Oh this got ranty…

Done the last bit of shopping nursing my poorly car along, dealt with the mysterious central heating problem at my sisters (while they are off in Disney-friggin’-land) my mum thinks she caused, made and cooked her dinner, hoovered (Dysoned?!?!) round her house (as she is not quite yet allowed to hoover by the hip replacement gods) in order for my brother to come and still moan about his cat allergies which he uses to hide his seething hatred of all animals and demand that although he spends 5 days a year at her house my cat should not be allowed to mooch over there for any of the other 360 even though she likes having her there. Then have another shower because…well I had my hair cut yesterday and although both me and my hair slicing artisan know I do not like stuff in my hair somehow some stuff is in my hair and the smell is driving me insane, so I keep washing it, showering yet still the highly volatile aromatics haunt me, mocking me with their incorporeal stench. Was it a mistake, was it residue from some other customer and now I have their horrible taste in product molesting my nose? Which is mildly revolting, if I want to have someone else’s scent on me first I want to know them, then I want to like them in a pretty special way. Instead I’m going around ponging of some dodgy quiffed pensioner or perhaps some rugby playing poser who wants to look just like his hero with their greasy overstyled barnet. But I think I’m close, the last shampoo and shower seems to have it on the run, soon I will reek only of my own spicy essence.

A rich Tory relative is deserted by her children at Xmas, they enjoy their affluence and go off somewhere very nice and she is left alone so among others she is visiting here, but she will never make the connection that part of the deal they have made is that to be wealthy they prioritise themselves and her lifelong activism for the right is also a signifier & cause of her families lack of care for each other. In the end the Daily-fucking-Mail and the Daily-arse twatting-Telegraph is not going to cook you dinner or give you a thoughtful and loving present, that this capitalist Hellhole of neoliberalism rewards those who are selfish over those who look after each other is a disaster for human community and means the best people generally remain relatively poor. But fuck the meek inheriting the Earth b’shizzle, it’s not going to be in any shape to be of any use to anyone if the self serving pricks of the planet keep running the show (or play pass the blame-game, do they really think we will buy ‘China wrecked COP 15′, is ‘Chump’ written on all our foreheads?). It’s time to be belligerent in the name of good nature, the fix is in to use the ‘crisis’ to further shape things into the image the motherfuckers of the world dream of, cuts, cuts, cuts and talk of shared sacrifices as the rich get richer. Torture and summary mass murder we are told is how terror is combatted, when clearly that is the essence of terror itself, we are constantly told the baddies are somewhere else, some other, but boys and girls, the enemies of you and me exist right here at home and all else is distraction from that fact. The corporation that kills to increase profits and sues quisling media to hide it, the elite who never cease in their class war to subdue the spark of justice and freedom in our souls and when you mention the c-phrase, you’re the extremist as they buy a seventh house but you need to be made jobless & homeless to keep us ‘competitive’. The move of behavioural concepts born in CIA torture experiments into mainstream psychology as armies of cognitive behavioral therapist are promulgated to make us happier with being cogs in their machine, because it is aberrant to be depressed if you are fucked over your entire life, you are meant to say- Thank you sir, please may I have another? The use of constant war to shut down our freedom, eulogise martial society and move even more capital from nurture to murder. Because…the real truth is there are people who simply hate nurturing other people, but they get all hot and excited when killing is on the cards and exploiting at the barrel of a gun or a threatening bailiff’s letter or an immigration raid or ‘God told me so’ or a High Court attack on unions or the constant demonising of single parents or concocting WMD lies are all expressions of the same void where their humanity should be. And our problem is, instead of ensuring these people are not a danger to others and themselves, we let them have power over us, that ought to change.

Now I have to go and practice expressions of gratitude and not disgust in case I receive a gift purchased from the Disney store.

Share

Gaza Freedom March URGENT UPDATE

Dear Supporters,

We are determined to break the siege
We all will continue to do whatever we can to make it happen

Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us yesterday that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks, into January. We responded that there is always tension at the border because of the siege, that we do not feel threatened, and that if there are any risks, they are risks we are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,300 delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now. We both agreed to continue our exchanges.

Although we consider this as a setback, it is something we’ve encountered-and overcome–before. No delegation, large or small, that entered Gaza over the past 12 months has ever received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border. Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah. Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But after public and political pressure, the Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.

Our efforts and plans will not be altered at this point. We have set out to break the siege of Gaza and march on December 31 against the Israeli blockade. We are continuing in the same direction.

Egyptian embassies and missions all over the world must hear from our supporters (by phone, fax and email)** over the coming crucial days, with a clear message: Let the international delegation enter Gaza and let the Gaza Freedom March proceed.

Contact your local consulate here:
http://www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/en-GB/mfa_websits/

Contact the Palestine Division in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo Ahmed Azzam, tel +202-25749682 Email: ahmed.azzam@mfa.gov.eg
If you are in the U.S., contact the Egyptian Embassy, 202-895-5400 and ask for Omar Youssef or email
omaryoussef@hotmail.com

You signed on to support the the Gaza Freedom March, that was the first step. Now call the Egyptian embassy and ask your elected official to call on your behalf. Then, hit the streets and join a solidarity action in your community: www.gazafreedommarch.org/solidarity

Thank you for being part of a global movement.
The Gaza Freedomo March Steering Committee* * Sample text

I am writing/calling to express my full support for the December 31, 2009 Gaza Freedom March. I urge the Egyptian government to allow the 1,300 international delegates to enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt.


The aim of the march is to call on Israel to lift the siege. The delegates will also take in badly needed medical aid, as well as school supplies and winter jackets for the children of Gaza.

Please, let this historic March proceed. Thank you.

December 21, 2009

NB. Please note how important US action is in this, Washington is the enabler for Israel to be the rogue state it is (and its support of the brutal regime in Egypt), for example-

America’s commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge was codified directly into U.S. law via 2008 legislation backed by AIPAC. This legislation requires the president to report to Congress periodically on actions taken by the administration to ensure Israel’s advantage. A spokeswoman for the House Foreign Affairs Committee told the Forward that the White House provided its first report to Congress this past summer. The report was classified, and no information regarding its content has been released. (ht2 Glenn Greenwald)

Share

For passing a basic common sense bill with simple equal language-

By a margin of 39 to 20, the Federal District Assembly approved a bill redefining “marriage” as the “free uniting of two PERSONS” earlier today.

Cue conservatives throwing their rattles out of the pram-

Naturally, Felipe Calderón is already looking for some way to challenge the bill in the courts and Armando Martinez, the president of something called the College of Catholic Attorneys is whining about El Grinches stealing Christmas. He is quoted in the New York Times as saying the Federal District Assembly “have given Mexicans the most bitter Christmas.”

We all have our right wing to bear… but I love the wording, no civil partnership bollocks, just saying marriage -if you so choose to do it- is what it should be, two people getting hitched.

Share

Via Chris Floyd-

One of the large mental health hospitals in Israel was recently surprised to receive a young, good-looking patient in a psychotic state who was accompanied by a personal security guard, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday. The doctors, who asked why the woman was accompanied by a guard, were shocked to learn that she was a Mossad agent and that the security guard was not assigned to her in order assure her safety or protect her life, but to ensure that she not reveal any state secrets in her shaky mental state.

The Mossad guard’s orders were clear: “It is forbidden that the organization’s secrets be passed on to those unauthorized to hear them.” The doctors, who are unaccustomed to the presence of a third party during their treatment sessions, were left with no choice but to acquiesce to their demands. In addition, the staff had to receive a security clearance before being allowed to work on her exceptional case. To their complete amazement, another young woman, also accompanied by a secret agent charged with ensuring that the she not leak any state secrets, arrived at the institution just a short time later. The doctors learned that she, too, is a Mossad agent.

Experts said Saturday that the nature of the young women’s work was most likely the cause of their psychosis.

Share

British army ‘waterboarded’ suspects in 70s. This is why, when sometimes someone holds up Northern Ireland as an example of fighting terrorism not in the war-on-terror way, I cringe, the state murders, the torture, the framings, the hunger strikes, the racism. It’s really not a lesson in best practice, unless the lesson is oppressing people, hmmm maybe I misunderstood , maybe that’s what they mean, they’re against the manner of oppression not the principle, less air strikes more deep dark police ‘interrogation’ centres. Of course, as they do today, the MOD keeps lying about our forces uses of torture.

The Ministry of Defence said it was unable to confirm whether British service personnel had received instruction in waterboarding techniques as part of their counterinterrogation training at that time, and it would not disclose whether personnel currently receive such instruction “for reasons of operational security”.

There is evidence that such instruction has been given, however. In 2005 Rod Richard, the former Welsh Office minister, told a Welsh newspaper that he had been waterboarded during his counterinterrogation training as a Royal Marines officer in the late 60s.

The Guardian has spoken to a former Royal Marines officer who says that he and his fellow officers and their men were all waterboarded at the end of their escape and evasion training at Lympstone, Devon, in the late 60s and early 70s.

Seven months before Holden was detained by British soldiers, the Heath government had publicly repudiated and banned five “interrogation techniques”. RUC officers had learned the techniques – hooding, sleep deprivation, starvation and the use of stress positions and noise – from British military intelligence officers, but Heath assured the Commons that they “will not be used in future as an aid to interrogation”.

There were subsequently unconfirmed allegations that the British army had experimented with other methods of torture, including electric shocks, and the use of drugs. Towards the end of the decade, Amnesty International was reporting that terrorism suspects were again being mistreated, this time by RUC detectives, “with sufficient frequency to warrant the establishment of a public inquiry”.

Share

Afghanistan: Ten reasons to resist By Courage to Resist.

  1. Like Iraq, it is also illegal
  2. No military solution to terrorism
  3. Funds used for war are needed at home
  4. Civilian casualties are not acceptable
  5. War is not good for women in Afghanistan
  6. Support the troops: Bring them home now
  7. Torture and human rights abuses
  8. Climate change and resource wars
  9. War destabilizes Afghanistan and the region
  10. Respect Afghani self-determination; No to global military intervention

1- Like Iraq, it is also illegal

According to international law experts, the invasion and ongoing occupation of Afghanistan is as illegal as the US presence in Iraq. The United Nations Charter mandates that military force against another country is only justified when used in self-defense or authorized by the UN Security Council. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, President George W Bush sought an authorization from the UN Security Council to use military force in Afghanistan. The UN resolutions that were passed in response—resolutions 1368 and 1373—never actually authorized military force, but rather, authorized the criminalization and prevention of terrorist activities. Contrary to popular perception, the Bush Administration unfolded an open-ended military operation in Afghanistan with no legal justification for doing so. The administration of Barack Obama is building on this flawed foundation in its continuance and escalation of the war.

“The invasion of Afghanistan was not legitimate self-defense under article 51 of the UN charter because the attacks on September 11, 2001 were criminal attacks, not “armed attacks” by another country. Afghanistan did not attack the United States. In fact, 15 of the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia.”
—Marjorie Cohn, president of the National Lawyers Guild

2- No military solution to terrorism

There can be no military solution to terrorism. This is because “terrorism” is a tactic that is not tied to any specific place. By pursuing the ever-elusive “terrorist” enemy, the US has waged an open-ended war of attrition in Afghanistan. This occupation breeds the discontent that gives rise to “terrorism” in the first place and has had the effect of bringing forward local opposition to the occupation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share

But critics believe the U.S. is playing a grim waiting game: waiting for people to die in order to avoid potentially costly lawsuits. For a country currently engaged in two wars, accepting comprehensive responsibility for wartime damages could set an expensive precedent. “They know what the problem is and where it is,” says Chuck Searcy, country representative of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. “Why do they now need an environmental impact assessment? They are studying this to death.”

Since 2007, Congress has allocated a total of $6 million to help address Agent Orange issues in Vietnam. Not only does the amount not begin to scratch the surface of the problem or get rid of the tons of toxic soil around the nation, but there are questions about how the money is being spent. And several parties have noted with growing frustration that the money is primarily going to study the issue and hire consultants rather than implementing measures to prevent new generations from being exposed.

Luckily there will always be plenty of money to pay pundits to write ‘Why Do They Hate US?’ articles ad infinitum to soothe the imperial ego.

.Huge rise in birth defects in Falluja Iraqi former battle zone sees abnormal clusters of infant tumours and deformities

Ad infinitum.

Share