Foreign policy hell

What do you do if you can't work and can't go to school, if you have left behind your country, your community, and your career, to say nothing of your dead? Sadly, the answer is: almost nothing. Life as an Iraqi refugee is one of emptiness bordering on erasure."Sometimes I wonder if I would have been better off if I'd died in Iraq," Fata told me. "And sometimes I think I did."

The always interesting Foreign Policy mgazine has published this article about the seemlingly endless war the the Iraqi's have experienced and how the humanitarian crisis (to use a well-worn cliche, which is in itself a well-worn cliche) that 2 million of them face as refugees just drags on, one wonders who thinks this war was worth it? If you include the deprivations of the economoic sanctions imposed since the first 'gulf war' it must be close to an entire generation that has suffered. Its hard to concive of over here, I can't neatly conclude this post, like there is no conclusion for the people interviewed in the article but Britain is currently having an enquiry into why they went to war, unfortunately Australia is unlikely to do so, not enough of us have died.
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See also High Value Detainee #1

Head on

The blog will be undergoing some changes in the new year I will be lightening up the display theme and writing some longer posts on thinkers, writers and artists who have inspired me and might do the same for you. I might also get round to sharing some music. So again, if you stop by, please comment; don't be scared I wont hunt you down, or try to be your friend, but most importantly don't be lazy, give something back.

Don't be fooled

When you base your business on the value of a celebrity endorsement and not the actual or at least perceived worth of your products, you might one day suffer:

Two US professors have pinned the loss to shareholders from Tiger Woods' marital infidelity at up to $US12 billion ($A13.65 billion).

Just in time for x-mass

Christmas shits me. It's particularly absurd here in the southern hemisphere where all the stock images of sleigh bells, ivy-wreaths and heavy red costumes strike a rude contrast with the parched soil and sticky asphalt. Even converting reindeer to kangaroos for the carol six white boomers doesn't mitigate the cognitive dissonance of shopping for brandy pudding in thongs.



Few things annoy me more than shopping centre Santa's, click through for further proof that letting strangers hold your children is not always a good idea.

They live among us... possibly.

On the seventh day God rested

The universe in a grain of sand

Scientists at IBM used an Atomic Force Misroscope to image the atoms making up a single molecule. Pictured is a a molecule of Pentacine (no, i dont what it's found in either) made up of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms. The image shows 5 carbon rings encircled by lighter hydrogen atoms. Cool.

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Found at Disinfo
IBM press release
Photo Copyright IBM Research Zurich

History is made at night

Wise up suckers!

Much like PWEI (look it up) suggests, shitty pop culture and the 24hr news cycle does not encourage an informed perspective on history. In one sense we* are encouraged to elevate novelty and put the nonsensical hyper- before otherwise useful words. Also we can find ourselves subject to the whims of richer older (mostly) men who, elected or otherwise, would tie us down in their recieved view of how the world works, and what is best for us all. So when the wind rips down the chasm that separates progression and tradition and chills us to the bone, what are we to do?



We use our critical faculties, we might look for progression and new ideas from those who have a sense of history, as novelty for its own sake quickly becomes tiresome. We also may benefit from considering what has gone before in terms of practical outcomes and apply this knowledge ourselves. Here are two of the most interesting articles I have read lately, that suggest or describe the employment of similar strategies, but may not be what you expect. I suggest you print 'em as they deserve attention. Endorsement or disagreements might be forthcoming upon request.

The First Lecture
Reality Sandwich | The Process is the Product
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*My 'we' is probaly not as general as 'I' would like
Image by Memeht Karatay

High Value Detainee #1

Saddam Hussien wrote poetry in his cell after his capture by American forces. He also denied responsibilty for the 9/11 attacks or even meeting Osama Bin Laden, describing him as a Zealot. I am only really suprised about the poetry.

The CIA has recently released the summaries of a series of interviews and 'casual conversations' conducted with the former Iraqi President. These are hosted at the National Secuity Archive at George Washington University.

Referring to Hussein as 'High Value Detainee #1' these read like a Ballard short story as the dispassionate writer summarises what must have been hours of direct structured interviews and a few briefer encounters by FBI agent George L. Piro. In these Hussein dismisses the use of body doubles, and whilst having the airconditioning in cell fixed claimed to lived simply and that the numerous palaces in Iraq were not really 'his' and were in fact constructed to give his formerly agrarian nation a chance to develop it's architectural skills.

Hussein repeatedly claims that he did not have WMD's and frustrated the UN's inspection plans largely so as to maintain a psychological and tactical advantage over Iran. He is surprisingly candid about other high-ranked members of the Ba'ath Party and shares a joke with the American agent over his description of one of Hussein's collegues as a used car salesman. This is a remarkably direct insight into one of the major figures of our times, and contained also in these documents are his insights into how to rule a nation, deal with troublesome neighbours and manage vacillating allies. However a lot of these interviews concern the history of the Ba'ath party and the war with Iran, and much appears to remain undisclosed. It is unlikely that these 26 documents represent all that was discussed before his trial and subsequent execution.