Vinegar and brown paper?

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack got, and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper,
To old Dame Dob, who patched his nob
With vinegar and brown paper.

I am no nuclear power expert but the fiasco going on at the Fukushima power plant is becoming a joke.  TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) seems to be very amateur in its attempts to manage the catastrophe.  It is no good excusing them as if they were ordinary people with a big problem.  Building nuclear power stations is not only a serious matter but it carries serious responsibilities too.  If companies can build such things for profit for themselves such that if anything goes wrong they just apologise and live somewhere else with all the profit that is not acceptable.  The first thing they should have done when the tsunami flooded the generators is to have realised they only had 8 hours of battery life left and treated it as a serious national danger.  They should have got the army involved and they should have had new batteries, new generators and anything else they might have needed ordered and on their way.  But no!  There was no move to get emergency help in.  One explosion and they said it was only a hydrogen bomb.  Another explosion and they said it didn't really matter because it wasn't an important part of the power station.  The fact that the bit that blew up contained the swimming pools for the spent plutonium seemed to slip their minds.  They just panicked and botched attempts to cool the generators.  As they repeatedly tripped over themselves the situation got worse.  What they were thinking of when they started flooding the cores with sea water I can't imagine.  Then the laughable attempt of flying helicopters over the nuclear power plant dropping buckets of water on them from the air.  Was that simply a publicity stunt because there is no way you can expect to prevent a nuclear meltdown of 100 tons of plutonium with a few buckets of water.  And what on earth did they think was happening to the water?  It was either going into the atmosphere as contaminated steam or it was sloshing all around the ground.  Now they have a leak (not surprising really) with all their botched attempts to fix the problem.  (I bet it isn't the only leak either.)  So what do they do next?  They pour concrete into the area where they think the leak is.  What?  Ridiculous.  What happens if it doesn't work?  There is a more severe problem and sure enough it didn't work.  Not to worry though because their comedians have got another plan... Papier-mâché with a polymer base (glue!).  So they tore up a load of newspaper and added some sawdust for good measure and poured that into the hole with the cement.  Strangely that didn't work but let's give them a round of applause for entertainment, originality and effort.  Now they have come up with an idea to wrap a giant sheet around the plant to hold the radioactivity at bay!  They'll be suggesting sending it to Monsignor Muamamamamar Gaddafi as a joke soon.

In the swimming pools above the six reactors at Fukushima are about three and a half thousand tons - yes - 3,400 tons of spent fuel rods.  These fuel rods contain a cocktail of highly toxic radioactive material including plutonium, uranium, caesium and iodine.  The nuclear fuel inside the reactors which were producing the power amounts to about 877 tons.  A total of about 4,277 tons of highly radioactive material.  Caesium has a half life of about 30 years.  This means that it loses half of its radioactivity every 30 years.  Therefore it is significantly radioactive for hundreds of years.  You can forget about the plutonium and the uranium they have half lives of 25,000 years and 700,000,000 years respectively.

But they think they can solve the problem with papier-mâché and a giant cloth bag!  Well I have an idea and I would like to present it to the folk up at Fukushima.  I heard of this remedy many years ago and I think it would stand a good chance of working.  Vinegar and brown paper!  You never know vinegar might absorb radiation.  At least they could try telling people it does.

NIB-NOB

So Terry Jones finally burnt a copy of the Quran (or Qur'an, Kuran, Koran, Qur’ān, Coran or al-Qur’ān).

What a funny old world we live in. If some bloke went around demanding that no one say "nib-nob" and exclaimed that if anyone dare say nib-nob he would beat the hell out of them then you could take one of two positions. You could just diplomatically avoid saying nib-nob so that you could get on quietly with your own life without this lunatic attacking you or you could say nib-nob-nib-nob nib-nob in an attempt to rile him and ask what he was going to do about it. You would likely get struck. I wonder what that is all about. It seems that the guy has arbitrarily chosen a rule and demanded that everyone else follow his rule and then he uses threats to harm people to control them. This sounds like a very insecure chap who was probably made to feel insignificant and powerless as a small boy. To assert his validity he needs to control other people. Now if I had a friend who asked me not to say nib-nob because it offended him I would probably avoid saying nib-nob out of respect. But would he remain a friend for long if he kept asserting that I mustn't say nib-nob or he would beat me up? I don't think I would waste much time with a bloke like that. It would seem to me that he was not content to deal with his own problems but rather feels the need to control other people to validate his own existence. If I believed in a God then I would suggest that God, being all powerful, created humans as separate entities such that they dealt with their own responsibilities according to God's edict. If I am responsible for myself then I should not be the bad guy beating up other people who are not good guys. Surely the trick is to be a good guy. If nib-nob is something God says I should not say then it is up to me not to say it. Ordering others around when they have equally arbitrary notions of their own is simple a device of competition to see who's nib-nob will rule the day. It reminds me of the school bully asking if you like his girlfriend. If you do you get beaten up because he owns her and if you don't you get beaten up for not appreciating her.

I think if Terry Jones bought a published copy of a book which was on sale for him to buy so that the profits (not the prophets) went to the publisher then it is up to Terry whether he reads it, uses it as a prop for his table or burns it. If he takes someone else's book and burns it he should be made to replace it. But that is not what this burning of the Quran is about. It is all symbolic. Muslims have decided to invest meaning in material objects and hold the rest of the world to ransom declaring these material creations sacred in some way. Then they justify draconian and punitive action against anyone who dares to not agree with them. Worse still, in this case, because killing other people half way round the world will do just as well to frighten Terry or anyone else who might agree with him. It is all beginning to look like the Christian Inquisition.

It is ironic that the revolutions in the Middle East are against dictatorial oppressive threatening control freaks. Are the Egyptians really going to vote in the Muslim Brotherhood? Are the populations so deprived of information and the ability to think for themselves that they are going to swap one dictatorial oppressive regime for another. Any religion which does not tolerate dissent is not acceptable to humanity. It is rather a subversive, insidious, perverse mechanism of control. Interesting that Islam is quite happy to accept Jesus as a prophet and his "message" from God was one of peace. I have not read the Quran but I am led to believe that Islam is meant to be a peace loving religion. Is the proposition that it is a peace loving religion a little like the Christian claim? Is it just a moralistic pronouncement to hide the malicious hierarchical machinations of the deceptive power mongers who hold the religion up to justify their pompous, self important rule.

There is an insight into what this is all about. If you intimidate children and control them to agree with the way you think then in most cases they will think that way in order to survive. Having perverted their freedom they are disadvantaged when it comes to thinking for themselves later on. Enforcing a religion on children is directly contrary to all the "goodness" embodied in the pretentious teachings. Pretentious because it is a pretence to tell someone that peace and non-violence is the correct way and you will beat the hell out of them if they don't agree. Threatening to ostracise children or to abandon them or to beat them are all survival threats. Adults who do that to children are behaving very badly. Except that most of them don't know what they are doing because they have been intimidated and frightened themselves in childhood they are performing probably one of the worst possible acts known to humanity. Namely perverting and corrupting the God given freedom of children.

We don't like Nazis and we don't like fascists and we don't like dictatorial regimes which isolate and intimidate their subjects. That is all about the aggrandizement of the leaders. People who attack and kill other people because they are upset should look into their own hearts and figure out what is really hurting them because it is not some goofy pastor in Florida. What is hurting them is that they have complied with the mechanisms of oppression in their own culture and they are profoundly ashamed of what they have done to themselves in the acceptance of their subjugation to their cruel leaders. They should attempt to be brave enough to stand up to their oppressors and in the case of the objection to the burning of the Quran the odds are their oppressors are the Muslim hierarchy. I say this because I know this dynamic from my upbringing as a Christian tree.

A note for anyone wanting to condemn me for saying nib-nob. I didn't say it I was just reporting a fictitious character who said it or might have said it.  I'm only a tree so burn the fiction and get on with reality.

For further reading see: Good God the Oppressor! • Is God an abuser? • God claims he doesn't exist! • Pope & Equality • What God Wants • The God Delusion.

Global Revolution

These are not just uprisings or regime changes in the Middle East. These are not just economic downturns or recessions in the West. The internet is not simply a faster, bigger, better medium. Humanity is now evolving to a higher consciousness. The interconnectivity availed by the internet is confirming and enabling people's inner beliefs that justice, equality, respect, cooperation, love, compassion and truth are real and achievable. Read more on the Global Revolution.

Teachers can confiscate phones.

STOP PRESS: Job vacancy for Mrs Colonel Muamuamamamama Gaddafi in UK Education.

The proposed Education Bill for England will give teachers the legal right to search pupils, confiscate their phones and to look at and delete anything they deem warrants it.

I am at my wits end with the utter nonsense that is perpetually spewed out by the authoritarian mind set.

Teachers already have the right to confiscate things from children. But this proposal goes a little further than that. This proposal wants to establish the precedent in writing that if a person is a teacher (a foot soldier of the state; a sycophantic conformist who's job and personal esteem reside in their compliance with the authoritarian regime) then they "should" randomly transgress children's rights to assert and inculcate their subordination and vulnerability to the hierarchy by humiliating them and subjecting them to irreverent and offensive search procedures. The bit about the phone is irrelevant but serves as the object of the purpose to distract from the real intent. Following that is the idea that the authority can then pry into the child's personal life (via the content of the phone) and deface, vandalise and destroy their very inner secrets.

This is so utterly self contradictory and perverse that it beggars belief.

To keep this simple the only way to "teach" children is by example. It is offensive and a crime to tell children to respect other people when you have no respect for them. I know it is the way of our culture and it has to change. If teachers had respect for their pupils they would never need to confiscate stuff. If children find something else more interesting than the education they are being given then it is up to the teacher to be a little more engaging (see: Educating Children). The trick is not to force children to listen to boring garbage. In British culture even the police are not allowed to stop and search anyone with no reason. It is a mechanism of a dictatorial and controlling hierarchy and our culture asserts that it disagrees with that. It is a heinous crime to pick on the most vulnerable in our society to exercise such appalling behaviour. It is more disgusting that the children are already in an enforced imprisonment of the school.

If you think I am being unreasonable consider whether a child would chose to desert a nurturing, supportive, caring family environment. If the society is genuinely embracing children with respect and support for them and providing a fruitful education why would any child wish to leave that safe and supportive environment to expose themselves to the barren wastelands outside of society? The answer is they wouldn't. The conditions that would lead a child to running away have to be seriously self evidently destructive and cruel. That is the culture of our schools today. If the authorities are afraid that children today are less interested in school then they must look to the service being provided and not continue to pursue this Dickensian and draconian oppression of children to make them fit the authority's prejudicial view of what they want children to be.

It really isn't difficult (if you are genuine and respectful and honest) to assert that mobile phone use in the classroom is not a good idea. If someone continues to use their phone in the classroom it is not difficult to ask them to stop and in an extreme case to deal with that particular case. But a new law allowing teachers to search children with no reason (other than that they are a child and could have a mobile phone or a bomb hidden about their person) is a disgusting degradation of our already decaying culture.

I suggest the authorities grow up and learn that respect is something they should be giving to other people and especially children. I suggest that the authorities should stop acting like their own fictional, paranoid and demonic picture of children. It is the authority which is treating children in a way that they are suggesting children behave. It is the authority that is afraid of the children and so they want to turn the tables and make the children afraid of them. According to their logic we should offer Colonel Gaddafi an exit strategy from Libya in the form of a highly paid salary as advisor to the Education Authority in Britain.

I can't honestly say that this new legislation shocks me or that it is the worst thing that our government is doing. Overall it is predictable and pretty mild next to the majority of stuff they do. But I can say that not one inch of oppression is acceptable and that we all owe it to humanity to stand against oppression whenever we encounter it. So this is my stand: Sod off you irresponsible, intimidatory, control freaks and stop buggering up humanity just because you got buggered when you were little.

P.S.  Thank you to Anorak for the delightful picture of McDaffi Duck!

Gaddafi is such a joke.

Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi is really such a pantomime figure. In fact he looks a bit like a Muppet when he is waving his fist and shouting zenga zenga in this brilliant video:



Another really cute little snip is the alternative translation provided in this video:




Oh... And if in doubt just check out http://www.isgaddafistillpresident.com/

Authoritarian Paradigm Collapse

6000 years ago the climate changed and cause population movements which resulted in conflict. Authoritarianism was a consequence as was Newtonian Science eventually. Newtonian Science has moved on and now the emergent behaviour of the complex system that is the human cultural network is evolving too. Humans are self organising and the cascading collapse of the hierarchical authoritarian system has begun. I have written a little more detailed analysis and explanation of this on the "Authoritarian Paradigm Collapse" page. Do voice your comments and let me know what you think. We are, after all, self organising via the complex network!

I have seen the light!

I was looking into Sharia Law the other day and on discovering that they don't follow some dusty old book religiously but rather employ rational argument and consensus I thought I might convert to Islam.  But then I came across this remarkable video of a beautiful Christian virgin (well I assume she is saving herself for the Lord) celebrating the power of prayer.



Now I see the light.  God is good.  Jesus is the only one.  Where's that Christian church so I can convert quickly.  I just want to fall in love with this benign and peace loving all powerful God.  I'm overwhelmed by the obvious simplicity of it all.  God is good and if you want him to blast away thousands of people he'll do it for you.  Wow!  I want to be on his side (He is male isn't he?)

Bahrain has made a profound mistake.

The 16 March crackdown on the Bahrain people (see: Curfew follows deadly Bahrain crackdown) is another unacceptable episode by a bunch of rich thugs intimidating and abusing a population.  There is almost no discussion possible on this subject.  It is clear to the world that the authoritarian rulers are no less than bullies and thugs.  They promise talks and then renege on them.  They call in foreign armies to help them brutally crackdown on legitimate demonstrators.  They kill civilians, they smash up their cars, they go into hospitals and beat up the doctors and steal the injured patients away to secret locations.

On the left is an image of an x-ray of a demonstrator's abdomen.  The injured person has been shot with buckshot at close range and the chances of survival are low.  Doctors have had their arms broken to prevent them helping the injured.  This is clearly unacceptable behaviour.

Why would the US and the UK support such brutal thugs?  Well of course we know the US has a military naval fleet based there and many countries including the UK have serious interests in the oil the country has.  But they have a profound problem.  They supported the people of Tunisia and they supported the people of Egypt.  Their support was based on the horror of the overtly cruel treatment of legitimate protestors.  The idea being that we collectively do not approve of, and will not accept, brutal and cruel actions towards other human beings who are peacefully expressing their views in an attempt to overpower and control them.

So we are in a position where the consensus is clear.  Cruel oppression of other people is unacceptable.  Brutally bashing people about, killing them, imprisoning and torturing them is not something any legitimate government can accept.  This view is expressed almost unanimously around the globe.  Even brutal dictators pay lip service to this sentiment.

So the Bahraini King, Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa, has made the profound mistake of trying to hang on to power by deception and brutality.  It really doesn't matter if he succeeds in the short term now because the population are destined to continue to object.  One day they will overthrow the Al Khalifa family and it will be as clear as day that the US and the UK were supporting his regime.  This will lead to very bad relations between the countries and eventually to a strangle hold on the vital oil supplies from the Middle East in general.  Will the US and Britain and the European countries respect the "rights" of the Arab people to charge a reasonable premium amount of dosh for the oil.  Not on your Nellie.

The British people and the Americans should voice their unwavering support for the legitimate rights of the Bahraini people.  They might suffer in the short term but would be viewed well in the long term.  But no.  They are still short sighted because of their fear of the general unrest in the Middle East and their loss of control over the economic wealth of the region.

Well said Mr Crowley!

Philip J Crowley was the American Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 26 May 2009 until 13 May 2011.  His resignation was precipitated by his remark on Thursday 10 March when he said that the Pentagon's treatment of Bradley Manning was "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid."

He took complete responsibility for the remarks saying they were his personal views and not those of the US but pointedly did not apologise for them or retract them.  He added that his comments "were intended to highlight the broader, even strategic impact of discreet actions undertaken by national security agencies every day and their impact on our global standing and leadership."

Obama, who was somewhat forced to comment on P J Crowley's comment, said "I have actually asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards.  They assure me that they are."  That response by Obama is ridiculous in the extreme.  To turn to the people who are accused of acting illegally and to ask them if they are doing things right and to use their answer to  abdicate his responsibility is party to any illegal activity.  In fact it is arguably a crime in itself.  Imagine telling the police that Joe stole your antique clock.  The police ask Joe if he stole it and he says no.  So the police then use that to prevent you doing anything more to get your clock back.  What Obama should have done was to initiate an independent investigation into the affair.  Simples!

What Crowley is referring to is, of course, the blatant contradiction in the public political stance of supporting humanitarian values and legitimate legal due process and the actual practice of the American government.  Whilst all the unrest is growing in the Middle East the US is constantly promoting "civilised" values by condemning the practices of dictatorial regimes arresting dissenters without charge, torturing them and generally pursuing a policy of strong arm tactics to intimidate those who threaten the powerbase of the rulers.  Admittedly the US have now moved Bradley Manning to a military base in Virginia and actually charged him with some crimes but it was an unacceptable time coming.  Now they are holding him in solitary confinement and are essentially grinding him down by inhumane treatment.  The irony is that the only purpose of this illegitimate and cruel treatment is as a threat to anyone else who thinks they might be tempted to reveal the underhand, deceitful and immoral behaviour of the US.  The only way that has any effect is to let it be known that they are treating him this way.  By letting it be known they are advertising their contradictory stance on human values.  This is why Crowley says it is "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid."  It is obviously so.

P J Crowley's statement in fact says more than most people realise.  Take the two extreme scenarios: (1) that the US are a nice bunch of folk and (2) that they are an illegitimate tyrannical bunch of thugs.  In the first scenario where they are a nice bunch then if they are treating Bradley Manning illegitimately by keeping him in solitary confinement and effectively psychologically torturing him with regimes like forcing him to sleep naked (under the pretence of concerns for his own safety) then their behaviour is not ridiculous it is erroneous.  It is not counterproductive it is illegal.  It is perhaps stupid but really it is contradictory.  If, however, the US are a bunch of thugs trying to maintain power by silencing people then their stance is ridiculous because it counters their claims of being against such behaviour in the Middle East.  It is counterproductive because the intent is to silence people and all the evidence is that it will attract attention to the illegitimate behaviour of the US and cause a rise in the commitment by people to expose the US's duplicity and deception.  It is remarkably stupid that a thug keeps himself in power by stating his commitment to human rights and then publically (with intent) lets it be known that he uses these kinds of tactics to suppress dissent.  In summary P J Crowley's remarks actually have the underlying unspoken assumption that the US are the bad guys.  Crowley himself said that Manning should be in custody.  Whether or not you agree with that he is at least claiming that there could be a legitimate case against him and that due legal process should be carried out.  Crowley himself agrees with the arguments against Manning but what he realises (perhaps even without realising it) is that the fools are evidencing their own illegitimacy by publically treating Manning in this way.  Crowley is a bit of a Judas figure in this respect because he still thinks the US government's intentions are good.  One day he might realise they are treating Manning this way deliberately.  It is their policy.  It is their mode of operation.  It is not a mistake.

One of the perennial problems facing any person or institution in a position of power is that they will eventually be held to account for their own projected values.  If the US or the UK or any number of the supposedly democratic countries around the world were really democratic they would not have to resort to heavy handed control methods to secure their power.  By so doing they are admitting that they do not really believe in the values they propound.  It is contradictory to suggest that you are representative of the populations views if you have to punitively control their views.  There is nothing wrong with Bradley Manning being charged with a crime and being duly tried and if found guilty sentenced according to the law.  If the population disagree with that law or the penalty then they will make their views known and the situation can change.  But the US administrations knows that they are not running a democracy but rather a facade in order to pacify the rather large population they are trying to control.  The threat that their deception is revealed to a wider public has to be handled rigorously or they will simply not maintain their control.  So their handling of the Bradley Manning case is overtly dictatorial and intimidatory because, in their view, they have no other choice.  The alternative would be to act according to the democratic opinion and that would inevitably have them out of power.

In summary P J Crowley has inadvertently admitted that the US administration is way out of order.  Well said Mr Crowley!

WELL DONE EGYPTIANS!

YES!

People Power 1 Despots 0

Is Hosni Mubarak Still President of Egypt?
For the answer check out http://ismubarakstillpresident.com/

Well done to the Egyptian people: http://www.toxicdrums.com/well-done-egypt.html
Egypt and the Simulacra: http://www.toxicdrums.com/egypt-and-the-simulacra.html

Power to the people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wos-dDxpJlQ&feature=youtu.be

Egypt is the future of humanity.

Egypt is the new hub of the future of humanity.  The Egyptian people have excelled in their sophistication, their humanity, their sincerity and their resolve.  The Egyptian people have shown more integrity and civilised behaviour than the world even believed existed.  For millions of people to down tools and to protest against oppression and corruption and to remain peaceful against the most appalling attacks is a credit to the Egyptian people and humanity as a whole.

It seems that the thrust of the revolution is that deception, duplicity, self interested power and control are no longer acceptable.  It is ironic that these are the values of the western world and not normally attributed to the Arab people.  However it has been clear for years that the Arab people are more resistant to abuse than westerners.  It is perhaps precisely because they have been under more obvious and overt oppression.  It is ironic that the pro-democracy sentiments and the belief in truth and justice are identical to the projected values of the western world when it is the western world's deception and injustice which has effectively constructed the oppressive culture in the Middle East.

The truly historic and incredibly civilised behaviour of the protestors in Egypt is the way forward for humanity.  It is revealing and evidencing the obvious oppression in the Middle East and perhaps more significantly the insidious covert oppression and double standards of the western world.  The US and the UK (because that's where I live) are clearly running a political system full of duplicitous values,  double-speak and deception.  They have people illegitimately imprisoned and they indulge in torture whilst pretending to stand for human rights and respect and dignity for humans.

There was always a fear that the Middle East could erupt and there could be an Islamic revolution turning the world into a despotic and oppressive world.  But perhaps it is not Islam that is the enemy but rather extremists wherever they base their justification.  Christians have a history of incredible cruelty and Islam has managed to compete on that level quite well too.  But the Arab people are people first and they have been abused too much to the point that they virtually have nothing to lose.  In spite of that the people of Egypt are living out their beliefs in peaceful resistance and cooperation.  It would be entirely understandable if they had erupted into a violent assault on the regime but they have shown a collective belief and commitment to peaceful resistance which is almost unbelievable.

First this revolution has to complete and the Egyptians need more support from the rest of the world.  After that the crimes of the past must be addressed and redressed.  The likes of Mubarak and Suleiman must be held to account.  The $70 billion Mubarak has stolen from the Egyptians should simply be returned.  He has no legitimate claim to it.  It is only his by the rules and regulations of the corrupt economic system.  Then the rest of the world needs to address the more covert oppression and to rid the world of this ridiculous way of saying one thing and doing something entirely different.

Considering the recent history of the world it is possible that the people in the western world will begin to realise their part in supporting or even building this pyramid of oppression (pun not lost on the writer) for their own sense of security.  Although the American politicians and the Europeans like to polarise feelings with fear mongering words like terrorism the aggression shown to the West by the so called terrorists is a small fraction of the aggression and abuse applied by the Western world to the Arab peoples.  Consider the American response to WikiLeaks for revealing their lies.  They expect to be able to legitimately terrorise Julian Assange and to intimidate other people who would think of revealing the deception and abuse of the powers that be.  The Americans think they can simply designate WikiLeaks as a terrorist organisation and abuse them with impunity.  They cannot and they will ultimately be stopped.  This revolution in Egypt is the dawning of the good honest truthful responsible future of humanity.

Will they win or lose?  Good or Evil?  Which do we want?  Evil is so much more seductive and so much easier.  The beginning of the apocalypse, the final battle between good and evil.

Hosni Mubarak is mad.

That is my diagnosis following his speech to the Egyptian people on Thursday 10 February 2011.  It's simple really.  He lives an inside out world.  He has a model of the world as he believes it is and has to fit the information coming in from the outside to the "reality", as he sees it, in his head.  He probably feels that the $70 billion fortune he has amassed is a modest gift in thanks for his humble service to Egypt.  He interprets the protestors as a subset of the population who are expressing anger at the difficulties in their culture.  He is patronizing them and trying to suggest that their anger will subside when Daddy gives them some token recognition whilst fundamentally not doing what they want.  It is a Freudian complex.  It is narcissistic.  It is a compulsion.  It is the behaviour of a pathological control freak.

The scientific equation is between the reality in his head and the reality in the world out there.  Given that he is such a powerful and influential figure the tussle between the two will manifest itself in the outside world.  There is no way the reality in his head can win.  It is the archetypal apocalypse.  Reality will prevail because that is how it works.  For the folk that like to believe in a God the analogy is that God IS the world and we are a subset of that reality observing a small part of it.  When we start to think our interpretation is God then there is trouble.  The world will reveal its own reality and we are part of it.  But Hosni Mubarak is not God.  He does think he is in a way.  In his mind he is humble and modest but oh so favoured by God.  He might genuinely believe that he is the only person who can save Egypt from falling into the abyss.  But the abyss is actually his own annihilation.  He doesn't see that because he is kind of immortal in his mind.  But because he mistakes his internal map of the world for the actual reality out there he cannot leave because the consequence would be a collapse of his world (the world he thinks is reality) and so he possibly genuinely believes that Egypt would collapse if he leaves.  So in his mind he is the one person who can save Egypt.  It reminds me of the famous comment by the American Major who said, after the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, "In order to save the village we had to destroy it."  Mubarak, unfortunately, plans to burn Egypt in order to "save" it.  He might not think of it like that but from the outside it is his intention.

To add insult to injury he designated power to his horrible henchman Omar Suleiman who made a short speech which was amazingly disgusting.

There are two possible futures here.  Either the army will take over on account of the President being insane and they might then pursue the desired path of the Egyptian people.  Failing the army taking control I suspect there will be a lot of bloodshed.

Mubarak: A crime against humanity!

Mubarak is causing a devastating crime against humanity.  It is quite clear to the entire world that this individual has stolen about $70 billion from the Egyptian people and has been ruling over them with ruthless oppression for many years causing massive hardship and suffering.

For him or his oligarchy to claim that the protestor are causing the chaos and hardship would be laughable except that many people in the world seem to swallow the utter nonsense without even chewing it.

The salient point is that the people have been pushed too far.  The meaning of this may not be understood by many.  When a rich and powerful individual suggests they have been pushed too far what they mean is that they are now mad and will take offensive action.  What the phrase means here is literal.  They have been pushed to the point that shooting them is no worse than their current situation.  They have no way to live.  They have been pushed over the edge.

For those commentators who ask the question "Will the revolution run out of steam?" they evidently do not grasp the reality.  It cannot run out of steam.  There is nowhere for these people to go.  Perhaps Mubarak and his cronies think these people are like them.  Perhaps they see a lot of people who have chosen to come out of their homes and to risk a bit of violence to get "more" dosh.  Perhaps Mubarak is judging people by his own perception and standards.  He seems to think that if he makes things worse for them they will give up.  They have nothing to give up.  The only option they had was to die without shouting about it.  They are now shouting about it.  The only problem with the economy is that Mubarak and his henchmen are losing some of their grotesque profits.  Mubarak doesn't seem to realise that these protestors do not have secure homes and jobs to retreat to.

Mubarak should not be tolerated by the world at large and all these diplomatic manoeuvres to avoid stating the obvious are just fanning the flames.  How can the US Administration make claims about the illegitimacy of the oppression and make mealy mouthed token comments that Mubarak should bring about change.  The terrible truth is that the American Administration acts as ruthlessly as Mubarak.  They play a dangerous game of faking a belief in humanitarian values whist relentlessly pursuing their own greedy objectives using the most ruthless and illegitimate methods themselves.  There is no excuse for their invasion of Iraq.  There is no excuse for their stealing all the remaining dollars in Iraq.  There is no excuse for keeping people for years in Guantanamo Bay without so much as a charge let alone a trial.  The USA and the UK and many other countries are simply playing a double standard game and winning at the moment.

Take a look at the attempts to silence Assange and WikiLeaks.  It is facetious to suggest WikiLeaks or Assange are responsible for the disgusting duplicity they are revealing to the world.  Take the latest revelation as I write that the Saudi Arabian oil reserves are over estimated by about 40%.  Some would say "shhh... if you let the world know there could be a crisis."  Er?  Doh!  It is a crisis but by keeping it secret you simply allow the rich oppressive controllers to shore up their defences and sit back and watch the rest of us starve to death.  Don't kid yourself you are not going to be supported by them.  And if you are close enough to the top to be supported bear in mind that that makes you a criminal too.  And I don't mean a criminal by law I mean a humanitarian criminal.

Fighting for peace is a non starter, oppressing people for freedom is contradictory, lying to protect the truth is paradoxical and "Good God" is an oxymoron.

Is the American Government a terrorist organisation?

So now on Saturday 5 February, the 12th day of serious unrest, after the US have reiterated time and time again that the oppression is unacceptable and the peoples' wishes should be respected, Frank Wisner, the American envoy to Egypt said "President Mubarak’s continued leadership is crucial – it’s his chance to write his own legacy".

What?  The American administration is playing a very dangerous and immoral game.  Mubarak is the architect of the oppressive and essentially dictatorial regime.  It is under his control that the security forces terrorised, murdered and injured the protestors whilst pretending it was not them.  The deception, the ruthless cruelty, the attempt to control by intimidation and force is appalling.  Terrorism is not only illegal according to the Americans but it is about the lowest of crimes.  On account of terrorism the Americans deem it acceptable to imprison people without trial (Bradley Manning, Guantanamo Bay etc.) for years.  But now they say one major terrorist, Hosni Mubarak, should stay in power.  You will forgive me for  getting a little confused here.  Are the American Government trying to let it be known, without actually saying so, that they are deceitful and duplicitous and actually unfit to govern.  The rational conclusion is that the American Government is simply a sophisticated Terrorist Organisation.

Talking bollocks ("Hello")

What exactly is the use of language.  Apparently Mubarak says he is fed up and is ready to leave.  He says he is concerned for the Egyptian people.  Rubbish - he orchestrated the attacks on the protestors in Tahrir Square.  Then the Egyptian government insists that it is ready to plan for free and open elections.  So what is happening today with the crack down on journalists and human rights officials.  Two members of Amnesty International have disappeared.  They are believed to have been arrested by the Egyptian Security Police but they have not been charged with anything.  Journalists have been attacked and had their equipment taken.  The USA states that it regards the detention of these people without charge as unacceptable but they have had Bradley Manning in solitary confinement for 7 months with no charge.  Also today Awal Gul, a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, died after 9 years of detainment by the USA ... with no charge!

Maybe I should try writing a load of bollocks.  Maybe I could be rich then too.

Mubarak has blood on his hands!

Multi Billionaire Hossie Mubarak and the NDP have blood on their hands.

Overnight on 2nd & 3rd February 2011 at least 5 peaceful protesters were left dead after a prolonged nightmare of violent assaults on them by what appear to be the Egyptian Secret Police, the professional NDP "thugs", wielding rocks, machetes, Molotov cocktails and guns.  Even the Egyptian State Television admits that over 800 people were injured and 5 killed.

It is no longer human to be overly diplomatic  at the expense of ordinary citizens.

It is clear that Mubarak is the orchestrator of this unacceptable massacre.

People who turn a blind eye to this sort of behaviour are supporting the tyrannical and sinister cruelty of the minority oppressors.

According to the Huffington Post $10 billion of Mubarak’s estimated $70 billion fortune has been transferred to Switzerland and France over the past 10 years mostly by Walid Shash and Omar Tantawy his chief money launderers.

Why does the civilised world give respectability to the ludicrously rich savage ruthless bullies?  Because we are afraid of them?  It has to stop.  People power is the only possible solution to the world's emerging problems.  The likes of Mubarak and his thugs are in fact the minority.  But they are cruel.  Primo Levi was an Italian Jew who survived the holocaust as a prisoner in Auschwitz.  In his book If This Is a Man / The Truce he makes it clear that the power of the Nazis only works because the oppression cascades down the line.  At each layer one group oppresses the group beneath them to alleviate their own suffering.  No human can any more afford to comply with the oppressors.

I'm located in the UK and I can say that this oppression filters all the way through to us.  So long as we continue to accept the insane austerity measures to take money from the poor to line the pockets of the rich just so that we keep a measly slave wage job or hope to survive another year on student loans or radically cut social benefits we are supporting the likes of Mubarak and his thugs.  Take a good look at the modern civilised city of Cairo a week ago and the disrupted devastated war torn Tahrir Square now and then take a look at London and imagine the same happening there.  It will happen within 5 years if this nation doesn't address the issue and support the Egyptian people now.

American, British, German, French, European, Israeli, in fact all political leaders around the world must denounce this massacre which is clearly designed and carried out by the Mubarak regime.

Al Jazeera are doing a phenomenal job of making the events available to the world.  They have suffered a number of arrests and had equipment confiscated and services shut down but they are persevering and doing a most important job.  They have a 24 hour live stream available at http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Nightmare in Tahrir Square

Last night thugs attacked the peaceful demonstrators in Tahrir square in Cairo creating a night long ordeal of terror resulting in at least 5 dead and well over 800 injured.

It was an appalling night in the history of Egypt.  But it was a victory for the Egyptian people and for freedom.  I am sure it marks the beginnings of the collapse of the Mubarak regime and the  destruction of despotic dictatorial oppressive regimes the world over.  Even the USA had to get a bit clear about the values they wish to be seen to hold.  There was little doubt (none in my mind) that the thugs who attacked the peaceful demonstrators in Liberation Square (correctly Tahrir Square) with knives, rocks, petrol bombs and eventually guns were a cowardly group of hired thugs and the Egyptian "Security" Police.  The Mubarak regime seems undoubtedly to have orchestrated the whole affair and there seems to be documentary evidence surfacing to support that claim.  See more at Nightmare in Liberation Square.

Murder in Tahrir Square.

As I write I am watching Al Jazeera live at 02:30 hrs GMT which is 4:30 in the morning on Thursday 3 February 2011 in Cairo.  There is heavy gunfire and it is reported that at least 7 people are injured with bullets.  What the death toll might be in the morning is worrying.

For all the speculation there is no doubt that the Mubarak regime is responsible for shooting the peaceful protestors in Tahrir Square in Cairo.  People are looking for proof but no "proof" is required.  Why?  Because it is clear if you look at the events.  Consider the scenario where Mubarak actually meant what he said in his 1 February speech.  Any civilised country in the world would have had riot police surrounding Tahrir Square and would have successfully opposed the pro-Mubarak trouble makers and defended the peaceful protestors.  Even the army could have opposed the pro-Mubarak militia successfully.  But the reality is that the Police security forces have disappeared.  The speculation is that they are the instigators of the shooting.  But they must be because otherwise they would be doing their supposed job.  It follows that even if it is not the men themselves they have orchestrated the massacre.

But on top of that there is proof.  Take a look at Demeur's blog Just try and stop the truth from getting out.  There is also a lot of video evidence of security forces at least being involved.  The army themselves have proof.  The army say they will not fire on Egyptian peaceful protesters.  But the trouble makers have clearly moved in with stones, horses, camels, sticks, petrol bombs and guns.  Opposing those people is not opposing peaceful protestors.

So whether there is any evidence made public of the part that Mubarak has played in this disgusting and inhumane crime he is personally responsible.

At 02:42 hrs GMT I hear Reuters have confirmed at least one dead: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/03/us-egypt-protests-clashes-idUSTRE7120GX20110203

I think the head of the army should simply take over, declare martial law, oppose the trouble makers, arrest Mubarak and his cronies and enforce the transition to democracy.  That is assuming that the guy heading the army is human.  But as I write it seems the army are leaving Tahrir Square.  This is so appalling.  Now which side was it that had God on their side?  I forget.

Analysis of Hossie Boy's speech to the revolting Egyptians.

On 1 February 2011 Hosni Mubarak addressed the revolting crowds in Tahrir Square with a totally unacceptable speech.  Here is an analysis of that speech by Toxic Drums.  It is not a political "read between the lines" analysis of even deeper silliness.  It is more a "stating the obvious - the emperor has no clothes" kind of analysis.  It is a little fun too and is meant both seriously and as support for the dissenting voices in Egypt (that'll be all of them except Mubarak and one or two sycophants).

The speech is verbatim and is in Egyptian Gold because Mubarak deserves a gold meddle for utter stupidity.  The comments are in Egyptian Green.  What's that?  Well it's like Soylent Green but sort of Egyptian.

"I talk to you during critical times that are testing Egypt and its people which could sweep them into the unknown."

A veiled threat.  Ironic suggesting that these "critical times" could sweep Egyptians into the unknown when the suggested alternative "known" future is with Hosni Mubarak as a Western Imperialist puppet dictator using oppression and violence, deception and intimidation to keep the rich rich and the poor poorer.

"The country is passing through difficult times and tough experiences which began with noble youths and citizens who practise their rights to peaceful demonstrations and protests, expressing their concerns and aspirations but they were quickly exploited by those who sought to spread chaos and violence, confrontation and to violate the constitutional legitimacy and to attack it."

This kind of pretence is very typical of inside-out people.  It is an attempt to give someone a chance to pretend they have always been good friends.  It is a kind of last chance thing.  It's a device used frequently by bullies and mafia types.  It is rationally hollow.  If the youths and citizens were so noble then Mr Hosni should obviously give them due respect.  But it is like saying some of your best friends are Jews as a prelude to anti-Semitic remarks.  A lovely irony here is the reference to "those who sought to spread chaos and violence" since it appears it was members of the security forces under the direct control of Hossie Boy.

Continued...

Egypt and the evolving Simulacra

This Egyptian crisis is currently being seen mainly as a serious crisis in the Middle East.  Without doubt it is that.  But very few people are seeing this as part of the internet evolution.  It is significant that Mubarak cut the internet off in Egypt.  It is the biggest threat.  In fact it is probably the vehicle through which the uprising has crystallised and formed.  I'm not talking about the discussions about a revolution and the coordination of the action.  They have clearly been aided by the internet.  But the more significant issue is the collective consciousness being brought about by the internet.  This is something that no matter how much regimes, governments and authoritarian interests try to prohibit and influence it, the internet is developing the interconnectivity which is resulting in the coherent collective consciousness.  It is like a child learning language.  The child is entirely unaware of the learning process and the fact that many of its internal paradigms are formed by the process.  It simply experiences growing "knowledge" of its surroundings.  But that interpretation and comprehension of the world is facilitated and derived from the language.  People assume that they are finding stuff out on the internet but it is more than that.  People are forming a collective perception of a wider reality.  This is what enables people to say "this is unacceptable".  They know other people agree with them.  This is the internet.  This is the Simulacra.  This is reality as perceived by the collective sentient life on Earth.  See more on Toxic Drums web site.