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The US has used napalm in Fallujah Read about it here Clueless old git to tap dance at Nuremburg Bowl Today a clueless old git agreed to put on his dancing fool shoes and tap dance at a rally of some of the world's most vicious, brainless thugs. Sir Macker was chosen ahead of much younger nipples to perform at the fascist bonding session in January. Once upon a time Sir McObsequious turned down a gong because of a war but is now glad to warm up for the stormtroopers of the New Order. More recently he declared before he knew what he was saying that custard bombs used by the coalition in Iraq were "a custardly weapon." Now he is to entertain the National Union of Custard Bomb Throwers at their annual Super Custard Bowl gladatorial games and bloodlust convention. Asked for comment, he told us, "I am dead chuffed as I have not a clue what I am doing." Nov 22, '04 While I am sitting here playing with lemmings, some people are doing truly useful work. The blog called Truth Diamond is a remarkable exercise in collecting information about the real agenda behind the fake War on Terror and the way certain corporations and governments are beating the world into their own image. Click here to read Truth Diamond. There is more information at: http://www.911truth.org/ Karl Schwarz has close knowledge of the Bush regime and much of what is happening on Capitol Hill because he used to work with those guys. You can learn about his interpretation of events here: http://www.karlschwarz.com/ And more ... Blood and oil in the Caspian: http://www.newgreatgame.com/ Following the US general election, here's a picture of a lemming. Lots of white space here. What shall we fill it with? — Ed. Lookalike Spleen Archive July-December '05 Davros ... and McMakka On the day that Makka is chosen to perform at the Superbowl, can it be a coincidence that we discover he has an uncanny resemblence to Davros, creator of the Daleks? Do we need to be told?   Nov. 22, '04 Censorship Interesting tidbit. Front page of the BBC online today (just before US election day) news that the tours of duty of thousands of US soldiers in Iraq are to be extended. This is a potential vote loser for Bush on the day before the election. A quick survey of CNN, Fox, USA Today, NYT, and the Washington Post ... none of them mention it in any prominent place. Update: now CBC is running the story of the tour extensions. Interesting to note that these soldiers will already have voted and that George bin Dubya has moved the goal posts. Nov.2, 2004 Osama bin Laden endorses Bush Bin Laden's sudden manifestation on the nation's airwaves seems to have done Bush a lot of good. Polls today show that undecided voters are inclining to Bush. This could mean that Bush, if he wins, will be able to say he is the first and only president to be put into power because of the word of an evildoer. He will be able to add this accolade to all his others — the first president to not be elected to office, for example. Meanwhile Tom Ridge has expressed confidence that ObL will not attack on election day. Why is he so confident? Is it because he is pulling ObL's strings? Oct. 31, 2004 Satan appears to US voters Today, Satan dramatically appeared to US voters threatening them with a great smiting. 'I shall smite you a lot,' he said. 'And then I will smite you some more. Just see if I don't,' he added. The Horned One's sudden appearance on America's TV screens came just milliseconds before the US general erection. 'And I am not just threatening to smite you to scare you into voting for George,' Lucifer was careful to point out. 'Even though our dads are chums'. Evil Incarnate looked dapper and relaxed as he told viewers, 'And no, there's nothing the least bit odd about me popping up on prime time just before the election to deliver a scary message.This just happens to be my day for popping up with a scary message.' As for his reasons for smiting lots of Americans, he was not specific. 'It is not because I hate freedom. In fact I have lots of freedom because no one has managed to catch me, and I rather enjoy it. Actually, I am going to smite you, er ... for the usual reasons. You know. Whatever the reason was last time. Because Dick and Carl asked me to. 'So, you can vote for anyone you like, but woe betide you if you get it wrong, because the smiting will be truly awful. Just see if it isn't.' October 29, 2004 Nothing new on Psipook A team of experts has established that nothing new has been posted on Psipook since October 16, 1771. "Nothing new has been posted on Psipook since October 16, 1771", said a UN expert inspector person. "This is because nothing new has been posted on Psipook since October 16, 1771", explained Psipook supremo Psilocybe P Pook. A man in the street observed that nothing new has been posted on Psipook since October 16, 177, and added, "Not that I give a tinker's." Ocotover 24, 20000004, World Hangover Day Happy bithrday for yesterday, Willll. Witless in Gaza The Israeli army has just withdrawn from Gaza after a 16 day operation that has left a hundred Palestinians dead — many of them civilians — and which has destroyed thousands of homes. At the same time, an Israeli officer accused of firing repeatedly into the corpse of a Palestinian girl has been cleared by the army of 'unethical conduct'. He remains suspended from duty because of problems getting along with colleagues. October 16, 2004 A database of Iraqi civilian casualties (click). Names to faces ... I hope the supporters of the war feel proud of themselves.And just another quick reminder for those of you who haven't got it yet: no WMD, no al Qaida. Just what did all these people die for? And hands up all those who are going to vote Bush or Blair in the upcoming elections. Hands up all those who think they should be banged up for crimes against humanity ... for that database, click here. June 25, 2004 Bush Permitted 9/ll With that election coming, now is a good time to remember that Bush and his crew deliberately permitted the September 11 attacks to happen in order to kick start a new aggressive foreign policy. We link here to an article by Michael Meacher, a British politician and former member of the Blair cabinet who has joined some of the dots regarding Bush's deed. Tessa Hewitt apologises for Iraq intelligence errors Blair concedes there may have been no Iraqi WMDs, US inspectors confirm same So those tens of thousands of people died by mistake. Well, that's all right then, at least there was nothing malicious in the killing. And, thankfully, the oil is safe. Wrong intelligence No intelligence Oct. 08, 2004 Man who used to play banjo brings terror to America A flight to the US was diverted in a security alert when crew realised one passenger was a man who used to play banjo. A banjo Fighter jets escorted the plane from US airspace to Canada where it could blow up or do anything, because it was Canada not America. Frightened and bemused passengers and crew reported: “It was definitely a man that used to play the banjo. He had a beard and everything.” A spokesman for the US Dept. of Homeland Insecurity, speaking on condition of anonymity because he did not know his own name, told reporters, “It was a really serious situation because he has a beard and he definitely used to play the banjo. If he had had the banjo with him at the time we would have had to shoot the plane down.” US President George Bush commented, “That we had to divert this individual to Canada just shows how dangerous these ex-banjo players are. This shows the world how seriously they have to take us. Now just watch me pee straight.” Oct. 3, 2004 Samarra Doublethink Today, US forces are storming Samarra in Iraq. As usual they claim to be killing only Iraqi fighters while the hospitals fill up with dead and injured women and children. So far so normal. What is interesting about this new campaign is the military spokesman coming up with a new instance of calling black white and vice versa. According to the BBC, the US military said the offensive was in response to what it called "repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces" and went on to explain that the assault aimed "to facilitate orderly government processes, kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces, and set the conditions to proceed with infrastructure and quality of life improvements for the people of Samarra". So the Iraqi resistance to foreign occupation is "anti-Iraqi". How did they figure that one out? Well, they know well enough what the real situation is, but by twisting language, they hope to obscure the truth. Well, try this out. If the Iraqi resistance to foreign invasion is anti-Iraqi, then the invading US military must be anti-American. So the anti-Iraqi forces must be pro-American, and the Americans, being anti-American must be pro-Saddam, pro-al Zarqawi and pro-al Sadr, and Mr. Bush has made it quite clear that if you ain't for us you are against us, so the Iraqi militias are in fact doing the will of the White House in ridding the planet of terrorists. It's all clear now. October 1, 2004 Shoot the neighbours This morning I had a pair of sick-world revelations.   I was reading an online BBC report about how Clinton’s ban on the purchase of assault weapons is about to be repealed. Lawnmower That was sick world feeling number one. Sick world feeling number two: the BBC, to help its non gun-toting readers along, listed three typical assault weapons — the AK47, the Uzi and something called an AR15, which was described as a civilian version of the military M16. A civilian version of an M16? What civilian application can there be of a weapon that fires 1000 rounds per minute, is deadly at ranges over a kilometre and whose bullets can penetrate house walls? AR15 Assault rifle You can imagine the scene in American suburbs. The sun is shining, the butterflies are flapping in the garden. Hubby tells wife,"Hey, hon, I'm hefting my AR15 so I’m just out to cut the grass. And then I’m going to shoot it. And then I’m going to shoot the flowers a while." "OK, hon. I’ll be right here in the kitchen with my Uzi shooting the washing up." "Then maybe later I'll put up that book shelf in the den." "Make sure you shoot it after. You know you sometimes forget." "Hey, how about we get the neighbours round tonight for a cook out?" "And then we can have a nice shoot out together. Sounds blissy." "Say, did you feed the dog?" "No, but I did shoot it." "Well, that should keep him happy a while." Guns don't kill people. Idiots with guns kill people. September 14, 2004 Startling Headline Gripping story. Dry aside: thank God the Olympics are over for another four years. Spooky graphic. Fear of cancer. Hilarious conclusion. Complete failure of imagination. September 2004 Why does America suddenly care about Sudan? George Bush's sudden compassion for the Darfur refugees may be a means of getting at Sudan's resources. Story by Psipook's Chris Page in the London News Review August 2004 A Modest Proposal Following the murder of yet another hostage in Iraq, Psilocybe P Pook (No Relation) has hit on a wizard wheeze to hasten the end of the US occupation he has been railing against for so long. The plan is to recruit hordes of hostages direct from Europe and the United States. They will be shipped directly to the Iraqi resistance for immediate decapitation. We will take anyone, but family people, the young and the crippled or vulnerable will be preferred. Each will be supplied with an ultra-sharp halal blade for use in decapitation to save the resistance getting sore arms sharpening knives. As the dead hostages pile up, the Western governments and people — especially the people who opposed the war — will see quite clearly how civilised are the folk resisting the occupation, and how deserving they are of our support. No doubt the Marines will hang their heads in shame, acknowledging the moral superiority of their foes and go home and George Bush will retire to a hermitage to figure out where he went wrong. August 2004 Land of the brave and the free tits While Iraqis are fighting for their country, US forces are fighting for breast enlargements. Benefits to veterans and the poor are being cut but, the US army's fighting men and women are offered free cosmetic surgery. Read the story here — will open in a new window. Thanks to Jerry Gordon for forwarding this to me. August 2004 Japan's slow rush to war The very nation that wrote Japan's pacifist constitution is pushing the country to abandon its principles and support US military ambitions around the globe. The Japanese public as a whole is firmly against militarism, but when powerful forces seek change, the Japanese may not get a choice. This a story of cynical realpolitik Article by Michael Penn, The University of Kitakyushu, as posted on Doug Carmichael's Roughcut. Click here to see the story in a new window. More thanks to Jerry Gordon for pointing this story out. August 2004 US Govt. is set to reinstate the draft American kids may be forced to join the imperial legions through bills waiting to be presented to Congress. Read about it here. Global Intelligence Failure According to the US senate investigation into the case for the Iraq war, there was a "global intelligence failure". Yes, indeed there was. Lots of people all over the world were stupid enough to believe the bullshit of Bush, Blair and their gang. July 2004 Why tyrants rule Arabs For 60 years, the West has propped up Arab despots, creating poverty and illiteracy where education once thrived GWYNNE DYER Read the article here. It will open in a new window. July 24, 2004

US bombs rural England over fox hunting
US warplanes bombed English towns and villages yesterday in retaliation for the latest assault on the fox population by hunters.

Hunters flee US bombardment

On December 26, units of the Countryside Alliance, in contravention of the law, moved against the foxes with dogs, birds of prey and children on ponies, killing an undisclosed number of furry animals.

The British government was powerless to stop them.

The US bombing raids destroyed a number of country houses, stately homes, Range Rovers and sherry bottles.

George Bush declared that "the US, faced with clear evidence of species cleansing and the defiance of law and the breakdown in authority of the UK government, had no option but to act. The foxes and the British establishment are defenceless against the well-funded Countryside Alliance, which clearly has links to Al Qaida. In our role as champions of democracy and freedom, we were obliged to act."

December 28, 2005

It is well known that the foxes these brave people fearlessly hunt are a massive pest in the countryside.

I grew up in rural Gloucestershire, and saw many a time a fox making off with a whole cow or sheep in its mouth.

At night they would come from their lairs and dig up entire fields just to steal the potatoes. Sprouts, cabbage, carrots, parsnips and purple sprouting were other favourites of these pesky beasts. On Sundays the air was thick with the odour of roast dinners cooked in the foxes' lairs.

They even used to kill the cute little rabbits that were happily munching away in the farmer's fields.

On at least one occasion, a gang of foxes used oxyacetylene cutting equipment and industrial saws to force their way into the local factory farm complex to make off with 5,000 chickens.

My sister was eaten to death by at least one fox.

Of course, hunting is not just about killing things. It is about tradition, a way of life, sherry.

These hunters, these keen defenders of the old way, are also to be found ducking and burning witches, hanging, drawing and quartering petty thieves and starving the peasants through tithes.

Dec. 27, 2005

Intelligent design: the proof
The fact that millions of people believe in Creationism is evidence in itself that there is no intelligence in our design.

Other arguments against intelligent design
Think about it, would an intelligent god design creatures that:

• start wars
• fight in wars that people you voted for have started
• vote for people you know are going to lie to you, break promises and start wars
• remark on weather conditions that are obvious for everyone to see
• smoke cigarettes
• boil the only planet we have in its own gases and then deny it's happening
• drive SUVs when they know the planet is boiling in its own gases
• watch hours of television every day, and think that what they have watched actually matters
• read tabloids and the novels of Jeffrey Archer
• eat fast food that has no nutritional value
• suffer epidemics of obesity in a minority of countries and tolerate poverty and malnutrition in the majority
• believe that the omniscient, omnipotent supreme being in this infinite universe is personally interested in their piddling little problems
• believe in Tony Blair
• take their car when they know they are going to get caught in traffic jams and have trouble finding a place to park
• work their butts off to get the money to buy the things they make at work
• believe that shopping (and TV — see above) is the pinnacle of human achievement
• vote for George Bush
• kill animals for 'sport'
• believe that people are intelligent

For a view of progress the conservative way, click here.

Dec. 26, 2005

Bush's faulty intelligence
So Bush finally admits what the rest of knew before the war, that the intelligence about Saddam's WMD was wrong. Here wrong should be read as 'made up', but don't push the guy.

In his latest speech to rally the American people to the cause of spreading democracy and compliance by shooting people and blowing things up, Bush, having made this confession, goes on to say that the war was still the right thing because Saddam was a threat. The fact is, there is even less evidence that Saddam was a threat than there was evidence for his WMD — There isn't even any made up evidence.

The notion that Iraq, battered by wars with Iran and the US-led world coalition, strangled by sanctions for ten years with an outdated, dilapidated military was a threat to anyone but itself is laughable. The idea brings to mind JFK's claims in the early 60s that tiny Cuba was a threat to the Western way of life. Kennedy tried to get the governments of his regional allies to spin the same story. The Mexican ambassador declined, explaining that millions of his countrymen would die laughing.

Saddam was a not a nice leader. Let's not get that wrong, but what kind of moral calculus makes killing tens of thousands of people to remove one man from power worthwhile? Let's say this gently, we don't want to cause Bush a mental relapse: dead people are not liberated, they are, well, dead. The dead, dear George, don't participate in a free and fair democracy because they are ... dead.

The invasion of Iraq and the deaths of tens of thousands of people all came about from faulty information, says George. If anyone else made a decision at work based on faulty information that led to death and injury, that person would be tried for negligent manslaughter. Not so George Jnr. He just goes on babbling in his confusion "America did not choose this war" as if his intelligence failure was somehow the fault of the Iraqi people.

Dec 15, 2005

The evildoer next door
Lockheed Martin, the world's biggest arms manufacturer, helps choose America's foreign wars, while Coca Cola is complicit in assassinations of labour organisers in its foreign plants.

These are just two tidbits picked up from an article that rounds up 14 of the world's biggest corporate evildoers.

Dec. 14, 2005

Arnie terminates bad guy
Arnold Schwarzenegger, has now turned down pleas for clemency in his first judicial murder — of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, co-founder of the Crips street gang.

Luvvable Arnie has made a fortune out of pretend killing and is now faced with committing his first real one.

I wonder whether he will watch the execution. If he watches it on a TV he can at least make believe it is make believe.

Dec. 13, 2005

The revolution begins in Osaka
An old story about an old happening, just up on Psipook 18 months after the event.

Read it here.

Or else.

Dec. 4, 2005

Bush sets out strategy for victory
Today George Bush unveiled his "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq", his mission statement for ending the war.

The main points of the plan are:

• kill all the bad guys
• do it in our own time
• quit when we are finished

The plan is a clear depature from the previous plan, which was:

• kill all the bad guys
• do it in our own time
• quit when we are finished

The new plan is expected to restore flagging support for the war among the American public.

Psilocybe P Pook demands: bomb us too, there's plenty of anti-war sentiment on this site
Click here to read story

Nov. 23, '05

America's banned weapons
What is the rest of the story?

More than a year after the last battle for Fallujah, the US military has admitted using phosphorous weapons. There may be other nasty secrets yet to come out, including the use of poisonous gas.

At the end of the battle of Fallujah reports of the use of phosphorous, a weapon that is banned from use on humans, came out of the city. The US denied and denied and finally, this week admitted it had used this weapon. The US continued to insist that it had only used it line with international agreements, ie, not targeted at people, yet voices within the military suggested otherwise, backing up the stories on the ground, which had already been given weight by photographic evidence of apparent phosphorous victims — many of whom were civilians.

This is not the first time the US and the UK have been found out for using banned weapons in this war against Iraq's non-existent banned weapons. Both countries first denied then admitted using cluster bombs. The US first denied and then admitted using a form of napalm.

At the end of last year's battle, alongside the stories of phosphorous, there were stories of dead bodies that had no injuries on them. The strong suggestion here is that they were killed by some kind of gas. There were other stories of corpses that were undamaged but which showed signs of bleeding from the eyes.

The US admission of using phosphorous now has to give credibility to the other reports of the use of gas as a weapon.

Nov. 19, 2005

Intermission

Here is a soothing image to look at while we try to raise the enthusiasm to update the site.

The cat's name is Kukku and he lives in Japan. We see him here keeping the planet spinning on its axis.

It is not well known among humans that cats keep us from careening out of control into the icy outer reaches of space and prevent matter from just plain falling to bits. What humans take to be the idle staring of cats is in fact a deep Zen-like trance that animates the universe. Cats have complex international psychic networks in which individuals take turns to concentrate on the collective task.

To you and me it's staring out the window looking smug and twitching a tail. In reality it is life itself.

I for one have volunteered my services. I would like to participate in the great feline network. I too will stare at nothing and contemplate the essential ness-ness of everything.

Later. I've got a windowsill to see to.

Scientists discover eating properly is good for health
The world of science was rocked to its foundations today when scientists revealed that eating your greens was good for you.

The existence of broccoli has been scientifically proven.

However, the boffins admitted they were baffled about why this should be so. Click here to read full story.

October 29, 2005

The added feature
Eat yourself happier
Chris Page
Improve your mood with the food you eat

Every day, in every way ...
An interesting day for news. Arctic ice coverage is 20 percent below average for this time of year (click). Climate change deniers will no doubt be telling us soon it is normal for the Arctic to have 20 percent less ice than normal at this time of year, and that, in fact, this is evidence that the world is cooling not heating. This story comes soon after stories of global warming recently hitting a tipping point with the thawing of frozen Siberian marshes, and those extra vicious hurricanes... Tom DeLay, close pal of and fundraiser for George Bush, has been indicted with criminal conspiracy, apparently over an election campaign scheme, which is yet another demonstration of democracy in action. The elections were evidently conducted on strict free market principles, the foundation of Western freedom: first to buy the votes wins (click). US troops in Iraq have been accused of trading photos of dead Iraqis and Afghans for pornography but the army has declined to conduct a proper inquiry. The army concluded they couldn't prove who was submitting the pictures of dead people. Good point. Perhaps Iraqi people were sending pictures of their dead relatives so that they could cop a look of some bare Yankee bottom. (click) The UK took a step closer to thwarting world terrorism by evicting an 82-year old party member from the Labour party conference when he heckled Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Straw was busy telling fairy stories to the party faithful when Walter Wolfgang made his view that the tales were 'nonsense' and heavies ejected him, and another individual who complained at them, out of the conference. Most interestingly, Mr. Wolfgang was denied re-admittance and had his pass confiscated on police powers granted through anti-terrorism legislation. I seem to remember that supporters of this legislation assured us that it was introduced to protect us from anyone detonating bombs on, say, the London Underground, but would not curtail individual freedoms enjoyed by ordinary citizens such as Mr. Wolfgang. (click) Back to global warming. Has Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, chum of climate-change denying George Bush, decided that Venice is under threat from his friend's policies? He is building expensive defences to combat the increasingly frequent flooding suffered by the city. (click)

Sept. 29, 05

"I was created by George Bush" — Hurricane Katrina
In a shock revelation today, Hurricane Katrina admitted links to George Bush.

Speaking from her hideout in the lawless regions of Texastan
(to continue reading story click here)
(for more click here)

Sept 24, 2005

Jesus was a penguin
A documentary has stunned America by establishing beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus, the son of God, was in fact a penguin.

"It is very clear that the Lord stood on two legs as a penguin does," said the reverend Fred Fish of Tuxedo, Tennessee, after seeing the film."Christ had two arms, just as the penguin has two flippers. Penguins swim in water, and Christ walked on it. Penguins choose a mate for just one year, and then find another, just as most Americans do. Christmas is white and snowy, just like Antarctica. And penguins lay eggs."

Theologians around the world are scrambling to revise the Holy Trinity, which now goes, "God the Father, God the Son, God the Cute Penguin."

The animation Pingu will now be shown in all public schools in place of science classes.

The penguin documentary comes to us from France, a nation that opposed the war in Iraq.

(further details, click here)

(For penguin-on-penguin sex video, and kinky man-on-penguin photo, click here)

(Read a rather good poem about God by Evan Hay by clicking here.)

September 18, 2005

Spare a quarter, pal — it's tough being the world's only superpower
The United States is reaching out to its friends for aid for the victims of hurricane Katrina.

The shops and supermarkets of the nation are stuffed to overflowing with food and necessities, yet the same items are being flown in from foreign donor countries without charge. Unable or unwilling to distribute sufficient aid, the government are providing the hurricane's refugees with $2,000 each of taxpayer's money to spend their way out of their predicament, returning considerable capital to the free market.

We are reminded that not so long ago World Watch calculated that one year's worth of the US's military spending, properly targeted, could end poverty on the planet forever. We are also reminded that the US spends as much on its military as the other top ten spenders combined.And this is the same nation that is going cap in hand to its poorer pals.

Sept 11, 2005

Northern Ireland 1, England 0
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, etc.

Sept. 8, 05

Bush to lead New Orleans inquiry
This is like putting the drunk driver in charge of investigating the car crash.

Sept.8, 05

Noah builds Ark, escapes flood
And the Lord said to Noah, build an Ark, for there will be a great flood, and remove all the people that live in New Orleans two by two, etc. except the poor and the black.

Sept. 4, 05

I can't be bothered
Psilocybe P Pook, Psipook supremo, has reportedly stated that he "can't be bothered".

The statement, which was made in the kitchen today, is thought to be an indication that he can't be bothered.

There has been no comment on the alleged remark from Tory Blair because we couldn't be bothered to ask him, though Henry Kissinger is thought to have said hello to someone or other today.

August 27, 2005

Tony Blair says "Let's fight terrorism together!"

Bush weighs in for intelligent design
President George Bush said yesterday that intelligent design should be taught in schools although he himself shows no sign of any.

August 10, 2005

Bomber explodes Blair's lies
The capture this week of the July 21 bomb suspects could be very bad news for Tory Blair.

The individual picked up in Rome has apparently already said that the attacks were inspired by Britain's attack on Iraq. (Read here.)

Blair has been at great pains since the July 7 bombs to deny any connection with his invasion of Iraq. As noted here, Islamic scholars at at least one school in Pakistan linked to the bombers also stated that the attacks were a result of Britain's foreign policy.

Blair, meanwhile, invented a story to explain the bombings of an evil ideology that apparently has no name, no adherents and no existence — a claim that is intellectually on a level withstating the tooth fairy put a quid under your pillow — even though you have photographic evidence that it was your mum put the dosh there.

When the bombers come to trial, they can really show up Blair's fantasies for what they are, by explaining their motivations.

What's the betting that Blair will simply turn round and say that it is the evil ideology making the bombers blame it all on British policies to inconvenience the government and hide their true motives?

July 31, 2005

Evil kebab ideology exposed
Here's a picture from the front page of the online Guardian:

It bothers me that this kind of image makes a connection between people of Muslim heritage and terrorism.

It may be a literal truth that a policeman was standing outside a kebab shop; it may be a literal truth that people connected to terrorism were arrested in a kebab shop, but I would like to bet that it is not a literal truth that all people connected with kebab shops are connected with terrorism. If this were the case, Tory Blair would be living in a kebab shop — in fact, 10 Downing Street would be a giant kebab shop, with greater benefit to mankind.

In the photo, the word 'hamburger', the Western part of the combination is cut off, separated, excised; accentuating difference.

Or am I just over reacting, do you think? I dunno. Maybe kebabs are inherently evil. Maybe kebabs are the mysterious evil ideiology that Mr. Blair is always banging on about. My bottom might agree with that.

July 28, 2005

Jean Charles de Menezes
If the man shot at Stockwell tube station on Friday had been a suicide bomber complete with bomb belt and the works, then I don't suppose anyone would have objected to the police shooting him seven times in the head. I know I wouldn't. I believe in due process, but I also believe in self defence.

Which would you prefer, one suicide bomber shot in the head before he could detonate his bomb or lots of dead people because he had a chance to.

So on the face of it, the Stockwell shooting is just a tragic mistake, one of those mistakes that happen to protect the common good. The police on the day didn't know he wasn't a bomber and because he ran away, they had good reason, however mistaken, to believe he was.

So it goes, and it's all the fault of the terrorists for bombing London in the first place.

This argument works well enough until you think into the particulars of it.

First, according to the news, Jean Charles de Menezes was the subject of police surveillance before he was gunned down. Eye witness reports tell of a large number of plain clothes officers chasing Mr. Menezes, which suggests quite a large surveillance operation.

The police were watching him in the good faith that he was a terrorist subject when even they admit, after the event that he had no connection with terrorism.

This clearly means that they were watching the wrong person, that Mr. Menezes was someone other than the person they thought they were watching. Or, worse that they were expending these resources on watching someone for no reason at all.

In either case this large spying operation failed to establish the simple fact that he was an a electrician and not a terrorist.

After that failure, alarm bells should have started ringing when Mr. Menezes started running when challenged.

Had he been a suicide bomber he would have blown himself up at this point to take as many people with him as possible. What does a suicide bomber have to gain by running? Is he looking for a better target? Well, he has a dozen armed police bearing down on him, what better target is that?

We should make a simple identification guide for the police: a) people with invalid visas run, b) suicide bombers explode.

How's that?

Of course, we have been energetically looking for ways of making it Mr. Menezes fault.

Even the Beeb (do I mean 'even the Beeb' or 'of course the Beeb'? I'm not sure) has been in on the act. In a headline story this morning, about 600 words of stuff about bombs and suicide attacks and hunts for the bombers and the imminent threat of more, they drop the news that Mr. Menezes was apparently in Britain without a visa. The effect of this revelation in the midst of the terror-apocalypse news was to suggest that, being visa-less, it was all right for the police to shoot him, and that he was of the same moral status as a terrorist.

Perhaps if he wasn't a terrorist last Friday when they shot him, he would have been by Saturday morning. So that's all right then.

July 26, 2005

London-Iraq link — from the horse's mouth
Two-thirds of the British public believe that the recent London bombs were linked to our involvement in Iraq. Only two-thirds? What do the other third think the bombs were about? Were they a protest at school dinners? The weather? An innate hatred of Thursdays?

While only two-thirds of Britons understand the relationship of the atrocity to real world events, the government are faring much worse, with apparently none of them having any grasp on causality. Blair bats on with his inexplicable 'evil ideology' mantra.

Since the bombing, two reports have come out warning that the invasion of Iraq has raised the risk of terror attacks in Britain. One was a report from a think tank, the other was from the UK's own security establishment, a report leaked to the press. (story here)

Japanese journalists have now done what the British media, what Blair himself should have done already. In a report aired tonight by NHK, they visited some of the Islamic schools in Pakistan that the London bombers are thought to have visited recently. These schools are accused of nurturing terrorists.

NHK interviewed some of the people connected with the schools and played a recording of a speech of one the radical Mullahs. The message was very clear: these hard core Muslims were waging a war against the US and UK because of, wait for it, our attacks on both Afghanistan and Iraq and because of US foreign policy. You can't get much more from the horse's mouth than that.

July 19, 2005

London like Baghdad
A week after the bombings in London, this is a good moment for a bit of a think. The carnage visited on the city is but a small reflection of the carnage that has been visited on Iraq by the US and UK in their invasion and occupation and in the ongoing war of resistance against their presence.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed and maimed in the same way as the victims of the London bombs — by the armed forces of Britain and America.

The bombings in London were a direct response to the invasion of Iraq. The invasion of Iraq was an unjustifiable land grab rationalised by lies.

Now that we have seen the horror of violent death up close, do we want to be complicit in inflicting it on other people?

July 16, 2005

Casus Bollocks
Riverbend points out on her Baghdad Burning blog an interesting shift in the rhetoric of George Bush and his armchair junta.

The invasion of Iraq was justified by the country's alleged possession of WMD and its alleged readiness to use them on the West.

More than two years later, without any evidence of WMD in Iraq, the war is now about fighting terrorism. Iraq is the new front line, Bush likes to tell us.

Bush's sad aphasia has struck again. The war was about WMD not terrorism. Terrorism had nothing to do with the rationale for the invasion, but now, without WMD, terrorism has become the sole reason for the war.

Listening to Bush's rhetoric we might like to reflect that before the invasion there was no connection between Iraq and terrorism.

Poor Mr. Bush doesn't seem to know why he went to war.

Bush and his crew tell us that they are fighting terrorism in Iraq so it doesn't come to New York or London — as pointed out in the current Harper's review.

Then how do they explain the London bombs?

The simple fact is that the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan (not to mention all the other crap policies that have alienated much of the world) has radicalised a large number of people.

The London bombers were British, not Iraqi.

So what now? Does the War on Terror make Leeds the next Fallujah?

July 13, 2005

Following the terror outrage in London, Psipook has obtained an exclusive statement from Prime Minister Tory Blair.

"Let me tell you a story. There once was a chap called Mr. Smith, a fine upstanding fellow in his own shoes.

"There was also a chap called Mr. Aziz, a rather shifty type who wouldn't shave and wore a nightie.

"One day, Mr. Smith walked up to Mr. Aziz and biffed him on the nose.

"Mr. Aziz responded by biffing Mr. Smith on the nose.

"'There, you see', said Mr. Smith, 'that proves what a dangerous person Mr. Aziz is and how right I was to hit him in the first place'."

Here endeth the lesson that shall not be learned.

July 8th, 2005

Bush doubles African aid, raises the dead
In a dramatic move today that totally gobsmacked His critics — Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Spittle of Stoke Newington, London, England, UK, Europe — George "Messiah" Bush offered to double aid to Africa and brought just a few of the millions who had died of poverty back to life.

He pledged to give Africa double the crumbs off America's table.

He also offered to mobilise Special Forces to scour Washington's litter bins for discarded Freedom Fries and dregs of Freedom Cola to ship to the troubled continent.

The gift has slight but reasonable conditions attached. The aid would only be forthcoming if all the little African boys, and all the little African girls, and all the little African leaders promised to be good in the future.

If they all promised to stop giving succour to international terrorists, give over all their natural resources, and become Christian, white and middle class, boatloads of crumbs would be forthcoming.

In an address to his disciples at Meyer Auditorium at Freer Gallery, He said, "[African leaders] by definition, must play the main role as agents of reform and progress, instead of passive recipients of money. Over the decades, we've learned that without economic and social freedom, without the rule of law and effective, honest government, international aid has little impact or value."

The Lord Bush spoke with confidence, imbued with the belief that he had personally invented the myth that Africa was unable to look after itself.

African leaders are expected to respond that if America ever acquires honest government, freedom and a respect for the rule of law they will be happy to accept the crumbs from Bush's table.

And the same goes for Tory Blair's crumbs too.

Bush raises the dead

During the same press feeding when a couple of filleted and uncooked untruths satisfied thousands of adoring journalists, Jesus, aka President Bush, told the following parable.

"Two years ago, a little girl in Namibia was born to a mother and father who both had HIV; she had the disease, as well. The name her parents gave her translates as the phrase, "There is no good in the world." Months ago, the girl was very sick and losing weight and close to death. But today, she and her entire family are receiving lifesaving medicine. Now she's a beautiful, shy, thriving six-year-old, with a new life ahead of her, and there's a little more good in the world.

Across Africa, people who were preparing to die are now preparing to live. (Applause.) And America is playing a role in so many of those miracles. We're a nation that repays our blessings with generosity to others. When we work with Africans to bring food to starving regions, and malaria treatments to remote villages, and miracle drugs that restore the dying to strength, this is part of our calling in the world. (Applause.) And as we answer that call, it makes us proud to be Americans."

The miracle of resurrection was made all the more remarkable by the fact that US manufacturers of anti AIDS drugs have routinely priced their products out of the reach of the budgets of many African nations, that America is theG8's smallest contributor of aid as a proportion of GNP.

July 1, 2005