat an enormous variety of prey ranging from small shrimp, fish, and squid to bluefin tuna(3 metres long) and giant squid.

Encyclopædia Britannica

Greedy fish-eating whales

Conversation with a drunk salary man on the Shinkensen from Nagoya to Kyoto

God(me in disguise): Why do you have to come to NZ and kill our whales?
Salaryman: Why not?
God: Well, for a start, we love whales. They are our friends...
Salaryman: We have to kill all the whales because they are eating all our fish...
God: Our fish? But most whales don't eat fish...
Salaryman: Yes they do. Whales eat all our fish, that is why there is not enough fish...

Pix...Whale meat for sale in the local supermarket (for research purposes of course)!

February 14 2008

How do you spell cold?
Is it...-1 degree?
How can people live in Canada?
Why do we live in cold places without hairy backs? I never thought I would ever wish to have a hairy back, but every time I go outside...

Today I will go to Nagoya on the Shinkensen. I hope there are palm trees there!

Pix for today, is the view from my window....no, the white stuff is not ice cream!

North Kyoto, January 27 2008

WELCOME TO MY WORLD

Kyoto.
2 degrees
Snow