Blog posts

I’m not sure it’s worth commenting in much detail on Rumsfeld’s warnings to Iran not to interfere with Iraq, and the utter irony of such a statement. It probably wouldn’t make any difference to point out to Donald that his troops accidentally bombed Iran during the recent conflict. Or that Iran is the only shi’ite regime in the area and so whether they like it or not, the shi’ite majority in Iraq will feel some affinity with their neighbours. ...

So the talk is back to Iran. Bush and his junta are meeting in DC amidst mutterings of ‘regime change’ and sadly they still haven’t realised it begins at home. Nor, it would seem, do they have any understanding whatsoever of the situation in Iran. While sitting in my uncle and aunt’s apartment in Tehran I remember getting quite a chuckle from reports that Bush had been saying he supported “the voices on the streets of Iran”. You couldn’t help but laugh. The previous story had been of the massive anti-Bush rally in the city earlier that day. Certainly the news media can manipulate such images and it’s difficult to believe that they didn’t realise the power of putting those two stories in such close proximity. But the point was neatly made. Bush is oblivious to the voices on the streets. ...

revision is going slowly

“The president wants the Security Council to act quickly and there is no need for a lengthy debate,” spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters. For more details of the rise of The Authority, this story isn’t too bad a starting point. It does feel rather as though Ari Fleischer and the Iraqi Information Minister should be going into business together. Between “there is no need for a lengthy debate” and “there are no US troops north of Basra” very little ground lies. I think the business potential would be enormous, and surely the next step on the neo-liberal road is an entire privatisation of government propaganda? ...

So here I am in Nashville after a crazy weekend. Arriving in at 7pm local time on Thursday. Jumping in the car and arriving in Grand Rapids at 6am their local time. Fabulous conversation, music to soothe, move and enrage the soul. It needs more words and maybe they’ll come soon. For now, here’s the website. A new computer to type this on is nice.

reuters.com makes interesting reading at times… “Three missiles fired by U.S. jets taking part in attacks in Iraq landed over the border in southwestern Iran, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said on Saturday. Quoting an unnamed military commander, IRNA also said that U.S. and British military jets violated the Islamic Republic’s airspace several times on Friday and Saturday during operations against targets in southern Iraq.” And here is the US reply.

I really dislike this appropriation of the phrase “the coalition”. I first saw it’s use as a term for the US and UK on some propaganda images the guardian printed a few weeks back. It sends chills down my spine, coming across as some sort of Orwellian double-speak for “last time’s allies minus quite a few”. Protests continue apace. I got my first proper taste of direct action yesterday. Apparently the other party involved has been reporting to local press that someone was taken away in an ambulance. Funny then that the ambulance drivers had time to stop and chat with me before they left. Perhaps it was because the back of their ambulance was empty? (which it was).

Jesus, Jesus help me I’m alone in this world And a fucked-up world it is too. Tell me, tell me the story The one about eternity And the way it’s all gonna be. Wake up, wake up dead man Wake up, wake up dead man. Jesus, I’m waiting here, boss I know you’re looking out for us But maybe your hands aren’t free. Your Father, He made the world in seven He’s in charge of heaven. Will you put a word in for me? ...

Anyone other than the BBC reporting this?

To break the blogging silence I wanted to post something profound about the current world situation. But instead I found: How evil are you? (I’m not convinced of the accuracy of this poll. Evil Harv came out as neutral. So what is considered pure evil must be too scary for words) In other news, I got the job. The dissertation is in the final typesetting stage. Delicatessen was great. Things are good.