Libya Consequences

Libya Consequences

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Libya is last year’s news. Hillary Clinton famously commented on Gaddafi’s death “We came, we saw, he died”. NATO had won. The dictator was dead and a new government promising ‘democracy’ had been installed. End of story, move on. Libya has disappeared from the front pages of the news like many stories where the real story is the ongoing consequences of the initial event or sequence of events. The story of Libya’s ongoing crisis is covered, however, by the (more) independent media. The following two videos are from Journeyman Pictures:

The first video is a short but very moving documentary shot in Sirte. It shows the effect of the war on children and their relations with each other. The documentary seems to assume that getting rid of the former regime was a good thing but there were bad consequences for some people particularly in places like Sirte where there was support for Gadaffi.

http://youtu.be/mWBcynarS2U

The second video shows a still chaotic Libya in which the NATO installed NTC apparently have no power over armed militias that routinely imprison and torture black people and supporters of the former regime.

http://youtu.be/hioSFBCYZUI

The failure to mainstream the discussion of the consequences of NATO intervention enables Cameron, Obama and Sarkozy and their sponsors to literally get away with murder and enables the preservation of whatever veneer of moral, ration and political legitimacy that still covers their venality.

All the evidence shows that the intervention was prosecuted on a ‘false prospectus’ and knowingly so. An article in Counterpunch, The Top Ten Myths in the War Against Libya, neatly summarises these lies.

NATO continues to dismiss its responsibility for civilian deaths caused by its direct actions but the evidence is there in the devastation of Sirte, Bani Walid and in Zlitan as shown in this short video by Lizzie Phelan:

Libya matters because people matter but it also matters because it is a particularly graphic and accessible illustration of a pattern wherein public perception is manipulated by the popular media so despite any contradictions there is an acceptance of whatever action the US led alliance chooses to take.

True Meaning of Religion

True Meaning of Religion

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What Jesus actually said (as opposed to what was said about him) is radically different from what most of the Bible says and how it’s been interpreted and how most Christians (and non-Christians) act. Ritual and symbolism have their place in deepening our connection to God and each other (the proper business of religion) but pomp, hierarchy, accumulated wealth and dogma belong to ‘Caesar’s realm’.

Facebook

Facebook

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http://youtu.be/3sThcwmx3rs

This is a spoof of course and true of course. I posted it to Facebook a while ago but it has disappeared from my timeline (hmmm).

Facebook is a deeply entrenched cultural phenomenon, not a fad but a fact. It has become a medium of communication as important as the mobile phone. It is of course controlled by the elites and is monitored; it collects information on us collectively and can be used to track us individually if we become ‘persons of interest’ to the ‘security services’. While most of us will never become persons of interest in our own right individuals can be picked off, and made an example of as in the case of Azhar Ahmed, if the establishment wants to assert control over what can be said.

Occupy the Economy

Occupy the Economy

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One of the positives about the Occupy Movement is that they have encouraged learning, thinking, discussion, about finance and the economy amongst people who have no knowledge of finance and the economy. Simon Dixon, in this video, says the system is crazy and is broken and talks about moving towards a sustainable economic system.  He is saying that banks create ‘money’ by lending ‘notional money’ (my term) and charging interest. Each time they lend ‘notional money’ they create ‘money as debt’ . If I borrow money from the bank to buy something of real value such as  a house I incur a debt that I must repay by selling my labour or assets. If I sell my labour to the state as a teacher or doctor, etc.,  the state pays me through raising taxes and borrowing money; if I sell my labour to a non state business that business pays me through selling the product of my labour. I have sold my labour to the state and the state has agreed to pay me a pension as part of my recompense, however in addition to paying me the state needs to repay the banks. But the state does not receive enough income from taxes to  repay the banks, even repaying the interest has become so difficult that the only way the state can do this is to raise taxes while cutting spending and selling assets. These two short videos argue that these solutions cannot work:

http://youtu.be/gi2mR4x2ld4

 

 

The first video claims that the predicted economic collapse is intentional. Simon Dixon argues that this is unlikely, but his rationale, that politicians do not understand finance well enough, is not convincing as financiers do understand finance. Nevertheless Simon is apparently offering some attempt at a solution.

Dennis Kucinich seems to be saying essentially the same thing as Simon Dixon, that there is a need to take away the ability to create money from the private banks and give it back to states. This should go hand in hand with a move to more direct and participative democracy.

 

 

 

Marvel’s The Avengers

Marvel’s The Avengers

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I wrote on Rotten Tomatoes:

The Marvel Universe of superheroes exists on a plane of imagination populated with super powered mutants, Norse gods, aliens, impossibly competent warriors and super geniuses. It’s easy to dismiss the superhero genre as childish fantasy but the comics I grew up with and continued reading far into adulthood provided writers, artists and readers a platform for exploring even brainstorming ideas and relationships as significant as that of any other genre of fiction. The recent spate of superhero films have extended the universe from the comic books to the cinema with mixed results from the dire Green Lantern through the okay Captain America to the good X-Men First Class. Avengers however brings all the elements that distinguish good storytelling within this genre, grand spectacle, super science, iconic/archetypal heroes, relationship between characters and a very particular intensity. The hand of writer director Joss Whedon is evident in this film, not least in the smart ‘buffyesque’ humour that humanises the intensity. I enjoyed Avengers enormously. There’s more to it than meets the eye and a hell of a lot meets the eye.

Sandy and I saw the film on Monday (the 2D version, I hate 3D); she enjoyed the story and spectacle as a non-comics person while my appreciation of it was inseparable from years of being a fanboy. The genre has it’s history, conventions and high points that fans remember and that are referenced in the film. Among the high points of comics history is a sequence from a 1980’s Daredevil story by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli that features the Avengers and defines the relationship between the three central and most iconic characters:

 

As a fanboy I know that Whedon is referencing this relationship and iconography. The line “A soldier with a voice that could command a god … and does” is one of the coolest in comics history and defines Captain America as much more than a ‘super soldier’ but as a person who commands respect by presence, integrity and an intuitive grasp of strategy. Actor Chris Evans does not quite pull this off but it’s a big ask and he and the film make a good stab at it. Robert Downey makes the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man his own and while Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is a little light on godlike gravitas he looks great; the other actors give pretty much definitive renditions of the characters they play.

Whose Interest?

Whose Interest?

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http://youtu.be/EpRQzTP8H1o

Why would any Muslim broadcast a message that is bound to increase hostility towards Muslims in America? If I were a conspiracy theorist I would say that this was set up by US government interests seeking cover for disarming Americans before they face armed rebellion from its own citizens.

Libya and ‘Weaponized Narrative’

Libya and ‘Weaponized Narrative’

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http://youtu.be/pdlPwHF6Cjo

I’ve been interested in the Libya situation since news of the rebellion hit the mainstream media early in 2011 with strange stories of British troops being arrested in Bengazi. There are competing narratives positing Gaddafi as a mad despot or a benevolent philosopher king. After the NATO intervention we got stories of the rebels killing and torturing their opponents, supporters of the former regime. In particular there was a narrative, particularly in the alternative or ‘non-mainstream media’, about about a pogrom against black Libyans:

http://youtu.be/yuCJcaQRIuA

This narrative appears to be well documented. There are several videos available on YouTube about black people being terrorised, tortured and killed together with other Libyans who are suspected of being loyal to the former regime. Very little seemed to be coming out of the mainstream US and UK media.

Recently a story titled “In Libya, the Captors Have Become the Captive” by Robert F Worth was published in the New York Times. This story epitomises the mainstream narrative that Gaddafi was a particularly brutal dictator and that the situation following his overthrow is one in which the imposed government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), is trying to establish justice and democracy but has to deal with a will to vengeance by Libyans in the various and largely autonomous militias that comprised the rebel forces. Worth presents us with the story of a militia leader in charge of prisoners who had been prison guards under the Gaddafi regime. We are presented with a former guard who had gratuitously tortured prisoners and with a Gaddafi soldier who had murdered the brother of the militia leader. We are told that the tables have been turned and now the prisoners who he had been tortured are able to torture their former captives. It is brutal but there is an inevitability and a certain justice about it.

Worth’s narrative is a ‘human interest story that invites us to sympathise with the rebel torturers. It does not talk about the pogroms against black people or give the big picture. Its effect and arguably its purpose is to insinuate the general from a particular. It is well written and worth reading but we come away with a only a story, with only a perspective, with maybe a fragment of the truth but one that is not the whole truth nor only the truth. Because it is well written we think we know more but we do not we have just heard a story.

Stories can powerfully influence the way we think. An article in the Disiformation blog referencing a Wired article suggests that US government agencies are looking at “weaponized narrative” as part of their propaganda strategies. It’s surely not a big stretch to connect the dots and ask whether Worth’s NYT article is just such a “weaponized narrative”.

Eden Project Cornwall

Eden Project Cornwall

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Every year on my birthday Sandy and I go away for a few days. This year it was a short trip to Cornwall where we visited the very inspirational Eden Project, Plymouth and a couple of very scenic Cornish towns, Looe and Polpeero.

The Eden Project is a remarkable achievement, not just because it is spectacular in itself but because of the dedicated idealism that created it. It asks and attempts to answer the question, “How can we work together to build a better world?”.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking

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http://youtu.be/T69TOuqaqXI

A thought provoking video. I would not however dismiss practices such as astrology, numerology etc and phenomena such as crop circles and paranormal abilities as bunk as some commentators have done; In the first place have not done the research. Secondly, I am aware that some research claims to validate such phenomena. Finally it is entirely reasonable to propose hypotheses for phenomena while recognising that these hypotheses may be wrong. Acupuncture, once considered pseudoscience is now generally accepted as an effective complementary medical treatment.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan

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A view on war in Afghanistan:

http://youtu.be/zjGUjdcPbmg

And in the interests of balance here is another:

If I have the time and inclination later I’ll splice these together to better make or to labour the point.