Pre-emptive News – the news reporting technique that has been used by several newspapers in reporting the war. Take the following stories:

• Two British soldiers being executed by Saddam’s forces
• The reports of a civilian uprising in Basra
• The discovery of a huge chemical weapons plant
• The biggest tank battle since the second world war involving 130 Iraqi tanks

All these stories were reported in newspapers. All turned out to be untrue. Is this a form of propaganda? Or are the press desperate to print the best headlines to increase sales? And more disturbingly, why are newspapers failing to verify their sources?

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the armoured column of 130 tanks was in fact only 3; Tony Blair had to apologise to the family of the serviceman he claimed had been executed by the Iraqis as they had in fact been killed in action, the weapons plant has yet to be verified, and it is unlikely that it can be verified as it does not exist, and the Basra uprising never happened.

Interesting to note the guilty newspapers are my old friends The Daily Telegraph, The Evening Standard and its sister the Daily Mail (which I in an earlier blog I mistakenly called the Daily Express).

I can only hope that the papers using pre-emptive reporting techniques learn a lesson and return to more traditional forms of journalism.

In saturdays mornings Guardian ‘Weekend’ magazine :

“Spectre orange – Nearly 30 years after the Vietnam war, a chemical weapon used by US troops is still exacting a hideous toll on each new generation.” It is accompanied by some awful pictures of horrifically deformed children. The photos are not on the web site. Bush and Blair would have me believe the war is about stopping monsters using chemical weapons. We have short memories.

From surgenet.org:
A knower of truth does what is called for,

then stops

He uses his strength but does not force things

fully choose to do what you must do

….this is to live without forcing

to overcome without conquering.

–Lao Tzu

I checked my site messages yesterday and Ben Poole had left a particularly nice one. All I can say is “Ben – you’re great!”.

How do I miss such obvious double standards? The Guardian today points out that the US have scant regard for international law and yet when captured US servicemen are shown on TV they start quoting the Geneva Convention? Hmmm. Why am I surprised?

I think I’ve recovered from the weekends party – I’m still trying to remember what the fuck was happening for half the night.

The other day I said that the war was about securing oil for future generations. That was before I found a rather interesting line of reasoning that argues that the motives are more about an economic conflict between the US and Europe. It’s a long article. So, in a nutshell, it is related to a potential economic shift of power away from the US to the EU. Interestingly, a few years ago Iraq began trading oil in Euro’s, which due to the exchange rate, resulted in an unexpected economic windfall. As other oil producing nations (including Iran and Venezuela) began to consider the shift to the Euro, the US had to act. Could this be the reason for the peace policy adopted so staunchly by France and Germany?

I believe that there are a number of reasons for this war. While getting rid of an aggressive and powerful dictator may be considered a good reason for a war, I know that it is not the real reason for the war.

The reasons for the war include the above EU/US conflict; securing a stable and long term source of oil; allowing for the domestic economic benefits of US private sector investment in rebuilding a shattered Iraq; and arms contracts (how much is that worth?). All of this has got to be good for the US economy.

I’m beginning to remember some of what happened on the weekend. I haven’t had such a long memory blank from partying for ages. I was trying to remember bright lights or little grey fella’s that might have been the cause for the ‘missing time’. Maybe I need to check for evidence of an implant/anal probe?

Mahatma Gandhi said: “The science of war leads one to dictatorship pure and simple. The science of nonviolence can alone lead one to pure democracy”. I’ve been thinking about what our democracy really means in the light of so many democratic processes being ignored because they are inconvenient to the means of our political leaders. It seems to me that Bush and the Republicans are as much of a dictator as Saddam – they want their way and are determined to have it, in spite of the number of people, governments, and even the UN, telling him otherwise. Is our democracy just a front for a dictatroship?

Friday night: The guys at work have a DJ night every month or so. When I say a DJ night, I don’t exactly mean Fat Boy Slim. No disrespect to the technical ability of the DJ’s they get in, but it’s the music that they have to play. You know, West-Life, Celine Dion dance remixes, The Eagles, and the like. The dude dj-ing on Friday night liked dub. And in the middle of some top forty hits abomination he would lay in heaps of reverb. Beautiful. And the look on the faces of some of the punters! I think that they thought the guy was having ‘technical issues’….. After that we went to a bar which I managed to get myself thrown out of. Bastards.

St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great, who asked him “how he dares molest the sea.” “How dare you molest the whole world?” the pirate replied: “Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an Emperor.”

From Noam Chomsky’s “Pirates and Emperors, Old and New”

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.”

— Albert Einstein


There was what we think was a murder down the road from here. Kind of weird, the ground floor flat has black tarps over the windows. Someone has laid flowers on the door step, and the police tape is still across the front door. I kept thinking about the neighbours and how they must feel knowing something so dark has occurred. I try to think what it would be like, knowing that an incredibly violent act had occurred under your own roof.

On a brighter note – the summer is a coming in. It makes such a difference seeing a little sun in the morning. And leaving work and being able to see where you are going.

George W = Claim Jumper


ahhh, I’m easy like a Sunday morning. And far out – my niece Hannah starts school tomorrow. Jeez I can’t believe that! It was only yesterday that she was born. I remember thinking at the time that it would seem like no time had passed until she started school. Fark.

Why is it that every time a republican gets elected as the president of the US, they start a war?