Saturday, July 24, 2010

Re-review

The Great War For Civilization: The Conquest Of The Middle East
Robert Fisk



This is a review that I wrote a couple of years ago for this book, nothing has changed.I finished the book, and it remains the definitive book if you want to understand how the Middle East became what we see today. From Iraq to Israel and beyond.Who did what and when and why. Robert Fisk is indeed a mighty journalist, his thirst for the truth has made him many enemies over the years. His love of the peoples of the region is obvious as is his contempt for the leaders both within the region and those in the West who have destroyed so much. My original review is below.
'The Great War for Civilisation,The Conquest of the Middle East' by Robert Fisk is by far the most disturbing book that I have (half) read. Today I am on page 585, only another 701 pages to go! So far the book has dealt with Afghanistan,Iran, Iraq,Palestine and Israel(and the first world war, and touched on the Holocaust- and the Armenian Genocide). Robert Fisk has been a correspondent in the Middle East for 30 years, his knowledge is astounding, to say the least. He pulls no punches and shows no favouritisms . He has interviewed Bin Laden at least twice, and details his story as any journalist should-factually. Each time I put the book down I feel harrowed, haunted with the actions of my fellow man-this is not a pleasant read. I have made a few comments regarding Iran on this blog in the past see-

http://letstryeurope.blogspot.com/2007/03/is-this-road-for-irans-future.html

http://letstryeurope.blogspot.com/2006/12/it-didnt-really-happen.html

I know feel that my judgment of Iran may have been somewhat harsh, although this by no means Switzerland. The Islamic Revolution was an unbelievable bloody affair, which deposed the the unbelievably bloody(and corrupt) Shah-who was put in place by the Western powers.
After the revolution Iraq was provided with enough weapons, and chemical weapons with which to destroy Iran(take a guess by whom!).Chemical weapons were then responsible for the mass killing of Iranian soldiers, who were woefully ill equipped due to arms embargoes imposed by guess who. This continued for years during the eighties until 1988, during which time the US shot down a civilian Iranian airliner in July 1987 killing 290 men, women and children!
What exactly do we expect from a country that was attacked by it's neighbour with the help of the international community which resulted in the death of a million of it's people?
Back to the book- there is so much that has happened in our recent history that we choose to ignore(or are forced to ignore-Turkey continues to threaten anyone who mentions the Armenian Genocide with jail within Turkey and financial sanctions outside). As I have mentioned before: http://letstryeurope.blogspot.com/2006/08/if-you-were-in-their-shoes.html
the holocaust was an abomination, but that, does not excuse Israel's behaviour since it's wars with it's neighbours began in 1948. What I had never realised was the amount of people displaced from the occupied territories during that time, what I didn't realise was the conditions of people within those areas-how can we ignore the fact that a civilized/western country inflicts such suffering and abuse upon the people under it's occupation(within the occupied territories)? I have always believed in the Jewish people's right to a homeland, and always will(it's Arab neighbours do accept it's right to exist), but it is time that they now fell in line with both UN resolutions and the Geneva Convention. At that time, and only at that time may we see a cease of hostilities from militant groups living under Israeli occupation. The killing of civilians is not only wrong for the Palestinians, it's also wrong for Israelis-that is an irrefutable fact, anywhere in the world!

As I said, it is a difficult read, but one thing stands out throughout the book, and that is America's role, especially in the last 25 years. Many people believe George W to be the instigator of many of today's troubles-he hasn't helped, that's for sure, but he is not much worse than his predecessors.Clinton refused to stand up when needed, Israel is the prime example. The UK has been largely irrelevant, but should have done more.Of course we were largely responsible for screwing up the area during the first 50 years of the last century, which is why we have the problems that exist today.
We take no notice of the statistics that come out of the Middle East, we have grown bored,complacent,apathetic. The Middle East of course, is not the only war torn area
in the world-Darfur comes to mind. Isn't it time to choose leaders that have the courage and conviction to seek peace- where it's possible, forge ties with nations, to foster understanding instead of standoffs(Iran, Syria and Lebanon come to mind)? Isn't it time to support those in desperate need of support(Palestine and Lebanon) instead of isolating them.Isn't it time to throw in the towel when you are so obviously on the wrong track(Iraq)? It is the sixth anniversary of 9/11 tomorrow, and that atrocity can never, ever be justified in any way. I believe that justice does need to be done, if Pakistan pulls it's finger out, it may well be.
Crimes against humanity can never be excused, either during wartime or peacetime.Bin Laden is not the only war criminal out there, and one day when peace eventually returns to the Middle East-including Israel, and all occupying armies have gone home(including Israel, and the UK) I hope the UN can begin to look at all civilian deaths and begin to punish those responsible whatever their nationality or position.
The policies of the last goodness knows how many years, have just not worked, for anyone.
Okay, back to reading the book, see you in 700 pages!
Allah Akbah, Shalom, God be with you-where-ever you are
inserted by chris m on Monday, September 10, 2007 (show less)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

short excerpt

This fantastic excerpt is incomplete, due to copyright/subscription issues, and therefore I will not mention the author or source-quite naughty really(but it is not mine)

I was not good at drawing faces. I was just joking most of the time. I was not decisive in changing rooms or anywhere. I was so late because I was looking for flowers. I was just going through a tunnel whenever my mother called. I was not able to make toast without the radio. I was not able to tell if compliments were backhanded. I was not as tired as I said.

You were not able to ignore furniture imperfections. You were too light to arm the airbag. You were not able to open most jars. You were not sure how you should wear your hair, and so, ten minutes late and halfway down the stairs, you would examine your reflection in a framed picture of dead family. You were not angry, just protecting your dignity.

I was not able to run long distances. You were so kind to my sister when I didn’t know how to be kind. I was just trying to remove a stain; I made a bigger stain. You were just asking a simple question. I was al­most always at home, but I was not always at home at home. You were not able to cope with a stack of more than three books on my bedside table, or mixed currencies in the change dish, or plastic. I was not afraid of being alone; I just hated it. You were just admiring the progress of someone else’s garden. I was so tired of food.

We went to the Atacama. We went to Sarajevo. We went to Tobey Pond every year until we didn’t. We braved thirteen inches of snow to attend a lecture in a planetarium. We tried having dinner par­ties. We tried owning nothing. We left handprints in a moss garden in Kyoto, and got each other off under a towel in Jaffa. We braved my parents’ for Thanksgiving and yours for the rest, and how did it hap­pen that we were suddenly at my father’s side while he drowned in his own body? I lay beside him on the bed, observed my hand reaching for his brow, said, “Despite everything-” “What everything?” he asked, so I said, “Nothing,” or nothing.

I was always destroying my passport in the wash. You were always awful at esti­mating. You were never willing to think of my habits as charming. I was just insisting that it was already too late to master an instrument or anything. You were never one to mention physical pain.

You loved tiny socks. You were not depressed, but you were unhappy. Your unhappiness didn’t make me defensive; I just hated it. He was never happy unless held. I loved hammering things into walls. You hated having no inner life.

“I was always watching movie trailers on my computer. You were always wiping surfaces. I was always hearing my father’s laugh and never remembering his face. You broke every one’s heart until you suddenly couldn’t



At a certain point you became convinced that you were always reading yesterday’s newspaper. At a certain point I stopped agonizing over being understood, and became over-reliant on my car’s G.P.S You couldn’t tolerate trace amounts of jelly in the peanut butter jar. I couldn’t tolerate gratuitously boisterous laughter. At a certain point I could stare without pretext or apology. Isn’t it funny that if God were to reveal and explain Himself, the majority of the world would necessarily be disappointed? At a certain point you stopped wearing sunscreen.”


You couldn't tolerate people who couldn't tolerate babies on planes. I couldn't tolerate people who insisted that having a coffee after lunch would keep them up all night. At a certain point I could hear my knees and felt no need to correct other people's grammar. How can I explain why foreign cities came to mean so much to me?At a certain point you stopped agonizing over your ambitiousness, but at a certain point you stopped trying. I couldn't tolerate magicians who did things that someone who actually had magical powers would never do...





“And here we aren’t, so quickly: I’m not twenty-six and you’re not sixty. I’m not forty-five or eighty-three, not being hoisted onto the shoulders of anybody wading into the sea.”


...I changed and changed, and with more time I will change more. I'm not disappointed, just quiet. Not unthinking, just restless. Not willfully unclear, just trying to say it as it wasn't. The more I remember, the more distant I feel. We reached the middle so quickly. After everything it's like nothing. I have always never been here. What a shame it wasn't easy. What a waste of what? What a joke. But come. Be beside me somewhere: on the split stools of this bar, by the edge of this cliff, in the seats of this borrowed car, at the prow of this ship, on the all-forgiving cushions of this threadbare sofa in this one-story copper-crying fixer upper whose windows we once squinted through for hours before coming to our senses: "What would we even do with such a house?"

Monday, July 12, 2010

Scmp article about Mui-Wo with guest appearance by Mark

Scmp article about Mui-Wo
Here is a link to the article that was published about Mui-wo in the SCMP, but also with an interview from Mark. There is also a pic of Jaimie.

http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2010/07/04/growing-pains-in-hong-kongs-backwater/

First typhoon of the year.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Normality-revised

Normality-(revised)
I have almost rewritten the list(I have far too much time on my hands) as I found huge discrepancies from the person who first posted it(and who I stole it from) and the original list by Paulo Coelho in the book. These differences actually changed the author's original meanings(there was even an extra point), and therefore in respect to him I made these changes. Below is the list as written by the author.
It is not a comprehensive list, I can think of a lot more things that define normality, just interesting. I make no comment on the correctness- different strokes etc....
Also is it wrong to be normal? Sometimes I wish I was more 'normal'! Then again, maybe not!

From the book “The winner stands alone”

1] Normal is anything that makes us forget who we are and what we want that way we can work in order to produce and reproduce and earn money.

2] Setting out rules for waging war (the Geneva Convention).

3] Spending years at university only to find at the end of it all that you are unemployable.

4] Working from nine till five at something that gives you no pleasure at all just so that, after 30 years you can retire.

5] Retiring and discovering that you no longer have enough energy to enjoy life, and dying a few years later of sheer boredom.
6] Using Botox.

7] Believing that power is much more important than money and that money is much more important than happiness.
8] Making fun of anyone who seeks happiness rather than money and accusing them of lacking ambition.

9] Comparing objects like cars, houses and clothes, and defining life according to these comparisons instead of trying to discover the real reason for being alive.

10] Never talking to strangers. Saying nasty things about the neighbours.

11] Believing that your parents are always right.

12] Getting married, having children and staying together long after all love has died, saying that it’s for the good of the children (who are apparently deaf to the constant rows).

12ª] Criticising anyone who tries to be different.

14] Waking up each morning with to an hysterical alarm-clock on the bedside table.

15] Believing absolutely everything that appears in print.

16] Wearing a scrap of coloured cloth wrapped around your neck, even though it serves no useful purpose but which answers to the name of tie.

17] Never asking a direct question, even though the other person can guess what it is you want to know.

18] Keeping a smile on your lips when you're on the verge of tears. Feeling sorry for those who show their feelings.

19] Believing that art is either worth a fortune, or worth nothing at all.

20] Despising anything that was easy to achieve because if no sacrifice was involved, it obviously isn't worth having.
21] Following fashion trends, however ridiculous or uncomfortable.

22] Believing that all famous people have tons of money saved up.

23] Investing a lot of time and money in external beauty and caring little about inner beauty.

24] Using every possible means to show that although you're just an ordinary human being, you're far above other mortals.

25] Never looking anyone in the eye when you're travelling on any kind of public transport, in case it's interpreted as a sign you're trying to get off with them .

26] Standing facing the door in a lift and pretending you're the only person there, regardless of how crowded it is.

27] Never laughing too loudly in a restaurant, however good the joke.

28] In the Northern hemisphere, always dressing according to the season: bare arms in spring (however cold it is) and woollen jacket in autumn (no matter how warm it is).

29] In the Southern hemisphere, covering the Christmas tree with fake snow, even though winter has nothing to do with the birth of Christ.

30]Assuming as you grow older, that you're the guardian of the world's wisdom, even if you haven't necessarily lived enough to know what's right and wrong.

31] Going to a charity tea party and thinking that you've done your bit towards putting an end to social inequality in the world.

32] Eating three times a day, even if you're not hungry.

33] Believing that other people are always better than you: better-looking, more capable, richer ,more intelligent and that it's very dangerous to step outside your own limits, so it's best to do nothing.

34] Using the car as a weapon and as impenetrable armour.

35] Swearing when in heavy traffic.

36] Believing that everything your child does wrong is entirely down to the company he or she keeps.

37] Marrying the first person who offers you a decent position in society. Love can wait.

38] Always saying “I tried”, when you didn't really try at all.

39] Postponing doing the really interesting things in life for later, when you won't have the energy.

40] Avoiding depression with large daily doses of television.

41] Believing that you can be sure of everything you have achieved.

42] Assuming that women don’t like football and that men aren't interested in home decoration and cooking.

43] Blaming the government for all the bad things that happen.

44] Thinking that being a good, decent and respectable person will mean that others will see you as weak, vulnerable and easy to manipulate.

45] Being equally convinced that aggression and rudeness are synonymous with having a powerful personality.

46] Being afraid of having an endoscopy (if you're a man) and giving birth (if you're a woman).

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Normal?

Inventory of normality
Published on January 7, 2009 in Warrior of Light. 101 Comments

in the book “The winner stands alone”

1] Anything that makes us forget our true identity and our dreams and makes us only work to produce and reproduce.

2] Making rules for a war (the Geneva Convention).

3] Spending years at university and then not being able to find a job.

4] Working from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon at something that does not give us the least pleasure, so that we can retire after 30 years.

5] Retiring only to discover that we have no more energy to enjoy life, and then dying of boredom after a few years.

6] Using Botox.

7] Trying to be financially successful instead of seeking happiness.

8] Ridiculing those who seek happiness instead of money by calling them “people with no ambition”.

9] Comparing objects like cars, houses and clothes, and defining life according to these comparisons instead of really trying to find out the true reason for being alive.

10] Not talking to strangers. Saying nasty things about our neighbors.

11] Thinking that parents are always right.

12] Getting married, having children and staying together even though the love has gone, claiming that it’s for the sake of the children (who do not seem to be listening to the constant arguments).

12ª] Criticizing everybody who tries to be different.

14] Waking up with a hysterical alarm-clock at the bedside.

15] Believing in everything that is printed.

16] Wearing a piece of colored cloth wrapped around the neck, known by the pompous name “necktie”.

17] Never asking direct questions, even though the other person understands what you want to know.

18] Keeping a smile on your face when you really want to cry. And feeling sorry for those who show their own feelings.

19] Thinking that art is worth a fortune, or that it is worth absolutely nothing.

20] Always despising what was easily gained, because the “necessary sacrifice” – and therefore also the required qualities – are missing.

21] Following fashion, even though it all looks ridiculous and uncomfortable.

22] Being convinced that all the famous people have tons of money.

23] Investing a lot in exterior beauty and paying little attention to interior beauty.

24] Using all possible means to show that even though you are a normal person, you are infinitely superior to other human beings.

25] In any kind of public transport, never looking straight into the eyes of the other passengers, as this may be taken for attempting to seduce them.

26] When in an elevator, looking straight at the door and pretending you are the only person inside, however crowded it may be.

27] Never laughing out loud in a restaurant, no matter how funny the story is.

28] In the Northern hemisphere, always wearing the clothes that match the season of the year: short sleeves in springtime (however cold it may be) and a woolen jacket in the fall (no matter how warm it is).

29] In the Southern hemisphere, decorating the Christmas tree with cotton wool, even though winter has nothing to do with the birth of Christ.

30] As you grow older, thinking you are the wisest man in the world, even though not always do you have enough life experience to know what is wrong.

31] Going to a charity event and thinking that it is enough to put an end to all the social inequalities in the world.

32] Eating three times a day, even when not hungry.

33] Believing that the others are always better at everything: they are better-looking, more resourceful, richer and more intelligent. Since it’s very risky to venture beyond your own limits, it’s better to do nothing.

34] Using the car as a way to feel powerful and in control of the world.

35] Using foul language in traffic.

36] Thinking that everything your child does wrong is the fault of the company he or she is keeping.

37] Marrying the first person who offers a position in society. Love can wait.

38] Always saying “I tried”, even though you haven’t tried at all.

39] Putting off doing the most interesting things in life until you no longer have the strength to do them.

40] Avoiding depression with massive daily doses of television programs.

41] Believing that it is possible to be sure of everything you have won.

42] Thinking that women don’t like football and that men don’t like interior decoration.

43] Blaming the government for everything bad that happens.

44] Being convinced that being a good, decent and respectful person means that the others will find you weak, vulnerable and easy to manipulate.

45] Being convinced that aggressiveness and discourtesy in treating others are signs of a powerful personality.

46] Being afraid of fibroscopy (men) and childbirth (women).

47] And finally, thinking that your religion is the sole proprietor of the absolute truth, the most important, the best, and that the other human beings in this immense planet who believe in any other manifestation of God are condemned to the fires of hell.