Move over John Kerry as it is Hagel's turn to do stupid.
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has accused China of destabilising the South-East Asia region as they have failed to resolve disputes peacefully and the US opposes the use of intimidation or threat of force to assert territorial claims.
He then laid out a list of moves the US has made to increase troops, ships and military assets in the region, provide missile defence systems to Japan, sell sophisticated drones and other aircraft to Korea, and expand defence cooperation with Australia, New Zealand and India.
The Obama administration has certainly become more belligerent and thuggish the longer they have been in power but as with the sanctions on Russia, less and less of the other countries are lining up behind them and are actually edging further away every time someone like Kerry or Hagel open their hypocritical mouths.
Nobody with any sense is going to commit economic and political suicide by joining in the bashing of the next economic superpower, they might mumble something in order to keep with the old power as they await the new one coming up on the rails but as America found with the Russia sanctions, the influence is waning and nobody seems quite so willing to stand in your corner anymore as you throw your weight around.
Saturday, 31 May 2014
Friday, 30 May 2014
Charlize Theron, You Are A Moron
I don't know much about Charlize Theron, but i do know she is a highly paid actress and that she chose to go into that field knowing that the media will fawn over her and her films and she will in turn pose and pout and be available to the media.
While she was free to make a choice, rape victims are not so to compare press intrusion to being the victim of rape is at worst outstandingly insensitive, at best the words of an idiot.
Maybe it was a poor choice of phrase, possibly she realised how abhorrent the comparison was as soon as the words where out of her mouth or she is just another self-obsessed idiot who likens the worst sort of violent act against a person which either leaves them dead or mentally and physically scarred for life to the act of having her photograph taken while out shopping.
Ms Theron, you are a moron.
While she was free to make a choice, rape victims are not so to compare press intrusion to being the victim of rape is at worst outstandingly insensitive, at best the words of an idiot.
Maybe it was a poor choice of phrase, possibly she realised how abhorrent the comparison was as soon as the words where out of her mouth or she is just another self-obsessed idiot who likens the worst sort of violent act against a person which either leaves them dead or mentally and physically scarred for life to the act of having her photograph taken while out shopping.
Ms Theron, you are a moron.
Are We All Racist Now?
The British have always had a thread of arrogance running through them which goes back to the days of Empire when the land Britain ruled over was so vast that the sun literally never set on it.
There are people today who still can't see that what we did to millions of people around the World was anything other than a good thing.
'We dragged them into the modern era with British ingenuity' is the argument, dismissing the tens of millions that died due to Britain doing in Africa and Asia what Hitler attempted to do in Europe a century later.
This 'better than Johnny Foreigner' view is mostly held by pensioners and the breakdown of voters in British elections shows that pensioners are the ones more likely to vote which may go some way to explain the rise of UKIP (a recent YouGov poll showed UKIPs largest support group was over 65) who have a nasty policy of blaming all the ill's of Britain on immigrants, a view that is shared by many over 65s not because it is true, but because of the 'Little Englander' attitude many of them hold.
Absurd of course, Britain's ills are down to an economy shattered by financial markets greed and compounded by a Conservative Party using this an an excuse to bring in ideologically driven austerity cuts.
As UKIP is fronted by a right wing politician who made his fortune working in the City, he isn't going to point any fingers at his own kind, he is going to look elsewhere and Europe is where he points the finger.
Credit to him, he had done a very good job of keeping his finger pointed at immigration while his party imploded with racism, sexism and homophobia around him and the older generation suddenly had someone halfway respectable who wasn't the vile BNP or EDL saying what they thought but were afraid to vocalise previously due to the rise of Political Correctness, it's all the fault of the foreigners.
To answer the question, 'Are we All Racist Now?' the answer is not all but some and these are the ones who voted last Thursday magnifying their impact although thankfully they are also the ones who will gradually be replaced by the next generation who have less members who still applaud the British Empire and look at immigration as a threat to Britain and see it more as an opportunity to embrace different cultures and enhance a vibrant multicultural Britain.
There are people today who still can't see that what we did to millions of people around the World was anything other than a good thing.
'We dragged them into the modern era with British ingenuity' is the argument, dismissing the tens of millions that died due to Britain doing in Africa and Asia what Hitler attempted to do in Europe a century later.
This 'better than Johnny Foreigner' view is mostly held by pensioners and the breakdown of voters in British elections shows that pensioners are the ones more likely to vote which may go some way to explain the rise of UKIP (a recent YouGov poll showed UKIPs largest support group was over 65) who have a nasty policy of blaming all the ill's of Britain on immigrants, a view that is shared by many over 65s not because it is true, but because of the 'Little Englander' attitude many of them hold.
Absurd of course, Britain's ills are down to an economy shattered by financial markets greed and compounded by a Conservative Party using this an an excuse to bring in ideologically driven austerity cuts.
As UKIP is fronted by a right wing politician who made his fortune working in the City, he isn't going to point any fingers at his own kind, he is going to look elsewhere and Europe is where he points the finger.
Credit to him, he had done a very good job of keeping his finger pointed at immigration while his party imploded with racism, sexism and homophobia around him and the older generation suddenly had someone halfway respectable who wasn't the vile BNP or EDL saying what they thought but were afraid to vocalise previously due to the rise of Political Correctness, it's all the fault of the foreigners.
To answer the question, 'Are we All Racist Now?' the answer is not all but some and these are the ones who voted last Thursday magnifying their impact although thankfully they are also the ones who will gradually be replaced by the next generation who have less members who still applaud the British Empire and look at immigration as a threat to Britain and see it more as an opportunity to embrace different cultures and enhance a vibrant multicultural Britain.
Thursday, 29 May 2014
Of Mice & Men Too Good To Lose
Although i don't necessarily agree with the favouring 'British writers', i do understand the need to refresh the book list every so often so we don't have the same books taught year after year, but it is such a shame that two absolute classics are being heaved aside.
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is a bit of a heavier read than Steinbeck's much shorter novella but both books should be first on any list for children to read, if you fail to be inspired by either of these stories then you obviously have not read them.
I first studied Of Mice and Men at school, i have lost count the amount of times i have read it since, a truly special book that weaves in friendship, poverty, responsibility and a last page that is both breathlessly good and shocking as anything anybody has ever written before or since.
I hope that this will not rob pupils of the discovery of some amazing literature, the kind that will inspire them to read more and i hope that even though these books are not to be covered in full, teachers of English literature will share my thoughts they they are too good to be forgotten and will make a small space for them somewhere in the syllabus.
Chilcot Enquiry
The Iraq War was 2003, the enquiry into the handling of the War began in 2009 and we are still awaiting the outcome in 2014 but we may be getting close to a release date as Tony Blair has come to an agreement with the enquiry over what parts of his discussions with George W Bush can be handed to the enquiry, hardly any of them.
Instead only the 'gist' of the correspondence between the two men will be made available after four years of delays over Bush and Blair's private conversations.
David Cameron has said that that he now expecting the Chilcot report to be published by the end of the year but those of is hoping it will finally nail Tony Blair to the mast over the Iraq War may be disappointed as earlier this week Mr Blair said: 'The sooner it is published the better' which may make us think that he has an idea what is coming and it isn't as bad as it could be.
If Blair can put a stick into the enquiries wheel so we don't find out the incriminating stuff, five years on and millions of pounds later, what is the point of the enquiry?
Instead only the 'gist' of the correspondence between the two men will be made available after four years of delays over Bush and Blair's private conversations.
David Cameron has said that that he now expecting the Chilcot report to be published by the end of the year but those of is hoping it will finally nail Tony Blair to the mast over the Iraq War may be disappointed as earlier this week Mr Blair said: 'The sooner it is published the better' which may make us think that he has an idea what is coming and it isn't as bad as it could be.
If Blair can put a stick into the enquiries wheel so we don't find out the incriminating stuff, five years on and millions of pounds later, what is the point of the enquiry?
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
What's Happening In Andromeda Galaxy?
A sudden burst of gamma-rays in the Andromeda Galaxy was detected by a NASA satellite this morning which means that there is a high probability that two neutron stars have collided.
A Neutron star is when a star collapses into itself under the force of gravity leaving a significantly smaller but very dense and rapidly spinning dead star.
Depending on the size of the star that collapsing, we could end up with a neutron star or a black hole and scientists are studying the type and length of the gamma-ray emissions detected this morning to understand what has happened in Andromeda.
Unfortunately for the end-of-timers, Andromeda is 2.5 million light years away and the Earth is well away from receiving a direct hit from the gamma-rays so we are in no danger from the event that would have happened while stone age man was first discovering that the sharp edge of a stone can be used as a tool.
If the burst was caused by colliding neutron stars, previously undetected gravitational waves could be the result as predicted by Einstein but in an ironic twist, our most sensitive gravitational wave instrument, the LIGO, is out of action for an upgrade.
Whatever it was, Earth is not in danger and we are not all doomed but the gravitational waves bending time and space may mean we find ourselves back in 1984 and that would be a disaster...deeley boppers, Phil Collins and day-glo yellow leg warmers all over again!!
A Neutron star is when a star collapses into itself under the force of gravity leaving a significantly smaller but very dense and rapidly spinning dead star.
Depending on the size of the star that collapsing, we could end up with a neutron star or a black hole and scientists are studying the type and length of the gamma-ray emissions detected this morning to understand what has happened in Andromeda.
Unfortunately for the end-of-timers, Andromeda is 2.5 million light years away and the Earth is well away from receiving a direct hit from the gamma-rays so we are in no danger from the event that would have happened while stone age man was first discovering that the sharp edge of a stone can be used as a tool.
If the burst was caused by colliding neutron stars, previously undetected gravitational waves could be the result as predicted by Einstein but in an ironic twist, our most sensitive gravitational wave instrument, the LIGO, is out of action for an upgrade.
Whatever it was, Earth is not in danger and we are not all doomed but the gravitational waves bending time and space may mean we find ourselves back in 1984 and that would be a disaster...deeley boppers, Phil Collins and day-glo yellow leg warmers all over again!!
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Democracy & Capitalism Not That Good Really
The Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, has been spelling out the risk of Capitalism destroying itself unless bankers realise they have an obligation to create a fairer society and Capitalism is doomed if ethics vanish.
I do take umbrage at the insinuation that the banks and financial houses are not full of people who do their jobs ethically and want the best for everyone, we call them the cleaners.
Two of the biggest white elephants of our time are Capitalism and Democracy but for some reason they are held up as the high water mark of human achievement.
Adam Smith, the father of modern Capitalism, was wildly wrong when he assumed that mankind's 'principles' would stop what we see today with the overwhelming majority of people continually having to do with less and less whilst the 1% enrich themselves to the level of obscenity.
Without doubt Adam Smith got that wrong, greed is not good and only fills the bank accounts of the top end while it empties those at the bottom but while we are governed by the millionaires at the top end, nothing is going to change until a crunch comes.
The Occupy movement is a start and it will get its act together one day and things will change but until then it's austerity cuts for us and massive bonuses for the bankers. If Capitalism destroys itself through its own greed and lack of ethics then it shows what an awful and faulty system Adam Smith envisioned.
As for Democracy, placing a cross on a ballot paper every five years in order to hand over political control to a party is as much say as we have. Yes we can remove a Government but once in they are there for a long time and can cause untold lasting damage to every corner of our lives.
Short of a revolution as in Ukraine, we are stuck with them and it's 60 months until Democracy wheels its way back again.
Democracy is 1 day every 1826 days and no way to remove the party if its breaks its promises or make u-turnd on the manifesto it was elected upon.
It seems that the two things that we praise the highest and foist upon others, sometimes at the end of a gun, are really not that praiseworthy.
I do take umbrage at the insinuation that the banks and financial houses are not full of people who do their jobs ethically and want the best for everyone, we call them the cleaners.
Two of the biggest white elephants of our time are Capitalism and Democracy but for some reason they are held up as the high water mark of human achievement.
Adam Smith, the father of modern Capitalism, was wildly wrong when he assumed that mankind's 'principles' would stop what we see today with the overwhelming majority of people continually having to do with less and less whilst the 1% enrich themselves to the level of obscenity.
Without doubt Adam Smith got that wrong, greed is not good and only fills the bank accounts of the top end while it empties those at the bottom but while we are governed by the millionaires at the top end, nothing is going to change until a crunch comes.
The Occupy movement is a start and it will get its act together one day and things will change but until then it's austerity cuts for us and massive bonuses for the bankers. If Capitalism destroys itself through its own greed and lack of ethics then it shows what an awful and faulty system Adam Smith envisioned.
As for Democracy, placing a cross on a ballot paper every five years in order to hand over political control to a party is as much say as we have. Yes we can remove a Government but once in they are there for a long time and can cause untold lasting damage to every corner of our lives.
Short of a revolution as in Ukraine, we are stuck with them and it's 60 months until Democracy wheels its way back again.
Democracy is 1 day every 1826 days and no way to remove the party if its breaks its promises or make u-turnd on the manifesto it was elected upon.
It seems that the two things that we praise the highest and foist upon others, sometimes at the end of a gun, are really not that praiseworthy.
Is Nigel Farage An Alcoholic?
As the UKIP star is rising, the leader Nigel Farage will come under even further scrutiny. Such as his 'liking of a bottle of wine at lunch and another one at dinner' as his good friend Geoffrey Bloom explained.
As Mr Farage is always pictured in a pub with a pint in his hand, maybe someone should be asking questions about his 'refuelling' as Bobby Robson once called it.
Mind you, if he is an alcoholic and two bottles of wine and a few pints per day would indicate a dependency, it would provide an explanation for some of the things he has come out with.
As Mr Farage is always pictured in a pub with a pint in his hand, maybe someone should be asking questions about his 'refuelling' as Bobby Robson once called it.
Mind you, if he is an alcoholic and two bottles of wine and a few pints per day would indicate a dependency, it would provide an explanation for some of the things he has come out with.
Say A Prayer For Atheism
When a child reaches aged 7 or 8 he or she rightly questions the idea of Father Christmas and the parents face the inevitable question 'Is Santa real?' and they reluctantly admit that it is all made up and there is no Santa.
It is about the same age when a child has the mental capacity to question God but parents of a religious bent will not draw a line under the religion idea, they keep it going and with Churches and priests and vicars, the idea is enforced and the child grows up into an adult with the idea that God made the Universe and everything in it and after years of indoctrination, their belief is unshakable despite having no evidence whatsoever to back up their beliefs.
As we progress and evolve, Religion has been sliding away as more people reject the idea of a creator but that trend could be reversed according to the professor of genetics at University College London, Steve Jones who believes that population decline in sceptical countries combined with population growth in religious countries could see a resurgence of Christianity and leave sceptics in a minority.
As religion has been the cause of more wars and deaths than any other cause, we can only hope that more people make the realisation that the stories of God and Santa Claus should be treated the same and left behind before a persons age reaches double digits.
It is about the same age when a child has the mental capacity to question God but parents of a religious bent will not draw a line under the religion idea, they keep it going and with Churches and priests and vicars, the idea is enforced and the child grows up into an adult with the idea that God made the Universe and everything in it and after years of indoctrination, their belief is unshakable despite having no evidence whatsoever to back up their beliefs.
As we progress and evolve, Religion has been sliding away as more people reject the idea of a creator but that trend could be reversed according to the professor of genetics at University College London, Steve Jones who believes that population decline in sceptical countries combined with population growth in religious countries could see a resurgence of Christianity and leave sceptics in a minority.
As religion has been the cause of more wars and deaths than any other cause, we can only hope that more people make the realisation that the stories of God and Santa Claus should be treated the same and left behind before a persons age reaches double digits.
Monday, 26 May 2014
Finding A Grain Of Sand On A Beach
If someone asked you to find a grain of sand somewhere in the World but didn't tell you what beach it was on or even what country to look for it in, even with all the technology we have today it would be a daunting task.
As there are more stars then grains of sands on all the beaches in the World, its hardly surprising that we have yet to find life elsewhere but we keep looking.
Scientists at SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) are hopeful that they will discover intelligent life somewhere in the galaxy and that it should be detectable in the near future giving how quickly the technology is developing.
Seth Shostak, senior astronomer has said at the House Committee that he thinks the discovery will come 'within everyone's lifetime in this room' and that discovering sentient life in the universe 'would be the most significant discovery in human history'.
It would but as much as i would like us to discover new worlds, i do worry what would happen once we do.
Would the newly discovered life be friendly and share any technical advances or would it just see us as a threat and seek to destroy us.
Would we share our advances with it if it turns out that we are more intelligent or would we act with hostility?
What if the new planet has a much needed resource, would we take it? Would we go to war with any new World over it much as we do with countries on Earth that have what we want?
Maybe taking the time to find that grain of sand is not a bad thing.
As there are more stars then grains of sands on all the beaches in the World, its hardly surprising that we have yet to find life elsewhere but we keep looking.
Scientists at SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) are hopeful that they will discover intelligent life somewhere in the galaxy and that it should be detectable in the near future giving how quickly the technology is developing.
Seth Shostak, senior astronomer has said at the House Committee that he thinks the discovery will come 'within everyone's lifetime in this room' and that discovering sentient life in the universe 'would be the most significant discovery in human history'.
It would but as much as i would like us to discover new worlds, i do worry what would happen once we do.
Would the newly discovered life be friendly and share any technical advances or would it just see us as a threat and seek to destroy us.
Would we share our advances with it if it turns out that we are more intelligent or would we act with hostility?
What if the new planet has a much needed resource, would we take it? Would we go to war with any new World over it much as we do with countries on Earth that have what we want?
Maybe taking the time to find that grain of sand is not a bad thing.
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